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December 5

Firefox forcing re-enter of password

Using FireFox 3.0.4 on a Mac, whenever I go to change my enwiki preferences FireFox forces me to reenter my password (even when I'm logged in). For example, I can't change my skin without reentering my password; when I try to save the new skin, it tells me my password is too short. I have to go into the User Profile tab under the Change Password section, enter my password once and again for confirmation, click back to the skin tab, save, and only then are my preferences saved. (I do not actually change the password, just retype it). Any other FireFox users have this happen? It does not happen in Safari. Fletcher (talk) 00:00, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

This is a result of FireFox's password autocomplete feature, I believe. It enters your current password in the change password field, so mediawiki thinks you're trying to change to the empty password and gets annoyed. I've never had this problem myself since I don't use autocomplete. Algebraist 01:16, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

This seems to have helped. I did not want to turn off auto-complete; however, I logged out, logged in again and at Firefox's prompt, told it to never remember my password. This created an "exception" to the auto-complete feature. Hopefully the cookie will keep me logged in for 30 days at a time, even if Firefox doesn't remember the password. Thanks for your help, Algebraist. Fletcher (talk) 01:44, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

This happens me. Simply blank all the password fields that Firefox has filled in on your preferences and you're sorted. No need to make an autocomplete exception, since I for one use the autocomplete to speed up log in far more often than i change my preferences. Fribbler (talk) 21:52, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Youtube

I don't like Youtube's new look. How can I view Youtube in its original state? 60.230.180.175 (talk) 01:12, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

One of these maybe? Fletcher (talk) 01:50, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Don't be silly. Please give me a proper answer. I really want to see the original Youtube. It changed very recently and I don't like the change. Please help. 60.230.180.175 (talk) 02:12, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

This might end up being like the old-facebook thing... No one liked it at first, but after a month or two, everyone was OK with it. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 02:23, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

It's kind of a silly question as you can't control how they want their web site to look. But they do let you customize the home page a fair amount if you are logged in, apparently. Go to Add/Remove Modules and Customize Home Page. You can stop some components from showing and move them around a bit as you please. Fletcher (talk) 02:46, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

You might be able to find a userscript for Greasemonkey. I am not sure if any stable script would be up yet, since the changes are so recent ... Sorry, I wish I had better news. Kushal (talk) 02:56, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Please! I hate the new look! It's much more awkward to use with that new look! 60.230.180.175 (talk) 03:34, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Personally, I don't mind the new look. Just that I don't have a "widescreen" (for lack of a proper word in my mind) camera. Kushal (talk) 16:09, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Complain to them! Not us! --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:26, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

How do I install winxp

I bought a used IBM Think Center 3Ghz with no o/s.How do I install winxp ? I have the xp disk but the pc doesn't seem to boot up this way, I get a msg of no o/s. I have minimal knowledge of this,should a novice attempt this? Thanks in advance ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` —Preceding unsigned comment added by Oldskooloutlaw (talk • contribs) 02:25, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

(please don't put all those things, it's really annoying) Anyway, back on topic: check your BIOS (when the comp starts up, it should have options like "press F1 for setup"). Make sure the CD drive is the first on the list. Next, make sure your CD drive actually works, and that the CD isn't scratched up or anything. If none of these work, I suggest downloading a DSL Linux iso and burning it onto a disc, and seeing if that is able to boot. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 02:31, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Refrain from staining your pure machine with the vermin that is xp, choose a better OS! --Ouro (blah blah) 06:31, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Or take a look at Comparison of operating systems for a less biased view...! Booglamay (talk) - 12:50, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

When your computer boots, it will probably display a message that you need to press one of the function keys to boot from a CD, or chose boot device. Often, these messages are shown very briefly (like a fraction of a section, so you need to pay close attention). As flaminglawyer suggests, you can also try to modify the boot order in the bios. However, since you consider yourself a novice, I should add that modifying bios settings is one of the riskier things you can do on a PC. You need to write down what the settings were before you make a change, so that you can restore the original settings. The path from being a novice to being more knowledgeable goes through trying out stuff. Note that if your xp cd is an OEM version and has been used before, Microsoft will give you the genuine advantage of not being able to reuse it. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 11:18, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

In SNMPv3, what's the relation between contexts and views?

In SNMPv3's view-based access control model, there are the concepts of "context" and "view". Views are subsets of objects and object instances in a context. Contexts are also themselves subsets of objects and/or object instances. What's the motivation for basing access control decisions in terms of a context and then a view? Why not just define views directly as a subset of all managed objects (and/or object instances)? --173.49.9.141 (talk) 03:19, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

asm/semaphore.h

In the newer Linux kernels, asm/semaphore.h was removed. Many programs require this library. I know that I can simply use an older kernel to build programs, but when I'm building a module, I need to use the current kernel. Is there any online resource to aid in updating code that still uses asm/semaphore.h? I can see that the library moved to linux/semaphore.h. What functions changed? What structs changed? I'd like to have a list that says "search and replace the following to create buildable code". -- kainaw™ 03:54, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

I noticed that when I was building OpenAFS packages. I just wrote a patch that changed all instances of asm/semaphore.h to linux/semaphore.h. There's probably a better way but I was in a hurry. -- JSBillings 22:59, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Is a MacBook Air better than a MacBook Pro?

If I'm considering a Mac laptop, would a MacBook Air be a better choice? Does the fact that it's super thin make it less reliable than a Pro? --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 05:09, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't know that a lot of reliability data exists yet. The Air is thin- if thin is very important to you, it's a good choice. Otherwise, it's less machine for the money. Friday (talk) 05:12, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

There is no 'better' in an absolute sense. Their specs are different, with the Macbook Pro having quite a bit more power (and firewire, an expresscard slot, and an optical drive), and the Air being lighter/thinner. There are also more competitively priced alternatives to the Air from other computer manufacturers. Which is 'better' depends on what exactly you're looking for. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 05:14, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

If portability is your main concern, then the Air is "better". If having more features and greater power is a priority, then the MBP is better. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 06:17, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

If you want an out-and-out opinion from someone who owns Mac products, I'd say, go with the MacBook Pro unless you absolutely need something as ridiculously lightweight as an Air. The regular MacBooks are not all that heavy, and have way better features than the Air. I don't know if the size of the Air makes it less reliable but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more susceptible to damage and problems incurred from being shlepped around all the time. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:25, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

The RapidShare servers

What are these RapidShare servers?

Advanced download settings Download via:

• Cogent
• Deutsche Telekom
• GlobalCrossing
• GlobalCrossing #2
• Level(3)
• Level(3) #2
• Level(3) #3
• Level(3) #4
• Teleglobe
• Teleglobe #2
• TeliaSonera
• TeliaSonera #2

Are they server-hosting companies? -- Toytoy (talk) 09:42, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Level 3, Cogent, Deutsche Telekom, Global Crossing, Teleglobe, and TeliaSonera. Level 3 and Global Crossing are classic tier 1 networks, Cogent, TeliaSonera, and Teleglobe are listed as transit free networks in that same article and Deutsche Telekom is listed as a tier 2 network. The labeling has to do with what kind of agreements they have with other networks they connect to. But basically they are (some of) the major companies with provide the networks that make up the internet.--droptone (talk) 12:37, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

MSN Live Messenger

hey guys I had a simple doubt, I dot know if this is possible or not, but I heard its possible to tell which contacts are appearing offline in msn live messenger using some softwares or so. Something to do with the status called idle or something, not very sure, but is it possible to tell anyways if one of my contacts is appearing offline by any chance? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.117.188.90 (talk) 09:56, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

There is no point. You can send them messages whether they appear offline or are actually offline or not. They are appearing offline for a reason. It is a total PITA to be getting loads of messages off people when you are working on something. Some people (like me) login to MSN only to speak to people who can help with their current work, and getting chit-chat messages every five seconds in text-speak can seriously annoy someone who is on a serious project.--KageTora - the RefDesker formerly known as ChokinBako (talk) 19:07, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Picture upload

Where is a free site where one can upload one's photos so that the public at large can access them by clicking on a link, but where it is impossible to download the picture? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.116.175.119 (talk) 16:30, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Nowhere. If you publish something on the internet, it can and will be accessible to anybody with the right tools. Some types of content may be harder to get than others, but pictures are dead simple. --LarryMac | Talk 16:59, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

You could embed them in Flash files. That would not entirely prevent them from either deconstructing the swf or taking a screenshot, but it certainly will stop all but the most motivated.--droptone (talk) 17:16, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

(After edit conflict)

What you want is impossible. Even if you did something complicated like encapsulated the image in a flash file or java program it would still be possible to get it out with the right tools, and lacking the right tools anyone can simply press the "PRNT SCRN" button on their keyboard to copy/paste the entire contents of the screen into MS Paint. APL (talk) 17:18, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

The images on Orkut also are not "downloadable" but can be screen captured. Is it possible for a script running on the browser to temporarily disable the Print Screen keys? Jay (talk) 05:25, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

To put it even more directly: In order for the picture to get from your website to the eyes of the viewer, all of the pixels had to be placed in the frame buffer of the end user's graphics card. Reading back from that buffer (ie doing a screen dump) will recover those pixels NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO. So, no - this is impossible without some kind of fancy DRM hardware in the end-user's computer...and even then, he can point a good old-fashioned film camera at his screen and get a copy that way. SteveBaker (talk) 21:47, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

For some related concepts, see analog hole and digital watermarking. - IMSoP (talk) 21:04, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Device not shown in device manager

I have an external mouse which I have been using for sometime. Lately, my laptop has stopped recognising it to the extent that it wont show up at the device manager. My mouse's perfect as I have used it in other systems. Also, my mouse powers up and I have checked the connected device list under USb Root Hub properties, which says that all the hubs are not drawing any power, even when the LEDs glow in my mouse! (Windows Vista Ult SP0). Thanking you in anticipation, 218.248.70.235 (talk) 17:24, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Welcome to the happy, fun-loving world of Vista!--KageTora - the RefDesker formerly known as ChokinBako (talk) 19:10, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

You could: a) connect said mouse to another port (if possible); b) remove drivers and try to reinstall them (wonder if this is at all possible though); c) upgrade. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:56, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Besides getting Linux and having it work (Linux is no fun! Windows is fun because it has problems and we have to fix them!), upgrading to Vista Ultimate SP1 through Microsoft/Windows Update may help with your problem -- just a thought. [Belinrahs | 'sup? | what'd I do?] 19:03, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Estimating Associated Content traffic

How can I estimate how many pageviews I'll get for my Associated Content submissions from search engines and indirect e-mail/Digg/etc. referrals? NeonMerlin 17:38, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

If this is the first time you have done it, it will be almost impossible to predict. One estimate could be about 2 or 3 per day mostly from internet spiders. But if you have proven content, look at the previous results. One clue will be do you have content on a popular topic? Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:39, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Mac terminal/Unix: how did I overwrite my directory?

I was trying to move a script file from one directory to another in the Mac Terminal. I used the following command:

sudo mv /opt/local/bin/curlxml.sh /usr/local/bin

I then tried to look inside /usr/local/bin to see if the file was there, but it kept telling me that bin wasn't a directory. I then tried to open it up in a text editor, and /usr/local/bin was the script itself! I had deleted the (huge) contents of /usr/local/bin..!

Now, I guess I was dumb not to do it interactively so that it would warn me, but the manual here says

To move the file into another directory:
  $ mv file dir1

Isn't that what I did?

Please let me know what I did wrong...

Thanks, — Sam 63.138.152.238 (talk) 22:14, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you sure you had a /usr/local/bin before you did this? I just looked on my mac, and it looks like the only stuff in /usr/local/bin is stuff I've installed. So I'd not be surprised that it didn't have one out of the box. Friday (talk) 22:39, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

I just did the following, and everything performed as expected:

WirelessW-1930-1:~ user151$ sudo mkdir -p /testing/some/dir
Password:
WirelessW-1930-1:~ user151$ sudo touch /testing/some/dir/a
WirelessW-1930-1:~ user151$ sudo touch /testing/some/dir/b
WirelessW-1930-1:~ user151$ sudo touch /testing/some/dir/c
WirelessW-1930-1:~ user151$ touch foo.foo
WirelessW-1930-1:~ user151$ sudo mv /Users/user151/foo.foo /testing/some/dir/
WirelessW-1930-1:~ user151$ ls -l /testing/some/dir/
total 0
-rw-r--r--  1 root     admin  0 Dec  5 16:42 a
-rw-r--r--  1 root     admin  0 Dec  5 16:42 b
-rw-r--r--  1 root     admin  0 Dec  5 16:42 c
-rw-r--r--  1 user151  staff  0 Dec  5 16:42 foo.foo
WirelessW-1930-1:~ user151$ 

I don't see any evidence of a bug doing what you've described. Friday (talk) 22:45, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

You did a different "mv" command, you had a "/" at the end, signalling that it was a directory. What probably happened (although I can't confirm, since I'm neither at a Mac system or a Linux system at the moment) is that there was no /usr/local/bin before he moved the file, so the mv command was interpreted as "move the file /opt/local/bin/curlxml.sh to the directory /usr/local and name the new file bin". I don't think it would work if there already was /usr/local/bin, so Friday was probably correct in saying that there wasn't any before. 83.250.202.208 (talk) 00:14, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Hi all, thanks for the replies so far. (a) There was definitely a /usr/local/bin before -- it had several dozen programs I had installed. (b) My command definitely did not include a trailing slash -- I pages back through my terminal to check. (c) Before I performed the move I had a functioning /usr/local/bin folder, afterwards, the only thing with the path '/usr/local/bin' was the useless script I had created. Any other thoughts? Thanks, — Sam 146.115.120.108 (talk) 06:26, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

It's unlikely that mv file dir would remove the directory and replace it with a file, unless you've got 'mv' aliased as something else. The BSD 'mv' command is just not going to do that. Either the /usr/local/bin directory didn't exist before you ran the command, or 'mv' isn't the command you ran. -- JSBillings 16:51, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

It doesn't matter whether you have the trailing slash or not. Friday (talk) 17:06, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

What Friday says is true. Try it yourself with the detailed example he gave above if you don't believe him. - Tbsdy lives (formerly Ta bu shi da yu) ^talk 11:48, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

What's going on here?

Resolved

 – Figured it out.

