Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing

March 18

Animation

Hi,
I've recently created an animation in Terragen and it's given me a hole heap of bmp's - what is some good software free/shareware which I can use to make it into a movie file (eg avi or mpeg)? --203.54.74.247 11:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm... try tucows.com and do a search for something like 'animation' or 'animator' and then lookout for all the shareware/freeware stuff.

I know that Microsoft GIF animator could help you with the animation, but I'm not sure if it can export into mpg format. Rfwoolf 17:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I think you can use virtualdub to animate pictures into movies, but that might be tedious, as I've never done it. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:49, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

On Linux or BSD you could use LiVES --213.129.227.107 01:43, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Types of mouses (pointing devices) & Carpal Tunnel

Question:
What can you recommend in the way of mouses or pointing devices that are effective and would not contribute to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - would you recommend gloves, drawing tablets or any other ideas?

Context and Explanation:
Having read the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome article I don't think I'm getting it (because you have to have some forms of numbness or paralysis) - but I am growing rather concerned.

My right wrist cricks a great deal especially if I push my wrist down and then rotate or wiggle my thumb -- and I think the cause is more my mouse than my keyboard (I only get stiffness in my right hand and a lot of stiffness in my right shoulder which gets raised a lot when I use the mouse). Rfwoolf 11:26, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

The most complete solution would be to simply forgo the GUI and become a command-line purist! --froth^t 13:13, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Good luck with that! That's like trying to operate Windows without visuals and only using the XP screenreader! I'm sorry but a pointing device is essential to me, I do graphics as well. Rfwoolf 13:20, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

No, that would be far worse! I feel just as comfortable in bash as in the windows GUI, that's what I meant --froth^t 17:07, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

• UPDATE:
  

I am busy looking into a Wacom Intuos3 A5 (6 x 8) tablet with pen. Can't afford much more than that though. Yeah I know there are cheaper options for pens and tablets but this one's really good for higher-end graphic design. I'm just worried I might be getting too small a size... Any thoughts? Rfwoolf 16:29, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Usually the issue is not the mouse itself but where you keep it. Is it on the same level with the keyboard? Is the keyboard itself at the right height? You might want to look into workstation ergonomics; the odds are that it has nothing to do with the type of mouse you have but how you are actually using it. (So says someone who had carpal tunnel for years, changed his setup around quite a bit, and now rarely has any incidents at all.) As easy way to alleviate mild strain issues is to buy the wrist braces that your standard drug store will have likely in stock. They are made of cloth and faux leather and have a metal bar in them that goes on the underside of your wrist. They work remarkably well for keeping you from annoying the nerves in your wrist and force good wrist posture — lots of people I know with wrist issues wear them and they can do a lot of good. --24.147.86.187 16:43, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I've been using computers for almost my entire life, and I don't have the problem. Right now, my mouse is level with my keyboard, both below my elbow level, so if were to rest my arm on my chair's armrest and use the mouse, my wrist doesn't touch anything. Also, when I use a mouse without the arm rest, I generally don't let my wrist touch anything, and I'm personally against those gel pads where you rest your wrists on. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I have a suggestion, swap the mouse to the other side half the time, to allow the other fingers, wrist, and shoulder to take the strain. Hopefully, you can reverse the button mapping on the mouse when you swap it. It might take a bit of practice to become mouse-ambidextrous, but it will be worth the effort. StuRat 15:28, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

The problem with your mouse is that your arm is not in its natural rest position while holding the mouse. The wrist is bent backwards and the lower arm is rotated by 90° from ellbow to wrist. There are special mice that are held from the side (like you would grab a glass) that are supposed to alleviate this problem.

Ergonomic Chairs such as a Kneeling Chair

While I'm at it, I'd like constructive recommendations about ergonomic chairs - such as kneeling chairs and the like.
There's a lot bunch of nonsense on the net and it's actually hard to make sense of it all - right now I have my eye on a kneeling chair on ebay and the price is within my range, but I don't know just how effective these chairs are. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated? Rfwoolf 13:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi, I had one of these once, and it was actually pretty good. You can get a slightly sore lower back at first, but it seems to get better. I would strongly recommend you don't see them as "the" ergonomic chair, because if they were that good, government departments would have thrown out their old chairs long ago. I would see it as an alternative to prevent a fixed bad posture from setting in, and would rotate between your normal chair and your new one. 203.221.126.212 15:58, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Forcing expressions in Python to evaluate to a float

I am writing some code that translates English calculations such as '3 over 2' into machine readable and calculable format such as '3/2' and then give the input back to the user. For example: User input '3 over 2', program converts input to '3/2', program calculates result and print it to the user '1.5'. Unfortunately, the program insists on returning the answer as an int, as both 3 and 2 are ints, giving a result of 1. Obviously, this is not correct. Does anyone know how to force the evaluation of an expression such as this to be given as a float? I do not want to have to change the input to be '3.0/2'. Thanks --80.229.152.246 13:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with python, but there are generally two avenues to work around this: one is to use a different operation; in some languages there's a difference between 'div' and '/' for example. You may wish to check the help files for 'div' and then see if it has anything like "see also" and "related". Finally you may wish to convert an integer to a float. Sorry I can't be of much help. Rfwoolf 13:18, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, converting it to a float won't work. The program works by modifying the input string until it is machine readable. Then, it uses python's eval function to execute it. Because it is a string, it will not convert to a float. If I wait for it to evaluate, then the answer is an integer and converting it to a float just gives the same, but with .0 on the end. Thanks --80.229.152.246 14:23, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

It's quite simple: from __future__ import division. Future versions of Python will give the behaviour you want; that import allows you to already write code depending on that future behaviour, easing forward-porting. --cesarb 15:29, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Changing the input is the easiest thing to do, but you could also do: "'%f / %f' % (3, 2)" --TotoBaggins 13:34, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

copying to cd with Linux

I am using Red Hat Fedora Core 3, and cannot copy to CD. What do I need to do to make Fedora write to CD? It's fine for reading CDs, just not writing to them. Also, does anyone know if clip drives work with Fedora 3? The Mad Echidna 13:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Use k3b (and make sure you have a CD burner and a writable disk in the drive). --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:53, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Verizon FiOS

Is "Verizon FiOS" the fastest internet in the US? —68.193.147.179 (talk) 15:07, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

That depends on the area and country you're in. Most Japanese have access to much faster Internet connections than FiOS provides. Droud 17:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Surprisingly enough, Japan is not "in the US." --205.143.37.68 14:11, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Google Search on Website

Hello, I have seen many websites where they have a google search on the page. I cant figure out how to put one on my site. Anyone know how?

Thanks!! --Zach 15:19, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Ok, it takes a couple of links to find it, but Google's [Webmaster Help Center] includes a link to [Custom Search Engine]. Hope this helps. 84.239.133.38 16:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Worked better than I expected!! --Zach 02:22, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Copyrighted video game soundtracks

Is it illegal to use a "chiptune" site (such as http://www.ocremix.org/ or http://snesmusic.org/) to obtain music from old video games (such as Super Metroid from the SNES)? I'm not sure that it would be legal, considering that the music exists within a copyrighted video game, but I am surprised to see that there are so many of these sites with such huge archives. Furthermore, would remixes of original songs also be illegal? Dlempa 15:42, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Remixes of the original songs would definitely be derivative works. That doesn't necessarily make them illegal, per say, unless they are being used in a way which is copyright infringement (there are non-illegal ways of using derivative works, though). The odds are that most video game companies consider the soundtracks of old games to not be worth the hassle of infringement suits at this point — they don't even sell the games anymore, and even if they did it is doubtful that they're actually losing any money off of the soundtrack being pirated about (people don't buy games just for the soundtracks), but that is a separate issue from whether they are copyrighted or not (they are, without a doubt). --24.147.86.187 16:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Mac Laptops and PC Laptops

Hi, I have a few questions concerning laptops. 1) How does a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro compare with a top of the line PC computer in terms of speed and relibability for everyday usage such as graphics design, web browsing and mild gaming 2) How well does a Windows parallel run on a MacBook Pro? Is it about as fast as Windows on a equivalent PC laptop? 3) Can you upgrade the MacBook Pro with more RAM?

Thanks. Jamesino 17:20, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

1) I would say Mac would have a slight edge in the graphic design, neither would have the edge browsing, and PC would have the edge gaming. But people will probably argue with me, so essentially, before I get flamed: there is no appreciable difference. there may be sites somewhere that say this is 10% faster here or that is %15% faster there, but that's not something you'll notice in the real world, unless you use the thing professionally.

2) What's a windows parallel? I believe it is possible to run windows on Macs, but unless you are a hacker and showing off your leet programming skills and are prepared to tool around for hours with drivers and such, if you want to run windows buy a PC.

3) Yes.

Vespine 21:56, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

(Parallels is a Mac software tool (a hypervisor) that allows a Windows operating system to be simultaneously booted with the Mac OS environment. Windows windows can appear right on the normal Mac OS desktop.)

Atlant 22:31, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Parallels runs pretty fast on a MacBook, but not as fast as if it were running natively, of course. I would guess, roughly, that the emulated Windows runs at about half the speed as it would if it were running natively (or dual-booted). And I don't think you can play many games with Parallels — it doesn't emulate a 3D card, last I checked, so most games are ruled out by default. But you could run games on the dual-booted MacBook. --24.147.86.187 12:02, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I have a 2Ghz MAcbook pro with Parellels, and Windows runs very fast. Everything, except gaming, works perfectly. You can even drag files back and forth, and drag the windows programs along your mac ones. I think it works very well.--Ryan 03:52, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

The first question: I don't really know what you are talking about. As in, if you are asking about the laptop specs, or the OS. Just because it is a mac doesnt mean the specs mean different things, no. Just look at the specs as if it is a normal laptop. You can dual boot, so reliability comes down to the OS, and windows will be the same as on any pc. Vespine is a bit of an idiot, you don't need "leet programming skills" to run parrelels. It should be about the same as running it native, but perhaps a bit slower, as you are also running os x at the same time, and it still emulates some things. --91.108.193.62 00:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Plotting software

I'm wanting to produce some clear, simple time-domain and frequency domain plots of audio signals for a audio processing assignment I'm working on. Audacity does both, but I want to produce more "generic" plots where the particular GUI of the audio editor is not visible. For instance, if I want to display the time-axis information in Audacity, I have to show other parts of the program which is most undesirable.

http://img.waffleimages.com/2125764ae49011cfd7de2c41f1d106b708c6cb7e/img24.png

The picture above is an example of what I'm looking for. In particular, there are horizontal and vertical lines at the marked values for the axes. Naturally, I'll want control over how "zoomed in" I am to a specific plot, vertically and horizontally, and make it simple to load in any wave file.

My assumption is that more customisable, generic plots can be produced using some kind of maths package , but if there's a nice GUI program for outputting custom generic plots that would be preferred. Thanks. 164.11.204.51 18:33, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

The URL you added simply says linking is not allowed. So, I can only assume you want a very basix XY plot. GnuPlot for Linux does that easily. In fact, that is what it was made for. --Kainaw ^(talk) 21:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

To copy the data from audacity, click the export button. It saves it as tab separated csv format. This will open in xmgrace, gnuplot, OpenOffice.org Calc, Excel ... anything really. --h2g2bob 21:43, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

This is ideal, since I want to plot waveform information extracted from sound files. But unfortunately I can only output a .txt of the frequency-domain information, which isn't good enough for my needs. I need to be able to load wave files into plotting software since I cannot simply mathematically "plot" the complex waveform information. I want to do both time-domain and frequency domain analysis. 164.11.204.51 22:11, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

ATI Mobility Fire GL V5250 256MB

How are the ATI Mobility Fire GL V5250 256MB graphic chip found inside Lenovo ThinkPad T60p's? Can they be used for gaming and intensive photoshop graphics design and web design? Where in the performance spectrum of graphic chips do they stand? Thanks. Jamesino 20:15, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

You might want to look at our article on ATI FireGL. They should be OK for modeling, texturing, web design, etc, but I wouldn't try to play DOOM 3 or anything on them. -Wooty Woot? contribs 20:34, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

It should be more than enough. The T60ps are built for speed and performance. I've played Neverwinter Nights 2 on a lesser chip (a Mobility Radeon X300) and it's quite capable -- and NWN2 is notorious for its graphics card requirements.

