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May 27

windows mobile os backwards compatible with ce.net?

Can I run an application written in CE.net on a device running Windows Mobile? Is WM backward compatible with CE.net? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.28.42.225 (talk) 00:07, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Port 22

Is there any legitimate or accidental reason why an IP address belonging to either a DSL modem or a county government for a county in another state (not sure which it is, WHOIS says "Org-Name: Butler County") to try to access port 22 on my network, or is this a sure sign of malicious activity ir a virus infection? The IP is 66.117.197.99 PCHS-NJROTC ^(Messages) 02:23, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Port 22 is assigned to SSH so it's most likely what you describe (something looking for people running unsecured or poorly secured SSH server), but it's obviously easily possible it could be accidential. E.g. if someone typed in an IP address wrong, if someone has the correct IP address but it's been re-assigned... In terms of legitimate, well there are some possibilities like your ISP is testing you from some remote location perhaps to see if you are violating their TOS and they're using something you won't recognise to avoid tipping you off. Perhaps you're on some CIA watchlist, they're obviously not going to use a CIA identified IP if they're testing your defenses (I believe you live in the US, so it's possible this could be considered legitimate if authorised by law). In fact, if the question is 'Is there any legitimate or accidental reason why' the answer would usually be yes since it's unlikely you can't compare up with some possibility even if it's ridicilously unlikely Nil Einne (talk) 04:44, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

According to my /var/log/auth.log file, I've gotten over 500 failed attempts to log in via SSH in the past few days. They're almost all malicious, and I seem to recall that this is about normal. As long as your passwords are good, you should be safe. (And it doesn't hurt to make sure that root is an invalid user to SSH into.) Paul (Stansifer) 12:37, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

There's no need for conspiracies by the CIA. This is very common. If it's more than just a few incidental logins, it's almost certainly a brute force attempt against SSH servers. The IP its coming from may be an infected machine too. If you aren't running an SSH server, or have it firewalled off, you shouldn't need to worry about those attempts. Even if you are running it, the key is to make sure you have complex long passwords. There are other security options available as well. This is very common and anyone running an SSH server will frequently see these failed login attempts in /var/log/secure. Shadowjams (talk) 20:29, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

About PC RAM

I m having 4 gb ram, but in system properties it shows only 2.75 gb. the RAM is 2-2 gb two pieces. And my motherboard is AMD-GA-MA785GM-US2H,It has 512 mb graphic card built in. The shopkeeper said that RAM is using by Graphic Card but i m not sured. So resolve my doubt n tell me whats the problem with RAM. Reply me at <e-mail removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by Abhi29jain (talk • contribs) 02:23, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I removed your e-mail address since we answer questions on the RD, and you're risking spam by leaving it in a public place; as mentioned in the header. Anyway as for your problem, at a random guess, you're using a 32 bit operating system, probably Windows which limits the amount of RAM that is addressable. If you upgrade to a 64 bit operating system like Windows 7 x64 or Windows Vista x64 or Windows XP x64 you should see all your RAM. I'm lazy to explain more particularly since I have no idea if you're going to read this since you want me to e-mail you, perhaps someone else will Nil Einne (talk) 04:38, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

The maximum memory available in 32-bit Windows is 3.25GB. Minus 512MB used by the integrated graphics and you are left with 2.75GB. F (talk) 09:09, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Reference: KB929605. 124.214.131.55 (talk) 11:25, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Problems

I have a hp pavilion dv5-1170ei and it had problems with the audio and the quick launch buttons after upgrading to Win 7. I decided to update the bios because that was the only thing that i had not updated. Now the computer is frozen with the BIOS update still running. I once had the same problem with a dv5-1199ei and it worked fine after upgrading the BIOS. By the way i upgraded from Vista Home premium to Win 7 Ultimate.

I don't know what to do.-129.78.64.100 (talk) 03:16, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Restart your computer first to verify BIOS is not loading and the update operation is hung. If your BIOS fails to load, you may need to reset your BIOS to default and try to flash it again. I'd re-download the BIOS flashing program to be sure it isn't a corrupt download as well and be doubly sure you got the right BIOS update.

If you do not know how to reset your BIOS, here is a simple article detailing a couple of methods. It does not mention, however, that you must disconnect ALL power sources from the laptop (including batteries), so please do this. Before touching any of the internal electronics, be sure as well to discharge any static electricity from yourself by touching a metal surface.

Resetting the BIOS will also reset your time/date settings and any other changes you have made to BIOS, and so you will need to change those back.

Given that this procedure involves working inside the laptop (and while not an especially challenging operation) it is a great way to ruin your several-hundred dollar investment if you are not careful. If you don't feel confident doing this, please take this to your local PC repair shop. -Amordea (talk) 05:35, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

keyboard commands history

Did the assignment of Z/X/C/V to Undo/Cut/Copy/Paste originate at PARC or what? —Tamfang (talk) 06:40, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes. It is commonly assumed that they chose those because they are in a row in the lower left of a standard qwerty keyboard. However, like much of Xerox PARC's innovations, they didn't do much to popularize it. Microsoft adopted the same control keys in Windows and from there they became standard. -- kainaw™ 18:57, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

That's not how I remember it. Command-Z,X,C,V has been the standard on Macs since 1984, while Windows originally used Alt+Backspace, Shift+Delete, Ctrl+Insert and Shift+Insert respectively. I think Windows 95 was the first version to officially switch to Ctrl+Z,X,C,V, though many programs supported them before that. -- BenRG (talk) 01:26, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

What DSL cable do I have?

My broadband router is connected to the DSL jack on my phone line with a thin cable that has small 6-pin connectors, the same at each end. I'm not sure if all the pins are used, can only see two wires attached. I'd like to get a longer cable, but can anyone tell me what jack it is? Seems too small for an RJ45, and I don't want to just guess.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.170.214.177 (talk) 11:52, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Ok, I've searched some more and think it's an RJ-11. Does that sound right? Another question - in the US, is this used as a phone jack? I'm in the UK and our phone jacks are different, flatter and wider with a clip at one end. 86.170.214.177 (talk) 12:06, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it's (essentially) an RJ11; that's typically what's on both ends of the cable runs from the DSL splitter to your broadband router. Registered jack goes into horrible detail (strictly what you call RJ45 isn't, and what we're calling RJ11 here is really probably RJ14, but RJ11 will do you fine). FYI, the BT plug (properly called a BS6312 plug) is described at British telephone sockets. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:30, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Being a US native, I couldn't help but giggle at this question. RJ-11's are so ubiquitous here that it's even hard for me to imagine someone not being familiar with one (which I don't mean as a slight, it just amuses me). But yes, the RJ-11 (and its cousins, but they tend to get lumped in with the others and labeled as RJ-11 as well since they all use the same size/shape plug but have differing numbers of connectors, with the RJ-11 being the most common type) is our landline standard here in the US. But hey, we're also still using imperial units, so we might just be backwards in this department as well. -Amordea (talk) 21:21, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

They're actually very common in the UK too. As with the US (and I think just about everywhere) RJ11 is the equipment-end of cables for phones, fax machines, modems and the like. BS6312 is only for the utility end. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:27, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

What you want to look for (online or in a shop) is a 'modem cable'. They are available in various lengths from many retailers, even supermarkets. If you are unsure, take the old cable to a shop to be sure you get the right one. The cables have a RJ-11 plug on the end which goes into your broadband modem, and the other end has a standard BT plug on it. Alternatively, if you have a broadband filter at the wall socket, you will probably need a cable with a RJ-11 plug on both ends. Astronaut (talk) 01:27, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Customizing Win7 taskbar/tray

I could swear that I read a tip the other day about how to force an app to display in your system tray (AKA notification area) instead of the taskbar, but I don't remember where. I should have bookmarked or wrote it down. Anyway, does anyone know how to do this off the top of their head? I just want an app to display in the tray to conserve desktop space. I'm using Windows 7. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 12:26, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I believe what you are referring to requires individual program support. Some programs are built to run in the notification area, some are not. What you read could have been referring to the ability to show/hide notifications. But in Win7, you can easily pin programs to the taskbar anyway, so I am not sure why you would want to put them in the notification area (which is not what it was designed for anyway). To pin an item to the taskbar, you can simply click-and-drag the executable link to the taskbar and drop it onto it. If taskbar real estate is an issue, consider using small icons (right-click the taskbar, click properties, click the "use small icons" checkbox). -Amordea (talk) 19:17, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Er, did you try a web search? RBTray, Trayconizer, PowerMenu, lots of others. -- BenRG (talk) 20:16, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Huh, I had no idea there was so much support for this sort of thing, even if third-party. My (admittedly very brief) web search did not turn any of these programs up. Well, learn something new every day. -Amordea (talk) 20:50, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, the issue for me was Windows Live Messenger. On Windows 7, it has two entries in the taskbar. Anyway, the tip I was thinking of was in the June issue of Maximum PC magazine. Basically, you go into the app's shortcut, change to the Compatibility tab and select Windows Vista. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 19:26, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Outlook mail accounts

Is it possible to use yahoo or gmail accounts with Microsoft Outlook? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.255.2.187 (talk) 14:39, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, at least for Gmail. You need to enable IMAP in Gmail's settings and then configure it according to these instructions. It works perfectly well. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:04, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I've never done it with Yahoo! Mail; it seems the free version now supports POP3 (a simpler, less powerful counterpart of IMAP) - some instructions are here. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:14, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Megaupload

If I upload a common file to megaupload, say for example the vlc-media player installer file, the upload progress bar goes straight to 100% without any uploaded data coming from my connection (I monitored it upload and download speeds and amounts). When I download the file, it is in perfect working order. Obvious I didn't upload this file, so does megaupload detected if the someone else has already uploaded the same file, and simply link my upload to it? 82.44.55.254 (talk) 15:22, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Probably. It would be a pretty easy thing to do, by just exchanging md5 hashes of file contents, and it would save time for you and space for them. It's how I would do it, anyway, if I were running a site like that! --Mr.98 (talk) 15:58, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Windows and Linux virus

Can a virus pass from one OS to the other? It could be a kind of "write once, run everywhere" virus. I often use the same USB in a Windows and Linux machine, could that be a source of infection?--Mr.K. (talk) 17:30, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

There are, in essence, no Linux virusses. While some proofs of concept have been made, and one can surely speculate about how one might exist, there is no evidence at all that any Linux viruses exist "in the wild". In theory Wine runs many Windows programs, so a Windows virus might (again, in theory) run in Wine, but in practice Wine doesn't do many of the lower level things that virusses reply on, so again there's no evidence that a Wine-compatible virus really exists in the wild. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:36, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

The Linux malware article talks about viruses and trojans written for linux, and how they're "on the increase in recent years and more than doubled during 2005 from 422 to 863". Also, to address the OPs question, could there possibly be viruses or malicious programs written in crossplatform languages like Java which could affect different operating systems? That seems like a possible threat, although I personally don't know if such things exist. 82.44.55.254 (talk) 18:11, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Unlike programs written in machine code, or in a language such as C that compiles into machine code, programs written in Java compile into Java byte code, which needs the Java Runtime Environment to run. At least in my experience, this prevents them from (1) starting on their own without the user's intervention, and (2) interfacing with the system directly. Of course, there are exceptions to both, but I hardly think they matter. A malicious native program could very well start a Java program on its own, but for that, you would need a native program in the first place, and it could very well do the malicious stuff itself in that case. Java programs can do damage to the system in a system-legal manner, for example by deleting files, but they cannot actually call low-level system calls. JIP | Talk 19:03, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I see no reason why there couldn't be a Java-hosted virus. Microsoft Word macro viruses were all the rage once. -- BenRG (talk) 01:17, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I understand that. It seems the issue here is to make people execute malicious code in the environment it runs in. For machine code, this isn't an issue, because such code can run directly under the OS without human intervention. But for things like Java byte code or Microsoft Word macros, there is human intervention required to start up its host environment. A "social attack", like providing links to a malicious Word document and writing "Look at this document!!!! It's kewl stuff!!!111!!" would be one way. Once the user opens the document in Word, the viruses go about their business. But if the user doesn't do that, the viruses can't do squat. It would be the same thing with Java viruses. JIP | Talk 19:31, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Strictly speaking, nothing is going to start up on its own. Every attack is either a social attack or an attack on a vulnerable service that does things for the user (sometimes a combination of both). You could even imagine an attack that requires Java because the vulnerable service allows scripting in Java (ewww) and has a hole in its sandbox. So I can imagine a totally Java-based virus (maybe with a bit of system-specific code for installing services, etc.), but there are a lot of reasons why such a creature isn't likely, not least of which is that Java isn't going to be too familiar a language to people who are used to thinking about buffer overruns, etc. Paul (Stansifer) 14:19, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Making sense of syntax

I am having problem understanding the last line of the Python code below.

