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May 20

Help with files

HELP HELP HELP. I got a file from my friend but something is wrong with it! It is a folder. Inside the folder are 5 files. They all have the same name, but they're all different file types. There are:

• Song.1pk
• Song.pk
• Song.sfk
• Song.cue
• Song.wav

When I play that wav file in realplayer or windows media player, it is 45 minutes of static. What are the other files for??? How do I do this??? Thank you!--Goon Noot (talk) 01:12, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

The .pk file appears to be used by Adobe Audition ([1]) and the .sfk Sound Forge ([2]). The .cue file is likely to be a CD image of some sort which can be burnt onto a CD (or using specific software, its contents extracted) and the .wav file is predictable a WAVE file. Not sure what the .1pk file is for. If you can't play the .wav, I'm not sure what that's about because usually these sound issues are to do with lossy formats; there's hardly codec problems for .wav files out there... Perhaps the .cue file can be mounted using software like Daemon Tools and played as if it were an audio CD? x42bn6 Talk Mess 04:49, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Does not sound good. Are you sure that your friend manually sent you the email? Could you check back on him/her in meatspace to confirm? Kushal (talk) 04:42, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

I changed the file type of the .wav to .dts and it plays on foobar now. What should I do with the other files?--Goon Noot (talk) 15:50, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

iPod storage

I am interested in buying a new iPod, but I'm not sure how may gb to get. When it lists that it can hold 8,000 songs, that's about 2 minutes each, but how many minutes of videos with sound does it hold? As I'll want songs, videos, and photos, what is the conversion rate of memory space taken up? Thanks, Reywas92^Talk 01:28, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

As a general rule of thumb, a non-audiophile listener will enjoy music that is about 1 megabyte per minute, and about half-to-a-third that for varying definitions of "audiophile" after that. Videos depend on a number of factors, but a random sample of videos I have seems to produce approximately 4 megabytes per minute of video. A picture at appropriate resolution for an iPod is probably going to clock in at 1/20th or 1/200th of a megabyte (my apologies, I'm a little too tired to trust my precision at the moment). A "decent" digital camera picture will probably clock in at, again, 1-2 megabytes (but that could easily be re-sampled to lower resolution; the iPod will have to dynamically, anyway). Keep in mind, you don't get the entire storage space for use - some gets used by the operating system. Still, 400 songs and 20 videos later, and I'm not even half full myself. Only so many November Rains out there, I suppose. -- Ironmandius (talk) 02:52, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

shaddy contractor

question removed by Zrs 12 (talk) 01:55, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

This question has been removed. As per Wikipedia reference desk guidelines, we are not permitted to answer any questions about legal advice. It is my suggestion that you ask a lawyer about the way in which to deal with anyone who has botched a job on your computer.

However, if you have any questions about how to repair your computer, we would be happy to try to help. Zrs 12 (talk) 01:55, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

How do I split the tabs?

Okay I am running an instant messenger on Windows XP 2002. When I open a lot of windows, some of them that are of the same type collapse into just one tab and it shows a number. How do I split it back into individual tabs?--Goon Noot (talk) 02:43, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Right-click on taskbar. Click Properties. Deselect "Group similar taskbar buttons". -- Danh, 70.59.79.51 (talk) 03:27, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

What's wrong with my keyboard?

Pressing ~ causes a ¬ to appear. Pressing \ causes a # to appear. Pressing | causes a ~ to appear. Pressing @ causes a " to appear. Pressing " causes a @ to appear. Pressing # causes a £ to appear.

This problem occurs in some programs but not others and the programs it occurs in seems to keep changing! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.189.61.14 (talk) 11:50, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like you have the British keyboard layout enabled. ----— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 11:59, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

The exact same thing happends on my home pc, so I always get confused when I use someone elses that doesn't do it. For # you do "shift 3" on my keyboard. Bed-Head-HairUser:BedHeadHairGirl12:51, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

See Keyboard layout#QWERTY UK and Ireland. Assuming you have Windows XP, check your layout by following these instructions. ----— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 13:10, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

CPU question

I saw a gaming PC with an advertised processor speed of 13 GHz. Is that actually possible? Or is that just the speed of all the cores added together? Could I actually achieve speeds of 13 Ghz, or would it only be that fast if I used all of the cores at once? Any explanation would be appreciated, thanks in advance! Scarian^{Call me Pat!} 12:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Where is this PC ad? I'd like to see it. But 13GHz is misleading. I don't know of any consumer computers going above 5-6GHz even when cooled with liquid nitrogen. The chances are that they just added the speeds in the cores (8x 1.66 GHz or 4x 3.25+ cores). That being said, there are times where it will perform as well as a single core 13 GHz processor, particularly when video is involved. But of course, if you look at even the Sony PlayStation 3's massive amount of cores, getting games to use all that processing power is neigh on impossible. That, and you'd probably want graphics processing for video, unless some of the cores are made to be graphic processors. And I'll guarantee that none of the clocks in there run at 13 GHz, or anywhere near it. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 13:31, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

I couldn't find the exact one I was looking at earlier, but here is a similar one: [3]. So its advertised speed at 9~ GHz is misleading? Silly me for being optimistic. You mentioned consumer PC's running at 5-6 GHz? Know where I could find any running at that speed? Scarian^{Call me Pat!} 14:45, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Yea, that's a quad-core 2.4 GHz chip that they're advertising. You won't find any PCs running at 5-6 GHz without being able to get a supply of liquid nitrogen, as they're overclocked. And clock rates don't mean as much nowadays as they did back in the days, pre-3GHz. If the program (or game, probably, in this case) you're running can utilize more than one core well, a 1.66 dual core can perform better than 3GHz system. It gets harder to utilize the more cores you have though. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 14:56, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

(after edit conflict)

Yep. The heating problems led Intel to go through the massive problem of dismantling in the consumer's mind, the idea of equating processor "power" with the clock speed. Just getting beyond 4 GHz was problematic and although I am sure Marketing protested wildly, Intel went ahead and began educating people that clock speed is not everything about a processor (a notion some say Intel itself put in the consumer's mind). As Wirbelwind, I would like to see the advertisement as well. Could you link us? Kushal (talk) 15:01, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Was it Intel that reeducated people? I thought it was AMD, by making processors that outperformed Intel's at a lower clock rate. That kind of drove the point home. -- BenRG (talk) 16:11, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

That's what I thought too, cause IIRC, Intel was trying to push the frequency while others (like AMD and I think IBM) were saying they need to give up. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 16:25, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

That's what's funny about it. Intel had to backpedal and side with AMD on the point. So, uh, both of them are trying to reeducate people now. 206.126.163.20 (talk) 21:41, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

PS: thanks for the link. According to AMD, it is a 2.4 GHz processor. The ebay seller is probably misleading you in the heading but in the specs, it says "2.4GHz (x4)". I am not sure if they want to be dishonest but they seem to give inaccurate information like calling their version of Windows "Genuine Windows Vista Premium 64Bit Included" where they probably skipped the word "home". I don't think I would buy a desktop in one piece until I did some basic research to figure out if it would be cheaper to build it myself or not. Kushal (talk) 15:01, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the replies guys! I'll try not to get duped! ;-) Scarian^{Call me Pat!} 15:36, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds obvious to me, but could it have been a misprint and actually 1.3GHz? Some (long?) time ago a 1.3GHz would have been a kick-ass gaming machine. Astronaut (talk) 18:08, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

free online soccer

my friend said it's possible to see live soccer matches on the internet for free. is it true --scoobydoo (talk) 15:34, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

It seems so from looking at this site, which lists software for streaming broadcasts. These are not soccer specific, or even sports specific. My suggestion would be to try some of those out (of course, watching out for adware and the like). Googled "live soccer match web." WDavis1911 (talk) 18:14, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

VoIP/IPKall: receiving incoming calls

I've been trying to get calls with an IPKall number, forwarding them to my FWD account; I'm using an X-Lite soft phone.

It doesn't work. I hear the ring tone of incoming calls, can intercept the call... and neither I nor the caller hear each other. I've read somewhere of other people having this or a similar problem, but didn't find a solution. I don't have any problems with a separate sipgate account which I've been using for months (using the sipgate X-Lite soft phone).