FireGL is a workstation chip, not for gaming. I think some operations used in games are actually throttled so you won't use it for gaming. You can order it with the Mobility Radeon x1400 or x1600 which are gaming cards but when I ordered mine last summer I had to dig around quite a bit to find it. --froth^t 17:03, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Would I be able to play games like Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield or Rainbow Six Vegas on it? Jamesino 22:36, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

For Rainbox Six Vegas, you might be able to, but laptop video cards are not supported. For Raven Shield, the Mobility FireGL is not listed as one of the supported chips, but it might also still run due to the card being compatible with DirectX 9.0. Best bet is to ask owners of the card and Rainbow Six. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:19, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

default programs for Windows Vista

I just installed Vista a few days ago, and most things are working correctly, though I am having trouble with the default programs. I have Vista business, and when I go to "Default Programs", I click on "Set program access and computer defaults", and then I change my browser to Firefox and my media player to iTunes, and then I save settings. However, next time I open Firefox, it says it is not the default browser, and when I look at the default programs again they are back as before. No matter how many times I do it, my settings are not saved. What can I do about this? —Akrabbim^talk 21:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Just a guess but there may be a setting in Internet Explorer itself to act as the default browser. Alternatively, you could disable the 'always use Firefox as the default browser' text in Firefox, which will stop that text coming up when you use firefoxMix Lord 23:33, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, I want links from other applications to come up in Firefox, so I don't want to disable that feature. The problem is that whenever I try to save the settings, I go back and it didn't change anything. —Akrabbim^talk 00:04, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Setting default applications in Mac OS X

How do you set the default applications to open certain files in Mac OS X. For example, how do you set Pages as the default file to open Word documents, rather than Word? I'd greatly appreciate any help! Thanks, --Fadders 21:59, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

1. Highlight a Word document.
2. Press <command-I> or do "File -> Get Info"
3. In the dialog box that pops up, look for "Open with:"
4. Change it as you see fit. Optionally, press "Change all..."

Atlant 22:44, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks very much! That's great! --Fadders 07:39, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

WikiSVG

I'm posting this in computing because, while it could apply to Wikipedia, it could easily apply to any other wiki-format...

I know very little about the SVG format at this time. As I understand it, SVG is a text-based format, possibly even ASCII-based. Therefore, it is more of a markup language than a binary image format. Assuming it is human-readable, is it reasonable to make wiki-SVGs? My idea is that the SVG file will be a wiki-page (like this). People can go into the text and improve the SVG. Also, if that were to work, I would be interested in expanding one SVG from another. For example, have an SVG map of Hawaii. Then, instead of copying the whole SVG for a map with a big red dot on Honolulu, I can tell the Honolul SVG to use the Hawaii SVG and add the red dot. In fact, it should be possible to include multiple SVGs into one - such as comparing the size of two states. You can include one on the left and one on the right in a new SVG and then draw some milage ruler between them. Hopefully this idea makes sense. I just wanted to know if it was feasible before spending much time investigating the possibilities of SVGs. --Kainaw ^(talk) 22:51, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Yep, it's an XML markup language. What you're talking about sounds technically feasible to me. I'm not sure if it's possible to include/link to one SVG file in another, but you could almost certainly mash them together using some external script/application. I'm not sure how willing people would be to edit SVG markup by hand though - it would be cool to have a Flash/Java/JavaScript/XUL/whatever app to visually edit the SVG file in the browser. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 00:38, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I think I've read about this on WP:VPT before.. IIRC people liked the idea but doubted it would be implemented --froth^t 17:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

There is already a project like that, it is called "mapomatix". http://mapomatix.sourceforge.net/ --213.129.227.107 01:38, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Lack of driver

I recently bought an MP3 player. It's supposed to connect to my computer via USB and start working right away. However, it keeps registering as "Unknown device" on my computer. It didn't come with a device driver on the installation CD. I've contacted the producer's customer support line several times, and they ended up telling me to contact Microsoft. They told me to search for the device driver on the Windows XP installation CD, but that didn't work. I've been having a lot of trouble with hardware that's supposed to work right out of the box, but it always registers on my computer as "unknown device." If it means anything, I have an authentic version of Window XP Home edition. I would greatly appreciate any advice on fixing this problem. Thank you!--El aprendelenguas 23:07, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

What is the device, specifically? You should be able to find drivers on the web. -Wooty Woot? contribs 23:55, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

It might help if you could tell us a little more about your problem, for instance, if you go to My Computer, does the player show up under the Devices with Removable Storage header?--VectorPotential^Talk 00:06, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

It's an e200 Sansa MP3 player with 2GB storage, made by Sandisk. It is not listed under My Computer at all. The only listing of it I can find is under Device Manager under "Universal Serial Bus controllers" as an "unknown device." I've looked at the Sandisk website, but I've only found "firmware"—no driver—for the MP3 player, and I didn't think that would help me with this issue. Like I said, this isn't the first time I've gotten the "Unknown device" message after plugging in hardware to the USB, but then again I have successful connected other devices in the past.--El aprendelenguas 01:35, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I have one computer that has a miswired USB port - devices connected to it cause the usb-detector thing to run, but it fails to properly communicate with the device, and so the device shows up as "unknown". So try another USB port. If that fails, try another computer. If that fails, return the player. Darryl Revok 18:16, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

--117.211.41.91 (talk) 16:38, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

March 19

MacBook Pro vs. ThinkPad T60p

Not sure if this was asked already, but which of the two laptops is faster for a) everyday usage, b) graphics, video and web design and c) gaming: a 17" MacBook Pro or a Lenovo Thinkpad T60p with the 2.33ghz processor? Thank you. 64.230.4.108 01:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I would choose the t60p, by far. -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:53, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Another vote for the Thinkpad. Really I think this is a matter of preference. Both are well constructed and capable notebooks. You can nitpick meaningless specs, but the real issues will probably be cost (I don't think there's a very large difference), warranty, and whether you like Mac OS X (I dislike Aqua, but a lot of people find it attractive). -- mattb @ 2007-03-19T04:12Z

And if you really want to, you can find Mac OS X by illicit means and will run on the ThinkPad.

It's a lot easier to run Windows on the MacBook Pro (all reports I've seen of running OS X on a non-Apple machine sound hacked and buggy). But in any case if you are going for gaming in particular the MacBook is not the right answer, obviously. --24.147.86.187 12:00, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Another thinkpad vote from me. If you're looking to pay a ton for your laptop (and you will pay a ton if you're looking at thinkpads and macs) than nothing beats the thinkpad. I too dislike aqua, and the thinkpad is pretty much the most solid consumer hardware money can buy, mac or otherwise. --froth^t 17:00, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Although as a disclaimer I've only used the T60, not the T60p, and I've heard some grumbling about how the T60ps aren't quite as good. Just go for the normal T60. --froth^t 17:04, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

How long (years) do you think a ThinkPad t60/p would last when in heavy university usage? Jamesino 22:38, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably a loooooong time. But there's much better deals for the money as far as notebooks go if you want to use them for gaming, I'd suspect. You can get a damn good gaming laptop for the $2700 you'd spend on the thinkpad. For example, the Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi is $200 less and is one of the best-performing notebooks on the market today. It should be able to run pretty much anything you throw at it, and is an editor's choice at pcmag. It's under 7 pounds, but still packs a Core 2 Duo and Radeon® X1600. The Thinkpad has a X1600 variant, the FireGL, but is optimized for modeling and CAD, NOT gaming. -Wooty Woot? contribs 22:46, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Would Photoshop design be considered CAD? And Is the FireGL chip in the T60p better than the Radeon one in the MacBook Pro? Thanks. Jamesino 23:16, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I'd say Photoshop is CAD very light. I'm more thinking it's geared toward 3DSMAX and engineering tools. The MacBook Pro has the same one as the TravelMate, but with probably much less efficiency for gaming:

Photoshop: MacBook = Acer = Thinkpad

CAD (Modeling, etc): MacBook >= Acer = ThinkPad

Gaming: Acer >>>> ThinkPad > MacBook. -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

FireGL is not that much different from their gaming counter parts, it's mostly in the driver optimisations. --antilived^{T | C | G} 07:52, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Thank you all for answering. =) Jamesino 01:26, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

IE 7... the aweful program

Hi, I have a problem with IE 7. I normally use Firefox but when thats not working, I have to use IE7. Every time I open IE 7, instead of my home page loading this page loads: http://runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx. It doesnt even show me anything to customize... Is there a way to turn that off? I tried changing my Home page but it doesnt work... Thanks! --Zach 02:25, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

• Have you tried clicking on this in an explorer window?--VectorPotential^Talk 04:33, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

This annoying problem occurs when Firefox is set as the default browser. What you need to do is to go to Set Access Defaults on the Windows start-menu (assuming that you are running Windows XP) and set IE7 as the default browser, then run IE7, go through the customization page and when you're done set Firefox as the default browser again. Ikrizalllid 10:10, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Both suggestions did not work I am afraid... Thanks for the effort though!! Any other suggestions? --Zach 19:46, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Hey! I have the 'exact' same problem! So far I have not been able to find a solution either. Jamesino 22:33, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Try getting HijackThis!, running it, and looking for that page under browser stuff. Check it, hit fix, and you should have no more problems. -Wooty Woot? contribs 22:39, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

• Have you tried running IE6? - Mgm|^(talk) 09:53, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps you have a firewall which is somehow blocking IE7 from accessing the page? Or maybe Firefox is conflicting with IE7? Ikrizalllid 20:29, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Try going into the tools menu then internet options and change your home page ..also try going into the tab settings and selecting open home page when new tab opens.--Nerdd 23:33, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Tool bar customization.

Does anybody know how to change the appearance of the desktop/tool bars by modifying the registry and not using windows blinds or other apps? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Drexalot (talk • contribs) 02:37, 19 March 2007 (UTC).

For the desktop, yes, but isn't it easier to use Display Manager? As for toolbars, which toolbars? The ones in Internet Explorer? Office? Paint? x42bn6 Talk 14:36, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

i mean the startbar....and i wanna change it so that it will have the XP style but black. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.212.42.55 (talk) 19:48, 19 March 2007 (UTC).

As in Windows XP style as opposed to Windows Classic? Not as far as I know because these skins are not simple gradients built into a nice skinned environment. You need to get these themes separately, such as via WindowsBlinds. x42bn6 Talk 23:16, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

What linux distribution has more compatbility with windows programs???

What linux distribution has more compatbility with windows programs, ReactOs or Linux XP (or another)? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 201.78.237.95 (talk) 03:44, 19 March 2007 (UTC).

ReactOS is a project that aims to implement a Windows NT compatible OS (that is, it has practically nothing to do with Linux). It is far from complete and probably unusable for you. I've never heard of Linux XP until now, but some googling suggests that it's not a particularly polished distribution. In the strictest sense of things, Linux has no real compatibility with Win32 programs and you shouldn't expect any of your Windows software to work with Linux. There is a piece of software called Wine that is a Windows compatibility layer for OSes like Linux. The upshot of which is that you may use Wine to run some Windows programs with varying degrees of reliability and functionality (everything from "doesn't work at all" to "works perfectly"). Wine used to be an epic struggle to use, but it has become comparatively friendly in recent years. If you want to use all your Windows programs, you should probably stick to Windows. You may be able to get some of them working using Wine and you can probably find alternatives to many common applications (web browser, IM client, groupware, office suite, etc), but Linux is not an "alternative Windows". I'd recommend trying a distribution like Ubuntu or Fedora Core if you're interested in Linux, just throw away any preconceptions that it will be a seamless transition from a Win32 background. -- mattb @ 2007-03-19T04:08Z

Windows XP machine as a print server

I have a Dell running XP, an Apple G4 tower, and a G5 tower. I want to use the Windows machine as a print server for the other two. I'm not sure how to do this as I haven't really ever played with networking them at all. When I've searched in Google I've found a lot of unrelated info, mostly due to the broad terms I'm using such as Windows XP, Print, and Server. So, does anyone know of any sites that might offer instructions on how to do what I want done? Dismas|^(talk) 04:30, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

You need a program called Samba, there is a guide available here - [1] Elaverick 15:40, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Samba (software) runs on Unix like OS's. He wants to run a print server on windows. Sorry I don't have any pointer on how to do that. -- Diletante 15:56, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

To reply to my own comment: I forgot that OSX is a unix like OS, and samba can be used as a client, so the instructions above are appropriate. -- Diletante 16:10, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Free HTML TUTORIALS !!

Dear Sir/Madam, Can u please refer me to some sites where I can download free tutorial on html in pdf, doc, etc format —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rohanatwikipedia (talk • contribs) 08:55, 19 March 2007 (UTC).

w3schools.com offers good tutorials of HTML and many other web building tools. I think it is in asp format, not pdf or doc. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 11:10, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Just to clarify, asp is a scripting system, pdf and html are document formatting languages. Asp is usually used to generate html though. -- Diletante 16:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

You can't download a pdf of w3schools' excellent tutorials. The W3C's technical specifications can be downloaded, but are not good for learning from. I suggest looking in your local library for a book. --h2g2bob 06:22, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Net hacking

somebody has hacked my yahoomail and taken the details...... how is this possible????????? what should i do to prevent this???????? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.162.136.57 (talk) 12:46, 19 March 2007 (UTC).

They guessed or intercepted your password to take over your account (how secure are your passwords?), and there is very little you can do besides reporting the issue to Yahoo and hoping they restore the account. You should also verify that your computer doesn't have any keyloggers or trojans installed, something malware removal tools like Spybot S&D and virus scanners are good at.

I strongly suspect the questioner got a lot of returned emails for some spam sent out and assumed that means some spammer used his/her email account. That is not the case. Email is a rather dumb protocol. You can put ANYONE'S email address in the "from" field. If the email bounces, the error email will go the address in the from field. So, it is very easy to fill a person's email box with a bunch of error emails. --Kainaw ^(talk) 14:59, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

computer translation

I would like to know, How are computers able to take words entered on a keyboard and translate them into digital information? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.40.60.1 (talk) 12:47, 19 March 2007 (UTC).

