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May 14

Automated Photo Mosaic Maker for Mac OS X

I am looking for a photo mosaic maker that can automatically assemble a specific selection of photos into a mosaic.--153.20.24.67 (talk) 01:56, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Picasa does mosaics. F (talk) 10:32, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

That'd be a great program to use. It's created by Google and it's completely free! Chevymontecarlo. 11:16, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Scam Website

Hi, I came across a website claiming to be an authorized Mobile devices seller in Europe. After dealing with them I knew they are fraud! My question is who should I be reporting this to? Thanks - Kim —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.201.1.220 (talk) 08:29, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

This could be quite difficult if you ordered from Bahrain. What country in Europe was the website hosted in? For the UK, Trading standards would be the first point of contact.

(By the way, Kim, I'm not suggesting that you are responsible, but could you help us by discouraging others at your school from vandalising Wikipedia?) Dbfirs 11:11, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Also reporting the website as phisihing via the controls in the browser will also help other people. For IE8 go to tools-->SmartScreen Filter-->Report Website. If you are using the norton software, click the "NOrton" logo on your toolbar and then click report site. --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 05:29, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Integer division rounding up

I'm a very new programmer (VB.NET) trying to write a program for a vending machine for a school assignment. I've got it to return the specific coins given as change but it won't give me the right number sometimes because integer division rounds up if the remainder is above 0.5 (at least, that seems to be what the problem is, if not then I've got no idea). How do I get it to always round down? 212.219.39.146 (talk) 09:01, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Hmm. In nearly all programming languages, integer division does always truncate ("round down"), at least for positive operands. Are you sure that your data types are integers (not just the values?). If one of the operands is of type float (or whatever the language uses), the calculation will usually be performed using floating point arithmetic, and possibly rounded if assigned to an integer. Given that the numbers involved are small, why not just iterate (i.e. start with an empty set, add one of the largest coin until you would overpay, go to the next smallest coin, repeat. That also easily adapts to the case that you are out of certain kinds of coins). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 09:39, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Because we've not been taught loops yet. (That would require some kind of loop, right?) You might be right about the data types, I'll check when I get chance. Thanks! 212.219.39.146 (talk) 09:53, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Mmm...that didn't work. 212.219.39.146 (talk) 09:59, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

If converting from float to integer always rounds to nearest integer, then you can force rounding down by subtracting 0.5 from the floating point result before converting to an integer (I am assuming that 0.5 rounds up here). Gandalf61 (talk) 10:25, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

It does indeed. Cheers, that should work. I'd considered it before but it seemed...inelegant. Ah well. Cheers! 212.219.39.146 (talk) 10:33, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

I've often done it that way and I also find it inelegant. You should be able to use the more elegant Math.Truncate(). --Phil Holmes (talk) 10:53, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

I would triple check that all of my variables were integer variables. Try to assign one something like 2.5; it should fail. vb.net has an "integer division" operator, the backslash ("\"); that one will give you a truncated division operation. For your homework problem, you also want to look at the "mod" function; it gives you the remainder of an integer division operation. I'll leave you to look up details as part of your learning process, and feel free to post questions back here.

Also, I think your instincts about the "inelegance" of the "subtract .5" solution were right on.

Ralphcook (talk) 00:39, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

gunzip from string in perl

I have a http response in a perl program. But the response encoding is gzip. How do I deflate it? Searching in the net I can only find how to unzip from a file. 59.93.209.146 (talk) 14:23, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm more of a python than perl person myself, but it seems like perl follows the same nomencature - gzip handles the full .gz compressed file format, using the zlib compression library. I think you need to use zlib yourself, as you're dealing with a simple compressed stream not a formatted file. Perl's zlib documentation is here; that, and not gzip/gunzip, seems to be what you need. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:47, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

I am trying to use IO::Uncompress::AnyUncompress. I have this code

$input= $response->content();
$in= \$input;
$output= "bingo";
$out= \$output;
print $$out;
anyuncompress $in => $out;

anyuncompress expects a reference but all I get is an error: Can't call method "anyuncompress" on unblessed reference What do I do ?59.93.209.146 (talk) 15:30, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

You forgot the "use IO::Uncompress::AnyUncompress qw(anyuncompress);" line. --Sean 15:50, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, any ideas on how to extract text between the html tags ? 59.93.209.146 (talk) 16:17, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

HTML::Parser. —Sean 16:47, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

It'd be much easier to just call "gzip -c -d" from the sys function, or if you need to capture the output, from within backticks. This sacrifices some portability and elegance, but is much easier. Shadowjams (talk) 03:39, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I think that's a bad idea in this case. Two-way communication with a subprocess over pipes is likely to deadlock unless you use select/poll IO, which is a lot more complicated than using the Perl deflate library (which is very simple, the OP's problem notwithstanding). Also, there are three different wrapper formats for deflate data (RFC 1950, RFC 1951 and RFC 1952) and some inconsistency in what gets delivered in practice, so AnyUncompress's automatic format detection is probably desirable. Gzip only understands RFC 1952, and there aren't any standard command-line tools that accept the others (to my knowledge). -- BenRG (talk) 03:04, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Software for my retail shop

Hello! I am starting a new retail shop where I sell assorted items. Is there a free and simple software that I can use for printing receipts for my customers? I have windows and linux. Would prefer an open source solution, if that is possible. Thank you for your suggestions.--117.196.129.155 (talk) 20:19, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, that's an interesting question. I had a look around our articles, and I found Comparison of accounting software - there are a few open source packages listed as having point of sale features which I think are appropriate. Business software also looks useful. If I find anything else, I'll post again. CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 21:40, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

OpenERP looks promising, as does Apache OFBiz, especially as the Apache Foundation is generally well regarded. Need third opinions on quality and suitability at this point, as I'm a little outside my specialism now. CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 22:00, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you! I'll check those up. Couldnt get anything much on googling earlier. So much appreciate the links. Will get back to you. --117.196.129.155 (talk) 22:20, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

I would see if there is a trial version available of QuickBooks, which I assume is used by 98% of American businesses. If it suits your needs, buy it. Comet Tuttle (talk) 03:40, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Windows XP DHCP problems

My computer won't connect to the network. I think it is a DHCP problem and hope somebody can help.

I've been trying to set up an old computer with its original Windows XP Pro installation. The idea was to get it online, then run Windows Update an infinite number of times to get it ready for use. Hence, I now have a fresh WinXP installation on it that came from a CD that was at least five years old. The problem is getting it on the network. I've tried both with a long LAN cable (the access point is some distance away) and the PCI WLAN card (Ralink 2500-something), for which I downloaded drivers on a different computer and transferred them via a USB stick. As far as I can tell the problems are similar for the two types of connection (I have not had them on at the same time). I've disabled all WEP/WPA on my Linksys WL500G router (which I have now tried to restart several times). The computer has worked with the router before. The router is servicing two other computers and a cellphone just fine.

The problem seems to be that I cannot renew my IP address. ipconfig shows a 164.* address that I believe to be a default for unconnected computers (my home network is 192.168.1.*). Ipconfig/release works fine. Ipconfig/renew shows an error about not being able to connect to DHCP server (or something to that effect; I'm translating from a non-English installation). I've tried to write "netsh int ip reset log.txt" and it didn't help. I can ping localhost and get a reply. The wireless connection shows as "connected", sends data packets, but never receive any. Pinging 192.168.1.1 (the address of the router) gives no reply (it works from other computers on the network). Googling for this is a bit tricky because a lot of things can go wrong with a network, but I've tried (that's where I got the netsh command from, for example). So do anyone have any ideas? I know 2005-ish WinXP is old and outdated but the idea was, as I said, to get it updated. I'm not willing to pay for a newer licence. I considered Ubuntu or some other Linux flavor but there's a lot of various PCI stuff connected to this computer and I know they've all worked under XP before while I've had problems with Linux. Thanks for any help! Jørgen (talk) 20:49, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

Is there any MAC filtering on the router?

Do you have any remaining IP addresses on your router? (sometimes the range is intentionally shrunk to limit the number of connections to it, although this is not a good 'security' feature in reality anyway--neither is MAC filtering)

Is your SSID hidden? This can cause issues with some wireless adapters. (also a poor security feature)

Are your TCP/IP settings (Network Connections->Adapter Properties) pre-defined or set to automatically configure? (automatic is usually best)

Have you verified your ethernet cable is good?

I noticed you mentioned you have a lot of PCI devices installed on this computer. Are there any possible conflicts? Run devmgmt.msc to see if Windows has detected any.

Just a few ideas and things to try out if you haven't already. Be sure you check doubly that your drivers are the correct ones as well. -Amordea (talk) 01:19, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for your advice - I think I have all those covered. I haven't verified the Ethernet cable but as I said I have similar problems with wifi. Also, most of the PCI stuff is disabled now as I haven't installed drivers yet. Maybe I'll have another look at the network drivers, but as I connect to the network somehow, I'm feeling that is not the problem... we'll see. Thanks anyway! Jørgen (talk) 07:44, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

If it is just DHCP, you could set a usable address manually. Control Panel, Network Properties, right click and select Properties, Internet Protocol.. Properties, Use the Following Address, 192.168.1.2 --Phil Holmes (talk) 09:28, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

I would never have even attempted a wireless connection until everything was updated, for fear of unsolvable driver problems costing me infinite time to track down. I'd have done it wired - and in your case, I guess advising a replacement cable is the first thing I'd try. Sorry to sound lame, but I actually had a bad brand-new cable frustrate my net setup just last month. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:26, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks to both of you. (Tried DCHP, didn't help (but I liked the idea), and couldn't find another 10m cable). I finally bit the bullet (is that an expression?) and installed some bloated WLAN interface made by the wlan chipset manufacturer. And voila, it worked! Apparently it installed something called an AEGIS protocol in addition to the TCP-IP (and likely a lot of other stuff, but I can always try uninstalling it again when all updates are in). It also allowed me to keep my wlan encryption on. So this is written using Internet Explorer 6 while downloading Service Pack 2. A nice weekend to you all! Jørgen (talk) 19:23, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Help me choose a language

I wish to create a closed source program that I will be selling. I would like the program to work across platforms. Which language would you recommend me to code in? Is Java used for desktop applications now-a-days? (can't seem to recollect any java application except those on mobiles). I googled around a bit and found Qt (under LGPL) and Mono as other options. So what do u suggest? Java/Qt/Mono/Qyoto/Jambi? Or something else? Thank you!--117.196.129.155 (talk) 21:39, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

I think you need to explain more before we can give an educated answer. Some questions I have:

• What is your level of programming proficiency?
• What languages do you already know? Which is your favorite, and why?
• Is this a large program or a small one? What is the type of application?
• What is the importance of performance?