I don't mind changing VoIP company or soft phone--all I want is receiving calls from a "real" phone number, so that people without an SIP account can call me. Voicemail would be appreciated, but at this point I'd just like to get any calls. So any tips for what I should check or which other software I should use are highly welcome. Thanks a million! Thanks, thanks, Thanks for answering (talk) 15:36, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

C variable string

Is it possible to do a string like this ("%c%c",char1,char2) ? Something similar to the string generation in printf. I want to combine different elements of an array of characters into a string. Bastard Soap (talk) 20:57, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

sprintf works like printf, exept that the results goes into a character array. Sample code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
   char str[100];
   char o='O';
   char k='K';
   sprintf(str, "%c%c", o, k);
   puts(str);
   return 0;
}

Is this what you were looking for? Mind you, code using sprintf is very bug-prone, and also vulnerable to exploits, because of the danger that your program might try to put too large strings into the buffer. Using C++ and standard library strings is a better option. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 21:43, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

If you're adding individual chars you should be able to easily cook something up to count the number of chars you've added compared to the size of the string. sprintf'ing using string arguments (without buffer overflow protection), or doing chars and such without checks is a recipe for bad times, though. 206.126.163.20 (talk) 22:11, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks man, it was just the thing. Bastard Soap (talk) 22:38, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

AMD board

I have an old computer with an Intel motherboard and INtel chip. If i wanted to get an new AMD motherboard and remove the old Intel motherboard, would I need a different CPU case? In other words, would a case affect what i could put into a computer. --Randoman412 (talk) 21:41, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

As long as both motherboards conform to the same form factor, then there's no issue. And most normal-sized motherboards are ATX, so it will probably be fine. Different cases within the same form factor do have different amounts of air flow (and if you're moving to hotter components that might matter), different room for hard drives, and other differences, but the motherboard, CPU, powersupply, and normal sized expansion cards should all fit. 206.126.163.20 (talk) 21:43, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

And on a minor matter of terminology, just call it a 'computer case' or just a 'case'. A CPU is a pretty specific component inside the computer, and 'CPU case' sounds kind of like a CPU heatsink. 206.126.163.20 (talk) 21:56, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Disk image/operating system compatibility

If I create a disk image on a USB flash drive with Disk Utility in Mac OSX, can I open that image on a computer running Mac OS9? Could I encrypt it? Are there any alternatives to disk images that can be used to secure/encrypt files that are compatible with both OSX and OS9? Thanks a bunch. Ilikefood (talk) 23:13, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

TrueCrypt has plenty of good reviews. Kushal (talk) 23:28, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, but TrueCrypt needs 10.4 to run. Anything that will work with Mac OS 10.3.9? Ilikefood (talk) 23:49, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry about that. Kushal (talk) 00:04, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

No problem. :-) Ilikefood (talk) 00:19, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

It should be possible to find a PGP implementation for just about any operating system, even the old ones. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 00:56, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

PGP had an OS 9 client back in the day. Here's a interesting link that mentions what you need for OS 9 support. [4] --70.167.58.6 (talk) 19:57, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Real-world computational complexity

Has any theoretical work been done on adjusting computational complexity theory for such real-world complications as:

• The time taken for disk and RAM operations
• The effects of swapping if there is insufficient free RAM
• The overhead costs of system processes and security software
• The optimal allocation of a limited upgrade budget

NeonMerlin 23:39, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

You don't need new theories to model these factors. Their modeling may require painstaking and tedious analysis, but is not very interesting from a theoretical viewpoint. --72.94.50.27 (talk) 02:33, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Those things come into play very heavily during hardware and OS design, where paging and caching are very carefully watched to ensure they don't run wild. With that said, during application design, those factors don't typically affect runtime complexity, but may change the constant multiplicative factor. In other words, if an algorithm takes (3 seconds)*N^2 time in one case, and (5 seconds)*N^2 time in another (where N would be the number of elements of whatever we are operating on), it is O(N^2) both ways. Typically the worst-case or average complexity of an algorithm is what you pay most attention to, but when the constant factor becomes "very" large (e.g. Fibonacci heaps have notoriously large constant factors despite quite good theoretical runtime complexity) it might become an issue. From a more down-to-earth perspective, I think you'd optimize all factors independently to reach an ideal (or at least most cost-effective) solution: hardware, OS, and algorithmic logic. --Prestidigitator (talk) 04:34, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

May 21

how to sniff and play streaming mp3

When a user is listening streaming radio in mp3 format using application like Winamp, how can a network administrator monitor what is being listened by the user, by using packet sniffer? Is there any tool that will play mp3 which is being listened by other users on network at runtime? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.129.237.147 (talk) 06:08, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Driftnet claims to have that ability: http://www.ex-parrot.com/~chris/driftnet/

The hard part for our nosy network administrator is to convince his router(s) and/or switch(es) to pass all their traffic through his unix box. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:01, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Mysterious page inclusions/deletions

If you look at the revision history of the 2006 Lebanon War article, User:Ian Pitchford made [an edit] which didn't seem to effect the Media controversy section but generated a partially duplicated section above it. Not vandalism, as far as I can tell, but a computer error. Similarly, [this edit] did not actually seem to touch any parts of the "Mosquito repellents and personal mosquito control" section, but after the edit the content was deleted. Are these some strange computer errors or am I missing something? It seems like content errors are arising when not consciously committed by the editors. Please explain.72.184.183.175 (talk) 08:03, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

In 2006 Lebanon War, the "Media controversy" section actually exists twice in the wiki source. Before the edit you highlighted, one of those instances was being hidden by an unmatched <ref> tag. (The text actually got squeezed into the a footnote.) User:Ian Pitchford correctly changed it to a </ref> and the extra section popped out of the footnote list and back into place above its twin.

In Mosquito, some top-level section headers were added in between existing second-level headers, which caused some of the old second-level sections to appear in a different place in the tree (5.4 and 5.5 became 9.1 and 9.2) but I don't think anything actually disappeared. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 09:18, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

YouTube

I have a problem with YouTube. The "similar videos" box on the right has the problem - all the videos that are not in the box when it first appears go all the way down to the bottom of the screen, and the scrolling of the video names is not in sync with the video screenshots. What is causing this problem and how can I fix it? Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 11:53, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

What web browser and operating system are you using? « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 13:27, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

What Trusted timestamping service do you trust?

If you trust any, of course... Mr.K. (talk) 13:23, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

It would probably depend on what I was trusting it to do! If it was about patent priority, such a system would be secondary to getting trusted witnesses and building a strong paper record of how I got to said bright idea. And though I'm no lawyer, personally I would worry less about timestamping on MY end of things than making a hash of the work and sending it to, say, a dozen other people, all of whom could testify as to when they received it (or putting it on websites with timestamping beyond my control—even Wikipedia, for example). Do that enough times and the likelihood of buying everyone off and faking all of the technical data across a variety of machines seems rather unlikely. But in the end the courts are going to privilege witness testimony and ample paper records more than a few neat technical tricks, I suspect. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:12, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Can an Adobe Flash plugin read a person's MAC Address or other hardware/personal information?

Can an Adobe Flash plugin read a person's MAC Address or other hardware/personal information? I mean with the latest version that fixes some security flaws in the past? William Ortiz (talk) 15:50, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

If you do a google search for "actionscript mac address", it looks like the answer is no, unless you've saved the flash file to your computer, run it from there, and you've also installed some .exe file to help it get your mac address. Typically flash can only get the same sort of information that javascript can get, which is not much outside of what the browser knows. If you're asking if there's a security hole allowing unauthorized access, I have no idea. Indeterminate (talk) 23:11, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Java parser implementation?

As a hobby, I recently wrote a simple Java class library implementing a very basic form of lambda calculus. I now have a class library capable of representing lambda calculus expressions dealing with operations on rational numbers. But to be able to test the class library, I would have to be able to actually construct lambda calculus expressions. I could do it by constructing the objects by hand, but using a parser would be much more powerful. Problem is, I don't know how to write a parser. Is there an existing parser implementation in Java, that I could just feed a Backus-Naur grammar and instructions on what objects to construct? JIP | Talk 17:41, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Check out JavaCC (and JJTree). Those might be a decent place to start. --Prestidigitator (talk) 19:54, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

link sharing.

my site is bigtreespa.com. I want to know if I can link to your definition of swedish massage, shiatsu massage and sports massage? my email is (email address removed) —Preceding unsigned comment added by G2506 (talk • contribs) 19:20, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

You're free to link to any content in Wikipedia without asking permission. If you want to copy the content text to your own site you need to abide by the terms of the GNU Free Document License. (I've removed your email address per the reference desk guidelines because pages from Wikipedia are widely copied, which would make your email address very public.) — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 19:48, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Anything better than Anisotropic filtering?

Anisotropic filtering for 3D textures has been around for more than a decade (I remember Virtua Fighter 3 arcade had it). Has there been any better/cleaner/faster filtering methods since then? Is there a next generation filtering algorithm? --70.167.58.6 (talk) 20:16, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Not that I know of... I'm not aware of any major problems with anisotropic filtering that another method would improve on. Indeterminate (talk) 23:00, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Dotaing

What does this word mean? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.119.83.204 (talk) 22:28, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

afaik, it just means playing Defense of the Ancients. Indeterminate (talk) 22:33, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

May 22

How can I use public domain materials? Can I make money off of them?

