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December 17

Legal strength of corporate email signatures?

Couldn't find anything on Wikipedia addressing this. Corporate email signatures tend to claim all manner of silly things, for example If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, forwarding, dissemination, or reproduction of this message is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Is there any legal precedent for this nonsense? Has it ever been litigated? 218.25.32.210 (talk) 02:13, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Very interesting question. I don't have the resources to look up what you're asking exactly right now, but if you're interested in the Legal ethics question (for instance, when one law firms mistakenly sends confidential information to their adversary) then the ABA has specifically addressed the issue (and their rules have been adopted in most, but not all, states) then look at Model Rule 4.4 [1]. The short answer, in that context is the only obligation is to notify the other person they sent it and you got it. The ABA considered other options, like prohibiting the lawyers from reading it, but that was ultimately rejected.

Note that none of this speaks to other possible laws, including insider trading, trade secrets, and other general fraud statutes. I don't think anyone here can give you an answer on those, but I'd be curious to hear if anyone knows of any current (i.e. post ABA rules litigation) on that issue, or of any states that deviate from rule 4.4(b). Shadowjams (talk) 03:13, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Consensus from my web browsing is that they do not bind the recipient, but may ameliorate the sender's liability under certain circumstances, outlined here. See also google, metafilter. --Tagishsimon (talk) 03:27, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Under traditional [but maybe not some statutory] contract principles they won't bind a recipient, but they might be relevant for knowledge requirements in other laws, most notably fraud and insider trading statutes. Shadowjams (talk) 03:44, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I kinda see what you're driving at, but is it not possession of the content of the email, rather than the legal rubric at the bottom of it, that is relevant w.r.t. other laws such as insider trading? Is there a case where absent the rubric there is no insider trading issue, whilst with the rubric there is? --Tagishsimon (talk) 04:25, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Note - You might want to transfer this question to the Humanities reference desk. Shadowjams (talk) 03:46, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Auto Connection to the internet

I've been able to make my PC wake up from standby and run specific tasks with the help of Windows Scheduler, but I haven't yet been able to make it connect to the internet automatically. Is there any way to do this, after the PC's woken up from hibernation?? 117.194.234.200 (talk) 07:42, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Try creating a basic task that runs a program. The program is C:\WINDOWS\system32\ipconfig.exe. Browse to that and add /release to the parameters. Then make it run ipconfig again with the /renew switch.--Drknkn (talk) 07:49, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Could you say a) how you connect to the internet and b) what it is you want to do when you wake the machine up and connect? --Phil Holmes (talk) 09:56, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I download stuff from the net at night, when downloading's free under my broadband scheme. And I'm afraid I didn't entirely get what Drknkn was trying to tell. There's a lot of jargon there that I didn't understand. Could you please rephrase what you said into something easier for me to understand? For starters, how do I "creat a basic task that runs a program"? DO I have to use DOS or something? Thanks. 117.194.228.76 (talk) 11:51, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

What version of Windows are you using (XP, Vista, etc.)? In Vista, it's one of the options on the right of the Scheduled Tasks dialog. In XP, you'd just click "Add a Scheduled Task." You said you're using Windows Scheduler, so I assume you went into the Control Panel and selected "Scheduled Tasks" (in XP) or went to Administrative Tools and then Scheduled Tasks (Windows Vista)?--Drknkn (talk) 16:47, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

He wants you to use Scheduled Tasks to run "ipconfig.exe /release" and then "ipconfig.exe /renew". Personally I would use a batch file, writing up these two commands, and then making the batch file the Scheduled Task. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:46, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Though by the sound of it OP's problem is not connecting to the internet, but getting the computer to schedule the downloading of stuff in some way during the night? 81.131.7.99 (talk) 20:49, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I use XP, and I went to Control Panel--> Scheduled Tasks earlier. Can you tell me how to write a batch file to run programs? I don't know much about these kinds of things... @81.131 - I can get the torrent client to open all right at night, but my problem is connecting to the internet, not vice versa. 117.194.226.134 (talk) 05:03, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

OK. I went to Command Prompt and typed "Start C:\WINDOWS\system32\ipconfig.exe /release" and then "Start C:\WINDOWS\system32\ipconfig.exe /renew", but the computer didn't get connected to the net. All that happened was that my LAN connection got repaired. Please help... 117.194.227.22 (talk) 05:14, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

If you're on a LAN, you almost certainly are "connected to the internet" whenever the PC is on. What makes you think that you're not? --Phil Holmes (talk) 15:34, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

No, no!! There's a default LAN connection in my PC, even though there's no Local Network.. I was talking about my broadband connection.... 117.194.227.59 (talk) 19:19, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Is your broadband connection not always on? That's unusual, why not? 213.122.6.175 (talk) 12:44, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

A matter of a school IP I could be accused of using

I also need a few adminstrators to look this over as well, back when I first began on this website I had a few accounts, and I narrowed them down to one account.

Which is the one I'm using to post from, Theme Parker. The problem that I have is that of the accounts was registered from this IP that I'm using now to send in this question. There have been notices and a warning posted on it's talkpage.

My worry is, I don't want to be accused of Sockpuppetry on this website when I have nothing to do with the notices and edits involved with the IP.

So, what can I do?216.11.96.2 (talk) 13:21, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, I add my proper signature to prove that I use ThemeParker, not the IP to post from above. ThemeParker 13:23, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

The reference desk is not the right place for this question. You should ask at WP:Help Desk, WP:AN or Wikipedia_talk:Sockpuppet_investigations. Friendly advice though from someone who's been in a similar situation; checkusers do not care about anything you say if the accounts are on the same ip and come from the same version of browser (which if they're from a school or public computer they most likely will), which is fucking ridiculous because how many people do you think are running Firefox 3.5.5 on windows xp? Loads that how many, millions and millions of people and it's NOT conclusive evidence that two people on the same ip rage use the same OS and browser. But try telling that to the checkusers. tl;dr if there is evidence against you, regardless of the actual facts you'll most likely be blocked and they won't even listen to your pleas that you're innocent.

That's a rather ill-considered and hostile piece of bad advice from the anonymous user above. A whois to 216.11.96.2 reveals it is Oakland Schools. Checkusers would tend to spot that.

The advice I'll give (even if it is in the wrong place) is, mark the user page of any alternative account - as opposed to any IP address - with {{Alternative account}} and, ideally, stop using the alternate account. Do not worry about edits coming through from IP addresses you have used, or through which you use your account. As noted, checkusers understand that school IPs, in particular, are compromised, and will take that into account should there be further suspicions of sockpuppetry. --Tagishsimon (talk) 13:55, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

What is this "swarming' effect called?

I'm searching for papers on this topic, but I don't know what it is called. I can only describe it - so Googling is not being very effective. Assume you are keeping a top 20 list of something (perhaps the top 20 songs you've played on your mp3 player). After a while, each item in the top 20 will have a large count - say over 1,000 each. Now, you add a new song. It is your favorite. But, teh only way to get it into the top 20 list is to listen to it repeatedly over 1,000 times. I see this as a swarming effect because the list swarms around a limited subset of the entire set. Getting it to swam around something new is hard. I want to find (and read) papers that discuss methods for getting the new item into the "swarm", but I can't find anything because I don't know what keywords to use to get Google to find anything useful. -- kainaw™ 13:51, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I think, depending on how you look at it, this is Sampling bias or Selection bias and may well also be covered in Bias (statistics). The bias in this case might be inappropriate sample period - say of 1 year when your new fave rave is only a fortnight old, or (which is much the same thing) an inappropriate algorithm, such as counting average frequency over the year rather than average frequency per shorter time period. Swarming does not really convey anything to me, but you;re welcome to your own similes ;) --Tagishsimon (talk) 13:59, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I think this is the same situation: If there is a "top 10" list of products online, people tend to click the items in the top 10, which self-reinforces the top ten products remaining in the top 10 forever. (Apple's App Store has a similar issue.) Is there a name for this? Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:49, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

It reminds me of the Matthew effect. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:14, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Comet Tuttle's description is exactly what I'm referring to. The Matthew Effect article links to Positive feedback, which is another name for the same thing. Now, I'm going to use those to see if I can find some technical papers discussing causes and fixes for positive feedback. I want to learn more about how to make something like a Top 10 list that will not reinforce itself into being a dominant Top 10 excluding all newcomers. -- kainaw™ 19:39, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

It's an interesting topic, even more so because the portals (such as the App Store, iTunes, Amazon...) don't see this as an immediate negative; if the Top 10 list drives sales of anything then they benefit. They will probably eventually care that their list eventually looks stale. This is OR and I don't have a reference, but some solutions include having separate "Top 10 of All Time" and "Top 10 Of The Week" lists, and the latter starts out zeroed every week; or keeping it on a single list, but having old sales decay in their importance to the rankings as time goes on. More OR: The former is probably the better choice if the objectives include accuracy. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:29, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

The Matthew Effect article also links to preferential attachment, which sounds more precisely like your top 20 example. 81.131.7.99 (talk) 21:08, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

In something like this I also have the top fastest rising ones. It's a bit complicated, I use the rise divided by the square root of the count and then just give the first ones in popularity order that are amongst the top third when sorted by this. Rather ad-hoc. Dmcq (talk) 13:21, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

By the way you might like the Collaborative filtering article. Dmcq (talk) 12:42, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

2 Questions... help with excel and the taskbar

Excel

First off, I'm trying to print an excel spreadsheet onto a single paper, and the problem is that excel automatically re-sizes my spreadsheet to fit the paper. This is fine, except my spreadsheet has more columns than rows, and the result is that the information it contains ends up being very small (almost unreadable), taking up only 1/3 of the paper's space. Changing the fonts to make it larger or smaller makes no difference, as in the printing page setup, excel automatically scales the spreadsheet to fit onto a paper. The problem, basically, is that it is keeping both width and height scaled proportionally, while I just want to scale the height, so that it fits the entire paper (it's in landscape format), and not just a strip across the center of the page. I've tried everything. I even tried to just save it into paint and scale it there, but I can't copy it all because the data file is too large. Any help?--72.178.133.37 (talk) 16:22, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

What version of Microsoft Office are you using? —Akrabbim^talk 17:00, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

In Excel 2000 (Yes, I know I'm out of date!), one just goes into File --> Print preview --> Setup. Then there is a choice of scaling to any percentage, or fitting to any number of pages. Click the former for flexibility. The sytem may be different in recent versions of Excel. Dbfirs 17:22, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I have the latest Excel. I tried that feature, and like I said, it doesn't allow you to scale width or height individually, which is what I want to do. And I want the spreadsheet on just one paper. Like I said, my spreadsheet has more width than height, and I want to scale the height so that it fills the entire page, and not just a strip. In other words, I want to stretch it vertically, so that it becomes readable without having to strain your eyes. --72.178.133.37 (talk) 18:12, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I toyed with Excel 2007 for a bit just now, and can't find how to do this from within Excel, either. Have you tried printing to a PDF file and perhaps some PDF reader has the option to print-to-fill-the-page? (I'm skeptical, by the way, that the results will look good with text that is so stretched vertically.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:31, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, I'm sure if I scaled it to completely fit the page, it wouldn't look great. But I want to at least be able to manually stretch it as I see fit. Does OpenOffice have this problem too?--72.178.133.37 (talk) 18:57, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I just tried with OpenOffice 2.0.4 (note: latest version appears to be 3.1.1) and in 2.0.4, at least, the options appear to be the same as in Excel — I can fit to page, but not independently stretch the vertical axis. Any luck with a PDF reader? Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:14, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Increasing the row height will allow the layout to fill the page, but only by leaving bigger gaps between the rows. To stretch the characters vertically, you will have to save the output as an image (by printing and re-scanning if necessary), then you can stretch it as you wish as an image in Word (or various other programs). sorry I didn't read your question properly at first Dbfirs 21:33, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, what he said. If you don't mind, could you tell us why you want to do this? Maybe we can come up with an alternate solution altogether. You seem concerned that your text is horizontally scrunched, but stretching the vertical won't change that, you'll just have text that's stretched (or gapped) and scrunched. If you want to force the gaps, you can manually alter the size of the rows, but you'll still have tiny text. Matt Deres (talk) 12:22, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Why not print to two pages, then just put one half on top of the other to to get the full (split) sheet on one page? You can do this in Word without having to scan or manually cut-and-paste. Dbfirs 12:53, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Taskbar

One thing I have noticed is that sometimes, when I have many windows open on my Windows Vista Home Edition, Windows sometimes decides to merge tabs of the several instances of the same program on the taskbar. For stuff like Firefox, that's no problem. But for stuff like instant messengers, it's a pain, especially since when I right-click on it and have to click TWICE (instead of once) every time I want to open a particular window when it is hidden by firefox being maximized. there is no option to "undo" the merging. Even closing the other programs doesn't undo it. It just stays merged. The only way that I know of is closing the group and then restarting the program. Is there any other way? Thanks.--72.178.133.37 (talk) 16:22, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

You can turn off grouping by right-clicking the Taskbar, selecting Properties, then unchecking "Group similar taskbar buttons" and hitting Apply. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 16:49, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks.--72.178.133.37 (talk) 18:58, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

But I still would like to know if there is a way to just "undo" the grouping, because sometimes the grouping is useful (as with firefox instances).--72.178.133.37 (talk) 18:58, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I know of no way of doing so. However, I have found that in some cases, disabling and then reenabling grouping will "teach" Vista to keep them next to each other, as opposed to grouping them. As for Firefox, why do you have more than one window open? Tabbed browsing should mostly obviate the need for more than one or two Firefox windows. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 19:31, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Because I'm the kind of person that has many tabs open, and I want tabs that are related to be grouped together, and I do that by having different instances of firefox running.--72.178.133.37 (talk) 19:57, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

For many years now I've been using an enormous, auto-hiding taskbar on the left edge of the screen. Lots of items fit onto it because they stack vertically, and you can read their full titles. This was inspired by a desire to open new windows in firefox instead of use tabs (why should I use tabs when the system already provides a taskbar?) ... but I've gone over to the dark side now and started using tabs because huge numbers of new windows in firefox seemed to cause crashes, or at least take up more memory than tabs. They needn't do, but that seems to be how it's designed now, with the expectation that users will use tabs. 81.131.7.99 (talk) 21:21, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

system variable

I found a variable in a batch file which is %cd:~0,2% .How can it be interpreted and what does it mean? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.199.186.108 (talk) 18:48, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

To find out what a system variable is, echo it out. In this case, you'd type echo %cd:~0,2% at the command prompt, which gives the value of the current drive. In my case, the output was C:.

