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July 12

backup firefox address bar search

I'm currently preparing for a re-install and am wondering if there is anyway to backup the database used in the firefox address bar search?

Cheers, --124.180.216.146 (talk) 11:32, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

All your settings are stored in a profile folder. The location of this varies depending on your OS, but you should be able to save this folder and copy its contents back. See here for more info. It probably helps if you re-install the same version of Firefox as you had before, but I don't know how essential that is.

There are also various tools/plug-ins that claim they can back up all kinds of settings including your history and bookmarks (which are what the address bar search uses). I can't recommend any, but two are FEBE[1] and MozBackup[2]. But copying the profile folder is probably sufficient. --Colapeninsula (talk) 13:23, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

This page on the Mozilla website explains how to back up your info. --Colapeninsula (talk) 13:24, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

At minimum, you could try saving your places.sqlite database and using it with your fresh install. TheGrimme (talk) 16:41, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Text Converter

Hello, a long time ago on the internet you used to get all sorts of sites that would convert a website / some text into certain dialects or styles, for example you used to get one that turned it into the A-Team, so if you wrote "Me and Bobby went to the shops to get some ham", it would make it say "Me and Murdoch modified the crazy damn shops to not get on no plane, fool!", and you also got them so it would turn ordinary language into porno talk so it would be "Me and ****ing Bobby went throbbing hard to the fisting shops, ****ed some ham in the ***", or similar. What were these things called and do they still exist and where can I find them? Jeremy Wordsworth (talk) 13:59, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

There's such a translator here. I think there may also have been some proxy servers that did it more transparently, but I can't find any now. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 14:34, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Organizing music

Hi, I was just wondering in what ways and how you organize your music. Do you organize them by artist/album/song (and what do you do with soundtracks from films/plays)? Do you go by genre/artist/song? Or do you just plop everything in one (or maybe many) places on your hard drive and let software such as MediaMonkey or foobar2000 do the rest? Thanks, 141.150.23.93 (talk) 16:06, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

I have my music organized in folders by genre, then by artist, and finally by album. If I have a single song by an artist, I have a 'Misc' folder inside of each genre. I also use mp3tag in order to rename my files to [track #] - [artist] - [album] - [title].mp3. It's all a matter of preference, but that is mine. TheGrimme (talk) 16:48, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

One difficulty is that the concept of "Artist / Album / Song" as a top-to-bottom hierarchy is really not well-suited to many types of music and audio. For example, much of my audio collection consists of files from independently produced creators who never released anything in the form of an "album." And as a personal preference, I have never liked the idea of "genre" to describe music or audio: are the Beatles rock or pop? There is never a good answer; "genre" seems like a poorly contrived effort by music marketing corporations who sought to segment the purchasers into demographics, rather than a sincere effort to categorize the audio according to any aesthetic or meaningful, technical metric. So, it's unsuitable to try to fit these tracks into a folder or database structure that expects a well-ordered, unique tree-structure ("genre > album > artist > ..."). Similarly, there is not a one-to-one mapping between artist and song: consider the case of remixes, cover-songs, group collaborations, and so forth. Consider, Tree (data structure) vs. Graph (data structure); it is my opinion that a collection of audio-tracks with associated metadata describing their style, creator, and so on, are much better described as a graph than as a tree.

After years of trying to make a sensible hierarchical ordering that could account for these various permutations, I have finally succumbed to the "giant directory full of unsorted tracks," and a directory database that intelligently scans audio tracks for metadata (usually, an ID3 tag) to allow rapid search. I have used WinAmp and iTunes, which are both available for free; I have also used Rhythmbox, which is free software. These software can all assist you in organizing your music and data files. Nimur (talk) 17:00, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Trees are also graphs, I think, but only of a more restrictive kind. So, that would be graphs in general vs. a particular form of graphs. Wikiweek (talk) 22:57, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

I group them into my own roughly aligned Genres then it's just every song in that genre sorted by artist name (my key thing being that I personally would look for, say, Aimee Mann under 'M' not 'A' so I have to have them set as Mann, Aimee in my naming (well probably not but I do). ny156uk (talk) 17:44, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Math for hardware vs. math for software

Is there math for hardware and math for software in a degree program of computer science? I suppose some things, like Calculus, might be common in both cases, but I also suppose some topics and subfields are specific for hardware or software. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikiweek (talk • contribs) 22:18, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

In computer science, you study both (mainly in graduate school). Software mathematics will be covered in algorithms class. You want to write your programs in such a way that they run efficiently and (very important) they complete. Hardware mathematics will be covered in architecture class - specifically when you discuss the math coprocessor that most CPUs have. You will also cover the many algorithms for performing simple calculations like floating point division. You will learn how to make your software even more efficient. For example, integer mathematics is much faster than floating point mathematics in all common household computers. So, assume you are writing a program that deals with numbers with 2 decimal places and you do a lot of addition and multiplication with them. Instead of using a float type, you can use an int type (multiplying every number by 100) and just cram a period into the numbers when you display them on the screen. -- kainaw™ 13:07, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

For software, I'd say algebra, Boolean logic (the simple form), and matrices are useful, and geometry for graphics. (I've only used calculus on one occasion, which, incidentally, was what first brought me to the Ref Desk, to find the formula for the center of mass of a bent pipe.) More advanced math topics are likely only needed for applications in those specific areas. For example, you don't need much knowledge of statistics, unless writing a program to solve statistics problems. And, even then, the specs would likely include any formulae to be used. StuRat (talk) 19:07, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

July 13

Output of Image

(I have been bold and assumed this is a separate question. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I have also added a title (In which I could be wrong). Thank you, General Rommel (talk) 00:00, 13 July 2011 (UTC))

Hi I was wondering how the 5th line is true in picture shown on the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combinational_logic.

i.e T F F output is T. doesnt the product of the T x F x F a false?

Chaituchill (talk) 23:44, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Yikes, that section is about as badly written as it could be. The point of the example is that it is possible to represent any truth table using that technique. In other words, each "Result" in the truth table could be T or F, independently of the other "result"s -- you get a formula that produces that pattern of T's and F's by oring together all of the and-expressions whose results are T. Looie496 (talk) 06:22, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

5,000 BTU air conditioner in a ~150 sq. ft. room

I have the unit on max but the room doesn't get near freezing. Is this normal or is this like-new unit not very good? I do have the door open and the next room, whose air doesn't mix much with that in the rest of the house, is not air conditioned, but still... Imagine Reason (talk) 00:13, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

I can't give you a full answer (so hopefully someone else can), but you definitely need to have the door closed (as well as any windows). When you have it open all the cool air will literally seep out and mix (and then become warm) which severely dampens the results. Close the door and run it flat out for about 20 minutes, you'll probably feel the difference then, especially if you then leave the room. Of course it will depend on what the temperature of the room/outside temperature is as well as the actual dimensions of the room (ceiling height etc) so if you can give better dimensions (rather than just total square foot) I know that'll help the next person out who might be able to give a better answer.  ZX81  ^talk 01:01, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

You pretty much need to close the door for this sort of thing to work. Air masses of different temperatures will mingle a lot more than you think.

In addition to closing the door, make sure you don't have any ventilation ducts that are blowing in air from the rest of the house.

Is it a window unit? Or an upright? 5,000BTU should be fine for a 150sq ft room (With the door shut!) if it's a window unit. It's kind of borderline for an upright unit. (I'm not sure why the upright units are so much less effective.)