What's going on with the main page? Is it just something messing up with my browser, or did someone make a uh oh? All the bullets are replaced with the Meta^? logo... It's baffling me right now. –  LATICS  talk  22:40, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Cancel that. Purged the cache and it disappeared. –  LATICS  talk  22:42, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

December 6

Forcing Google to recognize punctuation

Is there a way? I thought maybe, the same way that you can substitute that percentage language for problematic urls (I have no idea what that's called but you computer gurus must know what I'm tallking about, right?), there might be some code you could use to make Google search with punctuation. An example of what I mean: I was just trying to look up whether a certain animated short, T.R.A.N.S.I.T., was available online. Of course, I searched with various delimiters like "animated short", etc., but it would be much easier if Google would actually search for the punctuated term.--71.247.123.9 (talk) 01:27, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't think there's a way to make them recognize it. It's likely because the database itself doesn't recognize punctuation, which would optimize it for situations except those which required specific punctuation (which are, you must admit, comparatively rare). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 20:42, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

It's not as rare as you think. Think of software developers. Google is the best way to bring together all the technical forums into one search. But if you can't specify exact syntax it makes it a lot harder to filter down what you want. Code syntax can produce a VERY specific search. But not if the search engine throws out characters from your search term. There really should be a way to switch on puntuation recognition. Maybe a Google for coders or something. I don't think any database is incapable of recognizing punctuation. It is like some form of mental block that makes people think that there are illegal characters. There are no illegal characters. You just need to make the structure such that the data is separated from the structure. The technique to try to roll the structure in with the data by reserving certain chars is too restrictive on the the contained information. It is INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. Lets get hi-tech enough that we can recognize all the characters in our langauges. Information in an information field of memory should view equally at least every nonzero width printable character in the ASCII, or UNICODE char sets. They are all really just numbers. This was the intention of making them numbers so they could be treated equally. A period has a number. A letter A has a number. But you have to separate the Data Segment and the Code Segment and make sure the IP doesn't walk out of the code segment into the Data is all. What is the problem? I think it was Microsoft that invented this idea and we need to get rid of it. Get back to the fundamental Computer Science always. You aren't bound by any rule other than what truly can be done. Not what someone else asserts can be done.

Actually even zerowidth or nonprinting chars could theoretically be searched, allthough less usefull perhaps, it is not more work it is just a 32 bit number from 00000000 to FFFFFFFF. Each one is equal, it is more work to pick a few out and treat them specially than it is to treat them all the same. Because they are in a properly implemented Data Segment, they are simply lifeless letters, symbols or glyphs etc. and can cause no harm or discontent. They are our notes, our writings our chicken scratch. The stuff computers are supposed to keep for us. It's all just a string of marks letters and punctuation alike. And it is not benneficial to structure our IT otherwise.

anything I can buy for an 80 gig iPod classic that puts a headphone out on the bottom (from the "dock" connector)

okay, I'm thinking of something like this but with a headphone jack out instead of a whole bluetooth thing. Anyone find this solution?

the reason why is because i have an iPod where the headphone jack at the top got damaged (don't ask) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.120.107.213 (talk) 01:50, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Try googling "ipod line-out" and you'll find a lot of likely things... not sure how that would work with headphones, as headphones amplify the audio whereas line out does not... hmm. Might be worth just getting someone to replace the head port. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 03:01, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Nevermind. A line out won't work with headphones. You won't be able to control the volume with the scroll wheel and such a port would not be suitable for hooking up to headphones, from what I gather. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 03:06, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

thank you. actually I have reason to believe such a thing is possible, because, in a forum post about this speaker thing you dock the iPod into (just an example, it might have been a different specific one) people were saying the sound quality is worse than with a typical iPod stereo dock on these things, since it uses the dock connector's headphone line instead of the dock connector's line out line, in order to allow the remote control to control the iPod volume. so there's already a line in the dock connector for what I want ... I'm just looking for a manufacturer who makes the bluetooth-like thing in my first link, but with a speaker out instead (and going to the headphone, not the line out line)....

worse comes to worst I'll just have to use that bluetooth model, though it's too expensive for me...

actually! while having to type the captcha I thought of this: couldn't I just buy the cheapest PORTABLE iPod speakers on the planet (that use the dock connector) and just rip it up, cutting the lines that go out of the dock connector to the speaker, and instead wiring these lines directly to a headphone jack? I have NO electrical experience, is this even feasible? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.120.107.213 (talk) 04:18, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

From [1] it seems that there is no "headphones out" on the bottom connector. However, it could still be that there are speakers available that use the "control" signal from the Ipod to do volume adjustment on the line-out signal. If cheap speakers are very cheap you could try your idea, otherwise I think it may be better to open the iPod and try to see if you can fix the headphones-out port, or attach the headphone wires directly into the internal workings of the iPod (where you see the headphones port is (or should have been, I don't know how damaged it is...) ) Jørgen (talk) 21:37, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Video to audio transcoder.

I am looking for a program which I can use to extract the audio into a video (mpeg to mp3). I tried using VLC and it produced some quite annoying clicks that also resulted from plainly changing the file extension on my mac. Does anyone know of a transcoder that doesn't do that?

♫Deathgleaner 04:43, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm having difficulty understanding "extract...into". Do you mean "extract...from" or "insert...into" ? StuRat (talk) 04:49, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Let's say you have video with audio. I want to take that audio and put it in a separate file, and kick out the video. So yes, I would like to extract the audio from the video. ♫Deathgleaner 04:56, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I believe many CD/DVD rippers have that feature. StuRat (talk) 14:39, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Could you give me the name of one? ♫Deathgleaner 22:47, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I use Puppy Linux, and they have the PupDVDtool, which contains such a video to audio ripper. I haven't tried it myself, though. StuRat (talk) 04:09, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Under Linux, mplayer/mencoder can do all of that stuff. I believe there is a port of those into the Mac environment. SteveBaker (talk) 04:22, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Can you give me a link so i can download such file? ♫Deathgleaner 04:31, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

There is a link in our mplayer article. SteveBaker (talk) 05:42, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Quicktime Player Pro also does this. Just select Extract Audio and Paste into a new file. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 19:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Why are Blue-Ray recorders so freakin' expensive ?

They seem to run around US$3000. What's the deal ? Do they have a pixie inside each one, captured from Peter Pan at great expense ? StuRat (talk) 04:47, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Not at all, this page shows far lower prices and I know for sure I can get them around $250 locally (South Africa). And I think it's officially called "Blu-ray" instead of "Blue-ray". Sandman30s (talk) 07:34, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

OK, I'm confused now. This page lists the model numbers for Blu-Ray recorders: [2]. It doesn't list prices, but when I Google the price of those models I get listings around US$3000 each. The model you listed is for mounting in a bay on a computer, while these are standalone units for TV. However, that shouldn't make them cost 10x as much. Perhaps these are high-speed devices for production of Blu-Ray discs ? StuRat (talk) 14:28, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Recorders linking directly to TV systems have always been far more expensive, and I don't know why. Look at the prices of "commercial" DVD recorders vs the $30 units you can get for computers - and there's no difference in their capabilities but range between 5 and 10 times more in cost. Perhaps it's commercial greed aimed at technophobes who are desperate to record without having to learn how to use a computer. The same goes for hard drive recorders in satellite decoders, or for that matter the hard drives in the PS3 - they should not cost that much as they are cheap for PC's. Sandman30s (talk) 19:28, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Do manufacturers of devices for recording off TV have to pay massive bribes to the producers of TV content ? That might explain this discrepancy. StuRat (talk) 02:00, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

"What's the deal" is basically that Blu-Ray is still fairly new and is bound up very tightly in patents and lack of licensing. So this would be absolutely the worst time to try and buy a recorder. Give it a couple years and you'll start seeing the knockoffs. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 20:36, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

In Australia they are around $1800, which is a fair bit lower in USD, but in the past the same happened with CD recorders, and DVD recorders when they were new. The developers are trying to get as much money as possible, so they will get payment from those who are prepared to pay thousands first, before the price drops to hundreds. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:21, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

However, if selling them at one tenth the markup means that they'd sell 100 times as many, wouldn't that be the better strategy ? StuRat (talk) 04:04, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Only if you could manufacture 100 times as many. APL (talk) 21:14, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

BluRay uses different light frequencies (blue ones) than regular DVD's and CD's. Laser diodes with the right color and enough power are both expensive and in short supply. So prices are still high. It'll get better over time (of course). SteveBaker (talk) 04:20, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Is there any inherent reason why blue lasers are more expensive, or is it just due to a shortage ? StuRat (talk) 06:01, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

According to laser_pointer, a Japanese company basically has a monopoly on blue-laser production, which could in part explain the high prices. In addition, I remember from shopping for laser pointers that red lasers are pretty cheap, but green ones are well over $100. Green lasers are very powerful and can pop balloons at close range and the beam is visible in the night sky (great for pointing out constellations). The blue laser must be even more powerful, and perhaps creating stronger lasers just takes more money, though that article does mention that green laser diodes are in shorter supply than red ones, so low supply probably contributes greatly to cost as well.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 20:50, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Yep - and remember that a CD/DVD WRITER has to have a much more powerful laser than a READER - that makes matters still worse. SteveBaker (talk) 13:36, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

StuRat, you didn't mention that you were actually interested in purchasing a B-R recorder, but assuming you are, there are some things you should keep in mind. First, every standalone DVD-recorder I've owned has made proprietary discs that were unreadable by other DVD players and recorders, or even the DVD-RAM recorder in my 'puter. I can't say anything about the B-R recorders you're looking at, but I'll add that nowhere in the print ads or on the boxes or manuals did my standalone recorders mention that shortcoming. Second, I've recently purchased a Samsung B-R player and it doesn't play recordable discs (CD-Rs, DVD-Rs, etc.) of any kind. I don't have any recordable B-R discs, so I can't try them out, but I'll assume that they can't be played either. That doesn't bode well for your recordable BR discs being usable in other players. Be forewarned... especially if you're dropping three grand on something! Matt Deres (talk) 21:04, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

I've had the same experience. At best, you can hope that a certain brand of blank CDs or DVDs, recorded on a given device, in a given format, might be able to be replayed on that same device. Any variation in brand, format, or device is likely to cause problems. StuRat (talk) 17:25, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I remember not too long ago (2001) that DVD-R drives were $1000 and discs were $5 each. And just 7 years later they are 1/20 of that. So give it some time. Every new technology is expensive at first. Just be patient. --69.149.213.144 (talk) 14:32, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Don't worry, there's no risk of me spending $3000 on anything without an internal combustion engine in it. StuRat (talk) 17:22, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

telephone calls over the internet: Recommendations?

What software do you recommend for phone calls over the internet? I've heard too many bad stories about Skype (and it's just ways too popular and I'm all for the underdogs ;))... so... what would/do you use? --Thanks for answering (talk) 07:47, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Skype 4 *is* cool - even I use it (but only for IM). There's also Gizmo 5. --grawity 15:28, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Is Gizmo more secure than Skype? That's pretty much my main concern. Apart from reliability, sound quality etc., which I assume isn't such a bit problem anymore with pretty much any software? --Thanks for answering (talk) 17:03, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Hello-o-o? Anyone out there? I'd really appreciate tips. There's just too much out there... Thanks!! --Thanks for answering (talk) 04:58, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Youtube (2)

I really hate the new look of Youtube, so let me just ask why they added/changed/deleted stuff:

1. Why, when searching for vidoes, are the video details on one line instead of their own lines?

2. Why are the "x minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/years ago" missing from Related Videos?

3. Why does it no longer say "From:" before a user's username in Related Videos?

4. Why is the text in Related Videos smaller?

5. What's with the new Recent Activity feature? It allows you to spy on other users. Yes, I know users can disable the feature, but still!

6. Why were bulletins removed?

7. Why are recent comments shown in italic?

8. Why are the video times merged with the video thumbnails?

9. Why do videos with very long names no longer have "..." after the part of their names that is visible?

10. Why, when looking at the list of videos a user is made, is that user's username shown under each video? They must think we're idiots or something. It's OBVIOUS who made the videos, so why show us?

And 11. And why, in the above question, is the user's username linked? It takes us straight back to their channel, a pointless idea since we can easily click the "Back" button. And clicking on that link in their 9 or so most recent videos in their channel - takes us to, you guessed it, A PAGE WE ARE ALERADY ON!

