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March 22

HP Pavilion Laptop DV1000 (An old but brill laptop that HP made but did not seem to produce for long!!!)

Hi All,

Is there anyone who might have some idea what driver might work to get the internal microphone running again on this laptop.

It orignally came pre-loaded with Windows XP and said it was "upgradable" to Win Vista, which was upgraded and ran the internal microphone fine.

Subsequently I have upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premuim (genuine version) and since then the internal mic won't work, very annoying.

Silly thing is everything else works fantastic with Win 7, even though the laptop is quite slow processor wise, it runs just fine........

Note: the built in speakers have always worked with every version of Windows from the outset, but not this internal mic (from Windows 7).....I cannot understand why this Win version won't somehow run that internal mic? What is even stranger is that an external mic, plugged in to the input socket works fine, (which only cost $20), but it is annoyinfg me why some how I cannot get the right driver to make that internal mic work!!

Needless to say HP don't produce a Win 7 driver for this machine........typical HP!!

Any help would be very welcome!!!

Thanks whoever!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.212.193.250 (talk) 03:10, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Try this. [1] ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 17:32, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Windows XP

WHAT IS THE FULL FORM OF WINDOWS XP? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.215.123.1 (talk) 08:47, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but if you want to know what the "XP" stands for it is "experience". (Writing in all CAPS is considered poor netiquette by the way, as it makes it harder to read) SmartSE (talk) 11:34, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't think caps are harder to read, but they are "like shouting". StuRat (talk) 15:17, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Our article, All caps, notes that indeed ALL CAPS IS HARDER TO READ. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:34, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Windows XP Professional includes a number of features that other versions of Windows XP (like Windows XP Home, and Windows XP Starter) do not have. The "Windows XP Media Center Edition" is the same as Windows XP Professional with Windows Media Center included. I hope this answers your question — if it does not, could you ask with a little more detail about the exact information you are seeking? Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:34, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Why do we have to have a discussion about netiquette and the causes and effects of ALL CAPS TYPING... can't we just assume its a n00b who doesn't know any better and let it slip? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roberto75780 (talk • contribs) 05:50, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

That the poster doesn't know any better about all caps is precisely why it is a good idea to point it out to them. 82.32.186.24 (talk) 10:50, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Excel questions

1) How to change a number written in words (e.g. seven hundred and seventy seven) to a numerical (e.g. 777) and vice versa in Microsoft excel 2007.

2) How to change a numerical date (e.g. 16-02-2011) to a date written in words (e.g. fifth of Feb two thousand eleven) and vice versa in Microsoft excel 2007.

3) how to create a PDF document offline. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gopalmishra77 (talk • contribs) 09:04, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

To Q2, highlight the cells, right click and then choose "format cells" and you can change the format of dates. It doesn't seem to work for written numbers as far as I can tell. To Q3 - you should be able to use file > save as and choose .pdf as the format. That certainly works for me in recent versions of MS office. If you can't do that, search for the file format you wish to convert and pdf converter, so for example use ".doc .pdf converter". SmartSE (talk) 11:40, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Answer to Q3 - download PrimoPDF and use the Excel plugin. Rocketshiporion♫ 07:37, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

How can I find out what programs are accessing the internet?

Is there anyway to see what programs are receiving data from the internet? I'd like to know as I'm often restricted to accessing the internet through mobile networks and something eats up megabytes of data in minutes. I've already disabled updates for windows, antivirus, open office, itunes etc. and am a bit stuck as to what else could be using it. Anyone got any ideas what it could be? Thanks in advance SmartSE (talk) 11:32, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Is this what you are looking for? General Rommel (talk) 11:38, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I should also add that you need to scroll down quite a bit till you dee the download link General Rommel (talk) 11:39, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Yes, that's awesome, especially as it is only 63kb! Sorry for being lazy and not reading the readme file, but is there any way to see the volume of traffic passing through each port? SmartSE (talk) 11:45, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Or try Microsoft's own TCPview. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 11:52, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I tried that one, and it says "netbios-ns" is both sending and receiving data over the Internet. What's it doing ? StuRat (talk) 15:15, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

netbios-ns is the Netbios name service (it's a bit like DNS), probably on port 137. You probably want to firewall that off, at least for the internet proper. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 17:06, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

You can also use the netstat command that comes with Windows.[2] ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 17:29, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

As Gadget says, netstat is the easiest way to go. At the command prompt (Run > "cmd"), try netstat -b (if you're in vist/7 it'll require you to run this as an administrator). Alternatively you can use netstat -o which will tell you the PID (and you can use task manager to match the PID to the process name). Shadowjams (talk) 20:00, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Exiting Firefox

Usually when I exit Firefox on my system here at work (Ubuntu 10.04/Firefox 3.6.15), it exits quite OK. If I have more than one tab I am asked if I want to exit all tabs. However, Firefox sometimes asks if I want to save my tabs for next time. I can tick the box to not be asked about saving, but I'm curious about the strategy it uses to decide whether to ask if I want to save, or to ask if I want to exit all tabs. Astronaut (talk) 12:03, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Do the tick boxes at Tools > Options > Tabs answer your question?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:42, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

No they don't. All I have (on Edit->Preferences->Tabs by the way) that is relevant is the option to "Warn me when closing multiple tabs". Nothing about when to ask about saving tabs. Astronaut (talk) 12:48, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

There does seem to be "something wonky" about how it exits. In my case, on Windows XP, it always asks if I want to save the tabs, but never does, no matter what I pick. On the same computer, Opera does save the tabs. Also, on an earlier Windows 98 machine, Firefox didn't seem to even ask if it should save them. It never did, if I closed Firefox normally. On the other hand, if the computer went down, then it apparently did try to save the tabs, and asked if I wanted to restore them, the next time I started. StuRat (talk) 14:55, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Different in Firefox 4, isn't it? ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:19, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I've no idea. I'm certainly not going to install any 'beta' or 'release candidate' version to find out and would like a longer track record than yesterday's official release. Astronaut (talk) 11:11, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

GNU Octave - parfor Equivalent

  Does Octave have an eqivalent to MATLAB's parfor function? Typing help parfor at the command prompt results in an error. Thanks. Rocketshiporion♫ 13:54, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Octave unfortunately has limited support for multi-core or multi-machine parallelism. Octave-Forge has a multicore package but I have not had luck with it. If you need parallel computing support, MATLAB has that capability. This single feature may be the best incentive, currently, to purchase a commercial MATLAB license, as the open-source community seems to be lagging behind MATLAB's technology in this area. Nimur (talk) 16:42, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks anyway, Nimur. But I think I'll wait for the FOSS community to catch up with MATLAB. Just the base MATLAB R2010b package is priced at almost S$6K, and each individual toolbox is priced at over S$2K! And even then the Parallel Computing Toolbox allows only up to eight workers - still can't use all the twelve cores on my workstation. Rocketshiporion♫ 08:18, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Conditional CSS

Is there a way to create a CSS rule so alphabets are italic and other characters are roman? It would be nice for doing mathematical expressions, such as:

y = 2x + 1

Is it possible? -- Toytoy (talk) 14:08, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't believe CSS has any way of affecting content without markup. You'll have to process it to look like:

<span class="char">y</span> = 2<span class="char">x</span> + 1

and then do

.char { font-style: italic; }

--Sean 14:37, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

You can put the whole thing in a math style like <span class='math'>y=2x+1<span>. Then, you can use CSS to do overall styling in the math class. For character-specific stuff, you have to use JavaScript. First, get all content by class. Then, parse the strings. It won't be very easy as you'll have to climb around the DOM tree to get actual content. Then, you have to put each character into an italic class. Overall, it is a lot of work, but then it will save you a lot of work typing <i> over and over. -- kainaw™ 14:43, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Well, it's not that much work... --Mr.98 (talk) 14:59, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

(ec) With CSS alone, no. But with Javascript, yes. Imagine that every equation was in paragraph element with the classname of "equation". The Javascript would search through all paragraphs with that classname, determine all a-z characters, and put them in italic tags, automatically. Here's a very quick and dirty example:

Extended content

<html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> //process_equations function needs to be set to run "onload" in the body element function process_equations() { //create a variable 'p', that is an array of all paragraph (<p>) elements in the page var p = document.getElementsByTagName('p'); //iterate over all elements in the array p for(i=0; i<p.length; i++) { //if the class of this particular item in the p array is "equation" if(p[i].className=="equation") { //set up two variables -- one the text we are going to process, one a text buffer we are going to output text_in = p[i].innerHTML; text_out = ""; //iterate over every character in the input text for(x=0; x<text_in.length; x++) { //if the character (made uppercase for comparative purposes) is both >="A" and <="Z", then... if((text_in.charAt(x).toUpperCase() >= "A") && (text_in.charAt(x).toUpperCase() <= "Z")) { //the character is put into italics and put into the output buffer text_out = text_out + "<i>"+text_in.charAt(x)+"<\/i>"; } else { //otherwise, just add the character to the output buffer without changing it text_out = text_out + text_in.charAt(x); } } //finally, replace the paragraph data with the output buffer p[i].innerHTML = text_out; } } } </script> </head> <body onload="process_equations()"> <p>Here is an equation:</p> <p class="equation"> y = 2x + 1 </p> </body> </html>

The code above should be pretty straightforward to make sense of-- it iterates over all paragraphs, checks their classnames, then iterates over each character in the correct paragraphs, determines if it is a letter from A to Z (this is the ugliest part above), and if so, puts italic tags around it. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:58, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

That code assumes that there is no html inside the equation area, which I expect will not always be true. You don't want to turn something like <b> into <<i>b<\i>>. That is why I noted that you'd have to climb the dom tree, not simply parse the inner html. -- kainaw™ 16:36, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

True enough. It assumes very simple considerations — you'd have to modify it to meet your needs. But it would not be hard to make it ignore HTML tags within the inner HTML -- just a small addition of a flag that checks if we are in an HTML tag:

Extended content

<html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> //process_equations function needs to be set to run "onload" in the body element function process_equations() { //create a flag that tells us if we are "in" an HTML tag var inTag = false; //create a variable 'p', that is an array of all paragraph (<p>) elements in the page var p = document.getElementsByTagName('p'); //iterate over all elements in the array p for(i=0; i<p.length; i++) { inTag = false; //reset this, just in case some tags were malformed previously //if the class of this particular item in the p array is "equation" if(p[i].className=="equation") { //set up two variables -- one the text we are going to process, one a text buffer we are going to output text_in = p[i].innerHTML; text_out = ""; //iterate over every character in the input text for(x=0; x<text_in.length; x++) { //first we check if this is the beginning or end of an HTML tag if(text_in.charAt(x) == "<") { //if at the beginning of a tag, mark "inTag" as true inTag = true; text_out = text_out + text_in.charAt(x); } else if(text_in.charAt(x) == ">") { //if at the end, mark as false inTag = false; text_out = text_out + text_in.charAt(x); } else { //if we are not in an HTML tag then check it... if(!inTag) { //if the character (made uppercase for comparative purposes) is both >="A" and <="Z", then... if((text_in.charAt(x).toUpperCase() >= "A") && (text_in.charAt(x).toUpperCase() <= "Z")) { //the character is put into italics and put into the output buffer text_out = text_out + "<i>"+text_in.charAt(x)+"<\/i>"; } else { //otherwise, just add the character to the output buffer without changing it text_out = text_out + text_in.charAt(x); } //if we are in an HTML tag, then just spit it out } else { text_out = text_out + text_in.charAt(x); } } } //finally, replace the paragraph data with the output buffer p[i].innerHTML = text_out; } } } </script> </head> <body onload="process_equations()"> <p>Here is an equation:</p> <p class="equation"> y = 2<b>x</b> + 1 </p> </body> </html>

Every text parsing takes assumptions about the form of the text into account. This is just meant to show that it wouldn't be very hard to set up a basic one, one that could be modified as one saw fit. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:26, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

CSS targets which content it affects with selectors. Selectors target a whole element (or a whole subtree of elements), not specific words or letters (the only exception that I can think of is the oddball :first-letter pseudo-element selector, which doesn't help you). There isn't a (sane, at least) way of selecting for the nth character of an element, or for selecting characters or words based on their content. In general CSS isn't really very expressive, and in many cases is no substitute for a server-side macro language or client-side javascript. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 15:02, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

http://reisio.com/temp/toy/ Unfortunately such an approach is purely stylistic, giving no special meaning, which is what HTML and markup in general is kind of about. ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:34, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