Finally, make sure you've got the thermostat on the A/C set properly. Most of them will shut themselves off (or switch to fan-only) mode long before the room gets literally freezing. But it should be possible to get it down into the 60s or perhaps even 50s. APL (talk) 03:53, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Unless you have very well insulated walls, ceiling, floor, doors and windows, a unit of this rating will not be sufficient to get the temperature down to near freezing in summer, but it should reduce the temperature to perhaps 20 or 30 degrees below the surroundings if doors, windows and other ventilation inlets are all closed. Dbfirs

Even a like-new unit should have a plate on it giving the specs (or you could try downloading the spec sheet from the company website). That should state its minimum temperature, which is likely to be no lower than about 60 F. Why do you want it lower than 72 F are you opening a morgue? If its a free standing one with an exhaust pipe, then you do need a little ventilation with the out-side to replenish that being pumped out.Also, close the binds or curtains as an amazing amount of radiated heat can come through the windows.--Aspro (talk) 08:26, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Domestic air conditioners usually have a hot air exhaust - it is where the heat that was in the room is dumped. Of course, that hot air needs to be dumped outside the room you are trying to cool. If not, you are just moving the heat around the same room and using up electricity. Astronaut (talk) 15:20, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

The BTU is a good match (though just a tad low) for the square feet. You really want around 7,000BTU for 150sqft. As for checking the AC, you need a thermometer where the cold air comes out of the AC. That is the temperature of the cold air. Your room will not get lower than the temperature of the cold air produced by the AC. So, if it is pumping 75 degree air out, you cannot cool the room below 75 degrees. If the air is not cold enough, you could need to charge the coolant or get a new AC. -- kainaw™ 13:02, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes, definitely faulty if the air is coming out at 75 degrees (unless your room temperature is 100 degrees). The outlet temperature should normally be 50 degrees or below, but is unlikely to be close to freezing unless the intake air is cool. Dbfirs 17:52, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

And, even then, I think it would ice up and stop working before getting the room temperature down anywhere near freezing. This is because humidity in the air would condense on the cold parts and then freeze, eventually blocking air flow. To get the temperature that low, you'd need an air conditioner specifically designed for that purpose, as in the ones used in meat lockers. I imagine they have a defrost cycle to clear the ice build-up, like in a refirigerator/freezer combo. StuRat (talk) 18:51, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

One hint, use a large fan aimed at the side of the front of the unit to blow the cold air away from the A/C unit and bring warm air to it (the built-in fans are rather underpowered). This will prevent it from getting too cold at the thermostat, which causes the compressor to kick off. And, as others have said, close the door. This not only lets cold air out and warm air in, but also allows humidity in, which reduces the efficiency of the A/C (it's using much of the energy to condense water, not to cool the air). You might also find that it cools better when it's raining out, since that allows the external "radiator fins" to cool down more quickly. You could replicate this by spraying constantly with a hose, or maybe setting up a sprinkler, although, of course, you will soon have a puddle underneath. Most A/C units try to do this directly, by using condensed water, but don't do as good a job as a hose would. StuRat (talk) 18:51, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

How to use Queue with multiprocessing in python

I'm trying to use a queue with the multiprocessing library in Python. After executing the code below (the print statements work), but the processes do not quit after I call join on the Queue and there are still alive. How can I terminate the remaining processes?

Thanks!

def MultiprocessTest(self):
  print "Starting multiprocess."
  print "Number of CPUs",multiprocessing.cpu_count()

  num_procs = 4
  def do_work(message):
    print "work",message ,"completed"

  def worker():
    while True:
      item = q.get()
      do_work(item)
      q.task_done()

  q = multiprocessing.JoinableQueue()
  for i in range(num_procs):
    p = multiprocessing.Process(target=worker)
    p.daemon = True
    p.start()

  source = ['hi','there','how','are','you','doing']
  for item in source:
    q.put(item)
  print "q close"
  q.join()
  #q.close()
  print "Finished everything...."
  print "num active children:",multiprocessing.active_children()

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Legolas52 (talk • contribs) 04:34, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

The remaining processes aren't terminating because you aren't terminating them. joining on the queue only waits until the queue is empty; it doesn't do anything to the workers. So the simplest modification to what you have is to keep a list of the workers as you create them, and once the queue join is done you call each worker's terminate() method. Note that immediately after calling their terminate method those children will still show up in the process table (and thus in .active_children()) because the daemons' ordered closedown happens asynchronously. Much of this is simplified if you use multiprocess.Pool, which allows you to create and terminate workers (and manages work for them) and itself keeps track of the workers. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 11:55, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Blog for selling toys?

hi Iam miki. I am intrested in making toys. And i have blog. Now i want to sale toys through my blog. But I don't know how to integrate gateway for ordering and payment. Help to add an interface to take orders and payment on blog (blogger). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.214.21.232 (talk) 09:19, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

You can integrate Google Checkout (Google's shopping platform for merchants) with Blogger; in your case you'd set up the items in Google Checkout and then add a "buy now" button (see this Google explanation) which sends visitors off to the Checkout pages. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 12:00, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

You might look at Etsy if you're not already familiar with it. Depending on the kind of toy you're making, it might be useful for you. APL (talk) 18:24, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't think a blog would be very effective for selling toys. What you need is for your toys to be part of a large catalog of toys (or several), where anybody loooking for that type of toy (say "wooden train") would find it easily. The chances that people looking for your product will happen to read your blog is fairly low. (Although, if your blog was a widely read one on the topic of wooden trains, then it might work.) StuRat (talk) 18:36, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

'Bad Mac Read' SSL Error

Resolved

 – Sorted!

Since I put ZoneAlarm's free firewall on my system, I have been getting dialogue boxes saying:

• An error occurred during a connection to [gmail]. SSL received a record with an incorrect Message Authentication Code. (Error code: ssl_error_bad_mac_read)

I get them primarily when trying to check my Gmail, whether using Firefox (i.e. in the browser) or Thunderbird (my email client). I have tried this with ZoneAlarm on, and ZoneAlarm off, and I still get the dialogues - every couple of minutes. Uninstalling ZoneAlarm is a project in itself, so before I do that, is there any way I can stop these messages (i.e. fix this ssl error) in the meantime? --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 10:38, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

EDIT - It also happens with Google Chrome, so this is not a Firefox/Thunderbird problem. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 11:02, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Not that it is necessary to ask, but how did you solve it? General Rommel (talk) 11:35, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

I used RevoUninstaller to uninstall ZoneAlarm Free, and it worked without a hitch. After a restart, and a cmd console screen for five minutes (cleaning.....), everything was fine. Wi-fi card still works, no ssl errors, nothing. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 11:42, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

how do people make web comics?

how do most large web comic authors produce their web comics? (I mean what software and hardware). I'm asking about the actual status quo. Of course, I could just scan something in from paper, and perhaps that's how they do it? Thanks. 188.28.227.240 (talk) 11:16, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Adobe Illustrator is pretty good for producing comic-book style images, as are GIMP and Photoshop, and numerous other drawing softwares, such as Autodesk Sketchbook Pro. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 11:39, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

For more information, see Digital illustration and List of vector graphics editors. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 11:45, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

A good deal of them these days use graphics tablets for the actual drawing. I've no idea whether that is status quo or not. I also know that a number of them draw them by hand (like old-fashioned, non-web comics) and then use the computer primarily for inking. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:09, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Just about any way you can think of! I'd point you to the book How To Make Webcomics, but that spends only about a chapter on actually making the comics, and the rest about the non-artistic sides of operating a website and business.