Let us say I have some public domain material (text). Let us say I modify it, add it my own, stuff like that. Now, can I call it falling under my copyright? Or, since it contains public domain sentences, do I have to call it all public domain? Smaug 01:07, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

You can copy and sell them to make money, and there are books like that around. Usually the focus will be on producing a high quality book that can sell at a high price, even if the content is free. I have seen old books like this with copyright claimed by some company, and the only copyright bit is the new cover and verso page. Another common thing is to reproduce old pictures and sell at a premium price. Although you can claim copyright on your modifications you can't stop someone from copying the public domain component. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 02:36, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Even if you don't do anything to it you can make money off it if you want. Public domain means nobody has a (valid) copyright claim to it. Now if you don't modify anything, you can't claim copyright over it yourself, but if you add anything to it, that and only that are copyrighted.

So let's say you decide to come out with your own series of Sherlock Holmes reprints. You can't claim copyright on the stories themselves—those are in the public domain (at least the early ones are). But let's say you add your own illustrations. Bingo! Those are all yours, copyrighted and so forth, exclusive to you. How about some annotations and footnotes? Hooray, those are yours too! Again, the basic text, the stuff unmodified, that's still public domain—you can't sue somebody else for having a Sherlock Holmes book. But the new material falls under copyright.

Painting of the Mona Lisa? Public domain! Painting of the Mona Lisa that you drew sunglasses over? Can be copyrighted! But only the sunglasses part.

For more details, see derivative work—the modifications made to an existing work carry their own copyrights (though they do not trump a pre-existing copyright claim on the work if one exists). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 02:50, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Also, technically you should indicate where your own copyright notice begins and ends—what materials are new to you. There is technically a penalty for claiming false copyright—e.g. over public domain material. I have never seen this prosecuted and major companies, esp. photo companies, violate this all the time (Corbis, for example, has a huge amount of material in its archive that was produced by the US Federal Government and is not copyrightable, yet it is labeled as copyrighted all the same). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 13:56, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

GIMP question

How is it possible to blend two pics together using the Blend Tool in GIMP? All it seems to give me is colours, and not a choice of pic.--ChokinBako (talk) 04:30, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Try adding a layer mask and putting a gradient in it. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 04:48, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

(Edit conflict) I would guess by using something like the "FG to Transparent" gradient type on the front layer. You might be able to find more in the online documentation. Good luck! --Prestidigitator (talk) 04:50, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, both of you. I added the layer mask and put the gradient in, and it worked, as it became transparent. But I couldn't put a pic over it. Was I supposed to do that on the second pic? AGH! Sudden realisation while I write!--ChokinBako (talk) 07:55, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Yup! Got it! Thanks!--ChokinBako (talk) 08:02, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Running many with &&

On Windows XP, how can I run... many "msg" commands with one go? Typing in msg * Hello && msg * Hello Again won't work as expected. It does work from the command line. 212.149.216.233 (talk) 08:48, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

I haven't tried it, but cmd /c "msg * Hello && msg * Hello Again" should work. -- BenRG (talk) 11:20, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

ActionScript: make _rotate rotate smoothly

I have this script:

on (release) { mc1._rotation -=90; }

it rotates the movieclip 1, but I want it to rotate smoothly (accelerate and then brake).

How can I change it?

RgdsMr.K. (talk) 12:26, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

One way is to do it with tweening in Actionscript, which has its own "ease" setting (which is the smoothness).

The other way is to give your movieclip a property of, say, a destination_rotation and then have a function that every frame or so checks to see if the destionation_rotation has been hit or not and, if not, rotate the movieclip a bit. The way to make it "speed up" at the beginning and "slow down" at the end is just to figure out whether you are in the first or last 5% of all rotations and to adjust how many rotations you make per frame.

Make sense? I don't have code handy but if you google "smooth motion actionscript" or "smooth rotation actionscript" there should be examples of both, I believe. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 13:47, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

It seems to me that better would be to have a specified mathematical model: store an old_rotation, a destination_rotation, a rotation_time, and a rotation_start and then calculate $r(t)=r_{o}+f\left({\frac {t-s}{T}}\right)(r_{d}-r_{o})$ where f is a surjective, monotonically increasing function from $[0,1]$ onto itself whose derivative is larger in the middle than at the ends. For instance, take $f'(x)=Cx(1-x)$ so (using $f(0)=0,\;f(1)=1$) $f(x)=6\left({\frac {x^{2}}{2}}-{\frac {x^{3}}{3}}\right)$. If you don't want the speed to ever be 0, try instead $f(x)={\frac {6}{1+6c}}\left({\frac {x^{2}}{2}}-{\frac {x^{3}}{3}}+cx\right)$ for some positive c. One could also look at the arctangent function or the logistic curve depending on the precise amount of acceleration desired. --Tardis (talk) 15:09, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

That would probably be more perfect in an ideal world, but for most actionscript it would be overkill and a bit processor intensive. Actionscript is pretty crappy at the big equations in my experience, and assuming you've got anything else going on at the same time it'll really lag it to do something that complicated. Again, we're talking about probably less than 100 frames here—precision isn't the problem. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:21, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for all answers. I'll go with the tweener class. Mr.K. (talk) 16:08, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

The overhead involved in calculating a polynomial with as few terms as these have is so trivial as to not deserve mention. The actual math to rotate the image (and interpolate properly to avoid bad artifacts in so doing; see the similar image scaling problem) is so much more complicated that, even with the polynomial being interpreted and the image manipulation done directly by native code, my bet is on the image manipulation taking the majority of the effort. Anyway, premature optimization and all that. The only issue is whether evaluating t (that is, consulting the system clock) is expensive for some reason; then t could be a measure of frames instead. --Tardis (talk) 23:07, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Incredibly stupid Python question...

I'm a python neophyte and I have a question regarding a fundamental part of the language. In C-style languages, if you want to iterate over a sequence of numbers or the items in an array, you'd use the familiar for-construct:

for(i = 0; i<somenumber; i++)

Of course, it doesn't quite work like that in python, it uses the whole neat built-in looping over an array-thing instead of the old-school for loop. If you do want to iterate over a range of numbers, the python tutorial recommends iterating over the range function, like so:

for i in range(somenumber)

I have a question about this though: what if you want to iterate over, say, 5 million numbers? I mean, it seems incredibly stupid to create a five-million sized array just to iterate over (it makes me shudder in the old parts of my brain that spent hours optimizing c-code). Is there some smoother way to do this? Obviously, you could just use a while loop:

i = 0
while i<somenumber:
    #here be code
    #...
    #...
    i+=1

But this is not nearly as elegant, especially since you have to have the increment at the end (you could have it at the beginning, but then you'd have to initialize i to -1 and compare to somenumber-1, and that is even less elegant). There seems like there should be a better way, especially in a language like python which is all about elegance. Can anyone help a stupid guy out? 83.250.207.154 (talk) 15:33, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Of course Python has an elegant solution. In fact, it is so elegant that it is all but invisible. Although the Python for statement looks as if it is looping through a pre-built list, it actually uses iterator behaviour (derive and return next item, yield control) by default as long as its target object supports this behaviour - see iterator#Python and this article and this one too for more details. All of the Python built-in sequence classes support iterator behaviour, and you can add it to your own classes if you need it. You might also want to check out the xrange function - a memory-efficient alternative to range. (BTW, not a stupid question at all - the Python tutorial makes very little mention of iterators, which is a pity). Gandalf61 (talk) 16:02, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

So if I understand you correctly, xrange is actually an iterator object, instead of a list? Clever! I have to say though, I still kinda prefer the traditional construct. It's so much more direct. I've (almost) come to peace with the whole "whitespace has semantic meaning"-thing, but the for-loop is going to take longer :) (btw, you do feel like a total moron when you've coded for the better part of two decades, and you have to ask a question about a fundamental control structure :) I blame the cabalistic alchemy that is the python programming language (seriously people, it has a lambda operator!). I really love the array slicing thing, though) 83.250.207.154 (talk) 19:26, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

There's nothing cryptic about lambda, it just has a poorly chosen name. Some languages (like ML) call it function or fn instead. And some languages use iota for the numeric range operator, which makes it look cryptic. (I'm blanking on examples, though, aside from APL, where everything is cryptic.) I don't think iterating over a numeric range is less direct than initializing a variable and incrementing it until a termination condition is satisfied. It's just a more compact expression of the same thing. Both foreach and lambda are great ideas that are spreading to more and more languages. The upcoming C++0x standard has both (though not by those names). -- BenRG (talk) 23:13, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

I just meant that it sounds like something Christian Rosencreutz would put in, if he was designing a language :) (new slogan: "Python: the language of choice for a Templar!"). I realize that it's very useful, but it has a sort-of mystical feel to it. It's not as bad as APL though, that language is deep black magic. As for the directness of iterating over a range of values instead of just incrementing a variable, that's just me being a fuddy-duddy. When you do that in C (or C++, Java, or any other C-style language), there is a sort of directness to it: you create a value, it resides in a specific place in memory, then you increment it. You're speaking pretty much directly to the computer, telling it what to do. In contrast, creating an object that calls an iterating function to step through the values is far more abstract, and far more removed from the nitty-gritty of what the computer is actually doing. I'm having a little trouble getting used to that, but I'm sure I'll be a converted python zealot soon enough 83.250.207.154 (talk) 07:25, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

