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August 1

Google + Opt Out

Resolved

Is there a way to opt out of Google+? I don't have time to clear my inbox of emails I keep getting, telling me someone I wrote to once months ago has decided to share some irrelevant crap with everyone in her contact list. This is Buzz, all over again. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 08:21, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

You can't opt out of others' mailing list. You can just filter them out using a keyword, if these messages have some common text (like "irrelevant crap brought to you by Google")OsmanRF34 (talk) 11:19, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

You can disable Google+ email notifications or you can delete Google+ entirely. -- BenRG (talk) 15:17, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Risk of sharing a wi-fi network

If several users are sharing a password protected wifi network, all of them using the same password, can users decrypt each others' packages? — Preceding unsigned comment added by OsmanRF34 (talk • contribs) 11:46, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Per this discussion, which I found by searching for "encrypted wi-fi sniffing", the answer is "yes" for WEP, "yes if they saw the initial connection handshake" for WPA[2]-PSK (the usual home configuration), and "no" for WPA[2]-Enterprise. -- BenRG (talk) 15:10, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

The above is good. But I wonder if the OP is considering other potential issues where security could arise. If users are sharing the same wi-fi they are going to be physically close and other possibilities arise like visually observing, Bluetooth(an issue for some phones), indirectly via computer equipment you may share such as a server, a local drive or a internet gateway or if your computer has been comprising in the past various local tracking software. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 19:41, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Security is only as strong as the weakest point. So locking the front door could result in an entry via an unsecured window. Many such windows are possible in addition to the above someone could be recording your keystrokes if you use an unsecured wireless keyboard, thankfully most wireless keyboards these days are secured. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 19:55, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Does logging in through the secure server stop my workmates on the same network from also being logged in under my account?

I am a registered user but I never post here while logged in when I am at work. I think my section header says it all, but let me make it crystal clear. If I log in through the secure server, if one of my workmates, who is on the same network as me, i.e., they can access my mac from their mac, goes to Wikipedia, will they then see themselves as logged-in under my account? I hope that's clear enough. I can't really describe the exact type of network connection we have because I don't understand that stuff. I am also aware that there is an easy way to test this, just log in and then go to another computer and go to Wikipedia to see, but I cannot do that. We don't use each other's computers at all. Please DO NOT leave any message on this IP's talk page that one of my officemates might see if they happen to visit here (they would get the "you have new messages" bar and be alerted to this post). Thank you.--108.14.204.172 (talk) 18:28, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

So long as they have different accounts on their Mac, they will not be logged in as you. Wikipedia keeps track of your username using a piece of text called a cookie that is saved in your user profile. Each user on a computer (or domain) has a separate profile. You do not need to use the secure server. It only encrypts the data (thus preventing people from maliciously eavesdropping on any traffic you send and receive from Wikipedia). So, unless you are worried that they will try to steal your user name and password wirelessly, you won't need to use the secure server..—Best Dog Ever (talk) 18:40, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Ah, thank you. Yes, each mac has its own network name and when I want to get something from their computer I have to go to their computer's name. I do know about cookies, though I did not know they wouldn't be accessing my cookie through my computer if they were connected to it. Thanks.--108.14.204.172 (talk) 19:02, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

dreamincode.net - compromised?

Hi All,

I just had a bad experience, I was searching on google for this term "vb 2010 write hosts file" and the second result was a forum post in dreamincode.net which I knew from previous research to be a legit site, so I loaded up the top 3 result in new tabs like I normally do. Lo and behold i caught a quick glimpse of the dreamincode forum link loading a java applet. My bad at this point was not having any antivirus (I have kept my laptop clean for the past 2years without any) and so I was too late to stop it, it launched a couple of trojans (including a fake flash update).

I was able to clean my laptop, and I wanted to report that link to DIC but even their 'Feedbak/support' link (footer) pointing to http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/forum/106-site-questions-support/ was redirecting to http://vialsalud.com.ar/67834678.html

Question is, why does the link still point to something in DIC but is going someplace else? is it a .htaccess exploit of some sort?

tia PrinzPH (talk) 19:11, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Have you checked your own HOSTS file? It doesn't redirect for me, I suspect it is something still wrong with your own machine, not their site. There isa discussion of it on DIC; it was some kind of SQL injection hack, it has been fixed there, they are well aware of it. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:37, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Weird, I checked my hosts file it only has the default localhost 127.0.0.1 entry. But right after checking I clicked on your link and the same redirect+infection happened to me again. Seems to be something server-side in as far as the redirect goes? I went through the cleanup process again, exactly as I did before and now I can view the thread (which apparently does label it as a server-side thing). If anything this experience taught me to keep java off unless I explicitly need it :P One of my buddies had an add-on for firefox which blocks applets (like video) until you click it, any one know what it's called? 71.21.62.217 (talk) 00:24, 2 August 2012 (UTC) lol forgot to sign in PrinzPH (talk) 00:25, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

It's not happening at all for me. I really do suspect it's on your end. I see nothing in the code on the server that suggests its on their end. (What browser are you using? Chrome by default doesn't enable Java globally, you have to approve it for every domain.) --Mr.98 (talk) 02:05, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Try clearing your browser cache. For Firefox try NoScript. There are other add-ons like Flashblock but I think NoScript is better. If you want you can configure it to enable Javascript for all sites and only block Flash and Java. -- BenRG (talk) 06:34, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

I attempted unsuccessfully to replicate this in a virtual machine—I figured I'd go ahead and analyse the crap it downloads anyway, though, so I pasted in the malicious URL directly. No dice—it 404s, so presumably the exploit page has been taken down.  dalahäst ^{(let's talk!)} 09:08, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Resolved

Thanks for all the responses and attempts to look into this. Based on the thread linked by the ever helpful Mr.98 it appears that they fixed it at some point, the hacked was attempted again, then fixed a second time. I was/am using Firefox, and I installed NoScript which will hopefully keep these kind of exploits from happening (to me) again. Just as FYI for those who are curious though the Trojan the malicious urls dropped was Trojan.ZbotR.Gen. Sigh, 2-years of playing carefully and this has really driven the point home that anti-viruses still are pretty much a requirement. PrinzPH (talk) 20:58, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Addendum: for the likes of dalahäst who seems to be interested in the specifics of this attack they published the source here: http://ideone.com/6Jm1u PrinzPH (talk) 21:01, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

August 2

What does pvc does?