If it were object.method(), it would make sense for me, you would be calling the method of an object. But, this way, it seems like two methods concatenated... :(

>>> from urllib import urlopen
>>> url = "http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2554/2554.txt"
>>> raw = urlopen(url).read()

--Quest09 (talk) 17:50, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

In Python, pretty much any value is an object. urlopen(url) returns an object which has a read method. It's as if you did

temp = urlopen(url)
raw = temp.read()

but in one line. --Spoon! (talk) 18:13, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't understand Python, but from a quick look at the above, it looks pretty similar to the situation with languages like Java or C#. If a method returns a reference to an object, you can call other methods on that object simply by concatenating the method calls. The only difference is that return values from methods aren't lvalues, so you can't do things like:

PlaceToStoreObject(location) = new Object(); (not legal)

but you can "cheat" with special array syntax, like so:

GetObjectArray(location)[0] = new Object(); (legal, I think)

C and C++ have the * operator, which transforms rvalues into lvalues by dereferencing them, but Java and C# do not. JIP | Talk 18:57, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

From a language perspective, it's perfectly fine in C++ to chain function calls together using the dot operator (a reference-returning function call is an lvalue), although this does go against the Law of Demeter design principle, which basically says: "Use only one dot!" decltype (talk) 10:05, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Drat, I always forget about the C++ reference type. I suppose that's because such a thing doesn't exist in either C, C# or Java. I figure the language still has sane enough type checking so that returning a reference to a local variable, like int a, is legal, but returning a reference to something like a+1 isn't. JIP | Talk 19:34, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Kind of. Something like int& f() { int i = 0; return i; } is allowed, and is a common source of undefined behavior, although most compilers do warn about obvious cases like that. However, you cannot bind a non-const reference to an rvalue, so something like int& f() { int i = 0; return i + 1; } should not compile. decltype (talk) 20:16, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

References and lvalues are irrelevant here, surely? C++ allows you to call methods on temporary objects. Even non-const methods. Even the operator= method. You can assign to a function return value (of class type) in C++ simply because assignment is a method call in C++. In other popular languages assignment is magical, and the things you can assign to (like variables and slots) are not objects and hence can't be returned from functions. -- BenRG (talk) 21:06, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Python syntax is mostly about expressions and statements. Expressions have values, and statements do things. (Confusing the issue somewhat is that expressions can also do things when they are encountered.) So 1, 1+1, "google.com", urlopen(url) urlopen("google.com").read() are all expressions. On the other hand, x=4, import foo, and return 1+1 are all statements (but they contain expressions, which I've underlined).

Every value (and thus, the result of any expression) in Python is an object, and all objects have methods (to see what methods an object o has, look at the value of dir(o)). Try the following expressions out (interactively, Python treats an expression e as the statement print e):

dir(1234.5678)
(1234.5678).as_integer_ratio() #the parentheses are only needed because "." has two different meanings.
(2).__add__(2).__mul__(3)  # "2+2*3" is actually short for this
"hello".upper()

Expressions can contain other expressions, arbitrarily deep. Statements can contain expressions, but expressions can't contain statements. See also Python syntax and semantics. Paul (Stansifer) 19:08, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

It's really not true in Python that "expressions have values and statements do things". The expression-statement distinction in Python is rather arbitrary. dict['key'] = value is a statement but dict.update(key = value) is an expression, exec is a statement but execfile is an expression, import is a statement but __import__ is an expression, etc. Most method calls are of the form identifier.method(args), and it's not necessarily obvious at first glance that the thing on the left of the . is allowed to be an arbitrary expression (after all, the thing on the right isn't). One could even argue that restricting the thing on the left would be consistent with Python's avoidance of compound operations like a[i++] and return x[y] = z. So I don't think that this behavior follows from some grand principle of Python design. The only principle of Python design seems to be "whatever GvR likes". (Though I do think he has good taste, overall.) -- BenRG (talk) 01:10, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Ah, you caught me in my idealism there. The only real distinction is that expressions have values, and statements don't. Statements exist solely for effect. But expressions can have effects, too, ruining the beautiful symmetry ) : — I feel like it's clearest to avoid effectful expressions, but this is sadly impractical in Python a lot of the time. Not to mention pretty much all other languages. Paul (Stansifer) 01:42, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't think the confusion is with statements/expressions, but confusion about objects and operators. Within an expression, the general scheme is "get object(s), apply operator to object, repeat". Let's take "raw = urlopen(url).read()" as an example. What happens is that the object named as "urlopen" is obtained, and the "function call" operator is applied, with the object named as "url" as a parameter. This operation returns an object. Then the "obtain member" operator is applied to that object (the one that was returned), with the identifier (string) "read" as a parameter. This returns an object (a member function object), on which the "call function" operator is applied and an object is returned. Assignment is a statement, rather than an operator, but for the last step, a label of "raw" is applied to the object which is the final result of the right hand side. In general, you can have arbitrarily complex statements to the left of the "obtain member" dot e.g. "(str(45/5) + " MI$$I$$IPPI ".strip().replace('$','S')).lower()" -- 174.24.200.38 (talk) 03:12, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Blender question

This looks so good I just want to eat it up.

I am a Blender noob. I am playing around with the interface and learning how to make some simple objects.

One thing I notice is that all of my renders, no matter how much I play with their materials, look very shiny and flat and very 1980s computer graphics (kind of like this. What I'd really like to know how to do is to make them look more "organic" in the sense that even though they are of, say, metal things, they have a nice texture to them. A good example of the effect I'd like to achieve is in this image here: File:Engine_movingparts.jpg.

What exactly gives it that organic feel, like it was made out of a rough plastic? I'd be eager for any explanations even if they are not Blender specific. I assume it is some kind of settings relating to how the objects reflect light, and maybe some kind of very subtle texture bitmap applied to it, but I'm kind of clueless in my essential noobiness. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:16, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

This is of interest to me too. I've played with Blender but never gotten very far. One thought is that the more organic pictures might have a subtle depth of field. The other issue is that the raytracing / reflections are much more subtle on the better images. Shadowjams (talk) 20:24, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

That image looks like it benefits from radiosity, which simulates light diffusely bouncing between parts of the object. Also, turning down specular highlights tends to make things look more plasticy and less metal. Paul (Stansifer) 20:30, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

This Blender page discusses the various parameters - "gloss" seems to best describe what you're talking about, in the Blender sense. Diffuse reflection covers the physics, and points us to Radiosity (3D computer graphics) and Photon mapping. Both of these are rather expensive, so it'd be tempting for some applications to apply a global local illumination like Phong shading with some anisotropic noise, and that'll look reasonable. If you really needed a brushed metal appearance, you'd probably look to implement one or several shaders that did a noise-guided texture and possibly bump map, but that's probably overkill for most applications. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:34, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks much for the comments. I've been popping around these links and others and I think what I need to do is really grok how ambient occlusion works, because I think that's the effect that I'm really going for, in the end. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:38, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Did you realise that the image you linked appears in Blender_(software)#Features where it is described as " with ray tracing and ambient occlusion using Blender and YafaRay" - looking at the blown up image I notice a lot of noise - indeed YaFaRay uses montecarlo based approximations for illumination - in fact the image seems to gain a pleasurable graininess from the approximate nature of the sampling - more accuracy might result in a 'flatter' looking surface - and in fact look less good (subjectively).77.86.125.207 (talk) 20:51, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, the graininess comes from having a low number of samples (probably the default 5 samples). I like it that way too, looks like a mezzotint. 81.131.23.148 (talk) 03:53, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

I think you want to turn down the shinyness of the surface - ie reduce specular reflections - they do look '80s'. In phong shading either just it turn off or reduce the value of n in the equation given in Specular_highlight#Phong_distribution (1 or 2 maximum). Possibly this hasn't been done in the example image - it's difficult to tell since the angle of illumination wouldn't show any specular highlights anyway - I think rough montecarlo sampling is the thing that is causing the effect you like in the image.77.86.125.207 (talk) 21:19, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

It's enormously easy (ambient occlusion) - you just click the button to turn it on. You can then set the energy and decide whether it should add light, shadows, or both, but the default settings are usually fine. 81.131.39.118 (talk) 21:31, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

If it's a question of understanding the process behind ambient occlusion it's easy to explain - each point visible in the scene has many rays cast from it in all directions outwards - if the ray escapes the scene (ie no other object is in the way) it contributes to the ambient lighting - obviously you get a percentage of rays escaping - and convert that to a brightness figure.77.86.125.207 (talk) 23:05, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

The User:Wapcaplet created the file and says will send you the scene file if asked - quickest way to learn is to copy modify.77.86.125.207 (talk) 21:23, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I have found that ambient occlusion (located among the World buttons, on a tab marked Amb Occ) is a great help in this. It lights the scene as if the light was coming from everywhere, which means that the shadows fall in the cracks and corners. (You can, if you wish, light the scene using only ambient occlusion and no light sources, although I guess you'd lose spectral highlights.) For an additional hit of realism you could deal with the leakage of colours from one object onto nearby objects ... I think this is radiosity, as Finlay mentioned; I've never felt the need to try it, ambient occlusion was the key thing for me. 81.131.39.118 (talk) 21:29, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Back in the days for easy lighting I just use Yafray and its Global Illumination, looks great every time (if not a bit slow). It seems they've removed Yafray support in 2.49 though, but the Blender renderer seems a lot better too. --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:32, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Photo or computer-generated image?

The image to the right is great. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:37, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Sibelius files

Why can't Sibelius files be uploaded into any Wikimedia project? --84.62.209.203 (talk) 20:44, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

We only allow uploads of files in "free" formats, that is formats that can be read and written by open source and free software, and that aren't encumbered by patents. As far as I know, only Sibelius itself adequately reads and writes its file format. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:48, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

If you have some, why not convert them to MIDI files so that we can all read them? Dbfirs 15:47, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Budget program recommendation

My husband and I are looking for a computer program to keep track of our budget. We prefer using the envelope method.... For a while we used Quicken and did complicated things to make it act like the envelope method, but we're tired of that now, and not looking to pay for an updated version of Quicken.

I have a Mac, and he has a PC, so either kind of program works.

We have used the trial versions of Budget and Common Cents and ran into major frustration with non-intuitiveness and outright bugs. I liked the trial version of Moneywell but my husband doesn't want to spend quite that much unless we know it will work very well.

Here are the features we want (we don't need any other fancy widgets but can ignore them if necessary):

Ability to keep track of ~30 envelopes/categories, ability to import transactions in QIF, CVS or Quicken format (just one is fine), ability to split transactions between more than one envelope/category, ability to easily transfer funds from one envelope/category to another, ability to easily start envelopes/categories with a certain amount of seed money (it's crazy how hard this is in some of hte programs we've looked at).

extra bonus: ability to access the budget from an iPhone would be nice but certainly not necessary.

Thanks for any help you can give! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.240.235.130 (talk) 22:00, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I had never heard of "the envelope method", but our article Envelope System lists some software that apparently uses it. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:03, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Shouldn't that article be at Envelope system, to comply with our capitalization standards? Anyway, I created the redirect Envelope method. Buddy431 (talk) 01:48, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Take a look at GNUCash. It is double entry accounting (not as complicated as it sounds) and also has a budget function. Shadowjams (talk) 06:20, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

May 28

Using a supercomputer to run games

Would a supercomputer be better at running games than a normal computer? ScienceApe (talk) 03:29, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

No. Supercomputers usually don't even have graphics cards. It's the power of the graphics card that makes the most difference when playing games. Supercomputers are really just a bunch of motherboards chained together. And games have to be written to take advantage of multiple processors. Computers today often have multiple processors (i.e. cores) but not nearly as many as a supercomputer. Consequently, the games wouldn't know what to do with the extra power.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 03:54, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, there was that time deep blue beat Gary Kasparov. I'm not sure whether a supercomputer's power could be harnessed to produce more entertainment than a normal computer, it's an interesting question. I don't really see why not, or at least why they couldn't provide a unique and special kind of entertainment, but somebody would have to devise a supergame. Supercomputers would be no better at running your typical FPS or whatever. I think their superness mainly consists of being massively parallel, with many processors, and as you may know, game designers are currently having to adapt to the idea of making meaningful use of even two or four cores. 213.122.35.20 (talk) 04:03, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Well there was a graphics application I wanted to do some years ago but the processors just weren't anywhere near being able to do the job. I believe now I could do a reasonable approximation with some work and in the future it might be quite easy. Yesterday's supercomputer or better is now on your desk. So just wait another ten or fifteen years and you too can actually play a game on a supercomputer. How much better are today's games compared to those fifteen years ago? Flashes of light on the screen bam bam bam and blood everywhere, um not much different :) Dmcq (talk) 13:30, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Probably not, modern super-computers are Massively parallel, even assuming that a game could be re-compiled to work on the super-computer's hardware and operating system, it probably wouldn't take very good advantage of the super-computer's unique hardware.

Game developers seem to have enough trouble porting software from the three-cored X-box 360 to the eight-cored Playstation3, getting them to re-work the game to effectively use 150,000 cores would be a major project.

