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July 30

Convert function

How do I find how to use the WP convert function to express a quantity in different units? Example {{convert inches|mm}}. I've exhausted all the search tools, including WP search, looking for "convert" but can't find anything even close. Santamoly (talk) 01:33, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

What exactly are you trying to do? Template:Convert has instuctions for inches - e.g.,

• {{convert|15|in|mm}} for 15 inches (380 mm)
• {{convert|380|mm|in}} for 380 millimetres (15 in)

If that helps. ^Avic_ennasis @ 02:30, 28 Tamuz 5771 / 30 July 2011 (UTC)

I was trying to find the function to show someone how to do it, but I couldn't find it (I didn't know that it's called a "template"). Searching for "convert" was getting me nowhere. Be that as it may, the template "| fuel_capacity = 15 litres (4.0 US gallons)" also gets me nowhere. I can't get it to display a result on the page we're editing. Santamoly (talk) 06:07, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

If you get rid of the "convert", and put in something simple like "fuel_capacity = HI MOM", you'll see that that doesn't show up either. Your problem has nothing to do with Template:Convert, and everything to do with Template:Infobox automobile, which has no fuel_capacity parameter. From the history, it looks like fuel_capacity used to be there, but was removed a year ago. 67.162.90.113 (talk) 09:47, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Excellent feedback. Thanks. I'd never have found this otherwise. Santamoly (talk) 20:45, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Site not appearing in google search

i have created a free website in weebly, but my site is not appearing in google search. please advice why is it happening? --U9m0 (talk) 01:44, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Google has a FAQ page that explains this in great detail. At the end of the day, you the website-owner need to understand one critical fact: Google is not obligated to index you. Any search-query, search-result, or page-rank that you are given by Google is at Google's discretion. They may choose to use an algorithm, or any other criteria at all, to decide when and whether your page shows up in search results. Nimur (talk) 01:53, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

When did you create the website? Even if Google would want to index it, it takes time for their webcrawler to locate it. If nothing links to it, they may not be able to locate it at all. Looie496 (talk) 02:02, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Malware cold calling

Has anybody in the UK had a phonecall from a number with the are code 02032 claiming to be a company which has surveyed computers in the area and found the user has downloaded malware? Is it genuine or is it, as I suspect, a rous to get personal details? TheRetroGuy (talk) 12:11, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

How would they know what you've downloaded? Sounds like a scam. Even if it isn't there's no harm in reporting them to your telecomms provider. Whenever I get a cold call I always ask them who they wish to speak to. If they don't know my name I just hang up.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:27, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

They actually asked for me by name and asked me to confirm my address. They got it right, which made me wonder, but then as I'm in the phone book it wouldn't be difficult to get those details. I started to smell a rat when they told me about the malware thing. I thought much the same as you, and put down the phone. The guy then had the nerve to call me back and ask if I'd hung up on him. Can't believe some people. Reporting them sounds like a sensible idea to me. Cheers TheRetroGuy (talk) 12:35, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

I've reported it to Consumer Direct, which apparently passes on information to the Office of Fair Trading and Trading Standards. Unfortunately I don't know the company's name because the individual I spoke to spoke heavily accented English, and it was obviously not his first language, but I've given them as many details as I can, including their telephone number. Cheers again and thanks for your help and advice. TheRetroGuy (talk) 12:57, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

It's a scam: Received phone call saying I had malware (impersonating Microsoft) Unilynx (talk) 13:21, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Even if they know your name and 'phone number, how do they know how that's related to your computer. It's a well known scam. --Phil Holmes (talk) 17:17, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

I guessed it was a scam, but just wanted to make doubly sure. TheRetroGuy (talk) 19:16, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

I know someone who received a call like this in NZ and asked the caller how they knew it was him e.g. what the IP was that was alleged infected with malware and possibly other questions. The caller seemed to get angry and eventually hung up. Nil Einne (talk) 17:37, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Google Instant Search etc = Evil

Is there any way to turn off the extremely irritating Google Instant Search without using cookies? I call it Instant Search, but apparantly there are several bad things that are very similar: Instant Search, Autocomplete, Query Predictions, Google Suggest, and perhaps others.

It keeps trying to guess - always wrongly - the word I am typing from the first few letters. Whatever it is I want to turn it off as it is extremely irritating.

I need to turn it off without using cookies, as several of my security programs delete all of them.

I use Firefox. I have tried the two different URLs that are supposed to turn off Instant Search, but neither of them work for me. I have tried two different Firefox add-ons, but neither completely cure this problem.

Googleenhancer does thankfully allow you to return to Classic Google, which I much prefer to Instant Search, but then I loose image previews etc. By the way while it says in Googleenhancer that changing the number of results found to any number other then ten turns off Google Instant, I think this is a mistake and that what they should have said is that while Google Instant is on you can only get ten results returned. I wish Googleenchancer could be made to allow you to differentiate more between the google features you can turn on or off - not just "classic" or nothing.

OptimiseGoogle apparantly allows you to turn off Google Suggest, but it does not seem to work - I still get the irritating Instant Search.

Are there any other Firefox add-ons that can turn off Google Instant Search and similar annoyances? 92.29.124.70 (talk) 21:01, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

See this post and your preferenceSmallman12q (talk) 21:44, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the first link which included something new: "Switch to Firefox and modify "general.useragent.extra.firefox" in about:config (which Chrome does not support) to say "I hate Google Instant". This disables Google Instant, as others have pointed out, but makes Google think I don't like Chrome..........It doesn't matter what you modify "general.useragent.extra.firefox" to, I use "No Instant on". If you want to undo it you right click on "general.useragent.extra.firefox" and select "Reset" and it will put the current version number of Firefox back in."

The second link does not work because it requires cookies (or "rats" as I prefer to call them). 92.29.124.70 (talk) 22:54, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

I tried the suggestion above about changing general.useragent.extra.firefox but firefox5 only allows you to change it from true to false and back, not alter what it says, and neither of them solve the problem. Is there some way I could change the text as suggested?

Some one else suggested using NoScript to defeat it, but although I have NoScript installed, I don't know how to do that. 92.29.124.70 (talk) 23:14, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

When I had similar frustrations, I found the same post above and used the solution mentioned in step C: I bookmarked http://www.google.com/?complete=0. It works even with cookies completely blocked. It lets you type in the box on the Google homepage without the autocomplete drop-down list of suggestions and without instantly going to the search results page. --Bavi H (talk)

More information: Google Instant is the feature where after you type a letter in the box on the Google homepage, it immediately takes you to search results, and keeps refreshing the results while you continue typing. I'm comfortable using cookies created by the Preferences page to disable Google Instant, but then the homepage uses autocomplete: a drop down box appears with guesses of the rest of the word or phrase I'm typing. There's no preference to disable that, but adding ?complete=0 at the end of the homepage address works. --Bavi H (talk) 03:06, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

alternatively, rather than 'defeating' google's features, there are other search engines available. Not using google is probably more effective, ableit infinitesimally, at conveying your dissatisfaction.Cander0000 (talk) 06:20, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

If you're looking for a plain search, try scroogle which scrapes google and is cookie free...Smallman12q (talk) 17:21, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

the 'size' of a bit

is it possible to give a SIMPLE answer to how big is a bit? Is it 1 letter? say you have the letter T. is 1 bit the whole letter? or, is the top of the T 1 bit and the trunk another? or an h is the long vertical 1 bit and the horizontal curve another, while the short downstroke another? Is there a way to explain this to me so I know just what I'm being charged for on my laptop? howabout 1 playing tile in dominos? Thank you hottoddie13 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hottoddie13 (talk • contribs) 21:41, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

A bit is nothing but a number that is either 0 or 1. It can also be represented as "yes or no", or "true or false". The letters T and h can't be represented in 1 bit, nowhere near so. The English 26-letter alphabet needs 5 bits to describe it, and even that only includes the letters' index numbers from 1 to 26. If you want to describe the graphical shape of the letters, you need hundreds of bits, if not even more. JIP | Talk 22:24, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

To put it another way, a bit is something that can store one out of two possible values. What the values are depend on how the bit is used. For example, a single bit could be used to store yes or no, on or off, up or down, or so on depending on the way the bit is used.

