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January 4

Vista Sidebar Gadgets in WIndows 7

I used to have some note gadgets in my Vista Sidebar with, what else, notes. Now that I can't run the sidebar in Windows 7, is there a way to import the gadgets or at the very least, run sidebar so I can copy the info? --142.151.182.176 (talk) 05:50, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

There is no sidebar as such anymore, but the widgets that went in the sidebar are now part of Gadgets, which are similar except can be placed anywhere instead of just to the side of the screen. If you right click your desktop and click Gadgets you should get a screen that lists gadgets, and any sidebar gadgets you have SHOULD appear there if you did an upgrade install, and if not they will work if you download and install them again. Gunrun (talk) 09:35, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

USB headphone

Are there any reliable USB Headphones ?--yousaf465' 09:29, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Why not try Googling around to see if you can find some suitable products. I'm sure there's at least one site somewhere on the web that sells them, or a site with reviews of them. It dosen't really take that much work on Google to find answers. Chevymontecarlo (talk) 14:08, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

You can also get a small USB audio adapter[1][2][3][4] and plug headphones into it. These might be a better solution, as you can choose the headphones you want to use. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.172.19.20 (talk) 17:59, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

HDTV resolutions

It boggles my mind: why do flat panel TVs come in 1366x768 and worse yet 1024x768. The first one is probably no better than native 720p displays even if the video source has more resolution than 720p due to the quality/sharpness lost in interpolating. The second one is even worse because it has to also interpolate for the non-square pixels. Are there any real advantages to these resolutions over the two native HD resolutions (720p and 1080p)? And also, is the interpolation done hardware or software based? Is it simple nearest neighbour (which produces poor results) or something more advanced, like bicubic or Lanczos3 (which is very computationaly intensive for HD video in real time)? Roberto75780 (talk) 09:59, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

my understanding is that most TVs the same size as common computer monitors use the same LCD panels as computer monitors. These panels do not have 720 vertical pixels or 1080 vertical pixels but usually have 768 and 1050 pixels along the vertical edge. When you move to larger TV display sizes, you will find native HD resolutions with 720 and 1080 pixels. The non-native resolution isn't ideal for the picture, but those panels are cheaper as they are produced in larger numbers and allow for less expensive smaller TVs. 206.131.39.6 (talk) 18:19, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Ghost images

Hello. I've heard of a phenomenon where prolonged still images (paused videos or games) can cause the image to leave a "ghost" image on the television or monitor. I'd like to know what causes this, what types of monitors may be affected and whether there is a way to remove the ghost. Thanks in advance! 88.112.62.154 (talk) 11:40, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

This effect is known as Screen burn-in - that article should answer your question. :) Ale_Jrb^2010! 12:05, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you! 88.112.62.154 (talk) 13:48, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Makefile

Suppose I have images files in a directory called fullsize and want to put thumbnail versions of them in the directory thumbs. I could use a makefile like this:

thumbs/image1.jpg : fullsize/image1.jpg
    createthumb fullsize/image1.jpg thumbs/image1.jpg

thumbs/image2.png : fullsize/image2.png
    createthumb fullsize/image2.png thumbs/image2.png

However, this requires that I know in advance what images will be in fullsize and even if I do, such a makefile is cumbersome to write if there are many images. What would a makefile look like that would take every image in fullsize and create a thumbnail of it in thumbs if it's not already there and up-to-date? I'm using GNU Make. Thanks! —Bromskloss (talk) 12:00, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

You probably want a make pattern rule. Here is the appropriate section in the manual. An example make file may look like:

 thumbs/%.jpg: fullsize/%.jpg
    createthumb $< $@

 thumbs/%.png: fullsize/%.png
    createthumb $< $@

Note that you need to appropriately replace regular spaces with tabs for whitespace in order to be a properly formatted Makefile. Also note that the $< symbol refers to the first prerequisite file, and $@ refers to the output. These are called Automatic Variables, and are documented here: GNU make Automatic Variables. Nimur (talk) 12:16, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for answering. Unfortunately, it (GNU Make 3.81) only tells me "make: *** No targets. Stop." when I run your example. Is there anything else I need to specify in the makefile? —(I'm the original poster. Just unable to log in.) 130.237.3.196 (talk) 13:17, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Try make thumbs/image1.png. At first I had hoped that make thumbs/*.png would make everything, but unfortunately this will probably not work. There's a work-around, (I have done this sort of thing before, but I can't remember how). I'll check my Gnu Make cheat-sheet when I get into my office later today and see if I can find out what is needed to process everything in your source directory and output everything. In the meantime, you can manually create a make rule that depends on all the expected outputs (thumbnails), e.g. adding this rule to the above makefile:

buildthumbs: thumbs/image1.png thumbs/image2.png thumbs/image3.jpg

Now when you make buildthumbs, you will auto-build all those resources according to the patterned rule. This is only slightly better than a separate rule for every single image - as I said, there's a workaround to auto-detect the prerequisites. Nimur (talk) 14:52, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

This will build a thumb for everything in fullsize/ automagically:

buildthumbs: $(shell ls fullsize/*.{jpg,png} | sed s/fullsize/thumbs/)

--Sean 15:14, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

That works as well as anything I've got. Nimur (talk) 19:25, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

You can avoid using the shell, although it doesn't improve the handling of file names with spaces: $(patsubst fullsize/%,thumbs/%,$(wildcard fullsize/*.jpg) $(wildcard fullsize/*.png)). --Tardis (talk) 23:08, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

The best answer to the spaces-in-filenames issue is almost always "don't do that". --Sean 16:51, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks everyone. I ended up generating targets by a call to ls as suggested here. I was hoping that Make could be driven by the existence of source files rather than targets, but that doesn't seem to be the case. —Bromskloss (talk) 12:06, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Animals chewing through ethernet cable

I installed quite a long stretch (25m) of cat5e cable outside the house to get to my dad's office in a separate building. Unfortunately, some animals (probably foxes) have recently decided to complement their diet with my STP wires. Is it worth trying to repair the wires somehow? If I have to re-lay the whole thing, are there certain types of wire that will stand up to this damage better? How can I stop this happening again? I hate animals... Anand^(talk) 12:05, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

• Yes. If you have a pair of wire strippers (plier or scissor may do) you can match the conductors inside with the coresponding ones on the other broken end and connecth them together. You should sandpaper the wire tips and make sure you get a solid connection for every conductor or else the speed may suffer. The foxes may like your cable but I don't think they would dig it out from underground, or even under a carpet. If you want to replace the cable and the pests are still getting to it, try threading it through a garden hose. Roberto75780 (talk) 12:17, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Or you can buy commercial electrical conduit, which may be cheaper than a garden hose. Nimur (talk) 12:19, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

We used a goopy gunk we called "Gorilla Snot" to coat outside wires when I was in the Marines. It was designed to keep animals from chewing the wires. -- kainaw™ 14:40, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

I've been advised to wash my hands before laying wires and cables outside, in order to keep them from smelling edible. I'm not sure how effective that is. --Allen (talk) 18:26, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Such a join will probably fail the cat5e criteria, but I doubt that you would care since it will probably work. You may also get UV deterioration in the longer term if you don't bury it. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 23:23, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

If your joint is in damp conditions, you will get corrosion at the joins, but this post is being made via a cut and joined ethernet cable with the joint outside in a very damp place, and it has been no problem for the last 12 months, though I did solder it and tape round well. As Graeme Bartlett mentioned, I'm probably losing speed, but my connection is not very fast anyway. Dbfirs 09:00, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

When we built my brother-in-law's office at the end of his garden, we laid 50 m of ethernet and phone cable in a plastic water pipe and buried it about 25 - 50 cm underground. At each end, we made sure the cables were not exposed by ensuring the pipe came inside the building. There has been no damage in 3 or more years; but if there ever was damage, it would be a nightmare to replace. Astronaut (talk) 14:09, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

If your repair efforts are futile, there is a newfangled technique to running a network connection that is 100% impervious to animals, UV, and water. See this for more information. It's also cost effective compared to just about every construction technique (aside from, perhaps, the 'shove it under the carpet' method). --Jmeden2000 (talk) 19:52, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Software to overlap two images?

I have four or five jpg images of parts of a plan that I want to partialy overlap to create a bigger image, preferably while preserving the scale of the originals. Is there any software than can do this easily please? I have searched for quite a while but not been able to find any myself. 84.13.28.161 (talk) 16:36, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

• Pretty much any half-decent image editing program should be fine for this. The process in GIMP is: create a new blank image (big enough to contain your final image), then drag each constituent image onto the master image, and move it to where you want with the move tool. If you need to change the stacking (z order) use the layers dialog; once you're done, just save the final image (as a flat image like a PNG or JPG, as appropriate). The process is much the same in Photoshop, and isn't very different in vector programs like Inkscape and Illustrator too. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:43, 4 January 2010 (UTC)
• What you are looking for is Image stitching. Our article is not the greatest, but you should be able to find something by googling the term. Autostitch may be a useful ink and product. However, I suspect most of these programs assume typical photos with a lot of details - I don't know how well they will cope with line drawings. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 16:48, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Software to give x.y coordinates of points within an image?

I'd like to be able to do something like this: I position the cursor at a particular point in an image. I press something, and the xy coordinate gets appended to a text file. I move the cursor to another point and repeat. Is there any software that can do this easily please? I have looked for some but have not been able to find any. Thanks. 84.13.28.161 (talk) 16:42, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

I wrote one for you:

#!/usr/bin/python

import pygame, sys
pygame.init()

if len(sys.argv) != 2:
    print 'usage: clicker.py foo.jpg'
    sys.exit(1)

img = pygame.image.load(sys.argv[1])
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((img.get_width(), img.get_height()))

screen.blit(img,(0,0))
pygame.display.update()

while True:
    event = pygame.event.wait()
    if event.type == pygame.QUIT: break
    if event.type == pygame.MOUSEBUTTONDOWN and event.button==1:
        print event.pos

You'll need to install Python (programming language) and Pygame. Run it with python clicker.py foo.jpg where clicker.py is the above script, and foo.jpg is whatever image you want. It prints (x,y) coordinates to the standard output (which you can redirect to a file if you want). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:30, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

MATLAB can do this with the ginput command. It can also read and display images in many formats. Nimur (talk) 18:21, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, especially thanks for the code. I've also found some freeware that does this: Plot Digitizer 2.4.1, Enguage Digitizer, and Digitize 2004. There may be more. 92.24.115.153 (talk) 22:37, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Segfault in C relating to null string

In a C program, I have a string "line", read from the user with a simple readLine function that I got out of a textbook. So if the user just hits RETURN, then I figure line[0] should be '\n'. And usually that's true. But sometimes, if I fail to initialize certain integers stored in the addresses just before line, AND depending on whether certain other functions in the program have run, something happens that I don't understand:

printf("%d\n",line[0]);

prints "0", as expected. But

printf("%d",line[0]);

(without the newline) results in a segmentation fault. So does

sscanf(line,"%d",&i);

which is my actual goal.

I can fix the problem by initializing my variables, but I want to understand: how could uninitialized variables cause this problem? And what could possibly be stored at line[0] such that it looks like a 0 when printed before a newline, and causes a segfault otherwise?

Thanks! --Allen (talk) 21:18, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

It's really difficult to understand problems with fragments of C code when we can't see the whole program, and in particular how variables have been declared. If you can show minimum C programs that illustrate the problem (which, for the stuff you're talking about, shouldn't need to be more than half a dozen lines) then we can help. But right now you're asking us to diagnose memory corruption issues but not showing us how the variables that name that memory are defined. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:24, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

I'll take a guess, anyway. line is a pointer (it looks like an array, but really it's a pointer). If line (and I mean line, not line[0]) hasn't been initialised then dereferencing it (which is what line[0] does) will mean examining some unknown (and very often illegal) chunk of memory. Remember that by changing your printf you're reorganising your .text (and perhaps .data) segments, moving things around such that you get a different result. But the underlying problem is that line itself is bad. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:33, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Agreed with everything above. It segfaults because line is an invalid pointer and by bad (good) luck it might point to an invalid address, but it's quite impossible to fix a problem with your code without seeing it. Enabling and fixing compiler warnings could help if you haven't already. --91.145.72.65 (talk) 21:49, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

[edit conflict] Thank you. I understand what you're saying, and if I'm able to duplicate the problem with a minimal C program, I'll post it. But right now, the segfault conditions seem to depend on so many other parts of the program I doubt I'll be able to. But that's okay; after all, I know how to fix the problem (by initializing those integers)... I'm just wishing I could understand what's going on. Thanks for the tip about how changing printf reorganizes things. (FWIW, initializing line itself doesn't help; only initializing those integers stored before it.) --Allen (talk) 21:55, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

I would expect that the reason initialising the integers "fixes" the problem is that C compilers typically store variables one after the other in memory - so if you initialise one, then the next is probably the next memory space. Your string pointer (line) is probably writing over the integers and if they're not initialised then it's hitting uninitialised memory and barfing. You really need to initialise where line is pointing, rather than worrying why it occasionally works by chance. --Phil Holmes (talk) 10:31, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Then 91.145.72.65's advice is the thing to do - turn on all compiler warnings, and don't proceed with debugging until all the warnings you're getting are resolved. This won't fix all memory corruption and bad pointer issues, but given C's laissez-faire willingness to compile programs that are objectively bonkers, debugging a program with warnings is wasting your time. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:01, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

And if line is okay at one point, but bad later, then you may have stack corruption. line is (probably) stored on the call stack, adjacent(ish) to other automatic variables in the same block (function). If code addressing one of them mangles the stack, it can overrun into the storage of line, corrupting it. When you later dereference line, you get a bad result. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:04, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

One possible problem is that "%d" in printf (and scanf) expects and int (which will be at least two bytes, probably four), whereas a string is an array of, or pointer to, char (normally one byte). It is possible that the compiler pushes only one byte onto the stack (line[0]) but the printf function tries to read sizeof(int) bytes from the stack and there just aren't that many there to read, so it tries to read beyond the stack, creating a segmentation fault. (Some compilers will issue warnings if printf format and arguments don't match.) This would probably fix the problem:

printf("%d",(int)line[0]);

I don't generally like using type casts - they are the programmer's way of telling the compiler "I'm doing something wrong but I don't want to be warned about it." So this would be better:

int i = line[0]; /* implicit promotion from char to int, no cast required */
printf("%d", i);

I would expect your sscanf to return EOF if line is an empty string. According to K&R2 appendix B1.3, "fscanf returns EOF if end of file or an error occurs before any conversion; otherwise it returns the number of input items converted and assigned", and sscanf is equivalent except that the input characters are taken from the string. The only reason that I can see why sscanf might fail is if i is not an integer, and line actually contains (a text representation of) a number, not an empty string. Eg if i is a char (1 byte), sscanf will try to write an int (eg 4 bytes) to it, which may corrupt your stack. Mitch Ames (talk) 01:22, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

All arguments to variadic functions beyond the declared parameters (as well as all those to functions with no prototype) are promoted at least to int or double ("at least" because of unsigned int, long int, pointer types, and so on). There is no trouble using %d to format a char argument.

sscanf() will of course return EOF if !*line, but if !line (or it is otherwise invalid) there will be trouble! That case can't happen if line is an automatic or static array, since its address is not data and can't be damaged by stack corruption or so. It's possible, in theory, that an sscanf(...,"%d",...) would read so far off the end of a valid array that it got a segfault, but it seems unlikely that it would encounter neither a 0 nor something it could (or couldn't!) convert to an int along the way. It'd have to be all whitespace, basically, to the end of the page at least. --Tardis (talk) 03:48, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Can you provide a reference for your statement that "all arguments to variadic functions ... are promoted at least to int or double"? I know that most (but not necessarily all) compilers will push at least sizeof(int) bytes onto the stack, but that's because it typically generates more efficient/faster code. (This is similar to alignment of an int after a single char in a struct for example.) However:
1) I don't believe the language actually requires it, so one shouldn't depend on it. Eg an compiler for an 8-bit processor, with a 16-bit int to meet minimum ANSI requirements, probably would not. (Don't laugh, I have recently worked with such a compiler.)
2) The extra bytes pushed are not necessarily initialised, ie there isn't any promotion, so if a char is pushed by the caller and an int is read by the function, the value will be undefined.
Mitch Ames (talk) 05:20, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