I've read the article but I don't get it, also what does pvc0, pvc1, pvc2, pvc3 .... pvc7 means? 190.158.212.204 (talk) 00:06, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

That's a remarkably bad article. I don't get it either. Looie496 (talk) 06:44, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

I've no clue what it's about, either. I tagged it as being overly technical, so someone who does know about it can help fix it. I also threw out some random bolding in the headers while I was at it.  dalahäst ^{(let's talk!)} 08:59, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

A PVC is a permanent virtual circuit. Normally, the path packets take from one end of a network to another vary. But if there is a PVC set up between two sites, the path never changes. For example, if you have a PVC set up between your office in LA and the office in NYC, any packets you send over the network to NYC will be the same. PVCs are commonly used in technologies like Frame Relay and ATM. PVCs are cheaper than a dedicated line between two sites because they are virtual. Your packets are really traveling over a network shared by others. Today, many companies are using VPNs in place of PVCs.—Best Dog Ever (talk) 14:29, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

The main difference between a circuit and a packet-switched network is that a circuit needs to be established before data is transferred between the 2 ends. This is like dialling someone else to make a phone call. In a packet switched network, each packet has full addressing details and so there is no prior set up. This is a bit like putting a load of envelopes in a post box - they all separately get to the right place, although not necessarily in the order they were posted. (As an aside,they would almost certainly follow the same route through the postal system - packets do the same through the packet network). So - a virtual circuit has to be set up before it can be used. At set up time, other things (like the circuit bandwidth) can be established. A virual circuit differs from a "real" circuit in that it's a shared resource - if you're not using your resources, others could use them instead. They're often set up over packet (internet) networks. --Phil Holmes (talk) 16:27, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

ASPNET Account password

Does anyone know what the default password to that account is? I never set it up myself, yet none of the easily guessed passwords (like "password", "admin", "aspnet") seem to work. Google seems to be of no help, surprisingly enough. 70.52.77.249 (talk) 05:18, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

If you're the machine administrator, you can configure the ASP.NET account's user password just like any other user. If you aren't the machine administrator, you need to ask the administrator to do this for you. Nimur (talk) 05:38, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

But it's my computer and mine alone. I'm pretty much the only machine administrator for it. I can't access my ordinary admin account, so I'm using system recovery options to get through what I hope is an accessible secret admin account. I don't have a recovery disc or any sort of backup with me at the moment. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.52.77.249 (talk) 06:02, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

You might get a quicker answer on the ASP.NET forums[1] or somewhere like Server Fault[2]. --Colapeninsula (talk) 12:00, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Java in Xcode

Could someone please tell me how to change the file extension in Xcode from .cpp to .java? I want to write a java program whereas at the moment the file supports C++ programs, I think. Thanks. meromorphic [talk to me] 10:35, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

IIRC (and I'm not at my Mac at the moment), you select the project type when you create a new project. At that point, select "Java project" or equivalent. Note that the file name is mostly (but not completely ;-) a convention in UNIXes, so this is a secondary consideration. If you create a new Java project, XCode will (mostly, it's still software ;-) do the right thing. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 12:59, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

ArcGIS

Does anyone have a copy of ArcGIS, and a willingness to be my favourite person ever? I need to get the Irish Electoral Division boundary data into Tableau. I've spent 2 days trying to convert the shapefile into various forms, going through KML and all sorts, but it won't work. Here are the instructions for how you do it in ArcGIS - it looks extremely simple. Alternatively, if anyone has an idea for how I can do it myself with free software, please do chime in. Ta. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 11:52, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

ESRI offer a trial version of ArcGIS. It'll take time to download and install, but if you've already invested a couple days in this... 77.97.198.48 (talk) 18:55, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Resolved

Ooh, so they do - thanks! I'll mark this resolved in order that no-one wastes time on it, but I'd still be interested to know if anyone knows of a free shapefile-to-geocode data converter. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 19:21, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Maybe you will find an alternative that you like in the list at: alternativeto.net/software/arcgisdesktop
--Seren-dipper (talk) 23:43, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Android tablet

I'm looking into buying an Android tablet, however I'm quite lost as there seems to be dozens of them, with extremely varying price ranges (some run in the thousands for some reason - ostentatious consumption I'm guessing). My budget is the price of the current iPad tops, with less being possibly better if the contrary is overkill to my needs.

Are there that many advantages to Android vs a jailbroken iPad 3? Which devices mostly resemble the aforementioned device in terms of specs? I know that the iPad seems to have an absolute advantage when it comes to screen resolution, not sure about quality. The number of apps seems considerably bigger, but considering that most on the Apple Store/Cydia are objectively garbage, the number per se isn't a very revealing indicator, as the % of free vs. paid apps. I'm not that much a gamer, mostly looking at using emulators rather than state-of-the-art resource intensive 3D games. The rest is going to be casual usage. Eisenikov (talk) 12:07, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

"...as there seems to be dozens of them, with extremely varying price ranges...": Congratulations. You have just identified one of the reasons for Apple's recent success ;-). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 16:48, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Most tech writers I've seen would advise you to get an iPad, no matter what you want to use it for. In terms of usability (the 'user experience'), I believe that it's streets ahead of almost all Android tablets. Maybe some Android tablets will have a faster processor, more memory or a bigger screen, but often not all together, and the interface, broadly, sucks. Apparently Android is vastly improved as of Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean is pretty close to being as good as iOS, but very few of them are up to that standard - most are running Gingerbread or Honeycomb. The only Android tablet that is generally mentioned in the same breath as an iPad is the Google Nexus 7 - a smaller tablet, but probably good for reading or watching videos.

