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April 5

Non-Sun Java VM for Firefox on XP?

I want to run Java applets in Firefox on Windows XP. However, I find Sun's JVM annoying, with its tray icons and continual updates and stuff, is there an alternative I can use? thanks 121.72.192.28 (talk) 03:42, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

I don't know about alternatives but you can disable both the tray icon and updates in Start / Control Panel / Java. The tray icon option is under Advanced / Miscellaneous. 88.112.62.225 (talk) 08:36, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Changing Keyboard Language Settings in one click

How would I go about changing the current language settings to another using a batch, VBScript (or other) file? For instance, let's say that I use the Dvorak keyboard at home, but work has Qwerty by default. I would like a file(s) that would allow me to change the keyboard layout from Qwerty to Dvorak. Normally I'd have to manually go to the Control Panel, go through all the menus, etc... and change the layout from there. I would like something that doesn't even bring up the Control Panel GUI. How can this be accomplished? I'd also need a file to change the layout back to default when I'm done. Preferably I don't want to download any third-party software, and try to avoid .reg files if possible. If not, then please still post them. Thank you!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.153.216.23 (talk) 04:14, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Well, you can do it using keyboard shortcuts. Control panel->Regional+language options->Text services and input languages->Key settings. 121.72.192.28 (talk) 06:18, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

If you could show the indicter of Regional+language options in the notification area in the tool bar on your computer, I think it makes easier to change. Click the locale tab and see the bottom of the page. Oda Mari (talk) 06:50, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Strange virus

Im not sure how i picked this up. It doesnt seem to do any damage, but ive found my computer to have bursts of slow spots, and, get this, it plays Jingle Bells randomly! Someone was really bored, i guess. A google search gives me no information, anyone else heard of this? 71.223.239.195 (talk) 05:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Your friend is like 8 months early... try a virus scan first. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.72.192.28 (talk) 06:17, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

If you're using a MS machine, check out your msconfig - might be something in there that's starting up. — Ched : Yes?  © 07:06, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

System diagnostics

What steps can be taken before purchasing a used laptop computer (Windows XP operating system) to check whether it is in good working order? Specifically, are there any free online tools that could check a computer for infections, errors, and other problems? Thanks, –Black Falcon ^(Talk) 06:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

I tend to check the physical things first, and have both thumbdrive and CD's with tools. The first one that "I" check is the Aida32 tool (download here). That'll tell you what you're looking at as far as hardware goes. You could also look at UBCD, and UBCD for Windows. Both have a lot of good free tools, you can d/l them individually, or d/l the whole ISO package. I don't worry too much about infections, or other OS things, cause I tend to just reformat and re-install the OS of my choice. If there's any individual item you're curious about, feel free to drop me a note. — Ched : Yes?  © 07:04, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Besides the obvious things you can see check how long the power meter says it'll live when the power cable is taken off for a few minutes and see that the power cable goes on okay. Check it reads a CD okay and any other devices you need. See you have no problems with any of the keyboard keys or the mouse. Dmcq (talk) 12:41, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

silly question about ext2/3 fs in vista

About a year/year and a half ago I bought a computer with Vista and set it up so that it could read my usb external drive which is formatted in ext3. A few days ago I noticed that the drive letter had changed (I think some other usb storage device took priority and shifted the order of the drives or something like that) and I would now like to change the drive letters back, because of a conflict that I've now come across with links to the external drive. The problem is... I've totally forgotten how I set up the drives to be read by vista in the first place, i.e. I don't know what drivers I used, and I can't seem to find any proof of their existence (I use the drive as if it were a normal FAT drive), nor is there anything in my system tray or anything like that. So basically, how can I find out what I'm using to enable vista to read the drive, and what should I then do to change the drive letter (if it's not immediately apparent). Thanks! 210.254.117.186 (talk) 14:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

It's probably this driver [1] (which is the most common ext2/3fs driver for windows). I think it usually leaves a program in your start menu, so you might want to reinstall it. It has an option of which drive letter you want to use. Indeterminate (talk) 06:45, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Disk Management should let you change the drive letter, if that's what you really need. (Start -> Run, 'diskmgmt.msc'). Driver-wise, though, IFS? Washii (talk) 02:35, 10 April 2009 (UTC) (Edit: sorry, Installable File System) -- Washii (talk) 02:36, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Meaning of "restore faculty defaults"

What does the above phrase mean? Does it mean it will restore the reigstry or will it wipe the hard drive too ? --DFS454 (talk) 16:59, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

The phrase is "restore factory defaults", not "faculty". It restores whatever the device is to the state it was in when it left the factory. Are you looking at BIOS? It will reset all BIOS settings to the factory settings. It will not touch your registry (or your hard drive) in any way. However, if you had to make some unusual BIOS setting changes to get your harddrive to work, you will need to remake them after resetting the BIOS. -- kainaw™ 17:18, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the response.I briefly read through the BIOS article but still I'm not sure what it is. Will restoring factory defaults just restore the drivers ? --DFS454 (talk) 17:32, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

BIOS will not alter Windows in any way. It is not part of Windows. It is a program built into the motherboard that handles basic hardware operations. It is possible that resetting it may cause a problem if your computer requires an unusual BIOS setting to operate. That is rare. It is possible that resetting it may fix a problem if the problem is caused by an unusual BIOS setting. That is rare since you probably didn't go into BIOS and make changes. If BIOS is continually getting corrupted, the battery on the motherboard is likely dead and needs to be replaced. -- kainaw™ 17:45, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Also see default (computer science). StuRat (talk) 22:09, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Stu is right. The answer depends on where you are seeing "restore factory defaults". -- Fullstop (talk) 00:31, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Some kind of audio/video chopping tool?

Is there some kind of software I can download... where I give it an audio file (mp3, wav, etc) and it will break it into a bunch of x-second clips? I could do it in Audacity or something, but for a 3-minute song it's going to take me a week to put it into 5-second clips. Pretty please, someone tell me how I can do this automatically?

71.74.181.173 (talk) 19:03, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Google for split audio file. The first hit, Slice, looks promising. Check some of the other hits too for something that looks reputable.

Or, if you are not averse to command line tools, I think SoX can split files too, using its "trim" command. May require some scripting, possibly additionally LAME for mp3. 88.112.62.225 (talk) 05:28, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Using visualization as a background

I use Linux with GNOME, KDE and Awesome (if that helps). Is it possible to use the visualization of music players like Amarok/Rhythmbox (or any other, doesn't really matter) appear as the wallpaper? What I'm thinking of is having the visualization actually appearing on your desktop, animated. --BiT (talk) 23:32, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Well, there are some programs [2] available that will draw stuff to the root window (the "wallpaper"), so it's certainly possible. However, the only programs I know of that do it are that one I just linked to and the XScreenSaver modules. The problem is that I think the visualization program has to be specifically written to be able to draw on the root window. If you're a programmer, there are X libraries available for several languages (Python for example [3] ), so you might be able to write a wrapper, but I don't know of any off the top of my head. Indeterminate (talk) 06:31, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

In KDE, you can make pretty much any window full-screen, no border, on all desktops. That will make it look like a background image. -- kainaw™ 12:57, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Except... won't it get screwed up and come to the front if you click on it? won't it not stay to the back? I mean, a full-screen window is not the same thing as a desktop image on most OSes. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 14:16, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

KDE also has a "keep below others" setting. Right-click on the title bar of the window. All the settings are right there. -- kainaw™ 13:15, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Does it hide beneath the icons and plasmas in KDE as well? --BiT (talk) 14:34, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Found this on Freshmeat, never tried it though. APL (talk) 16:18, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Non of this is exactly what I'm looking for, some of it is close but not really what I want. I just think it's an interesting idea to have your wallpaper dance to the beat of your music. --BiT (talk) 02:06, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

April 6

Why do Pentium IIIs run at different speeds?

The article says the same versions run at different speeds. Is this speed built into the hardware of the CPU and cannot be changed? Are these different-speed Pentium IIIs truely different, or are they just the same hardware that has been 'crippled' by Intel to run at lower speeds as part of product differentiation? 78.147.28.51 (talk) 12:15, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

As time went on, the technology for producing P3 cores improved so faster speeds were possible with less heat generated, some CPUs are as you say 'crippled' but not (usually) to make more money, the CPUs are thoroughly tested at various speeds and are rated near the highest speed at which they'll reliably operate.

That said some CPUs are crippled just to make money for the manufacturer, the current 3 core AMD chips for example can have the fourth core enabled on certain motherboards, AMD don't make three core chips, they make 1, 2 and 4 core chips, a 3 core chip is either a chip with a failed core (using those as 3 core chips will increase the yield a great deal) or a chip with a core simply disabled so AMD can target a lower price point.

You can overclock the Pentium 3 CPUs fairly easily but this will probably shorten the life of the chip and could break it completely so unless you are sure of what you're doing overclocking is not recommended. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hideki.adam (talk • contribs) 12:47, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Tips on buying a second-hand computer for Linux

The small computer-repair type shops near me sell off old pre-owned reconditioned computers at modest prices, I imagine they obtain them from trade-in deals. I'm tempted to buy one, as they are better than the even older computer I am currently using, and they may save having to buy a new computer for several times the price in the future. The CPUs are typically 1.1 to 1.4GHz or less, usually AMD, and they run XP. I would buy one with the intention of eventually installing Linux. I am not interested in games, but I would like to be able to run things such as the statistical language "R" and its GUIs. What should I look out for when buying one, with regard to being future proof? Is there any problem with an AMD CPU and Linux, eg Ubuntu?