Computer keyboard#How it works. x42bn6 Talk 14:38, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

In a nutshell, characters are represented as numbers by the computer. In general, computers deal with numbers and the character representations you see are merely for your convenience. -- mattb @ 2007-03-19T15:37Z

Vista

I'm thinking of upgrading to Vista. What are the pros and cons of moving from XP to Vista? Will games run slower, due to the added requirements of Aero? Do many XP apps have compatibility errors? Does Vista crash more often?

It seems to me that, since any upgrade is fraught with potential problems, you'd need a really good reason to justify such an upgrade. The reviews I've seen of Vista mostly say it's nothing to get excited about, so I have a hard time seeing how an upgrade would be justified. StuRat 15:20, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

It's not really anything to be excited about but there are a lot of little features and conveniences that make it frustrating for me to work on an XP machine after getting used to vista. My games don't run any slower, aero is plenty snappy, and none of my XP apps have compatibility problems except BF2SP64 and of course TweakXP. Vista has never crashed on me, though XP didn't either after SP2 or thereabouts --froth^t 16:56, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

• Whether your system will run slower depends entirely on its specifications. I'd say don't upgrade until the bugs are ironed out and until you actually need to. I just upgraded to XP and I'm not going to do it again so soon. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:50, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

By the way, have you seen the system requirements? Vista takes up far too much space on your harddrive. Space better suited for data and actual programs. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:51, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, by using vLite, you can trim a huge amount of stuff out of Vista, and reduce its size by 70-80%. Froglars the frog 14:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

"zipped files"

I am conducting some research and would like to know what happens when files that contain large amounts of information are "zipped". I would like to know if you could point me in the right direction on my research. Thank you72.40.60.1 15:31, 19 March 2007 (UTC)jc

Try looking at Zip (file format)#Compression methods, which has quite a bit of userful information. Or for more general information, you can also read Data compression. --Maelwys 15:35, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

The actual compression method used varies, but the classic PKZIP format used a variant of the Lempel-Ziv-Welch method, and these days DEFLATE is common. I'd start there. -- mattb @ 2007-03-19T15:36Z

wine, cd-rom

What am I doing wrong with wine? It use to be that when running a windows program in Wine, there was no problem with the CD. But now, when ever I try to run a program (such as FFVII, Dungeon Keeper II, or Warcraft II) the program itself is unable to find my cddrive (whether I am using the drive it self or a mounted image) even though the install program had no problem minutes earlier. Do I have something configured wrong? Warcraft II forexample, used to run perfectly. Duomillia 17:23, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Have you run winecfg and made sure the CD-ROM links are set up properly? Cyraan 17:27, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, and the installation programs have no problem - but it's almost as though some copy-protection scheme prevents the game itself from reading the cd. Duomillia 17:54, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

vandalism

when was the first time a wiki was vandalised?--Fang 23 19:13, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Dunno but this is one of the more recent events

I don't know either, but the oldest pages are interesting. --h2g2bob 06:05, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Wasn't it on the first IRC chat where it says WP got vadalised even before the creation of the first page? --antilived^{T | C | G} 20:02, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Ringtone making

I want to be able to convert a midi or mp3 to a ringtone for my phone, for free. What program can I download? Preferably for Mac OS X, but I also have Windows XP. Thanks! My phone is a virgin mobile if that matters. [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?) ❖ 19:26, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

More information is required. What is the make of your phone? What kind of ringtones does it play? Newer phones will have the capability to play both mp3s and midis as ringtones without any further conversion. When it comes to mp3s you might want to cut out a part of it (for it to start directly on the "good" part). For this a freeware program like audacity could be used. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Clq 20:08, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

It says K10 Royale. I think it can play everything. How do I get it to download the ringtone I made? I don't think it came with a USB cord. [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?) ❖ 20:42, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

With my old phone, I had to upload the midi files to the internet, and then use my WAP access to download them to the phone. After that it gave me the option to use as a ringtone. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 22:06, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Edit conflict with Ollie: Aeons ago (about two years), I used a free WAP site to transfer MIDIs of my choice to my phone. It wasn't free since I still had to pay the data rates, but it wasn't the ridiculous rate that they charge for ring tones. The site I used is now gone, but I think Google can yield a handful of free WAP sites still in operation. If your phone has data capabilities and the service enabled, this might be a low-cost option (check the data transfer costs, first). -- mattb @ 2007-03-19T22:08Z

PowerPoint

In PowerPoint, how can I format a picture so its sides that are white format with the background?68.193.147.179 20:56, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Are you asking how to make part of an image transparent? --Kainaw ^(talk) 22:05, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

If so, I think there is a tool in PowerPoint in the...drawing palette?... basically, it allows a selected colour to be transparent with the background. However, this tool does not work well sometimes. Alternatively you can save the image as a transparency with a GIF or PNG format, which should result in much better transparency quality. However, I'm not sure if PowerPoint supports PNG's... Jamesino 22:32, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, that is the tool I am taking about but, I don't know where it is in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007. Does anyone know where it is?[User:68.193.147.179|68.193.147.179]] 22:58, 19 March 2007 (UTC)!

select the picture then go to the format picture tab in the ribbion and select pick the recolor tool on the far left and select set transparent color and then select use the little tool to point where you want the transparency and click that area ... --Nerdd 23:25, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

HARDWARE REPAIRS

—Insert—76.102.106.72 22:54, 19 March 2007 (UTC)Please let me know how I could get details of different hardware components of a PC so that I could learn to fix my PC at home.Only about basic parts and compatibilty. On more than one occasion repairers have cheated me and charged exhobitant fees, also the efficiency of the equipment went down after repairs. I cannot afford to pay for this study as I found the trainer/teacher often dont answer my questions satisfactorily THRN

All you want to know and more is on the Internet - most of it here on Wikipedia. I wouldn't trust any site claiming to be a one-stop-for-everything site about computer hardware. What it comes down to is picking a hardware part (ie: a video card) and then seeing what is available. If you want one for your own computer, you need to know what will fit on your motherboard. A very easy way to do that is to take the old one out, go to the store, and tell ask them what it is. They might say it is a PCI card or an AGP card. Once you know what it is, you can search for replacements (the more money you spend, the better the replacement). Part by part, from memory to the harddrive to a new CPU, you just research it when you are interested in that part. --Kainaw ^(talk) 00:13, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

What's in a PC.

It's fairly easy to replace most hardware - just search the internet, there are plenty of guides. Try and find one with pictures. A lot of the time, working out how to open the computer case is the hardest part. Upgrading your computer yourself is a good way to learn. See Desktop computer#Hardware for more. --h2g2bob 05:49, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

PDF

How do I convert a scanned file (.jpeg) to a PDF file? 68.193.147.179 23:09, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

You can do it with Photoshop. Barring that, an easy way to do it is to drop it into a Microsoft Word document and then convert that to a PDF. --24.147.86.187 23:59, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

There are many free utilities available that allow you to "print" to PDF format. The PDF converted is installed as a printer but actually produces a PDF file. I don't know any off the top of my head, but you should be able to track one done with google. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 00:54, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

in Linux you can simply install imageMagick, and then type: "convert image.jpg image.pdf" --213.129.227.107 01:34, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

ImageMagick is also available under windows: download site GB 03:54, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

CutePdf is a program that works as a virtual printer that you can use to make pdf's CutePdf--Nerdd 23:28, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Converting GNU Info files

Is there any way to convert GNU .info files into HTML or some other format? Not converting the .texinfo source, which you can use texi2html for; something like that, e.g. info2html /usr/share/info/screen.info . Thanks. 71.123.16.229 23:40, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Interestingly, http://www.google.com/search?q=info2html. :) -- mattb @ 2007-03-20T00:14Z

Wow, I feel stupid now. Sorry about that. Thanks for your help. 71.123.16.229 00:36, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

March 20

centrino duo

why is it called duo62.240.62.168 01:02, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Because it involves a dual-core microprocessor. -- mattb @ 2007-03-20T01:05Z

Multiple user OS

Hey I had a cool idea and was wondering if anyone's thought of this before. Has anyone heard of an OS which would allow 2 users to operate a PC simultaneously, possibly on different tasks, using 2 keyboards and mice and 2 monitors hooked up at the same time? I imagine this would take a lot of power but was just wondering hypothetically. Mix Lord 01:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I know this would be pretty easy to achieve with X Windows. -- Diletante 01:22, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Or any *NIX OS really. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 01:24, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

ASCII in the Netherlands have built a "three headed monster" which allows 3 users to work on one Linux machine simultaneously, using a single pentium 3 box. See http://scii.nl/projects/3-headed-monster/ for how to build your own ! --213.129.227.107 01:26, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

This sort of setup used to be how most computers worked. See X terminal for an example. --TotoBaggins 01:38, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Of course a "personal computer" being shared with other users is an oxymoron.... But is normal time-sharing. As others said, run Linux and share its resources via Xwindows or telnet/ssh sessions. Even MS Windows running Citrix server accomplishes something similar, if a bit clumsily. As for one processor with multiple monitors, keyboards and mice: well, it could be done, but it would be challenging (especially the keyboards and rodents) and much clunkier than multiple PCs. —EncMstr 08:34, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Mainframe computers always worked like that, with many "dumb terminals". With a server and client, the server takes the place of the mainframe, and the client becomes more of a "smart terminal", meaning it does more than just pass info back and forth to the server. StuRat 13:24, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, not "always", but for a good long time now.

Atlant 16:05, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

There is a wonderful development called ndiyo that is about a pretty average pc being used as a 'pc server' running many computers. This is being designed with the idea of making mass-computer usage possible in poor countries, as it requires just one pc, their system and multiple monitors/keyboards etc. I think it's called thin client networking or something like that. Worth a look into ny156uk 20:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Moore's Law should make mass-computer usage possible in poor countries soon enough. Suppose a usable computer costs $1024. Moore's Law cuts the cost of the equivalent computer in half every 18 months or so. Cutting $1024 in half ten times leaves a cost of $1. That's in 15 years. Among the world's poorest billion people, per capita income is around $1/day. In 15 years, even the poorest people on Earth will be able to afford the equivalent computing power of what today would be considered a usable computer. Of course in 15 years, expectations will have scaled up in lockstep with Moore's Law, so the minimum acceptable computer will still cost around $1K, and the computer you want will still cost around $5000. And of course Moore's Law would have to similarly extend to peripherals to deliver a truly affordable third-world computer. The costs of large monitors and so on haven't dropped as fast as CPU costs. The only way to make displays a lot cheaper is to make them smaller, which means figuring out how to couple them more directly to the user's eyes. A large monitor sprays photons all over the room, when all you really care about is the tiny fraction that hits your retinae. Perhaps ultra-miniaturized computers will someday fit in a contact lens. Or in brain implants. --Teratornis 03:13, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think you can extrapolate current trends that far. The price should level out far above $1, at least with what we currently define as a computer. The keyboard, mouse, network cable, and monitor (as you said) will all cost more than $1 each in the foreseeable future. Only a very different computer, say one which is the size of a pen and is controlled by voice recognition, could hope to get down to such a price, many years from now. Also, I would expect used, obsolete computers to be resold in 3rd world nations more than new computers. BTW, the article you linked to says it's every 24 months, not 18 and also says the computing power for the same price doubles every 2 years, not that the same computing power can be had for half the price every 24 months. The two are not quite the same, as something like a "quantity discount" goes into the price of units with more computing power. For example, you can get a 1 GB pen drive for $8.49 [2], but that doesn't mean you can get a 10 MB pen drive for $0.08 or $0.09. StuRat 14:06, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

How to replace my computer hard drive without re-installing all the software?

What's the easiest way to upgrade my hard drive without replacing all the software I have on the old one? I ran out of space on my old hard drive and I bought a new bigger one. I have a few programs for which I don't have the install disks anymore and it seems that I ought to be able to just make a disk image (including the boot sector) but I've been snooping around on the web for a while without finding an obvious solution.

I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 running Windows 2000 SP4. I've already bought the new HD but I haven't formatted it yet for fear of messing something up.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance!