If you use two bits, you can store one out of four possible values (2 × 2). Three bits gets you eight possible values (2 × 2 × 2). And so on.

Can you tell us more about the bits you're being charged for on your laptop? We might be able to provide better examples for your situation. --Bavi H (talk) 23:42, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

If you're asking about bytes (as in hard drive space), a byte is 8 bits. Each byte can express one of 256 different values. At its most simple level, those can be used to just write very simple text documents (you could think of each letter as being a byte in size). More likely though is that the bytes are symbolic in a binary way and are used to represent lots of different types of data. The amount of bytes necessary depends on the type of data it is. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:52, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Because you are discussing the parts of the display of letters on your screen, you may be confusing "bit" with "pixel". A pixel is a tiny little spot on your screen that may be set to a color. It is not divisible. A pixel is entirely a single color at any point in time - such as red or yellow or tangerine. The top line of a T may be 1 pixel tall. It may be 2 pixels tall. It may be 100 pixels tall. That has to do with how many pixels tall the font is when it is being displayed. Further, there is no such thing as the size of a pixel. It may be 1/16" on your monitor and 1/24" on mine. People who try to transition from print media to web media often try to introduce the silly notion of "pixels per inch", but it doesn't work out well. A pixel is however big a pixel is on your monitor. Similarly, the physical size of a bit in your computer depends on the electronics. It could be the size of a subatomic particle (if you are a well-funded researcher doing quantum computing) or it could be a 1/4" LED on the front of your computer that turns on when your hard drive is accessed. -- kainaw™ 02:54, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

If they did mean to ask about screen pixels, we should point our that the most common methods in use today assign either 24 bits or 32 bits to each pixel. This allows each pixel to have millions or billions of shades/colors. StuRat (talk) 07:05, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

You also asked about a playing tile in dominoes. Assuming you are using a double 6 set, there are then 7 possible numbers on each side (0-6), so that gives us 49 possible values. Those could be represented with 6 bits, since 2^6 = 64 values, which is more than enough. If you use double 9 dominoes, there you have 100 possibles tiles, so need 7 bits, since 2^7 = 128. For double 12 dominoes, you have 169 tiles, and would need 8 bits, since 2^8 = 256. StuRat (talk) 07:02, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Actually, in a set of double-six dominoes, there is only one domino for each combination of numbers 0-6 and 0-6, order doesn't matter. (The 4-5 domino is the same as the 5-4 domino: There's only one domino with both 4 and 5.) Thus, there are 28 dominoes in a double-six set, and you could use 5 bits to index them. Higher domino sets work the same way. --Bavi H (talk) 23:08, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Using the chart there, I get the following values:

Domino Set  Tiles  Bits Needed
==========  =====  ===========
Double-6      28   5-bit =  32
Double-9      55   6-bit =  64
Double-12     91   7-bit = 128
Double-15    136   8-bit = 256
Double-18    190   8-bit = 256

StuRat (talk) 23:23, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

I am going to infer that within the context of being charged for bits, the original poster is curious about what he gets in a "64-bit" computer rather than a "32-bit" computer; or wants to know the difference between 3 megabits per second charged by his Internet Service Provider as opposed to the less expensive 1.5 megabit per second speed. Original poster: If the former is the case, the differences are that a 32-bit PC can usually use only around 3GB or 3.5GB of RAM, and that a 64-bit PC is faster with some applications (like Adobe Photoshop or 3D rendering software). If the latter is your question, then the difference is the measurement of how many millions (megabits) or thousands (kilobits) of data per second can be sent over your ISP connection. Each bit is either a 1 or a 0. If you want to get a sense for what that means for the types of files you use every day, open up a window and look at the file size of your MP3 files (or whatever you use a lot). Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:03, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Nokia C5-00 and e-mail

I just found out I can make my Nokia C5-00 read and send my e-mail just by typing my e-mail address and my IMAP password in the phone's e-mail configuration page. This is just great, but what if I want it to stop doing it? At the very least, a reason for doing so would be that the phone continuously checks for new messages, and if any arrive, sounds a loud beep, which can be distracting. It could also add to my packet data bill. There isn't any option in the e-mail application to turn e-mail accounts off. Should I try to deliberately misconfigure my e-mail address or my IMAP password? JIP | Talk 22:18, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

The User Guide shows how to Disconnect the mailbox to "cancel the synchronisation between the device and the e-mail server, and to work with e-mail without a wireless connection". (See User Guide - E-mail or Nokia C5–00 User Guide, page 37.) Is that option available on your phone? --Bavi H (talk) 22:59, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes, it is. I have tried it, and it stops the synchronisation until I access the e-mail again, at which point it sometimes starts the synchronisation again without asking me. There is no way to delete or disable e-mail accounts, just to stop the synchronisation. The synchronisation doesn't delete messages from the server, so I can receive them just as well in Evolution on my Fedora 12 Linux system, which I use as my main e-mail recipient, the phone only as a secondary one, so the only problem I have is with the continuous checking, which leads to distractions and increased phone bills. JIP | Talk 23:04, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

If you put in wrong information, it'll surely still connect and try to establish an IMAP connection, fail, and still you'll incur packet data traffic. What happens if you just blank the name/password fields? Isn't blanking them Nokia's way of deconfiguring the email account? -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 23:12, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

July 31

Co-op Puzzle Games: are there any?!

A friend and i are looking for a LAN/internet co-op puzzle game, but we cant find any!

We are thinking something like the popular game MYST, except maybe one person has to stand on some lever while the other person does this or that. In a way that you have to work together to advance. Does anyone know of any games that incorporate this idea or are similar?

Thanks!

216.173.144.164 (talk) 01:23, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Portal 2 perhaps?

APL (talk) 02:03, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

That's what we thought would first come up, lol. Thanks, but does anyone know any others? :)

216.173.144.164 (talk) 02:37, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Little Big Planet. Some puzzles require 4 players to solve. -- kainaw™ 02:47, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Looks nice, and i might look into that one :) However, I feel i must narrow the scope just a tad bit further and say we are hoping for games for the PC. Thank you very much for the help so far! 216.173.144.164 (talk) 03:05, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

There's an article List of cooperative video games. The list of puzzle games is short, but there might be some in other categories (I noticed The Lost Vikings, for example, categorized as a platformer). -- BenRG (talk) 07:51, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Antivirus updates

I'm sitting at work with three computers running, are wired to the same router, and all have Avast!. About five hours ago the back up computer announced an update with the main computer updating about an hour later. Then ten minutes ago my laptop updated. Why such a range of time? I would have thought they would all update about the same time. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 12:01, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

If all the machines in the world that run Avast do stuff at the same time, they'll gang up and beat the heck out of Avast's update server. So you'd typically jitter the times (probably with a random number of minutes from 0-59) at which a given machine did its update, to level out the load. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 12:16, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 03:19, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Can VirtualBox use more than 4GB of physical memory of hosted on a 32-bit version of Windows?

