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August 24

Trackmania

I want to put some of the buildings from the Bay enviroment into the Island enviroment for more variety because the Island enviroment has only one type of building and I find that boring. How can you put entire pieces from one enviroment into another, and would that cause any errors in the game programming? 64.75.158.194 (talk) 11:43, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Spindle servo failure

Short and sweet, hello. I got the message 'Spindle servo failure' while trying to burn a DL DVD+R on an LG-H55N DVD recorder, which is supposed to support this mode. What could be the cause? Burns single-layer DVD-Rs without troubles. System is an expanded Fujitsu/Siemens Scenic E, OS is Fedora 13. I've searched online forums but didn't seem to find a clear answer as to whether I should get a better PSU, clean the laser or throw the drive out the window. Thank You all. --Ouro (blah blah) 14:06, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The "spindle servo failure" tends to happen a lot with cheap disks. Have you tried more expensive disks? -- kainaw ™ 14:13, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I use exclusively TDKs. Are these expensive enough? --Ouro (blah blah) 14:17, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Flock "Search" bar option

I have been using flock browser (version 2.6.1) for two weeks. so far I am quite satisfied with this browser. previously, I used to use mozilla firefox 3.6.8. In mozilla, if I search something in "search" bar, it gives an option to open my desired info in new tab. There's a "magnifying glass icon" on search bar where I can click and it takes me to new tab. But Flock lacks this option. Is there any possible way to set Flock's "search" bar option like mozilla? --180.234.24.148 (talk) 15:15, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Matlab on a Mac

I am currently trying to print something from the computer program Matlab on my Mac but cannot for the life of me work out how to set up my printer so that Matlab recognises it (my printer is set up perfectly on my computer and I've never had a problem with it until now). I've tried using the 'Help' option but it all seems aimed at someone who's more computer literate than I am. Can anyone give me a set of instructions for dummies? Thanks 92.0.157.58 (talk) 16:43, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Page view limit

Is there a limit to how many pages someone can view on a site? Like if I downloaded every page would wikipedoia admins care? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.172.222.4 (talk) 18:17, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Unless you download a lot of pages in a very short span of time, it's unlikely you'd even be noticed, especially if you spread the load over the many different Wikipedia webservers. Search engines do the same thing, and noone cares (although search index crawlers are not likely to download every Wikipedia page every time they visit) Unilynx (talk) 18:42, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Google index seems to register Wikipedia edits in a matter of minutes, which makes me believe that it is watching Special:RecentChanges instead of crawling Wikipedia in the usual way.—Emil J. 19:00, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, Wikipedia admins would care, and quite possibly block you. (Fixed title for sanity's sake.) Marnanel (talk) 19:14, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia admins don't have access to see how much bandwidth is being consumed by an IP...you probably meant META:System_administrators at the WMF. There is a limit for page views...see API. Other than that, aside from a DDoS#Distributed_attack, you're probably not going to be blocked.Smallman12q (talk) 13:38, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It'd be best to respect the API limits, which are generous. But if you're asking the question here, I doubt you will intentionally overdo it. Shadowjams (talk) 08:27, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

mp3

Someone recommended that I use something called "HD mp3" which is "lossless". Is there really such a thing as "HD mp3"? They also said that for each year an MP3 sits on your hard drive, it will lose roughly 12kbps. I'm assuming that part isn't true, or can mp3s really degrade over time? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prize Winning Tomato (talk • contribs) 18:37, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Digital data does not decay. It's either there, or it's completely lost, under usual circumstances (a harddisk with standard error correction). If you're taking averages, you might get to the mentioned 12kbps/year degradation. Suppose all your MP3s are at 256kbps, and a harddisk has a 5% failure rate per year. Then, on average, you would lose about 12kbps of data per year. But it's far from a degradation over time - you would just be losing 5% of all your mp3s each year, but all the remaining mp3s are still at 100% of their original quality. Proper RAID setups would almost completely eliminate the chance loss of data, and would almost certainly allow you to retain all your mp3s, unchanged (and thus without decay) over decennia. Unilynx (talk) 18:52, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Or they might have meant that the older an mp3 is, the more likely it is to have been encoded at a lower bit-rate originally. Back in dial-up days particularly, mp3s were often encoded at what now seems like horribly low bit-rates. APL (talk) 19:14, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Proper RAID setups do not almost completely eliminate the chance of data loss. RAID is not a substitute for backups and there are many scenarios where you could lose data with a RAID setup. This is semi OT here so I won't discuss it further but it has been discussed many times before on the RD and in other places. Also your example is potentially confusing. Also your example is potentially confusing. If you store your MP3s on a single disk with no backups, the most likely scenario is probably that you will lose all your MP3s or you will lose nothing. While hard disks do sometimes develop bad sectors, and there are plenty of other ways you could lose only some of your data, hard disks often just die completely (well a professional recovery studio may be able to recover data for a very high price and there are various tricks you can use to try and get the data off). So the average thing really only works out if you're talking a lot of people or you have so many MP3s your storing them on a lot of HDs. Nil Einne (talk) 09:15, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As for a lossless MP3, it seems to be referring to mp3HD, which is a format promoted by the company Thomson. It claims to be backwards compatible to regular mp3. I don't know. In theory it's not hard to have lossless audio, if you don't mind massive files. (Real audiophiles seem to prefer FLAC at the moment.) I find the file sizes pretty prohibitive, though. With FLAC, an album ranges from 200MB-500MB in size. That's a bit much by my standards; even with a big honking mp3 player (or hard drive), you're talking about it filling up pretty quick. Personally I can't really hear any significant difference between 256kbs and lossless. (I'm not entirely convinced audiophiles actually can either.) --Mr.98 (talk) 00:25, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

While I agree very often people can't tell the difference between lossless and lossy audio (and there are a number of ABXs which show this), I don't know if I'd agree you'd fill up a HD pretty quick with lossless 48k or 44.1k 16 bit 2 channel audio nowadays. Taking your 500MB figure, you can easily see you can have 1000 albums in 500GB. That's a lot of music in my book. And not likely to be cheap either. Yet 2TB hard drives are fairly cheap nowadays (let's not worry about whether we're talking about binary or decimal based units here). In fact if we say it's US$2 per album which seems a fairly low price to me, you're talking US$2000 for all that music which is way, way, more then the price of even a 2TB HD. Nil Einne (talk) 10:01, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are these unneeded adware?

I used RegCleaner, and it told me that the following have been recently installed into the registry:

Author, Program.

(Unknown) SMPlayer

Antanda Toolbar

ASProtect SpecData

Ej-technologies Install4j

Ej-technologies Exe4j

MozillaPlugins @videolan.org/vlc,version=1.1.3

Piriform Recuva

Softonic UniversalDownloader

I know what SMPlayer and Recuva are, but what about the rest? I've recently updated SMPlayer and VLC, full versions of each. Are the other things something to do with them? The word "Toolbar" makes me suspicious, and ASProtect at least seems suspect as well. Thanks 92.15.3.135 (talk) 19:34, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As is software stating explicitly in its name what it supposedly does. Phrases like Universal downloader, Mega protector or Super duper speeder-upper usually point to crap, for me at least. You might want to do away with the ones you don't know, it probably won't do any harm. --Ouro (blah blah) 05:37, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Question about URL formatting

What is the difference between a URL such as "x.y.com" vs. "y.com/x"? Am I correct in assuming that x.y.com is its own server, whereas y.com/x is just a page on y.com's server? Everard Proudfoot (talk) 23:03, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Roughly. The first is a domain address, the second a specific page on a domain. However a single server may host many domains. The domain webserver will serve a default page in response to the first URL, and the named page to the second URL. Domain name might be a place to visit. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:27, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Expanding on that... You were correct in the past. In the present, y.com is a domain name. Everything else is adaptable to an administrator's needs. For example, I own a server that has multiple domains on it: everybusywoman.com, marykayhasaposse.com, theresearchdynamo.com, etc... All of those domains point to the same server. If you go to everybusywoman.com/vhosts/marykayhasaposse, you get the same site as marykayhasaposse.com. Further, charleston.everybusywoman.com goes to everybusywoman.com/charleston. They are all just shortcuts on the same server to get to the webpage you want. -- kainaw ™ 23:51, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Just to beat a dead horse: the thing to know is, the domain name is resolved hierarchically, and the URL suffix is resolved by the final server. When a transaction is initiated, the first step is address resolution - translating a DNS name into an IP address. The URL gets parsed and passed on until a DNS server can be found who "knows" what IP maps to that specific name. Usually, you start by checking a top-level name-server (or your ISP's cached data from one). At every "." in the URL, if the current Name Server does not know the final IP address for the exact, complete DNS-name, it has the option to "pass the buck" to a new domain name controller who might be "closer" to the ultimate host (using the suffix of the DNS name to determine "closeness"). Note that this does guarantee a one-to-one correspondence with true network distance in terms of routing hops!) In the case of a very deep DNS name, ("u.v.w.x.y.z.com"), it is probable that one or more DNS servers is actually owned and operated by the web host - who can control DNS resolution to do whatever he/she wants, including mapping multiple DNS names to the same physical machine (as Kainaw described above). (The same physical machine might have multiple IP addresses, or it might just host multiple software servers that can be uniquely identified by DNS lookup - this is a feature supported by Apache HTTP server, for example). After all the "x.y.z" gets resolved, the server has been uniquely identified, and a transport stream using the HTTP protocol is established. The web server now must interpret URL suffixes (everything following the very first "/"). These usually directly map onto file-systems on the host; but they can be interpreted any way the HTTP server wants. For example, a virtual file system can map something that looks like a subdirectory to actually be a command to run a particular program with the directory-name as an argument, and dump the output as the web-page to deliver. For more details, you can read about URLs and in particular the anatomy of a complete URI. These specifications are standardized in RFC3986. Nimur (talk) 00:12, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"x.y.com" is a subdomain, whereas "y.com/x" is a directory on y.com for x. Usually, these will have the same end result.Smallman12q (talk) 13:30, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, everybody. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 06:56, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

