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January 6

Japanese Input in Internet Explorer 6 screwed up

Hi, I was just trying to fix our renter's computer, they are Japanese, and they use Windows IME to input Japanese text into the computer. It works well in Office and most other applications, but when entering text into forms in such places as Wikipedia and Hotmail, the text is inputted wrong. For instance, when they try to type "na" in Hiragana, it shows up as "nn(hiragana character)a". Outlook works perfectly, it's only in Internet Explorer. Can anyone help with this?

76.224.121.58 (talk) 01:36, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried Firefox? Think outside the box 11:00, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Ordered files

Let's say I have 10 numbered files, e.g., 01, 02, ... in Microsoft Windows.

I can select them all and drop them in a program that handles these files (e.g., word processor, media player ...). Chances are, when I drag and drop the numbered files into a program, the program may not properly open each file in order. For example, I have a merger program that allows me to combine text files into a large text file (e.g., Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 ...). However, inability to properly order files makes the program much less useful.

I think Windows shall be the culprit. How do I solve this problem? -- Toytoy (talk) 01:55, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

The GUI is the culprit. How does it know that the order of the files is important? You need to work from the command prompt where you can explicitly give an order to the files. I'd suggest writing a batch file to handle it. Then you can drag-drop the files into the batch file and it will order them and send them to the merging program. -- kainaw™ 02:05, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

I think it first passes in the file the mouse was actually pressed down on, then does the rest in order by however you have them sorted in the explorer view (at least for Vista). Some programs like winamp will correct for this, but most won't. --f f r o t h 04:12, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Start the drag operation by clicking and holding down on the first item of your selection. --Bavi H (talk) 01:13, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

WEB SCANNER /ANTI- VIRUS SOFTWARES

I am having net connection with 1GB limit. MY ANTI-VIRUS WEB SCANNER IS USING around 75% of it. I want to know how to control the web uses by the anti virus. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.192.1.200 (talk) 03:39, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

You could get another anti-virus software, for a start. Something is not working right with it if it is downloading over 700 MB of bandwidth a month. What software are you using? --Fastfission (talk) 04:06, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

uml(unified modeling language)

please help me on topic:

"generating test cases using use cases and tracing requirements." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tanyakapoor (talk • contribs) 11:19, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

You might want to take a look at Model-based testing. Taemyr (talk) 21:04, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Random alterations

Can alterations to wikipages (and other pages on the web) occur by virtue of machine error or quarks or something hitting the hardware? - CarbonLifeForm (talk) —Preceding question was added at 12:29, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't know. Error detection and correction should take care of most of it, as far as I can say. Kushal^t 12:47, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

CD, recordable status ?

Using multiple CD-RW, they all seem to have become "format failed".

I was informed, by a friend; it's because of the SCRATCHES, on the bottom.

Nothing 'deadly', just nics from normal use. Is thissufficient to make them only good as 'coasters'? Abi12 (talk) 15:14, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

It might be. You can trying using the "erase" feature that most CD burning software has. That might fix the formatting of the CD. Equazcion •✗/C • 15:25, 6 Jan 2008 (UTC)

Also try doing a flash upgrade on your hardware, that solved my problem. I was getting a format failure with most of my disks before doing that. Be careful though, use only the software that is written for your exact model. Sandman30s (talk) 19:39, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Compressed SVG readable and displayable by browser?

Can a compressed SVG be read and displayed by most browsers? If not, what browsers can do this? If none, why? Could the time taken to decompress out-weigh the downloading time saved? --Seans Potato Business 19:21, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

If I remember correctly, Mozilla Firefox 1.5.x.x did not display the compressed SVG. I used Inkscape does that for that, however. Kushal^t 19:48, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

But Firefox, IE, Opera, Safari can all do it now? What about the issue of de-compression time versus download time? ----Seans Potato Business 20:13, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't think any browsers support compressed SVGs. Some browsers (and by that I mean IE) don't support the SVG format at all, and the ones that do offer limited support (although they should be able to display most SVGs correctly). For more info, you can refer to the article on SVGs, particularly the section on SVG browser support. 208.181.90.67 (talk) 23:01, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Why do Microsoft lay themselves open to such criticism? How is it in their interest to slow down uptake of SVG? ----Seans Potato Business 23:54, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Microsoft has become a VERY huge corporation and it has a lot of bureaucratic layers. The project managers probably need to report to non technical people who want to see work going to place where there is the most money in the short term. Kushal^t 05:56, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

They didn't invent it, they don't control it, they can't make money from it, they don't think it's that important, and the criticism is likely to come from niche corners that they don't care about anyway. Until vast numbers of users, or significant numbers of very large and influential websites, start clamoring for it, I doubt they'll lift a finger. Bitmap graphics ought to be good enough for everybody. —Steve Summit (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 01:31, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

SVG right now IS kind of pointless. The browser (Firefox) can't do scaling, and renders it to a bitmap (at 96 dpi) before printing, so it comes out exactly the same as a bitmap on both screen and print (Javascript + SVG though, is quite interesting). --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:52, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

(Don't get me wrong; I love the idea of vector graphics. As it happens, SVG is pretty far from my favorite implementation, but I certainly wouldn't mind if it had more traction. —Steve Summit (talk) 06:45, 7 January 2008 (UTC))

It does save a few dollars for big websites like Wikipedia in terms of Internet use. However, I have to agree with Antilived. Kushal^t 05:59, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually all my SVG used in my last project were bigger than their png equivalent (yes I've used the plain SVG output in Inkscape). --antilived^{T | C | G} 06:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Isn't the PNG supposed to be smaller? isn't the svg supposed to be smaller than a thousand different renderings of PNG and not any one version? Kushal^t 21:30, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

put star chart on mac desktop

Is there a free program for mac that puts a live star chart on to an animated desktop?81.150.247.152 (talk) 20:25, 6 January 2008 (UTC) It's tiger, running on an intel.81.150.247.152 (talk) 21:20, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Windows XP moving shortcut icons

I am using Windows XP on a computer with two graphics cards and two monitors, and the Windows desktop extended onto the second monitor which is directly above the first (main) monitor with the start button, taskbar etc. I like to keep some icons on the second (higher) monitor so I move them there. Now comes the problem:

The system has two "user accounts" of which mine is one (I am an Administrator if that makes any difference). When I log out and log in again all the icons from screen no. 2 have been moved back to screen no. 1. The Windows login screen only uses one screen (the lower "main" monitor).

Any ideas how I can make my icons stay put?

-=# Amos E Wolfe ^talk #=- 20:48, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Did you let Windows to auto-arrange the icons? Right click on the desktop and there should be some options on this (can't tell you exactly the steps, I'm a Linux convert). --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:49, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Adding RAM to Laptops?

Is there a diagram anywhere that shows how to insert additional RAM to Laptops? --Obsolete.fax (talk) 21:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

It depends on the laptop model. Even different models by the same company can be different. And see my note below about RAM compatibility—you want to be 100% sure you are putting the right kind of RAM in, or else all hell can break loose. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 21:16, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, the manual should cover this. Typically you might remove the battery and/or some other covering, and there will be some number of slots underneath. Friday (talk) 21:18, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Heres a pic Think outside the box 10:53, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

And a video guide Think outside the box 10:55, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Adding RAM from 2001 PC

I removed the 256 RAM from my 2001 old PC, to put in my 2006 PC. The RAM doesn't fit in the slots. The length is same though? Does anyone know why this is? --Obsolete.fax (talk) 21:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Different motherboards use different types of RAM. You can't just swap them from machine to machine if they aren't exactly the same type of RAM. The Memory Advisor Tool at Crucial.com is very good for figuring out what types of RAM are compatible with different systems. Needless to say, if the RAM doesn't fit into the slot, it isn't compatible. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 21:18, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

It's most likely a stick of SDRAM, which is incompatible with today's DDR2. --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:41, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, if the old RAM is from 2001, it's probably PC-133 as opposed to your newer computer which probably uses PC-3200 or PC-4200. If you want to buy some more RAM and aren't sure which to get, take one of the sticks out of the machine, take it to Circuit City and ask what kind it is. Then go to tigerdirect.com or newegg.com and buy it cheaper there. Useight (talk) 05:54, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Wireless adapter

I connect to the internet using this thing which I plug into my usb port. It looks like a flash drive. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make it go faster? I'm wondering if its overheating cause when i put my hand on it its really hot. Lately its been very slow. When I right click on the wireless computer icon in the system tray and click repair, after its done repairing it temporarily speeds up for about 30 seconds then slows down again. Whenever I'm playing a game I get lag. I dont know if its because my adapter is really low quality or if the place im connecting to is. I brought mine for $7.99 but I see lots of $40 and $60 ones. Will buying a higher quality adapter fix my problem? Or do I have to buy my internet from now on? The one I currently have is this one: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0243527 If buying a more expensive one will help then I'll buy a new one but I dont want to waste my money if it wont do much. If anyone has any help I appreatiate it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.187.104.71 (talk) 23:53, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

That is a Trendnet; I have used other products from them and found them reliable. The heat is worrisome; I had a Linksys USB-Bluetooth device at home overheat badly and fail not so long ago. Any electronic device that overheats is going to go into some sort of failure mode. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:38, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

The product reviews on newegg.com seem to indicate that the driver it ships with on the CD are bad and that you should update the new one from their website. You might give that a try. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 00:53, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for telling me theres a new driver. But I downloaded the driver and when I unziped it I saw something called setup so I clicked it and it uninstalled my current driver and did nothing else. So I ran it again and this time it says it installed new drivers but when i plug my adapter back in it says "found new hardware". So then I decided to install the old one back with the cd when I realized you can like choose a specific location so I clicked that and i clicked next and it installed it again. So then I opened up internet explorer and I didn't notice it go any faster. I went back to the trendnet download site and I notice the file was added on 10/6/07 and I brought mine later than that. So I looked at which version and the site says v3.1 and my cd says version 3.2. What confuses me is how the customer reviews were posted on 1/4/07 and 1/2/07. Did I accidentally download the wrong thing? Or did they name it so that it gets smaller, like 3.1 actually better than 3.2? If it isn't is using old drivers harmful to me and should I uninstall my current drivers and put the cd back in?75.187.104.71 (talk) 00:28, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

January 7

windows mouse

my mouse clicks really loud, how can i remap scroll wheel up/down to left/right click? thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.18 (talk) 02:36, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

nm found answer (autohotkey) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.18 (talk) 04:09, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Printer button lock

I have a cat who insists on pushing the buttons on top of our printer, causing it to print a test page. Is there a way to lock the keys? The printer is a HP Laserjet 1320 PCL 6. Thanks --Omnipotence407 (talk) 02:51, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, the cheesy solution is to epoxy a hinged cover (plexiglass or similar) to the printer (a.k.a. a wikt:molly-guard). Hopefully your cat won't regard the cover as an interesting new toy. You can look up your printer model on http://www.hp.com/, and look through the resources there. You may just have to spend some time on the phone with HP support, though. --Phirazo 05:29, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Addendum - or you could leave the printer off when you're not using it, or only load it with paper when you're not using it. --Phirazo 05:46, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

make sure you load it with paper when you are using it. ;P Dureo (talk) 10:32, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh yeah, whoops. I wrote that late at night, my brain wasn't entirely on. --Phirazo 17:52, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps tape a thumb tack facing up next to the button? --Sean 12:58, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Sean, that is cruel! Cats are sacred. --Ouro (blah blah) 13:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

I have five of them, so I come by my cruelty honestly. --Sean 17:44, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

How to unzip downloaded file RaWrite2

I moved the following question from the help desk to here. [1] Zenwhat (talk) 03:18, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

---

I am attempting to load a copy of Ubuntu 6.1 onto a Hard Drive that currently has only DOS 6.22 on the Drive. The BIOS does not load from the CD Drive.

