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May 28

Error Printing on MacOS 10.4.11

When I try to print on any program, rather than a print dialog box coming up, I get the error below (yes, 'failed' is misspelled) error. Clicking OK on the error dialog box causes the program which tried to print to give the standard "close unexpectedly" error, with options to report the error to Apple and whatnot. Suggestions?

filed to get device URI from printer

Unknown Error Code: 1030

71.184.223.246 (talk) 00:38, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like it is having trouble connecting to a printer or the printer's preferences file is corrupted. Try System Preferences > Print & Fax. Delete the printer that is likely causing the trouble. Then add it again. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:55, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't actually have any printers installed at the moment, so that menu is empty. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 03:06, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Uh, perhaps I'm missing something obvious, but could the problem perhaps be related to the fact that you don't have any printers installed at the moment, but are still trying to print something? I mean, what are you expecting to happen? -- Captain Disdain (talk) 10:19, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

No, it's perfectly possible (normally) to try to print when no printers are available. I could print to pdf file or add a new printer within the menu that pops up, among other things. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 15:30, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Ah, right, I get you. If that happens with all programs, it strikes me as an operating system problem (though I should stress that I'm only guessing). If I were you, I'd try reinstalling OS X -- in my experience, that's a pretty painless procedure that tends to fix problems without affecting any of your settings . -- Captain Disdain (talk) 21:51, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I suspect that's what I'll need to do, but am trying to avoid it.71.184.223.246 (talk) 22:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Try using Print Setup Repair [1]. Also, try reinstalling your printer drivers. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 15:04, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have any printers installed and PSR didn't work, even when I reset the printing system. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 22:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Is bandwidth speed shaping legal?

My Internet connection has been shaped. I assume that is the correct term. I can see that my Internet speed is slow during some parts of the day and gradually goes up and down. It is very consistant, everyday the same results. I can see it clear as day using this Speed Test which has a graph that shows my results over time. Is it legal for my ISP to do this? How can I fix this? My ISP says they are not doing any shaping, but maybe the tech did not know what he was talking about, or I am using the wrong terminology. Please help!

Kirknoble (talk) 08:27, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Or it may be just congestion, shaping is more slowing down specific protocols such as bittorrent or other P2P transfers which tend to saturate a network very quickly. --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:40, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

In the afternoons, when the kids get home from school, oour Comcast cable-based broadband goes to hell and remains that way into the night. Week-ends and holidays are the same way. Like antilived, my frst thought would be congestion.

Atlant (talk) 12:34, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

It's going to depend on your jurisdiction, obviously, but I see no reason to expect it to be illegal. Most if not all ISPs have more expensive plans which provide guaranteed bandwidth at all times and for all protocols. If you don't like the throttling on the cheaper plans you can always upgrade, and that's what they'll tell you if you try to complain. -- BenRG (talk) 14:09, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Ctrl Alt Del Box/Window

Hi, the box that opens when I hit ctrl alt del has changed!

http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=weirdwindowpm6.png

The tabs are gone, and I can't see the other stuff like the processes going on. How do I fix this to show them again? --Jeevies (talk) 09:16, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Double-click the frame around the window (the grey/sandy-coloured bit). — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 09:39, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you, thank you very much! --Jeevies (talk) 13:59, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

bestselling macbook

which of the following is bestselling totally online and offline

1)Macbook(13") 2)Macbook pro(15" & 17")

apple website says macbook oversells macbook pro. is it true

are more people buying 13" books more than 15" and 17" combined?

anyone in USA seem to think like that because people in USA know what people around you and friends are using

is macbook too small or I am thinking so?

I can't help you with the sales figures, but to answer your final question: no, it's not too small. I'm writing this very sentence on a MacBook. Of course, there are probably people reading this -- some of who may be on MacBooks themselves -- who think "no, it is too small". Is it too small for you and for the purpose you want to use it for? There's no universal size standard out there. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 10:15, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

The MacBooks have pretty big screens, even at the smallest size. They are wide-screens so they much wider than the smallest iBook screens, for example. As for too small, too large, it depends what you are planning to do with it. Mine is large enough for everything I need to do though there are time when I wish I had a little more screen real estate when I need to do things like put MS Word in one half the screen and Adobe Reader in the other.

The advantage to a smaller laptop is that one is presumably going to be taking it places. The smallest MacBook weighs about as much as a standard college textbook and is really quite easy to tote around. That's why I got it—I don't actually want a large laptop for what I use it for, which is taking notes, doing work in coffee shops, etc. In my experience, the students who gets larger laptops later regret it, because it becomes a pain to take them anywhere and they don't end up using them as much, and the activities for which one needs a large desktop are rarer than the ones in which one wants a small computer. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:01, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

You also want to consider that the laptops can be pretty-conveniently attached to a larger external screen if necessary. The 17" MacBook/Pro and the higher-end 15" MB/Pro can both drive the 30" Apple Cinema Display at full 2560x1600 resolution while still driving the built-in LCD as a separate screen so that's plenty of real-estate if you need it. Or you can attach (wirelessly, if you wish) a keyboard and mouse and close the lid and pretend the MacBook is a desktop system.

Atlant (talk) 17:11, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Audio streams

Does anyone know a good program that can add or remove audio streams in .avi files? Thanks. Think outside the box 09:54, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

What exactly do you want to do? VirtualDub can extract or add a single audio track; I haven't found how to use it with multiple soundtracks though. For removing unwanted languages in .avis that have several different soundtracks I've used VirtualDubMod. 88.112.37.214 (talk) 10:52, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks 88.112.37.214. Yeah, I tried VirtualDub but it didn't work, I'll check out VirtualDubMod. It's a movie with Japanese and English dub. Think outside the box 11:04, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

A roundabout way is to use ConvertXtoDVD to convert to DVD, then DVD Shrink to remove the audio, then convert the resultant VOB's back to AVI. It's more work but a lot easier than fiddling with arcane VirtualDub settings. Sandman30s (talk) 11:40, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

But it's easy in VirtualDubMod, and it's nowhere near roundabout. You just choose the stream you want and you can more or less extract it from the file. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:49, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

computer buggage

what is it? computer student —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.178.102.86 (talk) 11:37, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

We don't do your homework. --grawity 12:54, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

By inventing the word "buggage", it is difficult to tell if you are trying to learn more about software bug or baggage for carrying computers, such as those made by Crumpler. A cool advantage to using real words is that others have the chance to know what you are asking. -- kainaw™ 13:03, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Apparently you can get a buggage allowance from China Airlines. Gandalf61 (talk) 13:14, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't know what it's supposed to mean, but it sounds vaguely obscene. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:43, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Try Software bug. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 15:47, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Based on the question at the Help Desk, he's asking about the Y2K Bug -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 17:15, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

deleting google history

How can i delete search history in google? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.70.64.15 (talk) 15:11, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

From the Google homepage, log in to your Google account. Click, "Web History." Select, "Remove Items" from the left menubar. Click "Clear entire Web History »" . Click, "Clear History" on the confirmation box. Note that these instructions assume you are talking about the history stored in Google's system. If you mean the history stored by your browser that is associated with Google's search box, you'll need to indicate what browser you are using for instructions. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 15:35, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

What have you been searching for? :) ----Seans Potato Business 19:48, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

How to extract the content from a wiki page and transfer the information to a database.

Hi,

How to extract content from a wiki page through a script. This wiki contains tables, and the information should go to a database. I assume, we can extract content from a wiki page preferably in a html format, and convert the same to a xml file, and add to the database. I'm new to programming. If somebody thinks of a better idea, please let me know at arjm24@yahoo.com

Thanks, Arun —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.167.94.194 (talk) 16:29, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Actually, you can jump right to the XML format. Take a look at the page Wikipedia:Export. This will give you all the information you need on extracting Wikipedia pages in XML format. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 17:04, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia has database dumps which you can use to get the entire Wikipedia. These are available in wikitext or html. To get the wikitext of a single page, use action=raw in the url. For getting only a few pages, lists of pages in categories there is API. --h2g2bob (talk) 22:47, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

computer sound

the sound coming through the speakers on my computer has been deleted how do i get this back on? speakers are on and connected properly the software doesn't exist anymore when it did up to a few weeks ago please help it's driving me nuts —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.101.105.82 (talk) 21:24, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Hello - can you tell us more? Which software are you talking about: the Windows volume control [2]; Windows Media Player; a special volume control that came with your sound card (eg Creative Labs); or something else? Does any sound ever play, or does sound work in some circumstances (eg: does it work in computer games, but not in youtube)? --h2g2bob (talk) 22:55, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

May 29

Computers

(moved from Entertainment refdesk) — QuantumEleven 08:31, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

How does a computer really work. I mean like, the whole processing ordeal, and memory usage, oh and how does a computer know what you are plugging into the USB port like MP3 players? 71.126.17.239 (talk) 22:38, 28 May 2008 (UTC)Andy

On our Computer page you'll find a link here Central processing unit. Please feel free to ask back if there's something you don't understand, you still have questions or if it's too difficult. Universal Serial Bus should have an answer to your last question. Hope this helps.--71.236.23.111 (talk) 23:05, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Why is this in the entertainment section? But you should also have a look at ALU, cache, address bus, and maybe scheduling to start. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. There is also a computing ref desk that would probably get you more responses. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:23, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Plenty of people use computers primarily for entertainment! —Tamfang (talk) 08:18, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I presume you want this in layman's terms, so I'll try to explain in the same way I explain to my ten-year old. Inside your rectangular box is a motherboard which binds all the other components together and lets them talk to each other. The CPU is responsible for logic and computations. Your operating system and application instructions are broken down to a basic level that the CPU can understand, such as MUL to multiply two numbers or JE which is a jump to go something else if some condition is equal. Then you have your memory chips which store information temporarily as opposed to your hard drive which stores information permanently. Memory is important as it is MUCH faster than hard drives and a lot of computation goes on between CPU and memory. Then you have add-on cards, such as a graphics card, that plugs into the motherboard and depending on how good the card is, will allow you to run graphics-intensive apps such as games at higher speeds. For example, if you type A on your keyboard, the keyboard controller chip accepts the character, sends it via a bus along the motherboard to the CPU, which converts it to its raw ASCII equivalent, then sends it along to the video controller which sends it to your screen. If you're running a modern game, there are millions of interactions and computations going on per second. In terms of your USB question, there is a chip in the USB device that talks to your USB controller on your motherboard, and the whole process continues from there. There is obviously much more, but I hope this is a good start for a basic understanding. With the complexity of modern computers, I'm surprised that they actually work! Sandman30s (talk) 09:13, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

