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September 18

Receiving text messages on my PC without having a cellphone

Is this possible? Clarityfiend (talk) 07:36, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

Not that I can see. All I could find was that you either need a phone or a GSM modem to do it. - X201 (talk) 07:45, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

As long as the device has a SIM card. e.g. Mobile broadband modem plugged into your PC. 41.165.67.114 (talk) 07:52, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

Some VoIP systems support texting: [1] and some can be used on PC. Hopefully there's overlap there. SinisterLefty (talk) 12:59, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

And, of course, a person with a smart phone can send emails to your PC, and you can have notifications turned on to let you know when they come in, just like a text. Going the other way, you can send emails to their phone, and they can have notifications for that turned on. This method should not involve any additional cost at the PC end, beyond the cost of the Internet connection. SinisterLefty (talk) 13:10, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

Google Voice permits the use of Hangouts or Voice to send and receive SMS messages, as well as phone calls, through their app on any web browser or Android device. They will issue you a real, local number, a number which is portable, so that if you later obtain bona fide cellular service, you can keep the number and associate it with your SIM card and phone. Elizium23 (talk) 01:37, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

You can get a phone number from vitelity.com or twilio.com or wherever, and set it up to forward SMS to you by email. Cost is $1 to $1.50/month for the phone number plus a penny or so per message, or you can get unlimited messages by paying $8/month or so. Google Voice is another possibility though I try to stay away from anything Google because privacy. 67.164.113.165 (talk) 01:59, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

Google Voice is only for the US apparently, and vitelity has terrible reviews. Twilio may be a viable option though. Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:40, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

I use Vitelity and Twilio and Vitelity is ok. Twilio has more features but also more of a creepy tech-startup vibe. Vitelity's web UI is awful but you get used to it. They make you pay extra to use their API while Twilio's is free. Charging for it seemed lame til I realized that doing so probably helps keep away spammers (a lot of phone spam at least in the US comes through Twilio). Prices are similar. If you're not in the US you might find better deals from companies where you are. But, I can confirm that SMS to email (and voice mail to email) work ok with Vitelity. 67.164.113.165 (talk) 07:07, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

September 19

USB Data Flow

What tools (hardware or software) can be used to inspect the data flow on a USB cable link? I am interested in the control of printers for which the manufacturer has ceased to provide drivers. DroneB (talk) 13:30, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

I've never used one, but the product you're looking for is called a USB sniffer. CodeTalker (talk) 13:55, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

@DroneB: A Logic analyzer is a common tool for this purpose. RudolfRed (talk) 16:25, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

I don't know what printers you are concerned with, but have you investigated whether any open-source drivers have been produced for them, such as those bundled with the Linux kernel? Elizium23 (talk) 16:58, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

OP here. My specific interest is HP Photosmart D6160 printer. I expect it to respond to an early version of Printer Command Language but HP do not publish the whole USB protocol (printer type, ink levels, paper jam, align heads and test page commands) and cannot give me a driver for any version of Windows. DroneB (talk) 17:23, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

@DroneB: Which Windows version do you have. On the HP site [2] it has drivers for Vista, XP. For other versions, it says there is a built-in driver to use. RudolfRed (talk) 18:50, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

@RudolfRed: HP seems to have an impressive customer support for their enormous range of printers. But it turns out that neither they nor Microsoft can give a driver that works for my Photosmart D6160. I have tried both Vista and Windows 10 machines and followed advice from two HP employees at their HP Support Community forum. But the printer with its expensive inks is as useful as a boat anchor. DroneB (talk) 19:19, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

Does the self-test page print out OK ? SinisterLefty (talk) 19:33, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

@SinisterLefty:Probably yes. Tell me what command to send to the USB port and I'll print the page just for you. DroneB (talk) 09:55, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

You do the self-test by hitting some buttons on the panel directly. I can't find the directions for that model, but here they are for other models: [3]. I suggest trying the steps for the other "D" models, as those sound the closest to yours. SinisterLefty (talk) 12:39, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

@SinisterLefty:I think not. The User Guide p.24 procedure to print a sample page requires clicking on a working Printer Toolbox software. DroneB (talk) 16:28, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

Too bad. They seem unclear on the concept. The self-test is supposed to test the printer itself, and not involve the network, PC, driver, etc. Thus, if the self-test fails, there's no need to waste your time on the rest. SinisterLefty (talk) 18:31, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

Have you tried this page: [4] ? It contains a diagnostic tool and an update. SinisterLefty (talk) 12:54, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

Yes, tried without success. The updates are over 10 years old. DroneB (talk) 15:28, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