I have downloaded RaWrite2 to a 3 1/2 floppy on a different computer. How do I unzip the RaWrite file?

I have not seen an answer to this question in the FAQ section. Have I asked this question in the correct forum? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eaevansu (talk • contribs)

I don't see how RaWrite is relevant to installing Ubuntu, what are you trying to achieve with RaWrite? For the unzipping just use 7zip (free) or Winrar on the other machine (shareware) to extract it. If you want to install Ubuntu but unable to boot from CD in the BIOS, you can try this (do the Debian one, Ubuntu is based on Debian), or ask around on the forums. --antilived^{T | C | G} 06:20, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

It might be easier to just download the uncompressed executable. -- Diletante (talk) 17:15, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

You're meant to use the RaWrite program to write the raw "disc images" to blank floppies. --Kjoonlee 18:42, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

How many people read Wikipedia?

--203.78.9.149 (talk) 06:04, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Alexa says just over 8% of the people on the internet access Wikipedia. --antilived^{T | C | G} 06:11, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

You may be interested in Wikipedia:Statistics, which has all sorts of traffic and article statistics. --Phirazo 18:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Help .... eBay

On eBay, if someone puts up several items in one auction, how can you buy just one of those items? 138.217.145.45 (talk) 06:56, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Contact the seller and see if they will sell the items separately, otherwise, you'll probably have to buy them all if the seller lists them that way. Dureo (talk) 10:20, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Comcast DVR

I plan on turning off my Comcast service to my existing house as I am getting ready to tear it down and rebuild it, I have already turned off the other utilities, but I have some more episodes on the DVR to watch and I was wondering if I just take the box to the house I am staying in, will it work if i just plug the av hookups to the tv there? or does it need to be attached to the coax. I personally have no idea, so maybe someone here knows. Dureo (talk) 10:30, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

While I never tested this (and have since switched to Tivo, so I can't test it now), a quick way to find out is to disconnect the input from the DVR, then cycle the power on the DVR. — Lomn 14:30, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Make sure you own the DVR.. comcast leases my parents a DVR free as long as they keep paying the multiple-tuners fee, but we don't own it --f f r o t h 00:33, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay, hope someone sees this, I don't own it and plan on turning it in, just need about 2 weeks to finish up the shows that are on it, I cannot test it at the house there, as the electricity is already off :( kinda did the shut off backwards, I didn't want to go get it, and bring it here unless it would work(I live in a very urban area, and I am staying 30 miles from my house, and the turn in center is 35 miles from both sides[trianglish]) I'll just grab it and test it tomorrow. Dureo (talk) 09:52, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

If it is a Comcast Cable Box/DVR Combo, It will probably only work for the location (e.g. Residence) it is set up to work in. The best thing to do is call Comcast and tell them that you are moving and bringing your cable box with you, they will arrange to install service at you temporary place. --Christopher Kraus (talk) 16:55, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Cool toad

Hi, Can anyone give me some information about the email provider cool toad - are they reputable?

Thanks, --124.181.141.227 (talk) 11:34, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Freaky mobile phone/pc question

Short and sweet: I'm sure we've all heard on this or another occasion that an amplified speaker can produce strange sounds when a mobile phone is near it and somebody is calling, picking up the signal. So, should this mobile phone be lying near a PC, could such signals (is this properly termed a carrier signal?) cause the PC to hang? Ideas welcome. Have a nice day now. Cheers, Ouro (blah blah) 13:12, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

I can't back this up but my answer is absolutely not. Equazcion •✗/C • 13:44, 7 Jan 2008 (UTC)

In theory, your PC (at least if built by a major company) was tested for electromagnetic compatibility as part of the process of gaining regulatory certification (by a conformance testing house such as TUV, UL, etc.) and this testing explicitly includes testing for susceptibility to interference by mobile phones ("radiated immunity"). But the test only assumes a certain minimum distance between the PC and the phone and a certain configuration of the PC. If the phone is closer than expected or you've added additional gadgets to the PC (via, say the USB port), you might create a configuration that is susceptible to interference.

Atlant (talk) 15:03, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

My PC (as all my previous machines) is custom built by myself, kept with open case, basing on an old IBM machine (you can have a glance, I have a photo on my user page). The mobile phone usually lies 1 m (3 feet) away, tops. Thanks. --Ouro (blah blah) 15:06, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

That may explain it. One of the things you've given up by going home-built is all the effort that goes into making sure a factory-built PC won't crash because of your mobile.

Atlant (talk) 15:09, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't believe PCs built over here are given all that effort though --Ouro (blah blah) 15:14, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

The PC itself doesn't matter. Its individual components would've been tested (motherboard, power supply, etc) for EM interference, as would your mobile phone. 3 feet is plenty. I've never heard of EM interference from electronic devices causing any malfunction of computer hardware in the 15 years I've been involved in PC tech. If your PC locked up, it was not because of your mobile phone. Equazcion •✗/C • 15:11, 7 Jan 2008 (UTC)

Ah, thanks, Equazcion. --Ouro (blah blah) 15:20, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

It is the PC "as a whole" that is certified, although EMC was considered with every component and sub-assembly that was designed.

Atlant (talk) 16:36, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

• All PC cases must be FCC class B certified for home use, class A certified for office use in US. The components inside does not matter. If you use a class B case, your PC is class B certified. NYCDA (talk) 16:44, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

If you believe that what goes inside doesn't matter, you've obviously never had to design or certify any of this stuff; I have. In fact, the guy from TUV just spent several days in my lab with his three big racks full of certification equipment and his huge Yagi antenna.

Atlant (talk) 22:57, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Sound like an FCCin nightmare!--TreeSmiler (talk) 02:13, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Motorola KRZR

I have a Motorola KRZR (the 1st edition, I guess), and when I delete .mp3 ringtones from my Sound file on the phone, it still leaves the ringtone on the list when I am searching for a specific ringtone to add to a contact. Also, only a few of the ringtones I actually have on my phone are showing up in said list. Is there a way to reset all ringtones, including clearing this list? The Master Reset selection didn't do this. EWHS (talk) 14:14, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Edit: KRZR is model K1m EWHS (talk) 14:17, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Small confusion

Is Google Earth the same as the satellite imagery on Google maps or Maps generally? Or is there a difference (Ignoring one is a programme and the other isn't as such)? Simply south (talk) 15:14, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

They use the same Imagery from Digital Globe & Terrametrics. --Obsolete.fax (talk) 16:23, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

However, there are places where you can zoom in to see more detail in Earth than you're allowed in Maps. jeffjon (talk) 18:20, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Do you have any examples? —Steve Summit (talk) 22:53, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Imposition/Pagination in DTP software

Hello. I have a 130,000 word document in Word which I want to resize to A5 and print out double-sided on a normal printer preparatory to cutting the pages in half and wire-binding. This requires a level of imposition that Word doesn't seem able to cope with, as I need to reorder the pages 1,4,3,2 in a landscape format...

I have access to all the DTP software a man could want, Quark, Illustrator, Acrobat, but I can't find the answer... any ideas?

Thanks 80.229.160.127 (talk) 18:41, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Try searching on The Word MVP Site. There some commercial applications such as Clickbook and Fineprint that will automate the process. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:16, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Reinstall Kubuntu from CD without reformatting

My laptop can't currently get past GRUB stage 2 when booting from the hard drive. Its Kubuntu 7.10 installation previously worked just fine. Although I could fsck the hard drive when booting from CD (didn't help), the installation CD said it couldn't install to the partition I'd been using (which was ext3) without reformatting it first. How can I repair or redo the installation from a CD without reformatting or repartitioning the drive? (I can burn a different CD if necessary.) NeonMerlin 19:09, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

I would use Knoppix to boot into Linux, mount the drive, backup whatever files you need, then fdisk/format/reinstall. It appears that there is something wrong with the drive - though it is possible that it is only a bad config of some sort. If it is a bad drive, you'll be wasting days and days trying to get it to work and end up losing your data. -- kainaw™ 19:49, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

I should have pointed out that Knoppix may also be used to poke around the Kubuntu drive and see if anything looks bad that you can fix. -- kainaw™ 19:51, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

computer help

Hello I've been having computer problems for quite sometime. I am a middle-aged woman with no computer experience who acquired a new notebook approx 1yr ago. I purchased a wireless router, antivirus software and used i-tunes because I didn't want a virus with the music I downloaded...but about 3 months into my computer usage my problems began and all the reformatting in the world hasn't "cleaned" my computer to this day. As a matter of fact, several modems and even routers later, and something connectionwise appears to be an issue...if this is even possible, or just in my head. I can't quite search for information because my search answers are "tainted"...I get the run-a-round. My boyfriend has no idea what I'm talking about, and everyone swears a computer is fine once you have reformatted and reinstalled Windows...? So If you agree, fine. But if you have any idea about what could be an area for me to check out, I would greatly appreciate it. Like, someone on-line I can connect to who can see my computer and look around for things and recognize them as viruses, or a bad registry issue. Yes, I have discussed this with HP, but there is a language barrier problem. So, if you have any reccommendations of areas for me to search next, please let me know. Thankyou. Christine redington (talk) 20:18, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

The main problem with helping is that I cannot tell what the problem is. The only issue you mention is "something connectionwise". What? It doesn't connect? Data connection is slow? Blue smoke comes out the back and it makes a hissing noise? -- kainaw™ 20:21, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Christine, before we can help we do need to know what the problem is. Answer these questions for us: What are you trying to do? And what happens when you try to do it? Equazcion •✗/C • 20:24, 7 Jan 2008 (UTC)

Equazcion, I believe this is a problem of Cross-site scripting. Do you think it is recommendable to ask Christine to migrate to Mozilla Firefox? I am pretty sure she can do it because she installed iTunes, right? I inferred this from the "tainted" search results [most probably Google search results] she is getting. What do you think?