Jon —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.92.143.173 (talk) 01:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

You can leave your existing hard drive in place, and not monkey with your existing installation at all. Just install your new hard drive and move all your porn and downloaded movies important documents to it, and leave your existing software alone. It will work fine. --TotoBaggins 01:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

This will save you the hassle of not having to buy another copy of XP/Vista either. :) -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

If you really want to image your drive, use something like WinHex or a commercial drive imaging product. Splintercellguy 01:45, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

it's not easy unfortunately because if you wanted to do it, you have to copy files which are in use by your operating system, which is not possible, it's the equivalent of the PC trying to pick it self up by its shoe laces. There used to be a trick with dos boot disks and an application called xcopy but that's going back years…. These days, unless you're willing to muck around with linux and a live distro I'd also recommend just installing the second disc as a secondary, problem of course is, propriety PC may not have a spare disk bay or controller…. Vespine 04:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Get a Linux LiveCD (eg. Ubuntu), put in the harddrives and find out what each drive is in linux (/dev/hda or /dev/sda, etc. depending on the type), and do this in terminal

sudo dd if=[your original drive] of=[your new harddrive]

eg. sudo dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb

Wait for some time, depending on the size of your harddrive and you will have an exact copy of your old harddrive on your new one (with all the boot sectors and stuff). But yeah, just adding the new harddrive and move all your stuff there would be a better idea.--antilived^{T | C | G} 06:55, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Err, is that such a good idea? I suppose it would be okay if the drives were exactly identical, but I think you may have problems otherwise. dd is not the be-all and end-all. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 149.135.29.252 (talk) 09:50, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

dd is very similar to ghost and I've done it a couple of time before, although it was with a NT4 server and it booted up without problem: since only the harddrive is changed no extra drivers would be needed and I think it would work for XP is well since only the harddrive is changed. What problems are you thinkin about? --antilived^{T | C | G} 19:55, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

dd would probably work, but is fairly tricky. Back in Windows 98 all you needed to do was:

• Partition the new drive, if needed. This is probably easier from a Knoppix LiveCD and qtparted, but MS-DOS's fdisk is, erm, usable.
• format the new drive in Windows or MS-DOS, specifying transfer system boot files, just like making a boot disk. ie: format -s D:
• Reboot. Copy all the files (drag-n-drop!) to the new PC. Make sure you select "view hidden and system files" (in View, Config I think).
• Reboot, but press del to go to BIOS setup. Pick new drive as first boot drive.

The advantages are that it's not too hard. Plus the new files should be defragmented. The disadvantages are that it's fairly slow to copy files this way. Also I have no idea if XP will throw a wobbly going "I wasn't installed on this drive... meh!" Does this still work for XP? --h2g2bob 14:49, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

The easiest way is to use commercial software developed just for this purpose. Get yourself a copy of Norton Ghost and you can image entire drives without any difficulty at all. Or monkey around wth the ad hoc solutions above, waste a lot of time and probably end up having your operating system not start up. Ask yourself if your time and your data is worth more than the $70 it would cost to just get software that would do it for you.--140.247.251.153 17:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Lol, sounds so much like an ad. If you are technically proficient I don't see why I need to shell out dough. Splintercellguy 00:01, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Creating a very mini Linux setup

I'm trying to compile a very mini linux setup to play around with. Basically I want to compile the kernel and possibly something like Busybox (for a basic shell in the meantime) and have it running on a second HDD. I'm hosting everything in VMware server so I can chop and change with my dev environments as needed.

I can compile the kernel absolutly fine, but I'm having major difficulties getting a boot loader going on the other HDD. I've got grub-install to claim that it's quite happily written a boot sector to hda0 (the host OS is on sda0) and I've got a configured grub.conf but I just can't get it to actually boot there. All I get is a flashing cursor.

I've seen things like Linux From Scratch, but this makes a bit more bulk than I'm after, and as this is a learning exercise for myself I'm not simply wanting to install a mini linux distro. Is anyone able to help with this? Elaverick 03:07, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Have you changed the BIOS setting to boot from the other hard drive? —EncMstr 08:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeap done that, hence why I get a flashing cursor rather than booting into the boot loader on the SCSI drive. Elaverick 10:52, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

You might want to consider Linux versions already designed to be small, like Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux. StuRat 13:18, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

GRUB might be getting confused by the boot order (it needs to know the order the devices show in the BIOS). Take a look at your devices.map, or boot from a GRUB boot floppy and install grub from it (since it will know the correct device order); you can also boot your kernel directly from the boot floppy. --cesarb 00:57, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

(Excel Question) - Increasing row height does not let text go into 2 lines

I have increased the row height in my excel spreadsheet, but still it crossess over to other cells. Is there any work around this? --Paracit 08:09, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes: Format cell (or cells) | "alignment", tic "wrap text" or "auto wrap" or whatever it's called. —EncMstr 08:24, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Try this: In a cell, type a line of text, and then hit Alt + Enter

and type the second line.

That will put both lines of text in that cell exactly as you formatted it.

Is that what you were trying to do?

Note, that in Microsoft Word, pressing plain ol' ENTER will actually start a new paragraph which very often makes Word leave a small blank line before it starts the new paragraph. If you use Shift + Enter it will move to the next line but without starting a new paragraph, i.e. no extra space. It's the same with Excel, except you use Alt + Enter instead of Shift + Enter Rfwoolf 12:20, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for answering my question :). --Paracit 14:15, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Custom messages on folders

When you hold the mouse over a folder in WinXP a little message comes up stating the size of the folder and some of its contents. Is it possible to customise this message for particular folders? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Zain Ebrahim111 (talk • contribs) 09:04, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

Yes, it's possible (although a bit convoluted). Have a look at the third post here. You need to customise the folder's icon by right-clicking it and going to Properties > Customize > Change Icon... and pick any icon. Then open Notepad and navigate to that folder and open desktop.ini (you'll need to type it and hit enter - it won't show up in the file browser). Add this on a new line at the end of the file:

InfoTip=The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

...changing the stuff after = to whatever you want the tooltip to display. You can remove the lines starting IconFile and IconIndex if you want to get rid of the custom icon. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 10:39, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

It worked. Thanks. Zain Ebrahim 11:43, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Newsnet servers

I'm looking for some free Usenet news servers (NNTP) which I can configure using Outlook Express or any other mail client. I want to also use it to post messages using my gmail smtp. Any recommendations? Regards, =Nichalp «Talk»= 14:45, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

The NNTP article links to Public News Servers on the Open Directory. What exactly do you mean by "using your gmail smtp"? If you want to post to usenet using your Google ID, you can just use Google Groups. grendel|khan 15:28, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I found this list. Apparently very few of these newsgroups allow posts to the site. To post, wouldn't you require your email address and smtp.gmail.com server set up? I would like to use a mail client instead of the browser. =Nichalp «Talk»= 16:27, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm not being allowed to post when I reply to a thread in a newsgroup. :( =Nichalp «Talk»=

nntp.aioe.org says it support up to 25 posts a day per IP address. You can even connect to it over tor, if that's your thing. I telnetted to that host, and I was able to retrieve messages; I didn't attempt to post. Give that one a shot and see if it works. Note that it doesn't carry binary newsgroups, only text. grendel|khan 20:54, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Does this JasperPrint object represent an empty report?

I was looking through the Jasper Reports docs (the article was deleted a few months ago), specifically at JasperPrint, which represents a filled-in report object, which can then be rendered to a PDF or HTML document, or an Excel spreadsheet, or whatever. My question is this: sometimes the reports come back empty. What can I do to test whether or not a JasperPrint object represents an empty report? I'm pulling them out of an object database, so it would be preferable to run some kind of test on a JasperPrint object itself. If all else fails, I'll add a test to the encapsulating object which will say whether or not the report contains data, but I'd like to avoid that if possible. grendel|khan 15:26, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

invisible contents

The first time I ran into this was in a web site folder. When I wen to delete the folder permission was denied for the reason the the folder could not be deleted because its directory was not empty? Now its happening with local and local network folders. The folders appear empty, however. How do I delete these folders? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.100.3.92 (talk) 17:32, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

What operating system are you using? --Kainaw ^(talk) 17:56, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Windows XP(x86) Pro —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.100.3.92 (talk) 18:01, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

Make sure hidden files are visible. Click Tools → Folder Options → View → select Show hidden files and folders. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:11, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

modern computer measurable impact

what are the stats in respect to the measurable impact of the modern computer on commerce? Can the impact be measured? If so, in terms of degree or fraction, what has been the impact? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.132.145.4 (talk) 17:36, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

It depends on the area. The porn industry had a first explosion with the popularity of VCRs because you didn't have to watch the porn in a movie theater anymore. The Internet (with computers) launched a second boom because you didn't have to leave your house to buy the porn anymore. Then, there's credit cards. Handling millions of credit accounts making purchases at millions of retail outlets would not be possible without computers. The cost of people to handle the paperwork would easily offset any profits. Of course, with the ease of getting credit in the early 80's, you have the retail (please, put me in debt) culture that followed. --Kainaw ^(talk) 17:59, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

High Quality GIFs

Does anyone know where to find a high quality gifs suitable to set as the desktop background (1280 x 1024)? Thanks.

Use google's image search. Images that big are usually jpegs. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:01, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

When I want a good desktop background (which I don't use anymore because it wastes system resources), I usually check Wikipedia:Featured pictures, and on some pages it says something to the effect of the image having a suitable aspect ratio for use as wallpaper. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 19:20, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, we have a category with those. Category:Wikipedia featured desktop backgrounds. Some very nice stuff in here. And just curious: how much memory do you have such that a wallpaper is an issue? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 04:31, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I might be wrong here, but I'm assuming that as they're specifying gifs, rather than just images, the user may be looking for large animations. --Kiltman67 05:27, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

rolling with the assumption that they're looking for animations to use, i have to strongly recommend the Drempels program. it looks similar to how a screensaver would (and can in fact run as one too) but instead it replaces your wallpaper with a lovely, animated, somewhat psychadelic image. use the Desktop mode. (note: it doesn't list XP as an operating system it runs on, but many of my friends with XP have used it with no problems) http://www.geisswerks.com/drempels/ --64.0.112.13 08:56, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

High quality and GIF are polar opposites. By definition, a gif can't have more than 256 colors. You might want to try PNG or JPEG? Also, get a real monitor, 5:4 isn't a proper aspect ratio.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 01:38, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

What OS to boot from

Hi there! When I bought Vista a month ago I also got a new harddrive to install it on. When the new HDD was plugged in I just put in the Vista DVD and the installation went perfect. Since many drivers won't do well in Vista I was clever enough to keep XP on the other drive, the problem is just that I can't get my PC to boot it without opening the case and switching the SATA wires. I just want to be able to choose what OS to boot from, every time I start the PC. I know it will make me choose if there are two on the same HDD, but how should I do if they are on different drives? Help... :/ 213.64.150.116 20:28, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Hmm.. you should be able to select it if you boot into the BIOS screen, but that isn't the most easy-to-use solution (though easier than playing with the wires). --140.247.248.59 21:21, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps fiddling with the NTLDR bootloader could do the trick. Splintercellguy 04:12, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

There are a couple ways to go about it. Your BIOS may have an option to present you with a list of drives to boot from when you start up the computer. Or, assuming the Vista drive is set to boot first, you should be able to use EasyBCD to edit Vista's BCD. With this tool, you should be able to add an entry for XP, which will make it appear in Vista's boot loader. You'll then get the option to choose between one or the other at boot. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 04:24, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

You could just install grub or another free software bootloader. —Dark•Shikari^[T] 17:49, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Printing to a network Printer

I am trying to set my XP Home edition laptop to print to the printers at school. I got the information printout off an HP laserjet 2300

How can i set it up to print. It is connected directly to the network.

Omnipotence407 21:02, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Using the Add Printer wizard, add a network printer using the name of the printer from the printout. Splintercellguy 21:57, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

What Name? Host Name, Appletalk name, Printer Name (under product information). I used all three (appletalk name and priner name are the same) Omnipotence407 00:54, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe what you want is either the host name or printer name. Basically, feed the wizard the NetBIOS name or an IP address. Splintercellguy 04:11, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Accessing my home computer from elsewhere

I would like to be able to access the shared files on my computer from outside my home, but how would I do this?

I am running XP Home edition on a DSL connection.

Omnipotence407 21:04, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

There are a few options but I think what would suit you best would be setting up an FTP program to allow you to access certain folders. I use Cerberus FTP for this [3] which isn't too bad. There are a few other methods but for a new user this is probably the easiest to get right safely. You may also like to look at Windows Home Server when this is released by Microsoft as this gives a little finer control over things.

Elaverick 21:10, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Another method is an SSH server. Which is probably a little bit more difficult to set up on windows. But it is more secure than FTP. Here are a couple of sites that show you how to do it: [4] and [5]. Akamad 21:23, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

If you don't mind paying, gotomypc.com is a good solution. Otherwise, I'd recommend FTP, as I've used it before and it's worked very well. JoshHolloway 22:19, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I've been using logmein for a year and really like it. It's just like being there! The only thing I can't do so far is toggle the CapsLock key. And it's FREE! --Saintrain 22:54, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

logmein seems to be a trial, not completely free (note i just discovered that the pro version is a trial, the basic is free)Omnipotence407 01:17, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

RealVNC is free and secure (well the pay version is secure) and is perfect. --froth^t 01:08, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I use Teamviewer [6] which is free. a good website is [7] it is very helpful --jake 16:22, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Text formatting using javascript

Hi! I just did some javascript to collapse table columns and need a little help formatting the text in the collapsed column. I'm trying to take the column header, say,

Col Head

and make it one character wide like

C
o
l

H
e
a
d

But the resulting text I get is

C o l   H e a d, my first try, or 
C \n o \n l \n   \n H \n e \n a \n d, or 
C <br/> o <br/> l <br/>   <br/> H <br/> e <br/> a <br/> d, and I even tried 
<p> C </p><p> o </p><p> l </p><p>   </p><p> H </p><p> e </p><p> a </p><p> d </p> !!!  

But WYSIWIG. I think the problem is that my javascript plays after the page load so f("Col Head") is not being rendered as HTML.

Is that the problem? Is there a way around it?