You claim it'll be an "early version" of PCL, but even PCL 6 was released 24 years ago! Pray tell, what is your ultimate goal with this expedition? Do you wish to return the printer to active service under a specific Windows machine? Have you attempted booting a LiveUSB or virtual machine of, say, Ubuntu Linux to see if it will print from there? Either with, or without, the Open-Source HPLIP package? If you could get it running via Linux, would that be "good enough" for your purposes, or do you require functionality within Windows? If you were able to snoop the USB traffic and decode it, would that be beneficial to you? Are you capable and willing to write a hardware driver such as this, from scratch? Is someone willing to pay you for your time on that? Will HP allow it, even? If you do write a driver, will you re-submit it to the Open Source community? Inquiring minds want to know... Elizium23 (talk) 16:29, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

@Elizium23: Your 9 Questions get a few answers. I glean from Printer Command Language that color Photosmart printers use PCL3c which is likely a subset of PCL5e that I have found documented. It is worth my effort to write code in my project to deliver printouts on the old printer rather than junking it. Low performance of high-level (C++) code on a Windows PC and only the few print functions that I actually need will both be acceptable. Snooping and decoding the USB traffic to a similar working HP printer would be helpful. I don't run Linux/Ubuntu but I see that HPLIP v. 1.6.7 may support my printer. DroneB (talk) 22:59, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

September 20

How does one record a podcast without hiss?

A difficult to phrase question and I do apologise. Whenever I record from my desktop, my laptop, my iPad, my phone, there is always a background hiss. I understand that it is possible to reduce the hiss using "noise reduction" (or whatever it is called) on Audacity/similar software. But, my question is, what hardware/software do people use to record their podcast/audio recordings without the hiss?

I know it is possible. Surely it is! Do I need a dedicated piece of hardware that exists beyond my computers? If so, what is that called? If you would be so kind, could you provide an example link? Thank you very, very much. Ohgoshidunno (talk) 11:39, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

It's possible the hiss isn't in the recording, but is due to poor speakers. Do you hear this hiss when playing the podcasts directly ? If so, you might try covering the speakers with some form of insulation, like a taped-down paper towel. This filters out high frequencies, including hiss, and lets the bass through, similar to the idea of a dead cat or dead kitten. SinisterLefty (talk) 12:28, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

I have listened to the recordings from speakers and high-quality headphones on a variety of different platforms. From what I've read, it's a natural product of having a sound card very close to everything else inside of a machine. A microphone attached to a computer's sound card will pick up everything inside of a computer, too. But I'm curious as to how a professional podcast (radio shows, too), can just produce things without as much natural background hiss. I'm wondering what hardware should I buy so I don't have to faff around with noise reduction software. I have also used pop-filters/windscreens without change. It's bloody annoying! Ohgoshidunno (talk) 13:12, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

You've mentioned quite a few details but seem to have missed what mic you are using. A quick search finds plenty of discussion of unknown reliability e.g. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]. Many of these seem to recommend a USB mic, so your sound card doesn't come in to it although I think you're still likely to get noise since the USB power is hardly a clean signal (among other things). An XLR microphone is another option, either combined with a USB device or a stand alone recorder although I believe the primary advantage here is if you want multiple mics, portable recording or other things which require it like a long wire although you can introduce a preamp which may have advantages e.g. [12]. [13].

BTW, a search for mic hiss e.g. [14] [15] finds a lot of discussion that seems relevant [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] (a podcast!) [23]. At least one of these mentions your mic isn't that important for background hiss, but I think this is more of a case of the difference between a $100 mic and a $500 mic is not much. Rather than 'you're fine using a $5 mic connected to your computer's 3.5" port'.

Anyway, from what I can tell, 2 key take aways from this seem to be that you should not expect there to be no hiss. Rather you want it to be low enough that it's almost irrelevant. I.E. you need your signal to noise to be excellent. You'd first want to start by reducing ensuring you record loud so move your mic as close as possible without introducing problems and ensure you speak at a decent volume. Then ensure the background noise (in the room) is as low as possible. Maybe you can't afford a soundproof studio, but see what you can do about fans etc.

BTW, while I'm sure professional recording setups for podcasts and the like have equipment and studios beyond anything you have and have low background noise, is there some reason to think they do not use noise reduction? As some of the discussions say, noise reduction actually works best when you have an already low (and of course constant) background noise.

My impression is that professional podcasts tend to also have high production values. They start off with good equipment and studios, but also spend a lot of time producing their work to get exactly what they want, with careful planning, multiple tries etc as needed and possible with what they're doing. (Someone doing an interview probably can't really do multiple takes except for a few mistakes etc.) And of course extensive post-production. They don't avoid noise reduction just because they don't want to "faff around with noise reduction software". See e.g. [24] Live radio and other live streams are more limited in what they can do, but still they set things up carefully beforehand with whatever hardware and software solutions available to them.