As regards the lambda expression, it is simply a shortcut for creating an in-line unbound function object. If you want to, you can avoid lambda completely by using def to create a function and bind a name to it instead. So

(lambda *args: <some expression> )(foo, bar)

is exactly the same as

def spam(*args): return <some expression>

spam(foo, bar)

Having lambda in the language is just like being able to write

eggs = eggs + 'Holy Grail'

instead of being forced to create an object with value 'Holy Grail' and bind a name to it before you can reference it, like this

holy_grail = 'Holy Grail'

eggs = eggs + holy_grail

Like iterators, lambda is another topic that is poorly explained in the "comes with" Python tutorial, which covers it in one short paragraph with a badly chosen, overly-complex example. The on-line book Dive into Python gives a much better explanation here. Gandalf61 (talk) 09:47, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Other useful commands are:

enumerate(['a', 'b', 'c'])
    = [(0, 'a'), (1, 'b'), (2, 'c')]
zip(['a', 'b', 'c'], ['d', 'e', 'f', 'g'], ['h', 'i', 'j', 'k'])
    = [('a', 'd', 'h'), ('b', 'e', 'i'), ('c', 'f', 'j')]

--h2g2bob (talk) 22:12, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Blu-Ray playback on Mac (non-copyrighted material)

I'm burning my own Blu-Ray video discs from hi-def camera footage. Is there any Blu-Ray playback software on the Mac? (not for movies, but for home authored projects) --70.167.58.6 (talk) 16:16, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

There is no Apple-supplied Blu-Ray drive option for any current Macs. While it's possible to put a BR drive into an external enclosure and hook it up to the mac, last time I checked, OS X will only recognize this for data, and there is no existing playback of Blu-Ray video available. Donald Hosek (talk) 23:17, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Different OS = different fonts?

If I have Windows can I use fonts that someone used in a Mac?Mr.K. (talk) 16:26, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

The most common font format is TrueType and that formate is supported on both Mac OS and Windows. Seano1 (talk) 17:42, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

And Linux for that matter. APL (talk) 23:52, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

It didn't used to be the case, but now it pretty much is. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 17:50, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Sending e-mails without disclosing everyone copied into them.

I have always simply clicked on To - and then clicked on addresses in my address book and then clicked on Send Now. But I am aware that my e-mail then shows everyone else's e-mail address to all other recipients. But I sometimes receive e-mails fom various people that have been copied to others but which don't show their e-addresses. How do I do that please? And thanks in anticipation.92.21.228.246 (talk) 17:00, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

There should be a feature for blind carbon copy or BCC, depending on your e-mail application. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 17:18, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Often BCC is not enabled by default, but can be found if you muck around in the preferences. Nobody receiving the e-mail can see any of the addresses on the BCC list. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:02, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

FreeHand to SVG

I'm looking for a decent freeware Macromedia Freehand to SVG converter. Admiral Norton ^(talk) 17:24, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

If you actually have a copy of Freehand, you could try exporting to PDF (or EPS) format and using Scribus to convert to SVG. I've never worked with Freehand myself, but I've generally found that Scribus tends to do an excellent job of converting PDF to SVG (certainly better than Inkscape, usually). —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 18:09, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

More command prompt

What command is used to open the D: drive in command prompt, and its syntax, please. Also, how does one shutdown the computer from command prompt? I can on my usual computer (with the "shutdown" command) which has a newer version of command prompt, but this is version 5.00.2195 in Windows 2000 (for both of these questions, in fact). Thanks, Zrs 12 (talk) 19:31, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

You should be able to simply type "D:" then hit <Enter> if you are using DOS. From there you can issue any ensuing commands like "dir" to list the directory entries and so forth.

For shutting down type "SHUTDOWN -s -t 01" for complete shutdown, and "SHUTDOWN -r -t 01" for restarting. I think these should work for your version... WDavis1911 (talk) 19:43, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, now I meant open the drive to be able to place a CD in it. When I type in D: it says "Device not ready". Also, shutdown -s -t XX is the command I use on my normal computer, but it won't work with this version. When I type in shutdown -s -t 01, it says "'shutdown' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file." -- Zrs 12 (talk) 20:04, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

If you want to see the contents of the D: drive from the command prompt, you can type "explorer d:\". The shutdown command is not available on Win2K unless the Resource Kit is installed, but you can try TSSHUTDN (type TSSHUTDN /? to get the usage and switches). I didn't work on the system I just tried, perhaps because I'm connect via a remote control session. --LarryMac | Talk 19:59, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

"TSSHUTDN" doesn't work. It says "'tsshutdn' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file." And I am wanting to open the D: drive to be able to insert a CD. -- Zrs 12 (talk) 20:07, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

For opening the drive tray, I don't think there's a built-in tool, but Google seems to turn up a ton of third party utilities. I can't actually view any "free software" sites from this computer, so you'll have to do the legwork on that one. TSSHUTDN is actually part of Terminal Services, so if that component wasn't installed then again, I'd search for a third party solution. --LarryMac | Talk 20:19, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Ah, I see. I don't know the DOS command (if one exists natively) for opening the CD drive, but there are utilities that you can install that let you do that. Try this link. For your other problem, is the Resource Kit available to you for you to install? If so I would take that route. WDavis1911 (talk) 20:17, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Note that "DOS" and "Windows command prompt" are two entirely different things. It looks like that link points to a DOS eject utility, and the page mentions that it may or may not work in Windows (and if it does it'll only be via a fairly circuitous process of emulation). These ones appear to be Windows apps, but I can't personally vouch for any of them: [5] [6] [7]. -- BenRG (talk) 21:03, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Writing DVDs

I have a faulty DVD+RW disk. Something went wrong during the finalisation process and now both my DVD players refuse to play the disk. However, my PC is sometimes able to play the DVD without error and at other times struggles to read the disk. On an occasion when it was working, I copied all the folder structure and files (.vob, .ifo, .buf) to my hard disk. Can I simply copy those folders and files onto a new blank DVD+RW and play it on my TV? Astronaut (talk) 21:28, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes- you can compile a DVD with the folder AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS and their contents and burn it like you would a data disc. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:15, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

That's not necessarily true. DVD-Video is not just a bunch of files on a DVD; it requires the UDF file system (not ISO 9660) and it requires the files in the VIDEO_TS folder to be arranged in a particular way on the disc. You need DVD burning software with special support for writing DVD-Video discs. I'm pretty sure all DVD burning software has that support these days, but it won't necessarily be enabled automatically. You need to tell it that you're making a DVD-Video disc. But yes, those VOB, IFO, BUP files are the only ones you need. -- BenRG (talk) 01:40, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Domains

I have just created a new wiki on my own computer and at a home server. How do i get (something like) en.wikipedia.org as my domain name. I know it will cost. Can a 123reg.co.uk domain be used? How do you associate it? CyberThing (talk) 21:49, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

I got my domain name registered at nominet.co.uk and my site is hosted by my ISP, for which I pay a small premium over my regular broadband fee. My ISP were the ones who sorted out the connection between my site on their servers and my domain name. I'm not sure how it works if you host the site on your own server but I would assume you need that machine to have a fixed IP address. Even so, your ISP are probably the best people to turn to because all traffic would have to be routed through their servers anyway.

The difficulty I had was finding a domain name that wasn't already taken by a reseller and simply "parked". They usually offered those domains for sale, but why should I pay these scumbags when thay have no intention of using the domain for something more than selling it on. Astronaut (talk) 22:09, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

You also need to check the fine print with your ISP. Running a web server may be against the terms of service for a home account. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:12, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

See Dynamic DNS. One of these places could probably help you. However, as per above, make sure that your home ISP gives you the right to run a web server and that you have enough bandwidth to cover however much traffic you're expecting. APL (talk) 12:42, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Excel question

I have 3 columns of data in Excel. In Column "B", some cells have a trailing coma. If one of the cells in column "B" has a coma, I need that coma erased. If the coma isn't at the end of the column, I need it to stay.

Comas in other columns need to stay also.

Is there a way to accomplish this with find/replace? It could save me a full day. I'm using Excel 2007 for Mac, but have 2003 on my old HP machine, and I could use that if I have to.

Thanks for the help.

