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December 30

Blackberry PIN

If I know someone's PIN on their Blackberry, is there a way from that I can find out which model of Blackberry they have? Thanks 81.157.54.103 (talk) 00:42, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This link and this link may be of use to you. I hope this helps. JW..[ T..C ] 01:52, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, It was of help. :) 81.157.54.103 (talk) 13:59, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Connecting an XBOX 360 to the internet (XBOX live)

Hello... My cousin gave me a broken XBOX which I am in the process of sending to Microsoft to repair the three rings of death. When I get it back, I would like to play my XBOX online. What will I need? I don't know much about 'puters or XBOX for that matter, so here is all the info I have... I will gladly answer/research any questions about my set-up and I appreciate everyone who is able to help me out or contribute to this query. I have wireless internet throughout my apartment. As in, my landlord has an open internet connection and allows us (me, my roommate and other tenants) to use the connection. It is password protected, but I have the password. I purchased a wireless-G USB adapter for my computer to connect to the net. I do not pay for the internet so I do not know what HER connection speed is, but its relatively fast. Will I just need to buy the XBOX wireless router? Will I need some other contraption? Or can I do this a cheaper way - if so, where can I buy this online? Will I have to pay for my own internet source?? I'm sorry if I am missing any bullet points, but if there is any information I have not provided, I will be glad to research. Thanks!!!--24.187.98.157 (talk) 01:01, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Also, I know I will need to buy an XBOX live card to connect. --24.187.98.157 (talk) 01:06, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In addition to that Xbox Live card — it's US$50 per year in the US — you'll need to connect the Xbox to the Internet, either by wire or by wireless. Our article Xbox 360 accessories#Wireless Network Adapter mentions the Microsoft-manufactured adapter that is your easiest solution. You plug it into the Xbox's Ethernet port and configure it with your landlord's password, and you are go. Unfortunately it's US$100 or so which is really expensive. (That article has footnotes to a couple alternatives.) A cheaper alternative is to run an Ethernet cable from your 360 to your PC and, depending on the PC's Windows version, you can set up the PC to "Share Internet connection". The only disadvantage to this is the hassle of configuring your PC; and you need the PC to be on in order to play on Xbox Live. Comet Tuttle (talk) 02:00, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Think of your xbox360 as a computer. To have your computer access the internet you either plug a cable in or go wireless with an adapter. same for the 360. In order to play games on xbox live you need to pay for a subscription. If you do not you will still be connected to the internet to get 360 updates and record your acheivements. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.176.13.22 (talk) 01:39, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wireless networking using a USB adapter

In order to get the internet upstairs with the minimum amount of hassle, I am considering getting a USB Wireless adapter similar to this one. The wireless signal from the IEEE 802.11n access point is particularly weak in the bedroom, so rather than hide the USB adapter in a fixed location behind the PC (a desktop), I would like the flexibility to place the adapter elsewhere in the room. Is it possible to use it with a USB extension cable like this one and is there a maximum length of extension beyond which the network connection won't work? Astronaut (talk) 01:56, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Assuming you are plugging into a USB2 port, the distance at which it is supposed to work without any slowdown or signal loss is 7m. Obviously, it can go longer. I saw a page a while back in which a guy claimed to have a usb connection from his basement to his attic without any problem and estimated it to be 120m of twisting and turning around his house. He claimed that he didn't use a repeater (you are supposed to be able to get 30m with 5 repeaters and 6 cables). -- kainaw ™ 02:46, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you want the least amount of hassle, consider getting a wireless PCI card that you put inside your computer. USB wireless devices are notoriously buggy. Plus, with a PCB in your computer, you can screw off the antenna that would stick out of the back of the PC and screw on a coax cable that you can connect to an antenna in another room. You could screw it onto a Pringles can and point it at the router, for example. If you have to get one of those USB devices, then at least get one with an antenna that you can screw off. You could then hook up a coax cable to an antenna that way.--Drknkn (talk) 08:06, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

We already have a PCI card with an external antenna at the end of a coax cable. It was useless with the old 802.11g access point (dropping the connection every few seconds), and it is just as useless with the new 802.11n access point. The weak signal upstairs was one reason for upgrading to the new access point (the other was the good deal from the ISP). That said, the Pringles can sounds interesting. I remember readin an online article about it somewhere a couple of year ago but have forgotten the details. Do you have a link to a suitable design I could try? Astronaut (talk) 11:25, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Cantenna. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:20, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There's also WokFi that does away the with the coax cable/connector stuff. What I did to improve wireless quality in my house is to connect a directional yagi antenna to my router (40NZD, 9dbi, made by TP-Link) and point it to the centre of my house (since the router is at a corner). Seems to work well. --antilived^{T | C | G} 23:22, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

To answer the original question, yes you can use the USB extension cable with a USB network adapter. The first wireless USB adapter I owned several years ago actually came with such a cable, which allowed me to experiment with the position and orientation of the adapter to get the best reception from my (then) G router located about 20 meters away. -- Tom N (tcncv) talk/contrib 18:20, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'd go with a PCI card. USB adapter reliability is very poor right now in the market, and I'd wait a bit until manufacturers improve. I have one and it disconnects (by itself) randomly. My PCI based laptop works fine, so its not a router issue. ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 19:51, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

E-mailing tips

Is there any way to send e-mail to many receipents, at the same time nobody knows it is sent to others also.The recipient should be at 'TO' field. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.199.138.47 (talk) 05:06, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Blind carbon copy may be of interest to you. I hope this helps. JW..[ T..C ] 05:52, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

But do experiment first with yourself and a trusted recipient or two. Some email clients do Bcc in such a way that it's fairly obvious it's a mass mailing, like sending the mail but leaving the "To:" header blank. Franamax (talk) 07:53, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well if you don't put anything in the To: field then it should be blank... Note that BCC is primarily intended to hide the addresses of recipients, it may also hide the fact that the email was BCCed to the To: and CC: recepients but it's not guaranteed. It's not intended to hide the fact a BCC was sent to the people who are BCCed and is evidentally not even guaranteed to hide the addresses of other people who are BCCed to people who are BCCed (although from my experience it usually does). It's possible some servers may put the BCC recepient into the To: field but this isn't 1 of the ways that is specified as acceptable in the RFC, and I'm not aware of any servers which do this (I'm sure there are some but I don't think they're common). Also look in the article for more. Anyway in reply to the original question, you should also be aware to avoid them being used for spam, some SMTP servers may limit the number of simulataneous recipients. On the same point, you'll want to make sure you have the permission to e-mail each recepient otherwise you might find yourself in trouble with your SMTP service provider and/or the law Nil Einne (talk) 11:25, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Usually the sender of a BCC'd mailing that is legit puts their own address in the "to" field. E-mails with empty "to" fields often get treated as spam, incidentally. And I really don't think you have to "have the permission to e-mail" each recipient—if you are not a hard-core spammer, you are not going to run into any trouble, legal or otherwise. Even if you are a spammer, the chances of getting prosecuted are tiny. --Mr.98 (talk) 19:07, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See Mail merge. manya (talk) 10:36, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you are using Microsoft Word and Outlook, you can create a 'mail merge' document in Word and send it by email. Each individual will get a personalised email. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.113.194.10 (talk) 21:24, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Don't be so sure. I have reported people who I received spam from before. I know in at least on case the person must have received some sort of a warning from their ISP, since they complained to me when they found out. Nowadays I've signed up for so many things that I usually don't bother since I don't know if I ever signed up for something unless it's obviously spam, e.g. to a message board. However there are almost definitely many other people who do keep track of what they sign up for (or don't sign up for anything) who will report you if they feel your mail service provider or whatever may do something. And if you aren't a hard-core spammer, then there's a good chance they will.

Spam is rather detested and many ISP and mail services providers particularly in the developed world take a rather hard line. Even those which may not care that much themselves, which is likely a minority know that if they get a reputation for not properly dealing with spam they're liable to be blacklisted, some of the blacklists are known for their controversy hardline tactics. E.g. the Spam and Open Relay Blocking System and the non defunct Spam Prevention Early Warning System although I guess the Anonymous Postmaster Early Warning System is similar and DNSBL has some more generic info.

Note a key point here. As with so many things, those who aren't hard core spammers but are simply foolish with their policies are probably at far greater risk of having bad things happening (may be not getting prosecuted but getting a bad reputation & losing their mail service or at least getting warnings). Hard core spammers already know how to get around such things (or rather consider it part of their business) and clearly don't care about their reputation. Also if you're spamming people locally you're likely at a greater risk.

In particular, do not assume that having had contact with someone before means it's okay to spam them (and spam would likely count as any largely unrelated message, particularly if your intending to advertise something), unless they clearly signed up for something it may not be so (as the person who I complained about found out).

And as I hinted at, even if you don't get any warnings etc, many people do detest spammers so it could do rather bad things for your reputation if you come across as one. Also although as I've said prosecutions are probably not that likely, you should take care. Here in NZ for example there's a law requiring much of what I've said and many people do threaten to report those who don't follow it and there have been a small number of prosecutions. Just before the law was starting, I received many e-mails from the businesses who wanted to make sure they obeyed the law. As with many things their focus for those who spam accidentally would probably be education so you most likely won't get prosecuted unless you're a real spammer but receiving a warning from a government department is surely not something many people want... You can see more info on the NZ law here [1]. The OP may be from Nepal who do have some sort of cyberlaw [2] but I'm not sure whether it specifically bans spam or what their enforcement is like.

Obviously if you're just planning to send chain letters to a bunch of your friends, things are fairly different but you should be aware many people find those sort of things annoying too. P.S. Although I concentrated on mail service providers, the websites that are spammed can be at risk as well since some people do block anyone who hosts websites that are spammed.