As an aside I've had Puppy Linux recommended to me for old computers, but I am concerned there might not be much software available for it, even though a version of Open Office 3 will run with Puppy Linux I understand. I've never used Linux yet. 78.147.28.51 (talk) 12:29, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

You certainly won't have problems running linux on slightly older AMD processors. Linux tends to run best on hardware that's been out there for a while, since it is a community effort and more people have had a chance to use it. Of course, you might run into problems with any oddball peripherals that might come with the system (a Winmodem, for example, will rarely work under linux). However, if they're being sold with linux on them, you can be pretty sure they'll have already testing that hardware. If you want to use R on Ubuntu, I suggest installing the r-recommended package (apt-get install r-recommended), which installs the base and a bunch of useful CRAN additions. -- JSBillings 12:45, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

I believe they come with XP on them, not Linux. StuRat (talk) 13:51, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

It's worth mentioning that Linux does require a reasonable amount of RAM to run effectively, a fast P2/P3 will probably be adequate as far as CPU speed goes but if you're running demanding X applications such as Open Office you should have at the absolute minimum 256MB of RAM and 512MB ideally. Any P4/Athlon system is going to be well above the requirements for Linux so perhaps get one of those, I'd recommend Ubuntu if you're new to Linux or Debian if you're not, both have a powerful package management system meaning you will rarely if ever have to compile anything yourself (Incidentally, my old Linux internet server was a 64MB P166, it didn't run X, just handled my firewall, a webserver and a few other bits but that should give you an idea of the sort of hardware you can run linux on, replaced last year with an Athlon 2000 (because the 72 pin SIMMs in the old P166 were needed for my Amiga ^^)) But yes, short answer, anything P3 or greater with 256MB or more of RAM should do what you want. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hideki.adam (talk • contribs) 12:53, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

One suggestion is to create a Linux boot disk and try it out in various used computers before agreeing to buy one. This, of course, requires that they allow you to do this test (call them and ask first). You need a fairly small version of Linux to fit on a single boot disk. Puppy Linux should fit, as will Damn Small Linux. Hopefully your current computer would be adequate to create the boot CD and maybe test it out. StuRat (talk) 13:51, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. For the best future-proofing would it be a good rule of thumb to simply buy the computer with the fastest CPU? Would a faster CPU usually have a higher maximum memory capacity in the motherboard please? The actual computer may not currently have the maximum memory installed, but as extra memory can be bought from Ebay very cheaply, then that is not a consideration when buying. Unfortunately due to the low price, I do not think the retailers are willing to spend time setting the computer up to allow testing (actually only the tower is for sale), or even allow looking inside the case, although they do offer a money-back guarentee. 78.147.28.51 (talk) 13:58, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

That's a shame. The ability to try something out before making the purchase decision is the main advantage of a brick-and-mortar store over an Internet purchase. StuRat (talk) 06:29, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

The computer that you describe sounds similar to the one I use now for Kubuntu. It's likely to be OK for the job. Note that there are (or were when I last looked) different versions of (K)ubuntu for Intel and AMD. -- Hoary (talk) 00:29, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Excel rectangles in a chart?

Hi, I'm wanting to draw rectangles in a chart in Excel 2007. So say I have co-ordinates (x1,y1) = (0.1,5) and (x2, y2) = (2,6), I'd like to draw a rectangle with it's bottom left corner at (x1, y1) and top right at (x2, y2). The tricky bit is that I'd like the rectangle to be filled in solid, ideally with the full range of excel options (transparancy etc.) bu this isn't fully necessary. Anyone got any ideas?

Cheers, LHMike (talk) 13:00, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

For the non-filled rectangle you enter the series (x1,y1) (x1,y2) (x2,y2) (x2,y1) (x1,y1) and then make a scatterplot with lines showing and point marks not showing. For the filled rectangle, I don't know. Jørgen (talk) 13:10, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

You can insert an "autoshape" (Insert → Picture → AutoShapes) on top of the chart. This will allow you full control over the formatting of the rectangle, but it doesn't technically become part of the chart (meaning changing/moving/resizing the graph can be somewhat complicated). For a more "integrated" approach, you could try adding a new data series with one or more points and enable "data labels" for that series, then move the data label(s) into place and format them appropriately (controlling the size of the labels might prove difficult though). – 74  13:35, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Basically the answer is that Excel cannot generate such things programmatically. You draw them in yourself. In which case you're better off not using Excel for such things, but a real vector editor. --140.247.242.83 (talk) 19:17, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Sigh... thanks all. I think the shapes answer is the way forward, it's just a shame it won't be linked to the real numerical data. Microsoft always come so close to getting things right, but they always seem to just fall short. Like vector drawing in Word. Almost, but not quite, good enough for technical drawings. LHMike (talk) 21:05, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Blocking deep packet inspection?

Is there any way to block deep packet inspection? — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 15:20, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes: encryption. --Sean 16:58, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Specifically protocol encryption. 121.72.192.28 (talk) 19:30, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 01:56, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Potentially some sort of steganography would also work. – 74  04:34, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

New, but related question: Is there a way to hide from your ISP which sites you are going to? HTTPS only works on some websites, but not all. Proxies could be the answer but they are slow. Tor is available but I worry that someone exits from my IP and I get nailed for child porn because a jury can't understand what an onion router is. Taggart.BBS (talk) 06:42, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

You could also add some IP headers, or perform IP fragmentation, which may confuse the technology, both of which will slow you down. To hide from your ISP, dial up to another ISP, preferably one in another country! Graeme Bartlett (talk) 06:56, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

HTTPS won't necessary hide what websites you're going to, the ISP would still be able to detect what website you went to, but not the the actual content of the pages as that would be encrypted. You already mentioned Tor which is one solution, but I think there may be some confusion: You don't need to make it use your computer as an "Exit" and in fact unless you actually configure it to do so it won't. Aside from that you would need a proxy server to relay your request on another external network and then connect to that via either a VPN or an SSH tunnel (or if using a VPN just route the Internet traffic down the VPN too). ZX81 ^talk 04:10, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Also, you don't need to be an exit node if you want to use Tor -- just set the exit policies to block everything. (Actually, you can even set Tor to "client-only" mode, but that isn't very recommended.) --grawity 11:41, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Backup question

My USB hard drive, which I had been using to make regular backups of the pictures I have taken with my digital camera (over 27000 so far) just failed. The pictures are safe, as my internal hard drive is still working OK, but if it fails, at least some of them will be lost forever. This made me realise that the method I had been using: keeping a USB hard drive continuously connected to my computer and powered on, and making regular backups to it, is not reliable enough. A single mechanical failure to the drive and the backups have been for naught. How should I do it instead? I have considered some options:

The same way I have done it previously:

• Pros: Very easy and fast.
• Cons: Very prone to failure.

Using a USB hard drive, but only connecting it for backups/restores, instead of keeping it continuously connected:

• Pros: Less prone to failure than the above.
• Cons: I need to remember to connect/disconnect the drive.

Using DVD discs:

• Pros: Optical media is far less prone to failure than magnetic media.
• Cons: The pictures already take over 10 DVDs. The process of burning them all takes several hours.

Using magnetic tape:

• Pros: Less prone to failure than hard drives, and easier than using DVD discs.
• Cons: Tape drives and cartridges are very expensive.

Online backup:

• Pros: Very easy and fast.
• Cons: Requires constant payment. Risk of failure (albeit tiny) that is beyond my control.

What would you suggest? JIP | Talk 18:25, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

I rotate through a small set of inexpensive USB hard disks, kept up to date with rsync. Do a backup session like a ritual, at say the same time every week. Don't keep the drive connected the rest of the time. Keep at least one drive at a friend or relative's house (so if you have a fire then that one survives). In addition, can I add some cons:

• online backup: really it's not that fast, if you've taken a bunch of photos - but as you can probably get it to work in the background, you probably don't care
• magnetic tape: a big con is that, if your machine is destroyed or unavailable (fire, flood, etc.), then you need to buy another expensive tape drive, whereas the rest can be accessed from any machine.
• DVD disks: limits on filenames (acceptable characters and path lengths) either make for imperfect backups (or with rubbish backup programs, need endless babysitting for each backup session); people innocently exceed the really quite modest limits of Joliet all the time

On both a price-per-MB and MB-per-unit-volume basis hard disks have this battle totally won, and you get speed and convenience to boot. 87.115.166.150 (talk) 19:15, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

OP missed an important advantage of the "Pros" of a USB hard disk that is continuously on and attached: it will actually be used to make backups. Don't short the human factor! You'll sometimes be too tired at night to mess about with the cabling and software, etc. In any case, I'm not sure about your assertion that option #2 lengthens the life of your hard disk. Back 15 years ago I remember being told that the "brushes" in the hard disk motor would have a longer lifespan if you left the hard disk continuously on. Anyway, it doesn't seem to hurt the Google search engine rigs, which use consumer-grade hard disks. Tempshill (talk) 22:46, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

My biggest 'niggle' with permanently connected HD/flash based backups is the possibility that a virus/other corruption could manifest itself in your backups, effectively rendering them useless. I would personally recommend a cloud computing solution for small data, and in the future I fully expect this 'outsourcing' of backups to be commonplace. For large data, no-one has mentioned Blu-ray disks - you could fit all your pictures on two of them. However, writing would still probably take ages, and as Tempshill says, actually getting round to doing it is so often the tricky bit. LHMike (talk) 22:56, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

My home backup plan is simple (to me). I wanted a backup server that would not go down if power went down, would connect to my wireless network, and would be small enough to grab if I had to run out of the house. I got an old cheap laptop with the largest drive I could find. I put console-only Linux on it (no need to waste disk space for a GUI). Now, I can backup my computer to it and my wife can back up hers as well. The worry is that all my backups are in my home. So, I signed up for Amazon's S3 service and I use s3sync (similar to rsync) to back up the laptop. It costs me about $3/month. Now, I have an in-house backup if I lose a drive and need to rebuild right away and I have an offsite backup in case I lose the house and need to start from scratch. -- kainaw™ 03:16, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

I understand that by price-per-MB and MB-per-unit-volume basis hard disks are the best option, and it's fast and convenient too, but all this is negated by what actually happened: the USB hard drive developed a mechanical failure. This not only made the drive useless, I feel it made the entire idea of using it useless - when the back-up medium fails more often than the main medium that it's supposed to back up, the back-up doesn't actually help. It doesn't hurt either, but now I feel like I've wasted almost 100 €, and the end result is the same as if I'd never bought the drive in the first place. I figure that what I've learned from this, and what I should do in the future, is to use more than one USB hard drive (but only one at a time), and only turn it on for the back-up (or eventual restore) process, otherwise keep it turned off. What are your thoughts about this? JIP | Talk 22:26, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

As far as i know, "USB hard drives" consists of ordinary ATA or SATA HDD and USB adapter (which converts USB signals to ATA or SATA). There are 2 things which can break: USB adapter - it does not contains any moving parts, so it theoretically should be durable; HDD - it is exactly the same kind as internal HDD's, so it have the same possibility of breaking (ok, if that external HDD is being moved arround a lot and receives a lot of shocks, it might increase possibility of breaking). If these data are important, then probably multiple HDD's is the best solution.