Christine, please remember to make sure that you back up 'everything important before you wipe your hard disk clean, if you decide to do that. I really hope you don't have to do it. Kushal^t 00:38, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

computer help

I'm sorry for rambling. What is a sub-system? and is this anything a generic laptop user like me would have to deal with?Christine redington (talk) 20:45, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

"sub-system" can mean many different things. Please, start from the beginning. What are you trying to do? Let's start with that. Equazcion •✗/C • 20:48, 7 Jan 2008 (UTC)

Generically, it just means some part of a system. I'm not aware of any more specific meaning that should be important to you. Obviously your internet works well enough for you to use Wikipedia, so what exactly is the problem you're having? The questions asked above are good ones. And yes- completely wiping and reinstalling your operating system should reset your computer to a healthy state, barring an actual hardware problem. Friday (talk) 20:50, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Backing up iTunes on an external hard drive.

I have iTunes 7.5 and I'm getting an external hard drive shortly (because my Macbook's hard drive died recently - definitely need to back things up from now on) and I was wondering how I would go about backing up my music (as well as information such as ratings, playcounts etc) onto the hard drive. I have looked at various websites but they either talk about playing the music directly from the hard drive - I just want to back it up, I'll still keep my music on my Macbook or talk about copying the "iTunes music" folder. My music is not situated there - I just have it in the "Music" folder. Would I have to move it to the" iTunes music" folder or can I keep it where it is? Help is appreciated! -- Stacey _{talk to me} 21:16, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

If you're just backing it up, just copy the whole Music folder a to the hard drive. If you wanted to restore from the backup, you'd just copy it back in place. Inside that folder is everything iTunes needs to find your music again. The "iTunes library" file (in the Music folder) is the one that tells iTunes where all your music is and what ratings they have, I believe. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 00:50, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

That's right, I've done this a few times, transferring iTunes music collections between computers and whatnot. It's surprisingly simple. Just copy the iTunes library folder, and paste it onto the external drive. To restore the back copy and paste it back to the same location -- pretty much what the previous user described. Equazcion •✗/C • 06:39, 8 Jan 2008 (UTC)

Okay cool, thank you :) -- Stacey _{talk to me} 19:28, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Webcam help

I have a webcam, Microsoft XV3000 (external, see the link below), and I was wondering if there was any way to save the file being recorded without pressing the stop/save button. I've come to the conclusion, by typing shutdown -s -t 10 into the run prompt, that the software (LifeCam) does not save by termination. Can anyone help me? PS. I've got to turn the computer off with the -s -t 1000, because I want to monitor my cat's attempts to get out after I've turned in for the night. PPS. I've read <90% of the virtual help. Thanks bunches!!!!! Yamakiri^→Г_C← 01-7-2008 • 21:22:22

Ipod File Format Question

I want to buy an Ipod and am just double checking what I found in an article here on Wikipedia, to make sure my files will play. My files are all in MPEG or AAC formats; a sixth generation Ipod classic with play both of these, yes? The Ipod article says so but an Ipod is too expensive for me without getting confirmation it'll work. Thanks! DoomsDay349 23:43, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

It will when you install Rockbox on it, which you will because:

• Itunes music store is pretty terrible and covered in millions of gallons of black, sticky DRM, and the sync features are messy, and itunes is the most bloated, disgusting media player ever created and should never touch a windows machine since the windows version is written so badly
• The built-in ipod firmware is ugly and counterintuitive, and doesn't support open codecs/containers like Vorbis/ogg and FLAC.
• You can play DOOM and chess and game boy games with rockbox

But on its own, yes, the ipod firmware will play aac in mpeg4, as well as MP3 --f f r o t h 00:29, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

sadly your classic won't work with Rockbox at the moment, have a look at the Rockbox homepage [2]. If you run linux you can use gtkpod instead of itunes, but you're stuck with the ipod firmware (which I don't think is that bad in terms of useability) 163.1.148.158 (talk) 00:36, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

The answer is YES your iPod should play those file types just fine. I think you can ignore all of the above; it doesn't really try to directly answer your question at all and is pretty much the opinion of one dedicated anti-Apple user. (froth—the question was direct enough, why complicate it with your own concerns? that's not really helpful. who cares if you don't like the interface? did anybody ask about iTunes? DOOM and chess? wtf?) --24.147.86.187 (talk) 00:55, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Indeed. For an opposing viewpoint (though at risk of starting a debate which the RD's are allegedly not for): I love my iPod, and its interface is among the most beautifully intuitive I've ever used. Simple, consistent, yet fully functional. Nor has ITMS's minimal DRM ever gotten in my way.

(However, I had never heard of Rockbox and am intrigued to learn of it, so thanks for the tip.) —Steve Summit (talk) 01:33, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

January 8

HTML table formatting

I'm working on a template I intend to use on a DVD review website. I've got the general layout figured out, but I am trouble with two embedded tables (which contain information pertaining to the audio and video tracks found on the disc). The HTML code for the page can be found on my sandbox. It doesn't display well on Wikipedia, but if you copy and past it into a standard word document, it should work. I set the main table's width too 1000, but I would like to discard absolute values and start using percentages. My question here is as follows: how can I make the small 'audio' and 'video' tables fit the whole cell they've been placed inside? Furthermore, is there a way for me to force the separation of the first and second colums to occur exactly at the middle of the cell? This would mean that, for instance, we'd have 'Length', a vertical line at the middle of the cell and then '0:23:10'. Finally, what is the width of the Wikipedia toolbar? -- Ishikawa Minoru (talk) 00:47, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I edited the Length one for you on the sub-page to show you how to do it—it's easy to do with percentages. Add "width=100%" to the sub-table (to make it expand as far as it can within its cell), then "width=50%" to each of the TDs that you want to be 50%/50% (it'll try to make each column take up exactly half of the total space). --24.147.86.187 (talk) 00:59, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the help. -- Ishikawa Minoru (talk) 01:24, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Psp video 9?

I have downloaded the newest versian of psp video 9.. ..and at the begining when it asks what "firmware" you have , and it gives you a list. My psp is 3.71 but I could'nt find it there. What should I do? (Superawesomgoat (talk) 02:45, 8 January 2008 (UTC))

please... .. .HELP!!!... . ..uh thanks for ur time. (Superawesomgoat (talk) 00:11, 9 January 2008 (UTC))

HD DVD or blue-ray?

Which has better audio and a better resolution? blu-ray or hd? (Superawesomgoat (talk) 02:50, 8 January 2008 (UTC))

See Comparison of high definition optical disc formats. I believe the short answer is that Blu-ray has a bit of a technical advantage in a couple areas. Friday (talk) 03:29, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

You still might want to get blu-ray since Warner Bros. has just agreed to make all their movies blu-ray and not HD DVD.--Dlo2012 (talk) 14:28, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

@HELLO first unstill that new version it sucks!! get the older version at download.com it's better.

Playing Wii on a laptop screen

Hi,

After researching for quite a while about how to play my Wii on my laptop computer screen, it seems I have to use a USB device as I haven't got any inputs I can use (I could also use an ExpressCard but it seems there aren't really many)

So could anyone recommend me a USB card that would allow me to play with minimum lag (and reasonably good image quality) ?

The device I've seen most is the Adaptec Gamebridge but the lag seems to be quite present (quite a few people complaining).

Thanks a lot. -- Xedi (talk) 03:39, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I'm afraid lag is going to be an everpresent problem. To play a composite signal on a laptop (or any computer screen) you have to digitize the image and sound, push it across the bus, then display it to the screen. This takes time, which you see as lag. To avoid the lag, you need to talk directly to the monitor without any processing inbetween, and that's pretty much impossible. The Gamebridge is about as close as you're going to get. :( --Mdwyer (talk) 18:10, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Ok, thanks. I'll give the Gamebridge a try, as it only is about £10 around here. -- Xedi (talk) 19:04, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I've got the Gamebridge, although I just use it to watch TV on my laptop. If another regular TV is on nearby, you can hear the lag as an echo between the sounds each one is outputting. The lag is only about half a second long, if it's even that much, but for games I can see it getting in the way. Equazcion •✗/C • 11:50, 9 Jan 2008 (UTC)

I think you can get around the lag if you are willing to take both your laptop and Wii apart. See this link [3] for someone who did this to an Xbox. Taemyr (talk) 12:20, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

"Any-of-these-tables" foreign key

What database systems, if any, allow a foreign key where the referenced table can be any of several (which may have differences in structure)? NeonMerlin 06:33, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

AFAIK any true RDBMS should support this, Oracle certainly does - as long as all the child tables have matching primary keys to the parent foreign key, I don't think there is a limit. The rest of each child table's structure will differ. The question is, have you found one that doesn't? Sandman30s (talk) 09:07, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

The way I read the question, no popular database systems support this. It appears that the user wants to a have a column that is a foreign key pulled from one of a large set of tables. For example, you have a table of cars with a unique model number, a table of highways with a unique name, and a table of workers with a unique employee number. The user wants a fourth table that has a column that could hold a car's model number, a highway name, or a worker's employee number as a foreign key. A foreign key cannot be mixed like that. There may be a strange database system that supports it, but not anything I've worked with. -- kainaw™ 13:24, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

In principle, there's nothing stopping you from doing this; the only problem is that you won't be able to set up proper foreign key constraints to enforce referential integrity. The most common situation tempting one to do something like this seems to be when one would like to have a log of changes made to other tables, which naturally suggests a table containing something like the columns "log message", "timestamp", "type of change", "changed table" and "id in changed table". I think the preferred solution in such a situation would be to set up separate log tables for each target table and then make the combined log a union view of the subtables. If your RDBMS is smart enough, you might even be able to make the view updatable. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 14:45, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

sqlite gui.