Nil Einne (talk) 09:58, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Torrents

OK, I'm new to this so please bear with me =P I just downloaded a "torrent" for a video from some website. Now I have a small file with the .torrents extension. But how do I get the actual thing from that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.129.234.196 (talk) 09:45, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You open it with a program like μTorrent.--Drknkn (talk) 10:33, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

And then you wait for it to download the actual file(s). -- kainaw ™ 15:14, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Lost product Key Windows XP Pro

Hi I have found an old copy of Win WP Pro that I had but the product key is missing, is there any way I can find it again, is it stored on the disk anywhere? Thanks. BigDunc 13:46, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If Windows XP copy in question is installed on the computer, then the answer is yes. The key is stored in the registry, but it is encrypted. Use one of these to find and decrypt the key.

If the copy is not installed, call Microsoft's main support number and ask for a replacement key. They will determine if the copy you have is genuine, then after you pay a small fee the replacement key will be sent. In the US, I believe this number is 1-800-Microsoft; in the UK, it's 0844 800 2400 (5p per minute, 6p "set-up fee"); for other countries, check the website. Xenon54 / talk / 14:07, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

So the key is not stored on the disk? BigDunc 14:13, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't believe so, because the product key is not tied to a particular disc. Your hardware manufacturer (or Microsoft) ships out eleventy million identical Windows CD's, but each customer gets a unique product key. -- Coneslayer (talk) 14:25, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ahem... you could always.... google for product Key crackers..... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.145 (talk) 10:46, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's true, but they generally won't work with any the more modern service pack updates, Windows Update, etc. So unless you are doing something rather trivial with this (e.g. using it in a VM machine for something small) I wouldn't do that for your primary OS. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:41, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You can copy the verified key from your old version into the new one. [3]. ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 19:53, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

simultaneously wired and wireless

When I have my laptop at home, I plug it directly into an ethernet cable that goes into my wireless router (I find it is a lot faster using the wired connection than the wireless one), but I leave the wireless network on. The computer knows to use the ethernet as the main connection when it is plugged in. When I am plugged in, my router sends the information to 192.1.1.2 (or something like that), and on wireless it goes to 192.1.1.4.

Here's the odd bit. I was downloading a torrented file the other day, and my router was port forwarding to 192.1.1.4 (wireless), while the main torrent connection was operating out of the ethernet (192.1.1.2). I was sort of surprised by this, because rarely does the ethernet and the wireless connection operate simultaneously, yet it was doing a pretty good job of it.

My question: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to being able to use both connection types on the same machine simultaneously? --Mr.98 (talk) 17:59, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It could be an advantage if they were going through separate routers. Back in the stone age, the fastest modem I could get was 1200bd. To get a fast connection, I made a box of four 1200bd modems. Each went to a separate phone line (Major drawback - had to get 4 phone numbers from the phone company. Got a good deal: $15 per extra line with no long distance on them). Then, I could dial in each modem separately and get 1200+1200+1200+1200bd. Then, I learned about Amdahl's law. However, you can see that having different sources of network traffic will speed up your connection. Running multiple connections to the same router limits you to the speed of the router. -- kainaw ™ 18:37, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Quick SQL Question

Hi All,

I have a table with the following fields: Refnumber and PostingDate. My problem is that Refnumber has duplicates (1 dup per ref number) with a different PostingDate (difference is just a couple of seconds). What would be the easiest way of returning just the older (based of postdate) refnumbers?

Thanks in advance PrinzPH (talk) 19:33, 30 December 2009 (UTC) EDIT: What I meant to say was most recent, so I guess that means the latest based on postedate[reply]

select refnumber, max(postingdate) from yourtable group by refnumber. -- kainaw ™ 19:39, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You mean you want all refnumbers with the most recent postingdate? select refnumber from yourtable where postingdate = (select max(postingdate) from yourtable) -- depending on the flavor of SQL, you may need to use "in" instead of "=" and/or name the subquery. -- kainaw ™ 19:50, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Kainaw! Happy New Year to all! :D PrinzPH (talk) 23:48, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Self install of a cable modem

I am changing my internet service from DSL to cable. The cable company has given me a "do it yourself kit" (basically a splitter and some cable) and also a cable modem. I already own a wireless box for a lap top and I will also have a desk top plugged in. The last time I had cable internet service I had the company come out and install it. So my question is : Will simply hooking everything together be the major part of the project, or will I need to perform any extensive actions within the operating systems of my two computers to get everything configured properly? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks, 10draftsdeep (talk) 21:03, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Assuming your "wireless box" is actually a wireless router, all you need to do is place the cable modem in the same location in the connection chain your DSL modem was originally. So the LAN ethernet output from the cable modem plugs into the WAN ethernet input on your wireless router. You will then probably have to enter the correct username and password in your router's settings to access the cable connection. 61.189.63.130 (talk) 21:44, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've done this on both side of the Atlantic, and in both cases it has at most required an "ipconfig/release, ipconfig/renew" from the computer (or equivalently, a reboot of my wireless router). In some cases, a CD has come with the modem, but I've never had any use for it. It is often a good idea to connect the computer directly first, using a network cable and skipping the wireless box, and then if that works, insert the wireless box in between. Jørgen (talk) 16:08, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the advice! 10draftsdeep (talk) 15:02, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

****

Follow-Up: Last night I installed the modem to my desktop and everything was working fine...until I tried to get the wireless router working to supply service to my laptop. I could not get the wireless working, so I uninstalled the cable modem software and started over....now I cannot even get my desktop to recognize the modem even after reinstalling the software. Any ideas what i need to do next? I suppose the answer I will get is "call the cable company!" 10draftsdeep (talk) 14:41, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

December 31

Sending data to a website from within a program.

My son and I are trying to write a complete PC computer game over the week between Xmas and New Year - and we're doing pretty good. I've done almost all of the coding except the high score table, the art is 99% complete and the game is playable & fun.

However, I've run into a problem - we need to store the high-score table on a web site. So I need to figure out how to send the high score data to a web page on a remote computer. I know how to to it under Linux - but I also need to have this work under Windows. So what I want is to be able to have my Windows/C++ program send something like:

 http://www.sjbaker.com/mygame.html?score=1234&player=Steve&securitycode=0x123456

...to the web - where a PHP script on the game's web site can grab it and update an online database that anyone can view in a browser. I know how to do all of the server-side stuff - and I have the string coded up in the game - so all I need to know is how to make an HTTP request from within C++ under Windows. The security code should prevent vandals and cheating (it's a mildly encrypted hash of the score and the player's name).

Is there an easy way to do this in Windows/VisualStudio C++ code?

SteveBaker (talk) 02:03, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Of course the easiest way is to use ShellExecute with the URL above, but this will open the web browser, and that you do not want. You want the data to be sent in the background. This is not too hard using Windows API. I believe you should use InternetOpen and InternetConnect followed by some other calls to the WinINet functions. (Well, a few years ago I did write a small FTP client using the WinINet API, but I have never used any other "parts" of it.) --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 02:32, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You can try WinINet. Here is a simple example. manya (talk) 03:51, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The sample example I mentioned above is for sending post request. Since your request is "GET", you can pass second parameter of HttpOpenRequest as null or "GET". If you are interested in writing your own socket code, then you need to connect to the server and once connected send "GET http://www.sjbaker.com/mygame.html?score=1234&player=Steve&securitycode=0x123456 HTTP/1.0" followed by two newline characters. And server will respond "HTTP/1.0 200 OK" if everything is fine. It may be required to send HEADER information also. You need to study HTTP protocol to understand HEADERS. Also, since users may be using proxy servers, you need code to handle that too. Then it becomes complex, and you end up developing your own network library. I think it is best to try out WinINet first, which provides all functionality for calling web server from application. manya (talk) 04:21, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Psst... it sounds like the request you're making should really be a POST, not a GET. -- Coneslayer (talk) 13:35, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If it needs to be cross-platform, the easiest thing will be to either get some library like libcurl or else just write a very simplistic bit of socket code. You could also just include a copy of wget or whatever in the game's Windows distribution. --Sean 14:43, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It would be very fun to try your game! --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:05, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, one of the nice things about the HTTP protocol is that its all plain text. If you can open a socket to the web server on port 80 (or whatever port its running on), you can send a get request manually by sending the proper text through the socket. The full protocol is described here [4]. The above link should have what you need. Quanticle (talk) 04:57, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

help me

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/sis.html?ssPageName=VINS:SIM&_kw=REMOTE+UNLOCK+CODE+Huawei+E160+E160G+by+IMEI+Number&_fis=1&_id=380187543101&_isid=3&_sibeleafcat=50197

i'm planning to start a remote unlocking service. i'm in Kenya and basically i want modems to be able to support all networks. I was doing some research and currently Ebay seem to giving the cheapest option. i tried Nextgen servers i was recommended by a friend that they offer cheaper rates but from their site they charge nearly 10 times what ebay is charging.. http://www.nextgenserver.com/broadband_dongle_unlock.htm

question--what's the cheapest way to unlock modems? Anybody who's been down this path kindly assist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.88.34 (talk) 08:03, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You might find some information here BigDunc 13:10, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

modern trends and technologies in processor

i wand t get information related to modern trends and technologies in processor (including processors used in desktop,laptop,nettop,supercom,pc,servers,custom made,mobile,and other procssors made my intel amd , cyrix etc) with fig.

include time chart of processors
tabulated comparison of technologies used in processors by various manufatures
perfomence facter and grafical represntation
draw backs of each technologies
details regarding forth coming technologies and recherch going on to invent new technologies

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Mikimon (talk • contribs) 11:03, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The reference desk volunteers won't do your homework for you. However, you might find the following articles helpful: Microprocessor, VLSI, Intel, AMD, Cyrix and the other articles linked on CPU technologies. You could also follow some of the external links on those articles for more detailed information. Astronaut (talk) 13:14, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please do your own homework.