This can be inferred from 6.5.2.2p6 "If the expression that denotes the called function has a type that does not include a prototype, the integer promotions are performed on each argument, and arguments that have type float are promoted to double. These are called the default argument promotions." and 6.5.2.2p7 "The ellipsis notation in a function prototype declarator causes argument type conversion to stop after the last declared parameter. The default argument promotions are performed on trailing arguments." The integer promotion applies to types whose range of values can be represented in an int or unsigned int, and so does not apply to e.g unsigned long, as mentioned by Tardis. decltype (talk) 06:43, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

OK, thanks - I learn something new every day! Incidentally, what book/standard/website etc are you citing here? And is it freely available? I did find the equivalent wording in K&R2 Appendix A7.3.2 Function Calls, but it never hurts to have an extra reference source when I can get them. Mitch Ames (talk) 09:09, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

The ISO/IEC C language standard. It is not freely available, but the standard drafts are. The most recent draft of the revised C99 standard can be downloaded from http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/www/docs/n1336.pdf. I expect it to contain only very minor editorial differences from the actual standard (and its Technical Corrigendums), at least this is the case for C++. decltype (talk) 09:28, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Mitch Ames (talk) 01:29, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Of course, I misspoke slightly: it is only the arguments that actually correspond to the ellipsis (the "variadic arguments" if you will) that undergo such promotion. I knew that, but so often variadic functions just take a pointer or two before their ellipsis that I didn't think about it at all. Thanks for making it precise; I've amended my statement to be completely accurate. --Tardis (talk) 16:05, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

If this is for a real program, I don't think you'll be doing yourself any favors by papering over the symptoms without understanding the bug. It's generally worth the effort to understand it fully so you know it's really fixed, so you can scan the rest of your code for the same bug, and so that you can grow as a programmer. --Sean 16:23, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

My thoughts exactly, Sean; I knew that initializing my variables fixed the bug; I just didn't understand why. And thanks everyone for the suggestions. Here's what I think my problem has been: I've been assuming that the program would be stepping through the code line by line, so if it's giving me a segfault before a given line is executed (i.e., a debugging printf), then nothing after that line could possibly be my problem. But I suppose with a compiled program, I have no such assurances. I found a conditional later in my function that would very understandably cause a segfault, and my segfault goes away when I fix it. So somehow the program must be compiled such that this conditional is checked before some perfectly legal printfs above it are executed. Is this plausible? I hope so, even though it will mean I'll have to re-learn how to debug programs. --Allen (talk) 17:52, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

printf debugging for cases like this can be problematic. printf writes to the stout, which is buffered; at the least you need to fflush() stdout after each printf (otherwise a printf has occurred, but you've not seen it yet). It's much more productive to debug under a source debugger like gdb or the visual c++ debugger. This will halt the program right at the segfault, and will retain the program state so you can go back and inspect variables to see how you got into this mess. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:57, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Note that stdout is usually not buffered if it's the terminal. --Sean 15:16, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

and (it may seem like nitpicking but it really isn't) initialising the adjacent variables didn't fix the bug, it hid the bug. The bug isn't the segfault - that's a welcome symptom of it. You'll come to (reluctantly) like segfaults, because many memory corruption bugs leave the program running but with the data scrambled. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 18:03, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Excellent; thank you again. The fflush(stdout) did indeed reveal that the printfs were being executed and I just hadn't seen them yet. The buffering hadn't occurred to me. I'll work on learning gdb. --Allen (talk) 18:13, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Valgrind is also excellent for finding invalid memory accesses. --Sean 15:16, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Restricted characters in Wiki URLs

Is there a list of restricted characters that cannot be used in a wikipedia URL. For example, going to United States takes you to .../United_States and going to 100% takes you to .../100%25

The %25 is the ascii code for %. So the replace for space is an underscore, but for some characters is a hex, and for others is the literal. I would like to find a comprehensive listing of these. Anyone know where that is? PvsKllKsVp (talk) 23:09, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Mediawiki changes ascii 0x20 spaces to underscores (as spaces are so common in article names). Non ascii characters are encoded in UTF (UTF-8, I think). Apart from that it just does the standard URI encoding per the relevant RFC. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:27, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. That's perfect. MediaWiki respects the RFC, but doesn't implement it fully. For instance, commas, colons, semicolons, parenthesis and other punctuation is permitted in MediaWiki but not in the RFC. PvsKllKsVp (talk) 00:25, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

January 5

The buttons above the Wikipedia edit window

I'm curious how the buttons above the edit window (for inserting bold, brackets, and yada yada) work. Looking at the page source, I see they're generated by

<script type="text/javascript">
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_bold.png","Bold text","\'\'\'","\'\'\'","Bold text","mw-editbutton-bold");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_italic.png","Italic text","\'\'","\'\'","Italic text","mw-editbutton-italic");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_link.png","Internal link","[[","]]","Link title","mw-editbutton-link");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_extlink.png","External link (remember http:// prefix)","[","]","http://www.example.com link title","mw-editbutton-extlink");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_headline.png","Level 2 headline","\n== "," ==\n","Headline text","mw-editbutton-headline");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_image.png","Embedded file","[[File:","]]","Example.jpg","mw-editbutton-image");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_media.png","File link","[[Media:","]]","Example.ogg","mw-editbutton-media");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_math.png","Mathematical formula (LaTeX)","\x3cmath\x3e","\x3c/math\x3e","Insert formula here","mw-editbutton-math");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_nowiki.png","Ignore wiki formatting","\x3cnowiki\x3e","\x3c/nowiki\x3e","Insert non-formatted text here","mw-editbutton-nowiki");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_sig.png","Your signature with timestamp","--~~~~","","","mw-editbutton-signature");
addButton("/skins-1.5/common/images/button_hr.png","Horizontal line (use sparingly)","\n----\n","","","mw-editbutton-hr");

</script>

I can tell what all the parameters in those function calls are for, except the last one ("mw-editbutton-bold", etc.). Can anyone tell me what those parameters do?

Also, is this bit of code the only thing that is needed to make buttons like this, or does it rely on something else (I noticed that higher up in the source code, several javascripts are imported). Pardon my ignorance; the only thing I really know anything about is Tk, so this is pretty unfamiliar to me. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 01:15, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I do not know what the last parameter is (some ID?), but I do know that you cannot create buttons of this kind simply by entering the code above in an otherwise empty HTML document. The function addButton must be defined somewhere. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 01:22, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

There is a lot of other code you aren't seeing. It relies on the function addButton, which is in edit.js, which itself calls mwEditButtons, which is in some other file, and etc. In a big project like MediaWiki, it is not uncommon that it is built up on many such script files, each one making it so that the final code to add a button is really short, but eventually devolving down to the Javascript necessary to position the button in the right place, make it do the right think when you click on it, etc. These parameters are custom (not standard Javascript) so you'd have to look up the actual code. You can't just copy and paste this code on your own site and have it work—it will require having things set up the same way they are in MediaWiki. If you look at the page source, you can see that there are maybe seven external scripts called each time the editing page is loaded (look for the script src= tag for external scripts).--Mr.98 (talk) 01:25, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

That explains it...I was wondering why I didn't see any reference to a function listed explicitly in the parameters, and figured it would be something like that. Thanks, rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 01:29, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

The final parameter is just the element ID, for reference. :) Ale_Jrb^talk 15:24, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

RHCSS

HOW MANY RHCSS IN INDIA —Preceding unsigned comment added by Subho46 (talk • contribs) 07:39, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

What's RHCSS? --Sean 16:46, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Possibly a Red Hat Certified Security Specialist, but I have no idea how many Indians qualify. If so, then you could try http://www.redhat.com/search or your favourite general search engine. Certes (talk) 00:31, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

CRYSTAL REPORT USING JAVA

HOW TO CREATE CRYSTAL REPORT IN JAVA? I AM WORKING ON PROJECT USING CORE JAVA. I SEARCHED ON INTERNET BUT I DID NOT GET THE COMPLETE INFORMATION.IF YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD ANSWER ME PLZ. OR GIVE ME WEB NAME SO I FINISH MY PROJECT ON RIGHT TIME. I KNOW HOW TO CREATE CRYSTAL REPORT IN C# BUT I WANT TO WORK IN JAVA ONLY. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ashish.kalyana (talk • contribs) 08:57, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Crystal Reports for Eclipse is a plugin for Eclipse's Java IDE. Nimur (talk) 11:51, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Plus we're case sensitive like Java. Please try and use lower case except for the first letter of sentences mainly as in other discussions you see here. Some people call ALL UPPERCASE shouting. Dmcq (talk) 12:05, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

actually, javaProgrammers prefer camelCase, in myExperience... though the language doesn't mandate these stylistic conventions. Nimur (talk) 12:39, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Microsoft Office Word 2007 PDF Problem

I have written a rather nice *.docx file in Microsoft Office Word 2007. If you'd like, you can see it here. Of course, I want to save it as a PDF file. But the "Save as PDF/XPS" function in Word 2007, that works for most of my documents, does not work for this one. Instead, winword.exe crashes after it has exported the last page in the document (according to the status bar), and no *.pdf file is generated. (I have also tried to save it as a XPS document, but that crashes winword.exe as well, surprisingly.)

So, I tried to print the document using PDFCreator instead. PDFCreator does indeed not crash, but the output looks dreadful. First of all, all example code in the document is written in DejaVu Sans Mono (one of very few good-looking free monospaced Unicode fonts), and all such text is missing from the output PDF! In addition, my nice PNG Windows Vista screenshots, that look great in the *.docx file, look terrible in the PDF.

What can I do? Is there any modification I can do to the *.docx file, so that the Microsoft exporter will work? Is there any settings I can make in PDFCreator to eliminate the two issues? I suppose one additional solution would be to buy Adobe Acrobat. Will this software be able to create PDFs from *.docx files, without any problems? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 14:10, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

If you're considering alternative software, I recommend CutePDF Writer. CutePDF is an alternative, free (zero-cost, but not freely-licensed) PDF generator that works on Windows. It sets itself up as a virtual printer, so any program which has a "print" capability can simply print to the CutePDF writer, which allows you to save a PDF. I've found it to be the most useful tool for generating PDFs in general; it is very stable and doesn't muck up the documents. Nimur (talk) 14:50, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I actually have tried that one, but the result is exactly the same as PDFCreator gave me, i.e. missing text and ugly screenshots. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:06, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Then there's probably some issue in the docx file - are you using thumbnailed image previews, including any .eps files in the document, or doing any unusual text box formatting (transparency, etc.)? Also note that PDFs can optionally render text as a raster or as a text area to be rendered later with a system font. Since you're using a font which is not default for Windows, you may have an issue related to this. If you can force the PDF to rasterize all text (I think this is an option in CutePDF), you might not have as much trouble with the missing monospace fonts. This will unfortunately increase your PDF size (as you're basically bitmapping the text, instead of storing it in ASCII and re-rendering it). Nimur (talk) 15:27, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

No, there are no particularly esoteric formatting in the document. (Well, I make heavy use of page layout settings, such as different headers/footers on different pages etc., but that works just fine.)

Yes, rasterising the monospaced text would solve that problem, but I think it is a very ugly solution. Not only because the file size increases, but also because the rasterised text will not be scalable (perhaps not even searchable).

But how to adress the second problem, the deterioration of the screenshot PNGs? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:41, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I think the first problem is caused by whatever PDF writer you are using failing to embed the necessary fonts into the document. I don't know which font model PDF uses, but possibly you do not have them in a suitable format, or the software is plain broken (insert rant about writing anything complex in Word here). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 16:12, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Are you using ClearType or anti-aliasing somewhere? The problems with the images seem to be similar to what happens if you take a screen dump and then try to scale it. 87.112.68.96 (talk) 17:08, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Windows Vista uses ClearType everywhere, and ClearType is a sort of anti-aliasing of fonts. I have never observed any problems rescaling screensots... --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 17:13, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

To clarify, the problem with the screenshots is the distorted title bars of the windows. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 17:46, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I took a look. I have a guess to venture: The problem is related to the way Word handles embedded image files that are scaled down. If you don't feel like dickering with the options and scaling of the embedded pictures, try using Irfanview to scale the picture down ahead of time so its width is smaller than the width of your document at the expected print / reading size, and then import the picture so that Word is displaying it at its native size. I realize this won't look good when the user magnifies the page, but you may judge it to look better. (BTW, my first recommendation would also have been to use CutePDF Writer, which I use a lot.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:24, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I opened this .docx file in Word 2007 (in WinXP), saved it as pdf, and experienced neither a crash nor (as far as I can see) any missing text problems. Looks fairly nice, too. I would suggest trying saving this file as pdf on a different computer.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 19:43, January 5, 2010 (UTC)

I actually have two other computers with Word 2007, so I'll try that right away. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 19:55, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Hey, Ezhiki is smarter than me, I could have tried that. I just 'printed' it with CutePDF and the screenshots still look blocky and scaled. I maintain my pre-scaling recommendation. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:57, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I just tried to use Microsoft Word's Save as PDF function on all my computers, but they all crash with this particular document. Ezhiki has a different OS. That might be it, but I wonder if Ezhiki has DejaVu Sans Mono installed? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:03, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

No, I don't (all I have is the standard fonts that come with WinXP, plus whatever new fonts are added by Office 2007 by default).—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 20:09, January 5, 2010 (UTC)

I also tried (the trial version) of pdf995, and got (what I suspect are) similar results to CuteFTP and PDFCreator—the images are choppy and scaled. If you can't try saving this document on a WinXP machine, the pre-scaling recommendation is probably your only viable choice.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 20:19, January 5, 2010 (UTC)

I think I have found the problem. Microsoft Word 2007 appears always to crash when you export a document contaning the DejaVu Sans font to PDF or XPS. Can anyone confirm this (or give an counterexample)? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:17, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

(multiple ECs) I was able to save it as PDF using the built in Word 2007 PDF creator without the DejaVu Sans Mono font. The screenshots look okay I think but not surprisingly whatever font it replaced the monospaced/code font with causes major problems e.g. with matrices. I then installed Deja Sans Vu but it starts to crash so it seems that's the problem. Also saving page 1-7 is fine, when you include page 8 it starts to have problems and that's where DejaVu Sans Mono starts I think. Whether it's a problem with the Microsoft PDF engine or the font or both I don't know obviously. Office save to PDF provides limited options I think so I'm not sure if/how you can fix it but I may have a look later when I get better access. I also tried printing to XPS but that crashes as well. However saving to PDF using the Office-Acrobat CS4/9 PDF exporter seems to work fine. The file seems to look okay, at least I didn't notice any specific problems. I have a sample file I could send to you via e-mail if you want, e-mail me so I have your address and perhaps leave a message on my talk page or alternatively provide a place to upload them (I probably have places I could upload but lazy to find them). I've simply used the default Acrobat settings, have limited access at this time but should be able to do more later. Obviously given the price, this is unlikely to be an option for you personally but if you only want this and/or a few files I could make them for you. Alternatively, you could try doing something like making a PostScript file and using GhostScript. Nil Einne (talk) 20:24, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I installed this font, created a quick one-line document using it, and tried to save it as pdf. Word crashed. I think that's indeed your culprit.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 20:27, January 5, 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I think so. That's bad, for the font is crutial for the document. Thanks to all who helped me confirm this.

When it comes to the PDFCreator/CutePDF/... option, downscaling the PNGs does not work - I tried that. See example. I will try to convert the files to BMP without transparancy. But even if I got the screenshots to look OK, I really cannot accept that all instances of program code vanish! --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:33, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, converting the PNGs to 24-bit BMPs works! But the missing text? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:38, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I also want to thank Nil Einne for his vert kind offer, but I am afraid that there will be many versions of this document, so I really need to be able to produce PDFs myself. My e-mail adress is of the form FirstName@LastName.Country (I live in Sweden : .se). It would be interesting to see how good Acrobat is. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:38, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm sending it now. Also I was trying to convert it via GhostScript but found that printing doesn't work either. On further testing, even printing to my real, non postscript printer doesn't work. Even further testing shows using DejaVu Sans causes a printing crash with WordPad in both Vista and Windows 7 and NotePad in 7 (not tested Vista) so it seems the Microsoft printing subsystem (which I'm guessing is used for the internal Office PDF and XPS exporter) really doesn't like the font. I also tested it on FireFox with a simple HTML like this

<html> <body> <font face="DejaVu Sans"> Meow </font> </body> </html>

and tried to print and yes it crashes although fortunately I didn't lose this message as FireFox saved it ;-)

I also found that it's only DejaVu Sans and DejaVu Sans Condensed that don't work (well didn't try with the italics and bold), DejaVu Sans Light and DejaVu Sans Mono work fine (and this is in NotePad, WordPad and Office). DejaVu LGC also seems to have the same problem but didn't test it much.

