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August 4

web host

If I created a website with a database and all, where would I find a server to host it? 202.124.189.196 (talk) 11:11, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Just Google web host and you'll find literally thousands of companies that will do this. You just need to know what features/space/traffic you'll need (or a rough idea) and how much you're willing to pay per month. ZX81 ^talk 13:39, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

You also need to ensure that the web host supports whatever script you used for your website and the database platform you used. In general, the extremely cheap (even free) ones will not support anything useful. Like everything else in the world, you get what you pay for. -- kainaw™ 15:46, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Though the $9/mo. range (e.g. dreamhost, bluehost, etc.) should support any of the really common open source ones (like MySQL or postgresql). If you need something proprietary (like MS SQL Server) that will probably cost more. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 17:46, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

There seems to be many free web hosts out there. I found that many offer PHP and MySQL support, but very few indeed offer .NET and MS SQL Server. If you are willing to pay, then the situation is much easier. Astronaut (talk) 10:09, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Passing all ascii characters as a parameter

Hi. I'm debugging a program and I've found that it passes the whole ASCII character string, that is "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/-" as a parameter to some function. Why would a program do that? --Georgeascii (talk) 14:47, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

We'd have to see the program to know, really. Maybe it's a lookup table to translate from ASCII to some other format (such as the ROM character table of a digital character display). While you can (and often should) to this with character arithmetic (if x>='A' && x <='Z', etc.) some high-performance uses may benefit from a lookup table (which, for example is often how ctype.h macros are implemented). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:52, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Also, changing a table like "ABC...123..." when you want to modify the (say) valid characters for a name is a lot easier than changing logic like

if (x>='A' &&... || x>='0' &&...)

195.35.160.133 (talk) 15:14, 4 August 2009 (UTC) Martin.

Do you have the source code for that function? Maybe the best way to find out is to read the source code. (Better yet, if there's documentation for that function...). As you have phrased the question, there is no way we can possibly know what this function does - it could disregard the input, for all we know. It seems likely that it is setting up a list of "acceptable" characters for either display or input, and the programmer chose to manually configure which characters were active with this string. Nimur (talk) 15:37, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Doing a Google Code Search for that string turns up many results, such as this function:

char *
basic_strip (char *s)
     /* Returns a pointer to the first character in s that is not
        a special character, or NULL if no such character exists.
        Cf, man strpbrk(). */
{
  return ((char*) strpbrk
          (s,
           "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789"));
}

--Sean 17:54, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

In standard C and C++ the values of the members of the character set are implementation-defined, and not necessarily corresponding to ASCII, provided that all of the above-mentioned characters (and a few more) have distinct, positive values, and the values of the characters 0-9 are consecutive and ascending. Code such as

void f(char c) {
  if(c > 'a' && c < 'z') 
    ; /* ... */
  
  /* or even */
  c -= 'a'; 
}

is therefore not strictly portable. For this reason it may be desirable to maintain such a string literal to perform some kind of character aritmetic with predictable results across platforms. But note that the following is guaranteed to be correct, given a character from '0' to '9' as input:

int char2int(char c) {
  return c - '0';  
}

Regards, decltype (talk) 22:34, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Yes, what I find odd is the "+-/" at the end of the string - out of curiosity - does this match anything anyone recognises as say 'valid names for variables or files' or something else in a given language?83.100.250.79 (talk) 22:54, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, without the "-", it would be the normal characters used in Base64. But with that, iono. --131.179.160.144 (talk) 02:02, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks must include negative numbers then - I had no idea there was a standard for base64 input. Cheers83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:30, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

I can think of one place I've done exactly this before - setting up a font in some kind of non-standard character rendering situation (eg drawing text using 3D a object for each letter in a game or something). You might "register" the font with a function by passing the graphics for the font in one parameter - and the list of characters contained in that font in the other. If the program that's using it is (say) displaying someone's name and their current score - then letters, numbers, plus and minus would be the only characters you'd need. But, frankly, this is an impossible question...it could be anything. SteveBaker (talk) 01:01, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Here is a link to MSDN's online help page for strpbrk, and the associated wcspbrk and _mbspbrk, functions. Astronaut (talk) 10:05, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Shocking stuff...

My Dell XPS laptop was purchased by myself this time last year and the warranty has just recently ran out(coincidence or not). It now is making electric zap noises, though the screen does not flicker nor any processes stop. However im rather frightened it will set on fire. I removed and then placed the battery back in but tis had no affect. Any help would be appreciated as everytime it does the electric zap, i am rather worried! Thanks 15:12, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Faulty electronics can be dangerous - if you really have an arcing power supply, you should stop using the system and have it checked out by a repair shop. Even after warranty, you can still arrange for repair (for a fee). At the very least, you might prevent further catastrophic damage to the system. Dell offers out-of-warranty service starting at $49. Nimur (talk) 15:40, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Yes, best advice is to take it in for repair. One thing to note before you rush off to pay $49 to dell, is that some credit cards (American Express I believe is one), offer an extension of original manufacturers warranty for free. Might want to check on that before paying cash. --Zarfol (talk) 16:57, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

(after edit conflict) If its the manufacturer's fault, they might service it free of cost to you even after your warranty is over. If I were you, I would investigate further on the issue. Talk to the place who sold you the computer and also look for further information on Dell's website. If it is not an isolated incident, Dell may call it back. I would say that backing up your most valuable data (only if possible) and talking to your manufacturer are the first two things to do. Kushal (talk) 17:01, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Be sure that the sound isn't just coming from the speakers. Perhaps something is causing a burst of static? APL (talk) 17:26, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

WoW addons -- can a malicious one cause your account to get "hacked"?

I'm curious about how the World of Warcraft addons work ...

I believe the official line from Blizzard is that it is impossible for an addon to cause your account to get hacked, simply because the addons are not executable files; they're all .lua scripts (I believe) that just modify the interface of the game. However, a guildie whose account was hacked recently claimed that a GM told him that an addon might've been responsible for it. This struck me as being flat-out wrong based on my previous assumption on how they work. So, for you more Computer Sciencey-minded folks out there: is it possible that a World of Warcraft addon could cause one's account to be hacked (that is, compromised by, say, logging the username and password used to login and sending that data to someone)? Again, pretty sure the answer is no, but I'd like to get validation from someone who understands how these things work from a technical side.

Thanks. Dgcopter (talk) 21:28, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

No, lua scripts are only executed when the user interface is started (that is when the world is loaded). However, a malicious "script updater" that executes outside World of Warcraft might be responsible. As an addon developper myself, I can assure you that lua scripts have no access to that sort of data. -- Luk ^talk 22:10, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

That is, unless there was a buffer overflow exploit or similar in the WoW application that allowed a malicious addon to execute arbitrary code. A similar exploit in Warcraft III was recently patched.^[1] decltype (talk) 22:43, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

August 5

Adobe Flash

I use Firefox, and whenever I go to a page with Flash material (Youtube, Facebook, [2], etc.), that material does not show up, instead displaying a Lego-like brick with "Click here to download plugin." A toolbar also appears at the top saying "Additional plugins are required to display all the media on this page" with an "Install missing plugins..." link. Clicking on either brings up an "Available Plugin Downloads" window displaying Adobe Flash Player. I click Next, and it tells me nothing was installed, but I can manually install, which takes me to the Adobe Flash Player download page [3]. Nothing I do there works. When clicking to download and install it brings up "install_flash_player.exe", which I can save but nothing happens. According to the directions a window should ask me where to have it to.

The odd thing is that I also have Internet Explorer and all of these websites and their media using Flash work perfectly fine. This leads me to assume I already have Flash, but then why would everything on Firefox say I don't? Might it be because it isn't the most recent version? Why then can I still not even re-download it? Thanks!! Reywas92^Talk 01:24, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

The trick may be as easy as to find the downloaded install_flash_player.exe somewhere on your machine, and run it. Double-clicking it when it is in the download window is one way of doing this. Let us know how you get on. --Tagishsimon (talk) 01:28, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

But I can't find it. It did not create a desktop shortcut, and using the search function doesn't yield it. The funny thing it that when I click "save file" for that, the box just closes. It doesn't take any time to download or ask me where it goes at all. The troubleshooting doesn't help. But I know I do have Flash already, it just won't work on Firefox.

So I went back to IE and downloaded it, and it worked fine. Until it automatically opened this page on Firefox. "When you see the installation completion movie above and text below, your installation was successful." I can't see the movie. I copied the url back to IE, and it works! I'm completely lost. Thanks. Reywas92^Talk 01:46, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

IE plugins (which I believe are ActiveX plugins) are completely separate from plugins for other browsers. You have the Flash for IE plugin, but not the Flash for Firefox plugin. You need to run the installer for the Flash plugin for non-IE browsers to install it. You say you have trouble finding the file you downloaded. Well what happens when you usually download things? In Firefox, there is a setting for where things are downloaded to (Tools -> Options -> Main -> Downloads: Save files to...); maybe you should check there first. --131.179.160.144 (talk) 01:59, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Or just double click the file from the Downloads window. --antilived^{T | C | G} 10:05, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Go here http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ make sure you select the right browser and os. Click download. Yoy should then be here http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/thankyou/?installer=Flash_Player_10_for_Windows_-_Other_Browsers

Ignore the save dialog box (close it). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:28, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Find the part that says "Your download will start automatically. If it does not start, click here to download"

Right click on the part "click here to download" and select "save as" - save it somewhere you can easily find it, eg the desktop. (ie click on desktop in the save dialog box).