August 25

Installed GIMP 2.6.10 and GhostScript - still can't open EPS

I've installed GIMP and GhostScript on a Windows Vista computer. When I want to open an EPS file it sends this message

Encapsulated PostScript image Message

Error starting Ghostscript. Make sure that Ghostscript is installed and - if necessary - use the environment variable GS_PROG to tell GIMP about its location. (Failed to execute child process (No such file or directory))

GIMP Message Opening 'C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\pictures\aa1.eps' failed:

Could not interpret Postscript file 'C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\pictures\aa1.eps'

Any ideas on how to fix this? The EPS file isn't corrupted since I was able to open it using Adobe PhotoShop in another computer. --Lenticel ^(talk) 00:32, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried setting the environment variable, GS_PROG, to point to the GhostScript installation directory? (Here's a quick how-to if you don't know how to set this). This forum post on the official Gimp website says that some users have found it easier to copy GhostScript into the GIMP install directory - this seems heavy-handed, but will probably work. Nimur (talk) 00:58, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've copied the files in ghostscript's bin and lib folders directly to GIMP's and it worked! Thanks :)--Lenticel ^(talk) 01:39, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sending a big file

Resolved

I live in NJ and I want to send an audio file (lecture) to someone in Oregon but it's 26.4MB and too big to email. After compression, it's down to 26.2MB -- still to big. Must I copy it to a CD and snail mail it? What are my other options, pray tell? DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 01:37, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Rapidshare, Megaupload, Mediafire, wikifortio, etc, see File sharing services. You could also rar or 7zip the file into smaller chunks which would be small enough to email, then reassemble at the other end 82.44.54.25 (talk) 02:23, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanx!DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 02:57, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Disk recovery

Hi. I have data on a disk which I want to recover; linux suse 11.1

The disk has been damaged in some way. The upshot is this: I can boot up my computer using the damaged disk; but then the machine suffers from numerous problems including inability to mount anything such as a USB stick or another hard disk, or indeed an external floppy disk. So I can't copy information out. I can boot up my computer using another disk (suse 11.1/2/3) but then the system will not mount the original damaged disk.

The only files I really need are half a dozen text files. Does anyone know a way to extract information from a drive without mounting it? 131.111.23.212 (talk) 12:18, 25 August 2010 (UTC). Ooops wasn't logged in. Robinh (talk) 12:20, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried booting from a LiveCD and trying to mount the damaged disk from there? -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 12:42, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Finlay. Yup, tried that (using the suse 11.1/2/3 installation disks). No joy. The weird thing is, that I can *see* the files when I boot up from the damaged disk. Cheers, Robinh (talk) 12:44, 25 August 2010 (UTC)#[reply]

Oops, sorry, I misread your question a bit. So you can read the files, but you can't attach another disk to safely preserve them. Does the bad boot still do the network okay? If it does, you can copy it off to another machine with SCP/SFTP. If you're desperate, and this machine (and another you have access to) has a working serial port, you can copy files over RS232 with a null-modem cable (if it's only a few files, you can do this one-at-a-time, manually, with no additional software). I know the system is in trouble, but have you tried burning a CD/DVD? -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 12:59, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi again Finlay. Thanks for this. Can't burn a CD/DVD either. I don't understand what you mean about RS232 and a null-modem cable. What do I plug into the other end of the serial port? Otherwise, Emil's suggestion might be all I have...Robinh (talk) 13:04, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A null modem cable is a serial cable (almost always the 9-pin kind) with a PC at either end. For fancy operation you either run TCP/IP over that connection or a fancy file transfer program, but in your emergency case you'd cat a file into the appropriate serial device at one end, and at the other cat the serial port into a file. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 13:09, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The bad boot machine still boots, but as of just now it doesn't recognize the keyboard when in GUI mode (tried three keyboards) although it *does* recognize the keyboard when I'm asked for a screen resolution at bootup. Which kinda makes life difficult. I thought that control-alt-f1 was supposed to open a virtual terminal, but it doesn't (probably because the keyboard doesn't work)-:. Anyone got a way round this? Robinh (talk) 14:16, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If the keyboard works at bootup, chances are that it will work in text mode. Did you try to boot into run-level 3 (or whatever number is Suse using for non-GUI mode)?—Emil J. 14:24, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Ahha, that sounds a good idea. How do I do that? Robinh (talk) 14:25, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Depends on the boot loader. If you use grub: hit e in the boot menu, this will give you an editable list of parameters passed to the kernel. Append 3 (or, if there already is a lone number on the line, replace it with 3), hit enter. (Here's how it may look like: [1].) Now that I think about it, given the screwed up state of the system, it might be even better to use the single user mode (which avoids starting up the usual demons, which are unlikely to work properly anyway): the kernel parameter for that is named single (instead of a number).—Emil J. 14:39, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If it's really just a handful of text files, you can use more, a camera, and OCR.—Emil J. 12:50, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A really nasty way, if you can still access the boot loader, is exchanging the init=... command on the line with the kernel parameters (or placing one there if there is none) with init=/bin/bash. That will drop you directly into a shell. Note: Most likely, your hard disk will be mounted read-only when you do that.

You could configure an ip address manually by using

ifconfig eth0 a.b.c.d

(where a.b.c.d is an unused address from your home network, which usually starts with 192.168.).

After that, you could copy the files to a different machione using scp/sftp, as suggested above.

Another method, assuming you have netcat installed on both the flaky computer as well as the one you wish to copy the files to, would be this:

On the flaky machine:
cd /directory_where_files_are_located
tar -cvf - your file names here separated with blanks|nc -l -p 4223 -q 2

On the target machine:
cd /directory_where_you_want_to_save_the_files
nc -q 2 a.b.c.d 4223|tar -xvf -

Note: Some distributions call nc by its full name, netcat. -- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 18:27, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks guys (OP here). The machine is locked up right now in the IT office but I'll have a bash (literally, thanks 155!) tomorrow. Best wishes and thanks again, Robinh (talk) 19:04, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Addendum: At the bottom of http://aplawrence.com/SCOFAQ/FAQ_scotec7getnetcat.html there's a netcat implemented in Perl, so even if there's no netcat installed on the flaky machine, you could squeeze all that into one line like

Code hidden to fix page formatting, click show to see!

cd /directory_where_files_are_located && tar -cvf - your file names here separated with blanks| perl -e"use IO::Socket;$host=shift @ARGV;$port=shift @ARGV;$socket=IO::Socket::INET->new(PeerAddr=> $host, PeerPort=> $port, Proto=> 'tcp',Type=> SOCK_STREAM) or die 'Can't talk to '.$host.' at '.$port;while (<>) {print $socket $_;} close $socket;" ip.of.target.machine 4223

Note that if you have to resort to this method, you have to start the target machine first and use the following commands there:

cd /directory_where_you_want_to_save_the_files
nc -q 2 -l -p 4223|tar -xvf -

Also, this might not terminate automatically, so after it shows the last file name, you might have to press Ctrl-C to get back to the shell if it doesn't appear after 2 seconds (that's what the -q 2 is for). -- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 21:09, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Very interesting stuff here. I think I'm going to bookmark the archive version of this conversation.

Here's my contribution: If you can't make the above stuff work, just pull the disk out physically and put it in an enclosure. You can get 'em at Fry's for twenty bucks or so. Then you can just attach the enclosure to the USB port of another machine and mount it.

It's easy; no soldering required or anything. (Except, if the bad machine is a laptop, getting the drive out can be a challenge, depending on the model.) It's not completely risk-free though — with a hard drive that's on its last legs, there's a chance that all that manipulation could send it to computer heaven. --Trovatore (talk) 19:14, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Malicous Virus needed

Question answered and collapsed. See talk page.

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

Where can I download a truly terrible virus? I need to find a virus that would extremly screw up any computer. A virus that would mess around with a computers important files and preferably a virus that would engrave some disturbing or pornographic images on the computer, that won't come off. Also it would be prefered if the virus could be easily reached and downloaded. A few months ago one of my friends told me about a virus he got that deleted his operating system and permantly engraved a picture of a old man jerking off in the background that could'nt be taken off. A virus of that magnitude would be great! Thanks in advance, and I would appreciate any help. Wikiholicforever (talk) 13:53, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you really want to screw up your computer, consult you local hardware store, they will offer a selection of fairly terminal viruses.—Emil J. 14:18, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds fictional, or at least highly exaggerated. There is no realistic way of permanently "engraving" an image into a computer.