But anyway, given that this appears to be a Windows wide printing problem with the font, it seems unlikely no one has noticed it so perhaps you can find some more info/help now you know that. Whether it's a MS bug or a problem with the font, I don't know but either way since it's open source you could modify the font if you work out what's causing the MS printing subsystem to crash and perhaps someone already has. And if it is a Microsoft problem in the long term perhaps you can convince them to fix it somehow... Of course the other option is to see if you can rework your documents to only use Mono and Light in which case it should be fine with the MS PDF export hopefully.

P.S. Yes I know <font> is depreciated in HTML.

Nil Einne (talk) 21:39, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, the important font is DejaVu Sans Mono, which by itself appears to be working. I tried to replace all instances of DejaVu Sans to DejaVu Sans Mono in Word, but strangely enough it did not work. Probably there is some or a few characters in the document that were not replaced. I think I will try to uninstall DejaVu Sans. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 21:53, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Since I uninstalled the DejaVu Sans font, the Save as PDF option in Microsoft Word works! --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 22:53, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Bit late but I finally managed to send the file (had some problems unrelated to the font issues). I'm not sure what font Word will use to replace the missing fonts but if it causes problems or you want to remove the use of the font in the document; in case you don't know, Word does have a Search (& Replace) option for fonts albeit it doesn't seem to find all instances of DejaVu Sans for me (in particular it didn't seem to find the brackets () at least). I didn't spend much time so you may be able to work out why it doesn't seem to be finding some instances. If still having problems locating the usage, a good thing to do is to print the document because then it crashes on the page causing problems. (I also found that changing the font in the entire document to DejaVu Sans Mono works as a simple proof of concept that Mono definitely doesn't cause problems.) Anyway glad we could help! Nil Einne (talk) 23:39, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I used the search and replace dialog to change all DejaVu Sans to DejaVu Sans Mono, but apparently Word did miss at least one character, somewhere (perhaps the "font" of a CRLF or something else subtle). But after I uninstalled the font, it could no longer cause any problems. Thanks again for all help! --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:49, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Resolved

Problems with Format Factory (v 2.20)

I looked all over the internet for help with this and found none, so i decided to come here.

I am trying to convert some files i recorded off my tuning card using windows media center. (It uses the format ".DVR-MS" which i assume is some arbitrary microsoft format. By the way i am using Windows Vista Premium x64)

I convert this using the program "Format Factory" (v 2.20) and it seems to work fine except that no matter what settings i have, i convert to .avi or .mpg and it will give the top of the video this little area where the data is scrambled. This area of the video is supposed to be black anyway so it doesnt matter, but it looks like little random black and white lines ripping all over the area, and its really annoying!

Does anyone know a setting i could use or any other thing i could do to fix this? I also have sony vegas, but since that cant open Microsoft's bizzare format (and format factory can!) I think using Vegas (at least in a first step) is out of the question. :(

Any ideas please?

97.64.173.66 (talk) 14:14, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

PS: Here is an idea of what the scrambled stuff looks like at the top... I hope this helps.

Broken Video Screenshot

97.64.173.66 (talk) 14:23, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

ffmpeg can crop (and pad if you want to) video. --91.145.89.207 (talk) 15:01, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Duff laptop reality check

It's a long time since I last had cause to try to set up machines from scratch - my experience is from the dos 2.x to windows 3.x period - so ... I've been given a laptop to look at. It has XP on it, but it's obviously borked; it boots, gets to the desktop, then kinda dies very slowly - applications either do not run or take an age to do little or nothing.

Obvious solution, I thought, was to drop the current operating system and reinstall XP from scratch. However, on booting from an XP install CD, I get an error that XP cannot find a hard drive on the machine. Do I conclude from that that there may be a disk controller problem and that the fundamental problem is a hardware issue? Put another way, all things being equal, when booting from an XP installation CD on a basic laptop, the operating system should be able to see the hard drive? Any good suggestions for next steps given this situation (other than to give the machine back to its owner with a "sorry, but this is an ex-laptop, it has ceased to be". thanks --Tagishsimon (talk) 14:32, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Can you boot to the BIOS to see if the hard disk is protected in any way (or if you can see it from in there?) All other things being equal, you should be able to the the disk. Have you tried booting a Linux LiveCD to check the hard disk without modifying it? Nimur (talk) 14:53, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

It sounds like you need to get the device driver for the hard disk on a floppy disk and whilst XP is first loading up you need to press F6 so it can read the driver from the floppy. After this it should detect the hard drive okay. There's more information available on the microsoft site here. As for where to get the driver from, if the owner didn't get a disk with the computer and/or they've lost it then possibly the computer manufacturer will offer it for download. ZX81 ^talk 15:06, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I'm a couple of days away from seeing the machine again. I'll take up the various suggestions and see where I get to. --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:14, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

OpenSuse

Hi I am trying to install OpenSuse 11.2 in my laptop. It gives me error message can not connect to the site to update. No Internet. I installed Fedora on the same laptop, and NO problem at all. I can update through the internet.But I like OpenSuse. Sorry I can not get to the Internet. My laptop is new and has:

• Intel Core2 Duo Processor T6400
• 2.0 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cashe
• 4 GB DDR2
• 802.11a/b/g/Draft N WLAN

Kingpin¹³ (talk) on behalf of Wikialimo (talk · contribs) copied from Open Suse 11.2 login in the internet problem with my laptop prefix:Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives 17:17, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Your opensuse doesn't have some module/driver fedora has. Running for i in /sys/class/net/*; do echo "$(basename $i): $(basename $(readlink $i/device/driver/module) 2> /dev/null)"; done on the fedora machine will reveal what module is associated with each network interface. If you post that here we can help with installing the module. --91.145.89.207 (talk) 17:57, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

By what method are you attempting to install opensuse 11.2? Are you attempting a full installation, or an upgrade of an existing earlier version? If you wish to perform a full installation then you can simply download and burn the full DVD, which, during the installation does not require any Internet access. Rjwilmsi 19:02, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Windows explorer crashes every time

I'm hoping someone can help me with this problem. Everytime I try to open a folder or My Computer Windows Explorer crashes. When it crashes, it doesn't generate the usual error report but it prompts me to update windows.

I've peformed a system restore to a point in time where I didn't have the problem, no luck.

I've disabled Data execution prevention for explorer.exe, still no luck.

Someone suggested the problem may be a fualty shell extension and I've downloaded a shell viewer but after a quick scan I didn't see anything that might have been causing the problem.

I checked the event viewer logs and the error information is as follows: Faulting application explorer.exe, version 6.0.6000.16771, time stamp 0x4907deda, faulting module SHLWAPI.dll, version 6.0.6000.16386, time stamp 0x4549bdb9, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x0001e0e5, process id 0xe4c, application start time 0x01ca8e5117ecd44d.

Does anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance.

I'm running Windows Vista Home edition, 32 bit —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.250.7.109 (talk) 22:40, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

P.S. I would really rather not reformat my computer as I have some important files. Normally I would just put those files on an external drive...but I need Windows Explorer for that.

99.250.7.109 (talk) 22:28, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

As far as evacuating your data: you can just use the command line or any number of specialized backup packages to move your files — or even transfer the disk to a functional computer that can archive them. --Tardis (talk) 22:38, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

My condolences; this sounds very frustrating. Could you clarify your statement, "I've peformed a system restore to a point in time where I didn't have the problem, no luck"? Does that mean you've rewound as far as you can, and Explorer still crashes? If so, I would give up, buy a new hard disk to be the primary C: hard disk, install Windows and all your apps on the new hard disk, and copy stuff over from the D: hard disk as needed. Sorry about this (and about the draconian advice). Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:07, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Am I correct you don't get any crashes if you don't open explorer? Also what is the message it gives when it crashes and ask you to update? Does it give the same error every time? If this is a desktop in particular (with laptops it may be harder to get access to and connect the disk to another computer), my recommendation would be to take the disk to a working computer and backup the important files then try formating it. It's not really clear to me what the problem is from the information provided. It could be a disk problem but I don't see enough information to convince me it is. It could be a problem with other hardware. Either way, this does put your data at risk. If it's a problem with some other hardware, installing a new disk is not likely to help, and if you keep your main disk connected there's a chance you could lose data while setting up the new disk. However it could also simply be a software issue, in which case buying new hardware would be a waste (although you may need a new disk to backup your data if you don't have access to any and you can't back it up to a friends computer). I would recommend once you get this fixed you consider good backup practices if you have important data. Mechanical disks can die at any time and have a relatively high failure rate compared to a number of other computer components. Solid state disks are less likely to die but you are still at risk from corruption (particularly file system corruption), hardware failure (particularly a power supply failure) causing corruption or damage, malware, accidential deletion, theft or loss of your computer (including natural disasters and things like fire although if your store your backups at home you may not be much better off) etc Nil Einne (talk) 00:16, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

From further research, it appears SHLWAPI.dll is part of the Windows update API which explains why it tells you to update your computer.Edit somehow got confused, ignore that. It's possible this was simply corrupted or somehow has gone missing (which could be a sign of malware). Have you tried running in safe mode (particularly safe mode with the command line)? Alternatively you could try the Windows Vista Recovery Environment. BTW, you wouldn't happen to have Mass Downloader would you? Nil Einne (talk) 00:16, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Not sure if this is what you have but I'd try some virus scanners. I had the same problem with my computer, of explorer crashing whenever opened, (I used a replacement for explorer for a while) then tried a bunch of spyware scanners (Avira, Superantispyware, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, A-2 Squared or something like that) and it found about 5 viruses and after they were removed my computer worked fine. 66.133.196.152 (talk) 10:44, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Btw the explorer replacement I used was xplorer lite free (available at http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm). Ironically one of those many virus scans I used said it too was spyware but I think it gave me a warning and I figured it was just a false positive. It didn't matter though - I deleted the program because I did not need it anymore. I doubt it is spyware though. Somehow it made sense to me that a virus scanner would see something that is supposed to be a explorer replacement as something bad. 66.133.196.152 (talk) 10:52, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice so far. Allow me to clarify a few points. I've rewound my computer using system restore to a point two weeks ago where I knew there was no problem. I have not gone to the earliest possible restore point. Do you think that's relevant?

Yes, Windows Explorer crashes every time I open a folder. Yes, it is the same error every time. When I open My Computer for example, I can see all my drives and icons for about two seconds. Then, it crashes. A window pops up "Windows Explorer has stopped working" followed immediately by "Windows Explorer is restarting", WE re-starts and a message pops up saying that Windows update can fix some stability and security issues.

I've just finished sfc/scannow and it says some files are corrupted. I can't open the CBS log for some reason because permissions is denied even though I am the admin. Someone has suggested that the issue is some out of whack folder permissions. I'm not sure I buy that and I have no idea how to fix that without Windows Explorer, anyways.

I have downloaded explorexp and while it's functioning, I can't seem to right click anything. Whenever I do, the menu items are all blanked out. Some blank menu items have an arrow indicating a sub menu, which are also blank. I'm wondering if this is somehow related to my Windows Explorer/ shell extension issues.

Thanks. 99.250.7.109 (talk) 16:43, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

I bit the bullet and re-installed windows. Thanks to everyone for the advice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.250.7.109 (talk) 22:31, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

January 6

What program can be used to combine multiple PNG images into an animated GIF?

I am looking for a program that can combine multiple PNG images into an animated GIF. Is there any free software on Windows or Mac I can use?--219.74.153.124 (talk) 01:31, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

The GIMP --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 01:32, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Tutorial --Mr.98 (talk) 02:51, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

ImageMagick can do it from the command line. Instructions. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:53, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Bill Gates's code

When's the last time Bill Gates himself wrote code for a Microsoft product?20.137.18.50 (talk) 13:24, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Our article suggests that he was actively writing code for Microsoft products until around 1989. Ale_Jrb^talk 13:55, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Of note, that claim is not backed in any way by the reference. The reference doesn't mention that Bill Gates ever wrote a single bit of code. In my opinion, we've had about 30 years of revisionist history to turn Bill into a great programmer when it all started as Bill being a great businessman with a mediocre product that other programmers wrote. -- kainaw™ 15:24, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

In fact it does; consider reading the reference more carefully? Check out (use 'Find') "Question about Bill’s programming." on the reference, where he states that his code last went live 8 years from when the speech was made, which was in 1997. Either way, if you have an issue with a reference, you should take it up on the relevant talk page rather than posting about it on the reference desk. Cheers, Ale_Jrb^talk 18:49, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

On a somewhat tangential note, according to Herb Sutter (who is definitely a competent coder), Gates is "a sharp guy with a broad and deep background and incisive questions", and made a remark about him "gesturing and making comments about simulating lambdas using macros instead of baking them into [C++0x], and variable capture consequences" at a technical review.[5] decltype (talk) 09:48, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm also not convinced that Paul Allen & Monte Davidoff did all the programming for Altair BASIC and Bill Gates was just "great businessman with a mediocre product that other programmers wrote". Particularly since Paul Allen seems to have been the one meeting MIT (i.e. it doesn't seem BG was doing all the businessman side there). Both I believe came from relatively rich families (which isn't surprising since they went to a private school with computers in the 60-70s), so I don't see any reason there either. And also "Later, they made a bet on who could write the shortest bootstrap program. Gates won". If Paul and Monte really did all the programming, then I'm not particular sure why Paul let him hang around, and how he won the contest (unless you think both were just great businessmen and crap programmers).

Also I seem to remember Gates hacked into his school computer and changes his grades, probably not a particular difficult task and maybe not one requiring programming, but it does suggest he had some technical skills.

To be blunt and without intending to offend Kainaw or imply this was his? intention, it seems to me it's more likely the reverse. Bill Gates was a decent programmer, perhaps not the best, and a great businessman. Probably as a better businessman then a programmer, overtime he concentrated on the business side (although it's my impression that included evaluating code and programmers, I've heard in a mostly positive way that Bill Gates was an extemely perhaps excessively harsh critic, in a Ubuntu forum too so it doesn't seem like they had reason to lie) because that was his forte and however dubious some of his and Microsoft's tactics/actions may have been, he was still a decent programmer in his time.

People who don't like him and/or Microsoft like to ignore that he did have decent products which in the early days he was partially responsible for coding and like to think he just got lucky because of stupid rivals and being in the right place in the right time and was great (albeit perhaps ethically dubious in some instances) businessman with great marketing. Both of these obviously have some truth, but to put them down to the sole reason for MS's and BG's success is IMHO stretching. (I like to say the same about Intel and Apple as well but and infact think it's often more true for both albeit in different ways then for Microsoft but acknowledge they did have good products too.)

In fact I would go as far as to say, without meaning to include anyone in particular that in his prime he was probably at least as good as if not a better programmer then many programmers here; if any meaningful comparison can be made (probably the best is comparing the level of his skill compared to the average of peers for both) given the difference in time frames of the programming work.

P.S. I see from File:Altair Basic Sign.jpg he wrote the runtime stuff. I don't know if you can get access to the entire code, perhaps it's visible in the museum but if you can you can evaluate some of his earliest work for yourself unless you believe in 1975 they decided to lie about what Bill Gates actually did so they could spread a myth about him being a good programmer.

If you want to be ethically dubious and perhaps risk legal trouble, I know some Microsoft source code has leaked. I don't know if any of this includes anything with Bill Gates's work but if it does you could try and evaluate it yourself. Obviously it may be difficult to work out who wrote what I presume there may be some comments, headers etc of stuff he mostly or completely wrote, presuming you don't believe they decided to lie in their internal code to spread the myth (I guess to employees) that BG was a decent programmer.