Once it has downloaded, look on the desktop for a red box. Double click , and install.

Hopefully nothing can go wrong.83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:26, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Importing fonts

Once you have a TrueType font file saved to your Fonts folder, can you get GIMP or Paint to interact with them, do they need to be imported? etc. • S • C • A • R • C • E • 02:25, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

What do you mean by "interact"? Do you want to edit a font? That requires a different program, like FontForge. I don't know about GIMP, but you can also type some text into Adobe Illustrator (even a single character), convert that text into vector shapes (Type --> Create Outlines), and then modify the shapes of the letters. If you just want to type text in the font without modification, then why don't you try it yourself? What a strange choice of words.--WinRAR anodeeven (talk) 05:15, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

It's generally not a good idea on here to get on people's cases about incorrect technical language — the reason that many are asking here is because they don't know the proper name of what they are inquiring about, and thus can't Google it or do other obvious modes of investigation. It's also not a great idea to compare apples-and-oranges programs (Illustrator is a vector graphics program; GIMP and Paint are bitmap graphic programs, and they don't have a whole lot to do with one another). --98.217.14.211 (talk) 14:02, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, I know the difference between vectors and bitmaps. We still don't know whether he wants to edit a font or type some text. And that's why I mentioned Illustrator.--WinRAR anodeeven (talk) 18:18, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Gimp automatically imports any new fonts during start-up, if this is what you are asking. --KageTora - (영호 (影虎)) (talk) 13:44, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

If you put it in the Fonts folder, it should show up in the programs once you restart them. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 13:51, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Yay! Look what I created! Thank you everyone • S • C • A • R • C • E • 20:32, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

which filter

hi friends, i am using image processing in matlab for analyzing flames(flickering study).i would be goin for some further processing.kindly let me know which matlab filter to use for the data obtained.for your information ,no filters were used(in front of camera) for taking images. SCI-hunter (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 03:39, 5 August 2009 (UTC).

avg 8.5

how do I go about putting avg 8.5 on my computer, when it does nothing whenever I try to download it, and the one I already have refuses to work either or to uninstal from my computer?

I've tried deleting all of it and putting it back, but then I searched for avg and there are thousands of programs with those letters in and I don't know which ones to remove.

88.108.18.179 (talk) 09:50, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

The 8.5 installation removes all prior versions, so you should concentrate on understanding either why the download of 8.5 is failing, or why you are unable to run the downloaded installer. --Tagishsimon (talk) 12:30, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Avg8 is one of an increasing number of anti-virus programs (following on from Norton and McAfee) which need a separate removal tool for successful removal. This is because uninstalling them does not remove Registry entries, which will interfere with later versions and/or other brands of AV programs. So first use this free uninstaller. - KoolerStill (talk) 14:28, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Half the programs on my Mac can't seem to find the web

Hi All,

I have a Mac OS X 10.5.6. My browser (Firefox) and my email clients (Thunderbird and FirstClass) all work fine.

However, several programs have trouble either accessing the web or authenticating or something. If I run my Software Update, I get the message "Software Update can’t connect to the update server. Make sure you’re connected to the Internet, then try again. Software Update can't check for updates because of a network problem." I then click the Network Diagnostics button and the Network Diagnostics report nothing wrong -- it says I can connect to the web (which I can). Further, my RSS reader, Vienna, doesn't work, my Twitter application, Nambu, doesn't work, my new social application, EventBox, can't log into any of my services or read RSS, and every website that allows you to upload photos (Facebook, Flickr) fails when I try to do so.

This has been happening for about two weeks. Prior to this everything worked.

The fact that all these programs that fails seem to require some kind of authentication (except I guess the RSS readers...) makes me wonder if that could be the problem, but I really don't know.

Anyone have any clues as to what the problem could be?

Thanks! — Sam 76.24.222.22 (talk) 15:01, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

How do you access the web? Is there any settings in the router you use that may be causing a conflict? If the router you have has a built in firewall it may be a setting in the firewall that is prevent the apps connecting. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 15:43, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Try checking out your OS X firewall settings. System Preferences > Sharing > Firewall. You may want to try toggling it off temporarily to see if that changes anything. If it does, it may mean making some kind of exceptions for those programs. Though it is still very odd. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 15:58, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Another thing: you say these issues began happening about two weeks ago. Did you install a new program then? Make a change in your system or program preferences? Install a new router? Install a VOIP system (such a Vonage device) between the internet and your router/computer? ···日本穣^? · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 20:13, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Browser plug-ins and HTTP referrer

Under what circumstances, if any, will a link opened from within a browser plugin (e.g. Flash, Java, Adobe Reader, word processor) generate an HTTP referrer? NeonMerlin 19:19, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Referrer headers are optional, so it's up to the browser and/or plugin. For what it's worth, I just tried it with a Java applet, and it did indeed send the referrer header. --Sean 20:07, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

You can also disable referrer headers in Firefox: instructions here. Nimur (talk) 20:31, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

I couldn't get on the Internet

My computer information is here:[4]

It may have been a problem so minor I didn't need to call tech support.

I couldn't get a straight answer on whether this was connected, but I'll ask anyway.

Instead of a dial tone, I heard the sound I get when I misdial and get a fax machine number. I hung up and there was a dial tone. So I was all right.

Three hours later I turned on the computer and clicked on the blue E. The screen was blank and the circle kept rotating. I tried clicking on the Yahoo button. Same thing. I just got Internet Explorer 8 and I couldn't figute out how to diagnose connection problems. It won't let me click there. At one point there was a screen with the number of emails I have (I must not have deleted that Monday, but there waa no history showing that it should be there). I clicked and was told I needed to be on the Internet so I clicked where it said to. Still nothing. I kept going back and forth from online to offline. At one point I unplugged the modem and plugged it back in, but that didn't seem to change anything. The modem lights were normal, and the light on the back of the computer was normal.

I finally made the phone call. I never really did anything different that I know of, but it finally just came up.

When I asked about the noise that I heard instead of the dial tone, the girl said something about changing something in my computer. But despite the box that comes up saying I am using dial-up, it is actually not. There is a splitter at each phone jack.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 21:22, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

It is not a permanent problem. You appear to have an excellent computer, and I believe you do use dial-up Internet service, which just means you use a modem to connect to the Internet over a phone line. The "fax machine sound" you heard is called a carrier tone and it's just the sound of the computer on the other end of the phone line, picking up the phone and starting to communicate with your computer. (If you want to hear this ruckus "live", connect to the Internet, start downloading a Wikipedia page, pick up the phone, and enjoy the computers' screaming at each other. Picking up the phone, by the way, will disrupt your connection and you'll have to make the computer hang up and call again.) That time you heard it, your computer for some reason did not start doing any communicating. Nothing is broken in your computer; this happens occasionally. By the way, if you frequently get connection problems, I would recommend finding out about getting "always-on" broadband service, either via a cable modem from your cable TV company, via DSL from your phone company, or via FiOS if Verizon services your neighborhood with it. It's faster, and problems with disconnected signals are much rarer when connecting via broadband. Tempshill (talk) 21:53, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Did you change your modem or its drivers recently? Try going to modem settings, and where it says "listen for dial tone" or similar, untick it. That way it will try to put your request onto the line whether it recognises a dial tone or not. If the line is available, the number will go through. But if it's available, but for some reason making unusual sounds, it won't refuse to try on the grounds that it's "not a dial tone". (This was always necessary with cheap imported modems that were set up for the dial tones of some other country). Of course it the line is truly occupied, you still won't get a connection. So make sure the splitters are properly tightly plugged in and no real phone is off the hook. -KoolerStill (talk) 07:02, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

I do have DSL. I haven't had a problem in months. The last time the modem lights even blinked was during a thunderstorm. My last call to tech support was in January.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 17:42, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

August 6

seeking identification of an icon

Previously on WP:RDC....

Does anyone know what program this icon is from?—msh210℠ 17:03, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't know but maybe if you crop it you can run it through tineye-- penubag  (talk) 18:31, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

What happens if you hover the mouse over it, or click on it (left or right)? Astronaut (talk) 23:24, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

No, the image is too small. You could try interpolating/scaling it but I don't know if that will help, I suspect TinEye just doesn't do that sort of thing Nil Einne (talk) 23:50, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

End of quotation from the archives.

I missed Astronaut's reply at the time, so am starting the conversation again. Clicking (single, double, right, left) does nothing, but hovering over it yields the tooltip "Managed by sk2000 at [IP address of a nearby machine, but not this one]:1347".—msh210℠ 23:08, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

It's Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition's client. We used to use it and I think that's version 8.0, but not sure on the exact version number. ZX81 ^talk 23:35, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks so much!—msh210℠ 15:41, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Congratulations, OP. Maybe we could rename the image if we have positively identified what it is. :) Kushal (talk) 17:58, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Or delete it. I don't think it serves the purposes of the encyclopedia much.—msh210℠ 21:56, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Rhemetic

What is today?

See our article today for a complete list. Tempshill (talk) 03:31, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Thursday (which isn't on that list). AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:47, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Copying iTunes playlists

I've just recently got a new external hard drive for my computer and copied my iTunes' stuff over to it but the playlists haven't been copied. How would I go about copying them over as well? Thanks for any help 83.37.186.149 (talk) 10:27, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Did you copy all of your iTunes folder and all of its contents and selected the new location as your iTunes folder in the iTunes preferences? More details please. Kushal (talk) 14:06, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Microsoft SQL Server 2011 & Compatibility level 80

Our application is heavily dependent on legacy outer joins (the *= syntax) for which Microsoft dropped support with SQL Server 2005, requiring developers to use the ANSI standard "LEFT OUTER JOIN" syntax. They provided a compatibility switch, level 80, which we have been using since then. I have heard that support for this compatibility level will be dropped with the next release. I am looking for suggestions as to how I can get a definite answer. (I am not looking at this time for suggestions on how to port our code.) Ma^t_chups 15:33, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

I found an MS contact offline who provided this information:

I got a chance to email a few Program Managers in the SQL Product Team.