Can VirtualBox use more than 4GB of physical memory of hosted on a 32-bit version of Windows? Is it still limited by the host operating system's inability to address more than 4GB of memory? --98.114.98.196 (talk) 13:14, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Using PAE I don't see why not. It might take you longer to work out the bugs than it would to earn money for a 64-bit processor, though, dunno. ¦ Reisio (talk) 16:22, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Well technically, with PAE enabled the host OS itself isn't limited to 4GB anymore either. Unilynx (talk) 18:26, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes. According to the documentation: In addition, the "Enable PAE/NX" setting determines whether the PAE and NX capabilities of the host CPU will be exposed to the virtual machine. PAE stands for "Physical Address Extension". Normally, if enabled and supported by the operating system, then even a 32-bit x86 CPU can access more than 4 GB of RAM. This is made possible by adding another 4 bits to memory addresses, so that with 36 bits, up to 64 GB can be addressed. Some operating systems (such as Ubuntu Server) require PAE support from the CPU and cannot be run in a virtual machine without it. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:19, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

I seriously doubt that VirtualBox attempts to search for physical RAM that isn't known to the host OS. If the host OS sees only 4GB of your 16GB of physical RAM then you won't be able to use the rest for anything, even in VirtualBox. If the host OS sees the full 16GB then VirtualBox can probably use it all even if the host OS is 32-bit with /PAE, but I don't think that was the question. -- BenRG (talk) 19:34, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Hmm, maybe. It seems to mean that if the host OS has PAE supported and is showing more than 4GB, then VirtualBox can understand that and use that as well. But VirtualBox can only see how much RAM the host OS exposes to it. Apparently 32 bit Windows limits the visible RAM to 4GB even with PAE enabled. Which would seem to imply that maybe VirtualBox will never see that RAM exposed. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:35, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Must have your help! (appending sound tracks)

It's so important for me! - a program that will make the 100+ sound tracks i have, into one long track (100 mp3 files into 1 file). while they start ordinarily (one after his precursor).

thanks!. 109.67.6.184 (talk) 18:36, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

I added to your title to make it more useful. StuRat (talk) 18:51, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

If you're rolling in money, Adobe Premiere will certainly let you do this. If not, try Audacity. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:06, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Using SoX (with the mp3 plugin, which often isn't distributed with it for legal reason):

     sox --combine sequence *.mp3 merged.mp3

-- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 19:32, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

why is counterstrike so popular?

Why is counterstrike still so popular, even on old computers? (e.g. at net cafes all over the world, from the richest to the poorest countries). is there something technically that it got especially "right" like in Networking (quickly flawlessly join servers, etc). By comparison, someone said that the reason Skype succeeded so big was its ability to break through corporate firewalls...so I'm wondering if the game Counterstrike got something especially "right" to be so popular and ubiquitous. Thanks. 89.135.188.193 (talk) 19:25, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

I can't back this up with a reference, but I personally think it was a 'perfect storm' of a couple of different things :

1) Counterstrike first became popular at a time when most FPS games were rather goofy and unrealistic. (You know the kind, where machine-guns are like garden hoses and handguns are worthless.) Counterstrike appealed to people who wanted a solid multiplayer experience with at least "movie realism".

2) It was originally built on top of the hugely popular "Halflife".

3) A dedicated community of mod-makers and level-designers sprang up early on, and became large enough to be self-sustaining.

4) And it had a number of features which were pretty innovative for the time: The idea that once a player is killed he's out for the rest of the round. The idea that online multiplayer games could be based around "objectives" beyond simple capture the flag.

All these things added up to give it a really dedicated fan-base who weren't willing to give it up just because something newer had come out.

So I don't think there's one single thing you can point to and say "This is the thing Counterstrike got right." It's more a matter of having just the right features at just the right time. APL (talk) 02:06, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud Node - Default # of VMs / CPU Core

Resolved

Hello Fellow RefDeskers!

  I refer to the Ubuntu Community Documentaion page which pertains to installation of Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud. It is stated that by default EUCALYPTUS will only run one VM per CPU core on a Node, in regard of which I have a few questions, as I'm a bit confused.

1. Does the one VM refer to a single vCPU or to a VM with any number of vCPUs?
2. Does the per CPU core refer to a physical CPU core or a single physical thread (which is a logical CPU core)?

  TIA as always. Rocketshiporion♫ 20:02, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Each instance must have at least a "core" (virtual CPU thread) assigned to it, but you can always increase the number of "cores" in a node beyond a node's limit by setting the "MAX_CORES" configuration entry. 118.96.158.221 (talk) 15:35, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

That was just the information I was seeking! Thank you, 118.96.158.221! Rocketshiporion♫ 23:33, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Is there a mapping application that computes distance given waypoints?

Hi, experts. Looking for a capability in someone's web app (i.e., not smartphone app), so far unsuccessfully. What I want is to supply a set of waypoints -- which can be clicks on a map -- and have the software tell me the resulting route distance.

Google Maps comes close, but isn't really what I want because I have to tell it destinations and allow it to compute the route; this doesn't really match my case when I don't HAVE a destination, and isn't particularly user-friendly if you want to make a circular route that returns to the starting point.

Anybody aware of something that's a better fit for my needs?

Traveling salesman problem#External links? 67.162.90.113 (talk) 21:21, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Overkill -- I'm not trying to optimize anything, I just want to know the length of an arbitrary route. Thanks for the prompt response, though! --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 22:02, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

To clarify, do you want the straight line distance between each pair of points, or the distance along roads and such ? StuRat (talk) 22:09, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Good question. Ideally, along roads or paths; but I'd think that I could simulate sufficient detail with any old straightline distance -- on a map background. --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 22:36, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

googlepedometer is your friend. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:09, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Indeed -- that looks spot-on! --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 22:36, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

[20 minutes later:]

Resolved

 – Oh, yeah, baby! -- That's the one!

This should help, but doesn't

GMaps tries to make the "select a destination" bit clickable by offering the option of right-clicking on their map. This does pop up a menu, but it's OVERLAID by the browser's own right-click menu. I have this issue with a couple of applications -- does anyone know how to prevent Firefox from stomping on somebody else's menus?

Thanks, as always! --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 21:00, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Hold down the alt key while right clicking the mouse. (Can't guarantee this will work in all apps, but it does the trick on Google maps.)--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:21, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Excellent -- how do you find out such tricks? I feel particularly obtuse in this case because I tried ctrl-right-click and shift-right-click ... neither of which worked, so I gave up! --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 01:16, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I believe it was asked on this desk about a year ago. I didn't know until then.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:17, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

GM Distance measuring tool

There is a tool within Google maps, but it's kind of hidden. You have to be logged in to Google.

• Click the "Cog" button in top right corner.
• Select "Map Labs"
• Enable "Distance Measurement Tool"
• The tool is switched on/off by clicking the new "ruler" button at the map's bottom left.

It measures only by straight line, not following the paths. No such user (talk) 13:56, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

HDMI PC to TV connection

I am trying to connect my Dell XPS 15 laptop to a Sony Bravia LCD TV with an HDMI cable. However, after plugging in the cable at both ends, the TV comes up with a message saying "invalid format." Research on Google seems to indicate that this is a problem with the laptop's resolution, but I've tried changing that multiple times. Any guidance on this issue? --Simeon24601 (talk) 21:43, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

You probably need to cycle the display so that the display only goes to the external output (so that the laptop screen is blank). I have a bravia too, and it is much less forgiving of screen sizes that it doesn't like than are other TVs (others are better at black-framing smaller screens than the bravia is). -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 21:46, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

I have tried that, but the TV keeps saying invalid format. What screen size works for you? --Simeon24601 (talk) 21:51, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

1280x768 @ 60Hz. The nVidia control panel also (falsely) claims that the TV's native resolution is 1024x768. Mine is a relatively small Bravia, and it's a few years old, so newer, and larger, ones will likely accept higher resolutions. I'm using DVI, incidentally, not HDMI. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 21:59, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

I find that the order in which you boot the devices matter. So, with the cable still connected, try rebooting the computer with the TV left on a couple times, then try restarting the TV with the computer left on a couple times. Then maybe repeat the entire cycle once more. Hopefully one of those tries will work. StuRat (talk) 22:06, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks everyone. I got it to work be fiddling in the nVidia control panel. However, now the TV insists on overscanning and cropping off the edges of the image. I don't know where to turn that off, although I've looked through all of the options menus on the TV. Have you ever encountered this? --Simeon24601 (talk) 22:21, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Strange sounds accompanying file operations on my MP3 player

When I connect my MP3 player to this computer and start copying files or deleting files, sometimes I hear sounds in my earphones. Like fast ticking or clicking, a little bit like dial-up noise. What are these sounds? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.74.50.52 (talk) 22:28, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

It might be intentional, to let you know the copying is still in progress. StuRat (talk) 22:31, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

When a sufficiently low-resistance speaker is near any magnetic field it will cause interference. It might be from the USB cable. I doubt they'd use a modem sound as their "file copying" sounds.

Blue lines on screen -- at my wit's end!