Whenever you type cd at the command line, it prints out the current directory. The same is true when you type echo %cd%. The ~0,2 is shorthand for the first two letters of output. In other words, it shortens the output of cd to the first two letters, which ends up being the drive letter.--Drknkn (talk) 19:09, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks a lot, wonderful answers.Thanks again! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.199.179.126 (talk) 02:01, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Lucida Grande question

I have a Mac using OS X 10.4. I'd like to use the characters "barred small capital i" (U+ID7B, ᵻ) and "barred Latin upsilon" (U+1D7E, ᵾ), which I've heard are available on newer versions of Lucida Grande (they even showed up fine on a school computer using Windows Vista), but on my version they just show up as boxes. Is there any way I can get these characters? --Lazar Taxon (talk) 19:33, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Using one application on two computers

How to connect two desktop computers and use the same application program on one of them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by WoodRon (talk • contribs) 20:26, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

What OS are you running? On a Windows machine, for some simple applications that are currently on Computer A, you could turn on file sharing on Computer A, and walk over to Computer B, and mount Computer A's hard disk as a network hard disk on Computer B. Then open that mounted hard disk, double-click the application, and it may work. However, most Windows applications add data to the Windows Registry that is required in order to run the app at all. In these cases, you can't really run the application remotely in this way. (If you were using two GNU/Linux machines, this would not usually be a problem, AFAIK.) What may still work for you, though, is using Windows Remote Desktop or VNC so that you use Computer B to control the screen, mouse, and keyboard of Computer A; Computer A is always running the application, but you're using Computer B to control and view it; and you can usually copy and paste stuff onto Computer B's clipboard while you are working. That may do what you want. (I added a section header for you — next time please click the "new section" tab at the top of the page so when you ask a new question you can just type in a new header.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:40, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Mencoder problem

Resolved

Hello! I'd post this on a Mencoder forum, but most that I found had a lot of questions unanswered, so I figured there were some Wikipedians familiar enough with mencoder to be able to help me. All I want to do is take a bunch of jpegs and make a single video out of them. I basically copied the instructions for how to do this from the mencoder website, but it doesn't work. I'm using a mencoder build for Windows from November this year, and for the most part, it's been working okay. (I haven't been able to get the build of the most recent sources.) Here's my command-line output. I tried to turn the jpegs into an mpeg and a mjpeg, but neither option worked. I tried flv before, which basically got me the same error message as a mpeg. I don't really care about the format, as long as it compresses out all the redundant frame-by-frame data of the jpgs (so mjpeg probably wouldn't be a good format for that, but I tried it because I figured it had the most chance of working). Where's my problem? Thank you very much for any feedback!

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\<my name>>cd downloads

C:\Users\<my name>\Downloads>cd MPlayer-rtm-svn-29851

C:\Users\<my name>\Downloads\MPlayer-rtm-svn-29851>mencoder.exe mf://C:\users\<my name>
\jpegs\*.jpg -mf w=800:h=600:fps=5:type=jpg -ovc lavc \ -lavcopts vcodec=mp
eg4:mbd=2:trell -oac copy -o C:\users\<my name>\desktop\output.avi
MEncoder Sherpya-SVN-r29851-4.2.5 (C) 2000-2009 MPlayer Team
success: format: 16  data: 0x0 - 0x0
MF file format detected.
[mf] search expr: C:\users\<my name>\jpegs\*.jpg
[mf] number of files: 100 (400)
VIDEO:  [IJPG]  800x600  24bpp  5.000 fps    0.0 kbps ( 0.0 kbyte/s)
[V] filefmt:16  fourcc:0x47504A49  size:800x600  fps:5.000  ftime:=0.2000
Opening video filter: [expand osd=1]
Expand: -1 x -1, -1 ; -1, osd: 1, aspect: 0.000000, round: 0
==========================================================================
Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
Unsupported PixelFormat -1
Selected video codec: [ffmjpeg] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg MJPEG)
==========================================================================
File not found: '\'
Failed to open \.
Cannot open file/device.

Exiting...

C:\Users\<my name>\Downloads\MPlayer-rtm-svn-29851>mencoder.exe mf://C:\users\<my name>
\jpegs\*.jpg -mf w=800:h=600:fps=5:type=jpg -ovc copy  -oac copy -o C:\user
s\<my name>\desktop\output.avi
MEncoder Sherpya-SVN-r29851-4.2.5 (C) 2000-2009 MPlayer Team
success: format: 16  data: 0x0 - 0x0
MF file format detected.
[mf] search expr: C:\users\<my name>\jpegs\*.jpg
[mf] number of files: 100 (400)
VIDEO:  [IJPG]  800x600  24bpp  5.000 fps    0.0 kbps ( 0.0 kbyte/s)
[V] filefmt:16  fourcc:0x47504A49  size:800x600  fps:5.000  ftime:=0.2000
videocodec: framecopy (800x600 24bpp fourcc=47504a49)
Writing index...
Writing header...
ODML: Aspect information not (yet?) available or unspecified, not writing vprp h
eader.

Video stream:      nan kbit/s  (-2147483648 B/s)  size: 0 bytes  0.000 secs  0 f
rames

--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 21:26, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

In your first attempt, you took an example command that was split over 2 lines with a backslash at the end of the first line, and joined them together, and kept the backslash. That broke it. It was written that way in the first place to allow it to be pasted directly into a unix shell, where a backslash at the end of the line means "command not finished yet, continued on next line". I presume that doesn't work with that DOS-looking shell you're using, so you need to join the lines manually and get rid of the line-joining backslash. That's why it said it had tried to open a file called '\', because it couldn't make sense of the backslash in any other way than interpreting it as an input filename.

I'm not sure what went wrong with your second attempt. Try it again and add the -v option to get more information. Adding it twice (-v -v) is even better. Also, is 800x600 the correct size for your jpegs? If not, fix the w=800:h=600 part. 98.226.122.10 (talk) 10:20, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for your response! I removed the \ as you suggested, but it still didn't work. All that happens is I get an avi file on my desktop that's only 4.01 KB large (just a header, I would imagine), and it won't play on any video software, not even MPlayer. I ran it with the -v -v option, and here's what the command line outputs:

Command-line output

C:\Users\<my name>\Downloads\MPlayer-rtm-svn-29851>mencoder.exe mf://C:\users\<my name> \jpgs\*.jpg -mf w=800:h=600:fps=5:type=jpg -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mp eg4:mbd=2:trell -oac copy -o C:\users\<my name>\desktop\output.avi -v -v MEncoder Sherpya-SVN-r29851-4.2.5 (C) 2000-2009 MPlayer Team Configuration: --extra-cflags=-I/c/Work/mplayer/live --prefix=/mingw --enable-st atic --enable-md5sum --enable-menu --disable-vdpau --disable-vidix --disable-sdl --enable-caca --enable-gl --enable-matrixview --enable-freetype --enable-png -- enable-mng --enable-jpeg --enable-gif --enable-tga --enable-mad --enable-tv --en able-theora --disable-dvb --disable-dvbhead --enable-runtime-cpudetection init_freetype Using MMX (with tiny bit MMX2) Optimized OnScreenDisplay Config pushed level is now 2 Config pushed level is now 3 Setting mf=w=800:h=600:fps=5:type=jpg get_path('fonts') -> 'C:/Users/<my name>/Downloads/MPlayer-rtm-svn-29851/mplayer/f onts' WINSOCK2 init: 0 STREAM: [mf] mf://C:\users\<my name>\jpgs\*.jpg STREAM: Description: Multiple files input STREAM: Author: Benjamin Zores, Albeu STREAM: Comment: success: format: 16 data: 0x0 - 0x0 s->pos=0 newpos=0 new_bufpos=0 buflen=0 MF file format detected. [mf] search expr: C:\users\<my name>\jpgs\*.jpg [mf] number of files: 100 (400) ==> Found video stream: 0 VIDEO: [IJPG] 800x600 24bpp 5.000 fps 0.0 kbps ( 0.0 kbyte/s) [V] filefmt:16 fourcc:0x47504A49 size:800x600 fps:5.000 ftime:=0.2000 SPU: Display only forced subs now disabled WINSOCK2 init: 0 WINSOCK2 init: 0 [file] File size is 0 bytes STREAM: [file] C:\users\<my name>\desktop\output.avi STREAM: Description: File STREAM: Author: Albeu STREAM: Comment: based on the code from ??? (probably Arpi) Opening video filter: [expand osd=1] Expand: -1 x -1, -1 ; -1, osd: 1, aspect: 0.000000, round: 0 ========================================================================== Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family Unsupported PixelFormat -1 INFO: libavcodec init OK! Selected video codec: [ffmjpeg] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg MJPEG) ========================================================================== ds_fill_buffer: EOF reached (stream: video) Flushing video frames. Filters have not been configured! Empty file? Writing index... Writing header... ODML: Aspect information not (yet?) available or unspecified, not writing vprp h eader. Video stream: nan kbit/s (-2147483648 B/s) size: 0 bytes 0.000 secs 0 f rames Uninit video: ffmpeg DEMUXER: freeing demuxer at 0275EB18 DEMUXER: freeing sh_video at 0275FDC8 WINSOCK2 uninit

And yes, all of my jpg images are 800x600.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 22:28, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't know what went wrong there either. The "EOF reached" appears where it should be reading the first jpeg. Earlier, it found "number of files: 100" (correct number of jpegs I hope) but then when the time comes to start copying them, it doesn't find them. Maybe there's some trouble with the file globbing. Try it this way: cd into the directory containing the jpegs and run it with mf://*.jpg 98.226.122.10 (talk) 23:54, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

The more I look at it, the more I think this will be the answer. mplayer/osdep/glob-win.c contains a really sad-looking imitation of a glob function which uses FindFirstFile/FindNextFile to do the matching. It's quite possible that it forgets what directory it found the jpegs in. The only missing piece is some official documentation stating that FindFirstFile/FindNextFile strips the directory components off the results. 98.226.122.10 (talk) 00:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you so much, 98.226.122.10! Your last suggestion got it to work fine. Just goes to show once more how smart and resourceful the people who frequent Wikipedia are. Thanks again!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 04:23, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

If someone reported this to mplayer's bug database, it would probably get fixed to make mf://somedir/*.jpg work in a future version. 98.226.122.10 (talk) 06:30, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Remote desktops

Why does remote dekstop software work by sending an image of the rendered screen? Wouldn't it be more efficient (higher frame rate at the same bandwidth) to send the data and instructions being sent to the video driver, at least when the client's video driver provides the same API? NeonMerlin 22:06, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to guess that the instructions being sent to the video driver are in fact more data than compressed jpg images. Think about it, the video driver needs to accurately make every single pixel whereas sending compressed images takes much less data. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 22:15, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

What I think you're proposing is to intercept calls to the display subsystem API (commands like "draw_rectangle, draw_text, draw_line). If that's the case, many remote desktop protocols do just that. The X protocol (the network layer of the X Window System deals in display commands, as did NeWS (which used display postscript as its description language). This extension for RDP intercepts GDI/GDI+ commands and emits them over the network. The downside is that when the existing graphics infrastructure isn't built this way (as it mostly isn't in Windows) it's a bigger job to splice into the graphics subsystem to intercept those calls. If there are a lot of bitmaps getting shoved around, it's probably more efficient to just do a remote framebuffer (which is command agnostic); that's what VNC, SunRay, and mostly RDP do (SunRay did it to keep the load on the diminutive CPU to a minimum). Note that the bitmap ones send changes (not the full screen each time) and use various kinds of delta elision and bitmap compression to keep both the CPU and network usage to a manageable level. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:39, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Another possible concern is that the rendering will appear differently on the client if, say, its video driver differs from the server's, so font rendering might differ. Granted, a minor concern in most cases. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:32, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Fonts raise an interesting problem for the networked-GDI/Xlib style remote desktop. It's very common for client libraries to enquire about how big a given string will be when rendered using a given font (using something like getTextExtent or the like). For calls like that, the client (the program you're running) has to enquire about this to the server (the display) and await the response, and the program (and the toolkit that it uses) almost always processes these calls synchronously (and thus serially), with each taking a few ms of back and forth network time. When rendering a complex control like a menu or a tree widget, there might be dozens of such calls. So while the bandwidth associated with this traffic is trivial, the latency is unpleasant. Stuff like this can be mitigated by client side caching (in the library or the remoter), but when the cache fails this can amount to quite an appreciable delay (even though the communications like is mostly unused during the transaction). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:13, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

File formats for Geographical information systems or mapping software

I'm writing a program that outputs some data about noise intensity for a grid of x,y coordinates, and the coordinates of roads. It would be nice if I could use some existing no-pay (freeware, open source etc) software to display this visually. Is there any such software that has a simple file format? Or is there an existing standard for GIS files? If so, then I would modify my program to output its results in that file format. Thanks 78.146.167.109 (talk) 22:16, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

We have an article, GIS file formats that lists many of them. A variety of software also exists to display the common ones, such as DTED, but I am unsure exactly which one would best suit your purposes. decltype (talk) 22:21, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