In case it is not clear from the markup, all Reisio has done here is made a font where all letters are italic by default. --Mr.98 (talk) 12:12, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

(which can be applied selectively via CSS ¦ Reisio (talk) 21:55, 23 March 2011 (UTC))

'Amazon Online Reader' does not work in my Firefox 3.6.15

Does anyone know why this might be? Using WinXP SP3. Thanks 92.15.6.157 (talk) 14:20, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

What happens when you try ? StuRat (talk) 14:47, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I get a message on the page in yellow saying "Your web browser does not support this feature. Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions for a list of compatible web browsers that support the Amazon Online Reader." 92.15.23.133 (talk) 18:34, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

And is Firefox 3.6.15 in that list ? StuRat (talk) 18:53, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

After following the link given, I cannot see any list of web browsers, and the word Firefox is not on the page. 92.15.10.228 (talk) 21:19, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Well, do they have a support staff (phone or IM or e-mail) ? You could ask them. If not, all I can suggest is trying different browsers until you find one that works. StuRat (talk) 16:05, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

It did use to work OK with Firefox, but then it stopped working. It may be the one or two Firefox upgrades I've done since then, or perhaps its a firefox app that I've downloaded. 92.24.188.210 (talk) 20:20, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

MSI CR410 laptop

Economic Times has reported that MSI CR410 laptop with all std features Wi-fi,bluetooth,webcam etc is less than INR 18,000//. Has anyone used it and is it worth what it says? Available only on online order form. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.77.228 (talk) 14:21, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

To others reading this question, "INR 18,000//" is 18,000 Indian rupees. At current exchange rates of about 45 per USD, that's $400. I have no idea what the "//" part means, though. Perhaps that's a way of saying there are no "cents" ? StuRat (talk) 14:52, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Video Joining Software

Hi, I am looking for a video joining software, in order to join two separate video files. But I need a special feature. The videos that I wish to join are from a continuous event. I guess it was split into 2 files in order to reduce the file size. But the ending part of first video (maybe 4-5 seconds) is also repeated in the starting of the second file.

So, the requirement is for a software which while joining the files, also lets the user adjust how much time to overlap/clip.

Can anyone help me with providing some lead to such a software. A free/open source software would be preferable.

Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kanwar rajan (talk • contribs) 15:54, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Avidemux can do this 82.43.90.38 (talk) 16:04, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

(ec) The Windows Movie Maker software that came pre-installed on my Vista laptop can do this. It is a simple matter to eliminate the time overlap. Astronaut (talk) 16:05, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks a lot!! I will give it a try. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kanwar rajan (talk • contribs) 16:20, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Also VirtualDub. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 17:21, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Problem with search engines

This problem cropped up just today. When I try to use Google, Bing or Yahoo for search, all I get is a blank page. I tried a restart and that didn't work. I've also tried using various browsers, Opera, Firefox, IE and Chrome, and none worked. Google mail and Yahoo mail work fine, however. Any thoughts? Thanks. 71.125.150.30 (talk) 16:36, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

The standard first advice here is to download an anti-malware program, like Malwarebytes's offering, and scan your system to see whether you've got a computer virus or other malware that mucks with your outbound DNS queries, or the like, to redirect you to websites that the malware wants you to see. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:38, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

A reboot is also worth a try here. StuRat (talk) 16:39, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I tried a reboot and that didn't work. I downloaded Malwarebytes and I'm running that now on the problematic laptop. Thanks. 71.125.150.30 (talk) 16:53, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Malwarebytes worked. Thanks for the help. I have been running Norton, provided by my service provider and updated regularly, but it failed to pick up a total of 32 infections. Interesting. Again, thanks.71.125.150.30 (talk) 17:07, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. May I recommend creating an account without administrator rights and using that account habitually? It makes it more difficult for malware to infect your operating system. The only downside is that it's occasionally annoying when you have to install something, or when using old software from the early days of Windows Vista or before that works poorly with non-admin accounts. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:44, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Windows 7

I have an old computer with no screen, keyboard or mouse running Windows XP which I can use via remote desktop connection from my Windows 7 computer. I want to install Windows 7 on the old computer. Is there a way I can go through the install process via remote desktop connection, so that I don't have to switch the screen and keyboard over and render the other computer unusable during the install? Also, the old computer only has 1GB of RAM so is installing Windows 7 on it going to be beneficial over XP, or will it function slower than XP currently does? 82.43.90.38 (talk) 17:05, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Here are the minimum system requirements for Windows 7: [3]. 1GB of RAM is the minimum, so I'd be a bit wary. It probably will be slower. StuRat (talk) 17:13, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

"via remote desktop connection": No. You cannot perform an in-place upgrade from XP to 7.[4] Step 1 of that page links to the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which will identify potential upgrade issues. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 17:20, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't understand what you mean by "in-place". 82.43.90.38 (talk) 18:39, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

You cannot load 7 over XP and maintain settings and documents. You have to format your drive and do a clean install (nuke and pave). ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 18:46, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't care about preserving settings and documents. You can assume there's no OS on the computer if that makes it easier. I just want to be able to go through the Windows 7 install procedure without attaching a keyboard and screen to the computer. I thought there might be the possibility of doing that over the Remote Desktop Protocol 82.43.90.38 (talk) 19:44, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

You can't install an OS over a remote desktop connection. You can create a DVD that will install the OS without any user input, but I suspect in your case this would be more difficult than doing it by hand. (It's useful for IT professionals who have to upgrade a bunch of machines at once.) Unless you have a specific reason to install Windows 7, though, I wouldn't bother. Don't install it in the hope of making your old computer faster, since that's very unlikely to happen. -- BenRG (talk) 19:29, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I mainly want to install Windows 7 because Windows XP has trouble to coping with thousands of files in a folder, whereas Windows 7 has been able to. I certainly don't expect Windows 7 to increase the speed to the computer, but I was concerned that it might cause a significant decrease in speed since Windows 7 is a much larger operating system. If Windows 7 will perform as well as XP on the older hardware, that's good. 82.43.90.38 (talk) 19:49, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

XP, the operating system, doesn't have any problem with large folders. If you're having a problem it's most likely with the bundled application known as Explorer, in which case you could try using one of the alternatives to Explorer instead of replacing the whole OS. Unfortunately, Explorer's file view is also used in the standard file open/save dialogs, and I don't know which of these replacements, if any, will also work in the dialogs. You could also try to fix Explorer. Your problem could be as simple as a metadata column that requires reading every file (such as "track number" or "date picture taken") or a shell extension that you installed long ago and forgot about.

I think that a base Windows 7 install will inevitably use more RAM than a base XP install; on the other hand, I think Windows 7 does have some improvements in its caching behavior, which can make things faster. Whether the speed is faster or slower overall will depend on the amount of RAM, but I don't know where the crossover is. 1 GB may not be enough. -- BenRG (talk) 23:47, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I've tried several explorer alternatives and they're all pretty buggy, 7zip file manager has been the best but even that has some trouble. I installed no shell things, actually the XP install is itself quite recent so there's no clutter from random programs. Anyway, thank you for your help. I guess I might give Windows 7 a test, I can always install XP back onto it it's just a bit annoying. 82.43.90.38 (talk) 15:14, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Why don't you just use the keyboard and monitor from your main computer? Have you considered moving the hard drive from one computer to the other? Taemyr (talk) 04:04, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Because that would render my other computer unusable for over an hour. I don't understand how moving the hard drive helps, and from experience installing Windows on one computer and then moving the hard drive to another result in the system becoming unstable and BSODing because of the significant hardware change. 82.43.90.38 (talk) 15:14, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Right. Due to the way Windows is tied to the hardware abstraction layer, you can't install to a PC and swap the drive to a completely different model. I upgraded an older Dell D600 laptop with 1GB from XP to 7— it isn't speedy, but it does seem better than XP even after a year of adding applications.

Question: What is the file system set to on your drive? NTFS, FAT32? ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 15:23, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Never had a problem when changing HAL due to system changes personally (including from Intel to AMD and from Athlon XP to Athlon 64 IIRC). Never done it with Windows 7 but a quick search suggests it's gotten easier not harder as one would expect. You do have to know what you're doing (I believe I described the process possibly to 82 before) but if you do not really a big deal and there are plenty of guides. Nil Einne (talk) 19:16, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Upgrading memory on my PC

I have 512 MB of memory on my PC (CPU = Celeron#Northwood-128, O/S = Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)), and, based on a discussion further up the page, it looks like I need more memory. I have 4 memory slots, with the following contents:

1) 128 MB DDR, PC2700U CL2.5 25331 C3 0322 4X0365 121033 P/N 305956-041.

2) 256 MB DDR, PC3200U CL3   30331 A1  400 MT8VDDT3264AG-40BG4 200424 BZACH3G002 S/C: 3804740072E PN: 326667-041

3) 128 MB DDR, (Exactly the same as in slot 1).

4) Vacant.

All 3 memory cards are labeled Hewlett Packard. Slots 1 and 2 are close together, as are slots 3 and 4. Slots 1 and 3 are black, and slots 2 and 4 are blue. Sorry for all the excessive info, but I don't know which numbers are trivial and which are critical. So, here are my questions:

A) Does the slot placement of the cards matter ?

B) Is it OK to mix and match cards, like I have ?

C) I'm thinking of getting an additional 256 MB DDR card, like the one now in slot 2, and placing it in slot 4. That would give me 768 GB of RAM. But could I put a 512 MB card or 1024 MB DDR card in there, instead (to give me a total of 1 or 1.5 GB) ?

D) What significance, if any, does the color of the slot (blue versus black) have ?

E) If I decided to go all out and put in the maximum RAM my PC can handle, what would that be ? Is it only limited by my 32-bit operating system ?

F) Can I use the faster DDR2 or DDR3 memory cards ? If so, can I mix and match those with my current cards ? StuRat (talk) 21:25, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

I'll answer the ones I can;

B) I've had no problems mixing different sizes of RAM cards on my computer

C) Yes

E) 32-bit operating systems can only address 4GB usually. You can't install a 64-bit operating system on 32-bit hardware

F) No, DDR2 and DDR3 cards are shaped differently and won't fit in the slots

82.43.90.38 (talk) 22:07, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I assume the different shape is to prevent them being plugged into the same slots, because of some underlying incompatibility ? StuRat (talk) 22:34, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

For A, B, and D, see Dual-channel architecture. If your motherboard is indeed dual channel (and the colors and paired slots make this likely), then it is recommended that matched memory modules (as your 1 and 3 are) be put into the same channel (same colors, in your case) for best performance. If you could find a memory module identical to your 256 MB one to put in slot 4, that would work well. It might be even better (depending on your budget) to buy a matched pair of, say, 512 MB units (for an additional 1 GB) and replace your current 256 MB with one of those (the other going in the empty slot), giving you 1.5 GB total RAM. Buddy431 (talk) 22:53, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

That last calc doesn't quite add up. I would then have 2(512 MB) + 2(128 MB), or 1268 MB. StuRat (talk) 01:48, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Right you are. 1.25 GB then. I'm not sure how much of an improvement actually matching the memory gives (though it's always recommended for dual channel), so you might want to wait for someone more technically savvy to comment. Buddy431 (talk) 03:20, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

We'd need to know the exact make (I assume HP?) and model of your computer to be able to confirm what memory choices are possible, including the maximum amount supported by it as it'll vary per computer. It's also probably worth going to the Crucial website because they have a very good memory scanner which will show you what your options are including the maximum amount of RAM you can put in it etc. I only know about their UK pricing, but it's very reasonable and we purchase all our work RAM from them because of this and the compatibiliy checker. Unfortunatly DDR 1 RAM isn't made anymore so it's likely to be expensive... :(  ZX81  ^talk 22:46, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

This is a Franken-model, meaning it's assembled from the bodies of other dead computers, so the "model" may not have much meaning. Do you need to know the motherboard ? If DDR 1 GB isn't made any more, could I get some other combo more cheaply, like two 512 MB cards ? StuRat (talk) 23:03, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Looking at sites that sell memory, I now have even more questions:

G) 184 pin DIMM versus 200 pin SODMM ? Do I need to pull the cards back out and start counting ?

H) What is ECC and ECC Registered, and do I care if I get that ?

I) DDR memory seems to come in speed of 266, 333, and 400 MHz. Does this make much difference ? If I mix and match speeds, is the result the lowest speed for everything ? StuRat (talk) 23:10, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

What matters is the motherboard. It may only support DIMMs of up to 256MB each, for example.