Anyway, I'm not sure that there is a legitimate source of computer viruses that'll just hand them out to random people off the street. You're left with various shady sites that prey on would-be hackers, or contacting the right folk in chat-rooms and whatnot. If you know how to code, I suppose one of the infamous Virus Construction Kits is what you're after. They might be slightly easier to find, but probably require some skills to make them work. Wikipedia is not really the right place to ask. Asking here is like walking into a Library and asking the librarian where you can buy some heroin.

(Remember of course, that destroying someone's computer is a criminal offense. If they (or their parents!) decide to report it, you'll be locked up.) APL (talk) 14:48, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For a kiddie, Smeg would be too complex. Best to start off with something like Virus Creation Laboratory. Either way, you'd be trespassing and committing computer crime.Smallman12q (talk) 15:28, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I assure you all, my intentions are not criminal or intending to damage peoples property. I just want to do this for research, to see how badly I can screw my computer up before I throw it away (I thought this is what wikipedia was all about, LEARNING) . I am not looking to create a virus, I just need to find a really terrible one (it may not be as bad as I described but still pretty dreadful), I know its hard to find one but thats why I came here. Please don't delete my question, as it is only for research purposes only. A link to a download would be just enough for me or a link to a site full of viruses. Thanks again and sorry for the misunderstanding. Wikiholicforever (talk) 17:02, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Of course. 'Research'. You might check out Astalavista. They've got all kinds of shady stuff. I'm not sure if that includes viruses, but IIRC they've got forums and stuff, so if you're absolutely certain of your own computer's security arraignments, you could go ask there. Like I said before, you're not going to find a non-shady source of viruses unless you can show credentials as a legitimate researcher, which I'm sure you can't. APL (talk) 14:57, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

File Sharing b/tween Vista and Win 7 - Problem

Resolved

I got Win 7 a while back, and was able to set it up so that my Vista machine could access the computer with full read/write access, and vice-versa. There was no problem at all, and I was actually pleasantly surprised with how easy it had been compared to earlier versions. However, now, since about a week ago, my Vista laptop is giving me a message saying I do not have permission to access the Win 7 laptop - it won't even give me the 'enter your password' bit. I have no idea how or why this suddenly started to happen, but, in any case, I am now finding it difficult to set up a connection again (it was so easy last time that it just wasn't memorable). Can anyone help me either fix problem? The Win 7 laptop can still access the Vista one with no problem at all. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 15:25, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Difficult to troubleshoot without access to the computers. I had a problem with my XP laptop all of a sudden giving the same message with my guest account setup on win7. Then I went to control panel, user accounts and deleted the guest account and now I have only one admin account with a password. The XP laptop now connects if I enter that username and password. Make sure also that your folders are shared correctly in win7; sometimes sharing with the homegroup is not enough and you have to add 'everyone'. Oh and take into account the security implications of sharing if you're permanently connected to the internet. Sandman30s (talk) 23:10, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are you sure you have an account on the Windows 7 computer which is doing the sharing with a password and access (permission) to whatever is being shared? Also have you made sure the sharing is allowed thorough the firewall of the Windows 7 computer? You can also try 'manage network passwords' on the Vista laptop (that is trying to access the Windows 7 computer and failing) and delete all credentials for the Windows 7 computer. 10:38, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

That's incredible - switching the Guest Account 'off' on the Win7 laptop fixed it. I'm staggered. Thanks a lot! --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 13:50, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I hate a dialog box.

You know what modal dialog box is the worst? Yes, you do. It's this one, from Office 2007, which is triggered when you close a document under certain circumstances:

There is a large amount of information on the Clipboard.
Do you want to be able to paste the information into another
program later?
  To save it on the Clipboard so that you can paste it later,
  click Yes.
    To delete it from the Clipboard and free memory, click No.

Since this is 2010 and I am no longer using a floppy disk for my primary storage medium, I would like to never see this dialog box again. Does anyone know a way to configure Office to banish this thing? Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:23, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Microsoft Office uses a different clipboard than the default Windows clipboard. (Actually, they're "connected," see the Clipboard technical documentation). Office Clipboard offers a set of enhancements to the regular Windows clipboard (copy/paste) architecture - things like the ability to store a history for the copy-paste buffer, or the ability to paste the "same content" as multiple formats like plain-text, formatted-text, HTML, or as a raster-image, depending on where you paste it. (Well, some of that is actually handled by the Windows clipboard - but Office "enhances" these features). Office Clipboard shuts off when Office shuts off - so it's asking you politely whether you want to "convert" everything back to the un-enhanced version. Your options are:

Never use office enhanced clipboard: disable it permanently by modifying your registry.
Turn off the enhanced clipboard for one session
Always use the Office Clipboard: run an Office program or component in the background, at all times, so that the enhanced Clipboard engine never turns off
Or, live with the dialog-box, because you might want those enhanced features; and you have to make a decision about what to do with clipboard buffers when you turn Office off.

Nimur (talk) 18:39, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't really get the relevance of floppy disks Nil Einne (talk) 23:45, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Nimur — thanks for the links. The nag dialog actually doesn't seem to only trigger when I exit all Office apps, but also each time I just close an individual Excel window while Excel is still running. Nil Einne — I had assumed that this awful dialog box was a holdover from the 1980s when I remember some Macintosh apps that would ask you this question in an effort to save some memory in order to reduce the amount of floppy disk thrashing as resources would swap in from disk and be purged because, perhaps, the Clipboard was taking up 50K ... never mind. In any case I think the comment about saving memory on the dialog box I'm complaining about now is positively quaint. Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:09, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There is any Web crawler program that is very easy to use and free?

There is any Web crawler program that is very easy to use and free? To be more specific I want to download every song page of pandora website (example: http://www.pandora.com/music/song/anberlin/whisper+clamor ). If possible i want want one that is able to download only the pages that fit on the search, like downloading only the pages with "electric rock instrumentation" on it or not downloading pages with "folk influences" on it.201.78.204.144 (talk) 18:03, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

HTTrack is free and easy to use. It can't filter based on page content, but you can specify url scan options 1230049-0012394-C (talk) 18:28, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

#1 Google hit

I've been patrolling new pages, and a couple of times I've Googled the titles of a brand new page, only to have the new Wikipedia entry returned as the first hit. How is that possible? Exploding Boy (talk) 23:57, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Google picks up on new articles very quickly - much more so than could be done with a web spider. It's very likely they follow either (or both) the recent-changes or new-articles RSS/ATOM feeds. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 23:59, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For example, they picked up on Marti Melville within 2 minutes of its creation. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 00:03, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I guess I don't understand Google. I thought position on the results page was based on payment (sponsored links) or number of links from other pages. Exploding Boy (talk) 00:06, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that's roughly how PageRank works. But the specifics of how Google implements it, and other factors that they put into the equation, are trade secrets. They change this stuff, and don't publicise how it works, as doing so would be a great boon to spammers and search-engine manipulators. It seems that they give Wikipedia articles a boost just because they're on Wikipedia; Marti Melville has no intrawiki links here, and (having never been created before) surely has no inbound links. I guess the effect of the secret-wiki-boost would be most noticeable when, as with the MM article, the rest of the pages that Google knows about the subject don't appear to be very high PageRanking themselves. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 00:14, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Also note that, more than 10 minutes since you deleted MM, it's still in the Google results (in fact it's gone up, from about #10 to #5, perhaps due to you and I doing the search for him a few times). So they seem to follow new creations more aggressively than deletions. Perhaps (hint hint, hypothetical Googlers!) Google should debounce things better, wait for a 2nd editor to edit a new article before it shows up in the search, and follow the deletion stream more vigorously. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 00:25, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My impression is that PageRank is based not just on the incoming links to the specific page but also in part to the quality of the links to the entire domain. That latter factor will be available immediately even for new pages. Hence there is a sort of default page rank assigned to new pages based on the quality of the domain hosting them. Obviously Wikipedia does very well in that regard. Of course, it is also possible that Google has special rules for dealing with Wikipedia in particular. Dragons flight (talk) 09:16, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Incidentally they also seem to be pretty smart about parsing our articles. Note how the summary they show for articles starts with the real text - they strip out templates, see-alsos, infoboxes, etc. I'd be surprised if they didn't have one or two engineers devoted full-time to making sure their retrieval and processing of Wikipedia (and probably other MediaWiki-running sites like Wikia) is as good as it can be. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 00:18, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(Sorry to perseverate on this, but heck it's interesting) they're much better than they used to be about lowering the ranking of mirrors of Wikipedia content. There was a time, maybe three or four years ago, when a certain fact-aggregation website sometimes returned a higher position that Wikipedia, even though it chiefly regurgitated old Wikipedia content. The mirrors are still there, but they're lower now. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 00:33, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sure, they're good at what they do. I find it better to use Google to search Wikipedia, rather than Wikipedia itself, e.g. [2] - even for userspace stuff [3]. Then again, they have a budget of $9001M and we have about 10c.^{[citation needed]} Chzz ► 01:40, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This is indicative constant improvement in the relevancy and speed of the google index. For more on their latest algorithmic tweaks, see Google Caffeine, which could explain this. --rocketrye12^{talk/contribs} 21:53, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