The feedback I got: Based on the current deprecation policy we only support two major previous releases from a compat perspective. So based on this, SQL Server 2000 is not being planned for backward compatibility support in SQL 11.

Ma^t_chups 20:33, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

Is there a program that gives convienent sort of bar charts analysing the size of each folder/subfolder?

I need a program that easily shows how much space is being used per folder, and Windows isn't good at doing that without having to look individually, it's too much hassle. any program that can do something like this?--IHABihat (talk) 16:37, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Try windirstat, which shows a treemap; that turns out to be much more useful than a simple barchart at answering the question I guess you care about, "why is folder X so darn big?" -- Finlay McWalter • Talk

See also SequoiaView and Disk space analyzer for more options. Hope that helps. Kushal (talk) 17:56, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

I'll give my standard answer to this question: screw WinDirStat, SequoiaView etc. If you really want to see your folder sizes directly in the Windows Explorer interface, install FolderSize for Windows, change your Explorer view to "details" view, and enable the "Folder Size" column (and disable the "Size" column since you won't need it any more). Job done! No need to stuff around with 3rd party applications just to check your folder sizes, it's right in front of your eyes every time you open up My Computer and start browsing. Zunaid 18:19, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Are you referring to this program from SourceForge? Mitch Ames (talk) 13:08, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

That's exactly it, and the screenshot shows exactly how it works in Explorer. You can also choose to display size dynamically so it automatically displays MB or GB when the file/folder size gets too big for kB to be useful. Zunaid 13:21, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

css / xml / word processing question

(Warning - fuzzy question - user may be the problem)

Is there a word processor that allows the user to define headins/sub-headings/other styles as indirect labels, and then apply an external style sheet to the document.

eg At the level of understanding I'm at now I can create formatting styles for each heading, sub head heading etc. , but if I want to change the whole look (ie everything font, spacing, etc) it seems I need to either totally reformat the whole document, or change all the formatting styles to suit. (I'm aware that sub-headings can inherit properties from their parent headings).

I'm thinking of something like css for word processing. Please de-ignorantify me. Thanks! 83.100.250.79 (talk) 17:29, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

TeXmacs probably can do it, although I don't use it myself. It's worth a look while waiting for better informed answers. --91.145.88.63 (talk) 19:03, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

It possibly does, yes, from a brief read of the manual.83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:35, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Aren't you asking about CSS? It seems like you already know what this is. There's no reason you can't use CSS and HTML; there are plenty of word-processing softwares that can save to HTML format. Nimur (talk) 20:15, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

No I'm not asking about css, I'm asking about word processing software that supports the equivalent (or the same as) style sheets (out of the box). You're aware that a web page can be created with tags such as <myheading1> etc, and that the basic body can be used with different style sheets for a different look. I'm asking about the equivalent in a word processor.83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:35, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

A word processor that instrinscially works in html would/might make an obvious solution though...83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:37, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Just to clarify - I'm not really asking about a complex workaround/solution where I have to type complex markup into notepad etc. More so I was asking about such a thing as a supported feature for end users.83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:43, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Actually I think I've worked out that I can already do this.. (still experimenting) - please continue to answer if you have any hints...83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:10, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Adobe InDesign supports style sheets. They aren't written in CSS, though. Nor are they stored outside of the document. It also supports master pages. By the way, you can actually open HTML pages in Microsoft Word and save them back to HTML. It is not recommended, but it can be done without any tricks. Also, you can specify the type of heading in Word 2003 by going to Format --> Paragraph and clicking on "Outline Level." Upon styling, similar outline levels update.

XML in general can be styled with CSS. So, theoretically, you could save your document as XML from MS Word or Adobe Framemaker, create a CSS, apply the CSS to the XML, and open the XML in a web browser. It should display fine.--IndexOutOfBounds (talk) 21:25, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Does MS Word still make a mess of HTML saving - I seem to remember saving the text "this is a test" as HTML and word deciding that it needed about 4 pages of markup and meta information..

I've discovered that I could already make a 'master template' and save it, for later application to other documents (just not familiar enough with the software).

I don't use MS Word much, and haven't lately, but seem to recall that it has the option to style lines of text as "First-level header" etc., and then to pick whatever style you choose for "First-level header". Same with WordPerfect. YMMV.—msh210℠ 22:03, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

There are some follow on questions:

word processors using css, and other stuff

Following on from the above - are there any word processors that can input and convert css style sheets to their standard internal markup.

Also in a webpage I noticed this :

<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> <!-- '''''css instructions here''''' --> </STYLE>

ie the css commented out - yet they still worked - ie changing them affected the page. Removing the comments made no difference. What's with the comments?83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:59, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

That's an oddity which (also applies to script by the way and) is put in place so that older browsers that don't know what to do with the style or script element don't display its contents.—msh210℠ 22:03, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Right. The rendering webpage ignores the HTML comments when rendering CSS or scripts. It's only required for very old browsers. At this point I sort of think it is optional, though I don't really have hard facts on whether there are a lot of totally noncompliant browsers being used... --98.217.14.211 (talk) 01:19, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

MS Word works with "templates" (saved with the .dot extension). When you open a new document,it uses Normal.dot, the default template. If Word is what you're using, you can make a new template that matches your requirements, then import your document into that template. Just make up a sample page with the features you want. Save it as a template (File menu). That saves the formatting but not the text. Then open that template and import the old document onto it. Or, of course, use it for writing new documents in that style. - KoolerStill (talk) 10:02, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks

Resolved

83.100.250.79 (talk) 10:40, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Blackberry Storm camera problems

I am having trouble with my Blackberry phone. When I click the side button to take a picture, it does not consistently work. It will focus and center the picture, but it will not take the snap shot. Instead, I have to use the center touch screen button to take the picture. Is this a common problem? How can it be resolved??--98.109.60.26 (talk) 18:22, 6 August 2009 (UTC) _{Moved from Misc desk. Fribbler (talk) 19:37, 6 August 2009 (UTC)}

php flat files

I've written a very simple php guestbook script (when I say written, I've mean stolen bits of code from all over the place and hacked them together) which uses one txt file to store all the comments. What are the possible problems with using a flat file system like this? If there are a lot of people posting comments at the same time could there be corruption of the files contents? Or does php have a built in safeguard for this? Many thanks // 19:54, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Primarily the issues are maintenance and performance once the single flat file becomes very large. If you don't care about this, it's not a really major issue. You can always manually archive the system, if you so desire. Nimur (talk) 20:14, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

If PHP does automatically lock the file (which I don't believe it does), two users at the same time wouldn't be able to save the content. If at all possible, you should use a database software like SQL (MySql is pretty good) for multiple entries at the same time. Thanks. AHRtbA== ^Talk 20:22, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Use flock. You need a strategy of what to do if getting the lock fails - whether sleep-and-retry or report-error is best for you depends on your application - the "tinymountain" commenter at that page has a sleep-and-retry script. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:12, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

There's nothing inherently wrong with a flat file if you're using something like flock and are prepared to deal with file access collisions. A more advanced database lets you obviously do a lot more (like be able to retrieve specific records easier, and sort them, and etc.) but for a guestbook, a flat file is fine. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 01:07, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

OpenDNS

I was wondering if using OpenDNS really gives you a faster internet connection and a more secure connection. On a side note I saw a few posts about uninstalling Anti-Virus and how they required special apps, to clear the registry. I used Revo Uninstaller to uninstall AVG and it got rid of everything. It's a general uninstaller so its good for more then just one thing. You can find alot of useful freeware at Gizmos TechSupportAlert, for doing various jobs like this. 66.133.202.209 (talk) 22:10, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Speed: they claim it's faster than your own ISP's DNS (the Wikipedia OpenDNS article cites this claim to a forum, the very opposite of a reliable source), but even if that's true for you, it'll only help with domain lookups (not machine lookups, which always go to the domain's own DNS server). You don't do enough domain lookups for that to make much of a difference. Beyond that it will have no effect whatever. Security: they have an anti-phishing blacklist, but you get that from firefox or google toolbar or yahoo toolbar (I don't know about IE). And I don't see why you'd trust a company that you have no relationship with to provide you DNS, when you're already paying your ISP for the same service. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:21, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Wow thanks for the fast reply. Guess there is no real benefit for an average computer user like me. 66.133.202.209 (talk) 22:38, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

I think you'd only be likely to find openDNS of a significant benefit if your own ISP had particularly slow DNS servers. Rjwilmsi 23:16, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

OpenDNS provides particular service meant to interfere with phishing, for instance, and they might be faster if more people use them and so their DNS caches are more useful than your ISP's. They might also be useful to get around DNS redirection for non-existent sites, although they do that themselves by default. (Your ISP's opt-out might be entirely useless, for instance.) --Tardis (talk) 17:49, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

August 7

PHP/MSQL assist

This is one of those days where things avoid me and my ability to describe is subpar, so excuse me and try to bare with me.