71.164.116.200 (talk) 21:57, 22 May 2008 (UTC) –I figured it out, I had to learn how to use Macros--I found one that did it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.164.116.200 (talk) 23:39, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

The easiest way is to just make a new column with a function like, =IF(RIGHT(B1,1)=",",LEFT(B1,LEN(B1)-1),B1)) which (unless I've counted parens incorrectly) will just give you column B except without trailing commas. Once you've applied that to an entire column then you can copy that new column and paste special > paste as values (or whatever it is called) over the old column. Voilà! --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:01, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Even easier to use the text to column fuction, select the column, select text to column feature, select delimited, next, tick the comma box and click finish. This will remove all commas regardless of the field length Hughiemcl (talk) 19:50, 23 May 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hughiemcl (talk • contribs) 19:47, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

May 23

Computer restart problem - fix

If we just add a power source into computer that would just keep data in RAM safe, then we wouldn't need computer restarts, right? --V4vijayakumar (talk) 13:34, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

What do you mean? Computer restarts are needed precisely because what is currently in RAM isn't what we want it to be, so we want to delete it and load everything from scratch. If you mean that if we keep the RAM intact when powering down the computer, we could avoid the long boot times - we already have that, and it usually goes by the name "standby". -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 13:58, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Request: OpenOffice.org macro

OpenOffice.org Writer doesn't have a built-in feature for converting "straight quotes" into "smart quotes". Is anyone knowledgeable in Oo.o macros willing to implement the following rules in a macro and release it for anyone to use without charge?

Here are the rules:

1. Any straight quote that occurs immediately after a non-whitespace (i.e. NOT space, tab, line-feed, or paragraph break) character is converted into a "closing" curly quote of the right variety (variety meaning single vs. double).
2. Any straight quote not converted in the previous rule is converted into an "opening" curly quote of the right variety.
3. If there is currently a text selection, the quote conversion should be limited to text selection.

Thanks. --72.78.237.229 (talk) 14:06, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Check out http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.phtml?t=59003 --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:46, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

securing my wifi

how to make sure that no one is stealing my wifi —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.96.31.31 (talk) 14:55, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

For a starter, enable WPA2 security (or WPA if not all of the equipment involved supports WPA2). Do not rely on WEP or leave the wireless interface unprotected. Also, if a user-selected passphrase/key is used, use only long, random, unguessable passphrases/keys. Anything that would make a bad password under the usual password guidelines would also make a bad WPA passphrase. Change the key/passphrase every couple months.

There are other things that you can do to mitigate the risks, but the above should be among the first to do. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.78.237.229 (talk) 15:22, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Debian SSL/SSH vulnerability

Does the recently-announced Debian SSL/SSH vulnerability put me at any risk of attack, given that I am the only user of my computer and it is firewalled against all incoming connections? Is it possible that I have a key that I will need to replace? Will the package manager automatically download all necessary updates, in case I need to generate an SSL or SSH key in the future? I use Kubuntu Hardy Heron. This is a home computer, and I am satisfied that an attack from within the LAN would be impossible even on those occasions when the one other computer on the LAN is running. NeonMerlin 15:06, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

You need to patch your PRNG now, not the next time you generate a key. It's used for more than just key generation. If your system is set to install security updates automatically (which it should be) then your PRNG is probably already fixed. Otherwise you should start the update process manually (I don't know how this works for Ubuntu). If you're running an SSL or SSH server then you need to generate a new host key, but it sounds like you aren't (or, if you are, it's inaccessible and you might as well just disable it). If you use the SSH authorized_keys feature to log in to a remote machine, you need to generate a new key for that. Any other keys you would probably know about. Not directly on topic, but for anyone interested, here is a very good technical discussion of the problem (not just the bug itself but the far scarier process failure that allowed it into the code base at all). -- BenRG (talk) 18:25, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Wait, isn't he saying that he doesn't run a SSH server? If you don't have an SSH server or a key for it, you're fine and dandy! To make sure you're not at risk, run

ssh-vulnkey

in the terminal. But if you've never manually generated a key then you don't have one. And yes, assuming you have updated your packages like you should, future keys will be properly random. Besides, if you run your home-network using a router and you haven't port-forwarded port 22 to your computer, you're protected by that too.

In short: you're almost certainly not at risk. Still, run ssh-vulnkey. 83.252.191.19 (talk) 19:23, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

SSH is the easiest way to attack a computer with a faulty SSL random number generator. However, OpenSSL is used for a number of other encryption systems, so you still need to update it. --Carnildo (talk) 19:29, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Home Server

I recently asked whether how to create a mediawiki wiki. I cannot do this on a home server. This site offers MediaWiki hosting. Does this involve a home server and does it contridict AOL's T&Cs. Thanks. CyberThing (talk) 15:43, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

If someone offers hosting, then it means exactly that: the company hosts your wiki/site/whatever. So the rules like 5.3.2 won't apply to you. --grawity 17:56, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

quality of Windows Live SkyDrive

What quality can I expect form Windows Live SkyDrive? Will it be always free? Is it reliable? Can a third party access my files? Should we trust them? Mr.K. (talk) 18:16, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

It looks similar to other online file storage services. I see nothing to suggest that it's especially secure (or especially insecure). You can always use a service like this securely by encrypting your files locally before you upload them with a program like GnuPG or TrueCrypt. As far as uptime and long-term availability, you're probably better off with Microsoft than some fly-by-night web business. -- BenRG (talk) 20:45, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Exceptions to crossfading

Does any music-management software on the market allow the user to mark specific songs so that they will not overlap other songs, and/or so that they will always start or end at full volume, even when crossfading is on? NeonMerlin 18:42, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

MS Word 2003 Question

Is it possible to remove the 'author' details from a Word document? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Givnan (talk • contribs) 20:39, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Google for "remove personal information" "MS Office 2003". --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:59, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Restricted Surfing Zone

In the oceanic sport of 'Surfing' when beach employees close a section off for surfing, they put out these Black flags, the term is 'BLACK BALL'. My question is in regards to the Internet surfing restricted zones (per employer): Is there a site that you can surf within a surf / A webpage within a webpage / Browser within a browser?

Note: in surfing the sport, you can go inside the wave, they call this the Barrel, seen by beach go'ers as nobody out there, but being inside the inside spot, we say 'Man...Dude...did you catch my wicked Barrel back there!!?'

--216.100.216.5 (talk) 20:49, 23 May 2008 (UTC)jacob v

Can you explain your question a bit more, it's hard to see what you're getting at. Employers can restrict what web pages employees visit. Normally this is done through some kind of content-control software. Sometimes these restrictions can be circumvented by going through an open proxy or one of the methods described at Internet censorship#Circumvention. --h2g2bob (talk) 22:06, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

iphone vs blackberry

which one do you prefer? why?

The Computing Reference desk isn't really the best place to start discussions / debates. There are a lot of message boards and forums where this sort of question will be greatly appreciated. Nimur (talk) 23:05, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried typing in "iphone vs. blackberry" into Google? --70.167.58.6 (talk) 23:18, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

android

there are many mobile platforms like windows mobile, mobile linux, limo linux, symbian palm etc..

but why has google launched android? how is android different from above mentioned platforms? what does google want to achieve and what is their gameplan plan

This is more of a business strategy question than a computing question. Clearly Google is hoping to position itself for participation in the rapidly emerging market of mobile telephony. Many modern phones are more than just a voice communicator - they are an internet-enabled mobile data platform. Google's efforts are definitely guided by the idea of mobile internet. As far as what differentiates its platform from the many various alternatives, the best reference would be our Android (platform) article. Nimur (talk) 23:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Failed RAID mirror - both drives

I am running Vista on a Dell XPS 420. I came home to find both drives failed in a RAID 1 mirror. Dell gave me no help recovering data, but did send two new drives. I have installed Vista on one of the new drives without RAID. I wanted to see if I could recover any files from the failed drives, but I can't seem to get Vista to recognize either of the old drives that were in the failed RAID array. The failed drive does appear during boot up and still shows as part of a failed array. How can I get Vista to recognize the failed drive so that I can then attempt to run file recovery software on it? dryguy (talk) 23:46, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I think it's be better and easiers to use PhotoRec (it recovers more than photos) on a Linux LiveCD than trying to get Vista to recognise the drive. --antilived^{T | C | G} 00:18, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

May 24

My new motherboard is making me sad

Hi, my new motherboard+CPU will not boot at all. The cpu and case fans run when I power it on. I have disconnected everything except the power switch header and power supply, and put the motherboard on a piece of cardboard to remove the possibility of a short circuit. There is no signal output from the onboard VGA, and there are no POST beeps at all (with speaker header connected). I did a CMOS reset; no change. The dealer did a RAM and CPU test with this motherboard, and they worked. Specs: Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2C, Intel CORE 2 DUO E6750 2.66G, 4GB Kingston DDR2-667, 300W P/S. Any ideas? Thanks. --Sean 04:24, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Am I missing something here? A new motherboard that you can't take back for a replacement? Just take your whole system to the dealer to check? Depending on your graphics card, 300W PSU sounds a little underpowered... but it could be anything. Swap out components at the dealer until you find the faulty one. Sandman30s (talk) 22:12, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Archive of flash site