If your budget is limited, and you're happy with the smaller form size, go for the Nexus 7. If not, save up for an iPad, or wait a little while - the release of the Nexus 7 and the upcoming Microsoft Surface might prompt other manufacturers to up their game. At the moment though, the iPad wins hands-down. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 17:27, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

As Mike said, if price is an important consideration, the Nexus 7 is probably your best bet. It's a bit smaller, but all the reviews say it's pretty darn good. If you want a larger tablet, the Asus Transformer Prime is probably the best. But that device is about 9 months old now. Why were you looking for an Android device in particular? Also in regards to your question about Android vs jailbroken iPad, the functionality will be about the same. The main difference is that the Android device may be more stable than a jailbroken iPad with a bunch of hacks done to it. - Akamad (talk) 22:17, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

I'm interested in an Android device because I now want a tablet with 3G (my iPad 2 and 3 are only WiFi) and all my tech buddies have been bragging how it is ten times better than iOS, though I suspect they hate Apple more than they like Google's platform. I'm also thinking that its quality apps are more plentiful, since techies usually dislike Apple, Android has more users, and there are no overly strict publishing standards. Eisenikov (talk) 11:26, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

You can buy an iPad 3 and install Android onto it. Write English in Cyrillic (talk) 08:17, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

I left a reply below which relates to the same issue Nil Einne (talk) 19:06, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

Create a website

I have booked my domain name as Jakecarlos.com .Now how to create a website? What's next process? GiantBluePanda (talk) 20:53, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

It really depends on the kind of website you are trying to make. But in short, you need content, and you need a server to host it. (Reserving the name, in and of itself, is not the same thing as getting hosting, though some name registrars also separately offer hosting.) There are a million ways to generate content, from writing it all in raw HTML in Notepad, to using a program like DreamWeaver or Microsoft FrontPage to generate it through a graphical interface, to using "web creator" software offered by many server hosts, to installing a content management system like WordPress, to hiring someone else to do it for you. There's no one answer here, and it would require a lot more information about your level of technical expertise, your goals for the website, and your budget to know what option was best for you. Once you have the content you can transfer it to the hosting server (exact method varies by what the content is, but a standard FTP program can do the trick), then point your domain name there (your server host will be able to tell you how to do this), and you're good to go. If all of the above sounds like it is written in Greek to you, you may just have to hire someone to do it for you, unless you have a lot of time to invest in this. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:02, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

You can also use something like SquareSpace, which hosts the site for you as well as providing tools for designing and setting it up (so you don't need to know HTML and the like). I'm sure there are lots of other companies that provide similar services too. - Akamad (talk) 22:22, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

I use the Google offerings: Blogger a free blog host and Google Sites a free website host. If you already have a Gmail account, you are about a click away from trying them out. If you don't have a Gmail account, it's easy to set one up. Vespine (talk) 01:08, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

Internet speeds

Hi, I am living in a residential house with a few other tenants. I want a fast internet. In each of our rooms, there is a coaxial input where we can either hook up a TV cable service or a high-speed internet modem. Do these axial cables all run into the same cable that leads out of the house? In other words, if each tenant gets their own high-speed internet modem, will they have to share a pipeline that leads out of the house? Hence, if everyone gets their own high-speed internet service, will everyone else's be slower? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 23:18, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

EDIT: Actually, it's DSL.

Contention ratio is our article on this sort of thing. It is most likely that all of the cables merge into one in the house; if not, they surely do by the time they get to the kerb-side cabinet. But the relation between number of users, the nature of their connections, and the speed you get is not that straightforward; not least, we don't know the capacity of any elements of the network you describe, and so do not know if it has sufficient headroom for multiple users of an unspecified "high speed" internet. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:47, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

It's depends a on the circumstances of your building. Most blocks of flats are just cabled as if they were ordinary separate houses on a street. In that circumstance, a (large) neighbourhood shares a DSLAM or CMTS which muxes the local loops into one (or several) shared trunk data connections. That is subject to contention, as Tagishsimon says, but if it's the usual neighbourhood configuration, it's unlikely you'll be able to notice (assuming a mixed demographic of users - if everyone in your building is torrenting TDKR then your mileage may very well vary). But some buildings (university dorms, managed apartments, managed office buildings, and some places where the building management or association thinks they can negotiate a good deal) there's a mini-DSLAM or mini-CMTS in the building, and you share its link only with the apartments in its ambit. Whether that's better or worse than the regular telco/cableco offering is, again, down to contention. If you're buying the service from Big Cable Co Inc. then it's probably the former, but if it's from the homeowners association or the like, probably the latter. Either can be approached to provide contractually limited contention ratios, but how that relates to real performance is, bluntly, a guess. You won't do better than asking a neighbour, who already has the same service you want and whose use resembles what you think yours will be, how they get on. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 00:03, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Ah, it's being DSL puts a slightly different slant on things. If it's an ordinary house (one you'd expect a single family to live in) then typically all those phone ports (surely they're not coaxial if they're telephone connections?) would be common-wired together (so you could have an extension in each room, all on the same phone #). That single common connection would run off to a junction box somewhere and thence to the phone company's central office, where the DSLAM and voice switching equipment is located. If each of those people wanted their own dedicated connection, each would need a wire back to the phone company, then each would subscribe (getting their own phone #) and each could get a distinct DSL connection. Making those extra connections is always possible, but may require the phone company to run extra cables from their neighbourhood box, and for you (or they) to change how the cabling in side the house works. A dedicated local loop, modem, and phone and DSL subscription, per room is a pricey way of doing things. Assuming you're on reasonable terms with your housemates, it's much more common to simply have a single subscription, a single modem, and share the bandwidth of that - if you're worried about one file-sharer dominating the bandwidth, you can get a better-than-basic router which allows traffic shaping and quality of service, to prevent such hogging. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 15:16, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

There is a good chance (depending on the type of structure) that the service provider can install a dedicated run to where you want the modem installed if the existing wiring isn't appropriate. Although I've had issues with all sorts of cable and DSL providers, I've never met a field service person who wasn't friendly and helpful in trying to work out difficult installations. 209.131.76.183 (talk) 15:23, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

How to increase the contrast (color) of only the scroll bar "handle" in Windows7 ?

I use Windows7 Ultimate.
I have impaired vision.
How do I change the color of specifically the scrollbar handles? (to increase the contrast of the scroll bar handle against the scroll bar background)
(None of the ready made High Contrast Themes suits me)
--Seren-dipper (talk) 23:21, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

With Windows 7 Ultimate and "Windows Classic" theme, I experimented with Control Panel, Personalization, Window Color, and determined that the colour of the scrollbars is dictated by "3D Objects", Color 1. There doesn't appear to be a way of changing the contrast. The other "Color" you can set changes the colour of the "arrows" on the end of the scroll bar, not the thumb. There is a registry setting HKCU\Control Panel\Colors\Scrollbar which lists three values, but changing those values directly (and then logging off/on) didn't appear to make any difference for me. One possible alternative solution is to increase the width - which may or may not help, depending on the details of your vision problem - and in any case will cost screen real estate. Mitch Ames (talk) 08:24, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for trying! You saved me a lot of further searching in vain! :-)
--Seren-dipper (talk) 02:14, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

August 3

Is There a Free, Open-Source Program Similar to Visual Basic?