The code (User:Saintrain/S3/colcol.js) is "ccx.textContent = hds;", where ccx points to a DIV and hds is the new string. The DIV is otherwise empty. Is there better javascript for this? (FWIW: the DIV shares a TD with a TABLE that has the column stuff in it. Clicking on the DIV or "Col Head" toggles the "display" properties of the DIV and TABLE. Yeah, I know, but it works.)

The HTML table code is generated using a template (User:Saintrain/S3/ccColEx) and the column header is one of the arguments. Can I use template magick to reformat the header before it becomes HTML?

Thanks. --Saintrain 22:47, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

In HTML, "Col Head" will only collapse to "Col" on one line and "Head" on another. It will not put one character on each line. You must change the contents of the header. I assume you are using a <th> tag. If so, it is very easy. Ensure the tag has an id attribute, assume it is id='myheader'. Then, you can grab the tag using var myheader = document.getElementById('myheader'). The current contents of myheader is easy to get using var curhtml = myheader.innerHtml. Make a newhtml variable. With a for loop, for every character in curhtml add the character and a line break to newhtml. Then, myheader.innerHtml=newhtml. Note that the column will only reduce in width if it has to. The web browser doesn't always make the best decisions about which columns need to be wide and which ones need to be skinny. --Kainaw ^(talk) 00:07, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Woohooo!!! Look what I can do!! Big difference between textContent and innerHTML. Thanks Kainaw. --Saintrain 19:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Wow! I got an answer right. And my second grade teacher said I'd never graduate from the Big Chief tablet. --Kainaw ^(talk) 12:01, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

March 21

Alias with command line argument in OS X?

Hi. Could someone tell me how to make an alias to a program with a command line argument in OS X Tiger? Thanks!--Ryan 00:52, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't use OSX, but it is Unix-like, so I expect it to have "ln -s filename symbolic_link". --Kainaw ^(talk) 01:13, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

ok, the ln comand exists, now could you give me the exact syntax? THanks.--Ryan 01:37, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Exactly as I noted: ln -s filename symbolic_link where "filename" is the filename you want to link to and "symbolic_link" is the symbolic link name you want to use. For example, you have a file /home/jojo/homework8.txt and you want to use /usr/local/pub/homeworks/jojo8.txt, you would type ln -s /home/jojo/homework8.txt /usr/local/pub/homeworks/jojo8.txt. Then, when you access jojo8.txt, the computer links right to homework8.txt. --Kainaw ^(talk) 02:12, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

You might be more interested in the alias builtin to most *nix shells. If memory serves, OS X Tiger uses bash by default (otherwise you'll probably be using tcsh). In general, to create an alias you would type something like "alias aliasname='program_name with arguments'" (sans double quotes) at the shell prompt. Example:

   $ alias ll='ls -l'
   $ ll
   total 20
   drwxrwxr-x 2 mattb mattb 4096 Aug 17  2006 manuals
   -rwxr-xr-x 1 mattb mattb 8323 Sep 22  2005 manuals.htm
   drwxr-xr-x 2 mattb mattb 4096 Sep 26  2005 pdf

Note that aliases are only in effect for the current command shell session. If you want to keep them around for future sessions you'll want to include them as a line in one of your shell's startup script (~/.bashrc for bash). -- mattb @ 2007-03-21T04:41Z

Of course. That is what he wants. I put my alias commands in my .bash_rc file so they are always there. I read the question wrong. I read "how to make an alias filename for a program by using some function on the command line." --Kainaw ^(talk) 13:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, the question is unclear, since "alias" can mean so many different things. Also, note that there's no underscore in .bashrc . --TotoBaggins 13:18, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

He did say "alias to a program with a command line argument" in his original question. The "command line argument" part is pretty indicative. -- mattb @ 2007-03-21T17:52Z

There's also Alias (Mac OS), which I thought s/he meant, as in "make an icon that will invoke program foo as foo --some-argument". --TotoBaggins 22:51, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Blu-ray and HD DVD Focal Length

I was wondering if anyone knows what these are.J.delanoy 01:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Don't know if this is helpful but the article on Wikipedia says that the wavelength for Blu-ray is 405nm. Is that the same thing as focal length?Mix Lord 02:07, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

No, wavelength is not the same as focal length. The focal length is probably comparable to that of other optical disks, a few millimeters. If you require an actual figure, you can always buy a copy of the specifications books. [8] -- mattb @ 2007-03-21T02:25Z

it doesn't really matter, I just wondered if it was closer to the surface than a DVD. Thanks for the answers!!!!J.delanoy 14:43, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I doubt it --froth^t 16:06, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

My badMix Lord 00:43, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

A little Googling found that Blu-Ray recoding surface is 0.1mm from the surface. HD-DVD is 0.6mm from the surface. --24.249.108.133 14:45, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

OK, Thanks for the help!!!!J.delanoy 16:02, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Wireless Sensor Network

can you please explain the meaning of this expression p=h(x©t)

where p is priority h is a hash function and t is time and x is a node indentifier

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.255.156.97 (talk) 08:49, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

The copyright symbol © is not a mathematical function. That is what I see between the x and t in your question. Whatever symbol you intend to use is apparently not in my font set. So, you'll need to explain the function more in order to have the meaning explained in return. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:21, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

DVD converting

Hi I just bought Madonna's Confessions Tour DVD and i thoguht it was awesome. Is there any way I can put it in my iPod for free? Thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 219.78.194.72 (talk) 11:46, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

You can rip it to your hard drive using DVD Decrypter, then convert it to iPod format using Videora iPod Converter.

Doing a left join among three tables.

I have three tables; I want to left-join the latter two to the first one. Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

Table A: Name Price ID Apple 1.00 1 Orange 2.00 2 Pear 1.50 3 Kumquat 3.00 4

Table B: Brand ID Smith 1 Jones 2

Table C: Type ID Citrus 2 Green 3

I want to create a query which will return this:

Name	Price	Brand	Type	ID
Apple	1.00	Smith	NULL	1
Orange	2.00	Jones	Citrus	2
Pear	1.50	NULL	Green	3
Kumquat	3.00	NULL	NULL	4

I'm looking for a way to do a left join between three tables instead of just two. I'm using PostgreSQL, if that helps. grendel|khan 14:36, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Aha! Answered my own question. Apparently you can stack left joins, at least in PostgreSQL: SELECT * FROM a LEFT JOIN b ON (a.id=b.id) LEFT JOIN c ON (a.id=c.id) returns exactly what I wrote above. grendel|khan 15:06, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

You can stack joins of all types - even mixing and matching them - in every SQL database system I've used. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:18, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

PC problem that impacts wikipedia

Over the past year or so, when I type the word c-h-a-t it is replaced with MFEM. I have no idea how this is occurring, but it sometimes leads to sweeping changes within wikipedia. Does anyone know how to solve it? Personal research has given me nothing to solve the problem so far. Thegreatdr 15:13, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Possibilities:

1. Whatever editor you're using has a "spelling correction" for the word "c-h-a-t".
2. You have a keyboard "macros" program (like QuickKeys) that someone trained to respond to the word "c-h-a-t".

Atlant 16:13, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

digitizing audio tapes

I work for a museum that wants to digitize a bunch of audio cassette tapes, and I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth it to contract it out to professionals. I know that once the tapes are digitized, there's all kinds of fancy software out there to clean up the sound. But what about the digitization itself? Is there some process that professionals use that's substantially better than just plugging a decent tape player into a computer with a decent sound card? Thanks! --Allen 15:52, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I would think you're pretty much paying for that fancy software and very high quality tape heads --froth^t 16:08, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Any time I've been involved in a "simple" one-off project like this, I've regretted it. The hundred and one "unknown unknowns" that will plague you have already been solved by the professionals in their first year in business. I'd say contract it out if it's a big job and you can afford it. --TotoBaggins 16:11, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

If you do decide to try this yourself, you might consider trying either Roxio Toast or BIAS's Soap. Either automate a fair amount of the drugery.

Atlant 16:18, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the responses! --Allen 12:50, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Whatever you decide, do a test first and determine if the quality is acceptable. If you are considering multiple options, test the same audio by each method you are considering, then compare the results. StuRat 18:25, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Ubuntu/firefox default web font

What is the default web font in Ubuntu (with firefox)? For example here I see Times New Roman in Windows, but something different in Ubuntu. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 16:45, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

• Just open Preferences/Content, and it'll list it there. I think its Helvetica? —Dark•Shikari^[T] 17:44, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately the option is blank, and the advanced dialogue box just gives the generic "serif". →Ollie (talk • contribs) 18:29, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably Bitstream Vera or DejaVu. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:14, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for this, Bitstream Vera Serif looks closest to me. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 18:33, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Peter Answers

How does http://www.peteranswers.com work? it's a connected omen relation between a dead man who lived in the woods named peter and a network. //chriswondra.com/2007/02/21/peter-answers-the-secret/ read] -- mattb @ 2007-03-21T17:47Z

games on a pin drive, then play on your laptop

I saw this kid playing super smash bros (n64 version) on his laptop using his pin drive. How can i get this great game on a pin drive? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.157.18.147 (talk) 19:50, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

You must use an n64 Emulator, and obtain a copy of the game usually called a Rom. Note that the legality of doing this is dubious. It doesn't matter what kind of drive you use. -- Diletante 21:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

And please note that I believe you mean pen drive :). JoshHolloway 21:37, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Either that, or they went and came out with a new technology without telling me. (Although a terabyte of memory on the head of a pin would be cool, the connector size would then become an issue.) StuRat 18:20, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Also note that the legality isn't dubious, it's downright illegal --froth^t 01:30, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Well this is not legal advice, but if you dumped the rom yourself from a cartridge that you owned you are probably well within your rights to play that rom on an emulator. -- Diletante 02:09, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

oh ok, cuz all the kids at this computer school do it so i was just wondering how. So i guess 500 students are breaking the law everyday. Ok thanks anyway.

Game loading times and intro FMV.

So I just got the stalker game and, wow, it's amazing, I'm really enjoying it. So I start a new game and it's got a bit of a load time, and I'm sitting there waiting for it to load, and as soon as it loads it goes straight into a FMV. That's fair enough, every game I've ever come across does that. But in this day and age of multi tasking, why can't a computer still LOAD a level WHILE playing the FMV? Most games have a little animation going while loading, so why can't they just play the FMV? FMVs have been around since x486 days, they aren't processor intensive, so why hasn't a single game I've ever seen, even on consoles, load a level and play a FMV? Ok, the two disk tasks would slow down the loading, but still, with SATA and raid and stuff why can't any computer seem to be capable of what seems not such a big deal? Vespine 22:58, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

As I see it, the programmer has 4 choices:

• Load data, and then stream the video - this i what you describe.
• Load video, then load the data in the background - possible, but would take longer if you didn't want to watch the video.
• Load both at the same time - as the data is on different parts of the disk, the laser would need to skip between them (non-sequential reads). This is really quite slow. Plus, CD-ROMs and hard drives are optimised to read everything in sequence.
• Interleave data and video - there's no guarantee your PC could handle that rate of video and data loading, so it would need to buffer quite a bit or risk the video skipping. Plus, again, if you want to skip the video it will take longer, as it would still need to load (or skip) through the video data. And it would be harder to develop.

Out of the 4, loading data and then video is the lesser of 4 evils (assuming the video is skippable). --h2g2bob 00:14, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know, if the FMV was say 30 seconds and 5MB, surely that could load up in a snap and play in the back ground while the level loads, in fact, I'm going to go run a mpg on my media player and load the same game tonight and see how much longer it takes I'm sure it will work, if two applications can do it, why can't they code one application to run two threads or whatever it is that it requires?Vespine 00:57, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

playing video may not be very processor/memory intensive, but any interruptions caused by other operations will be highly noticeable and annoying, so they probably chose to annoy the user with loading rather than risk the more annoying video-skipping -- Diletante 00:42, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think there's any reason it shouldn't be possible. You only need to buffer a few seconds ahead- and don't be unrealistic, nonsequential reads aren't that bad at all. It would be pretty much a matter of loading the level and every few seconds returning to the FMV for a few million cycles to update the buffer. This is entirely feasible. --froth^t 01:28, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Computer games with LOTS of statistics

I'm looking for a game with lots of detail and statistics that focus around character development or empire building. Some examples:

• Championship Manager series (lots and lots of stats)
• Most roguelikes (Nethack, Angband, Dwarf Fortress)
• Ascendancy

The focus here is STATS, mainly. If you can suggest any obscure or little-known games I'd prefer it but please run by some obvious ones if you think they are good candidates, especially if they are similar to Championship Manager in scale. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Magic Window (talk • contribs) 23:46, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

I am not familiar with the games you listed (except roguelikes) but you might be interested in Empire Classic (computer game) I know that there are still active games of wolfpack empire running these days so check out the link at the bottom of the article. I've only played it a tiny bit years back but I know it is full of numbers and statisttics. -- Diletante 00:02, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Ascendancy is one of my favorite old-school games. Maybe you'd be interested in Tactical RPGs in general (Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Advance). I also really liked the MechCommander game. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:52, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, Sid Meier's Civilization franchise has quite a bit of micromanagement. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 08:45, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

My mind immediately went to Space Bucks, a 1996 Sierra release developed by Impressions. It very much involves micro-management, although it is less about statistics but more about tightly managing a space transport empire. Very, very tough game to beat. Only problem? It won't really work on Windows XP, and has troubles with Windows 98. It was made for Windows 3.1 and Win 95.