Here is a video showing how Jeph Jacques draws Questionable Content. He works almost all digital.

And here is a video (Accelerated and narrated) showing how Dave Kellet draws Sheldon (webcomic). He does things entirely the old fashioned way.

Both of these artists are popular enough to make a living with their comics. APL (talk) 18:32, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

URL bar

Using windows xp and firefox. The URL bar should be showing en.wikipedia.org/refdesk... but it shows google.com/http://www.facebook.com. How come? How can I fix it? Kittybrewster ☎ 11:42, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

CTRL+F5? Or CTRL+L, followed by CTRL+Z as needed? ¦ Reisio (talk) 14:13, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps you are stuck inside a frame? Though, the URL you supplied isn't even a valid URL. Are you sure it isn't the bookmark bar you are seeing? You can hit Ctrl + L to go to the Location Bar (as Mozilla calls it). If you type in a website and hit enter does it still say google/facebook.com ? TheGrimme (talk) 14:20, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Unreadable external harddrive; missing driver?

Hi, I am currently using an Acer Aspire netbook (can't remember the exact model) with Windows XP SP3. After 3 years of working pretty well, my Trekstor 500gb external hard drive (after looking around the web I think it is a Datastation Maxi G U) decided to go kaput; it will not read, even though the power is on and the light is showing blue. I've tried connecting it both to my own laptop and another (Toshiba something or other running Windows 7 Starter); on my laptop, it is reading as a Sunplus USB2Sata bridge which it most definitely is not, while on the Toshiba it doesn't appear in My Computer at all. On both laptops it is showing "0kb of 0kb remaining", and the other gives an extra message along the lines of No Media Detected. I am currently far, far, far away from where I purchased the drive (15,000 kilometres (9,300 mi) or so) and don't quite trust the local repair shops. Is there a way for me to recover the 300gb or so of data I have on the drive? Would downloading the correct driver help? Where could I download the driver? The manufacturer's website does not have it for download. Crisco 1492 (talk) 17:19, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

You don't need a driver for a USB mass storage device on Windows XP (or anything else that's not ancient); it comes with one. What persuades you that the Trekstor enclosure definately isn't a Sunplus USB2Sata bridge - that's just the kind of thing you would expect such an enclosure to show up as. Some Google searching suggests that many Trekstor mass-storage devices use Sunplus bridges. Most likely either the drive is bad or the enclosure is bad (or maybe just the connection in the enclosure between the bridge and the drive has become loose). The thing to do is to open the enclosure and extract the SATA disk within, and plug that directly into the SATA interface of a desktop PC. If the disk is okay you'll be able to read the data off that way; if the disk has died then you won't. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 17:39, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

So no matter what I have to see if the "experts" won't botch it and then still charge an arm and a leg? Joy... Hopefully it's only the connection; I don't want to lose some (most, actually) of that data. I guess I'll just put it off until I have the money. Thanks. Crisco 1492 (talk) 17:43, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Probably. You could try opening the enclosure yourself (with the power off, obviously) and re-seating the sata and power connectors to the drive. I doubt it's that, but you never know. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 17:53, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the idea, but I have very uncoordinated fingers. Thanks for all the help. Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:45, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

called phone, heard dialup sound

i called a phone number and after a few rings i heard the old dialup sound. does this mean the guy was connceted to the internet by dialup? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Earthumeets9 (talk • contribs) 22:07, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

You called a fax machine. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 22:09, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

That's most likely, but it could also be a phone modem (dial-up), set to accept incoming calls. It could either be a dedicated line for either of those purposes, or he might just have it set up that way when he's expecting a FAX or incoming dial-up data, and use it as a normal phone the rest of the time. So, you'd better ask him if you have the right phone number, and, if so, when the best time to call is to get an actual ring. StuRat (talk) 18:28, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Alternatives to connecting to a router which is too far away

What can be done if my router is too far away? Besides that putting my computer nearer it (which is possible, but not what I want), which options do I have to strengthen the signal? 88.9.104.139 (talk) 22:11, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

You can use a wireless repeater, which means it receives the signal and retransmit it to other points in case if the router is too far away. You can look here and here for more information about repeating and wireless repeater. I hope I answered your question. -- Luke ^Talk 22:20, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the prompt answer. And can I also attach an antenna to my computer to broaden its range? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.9.104.139 (talk) 22:24, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes, you can use an antenna. A cantenna can be used to broaden your WiFi range. However, it can also pick up other networks in the vicinity. -- Luke ^Talk 22:27, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't know the name for it (I'm sure someone else will), but you can also get a device which uses your power sockets. Its a pair of devices, one plugs into a power socket near your router attached to by an ethernet to the router, and another plugs into a power socket near your computer and cables into that, and the devices have power plug in them too so you don't need extra sockets--Jac16888 ^Talk 22:30, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

I think HomePlugs work like that. --Kateshortforbob _talk 09:57, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

This website has plans on how to make a parabolic reflector to place behind the antenna on the router side, both to increase its effective range and the signal strength in one direction, and to reduce its signal strength in the other direction (that is, the neighbors would have a harder time picking it up). You can apparently make the reflector out of anything metal; a cookie baking tray is suggested on the site, as is tin foil taped to cardboard. Comet Tuttle (talk) 15:18, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

July 14

sprint and text/sms costs?

Hey, im using http://www.textem.net/ to communicate with a friend. They have sprint. according to one of the responses here http://sms411.net/2006/07/sprint-sms/ sprint has really bad service switching from email to phone, which i THINK textem uses... maybe they somehow send a message directly? not sure.

Anyway, i'm having big issues with my messages not going through, and also with not getting messages from my friend. I dont know if its the site or sprint or both.

If i text them using email (######@messaging.sprintpcs.com) will i get better service? will it cost them where textem doesnt?

I just want to find a way to text RELIABLY for free, hopefully not costing my friend either. Is this possible? Opinions and any pertinent info please!

Thank you very much! 172.163.26.218 (talk) 02:56, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Macbook hardware diagnostics (memtest, disk drive)

I am trying to help a friend who has a Macbook Pro with an Intel processor. I'm trying to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard, but it hangs in the middle of the install.

If this were a PC I would load up Ultimate Boot CD for Windows and run memtest86 and a hard drive test, but I obviously can't do that on a Mac.

During the install, I have tried to erase and reformat the hard drive, that does not help. I have run the verify and repair tools on the hard drive, that doesn't help either (they both 'pass').

Q: How can I diagnose problems with either the memory or disk drive on a Mac, if I can't boot into the operating system?

Thanks, TheGrimme (talk) 03:47, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Memtest86 will run on a Mac. Download an ISO of it and give it a whirl. --Mr.98 (talk) 03:54, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks Mr.98. I burnt the iso and tried booting with it. Doing nothing, the disk spun but the computer just showed a picture of a folder with a question mark. I found a youtube video that said to hold alt, and instead of that image it remained at the gray screen with an arrow for a cursor. Either way, it didn't seem to want to boot with memtest. Any ideas for memtest? Any ideas for testing the hard drive? Thanks again, TheGrimme (talk) 05:11, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Do you have an OS X DVD? I would try to boot from that. There is a hardware diagnostic program on the DVD as well. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:44, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

I do have the OS X Snow Leopard retail DVD, but not the hardware testing disk that (after reading many forums) apparently comes with an Apple computer when you purchase it. The only tool the DVD gives me is the disk utility, which after 4 seconds says the disk is fine. This is not an accurate disk check. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TheGrimme (talk • contribs) 18:18, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

You should be able to get the original OS X disk that came with the machine from Apple, if it has been lost. Even if your support contract has expired, the Apple help line might give you some ideas. You did not say what OS is currently on the machine. If you can get the OS X disk that came with the machine, you can boot from that, regardless of the state of your hard disk. EdJohnston (talk) 18:59, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

How do I forcibly move some stubborn Android apps onto the SD card?

