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February 5

print at..

Looking at conio.h? ("tcconio.h" ??) in C this seems useful for somethings I may need. (eg gotoxy like the old pascal) - however it's windows only - what alternatives are there for ouput routines that will compile to workable code on a variety of computer platforms? Simple ones are prefered - nothing beyond "print at col x row y" and possibly 2d line graphics (optional) - do I need to go all the way to openGL or is there something in between?87.102.67.84 (talk) 00:09, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

If you want to be coding in C then you might try ANSI escape codes: while really a Windows thing, they work in some terminal emulators on other platforms (according to that article). If you need graphics then you're going to end up in a more complex environment like Simple DirectMedia Layer (which isn't nearly as straightforward, for simple uses like you're talking about, as BASIC and Pascal's simple draw commands). Beyond that there's GDK and OpenGL, but that's really a lot of bother just to draw some text and some lines. If you're not attached to coding in C, Java has its own cross-platform graphics library, and javascript combined with the HTML Canvas element might be useful for some applications. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:38, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

ncurses will do this (really, generate escape codes like those Finlay mentioned) for you in a relatively portable and automatic fashion. --Tardis (talk) 02:49, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, now looking at and considering some of those options.

Resolved

Graph representation of Wiki

Hello, I am a researcher who wants to model wiki pages as nodes of a graph. I was wondeing where I can find information about how pages/articles are connected(adjacent)? In particular, what information is available on every page about the authors, number of references it recieves (how many articles refer to it), frequency of access for articles, etc. Thank you for any help you can provide. All references are appreciated.Rmodarres (talk) 05:14, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

For MediaWiki, you may want to have a look at the Database layout, and in particular, the pagelinks and revision tables. Access counts are stored in the hitcounter table, but those are disabled in Wikimedia wikis for performance reasons (although data is available at http://stats.grok.se/. Titoxd^{(?!? - cool stuff)} 07:18, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Well, there are a few different ways to get at that information. If you want to get a complete snapshot of wikipedia, you can download the database. The current article snapshot (i.e. doesn't include the history of the pages is about 5 gigabytes when compressed, and up to 100 gigabytes uncompressed, so it's not a trivial download. This will get you all articles and what articles they link to, and you can make your graph (here's the sql schema, which includes the internal pagelinks). BTW, if you are just interested in what pages link to a specific article, you can just click the "What links here" link in the toolbox in the sidebar. That way you can find out that Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture apparently links to Hello Kitty. For some reason.

This wont get you the number of authors that have contributed to it (I think), for that you need the full dump, which includes the history. But that's 2.7 Terabytes big when it's compressed. So I don't recommend downloading that.

There is also a public facing API which you can use to interact with the site directly. See information here: [1]. I've never really used it, so I'm not aware of what information it can give you, but I suppose it's worth exploring.

As for frequency of access, you can get that data here [2]. I don't know how accurate the information is, but it does appear that you can download the raw data, so that's nice.

Is that all you needed, or do you want some more information? Good luck with your project! Belisarius (talk) 07:26, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Get yourself a lot of ram and download the database dump. Shadowjams (talk) 07:15, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

steam

is steam (game) working right now for u guys? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.246.254.35 (talk) 03:08, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Moved from Science Desk --220.101.28.25 (talk) 06:03, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it is. 217.158.236.14 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 13:54, 5 February 2010 (UTC).

Durr...RSS?

As the number of hi-larious sites I visit grows, so does my time spent checking each one for updates. I know all this RSS business should help, but I honestly can’t comprehend it. I’ve tried a couple of add-ons for Firefox, but they’re not quite what I’m looking for. As I thought it worked, an RSS aggregator thing could create a page listing all the new posts from whatever sites you’ve selected (including more than one site on the same page). I’m sure something like this exists; can somebody point me in the right direction please?--The Ninth Bright Shiner 06:28, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

I use http://individurls.com/ for that. See for example a friends selection on that site. Nanonic (talk) 06:34, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Cool, best thing I've seen so far! Not to be picky, but...alright, I am being picky. I was thinking more like this format.

If Urban Dictionary was updated at 8:45 a.m., FMyLife was updated at noon, and I Can Has Cheezburger? updated at 6:00 p.m., then the page would look like this:

• Cheezburger update
• FML update
• Urban Dictionary update

But, every update would be posted in its entirety. Anything like that?--The Ninth Bright Shiner 06:48, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Google Reader can apparently do this according to various reviews online. Might be worth a look. Nanonic (talk) 07:00, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Google Reader can absolutely do this, in fact, that is what it was made for! It's absolutely essential if you want to follow more than a few sites or blogs at once.

Using it is dead simple. Simply log in, press the "Add a subscription", and paste in the URL of the RSS-feed (which you can find by clicking the little RSS symbol that's to the right in your address-bar). Then all updates show up on Google Reader, for all your sites.

On caveat, though. Not all sites publish their complete content as RSS, sometimes it's just the first sentence or so. This applies mostly to things like newspapers, you're not gonna get a full content RSS-feed of the news stories from the New York Times, for instance. But those three that you mention all publish their full content, I just checked.

Seriously, start using Google Reader. It will change your life. Belisarius (talk) 07:34, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

You might also like the firefox addon SiteDelta. There's even a Wikipedia tutorial: WP:SiteDelta tutorial -- penubag  (talk) 09:52, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Firefox's quick find?

Hey, two questions in a row! :D

Occasionally when I'm typing something in Firefox and attempt to type an apostrophe, I'll suddenly find myself typing in a box on top of the status bar that says "Quick Find (links only)." It can be frustratingly hard to type anything like this...what's the cause? How can I disable that whenever it pops up? Thanks.--The Ninth Bright Shiner 06:38, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

See http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Quick+find+bar+opens+when+typing+in+text+fields . Nanonic (talk) 06:41, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

electronics

how would i design a 2 bit synchronous up-down counter using j-k flip flop —Preceding unsigned comment added by Veedhoordeshmukh (talk • contribs) 12:11, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

You would examine the diagram at right (a 4 bit synchronous up-down counter using j-k flipflops) - and carefully lop off two of the bits! SteveBaker (talk) 03:38, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

rss

wats RSS, i hav an RSS reader in my mobile... how would it help me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Veedhoordeshmukh (talk • contribs) 12:13, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

There's an encyclopaedia just down the hall...RSS. Xenon54 / talk / 13:42, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Or you could scroll up a few lines.AndrewWTaylor (talk) 16:13, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Malware warning

How much stock should I put into warnings such as this one? [3] I saw it when visiting Memory Alpha. I'm on a Mac running 10.5 and using Safari. Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 16:46, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

A lot of stock. From a Google search it appears this may be one of those websites that springs malware on users via Flash banner ads. Firefox blocks it as a "Reported Attack Site!" as well. Flagfox reports it's located in Luxembourg and whois links it to the Luxembourgish ISP root.lu. Obviously Wikia/Memory Alpha has nothing to do with Luxembourg. Xenon54 / talk / 17:44, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

You might want to check that you actually end up at http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Main_Page Astronaut (talk) 01:52, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Exporting .SWF movies to h264?

I have several old SWF video files. (Just video, no interactivity) How can I convert them to a more modern format (h264) that can play on Flash-free devices? Preferably, something Mac-based. But a Windows utility would be fine too. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 16:53, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

I've used iSquint for this in the past; it is pretty easy. For more heavy-duty conversion, there is always ffmpegX, but it requires a lot more fussing with settings. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:34, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Nature of HTTP 400 errors

I find that when I get an "HTTP 400 Bad Request" error, it almost always go away when I refresh/reload the page I'm trying to open. How does this work? 128.237.226.131 (talk) 16:54, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

The 400 errors are almost always something related to malformed, slow, or dropped transmission of data. While it can be within the network connection somewhere between you and the web server, it is usually on your end. This is common with computers that have been turned into spambots. You want to surf the web, but your computer is using up all your internet capability to send out spam. So, your work gets squeezed out and you get a 400 error. -- kainaw™ 17:02, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

By definition, HTTP errors that begin with a 4 are client errors (i.e., errors on your end). 400 means you or your browser used incorrect syntax in requesting a page. Usually, the request you sent to the server was missing some text. Errors that begin with a 5 are a problem on the server's end.--Drknkn (talk) 17:19, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

data recovery

What's the best data recovery software. i had vista then formatted using windows 7. How can i recover the data..if possible a freeware. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.191.226.2 (talk) 17:01, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Recuva has saved my bacon in the past. However if you've installed a whole operating system since the data was deleted the chances of recovery are probably slim to none; recovery works best when the disk has been left relatively untouched. Xenon54 / talk / 17:49, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Also depends on the data. Are you trying to recover a corrupted file, or an erased file. Or has the relative path of the file become corrupted, and you're trying to recover that.Smallman12q (talk) 16:26, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Auto refresher

How do you make an auto refresher?Accdude92 (talk to me!) 17:23, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

To refresh web pages? Try this greasemonkey script:

// ==UserScript==
// @include       http://www.example.com
// ==/UserScript==

(function()
{
    setTimeout("document.location.reload();", 60000);
})();

60000 is the interval between refreshes, 60 seconds. --kv7sW9bIr8 (talk) 18:17, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

There is at least one Firefox extension - ReloadEvery - that also serves this purpose. Just in case you don't feel like playing with Greasemonkey. Xenon54 / talk / 18:29, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Or if want to try out a new web browser, Opera has a built-in right-click menu item called "Reload Every" with options like "5 seconds", "1 Minute", "30 Minutes", and "Custom". --70.129.128.154 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 01:22, 6 February 2010 (UTC).

GTA 4 and Windows 7

Will GTA 4 run better on any system with windows 7 than one with Vista (as long as they otherwise fit the requirements), or does GTA 4 just suck that much? Aaronite (talk) 18:13, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

It will all depend on your graphics card, video RAM, general RAM, CPU, and other technical stuff. With Windows 7, it might run a bit faster, but not much. Otherwise, if you have under 1 GB of RAM, I'd suggest you get a 2 GB RAM stick, or even upgrade your graphics card. ConCompS talk 21:55, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Completely agree. What graphics card make/model and system RAM do you have? Ultimately it's going to be the graphics card doing the work, but if you've got less than 2Gb main system RAM it's really not going to help. ZX81 ^talk 03:06, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Actually GTA 4 is very CPU heavy because of all the physics stuff going on in the background. Anyway a clean Windows 7 runs pretty much the same as a clean fully updated Vista and you won't notice much difference in performance either way. Gunrun (talk) 09:14, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Dummie question about configuring new things to a router

My landlord has open internet connection in our apartment building. I helped her set it up and have the password. I was trying to set up my new XBOX 360 to the internet via the new XBOX wireless network adapter I purchased today. When connecting, it can detect the network. Now here is the problem. It asks me for the WPA key. I know it is still the same password we set-up because my computer uses it fine and after several failed attempts at connecting to XBOX live at the network level, I called my landlord to confirm the password had not changed. When speaking to her, she said her computers are still connected, but her new Blu Ray player was not connecting to the internet. So, is the WPA key the password we set up or something different? What's are some (mind you, I'm no computer whiz) suggestions on troubleshooting this? I feel like this should be easily fixed if the router is obviously working for our PCs and these new devices are not...maybe I'm wrong? Please help! Thank you in advance. --24.187.98.157 (talk) 19:54, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

The WPA key is the password, yes. One possible problem is if you set up the router to use a security standard other than WPA; if the Xbox tries to connect via WPA, then the connect attempt will fail. I would go back to the router, write down all the acronyms that you've set up for wireless security — WPA? WPA2? TKIP? WEP? — and then go back to the Xbox and double-check that it is trying to log on using the exact same settings. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:13, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

forums report that the adaptor suppots WPA but not WPA2, if the router is using WPA2 reconfigure it to WPA (otherwise you have my sympathies - my xbox couldn't even get the DNS even with DHCP on!) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.102.67.84 (talk) 01:53, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

What wireless adapter are you using on the xbox360 (it is a 360 right?)? Some older wifi adapters, as said above, won't do WPA2. Switching to WPA 1 is not a tremendous security issue, and if you do it with the same password then you won't need to reconfigure [any,probably] of your other devices. Just make sure you ask your landlord's permission.

You could also try to get a wifi adapter that supports WPA2, if that's practical (I think the xbox360 should support it if the adapter does).