So there you have it. Ten easily noticebale bad changes. I'm not ranting; I'm just asking why those changes were made. 60.230.180.175 (talk) 07:58, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

If Youtube's look changes every six months, you can safely say its because of fashion... :) Rilak (talk) 09:56, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Why do you think users on Wikipedia would know why designers at YouTube made particular decisions? Go complain at You Tube. 89.167.221.3 (talk) 10:57, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

As I said before, complain to them, not to us! You're ranting, because we don't have your answers and there is no reason to assume we would. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 20:37, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Suck it up. Redesigns happen, just deal with it. In a month, you wont even remember how the old style looked. Stop whineing and get used to it 83.250.202.208 (talk) 00:06, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Well please tell me why you think they made those changes. Those changes piss me off a lot and I will never like this new redesign! I'm not the only one who hates it. Almost everyone else hates it as well! 60.230.180.175 (talk) 10:38, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

The reference desk is for factual questions, not a place for discussing opinions. Please take this either to youtube or some forum, here just isn't the place. YouTube is a business, they can do whatever they want. They could shut down their site tomorrow and there's nothing anyone could do about it. DaRkAgE7_[Talk] 01:28, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Criticism of UTF-8

Is UTF-8 often criticized for discrimination against Indic scripts? --88.76.232.95 (talk) 10:30, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

UTF-8 is a form of representing Unicode characters as a sequence of 8-bit bytes. It uses one byte for any character of ASCII and more for others. For a Devanagari character three bytes are used. Any other "discrimination" of specific script is the same in all representations of Unicode, not only in UTF-8. MTM (talk) 20:55, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Multiprocessing without Registered RAM

Is there any current Processor family that supports multi-processing (a.k.a. having multiple physical processors) with unregistered,unbuffered RAM? Masterfreek64 (talk) 12:37, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

DNS lookup

One of my linux machines had really slow DNS lookup. I checked its /etc/resolv.conf, and it turned out it only pointed to my router's ip-address. I copied the nameserver addresses from resolv.conf on a ubuntu installation, and DNS lookup was fast again. My question is: how does the linux installer (and knoppix, for that matter) find the ip addresses of my ISP's nameservers? --NorwegianBlue ^talk 12:47, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

When you connect, your computer or router gets the settings - your IP address, DNS servers - from the ISP. --grawity 15:26, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

More specifically, from your ISP's DHCP response. -- JSBillings 17:23, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

And if you DHCP before the router has contacted the ISP, it may give itself as the DNS server. This will be configurable on the router too. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:14, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Is there a command that I can enter, from the command line, that forces a look-up and displays the result in real-time? Like this;

# what_is_the_nameserver_addresses_that_my_ISP_currently_is_using
nameserver 193.213.112.4
nameserver 130.67.15.198
nameserver 130.67.60.68

? --NorwegianBlue ^talk 23:54, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Most likely, your router/gateway is providing your computer's DHCP service, not the ISP , so you'd need to check what it is configured to provide. It depends on the manufacturer on what you can do to override the behavior you're seeing. I'd probably configure my /etc/dhclient.conf to override the DNS information with my own. -- JSBillings 17:41, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

As I said, I had a router that provided the computer's DHCP service, because it was the only nameserver listed in the resolv.conf file of one of my PCs. And it was really slow (the router was acting weirdly in other ways too, something which a reboot fixed, but that is beside the point). I had two other linux PC's, and these had resolv.conf entires corresponding to the nameservers of my ISP. They were connected to the same router, and DNS lookup was fast. When I modified resolv.conf of the first PC with the nameserver entries from the other two, DNS lookup was fast again. The only way I can imagine that these nameserver entries could have gotten into resolv.conf, was that the linux installer must have sent some DHCP info request, and written the result into resolv.conf. Moreover, when knoppix boots, it has resolv.conf entries corresponding to the nameservers of my isp, and does not mention the ip-address of the router. So the linux installer manages to do this. Knoppix manages to do this. But I'm unable to find a command that does it. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 21:08, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

There is a command found in both Windows and Linux called nslookup that will tell you the DNS servers of your ISP. Just typing nslookup will tell you the currently-used server. Typing (I think) set q=a, ENTER, then ls -d and the domain name of your ISP, then ENTER, inside nslookup should output the names of all of the servers.--192.94.73.1 (talk) 21:30, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. It turned out the Debian implementation was very limited, trying to use the features you describe just results in a message that says that the command is not implemented. I'll just settle with using knoppix when I need to check if my ISP's nameservers are correctly listed in /resolv/conf. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 18:28, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Web books

Please can someone who knows about Web books add me on msn messenger so i can ask them about them? email address removed Quidom (talk) 15:51, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

No, but you can ask about them here. StuRat (talk) 16:27, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I've removed your email address so it doesn't get harvested by spambots. Asking questions here is appropriate. -- JSBillings 16:44, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Own Wiki

I would like to set up my own Wiki site (not to create an encyclopedia!) and wonder what is the best way. I would anticipate that, at most, it would have 1,000 contributors and perhaps 50 concurrent users. Should I have a company host the MediaWiki software for me? Is there a company that allows you to "spawn" a whole new MediaWiki installation? Any advice on the best way to go, would be appreciated. Twotinsofbeans (talk) 16:26, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

"We" have an article on comparison of wiki farms - a "wiki farm" here referring to a provider which, commercially or otherwise, will host and maintain a wiki for you. At a glance, it has some useful overviews of the services on offer, and more importantly lots of external links for further research. Hopefully somewhere in there is something that meets your needs. - IMSoP (talk) 20:42, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Many web hosters will let you run a Wiki. I use www.dreamhost.com - it has a one-click install for MediaWiki that'll get you going really quickly (I run several sites with MediaWiki - it's really quite painless). That'll cost you about $10 a month and should easily support the the numbers of contributors/readers you have. There are (of course) many alternatives. SteveBaker (talk) 04:14, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

fake antiviris software

The New York Times carries a chilling report saying, "A Russian company that sells fake antivirus software that actually takes over a computer pays its illicit distributors as much as $5 million a year." Can somebody tell me the name of the product? --Halcatalyst (talk) 16:56, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

There is a lot of fake anti-virus software out there, software that claims it'll help you but really just is a virus. Stick with big names and just Google anything suspicious. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:53, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

The first one that comes to mind is Antivirus 2007/2008/2009/2010/... --wj32 ^t/c 06:07, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

c compiler

I have been using, whilst at univeristy, the c compiler xcode, now I have to continue working into the vacation, but I have been told the xcode is only available on apples. Is there a compiler, similar in interface and usability that I can obtain for free, that runs on wondows. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.1.146.243 (talk) 17:08, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Xcode uses GCC to do all the compiling. You could use MinGW on your windows system to compile C, C++, etc., however if you're using Apple's Interface Builder and the Cocoa API to create graphical interfaces, you'll need to switch to using a MS API instead. -- JSBillings 17:22, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

MinGW is an option - you could also download the 'Cywin' package - which contains gcc/g++ and has a command-line interface, 'Make' tools, etc, etc. Also, (if you must) there is a zero-cost downloadable 'learning edition' of the Microsoft Visual Studio package - which include C & C++ compilers. SteveBaker (talk) 04:10, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

There's a list of free C compilers here. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 15:23, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Storing DVD-R/CD-Rs in sleeves safe?

Are there any dangers of storing DVD-R/CD-R in paper sleeves for long term storage? Are Tyvek or Plastic sleeves safer? All of my archival discs are in full size jewel cases and they take up quite a bit of space. I was thinking to switching to thin jewel cases, but sleeves even more space saving. But I'm pretty sure paper sleeves aren't acid free and I wasn't sure if there's any bad chemistry going on in paper and the recordable media dyes --69.149.213.144 (talk) 19:03, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Paper can be abrasive, so if there is any movement, your disks could become scratched slightly. If archiving for a very long time is of concern for you, then a proper case is the way to go, but check out how the plastic in the case holds up for the long term. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:10, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I had a lot of audio CD's stored in one of those plastic vinyl storage binders - the disks had been ripped - so I didn't use them for a couple of years. When I came back to use the physical cd's, the ink on the printed/colored side of the disks had somehow bonded to the plastic of the binder and the CD's were utterly ruined. Paper is better - but (as previously stated) it can cause micro-scratches. The original jewel boxes are the best thing - they hold the disk such that no part of it (other than the hub) is touching the case. No matter what - stand them on their edges for the best possible long-term safety. SteveBaker (talk) 04:03, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

So 1/2 thickness slim CD cases are probably the best trade off between size and protection? --69.149.213.144 (talk) 13:52, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Also note that DVD's and CD's WILL fail (randomly, at least in my experience) after a few months on the shelf. You will pick them up one day and your PC will complain about CRC (cyclic redundancy check) errors trying to read them. They are not durable media and not suitable for archiving. I would get a second hard-drive in another PC for archiving purposes. Check out CD rot. Zunaid 05:41, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

I found an old CD-R from college (11+ years ago) and it worked just fine. Also, I've had DVD-Rs as old as 7 years (when the first SuperDrives shipped in Macs) that work fine. So I guess your milage will vary. --69.149.213.144 (talk) 13:52, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

The nature of CD failures (at least the spontaneous kind) is that they either fail within a year or so - or they never fail. One mechanism is that microscopic pinholes in the metal layer grow slowly by a mechanism akin to surface tension in liquids until they are big enough to disrupt reading of the disk. Pretty much all disks have a few of these tiny holes - and the reason some disks survive and others don't is that disks have error-correcting codes built into the data - single errors can always be corrected but multiple errors relating to the same data sector may not be. So if the pinholes are in just the wrong place - the disk will work fine for a while - but then fail after a year or two. If you are luckier, they'll be in places where the errors can be corrected and no matter how old the disk gets, it never fails. The best way to be safe with archived data is to make several copies and check that they still work every six months or so. If any of your copies fails, make a copy of one of the good ones. Eventually, disks that are likely to fail will all fail and be replaced - and all of the copies that remain will be 'immortal'. SteveBaker (talk) 05:39, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Setting up password for website

I want to create a blank web page with a single link on it. The link will link to a Word Doc on my web server. When the user normally clicks on the link, they will be prompted to either open or download the file. How do I set a password for this download? I would like to prompt them to enter a password before they can either view or download the Word file. What is this simplest way to do this? Acceptable (talk) 19:16, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

There are two ways that are pretty easy:

1. Put it in a folder that has a password coded into it by the server. You'll recognize this as that "username/password" box that your browser sometimes gives you before letting you access a page or directory. Whether this is easy to do depends on how your server is set up. Usually it requires either being in control of the server software itself or having a "server control page" or something like that through the web host. If you only have FTP access then you can't do this.

2. Make a simple little PHP script or something similar that feeds you the file if you have the right password. For example:

<?php
$pw = "yourpassword";
if($_POST["pw"]!==$pw) {
	?>
	<html><head><title>Password</title>
	<body>
	<form method="POST">
	<p>
	Password required: <input type="password" name="pw" id="pw" size=20> <input type="submit" value="OK">
	</p>
	</form>
	</body>
	</html>
	<?php
} else {
	$filepath = "YourWordDocSecretName.doc";
	$downloadAs = "WhatItWillBeDownloadedAsOnTheirComputer.doc";
	header("Content-type: application/x-download");
	header("Content-Length: ".filesize($filepath));
	header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"$downloadAs\"");
	header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
	readfile($filepath);
	exit;
}
?>

In the second instance, note that if they had a direct link to the file, they could still download it. Hence having the file path being different than what the file will be called when they download it. (Note that the code above is

Note that neither of these are very high security, as they both send the password in the clear. You could get around that by setting it up as HTTPS session, if that was available, or you could have Javascript hash it for you (as MD5) or something like that, if you were really concerned about total security. Depending on the likelihood of someone trying to access it illicitly and the contents of the file, you may or may not think worrying about that sort of thing is overkill. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 20:28, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I think the requirements for using HTTP authentication (getting the browser to prompt for the username and password) are being somewhat overstated here: I think it's fairly common practice to allow this kind of setting to be over-ridden by a per-folder configuration file.

For sites hosted using Apache, this would be done by creating a file called .htaccess with the relevant settings; a search for password .htaccess turns up plenty of tutorials on how to do this. I imagine there are similar facilities available in IIS, but I've never had occasion to know about them.

And just to be clear, as far as your web server's concerned, the "download" or "display" of an MS Word document is no different from the "download" or "display" of an HTML page or an image, so no special consideration is needed for that. - IMSoP (talk) 20:52, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Because PHP will not block people from directly linking to the word document, I suggest using .htaccess to protect the directory that the word document is in. Any attempt to access any file there will prompt for a password. -- kainaw™ 14:13, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

remote monitor shutoff

Is it possible to remotely shut off a computer's monitor? Explanation: I'm away from my house and on a sucky comp, and have a VNC software installed on my comp at my house. I manage a website, so I keep files on my computer (and nowhere else). I need to be able to access/edit those files, without downloading them to this computer (which, as I said, sucks/has a tiny harddrive). So I need to VNC to my house's comp. But the problem is, I have another person residing in my house, and that person is considerably comp-illiterate. If s/he saw the computer moving by itself, s/he would freak out and unplug it, smash it with a baseball bat, or just point at it menacingly and repeatedly yell, "Witch!"(end sentence) So I need to be able to shut off the monitor, or at least make it display a constant, unmoving image. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 22:34, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Why not just leave the monitor off when you are away? Also, I think you can configure your VNC or whatever to open a completely new session instead of attaching to the existing one running on the display. --128.97.244.52 (talk) 01:02, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm guessing that this other person actually uses the computer monitor at times, so you want it left on for them when you're not using it. There are appliance timers which could cut the power to the monitor at certain times, that would be the cheapest and easiest solution. I suppose there are also Internet controlled switches you could get, but that sounds rather involved and expensive. Also note that, depending on the monitor, when you turn the power back on it may not turn the monitor back on without physically hitting the ON button again. StuRat (talk) 01:54, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Eh... I believe that I should reword the question. The other person uses a different computer, but will see my comp's monitor (while walking by, etc.); so no, they're not actually using mine. I cannot go home right now to plug my comp into an appliance timer. I need some way to, without physically touching anything, make my comp's monitor display nothing. Maybe there's something in the XP control panel on this? The home comp is using XP (please, no switch-to-Linux comments). flaminglawyer^cneverforget 02:35, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

I still don't get it. If nobody is using it, then why is the monitor on? --128.97.245.100 (talk) 03:53, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

(Sorry - but this would be REALLY easy in Linux!) You can't turn off the power to the monitor remotely. Windows really isn't a proper multi-user operating system - so I don't think you can do it. Can't you just phone the other person and ask them to turn off your monitor "because you forgot to do it before you left"? SteveBaker (talk) 03:56, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

For 128.x (hi), the monitor is on because I can. I leave it on so that when I have an impulse to look something up on Wikipedia, I don't have to wait 5 seconds (oh dear!) for my monitor to warm up. And for Steve (hi Steve), I'm not going to switch to Linux no matter how hard you push, and I'm not calling John Roommate just to say "I forgot to turn off my comp monitor. Can you turn it off, pretty please with a cherry on top, so that I can save some ridiculously small amount of money on my electric bill?". So I can't do any site-managing tonight... :( Oh well. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 05:25, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

On mine, I can go to the control Panel, pick the Display icon, go to the Settings tab, pick the Advanced button, and change the color map to 0 red, 0 green, and 0 blue. That may or may not work for you, depending on your monitor and graphics card. If it does work for you, be careful, as that may make it difficult to reset later. Another possibility is the Power Management settings. I'm not sure if they are triggered by any computer activity or only use of the keyboard or mouse. In the latter case, the screen might already be dark, and stay dark, even when you access the computer remotely. StuRat (talk) 05:58, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but this whole story sounds a little... fishy to me. Can't you just call your friend and say "If the mouse is moving, don't worry, it's me doing it. I'm controlling the computer remotely. Yes, you can do that.". It's not that big of a deal. 83.250.202.208 (talk) 23:57, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah - I agree. This sounds a lot like someone who is trying to hack into someone's PC and doesn't want them to see what's going on. It's simply not credible that you can't convince your roommate to either turn off the monitor or ignore what's going on. I'm sorry - I just don't believe you. Since I don't approve of hacking - I'm not giving any advice. SteveBaker (talk) 05:23, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