I think it is highly unlikely, but I was wondering if in any way it would be possible to get an archive of this page: [8], along with content from it, including zipped files of the training videos. One example is this "GeneralWarmUp_videos.zip", and similar file(s) in PDF. Googling yielded nothing, and archive.org does not seem to archive it properly, at least I didn't get it to work right. They have replaced the training site with their Sparq training, before it was Nike Bauer hockey training, and was really well laid out. I'm sure if I emailed them they'd just say better things are to come. Maybe if they put all the old content. I'm sure the new site might be good, but this one was really good for hockey training. Many videos are on youtube, but not all, and not in proper order. It probably won't help, but it was taken down within a space of a couple weeks or so. Alright, thanks very much! Baseballfan (talk) 05:40, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Anyone? TIA. Baseballfan (talk) 05:26, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

All I get is an error for that site. You might try httrack for web archiving, but most archivers have problems with anything more advanced than HTML and basic JavaScript. Think outside the box 19:07, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Transferring files to MP3 player

I am currently using a Compaq Presario 2500 laptop I bought five years ago. Since the original USB ports no longer work effectively, I use a USB card for stuff. I am trying to transfer files to my MP3 player, a Samsung YP-U1, which is no problem for newer computers but is problematic here. When I plug in the player, it works fine but when I try to do anything - deleting a file, uploading a new one - it stops and disconnects. Then it magically reconnects but then disconects once I attempt to do something. This cycle repeats and I believe it could be a problem with the card itself and not the player. What do I do? --Blue387 (talk) 08:23, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I have continued to try transferring files using an USB extension cable but it does not work. I am very frustrated. Is there an alternative? I could try my college's computer labs if not for the labs being closed for the weekend. I am frustrated by by old computer preventing me from performing a simple one minute operation. --Blue387 (talk) 09:13, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

This is probably obvious but have you made sure the drivers are up to date? --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 17:52, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Compaq Presario 2500 ships with Win XP which has basic support for most USB drives. Have you tried it with other USB devices, to see if the problem is with the card or the player? The new card reader could be in conflict with the computers original ports, so try disabling the USB ports in Device Manager (Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager) and see if that solves your problem. Also, is this a CompactFlash or SD card your talking about? SDHC cards over 2GB don't work on old card readers. See Compatibility issues with 2 GB and larger cards. Think outside the box 19:21, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Ipod Touch Downgrading

When I try to downgrade my ipod touch it comes up with "an unknown error has occured (5)"I am trying to downgrade my ipod touch from firmware 1.1.4 to firmware 1.1.1 and it comes up with that error. I have downloaded the 1.1.1 software. What I am doing is when I am in Itunes with the Ipod summary I click restore (while holding shift), select the 1.1.1 firmware and then it comes up with that error!! Is there something I'm doing wrong? PLEASE HELP!!!!!! 220.233.83.26 (talk) 09:24, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Just wondering, why do you want to downgrade your iPod? --grawity 17:40, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Preserving quality of an image

Hello,

I have some page images that I was going to upload. I scanned them as black-and-white PNGs. Some of them have black areas around the edges, though. I was going to open them up in Photoshop and use the paint-bucket tool to fill it in. But to do that I have to convert it to grayscale. Fireworks seems to convert them to RGB. I think that PNG is a lossless format (right?), but does editing the images still degrade quality or blur them? Some could use cropping, too. I'm worried because the images are also going to be processed using OCR.

Thanks,

Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 13:43, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

PNG is lossless. Converting them to grayscale if they are already black and white won't lose any quality. I would just use the crop tool, personally, it is a lot less trouble. I would not worry about degradation in this case as long as you don't save it to a compressed, lossy format. I wouldn't worry about the OCR at all in this case, it won't be affected. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:34, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

ok. Thanks. --Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 17:44, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

bittorrent situation in France

so I'm in France and don't get US television, but I really miss the colbert report.

I'm not asking for legal advice, but in general what is the p2p situation in France? Would I get in trouble if I download the show via bittorrent? After all, it's an American show it's not even available in France so I'm certainly not depriving anyone of any profits or anything else.

What do you think? Thank you. (Again, I'm not asking for legal advice, just the technical situation in a different country.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Colbertfan31 (talk • contribs) 15:39, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Is it illegal? Yes. Does it matter if you can't get it on TV? No. Are you really depriving anyone of profits? Technically you are, in the sense that you aren't watching the commercials, which is what really pays for the show. Will you probably get in trouble? Unlikely, but that's not legal advice of any sort.

There are, of course, more legal ways to do it. I'm pretty sure you can buy it on iTunes and there are tons of clips on the Colbert Report's website. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:41, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

ok (not asking for legal advice) do you think people in france get touble for this sort of thing? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.88.122.226 (talk) 18:41, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, the vast majority of the people who engage in this sort of thing never get in trouble for it anywhere. Generally speaking, you're far more likely to get in trouble if you are very actively engaged in distributing a considerable volume of copyrighted material than if you just occasionally download something, but really, it's mostly a question of someone wanting to take the time and wanting to make an example of someone, and happening to find you. Law enforcement agencies themselves are unlikely to bother, because they tend to have more urgent things to do, but the parties that hold the rights have been known to do some investigating on their own and turning the results over to the police, essentially trying to hand them ready-made cases. In the past, the music industry (or, more specifically, the RIAA) has been far more aggressive about that sort of thing than the TV people are, but in any case, if you do this sort of stuff, you're always taking something of a chance. Still, if you're a private individual who happens to download fresh episodes of a foreign TV show from the internet, I'd bet that you're very unlikely to get in trouble for it. If you're offering constant and fairly dependable download access to, say, a music library of 10 000 songs, that's a whole different situation; then there's an incentive to make an example of you. Still, it is illegal, and you could get in trouble for it. I think it's extremely unlikely (so much so that I personally wouldn't give it much thought) -- but it's not impossible. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 00:41, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Some music industry bodies have started "poisoning" torrents, where they share intentionally corrupt files to prevent you downloading them, for example this. Think outside the box 19:04, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

CD player woes (reposted with updated question)

Hello, I have a Toshiba satellite with Windows XP. recently, I am having problems with my matshita dvd-ram uj-840s. It does not show up under my computer anymore. There is a generic windows file icon instead. I then used Device Manager to uninstall the driver for the device. I rebooted my computer and hoped for the best. Windows detected the cd drive; however, it was unable to correctly install drivers for it. What should I do? Please help me. --67.165.212.35 (talk) 13:18, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Search for a driver? --LarryMac | Talk 13:26, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. I already installed the program (.exe) given by the top hit. There was no effect. How can I find the official website from which to download the driver? --67.165.212.35 (talk) 13:48, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Normally I'd say go to Toshiba, but trying to search for that drive on their site didn't get me anywhere. What is the specific model number of your computer? --LarryMac | Talk 17:47, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Its a Satellite M55-S135. --Kushal (talk) 18:29, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I am downloading a file from Toshiba's website. --Kushal (talk) 18:35, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

I was about to post a link with a similar URL that looks more like an explosion in a typesetting room than a web address.... --LarryMac | Talk 18:38, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

You have been a great help, LarryMac. I don't have any good news yet, however. The software unpacked and installed. However, nothing changed. :( What could have happened? --Kushal (talk) 18:55, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

developing story: It seems that Windows does not have the drivers for any CD device. I plugged in my SanDisk Cruzr with U3 disk, and Windows showed problems with that too! Is there a way that I can force Windows to download drivers from the Microsoft website? Kushal (talk) 12:00, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

It seems your windows installation is screwed up. I'd suggest formatting and reinstalling. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.202.21.253 (talk) 14:29, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

That's sad. How am I supposed to reinstall when Windows does not recognize my CD drive? :( Any more takers, please? Kushal (talk) 01:24, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

That isn't a problem. When you are _installing_ Windows from a CD, you are not _running_ Windows. Instead, you are running a program from a bootable CD. So, all you really need is the Windows CD, a functioning CD drive and the base hardware that sees it.

Have you verified yet that the actual hardware is good? When you first start your laptop, can you get into the BIOS setup? Does it see the CD drive? Can you boot from it? If you can, then the drive is good. This is, indeed, a windows driver issue, and reinstalling Windows should fix it. Reinstalling is overkill, yeah, but it will fix it.