It may be best if I could find out what free GIS or mapping software there is, and then work backwards to find what file formats they use. 78.146.167.109 (talk) 22:30, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps USGS DEM, which is essentially a heightfield format. Or you could just emit it as a simple format (like Netpbm format) and render it as a heightfield using a renderer like POV-ray. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:44, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm looking for something which will show the data in two dimensions only, like a map. Generating a 3d image would cause confusion. 89.242.147.247 (talk) 00:16, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Then you might as well just emit a simple 2D bitmap format like netpbm and view it with an ordinary image viewer. Beyond that, I don't see what additional display behaviour or file characteristics you need that a GIS format would have that a plain old bitmap wouldn't. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:20, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, that is a raster-like format. Are there any vector formats please? Netpbm is still interesting though and I will study it further when I have more time. 89.241.43.33 (talk) 11:58, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

It's pretty easy to generate SVG documents even without an SVG library, or you may wish to do the work in gnuplot. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:10, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

How easy please? I'm just an amateur using BASIC. I do not understand C or anything that is not very basic. 89.243.91.31 (talk) 21:46, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

SVG files are very simple text files (with some rather inscrutable boilerplate text at the start). This tutorial gives an excellent introduction to the various simple primitives SVG has. For an application like yours, you'd probably just emit a bunch of line or circle (using small circles for points) commands. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:41, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Performance of average home computer of today compared to computers in the past

In terms of speed and memory, how does the average new home desktop computer compare to computers of previous decades? I dimly remember computers called workstations I think - how do they compare? And how far back do you need to go to reach a time when the best computers in the world would only be equal to the average new home computer of today? 78.146.167.109 (talk) 22:36, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

There is a problem in referring to "the best computers in the world". It depends on the task. Home computers are multi-functional computers. They are designed to handle many different tasks from simply mathematics to database management to video display to gaming. Any specific one of those tasks is handled better by customizing a computer to the job. For example, ray tracing involves performing the same task over and over on a large set of numbers. So, a scalar computer, like a home computer, has to load each value one by one and do the calculation. A vector computer can load all the values at once and perform the operation on all of them (nearly) at once. So, for say 100 values, a vector computer that is 100 times slower than a modern scalar computer would get the job done in about the same time. -- kainaw™ 23:24, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

This entry covers historical supercomputers in terms of processing power: Supercomputer#Timeline of supercomputers. The fastest processor today for home use is the Intel Core i7, which processes 69 billion floating-point poperations per second (GFLOPS). That equates to the processing power of a supercomputer from the early 1990s. A fast Pentium IV from a few years ago did about 10 GFLOPS, which equates to a super-computer from the late 1980s.

Still, the average computer today has a faster hard drive than those mainframes. Hard drives in those days transferred data at about 4 megabytes per second (MBps) whereas the average drive today transfers data at about 200 MBps. RAIDs weren't invented until the late 1980s. It also has a faster bus. In those days, computers used ISA buses, which slows communication between the graphics card, printer, network card, etc. Later came PCI and AGP, and now we're all using PCI-Express. Likewise, memory was also dramatically slower. So, although the processing power is equivalent to some computers back then, the real-world performance (e.g., opening programs, copying files) was vastly inferior to even ordinary computers today.--Drknkn (talk) 23:45, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

200 MBps is a little high. Take a look at this review of the Seagate Barracuda XT [2]. The maximum speed (i.e. at the outer edge of the platter) is under 160 MBps. The average is 110 MBps. The same here for example [3]. While this is a 2TB drive, that's actually close to the highest you can expect for a 7200RPM drive because these things need dense platters [4]. See [5] and [6] for example. (You may get a higher average on a short stoked drive but obviously the maximum is still going to be about the same.) Laptop magnetic/mechanical drives would generally be slower. Obviously 15k RPM drives and the like will do better [7] but they aren't in average computers and even then may not achieve an average of 200 MBps. Fancy SSD drives would do a lot better some even saturating a SATA 3 Gbps link (see some of the earlier links for example) but while they're becoming more common particularly in laptops they're still not likely to be in the average computer. And the cheaper ones may not reach 200 MBps [8]. Some won't even beat desktop magnetic drives (not sure about laptop drives) in max speed, maybe even the average or lowest sequential speed (obviously random seek times will always be incomparable) [9] Nil Einne (talk) 17:28, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Mainframes used all sorts of proprietary interfaces. The idea of using more than one device at a time to improve I/O didn't start with RAID and there were special devices with more than one head to improve I/O - but yes it was still fairly slow. Even so the central processors nowadays have improved speed faster than the peripherals and the reason the peripherals haven't become the limiting factor is that memory is so cheap one can keep the data in memory; the peripherals need only be used at the start and end. Even quite large databases can now be kept in memory and the disks just written to but not read. Some people use only part of their disks and have more disks so they can do more I/O in parallel, extra disk capacity is of no use to them. Dmcq (talk) 11:45, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm surprised that a better home computer of today would be as good as the world's best computers from 1990 - I expected the date to be much further back. All that computer power going to waste on computer games rather than solving world peace, hunger, etc. 89.241.43.33 (talk) 12:02, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Bit off the original topic here, but they're "human" problems, it doesn't how much computer power you have, it's not going to solve those issues. ZX81 ^talk 12:22, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

A feature filled operating system and lots of free goodies when the system is sold can give all that power a more human scale ;-) Dmcq (talk) 13:13, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Request Entity Too Large

My main browser is Google Chrome and while attempting to access the New York Times website - and specifically the TimesWire feature - I get an error message, "Request Entity Too Large" followed by "A request entity is longer than the server can handle." TimesWire works fine in my other browser, Internet Explorer 8. I've sent a message to the Times who reported no problems and reported the bug using the Chrome bug report feature. (Here's a screenshot.) What should I do? --Blue387 (talk) 23:01, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

The same error has been reported by NY Times users of Firefox and Safari at various times, as well as other Chrome users. Some people suggest clearing out cookies (surely only the nytimes.com ones) and if that fails, the cache too. Right now, on Chrome-x86-linux, TimesWire works fine for me. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:13, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I have cleaned out the cache and cookies, the page is currently working fine. Thanks! --Blue387 (talk) 05:46, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

In which case, contrary to previous discussions linked, I would say it definitely is a bug in the NYT site. Looking at the cookies set by that page (and there's a hell of a lot of them!), I see several that appear to be comma- or pipe-delimited lists. My guess is that at least one of these is being appended to every time you view that page (or every time you view it and it's changed?), and never cleared - why there are so many massive cookies instead of one keying into a server-side session I can only guess.

Eventually, this ever-growing cookie reaches a critical length whereby, along with all the other cookies and miscellaneous headers, attempting to send it back exceeds the limit on request length of their web server - Sun ONE, according to the headers. The message is presumably produced by the browser because it received HTTP Status 413 from the server. Since neither the server nor the client realises that this particular cookie is to blame, the error will persist every time you visit that page until the cookie is manually deleted. If before deleting them, you viewed all the cookies set, you would presumably see the mammoth that was causing the problem.

Now, anyone know a developer at NYT (or whoever runs that part of their site) who can get this fixed? ;) - IMSoP (talk) 19:10, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

December 18

Universal Parallel Bus

Why doesnt some on create a universal parallel bus, the parallel vewrsion of a universal serial bus (USB)that runs in a similar fasion to a USB but sends one byte at a time rather than one bit by having multiple D+ and D- cables in parallel. This could create a high speed cable that could end up as being as muulti-purpose as modern day USBs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.67.89.61 (talk) 00:47, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I cant find some evidence on this, but I heard some years ago, that at USB-speed of transfer it is very difficult to synchronize the data on parallel wires. Lukipuk (talk) 01:26, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

USB 3.0 will support up to 3.2 Gbit/s. If anyone was working a new parallel interface, it would be the IEEE, but the Printer Working Group doesn't show any activity there. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 01:39, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

You are assuming a parallel channel would mean faster communication, but as our Serial communication article states, it often isn't so: At first sight it would seem that a serial link must be inferior to a parallel one, because it can transmit less data on each clock tick. However, it is often the case that serial links can be clocked considerably faster than parallel links, and achieve a higher data rate. A number of factors allow serial to be clocked at a greater rate... Tempshill (talk) 05:12, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

'Are you sure?' notifications in Vista

These 'are you sure?' notifications in Vista have a reason to be there, and that is well understood, but sometimes they are taking the mick. When trying to install something by clicking on an icon which has the little Vista shield on it, generally it takes a few seconds for the notification to come up - invariably I will click 'yes' - but sometimes it will take up to 20 or 30 minutes, during which time I have a little circle next to my pointer every time I go near the desktop (and the PC slows down). Unfortunately, I have not found a way to cancel the install at this particular point, as this part of the install doesn't show up in Task Manager. Is there something in the Processes tab that I can cancel or is Restart just becoming a way of life? Cheers! --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 04:49, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

You are referring to User Account Control warnings, which should not be taking 20 or 30 minutes. What installer does this? Are there any other circumstances in which an app freezes for an interminable period? Tempshill (talk) 05:14, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

See [10] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 11:12, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Web pages and images randomly not loading

Hello, I have a refurbished PC I just up recently. When I browse the Internet via Firefox, sometimes web pages do not load. The same thing happens with images, particularly on Facebook and in Google Image Searches. This did not happen with my laptop or my Linux box. It seems to be a network problem, and I'm not sure how to troubleshoot it. Does it have to do with router settings? (My laptop and Linux box plugged into the router just fine.) Does it have to do with browser settings? (Problem happens in IE, too... just had trouble loading images in a GIS.) I have a feeling it's a simple solution. Can anyone suggest any kind of approach? (If I need to divulge my PC information, I can do that.) 69.143.24.5 (talk) 04:50, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Sometimes Facebook gets overloaded and images just don't load. Is the problem consistent with the same set of images or is it intermittent? Tempshill (talk) 05:16, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Intermittent problems. It seems like I need to flush or reset something network-related, though I'm not sure what. Like I just logged into Netflix, and a lot of DVD cover images won't load. What can I do? 69.143.24.5 (talk) 12:41, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

This could be a connection time-out problem. There are settings in each major browser that control how long it tries to grab images and such before "giving up" and moving to the next. Google search "your browser time-out settings" and see what you can find. 61.189.63.170 (talk) 00:39, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

will windows 7 work well on 1366*768 resolution only?

I am having a 1024*768 desktop. And also plan to buy a 1280*800 laptop. Currently I am using vista; I just want to know whether windows 7 work fine on any resolution or only on 1366*768.

Thanks in advance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.109.249 (talk) 08:48, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Any size within a wide range of that is fine Dmcq (talk) 11:27, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Just to add to this, the operating system has nothing to do with the resolution, which is dependant on your graphics card and more so your monitor. Sandman30s (talk) 20:50, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't agree. In addition to the graphics card and monitor, any O/S will also have a minimum screen resolution. For Windows XP the minimum is 800×600: (see item 11 from the 2nd list, near the bottom: [11]). I can't find the minimum for Windows 7, but I'm sure there is one. StuRat (talk) 03:14, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Technically that's correct, but I don't think the OP was thinking about minimum resolution. Nor was I, sorry. Sandman30s (talk) 15:21, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Pistol-grip 'keyboard'

For small computing devices, the problem is that shrinking the keyboard makes it difficult and slow to use. Why does nobody use a device like a pistol grip with about four buttons on it, one for each finger? Pressing a pattern of four buttons would give 16 different signals, pressing them in pairs would give 256 signals - more than enough for an alphabet. 89.241.43.33 (talk) 12:52, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Because memorizing those patterns would be a horror, worse than the current approach of using numeric keypads? Read The Design of Everyday Things sometime. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 13:44, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

The only thing i can think of that came close was Steven Roberts' various computer enable bikes. Winnebiko II and Behemoth both had handlebar mounted chorded keyboards. Nanonic (talk) 13:48, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

And then from rooting around - Keyer a pistol grip keyboard type affair just as you describe. Nanonic (talk) 13:52, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Another early example was the Microwriter. Generic term for such devices is "chorded keyboard". The time and effort involved in learning a lot of different chords probably deters all but the most dedicated users. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:24, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

The Twiddler is popular with wearable computer enthusiasts. APL (talk) 16:41, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Are all virtual goods just icons and dummy stuff?

This is regarding virtual goods in facebook.com and other sites. Just want to know whether ALL virtual goods are just images and icons OR whether some virtual goods exist which are not images and graphics and icons. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.113.176 (talk) 14:55, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

What other possibilities do you have in mind? Various online RPGs have (real cash) markets for the trading of weapons and items and characters. These are sets of numbers and a bit of text data, rather than graphics. Does that count? 81.131.31.130 (talk) 16:04, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Depending on how you define "virtual goods", virtually any form of information would qualify. Images, music, novels, software, all of it can be represented and sold digitally. About the only stuff that wouldn't qualify are things that have chemical or physical properties that cannot be expressed virtually; even then, the line blurs as technology advances. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 16:09, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

html

Resolved

In html I'd like to make a drop down box with the options "1", "2", and "3" with the viewer can select, then press "go!". For example:

<form action="http://example.com/???/">

<input type="submit" value="Go!" />

where "???" is the options that get appended to the url when they are selected from the drop down box. How can I do this, and I suck at html? Thank you enormously for your help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 15:11, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't think you can do it with HTML alone. Instead, you should post to a script (e.g. PHP or many others) which then looks at the post value and redirects you to the correct location. Javascript would also work, I think. - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 15:16, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Here is a Javascript solution. Feel free to ask if you have questions. I wrote it up to be fairly flexible (you could change things around pretty easily, and it is less constraining than your original specifications).