Also, there might be available USB-ATA/SATA adapters without HDD, so you might buy one such a device and separate ATA or SATA hdd's (it might be cheaper, than multiple USB HDD's). Also, if you have access to multiple computers (whisch has large internal HDD's), and are connected with fast network, you might store backups there (it might have incresed risk, that someone gets those files (it might be unacceptable)(encryption might be hard to manage)).

It these photos does not changes much, it might be worth to write them to DVD, it will have to be done only once. -Yyy (talk) 07:06, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

External USB hard drives are cheap. So you could have two, one connected all the time and the other backed up to just once a month or whatever seems the most appropriate frequency. All this in addition to whatever you're doing "offsite", though you could of course keep that second external drive somewhere else. If you're worried about malware, then do all of this with a computer that either is rarely connected to the net or uses an OS that's of no great appeal to the writers of malware. If you have a huge amount of photos in a complex file structure, you might put them in their own partition (or logical drive); this would allow the whole lot to be backed up with Clonezilla or similar from time to time onto yet another hard drive. But with all those external hard disks around, make sure that they're nowhere anyone could take them: if I had so much stuff available in so compact a form, I'd start to wonder about the risks of its help in identity theft and the like. -- Hoary (talk) 08:52, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

MNP protocol and the OSI model

I can't find it. At what level would the MNP protocol be in the OSI model? --62.57.9.8 (talk) 20:50, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

If you mean Microcom Networking Protocol, it is a layer 1. It happens in the modem hardware, the interface to the upper layers is a stream of characters. So although this function is often performed at layer 2 or 4, here it is done at a lower level. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:23, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, mate. --62.57.197.195 (talk) 10:51, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Does a hard disk live longer if it's continuously on?

Ha ha, I had to ask this separately after mentioning it 2 questions ago. Does a consumer-grade hard disk last longer if you leave it on forever, or does part of it wear out prematurely if the hard disk is switched on and off daily? Tempshill (talk) 22:49, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

In all matters of hard drive reliability, I defer to the Google study: here(pdf). They studied an ungodly number of hard drives over years and years - so this is a highly statistically significant sample. Sadly, they hardly ever turn their drives off because they stay busy 24/7. About the most they say is that "...for drives 3 years and older, higher power cycle counts can increase the absolute failure rate by over 2%."...which suggests a small influence on reliability. However, they go on to speculate that the drives that get turned on and off most often at Google are for computers that are repaired most frequently...which suggests a self-fulfilling prophesy! So if there is an effect - it's probably very small. SteveBaker (talk) 02:34, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

There is also the realization that a drive will not fail under any reasonably normal circumstances when it is turned off. So, if the only risk of failure is when the drive is turned on, leaving it off indefinitely will greatly increase the lifespan of the drive. Of course, that means you can't use it. So, this brings up the consideration of usage. My mother-in-law uses her computer about 2 hours a week. Should she leave it on all the time to increase the lifespan? I can't see why. I use my computer about 20 hours a day (not actively sitting at it - I do a lot of data mining for work). For me, leaving it on all the time is very similar to turning it off for those few hours a day that I may not be using it. Then, just to complicate the matter, there is a very common belief that electronics never fail when they are running. They only fail when you turn them on. So, if you never turn off the drive, you never have to turn it on. That means it will never fail. Of course, it is a fallacy that electronics never break when turned on - especially drives. They don't spin at a constant speed all the time. They speed up and slow down. They sometimes stop (depending on the controller and OS). So, the motor inside them is under a lot of power up and power down cycles even when the drive is always on. When you aren't using the computer for anything, the drive will usually stop spinning (ie: sleep mode). When you start using it, the drive will spring back to life and potentially have the "power up failure" that is often feared by the "never turn it off" crowd. This leads me back to my first point... You need to consider how often you will actually be using the computer. That is a very large factor in the failure rate. -- kainaw™ 03:10, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

April 7

Can't access files on an iBook via Gentoo

I've been trying to access my girlfriend's iBook G4 since it broke down, using Linux. There aren't that many Linux distros that have a live CD version that can be used with a PPC. I tried Ubuntu 8.10 but it wasn't a live CD rather it was only an installer, but after a long time I found that Gentoo could access the HDD. All I had to do was mount -t hfsplus /dev/hda /media/elin as root and the HDD was accessible in the folder /media/elin. The problem is however that I can't access some of the files that have the permission drwx------ 1 501 501 13 Oct 24 2007 Documents. Who is the user/group 501 and why can't I access it, even when I try it through the command line as root?

When I click it in the GUI I get the error message "The folder contents could not be displayed. You do not have the permissions necessary to view the contents of "Documents"." Why doesn't this work? --BiT (talk) 05:13, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Sigh.. turns out I just had to do "chown root *", "chusr root *" and "chmod 777 *". Maybe there's an easier way, but I got access to the files.. finally. But who is this 501? --BiT (talk) 05:14, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Ok I'll just turn this into three new questions:

1. If you're using a live CD, do you have access to all the files on the computer? It seems odd that I something like permission should affect me when using a live CD as root is like being in God-mode imo.

   Depends. When you mount a volume, the mount options can specify what to do with the permissions of the volume. It seems that by default it is set to voluntarily enforce the mounted volume's permissions on the users. In any case, if you are root you should be able to access anything. Chances are though that the GUI is not running as root. --76.167.241.45 (talk) 07:08, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

   So unless the computer's user has encrypted his or her home directory, anyone can take a look at it? I had already tried it on Windows, but when I saw that I couldn't access the files on the iBook I thought "damn, Macs must have better security than Windows". I don't know much about Macs though, OS X is based on Unix but what about the OS in iBook G4? Is it possible that this wouldn't work with OS X? --BiT (talk) 17:15, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

1. Why do live CDs ask me for a password, like when I want to login as root?

   This is common practice. I won't go into a discussion about why you should need passwords to log into accounts here. But also often these LiveCDs allow you to run services like SSH server from it, so it is important to be able to restrict remote access. --76.167.241.45 (talk) 07:08, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

   Yeah but when you have a live CD you can easily become root, only every live CD distro has a different password. Some have user root and passwd root; user ubuntu passwd root... e.g. if you want to perform a command with sudo. But, if you do something like su - or sudo su - (can't remember atm) you become root without typing in a password! How are you supposed to guess the live CD's username and password? --BiT (talk) 17:15, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

1. What would be the best way of transferring the data from the iBook to an external HDD? The GUI is way too slow imo so I'd like a good way to basically copy all of /dev/hda to an external HDD using the command line. Is cp my best bet? --BiT (talk) 05:33, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

   cp will probably work, though it is probably equivalent to copying in the GUI. You can also try using rsync. If the copying is very slow, and it is a USB connection, it might be because the connection is USB 1.0. I don't know about the specifics of the hardware on your computer, but if you don't have any USB 2.0 ports, you might consider hooking the external hard drive to another computer that does have USB 2.0 and transferring over the network instead (Ethernet is much faster than USB 1.0). --76.167.241.45 (talk) 07:08, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

   The iBook does have several USB ports as well as firewire and Ethernet. I guess I'll just use cp though I might try out rsync. I'm curious though because I don't know much about this, but how do you transfer your data between computers using the ethernet? Are you talking about conntecting both computers with an Ethernet cable and then transferring the data between them? --BiT (talk) 17:15, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

   Clonezilla is claimed to work with Macs as well as Wintels. -- Hoary (talk) 16:13, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

"Advantage"

When I opened my computer this morning, there was a new icon in the system tray. When I moused over it, it said: "you may be the victim of counterfeit software" or something to that effect. That is utter bullocks. All my software is original. Either it is free software straight from the source or it is bought software from sources I totally trust. (Besides, if the software is fake, it's the company that is the victim, not me)

What worries me, is that I never installed Windows Genuine Advantage because when it was released the only thing I saw it doing was look for pirated software (and I didn't want to not give myself the chance to use any if I needed to for whatever reason). So how did it manage to suddenly start up and try running a test? Can I safely get rid of this program without hurting the integrity of my Windows XP system -- if you can call it that? -- Mgm|^(talk) 07:32, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Evidently Microsoft decided to re-list "update" WGA on Windows Automatic Updates [4]. Removal instructions are widely available online (though I can't vouch for any of them). – 74  11:28, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

• Somehow my system ended up downloading the software automatically, while I thought I set it ask me for verification with each update. Great how Windows finds money more important than general computer security. How can I find out which version of WGA I have? (not all versions can be removed with the same method) It's not in the list of installed software or Windows components. - 87.211.75.45 (talk) 16:00, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

There do exist alternatives to Windows that are written with much more attention to security than to money; if you don't think much of Windows, you can install an alternative. -- Hoary (talk) 16:10, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Stuff like that is exactly why I moved to Linux. Also the update manager, it happened to me time and time again that I would leave my computer on for the night downloading something and the updater would find a new update, download and install it without asking me and then give me 30 minutes to stop it from restarting my machine. Since I was asleep the computer restarted and the download was ruined. Linux tells you every update it wants to install, and you can pick and choose which one you want and restart on your own time. --BiT (talk) 18:07, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

There are these things called "settings." If you, bear with me now, "set" them to not do what you described, it won't happen. 161.222.160.8 (talk) 21:41, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

You sure were quick looking down your nose at me. Everyone I know find this annoying, how is it a smart move to include a wide array of annoying settings in your OS and then telling people "why didn't you just change the settings?". Also, I'd always forgotten about this problem when the computer had already restarted. Most Linux distros tell you "we are going to install these things on you computer, because of this and this, and they are patches for this and that". You can uncheck the ones you don't want and then install it. Also, I had found the place where I could disable the updates in Ubuntu in a week as opposed to never in Windows (after around 16 years of use). Not that I would want to disable the Ubuntu update. --BiT (talk) 13:48, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

• Unfortunately, I'm still depending on software that has no non-Windows alternative. I need to be absolutely sure I can run all the programs I require before I make such a drastic move. :( - 87.211.75.45 (talk) 18:45, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