Nil Einne (talk) 14:35, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

Forgot [25] [26] Nil Einne (talk) 15:11, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

(ec with Nil Einne) A lot of podcasters (and youtuber and twitch streamers) use pretty decent USB microphones like the Rode NT-USB. People who need to record multiple sound sources concurrently, like interviews, or musical instruments, or who want other equipment in the signal chain, might instead use an analog microphone like a Marantz MPM1000 with an XLR connection (with other sources also connected via XLR or 1/4 inch mono patch cords) running into an external USB interface device like a Focusrite Scarlett. If you're using a analog microphone (and not a USB one) then most people intending to make content for others to listen to (something better than a Skype call to grandma) use an external ADC like the Focusrite, because the electronics and ADC in a consumer motherboard are cheap and don't produce great results. If you have to handle voices that vary a lot in volume over the course of a recording, adding dynamic range compression might help - that can be a physical compressor device in the signal chain, or processing in the software. With that done, and the microphone appropriately positioned, you have to worry that you're not recording noise. The biggest concerns are air conditioning and room fans (if you live somewhere hot) and the sound of the computer's own fan - so turning those off, and keeping the mic as far from the computer as you can will help. Lastly, some well placed acoustic foam tiles around your recording space will help improve the audio the microphone hears - they're mostly to kill reverberation (of your own voice) around the room, but they may also help to deaden any ambient hisses that are bouncing around. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 14:57, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

September 21

Access Question: Specifying Default Option for Field in Table

In Microsoft Access, if I am defining a table, using Design View, is there a way that I can specify a default value (either text or numeric) to be pre-filled for a new record in the table, which can be changed on entry? Robert McClenon (talk) 03:35, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

I believe so, yes. Hopefully this explains it: [27]. SinisterLefty (talk) 04:00, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

Thank you, User:SinisterLefty. Robert McClenon (talk) 04:03, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

Access Question: Increasing Size of a Join Key

I have an Access database on my PC. I have a table with a fishhook relationship. That is, a field links back around from the table to the table, so that I can define a hierarchy. I want to increase the width of the field that is the key, from 48 bytes to 60 bytes. But when I tried to increase the size of the field, I was told that this could not be done because the field was used as a join key. I would have expected this on trying to decrease the width, but not on increase. I was able to do what I was trying to do by deleting the relationship, and then increasing the width of the field in the two places, the one where it is the child and the one where it is the parent, and re-establishing the relationship. Is there a way that I could have increased the width without breaking the relationship and re-creating it? Robert McClenon (talk) 03:42, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

If the concern was that you couldn't take the table down for maintenance while you made this change, perhaps you could have created a new field, established this relationship, copied the data over to it, then deleted the old relationship and field, then rename the field and relationships. I prefer the way you did it, though. SinisterLefty (talk) 03:55, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

There wasn't an issue about keeping the database up for other users, User:SinisterLefty. It's a single-user database. Robert McClenon (talk) 04:05, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

In that case, the way you did it is exactly what I would recommend. Perhaps some future release will allow you do it in a single operation. SinisterLefty (talk) 08:10, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

Desktop monitors

Are they usually compatible with most makes of PC (and vice versa, I guess)? Specifically, a Medion tower? Any advice appreciated! ——SerialNumber54129 11:55, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

In my experience, a monitor's VGA (D-sub, 9-pin) connector is compatible with just about every PC (although not with all TVs, as some lack a VGA port). An HDMI connector is more iffy, especially if the monitor is also designed to be a TV. The TV/monitor I'm on right now causes the display to extend beyond the edges of the screen on all sides when using HDMI, at any resolution, but VGA is fine. I haven't used other types of connectors, so can't comment on those.

Speaking of screen resolution, regardless of the connector, some resolutions may not display on some monitors. This can cause a severe problem if the PC is set to that resolution initially. Then you must use another monitor, which can display that resolution, to change the resolution to one that will display on the new monitor, but you may not know which resolutions the new monitor will display, requiring a lot of switching back and forth with trial-and-error. Old CRT monitors also were picky about the refresh rate they could display, and maybe color depth, but newer monitors don't seem to care about those settings. Newer operating systems tend to have a time-out where if you attempt to change the screen resolution, and don't confirm within 15 seconds or so, it switches back to the old resolution. This can prevent a lot of hassle, in that this prevents changing to a resolution that won't display, which if course would make it quite difficult to change back.

If doing the trial-and-error, I suggest starting with old, moderately low resolutions, like 800×600 and 1200×1024. Those are more likely to work on all monitors than uncommon resolutions and those which push either the upper or lower limits. Once you are able to get a usable resolution, then you can try all the others to find the best one which works. Note that the highest resolution which works isn't always best, as it may not fit the screen as well, may be blurry, and the text may be too small to read. And just because a res works and looks good on VGA doesn't mean it will on HDMI, or vice-versa.

