Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing: Difference between revisions
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My task manager Ctrlaltdel recently went like this. What can I do to put it back to normal?--[[User:Keycard|'''Keycard''']] <sup>([[User talk:Keycard|talk]])</sup> 13:46, 7 October 2006 (UTC) |
My task manager Ctrlaltdel recently went like this. What can I do to put it back to normal?--[[User:Keycard|'''Keycard''']] <sup>([[User talk:Keycard|talk]])</sup> 13:46, 7 October 2006 (UTC) |
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:Double-click the gray area to return it to normal. --[[User:Pidgeot|Pidgeot]] <small>[[User_talk:Pidgeot|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Pidgeot|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Pidgeot|(e)]]</small> 13:49, 7 October 2006 (UTC) |
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September 27
Has anyone read this? If so, what do you think of it? Have you tried out any of its ideas? Black Carrot 06:55, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- You'd probably be better off asking this question on the science desk. — QuantumEleven 07:47, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- I could, but people get pissy when you double-post, and I'm really more interested in whether something like that could be usefully implemented on a PC than whether it's how our brain works. There's a lot I don't get, and it's entirely to do with the data structure he's proposing. Besides, I can just ask my mom about the brain part. If you've read it (and understood it), I'd appreciate comments, starting with "He's a visionary" v "He's stupid/insane/lying". Black Carrot 14:23, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Visionary's and Insane People are the same. the thread that divides those two words is called history(most of the visionary's of now were called insane in the past)Graendal 06:33, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
Informative indeed. I was hoping for something more specific, though. For instance, has anyone here worked in AI, especially on neural nets? If so, would what he's suggesting actually be able to train itself properly? I know that's one of the big problems with large, complex nets that don't use backpropagation. Would it actually be able to better model patterns than a normal net, or is it essentially equivalent? And how does it adjust weights? He doesn't really mention that. Black Carrot 00:53, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
software
41.220.14.7 10:37, 27 September 2006 (UTC)can i be able to get software of any type to help me in my field of computing? DAVID
- Yes, you can. And, if you wish to tell us what type of software you're looking for, we may even be able to help you find it. StuRat 11:48, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Perhaps. --Proficient 03:56, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
ＤＶＤ
What's the deal with the Unicode characters ＤＶＤ, and what purpose do they serve? They're definitely not the ASCII letters DVD, because (a) in some fonts, they're shorter and/or wider-spaced, and (b) unlike DVD, they return no results in a search of Wikipedia (although both get the same Google results). They came in a piece of Japanese spam. (Why I'd be getting Japanese spam, I don't know.) NeonMerlin 10:57, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- These are unicode characters FF24 and FF36, which are named "FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D" and "FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER V" (along with the rest of the alphabet, and lowercase "fullwidth" characters at nearby codes[1].) Quite why the Unicode Consortium decided to put them in, I don't know, but that's what they are. Your spammer was proably using them to try to get round filters which only know about ASCII. And as for why you're getting Japanese spam, well, a Japanese spammer has probably picked up your email address, and doesn't care in the slightest that you're never going to buy anything from them. -- AJR | Talk 12:23, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Might they be used as Roman numerals? Sum0 22:36, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- No, IIRC they exist for round-trip compatibility with legacy character encodings. --cesarb 15:45, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Might they be used as Roman numerals? Sum0 22:36, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- Though I don't know what their original purpose was, they're useful for aligning Chinese text, since all Chinese characters are written fixed-width. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 16:25, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
Homemade Media Centre Extender?
I've got a Media PC with Windows MCE installed on it, running my TV/PVR. I also have a spare computer around that I would like to use as a Windows Media Center Extender, to let me watch stuff on a second TV. I've tried just using Remote Desktop to connect it in (using the multi-session hack), but Media Center doesn't allow the playing of video over a Remote Desktop connection. Is there anyway around this, to make the spare computer act as an Extender (instead of buying the extra Extender hardware) and connect in that way, so that it could play the video? --Maelwys 11:48, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- I'm not familar with Windows MCE but it can share files like regular Windows XP, yes? If that's the case, you could mount those files as a network drive on your other computer. From there you should be able to play the files off that computer. —Mitaphane talk 02:04, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Mitaphane is correct. Simply share the files and Windows Media Player can play them on your second computer. For your reference the files are located in <local system drive>\Documents and Settings\Public\Recorded TV on Windows XP systems and in <local system drive>\Users\Public\Recorded TV on Windows Vista. For those who do not know how, you do not really need to mount a drive for them. You can simply browse to them through the network neighborhood.
world town and city distances
I want to obtain software so that i can determine the distances between all cities and towns around the world please but cannot find it. Can you please advise. It would be the same as on some dating sites where they tell your possible date how far they are away from you in miles etc. Please could you advise me on <email address removed>. Many thanks, Evan Williams
- Remember to not include your e-mail address (as stated at the top of the page). What you're looking for is a great-circle distance calculator, and possibly a table of geographical coordinates for various cities. You can find many free online instances of the first from the article, and the second is satisfied by Wikipedia's appropriate municipal articles. Anything else? --Tardis 14:19, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Google Earth might be a user friendly way to do it. It includes a ruler (measures direct distance), as well as a directions thingamabobber. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 03:00, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
Computer Temperature
What would be a safe temperature to let a computer run at? I've noticed that a lot of motherboards which are able to regulate fan speed according to temperature tend to have as a default keeping temperature around 50 degrees centigrade. My machine is almost always around the high 30s and I'm interested in reducing noise overnight occassionally and if I trust these defaults it seems to suggest I could lower the fan speed enough to raise temperature 10 degrees or so and it should still be safe. --Kiltman67
- My computer is very quiet at night because I turn it off. --Kainaw (talk) 15:54, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Depends on what model of CPU you've got, and what part of the computer you're talking about. With my computer (late-model Athlon XP) I try to keep the CPU below 70C, the northbridge below 40C, and the hard drives and general case temperature below 35C. The CPU can safely be run at temperatures up to the point where it starts crashing or giving bad results (it will crash before temperatures reach the danger zone), but doing so can reduce the life expectancy somewhat -- instead of failing after ten years, it might fail after eight. --Serie 19:37, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- My CPU is an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300. Intel quote a thermal specification of 61.4 C but I don't know exactly how this should be taken: whether I should take that as a maximum safe operating temperature or merely the limit of what the processor can take. --Kiltman67 19:47, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Intel chips have a circuit that slows the CPU down as it starts to get too hot. The limit of 61.4C is probably the point at which this kicks in, so running the computer at 50C overnight won't be a problem. --Serie 20:38, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Another way of reducing noise is to get a quieter CPU cooler. I bought a Zalman heat-sink/fan and now the noisiest thing in my computer is the hard drive. - Rainwarrior 07:23, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
Which version of Linux is easiest for newbies?
I have an old computer which I no longer use but is still resonably powerful (1GHz CPU & 512MB RAM) so rather than let it rot in a cupboard I thought I might install Linux on it and get it running again. But my question is: which version should I use? I know this depends on what you want from Linux, but essentially I want something that feels a bit like Windows (simply because that's what I'm familiar with) and which doesn't require me to invest a huge amount of time into getting it installed and running, as I'm currently studying for the final year of a degree course. Is there a "mainstream" version of Linux that Average Joe (me) can use as a replacement for Windows. --Ukdan999 16:35, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Ubuntu seems to be consdidered the best distro for those new to Linux. You download the ISO, burn it to a CD and then boot from the CD. During the boot process it does a scan of your hardware and configures itself as necessary. You can choose to install it from the CD as well, but you don't have to. --LarryMac 16:40, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks, I've decided to go with Ubuntu and am currently downloading it. I just need to know what I have to do to get my PC ready installation. It currently has Windows ME and a trial version of XP sitting on it, but I don't want to keep them. Should I format the PC entirely or just "uninstall" them, or what? And is formatting the hard disk done through Windows/DOS/Other? --Ukdan999 20:17, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Check this page, in particular the "Select A Disk" section. You can have the installer format your disk, which will effectively uninstall ME and XP. --LarryMac 21:34, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
I disagree, SuSE is the premiere "windows look alike" and KDE would probably make the job of getting used to linux a little easier than gnome, which kind of takes for granted the *nix directory structure (usr, bin, etc, etc ;p). However suse does a little too good of a job of it- it's a 6 cd install, though you do get a LOT of packages. Ubuntu seems a little more stable though. Eh I guess you made a good choice but maybe you would have been happier with suse. --frothT C 03:37, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- I agree with the previous post, I run opensuse 10.1 on both of my desktops here, my parents seem to be getting used to it very fast and they really dont give a damn about technical stuff. There is also an excellent tool called YaST which is like control panel, only a million times better. For one the software management tool gives you access to thousands of apps and you can use add-on repositories for even more cool stuff, so the searching, download, install and configure is all done for you with a mouse click! Finally, if you have broadband, dont waste your time downloading all the CD isos, just download the boot CD and install via FTP from a local mirror, that way you only download what you need (my default install downloaded only 900mb of data, but would have needed most of the CD's to get my packages!). www.opensuse.org is the place to go. There are many other interesting distro's to play with though, one example is www.linuxfromscratch.org which teaches you how to custom build your own linux distro from the ground up, tweaking everything for you machine, it takes hours (if not days) but teaches you lots about unix in the process, it's worth doing if only as a learning excercise. Regards Phill (phillip.upson@hotmail.co.uk)
Converting an AVI file
I have a movie in the AVI format , i.e ".avi" . Windows Media Player is encountering a problem in playing this file, mentioning something about a Codec. Could anyone pl help me in suggesting a suitable codec and how to use it also ??? Thank you a lot.
User : Sanchit
- Download VLC Video Player, more than likely it will play your file. --Kiltman67 17:15, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
Hi....i also encountered a similar problem as you sanchit. try downloading D-i-v-X AV Codec Pack from: http://www.download.com/AV-Codec-Pack/3000-2194_4-10509746.html?tag=lst-0-1 after the download just try playing your AVI file.hope this helps you
- I wouldn't advise this. According to one "user review", this codec pack has some integrated adware/spyware nonsense (most seem to). Codec packs often have compatiblity issues anyways. Go with VLC, or find out which codec you need by using a tool like GSpot. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:05, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
Chances are it's xvid or divx, locate binaries for each and install them, then windows media player should play it fine --frothT C 03:38, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- NEVER, NEVER, NEVER download codec packs, chances are you have no idea what they have bundled in them, including possible replacements for the default mpeg and avi encoders on your system, which can harm the stability and or security of your PC. If you need to install extra codecs, do them one at a time, www.doom9.net is a good place to learn about video files. Finally, you seem unsure in your question, a codec is a COmpressor/DECompressor. Computers can only play video as uncompressed AVI (about 1.5GB per hour of video) so most of us compress these into smaller forms, such as MPEG, divx, xvid etc.. The job of the codec is to decompress the video file back to a normal AVI (Audio Visual Interleave in case you wondered) so your computer can understand it. Audio works in the same way, WAV being the only true audio format and all others being compressed forms of it, such as MP3 files. Phill (email removed)
Thank you so much for your help, guys!
Internet sharing problems
My household just got high speed internet last week, and my computer shares the internet with the main computer. However the problem is that my internet connection to it doesn't always work properly. When it isn't working right I can get on web sites fine like Wikipedia and such (albeit a lil slower) but I cannot play games online or do downloading or even go on MSN Messenger. Take last night it was working for me fine, but when i turned it on this morning it was back not working and i haven't been able to get it working properly. It sometimes starts working fine, but it never stops working after it's been working when i keep the computer on. It always seems to work fine on the main computer. Now my question is where is the problem? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Croat Canuck Go Jays Go 17:34, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- How are the computers sharing the connection? Through a seperate router or something else? --Kiltman67 19:07, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Well we have a router in between our computers, sorry I forgot to mention that. Croat Canuck Go Jays Go 19:59, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Since some things are working and other things aren't might be worth checking the firewall settings on the router, in particular port forwarding. When I was using DHCP on my router I used to notice I'd have problems with MSN if I wasn't given the IP Address the port for MSN was opened for. --Kiltman67 20:30, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- Well i wasn't able to find the port forwarding part on the firewall (unless i have to do it from the main computer), but another thing I found is that the problem doesn't arrive if when I turn off the computer I keep the power bar on. However i usually turn the power bar off because otherwise my mouse stays on and illuminates the whole room, which is kinda annoying. Croat Canuck Go Leafs Go 22:17, 27 September 2006
- If the only thing keeping you from having the power bar on 24/7 is the light on the mouse you could always cover it with a box or piece of fabric at night. --Kiltman67 01:02, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- Are there only two computers? What makes one the 'main' computer? Is it running an internet connection sharing tool? When you say there is a router between your computers do you mean both computers connect to that to receive their internet connection? Also, if you want your mouse light to go away power off your computer with the main switch on the back (if it has one). If you can't get the internet to work right ask a computer savvy friend to take a look at the setup, it's probably just a layout problem. --Jmeden2000 20:22, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
MS Access
I am using a to_char and to_number function in sql. To make sure that my query runs successfully I created a mirror database in MS Access and I am trying that query there. But MS Access does not recognize to_cahr and to_number. Can anyone tell me what is the eqvivalent functions for to_char and to_number in MS Access?
- I don't see these functions in the MS Jet SQL reference. You may want to install a copy of MSDE or SQL 2005 Express to test queries for SQL Server. --24.159.108.105 03:47, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- MS Access uses Visual Basic functions for data type conversions like this, so you'd use "Str$(number)" to convert a number to a string, and "Val(string)" to convert a string to a number. --Canley 06:43, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
Blu-ray and HD-DVD
What's the point of massive Blu-ray or HD-DVD discs? I was under the impression that XViD/DivX/H.264 could easily fit a 1080p movie on a normal single or double layered DVD, the previously mentioned formats certainly seem to work wonders with standard-resolution movies. Also, H.264 is part of the Blu-ray/HD-DVD standard anyway, so why the excessive bitrates? This would only increase the cost of Blu-ray/HD-DVD equipment. --Frenchman113 on wheels! 19:27, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- I found somewhere that .21 bits per pixel is a good measure for good quality xvid. If you take the number of pixels per frame, 1920 * 1080, multiply it by the numer of frames per second (25 for europeans), and multiply that by 60 * 120 (for a two hour movie), you get the number of pixels in the movie. Multiplying that by .21 gets a rough number of bits for a good quality HD xvid encode. Divide that by 8 to get to bytes and three times by 1024 to get to kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes respectively. I come out at about nine gigabytes, which is half a gigabyte larger than the capacity of a double layer DVD. Ofcourse h.624 will compress better than xvid, but add a 5-channel high quality soundtrack to the mix, and the fact that DVD's should (emphasis on should) feature a quality that is better than just good, it's clear that regular DVD's don't measure up.