The real problem stems from the fact that early wifi adapters only had hardware abilities to do RC4 (which has some properties that make it work nicely in some hardware) whereas the ideal WPA2 solution uses AES. The WPA[1] solution uses RC4, but avoids most of the problems of WEP. Thus, some adapters will work with WPA1 but not with WPA2. Maybe that's yours. Shadowjams (talk) 07:13, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Yahoo messenger problem

Why cant the other person view my webcam? Important notes

• OS=windows xp
• my internet is fine
• It worked once before
• I select the option that invites the person to view my webcam, but the popup thingy say 0 viewers.
• yes my webcam is pluged in
• Yes I messed with my prefrences and made sure my device was selected
• webcam-Logitech

Accdude92 (talk to me!) 22:01, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried re-installing Yahoo Messenger? ConCompS talk 22:19, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

YesAccdude92 (talk to me!) 22:22, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried using a different program (such as Windows Live Messenger, Skype, etc.)? ConCompS talk 22:24, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

She has yahoo too, so I want to use Yahoo.Accdude92 (talk to me!) 22:43, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

But have you tried using the webcam with another piece of software just so you can narrow down if it's Yahoo Messenger causing the problem or the webcam/driver itself? We're not suggesting you use the other program permanently, but if you can establish a connection with other software it'll help narrow down the problem. ZX81 ^talk 03:03, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Watermark Problem in Word 2007

I have written a text in Word 2007, with different header and footer on the title page. (This can be accomplished in two ways: either you let the first page be a section of its own, or you use the "Different First Page" option (sv: "Annorlunda förstasida"). I chose the first way, beacuse I also need to alter the vertical alignment of the title page so its text will end up on the centre of the page.) But then I noticed that I cannot add a watermark to all pages. I can add a watermark to the title page, and I can add a watermark to all other pages, but no matter what I try (it seems), I cannot get a watermark on all pages. Surely there must be a way of doing this? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:36, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

February 6

Help with Python

I'm trying to create a program that writes the numbers 1-10000 to a text file in python. Here's the code I have so far.

 
file = open("L:\mudkipz.txt", "r")
filedata = file.read()
file.close()
import math
b = 0
while b < 10000:
   b = b+1
   num = b
   f = open('L:\mudkipz.txt', 'w')
   f.write(num()/n)
   f.close() 

The problem is, whenever I run the file, I get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "c:\Users\Mitch\Documents\filewriter.py", line 10, in <module>
f.write(num()/n)
TypeError: 'int' object is not callable 

What am I doing wrong? MMS2013 00:49, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Sounds like "f.write(num()/n)" is line 10, and the computer things you are trying to divide by n when I imagine you want to write the escape code for a new line - put the /n in quotes.87.102.67.84 (talk) 01:06, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

The error message seems to say that because num is an int, you can't call the function num() --70.129.128.154 (talk) 01:09, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your help, but I made both of the changes you recommended, and I still get the same error. MMS2013 01:21, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Possibly you will also need to convert the number to a string - I think write needs a a string.

The code would be f.write(str(num)+"/n")

str(x) is a function that converts x to a string [4] via [5] does this work - what di you write?87.102.67.84 (talk) 01:25, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Why on Earth would you open and close the file 10,000 times? Even if it worked, the performance would be horrible.

On to the problem... Think about what the value of n is (if n is a variable) at each stage in your loop? In what way is functiuon num() linked to value num? Why even bother copying the value of b to num in the first place?Astronaut (talk) 01:36, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

It worked, thank you all :) MMS2013 01:53, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Python Equivalent

What would the equivalent of the TI Basic command fpart() be in Python? MMS2013 01:56, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

modf. I'd post this link but Wikipedia has decided it is spam, despite it being the most useful page I could find on the subject: www tutorialspoint com/python/number_modf.htm --Mr.98 (talk) 02:12, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Power adapter cables

I would like to purchase another hard disk. I have an extra power adapter cable. However, it is too short to reach the location that I would place a new hard disk. What are my options to handle this? Are there extension cables that can be plugged into the end of one cable? And if so, are there any concerns that I should be aware of? The existing cable runs back into the power supply, which is fairly tightly sealed up and a little difficult to access. If it is easier or recommended to just replace the cable with a longer one, though, I suppose I could remove that inner casing to access it. Thank you. 124.214.131.55 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 02:24, 6 February 2010 (UTC).

The power cables in PC are pretty much standard throughout. Can you swap the spare with one that is in use on another drive? Astronaut (talk) 02:29, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I can and just did. I now have enough length for an extra drive. Silly me for not trying the obvious first. Thank you. 124.214.131.55 (talk) 02:43, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Although you've already resolved this, I just wanted to let you know you can get extension cables for both IDE drives (with a molex connectors) and SATA drives (with the SATA connectors). Assuming your PSU is actually capable of powering the extra device, the tiny amount of additional cabling that you're adding won't have any impact. You can also get "Y cables" that will split one cable into two new connectors (and giving a slight lead extension at the same time). These also don't don't really cause any problems assuming that your PSU can handle it, but they can make it more difficult to balance the load across the rails, assuming your PSU prefers/requires this. ZX81 ^talk 03:01, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Resolved

Computational complexity of applying numbered permutation

What is the computational complexity of the algorithms given at Permutation#Algorithms_to_generate_permutations, if an arbitrary precision integer type is needed to store k? NeonMerlin 05:17, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Computational complexity is not an exact measure of time. It is a measure of how much more time is required (or more resources) as the problem grows in size. If using arbitrary precision numbers, the slow math will be slow for small values of n and large values of n. You are going to perform the math approximately n times to produce the k^th permutation. So, it is O(n). The key thing to understand is that the time it takes to perform n computations will be much longer for arbitrary precision math as opposed to just using standard integer types. How much longer depends on your implementation of arbitrary precision math. -- kainaw™ 05:31, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

For arbitrary precision maths the time taken depends on the encoding - ;(ignoring unary) the average length of a set of numbers encoded to base b is (n-1/(b-1))(b-1) = L, where n is the number range of numbers numerals, the time to add it proportional to L, to multiply L^2 and to divide to an integer b*L^2 (i think) doing sums in software - basic algorhtyhms, proofs on request, to complicate things each iteration of the loop shortens (reduces) the number - in a way not totally related to the base representation - if you can work out how the length of the representation of the number changes after each iteration of the loop it should be possible to calculate a formula (or at least the formula as a summation) for the time taken.87.102.67.84 (talk) 07:35, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

I assume you didn't mean the lexicographic method - which doesn't need numbers (except to store a value up to k - but not up to k! - much easier) - it can work with strings (or arrays of chars/numerals)...87.102.67.84 (talk) 07:40, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

And note that the range, since each swap narrows it, is i! for all 2 ≤ i ≤ n. At Computational complexity of mathematical operations, it says the fastest multiplication algorithm for n-bit integers is O(n log n 2^{log* n}) and that division is the same complexity as multiplication. Barring any other optimizations, this implies the permutation's complexity is

$\sum _{i=1}^{n}O(\log i!\log \log i!2^{\log ^{*}\log i!})$

whatever that works out to be. NeonMerlin 21:02, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

What about the complexity of the memory unit inside the computer? What about the complexity of the pipeline (or lack of a pipeline) inside the CPU? In computational complexity, you focus on a single algorithm. If the algorithm requires multiplication, you don't add in the complexity of multiplication to the algorithm. You assume that multiplication can be accomplished. Similarly, you don't concern yourself with the complexity of memory management when working on a multiplication algorithm. You assume that memory management can be accomplished. Your goal should be to improve each algorithm separately, not in a big confusing mess of summing up a bunch of complexities into something that makes no sense. -- kainaw™ 22:37, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Orkut

What is Orkut Buykkokten's religion?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.164.73.59 (talk) 11:21, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Please don't post the same question on multiple reference desks. --ColinFine (talk) 16:02, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Then what should I do?? Paste it on my shirt?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.164.73.39 (talk) 12:58, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

List of BASIC dialects than can run under both Windows or Ubuntu?

Is there a list anywhere please? For example the GPL version of SmallBasic (not the Microsoft language of the same name) can run the same code under Windows or Ubuntu. I'd like to find out what other dialects can do this. Thanks 78.146.77.179 (talk) 13:42, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

List of BASIC dialects lists several that run under several platforms. It's not shown as a platform comparison, but if you search that page for "linux" you mostly find that those that run on linux will also run on windows and very often on mac. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:15, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

From List of BASIC dialects by platform:

The free basics that can run under both Windows and Linux are Basic-256/KidsBasic, Basic4SDL/Basic4GL, Chipmunk Basic, FreeBASIC, OpenOffice Basic (?), RapidQ, ScriptBasic, SmallBASIC (also PalmOS), Vintage Basic, wxBasic, XBasic, Yabasic.

The commercial ones are BBx, BlitzMax, GLBasic, KBasic, Hotbasic, KoolB, ProvideX, PureBasic, REALbasic, TrueBasic

Not known if free or commercial: BluntAxeBasic. 78.146.77.179 (talk) 17:11, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Languages most similar to BASIC

I have been using one or two versions of BASIC for decades. I seldom do any programming, just ocassionaly is it useful. For someone familiar with using BASIC, what other languages would be most similar? And easiest to learn for someone habituated to basic? Thanks 78.146.77.179 (talk) 13:46, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Python (programming language) and Javascript are fairly similar, at least to a modern structured basic (one with while loops and blocks and stuff, rather than older stuff like ONGOTO and NEXT). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:11, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

People still use BASIC today. For example, you can compile GW-BASIC programs inside Windows and they will still run. You can use the old MS-DOS GW-BASIC program, too. Here is a list of BASIC dialects, if you'd rather try something else: [6].--Drknkn (talk) 14:18, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Fortran I think is the nearest, Pascal (programming language) is quite similar to the more featured versions of basic (ie the ones with proceedures) and shouldn't be too much of a shock to the system (though not a great improvement either) , both tend to require more structure than the average basic. However I agree that python (which has a lot more concepts and features not in Basic - unlike pascal and fortan) would be a lot easier to learn. And more suitable to occasional programming - but a bit slow in comparison to the others (including compiled basic). I believe that freeBasic is still well supported if you want a feature package basic.87.102.67.84 (talk) 14:42, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Are you looking for another language like basic, or another basic dialect(List of BASIC dialects)? There are still a number of working and decent Basic compilers...Smallman12q (talk) 19:38, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

I may be prepared to start using another language if it was quick to learn after using Basic for a long time, and it could do things that basic couldnt. I've been using GWBasic in a DOS window quite happily, but as I'm planning to get an old computer running Ubuntu as a spare, then as my question above indicates I'm interested in finding a Basic dialect that will work with Windows or Ubuntu. I was already aware there are many basic dialects available. 78.146.77.179 (talk) 20:00, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

FreeBASIC can be compiled to run on Windows, DOS, and Linux. --Phydaux (talk) 22:55, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Confused by fancy variable names

In the old days variable names were just one word or even just one letter. Now looking at examples of code I see very long variable names with lots of "."s in them, or even "::"s in them. 1) Is there some cross-language convention for variable names that I could study? 2) Do the "."s or ":"s mean anything to the compiler or interpreter, or are they simply of significance to the programmer only? 78.146.77.179 (talk) 13:51, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

In C and C++ foo.bar can mean that bar is a member of the struct foo. In C++ and Java (and a bunch of other languages) it can also mean that bar is a member of an object called foo (you need to know if foo is an object or a struct). In C++ foo::bar means that bar is a class variable (or are we calling them "class member") of the class foo. Class members in Java use a . rather than ::   , so there's another reason you need to know what foo is before you can understand what foo.bar means. Other languages kinda follow these "conventions" sometimes, and sometimes not. Note that in most of these (C++,java and their ilk) bar can be variable (called a member) or a function (called a member function) so you can call foo.bar() just like you'd call printf(). These all mean something to the compiler and the language runtime; they're reserved syntax, so you can't just make a variable like int foo.bar=3; -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:05, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

They are for the compiler. In the old days, there were no such things as classes and objects. Nowadays, dots have special meaning in object-oriented languages. Here's an example:

Dog.color = brown

Dog is a class. Color is a property of a dog. Here's a method:

Dog.bark()

The two colons are specific to C++, but are similar in meaning to the dot. They are used with classes, whereas a dot is used for objects. An object is an example of a class. For example, in Visual Basic, you could type this:

Dim fido As Dog

Now, fido is an object (instance) belonging to the Dog class.--Drknkn (talk) 14:08, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

So Dog.color is class.property, Dog.bark() is class.method. How would you refer to an actual dog, not just the dog class please? 78.146.77.179 (talk) 16:10, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Typically you'd make an instance (as in 'instantiate') of the class - something like (disclaimer: my use of instance doesn't seem to match everyone elses - probably better to think of it as a variable declaration)

fido = new Dog

in the same way you might write:

name = new String (for a string variable named 'name' )

(syntax varies between languages)

Then the object (fido the dog) is the 'variable' (of type or class dog), and is refered to by fido.bark() , fido.ageof , fido.favouritetoy , fido.age etc.87.102.67.84 (talk) 16:18, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

So the interpreter would automatically understand that the method dog.bark() would apply to fido as in fido.bark()? 78.146.77.179 (talk) 17:09, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes.87.102.67.84 (talk) 17:19, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Note: one way to do this (if you have a lot of dogs) would be:

Doglist[] = new Array[101] of Dog

(Assuming you have 101 dogs). Then to find dogs called "fido" (and make them bark) you would loop over the dog array like this:

For x =1 to 100

if Doglist[x].name == "fido" then do something.. such as Doglist[x].bark()