• Don't you just love the term "Windows Genuine Advantage" ? It's obviously not an advantage to people who are stuck with it, as all it can do is stop you from doing things. So they stuck "Genuine" in there just in case you didn't believe it was an advantage. Will the next version be "Windows Genuine Advantage, Really, We Swear" ? StuRat (talk) 22:48, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Let's hope so. Look, Windows is by far the most popular OS in the known universe (with, what, 98% of the market?) and therefore anyone not using it is a weirdo, and your less than utterly respectful comments about it mark you as a Communist. (Emoticon!) -- Hoary (talk) 23:43, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

More like 90%, according to Microsoft Windows. Algebraist 09:57, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Just because many people do something doesn't make it smart Hoary. You might want to read up on argumentum ad populum. --BiT (talk) 14:36, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

A million housewives every day, pick up a can of beans and say, computerz meanz windowz. -- Hoary (talk) 15:24, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Wtf? --BiT (talk) 16:42, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Don't fcuk with a million housewives, BiT. -- Hoary (talk) 00:48, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

You make no sense and you scare me. Good day to you. --BiT (talk) 03:04, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

• I'd choose being a communist over being a corporate zombie every time. - Mgm|^(talk) 05:07, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

• • I see. A red. I'm getting under my bed. -- Hoary (talk) 08:53, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

• • • Wait, so a communist is bad? --BiT (talk) 13:48, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

• • • • So a pope shits in the woods? Look, these commies are getting stuff free even though right-thinking folk pay money for stuff that's no better. The commies then have money left over for stuff like trees (for hugging), DVDs of films in foreign languages (possibly even French), books, and dope. The sky is falling. -- Hoary (talk) 15:24, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

• • • • • Lol I thought you were kidding at first. You can't be serious? --BiT (talk) 16:42, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

I think they're kidding (some of those replies are so bizarre I certainly hope that's what it is). StuRat (talk) 13:12, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Thank God, trees, French DVDs and books... I was starting to get scared --BiT (talk) 02:14, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Middleware

Would you please provide a definition for middleware in plain english... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.196.221.226 (talk) 11:59, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried our article middleware? – 74  12:03, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

I don't really like the definition in our article. But it is a tough term to define clearly. I would say that they are third party libraries that are neither application-specific, nor a part of the operating system. In computer game software (for example), the physics, AI and music replay systems might be middleware that the game developers would have purchased rather than written themselves. The actual game mechanics would be a part of the application and DirectX would be a part of the operating system/drivers. SteveBaker (talk) 03:30, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Broken PC help

I was on the "families" User account on my PC and i accesed the internet and AVG detected a Trojan and prompted me to move it. So i deleted it as it was in C\:Windows\service.exe. I then did a full scan just incase and it found a realplayer exe infected file as the downloading agent. I deleted that and then my system hung. On reboot safe mode doesnt work and it always gets a blue screen asking me to stop antivirus software blah blah and then re-try but the HD is obviously broke. How can i recover the details/system restore? P.s Using laptop now. Thanks for any help.CorrectlyContentious 15:59, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Your HD (harddisk) should be fine, it's the operating system that has broken. Presumably because you removed a critical component of your operating system. What antivirus software are you using? - 87.211.75.45 (talk) 16:02, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

How you restore would depend on the kind of backup you made. If on the other hand you're talking about "recovering" the state when new, then you may be able to boot off CDs provided for this purpose by the "manufacturer" (marketer) of the computer; this will of course delete all the work, email, etc, that you've accumulated since the computer was new. Hoary (talk) 16:06, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Personally if I were in this kind of frustrating situation, I would do the following unwieldy, time consuming, and expensive sequence:

1. Get an external USB hard disk larger than the infected hard disk
2. Use Norton Ghost to create an image file of the infected hard disk. (Choose to create it on the USB hard disk, of course.)
3. Format the infected hard disk, deleting everything on it, and reinstall Windows from scratch. Do all the Windows Update stuff.
4. Create a "user" account (with no admin rights). Use that account from now on, switching to the admin account only when necessary to install software that you know is safe. This will make it harder for malware to attack your system.
5. Reinstall clean applications one by one from the source disks or the Internet.
6. Use Ghost to mount the infected image file from the USB hard disk, and copy your data files from the USB hard disk over to your newly-formatted hard disk.
7. Virus scan using a couple of virus scanners.

Tempshill (talk) 20:08, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Tempshill: Use Norton Ghost to create an image file of the infected hard disk. I can't think of any way in which Norton Ghost is superior to Clonezilla, other than having a slicker interface with prompts in English that's more polished and has fewer exclamation points. And while Norton Ghost costs money, Clonezilla costs no money. Am I overlooking something? -- Hoary (talk) 23:46, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Never used Clonezilla; I'm glad to hear there's an alternative. Does Clonezilla support incremental backups, where only changed sectors are added to the backup set? Tempshill (talk) 22:32, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Not as far as I recall, no. It's not designed for everyday backup. (For one thing, it involves booting off a Debian live CD: nothing wrong with that, of course, but it's hardly something you can do while checking your email and so forth.) -- Hoary (talk) 00:33, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Then that's one way that Norton Ghost is superior to Clonezilla. It's pretty nice. Tempshill (talk) 03:19, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

SMF Forums - How to require mod approval for reg's?

Hi Wikians!

I'm running a forum on SMF, and have a problem with spammers. I have it set so that you have to register to post, but the spammers just go ahead and register. Is there a way to require mod approval for new accounts before they are allowed to post? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.118.48.5 (talk) 17:21, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

You may be interested in the mod here. Read the docs on it. It is specifically designed to stop forum spam. -- kainaw™ 19:56, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

A CAPTCHA at registration may also reduce spam. NeonMerlin 23:24, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Rip DVD with VLC

I'm trying to do this. However, I can't find a combination of file-type, encapsulation method, video codec and audio codec that either work, or don't crash my computer. Any suggestions? Do I need to download any codecs? Thanks. ╟─TreasuryTag►contribs─╢ 21:07, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Why VLC? There are far better ways to rip dvds —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 22:38, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Easy answer is don't use VLC. VLC is buggy and a pain in the neck. Tell us what OS you have and we can direct you to something better suited to the task. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 01:08, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Windows XP Media Centre. ╟─TreasuryTag►contribs─╢ 06:53, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Ripping DVD is old hat - use DVD Decrypter or DVD Shrink. Only for backup of course ;) Sandman30s (talk) 18:07, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

I did try DVD-D, but that produces some basically un-usable .vob files (I want to watch this in WMP, not burn a copy). ╟─TreasuryTag►contribs─╢ 08:51, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

You should be able to play the vob files in VLC, but WMP will not play them unless you have a MPEG-2 compatible filter. Another option is to encode the vob files to a format which WMP will be able to play. To do this, first copy the vobs to your hard drive with DVD Decrypter or DVD Shrink, this removed the copyright encryption. Then you'll need a video encoder, I'd recommend HandBrake, MeGUI or GVC. For WMP, you should probably encode to XviD in avi container. You should end up with a .avi file that will play in WMP no problem, though you may also need to install the XviD codec first. JSK715 13:54, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

You can set DVD Decrypter to rip to .iso files. Mount the .iso files using Daemon Tools then you can watch using WMP. F (talk) 10:06, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

How do I know if a Wifi network is legit or is a spoof?

My local commuter rail occasionally has free wifi, depending on whether they have the hardware set up on that specific train. The network name is something like "Free MBTA Wireless" or whatever. If I see a network called "Free MBTA Wireless" on a train, how do I know if it's the MBTA's legitimate network, or if it's someone else on the train spoofing a fake network? That is, besides asking the conductors, who know less about the system than I do and never know whether it has been turned on. This is a more general question than just my train -- for example, airports abound [5] with fake networks, and there isn't always someone to ask.

Is there any way to find out who it is that is actually broadcasting a network, without attaching to that network? Or find out other information about it without compromising yourself?

And is the danger of wifi spoofing just limited to the data that travels across the network? If I avoid using any passwords or sensitive data, am I safe? Or can they do malicious stuff even without me transmitting sensitive data, like get into my computer?

(I'm using a Mac, 10.5, with no additional wifi-related software, if that is relevant).

Thanks! — Sam 146.115.120.108 (talk) 22:48, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried using a newer Wi-Fi detector/analyzer? NeonMerlin 23:21, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

I am using Mac's native wifi connection program. It distinguishes between access points and ad hoc networks, but afaik, it is possible for a wifi spoofer to mimic an access point. If there are other programs that can provide more detail, I'd be intersted in what they are and what they do. Thanks, — Sam 146.115.120.108 (talk) 01:59, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

They could definitely break into your system if you have a connection with them. All they have to do is send an exploit of a service you are running over their connection to you and run shellcode via this exploit that does what they want to do. For example, they could buffer overflow your web browser (perhaps) and use that to execute some shellcode that binds a shell to a port. They could then connect to that port and have root access to your computer. Hope this helps, Ζρς ιβ' ^¡hábleme! 02:08, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

If a spoofer is careless, they might forget to spoof the BSSID, and then you would see that the BSSID is different than it usually is. But it is trivial to spoof that. I mean, from a philosophical point of view, there is no difference between a "legit" and a non-legit network, if they both act the same way. The only thing that would prevent a spoofer from acting the same way as a legit network is if there is some information they do not know, like an encryption key.

If the network is unsecured, then there is no difference between a legit and not legit network. (Even if the legit network were running, anyone could still intercept and/or pretend to send you responses from the access point, and hope that you accept them rather than the access point.) Besides getting stuff you transmit, anything you download could also be suspect, as they could have injected a virus or something into it. If you go onto any sites where you are logged in (even if you didn't log in while on the network, if you logged in before and it remembers), the sessions cookies might allow them to gain the same access as you.