SO-DIMM is a smaller form factor used in laptops. They are not compatible with DIMMs. You probably have DIMMs. You can take out one of your modules and figure out its type by its shape (length/width ratio and position of the notch).

PC2100 = 266 MHz DDR, PC2700 = 333 MHz DDR, PC3200 = 400 MHz DDR. Since you already have PC2700 and PC3200 DIMMs in the motherboard, I'd stick with those. I think that the overall RAM speed will be limited to the slowest DIMM, but memory speed doesn't matter that much anyway; it's rarely the bottleneck. I've always heard that memory will work regardless of speed (though higher speeds will be wasted on a motherboard/CPU that only supports lower speeds), but I've personally had a machine fail to start up with faster DDR RAM in it, so I'm not sure.

Don't get ECC (error correcting) RAM unless the motherboard supports it, which it probably doesn't. -- BenRG (talk) 00:05, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Motherboard info: Under Device Manager I see the 2 motherboard resources listed as ACPI\PNP0C02\1 and ACPI\PNP0C02\2. On the motherboard itself I see:

Hewlett-Packard SP#323091-001 P6B58OF9VOWNSZ AS#305374-001 374 REV OF S2A

StuRat (talk) 02:13, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

305374-001 is the motherboard for a HP COMPAQ D530 - Can you see that anywhere on the back of the case which might confirm this? (I know you said it's a refurbished computer, but it's still quite likely they put it back in the original case) Looking up that model on the Crucial site gives this which suggests the maximum amount of memory you can put in it is 4Gb. Your safest bet though is to run the memory checker on the crucial site as that should correctly detect your motherboard and supply you with a page telling you how much you can have and what your options are.  ZX81  ^talk 02:26, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Actually, apparently it's the same motherboard for the D330, D338, D530 and D538 so if you see any of those on the back that's good.  ZX81  ^talk 02:30, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

OK, I ran the Crucial scan, and it gave me some good info:

1) I do have dual-channel architecture. To get the most out of this, I should use matched pairs of memory cards. (However, they then recommended an unmatched pair.)

2) I don't have ECC support. Can I still use ECC memory, if it's cheaper ?

3) Max size is 1 GB per slot, for a max of 4 GB. However, they warn that only 3 or 3.5 GB would be accessible under my 32-bit architecture. (And then recommended that I get 4 GB, anyway.)

So, the scan seemed good, but their recommendations seemed faulty. StuRat (talk) 03:37, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

1)What does it recomend? Is it 128, 256, 128, 512? If it is the unmatched pair is likely because it's trying to use the RAM you already have. Also usually 1 is matched with 3 and 2 with 4.

2)No. Also I don't think ECC is cheaper.

3)I would also recommend installing 4GB to max the system, even if not all of it will be acessible. This is due to getting the memory matched.

Taemyr (talk) 03:52, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

1) There were multiple recommendations. The one resulting in a mismatched pair was to get a 1 GB card and leave my 256 MB card in place in the matching slot.

3) Wouldn't getting 3 (1 GB) cards avoid the mismatched pairs prob, since I would have a matched pair and a lone card ? (I'm assuming a lone card doesn't count as a "mismatched pair"). StuRat (talk) 04:46, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

It's not that mismatched pairs are slower but that matched pairs are faster. With a single module you won't have a matched pair. I think that you will still get the matched-pair performance boost on the other two modules, but I'm not sure. As I said above, though, I wouldn't worry about it. The benefit of adding more RAM is reduced disk access, and even the slowest RAM is so much faster than the disk that variations in RAM speed will hardly be noticeable most of the time. Also see Dual-channel architecture#Performance. -- BenRG (talk) 08:22, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I have a follow-up question on item I. Do I get the lowest speed of all the occupied slots, or does that go by pair ? StuRat (talk) 04:56, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

AFAIK you get the lowest speed among all occupied slots. Rocketshiporion♫ 06:35, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

OK, thanks for the help so far, everybody. I've pretty much decided to buy a matched pair of 1 GB 400 MHz DIMM (non-ECC) cards. But how should I use them for best effect ? Here are my three options:

a) Use those two alone, in the same-colored slots, for 2 GB at 400 MHz on a single matched pair.

b) Use them with my current 256 MB (333 MHz), card in one of the other slots, for 2.25 GB at 333 MHz total, with a single matched pair.

c) Use then with my current matched pair of 128 MB (266 MHz) cards, for 2.25 GB at 266 MHz total, with two sets of matched pairs.

d) Use them with one of each of my current card types, for 2.38 GB at 266 MHz total, with one matched pair.

So, which would be best ? StuRat (talk) 22:19, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I think you should upgrade your motherboard instead of your RAM, given how much cheaper DDR3 memory will be than DDR1, plus you'll get a drastically faster CPU. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.57.242.120 (talk) 00:43, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I doubt if the cost of a new motherboard plus new DDR3 memory would together be less than just new DDR memory. Also, the speed of my motherboard is 2.8 GHz, which isn't bad, if only it wasn't hampered by insufficient RAM. StuRat (talk) 02:02, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

2.8 ghz is fairly irrelevant. See megahertz myth. At a guess a 2.8 ghz P4 dual core (P-D or whatever it was called) similar to yours (can't remember how much of a difference the cache size made on P4 I guess yours is lower cache and FSB since it's a Celeron) would perhaps be comparable 1 ghz Core i3 or worse (depending on app of course). I do agree however your system is severely limited by the amount of RAM. Whether it's worth upgrading I can't say particularly since I haven't looked in to the price of DDR RAM for a while). Nil Einne (talk) 12:44, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I think it's worthwhile to try out the memory first. If it alone makes performance nice and snappy, then don't bother opening up the computer anymore. I don't have any advice on what configuration to install it in, though. Paul (Stansifer) 13:00, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

For old computers you may be able to buy cheap memory via eBay. 92.24.188.210 (talk) 20:22, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I found this on Amazon: [5]. That's $56 total for "PNY OPTIMA 2GB (2x1GB) Dual Channel Kit DDR 400 MHz PC3200 Desktop DIMM Memory Modules MD2048KD1-400". Can anyone beat that ? StuRat (talk) 23:52, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

March 23

Mobile internet

Why do almost all major companies charge more for mobile laptop internet service than data plans for phones one the same network technology and hardware chips. Now my question is not about the rationale, I already know computer based users, on average, consume much more bandwidth resources and that justifies charging more. My question is really why do they do it considering it's incredibly easy to tether the computer to a modern smartphone using wifi, usb, or bluetooth without any possible way for the provider to find out. Even though that may be considered dishonest and what not, I think it actually makes the company seem dishonestly charging you more for something everyone can easily get without paying more. Besides tethering, I have heard simply puting the SIM card that was activated for a phone into the computer's hardware will acheive the same thing. And finally, on a related note, why do many companies charge more for "BlackBerry internet service" than other phones. Again, I'm not talking about compnanies with different 2G and 3G services, I'm talking about the majority of North American providers who are providing the exact same technology and service at different prices to BlackBerries, Laptops, and other smartphones at 3 different price points. The incredible ease of circumventing it undetectably (and arguably, with a good legal argument of ignorance or unfairness) makes it just seem to me that they are pathetically and hopelessly trying to over charge the "hopefully ignorant" customers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roberto75780 (talk • contribs) 00:44, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

One more ridiculous thing is that some companies i know in canada officially released a software update that enables tethering for upto 5 computers off of one phone, and still that data plan, including the phone voice plan, costs way less than a laptop plan for the same amount of data. What on earth is the point? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roberto75780 (talk • contribs) 00:53, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I would bet that the majority don't do that, and they make a tidy profit from them. StuRat (talk) 06:39, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Doesn't Blackberry internet service include the connection and access to the Blackberry servers for the messaging an all that jazz and isn't it basically the only way you can actually use those things? At least that was my impression not actually using those devices but supported by BlackBerry Internet Service and BlackBerry#BlackBerry Internet Service. If so I'm guessing BlackBerry takes a cut and I don't think you can easily circumvent it. Nil Einne (talk) 20:50, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

The phone companies likely bet that most users lack the skills or imagination to do this. The sales department of mobile phone companies are like modern confidence tricksters.Electron9 (talk) 07:21, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

firefox on a mac

Hi. I have a powerpc mac (ie not intel) and was misled into downloading firefox 4, which does not work on my AMD architecture. Where do I find a universal version of firefox 3? Robinh (talk) 06:38, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

This is a little outddated, I'm not sure if it's still true, but might be of interest: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20014666-264.html Shadowjams (talk) 07:10, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, but no download page! I'm beginning to panic that I won't be able to find a universal binary. Robinh (talk) 07:54, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Wait, what? AMD makes chips that are compatible with Intel chips. It looks like there's an independent project that has a version of Firefox 4 for PowerPC: TenFourFox. Paul (Stansifer) 13:21, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

(OP) I asked on the firefox help page and got this: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html (my comment was that googling didn't seem to help, which is corroborated by the responses here). There is also a third-party version at http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox (but I haven't tried it yet). Best wishes, Robinh (talk) 07:12, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Chain text messages

As a form of chain letter in the form of mobile phone SMS, the SMS would usually contain interesting factoids or a sad emotional story promising the recipient good luck if they forward such SMS to ten hundred people (or bad luck if they dont). Is it true that these chain SMS was actually started by any mobile network operator in order to boost their revenue? I heard about this somewhere but I cant find info on this on the net. ќמшמφטтгמ^torque 07:35, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Basically you're reporting a rumor you heard, and asking others to tell you whether it's true or false. You might be interested in TinyURL. Com/TruFut which will be a truth-futures market, whereby the uncontested buy/sell orders will establish a de facto estimate of truth-value of the rumor/allegation, and conflicting estimates will result in actual buy/sell transactions whereby the more-correct estimator ultimately gains funds at the expense of the person who was mistaken. 198.144.192.45 (talk) 17:20, 28 March 2011 (UTC) Twitter.Com/CalRobert (Robert Maas)

The 'C' button don't work on my keyboard. why?

Hey, my Computer works Completely fine, exept for the 'C' button. It started with that button sometimes not working and then Coming bak to work again without problems and then it just stopped working again. It happened a few times before it now has stopped working for good, or so it seems... But when it worked it seems to do so just fine, and sinCe it had worked/not worked several times, then the button at least is not ruined or broken. Taking the "hood" of the button off and plaCe it bak on doesnt help either. Maybe it is some adjustments or Configuration needed to be done? It's impossible to write effetively without all buttons..

Any Clues as to what to do and what might be the problem?

All C's in this text has simply been Copied and pasted ofC..

Crossing my fingers that someone knows what to do. tnx —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.165.121.35 (talk) 08:42, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

It won't be a software problem, it's the keyboard itself. Crumbs or spills are the usual culprits. If you pry off the key and clean underneath with alcohol and a cotton swab, and it still doesn't work, just buy a new keyboard. They are only like $20. StuRat (talk) 09:19, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

tnx, tried that though. looks like my keyboard might be ready to be replaSed I guess.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.165.121.35 (talk) 09:55, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

It probably just needs a good cleaning. Some people even put their's in a dishwasher but completely stripping it and cleaning all the components (particularly the plastic sheets with the printed circuit inside the keyboard) with a damp cloth should be adequate. I've done it a number of times. Just messing about with the outside surface under the keys doesn't do much so get your screwdriver out. Roger (talk) 11:09, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I have successfully cleaned keyboards with sticky or non-functioning keys. Take a photo first so you can remember where all the keys go. Prise off all the keys, noting how the large keys such as the space-bar, the enter-key and so on often have small metal rods underneath. Remove the screws from the keyboard and dismantle the keyboard casing. Put aside any circuit boards and the cable. Wash everything else in hot water with a little added detergent (or use the dishwasher as mentioned above). When reassembling, make sure everything is dry - the keys in particular trap water in little corners and holes; paper tissues are good for this. Astronaut (talk) 11:58, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Yes, water from the hot tap works wonders, as I found out when someone spilled a can of coke into a computer with integral keyboard. Dbfirs 13:14, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Searching for how to clean a keyboard gives detailed cleaning instructions. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:06, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I usually just use a Dyson on my keyboard - saves the hassle of disassembly. Besides, repeatedly plucking the keys off and putting them back on causes the keyboard to wear out faster! Rocketshiporion♫ 07:45, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Cross compilers

Are there any free cross compilers like Javaground they only give you a 30 day trial and then you have to purchase the licence, I am looking to develop iphone apps using Windows, thanks Mo ainm~Talk 15:49, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Are any of these results for 'making iphone apps on windows' or 'developing iphone apps on windows' (both as suggested by Google) [6] (links to [7]), [8], www.ehow .com/how_6032531_make-iphone-apps-windows.html (blacklisted site), [9] (look at the end since many of the ones at the top are fairly old, it links to [10] for example), www.associatedcontent .com/article/1849055/how_to_write_iphone_applications_with_pg3.html?cat=15 (blacklist site, comments possibly more useful then article); of use? Nil Einne (talk) 12:22, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Can J2ME Midlets be made to work on an iPhone 3Gs?