Nil Einne (talk) 11:40, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Linux based operating system emulator

Back in the early '80's in the days of the Atari ST-1024 a Company out of Jacksonville, Florida (or Jacksonville Beach) developed an emulator for the Atari to allow it to run MSDOS programs on top of its TOS operating system. Is there a similar emulator existing today that will allow Windows applications such as Excel and Word and other windows based programs to run on top of the Linux operating system? 71.100.3.13 (talk) 14:29, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, see Wine (software). Another approach is using full virtualization software such as VMware Workstation to boot a copy of Windows inside Linux. -- Coneslayer (talk) 14:42, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Computer's Clock Reset

A couple of days ago, I noticed my computer's clock was wrong (fast by 5 or 6 hours), then when I came to reset it, I found the date was Friday, 22nd December 2006. It was making it difficult to visit websites because I had to authenticate certificates for them. Does anyone know what has happened here? I've reset the clock and restarted the machine and done a virus check with AVG and nothing has been found. Any information at all would be appreciated. --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 18:27, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Maybe the little coin-sized battery in your computer is almost dead. 20.137.18.50 (talk) 18:33, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Seriously? I've been using laptops for over 10 years, and I've never heard of that before. --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 18:41, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

It's very possible that I'm completely wrong, but the factory yields of the CMOS battery makers probably aren't exactly 100%.20.137.18.50 (talk) 18:50, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

The voltage of the CMOS battery of my Dell dropped below acceptable levels already after two or three years, making the clock loose the track of time if I disconnected the PC from the power grid. So it appears not to be very uncommon. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 19:09, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

I concur, it's most likely the little battery on the motherboard. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:30, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Funnily enough, it did actually happen after unplugging the computer and leaving it unplugged for a number of hours. Maybe this is something to do with my warranty running out last month and not being renewed...... :) Cheers! --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 21:13, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Actually, we have an article on this: Nonvolatile BIOS memory. That little motherboard clock battery is totally unrelated to your laptop's normal battery. If you unplug a PC (and yank the laptop battery, if it's a laptop) and leave it unplugged for a year and then plug it in and boot up, the clock will be correct, and it's because of that little motherboard battery. So, whether you let the laptop unplugged or not is irrelevant. The battery just decided to wear out, of its own accord. Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:48, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

so, is this user-serviceable? Can I just replace it myself or do I have to go through all the rigmarole of sending it off to be replaced (paying lots of cash because my guarantee ran out last month)? Can't I just go into a shop and get a battery then put it in myself? It's a HP G60, if that's any help. --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 12:37, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

You can get a CR2032 at most grocery stores.20.137.18.50 (talk) 12:45, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. So that is the one I need for a HP G60? Cheers! --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 13:45, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

For a laptop, it will probably requre some disassembly to get to the battery. You probably want to verify the type of battery first and how to replace it. Check HP's support site and forums. Astronaut (talk) 14:40, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Agreed; on a desktop computer it's really easy for a user to swap out his battery; but I have never done it on a laptop and remember being unable to disassemble my last laptop, for fear of breaking the plastic case; so you should contact HP and find out. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:23, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

On my HP Pavilion dv6000 it is easy to replace the CMOS battery. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 22:57, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Uncompromised computer

If I had the resources to create and build an uncompromised computer to replicate the higher functions of the human brain what would those uncompromises be? 71.100.3.13 (talk) 20:59, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Since we don't know how the brain actually works, how can we possibly hope to build a machine to replicate it? It's not a question of compromise, having better resources will not help until we have much better understanding. Theresa Knott | token threats 21:07, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

True, though there are at least a few things that would help it operate in a manner more closely resembling the human brain. Most of these are done in "hardware" in the human brain, but a computer could simulate most of them with software.

1. Dynamic rewiring: The brain forms new connections and prunes old ones as part of the learning process. Any attempt to fully simulate a human brain would need to do the same
2. "Voting" for signal transmission: In cases where more than one neuron connect to another neuron, the signal is transmitted based on a kind of vote; if only one neuron is "on" and several are "off", then the signal is often dropped (this is a drastic oversimplification)
3. Massively multi-threaded: While the thread of consciousness is a single thread (or close to it), a lot of stuff is going on in the background. For example, when you overhear your name in a crowded room, multiple unconscious processes are involved in buffering the input, parsing it into words, identifying the key word, etc. And that's ignoring the fact that you could be engaged in dancing, having a conversation, etc., all of which involved numerous unconscious processes beyond the mere conscious decision to engage in the activity.

Now, it's entirely possible to limit your definition: Humans develop mental shortcuts as they learn something new, which is part of why the rewiring is necessary. A computer might recompute the result from scratch every time, so rewiring is unnecessary. In any event, Theresa is right; we don't know enough about the details of human brain function to replicate it exactly. It's not purely a technological problem; no matter how much hardware you throw at it, you still need more advanced neuroscience to figure out what exactly you are trying to emulate. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 21:35, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

webcam as security

i've had a quick search on the internet and i'm none-the-wiser, i'm pretty confused by IT at the best of times. so if anybody can help me pls do! my car has been vandalised a few times over the past 2 months so i thought a webcam would help me get some evidence. however i've only seen high end webcams advertising that they have software 'designed' for home security. can i buy a low end webcam such as this [6] and use some freeware software to save say 1 image every second to my HD? ty in advance 87.113.113.221 (talk) 21:16, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

There is a lot of webcam software available for any cam you can plug into your computer. You will want one that archives old photos (instead of just replacing the current photo). The quality of the webcam will decide how useful it is. For example, a low quality webcam that doesn't see anything when it is dark will be rather useless for catching people vandalizing a car outside at night. -- kainaw™ 22:01, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Also you have to be aware of the zoom the fixed lens of an inexpensive web cam has. While outdoor web cams may have a lens that allows for a 150 deg viewing angle an indoor web cam may limit you to only 70 deg. On top of that you can not depend on a one frame per second rate to show the vandal actually vandalizing which defers the evidence you could have to circumstantial. Most security cameras rely on motion detection to assure that a single frame will show the vandal vandalizing. Another issue is whether your inexpensive camera has an infrared filter. If it does so you can remove it to see at night in dim light then you will have to sacrifice color. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 22:15, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

motion is one program, but linux only. --91.145.88.2 (talk) 22:08, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

The homecamera.com service, which is free at the moment, supports saving video clips and images to your account page on their website. (The fact that it's on their website seems useful in the home or office situation, so if an intruder walks in and steals the computer that has the webcam, he hasn't also stolen the video clips or images that the webcam just took of him.) I have not found what I want personally, which is a free piece of software that just saves 1 image per second, or whatever, to a remote computer. Comet Tuttle (talk) 22:30, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Timelapse is very easy to do using a large variety of programs. Windows XP SP2 for instance included Movie Maker and while the worst possible software Mirosoft has ever included still can be used for time lapse. Movie maker also has the capability of pseudo motion detection processing of the pictures taken of which it will make an avi file. It, however, uses a lot of hard drive space but may work for an hour or so while you are out shopping. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 22:47, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

That's a fairly trivial script, at least on Linux - fswebcam to grab the image, ncftpput or scp to push to the web server, running under a cron schedule. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:14, 6 January 2010 (UTC

that's a lot of helpful info ty all. i have a security light which means i should be ok without IR, and i do have a partition set aside with linux installed so maybe it's time i worked out how to use it :-) really struggling for money atm so it seems a budget cam (other than it's field of view) should be okish i appreciate your advice

ty all

not sure why my 'ty all' is in a separate box but it was heartfelt :-) 87.113.113.221 (talk) 00:46, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Because you started the line with a space :-) --Phil Holmes (talk) 10:54, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I tried to ask Yahoo Answers, but

it was too long and was way over the character limit. And besides, the people on sites like that are stupid. Wikipedians are much smarter and more helpful.

Here's my question:

What software (preferably free and quick) would be able to convert a .avi video file with a DIVX3 codec to a file that could be read by an Xbox 360? 96.255.178.76 (talk) 22:40, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

FFMPEG, which can run on your Windows or Linux PC, can convert video to and from many formats. An XBox360 should be able to play MP4 formats. Alternatively, you can follow the specific instructions in Xbox 360 conversion guide. Nimur (talk) 23:07, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Another option may be IRFAN but I'm not sure about xbox conversion. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 03:09, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I considered Irfan but remember using it a while ago, didn't like it and wasn't sure what format to use. Nimur's advice seems great. Thanks! 96.255.178.76 (talk) 01:52, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

FORTRAN-90 Array Syntax

I came across some unusual array syntax in some 11-year old Fortran 90 code. It's causing a segfault, presumably because the array index is accessing out-of-bounds. Unfortunately, the code is accessing the array elements in vector syntax that I am not familiar with.

  write_subroutine( cmplx(x(::N0,:), y(::N0,:)),  N1*N2*8 );

N0, N1, and N2 are constants. write_subroutine works properly if the input is valid. Clearly, something with the double-colon syntax is accessing invalid parts of vectors x and y. What is this double-colon vector syntax? I'm inclined to believe that it is accessing the vector in strides of N0 (that is, every N0'th element of the entire vector), but if that is the case, how am I getting a segfault? I can't find documentation for this weird vector syntax. Any Fortran90 vector gurus know what the :: syntax actually means? Nimur (talk) 23:14, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

windows vista problem, application wont launch, side-by-side configuration incorrect

hey i need help guys please. when i try to launch the application i get this error: the application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail. so i check the event log and it says: Activation context generation failed for "(file)". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis. what is going on?? ive never had this happen before.--Longhorns666 (talk) 23:16, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

and i use sxstrace.exe, but the command prompt appears for 1 second and then disappears, so i cant even use it!--Longhorns666 (talk) 23:17, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

(1) What application? (2) Googling "sxstrace.exe" yields, among other things, this link, which is a forum in which the "side-by-side" error is mentioned — any help there? (3) When the command prompt appears in Windows and disappears immediately, the fix is to instead run cmd.exe and from the command prompt, run your app (in this case, just type sxstrace.exe). When the executable is done you'll remain at the command prompt so you can look at the output of your app. Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:44, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

January 7

Xinhua's website unsafe?

I just went to a page on xinhuanet.com, and my Norton virus protection said the page is extremely infested with viruses. It reported the site as being infected with adware.lebar and Bloodhound.Exploit.281. Is my virus protection too strict? Woogee (talk) 02:16, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Probably accurate. This place is crawling with viruses (virii?). You're not going to find any news worth reading there anyway. 218.25.32.210 (talk) 03:09, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Follow-up question out of curiosity: in general, should I, browsing from Linux, we worried in this case? I hadn't entered the site yet, nor do I really wish to. --Ouro (blah blah) 05:07, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Probably not. There aren't too many *nix based viruses out there in the wild (if any at all). - Akamad (talk) 10:27, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

See the Linux malware article for more on that. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:43, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Gonna have to. Thanks! --Ouro (blah blah) 21:16, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

SQL woes

Hi All,

With some previous help from you (nearly six months ago), I have been using this query quite satisfactorily:

select BillingFirstName,BillingLastName,CustomerID, count(*) as 'NumberOfOrders' from Orders 
where (OrderStatus = 'shipped' or OrderStatus = 'processing' ) 
Group by CustomerID,BillingFirstName,BillingLastName Order by  'NumberOfOrders' desc

which yields a table looking like this:

billingfirstname	billinglastname	customerid	numberoforders
John	Doe	6	5
Jane	Doe	20	4

Now, there is a field which contains the order amount: OrderAmount, I was wondering how I could use the SUM() function in such a way that I get a table similar to this:

billingfirstname	billinglastname	customerid	numberoforders	ordertotal
John	Doe	6	5	1,234.56
Jane	Doe	20	4	567.89

the ordertotal is meant to represent the sum of all the orders placed by the customer (as distinguished by the customer id). I tried:

select BillingFirstName,BillingLastName,CustomerID, count(*) as 'NumberOfOrders', SUM(OrderAmount) as 'orderTotal' from Orders 
where (OrderStatus = 'shipped' or OrderStatus = 'processing' ) 
Group by CustomerID,BillingFirstName,BillingLastName Order by  'NumberOfOrders' desc

but the computer slapped me with a trout :( PrinzPH (talk) 02:34, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Try removing the single quotes from around "NumberOfOrders" (both occurances) and "orderTotal". If you need further assistance, please identify the database you are using (MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, etc.) plus the actual error message. I can't establish a telepathic link with your trout from this far away. -- Tom N (tcncv) talk/contrib 07:47, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

For one, Instead of "Order by 'NumberOfOrders' desc" (your alias for the count field) use 'Order by Count(*) desc'. You've aliased the field in the Select clause, but standard SQL you can not then reference that alias in the same query, such as in the Order_by or Where clause. I'm thinking I've ran across one or two DBMS's that did allow this, but it's not standard across databases, and probably bad form to rely on.

I personally agree with the suggestion above to remove the quotes, but they should generally be ok as the column aliases.Cander0000 (talk) 01:18, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Gaming experience on different platforms: comparable?

For FPS games that are published on multiple platforms (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC), is the gaming experience largely comparable on the different platforms, or is it very different because of the differences in CPU & graphics capabilities? --98.114.98.169 (talk) 04:58, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

It can be very different. I play games both on PS3 and PC and I have a very powerful PC so I can get the graphics up much higher then the ps3. But the main difference is that mouse and keyboard controls are MUCH more precise then a console controller and for that reason, FPS games are "dumbed down" on consoles. If you played the console version on a PC it would be VERY easy and if you played the PC version on a console, it would be very hard. I think PS3 and XBOX have small differences but not very noticeable. Eeven tho PS3 is supposedly "more powerful" hardware, a lot of games like GTA4 are actually developed on the XBOX, partly I think because it's much easier to port to PC from there, so the PS3 version is usually the "port" rather then the other way around which makes it not as smooth as a game developed on the ps3 to begin with. But it doesn't make much of a difference unless you study both version very closely side by side. Wii is not in the same league, I don't think there is a FPS that has been released on the Wii which is also on another platform. Most games that ALSO come out on the wii have a special "wii version" which is actually different to the others.. Vespine (talk) 05:54, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I agree with Vespine's remarks, on the whole, though "ease of porting to the PC" is certainly not the reason that the 360 is the lead platform for most video game development. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:41, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Is it because sony is such a bitch to develop for? :) That would be my 2nd guess... Vespine (talk) 21:30, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

You're both right. The PS-3 is a bitch to develop for BECAUSE ease of porting to/from the PC is so tough. SteveBaker (talk) 00:57, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

As a game developer who has worked on games for all of those platforms, I can tell you this much: The Wii is by far the weakest machine from a performance perspective - if it were not for the fancy controllers and the "casual gamer" following, it would have been a laughable flop. A modern PC with a decent nVidia or ATI graphics chip/card is by far the best. Any PC that's more than a couple of years old is probably on par with the Xbox and PC-3. A PC with an Intel motherboard graphics chip is basically down there with the Wii in terms of graphics performance. The Xbox360 and the PS-3 are roughly equal in hardware performance.

BUT there is a huge, huge problem with the PS-3. While it is theoretically an immensely powerful machine - it's flat out WEIRD. It's a total pain in the butt to develop for. Both the Wii and the Xbox are sufficiently close to a PC (in architectural terms) that you can easily write almost identical code to run on all three. But if you try to run this kind of very straightforward code on the PS-3, it runs like a dog. To get the best performance on the PS-3 you have to find a way to run some of your code on the "SPU" processors (which are WEIRD) and to only use the back half of the GPU because the front half is horribly slow. You also have to be really SUPER careful about what data you put in which memory blocks because although it has the same amount of RAM as the Xbox-360, it's split into two chunks with really slow mechanisms for copying between them. The code ends up looking nothing like a PC, Xbox or Wii.

Now - if you were developing a title exclusively for the PS-3, that would be ugly - but not fatal. You could make full use of all of these weird architectural widgets - optimize your code to the n'th degree and make a game that could probably be better even than the Xbox-360. But unless SONY are paying you a ton of up-front money to be a PS-3 exclusive, you've got to produce at least an Xbox and a PC version in order to amortise your development costs over a larger consumer base. Now, you have code that runs more or less identically on PC, Xbox and Wii - but requires immense amounts of additional software effort to make it run well on the PS-3. This is SUCH a major pain that most medium-sized software developers can't afford to do it. So corners are cut on the PS-3 side - graphics are lower quality, game levels are simpler, etc. So if we're honest and practical, the order is: Wii, PS-3, Xbox-360, PC.