As for audio, some HDMI ports on PC and on TV/monitors support audio, some don't. It may be necessary to use a separate audio cable (usually light green). For VGA, this is always required. If you are plugged into an HDMI port on the PC which does output audio, that might disable the audio on the green cable.

Some comments on PCs with multiple output types:

• Usually you can only use one at a time. For example, if you have both VGA and HDMI plugged in, only one will work.

• A graphics card typically disables the onboard (motherboard) output type(s). For example, if you have a graphics card with a HDMI output only, and the onboard output is VGA only, then the VGA output will be disabled while the graphics card is in. Therefore, it may be necessary to open the case and pull out the graphics card to use the VGA connector. It may also be possible to disable the graphics card in the BIOS, but this option isn't always available and doesn't always work even when present. Pulling the graphics card will also typically reduce the graphics performance.

• A reboot may be required after switching between VGA and HDMI.

• Some TV/monitors are smart enough to automatically switch to whichever input is providing a usable signal, if only one, but many others require you to manually select the input using the remote control menu. SinisterLefty (talk) 12:32, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

The problem with TV and monitor connections using HDMI not showing the whole picture is known as overscan and is a relic of analogue TV which can generally be fixed as described in this CNET article [28] Egglz (talk) 14:20, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

To look up the "Medion tower" specs, I'd need the specific model number, but the ones I looked at both had VGA outputs and lacked HDMI. One also had composite video and S-Video. Of course, even if we found the specs for the stock device, it's always possible that a new graphics card was installed, adding HDMI capability. I'd just look at the connectors on the back panel to figure it out. So, you will need a monitor that at the very least has one of those connector types in common with the PC, and you will also need that type of cable. (Although it is possible to convert some types of signals to some others with an adapter.) SinisterLefty (talk) 16:48, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

Short answer: we need more data before we can say anything. Medion made a lot of different computers throughout the years. What type/build year are we talking about?

Also, SinisterLefty mentions VGA above but this is an old standard. Newer devices tend not to have these anymore. Converters exist but these are not good for image quality. Rmvandijk (talk) 12:39, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Here's a fairly recent Medion PC with a VGA connector (they refer to it as "D-sub" in the specs, which is technically one kind of VGA connector): [29]. It even has the old PS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse, but also has the (somewhat) newer stuff (8 USB ports, 1 TB hard drive, HDMI, DDR4 RAM, etc.) SinisterLefty (talk) 02:30, 25 September 2019 (UTC)

September 22

Google Chromium and Google Chrome

Are there two different inter-related Google products called Chrome, which is a web browser like Firefox or MS Edge or Opera, and something called Chromium, which appears to give me its own desktop view? It appears that sometimes when Windows cold-restarts, it launches something that displays an image of three artists (one Renaissance, two modern), and says that it didn't shut down cleanly. I want the regular Windows desktop. I don't want an improved desktop view. I think that it is confusing because two very similar names have been used. Robert McClenon (talk) 23:02, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

Chromium is the open source counterpart to Google Chrome. Chromium and Google Chrome are both web browsers, but while you can view Chromium's source code you can't do the same with Google Chrome's code. Most of Chrome's source code comes from Google's open-source Chromium project, but Chrome is licensed as proprietary freeware. I think that the stuff you describe is probably Windows 10's Spotlight feature which is enabled by default (but I may be wrong and I do not use Chromium or Chrome because fuck Google). Poveglia (talk) 23:41, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

September 23

Acid3 question

How does the Acid3 test know how the browser did on the test? Can it somehow "see" the rendered output as a visual image? JIP | Talk 07:56, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

Those are not images. They are HTML paragraph tags with some CSS applied to it which makes it look unusual. It uses Javascript to colour em in. I don't know if you know Javascript but if you do you can visit acid3.acidtests.org and look at the source code. Its a long script that tries to do a bunch of stuff that should not work and a bunch of stuff that should work and displays the result to the user. Poveglia (talk) 08:21, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

Here, an example in CSS (you can look at the source to see how I did it):

Pizza

Poveglia (talk) 08:33, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

The person who wrote it is at least 7 times smarter than I am.

assertEquals(r.toString(), "Hello Wonderful KittyHow are you?", "toString() on range selecting Document gave wrong output");

Poveglia (talk) 08:51, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

September 24

more trouble with Windows 10 v. 1903 build 18362.356

Nothing happens when I click on any of the apps accessible from the Windows key. Anything I can do about it? --Halcatalyst (talk) 03:25, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

September 25

Auto-rotate.

Does the auto-rotate feature (on Android smartphones) consume alot of energy?Ajax-x86 (talk) 03:52, 25 September 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ajax-x86 (talk • contribs) 03:50, 25 September 2019 (UTC)