Welcome to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misinterpretation, but it is our aim here not to do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn nearly as much as doing it yourself. Please attempt to solve the problem or answer the question yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know. SteveBaker (talk) 13:11, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

define the scope of it

define the scope of it —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mikimon (talk • contribs) 11:08, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The scope of what? Do you have a question? Astronaut (talk) 13:06, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps Mikmon's keyboard is malfunctioning, and he wants to know the scope of IT. -- Coneslayer (talk) 14:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please do your own homework.

Welcome to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misinterpretation, but it is our aim here not to do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn nearly as much as doing it yourself. Please attempt to solve the problem or answer the question yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know. SteveBaker (talk) 17:46, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

computer memory

Until recently I used a computer which was about the best available in the shops when I got it in I think 2003. I was wondering roughly how much RAM that would have on it. Is it possible for a computer of that age to have 2GB?

80.47.223.218 (talk) 13:27, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Are you running Windows? If so, right-click on "My Computer" and select "Properties". The dialog box that pops up will tell you how much memory (RAM) is installed. -- Coneslayer (talk) 13:28, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Win+Pause. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:57, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As it happens, I no longer have access to that computer. I thought I had made that clear in the question, but apparently not. 80.47.223.218 (talk) 14:09, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I had a laptop in 2003 with 250MB ram, so a desktop probably had a little more. I'm guessing around 500MB - 1GB —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.145 (talk) 15:43, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It is very possible, indeed. In fact I think that you very well could put in - say - 8 GB in a very high-end computer. But you need a mainboard able to handle so much memory, and each module needs to be quite large (in GBs). And you would need a 64 bit OS to utilize the memory. But most regular computers, such as the ones found in stores, probably did not have more than around 1 GB at that time. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 16:01, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Moore's law applies to RAM densities fairly well - so we would expect RAM sizes to have doubled three times since 2003. On that basis, I'd bet that your PC back then had about 1/8th the amount of RAM of a modern PC. Most off-the-shelf desktop PC's have either 2Gb or 4Gb this year - so 256Mb to 512Mb seems most likely. However, I'm not sure that Moore's law is going to be 100% right in this case. We're currently stuck in an annoying little rut - because Windows users have been so slow to adopt 64 bit technology, (I've been running 64 bit Linux for YEARS) - on 32 bit hardware there is an essentially hard limit of 4Gb for addressable memory - and good reasons (related to how virtual memory is addressed) why extending RAM beyond 2Gb is not as fruitful as you might hope. Had we not been slow in adopting 64 architectures, we'd probably be seeing 'typical' computers having more like 8Gb - and on that basis, I'd probably revise my 2003 estimate to say that you probably had 512Mb and may possibly have had 1Gb if it was a really high end machine. SteveBaker (talk) 17:43, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

SteveBaker is correct here regarding size of available SIMMs, but I was thinking 6 years ago a major limiting factor could have been the high cost compared to now. I remember paying ≈$Aus95 for 64Mb of RAM, ≈$A80 for 128Mb & ≈$A60 for 256Mb over about 12 months! (At that price 2Gb would cost $A480!) Later still, $A130 for 2x512Mb(DDR). Started 1998-99 with 64Mb, then 384Mb, Currently 2.5 Gb! (a few years old, about 40 x more RAM.) It's so cheap that I am using a 1Gb DDR SIMM that someone threw away! (working fine!) Currently 2Gb(DDR2) is only $A65. --220.101.28.25 (talk) 07:21, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I remember very clearly that my computer had 1G in 2004, and 2G was regarded as high end back then (nothing except very specialized software required 2G back in 2003/2004). So it's possible but not likely. Sandman30s (talk) 08:59, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

rss

I need a simple program that can scan an rss feed for a keyword, and only alert if that keyword is found. (currently all the ones I've tried have alerted any update and don't have keyword scanner.) Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.145 (talk) 18:10, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You may want to use the original feed as input to something like Yahoo! Pipes, configure the pipe to do the keyword filtering, and subscribe to the pipe's output in your RSS reader. -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:16, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, yahoo pipes would be ideal for this. You don't even need to know any programming. It will be simple: Input Feed ==> Operations:Filter ==> Output. Then you can subscribe to that output as an RSS feed yourself, or you can set it up to do email or even text message alerts. Shadowjams (talk) 00:37, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Feedreader is good, it allows creation of "smartfeeds" that only alert when certain conditions are met —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kv7sW9bIr8 (talk • contribs) 11:02, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Adding a second hard drive to Win XP computer, don't want another drive letter.

Is it possible to add a second physical hard drive to be considered a continuation of the first one? 20.137.18.50 (talk) 19:20, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes and no. You can add the second disk as a Volume Mount Point so that it maps to a directory (i.e. C:\NewDisk is your new disk and anything stored in that directory or beneath it is on the new disk), but it's not possible to just add it to your drives free space. If your motherboard supports it then you might be able to create a RAID-0 volume across both disks which would turn both disks into one massive disk, however this would involve wiping all the data already on the disk as well as RAID-0 has major redundancy issues (if either disk fails, general speaking you lose everything). Hope this helps! ZX81 ^talk 19:57, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I read that you can create spanned volumes inside Windows. I don't think you need to have a RAID card or RAID-capable mobo for spanned volumes. I think it fills up the first disk, then the second disk, and treats them as one. It's not striped like a RAID-0 or mirrored like RAID-1. You use the disk-management snap in. Right-click on My Computer and go to Manage --> Disk Management.--Drknkn (talk) 00:46, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm pretty sure you're talking about the Logical Disk Manager.Indeterminate (talk) 02:05, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah ... What else would I be talking about?--Drknkn (talk) 02:43, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Converting .flv files to .avi

I got a new MP3 player for Christmas, and it wants its video files to be in .avi format. All of the videos I have stored on my computer are in .flv format (I play them on the PC with Real Player). What free conversion program is there available to convert .flv files to .avi? The MP3 player came with a conversion program, but, of all of the file formats that it will convert, .flv is not one of them. Woogee (talk) 20:18, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

SUPER is pretty good at this kind of thing. Unfortunately the website is ridiculously, purposefully impossible to navigate, so download it here instead. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:38, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Some more programs; ffmpeg, mencoder, handbrake (before version 0.9.4), avidemux --kv7sW9bIr8 (talk) 10:59, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This will do it if you have mencoder:

mencoder -oac faac -ovc lavc input.flv -o output.avi

--Sean 14:49, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In addition to what has been listed, I'd recommend a program called FormatFactory, it is a handy windows program that all users should be able to use with the simple interface. --EpicCyndaquil (talk) 19:45, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Component HD to USB converter?

I'm trying to record some game footage from PS3/XBOX360. I've been looking for a device that can take Component HD and record the footage onto a computer as I play. I can't seem to find any current products that can do this. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 20:35, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You can connect the output of the game console to a DVD recorder, and make a DVD of the game. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:49, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

He requested HD, though. This PC HDMI capture card appears to be worth looking at, though it uses an HDMI cable and not component cables. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:51, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I've seen the HDMI ones. But I need component. I swear I saw a USB product marketed specifically for videogame console users. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 21:21, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It was probably not HD, and whether or not it was, I expect the quality to be crap — USB 2.0 can't support anywhere near the bandwidth needed to pipe an HD video signal, meaning the device itself is doing video compression, of one sort or another, before any of the 'signal' gets to your PC. My expectations are low. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:44, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps the OP is thinking of the Hauppauge HD PVR. It does do compression but uses H.264 and from the little I've heard does have decent quality. The maximum bitrate is evidentally 13.5mbps which may seem low compared to BluRays but isn't bad comparing to broadcast TV for example which achieves decent quality or even some of the websources you can get. (In any case, aren't people in the US usually limited to some crappy MPEG2 HDTV with not much better bitrate then most other places are using for their H.264 HD broadcasts?) Note that it is limited to a maximum of 1080i since it's primarily intended to capture HD video from STBs which are usually limited to 1080i. You can get some samples here [5] and [6] not from game consoles but still should give you an idea of what to expect. I'm pretty sure I came across some others somewhere once I suspect there's a lot out there. You may want to try a more specific place like AVS Forum, AV Forum and may be even something like Green Button or Doom9 or the MythTV forums if you want more samples and/or to see how it works with consoles and/or if you still think there's something else out there (I don't think so since if you search you'll find many discussions most only talk about the HD PVR and or the BlackMagic HDMI thing). You can also do a simple search for something like Bing 'record component hd' Google 'record component hd' or Bing 'component hd capture' Google 'component hd capture' which easily (big HINT, HINT to the OP here) finds the HD PVR but does not find anything else that I've noticed. (At least nothing of interest to the ordinary consumer.) Nil Einne (talk) 09:01, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

January 1

LaTeX Graphics cut off at the side of the page

Hi all,

I'm trying to format a piece of coursework in latex, using MacTeX(TeXshop), and I have the following code and image: (I think it would be a breach of my plagiarism declaration to upload the whole document, so here's the start of the page and the offending bit of code in question, with a printscreen (since I don't know what's relevant):

\documentclass[12pt]{amsart} \usepackage{geometry} \geometry{letterpaper} %\geometry{landscape} %\usepackage[parfill]{parskip} \usepackage{graphicx} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{epstopdf} \DeclareGraphicsRule{.tif}{png}{.png}{`convert #1 `dirname #1`/`basename #1 .tif`.png} \usepackage{float} \title{...} \begin{document} \maketitle

...

\begin{figure}[H] \begin{center} \includegraphics[width=10in]{graph1} \end{center} \end{figure}

Now I was wondering if anyone could help me get the rest of my graph onto the page! I don't care what the code for it looks like, since I'm the only one seeing it, but I'm fairly sure that graph isn't actually centered, since I don't think it was so wide it'd be that far off the page, and I really can't afford to make it much smaller! (I'd really prefer it stay on this same page as the table above though, if possible). Is there any way I can shift it leftwards so it all fits on one page? I may have to redo the graph, but it should be the same size so that won't be a problem hopefully.