However, if you are a large game developer - making something like Halo-3 or GTA-IV that's going to be a guaranteed hit - you can spend the up-front money to really push the PS-3 to it's limits. If you do that well - then perhaps the PS-3 and Xbox-360 swap places - but that's not much comfort to a PS-3 owner because there are probably only a couple of games a YEAR that are that finely tuned for the PS-3...everything else looks and plays better on the Xbox-360. SteveBaker (talk) 00:57, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Very good answer, apart from the fact halo never came out on PS3, I believe you are not correct about GTA4. There were more then a couple "side by side" comparisons of the PS3 and Xbox versions by seasoned review sites and the Xbox version was deemed slightly better by all the ones I saw, not by a big margin mind you. IIRC some of the draw distances were a bit better on Xbox and frame rates dropped a little more on the PS3 if there were more then a few explosions on the screen at once. This was put down to the fact that the game was still developed on xbox and ported to PS3, even though they did spend a lot of effort to optimise it.. I'm not a xbox fanboy btw, I only have a PS3 and thought GTA4 on it was just fine. The PC version which had a few more months to be developed trumped them both when it came out, that is if your PC could run it on the highest settings. So I think it is pretty much only the PS3 exclusives which get the special sony treatment, ala the god of war and uncharted games. Vespine (talk) 03:27, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Qnective

I was browsing for information regarding the telecommunication industry in Switzerland and found out that the company Qnective is not listed in your database. Can somebody create a description for it? Thanks a lot! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Telecomander (talk • contribs) 08:03, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I was unable to find much coverage of the company in reliable sources, which may be an indication that it is not notable, and therefore not eligible for inclusion in Wikipedia. I only did a cursory search, though. decltype (talk) 08:54, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Zip file properties

Is there a way to determine what compression method was used on an encrypted zip file? I have a known file that is in the encrypted file, and I'm trying to do a plaintext attack, but I can't get the archive to match. 70.162.3.214 (talk) 10:00, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

The latest version of 7zip will detect the type of encryption on a zip file... You'd, of course, have to have the right credentials/password to then open it.Cander0000 (talk) 01:21, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Updating hardware under Ubuntu

I have an old computer that has Windows 2000 installed. I would like to replace this with Ubuntu, add a printer, instal an additional old hard-drive, and probably see if I can find some extra memory for it from eBay. Would there be any advantage in delaying switching to Ubuntu and making the hardware changes under Windows 2000, or can Ubuntu cope perfectly well with hardware changes like this please? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.146.234.221 (talk) 14:26, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

It can, feel free to switch. --91.145.73.6 (talk) 14:45, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Caution: Feel free to switch if you're already familiar with GNU/Linux. If you are not — and you are probably not, based on the queston above — then I would try configuring this under Windows 2000, and if you're struggling and having problems, then try switching operating systems to see if you can come up with a better result. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:38, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Where to attach USB wires?

I have an old computer with a USB socket at the front. Attached to this socket is several inches of white cable. The free end of the cable does not attach to anything, it has been cut without any socket being attached, just cut cable. I would like to get the USB socket working. What and where should I attach the cable to? There are a few wires inside the cable. The other USB sockets at the rear do work. 78.146.234.221 (talk) 14:36, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

This diagram from the USB article (click HERE) shows the connections at the front panel. The one on the left is the one you want. If you have the manual for the motherboard it will likely show the connections at that end. It should also be marked on the motherboard near the connector, somethin like:+ D1 D2 —. This HERE shows the colour codes used. The motherboard connector needed will be similar to those used for connecting the analog audio from DVD/CD drives to the motherboard sound input. If you have a spare one of those and can solder, you could cut the audio cable and splice it onto the "white cable" you have attached to the front panel. I have never done this, but theoretically it should work.--220.101.28.25 (talk) 17:17, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Wi-Fi question

My home wireless connection keeps perplexing me. On some (rare) days, it works flawlessly—everything connects as it should and works without a hitch. On other days, the wireless network does not even show up in the list of available networks, and on some other days it does show as "unavailable" (can't connect at all), and on some other days still it cycles through available/unavailable/visible/invisible as the list of networks is updated.

The setup includes Asus WL-500g Premium v2 router (it's a g-router with dd-wrt firmware), to which a Win7 desktop is connected (with a wire). Three wireless devices on the network include a WinXP laptop (g), a PocketPC with WinMobile6 (b), and a Samsung BD-player (set to g). There are never ever any problems with the desktop being able to connect; all problems are limited to the wireless side. When the wireless is functioning OK, all three devices are able to connect, and when there are problems, they affect all three devices at the same time, which means that the problem is most likely with the network setup itself.

What's more interesting, that ever since my old Linksys router died on me six months or so ago, the Asus router is actually the third one that experiences this problem. I also tried another Linksys and a Netgear, and they all had the same problem (with different levels of severity). At this point I am, frankly, at a loss as to what the problem might be.

The channel of the router is set to Auto. Most of my neighbors use Channels 1 or 6, but switching to channel 11 on my router did not help one bit. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd most certainly appreciate the advice. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to these outages, and the router setup screens never show anything that might hint at a problem of any sort. Help?—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 15:14, January 7, 2010 (UTC)

Frustrating, isn't it. This happens to me, sometimes, too. Do you really experience the same problems with connection (or inability to see the network at all) when you move the computer or router so they are closer? Or so there's no wall between the two? Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:35, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

It doesn't seem to matter how close they are. The laptop is usually just a couple of feet away from the antenna. The BD-player is all the way downstairs, but when the network works, it doesn't matter one bit. I haven't tried moving the actual router, though; will most certainly give it a try. Any other ideas?—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 17:49, January 7, 2010 (UTC)

Usually unplugging the wifi router and waiting 30 seconds and replugging it back in solves it.Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 17:57, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Should've mentioned it doesn't help. If the network doesn't show up, it doesn't show up no matter how much unplugging and waiting is done. When it shows up eventually, it's most certainly not because due to something I did—it's unpredictable and varies from day to day.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 18:08, January 7, 2010 (UTC)

You may have a bad router...get another.Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 18:10, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Fifth one???!!! No way! :)—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 18:23, January 7, 2010 (UTC)

Do all the routers have DD-WRT? I can't think of many common links with the problem. I believe some cordless phones are known to interfere with wireless signals and it's possible your choice of configuration for wireless may be causing problems. If you can find a common link, that's probably where the problem is. 206.131.39.6 (talk) 18:29, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

No, I actually replaced the router's firmware with dd-wrt myself (hoping it would help solve this problem, which also occurred with the native firmware). You might be on the right track with the cordless phones tip, though. Come to think of it, my wi-fi problems started around the time I bought a new landline phone (which has an additional cordless handset). Will definitely unplug it tonight and see if that could be the culprit. Thanks for the tip!—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 18:39, January 7, 2010 (UTC)

The cordless phone is probably the issue. Most modern cordless phones I've seen operate on the 2.4Ghz band which interferes with 802.11b/g operating on the same frequency. If you can find a 900mhz cordless phone, this may fix the issue. The Electromagnetic interference at 2.4 GHz article also lists some other devices that may be interfering with your wireless.206.131.39.6 (talk) 19:19, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

It depends where you live I think. Here in NZ, and I believe in much of Europe and possibly Malaysia too (although cordless phones seem relatively rare there anyway), most cordless phones are either 1.8ghz (in particular DECT) or 5.8ghz. E.g. [7] most of the phones there are 1.8ghz (some DECT, some not), most specify it either in the short or long description, some just say DECT without specifying it's safe to assume they're 1.8ghz (including XDECT [8]). Some say DECT 6.0, which may or may not be the US DECT which is 1.9ghz. Some are 5.8ghz. I counted 2 2.4ghz (whcih are the same just with extra phones) and 4 (again mostly the same just different phones) which are SCR which evidentally is 2.4ghz [9], i.e. 6 out of ~35 (some aren't cordless but I was lazy to count). DECT was only developed for the U.S. late in 2005 when the 1.9ghz frequency was opened up, so it's not surprising that this is a lot rarer in the U.S. and as the OP is I think a (Russian) American I didn't raise this earlier and your answer is relevant to him. But since the issue of most phones being 2.4ghz was raised I felt it helpful to clarify. As you mentioned, it may be worth considering other devices as well particularly Bluetooth and wireless peripherals and perhaps microwaves too even if these are generally designed to reduce interference. Best bet, turn off or disconnect the receiver and device for any 2.4ghz gadget and see how it works. Alternatively you could upgrade to 802.11n devices which support 5.8ghz in addition to 2.4ghz. Worst case scenario, perhaps it's someone else causing problems for you. Nil Einne (talk) 11:06, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

The cordless phone I have is indeed a 2.4 GHz one. However, I unplugged the base yesterday and switched the cordless headset off, but that did not alleviate the problem at all. The network kept rapidly switching status from "available" to "unavailable" and back, and even when it was "available", I still couldn't connect. If the phone was a part of the problem, it seems to have been only a part of it. There are no other devices in the house I can think of (the microwave is quite far on the ground floor, and I don't have anything with Bluetooth). Upgrading to n won't really help because the most important devices I have (laptop and pocketPC) are g and b. I'm really, really bummed at this point...—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 14:44, January 8, 2010 (UTC)

Does it work if you plug a computer into it with an ethernet cable? TastyCakes (talk) 18:31, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, like I said above, there are never any problems if a computer is plugged with an Ethernet cable.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 18:39, January 7, 2010 (UTC)

That's a tough one. I'm not quite sure we have enough information to make a fully educated guess on this one.
Be sure that when you change the router's channel, you also reconfigure the adapter's channel as well. You may want to try 1, 6, and 11 (there's no overlap between those three). Although I am starting to think at this point electromagnetic interference is not your problem. I would guess it is more likely a settings issue.
Again, remember whatever changes you make to your router must also match your network adapter's settings on each computer (where applicable). The fact that it's intermittent is what really throws me though. Usually you either get a connection or you don't and the results are consistent, which on the other hand does seem to indicate interference. But like I said, more information on your wireless settings may help here.
I've also found in my experience that 802.11b is more stable than 802.11g, so you may want to attempt to downgrade your signal to b and give that a go if you can afford the reduced range and bandwidth (I run b myself, but my connection doesn't come close to capping the 11mbps limit). At the very least I think it is worth it to do so as an attempt to troubleshoot the problem. I noted that one of your adapters is transmitting as b and I've had some problems with mixing standards before. Good luck! -Amordea (talk) 22:45, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

exe extracting

Resolved

On Windows, when you run some .exe files they load files into C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\RarSFX0\ and then run an .exe from there. What packaging method is used to store all the program files into one .exe, then extract them to the temp directory? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.124 (talk) 16:45, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

RAR. It has an option to create a self-extracting archive.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 16:47, January 7, 2010 (UTC)

Cool, thanks

See Comparison of file archivers#Archiver features for a list of archivers that have self-extraction. --Spoon! (talk) 21:33, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

On a remote, hosted website: How do I maintain a file that contains the ip address of my local router?

I have a hosted website, which I can log into using ssh and ftp (currently Debian 5.0.3, with php and mysql). In addition, I have a linux server in my home (also Debian 5.0.3), that's connected to a router, which is assigned an IP address from my ISP. The IP address, although fairly stable, changes occasionally. I want to run a cron job on my local server (and the remote server, if necessary), that lets the remote server "know" what IP address my local router is currently assigned. What's the easiest way to achieve this? By letting the remote server "know" my local router's IP address, I mean for example keeping an updated text file on the remote server that contains only the IP address.

The local cron job can log into the remote server. I believe I'm also allowed to run cron jobs on the remote server (I haven't actually tried it, but crontab -e works as expected, opening a text editor). I can do some bash or C/C++ or php programming if necessary, but pointers to code examples would be nice. Grateful for any advice, or pointers to articles if we have one that addresses the question. Thanks. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 19:48, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I don't know what your underlying problem is, but most that I can imagine can be much better solved via DynDNS and use of a domain name instead of the IP address. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 19:52, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Do this:

1. on the web server, run a CGI program (or equivalent, in whatever language you're comfortable with) that generates a web page the $REMOTE_ADDR (or whatever it's called in that language/framework) - so it'd just say "your IP is 123.45.67.89"
2. on your home machine, periodically wget that page and extract the IP address reported by the script. Then put a page (with ncftpput or scp) a simple page that shows the last IP retrieved and the date+time (so you can tell if the server or router has crashed).

There are tons of "what is my IP" services (meaning you can use them instead of writing the #1 script, above), but most ask that you not use them from scripts. The process above is generally better than parsing traceroute (as most routers seem to report their *internal* address) or screenscraping the router's own status page (which generally means you have to have the script login to the router). Personally I think routers should have an internal-only no-login status page which shows status and login condition (or a telnet or SOAP or whatever equivalent) but few do. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:08, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I have a python script to do the latter, which I'll share privately with you if you email me. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:13, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm not NorwegianBlue's confidant or anything, but I assume this is an attempt to be able to access his home PC from anywhere without having to get a static IP address. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:38, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I assume the same. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:39, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

You are both correct. Here's what I've got so far, based on Finlay's suggestion:

#! /bin/bash
echo "Content-type: text/html"
echo
echo "<html>"
echo "<head>"
echo "</head>"
echo "<body>"
echo "--- " $REMOTE_ADDR " ---"
echo "</body>"
echo "</html>"

Which when run from a command line shell on the server produces the following output:

Content-type: text/html

<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
---   ---
</body>
</html>

... as expected, since $REMOTE:ADDR won't be defined. However, when I try to run the script over the web, I get:

Server error!

The server encountered an internal error and was unable to complete your request.

Error message:
Premature end of script headers: myipaddress.cgi

If you think this is a server error, please contact the webmaster.
Error 500

(I haven't done much CGI scripting, so there may be a silly mistake in the script). Hmmm...? --NorwegianBlue ^talk 20:50, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Lots of servers don't allow access to /bin/bash (or don't allow scripts to access it) making you use /bin/sh. Make sure the script is in a folder that allows scripting (often the /cgi subfolder of the document tree) and that it has its +x bit set. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:57, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Also the hosting provider probably makes the relevant log file (I think its error.log) available to you, which should have a clearer error message that "internal error"> -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:02, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I've got it working now. This did the trick:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl

use CGI qw(:cgi-lib);

print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
print $ENV{REMOTE_ADDR};
print "\n";

(I don't do perl, but found a script that dumped a bunch of environment variables, and tweaked it to get what I wanted). Wget on the local machine returns the IP address and nothing more, and writing the data back to the server should be a piece of cake (will do that bit tomorrow, it's getting late here now). Thanks a lot! --NorwegianBlue ^talk 22:15, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I would suggest using a free dynamic DNS service like DynDNS or No-IP to keep track of your home IP address (each of these services come with clients that automatically update your IP periodically; some routers also have update clients built-in). Then on the remote server, all it has to do is do an nslookup on your dynamic DNS hostname to know what your IP address is. --Spoon! (talk) 21:31, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

@Stephan Schulz & Spoon: Thanks for your suggestion. I wanted to see if I could manage to do this without the help of a second service provider, though, and I've got it working now. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 22:15, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

If you didn't want to do this with DyDNS you could write a script that could send your IP to any number of sources. Twitter is an obvious options. You could encrypt it too if you wanted. If you need help actually writing that script let us know. Pick some often accessible service (or two) that will tell you your IP, then pick a "posting" service, might be as simple as an email. Run it every few hours, or even better, store the old IP and only "send" the new IP when it changes. Shadowjams (talk) 04:41, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. As stated above, the perl script solved the problem. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 09:47, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Resolved

Where to find a UK-english version of OpenOffice?

I cannot find this information at the OpenOffice site. Where can I download a version of OpenOffice with UK-english spelling please? Thanks 78.151.131.82 (talk) 20:31, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

here - the English (GB) ones. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:38, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. 78.151.131.82 (talk) 20:57, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

On further investigation, the single line of English GB for the different operating systems is only a "language pack" and eventually it stops installing and will not go any further. What is the procedure to follow to install GB english please? Since there must be far more users of British english than many other languages, I'm surprised there is not a dedicated British english version. 78.151.131.82 (talk) 21:29, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Did you install the regular (US English) version first? Once that is installed, then install the GB English language pack. For whatever reason, GB English is not released as a standalone installer, but as a "modification" to the US English version. Nimur (talk) 21:35, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP

Does anyone know anything about the Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP offer?

Microsoft says, "If you qualify for the complimentary offer, you will receive a Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP in the mail within 4 to 6 weeks of your order. The Windows Genuine Advantage Kit contains a CD with a new 25-character Product Key."

Is this offer for real or is there a hidden charge? I filled out the counterfeit report and made a copy of the receipt and uploaded it to Microsoft but did not get even an email acknowledgment much less a statement saying I qualified.

Has anyone sent a disk to Microsoft in the expectation of having it replaced and then Microsoft saying it did not qualify because you purchased the new disk from another party or some other BS reason?