<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">

function submitform() {
	var selector=document.getElementById("selector");
	var myform = document.getElementById("myform");
	switch(selector.value) {
		case "0": 
			myform.action = "http://example.com/option1/";
			myform.submit();
			break;
		case "1": 
			myform.action = "http://example.com/option2/";
			myform.submit();
			break;
		case "2": 
			myform.action = "http://example.com/option3/";
			myform.submit();
			break;
	}
}

</script>
</head>
<body>
<form id="myform" name="myform" method="GET">
<select id="selector">
<option value="-1">Pick an option</option>
<option value="0">Option1</option>
<option value="1">Option2</option>
<option value="2">Option3</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" value="OK" onclick="submitform(); return false;">
</form>
</body>
</html>

--Mr.98 (talk) 16:27, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

­:D :D :D :D YES thank you!

Which CPU

My brother is thinking of getting either the Alienware M17x or M15x laptop. We're stuck on whether the Intel Core i7 720QM (1.6 GHz, 4 cores) is better than the Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4 GHz, 2 cores). I've gathered that the quad core is better for multitasking and using a more demanding OS like Vista or Windows 7 and that there are many other improvement on the Intel i7 line over the Core 2. My brother is thinking mainly of playing video games, and basically I'm not sure if the improvements in the 1.6 GHz i7 would make up for it's lower clock speed and make it better for gaming than the 2.4 GHz Core 2. What I'd like most is some simple performance charts comparing the two CPUs running demanding programs. I've also read about "Turbo mode" in the Core i7 line and apparantly it's mostly a gimmick that makes the CPU overclock only when it can afford to, so it would have little or no effect when playing a graphics heavy game. Also, it's sort of besides the point, but if someone has a better recommendation for a gaming laptop I'd like to know. I can't find anything better than what Alienware offers. BeefJeaunt (talk) 15:48, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Remember, the CPU no longer makes much of a difference for most games; the GPU is what counts. I have my computer (running Vista x64) set up with power profiles that forcibly downclock the CPU (a Core 2 Duo E6600, 2.4 GHz) to 1.6 GHz, and it hasn't made a whit of difference (I have a nVidia 8800GTX graphics card, which is where the power is required). Clock speed doesn't make as much of a difference as speed of memory access (the Core i7 is much better there) and GPU (which the CPU doesn't affect at all). —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 16:00, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

As for Quad v. Duo... some programs are able to make a big improvement with quad cores, but most aren't. This post is now a couple years old and might be out of date, but poses the right questions. Most games at the time (2007) actually saw zero to negative improvement in going from faster dual cores to slower quad cores. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:30, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Well both laptops come with the Geforce 240M or better, so I think he's all set there. I've heard that the real benefit of quad core is it takes care of background processes without affecting the game, especially on Wondows Vista and 7. One of the games he wants is Team Fortress 2 though, which I've read relies more on the CPU than the average game. Anyways, by the sounds of it the Core i7 is the better deal. What kind of games do you play and on what graphics settings ShadowRanger? He's specifically interested in Bioshock and Team Fortress 2, so if I knew these could run easily on a 1.6 GHz CPU that would really put my worries to rest. Also thanks to both of you for your input, it's really appreaciated. BeefJeaunt (talk) 16:37, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Laptops are not ideally suited for games due to large limitations with graphics cards and motherboard (chipset) limitations to a lesser extent. Bioshock will run perfectly well on a 240M at lower resolution. If you want to run modern games at higher resolutions, only a desktop with a proper graphics card will suffice. As the poster above has said, it doesn't matter too much whether you have a duo or quad core CPU; if you're playing a game your computer should not be doing to much else in terms of heavy CPU usage anyway. If you attend a gaming LAN, you don't see any gamers using laptops... Sandman30s (talk) 20:47, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, but he wants something portable. Thanks for your help anyways. BeefJeaunt (talk) 22:16, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Sorry for the delayed reply. The most recent games I've played on my machine without a problem at 1.6 GHz (with a monitor running at 1680x1050) are Bioshock and Neverwinter Nights 2. Haven't played Team Fortress 2 though, sorry. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 15:23, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Free Web PAGE host

I'm looking for a free web host, but they're all really complicated. I don't want to host an entire site, I don't care about how many gigabits per month or if it supports mysqls etc I just want to put one single html web page onto the net easily. Anyone know of a good site? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 16:22, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Why not just use Wordpress.com? It's easy to set up a one-page "blog" on there, and you don't have to mess with server stuff at all. And it's free. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:31, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Because I want to use my own html not a blog template —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 16:35, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

There are quite a few available, but nowhere near as many as there used to be, and most of them seem to have restrictions or other disadvantages. You could try www.webs.com (not that I'm recommending it - you will probably find better somewhere else). Dbfirs 17:13, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Try Google Sites, which is free and does let you insert your own HTML. I'm sure there's a Google frame of some sort placed around it, and I don't know how complex the HTML is allowed to be, but take a look. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:29, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I notice from your IP that you're a Blueyonder Telewest/Virginmedia customer, you do get free webspace from you ISP. Settings on how to access it are here. Nanonic (talk) 22:35, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't own the connection, I simply use it. None of these suggestions are helpful, but thank you everyone for trying :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 14:15, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I've used Awardspace.com for this purpose, and it works well. PhageRules1 (talk) 21:31, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

cp source code

Resolved

Where can I download cp's source? I've searched over at http://directory.fsf.org/ but can't find it. Thanks. --59.95.108.200 (talk) 16:59, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

cp is part of GNU coreutils; you can download the whole coreutils src package from gnu.org, or read the source in the GNU Savannah repository here. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:05, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you. --59.95.108.200 (talk) 17:08, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

You're welcome. If reading that leaves you thinking "heck, there's a bunch of stuff here about weird cases and annoying stuff to do with links, but it doesn't actually do any copying" you'd be right. The meat of copying is done in copy.c --Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:16, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

If you're interested in other *nix implementations (other than GNU's) then take a look at OpenBSD's and OpenSolaris'. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:39, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Flash to svg, with a transparent background

Resolved

 – ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢

I use Flash MX to create vector graphics for wikipedia. I then use a program called swf2svg to convert the file. As some people may be aware, Adobe is too stupid to add transparent to the list of background colours, instead putting the burden on the user to code it into the html.

But, as you know, there is no html involved here. So, my question is, is there any way to make the swf transparent, and if not, is it possible to use a program such as inkscape to cut out the white background and make it transparent? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 19:36, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

If you can show me an example of the SVG you've generated in this way, I'll take a look at it in Inkscape. Assuming the "background" is an object (or a sensible number of objects) in SVG, deleting them (making for an SVG with no background) should be very straightforward. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 19:49, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

This is the picture here. The white that is within the trapezoid should be there, but the slivers outside of the trapezoid should not. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 01:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I deleted the background layer and used the Live Paint Bucket Tool to fill in the sign again in using Adobe Illustrator: --Drknkn (talk) 04:13, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I also did the same. I opened it in Inkscape. Selected/deleted the white background. Selected the trapezoid and set the fill to white. No problem. If you are willing to use Inkscape, I suggest using it for the entire SVG development. -- kainaw™ 04:16, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

For some reason inkscape really confuses the crap outta me, but perhaps I should try to learn it inside out. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 08:13, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

It's definitely a different interface paradigm than Flash. Personally I think it is much better for precise diagrams of the sort you are making — it's much easier to make sure everything is symmetrical and lined up. (Easier than even in Illustrator, frankly.) --Mr.98 (talk) 14:27, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I really doubt that. Does Inskscape have smart guides, rulers, and snapping? Also, there are quite a few video tutorials for Illustrator on Adobe TV, Lynda.com, Total Training, VTC, and so on. That's one reason that I use Adobe products almost from end to end. I rarely have to read a boring book, and can instead watch a video. There may be a more powerful product available in certain cases (e.g., Autodesk Combustion vs. AfterEffects), but that product is never an open-source product like Inkscape or GIMP, and Adobe products integrate seamlessly with each other. Further, from what I've read, Inkscape crashes and has fewer features. The only drawback for Illustrator that I've noticed is that it's bloated and takes a long time to start up.--Drknkn (talk) 20:46, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

You ask if Inkscape has smart guides, rulers, and snapping as though you know the answer is "no" so you can berate the product. That is a rather pathetic form of argument. Just because they are called a different name in Inkscape does not mean they aren't there. As for tutorials - how many do you need? None of the first 2,000 tutorials found by Googling "Inkscape tutorial" will do? Yes, Illustrator is prettier and has more books like "Adobe Illustrator for Ignorant Morons who are Mostly Incapable of Pressing the Power Button on the PC." If that is your factor in choosing a product, then by all means choose Illustrator. If you are looking for snapping or tutorials, there isn't a clear preferable product. -- kainaw™ 21:05, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Obviously guides and tutorials aren't my only concern. I was simply addressing 98's statement about making sure everything is "symmetrical and lined up." Illustrator does an excellent job of that, and I was actually asking a question. I also mentioned crashes. Illustrator also has the ability of exporting animations (which I know for a fact that Inkscape can't do) and gives you far more control over typography (kerning, etc.). As for SVGs, Illustrator can add JavaScripts to them. Can Inkscape do that? To be honest, I haven't used Inkscape that much. In fact, I spend more time in Photoshop, Flash, and Premiere than Illustrator. So, I find the recommendations in this forum for GIMP over PS more objectionable than Inkscape over AI.--Drknkn (talk) 21:31, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Drknkn, that was rude and uncalled for. You launched a lengthy attack on a personal opinion that is completely unrelated to the OP's question, to the point of berating 98's opinion and imply that for our OP, who only want to make simple diagrams, the $599 Adobe Illustrator is better than the free and open source Inkscape? (or do you want him/her to pirate AI?) Does our OP require or care about integration with other Adobe products, or animation, or adding Javascript to SVG? How many bells and whistles does one need to create a simple diagram like that? PS: "from what I've read" is not a reliable source. There are plenty of webpages documenting AI crashing too if you really wanted to know --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:55, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Wow. It's free and open source?! Sign me up. I don't need to get any work done, anyway. I'll try any old piece of shit so long as it's open source.

But, wait being honest is rude? No... If you guys want to bash Illustrator, then you should make sure you get your facts straight, because I will point out any lies posted here, whether you think I'm being rude or not. I told you that Inkskape was buggy, and you responded by lying in this post, glossing over that fact. See the post below for the results of your comments. You should have recommended either Illustrator or CorelDraw. I'm the only person here who has actually fixed his picture, by the way. Apparently, all you can do is talk.--Drknkn (talk) 12:15, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

"I'm the only person here who has actually fixed his picture, by the way. Apparently, all you can do is talk."

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. (also kainaw might disagree with you about being the only one) Of course, you're welcome to provide Flyodian a free copy of AI or do all 60 signs for him. But otherwise, most of what you said applies more to yourself than anything. --antilived^{T | C | G} 00:16, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Everyone has a favourite guys, no need to bash. But can someone walk me through / point to one of these millions of tutorials, as to how I delete all the white (got that so far, yay me!) and fill the inside of the sign with it, without filling the number and the text as well? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 02:26, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

In Inkscape, you open the SVG that needs to be processed. Usually SVGs have all their elements grouped together so you need to ungroup them first. Press Ctrl+A to select all the elements and press Ctrl+Shift+G (or right-click/Ungroup) to ungroup them. Click on the background where it should be transparent, and you'll select a rectangle that's the same size as your document. Delete that, and your SVG is now transparent. Then click the shield's background, and click white in the colour bar near the bottom of the screen. That'll change the shield to have a white-fill instead of being transparent. If the white fill blocks other elements simply lower it to the bottom by pressing Ctrl+Shift+End (or Layer/Layer to Bottom). Unfortunately your trapezium isn't constructed properly and one of the side is not connected to the rest of the trapezium. You can fix it by first ungrouping the trapezium again, and deleting the right, unconnected side. Then use the Edit Path tool below selection (the second one from top), hold shift to select the top-right and bottom-right points of the broken trapezium. Finally, press the button in the tool bar that looks like to join the two points together. --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:55, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Awesome. Thank you very much everyone (and esp. Antilived for the thorough walkthrough). One down, fifty-nine to go! - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 03:09, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

RCA Adaptor issue

I have a 3.5mm adaptor that splits to 2 female 3.5mm jacks, which I can use to split a source into two similar sources - for instance one mp3 player to two headphones.

Can I use the same adaptor the other way, if I plugged in the white and red outputs from a single phono source into the female ends and then the male end into a 3.5mm jack of, say, an amplifier?

Thanks 213.105.213.164 (talk) 20:33, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes, you can use an RCA connector splitter cable in this way to combine left and right stereo into a single mono signal. I'm sure the audiophiles would be dismayed, of course. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:28, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Not a great idea. The two channels will be fighting each other. This is much more likely to lead to problems than connecting a single source to more than one amplifier input. --Jc3s5h (talk) 21:32, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

This can create weird effects. In many stereo songs the "center track" will be obliterated, since this tends to be the vocals, you probably won't like the effect. (On the other hand, if you're into karaoke, maybe you'd love it.) APL (talk) 23:19, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Oh. What I just said applies only if you're combining the signals into a mono signal, as Tuttle implied. If your adapter is stereo, I might work fine. It might not, depending on if you've got mono 3.5 plugs or jacks at any point. They may electrically connect the two channels in an undesired way. APL (talk) 23:21, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Comet Tuttle seems to be talking about an adaptor that has a two female RCA connectors and one male RCA connector like this, or two male RCA connectors and one female RCA connector like this. However, despite the fact the title of this section says RCA in it, 213.105.213.164 seems to be talking about an adaptor that has a stereo male plug on one end and two stereo female jacks on the other end, like this, so two people wearing stereo headphones can both hear an MP3 player in stereo. This type of adaptor isn't really designed to combine two mono signals back into stereo.