I am trying to make something similar to a poll but for the life of me I can't remember how to do this, so I come to you guys. Here is a basic layout to give you an idea of what I am working on doing. There are two textareas, one of which is a multiple line and the other is a single line. Below the multiline is an Add Button, Subtract Button and the singe line (not in that order). So you write a value..in a numerical fashion...like 2 and hit add, I want that value to be checked against the existing in the multiline box and then redisplayed as the outcome number. So let us say the multiline number is current 6. I'd like it to go "Alright, so you are currently 6? I want you to add 2 then display the outcome.". I would like for the new value to replace the old one inside a MYSQL database...which I have also managed to forget today, perfectly able to add a new value as long as the old still exist..can't remember for the life of me how to make a new value and remove the old one...anyways, if you need anymore clarification just ask, thanks guys. Rgoodermote  01:33, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Quick clarification, the question is, what is the code or the functions needed for this? Rgoodermote  01:34, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

S/PDIF

HELP! I just bought a 3.5mm to digital optical so that I could plug it in my soundcard (Creative Audigy 2 Sound Blaster) into my receiver and listen to music from iTunes via my surround sound. The problem is that I plugged it in both of them and no sound came out! I tried it on Vista and XP, it didn't work on either :(. Thanks for the help! --71.117.37.217 (talk) 02:39, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Well at a guess, there would be some setting where you have to enable the digital output.. Have a look through the "sounds and audio devices" settings in control panel, and if you still can't get it going then RTFM. ;) Vespine (talk) 05:07, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

I've already tried enabling S/PDIF out, then made sure it was un-muted on both OS's. If I had the manual I wouldn't be asking here... --71.98.18.213 (talk) 18:50, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, here's the Audigy manual. I noticed on one of the web pages at Creative's site that SPDIF output is not supported on sources protected by Microsoft's DRM. Not sure how that would affect output from iTunes. Have you tried just playing a system sound via your receiver? Is there any setting on the receiver to enable digital input for whichever source you've chosen? If you have the cable connected to the Soundblaster, can you see a red glow at the optical end? --LarryMac | Talk 19:11, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Windows security blocking my Safari downloads

Everytime I try to download a file in Safari, I get a pop-up from my Windows security system (or whatever it's called) that says something similar to "Windows found this file to be potentially harmful" and blocks the download, how can I disable this? • S • C • A • R • C • E • 02:43, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

May I ask what OS you are using (XP? Vista?)? Also you ever tried to download from IE or Firefox? It could be that your Windows Firewall..or Windows Defender..or whatever the call it today is set too high and just blocks everything or this is some new form of denial of service attack by windows (ignore that paranoid statement). Rgoodermote  03:14, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, I currently have IE8, Firefox, Safari (of course) and Opera, because it seems like some browsers give you different features or because I don't feel like transferring my content I have saved when I try a new browser :). I do all my downloads from Firefox but Firefox is rather slow to load and I shouldn't have to do that. I disabled my security system and it still blocked it. I use XP Professional • S • C • A • R • C • E • 03:20, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Um, well could it be that just maybe it is an actual virus? I know Windows Defender can be wrong..often...but how about trying to download it from IE (Microsoft's baby) and seeing what it does? If it does it in IE, it isn't MS blocking Safari. Rgoodermote  03:34, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Every single download I attempt gets blocked. I downloaded Opera and it got blocked, I doubt that file is a virus, and the warning says "potentially" • S • C • A • R • C • E • 03:50, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Are you on the latest version of Safari? I have the same OS as yours and the same browsers (and then some!) and have never had this trouble. Of course I have the built-in Windows security system turned off. That may be what you'll have to do, too. Use the firewall from your anti-virus instead. But if the problem is in Safari only, it could be a glitch in the particular minor version WebKit it's running on. Download the latest updates (to Safari, not WebKit) and see if that works. - KoolerStill (talk) 10:16, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Unless you are downloading .exe files Windows Defender won't normally alert. Have you got any internet security settings turned up to 11?83.100.250.79 (talk) 14:11, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

I have a suspicion it's related to this - [5] - it may be that MS has decided to block downloads to protect you the use...

Are you using third party firewalls or anything like that. Also are you using any other browsers? Has the problem just started (windows update?) or always been like that.

I'd recommend uninstalling and reinstalling safari, make sure internet options are set to default.83.100.250.79 (talk) 14:26, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

There's another possibility - are you getting this message "File download - Security warning - do you want to open or save this file" every time - if so go to preferences (press the cog button top right hand corner, select preferences) then in the dialog box, select general, in the section "save downloaded files to" uncheck the "prompt before downloading box" ie no tick. Then close.

Once you have done that when you try to download a file the warning box will still appear at first - but with a new item "always ask before downloading this type of file" - if you uncheck that box (no tick) - the next time you download a file you will go straight to the "save to" dialog.

You'll get the box for each type of file eg .jpg , .pdf , .doc , once only - and it will only appear if you try to download a type of file you haven't downloaded before. Hope that helps.83.100.250.79 (talk) 14:55, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Microcomputer I/O before the TV Typewriter

Before the TV Typewriter kit became available, what did home microcomputers use for input and output? NeonMerlin 06:15, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

On things like a Altair 8800 you toggled switches on the front and little lights went on and off. As most people who owned such machines were electronics hobbists, or at least knew some, they might rig up some fancier arrangement of lights or switches to a serial or parallel port. If someone had a lot of money, they could hook up a teleprinter, which was the way minicomputers and mainframes did human IO until the VDU. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:27, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Learning C

What's a good book/website for learning C (NOT C++)?
The problem is that I'm not new to programming, I can program in Java, C++ and few more languages. all the books and websites I've found are aimed at novice programmers with little or no programming experience or are about C++ (Obviously Bjarne Stroustrup wasn't aware of how hard it is for search engines to distinguish C from C++, since there were none back then). I want to learn C without C++ because the linux kernel and alot of open source projects are written in pure C. And I find the combination of C and C++ quite confusing.

To rephrase: I want to migrate from Java to pure C. What books or websites do you suggest? 95.84.72.151 (talk) 10:15, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

As an aside to search for "C" type C -"C++" into search http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=c+-"c%2B%2B"&btnG=Search&meta= or more specifically tutorial c -"c++" -"c#" -"hepatitis" -"objective-c" -"c-sharp" (edited) 83.100.250.79 (talk) 10:31, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

"THE" book for C is "K&R" -- the original book by Kernighan and Ritchie who wrote the whole language. Slim and simple and all you need, especially if you have programmed before.

This online/downloadable tutorial claims to be specifically for experienced programmers. Your C++ compiler should be able to handle pure C, if you set it up appropriately. If you work through the examples in the book, you'll have it down, by the time you get to the end. Don't be fazed by it being a lot more cryptic than the object-oriented languages. That is the beauty of it; you can get on with telling it what to do,not worry about spelling a 31-character name. - KoolerStill (talk) 10:34, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Searching for "C tutorial" also misses most of the C++ eg "c+tutorial"&meta=&aq=f&oq=

In fact it turns up this [6] , (note the disclaimer) , by Brian Kernigan, which should be a good intro, despite being out of date.83.100.250.79 (talk) 14:06, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

There is an excellent book called "C for Java Programmers" - $70 at Amazon. If, as you say, you are a proficient java programmer, then you need some "translation" about some fundamentally identical concepts, and some "transformation" about some fundamentally different concepts in pure C. One of the biggest things that I had a hard time with was that C is much less standardized than Java - while Java had Sun Microsystems' rigorous specification, C evolved, flourished, contracted, and reflourished, several times over the last decade. A few "versions" exist, and you probably want to stick with ANSI C or the slightly expanded version supported by the Gnu C Compiler. (Or possibly, you want to use one of the Microsoft compilers, but for a beginner, you will have a hard time learning what is a language construct and what is a part of the Windows and MFC API).

Obviously, as you know, C is not object-oriented. There are no classes; there are no instances; but you can use struct and pointers to "fake" some object-like behavior (or at least keep your code modular). Scope of variables still exists, but you will probably need to learn about the "extern" description, because there is a difference between "declaring" and "creating"a variable in C ((e.g. declaring vs. allocating stack or heap space - this concept did not exist in Java). C language uses static in a totally different way than Java - it has to do with locally scoped, globally present variables. Threading is not natively supported but is widely available using standard thread libraries. Memory is not automatically allocated; you must explicitly allocate heap memory; and you need to learn the difference between Heap and Stack (which also existed in Java, but you probably ignored). You need to understand the role of the C Preprocessor (and learn to use it just enough to get the job done, and not any more). You should learn about linking, because this part of the compile process never got your attention in Java (not in Java SE, anyway, unless you played with the runtime classloader for fun and profit). C does not natively support Exceptions, nor try/catch blocks. If you get stuck on any of these specific concepts, please feel free to post specific questions; I'm just trying to point out some major conceptual obstacles you might encounter so that you realize you've hit a "weird different thing" you never realized would be different. Nimur (talk) 15:03, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Old Website URL

Hi, my company migrated to a new website, however some pages on the new website still have the old URL. Note all the content on those pages is correct and up to date. Any idea how to stop the old url from getting displayed in the address bar of the new website?