What's the deal here? Is Microsoft genuine or not?

71.100.3.13 (talk) 23:10, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

My understanding is Microsoft does usually provide a copy and I don't think there's a hidden charge (at most a resonable charge for shopping) to people who are genuinely the victims of counterfeiting. It may take a while as MS investigates your report I guess. As I said, we're talking real counterfeiting here not run of the mill piracy which some people including MS like to call software counterfeiting even when it isn't, i.e. where you genuinely believed you were getting a real copy very likely with a product that looks like a genuine copy (e.g. a CD with the appropriate hologram, a product ID label ditto). An example would be you bought a computer from what seemed to be a legitimate shop in some part of the developed Western world paying an appropriate price, got the CD and product label and it all looks legit or you bought a Windows XP box from such a shop which again looks completely legit you're likely the victim of software counterfeiting. On the otherhand, if you downloaded a copy from some warez site or P2P or bought an obviously pirated copy from some shop in parts of Asia your unlikely to be a victim of genuine counterfeiting. I doubt buying it off a spammer would count either. For something like Ebay, I'm not sure. If it's a mass seller particularly in a developed Western country with a low piracy rate who clearly makes out his/her copies genuine, they may consider you a genuine victim. I'm not so sure if you either buy it from a fairly dubious seller who skirts the question and sells it for an outrageously low price or from a normal auctioner selling a single product, like a second hand computer they'd consider you a genuine victim however. While the second case is unfortunate and it's perhaps understandable you were fooled, it's not exactly something they may consider worth their while pursuing and they may instead suggest you take it up with the seller or Ebay. Ditto if you asked your friend to make you a computer, even if you asked for a paid for a genuine copy of Windows. In any case, Windows XP is dying so I'm not sure how long the programme will last. Nil Einne (talk) 12:07, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

My little sister has made a long winded guess too but that is not what I'm looking for. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 13:34, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Answerbag

Do sections VI and VII of the AB Terms of Use allow us to post anything in Answerbag? http://www.answerbag.com/forums/topic.php?t=364

(oops)Civic Cat (talk) 16:59, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

What are "Terms of Service", "Terms of Use", etc for

Is it because that's how the site really wants you to behave, or is it to protect themselves. "But your honour, in our Terms of Service, we explicitly forbid others posting such content, and that they also give truthful and accurate information about themselves; it was only after police investigation that that member Michael Hunt of ZIP code 90210 may have be mis-representing himself."

I have a similar posing in the Answerbag forum that might shed light to some of what I'm asking:
Do sections VI and VII of the AB Terms of Use allow us to post anything in Answerbag?

Thanks for any help.Civic Cat (talk) 23:47, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

I am going to say that it is usually both, even though obviously nobody reads them; so self-protection is the (much) larger of the two motives. The bnetd article will be of interest; Blizzard Entertainment won a case against some software developers because they had breached both a ToS and a ToU. (Our Terms of Service and Terms of Use articles are pretty poor stubs that can use a lot of expansion.) Legalistically, if someone who is, especially, a paying customer has his or her service rescinded without a refund because, for example, they are posting racist diatribes on a forum or something, then when the company kills their account and removes all their posts and, in WoW, confiscates all the customer's virtual possessions, the company is more safe from retributive lawsuits if the company can point out that the customer violated the site's ToS or ToU, which probably pre-empts other claims. So, the main reason these exist is to reduce the number of times the company gets sued, and to improve the chance of winning if they are sued; but also it's probably accurate to say the company usually wants you to behave in the way that's specified in the ToS and ToU. Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:18, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Indeed, the thing is, I check out, say Dizzay's Terms of Service. I copy and paste on a WORD file--takes 9 pages.

On "6. MEMBER CONDUCT" it includes "You understand that by using the Service, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances will Dizzay be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any Content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available via the Service."

before adding

"You agree to not use the Service to:
a. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory,
VULGER, OBSCENE (my emphasis)
libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or
OTHERWISE OBJECTIONABLE.

Yet I check the first page of their "Society & Culture," I see this.
:-D
Civic Cat (talk) 01:01, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

OK, well, the first argument is that a pair of boobs is not necessarily vulgar or obscene or objectionable; but let's sidestep that argument and just suppose that somebody posted a bunch of vulgar, obscene, and objectionable material to the board. The poster has now breached the ToS and/or the ToU. That doesn't mean the site owner is automatically going to take down all those posts and/or images. They can if they want to, or they can ignore the problem if they want to, or they can wait until 2014 to get around to reviewing the posts on their own forum and taking them down. It's their site and they can police it however they want. Comet Tuttle (talk) 01:08, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

and as they also said 'you may see this stuff, but stuff and we aren't responsible if you do', then you can't pursue them for allowing you see that stuff regardless of whether people are allowed to post it. Nil Einne (talk) 12:13, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Understood, Comet Tuttle and Nil Einne. Indeed, Yahoo! Answers says as much in their TOS:

"Section 26: GENERAL INFORMATION

“Waiver and Severability of Terms.” The failure of Yahoo! to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOS shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the TOS is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavour to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOS remain in full force and effect.”"

However, again, I wonder if this is directed more to potential plaintiffs than defendants.

It kind of reminds me of a movie about the Stonewall riots (it might have been this one). Some conservative looking gays, wanting to make a point, go to a gay bar. They are greeted by a drag queen who's the bartender. They say something explicit like, "Yes, we are two homosexuals, and we like to have a couple of beers” which the drag queen bartender immediately starts quoting the then NY State law that bars serving alcohol to homosexuals. Another example is two female investigative reporters wanting to do an expose the escort services in the city by applying to be escorts. Not only does the employer tells them that they needn't have sex with the client, but explicitly forbids it.

The way I see it, if Dizzay really had a problem with what I cite--and yes, Comet Tuttle, I agree, a pair of boobs is not necessarily vulgar or obscene or objectionable, though some might find one with eyes on the nipples, or another avatar on the same page, where a woman is naked waist down, might offend some sensibilities in both our countries--I'm sure they could do a major clean-up without great effort. The fact they don't means that they seem to tacitly approve of it--insofar that it, like many other sites, attract viewers and thus boost ad rates. Ditto Yahoo! Answers, Answerbag, facebook, et al.

It’s also interesting that the TOS/U of Yahoo! Answers, Answerbag, and the apparently adult oriented Dizzay, is several pages long; whereas the less trafficked Fluther’s, is only a few. Wikipedia seems to take another track, no hard fast runs that can never ever be broken--Wikipedia:Ignore all rules, though it has a truck load of of Cat:WP:essays, and being a non-profit foundation, a prosecutor of Wikipedia might be socially torn asunder by the mob of Wikipedian savants.
:-D

Full disclosure, I'm a member of Yahoo! Answers. Here's my profile. The profile's very existence is a violation of TOS: in my profile, I state "This account, and others, of mine here were violations of TOS (section 3) and CG (multiple accounts), and I'm trying to get a little more principled."

I signed up before thinking hard about the whole legality, and more so, the morality and ethics of it. I'd like to do a few things that would be a violation of their TOS and CG, as well as in other sites--I figure that I'd be a net contributor despite it; but,--with exception to greatly reduced activity in my current account--not if it either violates their TOS/U, or if I can decently justify my actions that such TOS/U again, aren't really directed at me, but at potential plaintiffs, and those who hurt the site more than add to it--and yes, such are somewhat my arbitrary definitions.

Again thank you,
now have a coffee. You deserve it after reading all of this.
:-D
Civic Cat (talk) 16:55, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

January 8

Does this exist yet?

Does anyone know if this device has been made yet?

This device would look like an external 2.5 inch hard drive. It would have a screen (maybe a 5 or 6 line LCD) and a few buttons on it (maybe 3). Using the buttons on it you choose the HDD mode, then plug it in to your computer. your computer installs it as a HDD. You copy a bunch of ISO's on to it. You unplug it, then using the buttons you choose one of the ISOs you just copied, then you plug it back in to your computer, your computer registers and installs it as a external USB CD/DVD ROM drive, with that ISO as the CD. Your BIOS would recognize it as a CD/DVD ROM drive and would be able to boot from it should you try. Should you put it in CDRW/DVDRW mode it would be installed as a DVD/CD-RW drive with a blank disk in it. Should you try to write anything to this device it would make a new ISO on the HDD with the contents of what was written. – Elliott(Talk|Cont)  03:46, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Pretty much all of that can easily be done in software already. You can mount an ISO as a disk whether it is on an internal or external hard drive and you can boot from USB devices. The only benefit of such a device would be to boot a computer which doesn't have a boot from USB option, and since an external CD drive already does that just fine, why would anyone bother making a more complicated and no doubt more expensive alternative? Vespine (talk) 04:45, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

For people with optical-drive-less laptops and want to reinstall their OS with an iso image? Engadget did an article on some Japanese device that can do what you want, maybe you can continue your research from there. --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:58, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Can I trust Microsoft or not?

I am in possession of the CD, the Proof of License and Certificate of Authenticity for my copy of Windows XP. Is there an independent party who can verify that the CD, POL, COA and installation instruction guide came from Microsoft and are not counterfeit? Even if they are (genuine) Microsoft states that it will not return them to me. This sounds suspicious in absence of third party verification. Since I have the physical material I do not understand why Microsoft cannot disable the copy of windows that is running on another computer that only used my product code instead of disabling mine without forcing me to relinquish forever my CD, POL, COA and installation instruction manual, since it is the other copy with only the COA that has been pirated. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 13:33, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

I don't think there is any independent party that can verify it - at least, not that Microsoft would trust. I don't see what you would be trusting Microsoft with, though - from what you describe they want to confiscate your copy of Windows whether it is genuine or not, so it doesn't matter if you trust them or not, you still don't want them to do that. It seems very odd to me, so I would suggest you re-read everything and make sure you have understood it correctly. If you have, then you may need to consult a lawyer... --Tango (talk) 13:46, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

The problem is that Microsoft is selling renting software with a requirement for activation and verification of valid Proof of License and Certificate of Authenticity by means of a product key that is not on the disk or part of the software but only part of the installation guide sticker label. Anyone can therefore copy the product key and use it with another disk. This is Microsoft's fault not the end user yet if this happens Microsoft demands that the end user return the CD, Proof of License and Certificate of Authorization without guaranteeing a replacement or refund even if all of it is genuine. Under such circumstances the end must ask whether or not they can trust Microsoft before doing business with Microsoft again. In other words what Microsoft is saying is that it is the customer's fault if Microsoft has done something wrong that allows its genuine software to be compromised before it reaches the end user, which according to Microsoft, then makes it okay to penalize the end user. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 15:44, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Technically, they have not licensed you the discs, they have licensed the key. Thus, if you choose to give away your key, that is wholly your problem. You can compare it to a credit card number. If you allow someone to copy your card number, they can essentially buy whatever they want over the internet, despite you being in possession of the card itself. The credit card company cannot stop just the other person using it; they have to stop the entire number, even though you are still in possession of the physical object. This isn't a failing of their's - you shouldn't have given away your number. Much the same is true with the software. Also keep in mind that it would be completely stupid to have the key locked to one disc - what if you lost or damaged it, or worse for them, pretended to lose of damage it, and then asked for a replacement full copy? It just wouldn't work. This way, they can (and usually do) just send you a new disc (minus key) for free, and you use the key you have.

It's entirely up to you whether you 'trust' Microsoft 'again' - it probably doesn't bother them very much either way. But if you have allowed your copy of Windows to be pirated, it would be pretty nice of them if they did just give you another one. Ale_Jrb^talk 16:05, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

1. Microsoft gave away the key, not me. That is why I am asking the question. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 17:04, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Microsoft gave away the key to who? And when? If I guess correctly, you bought a Windows CD from a shady vendor, and when you installed it and tried to register it, the installer yelled at you about software piracy and disabled Windows on your machine, so now you're annoyed and/or angry. Am I right? If so, then I think your only recourse is to demand a refund from the vendor who sold you the Windows CD, or if he refuses and if you're in a jurisdiction like the USA that allows it, send the package back to the vendor and contact your credit card company and deny the charges on the grounds that you did not receive the goods that were promised (a working copy of Windows). Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:38, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

No, I bought a copy of Windows XP from a vendor with a 100% rating of satisfaction where sale of pirated or counterfeit software is against the rules and not allowed. Microsoft gave away the product key by using a clear plastic wrapper to conceal the product key rather than one that was opaque. Even my bank is not illogical enough to blame me if it sends out my credit card in a clear plastic envelope and someone activates it without even opening the envelop before I even receive it in the mail. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 18:04, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

I see. And when you contacted Microsoft they wanted you to just send in your disc, and I think you're right to be skeptical that you'll get anywhere with that. I think you need to get satisfaction from the vendor in this case. They sold you software that does not work. You don't need to reach any farther and think about why it doesn't work — you were sold nonworking software. If you live in the US or a country that has similar consumer protection laws, you have the right to receive the goods that were promised. Just return it to the vendor and get a refund. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:15, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Its not that simple. The software was purchased in Oct. and not opened until Christmas which exceeds the 45 day limit in which a complaint can be lodged. PayPal has accepted a complaint but gives the seller 45 days to respond. The seller can make the argument that will not refund him either if the software has been activated and that in reality it is Microsoft's responsibility to assure the product key can not be used until the package is opened and even then only in conjunction with the CD. The solution of course would be for Microsoft to have copy protected the CD like DVD's are protected but Microsoft started in the days of floppy disk when companies that used copy protection went out of business the next day and there may be other motive for Microsoft using activation and verification instead of copy protection which I dare not guess. Bottom line is Microsoft needs to look at my Proof of License and Certificate of Authenticity through a somewhat impartial third party like a bonding agency or the police and then deactivate the software that is running on the other computer which can not produce the Proof of License and Certificate of authenticity, provide me with temporary software until it can reimburse me from restitution paid by the seller and from now on use copy protection instead of activation and validation so the customer interests are protected as well. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 19:47, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

I can't tell if you're being serious here. Microsoft aren't going to wait for some third party to 'verify' their software. In addition, there is no way of disabling a key for just one person/one computer - the key is either valid, or it's not. With regards to copy protection, do you even know what this is? It means you can't duplicate the CD image easily. This is totally irrelevant to Windows, because its basically possible to download the installation discs for free off the internet (most computer manufacturers will give you OEM discs for free, very easily) - they're licensing you the key. If you weren't aware, this is standard practise for all software as it's much faster and more efficient than other methods. Games that try and use overly aggressive disc checking copy protection suffer massive problems, take a look at SecuROM for examples. Ale_Jrb^talk 21:14, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Microsoft don't use a clear plastic wrapper/enabling anyone to view the key so your package has been tampered with. If it's an OEM version then the Windows disc comes in a DVD shaped case with the product key stuck to this. It is possible to see the product key through the case, however they don't sell it like this and it should be enclosed in a cardboard sleeve. The cardboard sleeve also has a seal on it (saying you agree to the OEM licence by breaking the seal) that has to be broken before you can retrieve the disc OR see the licence key. Likewise the retail version is similar, but that comes in an entire box that has to be opened before you can get to the code. No edition of Windows comes from Microsoft as you've described. ZX81 ^talk 19:37, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Doesn't look like a DVD plastic box to me which by the way are used only for retail and retails trial discs. Check out [Redacted link to Ebay Seller. The Refdesk is not for defaming random ebay Sellers.]. What's more the boxed discs are not copy protected either and the key is stickered to the outside of the box. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 19:54, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried to contact the seller? They may agree to exchange (and they can handle dealing with MS if needed). If they don't, you can be the guy that ruins that 100% positive feedback rating, and with good reason; they sold you a copy of XP that you can't use and refused to make it right. Otherwise, you'll have to trust Microsoft. They're not going to do some inane third party verification. If the seller won't exchange, your choices are to trust Microsoft (and have a chance of getting nothing) or do nothing (and guarantee you get nothing). Hell, if MS did rip you off (unlikely), you could always suggest taking them to small claims court. The cost to them to provide you a replacement copy is basically the cost of shipping; they've got no motive to cheat you. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 20:19, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

I thought the same thing but it seems that not only can you not file a complaint after 45 days you can not post any feedback. All Microsoft has to do is verify the Proof of License and Certificate of Authenticity at one of there local offices or through any retailer they authorize without confiscating it since they already have control over it through their activation and verification process. If the POL and COA are ligit then all they have to do is to give me use of the product key and deny use of it to the guy who pirated the product key before the disk arrived at my door. One thing is for sure i won't be going near Windows 7 until this matter is settled to my satisfaction. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 20:50, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