I'd like to present a sqlite database like a spreadsheet, with colors, as you can in excel. what's the easiest way to do this (I'd hate to have to reinvent the wheel).

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.1 (talk) 10:04, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Excel help required

Hi

In MS Excel I want to select all cells that have a particular value. I'm sure this must be really straightforward but I can't work it out from the help file.

Thanks a lot --195.167.178.194 (talk) 12:39, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

If you are looking to change the values in these cells you can use Ctrl-H to replace and Excel will search the document for you. Or, CTRL-F and then enter your value and hit Find All. You can then Ctrl left click all the cells you need. Lanfear's Bane | t 13:12, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

(ec) I think you would need a macro to do this:

Sub SelectByValue()

   Const VALUE_TO_FIND = "test" ' <<< set this to the value you want to find

   Dim ValueCells As Range, c As Range
   For Each c In ActiveSheet.UsedRange
       If Not IsError(c.Value) Then
           If c.Value = VALUE_TO_FIND Then
               If ValueCells Is Nothing Then
                   Set ValueCells = c
               Else
                   Set ValueCells = Application.Union(ValueCells, c)
               End If
           End If
       End If
   Next
   
   If ValueCells Is Nothing Then
       MsgBox "Value not found"
   Else
       ValueCells.Select
   End If
End Sub

AndrewWTaylor (talk) 13:14, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

IC recorder

Two questions. First, what does the "IC" in IC recorder stand for. This is a machine which I would refer to as a digital voice recorder, though it is marketed by sony, olympus, and panasonic as an "IC recorder". Second, is there a way to convert or listen to .msv (memory stick voice, a proprietary sony format) files on a macintosh. I realize that these files can be converted to .wav using PC software, but I don't have a PC with which to convert. Thanks! Tuckerekcut (talk) 18:14, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

The only thing I can think of for IC is Integrated Circuit, but that seems rather dated. For the conversion, maybe Switch? I don't have any experience with it, but it came up first in a search. --LarryMac | Talk 18:24, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I have tried Switch, it tells me that it can't convert from .msv (though it does recognize it as a file, unlike other programs I've tried). It also prompts for me to download a plugin from a website it gives to play the file. Unfortunately the given website has a plugin which is only readable by the windows version of the switch program. Tuckerekcut (talk) 18:41, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Argh, sorry 'bout that. Further digging does seem to indicate the msv functionality is Windows only. There was another program I saw called SoundConverter, but I've gotten conflicting indications on its support of msv. I suppose running Windows under Bootcamp or Parallels is out of the question? --LarryMac | Talk 18:53, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I also tried soundconverter (I apologize for not recounting my efforts thus far, it might have saved you the effort of finding them again). It's something I need to do often enough that I would need to be able to do it in OSX, so boot camp is not likely to work. It seems that I will have to choose between buying a Mac-compatible recorder, or parallels. In any case, thanks much for your quick responses, LarryMac.Tuckerekcut (talk) 19:15, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Just as a note: if you do get totally stuck with needing to do it in Windows, a virtualizer (like Parallels) will let you run Windows without exiting OS X. I have a friend who had to get it for just such a thing, because some lousy proprietary sound format required a Windows-only player. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 23:16, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I got a Disk Error?

help, there seems to be a problem with my computer. I first noticed this a few weeks ago. Some of my music files just simply won't play. They are also separated from the others (see screenshot). When I try to edit their properties tags, it gives me a "A disk error occured during a write process". All of the highlighted items are like that, but some of them like "Dream Theater - Never Enough" can actually be played - I just can't edit tags.

So I thought "could it be I have a damaged hard disk?" So i did a disk error-check, but I fell asleep before it finishes. When I woke up, Windows is already on the welcome page, I think that means I don't have any errors, right?

Here is a screenshot: http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/1858/somethingwrongva9.png What could be the problem? Aurora sword (talk) 21:13, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

The image resolution of your screenshot is far to low. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 21:18, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, forgot to turn off auto resize. Here it is http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2/somethingwrongla9.png Aurora sword (talk) 21:23, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

This is only supposed to happen when you copy a music file from one computer to another. There is copy protection on the file. When you copy it, the file will move, but it will not play. -- kainaw™ 21:38, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

You can DRM mp3s?? --f f r o t h 21:42, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I did download all of them from either Frostwire or Limewire. But they worked fine before. For example I've had that Bob Dylan song since 2006. This thing just happened recently, but it also effect the new files, like those Nightwish songs which I just downloaded 3 days ago. I think this started happening when I started to compile a music library. I bought a Creative ZEN V Plus last year and installed the software that came with it. Last month I started to "fix" my music collection. Adding new information, fixing wrong tags and deleting duplicates, etc. Then this started happenning. Aurora sword (talk) 21:51, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

When you say "Did a disk error check", do you mean you used the disk checking function in Windows itself? I don't think that that is supposed to restart the machine or log you off. 68.39.174.238 (talk) 13:28, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

PHP operator

I'm not a stellar programmer. In fact, I most likely am a horrible one. However, in trying to figure out how things work (including Wikipedia) I keep seeing the operator (I presume): ->, usually accompanied by amazingly nonspecifc variable names. I have not been able to figure out what it does specifically. So, my question is, what does it do? It does not appear in any of the references I have read, nor is it easily searchable because it's a special character. User:Krator (t c) 22:03, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

It is used with PHP classes and objects. It's somewhat complicated stuff; not the easiest thing to start with for a beginning PHP programmer, and almost always means that you are dealing with custom built classes to do specific functions. (Unless you really mean =>, which is used for array value assignment, but if you mean ->, then it's about classes/objects)--24.147.86.187 (talk) 23:08, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

In C it means to dereference the pointer and access a member property/method.. no idea about php --f f r o t h 00:54, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

As *.187 said, the -> is used in PHP for object operations. Assume you have an object named $obj. To access the object's variable "var", you use $obj->var. To run the object's function foo, you use $obj->foo(). The () indicates that it is a function and not a variable. Another thing you will see often is the use of the variable $this with -> following it. Inside of a class definition, $this refers to the object itself, regardless of what the programmer named it. -- kainaw™ 03:06, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, this is similar to something I'm familiar with. Follow up question: what about multiple uses, e.g. $this->Alpha->One User:Krator (t c) 19:07, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Any variable may be assigned to an object. In your example, $this->Alpha is a variable in the $this object. It is also an object. So, you have an object which has one of its variables set to an object. The "One" is a variable inside of the $this-&gtAlpha object. You could call a function in the $this->Alpha object witih something like $this->>Alpha->foo(). -- kainaw™ 19:27, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Securing your wireless internets :)

Can someone show me a website or tell me exactly how to secure it. Note that im not the best with computers and a step by step instructions would be nice. BonesBrigade 23:34, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Don't try to do it on your own, it's too complex. --f f r o t h 00:54, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh wait, you're asking how to secure your wireless access, not how to secure a website, never mind ! --f f r o t h 02:48, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Did you really mean Interweb? 69.150.163.1 (talk) 01:04, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

So so so so sorry, i ussaly just use interwebs becuase its sounds more awesome. I changed the title to relect. BonesBrigade 02:50, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

The user is most likely asking how to secure a wireless router. It is not complicated at all. It is just different for nearly everyone so there's no possibility of having a single guide to show you. First, access your router. How? It came with instructions. Every router is different. For mine, I open a web browser and go to 192.168.0.1 and type in a password. I am 99% certain that yours will require something completely different. Then, open the wireless settings. How? It came with instructions. Every router is different. Mine has a series of tabs. I click on "wireless security". I am 99% certain that yours will be something completely different. Select a security method available. It may be WEP. It may be WPA. You may have both. You may have something else. Every router is different. Mine has WEP and WPA. I chose WPA because it is more secure than WEP. You will be required to enter a key/code/password/passphrase (or whatever your router wants to call it. You may be required to enter four of them. Every router is different. Then, save the wireless settings. You will suddenly lose wireless access because your computer does not have the secure key you just entered. Go into your computer's wireless security settings. How? Every operating system is different. I type "system-config-networking" and an interface comes up with networking settings. Set your computer's encryption type (WEP, WPA...) to the same type you used on the router. Set the key(s) to the same ones your router used. Save your settings. You may need to reboot (especially if you are using Windows). If all went well, you are now using a secure wireless network - but you won't magically get a secure "internets" out of it. -- kainaw™ 03:15, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

I have never had to restart my Windows PC when changing encryption to WPA or WEP or anything. Did your router come with a manual? There is a very good chance it will tell you what pages to access in there. Your routers IP will normally be 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, put this into your web browser of choice and then follow the instructions in your manual. I suggest going with WPA as well because it is far more secure. Basically anyone with a laptop and the right program can get into your network within an hour or less if you secure your network with WEP. However if you have a Nintendo DS (not such a strange idea seeing how well they sell) or an older PDA with wireless access you'll need to secure with WEP, as they may not be able to handle WPA (the DS doesn't for sure). TheGreatZorko (talk) 09:02, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikibooks has a book on this. 68.39.174.238 (talk) 13:26, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

January 9

Partition madness

I made a partition of my hard drive on my mac for boot camp. I've gotten into some unrelated problems with windows (darn registration) and wiped that partition's data. Can you merge a partition back into an existing HD partition —Preceding unsigned comment added by Crossaxel 412 (talk • contribs) 02:19, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Kind of. If you have all sectors partitioned right now, then you blow away a partition and resize a partition to include the sectors that were previously included in the old partition. The problem is that some file systems may have issues with this, i.e. NTFS. I don't know what file system Mac OS uses, but if shouldn't have a problem with it. But since I don't know for sure, you might want to get a second opinion just in case. EvilCouch (talk) 05:59, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

The Boot Camp Assistant in Mac OS X should have an option to "Restore the startup disk to a single volume", which should wipe the Windows partition and merge it with the Mac partition. --Canley (talk) 04:29, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

ISO framerate

I have an ISO file on my computer that I was trying to convert to MP4. I used Handbrake, but the automatic framerate made the video choppy. Is there any way I can determine the proper framerate from the ISO? Thanks in advance. QWERTY | Dvorak 03:29, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

In my experience, you get terrible video if the buffer empties due to lag on the video side. I get this if I try to rip a DVD while running too many other programs. You appear to be trying to fake a DVD or Video CD with an ISO and then rip it to an MP4. That is a lot of work for the computer to do - which I feel can easily cause the buffer to empty. Have you tried first burning the ISO and then ripping from the CD/DVD? -- kainaw™ 03:43, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

The video quality is not the problem, it's the framerate. Unless I tell Handbrake what framerate to use in the conversion, it will have to duplicate frames and end up looking choppy. The problem is, I don't know how to find out the proper framerate. QWERTY | Dvorak 23:13, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Fedora video cropping tool

I have no trouble using DVD-Rip to easily rip the DVDs I make to videos for YouTube. However, I haven't found a simple tool for cropping out a section of the video. I have to rip the whole DVD and then upload the whole thing. Does Fedora have anything in it's repository (or even on Livna) for cropping videos? -- kainaw™ 04:05, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't know what's in those repositories, and I'm not sure I have the best answer anyway, but since nobody else is touching this question, I'll try: MEncoder --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:21, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

widescreen or full? why?