Next x

(again actual sytax varies) Obviously bark() would be just a proceedure with something simple like print "woof" in it.87.102.67.84 (talk) 16:46, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

the dots are very much like path separators in file listings - defining sub variables in the same way that "C:/User name/my_files/my_images/holiday_in_tenerife/images_of_the beach/" defines a nested folder on the hardisk - compare with ""C::User name.my_files.my_images.holiday_in_tenerife.images_of_the beach" - as noted above the final "file" (by analogy) can be either a variable (x,y etc) or also a function or proceedure.87.102.67.84 (talk) 14:53, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Double colons are also used for class separation in Perl. Marnanel (talk)

Fortran uses a class%member property system, so everything depends on the language as well. Titoxd^{(?!? - cool stuff)} 19:20, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Another important use of the "::" in C++ is in specifying a namespace, which is kinda like a class, only completely different. -- 174.21.224.109 (talk) 19:29, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Selling financial software

What steps should a programmer take to avoid the possibility of legal trouble in the event that the financial software they develop and sell unexpectedly turns out to give wrong results which lead people to take wrong financial decisions? 78.146.77.179 (talk) 14:06, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

The most common strategy is to use the prevailing jurisdiction's limited liability provisions, typically by establishing a limited liability corporation, partnership, or whatever. As this programmer is worried about "the possibility of legal trouble" then they need to talk to a lawyer. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:24, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Indeed, you should talk with a lawyer about your individual case. Common steps that are often taken are that the programmer forms a corporation or a limited liability company and makes sure all business is conducted in the name of the company. If the Exxon Corporation loses a billion dollars because of an error in the software, the programmer himself is not supposed to be liable; the company is, so it can declare bankruptcy in the face of the staggering losses, and supposedly the owner(s) of the company have no further liability. Another step you're probably familiar with is the lengthy legal disclaimer in the software's EULA. And also there is a type of insurance called Errors and omissions insurance that is supposed to cover this — though the policies are lengthy and complicated and always have lots of exclusions. E&O is expensive. I don't have any data on how effective each of these 3 steps is. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:14, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Record 2 speeches simultaneously on a single pc

I'm doing some experiments on speech separation.

My situation is: consider a conference with n number of speakers. There are n microphones to record the speech. But each of the microphone will get a weighted speech of all the users. I want separate each speakers using the outputs from all the microphones. For this first I've to record at least two speeches simultaneously on a same pc. I want to know if its possible. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JephyVarapuzha (talk • contribs) 14:50, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes I think so, if I've understood correctly - assuming each microphone has the same characteristics - then the amplitude recorded on a given microphone will be = k1s1+k2s2+k3s3+etc where s1,s2 etc are the separate speech amplitudes of each speaker, and k1,k2,k3 etc are constants (assuming each speaker roughly stays in the same position to each microphone) - since you have multiple microphones (assuming 1 per speaker or more), and multiple samples of sound amplitude as well - you can treat the formula as linear equations and solve for s1,s2 etc - the key thing here seems to be to assume that the constants k(n) on microphone m and k(m) on microphone n are the same.. - since they are the same distance from the opposite speaker. Also assume that each speaker is the same distance from their own microphone - making k(n) for speaker n = k(m) for speaker n. This would give you a first approximation for the individual speaker amplitudes - multiple samples give you an average.

The next step would be to find a method of varying by small amounts the parameters of k until the channel separation of the S(n)'s are maximum - this might be done either statistically, or using a computer to iterate values.

Was that the sort of thing you were thinking of? If so and you need more info it you might get more answers on the maths desk - provided you can make it clear to them what the type of algorhtym you want to implement is. 87.102.67.84 (talk) 15:03, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Actually i've some algorithms in hand. What i need to do is to record two speeches simultaneously in a single pc. My PC have two mic-in s (one in front and one in back). I want to know if I could record with these two simultaneously. The sound recorder on windows seem to record from one only. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JephyVarapuzha (talk • contribs) 15:22, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

ok I'd guess the sound in is stereo (it is on most) - and the microphones monoaural - so you just need a splitter - probably a 3.5mm stero male to 2 mono splitter ? http://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1CHNG_en-GBGB363GB363&aq=0&oq=3.5mm+stereo+to&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=3.5mm+stereo+to+2+mono+splitter ? :) I would guess the two mic ins are the same port - but to be certain you'd need to give us the soundcard model (or motherboard model if it's on there) - you can get this info via the sound drivers info panel probably.87.102.67.84 (talk) 15:26, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

My motherboard model is Gigabyte M61PME-S2P. By using a splitter we get only one sound file right? I need two separate wav files for both the mics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JephyVarapuzha (talk • contribs) 16:00, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

The audio chip is http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=44 "2 stereo ADCs support 16/20/24-bit PCM format, one for stereo microphone, the other for legacy mixer recording" - so it's possible that you do have 2 stereo channels. Splitting a stereo wav into two monos is simple http://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1CHNG_en-GBGB363GB363&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=split+stereo+wav - you might need some extra audio software to do it. Similarily to get both stereo channels to record you'd need something with more features than windows sound recorder - I don't know what to recommend - maybe someone else can.87.102.67.84 (talk) 16:12, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

thank u v much. i'll buy a splitter and test it... —Preceding unsigned comment added by JephyVarapuzha (talk • contribs) 16:22, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Consider also getting some USB sound cards. Like This one : [7].

Those should be selectable as seperate sound devices in whatever software you're using to do the recording. APL (talk) 04:39, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Graphics tablet trainer

I recently purchased a graphics tablet and am using it for the first time. Obviously like any new device, it takes some time to coordinate one's muscle memory to the device—in particular I am finding it tough to gauge the pressure settings and making precise movements with it. I am not bad with pen on paper drawing (in the sense that my hands and brain are well in sync), but I am finding this rather fumbling at first.

Is there some sort of trainer/game/etc. that would help me with this? I imagine that one could fairly easily have something that forced one to basically "practice" using it under very precise conditions, helping the hand and brain learn how to do it "just right" each time. (Similar to the exercises one does in learning a musical instrument, where you are basically "programming" your brain and hands and etc. to work together in a new way.) Does anyone know of such a thing? I'm not sure what I ought to be searching for, really. Is there such a thing? (Don't make me program one myself.) Obviously practice makes perfect, but I'm not really capable of using the tablet for my "real" work yet, and so I guess I'm looking for some kind of program that would structure my "practice" a bit. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:04, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

I suggest a game where you win or lose based on how well and quickly you draw things. Yahoo Games used to have a version of Pictionary, but I can't find it any more. I did find "The Sketcher", which might also work, there: [8]. StuRat (talk) 00:19, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I use a tablet instead of a mouse at home almost all the time (this may or may not be practical depending on how your computer is set up; picking up and dropping the stylus take time, so I do a lot of stuff from the keyboard). It is possible to do pretty much everything with a tablet, though there will always be more wiggle than using a mouse (I accidentally drag things I'm meaning to click on all the time). My tablet is medium-sized (I think it's 4x6 inches), but I prefer to use it with the screen mapped to a smaller rectangle; I like not having to move my wrist as much.

If you like logic puzzles, Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection are very good, and involve plenty of pointing; pick a puzzle with lots of clicking, choose an easy setting, and resize the window to something small if you want to practice precision. (These puzzles tire my wrists out, though, so don't go overboard.) Paul Stansifer 02:22, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I enjoy playing iSketch. It's a fun web-based Pictionary clone. Wacom owners are at a natural advantage. APL (talk) 04:42, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Crayon Physics and World of Goo are both good indie games (well worth the money) that are good for use with tablets. --125.239.49.44 (talk) 23:58, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Administrative rights in Windows XP Media Center Edition

Resolved

Hi. I'm running Windows XP, and I was installing the latest version of iTunes when I ran into an error message, indicating that I didn't have permission to perform some task unless I log in as an administrator. That seems fine, except there's only the one account on this machine, and it has administrative rights. I'm kind of stumped. Does anyone have any ideas? -GTBacchus^(talk) 18:30, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Now I've found the secret "Administrator" login, and when I'm logged in that way, I get the same error message. It says:

“ The installer has insufficient privileges to access this directory: C:\Program files\QuickTime\QTSystem. The installation cannot continue. Log on as administrator, or contact your system administrator. ”

Still stumped. -GTBacchus^(talk) 18:56, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Try right clicking the directory, click Properties then the security tab and check Administrator has Full Privileges. You could also experiment with the Advanced button, and take ownership of the directory. --205.168.109.130 (talk) 19:19, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

I kept searching after posting, and found an uninstallation program that does deep registry cleaning. Therefore, I'm now listening to music again. Regardless, the tip you suggest is something I didn't know about, and which may come in handy later. Thanks for that. -GTBacchus^(talk) 20:28, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Google redirect virus -- how does it work?

I've given up on trying to clean this infuriating bug off my system, but I would like to understand how it's operating exactly. Why, for instance, Google themselves can't deal with it. And why it affects every browser I have. Thanks. Vranak (talk) 19:01, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

If there's a computer virus on your system, it can do whatever wondrous imaginings the programmer thought up, including altering what URLs are accessed whenever any application on your computer attempts to resolve any URL. There's nothing Google can do about it. May I recommend, after you reformat your system, creating one account with administrator rights that is only used when installing software, and another account with no administrator rights, which you use on a daily basis for all your computing tasks? This makes it a lot harder for malware to infect your system files. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:49, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

My HP Mini 311 failed, within two weeks of purchase, to even revert to its original state. Every HP I've used has failed catastrophically within three years. Best choice I have is just to live with it. Vranak (talk) 21:05, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

That strikes me as probably not the best choice you have. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:53, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

I've tried everything and nothing works. Vranak (talk) 23:44, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

It may be simply that the virus has modified your hosts file or is pointing to a different DNS. Have you tried visiting Google by IP? If HP provided you with installation media and you have nothing you care about on the disk, the obvious solution would be to completely wipe the harddisk/s and reinstall from scratch. I believe some computers have a recovery partition however in that case there's a risk the recovery partition has been infected (I don't know how common this is but it's clearly a possibility if the content is writable to the malware which it would be if it's on a disk connected to the computer when the malware is running and would even be possible if the partition isn't mounted since the malware can mount it or interpreted it itself.) If that really doesn't work, it sounds like you have more serious problems of some sort. You may of course want to do this offline particularly if you don't have a good firewall and are using an old version of Windows (getting online without getting infected may become a problem, worst case scenario you could download the necessary updates from another computer) Nil Einne (talk) 10:18, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Hear me on this: I have tried everything. There's something that I just don't understand about the infection though, for all my efforts to be in vain. Why is it that all the antivirus and antispyware software I try is oblivious to the issue? How can that be? Vranak (talk) 13:20, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

It's pretty obvious some program has modified the way your requests to google are processed on your computer. Google has no way to helping you. As for why antivirus software can't detected, well maybe it's a new virus or undocumented. I suggest you try combofix —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.14 (talk) 13:39, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Personally I don't trust antivirus software to eradicate 100% of every virus anyway. At this point you should get an external USB drive, copy all the contents of your hard disk to it, then disconnect it, format your internal hard disk, set up 2 separate accounts as I mentioned above, and reinstall Windows and all your applications from scratch. Make sure antivirus software is installed, then connect the USB drive again and scan it. (Some viruses interfere with antivirus software.) Then be very careful about moving your documents from the external USB drive to your internal drive — some of them are infected. Comet Tuttle (talk) 15:11, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Try going to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc, right-clicking the file "hosts" and opening it in Notepad. Scroll down to the bottom -- do you see "google.com" listed there? (This is the hosts file.) If a program has modified this file, it would behave exactly the way you describe: redirecting all requests for google.com, and not be picked up by any malware detector. It's also very simple to fix: delete the line that mentions Google, and save (you may have to run Notepad as an administrator to do this.) Friggums (talk) 10:19, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Have you used Hijack This yet, and shown the results to a suitable forum? I take your word for it that you have already done a series of scans with things like Malwarebytes, Superantispyware, Spybot, and others, using Ccleaner before each scan. 89.242.159.40 (talk) 21:31, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Simple computer vision for linux to crop sheets of paper out of a photograph

I would like to take a picture of several sheets of paper. I would like for the computer to recognize the sheets, crop them out resize as necessary and then stick them in a PDF . Is anyone aware of a program (free and open source) that does this?

I am thinking about writing a quick little script using the example programs in opencv and some imagemagick but I would like to avoid reinvetning the wheel if possible. This seems like a problem someone might have already tackled, thanks. -- Diletante (talk) 19:24, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Object and Instance

I've been reading Object-oriented programming after being inspired and enlightened by the very good and clear descriptions by 87.102.67.84 and Drknkn in the "Confused by fancy variable names" question above. But there is something I'm not clear about.