You did not answer the question. Have you contacted the vendor? What did they say? It sounds like you keep defending the vendor, whereas I think this responsibility lies on the vendor. If you can't file an eBay or PayPal complaint after 45 days, there are other measures you can threaten and then take: Register a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and definitely sue them in small claims court for the price paid plus your court fees. (You may be able to sue even an out-of-state vendor in small claims court, depending on the laws in your state, if you're in the US.) You did not receive the product you ordered from the vendor. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:56, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

At what point in the topic did you decide to jump in without reading all that was posted before? 71.100.3.13 (talk) 21:01, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

You should not bite people who are trying to help you. Not a single time in this thread have you actually stated that you did contact the vendor about this. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:07, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Have you looked for it in recent threads dealing with the same topic? 71.100.3.13 (talk) 21:25, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

No, because answerers here on the Refdesk are not supposed to have to be telepathic and know that you're expecting us to go and research all your past questions in order to answer this one. Now that you've said this, I went back and see that you have tried contacting the seller and have received no response. Time to do the next things I suggested: Sue them in small claims court. That's why small claims court exists. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:39, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

(ec)BTW, Microsoft cannot, to my knowledge, exercise per machine control over a license key. They'd revoke the key completely, and give you a new one. They want to collect the material to avoid the possibility that you might try to resell the deactivated product and key. Think of it like returning something to a retail store. If you claim you received a defective air conditioner and want to replace it within the "no questions asked" return period (usually a week to a month). While they may not demand evidence that it is broken, they will require you to return the old one before they give you a new one. This is basically the same situation; you could write down the license key and copy the CD, but they want the stuff that makes it appear legit, the POL and COA. Otherwise, one copy of XP could be sold on and on and on, with each buyer discovering it doesn't work and demanding that MS give them a free copy. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 21:04, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Also, to be fair to Microsoft, you haven't even given them a chance. You bought WinXP from a random internet user. Even with positive satisfaction, you can't be sure with eBay and need to verify the moment you receive the product; buyers rarely give negative feedback because the seller can nail them with bad feedback too. It's entirely possible that the key was already used to activate a copy of Windows; random internet people cannot be trusted. :-) As to your complaints over Microsoft not matching a key to a CD: You're making an unreasonable demand. CDs are pressed in bulk, it's not like writing to a CD-R in your disk drive. If Microsoft somehow linked each CD to a specific key, it would increase the cost of production drastically. And there are benefits to the existing functionality: If your disk is damaged, you can borrow a friend's and use your own key. In the scenario you describe, disk damage would mean you permanently lose access, or you need to ship your broken CD back and pay for them to ship you a new CD and key. I wouldn't go spouting off about boycotting Windows 7 because you had a bad experience on eBay. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 21:12, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

I don't mind if Microsoft confiscates after replacement but if they are not going to issue a replacement on one excuse or another that does not satisfy me, like whether the ink that is used to print the installation manual could not possibly from their printer, then Nada. As is there is no guarantee that I will recover what I paid or the use I paid for if I sent the disk to them and they decide to keep it even if it is legit. Again the bottom line is that Microsoft does not copy protect the product key which would prevent even the best counterfeit disc and manual and POL nd COA from ever having a chance and thereby cut off the counterfeiters once and for all instead of causing the end user nothing but loss and pain. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 21:20, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

You keep repeating yourself, in essentially the same way, and it's no longer clear what you are asking for help with. Can you clarify the question you want us to answer? Thanks! Ale_Jrb^talk 21:22, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Comment from anyone with the experience of sending a disc and the materials it came with back to Microsoft would help. In absence of that the question is then why doesn't Microsoft copy protect the discs it sells? 71.100.3.13 (talk) 21:28, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Ale jrb answered this above just now — some companies do this, but it does increase customer dissatisfaction based on discs that won't read properly; Microsoft has decided that this cost (including the cost of angry customers) is heavier than the cost of just dealing with stolen keys. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:41, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Thanks for clarifying. Unfortunately, I've never had to send a disc back to Microsoft, so I can't help you with that. I do know that I once lost my Windows XP disc, and Microsoft provided another one (without the key, obviously) for free, but I didn't have to send them anything for that.

For the second part, I can answer that one! :D As our article says, copy protection is a system to prevent the unauthorised copying of disks. This is most commonly used on games (and DVDs) and it aism to make it very tricky for people to use computer software to make, and then re-burn to a RW disk, an image of the disk. This is important in gaming, as the company that makes the game wants to force you to use a valid CD to install (and sometimes play) the game, as they don't use online software activation.

Online software activation is much more common for non-gaming software (Windows, Office, Adobe Suite, 3D software etc.) because it's more efficient for both the company producing the CDs, and the consumers. The idea is that, because what you are actually buying (just a key) is not linked to the disk itself, it doesn't matter whether you use the disk that came with the software, or a friend's disk, or a download off the internet. For example, a single disk could be used to install software on hundreds of computers, and then each one activated with its own key. Imagine if you had hundreds of unique disks, and you had to remember which one goes with which computer... Not good! It also makes it much easier for companies to distrubte replacement disks in the event they are damaged - they can rest assured that you won't be cheating them, because oyu only have one key (and thus one copy of the software). These advantages makes it a simple decision for most software companies to use activation wherever possible. Does that answer the question? Ale_Jrb^talk 21:43, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

You bought a copy of Windows on ebay and it turned out to be pirated - that's what you get for not buying your software from a reputable vendor (a 100% rating on ebay doesn't make someone reputable). You could try taking (or threatening - that might be enough) legal action against the seller (consult a lawyer for details), but I'm not sure it's worth it - assuming you didn't pay much for it, then you are probably better off just writing it off as the cost of learning not to trust random people on ebay. --Tango (talk) 22:13, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

But you see I am only learning now that the Proof of License and Certificate of Authenticity is a crock along with the CD Microsoft sends out, that the product key can be copied and used without them and that even a reliable retailer can sell me a Copy of Windows that won't pass the activation or validation process and that Microsoft will at its own discretion acknowledge the fact that by using this method a customer can be wrongfully deceived. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 22:43, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Your complaint is not reasonable. You could say the same thing about a book publisher that sells a Certificate of Authenticity that goes along with the seventh Harry Potter book, and the whole lot gets copied by a pirate, and then sold to you by a vendor on eBay. Is it the book publisher's fault? No, it's the pirate's fault for pirating it, and it's the vendor's fault for buying pirated software and reselling it. What Tango has pointed out is that your "reliable vendor" is not a reliable vendor. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:10, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

But only after the fact, which would not be possible with copy protected software. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 23:29, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

It's pointless for Microsoft to copy protect the actual discs as they make the disc images legally available to download to MSDN, Technet and volume licence customers. If they were to copy protect the OEM/Retail discs it wouldn't stop piracy at all as the pirates would simply use the non-copyprotected versions Microsoft make available ZX81 ^talk 00:24, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

My dad is a big seller on eBay with 100%-positive feedback. If anyone complains to him, he refunds their money. That's how he got a 100% rating. So, I don't understand why you don't send the seller an e-mail instead of defaming him in public. Many eBay sellers are just reselling items they purchased elsewhere. They increase the price a bit on eBay to make a profit. So it may not even be his fault.--Drknkn (talk) 02:10, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Surely the OP's argument is with the person who sold them the copy of Windows XP. Leave the seller negative feedback and take it up with eBay to help you get a refund. As for Microsoft, they would rather you retuned the package to them to remove it from circulation. You might get a replacement if they find it really is a counterfeit copy (and not just a DVD-R for example), and they believe your story about you being duped into believing it was genuine. I imagine the last part will be the most difficult but I imagine Microsoft will say pretty much what everyone else is saying here. Astronaut (talk) 06:05, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

In terms of Microsoft, I can imagine 34 scenarios here.

• 1) If your copy isn't counterfeit, they will either sent it back, or issue a new copy. I would emphasise that I can't under any situation, particularly if you are in a developed country with decent consumer protection laws or a litigious one like the US, imagine they will take your genuine copy and refuse to either issue you a new copy or return your genuine copy and would need some very strong evidence for this. Of course, they may charge you for this similar to the way a company will charge you if you send a product back under warranty and it isn't faulty. I can imagine that they may refuse to actually issue you a new key if they think you intentionally gave your key away to countless people, in which case you'll be stuck with a useless key and perhaps having paid Microsoft to get back your COA etc you'll be rather miffed.

Also a charge may seem unfair if you just bought the product and it was supposed to be new however the problem is you bought this from an auction site. Here in NZ for example, the Consumer Guarantees Act means that both retailers and manufacturers are obligated to fix unresonable problems that occur (a simplification) and while it's usually recommend you approach the retailer first, it's not required. However this doesn't apply to goods sold at auction. If I bought an unopened new copy of Windows at a retailer I don't think it would be resonable if it didn't work because the key was already in use and I was expected to pay for it to be replaced. And if the retailer was no help, I would expect Microsoft to replace it at no cost other then for me shipping it to them and expect that this would be considered obligated under law. This wouldn't apply if I purchased it under auction however and I think you may have difficulty proving that the copy was genuinely new and unopened unless perhaps you have a video of you opening it with the details clearly visible. Worst case scenario, you may be stuck between a rock and a hard place if you don't have enough evidence the product was new and unopened for Microsoft, but also don't have enough evidence it wasn't for the person who sold it to you. If everyone agrees the product wasn't new and unopened, then I don't know if it would be considered resonable that you expect Microsoft to replace the CD key at no cost.

• 2) If your copy is pirated but doesn't seem counterfeit or they don't otherwise believe you're genuinely the victim of counterfeiting they are obviously not going to return a pirated copy and they're clearly not going to issue you a new copy if you're not a victim. However isn't exactly a big loss. If you have a pirated copy, then you have a pirated copy. If you wanted to use a pirated copy then there's no reason you have to use one some dodgy??? e-bay seller sent you, you might as well find your own. I.E. Sending Microsoft an item which is basically worth next to nothing isn't a big loss, and having them confiscate it isn't either. The only problem is you can't then take the matter up with the seller. However as with people above, I don't see any reason for you to send it to Microsoft first. You should take the matter up with the seller first and only if you don't get a satisfactory response then try the Microsoft route.
• 3) If your copy is counterfeit and Microsoft believes you are really an innocent victim then they will issue you a new copy free of charge or at most with a shipping fee. You should be glad of this since it isn't actually Microsoft's problem or fault that you were a victim of counterfeiting.
• 4) Belatedly it did occur to me that if they determine your copy is genuine but either stolen or should never have been sold to you there is perhaps a risk they will take it and refuse to return it or issue a replacement, but in that case they would at least be willing offer some letter confirm the copy you received was stolen or shouldn't have been sold to you which should enable you to take the matter up with the seller for selling you something they shouldn't have. I would suspect more likely they'll want to chase after the party themselves particularly if it was stolen but if the EULA you agreed to upon opening the software said it was only for the use of certain parties and also said if you weren't certain parties or didn't otherwise agree with the EULA you should return it for a full refund, then you may have to chase after the seller yourself. Of course if the seller also specified the conditions and you ignored them then your SOL.

Also one thing that isn't clear to me. I'm pretty sure Microsoft has plenty of guides for verifying you have an authentic copy of WIndows, such as what material you should have, what holograms should be on the material, what should be visible in the holograms etc. Have you at least verified all these?

Nil Einne (talk) 11:46, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

What causes screen "tearing" in videogames?

What's the cause of screen tearing in PC and console games? It's usually the top half of the screen is a frame ahead or behind of the bottom half with a distinct line between the two. #REDIRECT --70.167.58.6 (talk) 16:01, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Games typically draw a new frame on an invisible memory buffer and then flip that to being the one you actually see on screen. Ideally this is done during the vertical blanking interval, which avoids the tearing you're talking about. But doing this means the system has to wait until that time (at 50Hz, that's a wait of up to 20ms); some games are clever and can spend that time doing calculations for the next frame, but some can't, or don't, so this vsync delay is just a waste. Most games' configurations have a "wait for vsync" or similar option in their config screens. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:35, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

"Vertical Sync" can also be set to "force on" with the NVidia drivers, it wouldn't suprise me if ATI drivers offered a similar setting. This will lower your framerate, but it will solve the tearing problem. Life is full of difficult choices. APL (talk) 20:45, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Auto password feature

I accidentally selected the option to have Firefox 3.5.7 remember my password for a site. Now I can't find how to cancel it. Clarityfiend (talk) 20:32, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

edit->preferences->security->saved_passwords (hmm, preferences may be in tools rather than edit on windows, but i digest...) -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:43, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

(ec)Tools->Options->Security->Saved Passwords

Find the entry you want to delete and remove it. You can also configure the list of sites for which you never want to remember a password at Tools->Options->Security->Exceptions. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 20:45, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank->you. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:23, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Question

What proportion of edits to Wikipedia are made by unregistered editors?  Skomorokh  20:35, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

When I looked at this a year or so ago, it was ~45,000 edits/day by IP's and 250,000/day total, in rough figures (for en:wiki only). I think those numbers would still hold. Franamax (talk) 20:42, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

For my own edification, do you happen to have a count that splits by confirmed/autoconfirmed vs. everyone else? —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 20:47, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

(off topic) I'm going to have to stop sleeping and do a bit more editing! Anon IPs Rule! (so long as they're static IP's!) ;-) --220.101.28.25 (talk) 21:41, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm a fan of dynamic ips myself.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.124 (talk) 21:44, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Editing_frequency has some statistics, specifically Wikipedia:Editing_frequency/All_registered and Wikipedia:Editing_frequency/All_anons —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.124 (talk) 21:46, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

My results for en:wiki on 2010-01-08, using my anonEdits tool, which should be considered suspect at all times. I don't see a way to use the API directly to get non-autoconfirmed status for a named user at the time of the edit. I was spot on with the IP edit count, but registered editor counts are below what I would have thought.