Heading says it all. Thanks20.137.18.50 (talk) 16:46, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

The iPhone does not run Java (nor Java ME). Reading some old internet news, it looks like a lot of people speculated that Sun was planning to port J2ME to the iOS platform - but it never happened.

You should be able to recompile your J2ME code to work on the Android system, which supports a dialect of Java - but the standard libraries provided do not fit the profile of J2SE or J2ME, so your MIDlet will not work without a bit of minor technical modification (by a programmer). Nimur (talk) 15:16, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Animated graph

I'm making a graph for a presentation that would be a bit more fun if I could have it animated in some way other than making the different series just appear as I click forward (which is easy to do in Keynote, for example).

The date is quite straightforward -- the X axis are years, the two columns in the Y axis are the values for two countries. The Y data starts out small but soon gets quite large — this is what I'd hope the animation would emphasize, by "zooming out" in some way to reflect the change of scale I go through the timeline.

None of the tools I have at my disposal (Powerpoint, Keynote, Excel, Numbers) seems to do this. Google Docs doesn't seem to. The Google Visualization API[11] doesn't seem to quite do it either.

Is there something obvious I am missing?

Again, just to help you understand what I want -- imagine I had a series that was something like:

1910 -- 2
1920 -- 4
1930 -- 8
1940 -- 30
1950 -- 300
1960 -- 2000

or something like that. If graphed on a line graph all at once, the small parts just look small. What I'd love is that if I showed only 1910-1920, the y axis would be modified so that its top was the max data. Then I click forward, and it adds the 1930-1940 data to the visible set, adjusting the axis. Then I click ahead and 1950-1960 get added, and now we're really bowled over, because we thought the previous jump was large, but it is really dwarfed by comparison. And so on, so that what seemed like a big deal originally ends up looking very small compared to the later trends.

Obviously I could just set it up to do this with a series of graphs, which is what I'll probably end up doing anyway. But it would be wonderful if there was some slick way that this sort of transition would be done automatically -- e.g. it would add the data and then "zoom" out a bit to adjust the axis. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:14, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

The first thing that pops into my mind is Blender, but I know that's totally making it an animation and no longer a graph at all. Actually, Google Sketchup would probably be simpler if you acquiesced to the idea of a modeling solution. I don't know if the free version comes with an animation plugin and a recording plugin, but I know there are lots of plugins for it.20.137.18.50 (talk) 17:22, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, I don't want to do it from scratch, e.g. modeling or hand animating or flash. I'm hoping for something just a tiny bit more automated. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:43, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

You didn't say what the media is which you are using. Is this a computer display you are projecting onto a big screen ? If so, perhaps you could have the full graph displayed, and block some of the projection in both the horizontal and vertical directions, with just some pieces of paper, then remove them to reveal the full graph. StuRat (talk) 17:44, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

It's being projected, but I don't see why using paper or anything is going to help. It's not a matter of hiding data and revealing it — that's easy to do. It's the animated way in which the data is revealed/added/changed that I'm interested in. It is very trivial in Keynote to have data series not appear all at once, but there's no way to make the new series change the axis, from what I can see. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:43, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

What I'm proposing is some way to "normalize their expectations" one the smaller graph, then "exceed their expectations" by expanding not only the data on the graph, but the size of the graph itself. Masking part of the graph would have them think that the small graph is what's "normal". Perhaps there's a software way to do this, but I was thinking you would still see some light projected where the full sized graph will be, thus "giving away the game", and only masking can prevent that. StuRat (talk) 21:52, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm reminded of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, where they used a cherry picker to add to the top of the global warming graph, for dramatic effect. StuRat (talk) 17:47, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Yes, exactly. Something a bit silly and flashy but to emphasize the change in numbers. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:43, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

You say you are doing a presentation and you have Powerpoint. Are you making a Powerpoint presentation? If so, make each graph a new image and place them in successive slides. Then, as you click from one slide to the next, you get the new graph. That is how I do Powerpoint animations because the built-in animation stuff is way too buggy. -- kainaw™ 18:46, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

The entire point of the question was, as I tried in vain to explain, to do something other than just this. :-/ As I said, obviously I could just do it as a series of separate graphs on separate slides, but I was trying to find something slightly more flashy. I know that the built-in Powerpoint tools don't do this. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:01, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Also, maybe something like this for the final graph might make it seem like you had to go "beyond the normal size limits":

                                        _
                                  _    | |
                            _    | |   | |
                      _    | |   | |   | |
                _    | |   | |   | |   | |
^         _    | |   | |   | |   | |   | |
|    _   | |   | |   | |   | |   | |   | |
|   | |  | |   | |   | |   | |   | |   | |
+------------------------------------------->

So, the point is that the graph goes beyond the original vertical axis. You could also have it go beyond the original grid lines. StuRat (talk) 21:59, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I think we're having a failure to communicate here, unfortunately. In any case, I'm not looking for alternatives to what I wanted to do — I'm trying to see if there's way to do what I wanted to do. If the answer is "no," or "I don't know," that's a fine answer. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:01, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I googled "zoomable graphs", found this stackoverflow question [12] and then the javascript library flot and this example of zooming [13]. Perhaps you could do it all in a browser. 81.131.9.214 (talk) 01:56, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Despite your assertion that Powerpoint can't do this with its built-in animation tools and Kainaw's assertion that Powerpoint's animation is buggy, I have just tested it successfully and it works. Make successive frames in your animation as images - a set of .PNG images could be ideal for this to keep the file sizes smaller than jpegs. Place them in a powerpoint slide, one on top of the other and use the animation controls to (quickly) fade out the previous frame while simultaneously fading in the next frame on each click. Seemed acceptable to me in the small 2-frames test I've just done. Astronaut (talk) 12:53, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

This is not what I am going for. I know Powerpoint can do fade in/out transitions. That's not what I'm trying to do, as I've said a few times... --Mr.98 (talk) 15:04, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Is there anything useful in List of information graphics software? 81.131.63.251 (talk) 17:20, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Internet in Uganda?

I will be traveling to Kampala, Uganda for a few weeks this summer. I asked the local tour guide there and he said while there won' tbe WiFi access in the rooms that I will be staying, I can get a "wireless internet access card" that will help me access the Internet. What could this "wireless internet access card" be? Is it some sort of 3G modem card that will let my laptop access the Internet via cell phone towers much like the wireless hotspotting feature on my smartphone? If so, would anyone know roughly how much it will cost and how fast the service will be in a city like Kampala? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 22:08, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

It might just be a paper card with access information for using a VSAT network connection. ¦ Reisio (talk) 22:33, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

I might suggest asking the tour guide in question? It will probably be better to get the official info rather than guessing (perhaps wrongly). --Mr.98 (talk) 23:52, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

There are a number of cell phone companies active in Uganda - all use the GSM system. This page has more information [14]. BTW the Communications in Uganda article is very superficial and out of date. Roger (talk) 13:44, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

You can also use an Iridium satellite phone to connect to the internet. Count Iblis (talk) 15:26, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Iridium is ridiculously expensive to use in a location where cheaper alternatives are available. Iridium is really meant for places where there is no telecom infrastructure - in the middle of a dessert or ocean. Roger (talk) 15:55, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

March 24

Projector light

I'm writing up some guidelines on making slides, but I wanted to check a factual matter here. On a typical LCD projector (where "pure white" is an absence of added color from the lamp, and "pure black" is the absence of light projected), does "pure red" (R:255, G:0, B:0) correspond to approximately 1/3rd the projected luminosity of pure white light? I know that the actual reflected luminosity depends on the screen surface, but I'm trying to come up with a basic generalization here. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:40, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

The response of human eyes to different wavelengths of light is variable (Eye#Perception of colours provides some scant information), as is the reflectivity of the surface on which you project the image. On the other hand, the makers of LCD projectors and the associated drivers may have compensated for the eye's colour perception. Sorry, I've not been able to fully answer your question. Astronaut (talk) 03:41, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

If the projector is correctly calibrated (to sRGB) then the perceptual brightness will be around 0.299 R + 0.587 G + 0.114 B (these numbers are from the CCIR 601 standard; see YCbCr). -- BenRG (talk) 08:04, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

That is quite interesting. Does that mean, then, that pure green is some 2X the luminosity of red, and over 5X the luminosity of blue, or the other way around? --Mr.98 (talk) 12:07, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Pure green is perceived as brighter then other colours. Take a look at Luminous efficacy and File:CIE 1931 Luminosity.png Nil Einne (talk) 12:25, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

In my experience, every projector has each color channel randomly mucked with on its way out of the factory, because LCD projector manufacturers loathe color, and want to convince everyone to do their presentations in black-and-white. From the people around me, I've picked up the practice of making the very first slide display all of the colors I use, so that I can diagnose any color-related problems ahead of time. This is only useful if you have a way to globally change all uses of each color, of course. If this isn't an option, I'd just be extremely conservative; don't count on two colors being distinguishable unless they differ by close to 255 in at least two channels. I've seen pure red (255,0,0) be utterly illegible against black (0,0,0), but I bet it'd be readable against white (255,255,255). (On the other hand, in light of what was said above, I'd be cautious about using pure green on a white background.) Paul (Stansifer) 12:54, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I agree, and this is essentially my point in bringing it up -- to discourage things like red text on a black background, which is unreadable. I've been trying to come up with a simple way of explaining it, and had thought about it in terms of luminosity, but maybe a better way to think about it is in terms of contrasts. Hmm. Again, this isn't for scientific consumption, just trying to give people a practical way of thinking about it. --Mr.98 (talk) 12:56, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Help with Android Code

Hi, I'm going through some example code online. I'd like to preserve all of its functionality, except change it so it uses an arraylist to populate the list instead of a database.

https://github.com/findup/Android_Sample_TodoApp/blob/master/src/jp/co/example/testapp/MainActivity.java

Around line 127, it chooses to use a database connection to fetch content from the database.

Instead of fetching data from the database, I'd like to use an ArrayList to hold the data. Could anyone help me? Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Legolas52 (talk • contribs) 00:58, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

playstation 3 music mood

Life with Playstation requires music to be categorized by "mood". I have music on my PS3. How do I categorize it by mood? I can set a Genre, but even if I set it with one of the mood choices, it doesn't show up. I made a playlist for a mood, but that didn't work. I played some music, but it won't automatically get categorized. All I can find is that if I get the original CD out of my garage and re-rip it on the PS3, then it will categorize the mood. I don't want to do that. -- kainaw™ 02:04, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Is this music that you've ripped on another machine (e.g. a PC) and then moved to the PS3? If so, it sounds like the PS3 ripper ap is setting the ID3 TMOO (mood) tag and your external ripper isn't. In the worst case, try (with a few sample mp3s) setting the ID3 TMOO with an ID3 editor on the PC, move them to PS3, and see if LwPS honours that "mood". -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 13:05, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Severe Virus/Malware Problem

I got one .exe file on mail and opened it. Result is disastrous.What shall I do. I had anti-maleware on my PC but this new virus has even made it ineffective. Please help  Jon Ascton  (talk) 03:34, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

If you recall the title of the e-mail, go onto another computer and look it up in Google, you might find advice there. StuRat (talk) 04:16, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

It really depends on exactly what damage the file has caused, hence the good advice from StuRat above. In the worst case, you will have to reformat your hard drive and reinstall everything, and restore your data files from backups. In the best case, you can download a fix from a trusted site (using another computer), run this on your computer, and all will be well. Dbfirs 13:03, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Excuse me. It is dangerously irresponsible for you to claim to the querent that "all will be well". There is plenty of malware that damages files such that a malware cleaner cannot repair them, and the querent will have to restore from a backup for the files to be usable again. Any particular malware cleaner is also not 100% guaranteed to remove all computer viruses or other malware from any particular system. That said, Dbfirs is correct that you should download antimalware software, such as the offering from Malwarebytes, using a different computer, then bring it over to your infected PC with a flash drive or by burning it to a disc. See Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing/Viruses for more details. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:21, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't Dbfirs is intended to say if a fix exists it's a guarantee all will be well. After all their first comment was 'It really depends on exactly what damage the file has caused'. Instead they were simply pointing out that there are two extremes where there is no hope for recovery, and where recovery is simple (and of course a lot in between). Nil Einne (talk) 20:00, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Yes, sorry if I didn't make my comment clear. I was emphasising the two extremes, but the fact that the exe file disabled the anti-malware suggests that this might be a worst-case scenario. StuRat's advice was good, as is Comet Tuttle's, and the link (above and below) gives much more detail. Dbfirs 22:07, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

We have a whole subpage for this topic at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing/Viruses. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 17:47, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Firefox 4 and the disappearing bottom toolbar

I had been using a vital add-on called Gmail Manager for Firefox, but upon updating to Firefox 4.0, the location of the feature - the bottom right corner of the lower toolbar - seems to have been done away with. The add-on says it is compatible with FF4, so how does it work?