Refer to TRS connector#Tip/ring/sleeve terminology for a nice picture of stereo and mono male plugs. Based on that, here's what I think will happen: If you plug two mono male plugs into the adaptor's stereo female jacks, then the two mono signals (tips) will be mixed into the adaptor's male plug's left channel (tip). I think this should work, but might cause strange effects, like center vocal removal APL mentioned above. However, the adaptor's male plug's right channel (ring) will also be connected to both of the two mono male plugs' grounds (sleeves). I don't know if that will cause a problem or not. --Bavi H (talk) 03:19, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, you are quite right, I put in RCA referring to what I wanted to use it for, rather than what it was already designed for - is this what I want? 213.105.213.164 (talk) 11:26, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

That looks like it will work. A little lower down on the page, I saw this one, which is color coded white and red.

One other thing I thought of: You might want to investigate if the phono signals are compatible with your amplifier. I have an amplifier that has phono RCA input jacks with a CER / MAG switch next to them. I'm not sure what it's for. When I plugged a normal sound source (like my TV) into the phono jacks it sounded funny. A quick search found this: Phono CER and MAG, which suggests record players may use "phono level" signals directly from the ceramic or magnetic pickup cartridge, instead of a "line level" signal. Someone else know more about this? --Bavi H (talk) 18:59, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

The cartridge on a record player is usually connected directly to the appropriate input on a receiver. The level of the cartridge depends on whether it is ceramic (higher level, cheap, don't know if they make these anymore) or magnetic (lower level, higher quality). In the 70s and 80s, all good quality receivers had a magnetic phono input, but recent ones do not. You can by a small external amplifier to boost a magnetic phono signal so it is strong enough to drive a line level input. I believe these amplifiers do not have a constant gain vs. frequency; some frequencies are boosted more than others to compensate for the characteristics of magnetic phono cartridges. --Jc3s5h (talk) 19:26, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Upgrading an XP laptop to Win 7 via Vista

I'm curious if anyone's tried upgrading an XP machine to Windows 7 by first upgrading to Vista and then upgrading to Win7. If so, how did it go? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 21:14, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Can I customise "Save As" in XP?

If I want to save things like webpages, textfiles, etc, I get a "Save As" box. On the left of the box are a few links I can choose. Is it possible to customise those links - adding other ones I want, removing those I never use? 89.243.91.31 (talk) 21:42, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

That "save as" option is a property of the applications you're using, not of XP. Different applications support different file types for input and output (you can't get Word to save as a .wav file; it doesn't know what that would mean). So, in general, no. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:45, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

I think the OP means the "favorite places" options, not the ability to customize filetypes (which you're right, are specified by the applications calling the "Save As" dialog). --Mr.98 (talk) 23:30, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

It's been a while since I've used XP. In Vista at least, you could be referring to the "Favorites" folder for links. And you can add/delete/modify links in that folder, just right-click and select "Open Favorites folder" (I hope it's something the same as in Vista). 198.161.238.18 (talk) 22:23, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Timesaving Computing Tips - Customise the Places Bar says "To customise your Places Bar, download the Tweak UI powertoy." --Bavi H (talk) 01:44, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, I have used TweakUI and done what I wanted. 84.13.56.95 (talk) 11:18, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

December 19

Why Can't I Connect to WiFi?

I have recently purchased a Dell Studio 1555 laptop with an Intel Core 2 processor and a Dell Wireless 1397 802.11b/g Half Mini Card.

The router at my school is a b/g router and the one I have at home is an a/b/g router.

My laptop can not detect the signals from either school or home. I have made sure that the wireless adapter card is set to b/g mode, but it can not find any networks when I try to connect.

An older laptop, with a Centrino integration of a Core duo and an Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 ABG card and my iPod touch both can connect the network at my school and at home.

Is my network card in my new computer at fault? If so, is it possible for me to switch the network adapter card on my 2 laptops seeing as I plan to get rid of my old laptop anyways?

EDIT: I should also mention that my old laptop, which CAN connect to a network, is Windows Vista, while my new one is Windows 7. Both computers connect just fine with an ethernet cable.

Thanks. 99.240.195.66 (talk) 02:57, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Are the routers set to broadcast their identity? If not, you will need to tell your new laptop about them, and their passwords. Dbfirs 09:53, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Basic point: make sure the wireless card is on by pressing the wireless button (on F2; by default Dell's are shipped with the function keys accessed by pressing the Fn button at the same time). This should toggle your wireless card on/off. If this doesn't work, I suggest contacting Dell. -- Flyguy649 ^talk 15:54, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Free Cell stats

I'd like to copy my Free Cell stats from one computer (Win 98) to another (Win XP). I've found the Free Cell executable, but where is the data file containing my stats ? StuRat (talk) 03:20, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Your stats are in the registry. Open task manager and click File -> New Task (Run...) -> type in regedit or regedt32 -> press enter. Find: HKEY_CU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\FreeCell. Once you've found the file select it and click File -> Export. I hope this helps. (I don't currently have a W98 machine running and I can't quite remember if it has changed or not) JW..[ T..C ] 05:07, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Your answer was close enough that I was able to find it. The Task Manager under Windows 98 doesn't do anything besides killing tasks and shutting down, but I was able to do a file find on "regedit.exe", and run it from there. The path was a bit different than the one you gave (at the top): \HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\FreeCell. Still, I never would have found it without your help. Thanks, again ! StuRat (talk) 21:44, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Resolved

StuRat (talk) 21:44, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Splitting an Ethernet connection

I have a single Ethernet 10/100 line feeding to one computer (Win 98). I would like to split this line to run to both this computer and an adjacent Win XP computer. What piece of equipment do I need to do this effectively ? I'd prefer if both would have internet access simultaneously, but would also settle for a switch which would allow me to use one at a time. StuRat (talk) 03:29, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

If the Ethernet cable comes from a router or a modem with a built-in router, you can use an Ethernet switch or hub to provide internet to both computers at the same time.

However, if the Ethernet cable comes from a modem without a built-in router and you attempt to use an Ethernet switch or hub, then your ISP will likely only allow one computer to get the internet and block the other one. In that case, you will need a router to share the internet with both computers. To prevent the router from being blocked, you might need to do one of the following: Release the IP address from the original computer; Change the router's WAN MAC address to match the original computer's MAC address; Or call your ISP so they can erase any MAC address registration they have on your account. --Bavi H (talk) 04:54, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

It does come from a router. So, what's the diff between using a hub or switch, in this case ? StuRat (talk) 15:58, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

See Network switch#Layer-1 hubs versus higher-layer switches & [12]. Nowadays there's no price different so there's little reason you'll want a hub except perhaps in a few select instances and in fact I'm not even sure if it's easy to find them at least for the limited port kind (e.g. 4 ports, 8 ports) Nil Einne (talk) 00:42, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Sound fails on XP

My XP computer has gone silent. When I try to play any of the XP sample sounds, like the "Critical Stop", I get the error "Windows cannot play the %SystemRoot%\media\Windows XP Critical Stop.wav file. The file may be damaged or may use an unrecognized compression format. To resolve this problem, replace the file or use Add/Remove Programs in Control panel to install Audio Compression." It seems unlikely that all of my sound files simultaneously became corrupted, so that would mean something is wrong with the audio decompression program, right ? StuRat (talk) 03:44, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

It's either a weird system/codec problem or a virus. I would have done a system restore (under accessories/system tools) immediately. Sandman30s (talk) 15:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, but my last system restore point is too old. Any other ideas ? StuRat (talk) 15:55, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Netgear switcher has limited/local only conectivity

I just came home for Christmas with the intention to spend some quality time editing Wikipedia on fast internet ...and it turns out my wifi has died while I was away :( Or rather it says that the conection is "local only" on my laptop, "limited" when I plug in network wire and on my cell phone it says something about gateway not having been found. I have had similar problems with public networks, where signal is weak, so I thought that maybe it will go away, but it doesn't. I don't even remember how I instaled the switcher, I know there was some kind of software, witch probably was instaled on my mom's pc, where I can't find it, probably because something happened to it while I was away and she has reinstaled Xp or something (however, that shouldn't be the cause, because I was home afterwards and everything was fine). I tried unplugging modem and the switcher, didn't help. I also tried using wire I used before we bought wireless - as I said no luck. The switcher displays orange light on the Internet indicator, instead of green, I don't remember what it means, but there is a label on the switcher saying something like green=100mbps amber=10mbps, so I decided my ISP has reduced Internet speed and decided to wait and see, if it doesn't come alive later on, but nothing has happaned yet. I tried google, but it seems no one knows and it is preceived as Vista problem, which would be relevant to my laptop, but doesn't explain how come my simbian cell phone has no conection. So I decided to try here, any ideas ? ~~Xil (talk) 08:47, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

You're referring to a "Netgear Switcher". Can you tell us exactly what this is - model number and what it connects to? --Phil Holmes (talk) 16:37, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

First of all, I have solved the problem, wish I knew how and what happened :) It turned out it actually is a router, not switch. I don't see how it helps, given how many switches/routers are out there (in mentioned Netgear, in case someone knows what these lights mean), but [13], the setup is basic modem to router wire (and another wire to mom's pc). I found its box and setup CD, and after a day spent playing with it and several wires, I eliminated possibility that there could be any damage to modem or any wire, and it probably wasn't router either, because I found my old wired ethernet switch and that also didn't work. In the end it just started working (might be that I setup wired connection to my laptop while diagnosing wireless just before it happened, but I don't know - doesn't explain why it works on my phone too and running diagnostics almost never has solved anything). So unless someone feels like explaining this (which I would find interesting, also I am wondering what's the deal with "local only") - thanks for trying to help, but there's no need anymore ~~Xil (talk) 18:49, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

The "local only" means the computer can detect the connection to the the router, but can't get to the internet. (If you have multiple computers connected to the router, then they can communicate "locally", but won't get the internet.) --Bavi H (talk) 19:25, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I figured that much, but how come it can't connect to the Internet ? I guess weak signal is to blame with public wifi, but at home where it is strong... ~~Xil (talk) 03:00, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

It sounds as if it was a problem with the wired connection to your internet provider, somewhere on that side of your router. Could there have been a loose cable (or bad connection)? Could your internet provider have switched off your connection because of lack of use (not very probable)? I assume that your WiFi is only on the computer side of your router. I regularly get this problem, but that's because my internet connection is via long-range microwave, though the current heavy snow doesn't seem to be affecting it (yet). Dbfirs 09:46, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Diffrence between PAL and NTSC

what is difference between pal ctv and ntsc ctv 10:21, 19 December 2009 (UTC)~? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.178.50.32 (talk)

I'm not sure what ctv is, but the difrence is that PAL is standard in Europe, while NTSC in Northen America, in practice there is some difference in how many lines there are on tv screen. PAL is supposedly better. If you are not asking about TV, then it usually means region of distribution (Europe or North America) 95.68.124.133 (talk) 11:31, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

You could look at the PAL and NTSC articles. 84.13.56.95 (talk) 16:02, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Windows messenger emoticons

When I'm writing in messenger, when I type the words 'yes' or 'great' it throws up some stupid emoticons. I can't work out how to switch them off, any help appreciated.91.109.225.220 (talk) 11:02, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

click on the emoticon icon, the selection box will pop up, click show all. Find the ones that have the offending words under them, select them and click modify on the right. Change the keyboard shortcut to whatever--Jac16888^Talk 11:39, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Hard drive size discrepancy

If I view the properties of the C: drive on my pc (vista) it says that I've used 167Gb of my disk space. However if I go into the C: drive, select everything (including hidden files) and view properties it says I've only used 126gb. This isn't unique to my pc since my XP laptop has the same thing, c: properties says I've used 6.7gb whereas selecting everything says 4.65gb. I wouldn't think anything of it if the numbers weren't so big, but 40gb's being used by nothing is a lot. Any idea why this is, which figure is correct and how to sort it out? . Thanks--86.177.17.61 (talk) 13:04, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

The easiest way to figure out "what's being used and where" is to use a hard drive visualization tool. WinDirStat makes that pretty easy. It should give you something concrete about how the space is really being used. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

See Hard disk drive#Capacity measurements and note the discussion on overhead. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:40, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, it would help to know the total size of the drive, to know if 40GB is a lot for overhead or not. Superficially it seems like quite a lot -- around 25% of your used space is pretty huge, too much for just overhead alone. But if it is a 1TB drive, then that sounds about right (a totally full 1TB should have maybe 90GB in overhead, using the estimates from that article). --Mr.98 (talk) 18:37, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Its 320gb officially, so around 290gb. I tried WinDirStat, it nearly agrees with the second figure of 126gb used, its says 130.1 --86.177.17.61 (talk) 18:55, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, well, 12.5% for overhead seems like quite a lot to me, superficially. I wonder if defragmentation/compaction would help—it might just not be using the space very efficiently for some reason. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:45, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, but that won't make any difference at all. Defragmenting a hard disk merely re-orders the data on the disk, it doesn't change how much space is being allocated. ZX81 ^talk 04:23, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

What file system format are you using? (Go to My Computer, right-click C: and properties). It sounds like you possibly have FAT32 which means you probably have a 32Kb cluster size. This means that all files stored on the disk are rounded up to the nearest 32Kb. So for example a 1Kb file takes up 32Kb and a 33Kb file takes up 64Kb. This might not sound like a lot on it's own, but if you have a few hundred thousand files on the disk (hidden, system or just normal) then it'll all add up. The only way around this is to use NTFS (4Kb clusters) or smaller FAT32 partitions. If you're not using FAT32 though then you can just ignore this whole section then. ZX81 ^talk 04:29, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Another thought (on a different line of thinking), you said you have hidden files on, but do you have "show system files" on as well? Apologies if you meant that as well, but I felt best just to clarify. System files would include the Pagefile (which is likely between 0.5 and 1.5 times the amount of RAM you have) and the Hibernation file (which is exactly the same size as your RAM). On my system (with 6Gb of RAM) those two system files alone consume 10Gb of disk space. ZX81 ^talk 04:34, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Two things: Have a look at our article on cluster size. You may have MANY small files (very common with certain software such as MATLAB or Guitar Pro) each taking up partial clusters. When you do the right-click --> properties it reports the summated size of each file (your 126GB), with a figure in brackets which shows the actual space taken by these files in whole clusters (is this figure close to 167GB?). Second thing to check is if you are showing your hidden files. (Tools --> Folder Options --> "Show Hidden files and folders" and "Hide protected operating system files". Tick and untick respectively, however note that they are there for your own protection.) Then check whether the "missing" 41GB is contained in hidden files in your root directory. Zunaid 04:47, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Its NTFS file format, the numers I quoted include all hidden and system files. To make things easier, this image shows both properties boxes,[14]. Also, out of curiousity, anyone who has a pc, try the same thing please, since the same thing happens on my laptop.--86.177.17.61 (talk) 10:36, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Two more ideas: your "System Volume Information" folder (a red-link, but here you go) contains (I seem to recall) your Restore points and is generally unopenable by any user. I don't think your "select all...properties" method will crawl this folder for files, whereas your total drive space report will include its size in the figures. Whether the system restore points can actually come to 41GB I wonder...you must have 100's of restore points in there going back to when you first installed Windows. Second thought is to chkdsk your drive, perhaps your File Allocation Table is corrupted and miss reporting the free and used space on your drive. Zunaid 18:27, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