Many thanks, Spamalert101 (talk) 00:17, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It is a long while since I tried any LaTeX. There is plenty of documentation on the LaTeX homepage. In particular, I think you should take a look at this PDF about graphics. However, I did notice you appear to set the papersize to "letter" and the width of your image to 10 inches (which is too wide for letter paper), while the line to set landscape paper is commented out. Maybe you could try:

\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{graph1}

Astronaut (talk) 02:09, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Make that \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{graph1}. Another possible problem is that your PDF original may not be cropped well, and may have too much white space on either or both sides. Use a PDF tool to recrop it. Preview can do this (Activate the select tool, select the right area, then Edit->Copy and File->New from Clipboard), or get Skim. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 01:00, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Simpson Animation

In wich software is "The Simpsons" made in? --81.227.69.141 (talk) 01:03, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A quick google search got this as one of the first results. If you are referring to the movie, this article and this article will probably be of interest to you. I hope this helps. JW..[ T..C ] 05:23, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

antivirus

I have a program scheduled to start with windows task scheduler. When I run the program right now it works fine, with no problems whatsoever, but come morning after the scheduled was supposed to happen, I find that avira anti-virus has blocked it from starting and is awaiting me to decide if I should let it start or block the process. Obviously this is extremely frustrating. I've tried adding exceptions to avira anti-virus but it only allows you to exempt one file at a time, and there are literally thousands of files in this program. What do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.145 (talk) 10:29, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

disable the firewall on that security program and use windows 142.176.13.22 (talk) 00:00, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am using windows, and what does the firewall have to do with a virus scanner making false detections on local files?

If you don't want to disable anything, why don't you set your program to start right before you go to bed? That way, you can glance at it, approve it and move on. It will be on when you wake up in the morning, and you won't have to do a single different thing except look at your computer right before bed.--76.123.193.254 (talk) 08:19, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Because it doesn't work like that. It needs to be closed in order for the automated part to begin, which is only supposed to happen at a specific time. Oh never mind. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.145 (talk) 10:38, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

processors

modern trends and technologies in processor —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.204.88.143 (talk) 12:34, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This question is way too vague for anyone here to begin to answer it. It does sound like a homework question; Wikipedia's Reference Desks will not do your homework for you. Xenon54 / talk / 14:52, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Also, we are not a search engine. Technically, I'm not so sure. The Central Processing Unit article may be of interest to you. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:58, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Norton Internet Security

Does any one know if this works at all once your subscription is up? I have never paid for Norton but most computers come with a free trial. A computer I bought 2 years ago, so maybe using version 2008, came with it. The free trial is long gone and I can not update it but the firewall and virus scans still work. With a computer I just bought 30+ days ago, it seems as if the software does nothing at all now that my free trial is up. I can not figure out how to do anything at least, so I just assume I can not. Does any one know more about this? I read the Wiki article on the software mostly and looked around on Norton's website a bit but I find nothing about what happens when the free trial is up. Thanks. StatisticsMan (talk) 14:31, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I believe the subscription only entitles you to receive updates. You can use the program if you don't have a subscription, but it will use the last definitions before the subscription expired. If it's newly installed, then obviously it won't work at all, as there are no definitions to go by.

I assume you know that it's a bad idea to not run Windows without antivirus. There are free programs out there (Avast!, Microsoft Security Essentials and Clam Antivirus are examples) that are as good as - or better than - paid programs, so if you don't want to pay for antivirus, you don't have to. Just be prepared to deal with worse support and, in some cases, slower updates than a paid program. Xenon54 / talk / 14:49, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What I'm saying is that's how it used to be. When my subscription ran out, I could still use the program. I could open it and run a scan and I can turn on the Norton firewall and change settings and lots of other things. But, I could not update the definitions and that's about all the expiration meant. But, with this newer version, I open the program and there is nothing at all that I can do except "Subscribe now" and a few things like "Leave Feedback". I have no option of running a scan and I can not change settings. As far as the program itself, I seem to be able to do nothing. Also, the day it expired, I got a message in the lower right hand corner that said the firewall was turned off and such things. So, it seems to me that the program does nothing at all now except bother me and tell me to subscribe, but I want to know for sure.

Yes, I know I should use virus protection... sort of. Honestly, the computer I have had for over 2 years has never had a virus. The worst thing I have ever found was a tracking cookie. And, virus software slows down the computer at all times (the Wiki article says the newest version of Norton makes everything take 5% longer and that is an improvement over previous versions). So, I have a slower computer 100% of the time and I have been protected from nothing because if you don't go to weird websites and open obviously dumb emails (which I don't even get any way), then you probably won't get a virus. I still use AVG Free just in case and have Windows firewall turned on, but the point I am making here is anti-virus software may not be as important as people make it out to be if you're not an idiot and the costs of it probably outweight the benefits most of the time. By costs, I mean both the money and the slowing down of your computer. I would certainly never pay for such a thing. StatisticsMan (talk) 16:01, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There is certainly no reason to pay for it. You should probably have it if you have a Windows machine, even if you are savvy about such things—there are a lot of ways to get Windows viruses other than just downloading and running bad content. "If you're not an idiot" it's easy to avoid most of them but most of us aren't quite as clear as to whether we're computer idiots or not until it is too late. ;-) Most dangerous are people who don't think they're idiots but know a lot less than they think they do! So having AV is probably a good idea, as "idiot insurance." But AVG Free seems to be about as good as anything for-pay. So why pay? --Mr.98 (talk) 16:42, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yea, I agree. The fact is, no one is 100% safe and it'd be a huge pain if I lost everything. I have my files backed up but even if I just had to reinstall all my programs and uninstall all the stuff that comes on the computer when you get it that is not useful, that'd take hours and hours and I'd hate that. StatisticsMan (talk) 18:20, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think this hits on a key point: a rigorous backup regime is probably better security than a rigorous anti-virus regime. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:26, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Note that a mirror backup which backs up all the sectors of your hard disk will avoid the problem of having to waste a day reinstalling everything. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:38, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

EMI shield needed for installing internal HD in external case?

I recently upgraded my MacBook's 2.5" SATA internal hard drive. During installation, I was surprised to learn that I needed to take the EMI shield (which I didn't know existed) from my old drive and put it on my new drive. Now I want to put my old drive in a cheap external enclosure I bought off eBay. Do I need a new EMI shield for that? This Lifehacker article doesn't mention it, but I'm worried that it might be assumed. Thanks! --Allen (talk) 17:19, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've never heard of having to do this, no. Presumably it's to avoid interference with some part of the Macbook's motherboard, which won't be an issue for you because the external enclosure will be far from the motherboard. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:51, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Because the components in the laptop are so closely packed, it is entirely possible that the drive requires a shield. You won't find such shields in desktop systems, nor do you need them in and external enclosure. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 13:36, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks very much! This is a relief; not only do I not have to buy a new part, but I don't have to deal with screwing in Torx screws without a Torx screwdriver again. --Allen (talk) 15:13, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

ebay

i want to buy this gadget. http://www.cellcorner.com/xshp/unlock-phone-codes/data-card-unlocker-option-merlin-html... On ebay it's almost 100 dollars cheaper but i hear i can easily get ripped off . who knows the cheapest place to buy the unlocker - —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.88.34 (talk) 20:54, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In general on ebay, if you buy it from someone who has high seller ratings, you are probably going to be OK. The reason for this is that high seller ratings are hard to come by legitimately, and it only takes a few complaints to sink you. Now the only seller I see on ebay selling this cheaper is a "top rated seller" with over 500 reviews, 100% positive. That guy's probably not going to rip you off—he has put a lot of time into looking legit (especially since he works out of Hong Kong and most Americans are going to have their "scam alert" visors on when they see foreign sellers). So if it were me, I'd probably go with the ebay guy, knowing that since it is HK it will take forever to arrive, though. (I've ordered a lot of cheap stuff from HK before. It arrives, but it is very slow, if you are in the US, anyway.) --Mr.98 (talk) 22:10, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Although - [7] (check the alt text)--Jac16888 ^Talk 22:12, 1 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, that's why it is important to read the comments rather than just looking at the percentage, especially if much money is involved. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:58, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Deal Extreme? Nil Einne (talk) 19:29, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

January 2

Facebook and private friends lists, how?

I've noticed some people on Facebook have their friend list only available to people they know. How is this done? In the profile and privacy settings there's many things you can make public or private, but the friends list isn't listed as one of them. There must be some way to do this. Squidfryerchef (talk) 00:22, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Go to your facebook public page by clicking your name at the top of the facebook website, click on the pencil icon on your friend box and use the options there to restrict its display. Nanonic (talk) 02:59, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. That pencil icon's the sort of thing one might look at a thousand times without wondering what it does. Squidfryerchef (talk) 03:44, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

web hosting?

