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June 23

Hot pluggable SATA/eSATA

Something that's not obvious from the articles on hot swapping and SATA... maybe someone can comment here, find cites, or update the articles with useful information.

SATA itself by design is hot swappable, and yet there is minimal to no clear answer in the wiki as to when and under what conditions a user can actually use that capability. For example:

• Under which operating systems?
• Which kinds of drivers, BIOS features, or specialized bridge/interface chips or cards are required?
• To what extent is effective hot swappability available in mainstream PCs using a SATA hard drive?
• Does unplugging or connecting a SATA drive to a modern power supply cause transients that may crash or harm the system? if so how does one power an external SATA drive (hot swapped or otherwise)?

FT2 ^{(Talk | email)} 00:23, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

I have used SATA hot swapping in winxp, using various SATA HDD's (manufactured in 2006 and later). Motherboard chipset was some nvidia Nforce4 ultra (probably)(it certainly was nforce4 and there were no SLI)(amd cpu). Hot plugging did not work on intel chipset (875P).

I have never used any specialized interface cards. I have not tried plugging in or pulling out, without OS loaded (if that was meant). In windows, this probably requires chipset drivers to be installed (but it is one of first thing to do after windows reinstall, anyway).

Availability of hot swappability in mainstertam PCs depends solely on chipset support.

Unplugging and especially connecting SATA drive to power does causes transients, but these have not crashed system yet (i have been usin this time by time for about a year)(since february once in 2 weeks or so).

-Yyy (talk) 12:54, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

NT CMD peculiarities

I have encountered some strange behaviour with NT command files. I have reduced the batch file to the following

if "1" == "1" (
   set VARIABLE=C:\myprog\bin
   PATH %VARIABLE%;%PATH%
)

if you put that in "test.cmd" then execute the followng DOS commands:

C:\>set VARIABLE=WRONGVALUE
C:\>test.cmd

The value of variable will be set properly:

C:\>set V
VARIABLE=C:\myprog\bin

but the path will be set using the old value:

C:\>path
PATH=WRONGVALUE;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\system32

Why is this, and is there a better work-around than using a "call" to a label, as in the following working example:

if "1" == "1" (
  call :setup
) 
goto :eof
:setup
set VARIABLE=C:\myprog\bin
PATH %VARIABLE%;%PATH%

I would like to understand what's happening, because I found the work-around by trial and error and a propper understanding would avoid future errors. -- Q Chris (talk) 08:36, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

What's happening is that cmd.exe substitutes %variables% in the whole IF statement, including the body, before any part of it is executed. A hacky workaround is available (see here) but you might just want to use a goto. -- BenRG (talk) 11:43, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

thanks! -- Q Chris (talk) 12:22, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Resolved

Capitalizing a list

How can I capitalize a list of words? (only with Open Office, grep, sed, if possible).

Can I use some sort of variable with grep or sed?

For example: sed will substitute s/word1/word2/g along the document, but what if I want to mark up a word that ends in 'ing'? Can I just have a variable like s/word1/word1AgainButWithMarkUP/g. In the first case we already know what we are substituting, in the second not.--Quest09 (talk) 10:40, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

With Open Office 3.0 (assuming they are in a list):

select the list, right click and select "Character", under "Font Effects" select "Capitals" under "Effects".

Even though it doesn't show in the preview it's there when you apply the styling. If you want to do it the terminal way you can do $ tr 'a-z' 'A-Z' < file . --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:06, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, but what if I only want to capitalize the first character?--Quest09 (talk) 11:43, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

• The Open Office solution also didn't work, since I couldn't save it as text.Quest09 (talk) 11:57, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Use sed: sed -r 's/\<./\U&/g' (hint, when trying to replace stuff in text files, there is almost always a sed way to do it.) -- kainaw™ 11:54, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks you kainaw, for the solution. The first two solutions above didn't work.--Quest09 (talk) 11:57, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

<rant>Yes yes I get the point, you meant the OTHER "capitalize"; no need to rub it in!</rant> And no, OOo Writer definitely can save as text, that's pretty much its whole point of existence. --antilived^{T | C | G} 12:13, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

OO can save as text. But effects like the one above won't get saved as text.--Quest09 (talk) 12:54, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Two messenger accounts,one i want hidden

I have two accounts(handles) on msn and when i go to sign in they both appear and give me a choice of which one to use.The problem is i want one of them to be hidden to other users on my computer so they dont know of my 2nd handle,how do i do this?

Instructions here. It's slightly different in Vista - you shouldn't need to click Change an Account first. 'Manage your network passwords' is listed down the left. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 19:43, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Preparing a square-pixel image for DV NTSC video

Hello,

I've read in numerous places (e.g. in the user manuals for Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere [1]) that if you're producing a typical image on a computer (i.e. an image that uses square pixels) but you want to use the image for DV NTSC video (the type that uses non-square pixels with an aspect ratio of 10/11 and an equivalent square pixel resolution of 720x480) you should make the image resolution 720x534 (in terms of square pixels) to avoid distortion when the image is displayed on a non-square pixel device (e.g. a standard 4:3 television). I understand the rationale behind this, but I can't figure out why the recommended square-pixel image dimensions are 720x534. If anyone could show the calculation(s) behind this suggested square pixel image resolution, I'd be interested to see it. I suspect that it might involve some simple rounding/truncation (similar to this, although with vertical scaling, not horizontal), but 534 seems a rather specific result for that type of thing.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Does this help [2] it seems that there are 720 horizontal samples - so I guess the idea is to retain that sampling rate, and alter the vertical resolution (rather than vice versa) - at least that's how I read it.

It goes on to say that only 712 out of the 720 horizontal samples are used - and 712/534 = 4/3 exactly. I would assume (unless I've misread) that the 720x534 includes the blank samples. Also I thought 720x534 was for square pixels, not non-square.83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:18, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, that site seems to directly contradict the various user manuals I've read (see the link to the Adobe Premiere manual above) in that it recommends using a square pixel image of 720x528 (not 720x534) for use in DV NTSC (720x480) video (it recommends 720x534 for D1 NTSC video). I think they got 528 by taking ${\dfrac {11}{10}}480$, which certainly seems logical. However, since that site's the only place I've seen 720x528 square pixel images recommended for use with 720x480 DV NTSC video, I'm inclined to think they're making a mistake (I would imagine that Apple and Adobe would get the recommendation right). This site states that, for 720x480 DV NTSC video, the "active area" is 710.85x486, so perhaps 534 is arrived at via ${\dfrac {11}{10}}486$ with the decimal point truncated. However, even if that's the case, it seems odd to use that number instead of the 480 lines that are actually present when DV NTSC video is copied onto a computer.

EDIT: I think the difference between the 528 vs. 534 recommendations is simply due to precision. ${\dfrac {10}{11}}=0.90909...$, but apparently this value is often just treated as 0.9, which would result in ${\dfrac {480}{0.9}}=533.3\approx 534$ (as opposed to the more precise ${\dfrac {11}{10}}480=528$). So, the site recommending 720x528 for 720x480 video is probably correct, while the image size of 720x534 recommended by Apple and Adobe is close enough to appear properly scaled, but not strictly correct.

I don't see any contracdiction (or mistakes in the official documentation) - just to repeat what I suggested using 720x534 square pixels for a 4:3 NTSC image doesn't require any rounding errors etc if you assume that the 720x534 image includes the unused samples. ie only 712 of the 720 lines actually have data in them : 712/434 = 4/3 (no rounding)

Thus the digitised image of the 'film' is exactly 4:3, but the overal image would be slightly out, due to the blank lines.

The only thing that isn't explained by that explanation is why the blank samples are included, ie why 712x534 is not used instead.

You could try the conversion to 720x534 and look at individual frames - if there are 8 blank vertical lines in the digital frame then this will confirm that the aspect ratio is being converted absolutely accurately.83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:49, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Online translators

Nice short question but how do online translators work? BigDunc^Talk 17:35, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

The article on machine translation has a good explanation. At its most basic level, though, they use a dictionary to change one word to another, combined with rules on what order words should go in. :) Ale_Jrb^talk 17:38, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Some also use a statistical (sort of matching words in common texts) method - notable google translate - it's one to watch out for because it turns up some weird spuria such as converting "de" to "en" in a german to english translation - when of course de should stay as de...83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:13, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Some also understand words that have their suffixes changed, in inflected languages. Others do not. Some come out with every second word left in the original language. If you use Firefox, try downloading FoxLingo which uses up to 6 different on-line translators at a time (for any given language pair), either for a webpage or selected text. It is quite interesting how different the various translations are. (It also saves a lot of googling if you need a snippet of an obscure language translated). - KoolerStill (talk) 01:07, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Monitor problem

The last couple of days, when I first boot up in the morning, I only see brief flashes of the screen, each time the display is supposed to change. After several reboots, it's okay again. Is there anything I can do to make it stop doing this? I'm on Vista Home Premium SP1. Clarityfiend (talk) 19:41, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

You will dislike me strongly for asking you this, but the first question is whether you have checked that both ends of the power cable are firmly seated, and whether you have checked that both ends of the video cable are firmly seated, preferably by unplugging each of the 4, and then re-plugging each in firmly. Tempshill (talk) 20:41, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

(Along the same lines try wiggling the cables just to make sure there isn't a loose connection in the wires)

Here: [3] mentions "Apollo motherboard used in the HP Pavilion dv2000, 6000 and 9000 series". Does that sound similar to yours?

The standard response is "update your video drivers" since the video card/drivers will be starting up/changing resolution as you go through the startup process this sounds like it might be something to consider.

As the computer boots the bios / vista is loading etc screens only display for a short period of time (flashes) - is that right? So the screen is effectively black the rest of the time? Does the computer successfully boot anyway?83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:15, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

It's an HP Pavilion. Your description of what it does is spot on. I guess it boots all right, since I hear the little fragment of music it plays when it reaches the login screen. I'll try updating my drivers and maybe the suggestions from that link. Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 21:48, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Something else to consider, have you got another monitor you could try it with? The reason I ask is because it could be that the monitor is on the way out and it might be that the "After several reboots, it's okay again" is actually nothing to do with the software, but by this time the monitor has warmed up and the problem has gone away. ZX81 ^talk 00:25, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Do flat screen monitors need to warm up? Clarityfiend (talk) 07:29, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Not really (as far as I know) - I think the suggestion is that a faulty monitor may work when warm (could be due to expansion of faulty solder joints or something) - since what you are experiencing sounds more specific than simply "an erratic display" it's probably not an issue here.83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:51, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I'd agree that it's unlikely to be the monitor, but if it's tested with another monitor and the same problem persists then at least it can be ruled out. After all just because it's unlikely, doesn't mean it's not impossible and when deducing any fault nothing should be assumed. ZX81 ^talk 16:57, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Interesting. I turned on my PC this morning and the same thing happened, but I got called away before I could do anything. When I came back later, the screen was working, so maybe it does need to warm up. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:55, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

June 24

Download Microsoft Security Essentials?

Resolved

Anyone knows a direct link for Microsoft Security Essentials? My MS Connect account just gives me a strange error "ID error", and I can't download it... :(

Here is the official site. Since your IP address is not in one of the areas covered by the beta, though, you probably won't be able to download it (unless you use a proxy, of course). Algebraist 00:21, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

It's just a cut-down (but Windows 7 compatible) version of OneCare, without the firewall, and I understand they only have 75,000 copies available for the beta, for US, Israeli and Brazilian customers.- KoolerStill (talk) 01:20, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, you could always head over to Softpedia. I'm currently testing out the beta under the Windows 7 Release Candidate. Note that the installer will require that your copy of Windows be genuine (Not to imply that it isn't). A restart will also be required. The install shouldn't take too long though and the program is pretty simple to both use and configure. I can't really offer an opinion on how effective the product is against malware is at the moment though. I would not suggest using it as your primary anti-virus at this time (It's still a beta and its effectiveness unproven) unless it's a test machine.--Xp54321 ^{(Hello! • Contribs)} 04:10, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I ended up finding it!. But thanks! the softpedia link is probably safer. Greetings!

Here's a video review of Microsoft Security Essentials if anyone's interested. :-)--Xp54321 ^{(Hello! • Contribs)} 01:43, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

What does ActivePython give over and above pywin32?

It is clear that ActivePython includes pywin32. What extra functionality does ActivePython give? -- Q Chris (talk) 07:34, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Just from glancing at it, it looks like it's a distribution, meaning that they've packaged the pywin32 extensions up with a Python interpreter to be more user-friendly and easier to install, as well as offering end-user support. Their website says they also offer additional documentation. Basically, ActivePython seems to be the kind of thing an ordinary user or company would install, while pywin32 seems targeted at Python developers. Is that what you were asking? Indeterminate (talk) 00:14, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Using fields in finalizers

Is it safe to use class fields in finalizers? I've heard somewhere that some fields may be nulled out or collected during a finalizer... --wj32 ^t/c 11:47, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to presume you're talking about Java. It's always safe to refer to any field you can refer to; the whole job of the garbage collector is to destroy all and only those things to which it is impossible to refer (and thus impossible to care about). The weird things about finalizers are that they can be invoked with an arbitrary delay (if the system even bothers to run them at all) after the object becomes unreachable, and that they make the object reachable again! The garbage collector knows where everything is, of course, but it's not usually counted as a source of reachability because it never does anything with the unreachable objects it sees except destroy them. But when it invokes the finalizer, a reference to the "doomed" object gets pushed back across the veil and shows up on the stack of some thread again. (The stack (and certain special pointers like to the Thread object itself) of each thread and the collection of static fields (of classes loaded by the bootstrap class loader) are the roots of the reachability graph.) So an object being finalized can "rescue itself" (and thus any objects reachable through it) by posting some reference to itself into some other, reachable field (by mutating an object that another thread can already reach, or adding a reference to itself to some static field). Even if an object fails to do so during its finalizer, there may yet be run a finalizer of some other object through which it is reachable, and that object might rescue itself or just the first object. Finally, even if an object is rescued when or after its finalizer is called, the garbage collector will never call it again; once it becomes unreachable a second time, the garbage collector will simply destroy it. (Of course, if some other object that has a reference to the twice-doomed object (and which thus — think about this — must be unreachable itself) has not had its finalizer run, the twice-doomed object can't be destroyed until that finalizer is run, and so it may get rescued again.)