There is a class called Dog. The object Lassie is one particular Dog. But Lassie is also an instance of the Dog class. So what is the difference between an object and an instance please? 78.146.77.179 (talk) 19:47, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

In the inconsistent world of OO nomenclature, "object" and "instance" mean the same thing. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:33, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Why are they given seperate paragraphs and headings in the Object-oriented programming article? 78.146.77.179 (talk) 20:35, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

an object is an instance of a class. --99.52.85.117 (talk) 20:39, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

The article says "One can have an instance of a class or a particular object." I'm confused. 78.146.77.179 (talk) 20:53, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

In my opinion, that's just really poor wording in that article: in a class-based language, "object" and "instance" mean exactly the same thing - basically, a particular variable whose type is some "class". "Instance" is perhaps a little less ambiguous because "object" is used so much when describing the abstract concept of object-orientation etc.

Prototype-based programming is a bit different, because there are no classes to have an "instance" of, so AFAIK the term doesn't apply. - IMSoP (talk) 21:05, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

FWIW, I've gone ahead and removed that "... or a particular object" - I really don't think it was a helpful phrase. - IMSoP (talk) 21:20, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

It is mainly just using a word that sounds nice. It doesn't sound nice to say "Lassie is an object of dog." It doesn't sound nice to say "Lassie is an instance." If you are going to follow it with the class name, you use instance. If you are going to leave it dangling, you use object. There are many areas of the English language in which one word sounds better in one situation, but is replaced with another word in a different situation. -- kainaw™ 21:12, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

The relationship between "instance" and "object" is just like the relationship between "son" and "man". Every man is a son and every son is a man (ignoring that "man" often implies adulthood, and sometimes doesn't imply maleness), but no one says "I am a son" in isolation. The word "instance" (like "son") is used to talk about relationships; you'd say myHat is an instance of Beret, where myHat is an object and Beret is a class. The word "object" can be a bit trickier. It's common to hear said of a language that "everything is an object", but it is not always clear what is meant by "everything". Paul Stansifer 02:14, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Given the comments above, wouldnt it be best to combine the Objwect and Instances paragraphs in the article? 78.146.77.179 (talk) 00:29, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

(The desecription could be clearer on that page)

I think one example of the difference is that a class (ie the definition or template from which real objects are derived) is an object too, but is not an instance of anything (I go on to contradict this a few lines down!).

Sometimes people ignore or do not use the term 'object' to refer to classes.

• Hint
  • Lassie (object) is an instance of the Dog class
  • Dog (class) is an instance of the class object (this is usually ignored since it's too abstract, and rightly so )

more correctly: Dog (class) is an extension of the prototypical class object. As you can see discussions of OO terminology rapidly descend into confusion.

Not quite true (well, the part about "confusion" is totally true). The "class object" is not worth thinking about. In some OO languages, there's a class named, confusingly, "Object". In those languages, every (lowercase) object is an instance of the class called (uppercase) "Object". It would have been less confusing (and also more accurate) if they had called that class "Thing". Furthermore, the uppercase "Object" is typically unimportant (unless you're using pre-version-1.5 Java). Summary: An object is something you can manipulate. Each object is an instance of some class. A class is a set of objects that share something in common. Paul Stansifer 19:33, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I'd avoid worrying too much about the semantics since there will always be someone who uses the term object (broad or narrow definitions) differently.87.102.67.84 (talk) 16:36, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Languages that have very high level commands

SmallBASIC has for example a chart command "which draws an automatically scaled and labeled graph of an array". Rebol has simple commands for its built-in text editor and other things. Are there any other programming languages or dialects which include simple commands for high-level things like these? 78.146.77.179 (talk) 20:50, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

See High-level language for an in-depth discussion. Marnanel (talk) 20:52, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

It does not seem to mention or list any actual languages, which is what I'm asking. 78.146.77.179 (talk) 20:55, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Domain Specific Languages would be worth a look. See also MATLAB, R and friends. 131.111.248.99 (talk) 21:11, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Also, I don't know, but I daresay GML will come pretty close to what you're looking for. 131.111.248.99 (talk) 21:18, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

In typical high-level languages, those features are located in libraries, rather than being a part of the language itself. For a small cost in usability (you need to track down and import the library), a language can have many, many more simple, powerful capabilities like chart. For example, in Python, you might use something like libplot or Gnuplot.py for charting. Paul Stansifer 01:57, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Perl 187.26.127.255 (talk) 22:40, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

APL has some high level commands. It is possible to write a complex program, to calculate the inverse of a matrix for example, with just a few characters. Astronaut (talk) 19:05, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Batch processing folder full of images?

Is there a simple, free, and easy way to convert an entire folder full of .bmps into another filetype like PNG or JPEG? 67.169.7.53 (talk) 23:04, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

ImageMagick --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 01:01, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

"Open with GIMP" still shows up even after GIMP is uninstalled

When I right-click an image, in the menu it will show "Open with GIMP" even though I have uninstalled GIMP. How can I get rid of this? I have tried CCleaner and fixed all the registry problems it could find, but it did not fix GIMP from showing up in the menu. 67.169.7.53 (talk) 23:20, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

You may find this site helpful. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 00:38, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I've tried MMM Free and Context Menu Editor, and "Open with GIMP" doesn't show up in those programs. Is it possible to manually edit the registry to remove it? 67.169.7.53 (talk) 18:45, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

If I were you I would use regedit to search the registry for "GIMP", or some part of the string displayed in the context menu. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:10, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

That worked, thanks! I backed up my registry and used find to search for GIMP keys and removed them. 67.169.7.53 (talk) 23:46, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

February 7

MacBook volume control doesn't beep

I have a MacBook running OS X 10.4. When I adjust the volume, it doesn't make the beeping sound. The volume itself is fine, it's just that the beeping has disappeared. Does anyone know of an explanation or remedy? --Lazar Taxon (talk) 00:26, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I believe there's a setting somewhere ("System Preferences" > "Sound", perhaps?) that controls this. In any event, if you hold down shift while pressing the volume keys, it make a sound if it's set to be silent (and vice versa). Paul Stansifer 01:47, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

You learn something everyday. The option is System Preferences->Sound->Sound Effects->Play feedback when volume is changed. Rich^(Contribs)/_{(Talk to me!)} I can haz review plz? 14:03, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

How to record a streaming video from screen?

Can anyone recommend some software to record a streaming video directly from my computer screen to my HD please? (Technically, I suppose I mean record it from the graphics card I think.) Ideally it should be able to decide what the window of the video is. I am experienced in recording many other streaming videos to my hard disk, and have looked at or used several different programmes. This video will not record by the previous methods I have used because the stream is encrypted. So what appears on the screen is what I want to record. I have tried lots of different things, done lots of Google searches already. So can anyone recommend some software please (not just do a Google search)? Thanks. 78.146.77.179 (talk) 00:56, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

VLC media player can record what's happening on the desktop (Media -> Open Capture Device -> select "Desktop" as the "capture mode") but I don't know if it can restrict itself to one window. Xenon54 / talk / 01:04, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I tried it but I just got a .ps file which windows didnt know what to do with, and which I could not get to play. 89.242.43.246 (talk) 20:37, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

CamStudio --kv7sW9bIr8 (talk) 12:11, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I've had more success with FRAPS than anything else. Comet Tuttle (talk) 15:13, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

The freeware version only records for 2 minutes, the other version costs more than I'd want to pay. 89.242.43.246 (talk) 20:40, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I have spent all day looking, without reaching a conclusion. I have found "Video Capture Software" on download.com http://download.cnet.com/windows/video-capture-software/?tag=mncol%3Bsort&filter=licenseName%3D%22Free%22%7C&filterName=licenseName%3DFree%7C&rpp=10&sort=downloadCount+asc and http://all-streaming-media.com/record-video-from-screen/screen-capture-software.htm I think there is another collection of similar software somewhere, but the URL seems to be missing from my History. (Edit: the missing URL is http://www.videohelp.com/capture which has a lot of software listed somewhere on the site as well). The drawback of some of them described as freeware is that they have been made to only record two or five minutes. 89.242.43.246 (talk) 20:19, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/win32/MPlayer-mingw32-1.0rc2.zip + http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/windows-essential-20071007.zip (goes into 'codec/s' dir of former). mplayer -playlist -dumpstream URIhere -dumpfile foo (occasionally you will not want -playlist). VLC can probably do this almost as well, though. ¦ Reisio (talk) 06:11, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Have you seen our article, List of screencasting software? Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:10, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

C99 and // comments after #include

In syntax highlighting for C code, Kate doesn't format comments that start with a double slash as comments if the line they're on starts with a #include. Is this a bug in the syntax highlighting, or does C99 actually disallow double-slash comments on the same lines as #includes? (GCC says C90 doesn't allow double-slash comments at all, which is why I ask about C99 specifically.) If the latter, what other preprocessing directives are affected? NeonMerlin 01:45, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

It may have to do with that comments aren't recognized within < > so one can have odd names in there, I haven't the foggiest why one would want to do that. Perhaps the editor treats such preprocessor lines specially as they can break all sorts of rules, as in fact can the source code but if one starts defining a macro that substitutes to a curly bracket one deserves the pain one gets. Dmcq (talk) 10:03, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

FYI emacs, enscript, and gedit work as you expect, and Mediawiki's "source" extension works like Kate. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:17, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

There is something wrong with the highlighting rules. And yes, it's the same in GeSHi:

// A comment looks like this
#include <stdio.h> // Not this

decltype (talk) 18:23, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Word 2007 Table Alignment

Hello. I've been trying to figure this problem out for some time, and I can't even bring anything up on Google! I have Microsoft Word 2007, and I've been trying to make single-cell tables. The thing is, the alignment I keep choosing won't save: I want everything to align in the center and to the left, but when I save and exit the document, it doesn't stay the way I want it to. When I reopen the document, the alignment is always completely centered! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.16.91.90 (talk) 05:43, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

You can only align one way, either right,left, centered, or justified...Smallman12q (talk) 17:08, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

By "center" he probably is referring to vertical alignment: middle. This can indeed be combined with horizontal alignment left. (I am very annoyed about the Tab key that does no longer set focus to the next control.) --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 09:19, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Powering Computer during powercut - was Question

In a few weeks there's going to be a 10 hour power-cut. I want to use my desktop computer during this time, however obviously I can't because of the power-cut. I can't afford a uninterruptible power supply or a electrical generator, and I don't have a laptop. What solutions are available that might enable me to use my computer? I have access to car batteries and wires and stuff if that could help building a homemade UPS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.14 (talk) 13:56, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

You probably want an inverter. You will almost certainly need a few batteries for 10 hours, however. Your average car battery is (I think) 40amp-hours{{fact}}. That provides 480Wh. A middle of the range HP desktop has a 220W power supply (that's ignoring the display), so each battery will last maybe two and a bit hours, although someone more current (pun not intended) on the maths involved should probably check this. --Rich^(Contribs)/_{(Talk to me!)} I can haz review plz? 14:33, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

(ec) The easiest solution would be to put you computer in your car and drive to where there isn't a power cut. Note that if you decide to buy a 12V to mains adaptor, you'll need to figure the load carefully, a PC and monitor can consume a surprising amount of power and your adaptor may not have the rating to cope and/or your battery may expire before the cut ends. Also if you are net connecting, you'll also need to power your modem. -- SGBailey - not signed in 82.45.16.156 (talk) 14:39, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

or plug an inverter into your car's cigarette lighter and leave the engine running!

Car battery inverters typically supply between 150 and 300W - so be careful to not overload it.87.102.67.84 (talk) 15:04, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

This page covers inverters and generators http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/household-safety/security/emergency-power3.htm (if you decide to use multiple 12V batteries connect them in parallel !)

You can rent generators (but obviously they might be in short supply during a power cut)87.102.67.84 (talk) 15:02, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

You should also be aware that you probably won't have internet access during the powercut.Smallman12q (talk) 17:10, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Buy a cheap used UPS without a battery (this is much cheaper than an inverter). Make sure it's rated for the power draw of your computer + monitor + router and dsl/cable modem. Then hook it up to a car battery. Do the math to see how long it'll last though. Ariel. (talk) 05:54, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

You should not use car batteries for this since the deep discharge will damage them. Use marine batteries, the type intended for running outboard electric motors, or golf cart batteries, which amount to the same thing. They are formulated differently so they can withstand repeated discharge. 66.127.55.192 (talk) 10:59, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Would a stripped-down Python equal Basic?

If you ignored the Python commands not present in your average BASIC, would programming with whats left be roughly equivalent to programming with BASIC? 89.242.43.246 (talk) 14:39, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, ignoring syntax and required formatting, and differences in reserved words. A good page is Comparison of programming languages note BASIC is an imperative, procedural language so any language that uses an imperative style (this means that commands are executed as they are listed) which also can implement procedures (in python you would use functions I think) can be programmed in the same style as you would in basic.