On my Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, I only have 380 MB of internal memory. I remember when 380 MB was a LOT (alas, that was in 3rd grade.) However, I have gigs on my SD card.

The only problem is, some apps won't let me move them to SD cards and I'm running out of room. Therefore,

1. How do I forcibly get those said apps onto the SD card anyway?
2. How do I swap out the internal 380MB card for a bigger one, and transfer all the internal data to the bigger one?
3. Being low on internal space, will new apps download directly to the SD if they're eligible for it? (Or do I have to manually change something to let that happen?)
4. On the Android market, how do I tell whether the apps are eligible for the SD card?
5. Is there an app that removes the stubbornness of those apps that normally won't let me move them to the SD card, by way of somehow changing that particular permission?

Having hoarded hundreds of fine apps, now would be a great time for epic assistance. --70.179.165.67 (talk) 03:54, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

There are some apps that will force other apps to an SD card. When an app is made, the programmer decides if it will be allowed to move to the SD card. For development, you can move things around. So, you get a developers app and put that on your phone and you can do things that a normal user cannot do. This is not completely rooting the phone - it is just a developer tool. Unfortunately, not all apps will work properly if run from the SD card - especially if the SD card didn't initialize properly when you turned on the phone (a common problem). Most of these apps that allow this environment have names like SDMove or SDForce. Also, they tend to be ones you have to download, compile, and install yourself.

I haven't seen an Android phone yet that allows you to alter the internal storage in any way. You can only change out the SD Card. Even the Droid Global (which allows a lot of hand-on) doesn't let you get to the internal storage without mutilating the phone.

As with the "move to SD card" apps above, there are developer's tools which force everything to the SD card. They tend to be called things like App2SD. Again, they usually require you to download, compile, and install them.

I do not see anything in the App store which allows you to see if an app can be moved to the SD card. I just uninstall the stupid ones that can't do SD card (like the new Google+ Android App - you'd think that Google would be able to make a good app).

The last question is a repeat of the first question. -- kainaw™ 12:53, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

USB gamepad on Linux

I'm running Ubuntu 64 Natty, and have installed a cheap gamepad with two axes on an 8-way d-pad (not analogue) and 10 buttons. I'm having a few problems.

• First, the number of axis registering in Linux is 6, not two, and the two axis that exist are not the first two that Linux acknowledges.
• Second, even after remapping the two axes that actually exist to 0,1, although the gamepad appears to work in jstest, neither of the games with which I've tried it acknowledge my use of the d-pad. Presses on any of the buttons are recognized, but not the axes.

Any ideas?--Leon (talk) 14:13, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

mod_rewrite and .htaccess help

I'm trying to set up an .htaccess file with mod_rewrite that will take all traffic and shoot it to one page.

So let's say I have http://mysite.com/index.php, which is my main "controlling" page. If you go to http://mysite.com/blah/hello.html (or any other subpage query of mysite.com), I want it actually to load up index.php, but not change the URL path as far as the browser is concerned. index.php will then analyze the URL string and serve up content appropriately.

My gut says mod_rewrite is the way to do this, but really, I've got no clue how to use it correctly. Seems like a lot of regex strings and I'm not too keen on those.

Anyone have experience with this who can lend a hand? --Mr.98 (talk) 15:06, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Nevermind, I figured it out. The Wordpress htaccess settings here did the trick. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:18, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Fake PayPal email

I am in the UK. I've got an email suppopsedly comming from PayPal. However the "from" address has nothing to do with PayPal, and the link I am asked to click on redirects to a web address that ends in .tw.

What should I do about it or with it, if anything? I've already marked it as junk mail. 92.24.177.241 (talk) 18:41, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Just delete it and ignore anything similar, its common for spammers and scammers to send fake emails claiming to be from banks and whatnot in an attempt to get you to give them your details.--Jac16888 ^Talk 18:43, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

But, how do they fake the email address? I sometimes receive the email with exactly the address of a real bank (like clientservice@realbank.com) not a thing near it (like clientservice@realbank.tw). Quest09 (talk) 21:15, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

An email is just a text file. At the top are some email headers, which are just name:value pairs. Any email library lets you set the values to all of these, and make up any old ones you like. As the mail is moved around between mail servers they often add other stuff (the route it took, whether that server thinks the email is spam, etc.) but stuff like From: and Date: are rarely touched. So it's trivial to set a From: to read as anything you want; it's also common to manipulate the date: to either be in the future or the distant past (so it's at one end or other of the recipient's email list, if it's sorted by date). -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 21:23, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict) They fake it by tampering the "From:" header that indicates the sender, which is read at face value by your email client. That can be thwarted by verifying the header with a public key from your bank, but it is a pain to do if you're a normal user (actually, it is a pain to do not matter how experienced you are). With these things, the best thing is to be skeptical, and exercise caution with emails regarding your bank. Don't click on links included on the email, and contact your bank if there is something particularly suspicious - frankie (talk) 21:25, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

(The technique is known as E-mail spoofing.)--Kateshortforbob _talk 22:12, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

I have an e-mail here & I know who sent it both from the "from" address & by the content. But suppose I get an e-mail apparently from the same person at the same e-mail address. If something in the content makes me suspicious as to whether they sent it, would comparing the two headers establish whether the new email is fraudulent? Thanks, Wanderer57 (talk) 23:25, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

It depends on how well the spoof is made. If they only changed the "From: " header, then you could compare the other headers for clues on whether it is legit, but those headers may be altered just as easily. In the scenario you present, you have the option to contact your friend to confirm if the email is from them, but then it could happen that that communication channel could be compromised as well, so a new approach would be required. Regarding IT security, there is always a degree of speculation and uncertainty, regardless of any measures taken - frankie (talk) 13:32, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

I once got a fake PayPal e-mail which had even copied PayPal's warning "If in doubt, write the address to your browser by hand instead of clicking on links" verbatim. A self-defeating scam e-mail! =) 194.100.223.164 (talk) 09:43, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Quite in contrary. They look more reliable doing that, since people dont expect scammers to use such sentences. They are reducing the "doubts". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.8.79.148 (talk) 11:16, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

But the scammer is instructing the user to avoid doing the thing that the scammer wants him/her to do, because if the user types in the URL by hand, he/she will get to the real PayPal site. Unless of course the fake e-mail includes a forged link that has not only the actual URL, but the displayed text forged too, and the user happily types in the forged URL by hand. 194.100.223.164 (talk) 13:27, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

I used to get fake messages from 'Ebay' allegedly including a message from the customer that I failed to pay for some stuff I had never seen in my life, but I didn't get fooled. And I also got fake e-mails from Paypal, but I never had an account with them, so no bother there. For the bank bit, I specifically asked my customer care person the last time we talked that I don't want anything sent to me, be it e-mail or snail-mail, save for new debit cards if I request one. So when in doubt - doubt even more! --Ouro (blah blah) 11:31, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Phone hacking