Thank you for any assitance.217.17.248.45 (talk) 14:38, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

What you mean by "some pages on the new website still have the old URL" - surely if they have the old URL, they're in the old website? Or do you mean that search engines like Google are still finding the old site, and you'd like visitors to be redirected to the new one? -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:41, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

What i mean is when i click on a subpage, im taken to the desired page, but the url displayed in the address bar changes to the old website address. 217.17.248.45 (talk) 15:36, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

The browser merely displays the URL of the page it was told to go to. So if a browser is displaying an old-site url, that's where you really are. It sounds like links inside your new site are defective; that they should be pointing to new-site pages, but are still pointing to their old-site equivalents. So the fix is to fix those pages. There's a chance, depending on how your web server is configured, that you've added url-rewrite rules to the server configuration (which point certain incoming urls to the old site); the fix for that is to alter, or remove, the url-rewrite rules from the server's config. Some other possibilities: your browser, or some intermediate cache, is storing old versions of pages, so clear your caches (a good way to tell is to have the scripts that build web pages put timestamps in html comments - if you're seeing a page that should have been fixed, check its source to verify that it's been generated since you made the switch). And lastly you might have some non-obvious way of doing navigation, like a flash-menu, whcih has URLs embedded in it, and which you've neglected to fix. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:42, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Can you give an example?83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:48, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

It's very likely that they redirected the old DNS name to the new server (for in-transition compatibility) - you say that the old URLs are delivering updated, new content. So either the old server is still alive, and automatically mirrors the new server; or the old DNS name is now pointing to the new server. Hopefully the web administrator will eventually update the hyperlinks in the pages and completely remove the old DNS name. Are you the responsible person who needs help with this updating/transition process, or are you just curious why your web administrator has not finished the transition yet? Nimur (talk) 17:29, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

hi, im the Techie who works for this organization, and assigned the task of fixing this mess. Our new website is www.rvis.edu.bh, and the old one(which btw is still active, can this be deleted now?) www.riffaviewsschool.org. You might get a clear idea by visiting the new website and navigating to its sub pages. The website is managed by finalsite not me. Not sure who i should be contacting to fix this. Appreciate your help. 217.17.248.45 (talk) 19:44, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

It looks like most of the links connect to the new website, but the news links connect to the old ones - I'd suspect this is because the news is from an archive prior to the new website? Assuming you had a redesign I'd suspect that the old links were kept so that links from external sources did not become broken.

The obvious solution would be to contact whoever does your website design and get them to update the news stories so that they are on the new site. At least that's the answer if I've understood correctly.83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:56, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

It also looks like you should be asking to redirect all traffic from the old name to the new name.83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:57, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

That shouldn't be necessary, but it couldn't hurt either. All you really need to do is go through the News section and change all the links that start with "http://www.riffaviewsschool.org" to "http://www.rvis.edu.bh" and everything should work just fine. I'm not familiar with Finalsite, so I can't give you an exact walkthrough - if you have any trouble, you could ask those guys for help. Indeterminate (talk) 11:35, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Thank you guys for all your help.RVIS Techie 80.88.241.94 (talk) 08:10, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

real time processing?

When you convert Kbs to Mbs on this site, you get results real quick. Is this real time processing? Apparently, it is not the server where the page is hosted doing the calculation. Where is the calculation done then? Is it performed using the resource of the client side computer? The page uses javascript. Can python do the same function?--Clericalmonk (talk) 16:59, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

It's javascript running in your browser. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:02, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

It is probably not real-time processing. Real-time processing typically refers to a computer system running an algorithm that is guaranteed to complete operation in an exact amount of real clock-time. This requires, among other things, total control of the operating system scheduler (or lack of a scheduling operating system), as well as a known hardware configuration. Javascript, Windows, Firefox, "personal computers," and most of the stuff that you work with (including this example that you posted) strictly do not fall in to this category. They may be called "very fast and responsive processing" but they are not "real time computing." Nimur (talk) 17:32, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Python can do the same calculations, but won't run in a browser (normally) - there are work arounds to getting python code to run in a browser, but in general it doesn't currently happen (as far as I know)83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:32, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Follow-up question

Referring to [7], this may explain why I couldn't get on once I plugged the modem back in. I've been told to unplug the modem when the phone company had problems but the Internet was back. I mentioned what happened when I made a phone call in hopes of hearing there might have been such a problem that needed solving.

Why is it that if the computer is hung up causing the circle to just go around and around, it can't just find the web site it is looking for when the Internet comes back?

And what does it mean if the cursor turns into a circle going around and around too?Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 17:52, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

If the cursor goes round in a circle it means 'waiting' or 'processing' - in this case it may be waiting for a connection or for a download of a page to finish. I'm sorry I can't answer the rest of your question.83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:59, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

I see you stated in the earlier thread that you have DSL. That's good. In the future, you'll need to mention DSL every time you ask a question here, because if you just say "modem" then we're all going to assume it's a dial-up modem instead of a DSL modem. When your computer just does nothing and the "waiting" circle goes round and round forever, it may be waiting for a number of different reasons. I think the most likely one is that your computer has not connected successfully to your ISP (the phone company). One thing I always try is to click Start then in the "Start Search" field that appears, click and type "cmd" and hit Enter. A command prompt will appear. Type ping www.yahoo.com and hit Enter, and tell us what happens. Tempshill (talk) 20:50, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, I forgot I had even asked a question.

Yeah, once when I was unable to get on the Internet I was told how to type "cmd" and I think I have that written down somewhere too. I think that's what I was expecting from tech support. In that other situation, the light on the back of the computer wasn't working and they couldn't help because that involved calling the manufacturer, whose tech support people said do a system restore.

Thanks.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 21:50, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

anonymous free (or low cost) email service?

This is not to disparage the free email services by companies like Yahoo!, Google, MS (Hotmail), et al. I just don't want to choose between (a) giving information like my name, birthdate, or ZIP code on the registration form; or (b) lying about such--however easy it might be. I'm not too worried about the computer I'm using--this one is in a government office. I'm not a terrorist. I'm well over 18. I'm not a spammer. (Pity those in China or Iran who have to face lying even more.) I just want something were I can (a) get an address, (b) require only a password, (c) type out the funny looking words to prove I'm a person. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.179.108.25 (talk) 19:52, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

They exist - ireland . com only requires your age (not date of birth)- no address, dna sample etc, there must be others, have you tried all the ones in the Comparison of webmail providers , Comparison of e-mail clients 83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:48, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Why not just put gibberish in for the Gmail registration for First/Last Name? The only other stuff you seem to have to put in is the e-mail address you want (what an idea!), your password, a location (set it to Canada?) and the CAPTCHA. Washii (talk) 07:31, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

He said he didn't want to lie, even though he knows he can.

Looks good.

I've thought of the gibberish idea too. I also thought of blantant lies--such as gibberish, emailing the very service--telling them what I've done and why, and waiting a few months. The problem is, the deed would be done (the lying), I'd have to wait a few months, and I might get an email from them telling me the answers is "no."68.179.108.25 (talk) 15:50, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Though, for all practical purposes, the lie is pretty white. I mean, it's not like the services are actually going to care all that much. I know—obviously for you it's about "the principle of the thing" but still, the principle of the thing is about not wanting to give obvious bogus data to free e-mail providers, and that's a pretty small principle. I assure you that nobody—NOBODY—actually cares if you lie on those forms. In any case, Gmail's prompt asks only for "First name:" and "Last name:". If you put in "First name" and "Last name" as the respective fields, you'd technically be telling the truth ("First name"="First name"), and thus not technically lying. (Perhaps you were just confused.) --98.217.14.211 (talk) 19:29, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

It's still "technically" a lie if you intend to decieve - by the dictionary (SOED) definition of "an intentional false statement" or "Something that deceives", or by the Wikipedia article definition of "a type of deception ... especially with the intention to deceive others". Although you could argue that an obvious withholding of information (eg First name="first name") isn't a lie, because you are not deceiving, you are instead overtly not providing the information. Mitch Ames (talk) 00:22, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Well ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law etc... But the OP already stated that he didn't want to lie (no matter how creative; the "address=address" idea was funny :)

They've already got one email provider that matches - but I know that they don't do POP/IMAP for free - can anyone suggest one that does do everything for free and without any personally identifyable details?83.100.250.79 (talk) 00:27, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Setting up spell check in Opera

How do you set up spell check for Opera? I already installed GNU Aspell and the English dictionary (aspell-en-0.50-2-3.exe). Yet it doesn't seem to be working, did I miss something? • S • C • A • R • C • E • 20:55, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Did you check the instructions (we've all got to) [8] - maybe you didn't check the spell checking option - if that doesn't work something is seriously wrong.....83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:23, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Did you fix the download problem with opera you had before?83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:52, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

It won't check as you type. Right click in any text field and choose CHeck Spelling to check the whole field. To check one word or phrase, highlight it first. - KoolerStill (talk) 22:32, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

"Restart Opera" oops! Works now, thank you. • S • C • A • R • C • E • 03:04, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

August 8

Context T9?

Do any existing T9 predictive text entry systems take previous words into account to help decide which word is most likely (e.g. interpret 46 as "in" if the previous word is "come", but as "go" if it's "let's")? NeonMerlin 06:03, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

As far as I know, most predictive text systems only use lexical analysis, so they don't do any analysis on the syntax level. They certainly could, but it'd drastically increase the size of the "dictionary" database, since the developers would have to add data about which words would be likely to follow or precede each word in the dictionary. Right now, size of the predictive text engine might be more important than relevance of word suggestions, but that'll probably change as phone memory keeps increasing. Just my two cents; there are probably lots of opinions. Indeterminate (talk) 10:57, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

No-cost spreadsheets that reference data by name rather than by cell address?