So there are really two levels of "unreachable" (in addition to the "weak reachability" and so forth): an object that is unreachable from the usual sources but is reachable from some object (possibly itself) that has a finalizer that has never been run is only "mostly dead" because it can't be destroyed until all such finalizers are run, and because any of them may rescue it. Any object that is reachable neither from the usual sources nor from any object that has a finalizer that has never been run is truly gone: aside from examining memory usage, there is no way to tell whether the object still exists or has already been collected. (PhantomReferences complicate this: if a phantom reference exists to an object, it prevents it from being actually collected but does nothing else — creating a third kind of "unreachable". It may still have its finalizer run, and (I believe) its fields cannot prevent other objects from being collected. I imagine that the implementation could even go ahead and collect the object; how would you know?) --Tardis (talk) 15:45, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Using other people's image

I noticed on blogger.com you can add the URL of an image instead of uploading it yourself. Does this avoid copyright? I am not asking for legal advice...--217.227.73.165 (talk) 14:20, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

In many legal cases around the world, linking to something on the web is equivalent to making it available on your own website. In many other legal cases around the world, linking to something on the web is not equivalent to making it available on your own website. So, the answer is: It depends on where you are and how good your lawyer may be when you go to court. -- kainaw™ 14:38, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't really plan on going to court. The countries that interest me most really are: US, UK, Netherlands & Germany if anybody has any info. Thanks Mr Kainaw! :))) --217.227.73.165 (talk) 14:43, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

The relevent term is Inline linking (but see also Deep linking) - the article only briefly mentions one case in the USA - Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. - personally I would recommend against it if you want to totally avoid those court cases - it's clearly a bit cheeky...83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:27, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

You're basically using someone elses image for your own means without their permission, so no it doesn't avoid copyright. If anything it's worse because aside from using their image you're also stealing their bandwidth too. ZX81 ^talk 17:01, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

If nothing else you would be leaching their bandwidth. Bandwidth is not free and it may be costing them money to serve an image to your site. They might not appreciate that, to say the least.

They also might catch on that you're doing it, be angry, and change the filename of their image, and replace it with something else, possibly something obscene. APL (talk) 21:10, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Yep. When I found that my designs were being used as backgrounds on myspace and the like, I redirected them to a little picture of a textbox saying something like "Did I say you could use my work and my bandwidth?". I'd have done differently if any of them had had the minimal courtesy to tell me, let alone ask permission. —Tamfang (talk) 17:30, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Internet Connection drops out...a lot

Hola! It seems that, periodically, my internet connection (DSL) will spontaneously drop out. It's a simple fix, I just turn off my modem and turn it back on, then log back into my internet connection by configuring the "Basic Settings" on my (NETGEAR) router. But lately it seems to be happening more and more frequently. The other day it happened three times, and it's already happened once today. So my question(s) are:

What could cause my connection to randomly drop out like this. I do run Second Life most of the time, which is a known bandwidth hog. Is it possible that so much network traffic could cause my (modem/router/connection) to basically just say "Ok that's it, I need a break"? Or could it just be that my (modem/router) is old (modem is at least 5 years old), or there's some other problem with it. And if it's that, is it more likely that my modem or my router is the source of the problem? And if it's my modem, can you buy a new DSL modem at, like, a regular hardware store? Thanks so much for answering (in the future)! :) Digger3000 (talk) 18:28, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

In my experience heavy p2p use breaks a lot of cheap home routers. It shouldn't, but they all seem to run out of some internal resource (sockets, memory, io buffers, I dunno what) after a few days of it. Newer routers haven't, in my experience, shown themselves to be much better. Yes, you can certainly buy a new router at a computer store; Linksys, Belkin, and Netgear have much of the market, and make a dizzying array of router products. 87.115.17.119 (talk) 19:25, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I've had 2 or 3 home routers break like this over the last 10 years and suspect the router has broken. Tempshill (talk) 22:28, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

If by "drop out" you mean that your wireless card reports no signal, it's the router (or the wireless card). Try upgrading the router's firmware to the manufacturer's latest version or to third-party firmware like DD-WRT. I switched a Linksys WRT54G router to DD-WRT and got noticeably better throughput and far fewer dropouts. -- BenRG (talk) 07:46, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Does Windows Mobile have updates?

I have a PDA with Windows Mobile 2003 second edition on it. I was wondering if there are like regular updates for it like in Windows Update in the regular Windows. If so, where would I get such an update? I have no network connection on the PDA, so I would probably have to download it on my computer from somewhere, and then install it on the PDA over USB or something. --76.91.63.71 (talk) 20:20, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

No I'm afraid not. Windows Mobile 6 introduced "Windows Update" and the ability to download updates, although to date I've personally never seen any updates published (I suspect this is actually reliant on the provider of the ROM though and not Microsoft themselves). ZX81 ^talk 00:23, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Recovering files "permanently" deleted in recycle bin

Note - moved from Misc desk

We all know that deleting things in the recycle bin on Windows doesn't truly delete it, but just marks the file as free space (or something like that). Question is, how do you retrieve the file itself? I've googled it before but a lot of the sites look a bit shady, so I was wondering perhaps if A) there was a way to retrieve the file without downloading software and B) if that isn't possible, what's a good free software tool? 97.126.198.46 (talk) 19:03, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

It is possible but it is not easy. The best way is to run a specific program that pulls specific "hidden" data that is marked on the sectors to have permission to write over the data. If you add data after you have emptied the recyclebin(including temp files from using windows) or defragment your OS then you will have more difficulty pulling the information. It sounds easy to accomplish however it is not and can be costly. Most programs out there on the internet free or not(mostly not) will not be able to pull most data if any from the OS. The short answer to your question is it is not possible. Unless the photos that disappeared are worth 10,000USD or more. Ivtv (talk) 23:58, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

A) No, you can't retrieve a permanently deleted file without downloading software. Unless you're some kind of super-wizard.

B) Yes, it's possible. Lifehacker lists 5 good quality freeware programs for Windows and explains how to use them. Indeterminate (talk) 00:03, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I've used Pandora Recovery (free program) and found it to be quite effective. I'd recommend browsing download.cnet.com, a website of the non-shady variety :) . Seraphim♥ 00:24, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

OR you could use TuneUp Utilities undelete feature to recover your files. The software's not free though.... 117.194.224.3 (talk) 06:39, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

You can boot up Linux and then use ntfsundelete. That's free. --76.91.63.71 (talk) 06:50, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Note that installing undelete/recovery software is likely to write over the previous storage location of the stuff you are trying to get back. Astronaut (talk) 13:26, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Unless you install it to a different partition from the one you're trying to recover data from eg data missing from C drive, so install to D drive (if you have one!). Seraphim♥ 13:45, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I've already recommended Glary Undelete, part of Glary Utilities. [Here's] the download link. It's freeware, works. Mxvxnyxvxn (talk) 21:53, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Send me an email when a web page changes

Is there anything that will do this please? 84.13.164.184 (talk) 21:18, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes. Google send e-mail when a website changes and several services will show up. Tempshill (talk) 22:29, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

You could also install something like Web Secretary on your own computer (requires Perl) and run it on a scheduled task/cron job. ZX81 ^talk 00:20, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Image sizes changing when edited

Can anyone provide me with a short explanation of why jpegs are sometimes much smaller and sometimes much larger when edited? I've read the relevant sections of JPEG, libjpeg, Lossy compression, and Lossless data compression, but I still don't understand why the following actions produce the following results:

• I download a jpeg of this image with a 1-pixel-wide black border, remove the border but keep the white area with the caption, and it goes from 27,422 bytes to 6,477 bytes.
• I download this image, upload it as File:Anangula Site.jpg, someone crops it with Cropbot, and it goes from 24,717 bytes to 24,588 bytes.
• Someone reduces File:Ingrid Bergman in A Matter of Time.jpg from 370×250 to 300×202 to comply with the fair-use policy, and it goes from 12,044 bytes to 19,690 bytes.

Cropping a little bit and losing a little bit of size, like the Anangula photo, seems most natural, while the bits that I read about lossy compression make the church photo changes seem reasonable, but I can't see how the non-free size change happens. Perhaps most importantly — what's the difference? Is it just the program used? I used Windows Paint, although I don't know about the other ones. Nyttend (talk) 22:19, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Apps that save JPEG images generally let you choose the "compression level" to use when saving, so the user can decide whether to sacrifice more image quality in order to achieve greater compression. Irfanview, for example, lets you choose a number from 1 to 100 to determine the quality level of the saved picture. If you choose 1, you are choosing the lowest quality in order to get the smallest file size. In your examples above, the users are likely saving the files with this number set differently than it was set to when the author of the picture saved the original file. Tempshill (talk) 22:26, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Note that it is possible to losslessly crop JPGs with the right tools, albeit not with per pixel accuracy (it needs to be a multiple of the block size which is usually 16) as well as flip/rotate 90. If you don't need per pixel accuracy, this is a better option IMHO. Also note regarding tempshill comment that quality settings vary between programs/JPEG implementation. Certain implementations generally give better results then others for an equivalent size and 95 in one program is not necessarily the same as 95 in another program in other quality of size. There are also a bunch of other stuff you can do/choose which would affect quality and size. That is the nature of lossy compression, especially one as old as JPEG. Edit: I see cropbot is capable of lossless cropping. It's likely this was done in the example you gave Nil Einne (talk) 23:53, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Microsoft Paint doesnt let you choose the quality setting and uses a pretty low one, resulting in reduced size and quality when you edit JPEGs with it usually. Note however, you choose a much higher setting and your file size increases significantly, the quality will NOT be improved, as the detail has already been permanently lost the first time it was saved as a JPEG. The best thing to do is to use a JPEG editor that will let you choose the quality setting, and choose the quality setting such the the kilobytes or megabytes per kilopixel or megapixel stays the same or increases slightly to be on the safe side. Some programs like Adobe Photoshop estimate the new filesize for you before you save the picture when you are choosing the quality setting. Roberto75780 (talk) 05:15, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

In the two images from nps.gov that you linked, only about 30% of the file size is the actual JPEG data; the other 70% is cruft added by Photoshop. This includes a 3K embedded thumbnail, a second 3K thumbnail identical to the first, 6K of "tone reproduction curves", and 4K of ASCII spaces in an uncompressed XML document. Some image editors will strip all that from the output and others will preserve it. -- BenRG (talk) 06:48, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Upgrading windows 1.0 to vista. Is this possible?

I have a pondering question. Is it possible to upgrade from X to vista? X being the earliest version possible to vista. I always wanted to try it but I could never be bothered to get all the legal copies of all the operating systems. It would have a few strange results like your boot.ini file (up to xp) having full control of your registry and some kernal issues(if you can even upgrade from pre NT to NT) but can this be done? If you know the answer can you please explain in full the situation or where the cut off is? any one try it?

I do not mean a format. I mean "upgrade". Thanks Ivtv (talk) 22:43, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

An update licence for Vista will only update XP. 87.115.17.119 (talk) 22:49, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Would it be possible to find a computer that would run both such an old version and such a new version? Nyttend (talk) 22:57, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

thank you for the information 87.115.17.119 however I believe you are incorrect or maybe I was unclear. I know from experience you can upgrade windows 2000 to xp, then upgrade windows xp to vista. what I am asking is, is it possible to upgrade from windows 1.0 to 2.0 then to 3.0(or 3.1 which was the official release I believe). From there, insert your windows 95 upgrade floppies. then windows 98. after upgrading to windows 98, upgrade to windows ME. then upgrade to windows 2000, then to XP then to vista. The only issue I can see here is the Pre NT kernal when ms dos ran the back end for windows and windows was a GUI only.

Ivtv (talk) 23:28, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I think that the Windows 2000 upgrade would just check C:\ to see if there was a COMMAND.COM there. (Presumably it did some kind of checksum or CRC to verify it was a Microsoft-published command.com.) That would shorten the number of steps. But this is based on my memory and not a verifiable source, sorry. Tempshill (talk) 01:56, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

The early Windows were not Plug and Play, but required separate drivers for peripherals. This meant a hard drive could be removed to a quite different machine, and Windows would work on it straight up. From Win95 on, drivers were included for registered perihperals (so they still need drivers, but these were built in to the operating system). At this point, the familiar "found new hardware" message started popping up if a hard drive was moved to another machine, as the OS started using drivers for motherboard components as well.

This means Windows 1.0 would probably work on a computer new enough to run Vista (if you can find one with a floppy drive). But Vista would not run on a machine designed for Windows 1.0 ( 286, anyone?). But going through all the steps, you should be able to upgrade from Win 1.0 to Vista if you have a few days to spare. You would probably get from Win98 to XP without going through ME and 2000.

Oh, you'd have to have the right versions of DOS under the old Windows, too; Win 3.0 is not going to run over Dos 2.0 -- which came on 51/4 in. floppies so you'd to copy them to 31/2 somewhere. You couldn't copy it to CD because you'd have no CD support without a driver diskette until you hit Win95, and your Vista machine CD won't have a Win 3.0 compatible driver.

Don't be surprised if the pre-load memory check reports negative amounts of memory, when a program designed for 4Mb tries to check 4000. If it causes problems, just comment out the memory-related lines in the autoexec.bat.

Just for curiosity, why would you want to do this? - KoolerStill (talk) 06:50, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for the informative response. So the short of it, It is possible, but requires a lot of work. You ask me why? I ask why not. Something to do. Just to say I did it. Ivtv (talk) 21:25, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry I know I'm a bit late here, but I believe you'd also have some disk partitioning issues. Assuming Windows 1.0 will actually run on MS-DOS 6.22, that version of DOS only supported FAT-16 which is limited to 2Gb partitions, something Vista physically won't fit in. Although Microsoft do support resizing disks in the later versions of Windows, the conditions are that disk/paritions were created as dynamic in the first place. Because you'd have to "keep" each version for it to be an upgrade (and not blow the disk away), strictly speaking I can't see it being possible without using 3rd party tools. ZX81 ^talk 23:56, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

If you're going through all of these different Windows versions, why stop at Vista? Why not go for the Windows 7 beta? PCHS-NJROTC ^(Messages) 06:27, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

I know I'm late as well, but heck, why not try this in a VM instead of on a physical computer? Rgoodermote  18:42, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Haha thanks for the replies here. Yeah, we could include windows 7, but it is not released yet. When it is released in october I will add it to the list but I just see windows 7 as a glorified vista that is a glorified XP. the user ZX81 was very helpful as well seeing how I would need to use 3rd party tools. Going to be an adventure for sure. Noone else has attempted it that I know of. Someone has to try it. I could try a VM as well. Open to opinion, I just want to see the explosion,yet still have it work :) Ivtv (talk) 02:35, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Common units for (semi)proffesional desktop publishing?

Using an Adobe InDesign trial, I notice that measurements are in the form of 00p00 (with a p in the middle of some numbers. What units are these? ----Seans Potato Business 22:44, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Picas and Points. You can change this in the document preferences or change the default by closing all documents and change the preferences. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 23:17, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

How long can I submerge my keyboard in water before it's damaged (assuming damage is even possible)?