August 26

iWork Serial Number

I recently installed iWork onto my Mac. However, the installation requires me to enter a serial number. I can't seem to find number. I've already tried several codes that were on the box but none of them worked. What should I do?--ChromeWire (talk) 00:14, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly, you had a trial version which requires a serial number, and now have a retail version which does not, and...it gets in a twist, according to this thread, where it explains you need to remove the trial. Maybe that will help, or maybe someone will come along with a more definitive answer. Chzz ► 01:35, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I did previously have the trial version so I tried removing iWork from my computer but it still asks for the serial number.--ChromeWire (talk) 16:01, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yep...did you see that thread? deleted all files in the /library/Caches in both root and user accounts and deleted any .plist files that had the word iWorks in them in both Preferences folders and To the above, add /Library/Application Support/iWork '09. It works. Chzz ► 12:13, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Improving reliability of Wikipedia bot

I have written and operated a Wikipedia bot (User:PSBot) that scans the proposed deletion category every thirty minutes to find de-nominated articles. The source code (written in JavaScript) is at User talk:PSBot/Deprods. Recently, my Windows 7 desktop computer (which I have run the bot on so far) has blue-screen crashed about once a month, taking the bot down with it. Additionally, I need to be able to apply security updates to my desktop computer as well. Therefore, I would like to move the bot to a separate computer running Linux, FreeBSD, etc. to improve reliability. Preferably, the computer I would like to use for this purpose is an Apple Power Mac G4 Server with 384 MB of RAM.

Which distribution of Linux (or FreeBSD, etc.) is the easiest to get working on the PowerPC Mac platform and will work reliably within the limited amount of RAM?
Currently, the script runs within an Adobe AIR-based application. Which JavaScript environment should I run the code under on the G4 Server: Chromium, Firefox, or another?
The bot framework I am using is quite limited. Am I better off rewriting the bot, especially since I want to add some more features? (I am aware of all requirements of Wikipedia's bot policy.) If so, in what programming language and using which bot framework? (It has to be relatively easy for a JavaScript programmer to learn.)

Thanks, PleaseStand ^(talk) 05:37, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Old versions of Ubuntu (6.10) can officially run on PowerPC Mac G4; here is the Ubuntu Apple Desktop Support page. Unofficial ports of more modern versions are also available: read here about newer versions of Ubuntu for PowerPC. (Direct link: Ubuntu-9.10-PowerPC cd-image for Apple G4 and its ilk... this file is around 800 MB).

Regarding architecture changes: yes, think about platform portability. Given that your hardware is now "esoteric" and "unsupported", you will have to migrate at some point in the future (when your widget burns out and you can't buy a new one because they don't make PowerMac G4s anymore...). So start thinking about portable languages. Javascript is a good start, but it probably lacks the performance and the power for an internet-scalable bot. You could rewrite from scratch - but there's another alternative: Rhino. This is a JavaScript environment for Java (if you're unfamiliar, don't let the names confuse you - Java is a full-blown application programming language largely unrelated to JavaScript). This is probably the best "standalone" environment for your JavaScript purposes, because it doesn't carry the overburden of a web-browser (and since you are writing a bot, you don't really need the weight of a browser's DOM implementation layer).

I have only just recently started playing with Mozilla Rhino, but I'm already enthused at how powerful it is. When you desire, you can use Rhino to interpret all of your existing JavaScript; it can be very lightweight and efficient. And when you want, you can write a fullblown Java application, and Rhino will seamlessly hook your JavaScript and Java application together, giving you access to functions and data from all the standard Java libraries, and your own custom Java code. You can thus use dynamic typing, loose syntax, and runtime interpretation - all the while leveraging the scope and utility of compiled Java code and standard libraries. With about ten lines of Java program code, you can basically house your existing JavaScript in a much more powerful framework - and most importantly, it is platform-portable and can be implemented with entirely free software (OpenJDK, for example) - unlike Adobe Air! Nimur (talk) 06:22, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Disk recovery (part two)

Hello everyone, and a big thank you to everyone who helped me yesterday. Well, events have moved on and thinking that the disk was on its last elbows and only had a limited time left, I bit the bullet and typed

 dd if=/dev/sdb4 of=~/recover

So now I have a 40GB file called 'recover' which I think contains the content of the bad disk. Does any wikiguru know of any tips or tricks to extract file content (just text) from this? I still have the other ideas above in reserve. Best wishes, Robinh (talk) 08:35, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sure. The fact it went through the whole partition without issue's a promising sign. What was the partition formatted as? If there's no other problem you can just mount it outright. sudo mkdir /recovered ; sudo mount /dev/sda4 /recovered

If the file table's destroyed in some way then it matters what the partition type was. NTFS? NTFS has the MFT at the beginning of the drive and then a copy in the middle. ext2 (or 3 or 4), it has a node system that's robust against failures. Fat32? Whatever the system is the best approach is to try and mount the original system. If that doesn't work then try to fix the original system. Your last case approach is to "file carve" the remaining data. In most cases data will be stored sequentially on the disc, so if you know what file's start and end looks like then there are programs to look for that and export out what they find. It's not an easy process, and you'll have to sort through a lot of junk, but it will find files. Shadowjams (talk) 08:51, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, in case sda4's gone, but you have the file, you can do losetup -f ./recover and it will allow you to then "mount" /dev/loopX to whatever you want. You need to figure out what X is though. Check the losetup man page. Shadowjams (talk) 08:54, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's preferable to leave the choice of the loop device and attaching it to the file (as well as detaching it automatically on unmount!) to mount. Just do mount -o loop ~/recover /mnt (+ whatever other options you want to give to the mount command, such as ro).—Emil J. 11:57, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you shadowjams. I had no idea you could mount a file. Anyway, one thing at a time. I tried to mount recover as you said but got an error reading "unknown filesystem type 'LVM2_member'". Any ideas? Robinh (talk) 08:56, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This indicates that the disk is an LVM volume. Mounting LVM volumes on systems where they were not created seems to be a frequently encountered, but solvable, problem, just googling for LVM2_member will give you a plenty of ideas. Since you were able to copy the disk image without errors, there is a good chance that it is actually mountable with the right setup.—Emil J. 12:12, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well that suggests that whatever you're trying to mount either isn't a file system or was one but is now damaged. The mount command is very particular, so even a small error in the headers will cause it to balk.

losetup (loop setup) is the best way to mount disc images in linux/unix, but if the image is damaged in some way then you'll have problems. Generally, how did you come to this situation in the first place? Are you trying to recover your entire filesystem or just a few key files? Most data on most file-systems is stored sequentially and so if you were to look at every byte on the drive you'd actually see most data perfectly. Data carving relies on that fact. If files are huge or your drive is incredibly fragmented then you might have problems, but if there's somethign specific you really need then it's probably easier to find. Shadowjams (talk) 09:00, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for this. I really really appreciate it. I have five or six files (all text); I don't care about the rest. I have discovered that the command 'strings' is good and can do strings recover | egrep -C 100 "whichfern" [the string whichfern is one that occurs in my recovered file]. I will study the manpage for losetup and see if that can work (I'm not sure what X is). Very best wishes, Robinh (talk) 09:10, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No problem. I've gnashed too many teeth with the same problem to have someone else have to go through the same thing. Strings is a great command for this kind of thing. In that case you don't even need to losetup the file, you could just do dd if=file_im_intersted_in.img | strings | grep -A 10 -B 10 'whichferm'. That will probably get most of what you want. You can also do the same thing using |hexdump -C|grep ..... and then grep for it. When hexdump gives you an answer it will be prefaced with a hex number. That hex number is the number of bytes it's seen. So take that number, divide by 512 (because dd does it by "blocks/sectors" which are almost always 512 bytes) and then "skip" that many bytes with dd (e.g., dd if=whatever skip=1024). I realize this is a lot of information to take in, but I think you know what you're doing, so hopefully this provides you with a little bit of direction. Good luck. If you need more help please post here and I'll be back to respond within the next 24 hours. Shadowjams (talk) 09:18, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)If file -s ~/recover reports the file as a valid partition, you can just let mount handle it with (as root)mkdir /mnt/recover ; mount -o ro,loop ~/recover /mnt/recover. That will attempt to mount the disk image read-only onto /mnt/recover. If you've got the disk space, I'd copy the image, and then attempt to recover the image by using fsck -f ~/recover.

You could also try PhotoRec.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec#Media lists DD raw images as supported file format, so your ~/recover file should work just fine.

Also, despite the name PhotoRec, it is able to detect more than 320 different file formats, including various office file types, see: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/File_Formats_Recovered_By_PhotoRec

-- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 19:40, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Java applet issues.....