I understand that Lotus Improv, Javelin of Javelin Software, and Quantrix could do this, although Quantrix is the only one still available. Are there any freeware or other no-cost spreadsheets that can do this please? 84.13.197.233 (talk) 15:02, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Would the ability to name addresses do ie naming A1 as "tax" and then being able to use tax as a variable? Both calc and excell can do this. (calc is the free one) (You could put the variable cells somewhere 'off to one side'..)83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:17, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Master Pages in InDesign

When I create a 10 page document in CS3 for the PC, I place a text frame into the master page. I want to see an editable text field in each of the pages I can flow text into. However, when I go to the document, although the pages pallette tells me each page has a text frame (the little blue dotted line) none of the text boxes are selectable. Obviously I can select them in the master page, but if I type anything in, the text will appear on each page.

So how do I get editable text boxes. The master page text frames were created in the Doc Setup dialogue with the Master Text Frame option, so don't bother suggesting that!

Thanks

80.229.160.127 (talk) 17:05, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

You're using master pages wrong, me thinks. You can't create an element on a master page and then edit it when you are out of master pages. Master pages are for things like page numbers, headings at the top of each page, etc. They aren't for putting editable text fields, they aren't for putting things that vary with each page. I don't use Master Text Frame myself; googling it shows it to be a somewhat curious and tempermental feature, which might be related to your problem as well. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 18:06, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

So if I make a document with 100 pages, I have to draw a new text box for each one? 80.229.160.127 (talk) 19:54, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Hi. Just hold down the the CTRL and SHIFT keys while double-clicking on the frame with the type tool, and you will be able to type into each frame individually.--IndexOutOfBounds (talk) 22:19, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Ah, I should have known it would be something like that. Although none of them threaded, I still had to load them all individually, but no great chore, I suppose. Thanks 80.229.160.127 (talk) 01:12, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

php ereg_replace

I'm looking for a way to convert a string into a html self link using the php "ereg_replace" expression. So for example, if I wanted to convert:

--link

into

<font color="red"><a href="#link">--link</a>

where "link" can be anthing, such as

--cats

and it will convert to:

<font color="red"><a href="#cats">--cats</a>

Thanks so much for your help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 17:12, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

It would probably help if you can guarantee that the "link" is always followed by a space or newline or something - can be assume a space> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:38, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

I don't know PHP, but the regex (in Perl) you would be:

s,--(\w+),<font color="red"><a href="#$1">--$1</a>,g;

so it's probably similar. That assumes "anything" means alphanumeric characters plus underscore. --Sean 20:28, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

I've just tried and it doesn't work :( But thank you anyway. I'm really clueless with php, if someone with some php knowledge could convert this to php or something I would be eternally grateful —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 23:53, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

I don't really know PHP, not sure if \w even works on PHP

I think quotes need to be 'escaped' eg \"

string$ is the string$ containing your html file..

This will only replace the first instance, I think the function ereg_replace returns 0 if it didn't find a string to match. So you might need to do it several times in a loop until the function=0 - if so this creates a problem since it will be attempting to replace the second --name after the href.

I think it will be something like this:(corrected 3 times)

while ( ereg ( "--(\w+)" , string$ ) ) {
string% = ereg_replace ( "--(\w+)" , "<font color=\"red\"><a href=\"\\1\">--\\1</a>" , string$ ); }

The while replaces all the instances of --name (several times in a loop until the function=0)

this may create a problem since it will be attempting to replace the second --name after the href. If this is the case you need to do something like this:

ereg_replace ( "--(\w+)" , "<font color=\"red\"><a href=\"\\1\">GG\\1</a>" , string$ )

for all instances of --name, followed by a second loop of:

ereg_replace ( "GG(\w+)" , "--\\1" , string$ )

for all instances of GGname (if you don't do this you can see why it can go wrong)

Surely someone will be along soon who knows PHP, what I suggest it experimenting, and building up until you can do the whole thing eg start with try seeing if you can replace "--file" with "--newfile" and build up from there. Remember that PHP doesn't do "lazy matching" (see manual), also get a PHP manual (online somewhere) and check the control codes it uses for regular expressions.83.100.250.79 (talk) 00:23, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

---

OK, I'll be the "someone who knows PHP", since I program it for a living.

1. As the user above says, reading the manual can be a good head-start. In PHP's case, go to php.net; there are often useful tips from other programmers on the "notes" section on each page. A handy trick is that any function can be looked up by going to php.net/some_function - e.g. php.net/ereg_replace.
2. PHP has (at least) 2 regular expression engines. I would recommend you use the PCRE ("Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions") functions, which are often faster and more powerful than the "POSIX Extended" type. It's possible, though unlikely, that older versions of PHP won't have the PCRE regex module installed, but in the latest version the POSIX functions have been marked as deprecated.

Using the PCRE function (preg_replace), your code would be something like this:

 $foo = 'a b c --link d --foo e';
 echo preg_replace('/--(\w+)/', '<a href="#$1">--$1</a>', $foo);

Where the pattern /--(\w+)/ means "match 2 dashes, then 1 or more 'word' characters, capturing the word characters" and the replacement string '<a href="#$1">--$1</a>' references the captured characters as $1.

The equivalent using ereg_replace would be this:

 $foo = 'a b c --link d --foo e';
 echo ereg_replace('--([0-9A-Za-z_]+)', '<a href="\\1">--\\1</a>', $foo);

Where the only real differences are that there's no handy "word" short-hand, so I've put in the equivalent [0-9A-Za-z_] (which would work for PCRE as well), and the format for backreferences is \\1 rather than $1.

Hope this helps. -- IMSoP (talk) 18:14, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

YES!!! That's perfect! THANK YOU!

Yes, thanks, it was starting to niggle me what the answer was too :) I've added a resolved tag

Resolved

wglUseFontOutlines

I use the Windows OpenGL function wglUseFontOutlines to create characters to display in my three-dimensional world. However, it takes more than one second for the function to return. Is there any faster way to draw three-dimensional text in OpenGL in Windows? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 17:33, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

You could try calling GetGlyphOutline and converting to 3D yourself. The WINE source of wglUseFontOutlines might be helpful. -- BenRG (talk) 10:59, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Yes, that might be a way to achieve better performance. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 19:42, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

HP Pavilion dv6386: Forgot BIOS logon password

I have forgotten the BIOS logon password on my HP Pavilion dv6386 computer. I have tried to disconnect the CMOS battery for a few seconds, but then I was surprised to learn that the computer's BIOS still remembered the password. Perhaps the password is stored in a non-volatile memory, or there might be third power source somewhere. Or, perhaps it wasn't the CMOS battery I disconnected, after all (although it sure looked like a battery...). Is there anything I can do? I am afraid that HP has been careful to design a secure system, so there might not be much to do. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 17:45, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

This page [9] says remove the battery for 700 seconds - maybe it's worth trying again.83.100.250.79 (talk) 18:30, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

The same page also mentions 'master bios passwords' - probably time to ring up HP (or the bios maker)?83.100.250.79 (talk) 18:31, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

If you still get stuck it's worth mentioning - the motherboard manufacturer, and the bios manufacturer.

There's a lot of advice via "bios forgotten password" search, but all mostly useless with out knowing the bios type.83.100.250.79 (talk) 18:36, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Unplug the system, remove the laptop battery if relevant, and remove the button battery on the motherboard for like 15 minutes and your BIOS password will have been removed. You won't need to contact the manufacturer. Rjwilmsi 08:46, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I will try to have the battery disconnected for a longer time. Thanks. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 19:41, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

To help make it go a little faster, disconnect all those things, then hit the power button. This should force anything that's holding power to drain a lot faster, but I'd say you should wait a minimum of 5-10 minutes. 63.135.50.109 (talk) 22:30, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I always do that. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:49, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

.NET Framework SDK Folder

I'm running Windows Vista and I have the .NET Framework v3.5 with SP1. I seen a lot of sites talk about different tools and resources in C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\FrameworkSDK or some location like that. The thing is though I cannot find it. Can someone tell me where it is located, if I need to install something extra, or if the location of the resources has been changed and they've been moved. --Melab±1 ☎ 20:13, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

The chance is that you have the ".net runtime", which lets you run ".net" programs, but not the ".net software developement kit" which lets you create programs as well. For free you can get http://www.microsoft.com/express/ "visual studio express edition", or pay and get a more expensive version.

There are also separate products for c++, c# etc. which you can download.

(aside - I know you have Vista)If you're on XP there's a chance you don't have the .net framework either - it can be got via windows update, but if you download the sdk it's automatically included.83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:24, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Microsoft Visual Studio83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:30, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

alternatively just do a search for "SDK" to see if it's in there. (I mean search your hard disk drive using the search tool) 83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:37, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

I did but it didn't find it. --Melab±1 ☎ 01:19, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

You need to download one of the Microsoft Visual Studio development kits then, if you want access to it.83.100.250.79 (talk) 01:21, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

See [10]. --wj32 ^t/c 06:16, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Windows Mobile Open Source or not?

Please resolve a dispute between friends! Rixxin (talk) 22:53, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

No, it's not; see Windows Mobile. Bar a few odds-and-sods, nothing Microsoft has produced is open source, and WM is becoming one of their crown jewels, something they're going to keep a tight grip on. Google's Android system, an equivalent to WM, is a combination of open source and free software. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:30, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

August 9

Programming Languages as Intellectual Property

Are programming languages patented or copyrighted? --Melab±1 ☎ 01:18, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

It's possible to patent a programming language, copyright the documentation, and trademark the name.

See software patent for all the problems involved.

For example r++ has patents applying to it. In general whole programming languages are not patented since it's difficult to invent one that doesn't involve a lot of prior art.