I agree it sounds a little off, but we all have our weird hangups about stuff like this. I recall back in the day scanning through reams of gopher pages trying to find someone's email address. One of the help pages I came across said (paraphrasing here): "For some bizarre reason people won't just call their friend to ask for the address. That's insane! Just ask your friend or uncle or whatever and they'll tell you their address!" So I did and got on with my life, but I'm sure if WP had existed back then, I'd have asked a group of strangers how to look up my friend's email address rather than asking him directly and, based on the some of the pages I came across, I wouldn't have been the only one. Some plans sound fine in your head and only sounds really weird to other people. Matt Deres (talk) 21:20, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Oh! i know. This is genious, lol. While on vnc, change the resolution to something huge... so the physical monitor can't show it(so it'll show the crappy message saying out of range), but you still see it trough vnc(a little big i guess). Now.. if that doesn't work why can't you tell the person what you're doing exactly, i never had problems with that; my comp illiterate friends always understand how i can get into computers from the internet. Mile92 (talk) 16:02, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

If your monitor is off because the OS shut it off automatically, I don't think VNC will turn it back on. I think the wake-up is caused by interrupts produced by keyboard presses or mouse movement. (I'd have to experiment to be sure.) Certainly ssh'ing and port-forwarding a VNC session from my linux workstation doesn't wake up the monitor. For example, you wouldn't need to wait for the 5 seconds it takes for your monitor to "wake up" because pixels on the screen are being displayed from the same framebuffer as the VNC session, one view is not dependent on the other. -- JSBillings 17:34, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Different monitors respond to bad resolutions differently. I must be the only one here who actually uses VNC on Windows... What you want to do is look for the Remote Input / Blank Monitor option. On my computer, it's available by right-clicking on the titlebar and selecting "Enable Remote Input/Monitor", or by looking for the icon of a mouse with a green line through it. I use UltraVNC; I don't know if the version you use supports this feature or not. Basically it launches a process that blanks out the screen to the viewer but allows you to continue working - I use this when I don't want end users to see tweaks in the backend (such as temporarily disabling the proxy server). Please post back if you have any trouble with this. Coreycubed (talk) 20:48, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

December 7

Xbox

I have two original Xboxes (one is modded). I am wondering if there is a way to hook them up together to make a regular desktop computer. On one of them, the processor is fried, but everything else is ok. The other one works perfectly. Even if I can't hook them up, though, can I still put a desktop linux distro for the PowerPC processor on the one that works? 74.194.198.190 (talk) 00:00, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't know anything specific about this, but I can say that you'd better have steady hands, a couple extra copper wires, and have ready access to a solder. And be aware that this will definitely void your warranty, and you'll never ever be able to use them as regular old XBOX's again. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 00:05, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

The original Xbox has an Intel processor, not a PowerPC processor, so keep that in mind when you choose an OS. -- JSBillings 00:16, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

(OP here) I have already voided the warranty. I modded it. It only cost me 15 dollars anyway. I should have done my research about the processor, I thought I had read somewhere that it was PowerPC; however, it appears that it is a Coppermine processor. Is there is linux distro that will run on this type of processor? I found several that are Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 03:53, 7 December 2008 (UTC) I can't seem to find out what instruction set it uses. Also, what would I do with the copper wire. I have the solder and a gun, so what do I need to do? Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 03:45, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

1. Hooking a dead Xbox to a good one: The short answer is "No". You'd need to know a heck of a lot about the functions of the specific pins of every chip - and be prepared to rewrite every line of software in the machine...if you have the skills and knowledge necessary to even consider doing that then you would definitely not be asking the question here - so I deduce that you don't - hence the answer is "No".
2. Linux: There is a Linux port for the Xbox360 (which DOES have a 3.2GHz 3-core PowerPC processor) - you can find out all about it here. If you are talking about the old (not-360) Xbox (which DOESN'T have a PowerPC - it's a 733MHz Intel CopperMine processor) then you need this page instead.

SteveBaker (talk) 03:47, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

The only thing wrong with the dead Xbox is the processor. Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 03:53, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Well...(a) How can you be sure of that? and (b) it really doesn't help because there is no remotely simple way to add the hardware from one Xbox onto the other and have it actually DO anything - and even if you could, you'd have to rewrite large tracts of the boot code, the operating system and the applications...and I'm sure you don't know how to do that. This would be a HUGE project - and a fairly useless one too. If you had the skills to do it (I've been in the business for 30 years and I doubt I could do it) - it would still be a ridiculous waste of effort - for the time involved, you'd be better off by far just buying a new computer.

The processor that the Xbox uses is custom hardware for that machine - you can't just buy a coppermine chip from Intel and plug it in. So repairing your older Xbox would require that you send it back to Microsoft to get it fixed...and that would cost more than a previous-generation Xbox is worth. Game consoles are simply not designed to be repaired, modified or otherwise tinkered around with.

SteveBaker (talk) 05:03, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, I guess I won't put them together then. However, it seems that you were correct. The hard drive from the old Xbox also has a problem. I am getting Xebian right now, but the Xbox won't boot from CD (?) and since something is not right on the hard drive it won't boot into the normal Xbox OS, so is there any way to get Xebian installed? Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 05:17, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Hold on - you can't just boot an Xbox from a regular CD. You need to look back at the links I gave you earlier - there is a complicated dance you have to go through to boot Linux on your Xbox. I have not actually tried it myself - so you need to check out the site links I gave you and ask your questions there. However, running Linux on an Xbox with a dead hard drive isn't going to work either. SteveBaker (talk) 05:20, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Word: Tracking changes though I toggled it off

I'm working in a Word document. In some version, I and another person used "track changes", and there are still a couple of comments marked as "changes." At the moment, however, I just want to work normally in the document, so I switched off "track changes." Or so I thought...

The document includes an automatic enumeration. When I move items in that list (so that, e.g., # 13 is moved above # 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12), all numbers get updated... but those changes get marked as changes. Strangely, they are marked in the color that is usually used to mark changes of the other person who worked on the document (not of me).

I've tried to switch "track changes" back on and back off, but to no avail. What on earth is going on, and how can I get rid of it?! --Ibn Battuta (talk) 06:07, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

TI 89 Titanium

I have recently removed and replaced all 5 batteries of my TI 89 Titanium graphing calculator, and, ever since, I have been unable to transfer files from my computer to it. Both devices will recognize that they are connected, and the computer will even recognize that the calculator is a TI 89 Titanium, but when I try to send a file to the calculator, a message pops up that says that the file could not be transmitted, and that I should "Please try again." What should I do? Lucas Brown (talk) 19:21, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Remove all batteries (including a possible backup battery - disassemble it if needed), and wait 4 hours, then re-insert the battery. Mighta be something got corrupt in the memory. Or you might try a factory reset.HardDisk (talk) 23:07, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Is it remotely possible that you put one of the batteries in backwards? With 5 batteries - it's possible that one or more of them are only there to support communications with the PC. This is actually pretty likely because batteries generally produce between 1.2 and 1.5 volts each - so five of them produces 6 to 7.5 volts. Since hardly any electronics needs more than the 4.8 to 6 volts you get from four batteries, that seems like a really strong possibility. SteveBaker (talk) 03:31, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Text messages onto computer

Hi, I have a motorola W375 with some text messages I'd like to copy verbatim (+ metadata, eg date received) onto my computer. When I hook the computer and phone up over usb, I can only access the pictures and music stored on the phone. How do I get at the text messages, short of emailing them to myself (at cost) or typing them out? 79.78.66.177 (talk) 21:45, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

It is standard practice to store the text messages on the telephone company's server, not on your phone. So, you could rip your phone apart and copy every little spec of info stored on it and you won't find a single text message. -- kainaw™ 22:31, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

In which case, I'd like to have a way of archiving them. My fundamental problem is the same: getting the text messages from wherever they are, onto my computer. 79.78.66.177 (talk) 22:39, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Really? Every phone I've ever owned (admittedly not many) stored SMS messages on the internal memory/SIM. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 23:20, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

It may be network dependent. I've used Sprint, Nextel, and Verizon - all in the United States. All of them stored SMS messages on the network's server, not on the phone. -- kainaw™ 23:37, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't know whether it's operator/location-dependent, but (here in the UK) I hook my mobile up to the computer using Samsung PC Studio and can use that to transfer messages, backups/synching etc - I can even type the messages in the program and send it that way. I'm sure it's the same with the Nokia PC Suite. [cycle~] (talk) · 01:40, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

You could always forward the messages to an email account. They would remain accessible to your in box and/or you could then cut and paste. Time consuming and possibly expensive (depending on your plan) but effective. cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 14:35, 8 December 2008 (UTC) oops, sorry, I just read your last sentence. cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 14:37, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

From your IP address, it seems you are in fact in the UK, so yes, the messages are probably on either a) your phone's internal memory or b) the SIM card, as will the phone numbers in your address book. (Try putting the SIM into another phone, and you'll soon discover which.) The idea of storing them on the network's server seems weird to me, but then I gather SMS doesn't have quite the same reach in the US.

I believe Orange offer a service, or used to, where they make a backup copy of all the data on your SIM for you. Alternatively, it's worth looking around for software or hardware for your phone that allows access to the extra data, since it's quite common to want to "sync" this kind of info. - IMSoP (talk) 19:16, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

All GSM phones stores SMS in SIM card and/or phone memory. (According to Motorola W375 page, this is a GSM phone) GSM network stores only sent, undelivered messages. (If messages were stored in network, it would mean network access every time you eant to access them (and they would be inaccesiible while out of coverage)). If you have data cable (and phone can be recognized as modem), messages can be read using AT commends by terminal application. I do not have expierence with motorola phones, but this (AT+CMGL and AT+CMGR) works for siemens a65 (but does not works for nokia n70). There might be some application, which might allow access to messages using some obscure protocol (as in case with nokia's pc suite). -Yyy (talk) 08:15, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

December 8

What's this charcter?

What is this character:

่

I can enter is with some alt + #### combination, but I forgot. Does anyone know? When entered into the old MSN messengers, it makes the font huge. Acceptable (talk) 03:51, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

It's a Thai tone mark: mai ek, U+0E48. Bendono (talk) 04:05, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

How do I enter the character using alt + ####? Acceptable (talk) 04:13, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Use the hex code point that I gave above. Assuming that HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Input Method\EnableHexNumpad is enabled, then alt + 0e48. (You need to hold Alt the whole time.) Bendono (talk) 04:42, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but how do I enter an "e" with the number pad? Acceptable (talk) 21:47, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

WW2 Colossus versus modern laptop

A CBS News story by Shelia MacVicar [3] about Bletchly Park, World War 2 HQ for cracking Axis code messages, claims that the WW2 Colossus computer "still works as fast as a laptop." The Colossus computer article in Wikipedia says that recently a 1.5 Ghz laptop was able to break a code faster than a restored Colossus. It credits Colossus, according to some reckoning, as having "an equivalent clock of 5.8 Mhz", still orders of magnitude slower than the laptop. Is the CBS story full of beans? Edison (talk) 04:31, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Be careful. The Colossus wasn't intended to be a general purpose computer - it had lots of specialised hardware for code-breaking. So it might well beat a modern laptop at codebreaking - but take a week to balance your checkbook! SteveBaker (talk) 05:14, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm - having read the Colossus computer article, I think the CBS story is wrong. We have a direct (and referenced) quote from someone who broke a code using a 1.5GHz laptop 240 times faster than the Colossus replica could manage - so that pretty much says CBS were exaggerating. But it's still possible that there were other operations that the Colossus could do that are still more suited to it's highly specialized architecture - and might therefore allow it to beat a modern PC at that very specific task. SteveBaker (talk) 05:56, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

I seriously doubt it. Modern computers are fast, I highly doubt there is anything Colossus would be able to do faster. A regular cellphone is several orders of magnitude faster than the Apollo-program computers, and that was 20 years later. I understand that application-specific computers are faster than general purpose ones, but it's been 60 years since Colossus. No way it would be able to beat a laptop in code-cracking. 83.250.202.208 (talk) 11:39, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Note: Regular cellphone processors are several orders of magnitude faster than any processors sent into space, regardless of whether they are Apollo-program ones, or 2008 ones. Like the Colossus, space-program chips (e.g. SPARC-design Leon) are reconfigurable, while cellphone processors like the ARM-design snapdragon are not. -- Fullstop (talk) 19:51, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

@Steve: the Colossus didn't really have any specialised hardware for code breaking at all. Bletchley had a very clever system whereby they broke the tasks of analysing the settings of a geimschreiber link into a few very simple (very mechanical) tasks. One was a very simple (by modern standards) letter-group frequency analysis (which is just a few counters). Another was "dragging" a crib over a ciphertext (testing a range of cribs against possible wheel settings), and another was "boxing", which involved exploiting statistical similarities between related machine settings, and was again another kind of counting. Before Colossus these jobs were done by an oddbod variety of bespoke machines (one rightly named a Robinson after Heath), which had no real stored program (they just did what a loop of punched paper tape did them, and thus didn't even have any kind of real conditional logic). The Colossus proved to be faster and more flexible, but even then it was heavily attended by wrens who feverishly reconfigured it and did a lot of the functions we'd expect even the most basic computer to do itself. Fundamentally the colossus reproduced the same statistical hacks that the earlier machines had, which in turn had (briefly) been done on paper by people. It made no attempt to simulate the target machine's operation, so it was entirely unlike a dedicated crypto-breaker box like the EFF's DES-cracker. It really didn't do much more than a bit of counting and some strcmp. 87.114.128.88 (talk) 01:02, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, the evidence that there was a lack of a specialised architecture to the Colossus is that it ended up doing a bunch of tasks it wasn't intended for. It was built (in the face of stiff opposition from those who didn't trust electronics' reliability) to do just a couple of functions; but by the end of the war it was doing a whole slew of other tasks (and coping with significant enhancements made by the worried germans) - much of this is down to clever chaps like Donald Michie figuring out how to program it to do new things with its incredibly limited resources. Unlike the electromechanical monsters it replaced (which really were built with a single specific task in mind) it really was a proper programmable computer. 87.114.128.88 (talk) 01:21, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

It wasn't a Turing-complete machine (which is surprising given how much of it was designed by Turing) - and "programming" it meant rewiring bits of it, not typing in a program...so to describe it as a "proper programmable computer" is a bit of a stretch. SteveBaker (talk) 06:47, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Read/Write rating of CF card

What is a typical read/write rating (ie how many times can it read/write) of a CF card? I'm only look for an estimate (1000 or 10,000 for example). Thanks, --Fir0002 06:37, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

The answer is that the number of read cycles is infinite but the number of write cycles is in the 10,000 range - (probably higher these days) but it varies a lot from one generation of hardware to the next. But the problem is not as simple as it first seems because you have to count the number of writes. Suppose you have a 4Gbyte MP3 player based on flash memory...when you write a song to it, it only takes up maybe 1Mbyte - but writing 10,000 1Mbyte songs to the MP3 player won't trash it because each song does not update the entire memory. So long as the software is smart enough to spread new data out across the media, your MP3 player (which can hold 4,000 1Mbyte songs) could be 'written to' 10,000x4,000=40 million times...so you could write (and then erase) 10,000 songs to it every day for about 10 years before it would crap out on you. Where things go horribly wrong is when device manufacturers are not very smart about how they use the devices. Suppose the MP3 player has a single memory location that counts the number of songs it's holding currently. Since that location would be written to every single time you wrote a track to it's memory, after only 1 day of loading 10,000 songs - that specific memory location would die and your MP3 player would stop working.