With the trillions of dollars involved in the computing industry, I'm surprised they work as poorly as they do. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 11:01, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, you must just have a crappy one, mine works fine :-D  Atyndall93 | talk  11:08, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

As a former software developer (who wrote his first programs on punched cards) I approach every computer-related task with the assumption that it will go horribly wrong or take at least twice as long as I expect. When all goes smoothly I am pleasantly surprised. My wife, OTOH, assumes the technology will all work prefectly first time, and becomes sad and frustrated when it doesn't. No right or wrong here - just different outlooks. Gandalf61 (talk) 11:16, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Whenever something doesn't work on for me on Windows, I say "#!%$@& Microsoft and their crappy OS". Whenever something does work for me on Linux, I say "how great FOSS is!". -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 14:51, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Aah my brain is exploding over how overly simplistic that is :( --.froth. (talk) 14:06, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Ah, froth, someday, somehow, you'll learn the difference between being useful and strictly accurate. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 14:49, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry froth I could have given a typical geek answer to "how computers work" but I don't think the OP would have understood much. Funny, though, what your ten-year old can understand and your mother-in-law can't. Sandman30s (talk) 20:05, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

bandwidth of skype

Hi, can anyone tell me what is the bandwidth of skype, both with and without video? I know that this can vary, but can anyone give an approximate maximum and minimum? thanks in advance, 130.95.106.128 (talk) 11:20, 29 May 2008 (UTC) Also please note, I have looked through the Skype article, but I couldn't find the answer, and the word "bandwidth" doesn't appear in the document (according to my Explorer search function). 130.95.106.128 (talk) 11:21, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

The skype website quotes a minimum of 3kb/s and a maximum of 16kb/s but I am going to look into it further for you. It also says "it is not possible to give estimations about the used bandwidth during a video call."  Atyndall93 | talk  11:28, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

This is probably because their video bandwidth scales with quality, allowing them to use all of the available bandwidth for maximum quality, and significantly less bandwidth if less is available (at reduced frame rate and picture integrity). Nimur (talk) 15:49, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for those answers. I actually just checked the website, and on their q&a forum, it said that the bandwidth was 3 to 16 kiloBYTES per second. So if Atyndall could confirm if s/he has misquoted (kb/s means kilobits per sec, I think), I would appreciate that, but if not, thanks for finding that for me, because I didn't think to check outside of wikipedia (well, actually, I was at uni when I wrote, and they don't provide google access anyway, scumbags :) ). 203.221.127.63 (talk) 17:42, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Firefox - link captions

Webpages have links to objects. Many objects have, as part of the link, a caption. Sometimes, the caption is longer than Firefox wants to display, so it breaks the caption, and appends several periods to show that part of the caption was not displayed. F'rexample, the page http://www.xkcd.com/427/ has a cartoon in the middle of the page. If I place my mouse over the cartoon, I get a little popup that says "Protip: Even without the red spiders, never have that conversation halfway through a ..." However, if I check the page source, the HTML coughs up the following snippet:

title="Protip: Even without the red spiders, never have that conversation halfway through a balloon ride."

How can we modify Firefox to show a longer caption than the the apparent display limit of 85 characters? Or, is there a command to show the rest? If I want to see the whole thing, is there any better solution than checking the source code? -SandyJax (talk) 14:49, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

For your last question, I right-click the cartoon and select Properties. That still requires scrolling the alt-text title field, but it's probably a tad more convenient than doing a view source. This Add-On looks like it might be useful. --LarryMac | Talk 15:04, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

After further research, and looking at an XKCD page source, I see that they are using the "title" attribute, not "alt" - which is the correct way to do it, according to this article. The add-on linked above is probably not going to help (at least on XKCD, I'm sure that some pages do use alt expecting it to show as a tool-tip). So now, why is title limited to 85 characters? Onward with my research . . . --LarryMac | Talk 15:14, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

This extension works on title attributes. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)}

This issue is fixed in Firefox 3. You can download Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 here. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 15:26, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

If you have an hour to waste, this bugzilla thread spans nearly seven years, with all kinds of back and forth sniping. Finally at the very end of the thread it is revealed that, as Matt says, the fix is in FF3. --LarryMac | Talk 16:12, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, everyone! I'll wait for formal release before I put FF3 on an income-producing machine. LarryMac: In Bugzilla's defence, that bug report was for SeaMonkey. It's not surprising that it stayed open for so long, if people kept chiming in to complain that the same issue cropped up in other products, too. A lot of those comments look like they should have been separate bug reports. Of course, a lot of them WERE, but got added to this, so, yeah, 8 years. -SandyJax (talk) 16:56, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Note that FF3 is pretty stable and reliable. The only problems I have ever encountered on it were that some of the plugins I used had not yet been rewritten for FF3, so if you are plug-in dependent you might put off upgrading, but otherwise, I would just jump in. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 23:23, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

You're not the first one to have been irritated by this. Fortunately, some of the others who were have come up with their own solutions:

1. Install Greasemonkey.
2. Go to http://www.userscripts.org/.
3. Search for "xkcd".

—Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:53, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

"Unavailable" Google video

[3], [4] Does the tag mean it's been removed or literally that it will one day be there again? I tried a couple of times over the months and other vids work fine! Or does anyone know an alternative place I could watch the episodes (a cache or mirror of Google Video?)? Thanks ╟─TreasuryTag (talk ╬ contribs)─╢ 18:11, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

May 30

coding

I know AP computer science material, but if I want to really program, like a professional would, where do I go from there? Books or web resources would be helpful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.185.132.242 (talk) 01:31, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

There are lots of books on programming. Most of them are not very good. Here's a nice posting from fairly interesting programming blogger about what types of books there are and which ones he's found valuable. It's an interesting blog post, both in its recommendations as well as its general discussion of the question as to whether or not "real" programmers actually read books. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 01:40, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

If you really want to get good at programming, program. You learn alot by just goofing around with code, and instead of relying solely on textbooks you can also learn from coding communities and forums. Computer science texts certainly are useful, but without a guide (i.e. teacher) they can be pretty dense to work through on your own. Just poke around, programming communities are a dime a dozen. --Shaggorama (talk) 07:21, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Help me find a good laptop?

So, I don't know if this is the kind of thing for this page. But if someone feels like jumping on board and helping out, that'd be great :).

Anyways, I'm looking for a laptop, meeting this requirements:

• Brand: HP/Compaq, Sony, Toshiba, Acer
• OS: Windows XP or Vista
• Processor: Intel or AMD. If Vista, able to run it well. Though the Centrino Core™ 2 Duo Processor is nice. 32 or 64 bit.
• RAM: 2GB
• Video: Not an issue (not my game machine)
• Screen: at least 15"
• Optical: DVD read, cd read/write, DVD write is unnecessary
• Wireless: 802.11b/g
• Fullsize keyboard

Other than that, as inexpensive as possible.

Little of this is absolutely critical so if you find a good deal that doesn't meet something here, let me know (except no Dells please). If someone feels like taking on this challenge and finds a great deal I end up picking up I can't really offer you anything, but I'd do 10 "community-service" hours of RC patrolling in your honor :). Thank you.

Peace, Chris M. (talk) 03:43, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Can it be refurbished? If so, here's this one. If not, what is your maximum price? Useight (talk) 06:26, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I'd like to keep it under 700 if possible, but if there's an amazing $800 one, then that'd be cool too :). Refurb isn't bad, and that one is pretty good. Chris M. (talk) 07:24, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Here's one that's got a faster CPU and more hard drive space for $699 or there's this one for $599 if you don't mind a no-name brand. Useight (talk) 18:40, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

How is the 4th-largest computer manufacturer in the world a no-name brand? .froth. (talk) 19:58, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

You've probably heard of Lenovo's laptop division under another name: IBM. --Carnildo (talk) 20:52, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Okay, so IBM owns 6.7% of Lenovo. I still consider it an inferior good. When I purchase expensive things, I want a well-known brand, not one that'll look like this. I guess I just have to keep up with the Joneses. Useight (talk) 21:55, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

It's not about the 6% ownership, it's about the fact that Lenovo took over all of IBM's personal computer division. What used to be IBM (like ThinkPads) are now Lenovo. It's the same thing. As for what you don't like about that photo, I don't know. It looks like all IBM laptops do/did. They're not bad machines at all. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:59, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

What I don't like about that picture of the laptop is that it says "lenovo" on it. If it said "IBM" then that'd be different. If I was carrying that around and someone was like, "Lenovo?" and then I have to explain, "Oh, it's just like an IBM ThinkPad, just repackaged in anther brand." I don't think so. Useight (talk) 16:37, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Dude, if you are so concerned about the looks of the logo, can I suggest that you get a mac? Would you buy an Acer and still call Lenovo an inferior brand?

I personally wouldn't buy a laptop at all. I have my desktop and I've invested quite a bit in it. I built it myself. Useight (talk) 07:15, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I am not trying to sell you Macs. I plead not guilty on the charge. (I do plead guilty on being an accomplice, knowingly or unknowingly) in the FUD against Vista. I would say keep clear of Vista, unless you get Ultimate. Thinkpad T61s are awesome, just ask User:Froth. I might even choose one over a first generation macbook pro. My second computer these days is a Toshiba Satellite so you might want to take a look at that as well. Kushal (talk) 02:13, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree with avoiding Vista. Besides, Windows 7 isn't too far off. Useight (talk) 07:15, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Well I was going to recommend a Dell just like the one I'm using right now, but it seems the OP isn't interested in Dells. I'm sure you can use a price comparison site like Nextag to find what you want at a price you're happy with - like this Toshiba perhaps? Astronaut (talk) 14:57, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

(reset) You know, if you get a mac, you can press option + shift + k and get the apple logo like this  (which does not show up on a default Windows XP installation). Well, and it shares a few features with Linux. You can buy a Thinkpad and head off to http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki to get your dose of GNU/Linux. Kushal (talk) 19:48, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

computer lore

Found this somewhere on wikipedia:

"Another example is a program's source listing that was formatted to resemble an empty tic-tac-toe board. Each pass through the program modified the sourcecode to show a turn in the game, to be executed for the next move."