I'm running Windows XP SP3 with a Sapphire Radeon 9600SE graphics card (http://www.amzn.com/B000QTXONU) with a HP S2031a widescreen LCD monitor (http://www.amzn.com/B004G8QO5M). The last few days I've been getting lots of blue lines running horizontally across the screen especially in the lower half. I thought it might have been the monitor, but it did the same on another one. I reduced the screen resolution but I still have the same problem. Then I wondered if it was a problem with the cable or something, so I changed that and it did the same thing. I took a screenshot using the PRT SCRN button and checked the image on another computer, and I was suprised to find that the blue lines are part of the image, so it's not a "projection" issue, but perhaps a way the graphics are being rendered. See: http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt5/mewikime/untitled.jpg

any ideas about how do I fix this? I'm ready to tear my hair out! Also, not sure if this is related, but my sound is working intermittently. I just hope my mother board isn't rejecting the sound and graphics cards. Thanks, Matthewedwards :  Chat  23:40, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm thinking that either the graphics card is bad or the driver for it is bad. You might try turning the computer off, pulling the board out, then booting it back up. Many computers have lower function built-in graphics which kick in if the premium board is absent. If so, this test should tell you if the board or it's driver are bad.

If you just get a blank screen and maybe some beeps, then your computer doesn't function without a graphics card, so this test is invalid. In that case, you need to get another graphics card to use as a test. If you don't have any handy, you might want to buy one you actually would want, try it, then return it if that doesn't fix the problem.

You can also try downloading a new driver for your graphics card, first. I think the card itself is likely the problem, but you might as well try the free things, first. StuRat (talk) 23:51, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Did you install the card yourself? One of the first things to try is just to re-seat the card, (take it out, blow some dust out and put it back in). If at all possible, try the card in a different computer. Vespine (talk) 06:01, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I have one machine with an old ATI Radeon which is also displaying horizontal lines on the screen, though they look like random noise rather than being a nice blue color. I've yanked the board and re-seated it and have the same (intermittent) issue and I have figured it's just the graphics card having gone bad, though I haven't attempted any diagnosis beyond that. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:28, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

The wording of the question indicates that the same configuration worked correctly for you until a few days ago. Is that correct, or is this a new configuration of equipment? Looie496 (talk) 19:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

That's right, a few days ago everything was fine, then one day I had a few blue lines appear. Since then the number of lines has increased and now the entire screen has a blue tint to it because the lines have all merged into one. I did take the video card out and blow in the slot and wotnot, but there was no improvement. I haven't done anything with the drivers because it's an old back-up computer and I'm not sure where to get the drivers from.

If the entire screen now has an even blue tint, that suggests a workaround: turn the blue component down on the color balance. Do you know how to do that ? StuRat (talk) 21:21, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

August 1

Blu-ray anamorphic widescreen

A similar question has been asked before but wasn't really answered.

How does the blu-ray specification handle aspect ratios wider than 16:9?

E.g., can blu-ray store a 1.85:1 video anamorphically (horizontally squeezed, resp. vertically stretched) as 16:9 rather than with native letterboxing? And which of these is the industry standard?

This info appears to be missing from Anamorphic widescreen#Blu-ray video. --195.14.223.157 (talk) 00:40, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Blu-ray only supports 16:9 video in high definition, and 4:3/16:9 in standard definition (replicating the capability of DVD). All other aspect ratios including less-wide formats like 4:3 and 1.66:1 have to be formatted with letterboxing encoded into the actual image data. Msgohan (talk) 02:03, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks! --213.168.111.33 (talk) 03:00, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Internet connection

My desktop connects to the internet, but my laptop won't. I have checked and the IP address is correct, but still won't connect. I connected router directly to laptop and it connected to google when I tried....but won't on it's own. Can anyone advise me please? I'm out of options at this point. Kendra — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kendra52 (talk • contribs) 04:14, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

My guess is that you have a wireless router, your laptop works when you plug it in, but doesn't work over Wi-Fi. Is that correct? Did it used to work? If yes the 1st thing to try is just shut everything down, the modem and or router, the laptop, everything, and then power them up one at a time, starting with the modem, then router (if you have a separate one) and finally laptop, give each at least 3 minutes before starting the next one. If that doesn't work, it could be a number of things which will also depend on what operating system you have. If you have a windows laptop, you need to get into the wireless network connection config window and see if your network is visible. If it is not, your wifi might not be enabled on the laptop, (or a number of other things). If it is visible and it is connected automatically, you could try disconnecting and reconnecting to it, if you have security set up on the router (which is a good idea) you'll need a password to reconnect, if you have no idea what the password is, you'll need to work that out before you can proceed. If none of that helps, it will require more troubleshooting. Vespine (talk) 05:52, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Are you sure it's a router and not actually a cable modem? Some cable modems lock onto the mac address of your computer and will only accept connections from that mac address, so when you switch it over to the laptop it will detect the different mac address and refuse connections from it. The solution is to power off the cable modem for a little while and make sure it's connected to the laptop when you turn it on again. You will need to do this every time you switch it from the desktop to laptop and when you switch it back again. AvrillirvA (talk) 17:32, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Extract text from pdf

I have difficulties extracting the text from this pdf. I'd appreciate if somebody could extract the text and either upload it somewhere or drop it in my sandbox or teach me how to do it myself. The text is written vertically and starts at the top right. I'd need it in plain text in order to more easily translate it with a computer. Information will go into this articl I am working on. Thanks. bamse (talk) 11:06, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Why can't you just highlight each page of text, hit Control-C or use the Apple command for "copy", and then paste it into Notepad or whatever Apples call the corresponding program? It works for me. Nyttend (talk) 17:03, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

A common form of PDF files is basically a photo of text, not the text itself, making that form of copy unlikely to work. In such a case, you might need to resort to OCR, or simply retype it. Note, however, that copying large sections from others sources is not allowed. If you wish to quote a line or two, that's probably easiest to just retype. StuRat (talk) 17:35, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

This is not photo-text, however it's in Japanese and uses nonstandard fonts. I'm afraid it will take somebody familiar with Japanese to know how to handle this. Looie496 (talk) 19:17, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

re Nyttend: It usually works for me in the way you describe, however not with the file here. For instance on page two I can highlight/copy the first column of text (=first column from right after titles), but not the second column (=the column just to the left of it).

re StuRat: I don't want to quote the text itself in wikipedia. I am just trying to get the text in computer-readable form in order to translate it (since my Japanese is limited) and only then I would cite the information contained in it (but not as direct quote). "Simply" retyping could be an option, but I'd prefer a quicker method if available.

re Looie496: What do you mean by "nonstandard fonts"? Non-latin, or unusual fonts as for representing Japanese? bamse (talk) 22:39, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I only mean that on my American Windows 7 system, Adobe's PDF reader had to download and install a font package in order to allow copy+paste on that document. I probably have never looked at a Japanese PDF file before. Looie496 (talk) 22:48, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Both pdftotext and Okular will successfully extract the text, buuuut the format of the original document is such that the text document this process yields is very badly disordered. As far as I can tell, columns are upside down, with some stuff missing and lots of chars in mad places. Looking at the document, I rather think this is is caused by an OCR program, which has treated the document as a random salad of glyphs rather than contiguous coherent text. Given the quality of stuff these produce, you'd probably be better of typing it in than trying to reformat what they yield. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 23:16, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Indeed it appears to be OCR'd as there are some misspellings in the text as well. Guess, I'll have to type (draw) it in then. Thanks to all who replied. bamse (talk) 00:13, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I extracted the text and saved at your sandbox. It is not OCRed but rendered by iText 1.4.8 according to the property of the document. I tried two methods "Save as text" and "Select All (Ctrl+A) and Copy (Ctrl+C)". The both results seem to ignore Linefeed/Carriage return (ODOA). I will further investigate this issue. ―― Phoenix7777 (talk) 09:07, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Haven't checked all of it yet, but it looks much better than what I got. Strange that there are some misspelling like + ("plus") for 十 ("ten"). That's the reason why I thought it was OCR. Unfortunately the lines/columns are mixed up. Can't locate the second column on page two for instance ("る上表文の提出に端を発する藤原広嗣の乱は時の天皇*皇后の近"). bamse (talk) 09:46, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Identifying model of PowerBook G4 & Nil Startup

I have just come into possession of a second-hand Apple PowerBook G4 and charger. I have located a User's Guide Here. However the PowerBook I have does not have the six connectors on the right side (as on page 9). Instead it has them on the back edge of the G4, under a spring loaded cover. On the right hand side it has only a security slot (and what looks like a vent). The left side has what I think is a PC card slot, another vent and a headphone socket. The "Power adapter port" is on the right back corner (not the left side). It does have the "Slot-loading optical drive" on the front edge, right of the "display release button". It has a 667 MHz processor and 256MB of memory, and from the WP page detals I suspect that it may be a Titanium PowerBook G4 'Onyx'or 'Ivory'.