I tried asking at the mozilla help stations but they were no use. Appreciate any assistance! Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.70.253.21 (talk) 14:04, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I think they call that the "addon bar". Try checking firefox->options->addonbar. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 14:17, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Comfirm, it's the addon bar. Nanonic (talk) 14:19, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks guys! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.70.253.21 (talk) 14:32, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

This addon attempts to restore the functionality of the status bar 82.43.90.38 (talk) 15:11, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Video Editing Software with Timeline View of Audio

I'm looking for preferably free software that I can edit video with and see the audio timeline a la Audacity. I currently use both Windows 7 and Linux platforms. I'd prefer to do this on Windows, but Linux is ok too. I just want to be able to edit my video while being able to see the audio levels along with the timeline. The audio need not be multichannel (stereo or higher), it can be mono. Also, I'm editing mpg-2 mostly, but i can do it in just about any format. Windows Live Movie Maker doesn't have an audio timeline as far as I can tell (although the XP version did). Any recommendations? Thank you very much. -Rajah (talk) 18:00, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

For notes on video editing software in general, see the thread from a couple of weeks ago at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2011 March 18#What the world needs now is another blogger. I use Adobe Premiere for video editing and it does show the video along with the audio timeline ... but it's not free. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:26, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I found Windows Movie Maker 2.6 and that works. --Rajah (talk) 21:51, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Forcing registry re-read in Windows 7

I have a special mouse driver from my mouse manufacturer. It works fine, and I need it, except that it resets some mouse settings on each login/boot. I know how to change these in the registry. For a simple workaround I am trying to just rewrite that portion of the registry on each boot, which should fix it. However, I don't know how to force Windows 7 to reload the new settings without going into control panel and doing it manually. How can I essentially HUP windows so it reloads my new settings? Is it possible alternatively for me to directly change these settings in a scriptable way? Peasandsoup (talk) 18:47, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

You can create a regedit script (FOO.REG) and run that in autoexec.bat (which should happen after the driver has done its mischief). This page has some info about how to do that. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 19:10, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

That's the method I am using, however changing the registry doesn't appear to update the mouse settings themselves unless you somehow force windows to re-read those settings. It's this that I'm having issues with. I also need the script to be run after the mouse driver/program makes its changes, which might require putting it in the startup folder rather than in the autoexec.bat Peasandsoup (talk) 19:20, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm off out in a minute (so I can't test this) but it's my understanding that what Windows programs and drivers should do is to register for registry-change events and respond accordingly (which often means immediately). That's a paradigm closer to inotify than the reread-on-sighup you're thinking of. If my memory serves, the Microsoft bog-standard mouse driver does this, and responds immediately when you change its registry entries (for stuff like pointer-trails etc.) So if the mouse driver in your case isn't, that would suggest it's not registered for the events (presumably because its authors don't anticipate, or aren't interested in, changes done by others). In that case I don't know of a way to force it. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 19:37, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for the help, but the registry changes aren't immediately reflected in the mouse behavior. In fact, changes to the registry aren't reflected when the right panel's opened up in Control Panel either. Maybe what I need to do is write a program that does the appropriate calls to change the value. I don't have any experience programming for Windows though. Does someone know what calls I need to use to change ControlPanel registry values? The specific key by the way is HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop (Although \Mouse works the same way). Peasandsoup (talk) 20:40, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

This can't be a driver—the values in HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop have no meaning to drivers. It must be some user-mode application. The solution to your problem depends on what application it is and how it runs. What is the name of it? Why would it reset registry settings in the first place? Is it a "feature"? What is supposed to be the benefit? Are you 100% sure that this behavior can't be turned off? Are you sure that this software is to blame at all?

Windows supports logon and logoff scripts (which can be .bat files) that run just after login or just before logout (before/after everything else). You can add logon/logoff scripts with the group policy editor (Win+R, "gpedit.msc"), in User Configuration → Windows Settings → Scripts. But, again, whether this will work depends on what sort of program you're fighting against.

You could also make the offending registry key read-only by editing the access control list. Unfortunately, this is nightmarishly complicated, but bear with me. Select the Desktop key in Registry Editor, go to Edit → Permissions, click "Advanced", uncheck "Include inheritable permissions...", choose "Add" in the dialog box that pops up, and for every line that says "Full Control" in the "Permission" column, select it, click "Edit...", and uncheck the Allow" box of the "Set value" row. Then okay your way out of the dialog boxes. If you ever want to write-enable the key again, repeat everything up through clicking "Advanced", then select all the permissions lines and click "Remove", then re-check "Include inheritable permissions...", then okay your way out. -- BenRG (talk) 02:46, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

March 25

Computer display

VGA was for ages the most common and practically only monitor connection on all computers, that ubiquity made it so convenient. You practically never ever had to worry about not having the right cable or adapter for any computer and any display. Why is it that before a new standard completely replace the last one, we have a competing, partially compatible one replacing that. DVI was just fine. Then HDMI added audio, and rearanged the pins to ensure we need new passive (mechanical) adapters that are expensive and never there when you need them. And now, display port is already replacing HDMI (for computers at least), and again, we need to find proper mechanical passive adapters to get that partial compatibility. Whats the point of all of this? And to add to all of that, every one of these new standards has multiple types of connecters (Mini and Micro, and sometimes alternative pin arrangements even) makes it a huge hassle to find the right connectors and adapters. Why cant we agree on ONE standard that has only ONE or maxium TWO sizes, and keep the exact same connecter on future versions of it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roberto75780 (talk • contribs) 00:50, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Probably because they make more money selling you all the cables and devices with all those connectors. Myself, I just stick with a D-SUB DE-15F connector (the one you are calling a VGA connector). It seems to handle my monitor's max res of 1920×1200 at 32-bit color depth just fine, with no pixel crawl. I think part of the problem is the convergence of TV screens and computer monitors. TVs had their standards and computer monitors had their's. That gives us twice as many standards already for combined devices. StuRat (talk) 06:05, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Are there ANY penny auction sites without prepaid bid packages?

I'd rather pay-as-I-go instead of having to pay $60 for $100. Having only $40-odd in my checking account, I have no other choice.

Therefore, which (reputable) penny auction sites allow me to start without a bulk bid package, and pay as I go? I'd love to get started on this and one day even resell my winnings on Craigslist or at a consignment store for a good profit, but I need to find a good way to start. Thanks. --70.179.169.115 (talk) 00:55, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

PS: What is the best time-of-day to win these bids of brinksmanship? I need to know when the site is least active so I'd have a higher chance to win. Thanks. --70.179.169.115 (talk) 01:03, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

The only winners of penny auctions are the hosting sites, who get the vast majority of your money. They charge $60 a pop because there are suckers willing to pay $60 a pop. There are probably sites that charge less, in order to cater to suckers gambling away their last $40 like you. But please don't be an idiot. Everyone goes into these things planning to "beat the system", and most of them are much better prepared than you seem to be. If you can't do your own IP traffic analysis and rent a geolocated server close to the hosting server, you're wasting your time and money. If you can do those things, you're still going to lose money, but perhaps less than 100% of it. -- BenRG (talk) 03:10, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

The basic problem is that there is always a cost for moving money from one place to another -- whether you use Paypal, credit cards, or whatever. If the amounts of money moved per transaction are too small, the per-transaction costs will kill you. That's why pay-as-you-go doesn't work: the premium for each payment is too high. Looie496 (talk) 18:58, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Then how do I build my own penny-auction site?

You know, there could be a lot in it for me if I built my own penny-auction site, and I'll start it with a bid-as-you-go system of 55¢ each, then bulk bids to start at 50¢/bid in a package, and lower per-bid cost as one buys a bigger package.

Therefore, how do I get started? How much overhead and start-up costs, and what else would I need? I do hope to become self-sufficient on an online business one day. --70.179.169.115 (talk) 03:25, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

How do you start a penny-auction site, with only $40 in your account? You don't. Even the most blatant scam needs startup cash. Try earning an honest living instead. If that isn't an option, try relying on the kindness of strangers, rather than on the gullibility of fools. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:31, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Well Andy, how much would a typical penny-auction site cost to start-up then? (And would you break down the individual costs if you can?)

At least I'm not one of those paying gullible fools because I found *******.com, which happens to give me 19 free bids upon registration. (Found a 10-bid coupon code through Google, 3 bids for signing up, 3 bids for adding bank account, and 3 bids for adding debit card.) I didn't have to pay anything up-front on that one, though that will likely be one of 5 free-bid-giving p-a site of the hundreds (thousands?) out there. I have 6 bids left and didn't win anything, though several times I was pretty close. --70.179.169.115 (talk) 03:58, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

(Note: I have removed the name of the penny-auction site from the above post - we don't need spam links here) AndyTheGrump (talk) 04:02, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

No. Several times you thought you were close: if it was that easy to win, they wouldn't be making a profit if they gave away free bids. Since you appear not to understand how these sites work, why do you expect to be able to run one at a profit? AndyTheGrump (talk) 04:04, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

You truly live up to your name, and at least I never had to pay anything to participate in a couple of websites, thanks to their free bids. (Of course most I came across didn't give free bids, but some would like newcomers to "try out" their sites by giving very few upon opening accounts.) Now, would anyone please break down the costs of starting up and operating these kinds of sites? --70.179.169.115 (talk) 04:20, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I won't, because I don't want to help people run scams; but here's a paper by a Stanford economist that's all about penny auction sites. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:11, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

If I were starting one of those sites, I'd try to have between $50,000 and $100,000 available, with the major expenses being lawyer consultation and advertising. --Carnildo (talk) 00:26, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Good, Business Web Design Company

I am looking for a professional-looking business website to be created for a friend of mine's company. The website will need to have some server-side scripting with a searchable database. He is not financially-limited. Could someone recommend me a good web designer/web design company that will be able to do this? I know there's a lot out there, but does anyone know any particularly good ones? Thanks Acceptable (talk) 02:31, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

If the site is for marketing or public relations purposes, you need an advertising agency. If the site is for internal or operations purposes (things like cloud- or web-based enterprise information system), you need an IT consulting firm. 118.96.160.241 (talk) 06:31, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

There are lots of web designers out there that are not advertising agencies. Anyway, my recommendation is that your friend should check out local options first. Even in our well-networked world, there is something to doing business with someone who you can meet face to face to talk about particulars, and figure out whether they are legitimate or not. There should be a bazillion web developers wherever you are, these days, and they should all have ample examples of the kind of work they have done. It's a little harder to be more specific than this — it isn't like there is one big web developer clearing house or anything like that. Any web developer worth their salt can deal with server-side scripting and a searchable database, that is the easy part. The hard part is making it look and work right within a budget. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:40, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

How do I start my own money-making website with the lowest possible start-up costs and overhead?

To begin, I'd rather sell anything that doesn't involve physically holding an item and shipping them. I also don't want to have to pay wholesale costs until the moment the item is already sold and received by the buyer.

(One possibility is designing my own online e-cards and somehow selling their designs for starting at 50¢ each or so. There's no shipping there, so without the overhead of holding physical items, it should be an easier business to start, right?)

But if there are better ideas on how to start an ultra-low-overhead, and high-margin online business, then I'm all ears.

I don't mind paying a $20 upfront domain registration fee through GoDaddy or another domain broker, but I would hope not to pay much more beyond that just to start it off.