I eat a lot at my computer desk and two of my keyboards have keys that stick. To try to clean them, I have submerged them in water in my bathtub. From my experience of accidentally leaving a USB drive in the pocket of my pants and washing them in the washing machine, my understanding is that electronic equipment should be fine as long as I wait until they're thoroughly dry before electricity flows through them. My question is this. Is it safe to leave the keyboards in the bathtub the whole night or is it possible some part of the keyboard will be damaged from the water? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 22:51, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I clean keyboards from time to time. I remove the case, clean with water and a spray cleaner, drip dry for a few hours, spray thoroughly with denatured alcohol and then dry for a day or so. If you are not cracking the case, then let it dry for a few days and rotate it ever so often so the water drains. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 23:10, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

The keyboards I've opened up and looked at contain two layers of flimsy plastic with metal tracks printed on, a keystroke consists of pressing one layer against the other to make a contact. Water could get between these layers, so if you want to dry it out, you'd have to take the layers apart to make sure there isn't any water left there afterward. They can corrode inside, as I discovered when repairing a keyboard recently: a drink spill had apparently stopped one of the metal tracks conducting, and I had to solder a little bit of wire over it. 213.122.17.108 (talk) 23:21, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

If you are talking about DESKTOP keyboards then yopu can just remove each key and put it in a bag with some non abrasive cleaners like liquid dish detergent. then shake out the skin particles and the food particles from the keyboard chassis itself and flean it with a cloth or something smaller. after the keys dry put them back on. I do this once every 6 months and it works fine

Ivtv (talk) 23:34, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes, it's a desktop keyboard. It's already in the bathtub soaking. My question is really should I let them soak overnight or is there some material in the keyboard that would be damaged if submerged in water for 12-14 hours. I once ran water from my sink's water faucet into a keyboard, but that was for only a couple minutes. I'm just wondering if I should take them out of the bathtub tonight before I go to bed or tomorrow morning? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:59, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

The length of the soak shouldn't make a lot of difference as long as you don't have a lot of metals in your water that can collect on the keyboard. Even calcium deposits can mess up electronics. The key is to clean it thoroughly with alcohol (rubbing alcohol will do) after it is soaked. The alcohol will evaporate very quickly, leaving a nice dry keyboard. Please note that if the keyboard was broken before you cleaned it, cleaning it will not always fix the problem. -- kainaw™ 00:20, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I'd say leave it in - (nobody has mentioned rusty springs yet - some keyboards have steel springs in the keys which do rust - not that that would break it - but..)

Personally I like to use a hand hot shower to clean electric stuff - could be worth considering for those hard to reach places.

There's nothing I can think (in a keyboard) that would be damaged by an overnight soak - more problematic is getting all the water out - especially membranes etc, + the potential of rust - which is greater when drying (exposed to the air) rather than when submerged.

Another tip - using water from the hot tap - no cold - not only does it have better cleaning power, but if you let the whole device become hot from the water before removing it you'll find that the heat causes a lot of the water to evaporate soon afterwards, greatly reducing drying times.

This [4] for extreme keyboard cleaning. Recommended..83.100.250.79 (talk) 00:24, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

After all that, a layer of cling-wrap over the keyboard, replaced weekly, would stop further problems, if you don't want to invest in a custom keyboard cover at twice the price of the board itself.- KoolerStill (talk) 07:01, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

The first think I do with a keyboard that is having problems is try blowing round the key with a can of compressed air and turning it upside down. That often cleans things up without need needing to remove keys or wash and dry. I don't think soaking for a long time is going to do any better at cleaning than a quick wash but I can't see it doing any harm either. You want to wash the dirt away not make it swell and grow larger. Dmcq (talk) 08:19, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Rust

June 25

RCA-to-Headphone converter

Is there a device available that permits connecting a standard set of headphones to a stereo RCA Audio source? I have a device that permits the reverse (connecting headphone out to an RCA in), so such a device should be feasible, but I don't know what it would be called, or how to go about finding one. Horselover Frost (talk) 02:40, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

The RCA-to-3.5mm connector is entirely passive (unless you have a strange device, maybe with a built-in amplifier). So, you can use it "in reverse" with no trouble. The only difficulty is that it will output a male 3.5mm plug - so you will need a 3.5mm female-to-female connector (this one costs 59 cents). This will allow you to connect the headphones to a female 3.5mm jack, and the other end to the 3.5mm-to-RCA cable. Nimur (talk) 04:46, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

What he means by "passive" is that it doesnt do anything electronically, just the shape of the connectors is changed. You can buy this at some dollar stores or some electronics stores like Best Buy or Future Shop. Also, they're easy to find online, by searching on Google or eBay. You can also, as a last resort, cut the cable on cheap head phones and on the adapter you have and manually wire them together. Roberto75780 (talk) 05:05, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

You probably will need a headphone amp to connect unless the headphones are very small - since the RCA outputs will not have been designed to drive relatively a low impedance device - connecting up headphones with a passive device will cause too much current to be drawn with the possibility of damaging the outputs in the long term, or just bad sound quality. Here's an example of an inexpensive headphone amp http://www.amazon.co.uk/B-TECH-BT928-HEADPHONE-PRE-AMP/dp/B0016N5Q1S/ref=sr_1_13/280-8728623-5776213?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1245941181&sr=1-13 - there are alternative workarounds.

IE* can't open wikipedia

I installed IE8. It will not open wikipedia articles. It says that windows does not recognize this unknown MIME file type and I can't find anything online tht will open it. Many thanks for whatever help you can offer.

I asked wikipedia help and they referred me to you. I can't be the only one....can I? 68.109.83.152 (talk) 03:54, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

If you installed IE8 with a Google toolbar, try disabling that. Some people have found that works. The better solution might be to run IE8 with IE7 compatibility. On the Tools menu, select Compatibility View Settings. In that dialog, tick the check box for "Display all websites in Compatibility View". - KoolerStill (talk) 07:40, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I edit Wikipedia quite OK with IE8 (though there are some minor irritations). Which MIME file type is it complaining about? Astronaut (talk) 12:59, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Hi, i have the same problem, in chrome works fine. But IE does't this is an example page http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor. If u solve it, please let me know thanks

Macs and formatting

I have a flash drive that I need to reformat - I know exactly how to do this in Windows, but I only have access to Macs. What should I do? --128.12.77.65 (talk) 04:54, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I would probably simply type format flash drive mac into google. I tried to make that into a link to lmgtfy.com for you but Wikipedia won't let me :-( 62.78.198.48 (talk) 07:44, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 20:22, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Colour

The article Flag of Saudi Arabia says the green colour is 330C. What system of naming or describing colours is 330C in. What is the equivalent or closest colour in RGB? Thanks Roberto75780 (talk) 04:58, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

It could be the Pantone color system. The RGB is #005652 (from Photoshop) -Sealedinskin (talk) 06:50, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

HP PDA is locked

I acquired a HP PDA (ipac 112) on ebay. Charged battery as per instructions but cannot access the "Start" screen. The only screen I get is all numbers with a window for a password and at the bottom of the screen it says "Locked". How do I unlock it and reset the password. 220.238.109.218 (talk) 05:02, 25 June 2009 (UTC) Joe Blow

Most PDA's have a small button inside a hole on the device that needs to be pressed with a paperclip or pin. If you press it once, it does a soft reset, which probably won't solve your problem. If you press and hold it, it will ask you a confirmation and then do a hard reset which deletes everything on the device and returns it to its factory settings, like formatting a computer with the recovery CDs. Roberto75780 (talk) 05:22, 25 June 2009 (UTC) If your device doesnt have that button, contact Toshiba or search for support on their website. Roberto75780 (talk) 05:22, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I can't verify this myself, but Google suggests the following steps for performing a hard reset (wiping all data on the device and reverting it to the factory settings): Press Win + OK + Record all at the same time. Whilst pressing those buttons also press the reset button and hold for 3-4 seconds. Release reset and then release the buttons, the screen should say "Clean Reboot". ZX81 ^talk 00:16, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Editing Animated images

How can i edit an animated image (remove an object and place another in its place) without disturbing the animation?Shraktu (talk) 08:14, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

What sort of file is it? An animated gif (.gif), Flash (.swf) or some sort of movie sequence (.avi and others)? - Jarry1250 ^{[ humourous – discuss ]} 08:16, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Its a .gif file..Shraktu (talk) 08:45, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Questions about editing animated images are one of the common ones on this reference desk. From the archives, see - Slow down animations, GIF Animation, Animated GIFs, Animated gifs, Looking for a GIF animator. Jay (talk) 11:13, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

You will end up having to edit every frame of it in something like Photoshop or Gimp (probably by extracting all the frames into separate files or layers and then recombining them into an animation again at the end). It is non-trivial and not fun. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 20:21, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Mobile internet

I'm getting an unlocked LG Web Slider phone soon and I was wondering will I be able to use Facebook and MSN on the phone with my regular Virgin pre-paid sim card or do I need another sim card like Boost to make the internet work? --124.254.77.148 (talk) 08:36, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Have you checked out the various plans - particularly data plans - at http://www.virginmobile.com.au/ ? Such information suggests that Virgin Mobile in Australia does support internet access, though whether it will be fast enough for Facebook or MSN using a pre-pay SIM is something you should ask. Astronaut (talk) 12:42, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

The pre-paids work on the same network and at the same speeds as the billed services. They are available in high denominations. In fact the same phone networks are now being used as wireless internet connections for computers (through a tiny USB stick modem), at nominally broadband speeds.- KoolerStill (talk) 21:07, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Compare two files in Ubuntu

What graphical program can I use to compare two files in Ubuntu?--Mr.K. (talk) 09:22, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

fldiff 87.115.17.119 (talk) 09:47, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

or xxdiff 87.115.17.119 (talk) 09:53, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

OK, I checked fldiff and I didn't like it. Apparently, the program don't let you edit the files being compared.--Mr.K. (talk) 10:00, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

xxdiff has apparently the same problem. If I spot a difference, I'll need to change something, is it really impossible?--Mr.K. (talk) 10:05, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

emacs' M-x diff mode lets you edit either file, but it presents the diff in conventional textual format. 87.115.17.119 (talk) 10:19, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Oh, yes. Thanks. --Mr.K. (talk) 10:31, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Or another emacs way, occasionally quite useful, is M-x compare-windows, which gets easier to use if you bind it to some key. 88.114.222.252 (talk) 10:52, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I like this program called "meld". Ubuntu has it. --Sean 19:03, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

If you want to merge changes, emacs's "emerge" command is great. It shows the two versions side by side with the diffs highlighted, and you pick (diff by diff) which version you want (A or B) in a third window. I think there is something like it as a standalone desktop gui app but I've never bothered to look for it. 208.70.31.206 (talk) 02:26, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Relationship between offset value format and 2's compliment format in DAC

Can any one help to find out the relation ship between Offset value format and 2's compliment format in DAC(Digital to Analog Converter)..?

Can you tell us which DAC? The term "offset value format" isn't one with which either I or Google are terribly familiar. If I were to guess, I'd think that "offset value" means something like "each sample is represented by the difference between its value and that of the predecessor", as opposed to an absolute value. You'd think both an offset scheme and an absolute scheme would be signed, however, so both would (likely) be represented in two's complement. I think you'll have to let me read the appropriate datasheet to properly answer this. 87.115.17.119 (talk) 10:55, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Sounds like they are different formats for encoding signed values using binary symbols. Two's complement is the typical format used in computers for representing signed integers. “Offset value″ sounds like a convention in which an offset is added to a representable value (whether positive or negative) so that the resulting number is always non-negative, and therefore can be represented just as an unsigned integer. Say you want to represent values in the range -128, …,+127 as 8-bit unsigned integers, you can add an offset of 128 to the value that you want to represent, so that a value of -128 will be encoded as -128 + 128 = 0, and a value of 0 will be encoded as 0 + 128 = 128. This way the representable numbers are all encoded as non-negative (i.e. unsigned) integers.

Tablet vs. normal notebook

Why are normal notebooks much more common than tablets? Are tablets such a lame invention? --80.58.205.37 (talk) 12:51, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I considered buying a tablet a few years ago. I ditched the idea when my arm started to ache after just a few minutes of using it. Astronaut (talk) 13:39, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

a phenomenon called "Gorilla arm", apparently. 87.115.33.63 (talk) 13:57, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I have mild tendinitis and I almost always get finger pain within a few minutes when using a new input device, even a touchpad that's not much different from touchpads I've used before. But after a few days my body somehow adjusts and I can use the same device for long periods without trouble. I don't have much experience with tablets, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're like that too. Don't give up just because the first time hurts. I don't think this is gorilla arm—if the screen is horizontal then it should be similar to writing on paper. -- BenRG (talk) 21:48, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Pure tablets have pretty much gone away in favor of those combination table/notebooks with the fold-back keyboard.

I've got a viewsonic V1100. (I like it for it's oddly left-handed layout.) It's great for reading and browsing the web. Writing on it is a bit of a chore, though thanks to slightly iffy handwriting recognition. (If you've got really neat print handwriting you'll probably do well with it. ) APL (talk) 16:29, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Most people can type a lot faster than they can write. If you are comfortable with a keyboard it is a LOT faster and easier to use that than any touch-screen or stylus approach. I would guess that at least 50% of what people do on a computer involves putting in text of some form, and if a tablet increased the time of such things by a great factor (which I suspect they do), then it would be seriously inconvenient to use one for anything other than the occasional reading of the newspaper. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 20:08, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Another reason might be, that tablets are much more expensive than normal notebooks. (here tablets starts at 1500 or 2000, but low end notebook can be bought for below 300). -Yyy (talk) 06:37, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Follow up: and is there any laptop which screens can be rotated to the back until you have it flat? I imagine it would be quite comfortable to read when you are on the road (in a subway, train, ...). That wouldn't be a huge cost for the manufacturers, would it?--Mr.K. (talk) 10:01, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Do you mean devices that are convertible from the "traditional" notebook format to a tablet shape? If so, yes, they are generally referred to as Convertibles. They tend to be even more pricy than tablets. One example is here --Kateshortforbob 12:17, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

No, I don't mean a convertible. Just a normal laptop, which screen can be rotated (almost) 360 degrees.

The Tablet PC article has a list. The one I tried and found heavy in my arm, was a Toshiba (Tecra M7, maybe). The screen could be rotated through 180° and layed flat over the keyboard. Input was via a stylus and it used Windows Tablet edition. IIRC, I was pretty impressed that it easily recognised my scruffy handwriting without much trouble, but not enough to put up with the aching arm. Astronaut (talk) 17:14, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Cut help

Consider the following csv data:

1,"Doe, John",38
2,"Unknown",0
3,"Wing, Jr, Jeff",41

Assume that I want to extract the 3rd field using cut. The obvious command is: cut -f 3 -d, which returns:

John"
0
Jr

It is obvious that cut doesn't understand the concept of quotes. Is there a way to explain to cut that commas inside of quotes are not delimiters? -- kainaw™ 14:00, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

As far as I can tell no - not with cut the unix command. I would probably try to write a parser that replaces commas inside quotes with a unique character , use cut, and then reverse replace.

There seem to be some programs here http://www.blossomassociates.net/tables/ ?haven't checked.