Not impossible, of course, with time and effort a game could be written specifically FOR that architecture. (Perhaps a game that relies on super-accurate fluid simulation?) However, I think that if some crazy, rich person hired a game company to write a game for a super-computer there would be a long learning curve. It's not something they could just do. (However, as technologies like Nvidia Cuda are bringing this style of programming to the masses, perhaps in the future games will be written that could be moved over to a super-computer without much work.)APL (talk) 14:32, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

It is possible to adapt a vector-based supercomputer with associative memory to run games if you gave it graphics capability. The PS3 design is similar to the old Cray supercomputers. Of course, the old Crays didn't have graphics capability. The result would a very expensive PS3 clone. It wouldn't really run the games faster. Games don't really run as max CPU speed anymore. For example, if you played Quake on your old 486 computer and you play it on your new quad-core high speed computer, the game runs at the same speed. The framerate increases. -- kainaw™ 15:38, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I think it depends on what you mean by "game". No, a supercomputer isn't going to make World of Warcraft any more enjoyable than on a moderately good desktop (if it even had graphic rendering abilities). As someone pointed out, however, Deep Blue was specifically designed to play a game better. Granted, a modern desktop running a chess engine like Fritz could kick any human player's can, so maybe that's no longer a good example. The best computer Go programs, on the other hand, are only about on par with humans at an "intermediate amateur level". See Computer Go. I imagine that the massively parallel nature of a super computer could be applied to make a better Go playing engine. In fact, one of the references [1] is about a Go playing supercomputer. Buddy431 (talk) 16:13, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Let me ask another related question. What about this OnLive thing. Maybe not necessarily them, but could someone make a supergamingcomputer, custom built to run games.. And maybe even have programmers to write games exclusively designed for that machine. Then stream it out to consumers via high speed internet? ScienceApe (talk) 16:15, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Sure, there is no technical reason why not. This might be useful if you had some immense simulation that was required in order to generate the super-nuanced physics simulation or graphics pipeline you want. Note that there is a lot of skepticism about OnLive in the game development community, based mostly on the problem of controller-to-screen-event latency, and partially on their business model. The supercomputer rig you describe would not improve the feeling of speed in a first-person shooter compared to playing on a computer that is sitting right next to you; but it could result in a more realistic world. You would have a problem with the business model, because if, say, 100% of a supercomputer is needed to create this super-nuanced physics simulation, that means you have to build 1 of these supercomputers for each online user. If you use 1% of the supercomputer per user, then the reason to use a supercomputer seems to have gone away. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:48, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

"Write conservatively, read forgivingly"

I thought I heard that quote (or something similar) in the context of interoperability between programs writing and reading data in a given format. I did a web search and was surprised that almost all the hits of the quote were related to etiquette rather than software design. Is there a well-known statement articulating the same philosophy in software design?

Yes, Postel's law. -- BenRG (talk) 06:22, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

The OP might also like to compare Postel's principle ("be conservative in what you send, liberal in what you accept") with Subtyping_of_functions#Function_types. Briefly: (S₁→ S₂) <: (T₁ → T₂) iff T₁ <: S₁ ("liberal"/contravariant in argument type) and S₂ <: T₂ ("conservative"/covariant in return type). ForTheNerves (talk) 10:50, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Google Chart API - is this a bug or am I somehow mistaken?

These two give the same results:

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t:1.5,0.5&chs=600x300&chdl=One%7CTwo
http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t:15,5&chs=600x300&chdl=One%7CTwo

This one, however, looks different:

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t:150,50&chs=600x300&chdl=One%7CTwo

And this one even worse:

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t:1500,500&chs=600x300&chdl=One%7CTwo

Is this a bug, or did I miss something in the specifications, maybe a rule that values not summing up to 100 will be scaled to proportion, but values adding up to more than 100 are not allowed and will return garbage results?

Or is my logic flawed and 1.5:0.5 truly isn't the same as 1500:500?

Confused, -- 109.193.27.65 (talk) 08:38, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I know nothing about the API in question, but a little experimentation with the urls you've given shows me that it's treating all values higher than 100 as exactly 100. APL (talk) 19:15, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

From here (emphasis mine): "Values are displayed relative to each other: so a chart with values 1,2,3 will look the same as a chart with values 100,200,300. However, when using text format data, values greater than 100 are trimmed to 100, so you will need to use text format with custom scaling to display slices greater than 100 properly (use the chds parameter with min/max values of chds=0,<max-slice-size>). " APL (talk) 19:19, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Gah, I missed that one. *selfthwap* Thanks! -- 109.193.27.65 (talk) 16:41, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Windows (16 bit) :Technical - Starting up a 16 bit app

Following on from a previous question...

In looking up some information on Windows 16 bit lo-level stuff, I came across some mention of two functions called InitTask and InitApp...

InitTask seems to be well documented, but I can't seem to find much information on InitApp (and WINE's implementation proved to be skeletal)...

So does anyone here have a detailed spec/explanation of what InitApp and related functions do ? (BTW I have checked MSDN with no luck)

10:35, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

If you're really interested in this stuff, I'd recommend you pick up copies of Undocumented Windows by Schulman, Maxey, and Pietrek, and Windows Internals (first ed.) by Pietrek. WI is still published (it's now by Russinovich et al. and published by Microsoft themselves), but you'll want the oldest edition you can get. I can see both on Amazon Marketplace for trivial sums. It's been a decade since I knew where my copies were, but they were both interesting. Although the first one is mostly about undocumented functions, it has a lot about figuring out how the Windows API really works, which seems to be the trail of tears you've set yourself upon :) -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 13:34, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I once rather rashly made a comment on #reactos that it would be a nice idea if someone wrote a Windows layer for FreeDOS,

That's partly why I am looking into 'this stuff' .

Once I know what I'm letting myself in for I might try and see if there's any interest in actually getting such a project started. (I mean writing a 16 bit Kernel for a 286 can't be THAT hard ... <insane laughter> ) 212.225.120.224 (talk) 21:45, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Domain name owned by domain registrar?

Hi, I'm sort of new to the whole domain name business, so I'm sorry if this question sounds dumb. I checked out a certain domain name, and whois says the registrant is leasedomains.com, a domain registrar. I went to that page, and it tells me that the domain is not available to acquire, but it says again that the owner of the domain is that same page, leasedomains.com! What does that mean? Could I acquire that domain from them or not? (I can give the name of the domain if needed, but I'd rather not if it's not necessary.) Thanks in advance. 200.118.156.9 (talk) 15:52, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Probably, this registrant registered the domain name under its own name to keep the real owner anonymous. In this case, they are not planning to sell it. Otherwise, they would advertise it.--Mr.K. (talk) 16:31, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Some registrars, when anonymising their customers in this way, make it clear that they're doing so. Dreamhost, for example, list such entries like: somethingorother.com Private Registrant, A Happy DreamHost Customer, dreamhost's own address -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:38, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I would say this is the explanation. I forgot to mention that the domain is currently parked, and I thought it meant that it was available for anyone to get. After reading the article about it, I realized it's anything but. Thanks for your replies. 200.118.156.9 (talk) 16:43, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

old programs, new computer

So, I have a stack of old computer games from back when I had windows 95 and 98, now I have windows 7, and many of them don't work. Some claim my computer is 64 and they need a 32 computer to run, but others from the same time, or even older, work quite well. Others, the very oldest, claim that they or the program, they're a little vague on which, doesn't support full screen mode. And some just refuse to install, or to work afterward, or the colours are all messed up. Is there anything I can do to get more of them to run, without having to go out and buy a new old computer to play them on?

148.197.114.158 (talk) 16:01, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

You can use a virtualization program such as VMware or Windows Virtual PC to run an old version of Windows. If you're lucky, the game will run without problems within the virtual machine. decltype (talk) 16:09, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Before doing that, try Compatibility mode. Right-click the .exe and click the "Compatibility" tab. You can make Windows 7 pretend to the old .exe that it is Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows XP, etc. This has let me play some old edutainment software discs we have around the house. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:40, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Keyword is if you're lucky. If the software runs "without problems" it means merely that software has not crashed yet. My favorite crashed after nearly three months of regular use on Win7 - neeeded certain "file save" conditions to show up. East of Borschov (talk) 16:41, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

If they are that old they might also work under DOS so Dosbox is worth a shot for any DOS compatible titles. Exxolon (talk) 21:41, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

VirtualBox is a great free/open-source virtualization platform for Mac, Windows, Linux, try that for running these (and i find that Virtualbox is less headache then VMware or VirtualPC)--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 15:21, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Security with Ventrillo (or other VoIP software)

Like many folks who play MMOs, I use Ventrillo to communicate with other players. However, a persistent problem with Vent is someone deciding to be a troll and posting the vent login info (including the server password) to some place like 4chan. The result is a bunch of trolls logging into the Vent server and doing obnoxious things. My question is: is there some additional layer of security I could implement that would prevent unwanted or unauthorized users from logging into a specified Vent server? I was thinking of something along the lines of a whitelist, whereby only people with usernames on the whitelist could log in, but I'm not sure if Vent offers this functionality. I'd also be open to exploring other VoIP programs if they provide additional security features. Thanks for your suggestions. Dgcopter (talk) 16:35, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I play WoW and once during a raid we had a person who got fed up with the group and started playing a "remixed" version of the "Slap Chop" commercial through it (it was rather hilarious though). He was kicked from the group and the vent owner kicked him from vent and also did set it to auto-kick his username whenever it tried to keep coming in. When he came back on other usernames the vent owner then said that she had blocked his IP from connecting. How? I don't know. I know that she did though. Otherwise all you can do is keep booting them, or say move yourself and others to what is otherwise a restriced channel. Sorry I couldn't help more. Shotgun5559 (Talk) (Contrib) 17:50, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, the server admin tried blocking the IPs, too. The problem with that method is basically the same as the problem with trying to block IPs from editing Wikipedia. That is, a determined troll will find ways around an IP block by connecting via a proxy server or whatnot. And, in fact, the trolls we're dealing with have done exactly that. I was hoping for a bit less of a "whack-a-mole" type solution. Thanks for the suggestion, tho. Dgcopter (talk) 18:45, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Only other thing I can think of is to change the password, or to change the info entirely.... Shotgun5559 (Talk) (Contrib) 19:10, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

You could try contacting the users ISP if you know that (which you may if you have their IP from before they started using proxies). There's no guarantee it's going to work, but a properly worded e-mail particularly from a server admin can do (people do file abuse reports on persistent abusers for wikipedia and they do sometimes work although a common response is, we need to be contacted by the server admin).

More generally, depending on how Ventrillo's IP blacklist is implemented you may be able to use it as a whilelist. I've seen people do it before with the ipfilter.dat used by many P2P programs and there are IP managers which will help you set this up. Obviously if the blacklist doesn't allow IP ranges this definitely won't work.

Nil Einne (talk) 23:39, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

The User Access Rights feature allows the server administrator to create more advanced security schemes. For instance, restricting guest accounts from entering certain channels, or prohibiting them from transmitting. Users are considered guests unless they login with a username and password created by the server administrator. decltype (talk) 00:26, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Port forwarding in Ubuntu

I am trying to access a Cpanel behind the ports 2083 and 2082 through Ubuntu, working behind a proxy which cannot be changed and blocks everything which doesn't go through the ports 80 or 8080. How can I accomplish that? --Mr.K. (talk) 17:35, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

With ssh's tunneling feature, probably. Unfortunately I didn't really understand your question well enough to give you the exact syntax. --Sean 20:44, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, if you could be more specific, we might be able to pose an alternate solution. But off the bat, it definitely sounds like a tunnel down port 80 is your best bet. --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 15:22, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

thanks so far. It seems that this is exactly what I need. I am trying to reach the address http://www.heliohost.org:2082/login/ but my current internet connection (at work) doesn´t allow any traffic through this port (in the same way that it does not allow peer to peer connections).--Mr.K. (talk) 15:57, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Are you able to establish a connection to a server/another computer running SSH? --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 01:03, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Human Memory

What is the limit for a regular grown up human to remember numbers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.183.172.203 (talk) 18:50, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

This page lists people who have been able to recite many digits of pi from memory. The world record holder apparently recited 67,890 digits from memory in just over 24 hours. We have an article on him: Lu Chao. (I am not claiming this number is a "limit".) Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:53, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

For a "regular" person, it is tied to what they practice. For example, most Americans can easily remember seven digits easily. Why seven? They regularly memorize 7-digit phone numbers. If, instead, phone numbers were 8 digits, it would be common for them to easily remember eight digits. As with everything else, it isn't a real limit. It is just what the average person is used to. -- kainaw™ 18:57, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Actually I was taught that, per some of the material in our Chunking (psychology) article, the idea of having people memorize 7 numbers (plus or minus 2) does have some neurological basis. (PS: Actually The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two is the better link.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:00, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