There have been some notorious cases of that happening. Apple had a printer that used a flash memory to remember the paper size settings - the intention was that this setting would only be changed through an interactive control panel on the computer and so it would happen quite rarely. That was back when the number of write cycles was probably around 1,000. It's very unlikely that someone would switch back and forth between 'letter sized' paper and 'legal sized' more than a few times a week - so the printer would probably last for years in normal use. Then someone came out with some new piece of software that redundantly reset the paper size at the start of every page it printed and these printers started failing after an alarmingly short amount of time.

SteveBaker (talk) 13:33, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

The CompactFlash article indicates that most newer cards use "NAND" type Flash Memory, and the latter article indicates a write endurance rating of around 100K. --LarryMac | Talk 14:01, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Question

Why does [4] say "None that we know of" for games that have no multiplayer modes? There is clearly no multiplayer in those games. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.230.180.175 (talk) 07:06, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Because sometimes there's a third-party add-on that converts a single-player game into a multiplayer game. --Carnildo (talk) 00:20, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

That reminds me...

Anybody happen to know if there is a way to get my music collection from my original Xbox hard drive to my computer, or to a 360 for that matter? I've ripped all of my cd's already, but I had some songs on the xbox that were by local artists and don't seem to be available anywhere anymore. DaRkAgE7_[Talk] 07:53, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

They're located at E:\tdata\fffe0000\music on the Xbox's HDD, in WMA files. You can either hook the HDD up to your computer and use a tool from to read it (with caution), or use a softmod or modchip to get an FTP server running on the Xbox, and access the files through there. The first thing will require 'hot swapping' the harddrive to unlock it, and plenty of information on that can be found at xbox-scene.com, most of it centered around doing that in order to install a softmod [5]. Softmodding can be done that way, or via a gamesave exploit [6], which might be somewhat safer. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 00:42, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Question 2

What operating system is considered the best of all-time? 60.230.180.175 (talk) 12:58, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

That depends on your definition of "best" and your definition of "an operating system" and on whom is doing the "considering".

• Is Windows AN operating system or is it many operating systems that have gone by the same family name? Is UNIX one operating system or many? (Are IRIX, Solaris and Linux counted as "a UNIX" or not? Should we count MacOSX as "BSD UNIX"?)
• Is "best" the one that sold the most copies? Is it the one that crashed the least? The one for which most applications have been written? The most elegantly structured? The most widely ported? The longest lived? Depending on what you want, the answers will vary.
• Worse still, the definition of what an operating system *IS* is a little tricky to pin down. Windows is more than an operating system - it includes a windowing environment and a bunch of applications...but UNIX is the operating system and the common applications - the frequently associated windowing system is not a part of it. Linux is JUST the kernel - the applications are mostly GNU. BSD is like Linux in most places it's used - but as the kernel of MacOSX, it's just the kernel. If we consider the kernels that are incorporated into things like microwave oven controllers and car engine management systems as "operating systems" then the question opens so wide that it would be quite utterly impossible to decide.

At best, your question is vague - most likely it's flame-bait. Either way we cannot (and should not) answer it. SteveBaker (talk) 13:14, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Don't listen to SteveBaker. The best operating system of all time is clearly SHODAN. Duh. --140.247.243.245 (talk) 15:23, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

The MCP might have something to say about that! <end of line> SteveBaker (talk) 03:22, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Haiku? Tama1988 (talk) 09:11, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps the disappointing answer to your question is "they're all the same". While it's fashionable for people to have a fave they claim beats the others hands down, for mainstream OSes (ones you're realistically likely to run) there's disappointingly little diversity in architecture, capability, or performance. Of the "big guys" (windows, bsd, macos, linux, solaris, aix, hpux) they're all portable (yes, even windows, when MS care to port it). The great monolithic/microkernel schism is less defined in practice, as most of that lot lie somewhere between the two extremes. They all support processes and threads and files and protected memory and IPC and network sockets and a bunch of GUIs that all work just about the same. They have different (but not unrelated) APIs, but those overwhelmingly are workalikes - to such an extent that writing a windows API system for unix, and a unix compatibility layer for windows, didn't turn out to be (fundamentally) that difficult a task (it's mostly a matter of endless detail). Now there's far more diversity in research OSes, but by the time concepts from research make it into "real" OSes the burden of unfortunate practicalities and the need to support existing software seems to mean we all end up with BlandOSv3. 87.114.128.88 (talk) 14:39, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

User:Topology Expert computer help

Could someone please try to help this user (maybe respond at his talk page)? He is having some sort of a strange problem with his keyboard[7] and asked me to ask for help for him here. Thanks, Nsk92 (talk) 17:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

It looks like the prob is that many of the letters they type are being dropped. I would suspect the issue is with the keyboard itself. First, try cleaning it. Hold it upside down over a trash can and shake it. This should dislodge any crumbs, hairs, etc. If this doesn't help, try a new keyboard. If you don't have a spare one at home, buy a new one, they only cost around $20 each. StuRat (talk) 17:58, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

(double u)hen I type (double u), my computer log off. (double u)hen I type the firt letter of your uername, the ection blank.

TOP EPERT

I'm guess that the control key is stuck or broken. Ctrl-W is a standard "Close Window" command for Windows. Not sure which username first letter is being referred to, Ctrl-N in Internet Explorer will open a new window using the current URL. --LarryMac | Talk 18:43, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

If you're using Windows, hit Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Ease of Access -> On-Screen Keyboard. That's for Vista at least, but it shouldn't be much different on other versions of Windows, and it'll be along the same lines on other operating systems. Won't fix your keyboard, but it should make typing a bit easier. CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 18:57, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Thankyou for your help (and to Nsk92 for posting this)! The problem does not seem to continue but basically I had these problems:

'w' logged off the computer 's' blanked the Wikipage 'x' did not work (just made 's' appear so the keys switched functions) '2' did not work (just completely blanked a microsoft word document and I could not undo to get back to the original) '~' made the letters PKWHF (or something like that) appear and blanked a few lines

Actually, two reboots ago, it was working but one reboot ago it was not and now it is working again... Maybe the control key was stuck (it seemed to work when I tapped the key so thankyou for that) but I am still unsure of exactly what the problem was. Does anyone know whether this is because of a particular setting of the computer (in terms of command keys) or something of that sort? If so, how to undo it?

Thankyou for your help.

Topology Expert (talk) 19:47, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Take apart the keyboard and clean everything carefully. The "bigger" keys are likely to catch loooots of dirt, at least on my experience in my friend's computer keyboards (HELL, what did they DO in front of their computer?!). You can wash the plastic parts (keys, housing) with warm water (a bit liquid soap is good for coke remainings). The electronic foil containing the printed logic can be cleaned by rubbing CAREFULLY over it with some wet piece of cloth or toilet paper. Please, do care about screws, btw... HardDisk (talk) 23:05, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Thankyou, but my computer i a laptop... (and the problem i back).

Top epert.

Maybe it's time you took your laptop to a specialist, or try to get a replacement keyboard from the manufacturer or on eBay. You can also consider using an external keyboard (not so portable, but at least it will do if you don't need to travel too far). If you really want to go for a do-it-yourself clean then read on...

You can dismantle a laptop keyboard; it's just a little trickier. If your laptop is like mine, the keyboard is held in by 2 screws under a bezel near the screen. You will need to remove some other parts/panels to get at the screws that hold the bezel on. The keyboard is also connected to the motherboard by a very short (and fragile) ribbon cable. Once free of the rest of the laptop, the keys can be carefully prised off. The base of the keyboard and the keys can be cleaned as described by HardDisk above. If any parts become even slightly wet make sure it is absolutely dry before reassembly (leaving the parts out in a warm atmosphere for a couple of days will do). Unfortunately, there is no good way to test it without reassembling your laptop.

One last thing: Poking around inside your laptop has a high risk of breaking something critical and it will invalidate any warranty. If the machine is still under warranty, call the manufacturer's tech support first.

Astronaut (talk) 14:00, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Assuming it is the control key which is sticking, and you have two control keys on the laptop, you could also disable the bad control key (by prying the key off) and exclusively use the other. It will look pretty bad, but hopefully solve the problem. StuRat (talk) 17:15, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, that is what I have done. But according to what you have said control-w closes the window but not for me. Instead, 'w' logs off my computer. Does anyone know whether there is a program involved (or some setting) that I can set to default? Topology Expert (talk) 17:18, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

It doesn't sound like a setting - the reassignments seem a bit too random for that! It might be worth checking the Fn key isn't stuck down - the manufacturers seem to do all sorts of different things with that. Come to that, check all the keys! Then borrow a separate keyboard from a desktop PC, plug it into the laptop and try typing with that. If the keys work with the separate keyboard, the problem's probably that the laptop's keyboard is sending the wrong codes - perhaps a driver problem, or just a connection behaving oddly. If they don't, it's more likely to be a software problem of some kind.

By the way, does Captain Vindaloo's idea work? AJHW (talk) 11:45, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the help! I couldn't test Captain's idea because I don't have an 'ease of access' section on my menu. Topology Expert (talk) 15:20, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

No it works! But it is very tedious to type using that. Sometimes, my keys work; sometimes they don't. I don't really understand it...

Topology Expert (talk) 19:17, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like it could be a hardware problem, then. The test with the separate keyboard should confirm that, if you can manage to do that. I think the most likely problems are a driver that's conflicting with the keyboard's driver, or a dodgy connection somewhere in the keyboard. If it's a driver problem, you might be able to fix it yourself by going to the manufacturer's website and searching for updated drivers. (Make sure you choose the right model number - the wrong driver can foul the system up badly! It would also be a good idea to make a System Restore point, so you can undo the update if it makes things worse.) A bad connection will be harder to fix yourself - so if updating the drivers doesn't work I'd be inclined to get an engineer, or the manufacturer's technical support if it's still in warranty. AJHW (talk) 12:38, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Choosing web-hosting

How should be proceed to choose a web-hosting company? All are incredibly cheap, promise 99.9% uptime, and lots of stuff and all seem to have terrible review all over the internet about how they were down for days...--Mr.K. (talk) 18:35, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

If you want dependable webhosting service, you need a service which your monthly payment matters. If you are paying $1/month and have a complaint, why should the company care? It is just a dollar. If you are paying $25/month, the company might listen to your complaint, but you aren't important. If you are paying $100/month, the company may actually start taking your complaint seriously. You will see this in what the companies offer. The dirt cheap ones say "you can do this" and "you can do that". The expensive ones say "we will do this" and "we will do that". I am speaking from personal experience on the webhosting side. I do not even attempt to compete with the cheap companies. I charge a minimum of $120/month, but I have a staff of people that handle any issues the clients come up with as soon as the client calls in. Most problems are handled right away while the client is on the phone. The clients I have do not want to learn to do things themselves. They want to pay someone else to do everything and have the ability to talk to a human whenever they have questions. So, you need to decide what you want and then find someone who will give it to you for a price you are willing to pay for. -- kainaw™ 20:01, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Note that servers that charge $1-10 a month are almost always colocating your site with dozens of others on the same server rack. Yes, your $10 a month doesn't mean much, but when the site goes down it's usually the whole batch that go down, and that has a bit more weight (suddenly we're talking $120-200 a month at stake). I've found that the reasonably cheap hosting (e.g. $10/mo. and lower) are, in my experience, pretty good about keeping good up-times, because they want the reputation and the mass signups that come with it. It's true that the individual matters little to them but their business model requires that many individuals be happy. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:31, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Who's your ISP? My ISP hosts my site for free without ads. It doesn't support server-side scripting, though. If you're a student, you usually get a free site, too. At my college, our sites are free without ads and with Perl scripting.--192.94.73.1 (talk) 22:07, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Even if your ISP doesn't host sites, many people have "always-on" high-speed Internet connections. If you want to "do it all yourself", you can host your site on a computer in your house and use one of many dynamic domain services to keep a domain name pointed to your home's IP address. -- kainaw™ 01:20, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

If you really need very cheap hosting, my suggestion is to try several of them out. At the same time. Use something like [8] to check on them regularly. Send them emails on several questions. After the month see which one is best for yourself. If you dont wanna wait 1 month, then time is to you more important than money so you should ignore those offering hosting for 1$ and pick a hosting with high ratio of good/bad reviews. And if you *really* need 99.9% uptime, then you need a [Service level agreement|SLA] guaranteeing 99.9% and that will cost you quite a lot. — Shinhan < talk > 11:15, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

There are lots of good web hosts out there. The review systems seem good and you just check the reviews and that they provide what you need. It is worth avoiding the free ones but even a tiny amount of money will get you a decent service if your requirements are basic. Support costs are especially important to suppliers so you can't expect many facilities if you don't pay much. Dmcq (talk) 12:02, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd like to point out that there are bazillions of "free" hosting sites out there. They give anywhere from 512MB to 50GB of "free" storage. On the con side, though, they have limits on what types of files you can upload (i.e., no EXE's or obscure endings like QRH's), and they limit your max file size, and they can sometimes disappear with little/no prior notice, leaving you without your files. It happened to me with [9] (notice that there's nothing there...). And they aren't scared of losing customers, so their downtimes are pretty long. Another personal experience: L4RGE (at least it still exists...) has been claiming to be "upgrading their servers," which is a legitimate excuse for being down; the only thing with that is, it doesn't take 3 months to upgrade servers. And they've been regularly posting messages from the "staff" saying that they're having "difficulties" with their FTP service, which is 100% crap because they're just running Linux like everyone else... And most of them don't provide an IP address, so you can't register them with a DNS thingy-service. So, moral of the story: don't use them. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 06:39, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Note that 99.9% uptime really isn't that good; that's (on average) about 8 hours of downtime a year. 99.99% is 45 mins a year; even the industry gold standard "five nines" is about 5 minutes a year. Any supplier with a half-decent SLA already has things set up so that routine problems like a router dying or a server failing don't have any impact - but this means that when you get outages you get them in big chunks with hard to fix external causes. For example, one of the two electricity substations that supply one of my vendors in London went on fire a couple of months ago, leaving the remaining one at dangerous overcapacity - had it gone too my hosting supplier would have had to physically remove his servers from the building (because the fix would take weeks, and there just isn't enough mobile generating capacity available to rent) install them in another facility altogether. With everyone else doing the same thing, I recon that would have taken a week to come back on line. Once you get above three nines you're essentially talking geographically-distinct, trunk-network-distinct, international (legal jurisdiction distinct), replicated equipment. Setting that up is expensive and difficult, and needs skilled people and hefty bandwidth to keep it ticking. Even Amazon's web services platform (which runs on such a network) partially fell over last month, disgruntling many. 87.114.128.88 (talk) 00:35, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Question

What's an effective way, on any site, of avoiding a user you don't like if you want to post something in a page that they often use? Yes, I know you can post it while they are inactive, but there are some factors:

1. What if you don't know what time zone that user lives in?
2. What if you don't know what time zone that user lives in, but you know they live in a country that uses multiple time zones?
3. What if that user lives in the same time zone as you?