[5] Explains in totally non partisan terms how microsoft is at fault: "In fact, the Microsoft version of CSV is a textbook example of how not to design a textual file format..." and unix is not.. :) In other words because CSV doesn't do it the unix way (with control codes) CUT just doesn't work.83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:54, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

By the way the algorhythm is so trivial it's barely worth mentioning - but - if you scan the file from beginning to end, counting the " the separator(s) is(are) legitimate only if an even number of " have been counted.. Thus ignore all separators when the count of " is odd..83.100.250.79 (talk) 16:02, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Alternatives to Paypal

Is there any alternative to Paypal? Some alternative that is simple to use and integrates well with Paypal users. Under "integrates" I mean that a Paypal user could send money with the same ease to a Paypal and to a non-Paypal user.--Mr.K. (talk) 15:01, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I looked up "payment systems" on Wikipedia and got this list [6]. One benefit of PayPal is that it's a well known brand name. Not sure if I would trust my financial info with a company with a limited reputation. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 17:16, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

There are a lot of others out there, although their use is becoming limited in the U.S. due to restrictions on gambling. Net Teller is the foremost example (ceased operating in the U.S. in 2007). Shadowjams (talk) 17:33, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Nice, but do these system integrate with Paypal? If you have Paypal and I not, could you send me money? The problem is as if you had Windows and I Linux and you couldn't send me an email.--Mr.K. (talk) 17:43, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

When you say "integrates with PayPal" do you mean literally transfer money directly from a PayPal account to an account with another company? No I'm afraid I don't think you'll find any that support that (it's simply not in PayPal's interest as well as for security reasons) and you'd need to go through either a bank account or a card. I'll happily be proved wrong though! ZX81 ^talk 00:09, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Safari Books

I have recently used the site, [[7]], which is basically an online library to which you can subscribe. I noticed some peculiar things about this site, such as the fact that the contents of the books are represented as JavaScript which is then rendered by the browser. Presumably, this is to prevent people from downloading the page and encourage them to buy "tokens" for the privilege of downloading chapters in these books. Is it legal to download the pages themselves (after you have subscribed to the service) instead of paying for the .pdf version? Isn't it very easy just to download the page itself and view it at a later time in a web browser? What advantages could this approach possibly provide? 24.68.238.232 (talk) 15:56, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Check the current ToS, but earlier you might not keep any copy of the book after your subscription ended.--Mr.K. (talk) 16:36, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

That's a legal/contractual thing, not a technical one. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 20:04, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Saving the webpage itself is not easily done; but printing a copy of it to a PDF file is trivial (I just tried it), as is copying and pasting the text. So I would say that it's a lot of technical effort expended for almost no benefit. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 20:04, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

regional font problem in windows

I use windows 7, and have installed support for a regional language, bangla. But the font that windows uses for bangla display is pathetically small, and I dont like it. I have several other better fonts, but I cant make windows use the other fonts for bangla. While trying to delete the default font, i.e Vrinda, Windows claims it to be protected and denies. Please help. 59.93.244.196 (talk) 17:28, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Why not just change the fonts and/or sizes through Control Panel -> Personalization -> Windows Color and Appearance -> Advanced ? That's the "proper" way to change it and won't cause Windows file protection errors. ZX81 ^talk 00:01, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, your 'proper' way is of no help, because I dont want to change the font that windows uses for displaying characters. I just want to change the font that windows uses to display some special regional unicode characters. Any ways, thanks. 218.248.80.114 (talk) 02:29, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Website builders

A friend of mine was telling me about this website builder and I was wondering if there are any free alternatives thanks. BigDunc^Talk

Sure, lots of web hosts offer similar "web site construction tools." They are generally marked by their lack of flexibility, poor coding, and generic appearance. Take a look at that site's gallery page for a wonderful illustration of what I mean. None of the sites on there look very good, none of them look like the site that is selling you the software. They are all generic, fairly undeveloped-looking websites.

Depending on what kind of site you want, there are probably better options. If you are trying to make a blog or a blog-like site, something like WordPress facilitates all of the complicated database work and streamlines a lot of the graphical design, and can still produce something fairly customized without too much technical knowledge (and doesn't cost anything).

In the end, you do sort of get what you pay for—there is a lot of free web stuff out there BUT most of them require some sort of technical skills, which are not free—they require a time investment to develop on someone's behalf. --98.217.14.211 (talk)

I have the knowledge to do a web site from scratch have a BSc in Computer Science but what I was looking for was to teach my 9 year old about bulding simple sites and as the software I linked to uses a GUI to help with the build I thought it would be ideal. I have shown him simple code using Dreamweaver but it gets a little complicated for him with columns and rows and other code. BigDunc^Talk 21:24, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

sites.google.com? Tempshill (talk) 23:12, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

All the free hosting sites e.g [Google Sites], etc. do not let you perform the coding yourself. Does anybody know of such a site that will allow that ? 218.248.80.114 (talk) 02:48, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Actually with Google Sites you can write HTML. Start editing a page, then click the "HTML" button at the top of the page. It switches to an HTML view and you can just start typing whatever HTML code you want. I've never tried inserting any JavaScript, so I don't know about that. (And your point may be different than mine; your content still appears within a frame and so if you're looking for the very basics in order for beginning coders to learn the very basics, my observation may be irrelevant to you.) Tempshill (talk) 05:25, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Just tell your nine year old about the wonderful world of Wikipedia. That's how I learned everything I know about websites. Just be sure to tell him/her not to vandalize monitor what (s)he does here so that you're not getting caught up in autoblocks and sockpuppet investigations. Another idea is Myspace, but they wouldn't be too happy if they found out a nine year old had an account there because their minimum age requirement is 13 years. Perhaps Facebook would allow a nine year old to have a profile, but I doubt it, although I don't know a whole lot about Facebook. As previously recommended, you can try Google Pages. There's always BlogSpot too, which is also owned by Google. PCHS-NJROTC ^(Messages) 07:07, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

OnLive

There was a lot of skepticism when OnLive was first announced but now that the media circus is over I'm having a hard time finding any evidence for or against the product actually working as the promoters suggested (that is streaming, high def video games of next gen quality). Is there any major source that has independently verified OnLive's claims? And in theory is a system like this really possible with today's technology? TheFutureAwaits (talk) 21:26, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm afraid you are going to have to wait until they roll out the product or conduct some more public demos. The version they ran at GDC and their inhouse demos all use higher speed, lower latency Net connections to their data centers than any consumer will have. Your question about whether it's really possible "in theory" needs to be a more precise question. I think the question that a lot of people familiar with current gaming tech would like to see answered is, "What games will I be able to play over OnLive and get an excellent game experience, given normal constraints of consumer bandwidth and latency to the data centers that OnLive is going to build; and how much am I going to have to pay?" None of this is answerable yet. Tempshill (talk) 23:10, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm a professional game programmer - I have yet to meet anyone in the business who takes this idea seriously. The latency is the killer for any kind of action game - the speed of light is a harsh mistress. No doubt there are some genres for which it might be interesting - but it's not going to take over the world. SteveBaker (talk) 03:53, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Well these guys claimed they can run Crysis and even more graphically demanding games in real-time which I agree sounds unlikely. Yet major studios (EA, UBisoft, Atari) have signed on as partners, so it sounds like they are taking it seriously.

Also, why would the developer's pull such an elaborate ruse? Steve Perlman (largely the force behind OnLive's development) is the CEO and is already very wealthy after Quicktime and WebTV. In fact it seems like most of the Onlive#Executive_Team has little financial motivation to do this unless it would actually take off.

It seems like all the skeptics just say "this is impossible with today's technology", but then OnLive is claiming to be revolutionary and has offered demos at conventions so where's the evidence it won't work? TheFutureAwaits (talk) 07:46, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Bit_rate#Video might introduce some clarifty 5Mbits/sec is DVD quality - I would be expecting similar or higher quality for a game - that should give an indication of the bandwidth required.

The technology could/can work - though as mentioned above never as well as having a machine 1ft away - I'd be more concerned about the business plan - at some point someone has to pay for the machinery (ie high end graphics cards/CPUs) needed to operate the system.

Surely if a developer can get online play to work, then there's no problem with this technology - sure most people with have to make do with SD or sub-SD resolution images on a 1.5Mbit connection. If you've got really fast internet with a guaranteed connection speed it would work - but who has (excluding koreans). Apart from getting screwed everytime the connection speed drops out what's the problem? I don't think there's any doubt that it works in a singular best case - but what about when everyone comes home at 6pm and wants to play a game - maybe the idea is to use spare computing power in local severs? - otherwise the server hardware would work out too expensive. <cynical>Anyway think of the payment options - it can be made to work..</cynical>.

Don't forget to read about The Phantom (game system) - eventually we got a keyboard. The onlive controller looks cool maybe they can spin that out when the business fails?83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:41, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Or read this if you wish [8] which suggests the things real reason for existing is to make founder Steve Perlman money via acquisition. quote: "This Jesus Box is for buying and selling". (see also Money begets.. and Wealth condensation ) Who knows?83.100.250.79 (talk) 16:40, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

(By the way if anyone knows when Steve Pearlmen was born, and his citizenship, please update his biographical article)83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:31, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Windows trivia

Does anyone know 'how to get' the windows wizard - I've found a gif called Merlin on the hard drive. But all I ever see is the dog.. (I fucking love that wizard and want it) please help. Thanks.83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:57, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Do you mean the Microsoft Agent characters? He's located in C:\Windows\MSAgent\Chars - What do you mean by "get" though? If you want to use him in your own programs then Microsoft actually make a control that can be used in other programs (Microsoft Agent Control - C:\windows\MSAgent\AgentCtl.dll) and you can get additional characters from Google. ZX81 ^talk 00:05, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes both. Thanks.

If you are talking about the animated character in the Windows XP Search Companion (Start, Search, For Files and Folders), just right click on the current character, then click "Choose a different animated character." --Bavi H (talk) 02:00, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes both.

Thanks.

Resolved

Social networking sites that ask permission to snoop in your email account

This question is partly inspired by a previous one: Facebook imports gmail contacts without knowing the password. How.? (June 22nd 2009).

The first time I encountered this practice was when signing up for ooVoo. Being unprepared, I fell into the trap - I of course immediately changed the password (to a much more secure one), but nevertheless, after the incident, spammers have started spamming using my name and gmail account as spoofed sending address. Maybe a coincidence, I don't know, but it's certainly made me more acutely aware of the privacy issues involved.

Do I have a question? Two actually:

1. I'm aware of Facebook, Twitter and ooVoo that do this. Other sites?
2. Does this practice have a name and perhaps an article?

Thanks, --NorwegianBlue ^talk 23:41, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Lots of sites apparently do this, even though it is a horrible, horrible idea. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 02:11, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, that was a really excellent link! A must-read for anyone considering signing up for facebook etc (they do have a "skip this step" option, not very prominent, but it's there) --NorwegianBlue ^talk 08:02, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

If you've given your email details to Facebook, they've stored your contacts and will use them for things like Suggestions ("People You Might Know"). You can delete that data here. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 22:04, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. I haven't though, but thanks for the link. I quickly realized my mistake after my bad experience with ooVoo. Since I own a couple of domains, I simply assign a different address to each site that I do business with, whether it be Facebook or Amazon. Facebook is currently 3019 at mydomain dot net. The addresses redirect to my real account, which is unknown to the other party. This has two advantages: gmail filtering becomes very easy, and elimination of an account email address that starts getting used by spammers is a piece of cake. —Preceding unsigned comment added by NorwegianBlue (talk • contribs)

Googling suggested that password scraping might be the phrase I'm looking for. Is that correct, or does it mean something else? --NorwegianBlue ^talk 19:41, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

June 26

MPEG-4 encoder?

Does anyone know of any free/open-source MPEG-4 encoders (as in the codec itself, not a conversion program)? I use video editing software from a couple years ago, before MPEG-4 was widespread, and it doesn't include any MPEG-4 codecs.

Thanks.

MPEG-4 isn't a single object, it's a collection of parts (see the article you linked to). My personal favourite for video encoding (MPEG-4 Part 2) is Xvid which is also quite a popular one, but there others in listed in the article. ZX81 ^talk 00:28, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, I should have specified which part I meant (I was thinking part 2, as I doubt there's a free part 10 codec in existence). I wasn't previously aware that Xvid is open-source, so I'll have to try it out.

You doubt x264 exists? 69.245.227.37 (talk) 02:31, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Not any more! Thanks for the tips, everyone - it's good to have free solutions for encoding both MPEG-4 part 2 and part 10.

Resolved

Windows 7 Upgrade Option

[9]

Why is Microsoft avoiding the words "free" and/or "discount" on their Win7 Upgrade Option web page? --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 00:34, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

You are astute. If it does not say 'free' or 'discount' then the upgrade is probably not free or discounted. When Vista came out, there was a short time period before the debut when if you purchased a PC with XP, there was a coupon for a free Vista upgrade. Assuming Microsoft is going to run a similar promotion again this time, we evidently are not within that short time period yet. Tempshill (talk) 05:23, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

I just got next week's Best Buy circular, and they are offering a "discount" (next week only) on Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade pre-order, for only $50. These may be related. Mxvxnyxvxn (talk) 13:51, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

It looks like the free upgrade period began today, at least at Dell and Lenovo (the only two OEMs I checked). -- BenRG (talk) 14:44, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Diagonal lines/snow across display when running Windows 7 on iMac

I recently installed WIndows 7 on my Mac (20" iMac with 2.4GHz C2D "Penryn" processor and ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT video card) via Boot Camp, and I've noticed that the display has faint snow/diagonal lines running across it when booted into Windows 7. The display is fine when I'm running Leopard, so I'm guessing it must be a driver issue of some sort. Does anyone have any idea how to fix this? I tried updating the drivers through Windows Update and it didn't help. (I also tried downloading the drivers from ATI's website, but the setup utility just doesn't seem to install the drivers). --CalusReyma (talk) 04:02, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

How are Push notification more battery saving?

How are Push notification more battery saving than regular polling? Specifically I'm talking about the iPhone. Isn't the phone constantly waiting to get a 'push'? How does this save power instead of regular polling? --69.148.26.115 (talk) 05:00, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Sending a radio signal so that the cell base station hears it takes much more power than having a radio receiver open, waiting for an incoming signal. A radio signal weakens according to the inverse-square law to distance between phone and base tower, so quite a bit of energy is needed so that the base tower antenna gets enough of it. A radio receiver needs much less power, especially as the cell tower doesn't operate on tiny batteries and can send a much more powerful signal than the phone can.