What is a number? I think if you can recall (ie picture right now) ANYTHING iconic, from a classic iPod, to a cooper mini, to a big mac, or the Coca Cola bottle... anything at all: then each such icon ought to count for hundreds of numbers. I would even say it is recall on some level if you can't recall it, but can tell if it's "off". The exact number of bits of entropy where if you show a picture deviating by that many bits of information, the person will MISTAKENLY say it is the famous icon, gives you an idea of how much information is in the icon. Faces are similar. Now I am going to go out and say that remembering a face is no different from remembering numbers - they are just bits of data. So let's imagine a hypothetical "photographic memory" person, who spends their WHOLE life, 20 hours awake, meeting new people for - let's say 3-10 seconds each. So, they live 80 years this way. That's 10^9 seconds (1,000,000,000). For an upper bounds, let's say 1 second per face, and for extra entropy the person is to be listening to something that they will associate with that face. And they will be in a specific geographic place when they meet the person for a second - say a few days to weeks in each large city in the world. Anyway you space the 80 years so that all the big cities come up. Now you see the problem: it is quite easy to recall, perhaps after a bit of thinking, just WHERE you met someone. ie to associate every single face with the geographical area you were. It is not a stretch to associate with the time of day, morning or night. It is not a stretch to associate it with whether you were in severe pain, whether it was when you were in a period of recuperating from an excrutiating skiing accident in which you broke 85% of the bones in your body. I think no one who met someone for five minutes while in such a painful recuperation would forget that they met the person under such conditions - I am assuming they are not so medicated they don't recall the meeting at all. But now you see the problem: the brain really IS associative! There is HARDLY ANY limit on the number of things that can be associated with a meeting of 5 minutes or even just a second, if it really grabs you - or if you have a photographic memory. Where is the storage limit of an associative brain, in which neurons are connected with other ones. The answer comes from graph theory, and by now the reader will see exactly where I'm going. I don't need to whip out the scientific notation and start multiplying exponents, and raising exponents to exponents. Suffice to say, that I maintain that the only realistic answer is infinite, in the word's non-technical definition. In the word's technical definition, we can't use infinite, since there aren't enough brain states to put them in 1:1 correspendence with even the natural numbers - you run out of brain states. That means they can't be even the smallest kind of infinite. So, in a mathematical sense I would give the number as ten to the bajillion to the bajillion to the bajillion. That should satisfy the mathematically trained among my readers, who would balk at the more honest ansswer: infinite.82.113.121.38 (talk) 21:09, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Please cite sources; this is a Reference Desk. We have an article, Exceptional memory, about extraordinary general (not numbers only) memory recall. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:27, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't need references, foo' - I AM the reference! 82.113.121.126 (talk) 13:44, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Norton Internet Access Control Alerts

I have Norton/Symantic security and I keep getting pop-ups which ask me what I want to do when some program is attempting to access the internet. It says "Automatically update security settings for programs that Symantic has identified as safe." but it doesn't say how to do this. I have Live Update set to automatic already but that only starts Live Update as soon as you click on it, it doesn't update my security settings every fixed amount of time. How can I stop geting these pop-ups?98.77.194.6 (talk) 19:13, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Nobody has helped me in two days. I deleted Google toolbar and I haven't seen a pop-up since.74.233.118.147 (talk) 18:46, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

HELP I'm seeing new pop-ups again. How can I stop them, they are driving me crazy!74.233.68.2 (talk) 20:43, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Reading .docx

What's the smallest, free, non-time-limited, downloadable piece of software that can read docx files? Suitable for downloading on a dialup-speed connection. Additional criterea: the software must be any good. I'm trying out OpenXML Document Viewer right now, as a firefox plugin, and I've got a bunch of newlines where there shouldn't be any, and generally sub-optimal formatting. 213.122.46.240 (talk) 21:06, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

If you just want to view the document, you can upload it to Scribd or Google Documents, both of which read .docx files. You can also use them to convert the .docx to something else, which you might have a reader for (e.g. PDF). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:50, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

http://www.zamzar.com is an excellent, fast and efficient conversion website. ╟─TreasuryTag►UK EYES ONLY─╢ 21:51, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, but I did mention "downloadable". Oh, and Windows XP, I should have mentioned. I just tried TextMaker Viewer, which got the newlines right but didn't display some equations. Perhaps there's a python module for displaying docx? 213.122.46.240 (talk) 21:55, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

OpenOffice isn't very small, but it does read .docx files completely. The latest version is pretty competitive with the full Microsoft Office product line, and is totally free and open-source. Nimur (talk) 23:38, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Personally I wouldn't want to regularly download it on a dialup modem though although I did download CD size stuff one or twice in my dialup days I think and of course Windows SPs. Nil Einne (talk) 23:45, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

You can also buy copies of OpenOffice on CD. Not quite free, but I think 10-20 USD rather than 100+ for Microsoft Office. Amazon appears to have them for $15 (plus shipping, of course). Buddy431 (talk) 01:07, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

(OP here) I can't physically download 150Mb (which seems to be the size of the OpenOffice installer) - I'll get halfway through, which will take four hours, and then I'll get cut off. Oh well, never mind. Got my document in .pdf now anyway. And I guess the Firefox add-on isn't that bad. It's only quite bad. 81.131.23.148 (talk) 03:47, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Unrelated to the initial topic, but...on dial-up you must do yourself a favor and acquire a download manager. Few things more frustrating than a failed download 4 hours in. FileHippo provides a few choices. I don't actually use one myself anymore, but I think I used GetRight back in my dial-up days. -Amordea (talk) 05:17, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

I use Free Download Manager. You could also try using torrents, they would handle disconnections automatically although your download speed could be limited Nil Einne (talk) 20:07, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

As it seems you just want to view the document, and not edit it, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Microsoft Word Viewer -- 174.24.200.38 (talk) 21:27, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Notepad works well. Just change the file extension from .docx to .zip, double-click on it, and drag out the document.xml file from the \word folder. You can then open it in Notepad. It comes with Windows, so it'll save you some download time. Also, the version of Wordpad that comes with Windows 7 can read .docx files.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 20:18, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

can an EEE PC 1005H act as a wireless access point?

short and simple: some laptops can act as a wireless access point, some can't: point in case, macbook pro can, macbook can't.

My question is: can my eee pc 1005H netbook act as a wireless access point or can't it?

(details: I am thinking of purchasing an iPad, but already pay a monthly cellular charge for a 3G enabled netbook - the model mentioned above. I'd rather not pay a second one to enable the iPad to function. One option would be to chisel down the sim card from the netbook into a microsim size, but I'd rather prefer to keep them both connected. Therefore the best solution would be to share the internet connection over wifi with a wifi-only iPad (also saving $100 in the process) - but of course this is only possible if it is possible. So, with the eee pc 1005h, is it possible? If not, I guess I have to buy a myfi or something. Thanks.)82.113.121.38 (talk) 21:42, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

I have had success configuring my netbook as a wireless DHCP server. I use a Lenovo S10E, with a Broadcom BCM4300 wireless chipset, running Ubuntu. Setting up the DHCP server is "non-trivial", but not beyond the reach of a technical user. (Alternately, you can try some "internet connection sharing" features on either Windows or Ubuntu or other systems, but I have had less success with that method). These forum posts seem to indicate that some EEEPC wireless cards are not configurable to act as wireless access points, but you can give a shot with your model. If you can post the wireless card manufacturer and model, we might be able to help you find a more complete answer (I couldn't find the exact wireless card for the EEEPC 1005H on the Asus website or elsewhere). Nimur (talk) 00:46, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

I believe that you are a bit mistaken a bit here --- this idea that some laptops can act as APs and others can not is a hardware generalization that I believe you are misplacing with the presence of software functionality: more often then not the ability to use a computer as an access point depends on two things: (1) Originating internet connection, and its tolerance to having DCHP run in front of it and (2) Software ability to switch the connections. Macs are known for having very easy internet sharing capabilities, that is both Macbook Pro, Macbook, Mac Mini; virtually all models. In the case of your eee pc, see this how-to article for instructions...definitely should be possible. Let us know if you run into any issues.--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:56, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

In order for a laptop to operate as access point, its wireless card must support master mode (if operating under linux)(in windows there may be a special application). I have seen wireless cards with such apps in windows, but i have never seen a wireless card with such a functionality in linux. Most wireless cards supports ad-hoc mode and in many cases it is the only useable solution. Network operating in ad-hoc mode, however will have lower throughput (because of less efficient protocol). -Yyy (talk) 08:13, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Vista laptop randomly shutting down

For some reason, my 4-year old Gateway laptop shuts down on its own. The problem started a few months ago. From time to time, the computer shuts itself down, no warning, nothing. And it's not like I face an immediate black screen or crash - the shutdown fades out, exactly like if someone had hit the Hibernate or Sleep function. When I start my laptop back up again, it proceeds as if nothing ever happened; no error message, not even an entry in the Event Viewer. So, my question is, what the hell is going on with my laptop, and how do I fix it? Could this be an overheating issue? What tools would I need to further diagnose the problem? Please help, and thanks, 141.153.216.29 (talk) 22:35, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Does this happen when the power is plugged in? Nil Einne (talk) 23:30, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes. 141.153.216.29 (talk) 23:47, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

It goes into hibernation specifically? If it was heat, it would likely just cut the power immediately after reaching a critical point (although certain software might be set to hibernate at critical temp instead if you have such a thing installed). You may want to check your power settings to see if anything has been altered (Control Panel -> Power Options) and see if that correlates to the symptoms you're experiencing. If not, it certainly couldn't hurt to give the computer a nice dusting. They need them about once a year. -Amordea (talk) 00:36, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

No, it actually shuts down (if it hibernated, I would have seen a screen to log back in, and my files would still be open). My power settings seem fine; nothing's different. Do you know any good tutorials/tips on dusting a laptop, or should I just refer to Google? Thanks, 141.153.216.29 (talk) 03:21, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

While not an ideal guide it's a decent general guide. Major points to follow: be sure to disconnect ALL power sources (adapter and batteries) and press the power button before touching the insides of the laptop (this actually does more than makes sure there is no more power connected to the laptop, it also discharges the capacitors of any residual charge). Be sure to discharge yourself too by touching a metal surface to get rid of any static electricity you may have built up.

You do not need alcohol or glass cleaner (I don't even know that I'd use glass cleaner around electronics), a moist cloth will do (moist, not wet) and you don't need compressed air. Your god-given blower will do just fine (just be sure to dry your mouth before blowing and if you do get any saliva on the electronics, wipe it off before turning on the laptop again). Do not use a vacuum cleaner! If you do use compressed air, stick a pen or toothpick or something in the fan to keep it from damaging the motor by spinning it too fast.

If you're having trouble finding your fans, refer to your model's service manual for more detailed information specific to your model of laptop. -Amordea (talk) 04:02, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

What do you mean by "the shutdown fades out"? You say it proceeds as if nothing happened - are your programs and files all still open and as you left them? --Tango (talk) 01:11, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

On a Vista machine, when a typical shut down sequence is performed, the screen will display "Shutting down", and then fade to black. When the hibernation sequence is initiated, the screen will merely fade to black. Here, the screen merely fades to black, but when I turn it back on, it goes through the normal cold boot sequence (whereas I would see a login screen if it were hibernating). When I said "nothing happened", I meant to say that the OS acts like as if I had shut down the computer myself. 141.153.216.29 (talk) 03:21, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Most likely an issue with overheating. You will not see an event in the event viewer, as this is a much lower level issue. I would recommend gently vacuuming out the fans at a safe distance --- putting the vacuum tube onto a couple of extenders works well, but it seems like others here have recommended against this; try at your own risk! Unfortunately, not much you can do in cases like this --- as repair on a 4-year-old machine, while probably not possible, would certainly be the cost of a brand new more powerful computer. --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 15:01, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Truth be told, I've used a shop vac to clean PC's out plenty of times. But I always read other places that you shouldn't, from nearly every source I've read about cleaning PC's--supposedly has something to do with static electricity (I don't touch the hose to the electronics anyway, but it seems wiser just to advise someone against it entirely than to let them engage in unnecessary risk). I've never had a bad experience, but I figure it'd be just like Murphy's Law to crop up the day I don't advise someone against it. Plus I had some horror playing in my head of the unwitting person taking a vacuum with one of those bristle bars to the laptop... -Amordea (talk) 15:41, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

I agree, it sounds like overheating. It isn't shutting down or hibernating, it is just turning itself off. Before worrying about dust in the vents, you should check they aren't being blocked by wherever you put your computer. If the computer is on soft furnishings or your lap then the vents may be blocked. Try using the laptop on a hard surface like a table, desk or one of those lap tray things. --Tango (talk) 15:19, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

MonoDevelop vs. SharpDevelop con't

In reference to this question here[2] (which is now archived):

Don't know. Most .NET developers use Visual Studio. In any case, AFAIK, both SharpDevelop and MonoDevelop are free. Why not try them both and decide which you like better? Alternatively, you can download Visual Studio 2010 Express for free[3] (although it's not open source). A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:52, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

May 29

H.264 video and frame dropping

I have significant problems with frame dropping when playing hi-definition video in MKV / H.264 format. I have tried to rationalize this away by blaming Win Vista or poor software/codecs. The other possibility, hardware performance, would surprise me: is a quad core Q6600 with an Nvidia GTX 260 video card not powerful enough to play hi-def video to perfection? The frame dropping tends to occur during complicated motion scenes, but can also occur in other video in the most mundane places. The degree of it is definitely dependent on the video, making me think that the way it was encoded is a factor as well. I am looking for suggestions on codecs/software that might help, or thoughts on whether the specified system doesn't cut it. Do codecs vary enough in quality that a person needs to purchase one? Any codec recommendations? (In SMPlayer, the option to "skip loop filter" does significantly reduce frame dropping, but the quality difference can be noticeable.) Thanks, Riggr Mortis (talk) 01:55, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