Another Impressions relase is Detroit about the car industry.

Guroadrunner 14:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

March 22

Embedding QuickTime 3D tour

Hi, I have one of those QuickTime 3D tour video, where the user can look at a place in virtual 3D by moving their mouse around and clicking. How do I embed it into a (x)HTML file? Thanks. Jamesino 01:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If you mean QuickTime VR, then Apple.com has instructions on Including QuickTime In A Web Page and Embedding a QTVR Movie in a Web Page. --Canley 07:38, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

3 monitors on Radeon 9250's

I currently have a PCI Radeon 9250 (128mb)running a 17" Relysis TE770 on my VGA output, a 17" iiyama LS704U on the DVA output (through a VGA converter - which gives an awful picture!) and a TV on the S-Video cable. What I want to do is run both the monitors as an extended desktop, but also the TV as a mirror or a further extended desktop. However, my ATI software only allows me to activate one of these secondary monitors in the "Displays" tab. To overcome this my girlfriend has invested in a Radeon AGP Radeon 9250 (128mb) (for my birthday so I can't actuall tinker about until 29th) because I read that I could enable further monitors through a second graphics card. Is this correct or will I encounter problems. CrazyFoolMrT 01:10, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Your PCI card, and your AGP card are both DUAL HEAD video cards, this means they can only spit two outputs out at any one time, even if they have 3 sockets. Unfortunately, AGP and PCI cards don't like to work together as they use the same harware interrupt or something like that. This was asked recently here and that's the most we could come up with.. If you want to run more then 2 displays, you can get a second PCI card, or a quad head (or more) video card. Vespine 03:05, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Vespine, but this page http://realtimesoft.com/multimon/reviews/3mon_rad9k/ suggests you need an AGP and a PCI? I am confused? CrazyFoolMrT 01:11, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

You can have extended desktop on 2 monitors plus a clone of either one on a TV, but otherwise you can't do it easily. --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:39, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't mind not being able to do it easily.... Whats the hard way? CrazyFoolMrT 01:08, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe the hard way is the same as my solutions above and involve buying new hardware. Nothing you can do will make your card spit out three images if it only has two pieces of hardware that can output video. And I believe it is not possible to run a PCI card and a AGP card at the same time, that was my answer last time and no one refuted me so I still believe that. Vespine 05:51, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Google Cache browser

Is there a site I can go to so that I can navigate through the internet using Google's cache instead of normal browsing? I would like that a lot for some specific applications. Thanks! [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?) ❖ 06:10, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Sure thing Mac: Do a Google search for a topic or website, and just after the URL (probably green text), on the bottom line of each hit, you will see a link to "Cached" (probably pale grey-blue text). − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 08:41, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

You can track www.archive.org - which is the Wayback Machine, which has old caches of webpages for the past several years - although it isn't always easy to navigate quickly. Rfwoolf 14:06, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I mean that I want to be able to click on the "Cached" and be able to click in that cached page on links, that lead to other pages in the Google cache. [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?) ❖ 19:02, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Offhand, I don't know of an easy way to do this. One approach would be copy the URL of the link into a Google search, then click the "Cached" version of that URL. This would require quite a bit of bouncing around, though (browser bouncing?). − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 21:26, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

It's not perfect, but if you use Firefox then this extension will add a Google cache: shortcut (amongst others) to the right-click menu on links. There are others with similar functionality if you search the Firefox addons site for Google cache. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 22:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Here's what you're looking for: http://web.archive.org/collections/web/advanced.html —EncMstr 22:58, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

how does midi to wave converter works?

how does midi to wave converter works using with the help of pulse code modulation technique? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ket 31 (talk • contribs) 07:43, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

It works pretty darn well!  :-) Read about it at Synthesizer, General MIDI, and MIDI. —EncMstr 07:52, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

UNICODE website

Can any one Please Help me to Build an UNICODE website ? IF Possible please send me a piece of code.Also, instruct me for the intial setup. Its Urgent Can any one help out . —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Krishna.logic (talk • contribs) 10:56, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

Unicode is just a character encoding standard, like ASCII. Most modern web development tools support it, like Notepad, Dreamweaver and Visual Studio. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 12:58, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi ,

Thank's for the Reply.But i do webdesig, I am not aware of how to start building a Unicode website.So, i need to know whether to make the Unicode usage entry at the start as

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>

of my building the page and just go on with the HexCode by UNICODE.org, that will do.

Or is there anything else needed before i use the HEX Code.

Kindly guide me in this regards,

Krishna.N

No, just set your Content-Type charset to UTF-8 and make sure you actually save the file as UTF-8 (it's in the 'Encoding' dropdown when you save a file in Notepad). You can set Dreamweaver to use UTF-8 using these instructions. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 00:37, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Alerts

Is it possible to get an alert whenever a web page changes? I'd like to get alerted whenever my "my watchlist" page gets a new entry. Zain Ebrahim 12:50, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if it can be done directly, but per-article check out WP:RSS. I think user:kylu has an RSS from her watchlist. Unfortunately, she's on wikibreak, so you might have to look at old versions of her user page to see. —EncMstr 15:40, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Lazy Man's P2P

Is there a P2P out there, where instead of having to search for things one by one, I can just feed it a list of things I want downloaded, and it will download the closest matches? For this particular project, it would save me perhaps hours of time. 138.130.18.123 14:00, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I guess you could use a BitTorrent search engine like isoHunt? Probably not exactly what you specified but meh. Splintercellguy 15:00, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If you are somewhat computer savvy and are using mldonkey you can try this -- Diletante 16:00, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I am quite computer savvy, but I couldn't communicate with the console (running Windows XP), and the addon you gave me (MLautosearch) has a type of virus - according to my Norton Antivirus - but I think it's just overreacting over the one file that somehow communicates with the network. 138.130.17.23 19:38, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Executing An .exe file

I downloaded the game fifa street for pc which is a single exe file but when i click on it a command prompt window pops up and stays for 2 seconds and then closes itself. I tried doing this a lot of times but the same thing repeats. Is there anything i can do and what is going on i mean what happens to it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.95.191.49 (talk) 15:53, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

Here's how:

1. Explicitly open a command window.
2. Drag-n-drop the .exe file into that window; it's full path will appear in the command window as if you'd typed it in.
3. Press {Return}; the program will execute.

Any messages it displayed should remain in the command window for your inspection.

Atlant 16:01, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

You might want to read Trojan horse (computing). -- Diletante 16:06, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Our questioner has already run it :-(, 'might as well see what it's saying, even if it's just "pwned!". Well, unless you think the trojan is set to go off only on the, say, tenth run ;-).

Atlant 12:16, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

You open a command window, by the way, by going to Start -> Run and then typing in "cmd". Also it sounds pretty dubious to me, potentially a virus. --140.247.248.161 20:16, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If it isn't something sinister, it might need a .dll or .ini file or something. Anchoress

How big is the exe? It could be that you've downloaded a cracked executable or a patch for the game instead of the whole thing. If it's anything under 50mb, then it's not the full game at all, and it's no use to you. Johnnykimble 09:23, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Linux on a CD drive -less Tablet PC

Hello,

I have a Thinkpad X41 tablet PC, and am looking to start using linux, on a part time basis. I am currently using Windows Xp. However, the laptop that I am presently using does not have a CD or floppy drive. It does have USB.

I was wondering if there is anyway that I can run a strand of linux (ubuntu, or anything similar). It does not have to be a fully immersive experience, a simple mounted cd emulated version would work. I seek no special tablet functions, only the ability to experience linux.

Cheers,

Jon —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 193.122.239.253 (talk) 17:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

This may be an obvious suggestion, but why not use an external USB hard drive? The only trick would be installing the appropriate boot loader on the drive to let you boot from it, but a Live USB installation could probably manage it. Less flexible but more ready-made would be to use a USB CD drive (although you might be hard-pressed to find one not made expensive by supporting more advanced things like DVD burning), with which you could use a LiveCD and even install a distribution (which might require repartitioning to preserve Windows) if you liked it. Alternatively, if you want just a bit of Linux-ish flavor, you could try out Cygwin, which creates a Unix-like environment within Windows. For further information and personal assistance you can likely contact your local LUG. --Tardis 20:28, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks.

You could also try Damn Small Linux - it can boot from normal USB sticks. Aetherfukz 14:47, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

IT-enabled Investments

what is the exact meaning of IT-enabled investments. i m askig this question with reference to COBIT. an answer with a precise real-life example is what required. thanx in advance —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.148.64.18 (talk) 17:31, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

This looks like a homework question. Droud 12:58, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Windows Registry

Where, if anywhere, and how, is the Windows Registry stored on a computer? (I understand what the registry is and what it does). --Joe^Talk!_Work 19:24, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

See Windows registry#Registry_locations. —EncMstr 19:42, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

U may be right but i really need an answer —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.148.64.18 (talk • contribs) 2007-03-23T16:30:40 (UTC)

What kind of answer do you need? —EncMstr 17:21, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

if you are having a problem with something like *.vxd , then type "system.ini" in the run command. Be careful what you change there, it is one of the keystones of an operating system....J.delanoy 16:08, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Remote Assistance

Im looking for a free alternative to Windows Remote Assistance. One that is much more reliable. I used to be able to get into peoples computers no problem with RA but i havent been able to connect to someones computer for so long.

thank you Omnipotence407 19:40, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

RealVNC may do the job, though it does not have features for restricting control for the remote user. On another note, did the person check his firewall/router? Splintercellguy 00:02, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Sorry i wasnt more clear. my "someones" was supposed to be "anyones." Ive had them turn off whatever firewall they have, and i even shut down mine. RealVNC seems pretty complicated. If it can be easily explained to me, that would be great. I know how to use computers pretty well, but the website isnt very clear Omnipotence407 18:07, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Maybe this can help you: Tech support with UltraVNC SingleClick, its among the easiest programs to setup for the support user. Aetherfukz 14:50, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Saving Streaming Video

Hi, I saw a funny video on youtube and I was wondering if there was a way to save it to my computer and possibly on a usb drive before it gets pulled? Is there any way to save streaming video?

Firefox has multiple extensions hereOmnipotence407 20:21, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

For YouTube I use vixy.net. --24.147.86.187 22:38, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

OS X Symbol Font

Hello,

I seem to have accidentally removed the default symbol font from my OS X 10.4 system. Is there anywhere I can download it to reinstall it?

Thank you

--CGP 20:27, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Your OS X CD? Another computer with OS X? --24.147.86.187 22:37, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

default programs for Windows Vista

I just installed Vista a few days ago, and most things are working correctly, though I am having trouble with the default programs. I have Vista business, and when I go to "Default Programs", I click on "Set program access and computer defaults", and then I change my browser to Firefox and my media player to iTunes, and then I save settings. However, next time I open Firefox, it says it is not the default browser, and when I look at the default programs again they are back as before. No matter how many times I do it, my settings are not saved. What can I do about this? —Akrabbim^talk 20:32, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

You may have to go into each of the relevant programs and tell them to not check if they are the default program for that service, and disable any settings that say "Make [this program] the default program for [whatever]". Then, specifically go to the programs you WANT to be the default, and see if they have a setting that says "Check if [X] is the default program for [Y]" and "Make [X] the default program for [Y]". However, if none of the relevant programs are running, and you go in to Default Programs settings in Vista, and you make your changes and 'Apply' and close, and you still don't run those programs, then, if you go right back into Default Programs, all your settings should still be there. As a last resort, try rebooting your computer AND/OR pressing Ctrl + Shift + Escape and shutting down all unnecessary services including Internet Explorer, Firefox, iTunes, etc. Rfwoolf 08:34, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

March 23

MySpace viewmorepics taking me to main page?

Hi. I'm sure this is a really basic question to many people who watch this forum but-- A friend wanted me to check out their blog on Myspace. So, I look at it and the main page and the blog come up OK. But when I clicked on the "viewmorepics" link, it keeps redirecting me to Myspace's main page.

Do I have to join MySpace and log in just to see the pictures, even though AFAIK they are "public"? Or is there an issue with cookies or scripting or something I might have disabled in my browser which could be interfering? Squidfryerchef 01:36, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you have to join and log in. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 02:29, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

How to Refill an HP 27 Black Cartridge?