This is also why a cell phone battery lasts days in standby, waiting for incoming calls, but only has a couple of hours of talk time, when it needs to send the speech signal. 62.78.198.48 (talk) 06:59, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Extract each nth word of a string or text

Is there a website that easily lets you extract each nth word of a string of text to help crack codes? (Any places that allow you to try all potential orders for the discovered words would also be appreciated) - 131.211.210.114 (talk) 08:45, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't know about websites, but this Perl command will print all permutations of every 7th word in f.txt:

perl -MMath::Combinatorics -le 'print "@$_" for permute grep !($i++ % $ARGV[0]), map split, <STDIN>' 7 < f.txt

--Sean 18:42, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Handwritten notes

What is the best way of transferring handwritten notes into a computer? Tablet? Scan? Electronic stylus? Any other digitizing device?--Mr.K. (talk) 10:48, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Assuming the notes are already written, and you don't want to type them in yourself then some form of Handwriting recognition software seems to be the only option. Given the choice between a scanner and photograph the scanner might be a better choice for multiple pages.

The other option is called a secretary..83.100.250.79 (talk) 13:52, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Are secretaries digitizing devices? Anyway, the days in which secretaries would type a dictate are probably over and we all have to type/write our own texts. For a comparison among user-friendliness see [| here]. --Quest09 (talk) 17:27, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried using Microsoft Onenote? Alaphent (talk) 00:24, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Handwriting recognition software is usually pretty bad and requires a lot of cleanup. It's usually faster to just transcribe them or have someone else transcribe them. This is a situation where the software solution vastly underperforms the old-fashioned (e.g. typing) solution. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 15:18, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

This is definitely not the cheapest option, but if this is for work or school or you will be using it a lot, I would seriously consider a livescribe pulse smart pen. I had someone at my work demonstrate it to me and it is quite incredible. You can write stuff, draw stuff and says stuff to it and at the end it all just uploads to your computer. He said that there are a couple of hand writing quirks you have to get used to so it can recognise your writing better, but it's not nearly as bad as the old palms or anything like that, he said it was easy to get used to and now it hardly gets a letter wrong. If my job involved more writing I would love to have one, but I think they're over $200 so I can't really justify the spend. Vespine (talk) 01:53, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Portable laptop charged

I saw some portable solar laptop charged, but they only output 15V. Is that enough, if my laptop normally uses 17V?--Mr.K. (talk) 11:13, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

2V is a big difference - the answer is probably no - not enough volts.83.100.250.79 (talk) 13:53, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Getting DSL and keeping screen name - how is it possible?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something here; it wouldn't be the first time. But, Iwas told if I get DSL service with another provider, AT&T, I could keep the screen name from my old provider. I guess I was thinking each provider had sole ownership of the screennames, so I can't be x@aol.com if I'm not on AOL, for isntance.

Of course, I'm assuming that I could do this while also leaving AOL, and cancelling my service contract, and perhaps that's not possible.209.244.30.221 (talk) 12:50, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

You're correct; if you cancel your AOL account then you'll lose your AOL screen name and e-mail address. But if you purchase DSL (or cable modem, or FiOS, or any other broadband service), you may keep paying AOL to maintain your AOL account, and log in to AOL through your broadband connection instead of by having your modem dial up. The disadvantage is that now you're paying for both DSL and for your AOL service. If you are comfortable with AOL and it's OK with you to spend for both services, then by all means you can do that; your AOL connection will certainly be faster. At this point AOL is just another service that your computer connects to, as it would with any other website when you launch a web browser like Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer or Apple Safari or whatever. Over time, while continuing to connect primarily to AOL, you can experiment with free e-mail services like GMail or Yahoo! Mail, or even POP3 e-mail clients like Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook to replace AOL's mail functionality, and when you become comfortable with one of the latter choices and have set up a new e-mail address there, you can e-mail all your friends that your e-mail address has changed, and cancel your AOL service at that point. (Or don't, if there are services on AOL that you enjoy.) Tempshill (talk) 14:46, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Okay, thanks for xplaining. Oh, one othe rthing - what about AIM? How do people in other countries access it? I'm just used to having it with AOL. WOuld I need to pay a fee for it, too, or would I be able to access it with DSl and with a free e-mail account?209.244.30.221 (talk) 18:35, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

You can just download it from the AIM website; see the links at the bottom of our article AOL Instant Messenger. You don't need to be an AOL subscriber to use AIM. I don't use it myself but I believe it's free to use, though I assume you will have to change your "screen name" if you cancel your AOL account. Tempshill (talk) 20:51, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Web profit

How shock sites like Rotten.com generate profit? If these sites do not general profit, then how they operate? Does anyone fund these sites? Also how free video sharing websites like You tube generate profit? Google spent a lot of money to buy this site. But what they get in return? NewGeneticCode (talk) 13:05, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

In my limited experience, they are limited to advertising (and associated deals with regards to product placement, etc, etc) and paid backlinks. The youtube case generated a lot of stick at the time, I believe, for its monumentally large annual profit to valuation ratio. TO counter this google, has been developing ways to target in-video advertising. - Jarry1250 ^{[ humourous – discuss ]} 13:36, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

It's also worth noting that not all web sites generate profit, and many of them don't even try to. I think Rotten.com, for example, isn't a terribly high-maintenance site, all things considered; the site design is very simple, people send them most, if not all of the material they publish, and there's not all that much to do on a daily basis. At least on the face of it, a couple of people could easily run it as a hobby without feeling too overworked. Sure, they'd have to pay for the hosting, but what the hell, most hobbies tend to cost money. Of course, Rotten does have a store. At the very least I'd imagine it at least covers the expenses they incur from running the site. They get a lot of traffic, so perhaps their merchandise sells well -- but of course there's no way of knowing that. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 14:12, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Oh, I agree. I run a hobby site; the hosting is paid from advertising/backlinks and the occasion store sell, but the money doesn't really bother me. It doesn't make any profit really, but then again it didn't sell for hundreds of millions of dollars. - Jarry1250 ^{[ humourous – discuss ]} 15:14, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

YouTube is chock full of ads. You can't do anything without ads raining in. Rotten is probably just cheap hosting and a hobby. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 15:03, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

java

I'm setting up some java stuff and one of the instructions says startup the mbean browser of jconsole or jvisualvm". What's mbean browser?

We have a short article on mbean. It is a browser that connects you to jconsole (Java Monitoring and Management Console) or jvisualvm (Java Virtual Machine Monitoring). It helps you set up configurations or get statistics from a Java program. - KoolerStill (talk) 14:22, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Where do I download it?

I think if you have either the jconsole or the jvisualvm, the Mbean should be part of the package. Look in the folder your java stuff is in. There should be a file called help or readme. If you already have it partly set up, starting the browser might be on one of the menu items, possibly File or Tools.

Someone will come along who can help you more, especially if you put more details about what kind of package you are setting up.

Also please sign your posts with typing four tildes ~ (far left key on top row) because the sinebot seems to be on holiday so it can't sign it for you. - KoolerStill (talk) 17:31, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

problem

Hey,there! This C++ program gives the output that the selected room number is booked or in either case havent booked yet thus returning to back menue.Can someone sort out the problem so that it works properly,able to take the room number,customer id etc etc rather than giving the output as booked on entering any room number..Thanks

C++ program code

#include <iostream.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <stdio.h> #include <conio.h> #define MAX_ROOMS 100 #define SINGLE 5000 #define DOUBLE 8000 void Initialize(); void DisplayList(); void DisplayBilling(); void MakeReservation(); void EditReservation(); void DisplayRoomStatus(); int MainMenu(); int GetRoomNumber( const char * const ); char GetRoomType(); struct CUSTOMER { char name[50]; char id[15]; char address[100]; char phone[30]; }; struct ROOM { int number; char type; char booked; int days; CUSTOMER customer; }; ROOM rooms[MAX_ROOMS]; int main () { //clrscr(); int choice; while ((choice = MainMenu()) != 6) { switch (choice) { case 1: MakeReservation(); break; case 2: EditReservation(); break; case 3: DisplayBilling(); break; case 4: DisplayRoomStatus(); break; case 5: DisplayList(); break; default: cout << "Incorrect choice" << endl; break; } } return 0; } void MakeReservation() { int roomNumber; // clrscr(); cout << " ** New Reservation **\n" << endl; roomNumber = GetRoomNumber("\nEnter Room Number to be Reserved"); if (rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked == 'N') { cout<<"\nEnter Customer Name:"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.name; cout<<"\nEnter Customer ID:"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.id; cout<<"\nEnter Customer Address:"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.address; cout<<"\nEnter Customer Phone:"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.phone; rooms[roomNumber - 1].type = GetRoomType(); cout<<"\nEnter Booking Duration (Days):"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].days; rooms[roomNumber - 1].number = roomNumber; rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked = 'Y'; cout<<"\n\nRoom Reservation Completed!\n\nPress any key to continue..."<<endl; getch(); MainMenu(); } else { cout<<"\nRoom Number: "<<roomNumber<<" is already booked to: "<<rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.name<<endl; cout<<"\nPress any key to continue..."<<endl; getch(); } } int MainMenu() { // clrscr(); cout << "\n ** Main Menu ** \n" << endl << "\nEnter your choice" << endl << "1 - Reservation" << endl << "2 - Edit Reservation" << endl << "3 - Billing" << endl << "4 - Room Status" << endl << "5 - List All" << endl << "6 - Quit\n? "; int menuChoice; cin >> menuChoice; return menuChoice; } int GetRoomNumber( const char * const prompt ) { int roomNumber; do { cout << prompt << " (1 - "<<MAX_ROOMS<<"): "; cin >> roomNumber; } while ( roomNumber < 1 || roomNumber > MAX_ROOMS ); return roomNumber; } char GetRoomType() { char roomType; while (1) { cout << "\nEnter Room Type ('s' for single or 'd' for double): "; cin >> roomType; if (roomType == 's' || roomType == 'S' || roomType == 'd' || roomType == 'D') { break; } } return roomType; } void DisplayList() { // clrscr(); cout<<"\n ** List of Rooms **\n"<<endl; for (int i = 0; i < MAX_ROOMS; i++) { if (rooms[i].booked == 'Y') { cout << "\nRoom Number: " << rooms[i].number << " * Booked: " << rooms[i].booked << " * Room Type: " << rooms[i].type << " * Duration: " << rooms[i].days << endl; cout << "Customer: " << rooms[i].customer.name << " * ID: " << rooms[i].customer.id << " * Address: " << rooms[i].customer.address << " * Phone: "<< rooms[i].customer.phone << endl; } else { cout << "\nRoom Number: " << rooms[i].number << " * Booked: " << rooms[i].booked << endl; } if ((i + 1) % 20 == 0) { cout<<"\nPress any key to continue...\n"<<endl; getch(); } } } void Initialize() { for (int i = 0; i < MAX_ROOMS; i++) { rooms[i].number = i + 1; rooms[i].type = 'x'; rooms[i].booked = 'N'; rooms[i].days = 0; strcpy(rooms[i].customer.name,"\0"); strcpy(rooms[i].customer.id, "\0"); strcpy(rooms[i].customer.address, "\0"); strcpy(rooms[i].customer.phone, "\0"); } } void EditReservation() { int roomNumber; // clrscr(); cout << " ** Modify Reservation **\n" << endl; roomNumber = GetRoomNumber("\nEnter Room Number to be Modified"); if (rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked == 'Y') { cout<<"\nEnter Customer Name:"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.name; cout<<"\nEnter Customer ID:"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.id; cout<<"\nEnter Customer Address:"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.address; cout<<"\nEnter Customer Phone:"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.phone; rooms[roomNumber - 1].type = GetRoomType(); cout<<"\nEnter Booking Duration (Days):"; cin>>rooms[roomNumber - 1].days; rooms[roomNumber - 1].number = roomNumber; rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked = 'Y'; cout<<"\n\nRoom Reservation Modified!\n\nPress any key to continue..."<<endl; getch(); } else { cout << "\nRoom Number: " << roomNumber<<" is not booked yet!" << endl; cout << "\nPress any key to continue..." << endl; getch(); } } void DisplayBilling() { int roomNumber; // clrscr(); cout << " ** Billing Information **\n\n" << endl; cout << "\n@single room = " << SINGLE << endl; cout << "\n@double room = " << DOUBLE << endl; roomNumber = GetRoomNumber("\n\nEnter Room Number whose billing is required:"); if (rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked == 'Y') { cout << "\nRoom Number: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].number << "\nBooked: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked << "\nRoom Type: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].type << "\nDuration: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].days << endl; cout << "\nCustomer: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.name << "\nID: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.id << "\nAddress: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.address << "\nPhone: "<< rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.phone << endl; if (rooms[roomNumber - 1].type == 's' || rooms[roomNumber - 1].type == 'S') { cout << "\n@single room * duration ( " << SINGLE << " x " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].days << " ) = " << SINGLE * rooms[roomNumber - 1].days << endl; } else { cout << "\n@double room * duration ( " << DOUBLE << " x " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].days << " ) = " << DOUBLE * rooms[roomNumber - 1].days << endl; } cout << "\n\nPress any key to continue..." << endl; getch(); } else { cout << "\nRoom Number: " << roomNumber << " is not booked yet!" << endl; cout << "\nPress any key to continue..." << endl; getch(); } } void DisplayRoomStatus() { int roomNumber; // clrscr(); cout << " ** Check Room Status **\n" << endl; roomNumber = GetRoomNumber("\nEnter Room Number whose status is required:"); if (rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked == 'Y') { cout << "\nRoom Number: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].number << "\nBooked: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked << "\nRoom Type: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].type << "\nDuration: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].days << endl; cout << "\nCustomer: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.name << "\nID: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.id << "\nAddress: " << rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.address << "\nPhone: "<< rooms[roomNumber - 1].customer.phone << endl; cout << "\n\nPress any key to continue..." << endl; getch(); } else { cout << "\nRoom Number: " << roomNumber << " is not booked yet!" << endl; cout << "\nPress any key to continue..." << endl; getch(); } }

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. --Sean 18:45, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

I fixed the formatting of the program, for readability. To the original poster: note the <source lang="cpp"> and </source> tags that I added before and after your code. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 19:06, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

I took the liberty of show/hiding it - it's quite a few pages of code on a small screen83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:08, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried debugging it? eg at points where it says

if (rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked == 'N')

try inserting a line of code that outputs (prints to the screen) the value of "(rooms[roomNumber - 1].booked" plus additional info that allows you to see what subroutine (proceedure or function) it's occuring in. At the same point check that the correct value of "roomnumber" has been passed.

It's not immediately obvious to me what is going wrong - perhaps a minor syntax or parsing error?

Clearly from your description something must be going wrong on the if then else conditions - so you can focus your attention there.