- The main thing, however is that it's not so much a question of necessity as of possibility. The reason that HD-DVD/Bluray is coming out is not that we need them foor our HD foootage, but rather that we can produce them at a decent cost. 25 GB is the next generation in optical storage. After that come the possibilities, which include not only HD movies, but also games with a greater detail in texture and personal data storage needs. The whole thought process starts with the capacity of the disks, and from that flow the ideas of what to do with them.
- Of course, there's also the Holographic Versatile Disc, which comes out before the HD-DVD/Bluray, and has a capacity four times that of a bluray disc. Depending on the price of the first hardware, it might negate the whole next gen DVD wars. risk 22:14, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- AFAIK licensing costs for MPEG4 and h.264 may have been high. In any case, I guess the studios already have the appropriate systems and so would prefer to stick with MPEG2 for now. Finally, the studios would probably prefer their HD content to be larger rather then smaller to slow down P2P (obviously you may be able to recompress it but that's an extra step) and bluray/HD-DVD burners and media are going to cost a lot more for a long time. We can also assume it'll take a while for the professional pirates in Asia start to get in to the habit. On that note, the studios would have less of an excuse to add all their junk anti-choice (aka anti-piracy) measures if they were justing using DVDs. Nil Einne 00:10, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
Why don't movie companies just compress the video? ... mpeg2 is practically lossless, and it offers only a tiny fraction of the compression offered by even a high-quality double pass xvid compress --frothT C 23:34, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- I think that's the point that the original poster was asking. I have no idea. Last I heard, it was something to do with the movie studios' video encoding tools not having a mature MPEG4 (h.264 ?) implementation yet. I don't know why they wouldn't, as the format has been around for awhile and is supposed to be supported by both HD-disc players. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 23:38, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
Bigger font for firefox
Can anybody tell me how to make the font in firefox big by default? I know how to change it in a given window, but I want all of my tabs to be in a large font by default.
- If you click on the Tools menu at the top and select Options then click the Content tab, I beleive its in there --Ukdan999 20:20, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- That's only the "default font" --frothT C 03:33, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- Isn't that exactly what the OP wanted to change? It works as expected for me. —da Pete (ばか) 08:41, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- View>Texts size>Increase. Or hold down control and scroll the middle mouse button.
- Or do ^+ (hold down control and press plus - the one in the numeric keypad is conveniently located and nice and big). But you'd have to do that for every window you open and the steps are too big to my liking. Then again, the same goes for altering the default font (which, by the way, is at edit > preferences > content in my version of Firefox). Of course you could also change the resolution of your monitor, but that would make everything bigger. DirkvdM 08:44, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
Displaying Hidden Documents
I have a Windows machine. How do I get it to not display hidden documents when I go to Start>Documents? --Yanwen 20:53, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
go to control panel>folder options>View(tab)>choose Do not show hidden files or folders [2]
- I already did that. But when you click Start and go to Documents, it still shows hidden files. --24.107.18.155 21:33, 27 September 2006 (UTC) Ops. forgot to sign in. --Yanwen 22:01, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
- You mean the recent documents list? I don't think there is a way to do this. You can disable it altogether (right click on the task bar, click properties, start menu, customize, advanced, and uncheck the thing at the bottom). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:08, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
ActiveX
When I go to certain web pages, a pop up comes up asking me if i want to run an ActiveX control. Is there a way I can stop this from coming up every time.
207.200.116.65 23:12, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
Check your securtiy levels from options--RedStaR 23:59, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
Use firefox or links --frothT C 03:23, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
Before turning off the message it is important to think about why the message is appearing. There are some nasty people in the world who write ActiveX controls that do things you really do not want to happen. Snooping on your web browser, keeping a list of on-line banking passwords you use and sending them back to the author is an example. Slyly adding links into other people's web pages you read that direct you to the author's business is another. Harvesting all the e-mail addresses in your e-mail program and sending them to a spamhouse is yet another. I prefer to leave the warnings on and choose whether or not I trust each web domain to have well behaved ActiveX controls as needed. The alternative can be far more inconvenient in the long run. --Dave 07:52, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
C++ code
Can someone write me a basic geometry calculator using C++ or any suggestions would be helpful. thanks
well you're going to want to include math.h ... --frothT C 03:29, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- Include <cmath>, not <math.h> (math.h is a deprecated C header). But, the question posed is rather vague. If you want to do any of the standard functions, yeah, cmath has stuff like cos and sin and whatever (in radians). You'll probably want to use "double" for your numbers, as they're as accurate as you'll get without getting complicated.
- Are you wanting to be able to type in an expression like "5.0 + cos(3.028) * 40.2" and have your program evaluate it? Or do you just want to do calculations? (And isn't there a free calculator program already written that you can use?) - Rainwarrior 03:46, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- Or maybe it's homework :) --frothT C 21:21, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
September 28
computer organisation
please answer the question with explanation
1>A DECIMAL NUMBER HAS 25 DIGITS.THE NUMBER OF BITS NEEDED FOR ITS EQUIVALENT BINARY REPRESENTATION ?
- Here's a way you can approximate it:
- so that means 10 bits gives you 3 digits (the first digit doesn't count, because it can only be a 0 or 1).
- so that means 20 bits gives you 6 digits (the first digit doesn't count, because it can only be a 0 or 1).
- so that means 30 bits gives you 9 digits (the first digit doesn't count, because it can only be a 0 or 1).
![[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:34141414124llpoo412442424.JPG#filelinks){kind=link}
- Continue like this until you get the answer (you may want to add a few more bits to specify the location of the decimal point). StuRat 19:17, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
2>THE NUMBER OF INSTRUCTIONS NEEDED TO ADD n NUMBERS AND STORE THE RESULT IN MEMORY USING ONLY ONE ADDRESS INSTRUCTIONS
3>Let A be set having 'n' elements.the number of binary operation that can be defined on A ?
4>A certain machine uses expandind opcode.it has 16 bit instructions and 6bit addresses.it supports one address and two address instructions only.if there are'n' two address instructions,the maximum number of one address instruction is---?
5>A COMPUTER USES A FLOATING-POINT REPRESENTATION COMPRISING A SINGNED MAGNITUDE FRACTIONAL MANTISSA AND AN EXCESS-16 base-8 exponent.what decimal number is represented bya a floating-point number whose exponent is 10011,mantissa 101000,and sign bit set?
6>suppose the largest n-bit binary number requires 'd'digits in decimal representation.then what is the relations between 'n' and 'd'?
- You should probably read the instructions at the top of this page. Specifically, the one that says:
- Do your own homework. If you need help with a specific part or concept of your homework, feel free to ask, but please do not post entire homework questions and expect us to give you the answers.
- --Maelwys 14:18, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
first of all this is not my home work,if you can solve this problem then it will be great help,because i am very weak in co,so please
- The 'do you own homework' mantra applies even if it happens to be someone else's! The problem is that this is simple CS and is quite clearly intended for the assignee to learn, not for them to pawn off on others. --Jmeden2000 15:25, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- I thought the "do your own homework" was code for other Wikipedia users to answer homework questions with complete nonsense. --Kainaw (talk) 01:54, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
Why do you say the first bit doesn't matter? How do you think the computer keeps track of sign? --frothT C 23:31, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
keyboard - windows xp
I use windows xp. When I leave the computer idle for 5 minutes, the keyboard stops functioning. The num lock light in the keyboard glows, but if I press any key, it does not function. I surely think something is fault with windows settings. But I dont know what settings I should try and change. Should I go for setup and try, or should I try doing in control panel? where exactly should I try changing settings?
Thank you
- I would guess the power management is set to go to sleep, hibernate, etc., after 5 mins, or that the display is set to go to screen saver, and that interferes with the keyboard. StuRat 18:54, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- If this is the reason, you can fiddle with these settings in Control Panel -> Display. Try turning the screensaver, hibernation, sleep all off, and see if that makes a difference. Good luck! — QuantumEleven 17:08, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
How to open Solaris screenshot rs files?
Hi:
How do I open the ".rs" files that contain screenshot images taken with Solaris's "snapshot" program? (Snapshot's interface seems to have that OpenWindows/OpenLook feel to it, so I surmise it's an ancient program).
Thanks,
129.97.252.227 17:39, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- I don't know, but if you are using windows, you might try Irfanview, it's one of the more popular image viewers that supports a wide variety of files. Alternatively, try The Gimp or ImageMagick
C++ sending input to another program
I'm trying to do 3 things:
1) Run an executable from my program. 2) Wait for it to ask for input and feed it input. 3) Check its output (at this point the executable terminates on its own)
How can I do this with C++? Is there any way to stream it input without actually giving the exe window focus and simulating keypresses or something? Also I'm totally at a loss as to how to check its output. Also will any problems arise with it terminating on its own?
The exe is written in assembly if it makes any difference to the I/O.
Thanks --frothT C 21:20, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- The POSIX way to do this involves the system calls
pipe(),dup2(),fork(), andexec*()(see fork-exec). Basically you set up a pipe to communicate with yourself, then copy yourself (fork()), then arrange for that pipe to be treated as standard input and output in one copy (dup2()andclose()) and become the other program you want to execute (exec*()). Then the parent process can just sit and act like the other program's keyboard and screen with its copy of the pipe. - Two caveats: not all of these may be available on Windows (as I presume you are, since you mention an EXE), although it may depend on your compilation setup; also, some (but not all) old DOS programs (which an assembly program might very well be) sometimes behave very badly when their standard input is not connected to a terminal (the keyboard): typically they never terminate. (You can sometimes fix this by making sure the program is told explicitly by its input to terminate, as by including "quit\n" in the text you send it.)
- The other progam terminating is no problem, except that if your program is going to do anything else (or you're calling many child programs), it should call
wait()(or a variant) after the spawned processes die to clean them up. (It's okay to callwait()before they actually die, so long as you're sure they will do so; your program will, well, wait for them to exit.) - Does that help? (If you can use those functions but can't figure out how to do so, just ask.) --Tardis 22:36, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- Addendum -- unless you want to use the direct functions
read()andwrite()with the pipes, you'll want to make streams for them. In C, you can always usefdopen(), but there's no standard way to do it in C++ (aside of course from using the C library!). There are, however, common extensions toiostreamthat let you open a file descriptor as a C++ stream object. --Tardis 22:38, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- Addendum -- unless you want to use the direct functions
- To do this in Windows, call the Windows API function
CreateProcess(), declared in windows.h, with the STARTF_USESTDHANDLES flag set in the dwFlags member of the STARTUPINFO struct. The hStdInput and hStdOutput members should then be set to the reading and writing ends of two anonymous pipes, created withCreatePipe()(note you'll probably also want to set the wShowWindow member to SW_HIDE to hide the child process' window as per your requirement, as well as setting the STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW flag). As per the documentation, for this to work the bInheritHandles parameter must be TRUE.ReadFile()andWriteFile()can be used to communicate over the pipe. More information is available from MSDN, however you may have trouble following it unless you are somewhat familiar with Windows systems programming.
Password on USB Drive
I have a 256MB SanDisk Freedom.
I would like to put a password on it, just so that when I plug it into either Windows or Mac OSX, I need to enter a password to access it.
My optimum budget for this would be $0
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Omnipotence407 22:27, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
- Truecrypt is the first thing I can think of, but it supports only Linux and Windows, not OSX. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk)
- Something works on Linux and not OSX? Weird. --Kainaw (talk) 01:51, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- If it's a U3-compatible device, just put it in, open the U3 menu, and select "set password" --frothT C 23:28, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
September 29
Battery woes with technology
I've just gotten a new 30GB movie iPod, and I'm so excited! But I've received a lot of different comments about how often I should charge it. One person told me that I should let the battery drain all of the way to dead before charging it, and the other said that the iPod should be charged a lot so it always has some charge. What's the better idea? I've heard a lot more about the drain-it-all idea, but the person who constantly charged her iPod said she still has the same iPod from two and a half years ago and it works great. The ikiroid (talk·desk·Advise me) 00:28, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- What type of batteries does it have ? StuRat 01:09, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Apple have a page about battery care in iPods, and a page about lithium-ion batteries in general. Also, see our article on Lithium ion battery. --Canley 03:59, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
Ah, so I shouldn't drain it, according to the article. OK, thank you Canley. The ikiroid (talk·desk·Advise me) 19:31, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
BitTorrent
I have been considering joining a BitTorrent project lately, but a question has come up that the project in question's FAQ that seems to be neatly avoided. Is BitTorrent file sharing legal, or not? I am under the impression now that it is legal as long as you do not sell the product, but I don't know. It would be nice to know the legality of BitTorrent before I engage in any activity with it. Thank you! PullToOpen talk 00:57, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- There is nothing illegal about BitTorrent. The legal question comes into copying software that you do not hold the legal copyright to copy. Yes, sharing files online is legally copying thing (I am amazed that people who are smart enough to use a computer claim "You can't copy files - they are just electronic ones and zeros"). If you do not have the right to copy something, it is illegal to copy it or to help someone else copy it. By sharing files on BitTorrent, you are either copying or helping someone else copy the files. It may not be what you want to hear, but the law couldn't be simpler. I'll never understand why it is so hard for people to understand that if you don't have the copyright you don't have the right to copy. --Kainaw (talk) 01:50, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- What he said. You fast one you. — X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)01:51, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- That's incorrect. I don't have the copyright for Ubuntu, but I have the right to copy it. --cesarb 15:41, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- You do in fact have a license to distribute ubuntu, read the GPL. Anyway what you said makes no sense- "I dont have the copyright... but I have the right to copy." What? --frothT C 19:03, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- He didn't copyright it, but he still has the right to copy. --Kjoonlee 03:29, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- It is apparent that some people don't take the time to read copyright before assuming they have a clue what it means to have a copyright - which is the shortened for of "to have a copying right". For example, I can write a book (which gives me the copyright) and then give a distributor copyright to copy and sell it. I'm not giving away my copyright (unless it is in the contract that I have to give up my copyright in a noncompete sort of thing). That is how Ubuntu (and GPL) works. The author has the copyright but gives it away to anyone who wants it with the GPL. --Kainaw (talk) 22:43, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- He didn't copyright it, but he still has the right to copy. --Kjoonlee 03:29, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- You do in fact have a license to distribute ubuntu, read the GPL. Anyway what you said makes no sense- "I dont have the copyright... but I have the right to copy." What? --frothT C 19:03, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
What sort of project do you mean? If you plan to help develop a Bittorrent client, such as uTorrent, that's perfectly legal. If you plan to help organise and maintain a Bittorrent tracker, such as Suprnova or Mininova, you may end up facing prosecution or at least the threat of prosecution.