The system restore points are in a seperate drive for vista - and it has a max size of 10gbs. Things are even stranger now, I'm on a different computer, also vista, but a laptop, and figured I would check it. The numbers are pretty shocking, i've uploaded them to flickr again, please take a look. [15]. This is a fairly new laptop, and its users are not big computer users - its mainly used for internet browsing, so the lower figure seems much more likely. Whats going on? Thanks--90.204.111.213 (talk) 00:44, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

One last thing I can think of...most laptop manufacturers ship their machines with a recovery partition which allows you to re-install the operating system. PERHAPS in this case they've instead put it on the C: drive in some sort of very hidden and encrypted folder such that the OS cannot read the contents (nor get the file size), the same way they did with System Volume Information. Try Googling around for hidden or encrypted files that cannot be found by Windows Explorer. Last resort is to physically remove the drive and plug it into another (preferably Linux) PC using those USB hard drive brackets, and to check the size reported in a different OS again using the "select all folders" method vs the "disk properties" method. Also, have you tried WinDirStat, SequoiaView, FolderSize or any of the other applications in this line? What do they report? Have any of them been able to trace where your missing space has gone to? Zunaid 11:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I tried WinDirStat on my desktop, it reported I was using the lower amount. Considering I've now tried this on 3 different computers, I'm starting to think this is not just my problem, has anyone else tried it, see what their figures are.--90.211.103.123 (talk) 17:51, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I've never had a problem like this before on multiple computers with multiple different versions of Windows and different installs. Are you absolutely certain that

• 1) There's nothing in the "System Volume Information" aka System Restore. Note that I'm pretty sure there is no way you can make system restore use a different drive. You can turn off system restore for drive C and only use it for drive D which means only changes to drive D are monitored & limits the usefulness of system restore if drive C is your system drive since you won't be able to restore to a good working config but if you want to do that, that's up to you. While system restore is I think usually fairly good at keeping to the quotas you probably should make sure it's really using what it says it is.
• 2) You're showing Hidden files and directores; AND System Files aka Protected Operating Sysem files
• 3) You don't have some sort of malware using lots of disk space
• 4) You're using a user with access to all files and directories in the computer. If you have multiple users for example, each user may not have access to the other user's files & directories no matter whether they are admins (if they are admins you can of course take control and grant access). It may be wise to enter into every main directory and important subdirectories like each user and make sure you have access. There are a few you shouldn't have to worry about e.g. "Documents and Settings" and "Default User" inside "Users" ("Users"\"Default User" on Vista/7 (since they are just junction points) but if in doubt, find out what it is and why you can't access it. Note that if you can't see a "Documents and Settings" in Vista or 7, you've almost definitely screwed up and are not showing hidden and/or system files/directories.
• 5) You're accounting for the recycle bin. If you're following the above you should be but if in doubt, check. If you have nothing useful in it, maybe just delete the whole recycle bin and I mean delete it i.e. delete the directory not empty it.

BTW, have you tried running the cleanup utility and enabling the cleanup of system files (it's an option in the cleanup utility unless you turned off UAC I guess) and seeing how much space it says it can free? You don't have to actually clean up anything just see how much space it says it can free.

Nil Einne (talk) 00:35, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Importing emails into Outlook Express

On my old computer I used to use Outlook Express. On my new computer I have Outlook Express 6, and I have copied all the Outlook Express email files from the old computer to the new computer. How do I get Outlook Express to use these files? I cannot find any option in the OE menus that allows this. I would prefer not to set OE as my default email program, I just want to look something up in the old emails. Both computers are XP. Thanks 84.13.56.95 (talk) 15:59, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

If you click Tools.. Options.. Maintenance tab, and then the "Store Folder" button, and navigate to where you have copied the files, then close and restart OE, it should read the old files. --Phil Holmes (talk) 16:35, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, that works. 89.243.188.42 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:44, 19 December 2009 (UTC).

Chinese handwriting recognition in XP

Dear Wikipedians:

Windows XP seems to come with Chinese handwriting recognition built-in. However, in Control Panel the only option I saw for Chinese handwriting recognition is the Drawing Pad. And when I open the Drawing Pad under Microsoft Word XP it does not seem to recognize my handwritten Chinese (in fact the drawing pad does not seem to do anything).

For English there is the "Write Anywhere" option which does indeed recognize handwritings, but only for the Latin alphabet.

How do I get XP to recognize my Chinese handwriting?

Thanks for all your help.

70.31.157.50 (talk) 17:41, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

My text highlighting has gone wacky

I am suddenly getting problems when trying to highlight text. For example: 1) I position the cursor just in front of the first letter of a word. I press the mouse button, and suddenly the word and space to the left is highlighted - not what I want. 2) After positioning the cursor and pressing the mouse button, when I drag it to the right very often either the left-hand end of the highlighting moves as well, or the right-hand end of the highlighting stops part way. 3) After highlighting text, when I right click and choose "Copy" from the menu, suddenly the highlighting jumps to another word that I had not highlighted. 4) To write something I position the cursor by moving it with the mouse and clicking it, and suddenly the word prior to where the cursor is is highlighted - aagain not what I want. What can I do to stop all this please? Thanks 89.243.188.42 (talk) 19:45, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

First thing to make sure is that none of your keyboard's "modifier keys" are depressed. Tap both of the ctrl, alt, shift, and any other modifier keys on your keyboard, repeatedly, to make sure they are off; and try again. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:05, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, a sticking Ctrl may have been the problem. 92.29.50.52 (talk) 23:19, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Support

Why does everyone favor Suse support then Ubuntu Support. Know that I'm still an newbie to open source/linux/Ubuntu. Anyway, I found that Ubuntu has good support. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jessicaabruno (talk • contribs) 19:52, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Certain versions of SUSE are commercial - so customers can purchase support packages. For example, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is targeted at business customers who can afford to pay for extra support. Nimur (talk) 20:07, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Okay--Jessica A Bruno 21:15, 19 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jessicaabruno (talk • contribs)

sidenote: Canonical and others offer commercial support for ubuntu, especially for the lts releases --194.197.235.240 (talk) 21:45, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Buying a new wireless network adapter card

The network adapter card in my new (2 weeks old) laptop, a Dell 1397 b/g, is very weak and doesn't do a good job of detecting signals even compared to my 3 year old laptop. If I buy a new wireless card, will the signal detection be better? In other words, is the wireless card responsible for detecting signals or is the laptop itself, by means of antennas or something, responsible for detecting the signals? 99.240.194.22 (talk) 21:07, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

All wireless receivers need an antenna; for a normal 802.11 receiving environment, that antenna doesn't have to be large (and so you mostly don't see it). For one built into a laptop, this antenna is typically wired inside the top of the frame of the screen. I've never found laptop receivers to be unsatisfactory, including those in Dells - so before you spend money, experiment a bit with moving the laptop around (away from sources of interference like electrical equipment, and from large metal objects like filing cabinets). You can always get a PCMCIA/PCARD adapter, or a usb based one - these too have small internal adapters, that you can barely see. For a genuinely difficult environment, some cards have the option of a larger external antenna. Even then, in circumstances like that, I've typically used a USB receiver with a longer USB cable (so I can dangle the little receiver off a wardrobe or something, where it gets a better signal). So, in short, there's no reason why a laptop should be particularly worse than an external card, and I'd want to reject the hypothesis that it is mispositioned, or defective, before spending money on a replacement. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:42, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

By Wireless card, I meant an internal one - so I would remove the one I have currently and replace it with a new one. Is this possible?

In further investigating the problem, I found that if I move my new laptop within an inch of my router, the computer begins to detect a very faint signal from the router, but is still unable to connect to it. Previously, I was about 10 feet away from the router. Again, neither my old laptop or iPod touch displays this odd behaviour. As a result, I'm fairly certain that my new laptop's card is is very weak in detecting signals. Will this be remedied by buying a new internal network adapter card? 99.240.194.22 (talk) 01:20, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

A (non-)working range of one inch is simply not acceptable for any Wifi card (perhaps they forgot to connect the antenna?). I suggest you to get it fixed under warranty instead of paying more money to fix it. --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:13, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Is that one of the possible reasons for the poor signals? That they forgot to connect the antenna? If so, could I do this myself by opening up the laptop? I called Dell Support, but they insisted that it was a software problem and told me I have to purchase a software warranty plan before they could help me. But I have installed all the relevant and newest drivers. 99.240.194.22 (talk) 02:37, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

It is certainly a possible cause. Yes you can usually fix it yourself by opening up your laptop and look for something like this. On my Vostro 1320 it is under the hard drive and quite easy to get access to but as you didn't specify what model is yours I can't say the same for yours. If you can find the service manual for your laptop (or post the model here and we can find it for you) it'd be a lot easier. In the photo I linked there are two silver circular things near the top right. That's the antenna connector. If it is not connected to anything then you definitely have a problem. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:13, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

UK/Ireland counties

Does anyone know of a piece of software that will convert a grid reference (any type - converters for these exist) to a (list of) counties that the grid reference lies within. The software would probably have to be open source - this relates to someones plant to mass upload and categorise images from geograph.org.uk onto commons. Thanks.Shortfatlad (talk) 21:53, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

You should probably talk to the maintainers of the GeoHack MediaWiki extension. I know it can take an OS grid reference and generate the town and county (as it does, for example, in the infobox in Great Broughton, North Yorkshire). It doesn't (or we don't let it) generate the administrative unit beneath that (Great Broughton, for example, is inside Hambleton). User:Egil is the original author of that extension, although as it's open source you can probably just read the source yourself. I don't know about the Republic. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:32, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. That's enough information for me for now.Shortfatlad (talk) 00:46, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Resolved

WinTV

I have a WinTV nova-t USB stick. I downloaded WinTV 7 and it installed the drivers for my device fine, but when it came to the actual WinTV 7 application it said I needed a cd to continue. I do not have a cd. So this means I can't actually watch anything. So my question is, are there any free, open source alternatives etc to WinTV 7? Thanks for the help —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 22:40, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

My experience with Hauppage's own application has been very poor indeed; it genuinely feels like a (bad) demo for the hardware, rather than an attempt at a finished application. You may have better luck with media centre applications like MediaPortal and XBMC. I got the former working okay with a Nova (but without the Freeview EPG info it wasn't that useful). Loath though I am to admit it, Windows Media Center (at least in Windows 7) is entirely excellent; it recognised and works with the Nova fine, gets the Freeview EPG info (and gets it right) with essentially no setup on my part, and really is every bit the polished useful application that Hauppage's isn't. Some more options, and their respective features, are compared at comparison of PVR software packages. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:50, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I had no idea Windows could do that, thanks. The only problem I have is it records everything in ".wtv" format which I can't convert or play or do anything with in other programs :( —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 23:37, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Windows 7 (I don't think Vista) will convert unprotected WTV to DVR-MS format (you just right-click on the recorded WTV file and pick the "convert to DVR-MS" option). With the file moved to Linux, DVR-MS plays fine for me in VLC and Mplayer (but not in totem-gstreamer or xine) and there are more options for converting it (because it's an older format). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:29, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

You can also convert the DVR-MS to WMV with Windows Live Movie Maker. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:05, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

DScaler supports some WinTV devices, you might give it a try. APL (talk) 00:01, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

December 20

JavaScript: registering event handlers in a loop

Resolved

Basically I have an array of objects, each one owning a DOM element, and I want to register an event handler to each of the DOM elements, but the function that executes when the event fires needs to know some property of the object that the specific DOM element is associated with. That might not be very clear, but here's the code:

for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
    var art = new Artifact(data[i], $('template_artifact'));
    $('shop_unselected').appendChild(art.element);
    art.element.onclick = function () { selectArtifact(art.getID(), true); };
}

Obviously as written this doesn't work as intended. art.getID() is evaluated when the event fires, which means it ends up taking whatever the last value of art was assigned to. I need some way of locking in the value of art.getID() at the time that the event handler is registered. Usually when I run into this problem I can find some dirty way to get around it, but I was wondering if there's a simple way to make this work that I'm not thinking of or don't know about. Rckrone (talk) 00:44, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Do you mean like so:

        art.element.onclick = function (id) {
            return function() { selectArtifact(id, true); }
        }(art.getID());

Looks a bit twisted but that's how you create a closure (google javascript closure for more). 88.112.56.9 (talk) 10:24, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

That's just what I needed. Thanks! Rckrone (talk) 16:00, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Linux boot drive mounting