I would highly recommend VLC Player --- try it and see what the playblack performance is like. Doubt its hardware performance, but if VLC still gives you issues, I'd say (1) Upgrade your video drivers and (2) run a video-card burn-in test. Keep us posted. --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 15:07, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

VLC player was actually my first software choice, so naturally I blamed it and tried other software. At first Mplayer seemed better, then the benefit disappeared. I am using the latest Nvidia drivers... VLC has a lot of advanced video options that might help, but they are really technical options, too advanced for me to mess with. Riggr Mortis (talk) 22:03, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

I see. Is there any rhyme or reason to the dropped frames?--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 00:59, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Note that it may be dropping frames completely at random, and they may just be more noticeable during motion shots. The problem with the quad core is that it's probably only using a single core for your video, so you're really only using 25% of the CPU. What's worse, there may also be other stuff running on that same core. Try rebooting to clear up any crap, then use the Task Manager to kill all non-vital applications. See if that doesn't solve the issue, and let us know the results. StuRat (talk) 02:08, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

On Windows I tend to use something like CCCP and Media Player Classic-HC and it hasn't failed me yet. Try installing CCCP with MPC-HC and enabling hardware accelerated decoding (although it worked fine for me without it, on a Q6600 at 3Ghz and an ATI4850), that should give you smooth playback with barely any load on the CPU. --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:24, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the help all. Antilived, I uninstalled SMPlayer (the only program that would have included more codecs than a plain Win installation has, as I had to reinstall Vista recently) -- and installed CCCP, which includes MPC-HC. I tested the worst-offending video in the worst-offending scene, and no sign of frame dropping! I will try the tip on offloading to the video card as well (I thought this "just happened", but I guess not) -- but it is already a vast improvement. We'll see if it stays this way. For now I'm confused but delighted (getting too old to care about "reasons" in computing any more...) StuRat, your comment reminded me that one can force a process to a particular core in the Task Manager, which may/might have been worth looking at too, but there was something stranger going on than pure CPU stuff. Riggr Mortis (talk) 03:45, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Great to hear.--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:35, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Regarding Keyboards

I recently purchased a cheap keyboard and for general purpose, it works really great. However, I do like to game occasionally and I have noticed that certain key combinations will result in certain ignored keys (namely when I press Q, W, and Spacebar at the same time, the result is the Spacebar refuses to respond until I relinquish my hold on one of the other keys).

Looking through the keyboard article here on Wikipedia seems to indicate that the control processor might be at fault here. But there also seems to be some indication that it could be on the software/driver end of things too. Does anyone have any insights as to what the root cause may be? Thanks! -Amordea (talk) 03:26, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Poor keyboard design. See Keyboard_technology#Keyboard_switch_matrix and Rollover (key). Basically in order to avoid having to wire each key into the keyboard's circuitry they're arranged in a sort of grid so that they can share connections. Depending on how this is done it can make certain key combination impossible. Or worse, certain key combination may 'fool' the keyboard into think you've pressed some other, seemingly unrelated key. APL (talk) 04:02, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Alas, I figured this to be the case. Was just hoping there was something I was missing. Thanks for clearing up the specifics! -Amordea (talk) 04:16, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Note that many games allow you to redefine which keys you use, so you could hopefully find a combo that works on your k/b. StuRat (talk) 02:00, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Video screenshots

I am editing video-files (under Linux with Avidemux) and would like to make an overview with screenshots. I tried this with Gimp and Krita, but with both, when I save it, I get a very small file with some coloured blocks, but no photograph. What I do is open the edited video with Mplayer, press PrintScreen, open a new file with Gimp or Krita, press Ctrl-V (which has confusing results, but that is a different matter) and then save the file. But then when I go to the file in the file browser it turns out to be very small and when I open it I see aforementioned blocks in stead of the screenshot. Am I doing something wrong, or better, is there a more handy program to do this? DirkvdM (talk) 14:45, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Without seeing what you are getting as a result, it is hard to tell, but it sounds like you are having the video piped out through a hardware accelerator which makes it inaccessible to your standard screenshot programs. Your easy options are either to temporarily disable hardware acceleration (no clue how to do that in Linux), or to use the built-in screenshot command in VLC. MPlayer probably has one as well. Usually the built-in screenshot command is "smart" enough to avoid problems with video acceleration. (Video acceleration sends the video directly to the card and bypasses the regular CPU memory or something along those lines. So when you do a screenshot of accelerated video, you just get a blank spot that is the placeholder for where the video card will directly pipe the video.) --Mr.98 (talk) 19:08, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Oh, forgot to mention, with the VLC snapshot feature I also get just a 'blank' (green, actually). Strangely, though, sometimes it does work, but most of the time not, and I haven't figured out what I do differently. And it also works just fine with photographs. I can't figure out whether I have hardware acceleration and according to this site, with Xorg one can't find out for certain anyway.

However, I have found a workaround. Since I only need thumbs to recognise the scenes, nothing fancy, I decided to just take photographs of the screen. :) Simple, and it works. DirkvdM (talk) 07:50, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Excerpts from DVDs

For a University project I want to put together a short collection of excerpts from a number of DVDs. I don't really mind if what I end up with is a .mov file (or similar) or a physical DVD. Quality isn't a big issue, either. My first thought was just to plug a DVD player into a DVD recorder, but I've heard that may be "nobbled" in some way to avoid piracy. I've tried using screen capture software while running the DVD on a media player but that doesn't work.

What's the simplest way to achieve what I'm aiming for, here? AndyJones (talk) 14:54, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

So for the simplest/cost-free way to pull a couple of clips together, screen capture is your best bet. What screen capture software did you try that did not work? Try CamStudio, and see if you still have the issue. I am fairly certain that what you are trying to achieve here falls under academic/scholarly provisions in Fair Use and therefore you are probably in the clear of copyright woes. As for another solution, you could convert the DVD to a .avi/.mov file using a ripping program, then bring that finished file into an editing program, cut it and repeat for the multiple DVDs. --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 15:15, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

I do this fairly often for courses; I've found the easiest way to be HandBrake+QuickTime#QuickTime_Pro. The $30 you spend on QT Pro is worth it; it makes it so that you can basically just copy and paste video in a very intuitive way in Quicktime, and then save the whole thing as a MOV file. I find this method to be a million times easier than free video editors, converting between a plethora of formats, etc. This is simple and anyone can do it with a minimal amount of experience editing video, unlike just about every other method I have seen. I know you're probably thinking, "oh, $30 is quite a lot for something I might only use a few times", but remember that 1. Time is money! If you value your time at all, then $30 is not that bad, compared to spending hours and hours fiddling with other programs that half-way do the job in a way you understand, and 2. Once you learn how to do this once, you'll probably find yourself with more opportunities to use it. I do little video edits all the time

now, just because it's easy to do—it takes no time at all in QT Pro to dice up a large file into small files, or clip the ends off files, or extract small parts of larger files and combine them into one big file. OK, soapbox rant ended! --Mr.98 (talk) 21:16, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Really? I mean, alright I won't say that it's silly to pay for software when there's obviously other free options out there, because I know that is debatable, but Quicktime?? I never understood why people allow the programs they use to dictate what file formats to use, which seems like an insane inconvenience, especially when it comes to video files where most of the files I use are NOT .mov .mp4. In fact, I avoid those formats because so many of the most accessible (though not industry standard) applications out there don't bother to support them! I think I'll stick to my open source tools. 210.165.30.169 (talk) 01:52, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

My need is slightly different from the OP, but it seems to fit within this category, so I'll ask here instead of starting a brand-new toplevel question:

I have some television programs copied to DVD, and I want to capture still frames of various people I see, so that I can post those JPEG images on my Web site to ask "who is this person seen here". I tried using screen-print of a paused DVD play on MS-Windows, which works fine with playing video from the network, but doesn't work when playing a local video. Screen-print of local DVD gives all-black JPEG and portal to live play (not single frame) in BMP format.

So the trick I discovered was to get a YouTube account, upload the entire video to that account, then play back from that YouTube vodeo, and viola screen-print got me single-video-frame JPEGs.

But after Google bought YouTube, it stopped working: I couldn't find my password to my YouTube account, so I tried password reset, and got the e-mail with the URL for resetting password, but it didn't work at all. Then I tried getting a brand-new YouTube account, and I got the e-mail with link to activate the account, but when I clicked the very first time on the activate-account link it said the account was (already) disabled. So it's no longer possible for me to upload DVD clip to YouTube then play it back to capture single frames. This is on a public computer lab where I'm not allowed to download any new software, so even if I could afford $40 for a special program to capture single video frames directly from DVD, I wouldn't be allowed to install it. Does anybody have any suggestions for solving my problem? 198.144.192.45 (talk) 17:49, 28 March 2011 (UTC) Twitter.Com/CalRobert (Robert Maas)

Windows Vista Audio

The audio output on my laptop has suddenly stopped working - there's a white cross on a red background on the speaker icon, with 'No Audio Output Device Installed' message. I've had no success with the troubleshooting in Vista, and searches on line for a solution don't provide clear answers. The laptop is a Compaq Presario A900 bought a couple of years ago. Any clues as to how to rectify this? Thanks in advance, Sophiepuss —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sophiepuss (talk • contribs) 18:19, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Look in "device manager" (in the Control Panel); I think that somehow there is a problem with your audio driver, and if that's the case you'd expect to see an error against the built in audio device. If that's the case, the support section of Compaq/HP's website should provide you with a fresh one. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 19:28, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Computer won't sleep when Ethernet cable plugged in

Recently I plugged an Ethernet cable into my computer because lately the latency I have in WoW has gone from and average of 260ms to an average of 450ms. This question isn't about that though. I go and press the sleep button, or go through the start menu to do it, and have the computer go into sleep mode. However it will 'wake' right back up seconds later. I found out it was the Ethernet cable, because when I unplugged it, the computer would go to sleep and stay asleep until I jiggled the mouse, pressed enter, bumped the desk hard, etc. I know that the cable is plugged into the right port (on both ends), but I can't figure out why it won't go to sleep mode and stay that way. Does anyone know why this may occur? Shotgun5559 (Talk) (Contrib) 18:25, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Oh I guess I should mention the fact that I use Vista as well. Shotgun5559 (Talk) (Contrib) 18:27, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

You may have "wake on LAN" set in the BIOS. Wake-on-LAN has details - you may have the BIOS set to the "wake on directed packet" or "wake on link" settings, which would mean other machines on the network sending to yours would wake it. Unless you're a server, turn wake-on-LAN off; if you do need to be a server, set the wake setting to wake-on-magic, and get a magic-packet-generator for your clients (which they send to wake the PC up before they send a print job or poke around in the network shares). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 19:26, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Uninstalling Ubuntu from Dual-Boot Vista/Ubuntu

I would like to uninstall Ubuntu 10.04 from this machine. I have it on dual-boot with Vista. After having installed it, I was told by the OS that there was not much disk space left on the partition, and this seemed to be causing problems with running programs and updating software etc. (the software update was bigger than the remaining available space). I am not interested in increasing the partition space, etc., and only want to remove Ubuntu and have the 25GB on the soon-to-be-redundant partition put back so it's usable from Vista. Can anyone tell me how to do this? Bear in mind, I would like to be able to do this from Vista, and not from Ubuntu, as some programs in Ubuntu are either not running correctly or not running at all. TIA! --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 20:12, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

(EDIT) I don't have the Vista CD, by the way. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 20:17, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Boot from an Ubuntu CD, delete the Ubuntu partition, resize the NTFS partition to fill the space, fix the master boot record with this method. As with all things involving low-level access to a disk (and indeed as with all things involving doing anything at all) make sure you have important files backed up (from Windows) onto an external disk before proceeding. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:17, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, "delete the ubuntu partition" really means "run gparted as administrator and carefully delete the Ubuntu partition (which will probably show as being an ext3 filesystem"). You might also have a linux swap partition to delete (which will be called "linux swap"), but make sure you don't delete any weird "unknown" partitions, as these might be Windows swap or OEM system restore partitions. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:20, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

And getting to the recovery console on a cd-less OEM system might work like this. Or you can do it using the Linux boot CD like this. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:24, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Linux Mint upgrade question

I currently run LinuxMint 8. I downloaded the v.9 ISO. Will it be safe if I loop mount the v.9 ISO file, add it to my software repo, and do an upgrade via synaptic? Or will it completely screw my system?--117.196.130.43 (talk) 20:59, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

video

I want to encode a video, and I'd like the output video to be smaller than the original. How does one determine the correct width and height? So far what I've tried has caused weird aspect ratios. Thanks 82.44.55.254 (talk) 21:39, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

You need to deal in proportions, and therefore first determine the aspect ratio of the source video. Then, when scaling down, pick an arbitrary width or height and scale the opposite axis in accordance to the original ratio you derived from source. Here's an online calculator to simplify the proportion. If you can provide the actual pixel width/height, we can help size down if you are still stuck.--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 00:56, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