Are there any other ways of avoiding such users? 58.165.14.208 (talk) 21:14, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Does the page you and the user happen to work on mean a lot to you? If it doesn't mean a great deal to you, then avoid editing that page. Wikipedia is a very big place, so there are tons of other articles for you to work on. If the article you're editing is important to you , then try to be as polite and civil as you can in dealing with that user (easier said than done, I know). If you feel you can no longer reason with them, you can take it up to WP:WQA. --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 05:58, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

No. Why not simply change your username or move on to a different website? Failing that, you could try keeping in mind that everyone is different and the fact you don't like this individual doesn't mean you both can't learn to at least get along. Is it just me or was a very similar question posted before? Matt Deres (talk) 11:42, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Installing software on Ubuntu

I have Ubuntu on my system on dual boot with Windows. I really want to learn to use it, but I cant seem to figure out some of the most basic things. Currently, I want to install Adobe Flash Player, but it's not working. For each build type, it's saying the architecture is not supported - it wants to use i386, while it is reporting I have x86_64 (apparently I have a 64 bit processor without even knowing it).

Help! Magog the Ogre (talk) 22:52, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Try nspluginwrapper, the Ubuntu wiki somewhere has an howto for Flash on 64bit... and you mighta take a look at this UF thread. HardDisk (talk) 23:01, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Uh oh - "Dont try alternate flash installs...which can leave files that conflict with the flash plugin." I pulled a bit of a hack on the last install (Unix leaves me the impression that little else is possible) and installed the 32 bit version (which doesn't work). How do I undo it before following these instructions. Magog the Ogre (talk) 23:32, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Fixed italics. « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 19:43, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

There isn't a stable release of the x86_64 firefox flash plugin. Install the i386 one and use nspluginwrapper. There's experimental support for x86_64 now, check out the Installed user base section of the Adobe Flash article for a reference. -- JSBillings 00:52, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I downloaded the rpm (the only type available), and archive manager stated "Could not open: Archive type not supported". I will say right now that I am quickly losing my patience with Linux; it is no where near as nice convenient as Windows or Mac. Magog the Ogre (talk) 05:46, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

And why the heck can't I log in as root? It always tells me I have an authentication failure... don't know the default password. Magog the Ogre (talk) 07:07, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

You can't log in as root in Ubuntu. You just can't. (Well, without screwing around with the default configuration anyway.) You should use sudo for all commands that you don't normally have the privileges to execute. « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 19:43, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

And if you want to be root for a while, type "sudo su", and enter your ordinary password. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 22:38, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

RPM is not the only version available. If you click "Different operating system or browser? ", you will see .tar.gz, which you should use for Ubuntu. Rather than blaming "Linux" for being inconvenient, consider Adobe is the one distributing a proprietary plugin without support for x64 on GNU/Linux (it's finally in beta, after literally years). They are responsible for their own software. Anyway, try the instructions at http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/install-flash-10-ubuntu-linux-64bit.html . Superm401 - Talk 19:54, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Copy whole IMAP repository to GMail

Hi all,

how do I clone my old IMAP repository to GMail (Google Apps)? Using Thunderbird ends up either in crashes or in mail loss (XP/Linux), KMail simply freezes (Linux)...what else options do I have to ensure that no single mail is lost?

Thanks,HardDisk (talk) 22:57, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Copy to local first. Then copy from local to gmail. Do not create IMAP folders from the client. Instead, create tags on gmail; these will subsequently appear as IMAP folders on your client. -- Fullstop (talk) 19:57, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

December 9

FTP Passive Mode behind NAT

Hello wikipedians,

I'm tryin to setup a Filezilla FTP server behind our router (which is a pc running pfsense). I was able to install FZ without a problem, and i forwarded port 21 (also made an exception for that port on the router) and im able to login into it.

Now, problem is, I can't list directories (been using WinSCP as client), so I set the passive-mode on the server with the following settings:

• External server IP: Obtain from http://ip.filezilla-project.org/ip.php
• (ticked) Don't Use external IP for local connections
• (ticked) Use custom port range: 44431-44431 (which i then also port-forwarded to the machine)

But I still can't get a listing... Any Ideas? Thanks in Advance PrinzPH (talk) 00:04, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

BTW, here's the log from the FZ server, IPs were changed:

(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - (not logged in) (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> USER n1listings
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - (not logged in) (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 331 Password required for n1listings
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - (not logged in) (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> PASS ***************
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 230 Logged on
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> SYST
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 215 UNIX emulated by FileZilla
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> FEAT
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 211-Features:
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> MDTM
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> REST STREAM
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> SIZE
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> MLST type*;size*;modify*;
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> MLSD
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> UTF8
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> CLNT
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> MFMT
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:52 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 211 End
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:53 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> PWD
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:53 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 257 "/" is current directory.
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:53 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> TYPE A
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:53 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 200 Type set to A
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:53 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> PASV
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:53 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 227 Entering Passive Mode (123,123,0,1,173,143)
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:07:53 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> LIST -a
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:03 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 425 Can't open data connection.
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:03 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> TYPE A
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:03 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 200 Type set to A
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:03 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> PASV
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:03 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 227 Entering Passive Mode
(123,123,0,1,173,143) (000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:04 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> LIST
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:14 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 425 Can't open data connection.
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:34 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> TYPE I
(000011) 12/9/2008 8:08:34 AM - n1listings (REMOTE-IP-HERE)> 200 Type set to I

PrinzPH (talk) 00:13, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe File Transfer Protocol#FTP and NAT devices would be informative. --128.97.245.172 (talk) 00:16, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Defeating Rhapsody

How do I reset the whole 25-plays-a-month limit when the month hasn't ended yet? --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 03:56, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Um - that would be stealing. I don't think we really want to encourage that kind of thing. SteveBaker (talk) 04:23, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I can't download anything, I only listen, so no thievery involved here. --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 04:35, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

And yet--isn't that the whole point of a limit? You don't need to download anything to do something illegal.--Ibn Battuta (talk) 07:23, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

If I can't keep the song then how's it illegal? --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 07:38, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Try Playlist.com. It's not all-inclusive, but it doesn't have a limit. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 08:29, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

So, your argument is "If I keep saying it can't be illegal, then it must be legal." Try using that in court. -- kainaw™ 13:00, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

You can't. You agreed to this licence when you signed up to the service, and attempting to circumvent the protection would both break the licence agreement, and may breach your local copyright laws, depending on where you live. Gunrun (talk) 09:36, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I guess you might be able to sign up for an additional account, but I don't know if that costs money or if it violates the EULA. Anyway, I use imeem.com (for free) to great effect, as I haven't yet not been able to find a song I wanted to listen to (and I listen to weird stuff!) DaRkAgE7_[Talk] 02:23, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for giving me an idea I just carried out. --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 06:37, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

sending big files

How do you send big files (between 20 and 100MB)? I used to use Yousendit (before you had to register), and I wonder if there's still some (easy-to-use) option for which I don't have to register. (P2P won't work because of the receiver.) --Ibn Battuta (talk) 07:23, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Try Rapidshare, Megaupload, or Badongo. See Category:File hosting. Magog the Ogre (talk) 09:08, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I've also seen FTP hosting services for as low at $5/month. Google "FTP Hosting" --70.167.58.6 (talk) 16:00, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Why are you recommending services with ridiculous captchas, lots of ads and forced waiting period before downloads? Those sites are good for warez but not for what the OP wants. I concur with grawity on drop.io. Also, you can set up a web server somewhere if you will be doing lots of transfers.

I like drop.io. --grawity 19:07, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Website

Is there a website where you can commission an artwork, say a painted sculpture, in ceramic, metal, or glass, where you pay who ever will do this for the least amount of money, and then say after a week (and that you can choose THIS time frame), noone can offer their price? (Like an ebay auction? (This is called best offer, I think.)) I know there's a website like this for like crafts, like for necklaces, and such.96.53.149.117 (talk) 08:25, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I can't speak for everyone, but I'm afraid I haven't the slightest what you're talking about. Could you please rephrase in different language? Magog the Ogre (talk) 09:09, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I understand - they're looking for a website where you post a description of a piece of art you want created and artists bid on the commission. Lowest bid wins, creates the piece and sends it to you. You can choose the time frame in which bids can be received (a week, a month...) — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 11:25, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

When you commission a piece of art, you are usually committed to paying for it at the agreed price once the artist has progressed beyond a certain (agreed) stage. Astronaut (talk) 13:29, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

There would have to be some pretty serious controls. You ask for the MonaLisa and you get macaroni-on-cardboard with fingerpaint...you are not going to be pleased with the results. The difficulty is that art is in the eye of the beholder and whether someone will like what they get is impossible to know. How would you settle disputes? "I asked for THIS and I got THAT so I'm not going to pay for it."...."But you asked for THIS and I gave you my artistic interpretation of THIS - which turns out to be THAT - so pay me right now!". On something like eBay - you can see objectively whether what was delivered was what was advertised - and if it's not, you can return it. But the trouble with bespoke art is that when you return the painting of your mother because it looks like a bunch of blue cubes with eyes stuck on at odd angles - the artist isn't going to be able to sell it to anyone else because they want paintings of THEIR mothers - not YOURS. So either the artist has no guarantee of getting paid - or you have no guarantee of getting a piece of art that you think is worth what you paid. SteveBaker (talk) 15:26, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

None of this is unique to a web site, however. Anyone who commissions art is subject to just such a problem. For example, the city of Detroit, Michigan commissioned a memorial to Joe Louis, looking for something to uplift Detroit, and got a giant fist instead: [10]. StuRat (talk) 16:33, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Surely any self respecting artist (and art buyer) would be able to describe the 'style' of the art they are looking for. If you ask for a traditional portrait and get presented an impressionist one then you could maybe have a case for not paying. I would say SteveBaker makes good points but I do think they could be relatively to fix and so I wouldn't be too surprised to find a site like you are requesting online somewhere.194.221.133.226 (talk) 15:36, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

NOt sure for artwork from a sculpture/etc. perspective but a website called sitepoint is one for art in a logo/company branding kind of way. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 14:31, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

If i understand the question correctly, i think the op is looking for something like http://www.getafreelancer.com/ , but for artwork. PrinzPH (talk) 20:20, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I think the OP has identified a gap in the market, one that could quite profitably be filled. A few months ago the BBC ran a radio program about a lage community of artists in China who produced copies of old masters in large quantities (and by copies I do mean hand-painted). These were then sold (as copies; it's only forgery when you try to claim something really is the Mona Lisa) by an Australian bloke to shops in the west. While these guys specialised in mass production, they would do one-off copies of just about any painting, and they had guys who specialised in different styles. It was a bit sad, as they were all real artists, who could make more doing Rembrants and Monets than they could sell their own stuff for. I think a website with a decent reputation system and a system of staged payments would overcome SteveBaker's concerns; as StuRat notes, there's always a mitigable risk of misunderstanding between artist and patron ("I want one Christ, 12 disciples, no kangaroos, and I want it by Friday"). Imagine, say, you wanted a preraphialite painting of your wife to give her for Christmas. You'd go onto CustomArt or whatever and search for artists who do oil paintings in that style. For each they show a range of thumbnails of their work. You pick three or four that you like and send them a request-for-quote (you want a 3x2 foot oil painting in the style of Millais of a woman in dress). They reply with quotes (and maybe with other examples of relevant stuff they've done). You pick one, and deposit the fee in CustomArt's escrow. You send the artist photos of your wife and more detailed specs (blue dress, lacey collar, make her look more rosey cheeked). A few days later he sends a sketch or a quick colour study, or maybe two or three quick studies. You approve these (or answer his specific queries), release a staged payment from escrow, and he gets to work. Part way through (say he's just done the face) he sends you a photo; if you approve that he gets another stage payment from escrow and he goes to finish the work. Finally you approve a photo of the final thing, he gets another payment, and he FedEx-es the painting to you. You receive it and release the final payment. You've gotten a bespoke (ish) painting to your specification by someone on the other side of the world, all for maybe $700. Bargain 87.114.128.88 (talk) 01:53, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Need to automate listbox in MS ACCESS 2003 like the one in MS EXCEL when we go to Menu: Format..Cells

Need to automate listbox in MS ACCESS 2003 like the one in MS EXCEL when we go to Menu: Format..Cells. On 'Number' tab, select number in 'Category' listbox and a 'Decimal places' listbox appears. This listbox changes the listindex value (ie the item selected) when we click on the up or down scrollbars. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.14.53.178 (talk) 12:44, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Converting Indeo AVIs into something current