This sounds absolutely fascinating to me.. does anyone have a copy of the code? Do you have any idea how jaw-dropping it would be to code a self-modifying ELIZA/figlet? .froth. (talk) 05:33, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh found it already. Even more fascinating is that it's self-modifying not only in the sense that it writes its moves onto itself, but also that it apparently uses a changing "strategy" bit mask to learn how best to defeat its opponent after successive games o_o .froth. (talk) 05:58, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Be sure to check out the other IOCCC entries as well. There's a high proportion of amazing ones. -- BenRG (talk) 06:36, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Music Software Titles And Music Making Software

Does anyone know anywhere you can get music software titles or music making softare except these places?

• http://making-music.blogspot.com/2006/01/big-list-of-free-music-making-software.html
• http://making-music.blogspot.com/2006/02/list-with-recommended-commercial-music.html
• http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/win95/MULTITRACK_RECORDING/

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, so I'll post it at Entertainment as well. Thanks.68.148.164.166 (talk) 07:50, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

you may find Category:Free audio editors interesting. Audacity is a popular freeware music editing program. If you don't want to download any software, the Beaterator is an award winning music maker that works in-browser. --Shaggorama (talk) 07:09, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS

What is Macromedia flash as a multimedia tool?41.209.23.34 (talk) 13:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Is this your homework? Try reading Adobe Flash. --grawity 14:00, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

telecoms

what is crosstalk —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.36.213.57 (talk) 13:25, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Crosstalk (electronics) --LarryMac | Talk 13:39, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

What's this symbol called?

What is the circle and line symbol seen on many computers called? -- penubag  (talk) 15:52, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

It's a power symbol (or possibly specifically a standby symbol). Algebraist 15:59, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you Algebraist! -- penubag  (talk) 16:02, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Floppy disk of death! (no virus needed)

Hello, I recently found out of a way to supposedly damage your computer (physically) with a floppy disk, and I wanted to hear some considerations on its feasibility. The instructions are simple: open the floppy disk cover, and cover the exposed disk with a thin layer of pulverized match heads and nail polish remover. Reassemble the disk, and try to read it on a computer. The mixture will supposedly ignite and burst your computer to flames (or at least scorch your floppy drive). Is this possible? Thanks in advance, Kreachure (talk) 16:59, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I found a couple links that describe the method but nothing that seems more reliable than your typical Anarchist Cookbook sort of stuff, which if you've never read it, it's not all that accurate all the time either. Dismas|^(talk) 18:11, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Supposing that it does ignite, it's not going to set the computer on fire, unless you somehow manage to put a lot of nail polish in that floppy, enough to make it leak out of the floppy drive and drip into the computer. I'm pretty sure it'll put the drive in question out of commission for good even if it doesn't ignite, though -- but then you could probably manage that just by lighting a couple of matches and sticking them into the drive through the slot, or by taking a pressurized can of shaving cream and shooting that stuff into the drive. Or just sticking a ruler in and rattling it around for a while. It's not like they're terribly robust pieces of equipment that are hard to break. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 20:23, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Anyway, who uses floppy disks anymore? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:47, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

If this were true, I would expect to find videos on YouTube, but I can't. APL (talk) 02:37, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

This was not intended for destroying your floppy drive, but destroying your PC and burning your HD to a crisp to remove data. I.e. a criminal might do this in order to not have incriminating evidance found on his drives. I imagine if this was TRUE, a large number of pedo's would use this method? --203.49.231.99 (talk) 02:50, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

watching TV in a computer monitor?

I want a 15" thing for watching TV. Will a 15" LCD monitor do good? I think TV is 640 X 480 resolution and 15" LCD monitor is 1024 X 768. will watching non high definition TV in a 15" computer monitor be as good as watching TV in a 15 inch flat CRT TV?

what can I choose? a)15" CRT TV b)15" LCD monitor itself —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.104.149 (talk) 17:53, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

The issue is that a standard computer monitor does not have a television tuner in it. So, you need a separate tuner. Then, you have to ensure that there is some way to get the video signal from the tuner to the monitor. This is not always easy. Most 15" monitors have basic SVGA connectors. The newer ones are coming out with DVI connectors. Tuners, on the other hand, are commonly from cable/satellite companies or a DVD/Video recorder. Either way, you likely have an RCA and a SVGA source out of those (since you specifically didn't mention HDTV formats). So, assuming the most common equipment found in homes today... you need to figure out how to convert that RCA connector on the cable box to SVGA (yes, there are converters, but they are expensive). -- kainaw™ 18:00, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I think I can resolve connecting issues because my DTH provider gives LCD TV option. But I am just asking whether watching TV in a 15" LCD monitor will be of good quality, a quality got when watched through LCD TV or CRT TV. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.104.149 (talk) 18:17, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Analog TV is not quite 640x480, depending on where you are check out PAL or NTSC. To answer your question, LCD monitors are interchangeable with LCD TV's which are essentially monitors with built-in tuners to accept a signal, so yes the resolution quality would be the same. Of course there are other factors such as colour depth and so on, but it all boils down to "you get what you pay for", and "size counts"... Sandman30s (talk) 20:16, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

phone security with voip and broadband

Some years back, when the internet was young(ish), and everyone was using dialup, there were various fraudulent tricks where someone would hijack your internet connection, and use the phone line to dial a premium service, charging by the minute. Our beloved phone company, Telstra, of course made the victim pay up. Is this still possible in the days of broadband, or is it bypassed because people aren't using the phone connection directly to access the internet? Does the presence of a voip line make any difference, and is naked dsl different to normal adsl? thanks, 203.221.127.63 (talk) 20:19, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

(There's an article: Dialer#Fraudulent dialers)

Your existing Internet connection actually has nothing to do with that scam, except for being the medium through which the malicious program was given to you. The required ingredients are:

• You have a modem with a phone line plugged in.
• You are dumb enough to run a program you found on a porno web site, or (even worse) in an unsolicited email message.
• Your phone company is unforgiving of your stupidity.

DSL modems generally don't qualify for the first part since they don't have the ability to make or receive phone calls. It needs to be a modem that knows how to dial.

The situation is really not very different from a child picking up the phone and dialing a toll number without parental permission. In one case, you lost control of your kid. In the other case, you lost control of your computer. If the phone company doesn't get the money from you, they're stuck arguing with the toll number operator about whether his business is fraudulent, based on your claim that you were tricked into dialing his number. They don't like doing that. It's much easier to make you pay for your mistake.

If your VOIP service allows you to dial toll numbers (and charges you for them) then it could potentially be used the same way. Having little VOIP experience and no experience attempting to dial 1-900 numbers over VOIP, I'll leave that question open for someone else. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:03, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that answer. It's a shame no one else contributed to expand on this, but your answer tells me that it is probably pretty much the way I thought it was. Thanks, 203.221.126.29 (talk) 14:22, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Thumbnail cache

I have been given an image, which is confidential, so it's been watermarked. HOWEVER - the thumbnail I'm seeing in Windows XP Explorer has no watermark, so I guess it's the original file showing through or something. Question is - how do I get at it? Thanks. ╟─TreasuryTag (talk ╬ contribs)─╢ 21:13, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I assume it's showing you the Exif thumbnail. Ask google for an exif thumbnail extractor. You won't find the full-size original in there though. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:44, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Or Try deleting thumbs.db (hidden file) in the same directory as the image to make Windows regenerate the thumbnail. --antilived^{T | C | G} 23:33, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

A little bot job

Hi all,

I don't know whether this would be better here or at WP:BOTR; please move it there if that's where it should be. I was wondering if a bot genius would be able to make a bot complete the task listed at the very bottom of the documentation in Template:Languageicon/Notes.

That is, to add template documentation to all of the pages in Category:Language icons (except obviously the first two). Also, to remove [[Category:Language icons]] from the template. Then, to create /doc subpages for all of them with the same, uniform text, this:

{{Documentation subpage}}<!-- PLEASE ADD CATEGORIES AND INTERWIKIS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE -->
==Usage==
{{Languageicon/Notes}}


<includeonly><!-- CATEGORIES AND INTERWIKIS HERE, THANKS -->
[[Category:Language icons]]
</includeonly>

Well, if it could be done, that'd be great. An example's at {{es icon}}. It might be a bit tricky as some of the templates have empty template documentation at the moment. Thanks, Drum guy (talk) 23:14, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Fixed the redirect from Category:Language_icons so it's not in the category anymore. .froth. (talk) 02:34, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

May 31

Multi-core motherboard

Are there any motherboards that include slots for 4 core 2 processors? And preferably with at least 3 pci slots. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.126.229.235 (talk) 00:49, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Core 2 processors are designed for uniprocessor operation. You'll need an Intel Xeon for multiprocessor systems. Rilak (talk) 07:46, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Actually, there are Core 2 Extremes in LGA771 format..See Intel Skulltrail. Of course, the Core 2 Extreme QX9775 is little different from a Xeon really, but then again, AFAIK so are the other Core 2s except for the fact that they are LGA775 with MP support disablled and not perhaps tested as extensively Nil Einne (talk) 14:29, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I am aware, but note that the question says, "...for 4 core 2 processors?". Skulltrail supports two. Rilak (talk) 07:50, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Good Fonts to Use?