1. Divide width by height
2. Pick a new width
3. Divide it by the result. This is your new height.

Alternatively, instead of (2) and (3): pick a new height, multiply it by the result, and this is your new width. Also you can if you like swap width and height over in everything I said, if you do it consistently. 81.131.66.87 (talk) 01:50, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

CSS alphabetic characters

Is it possible to create a style in CSS, such as might be applied to a span element, which does something only to the alphabetic characters, and leaves numbers and symbols alone? 81.131.66.87 (talk) 23:35, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

No. You probably need to use Javascript if you want to something complicated like that. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:09, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

The set of CSS pseudo-elements is pretty small, and doesn't include anything like what you describe. The only thing I can think of is to generate the page that way: <span class='alpha'>asdf</span><span class='non-alpha'> 123 </span><span class='alpha'>asdf</span> If the page is automatically-generated already, it probably wouldn't be too hard to do, though it sure isn't very elegant. Paul (Stansifer) 00:22, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Confirmed, not possible in CSS. Paul span alpha/non-alpha solution is the best I can think of without writing javascript to troll the page for alpha characters and do something to them.--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 00:58, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

May 30

whats a good free thing to rip youtube vids

whats a good free thing to rip youtube vids —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tom12350 (talk • contribs) 00:52, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

If you mean "extract audio", then http://www.listentoyoutube.com/ might interest you. --Rajah (talk) 00:55, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

i mean video. wasent there a free firefox extension that did that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tom12350 (talk • contribs) 01:27, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

There are lots and lots of them, you can browse all these: [4] (Not every add-on there is for downloading videos from flash players, but many of them are.) I use downloadhelper (which is at the top of the top downloads section on that page). Haven't used it on youtube for a few months, but it worked last time. 81.131.66.87 (talk) 01:39, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Another suggestion: I find that the simple little standalone program YouTube Downloader works more consistently and effectively than anything else I've tried. « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 02:07, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

I use the Firefox add-on 1-Click YouTube Video Downloader - it offers a small choice of formats to download. 92.15.12.12 (talk) 13:15, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

I hate it when people don't use correct grammar on the 'net... Chevymontecarlo 17:18, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

http://www.keepvid.com is excellent. ╟─TreasuryTag►stannary parliament─╢ 19:28, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

the method I use is to simply go into your browser's cache folder and copy the file from there, and rename it with the extension .avi. You have to be quick though, usually a few seconds after a youtube video is finished loading, the file disappears from the folder. 198.161.203.6 (talk) 00:18, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

wxwidgets wxAutomationObject::CreateInstance in MultiThread programme

When I use wxAutomationObject::CreateInstance to create an excel application in another thread it always failed to create it My code is like this

	if(!excelObj.CreateInstance(wxT("Excel.Application"))) 

{ wxMessageBox(wxT("错误"),wxT("创建Excel对象失败!"),wxOK); return 0; } But it's OK when using in single thread programme. Why? Anybody can help me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mm0635 (talk • contribs) 01:35, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

MySQL - Schrödinger's tables

Explain this one (anonymized):

> mysql --user=root --password=[...] databasename
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. [...] Server version: 5.1.40-community MySQL Community Server (GPL)

mysql> show tables;
+----------------------+
|Tables_in_databasename|
+----------------------+
|table_name            |
+----------------------+
1 row in set (0.02 sec)

mysql> describe table_name;
ERROR 1146 (42S02): Table 'databasename.table_name' doesn't exist
mysql> create table table_name (firstName VARCHAR(20), lastName VARCHAR(30), dateOfBirth DATE);
ERROR 1050 (42S01): Table 'table_name' already exists
mysql> exit
Bye

>mysqldump --user=root --password=[...] --quick databasename > dump.sql
mysqldump: Got error: 1146: Table 'databasename.table_name' doesn't exist when using LOCK TABLES

Perhaps a bit of context is in order. I'm running these commands on a server that I inherited but did not set up. It is not absolutely critical that I get access to this data right now, but the weird behavior piqued my interest enough to warrant asking. All the Google suggestions I've found are irrelevant or useless. (Missing .frm files? Nope, they're all there - they're all InnoDB tables. Permissions? Nope, running as root. Case sensitive filesystem? Nope, Windows XP. Recreate everything from scratch? Nice suggestion when I can't see the data to begin with.) « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 01:40, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Have you attempted to see how this behaves using, say, phpMyAdmin? --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:01, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

phpMyAdmin lists the number of tables as being the correct number in one place, zero in another place, and vomits up the same error from MySQL when trying to create the tables. I also tried copying the .frm files to my laptop, but my instance of MySQL gives the exact same error messages. Clearly, the tables are corrupt in some manner. The original developer might have been working on a different architecture than what the current server is using, or some such thing. I wish I could post the tables for examination, but the confidentiality of the data prohibits me from doing so. « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 21:40, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Eh, scratch that one part. I just found a bunch of pages through Google explaining how InnoDB data files can get out-of-sync and cause all sorts of weird problems like this. I guess I'll play with it some more and come back if I'm still stumped. « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 21:59, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

I've never seen that before, and "out-of-sync" seems to explain this. Keep us posted. --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:12, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Localization

In [5], I removed "　" replacing with " ". Look at

"groups in Japan　and　South Korea"

compared with

"groups in Japan and South Korea"

What is the first space?174.3.121.27 (talk) 03:17, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

It is a Unicode U+3000 "ideographic space" used with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) characters. PleaseStand ^(talk) 04:32, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Downloading large number of attachments

I have a Gmail account with over a thousand emails containing 1-20 attachments each. Gmail has a nice feature that lets you download all the attachments in an email zipped in one file with a single click. Is there a way to download ALL attachments from ALL emails without going through them one by one? Its okay if I have to download a POP/IMAP mail client. I tried a few clients already, and none of them have a good way (or manual work-around that I know of) of quickly collecting all the thousands of attachments. Please help! I need to download all the thousands of pictures in over a thousand emails to one folder within a few days! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.148.211.113 (talk) 06:59, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

You're on the right track with IMAP; that seems to be your best bet. Though I have never used this myself, you can try this Macro Editor for Mozilla Thunderbird. Connect Thunderbird to Gmail through IMAP, and you could write a macro to achieve this goal. OR This Thunderbird extension looks promising, see this article. (Oh the power of a google search!)--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:12, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Little Sister's voice in Bioshock 2

Does anyone know where Bioshock 2 keeps the files for the Little Sister's voice? I would like to hear what she says without any other sounds or anything. Xjmmlpsufmboe (talk) 10:17, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

it's probably deep down in the game files somewhere, perhaps in something like 'media' or 'sound'. Chevymontecarlo 19:47, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

It could also be attached to other sounds in one big file, rather than separate ones, so you might not be able to dig down and get it individually. Chevymontecarlo 19:48, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Not to be annoying here, but if you honestly have no idea for this particular game, you really shouldn't answer. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:24, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the help, but "somewhere deep, probably in sound" doesn't give me much to work from :/ Xjmmlpsufmboe (talk) 12:54, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

computing the system

how to create in a software explain briefly and with the examples —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kumarselva482 (talk • contribs) 15:03, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Please do your own homework.

Welcome to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misinterpretation, but it is our aim here not to do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn nearly as much as doing it yourself. Please attempt to solve the problem or answer the question yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know.

Your question is also not very clear. So, what software is required, what are its requirements, what will it be used for, which environment is specified (ie. which hardware, operating system, peripherals, etc.), how long a timescale do you have to write the software, and so on? Astronaut (talk) 15:07, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Firefox and IE7

I've just downloaded Firefox. I am running out of hard-drive room. Can I safely delete (remove) IE7? (I have transferred all the data across that I need/want.) Will such removal have any effect on my use of Outlook? Thanks for you help. Bielle (talk) 16:11, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

No, if you remove IE it shouldn't affect Outlook, because it just uses your Internet connection, not IE itself. On a PC, you can try 'add/remove programs' in the Control Panel to try and remove it (At least on Windows XP anyway, not sure about the newer operating systems as they may have been messed around with/changed since then). Chevymontecarlo 17:16, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Actually, you will find it in 'add/remove Windows components' section of 'add/remove programs. Mxvxnyxvxn (talk) 18:10, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for correcting me. It's been ages since I last used Windows so I am not longer familiar with it as much as I used to be. Chevymontecarlo 19:46, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your help. Bielle (talk) 22:06, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Actually, you cannot remove IE, but you can revert IE back to version 6. IE is built into Windows. Unchecking that box in the Add/Remove Windows Components just removes it from the Start Menu. Reverting to a previous version or removing it from the Start Menu won't save very much space at all.

If you want to save space, then delete all the hidden $NtUninstall folders from the Windows folder. Also disable hibernation and turn off System Restore. Then, delete the old system restore point, and empty the C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder. These actions will save several gigabytes of hard-drive space.

Go to My Computer → Tools → Folder Options → View → Show Hidden Files and Folders to display the hidden folders mentioned above.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 22:19, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried CCleaner? It is an excellent disk cleanup tool and will likely find plenty of junk files you never use which will free up a good bit of space. Just mind what it deletes as although none of it is really irreplaceable, it may be inconvenient to you if you like keeping old browser histories and such. But you can alter what it cleans up within the program with ease via the list of checkboxes. It also details what it has found so that you can be sure of what you're deleting before it is lost.

Might also be a good practice to go through your add/remove programs (which CCleaner also has built into it, in "Tools->Uninstall") and delete any programs you do not use anymore. Just be sure when you uninstall a program that you know what it was used for as you can delete some drivers in this way, thus making certain computer components unusable until you reinstall them. -Amordea (talk) 01:34, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

You can set the Options of Ccleaner and the programs below not to delete browser histories if that's what you like. Regarding removing programs, my rule is that its OK to delete freeware programs that you can easily download again from the internet, but not to delete programs you have to pay for, particularly those required for repair, or system drivers. 92.28.254.179 (talk) 10:26, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

You may be able to remove a lot of garbage from your HD to free up space. Ccleaner as suggested above, also CleanUp!, both freeware. Duplicate Cleaner, also freeware, will find lots of duplicated (but non-system) files. In XP you can click My Computer, then right-click Local Disk and choose Properties. Click Disk Cleanup to compress files. When this presents its results, I recently found that if you select Options you can reduce the number of days that software has to be inactive before it is compressed, which frees a lot more space when you run Disk Cleanup again. Be careful what you delete with Disk Cleanup. 92.28.254.179 (talk) 10:19, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Hard drive recommendations

Hi guys, I'm considering backing up my iTunes library of 3.87 G onto some sort of external hard drive. As I'm using a Mac I'm thinking of using Time Machine to set it up. Is this OK to use and also what sort of hard drive should I get? I'm thinking that my library will definitely grow as I buy and add more music to my library so I was thinking of a hard drive with loads of storage. If so, what particular manufacturer and what have been your experiences with external hard drives. Thanks and I appreciate the advice :) Chevymontecarlo 17:13, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

How much is the hard drive going to be moved? If you want a portable hard drive and are going to be transporting it a lot (e.g. if your Mac is a laptop and you want to take your music with you) I would recommend a Freecom Toughdrive - the actual hard drive is sandwiched between two soft rubber pads in these drives and Freecom claims they can withstand a drop from six feet onto a concrete floor. That's pointless though if all your hard drive is going to do is sit on your desk. 131.111.185.68 (talk) 18:10, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

First off, any hard drive can be formatted for Macs. But if you want to use the built in software, than it has to support Macs in the tech requirements. As 131 said, you need to know how to take care of hard drives, or get one that is protected. Portable drives are physically smaller, run at slower speeds, and are smaller. (They still should be about 50 times more than your current collection.) Larger drives are cheaper per gigabyte and run faster, but they are larger and need external power. Maybe get a flash drive- they are tiny and should give you enough space (get a 16GB?). I don't know if that is enough for you though. By the way, when it comes to reviews on hard drives, every customer with a hard drive that fails will post a review. Most drives don't fail so quickly, and you don't know if the character banged the drive while it was reading/writing. As for reliable companies, I believe EVERYONE has a different opinion. My favorites are Seagate and Toshiba. Mxvxnyxvxn (talk) 18:20, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Okay, thanks. The drive will probably stay on my desk 99% of the time. Chevymontecarlo 19:45, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Time Machine works fine for this task. I don't think you'll need anything more as far as software goes. My own collection is about 26 G. Dismas|^(talk) 19:59, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

I would look at newegg.com or frys.com and just choose whatever drive is within your budget. 1.5TB drives can be had for around $99. Despite what Mxvxnyxvxn said, I would read the newegg reviews and steer clear of the lower reviewed ones. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:38, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