Thank you very much. Futurist110 (talk) 04:55, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Not exactly. You don't say which operating system you're using. It also depends if you want a language similar to Visual Basic (i.e. one based on the BASIC language), or if you're just wanting a system for rapid development of applications and you don't care much about the underlying language.

For Linux, Gambas is the closest thing to VB, being BASIC-like but not identical to Visual Basic, but I'm not sure how easy it is to run under Windows or MacOS. Otherwise you may look at other languages designed for easy development of desktop/graphical applications like Mono (software) (a C# clone), or Java (maybe with an integrated development environment like NetBeans which makes development much simpler). Otherwise, the traditional alternative to VB was the non-free Delphi, which is now considered rather dated, but there are various free versions available listed under Object Pascal, though I've no idea what they're like. --Colapeninsula (talk) 09:26, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

If you're just looking to do VB development with free tools, but not open-source, look into the Visual Studio Express Editions. They give you pretty much the whole VS IDE for free, but have limitations on using them commercially. 209.131.76.183 (talk) 15:18, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

I'm using Linux right now, at least on this computer. Futurist110 (talk) 01:59, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

You might like to look at "Basic for Qt", formerly known as "KBasic". http://www.q7basic.org/. They seem to have transitioned from open source to closed source with a limited free edition to completely commercial and now back to open source again. I've never tried their product myself.-gadfium 08:40, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

php myadmin

what do the latters php stand for and is it all about? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Suzyo Banda (talk • contribs) 09:44, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Why don't you look at our PHP article. Shadowjams (talk) 11:35, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

mounting with nounix, noserverino

I have a NTFS partition that I use for both Windows and Ubuntu. Recently, I have started to get the message "Value too large for defined data type" from my torrent program under Linux, no matter how big the file was. Reading on a forum, they recommended mounting the NTFS partition with nounix, noserverino, which worked so far.

Why did it worked? What was causing the problem? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Comploose (talk • contribs)

You're really not giving us much info to go on - telling us the version of Ubuntu, the version of the torrent program, and whether you're running 32 bit or 64 bit will help a lot. But I can tell that you're not mounting a local NTFS volume, because those aren't ntfs or ntfs-3g mount options - those are CIFS (Samba) mount options. It sounds like your torrent program was compiled without Large file support and so can't handle inode numbers > 2³¹. Lots of programs don't care about inode numbers, but those that use stat pass it around in an ino_t object (which is 32 bit by default on a 32 bit system). When you use serverino (which seems to be the default) then samba maps NTFS file IDs into unix inodes and passes them on to the client; but it seems these can be > 2³¹; when it notices you're trying to stat a file with such an inode number on a client with 32 bit ino_t, that's the error you get. Specifying noserverino instead tells samba not to use inode numbers it created from NTFS IDs, but to manufacture its own, and in doing this it seems to keep those < 2³¹. As the mount.cifs manpage notes, there are downsides to do thing this. It would be cleaner either if your 32 bit torrent client was built with LFS support, or if you were running a 64 bit system, where ino_t is 64 bit by default. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 13:09, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

You might wonder what large file support has to do with inode numbers. It's not obvious that they're related; inode numbers are just magic values, which are the same for a whole file. LFS would obviously change types for things that address the interior of files (like fpos_t and off_t) but not ino_t. They do change it (have fun reading /usr/include/i386-linux-gnu/sys/types.h) when you enable LFS; I guess the LFS developers were thinking "heck, were changing a bunch of stuff, and we're going to break some things, we might as well modernise everything that's to do with modern systems which can host lots of stuff, so we only break stuff once". -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 13:51, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the detailed answers. My problem is back, the mounting parameters didn't solve it. I'm using Ubuntu 12.04, and Transmission from the repository.Shouldn't it already be compiled with large files in mind? Downloading something bigger than 2 GB is not that uncommon. Maybe the problem is actually the NTFS in linux, not the file size, since I also get trouble with files smaller than 2 GB, but only using torrents (either with the Transmission client or the qBittorrent client). Comploose (talk) 15:46, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

You're saying NTFS, but supplying CIFS mount options, which is confusing me. If the disk is formatted to NTFS and plugged directly into a linux machine, then you'd use ntfs or ntfs-3g to mount it (and those mount options are meaningless and wrong). But if it's on another machine, and you're accessing it over the network (that is with CIFS aka SMB aka Samba) then those are appropriate mount options (and the underlying filesystem, ntfs or not, is irrelevant). Or are you doing something with virtual machines? -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 15:53, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

I wrongly used the CIFS mount options in an attempt to get rid of the problem. The system did let me mount the NTFS, even if the parameters are meaningless. I thought that had solved the problem, but it's back. The partition is NTFS and in an internal HDD and the problem also appears with the Vuze torrent client. Comploose (talk) 16:23, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Problem solved (I think). I started the system with Windows and it noticed something strange and performed a chkdsk on the HDD. Apparently some files were damaged and therefore the error messages. However, how would you perform the equivalent of chkdsk in Linux? Obviously, you won't be using NTFS if you have an exclusive Linux system, but sometimes it might be needed to do it under Linux. Comploose (talk) 10:01, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

In general, filesystem errors in Linux are fixed with fsck. Just as mount is just a wrapper than runs the appropriate mount program (mount.ext2, mount.fuse, mount.ntfs-3g etc.) fsck runs the filesystem-relevant fsck program (fsck.ext3, fsck.cramfs, etc.). But there isn't (really) a Linux fsck.ntfs - there is ntfsfix, which fixes some errors, but not with the degree if thoroughness of a proper fsck. Right now the assumption seems to be that you're only running an NTFS volume because it goes into a windows machine sometimes, and given that there's no official documentation about NTFS' on-disk structure, it's still safest to have Windows fix errors. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 13:31, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Yeap, I wouldn't be using NTFS if it were not for Windows. I suppose there is no advantage for it under Linux.

And thank you for your answers. Comploose (talk) 17:40, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Online shopping

Can u suggest a website to buy online in Hungary ? GiantBluePanda (talk) 19:59, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

What would you like to purchase? The answers will depend heavily on that. Amazon is a decent all-round website for buying most items, and they will deliver to Hungary. Apparently, the biggest online auction sites are Vatera and Teszvesz. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 21:53, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Anything. I want to send a gift to my friend. GiantBluePanda (talk) 21:59, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Right. Well, see how you get on with those links then. (I've corrected the links to the auction sites. Turns out, when the Link box says 'page exists', it's lying. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 23:19, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

August 4

which dac is the better one

CS5381 or CS4398 ???