I'm writing a story intended for pseudo-publication online, and I because of the division of continuity it involves, I came to the decision that I should render different characters' perspectives in different fonts. Thus, Chapter 1, which is written from the perspective of Alpha, would be in Font A, and Chapter 2, in the spirit of Beta, would be in Font B. There are other more artistic reasons I came to this decision, but further elaboration isn't relevant to the question. Anyway, I was wondering: What fonts should I use? I could use standard fonts, like Times New Roman, Arial, Courier New, and Comic Sans, but frankly, I'm not comfortable with those; I've never been comfortable using Comic Sans, and as for Courier New, I'd rather none of the fonts be fixed and save those for specific circumstances as is usually the case according to major manuals of style (to indicate a computer readout, for example). Furthermore, Times New Roman is the only one with the "attention" (serif, attention to kerning, heights of the base line and descenders, support for slightly obscure characters) that I feel comfortable using; although, I sometimes wish it had better Unicode support. Is anyone aware of any repository or guide to professional fonts that I can use that provide a distinct "flavor" to each, a wide(-ish) range of support in terms of characters, without each being too "different" or "unique" to the point of being distracting (which is all too easy to achieve when choosing a font)?

Deshi no Shi (talk) 04:26, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

In books I've read with a "division of continuity", the different narratives have been indicated by a differing chapter title scheme (eg. "Chapter 3", "Chapter III", "Chapter 4", "Chapter IV", etc...), or they have used normal font for one narrative, and italic for the other.

If you pick distinctive but unusual font, you stand the chance that people will not be able to read your story because the required font is not installed on their computer. It is probably best to stick with the same fonts that appear everywhere else. When I've written reports, I've generally followed the advice I was given long ago - keep the font changes to a minimum (ie. preferably one font family plus a fixed-width font for code samples; bold, underlining or italic for emphasis; larger point sizes and bold for headings), try to avoid colour either in the text or as a background (it doesn't photocopy or print well), never use flashing text (it gives some people headaches). You also need to consider that the readers may have a variety of accessability issues (eg. colour blindness, dyslexia), or may use other operating system and browser combinations which don't have some fonts installed.

Astronaut (talk) 14:43, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

All browsers fail pretty gracefully when it comes to font changes. At worst they'll see them all as Times New Roman. Not so bad. Still readable. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:07, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

How about using different background and/or font colors instead of different fonts? Seems much simpler and much easier to make to work. --72.78.237.206 (talk) 17:01, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Making sure that you use a fot color that contrasts with the background well enough and so on, of course. Kushal (talk) 17:35, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

You might play with different forms of serif fonts. They can have very different feels to them. Italics changes them quite a bit too. Some common Serif fonts that nearly everybody has are Times New Roman, Garamond, Palatino, and Georgia. All four have very different aesthetic characteristics—Times looks bureaucratic, straightforward; Palatino is small and rounded, slippery; Garamond has an older, formal look to it; Georgia looks new, extremely upright, bold. Palatino and Garamond both have very distinctive italics as well. Just a thought. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:07, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I've taken a look at all of those fonts, and actually like them a lot. However, one thing I did notice was that the support between the fonts isn't very regular; many glyphs are supported by one font but not the others, or by all the fonts except one, etc. I was wondering if there's some commonly used font(s) that provide more or less comprehensive support for standard English characters? I've tried looking through Unicode Fonts, but they either have many characters that are entirely unnecessary (like Armenian) while lacking certain basic Latin glyphs, or they're not supported by any standard operating systems or browsers. Any advice? Deshi no Shi (talk) 23:54, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Extra Tool Browser

How can I get rid of an extra toolbar from my web browser, you know the ones that attach on that are called Seekmo and give extra options like freescore.com and playphone? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.127.166.184 (talk) 12:47, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Depending on the browser you are using, you might have the ability to right click on your menu bar. You can uncheck any toolbar you want to hide from there. However, in your case, it seems to be a sign of a larger problem (hint:spyware). Please make sure that your computer is safe and secure. I would recommend a full virus scan (with ClamWin or AVG Free) and a spyware search (with Spybot Search & Destroy or Lavasoft's antispyware software). These resources are available free of cost on the Internet. If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Kushal (talk) 13:05, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Seekmo is an adware product by Zango, a well-known adware vendor that promises you free content in exchange for displaying ads. The standard anti-spyware programs should work against this, and I even think Zango themselves offer an uninstaller (maybe, though given their track record, I wouldn't trust any software from them, even if it is an uninstaller). bCube _{(talk | contribs)} 23:33, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Adding videos to DeVeDe (software)

hello, I am using DeVeDe on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Wubi installation) on a Toshiba Satellite MM55-S135. I am using DeVeDe to create iso of a video dvd which will be full of very short (about 10 MB to 50 MB each) videos that we shot in family events. I have around 200 of such files to put on the iso. However, adding each of them manually is a pain. Ctrl-A, Shift-click, and control-click all do not work. What should I do? Is scripting the only way? If so, how can I do it? Please let me know. Kushal (talk) 13:16, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

PS: A few days after installing Ubuntu (Wubi), Windows XP miraculously recognized my DVD-RAM drive (which I was having issues with earlier).

Any takers, please? Kushal (talk) 00:23, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Please? Kushal (talk) 14:54, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Pretty please? Kushal (talk) 13:52, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Displaying the gradient when optimizing in R

I am learning Program R primarily to find maximum likelihood estimates of parameters in statistical models using optim(). I am not specifying derivatives or partial derivatives. Instead I am letting R approximate them. However, I would like to know the values of those approximations at the maximum value of the likelihood.

Is there some way to tell R to display the approximations of the derivatives or partial derivatives at the maximum value of the likelihood?

An example of an optim() statement in my code might be:

fit = optim(par=c(0.5,0,0,0), fn=negLL, method='BFGS', hessian=TRUE)

I tried following that statement with:

fit$gradient

but that only returned the word ‘NULL’ regardless of whether I remove ‘hessian=TRUE’ from the optim() statement.

Thank you for any help with this.

Mark W. Miller (talk) 13:40, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Explorer

Is there any way to save or back up my last few weeks of History in Internet Explorer? Black Carrot (talk)

I don't know if there is any particular way to do that or not, but perhaps you could visit all the sites in your history and one by one add them to your favourites? Adam (Manors) 16:54, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Because of the proprietary formats Microsoft uses, if you want to be able to restore the history later, your best bet is probably to use some third party software. Try this one: [5] If you just want to save or browse your history, check out this page: [6] Indeterminate (talk) 20:50, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Concatenated SMS

Does anyone know more about concatenated SMSes (1 long message sent as multiple SMSes). According to the article (and it's sourced) there is a 5 byte header in the user data leaving you 135 bytes, enough for 153 7 bit characters. The 153 seems right from my own experience, but if you have 135 bytes, that's enough for 154 7 bit characters (135*8=1080; 1080/7=154.29) so there must be something else. Is an extra byte needed to tell the phone to start 7 bit 'mode' or something? Note that a normal 140 byte SMS is 160 7 bit characters, as we would expect (there is an additional non user-data header) Nil Einne (talk) 14:20, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Some possibilities:

• Data-integrity Checksum
• total number of parts,
• or some kind of ‘part X of Y’ scheme
• character encoding used in message.

Try reading the GSM specs (you’ll have to Google for them, I’ve had no need to find/read them personally). If that proves fruitless, perhaps ask the Wireshark folks about it, they’re rather skilled at dissecting protocols [wink]. — Lee Carré (talk) 06:27, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

TV PC

Does watching TV through a tv computer card mean you don't need a license? I read somewhere that portable battery tvs don't need a license (it would very hard to enforce, wouldn't it?) so what if your tv card was in a laptop. I live in England. Eff wone (talk) 15:28, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

This page is pretty informative about the requirements for a TV license on a computer. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:41, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, you need a TV License even if you watch through a TV-card in your PC, but you might already be covered if your household already has a TV license for the other TVs there. The official site here has all the information. The penalty for not having a license is a £1000 fine - but they have to catch you first :-) Astronaut (talk) 16:02, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

You always need a license or you will be fined - in a perfect world. The chances are you won't be found for a long time (if at all) and as you don't have a TV they still might have no case to get you. Not that I'm condoning anything. Adam (Manors) 16:53, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

A note of caution (a little off topic): The TV Licensing people are VERY, VERY persistant, as my TV-less friend found out. If your address does not have a TV License, they will keep coming back to make sure you're not watching TV surreptitiously and you haven't bought a TV. Apparently, they have a hard time believing anyone doesn't have a TV in the 21st century and can be pretty unpleasant dishing out the legal threats, even with no evidence of TV equipment in the house. Astronaut (talk) 13:27, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

shell script

(Running Linux) What would a shell script look like, that would prevent a user from being logged in between certain hours of the day? I want to make computer unavailable for use from between, say, 9pm and 9am. Any ideas how to do this? Thx —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.110.174.74 (talk) 15:47, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Adding the following to /etc/profile would do it:

 hour=$(date +%H)
 if [ $hour -lt 9 -o $hour -gt 21 ] && [ $USER = badusername ]; then
   echo "Sorry, you can't log in now"
   sleep 1
   exit
 fi

I think I got the logic for the hours right. It's not foolproof, since they could hit ^C to kill the script, but it's simple. --Sean 17:07, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Really, what I wanted with this was to make it so that I can't turn on my computer (I'm the only user) between certain hours so that I get to bet on time. So I suppose I could replace exit with /sbin/shutdown -h now and get that sort of effect. Or is there something that can be done to make it difficult to turn on the machine in the first place? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.110.174.74 (talk) 18:35, 31 May 2008 (UTC) Now that I think about it, couldn't I just use crontab? That would be the easy choice, that I think should have been obvious to me! :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.110.174.74 (talk) 18:48, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Rather than using a shell script, you ought to use the PAM module called pam_time. The functionality is built into every linux system I know of. -- JSBillings 19:20, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

error importing movie into iMovieHD 06

Hello, when I want to move a video from a handy cam on to iMovie HD in my Macbook with OS X Tiger, I get the error "The file could not be imported: The file “Macintosh HD/Volumes/NO NAME/Documents/Videos/DCIM/M2U00145.MPG” can’t be imported; QuickTime couldn’t parse it: -2048" How can the issue be resolved? Thank you. Kushal (talk) 18:02, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Try to watch it via VLC, and watch out if VLC gives any errors. 88.217.56.36 (talk) 21:46, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