You asked a similar question before [11]

There's nothing to prevent an individual or organisation attempting to protect its intellectual property rights on new inventions. That's one of the reasons why license agreements exist.83.100.250.79 (talk) 02:09, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I actually don't think the above is correct. I did not think languages themselves were patentable or copyrightable. Certainly you could patent the compiler if the compiler has some novel features that are patentable. Could someone provide actual citations for these claims? (The software patent article is silent on languages.) Tempshill (talk) 03:02, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Obviously in practice it's totally impossible to invent an entirely new programming language that doesn't use stuff that's already been invented.83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:37, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

This isn't legal advice, just the understanding of a coder and open-source advocate:

Copyright applies to expressions, not ideas: the source code of your compiler, or the manual that describes the language, can be copyrighted -- not the syntax or the concepts behind it. So copyright cannot prevent someone else from independently implementing it. Patent law requires an original inventive step that goes beyond the prior art -- of which there is really quite a lot in the thousands of languages that have been devised in the past fifty or so years.

The name of a programming language can be trademarked, which can restrict competitors from branding their implementation under the same name. (See Visual J++ for one example: the trademark license for "Java" allows others besides Sun to use it only if their implementations are fully compatible. Microsoft's isn't, so they couldn't call it Java.) However, trademarks don't prevent someone from advertising their system as compatible with yours (think "100% IBM-compatible" from the early days of PC clones: "IBM" is a trademark, but Compaq can still call their product "IBM-compatible", if it is).

One question is whether it would ever be useful to try to restrict others from implementing a language you've devised. The biggest barrier to the adoption of new languages is the network effect: few programmers want to learn a language that is not already popular, since there are not many projects (or jobs!) that use it. Trying to block rival implementations is unfriendly to the user community and suggests vendor lock-in. This sounds like a recipe to ensure that the new language does not become popular. --FOo (talk) 07:46, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Yes that seems 100% correct

However there is one good reason to have some form of illectual property control over a language - which is to ensure that other implementations stick to a standard eg see Microsoft_Java_Virtual_Machine#Sun_vs._Microsoft (many companies do not restrict the use of or charge for the use of their inventions). 83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:59, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I think you've just illustrated why the expression "intellectual property" is intellectually bankrupt: when you say it, people have no idea what you mean -- since copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade-secrets, and other so-called "intellectual property" are all very, very different. --FOo (talk) 05:57, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Eh! Apart from everyone who read the question ? ,and a phrase such as 'intellectual property' can't be intellectually bankrupt (except in the obvious sense that it has no intelligence) only a person or group of people..83.100.250.79 (talk) 09:19, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Windows Live Mail

I have just been assigned a new e-mail address that will be used by my college, Lees-McRae College. It is a @email.lmc.edu account, but I believe it is somehow run through hotmail or windows live. But when I try to register it on Windows Live Mail on my laptop, I can't figure out what to put for the servers. Help? ~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hubydane (talk • contribs) 03:39, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, it's "Live@edu" which is run through Windows Live (which runs Hotmail now). Here's the POP server settings:

Incoming Mail Server server name: pop3.live.com protocol: POP3, using SSL port: 995

Outgoing Mail Server server name: smtp.live.com protocol: SMTP, using SSL port: 25 username: enter your full email address

Found here, under "end user features". Hope that helps. Indeterminate (talk) 04:22, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hubydane (talk • contribs) 13:20, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Anyone wouldn't happen to know about a @ymail account? I know it's through Yahoo! but I can't get in configured right... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hubydane (talk • contribs) 13:26, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

It uses POP3, but yahoo only supports that for paid subscriptions, apparently you can bypass this using the YPOPs! free program. If you have a paid subsription try the yahoo mail site, select help and follow the links.83.100.250.79 (talk) 13:46, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Targus AMW26US mouse

I have a Targus AMW26US mouse and after pushing one of the buttons on the USB wireless connector yesterday, a red light on the mouse began to blink. It has been blinking ever since. What is wrong with the mouse? As I no longer have the manual and the website has no download available, what can I do to stop the blinking red light? --Blue387 (talk) 07:07, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I have a similar mouse, albeit Logitech rather than Targus. I believe this is the wireless device trying to negotiate a connection to the mouse. Try unplugging the USB dongle, powering off the mouse, plugging the dongle in, and then powering it back on. --FOo (talk) 07:48, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

It's almost certainly the 'bind' button that binds the wireless dongle to the mouse - what is supposed to happen is that the button is pressed on the dongle and at the same time you press a button on the mouse. Look on the bottom of your mouse for a tiny button.83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:21, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I have pushed the button underneath the mouse and unplugged the dongle and the red light is not going away. The light goes away if the mouse is not moving but blinks every time I move the mouse. I have decided to contact the manufacturer tomorrow. --Blue387 (talk) 19:53, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

You're supposed to plug in the dongle, and push the button on the mouse and the dongle!

This way the mouse and dongle can 'mate' since both are in a special mode at the same time, and can get identification information from each other (important if you work in an office with lots of mice and dongles)

Also a red light on the mouse may mean flat battery>83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:41, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

USB stick between Mac and PC

I've got both a Mac and a PC and I usually copy stuff between them using a USB stick no problem, although I think it depends on what stick you use, I've had some trouble with certain sticks. Anyway, I recently had to copy quite a large file (7gig) and so I bought a new stick (16gig). Both Mac and PC seemed to recognise it (empty). When I tried to put the 7gig file on it, the Mac came up with an error because the file was too big. So I had a look on some forums and found a solution. I essentially reformated the stick in the Disk Utilities function of the Mac, (I selected the 'Mac OS Extended(Journaled)' option), it then allowed me to copy the file onto the stick. So far so good. But now I've formatted the stick for my Mac, my PC won't read it. Does anyone know how I can format the stick so that both PC and Mac recognise it and I can put a 7gig file on it?Popcorn II (talk) 08:32, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I assume the initial problem you are referring to is the 4 GB file limit on fat 32 file systems. You are correct that to copy a 7 gigabyte file you need to use a different filesystem. If you look at the article comparison of file systems your options are either to use NTFS by installing the NTFS--3G driver for your Mac, or to use HFS and install one of the third-party Windows applications that provide Windows support for this filesystem. In that article the table on operating system support provides some useful links for such applications. Rjwilmsi 08:42, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

If you don't want to install system software on either system, and you have a degree of intestinal fortitude, then the following will work. The following is written for Linux->Windows (because I don't have a Mac), but the only change should be changing the disk device name (I think Mac disks are called /dev/disk0, /dev/disk1, but maybe some kindly Mac person can confirm this).

1. insert the USB disk into the unix machine, and unmount it (we're going to be trashing its contents entirely)
2. assuming the usb disk is /dev/sdg and we want to store a local folder called copyme do the following tar c copyme | dd of=/dev/sdg Note: make very sure you know which disk you're outputting to - get this wrong and you'll wipe our your system disk and trash your system (hence the instinal fortitude)
3. note down how many blocks dd reported writing - in my example that's 80, for you it'll be a lot more
4. install dd on Windows (I used the chrysocome.net one)
5. move the usb disk from the mac to the window machine
6. check to see which disk device the usb disk is, using dd --list - in my case it's \\?\Device\Harddisk2\Partition0 which is Windows' obscurantist way of daying "disk2's raw surface"
7. on windows do dd count=80 if=\\?\Device\Harddisk2\Partition0 of=foo.tar where that 80 is the number of blocks the dd reported above, and the if= parameter is the windows name of the usb disk device.
8. that creates a windows file called foo.tar which archivers like Winzip, 7Zip, TugZIP etc. will read.
9. if you want to use that usb disk normally, you'll have to reformat it

But yeah, do what Rjwilmsi said; my hack is only for the mad and the desperate ;( -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 09:54, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

You don't need a different file system or dangerous direct device access, you can use a file splitting program or a multivolume archiver that supports large files. You also don't need to buy a new USB stick this way. For example, using dd, type

   dd if=bigfile of=bigfile.part1 bs=1M count=3800
   dd if=bigfile of=bigfile.part2 bs=1M skip=3800

then move bigfile.part1 and bigfile.part2 to the other machine one by one on a USB stick of 4GB or more, then do copy /b bigfile.part1+bigfile.part2 bigfile on the receiving side. I'm not completely certain that copy will work with large files, in which case you can use dd there too:

   dd if=bigfile.part2 of=bigfile.part1 bs=1M seek=3800
   ren bigfile.part1 bigfile
   del bigfile.part2

Or, using 7-Zip, do 7zr a -mx=1 -v3800m archive.7z bigfile on the sending side, then move archive.7z.001 and archive.7z.002 to the other machine one by one, then do 7z x archive.7z.001 on the receiving side. That's a bit more reliable since you get a free CRC check at the end, but 7-Zip is less likely to be already installed on your machines.

I think it's a bad idea to use journaled filesystems on a USB stick as it will wear it down faster, so you should probably reformat to FAT32 when you're done with this in any case. -- BenRG (talk) 10:52, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I suspect Windows will be unable to read something formatted as 'Mac OS Extended(Journaled)'. You might have better luck with a linux Live CD reading it. Astronaut (talk) 02:38, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

iTunes Library Transfer?