Without answers to these questions, I think an answer is premature. Comet Tuttle (talk) 03:39, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

I really don't want to trigger a debate, but you should consider whether using a cross-platform approach is right at all. In his seminal book About Face, Alan Cooper contends that using these cross-platform toolkits, you end up with a program that looks and more importantly works non-Windows on Windows and non-Mac on Mac, ultimately pleasing no one. He suggest focusing on the primary (i.e. most profitable) platform first. (I find Cooper an unsympathetic guy with a Jupiter-sized ego, but that doesn't mean he is wrong.) If for you that is Windows, I suggest using the standard Platform SDK from C++ or even C, which are boring and old-fashioned, but fast and reliable. Of course, whether that matters will depend on the type of application. For example, picking Java for a high-end engineering application like AutoCad or Design Compiler is a huge gamble performance-wise. Finally, and don't take this as an insult, but you appear to be leaning towards the hip buzzwords of the day. Ultimately, your customers will not care what it's written in, just how well it works. I could go on all day, but as Tuttle said, we need more details to be able to narrow it down. 83.81.60.11 (talk) 07:56, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Java is certainly used for desktop apps; OpenOffice.org, Vuze, LimeWire and NASA World Wind being some of the more well known ones. See Category:Java platform software for more. F (talk) 10:30, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

With all due respect to Alan Cooper (I have never read his works), I think he must have missed the Look and Feel chapter of the Introduction to JFC/Swing tutorial. It's nearly trivial to make your program look like the Windows GUI; it is the programmer's preference to follow Windows style and nomenclature guidelines for any particular platform. Nimur (talk) 14:26, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't think we need to know these things. The question isn't *that* complicated.

The OP doesn't tell us why he wants cross-platform capability, so questioning that he wants it is a bit presumptive. I do agree that there are lots of other considerations that are likely to drive the choice of language, but this is what the OP is interested in, let's try to answer that.

The only language I know of that had cross-platform capability as a design goal and is generally popular these days is Java. Yes, desktop applications are written in it, even large ones. I don't know about ones with specific CPU requirements, but I do know Java got a bad rap for performance when it was introduced 15 years ago, and has never quite shaken it. If you really need top performance, that requirement will fight with your desire for cross-platform capability. And do be aware that there is such a thing as "fast enough"; if your program spends most of its time waiting for the user to click a button, it doesn't matter in the least how efficiently it does that. Between clicking button(s) and getting desired results (assuming you HAVE a point-and-click UI, which you haven't said either), there is a level of performance that is necessary, and a slightly higher one that is nice to have. Spending any programming time and effort being faster than that is wasted effort.

There are claims to writing C code in a cross-platform manner, and it is possible, but I also think it's a lot more work than a higher-level language. C was developed as a "high-level assembler", not really in the same league with other high-level languages even at the time it was developed. It allows you to get as close to the machine as possible and still require something called a compiler instead of an interpreter. It will likely run a little faster than an equivalent Java program, given similar program design and programmer competence, but you will spend a lot more of your effort avoiding constructs that are machine or OS specific than if you write in Java.

I don't agree with Mr. Cooper's point, either. You can create a Java program that conforms just as well to Windows and/or Mac and/or whatever OS you want as many "native" programs on that platform (especially Windows). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ralphcook (talk • contribs) 17:57, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

FROM OP:Thank you everyone for the comments. I'd like to clarify. I'm making a GUI application that is of medium size and complexity. It is an internet enabled software (with a lot of clicking) that will be constantly communicating with my servers. I am a pretty good coder and am familiar with C/C++ and Java. I also know a few scripting languages. So I do not expect to face much trouble in learning up a new language if required. I have a personal preference for OOP languages, which lead me to consider Java, C#/Mono. Performance of the application will be important, because I want the end application to run on 128-256 MB RAM. Performance is my major turn off with Java, which is otherwise a language I love to program in. So what should I do? Should I heed Cooper, or go ahead with Qt/Mono? I do not have the time frame to develop for multiple platforms, and I'd like to roll them out all together.--117.196.133.44 (talk) 22:00, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, I think this is an illustration of why one of the original answerers (OAs?) was asking for more information. You say "Performance ... will be important, because I want the end application to run on 128-256 MB RAM." When someone talks about performance, they usually mean how quickly it runs, not how little memory it uses. You've also now introduced something of a development time constraint ("do not have the time frame to develop for multiple platforms"), and expressed a language type preference for OOP. All of these things are factors.

I personally don't think much of those pronouncements of Cooper's with which I am familiar, including the one quoted above. The logic he gives to explain his reasoning often seems to have large (or huge) holes in it.

I don't know why you have a "performance" objection to Java. You have not yet told us anything about the CPU requirements of your application, only that it should run in a small amount of memory. Java is quite a champ in the memory use of its run-time environment, given that you have room for a virtual machine in the first place (which you do). The size of the code you get with Java is much smaller than equivalent natively compiled languages, assuming similar programming skill and style. If you love to program in Java, go for it; I don't see anything contraindicating doing so yet.

rc (talk) 23:13, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

May 15

Touchpad and pointer options on a laptop

It's a employer supplied Lenovo T400 with XP. I had the tap function turned off last week but a software update has apparently turned the tap function back on again. All I want it to do is move the cursor around. Not in slow motion. Just move it at regular speed. I've managed to turn the touchpad tapping function off (good) but in doing so, this disables the TrackPoint (the red button thing in the keyboard) (bad). I want to use both the touchpad and the trackpoint for moving the cursor and I only want to click on things with the buttons below the trackpad. What am I doing wrong? #$%^ I hate Windows.... grumble... grumble... Dismas|^(talk) 04:09, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Never mind. A reboot fixed it. Why it takes a reboot of the entire f'ing system to fix, I haven't the faintest idea but it's working the way I want it to now... Dismas|^(talk) 05:32, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

On one of my old Dell laptops, I located and downloaded a (free) third party driver from the vendor who had supplied the touchpad to Dell. It was probably Synaptics. That driver gave me more options (including the removal of tap-equals-a-mouse-click) that the Dell driver did not support. May be worth a shot if you have problems in the future; but I can't remember exactly how I deduced that Synaptics was the creator of the little touchpad on my particular laptop. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:22, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Password crack

Hi,

I've installed a parental control software on my kid's computer (Tueagles Anti-Porn). I haven't saved the password, thinking I would never need to uninstall the software. Now this bloody program is blocking everything on the computer: it's impossible to use Firefox and plenty of pages are blocked for 'adult content' (including Google News, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.). Is there a way I could crack the password to uninstal Anti-Porn? (there is not even a way to get the password by email).

Thanks a lot! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.10.221.71 (talk) 04:56, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

(edit - cleaned up the article by deleting duplicates) -Amordea (talk) 05:35, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

You might be looking at some registry editing with that. I don't know what registry keys this program has changed and am not fixing to install it to find out! Without registry edits, I'd say what might work is manually deleting the files to the program first (by going into the program files folder which contains the program itself). You may need to shut down the program first to do this (via Task Manager) and/or reboot the computer a few times during the manual deletion process. You may even need a file unlocker. Your browser still might be locked after this, but you can uninstall Firefox, deleting all the old settings, and then reinstall it and see if that fixes everything. This is the simplest solution I can think of without getting into messy and potentially damaging registry editing. -Amordea (talk) 05:52, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Sorry for suggesting the obvious, but: What did their customer support site say to do? Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:14, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

music extraction from song

Hello I have to ask you people,How can I extract the Music from a song not the voice of the song.please give any solution.Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.71.209.159 (talk) 11:50, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

You can do this quite easily in Audacity. In the latest beta, 1.3.12, the vocal remover can be found at Effects -> Vocal Removers (for center-panned vocals)... As the label suggests, it only works well if the vocals are located in the center of a stereo track, which should be the case for most popular music. If you choose to use the latest stable version, 1.2.6, instead, instructions for performing the same technique manually can be found here. For the few songs I have tried in the past it seems to work pretty well, although backing vocals are usually left in and some instrument parts may be cut out along with the vocals. Xenon54 (talk) 12:51, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Note that the above won't work as well as you may think. When any song is recorded in the studio, each instrument and vocal is recorded on its own separate track, and then all the tracks are mixed together. All that we ever hear on the radio or from an mp3 file is a final mix; we don't have access to the separate tracks. The "vocals deletion" technique mentioned above attempts to take out sounds that are at a particular range of audio frequencies, which will not catch all of the vocals, and which will stomp down instrument sounds in the same frequency range. The only way to get a really excellent vocal-less track would be if the original recording artist creates a new mix without the vocals track. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:20, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, Comet Tuttle is right. Vocal removal is highly non-trivial. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 16:28, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

If the vocals are located in the centre of the stereo field, and are unprocessed (no stereo reverb etc.), vocal removal is trivial. One of the channels is inverted, and the two channels are mixed into a mono track. This will of course also remove or weaken other instruments that are located in the centre of the stereo field, and you end up with a mono track. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 18:29, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

But that method isn't vocal removal, it's common-mode signal removal. If (and only if) the common-mode ("center") signal is exactly and only the vocals, then common-mode suppression, as you described, will remove the vocals. In some cases, especially in commercially-produced pop-music, this is a suitable method; but most songs are not center-panned vocal-only. That would mean that every other instrument is exclusively on either the right or left track, which is rare. Actually detecting the vocal signal, using some kind of frequency filter or advanced signal-estimation method, is very hard - probably at the very far edge of "barely works in a research laboratory setting," let alone "ready for end-users to operate with a one-button vocal-removal tool." See our article source separation, particularly the "cocktail party" problem. Nimur (talk) 21:55, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

I think all the answerers in this thread agree on the technicalities. It all boils down to what the OP wants to achieve. For Karaoke purposes, a mix of the stereo channels, with one channel inverted and amplitude-adjusted to match the other channel, will effectively remove the vocals for a lot of pop music, provided stereo reverb was not used in the recording. Using this technique will, obviously, remove instruments that you might like to preserve and leave you with a mono track. If you want to remove the vocals or any other instrument exclusively, it is of course an entirely different matter. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 22:28, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Rechargeable batteries

My home phone handsets use rechargeable AAA batteries. 1.2v, Ni-Mh, 550mAh.

I'm guessing that they're getting pretty old, as they don't seem to hold their charge as long as they used to - if the handset's off the cradle for more than a day then it dies, and call times aren't great any more either.

I went looking for replacement batteries, but the only ones I could find were 800mAh - I could find ones with higher numbers, but none lower, and no 550s.

So here's my question - can I just use the 800s? Or do I have to track down 550s?