I'm a Mac user and Indeo codecs will never be made into Mac OS X compatible code. Indeo for Mac only runs on Mac OS 9, but Mac OS 9 "Classic" has been eliminated from Mac OS X 10.5. So I'm stuck with a collection of unplayable Indeo-encoded AVIs. If I fire up Boot Camp and go to WinXP, what are some free converters that will allow me to convert these old Indeo movies into something more modern, like h.264 .M4Vs or Quicktime MOVs? --70.167.58.6 (talk) 15:58, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Try VirtualDub. APL (talk) 16:25, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

The article indicates that some versions can be read by FFmpeg—you might try ffmpegX? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:51, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

December 10

I need to see a comparison of Mobile Phones Operating Systems

I need to see a comparison of Mobile Phones Operating Systems and I couldn't find a page about that on wikipedia. Is there something that I can do to get that information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ahmedhesham3 (talk • contribs) 00:31, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Wow. With the new Google Android, we need that article. I'm surprised we don't already. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 06:02, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Clipboard catastrophe

I tried to paste a single character into Microsoft Works Word Processor (namely "à", bold, Times New Roman, size 24 font, if it makes a difference), and it crashed. Is this possibly connected to my computer, or does "Works" Word Processor just fail at copy and paste? I'm not really looking for a suggestion to a different program at the moment...I already have OpenOffice.org Writer, but I don't know how to use its finer features.--The Ninth Bright Shiner 01:35, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Did you try it more than once? It could have just been a fluke. Try to Paste Special unformatted and see if that helps. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:41, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

I tried it several times in some sort of manic daze, as if seeking to lower the word processor's self-esteem by showing it how much it cost me and how badly it fails. O_o Just pasting that single character crashed it, regardless of what else was already in the window. Everything goes fine when pasted as unformatted, but I'd still like to know the source of MWWP's crash.--The Ninth Bright Shiner 02:03, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, Microsoft Works is a sad piece of programming, one that makes the naturally buggy Microsoft Word look good by comparison. My guess is that it has to do with trying to maintain formatting and language codes or something like that. --140.247.11.35 (talk) 23:02, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

jpeg file format

I've been using the thumbnail image viewer built into Windows Explorer in XP (the one to the left that reads "details". I've noticed that images that cannot be opened in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer or MS Paint (ie, that are corrupted) can be viewed using this thumbnail viewer. I've also noticed that sometimes, jpegs that I've cropped in MS Paint can be viewed in their entirety using the thumbnail viewer. What is it about how jpegs are stored that allows this image viewer to find information that is inaccessible to MS Paint and Windows Fax and Picture Viewer? Thanks, --VectorField (talk) 08:00, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

I think the JPEG format stores the thumbnails at a separate place in the file - ie for the corrupted files the pictures are actually corrupted, and the thumbnail picture is just the thumbnail - there's no more information there to make the picture bigger. And some cropping programs don't change the thumbnail - there's a page on the Internet somewhere containing cropped pictures that people have put on their blogs, where the thumbnails contained more than the poster had intended. 129.240.49.10 (talk) 08:30, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Windows starts in safe-mode, won't start from system restore or in normal-mode

I have a friend with a pc and it suddenly only began to start in safe mode. It just sits at the windows screen (you know with the kit from Knight-rider like rolling grey bars). Anyhoo while in safe mode we've managed to run McAfee scan disk on current updates and it shows no problems. The computer functions fine in 'safe-mode with networking' in the sense that you can work on docs, go online etc. but obviously it's not entirely the same. Have tried various windows-restore points and each time it completes that it restarts and stays at the above mentioned windows-screen, but when you turn it off and then boot up in safe-mode it claims to be successfully restored.

Have tried booting from most of the options in the menu (last known good, normal, safe mode with networking, safe mode etc.) and nothing we do seems to solve the problem. Anybody have any good ideas? Sorry I know this isn't quite the place but due to work-based internet can't get to many sites. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:12, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

• Antivirus software won't find a lot of spyware/malware - d/load the latest versions of SpyBot and Adaware, update and run them - see what they find. Exxolon (talk) 00:59, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

About worm in the coputer

wat do u mean by worm in the system?And how can we delete it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.97.48.160 (talk) 12:00, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Computer worm is a good place to start. --LarryMac | Talk 13:24, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Daily Build for Ubuntu?

Anyone knows were to find a daily build for Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex? I usually get if from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ but I have not found it there this time... SF007 (talk) 13:49, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Internet speed + XNA Game studio

122.163.15.181 (talk) 15:01, 10 December 2008 (UTC)harshagg Hello,

Question 1:-
   I often tackle increase internet speed.But when I try it doesn't work and one effect my window SP3 e.g

1. Go to Start-> Run-> and type gpedit.msc 2. Expand the Administrative Templates branch 3. Expand the Network tab 4. Highlight QoS Packet Scheduler 5. Click on Limit Reservable Bandwidth and check the enabled box 6. Then Change the Bandwidth limit % to 0 % this effect my XP when I run my computer next time Is there no way tricks to increase net speed without paying

Question No.2:- How sucessfull will XNA will be? Can it beat openGL?

1 - the QoS thing won't help at all; except for people who run QoS aware apps all the time, you get all your network bandwidth all the time - so says microsoft.

2 - XNA doesn't really compete with OGL, they're different things. XNA is a higher-level framework that relies on DirectX to do the underlying drawing. It's DirectX that compares with (and competes with) OpenGL. DirectX is clearly competing very well against OpenGL. Whether XNA will take depends on whether developers find the framework useful or restricting. 87.114.128.88 (talk) 00:09, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Switch off "urgent updates/restarts" in Windows

Is it possible to switch off those urgent updates in Windows, which will make your computer restart in 5 minutes unless you click no (and then it'll keep asking every few minutes)? I hate not paying attention to my computer for a moment, and next thing I know is that whatever I worked on is gone. I don't mind if Windows asks, but I don't want my computer to restart without my permission. --Ibn Battuta (talk) 17:19, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, at least on XP. The settings are in the control panel under automatic updates. Algebraist 18:39, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Rapidshare auto download

IS there a program software available for free that can automate the downloading of Rapidshare links? It would be good if I could just batch enter maybe 10 links and it will download them, wait for the limits etc without human input. Thank you much. 66.63.184.3 (talk) 19:00, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Try jDownloader. SN0WKITT3N 20:00, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Amazon S3 as virtual disc

I'm using Cyberduck on Mac OSX 10.5 to connect to Amazon S3 for online backup storage. To send files, I can drag and drop to Cyberduck to send them to the archive. Is there any way I can use it to make them appear as a virtual/network drive?My name is anetta (talk) 20:34, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

From my Google results, it looks like JungleDisk has a Mac client, but I can't actually access the website. It might not be free. --LarryMac | Talk 21:30, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

It would seem you're right - Jungle Disk is basically Amazon 3S rebranded, is it? It would appear to host it's stuff on Amazon, and use its own client.My name is anetta (talk) —Preceding undated comment was added at 21:47, 10 December 2008 (UTC).

If you're using SFTP to access S3, you might want to look into SSHFS. There's a Mac port. -- JSBillings 22:12, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm using Amazon's own protocol to connect to it, largely because it "just works." Yes, I'll take a look into it - I'm sure a little Googling will tell me how.My name is anetta (talk) 22:47, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Another option that I use... I have a directory called "backup". Every night, I s3-backup (a set of scripts that mimic rdiff-backup) runs on the directory and saves incremental backups of my backup directory. The result is that I easily back up my files I want to back up (just drop them in the backup folder) and I can get back a file as it once was if it is something I change. That has come in very handy a few times. -- kainaw™ 04:03, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Would your scripts (whatever language they are in) work on Mac OSX, and if so, can you post them to your site?My name is anetta (talk) 18:12, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

I didn't write them. Google for "s3backup". I downloaded them a looooong time ago and I don't remember where from. -- kainaw™ 18:20, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

[[11]] This looks like it does the same job (autobackup). It doesn't mount as as drive, though.My name is anetta (talk) 18:44, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

LCS-type algorithm

I'm looking for an algorithm that is basically an longest-common-substring algorithm. The trick is that I want it to provide all substrings in order from longest to shortest. I assume Knuth or someone similar wrote a paper on this back in the 70s. To be clear, here's an example:

Input: "wikipedia reference desk", "use wikipedia as a reference"

Output: Array("a reference ", "wikipedi", "e", "s")

I can write this myself, but I'm writing a methods paper and I'll be asked to provide a reference for the algorithm from existing work. I've been stuck searching for one that returns ALL substrings, not just the longest (or shortest) one. -- kainaw™ 22:27, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Wouldn't "wikiped", etc. also be a common substring ? Is there a rule that once a common substring is found you eliminate all of the letters in the substring from consideration in both strings ? StuRat (talk) 15:43, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Correct. I want the longest substring, then the next (or equally) longest, then the next. I do not want any elements of the original strings to show up in two different substrings. The purpose (in my paper) is to rate equivalence between two strings based on how many substrings they have in common and how long those substrings are. My algorithm works just fine. The problem with peer-review papers is that they nail you if you use an algorithm that someone wrote about and omit reference to the original author (even if you have never heard of the original author or paper). -- kainaw™ 18:16, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

December 11

table borders

I am trying to get my website to have no borders (i.e., hug the sides of the screen instead of the usual 1 or 2px borders), but it's not really working. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. The header and footer have no border (yay) but all the other tables on the page (and every other page on my site) still have the 1 or 2px borders, which annoys me because it's not aesthetically pleasing at all. I have my body tag set to margin:0 and padding:0. I'm not going to post the entire source code here, so I'll link to it and assume you can press Ctrl-U or whatever the button is. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 00:55, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

First, ensure you give a unit. For example, use margin:0px;, not just margin:0;. By setting your body tag to have no margin or padding, the content will be able to go all the way to the top and sides of the page. For content inside the page, such as a div, p, or table, there is a margin around those. You need to set the margin for those tags to 0px also if you don't want a margin around them. Look up info on the "box-model" for CSS for plenty of descriptions about how margin and padding are used. -- kainaw™ 02:28, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

How to keep Command Prompt open?

On Windows, I'd like to stick a line of commands into the "Run..." dialog, have it execute them in the Command Prompt window, then stay open long enough to read the results. I don't seem to be having much luck :-) One example is systeminfo | find "Up Time".

I've tried piping that to "more", and tried prefixing the whole thing with "start", to no avail. The latter really surprises me, start systeminfo | find "Up Time" gives error message "Windows cannot find start. What am I missing? --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 02:52, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

The simplest solution is to type "cmd" in the run dialog and paste the commands into the command prompt window. Another nasty solution is to end your series of commands with a batch file that just has pause in it - you can call it pause.bat. It window will freeze, waiting for keyboard input. -- kainaw™ 03:13, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Typing cmd /C pause | systeminfo | find "Up Time" into the Run dialog worked for me, though the pause command may cause an error message at the end (but that's when the window closes anyway). Jørgen (talk) 09:44, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

You can also try opening a Command Prompt window yourself, then type the run command there. It's probably under Start + Programs or Start + Programs + Accessories, and labeled either Command Prompt or MS-DOS Prompt. StuRat (talk) 15:29, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Adobe Illustrator question

Is there any way to make an Illustrator document's artboard size itself to fit to the content automatically? It seems like I either have to specify a print media size (e.g. letter, tabloid) or have to specify my own dimensions. Because I usually am exporting Illustrator images for use in other programs (e.g. InDesign), it'd be way more convenient if I could just automatically have the artboard crop itself to the minimum dimensions to fit the content, as can be easily done in Inkscape. Can this be done in Illustrator? --140.247.11.18 (talk) 03:16, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

ProDesktop

Hi, I made a created a design on a piece of software called ProDesktop. I added components I had already made to create a table and saved the finished design, but did NOT let it save copies of all the referenced documents because I already had them saved on my desktop so I thought there was no point. I have now tried to open the finished design now and I have been told that ProDesktop can't find the file, so I browse myself and show it the file, but it says it "is not the correct file."

I tried to open this referenced file but it can't find it, so I have tried to replicate it (it was simple so I think I have everything correct) but that doesn't work either, it also says it is not the correct file.

I've just spent over 4 hours on this so I really can’t have it fail on me now!

Is there any way I can force it to think that the correct file is in fact the right file, or could I force it to use the replica instead (as it is the same)?

Also what makes it think that this is the wrong file, i.e. how does it know (or in this case falsely know)?

Thanks. 92.6.195.164 (talk) 03:40, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

P.S. I think the origonal referenced file corrupted itself (somehow) and soit can't accept it. I can't see why it doesn't accept my replica.92.6.195.164 (talk) 03:47, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

If I understand you, it has a feature to create a repeated object, like a table, save it once to a file and only save links to this file in the main drawing. However, this feature doesn't seem to be working. If so, there are two workarounds I can think of:

1) Still save the table as a separate file, but place a copy at each location on the main drawing instead of a reference.

2) If that doesn't work, don't create tables and such as separate files at all, just create them on the main drawing and copy them there.

Both approaches are not ideal, as any change to the table will now have to be made at every location where the table occurs in the drawing. However, if the references don't work, these are the options which you are left with. You might also upgrade to a newer version which hopefully has this problem fixed, or use different CAD software entirely. StuRat (talk) 15:21, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

low bandwidth web-based email

My mom and sister have a very slow computer with a very slow connection to the internet. They use OE for their email, which, besides the usual problems, means they have to download an entire email to read it. I think they'd be better off using one of the many web-based free email services, but my guess is that something like GMail is going to be too slow to load due to flashy GUI, ads, etc. Can someone recommend a web-based email service that's a)free, b)simple to use, and c)targeted to folks with slow dial-up connections? It doesn't have to have any kewl options, it just needs to let them see an email before downloading all the attachments. Matt Deres (talk) 04:04, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Gmail ads are just text so they are very low overhead. You can run it in non-cool-GUI mode as well (HTML only mode). I'd go with GMail configured for HTML only—it's basically text-only e-mail, which is better than all of the other services and their graphics and ads. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 04:10, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Also, GMail has IMAP access. So you can view your emails in Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird (or another email client). - Akamad (talk) 12:03, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Another good one is Fastmail (www.fastmail.fm) which is specifically designed to be quick-loading and not too laden down with features. The ads are text-only. I've used it for a year and have never had any problems getting at my mail or sending messages. AJHW (talk) 13:39, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

step and repeat - postscript, HPGL, or gerbers

My CAD software allows me create artwork for producing electronic circuits. Recently I have produced several designs that are very small. Single sided PCBs (printed circuit boards) can be produced at home with a little time and effort. The process that I use requires pre-sensitized circuit boards that are available in various sizes, but I frequently use single sided 4inch by 6inch boards like these: [http://www.circuitspecialists.com/level.itml/icOid/3802}.