Even if the network were secured, it would still depend on the type of security. If it's something like a simple WEP key, then if they know the key too (chances are they do if you do), then they can spoof it just the same. --76.167.241.45 (talk) 04:49, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

There's no great way to tell. When using a public WiFi network, make sure to have your firewall turned on; to use an SSL (encrypted) connection if you use POP e-mail like Outlook or Thunderbird; that your password-protected websites use an encrypted page when the password is exchanged; and that if you use something sensitive like web e-mail that you don't want snooped that the website operator uses an encrypted connection (as GMail can be configured to do). The first of these measures makes sure that the guy spoofing the network can't try connecting to your computer in any way, and the other measures are to prevent him from reading the data that you send and receive. If you utilize these measures, you don't really have to care whether the network is a spoof network or not, actually; all the spoofer will end up with is a lot of encrypted data to look at and scratch his head at. Tempshill (talk) 22:38, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Like Tempshill says, there's no real way to tell. Any non authenticated network can be spoofed. The good news is that it's not as dire as some of the other posters suggest. First, if you're on a mac, and if your firewall's on there's not a lot of concern over someone "breaking into your system"--that would need an unpatched root vulnerability. To be sure they exist, but they're not especially common on an up to date machine, and there's nothing stopping anyone from doing this on a legit, but open network anyway. The bigger risk is a man in the middle attack. To avoid those just make sure you're checking the ssl certificates and checking fingerprints if you're really paranoid. Shadowjams (talk) 06:10, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

If your really paranoid you could set up your home computer to accept incoming vnc (or other remote protocols) connections. Then when you connect useing your macbook you can use vnc to securly connect to your home computer and surf the web that way.. there are some limitations tho. But in the end if someone did try to see your traffic all they will see is a lot of encrypted packets going to one website (or IP address.. depending on how your set up your remote computer)

TV standards with no overscan

Do any newer TV standards exist that specifically disallow overscan and make the entire frame title-safe? NeonMerlin 23:19, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

TVs are moving to digital format now rather than analogue. Are you thinking of a digital equivalent? Dmcq (talk) 09:38, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Even HDTV formats like 720p and 1080i and 1080p aren't immune from this; some older sets like mine lose a lot of pixels at the edges. Never seen an issue with LCD sets, of course, though the video game console manufacturers still claim you need a little bit of safety at the edges because of overscan. Tempshill (talk) 22:41, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Connecting a 2.5" SATA Laptop HDD to a Desktop PC

I am having real trouble connecting a Samsung 2.5" SATA Laptop Hard Drive to my computer for diagnostics. The model number is - (HM120IJ). It is a SATA rather than a PATA HDD and does not have a normal 7 Pin SATA connector at the edge. I have tried taking the strange looking connector off by unscrewing all mounting enclosures etc, but when the circuit board with the connector is removed there is no standard SATA connector hidden below.

The connecting end has what looks like a 7-Pin and a 15-Pin connector side by side, but neither of them are shaped in a way that a SATA cable can be attatched. For reference there is also a small row of four pins next to the stange connector (possibly jumper pins but i don't think so).

The drive has come out of a Hewlett Packard Pavillion dv2104eu (dv2000 series) laptop of just over a year old, and the hard drive connector does not have anything plugged onto it, but is merely pressed against the motherboard connector which has two sets of small raised pins (7-pin & 15-pin side-by-side).

Please does anyone have any idea what this connector is and how this thing can be connected to a normal motherboard as i cant find any suitable connectors anywhere??? Thanks.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dammers (talk • contribs) 23:34, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

It sounds like you might have a slimline connector and your answer may be a slimline sata cable (google). Depending on your intended use, a 2.5" sata drive enclosure (google) may also be an option. -- Tcncv (talk) 01:41, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

April 8

New HDD for Dell Inspiron 600m

I think my HDD is going out on my 600m. I'm getting weird errors when trying to mount filesystems from a BackTrack 3 final live session and I'm also getting some weird errors when booting. I have decided to get another HDD. I am wondering if this will work for the 600m. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136314 Actually, that is the wrong interface (SATA). I can't find a good replacement drive for this 600m. Do any of you have suggestions about what HDD I might want to buy? TIA, Ζρς ιβ' ^¡hábleme! 01:58, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Creating deb to install to the "HOME"

I am trying to create a .deb file that would install some files into the home of the user (they are nautilus scripts) and I don't know how to make that happen... I have even tried creating a postinst file, to copy the files to the home, but that will just copy the files to the home of the root (since the scripts runs as root!) Any way to do this? or it is not possible? Thanks. Hacktolive (talk) 05:14, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Well, if it is running as root, then how does it know who "the user" is? --76.167.241.45 (talk) 06:02, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

It is not recommended that you install files to users' home directories; what would happen if a new user is created? I'm pretty sure there's a global location for nautilus scripts anyway. --wj32 ^t/c 10:09, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Actually, there isn't. I guess that's part of the problem... --wj32 ^t/c 10:10, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Exactly... there is no global location... I would also install to /etc/skel so if a new user is created, they would have that... Hacktolive (talk) 12:58, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

(outdent) Well, as the first respondent says, which user or users will you install it to, if the installation is running as root?

If you want to install to every user, you could just find the home path of every user (from /etc/passwd, or using some utility that parses that for you) and loop through them. (I was going to suggest looping through sub-directories in /home/, but there's no guarantee that would be correct). Of course a lot of the "users" you find there won't be "real" users at all, but I guess that's OK as they'll never run Nautilus!

Does seem odd for there not to be a system-wide location for installing these extensions into though - most programs seem to go to great lengths to allow the same thing to be set and over-ridden at multiple levels. - IMSoP (talk) 01:47, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Automated savings

Is there a way to automate the downloading of a specific html page from a listing such as this, and also saving all linked images on said page, say for example I wanted to save "145.html" from that listing? I can't simply specify the page url to save because when a thread dies on this site saving the url would just save a 404 error. I need it to scan the directory listing so that when the thread dies the url is removed from the listing and it will have saved the latest version and then stop. Help please, thank you. -- signed 79.76.215.204 (talk) 08:49, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

That link is dead, so I'm not sure what you mean, but you might be interested in wget. --Sean 12:33, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

wat! paintchan is down?? Noooooo! Anyway, I think Op means something like this where you see the files of a website rather than the actual web pages. You could just run httrack or something on it, though I've no idea how you would automatically run that process —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 12:42, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Actually httrack can be run from the command line in windows, so you should be able to write some script that could run it at set intervals —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 12:43, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

iMacros

Resolved

Is there a similar tool to iMacros that would work not just for web content but also for all Firefox tasks like saving pages, updating addons etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 12:11, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Never mind I got something.

My old CRT made a weird noise when I turned it on.

It was like a mechanized or controlled version of gas escaping. I turned it off and on again, and now it works without any noise. Should I still be concerned? Thanks in advance! Imagine Reason (talk) 14:15, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

perhaps it was degaussing but that usually sound like "boing" to my ears. Theresa Knott | token threats 15:14, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

This often happens on older TV's too. I thought it was the sound of static electricity sparks. It is a sort of short hiss (sound like Psssssss, is that it? Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:25, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes, it sounded like that, but I was afraid of it getting louder (not sure if it did), and I thought sparks are more like pops? Imagine Reason (talk) 03:30, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

It may be the capacitor in the tube discharging, which creates a high voltage sound that sounds like air escaping. I have no clue what effect this has, or if it indicates a dangerous condition or not. Shadowjams (talk) 06:04, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

MS Access question

As many know, the Ctrl-' combination in MS Access copies the contents of the field immediately above the selected one in tables and forms and inserts them into the active field (also works in Excel, by the way). I, however, noticed that this combination periodically stops working for no apparent reason. Exiting and starting Access again fixes that, but closing and re-opening the database does not. Does anyone know what this may be caused by? I am using Access 2003.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 17:51, April 8, 2009 (UTC)

programing

need to learn programing need help i need mainly java and visualbasics with java am trying but visaul basics is killing me help needed want to become a programer--Mozy1691 (talk) 18:40, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

What language? C++, Java, ADA...? -- kainaw™ 19:31, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Start with BASIC. Tempshill (talk) 22:44, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Erm BASIC? Are you sure? --BiT (talk) 00:33, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps you could mention your purpose. I mean, why learn programming? Depending on the purpose, even BASIC might be a good choice. -- Hoary (talk) 03:11, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Or javascript or PHP or Ruby or Lisp... without a why, the how is difficult to know. -- kainaw™ 03:39, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Learn a training-language. Something like Pascal would be beneficial. Your best idea is to understand the structure and logic that programming language apply and then use that as a basis for learning whichever language you want. I say this as a student of Pascal, though I admit at the time I didn't feel it was worthwhile. Anyhoo it's become a bit of a bug-bear of mine. Lots of kids (adults too) are taught how to use MS Word version X, rather than taught how to work with programs. Once you're taught the 'structure' of how programs operate (and 95% follow similar setups) you can quickly learn <bold> any </bold> program. I believe that the same rules work in learning programming languages too. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 11:08, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

There's Small Basic: [6]. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 12:30, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Help Needed from Web Designers: Public Call for Responses

I need qualified web designers to answer some questions for me. It need not be right here on this page; if you could simply point me towards some Wikipedians who can help me out, I'd be very grateful. I figured this page was as good a starting point as any, even if it may not be the be-all and the end-all.

Basically, I'm in a job program for disabled people. In order to get them to pay for training in my chosen field - web design - you have to jump through several hoops. One of these is doing "information interviews," where you try to get information from people who are already doing the job you want to do. Yes, it is somewhat silly but I still have to do it anyway.

If anyone volunteers to answer these, keep your responses down to a sentence or so. It's not necessary to write a whole essay. You can respond any way you want: on my talk page, by email, or otherwise.

The Fluffy Questions

1. How long have you been doing web design?
2. What do you enjoy most about your job?
3. If you had to start over from the beginning, would you still choose to do web design?

The Important Stuff

1. What tasks do you perform during a normal workday?
2. Is this web design a full-time, part-time, or other kind of job?
3. What hours do web designers generally work?
4. Generally speaking, what kind of money can a web designer expect to make?
5. What kind of market demand is there for web designers?
6. What are the mental/emotional demands of this occupation (eg. high stress, dealing with customers, etc.)?
7. What sort of qualifications and training are necessary to become a web designer?

Thanks, Gws5597 (talk) 18:58, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Java Programming: Merging Two Images

Hi, I basically need help merging two images (two BufferedImages in Java). Can anyone suggest how I can do this? I tried various things, but none of them worked ideally. Thank you!