Thanks for your help. I know Nyassa (talk) 18:10, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

The mAH figure just refers to how much charge they hold, so the 800s will last longer, and in all other ways will be just as good. --Phil Holmes (talk) 18:19, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Ok, great, thank you. I know Nyassa (talk) 18:29, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Internet connection won't last in XP

My laptop has a recently installed Win XP OS. I use an ADSL connection requiring id and password. I get connected and for a few minutes it is okay then the connection freezes invariably. It won't last more than three or four minutes. The connection just freezes and the system doesn't even display the disconnection. I can reconnect after a number of efforts but the browser wouldn't recognise the connection and no data transfer takes place then. What could be the problem? --117.204.83.115 (talk) 18:25, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried restarting ALL your devices yet? (modem, router, and computer...I know it sounds basic, but never underestimate the power of a device restart)

Having tried that, have you called your ISP yet? I would let them take a whack at it first since they are going to know your network better than we will. It might not be a problem on your end and only your ISP will be able to inform you if this is the case. -Amordea (talk) 22:20, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

I tried everything with devices but that doesn't seem to be the problem, unless the NIC of my laptop is broken. It couldn't be the problem at the end of the ISP either because the connection works alright on my desktop. --117.204.82.49 (talk) 01:46, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

It could very well be broken. But of course, you'll want to exhaust all your other options first since the NIC is integrated into the motherboard--usually not worth the cost of a repair (unless you happen to be handy with the soldering iron).

Intermittent failures are tough to track. Generally things work or they don't work. Hardware-wise, you may want to try a) plugging into a different port on your router, b) ensuring the cable is good (yes, I know you get a connection, that doesn't mean the cable is good--try switching it out with your other computer's to ensure it's not excessive line noise from a partially damaged cable) and that the plugs are fit snugly into both ends. That's about all you can do on the hardware end without spending money.

On the software side, it could be a driver issue. Download the latest driver, then uninstall the old one, then install the new one and reboot. If not a driver issue, I really could not tell you. I'd still recommend calling the ISP if you haven't. If it's some weird sort of authentication bug, I wouldn't be able to identify it for you, but they would.

If all else fails, both wired and wireless USB devices are cheapcheapcheap. You can get either on Newegg for ~$10-20 easily, so I wouldn't spend too much money on troubleshooting a potentially broken device.

Hope that helps! -Amordea (talk) 10:27, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Could you describe your exact set-up, please? Do you have a separate ADSL modem, and that's connected to a router which is connected to your laptop by Ethernet? Or is the ADSL modem connected to the laptop with USB and no router? Or what, exactly. Device manufacturers and types would also help. --Phil Holmes (talk) 11:05, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Application Server in Windows Component Wizard

I tried to install ASP.NET and SMTP as explained here and here, but I don't have "Application Server" option under "Accessories and Utilities". I tried to install the programs from "Internet Information Services" in the "Administrative Tools" file, but I couldn't find any "Details" option. Any Suggestions? Thanks, 20:27, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Which version of Windows do you have? If I recall, these features are only available on the Windows Server editions, and maybe on some of the Windows "Professional" releases. As you can see, the instructions for SMTP in IIS are for Windows Server. Nimur (talk) 22:02, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Ubuntu/Windows 7 dual boot

I've decided it's time to stick it to The Man and get a Linux operating system. I'm not that radical, though, so I plan on keeping my Windows OS around and creating a Dual Boot with my Windows 7 (already on the machine) and Ubuntu 10.04 (downloading a disk image as I write this). This is my first time doing such a thing (I'm not terribly good with computers), so I sort of need step by step instructions. I've found this helpful guide. It's a bit out of date (gives Ubuntu 9.10 rather than 10.04), but I think it ought to work. I'd like it if someone could read over that and make sure I'm not going to turn my computer into a brick. I'd also like it if you could look at my understanding of the process, to make sure I know what's going on. I'm going to:

1. Back up my system (I'm actually already backed up) in case things go bad and I erase my files. I also have a copy of my recovery disk on hand in case I fail.
2. Shrink my Windows partition: I figure I can get it into 50 GB, or so.
3. Create two new partitions (using Ubuntu from the disk): one for Ubuntu (about 50 GB again?), and one for storage (the remainder of my ~300 GB hard drive).
4. Make an Ubuntu installation disk by downloading from [1] (doing that right now) and burning it onto a CD.
5. Insert my CD, restart, and install Ubuntu into my newly created partition (the smaller one).
6. Connect my libraries in both operating systems to the storage partition.

He also mentions creating a "swap file", and links to this FAQ that is a bit beyond me. I've got 4 GB of RAM: do I really need a swap file? If so, how should I make it (create a separate partition, or do it in storage, like the lifehacker guy recommends)? How big should I make it?

For the record, I'm running an ASUS U81A laptop with an Intel Core2 processor, 4 GB or RAM, about 300 GB hard drive, and Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) (whatever that means). I've got plenty of space left of my hard drive (~190 GB). Thanks. Buddy431 (talk) 22:21, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

For someone in your circumstance, I'd recommend you skip this and instead install VmWare or VirtualBox, and install Linux in that. If you're not confident about stuff like partitions and not sure you'll like Linux, then this is a perfectly good way of doing things. Performance with a decent virtualisation environment like VmWare is very good. You can get the Linux "box" to see the contents of the Windows drive by exporting it over SMB (that is, making it a network share) and subscribing to that share in Linux. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:00, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

If you decide to do this, have VmWare allocate it a virtual disk of say 20Gb (I think newer VmWare versions don't actually consume that space until you need it, which you probably won't), have VmWare treat the .ISO you're downloading as a CD drive, and boot from that. Then boot the VM to that CD and let the installer take its default course. Once it's done installing, have VmWare stop using the .ISO as a drive, and you're all done. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:03, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

The guide you linked is geared toward a "technical" install of both on a new (blank) hard drive. If you already have Windows installed, the easiest way is using the (default) Ubuntu graphical installer instead [2] - it takes care of most of the work for you (unless you *know* you need something different, the defaults "just work"). The installer is smart enough to recognize that you have Windows installed on the disk already, and won't overwrite it unless you tell it to. Simply choose the "Guided - resize" option, and choose how much space you want each OS to have. If that still seems like too much of a hassle, there is also Wubi. With respect to swap files/swap partitions, there's currently a bit of debat about how much you need. Some say none is needed with modern memory sizes, others stick with a traditional 1-2 times your memory size. If you have the space to spare, there's no harm in putting swap in. Finally, you should be aware of ubuntuforums.org, the official unofficial support site of Ubuntu. Contrary to linux-geek stereotype, they're amazingly kind and helpful. -- 174.24.200.38 (talk) 03:28, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Forgot to add - on current linuxes, there's no difference in performance in a swap file versus a swap partition. The only benefit to using a swap partition is putting swap on a separate hard drive from the rest of your files - a separate partition on the same drive doesn't improve anything. In fact, I'm not sure that the graphical installer even asks you about swap anymore - it can take care of reasonable defaults behind the scenes. You can always change things later, if it ever becomes an issue. -- 174.24.200.38 (talk) 03:34, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

If you are unfamiliar with Linux, it might be a good idea to first try a Live CD and only go for the install paths mentioned above once you are happy that Ubuntu is the Linux distribution for you. A Live CD is a much lower risk option, especially if you have never tried this before and then find you hate Linux.

One other thing that the other answerers above haven't mentioned is that the download process usually gives you an .ISO image. This needs to be burned onto a CD (though I have heard of software that will let you skip that step). When burning an .ISO file to CD, you don't just copy the file onto a CD, but it needs to be burnt in a special way. Your CD burning software will probably have an option to do this. Astronaut (talk) 09:48, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I was certainly planning to run it from the CD for a while before I tried putting it on my hard drive. The virtualization route actually sounds like a pretty good way to go. I'll probably try that (assuming I like it). And assuming I do do that, how exactly would I get my "Linux in a box" to see my files? Mr. McWalter referenced a "SMB", which I have no clue what it is or how to set one up. Buddy431 (talk) 12:02, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I believe he was referencing Server Message Block which is basically file-sharing in Windows. This is a pretty straightforward process in VMware: After you perform the install of the OS on the virtual machine, you can shut it down and edit the properties of it from the main menu, click the Options tab, click Shared Folders, then click the radio button to enable Folder Sharing. Your shared Windows folders should be visible on the network to your virtual Ubuntu machine now.

Another very nice advantage of the virtual machine option over the Live CD is the persistence, meaning any changes you make to it are saved, which I think will give you a better chance to adapt to it. Not to mention you won't have to wait for slow CD access times unlike on the Live CD. -Amordea (talk) 12:53, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks a lot guys. I got a virtual machine with Ubuntu up and running. I'll be sure to come here crying if I need more help. Buddy431 (talk) 20:54, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

May 16

Readers/Writers problem in concurrent programming solution using busy wait?

Hi. Does anyone know a solution to the readers-writers problem in concurrent programming using only busy wait? Belchman (talk) 00:03, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

You can implement a mutex without special CPU or OS support with the algorithms listed at Mutual exclusion#Software solutions. With mutexes and busy waiting you can implement semaphores, and with mutexes and semaphores you can implement the reader-writer protocol shown in that article. Is that the sort of answer you're looking for? -- BenRG (talk) 19:37, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Help with a Programming Logic in MS-Access-Visual Basic

I have a database with the following structure IDNO - Text(7), From Date - Date, To Data - Date, Year - Number, Full_Part - Logical.

what i want the program to give me the result is that i need to take out the missing date ranges for each IDNO for each particular year. ie.. i need to take out the year wise gaps for records. also, if the entire year is missing then the gap will be the entire year with the full_part field in the result showing F. so say.. in this example.. i need the program to return the result for

IDNO	 From Date	To Date	Year	FULL_PART

A247108 01-Apr-02 30-Sep-02 2002 P 
and 
A247111 01-Jul-99 30-Sep-99 1999 P
A247111 01-Jan-00 31-Mar-00 1999 P (year is 1999 because it falls in the 1999-2000 financial year)

A sample database is appended below :-

IDNO	 From Date	To Date	Year	FULL_PART
A247108	01-Apr-99	31-Mar-00	1999	F
A247108	01-Apr-00	31-Mar-01	2000	F
A247108	01-Apr-01	31-Mar-02	2001	F
A247108	01-Oct-02	31-Mar-03	2002	F
A247108	01-Apr-03	31-Mar-04	2003	F
A247111	01-Apr-00	31-Mar-01	2000	F
A247111	01-Apr-01	31-Mar-02	2001	F
A247111	01-Apr-02	31-Mar-03	2002	F
A247111	01-Apr-03	31-Mar-04	2003	F
A247111	01-Apr-99	30-Jun-99	1999	P
A247111	01-Oct-99	31-Dec-99	1999	P
A247124	01-Apr-99	31-Mar-00	1999	F
A247124	01-Apr-00	31-Mar-01	2000	F
A247124	01-Apr-01	31-Mar-02	2001	F
A247124	01-Apr-02	31-Mar-03	2002	F  

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Prasanth.moothedath (talk • contribs) 03:26, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Formatted to make it legible. --Phil Holmes (talk) 10:44, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I'd like to help, but I am having trouble figuring out what it is you want the program to do. Can you write it out as a series of steps? E.g., get data from row, look at this column, subtract it from this column, if the date is greater than a year, change this value to this, or something along those lines. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:14, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

--122.162.136.184 (talk) 14:56, 16 May 2010 (UTC) --talk ---

Oh Yeah sure.. i basically want the database to search for every occurance of an ID NO, to evaluate the gaps in date it has for each financial year. the program logic will be something like this only.. ie.. for every IDNO, take out the first available To_Date, add one to it and search the subset for an occurance.. if exists, ignore and move to the next. if doesnot exist, then.. put that date value in another new recorset as the start of a gap. the same thing has to be done for finding the end of the gap by subtracting 1 from the From_date of each value.