Given that it is problematic and wasteful, but not impossible, to cut the boards into smaller size before the lithographic and wet chemical processing, and given that the size of the typical circuits that I have been producing are very small (many less than 2in^2), and given that (manual step and repeat) the process of printing many copies and manually and carefully taping the tiny pieces of fairly expensive vellum or onion skin paper while maintaining cleanliness and good UV transparency for the lithographic exposure is a pain and wastes a lot of paper,

So now the question...

Is there any FREE way to step and repeat the postscript file, the HPGL file, or the gerber file, which are the convenient output for me to generate, so that I can expose the whole board from one master and reduce the wasted time, effort and materials that I have had to expend to accomplish the seemingly simple task of making many copies of a circuit on one PCB.

Additionally, in the past (and without some resolution here, perhaps in the future) I have offset the design from center, in each of the 4 quadrants, and passed the same sheet through the printer 4 times, and found this does work; however, it is a lot of work, error prone, time consuming, and limited to 4 repeats.

One more thing, I have already looked at a shareware named ABviewer, but it showed a black page when I opened the HPGL output intended for my HPLJ5MP printer (generated via print to file).

Thanks in advance. U.S.Citizen (talk) 04:37, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Try this: use ghostscript to convert the Postscript to PDF (Ghostscript compes with a script called ps2pdf that does this). Then open the PDF with Inkscape (which curiously doesn't seem to read PS or EPS files). Then duplicating your diagram should be a straightforward method of copy-and-paste; then you'd have to go back through that chain to generate a final PS (unless a print straight from Inkscape will be acceptable). Now how well this will work in practice depends on the details of the PDF that your CAD software emits (if you can persuade it to emit PDF or ideally SVG directly then all the better). There will also be a way just to hand-write a postscript file that does the whole thing - that just says "move to (100,100), emit file foo.ps, move to (200,100), emit file foo.ps, ...", but I'm afraid my postscript is too rusty to do that for you. 87.114.128.88 (talk) 14:59, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

I believe HPGL can use either absolute or relative coords. In the case of relative coords, only the first location needs be specified in absolute coords to provide a base for all the subsequent relative coords. If your design is implemented like that, you can repeat the instructions as many times as you like, and only change the locating absolute coord at the start of each sequence. StuRat (talk) 15:10, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like you want to print multiple copies of the same image on one page; this is generally known as N-up. Check out PrintFile. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:27, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Inheritance problem

I'm implementing a binary search tree in D with a Node class and a BinaryTree class. I've finished a basic unbalanced binary tree and I'm trying to implement an AVL tree. The Node class has several methods like depth, max, and min which are all non-modifying but make things a lot easier (depth calls other nodes' depth function). I want to have a new AVLNode class that inherits from the Node class (since AVL trees' nodes have an extra attribute - the balance factor). This makes the compiler go crazy:

1. Since each node has references to its left and right nodes, all of type Node, the AVLNode's left and right node references (which are inherited from the Node class) will also be of type Node. I want them to be of type AVLNode.
2. In the Node class I use this a lot, and since that will refer to the Node class instance instead of the (derived) AVLNode class instance, there are many compiler errors about types.

I've tried to fix (1) by using templates and aliases but they don't work for (2). Any suggestions? --wj32 ^t/c 07:29, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Presuming class Node has pointers to the daughter nodes:

 class Node
 {
 protected:
   Node *left ;
   Node *right ;
 public:
   Node () {} ;
 } ;

 class AVLNode : protected Node
 {
 public:
   AVLNode ()
   {
      left  = new AVLNode ;   // This works just fine!
      right = new AVLNode ;
   }
 } ;

...because even though 'left' is a Node - we can assign an 'AVLNode' to it because an AVLNode is a kind of Node.

SteveBaker (talk) 18:20, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Anyone know what's going on with all the new computer keyboards?

It's impossible to find a computer keyboard anymore that isn't messed up. It either has lots of extra unwanted buttons like "power management" that if you accidentally bump it, these buttons shut down your computer in a way worse than yanking out the plug and garble half your hard drive. If they don't have that, then they have the buttons all messed up. The insert button is moved far to the top right and the delete is double size with he home, end, and page up, page down buttons turned on their site. Also the arrow keys are moved all around so they are under the right shift.

Anyone know what's going on with all the new computer keyboards? Are you ready for IPv6? (talk) 09:29, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

I can think of two reasons:

1) To conserve space. A compact keyboard has to do that type of thing to maintain all the keys while fitting them into less space.

2) There's an infamous marketing strategy which requires that everything be changed, for no apparent reason, just so the makers can claim it's "new and improved". You obviously can't make that claim if it's exactly like the old model. StuRat (talk) 15:04, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

There is usually a driver for these keyboards that allows you to remap or disable the power keys. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:18, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

(And there is always the 'superglue-under-the-keycap' approach.) SteveBaker (talk) 18:14, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Enforcing whitespace

Is there any tag (like <br />, I'm imagining) that enforces whitespace? Transcluding a template and inserting a few spaces here doesn't work (and a colon, which does enforce some whitespace, is just displayed). -- Mentisock 11:03, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Hi & nbsp ; does it, is that any use? For example I have one between these   words.

If i add three or four togehter I get more space between these      words.194.221.133.226 (talk) 11:57, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

    Also,      if you start the line with a blank, 
    then your spacing is               maintained. StuRat (talk) 14:58, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Yep, it works. Thanks! -- Mentisock 15:10, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

But then you get the pre formatting; this is useful for code listings and the like, but not appropriate for articles. Here are a few ways to maintain spaces:

• Use &nbsp;
• Use {{pad}}
• Wrap your text in <poem>...</poem>; this maintains both spacing and line breaks

--—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:16, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Pad is nice though that's basically nbsp, no? -- Mentisock 16:35, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

jobs for an engineer in the field of networking

i'm a engineering graduate in computer engg..i want to know if i can make my career in networking..i don't have any clue..how can i do so.i need ur help or can say i need your guidance in making my career in networking —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shubham 3112 (talk • contribs) 13:00, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Look for networking jobs. Apply for them. If you aren't hired, ask why. If it is something you can fix (ie: lack of knowledge for a specific topic), fix it. Look for more networking jobs. Apply for them. Eventually, you'll be hired. Work hard. Get promoted. You have a career. -- kainaw™ 13:59, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Laptop disaster.

I am having a little trouble with my laptop computer. As I am going to visit my parents over Christmas, and my larger computer is rather too big to take with me everywhere, I was hoping to get all my work done on my laptop, but now it seems that isn't going to be possible.

Sometimes my computer decides to install updates I don't want to things I'm not even sure I have without my permission. this is annoying in itself, but the real problem is that after doing this, my computer then sometimes comes up with a message saying it will restart in 5 minutes. I've managed to get it to stay on as long as I want it to, but with my new laptop, unlike any other computer I've had, when I turn it off afterward, even though I intend to turn it back on later, thereby restarting it, it instead decides to restart right then, leaving me to wait for it to load in again before i can turn it back off. Usually, especially when in a hurry, I simply push the on button, which turns the computer straight off, the only problem being that when I turn it back on I have to select 'start windows normally', after which it works properly again.

But this one time that isn't happening. Instead whenever I turn it on, whichever option I choose, it loads a little way, then after making a few strange whirring noises it stops and starts loading from the beginning again, after which it tells me something is wrong and asks me how I want it to load. I've tried safe mode, last setting that worked and normal, but the same thing always happens. I tried unplugging the internet, taking the CD out, then I tried unplugging it so it was running just on battery power, but the only difference then was that it made a slightly different whirring sound. I went into the setting menu, but I don't know what most of the stuff there does, and none of the options look like they would help at all anyway. I found a way to ask it to use a different boot driver, or something like that, I may not have remembered the name quite right, but whatever it was, I tried all three and nothing changed.

I've about run out of options now, and I need this computer to work, or I will have no access to any of my work on it, or to the internet for three weeks, and with my work due in another week after that, and this computer barely working either, I'll probably end up failing everything. I'm already behind in most of my work, and a lot of what I have done before hasn't worked out too well, so this is my last chance to prove that I can understand what I am told, can do the work and am not an idiot who should go back to school, or whatever it is they are planning now. That's enough ranting though, I don't suppose you really want to know all my trouble, apart from with my computer. I've completely run out of things to try, and I really need it working by saturday morning.

148.197.114.165 (talk) 14:28, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

I have several suggestions:

1) Record the error you get when you boot the computer. If you have the common problem that the errors fly by so fast you can't read them, you might have to take a picture of the screen with a digital camera, load it onto your big computer, and zoom in. Report the errors here, so maybe we can solve the problem.

2) Certainly carrying a regular computer around with you isn't ideal, but it should at least be possible if you travel by car. If you fly, you could maybe take most of the computer, but leave the monitor at home, and plug into a TV or monitor at your parent's house (you would need to ask about inputs on their TV or monitor to make sure they are compatible with your PC's outputs). If it's not too far, but you normally fly, you could drive instead this time. (If you don't have a car, you could carpool with other students going home to the same area, most colleges have bulletin boards for this type of thing.)

3) You could put all your work on CD or a USB drive and take it with you, with the idea of renting a computer at your parent's home town. You could also rent a laptop where you are now, take it to your parent's home, then return it when you get home. That would be a bit more expensive, though, since you will have to rent a laptop, and for a longer period. You might even be able to rent a laptop from a fellow student who doesn't need it over the holidays (try a bulletin board post again). StuRat (talk) 14:49, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd say it's very important to lose the habit of not shutting down properly. I'd imagine that you've now littered your hard drive with dozens of "recovered" bits of files that are now useless and taking up space. You might also want to change your settings for Windows Update so that it does not automatically download and install said updates. If, however, you are not able to get to a Windows desktop at all on the laptop, then it might be time to consult a nearby technician who can see exactly what is going on.

This happens to all of the computers at my school. It usually works if you select 'Start Windows in last good configuration' or something around those lines. Cheers, ṜedMarkViolinist^{Drop me a line} 16:30, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

It sounds to me like you have been interrupting the Windows update time and time again. Eventually it has got it self into such a state that you have several half-installed updates in conflict with one another. A half installed update is worse than no update at all. Windows update and anti-virus updates should be left to complete, no matter how inconvenient this is. No wonder your computer is sick.

As you have found out, messing around with mains or battery power, or the CD tray, the network, or the power switch is not the solution. One possible fix that might work is to boot from the original operating system disk and choose the "Repair" option. That usually fixes the computer enough so you can restart it.

If that is not possible, I'm afraid you might have to reinstall Windows (again using the original operating system disk). However, this will probably wipe the hard disk so the one thing that really must be done first is to try to backup all your work: Take the hard drive out of your laptop and put it in an external disk housing (you can get these from somewhere like PC World), then using another PC copy your work (and anything else you cannot afford to lose - emails, music, etc) to somewhere safe. You can then put the drive back in your laptop and do a proper repair without the fear of losing everything

In future, configure the Windows update to "download but don't install". Your PC will then tell you there's an update and you can choose to put it off to another time or do nothing and it will install before shutting down.

Astronaut (talk) 17:28, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Open file with Python

How do I tell Python to open file xy? (using the standard program in the OS, and not opening a file for reading its content). Mr.K. (talk) 15:52, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't know what you mean by "using the standard program in the OS", and if you're not reading, I have to assume you're writing. This bit of code comes from A Byte of Python -

f = file('poem.txt', 'w') # open for 'w'riting
f.write(poem) # write text to file
f.close() # close the file

--LarryMac | Talk 16:06, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for your answer, but I expressed myself poorly. I have files like xy.html, xy.txt, xy.pdf, etc and I want Python to open it with Firefox, gedit, Acrobat, etc. It's like a command that would double-click these files. Mr.K. (talk) 16:19, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

To do this on Linux (with Gnome installed):

 import gnomevfs
 gnomevfs.url_show("file:///home/myname/Examples/oo-trig.xls")  # it seems to require an absolute path

Equally there are (I think) KDE and DBUS equivalents, and presumably equivalents for OS-X and Windows. Surely there's a generic one (where the plaform figures this stuff out for you) but I can't immediately figure out what. 87.114.128.88 (talk) 17:35, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

A lot of Python programs I've found (¡viva Google Code Search!) exec out and call binaries - gnome-open (for gnome) and xdg-open (for KDE). 87.114.128.88 (talk) 17:48, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

If you're running under Windows, you can use the ShellExecute function from the Windows API. In Python terms, something like this should work:

import win32api

win32api.ShellExecute (
  0,          # window handle
  "open",     # action e.g. "edit", "print", or None for default action
  filename,   # file to open
  None,       # parameters to application
  ".",        # default directory
  0           # flags for showing application
  )

This is pretty much the same as right-clicking on a file and selecting "open", "print", etc. For more info on ShellExecute, see the MS website[12]. As far as I know, Unix/Linux doesn't have a generic method for associating file types with an application (other than "#!" in text files). --Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 18:49, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Linux doesn't have a generic method, as you say, but both Gnome and KDE do (in a manner that's much like how Windows does it). 87.114.128.88 (talk) 19:27, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

changing windows xp boot screen

alright, i know how to use resource hacker and how to edit the resources of ntoskrnl.exe to change the boot screen. But i'd like to know whether or not i can use GIMP 2.6.3 to edit the boot screen, or if i'll have to get Paint Shop Pro or some other program. Don't suggest BootSkin; i like to hack and to me that program is cheating.  Buffered Input Output 17:26, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

As long as you can save a bmp file with the correct size and number of colors, the Gimp should be fine. Don't forget to backup ntoskrnl.exe before you make any changes. --LarryMac | Talk 18:07, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Quick Time 7 Pro--MPEG 1 Muxed????

another question, i have several videos downloaded as an MPEG file. The audio and video tracks are in a "MPEG 1 Muxed" format that refuses to export sound to any other format. I want these videos on my iPod and would really like to have sound with them. Is there any way to "un-mux" this muxed track?  Buffered Input Output 17:34, 11 December 2008 (UTC)