No error messages in VLC whatsoever, 88. Moreover, I was able to make a DVD iso with DeVeDe and then the default application burned it on a DVD-R which played on a standard television dvd player. I don't know why  iMovie HD is being so stupid. Any ideas? Have you gotten a similar error message in iMovie? Kushal (talk) 01:22, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Do you have Perian (perian.org) installed? I don't have any specific experience with that particular error message, but it might help - Perian is a QuickTime component that adds support for lots of otherwise unsupported audio, video and container formats to applications that use QuickTime, as iMovie does. --alien2k (talk) 19:28, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, I will do it rightaway. brb. Kushal (talk) 20:42, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

wrong 'drive'

hi....major yet apparently 'small' problem

i have an external hard drive......which was the E' Drive' (as in computer HD is 'C' and CD Roms are 'D' etc) yet someone has someow managed to make it into the 'G' drive. The Ex hrd drive works fine but the problem is that any files on my computer linked with them (and there are a lot!) are looking for the link with the 'E' drive not the 'G' as it now is.....eg: its looking for: 'E:\[name of file]'......how do i change it back to the 'E' and not the 'G'

i am on windows Xp......

thanks, --81.77.2.11 (talk) 19:34, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

After the fixed devices on your PC have been identified during boot, drive letters are allocated dynamically. Probably some other devices have "taken" drives E and F. Have you plugged in a card reader, USB drive, external CD/DVD, phone, or other such device? Use Windows Explorer to find out what drives E and F currently are. Alternatively, have you installed any new drives in the computer case, or repartitioned any existing drives? Astronaut (talk) 20:05, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

XP comes with a program "Computer management" (On my PC it is down "Start | Programs | Administrative Tools | Computer Management", but I probably moved it to that when I got the PC.) Select "Storage | Disk management". Look at the list of volumes and change as required using "right click | Change drive letter and paths" -- SGBailey (talk) 21:21, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Another way into Computer Management is: right-click on "My Computer" and select "Manage". (SGB, I took the liberty of correcting a typo in your answer.) AndrewWTaylor (talk) 16:11, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Super NES question

Today I bought a Super NES at a yard sale and installed it. I used the "multi output," and made sure red was plugged into red, white into white and yellow into yellow on the TV. I turned it on with a game called Xardion (I don't have any other cartridges to test at the moment). I made sure the cartridge was plugged in as firmly as possible, but I couldn't get it completely tight. The image I got was a mess of mostly magenta blocks and lines on a black background, and only a small part of it in the upper left corner responded to buttons on either controller. Should I blame the SNES or the cartridge? NeonMerlin 19:39, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, the easiest thing to do first is to clean both the SNES and the cartridge. Use a q-tip and a little rubbing alcohol if you have it, and make sure the connectors are clean (let them dry before running it again). A bad connection can produce things like what you described. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 19:43, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Update: I plugged in the Super UFO (a diskette-drive extension for the NES) and its menus show up just fine. NeonMerlin 20:17, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

My bet is still that it's some kind of dirty component. It's a classic thing for those cartridge machines—if the connectors get dirty (which is easy) they give you all sorts of gobbledygook. A little rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip on the copper ends works wonderfully. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:34, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I second the suggestion to clean the connections. I think it may also be a problem in the power supply. If that fails - can you contact the person from whom you bought it? Perhaps he has some cartridges you can try the console on.

I'm sure ZSNES will give you less trouble. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 23:05, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Windex and a q-tip is also a good way of cleaning the contacts on the cartridge. And emulators are illegal unless you own the cartridge. Useight (talk) 16:09, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Actually even owning the cartridge doesn't make it technically legal in the US. In any case, the legality of ROMs and emulators can vary depending on exact use—but enforcement has always been focused on the distribution end of things. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 16:18, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

What's your point? I suggested the use of an emulator as a replacement for the console, not for the ownerships of cartridges. Of course, if the OP does use an emulator, he might feel stupid (justly, in my opinion) chasing cartridges not manufactured anymore just to be legally entitled to play 15 year old games. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 16:49, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

I've cleaned the cartridge, the cartridge connector on the SNES, and the connectors at both ends of the output cable (including the ones on the TV set) and it still doesn't work. NeonMerlin 16:48, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Call Nintendo. They actually do still try to support the old consoles. Perhaps they can give you some more ideas. The phone number is 1-800-255-3700. Useight (talk) 01:30, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Javascript question

I have a bit of Javascript for a little web app I am doing that intercepts keystrokes and, if they are of a certain type, sets the focus on a given INPUT control.

Here's the guts of it:?

function keypress(e) {
	var keynum;
	var keychar;
	if(window.event) // IE
	  {
	  keynum = e.keyCode;
	  }
	else if(e.which) // Netscape/Firefox/Opera
	  {
	  keynum = e.which;
	  }
	keychar = String.fromCharCode(keynum);
	if(!input_author_hasfocus&&!input_to_hasfocus&&!input_date_hasfocus) {
		if(keychar=="A"||keychar=="a") { document.getElementById("input_author").focus(); }
		if(keychar=="T"||keychar=="t") { document.getElementById("input_to").focus();  }
		if(keychar=="D"||keychar=="d") { document.getElementById("input_date").focus();  }
		if(keychar=="F"||keychar=="f") valselect(1);
		if(keychar=="P"||keychar=="p") valselect(2);
		if(keychar=="N"||keychar=="n") valselect(3);
		if(keychar=="S"||keychar=="s") submitdata();
	}	
}

In Firefox this works fine (called from the onkeypress even of the BODY element). When I hit "A", it goes to my INPUT with the ID of "input_author" and just gives it focus. However in Safari it does that and then types the character "A" in the input line. I don't want it to do that.

Which of the two is being standards compliant? And how should I work around the issue in Safari? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 19:40, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I'd guess Firefox is more standards compliant - I've noticed problems with JavaScript on Konqueror (which uses the same html processing code). The best way to do this is to use access keys instead. --h2g2bob (talk) 20:21, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Funny story... apparently the standards for key events are basically a mess [7] [8]. However, the specifications give two ways to stop events from continuing after you've handled them (preventDefault() and stopPropagation()) [9]. Unfortunately, Safari is (or at least used to be) buggy and would happily call those methods, do nothing, and return success [10]. So it looks like you might have a hard time working around the issue, unless Safari has fixed the issue. You can test it on that last page I linked to. Indeterminate (talk) 20:30, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Opera has problems with CSS at nearly every site

Somehow, my Opera install has now **** up CSS rendering, so that sites are unusable, for example the Wikipedia sidebar is at the bottom of the page, ect. Bringing up the Error Console will show a host of CSS related problems. --86.6.44.95 (talk) 20:13, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Did you change the stylesheet? It does let you select your own... 24.76.169.85 (talk) 03:44, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm not getting you. --86.6.44.95 (talk) 12:41, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Opera allows for a user-specified stylesheet, which will override any existing stylesheets on the pages you visit. To undo this in Opera 9, click View, then Style, then Author Mode; then go back into the Style menu and make sure none of the other things below that are checked off. If that doesn't do it, backup your bookmarks, uninstall Opera, nuke the Application Data folder for Opera (with the profile data), and reinstall. 24.76.169.85 (talk) 20:35, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

C: Int to string

I want to do a string from different integers. I was going to use sprintf but I would like to make the string of the same size, for example int 1 becomes "001", 12 becomes "012" and 123 becomes "123". How is it done? Bastard Soap (talk) 20:52, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

sprintf(yourbuffer, "%03d", theint) will add enough leading zeros to make the number at least 3 digits long. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:06, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

PHP & socket_accept & annoying problem

Hi all,

I run php5 on cygwin (yea, it's a shame^^); and I want to do some stuff with socket binding (I want to create some test server); but somewhere in the code there must be a problem, but I can't spot it:

<?PHP
$sock_l=socket_create(AF_INET,SOCK_STREAM,SOL_TCP) or die ("Socket creation failed!\n");
socket_bind($sock_l,null,31337) or die ("Socket bind failed!\n");
socket_set_nonblock($sock_l) or die("Unblock socket failed!\n");
while (1) {
	if($sock_t=socket_accept($sock_l)) { socket_getpeername($sock_l, $raddr, $rport); }
}
?>

It fails in socket_access: " Warning: socket_accept(): unable to accept incoming connection [22]: Invalid argument in /cygdrive/c/Dokumente und Einstellungen/Marco/Eigene Dateien/dev/spd/spd.php on line 9".

Any idea what causes this mess? Thanks, 88.217.56.36 (talk) 21:49, 31 May 2008 (UTC) PS: Using debug print's (which I removed here for the sake of length, WP is not pastebin), I know the socket is valid after socket_set_nonblock($sock_l) and there are no errors up to this one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.217.56.36 (talk) 21:50, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't know PHP, but in other languages when using the Berkeley socket API you have to do a "listen" before you can "accept". --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 22:30, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

socket_create_listen() --Sean 00:39, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

June 1

Displaying UML on the net

is there a program that renders UML graphics in html? (they need to be clickable) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.168.0.151 (talk) 04:58, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

It's not UML, but doxygen does something along those lines with class hierarchies. --Sean 12:35, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

yeah, that is in the direction. I'll take a look on that. 217.168.3.246 (talk) 14:19, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Sonar 6

Hi, I bought the Sonar 6 music program a little while ago, and kind of gave up on it after hours of trying to figure out how to work the program. I have my roland synthesizer connected to it, with speakers connected to it. I installed the preamp and set up the midi-cables like it says in the instructions, but I can't get the program to play from the PC (thought it plays through speakers connected to my synthesizer) and can't even get vocals to get recorded into it at all! There is nothing wrong with the mic or the cables...was wondering if there was anything else I can check. The people at customer support weren't very supportive, so I have turned here for some advice. Can anyone help?! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.22.57.231 (talk) 07:03, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Pre - "Art of Computer Programming" topics

What should you already known before you start to read the Art of Computer Programming of Knuth?217.168.0.192 (talk) 14:53, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

You don't need too much. He's pretty straightforward, a clear writer, a clear thinker. Just jump on in; if you get totally lost, that'll be more informative about what you should read up on, rather than a list of prerequisites. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 16:09, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

From the preface :

a) Some idea of how a stored-program digital computer works; not necessarily the electronics, rather the manner in which instructions can be kept in the machine's memory and successively executed.
b) An ability to put the solutions to problems into such explicit terms that a computer can "understand" them. [...]
c) Some knowledge of the most elementary computer techniques such as looping (performing a set of instructions repeatedly), the use of subroutines, and the use of indexed variables.
d) A little knowledge of common computer jargon -- "memory," "registers," "bits," "floating point," "overflow," "software." Most words not defined in the text are given brief definitions in the index at the close of each volume.
These four prerequisites can perhaps be summed up into athe single requirement that the reader should have already written and tested at least, say, four programs for at least one computer.
[...]
The material has been organized so that persons with no more than a knowledge of high-school algebra may read it, skimming briefly over the more mathematical portions; yet a reader who is more mathematically inclined will learn about many interesting mathematical techniques related to discrete mathematics.