I'm afraid I don't understand what Web hosting is from the article, and it isn't referenced, so whatever that says might not even be accurate. I'm wondering if someone can please explain what its qualifications are, or perhaps direct me to a better source? Thank you.--Neptunerover (talk) 00:25, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. A "web hosting service" is a service that runs a web server that is connected to the internet. Every site you visit on the internet is "hosted" somewhere. Is there a more specific piece that maybe you're referring to? Shadowjams (talk) 00:29, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Whenever you load a web site in your browser, your computer sends a signal that says, "hey, send me this web page." In amazing quickness, it makes its way across the country or globe or whatever to another computer that says, "okay, here it is," and sends the data along. That computer that sends you the page is the server, and it hosts the page. Now, you can host a website from your own computer—your computer can be the one that other computers talk to when they want websites—but it requires you to have the computer running 24/7, and can use up a lot of bandwidth, and can be a pain to manage. But you can do it—you can be your own "web host". But more often people rent space on dedicated computers that are set up to do nothing other than host websites. This is a web hosting service. You pay them money (though some are free), and they make sure that when someone says, "hey, I want your web page," they get it. Does that make sense? If not, please specify what is confusing for you. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:48, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, it just occurred to me why you're asking this—you've been told that Wikipedia is not your web host and are trying to come up with a way to argue against that. All the rule means is that you don't have any claim to using Wikipedia is an arbitrary way—it isn't a place for you to just post whatever you want. Your user page is not really "yours"—you don't own it, and you don't have unlimited freedom in what goes on it. (If you want something like that, get your own web host.) --Mr.98 (talk) 20:28, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That's right. If you want to publish your theories about the universe, then the best place for this will be your own web-pages that need to be hosted somewhere. You can do this without cost (but with some disadvantages such as advertising) on various servers (just google "free web hosting"), or you can pay for a better service. Dbfirs 09:08, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You could even just set up a blog. It wouldn't allow the versatility of a fairly full featured web host but may be enough if you just want to publish your theories. There are plenty of people with, er, similar ideas, who may even comment on your theories and tell you how right you are Nil Einne (talk) 16:32, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Working with JLabels

Hello! In Java, I want to display a vertical list of JLabels in a JScrollPane. All the JLabels contain different amounts of text (from a few characters to several sentences). I want to set all the JLabels to have the same width, but variable height, so that they are just tall enough to fit in their rows of text. Could someone please give me some tips or some example code for how to do this? I've been trying BoxLayout, but what's problematic is for the JLabel's setPreferredSize() method, I can't just specify a width, and I can't be sure of the height. Thank you!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 02:04, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't really know that toolkit, but couldn't you do something like this?

Dimension d = widget.getPreferredSize();
d.width = whatever;
widget.setPreferredSize(d);

--Sean 15:04, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

World's Sillest CSS question

Hello!

I'm trying to write a simple table in CSS for my girlfriend's blogger page. But its driving me nuts! It keeps randomly "stepping down" certain div elements, especially in the first row.

The code itself seems to work independently if i test it in IE or firefox, but when I put into blogger it goes all nuts. The first row of elements will "step down" as if there's an imaginary line break after each element. Then, after the first row, everything is in perfect alignment.

If I put in a Clear:both command on the second element, it will shift everybox after the first one down a full-sized row and then the table will be perfectly aligned (Except the first box will be alone on the top). Display inline doesnt do anything.

Honestly, I'm going nuts doing this. Please help.

Here is the code:

  <div style="width:495px; " align="center">
    <div style="float:left; width:144px;height:250px;background-color:green;"></div>
    <div style="float:left;width:144px;height:250px;background-color:yellow;"></div>
    <div style="float:left; width:144px;height:250px;background-color:green;"></div>
    <div style="float:left;width:144px;height:250px;background-color:yellow;"></div>
    <div style="float:left; width:144px;height:250px;background-color:green;"></div>
    <div style="float:left;width:144px;height:250px;background-color:yellow;"></div>
    <div style="float:left; width:144px;height:250px;background-color:green;"></div>
    <div style="float:left;width:144px;height:250px;background-color:yellow;"></div>
  </div>

Thanks for your help.... I'm desperate!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cacofonie (talk) 04:12, 2 January 2010 (UTC)) 03:43, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've actually uploaded a picture of what it renders as here.

--Cacofonie (talk) 04:12, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's difficult to see what you're trying to achieve - are you trying to get a table with two columns, or four, or what? Anyway, you're putting eight objects that are each 144 pixels wide into a container that's 495 pixels wide. So it's reflowing them, and I guess the different you're seeing when on blogger is that it's applying an additional style that adds padding, which changes how things reflow. Relying on flowing like this makes for markup thats harder to read, change, and debug. Instead, have a DIV for each row, with the cells within it, and clear the floats for each of those row DIVs. 217.43.149.157 (talk) 12:57, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your help... I wanted a simple, three column table. So, if i understand your advice, I should make an encapsulating "row" div, appropriately sized to hold three of the divs in my code, and then each row should have the clear:both property?? Is that right?

Thanks again, --Cacofonie (talk) 13:33, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Three column layouts are actually really hard to do with CSS. (It's one of the reasons I continue to use HTML tables for things of this nature... they are a million times easier to set up and "just work", unlike CSS tables). If you Google "three column CSS" you'll find about a million different ways to do it... none of which are straightforward, all of which are a pain to implement, none of which work on all browsers, at least not the last time I checked. It can be done, more or less.. but be aware that it is a non-trivial problem for CSS, and all "solutions" have their disadvantages (and this is not the sort of thing that you'll probably want to try and re-invent on your own, on the fly). Personally... as I said, I still just use the HTML table for this. It takes five seconds to set up a decent three-column HTML layout and you know it'll work on any browsers that look at it. The CSS purists will recoil but such is their job, and real-life web design requires more than (not-necessarily-great-anyway) ideals. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:48, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I still don't follow the line of reasoning against HTML tables. If your data is tabular, it should be presented in a table and described in metadata as a table. The browser will render it as a table. You can use CSS to configure the way that the table appears, such as its colors, borders, and so forth. But I'm unconvinced that CSS can beat the simplicity of an HTML table. WikiBooks has a chapter HTML Tables in the HTML Programming book. Numerous criticisms of HTML tables, e.g. [8] [9], leave me unconvinced. Clean design and proper appearance is far more important than today's faddish, pedantic preferences for CSS or HTML. Nimur (talk) 22:15, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The CSS purists would hold that in theory, you should be able to totally separate the design from the content. Tables do inhibit that when used purely for organizing data visually. But I do agree with you—in real-life web design, jettisoning the simplicity of tables seems really quite silly, especially when done for purist reasons. I'm also somewhat dubious of the whole data/design separation anyway. In some circumstances it seems desirable to have data extractable from the design, obviously. But on most web sites, it doesn't matter (because no one is going to try and extract the data independent of the design), and in practice, you have to assign every element on the page an ID and a class and etc. to be able to "totally" separate the data from the design in a real sense (as anyone who has had to re-skin a whole website knows, even if you DO try to separate data and design, there is a lot less separation than you think). And even then, I am very dubious that one should necessarily strive to make a data/design separation to the degree the purists want it. Is our design really meant to be divorced from the content? What graphic designer would defend such a proposal? It's the kind of philosophy a computer programmer would come up with—the idea that meaning and form could be and should be so swiftly detached. (smallified because this is fairly tangential to the question) --Mr.98 (talk) 22:57, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

To Break LAN Connection

Hello To all of you.

If you know How to Break a LAN connection than tell me.

i want to knw if LAN connection is there in Computer Lab And User want to transfer a File To one computer to another COmputer.

Than thing is how is Possible ? Tell me if u are know. . .

I m waiting for answer. . .

thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dj Keval (talk • contribs) 09:43, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Um... Your question makes no sense. If you want to break a lan connection then you can cut the cord with a pair of scissors. that usually works. But that could be a problem if you don't own the network, so don't do that.

Do you want to transfer files? Then you probably don't want to break any connections. Why do you ask about that. That's weird.

What kind of computers are you and your file-transferring friend using? That could help. How big is the data you're trying to transfer? Tell us what operating system you're dealing with. Shadowjams (talk) 10:00, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The question does not have enough information about the computer setup and what is desired. I think the question is, "If another machine in the computer lab is downloading a large file, is there a way for a second computer to stop that download?" If that's indeed the question, the answer is: Not if the network is properly configured. Comet Tuttle (talk) 15:34, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You could send RST packets too. That would break a connection. Shadowjams (talk) 22:51, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

APNG in GIMP

How to add APNG support to GIMP? --84.62.205.233 (talk) 19:16, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There isn't support for it currently, but this link may be of use to you. I hope this helps. JW..[ T..C ] 07:11, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

remote start up

Is it possible to make a computer that's turned off, start up via ethernet cable? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.145 (talk) 20:01, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If the computer supports Wake-on-LAN, you can configure this setting in the BIOS. Nimur (talk) 20:16, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, so I have one computer that's turned off connected via ethernet cable to the computer that I'm using. What exactly do I do to turn the other computer on? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.145 (talk) 21:17, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This is a fairly technical procedure. From your description, it sounds like you have directly connected the two computers with an ethernet cable. That is technically possible, but it will require additional, "nonstandard" configuration on the part of your active computer. I would recommend you use a router or a switch, instead of a direct ethernet connection between the machines.

I'll refer to the "off" computer as the "server" - this is the one you want to remotely wake up. The "on" computer will be the "client".

Now, you need to make sure your server BIOS supports and has been properly configured for Wake-on-LAN. You need to check your motherboard or machine type to verify that this is possible; if you have a separate Network Interface Card (NIC), you need to check that manual for the configuration as well. (Most modern computers have the NIC built in to the motherboard). The motherboard manual is your best resource to check for Wake-on-LAN setup instructions. If you don't know how to boot to BIOS configuration, you may want to stop here and read about BIOS.

Once that is set up, you need to know the server MAC address and IP address. Your client computer now needs to send a magic packet to that IP. There are several wake-on-LAN programs that generate these packets for you (like etherwake for Ubuntu; if you are running Windows on the client, see Overview of Wake On LAN from Microsoft TechNet). Or you can write your own program following the instructions in the Wikipedia article. This is a simple program that simply sends a UDP or other packet to the server that is loaded with the appropriate data (the format is described in magic packet).