If you buy a PC (laptop or desktop), do you prefer a widescreen or a 3:4 screen? And why? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.104.123 (talk) 05:10, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Depends on what you do with it. If you mainly use it to watch movies or edit photos, widescreen is better; If you use it for browsing the interweb or gaming (on a laptop?), normal 4:3 is better. --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:27, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Doesn't matter as long as the screen is huge :) no, seriously, having worked with 16:9 and 4:3, I think I perfer standard 4:3 displays because they feel bigger (but that's a thing of subjective perception). --Ouro (blah blah) 12:15, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

I use three 4:3 displays on my work computer and two 4:3 displays at home. I do not understand the benefit of widescreen for "computer" use. Playing movies is, in my opinion, not "computer" use. The way I work, every window is maximized on one of the monitors. I don't have little windows all over the desktop. With a widescreen it would be difficult to click one "maximize" button and have your window take up half the screen on the left or right - allowing you to easily have two maximized windows side-by-side. With multiple displays, it is easy. -- kainaw™ 12:59, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

I ,like my widescreen for screen for : 1) Ganes 2) More than one code file side-by-side. But I also have a 3:4 monitor next to it. And that's the real answer. Multi-monitor is the best way to go. APL (talk) 14:02, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Apparently you're not familiar with the "Tile Windows Vertically" command. It is kind of new, I guess. Anyway, it lets you optimize two or more windows on a screen. As a user of 16:10 displays, I can vouch for this feature's usefulness. Two screens are nice, but when you only have room for one on your desk you might as well pick a widescreen.--Jmeden2000 (talk) 17:47, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Wide screen always. Consider a 8.5x11 paper with margins that's 8x10 printable area that's 8:10 ratio. Putting 2 sheets side by side makes it 16:10 ratio. A big widescreen is much more useful then big 4:3 display. NYCDA (talk) 20:30, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

A 4:3 display is larger than a 16:9 display of the same diagonal (by about 12%). The computer display article currently contains the following amusing paragraph: "A widescreen display always has less screen area for a given quoted inch size than a standard 4:3 display, due to basic geometry. Some regard the resulting greater potential profit margin as a prime reason for their promotion." I have no idea whether the second sentence is true, and it should probably be deleted in any case. -- BenRG (talk) 22:48, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Unless referenced, it is merely opinion. -- kainaw™ 23:05, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

When working with very large images in Photoshop or doing Portrait-style work, there is occasionally, depending on your specific monitor resolution, not enough vertical and too much horizontal space on a widescreen monitor. Acceptable (talk) 00:36, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Definitely 4:3 all the way. Widescreen laptops are clunky and ugly from all the wasted space- have you seen those mammoth HP laptops with 6 inches of unused horizontal space on the keyboard and a full numpad?! When I got a second monitor I got widescreen though, since it came down to a choice between 1400x1050 (same as my primary display) and 1680x1050. The extra horizontal pixels won out, and those 280 pixels are perfect for snuggling a google talk window on the far side of the monitor :D The best is undoubtedly multi-monitor.. SO much space it's glorious, but if you're stuck with 1 display use 4:3 --f f r o t h 03:05, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Widescreen all the way. The aformentioned ability to have two pages on one screen coupled with the ability to watch movies with less letterboxing is fantastic. Running games in Widescreen is best too because it best deals with peripheral vision allowing you to be better immersed. I myself use a 16:10 19" monitor as my primary and a 5:4 19" monitor as my secondary, and can say that this is probably the best setup. TheGreatZorko (talk) 09:07, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Few games support widescreen resolution, and no serious multiplayer games do- that's cheating. Anyway it's not all that helpful for the extra pixels you're rendering- you and your teammates can keep your angles covered without seeing everything at once.. that's a lot of the gameplay in first person shooters --f f r o t h 16:57, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Is it really true that few games support it? The last.. well, every game I've tried, has supported widescreen resolutions like 1440x900. Granted, I don't do multiuser stuff. Friday (talk) 17:03, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Pretty much every game released last year supported widescreen, and a lot of older ones that don't directly support widescreen can be forced to work with it. Check out [4]'s wiki. And calling widescreen in MP cheating is like calling 5.1 surround sound cheating, or having a better PC so you get more FPS cheating82.31.5.202 (talk) 20:03, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

You might want to wait a while before buying any new computers, because USB 3.0 and FireWire S3200 have just been revealed! And you can't use them on computers you have now. So i would suggest that you just wait a while until newer computers come out until you start worrying about widescreen or fullscreen. And btw fullscreen is better. well, thats my opinion--Dlo2012 (talk) 01:47, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Windows scripting

As a Linux convert I have no idea how to do basic things in Windows with command line, but as I have to use Windows at work, I have to learn. I'm trying to automate a back up process which involves copying files from one location to another, and delete the older version, and the gives a notification on the users that it's done and they can continue doing their work. The only thing I have trouble with is the notification: what can I use? I tried using net send (it has messenger service running) but I can't figure out how to send a message to myself. Is there something like zenity in Windows? --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:25, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

This is just a guess, but can you net send to "localhost" or 127.0.0.1? --LarryMac | Talk 19:37, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes you can net send localhost, but "there must be a better way" --f f r o t h 02:59, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Maybe because it's on a domain but even net send localhost doesn't work, net send * sends one to everybody except myself. In the end I have to use vbs to create little pop-ups. --antilived^{T | C | G} 09:30, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Sending EOF to QSHELL on System i

Hello, I'm using QSHELL on a System i where there is apparently no support for sending an eof (cf doing a Ctrl-D in bash). Does anyone know anyway of doing this? It's happy to let me do a

cat

But then just lets me type... forever. Any ideas? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.193.189.41 (talk) 11:27, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Sorry just found it, I can go, if anyone's interested, for example:

cat << stop

and it will look out for 'stop'. --194.193.189.41 (talk) 11:41, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Print screen

I'm using Windows Vista and I cannot get the print screen function to work. CRTL+Print Screen does nothing, ALT+Print Screen does nothing, can't paste anything into MS Paint.--h i s ^{s p a c e} _{r e s e a r c h} 13:29, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Surely print screen is the primary function of the key and you don't need to depress anything else? Lanfear's Bane | t 14:11, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

No, it's not, it's the insert key that also has print screen on it, but I can't work out how to use it.--h i s ^{s p a c e} _{r e s e a r c h} 14:23, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Is this a laptop and the letters "Print Screen" are in blue, purple, organge - or anything other than the white used on all the other keys? Is there another button with something like "Fn" on it in the same color? -- kainaw™ 14:50, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

It's a laptop and it has "prt sc" in a box below "insert" both on the key. Black key, white text, no colours.--h i s ^{s p a c e} _{r e s e a r c h} 15:27, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

If you have a Compaq Presario , this forum thread might be useful; to summarize, the person asking the original question did have to use the Fn key next the the space bar. Thus, press and hold Fn and then hit your multi-function insert/prtsc key for the whole screen, Fn-Alt-PrtSc for just the selected window. --LarryMac | Talk 15:39, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

What I was trying to get at was that the key is an insert key. It is not a print screen key. By pressing the Fn key (apparently), you change the function of certain keys. That turns it into a print screen key. So, by pressing Ctrl+Print Screen (without the Fn), you were really pressing Ctrl+Insert which will not do a screen capture. -- kainaw™ 18:47, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, you've just solved my problem. I never noticed the Fn key before.--h i s ^{s p a c e} _{r e s e a r c h} 06:36, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Website Frames Question

Alright, I know frames are "old news" and arent really used anymore but I decided to start playing with them just for fun. I was wondering if there is a way to have a link in the links pane change the Main frame AND another frame at the same time. So, for example I have a main frame and a header frame... could the link change both?

Thanks :)

--Zach (talk) 14:30, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

To do this without javascript, you use frames in frames. Your page will be a links frame and a "content" frame. The content frame is a title frame and a main frame. The link target is the content frame. The page loaded there contains a title frame and a content frame. Obviously, this limits your layout design since the title and main frames must either be the same width and set top/bottom or the same height and set left/right. If you instead use javascript, you can easily set the src for one, two, or more frames on your page with a single click. -- kainaw™ 14:46, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Linux/WinXP combo

Hi, I enjoy learning from reading on this desk and have two three questions. I am considering setting up an old laptop as a server in the closet, primarily for serving files (backups of my digital images, server for my music collection and "synchronisation folders" for keeping "My Documents" on both laptops the same. I run Windows XP on both "regular" laptops in use and do not intend to change this. I intend to use Ubuntu Linux on the server (because I already downloaded the ISOs and tried this before, it seems user friendly) and manage it using PuTTY or something similar (command-line; I was once familiar with DOS 6.22 and find the transition not-too-bad). My questions are:

1) When I consider using mostly command-line, would it be easier to just install Ubuntu Server? Or should I go for the full desktop, what will be the cost in terms of startup time etc? I could probably go for some stripped down distribution instead (DSL? FreeNAS?); however, I fear I then will end up missing something that I need (for example considering the next question)

2) I believe SAMBA is the easiest way to connect to files on the Linux box from the XP computers. However, I have had bad experiences with the Norwegian letters æøå with SAMBA before, even though I configured it with the "correct" codepages etc (I believe it was SAMBA v2, not v3, however). Does this now work fully? I tried browsing samba.org for this but found nothing decisive. Have anyone tried? I need this to work because a lot of my pictures have ÆØÅ in the file names and I do not want the backup to change the file names. (If I cannot resolve this I might resort to running an OEM Windows XP on the system instead.)