This has happened twice in the last couple weeks - previously I've never seen anything like it. My understanding of LVM is that you cannot boot from an LVM drive. So, I install all of my machines with a plain Linux partition for boot and the rest of the drive space as LVM. For ease of discussion, assume there is one drive (sda) with two partitions (sda1 is /boot and sda2 is /). I can boot just fine. The problem is that once I boot, I cannot mount sda1. According to fdisk, it is there and a Linux partition. Looking in /dev/, it is not there. So, I cannot mount it. I do not want to attempt to fdisk sda1 again or reformat it because it contains grub - which will cause the machine to be useless if I mess it up. I'm left wondering two things: How can sda1 vanish from /dev/ when fdisk clearly reports it as being there? What can I do to force the system to recognize that sda1 exists without reformatting it? -- kainaw™ 03:27, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

To explain further, /etc/fstab has a commented out UUID line for /boot. The UUID listed does not exist anywhere in /dev. So, it cannot be mounted. -- kainaw™ 04:46, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't know why, but I think I know how this is happening: whatever's organising your "/dev" directory is messing up somehow and "forgetting" to make an entry for that partition - I know modern Linux kenels have various virtual filesystem drivers and user-space demons for it, but at heart it really is a filesystem with files in it. On an old-fashioned system, /dev is just a normal directory, and each file is created by running the mknod command or system call with the details of the device being represented. So the name "/dev/sda2" is really just a conventional place to put the file with the correct attributes for the second partition of the first "SCSI" disk. (Where these days "SCSI" may actually mean an IDE CD-writer, SATA drive, etc, with drivers implemented via SCSI emulation; clearly, the IDE implementation wasn't that extendable)

It looks like the device file system article has a more detailed explanation of this, including the various management systems used by more modern OSes (under the section headed "devfs"). - IMSoP (talk) 19:26, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Britannica Not Displaying Articles

Hello! I have i Britannica 2008 DVD,Install on my Dell Inspiron laptop with higher resolution,every thing is working good but i cant open an article.e,g when searched for atom and clicking on atom there is no text in the open tab.So plz tell me how can i solve this problem.(I have tried Windows XP and Windows 7)Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.154.42.42 (talk) 04:04, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

The joy of inkscape

Floydian's example

Hi again, its me. Enjoying the fun of learning inkscape. For some reason my text comes out as a black rectangle no matter what I do to it. Convert to Text -> Rectangle; Stroke to Path -> Rectangle; Object to path -> Rectangle. The rest of the svg is a path as well. I don't understand why the text is a rectangle even after I convert it to a path. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 08:15, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Finlay's fixed version

It's not Inkscape, it's the SVG renderer used by MediaWiki. The mediawiki (and firefox) renderer (which I think is libsvg) doesn't render flowregion objects properly (cf this simple example. That issue has been outstanding for years. I explain what to do in this posting. Ideally you'd leave the text objects as text (rather than converting them to paths, which are essentially impossible to edit); the list of available fonts is here. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:04, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I've uploaded a fixed version (I started with a fresh document and new text objects, and just imported your trapezium shape. The font I used is Bitstream Vera Sans Bold, which is slightly heavier than the one you used, but (particularly for such a small picture) the difference is probably too little to care about. Please feel free to speedy my example image once you're done with it. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:33, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm looking through the list of fonts that are supported. They seem to be precisely the list of fonts that inkscape doesn't have. How do I get them in inkscape (I know they are on my computer)? However, why is it that the text remains a rectangle even after I convert it to a path? Is it no longer text or a flow region at that point? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 18:28, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Inkscape doesn't have fonts of its own; it uses ones installed on your computer. So you should probably install the ones you want to use, so you can see the same results at home as you'll see once uploaded here. Your example still has a flowregion; I don't know how it got there. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 18:33, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Can I open the svg (I heard they're written like an xml file) and manually change it to not be a flow region? Also I do have those fonts (they appear in Microsoft Office), but they don't show up in inkscape. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 19:42, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

What version of Inkscape do you have? Versions <.43 had a bug in the font loader. Versions .44 and .45 fixed that bug, but the fix required removing support for OpenType/Postscript fonts. Version .46 had full font support re-added without the bug in the <.43 versions. -- kainaw™ 06:05, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

This is the typical response I see from the open-source community. They always point fingers. "You downloaded the wrong version." "You should have run fsck." Or they blame the OEM: "Their drivers are buggy."

But, like Kainaw and Antilived have said: never try Illustrator. It's too expensive. Don't try CorelDraw, either. It's also too expensive. Besides, they're not open source. Inkskape appears to not work at all, but it's open source, so it's worth putting up with not getting any work done. Right?--Drknkn (talk) 12:10, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

FireWire for HD camcorder

Hi. I have a Sony HCR-HC7 camcorder that I need to back-up some HD video from. I am looking for a PCI card so that I can copy the video to my PC. I am trying to figure out if FireWire supports HD video and, assuming it does, whether there are some FireWire PCI cards that are appropriate for HD video and some that aren't (for example, whether I need to have a 1394b compliant card). Also, I am wondering whether it is possible to use the HDMI output to transfer directly to a PC (I have looked but can't seem to find an HDMI PCI card, so I am guessing that people just use FireWire). I have tried Googling this morning, but I can't seem to find definitive answers on this, so any help would be really appreciated. Thanks MyWireIsOnFire (talk) 11:37, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

1. "I am trying to figure out if FireWire supports HD video". FireWire is just the cable and the chipset that lets you transfer data between your camcorder and your computer. FireWire itself doesn't know from video formats. What you need to find out is what FireWire transfer rate (400? 800?) your camcorder is going to output, and then you'll need a FireWire PCI card that supports that transfer rate. 2. "Can I use the HDMI connector instead?" I haven't ever done this, but googling "hdmi pci input" yielded this card on the first page; there are presumably others. Comet Tuttle (talk) 03:02, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Free SVG picture

How do I make one? I have only a pc. Kittybrewster ☎ 12:44, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Use the free SVG software Inkscape. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 13:00, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

This question includes a link to a SVG tutorial at the end - apparantly SVG files are easy to make. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Computing#File_formats_for_Geographical_information_systems_or_mapping_software 89.242.211.123 (talk) 16:05, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Windows taskbar position.

My 18 month old was playing with my PC the other day and managed to move the taskbar into a vertical position up the side of the screen. I've looked at all sorts of things but I can't find out how to move it back to the bottom. Help? I'm using Windows XP, home edition, version 2002.91.109.225.220 (talk) 14:41, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't have XP to hand, but I think you can just drag the taskbar to whichever edge you want. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:42, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) "All sorts of things" doesn't seem to have included Google. You just need to click and drag the taskbar. If that doesn't work, right-click on it, deselect "lock the taskbar", and then click and drag. Algebraist 14:45, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't have XP any more so I can't check, but I recall that from some positions the taskbar seems reluctant to move, and it is necessary to click somewhere near the time. Dbfirs 17:29, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

The key thing seems to be to click on a blank area of it, (making sure it is not locked is important)Shortfatlad (talk) 17:46, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Just to make it more clear - click and hold the mouse button down, and move the mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen. Then release. Once done I recommend locking the taskbar as described above to prevent it accidentally happening again.Shortfatlad (talk) 17:48, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Modifying XP/IE8 to remember previous Favorites or Save As links

One thing I find tedious about XP/IE8 is that instead of them remebering where you previously saved a webpage, file, or Favo(u)rite, you have to browse for the same location all over again. Is there any way of modifying them to remember this? If they cannot be modified, then what operating systems or browsers can be modified in this way by the user, or offer this feature already? Thanks 89.242.211.123 (talk) 16:11, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I think you can do this. In Explorer you can add files and programs to the favorites (use "organise favorites" and drag the file to the list ). In IE8 you can do the same, again select organise favorites and drag the file to the favorites list. There probably are other ways to do this. Is this what you meant?Shortfatlad (talk) 17:22, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Another way - in "explorer" (that's the name for the program window that is open when you browse files) - select "folders" in the taskbar - then navigate to the file you want - make sure you navigate in the directory display on the left. With the file or program or folder you want to favorite : make sure it is selected - ie its contents should show up in the main part of the display on the right. Then simply select "favorites" >> "add to favorites" - things selected as favorites also show up as favorites in internet explorer (and vice versa). Does this work for you?Shortfatlad (talk) 17:42, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Click to expand : from here - select the "folder icon" to get the left part of the display to change, then select the file and add to favorites.

I am not sure if that is what I want. What I meant was, if I am saving a series of things, then I would like the computer to remember where I saved the previopus one, and offer me that location again, rather than having to browse for it all over again. 89.242.211.123 (talk) 21:34, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Doesn't IE8 do that - I'm sure if I select "save as" from internet explorer and change the place the file is saved, then the next time it offers the new location. Did you want a "list of most recent saved positions" to select from or something like that?Shortfatlad (talk) 21:49, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

It does not do it on my computer. I just get My Documents. 89.242.211.123 (talk) 23:10, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Stumped - could this be something to do with enabling cookies (they help the computer remember) ? Got those turned on? Someone else might know.Shortfatlad (talk) 23:15, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I do have cookies turned on. When I save pictures the computer sometimes offers the previously saved location. Update: when I save another picture quickly after the previous one, the location is remembered. If its a minute or too, then I just get offered My Pictures. So seems to be time related. 89.242.211.123 (talk) 23:34, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

?It may be remembering by file type? Might be worth experimenting to see if that's the case. eg see if .jpg .wmv .html files always save to the same location once seleted?Shortfatlad (talk) 23:57, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

It might be something to do with using Ccleaner a lot, which cleans out a lot of things. If I knew which was the relevant record, I could tell Ccleaner not to erase it. 78.147.27.40 (talk) 20:34, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Probably - using internet explorer's own "delete browsing history" also resets it.Shortfatlad (talk) 21:20, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

BSOD, Kernel Panic

How do you take a screenshot of them? --Drogonov 16:43, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

If you run the panicky OS inside a virtual machine, you can screenshot its bluescreen using the host OS tools. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:51, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

In a last resort, you can pull out your digital camera and actually photograph the screen. I've had to do this a dozen times or so. If the purpose is contacting The Authorities, it's better than nothing. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:10, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I've often asked people who call me and ask me to magically fix their computer from a few hundred miles away to take a photo with their phone and txt me the photo. It is an easy way to do a screenshot for those that don't know what a screenshot is. -- kainaw™ 17:13, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

If you just want to see the panic info, on Linux some panics write to dmesg. Similarly Windows can be configured to store some crashes in a crash log. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:29, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Dmesg is going to be overwritten the next time the computer boots. You might have better luck checking syslog or setting up more verbose logging. Also look for any core dumps. Shadowjams (talk) 21:12, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

My computer'c clock suffers from amnesia

I'm using Ubuntu, and no matter how often I set the clock right, the next time I upload the OS, the clock is late again. --Quest09 (talk) 17:55, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Assuming there are no major differences in this respect between Windows and Ubuntu, and your computer is a few years old, it may well be that the CMOS battery has gone. Fortunately this can be reasonably easy to fix. Hope that helps, - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 18:01, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

If it's easy on your model, you might just go ahead and replace the CMOS battery as Jarry 1250 suggests. If you want to try something else, you might try noting just how much it is late. Is it reset to some date several years ago? Is it slow by the amount of time the computer was off? If you are using a dual-boot setup with another OS like Windows, does use of the other operating system influence how much time is lost? --Jc3s5h (talk) 18:05, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the laptop is rather old (7 years). No, not all information is lost. The date is right and it is late by the same amount of time. No, I don't have another OS, and I cannot install Windows since the laptop doesn't have a cd-rom anymore.--Quest09 (talk) 18:08, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't use Ubuntu - but on SuSE, you can set the hardware clock equal to the software clock using:

 /sbin/hwclock --systohc

(You have to have superuser privilages to do that).

If that permenantly fixes your problem, then you're good to go. If the problem comes back after the next time you power down your machine - then it's likely a CMOS battery problem. If the error is a suspiciously round number of hours - then perhaps you have the timezone settings screwed up in some "interesting and creative" way. SteveBaker (talk) 03:04, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

It certainly sounds to me like the problem is with an old battery on the motherboard. You should be able to work around this by configuring your Ubuntu installation to perform an Internet time update at regular intervals (NTP server) -- I believe by default the schedule will be to update every 24 hours, but you should be able to reconfigure the cron job for it to update more frequently. Rjwilmsi 19:03, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Is it always off by some round number of hours? Or is it different each time? APL (talk) 02:05, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Networking with Ubuntu and Windows

I have a laptop running Ubuntu 9.10 that I wish to hook up via an unsecured linksys wireless connection to a hardwired Windows network. How should I do this? --Lucas Brown 17:58, 20 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lucas Brown 42 (talk • contribs)

Perhaps I should rephrase this a little. I can hook up to the internet/etc. from the laptop via that linksys (I am writing this on that laptop), but I cannot access shared documents on the Windows machines. What should I do to be able to access them? --Lucas Brown 18:00, 20 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lucas Brown 42 (talk • contribs)

In my experience sharing from Windows to LINUX is quite straightforward -- you simply mark a folder as shared in Windows, and then you can access it in LINUX by the network tab in Konqueror or Dolphin etc. Rjwilmsi 19:06, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Unix and Linux

So which Unix did you mean?

What are the similarities and differences between the two of them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jessicaabruno (talk • contribs) 18:07, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

See the Linux and Unix articles. To the layman, Linux (more properly called "GNU/Linux") is basically just one variety of Unix. There are many, many versions of Unix. To the expert, Linux is of particular interest because it is free software, unlike Unix; the use of the GPL software license has caused a proliferation of free software that works on Linux systems. (I am obviously glossing over large amounts of information, which will annoy the Linux guys.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:14, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

(Whether Linux is "more properly" called GNU/Linux is a matter of considerable debate in the community. IMHO, it's just Linux and the GNU guys are merely trying to grab some credit for the (considerable) work they did on tools by muscling in on the name. Very, VERY few people outside of the GNU inner-cabal actually call it "GNU/Linux" in practice.) SteveBaker (talk) 02:59, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Had to correct a couple items, I guess I annoyed myself. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:27, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

comet,

Thanx for answer to my question here. Wasn't really looking in depth answer, but just looking for the basics.