THANX!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.35.7.43 (talk) 12:00, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

CS5381 is an analog to digital converter, while CS4398 is a digital to analog converter. They do opposite tasks. A quick glance at their specifications indicate that they're both designed for 24-bit, 192 kHz systems - well beyond the average consumer audio application's needs. Nimur (talk) 16:39, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

yeah sorry i got it mixed up the one i meant was

PCM1792A vs CS4398

so which is the better in terms of audiophile merits? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.35.26.85 (talk) 00:06, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

IRC always timing out

I'm unable to get onto IRC. I can connect to Steam, the Internet, etc. just fine, but eery time I try to get onto IRC it times out. What exactly's wrong? —Jeremy v^_^v ^Bori! 17:39, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Do you have a firewall enabled? You might try disabling it and trying to connect — just to try and isolate the problem. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:52, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

I do, and disabling it doesn't help. —Jeremy v^_^v ^Bori! 17:58, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Update: I managed to get on - for all of half an hour, and only on one network. One user suggested I use a bouncer, but he didn't give me a reply when I asked him to clarify. Reading up on it, I don't think a bouncer will help, but I'm not tech-savvy enough to know. —Jeremy v^_^v ^Bori! 19:06, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Any other suggestions? —Jeremy v^_^v ^Bori! 07:12, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Since you are able to use the internet and everything else ok, it seems like something is blocking the specific IRC ports (usually 6667). Check on their websites to see if the networks you're connecting to have alternative ports available and try using those. Also many IRC servers support SSL connections, try setting that in your IRC client and see if it works. The only other thing I can think of is that your other programs connect via a proxy server (perhaps a company or ISP cache/filter system) and that you need to set the IRC client to use this as well. 92.233.64.26 (talk) 10:51, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

What does it mean to open a file?

I understand that from a user perspective. But, it seems like a poor metaphor, since it's not like a book or folder that can be physically opened. What does the computer do to the file when I run a open("myfile.txt") method? In some cases it blocks other programs from changing it, however, that's not always the case. Comploose (talk) 17:44, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

When you say, "open a file," in most cases the computer program interprets this as, "look at the sectors of the hard drive that are indicated as being part of a given file and load them into some kind of random-access memory." The ones that "lock" the file usually (but not always) aren't loading the whole thing into RAM. But basically the issue is that the program is accessing the hard disk in the places that correspond to the file, and interpreting the data it finds there. The verbs often used in the computer languages themselves are "read" or "get" as opposed to "open." In high level languages (and with straightforward files) you don't usually have to worry about all of the physical backend. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:54, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Mr.98 and I have interpreted what you mean by "open a file" at quite different layers of abstraction. If you mean "open a file in Microsoft Word" then Mr.98's answer about open really meaning "find and read the file" pertains. If you meant simply the low-level open(2) call (or its equivalents on other OSes, which work very much the same) then mine is all that happens. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 18:07, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Firstly it takes than name "myfile.txt" and adds to it the current or default path (usually the current working directory of your process) to make a fully qualified name "/mnt/mydisk/foo/bar/myfile.txt". Then it looks that name up to see if the file exists, and if you have permissions to access it. Most OS filesystem layers cache some, but not all, of the files they know about - so it may have to go to the disk and read from it the requisite directory information (or it may have a cached version of that, in which case it won't). That tells it that the file exists, its owner and permission info, and where the file's data is physically located on the disk. Then the OS constructs a software object that corresponds with that info, stores that in a table, and returns the ID of that object to the calling program. That ID is usually completely opaque (on unix it's just an integer, usually 3,4,5,etc.) which the program has to remember and pass back to the OS when it wants to do other things to do with that file. And that's often that. In some OSes the open call can include an optional request for an exclusive lock, in others a lock, if a program wants one, has to be acquired by separate calls. At this time an filesystem driver might elect to optimistically start preloading the file (into its own data cache), as reading from files one has just opening for reading is a common pattern - but it might chose not to. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 18:03, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

What article ought to describe this, especially for people who have no idea how "cache" or "software object" or "preload" might be relevant and just seek an elementary notion of what ought to happen when they double-click a file? Jim.henderson (talk) 18:31, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

For the basic "open file" system call, file system, cache (computing), and page cache might help. "Object" doesn't mean anything specific (it might be a Object (computer science), but probably isn't) - "software thingmabob" would be just as good. I don't think we have much about anticipatory caching ("preloading"), although prefetching lists other circumstances under which an analogous load-incase-we-need-it strategy might be found. But the full "what happens when I double click" is an order of magnitude more stuff. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 19:13, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Full story? Does someone want that? Should History of France give the full story of its topic? I seem to have expressed my concern poorly. What I'm hoping for is a broad view, taking a paragraph or two or perhaps three as part of another article, or a dozen or two in their own article. If these questions are vital to a superficial understanding what happens when someone as ignorant as me (or more so) double-clicks, then they should be mentioned, otherwise not. Jim.henderson (talk) 19:53, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

At least for technological things, Wikipedia does not seem inclined toward such vertically integrated How Stuff Works type articles. For example we don't have (that I can find) an article about the full story of what happens when you flip a lightswitch - there's plenty of articles about the elements involved, from lightswitches to generators to power transmission to voltage. Maybe we should, I don't know. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 20:56, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Drat; failed again. Rather than fully describe the sequence of events that are performed to accomplish the desirable goal of opening the file, the question "What does it mean" suggests, or at least I suggest, that Wikipedia ought to define or describe that goal. When we have "opened a file" what important condition, circumstance or happy result have we achieved? Jim.henderson (talk) 21:04, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

I don't think "opening a file" makes much sense as a concept. It combines a bunch of things that are conceptually unrelated: looking up a file name to find the file it corresponds to at that moment, locking the file (e.g., to prevent multiple simultaneous writers), doing a security check and returning a capability, among other things. There's no reason for these to be lumped together and in many ways it's bad—a lot of security bugs are caused by having to open a file more than once for some silly reason, and thus incidentally redoing the lookup of the file name, even though it may not refer to the same file any more. Higher-level "opening" and "saving" in word processors and such is kind of arbitrary too. It's like a very limited version control system where you only have two versions of the file, the "open" one and the one on disk since the last time you "saved". It made more sense in the old days when disks were very very slow and it was useful to control when you'd have to wait. -- BenRG (talk) 23:04, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