I run a Java applet to connect to IRC called "PJIRC". Its a very nice web based chat client, but when i play a full screen game and come back to my client afterwards, the area where the applet is supposed to appear is usually black, and i cant interact with anything. I have to refresh the web page, therefore resetting my connection to the IRC server.... VERY annoying.

Does anyone know what causes this or how to fix it? Thanks! :)

74.117.245.62 (talk) 10:58, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Google

Google keeps bugging me to change the email address from "@googlemail.com" to "@gmail.com". Do I have to change it? Will they eventually forced the change on it? When / if they do, will the old address not work and I'll have to update everything? 82.44.54.25 (talk) 15:25, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

They use googlemail.com primarily in Germany and the UK because of legal issues with gmail.com. Once those legal issues are fixed, they will have no need for googlemail.com, but might continue using it just for brandname recognition. As for which they prefer to use, it depends on your country. -- kainaw ™ 15:36, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

New laptop battery

Hello all I have a HP pavillion dv6700 notebook. I would like to put a new battery in it, one that lasts 8 hours as my current battery lasts only around an hour and a half. Do such batteries exist for my laptop? If I were to purchase a new one I would like it to fit inside the laptop. Thanks in advance for any help. RichYPE (talk) 16:00, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What you need is a 12 cell battery. You can find several of them on Amazon: [4]. Just make sure that it's compatible with DV6500 before you buy. Note that how long the batter lasts deponds on usage and power settings on the laptop. Also, the 12 cell batteries are larger and heavier than the normal 6 cell ones. Have a look at this site for battery maintenance tips: [5]. - Akamad (talk) 18:26, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Many thanks for your help. I have ordered a 12 cell battery. RichYPE (talk) 22:49, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Downloading a clean copy of wininit.exe

My wininit.exe file got infected by malware in my Windows 7 machine. Where can I download a clean copy of it? --Belchman (talk) 18:32, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You should be able to repair your install with the Windows 7 install disk, assuming you have one. Downloading Windows system files from the internet seems like a bad idea, they'll most likely be viruses. 82.44.54.25 (talk) 18:36, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

But the thing is that I don't need to "repair" (whatever the "repair" program exactly does) everything, it's just one file. --Belchman (talk) 19:02, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I would do the repair from disc, too. And of course I'd follow the Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing/Viruses suggestions about creating and habitually using a non-administrator account, to reduce the likelihood of future infections. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:07, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Another option is to just try running SFC /scannow (as an administrator) and Windows will scan all the system files and put back any that aren't the correct versions - wininit.exe is one of those protected file (assuming it hasn't already put it back that is!). ZX81 ^talk 19:09, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've uploaded wininit.exe from my own Windows 7 (32-bit) which you can download [Link removed] if you want. I suggest you try and run the repair program on the install disk first, since my version might not be compatible with yours, and incorporating system files into your OS which were download from "someone on the internet" is not very safe practice (I could be an evil botnet owner or something). 82.44.54.25 (talk) 19:18, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have removed the link; I don't believe Wikipedia's copyright policy allows it (see WP:LINKVIO). Microsoft Windows system files are copyrighted. PleaseStand ^(talk) 21:33, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much 82.44.54.25 and others. --Belchman (talk) 06:20, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What makes you think that wininit.exe is infected or that nothing else is? Did a malware or virus scanner say so? Which scanner was it, what infection did it claim, and what directory is the file in? Viruses infect as many executable files as they can, and other forms of malware don't infect files at all. It seems much more likely to me that this is either a false alarm or a malware executable unrelated to the Windows executable by the same name. In the latter case, you should delete it, not replace it. -- BenRG (talk) 23:18, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Watch

I'm looking for a free program that can monitor several web pages and alert if the page content changes, sort of like the Wikipedia watchlist does, but for any web page. I searched via google but could only find a commercial program 82.44.54.25 (talk) 20:58, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Have you considered using a free web service rather than a program that you have to run? WatchThatPage is free, though they request donations if you're a heavy user or a company. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:11, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wrong Screws = Laptop failure?

I have a Dell Inspiron 1200.

I wanted to clean the heat sink (and the fan) - to remove the dust accumulation etc.

So I started unscrewing all the screws I could find, as there was no special compartment for the heat sink, like how there is for RAM, and the Hard drive. Not having read the manual or other instructions...I tried to pull different locations (outside cover) to get to the motherboard.

I still could not get to it...so I gave up, and screwed everything back up.

The laptop would not power up...After pressing the power button...The power led light (along with caps lock, scroll lock..) stayed on for a few seconds...before automatically shutting off.

So then I read the manual on the internet regarding disassembling the laptop.

It said to note where you remove the screws from etc. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins2200/en/SM/begin.htm which I did not do, and I probably mixed them when I screwed everything back again.

Per the documentation: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins2200/en/SM/sysboard.htm I did the following:

1. Remove the hard drive.

2. Remove the optical drive.

3. Remove the memory module.

4. Remove the keyboard.

5. Remove the Mini PCI card. (there was no PCI card in my laptop)

6. Remove the modem.

7. Remove the display assembly.

8. Remove the palm rest.

9. Remove the microprocessor thermal-cooling assembly.

I cleaned it. Then when I went to put it back together. I believe I lost 1 or 2 screws. And I must have put wrong size screws in some places.

But now it started up fine.

I ordered replacement screws from eBay.

2 weeks later...

When I put the replacement screws inside the laptop (the back of the laptop) - It would not power up (like earlier - the led light stays powered on but nothing starts up).

Anyways, I went and disassembled the laptop again. Then re-assembled it - only this time I screwed as little as possible.

The laptop booted up fine...so then I started putting screws back on one by one...testing after every few screws whether it continued to boot up - to see which one was the culprit.

I was able to locate the area where when it is screwed it causes the laptop not to boot up. This time I did not screw that location.

A few hours later the same problem came back.

Now I removed half the screws from the back of my laptop...just to get it to start up again....

Now should I just leave it like this - unscrewed?

If the screw fits and gets tightened that means I am using the correct screw right?

Why is this happening (not booting up when everything is screwed)?

--33rogers (talk) 21:15, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are you sure that the screws are actually the problem? After all, you said you "...tried to pull different locations to get to the motherboard". Perhaps in doing so you damaged something else, perhaps even cracked your motherboard. Minor damage can lead to problems when things warm up, things expand and tiny cracks widen and prevent electrical signals being passed around the circuitry. Even worse, if you've got a loose screw or two rolling around the insides, it could be creating short circuits where ever it touches. The screws used in a laptop are often different lengths in different locations due to the tight spaces inside. Using a too long screw can easily cause the end of the screw to touch components under the fixing point. Unfortunately, your lack of care in disassembling your laptop and your later lack of care trying to fix it again (when you "...must have put wrong size screws in some places") may well have damaged your laptop beyond repair. However, if you want to try again, I suggest you carefully take it apart again and ensure you have correctly identified and accounted for all the screws, then reassemble it following the service manual instructions exactly - paying particular attention to getting the right screws in the right holes (for example, if a screw seems to have come to the end of its available turns and the component is still loose, you probably have the wrong screw; do not be tempted to put some force into tightening it a little more). Astronaut (talk) 23:21, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Slightly off topic as my PC assembly/re-build experience is not with laptops, but the length of the screws when mounting the Hard Disk Drive(HDD) can be a factor. As mentioned by Astronaut, if a HDD (or other) mounting screw is too long it may reach the printed circuit board and possibly damage it or earth a track/trace to the chassis or laptop equivalent. After looking at the "Removing the Hard Drive" instructions it seems this is less likely to be a factor. I also concur with Astronauts other comments.
• 33rogers, did you take note of and follow the advice about "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge"?, as that might cause weird problems. This link shows the type of equipment you should try to use if you are going to delve inside your computer.
220.101 talk^\Contribs ~~04:37, 27 August 2010 (UTC)~~ Updated 04:53, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I did not follow the advice about "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" as I already tried to get to the heat sink (area where dust is collected) without reading the manual beforehand. When it refused to start up, (and probably because I had smaller screw left over and it would not fit), then I looked up the manual. By then I assumed it was too late. --33rogers (talk) 07:58, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a way to know for sure which screw goes where, considering that there are now (probably) wrong screws in different locations?

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins2200/en/SM/display.htm

"8. From the bottom of the computer, remove the two M2.5 x 5-mm screws labeled "D."

Image Link:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins2200/en/SM/displa11.jpg

Now this screw doesn't fit (i.e. this screw does not tighten at all).

Only the M2.5 x 8-mm screws work - probably because I used this one earlier when I was not supposed to?

Below is the first location which when screwed the laptop would NOT boot up; all other locations were screwed.

Then when I tried later, it did not boot again.

(Very frustrated because I spent 6 hours just re-assembling everything) So then I started removing screws, and kept trying until it started.

The screws below are now removed:

Now it starts and works.

Should I leave it as is, with the screws removed, for day to day use?

Unfortunately, your lack of care in disassembling your laptop and your later lack of care trying to fix it again, when you put wrong size screws in some places, may well have damaged your laptop beyond repair.