As you can see, the procedure is fairly technical, but you can do it if you follow the instructions step-by-step. If you don't have a router, you will need to configure your client to send packets out the ethernet interface in raw mode to the MAC address of the server; or set up the client to act as a router. Nimur (talk) 21:35, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As Nimur says, but the PC has to be in a 'soft-off' state. If it's turned off at a switch on the power supply, then it won't turn on as the mains power is off. I am speaking 'Wintel' here, not Apple Mac. --220.101.28.25 (talk) 21:45, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hm, we don't have an article on soft shutdown or soft power-off state? Nimur (talk) 21:49, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Booting#Soft reboot, but technically WoL is a notch farther towards total system power-down than that description. As 220 mentions, if there is absolutely no power to the system, then nothing is alive to monitor for WoL wakeup packets and nothing could be done to boot if one were received. Nimur (talk) 21:56, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Not that I could find under those terms. This is a passing reference Here--220.101.28.25 (talk) 22:00, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I use wake on lan all the time. I execute it from Linux using ether-wake -b -D 00:00:00:00:00:00 where you replace the 00:00... with the ethernet address of the device you want to start up. As said above, the device has to support that, but most modern machines will. I'm pretty certain this won't work on wireless though; you'll need a wired ethernet machine. I assume ether-wake is available for mac. The actual wake on lan packet it sends out is pretty simple. You could quickly write a script to send it out so long as you can send out your own tcp packet. Shadowjams (talk) 07:56, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There is a variant called "Wake on Wireless LAN" (WoWLAN) which is less commonly supported. It is described in our Wake-on-LAN article. Nimur (talk) 12:06, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

January 3

How does su work?

How does su work? I assume it's simply a program file that is itself owned by root, and when run, asks the user for the root password. If the password is correct, it spawns a shell (which inherits the root privileges that su itself has), if it is incorrect, it exits. (For the sake of simplicity, I'm assuming the user only wants to su to root.) Is this really as simple as it works? If so, then if I have access to root privileges in the first place (and in the case of my own Linux system, I have them by default), there's nothing stopping me from writing my own su which always spawns a shell with root privileges, without the user having to do anything at all. The problem with that, of course, is security - if someone other than me came across this new version of su, it would compromise the entire system. Am I on the right track here? JIP | Talk 00:01, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, though I'm not sure why you mentioned "owned by root'. See setuid. Also http://www.coker.com.au/selinux/play.html is remotely related. --91.145.72.253 (talk) 00:15, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

see: 'man sudo', and no need to write your own version to not require a password: 'man sudoers'.—eric 00:27, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Certain computers with hardware protection, e.g. a Trusted Platform Module, will refuse to execute programs such as su (and in fact, the entire boot sequence and kernel), unless the programs are cryptographically verified as a trusted version. On such secure systems (which are very expensive and are usually sold to banks and governments), it will be impossible to "replace" key system utilities like su with any modified version - let alone one designed to circumvent security. On other standard PC-like servers and computers, (depending on the operating system), it is trivial to replace "su" with some other feature. During my reckless youth, I recall messing with a guy's /usr/bin/ or /usr/sbin/ on Gentoo, I think we moved su to actually run ls or something. He deserved it, though. In this case, it was obvious that the correct program was not running (though it was the source of great confusion to the guy). If we had compiled some "phony" sudo or su program that intentionally appeared to be the correct utility, we probably could have obtained his password in plaintext, stored it, etc.; and done just about anything to the entire networked system. As always, physical access to the machine trumps every software security setting; only those very specialized super-secure computers with unique hardware and guarded system access are truly "secure". Nimur (talk) 14:23, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, I may rescind my claim that "physical access to the machine trumps every software security setting" and replace it with a more reserved claim, "...trumps most software security settings." If the hard disk drive were encrypted, it would be hard to do much damage "covertly" (though you could still wipe the data); but, as I recall, the poor sap had left a root logged in, so by the time I got there, any encrypted hard disk protection, if present, was already moot. Nimur (talk) 14:39, 3 January 2010 (UTC) [reply]

Windows Live Messenger 2009

Hi, my question is, If I have Windows Live Messenger 2009 and my accounty is somebody@hotmail.com can I add somebody@gmail.com to chat? Will this person receive the invitation? --190.50.71.52 (talk) 02:33, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Better than asking here and hoping that someone will come along with the answer, would be trying it to see. However, I can tell you that on my MSN I do have some people who are logged in using Gmail, so, yes, it is possible. --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 04:10, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If they registered the Live account with their Gmail address then yes, you can. Hotmail account and Live account are separate (registering Hotmail will give you a Live account under that email address too, but Live account doesn't require a Hotmail address). --antilived^{T | C | G} 09:29, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This is in answer to the question below, but Wikipedia is playing silly buggers, so I have to put it here. Thanks for the links, however they don't solve the problem. There is one thing that *may* fix the problem there, but I don't see why I should have to turn UAC off - then reboot (something I do very often with Vista) - delete the file - turn UAC on again - reboot again..... Forget Vista, it's a waste of space. Is there nothing I can do from Ubuntu? --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 11:00, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Permissions (Ubuntu + Vista)

I have a folder of pictures I made on GIMP, that I have transferred from my Vista machine to my Ubuntu machine. The problem I have now is that I can't move the folder from the Ubuntu desktop to anywhere else. I have copied it to my 'documents' folder, but now I can't get rid of the original, being told I don't have permission to do so. I have tried deleting the folder from my Vista computer, but get told the same thing. I am one who likes to have a totally clear desktop, and this folder doing nothing and having no reason to be there is doing my head in. Is there anything I can do about this? TIA! --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 04:08, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This link and this link may be of use to you. I hope this helps. JW..[ T..C ] 06:58, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Learning Windows 7

Hi! I've had an XP laptop for a while now, but it's bust and needs upgrading. I've ordered one which runs Windows 7 - how easy is it going to be for me to pick up the new operating system? I was very proficient at XP... Also, I use programs such as Sibelius, PhotoshopElements, AVG9-Free, Inkscape etc.: are these compatible? Thanks! ╟─Treasury Tag►Speaker─╢ 10:46, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If your old PC just needs upgrading, like you said, why buy a new PC with a new operating system which just looks different but doesn't do anything special? That'd be like having a Ford with a puncture and deciding to buy a new one *because it's pink* or something. In any case, if you were able to become proficient at XP, then I don't see anything stopping you becoming proficient at 7. Not a huge difference, really. There was a bit of a jump from XP to Vista (mainly in folders losing the 'My' in 'Documents' etc., and the Start button not actually having 'Start' written on it, plus being asked every few seconds if you are sure you want to do something, as if every action was part of an SAS mission deep in enemy territory. Being administrator and still having to 'run [individual program] as administrator' defies logic and being told you have no permission to modify a folder you put on the computer in the first place is infuriating beyond belief.). If you can handle that, you're sorted. Besides that, 7 is just eye-candy - no better, no worse than MS's previous attempts to make the world a better place. Oh, and there is no 'blue screen of death' in 7. MS have done away with that and given you a black one instead. For compatibility of individual programs, I'd suggest visiting their websites to see - you'd have to do that anyway just to download the software. While you are there, take a look to see if it says 'Windows 7 compatible', and if it does, then there is a good chance it is. Anyway, congratulations on your investment. --KageTora - (影虎) (Talk?) 11:11, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for all that as far as it went... what I mean is, my laptop's screwed, I need to buy a new one, nobody much sells XP any more (certainly not to the specs I need), Vista's supposedly crap, so I chose to get one which runs Windows 7. Am I right in supposing that any program which is/was Vista-compatible would also be 7-compatbile? ╟─Treasury Tag►belonger─╢ 15:08, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You can pretty much be assured of that, yes. And XP compatibility mode can usually handle the rest; at least, it does for me. I never had anything much against Vista, excpet it was too slow, and 7 is much better in that regard. The biggest difference, yes, is probably UAC. It's been toned down so it stays out of your way a bit more in 7 than it did in Vista, but if you haven't really used Vista, then it still might bother you for a while. KageTora's comment about being an administrator and still having to run things as an administrator being illogical is actually the whole point, and how it's supposed to work - the whole idea is to prevent people from just using admin accounts, thus granting permission to everything - read User Account Control.

Either way, if you're good with XP, it will take virtually no time to 'learn' 7 - don't worry about it. Ale_Jrb^2010! 15:19, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that! One or two other concerns: what is the difference between 64/32 bit, and which type is my laptop likely to have (brand new Fujitsu with Home Premium installed)? And am I right in thinking that Home Premium doesn't include XP Compatibility Mode? :) ╟─Treasury Tag►Lord Speaker─╢ 15:22, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That is correct. You need at least Windows 7 Professional. But this does only cost marginally more than Home Premium, and all feature of Home Premium are included in Professional. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:29, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) There are lots of differences between 32 and 64 bit arcitecture, but you'd be better off reading the article 64-bit for information about that. For most people, it's nothing more than 64 bit systems can support more RAM and higher-end hardware more effectively. This comes at the expense of running most home software, though, so it's almost guaranteed that you will have 32 bit unless you are specifically buying otherwise. Home Premium doesn't come with the XP virtual machine, but it can still run programs in compatibility mode, although you'll probably barely need it. Ale_Jrb^2010! 15:31, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I would strongly disagree with the statement "This comes at the expense of running most home software". I run 64 bit Vista and there are few progams that will not run. --Phil Holmes (talk) 19:06, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Read my reply below Comet's on how to run stuff Vista/7 doesn't. It's called dual booting XP and 7. ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 19:09, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As Ale_jrb said, you should read the 64-bit article. For Windows, some important changes are (a) 32-bit is limited to using only around 3GB of your RAM; (b) 64-bit Windows features both a "Program Files" folder (for 64-bit apps) and a "Program Filex (x86)" folder (for 32-bit apps), which itself causes some problems with configuring certain apps. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:43, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