(Any typos mine.) He later goes on to say that a good knowledge of calculus should be sufficient for the majority of the mathematics portions. (The ones he previously mentioned you could skim over.) APL (talk) 16:33, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

lexmark cartridge reset

Hi i have been searching for days on how to restet my lexmark No 33 and 31 ink cartridges with no joy can anyone please help its a lexmark P915 printer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mat30m (talk • contribs) 14:54, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Web Formatting with HTML or CSS?

I'm writing a story (the same one) for pseudo-publication online, and have run into a bit of an issue. I'm very knowledgeable and conscientious (Read: OCD) of formatting, and pay slightly rigorous attention to style guides. For example, for fully justified text, I generally only allow hyphenation of line breaks twice consecutively. All of this sounds needlessly trivial, except that I use OpenOffice.org which allows me to set most of these minor settings to occur automatically. However, for the "web", is it possible to set such niceties to occur automatically (via CSS or something?) or would I need to do it all manually? If it's not possible, is there some other open-source program or language or something that would allow me to? Because while I like being "correct" (and as a college student, such trivialities usually require me to be a perfectionist) it's just not worth it if I have to do it all manually. As an afterthought, are there any reputable style guides specifically for websites that are used in lieu of sophisticated software or editorial staff?

Deshi no Shi (talk) 18:39, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

If you could be more specific about which "niceties" you'd like to occur, I can try help you come of with the CSS to do those things. - SigmaEpsilon → ΣΕ

Automatic hyphenation, indentation, spacing control (double/single), kerning (though I doubt this is possible?), tabs (based on inches or relativity to the rest of the text), control of non-breaking characters (spaces, hyphens, etc.) Deshi no Shi (talk) 20:01, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

This is a very common problem with moving from print to web. For hyphenation - forget it for now. The web doesn't hyphenate. If you are concerned about it, you'll need to learn to program JavaScript for all popular web browsers and add hyphenation on the fly whenever text is loaded or the page is resized. Even then, you are assuming the person has JavaScript running - which many people opt to turn off. For justified text, it is possible with CSS, but not all browsers support it. Tabbing in inches is possible with CSS - but what the web browser considers to be an "inch" is a bit vague and rarely equal to an inch. Using "Ems" is far more likely to get something relative to the text. The main root of the problem is that you don't appear to realize that the text will layout differently for every person that views it. There may be 23 words on the first line of text when you view it on your computer. On mine, there may be 54. Your letters may be 0.13" wide. Mine may be 0.24" wide. The same goes for everything else. Your line spacing will be different than mine. Your kerning will be different than mine. Your entire font will be different than mine. It all boils down to the web being a "markup language". Basically, you are suggesting how the page should look. My web browser can accept the suggestions, ignore the suggestions, or treat the suggestions in an entirely different way than you expect. -- kainaw™ 21:26, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Hyphens can be done by inserting a soft hyphen, but not all web browsers support them (the normally reliable Firefox doesn't, for example). Sizes can be defined in terms of pixels or em-spaces. Kerning will be available when CSS 3 is released.[11] But kainaw is right - the web doesn't work like this. You can request that I display it your way, but I may decide to have a stupidly large font size, to ignore your colors in favor of high-contrast black-and-white, or I may be using a screen reader or lynx. Follow the reccomendations of the Web Accessibility Initiative and everyone will be happy. --h2g2bob (talk) 21:59, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Am I missing something? If you already use OOo, you could create PDF copies of your documents for the 'paper-like' feel. Of course, you would be assuming that the person has a pdf viewer/reader but you will have done something to help PDF proliferate. Kushal (talk) 03:28, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

June 2

Keeping music on an iPod after removing the music from the computer

Hello, my question comes from the fact that I have a 60GB iPod but my computer's harddrive only has 20GB of space. Using the "manually manage music" feature, would it be possible for me to have music on the computer, drag it on to the iPod, and then delete it from the computer? Would the iPod know to keep the music on there once I re-connect it to the computer and the music has been deleted from the computer? I don't want to use it as a portable harddrive; I want to be able to listen to the music I put on there, and I would like to be able to take advantage of the 60GB that my iPod has. I hope this isn't too difficult to understand. Thanks. NIRVANA2764 (talk) 01:30, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Sure, you can put music on your iPod and delete it from your computer. It's just when you plug it back in, it'll ask you if you want to transfer it back to your computer. Don't say don't transfer, or else it'll delete it from you iPod. Just say transfer and delete it afterwards. --Randoman412 (talk) 02:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

What if the OP transfer if (s)he has 40 GB of songs on the iPod and just 20 GB in the computer? Kushal (talk) 03:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Randoman, you're slightly mistaken — iTunes will only transfer content purchased from the iTunes Store from an iPod back to the iTunes library (see the penultimate paragraph of iTunes#Synchronizing_iPod_and_other_players). There's no way to copy imported (ripped, usually) media back to the computer, without using third-party software. So it depends on how much purchased music the user has as to whether it will be a problem. --alien2k (talk) 12:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, just manually manage it. Once you've copied it to the iPod you can delete it off of the computer and it will stay on the iPod. Note, though, that it's tricky (but not impossible) to copy music back from the iPod onto the computer. So for example I've copied all my own CDs to the iPod and deleted them from my computer, because if something happens (the iPod fails) it won't be hard to re-copy them again since I have the original CDs. Music that I don't have any easy way to replace, though, I kept on the computer. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice. No I do not really have any intention of importing music from the iPod back to the computer. You bring up a valid point however - if the iPod fails, the music is gone forever. So maybe I will want to import music from iPod back to computer if I get a bigger harddrive. NIRVANA2764 (talk) 20:12, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Seeding

Please don't say it's illegal and not answer my question. I only use torrents for free stuff. I made a torrent and i want to know how to seed it for the first time. Again, don't bash me for asking. --Randoman412 (talk) 02:34, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Randoman412, I don't know why anyone would be bashing or anything. BitTorrent is just a transport protocol and it is 100% legal. To answer your question in just a word, it would be "Depends." If you are using uTorrent, I believe there is an option under file menu to seed your own torrent (other clients should have similar options too). Just be sure that you either use a public tracker and/or ensure that the swarm catches the complete file so that the file continues to be available in case you need to turn off your computer. I am pretty sure you have read BitTorrent and associated articles. Hope that helps, Kushal (talk) 03:23, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't have uTorrent, and i'm using Azureus for torrents. Can you seed with Azureus or was it too late since i uploaded it onto a diffrent tracker? --Randoman412 (talk) 19:34, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, you can seed with Azureus. The Azureus wiki is a good resource- seeding is listed on the FAQ. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:26, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

laptop USB power

I'm trying to get a USB mouse working thats plugged into a PCMCIA usb/firewire combo card . Unfortunately no life from the mouse - i've tried an SD card adaptor and it works ok; mouse works on another computer . Do PCMCIA connections supply a low-current thats not powering the mouse ? Or something else ? Boomshanka (talk) 09:51, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I am not sure but I don't think that the power sufficient for the sd card reader to function properly is insufficient for a mouse. I agree that the situation is rather strange. We know that both the computer has a functioning usb port (tested using an sd card adapter) and the mouse is working (tested on another computer). The thing that comes to my mind is "Does the computer recognize the Mmouse and can they talk to each other?" If you are on a Microsoft Windows, you could open Device Manager and look for anything that needs attention (with the mouse attached physically prior to booting). You have probably done that already. In that case, please ignore this edit. I am sure other wikipedians will come up with other [hopefully, better] answers. Kushal (talk) 14:50, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

To check, go to control panel/printers and other hardware/mouse/hardware and check if the mouse is listed there; then you can fool around with troubleshoot and/or properties. Gzuckier (talk) 14:57, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Import avi/wmv files into iTunes so works in FrontRow

Hi. I am trying to find a program that will convert or make it possible to add .avi (or dvx) format video so that I can add them to iTunes. The "import" doesn't allow it, and neither does add to library. I assume it will mean converting to an iTunes friendly format so is there anything free out there to do this into an iTunes friendly format. I am a mac-user on a intel-mac using Tiger (I think tiger - the one before the current operating system). Any help greatly welcomed. 14:55, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

ffmpeg can convert files from a bazillion formats though I have found it to be pretty buggy at times (like most open source software). VLC can transcode to and from a bunch of formats as well, but it's also mondo buggy (like, sigh, most open source software). Anyway, what you're looking for is a transcoder to MOV or MP4 format. You're going to lose some file quality while doing so but that's your decision to make. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:14, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the info - will give it a whirl tonight, hoepfully that'll work! Thanks again 194.221.133.226 (talk) 11:31, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Also, MPEG Streamclip can convert AVI to MOV, I believe. I've had better experiences with it in the past than those other programs (it is easier to use, less buggy). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:25, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

replacing dell laptop lcd screen

can anyone direct me to an article regarding dell laptop lcd screens breaking for no apparent reason and cost to repair? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kplossl (talk • contribs) 15:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Breaking for no apparent reason? Not quite as bad as exploding batteries but if I see it correctly, someone at Dell would beosleepless if this were true. I know that LCD screens can be replaced at home with some some money, some googling, price comparison, an online merchant, and a lot of patience and free time. Kplossl, I don't understand how an lcd screen would spontaneously break. If you are aware of such an incident, could you alert Dell and also write here about it? Kushal (talk) 01:17, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

When I typed replacing a broken lcd screen on a laptop in the search engine, the result was Notebook review¹. Google also gave me another website². The replacement unit should cost you between USD 100 to USD 300. Make sure you equate the cost of a broken lcd screen vs buying a new laptop. A price comparison website will come handy as well. Kushal (talk) 17:38, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

KDE4 Dual Head Display

I have been using my computer's on-board ATI chip with a dual-head SVGA display for a long time. The ati driver no longer supports mergedfb. Instead, xrandr is used - which means that I cannot do dual 1280x1024 display. I can only do dual 1024x768. I'm interested in getting a dual-head AGP board to correct this problem, but I cannot find a dependable page that lists which cards work with Linux without any weird issues. I'm using KDE4 on the latest kernel, so I'm leaning towards an nVidia card. Any suggestions? -- kainaw™ 18:20, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Office Forms Server 2007 with WSS 3.0 without MOSS - Is it possible?