Can anyone identify the exact model? and perhaps advise me, as although the machine seems to be charging, it won't start up when I press the 'power' button.- 220.101 talk^\Contribs 11:17, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

It's certainly a Titanium Powerbook - I still have one of those lying around (my first Apple), although I have the last generation 1GHz machine. You can distinguish between Onyx and Ivory by looking at the display connector - Onyx has VGA (medium sized trapezoid), Ivory has DVI (big square with many pins). You need to keep the power button pressed for a while before the machine starts - if that does not help, neither can I. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 11:52, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

'Ivory' it is then! Thanks Stephan. I googled around a bit more and found Powerbook G4 Titanium 550/667 Repair Guide, which may be of interest to you too. I think the G4 is actually turning on, as the caplock light works, but no video and no sound of HDD activity. Should I expect any noise? A shame if it is unserviceable.

I ttook me a while to find the 'hidden' connectors at the back! ;) - 220.101 talk^\Contribs 12:46, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I have two more modern incarnations now, and I'm extremely happy with the Unibody MacBook Pro. My TiBook still worked the last time I tried, but the battery is completely dead and somehow wedged into the thing so that even the certified repair shop did not want to pry it out for fear of breaking the main board. Maybe your display is shot - try connecting an external display. Also, if the machine works (as the Caps Lock key indicates), the sound buttons (top row function keys) should give some audible feedback if you use them to crank up the volume. I vaguely seem to recall that with the old TiBooks, you had to press fn to get the preprogrammed special function, but I may recall wrongly - try both ways. If I remember correctly, the HDD was quite quite... --Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:08, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

If I can believe the little in-built gauge, the battery pack is ok, and comes out easily.
• Is it normal for the charger to get quite hot in use? (feels like 50-55°C)
• Yes, I will try an external display, though tomorrow perhaps! ≈ 2 AM here! - 220.101 talk^\Contribs 15:58, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Gmail Sent Mail/Sent Messages

Can anyone tell why Gmail has these two folders when surely they are the same thing? I have been told that it has something to do with the chat but I have never used the chat facility and yet some of the emails I have sent have gone into Sent Mail and some into Sent messages. I find this somewhat confusing and would welcome any advice anyone has. There seems no way to configure Gmail to remove this. (I thought of adding this as a comment on the Talk Page of the Gmail article but it seems more appropriate here.) Thanks in advance. SmokeyTheCat 12:06, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

"Sent Mail" is the normal Google Mail sent-mail folder. I don't have a "sent messages". Have you perhaps accessed your gmail account with an IMAP connection (with a mail program link like Thunderbird or Outlook)? If so, "sent messages" may be something created by that (because IMAP allows a mail client to create folders on the server); if that's the case, you can change the email client's configuration to store its sent messages in "sent mail" or wherever you like. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 12:42, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Follow-up post from a month ago - found it!

• This follow-up is for:
  • StuRat
  • Darigan and
  • Finlay McWalter
• Prior thread is at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2011 June 25#What is the weird little separator in my Firefox 5 tabs?.

It was a glitch in that the symbol does not normally appear and stay there, but it is a feature of Firefox and not a bug or incompatibility issue or extension. Check it out: Open up a few tabs in Firefox and then grab one of the tabs itself with your mouse and try to move it to a new place on your tab bar; you'll see that this symbol appeared in between other tabs to mark the spot where you are going to drop the tab you are dragging! I discovered it this morning by accident.--108.46.103.142 (talk) 12:40, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I don't have access to a Mac, but on Gnome and Windows the "tab you're moving will end up here" indicator is a little gray up-arrow, not that blue lolipop thing. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 14:00, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the follow-up. My Firefox 5.0 on Windows XP SP3 also uses the up-arrow symbol. It sounds like you have a different font loaded. StuRat (talk) 17:26, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Nine-segment displays in elevators in Germany

In many elevators in Germany, there are nine-segment displays, which differ from seven-segment displays by having two diagonal segments, that are needed to display the letter “K”, which stands for Keller(geschoss). My question: Which letters can be displayed with such nine-segment displays? --84.61.147.210 (talk) 13:22, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Not a complete answer by any means, but the article Nine-segment display suggests that one additional character is "И"... Darigan (talk) 15:09, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I don't think the original poster is referring to that particular type of nine-segment display, if it can display the letter "K" well. An uppercase "R" is feasible with the original poster's nine-segment display. A "v" is feasible. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:25, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

What about <|>, >|<, and ⍾? --84.61.147.210 (talk) 16:35, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Let's see, I assume you mean that it looks like this:

  
|/|
|\|

If so, I get the these letters.

  
| |
| |        = A

| 
| |        = B

  
|
|          = C

  |
| |        = D

  
| 
|          = E

  
| 
|          = F

| |
| |        = H

|
|          = I

  |
| |        = J

|/ 
|\         = K

|
|          = L

|\|        = N

  
| |
| |        = O

  
| |
|          = P

  
| |
|\|        = Q

  
| |
|\         = R

  
| 
  |        = S

| |
| |        = U 

| |
 \|        = V

|/
|          = Y

  
 /          
|          = Z

Obviously, some are better than others. Also note that the letter S is indistinguishable from a 5, the letter O from zero, and the letter I from a 1 (although putting the vertical line on the opposite side might help to distinguish the I for the 1, somewhat).

StuRat (talk) 17:07, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

And finally:

  
|
| |        = G

  
| |
| |        = O

--84.61.147.210 (talk) 17:13, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I had added the letter O above, but didn't think that G was recognizable, as such. You might also want to make the letter O lowercase, so it can be distinguished from a zero:

  
| |        = O

StuRat (talk) 17:18, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I have seen such displays used in hand-held electronic card games. They are needed to show the face cards with J, Q and K. — Michael J 04:23, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

I can see the A, J and K working, but the Q looks God-awful, without the slash extending below the line. StuRat (talk) 04:41, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

I agree, StuRat. However, these are relatively inexpensive product, so they undoubtedly use the simplest displays possible to get the job done.

cheap small-ish i5 or i7 pc with 4 or 8 gb ram and solid state?

Hi, I'm looking for something like the new macbook air, but in a pc from a reputable brand. It should be a small notebook (like a thinkpad) with an i5 or i7 and 4 or 8 gb ram, and definitely ssd perhaps in addition to normal hd. doesn' thave to be quite as light, beautiful as a macbook air, need it for development work. what fits this description best? good battery life too. 145.236.215.77 (talk) 14:34, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

it can be a 15-inch laptop too, it's okay. it can be bulkier. my main constraint is price (hopefully $300-$650), then cpu and ram and acceptable battery life, then ssd. 145.236.215.77 (talk) 14:36, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I'm not currently following the market, but getting a decent size SSD into that budget seems to be quite hard. Amazon seems to sell ~120GB for ~200US$ at the moment. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:52, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Google Earth polygons

Hi. Is it possible to draw polygons on Google Earth in order to calculate the area within these polygons? How about finding the highest and lowest elevations within the shapes? How do I do this? Thanks. ~AH1 ^(discuss!) 17:04, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Well you can do the polygon area on Esri ArcGIS (which is not google earth). Graeme Bartlett (talk) 22:39, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

PROJECT ON RSA ALGORITHM

I WANT TO DEVELOP A PROJECT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RSA ALGORITHM ENCRYPTION AND DECRYPTION , PLEASE SUGGEST ME THE ESSENTIAL START UPS TO WORK — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kullaanilkumar (talk • contribs)