XP compatibility mode is a marketing scam. It's been there forever. It's called Microsoft Virtual PC. Runs on XP, Vista, and 7 (or rather it used to before Windows pulled support, but you can still download completely functional older versions). I even have it on my Vista computer. It's also free, and Microsoft offers a download (or it did) on it's website of a working disk image of XP (virtual PC's uses disk images), or you can use the recovery disk that came with your old computer. Don't expect "XP" mode to run anything more powerful than MS Word with an average computer cause virtual PC's are very inefficient. Personally, I'd get a XP-Linux (Debian)-7 computer, as windows 7 supports DirectX11 and XP supports a ton of software (ex. AppLocale, which Windows 7 does not support) as well as being a less resource intensive OS. You can always install XP on a computer with windows 7 and then install windows 7 on a separate partition with the recovery disk. But enough of what I'd do. In answer to your question on Windows Xp, it is still being sold by independent computer stores (local), and here with customization. Yes Microexpress computers don't have eye candy, but their computers have the least markup of major brands(ex. i7 laptop same specs costs $2000 vs $3000 alienware). Also, always get the 64-bit OS (there is a 64-bit professional version of XP.) ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 18:58, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The above angry rant should be disregarded. XP compatibility mode is useful. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:27, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I never said it wasn't useful. Just saying there are better options, especially when Virtual PC is free and that XP Compatibility mode is using Virtual PC. It also is not an angry rant. ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 20:53, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You are misleading readers. Virtual PC is free, but does not include a copy of Windows XP, which is not a problem with the XP compatibility mode of Windows 7. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:57, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The reader had XP. He/she has a install disk for it which can be used for Virtual PC. It was just one option I listed. I also stated that I personally would dual boot (or triple boot) as virtual PC's aren't an efficient way of running things. It was just a suggestion. If the user wanted to do resource intensive things, dual booting is better than using a virtual PC. In addition, Microsoft offers a free Disk Image of XP pre-activated on their site somewhere. Here's a link to a 2007 statement about it [10]. It's not insanely hard to remove the expiration date (ex. change system time). Disclaimer:I'm not using my virtual PC on Vista because the performance was terrible. ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 21:01, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Removing a reparse point

Backups in Win7 always fail for me with error code 0x81000037. The Microsoft website says the solution is to a remove a reparse point, but it doesn't say which point to remove and how to remove it! How do I fix this? --Glaesisvellir (talk) 17:31, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Documentation, and particularly tool support, for NTFS reparse point is disappointingly patchy. This KB article describes how to create and destroy them (but not, I think, how to search a tree for one). This article links to some freeware that works with them (I don't know if they'll help). This API document describes how one can examine a file to see if it's a reparse point; one would hope that find.exe would have an option to use this API to find reparse points (in much the way Unix' find can search for symlinks) but I don't think it does. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:50, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How to open .pcx files?

I've got some .pcx image files in my computer, but I can't find any software that can open it. Is it possible to open it using windows? Because I know it is format for DOS. --142.161.75.164 (talk) 18:15, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(I don't have a .PCX at hand to try this, but...) try converting it to something modern (like PNG) with Imagemagick's convert utility (e.g. convert foo.pcx foo.png). PCX is listed as one of the many file formats that Imagemagick understands. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 18:22, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

IrfanView can open .pcx files, download available here —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kv7sW9bIr8 (talk • contribs) 19:03, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Were can I find information about solving this problem

In early Oct. 2009 I purchased on eBay a brand new copy of Windows XP. The user had a 100% record for almost 700 transactions. I was on abusiness trip when it arrived and did not return until just before Christmas. I gave it and a new hard drive to my daughter who set about installing both on her computer. When it came time for activation she got a pop-up saying to enter a different product key which she did not have or to call an 888 number to activate the software online. Instead of activating Microsoft popped up another window saying the software was counterfeit and to send it to them instead of returning it to the seller along with the receipt. She therefore sent a message to eBay asking if she could return the CD for a refund but eBay woud not provide a means to file a dispute even though Microsoft would not activate it, eBay claims that it does not allow couterfeit operating systems to be sold through eBay unless the discovery is within 45 days of the sale (not the first activation date of the software). Is eBay a party to fraud here? Has Microsoft gone piracy crazy? Where can I find a list of options for dealing with this problem? 71.100.1.76 (talk) 19:18, 3 January 2010 (UTC) [reply]

Windows Genuine Advantage has been known to mess people up. I'm not sure if Microsoft ended activation for XP yet (as I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft was planning to end support). There's a number of ways to bypass activation (google), or you can try and get access to an Enterprise version (if you work at a white collar job, your company might have it), which doesn't require activation. Not really legal per se (as Microsoft licensed it to the company), but not many companies care if you do take a copy. As for consumer complaints, you would have to read Ebay's return policy (which I'm not familiar with), or if you purchased it through your credit card, you might have some protection there. ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 19:38, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Support will cease on April 8, 2014. They stopped selling XP and stopped creating new updates that aren't related to security in 2009. That's all.--Drknkn (talk) 03:34, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Did you get in touch with the seller? They, not eBay, are usually who you want to contact first about bad products. It could easily be that Microsoft has done something wrong here, but if the seller claimed it was new and that the product key was new, then they are the ones who are in error here. Get in touch with them ASAP and ask about exchanging or refund. --Mr.98 (talk) 19:43, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Did that already but no response. 71.100.1.76 (talk) 08:47, 4 January 2010 (UTC) [reply]

Now even the link to the seller (geoffrey_morris (636) 100% Positive feedback) is not working... 71.100.1.76 (talk) 13:55, 4 January 2010 (UTC) [reply]

To clarify, did you call the phone number Windows gave you for activatiion? The serial number has probably been used on another computer, so it's definitely not new. The only time I've seen screens like that was when in fact the serial number had been used on different machines (or the same machine with new hardware). In any case, calling that number has worked for me many times. Just tell the IVR system that the key has only been used on one computer and it should activate it.--Drknkn (talk) 03:22, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I went through the process and when it asked how many times it had been activated I said zero. When I called Microsoft and finally got through to an operator she hung up when I told her I had opened the package brand new and this was the first time it was out of the wrapper. If someone can activate by just looking through the clear plastic wrapper isn't this Microsoft's fault and Microsoft's responsibility and obligation to replace the software on the grounds of defective product or defective packaging resulting in a defective product? 71.100.1.76 (talk) 08:54, 4 January 2010 (UTC) [reply]

You can't see the code through the wrapper on a genuine MS product. It's on a card that's inside the opaque box, and sometimes inside an envelope too. Even the small-builder-OEM licences (which are distributed in a minimalist shrinkwrap with or without an install disk) keep the licence hidden until you open the shrinkwrap. If you could see the licence then it's not a genuine MS package; he's repackaged an old licence as new. 87.113.46.161 (talk) 19:08, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Buying a new motherboard and CPU and memory

I have nearly enough old computer parts including empty cases to put a complete desktop computer together. Can anyone give me a ball-park figure of how much it would cost to buy a modern motherboard, CPU and memory to get a reasonably future-proof system running Ubuntu? Thanks 78.147.11.181 (talk) 22:03, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on what specifications and requirements you want. If you want i7 cores, expect to spend anywhere from $600-1200 (retail, probably can find cheaper). Relatively low figure prices are $200 motherboard, $300 for the budget 2nd generation core (budget first generation is $200), and $200 of ram. The most expensive core (not worth it) is $1000, although the 2nd most expensive (2nd generation) is ~$650. If you want Core2 or AMD, it's much cheaper (and running Ubuntu should work fine with Core2). Don't forget the Gfx Card. If your looking for light use, you can get a complete 1GB Ram laptop for ~$550, so I'm assuming a light desktop would cost around $300.

ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 22:18, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Note that if you were building the above power-hungry computer, your "old computer parts" may not have an adequate power supply. As for my personal opinion, get an AMD Phenom II X4 set, for the best Bang-for-the-buck. (Hope I don't start an AMD-Intel war here.) Mxvxnyxvxn (talk) 03:40, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You may also find it cheaper to look at the motherboard barebone bundles that some retailers offer, Novatech and others are quite good in this regarding price and some of them will also guarantee that the memory will be matched and working before shipment. Nanonic (talk) 23:34, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Even corn, soybeans and flax are not future proof due to genetic engineering. Computer engineering is far, far worse because of bug correction and adding new hardware and software features/capability. The only protection is not to update. This works. Our church still uses an old computer with Windows 3.1 for writing letters and keeping records. The advantage is that there is no cause for worry about viruses or hacking but this comes in exchange for the loss of new features. 71.100.1.76 (talk) 09:12, 4 January 2010 (UTC) [reply]

Sorry, 71... but every part of the above post contradicts best-practices. First of all, I have no idea what you mean by "corn, soybeans, ..." how would these be future-proof, with or without genetic engineering? What does that even mean? As far as refusing to update, this is also a seriously flawed mindset. Most security vulnerabilities affect old, unpatched software. Windows 3.1 is now famous for introducing the Windows Metafile vulnerability - and since Windows 3.1 runs on a DOS stack with essentially no memory protection, but provides a "user-interface" with multi-tasking and invisible background-job capabilities, it is probably the single most vulnerable system to malicious software that can possibly run on any computer. And, since it has been around for more than twenty years, there has been plenty of time for malicious coders to play around with various exploits. Best-practice security is to update to the latest and most bug-free version. On extremely rare occassions, a "bug-fix" may introduce new problems, but the overwhelming majority of the time, bug fixes and upgrades actually fix bugs. Furthermore, if you are really using a Windows 3.1 system, you are no doubt running a serious risk of incompatability. If your hardware ever breaks and you seek to recover any of your data, you will have to go to much more effort to find a system which can still read 20-year-old formats, or can connect to antiquated hardware. Modern, high-performing computers can cost as low as $100 or 200; I bought a complete i920 system (i7 core) for under $1000; if the OP really wants to salvage old hardware, the most useful parts will probably be the hard-disk drives and the peripherals. Nimur (talk) 12:36, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Looking for old software that combined decision trees with NPV