I would be grateful if you could code this logic in Visual Basic wiht a basic MS-Access database file.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.162.136.184 (talk) 14:52, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

OK, I think this is doable—I should be able to find the time for it tomorrow or so. It shouldn't be too hard, I just have to look up how to handle Date/Time functions in Access VBA. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:45, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

--talk ---

Thanks a lot for your time and effort.. you can either paste the code here.. or sent it to me at (email removed)

---

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Prasanth.moothedath (talk • contribs) 01:22, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I removed the OP's email per our guidelines and to reduce spam. The solution seems to be summarized into the following steps: (1) Get all the lines that share a single ID. (2) Parse the start- and end-dates for all these lines. (3) Sort these from earliest to most recent. (4) Analyze sequentially whether there are any gaps. Which of these steps do you need help with? Nimur (talk) 09:56, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

This should basically show you the logical structure of what you want to do, I think? Let me know if you have any questions. I have commented everything so it should be pretty clear what is going on.

VBA function

Public Sub searchGaps() 'declare our recordset. Note that this requires DAO. 'if you get an error on this line, go to Tools -> References, and make sure Microsoft DAO Object Library is checked.) Dim rst As DAO.Recordset 'declare our other variables: Dim curIDNO As String, lastToDate As Date, curFromDate As Date 'open up our recordset. making sure things are ORDERed correctly is important: Set rst = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset("SELECT * FROM Table1 ORDER BY IDNO, [From Date]") While Not rst.EOF 'while/wend loop until end of recordset If rst("IDNO") <> curIDNO Then 'are we dealing with a new IDNO or not? curIDNO = rst("IDNO") 'if so, then set that up as the new current lastToDate = rst("To Date") 'set up the most recent to date Else 'if not, evaluate gap between last date daysDifferent = DateDiff("d", lastToDate, rst("From Date")) If (daysDifferent) > 1 Then 'there's a gap of more than one day! 'could output this data to a new recordset if you wanted 'just printing info to the Immediate window for the moment Debug.Print rst("IDNO"), lastToDate, rst("From Date"), daysDifferent & " day gap" Else 'there is no gap! do nothing? End If lastToDate = rst("To Date") 'reset the last "two date" End If rst.MoveNext 'go to next record Wend rst.Close 'close recordset Set rst = Nothing 'remove recordset from memory End Sub

Hope that helps! (Also, I didn't know what your main table was called, so I just called it Table1 in my code. Replace it with whatever the table is named.) --Mr.98 (talk) 13:24, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

---

--talk --- Thanks Mr.98. ya it was helpful.

--Prasanth Menon 00:28, 18 May 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prasanth.moothedath (talk • contribs)

122.161.210.137 (talk) 08:51, 20 May 2010 (UTC) Mr.98, well.. i tried executing the algo that you had given me.. but it is not giving me the required result.

buying songs intercontinentally

At amazon.com I can buy a certain album but I can't pay to download an individual song from it. So I went to amazon.de and found the song I wanted for 99 (European) cents. I tried to buy it and got a notice that said that since my billing address is in the USA, I couldn't.

Same thing with iTunes.

Is there some way around this? Michael Hardy (talk) 03:42, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I think it is a lot to do with preserving any the price differential in different territories. IIRC, when iTunes was first launched, tracks were US$0.99. When it launched here in the UK, tracks were initially £0.99 which at the time was considerably more than the US pricing. Even when the price fell to £0.79 it was still more than the US price (see here for more). UK customers complained about the higher prices and tried to buy from the US site but found they couldn't because they needed to use a US credit card to buy a download from the US site.

I can't say if it is the same with Amazon, but I have had no problems buying CDs (and DVDs, books, and other things) from Amazon.com using my UK credit card and had them shipped to me here in the UK.

A way round your problem? I doubt you would be able to open a foreign bank account without an address in that country. If you don't have a friend in Germany, you might be able to find a company who can buy on your behalf. I have heard of such companies, but only to allow people to buy from US suppliers who won't ship to non-US addresses, and not the other way round or with downloads. Astronaut (talk) 09:23, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I have had similar problems before but with software. If you do not need the product to be physically delivered (such as being download-able), you may change the billing / shipping address for your credit-card to the appropriate country. For me, this is doable via online banking for my credit card without any checks. It may help to actually use an address of a friend or family there because a billing statement will be sent there. But you may not need the physical bill if you can pay online. Do not forget to change the address back after you are done. Very inconvenient, but I can tell you from experience, your options are very limited. 124.214.131.55 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 10:02, 16 May 2010 (UTC).

Difference between Office 2000 and Office 2010

Can someone tell me what is the difference between Office 2000 and Office 2010 for a grandmother who uses excel to do budgeting for organizing food and drinks for a party for 40-50 people. 122.107.207.98 (talk) 12:04, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Office is a software package from Microsoft that contains the word processor Word, the spreadsheet Excel, the presentation software PowerPoint and a few other applications. Excel 2000 looks like this, whereas Excel 2010 looks more like this. If you want a more detailed description of the new features, have a look at Microsoft Office, or, in particular, Microsoft Excel. Personally I mostly use Microsoft Word, and one feature of Word 2007 and 2010, that is not available in Word 2000, is the new (mathematical) formula editor, which is great (although very buggy, at least in Word 2007). --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 14:13, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

In terms of function, not a whole lot has changed. Excel still does everything you are used to it doing. What has changed is how the user interface is organized. In Excel 2000, you are used to having the menus "File - Edit - View - Insert - Format - Tools - Data - Windows - Help" across the top; most of the commonly used functions are located in one of the menus and duplicated in the icon bank directly below. Microsoft has completely changed the user interface to a "Ribbon" style beginning with Excel 2007 and continuing with Excel 2010. Here is what Excel 2010 looks like in its default state. The menus have been reorganized -- to "File - Home - Insert - Page Layout - Formulas - Data - Review - View" -- in an attempt to make functions easier to find by including them in more logical groupings. The main difference between 2000 and 2010 is that (besides the File menu, which contains most of the same functions) you will probably have to re-learn where some of your most commonly used functions are located; also, because of the re-arrangement, the procedure to do almost anything useful has changed at least a little bit.If you are happy and comfortable with Excel 2000 there is no reason to upgrade, as it continues to work fine with Windows 7. Xenon54 (talk) 14:25, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

A continual push to prevent users from using the keyboard. ARGGGGGHHHH! 14:27, 16 May 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Svanslyck (talk • contribs)

Actually keyboard navigation using the ribbon is quite good (at least in 2007, which is what I have) If you tap the alt key single character keybindings pop up over the ribbon elements - you press one key to choose which ribbon bar you want and then another key to choose the particular command. See http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA100919081033.aspx .131.111.185.69 (talk) 15:59, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

What about CTRL-SHIFT-8, ALT-O-D, CTRL-D, ALT-T-E-E, and so on . . . all the keyboard shortcuts I use hundreds of times a week and which don't work in Office 2007 or (I presume) later versions? kcylsnavS{^screech_harrass} 16:10, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

That's an issue of having to learn stuff again because of the UI change however. It doesn't demonstrate the new UI is inherently more keyboard unfriendly or that MS is trying to prevent you from using the keuboard as you appear to suggest. From the evidence at hand, it could be the new UI is even better for keyboard use then the old one if you're starting afresh, which is what Microsoft believes about the new UI in general AFAIK. Nil Einne (talk) 17:05, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

This isn't the place for this discussion so I'll shut up after this: it wasn't broke; they didn't need to "fix" it. kcylsnavS{^screech_harrass} 17:09, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

If you miss the old interface, try Office Classic Menus. I use it and it helps me quite a lot, since I was also trained to use the old interface. I took a class in college in Office XP and then graduated in 2006. I considered myself a wizard in Office by that time. But right after I graduated, they released Office 2007, and I was back at square one.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 17:15, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

IIRC, Microsoft did research and found the new ribbon interface was significantly easy to learn (or use?) for new users. So in that sense, it was broken and it made sense to fix it. This is obviously annoying for users familiar with the existing interface (I don't think anyone even Microsoft ever denied that the new interface would require some relearning from users familiar with the old) and no one can say whether the change was worth it in a general sense (and that surely isn't the place for such arguments), but the idea 'it wasn't broken' is extremely simplistic at best. As I said earlier, this could easily be the case for keyboard use too. Plenty of people have never used Office before and plenty of people may have but may not be very good at using the keyboard to navigate the UI and execute command. If the new interface makes it significantly easier for new users to use the keyboard, then it's highly questionable whether it can be said Microsoft is trying to prevent people from using the keyboard as you originally alleged. Just because it made it harder for you, Svanslyck to use the keyboard, doesn't mean it was an inherently bad move (for the record it made it harder for me to use too, although not primarily for keyboard navigation reason). The world moves forward, things change, sometimes in ways we like, some ways in ways we don't, just because we don't like them, doesn't mean that they were inherently wrong or shouldn't have been done. Note that I'm not saying I agree that MS made the right decision, simply that it's ultimately impossible to say whether they made a right want (well if their business had completely collapsed then it was a bad move from a business sense) so this really isn't the place to discuss it or suggest they made a wrong one, there are plenty of reasons to 'fix something' even if you don't think it's broken and nothing presented here demonstrates that their decision had a negative impact on keyboard use. If you don't like the new interface, that's up to you, it isn't necessary to try and argue that MS made an inherently bad decision. Nil Einne (talk) 23:31, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

There are so many differences that I'm not going to even try to list them here. It's not just the interface that is different. There are new file formats, better typography and charts, and so on. After Office 2000 came Office XP (in 2002), then Office 2003, then Office 2007, and then Office 2010. All of these (except arguably Office 2003) introduced significant new features. So, you'd first read about the new features in Office XP, here, then Office 2007: [3], [4], [5], and then Office 2010: [6].--Best Dog Ever (talk) 17:11, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Office Classic Menus - I'm a-thankin' ya! kcylsnavS{^screech_harrass} —Preceding undated comment added 17:17, 16 May 2010 (UTC).