3) I don't think my old laptop supports wake-on-lan. Is there any other way so I don't have to keep the machine running and generating heat etc all the time? I considered wiring the "on" button (or the wires, anyway) to the USB or LPT port on my wl500g router (which already runs a kind of Linux system) which is always on, and try to get some software/package that could enable power here when I request that. Anyone know if such a system exists, possibly as sort of USB dongle that is cheap to get?

Thank you very much! --Jørgen (talk) 18:34, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

I did this exact same thing at home. A laptop is a nice fileserver. It doesn't take up a lot of room. It has built-in battery backup. In case of a fire, it is easy to snatch it up on your way out the door. To answer your questions, don't waste disk space on a GUI. You shouldn't need to work directly at the server once it is set up and all of your setup needs can be done in the shell. Samba is the best way I know to share files between Windows and Linux. There is an alternative of trying to get your XP machines to NFS mount the server. Some programs do that, but I've never used them. You can use SWAT to set up Samba and maintain it from your XP machines using a web browser. I don't have wake-on-lan either. I have it stop the drives and shut off the screen after an hour of non-use. At that point, it uses very little electricity. I should note that I disabled practically all services on the laptop - so it doesn't waste time doing something stupid such as monitor for bluetooth activity. -- kainaw™ 18:45, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot, Kainaw. I'll look into NFS in particular. And I guess I should think about the power saving option once again, checking the temperature after some hours of sleep mode. If anyone have any other opinions on the questions I'll of course still be happy for tips! In particular regarding Samba and Norwegian characters. Jørgen (talk) 20:58, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Computer animated films

Today's computer animated films look incredibly lifelike, and continue to improve with time. Characters are shown with realistic facial expressions, waterfalls are portrayed with mist. Why, then, are actors still hired to voice the various characters in a film? Hasn't technology evolved to the point that voices can be computer generated as well? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.120.95.52 (talk) 20:58, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Voices can be computer generated, yes -- see our speech synthesis article for more detail. The challenge is in adding emotion and inflection etc (called prosody) to those voices. Take a simple phrase like "Where are you going?" You can put the emphasis on any of the four words and get slightly different meanings. Using a markup language (like SSML) might help with this somewhat, but I'd guess that at this time it is just not cost-effective to replace human actors. On the other hand, within the speech synthesis article is a link to a page mentioning the release of software meant to be used for anime and manga; note however that the linked article mentions some doubts and perhaps limited usage for such a system. --LarryMac | Talk 21:22, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

I'd say the major reason is that there's no pressing need for synthesized sound. Voices and sound effects are cheap and easy; fantastic visual effects done in the real world are not. As for why they hire expensive actors, it's because their celebrity helps in marketing the film. Generally speaking, professional voice actors are much better than regular actors doing voice-overs (compare Dan Castellaneta to Kevin Bacon, say). --Sean 01:50, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Making pages live

I have just created a new page, and I need to know how to make it Live on the www. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kimberlynd (talk • contribs) 22:38, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Can you clarify? What kind of page have you created, and how? What do you want to do with it? -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 22:52, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Assuming you meant that you created some HTML page and you want it to be accessible via the www, you basically need to register a domain name with a registrar, open an account with a hosting provider, configure the DNS servers and upload your file via an ftp client. There are other possibilities, but this is probably the simplest. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 23:00, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

In most cases, getting a domain is strictly optional. With most hosts you can access your web page by www.[isp's name].com/~[your name]/ or something similar. (Check your host's FAQ.) APL (talk) 05:19, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

This wouldn't look very proffesional, though. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 09:23, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Google allows you to edit HTML in its Google pages. Kushal^t 12:28, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

If you are talking about Cynergy Data, you have created the page and it is live. (Note that it may take search engines, including Wikipedia's search facility, a few days to find it.)--Shantavira|^{feed me} 19:50, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Disposable short URLs

Is there any URL shortening service (like doiop etc.) that allows users to either set an expiration date or timespan after which the short URL will no longer work, or register before creating a short URL so they can identify themselves as the short URL's “owner” and delete it once they no longer want it to function? The first of the two possibilities should be easy to implement. Wikipeditor (talk) 23:09, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

The main feature of all them that I've seen (tinyurl, dwarfurl...) is that they never expire. They even say that on the main page in big bold letters: never expires! So, I believe it would be difficult to find one that does expire. You know - it wouldn't be difficult to write one for yourself. All you need is a hash table for the shortened url string, the main url, and the expiration date. Once the expiration date is over, remove it from the hash table. -- kainaw™ 23:15, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your quick reply, but I wouldn't know how to do that. I can't believe nobody has this killer feature yet, I'd even use GiganticURL if it did the job! Wikipeditor (talk) 23:36, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

I do not see this as any sort of "killer" feature. If you do not remove the actual page, it will always be active regardless of any shortened URLs redirecting to it. Also, when a person uses a shortened URL, they can bookmark the page. The bookmark will be to the page, not the shortened URL. So, they will have a link to it until the actual page is removed. In short, expiring shortened URLs is nothing more than a nuisance. It provides no form of restriction to keep people from accessing the page. -- kainaw™ 23:58, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks again for your reply. Situations where it may be useful are of course limited. For my purpose, I don't need perfect restriction, and in fact I have just deemed an eternal short URL acceptable and made one. Wikipeditor (talk) 01:40, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

I had an idea for a workaround - which may actually omit the need for short urls. You can create symbolic links (shortcut in Windows-world) to your web pages on your web server. For example, you may have the page http://yoursite.com/some_page_that_you_want_to_link_to.html. You can create a symlink to it called http://yoursite.com/123qwe. When you don't want that active anymore, just delete the symlink. In essence, you are creating your own short urls. -- kainaw™ 02:07, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

January 10

IP question 1of2

Why does my ip adress keep changing, while there are some people who remain with the same ip address all the time? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.95.23.98 (talk • contribs)

Different ISPs have different mechanisms and policies for IP address assignment. Ask your provider. They might have static addresses available for a small extra fee. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 05:27, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

If you are a casual home user, you might be better off with a dynamic IP address. Please weigh the pros and cons of having static IP address. 69.150.163.1 (talk) 01:53, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

If you're on dialup, depend upon it you'll probably never have the same IP across different sessions (Times you dial in). If you have broadband, it's at the discretion of the ISP. 68.39.174.238 (talk) 13:22, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

IP question 2of2

What do you do when you can't enter a site because "A proxy ip adress is detected". I didn't use a proxy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.95.23.98 (talk • contribs)

You might not be using a proxy, but your ISP might be using transparent proxy and so forcing you to use proxy. Only option is to change your ISP. — Shinhan < talk > 10:37, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Or, since the first question indicated you have short-lived IP address assignments, someone else had your IP address recently and they got themselves on a proxy list. Contact the owner of the service you're blocked from and tell them their proxy list is not maintained well and it's causing you trouble. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:17, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

How to publish or host a website after creating website

i have created a website using PHP and MYSQL with apache server on my pc. after creating a website, what to do with that website, to put it on the internet. so that everyone in this world can open my website. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.40.210 (talk) 07:07, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

What you need now is a web hosting service. As per the article: A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own websites accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Webhosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called colocation. The services you receive and the cost all depend on the host, you may want to shop around and look at different hosts until you find one that suits your needs. Lanfear's Bane | t 09:11, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

[ec]If you want to host it on your own computer, here is an excellent tutorial for that. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 09:14, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't recommend it as a permanent solution, though. You'll have to keep your computer on 24/7, you'll have limited bandwidth, you'll have security problems... You can get a reasonable hosting service for less than 4$ per month. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 09:21, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

If you don't care about your website being particularly fast or being up all the time a good hose I use is Dreamhost. I used a referal code that got the cost down to about $20 a year for the first year of hosting (and a web address) by getting me $97 off, which is quick97 (I don't know the guy that owns the code, and he doesn't make money off it as far as I can tell, as that's the max discount you can offer with the referal scheme, leaving you with $0.00 from their signup). Of course if you need your site to be up 100% of the time (although I have never been unable to access my site) or you need it blisteringly fast then dreamhost is not the way to go. TheGreatZorko (talk) 09:43, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

I just realised how much like an advert this sounds but they're the cheapest I could find with that code and all I needed was a place to host my blog and images, and give me a unique email address TheGreatZorko (talk) 09:44, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

As long as we are mentioning specific examples of hosting providers, Go Daddy is worth a look. Their prices are cheaper than most, and I haven't had any real problems with them. The only catch I've seen is their aggressive marketing ("You've registered a domain for 3$? Great! Now how about adding some nice features for only 20$?") -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 12:39, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Another frustration I've had with GoDaddy (out of an overall positive experience) is their high-level spam filtering. ("You actually want that email from a friend overseas? Sorry, you'll never know it existed, and we won't change anything to allow it through.") jeffjon (talk) 17:04, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

I think its pretty much across the board that IT thinks it can block any e-mail coming from east Asia. Kushal^t 21:29, 10 January 2008 (UTC) {{worldwide}}

I have a brilliant idea. Just buy the domain and host your emails at Google's gmail! Here's the place to go after you register your domain name. [5] Kushal^t 17:27, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

linux

1. how do i remove the grub loading line...which appears when i boot onto my suse enterprise linux 10.1
2. i have both linux and xp on my machine,linux loads first how can make windows to be the one that load first bcoz any tyme linux gets corrupt i cant acess windows unless i have the cd.
3. is it possible to overclock my ram?how do i go about it
4. incase i want to totally uninstally linux(operative word-TOTALLY) how do i do it.rem i dual boot.
5. is there any tweak on xp that greatly increases a pc s speed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.92.142 (talk) 12:21, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

I can answer 5. - switch back to Linux. --Ouro (blah blah) 17:34, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

1. Boot into Linux, do sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst, and move the Windows entry above the Linux entry. (remember to do a backup first)
2. Yes, but why would you want to? If you think overclocking your ram will give you a performance increase then you're clearly not ready for overclocking.
3. Just delete the partition. GRUB is not part of Linux.
4. Per Ouro, switch to a very light-weight Linux distribution like Damn Small Linux or Xubuntu and it wil be lightyears faster than your adware-infested junk loaded Windows (otherwise Windows isn't THAT slow). --antilived^{T | C | G} 21:16, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Please do not overclock unless you know exactly what you are doing. Kushal^t 21:21, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

am shocked

i have a hdd of 80 gb but only 33 gb is working.i know what am saying and i aint crazy.the hard disk was fine last week and its been fine for the 4 months av bin having it.i have done nuthing to it.what cud be wrong,its running on xp.its a seagate hard disk —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.92.142 (talk) 12:34, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Did you partition it? I am pretty sure your hard disk has not suddenly shrunk. So relax.