Windows clock one our late
My system clock in Windows 2000 is one our late . I set it properly but the next day the same story. I do not have the "Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes" option enabled
What could be the problem?
Thank you
- Try enabling it! Mabye your clock is automatically synchronizing itself every day or so, and since daylight saving is off, it shows winter time. That's my guess, anyway. —Bromskloss 11:56, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Perhaps uncheck the checkbox in the Internet Time tab (although that MAY be an XP only feature. Chris M. 14:39, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Disabling it can be bad; some things do not work correctly if your computer's time is incorrect (the one I heard of most recently is cookie expiry in web browsers). --cesarb 20:40, 30 September 2006 (UT
try making sure you have the right time zone.
Windows Update Issue?
A computer here worked fine on Monday. It sat idle all week (but did have Windows Auto-Update running). Now, it will not accept any USB thumbdrives. Was there a MS patch this week that restricts USB access? --Kainaw (talk) 14:02, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Updating this question, just found out it is Win2000 and a Sandisk Cruzer Micro 1GB. --Kainaw (talk) 14:33, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
Accessing My Data In Another Country
If I have a bulky computer that I don't want to transport for study in another country, is there a set up that I could acheive to allow me to access data on my harddrives (if have five to total 800 GB so transport of data/drives not really practical) from a laptop in another country? --Username132 (talk) 15:58, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Do you really need all of it ? I think you should prune it down to just as much as will fit on your laptop. StuRat 18:11, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- That gives "near local speed application responsiveness over high latency, low bandwidth links", which, I think, means that it reacts fast. But what you want is the other kind of speed, not reaction time but bytes per second, in other wirds high bandwidth. That is, if you don't just want to acces bits of the data from a distance, but transport it all. 800GB over the Internet would take waaaay too long. If cost is not a major issue, why not buy one really big hard drive, transfer it all to that locally and take that with you. 800GB is just possible now, or else buy two 400GB ones, which would also bring the price down from roughly 400 to 250 euro. dvd's would bring the price down further to about 150 euro (maybe even less if you buy bulk), but I know from experience that that would be way to cumbersome, especially chopping up the data in 5GB chunks. And of course it takes a whole lot of time and I don't know what price tag you put on your time. Whatever option you use, you can always try data compression (eg to make it fit on a smaller disk). I have no experience with that, but I assume that would also consuyme your precious time and you may have to unpack it again when you reach your destination. DirkvdM 08:30, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- If you want speedy transfer of nearly a TB of data, nothing will compare to the convenience of an external hard drive --frothT C 16:59, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
Sending emails tips
While sending emails to many people at once I use one of the receipients' address in the "To" field and other addresses on "BCC" field.Is there any way to send mails to different people so that the receipient may think that that mail is specially sent to him and not to others.Here i mean to say that in some cases in place of eg "Dear John" can i insert the receipients' name as a field eg "Dear {Receipient}.May be i could not put the matter exactly.Thanks
- You put it plainly enough. You want to spam. There are many spam programs available on the Internet that allow you to do exactly what you are asking. --Kainaw (talk) 18:43, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- No spam programs needed, you can do this with Microsoft Office. Give it a list of emails and corresponding first names, and your form letter, and it can send out "personalized" copies of the form letter to every email address in the list. --Maelwys 20:10, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- That's jumping to conclusions. There's plenty of legitimate reasons why one would want to send emails to many people at once. Sum0 10:09, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, but what's of questionable legitimacy is making them all look personal. NeonMerlin 16:25, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, there are plenty of reasons. Just today, I got tons of offers for mortgages, viagra, baldness cures, fat reducers, a woman in my city who can't wait to meet me... I'm sure they are all legitimate. --Kainaw (talk) 22:39, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- There's those... or there's the actual legitimate reasons. I've used the Office Mail Merge function (that I referred to above) several times, when I had to send out personalized activity reports to 350 people, where each report had to reflect the activity of that specific individual. Mail Merge let me automatically pull the information (email address, individual's name, and associated records) from an excel database, create an individual email to that person, and send it, all at the press of a single button. It would've been days of work to do manually, and it certainly wasn't spam (though I had to send it out in batches of 50 an hour, so my ISP wouldn't think it was spam either ;-) ) --Maelwys 23:26, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- By the way, as you can gather by the comments here, if you are sending out bulk email you need to be very careful with your list management policies to avoid being misidentified as spam. This can result in your server being placed on spam blacklists, and thus many legitimate recipients will not be able to get your emails.
- So make sure your email list is confirmed opt-in, as described by E-mail spam on Wikipedia. --Robert Merkel 01:40, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- My intention of asking was not sending spams.I really needed that help while sending greeting cards on the occasion of, say New Year, so that the receipient did not know that I have sent similar greetings to other people also.I wanted to make the receipient feel that it is special greeting sent only to him and not simple mass mail.It is not nice to blame others without knowing the fact. Mr. Kainaw.amrahs 17:35, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
Nintendo "64"
What does "64-bit" mean in the context of describing a video card? Surely the N64 didn't have more than 4GB of dedicated video memory.. why else use 64 bit wide registers if not to hold memory addresses 64 bits long? --frothT C 19:28, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
It's not only about having 64 bits to hold memory registers, remember a CPU/GPU is more than just a fancy switchboard (at times). More important to the N64 was the size of it's video processor, which was also 64 bits, and the MOST important was the width of the video bus which was 128 bits. An increased register size can make SIMD possible (for the cpu and gpu) at a low level, along with other math-intensive functions which are important to good graphic systems. They even touch on why strictly using a 64 bit cpu is bad for consoles, in Nintendo 64#Trivia.--Jmeden2000 20:19, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
You might be confusing the data bus with the address bus. IIRC, the data bus is how much data can move in/out of the processor in a cycle, while the address bus limits the amount of memory in the system. --Bennybp 21:34, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Oh I see.. one thing though, this sounds entirely wrong to me: "64-bit data uses twice as much RAM, cache, and bandwidth thereby reducing performance" ... if 64-bit refers to the register size (which would affect the address length), it only increases address sizes by 32 bits, not "twice as much data". If it refers to the width of the data bus, then it still makes no sense! --frothT C 22:58, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Umm... why would any video card need to be 64-bit? Screen resolution is nowhere near that fine, and no video card is going to have more than the 4GB limit on 32-bit addresses. What would be the point? - Rainwarrior 17:24, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- That's true of address sizes, but apparently it refers to the width of the data bus (64 bits of data can be outputted every cycle) --frothT C 16:57, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
The article on 64-bit shows that the term is pretty ambiguous. It looks like the term can either refer to the width of the various buses, or the size of some data types. IE a 64-bit data type can hold bigger values (2^64 possible values). I'm not positive what the 64 in N64 really meant, but from the N64 article (trivia section) it does look like it refers to the data type sizes, and that the buses are 32-bit. --74.69.54.30 20:15, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- In the beginning those bit numbers actually meant something. NES used an 8 bit processor, SNES used a 16-bit processor, PlayStation used a 32-bit processor. However, starting with Nintendo 64 (which actually had a 32 bit processor, if you look at the article), those numbers were simply used as a marker for generations and not any specific hardware issue (occasionally, the PS2 is referred to as a "128-bit" machine, but as you can understand, that makes no sense). This is also why it has fallen out of use, no one refers to the PS3 as a "256-bit" console or a "512-bit" console. Sadly, the days of measuring bad-assesness in terms of word size of the processor are over. Let's have a moment of silence........ Oskar 15:25, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
*nix root and overflow attacks
I've recently become interested in computer security.. one of the kinds of attacks I've read about is the buffer overflow attack. The attacker writes more than the allocated space for a variable so the input spills over possibly into code that's about to be executed. This allows the attacker to overwrite that code with code of his own, and this is called being able to execute arbitrary code on the target machine. Now what I'm confused about is that "running arbitrary code" is automatically associated with gaining root permissions. What about users on a *nix system that can execute any code that they want without any kind of fancy attack at all? In other words it seems like there should be a very difficult step between "running arbitrary code" and "gaining root permissions" but you never hear about that.
One idea that just occured to me is that maybe if the program you're attacking is running as root then your code will have root priviliges as well, but users can't execute any code as root. Is this correct or is was my original question valid? --frothT C 19:56, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- Ding ding ding! Convincing the system to run arbitrary code as root is a very fast way to complete control, whereas normal user level security protects against this attack. System binaries that will be executed as root are protected from editing by users, and any programs a user creates to run on the system will only have that user's level of permission. For an anonymous attacker to be able to introduce a binary (or part of a binary) for execution as root is a huge problem indeed. See Buffer overflow and Arbitrary code for more info. --Jmeden2000 20:39, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- The reason running arbitrary code is automatically associated with gaining root-level permissions is because of privilege escalation attacks. Because of the wider attack surface, there are usually more priviledge escalation attacks than remote arbitrary code execution attacks, and also the remote attacks tend to get more attention, for obvious reasons. --cesarb 19:56, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
Tables by column?
Has there been any move to make HTML or MediaWiki tables where the cells are grouped by column, or not at all, rather than by row? This could (a) make it easier to shift cells down, when editing a table manually; and (b) tell screen readers to read the table sideways. It seems to me this could be done in two ways in HTML, if the standard were changed appropriately:
<table> <tcol> <!-- The current tcol is for formatting only, and doesn't allow any children --> <th> Column 1 Row 1 </th> <td> Column 1 Row 2 </td> <td> Column 1 Row 3 </td> </tcol> <tcol> <th> Column 2 Row 1 </th> <td> Column 2 Row 2 </td> <td> Column 2 Row 3 </td> </tcol> </table>
<table rows=3 cols=2> <th row=1 col=1> Column 1 Row 1 </th> <td row=2 col=1> Column 1 Row 2 </td> <td row=3 col=1> Column 1 Row 3 </td> <th row=1 col=2> Column 2 Row 1 </th> <td row=2 col=2> Column 2 Row 2 </td> <td row=3 col=2> Column 2 Row 3 </td> </table>
NeonMerlin 22:30, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
- I do not have inside information about the deliberations of standards groups, but my impression is that there would be a great deal of resistance among implementors. With such a table structure it would be necessary to read the complete table before setting the first row of it. The current table design tries to make that avoidable. To quote from the HTML 4.01 standard:
- The HTML table model has been designed so that, with author assistance, user agents may render tables incrementally (i.e., as table rows arrive) rather than having to wait for all the data before beginning to render.
- In order for a user agent to format a table in one pass, authors must tell the user agent:
- The number of columns in the table. Please consult the section on calculating the number of columns in a table for details on how to supply this information.
- The widths of these columns. Please consult the section on calculating the width of columns for details on how to supply this information.
- More precisely, a user agent may render a table in a single pass when the column widths are specified using a combination of COLGROUP and COL elements. If any of the columns are specified in relative or percentage terms (see the section on calculating the width of columns), authors must also specify the width of the table itself.
- Still, it is not out of the question. Even the current model can be forced to read the complete table to calculate column widths. (The difference is, the proposed model must always read the complete table.) Meanwhile, use a WYSIWYG editor to make the desired manipulation convenient. --KSmrqT 05:19, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- Actually, tables could still be rendered piecemeal in the column-by-column model, only they'd proceed sideways.