Its alright about the corrections, have seen my fair share of it, did it myself as well.--Jessica A Bruno 19:20, 20 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jessicaabruno (talk • contribs)

There are differences in detail - but at the level where most people use them, they are almost identical. In particular, the BSD flavor of UNIX shares such a vast amount of software with Linux that an end user might be very hard pressed to see any distinction at all. These days, the differences between UNIX and Linux are no greater than between one flavor of Linux and another (Ubuntu or SuSE or whatever). The main areas where there are differences is due to UNIX having become somewhat frozen in time - where development on Linux is incredibly active. Older versions of Linux were much closer to a standard UNIX distro than more modern varieties. SteveBaker (talk) 02:59, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

DVDs and music files

I have some blank rewritable DVDs; to be exact they are DVD-RW 4.7GB/120min. My car stereo says that it plays MP3 and WMA files. If I were to burn some MP3 or WMA music files onto the DVDs should my car stereo be able to play them, or would I need to use CDs? (The stereo does not have a USB port, so when the manual says that it plays MP3 and WMA I assumed it meant CDs; my questions is whether DVDs would also work) ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 20:01, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

It's unlikely that your car stereo will read DVDs unless it's a multimedia stereo (any video outputs?). Have you got the model number? (Also the instructions will say if you have any)Shortfatlad (talk) 20:08, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

It's a Sony CDX-GT24 [16] ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 20:41, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

DVDs are an entirely different reader and format than CDs. If the car stereo doesn't say it can read DVDs, it probably cannot. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:12, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Really? Sugar! I'll have to go out and buy some CDs. Any suggestions on the type? ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 20:44, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Doesn't matter, really. CD-R or CD+R are the options. In most modern readers and writers there is no difference, but if the stereo is a few years old you might check the documentation first to see if it has a preference. Ditto with your recorder. There is no need to get RWs unless you plan to write to the CDs again and again, which is generally not really that cost effective given how cheap CD-Rs are these days. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:02, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Update: the spec page on your stereo says it definitely reads CD-R. So get those. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:03, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Fantastic! Thank you for such a helpful reply. I really appreciate it :o) ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 22:22, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

December 21

Could a java Kaliedoscope applet run as a screensaver?

I really like the larger version of this kaliedoscope http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/Kaleido.html I do not know anything about Java. How easy or difficult would it be to get the same code to run on my computer rather than on a webpage? The source code is given further down the page. I have WinXP. Thanks 89.242.211.123 (talk) 00:35, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

What's wrong with my monitor? Does this problem have a name?

There seems to be some sort of visual artifact with my new LCD monitor. I don't know how to describe it, but there's an echo effect with everything on the screen. It's like a faint mirror image of the entire desktop appears slightly offset by a couple centimeters to the right. Actually, there's as many of five of these mirror images, each slightly offset. The problem is subtle, but noticeable. Does this problem have a name? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 03:04, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

What you've described sounds like ghosting. Are you using a VGA cable? If you can, use DVI to connect to your monitor instead, as interference in the VGA cable can cause this artifact. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:50, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

I've seen, at most, 30 cases of ghosting on LCD monitors. Every single one, without fail, was caused by a cheap VGA cable. Cheap cables are OK if they are very (VERY) short. The longer they get, the worse they get. Using a DVI connector (or at least a good VGA cable) will most likely fix the problem. -- kainaw™ 04:49, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I am using a VGA cable. However, it is the same VGA cable I used with my old monitor and it did not have ghosting issues. I'll try a different cable when I get home from work. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 13:31, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Are you using the same resolution as you used with your old monitor? Some cables only support resolutions up to a certain figure before you get ghosting issues and so if your new monitor is a higher resolution than your old monitor (probably?) then it could still cause the problem and be related to the cable. ZX81 ^talk 17:07, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Check the simple things first: if you don't have the VGA cable correctly inserted and screwed in, you may get this effect. I had this with my PC at work. Rjwilmsi 19:07, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Google Maps errors

How does one report an error on Google maps (for London) to them? AFAIK, they have no feedback mechanism. The particular problem apears to be that Earl's Court Exhibition Centre is labelled Clarion Events (which for all I know may be its official name) and teh Olympia Exhibition Centre is labelled Earl's Court Exhibition Centre - which is obviously wrong. -- SGBailey (talk) 11:36, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Is this not it [17] it seems you contact their data providers or use the map makerShortfatlad (talk) 12:57, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

If it is, it is beyond my abilities to use it. There are lots of links on that page none of which appear to permit the reporting of an error. Some of which allow you to fix things - however I don't know what is right, only that what they have is wrong. -- SGBailey (talk) 13:56, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

For most of Europe, Tele Atlas is Google's data provider, so (unfortunately) you have to report the problem directly to them and hope it gets fixed. Google uses their own data for the US and Canada, so these are the only locations where you can report problems directly to them. Xenon54 / talk / 14:16, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Tele Atlas also has a fancy interactive reporting mechanism, so it isn't possible for me to report this error to them. These organisations strive very hard to prevent you contacting them. -- SGBailey (talk) 16:49, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Why not simply use the interactive reporting mechanism? It looks like they worked very hard to simplify the submision, and subsequent handling of error reports. (Imagine the difference in efficiency between this and people from all over the world reporting errors in long, rambling prose in a few dozen languages.) But if you have to do it the difficult way for some reason, you could try the address here, on their contact page. APL (talk) 02:01, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

From my experience (reporting a mountain marked in the middle of a river) Googlemaps seem to ignore errors reported through their automated submission. Dbfirs 08:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

In the US, you right click on the item (marker, label)and there is a "Report A Problem" menu option. I would think the UK would be the same. I have a Google logon and it shows me my logon on the top when I am on Google. I would suspect you have to be logged in to report the problem. BTW - I reported some errors last week that have not been changed yet. --Wonderley (talk) 16:31, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Bluetooth chaining

I have to disconnect my Bluetooth headphones from my laptop to connect them to my Samsung Vice phone (model SCH-R561) and vice-versa. I think a solution to this problem would be if whenever the phone and headphones were linked, the phone told my laptop that *it* was a headset, and passed through the laptop's sound output in addition to its own (except during a call and while playing an alert, when it would ignore the laptop's output). Can I do this with a J2ME app or by installing alternative firmware on the phone? I'm willing to void the warranty. NeonMerlin 17:08, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Handle unrecognized SSL issuers better in Firefox

A lot of sites seem to issue their own SSL certificates, use expired SSL certificates, or use single-domain certificates when they should be using wildcard certificates. It takes a lot of clicking to get past Firefox's warning about this. Can I set up Firefox to, when the problem with the certificate is one of these, simply display a warning message above the page and present it as non-secure? (In such cases, I'd ideally like JavaScript and applets to be initially disabled, and for Firefox to refuse to send pre-existing cookies, load saved passwords into forms, or submit forms, until I'd confirmed the exception.) NeonMerlin 18:31, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

December 22

IRC Channels in Pidgin

How can I connect to #wikipedia-en-help using pidgin? I can't seem to figure it out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MMS2013 (talk • contribs) 02:04, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

First, you need to connect to an IRC service. I suggest freenode. Make a new account in Pidgin:

• Protocol: IRC
• Username: Whatever you like
• Server: irc.freenode.net
• Password: blank
• Local alias: blank
• Port: 6667
• Encodings: UTF-8
• Everything else, leave as default - meaning don't change it.

Now, connect to the new account. Go to "Join a Chat". Select the freenode account. Enter "#wikipedia-en-help" in the channel box. Leave the password blank. Click "join". I know that sounds like a LOT of work, but it isn't. It is two steps. Connect to an IRC service. Join the chat. -- kainaw™ 02:09, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

"Suggesting" freenode isn't an option, it's mandatory - #wikipedia-en-help is not populated on other IRC servers. Coreycubed (talk) 16:18, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

script help

I had the following greasemonkey script that added the page name to the title bar, for example if the url was "http://example.com/page/123.html" the page title would be "example.com - 123". This is the script:

if (location.href.match(/([^/]+)\.html$/))
    document.title = 'example.com -' + RegExp.lastParen;

However, the website seemed to have changed one tiny thing; urls no longer have ".html" at the end, so now it's just "http://example.com/page/123" and my script doesn't work. Please could someone have a look at it and tell me what I need to do to get it working again. Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 09:56, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, I'm not sure exactly what you are going for, but it should be trivial to simply optionally strip the .html (or .htm) extension:

if (location.href.match(/([^/]+)(\.html?)?$/))
    document.title = 'example.com -' + RegExp.lastParen;

Is that what you are looking for? —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 15:12, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you, but it didn't work :( —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 15:25, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Oops. Just realized you used LastParen. That would copy out the .html, if it existed. I don't know JavaScript all that well, but you should change the second line to pull the first capture group. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 15:52, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Could you explain a little more, first capture group?

Got myself into a mess with Domains and Workgroups

My Windows XP PC was on a the domain for my company. I was experimenting with workgroups (so thatI could share a printer) and moved it onto a local workgroup. However, it is now booting into what seems to be the default account for the PC (an IT admin who is no longer with the company). When I try to re-attach it to the domain, it won't do it because it can't contact the domain controller (the PC is not in the office). Now, I am sure that I can eventually figure out how to connect over the VPN and re-connect to the domain controller, but is there a way to go back on the domain without having to contact the domain server? If not, is there way to have the PC boot into my original account (so that I get the same desktop etc) while staying in the workgroup. Any help would be really appreciated, because getting hold of the VPN client at the moment could take a few days (due to company restructuring and Xmas holidays). LooseJuice (talk) 10:29, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

If you just want access to the files on your other desktop, on XP they're usually located in C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Desktop but to rejoin the domain is really going to require access to a domain controller. I don't know if this will actually work (it's a pretty almighty kludge if it does!), but you could try using System Restore to roll your computer back to a date where you were still on the domain. Since you're not actually actively talking to the Domain Controller this may work enough for you to be able to log into your normal account and use it as before, but you may have problems later on when you try and talk to the domain resources/computers. If you try this, please do let us know if this works as I'd love to know! Regarding the later possible problems, when you leave a domain your computer tells the controller that it's leaving and the computer account is then automatically removed from Active Directory and if that's happened then even if System Restore works then your machine won't be able to authenticate with some network resources until it's rejoined to the domain, however since you're unable to connect to the domain controller now I'm assuming it wasn't able to connect at the point you dejoined it from the domain (you get an error message saying about computer account data couldn't be removed from the domain) so this may not affect you. Hope this is of some help! ZX81 ^talk 15:52, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

You may also be able to create a local user account and copy the domain account folder's contents to the new local account. You may need to log in first as the new user to get Windows to initialize the user folder for you. Then, reboot and log in as your first local account and do the copy. That way no files will be locked in the process. Coreycubed (talk) 16:13, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Internet browser speeds

As part of it's advertising, Google sometimes refers to it's Chrome browser as 'The world's fastest browser', or so it was said on a billboard I travelled past. My question is, how much of your overall internet speed depends on your browser and how much depends on your connection? As a result, what would be the fastest free browser I would be able to get? Chevymontecarlo (talk) 11:04, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I happened to have timed six browsers on my computer a few weeks ago to see which started up the fastest. The following are in seconds, followed by milliseconds:

1. Internet Explorer 6: 800 ms
2. Internet Explorer 8: 2400 ms
3. Opera 9: 2700 ms
4. Konqueror: 3100 ms
5. Safari 4: 3200 ms
6. Firefox 3.5: 4200 ms

Another benchmark is how long it takes a browser to complete the Sunspider benchmarks. Those measure the speed with which a browser processes JavaScripts:

1. Safari 4: 615.0 ms
2. Firefox 3.5: 1054.4 ms
3. Opera 9: 4053.8 ms
4. Konqueror: 4756.0 ms
5. Internet Explorer 8: 5536.8 ms
6. Internet Explorer 6: 60788.8 ms

I'm not sure about HTML and image-loading speeds, though.--Drknkn (talk) 12:05, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for sharing that research. Perhaps I'll Google around a bit more and see what I can find. Chevymontecarlo (talk) 12:11, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Internet Explorer startup speeds are known to be false. Much of Internet Explorer is shared with Windows. So, just starting Windows starts up half of Internet Explorer. The other browsers need to start from scratch. Firefox has some kind of jump-start thing that will start most of it when the computer starts so you can launch Firefox quicker. -- kainaw™ 12:20, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

The IE speeds are hardly false - they are just able to access fringe-benefits by being part of the main operating system. It seems like that's worth noting as a caveat for speeds, but it doesn't make their speed invalid in anyway (the speeds are important in so much as they are about the end-user's experience aren't they?). 194.221.133.226 (talk) 13:50, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

If you include the extra time it takes for the necessary components of IE to start when Windows starts, you have an accurate start time. The user does have to wait for Windows to start up. That startup time takes longer because half of IE is started when Windows starts. So, artificially deciding to start all timings after Windows starts provides a false/invalid value. -- kainaw™ 13:57, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't see how that's relevant though? You have to wait for Windows to start up before you can use *any* application/browser, so by your definition you should be applying that startup time to all browsers? After all the other browsers will also need some of the components that Windows loads whilst starting up... ZX81 ^talk 15:38, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

iTunes Gametrailers.com video podcast error

Hi. I don't know whether anyone else has experienced the same problem too, but I'm subscribed via iTunes to the Gametrailers.com video podcast. While I was downloading some of the episodes, I found that a couple of the episodes could not be played in iTunes. The program said that the file was perhaps corrupted, or was the incorrect file type. How could this be when all the other podcasts downloaded just fine? I have tried re-downloading the podcasts a couple of times, but still the same error. I also checked my internet connection, and ruled that out too as it was working just fine. Any help is greatly appreciated. Chevymontecarlo (talk) 12:17, 22 December 2009 (UTC)