I look forward to suggestions. Have a good day,

--70.179.169.115 (talk) 03:30, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

You just need one red paperclip, i.e one original idea, which you won't get here.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:47, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Your most expensive outlay might be advertising your website because it will not make money (even with a brilliant idea) until people know about it. It is possible to do this at no cost to you, through social networking, Youtube etc, but you need some subtle marketing. Dbfirs 08:23, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Don't expect very good suggestions here. Usually these kind of questions get a lot of "if we knew how to do this, we'd be doing it, not telling you about it" mixed with "here is a ridiculously stupid idea I just came up with, look how easy it is to make money." The truth is that coming up with original business models that work is actually quite difficult. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:44, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Besides that, there's a logical problem: if someone posts a biz idea to the web, many can copy it, reducing its scarcity and making it less of a money-bringing idea. Quest09 (talk) 18:45, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I heard that there are still a lot of Nigerians who are entitled to plenty of money but have difficulties accessing it. Recently they have found it harder and harder to locate trustworthy people who help them. (I believe this is due to a number of black sheep who were not actually entitled to any money and were just scammers.) Just create a web page on which you offer your services to these poor souls. Hans Adler 18:52, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Tyan 5086B-TRF Eight-Socket Server & Intel 80615 Series Nehalem-C Processors

Hello!

  Does anyone here have any information about Tyan's new 5086B-TRF Server and/or Intel's new 80615 Series 10-Core Nehalem-C Processors? I know the 5086B-TRF is 5U-high and is said to support eight Nehalem-C 80615 Series processors, but haven't been able to find anything much else about either from Google.

  Thank you. Rocketshiporion♫ 04:50, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Untraceable IP

Are there IP addresses whose origin is untraceable. I am unable to find 172.51.19.160 on any of the lookup databases, but the IP visited a webpage that I track. Shyamal (talk) 08:16, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

An untraceable IP address would be useless, at least for visiting webpages -- there would be no way to send information back to it. It is however possible for IP addresses to be de-allocated. Looie496 (talk) 18:51, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

There are also IP addresses that do not resolve to an internet name. --Phil Holmes (talk) 19:09, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

The specified address, 172.51.x.x, is close (but not inside) a reserved private address space block. So it's possible that your network administrator has set up a non-compliant private network and allocated addresses beyond the 20-bit block (at slight risk of routing incorrectly). Since it appears that 172.51.x.x is not allocated on the internet, including it in a local network address space seems like a functional engineering workaround if your LAN runs out of IP addresses, though it's really not "best practice" to override proper internet routing. Read RFC1918 for technical details. Nimur (talk) 15:26, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Japanese fonts

PC with Windows XP Professional. I can't see Japanese fonts on Wikipedia. I loaded them from Windows but it doesn't seem to work. Strangely, I see Japanese fonts on the edit mode. Any help? --Chris.urs-o (talk) 14:41, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Try this. Control panel → Regional and Language Settings → check ja. See List of Control Panel applets. Oda Mari (talk) 15:14, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Thx. Could have asked u directly ;) --Chris.urs-o (talk) 10:01, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Point and name color

Is there an app - Windows or Linux - which tells you the name of a color, when you hover your mouse pointer upon it? I know some applications tell you the name of a color in a palette, but I need a more general solution. Quest09 (talk) 17:40, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Both "name of a color" and "palette" have different meanings for computers and humans, so let's clarify: are you looking for a program which displays strings like "red", "green", "pale teal" and "french blue" - could be useful for the color blind - or one which displays strings like "0000FF", "00FF00", "7DC1BA" (ew) and "9CA6D0"? 213.122.56.174 (talk) 18:04, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I need something for the first purpose, helping the color blind. Both options may be combined. After pointing the mouse, it would say: green/00FF00. Quest09 (talk) 18:10, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

There is a program called gpick that I believe has this functionality -- written for Linux but it may work in Windows as well. Looie496 (talk) 18:45, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

This page - the section on colour recognition lists a couple of programs which claim to name the colour which the mouse is pointing to. Both for Windows, but I can't test them at the moment, as I'm at work. In the browser, there are several Firefox extensions which do the same thing, including this.--Kateshortforbob _talk 12:35, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Why is MySpace (reportedly) losing out to Facebook?

I've never used either of these sites and hence know nothing about their appeal to people, but why has MySpace been reportedly losing out to Facebook? See http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12862139

Is it just a fad or fashion, or can you do things with Facebook that you cannot do with MySpace? Thanks 92.28.242.170 (talk) 20:26, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Well, in principle, there doesn't really have to be any particular reason apart from people using a particular service more for whatever reason. I suppose that what makes Facebook so dominant is their marketing - I'm not sure how they did it, but in just a few short years, FB has managed to become a part of millions of lives around the world. I don't think MySpace ever was that significant from a cultural viewpoint, it hasn't been such an integral part of people's lives. And I'm not saying that FB should be, but to be totally honest, it is. Zakhalesh (talk) 20:45, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Here is one article from Fortune from a few months ago that claims 2 main reasons that Facebook beat MySpace. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:49, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Honestly, I have a hard time figuring out how MySpace got so popular in spite of having such awful design. Paul (Stansifer) 17:22, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

The recent MySpace site redesign seems to have pissed off a lot of long-time users. MySpace was always clunky and slow to navigate to an extent (depending on how OTT the user in question went with the gratuitous embedded stuff and hi-res images - often 'very') but now it seems much, much worse. I only really go on MySpace to see what my favourite bands are doing and I've noticed a lot of 'MySpace has gone shite now - go to our Facebook page for regular updates'-type posts popping up over the past few months. Just a personal observation. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 17:45, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Virus problem, help appreciated

Resolved

 – Darigan (talk) 00:10, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi, I've picked up a virus that has changed my screen background blue, with the warning "Warning!Your're In Danger! Your Computer Is Infected With Spyware!......", and something called 'System tool' uses constant alerts to try to flog me some anti-spyware software. Now, I know that this is a scam (The grammar as much as anything else would suggest this), and having looked at forums the top suggestion seems to be to use system restore, but, system restore will not open for me. I have also tried to insall Kaspersky from my uni-student license, but while I can download kaspersky, I cannot install it - It fails in the same way as system restore. Has anybody got some straight forward (laymans terms) way to sort this out. Lots of my programmes won't run, and those that do, run very slowly. Any and all help appreciated, cheers, Darigan (talk) 21:03, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Edit - Running vista if that makes any difference, Darigan (talk) 21:04, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Do you know how you got the virus ? That is, what was the last thing you did before the problem occurred ? StuRat (talk) 21:17, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I was browsing online, I think I must have picked it up from a dodgy website. Currently trying to download and install Kaspersky again. Darigan (talk) 21:20, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Did you download and execute a file ? StuRat (talk) 22:29, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

This article http://www.removevirus.org/warning-yourre-danger-your-computer-infected-with-spyware seems to cover the issue I have, but I am not familiar with the site, and am a bit worried that downloading anything from it could exacerbate the problem (If linked site is also dodgy) Darigan (talk) 21:22, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Try downloading and installing the antimalware program from Malwarebytes. Our list of steps at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing/Viruses discusses what to do if you have to reformat your hard disk and start from scratch. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:24, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi,was writing a response when windows shut the computer down because of threats - Working from my partners' now. Tried downloading the Malwarebytes software (V 1.50.1), but I get the message: "Warning! Application cannot be executed. The file FlashUtil10l_ActiveX.exe is infected. Please activate your antivirus software" - And, when I click on that alert it directs me to a window (designed to look like a windows window) asking me for bank details to purchase a 'software license' for 'System Tool'. The virus appears to be blocking me from using any tools (already installed,or newly downloaded)that might let me get rid of the virus. Is it the case that I may need torestorefactory settings? Thanks for your help. Darigan (talk) 21:59, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

The first thing I'd try is killing whatever virus is currently running. Use <CTRL> <ALT> <DELETE> to bring up the Task Manager and kill anything that seems suspicious (this is written for Windows XP, but I assume it's similar in Vista). If you kill a vital process, then you might need to reboot and start the process over. Hopefully, after you kill the currently running virus process(es), you will be able to run anti-virus scans again. However, some more sophisticated viruses are able to spawn new processes as fast as you kill them. StuRat (talk) 22:13, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

CheersStuRat, but, unfortunatly, when I use Ctrl-Alt-Del, I get the options: lock this computer; switch user; start task manager; etc. - But, when I hit "start task manager" the Ctrl-Alt-Del menu disappears (almost as if task manager was going to start),and I return to the windows interface but nothing happens. It is as though the virus is disabling all programmes that could be used to stop it functioning(Such as system restore, and the installation of Kaspersky). Darigan (talk) 22:24, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Have you tried a reboot ? (I'm not encouraging you to reboot normally, as this could make it worse, just asking if you already tried it.) If you have the ability to boot in "Safe mode", this might be a good first step toward disabling the virus. StuRat (talk) 22:28, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I have rebooted,but not using the safe-mode restart yet.I am a couple of minutes away from completeingthedownload of some anti-spyware software - If that doesn't work, I'll try the reboot and restart in safe mode fingers crossed Cheers Darigan (talk) 22:33, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

OK - Same problem as before with the latest anti-virus/spyware software I've tried (I can download it, but it won't install). I've restarted, and the computer is in 'Advanced Boot Options' - Amongst a number of options, I can "Repair your computer"(sounds promising), or start in "Safe mode"... are either of these options likely to help? (BTW - Really appreciating the feedback) Darigan (talk) 22:40, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Safe mode is likely to help, as it limits the number of things which are loaded automatically at startup (such as viruses). One potential but rare flaw in this is rootkits. I recommend rootkit revealer and (more practically) autoruns, both found here: [15]. The latter shows you what is set to load automatically and lets you turn off anything suspicious (which, of course, works best in safe mode, so the virus doesn't just undo your changes). Picking through everything that loads at startup by hand is tiresome, but educational. 213.122.11.210 (talk) 23:10, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Yea, I'd try safe mode first. It probably will stop the virus from running, but may very well stop the virus scanners, too. Let us know if this happens. The "Repair your computer" option will probably want to do a system restore, which should work, provided it was saved before the virus, but you will also lose changes made since then. StuRat (talk) 23:15, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi all, I've restored factory settings in the end - I lost quite a bit of data,which is frustrating, but I did have my more important recent work backed up on USB. The virus stopped me from installing/executing anti-virus software,and'safe-mode' didn't help either. I tried a number of options from the boot menu, but again, to no avail. Cheers for all your help tonight, I think that part of the reason I got infected in the first place was because I let my anti-virus run out (face-palm) - Silverlining: my desktop is a lot cleaner now *grinding teeth*. Cheers, Darigan (talk) 00:10, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Glad you were able to fix it. Did the virus still run, even in "Safe mode" ? StuRat (talk) 00:27, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry you lost data. May I recommend that you set up two accounts on the computer now, one account with administrator rights for installing software, and the other account with no admin rights, for daily use? If you accidentally download any malware in the future, the lack of admin rights will limit the amount of damage the malware can do to your system. Comet Tuttle (talk) 02:33, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

This seems less than ideal, unless the account with the admin rights has the foresight to install lots of anti-malware tools on the account without admin rights - and even then, I don't think they'd be allowed to operate on the more privileged account. So all it would really be good for would be seeking online advice, and since applying the advice would require switching account, and getting more advice would require switching back again, using somebody else's computer in a crisis, as the OP did, seems preferable to me. 213.122.33.172 (talk) 02:59, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I advise that if needed, you try to recover any data that you need. Just be more careful now while on the Internet. General Rommel (talk) 09:01, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Mega-unindent... FWIW this particular nasty could be picked up without downloading and running an exe. My recollection is that it relied on a browser flaw and came from adverts on innocent sites, with the advert server having been compromised. The simplest way to get rid of it was to run as an uninfected user and clean the PC - a further reason for always having separate admin and user accounts. I did this with my next-door-neighbour's PC and cleaned it in about 20 minutes.--Phil Holmes (talk) 11:20, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Unfortunately I didn't see this discussion before you restored from your backup. I've had good results from booting up in "Safe Mode with Networking", then downloading, updating and running Malwarebytes. Safe mode seems to stop the problem of the malware intefering with the execution of Marlwarebytes itself. You might want to try this if the situation recurs. Exxolon (talk) 19:12, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

VoIP and 7/10 digit dialing

I currently use FiOS Digital Voice for my home phone, which requires 10-digit dialing, even if the area code itself doesn't require it by default. Is this the general rule with VoIP systems? 98.116.108.191 (talk) 22:17, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Well, if they didn't do it that way, they would first need to determine your location to know which numbers are local. This is possible, but they must find it simpler to skip that step. Cell phones are similar, in my experience. StuRat (talk) 22:25, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

March 26

Picture of a DIN 7/16 connector?