Or to put it another way making a utility that converts basic to python code would be do-able easily.87.102.67.84 (talk) 15:11, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Except there's no GOTO in python - but you can live without that ? 87.102.67.84 (talk) 15:13, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

(By the way if you are looking for alternatives to basic - my suggestion for your first step would be to continue programming in basic - but practice writing proceedural code that never uses goto - repeat/until and do/while are usual replacements - it's sometimes a pain when a simple goto seems obvious - but worth learning for when you don't have a goto (as in many newer languages). If you were already programming without ever using goto then well done!)87.102.67.84 (talk) 15:17, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I have long been aware that goto was not approved of, and have not used it for years and years. I don't suppose theres any sort of tutorial or list of BASIC-like commands that would make the transition from BASIC to Python easier? Or even some patch or variant that would hide al the non-BASIC stuff out of the way? I've long though that programs of all types should have a built-in choise of Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced modes that would make beginning to use them less daunting. 89.242.43.246 (talk) 19:36, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

If you ever used BBC Basic you're in luck BBC basic / pythton differences via roscidus.com - if not you'll still recognise a lot of the basic. (http://docs.python.org/ is the place to start in general) There are some VisualBasic to Python converters out there which might help in learning about equivalent python code.

No idea about a reduced version. Haven't heard of one.87.102.67.84 (talk) 20:40, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I've just read that. Pity Python wasnt called PYBasic - I bet it would be even more popular. 89.242.43.246 (talk) 22:12, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Not everyone thinks BASIC is a good thing. Edsger Dijkstra, for example, had a rather low opinion of it. Others may not be so radical (I can't be, for instance, because I learned BASIC first!), but I doubt that Python would benefit from association with it. --Tardis (talk) 18:24, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I suppose so, more or less, although Python's for statement is technically a foreach, which is more general than BASIC's for loop. This is not a specific property of Pyhton - you can reduce almost any imperative programming language to BASIC + other stuff. But why would you want to write Python as if it were BASIC ? Gandalf61 (talk) 15:22, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

how does the size of an HP pavilion dv 9700 17" compare with an Apple MacBook 17"?

I know the aspect ratio might be different, so I was wondering how the screen size of an HP Pavilion DV 9700 17" compares, in terms of actual square centimeters, with the screen size of a MacBook 17". Thanks 92.230.233.5 (talk) 16:56, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

The apple mac book pro is 1680 x 1050 ( WSXGA+ ) [9], the apple mac book is 1280x800 Wide XGA [10] , the HP is 1,680 x 1,050 [11]

All have aspect ration 1.6:1 - the same then.87.102.67.84 (talk) 17:07, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

The 17" MacBook Pro is actually 1920 x 1200. 209.94.102.85 (talk) 18:04, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Wikitable

If, when I start making a table, I put class="wikitable", I get:

class="wikitable"

Which is nice.

If I put "border="1" instead, I get

Border = "1"

Which is nasty nasty.

However, class="wikitable" does not work when I try it on a table on this wiki. I assume I have to twiddle some settings somewhere to get the wikitable? I've seen it used on other wikis, after all. How do I get the wikitable? Be aware that my technical knowledge is very limited. Cheers in advance! Vimescarrot (talk) 17:31, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Oh, and if you think I should be asking this somewhere else, feel free to point me in the right direction. Vimescarrot (talk) 17:32, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Classes do not work by magic voodoo. Neither your browser nor the wiki software simply takes the word "wikitable" and intuits how you want the table to display. Wikitables look like that because of rules in a CSS stylesheet (in this case Mediawiki:Common.css) which tell your browser to apply various styles to tables with the "wikitable" class, and to elements of those tables. The relevant rules are as follows:

table.wikitable {
    margin: 1em 1em 1em 0;
    background: #f9f9f9;
    border: 1px #aaa solid;
    border-collapse: collapse;
}
.wikitable th, .wikitable td {
    border: 1px #aaa solid;
    padding: 0.2em;
}
.wikitable th {
    background: #f2f2f2;
    text-align: center;
}
.wikitable caption {
    font-weight: bold;
}

So to make a table display like a wikitable without using CSS, you'd have to style the table with {|style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;", and similarly add the appropriate styles for each <th>, <td> and <caption> within the table. Algebraist 17:46, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Nice, thanks. So if I get one of the admins to put that in MediaWiki:Common.css, it'll apply across the wiki? Here's hoping they still have active admins...Cheers! Vimescarrot (talk) 19:31, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Building netbooks

Can u build your own notebook. Like, 4 instance, an Acer Aspire One. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.34.181.72 (talk) 18:47, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

yes. [12] see also Barebook 87.102.67.84 (talk) 19:07, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

ITV Player

Does anyone know how to record a programme from the ITV Player? Only for my own personal use. It is only viewable to people in the UK. I think the most likely route is "video capture" from the screen, but the easier to use freeware can only record for 2 or 5 minutes, and I have not yet got any unrestricted freeware to work. See also the querstion "How to record a streaming video from screen?" above. Thanks. 89.242.43.246 (talk) 20:26, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

get_iplayer, which is primarily targetted at the BBC's iPlayer site, has at various times also been able to download and save content from 4OD and ITV. In the case of 4OD they got into something of an arms race with the 4OD people, and I don't think it supports 4OD any more. Equally it used to be able to work on ITV (per this post), until a redesign. You might be best asking on the get-iplayer forums, incase someone has it working there again. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:31, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I've already got get_iplayer and asked on the forums, and it does not work with the ITV Player any more. 89.242.43.246 (talk) 21:29, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I think it probably something to do with RTMP or RTMPE although I'm only guessing. 89.242.43.246 (talk) 01:24, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Personal wiki recommendations

Can anyone recommend a free personal wiki? One I can run on my PC (WinXP) without having to have a server or anything like that, and preferably not too dissimilar in how you make links etc to the thing Wikipedia works on. I do tend to regard computers as "black boxes" so if you can avoid mentioning pythons and the like I'll be more likely to understand what you are saying! Thanks, DuncanHill (talk) 23:31, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

You might want to try tiddlywiki, I use it for organising information related to my undergraduate research project. It has very nice interface, active development, easy upgrades, a backup system, similar markup to Wikipedia and plenty of plugins if it doesn't do what you want it to out of the box. 131.111.185.75 (talk) 00:20, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, that seems to be what I'm looking for :) DuncanHill (talk) 01:39, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

You may as well just use mediawiki. It needs a database (you'll have to install mysql) but does everything that you're used to. There are some other wikis like moinmoin or tiddlywiki that may be a little simpler to configure but nowhere near as featureful. 66.127.55.192 (talk) 02:19, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

You can use it with postgres as well! Marnanel (talk) 02:29, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

I just read the installation instructions for mediawiki and I do not understand them at all. It seems to need lots of other stuff, not just downloading it and starying it up. If there was a way to use it on my pc I would, but I can't see or understand how. DuncanHill (talk) 02:47, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

You could try MoWeS; it sets up everything you need for MediaWiki automatically, just make sure to select MediaWiki in the packages selection download page —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kv7sW9bIr8 (talk • contribs) 12:37, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Would I be able to use that (once installed) without being connected to the internet? DuncanHill (talk) 21:34, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, you could use it offline. Thanks, gENIUS101 21:55, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Alternatively, find a webhost (there are free ones available on google, I use x10hosting.com) with an automated mediawiki installer. The one I've encountered is softaculus. Simply load it up through the cpanel/other admin interface, tell it to install mediawiki, and follow the prompts. It'll sort all the complex stuff for you, and the default options are usually ok. Rich^(Contribs)/_{(Talk to me!)} I can haz review plz? 16:00, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm really looking for something that doesn't need me to be connected to the internet - it's just for personal use as an aid to research and writing, not for something I want published online (and anyway, it costs money to be online!) DuncanHill (talk) 21:34, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Why do you want a wiki? Maybe you're better off just using a text editor, along with a version control system like git. In fact there is even a wiki called "gitit" that uses git as its backend. 66.127.55.192 (talk) 11:09, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Check out the personal wiki article, it lists lots of wiki-like software that doesn't need servers or complicated set-up —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.90 (talk) 14:01, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

February 8

Pointers and local variables

If I use a pointer to a variable - and then pass that pointer as a parameter to a function or procedure - and that procedure then makes a local variable of the same name - which variable will the pointer point to? Specifically - as a question - what is the behaviour in different computer languages (C, pascal , others) - and how do I go about finding the defined behaviour for a given language - typically I have to resort to trial and error.87.102.67.84 (talk) 01:35, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Um, to find the defined behavior for a given language you have to check the specification for the language, if there is one. But the whole idea of a local variable is that it's independent of other parts of the program, so the local variable and the function parameter will point to two different places. 66.127.55.192 (talk) 02:23, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

The pointer points to the variable by its memory address, not by its name. Even if the original name went out of scope, the pointer would still point to the variable you originally pointed it at. Marnanel (talk) 02:28, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

If I pass (any variable) to a part of a program with different scope as a function or proceedure parameter is that supposed to retain the old (local) scope? (exceptions? is this generally true?)

Also is it right to say that the situation would change when using a dynamically scoped language (I haven't been able to test this).

(I looked at some specifications for C and pascal and honestly couldn't find the explicit description of scope behaviour - does anyone more expert know where they are in the documents?)87.102.67.84 (talk) 03:10, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

In C, when you pass a pointer as a parameter to a function, what you are passing in is a memory address, and you are giving that address a name which lasts as long as that function is executing. Any other names which may exist in other scopes and happen to refer to pointers to the same data are irrelevant. Scope is about how long a name lasts, rather than how long a variable lasts, although if a language has automatic garbage collection these two ideas may be related. Marnanel (talk) 03:22, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

So the scope of a local variable lasts longer when passed to an external function or proceedure as a parameter (instead of 'ceasing to exist' as it usually would?) 87.102.67.84 (talk) 03:48, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

A function's local variables are in scope while that function is executing. When a function "A" passes a parameter to a function "B", it doesn't extend the scope of the data in "A": it creates a whole new scope which lasts as long as "B" is executing. During this time, "A"'s local variables are out of scope: you can't refer to them. Then when "B" is finished, "A" will resume and its local variables will be back in scope again. Marnanel (talk) 03:55, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, thanks - at the transition between A and B the variables (either pointers or values) passed from A will be copied into B's variables. I suppose this means that there is a requirement for local variables not to overwrite global ones (in memory) (even temporarily) since any passed pointers will end up pointing at the wrong thing. (Can anyone expand on this technically?)

What I'm thinking about is common examples such as:

procedure proc inc_to_ten (x)
  x=x+1;
  print (x)
  if (x<10) then proc_inc_to_ten(x)
  print (x)
  return

called from main with inc_to_ten(1) or similar - which counts 1 up to 10 and then back down again as the nested functions return and exit. What I was wondering was how the nested local scoped x's are stored - would it be normal to use stack to store the previous local x just before calling the proc. and the pop the x's back off the stack around the time the return command is fulfilled? Are there other implementations? (Also I wasn't kidding when I couldn't find the description in the language specifications - can anyone point to the section where it is covered)87.102.67.84 (talk) 04:17, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

In answer to your first question: local variables are allocated on the stack; globals are not. There is no risk of them overwriting one another. In answer to your second question: that would be one way of doing it (especially if x is actually implemented as a register); another, simpler way would be to keep x on the stack the whole time, so there was never any risk of loss or confusion. Marnanel (talk) 04:46, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Type casting an assignment target in C

Why doesn't C (or at least why doesn't GCC) allow

(int)x = 1337;

as a synonym for the following?

*((int *)&x) = 1337;

NeonMerlin 02:45, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Two reasons:

1. Casts of lvalues are not lvalues, according to ANSI C.
2. It's stopping you doing something stupid. You don't know that sizeof(x) is the same as sizeof(int). Your second example works, but if sizeof(x)==1 and sizeof(int)==4, you've just clobbered three bytes of memory. Marnanel (talk) 03:27, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

(int)x is not the same as *((int *)&x) when used as an rvalue. If assignment to (int)x were allowed, it presumably would mean something like x = (typeof(x))(int)1337, since that's roughly the opposite of the corresponding read operation.

In C++ you can say (int&)x = 1337, but you probably shouldn't. -- BenRG (talk) 05:31, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Short term internet service in a rural area?