I think I remember there is a Microsoft Management Console which you can go to. Start > Run > Type "mmc" and hit enter. Please let us know what the disk information says.Kushal^t 13:08, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Simply opening mmc won't get you there, you have to add the diskmanagement thing in there. Alternatively just do diskmgmt.msc in run. --antilived^{T | C | G} 21:07, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, antilived! I don't own a Windows-based computer anymore so I have to write from memory. Kushal^t 21:23, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

It'd be helpful if you defined a little more clearly what the problem is. Where does it say 33 gb? Specifically what does it say? --24.147.86.187 (talk) 22:00, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Printer cable...

Hi, I have a USB printer and a Parallel print server... I need to find a cable that allows me to convert the USB to parallel (that actually uses the same type of USB cable that my printer calls for) If someone knows of a place to find one that would be great. Just so you know, I didnt buy the wrong print server on purpose... was an accident :) Thanks --Zach (talk) 21:12, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

eBay has a whole catagory just for USB to IEEE 1284 (Parallel) cables... Vespine (talk) 21:52, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

help identifying IDE connectors

I have come into possession of 2 notebook hard drives, and I'd like to stick them into some sort of external enclosure. However, I'm not sure which external enclosures support these disks because they seem a little weird to me. I'm no expert in laptop computer parts so. if someone could help me identify them and give me some recommendations of a cheap, good quality enclosure that works with these, I'd be very grateful.

• File:Unknown IDE 1.jpg
• File:Unknown IDE 2.jpg

if there is any identifying going on, perhaps the images can be posted on some article or something. Coolotter88 (talk) 23:56, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

That one on the left looks like some kind of specialized header slipped over a standard 44-pin "2.5 inch" IDE connector. If the header will unplug, you can plug an easily available 44-pin to 40 pin converter onto the drive and then plug that into your mounting box.

You're not showing a lot of the drive on the right but it looks like it's the same situation.

Atlant (talk) 00:04, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh yeah, xD I forgot that the one had a special adapter thing. Coolotter88 (talk) 00:15, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

January 11

protecting flash swf

I am learning flash and would like to put some tutorial online (in swf format). What are my options to protect them from being copied?217.168.3.246 (talk) 03:01, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Why would you want to protect them from being copied? --f f r o t h 05:09, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Your options do not exist. In order for someone to play a SWF or FLV file, they have to download a local copy. EvilCouch (talk) 09:05, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

You can protect yoru SWF from being opened and edited in official Adobe software. The third-party software will be able to open and edit it. As far as being copied in general - anyone can do that. What you can do is check which server delivered the SWF inside of the flash code and, if it isn't yours, stop running. That is normally too much of a pain to mess with. -- kainaw™ 13:06, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

In general, you can put something online, or you can protect it. Very rarely can you do both. --LarryMac | Talk 13:49, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I might not understand the question, but if you're just learning it, shouldn't you be reading a tutorial, rather than writing one? Anyway, see analog hole. --Sean 14:25, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

• Indeed, I am reading some tutorials about flash and writing a tutorial about something else.217.168.0.67 (talk) 14:36, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually, the main problem is not the files being copied. But being copied, being decompiled, having my url inside them remove and presented in a 'new' format.217.168.0.67 (talk) 14:36, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Would it work to just put a line asking people to attribute the source if they are redistributing it? I know its kind of dumb, but as long as your URL is not blocking the use of the document (which I assume is the case), I am pretty sure people will not go through the trouble to remove it. Unless, there is a lot of money involved ... but in that case, you can sue them for licensing violations and land them in court.

Did that make any sense? Kushal^t 17:21, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Again, what does it matter? If you're writing a tutorial to help people, what do you care if someone steals it and puts their own name on it.. if he redistributes it then more people are just getting helped. --f f r o t h 20:48, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

String literals in C

If I want to write a C string with a hexadecimal escape sequence specifying a character which is followed by a digit or a letter <= 'F', is there a way to write the digit or letter directly? I. e. I could write

"\x41\x31"

for the string

A1

but it won't work with

"\x411"

because the '1' character is seen as part of the hexadecimal number. Is there some way to write the '1' directly? Icek (talk) 05:46, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I could write it as two strings which are concatenated ("A" "1") - but is there another simple way? Icek (talk) 05:50, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't think so. The problem is, as you've noted, that \xNN denotes an 8-bit char literal and \xNNNN a wide char literal, and the compiler's lexical analyzer has to make that call long before the context is examined. While GCC (and I think MSVC) supports a specific decorator that forces a string to be wide, I don't think (can't find one) that there's a specific decorator to force the string to be 8 bits (at lex time). To make your adjacent string thing nicer (and the code easier to read) I'd #define the non-printables thus:

#define CHAR_ESC "\x1b"
#define CHAR_FS  "\x1c"
puts ( CHAR_ESC "hello" CHAR_FS "there" );

-- Finlay McWalter | Talk 12:01, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Octal escapes max out at 3 digits, so you could use "\1011". Just make sure you don't say "\00" when you mean "\0000" --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 22:08, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to both of you! Icek (talk) 02:53, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Hardware problem- Requesting advice

My computer doesnot hold the date though CMOS battery is replaced with new. How to restore the date.≈≈≈≈ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.248.68.109 (talk) 07:12, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I would ensure that the CMOS battery was replaced with a good battery, it wasn't put in backwards, and it was the CMOS battery (not some other battery that is on the motherboard for some reason). In 30 years of messing with computer hardware, I've never seen a data loss issue that wasn't the CMOS battery. I did see broken motherboards where the CMOS battery wasn't making contact due to a broken run, but that was still a battery issue. -- kainaw™ 13:04, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

MS Outlook - strange behavour

Using MS Outlook xp I've been getting some strange results recently. One example is when I copy text from Word into a message I am composing, it seems like this copied text isn't treated like the rest of the message text - if I highlight all of the message text and change font, for example, only the original message text will change, but the text copied from Word will not be affected. Additionally, the recipient of the message often doesn't see the message the same way I sent it; copied text may be completely missing or it may actually say something different! Any idea what is going on? ike9898 (talk) 15:20, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I have never heard that before. You mentioned that recipients "often" do not get the pasted text. Any idea on which e-mail client (or web-based mail) they are on?

Could you recreate the scenario at will?

Could you try a different e-mail client (such as Mozilla Thunderbird) to see if the copied text works when you send it from Thunderbird? Microsoft Outlook uses Microsoft Word to compose messages. My first suspect would be the Word application itself.

Kushal^t 17:12, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Corrupted WMI

After a Really Bad Crash (tm) (and a looong chkdsk using the install CD), the WMI data on my WinXP (SP2 Pro) installation has become corrupted, and now:

• Windows Security Center says "Firewall disabled" and "No anti-virus installed", but I do have Kaspersy Internet Security installed. Didn't go away after KIS 6 upgrade to 7.
• The last tab in Windows Firewall control panel module says "Settings are corrupted, please use the 'Reset' button", but it doesn't work.

Is there a way to reset or recover WMI data without a complete reinstall? --grawity ^{talk / PGP} 17:05, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

This script seems to suggest it clears the WMI repository, however I have no idea what the mofthing is. There's also the Official utility [6] and this forum thread. This all assumes it's the WMI repository. 68.39.174.238 (talk) 13:18, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Rockbox / iPodLinux on nano 2nd gen

Why can't I install Rockbox or iPodLinux on my 2nd gen iPod Nano? (I've heard something about encrypted firmware, is this true?) --grawity ^{talk / PGP} 17:07, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I doubt it.. it just takes awhile to port firmware to new hardware. See http://www.rockbox.org/mail/archive/rockbox-archive-2007-03/0040.shtml --f f r o t h 20:50, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

How do batteryless LED flashlights work and could you use othere magnets?

I'm building a LED batteryless flashlight for a science project and before I start I want to make sure that if you can use other magnets then just neodymium magnets? Because I don't want to do the work and fail. Thank you!!

You probably will get better answers on the Science Reference Desk; but I will say that in a brief look at the Faraday's law of induction article, I did not notice any requirement for the type of magnet. --LarryMac | Talk 19:17, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

You can use any magnet you want. Neodymium ones are used because they are strong and lightweight. --Carnildo (talk) 23:47, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Fragmented system files on non-system partition

Im using Windows XP, and one thing that has kept bugging me is how come my non-system partition has so many fragmented system files. I use Diskeeper version 10. Today I did Boot-Time defrag with no effect. Here's a screenshot of the drive fragmentation This (G) partition I use only for installing games and programs (keeping C only for Windows and another partition for data). Any ideas who might be the culprit? System Volume Information maybe? Now, I know defragmentation is not the cure for everything but considering all my other partitions are near-perfectly defragmented and the game I'm trying out right now is considering my 1GB RAM as minimum requirement, I'd like to try alternatives before just buying more RAM... Also, would it be better if I were to just backup/format/restore this partition? — Shinhan < talk > 19:34, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't think that chart is showing fragmentation, just which files are used most or something?? --f f r o t h 20:51, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

just curious, What's the white/green area? Why does this partition have system files? are they there by default? Kushal^t 21:23, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Most games have "minimum configuration" and "recommended configuration". It is best to stay as close to, if not exceed, the recommended configuration. If you think adding RAM will solve any slowness in your gaming, I would strongly recommend doing it, as far as budget allows. Kushal^t 21:25, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

White/Green, as it says down below is reserved system area. No idea whats actually there, but at least its in a single chunk. And I asked this question precisely because I did not know how could this partition have any system files, much less fragmented system files.

ffroth, the pink are fragmented system files. When normal files are fragmented, they show as red and in logs I can see the precise list of all fragmented non-system files. — Shinhan < talk > 22:38, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

It doesn't look like you have a lot of free space on that drive. If you look at the documentation for Diskeeper, it says that for efficient defrag you need a pretty high percentage of free space (I forget the number, maybe something like 15% free space). Also check that your regular (not boot-time) defrags are set to "comprehensive", as that's the one that's meant to make the data contiguous (eliminate the spotty whiteness in favor of one long bar of white). Beyond that there's not much you can do. Diskeeper isn't too clear on exactly what "system files" the pink represents (theoretically nearly any type of file should be moveable at boot-time). Back when I started using Diskeeper I too was wracking my brain trying to condense all the pink together, but it's really no use trying. It actually happened sporadically on its own -- I've come to the conclusion that Diskeeper doesn't even try to rearrange boot files, and leaves it up to Windows' boot-time optimizer, which runs once in a while on its own, rearranging system files on the disk to make them more quickly accessible. Check again in a few days or so, and you might see that the pink bars have repositioned themselves.