Could anyone make a free picture of a DIN 7/16 connector ..? Electron9 (talk) 07:08, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Does the Mini-DIN connector article help? Astronaut (talk) 13:44, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm not an expert on these things but the pictures from google images look different to the ones in that article, and the RF connector article states that DIN connectors are "not to be confused with the 7/16 DIN connector" 82.43.90.38 (talk) 14:31, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Ummm, that looks very similar to a BNC connector or maybe a RF connector similar to that found on the back of a TV. Indeed the RF connector article mentions 7/16 DIN, but there is no article or image. This page does have a small, but quite clear image. This catalog from Delta Electronics Mfr Corp has detailed diagrams and other tech specs, though you would probably need to seek permission to use their material in another publication. Astronaut (talk) 00:34, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Ubuntu installation error

I get the message "Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libdbus-glib-1-2". Said package is installed. What's wrong?

I'm no expurt (!) but my wild guess would be that the software requires 32-bit libs and you're running a 64-bit system and have only the 64-bit libs. Other than that, you could try installing the dev package for it as well. Please report here if it works or doesn't! Zakhalesh (talk) 12:33, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm running a 32-bit system. No luck so far with the extra -dev packages. Quest09 (talk) 13:06, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

What are you trying to install and what tool are you using to install it? Or are you simply trying to install Ubuntu itself, as the question seems to imply? If so, what sort of system are you trying to install it on? Looie496 (talk) 17:33, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

The question should be: Installation error on Ubuntu. I am trying to install gpick with a .deb package.

If you're trying to do what's discussed in #Point and name color, above, the following Python program will show the colour (r,g,b), and will display its name if its an exact match for one of the X11 color names. I'll have to have a think about "nearest". This requires the standard Ubuntu python install, and the python-xlib package (from the standard ubuntu repository).

simple python program

#!/usr/bin/python import time, struct, Xlib.display # needs package lines = open('/etc/X11/rgb.txt').readlines() colours={} for s in lines: if not s.startswith('!'): r,g,b,name = s.split(None,3) colours[(int(r),int(g),int(b))]=name.strip() root = Xlib.display.Display().screen().root while True: pos = root.query_pointer()._data img = root.get_image(pos["root_x"],pos["root_y"], 1,1, Xlib.X.ZPixmap, 0xffffffff) b,g,r = struct.unpack('BBB',img.data[0:3]) print r,g,b, colours[(r,g,b)] if colours.has_key((r,g,b)) else "" time.sleep(0.5)

-- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 20:44, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I have worked through the vexing world of Color difference and come up with what I think does a CIE76 "nearest" function, but the results are rather unsatisfactory, leading me to believe that either I'm doing it wrong, or I have quite a pronounced colour vision problem (the former, I fear). I'll post it somewhere if anyone wants to see a bunch of arbitrary-looking numbers being multiplied together to be produce an unintuitive, and probably wrong, result. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 23:34, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

That works fine for me. Thanks. Quest09 (talk) 23:37, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Hologram

HOW CAN I MAKE A HOLOGRAM OF MY COMPANY WITH THE USE OF CORAL DRAW OR OAGEMAKER OR MS OFFICE? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.215.121.140 (talk) 14:08, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia has an article about Hologram where the section Hologram#Viewing and authoring gives tips on how they are made. You cannot do this with the PC drawing programs you mention. It is necessary to use a laser and a camera with high resolution. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 16:44, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Are you sure you really mean a hologram ? Perhaps you mean some other form of 3D image ? StuRat (talk) 18:41, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Welcome to the Wikipedia RefDesk! Please avoid typing in ALL CAPS, as it is considered the online equivalent of shouting. Thank you. Rocketshiporion♫ 20:33, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Database Transfer

I am playing around with some simple databases. I would like to transfer a small SQL database that I made on a Windows 7 VM with phpMyAdmin (3.3.9) over to a OpenSUSE VM - but opening it on MySQL workbench (5.2.31). What do I need to do to export the DB and how would I open it with MySQL workbench?24.89.210.71 (talk) 14:13, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

At the command line, MySQL datbases can be dumped with mysqldump and restored just by streaming that file into the mysql command line program (as the dump is a list of sql CREATE TABLE and INSERT commands). MySQL Workbench has a data dump tab. PHPMyAdmin has an "export" function. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 15:09, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

YouTube forcing people to have a Gmail account

I tried to sign in to YouTube, but it won't let me do it unless I sign up to Gmail. I don't want a Gmail account, as I hear they read emails to send targeted ads and probably other bad things. Is there any way around this? More unhappy people here: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/01/10/Google-Forces-Youtube-Account-Linking.aspx Thanks 92.29.127.59 (talk) 14:52, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Sign up but don't use if for email, easy--Jac16888^Talk 15:03, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

The OP seems concerned about privacy, and even just signing up for a google account now requires you to "verify" it by giving them a mobile phone number 82.43.90.38 (talk) 15:39, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

No it doesn't, just signed up another email took 2 minutes, no phone number--Jac16888^Talk 15:51, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't know what you're doing differently, but every time I have ever tried to make a google account it asks for a phone number. I just tried it again, here's a pic of the screen asking for it. Also, from googles own help pages Account verification via SMS or Voice Call. 82.43.90.38 (talk) 16:30, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I expect this depends on the IP address that is trying to open an account. Google works pretty hard to prevent Gmail from being used to send spam. Looie496 (talk) 17:30, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Note that as far as I know Google does not force you to link Gmail account. They just force you to link a Google account (at least that's what all I've read from Google says). Despite the apparent confusion of a lot of people discussing this elsewhere, a Gmail account and a Google account are not the same thing and you can have a Google account linked to a non Gmail email address and can sign up for one right here [16]. Or to put things a different way I'd go by what Google actually say rather then what random people on the internet who don't appear to know what they're talking about say. Note that it appears you can delete Gmail from your account at any time [17] (and I presume link your Google account to another email). This compares to a Live account which if linked to/signed up for with a Hotmail/Livemail address is (at least whenever I've tried it and looked in to it) permanently linked to your Live account and can't be linked to a different address. (If linked to a non Hotmail/Livemail address it can be changed.) However it appears once you are linked to Gmail you can't unlink without deleting Gmail [18]. Note sure about Yahoo never looked in to that. Nil Einne (talk) 17:57, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

It would be totally unacceptable for me to give Google/Gmail my phone number, so no more YouTube for me. 92.29.127.59 (talk) 18:35, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

You might be alright, since you're in the UK. I wasn't asked for a phone number when I signed up to gmail last year. I think it's a geographic thing, for some reason. 213.122.64.30 (talk) 19:03, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

82 is from the UK so that can't be enough. It may depend on the ISP, perhaps the fact 82 is quite dynamic doesn't help (but so is 92). Ultimately of course if as lot of people have been using your ISP to spam and your ISP hasn't done enough to stop them you're probably screwed. Nil Einne (talk) 21:40, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Occasionally when asked for a phone number and I don't want to give it, I give an obviously fake one, such as 00000-000000. Often that is good enough. -- SGBailey (talk) 20:24, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I've tried with a fake number and it doesn't work because Google sends a verification code to the number, which you have to then enter back 82.43.90.38 (talk) 20:29, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

When I've signed up for new Gmail addresses, if I put an existing Gmail address into the "what other accounts do you have" slot, they've usually let me in without verifying it. (I've tried it both ways.) What I didn't try was putting in a nonsense Gmail address in and seeing if that worked. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:47, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I just tried and it works! 82.43.90.38 (talk) 20:59, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Is there even any evidence they ever ask for a phone number when all you want is a Google account? Nil Einne (talk) 21:38, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I think they mixed it up with a Gmail account General Rommel (talk) 23:04, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I hope the EU puts their thumb down hard on privacy issues like this - I'm grateful for what they have done so far. 2.97.210.137 (talk) 22:10, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Cursor only focuses where I place it on second click when coming back to a window

Possibly relevant: on an Imac, running Mac OS X 10.6.6, using a magic mouse. Say I go to a Wikipedia article (though this is not Wikipedia specific) click edit, put my cursor at a particular place in the article, then go to an offline document that's also open on my screen to retrieve some text. When I click back into the article, I click where I want to paste what I've just copied but when I do so, my cursor does not focus where I just clicked. Instead, that first click back "invokes the page window", with the cursor blinking where I left it, and only thereafter can I place it where I want. I'm sure I will get used to this eventually but I do a lot of things by rote very quickly, such as clicking somewhere and hitting ctrl+v in almost one operation, and it's driving me a bit mad with the pasted text being placed somewhere other than where I expected it to appear (in fact it led to this bungled move, where the move rational was pasted into the new title field because of this problem).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:47, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't know if you can change this behavior, but would like to point out why they may have done it this way. Let's say you first find the place in a long page where you want to do a paste, then go and cut what you want to paste from another document. This way, when coming back to the paste page, you don't need to search for your paste location again. StuRat (talk) 18:46, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure if there was a question in the original post. But yes, your description of leaving and returning to a window is typical. I suggest you learn to manage it. -- SGBailey (talk) 20:22, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I've found it annoying when some applications work the other way. I click on it just to make it active, and then it starts doing something I don't want, because of where I clicked on the window. StuRat (talk) 20:41, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Yes, but this is not the way it's ever worked before now for me (or works now on a PC I just tried), thus my lament about it being an ingrained thing that I will have to learn to deal with if there is no fix. Is this just a difference between Apples and PCs?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:00, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

It's just the way the Mac OS people chose to do it. They value consistency, so often these things are not configurable. Here's an article about a developer trying to get 0-clicks-to-focus behavior in OS X. It's not pretty. Paul (Stansifer) 11:41, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Mouse problems - Windows Vista

Resolved: Magog the Ogre (talk) 22:09, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

So my mother is running a (really crappy unpatched) installation of Windows Vista on her desktop. The computer has major issues with going to sleep, and recently when it woke up from sleep, neither the wireless nor touchpad mouse was working. No biggie, right? Well after two restarts, it's still not working (and I am getting the blame for it because I put the computer into sleep mode... *sigh*, the burden of being computer literate among the computer illiterate). If I play with the the cursor for a really long time, I can get it to haphazardly and unpredictably move, but it's far too erratic to have any control over it. However, the touchpad mouse right and left buttons still work.

I think I need help fixing this problem, and I don't know where to start. Any ideas? Magog the Ogre (talk) 21:39, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

PS. Her last system restore point is, obnoxiously enough, over 6 months ago, so I'd rather not go with that option unless necessary. Magog the Ogre (talk) 21:48, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

First unplug the mouse, turn off the computer, plug it back in, and boot up. Does the mouse need cleaning ? It that doesn't help, reloading the mouse driver might be a good next step. If that still doesn't help, try a different type of mouse (USB versus PS/2) or a different USB port. Is this a wired mouse or wireless ? With a wireless there are also batteries and interference to consider. If this is a ball mouse, does the ball roll effortlessly ? For either a ball or laser mouse, are you using a good mouse pad ? StuRat (talk) 22:02, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Or you could have the computer "put to sleep", permanently. :-) StuRat (talk) 22:05, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Ugh. Update: Apparently when I advised my mother to replace the batteries the other day, she just got used ones out of the drawer, so the wireless mouse went dead. Also, the touchpad appears to be junked up independent of this event, which she never noticed before. Did I say something about the joys of being computer literate among the illiterate? Magog the Ogre (talk) 22:09, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

My favorite was when somebody plugged all their computer components into a power strip, then plugged the strip into itself, and wondered why nothing worked, since "everything was plugged in". :-) StuRat (talk) 22:17, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I once plugged a PDU wire into a socket on the same PDU instead of into the UPS, then spent a whole day trying to figure why my workstation wouldn't boot, and even tried replacing each the workstation's PSUs one by one with the spare! It's rather easy to get mixed up when there's a big nest of cables. Rocketshiporion♫ 07:32, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Resolved

March 27

Free Alternatives to Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition

Hello fellow RefDeskers,

  I'm still trying to build that SAN Head from last year, and so far I've put together the hardware, and now all I need is the OS. I've found Microsoft's Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition to be ideal except for its fatal flaw of costing more than the hardware itself!; so my question now is - can anyone point me to a free (either as in speech or as in beer) storage-server OS which has similar SAN functionality to WSS2008R2? (I'm not concerned with NAS capabilities, as I'm only interested in the SAN functionality, particularly the allocation of LUNs as VHDs is advantageous.)