Follow-up question about a feature that seems to have disappeared. In Excel 2007 can you make a bar chart where the bars are in different patterns, suitable for black-and-white reproduction? I don't mean the fancy textures that are available. I mean ordinary patterns like hatched vertically, hatched horizontally, diagonal hatching, spots etc. Thanks. Itsmejudith (talk) 11:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Quick search for 'office 2007 bar chart texture black white' came up with [7] and [8] which seem of relevance. You could probably also do it with a texture file although that would be less ideal in a number of ways (was going to try it myself but couldn't find an appropriate image file, probably should have created my own). Nil Einne (talk) 00:03, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

There is many difference between Office 2000 and 2010. First off, 2010 have a new interface called a "Ribbon". Just look at Office 2010. Before you purchase the software, you could try the beta though: http://www.microsoft.com/Office/2010/en/default.aspx --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 05:17, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I found this website offering a tutorial for office 2007: http://www.baycongroup.com/word2007/. 2010 and 2007 are similiar. --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 05:24, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

International Fonts

Moved from the Village Pump. ╟─TreasuryTag►Speaker─╢ 13:07, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Using XP SP3, I see some international fonts but not all. What should I do? Is there perhaps a download package somewhere? kcylsnavS ^{screech} 13:05, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

First and foremost, you need a decent Unicode font, such as Arial Unicode MS or Lucida Sans Unicode (or the free DejaVu fonts). To examine how good a Unicode font is, use the charmap (Win+R, charmap) utility, select the font, and then Advanced mode, and finally sort by Unicode subintervals. Secondly, you need a browser that is good at displaying Unicode fonts. All modern browsers ought to do it, even under such an old operating system as Windows XP. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 14:13, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I have Lucinda Sans Unicode and I'm using Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.20) Gecko/20081217 Firefox/2.0.0.20 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729). I like XP. Because I'm not constantly pushed into taking my hands off the keyboard to use the mouse. kcylsnavS ^{screech} 14:29, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Further suggestions?? kcylsnavS{^screech_harrass} 17:18, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

• Here's the answer. If you want or need Arial and you have MS Office 2003, check out this link. kcylsnavS{^screech_harrass} 00:52, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Sorting rows in OpenOffice spreadsheet

I have data in rows in a spreadsheet. Let me try an example. A database of people consists of their names followed by their height and weight. I want to compare the data by sorting the rows according to height or weight. a) How can I protect the rows to ensure that sorting them always keeps the rows intact, and that people's data never gets scrambled? b) Is there a quick way to sort a set of rows by one particular column? Thanks 78.149.199.79 (talk) 15:34, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Dunno. But in Excel you simply take care to select the entire table area to be sorted and go from there. kcylsnavS{^screech_harrass} 15:45, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

(A) Svanslyck is right. Just make sure you have selected all of the data you want sorted. The only way the spreadsheet program will mess up your rows of data is if you neglect to select all the data you want sorted. For example, if you mistakenly only select columns A and B, then you sort by column B, then the data in column C won't move along with the other data in the corresponding row. The easy way to make sure all the data is selected is to do a "Select All" before your sort. Experiment with some test data a bit until you're comfortable with the sorting keeping your data together. (b) Depends on your spreadsheet program, but in Microsoft Excel 2007, you hit ctrl-A to Select All, click the "Data" tab at the top, then click the "Sort" button, then there's a flexible dialog box that lets you choose what columns you want to sort by. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:57, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

(B) CTRL-A, confirm the the selection is what you want, then ALT-O-S. kcylsnavS{^screech_harrass} 17:20, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

In Excel 2000, if sorting will scramble the association with adjacent data, a warning pop-up appears with the default being to expand the selection. I assume this has been retained in subsequent versions? Dbfirs 11:27, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I just launched Excel 2007 and typed in random numbers in a 3 column by 9 row area, dragged across a 2 column by 6 row part of the area, clicked Data, then Sort, then chose my sort options and completed the sort ... and didn't see any dialog box warning me about the adjacent data. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:51, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Apologies, the pop-up appears only when a single row or column is selected, so it is still possible to scramble the data by deliberately selecting a subset, so the answer to the OP's question a) is "you can't". Dbfirs 00:19, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I have checked in OpenOffice and it work in the same way as the excel users above describe for excel. Gr8xoz (talk) 05:07, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Difficulty with password

My usual, handy-dandy, always-use-it password for Wikipedia has tanked. No idea why, maybe because I haven't logged in in over a year.

I want to use my account to add more information to some articles I've authored.

I try having Wikipedia send the email to my account (to reset the password) and no email comes through -- not in the spam folder, not anything. It's the email account I've always used. Not sure if it's been the one I signed up to Wikipedia with, but it's a very high probability it is.

What do I do?

I have ways of proving this is 'me'. :)

Formerly (still?) Theoriste on Wikipedia —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.109.75.187 (talk) 18:02, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Hi Deanne, (if that was you) The following is from the Help:Logging in page: ''if the e-mail address is no longer accessible, you will have to create a new account. After doing this you should "move" your previous User and User talk pages to your new name as soon as possible (e.g. by making a request on the Requested moves page). This will officially link your old and new identities and reassure other editors that your new account isn't a "sockpuppet"."
I'm not an admin or an expert on this, so I can't advise any further. Dbfirs 00:01, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

When I visit User:Theoriste, there is no "E-mail this user" link in the toolbox. You probably didn't setup an email to be associated with that Wikipedia user. Sorry, but you will have to create a new user as the password for Theoriste cannot be recovered or reset. Astronaut (talk) 21:27, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Three dimensional spreadsheets - do they exist? why aren't they more prevalent?

I was compiling some research data over the weekend that had a clear column-row relationship, but the project requirements then added monthly records to the requirements and it occurred to me that the simplest way to represent that would have been to push the 2D spreadsheet (x & y axes) into three dimensions (x, y, and adding z for time).

Such visual modeling is certainly within the capabilities of all but the most rudimentary hardware to be found in the home or workplace today - and seems to me upon initial examination to be a tremendously useful way of structuring data.

So - does a "3D excel" exist? Who uses it? Why doesn't everyone? 218.25.32.210 (talk) 00:56, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Too complicated to use? If you want to add months, just add a new sheet for every month. In fact a quick search shows people have called spreadsheet programs 3D for that reason, e.g. 3D-Calc [9] Nil Einne (talk) 01:32, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Just add extra worksheets in Excel (each spreadsheet can have multiple worksheets within it, as separate tabs of data), call them your Z third dimension if you want... --Mr.98 (talk) 02:12, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

MS Excel does in fact have a handful of "3D" functions, where you can (for example) sum the values in one RnCn cell across multiple sheets; I am unfortunately not on the computer where I can cut-n-paste a working example. In Office 2003, which my office is still on, the available functions are "fairly rudimentary" -- maybe it's something that's been improved in newer versions. DaHorsesMouth (talk) 02:25, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

/is OP -- I know how to work around it - want I wanted to know was if anyone had taken this approach. A 3D structure suspended in space with auto-transparencies as one stepped "through" the data would - to me - be much more user-friendly than flipping between worksheets. 218.25.32.210 (talk) 02:26, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

3D-Calc. Mitch Ames (talk) 06:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I never used 3D-Calc, though I did use a dozen other early spreadsheets and none of them had true built-in navigation in 3-D. Is there any spreadsheet with true 3-D display and navigation? (I don't count "sheet!" references and clicking a new sheet as true navigation.) Dbfirs 09:28, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Considering that nearly the entire userbase of spreadsheet software are people that have a hard time navigating the first two dimensions on a PC comfortably... I would predict that putting a 3D spreadsheet feature into something prominent like Excel would be a disaster. Do you really think it would help workflow even of someone completely proficient with it? Just brainstorming, I would say keeping the 2d view is essential to ease of use, even of expert users. If you want a third dimension and tabs aren't your thing, use a slider that can be configured as the Z axis, with graduations for each interval (such as time increments) you need to navigate, then expose the data for that interval when the slider is in that position. Not that you want to be told what you want, but this is what you want. --Jmeden2000 (talk) 14:17, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Agree. Any non-trivial spreadsheet is a sorry and unstructured excuse for a proper program, anyways. Lifting that to three dimensions will make it unusable for the target audience. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:26, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, I think that's a little of an overstatement; I've also wanted to add a third dimension to my spreadsheets in order to view data over the months, particularly because I wanted to generate a 3D graph from the data. People can visualize 3D graphs well (though Jmeden2000 is probably right that the third dimension would make the sheet itself 10 times harder to use). Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:36, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Excel has PivotTables, which can to some extent be seen as N-dimensional, but then you can just view the data and not edit it. I've also occasionally wished for a 3D excel (where you could rotate the data at will; with multiple sheets you're kind of stuck) but I'm unsure if I'd actually use it. Jørgen (talk) 05:49, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

There are some multi-dimensional spreadsheet packages: there's a list right here on Wikipedia. I understand they typically are a mix of spreadsheet and database software, and something like Excel pivot tables is used as a central user interface component. Requiring basic data modelling and allowing multi-dimensional data goes a long way toward solving the major weaknesses of standard 2-D spreadsheet solutions, i.e. scalability and extensibility. Alas, it looks like we're going to be stuck with Excel and the like for a long time to come. 130.188.8.12 (talk) 08:25, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

May 17

exit server?

I have been watching Wikipedia:Open proxy detection lately and i would like to know what they are. wiooiw ^(talk) 02:02, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Open proxy detection/Explanation defines it as a distinct IP address that's used by an open proxy for outgoing connections. -- BenRG (talk) 03:07, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I see where you found that. Thanks. wiooiw ^(talk) 03:59, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Preventing practical jokers from accessing your files using a linux boot cd

Is there any way to prevent annoying but technically-savvy practical jokers from accessing files on a typical (password-protected) windows system? They can, apparently, bypass the password and access the file system by using a linux boot cd.