If, however, your BIOS does not see the CD drive, then this is a hardware issue -something is broken, either the drive or the controller- and reinstalling Windows won't fix that. -SandyJax (talk) 14:27, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, SandyJax. I will check to see it asap. Kushal (talk) 19:38, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Update: The BIOS sees the "CD/DVD" drive. When Windows is running, I can open the CD tray and close it, and the LED flashes for a bit while a little sound comes which means the CD drive is trying to read if there is a CD in it. I would love it if it were possible for me to just download the required drivers from Microsoft but the download center (both new and old interfaces) could not find what I was looking for. I could not use Mozilla Firefox to do automatic downloads (which I don't understand why) and the ActiveX warning never popped up when I tried using Internet Explorer. I am using Windows XP service pack 2 on that computer. Kushal (talk) 01:50, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

What should I do? Kushal (talk) 13:46, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

New image of "my computer" screen

Some kinds of hardware use drivers supplied by the hardware manufacturer (e.g. graphics cards), but CD drives normally use a driver written by Microsoft and included in every version of Windows. You probably can't download it for the same reason you can't download Windows Explorer—you've either got it already or you don't need it. If you're really missing this driver then something is seriously wrong with your Windows installation and you need to reinstall. It's more likely that the problem has some other cause, but your best bet is still probably to reinstall Windows. It's hard to troubleshoot this kind of problem even with physical access to the computer, much less via an Internet forum. It would probably take longer and involve more manual effort than a reinstall, and it's less likely to work. You don't necessarily need to format and reinstall, though; you can first try installing on top of what you already have, which will save a lot of time if it works. -- BenRG (talk) 20:08, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, BenRG. I installed the (Wubi) Ubuntu 8.04 and the CD player works out of the box. It seems like I have no alternative to reinstalling Windows. Thanks everyone. (However, I still wish there was a way to download the required software from Microsoft. It just does not sound logical that I need to reinstall my OS just so that my CD drivers are in place.) :( Kushal (talk) 03:30, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Flash Drive

I know a computer can be booted from a CD. My question is, can a computer be booted from a flash drive with a .iso image of say linux on it? Thanks, Zrs 12 (talk) 16:25, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

A quick Google search for "flash drive start up" brings up several results, this being the first. Dismas|^(talk) 16:40, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

(ec) Flash drive also mentions the possibility. Also, the One Laptop per Child computers will boot from flash memory (they won't even have hard drives). Algebraist 16:48, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

And another question: Is a .iso even a bootable file type? Zrs 12 (talk) 16:53, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

.iso is a complete image of a CD. So if it was made from a bootable CD, then it will have the bootloader and stuff. By the way, I just finished installing Fedora 9 Live into my USB flash drive. --grawity 17:38, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, I downloaded xubuntu and copied that image to my flash drive. How can I get my computer to boot from this flash drive? Also, how could I boot from CD and what effects would that have on my Windows OS and internal hard drive? Would it delete any of my files or anything? Thanks, Zrs 12 (talk) 18:12, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You can boot from a flash drive, but I doubt there's any computer that'll let you boot from an ISO file on a flash drive. I don't think that overwriting the flash drive with the ISO image will work either. There are Linux distributions that boot from flash, but it's not as easy as downloading a file and copying it to the drive. Generally I think they require you to install Linux on the flash drive in much the same way you'd install it on a hard drive (which will probably require booting from a CD or floppies first). -- BenRG (talk) 19:55, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Or see this HOWTO. --antilived^{T | C | G} 22:42, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Either the BIOS would have to read the iso format, or you'd need some bootable software on the flash drive that could emulate a CD drive. I don't think either exists yet. Think outside the box 18:57, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Underclock macbook pro

I have a first generation 2Ghz macbook pro. This model is notorious for over heating, sometimes it hits 80C. I have Fan Control installed (which controls the fans in greater detail), and iStat pro monitors the temperature, and I am NOT happy at it heating the whole house like that. Other than cooling pads, can you underclock the processors, at maybe 1.9 or 1.95, to keep in the 70's celsius?81.150.247.152 (talk) 17:18, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

in the 80s? and I thought my macbook was overheating when it hit the 60s (and turned the lid off on it, just as right now, I am on a Toshiba Satellite M55-S135 with Windows XP Home). Can you recall when (and how long after the purchase) you noticed that the temperature could get to the high 70s and the 80s? Have you spoken to Apple about it? (sorry for not signing). Kushal (talk) 20:14, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

80s, under load, is not unknown or uncommon for Macbook Pros (see [9]). My newer model Macbook Pro, with the fan running at stock speeds, idles in the 40s and 50s, and goes into the high 70s under load. They're hot suckers. I'm unaware of any way to underclock it; the only thing that might help that I know of is reapplying the thermal interface paste, which is a sure fire way to ruin it if you do it incorrectly. 24.76.169.85 (talk) 00:31, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

It was their first ever attempt at an Intel laptop, and a well known issue. But just because something is normal doesn't mean it's safe, I've done everything practical I can to deal with it. Fans are going at full capacity, and it is still hotter than Halle Berry. Reason I ask, is I really don't need absolutely all of the capacity. 81.150.247.152 (talk) 05:01, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

• without sounding flippant, if you dont need the full spec of the macbook pro, sell it and get a newer macbook. No heat issues, and they're cheaper. The money from the pro could go virtually all the way to the macbook. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.157.97.154 (talk) 18:37, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Chip fan failed

My computer's chip fan has failed (or at least the BIOS setup says so).

1. Is it the little fan on the motherboard?
2. Is it replaceable?
3. Will it do much damage if I don't fix|replace it?

--grawity 17:47, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I am puzzled. Does your computer even start up normally or are you perpetually stuck in the BIOS? If you can boot up normally, it may mean that the fan may fail soon unless action is taken. IF the fan had already failed, and you did not have additional measures in place (most computers don't), then your processor should have fried itself by now. On my macbook, the temperature of parts of the processor can reach in the 60s (centigrade) with the fans thrashing madly at over 1500 rpm (sometimes over 2000 rpm). If the processor did not have any cooling, I would not have any chance to say good bye to the computer. Therefore, your processor fan probably has not stopped working altogether. My guess is that it has failed a test run by BIOS. I am not an expert but there are many others on the RD who are so it would help if you could give us details on your hardware, specifically the computer model (if laptop or a branded model), processor information, motherboard information, and BIOS information. Thank you very much. Kushal (talk) 18:25, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

1. It probably is (unless it is the fan on the graphics card.
2. Yes, it is replaceable. It could be hard if you have a new processor like the on macbook air has. It is easiest on generic desktops. Please consult a wikibook and a page from [Ars Technica article as other Wikipedians give you more appropriate answers.
3. If the chip gets no cooling, it could heat up badly, give out smoke, and permanently damage within a minute. Kushal (talk) 18:32, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

It will certainly help a lot if you specify which motherboard (and other components) you have. Sounds to me as if there is a problem in a northbridge fan (a rather rare component) rather than a CPU fan. Have you opened your case already? Can you recognize the CPU fan? Is it working? Are there any other fans? Are they working? -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 18:35, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Wow, I did not even know that Northbridge (computing) have their own fans. I have never opened a laptop (and I promise I will not unless I have to) and the old desktop I had just had a heat sink over the chip. Kushal (talk) 18:58, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You will typically only find them in the (desktop) boards of overclocking enthusiasts. grawity's mention of a "little fan" reminded me of those, but I guess the CPU fan is relatively small, compared to 120mm case fans he might have. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 19:54, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Some CPUs have a built-in heat regulation mechanism that will step down the processor speed to prevent permanent damage if the fan fails or even if the entire heatsink is missing. At least that was true of Intel CPUs in late 2001 when Tom's Hardware tested them. I don't know whether Intel still does this or whether AMD started doing it too, but it's at least in the realm of possibility that your fan has already failed and the only symptom is a slight system slowdown. -- BenRG (talk) 19:45, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

okay...

• My computer works fine. Sorta.
• It's not the CPU fan, and it's not the video card fan - they're working. It's a little ~3 cm fan that's on the motherboard.
• No smoke yet. Windows ExPee boots unusually fast.
• BIOS setup and Everest report its speed as 0 rpm - so it must be broken, as 1) previously it was some 3000 rpm and 2) it was a little louder a few days before dying.
• The motherboard is Asus Msomething - I'll post the exact model later when I'll have access to the PC. But it has a nVidia chipset and an AMD Athlon 64.

--grawity 21:06, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

If this fan is located between the CPU and the expansion slots (PCI etc.), then it's indeed the northbridge fan. We shouldn't give thermal advice at the ref desk, but unless the motherboard is seriously overclocked, it should do just fine without this fan. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 21:47, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You probably want to give it a better heatsink though, with the fan occupying most space there aren't much left for the actual heatsink. I actually voluntarily removed my chipset fan (integrated northbridge and southbridge [Nforce 3]) because it's too loud, and replaced it with a heatsink. It still works fine to this day, although it does get a little hot when I touch it. --antilived^{T | C | G} 22:40, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Web page update alerts software for Mac

I need a program for my Mac that alerts me when a web page has been updated. It doesn't have to be, but it would be really cool if it were, a Firefox add-on. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.164.116.200 (talk) 20:01, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Does it have a RSS/Atom feed? That'd make it significantly easier. --antilived^{T | C | G} 22:37, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

What is a .VoMiT file?