If in doubt, add more brackets to logical conditions to avoid any curious behaviour regarding operator precedence.83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:23, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Also note that this isn't really what a C++ programmer would call a C++ program. It's a C program, with some elements from C++ (cout etc), but it's mostly PODS (plain old data structures), fixed size arrays etc. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 19:35, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

One thing that looked odd to me was in MakeReservation() there's a call to MainMenu at the end of the IF ... ==='N'

Not sure if that is necessary/right/wrong - but it seems an odd call - don't see how it would mess up the logical conditions though..?83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:47, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Also shouldn't there be a call to Initialize in main ?83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:05, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

(ec)Lucky for him it IS just C or I couldn't help him. He's not a C++ programmer, he's a student apparently. - KoolerStill (talk) 20:10, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

(ec)This is how you do it. Break your program down into simple sentences. Your main processing says "IF room is not booked, fill in booking details, then mark room as booked, ELSE display that it is already taken". If I understand you right, you are saying it is always showing every room as being booked? This means it is always falling through to the ELSE. So it is obviously never finding a room that == 'N'.

Start looking for why there is no such room. Where do you put 'N' on the rooms? You declare a function called void Initialize(), which seems to do just that. BUT WHERE do you actually RUN that function? Anything called 'initialize' should be the 'initial' (first) thing to do. Try calling it as the first thing in (main). I also suggest 'B' for Booked and 'V' for Vacant might be better status flags to use. - KoolerStill (talk) 20:10, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

The call to MainMenu seems to be a GOTO to return to the menu of actions once a booking is taken; loop control must be next semester. - KoolerStill (talk) 20:22, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Well,basically I'm neither a programmer nor a student just an amateur..I'm not figuring out why the program is falling through to the ELSE.Why is it not finding the room=='N'? what i think if that

loop is working then it should not even go to ELSE for any room entry because ---rooms[i].booked = 'N';---It's kinda confused.Give me any suggestions please.

OKAY, we thought student because it looks like a course assignment. I guess you get the same in self-study textbooks.

I tried to step you through it before, up above. It is falling through because it finds no room that is 'N'. That is because you are not marking any room as 'N' to start with. You can initialise every room before you run the rest of the program. OR you can just blank out all details for a room when the people leave. I think your void Initialize() probably does that.

A simple solution would be to change .....roomNumber - 1].booked == 'N' to say ...roomNumber - 1].booked != 'Y'. So instead of looking for "no" you are looking for anything that is not "yes".This way you don't need to set them to 'N' when you start.

Oh and PLEASE sign your posts here. Just put four tildes ( ~ on the top left key just below Esc) - KoolerStill (talk) 11:20, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

As KoolerStill and others have suggested above, the problem is with the rooms[?].booked. It is only ever set to a value of "Y", but the program sometimes checks for a value "N". How does it ever get set to "N" (hint: the Initialize() function is never called and there is no other function to declare a room available for booking again). Don't believe me? - run the program as is, and choose "5 - List All" from the menu - the DisplayList() function will display the value of rooms[?].booked for every room. Astronaut (talk) 12:07, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

How can a question be contracted?

Like the question above this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.1.123.111 (talk • contribs)

Help:Collapsing. Algebraist 19:27, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Or take a look at the wiki-markup in the question above this, by clicking the "edit" link. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 19:31, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Like this:
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
text or whatever here
|}

June 27

Firefox Flash sound works only when running as root

I'm using Kubuntu. In Firefox, sound doesn't play in Flash videos/applets, although the video works fine. If I sudo Firefox, the sound works fine, so I suspect I need to chown or chmod a file or folder. Which one?

On a related note, is there any way to log what files a sudo application has accessed that it wouldn't be able to without sudo? NeonMerlin 00:34, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

How did you install Flash? If you just installed flashplugin-nonfree from the repo it should work out of the box. --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:46, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Neon Merlin: you should not use sudo for graphical apps: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/graphicalsudo SF007 (talk) 14:34, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

More of an FYI for Japanese character help

Help:Installing Japanese character sets has been split from Help:Japanese in order to allow for more focus in each of them. For anyone knowledgeable on installation of Japanese fonts on various operating systems, please review the information there and make any necessary corrections, additions, or clarifications. Thanks! ···日本穣^? · Talk to Nihonjoe 05:45, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Windows Vista color mod?

Is there such a thing out there as a modification or program for windows vista so that in the properties dialog of files and folders you can set color tags, so that when viewing the items in explorer or whatever application, they are surrounded by that color?

Thanks!

209.240.240.192 (talk) 08:14, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Ive looked around and found a few programs that seem to do what i want, like this one: Xyplorer, but it has way too much stuff. All i want is a little program that just has the added color functionality, or something that i can use to add a color tab to the properties dialog. Any ideas?

209.240.240.192 (talk) 12:42, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Add joliet extension to ISO: good idea?

Resolved

OK, I am working on a project that uses ISO (ISO9660) files, and I use the rock ridge extension, however, I have the option to also use joliet. My question is: adding the joliet extension to the ISO (in addition to rock ridge) will increase or decrease compatibility? My ultimate goal is to create an ISO as much future-proof as possible and also make it maximum compatible with other software and various OSes. My guess is that adding joliet will increase compatibility and features, but I am not sure. __ Hacktolive (talk) 13:46, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

This sounds a little like a homework question, but I doubt the question would be given as homework, so I'll bite. All common OS's of today can read Joliet discs, and there are an awful lot of these discs around, so I would expect the OS's of the future to be able to read them. That said, adding joliet doesn't increase compatibility; it adds a risk that some corner-case OS won't be able to read your disc. Obviously it adds features, as the article explains. Tempshill (talk) 16:13, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry - if memory serves, Joliet discs can be read fine by anything that can read ISO 9660 discs; the extra information will just be lost, so it wasn't accurate to say that the corner-case OS wouldn't be able to read the disc at all. Though without understanding Joliet filenames, the executable trying to read files off the disc might not work, for example. Tempshill (talk) 17:19, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

I can assure you this is not homework, it is for my RUNZ software. Anyway, I added the joliet extension and it caused problems in at least one file... so i'll just stick to rock ridge, that should be enough. Thanks __ Hacktolive (talk) 00:40, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Name that diagram

What are these types of diagrams called? And where can I read more about them? --69.113.82.135 (talk) 15:36, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Syntax diagram. Algebraist 15:47, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

New PC Seems to Turn On...Screen in Black...

Hola! Yesterday I went out and bought all the ingredients to build my brand new PC! (Yay!) I got (IIRC) an Asus P6T Motherboard, and Intel Core i7 CPU, and 6GB (3x2GB) or Tri-Channel DDR3 RAM. (Yay Again!) So, I've put it all together (to the best of my ability), but here's my problem: When I hit the power button, the PC seems to turn on. The case fan works, the CPU fan works, the graphics card fan works. The only thing is, my monitor is getting "no input signal." This is frustrating because it's delaying my getting to use my new super-computer (Yay for a third time), but I can't help thinking there's, like, one simple thing that I forgot to do. Please help me diagnose this problem. Here's some (maybe) useful information:

The motherboard has 6 RAM slots. I have 3 sticks in the A1, B1, and C1 slots. I had 2 SATA hard-drives installed in the PC. One of them seemed to be working (I'm basing that assumption on the fact that it got hot after a while) and the other didn't (because it didn't get hot after a while.) Yes, my monitor is plugged in. At first I had my Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS installed in the PC, which gave no signal to the monitor. Then I tried putting in my old Geforce 7600GS, with the same result. Both are PCI Express cards, installed in the PCI Express x16 1 slot.

If you need more information, please ask. And thank you for answering my question (in the future). Digger3000 (talk) 16:57, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Do you get any beeps from the motherboard when turning it on? The number of them would help diagnose where the problem lies. If you get none at all there's probably something wrong with the CPU. --aktsu ^(t / c) 17:11, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Nope, no beeps at all... Digger3000 (talk) 17:20, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

That means it's not actually booting. Try disconnecting one thing at a time and starting it to see if you get any beeps. If you're down to the CPU and still no beeps you should check all the jumper settings before finally reseating the CPU. --aktsu ^(t / c) 17:29, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Oh, and of course: doublecheck the motherboard-speaker is properly installed if it's external! --aktsu ^(t / c) 17:30, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

(ec) There are many, many things that could have gone wrong. Fans running is no indication that any of the rest is working at all - it simply indicates that power is finding its way to the fans. I'm assuming that all the other components you've bought (ie. CPU, hard drives, Graphics cards, etc.) are all fully compatible with the motherboard and you took preautions against static when handling anything.

First of all read through the manual from cover to cover (download it from here if you don't have it), then double check every connection, re-seat all the cards and other peripherals, and check all the jumpers on the motherboard. Start it up and listen for any beep codes. After that, the worst-case scenario is that you damaged the motherboard, or one or more components during installation. Astronaut (talk) 17:35, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

You say check the jumper settings...well, I really don't know much about jumpers, and I didn't change them from the configuration they were in when I got the motherboard...should I have? Digger3000 (talk) 17:49, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

I would assume not, but they can be the problem if they're not set properly (the manual mentions there will be boot problems if the CLRTC-jumper is missing for instance). You should look at the manual and check everything is where it should, and also double check everything is placed properly (again, especially the speaker. It might be on the wrong way) on that white asus q-connector thing which is placed over the bottom-right pins. --aktsu ^(t / c) 18:00, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

You said the speaker might be on the wrong way. Well I flipped it around, and still no beeping. Here's some additional information...don't know how useful it'll be: Once the PC is on, I can turn it off by holding down the power switch on the front panel, but only sometimes. Sometimes that doesn't work, and I have to turn off the power supply. Also, the hard drive, I guess, sounds like it's booting. Again, I don't know if that helps, but there you go. Oh, and also, if the CPU were damaged, is there any way I could tell by looking at it? Digger3000 (talk) 18:13, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried both graphics cards in your old PC (to make sure the new 8800GTS works and you haven't broken the old 7600GS)?

Should you have checked the jumpers? Absolutely YES. I know it is boring as hell, but please do read the manual and make sure you understand everything that needs to be done.

How can you tell if the CPU is dead? It is unlikely you could tell just by looking (unless there was a small fire :-). The best way to test it is try it in another (working) Core i7 based system. Astronaut (talk) 18:43, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Once you establish in another machine that a card is working, try it in every slot into which it fits. The black slot, closes to the CPU, is supposed to be the special graphics slot. but it MAY need enabling in the BIOS to work. Of course you can't get to the BIOS until you get it working. Remove the hard drive that does not seem to be working. If there's anything wrong with it that could be inhibiting the whole startup process. There is no reason at this stage to assume something wrong with the CPU, as long as you made sure to buy DDR of the right voltage, as per the label near the RAM slots on the board. Remove and reseat all the memory, too. - KoolerStill (talk) 20:18, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Ok I tried putting the graphics card in all 3 slots and still no signal. Someone told me its possible that if part of the motherboard is touching the case, it could short everything out. One corned of my MB was screwed a little tight to the case (touching it) so I unscrewed that, but it seemed to make it worse. Instead of the fans coming on and staying on (like they used to) they only come on for a second or two and then stop, then come on again and stop again. (Hope that makes sense.) Any ideas from this? Digger3000 (talk) 20:53, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Now it's only earthing to the case intermittently.There should be some kind of nylon spacer between the board and the case. I'd strongly suggest you stop turning it on until you've re-read the manual that should have come with the board. There is a download link just above, if you didn't get one. Step by step check that you've done everything as it tells you to.Don't just nod and say "I did that" but actually check. This is too good a machine to blow up from carelessness at this stage. Take out one hard drive and all but one memory stick. - KoolerStill (talk) 21:46, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

This is not the first PC I've built. I built another one about 5 years ago, and m dad claims he remembers there being some tpe of rubber washer or spacer between the case and the motherboard, but I don't remember anything like that, nor did my current motherboard come with anything like that. So...as it stands right now my motherboard is in contact with the case. Is that not how it's supposed to be? If not, should my motherboard have come with something like that, and could my motherboard (or any of my other components) now be damaged as a result of the MB being in direct contact with the case? Digger3000 (talk) 23:09, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

It's difficult to know (not actually having the thing) - but - if the motherboard is supposed to make earth contact to the case through the screw holes then you should expect to see a ring of metal (copper or tin coloured) around the screw hole.

There's no reason why, or why not a particular motherboard shouldn't do this - however I don't know which is the case here..

I would expect a spacer - the entire bottom of the motherboard should not be touching the case - there should be a gap - even if the screw contacts connect to ground - in otherwords there should be spacers - not necessarily separate - could be built into the case, or prefixed to the board - can you describe what/how the bottom of the motherboard keeps off the case?

If the motherboard was in direct contact with the case and if the case electrically conducts the I would expect a short circuit (are there circuits on the base of the motherboard?) - so yes something could have been damaged - in the case of a short I'd expect sparks though - and the powersupply would (hopefully) detect that and put on a warning light etc..83.100.250.79 (talk) 00:20, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

The motherboard says it supports PCI Express 2.0 Is it possible that my card (Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS 640MB) is not PCI-E 2.0, and therefore wouldn't work with this motherboard? Digger3000 (talk) 00:35, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

PCI Express is backwards compatable - so that shouldn't be a problem.

There's a lot of sockets on that board - have you doubled checked for obvious mistakes like plugging the VGA linker into the right hole, and setting the dipswitches or whatever for that setup.?83.100.250.79 (talk) 01:05, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Obvious mistakes really aren't all that obvious to me...Could yo tell me what a VGA linker is? Digger3000 (talk) 01:36, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

oops - looks like this one doesn't have one - what about - have you put the graphics card in the default pci slot (assuming there is a default for single card?) - have you actually got a green power light on yet - basically nothings blown up - but there's not picture right?83.100.250.79 (talk) 01:43, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

I have what I think is a green power light on my front panel. (A green light under what appears to be a picture of the sun.) But also a red light under what appears to be a picture of a cylinder. And you're right, no picture, but nothing blows up. Digger3000 (talk) 03:05, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

green light is good - this probably means you got everything powered up. red light might be a sign - cylinder usually means hard disk - you'll have to check the manual to see what it signifies exactly - but I'd start finding out if that red light means error.83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:42, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

PS3 Question

Hey I was wondering if anyone knew how to hide images/music/videos from other profiles on a PS3, as in making them private so that only I can use see them and no other profile can. Rgoodermote  18:44, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

rundll32.exe

For some reason I always have two of them running on my computer. I can't remeber when it started, but I can't remember not seeing them. Just wondering why I have two copies (which take out diff. amounts of memory) always running on my computer. I've used Panda scan and have Avira anti-vir, running on Windows Vista if that helps. I don't visit any websites that I think should give me a virus (mostly ESPN, SI, gmail, some random blogs). Thanks in advance 24.171.145.63 (talk) 19:58, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

That's normal. It's a system program that is used to run other things, so you just have two things being run via it. I have two versions of it running on my computer at the moment. See Dynamic-link library for more information, although that article doesn't seem to mention rundll32 itself. Google found me this page explaining it - I've only glanced at it, but it seems pretty good. --Tango (talk) 20:58, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

rundll32.exe runs functions from DLLs. Check out Process Explorer; it gives you a lot more information than Windows' Task Manager. Just mouse over the process in question, and the tooltip should tell you what it's running. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 21:00, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Bit of info on it here. BigDunc^Talk 21:11, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

More at [10]. As it says, it'll run anything you tell it to run (assuming it's possible), so simply that you see rundll32.exe in the task manager means nothing. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 21:31, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks guys!24.171.145.63 (talk) 19:44, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Windows: Shortcut to shortcut?