Are there any solutions other than encrypting everything or physically putting the computer into a locked box? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.193.175.207 (talk) 07:02, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

A CMOS password would prevent them from entering the boot cycle. It's easily set within the system's BIOS (usually F2 on startup to enter Setup) 218.25.32.210 (talk) 07:37, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

You can also encrypt either the entire filssytem or just the most important folders/files. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 07:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

You can bypass the login password with a Windows installation CD too (recovery mode), and you can bypass a CMOS password by removing the hard drive and plugging it into another machine. A hard disk password is very difficult to bypass, though. -- BenRG (talk) 08:42, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Let's be reasonable - if they're willing to pop the cover it'd be far easier to just yank the CMOS battery off the motherboard and count to 20. If his "friends" are that serious, there's little to be done. 218.25.32.210 (talk) 08:54, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

"Little to be done"? How about 75 years of cryptography research!? There has been a significant effort to develop a series of best practices and technology tools for exactly this problem - "how do we deny access to information when an attacker has physical access to the machine?" The solution is to strongly encrypt your hard disk. The practical jokers will be able to open up your files as much as they like, but the contents will be strongly-encrypted (they will see only meaningless binary that is impervious even to powerful software efforts to decrypt/decipher them). See List of cryptographic file systems and encryption software. Nimur (talk) 10:03, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

The article on strong cryptography says its use is legally restricted in certain countries, though. 212.219.39.146 (talk) 11:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Which is an entirely different issue than the question of technical protection of data. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:09, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

In general, physical access to a machine gives someone complete access to the hard drive contents. After all, they could just take out a screwdriver and steal whatever part of the computer they want. Or they could take out a sledgehammer and bash the hard drive to bits. The only defense against the first problem is encrypting the hard drive contents so that it's gibberish without the passphrase. The only defense against the second one is backups. On the other hand, security should be matched to the value of contents and the motivation level of the attackers: you might know how crazy your practical jokers are, and whether a CMOS password will be enough to deter them. Paul (Stansifer) 13:37, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Agreed, and even the best cryptography systems can't prevent a user from destroying data - all it can do is prevent them from deciphering it. I recently attended an interesting lecture from a Los Alamos physics package designer. The computer security that goes into the control of a physics package is "unique," to say the least. Should the device fall into the wrong hands, it is desired that the control electronics actively deny physical access to themselves - to prevent their unauthorized use, and also to prevent physical access to everything else inside the box! So long as the device remains "intact" and "operational," with the computer controller safely locked inside a very difficult-to-open case, all of your favorite cryptographic locking and securing methods are valid. But I think it becomes immediately obvious how difficult this problem is; suppose that the electronics are turned off: then how can the electronics or software prevent somebody from opening up the device? Or supposing that somebody uses a cutting torch to open the box? (Can this even be detected? Some kind of "is physical enclosure intact" sensor that is "impervious" to tampering? Such sensors exist, and one could design an "un-resettable" device, but that has its own set of very scary problems). Again, the challenge of denying access becomes very hard. There probably will never be complete solution to this problem. Fortunately, the interiors of most people's computer cases are fairly uninteresting. Encrypting the hard-disk should be sufficient. In both the case of a warhead and a hard-disk, it is "acceptable risk" if the attacker is able to destroy the contents, but it is unacceptable for the attacker to be able to use them. I should say, the lecture was hosted by none other than Martin Hellman, inventor of public key cryptography. You can read more about his recent efforts here: Nuclear Risk. Nimur (talk) 17:33, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Remember that if you go the cryptography route, your data is only as safe as the key used to encrypt/decrypt it. If you expose the key (say, to a hardware/software keylogger, or someone shoulder-surfing, two things any tech-savvy coworker can accomplish with ease especially if you work in relatively close quarters) then the encryption is worthless. --Jmeden2000 (talk) 20:32, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Integer division (still) rounding up

Really sorry to bother you with this again, but I'm determined to find and fix the source of this problem. It's the same as before (this question). I thought maybe if I showed you exactly what I'd done you'd be able to find out what I'd done wrong...

   Private Sub btnChange_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnChange.Click
       Dim pounds As Integer
       Dim fifties As Integer
       Dim twenties As Integer
       Dim tens As Integer
       Dim fives As Integer
       Dim twos As Integer
       Dim ones As Integer
       pounds = Credit \ 1
       fifties = (100 * (Credit Mod 1)) \ 50
       twenties = (100 * ((Credit Mod 1) Mod 0.5)) \ 20
       tens = (100 * (((Credit Mod 1) Mod 0.5) Mod 0.2)) \ 10
       fives = (100 * ((((Credit Mod 1) Mod 0.5) Mod 0.2) Mod 0.1)) \ 5
       twos = (100 * (((((Credit Mod 1) Mod 0.5) Mod 0.2) Mod 0.1) Mod 0.05)) \ 2
       ones = (100 * ((((((Credit Mod 1) Mod 0.5) Mod 0.2) Mod 0.1) Mod 0.05) Mod 0.02)) \ 1
       MessageBox.Show("Your change is: " & FormatCurrency(Credit) & "." & vbNewLine & vbNewLine & "£1: " & pounds & vbNewLine & "50p: " & fifties & vbNewLine & "20p: " & twenties & vbNewLine & "10p: " & tens & vbNewLine & "5p: " & fives & vbNewLine & "2p: " & twos & vbNewLine & "1p: " & ones, "Change")
       Credit = 0
       lblTotal.Text = FormatCurrency(Credit)
   End Sub

It's supposed to list all of the coins that the vending machine will spit out once the "change" button is clicked. The "credit" variable is a double that is modified by other buttons elsewhere in the program. It all works fine, perfectly fine - except if the credit value ends in anything from 0.51 to 0.99 it will round up instead of rounding down. For example, asking for change from 51 pence will give me one 50p coin and one £1 coin.

Does anything leap out as being the obvious reason?

I can provide the rest of the code if it's needed. Thanks in advance 212.219.39.146 (talk) 09:53, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Hilariously, £1.20 returns £1, 20p, two 10p's, two 5p's, two 2p's and a 1p. 212.219.39.146 (talk) 11:03, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I suspect that, because 'credit' is a float, all those 'mods' you do are subject to rounding and are causing the problem. So my first advice is to get rid of all floats; you do not need them. Work with the number of pennies that make up your total, and do this completely with integers.

You already do an integer division with 'pounds', so you have the number of pounds that will be in the change. Now you need to know how much is left to make change for. You can either multiply the number of pounds times 100 and subtract it from the total, or you can use the mod function; these will give the same result.

 dim IntCredit as Integer
 dim remainder as Integer

 IntCredit = credit * 100   ' convert the float to an integer number of pennies.
 pounds = IntCredit \ 100   ' calc the number of pound coins/bills they get back.
 remainder = IntCredit - (dollars * 100) ' or remainder = IntCredit mod 100
 fifties = remainder \ 50   ' 50-cent pieces, I presume
 remainder = remainder - (fifties * 50)  ' or remainder = remainder mod 50

And continue this through your pennies.

Hope that helps.

rc (talk) 12:34, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

And what is the exchange rate between pounds and dollars? -- SGBailey (talk) 17:52, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

(OP here) Thank you - in the end I scrapped the whole system and tried out using loops, which worked (to my surprise, since I didn't actually know how to use them). But your system should still be useful for me when I come to write it up, evaluate, discuss, etc. I'll test it out when I get back to college tomorrow (that's where the program is saved). Thanks! Vimescarrot (talk) 16:39, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Most currency systems are designed so that you can use a "greedy algorithm" to make change in the optimal fashion (by dispensing the largest coin until it's too big, moving on to the next largest, etc.), but this is not guaranteed to be optimal for all currency systems. See Greedy_algorithm#When_greedy-type_algorithms_fail and Change-making_problem#Greedy_method. -- Coneslayer (talk) 16:51, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Currency denominations are actually designed specifically to make these algorithms optimal? That's quite an interesting fact - is this well-known? Do you have a source? Vimescarrot (talk) 19:00, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I didn't mean it quite that strongly... rephrase as "In most currency systems you can use...". It seems likely that if this property did not hold, the system would be re-designed out of convenience. -- Coneslayer (talk) 19:07, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Aha, fair enough - I did wonder if I'd misinterpreted after re-reading. Vimescarrot (talk) 19:36, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Samsung PC Studio

I somehow don't seem to be able to find where you can download the Samsung PC Studio software that allows you to transfer files from a Samsung mobile phone to a PC. Should I keep trying with the Samsung website that keeps sending me round in circles, or should I go to a site unconnected with Samsung? UK based. Itsmejudith (talk) 11:40, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

You can download it here: [10] --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 12:27, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

That seems to be the manual rather than the software. There appears to be a link to "software" but when I click an end-user agreement for the manual comes up in a new window. I'd be grateful for any other help. Thanks. Itsmejudith (talk) 14:08, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I would never go to a third-party site for the software unless there was a link on Samsung's official site pointing to it. Chevymontecarlo. 15:12, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

No, the link I provided is correct; I just downloaded the software. Simply click "Software", and click the download button for your operating system. In the popup (make sure that you have no popup-blocker), check the "I have read these terms ..." checkbox and click "Close". Then you will be able to download the software. Depending on your browser, you may need to click the download icon once again after having accepted the terms. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:49, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Movies Subtitles and Translation

I have a question if some one help me i will be very thankful. My question is that how can i create subtitle of language in a movie if it is not by default. My second question is that how can i translate english movie into Hindi or Urdu.as there are many english movies available in Hindi.Any idea please! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.71.217.59 (talk) 14:17, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

You can use a Subtitle editor to create your own subtitles. If you have a DVD, you can use a program such as SubRip to extract the existing subtitles to a text file, preserving the timing information. Then all you have to do is translate the text. decltype (talk) 09:56, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

php

Resolved

I have a php script (that someone here wrote for me <3) that displays entries from a text file. I need a way for the script to count how many entries are in the text file (they are each on a new line) and display the total. I am unsure how to do this. Please help :) Thanks 82.44.55.254 (talk) 20:28, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Try something like this:

PHP code
ini_set('auto_detect_line_endings', true); //auto-detects whether the file was saved on Mac, Windows, Linux, etc. $file_array = file("yourfilename"); //read the file into an array (each line gets a new array element) $lines_in_file = count($file_array); //count the array elements (and thus lines)

Does that make sense? If the script in question already reads the file into an array using the file() function, then all you have to do is put a count() function on that array. --Mr.98 (talk) 23:26, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Awesome!! Thank you :D :D 82.44.55.254 (talk) 11:09, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Checking driver versions

Here is something I've always wondered when checking driver versions in Windows (7): Why is it when I am looking for the version of my NVIDIA graphics driver, it shows 8.17.11.9745 in the Device Manager? I have the 197.45 drivers and I've learned recently to read the last few numbers to figure out the version, but what is the significance of the 8.17.1 before? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.129.40.191 (talk) 21:35, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Could the build date be November 17th, 2008 ? StuRat (talk) 12:22, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

May 18

Moving Windows XP to new hard drive - how much pain will it cause?

Thanks in advance for answering this question - I know it's one of those things that could probably be learned with an afternoon of Googling, but I - unfortunately - don't have that level of free time. I'm sure for someone who already has the background knowledge, this is a "what is two plus two"-level question.