(1) Please don't type in all-capitals. (2) What kind of project? Looie496 (talk) 19:15, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Read RSA and ask if there is something you don't understand. -- kainaw™ 19:34, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I googled "implementing RSA" and many articles came up for you to read. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:35, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

smtp for Google apps

hi, our organization uses Google apps (ie. google.com/a and click "sign in" on top-right). if our domain is xyz (so I first type xyz.com into the "sign in" on top-right of google.com/a then I type in "me" and my password) how do I get my iPhone to do the same thing? It seems very similar to gmail, but what are the pop and smtp servers, etc? Thanks... 89.135.188.193 (talk) 20:22, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I use IMAP rather than POP (but I think things are much the same for POP) for which the server (even for a hosted domain) is imap.gmail.com on port 993 with username myname@xyz.com, with SSL/TLS security and password authentication. Similarly SMTP is smtp.gmail.com on port 587 with username myname@xyz.com, security STARTTLS and password authentication. So it's still the gmail servers, which use the domain name you give in your username to differentiate you from users on other hosted domains. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 20:28, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

August 2

Maps for dummies

One of my many areas of total ignorance is map creation/alteration. The Google Maps article rather baffles me, though I do notice that commercial applications are a no-no, so anyway Google Maps is/are out, for what I want to do -- which is something like what we see at File:Maginot Line ln-en.jpg but (without wishing to offend its creator) cleaner. Ideally, I'd start off with a copyleft or PD outline of a nation, and choose a couple of dozen towns to add to it. The software (whether web- or hard-drive-based) would know where these were and add the little blobs for these towns and their names next to or near them so that these wouldn't overlap and would be legible. And the result would be copyleft or PD. Like most of us, I'm a cheapskate, and want "free as in beer"; but if it's cheap I might be persuaded to shell out. If it's computer-based then Debian would be best; but failing that, Mac OS X or Windows would be OK too. I'm sure that all of this is explained excellently on the interwebs; Google [search] is my friend, but what should I be asking it? -- Hoary (talk) 01:39, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I guess since you claim to be baffled, you might want to read about GIS to start. Software representations of geographic data range from (x,y) coordinate-pairs, to sophisticated relational databases. Typically, you see a large amount of data that gets rendered into a graphical map, or post-processed into a chart, graph, or statistics table. GIS software is used to create, modify, and view such data.

OpenStreetMap is free as in beer and speech. It is a database and a set of software. You can use it through a web interface at http://www.openstreetmap.org/ - generously hosted by University College London's VR Centre for the Built Environment. If you are inclined to try something more technically challenging, you can download a huge assortment of software that loads the O.S.M. dataset, and presents it as a static graphic, as a Geographic Information Systems database, as raw numeric data for calculations and graphical operations, and so forth. Many of these softwares are difficult to use, as they are geared toward expert users of commercial GIS systems; and many are buggy; but they are free as in beer and speech. I seem to recall using Navit to make a map some time back. Nimur (talk) 02:51, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Clearly I was even ignoranter than I'd realized. OpenStreetWare: I'd never heard of it. What an extraordinary website; and sure enough there's lots of software available for it under Debian. I'll have to start looking through this. Thank you! -- Hoary (talk) 09:46, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Where did I go wrong? (XP password bypass)

I'm sorta in charge of helping my Sister-in-Law with her computer, and she knows even less than me. She's in another country, so I help her by using Logmein. (We both have XP)

She's been having a problem with having to log in when she starts her computer, and didn't have any idea how to do that, but sometimes she's managed to get it going. I looked up how to bypass the log-in, and found several sites that recommended using START, RUN, "control userpasswords2", and unchecking the "Users must enter a username and password" box.

Before trying it with her computer, I tried it with mine, and it seemed to work, that is until I re-booted, and the screen froze while starting Windows. I tried several times, and no luck. I was able to start it in safe mode, but, as it had been a couple of years, I decided to do a clean install, and copy all my files to a new drive. That worked ok, but, several days later, she still has the problem. Obviously, given the problem I had, I'm loath to try it on hers, unless y'all can tell me where I went horribly wrong.

Also, for extra credit, if I blow it again, how can I undo it?

Thanks. Bunthorne (talk) 04:56, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure you stuffed anything up to cause that. Possibly it just flaked out, especially if you didn't have SP3, but not necessarily. Windows sometimes behaves funny if you only have the one account and it is the primary admin account AND you remove its password, i personally wouldn't recommend it even if no one else uses the computer, it does make it more vulnerable online. Before doing anything perform a manual system restore point and make yourself at least vaguely familiar with the steps of recovering from that restore point. Then at least you have a chance to get the system back to that point if something major screws up. Vespine (talk) 06:22, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Facebook profile train station option?

One of my friends was able to edit his Facebook profile to include what train station he lives near. Under his name on his profile where things like ones hometown and current city, job, etc. appear it also includes Lives near "X" Station beside a picture of a mass transit train. Clicking on the name of the station links to pages similar to the hometown ones on Facebook where it took the info from Wikipedia, but insead its about the train station. How do I find this useful option?--98.112.224.106 (talk) 05:53, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

That option is not in my profile settings. Maybe it is only available in some countries. Since nobody has yet answered here I suggest you ask your friend.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:47, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Facebook has a topic on Community pages and profile connections on their Help Center. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 15:12, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

OP here. My friend has no clue how it appeared and the link User:Gadget850 provided does not appear to answer the question. Any other ideas? 98.112.224.106 (talk) 22:13, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

head-mounted display

I'll be visiting London in a few weeks time. I really want to try out a head-mounted display before I buy one; where in South-London can I do this? 83.154.156.210 (talk) 09:49, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

What kind? Sony has produced some in the past, and showed some prototypes earlier this year - I'm not sure how close they are to full-scale production yet. You could call round London's Sony Centres to see if they have any. This shop, although not in South London, has some Vuzix kit available.--Kateshortforbob _talk 13:24, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

HMD's vary wildly in quality and price, and price does not always equal quality. Make sure the one you try is the exact model you intend to buy. Even if the specifications are the same.

(Obviously if you're trying to buy an upscale model that costs tens (or hundreds!) of thousands you're not going to find one in a shop you're going to need to contact a dealer who would be more than happy to arrange a demo for a serious customer.) APL (talk) 15:27, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Sluggish bittorrent window in Ubuntu

My bittorrent client window got sluggish. The torrents are downloading fine. Any information that I get online is about sluggish torrent streams, but that's not what I want. Any idea what could have caused that? Other programs are working OK. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.8.67.40 (talk) 12:55, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps the toolkit being used or the scripting language for the GUI has not been properly maintained. Should be avoidable by properly maintaining your system or... not using GUI torrent clients. :) ¦ Reisio (talk) 13:23, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Maybe you have too many torrents open, that are being updated constantly... Quest09 (talk) 16:25, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Which client are you using?Smallman12q (talk) 01:20, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

PNY VCQ450NVS-X16-PB Quadro NVS 450

I am looking at the PNY VCQ450NVS-X16-PB Quadro NVS 450. It says it does not support VGA. So, does that mean that if I buy DisplayPort to VGA converters, I won't get a display? I am looking at connecting 4 old SVGA monitors to one card. It is really coming down to the Quadro NVS or Matrox. -- kainaw™ 13:43, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

'Can You Run It?'

There's a website called 'Can you run it?', which analyses your PC to see if it can run the software or game you specify. Is there a website like this which allows you to specify the specs, rather than have it only analyse your PC, like 'Can the PC you have not bought yet but you are thinking about buying run it?'? Cheers. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 14:41, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Read the program or game's system requirements and compare it with your imagined computer's specification? 118.96.158.221 (talk) 15:40, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I would like an answer to my specific question, rather than a recommendation to do something else. I have (some very simple) reasons for that (which don't need to be put here). Thanks anyway. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 17:10, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Well, there is such a site, but it is only for games: http://www.game-debate.com/games (alternative tool). Select a game from the list, then look for the "System Requirement Tool" section in the game's page. 118.96.158.221 (talk) 01:19, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

How to check which program created a file in my computer (Windows)?