How do I keep my cell phone from being hacked? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.157.87.136 (talk) 20:25, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

See these articles: [3] and [4] -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 20:39, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Been in the UK, you don't have to be a celeb to get your phone hacked, apparently. I understand your worries. Quest09 (talk) 21:16, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

The news keeps talking about cell phone "hacking", but it isn't much in the way of hacking. Most phone message boxes require a 4-digit code to access the messages. You don't have an option to use more than 4 digits. If you don't set it, you get a default one, like 0000 or the last four digits of your phone number. So, a group of journalists call in and try the obvious choices: 0000, 1234, etc... They guess the 4-digit code and have full access to the phone messages. Never do they touch the actual cell phone. They don't have to see it, call it, or do anything to it. They are just calling the phone company's mailbox number, typing in the phone number for the mailbox they want to check, and guessing at the access number. Because there are only 10000 choices, it is rather easy to guess it by using brute force: get 10 people and have each one try 1000 possibilities. You'll get it in a couple days. -- kainaw™ 16:22, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Computer memory

If a computer is restored to an earlier period in time, will the hard drive memory stay the same as it was in either that certain period time or the current that I was in? I'm going to be restoring a computer, and I just want to ahead of time since I've never restored a computer. SwisterTwister talk 22:22, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm not entirely familiar with it, but according to System Restore and this MS support post it only affects system files and registry entries, while your personal files are unaffected (and, conversely, your personal files cannot be recovered by performing a restore in the event that you deleted them). I hope that helps - frankie (talk) 22:28, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Still, it is always a good idea to make a backup of your files, just in case - frankie (talk) 22:31, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, you need to be a little more specific about what exact operating system and additional software (if any) you are talking about. I suspect that Frankie is correct and that you are talking about the Windows Vista or Windows 7 System Restore, in which case Frankie is correct: all that gets affected is the system files and registry. The purpose of System Restore is that if you install some bad, nasty software that breaks your system somehow, you can use System Restore to "rewind" to before the install occurred, when your system worked. The files in places like the "Documents" folder won't be affected.

On the other hand, you may be referring to backup software like Norton Ghost, which can back up your hard disk to an image file that's a complete bit-for-bit image of the hard disk, and when you tell Ghost to "restore" the hard disk to an earlier date, it'll replace every single bit of the hard disk with the backup image file; so indeed your hard disk will look the same as it did the day it was backed up. Comet Tuttle (talk) 04:21, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

July 15

Just installed IE9. I have a serious problem with it that seems to make it useless for me.

I note that a "separate search box" has been deleted from IE9. I definitely want to use Bing, Youtube, Hulu and other search providers. When I had IE8 I found that Google had outdated useless results (a year old) and Bing had more recent results for an important recent search. I prefer to use as few toolbars as possible to preserve space for results. Am I limited to Google via its toolbar? Can't find from Microsoft on how to roll back to IE8.1archie99 (talk) 03:30, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

If you click the down arrow beside the little magnifying glass in the address bar, it'll pop down a list of recently visited sites and favorite sites. At the very bottom of that is a line with icons for all the different search providers you have available (think it's just Bing when IE9 is initially set up). In the bottom right corner is an "add" button to add new search providers. Then just click on which one you want to use. 75.155.138.12 (talk) 08:47, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

You can also set your home page to be your favorite search engine. That's what I do. That way, any time you open a new tab, you get that search engine. As for Google getting old results, that makes me wonder in Microsoft is intentionally using cached values for Google, to make it less useful and encourage people to move to their product (Bing). StuRat (talk) 18:22, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Defaul video player; detecting which is playing and changing it

How do I tell what program my imac is accessing to play mpgs and other videos when I click on them at a website? It's playing this tiny clip in the center of the screen and I know that at some point I was able to change my default player to something else but I don't know how and I recently reconfigured. So a few questions. How do I tell which program is running to play the clip (this is embedded on a website, not a clip I've downloaded that if I played, the menu at the top of the screen would show me the program) and how to I change the default program that playes these. I think what's playing them right now it quicktime, because I remember from a long time ago that when anything plays through quicktime it would open in that tiny screen, but I'm not sure. Thanks.--108.46.103.142 (talk) 04:16, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

When you click on them in a website, your browser is deciding how to handle them. You can look up how your browser handles a given file type in its Options or Preferences or whatever it calls the thing. Looie496 (talk) 05:35, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Registry cleaning

In short, is registry cleaning worth bothering with, and if so, which cleaner?

For old times' sake, I occasionally use an old computer with Win2k. For a long time it ran roughly as fast as my assistants' machine, with XP, which has more memory, and a far faster CPU. But I had to swap the latter with another, nominally identical (old) machine. This is a slug; my Win2k machine runs rings around it. And it's not just me: a friend in the same predicament says that her new old XP machine is a slug compared with its predecessor.

First I suspected the "antivirus" software. I really want to delete this, but I suppose I have a civic duty to run "antivirus" software as long as I'm running Windows; and I don't know of a significantly less annoying "antivirus" alternative.

Today I heard an acquaintance complaining about grotesque sluggishness in other (newer) Windows computers hereabouts. He'd run a registry cleaner on one, zapped over 300 pointless registry entries (from old versions of software, etc), and the machine thereupon booted and ran far faster, he said. Sounds promising!

However, the general thrust of the article "Registry cleaner" seems to be that "cleaning" your registry is about as good for your computer as chiropractic or homeopathy or moxibustion is for your body. Moreover, some googling for putatively independent information brings very dubious looking web pages, showing as " contest winners" laughably huge cardboard boxes.

Then again, the WP article "Registry cleaner" is feebly sourced....

So what's the straight dope on registry cleaning? If it has some value, is there a no-bull (no large cardboard box) GNU or similar program for the job?

(Please don't advise me to switch to Linux. It's excellent advice, which I've already taken. The Windows computer is for anyone who happens to be working with/for me, not for me. And these people seem oddly worried by anything other than Windows.) -- Hoary (talk) 06:47, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Contrary to the about comment by Hoary, chiropractic is a very effective treatment for some conditions. I know this is not a good place for a discussion of chiropractic but I cannot let that comment pass unchallenged. Wanderer57 (talk) 18:44, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Don't know nothing about cardboard boxes to clean the registry with, but as one who had moved away from Windows quite a while ago, I can tell you this much: yes, cleaning the registry will speed things up to some extent, depending on the individual machine, actually. Can't recommend any particular software for it, because back when I still had any flavour of Windows, I usually a) just installed stuff I really needed, and b) just reinstalled the OS once every few months. There's a c), I did a little bit of cleaning by hand (but just a little bit - just the keys related to apps running at start-up), but that's kind of marginal (but still able to speed thing up somewhat if you do it right). Cheers, Ouro (blah blah) 11:24, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Most registry cleaner programs are garbage that perform no useful function. To make it worse, many registry cleaner programs are front-ends for trojan horse programs.

Ultimately, you should ask "why will cleaning the registry speed up my computer?" Your computer's speed is determined by its hardware. If you notice that your computer is not meeting its peak performance specifically because unwanted programs are running, you should stop (or uninstall) those specific programs.