On WinXP, it appears to be "a nontrivial exercise" to create a shortcut which links to another shortcut, i.e. A.lnk points to B.lnk which points to C1, a file.

(Scenario: C1 will change to C2 will change to C3 etc on a regular basis. B.lnk I can easily manipulate, to point to the current C. A.lnk is on a remote machine, and needs access to the current version of C, but is NOT so easily manipulated. Trivial on *nix, I know, but that's not one of the variables I can change.)

I thought that -- through the Properties dialog -- I might be able to edit A.lnk, but Windows wants to resolve the indirection right away, and A.lnk always ends up pointing to Cx. So, does anyone have any clever way to out-clever Microsoft here? I'm wondering, for instance, if renaming one of the links to a .txt extension, editing it, then changing something back might work, but haven't come up with a workable scenario on that path yet.

One website suggests making A into a .bat file which accesses the correct target, but I haven't seen through that yet, either.

Suggestions? Remember, "A" is on a remote machine, so the goal is to set up something there that does NOT require ongoing maintenance. Thanks! --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 23:10, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

bat file seems to work very simply. eg make a text file (notepad) that contains the descriptor of B (or C?). The indirection isn't resolved as with your original problem..

Issues are

Icon is not a shortcut, don't know if this can really be solved directly (except by putting the bat file somewhere safe, and creating a shortcut "D" to A.bat ie both D links to A, A is the bat file)

(Haven't checked for problems on a remote machine - but can't see an issue with it...)

83.100.250.79 (talk) 00:56, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

The idea is that you only have to change the shortcut B on the local machine and no others? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.100.250.79 (talk) 00:57, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes, that's correct. I can easily update the pointer to the correct version of C, but no other references should need to also be changed. Thanks, I think I see how the .bat file works now. --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 01:15, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Update

Just to test this on my home system, I created an Excel file well down in the innards of the file system; I created a shortcut to it on the desktop; and I created a bat file to run the shortcut.

• From a command prompt, I can see that the actual name of the shortcut on the file system ends with .xls.lnk. Thus, in Notepad I typed exactly one line, starting with C:\ and ending with .xls.lnk.
• That was dumb; because this is WinXP, part of the pathname is "Documents and Settings", so I then put the whole thing in quotes:

"C:\Documents and Settings\Me\Desktop\Link.xls.lnk"

• Excel launches, says it can't find the file, and HANGS! I can't terminate Excel, Windows enters "program is not responding" mode, which then tries to send an error report to Microsoft, and HANGS AGAIN doing that.

I seem to have zombie copy of Excel running, that Task Manager itself can't kill.

Should I have said "Run <filename>"?

Or, "Open <filename>"?

Or, "EXCEL.EXE <filename>"?

Or, should I have used DOCUME~1 in the pathname?

(I'll post this and then reboot, I guess...)

--DaHorsesMouth (talk) 03:40, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

(edited - after many mistakes)

I tried a similar thing - with a shortcut to a .bat file to a shortcut to a spreadsheet file - which worked (all the links in different positions). Also worked when eventually just linking to the program. Any errors I made just caused a standard "file not found" error at the command line - no zombie programs. Also worked for different file/program types. One thing I couldn't try was excell - did work with .xlr spreadsheet for MS works though. No idea what went wrong for you.83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:13, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

What exactly do you mean when you say just linking to the program? Do you mean linking to the executable, .exe file? To me, this means launching the associated application, excel.exe, which would have to be full-pathed since its containing directory is not in %PATH%. I've been approaching this only from the data file side, maybe that's my problem.

--DaHorsesMouth (talk) 18:29, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

yes, linking to the .exe file is what I meant - without specifying an extra file - it starts up and presents the "open file" dialog box.

(What I haven't tried is using "C:\ .... \program.exe filename.xls" - though in all the examples I've tried so far everything has functioned just as it would on the command line, so I'd expect it to work if the syntax is right). (all done in XP)

On the otherside I also tried linking via the .bat and .lnk files to the data file, and that worked too.

In all examples I used the full code path in the .bat file.83.100.250.79 (talk) 18:46, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

bat files

Following no from the last question - if a create a bat file A that says

B.bat 
etc

and a file B.bat that says

A.bat
etc

and then click on either - will they just loop round and round until a stack overflow occurs, or is windows prepared for such foolishness; doing something else?

I'm too scared to actually try it :) 83.100.250.79 (talk) 01:28, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Why be scared to crash Windows? Back in the day, this kind of curiosity was the main reason computers existed.

I just tried it, and there was no ill effect, because when a batch file does "a.bat", the current batch file is discarded and forgotten. If you instead use call a.bat, however, it's remembered and the batch file resumes after a.bat has completed So after a lot of repetitions, under Vista, I got this cool error:

****** B A T C H R E C U R S I O N exceeds STACK limits ******

Recursion Count=599, Stack Usage=90 percent

****** B A T C H PROCESSING IS A B O R T E D ******

Tempshill (talk) 01:47, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks - same thing. Didn't realise about call

Curiously (to me) when I try it without call, it still loops, but with no stack overflow message - but eventually just seems to give up - no error message - anyone know why this is? or doesn't do this, must have done something else83.100.250.79 (talk) 02:19, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

June 28

retrieving data from sites

1. Is there any site that gives RSS/ATOM type bare minimum data on stock market values of (induvidual) companies?.
2. Is it possible to retrieve that data/page using python (to feed another program written in C).
3. Is it possible with PHP? 59.93.6.7 (talk) 03:58, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

If 1 is true than 2 and 3 are certainly true. It's not hard to get RSS data with any manner of programs, there are plenty of libraries written to do that. --140.247.10.133 (talk) 01:25, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

electronic devices that were commercial failures

what electronic devices were the hugest commercial failures?--Mr.K. (talk) 10:52, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Try the Sinclair C5 for size (a poor concept made even worse by working to a target price instead of a technological standard - pretty much finished Clive Sinclair). Or how about Betamax and HD DVD? Astronaut (talk) 11:42, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Surely the C5 doesn't count as an 'electronic device'. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 19:15, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Though there was the Black Watch, which was also a bad concept coupled with bad execution. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 19:18, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

The original xbox made huge losses (though that is believed to have been expected as part of a bigger plan), Apple Bandai Pippin, 3DO, virtual boy - there are hundreds more, all forgotten. Don't know which was the 'most'.83.100.250.79 (talk) 14:42, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

The Dell/Sony/others battery recall in 2006- must have cost a lot of money see Product_recall#2006 also Sony#Batteries and http://www.infoworld.com/t/hardware/update-dell-recall-41-million-laptop-batteries-236 etc 83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:31, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Increase Upload Speed

Without contacting ISPs and all that, is it possible for an end user increase their upload speed on a fiberoptic cable modem? Currently I'm getting 700 KB/s download but only an average of 10 KB/s upload. Are there any software that could increase the speed, any techniques etc. Again I repeat contacting the ISP is not an option —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.90.6 (talk) 14:15, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

You could try compressing your upload, but then you would need to decompress it on the server. Why is contacting the ISP "not an option"? Surely, their tech support team are the first place you should ask (FWIW, 10K upload is damn slow). failing that, maybe it's time to look for a new ISP. Astronaut (talk) 14:44, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

There isn't a reason why the download speed should be so much less than the upload. I don't think there is much that an end user can do directly. Has the speeds always been like this - it could be a temporary server or website problem?

Have you checked that there the OS is not reporting any problems with the connections - such as 'limited connectivity' - it really sounds like something is fundamentally wrong in the setup you've got.83.100.250.79 (talk) 15:17, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

That doesn't sound like a usual speed, see for instance [11], it is usual for upload speed to be much slower than download but for that download speed I'd have expected at 30kB/s upload at the very least. Have you checked the speed with a local speed checker site? Dmcq (talk) 16:44, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the help everyone :) I've tested on speedtest.net and get a upload reading of 0.13 Mb /s (I'm unsure what that is in KB/s) and download reading of 9.85 Mb /s. I'm pretty sure the speeds have always been like this, and it hasn't been a problem for normal browsing. It's just that I need to upload some large files to rapidshare and it's taking ages (400MB of files). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.90.6 (talk) 18:27, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

I suspect the free service at Rapidshare is deliberately slowed (I've never uploaded but that's certainly true of downloading). It is done to encourage you to pay for a speedier service. Astronaut (talk) 18:50, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

If you divide the Mb/s by 8 you'll get an absolute maximum MB/s. Your upload speed is quite slow compared to your download speed - I'd expect perhaps four times the speed. I'd start checking what your ISP says the upload speed should be. They should say on their website. If what they say disagrees by a very large factor from what speedtest said then there's all sorts of thnigs that could be wrong. Your modem will have a page which shows figures like noise to signal ratio and there's sites on the web to help with saying if the figures are okay.

Location of files on computer

Hi, I've just got a new computer (as the old one suffers from periodic hard drive failures) and I want to transfer over my old e-mail correspondence from outlook express onto the new machine which has windows live mail. Can someone tell me where the relevant files are stored, what they'd be called & where I'd move them to on the new machine? I'm presuming that simply copying them over is the easiest way. Same question for mozilla bookmarks. Thanks. AllanHainey (talk) 19:42, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

This seems rather comprehensive. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 21:26, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, that tells me how to get the message files from outlook express, any idea where I'd add them to on Windows live mail?

And how I'd do the same thing with Mozilla bookmarks? AllanHainey (talk) 12:24, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

From the link above I recommend typing "file transfer" into MS's search box - if you got a new PC there should be a file transfer wizard - usually involves a network cable, or USB memory, and a downloadable program from MS which automates the transfer - such things do exist.

Also if you can transfer the outlook express data to the new computer then windows live has an import method that will get the data.

No idea about mozilla bookmarks.83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:46, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Also search for "file and settings" on your computer - there should be a "file and settings import wizard" on MS computers.83.100.250.79 (talk) 13:16, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Excel function/macro

I have an excel worksheet with four columns A, B, C and D. A and C are text columns and B and D contain numbers. A has more entries than C but there are no entries in C that are not present somewhere in A (I hope you are following this lol). Is there a function or macro I can use to make the entries in C move within the column to the same row number as the identical text while taking the D value with it (to the same row)?

I will be checking this question regularly so if there is anything you need to clarify, please say. Thank you. 90.200.240.61 (talk) 20:02, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Just to clarify: you have a pair of text/data columns and want one set of them to be merged into the other, yes? This should be doable with a macro though I'm a little rusty on my Excel VBA. You need to just cycle over the text column-to-be-merged, check where its corresponding entry is in the merging-to column, and then just copy of the value over. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 20:56, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

No, Let me try to show it here:

A B C D

Apple 2 Carrot 3

Banana 5 Egg 7

Carrot 3 Fig 1

Doughnut 1 Grape 2

Egg 6

Fig 5

Grape 3

I want this to change to: (for example)

A B C D

Apple 2

Banana 5

Carrot 3 Carrot 3

Doughnut 1

Egg 6 Egg 7

Fig 5 Fig 1

Grape 3 Grape 2

I hope you understand this. Column A is text, B number, C text and D is a number. 90.200.240.61 (talk) 21:44, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

I see. So all you want changed is where dataset two aligns respective to column 1. Hmm. That should be doable (I would have it again iterate over dataset 2, and then put a copy in a third dataset, to avoid worrying about reordering correctly within the columns. Then you could just delete the old dataset). Again, it's definitely a macro/VBA sort of solution, not a function. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 22:52, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

I was afraid of that. Does anyone know how I could search for such a macro? 90.200.240.61 (talk) 23:30, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

I think the VLOOKUP function might provide what you are looking for. Using the sample data above populated in columns A through D, add the formula =VLOOKUP(A:A,C:D,1,FALSE) in column E and the formula =VLOOKUP(A:A,C:D,2,FALSE) in column F, then copy the formula down the length of the table. This will populate columns E and F with data from columns C and D where columns C matches column A. For those cells that do not match, you will get an "N/A" value.

A	B	C	D	E	F
Apple	2	Carrot	3	#N/A	#N/A
Banana	5	Egg	7	#N/A	#N/A
Carrot	3	Fig	1	Carrot	3
Doughnut	1	Grape	2	#N/A	#N/A
Egg	6			Egg	7
Fig	5			Fig	1
Grape	3			Grape	2

Note that the lookup table (columns C and D) could be anywhere in the workbook, even in another sheet, see the VLOOKUP documentation for more information. -- Tcncv (talk) 01:19, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

If you only need to do this once, you can do it in under 5 minutes manually. Highlight columns C and D and sort them alphabetically on col C. Do the same for A and B. Then work down column C, and anywhere A has a label that C does not, just insert a cell into C and D, to push them down far enough to match the label in A. For example, the top word in C is Carrot, you move C and D down by 2 cells, so they line up with Carrot in A.

If for any reason you don't want them alphabetical, but want to maintain the original order of column A, insert a new column to the left of A and auto fill it with numbers, starting with 1. Include this column in your sort of the original A and B, but still use the original A as the field to sort on. Once you've done the lining up, highlight all 5 columns and sort them on the number column, to put them back into the original column A order.- KoolerStill (talk) 09:07, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

jpegs

I want to combine two jpeg images together in one jpeg image while still retaining the first two. I want to do this for lots of images. Is there a batch file I can use to do this more easily? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.200.240.61 (talk) 20:07, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

What do you mean, specifically, by "combine"? Do you want to blend one into the other, or join the two so that they are side-by side, or one on top of the other, or what? And you need to tell us what operating system you are using. 87.115.99.208 (talk) 20:45, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

I mean sit them side by side and/or one beside the other. I am using microsoft windows. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.200.240.61 (talk) 21:02, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Use ImageMagick's "convert" function with the "+append" operator. Should be something like "convert image1.jpg image2.jpg +append image3.jpg". --98.217.14.211 (talk) 21:22, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

psplimewire

on my psp phat is there anyway i can put limewire on the home menu or can i put anything on the psp home menu without getting on a pc thank u —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bubbafrogs (talk • contribs) 21:13, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Disappearing free space

On my mac, I get frequent messages saying there is little space left (generally less than 400MB, when I check it out). I'm not running any strange or high performance programs that I can imagine would cause it; it is as if I have a tapeworm that keeps on eating digested dinner before I absorb it into my system. I have to keep moving stuff around, deleting, rebacking up, etc. Suggestions invited.78.144.110.113 (talk) 23:30, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Use a visualization program like Disk Inventory X and it will tell you where the space is going. If you have a small amount of RAM, it could be getting sucked up as virtual memory (something that could be fixed by upgrading your physical RAM, which isn't usually very expensive or difficult, depending on the make and model). --98.217.14.211 (talk) 01:17, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

If you are running short of memory, and you are using nightly builds of WebKit to run Safari, be aware that they fluctuate between being too loose and too tight on memory management. Some will fail to release substantial amounts of memory. Firefox also tends to be a memory hog, especially if you run multiple tabs with long tab histories. Restarting them will force them to let go.