Okay, I'm at my wits end with this. I've searched for this answer everywhere and some places say yes, some say no. If my question was unclear I am asking if it's possible to run the free Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with Office Forms Server 2007, which I understand to be a separate component of the Office Suite, without having to purchase the grossly expensive Microsoft Office Sharepoint 2007 Enterprise Edition. I am trying to run web-based InfoPath forms and, to my understanding, the Enterprise Edition of Sharepoint is the only one able to do this. --Ouzo (talk) 18:27, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

How can you create your own photoshop filter?

I would like to create a simple photoshop filter, I know it is possible to make a photoshop plugin that you can import, I just have no idea about e.g. what software to use... would notepad be suffiecient? 85.233.178.213 (talk) 21:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Here's a good page describing what one needs to do and how. Basically to do a real plug-in you have to know how to program C++, as well as have a good knowledge of bitmap graphics and color theory—not easy stuff, even if what you want to do is "simple" (is it programmatically simple, or conceptually simple? With things like graphics the latter does not equal the former—often what is very easy for a human eye to see or a human mind to imagine is VERY hard to turn into a reliable computation, because machines have nothing like human sight capabilities) In my opinion, you might find it easier to use the Photoshop "Actions" menu which allows you to build basic "macros" out of existing Photoshop commands. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 22:12, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

where would I find the actions menu? I'm using elements 3.0 . I can code in python, would that be useful? I wouldn't know how to refer to the pixels though, since there are no guides for coding a filter... If I could see an example of one it would probably help, I just want to get started by creating one that brightens or darkens an image, I can go from there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.233.178.213 (talk) 12:08, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Python won't help, I'm afraid, though you can, I think, write plug-ins in GIMP with Python, but that's a whole different program. But if you're game for it, I'm sure it's better documented than writing Photoshop plug-ins, and is totally free (and more powerful than Elements, anyway).

I don't think there is an Action menu in Elements—it's only in the full Photoshop. Sorry... --98.217.8.46 (talk) 16:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I tried to use GIMP but its interface was too clunky, I really can't get used to having a seperate window for the tools, and why the selected colour is in the background while the inactive colour is in the foreground, still, I started followeing a tutorial athough I doubt I will go though with it, thank you anyway... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.233.178.213 (talk) 17:24, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

"why the selected colour is in the background while the inactive colour is in the foreground" I use both Gimp and Photoshop and I have never noticed their behavior. I assume you're talking about the two overlapping square swatches that indicate your current working "foreground" and "background" colors? In both programs the square in 'front' of the other is the foreground. APL (talk) 19:41, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Removing Partition

I have two partitions on my computer. One with windows and one with Ubuntu. How can I format the Ubuntu partition and merge it back with the windows partition. (sorry fanboys) --69.127.64.22 (talk) 21:37, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I'd recommend using a GParted LiveCD. If the Windows partition is not a system partition, Window's built-in Disk Management should be able to nuke the other partition and then resize the Windows one, but otherwise you'll want something you can launch outside Windows (such as a GParted liveCD) -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 00:32, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

May I recommend Wubi (Ubuntu) for your next attempt at scaling the Unix-like architecture? Kushal (talk) 01:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

June 3

Internet Problems Following Failed Ubuntu Installation

Hello, I'm having problems accessing the internet which are pretty strange to me. Here's the situation:

I attempted to install an 8.04 Ubuntu release using a CD and got a short ways into the installation before I got a few error messages and a lot of lagging. I already knew my system only had a little under 256 mb of memory when more was generally required, and I was going to install Xubuntu instead so I didn't give it much thought. I unfortunately did a hard reset (which I know is always a stupid idea, but I couldn't get the system to pause or close by combinations of escape and other keys) and tried to start up Windows. This was generally fine except for Windows asking to check the disk, which I allowed. This also went fine, but there was some message following the 3rd step that I couldn't really follow because it closed quickly.

When I signed back on to my account, all my files were in order but the internet was, and still is, acting up. I'm pretty sure I can access sites without a problem- given enough time. As I type this the icons for different buttons are still loading, and internet browsing in general seems to be rather slow to work. At first it was, strangely, only Wikipedia that didn't load. In fact, quite a few sites are still rather quick to load, but others just hang for a long time almost without rhyme or reason.

My real question is, what could a hard reset during the attempt at installation (I should note that I chose to install Ubuntu without changing the existing configuration) mess up that would leave internet access, files, and the like, while slowing down only certain sites at certain times? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.54.42.126 (talk) 00:53, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Request for more informationHow are you connected to the Internet? Dial-up? Ethernet Cable? DSL? Wi-Fi? Are you a poweruser (admin) on Windows? Are you sure it is the Internet connection, and not the web browser, that is acting strangely? AFAIK, if you are not a poweruser and some of your browser files accidentally got corrupted during a hard boot, Windows XP SP2 would not allow the browser (most probably, Mozilla Firefox) to set it correctly. Of course, I could be off a tangent with the question, too. Kushal (talk) 01:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry that I wasn't specific:

1) I have a cable connection and I'm using a router, but it hasn't been changed at all by the setup, and a computer in another room actually seems to be fine.

2) I'm pretty sure it isn't the web browser (Firefox) because I tried accessing sites on Internet Explorer, too.

3) Someone in my house said it might be a system settings problem too, which I'm starting to think it is. I tried to quickly fix the internet connection by doing a Windows repair but nothing changed...

Is there any way I would be able to figure out the source of the problem and fix it? On another note, when I tried to access this page to edit it I opened another tab, assuming that it might load faster. When the page in fact loaded, both of the windows reached the website at the same time. Could this mean that the internet is working in bursts or something?

Also, I am connected to an instant messaging program with absolutely no problems. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.54.42.126 (talk) 01:20, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

As far as I know, Internet access always works in bursts. Kushal (talk) 03:59, 3 June 2008 (UTC) Are you a poweruser (or administrator) on your computer? Kushal (talk) 04:01, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

IPhone or IPod touch?

I'm not sure if this is the right section but anyway... I'm thinking on getting either and Iphone or an Ipod touch. Which one do you think I should get?

The Iphone has more app. (like the phone, camera ect.) but, the Ipod touch is faster, cheaper and comes with more memory. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.66.12.129 (talk) 02:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

If you want a phone, consider the iPhone, otherwise the iPod Touch. Or just get a Razr or some other cheap/decent phone and a Touch. Or whatever your heart desires. Though some might criticize the Touch's low capacity, I know one guy who loves his. It fits more than a day's worth of music anyways, you just need to swap it out every once in awhile (and if you had a particularly huge collection you would be doing this anyways) -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 03:02, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I wonder if a 3G (HSDPA or otherwise) iPhone with 16 GB or more storage capacity is coming this July. I agree with Consumed Crustacean. If you do not want a phone, save the money that you would spend on a phone. If you need a phone and not an iPod, get yourself a phone. Before you decide the iPod Touch over the iPhone, make sure you understand that there are certain things that current generation iPod Touch devices can never do (and that do not seem to matter yet, vibration may be one of them). There are many rumors, and according to one, you might get an iPhone for as little as USD 200.00 as an initial payment.

Oh, by the way, have you heard of Android (mobile device platform)? maybe that could be your next phone in two years time after you get your iPhone 2 this fall? Kushal (talk) 03:57, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

What to learn next in programing

I've been on and off with programming - a little PHP and HTML, and some Perl from a while back - like loops, variables, functions. I worked a lot with Visual Basic and access, and I know a good amount of how do use: databases, OO programming(with VB- easy stuff), using IDEs, and well, basic stuff in VB). A couple of weeks back, I picked up PHP again, and I've learned quite a bit with PHP/MySQL: arrays, function, databases, post/get, cookies, date, and file manipulation. I was considering on taking up a project with PHP and MySQL, but I've been having second thoughts about it, because It's a really time consuming one, requiring AJAX (javascript + php - really a pain to use), which might teach me a lot about AJAX, but I don't think it would teach me things any deeper than I know already.

So, I'm at the point in programming where I feel that I could do a lot of things in a programming language (using tons of reference), but I'm not sure exactly what to learn/pursue next, however, if it makes sense.