My old computer has officially kicked the bucket, but it went south while I was away and I couldn't make a back up of my iTunes Library. How can I get all the stuff (Apps, Music, Pictures) from my iPod Touch to my new laptop? I googled stuff like this but it all seemed to cost something. Help! Hubydane (talk) 13:39, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Try to copy all files from the ipod (mounting it as a disk, then copying the files) and then start iTunes and choose to "import" all those files. I think that worked for me once, but that was an ipod 5.5g and I think it only had music (no pictures and stuff) Jørgen (talk) 20:43, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

heterogeneous linklist

How to implement a heterogeneous link list in C/C++? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chetan496 (talk • contribs) 13:45, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Are you familiar with homogenous linked lists? - the principles are the same except that you will probably want to precede each data item by meta data describing the data type. It's probably that different data types will take up different amounts of space - so some data elements may be spread across more than one data cell (unless you use data cells the size of the largest element by default) To reference these you will probably want to use a void pointer (a pointer that doesn't have it's type defined), and use type casting to get the data from the dereferenced list data to type cast variables. You don't really need to use a void pointer assuming you know the lengths of the various data types, and don't have a problems chopping or sewing data together - it's probably easier to use the pre-made functions mentioned below though if that doesn't appeal to you. Potentially the compiler writers may or may not be doing it better than you...

An alternative is to use a linked list of variable sized cells.83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:03, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

In C++ you could use std::list< boost::variant<...> > or std::list< boost::any >. -- BenRG (talk) 16:53, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

This is probably a homework problem. Go read about tagged unions. --FOo (talk) 05:59, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Problem with mounting in Linux, can't edit files

I've tried mounting the file with the options -o rw and -w but I still can't edit anything on the hard drive. I can mount the drive easily, I can read the files as well but I can't cut, delete, rename... or just write in general. This is my fdisk -l:

Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0005bb2c

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1               1       60801   488384001    b  W95 FAT32

and I mounted the drive using sudo mount -o rw /dev/sdc1 /media/500gb. Any idea what's wrong? It worked perfectly yesterday. --BiT (talk) 15:53, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Questions:

1. with the above mount done, what is the output from just typing mount
2. ditto, what is the output from touch /media/500gb foo
3. ditto, what is the output of ls -al /media/500gb
4. have you tried fsck on the disk

-- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:06, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

This is the output from mount

baldur@NYuu:~$ mount
/dev/sda5 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
tmpfs on /lib/init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
/proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=620)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
lrm on /lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw,mode=755)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
/dev/sda1 on /media/disk-6 type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/esko/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=esko)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/baldur/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=baldur)
/dev/sdc1 on /media/500gb type vfat (rw)

touch /media/500gb foo gave no output, and ls -al /media/500gb simply gives me a of the files... wait, the owner and group is root, is that the problem? Because when I use sudo chown baldur * it says that the operation is not permitted- even though I'm root! --BiT (talk) 17:19, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Oh an another thing, since I'm Icelandic some of my files had Icelandic characters (take for example a directory named 'Elín'). How ever since the drive became read-only, all of the Icelandic characters have turned into black diamond question marks (so 'El�n'). Why would that happen? --BiT (talk) 17:28, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I would try scandisk on the usb disk on your windows machine (I've seen cases where a corrupt FAT32[vfat] disk mounts okay on linux, but then behaves strangely). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:42, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I formatted the drive with GParted but then it still wouldn't work, but everything was ok once I restarted the computer for some reason. Thanks for your help though, I didn't know about the "just mount" command. But for future references (since I've had the problem of a drive being read-only) what should I do if want to mount a drive as read, and writeable? Should adding the option -o remount,rw to the mount command work? --BiT (talk) 19:43, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

The remount thing means "if there's an error, here's what to do", and the line there reads "mount it read only". That's the safe thing to do, so you're not blindly writing to a bad drive with more stuff that might be making it more bad. So leave the remount at ro. That doesn't seem to have kicked in for you: the drive was mounted rw, which means the system hadn't seen an error. So it seems you hit a bug in the vfat driver. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 19:47, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Ah I see, I dislike the auto-mounter in Linux because I keep getting errors. Unless it would mount my drives properly I would much rather use the fstab or just mounting the drives by CLI.. --BiT (talk) 20:41, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Fat32 doesn't have full unix permission sets, unlike NTFS, for instance. Try mounting it with a umask. This might work: mount /dev/sdc1 /foo -o umask=000 Shadowjams (talk) 03:09, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Windows XP: folders with 32-character hex-digit names and a file called "$shtdwn$.req"

In the root directory of the largest disks of my windows PC, folders with 32-character names like "67b339f88b71042416304788faad5263" tend to accumulate. They contain a single binary file called "$shtdwn$.req", which is about 800 bytes, the first of which are "Sdwn", followed by a few binary digits, and the rest is just binary zeros. The folders are mentioned here, but the question remains: is there any reason to keep these, or are they just junk that can be deleted safely? --NorwegianBlue ^talk 17:25, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

August 10

Mac OS X under Ubuntu via virtualization

Does anyone know how to run Mac OS X in a virtual machine with Ubuntu as its host? Most VM software available seems to have no support for Mac OS X. --Belchman (talk) 00:24, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I've had some success running it with qemu (at least it got through the installation, unlike VirtualBox), and there are reports of success using VMWare. But either way support will not be complete since OS X isn't meant to run on PC's. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:39, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

wireless laptops interfering with eachother

I currently bought a new router, only to find that when i try to access the internet from more than one computer, the internet for every computer gets disconnected (example I am on laptop 1, try to connect on laptop 2, both get disconnected from the internet) is there a way to stop this from happening? I am using a motorola modem and a linksys router, model number wrt110. If anoyone has any information that can help me stop my computers from interfering with eachother, I would greatly appreciate it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pianoman880 (talk • contribs) 00:50, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Washed a Micro SD adapter. Am I screwed?

My phone has a micro SD card in it, which it uses to store photos/etc. It came with an adapter, so I could plug the phone's SD card into the adapter (which would then fit into my computer's SD slot). Except it was in the goddamn washing machine. It wasn't in for very long, but there was detergent. No visible damage to the exterior of the card, no sudsing or anything like that. As soon as I got it out of the washer (halfway through the cycle) I rinsed the hell out of it with cold tap water. It's drying on my shelf. What's the deal? ZS 02:04, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Probably ok . Make sure you let it dry completely (including any cavities). 83.100.250.79 (talk) 02:08, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

If it has a short in it because of contaminants (or some other horrible problem) and I plug it in, will it destroy my computer/microSD card/both? ZS 02:14, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Tap water contains minerals that conduct electricity. Rinse it with distilled water, instead. If it is dry, it will not harm your computer. You can purchase distilled water in jugs at a grocery store.--IndexOutOfBounds (talk) 02:29, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

These adapters are cheap -- so cheap they are given away when you buy a new MicroSD card, that costs less than $10 these days. Consider whether it might be cheaper / safer to just replace the adapter. --FOo (talk) 06:02, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Program structure - Derive all possible combinations of an arbitrary number of elements

I'm trying to derive all the possible combinations (not permutations because order doesn't matter) of an arbitrary number of elements. For example, if I have ABC then I want [A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, ABC]. I can generate the pairs, but how can I generate the second and third order combinations, let alone the n-th level combinations? The size of my input list will vary and I can't really predict its length ahead of time, so it has to be dynamically able to handle a list of any length.

My question is what program structure would be the usual, or what would work? I'm doing this in perl, but that shouldn't change the answer. Shadowjams (talk) 03:05, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

It sounds like you want the power set of a set of elements. Do you just need to find the number of possible sets? In that case it's 2ⁿ. If you actually want to list all the sets it's not really necessary to store them in memory; the binary numbers with up to n digits represent the sets by letting the kth digit represent whether the kth element is in the set or not. Rckrone (talk) 03:31, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I am precomputing the number combinations in my program, although it's less than 2ⁿ because I throw out the single element and empty sets. 3 elements gives me 4 matches not 8 (AB AC BC ABC), or the sum [nC(n, n-1, ... 1)]. But I want to generate these pairs so I can run an operation on them. I'm comparing lists from each element for matches between the lists, and I want to do this for all combinations of elements. But aside from putting n loops for each n-th number of elements in the set (which wouldn't permit any number of elements), how can I do this?

I'll take a look at power sets here too... thanks. Shadowjams (talk) 03:58, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I think I've got a workable answer. The power set is exactly what I'm working with.

I am going to map my elements to a binary number, run through each set of the powerset, and then run each selected element through my function. If anyone has any ideas of an easier way I'd like to hear it, but I think this will work. Thanks again. Shadowjams (talk) 04:38, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Will Bluetooth prevent wear and tear on phone's jack?

My experience with MP3 players is that the headphone jack wears out first. I'm looking at buying a smart phone and using its MP3 functionality. Will a wireless stereo headset reduce or eliminate the wear and tear on the jack versus a corded one? NeonMerlin 08:44, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Molasses in January

Is there a problem with the new version of Firefox (3.5.2)? Wikipedia is slower to respond and it's especially troublesome on TCM, where I'm having trouble getting movie info to load. Clarityfiend (talk) 08:53, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

iPhone vs BlackBerry for power users

What are the pros and cons of the iPhone compared to the BlackBerry for a user who wants to jailbreak and unlock the phone and run alternative firmware? NeonMerlin 11:39, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

GIS-like image rectification possible in Photoshop or Fireworks?

Hey all,

Years ago I was a GIS guy and did a lot of image rectification. I now find myself needing to slightly tweak a few map scans that weren't quite aligned. Because the scans overlap, I could have them perfectly rectified in only a few minutes.

However, I haven't used ArcGIS in years and really don't want to fire it up & relearn it for such a simple project. I'm thinking there's gotta be a way to do this in Photoshop by now? I have CS4...

Thanks in advance.213.146.164.143 (talk) 12:08, 10 August 2009 (UTC)