Spc	Anon	!anon	Bot	!bot	New Pgs
Main	42,228	88,775	8638	122,347	3064
All	45,387	136,179	20,836	-	9293

So I'm seeing: mainspace anon=42K/day, editor=83K/day and allspace anon=45K/day, editor=124K/day. Bot edits are on top of that, except bot-new-pages are around 500/day of the figures shown. Deletions and other log events not included. YMMV. Franamax (talk) 07:19, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Very helpful and interesting stuff Franamax, thanks! The namespace discrepancy clearly suggests that registered editors are not here to build an encyclopaedia. Cheers,  Skomorokh  19:40, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Free or inexpensive web-based email server

Is there one such which enables the customer to substitute his own email@hisowndomain.com as his address on outgoing emails? Kittybrewster ☎ 22:29, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Gmail for Domains allows you to use gmail but with a domain you own (you register, and redirect the appropriate mail exchanger links in your domains DNS to google's server). That way you get the full gmail interface but with email to and from kittybrewster.com or whatever. Though I hate to shill for Google, it is frankly pretty darn good. I imagine some other web email providers will do the same. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:43, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Ah, they used to call it "Gmail for domains", but now they market it as part of the Google Apps suite - [10]. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:55, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

There are probably others that will do this but as stated above, Google does it very well. Dismas|^(talk) 09:38, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Microsoft does, but unfortunately they don't allow IMAP although it seems they finally added POP. There are other alternatives like forwarding. Personally I choose Google Apps in the end after evaluating several options (Microsoft's lack of IMAP and I think at the time even POP killed it for me; forwarding still requires some other mail server and I expect many of them have less reliable mail servers). With both Microsoft and Google you also get other things if you want. E.g. with Google you get XMPP. In any case, if you choose something with IMAP support or at least some other way to download all your mail, and have your own domain then you should be able to do whatever you want. If you're no longer satisfied with your current provider, transfer all your mail to someone else and then move your hosting to the other service provider. Nil Einne (talk) 13:57, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

DVD Copying

I have been copying my DVD Collection to WMV Files on my computer using Corel DVD Copy 6. However for some reason it is not able to copy two episodes from one of my disks, so I got Xilisoft DVD Ripper Standard 5 instead which can copy those two episodes. For some reason I can't understand or fix the two programs make WMV files at different sizes (See Image — Corel on the left, Xilisoft on the right). Windows says they have the same height and width but clearly they are different sizes. What is causing the difference between the two files and is there a way to make the file on the right the same size as the file on the left? Thanks 86.45.182.233 (talk) 23:40, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Well, the file on the right is not complete at all—it is only 10 seconds, while the one on the left is 45 minutes long. That will account for a lot of it. (Is the Xilisoft one a demo? Normally they don't stop after 10 seconds.) In general, they also probably use different compression algorithms or settings, which will get you very different results. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:12, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

The length has nothing to do with it. I set it at 10 seconds so I could see the results of changing the settings faster. I've changed things like the codec, aspect ratio and zoom all with no effect. Changing the Video Size does have an effect, but that doesn't explain the difference between the two files in the image. 86.45.182.233 (talk) 00:28, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Well, the length has a lot to do with that particular image... obviously that is why one is 1MB and the other is 555MB. Anyway, it sounds like one of them just encodes differently than the other. It's unclear to me how much of a difference between sizes you're talking about. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:53, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm talking about the video on the right being taller then the one on the left, not the file size. Windows says are the same height and width but clearly they are not. 86.45.182.233 (talk) 02:13, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Never-mind, I've figured it out. It's an aspect ratio setting in the file. I'm using Windows Media Encoder to change it. 86.45.182.233 (talk) 04:21, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Oh, okay—I see what you are talking about, now ("size" is an ambiguous term, no?). Yes, it was the aspect ratio that's the problem, but I see you've figured it out! --Mr.98 (talk) 15:16, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

January 9

genuine software assurance

The most popular operating system manufacture uses generic disks with meaningless Proof of License, Certificate of Authenticity, a hologramed disk and a product code, which are meaningless to the buyer as far as determining whether of not the software is genuine prior to purchase. To make things worse the same manufacturer also has a volume licensing system that does not require end user activation or verification. Why not a copy protection method that can be bought and sold by individuals in which the software is on a disk of special media like movies are on DVD which can not be copied and therefore do not even need a product key much less activation or verification? Wake up most popular operating system manufacturer before its too late. 71.100.3.13 (talk) 00:03, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

The reference desk is for asking concrete factual questions, not starting debates or for complaining about things you don't like. Please take up your complaints with the vendor you dealt with, with ebay, or with Microsoft. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:06, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

I thought the W and its RD were to obtain truthful and accurate information for everyone, which is my purpose. What is yours, to pick a fight in defense of your employer? 71.100.4.171 (talk) 12:16, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Please see WP:NPA. I'm not aware that anyone on the RD works for Microsoft, and it's not relevant anyway Nil Einne (talk) 12:29, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

And adding to the above, movie DVDs CAN be copied. See our article DeCSS. ZX81 ^talk 00:23, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. 71.100.4.171 (talk) 12:16, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

In fact, DVDs are exceptionally easy to copy. Nil Einne (talk) 12:29, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

In order for your computer to install the software it has to be able to read the software on the disk. If it can read the software then it can write the software to a new disk.

True. I am aware of the Analog hole so the media would have to be able to defeat the analog type hole copy process. In other words the copy process would have to do something to the contents that could be detected. 71.100.4.171 (talk) 12:16, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Even if you used some sort of disk that could be read by standard hardware, but you needed special hardware to write it, this would still not stop counterfeiters. Counterfeiters are often large scale operations that would have no trouble buying whatever special machines they needed to copy the disks.

Short version : No one knows how to make a disk that can't be copied with the right equipment. Most experts agree that this isn't even possible. APL (talk) 02:58, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Too late for what? --Mr.98 (talk) 04:15, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

China has already defeated Microsoft Genuine Advantage. 71.100.4.171 (talk) 12:16, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

assemble-able cell phones

Why there are no options yet to buy parts of a cell phone, and assemble it the way we like. It would be much more interesting if we could build cell phones like our desktop computer. --V4vijayakumar (talk) 08:00, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Depending on exactly what you mean by "parts", I can only suggest that cell phones are so cheap, that making them from a kit would not be economically viable. To package a kit, PCB, components and instructions etc, for personal assembly, and make a profit the supplier would probably have to charge a lot more than a cheaper ready-built mobile phone. Secondly, as the parts are mostly surface mount for minimum size (among other reasons) and meant for machine assembly, construction could be very challenging. It is certainly possible, but likely not profitable. --220.101.28.25 (talk) 09:01, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

I repaired cell phones for Sprint in the early part of the 2000s. They just had one PCB inside. All the chips were (and are) soldered onto the board. The CPUs in smart phones nowadays are ARM processors from companies like Samsung. Only the most diehard computer enthusiasts actually solder chips onto PCBs nowadays in any device. Instead, they just insert new parts (like memory, CPUs, PCBs, etc.) into the computer. You can't just insert parts onto the system board of a cell phone, though. I imagine you could put a newer, faster CPU into an older iPhone or Blackberry, but the risk of damaging the board from ESD or the soldering iron should discourage you from trying. You can buy replacement logic boards for cell phones, but not individual chips. It's remotely like building your own laptop. Some people actually build their own laptops, but it's a pain because everything is miniaturized. So, there isn't a market for parts for doing things like that, because no one wants to.--Drknkn (talk) 09:40, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

By parts I mean, screen, camera, processing unit (processor, ram/rom), external storage, bluetooth ear piece, physical keyboard, etc. If there were some open standards then these all could fit together, like legos, and made look like today's regular cell phone. I hope, it will happen one day. --V4vijayakumar (talk) 10:44, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

The most important reasons imho are price and the fact most people buy cell phones for calling purposes only, laptops dominate when people need mobile computing power. I'm no engineer but I know cell phones are designed for battery life & size and standards like that would make development hard in these areas. You could always get a chip from TI, hook it to a display and a keyboard and call it a "phone", but as a private person you'd have hard time getting licenses so that you could run something else than linux on it. --91.145.88.180 (talk) 11:09, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

fork() system call

I have read all about fork() system call - its functions and its working - and how its used to create a copy of the calling process. But what I am unable to understand is what is the purpose of fork()? When the child process is exactly same as the parent process, just executing at a different location - then what's the use of executing it? Komal.s110 (talk) 08:31, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

"different location" that is the point of fork. you get "different location", entire new address space, another 4 GB memory to play with. --V4vijayakumar (talk) 09:15, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

fork (system call) sums it up, especially the sample code. --91.145.88.180 (talk) 10:36, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Fork is usually used with exec (operating system) call to replace child process with different code. Lukipuk (talk) 16:58, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

The key is that parent and child know who is who (via the return value from the fork() call), and can act differently. In particular, the child often starts doing something completely different (including loading a new program into the process and executing it). But even if both execute the same code, you now have two threads of executions and they can do different things. One typical pattern for servers is that the parent only accepts network connections and forks of one child for each connection. The child then talks with the client over the new connection and terminates itself when the connection is broken. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:40, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

You could be forgiven for asking "isn't fork() a weird way of starting a new process?", and on the face of it you'd have a point. The first time you read code with a fork() you have to step back a bit to realise that one branch of an if runs in one process and the other branch in another, a paradigm you almost never see elsewhere in C programs. But fork() has some nice features which can make for simpler programming; chiefly because the child inherits so much from its parent. Firstly it gets a copy (not a shared view) of the parent's data segment, so all variables that the parent has set up are copied to the child. Moreover the child inherits the file descriptors of the parent, and any mmaped memory blocks. All of this makes setting up the child easy and makes getting the parent and its new child talking together straightforward. Perhaps a more obvious API would be just to say "make a new process", which is essentially what Windows' createProcess() call does - children on Windows don't inherit so much (not the copied data, not the mapped memory, but they do optionally get the file descriptors). So on Windows (or a comparative API) you have to package up stuff you're sending to the child and push it through the various parameters that the child gets. The Windows way is arguably cleaner, but also more labourous. And properly handing how fork() works (particularly in respect of file descriptors) can require labour too. The cynic might observe that when Thompson, Richie et al. were grinding Unix out in the tiny environment of the PDP, a fork model made for a very simple kernel implementation and some very succinct applications. BTW, Linux has a rather interesting extension to fork(), clone() - clone allows more control over what the child does (and doesn't) inherit. You can implement fork() using clone() (but I think Linux has a fork() kernel entry, at least for historical reasons) and Linux also uses clone() to implement threads. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:22, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

auto sorting incoming email

Is there a way in Outlook Express for an incoming email to automatically create a new folder in the name of the sender or the subject line if one does not already exist and then send the incoming email there? If not what email program can do this even if it Linux based? 71.100.4.145 (talk) 11:55, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Tools --> Message rules --> Mail.--Drknkn (talk) 12:01, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

How do older computers to more modern machines in terms of power usage?

Generally speaking I am concerned with how much older computers (anything from Pentium III-IV level PCs down back to very old machines, including early 8-bit home computers)tend to compare to more modern machines in terms of power usage. Obviously there will have in recent times been some drive for efficiency and the addition of power-saving features, but I am guessing possibly some factors like the need for increased cooling as more a higher component density causes chips to become hotter, for example.

(I am already aware of thing such as flat-screen monitors using less energy than CRT ones.)

Mostly any such information is hard to come by.

Can anyone give me any hints? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.17.144.241 (talk) 12:48, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Most modern PCs are rather good at conserving power when usage is low. I'm lazy to dig up some specific refs but I suggest you check out SilentPCReview (including forums) & perhaps Anandtech and look in the history of the RD archives since I'm pretty sure I've given some decent links before albeit not directly related to comparisons of old computers. Particularly if you use IGP, you could easily have a comp using under 100W under most normal usage for the average user i.e. a low load. Using energy efficient processors or those designed for laptops helps and also lower power chipsets. And also choosing a good well sized PSU that meets the 80 Plus standard [11] (which is a relatively recent invention). This will beat the shit out of a P4 in power usage and would probably beat many P3s as well. Of course, if you really want low usage, you should choose something like a netbook or other miniITX platform (you can get these which aren't in netbooks) or perhaps even something like a ALIX [12] or Soekris [13] which use about 5W which I expect would beat even many 8bit computers. Nil Einne (talk) 20:10, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Some quick results A pg3 & A pg4; B pg3, B pg4 & B pg5; C pg4; D pg3, D pg4, D pg5 & D pg6. Compare this to some older results including P4s. Finding P3 figures may be harder and you may have to look in other places or ask in the forums but I suspect you can find something. You can of course get some idea by PSU sizing but many people like to highly oversize their PSU so I'm not sure how good an indicator that is. Nil Einne (talk) 20:27, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

eBay and PayPal buyer protection policy limits

A case study has revealed that both eBay and PayPal have a 45 day limit on buyer protection against counterfeit software although both claim that they do not endorse sale of counterfeit software. This seems contradictory to me since counterfeit software can be detected for an indefinite amount of time. IMHO fraud and counterfeit should not be included in the 45 day limit. Is there a good reason why it should and is there a place in either article that is appropriate to publish these facts? 71.100.4.171 (talk) 13:00, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

We are not eBay. Complaining to us will not help you in any way.

We also are not likely to even agree with you enough to make you feel better. APL (talk) 17:53, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

LOL... but the Wikipedia does have articles on both organizations of which the accuracy either is or is not subject to increasing so long as its editors are committed to finding and reporting the truth. 71.100.4.171 (talk) 18:58, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Another type of item where fraud could be detected later would be stolen goods of any sort. So, the "good reason" is a good reason for eBay, not for you. eBay (PayPal is a subsidiary) does not want unlimited liability as a result of its buyer protection program. I have no inside information, but I would guess that the reason for the 45-day limit is that if eBay set, say, a 1-year limit during which a buyer could get a refund for counterfeit software, the seller would often disappear from eBay's systems before the buyers could file claims. Then eBay would be refunding your money instead of the seller. eBay would lose money that way, so they try to minimize that. Legally, I don't think eBay has any requirement (at least in the US) of even having a buyer protection insurance plan in the first place. (PayPal didn't, a long time ago; it is an innovation.) Technically, eBay is not involved in the transaction, supposedly, and it's a private transaction between the buyer and seller. As far as inserting information into the Wikipedia articles about how you got defrauded, WP:OR doesn't belong there. If you have WP:RELIABLE sources that have notable facts that aren't in the articles, feel free to add those facts (with inline citations of course). Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:24, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

The majority of companies and individuals are out there looking to make a profit. This is the central guiding principal of their thinking. I was there myself at one time. Now I look at transactions from a customer service point of view, i.e. what will make the customer happy, not just reasonably satisfied. The way I got here was from watching the results of unhappy customers take their business elsewhere and yes it can even happen to a business the has a major section of the business locked in. I learned that no matter how big and broad you are no one can afford in the end to let any customer go away unhappy. All to often do businesses loose sight of the long term in exchange for the short term and go back on their claims or make exceptions which nullify their claims. Consumers may be slow and companies may be able to ride for a while on the momentum of past happiness but eventually they will catch on and sour. If you want verifiable proof for an insert into any article then check the records of companies who have eventually succumbed to their greed. In this case, however, it is a matter verifiable fact that fraud and counterfeit are permitted by eBay and PayPal if not discovered within 45 days. If the Wikipedia does not want to include this fact then the Wikipedia is not better. Of course though in the case of software all eBay or PayPal need do is to hold the funds until the manufacture approves the transaction such as Microsoft saying the software passed its Windows Genuine Advantage screening on the buyers computer. 71.100.160.154 (talk) 22:48, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

In-Page Links

So, I am developing a site and I wanted to know how to add an in-page link as wikipedia does on everyone of their pages. For example, you can go to a page on wikipedia, then under "Contents [hide]" you can click one of the links to jump to a certain point on the page within that page.

So, here is a page from my site, http://thirteenpercent.webs.com/cellularmembrane.htm, and for example I want to be able to click on "Phospholipids" and then it should jump to that point on the page (if you scroll down you'll see it) where it begins to talk about Phospholipids.

Thanks, 74.184.100.154 (talk) 18:26, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

With a #, like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phospholipids#Simulations -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 18:31, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

And to make that target you have an HTML A tag with a NAME field - see http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/linking/_A_NAME.html -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 18:35, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you! 74.184.100.154 (talk) 19:17, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Note that you can make a link reference itself. That has the effect of placing the link at the top of the screen, quite good for section alignment. for example <a name="fig1" href="#fig1"> Figure 1</a> -- SGBailey (talk) 20:31, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Excel Circular reference

I want to have a controlled circular refrence in Excel (I use Excel 2003). I have Q2 "=RAND()" ; P23 = "0" or "1" ; P2 "=IF($P$23=1,P2,Q2) to form a latched random value, otherwise everytime I do an edit the random value changes. I know I could copy the random value from Q2 and paste special | values it into P2, but there are reasons why I prefer not to do this. The code "works" fine, except that every time I change P23 (Latch the value control) from 0 to 1 it pops up a message box warning of a circular reference. Is there a way I can persuade it that I'm happy and for it to not bother with the message box? -- SGBailey (talk) 18:35, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

It appears that although the latch of the random value works, it stops other parts of the spreadsheet evaluating. So I probably can't do this. However the question stands, albeit modified: how can I tell excel that this circular reference is ok and it should evaluate it and carry on? -- SGBailey (talk) 20:27, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Unusual behaviour by antivirus program

I've just done a full anti-virus scan by the free version of Superantispyware. My OS is XP. During the scan the program reported cscript.exe as a worm. The path was c:/windows/system32/cscript.exe SuperAntiSpyware recommended that I move it to the virus vault, but cscript.exe was in use. It would not delete either. It would aparantly rename though, by changing the end to vir. When the scan was complete I was surprised that SAS report that nothing had been found, despite the earlier alert. On a whim I checked for updates for SAS and one or two were loaded. That is unusual because I thought I had checked for an update just before scanning. I looked manually in windows/system32 for cscript and could not see it. I did a quick scan with MalwareBytes and nothing was found. Do I have anything to worry about? 78.147.235.55 (talk) 21:07, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Cscript is not a worm. It's unusual for it to be in use, though. In any case, if you delete it, Windows will probably recreate it instananeously. Make sure Windows put it back. Next time, be sure to Google such files before allowing SAS to mess with your system files like that.

If you have a viral infection, your computer will usually be very slow and certain programs will not work. If that's not happening right now, then the chances of you having an infection are reduced significantly, although not completely.--Drknkn (talk) 21:22, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

I've realised that Avast! found the suspect item while I was doing a scan with SAS - hence the confusion. It has now found it again. 78.147.235.55 (talk) 22:11, 9 January 2010 (UTC)