When you have many programs running, you are sharing your CPU and RAM with many programs. If you have unwanted programs that are running, turn them off; or disable them from starting when you boot your computer. You do not need any special tools: just know what programs have been installed, and disable (or uninstall) the ones you do not need. You can learn more about how programs auto-start in Microsoft Windows and how to configure which programs start on boot. Any legitimate "registry cleaner" program that provides a "speedup" is doing exactly these steps; but, by having software perform these steps for you, you are risking any of that program's side-effects or malware.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that "lots of clutter installed on the hard disk" slows your computer down; this is generally untrue. Modern computers are for the most part performance-agnostic with respect to the amount of data on the hard-disk. (Data on disk may cause minor variations in disk seek or file system performance, but this is not really what you experience when your computer is "running slowly.") The most critical factor that affects performance is the number of programs currently using CPU and RAM. Your Windows Registry, a utility that Windows uses to store and share data between programs and services, has essentially nothing to do with this performance. Nimur (talk) 15:32, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

There is something that many registry cleaners also do, which can improve performance dramatically. That is to edit the list of startup programs. These programs are started each time you log on. Unfortunately, when you install many programs, they insert the command to start up a background process every time you boot. One common function of these backgound programs is to check for updates. This sounds innocent, but if you have dozens of programs all checking for updates each time you log in, that will really slow things down. To me, the more appropriate behaviour is to only check for updates when you request a check (or perhaps when you start that specific program), so I disable all those. An exception is for updates to Windows, itself. StuRat (talk) 18:11, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Ccleaner is well thought of, and can also be used to control what starts up. I also sometimes use RegCleaner 4.3 by Jouni Vuorio, using the "do them all" option: never had any problems. Both free. 2.97.208.91 (talk) 21:18, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Thank you, all. I find Nimur and StuRat's comments particularly convincing. And it seems that Ccleaner and RegCleaner (semi-) automate, or streamline, some tasks that seem worthwhile even to non-believers in registry "cleaning", so I may well experiment with one or the other when I return to my Windows computer next week. Again, thank you all for your constructive and useful comments. -- Hoary (talk) 00:49, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Samsung Infuse 4G

Can anyone summarize the known pros and cons with the Samsung Infuse 4G and compare it to other phones of the same class on the market? Viriditas (talk) 09:27, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes. Anyone can do this. Just Google phone compare.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:44, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Where I am, it will be July 15, 2011 in a few minutes. Most of the information you refer to is out of date represents brief opinions from early adopters and does not have information from users who have used the phone for some time and have an educated opinion of it. Viriditas (talk) 10:00, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry, I don't know. However, I do note that Wikipedia (not a reliable source) says: The advertisement for the Samsung Infuse 4G is notable for depicting a woman screaming at the image of a tarantula spider on the phone, and a man beating the phone with his shoe. Itself unsourced, but if true, surely worth a couple of brownie points. The name isn't as good as "Boulder" (surely one of the all-time great names for a mobile phone) but far less horrible than "Commando" (which I'm contemplating, despite its name). Either way, I hope that you make a good choice. -- Hoary (talk) 10:23, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Someone Help Me Please My PRograms Arent Working!

For some reason when I turned on my laptop computer it tried to run all of its programs with Notepad instead of how they run normally! Can someone help me how to reverse fix this problem My computer is a Windows 7 laptop computer it can turn on to desktop fine but then it starts to run or attempt to run its programs such as gadget bar with Notepad. I need this fix quickly Thanks in advanced 1.52.90.241 (talk) 14:08, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

It would seem as if the executables and shortcuts have become associated with Notepad, maybe because of some virus that replaced the .exe and .lnk extensions with .txt. I found these three posts from Yahoo answers [5] [6] [7] that might be of help. Still, that is only a theory; you should look for someone that can take a look at the computer to see what is going on specifically - frankie (talk) 14:44, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

No it doesnot seem to be a virus and all file extensions are kept It just seems that everyting is running with Notepad despite that. Maybe i just need to know how to change default file opening program from Notepad to standard how do I do that? 183.80.223.43 (talk) 15:00, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

For individual files you can right click on it, and then under "Open with" select "Choose program" (note there is a checkmark on the resulting window to make your selection permanent). For a list of all file types you need to go to "Folder Options" (open any folder and it should be somewhere on the menu on the top left; I'm not on 7 right now and I don't remember exactly), and once you're there go to the "File Types" tab, which lets you specify which action to take for each file type - frankie (talk) 15:29, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

There is no Open With option. I just want to restore program opening with their intended originals instead of with Notepads 1.52.42.117 (talk) 16:09, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

That's odd. Check this link [8]. I wouldn't recommend installing the program mentioned at the bottom, though (for no particular reason, it just seems that the last thing you need right now is to install another program that might or might not work, and the functionality is included in Windows) - frankie (talk) 16:42, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

It seems that the OP's problem isn't with file associations so much as .exe files not working correctly. A quick search for "exe files open in notepad" provided many results. This page may help, and MVPS is a reputable organization. --LarryMac | Talk 17:55, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Open the Control Panel, go to "Default Programs->Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program", and look at the list of associations you get -- this will tell you what program is set to open each file type. You ought not to see .exe in the list. Looie496 (talk) 18:09, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Remember that I am using Windows 7 not Vista they are both very different so I cannot find this "Default Programs" you speak of... 1.52.55.125 (talk) 03:43, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, it's inside the "Programs" part of the Control Panel. (This is Windows 7 I am referring to.) Looie496 (talk) 05:20, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Two things that might account for what you are seeing:

• The 'assoc' command has either removed or altered the file association for exe files. If you can open a command prompt, the command "assoc .exe=exefile" should restore exe files to their normal working. "help assoc" will tell you something about this command.
• Something (a virus/malware?) has renamed your programs to end with .txt; so for example "WinMail.exe" becomes "WinMail.exe.txt". Coupled with the option to "Hide extensions for known filetypes" in the Folder Options control panel, the program still looks like "WinMail.exe" in Windows Explorer except the icon might have changed to a sheet of lined paper. Astronaut (talk) 14:28, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Bridged Client Mode

Hello. I've set up "Bridged Client Mode" on an OpenWRT-firmware linksys WRT54GL router, to bridge it to my other Linksys (original firmware) router connected to the Internet. When I plug a wireless-disabled computer into one of the ethernet ports in the bridged client router, I can access my LAN and the Internet without any problems. However, it seems like my wireless devices don't connect to the bridged client router wirelessly. What do I need to do so that my wireless devices know to connect to the bridged client when the access point is weaker or out of reach? Thank you for your help.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 20:21, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Power on/off on a single USB 2.0 port?