Listen to the machine...can you hear a large amount of hard drive activity most of the time? when you are not saving a file? this would indicate a lot of paging is taking place.

Clear out your internet caches,cookies and temporary files-- these can take up huge amounts of space. Clear out other files you don't need. Make sure you are not running any logging services you don't need. There is little point backing up to the same hard drive -- the purpose of backups is to have a copy if the drive fails. Write them out to a DVD-RW. Then defragment the hard drive. - KoolerStill (talk) 13:49, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, wikipedia is good value for money! I'll check that out. I've only got 1.5GB RAM, and only a few apps running generally - the like of web browsers and Mail.app. I can almost see it counting down at times, when I Get Info on the boot disc. EyeTV could be the culprit, it turns out; it auto-records whatever is playing, for a live rewind. You can put that stuff in the RAM or HD at choice. Whatever it is, it's eating memory like Hummers do petrol.78.150.233.242 (talk) 18:10, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Tracking cookies?

While running my antivirus scanner, I noticed that it picked up some tracking cookies; after reading the article on computer cookies, I'm still confused — why would the antivirus (AVG) catch those? Is it simply set to catch these things because of the potential of an invasion of privacy, or is there some better reason? I don't know too much about this program — it was installed on my computer by friends whom I trust, and it's worked well since I began using it, so I've not had a significant reason to learn its details. Nyttend (talk) 23:33, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Imagine that ad company X runs banner ads on a a hundred totally different sites. If each ad puts a unique ID for you in the same tracking cookie, then ad company X knows something of your browsing habits and can construct a profile of what kind of person you are (and maybe even who exactly you are). But that's all. It's a privacy thing, that's all. Not a big deal, as far as things go. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 01:05, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

June 29

vista webpage

hello is there a webpage that looks like windows vista or xp is there a flash game for psp like vista —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bubbafrogs (talk • contribs) 01:06, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

I do not understand your question. Adding some punctuation might help. -- Tcncv (talk) 01:26, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

You can take a screenshot, upload it to somewhere like imageshack, and view it in a browser - that would make a "webpage that looks like Vista or XP". But there's no need to upload anything, there are plenty of images of Vista/XP desktops that people have uploaded to various forums. Astronaut (talk) 01:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Vista desktops

Answering the above question led me to see several Windows Vista/XP desktops which appeared to have a Mac OsX-like docking bar (see this guy's desktop for an example). Where can I get that kind of docking bar utility from? Astronaut (talk) 02:04, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

I believe the one in the image is RocketDock. :-) There are other ones available including ObjectDock--Xp54321 ^{(Hello! • Contribs)} 20:06, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Another option that I use is Gizmos. The toolbar is highly customizable and can launch stuff besides programs (such as Webpages, custom scripts you write). It also comes with some other cool features such as Virtual Drives and a color coded text editor for writing in C, C++, and other stuff I don't really use such as databases —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.171.145.63 (talk) 05:46, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

CPUs

What is the fastest commercial CPU currently on the market? --128.12.77.85 (talk) 04:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Commercially I'm going to guess *probably* the Intel Core i7 975 3.33Ghz Extreme Edition, but I'll happily be proved wrong! ZX81 ^talk 06:51, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

for x86.64 [12] - I'm willing to prove you right.

Not quite what you asked, but in May, Fujitsu said one of their SPARC64 prototypes is the fastest CPU, at 128 gigaflops. That same link says Intel's top-of-the-line Nehalem Xeon is at 76 gigaflops. Tempshill (talk) 06:49, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

At the same time IBM's POWER range is rated at the highest MHz/GHz commercially available ~5GHz, whilst NEC's SX9 is the fastest vector processor at ~100Gflops. It looks like every company has the fasters by some measure (except ARM)83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:40, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

A related question that should be asked is "What is the fastest motherboard on the market?" Placing a fast CPU on a slow motherboard will kill most of the benefit of the fast CPU. -- kainaw™ 13:53, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Internet Radio Recorder

There used to be a program in Ubuntu that let you record internet radio. Do you know of any for Windows Vista, or should I just stick to a program that records my computers audio output? 24.171.145.63 (talk) 05:46, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Orbit Downloader records internet radio I believe and it comes with browser plug-ins that introduce context menus that make downloading a snap. They have a tutorial here. -ankØku- (talk) 19:59, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Who uses Java servlets?

I'm having a hard time finding any well-known companies that use Java servlets or JSPs. I'm sure Sun and IBM do, but are they're developers of the technology. Most of the sites I see use PHP, Perl, and ASP/ASP.NET. Can any one give me some examples? Come to think of it, I'm having a hard time thinking of many examples of applets out there! Most of the RIAs nowadays seem to be in Flash or AJAX.--Dfnggcb (talk) 08:26, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

There aren't many around because so many end-users have been warned to turn off Java support in their browser for security reasons that big-name web sites don't want to touch Java if they can possibly avoid it because it's a tech-support nightmare. For small niche sites, you have a choice between Java and JavaScript - but Java can't do much that JavaScript can't do unless you use a "signed" server - that process is painful and incurs a significant annual fee to the web site owner. There are a bunch of cool things I wanted to do on my web site - but in the end, I'm not paying the signing fees - and if I have to restrict myself to the Java subset that can run unsigned - then I might as well just use JavaScript, PHP, Flash(Yuk!), etc. SteveBaker (talk) 14:06, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

SteveBaker, you are thinking of applets (which run on the browser) not servlets (which run on the server). A lot of companies use servlets or JSPs, though not all directly. We use struts/stxx for example, which is implemented as a servlet. I would go as far as saying almost all companies with websites running on Java will use servlets - the alternatives are either very low level (code using sockets) or niche like restlets. That is all companies using Weblogic, Websphere, Tomcat, Glassfish, JBOSS, and many more. -- Q Chris (talk) 14:22, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

To find some try googling for those advertising for "Java Web Developer", a couple I found were Barclays, General Motors, and British Airways. Of course I don't know if these are for niche sites or intranet only. -- Q Chris (talk) 14:36, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, SteveBaker's answer is way, way off here. There are important differences between server side and client side java. Server side java is very very widely deployed, but you can't necessarily tell who is using them just from seeing the website. Friday (talk) 14:41, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the replies. I ended up using Career Builder to search for the words J2EE and then servlet to find companies looking for servlet developers. It turns out that there are many well-known companies using them.--Dfnggcb (talk) 18:56, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Madden 07 Xbox 360 Controls

I got this game at the weekend at a bargain price but it came with no instructions. Whilst I can get the controls from the in-game menu does anybody know of any resource that has a full list of the controls so that I can print them out for quicker reference? A pdf of the booklet, or anything like that would be great. I couldn't find anything when I looked. Is there a site that's dedicated to game-controls or online (free) PDFs of game-booklets? (oh and I know the game is ancient but as a non NFL follower I just thought i'd give the game a go as I used to enjoy the old Madden games back in the day). 194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:26, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Found it (http://www.gamesegment.com/XBOX360/instructions.cfm/id/9110375) ny156uk (talk) 15:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Good find! I wasn't turning up anything. Tempshill (talk) 16:02, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

My Computer is gone

On windows vista I accidentally selected "My Computer" or whatever it's called now and deleted it. I can't find it in the recycle bin, and I can't find any options to bring it back. How do I get it back? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 11:33, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

I cannot be deleted because it doesn't exist. It is just a convenience link. By "deleting", you just removed the convenience. To replace it, click the Start button. You will see an entry called "Computer". Right-click on it and select "Show on desktop". -- kainaw™ 11:54, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't have "computer" on the start menu, all I have is shut down, run, help and support, search, settings, documents, programs, windows update, default programs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 16:23, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

If you right click on an empty area of the 'taskbar' - that's the bar at the bottom where the running programs and open files appear - you should see a dialog box. Press properties, then 'start menu', here you might need to change between different formats eg classic etc. Then select 'customise', then 'advanced' - this should get you to a box that shows a list of "start menu items" - from this list check the box for "display My Computer" or equivalent. Then press apply/ok. This should make the MyComputer icon appear when you press the 'Start' button. You can then get the link as described above. (Note this is for XP, though Vista should be very similar or identical method).

Once you've got the link you can go back and change 'start menu' to the way it was. Whilst you are there you might as well take some time to customise the start menu to show all the things you want - It's often useful, and you'll get familiar with the method. Hope this works for you.83.100.250.79 (talk) 17:12, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

That worked perfectly! Thank you :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 17:31, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Spoke too soon, it only works if I say on vista start menu, but as soon as I switch back to classic start menu My Computer icon is gone again —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 17:34, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Mmh, once you've got the icon on the desktop, right click on it, and select "create shortcut" - that should make a shortcut copy, probably named "shortcut to My Computer" on the desktop. Then you can switch back to classic view. The shortcut icon will definately not dissapear (I hope), then all you have to do is rename the shortcut icon to "My Computer" or whatever you want (another right click) - that should fix it.83.100.250.79 (talk) 19:29, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Thats worked, thanks. The icon is slightly different now, it's got a shortcut arrow on it. But it works so I'm happy :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 20:07, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't know how to get rid of that arrow - if you find out - let me know :)

83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:42, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

IBM POWER6 Decimal floating point

According to POWER6 the processor has a decimal floating point unit. Outside the azure confines of IBM does this make any sense - I mean does anything actually use decimal floating point, and why? Thanks.83.100.250.79 (talk) 13:25, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, one of the things IBM made it's money on is backwards compatibility. The POWER6 is an enhanced POWER5 which is an enhanced...POWER. The POWER uses the 801 architecture - which is backwards compatible with the IBM System/370 - which is compatible with the 360...which was designed to emulate the 1400 - which was around in 1964! There is quite a lot of software that was written in the late 1960's and early 1970's on 'lumbering giants' that people still run. Very often, they don't even own the source code anymore - or the binaries have been patched so many times that the sources are no longer reliable. (This is one reason why concern over the Millenium Bug was such a big deal.) Being able to buy machines that still run that old junk is evidently still a good business model. Binary Coded Decimal arithmetic is still popular in financial processing because accounting systems have to be able to guarantee accuracy down to the last penny - even in calculations that might require millions or even billions of dollars/pounds/euro's. In a modern programming language, there are much better ways to deal with that - but so much of that old stuff is written in Cobol - so there you go. SteveBaker (talk) 13:49, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

I suppose they can convert the BCD to decimal floating point and use the floating point units then.

I'm still trying to come to terms with mending the binaries and not the source . ouch . Thanks for your answer - made me feel young (that doesn't happen so often nowadays!)83.100.250.79 (talk) 14:02, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Decimal floating point isn't just binary floating point with the base changed, it's more like a collection of numeric operations that are useful in finance. I don't think it's dying. A new standard came out just last year (IEEE 754r), and was incorporated into the C++ standard by a technical report. Intel published a high-speed software implementation of it for x86. Sure, you can use a fixed-point library, but every fixed-point library is different. How many digits should it allow after the decimal point? Are you sure? Can it calculate 1.0825ⁿ to within 0.5 ulp? The point of standardizing decimal floating point is the same as the point of standardizing anything else: it justifies putting extra effort into well-tested high-quality implementations, including hardware implementations for people who need the speed.

Binary floating point is unacceptable for financial calculations even if they involve small amounts of money. Try running the following program:

   #include <stdio.h>
   
   volatile float f = 0;  /* force rounding to single precision at each step */
   
   #include <stdio.h>
   int main() {
       int i;
       for (i = 0; i < 20000; ++i)
           f += 0.01;
       printf("%f\n", f);
       return 0;
   }

My machine prints 199.969376. That's off by 3¢ after only 20,000 additions of amounts under $200. -- BenRG (talk) 15:52, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes. Of course you could make cents (or hundreths of centswhy) equivalent to 1 instead of counting in dollars - which solves that problem. Maybe I should email my CV to IBM :) 83.100.250.79 (talk) 16:11, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

More seriously, this brings me back to my original question which was why "decimal floats" - at my limited level of understanding it seems to me that only the mantissa is useful - eg if I have 10googlegooglebucks and spend 1 dollar then in a float representation it seems likely that the 1 dollar won't even register on the float representation. Wouldn't a fixed point decimal representation make much more sense?83.100.250.79 (talk) 16:28, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

It was precisely that type of "only 3 cents" fraction that was syphoned into another account to make the programmer very rich, in a famous early computer fraud case. If the program cannot be out by anything, nobody can steal the "mistake" and nobody has to account for it (either in the books or in a court). - KoolerStill (talk) 20:42, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Windows graphing program for excel spreadsheets

We have data in excel spreadsheets. We want graphs that excel is not capable of producing. What is available to produce good graphics from the excel data? -- kainaw™ 13:55, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Did you want a stand alone visualisation program? It's easy to output as CSV and then import into your favorite programming language (assuming it has graphics support for the output) - using that method gives you as much flexibility as you could wish for the graphs, and is probably quicker (and cheaper) than finding a special program.83.100.250.79 (talk) 14:12, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Sigmaplot comes with a 30 day trial, which you'd expect before forking out around $800. Probably more affordable is Dplot, an Excel add-on for $60. This too comes with a free trial.- KoolerStill (talk) 14:20, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, we're debating Sigma and Delta. Perhaps using the evaluations will let the users decide which one they like. The problem with evaluations is that they assume the users know how to use the programs. In reality, you lose most of the evaluation time just trying to make the program function properly. -- kainaw™ 14:47, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Replacing PS3 HDD... clone first?

I want to install a larger hard drive into my PS3 (it makes a great media hub. Game? meh.) How can I copy all my game saves and DLC to my new drive? Some game saves (like Rock Band) don't allow copying to a memory stick. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 15:43, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

You have to use the backup utility to an external harddrive. You can't just copy the files. -- kainaw™ 15:50, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Solaris 10 and open Solaris

I was going to try using solaris, but Sun gave me two options - I don't need to see the source code, but I can't distinguish between the two otherwise from the description on Sun's website. Can anyone describe what the difference is? Thanks83.100.250.79 (talk) 20:09, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Ubuntu - still free after 18 months?

From the Ubuntu website "Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge." But elsewhere it says: ""....with the benefit of free updates for 18 months." What happens after the 18 months are up? 78.144.242.64 (talk) 20:42, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

The ordinary releases are supported for 18 months, after which time they stop sending updates. The LTS ones are updated for 3 years (5 for servers). All that happens after these times is that they don't send you any more updates. Almost everyone will, before those periods are up, update to a later version. Ubuntu also contains a distribution-update program which keeps your install at the latest version (unless you tell it not to). 87.115.103.157 (talk) 20:53, 29 June 2009 (UTC)