So, now it seems the question is understood. Perhaps I have come across as angry, and must confess to being miffed out of proportion at the repetition of "full story" after thinking I had explained that's exactly what I'm not after. Anyway, that bit having been straightened out, what, if anything, should be done about the use of this term in Wikipedia? When a menu on a window offers the choice "File" ... "Open" should the encyclopedia be silent about it because the term is nonsensical? For the same reason should file association not say "Some of the common verbs are: *open to open a file"? Or should the term be defined as far as necessary to each appearance? And should other articles have such material censored, umm, edited out as unfit to be said? Or should there be a disambiguator covering most of those possible meanings? Or a small article explaining that this unpleasant or misleading or very limited term may refer to various combinations of the above? Jim.henderson (talk) 00:28, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

If you want to discuss the content of articles, take it to the article talk pages or some other appropriate place. One of the reasons you aren't getting a good response is because you're at the wrong place. Nil Einne (talk) 05:01, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Yes, it is disappointing. Someone asks what a phrase means, and one expert says we can't define it without telling the whole story, and the whole story is too long, and we can't answer without telling the whole story (yes, redundantly). Another expert says we can't say what it means because the concept doesn't make sense, and a third says this isn't the department of saying what anything means. Obviously all these answers are rooted in a technical understanding deeper than mine, but it makes me wonder who could possibly be helped by any of them. Perhaps the talk page for Computer file or another one can find a more useful expert. Jim.henderson (talk) 00:45, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

3D Bluray Ripping

Hello, I have a sudden need to rip 3D blurays for a client. I have looked at DVDFab, but I've only found one review that seems to be mixed. I'm willing to spend money (as I can just bill the client for it), but would prefer if it could deal with regular blurays and DVDs as well. The client is fairly tech-savvy, so might want specific formats and settings. So, two questions: 1) Could someone point me to a breakdown of the various options in ripping 3D content (e.g. Anaglyph vs side by side 3d?), and 2) any recommendations for a good 3d bluray ripper?

Thanks, 64.134.179.102 (talk) 22:42, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

USB Flash Drive vs USB External Hard Drive

Hello, Would a device designed to accomodate a USB flash drive work with an external USB hard drive? Specifically, I'm looking at turntables that can rip vinyl to a USB stick, but I'd prefer if it was possible to rip it directly to an external drive. Can the device tell the difference? Is there a technical difference (other than the obvious magnetic HDD vs flash memory one)? Does it matter? Thanks, 64.134.179.102 (talk) 22:58, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

The type of hardware doesn't matter, at least to Microsoft Windows and I assume to other operating systems. Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 23:48, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

It really depends on how forward thinking the manufacturer of the particular device was when designing it. One potential issue might be capacity. The turntable device may only be able to cope with small capacities, perhaps limited to as low as just 2GB, while a typical external hard drive can be several TBs in size. On the other hand it may have no problem with huge capacities at all. Without knowing the exact device there isn't any way to answer this definitively 92.233.64.26 (talk) 00:09, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Electrical power might be an issue. Does a USB-powered HDD use more power than a USB-powered flash disk? Eg if the host expects a lower power device (1 unit load) but the HDD is a high-power device, it might fail. Of course this problem is probably easily solved by using an HDD with a separate power supply, rather then one powered from the USB. Mitch Ames (talk) 01:41, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

(ec) I think the above responses are incorrect. If you have a turntable that is designed to allow you to plug a USB stick directly into the turntable, it probably won't work with any other type of USB device. In order to do so, it would need a different type of driver, and if it had one, the advertising for it would probably say so. Note, however, that turntables of that sort are much less common than USB turntables, which are designed to connect via a USB cable to your computer. If you have one of those, you can use your computer to store the data to any sort of device you please. Looie496 (talk) 01:47, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

OP here. Thanks for the responses: the HDD I have is externally powered, so that shouldn't be a problem. Am I correct in thinking that the only way to tell will be to try it and see if it works? Also, I'd like to throw in a cheap plug for help on my question above this one (is that allowed? cross-promotion?). Thanks again, 64.134.179.102 (talk) 03:15, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Be very careful with cheap plugs as the error rate can be unacceptably high. Email me your banking details and I well send you a high quality gold-coated plug. ;) Franamax (talk) 03:59, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Surprisingly no one mentioned this until now but you should consider file system issues. Most memory sticks tends to be factory formatted with the FAT file system, with what would be tiny ones nowadays FAT16 and most others FAT32. You may occasionally find them formatted with NTFS or exFAT and of course you yourself can format them with whatever you want, this is rare. However external hard disks tend to be factory formatted with NTFS, while it is possible to make large partitions with FAT32 albeit not with Windows, this is rarely done unless really needed for compatibility purposes, I would say this is rarely done because of the various disadvantages of FAT. (Those using *nix, Mac OS X are likely to use some modern file system their OS supports when they don't need Windows compatibility, e.g. some variant of UFS2, zFS, extFS, HFS Plus.) I think there's a very good chance your turntable will not support anything besides FAT16 and FAT32 (well probably FAT12 as well), i.e. NTFS, exFAT etc are all out. You could try making one small FAT partition for the external HDD but speaking of partitions, I wonder whether there's a risk the turntable won't work at all if your device has a partition table which is the norm for HDDs (even when they only have one partition) but AFAIK not for memory sticks. As already mention, regardless of all the other things, the turntable may have problems coping with something too large. There are likely other complications which may make the HDD not work, but I'm not sure whether generic driver issues are one of them. AFAIK, both memory sticks and external HDDs usually just expose themselves as USB mass-storage device class so theoretically at least, the drivers themselves should nominally work on both ignoring all the other possible complications (some of which e.g. the space issue may work at the driver level). Nil Einne (talk) 04:45, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Case-sensitive searches?