I am searching for a workable solution to a slightly odd technological conundrum. I have a friend that is running a somewhat impromptu, small scale IT convention in a rural Central New York State area that would like short term internet service (like 1 month tops) that would preferably provide a minimum of 5 Mbps for at least 5 computers. I was sure that the new-ish "MiFi" wireless, portable hot-spots would suffice but they only provide roughly 1.4 Mbps at best while most other options require long term contracts. Any recommendations? Thanks! 74.71.73.29 (talk) 05:31, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Satellite internet, or tether some cell phones. Investigate Link aggregation, and have multiple MiFi (or cell) connections. Even if your ISP does not offer it, you can setup a server somewhere to act as the other end of the links, and route everything through that server. Ariel. (talk) 06:00, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

As a WildBlue customer, I wouldn't bet on satellite internet being a good option. At least for normal residential service, the installation and equipment costs are substantial (hundreds of dollars) and require a contract of at least a year. The largest package is 1.5 Mbps download, but I find that my throughput is often well below the stated 512 kbps that I pay for. The latency is very poor, which is annoying and excludes some applications (real-time video, audio, gaming). There is a monthly cap on data transfer (17 GB/month for the largest package), which may also be an issue. My feeling is that anyone who "needs" 5 Mbps is going to be dissatisfied with satellite internet, even if you technically manage to cobble together the bandwidth. -- Coneslayer (talk) 12:59, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

This reply reaches you from a rural area via a relay of miniature microwave transmitters and receivers. All that is required is line of sight between each pair. Such systems are not unusual in rural UK, and I would think that something similar could be hired in the USA, but I don't know about licence requirements. How far away is the nearest fast conventional connection to the internet? Dbfirs 18:11, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

There's a number of companies that offer short-term internet connections for events: try googling. Alternatively, contact a local ISP and ask their advice - many offer temporary or short-contract services. --Normansmithy (talk) 11:48, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

SMS files into text files

So I have a cell phone where from I can download SMS files on my vcomputer. Sadly, no program but the Nokia synchro thingamagum can read those files. Is there a program or a nifty trick to convert hundreds and hundreds of important text message (fileas) into text files (like .txt)? Copy-pasting is a pain, I've tried. Any software should be compatible with Windows 7. Pitke (talk) 13:41, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

What file format does it come in? I mean, the file extension (filename.extension). Samwb123^{Please read} 18:27, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Which model is your phone. If it is NOKIA, you can use their Nokia PC Suite to download messages to PC in CSV format which can be opened by spreadsheet program. It also offers to save it in TXT format. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.79.2 (talk) 06:36, 9 February 2010 (UTC) --220.227.79.2 (talk) 06:37, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for help, my phone is Nokia and I have access to the Nokia PC Suite. I'd known of the CSV format exporting but could not imagine what I could do with it. I'll try it with Microsoft Excel, problem resolved. Pitke (talk) 15:03, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Two versions of Firefox?

I have been using Firefox with Windows XP for a few weeks. I am using an Add-On (a particular "Persona" I think) that makes it look similar to Internet Explorer. However, a major drawback with this is that the drop-down menu for saving Bookmarks is very narrow and also of a very short fixed length, so that it is impossible to see what Bookmark folders you have already.

Would it be possible to either a) run another version of Firefox on my computer without the IE "persona", for example having both versions available to start from their respective desktop icons, or b) alter the IE persona I have to make the Bookmark menu larger? Thanks 92.29.142.75 (talk) 13:48, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Sure, you use as many versions of Firefox as you want. I regularly use the latest release (installed) and have several dozen daily builds that I also use. The daily builds are easiest since they are just a folder without an installer. However, if you just install to a different directory is should work as well. Then rename the shortcuts to the FF in a way that makes sense to you. The issue that you may encounter is each FF asking you if you want to make it the default browser. This can be disabled in the settings though. 124.214.131.55 (talk) 13:55, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

You can create different profiles that each have their own addons and bookmarks etc, this explains how. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kv7sW9bIr8 (talk • contribs) 15:13, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

I'd alter the persona if that's the only problem you have — link to it and someone can explain what you'd need to do. ¦ Reisio (talk) 23:18, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, its "Internet Explorer 8 Aero for Firefox", created by Dinnerjoe, available here http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/55635 I've no idea how to alter it myself. Correction: the Add-on is called myFireFox, version 3.0.0.87. 89.240.202.189 (talk) 00:14, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Neither of those alter my Bookmarks menus. Could you provide a screenshot? http://imageshack.us/ ¦ Reisio (talk) 05:35, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

When I click "Bookmarks", then "Bookmark this page", I get a comparatively small pop-up at the top of the screen middle-right. This is the problem as it is narrow and of fixed length. 92.29.127.70 (talk) 12:40, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps you could contact the author of the IE theme addon and let them know about the problem, they might fix it and release a newer version —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.90 (talk) 14:08, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Generating sound of specified pitch and duration in browser.

Hello guys. I need to generate a sound of a specified frequency and duration using something like generateSound(frequency,duration) function in my browser using javascript (i don't have any other scripting or development platform on my pc). Can you please help? Is there any applet on the net to do this. I looked everywhere but could't find. Thanks. ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 16:55, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Guys? ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 18:29, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, I don't know how. But as a regular internet user, please consider very carefully whether your readers/customers really need that sound. Astronaut (talk) 18:31, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

I actually need it for myself, not to put on the web. After I posted the question i downloaded tcc compiler and used the beep() function but it is not producing sound (through the system/internal speaker). I know it is getting executed by the time it takes (the duration parameter I set). The beep device seems to be working in the device manager. I'm really flustered :( My laptop is Compaq presario c700 (c702tu) btw. ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 18:44, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Your laptop might not actually have a PC Speaker. Lately I've seen more and more computers coming without one and although the connections are still there on the motherboard (hence Windows "sees" a speaker), since there's nothing connected you hear no sound. ZX81 ^talk 19:25, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Yeah I guess that's the problem. If only my clunky old laptop had a stupid system speaker all this trouble could have been avoided. Now I first have to find drivers for my audio (which, i have found out, is next to impossible), and install java on my deathly slow machine :( ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 20:12, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Update: I was able to install drivers. Now will use java or flash! Thanks again :) ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 22:02, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Hmmm... I don't know of any, but you can see this page to see how to play a sound file is javascript. Samwb123^{Please read} 18:34, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I was able to install sound drivers, and my purpose can be served by using javascript and simple wav files ^_^ ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 22:02, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

As far as I know javascript doesn't have the ability to make sounds - I assume you want to play frequency x Hz for y seconds ?

Yes that's what I want to do. And yes I now realise you can't do it using only javascript. thanks! ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 22:02, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Java can 'synthesise frequencies' - and you could put that in a java applet (needs java installed) - would that be acceptable.?87.102.67.84 (talk) 18:54, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

here's a simple beep using a java applet [13]

Thanks very much, that was very useful ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 22:06, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

For different notes I think you need to use MIDI - not sure.87.102.67.84 (talk) 19:16, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

That's an amazing piece of info, I'll use it in future too, thanks ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 22:06, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

This appears to be a frequency generator - http://www.jsresources.org/examples/OscillatorPlayer.html

Wow, that's really cool! Thanks :) ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 22:06, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I think a lot of developers use a simple Adobe Flash script for any sound functionality. (And please don't poke the Desk with notes like "Guys?". It doesn't speed us up.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:20, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm sorry, it was just a friendly poke :[ It had been two hours (I edited the original question, hence the timestamp), and i was thinking it was something straightforward (i was mistaken). ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 19:33, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

You had to wait a whole two hours for a bunch of volunteers to provide an answer to your question? How distressing for you! ╟─TreasuryTag►UK EYES ONLY─╢ 22:11, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Aw let it go man!! :D I told you I thought it was straightforward, and I saw later questions being answered, and it was just a friendly "Guys?". I have myself volunteered on the refdesk in the past, so I know how it works :) 220.225.87.66 (talk) 11:20, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

And yes using flash script would be best if I don't want to use java I suppose. Thanks! ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 22:06, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

If you already had sound files: http://www.schillmania.com/projects/soundmanager2/
Horrors: http://www.google.com/search?q=flex%20generate%20sound ¦ Reisio (talk) 23:21, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

PDA or phone plan with only internet?

Is there a PDA or phone plan that offers no phone or text messaging, but internet access? I do not mean Wi-Fi, but access to their 3G network. And does it cost less than $50/month to access their 3G internet service? Thanks! Samwb123^{Please read} 18:25, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Many providers supply USB dongles for internt access via their 3G network. If you told us in which country you want the service, you might get more accurate help Astronaut (talk) 18:28, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

I live in Spokane, Washington, United States. Samwb123^{Please read} 18:31, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

T-Mobile offers a data only service for Windows mobile devices for $40/month, Verizon seems to offer one for $50, and I can't find any info on an AT&T data only plan for smartphones. I have heard that it runs around the same as T-Mobile though if you ask. Many cell phone companies do like to place restrictions on what other services need to be purchased to be eligible for certain data plan price rates. Caltsar (talk) 20:46, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Thank you. I was wondering, though, is there any sort of thing for the iPod Touch? Thanks. Samwb123^{T (R)-C-E} 20:56, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

The Ipod Touch can't access 3G, but it can use WiFi hotspots. T-mobile recently offered a $5/month plan that allowed unlimited use of their WiFi hotspots by a single device, that could be an Ipod. EdJohnston (talk) 21:04, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

The Kindle does 3G and offers web browsing. Is that what you are looking for? -- kainaw™ 02:06, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

But doesn't the Kindle only navigate to some sites? If it does browse all sites, that would be WONDerful. Samwb123^{T (R)-C-E} 03:02, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I just went to my own website (which I am positive would be off-limits if it Kindle was limited). The deal is that you only get to go to some sites for free. Others require you to pay a 3G access fee, which has never been much for me, but I don't go to tons of sites. Also, I just realized that if you want more than black-and-white, you will want to wait for the iPad, which I believe also does 3G. -- kainaw™ 03:11, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Ubuntu boot problem

I've got a Pentium 4 Ubuntu server that usually freezes during the boot process. Frustratingly, sometimes it gets all the way to the GNOME desktop, at which point it'll run fine for weeks, until I have to restart the server (usually because I have applied some updates via the update manager) and it then usually freezes on boot again. The freezing point is generally on the black screen that has the white Ubuntu logo on it. I generally hard-power-down the computer and turn it on again. Just now it booted in some sort of safe mode (I am guessing), with a screen full of text mode text that appears to be listing timestamps and system calls; here are the last three calls that it's listing:

mprotect_fixup+0x226/0x280
sys_mprotect+0x140/0x200
syscall_call+0x7/0xb

Then it locked up forever. Any hints on how to approach the problem? Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:39, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Not a real solution, but in case it's a problem with the hardware/bios settings it might go away if you use kexec instead of a hard reboot. In any case you should have a look into /var/log/* and dmesg. --194.197.235.240 (talk) 20:25, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Also are you sure the hardware is fine? Linux seems to be more picky about unstable hardware (my CPU overclocked to unstable frequencies will boot into Windows fine but will freeze while booting Linux), and exploding capacitors were a big problem for computers around Pentium 4's time. --antilived^{T | C | G} 10:00, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

On Fedora 11, most of my boot issues stem from a kernel update where other (usually graphics) software doesn't have an updated version yet. The way I get around this is I boot into the kernel version that's one behind until the update comes through. Falconus^{p t c} 12:39, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try "rebooting" with kexec next time the Update Manager nags at me to restart; and maybe I'll look into previous kernel versions. As far as whether the hardware is fine: Well, I can't be sure the hardware is fine, but memtest86 didn't come up with any problems. Other peripherals, I'm unsure, of course. Thanks - Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:40, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

February 9

polymorphism and its types

what is polymorphism(exact defination) and its basic types ?

See type polymorphism. Your question appears to be homework. Because nobody here is likely to be in your class, it is not possible for anyone here to know the exact definition that your teacher wants. -- kainaw™ 13:31, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Password protected IRC channels

Resolved

Is it possible to automatically reconnect to password protected IRC channel when the connection is temporally lost? Currently when this happens it asks for the password again before it will reconnect. I'm using ChatZilla —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.90 (talk) 13:57, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

See the ChatZilla FAQ on passwords. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 16:02, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Thank you! I found out how to do it using ChatZillas "auto-perform" feature :)

Core i7 vs. Centrino Core 2 Duo --- which is better?

1. Are the two processors equally good?

2. Is one of them good only for laptops or notebooks and the other for desktops? or Are both of them for laptops and desktops?

Thank you very much for any clarification. I will be expecting for answers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.93.229.179 (talk) 14:34, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

In general, a Core i7 is more powerful than the Core 2 line (there is some overlap between the high end Core 2 Quad and the low end Core i7). If the Core 2 Duo processor is a Centrino, that simply means it is bundled with a specific set of wireless technology which implies that it is made to be used in a laptop. There are also differences in price between an i7 and a Core 2 processor and system with a Core 2 system usually being less expensive. So depending on what angle you approach the view of better from, you may get different answers. Assuming you are talking about raw speed, a Core i7 processor is going to outperform a Core 2 Duo. Caltsar (talk) 15:58, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Laptop screen banding

I have a 5 y.o. laptop that I'm replacing this weekend, but with the intent of putting a slim Linux distro on it. But the screen has developed a couple 'bands' over the last 6 months or so that would be really annoying - for example, the worst of these is a couple inches at the left hand side where the contrast is noticeably reduced. There's another band of a similar width to its right, and then the rest of the screen looks to be normal. Has anyone got any suggestions for getting these all to be the same? (In case it's not clear: I don't mind so much if it's all going to be the 'contrast reduced' version, since it'll be primarily used for a bit of coding and displaying text.) 131.111.248.99 (talk) 15:06, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Browsing Wikipedia on a PSP-2003

I was told by the user 'A Quest For Knowledge' that I'd get some answers if I posted this question on the Computing section of the reference desk I'd get more relevant answers. However, please don't think I'm impatient because I've posted the same question on two different sections of the reference desk...I'm not, I just thought this section is more relevant than the misc section.