  Thanks as always! Rocketshiporion♫ 06:28, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

If you want Microsoft software but don't want to pay the full retail price, there are great deals from Microsoft if you look around. For example, if you are a student, you might be eligible for Microsoft DreamSpark, Microsoft Campus Agreement, and MSDN Academic Alliance (all very cheap or free). If you are using Microsoft software for non-production purposes (learning, testing, and troubleshooting), there is Technet Subscriptions (from $199). If you are using Microsoft software for software development purposes, there is MSDN Subscriptions (from $699). Good luck. 118.96.164.90 (talk) 02:49, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Nope. I'm not a student, and the SAN is for production (albeit non-commercial) use. Rocketshiporion♫ 03:57, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

There are solutions out there. Googling open source SAN gives [19] but I have no idea of how well these systems perform. Taemyr (talk) 09:29, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Try FreeBSD with iSCSI ..?, also what kind of clients in terms of iSCSI/PXE support, OS etc? Electron9 (talk) 09:35, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

  Thanks for the suggestion, but to clarify - what I'm looking for is an SAN-OS that:

1. Supports both the iSCSI and Fiber Channel protocols
2. Allocates LUNs as VHDs (this is crucial for data backup reasons)
3. Can be managed via a Graphical User Interface
4. Will support both Windows and Linux clients

Rocketshiporion♫ 10:13, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I have tried Open-E's Data Storage Software v6 Lite, but didn't find it to be very functional, and couldn't get it to work properly. Rocketshiporion♫ 10:32, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Email clients supporting binary MIME

Are there any email clients supporting binary MIME#Content-Transfer-Encoding encoding method? Such email application could store email attachments in message bodies as efficiently as storing them outside as files in filesystem. -Yyy (talk) 08:21, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Variable-sized tuple class in C# or other such language

I recently had need of a C# class representing ordered pairs of any generic type, so I wrote the following:

public class Pair<T, U>
{
  private T first;
  private U second;
  public Pair(T first, U second)
  {
    this.first=first;
    this.second=second;
  }
  public T First
  { get { return first; } }
  public U Second
  { get { return second; } }
}

Now this works OK, but I came to think: sooner or later I will probably need ordered triples, ordered quadruplets, and so on. It is of course very easy to write a class such as the above for all of them, but it would be easier still if I could do something like this (not legal C#):

Tuple<3><string, int, bool> tuple = new Tuple<3><string, int, bool>("Hello world!", 6858, true);

with me having to only write one definition of the class Tuple. Is such a thing even possible in C# or any other C-based object oriented language? JIP | Talk 17:43, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Python already has tuples built in, that can be of any length you need and contain any value you want. More generally, what you're after is a variadic constructor. We can do that in Python trivially; it's trivial because Python passes the actual parameters of a function to that function as a tuple. Here's an example:

python vararg constructor
#!/usr/bin/python class Mytuple: def __init__(self, *args): self.store=args def __len__(self): return len(self.store) def __str__(self): val = "Mytuple:" for x in self.store: val += str(x)+" " return val def __getitem__(self,index): return self.store[index] a = Mytuple("Hello world!", 6858, True) print a[1]

-- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 18:24, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

That looks otherwise like what I'm after, except that what I was thinking of would have compile-time static typing, i.e. the number of items in the tuple and their types would be fixed at compile-time, and trying to misuse them would cause a compile error. Given enough time, I could be able to simulate something like the above Python sample in C# or Java or a similar language, but it would require run-time type checking. JIP | Talk 18:54, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

I think you can do it statically in C++ using compile time template metaprogramming; I don't think Java's or C#'s generics mechanism will help because, as you say, they operate at runtime. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 19:28, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

In C++ you can overload templates on argument count, so you can declare tuple<>, tuple<A>, tuple<A,B>, tuple<A,B,C>, up to the maximum length you think you'll ever need. The new C++0x standard has template varargs, and I believe that can be used to declare a truly arbitrary-length tuple template. But either way, you should not write your own tuple template; you should use boost::tuple. -- BenRG (talk) 04:23, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

How do I read iPhone app code?

How do I read iPhone app code? I've heard that it exists on the phone only as binary and as such cannot be read, but even if this is true there must be a way to convert back. Some decompiler of some sort?Elatanatari (talk) 18:53, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

IOS apps are distributed as .ipa format files, which are just .zip files. Inside those is a Payload directory which contains the app's assets and its binaries. The binaries are Mach-O fat binary format. These files themselves are unencrypted, but I can't tell whether their code sections (the chunks of the file containing the actual code) are encrypted or merely cryptographically signed. If they're encrypted, you're really out of luck. If they're just signed, the OS-X disassembler otool will (reportedly) disassemble them (as will an appropriately targetted build of GNU's objdump). Even then you'd be left with a ARM architecture assembly language file, not anything like the Objective-C sources from which the program was originally compiled. There are decompilers that try to reconstruct an Objective-C source from such an asm dump (e.g. boomerang). In general, reverse engineered source isn't very nice to read, but can be understood with perseverance. Again I stress: I don't know whether the code sections are encrypted. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 20:03, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

It's not possible to encrypt code and allow the user to run it, without providing the user with the ability to decrypt it. However, compiled code is basically incomprehensible, and decompilation is of limited use, since making code readable in the first place requires great effort, and most of that is wiped out by the compilation process. Paul (Stansifer) 07:29, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Strictly speaking, only the CPU needs to decode the binary to execute it; this can be done with a key stored in a on-CPU ROM. However, unless the CPU has enough on-CPU RAM to hold the decoded image, then a computer bus analyser can recover the decoded binary. There several CPUs that come with a small PROM on their die. The PROM can be marked as inaccessible to external bus accesses. CS Miller (talk) 10:12, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Gtalk vs. Google Talk

Is Gtalk the same as Google Talk? I presume it is as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gtalk redirects to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Talk, and googling Gtalk mostly leads to pages titled Google Talk. But where does the name Gtalk come from? I see Gtalk (or GTalk, gtalk or gTalk) used much more often than Google Talk. --Mortense (talk) 19:24, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

I think so. It's in the same style as Gmail, and there appears to be only one protocol involved. Shadowjams (talk) 21:30, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

I think its the same situation as Gmail vs Google Mail, where Google was forced to give up one name because it was already trademarked in certain regions and continues to use it everywhere else. The products are the exact same and its just a matter of names that avoid trademark infringement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roberto75780 (talk • contribs) 03:25, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Samsung Wave Apps

Can the Samsung Wave run unsigned apps, a la Android or jailbroken iPhone? --Melab±1 ☎ 19:59, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Intel PC Camera

I want to connect my Intel PC webcam type CS120 to a PC running Vista but lack the necessary driver. On the web I have found only driver sources that demand payment, installation of a scanning program, and/or registration with e-mail address. Is there any free source of the driver? Cuddlyable3 (talk) 20:06, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

You can always get a fake email address, for free, just long enough to satisfy their silly requirement. Gmail is one option. StuRat (talk) 23:08, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Ummm, tricky. That particular webcam seems pretty old, so old that the Intel Support Download centre doesn't list it (or any other webcam). Resorting to Google, I tried a few sites and got dead links. Beware that some sites have a prominent "Download now" link that is actually a banner ad to another site; the dead download link is much less prominent. I've never encountered a driver download site that demands payment or installation of more software, although I have had to sign-up before (use a disposable web mail address for this, if you don't already). To be honest though, it might be easier and better to buy a new webcam - they range from £5 to £30 or more from many suppliers. Astronaut (talk) 23:55, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

HP software in Chinese

I have recently purchased a HP Officejet 4500 printer with the installation CD installing only in Chinese. Regardless, I installed the programs. Furthermore, I just scanned a postcard and it created the PDF file in a folder listed in Chinese. How do I switch the program to English? Is this a software issue? --Blue387 (talk) 20:43, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Either take it back to the store where you bought it and demand they supply you with an English language install disk (shouldn't be too hard to do this in New York). Alternatively visit http://www8.hp.com/us/en/support-drivers.html and download a new driver and all the bloatware you want. Astronaut (talk) 23:21, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

The ever growing tentacles of Google

While I like "good" Google, I do not like "evil" Google. Despite their "Don't be evil" motto, I do not like the "bait and switch" privacy policy, where at first they bait you in by offering goodies without any personal information demands, but then switch to demanding personal information so that they can take over the world use us as targeted advertising fodder. Another example is gathering people's wifi details "by mistake", sure. Its like the Stasi, where they put their information together to have a file on everyone.

Supposing I wanted to boycot all of Google and its sub-companies under different names, what should I avoid please? What could I use instead? Thanks 2.97.210.137 (talk) 22:23, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

See Internet privacy#External links. -- Wavelength (talk) 22:49, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

You are in luck my freind, because boycotting Google is much easier than boycotting Microsoft. Just keep using its rival Empire's software from Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple etcetera. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roberto75780 (talk • contribs) 03:23, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple are not obviously better than Google. I think they're worse. Perhaps Yahoo isn't worse, but only because it has less power. -- BenRG (talk) 03:55, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Lumping Microsoft, Apple and Google together implies you are thinking of product lock-in. The OP seems concerned about privacy, which is a different kettle of fish. I would not advise trying to answer the question "how can I avoid dealing with any company which is slightly morally transgressive?", since (quite apart from cynicism about everybody being awful) it's a somewhat subjective question. 81.131.30.20 (talk) 07:46, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Though potentially embarrassing and vaguely intrusive, the objective of targeted advertising is to tell you about things you might like, which doesn't seem all that evil a goal. I'm not aware of the Stasi offering people cheap consumer goods and holidays. 213.122.12.61 (talk) 08:53, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

The Soviets certainly offered consumer goods to party officials (in foriegn currency shops) and holidays to model works. Presumably that applied to East Germany too. The Nazis definately did the former, from stolen Jewish property, but I think their plans for holidays in that giant hotel on the the Baltic coast that they built got cancelled due to the war. 92.15.14.99 (talk) 12:39, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Are there any companies which use a different name but are in fact owned by Google? I thought Yahoo was, but the comments above suggest not. YouTube is. Android is I believe Googleware. Any others please? Thanks 92.15.14.99 (talk) 11:16, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

In addition to products with "Google" in the name, Google subsidiaries and affiliated projects include: YouTube, Blogger, Orkut, DoubleClick, On2 Technologies, Picnik, Aardvark, AdMob, Android, Keyhole, Inc., and GeoEye. Presumably there are others as well. Yahoo however is not affiliated with Google. Dragons flight (talk) 12:06, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

March 28

Using WebGL in Firefox 4

Every time I try watching WebGL examples in demos.mozilla.org I get this message:

Unfortunately, while your browser supports WebGL, your video drivers may be too old. To view any of the demos tagged with WebGL, try updating your drivers at NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel.

I have updated everything I was offered to update after doing this test, but I still get that massage. I also tried to change the settings in 'about:config' (as suggested here), but that 'enabled_for_all_sites' doesn't exists anymore, and was replaced with 'disabled' (which is set to false).

Can it be fixed somehow? Thanks a lot, 212.143.55.119 (talk) 08:47, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Why computer manufacturers disable CPU virtualization capacity by default?

The first time I'm aware of this is on Microsoft website, when I was downloading Windows Virtual PC. After some VMware Workstation installation, I can see all computers, both desktop and laptop, on which I installed it, have virtualization disabled by default. On my laptop (Phenom II N930), the BIOS says something like this: "Hardware virtualization technology is designed for specialized software to allow many virtual machines to run separately from each other. If your computer does not have specialized software, HP recommends this feature being disabled." So is that any bad when this feature is being disabled? By the way, is emulation speed faster when it is enable? I'm a bit lazy to test it myself because even with virtualization enabled, the virtual machine seems too slow for gaming compared to the host. -- Livy the pixie (talk) 10:38, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

I can't comment on why they leave it off (maybe they figure that the less users can do with computers, the less they can get into trouble?), but virtualization generally has a pretty small time overhead, since userland code is permitted to run unimpeded (though it occurs to me that there will be a bit of extra time taken for painting things to the screen. If it's poorly implemented, that could be a bit costly.). Gaming may work poorly because the virtualization software doesn't have good graphics card support. Paul (Stansifer) 11:20, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

32GB DIMM

  The only 32GB DIMM I've been able to find is Samsung's M393B4G70AH0-CH9 - which other manufacturers make 32GB DIMMs, and which manufacturers have motherboards which support 32GB DIMMs? Thanks as always. Rocketshiporion♫ 11:56, 28 March 2011 (UTC)