How do I do a case sensitive search of Wikipedia? Seems that Wikipedia search is case insensitive and Google is also. Any ideas? Regards, SunCreator ^(talk) 23:10, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Download the Wikipedia database, run your own search queries on it? --Mr.98 (talk) 03:18, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

That seems overkill. You could simply use the case-insensitive search, provided by Wikipedia; and then search the results with a custom case-sensitive search. Because the case-sensitive results are a strict subset of case-insensitive results, you can guarantee that you haven't missed a match. If you need help doing this programmatically, there is a web services API: the complete documentation is available online: Full Text search; and the title-completion-tool OpenSearch, among many many other ways to perform programmatic searches using the web service API. Nimur (talk) 05:34, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

August 5

laptop versus Ipad

Daughter going to college. We just spent over two grand on a new laptop. My work keeps me away from home four weeks at a time. My wife informed me last night our daughter insisted on having an Ipad as she could not do certain things on laptop the Ipad could, take notes in class was only example given. What are the advantages of having an Ipad along w/ a computer while/when going to college? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Twbtr (talk • contribs) 11:15, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Except for being somewhat being more portable and theoretically more "trendy" I would say there are none whatsoever, she could just as easily take notes on a laptop, in fact probably more easily since I imagine she's more experienced using a keyboard than a touch screen--Jac16888 ^Talk 11:25, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

I would have agreed with Jac16888 until about five months ago when my wife got an iPad. I'm a hardcore computer nerd; on the face of it, the iPad didn't appear to me to be much other than provide a very pretty machine to look at cats and buy stuff. But my wife is not a computer nerd — she's just someone who wants to use a computer and not worry about it. If you pair the iPad with a bluetooth keyboard (there are some good models out there with real keys), it suddenly becomes an ultra-compact, ultra-easy, ultra-light laptop. No joke. My wife basically doesn't use her laptop anymore at all, because it adds a huge amount of weight and general laptop cruft that she doesn't need — all she wants to be able to do with a computer is write documents, check e-mail, surf the internet. And an iPad (with an external keyboard!) does that just fine. (We find the "on screen keyboard" thing just too unreliable to use for serious work, but maybe younger hands have an easier time with it.)

As a second point of data, I will just say that in my experience as an educator, students today are indeed using iPads as a replacement for both notebooks and laptops. It's very common, and they get a lot out of them. Many get stuff out of them that at the moment you can't do with a laptop, like using a stylus that honestly works well (instead of typing).

I will also just say that carrying around an iPad is usually a lot lighter than carrying around a laptop, even a very small and thin laptop. Keep in mind that women in general already carry around more stuff than men do because of the purse; my wife was finding that years of carrying around a MacBook AND a purse were taking a toll on her shoulder muscles; switching to the iPad made a noticeable improvement in the reduction of weight. Whatever you get her, be aware that its weight will likely make the difference between whether she actually feels she can take it to class, versus leaving it at home and essentially serving as a desktop.

So I'm not weighing in one way or the other here, except to say that on a site like this, you're talking to people who are above average when it comes to our expectations of what computers should do — but that's not necessarily tailored to the work your daughter will need to do in college. I wouldn't be able to substitute an iPad for a laptop, but I'm not your daughter. The students I have seen that are her age, and even my dear wife, actually find iPads to be significantly more useful than that. (And if they do need "real computers," all colleges have computer labs where they can use them, these days.) --Mr.98 (talk) 13:06, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

If the weight factor is the only real difference though I would consider spending more money on an Ipad after already spending 2 grand on a laptop for college to be unnecessary. OP you could always look into other tablet computers, you can get ones with much the same functionality for considerably less money--Jac16888 ^Talk 13:42, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

My experience is that most of the other tablets on the market don't really compete when it comes to user interface, apps, etc. That will probably change, but if you compare them side by side, the iPads usually kick their butts in every category. They cost a lot, but they're also the result of a lot of careful R&D. Again, it depends on what you're trying to use them for. I wouldn't have much use for one myself. But for something that is much smaller than even a netbook, and works a hell of a lot better than any netbook I've seen (and a better screen than even any laptop I've owned), it does do the trick. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:04, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Indeed. iPads are more expensive than non-Apple tablets, but you can get them for less than $2000.
You can also for less than $2000 get an incredibly swanky Lenovo Thinkpad convertible tablet, which is essentially both a tablet and laptop in one, as well as being significantly more powerful and useful in every respect than an iPad, and also having a considerably more useful screen which includes not only touch (finger) based input (like an iPad), but also what is called an active digitizer (which is much more precise for taking notes and/or drawing with a stylus, like a wacom tablet). Taking notes in class on an iPad as I understand it tends to require a very large-ended stylus to simulate the size of a finger. I'm sure it would suffice, but technologically speaking it's a step back.
Lenovo (and HTC) also have some non-convertible tablets[3] (cheaper) that are more like iPads but still have the superior touchscreens (finger + stylus, not just finger).
Any of these alternatives would be a better choice than an iPad, IMO, but not everyone wants an iPad because they think it's the best choice... some just want one. :p ¦ Reisio (talk) 16:48, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Have you personally used a tablet/laptop? I've played with them but they've never worked well. They seem to suck both as laptops and tablets both. Anyway, long story short, there are differences between the different models. I know the "boo Apple, you're paying too much for proprietary products just to be cool" line of argumentation, but personally if I were picking a machine for a non-nerd, the iPad is the easiest damned thing they'll ever use, and everything "just works." That's not been by experience with other operating systems and hardware. My wife has had both a Toshiba tablet/laptop and the iPad; the Toshiba one turned out to be a complete piece of junk, the iPad is the one she uses all the time. We're not Apple fanboys or anything like that — it's just easier to use, looks better, etc. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:04, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

I agree, a version of Mac OS is going to be less awful in general than a version of Microsoft Windows, but Android is also in the mix, and we can only speculate as to what OS his daughter is used to and what her competency is, and competitors _are_ cheaper (though obviously cost isn't an issue in this case), and the screen I mentioned is immensely more useful for writing/drawing with. The only thing that is perfectly clear is that from a hardware perspective, you can get something cheaper and with a more useful screen for note taking by not buying Apple. ¦ Reisio (talk) 18:20, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Put simply, an iPad is a primitive, hard-to-set-up computer. Simple things like printing require extra setup work on your part. For example, to print, you can't just install print drivers on the iPad and then hook up a USB cable to a printer. Instead, you first have to install an application on both the iPad and a real computer. The drivers also have to be installed on the real computer. The real computer then prints the document once it receives it from the iPad. Other tasks like transferring files between an iPad and a real computer require that you use Apple's proprietary dock connector and an adapter you purchase separately. Then you have to install the buggy iTunes application on a real computer and use it to transfer the files. Other tablets and phones typically don't have proprietary connectors and can use the file explorer that is built into your operating system. So, you're paying for a ball and chain that will cost you far more money than the purchase price of the device. Some people say these devices are great for people who are new to computers, but is your daughter brand new to computers? If not, don't buy it. And if you're not really good with them, you'd probably have to pay someone to set it up and maintain it for you. Apple decides which applications you can purchase from their app store and which devices can use the store. If they decide that your iPad is too old, they may cut you off from the store. They haven't done that, yet, but it's one of the many things they can do since they control it. It may be smaller than a laptop, but doing things like typing a letter or e-mail on the device will be slower without a physical keyboard. So, then you purchase a Bluetooth keyboard, which diminishes the portability of the device when deployed, and it reverts to the size of a small laptop.—Best Dog Ever (talk) 20:58, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Just to set the record straight, Best Dog Ever, AirPrint is built in to iPad. AirPrint is a standard technology supported by most printer models, produced every major printer manufacturer I am aware of. (Over two hundred printer models currently support this technology). That means that in practice, you will never need to install any driver or buy any cable to print a document from an iPad. All you need is a WiFi connection, and any one of several dozen compatible brands or models of printer. Granted, if you're trying to print to a 15-year-old dot-matrix printer, or an IBM 4019, you might need a Unix hacker to set up a CUPS relay... but let's be serious, this is 2012. A brand new printer costs under fifty dollars, so if you've found yourself spending more than an hour setting up drivers for a defunct, out-dated printer on any platform or computer (iPad or otherwise), you've probably wasted more time than it's worth.