I purchased a Dell Whateverion that I'm mostly content with. However, I'm looking to increase the storage space, and due to a lack of SATA ports on the motherboard (who the fuck thought 2 SATA ports was a good idea?) and an inability to find a PCI-SATA controller that's affordable and functional, I've decided that the way to go is to simply replace the current 300GB hard drive with a 1TB hard drive.

So, simply put: Windows XP is currently installed to hard drive "A". I would like to put hard drive "B", with more capacity, in a USB enclosure, clone the smaller drive "A", and when all is said and done, have my XP install on the new, larger drive.

I, naturally, do not have actual XP install CDs, and am even unsure of my ability to scourge up the "rescue disk" (it's probably buried somewhere along with the "how to plug in your keyboard" poster).

So, is this a relatively painless operation? Or will I end up needing to buy an actual XP install CD (at which point it'd make about as much sense to just get a whole new damn computer - seriously, two SATA ports? Two? Why, Dell, why?), either to install SATA drivers or phone home to M$ or whatever?

Thanks for your help! Badger Drink (talk) 00:20, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I think it should be OK, actually, if you are actually cloning the drive (e.g., with gparted or Ghost or something like that), and not trying to manually copy the files. In any case, you could easily clone it first and see if it works—and if, for some reason, it doesn't, then you could buy the install CD. But I honestly don't think it's a big deal. In fact, I'm not sure even in that situation you'd have to buy a new install CD—all that really matters is your product key, which you can get off of the old hard drive. All you'd have to do in that situation is find someone else with an XP install CD. I don't think that would really irritate Microsoft—what's important for them is the license, not which CD you use. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:02, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I recently did this exact thing. I used Clonezilla to copy my XP harddrive. Worked like a charm. No complication at all. To be honest, I was suprised at how smooth it went. APL (talk) 03:12, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

The most you would need to do is reactivate Windows, although I doubt you need to do that. It would be faster if you attach both hard drives to the SATA ports on the motherboard instead of using USB. Boot the cloning tool from USB or (PATA)CDROM. F (talk) 10:22, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

How about using a pocket hard drive? How much space do you seriously need???? I have a Dell Inspiron E1705 with about 200 GB but I barely use 90 gb of it! --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 05:10, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Contacting amazon.com ?

Is there no way at all to send an email to amazon.com? I had trouble ordering something and wanted to ask for assistance. I went through their contact interface and was told I couldn't contact them because I didn't have an order number. That seems really really rude. Michael Hardy (talk) 03:02, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=518316&type=email&skip=true HalfShadow 05:00, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried the "Skip sign in" button on this page? Winston365 (talk) 05:00, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Or you could use the link I just posted; it's even more direct. HalfShadow 05:02, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, you should. I didn't get an edit conflict warning but I think we must have posted at the same time or something. I wouldn't have added the comment if I'd seen yours there. Jinx ;) Winston365 (talk) 05:06, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I posted pretty much the same thing that you did and then realized a direct link would work just as well. Sometimes they set it up so you have to click a button; a direct link won't work, but in this case it does. HalfShadow 05:09, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Winston365: I posted my query here BECAUSE OF my experience with the particular page you're pointing to.

Entering a valid order number was NOT optional. I could not send them an email and I was told that was because I had left the "order number" blank.

I just tried it on a different machine and it worked. Michael Hardy (talk) 06:12, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

How about phoning them instead? You can ask about your difficulties placing your order and also mention that you cannot email because their stupid form insists on an order number you do not have. Alternatively, lie on that form and provide an obviously fake order number.

Their phone number used to be hard to find, but it seems better now. The form where you enter your email and compulsory order number is one of three tabs. Another one of the tabs is the option get them to call you back or for you to call them an 866 number. Astronaut (talk) 09:34, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Singing computer

Is there a computer that can sing like a human yet? 71.100.0.29 (talk) 03:41, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Not so that you couldn't tell it was a computer, no.

Computers have been able to sing essentially for as long as they've been able to talk. (See this demo from 1963. http://www.vintagecomputermusic.com/s2t9.php) However, even just talking at an ordinary tone of voice, speech synthesis is not perfect. You can usually tell it's a computer. APL (talk) 04:09, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Though, with the amount of post-production in 95% of the vocals on the Billboard Hot 100, some may already have trouble finding the difference. For instance... Badger Drink (talk) 04:50, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

• They can help — Autotune. Shadowjams (talk) 08:36, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

The Harrington 1200. Lanfear's Bane | t 16:16, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

See Vocaloid FancyMouse (talk) 20:40, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

There are some robots that can sing one though... --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 05:07, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Little Sister level on Bioshock 2

Does anyone know how did they manage to dynamically change props and stuff on the Little Sister level in Bioshock 2? The scene starts out (and continues on) as a dream world with bloom effects as well as fairy tale-esque decorations and textures, but it then changes into a decaying state whenever the Sister drains ADAM off a splicer. Is this possible on other engines, and how is it implemented on Unreal? Blake Gripling (talk) 04:04, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

It's called 'programming'. You may have heard of it? HalfShadow 05:03, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I know it is done through programming trickery, but does anyone know of similar implementations and/or stuff? Blake Gripling (talk) 11:06, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I have a feeling that however it's done, it'd be a proprietary thing you'd only find out the real details to, if you had the rights to the 3D engine. Maybe one of the multitude of gaming forums out there could help you further. Peter Greenwell (talk) 13:31, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I haven't played Bioshock 2, so I can't comment on the specifics of that game, but there are several general ways in which a map can be mutated to give the appearance of change. Firstly some of the "objects" in the world (say lights or wall hangings or furniture) can be separate objects (not part of the "world" object), so they can be manipulated (changed, added, deleted) just like other actors in the game (monsters, allies, health boxes, etc.) - so you'd substitute burned or smashed or rotten versions of these. Secondly textures can be changed (so you'd substitute a decayed version of a texture for its hitherto intact one) or overlay a decay-effect texture. Bioshock 1 does this when you incinerate someone - it overlays a gnarly fried-chicken texture (or does it substitute a burned-up version of the monster's texture, I'm not sure). Thirdly it's also often possible to change the lighting, either by turning on or off dynamic lights, or for engines that use an underlying light map, swapping in a new one wholesale; that seriously changes the character of a room, with very little actual effort. Lastly, if the mutation is very profound (and there aren't too many phases of change, and there's a pause like a cutscene between phases) you could actually be talking about different maps altogether. One game I kinda remember (was it NOLF?) had you on a ship, but the ship was then damaged by an explosion. So the next level was in a damaged, listing, and partially water-filled ship, with internal furniture moved around and decks and bulkheads buckled; some of the spaces were full of water and the lighting was totally different. Really they'd just designed a second level built off the same basic geometry as the first, and moved you over to it (moving other stuff like npcs and items wouldn't be hard either, if that was necessary). I don't know the specifics of modern commercial game engines well enough, but it's my understanding that they have a more modular view of world geometry than Quake's classic "THE world + many actor meshes" model, which would make substitution of wholesale geometries practical; any game that can do destructible scenery and buildings (which is getting more common) can equally do decayed or wrecked stuff too, by geometry substitution. Valve's Source engine does "cinematic physics", which does some fairly wholesale geometry changes (buildings blow up, bridges fall down). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 13:57, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Appending data to a file with Java

Resolved

Hello! Could someone please post a code snippet demonstrating how to append data to a file in Java? I have a really large text file and I want to be able to append Strings to the end of it. The only way I know how to do this is to load the whole file into memory, append the Strings, and then use a java.io.Writer to write it back, which is really inefficient. I think there's a better way using the java.nio package to append the data directly to the file, but I don't know how. Thank you!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 06:07, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

The FileWriter and FileOutputStream classes both have constructors that take an optional second argument, a boolean indicating whether to append. --Spoon! (talk) 06:14, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

And the RandomAccessFile class allows the programmer to manually append. Nimur (talk) 08:54, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Great. Thank you!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 06:45, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Graphic editing in HSV space

Which raw converters, apart from Adobe Camera Raw, enable adjustments in HSV space? I know Bibble tried to mimick ACR's six channels (they had a good point making three of six channels user-definable in B5) but it just didn't work (too harsh, too noisy to be usable). That is, shrunk to 800*600, Bibble output is much better than Adobe's (or maybe their learning curve is nearly instant) but on pixel level it is unusable.

P.S. I waited for the new ACR (Lightroom 3) expecting the ability to adjust hue and width of HSV channels... this was, perhaps, the most wanted improvement. No luck, come next time :)) East of Borschov (talk) 06:13, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Archiving MS Office 2000

I use an old XP computer with MS Office 2000 installed. I never use the MS O2000. Would it be possible to archive it somehow so that I could remove it from the HD but retain the possibility of restoring it if I wish or need in the future? Both the XP and the MS O2000 are legit copies. I do not have any instalation disks. (I'm guessing that a programme which could do this would simply copy the O2000 software into an archive file, AND put all the relevant enteries in the register into a .reg file.) Thanks 92.24.191.128 (talk) 14:25, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't know of any software that does that — it sure would be handy for me, too. If your objective is to get more disk space, I would instead buy a large new hard disk, and use disk cloning software to make an exact copy of your old hard disk onto the new one. The disk cloning software will then let you enlarge your new disk's partition, so you end up with a lot more space than you started with, and all your installed programs and registry are the same as they used to be. The only disadvantage may be that some software may detect the change in hard disk size and challenge you to find those installation disks, thinking you've copied the software to a new computer. YMMV. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:46, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps a possible procedure would be to 1) take a copy of the registry using Erunt. 2) copy the O2000 using something that would preserve the directory structure. 3) Uninstall O2000. 4) run a registry cleaner to remove the remains of enteries for O2000. 5) take another copy of the registry with Erunt. 6) Compare the before and after Erunt files and create a .reg file with the differences in it. Discard the two Erunt files. 7) Put this .reg file in a zip file with the copy of O2000.

To reinstall it, unpack the O2000 copy. Run the .reg file to restore the registry enteries.

Does anyone have any opinion if the above procedure would work? If it does, I wish someone would write a freeware program to automate the procedure. 92.26.56.233 (talk) 23:16, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Programs tend to rely on more than simply registry entries to work (I ran into this problem recently when I was trying to create a portable version of another program). They also need to call on dll's which can be scattered throughout the drive. If one of these dll's is missing, at best an optional function in the program will not run, at worst your program will crash. Obviously you wouldn't want to have this kind of instability while manipulating important data! I am not really certain which files you need to run MS Office. It's possible someone has documented this on the web already. A quick Google search by me came up with little information specifically regarding which resources it calls on, but if you care enough you can probably figure it out yourself.

Your suggestion reminded me of VMware's ThinApp. Which is really not exactly what you're talking about, but takes similar steps of automatically figuring out what dll's and registry entries a program creates so it can bundle them into a portable/easily transferable version. But it's not really intended as an archiving solution, no.