Is there an application to turn power on and off repeatedly on a single USB 2.0 port while the computer is running? Is it even possible physically, or are all the power and ground leads of the USB ports hardwired to the computer power supply? The computer in question is a standard HP laptop under Windows. Thanks. --Dr Dima (talk) 21:03, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

As to physical possibility: the USB3.0 spec (and I believe 2.0) does allow "host initiated suspend" (section c.1.4.3); that's not quite the same as "off" (as the device can be told to wake from that state) but the intention is that the device draws as little power as possible in this mode. As for being completely off, that would strictly be a property of the host controller rather than of USB itself. Intel's UHCI document dodges the issue, but the EHCI document talks about an optional feature that EHCI-compliant host controllers can have - PPC (power port control); controllers which implement PPC have a per-port power control, and can completely depower that port (section 2.3.9 PORTSC and 2.2.4 HCCPARAMS). So the question remains as to whether, and how, Windows provides access to these functions. There is driver level support, but I can't see anywhere that this functionality is exposed to user mode programs - all the uses I can find of it is by the system's own power manager (so it can put USB devices to sleep when it's switching to a lower power mode, etc.). -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 22:33, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

If you're asking with the idea of controlling something (like flashing a light or turning on a motor) using a USB port, there are better ways of doing this. Typically one would use a USB - connected microcontroller board like an Arduino to do the electrical part, and drive it with a simple program on the PC, which sends it commands over the USB port. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 22:33, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Yup, that's exactly the idea: I need to drive a LED (total cost with a matching resistor: 32 cents) without having to pay $30 for a microcontroller board, LOL. Can this be done? --Dr Dima (talk) 01:17, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

It seems unlikely you need anything complex enough to cost $30. A cheap 8 pin, 8 bit MCU like a PIC or something I'm guessing should be able to handle it. You'll need a way to program it, you could use something like a serial programmable PICAXE. Of course if you still have a serial port you could potentially just use that presuming you're not trying a high power LED (and perhaps a white or blue LED since I'm not sure if the voltage of the serial port is high enough). It's possible to make very cheap LIRC devices which function off the serial port and work in a somewhat similar way (although flashing the LED at a much higher rate). Nil Einne (talk) 13:39, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

I guess you could adapt this heinous hack to your purposes. But stuff like this makes sense only if you want to hack stuff from next to nothing on principle, or if your time is very cheap indeed. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 14:23, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

A while ago on this desk, someone (unfortunately I don't remember who) suggested this hack to a similar question: take a keyboard and use the NumLock, CapsLock, or ScrollLock as your led, and toggle them programmatically on your computer. This can be done in just one line of code in, e.g., Java:

java.awt.Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().setLockingKeyState(java.awt.event.KeyEvent.VK_CAPS_LOCK, true); //or false to turn off. Use VK_CAPS_LOCK, VK_NUM_LOCK, and/or VK_SCROLL_LOCK

This would be much easier than dealing with the low levels of the USB interface, although it might not be a completely satisfactory solution for you.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 03:18, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Age of my computer?

I'm using a second hand WinXP computer that is a few years old, but works very well for my needs as I never do anything computationally intense. Is there any way to tell via software, and without taking it to bits, how old it is? 2.97.208.91 (talk) 21:24, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Run Speccy, and under the motherboard section it should state the date AvrillirvA (talk) 21:47, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, the WinXP instalation date is given as 2005, the BIOS date is 2004. 92.24.138.48 (talk) 15:33, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Steam problems

recently, my computer underwent a regularly-scheduled update, but now Steam won't start. A Steam connection error box appears stating that "you either are not connected to the internet, or your internet connection is not configured correctly for Steam." I know I have my internet connected and Steam has worked perfectly for over a year up to now.

Steam will start in offline mode, but for some reason I cannot play any of my games in offline mode, not even ones like Half Life which aren't Internet-based.

The only other notable fact, when starting up an Updating bar appears, but does not even start filling up. After a few minutes, the 'correction error' screen appears.

I am currently at a college, so I do not have access to the router. Is there a solution to the problem that does not require a router? 163.1.151.174 (talk) 22:31, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps the college's network admins have recently taken steps to block the ports necessary for Steam to work properly. These are described here, with a note at the bottom about colleges blocking it. It's possible that they've done so inadvertently: perhaps they had allowed the traffic, but have updated their router firmware and have lost their customisations, returning it to a more strict default. Either way, the college network admin people are the ones to talk to. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 22:43, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Another option is that you have some local personal firewall (like Zonealarm or McAfee) which is blocking the same ports; you need to add exceptions to that to allow the outgoing steam connections. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 22:43, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

Just adding about the offline mode, it doesn't quite work the way you would think it should: It's part of their anti-piracy techniques and it's actually preparing a game so that it can be used temporarily offline in the future and you have to actually have an Internet connection to do this. As far as I know there's no way to "force" a game into offline mode as it needs confirmation from the Steam servers first (and it's only temporary because the next time you go "online" it will wipe the offline configuration).  ZX81  ^talk 00:14, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

July 16

JAVA,(J2EE),net or php

Which is better among three of these — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ruchibahl18 (talk • contribs) 06:18, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Better in what way? --Mr.98 (talk) 13:27, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Drag and Drop Won't Work in Book Creator Editing Area

Greetings.

I've used the book creator successfully to make a couple of books, but it seems (and I may be completely off, here) that since installing Internet Explorer 9, I can no longer drag and drop chapters or articles within the Book Creator editing area. While hovering the cursor over a topic or chapter name, I get the 4-pointed arrow icon instead of the hand icon.

I've tried switching use from IE9 64-bit to IE9 32-bit. I've lowered security regarding cookies within IE9. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit.

I would appreciate any assistance in this matter, as the Book Creator is virtually useless to me while the drag and drop function is dysfunctional.

Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Skyyfaery777 (talk • contribs) 07:01, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Transferred from Miscellaneous Desk. Richard Avery (talk) 07:15, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Have you tried a different browser? General Rommel (talk) 09:54, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

Automatically copy from Firefox cache to a folder

While I am surfing the internet, I would like to be able to continuously save from the Firefox cache to a folder of my choice. Preferably I would like to be able to save only files with a particular extension, and be able to turn this continuous saving on or off. Although I have the add-on CacheViewer installed, you can only save files manually. I have been unable to find any other add-on that can do this.

What would be the easiest way to achieve this? I could probably learn to write something in Autohotkey or another simple BASIC-like language. More modern languages such as VBscript I find almost impossible to use. Would it for example be possible to run some other existing software, even while Firefox is running, which copies all the new files from the cache to my folder every second or so? 92.24.138.48 (talk) 15:43, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

How to copy and insert a "cookie" from a folder into Firefox?

I have various security programs which automatically delete all cookies. Rather than having to set my preferances for Google over and over again (for example turning off the dreaded "instant search"), I would like to save the cookie to a folder, and then when needed copy and insert this cookie into the appropiate place in Firefox. I once tried copying a cookie into Internet Explorer, but the computer would not let me do it. I would rather insert a cookie than adjust the settings of every security program, particularly as I would know what information Google was trying to hide in them, and in my experience several copies accumulate. I use WinXP. 92.28.255.228 (talk) 17:13, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

CookieCuller and OptimizeGoogle extensions can help some. ¦ Reisio (talk) 08:24, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Optimis/zeGoogle looks useful as it can turn off "Google Suggest" which apparantly stops the irritating habit of Google making wild guesses about what word you are beginning to type, and it can set some preferences without needing to keep a pernament cookie. The other add-on GoogleEnhancer does similar things, so together they give a lot of control. I've already got CookieCuller installed. 92.24.179.33 (talk) 09:38, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Manually activating an on button

I have an old Dell laptop whose power switch broke that I'd like to turn on. I'd like to do that manually, maybe by soldering leads onto it myself and manually connecting them.

I've stripped back enough to see the circuit board connections. All of what I describe fits into about a 2 cm square so keep that in mind. There are 6 leads on the green board arranged in a rectangle pattern: 1 pair at the top/bottom, and then 2 more pairs on the sides. On top of that once sat (now removed) a small plastic device that has two horizontal wires that are visible. The top/bottom pair of wires were connected to this device. The two horizontal pairs went over this device and were bifurcated with this plastic square that seemed to be connected to the wire. In other words, when you pressed the power button, it would press these two horizontal pairs into the plastic device, which was connected to the vertical pair. That would complete a connection with all 6 leads to the circuit board.