If you're only backing up music, I would go with a flash drive as well. It's more portable and hardy. If you go with hard drives, I personally rank Western Digitals first, followed by Seagate. Used to be reverse, but I've had less WDs fail on me in the span of 15 years (1) than Seagates (2 at home and 2 at work). --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 00:39, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Just to throw in my two bits here, but in my experience Western Digital has tended to be the best. However, my longest-lasting hard drive has been a 40GB Seagate which I got 8 years ago and it stayed on nearly that whole time and it is still going strong. I've also heard of a couple of (rare) stinkers from Western Digital too (which I wish I could reference but I have no idea now where I saw them and have personally never experienced a bad WD model), so I'd have to say it really depends on the specific model. So in the end, I'd support what Comet Tuttle above said and parrot him in that you should read the reviews before making a purchase and take these brand recommendations mostly as a general guideline as to what brands to narrow your search down by. -Amordea (talk) 01:50, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps I should explain what I meant. I've seen excellent drives from Seagate and Western Digital with bad reviews. I will also note that I sell these things (average 5 a month). Yes, stay away from the bad companies. But the good companies also have some bad reviews. Take a look on newegg and see. How many did they sell that had no problem? Every person who purchased a dud will review it. I only didn't want the OP to be scared away by those reviews. But nobody said anything wrong here, as far as I can see! And the junk will have REALLY bad reviews. Mxvxnyxvxn (talk) 03:23, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, yeah, there will always be bad reviews. On iTunes there are some terrible reviews of music I love, and there's some positive reviews. Thanks for your help. Chevymontecarlo 04:45, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

A quick statistic from the computer shop I work at: in an average 12 months, we have maybe 1 dead Seagate come in, 4-5 dead Samsungs, and about 10 dead Western Digitals. This seems fairly consistent year-on-year. Xjmmlpsufmboe (talk) 13:04, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

If you only need to back up 3.87 G of data, you could put that on a DVD-RW 82.44.55.254 (talk) 16:10, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Best practice for async mysql queries

Hello! I'm working with a website that needs to make several asynchronous queries to a mysql database on the server. I'm doing this with PHP and AJAX. What's the best practice for this? Should I call mysql_connect() once when the user accesses the page, and store the returned connection as a global variable to use while the users stays on the page? Or should I call mysql_connect() every point in time when the user requests queries from the database? If the former is the best option, should I close the connection when the user leaves the page? How would I do that? As you can probably tell, I'm new to a lot of this. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 18:41, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

One more question: Is there a way to use UTF-8 encoding in column names in mysql? I see there is multiple charset support for entries into tables, but I haven't found any references for how to use characters outside the default latin1 encoding for column names. Thank you!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 22:54, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Best practice here is to limit the number of mysql_connect queries as much as possible. This is for two reasons: (1) performance, you can and will see load times skyrocket on high traffic sites. While your site/page may not be very high traffic, it never hurts to be scalable and plan for spikes. (2) Ease of configuration. Multiple MySQL connects can make configuration messy if you are directly entering DB host and username/password details, that is, unless you are using "global" configuration variables. I use the term global loosely though, as you can define variables correctly in the right included files so that they act global but are not global, when it comes to configuration. Long story short: open the DB connection once when the user enters the page, reference it multiple times, then close the connection (similar to what you alluded to). You store it in a session variable, in addition to a global variable.--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:20, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks! Can a mysql connection timeout, or once I open it, it will stay connected for as long as the user's on the page? Also, how do I know when the user is leaving the page so I can close it? Is there some kind of HTML event that fires?--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 17:05, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

The default connection close time for a standard mysql_connect is 8 hours. This is governed by global php configuration, and may differ based on your webhost/server config. If you have no sure-fire way of discerning a person is leaving the page, it is okay to not force a mysql_close and it will close in time. I do not not know of any close-page event (but there may be) --- and with connection pooling this should have limited impact.

Also, on a sidenote, I may have to rescind my suggestion of putting a mysql connection into a session variable as now that I think about it this may not function as expected. But the answer to your question still stands: best practice is to limit the mysql connections physically and logically. --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 00:25, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

May 31

Partitioning NTFS Drive

Hi, I've been running XP on a 350GB hard drive for several years, but I'm trying to partition it and install Ubuntu. I can't seem to reduce the XP partition, however, and after some googling, it appears many people have trouble with it. After several defrags and running chkdsk /f, I've gotten a fairly large (~60 GB) contiguous segment of free disk space, but it isn't at the end of the drive -- there are some files after it. Here's what it looks like: http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/rbedi100/Defrag_screenshot.jpg So, does the disk space I want to cut off of the XP Partition necessarily have to be at the physical end of the drive, or can it be more in the middle? Thanks! Rishi.bedi (talk) 00:22, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

It needs to be somewhere where it doesn't separate the NTFS logical section into 2 sections. What I did when I installed Ubuntu was let Ubuntu handle the partitioning (might have done it through the Live CD feature so nothing on the HDD was mounted). Gparted was able to shrink the NTFS (running Vista) and clear a space for Ubuntu. Later on, it let me shrink the Ubuntu volume and add it back to the Vista partition. Be warned though, it's not 100% safe, and there's a chance of losing data. Better get to backing up. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 00:33, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Have you considered running Ubuntu on a virtual machine within Windows? This will negate any risk to your data, although depending on your hardware may or may not be an ideal solution. -Amordea (talk) 02:05, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Or wubi? F (talk) 06:39, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I would recommend the phenomenal disk management utility Gparted, which is a live CD that can do these partition operations for you. I have found it able to resize/move partitions that other utilities could not, and here's a link to find the [6]. As always, I cannot stress enough, when attempting a partition resize/move, BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP! --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:32, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, everyone -- I'm running a VM right now, but I need to install it on the HD now. I think I'm going to go ahead and use Gparted - Wirbelwind, if you used Gparted, what did you use the Ubuntu live CD for, re. partitioning? Rishi.bedi (talk) 23:29, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I think I used the CD to run GParted, like Rocketrye12 also mentioned. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 01:47, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

AUTOCAD 2009

How can I plot the cordinates which are created in excel work sheet. (One methord is copy the cordinates to notepad and again copy it to autocad2009 polyline command prompt). Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.43.25.100 (talk) 07:22, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

This guide may be of use. Keep us posted.--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:33, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Firefox bookmarks toolbar

Normally I do not display the Firefox bookmarks toolbar, but when I turned it on, instead of the blank toolbar I was expecting, it was populated with a large number of links. Although the links look like things I may have saved in the past, I cannot find them in my bookmarks list.

Where are the links in the Firefox bookmarks toolbar kept, as I would like to edit them? Thanks. 92.28.254.179 (talk) 11:51, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Assuming Firefox 3.6.3 (the latest version), go to the menu bar, click the "Bookmarks" drop-down menu, and click "Organise bookmarks". This should give you the funtionality you are looking for. Xjmmlpsufmboe (talk) 13:08, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Its not the functionality I'm asking about, but where the links in the bookmarks toolbar are kept? I tried doing as you suggested, did not help or reveal where the bookmark toolbar links are. I've deleted several links on the toolbar, but more links are added so that the toolbar is always full. I'd like to have just one or two links on the toolbar. 92.28.254.179 (talk) 13:38, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I had a look at Bookmarks, then clicked on Bookmarks Toolbar. I deleted every link in that menu one by one. I do not know how they got there, but they are now gone. The Firefox bookmark menu system has a lot of unnecessary duplication and repetation in it and is not as easy or quick to use as the IE bookmarks. 92.28.254.179 (talk) 13:55, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

As a long-time Firefox user, I have never had this problem. I suspect it may have something to do with bookmark importing though. -Amordea (talk) 14:05, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

If your OS is 2k or XP, go C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles →bookmarks.html. Oda Mari (talk) 14:21, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

In the organize bookmarks window, as Xjmmlpsufmboe mentions, there is a folder called "Bookmarks Toolbar". Firefox keeps these independent of the "Bookmarks menu" (which would explain these behavior), and if you double click that folder to view it, you may find what you are looking for. You'll need to expand the "All bookmarks" tab if "Bookmarks Toolbar" is not visible.--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:22, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I may have misunderstood something in this discussion but if not Firefox from version 3 onwards I believe doesn't store bookmarks in the HTML file but in a sqlite3 database (along with the history for the wonder bar) AFAIK. There are daily backups in JSON format in the bookmarkbackups directory as well. See also [7] Nil Einne (talk) 04:43, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Using Graphics in Java

I'm trying to make a grid (6rows by 7 columns) of squares. Later on, I want to be able to draw a circle any time a square is pressed. So when I was making my grid, I just stuck a test to see if it would work, and I got a NullPointerException (I tried to get the graphics component for one of my squares and draw a string). My code is at: http://pastebin.com/143x2LZm/ With the commented line (line 45) being the one that throws the exception. I looked up and some board said to use the paintComponent method but I'm not sure how that would work. I guess since getGraphics returns null if the component isn't currently displayable, I guess I should ask how to make the component displayable.

--66.133.196.152 (talk) 12:03, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

getGraphics() is being called in createGrid(), which is called in the constructor Grid.Grid(int,int). This in turn is main() at line 61. At this point the constructed Grid object hasn't been added to content pane, and the containing frame hasn't been set to visible. AWT components don't have native peers until they're "realized", that is they're added to a widget hierarchy (that is, a widget hierarchy with a visible Frame or Window or Dialog at its root). The same is fundamentally true for Swing components too, which rely (behind the scenes) on the underlying Frame's peer to render them (strictly, to provide a place for Java2D to render into). You're calling getGraphics() on an unrealised component; there's no peer, so getGraphics() fails with null. This fundamentally isn't how painting is done - AWT/Swing is event driven, and you have to be ready to paint your controls when you get an event asking you to do so. So the correct thing is to provide an implementation of paintComponent on the objects to plan on drawing (overriding JComponent.paintComponent). When the system calls that, it gives you a valid graphics context, and you paint there. Details here. But really your code is a jumble of objects, making it hard for you to progress. Firstly, you're adding Boxes inside a Box - but Boxes are containers, so those internal things shouldn't be boxes - they should be a concrete subclass of JComponent that you define, that implements paintComponent() as described above. Secondly it's not clear why you have a Grid class with a Box; it seems much more sensible to have Grid a subclass of Box (rather than have a Box instance being a member of a Grid object). Both the calling code and the code inside Grid will be more straightforward and make more sense that way. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:01, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the good explanation! Helped alot. I was thinking of extending classes (I have a class that extends Box adding into another class that extends Box - it's the only way I could get them to fit flush with each other), but I was being lazy and just modifying an old grid I had. I got my game to work fine. BTW, why is it that when I had stuff to a JPanel, it won't add flush, even if I change the layout. --66.133.196.152 (talk) 03:41, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Environment Variables in Windows Shortcuts

Preliminary: I have a flash drive with several of my technician tools on it. To keep it clean, I want to keep all the data files in separate directories from the executable portions. For accessibility, however, I'd like shortcuts to link to everything kept together in a single directory.

Problem: The problem arises when I change computers. Sometimes the computer will assign a different drive letter to the drive, thus making all my shortcuts defunct.

%CD% Variable: This seems like the most logical solution to me, however when I try to enter (for example):

"%CD%\folder\filename.exe"

as the shortcut's target, I get an error:

"The name '%CD%\folder\filename.exe' specified in the Target box is not valid. Make sure the path and file name are correct."

Now I've made sure that I've made no spelling errors, so all I can assume from here is that either this method does not work or my syntax is incorrect when using this variable in a shortcut.

Batch File: This solution works. However it is ugly. I'd like the program's native icons to go with my shortcuts for a simpler, more visual cue as to what program I'm fixing to run. If there is a way for me to get the batch files to use the linked program's icon, however, I could work with this.

Finally, I would like to avoid the use of non-portable third-party programs to get this done as well. Having to install something on a user's computer is inelegant and even less desireable than having a bunch of batch files to do the work.

Any ideas as to how I can get the desired result, given the aforementioned guidelines? -Amordea (talk) 13:22, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

This guide may have what you are looking for. Also, this forum thread discusses some possible solutions including (1) a relative shortcut without variables and (2) a .bat file to launch files deep within the drive. Let us know if you need any further assistance. --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 14:32, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

The first link was one I had already read and does not address any specific issue regarding %CD%. In fact, to be sure I was doing it right, I dropped a copy of a sample exe into %APPDATA% and created a shortcut for it. Worked. The problem is unique to %CD%.

The second was very similar to one I read before. A novel suggestion was the usage of wildcards in the shortcut, however this appears to generate the same error as the %CD% variable. And I already knew batch files would work, as stated previously, but they do not provide the visual cue that I am interested in. -Amordea (talk) 15:05, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

The problem is that the "%CD%" variable is not the directory that the shortcut is in. Actually, %CD% is the current working directory. That value may be undefined if you are accessing the shortcut via the Windows Explorer interface (i.e., by clicking on the shortcut icon). You can work around this by having a shortcut to a batch file - because a batch script will have a well-known, deterministic current working directory. Let the batch file then access the non-portable programs using a relative path based on the %CD% variable. Nimur (talk) 16:02, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Curious. It does beg the question though, in which directory is the shortcut?