- Also, what WYSIWYG editor would you recommend? I've tried WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org Writer and FrontPage, and they all produce garbled, inelegant output that requires further manual editing. (Often, they will also throw away some of the existing formatting.) For instance, if I open the following file with OOo Writer,
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <title>DMCI Game Development Club</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="default.css"> </head> <body> <table cellspacing="0px" cellpadding="0px" align="center" class="header"> <tr> <td colspan=5><h1>DMCI Game Development Club</h1></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tab"><img src="interface_images/tab.gif" class="tab" /><div class="tab">Active Tab</div></td> <td class="tab"><img src="interface_images/inactivetab.gif" class="tab" /><div class="tab">Other Tab 1</div></td> <td class="tab"><img src="interface_images/inactivetab.gif" class="tab" /><div class="tab">Other Tab 2</div></td> <td class="tab"><img src="interface_images/inactivetab.gif" class="tab" /><div class="tab">Other Tab 3</div></td> <td class="tab"><img src="interface_images/inactivetab.gif" class="tab" /><div class="tab">Other Tab 4</div></td> </tr> </table><table cellspacing="0px" cellpadding="0px" align="center" class="main"><tr> <td class="hborder"><img src="interface_images/borderleft.gif" class="hborder"></td> <td class="textpanel"> <h2>Welcome!</h2> <p>This is your main panel. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.</p> <p>Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.</p> </td> <td class="hborder"><img src="interface_images/borderright.gif" class="hborder"></td></tr> <tr><td class="cborder"><img src="interface_images/borderbottomleft.gif" class="cborder"></td> <td class="vborder"><img src="interface_images/borderbottom.gif" class="vborder"></td> <td class="cborder"><img src="interface_images/borderbottomright.gif" class="cborder"></td></tr> </table> </body> </html>
- and save it, without typing or clicking in any changes, it turns into the following:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="CONTENT-TYPE" CONTENT="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<TITLE>DMCI Game Development Club</TITLE>
<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="OpenOffice.org 2.0 (Win32)">
<META NAME="CREATED" CONTENT="20060930;12015804">
<META NAME="CHANGED" CONTENT="16010101;0">
<STYLE>
<!--
TD P { margin-bottom: 0cm }
H1 { text-align: center }
-->
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY LANG="en-GB" BACKGROUND="interface_images/background.gif" DIR="LTR">
<CENTER>
<TABLE CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0 STYLE="page-break-before: always">
<TR>
<TD COLSPAN=5>
<H1>DMCI Game Development Club</H1>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/tab.gif" NAME="graphics1" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=120 HEIGHT=30 BORDER=0></P>
<P>Active Tab</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/inactivetab.gif" NAME="graphics2" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=120 HEIGHT=30 BORDER=0></P>
<P>Other Tab 1</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/inactivetab.gif" NAME="graphics3" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=120 HEIGHT=30 BORDER=0></P>
<P>Other Tab 2</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/inactivetab.gif" NAME="graphics4" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=120 HEIGHT=30 BORDER=0></P>
<P>Other Tab 3</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/inactivetab.gif" NAME="graphics5" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=120 HEIGHT=30 BORDER=0></P>
<P>Other Tab 4</P>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<CENTER>
<TABLE CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0>
<TR>
<TD BGCOLOR="#eeddcc">
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/borderleft.gif" NAME="graphics6" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=15 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0></P>
</TD>
<TD BGCOLOR="#eeddcc">
<H2>Welcome!</H2>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.5cm">This is your main panel. Lorem
ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do
eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut
enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.</P>
<P>Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse
cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat
cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit
anim id est laborum.</P>
</TD>
<TD BGCOLOR="#eeddcc">
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/borderright.gif" NAME="graphics7" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=15 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0></P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD BGCOLOR="#eeddcc">
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/borderbottomleft.gif" NAME="graphics8" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=15 HEIGHT=15 BORDER=0></P>
</TD>
<TD BGCOLOR="#eeddcc">
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/borderbottom.gif" NAME="graphics9" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=15 BORDER=0></P>
</TD>
<TD BGCOLOR="#eeddcc">
<P><IMG SRC="interface_images/borderbottomright.gif" NAME="graphics10" ALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH=15 HEIGHT=15 BORDER=0></P>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
<P><BR><BR>
</P>
</BODY>
</HTML>
- These render very differently, in both IE and Firefox. The former is CSS-compliant; the latter isn't, and causes quirks mode. (I can provide the external CSS I was using, too, if it makes a difference.) NeonMerlin 15:57, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- Did you try Nvu or Quanta? --cesarb 19:45, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- The questioner appears to assume that you have to enter tables as:
<table> <tr> <td>top left</td> <td>top right</td> </tr> <tr> <td>bottom left</td> <td>bottom right</td> </tr> </table>
- That is not the case. You do not need all the newlines. You are perfectly allowed to use:
<table> <tr> <td>top left</td> <td>top right</td> </tr> <tr> <td>bottom left</td> <td>bottom right</td> </tr> </table>
- Now, it looks nearly the same as it does on the page. --Kainaw (talk) 22:52, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
Basic, low-level audio on Windows
I'm interested in coding a program (in C\C++ or Python) for some low-level audio control in Windows. What I mean is, I want to deal with the actual samples from the stereo output. I don't want to import sound files or anything like that, I just want to output audio based on direct manipulation of samples, which is what this program should do. Example, I want to be able to play a 440 Hz sine wave sound by just writing samples following the sine function over time (using the sample rate and the frequency to get the said 440 Hz)
Any suggestions on where to start? I'm not very experienced in either C\C++ or Python, but I just need a few complex and interesting projects to push my skills further. Thanks! - L.
- All you need to do is to configure the audio device and push sample buffers at it - to synthesise waveforms, you quite literally just make up a sine wave (using, generally, the sin() function) that repeats at the rate you want (and hence the frequency of the sound) and with the amplitude multiplied up so that the sound is audible. On windows in C you'd probably use DirectSound, in Python you'd probably use Pygame. I'm afraid I don't have an example program in either, but below is a simple sin synthesiser which uses the unix
/dev/dspsound interface (which, incidentally, works fine in cygwin). Apart from the audio-device stuff there's just some very basic stuff that builds a waveform from the sine function before playing it. The code is a little more complicated than you absolutely basically need, as it has a simple envelope which fades the volume in and out for each note (without this you hear a nasty click at the beginning and end).
/*
playwave.c
Copyright (c) 2005 W. Finlay McWalter
Licence: your choice of GPL, GFDL, or CCbySA
Plays a given tone for a brief period of time, using the system's /dev/dsp
interface. Tested using cygwin (should work on linux too).
Version history:
v1. Basic version
v2. Adds simple envelope (attack and release) to avoid nasty clicks
between notes
v3. Change to 16 bit signed (LE) output (wow, so much better), and
make envelope code more programmable.
Notes:
- Current build produces signed 16 bit 44100 Hz mono little endian raw PCM
- Samples are appended to a file called "./outfile". This allows importing
the data into audacity and listening to it without the gaps imposed
by multiple invocations of the program.
Help on tone arithmetic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_of_music
Programming notes:
http://www.oreilly.de/catalog/multilinux/excerpt/ch14-05.htm
http://davmac.org/davpage/linux/linux-sound.html
http://www.4front-tech.com/pguide/audio.html
Sample invocation (close encounters):
rm outfile ; touch outfile ; ./playwave 440 10000 ; ./playwave 495 10000 ;
./playwave 392 10000 ; ./playwave 196 10000 ; ./playwave 294 10000
*/
#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/soundcard.h>
#include <math.h>
#define CHANNELS 1
#define RATE 44100 /* samples/sec */
#define LENGTH 0.8f /* seconds */
#define SIZE 2 /* bytes per sample */
#define NUM_SAMPLES_PER_BUFFER ((int)(LENGTH*RATE*SIZE*CHANNELS)/2)
// ENVELOPE FRACTION defines the proportion of the sample buffer that
// is shaped by the envelope function. So to shape the beginning and
// ending 10th, set envelope fraction to 10. ENVELOPE_FRACTION must
// be an integer.
#define ENVELOPE_FRACTION 3
int main (int argc, char** argv){
int audioDevice;
int outfile;
int status;
unsigned int arg;
int counter;
int x;
float angle;
int num_samples_in_waveform;
float volume = 6.0f;
signed short buf[NUM_SAMPLES_PER_BUFFER];
int freq = 440;
float value;
float vol_multiplier;
if (argc != 3){
fprintf(stderr, "usage: playwave <frequency> <volume>");
exit(1);
}
freq = atof(argv[1]);
volume = atof(argv[2]);
/* compute waveform */
num_samples_in_waveform = RATE/freq;
for (x=0; x< NUM_SAMPLES_PER_BUFFER; x++){
angle = (2.0f * 3.14159f * (float)x) / (float)num_samples_in_waveform;
value = sin(angle);
vol_multiplier = 1.0f;
// envelope: lead in
if(x < (NUM_SAMPLES_PER_BUFFER/ENVELOPE_FRACTION)){
vol_multiplier = (ENVELOPE_FRACTION * (float)x) / ((float)NUM_SAMPLES_PER_BUFFER) ;
}
// envelope: lead out
if(x > ((ENVELOPE_FRACTION-1)*NUM_SAMPLES_PER_BUFFER)/ENVELOPE_FRACTION){
vol_multiplier = (ENVELOPE_FRACTION * (NUM_SAMPLES_PER_BUFFER-x)) / ((float)NUM_SAMPLES_PER_BUFFER) ;
}
buf[x] = (signed short)(volume * value * vol_multiplier);
}
outfile = open("outfile", O_RDWR|O_APPEND|O_CREAT);
if (outfile < 0) {
perror("open of opening outfile failed");
exit(1);
}
status = write(outfile, buf, sizeof(buf));
if (status != sizeof(buf))
perror("wrote wrong number of bytes");
close(outfile);
// Now write that out to the audio device
/* open sound device */
audioDevice = open("/dev/dsp", O_RDWR);
if (audioDevice < 0) {
perror("open of /dev/dsp failed");
exit(1);
}
/* set format */
arg = AFMT_S16_LE;
status = ioctl(audioDevice, SNDCTL_DSP_SETFMT, &arg);
if (status == -1) {
perror("SNDCTL_DSP_SETFMT");
exit(1);
}
arg = CHANNELS; /* mono or stereo */
status = ioctl(audioDevice, SOUND_PCM_WRITE_CHANNELS, &arg);
if (status == -1)
perror("SOUND_PCM_WRITE_CHANNELS ioctl failed");
if (arg != CHANNELS)
perror("unable to set number of channels");
arg = RATE; /* sampling rate */
status = ioctl(audioDevice, SOUND_PCM_WRITE_RATE, &arg);
if (status == -1)
perror("SOUND_PCM_WRITE_WRITE ioctl failed");
status = write(audioDevice, buf, sizeof(buf));
if (status != sizeof(buf))
perror("wrote wrong number of bytes");
/* wait for playback to complete before recording again */
status = ioctl(audioDevice, SOUND_PCM_SYNC, 0);
if (status == -1)
perror("SOUND_PCM_SYNC ioctl failed");
close(audioDevice);
}
- Here is something I cooked up a couple of years ago. It's shit, but it might give you some ideas. It creates a raw integer soundfile with no specific formatting or header information... Magic Window 15:34, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>
void SineGen(float step, int length, FILE *fp);
void NoiseGen(int length, FILE *fp);
void SquareGen(float step, int length, FILE *fp);
#define PI 3.14159265
#define S_RATE 44100 // Sample rate
#define B_RATE 32768 // Bit rate (16 bits = 2^16 / 2 = 32768)
int main()
{
short unsigned int choice;
unsigned int length;
float freq, step;
do
{
printf("\nEnter frequency: ");
scanf("%f", &freq);
if (freq < 1)
{
printf("Incorrect frequency.");
continue;
}
printf("\nEnter length: ");
scanf("%i", &length);
if (length < 1)
{
printf("Incorrect length.");
continue;
}
printf("\n1. Sine wave\n2. White noise\n3. Square wave\n\nChoice? ");
scanf("%i", &choice);
if (choice < 1 || choice > 3)
{
printf("Bad choice.");
continue;
}
}
while(freq < 1 && length < 1 && choice < 1 || choice > 3);
step = (freq / S_RATE); // Converts frequency (Hz) into step size.
FILE *fp;
fp = fopen("wave.raw", "w"); // Open the file, and write.
switch (choice)
{
case 1: SineGen(step, length, fp); break;
case 2: NoiseGen(length, fp); break;
case 3: SquareGen(step, length, fp);
default: break;
}
fclose(fp); // File written, close.
getch();
return 0;
}
void SineGen(float step, int length, FILE *fp)
{
int j;
float sample, i;
step *= 360;
for (j = 0; j < length; ++j)
for (i = 0; i < 360; i += step) // The pitch is raised by increasing the step size.
{
sample = (sin(i * PI / 180)) * B_RATE; // Convert degrees to radians for sin(), scale float to correct amplitude.
fprintf(fp, "%i\t", (int) sample); // Cast to int for correct parsing by wave editor.
printf("%i\t", (int) sample); // Display as integers.
}
}
void NoiseGen(int length, FILE *fp)
{
srand((unsigned)time(NULL)); // Uses system clock as inital seed.
int j, randsamp;
for (j = 0; j < length; ++j)
{
randsamp = ((B_RATE * 2) * rand() / RAND_MAX) - B_RATE; // Generates random number between -B_RATE to B_RATE.
fprintf(fp, "%i\t", randsamp);
printf("%i\t", randsamp);
}
}
void SquareGen(float step, int length, FILE *fp)
{
int j;
float i;
step = 1 / step;
for (j = 0; j < length; ++j)
{
for (i = 0; i < step; ++i)
{
fprintf(fp, "%i\t", -B_RATE);
printf("%i\t", -B_RATE);
}
for (i = 0; i < step; ++i)
{
fprintf(fp, "%i\t", B_RATE);
printf("%i\t", B_RATE);
}
}
}
September 30
http://com etc.
Is there some term for domain names that consist only of the TLD, or the dotless URLs that result from them? How much are they worth on the open market? A lot of them (eg. http://com, http://org, http://net, http://gov, http://mil, http://edu, http://info, http://us, http://ca, http://fr, http://su) seem to resolve to Web sites. NeonMerlin 00:01, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- They don't seem to resolve to websites. My guess is that your browser is appending "www." and ".com" to them. It is a common feature nowdays, so you can type "google" and hit enter. ☢ Ҡi∊ff⌇↯ 00:33, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- Also, if you're using FireFox, putting in a invalid URL will automatically get you the "I'm feeling lucky" link off of Google. In this case, com goes to Yahoo, org goes to W3C's website, net goes to MS's .NET page, and so on...—Mitaphane talk 06:26, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- That can't be right, because http://edu takes me to Harvard (whether I type it in, with or without http://, or follow the link), whereas I'm Feeling Lucky-ing "edu" takes me to the Ontario Ministry of Education, and http://edu.com is a US portal to private colleges. But it doesn't work at all in IE; maybe it's just an obscure IE bug. NeonMerlin 15:31, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- It's firefox specific behaviour (so you wouldn't expect it to work in IE). Simply entering "edu" makes firefox go to the following URL: http://www.google.com/search?btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=edu , which does appear to be an I'm Feeling Lucky link. The difference probably is that going to Google's website invokes their geo-specific google, whereas a link straight to .com stays at .com. I'm guessing you're Canada, so your manual query is really using google.ca - the IFL for "edu" for it is indeed the OMoE. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:48, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
data transfer rate
for share trading i have 512 kbps internet speed with maximum 1000mb upload download how much time will it take
- How much time will take to reach your upload/download limit if you start a transfer of a 1000mb file?