A few years ago I had a copy of some shareware software than ran on MS-DOS, in text mode only. It combined decision trees with net present values. Does anyone know what the name of this software was, as I would like to look at it again. I've spent a lot of time searching on the internet for this, but have not been found it. I have found one instance of similar Windows software, but this does not use NPV. Failing that, I might try writing something similar myself. The two hurdles would be the doing things with nodes such as joining and inserting, and getting a visual display of the tree - would these be achievable by an amateur programmer? Thanks 78.147.11.181 (talk) 22:16, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

January 4

Vista Sidebar Gadgets in WIndows 7

I used to have some note gadgets in my Vista Sidebar with, what else, notes. Now that I can't run the sidebar in Windows 7, is there a way to import the gadgets or at the very least, run sidebar so I can copy the info? --142.151.182.176 (talk) 05:50, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There is no sidebar as such anymore, but the widgets that went in the sidebar are now part of Gadgets, which are similar except can be placed anywhere instead of just to the side of the screen. If you right click your desktop and click Gadgets you should get a screen that lists gadgets, and any sidebar gadgets you have SHOULD appear there if you did an upgrade install, and if not they will work if you download and install them again. Gunrun (talk) 09:35, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

USB headphone

Are there any reliable USB Headphones ?--yousaf465' 09:29, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why not try Googling around to see if you can find some suitable products. I'm sure there's at least one site somewhere on the web that sells them, or a site with reviews of them. It dosen't really take that much work on Google to find answers. Chevymontecarlo (talk) 14:08, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

HDTV resolutions

It boggles my mind: why do flat panel TVs come in 1366x768 and worse yet 1024x768. The first one is probably no better than native 720p displays even if the video source has more resolution than 720p due to the quality/sharpness lost in interpolating. The second one is even worse because it has to also interpolate for the non-square pixels. Are there any real advantages to these resolutions over the two native HD resolutions (720p and 1080p)? And also, is the interpolation done hardware or software based? Is it simple nearest neighbour (which produces poor results) or something more advanced, like bicubic or Lanczos3 (which is very computationaly intensive for HD video in real time)? Roberto75780 (talk) 09:59, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

my understanding is that most TVs the same size as common computer monitors use the same LCD panels as computer monitors. These panels do not have 720 vertical pixels or 1080 vertical pixels but usually have 768 and 1050 pixels along the vertical edge. When you move to larger TV display sizes, you will find native HD resolutions with 720 and 1080 pixels. The non-native resolution isn't ideal for the picture, but those panels are cheaper as they are produced in larger numbers and allow for less expensive smaller TVs. 206.131.39.6 (talk) 18:19, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Ghost images

Hello. I've heard of a phenomenon where prolonged still images (paused videos or games) can cause the image to leave a "ghost" image on the television or monitor. I'd like to know what causes this, what types of monitors may be affected and whether there is a way to remove the ghost. Thanks in advance! 88.112.62.154 (talk) 11:40, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This effect is known as Screen burn-in - that article should answer your question. :) Ale_Jrb^2010! 12:05, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! 88.112.62.154 (talk) 13:48, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Makefile

Suppose I have images files in a directory called fullsize and want to put thumbnail versions of them in the directory thumbs. I could use a makefile like this:

thumbs/image1.jpg : fullsize/image1.jpg
    createthumb fullsize/image1.jpg thumbs/image1.jpg

thumbs/image2.png : fullsize/image2.png
    createthumb fullsize/image2.png thumbs/image2.png

However, this requires that I know in advance what images will be in fullsize and even if I do, such a makefile is cumbersome to write if there are many images. What would a makefile look like that would take every image in fullsize and create a thumbnail of it in thumbs if it's not already there and up-to-date? I'm using GNU Make. Thanks! —Bromskloss (talk) 12:00, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You probably want a make pattern rule. Here is the appropriate section in the manual. An example make file may look like:

 thumbs/%.jpg: fullsize/%.jpg
    createthumb $< $@

 thumbs/%.png: fullsize/%.png
    createthumb $< $@

Note that you need to appropriately replace regular spaces with tabs for whitespace in order to be a properly formatted Makefile. Also note that the $< symbol refers to the first prerequisite file, and $@ refers to the output. These are called Automatic Variables, and are documented here: GNU make Automatic Variables. Nimur (talk) 12:16, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for answering. Unfortunately, it (GNU Make 3.81) only tells me "make: *** No targets. Stop." when I run your example. Is there anything else I need to specify in the makefile? —(I'm the original poster. Just unable to log in.) 130.237.3.196 (talk) 13:17, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Try make thumbs/image1.png. At first I had hoped that make thumbs/*.png would make everything, but unfortunately this will probably not work. There's a work-around, (I have done this sort of thing before, but I can't remember how). I'll check my Gnu Make cheat-sheet when I get into my office later today and see if I can find out what is needed to process everything in your source directory and output everything. In the meantime, you can manually create a make rule that depends on all the expected outputs (thumbnails), e.g. adding this rule to the above makefile:

buildthumbs: thumbs/image1.png thumbs/image2.png thumbs/image3.jpg

Now when you make buildthumbs, you will auto-build all those resources according to the patterned rule. This is only slightly better than a separate rule for every single image - as I said, there's a workaround to auto-detect the prerequisites. Nimur (talk) 14:52, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This will build a thumb for everything in fullsize/ automagically:

buildthumbs: $(shell ls fullsize/*.{jpg,png} | sed s/fullsize/thumbs/)

--Sean 15:14, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Animals chewing through ethernet cable

I installed quite a long stretch (25m) of cat5e cable outside the house to get to my dad's office in a separate building. Unfortunately, some animals (probably foxes) have recently decided to complement their diet with my STP wires. Is it worth trying to repair the wires somehow? If I have to re-lay the whole thing, are there certain types of wire that will stand up to this damage better? How can I stop this happening again? I hate animals... Anand^(talk) 12:05, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. If you have a pair of wire strippers (plier or scissor may do) you can match the conductors inside with the coresponding ones on the other broken end and connecth them together. You should sandpaper the wire tips and make sure you get a solid connection for every conductor or else the speed may suffer. The foxes may like your cable but I don't think they would dig it out from underground, or even under a carpet. If you want to replace the cable and the pests are still getting to it, try threading it through a garden hose. Roberto75780 (talk) 12:17, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Or you can buy commercial electrical conduit, which may be cheaper than a garden hose. Nimur (talk) 12:19, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

We used a goopy gunk we called "Gorilla Snot" to coat outside wires when I was in the Marines. It was designed to keep animals from chewing the wires. -- kainaw ™ 14:40, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Software to overlap two images?

I have four or five jpg images of parts of a plan that I want to partialy overlap to create a bigger image, preferably while preserving the scale of the originals. Is there any software than can do this easily please? I have searched for quite a while but not been able to find any myself. 84.13.28.161 (talk) 16:36, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Pretty much any half-decent image editing program should be fine for this. The process in GIMP is: create a new blank image (big enough to contain your final image), then drag each constituent image onto the master image, and move it to where you want with the move tool. If you need to change the stacking (z order) use the layers dialog; once you're done, just save the final image (as a flat image like a PNG or JPG, as appropriate). The process is much the same in Photoshop, and isn't very different in vector programs like Inkscape and Illustrator too. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:43, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
What you are looking for is Image stitching. Our article is not the greatest, but you should be able to find something by googling the term. Autostitch may be a useful ink and product. However, I suspect most of these programs assume typical photos with a lot of details - I don't know how well they will cope with line drawings. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 16:48, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Software to give x.y coordinates of points within an image?

I'd like to be able to do something like this: I position the cursor at a particular point in an image. I press something, and the xy coordinate gets appended to a text file. I move the cursor to another point and repeat. Is there any software that can do this easily please? I have looked for some but have not been able to find any. Thanks. 84.13.28.161 (talk) 16:42, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I wrote one for you:

#!/usr/bin/python

import pygame, sys
pygame.init()

if len(sys.argv) != 2:
    print 'usage: clicker.py foo.jpg'
    sys.exit(1)

img = pygame.image.load(sys.argv[1])
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((img.get_width(), img.get_height()))

screen.blit(img,(0,0))
pygame.display.update()

while True:
    event = pygame.event.wait()
    if event.type == pygame.QUIT: break
    if event.type == pygame.MOUSEBUTTONDOWN and event.button==1:
        print event.pos

You'll need to install Python (programming language) and Pygame. Run it with python clicker.py foo.jpg where clicker.py is the above script, and foo.jpg is whatever image you want. It prints (x,y) coordinates to the standard output (which you can redirect to a file if you want). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:30, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

MATLAB can do this with the ginput command. It can also read and display images in many formats. Nimur (talk) 18:21, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

@@ Line 202: / Line 202: @@
 ::Yeah, I went through the process and when it asked how many times it had been activated I said zero. When I called Microsoft and finally got through to an operator she hung up when I told her I had opened the package brand new and this was the first time it was out of the wrapper. If someone can activate by just looking through the clear plastic wrapper isn't this Microsoft's fault and Microsoft's responsibility and obligation to replace the software on the grounds of defective product or defective packaging resulting in a defective product? <small> [[Special:Contributions/71.100.1.76|71.100.1.76]] ([[User talk:71.100.1.76|talk]]) 08:54, 4 January 2010 (UTC) </small>
+::: You can't see the code through the wrapper on a genuine MS product. It's on a card that's inside the opaque box, and sometimes inside an envelope too. Even the small-builder-OEM licences (which are distributed in a minimalist shrinkwrap with or without an install disk) keep the licence hidden until you open the shrinkwrap. If you could see the licence then it's not a genuine MS package; he's repackaged an old licence as new. [[Special:Contributions/87.113.46.161|87.113.46.161]] ([[User talk:87.113.46.161|talk]]) 19:08, 4 January 2010 (UTC)
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