When I occasionally browse wikipedia on my PSP when I'm away from my computer, I can only type so much before the little triangle to the right of my cursor prevents me from typing any more. Why is this? It's fairly annoying, as I can't edit text longer than a few hundred words or so. Maybe I should stick to my computer, although my PSP is pretty handy for just viewing and making basic edits of short sections of articles. Chevymontecarlo (talk) 17:01, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I have often exceeded the PSP's memory. I figure you are hitting the memory limit, not a hard-set number of characters. -- kainaw™ 17:03, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

OK, I guess the PSP just wasn't designed to handle that much data. I'll stick to my computer! Chevymontecarlo (talk) 17:27, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

It's an awkward interface. I wouldn't even try. Even my iPhone is barely passable. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 21:09, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Make a text file with clickable links?

I would like to have something like a simple text file on my computer's hard-drive, which I can open and click the links on (that I've previously prepared) as well as reading the text. How could I do this please? (I'd prefer not to have to start up an enormous slow program like OpenOffice). Thanks 92.26.29.37 (talk) 17:28, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Have you considered creating an .html file locally? You would open it with your Web browser. The main disadvantage is that when editing it you'd be editing HTML tags, which looks much messier than something like a Word document. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:46, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

A WYSIWYG HTML editor might be in order then (to avoid the tags), although I don't know how their speed compares with OpenOffice's. --Tardis (talk) 17:54, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

(ec) You can skirt the rules of well-formed HTML, (which is not really a good idea, but if you want to avoid messy tags... and the document is for "internal use only", you can use a severely reduced/simplified set of HTML). Ideally, you really should use proper HTML. But it's worth knowing that almost all web browsers will render a document even if it only contains part of the header. For example:

<html>
<pre>
Here is some text.  <a href='file:///c/docs/test.dat'>This</a> will link to a file in my home directory.

That rendered fine in Firefox on a Mac and Windows; and the hyperlink worked (when pointing to a valid file). The "pre" tag has the advantage of escaping any HTML-rendering that would rearrange or reformat the text. Nimur (talk) 18:02, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Surely there's some text editor that detects URL-looking things in the text and makes them clickable (like some web forum software, email readers, etc.)? I tried to find a way in Notepad++ but failed. -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:32, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I knew it had to be in there: In Notepad++, go to Settings -> Preferences -> MISC, and there's an option for clickable links. -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:43, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

It would be nice to have something where you could just type in an URL, without all the code, and be able to click on it. 92.26.29.37 (talk) 18:48, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Please see my response regarding Notepad++. With the setting I indicated, you can get the behavior you want. -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:50, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I just found that a small freeware editor called Metapad which I already had on my computer can do this. Type in a simple www URL and click on it. Thanks all! 92.26.29.37 (talk) 18:53, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Is this true?

One pierce of information required during domain name registration is the number of pages in the web site.Accdude92 (talk to me!) 17:31, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I have registered a few domain names without even having a website running yet, and this information was never asked. Perhaps you are referring to domain hosting, not just domain registering. 92.26.29.37 (talk) 17:36, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

No. It is conceivable that a website host may want to know this, but most only want to place a limit in MB or whatever on storage. You can register a domain without actually having a host I think. Anyway, I've never done this on my site. -- SGBailey (talk) 17:38, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I have, in the past, heard of CBS Radio registering a bunch of "red herring" domain names in advance of a format flip. For example, before WJFK-FM flipped to sports talk, CBS registered five or so domains, eventually only using one and "returning" the rest. It seems to me that domain registrars don't really care what you do with names you register once they get their money. Xenon54 / talk / 17:49, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Nope; it is quite untrue. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:45, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

In fact, you can get a domain name even if you have no web server. The domain name is simply an alias for an IP. Any device that can support IP-based networking can have a domain name - toaster ovens, automobiles, mobile telephones, forklifts, (really, IP-based computers inside all of those devices). But still... the "number of webpages" related to such domain names is either zero or irrelevant. Yet, they are still perfectly legitimate globally qualified DNS names. Nimur (talk) 18:06, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

In addition to all the previous responses, "number of pages" on a web server isn't even a concept that makes sense if you have dynamically generated content. How many pages does Wikipedia have? (Think of all the different ways to generate history and diff pages, the fact that an article nobody's written still comes up as a "create-a-new-article" page, etc.) -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:16, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

While I agree that "number of pages" is a silly metric, it is not an uncommon one. This is similar to MIPS (millions of instructions per second) used in CPUs. It is a silly metric that doesn't mean anything, but it is used a lot. However, I've never seen a registrar require knowledge of the number of pages. The registrar doesn't care unless the registrar is also a webhost and wants to know how much room will be used by the website. -- kainaw™ 20:57, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Macros for both Windows and Ubuntu

Is there any macro recorder and player that works with both Windows and Ubuntu please? I mean something that records your keyboard and mouse activity, puts this into a file which you can edit, and then you can play it. (If not one for both, what would people recommend for Windows? I am of course looking for some no-cost software that's easy and intuitive to use. I have done a lot of Google searching already, but it is difficult to know what may be best). Thanks 92.26.29.37 (talk) 17:34, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

There are some projects but nothing comparable to Autohotkey, I think, so we'll have to wait, I guess... I'm also looking for a good macros program for Ubuntu. --Belchman (talk) 20:08, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I create my own macros by hand for Windows using Windows Script Host. It supports VBScript and JScript. It's not hard at all to do. For example, this script opens Notepad and types Hello into it:

var wsh = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell");
wsh.Run("Notepad");
WScript.Sleep(250);
wsh.SendKeys("H");
wsh.SendKeys("e");
wsh.SendKeys("l");
wsh.SendKeys("l");
wsh.SendKeys("o");

You'd then save the file with a .js extension and double-click on it. This is easier, in my opinion, than installing another program (e.g., AutoHotKey) on your computer, because Windows already includes extensive scripting support.--Drknkn (talk) 20:26, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Hey, this is a great tip and a great starting point; but when I double-click test.js on my Windows XP SP3 machine, I get the dialog complaining that Windows doesn't know what app created it, and do I want to use the Web service to find the appropriate application? (And the subsequent web page says it doesn't know what the hell a .js file is, FWIW.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:35, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Such scripts normally open automatically using the C:\WINDOWS\system32\wscript.exe file. If you click the "Browse" button inside the "Open With" dialog, go to that folder, and choose that file, it should work.--Drknkn (talk) 23:53, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

OK, tried that — now I get a "Windows Script Host" error dialog saying, There is no script engine for file extension ".js". Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:58, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Try this: [14].--Drknkn (talk) 00:16, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Did that work? That file extension is for JScript (AKA JavaScript) files. VBScript files have a .vbs extension. Another program must have messed with the settings for WScript. I got that message once after installing Dreamweaver. I don't think I had to go through all of the steps mentioned on that page, though. I think all I had to do was use that regsvr32 command.

By the way, if anyone wants to automate anything else, I can write a macro for it. It's relatively easy. At least, they're easier to use than a lot of other languages out there.--Drknkn (talk) 01:55, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

I didn't actually try it because regedit simply asks me if I want to add the contents of that file to my registry. There's no way I am going to load the unknown contents of a .reg file from an untrusted website into my registry. If you happen to know of a site that lists the specific registry entries that I'd need to modify, I'd love it (I didn't find anything with my Google skim). Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:57, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Like I said, I had the same problem once, and I fixed it simply by typing regsvr32 %systemroot%\system32\jscript.dll in the Run box. In that case, you wouldn't need to download anything. You could simply type that command. If that doesn't work, you can view the contents of the .reg file by right-clicking on it and choosing Edit. It's a plain-text file and lists all the registry changes.--Drknkn (talk) 18:33, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

ebuddy MSN sounds

I'd like to shut ebuddy's sounds for MSN Messenger forever. To do that in MSN Messenger Live, for example, I'd just edit the .WAV files and make them silent. Since ebuddy is a Flash application, I'm not sure how to do that. So, how can I directly edit the sounds of ebuddy? Thanks. --Belchman (talk) 19:56, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Unless there is a configuration for that specific Flash program, you're stuck with workarounds. —ShadowRanger ^(talk|stalk) 20:06, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Why would you edit the wav files for this purpose? Go to Tools | Sounds and check Mute All Sounds. Or pick and choose which sounds you want in the Messenger Sounds frame. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 21:08, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

IIRC you can right click on a Flash object and adjust the audio settings. Maybe try that? --219.88.201.83 (talk) 02:53, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Free OCR software for Windows

Is there any no-cost OCR software people would recommend please? I have looked at the list of Optical character recognition software. Has anyone experience of using it please? 92.26.29.37 (talk) 21:54, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I use ABBYY, but as for free/open source, there really isn't anything good out there yet for OCR. Sorry.Smallman12q (talk) 03:09, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Might try Tesseract. ¦ Reisio (talk) 05:49, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

would my painfully slow windows 7 netbook improve if I booted windows xp?

i tried tweaking as much as I could, optimizing for performance/no visuals, etc, but this netbook (asus eee pc 1005h) is just painfully slow. Would I see any marked improvement by installing, or maybe booting (off of an SD card) windows xp instead? Thanks. 82.113.106.88 (talk) 23:06, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Although it's not the question you've asked, how much memory does your Netbook have? If it's less than 2Gb (and it probably is?) then that's the cause of your speed issues and upgrading to 2Gb (or more) would certainly help with your speed. As for XP, it could help, but again it really depends how much memory you have. XP's memory requirements are less, but by the time you've added on AntiVirus/Spyware/Firewall products then the memory requirement is a lot larger. ZX81 ^talk 02:09, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Well a clean xp boot would be around 300megabytes memory, whereas a clean windows 7 boot would take at least a gig.Smallman12q (talk) 03:06, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Netbooks where not built for speed. If your looking for something fast you may consider getting a gaming laptop (or desktop). As for booting Winxp, You would see a noticeable improvement for 2 reasons: 1.) You are doing a fresh install, this will (most of the time) speed up the computer as you are getting rid of programs pre-installed or were installed during the netbook's life. 2.) Windows XP uses less RAM and CPU power than Win7. – Elliott(Talk|Cont)  05:43, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

February 10

Firefox - disabling / uninstalling addons to make the browser faster

Hi. I am having a problem with Firefox being too slow. It needs just too much time to get started. Also, navigating around the browser (opening/closing tabs and such) is much slower than for example in Chrome. I have quite many addons installed, so I guess that is the problem. Now my question: Does it help if I just disable addons, or do I have to uninstall them in order to make Firefox slimmer and faster? Thanks for your help! --Tilmanb (talk) 01:33, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Disabling them should release pretty much all the resources they would take up whilst running. The overhead for having them still installed, but not running is pretty negligible. ZX81 ^talk 02:11, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

What's the fastest browser for the internet?

Hi. I have another question... I have been using Firefox, Chrome, and Opera, but I find them all similarly slow, i.e. I don't experience any differences between them (except that Chrome feels a little bit faster). Is there a browser which starts up clearly much faster than all of those mainstream browsers? Thanks. --Tilmanb (talk) 01:35, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Well in a theoretical situation the fastest one to startup is pretty much always going to be Internet Explorer (which you didn't mention, but because it uses a lot of Windows components which are already loaded this enables it to load up very fast), but in a real world situation it varies per computer and what your hardware is as well as what software you have installed and what plugins/extensions are in each browser. Sorry not a very helpful answer I know. ZX81 ^talk 02:13, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

They're pretty close,opera should have lower system requirements, whereas firefox is a little better at executing javascript. As for chrome and safari...they're pretty good too. Only IE which is a resource hog is bad=/.Smallman12q (talk) 03:01, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

You could try links or lynx. -Craig Pemberton 03:21, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Firefox and Chrome are probably the fastest. I'd recommend that you not install too many addins, pluggins and toolbars. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 03:45, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

See Comparison of web browsers and try some. I personally recommend SeaMonkey. Not the latest version 2.02 but the second latest 1.1.18 version. Or the latest version of K-Meleon. Oda Mari (talk) 05:02, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Extensions for Chrome - Clicking on a tab switches to another tab

Hi. Does anyone know an extension for Chrome which would enable me to switch to another (previous) tab by clicking on the currently active tab? I have not been able to find such an extension but I am desperately needing one, as I got used to this in Firefox. Thanks again for your help :) --Tilmanb (talk) 01:38, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Laptop brightness

Whenever I plug in my laptop, the screen brightness goes up way too high for my comfort. I have to go through the trouble of reducing it manually. I've looked through Power Options Properties and there's no option to just leave it as is when the cord is put in. Is there any way to fix this? Thanks. Vranak (talk) 01:39, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Depending on your laptops brand/model or OS, there might be an option somewhere in the BIOS or hidden somewhere else in the OS. – Elliott(Talk|Cont)  05:36, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Frequently, there will be some kind of "power saver" settings, which will let you control the default brightness (and other things), for when your computer's on battery or on AC. Paul Stansifer 13:44, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

What OS are you using? Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:54, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

P2P filesharing behind a firewall - Alternatives for Fileai.com

Hi. I've fallen in love with fileai.com as it enables very easy file sharing of big files directly without the need of having to upload them first to a server. However, unfortunately it does not work behind the firewall of some of my clients. Does anybody know a similar service like fileai.com but with less requirements in terms of firewalls? I would appreciate any ideas! --Tilmanb (talk) 01:41, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

How secure is Dropbox?