- This depends on the definition of kbps & wether mb means Megabyte or Mebibyte, but assuming mb=MB=1,000,000 bytes= 8,000,000 bits and kbps = 1000 bits per second,
- 8,000,000x1,000 bits / 512x1000 bits per sec = 15,625 seconds ~ 4.34 hours—Mitaphane talk 06:51, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
Software Shutdown
How does the computer hardware(motherboard)distinguish between hardware and software?
- I think that you are confused about what hardware and software are. This is an encyclopedia, look them up. —Daniel (‽) 14:29, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- I think they mean to ask what is done differently for a PC shutdown request from software or from hitting a reset button. I don't think there is a diff. The button, when pressed briefly, typically sends the same software code. However, holding the button down typically just cuts power without doing a proper shutdown first. StuRat 14:49, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
real player playback
When playing downloaded trailers, image freezes but tracking bug continues across screen. How do I get correct playback?
- You likely don't have a sufficient download speed to allow for live streaming video. You might be able to play it, without stopping, by replaying it after the jumpy version completes. Or, if there is an option at the site to download instead of doing streaming video, then do that. StuRat 14:44, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
Is something wrong with http://www.google.com? For the past few weeks, the Site has failed to load on at least 100 occassions, usually taking several hours to become accessible again. I'm concerned because I use It often, and am wondering if the issue is on my end, or Google's. Hyenaste (tell) 17:40, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- Odd - I haven't seen any problems with Google... Does it only happen with Google, or other websites too? — QuantumEleven 18:37, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- OK then it must be an issue on my side. In a related question, what is 192.168.1.254? (I would Google it myself, but given the circumstances, I can't.) Hyenaste (tell) 19:13, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- I can confirm (from Bristol, England) that Google has been fully accessible for the last few weeks. I checked a few minutes ago, Google took 2 seconds to arrive - Adrian Pingstone 20:21, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- A few days ago there was a big connection problem was reported by Comcast users and Google servers. Perhaps it's happening again? ☢ Ҡi∊ff⌇↯ 03:57, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- I can confirm (from Bristol, England) that Google has been fully accessible for the last few weeks. I checked a few minutes ago, Google took 2 seconds to arrive - Adrian Pingstone 20:21, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
- My google homepage is loading slowly, but otherwise classic google is okay. --Proficient 07:30, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
Meh. Everything's been good for me. — X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)08:49, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- I have comcast, and Google has been working fine for me for the past few weeks. Keesh001 15:58, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
October 1
setting limits on family computer
I just bought a new family computer and need help on setting limits on the kids user accounts.
the goal is to not let the kids download harmful programs or get access to porn sites.
how do I do this?
I was sucessful at setting up an administrator and guest account but cant find how to restrict the guest accounts authority to download or go anywhere the web leads.
oed
- Dear Oxford English Dictionary,
- Maybe you could teach and trust your kids not to be susceptable to downloading harmful programs? In this time period, odds are, your kids know a lot more about the computer than you. For internet pornography, if you have got boys, they are going to see/read/watch porn and you aren't going to stop them. Girls? If it is not a very sheltered environment, they are just as interested. The best thing you can do is just physically keep an eye on their computer use, but usually the girls aren't as computer-spiffy as the guys. — X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)08:48, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- I don't agree with that advice. The amount of responsibility given kids should be age-appropriate. So, you shouldn't give a 10 year old total access to using a computer any more than you should give them access to guns, drugs, and alcohol. StuRat 11:26, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
Some ISPs, like AOL, provide a suite of controls to set the limits on kids usage. The best advice, though, is to keep the computer in a common area, not the kid's room. Some computers can also be turned off with a key, giving you control of when they use it. If yours doesn't have this feature, take some vital component (like the keyboard) away and lock it up when you are gone. StuRat 11:26, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
The only way you'll keep them from installing malware is to not let them install anything at all. That or use linux. Also I highly advise you not to filter internet access. It's (in most cases) easy to bypass, it's inconvenient and annoying, and it often results in frustrating false alarms. --frothT C 16:35, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- I agree that I would not want my kids to download spyware, its just such a hassle to deal with, not to mention the fact that it can facilitate Identity Theft. Use Firefox, or Opera_(Internet_suite) and that will help quite a bit. A better solution that doesn't involve software is to teach kids some internet basics. AI STRONGLY disagree with the idea of getting filtering software for your kids. Any kid can just use a CGI-proxy that will bypass most filters, or various other methods. Keep the computer in a public place in your house and talk to them about internet usage. Better than being an internet fascist. If the idea of your kids having unrestricted access to the worlds knowledge is too much for you: Just google around for software such as Net Nanny. --AmitDeshwar 23:46, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- Run a virtualisation system like VMware or Microsoft Virtual PC, and only let the kids use the virtualised systems. Every so often delete their VM and copy a new one for them. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:59, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- For avoiding malware, use a good browser (suggestions above) and make sure you have a running and up-to-date firewall and antivirus software running. For internet filtering your best bet is some commercial software (such as AmitDeshwar's suggestion). Ask your ISP, they often provide a filtering service (often for an additional fee), similar to one that large corporations use who want to restrict their employees' internet access. However, all filters can be bypassed, so note that there is no 100% foolproof technical solution. As others have noted, the only 'real' way is through education, talking with your kids, putting the computer in a public place and so on. Good luck! — QuantumEleven 13:07, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Thank you all for your suggestions. Taking some of the advise, I had a talk with the middle boy and he showed me that I could set parental limits through the Norton software. I guess I'm over parenting.
OED
- Another suggestion:
- Sit down with your kids and give them some Internet safety tips:
- Don't ever give out their address online. At most give the name of the nearest major city.
- Don't ever give out their last name online. First name is OK, unless they happen to have a unique first name.
- Don't give out credit card info online.
- Don't give out birthdates online. Astrological sign is OK.
- Don't give out age online. This is a tough one, as kids will want to know each other's ages.
- Don't give out passwords online.
- Official looking emails that ask for personal info are called "phishing" and are a scam. If they get anything like that they should contact you.
- No downloading without your permission.
Shutdown command
How does the computer hardware(motherboard)distinguish between restart and shutdown command?
- Please don't ask your question more than once. What you are probably trying to ask is "how does the computer hardware differenciate between a restart and a shutdown command, and how does a computer turn itself back on when it is told to restart". If you had asked the question clearly in the first place, you might have been able to get a better answer. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 09:19, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
How does the computer know to turn itself back on during a restart? --frothT C 16:55, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
Hmmmm... That is a good question. I will work on finding that out! --Zach 00:10, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- When you reboot, it doesn't turn off. It just goes back to the BIOS bootup sequence. That is why it is sometimes necessary to shut down (completely), wait, and then turn the computer back on. --Kainaw (talk) 17:00, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Missing posts
Has anyone else noticed posts going missing on these pages? Like you click on an item in your watch list by UserXXXX, and it aint there? Im posting this msg on all ref desks.--Light current 11:28, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- One way this can happen is if somebody deletes a section while you are viewing the page. Then, when you go to read the last section, say section 99, the software says "what are you talking about, there isn't any section 99, here's a blank section instead". (I hope you enjoyed my anthropomorphitization.) StuRat 12:06, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- Now restored. See Wikipedia_talk:Reference_desk#Archive_dump. --hydnjo talk 14:13, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
Ping
Hi,
I was just wondering when I connect to an online game server, which is best. A high, or low ping value? Sorry i dont understand too much about computers, and knowing what is right might help me from lagging a bit.
Thanks for your time, Chris
- A ping value represents how long it takes for a signal to get from your computer to the destination computer. So the lower the value, the less time it took for the signal, and the less lag you'll experience. --Maelwys 13:40, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- Also you'll get different ping ranges for different games based on the efficiency of the protocol. For example, I rarely get pings of under 80ms in Halo, but my ping is regularly 4 or 5ms in counter-strike source --frothT C 16:33, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
Obscure Ancient Viking Computer Game Nostalgia
This recent BBC Viking Quest edutainment web game is, I believe, inspired by a 1980s edutainment computer game (possibly for the BBC Micro or similar machine found in 1980s UK primary schools) about Vikings raiding the British Isles. If you did really well at raiding English/Scottish monastries and sailing back to Scandanavia, you could get a Norse saga written about you. I remember wanting to play it at school when I was like 8 or whatever but some other kids kept hogging it and when they were done, I didn't know how to load it. It looked and played much better than the current BBC web version from my recollections. Does anyone know what the name of 1980s game is? Or even if its available online today? thanks!!!! Bwithh 14:04, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- There was an adventure game called "Viking Quest" for the Apple II, though I never played it so can't say more than that. However, if you saw it at school in the UK then it's much more likely to have been for the Beeb. One possibility might be "The Saga of Erik the Viking", which according to The House of Games (who give it an awful review!) was released for BBC, Spectrum and Commodore machines, though it was more pure game than edutainment. In terms of where BBC games might be available these days, your best bet is probably Stairway to Hell. Loganberry (Talk) 13:27, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks very much for the links. The game I remember was a text-based viking raid simulation game (e.g. how many warriors do you recruit for the raid, which route do you take across the north sea, which monastry do you want to rape and pillage etc.) rather than an adventure game like the Apple II game and Erik game you mention. I'll check out the stairway to hell site... Bwithh 14:33, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Embedding Flash movies and players like YouTube
Is there any easy way to create a Flash-emedded movie-with-player the way that clips on YouTube are embedded? I like the simplicity and relative reliability of the YouTube method (clinking to streaming WMV or MOV files often produces awful studdering effects depending on the setup of the home computer; the YouTube players are quick and have never given me trouble) but I'm not sure how to go about quickly doing that. This is a one-time operation so a quick hack or an inelegant solution is just fine. --Fastfission 16:00, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- If it's just a one time operation, and you don't mind if the video you're using is seen by anyone else, you can actually use the YouTube player and imbed it into an HTML page. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 16:03, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- I'd rather not host the video on YouTube, if that is what you are suggesting. --Fastfission 00:12, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- If you import a video into Flash (not flash player) there will be a wizard that lets you choose options like streaming or download-at-once, what you want the play controls to look like, what kind of compression you want, where you want to store the flv file and the flv player swf, etc. But you do need flash --frothT C 16:25, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- I'll give it a shot. I have Flash 2004 but I haven't used it much. --Fastfission 00:12, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Free Office
Are there any MS-Office type programs (i.e. Word, excel and PowerPoint) that are free and 100% compatible with MS- Office.
- Even MS-Office isn't 100% compatible with MS-Office (inter version compatibility isn't so hot). Try OpenOffice.org. Middenface 23:27, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
- You can get Microsoft Office Viewers, which let you view MS PowerPoint, Word, and Excel docs for free. You can download it from here: Word 2003 Viewer
- Excel 2003 Viewer
- PowerPoint 2003 Viewer
These viewers allow you to view and print documents of the respective file types, but you cannot edit them. Hope this helps! Keesh001 16:15, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
October 2
Microphone
I have a headset microphone and on my old PC I could hear my voice. I got a new laptop and went thru the same procedure that i did before and now it wont do that. Is there a way to download a driver for that? Thanks!! --Zach 00:13, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- No driver neccessary. If you're running windows, open the start menu and click run. Type "sndvol32" then enter. You should see a number of devices that your sound card can mix together. There should be a device that says, "Line In" it's probably checked as muted. Uncheck that and any device you connect to your sound card's line in jack will play when its connected. If it's not listed, go to options>properties. There should be a number of devices you can add to the mixer. —Mitaphane talk 02:42, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Nothing is muted :( Ug, this is frustrating, thanks for your help tho. --Zach 21:25, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
- IIRC, some sound cards have a "monitor" option, which does something which you describe. But some sound cards don't. It may be the case that your PC soundcard has the monitor option available, but your laptop soundcard doesn't. Though I haven't seen something like this for a while, so don't trust me 100% on this. Dysprosia 06:37, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- Question: What kind of sound card/computer do you have?—Mitaphane talk 01:14, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
ksh or bsh variables
I'd like to write a little script that copies a file from one directory to another, like this:
cp /home/<username>/alpha .
However, I don't know what the username variable is. Can someone help? --HappyCamper 02:11, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Try inserting `whoami` for your username. If it's someone elses, then you will probably need to specify that on the command line when you invoke your script (use $1). Dysprosia 02:49, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
cp ~/alpha . cp /home/$USERNAME/alpha . cp $HOME/alpha .
- OK, this is really helpful. I'd like to ask, how do you get a list of these $ variables? And can you use the same syntax in a Makefile? --HappyCamper 11:37, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- If you've got GNU coreutils installed, you can run
envto see all shell variables that have been set. I think some of these are provided by the shell. I used GNU bash to test. I'm a newbie when it comes tomake, so I'm afraid I don't know if it works with Makefiles. --Kjoonlee 12:03, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- If you've got GNU coreutils installed, you can run
- OK, this is really helpful. I'd like to ask, how do you get a list of these $ variables? And can you use the same syntax in a Makefile? --HappyCamper 11:37, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Check the manual page for the shell you're using for variables that the shell provides. You can use whatever syntax your default shell uses in a makefile. Dysprosia 14:14, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Missing after posting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCOMER
Hi, My question has to do with a post I sent in last month. The URL can still be found in Google, thus it must have existed at one point (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCOMER). But it is now gone from Wikipedia. Could someone please let me know how this is possible? Do I have to resend everything?
Thank you.
ERCOMER editor —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ellenchan (talk • contribs) 12:52, October 2, 2006 (UTC).
- Hello,
- Deleted ? Maybe you should take a look at our policy (and deletion policy.)--193.56.241.75 11:31, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, your article was deleted, check the deletion log. It was written as an ad and didn't meet the Wikipedia verifiability criteria. You may be interested in what Wikipedia is not and your first article.