--Inspector (talk) 14:54, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Examining the file's contents and date, and searching the Internet for the file's name or extension is generally helpful on determining which program had created a file. 118.96.158.221 (talk) 15:50, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

How can I cancel saving a web page in IE?

I had asked the question before and someone suggest using task manager, but I wonder if there is a way to cancel the saving without killing the other tabs?--Inspector (talk) 15:00, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I assume you're talking about using the Task Manager's "End Process" button to "kill" the Internet Explorer process. If you do this, it'll kill all of the IE tabs, sorry, because IE is just one big process, however many tabs happen to be displayed in the window. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:30, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Are there any other solutions without using the task manager?--Inspector (talk) 01:11, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Start - Run - taskkill /IM iexplore.exe /F     ^Avic_ennasis @ 05:05, 3 Av 5771 / 3 August 2011 (UTC)

But I don't want to kill other tabs of IE--Inspector (talk) 06:51, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

This may approach what you want: If you create multiple IE windows, each window is a separate process. (At least, it used to be back when I used IE many years ago.) If one process were to freeze up on me many years ago, I could use the Task Manager to kill that particular window, and the others were intact and I could still use them. Having 5 windows is sometimes less convenient than 5 tabs, for me at least, but it might be an OK solution for you if you need each web page you view to be 'severable'. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:22, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Monitoring network adapters on my computer

My Windows 7 (64 bit) laptop has both a wired Ethernet connection and a WiFi connection and both are active. Is there a log somewhere on my computer where I can get an idea of how much traffic is going through each of the adapters? Jc3s5h (talk) 15:57, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Hit ctrl-alt-del, choose to start the Task Manager, and once it appears, click the Networking tab. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:01, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

That's sufficient, Comet Tuttle. Thanks. Jc3s5h (talk) 17:41, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. An alternative that gives you more precise data (though it's backdated to startup, I believe, so it's no help if you are interested in how close to saturation you are getting) is to go Control Panel -> View Network Connections, then double-click a connection you are interested in, like "Wireless Network Connection". It'll show the number of bytes that have been sent and the number received. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:33, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

DOS command prompt command to get rid of Mac resource forks

I'm porting over some PHP files from Mac OS X to Windows 7. This means a ton of stupid Mac resource fork files being ported over as well, which are gumming up my PHP execution for some reason.

The file names are all of the format "._filename.ext". They exist in many embedded directories.

What's a simple wildcard command that I can use to delete all of these? I've tried experimenting with just displaying them all with something like dir ._* but that doesn't come up with anything. There's got to be a way to do this, but I'm not finding it with Google.

Any thoughts? My DOS prompt fu is a bit out of date. I don't want to try to delete them all manually. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:10, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Try "DEL ._* /F /S /P" first. Did the command prompt to delete the right files? If yes, you can remove the "/P" part to delete all the remaining files automatically. Be careful, the command will also delete all such files in all subdirectories in the directory in which the command is run. 118.96.158.221 (talk) 16:25, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Droid 3 processor swap

The Droid 3 is shipping with a locked bootloader, enforced by signature checks performed by the hardware. Texas Instruments is distributing PandaBoards that come with OMAP4430 chips, the same kind the Droid 3 uses. A solution to get around this signature checking nonsense would be to swap out the processor in the Droid 3 with one from a PandaBoard. How hard would this be? --Melab±1 ☎ 23:31, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Anyone have an answer? --Melab±1 ☎ 01:07, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

As per the very top of this page and "When will I get an answer?", it might take a few days, assuming anyone even knows the answers. Please be patient.  ZX81  ^talk 01:32, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

We've already had this conversation: in April of this year, you asked the same thing about a Droid 2. The answer is still the same: it's very hard. These commercial devices are both physically and electrically laid out in ways that are not easy to modify. The software and hardware is customized by the manufacturer. If you can manage to perform the removal and replacement of the OMAP4430, you are a very skilled electronics technician - but the real challenge will be trying to make the chips "just work." If you can pull that off, you are a full-fledged one-man design engineering team. Without detailed software and hardware specifications, which you do not have access to, there is no way to know if simply replacing the chip will work in any way. It is a fairly naive assumption that the signature checks can be trivially circumvented by replacing the main OMAP. Are the pin-outs even identical between the two devices? How can you possibly know?! ... The datasheets are proprietary. In practice, you will most probably destroy your device beyond repair. Even if you are a reasonably experienced technician, and flawlessly connect the hardware, you're making wild and unfounded assumptions about software, firmware, and peripheral compatibility.

As before, I recommend you use development hardware, which is cheaper and easier to work with. If you really really want to work at such a level on commercial and proprietary hardware, consider seeking employment with the manufacturer of the chip and/or the integrated system. Motorola has a university recruitment program for interns and co-ops. You will probably need to have completed at least some college in an electronics or computer engineering curriculum in order to competitively apply. Nimur (talk) 00:00, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

August 3

Broken Computer

What should I do cuz my dumbass kid threw my laptop with all my important info down a really long stairway and it had smoke coming from it when I picked it up crying PLZ HELP!!!!

Hopefully you have computer insurance...otherwise you'll need a new computer.Smallman12q (talk) 01:19, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

More importantly, if you have 'important info' you should always have a backup of it somewhere else. If you didn't, there's a chance you may be able to recover data depending on what was smoking and simplisticly, luck. If it really matters, I suggest you contact a data recovery professional, be warned expect to pay upwards of US$1000 if a cleanroom is needed. (The reason why you want to contact a professional is if you are prepared to pay the cost if necessary and it really matter you want to avoid causing further damage.) Nil Einne (talk) 02:00, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

And you may need professional help for the kid, too, unless he's too young to know what he was doing. In the meantime, you need to keep all valuable and important things out of his reach. I suggest you put such things in your home office (or bedroom if you don't have an office), install a good lock, and keep it locked at all times. StuRat (talk) 03:50, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

If it will no longer boot-up due to damaged hardware, then you could try removing the hard disk and putting it as the secondary disk in another computer. Or you can buy an external case to put the HD in so that you can access it via USB from another computer. You might also try using a LiveCD or live usb with the damaged computer and seeing what you can copy off the HD, but this is a long shot if the hardware is damaged. 2.97.219.104 (talk) 10:55, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

nostradamus's best and worst predictions?

Question has been moved to Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Miscellaneous#nostradamus.27s_best_and_worst_predictions.3F. StuRat (talk) 03:46, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Windows Vista behavior copying CDs

Hello. I've been redundantly archiving a lot of files I have on CDs to a hard drive with Windows Vista and Cygwin. I run a script in Cygwin that copies all the files on a CD to a folder on the hard drive, generates md5sums for the CD and hard-drive copies, and compares the two. I have noticed that after I've copied the files, the CD drive stops spinning while the Cds' checksums are being calculated. I've also noticed that I can navigate the entire CD drive in Windows Explorer and open any file without the CD drive spinning up after the copy. I'm concerned that Vista is playing a trick and is sending me to the hard-drive copy instead of the actual files on the CD. Is this how Vista works, and if so, how can I force it to reread the files on the CD instead of using the copy? Thanks for any advice.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 05:12, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

I notice that my copy of Vista caches a fair amount of CD info, though I can't replicate your exact problem. Just ejecting and re-inserting the CD causes it to re-read from the CD. There might be a software method to make Vista do this every time. Perhaps an expert can advise? Dbfirs 06:36, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Try using xcopy with the /J option, which bypasses the caching system. Surprisingly, robocopy doesn't seem to support this option. Other possibilities: if the CD tray is motorized then you could open and close it programmatically with nircmd. That should flush the cache for the CD, but the hard drive md5sums will still come from cache. Or you could use dd to make ISO files instead of copying individual files; I think the raw disk reads will be uncached. Or you could copy all the discs, then verify them all in a second pass. -- BenRG (talk) 08:47, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Apparently xcopy's /J option was added in Windows 7. Arrgh. I have no idea what other command-line copiers support unbuffered I/O. I was happy to find one. I see some recommendations for a program called "eseutil" that comes with Microsoft Exchange, but it only does one file at a time and the documentation implies it might fail for files that aren't a multiple of the volume sector size. Probably not worth it. -- BenRG (talk) 09:05, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Voice Memo app for Android 3G MyTouch T-Mobile?