Do you know / do you have any experience with dropbox? How secure is it? Can I be sure that the files that I upload to their servers are not seen by Dropbox employees? Can I use Dropbox for confidential data? Any feedback appreciated! Last question for today ;-) Thanks, Tilmanb (talk) 01:43, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

If the data is really confidential, why risk it? Even if Dropbox promised to be secure and not let people snoop and etc., you're still just trusting them to have adequate security protocols, the ability to track employee behavior, etc. If the files are really something you'd rather others not see, there are better options out there for sharing confidential files.

Alternatively, just encrypt the files before uploading them to Dropbox. Then it doesn't matter quite as much how secure they are. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:53, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

I agree with the above. Although we don't know for sure, when it comes to security of the Internet, unless it's your own server and the files were transmitted there securely, then it's better to think from the viewpoint that whoever owns the server can view the files (and unless the files are encrypted then they most certainly can). ZX81 ^talk 02:04, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Adding to my own post, the Dropbox security information is here. It does specifically say that the files are encrypted during transfer and employees can't access them, however this is completely up to you if you trust them. Personally I don't trust anything I didn't write/own myself, but I'm also a bit paranoid [:)] ZX81 ^talk 02:06, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

You could use dropbox with truecrypt portable volumes. (It's not 100% secure as people will be seeing which encrypted bytes are changing...but its better than nothing). Here are two articles to get you started: Maximumpc and a blog. Hope this helps.Smallman12q (talk) 02:47, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Hmmm.... I'd like to hear some other opinions regarding this issue. Would you move for example your instant messaging histories to Dropbox for backup purposes? The whole thing about encryption... no idea how that works :D But thanks for the links! Oh and Mr.98, what other options are you referring to? --Tilmanb (talk) 02:55, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Well the encryption is pretty simple. Basically you create a virtual hard drive of x bytes. you put this virtual hard drive in drop box and it gets uploaded. Now whenever you add/delete stuff from your virtual hard drive, only the bytes which you have changed by adding/deleting stuff will be uploaded again. So if you have a 1gb virtual hard drive and you add a 2 megabyte file, the first upload is 1gb, and then after that it uploads those 2 megabytes which changed. It's a simple concept once you get it.=P.Smallman12q (talk) 03:04, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

(ec) The fundamental idea behind encryption (and our article is the best place to start) is fairly simple. The idea is to "lock up" your data, (digitally, in this case) - so that even if somebody can see and read it, they can not decipher its meaning. There are loads of strong, secure ways to "lock" the data - see encryption algorithms for some examples. To the best of our knowledge, these so-called "strong encryptions" are impossible to crack, if the system is set up properly. (Rather, to be technical, they are only possible to crack if the attacker/snooper has a ridiculously long time to wait, e.g. on the order of the age of the universe). However, be aware that many encryption techniques exist that are not strong - and the data can be read because of inherent flaws in those systems, or due to operator-error (i.e., your fault for use the system incorrectly). You can read up on encryption techniques here: Microsoft's encryption technology and PGP for Linux and Unix-like systems (or Gnu Privacy Guard, a totally free-software alternative). Many other technologies and implementations exist. Nimur (talk) 03:09, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

"Other options": if you are just backing things up, you can make local copies (burn them to CDs/DVDs, put them on external harddrives). If you are trying to distribute information to other people, but consider it confidential, using encryption (as described above) to "scramble" the data is much more ideal. If it is a large project where encryption of the sort mentioned above is too cumbersome, it may be a better idea to set up your own secure server than to use a third-party. (Though, on the other hand, if you don't have the ability to set up your own secure server in a way that will make sure it actually is secure, then that's not much of an improvement.)

For encryption, I find TrueCrypt easy and reliable. Nobody is going to be breaking into your TrueCrypt files anytime soon if you do things right (e.g. don't pick an obvious, dictionary-based password). A number of ZIP programs now use professional-grade encryption (like AES), which would also suffice. Remember that security is only as good as the weakest link, though. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:30, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Anything you store on the Internet, or transmit over the Internet, is vulnerable to snoopers reading it, unless you use strong encryption, such as the TrueCrypt idea suggested earlier. E-mail over the Internet is another type of data that is sent "in the clear" (that is, it's unencrypted plaintext) and can be snooped by employees of the companies who own the wires. Similar hair-pulling debates happen often regarding web-based e-mail services like GMail. There are Google employees who have the ability to read all of the e-mail on the service. Do they? Who knows. At my work there is a client of ours who stopped using Google Wave over this concern. It's up to you to make some sort of assessment of (a) how much you would be ruined if your confidential data were read, multiplied by (b) the probability somebody is going to care enough to read it. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:53, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

It's also worth noting the important distinction between random, brute-force, computer-automated snooping; and specific deliberate targeted attacks against your data. This throws a few additional variables into Comet Tuttle's risk multiplication estimate. It's almost certain that at some point, some of your data will be randomly targeted by a brute-force snooper. If the data is plaintext, that snooper will have it. If it is weakly encrypted, he might have it. If it is strongly encrypted, it's safe to say he probably does not have it. A targeted attack on your data (for example, if you are subject to a major federal investigation) will really change the threshold for "maybe" into "definitely". The same is valid for GMail snooping. Are your emails being scanned by an automated system? Absolutely and indisputably, yes (see email for technical details). Are the personal data being processed, deciphered, and used for generating a you-specific profile? Again, absolutely and indisputably, yes (see their targeted ads policy. Does any human ever see the results? Maybe. We're trusting their good faith that they do not. Nimur (talk) 18:47, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

I endorse everything Nimur has said in this thread. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:54, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Water simulations

Does anyone know of some good (large scale, if possible) water physics simulation software for macs? Thanks, Shannon^talk _contribs 05:26, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Are you looking for some real-time simulations? if so have a look here.– Elliott(Talk|Cont)  06:01, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

By large scale, do you mean hydrogeology, hydrology or reservoir simulations? There are a lot of open-source and commercial packages for aquifer, reservoir, and fluid flow simulation. What exactly do you want to simulate about water? We have articles on the Groundwater flow equation, the Theis equation, and so on - these link to a bunch of references which might get you started. Our groundwater model article has a very comprehensive list on groundwater modeling software. Many of these packages have their own articles too. MODFLOW is used around these parts, and it is available for free from the United States Geological Survey. Nimur (talk) 06:27, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, reservoir simulations, flood simulations, etc. Shannon^talk _contribs 15:08, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

In that case, this list really has a lot of options. Note that these are numerical physics programs - they don't all have a "fuzzy user interface." If you need help with setting up a FORTRAN compiler, feel free to ask. You can use these precompiled binaries for GFortran. As far as simulating "floods", those are just simulation results that yield above-normal water levels. Finally, since you're interested in streams, this list has a lot of useful software for stream-like flow. Nimur (talk) 15:37, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Well, I was actually talking about simulating surface water (e.g. dam breaks, floods, levee breaches, etc.) Something like this (see #13 on that page). My main point for asking was actually because I know about a lot of software already, but I couldn’t find anything for Macs, but sorry for the confusion. Shannon^talk _contribs 21:45, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Excepting certain cookies - Firefox

I just got logged out because Firefox crashed. I have it set so that all history is not saved, which includes cookies, but I was wondering if there's a way to keep this feature on but except cookies from certain sites I visit often: this one and maybe four others. Thanks in advance.--162.84.166.253 (talk) 05:35, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Ah, I should mention that I spent twenty minutes before asking trying to figure out a way by going to options and poking around (I obviously found squat).--162.84.166.253 (talk) 05:37, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

CookieCuller, it's quite nice. ¦ Reisio (talk) 05:51, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

You want Firefox to only save cookies for certain sites? In Windows, you'd go to Tools --> Options, then under "Firefox will:" choose Use custom settings for history. Then, under "Accept cookies from sites," choose "Ask me every time." That's for Firefox 3.5. By the way, I had to read your post five times before figuring out what you wanted. It doesn't matter in this case whether it crashed or not. Keep a clear link with the subject. What is "This feature?" "Oh," I said, "He means site-by-site cookie preferences. I get it now."--Drknkn (talk) 06:05, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Preserving timestamps of folders when moving folders and files

On Windows XP, when I move a folder containing files and other folders to an external hard drive by cutting and pasting, the files' timestamps are preserved, but the folders' (both top folder and subfolders) timestamps get changed to the current time. I thought I could get around this by zipping up the folder (I used PeaZip) and then moving the zip file and unzipping, but it didn't work. What can I do? TresÁrboles (talk) 07:31, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

robocopy should do that; on XP you need to install the WIndows Resource Kit to get it. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 12:04, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Firefox tabs

Resolved

Is there a theoretical limit to the number of Firefox tabs you can have open at any one time? I've managed to successfully open just over 800 tabs, but any more than that seems to crash the browser, regardless of the amount of RAM still available. Is this an imposed limit by Mozilla? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.27 (talk) 14:25, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

I suspect that you have run out of memory in a way that the Firefox programmers never expected - perhaps overflowing some statically allocated internal stack or something. Normally such actions are checked - and display an error message instead of crashing - but opening so many tabs is unusual behavior, and the designers probably never completely protected against it. Thus, you crashed the browser, instead of receiving an error message. It you want to consider that a "theoretical limit", you can. The total addressable memory space of your machine is another limit. Finally, at some point, it will be impossible to render all the tabs in a reasonable amount of time, so that would be another limit. Theoretically, one could read the scalability article to find out how computer engineers think about this sort of problem - i.e., what design changes are needed in order to enable an arbitrarily large version of the original idea. Nimur (talk) 15:26, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Ah thank you. So it's me pushing the program too far rather than a pre-defined limit. Thank you

By the way, original poster, you can help the Firefox project by filing a bug on this crash, here. They'll want as much system configuration information as you can provide. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:42, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Choosing MS Word print range

Hello,

I'm using Word 2007. I have a long document, separated into many sections, from which I am trying to print (or, more specifically, print to PDF) a number of separated pages and ranges. What I would like to do is use the page number that appears in the bottom-left of the window (e.g. 'Page 24 of 198') to choose a range. However, when I use this, the software interprets some of the numbers entered as actual page numbers from the sections.

For example, typing '24' into the print range box would not print page 24 of 198, but 24 of the main section, i.e. page 44 of 198. This, however is inconsistent.

Is there a way to force word to recognise the numbers in the print range box as global document page ranges? Alternatively, is there a way to tell which section number (and page number of that section) any page in the document is? (to use this method

Thanks for any help, Mike 84.9.145.45 (talk) 15:08, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

I may be suggesting the obvious here, but you could select the part of the document that you want to print, then use Print -Selection instead of Print - Pages. Gandalf61 (talk) 15:17, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Hmmm... Yes that would definitely work if I were printing just one range, or using a physical printer. However, as I am PDFing, I want all the separate ranges to print together. Your thinking has led me to the potential workaround of cutting out the bits of the document I don't want to print, in a new document. I'll try that. Thanks. 84.9.145.45 (talk) 15:23, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

The page numbers in the print dialog are the physical pages and may have no relationship to the numbers that print on the page. If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can print chunks, then assemble them in Acrobat. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 15:26, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

How To Find Out When I Started My Current Ubuntu Session?

Is there any way that I can find out how long the computer has been on for? I've been having problems with my laptop suddenly powering off but recently it hasn't happened at all. I've left it on for a while and would like to see when it was last switched on (i.e. the current session start time). TIA. --KageTora - (影虎) (A word...?) 17:24, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

From a terminal, type last and that should help. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:40, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

And uptime will tell you when the system booted. Nimur (talk) 17:49, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

gdm and gnome-session make some temporary folders in /tmp when you start a new Gnome session. So, if your username is kagetora, look at the timestamp for /tmp/orbit-kagetora -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 18:03, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Problems using Firefox

Does anyone have any solutions to any of these please? I am using WinXP. 1. On revisiting a page, it does not show new content. Even refreshing the page is not enough, I have to press Cntrl-F5. 2. Clicking on the X at the top right of Firefox often does nothing, even when clicked two or three or more times. 3. When I move the cursor away from the slider to the right, sometimes the page still moves up and down with the cursor. 4. After not using the computer for several minutes, Firefox cannot connect with the internet, even when I retry. But when I then try Internet Explorer it always makes the connection, and when I close IE and try Firefox it makes a connection too.

When using the SAVE AS box: 5. When trying to save something, clicking on a folder to open it often does nothing, just highlights it. 6. If the cursor is over a file name for more than a tiny fraction of a second, then the name of the file I'm saving is changed to it. 7. When scrolling from side to side, sometimes the scrolling suddenly accelerates greatly. 8. Similarly, sometimes part of the box window goes black. Thanks 89.242.159.40 (talk) 22:03, 10 February 2010 (UTC)