Can someone explain?--Goon Noot (talk) 23:12, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

VoMiT appears to be a DVD-piracy release group. Could your file end in .VoMiT.torrent or .VoMiT.avi or something (bearing in mind that Windows, OS X, and some Linux distros automatically hide known extensions by default)? 24.76.169.85 (talk) 00:27, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Or it might be like an .nfo file. Try opening it in a text editor if it is small. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:59, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Fastest Internet

What is the fastest theoretical maximum internet possible in development or already made? Either for home / business / government use. -WikiUser613 (talk) 23:43, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I know there's this one. Useight (talk) 00:01, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Uh, 40 gbps? Is that possible? I mean, that's OC-768 speeds, and what type of residential customer would have a direct OC-768 link? 24.76.169.85 (talk) 00:38, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Abilene Network can do 10 gbps domestic, which is pretty dang fast. It is not a one-time demonstration sort of thing, but it is not easy to jack into if you aren't a member of the Internet2 consortium, I believe. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:04, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

May 25

Windows Vista Bit Editons

What are the different types of Windows Vista Bit Editions and which one is better? —68.193.151.240 (talk) 01:06, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm assuming your question is referring to the 32 and 64bit versions of the Operating System. Up until recently the majority of computer processors made ran with a 32bit instruction set, that is, the computer would be able to accept commands up to 32bits (4bytes) in length. Recently there has been a push to 64bit processors which can handle longer instructions. The 32bit version will work on both 32 and 64bit machines and the 64bit only 64 bit machines. I'm not entirely sure of the mechanics of vista 64 bit but i don't think it'll run 32bit programs without emulation and likewise the 32bit version will not run 64bit programs (even though the processor can accept them). For now i'd probably stick to 32bit as this is what the majority of windows programs are written for (if you're using linux however the majority of programs are compatible with about 15 architectures!). I also i think the 64bit version has little performance gain over 32bit but in the future it's likely all programs will move over to 64bit, but for now stick to 32bit. -Benbread (talk) 11:28, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

It has nothing to do with instruction length; the main point is to increase the size of pointers so that they can refer to more than 2³² bytes (4 GiB) of data at a time. The easiest way to do that (and the way they did it) is to double the pointer size and the CPU register size from 32 to 64 bits. Various other things also get doubled, but only if there's some reason to double them. It doesn't make sense to double the length of everything across the board, because all of these increases hurt performance; you have to move twice as much data around and hard drives and RAM don't magically double in speed. 32-bit x86 instructions can be anywhere from 1 byte (8 bits) to 15 bytes (120 bits) long, and I don't think that changed in x86-64. The DEC Alpha architecture has 64-bit CPU registers and pointers, but all instructions are 32 bits long. The "16 bit" SNES had 16-bit CPU registers, 16/24-bit pointers, and an 8-bit data bus, while the "16 bit" Sega Genesis/Mega Drive had 32-bit CPU registers, 32-bit pointers, and a 16-bit data bus. I don't think that "128 bit" gaming consoles had 128 bits of anything. It's better to just think of "N bit" as a marketing term.

Practically speaking the only advantage of 64-bit Vista is that it supports more total memory (physical RAM plus virtual memory). But you pay for that with a lot of compatibility problems. So it really depends on whether you expect to need more than 3-4 GiB of memory in the near future. -- BenRG (talk) 14:27, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Changing computer

I recently sold my old laptop (powered by Windows XP) to my father, who understandably is changing the settings to how he wants it. When I bought the computer new, I registered it in my name. When he goes into Control Panel and opens System, the General tab lists it as "Registered to" [my name]. Anyone have an idea how to change it to his name? 24.95.74.161 (talk) 01:59, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

1. Click ‘Start’ , Click ‘Run’ , type regedit.
2. Go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion node.
3. Look for the values RegisteredOwner and RegisteredOrganization. Edit their values to you username and company name of choice.
4. Exit the Registry Editor

WARNING you could mess up your computer. Be very cautious in the registry editor. CWii_{(Talk|Contribs)} 03:31, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

How to disable file locking in Windows XP?

Is there some way to completely prevent Windows XP from locking files anymore? Just to disable it so it won't happen? William Ortiz (talk) 09:10, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Why are you trying to do this? File locking is a very important security measure in software, preventing 2 processes from writing to the same file and corrupting the whole thing. --antilived^{T | C | G} 10:18, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

File locking in Windows seems to be kind of broken. Opening a file which someone else is writing will sometimes succeed and cause the other process to lose its write access on the already open handle. This has happened to me many times, most recently a few days ago when I was converting a long audio file from wav to ogg and opened the partially-written ogg file in WinAmp. WinAmp started playing the file; a few seconds later the encoding process failed with a write error. I don't know what combination of access flags causes this behavior, but I'd love to know a way to disable it. -- BenRG (talk) 14:53, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Yep, file locking in Windows is buggered. Get yourself a linux 79.76.173.176 (talk) 18:52, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Sometimes files just get stuck locked for no reason after months of reboots, 0-byte files that nothing is using. I use a program called "unlocker", though sometimes that fails and it just says "explorer" is locking them and shutting down explorer doesn't help. But anyway, I've come to the conclusion that file locking is just bad and my computer would run better without it. I tried hex editing FileLockEx out of kernel32.dll but that just gave programs complaining when they were looking for it so it'd be nice to make the programs think the locking succeeded when it didn't. William Ortiz (talk) 19:30, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

OR, but Microsoft Word documents are terrible for this. So bad in fact I only use RTF now. Think outside the box 19:43, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

What archive type is "webpages.ez" ?

Hello all,

the above named file is included in the firmware file of my router. What packer format produces these files and what are its magic bytes?

Thanks,93.104.119.43 (talk) 15:11, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

PS: The router in question is an Eumex 800V aka BinTec T800v, hope that helps...

You sure it's not "webpages.gz", which is a gzipped archive? If you have Linux you can easily find out what type of file it is by using file (Unix). --antilived^{T | C | G} 22:36, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

flow chart and flow diagram

what is the difference between flow chart and flow diagram? explain —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.164.225.30 (talk) 15:27, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

You should do your own homework, but have a look at process flow diagram and flowchart. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 16:25, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

totally confused about wireless service

I have tried to make sense of information regarding wireless service..specifically, I want to let go of my landline and still have an ISP...what exactly are my options?Rubymae (talk)

You can log into somebody else's unsecured network (illegal in UK). You can buy a dongle at a cost of about GBP 50 and pay a monthly rental to an ISP (in UK). Or you can retain (or rent a fresh) landline and broadband package. MilkFloat 20:47, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Can someone in the US tell me what do I need to do to get a wireless ISP connection. Could I get ISP thru Direct TV satellite? What is a 'dongle'?

Passwords and such

Hello, Computing. I am rather clueless, so I need one thing explained in detail: How come for, say, a Winrar that has been password protected, one needs to rely on crackers that utilize bruteforcing/dictionary attempts? Can one not boot one's beloved PC into some rather primitive state, and access the information from there? Shouldn't it be rather straight forward, looking at a lengthy table of things that compile into 0s and 1s, to eventually find the strings that detail the winrar and its belonging passwords, and from there shut that off, or change it? Surely, somewhere, something says... access: if is "pw123" = 1...? I would love to know just what it is that keeps us from looking at what one might refer to as 'source code', and simply alter material through there.

Thank you in advance! Scaller (talk) 21:40, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Winrar doesn't work as you imagine. It encrypts the information in the file. William Avery (talk) 21:52, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, that sneaky-...! But still, the password function and my question related to -that- remains unanswered, still, right? Scaller (talk) 21:55, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Well including the password in the source code would be a very stupid thing to do, see this dailyWTF article. --antilived^{T | C | G} 22:33, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

winRAR encrypts the data with the password. So without the password you have no meaningful data at all, just useless 1s and 0s. Then the password itself acts as a parameter to the decryption function. The only reason you even know if you have the correct password is that it checks the checksum of the decrypted data against an unencrypted hash stored with the RAR file.. if they don't match then the data wasn't decrypted correctly and you must have gotten the password wrong .froth. (talk) 00:54, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Call Centre setup

Thanks for giving me chance to ask question. I am very much interested to setup a call centre. But before that i want to know about details about that. So could you tell me the details procedures of a 20 seated call centre setup including technical and financial details and instruments? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Khalid21 (talk • contribs) 22:20, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Honestly, have you tried Google? [10] --70.167.58.6 (talk) 23:15, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

VisionLab Studio crash

I was using FXhome VisionLab Studio, and it crashed while rendering a large (about 1 GB, estimated) file, and it crashed, and now when I try to open up the document to re-render it, it only opens up the application, and not the document. What should I do? Should I just redo everything or is there some kind of solution? Thank you very very much. Ilikefood (talk) 23:24, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Never mind, i fixed it. Ilikefood (talk) 23:55, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

May 26

SODIMMs in DIMM slots

Can one or two SODIMMs be installed in a slot designed for a DIMM? NeonMerlin 00:17, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Meme

There's an Internet meme called "it's over 9000" that's apparently popular, but why can't I find any mention of it here on Wikipedia? 208.76.245.162 (talk) 01:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Dragon Ball Z. It's not that popular, I haven't heard anyone use it as of late. 24.76.169.85 (talk)