Sharpshot240 (talk) 21:09, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

What do you mean by "merge"? That can mean a thousand different things - all with different answers. -- kainaw™ 03:43, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

April 9

mysql

hi, i want the coding of connection string and insert query of MySQl with .net framework. —Preceding unsigned comment added by VAIDEHI SMARTq (talk • contribs) 03:50, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Hope this helps. There are more links in our ADO.NET article. Jay (talk) 08:43, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

There's also www.connectionstrings.com. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 11:13, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

office automation

why is automation necessary in the following workplaces:

library

bank

payment department

examinations council

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.220.51.11 (talk) 12:04, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

It isn't. It is kinda handy, though. Algebraist 12:06, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

In a profit-seeking entity, it is necessary if competitors gain from it. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:10, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Could this be a homework question? -- Hoary (talk) 13:36, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

We have an article on office automation, which may serve as a definition (it's also the top Google search result). Our automation article has a section on "impact" too. This should be good enough for a starting point, but we won't do your homework for you. Cycle~ (talk) 14:11, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Google getting results that don't match (?) what I type

While researching to complete an article on a lock and dam, I searched Google this morning with the following words:

"beaver county times" merrill lock

Not finding anything useful, I added "dam" [without quotes, just by itself], and the number of results jumped from 342 to 367. I thought the idea was that Google found pages that displayed all of the typed words; but as I can't imagine that there are more pages with all six words than with just five of them, I'm confused. Can someone explain quickly what I'm misunderstanding? Nyttend (talk) 12:21, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I've found this before. Some of the rerturned results are pages that have the search words in links to the page, so that might have something to do with it. LHMike (talk) 13:51, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Google result counts are an estimate: explanation. --205.174.162.243 (talk) 16:06, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

"Estimate" is giving it too much credit. There are cases where it estimates 100,000 hits when the actual figure is closer to 100. For example, "regulatory region" and "regulatory sequence". -- BenRG (talk) 20:11, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Does SQL server have view constraints?

Does SQL server (2005) have view constraints? I'm not interested in the WITH CHECK OPTION or having it actually enforce the constraints, I'm more interested in being able to extract the metadata. I'd like to put a primary key (and not-null) constraint and a foreign key constraint on one column, and a not-null/unique constraint on another column. (haha you can do this with Oracle :)).--205.174.162.243 (talk) 15:50, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Knoppix and Virtual PC

Problems!

I'm having trouble booting a Knoppix CD with a virtual machine under Virtual PC 2007. When I boot Knoppix 5.1.1, the Knoppix splash screen does appear, then the screen goes black and the Virtual PC window size gets larger, and a penguin appears in the upper left. Usually at this point the system appears to hang forever. Sometimes, it gives the "Welcome" string, says it's enabling DMA acceleration for hda and hdb, and then it gives an IO error when "Accessing KNOPPIX CD at /dev/hdb".

When I try typing "dos" from Knoppix's boot prompt, I get the error message, "Cannot load disk image (invalid file)?".

I've tried booting the physical CD and the iso image and gotten the same issue. One odd thing is that I've used Virtual PC's disk wizard to specify that the virtual disk image should be 20GB, but Windows reports the .vhd file to be 42K in size ... but I hadn't thought this would matter with a CD-booting Knoppix.

Thanks in advance for any help - Tempshill (talk) 16:14, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Postscript: I have been able to boot from an Ubuntu CD in this same Virtual PC setup. Tempshill (talk) 22:15, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

OpenOffice Writer Copright Symbol

When I type (c) into a sentence in OO writer, it autocorrects this into a copyright symbol. Would be great if that's what I wanted. However, I'm writing about a piece of legislation and I wish to mention sections and paragraphs e.g. section 4 (3) (c). I can't seem to turn it off! Fribbler (talk) 16:21, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm sure there's a technical way of doing this, but the following works: type 4(3)fc) and then go back and change the f to a ( ╟─TreasuryTag►contribs─╢ 16:24, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

You can remove the autocorrect by going to Tools -> Autocorrect and click on the Replace tab. Just delete the autocorrect there. Livewireo (talk) 16:26, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

TreasuryTag's suggestion worked, albeit non technical :-). However, the replace tab itself contains nothing. No custom Autocorrects. Nor can I see it on the list in the Word Completion tab. Fribbler (talk) 16:32, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Still slightly non-technical... why don't you try creating a custom Autocorrect for (c) to (c) - 'replace' it with itself, see if that overrides whatever's causing the copyright symbol to appear. ╟─TreasuryTag►contribs─╢ 16:34, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately not. I'd guess it was replacing (c) with (c) and then applying it's own autocorrect . Fribbler (talk) 16:43, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Look again in the "Replace" tab. Either it's there or you are using an odd version of OpenOffice. You'll also find various other horrors thereabouts. (About the first thing I do when installing OOo somewhere is to uncheck "Replace 1st with 1^st", a horrible notion that, like much that's bad in OOo, apes what's bad in MS Word.) -- Hoary (talk) 17:07, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I haver solved the mystery. My replace tab said "replacements and exceptions for language: English(Eire)" whereas I was typing my document in English(UK), where the copyright autocorrect exists. I changed the whole doc to Éire (why didn't they use "Ireland"? Éire is so Daily Mail) and problem is solved. Fribbler (talk) 17:21, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Another workaround could be to type (c) in Notepad, copy it, go over to OpenOffice, and paste it? 24.16.106.217 (talk) 17:35, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Yet another workaround would have been to do a global search and replace of © to (c) when you'd finished typing. --Sean 17:55, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Also, pressing Ctrl-Z after an autocorrect will undo it and stop it from happening again during the session. --jh51681 (talk) 08:32, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Internet connection sharing

I have a Windows XP computer with an ADSL internet connection and I'm trying to share that wirelessly with my Windows Vista laptop. I'm pretty sure I have all the settings correct on the XP machine with the internet connection shared over the wireless connection, and the Vista machine is connected to the ad hoc network and it's aquiring an IP address correctly (with correct default gateway, etc.), but Vista apparently can't see the internet connection, it says the wireless network is "Local only". Any ideas? Is there something I need to do to tell Vista it should look for an internet connection on that wireless network? Thanks! --Tango (talk) 19:32, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

DVD/CD-ROM Drive Name

I recently installed and played Rome: Total War under Sandboxie. Because all the changes to the disk were sandboxed, nothing was written the rest of my hard drive and I easily wiped off 2 GB of data in the sandbox today. However, now when I open "Computer" from the start menu or look at "Computer" from any Windows Explorer window, my DVD/CD-ROM is displayed as "DVD RW Drive (F:) SEGAROME" and it has the Rome: Total War icon next to it rather than the standard Vista CD drive icon. How do I revert to the old name and icon? [Old name was "DVD RW Drive (F:)" with the standard Vista CD drive icon]--Xp54321 ^{(Hello! • Contribs)} 21:27, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Never mind. I fixed it myself. All you have to do is edit the registry. Create a text file like this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons\F\DefaultLabel]

@=""

[Change the file extension to .reg afterwards and the file is now a registry script that can be executed.]

This reset the drive name to "DVD RW Drive (F:)" and also reset the drive icon. This can be used to customize your optical drive names and also the icon for the drive. Simply point it at your preferred icon: @="youricon.ico" Don't forget: "Explorer\DriveIcons\YourDriveName\DefaultLabel" Otherwise it has no effect as you'd be renaming the wrong drive. ;)

Cheers! --Xp54321 ^{(Hello! • Contribs)} 21:58, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

DHCP Problem

I have a Dell XPS running Windows Vista. I work in an environmental consulting firm. I travel a lot. I connect to an average of 5 different networks per month. 2 of these networks do not have a DHCP router. To connect to these i have set up the Alternate configuration for my NIC. I am having a problem when i try to connect to one of my networks that does have a DCHP router. When first plug in the network cable my computer takes a while trying to get an IP address before it tells me that it has Limited Connectivity. I have to "repair" the connection before it will finely grab an IP address from the DHCP router. This takes about 20 minutes and it really getting annoying. There is nothing wrong with my network cable or the cable going to the switch. There is nothing wrong with the DHCP server as my computer is the only one that has this problem (maybe because i am the only one on the network that has an Alternate Configuration). But the other computers on my network does take about 5 to 10 seconds to grab an ip address. This problem with my computer only happens when i try to connect to this one network, does not happen on any other network i have tried. This includes my network in Peru, Chile, My internet at home, The internet in hotels, The internet at internet cafes; They all work just fine. I suspect that the problem is with my DCHP router, i think that it's taking it's time to issue an IP address. So my question boils down to this: Is there a way that i can make Vista wait longer before trying the Alternate Configuration? Thank you. – VectorEng. Inc. 21:52, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I might consider writing a little batch ("xxxx.bat" in a text editor like notepad) that does the following:

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

Run the batch file when you first connect the the network and see if it gives you an address right away.NByz (talk) 02:27, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Ubuntu Question

In ubuntu when i type in 'ifconfig' it lists my network conections. My question is; Is there a way that i can change the name of one of my network cards? Right now my wifi card is named "Wlan0" and i would like to change it to "eth2". Thank you. – Elliott(Talk|Cont)  22:04, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I initially thought that the best way to do this might be by creating an alias (which is discussed in the ifconfig man page), but I think you might want to look at this instead, as it might be more directly what you're trying to do. Shadowjams (talk) 05:58, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Ubuntu and Virtual PC and networking

I've installed Ubuntu 8.10 in my Virtual PC 2007 setup. I'm able to ping external websites by specifying their names ("ping www.yahoo.com" resolves to f1.www.vip.sp1.yahoo.com, for example, and it sends all the packets and shows the ping times) but Firefox and wget are never able to connect to websites. Firefox is "Waiting for www.yahoo.com" forever. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? Thanks in advance - Tempshill (talk) 22:20, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I am not sure what would be wrong but you should update your copy of ubutnu, you can do this from the command line: sudo apt-get update – Elliott(Talk|Cont)  23:26, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I downloaded it 2 days ago and doubt that an update is needed. I did try, and got an error staying it was unable to lock the list directory. Tempshill (talk) 21:56, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Random word generation

I've got an old handwritten text that I can only partially decipher. I thought that if I could find a way to generate all the possible combinations of words I could, by process of elimination, figure out what it is. Is there any way I could do this? I know roughly the length of the word, and what some of the letters are (It's something like "???i[n?]ly", where the ?s have no ascenders or descenders). Is there any easy way of doing this? 76.117.247.55 (talk) 23:33, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Maybe a photo or screen shot of this text whould be very helpful. !– Elliott(Talk|Cont)  23:41, 9 April 2009 (UTC)!