I am not sure I follow your workaround however, so it might prove better to spell it out for me so that I understand what you mean. What would I type into the shortcut box for it to execute its intended link regardless of what drive letter it is mapped to? Seems to me that it's irrelevant whether it is pointing to an exe or a batch file, but I might have missed what you were trying to tell me. -Amordea (talk) 16:41, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Oooh, I think it just dawned on me how the shortcuts function. Not at all intuitive, but I take it to mean the shortcut exists as an extension of the main file, sort of as a path? And so by running it in whatever directory I put it, it does not determine which directory the link is in, only where the file it is calling is in, so naturally %CD% is not going to help it find the file? Tell me if I'm warm. -Amordea (talk) 16:51, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

The boot partition in XP seems to have been changed...

Ok, so I have a triple-boot setup where Windows 7 is the main OS, and XP and Ubuntu as the other OS'es. On my tower PC, I had used Norton Ghost to make a complete copy of the partition that XP is installed on (labeled as H in Windows XP and D in Windows 7), and had it copy to a partition on a second hard drive, labelled L in XP... Then when I rebooted, I began having problem after problem after problem with various things being unable to load. After a while, I realized that XP had set the boot drive letter to the backup that I had made, drive L... So In Windows 7, I deleted that partition (which probably wasn't a very wise decision...), and attempted booting into XP. It boots up initially just fine, but doesn't even get past the initial loading of the welcome screen, just showing the XP logo. I can see the original partition in Windows 7 and as far as I can tell everything is fine, it just seems like XP is trying to load files from the now nonexistant drive L. So how do I set drive H back as the XP boot partition? (And in case you're wondering, with most Windows OS'es modeled after Windows NT, which would be Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and 7, the "boot partition" is where the OS is installed, but the "system partition" contains the boot record.) The Thing That Should Not Be (talk) 14:39, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure if I understand. Do you mean the XP logo as in the bootup screen like this [8] or that Windows actually starts and then gets stuck? If Window starts and then gets stuck, perhaps try safe mode? If you mean the former, I'm not entirely sure if this will be of help since IIRC you should get an error message but perhaps take a look in the boot.ini in the Windows XP drive and you should see something like multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1). You may have to change the rdisk option and perhaps the partition option (if you're unsure, you can try making multiple different options with different labels and then keeping trying different ones until one works). Alternatively, you can boot up with the Windows XP CD, load the recovery console and run the bootcfg /default [9] option (perhaps fixmbr and fixboot too although I'm not sure if these will be necessary and you also risk screwing up with whatever bootloader you have depending on how your system is setup and whether you can disconnect drives). If this doesn't work, have you tried F8 and booting without bootscreen so you can actually see what the problem is? Also what is the first boot loader you are using? BTW, with Windows whenever installing a new OS I nearly always remove any unneeded disks to avoid the installer getting confused. Nil Einne (talk) 04:32, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

No, it's the welcome screen after the boot screen, but all that showed up was the XP logo. Also, after fiddling with XP's registry in Windows 7, I managed to get it to load the desktop, but there are several problems with programs still trying to start from drive L:... so I'm probably gonna reformat that partition and reinstall XP, or maybe I'll just stick with Windows 7. You know, it's ironic... the XP installation got screwed up by the very thing which was intended to help easily recover from a situation precisely like this one... The Thing That Should Not Be (talk) 04:54, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Port forwarding in Ubuntu II

Follow up to [[10]].

I am still trying to reach the site: http://www.heliohost.org:2082/login/ behind a firewall (which cannot be changed).

I Installed SSH tunnel manager, but I don't know how to configure it, no matter how simple the interface looks like. A picture of the interface is here: [[11]] and here [[12]]. In the second picture, you can choose between local, remote or dynamic. The first picture sets the default port at 22, why does it do so? Why does it ask for two ports in the first picture?--Mr.K. (talk) 17:23, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Supercomputers for financial services, not banking

Why are supercomputers needed for "financial services (H)" as described here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10187248.stm This is different from banking, where I presume millions of simple transactions are being processed. What fiendishly intensive calculations are being done for financial services - some complex models that predict share prices for example? 92.15.1.82 (talk) 17:36, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

When googling for supercomputer finance, the first hit suggests some applications. 88.112.56.9 (talk) 20:50, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

yes, largly option pricing. These days there are all sorts of weird and wonderful financial instruments available for trading on the markets, and being able to find the fair price for these quicker (and more accurate) than your competitors gives a real edge. Option pricing works in principle by "Monte Carlo Simulation", i.e. churning out millions of possible future market scenarios and averaging the value of your option over all of them.213.160.108.26 (talk) 21:20, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Take a look through topics on mathematical finance for an idea. Then imagine the thousands of firms holding (or not holding) thousands of financial products, from annuities to credit default swaps, which all have mathematical models for valuation. The firms, from insurance companies to hedge funds, want to know in real time what change in value would arise in their portfolio if certain events occurred (stock market drops five percent, interest rates increase 0.50%). See financial risk management. Computers are by definition involved in algorithmic trading/high-frequency trading, where decisions are made and communications transacted on exchanges in microseconds (though anyone with a brain would agree that many of these are not "financial services"--ed). This is a simplified and partial answer of course! Riggr Mortis (talk) 23:02, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Quick compact operating system

Which freely available operation system (eg versions of Linux) would be quickest and compact, able to run normal software, but not bothering with fancy graphics or other unwanted bloats? Thanks 92.15.1.82 (talk) 17:41, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

slax is quite good. It can run from a live cd or usb, is 200mb total size, comes with a number of common programs (firefox, vlc, etc) and has the option to add more programs as "modules". I'm sure there are smaller OSs than that, but it's a good starting point. 82.44.55.254 (talk) 19:31, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Is there a comparison of speeds and sizes anywhere please? 92.24.179.218 (talk) 21:05, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

If you don't want fancy graphics, disable them. Check blackviper.com for services you can disable (Start --> Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Serivces). You can also remove programs you don't need from your computer (Start --> Control Panel --> Programs and Features). If you disable the Themes Service, the graphics will be gone. Switching to another operating system altogether is not the easier solution. It would be easier to just optimize Windows rather than learn a new operating system. If you disable enough junk on your computer, you can make it faster than a Slax installation.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 00:51, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

You might try Damn Small Linux or Ubuntu lite, both of which I use on a regular basis. Though I find that standard Ubuntu fits these requirements as well.--rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 02:08, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Slax 200MB, speed ?

Damn Small Linux, 50MB, speed ?

U-lite, ? MB, speed?

92.24.178.172 (talk) 09:54, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Google Desktop - Deleting

I am paranoid about PC privacy - not for any ulterior reason - simply that I place my privacy on a very high plateau. So I am always very careful to delete any computer usage history and cookies etc., after each session. But not being particulary IT savvy, I have just seen a short video that shocked me by illustrating that every thing I do is also stored on Google Desktop. So when I had a look and began browsing, I realised what a fool I had been in thinking I had deleted my actions from Internet Explorer whilst unwittingly leaving a perfect audit-trail behind me on Google. So I now intend clearing that trail too after each session, but it seems I can only click one page at a time to select for deletion. Is there any way I can choose to delete my entire history in one go? I really will be grateful for any advice. Thanks 92.30.45.200 (talk) 18:10, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't know the answer to the question you actually asked (sorry), but deleting Google Desktop's history won't be enough to remove all traces of your browsing history from your computer. Even uninstalling Google Desktop and your browser entirely and deleting all of your data files would generally leave traces that could be found by forensic analysis, if it came to that. On the other hand, as long as you control your computer, your browsing history is private no matter how many copies of it exist on your hard disk. So I think it comes down to what kind of threat to your privacy you're envisioning. If you're worried about theft, for example, then full-disk encryption is the way to go. -- BenRG (talk) 02:20, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

At the very least, clear all temporary directories, delete the pagefile and wipe all freespace but that still won't guarantee there's no trace left. In terms of the original question, a quick search for 'Google Desktop history' finds [13] [14] Nil Einne (talk) 05:08, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

The freeware CleanUp!, particularly when used in its most severe mode, should remove various histories and logs from your computer. I do not know about any information Google keeps on its servers. 92.24.178.172 (talk) 09:57, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

read more

I'm interested to know how the 'read more' plugin is put into a blog. The one which Controls how much of the post that shows on your page I'd also like if anybody know a link i can get more info about the plug-in. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.65.17 (talk) 18:43, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

We might be able to help you answer this question if you told us which blog software you're trying to configure. There are certainly a few that you might be using. « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 19:39, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

wordpress. I just want to know a lil bit of the plug-in. I'm reading something on Evermore plug-in. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.65.17 (talk) 19:42, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I help out on a Wordpress-based website for our non-profit organisation. If you're asking about the more tag itself: The way to insert more tags into an article post at a particular point is simply to add <!--more--> at the chosen point in the text. The template or Wordpress software itself takes care of the rest by generating a "read more" link in your article blurb on the front page (or wherever you are viewing the article extracts) at the exact point you placed the tag. If you're asking about the plugin/template code that automatically does this: unfortunately I can't help you. It works by default in Wordpress's "Channel" theme, I'd be very surprised if all Wordpress themes did not support this by default. Zunaid 20:32, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Are you asking how it works programatically? Or why it exists? This is usually core functionality and not a plug-in to most mature blogging engines. --rocketrye12 ^{talk/contribs} 00:28, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Password

Hi. I created a facebook account, and I thought it was interesting. I didn't go for any of the in-case-you-forget-your-password things because I was sure I wouldn't forget my password. And...I forgot my password :( I had to delete the email address I registered with because it had been...*ahem*...compromised by one of my friends. I also did not set my browser to save it. I don't want to create a new account though. I have heard my computer stores passwords and such that I enter into its RAM or something. Is there any way I can retrieve it? 76.229.166.153 (talk) 18:53, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Unless you told your browser to remember it, it's not on your computer. It's not in your RAM, because your RAM is cleared whenever you shutdown your computer. Your only option is dealing with Facebook directly. I'm sure you're not the only one this has happened to, so they might have a protocol for regaining access to your account in a situation like this.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 19:33, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Or, try lots of different passwords, eventually you should get it right. Or just create another account identical to the last, and remember to write your password down somewhere this time. 148.197.114.158 (talk) 08:23, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

ITV rugby

can people outside of the UK see the highlights at http://www.itv.com/rugby/ ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.128.188.99 (talk) 19:56, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

"Sorry, the video could not be found", it says [Sweden]. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:20, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

I get "This video is only available to be viewed within the United Kingdom." I assume this is because ITV only has bought the rights for the UK, and therefore must geoblock the videos to the UK to protect rightsholders in other countries. Xenon54 (talk) 20:24, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

thx -- is there any way round it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.128.188.99 (talk) 21:00, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

You could use a proxy located in the UK. A proxy server is an intermediary between you and the website's server. The server sends the website to the proxy, and the proxy forwards it to you, so if the proxy's in the UK, the website will think you're in the UK. Setting up your browser with a proxy can be tricky, and insecure if the proxy is malicious. Plus, proxies go down or disappear frequently, so you can constantly be looking for a new proxy. You really have to want to access the content if you want to deal with all this.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 21:50, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Surely there's other TV networks that have got coverage of this? It would be safer than using a proxy. Chevymontecarlo 05:44, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Netbook running XP

I've got a netbook running XP. At present I've got it connected up to an external monitor. The netbook is setup at 800*600 pixels. I want to have the monitor display the same image - 800*600. I can go to display screen settings and set the monitor to 800*600. All works fine. I shut down and later boot up and it boots up at 800*600 on the monitor. But then just as it finishes booting, it changes the monitor resolution to something much finer (maybe 1024*768, I don't recall the exact figure, so i have to go back in and reset it to 800*600. Is there a way to make the 800*600 stay selected and stopit changing resolution at the end of the boot? -- SGBailey (talk) 21:56, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

June 1

Computer graphics

What is flicker? How this can be reduced? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ajit.abhishek (talk • contribs) 04:00, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Computer monitors work by flickering. They flicker so fast that your brain doesn't notice so you see a solid image. It's also why you get tired after using a computer after a while. Why not read Flicker (screen) for more information. Chevymontecarlo 05:42, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Problems with Ubuntu Live CD

My Windows 7 desktop computer just crashed with no warning whatsoever, giving me a "disk boot failure - insert system disk and press enter" message. So, after several attempts of accessing my system drive with no success, I decided to try booting from a Ubuntu Live CD (v. 10.04 "Lucid Lynx", if that matters). I successfully burned the .iso to a disc and tested it under Parallels on my MacBook, but I can't boot into Linux with it on my desktop. It spends a long time telling me my SATA drive is misclassified, then it hangs for several minutes at a line that has syscall_call+0x7/0xb on it before going to a black screen, whereupon it is either hanging up completely or taking over 45 minutes to do whatever it is it's doing.

I've tried messing with the boot parameters according to this page, with the same result.

Here are my system specs:

• Windows 7 Professional
• Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H motherboard
• AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 6000+ 3.1GHz
• Kingston ValueRam 2x2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz (5-5-5-15)
• Sapphire Radeon™ HD 3650 725MHz, 512MB DDR2 1000MHz, PCIe x16, DVI /2
• SEAGATE, 500GB Barracuda 7200.11, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 32MB cache

Any help would be appreciated. 74.190.49.225 (talk) 05:50, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Tried scanning your hard drive with Seatools? (Get the Dos version.) F (talk) 06:44, 1 June 2010 (UTC)