My hunch is that the vertical pair of leads provides some power source, and pressing the power button depresses these two horizontal leads into the plastic thing, which simultaneously completes two connections. I also assume that the need for 2 power switch leads is because one detects a quick press and the other detects a longer "held down" press, for things like a hard shut down.

Incidentally the power switch is of a different style than other switches, like the volume switches, so I can't swap parts. I don't care enough to order new switches (although if I could pick something up from RadioShack I would) and the computer's not worth much, but I'm interested in how this works and would like to get it to turn on. Finally, any magic keyboard shortcuts that could bypass this process would be appreciated too. Thanks. Shadowjams (talk) 22:23, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

The leads were probably to an LED embedded inside the power button, which would light when the machine was on. Most modern PCB switches consist of a number of solder landing pads arranged in a geometric pattern. The underside of a button consists of a conductive elastomer (a black rubbery stuff) that (when the button is pushed) bridges some of the pads to others. You'll have to experiment to see which ones constitute the "before" and which the "after" pads. A more complex pattern (than just one before and one after) is sometimes used to handle pushes on the switch that aren't strictly vertical. If you were replacing the switch you'd probably need a "momentary" type switch. Note that, unless your laptop is exceedingly old, the power switch isn't anything really to do with the power circuit - it's just an ordinary signal-level circuit that's monitored by special logic in the southbridge. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 22:47, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

They're not LED leads... the button had no lights on it nor any nearby. The LEDs are elsewhere. As for age it's not extremely old. It's not a keyboard style rubber button. Its moving part was plastic that would depress the two horizontal leads into the plastic thing that was connected to the vertical leads. I know what kind of button you're talking about because that's basically what the other switches are, but this power switch is different. Shadowjams (talk) 05:07, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Check eBay for a new switch. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:23, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

July 17

Web site for selling diamonds

I find many web sites for buying diamonds, like this one: [9]. There you pick the parameters you want, then they sort through their DB and list those diamonds (with prices) which match your search criteria.

I want just the reverse, to list my diamonds and get quotes from multiple buyers. Is there such a site ? (I realize I could use a general auction site, like eBay, but would prefer a site specifically designed for diamond sales.) 68.79.93.3 (talk) 02:12, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Okay, you've reached the limit here. You're not even sure that you have diamonds, and now you want to sell them on the web? Please take your stuff to somebody who is qualified to evaluate it, and come back when you have a meaningful question to ask. Looie496 (talk) 02:17, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Personally I'd be pretty suspicious of any site that allowed you to do that. Who would buy gemstones from some random joe on the Internet? APL (talk) 02:28, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

I would expect them to be verified, at some point (although if they were certified, then this verification was already done beforehand). The point is to get an agreement that "if the diamond is as you say, then we will pay X for it". Note that there are sites where you describe your diamond and one buyer (who owns the site) will quote you a price. I just want the same thing with multiple buyers. 68.79.93.3 (talk) 02:55, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

You have many questions (e.g. here) about these diamonds that may after all not be diamonds. And "Give me advice to help me make as much money as possible" is an odd line of questioning for a "reference desk". Simple: donate the whole lot to charity. Then the charity has to figure out what to do with them, it gets the money, and you have the warm feeling that comes from financing something even more worthwhile than your average kickstarter project. You might even get a little tax break. -- Hoary (talk) 03:29, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

I will have them appraised (or even certified, if required), but would then like the option to sell them online. 68.79.93.3 (talk) 03:46, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

All right, let's return to your question I want just the reverse, to list my diamonds and get quotes from multiple buyers. Is there such a site ? (emphasis added). That appears to be a googling question, a diamonds question, or a selling stuff question. Try the "Miscellaneous" desk (or google). -- Hoary (talk) 04:45, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

I tried Google, but kept findings sites wanting to sell me diamonds, or sites wanting to buy diamonds, but only by a single buyer, versus multiple bidders. So, how would I do a Google search to exclude those ? 68.79.93.3 (talk) 08:07, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

APL, many stupid people have some money. Just think of the market for "generic" or "herbal" varieties of "Viagra", etc etc. Or the nitwits who pay a bit upfront for nonexistent Nigerian millions. -- Hoary (talk) 03:29, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Many stupid people might have money at some point, but as you see they will have trouble keeping it, therefore, people with money tend to be those who can deal with it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.8.79.148 (talk) 13:49, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Command Prompt problem

This is probably incredibly simple and I'm just missing something. I have three batch files: One "menu.bat" which prints a text file "menu.txt" displaying two options ("1" and "2"), and two other batch files, "1.bat" and "2.bat" (the options printed in menu.bat). Here's my question: I want to run menu.bat, but Command Prompt disappears as soon as I load it. What am I doing wrong? -- 68.0.166.142 (talk) 14:17, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Do you open CP and run it or double click to run it? Does it contain an exit command? ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:21, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't open CP and then run the command, I just want to be able to doubleclick the batch file and for CP to remain up so I can see menu.txt printed and respond to it ("1" and "2"). It does not contain an exit command. Unless you know of a way to load CP and automatically navigate to menu.bat? -- 68.0.166.142 (talk) 14:39, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

You can do that in several ways. Probably the most straightforward is to use the start command. You can read documentation by typing start /? in the command prompt, or at the Microsoft help website for Cmd.

You may also want to use the pause command at the end of your script, to hold a terminal open even if it has completed all its tasks. Nimur (talk) 16:05, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Malicious program in my computer

I am only recently having a problem with editing WP (last few days), in that when I edit (hopefully it won't happen here), words like "P u r f u m e", etc. (here I intentionally separated each letter with a space) turn into a hyperlink to ads. They are the same blue color as WPs blue links, with a throbbing, dashed underline. It also tends to delete words such as other instances of the above example that are on the page, hyperlinking only the one remaining. I saved one edit by accident and had to revert myself, because it made these alterations I didn't mean to make. Has anyone had this problem; know how it can be removed from my computer? I have taken the steps of removing any recent software, applications and Windows updates with no effect, and Norton Anti-virus isn't picking it up as a virus. Any feedback would be appreciated, as this hampers my editing substantially here. (by the way, this hyperlinking effect goes on anywhere I go on the web - normally I just ignore it, but it makes editing WP sometimes impossible) This message originally posted at Wikipedia:Help desk#Malicious program in my computer Thanks, Hamamelis (talk) 17:09, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

You might give your system a Malwarebytes scan, for starters. ¦ Reisio (talk) 17:19, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I'm trying it now, Hamamelis (talk) 17:45, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Multiplication and addition of arrays using foreach() loop in PHP

I would like to know the PHP code/program for multiplying and adding two 3x3 arrays using the foreach() loop. I've been trying to do it for days, but nothing seems to work. Somebody please help!!! I've tried the following code for adding the arrays:
<?php
$a=array(1=>array(1,2,3),2=>array(4,5,6));
$b=array(1=>array(9,8,7),2=>array(6,5,4));
$c=array();
foreach($a as $v1)
{ foreach($b as $v2)
{ $c=$v1+$v2;
}}
print_r($c);
?>
There are no errors, but it doesn't work,either. The output is incorrect. I don't know where I'm going wrong. If someone could tell me what to do, how to go about it,instead of giving the code directly, that would do as well, just as long as I get to know how to do it. Thanks in advance! Zebec 21:12, 17 July 2011 (UTC)