You might consider a crossword dictionary for this. Good luck! — Zazou 23:49, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

You could try to get a large (complete?) list of words in the relevant language (from Wikisource perhaps? Or the index of Wikipedia, if that's feasible), learn regexp, and search for the regexp equivalent of "???i[n?]ly" in the large list of words. I'm sure a simple Perl script could then output all the matches. I don't know the exact details of these things, though, but to my eyes they look pretty simple to learn if you're determined. Jørgen (talk) 23:53, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I don't want to ask assistance with the word itself, only to try and find out if this is possible. I will try the xword puzzle solver though. Thanx, 76.117.247.55 (talk) 23:59, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Less information has been used to successfully uncover redacted text [7]. You might want to review the field of document analysis of handwritten manuscripts. – 74  03:08, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

April 10

Compressing my old music

I was thinking just now about how valuable my music collection is to me. I've been keeping it exclusively on an external hard disk. and it is taking up about 60 GBs. I've worked very hard to put this collection together and I'd be a tad destroyed if I were to lose it (even just the Table of Contents from the drive). I have another 250 gb drive that I use for media.

I'd like to do a backup of this music on my media drive. What is the best compression format for a collection of (mostly) mp3s 60 GB in size? NByz (talk) 02:30, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Mp3s are already compressed; further (lossless) compression is unlikely to yield a significant reduction in size. Your best bet is probably just to copy the entire collection to the second disk. – 74  02:39, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Broken XP

A friends computer encountered a stop error(0x00000021a). Anyways, the only way to get access to his hdd was to hook it up to one of my computers as a slave. I removed any spyware that I could find off of it and replaced winlogon, csrss, msgina. At any rate, none of these things helped. My best guess is that there is something nasty loading up at boot or something wrong with the registry, thus, this is my question: is there any way to access the registry or modify the startup programs for the copy of windows on the drive when it is set up as a secondary drive? (Obviously, attempting to do this the usual way only allows me to change the settings for my primary drive.) Thank you for any help:) Phoenix1177 (talk) 04:15, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried safe mode? Or an on-top reinstallation of XP? F (talk) 09:59, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

It won't go into safe mode, that's why I had to hook it up to a second computer. I, unfortunately, don't have any of the windows disks to do a reinstallation. If I could just edit the registry of it from the second computer, I could fix it; I'm almost positive what the problem is. Unfortunately, I don't know how to get at the registry since its not the registry being used by Windows on the computer the drive is a slave to. Is it possible to edit by directly manipulating the files the registry is stored in? 66.202.66.78 (talk) 10:19, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Disc space

Can I increase the space of an already created disc drive?I did an idiotic thing by creating a small 4.87GB drive for storing the system files and the program files.Now it is almost full leaving a paltry 32MB.I am not able to install MS office since it requires 100 MB space on the drive in which the system files are stored.I think it is compulsory that it should load its files only on the system files drive.Is there any other way out? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.165.84.9 (talk) 04:16, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Your question appears to make sense, but actually doesn't. I seriously doubt you created a disk drive. Did you create a partition on a drive? If so, you can resize partitions (there are many programs that do it - just Google for "resize partition"). If you want to change the size of an actual drive, you are out of luck. That will require taking it apart and replacing all the insides - which is far more expensive and difficult than just purchasing a larger disk. Do you want to install a second drive? That will help. However, Windows will not automatically use it. You need to manually move files to the second disk. However, only move things such as music and movies. If you move executable programs, you will cause problems. The registry knows where the programs currently reside and will not realize they just moved to another drive. If you can make your question clearer, please do. Then, someone can provide a better answer. -- kainaw™ 04:23, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Apologies to Kainaw, above, but while your question appears not to make sense, actually it does. Or anyway it does if your "32GB" is, as I suppose, a mere typo for "32MB", and if, like many people, you are a bit hazy about the distinctions between partitions and logical drives. Still, it's likely that you created too large an additional partition (whether primary or extended). Yes, you can get software that will adjust the boundaries separating partition from partition, decreasing the size of what's unnecessarily large and adding this to what's too small. It's a very long time since I've done this but if my memory is working right this might involve some time and disk thrashing. Typically there's an awful lot of junk in C: and also a lot of material in C: that you do need but that could go elsewhere. (For example, where are your browsers? Where's your mail program, and where are your mailboxes? On my sole surviving Windows machine, whose C: drive is roughly the same size as yours, they're all in E:, not C:. And, before I deleted it [because I never used it and wanted the space], MS Office too was running off a combination of C: [a bit] and E: [a lot].) Incidentally, OpenOffice requires little or no space on C:. -- Hoary (talk) 05:16, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Partition editor —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 06:48, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes, and for junk removal see nLite and vLite and XPLite. -- Hoary (talk) 09:11, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Before you go messing with the partitions, it would be a good idea to back up the entire system including the 4.87GB drive. Pay particular attention to your documents, photos, music, emails, and internet bookmarks - ie. the stuff that is real hard (or impossible) to get back if it gets deleted. Astronaut (talk) 15:01, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

WLM & dll problems

i can't sign into my WLM (windows live messenger) accounts no matter what client I'm using (WLM 2008 8.5.1302.1018 and Pidgin 2.5.5). I get error code 80048820. I tried the steps on this site but when i try to register wintrust.dll i get the error 0x80070005 and am told by my computer to do an internet search to fix it. well um, screw that; an internet search only comes up with forum posts of people who have the same problem but don't know how to fix it. cursory googling tells me this might have something to do with 1. cookies, 2. windows defender, 3. permissions or possibly all of the above. can anyone help me? i am an MSN addict I need my freaking MSN. 99.245.16.164 (talk) 04:28, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Using sed to remove characters

I would like to have sed remove a specific character. The twist is, I need to be able to remove it only when it appears in a certain context. For example, I want to remove dashes from numbers in a document: [Document 000-00000-000-000000-00], but only when they appear in a certain context (with brackets and the word document before it, for instance). I know how to do this if I know the number of dashes, and I know how to do it if I wanted to remove all of the dashes in the document (tr -d '-'), but I don't know how to make it work if I want to remove all dashes that fall inside of some standard formatting, without actually knowing where and how often the dashes will occur. Any ideas? Other basic unix utilities that will do the same job are fine, but I don't want to get any more complex. Thanks. Shadowjams (talk) 05:37, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

One way would be to write some code to remove the first dash found inside those brackets, then put that code in a loop and run it as many times as the maximum number of dashes which might occur on such a line. This isn't the most efficient approach, but, if performance isn't a problem, it might be the simplest. StuRat (talk) 14:31, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

This'll do it:

perl -pe 's/-//g if /^\[Document.*\]$/'  file.txt

--Sean 15:23, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Perl works perfect. I knew I could put the whole thing inside of a loop, but I wasn't sure how to do that loop in bash and have it exit after it had finished, but only after it had finished removing all of the dashes. Come to think of it, perhaps I could use grep to do that search, but it looks like that perl will be more efficient. Shadowjams (talk) 23:33, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Computers Languages

I want to build a base strong in computer languages. I want to learn Python;Lisp;Perl;Javascript;Java. Can someone suggest me books available in India for deep knowledge of these above mentioned languages? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ingineered (talk • contribs) 06:57, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

I am not a programmer. Nevertheless.... There's learning, and there's deep knowledge: they're different. In your position, I'd start by learning the basics of one language, and for that purpose I'd ask about a good introductory text (which might be one that allows for deep knowledge). With my elementary but functional understanding of one language, I might want to explore the language further or I might want to move on to another language. If you don't know which language to start with, I'd choose the one that's most likely to let you achieve something that you want to achieve in the short term: that will be a powerful incentive for practicing. Of course, there may be texts that are good introductions and also examine theory and go into advanced areas, but they're likely to be big, so they're likely to be expensive, and if after you have consumed 20% of a large, wonderful and expensive book you decide that the language is not the right one for you, you may wish you hadn't spent all the money. -- Hoary (talk) 09:25, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

My advice is to start actually writing code in a single language. It makes learning far more rapid and deep. Write larger and more ambitious programs. The point of a university education in computer science with an emphasis in programming isn't to teach graduates all the details about every computer language, but to teach them how to program. Once they know how to program in one language, it only takes 2 or 3 weeks for the graduate to learn 90% of what he needs to know about any new language. Anyway, learn to code by writing code. This link is Microsoft's free Visual Studio Express versions; one is for BASIC, one is for C#, and one is for C++. Tempshill (talk) 16:45, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Files not played (Q moved from entertainment desk)

Hello. When i open a .avi movie with any of my players, i am just getting a black screen. The audio is coming fine, but no video. Please help me. Files that have played well previously are also now facing the same problem. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rkr1991 (talk • contribs) 07:43, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried VLC Player? That seems to play .avis pretty well. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 08:05, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

I have tried all players in the world! Including VLC player. The files played very well previously are also facing this problem. What do i do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rkr1991 (talk • contribs) 08:11, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Well, it sounds to me like you have a codec missing. I don't know much about this, but until someone more knowledgeable comes along you might want to have a look at Video codec. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 08:30, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

I don't think it's likely be a codec problem, especially if they were playing before and now aren't. VLC plays pretty much anything, so if that's not working either then I'd look somewhere else for the problem, perhaps some sort of graphics card error? I don't know. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 13:31, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

I'd recommend downloading GSpot and opening the AVI file in that. It'll show you what codec the video is using (even if you don't have it installed) and with that we'll be able to work out where to go next. ZX81 ^talk 15:12, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Facebook ?

If I am logged into Facebook, search for somebody by name, and click on the profiles that come up to get more details, will those people know that I have been checking out their profiles, even for example under the "other people you might know" section ? Don't worry, not up to anything nefarious, just want to avoid embarassment ! Thanks ! --41.15.58.173 (talk) 09:45, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

No. F (talk) 09:57, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Is it possible to have a dynamic ip for one wireless network and a static ip for an other without having to change the settings each time you connect.