Do you think it is worth the time disassembling & then reassembling again? --33rogers (talk) 07:50, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Laptop Screws

Re: "way to know for sure which screw goes where", please see Before you begin/Screw Identification According to the table there, the only 3mm diameter screws(M3 x 3mm) are for the HDD "door", which if you are unfamiliar with the sizes may help you identify them. Note: "M3 x 3mm"=3mm diameter x 3mm long.

If you are not going to move your laptop around, then I suppose you could get away with leaving the screws out. (Gaffer tape may be an alternative) BUT beware of the fact that pulling tape off the roll can generate a static charge!
The fact that it does boot up makes me think that it has not been damaged by static electricity, but I cannot be certain. A charge of only 50 volts, that you would never feel, could easily damage the micro-processor or other components as they work on far lower voltages.

It is possible that a cable is being 'pinched' by the case and shorting out, if it is not in the correct position as you close the case. Sometimes they are simply taped to hold them in the right spot. A flexible flat cable(see pic) may have been loosened, and making intermittent contact that becomes an open circuit as as you close the case. Note they can also be a brownish colour and look like a piece of transparent tape with wires or tracks inside. 220.101 talk^\Contribs 09:01, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Here, "Removing the Display Panel" is where this type of cable is used. They may be elsewhere as well, even on hard disks.
Step 4 of "Display Assembly" "Remove the four M2.5 x 5-mm screws (labeled "M2.5x5") that secure the EMI shield to the system board" show some wires and cables under the Aluminium shield, ensure these are not being pinched when it is screwed in place. 220.101 talk^\Contribs 09:38, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

August 27

Compile error in hidden module: AutoExec?

The message "Compile error in hidden module: AutoExec" shows whenever I start my Word 2000. After clicking OK I can use it normally, but the message shows again when I close it. It seems to be no more than an annoyance. Any idea what this means, and how I can fix it? 24.92.78.167 (talk) 00:39, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There is an article about this on the Microsoft Support web site; have you seen it yet? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307410 PleaseStand ^(talk) 01:10, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Built in Anti-virus programs

I was highly displeased at all the flame I got for my last post, now my question is what are the antivirus programs that come with lets say a mac laptop or a pc from either 6 years ago or now. I'm not talking about program trials either, my cousin just got a new mac and want to know if he's properly protected by built in antivirus programs if any. Thanks in advance. Wikiholicforever (talk) 00:40, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

General information: Most PCs come with only trial subscriptions to antivirus programs (6 months or so), and Macs come with no antivirus software at all. That has not changed much in the past several years. However, there are far fewer malware programs for Mac versus PC. PleaseStand ^(talk) 01:08, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the answer, so from what I got your answer is that the majority of pc's don't have any permanent antivirus programs at all??? Are there at least very simple detecters that come packed in?? And I did'nt know that the mac was so badly protected, I'm kind of surprised! I really appreciate the answer, thanks again! Wikiholicforever (talk) 01:22, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Unless the particulars of the deal included the vendor installing a full version of some anti-virus program, your cousin's Mac doesn't have any anti-virus software on it. They don't come with any from Apple. That said, in the 18 years that I've been using Macs, I've never once had a virus or other malicious program on my systems. Partially because there are significantly fewer viruses written for Macs as well as the fact that I'm careful about where I go on the net and what I click on. It's not that Macs are badly protected when sold it's that, for the most part, it's just not necessary. It's like someone who lives in the United States getting a malaria shot. The chances of getting malaria in the US are so low that nobody bothers getting immunized for it. Dismas|^(talk) 01:26, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Windows Vista comes with Windows Defender. Mac OS 10.6 (released in 2009) also comes with a hidden anti-virus program. All versions of Windows also automatically download the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. So, in summary, if he's using an older version of the Mac OS, he isn't protected by an anti-virus program by default.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 02:23, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That basic protection, though, is very limited. The Windows MSRT only scans for specific prevalent families of malware once a month, so it cannot prevent infection by malware. The Mac OS X 10.6 "file quarantine" only applies to files downloaded using Safari, iChat, etc. and only scans for a small set of Mac trojan horse programs. It won't prevent the user, for example, from spreading a Windows virus or macro virus, or spreading a virus via flash drive (if a Mac virus were to spread that way). [6][7] So I wouldn't consider it a "substitute" for antivirus software, applying security updates to the operating system, web browser, and all browser plug-ins, and avoiding unsafe links. PleaseStand ^(talk) 03:18, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for all the answers, I really appreciate it. Over the past two days I've been testing to see if a keylogger would be blocked by a number of computers. What I found out was very similar to your answers. It was detected on 3 out of the 5 computers with just built in antivirus, the keylogger was'nt detected on a mac and another pc. When I went home to see if the keylogger was working, nothing came up so obviously it was'nt written for mac and I don't know what happened with the pc... Wikiholicforever (talk) 22:07, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Using real malware for testing to see if an antivirus program is working isn't a good idea. The EICAR test file, in contrast, is a safe file specifically designed for the purpose. PleaseStand ^(talk) 22:41, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Keyloggers are pretty harmless if they are under your own control and don't have a "phone home" feature, and you remember to delete all your logged passwords, but the very simple EICAR file (X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*) is much safer. Just save it as a text file and see how long it takes your anti-virus software to detect it. Dbfirs 02:29, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Error Box when Googling

My PC runs Windows XP Professional "Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600" and IE Version 7.0.5730.13 (data from System Information)
Recently while using Google the search results appear, but I have also had an error box come up several times saying:

"Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=Chris+Madden+hockey&rlz=1R2GGLJ_en&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Operation aborted"

The box has a red cicle with a white X on the left, and an 'OK button' at the bottom to click on.

Refreshing the screen (F5) does not always seem to make the search work. It only seems to have been happening the last week or two.
Any ideas what may be causing this? Perhaps a simple failure to acccess Google for some reason? But the search results are appearing so it seems it is accessing the Google site. 220.101 talk^\Contribs 03:43, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Some cursory Googling suggests it's an IE problem. IE is attempting to contacting Google, fails, and just gives up. This MSDN forum post suggests a number of different potential fixes. My suggestion is to upgrade to IE 8, or a better browser like Chrome, FireFox, Opera, Safari. --—Mitaphane _{Contribs | Talk} 15:50, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your reply, Mitaphane. I'll take a look at what the links say and go from there. I'll also take a look at some of the other browsers. Thanks! 220.101 talk^\Contribs 15:10, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Implementing a lock for a socket stream

Hello! I'm developing a Java application that uses network sockets to transfer Objects between two computers over TCP though ObjectInput/OutputStreams. My problem is I can't figure out what's the best way to implement a lock for the socket's Input- and OutputStreams so that when one computer wants to transfer an Object, the other is listening. The easiest way seems to be use two sockets and two threads per computer (an up-down socket and a down-up socket, and a thread blocking to read or write on the designated side), but that sounds really inefficient (though I'm not that familiar with socket application, so if that's the way it's usually done, I wouldn't know). I've experimented with interrupting threads blocked in I/O operation for similar tasks in the past, and they seem to ignore the interruption. (It seems like the Java API specifies a different behavior with every subclass of InputStream for interrupts, which gets very confusing and difficult with sockets.) I'd appreciate any related information, especially specific to Java. Thank you!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 03:49, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

One socket is sufficient for bidirectional communication; you can "simultaneously" send and receive (on both ends). In other words, both ends of the socket implement an InputStream and OutputStream. Writing to the output streams, as defined in the java.io interface, is non-blocking - so you can write data, and it will get buffered on the other end until the other program is ready to read. When reading, just be sure to check if bytes are available, and only read that many (guaranteeing that you won't block indefinitely); or set up a read-timeout or channel for non-blocking reads. The Java socket API abstracts this for you; you don't have to worry about locking the socket for bidirectional communication to work. (Whether the data is actually flowing both directions simultaneously is entirely dependent on your network card driver; if it doesn't support this, the JVM or the operating system will buffer and serialize the datastreams; TCP sockets guarantee that data will never be lost because of such buffering at any point in the network). In terms of efficiency - well, if you're sending and receiving, you're increasing your network traffic - so if your hardware is maxxing out on bandwidth, you'll be able to measure the slow-down; but it will only affect performance, not functionality. If you implement multiple sockets, (and your hardware and operating system support it), each socket could map to a different IP and network interface, parallelizing the data flow, so that could conceivably benefit you; but only if you actually have multiple IPs and network cards per machine. Nimur (talk) 03:58, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the rapid (less than 10 minutes!) and informative reply, Nimur. I didn't know that sockets supported two-way communication—it sure makes a lot of things easier! Your note about checking available bytes before reading them was also helpful, as it led me to check the documentation for ObjectInputStream's constructor, which blocks and was part of my problem. Now everything is working fine.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 05:32, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't done any Java socket programming, but OutputStream.write must block because the alternative is too horrible to contemplate. Writes to a TCP stream have to block when the write buffer fills just as reads block when the read buffer empties. If the write buffer were allowed to grow indefinitely, you could exhaust all available memory by sending a 10GB file on a socket at 30MB/s when the recipient happens to be on a 1MB/s DSL line.