I purchased an inkjet refill kit. For the first time, I successfully refilled my HP 27 Black Ink Cartridge. After all the ink was consumed, I tried to refill the same cartridge for a second time. I cleaned my cartridge 5 times. The printing quality was poor. It barely printed anything. Does anybody know how to successfully refill an HP 27 Black Ink Cartridge for a second time? Thanks very much. 208.72.125.112 02:28, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

If it's not being heavily used, some of the ink might have dried and is gumming up the works. I've seen the refill guys (in the mall kiosks) soak it and run hot water through to get it going again. —EncMstr 02:37, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Water will damage most print heads, try alcohol to clean it out. The print head is probably worn out, as they are fairly low quality and are supposed to be replaced with each ink refill. Droud 13:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

By the way, the ink cartridge is remanufactured to begin with. 208.72.125.78 03:55, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

FITS file

Hey guys, I'm trying to use VBA to get some data out of a FITS file and into an excel spreadsheet, but its been a loooong time since i've used VB, i've got the filename and opened it for input, but I cant work out how to actually get the data out into an array. Help? :) Capuchin 13:09, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Woo I got Input working finally, I guess I need the info about the file to go further. Pity the guy who knows that isn't here. :/. When i read it in, It comes up in all weird characters (just like when i open the image in notepad), the data will be there if i convert to hex or whatever right? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Capuchin (talk • contribs) 14:36, 23 March 2007 (UTC).

This might not be the answer you are looking for, but you might find this task easier using the IRAF software, specifically the hedit command. I'm fairly certain you can output from this into a text file. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 00:53, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Windows Media Player

I have downloaded Windows Media player from the Microsoft website, but everytime i try to use it, my computer asks me to Validate the software. When i do, it says i have a counterfiet copy. How can this be, if i got it staight from the microsoft website, and is there anything i can do. Is there another way to download it> —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.54.61.158 (talk) 13:30, 23 March 2007 (UTC).

Check your Windows install; that's what the genuine checker is complaining about. Splintercellguy 15:01, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

It's a genuine pain, all right. I'd use another media player, although you might have trouble playing WMV and WMP files on other players, as Microsoft won't let anybody else play their proprietary formats. This is all a good reason to avoid Microsoft altogether. StuRat 15:24, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Video Downloads

Is it possible to download videos from sites such as Youtube and put them into iTunes and in turn an iPod? Is it even legal to do so? Ipmin 13:46, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Vixy.net Splintercellguy 15:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

vixy.net never seems to work for me. how is it that you guys get it to work?

I use the firefox extension "Download Video". Search for it at firefox.com! It's great. You just click the icon, and it automatically downloads embedded video.--Ryan 17:11, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Doubling up the size of an e-mail attachment?

I have just been electronically chastised by my sister because I sent her a very funny attachment showing various video recordings of church ceremony mishaps. She took umbrage that I had caused her mailbox to overload and said in future I should not send her large attachments because each time they get forwarded, the size of any attachment doubles say from 3Mb to 6Mb. I have been using e-mail both professionally at work and privately at home for over 10 years and no-one else has ever pointed that out to me. So my question is, quite simply, is she correct? And if so, has anyone any suggestions as to how I can still send the e-mail and it's attachment without it having that effect? Thanks in anticipation. CasualWikiUser 13:58, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I think when attachments are encoded in Base64, they take up more space. Splintercellguy 15:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

The only way I think this is true is if you have a copy in your Inbox and one in your Outbox. You aren't doubling the size of the copy that was sent, however. But, if someone doesn't want your huge e-mails, then stop sending them. An exception might be where you send an e-mail with a link to the content on a web page. Then they can't object to the size (although they might object to the content at the link). StuRat 15:18, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

No the size of the attachment will not double - she is incorrect. What is true is that if the file was say 3mb, then you SENDING the email used 3mb of upload data between you and your service provider, and when she RECEIVED the email she used another 3mb of download data to receive it. If she had to then forward it again it would use another 3mb to send it again. But that's where it would end. From that point on your service provider doesn't count any further data usage from your account for those transactions - even if your sister has forwarded it all around the world, it still only took 1 upload session of 3mb. (Note that this is only of concern to you if you have a limited amount of data you can use per month with your service provider OR if you have a really slow connection and you are concerned that large files take a long time to download). So the only way your sister can be correct is if she takes into account the data that the mail servers themselves use to propagate the 3mb file across the net to any of the people in her email. It does not however affect you.

From the straight-forward point of view, if I receive an email, hit forward, type in some addresses, and hit send, this does NOT double the size of the file, but you will be sending one copy of the file back to your service provider (who will forward it to a mail server) which will use another 3mb. That's all. Rfwoolf 16:13, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, just thinking about this, your sister might believe that for every RECIPIENT in your email, you are sending that 3mb each time to each recipient. Well that's not the case. It would only be true if you personally generate a fresh email for every person you wanted to forward the email to. And even then, it would not be 'doubling', it would simply be an extra 3mb each time. So if you hit 'forward', and type in 20 names in your 'To' box, and hit send, this will upload the email and the 3mb attachment to your mail service via your Service Provider (which would use 3mb of data on your account) and then your mail server will have the headache of forwarding your email to 20 different recipients, but will be using the data of your mail server and not from your data usage. Note however that your mail service provider (which is sometimes your internet service provider) may have mailbox limits on things like how many Megabytes of data can sit on the server in your 'inbox' before you log in to download it off the server. Similarly, your mail service provider may have limits on outgoing data for your mail box. Many service providers also limit email attachment size to 10mb (but usally higher than that). Anyways, in the case of forwarding to 20 people using 1 email, this would use 3mb of upload data, and your mail server would be forwarding the email 20 times using 3mb each, which is really no big deal. Rfwoolf 16:31, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

When person A sends mail containing a photo or video attachment to person B, and when person B forwards it to person C, and depending on the vagaries of the mail software used by A and B, I have definitely seen two distinct copies of the (encoded) attachment occasionally present in the copy received by person C (i.e., me). But I don't know if this process could geometrically increase in a 4,8,16,... pattern. —Steve Summit (talk) 13:41, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

There is another point. Assume she has a 5MB limit. You send a 3MB file. When she tries to delete it, it will first copy to her "trah" folder in many IMAP email clients. That copy will fail because it goes to 6MB. So, she will have a lot of trouble getting rid of the email. --Kainaw ^(talk) 15:37, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Playstation 3 Networking

I went to a friend's house and he has an original Xbox. We played Halo 2 multiplayer, and I remarked that it would be a lot of fun if you could hook more than 4 controllers to the console. He said that you can "network" up to four Xboxes and play with 16 people without using the Internet. Is it possible to do this with the PS3? If so, if they are all the 60GB ones, can you use the wireless capabilities?J.delanoy 15:16, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

It should be possible, as it was available on the Playstation 2, but the implementation depends on the individual games. From a simple, non-exhaustive Google search, it looks like there aren't any PS3 games that can do LAN play right now. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 15:37, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Playstation 2 Controllers

Do the old PS2 controllers work on the PS3? Thanks, Asics talk ^{Editor review!} 17:35, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

From our article on PlayStation 3:

"The PlayStation 3 does not include interfaces for legacy PlayStation peripherals, though IGN.com tested a legacy controller using a PS2-to-USB adapter, finding that it is compatible, though most other devices (such as the Guitar Hero controller) may not be compatible. Nyko Technologies have started production on the "Play Adaptor", a PS3-to-USB adapter allowing for guitars and other PlayStation 2 peripherals to be used on the PlayStation 3 and is scheduled for release in Q2/2007. The PS3 supports both the USB EyeToy camera/webcam and SOCOM Headset for video and voice chat. A memory card adapter is available so users can save their PS/PS2 data to a virtual memory card on the hard drive. The PlayStation 3 can also use Memory Sticks to store save data for PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software."

--Lumina83 20:36, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Wireless connection, an MMO, and Windows Vista

When I'm running Voyage Century Online, I often have trouble maintaining connection to the server when I'm on my home wireless connection. I never lose connection to the internet, I am merely booted from the game server, and the problem is only on my home wireless connection; other wireless networks and broadband give me no problem. This mainly happens if I stop playing for a few minutes to browse the internet or grab something to eat, and I leave the game running. If I maintain activity, however, I rarely have a problem. Could there be some sort of feature, either for Vista, my for my wireless card, for my router, or for my modem, that blocks connection when there is a lack of activity? If not, what could be causing this problem? —Akrabbim^talk 19:50, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Fastest

What is the exact brand of the fastest wireless router? What is the fastest internet service in the US? 68.193.147.179 20:59, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

well i dont know about the fastest, but one that is cheap and fast is bellsouth, and the best brand of wireless router would have to be linksys.

repaint();

I FINALLY got keyboard input in an applet in Java to work. I came across a program in my comuter science book that utilizes the ActionEvent abstract method, so I tweaked and came up with a KeyEvent and that worked. I made the program where there are buttons and you have to click the button that says left to go left and the nhold the spacebar. Yes, I know it's wierd. The only thing is is that I can't get it to get rid of the old character once you have had it move, so it's more liek an etch-a-sketch than anything. THe code is kind of long, so sorry

/**
* Move
*
* Schyler *****
*
* March 23, 2007
*
*(C) Schyler *****, 2007
*/

    import java.awt.*;
    import java.awt.event.*;
    import java.applet.*;
    import javax.swing.*;
    
    public class Move extends JApplet 
    {
    	
    	private int APPLET_WIDTH = 1000, APPLET_HEIGHT = 600;
    	private JButton left;
    	private JButton right;
    	private JButton up;
    	private JButton down;
    	public int x = 500, y = 300;
    	public String a = "O";
    	     
    	          
    	     public void init() 
    	     {
    	     	
    	     	
    	     	
    	     	left = new JButton ("left");
    	     	left.addKeyListener(new leftListener());
    	     	
    	     	right = new JButton ("right");
    	     	right.addKeyListener(new rightListener());
    	     	
    	     	up = new JButton ("up");
    	     	up.addKeyListener(new upListener());
    	     	
    	     	down = new JButton ("down");
    	     	down.addKeyListener(new downListener());
         	     	
    	          	
    	     	
    	     	
    	     	Container cp = getContentPane();
    	     	cp.setBackground(Color.cyan);
    	     	cp.setLayout (new FlowLayout());		
    	     	cp.add (left);
    	     	cp.add (right);
    	     	cp.add (up);
    	     	cp.add (down);
    	     	
         		
         		
    		setSize (APPLET_WIDTH, APPLET_HEIGHT);
    		
    	}
    		
    	public class leftListener implements KeyListener
    	{
    	     	
    	     	public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
    	     	{
    	     		
    	     		x -= 10;
    	     		repaint();
         			
    		}
    		
    		public void keyReleased (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}
    		
    		public void keyTyped (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}		
    	}
    	
    	public class rightListener implements KeyListener
    	{
    		
    		public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
    		{
    			
    			x += 10;
    			repaint();
    			
    		}
    		
    		public void keyReleased (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}
    		
    		public void keyTyped (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}		
    	}
    	
    	public class upListener implements KeyListener
    	{
    		
    		public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
    		{
    			
    			y -= 10;
    			repaint();
    	     		
    	     	}
    	     	
              	public void keyReleased (KeyEvent event)
    	     	{	
    	     	}
    	     	
    		public void keyTyped (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}		
    	}
    	
    	public class downListener implements KeyListener
    	{
    		
    	     	public void keyPressed (KeyEvent event)
    	     	{
    			
    			y += 10;
    			repaint();
    			
      		}
    		
    		public void keyReleased (KeyEvent event)
    		{	
    		}
    		
    		public void keyTyped (KeyEvent event)
    		{			
    		}		
    	}
    
    	public void paint(Graphics p) 
    	{
    		
    		p.drawString(a, x, y);		
    		repaint();
    				
    	}	
    }

I figured that the line that says repaint(); would make it redraw the string at he new x and/or y coordinates, but it doesn't. It draws the the new O but leaves the old one. If anyone has an enviroment they plug this into, they can see whta I'm tlakign about and see if they can help me fix it. Also, when I first ru nthe program the 4 buttons at he top don't appear until I roll over them with the mouse. Thnak you for any help. Thanks, schyler 22:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I think you need to override update() so it calls paint() always

   public void update(Graphics g) {
       paint(g);
   }

--Spoon! 02:59, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Reducing Network Speed To Increase Reliability?

Is there a way that I can force the connection between my wireless card and the wireless router to decrease in speed and thereby reduce the frequency with which the connection is lost? I don't need anything above 2 MBit/s since it's only used for the internet. --Seans Potato Business 23:58, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably, though the exact method is going to be OS and possibly radio dependent. Most radio firmware adjusts transfer speed automagically anyway. -- mattb @ 2007-03-24T03:24Z

March 24

System Restore

How do I move my computer back to when I got it, using system restore, then, erase all other system restore dates? -68.193.147.179 00:19, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

It all depends on what type of set-up you have. Most manufactures provide a "restore to factory settings" option which brings your computer back to the way it was when you got it. I think the System Restore you are referring to is the one built into XP. This does to provide a complete restore of a computer - It is more of a internal windows restore. Let me explain - Using system restore will restore all previous windows settings (such as the screen resolution)and user settings (such as your wallpaper). It does not even touch your personal data. It also either restores or removes all .exe files - I think this is an attempt to remove possible viruses that may have caused your computer to have to be restored in the first place.