As for why Diskeeper would see system files on a drive where there shouldn't be any, that I don't know. Maybe you have an old "program files" or "windows" folder there from a previous installation, or perhaps those are "System Restore" backups. You could try disabling system restore for that drive and clearing out the restore points. Backing up and restoring might be worth a try if this bothers you that much -- but I'd recommend just not looking at the graphical drive view. Blue bars mean optimally-performing files, so performance-wise, your drive is as healthy as it's gonna get. Equazcion •✗/C • 01:00, 12 Jan 2008 (UTC)

Diskeeper recommends 20% free space. I have 31% free space. Set it and Forget it Primary defrag is set to Comprehensive. This partition was never used as a system partition, so there is no Windows directory. Also, I have had System Restore turned off for a loooong time. Guess I'll just try and ignore this. — Shinhan < talk > 07:33, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

If that's an NTFS disk, it's almost certainly the Master File Table. 68.39.174.238 (talk) 13:07, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

avi video

how do u see the picture in an avi file? or if its not possible how do you convert it to a wmv file? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jwking (talk • contribs) 20:04, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Many people recommend VLC media player to view random AVI files, because it is compatible with many different codecs. It might also be able to convert the file for you. --LarryMac | Talk 20:11, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't really like the program myself, but if you are on windows XP, Windows movie maker might do the trick for you. Kushal^t 22:17, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

You can use any video player to play AVIs, as long as you have the right codecs installed. If you install K-Lite Codec Mega Pack (click here to get it), chances are your video will play via Windows Media Player (included in Windows XP) or any other player. VLC isn't a very well-designed or easy-to-use program, but it's good if you don't want to bother with codecs, because it contains everything needed to play almost any video file without requiring separate codec installation. Equazcion •✗/C • 00:03, 12 Jan 2008 (UTC)

I have been using VLC for a few years and have found that it plays basically everything. I have never had a file that won't play. Windows Movie Maker is the reason for the question posted below (Yet Another Waste Of Time Product). VLC is fine.--ChokinBako (talk) 09:38, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Yet another waste-of-time product

I have a vista machine. Is there any way to disable the automatic 'this program will be closed while Windows searches for a solution to the problem' thing that it never finds a solution for? It's just annoying and I want the program to continue so I can get on with my work. Pointless, Windows!--ChokinBako (talk) 21:48, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

The "this program will be closed" part is because the program malfunctioned. Take that away, and you'll be back in the days of Windows 3.1, where a broken program could make the whole system stop working. Getting rid of the "Windows searches for a solution" part would be nice, but I'm not aware of any way of doing so. --Carnildo (talk) 23:49, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Goto Start > Settings > Control Panel > Problem Reports and Solutions > Change settings (Sidebar) > Advanced settings > "Off" and then OK back out. You'll still (I'm pretty sure) get notifications that the program crashed, but none of them should ask to check for a solution and you can just hit "Enter" when they show up to dismiss them. 68.39.174.238 (talk) 13:03, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Deciding which mouse to buy

Whenever I'm playing a first person shooter game, if im using low sensitivity and I do a 180 turn or just move the mouse a lot, it freezes for about 2 seconds. I have very big space to move my mouse because I dont use a computer table with the pull out keyboard and mousepad. My computer is located on a regular table. The table is smooth so I dont use a mousepad so this way I have about 40 cm times 30 cm of space to move it. Whenever I'm in the game, if I move my mouse from the center of my space to the left as fast as I can and then quickly move it 40 cm all the way to the right, it freezes and no matter how I move my mouse, the computer wont respond. I use a standard lazer mouse that came with my computer. I dont know the cause of this problem but I'm thinking about buying a new higher quality mouse. I cant decide whether to buy the Logitech G7 or the Razer Lachesis. If they had the same specifications I would buy the g7 cause my friends say its a good mouse and its wireless and its cheaper. And also it just looks more natural for your hand. But I look at the razer website and it says it has 4000 dpi compared to the G7's 2000. Is low dpi the reason my mouse is freezing? Or is it because of the low max speed? Cause the Lachesis's max speed is at 60-100 inches per second and the G7's is 45-65 inches per second. If the dpi or max speed is the reason my mouse is freezing, I will buy the Lachesis but if its because of some other reason, like perhaps all mice freeze if you move them too fast, then I will buy the G7. Theres also other terms they have that I dont understand much about such as maximum accleration which is 20 g on the G7 and 25 on the Lachesis. If you want the website here is the logitech one: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/163&cl=us,en and here are the razer ones: http://www.razerzone.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=72 http://www.razerzone.com/3G/laser.php —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.185.122.137 (talk) 22:51, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

By "freezing" I assume you mean the game's video freezes. I would tend to doubt that your game freezing would have anything to do with your mouse. It's more likely that your computer can't keep up with your quick movement and is lagging while trying to render new scenes. I'd look to your processor speed, RAM, and video card first, compared to the game's recommended hardware. If you tell us the specific game you're playing and your hardware specs that might help. Equazcion •✗/C • 23:56, 11 Jan 2008 (UTC)

I play Wolfenstein Enemy Territory. It's a very old game and even though my computer sucks I think it's still good enough. My processer is a celeron at 3.06ghz. The video card is some crappy one thats included within the motherboard. I have 2 gigs of RAM. I think this is enough to run the game. Like by frezzing I mean like your moving the mouse but it goes in weird directions. You can see what I'm talking about if you open up control panel, click mouse, click on the pointer options tab and slide that bar to the left and then try moving your mouse 40 cm left then right then left again as fast as you can. It goes in weird and ramdom directions. If you were to do it slowly then it will move good. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.185.122.137 (talk) 01:43, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Ah. That's not really "freezing"... yeah I've experienced that before, and a better mouse will possibly solve it. I don't know if you're gonna notice any real difference between 2000 and 4000 DPI... 4000 seems insanely high to me, where 2000 is already really high. If this is a DPI problem then they will both solve your erratic mouse behavior -- it's not like the 2000 will still be too low. So if you like that one better otherwise, go for that one. PS I use a 1000 DPI mouse (Logitech RX1000) and I've never had the problem you're describing while using it (and I've used it to play lots of first-person shooters -- Battlefield 2, Crysis, BioShock...) . Equazcion •✗/C • 08:33, 12 Jan 2008 (UTC)

January 12

Keylogging

Before I start, this is hypothetical. What would be the consequences of attaching a keylogger to an email (the chainmail kind), over the course of a month? The article doesn't appear to touch on it or the punishment. Yamakiri ^T_C § 01-12-2008 • 04:11:43 04:11, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't know what the punishment is, but it is illegal. Keyloggers themselves aren't illegal, if say, a boss has them installed on employees' computers. But if you purposely send them out to people and then see their passwords, credit card information, or even just personal details, that's invasion of privacy, plus if you end up using any info for identity theft that's of course even worse. Whether it's one year in prison or ten years in prison, I really don't know, and from where I'm standing it doesn't matter. Equazcion •✗/C • 08:23, 12 Jan 2008 (UTC)

Installing a keylogger on an employes computer without telling them is in fact illegal where I come from. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.187.112.117 (talk) 14:15, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Wiki Technical

What version of MediaWiki does wikipedia use? and, i'm not good at html, so how did you get it to be en.wikipedia.org/wiki/* without the index.php? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.5.79.108 (talk) 05:18, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

The first part of your quesiton can be answer at Special:Version. --ShakataGaNai ^Talk 05:19, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Oops, i didn't sign in. Oh well.

∂☺1♂K∫ ₪&+(_)+5 (talk) 05:21, 12 January 2008 (UTC) and i'll be waiting for the second part of the question.

Its Apache mod_rewrite: mw:Manual:Short_URL — Shinhan < talk > 07:21, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Guillemot graphics

Why don't we have an article about the Guillemot graphics cards? I remember that once they were fairly common. --Taraborn (talk) 09:32, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Because noone who has ever heard of them has started that articel yet? I'm not meaning this maliciously, but {{sofixit}}... 68.39.174.238 (talk) 12:58, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

WatchWAN alternatives for logging bandwidth usage.

watchWAN bloats to 50+ megabytes at times, often freezes and hangs. is there an alternative that log bandwidth usage in the same way? (i pay thru the nose after 5 GB/month.)

I also haven't had luck using Bandwidth Monitor.

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.1 (talk) 11:13, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

I remember using NetLimiter. There's also DUmeter. 68.39.174.238 (talk) 12:58, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Wirelessly bridgin a NAS-device

My pop just bought one of those big NAS devices that uses RAID 1 and two 500 gb HDs for backup. It is connected by ethernet cable to his wireless router because it doesn't have any WiFi capabilities. This is non-optimal, obviously, it would be much nicer if you could just put it in a closet somewhere where it connected over WiFi to the router, and thus the network. So they wouldn't have to be right next to eachother. I got the idea to use a WiFi-ethernet bridge so it can go wireless. My dad has like 3 AirPort Expresses which he uses to stream music all over the house (AirTunes-style) and I figure you could just use one of those. Right? Has anyone done anything like this? Would it work? 83.252.191.12 (talk) 13:15, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Nokia 6680 Camera My Nokia 6680 back camera is not working.Here are the few task whick i do . (1)I remove the cover but the back camera not open automaticaly. (2)Yes the front VGA camera work properly. (3)when the front camera is open and i select "Use Back Camera" from the option menu.It says that "OPEN CAMERA LENS COVER".that i have already oped.so please help me.thanks .....usman —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.125.143.65 (talk) 13:30, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

does opening keyboard's tiny hind legs improve ergonomics?

sorry don't know what to call them, the small things toward the back of the keyboard that lift the whole keyboard so that it's at an angle -- the tiny keyboard legs/stands on either side on the bottom of the rear of the keyboard -- should I open them to improve the keyboard's ergonomics or is the ergonomics better when the keyboard lies flat? THanks for your thoughts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Curious guy32 (talk • contribs) 14:34, 12 January 2008 (UTC)