If I understand correctly, you want each computer (call them A and B) to act as an object server for the other. Abstractly, you have four unidirectional message types: requests A→B, responses B→A, requests B→A, and responses A→B. Your original idea of two TCP connections gives you four unidirectional streams, one for each of the message types. Nimur's suggestion is to use one TCP connection and multiplex requests and responses onto the same stream. That would be somewhat harder to implement and I'm not sure if you'd see a performance benefit. If you processed each stream sequentially, you could see a degradation in performance, since a request from B to A couldn't go through while a request from A to B was pending.

You also need to think about deadlock. Is it possible that satisfying the other machine's request for an object will require requesting an object from the other machine? If so, consider what happens if B requests X from A and, to satisfy that request, A needs Y from B. If you're using a single TCP connection and everything is sequential, you're doomed at this point, because the request for Y can't go down the wire until X has been sent. If you use two TCP connections, you're okay in that case, but then consider the possibility that B needs X' from A in order to satisfy the request for Y. The only way to deal with this in general is to implement out-of-order responses. -- BenRG (talk) 20:12, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your concerns. My socket application is pretty basic (using it as practice—and I'm lucky if I can get a String transmitted successfully!), and uses a server-client relationship (client only asks for objects, and server only sends objects), so I think this avoids most of the problems you mention. As I develop more sophisticated application, I'll keep your advice in mind. I'm a little confusion about your comment "If you processed each stream sequentially, you could see a degradation in performance, since a request from B to A couldn't go through while a request from A to B was pending." Could you explain a little more? Does sequentially mean processing the stream on a single thread per computer?--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 23:10, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

'Sequentially' in this case means that if A requests an object, it cannot make another request until B has responded with said object, and vice versa. It's essentially a 'conversation': one speaker at a time, and with one TCP connection you are limited to this. It can decrease performance, if a long response or network latency blocks the connection when a new request needs to be made. If you go for an implementation with two connections, both computers can send requests whenever they need to. The two separate connections aren't automatically synchronized in any way, which might cause other design problems. I hope this helps. Zigorney (talk) 16:58, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

AJAX/JavaScript problem.

I'm something of a JavaScript newbie (although I have a bazillion years of programming in other languages under my belt). So it may be necessary to speak loudly and use short words!

I'm trying to write a JavaScript application that essentially does the following:

Issue an XMLHttpRequest "POST" to launch a CGI program 'A' on the server using xmlhttp.onreadystatechange to register an event handler function. ('A' is a honking great C++ program).
Program A will start up and work for ~8 seconds before sending it's response "AJAX-style" using:
printf ( "Content-Type:text/plain\nFromA: ...60kbytes of ASCII data...\n" ) ;
The instant the JavaScript gets the reply from A, it will return to step (1) and re-issue the post.
Should it not get a response within 20 seconds, the JavaScript code re-issues the post on the assumption that something went wrong.

That much works GREAT. I get a solid 8 second 'heartbeat' update from the server.

Now I need to complicate matters.

When the user clicks a button, (at any time during the 8 second cycle), I need to kick off a second program 'B' on the server...which need not respond at all - but which (I strongly suspect) is required to send some sort of response to avoid browser hangups. So 'B' responds immediately with a different AJAX-style response:

printf ( "Content-Type:text/plain\nFromB:HelloWorld\n" ) ;

With the "FromB:" part letting me know that this is a junk message from B and not an interesting one from A.

The trouble seems to be that JavaScript forgets the onreadystatechange handler that's waiting for the message from 'A' whenever the message from B arrives...so the heartbeat stops coming back and my 20 second timeout is invoked every time I click the button. (At least, I suspect that's the reason).

Is there some reason why it might be impossible to have multiple AJAX-type queries going on at the same time? Can I have multiple XMLHttpRequest objects working at the same time?

(I need this to work in FireFox, Safari, Chrome and (ideally) Opera - but InternetExplorer is already a lost cause for a dozen other things it doesn't do right!)

TIA SteveBaker (talk) 05:17, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The keyword in AJAX is asynchronous - so yes, you can definitely have multiple independent queries in-flight at any time, going to the same or different programs on the server-side. (This is the whole point of AJAX!) If it isn't working, it may be some kind of a bug in the order that data is returning ("asynchronous" of course means that there's no guarantee on timing or re-ordering of queries - your server could be doing "smart" things at the HTTP layer, etc.). Have you considered wrapping your data and responses in JSON (a very lightweight and simple text-based data object format)? Then, you can easily tag every transaction with its source program (A or B) and some kind of unique transaction ID to ensure it's processed in the correct place / order. This will make it easier to parse your queries and responses and guarantee that data goes where you intended (to the right server-side program / client-side javascript function, and so on). Nimur (talk) 06:20, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

HTTP/1.1 specifies a connection limit of 2 connections per server. Although browsers recently started increasing this limit for better Ajax responsiveness, you might still run into this depending on what else your application/other tabs are doing. Other than that, multiple XMLHttpRequest objects shouldn't be a problem, and then I'd suspect that somehow your completion handler for B is interfering with the xhr object for A. Do you reuse A and B's XHR object, or create a new one for every request? I've had to work around some odd (mostly IE bugs) with XHRs by calling abort() and resetting the readystatechange handler every time I reused a XHR object. Unilynx (talk) 06:23, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Number of connections per server can be set by the server configuration; but that's something to check. On reading Steve's code a bit more carefully, I wonder if he's using the same variable name (xmlhttp) for both transactions. This is one of those things that you know not to do in C++. But Javascript makes this problem even more acute, because scope in Javascript is so complex. You can almost always assume that "it's a global variable." I would check closely: are you over-riding Transaction A 's registered callback by assiging xmlhttp.onreadystatechange during the initiation of Transaction B? You're probably mucking with the first transaction object! In other words, Transaction B isn't a new instance of xmlhttp: it's the same object! Check carefully; for safety, use clean, new names for each object; and if that fixes it, good. Follow-up by with some web-searches on "scope in Javascript" - this is a very common programmer-error because JS is so different from normal languages, it's almost impossible to have a "locally-scoped" variable. Nimur (talk) 06:33, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Number of connections is a client-side restriction too (and there is no standard way for the server to communicate a limit, expect by using HTTP/1.0 instead of /1.1) and requires a configuration change to modify, see eg here where IE7 defaults to 2 and requires a registry change. JavaScript local variables work fine, as long as you properly use the var keyword or put them in objects, and realise that even 'var' variables in JavaScript have function-scope, not block-scope as they would in most other languages. But the issues Nimur mention remain relevant - how exactly do you pass the XMLHttpRequest object to your completion callbacks? Through global variables or closures? Unilynx (talk) 10:19, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

<drumroll>...and the winner is...Nimur! Yes, I had goofed up the scope of my XMLHttpRequest and was using the same object for both transactions. (I really, deeply, truly **HATE** JavaScript!) Giving each request a different name fixed the problem. Many thanks folks!

@Unilynx: Now you have me worried about the transaction limits! I expect to have 50+ people using this site at the same time - and that means that there will typically be 50 connections to program A - all waiting for their 8 second heartbeat - plus some random number of connections to program B...so there could easily be 50 connections to the server - and perhaps as many as 100. When you say "a connection limit of 2 connections per server" - I hope you mean "two connections TO EACH CLIENT per server" or something - not a total system limit of two connections...right?

I don't intend to support Internet Explorer (it can't run this stuff for LOTS of other reasons) - and I also don't need to support older versions of any of the other browsers either, but I need it to work with the latest HTML-5 versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera (actually, the upcoming as-yet-unreleased versions of those four browsers) - and also on Android & iPhone4 cellphone browsers. SteveBaker (talk) 14:14, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

2 per server, per client, yes, so no need to worry unless you did something explicitly to your server to limit connections per IP. As far as I know, no browser actually fully implements HTML5, but that shouldn't matter, as XmlHTTPRequest predates HTML5 anyway - HTML5 is just the first HTML spec to standardize it. (In fact, XmlHTTPRequest is a IE/Exchange invention). Unilynx (talk) 22:31, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

XP Spanned Volumes

I'm running Windows XP and have three 250 GB disks in my machine. I spanned two of them in Disk Management to create one dynamic NTFS drive (D:). If I reformat the system disk (C:) and reinstall the OS, will this affect my spanned volume? matt (talk) 08:16, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No, because you have two logical partitions (one extended) and XP sees only the logical partition you choose when installing which you can ask XP to (quick)format. It will not touch or attempt to change any of your partitioning during installation. Sandman30s (talk) 21:38, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Nuclear Physics-Package Simulation Software

Hi.