If you really want to restore it to the condition when you got it (which means losing everything you've done since), you could also format the hard drive and reinstall the O/S (from CD) and then any other apps that came with it (from CD). This is rather drastic, but might be in order if it's really messed up badly. If you bought it recently, the seller might even be willing to do this for you. StuRat 15:45, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

not-for-mail

What is the function of not-for-mail in the localpart of an e-mail address or at the end of a Return-Path field in an e-mail header? Is it possible to have an actual e-mail address with a localpart of not-for-mail and receive messages at it? NeonMerlin 00:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but I sometimes get e-mail from companies that say "don't reply to this address". It seems odd to me that they would want to use different addresses for sending and receiving e-mails, but, for whatever reason, they do. StuRat 15:41, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Rapidshare & Download managers

Any idea how rapidshare disables the use of download managers??59.92.251.144

I am wondering this too! --Paracit 15:44, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably some form of user-agent sniffing. --TotoBaggins 16:12, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

it could be user-agent sniffing, but many download managers allow you to modify your user-agent, and would easily be able to work around this problem. they could also be checking the HTTP referer value to ensure that you actually came from their site. they also might be setting cookies, or using one or more of plenty of other methods. a quick search brought me to a site called http://www.rapget.com/ which seems to offer a product that will download from rapidshare and similar sites, but i've never used it and can't vouch for its safety. --64.0.112.13 09:04, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

What about IDM aka Internet Download Manager; Even if we wait for the 45 seconds and gives us the mirror from where to download the file, if we enable IDM to grab links from the browser it says "File not Found". Whereas, when you disable IDM and download directly from the browser without refreshing the page (same link) it lets you download? Also Rapget does not work anymore with rapidshare. It seems to be outdated. --Paracit 03:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

i don't use rapidshare much at all, and don't know how IDM specifically works, but as long as the program that is doing the downloading isn't the same one that first visited the page, the site has plenty ways of knowing and not letting you download. it could store your browser's user agent or even your entire HTTP request header, set a cookie in your browser, or whatever. when IDM tries to download the file, but has a different user-agent or a vastly different http request header, or fails to have the cookie that was set in your browser, or whatever, the site lies to it and says that the file doesn't exist at that location. furthermore, as rapidshare makes it clear that download managers are only allowed for premium users, their server may be configured in a way that would make your efforts useless anyway. i'd bet that they disable the ability to resume/accelerate/schedule/etc for those who aren't paying members. --64.0.112.62 08:58, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Connecting to a server on your own computer?

How do you connect to a server on your own computer, ie what IP address would you use to connect w/ it?

That depends on whether or not you are using a router or whether you are connected directly to the internet. You can find your IP address with a site like whatismyipaddress.com. If you don't have a router, that's the IP address you need. If you do have a router, that's still the IP address you need, but you also need to set up your router to forward the desired port or ports to your computer (such as port 80 for HTTP). --Allen 03:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I think you misread the question. The questioner is trying to connect to a server on the same machine as the client. In that case, use localhost or 127.0.0.1. Splintercellguy 04:14, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, that makes more sense; thanks. Having recently learned how to access a server on my own computer remotely, I was in man-with-a-hammer mode. --Allen 04:27, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

ADSL setup

hello, just need some help with my new ADSL connection. I have 3 PC's and wish for all off them to be connected to the internet. What is the best way to do this? I was thinking of getting a LAN Adsl Modem and connecting it to a network switch. Then setup up all the computers to network through the switch. Would this automatically connect them to the internet? Also what would you recommend to be built into the modem? - a firewall or router. Oh and since im at it - would anyone know of any good data encryption software? THANKS FOR ANY HELP

The best thing to do is to get a router. With minimal tweaking all computers hooked up to the router will get Internet. I'm not sure about your second question; what do you mean by "built"? As for data encryption, TrueCrypt is good. Splintercellguy 04:13, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Just get a router and a modem. You don't need anything else. Routers act like a firewall for the most part. If you want it really secure, you'd get a *nix machine with two network cards as a firewall, a router after that, then the router is connected to the other 3 computers. But a router is plenty to most people. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:15, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

If you only have 3 machines, just get a 4 port broadband router with an ADSL modem built in. In the UK at least, there's no shortage of places to buy them. I've had mine for about 4 years, and as I've added more machines to the network I've since added an 8 port switch as well as a wireless access point. The 4 port ADSL modem/router only cost me £60 and you get can them now for under £40 I think. Johnnykimble 10:53, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Just wanted to add that some service providers have an option to give you a modem with 4 ports for other computers - just in case that's the solution you're looking for. That way your modem and router are built into eachother. Rfwoolf 11:49, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Java Question

Does anyone know the Java command for generating sound with frequency and amplitude parameters? --Russoc4 05:08, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

This page covers creating sounds in some detail. It appears you have to do it yourself, as there's no simple createSound(withFreq, withAmplitude) call. --TotoBaggins 16:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

What's the point of invisible spam?

I contribute somewhat frequently to Achewiki, which concerns the webcomic Achewood, and it is contantly deluged with spam that only shows up in editing. Reading the communication of other people about other wikis shows the same problem. So I'm curious if anyone knowledgable in the ways of spam can tell me why this is done? I can see how regular spam might hook the occasional "newbie" (hmm, loans? Why not?) but what sort of effect is spam that can't even be seen except in the form of "look at me, I'm spam!" supposed to have? Or is this phenomenon just spambots gone haywire, incorrectly following instructions to post things visibly? $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 05:09, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Invisible spam text will be noticed by web spiders, but not to a casual observer. Splintercellguy 06:15, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Unreal Tournament 2004 Mutator

I used to have this great mutator that let you tweak the exact amounts of damage, ROF, and ammo of each weapon, and even let you customize the action for primary and secondary fire. Does anyone know the name of this mutator? --froth^t 06:27, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

ADSL Question

(previous Question: ADSL Setup)

Okay, so if I get a adsl modem then connect it to a router, will I be able to network my computers together through it (the router) in the same way I would be able to with a network switch? SO if the connection to the router is the only connection i have will i be able to access files from computer A on computer B (or even C?). Can the router function without a internet connection? If not then what type of set-up would you recommend to achieve this?

And just from curiosity; with the *nix machine - what software would you recommend to run on it (OS and software)?

Here is my attempt at an answer: Does your router have a 'WAN' port - this is a port that you'll see usually separated from all the other numbered ports, and it may be labelled 'WAN' or 'internet'. Ultimately you need to connect your MODEM (or internet connection) to the WAN port of your router, then connect all your other PCs into the various router ports. Then you need to log in to the router (usually a default IP address - I don't rememember it but you'll find it from your manufacturer or someone else here might know it) by going into your web browser and typing in that IP address, the username is usually 'admin' and the password is [blank]. Once you've logged in to the router, you need to configure its settings so that the router is what connects to the internet through your service provider (usually by providing your internet username and password, and the ip address of a server to connect to -- which you can get from your internet service provider). I should add at this point that you must generally deactivate any of your service provider's connection software on your computers - they will be trying to log in to your service provider and connect, which will disrupt your ROUTER from being able to connect. If you've managed to do all this so far but you still can't connect to the net, you must sometimes be patient - try shutting down and switching off your router, waiting a couple of minutes, and trying again. It sometimes helps a great deal to check the webpage of your router company. Good luck Rfwoolf 11:43, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Oh to answer some of your other questions: YES a router can function without an internet connection, for example it can still link two of your computers together. To do that it really depends on what operating systems you're running on each PC. You may still have to log in to your router to configure stuff. My number one piece of advice in trying to get two computers to network together is... SHUT DOWN ALL FIRE WALLS - everything from your Windows firewall through to your antivirus's firewall -- get your computer's to connect to eachother first and THEN worry about your firewalls -- and obviously when you do that (shut down your firewalls) it helps to sever your connection to the internet - you don't want any worms or viruses coming in. Rfwoolf 11:46, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Passively Cooled Single-slot AGP Graphics Cards

For the past couple of months I've shunned my AGP GeForce 6600 GT for an ancient GeForce 2 MX 400. The GF2 is pretty much inadequate for anything 3D these days, but it hasn't bothered me that much because the GF2 is totally silent, having only a heatsink and no fan.

The problem now is that I want something more permanent, so that I can run 3D applications and play games, without having to switch cards. I need a card that is passively cooled, AGP, and at least on a par with the 6600GT.

There is however an added problem, and that is that I have a Shuttle SN85G, so another requirement is that the card should not take up more than one slot in size.

Does anyone know a card that satisfies these requirements?

Thanks, Johnnykimble 12:14, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Excel help?

If there's any Excel experts out there, I'd be grateful for some advice. I've got a spreadsheet with two worksheets, one for monthly expenses and one for yearly expenses. Both have five columns: "Expense type", "Provider", "Estimated cost" [this is per mth in the first, per yr in the second], "Yearly cost", "Monthly cost". The latter two columns are calculated from the third.

What I am trying to achieve is to create a third worksheet as an aggregate of these two: displaying "Expense type", "Provider", "Yearly cost" and "Monthly cost". I'd like it such that it will automatically update if I change costs, or add new expenses (i.e. new rows), and such that I can manage it as a list (eg to sort expenses alphabetically, or by the highest cost). [I've defined lists for these first two worksheets to achieve this].

I'm not sure this is possible, just by manually creating a sheet with formulae (I can't see how I could do it other than manually adding a reference for each cell, which isn't exactly efficient, and would prevent automatic inclusion of future rows). I'm thinking Pivot tables may be the answer, but they seem best for summarizing things (I don't need to summarize anything, I just want the data combined as is). I know this must be possible, and I'm not looking for anyone to do it for me... just some pointers as to how I should go about it (and then hopefully Google can help me out). Grateful for any advice... _└ ^UkPaolo/_talk^┐ 12:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, a slow and inflexible way to do it would be with VBScript, where a script would run through and populate Worksheet3 every time you told it to. But it would be slow.

A flexible way would be to do it with just references; you'd have to make sure it updated to the last row each time (or you could a script to do that for you), but otherwise it is pretty easy. But I don't think you'd be able to sort it. --24.147.86.187 12:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Okay here's a thought, are you capable of doing it in Access? Even if you were, I suppose there would still be some major obsticles in doing what you want to do. Anyways, if that's not possible and you still want to do it in Excel, then I'm afraid the only thing I can tell you is, that, you do know that you can 'sort' data in Excel by clicking on Data -> Sort. This overcomes the problem that you can only otherwise sort a single column in Excel at a time, which would go into ascending order, and completely ignore the other columns - and this may help you if you want to do dynamic referencing. The problem is that you want to RELATE data together, which is what you're supposed to use a database program for (e.g. Access). The only way you're going to get a third worksheet to take a row in worksheet #1, find that same entry in worksheet #2 that may be in an entirely different row, and then process all this information - is if you make ONE worksheet persistent (not dynamic, where the data is hardcoded) and the other worksheets DYNAMIC (where the values are referred from values in worksheet 1).

Not only would those worksheet 2 & 3 values have to be dynamic, but when they refer to worksheet 1 values they'd have to be capable of finding them in a given sorted list - which may in fact be possible. Why not look up Excel references in the help file, such as dynamic and persistent references.
Sorry I can't be much more of a help than that. Rfwoolf 16:05, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Create a pivot-table for the monthly data and yearly data on a third sheet. Reorganise the data how you require it and have sums pointing to the summarised data. You should be able to change the first 2 sheets and have the pivote 'refresh' to include any changes. This is a bit of a fiddle and not ideal but it will work. It might help you if you have an extra column called "cost period", this way you could simply have all the data (monthly and yearly) held in a single sheet (table) and run the pivot from the that. The pivot gives you huge flexibility to quickly change the way you summarise your data. ny156uk 16:37, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Better/easier FTP program than WS_FTP on Windows?

So I've been using WS_FTP95 for, dang, almost ten years now. However, I'm looking to upgrade. Do you have any recommendations for an easier FTP program for Windows that is freeware? I use it for basic FTP needs. Thanks, Guroadrunner 13:59, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Filezilla is what I use. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 14:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Please help

I have HP Image zone and my pictures are crappy when I print them. I was looking for some advice before I purchase another program for editing and printing of my digital pictures. What do you think is the best program and what gives the clearest digital photo when printing them?24.47.13.118 14:56, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm no expert, but I believe that would depend more on the printer than on the program. Various programs can perform image correction and convert images to higher color depths, but I don't think any one can print the same image better than any other. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 16:56, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

FORGOT WINDOWS XP USER ACCOUNT PASSWORD

I have forgotten my windows xp user account password.How can I login without the user account password?59.163.25.48 16:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

This may be obvious and this may not apply to you - If you can log in to another admin's account on the PC, you can go into Control Panel and into User Accounts and recreate your password Rfwoolf 16:18, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

SMTP by hand

I'm trying to send an email by hand, just to try it out, and I had a little problem. Here is the transcript of our "converation" (I type italic, server is bold):
ryan:~ user$ nc -vv smtp.google.com smtp (I open connection)
smtp1.google.com [216.239.57.25] 25 (smtp) open
220 smtp.google.com ESMTP
HELO mydomain
250 smtp.google.com Hello mydomain [(mypiaddress)], pleased to meet you
MAIL FROM: john@doe.com
250 2.1.0 john@doe.com... Sender ok
RCPT TO: (myemail)
550 5.7.1 (myemail)... Relaying denied
^C sent 72, rcvd 221

Why is it denying me? Me email address is a gmail. thanks!--Ryan 17:11, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Australian hardware.

Can anyone suggest a few Australian hardware shops? I'm looking for a cheap HDD.