- In future, the best place to ask about this sort of thing would be Help desk, and if you could sign your posts it would be helpful in keeping track of who said what. — QuantumEleven 12:03, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Computer won't change visual settings (win98)
I was trying to play a movie on an early version of real player, and it asked me to change the color quality, but now it won't change back... even after going to the menu and clicking on the different screen resolutions and color qualities. The computer just restarts and stays with the same qualities. Also how can i delete the Os on the computer (Still talking about Win98) format c/s/u doesnt seem to work.Sasuke264 15:35, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- For the second question, do you mean "How do I overwrite deleted files with binary zeroes to make sure nobody can retrieve the data ?" ? StuRat 15:46, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Looks like he wants to delete his OS, but format.exe doesn't seem to work. I always use a DOS boot disk to format my computer, or better yet, the install disk for the new OS that I want to install. Windows and Linux install disks (not upgrade) almost always format the hard-drive automatically (after prompting) before installation. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 03:41, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
actually i know nothing about the binary 0's and i do not have an ms-dos boot disk... All i have is a windows 98 boot disk and CD. What i am trying to do is if i can't fix my comp. i wanted to delete the OS(win98) and replace it with win98 therefore restoring the defaults. Thanks for any help you have given and may continue to give Sasuke264 15:08, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
- Simply re-installing Win98 (you can just insert the install disk while the OS is running) will allow you to format and restore all defaults. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 12:13, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
Transferring files
I recently bought a new laptop and I want to get a large amount of data (in excess of 20 GB) from my old desktop onto the new laptop hard drive. What's the best way to go about this? The desktop only has a CD-RW so you can imagine I want to do this over some kind of network. Can I hook two PC's together by a network cable or do I need a router? Any suggestions are welcome...
- While you can connect to PCs with a crossover cable (or a router/hub/switch), that is only the beginning of your problem. You will then need to get the two to talk to each other. Then, you have to give one permission to copy files from the other. Finally, you can move the files. It would be a hell of a lot easier to get a thumb-drive (they are at least 20GB now) and put the files on that. Then, go to the other PC and copy them back off the thumbdrive. --Kainaw (talk) 16:55, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Does your old laptop have a firewire port? --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 17:34, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Yes!
- In that case, I'd recommend looking on eBay or somewhere for an external firewire drive. They're always useful for backups (in which case get a larger one) -- and we're talking like 50 cents a gigabyte now, it's really ridiculous. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 05:14, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
- Yes!
- Does your old laptop have a firewire port? --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 17:34, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- 20GB?! Those cost hundreds of dollars --frothT C 01:17, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
- Assuming you are using windows its dead easy. Buy a cross over cable from your nearest computer store. It'll probably cost you like 10 bucks. Then just plug the two computers together and windows networking will take care of everything. It should definately take less than an hour to transfer. AmitDeshwar 06:02, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
- The other possibility is that if you have a router or a hub (both compys connected to the net at the same time) just transfer the files via Yahoo IM, ICU or MSN. Anchoress 01:54, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
Password security
Is it possible to set an Username and Password for a folder.if so,how?
Thank you
- Here's a fairly good guide for Windows XP; of course, you didn't specify the OS, so I'm just taking a guess that you're using it. If you want better security (XP accounts can be broken fairly easily), or want to secure files/folders outside of your "Documents and Settings" folder, then see TrueCrypt. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:07, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Converting .AVI to .MPEG
Hi. Does anybody know of a way I could convert a .AVI file into a .MPEG (or similar) file which could be edited on movie editing software. I have Adobe Premier and Windows Movie Maker. Thanks! Robinoke 21:17, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- Premier should be able to open .AVI files. Do you not have the codec required (ie. can you not open the file with Window Media Player)? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:29, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
First you need to find out the FourCC of the avi you've got. Then download the appropriate codec. Finally download VirtualDub (which should come with several mpeg encoders) and change the video compession to mpeg (I actually recommend 2-pass XviD) then save the file. Voila! --frothT C 01:13, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
Thanks Guys! Robinoke 10:08, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
Gmail
How do I view the IP of the person who sent me an email in Gmail? Thanks.
lots of issues | leave me a message 22:11, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- In the email, click More options, then Show original, and it'll show as: Received: from <hostname>
- Also, just a note on your signature: it's probably better to use wikilinks (ie. lots of issues) rather than external links. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:23, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Minichess
I cannot find any information on 5x5 and 5x6 minichess - are they really solved or not? Any software implementations? The only info I did find was a short article in Hungarian that I can't read -
http://www.math.u-szeged.hu/~bognarv/minisakk.html
and a notice in Italian that further tournaments in 5x5 chess are cancelled because "the game was solved". By whom, when, how - no answer... 212.199.22.244 23:06, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
ISP bandwidth limit in Australia?
Answered
I was going to link my friend, who lives in Australia, to a movie clip online (One of a magician screwing up his act and spiking people in the hand if you must know). She told me right after finding out it was a movie that she couldn't watch it because she was over her bandwidth limit for the month(No, she doesn't run a server). I don't know much about this magical thing called bandwidth, and I don't want to know about it, I just thought that this sounded ridiculous. The company is called "Optus", and either she explained it badly, I have an even more limited understanding of the internet than I thought, or this company sounds pretty shady.
Could someone clarify this for me? Is this bandwidth limit a bunch of BS? Is this even a question? Razma Dreizehn 23:27, 2 October 2006 (UTC)Razma Dreizehn
- Bandwidth cap. Most (all?) ISPs have bandwidth limits. Even if they do not advertise the cap it's usually mentioned in the TOS, though it could be as vague as "...an unreasonable amount of bandwidth...". Certain ISPs are worse for this, and ISPs in whole regions may follow one another. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 23:37, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
- I had a few problems not unlike what Consumed mentioned when I lived in Toronto. Rogers, which is the biggest and most popular fiber-optic ISP in the area temporarily bans all users it claims are "abusive, users who use their internet to a degree that it interferes with the connections of others", which basically means that they are not able to provide enough bandwidth to support their entire customer base, so they cut off the most active suscribers (I believe the representative I talked to after being cut off put me in the "top 5% of users", which means they're cutting off a lot of customers). You'll usually have much more luck if you switch providers, preferrably one that isn't bursting at the seams. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 03:38, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
- Ah, thanks very much for the info. As it turns out, her little brother has a habit of downloading full length movies. 129.15.131.247 17:02, 3 October 2006 (UTC)Razma Dreizehn
October 3
Visual Basic Coding
In VB6, how does one extract text data from a webpage? For instance, if I was searching the HPI database, how would I get the program to extract the cars details from the following page, assuming that the numberplate is a variable, and so therefore are the car details? An example HPI page is here
- View the source code of the web page. It is all text. Just pick through it and take out the text you want. Or - you can write a cool AI that knows how to view web pages and detect what is content and what is garbage, then slap a search engine on top of that and surpass Google as the kind-daddy of all search engines. Youth in Asia 20:17, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
Audio / Video Capture
I wish to obtain software which will enable me to directly capture audio and video clips, or failing that audio only clips. I have the files I wish to capture clips from, although they are all in a variety of obscure codec formats and are too large to suit my purposes (hence why I seek to obtain clips). Is there a free program which I can use to directly capture audio or video from these files if I were to play them in Windows Media Player or a similar application, essentially like a screen capture for sound and/or video?
- I'm pretty sure VLC media player can do that. Just play a file and stream the output to another file. I have never done it myself, but I have always been very happy with VLC. Jon513 16:28, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
- There is a way to do it with VLC, but it's complicated and I don't know how to. I recommend Audacity for audio and Camstudio for video (both open source). --Russoc4 18:34, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
flashplayer doesnt have sound
I have a macintosh and flashplayer won't play any sound in flash content. What should I do? Ilikefood 22:57, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
- I occasionally have a similar problem with Quicktime as well as Flash, and worked out another program (Audacity, I suspect) had changed the MIDI settings. Try the following: got to /Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup, look under "Built In Output" - if it's set to 96KHz, change it to 44KHz, this has fixed several audio problems in the past. --Canley 02:18, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
October 4
Searching for a simple Small Business Program
I'm having an unusually and unexpectedly difficult time finding what I thought would be an extremely popular business program.
All I need is a simple accounting/invoicing program. I need to print my invoices in triplicate, and as this can only be done with a dot matrix printer, I spent a few hundred bucks (CDN) on what is considered the most reliable (as well as one of the last) ones on the market. While dot matrix is the earliest of popular printers, and one would imagine, the cheapest of all the versions, quite the opposite seems to be true. While laser and inkjet have dropped down in price quite drastically, dot matrix has actually gone up. In any case, I'll get to the dot matrix part later.
What really surprises me is the fact that a simple program that provides simple features like simple bookkeeping, as well as the ability to print invoices is so difficult to find. I can't understand it, but with all the programs created by MS, in particular those included in MS Office, they don't seem to have what would seem to be a program that is such a common need for small businesses and that I would imagine there would be such a great demand for.
Of course everyone needs a word processor, so there's MS Word. And spreadsheets are very useful, so there's Excel. Everyone uses email (though not necessarily non-web based email), so Outlook can be useful too (though not for me). Then there's Frontpage, Access and Powerpoint, which all have their uses, but not for everyone. What I don't get is why (if that's the case) there isn't a simple bookkeeping/invoicing programme. Does MS perhaps have this sort of thing available outside of the Office package? If so I'd really be grateful if any of you could point me in the right direction, as all MS programs seem to have their similarities, and once you're familiar with one, it's that much easier to familiarize yourself with others. And I realize, Access might be able to do what I'm looking for, but I'm afraid that it would involve way too much customization on my part that would only be way over my head. Does MS have such a product?
The problem is I'm stuck with this old DOS version of a programme I like, but it just won't work on my new computer. And these small software companies tend to offer terrible tech support. I bought their new "Windows" version of it back in '01, but the damn thing was so complicated I couldn't make any sense of it. Plus, they refuse to offer any tech support on the phone if you don't pay an arm and a leg. Neither could I make any sense of their user guide. So I basically went back to the ancient DOS version that suits my needs so well. Now they say that their programme is much more user friendly, but I'm understandably wary. Btw, their site is dynacom.com. They offer a trial version, and I'm downloading it as we speak, but there's another problem. The sales guy said that he doesn't even think it could work with a dot matrix printer, but he's not sure. (Thanks alot, you seem to really understand the product you're selling!). I really don't get why that would be a problem ... it's not a wiring problem, everything works by USB cable. In any case, I'm totally sick of this company.
Ideally, my first question would be whether or not MS has such an application, which would of course be able to work with a dot matrix printer. (Once again, I have no idea why MS wouldn't have created that sort of application ... it just seems like everyone would love to use it and it would sell itself). That would be ideal, as since I'm already familiar with other MS applications, I'd already be halfway to figuring out how to work this one. Failing that, though, I'm wondering if any of you can offer me any alternate suggestions. What does everybody use anyway? There must be some dominant, user friendly program by now! I'd be grateful for any suggestions any of you could offer (as well as any possible explanations for the mysterious "no dot matrix" facet of the program I'm considering buying now). Thanks to anyone who can help. Loomis 00:41, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- Microsoft does indeed have a program (I am hoping this is what you need) Its called Microsoft Small Business Financials[3]. I would check there. Hope that helps!! --Zach 01:04, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- Or Microsoft Money. (I use the personal version for tracking my own finances). Another seemingly popular option is Intuit's Quickbooks. As far as printing, I'd expect that your new printer came with a driver CD, or else the drivers are already included in Windows, so it shouldn't be a problem. The Okidata site was a little too annoying for me this afternoon. --LarryMac 18:38, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
Try Microsoft Back Office. The problem with a dot matrix is they can generally only accept ASCII text, whereas most modern printers can also accept PostScript, HPGL, etc. So, if the modern program only prints in one of those formats, it won't work with a dot matrix printer. Why not just upgrade to a modern printer ? I got my printer/scanner/copier for under US$100. StuRat 02:08, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks Stu, (and thanks Zach too!) but the thing is, my boss insists that he wants his invoices in triplicate, so when they sign for it, it goes through all copies. Don't ask me why. In any case, I've already "upgraded" to a brand new dot matrix OKIDATA, so at this point, I'd rather be able to use it. There are still quite a few folks that still use dot matrix, and I'm sure there'll always be a use for triplicate invoices. Do you think the above applications would support dot matrix? Thanks. Loomis 04:23, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- I'm not sure about that. Check the specs with the vendors and see if they can export flat ASCII text files. StuRat 21:06, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- I think most dot matrix printers in fact do have a (slower) graphics mode. If the program can output PostScript, you might be able to use ghostscript to convert it to the printer's format (using the printer's graphics mode). That's the usual solution on Unix: all programs output PostScript, and the spooler converts it to the printer's native format (unless the printer understands PostScript directly). --cesarb 16:52, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
Overclocking failed -- CPU fan error
Answered
I have had a PC for a little over 3 years and am just now getting this error when I boot up. What can I do to resolve it?
I didn't set up the "overclocking" myself -- I wouldn't know how. It came that way from the computer shop, which is now out of business.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, TacoDeposit 00:43, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- It sounds like it's overheating, are the vents clear and clean ? Try pointing an external fan at it and, if that doesn't do it, remove the cover. Replacing the internal CPU fan and/or general fan with a more powerful one should solve the problem permanently, if that's what it is. StuRat 01:52, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- I opened the cover and it looks like there are three fans, two by the back vents and one over the CPU. One of the two fans by the back vents is not operating. Would that explain it? I'll have to get it replaced. Thanks, TacoDeposit 02:27, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, that sounds like the problem, you need to fix or replace that case fan. A single case fan is more standard, so I suspect that the computer shop that set it to overclock also installed an auxiliary case fan to compensate for the additional heat generated. If they did a half-assed job, perhaps some of the wires to the fan just came loose. StuRat 03:10, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
Internet Explorer popping up
Everytime I open and use my PC the Dial Up Connection dialog box automatically pops up. I close the dialog box but it again pops up which is very annoying.Is there any way to stop that and use the Internet Explorer whenever i require?amrahs 15:39, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- There's a good chance that you have some sort of spyware that's trying to connect to the internet. Possibly a dialer, keylogger, trojan, etc. I recommend downloading an antispyware program and scanning your harddrive. Spybot (download) and Adaware (download) are amongst the most popular antispyware programs. If this doesn't solve the problem, try running an antivirus scan. ClamWin (download) or AVG (download) are two good antivirus programs.--Russoc4 18:22, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
Private Investigator Service
Is there a Private Investigator Service tool/database on the Internet that PI's use to gather/share information? I was thinking about it and I'm sure there is some sort of national PI service already, but if not I thought it would be a good idea. --Kainaw (talk) 18:41, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- Veronica Mars uses an awesome service that's like what you describe. She can totally find out anything about anybody! I love that show.... Oskar 20:38, 4 October 2006 (UTC) (I'm not helping, am I?)