Well it's basically all in the subject line. I want a static IP in one wireless network and dynamic ip in the other ones, how do I do it guys? Bastard Soap (talk) 13:32, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

You could write shell scripts that configure the network interface. The details depend on your operating system; here are samples for Windows[8]. Write two .bat files, one for static and one for DHCP, and place shortcuts to them on your desktop for quick access. For more instructions and other operating systems google is your friend: [9]. 88.112.62.225 (talk) 08:52, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Reusing laptop DVD drive

I recently dismantled a broken laptop for spares. One thing I thought would be useful was the CD/DVD drive, which I imagined I could reuse in an external enclosure. Unfortunately, the connector on the back of the drive doesn't seem to be compatible with the external enclosures I've seen in my local computer accessories or on eBay. The connector looks like this, but all I can find is enclosures with standard IDE or SATA connectors. Does the connector on the drive have a specific name that I should be searching for?

Ideally, I'm looking for a slim enclosure that doesn't need an external power source - ie. it draws power via the USB connection. I've seen such a thing for sale, but it already has a drive fitted and is quite expensive. Does anyone have any hints on how to find just the enclosure? Thanks. Astronaut (talk) 13:34, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, don't know what connector that is and can't quite make out the model number on the label in order to Google that model number and find out what sort of connector it is. One point that comes to mind, though, is that new DVD-ROM drives cost US$30 currently, and DVD±RW drives cost only US$10 more, and any enclosure you buy is likely to cost around US$25 at least ... so this used drive is probably not worth converting into a working drive. Tempshill (talk) 19:41, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the connector is standard across many (or maybe all) laptops. I just don't know what it is called.

I know I can buy a new external DVD drive in an enclosure for around £40, but this is actually for a friend who is on a very limited budget. I thought that since I can buy an empty external enclosure (IDE or SATA) for about £10, I should be able to get a similar thing to take the old laptop DVD drive for a similar price - and that is much closer to the budget my friend has in mind. Astronaut (talk) 00:49, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Do these look like it: [10][11]. 88.112.62.225 (talk) 08:46, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes, that's exactly what it is like. So it's a 50-pin JAE.

I'll try to find an external drive enclosure for a slim DVD drive, or failing that get a JAE - IDE adapter and try a regular IDE drive enclosure. Astronaut (talk) 11:33, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Linux devices

I'm quite a linux newbie and one thing has been puzzling me about the devices in /dev. If I connect a device it needs to be mounted using a command like mount /dev/??? /mnt/somewhere When I connected an external IDE disk drive via a USB cable, I looked up and down the many devices in /dev and nothing hinted at which device I should mount. It was only when I looked in /etc/fstab that a comment line suggested to me that external USB drives were /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, etc, and I successfully mounted the drive. But, is there a way I can tell which device in /dev is the one to which my physical device is actually connected to? Astronaut (talk) 15:21, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

There is some variability, but there are guidelines about how things are listed in /dev . IDE hard drives and CD drive will generally be listed as hda, hdb, etc and the number after it is the partition number. SCSI drives are listed like sda, sdb, etc (USB disks will also be listed like this because Linux tends to use SCSI emulation). Other devices have handy shortcuts like /dev/audio, /dev/cdrom, etc. Have a look at Device_file#Naming_conventions for the specifics. Freedomlinux (talk) 15:41, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

The easiest way is to use dBus to detect when external drives are added/removed. The hardware abstraction layer (HAL) sends a signal along the system dBus which all programs can see (this is how Nautilus realises usb sticks/cds have been inserted). --h2g2bob (talk) 17:33, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

dev has loads of devices other than just disk drives. The naming convention in MOST linux setups is to use sd for sata, then a sequential letter for a drive, and a sequential number for the partition. So sde1 is the fifth sata drive, partition one. IDE drives are usually hd with the same drive and partition sequencing. The simplest way to determine what node a device is assigned to is to take a look at "dmesg" which is a copy of the recent kernel messages. Just type dmesg at the shell, and it might help give you some hints as to the device. Shadowjams (talk) 02:38, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Failed emails which I never sent

Logging into Windows Live Messenger today, I find myself with 19 emails. Surprised, I check them to find that they are delivery failure notices. Every invalid address on my contact list is contained within these 19 emails which tell me the message I sent failed to reach them. My first thought was that someone obtained the email addresses (presumably by somehow obtaining my password) and emailed everyone. This would seem to be confirmed by the list of addresses at the bottom of each failure notice; the list is of every address the email was sent to, and between them, the 19 emails contain every contact I have.

However...

I've contacted several people who are on the lists at the bottom of the emails. None of them receieved the email.

Can anyone explain this? Vimescarrot (talk) 18:19, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

I get these phantom failure notices all the time, and have for years. There are a couple of possibilities. (a) Your system has been infected with a computer virus or some other malware that read your address book, and then sent copies of itself to everyone on that address book (or maybe just sent them Viagra ads). (b) A friend of yours has been infected with similar malware, and the malware signed each outgoing e-mail with your e-mail address, as though you personally had sent it. (In case (b) here, your computer itself was never involved; the malware just found your e-mail address in your friend's address book and thought it would be fun to pretend you had sent the e-mails.) I would scan your computer with two anti-malware scanners, for safety, and if nothing is found, then just ignore these phantom failure messages. Tempshill (talk) 19:32, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) - Spammers will often "spoof" a valid email address in hopes of getting more views once their own accounts have been flagged as a blacklisted account. That basically means - someone else used your email address as the return address for some spam they sent out. You can try to track IP numbers and report them to various ISP's, but in the long run it's going to be a lot of work with little result. I just delete those messages myself. — Ched :  ?  19:35, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Don't forget that these email messages contained my entire contact list; somehow, they had access to my account; they weren't just using it as a return address. I scanned four days ago and did nothing out of the ordinary since then; is it really worth scanning again? Vimescarrot (talk) 19:43, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

If you just saw the failure messages today then maybe it's scenario (a) above. Yes, scan again; it doesn't hurt. And scan with an alternative program, too; all malware scanners have different approaches and find different things. Tempshill (talk) 21:55, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Executables files on Linux (ELF)

I was just wondering if ALL executable files that run on Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, etc...) are ELF files? PS: I am not counting with scripts (nor stuff like wine to run .exe files) Thanks -- SF007 (talk) 20:32, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

No, they could also be a.out or a number of others. If you look at the files called binfmt_XXX.c here, each one implements a different binary format. --Sean 22:27, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

In practice, however, a modern system will only have ELF binaries - the a.out article says that Linux's a.out implementation was unsuited to shared libraries, and was phased out fairly early on in Linux history.

The binfmt-related kernel config options show what's available, and include the message:

"Linux used the a.out formats QMAGIC and ZMAGIC until they were replaced with the ELF format. The conversion to ELF started in 1995. This option is primarily provided for historical interest and for the benefit of those who need to run binaries from that era."

An interesting point is that "binfmt_script" is what implements shebang handling, and binfmt_misc allows binding various kinds of magic to interpreters or virtual machines, so the kernel can execute a Perl script or Java class in much the same way as an ELF or a.out binary, blurring the distinction made in the original question. - IMSoP (talk) 23:04, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

April 11

Common displayable Unicode mathematical symbols

Sorry if this belongs in the Math section, but it kind of seeps into both. I was wondering what are the most commonly displayable. Sure, most of them can display whatever's on the keyboard, but what else? Some computers back in the day were capable of displaying things like ², «», ±, °, √, ≤, etc. Now, they have much more advanced functionality, capable of displaying obscure symbols like ►,₪,↔,∕,⌡,∂,⅝, etc. But what's the limit to these symbols? Would they be able to display Unicode characters like ⁶ (superscript 6),₍ (subscript left parenthesis), or even ℏ (reduced Planck's constant)? I don't think so. So what would be the most common set of characters that would be compatible to computers back to say, the Windows 98 era? Obviously it would be different from computer to computer, but I'm asking just for the general sets. The use of images aren't acceptable in my case. I greatly appreciate your help! Thanks so much. 141.153.214.155 (talk) 02:31, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Off the top of my head: Windows 98 didn't support Unicode via UTF-8, let alone any other character encoding system. A US-market copy of Windows 98 supported character set X, whereas a Japanese-market copy supported set Y. Not "X" or "Y" of course, but I forget what the names were -- all of this stuff is available for the searching within a certain online encyclopedia -- but anyway X didn't even include the Cyrillic alphabet, let alone fancy-schmancy maths symbols. What people did was to use odd, nonstandard fonts that substituted particular nonstandard symbols they wanted to use for those that they didn't want. Thus (imaginary example) Bludoni (which included ê and ç, though not ŏ or ą) might have had an additional Bludoni Math, with maths symbols taking the place of ê and ç and so forth. It was all rather nightmarish and I'd say you'd have to be perverse or masochistic to want to relive it. -- Hoary (talk) 04:05, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Music Player Site

Is there some sort of website in which you can somehow enter musical notes and it will play the music? --Nick4404 yada yada yada What have I done? 03:32, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

How about Musipedia? Oda Mari (talk) 04:43, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Right-justified text in text box

Sometimes when I am editing Wikipedia, I accidentally press some key combination that causes the text in the text box to become right-justified. Similar to when you edit in Wikipedias where the writing is right to left (e.g. Hebrew, Arabic). The keys involved are some combination of :

1. CTRL and (ALT or SHIFT)
2. and:
   • some letter(s) in the lower left (on a QWERTY)
   • or (the left arrow xor right arrow)

This is probably more detailed than necessary, since some of you may already know the combination. What key combination causes this, and what key combination do I need to press do undo this? My current solution is to open a new window, and copy and paste my progress into that. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 10:12, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

In Firefox, Ctrl+Shift+x. Same to switch it back. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 11:07, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Open source game developing

Are there open source platforms out there for game developing? The main idea is that I would do the "screenplay" and graphics and put it on a kind of virtual machine that would deliver the logic behind the game.--88.6.158.100 (talk) 11:59, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Blender has a built-in game engine. --93.106.178.219 (talk) 12:16, 11 April 2009 (UTC)