I was a little bit offended by the "primitive" description used above; but it is a totally unsubstantiated claim and is very easy to refute. iPads are great for a variety of tasks. Many users check email, take notes, and use applications from the store. Other users who are technically proficient write their own software for the iPad. In addition to its easy user-friendly interface, the iPad is great for programmers. It is a fully-programmable, Turing-complete system, with an advanced Unix-based operating system. iOS provides numerous facilities to allow programmers to use the latest and greatest hardware - for example, accessing iPad sensors like the MEMS accelerometers that aren't even present in most Intel-style computers today - or the iPad's state-of-the-art, low-power 3D graphics accelerator hardware. The developer program is not free to join - but it costs less than my Deitel & Deitel "How to Program" textbook, and the iOS Developer Tools come with a lot more example code, documentation, and up-to-date information. Were I in school today, I would seriously consider purchasing an iOS developer subscription instead of an introductory programming textbook. So, whether you're a novice computer user or a kernel hacker, you'll probably be able to do something useful with these machines.

On a last note, you do not need to purchase a dock-connector separately. It is included in the box with the iPad. While I respect your right to your opinion, which is clearly biased against the iPad, I can't see how you justify resorting to factually-incorrect statements to slander the product. Nimur (talk) 22:40, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

I purchased a good Canon printer a couple of years ago and it didn't come with Airprint support. I doubt the laser printers at her school support it, either. And in any case, I don't feel like replacing a good printer with a cheap, $50 model just to work around the iPad's limitations is worthwhile. And again, that workaround proves my point about the iPad being hard to work with.

If you do business with Apple, they will exploit you every step of the way to get more money out of you. Is your battery dead? Sorry. You can't replace it. You have to buy a new iPad. You want a new application? You have to buy it directly from us via our App Store, not online from anyone else.

I won't get into a debate about the technical underpinnings of the iPad. The fact is that it is primitive because of the end-user features it lacks -- not because of any theoretical limitations in the technology that underpins it.

Anyone who wastes lots of money on a product will get offended when you point out they wasted their money. They will also attempt to justify their purchase in a classic case of cognitive dissonance. For example, you will get an identical reaction to yours from BMW owners when their brand-new cars break down. They will start talking about how fast it is, how good it handles, etc., in an attempt to overlook the fact that it's just not a very good car. The same is true with iPad owners.—Best Dog Ever (talk) 23:28, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Another thing that makes iPads hard to use is their over-reliance on "apps." It's largely due to Apple's refusal to allow Java and Flash on their mobile devices. So, if you want to do simple things like watch online videos, you often have to go to the Apple Store and get an app just for that web site. Some charge money for their apps, so add that to the price tag of the device.—Best Dog Ever (talk) 23:49, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

How many bits?

How many bit does the number 0, 4 or 23 or whatever occupy in binary, hexadecimal or decimal? OsmanRF34 (talk) 18:53, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Bits are always binary -- the word "bit" stands for "binary digit". The number of bits that a number occupies depends on how it is encoded. You might benefit from reading our bit article. Looie496 (talk) 20:29, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

(Edit Conflict)

For it to occupy bits, it must be either be stored directly as a binary number (the "b" of bits stands for binary), or encoded into some form which is then encoded into binary...

If you store it directly as a binary number, then the the minimum number of binary digits (bits) needed to store a number n is log ₂(n) (rounded up to the next non-zero positive integer). Most calculators won't allow you to calculate logarithms with arbitrary bases, but thanks to this property of logarithms you can use log(n)/log(2) - the answers for the three examples you gave are 1 bit, 2 bits and 5 bits respectively - [4]. This is a bit of a simplification - in particular:

1 - the number of bits isn't actually a function of the number you're storing, but the longest number you may wish to store

2 - I've glossed over the question "how many digits does it take to store zero" (in a way, this is a special case of point #1)

To store a number as BCD takes 4 bits per decimal digit

To store the number as text will typically take 8 bits per digit, plus 8 bits as a termination character

Hope this helps, cheers, davidprior ^t/_c 20:38, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps you meant to ask the minimal number of digits needed:

"0" is the same in all systems, so just 1 digit is needed (but leading zeroes can change that, like "0000").

"4" is 1 digit in either decimal or hex (where it's also "4"), and is "100" in binary, or 3 digits minimum.

"23" is 2 digits in decimal or hex (where it would be "17"). It would be a minimum of 5 digits in binary ("10111"). StuRat (talk) 20:41, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

Yep, I made an out-by-one error :-) Thanks StuRat for spotting it, davidprior ^t/_c 10:39, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

Just as an oddity - the minimum number of bits required to store a number is one less than you quote. Since the top bit is always 1, it can be inferred - 4 would be 00 and 23 0111. Not sure the cost of disk space makes this worthwhile, though :-) --Phil Holmes (talk) 09:35, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

That would leave you unable to represent 0. Also you would need some way to represent how long your number was. It's correct that 4 could be 00 and 23 could be 0111, but what do you do when you need to store both? If you always have 4 bits then you can't infer the leading 1 because then 0111 would be 23, and not 7. Floating point numbers is a different matter because you store additional informationTaemyr (talk) 12:46, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

August 6

upgrade androi

hello. I have an android tablet running honeycomb and i can now upgrade to ice cream sandwich: but if i do this, will my apps and settings disappear? thanks Amisom (talk) 11:48, 6 August 2012 (UTC)