If you figure out a solution, I'd love to hear about it. -Amordea (talk) 03:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

how does hard disk work ?

how does hard disk work ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Poobharathii (talk • contribs) 14:34, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

See Hard disk drive. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:37, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Good value laptop with Ubuntu?

I'm getting a new laptop in the $500-800 price range for work and some play (no need for high powered components). I'd like to dual-boot Ubuntu on it, but the resources on the Ubuntu site all give lists of laptops that various people have gotten to work. What I'd really like a resource like WINE has, where I could look up if a given laptop works rather than having to sift through various lists to see if anyone's tried it. So, I guess my question has two parts: 1) does anyone know of a resource like the one I described? and 2) does anyone have recommendations for laptops they know work? Also: I know that some companies sell laptops with linux installed, but my company is footing some of the bill on this and the guy in charge of that won't sign off on a laptop from a "non-standard company". 173.52.5.181 (talk) 21:38, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

How about get a Windows laptop and install ubuntu on it? You know its free do you? http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/ --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 05:06, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

OP here. How about reading questions carefully instead of defaulting to condescending sarcasm? You know it's irritating don't you? http://www.emilypost.com/ 64.61.167.178 (talk) 14:08, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

If I'm understanding right, I think the OP is asking about compatability with Ubuntu. I am no expert here, but I'll lend my experience: having run Ubuntu on at least 4 different machines without any hitch, I'd say there isn't much hardware that Ubuntu cannot run on. Especially if you're doing something name-brand--there is bound to be a lot of support in the Ubuntu community for this. I ran 8.04 in a dual-boot setup on my old (and quite obsolete even at the time) Compaq Pentium 4 desktop a few years back with no problems and currently have 10.04 running on my Acer netbook as a virtual machine (which I wouldn't think the desktop version would have much support for netbook hardware, but it runs fine). It runs on my Athlon 64 x2 desktop just fine as well (also in a virtual machine). Take from that what you will, but I doubt you'll have any serious issues with any hardware you choose. Maybe someone else here can support or refute that? -Amordea (talk) 06:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I tried Ubuntu with live CD on a brand new Dell Studio 15 Laptop without any problems. --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 06:04, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

If you can find a physical computer shop with the model you want why not bring in an ubuntu liveCD and ask if you can try booting with it to see whether everything works. 131.111.185.68 (talk) 08:14, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I was once told here on the RD that IBM/Lenovo laptops work well with Ubuntu. --Ouro (blah blah) 09:16, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Dell is non-non-standard, and sells some Ubuntu machines. But the selection is really limited. I'm writing this on a Dell machine that came with Windows which I installed Ubuntu over. Paul (Stansifer) 13:52, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

It I needed certainty of full coverage, I'd have to buy a laptop that came with Linux installed; in addition to the handful of netbooks that Asus and Acer sell, I'm only aware of the limited range that Dell supplies, and a few people like linuxcertified.com that put linux on a big-name laptop and certify that it works (which may be enough to satisfy your purchasing people). IBM/Lenovo and HP used to sell a small range of Linux laptops, but I can't find any that they sell right now. The trouble with anyone recommending a laptop that works is that you almost certainly can't buy the laptop they're recommending - laptop makers rev the hardware incredibly quickly, and very often make like-for-like substitutions without changing the product number (they say it's got 802.11n, but they don't say if its a Broadcom chip or an Atheros chip or what) and they're quite possibly shipping two versions of the same laptop, at the same time, without differentiating one from the other. As long as they all have working Windows drivers, the manufacturer is covered. In practice things are much better - I've not seen a laptop in years that doesn't get the core stuff working (core chipset, display, wired ethernet, audio, cd/dvd, hard disk), and I don't believe I've had a problem with wireless in the last four Ubuntu revisions or so. Support for webcams, bluetooth, cardbus, and memory-card-reader is patchier (and I'm suspicious when people say "everything works" they haven't tested all of these). I've had good results with Acer laptops, but not perfection - my 30 month old Travelmate's memory-card-reader doesn't work (it seems to have got a driver with the latest Ubuntu, but it still doesn't seem to see cards). Special keys (those media keys and the like) generally don't work out of the box. So TL;DR: other than buying one of the few ships-with-linux laptops, it's very difficult to trust anyone's recommendation of a fully-working linux laptop. In your position I wouldn't dual boot - given the performance of virtualisation platforms like VmWare, I'd install Ubuntu in one of those, maximise the window, and try to pretend that Windows wasn't there at all. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:32, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

PHP question

Mr.98 write this little php script for me a while ago to display entries in a text file:

<?php
ini_set('auto_detect_line_endings', true); 
$lines = file($filename);
foreach($lines as $line) {
    echo "<font color='red'>$line</font><br>\n";
}
?>

I was wondering if it would be possible for the script to only display say the last 10 entries, or the first 50, or 10 entries after the first 50, etc. A way to customize which entries are displayed instead of just displaying them all in one go. Thank you! :) 82.44.55.254 (talk) 22:15, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Modify the foreach loop so it meets your customization criteria. PHP has a variety of control structures which can be used to set up your selection criteria; see the control structures section of the PHP manual. Astronaut (talk) 09:09, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I am extremely new to php and I don't really understand what you are saying. I know it's asking a lot, but could you post a small php example script of what you mean so I can see it in action and then modify it for what I need? That would be so helpful :) 82.44.55.254 (talk) 10:52, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Would this work for 51-60 ?

<?php
ini_set('auto_detect_line_endings', true); 
$lines = file($filename);
$i = 0;
foreach($lines as $line) {
  $i++;
  if ($i > 50) && ($i < 61) {
    echo "<font color='red'>$line</font><br>\n";
  }
}
?>

StuRat (talk) 12:17, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Or even more directly:

<?php
ini_set('auto_detect_line_endings', true); 
$lines = file($filename);
for($i=50;$i<61;$i++) {
    echo "<font color='red'>{$lines[$i]}</font><br>\n";
}
?>

That for() loop just means: "$i is a variable that is initially set to 50; while $i is less than 61; repeat the code below, adding one to $i each time." Then, inside the code block, {$lines[$i]} just means "the value in the array $lines at index number $i." Does that make sense? If you change the numbers you'll get different lines.

If you wanted it to get the last 10 entries (and you don't know how many entries you have to begin with), you'd want something like this:

<?php
ini_set('auto_detect_line_endings', true); 
$lines = file($filename);
$total_lines = count($lines);
for($i=$total_lines-10;$i<=$total_lines;$i++) {
    echo "<font color='red'>{$lines[$i]}</font><br>\n";
}
?>

Where we've gotten the total lines, then had the "start" $i variable at the total lines minus 10, and have the "end" $i variable end with the total lines. For the first 10 lines, it is even easier:

<?php
ini_set('auto_detect_line_endings', true); 
$lines = file($filename);
for($i=0;$i<10;$i++) {
    echo "<font color='red'>{$lines[$i]}</font><br>\n";
}
?>

Note that your array of lines starts with "0" as the first index (it's just how arrays work with PHP), so item #10 will really be the 11th item. Anyway, does that make sense? It's just a matter of setting up the logic to give you the numbers you want. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:23, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I have a bold guess that this whole "show entries from a textfile" involves a task that is better suited to, say, a MySQL database. What does the textfile contain, and what do you do with it on the site? 198.161.238.18 (talk) 16:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

May 19

something about transfer sms to pc

[removed--this was an advertisement. old edit -Amordea (talk) 05:33, 19 May 2010 (UTC)]

Do we get much advertising here? Chevymontecarlo. 05:40, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

SyncToy download

SyncToy from microsoft is available in two variants, SyncToySetupPackage_v21_x64.exe and SyncToySetupPackage_v21_x86.exe. I run XP on a bland PC. How do I work out which I need? -- SGBailey (talk) 08:15, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

What is a "bland PC"? Most likely you are running the 32-bit version of XP, and then you should choose the second option. You can check which version of Windows XP you are running either by starting (Win+R) winver or by pressing Win+Pause. 32-bit Windows XP: second link; 64-bit Windows XP: first link. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 08:18, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

If it doesn't say 32-bit or 64-bit, is it right to assume that it is from before 64-bit existed and is therefore 32-bit? -- SGBailey (talk) 10:02, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I think that only very few users are running a 64-bit version of XP, so most likely you are running the 32-bit version. (But indeed there is a 64-bit version of XP.) --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 10:16, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Electronics

how to analyse typical transister circuits.... for example:multi vibrators,lics etc11:48, 19 May 2010 (UTC)~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kodali siva kiran (talk • contribs)

The starting point, conceptually, is often to write out Kirchoff's current law and Kirchoff's voltage law. Determine the bias point of the transistors to determine their transistor operating mode (i.e., which equation is most appropriate to approximate their behavior). Finally, solve the small signal model analytically or numerically, often by using a SPICE tool. If you are solving for bipolar junction transistors, a different set of bias-point equations and operating-mode equations apply, but the procedure is generally the same. Nimur (talk) 12:17, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Fonts and their symbolism

I am looking for information on the connotations of different fonts. For example, Times New Roman is seen as boring, Comic Sans MS is seen as relaxed and Courier is associated with screenplays. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.189.216.184 (talk) 13:57, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

First a warning, if you're interested in the modern popular associations of typefaces, Comic Sans is widely reviled; the fact that it's common makes it frequently misused. According to my handy copy of The Non-Designer's Type Book, Oldstyle faces (like Times New Roman, Garamond) are "warm", "graceful", and "invisible" (i.e. normal), Modern faces (like Didot) have "sparkle" and "elegance", but aren't very readable (they are also old-fashioned looking), slab serif faces (Clarendon, New Century Schoolbook) are "regimented" and "strong", and sans serif faces (Helvetica, Futura) are simple and somewhat more modern. And, as someone who programs, it would be remiss of me to mention that fixed width typefaces like Courier (though Courier is not a good example; it's hard to read) are associated with computer programming.

Wikipedia's article VOX-ATypI classification goes into lots of delicious detail for various subcategories (in particular, there are lots of different sans serif families I just lumped together). Also see Serif#Classification and Sans-Serif#Classification. Paul (Stansifer) 15:15, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

It's hard to really systematically discuss cultural connotations of a typeface, because so much of it is not what they look like in an objective way, but how they have been used. Anyway, you might be interested in the film Helvetica, which is a nice discussions of how designers and people think about typefaces (using Helvetica as its main focus, but with somewhat wider conclusions). It's of note that much of this is contextual. Since 2008, Gotham is the Obama font, for example, whereas before it would have had more neutral connotations. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:31, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks! Which fonts look really old (that I would use them in an article about history)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.189.216.184 (talk) 15:52, 19 May 2010 (UTC)