So, I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind (sorry to make it so long!):

1) Would I still be considered "new" to programming based on the stuff I learned?
2) Should I drop my PHP project, and learn other stuff?
3) Is it bad to be skipping from programming language to programming language?
4) What should I learn next (Java/C++/Python, etc.)?
Thanks!
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.62.238.80 (talk) 04:46, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

It is more a software design approach than straight programming, but I would suggest learning UML and Design Patterns if you haven't (doing both together would probably be a good combination, but start with the basics of UML to help make sense of Design Patterns). Using them to design your Javascript -> PHP -> SQL project would be a great help and a perfect learning experience in my opinion. And as far as the actual programming goes, I wouldn't say jumping between languages is a bad thing as long as it doesn't confuse you too badly, so that'll have to be your call. --Prestidigitator (talk) 05:52, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

If you're interested in doing more with web programming, Django is a beautiful system based on Python, which itself is a nice language to learn. Django is object-oriented and deeply integrated with SQL, and it has some modules that do AJAX for you, so this could solve your PHP woes. Of course, there's also the ever-popular Ruby on Rails for that purpose -- it has more AJAX magic, but I've been burned by its inconsistency.

It's also never a bad thing to skip from one programming language to another -- it will eventually let you spend more of your brainpower on general, useful programming patterns and less on the mundane specifics of each language. On that note, if you want to become really good at programming, you could try a language that's very different than the ones you've learned, to expand your repertoire. A functional language such as LISP or Scheme would do well for that purpose. (I was almost going to suggest Haskell, but I realized that it is frankly a difficult, mind-bending language, and would be prone to making you give up and return to the comfort of PHP or VB.)

Finally, here are some good programming books that you can read online for free:

• How to Think Like a Computer Scientist -- teaches Python, along with design patterns from basic to less basic.
• Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs -- teaches Scheme and how to understand programs at a high level and (later) at a low level. Only a bit dated.
• Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby -- ridiculously entertaining. Perhaps not as useful as some other books because it spends so much time being ridiculously entertaining, but that's not entirely the point. It may never be finished.
• The Django Book, for writing nice web applications.

rspeer / ɹəədsɹ 09:47, 3 June 2008 (UTC)\

Thanks for your replies! So, I'm wondering which language to move onto. C++, Java, or Python. I'm not really sure. I liked the "How to think like a computer programmer", but i was thinking about doing Java/C++ also. Would you reccomend OO/GUI programming for me? I'll be sure to check out some of the other links everyone has posted. Thanks again.

Python sockets - sending from a specific IP address

I'd like to send some data in Python from a specific IP address, but want to let Python automatically choose a port to send from (because I could have many of these running at once). This is what I have so far - this sends from the IP address fine:

from socket import *
s = socket( AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM )
s.bind(( 'x.x.x.2', 2020 ))               # Sending data from a specific IP address, using a specific high port
s.connect(( 'example.com', 80 ))
s.send( 'GET / HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: example.com\r\n\r\n' )
while True:
	d = s.recv(100)
	if d:
		print d
	else:
		break

But if I bind with an IP address only with s.bind(( 'x.x.x.2' )) it sends it from the default IP address (x.x.x.1), not the one I specify. Is there any way of automatically allocating an IP address but not a port a port but not an IP address? --h2g2bob (talk) 11:02, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Just like in straight C sockets, binding to port zero means "choose a port for me": s.bind(( 'x.x.x.2', 0 )) --Sean 13:37, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

When I do that, it goes back to the default IP address too :( Is there any way to fix the IP address but have the port allocated automatically? --h2g2bob (talk) 14:53, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

It works for me on my Linux machine, using the following server and client scripts to verify what IP the client is coming from:

# Server:
from socket import *
s = socket( AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM )
s.bind(( '10.2.1.148', 9001 ))
s.listen(5)
print "Waiting for clients ..."
while True:
        cli = s.accept()
        print "Got client:",
        print cli


# Client:
from socket import *

server_ip  = '10.2.1.148'

client_ip1 = '10.2.1.148'
sock1 = socket( AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM )
sock1.bind(( client_ip1, 0 ))
sock1.connect(( server_ip, 9001 ))

client_ip2 = '192.168.2.1'
sock2 = socket( AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM )
sock2.bind(( client_ip2, 0 ))
sock2.connect(( server_ip, 9001 ))

# Running gives:
# Waiting for clients ...
# Got client: (<socket._socketobject object at 0x4037a2d4>, ('10.2.1.148', 60709))
# Got client: (<socket._socketobject object at 0x4037ee8c>, ('192.168.2.1', 60710))

If it doesn't work for you, I'd suspect something wrong with your underlying sockets implementation. What system are you on? --Sean 19:25, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

P.S., the following C client will do the same thing as the Python one above. If it does not set your client interface correctly, your sockets implementation is borked:

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <arpa/inet.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#define die() do { perror("error"); abort(); } while (0)

int main()
{
    char *client_ip = "192.168.2.1";
    char *server_ip = "10.2.1.148";

    int fd = socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
    if (fd < 0)
        die();

    struct sockaddr_in server = { .sin_family = AF_INET,
                                  .sin_port = htons(9000) };

    if (inet_pton(AF_INET, server_ip, (void *)&server.sin_addr) < 1)
        die();

    struct sockaddr_in client = { .sin_family = AF_INET,
                                  .sin_port = htons(0) };

    if (inet_pton(AF_INET, client_ip, (void *)&client.sin_addr) < 1)
        die();

    if (bind(fd, (const struct sockaddr*)&client, sizeof(client)) != 0)
        die();

    if (connect(fd, (struct sockaddr*)&server, sizeof(server)) != 0)
        die();
    return 0;
}

Amazon

Why doesn't Amazon have an Australian version? Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 11:49, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

maybe they are waiting for a strategic partner like you who sees long-term value in the online merchant beyond the fact that Amazon has not been able to generate a lot of profit since the dot com bust. No kidding. 67.173.249.88 (talk) 13:42, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Your comment doesn't make sense. Amazon.com was unprofitable during the dot-com boom, and only became profitable after the bust. -- Coneslayer (talk) 14:45, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Amazon.com is profitable? Sign me up for 100 shares! Just kidding, Amazon.com's cumulative profits continue to remain negative. There is a lot of long-term value in Amazon, I agree. Many people idolize its customer service and Amazon Prime is a great idea. I also agree that the future looks bright for Amazon. Amazon Prime in Australia would probably make as much sense as it would in a small town in Wyoming. I don't care what happened during the dot com boom. Anything that happens in a crazy boom, stays in the crazy boom. :) Kushal (talk) 17:25, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I think I'm using "profitable" in the most common way, considering a year (or a quarter, etc.) at a time. This is how it's used in our article, and in this sense, Amazon is profitable, and General Motors is not. While you certainly can integrate over the lifetime of the company, I don't think that's how most people define profit or loss. The impact of Amazon's past losses would be reflected in its outstanding debt. -- Coneslayer (talk) 19:26, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I can fully appreciate why you would like to see an Aussie Amazon; the postage from the UK or USA is quite high. My friends in Oz, will order books, etc and have them sent to my place here in the UK. I them post them on, in exchange for them getting me something from home (eg boxes of Cherry Ripes) or often Australian releases of DVDs are way ahead of those that come out in the UK and are often superior. I have obtained a full set of CountDown DVDs this way.--80.176.225.249 (talk) 19:28, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Matlab Question !

In Matlab How to save and retrieve a multidimensional array from a text file? --203.199.213.67 (talk) 13:51, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

According to this and this, it would be something like:

multi_array = cat(3, [2 8; 0 5], [1 3; 7 9])
save my_data.out multi_array -ASCII

to save it, and:

multi_array_again = load('my_data.out','-ascii')

to load it back in. --Sean 14:33, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Yahoo mail

I use Yahoo mail, and also subscribe to the en.wp mailing list. The problem is, the mailing list is ass-trociously huge and I get ~7 e-mails a day from the list. I usually end up moving them all to a designated folder, but surely there must be an easier way to do this. Can I automatically move all e-mails with subject X or sender X to a certain folder? Ziggy Sawdust 16:36, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Yahoo! Mail has a filtering feature that does what you want. In Yahoo! Mail Classic, filter configuration is under Options -> Mail Options -> Management -> Filters. --71.162.242.23 (talk) 17:05, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

The thing is, I tried that before and then all wikien-l messages didn't get through at all. Ziggy Sawdust 18:01, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Populous: The Beginning demo install error

I recently tried to install the above program and got the following message: "An error occurred during the move data process: -1" I googled the message, and came up with a bunch of different sites discussing similar errors, only every site listed a three digit number, instead of a just -1. I checked my temp files and hard drive space as suggested, and both have room to spare. Any help? Thanks in advance for your efforts. You may reply here or on my talk page. --AtTheAbyss (talk) 16:59, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

IP address of sender in google group

Hi, I am a part of a google group.. Is there a way to trace the ip address of another member of google group who has replied to a posted message on google group?? If yes , how?? Its important for me to know somehow..... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.132.3.7 (talk) 17:24, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

No. You don't get the actual sender's IP info in the message. At most, you get the email address the sender is claiming to be using - which may or may not be true. Google purposely masks that information and you'll have to take Google to court to force them to hand over the IP address. Even then, it will likely be a dynamic IP that doesn't belong to the user anymore after you go through all that trouble. -- kainaw™ 19:40, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

If I understand correctly, then many "Google groups" are just mirrors of usenet. If someone has posted to usenet directly, the message headers may contain some usefull information, if not an exact IP address. APL (talk) 19:44, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

AT&T early termination

If I have a wireless plan with AT&T for about six months and I have to cancel my contract, I will need to pay the early termination fee and any monthly fee due. However, do I need to return my cell phone? I am pretty sure I don't have to. Please let me know if you have been in such a situation. Kushal (talk) 17:58, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

That depends on what kind of an agreement you have made with AT&T. Did you lease the phone from them? What does it say in the paper you presumably signed when you signed up for the plan? Really, all you need to do is call up their customer service and ask them, they can undoubtedly tell you how it works. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 18:17, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. I dialed 6-1-1. It appears that all I need to do is to call them on the day I want to have the service canceled and tell them to IMMEDIATELY cancel the contract. The representative said that my contract would then be canceled. I would not need to return anything. My bill would show the early termination fee and the prorated monthly fees. Kushal (talk) 18:29, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Versace typeface

What typeface is the word "VERSACE" in this image written in? Also could you please give me instructions on how to download the typeface and apply it to Windows Live Messenger --Hadseys 21:32, 3 June 2008 (UTC)