Does anyone know if there is an app for the Android 3G that works just like the Voice Memo Recorder on the iPhone? Saudade7 06:09, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Not sure what that app does, but pretty much any text input area including the text messages app, AK Notepad, etc. will take speech to text input after you click the mic icon in the keypad area. ¦ Reisio (talk) 22:14, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Creating New Word Document + Content from Macro

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to create a macro (using VBA) which will create a new word document, and then fill in parts of it determined by the input. I can already get it to create a new document based on a template when I click a button on a form, I just need to know how to add the content.

For example, my form may have 4 checkboxes - A, B, C and D. For each of these is selected, a certain row is added to a table when the new document is created.

The form also has text boxes, I wish to have the data in the text boxes added to a second table when the document is created (for example, there may be a text box for start date, one for end date, and one for cost - which are then tabulated.

Does anyone have any advice or know of where I could learn how to do this?

Thanks! 203.20.167.2 (talk) 06:33, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

What I usually do when I'm trying to figure out how to automate something in Word is to first "record" myself doing something very similar, and then look at the resulting VBA code that the macro recorder creates. Usually it is full of a lot of extra junk that is unnecessary, but you should be able to find the lines where you selected different form elements, changed them, what have you. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:07, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

further question on c++ objects deleting themselves

Hi again folks, I'm writing a C++ program where objects delete themselves. I don't then use any more member data, but the member function (ie. class method) remains open and manipulates other stuff, namely, its own return value, which is declared inside the function. I've checked in a toy program, and it definitely works ok, but is it considered bad design? I can adapt it to get the calling object to do the deletion, but I'll avoid changing things unless there is some good reason to do so. I've checked the link I was given earlier, [1], and I'm not strictly breaking any of the rules, so long as the local variable declared within the member function remains on the stack, and can be treated like any normal local variable in any function. I'm guessing that's how it works, but I'm not really sure. Thanks in advance, It's been emotional (talk) 10:12, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Legally, what you're doing is fine. The rule for this is the same as any other pointer: you can't use it after deleting the object it points to. Any mention of a member of the current class gets an implicit this-> in front, so that's forbidden, but mentions of local variables don't get this->, so they're okay.

Morally, it can be argued that you shouldn't use delete at all. If you do use delete then you should be sure you know who is responsible for deleting any object that needs deletion. I think it's fine for the object to be responsible for its own deletion if that makes sense in context. -- BenRG (talk) 23:42, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Much appreciated. I wish the rest of my life was as reliable as the ref desk, but that's another story I won't trouble you with :), It's been emotional (talk) 01:09, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

name of city

what is the name of the city having lettres of the word adrazbufama.Is their any software which can do this — Preceding unsigned comment added by 182.187.37.243 (talk) 13:56, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Sounds like an anagram. Take a look at Anagram solver#Online_anagram_solvers -- 128.231.83.51 (talk) 14:53, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Neither of the two sources listed there can do it. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:48, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

I just tried to use the dictionaryListAnagrams function in AlgoSim, but there was no match. The dictionary used is a two years old version of the English Wiktionary. It seems like it is not a very common toponym. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 16:57, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

It's Muzaffarabad - not at all common. 87.113.66.229 (talk) 17:14, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

I guess that's probably right, although the number of f's doesn't match. Looie496 (talk) 17:20, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

You're right - it's also transliterated with one 'f' (e.g. Muzafarabad, Karachi). 87.113.66.229 (talk) 17:24, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Searching for a computer part

Hello, I'm looking for a large SSD (250GB+) for a notebook. I'm browsing Newegg, but I'm not sure how to distinguish between SSDs meant for a desktop and those meant for a notebook. Can someone point me in the right direction and help me narrow it down to notebooks only? -- 143.85.199.241 (talk) 16:25, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

When browsing SSDs, you can click "options" on the left and specify a form factor of 2.5", which is usually what you use in most laptops. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:47, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Essentially all SSDs are 2.5 inches, and will fit in either a laptop, or (with an adapter), desktop. This is in contrast to hard disk drives, where drives intended for desktops are nearly universally 3.5", while those intended for laptops are 2.5". If I had to guess why this is, I'd say that the main constraints to the size of solid state storage are probably not so much the physical size of the device, where in a hard drive, the capacity is pretty dependent on the size of the magnetic disk. Buddy432 (talk) 18:54, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

I would guess size may be a factor, but only at the extreme end and most of these won't have SATA or likely to be considered by the OP. However a quick search for 1TB SSD did find [2] from 2010 which evidentally was 3.5" and SATA although probably also not something the OP is likely to consider Nil Einne (talk) 07:24, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Contacting an IP

If I only know the IP of someone (like, for example, in the case of torrents), how can I contact him? 193.153.125.105 (talk) 20:40, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Generally you can't. Most ISPs won't give you the real identity of an IP address without a court order. Old versions of Windows would let you send messages to IPs via the Messenger service but unsurprisingly this led to a huge amount of abuse and is disabled by default now. You can probably contact the ISP (who hosts the IP) by getting their contact information from their WHOIS registry, but there is no guarantee or even probability that they'll pass on any messages to specific IP users. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:34, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

(ec) This takes some detective work, and may not be possible. For example, I went to www.ip-lookup.net and looked up your IP address, and it told me you appeared to be in Spain, but the host or some other related machine was located in the Netherlands. By clicking on the "more information" types of links, a phone number was given, who I could then call and ask who is at your IP address. Depending on the law in that country and the host's policies, they might just tell me who you are, or they might tell me to buzz off and get a court order to force them to give it up. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:37, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

No, that would be too complicated and there's no legally compelling reason to get a court order. I just thought I could ping an IP somehow... (Note: I'm in Spain right now, so ip-lookup got it right. The machine in the Netherlands is probably a proxy.) 193.153.125.105 (talk) 22:33, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Very rarely, a web search might work. If the IP is relatively static and the person behind the IP is very active without significant concern for privacy occasionally you come across a website which has publicly indexed the IP along with some identity. If you administrate a popular website or forum (or many websites.forums) with some sort of commenting or other such functionality you can look at your logs and see if the IP is associated with any identity which has posted before although bear in mind your privacy policies and local privacy laws. However the vast majority of the time CT and Mr.98 are right, you can't find precisely who is behind an IP without the cooperation of the ISP. Nil Einne (talk) 07:18, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

mac os x time machine

Hello. macosx 10.6.8. Does time machine on default settings back up my SVN tree which is in /var/svn? I can't see it when I enter time machine. Is it there but hidden somehow (if so, how do I see it) or is there some configuration that I need to set (if so, where is it?) Robinh (talk) 21:45, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

PC problems with running programmes from icons

Hi guys-my PC has started doing odd things-if i click on an icon on the desktop to run a program,instead of doing it automatically,it asks me what program I want to open it with(even if it doesn't need one to).If I choose one and start to run it,it gets in a loop of 'Do you want to run this software?-Which program do you want to use to run it?'.It means I can't load up things like Messenger except in my Hotmail or Yahoo. How can I restore it so it goes back to running automatically? Thanks Lemon martini (talk) 22:13, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Can you run the program from the start menu instead? Maybe your desktop shortcuts somehow got screwed up. Can you explain a little better what you are trying to run? I can't load up things like Messenger except in my Hotmail or Yahoo doesn't really make sense.. Vespine (talk) 23:56, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

August 4

Full HD backup and recover for a Windows 7 PC

I have a Windows 7 computer that's OEM so no Windows 7 basic installation CD. I am looking for a full backup system that say my hard drive fails and is unusable I could buy a new hard drive and from the backup system reinstall everything all over again. I know that Windows 7 has copy protection that if I try hard drive cloning, it may refuse to work or even boot (even though I paid for the software as part of the purchase of the computer and have a CD key from HP). So I don't know what to do for backups? Are you ready for IPv6? (talk) 03:44, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

You can make an image. Go to the Backup thingymabob and make sure you create a system image. So if Windows stuffs up one ay, you can press F8 and restore from the image. General Rommel (talk) 06:53, 4 August 2011 (UTC)