- There are online sites to do things like researching a person's background and criminal records. Of course, this is all stuff that can be done remotely. If you want somebody to be followed to find out where they go at night, that will require someone in the area and will likely cost thousands of dollars. StuRat 20:51, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
Gmail Question
There is an option in Gmail to "always display images" from a certain sender, since images are by default blocked. There is also a way to restore the default after choosing this option by going to the individual email. However, I cannot find a list of "allowed" senders. Does such a list exist? thanks, -JianLi 20:52, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- It doesn't appear that there is. If it's a big inconvenience for you, consider suggesting it using the Google help center, they may listen. I had a complaint about the way they didn't allow switching languages properly with multilingual accounts because I use English and Japanese on what is (usually) a Japanese OS, and a just a few weeks later they fixed it. Maybe coincidence : P. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 11:59, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- I've contacted them. Thanks. --JianLi 02:28, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
serial number
where can i fined the serial number of my computer?
- If it has one, it will be on a sticker of some sort on the case. Not all computers have serial numbers. For example, I built my own part-by-part. There is no serial number for the computer, but there is one on the motherboard, on the hard drive, on the dvd burner, on the video card... --Kainaw (talk) 22:23, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- It's usually stuck onto the silver plate on the back of the case if it's a desktop model, or big on the underside of a laptop. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 12:01, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
computer chess
Fourteen world championship computer chess tournaments have been held (from 1974 to 2006). I would greatly appreciate learning where the win-loss-draw percentages for these games have been compiled. Thankyou, Kaleideon
October 5
Data base in computers
1]Wat are the Relation,Similiarities and Differences between MS SQL,ORACLE and MS ACCESS?Are these all different types of database?If yes then wat does it mean by saying so?
2]Is there any relation between MS SQL and SQL SERVER 2000?
3]Wat is the difference when we say Relational database, MS SQL,SQL SERVER and MS ACCESS
4]Is Oracle and MS ACCESS or MS SQL some language or is it a software in real that connects the front end of an aaplication or program with the data stored in the memmor,.Or is it a software for storing the data?if it stores data then how can data be modified or retrieved?
waiting for early reply
thank you
- These questions make no sense. They all sound like homework questions as well... -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 02:43, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- They do make sense... mostly. I suggest you read up on database, relational database management system, SQL, Oracle database and Microsoft Access. That should answer most of your questions. — QuantumEleven 10:11, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
FTP server on residential nonstatic IP
I sometimes have a need to transfer large files over the internet. With some internet connections its not a problem to set up an ftp server. But i have a regular residential isp (roadrunner cable) and it seems that no other computer can connect to me via my ip address thats not directly connected on the same router. The ftp server is on windows xp and has options to change its listening port. I choose many different values other than the normal one and it still doesnt seem to make it work. If it is not known how to make it work, then why is it not working? Whats blocking it? The router, the isp, something else?--Technic 02:22, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- Guide. You need to forward the port involved in FTP (21 or whatever you set) to the server computer. The router automatically drops connections that are not initiated by the computers behind it unless you do this. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 02:42, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- ahh I think i see whats going on, thanks. Ill try this out later.--199.98.20.227 04:06, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- Any idea how something like aim works? that doesnt need a port forward or does it?
Disabling McAfee
My computer came with McAfee installed on it, but it's 90 day trial period has expired. Despite me deleting anything matching the McAfee search on my computer, I'm still getting these annoying pop ups a couple times a day asking me to buy it... How do I get rid of these?
Accidently, i hve lost my songs on my mp3 player.when i connect the player into my computer, list of my songs still there but when i want to play on my mp3 player its say NO MP3 FILES!..how do i fix this?and from the windows say's that i got problem with I/O device error..whats does it means??
- OK, you should have uninstalled (from the Add/Remove Programs control panel) the McAfee software rather than just deleting any file that came up in a search for "McAfee".
- What kind of MP3 player is it? Are you using a program to transfer the music to the player or are you just dragging the songs onto it? --Canley 07:20, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
Online Search
When I search on the Internet, I often find millions of websites as results. So how can I know which websites are the ones I want? How can I search more efficiently on the Internet? How does online searching (I mean, in search engines such as Google) work?
I've heard that search engines counts each word to be searched separately. This means that if I type in the words "video telephone", it won't just show up websites with the words "video telephone". It will also show up websites with just either the word "video" or or the word "telephone". Is that true? If so, then how can I search in the Internet with websites with only both words together, "video telephone", being shown up?
60.241.148.65 03:40, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- If you put quote marks around a phrase, most search engines will look for that exact phrase. So if you just type
video telephone, Google will search forvideoandtelephone, but"video telephone"will search for that whole phrase with the words in that order. See Google's Advanced Search tips for more tips and ideas. --Canley 07:17, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- Often, the trick is to do an initial, coarse search, find a few vaguely relevant articles, and use the most relevant to suggest additional search terms. For example, you are trying to find information about a particular General Powell. So you search for
generalandPowell. You find out from one of these links that his first name is "Colin", and then you do a more useful search forgeneraland"Colin Powell", or just"Colin Powell", since not all articles on him will mention that he is a general. - Jmabel | Talk 22:03, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
CMOS Password
How does the dos executable for erasing the cmos password work???Also is there a program to create a new partition between existing free space other than the usual delete and make a new partiton?Also is it possible to transfer files between two computers using USB 2.0 ports; if yes then can we daisy chain all the computers in a network using USB?
- It shouldn't - a DOS executable would not have access to the BIOS
- Yes, see fdisk (or another disk partitioning programme, the more advanced versions can resize partitions, which I believe is what you want to do). Note that partitioning is inherently risky and you should always back up your data before starting.
- Not really - there are some tricks you can do with a device that pretends to be a USB host to both computers, but it's difficult to set up and certainly won't replace a network. — QuantumEleven 10:06, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
Well i have a dos executable that does just that...so was curious... And I would be really grateful if you could tell me which program resizes extended partitions.( c: is primary, d: e: f: are extended.)
Recover Password
How can we get xp professional sp2 accounts password if we somehow login to the account?
- No modern operating systems store passwords anywhere on the computer. Of course, dumb users and dumber programs may store passwords here and there, but that is not the question. A hash of the password is what is stored. Since hashes are one-way, there is no way to reverse the hash process and get the password. The common way to "hack" windows is to use Linux on a CD/Floppy and write a new password hash to the harddrive. Then, reboot into Windows and use the new password. --Kainaw (talk) 13:17, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- While this is true in general, windows uses a mindnumbingly stupid hash algorithm called LM hash, which can be cracked in seconds using a time-memory tradeoff. See Ophcrack. Oskar 14:59, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
Send packages in VB6
How do you send data (to LAN/internet computers) in VB 6.0? I can't find it anywhere on how to do it?! -Unreg usr
- Check out Microsoft's MSDN site. Here's the entry for VB's network class. It should have the info (and examples of network programming) there. —Mitaphane talk 01:25, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- That link is incorrect, as the user was interested in VB 6.0. The class is for the .NET Framework. You need to use the Winsock OCX control to send/receive. Splintercellguy 06:14, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
Nanostray on Nintendo DS
I have a European copy of this game and on the spine of the box it has a pink/purple triangle where all the other games I own have a green triangle. Is this some kind of colour coding or just a printing error on the packaging?? --Ukdan999 15:58, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
apple mac or microsoft windows
Which is the better company, apple macintosh or microsoft windows? explain
- I say microsoft, most PCs are using Windows. Tho I must edmit apple have better design (ipods etc..), but still you can't really compare them.
Trick question? Because you ask which is the better company but then you name two products. - Jmabel | Talk 21:59, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- Are you asking whether apple/microsoft is better or are you asking whether windows/mac is better?Taida 22:27, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- It appears to be Apple/Microsoft. Neither Windows or Mac is a company. I think it is safe to assume that is less dumb to call the companies by their product names than to call either product itself a company. --Kainaw (talk) 00:21, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- It is a matter of opinion, there is no real answer. I like Apple products generally a lot more than Microsoft ones. Mac OS X pwns XP :) — X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)03:41, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- See operating system advocacy. This is a very boring topic. What's better, Chevrolet or Ford? --Robert Merkel 04:00, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- Anything is better than Found On Road Dead. Anyway back to the question depends on what you want to do for gaming I go for Windows. If you want graphic design or such go for a Mac. Whispering(talk/c) 19:55, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
Are you a student? A mac is definately a bad idea for computer science or even engineering students. For artsy or just general students, macs have a reputation for being good with video or image editing though similar products are available on the PC. Anyway, there's no distiction anymore since macs are now on x86 archetecture... it's a matter of whether you want to shell out a lot of extra money just so you can run OSX. Which personally I can't stand (also I think that the macbooks are ugly as el diablo) so I'd never get a mac.. anyway my thinkpad has specs identical to a $2000 macbook (actually my processor is 160mhz faster, same chip) and it cost only $1500. And the thinkpad has always been by far the sexiest laptop :) --frothT C 00:30, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Wasn't the Thinkpad discontinued like 20 years ago? — X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)09:41, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Oh c'mon, we all know that your thinkpad, although you may be proud, is a flimsy alternative to the MacBook (Pro). — X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve)09:41, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Remote desktop
Is there a generic (unbranded) term for software such as Microsoft Terminal Services? I need to refer to it in the computer accessibility article. Right now I have remote desktop, but I see that is just a disambiguation to three branded products. We ought to have an article somewhere on this technology generally, not just on individual products. - Jmabel | Talk 21:57, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
- Is terminal services a remote desktop product? I.e. a program that lets you control a desktop from another computer in a window, like for instance VNC or microsofts remote desktop product? That kind of software is usually reffered to as either "Remote desktop" or "Desktop sharing" products. Oskar 23:08, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
October 6
Windows Media Player 10
How whould one remove Windows media players' online stores?
Every Time I open Windows media player it loads a list of online stores from some unknown server and then proceds to download the logos for the stores. Only problem is that 3 of the store icons are blocked by my filtering package.
This is getting annoying, everytime I open WMP, 3 error messgaes appear saying I tried to access sites I shouldn't have.
Any help would be apreciated.
--Kd7jit 00:29, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
Arithmetic problem related to internet
I learnt arithmetic in primary school but I could never apply to any real situation such as the zero-sum game of money problem related to internet. If this is not the right place to ask, be grateful if you could answer with some pointers. Suppose that I visit a site such as Wikipedia and download one gb of information FREE of charge. Assume that the author of this information does not want any payment. Simple question: who pays for my FREE education?
a) Wikipedia has to run some hardware and to do maintenance with some donation or other revenue. By visiting Wikipedia, do I create a negligible amount of income for Wikipedia?
b) For the information to travel from US(?) to Australia, it requires some kind of hardware at the international level (satellites?). Does it mean that US government would charge the Australian government for transmission of information for using their satellites?
c) I pay for a broadband server which allows me to get certain amount of information? To whom my server would pay, Telephone Company or Communication Company, or Australian Central Server?
d) Who makes money and who pays for it when I get one gb of information free of charge?
I past my exam in arithmetic at primary school level but I can never add up. I understand that my questions are not well defined as a result of my personal ignorance. Please feel free to re-formulate them. Thank you in advance for your help.Twma 02:13, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- These are interesting questions, but they have nothing to do with arithmetic and mathematics. You should post them at the Computing/IT reference desk. --LambiamTalk 04:37, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- International communication is for the most part not done by sattelite (sattelite communication is very, very expensive). You can get messages across the world by radio waves, or if there is a hard wire connection you can use that. (There is probably a wire-connected network that can reach Australia from the US, though I am not certain.) - Rainwarrior 06:31, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- To give you a short answer, the Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, which receives funding from private and corporate donations. So, no, you don't generate income for Wikipedia by looking at a Wikipedia article (in the early days of Wikipedia, there was consideration given to allowing advertising on Wikipedia pages to pay for costs; after discussion it was decided to go down the route of trying to fund it as a not-for-profit through donations).
- The details of how the internet traffic is paid for are quite complex. In the United States and Australia, most of the entities involved are private companies (with the exception of Telstra, which is of course still majority owned by the Australian government, but who are trying to sell it off as fast as they can). To get a sense of how this all works, you can try reading our article on peering, but it may be a bit too complex. The Internet article may clarify some of the terminology for you. --Robert Merkel 06:43, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- Rainwarrior is also correct, long-distance traffic on the Internet is mostly carried by cable, in even across oceans. There are multiple submarine communications cables between the US and Australia.
- (First: yes, the principal Wikipedia servers are in the US. Florida, to be more precise.) You pay for your Internet access in some way; even if it's "free", it's part of a lease agreement (and is thus really part of your rent) or an incentive to get you to patronize a business or so. A good portion of your access fees go to a higher-level provider (a sort of "meta-ISP") that, perhaps, runs a network covering all of Victoria. They own all the servers in that network (so only have to pay electricity and maintenance for them, and possibly rent space), and either own or lease the communication lines between them (if leased, often from a phone company or similar organization). Part of the money paid to them (by numerous ISPs) is used to pay for a connection to part of the Internet backbone, a coalition of companies that own (or lease, of course) the biggest, most powerful routers and the major cables between regions and countries. Those major cables can put through, in many cases, multiple GB per second, and so while to you that gigabyte is a lot, it's okay that you only paid them A$0.05 for that day; 100,000 other people did as well. The note about peering above is quite correct, but is limited in scope; simply put, the top-level network operations companies in the world do not charge each other for transferring data; each collects its operating costs from its customers and two-way connectivity between major networks (including, possibly, doing most of the work of forwarding some particular packet from another company) is considered an even trade. Does that help? --Tardis 15:50, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- much more than "multiple gigabytes" per second.. --frothT C 20:12, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
You might want to check out Category:Intenet Archetecture and peering --frothT C 20:45, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
Thanks to all friends for the free education to enrich my life.Twma 00:55, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
HackThisSite
Anyways, on the third of the easy 'missions', I get stuck. I found out that the password is contained in a 'password.txt' file. However, I simply can't find it. I inputted in the file name into each of the respective sub-directories of the URL and none of them work. Help would be appreciated. Thanks. --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 05:03, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- Lol, such an anarchist site. I haven't done the missions in forever. Splintercellguy 06:16, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- I'll help in 2 hours when I get back from class. In the meantime check out my hts profile --frothT C 16:46, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- All right take a look at the submit action of the form. The passwords.txt is contained in the directory for Basic 4 (the next challenge) since each challenge page is really nothing more than the "password correct" output of the previous challenge. If you still don't get it, here's the direct link. Try the app challenges they're much more fun --frothT C 18:55, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- Also if you need any help on any of the challenges I've completed (check my profile) leave me a comment on my profile --frothT C 19:53, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
How to put an e-mail address in a wiki running MediaWiki software?
Anybody know how to put an e-mail address in a wiki running MediaWiki software so that when the user clicks on it, the e-mail address will open up the e-mail client?
e.g. on the following site I have an e-mail address but it is just shown as text, so the user has to cut/paste into their e-mail client (e.g. Outlook). Yuk
On the page you will see the address, politie at tervuren dot be (note, don't reply with your answer to this address!! Post it here.).
80.201.216.248 10:33, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- Link to a
mailto:URL like you would any other time? Like this. --Tardis 15:02, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
CD rom
What is the use of Headphone jack and volume controll on the CD rom. Can i Use the CD rom as a CD music player without turning my computer on. If yes, Then How?
- No, though that would be nice, it's not possible. There are motherboards that allow you to listen to CDs (only "real" CDs) without running an actual music player, but Windows must be running for most of those to work. I guess some people like to plug in their headphones into the front of the computer, directly into the CD drive. (EDIT: Actually, I may be wrong. There may be CD drives with hardware to play CDs built-in that need only a power source to play CDs, though I would be really surprised if there was. Giving it power wouldn't be easy, as that usually requires the computer to be on, but it's not impossible I guess.) freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 11:38, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- There are external CD readers for computers (usually laptops) that can act as standalone CD players. However, I have never in my life seen a case-mounted CD player that could work as a standalone player. The headphone jack on the front is for listening to the CD audio. Most CD readers do not have this anymore. It was used in the middle ages of home computing when most people couldn't justify selling a kidney to purchase a soundcard with a CD line in connector on it. Now, sound is mounted right on the motherboard with everything on it, so the jack, if there is one, is purely redundant. --Kainaw (talk) 12:20, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- I used to have an internal CD drive that had "Play" and "Eject" buttons and a headphone jack (and possibly a volume control; I don't remember). So long as it had power (which could be arranged without even a motherboard present, of course), you could actually listen to things; Play was also "Next Track" and I believe Eject would just stop playing if you pressed it while it was playing. The CD jack is never equivalent to any other output, as far as I know; I believe it only provides the CD player's output, whether or not there is a sound card driving the other jack (possibly with the same data). --Tardis 15:07, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- On a system that I assembled about 7 years ago, the headphone jack on the CD drive was actually connected directly to the motherboard. It was, in fact, the exact same output as the regular speaker jack. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 04:14, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Washing machine vs. USB drive
While switching the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer I found a USB flash drive in the bottom of the tub. Luckily my wife won't be killing me for this as it's not mine and I didn't put the laundry in the washer. :-) So, what are the chances of my wife's flash drive working again anytime soon? Is this just something that can dry out and will function again? Dismas|(talk) 14:05, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- Mine went in the wash once. Just let it dry out and it'll be perfectly fine, as well as nice and clean. :-) CaptainVindaloo t c e 14:07, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- If the water didn't corrode anything (unlikely unless it was wet for too long), and it's not powered up while still wet (be sure to dry it throughly; putting it within a sealed box with silica gel or other desiccant for a while would be a good idea), it probably will work. --cesarb 16:37, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- Or you could continue the cycle and put it in the dryer with the wet clothes like I did. Came out good as new, and only partially melted because it got stuck onto of the lint trap. Still works though. --Russoc4 03:14, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
about dealership
i the resident of ramayampet medak district of andhrapradesh,india hereby saying that i want to have the dealership of smithkline beecham so that i can improve the sales.i will be happy if you could give me an opportunity to serve your company.
- This is Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia. I suggest you contact a local office of Smith Kline Beecham. — QuantumEleven 14:30, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- How do these mistakes happen? Honestly I am stupefied --frothT C 00:33, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Staging site in web development?
Is it true that a staging site can also be called a development site? Or is it slightly different?--Sonjaaa 16:48, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- A google search for staging site & development site seems to indicate "staging site" is the prefered term used in web development. But really both terms are general enough to be synonymous. If your curious about the addition of this information to the staging site article. I would look for a reliable source that specifically uses the term "development site". —Mitaphane talk 03:41, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Brain transplant for laptops
My laptop crashed but the harddisk survived unscathed. I'm planning to buy a new laptop, but I'd like to have everything on my old laptop on the new one in terms of software and settings. Is that possible? I've taken out my old harddisk. Is there any way to use it as the "boot" disk for the new laptop, so that I can continue using the old operating system, software, settings, etc as if nothing happened? I had Windows XP Home edition on the old laptop. Regards, deeptrivia (talk) 18:49, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- First, can the old harddrive physically fit in the new laptop? That may not be the case. If it can, replace the one that comes with the new laptop and boot up. If the two laptops are identical - no problem. If they are not identical, you'll have to mess with driver installs for the new hardware. If you are lucky, you'll be able to get the new hardware drivers installed. You may hit an impass and be unable to continue. --Kainaw (talk) 19:37, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
DNS rootserver IP list
Where is that file located in windows which is discussed in DNS_root_zone#Technical_details_of_root_server_lookup? How about *nix? I've seen a copy of the file but I don't know where it can be found locally --frothT C 20:12, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
- Hmm, well the article specifically says the file is called "named.cache" in BIND. A quick search on google for windows "named.cache", hits up the path "<WIN DIR>\system32\dns\etc\" and for unix "named.cache" BIND hits up the path "/var/named" Hope that helps. —Mitaphane talk 04:16, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
October 7
Mozilla search engines
So, I used to use the Mozilla search engine bar all the time, having added a lot of good ones. But one day, I found they were all gone. I can go to the "Add engines" link on the bar, which takes me to their page. But when I click on one, it asks me if I want to add it, I say ok, and it doesn't get added. The Javascript console says
Error: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80570016 (NS_ERROR_XPC_GS_RETURNED_FAILURE) [nsIJSCID.getService]" nsresult: "0x80570016 (NS_ERROR_XPC_GS_RETURNED_FAILURE)" location: "JS frame :: file:///C:/Program%20Files/Mozilla%20Firefox/components/nsSidebar.js :: anonymous :: line 174" data: no] Source File: file:///C:/Program%20Files/Mozilla%20Firefox/components/nsSidebar.js Line: 174
I've tried re-installing Firefox, but it doesn't work. Does anyone know what's gone wrong, and how I can fix this and get my search bar back? -LtNOWIS 00:54, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
What do the parts of an email address mean? Can the date or location it was sent from be deciphered from it?
Whenever someone prints out a hard copy of a hotmail, the bottom of the page has, for example, a string of letters and numbers like this:
Http://by119fd.bay119.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg?=5A6F0A5E-9874-4958-…
How much about the email is obvious from the address? Can you prevent this from being printed when you print the rest of the email? Is any part of it a code?
Thank you to any and all who wish to answer this for me, especially if you can give examples.
- You can use scissors and cut off the bottom of the paper althrough I don't think it matters because you would need a password to get to your email adress.Taida 02:15, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Don't print sensitive information directly from your browser. Copy the information and paste it into your word-processor (e.g. MS Word) before your print it. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 04:22, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Turn off the footer, to remove the link! Do this with Page Setup from Print Preview (or elsewhere) in either browser. Dysprosia 04:37, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Http:// means retrive using Hyper Text Tranfer Protocol (HTTP).
- by119fd.bay119 is the specific computer to obtain the information from.
- hotmail.msn.com is the domain the computer is located within.
- cgi-bin is the directory (folder) within the computer to look in. Note cgi-bin usually contains programs that generate web pages rather than just static files.
- getmsg is the name of the file to retrieve (or in this case, the program to run on the server)
- ? means send the rest of the line to the program as an input parameter.
- =5A6F0A5E-9874-4958 is a parameter to be passed.
- The information above simply asks the web server by119fd.bay119 at hotmail.msn.com to to run the program getmsg in its cgi-bin folder with a parameter of 5A6F0A5E-9874-4958-… and show the result in the web browser. The information above does not contain an e-mail address, or any information about a user. E-mail addresses are in the form 'username@computername.domain' or sometimes just 'username@domain'. --Dave 07:40, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Question about wikipedia search engine
I was searching for Dina Babbitt, and got 2.7% relevance for Josef Mengele. The two are in fact related, but Dina Babbitt is mentioned no where in the article. How did a search for her turn up Mengele, then? Thanks --01:35, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
he painted some pictures for him.
gooogogoggooggoogogoggggggggggglelleeelelellgogogo
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:S.CON.RES.54.IS:
african watering hole
is this really a live african watering hole or just some hoax?
mms://live.wildlife.wavelit.net/nk1957
- Do you have any reason to think it is a hoax? It seems like a really stupid thing to make a hoax out of. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 04:10, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Erm, things are actually starting to get a little weird now. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 04:14, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- what happened!? ? I've been watching and nothing but exotic noises !
- Erm, things are actually starting to get a little weird now. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 04:14, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
t-rex tissue
is this a hoax?
http://www.calacademy.org/science_now/headline_science/T-rex_soft_tissue.html
- I think you should ask these sort of questions at the Science desk: WP:RD/S. Anyway, see Tyrannosaurus, especially the bits about "B-rex". --Kjoonlee 04:05, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- There is mention of T-rex "soft tissue" being preseved inside bones, I think that article is just incredibly misleading. No dates are given (a few months ago and Montana are the only things that are explicitly stated) and no references, sources, links, or other relevant details are given. The images, I must remind you, show a 3mm section of bone. Putting the specimin under high magnification creates strange results. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 04:08, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Adsl Sharing
I have a dlink dsl-g604t modem/router connected to an adsl conection. recently i churned to a new isp (WiltIT) and found that although i could access the internet through the wireless connection, i could not access it from a desktop connected to the router directly by an ethernet cable. Before the churn i was able to access both ways with no problems. how can i get the desktop to access teh internet through the cable? 02:36, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Perhaps the network settings on the desktop are misconfigured? Maybe DHCP settings on the router are incorrect? A little more specifics would help. Splintercellguy 07:58, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Wireless network adapter on Acer laptop
Howdy, fellow Wikipedians! I'm having a puzzling problem working with wireless networking. I've got an Acer Aspire 5000, which has a Broadcom 802.11g network adapter, and I'm running XP Service Pack 2. I'm able to find wireless networks, and the connection process partially works, but I'm unable to actually connect to the networks. I don't actually know exactly how long this has been a problem, or what I did that could have caused it as I infrequently use wireless, but I'm spending a few days at my mother's house, and I'd like to use her network. (Which is working properly -- I'm posting this on her computer -- and I have the password for, etc. I've logged in here before. I've also logged in previously on unsecured networks, but can't now, so I don't think it's her security.) What happens, step-by-step as I attempt to "repair network connection", it disables and re-enables my adapter, and connects, but it has problems renewing the IP address. It reports the network connection details with a physical address and IP address, a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 and blanks for default gateway, DNS server and WINS server. I've searched the Acer site; they have a simple guide that covers everything I've already done, and according to them, I have the most recent driver (3.100.46.0, which I can't roll back, so I assume it was factory installed). I can't do a system restore, because my restore points don't go back far enough. (Only a month, and I know I had the problem a couple of months ago). Any suggestions, requests for more info, etc. would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks! --ByeByeBaby 02:44, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Hot laptop
I got an old thinkpad for free and I'm having trouble with it overheating after a couple hours of use (plugged in). The fan works fine, though it doesn't seem to help much. I've already elevated it, and I use it in a rather breezy place, but is there any half-assed solution that I can pull out of a dollar store to help me get a few more hours of constant use out of it? I'm thinking along the lines of putting it on a cushion of styrofoam, tilting it at a 20 degree angle, etc. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 04:19, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Can you open up the laptop to get access to the CPU and heatsink? My old Sager laptop had an issue with overheating. It turned out to be the area where the fan was blowing air across the heatsink was clogged up with dust and crud. After removing it, the problems were gone. I'm betting your problem is the same. —Mitaphane talk 04:38, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Latex help - Section headings
Hi all. I'm creating a document in latex and I wanted to create a section that didn't have a number (ie. one that said "Introduction" instead of "1. Introduction). I used the \section*{} command I found on the web, but the problem with that is that it doesn't add that section to the table of contents. So I was wondering if there was anyway to have a non-numbered section that also appears in the contents. I am using the "article" document class. Thanks - Akamad 06:30, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
icons in computers
ther are 4 main types of icons. Resemblance icons,exempler icons,symbolic icons,arbitrary icons. what are the difference among the 4? which are used in windows? what are the advantages of each?
- Perhaps you could look at the article Icon, or look up the meaning of Resemblance, Exemplar, Symbol and Arbitrary? This is not a place to get homework answers. —Daniel (‽) 10:21, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
Odd task manager window
My task manager Ctrlaltdel recently went like this. What can I do to put it back to normal?--Keycard (talk) 13:46, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
- Double-click the gray area to return it to normal. --Pidgeot (t) (c) (e) 13:49, 7 October 2006 (UTC)