I am seeking simulation-software which can be used to simulate the deformation and detonation of nuclear physics-packages. It should be able to:

Accept input of shape, size, dimensions, mass, etc. of the fissile core, neutron reflector, explosive lenses and package-wall.
Visually simulate deformation of all parts of the physics-package (fissile core, neutron reflector, explosive lenses and package-wall) upon detonation.
Output numerical values for the following at the moment of detonation;
1. tonnage (TNT equivalent),
2. nett energy release (in newtons),
3. nett force (in Pascals) at various distances from the epicenter,
4. temperature (in either kelvin or celsius) at various distances from the epicenter,
5. and percentage of fissile material wasted (i.e. which did not undergo fission).
Support designing with the following materials:
1. Fissile Material: Uranium, Plutonium, Americium, Curium, Californium, Protactinium & Radium.
2. Neutron-reflector: Beryllium, Titanium, Tungsten, Osmium, Steel, Graphite, Gold, Lead & Uranium.
3. Explosive Lenses: Trnitrotoluene, Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine, Cyclotetramethylenetrinitramine, Octanitrocubane, etc.
4. Package-Wall: Titanium, Tungsten, Duralumin, Iron, Steel, Carbon, etc.

Does anyone here know of any simulation-software (preferably free and/or open-source, but commercial is also acceptable) which meets these criterion? Any information or pointers would be useful. The available computational power for running this software would be about 2.06 teraflops. Thank you to everyone. Rocketshiporion Friday 27-August-2010, 2:45pm GMT.

I would strongly suspect that software packages with the level of detail you describe are mostly or entirely the property of national governments and classified as state secrets. If you are employed by such a government, then you might get access to their software. Otherwise, you'd probably have to develop your own software. I suspect that one could probably find public information on things like models of various explosives, or neutron response curves for various materials. However, the data to comprehensively validate a nuclear detonation model is probably also a state secret since only governments have ever been able to test bombs. Dragons flight (talk) 14:56, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The hard part is not simulating, it is simulating accurately. For example, AutoCAD and several of its commercial and 3rd-party plugins can do deformation finite-element modeling. And if you home-brew your own full-fledged CAD tool and numerical modeling software, you can do your best to estimate all the necessary parameters, and visualize the output however you like. But do the equations used to estimate the dynamics and the material properties apply to the unique situation of nuclear detonation? The only way you can know this is if you have access to both the software (and all the mathematics behind it) AND access to empirical nuclear test data. As you know (if you use or design CAD tools), accurate equations of state suitable for predicting and modeling are very complicated and are rarely developed from first principles of physics. They are highly-parameterized and tuned for specific experimental conditions. Only a few places - say, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory will be able to have access to these sorts of parameters; and there is an entire profession dedicated to the validation of nuclear weapons physics-packages through computational simulation. And, as Dragons Flight points out, because of the sensitive nature of nuclear weaponry, these sorts of career-tracks invariably require access to confidential and controlled information. Your best chance to get such software is:

Begin the long and arduous process of studying an advanced technical field, like computer science, mathematics, physics, or nuclear engineering
Apply for an advanced-degree program related to the computer modeling of nuclear weapons
Establish good citizenship in a country with a solid nuclear weapons research program, and establish good standing in that country, beyond a reasonable doubt
Apply for a position at one of the national laboratories that specialize in weapons maintenance and validation
Obtain a Department of Energy clearance to authorize access to the data and software you want (in the United States, this is called "Department of Energy Q")
Find yourself in a project team with access to the software.

Realistically, asking here at Wikipedia, this is the best kind of answer you'll get. Such tools are not freely or commercially available. You can always go for "baby physics" versions - in fact, almost any nuclear engineering textbook homework-problems will apply the equations that solve for energy and material dynamics - but do those equations apply accurately enough to model system dynamics for the case of a specific configuration? Nimur (talk) 15:20, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

... Or you can ask Oak Ridge on Facebook. They're having a conference in Tennessee on October 11, it is not too late to register. Nimur (talk) 15:24, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I had wondered if the question was meant to test our no-criminal-assistance-answers guideline. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:15, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It is not criminal to be a nuclear weapons researcher, unfortunately. But it does rouse suspicion. Anyway, like most complicated systems, nuclear weapon design is not merely about having access to the technology - you need hundreds (thousands, perhaps) of talented individuals to assist in managing the complexity of the engineered system. I have a feeling Rocketshiporion could receive fully documented schematics, blueprints, software, and all the necessary materials, and still be unable to construct a weapon with them. I suspect he or she has a long road ahead - starting with learning that "nett energy" is not measured in units of newtons. Nimur (talk) 17:22, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And just as an aside: I posted the link to the SCALE conference because they are actually involved in the design of nuclear-engineering software, and actually offer training courses. If the OP is serious, that is a reasonable line of inquiry. But if this is an "elaborate hoax to test the limits of Wikipedia," well... all I can say is: do not "joke" with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. That would be tantamount to walking into a rifle store and "jokingly" asking for schematics to build your own assault-rifle. You may find yourself way over your head. These things are not "jokes," they are weapons. Nimur (talk) 17:33, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I will try asking at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for either the software or atleast all past test-data. I don't realistically expect to be successful with Oak Ridge, but it wouldn't hurt to try. My specific interest is in designing small-diameter physics-packages for interplanetary (not interstellar) spacecraft propulsion, definitely not weaponry or warfare. As for the measurement of nett-force, I was under the impression that the SI unit of force is the newton, although the kilogram (equivalent in my understanding to 9.80665 newtons) has also been used as a unit of force, as has the pound. So which unit of force is used in the simulation of nuclear detonations? Rocketshiporion Friday 27-August-2010, 10:54pm GMT.

Before you dive into such details, you might want to read the difference between a nuclear reactor, an RTG, and a physics package - you specifically asked about detonation (which shouldn't happen if you're only generating energy for propulsion). Check your earlier post - you seem to have confused energy, force, pressure, etc. Nimur (talk) 23:20, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Rocketshiporion's name would suggest that he's interested in an application similar to Project Orion (nuclear propulsion), which did propose using (lots of) nuclear explosives for spacecraft propulsion. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 23:24, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

He? Nil Einne (talk) 11:43, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What is 32kb of "used space" on an empty USB pendrive?

I've plugged an empty USB2 pendrive into my computer. I had previously deleted everything on it and reformated. But when looking at the properties of the drive in WinXp, it shows 32kb as "used space". What is this "used space" used for? Could anything sinister be lurking there? Thanks 92.15.21.39 (talk) 19:31, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

it will be the space containing information about the drive. I can't think of the name for it (like the 'reserved' space on a cd) but someone will fill you in on the blanks. There's a certain amount of space lost between the advertised size and the size itself (though this is slightly different to that I believe). ny156uk (talk) 20:14, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It could be firmware used by the pendrive itself (which would be in hidden files so you can't delete them) - I had a pendrive with an LCD display on it that had a startup Logo that was stored as a file on the drive itself that you couldn't erase or overwrite no matter what.
It could be directory space and free space map for a FAT filesystem (this is by far the most likely thing).
It could (maybe) be bad "sectors" that it's mapped to prevent you from using them. Flash memory does eventually 'wear out' and stop working - and fancy flashdrives know to 'lock out' that worn out space so you don't use it again and corrupt a file. Cheap flashdrives don't do that (at least, not that I've noticed).

OTOH, I don't think it's a difference between advertised space and real space as Ny156uk suggets. (eg hard drive manufacturers quote "Megabytes" meaning 1,000,000 bytes and not 1024x1024=1,048,576 bytes so it looks like they have more space than they really do). The reason I don't believe that is because the "used space" that WinXP measures will be in self-consistent units with "total space" and "free space" - there wouldn't be a discrepancy. However you might well seem to have less free space on the drive than it implies on it's case for those kinds of reasons. However, I don't think flash drive manufacturers do the god-awful things that hard drive vendors do. When they say "4Gb", they really do mean "4x1024x1024x1024" - minus the things I listed above. SteveBaker (talk) 20:37, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actually flash memory device (cards, USB sticks and I think SSDs) manufacturers do use decimal based bytes. This always surprised me, since the flash memory internally would seem to be in binary bytes, but I read that it's primarily because the extra space is used for wear levelling, binary prefix#Flash drives now mentions this as well Nil Einne (talk) 22:37, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Windows Explorer doesn't report the size of FAT16/FAT32 metadata ("directory space and free space map"), so it's not that, unless the volume is formatted as NTFS, in which case the used space would be much larger than 32K. 32K is too small for FAT as well except in unusual circumstances (a very small USB drive formatted as FAT16 might qualify). USB flash drives manage bad sectors internally and don't report them to the OS (ditto modern hard drives), so it's not bad sectors. It can't be an undeletable firmware file because USB drives behave as block devices to the operating system; they can't control what the operating system does at the filesystem level. It's not a difference between advertised and actual size because drives just have one size; they don't know what it said on the retail box.

It could be the RECYCLED/RECYCLER/$Recycle.Bin folder and possibly a desktop.ini file inside it. Each of those will take one cluster on a FAT filesystem. Try configuring Explorer to show hidden and protected operating system files and see if you see anything. -- BenRG (talk) 23:07, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, now that I think about it, it's almost certainly the root directory, if this is a FAT32 volume. Explorer counts used clusters. In FAT16/FAT12 the root directory is stored in a special zone before cluster 0. In FAT32 it's stored in clusters like any other directory. In NTFS all of the metadata is stored in clusters, which is why the reported used space is so much larger. -- BenRG (talk) 23:18, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

About this theme

Can anyone tell me which theme (http://i33.tinypic.com/20k39qd.png) it is? I want to use that theme. Please help me to find it out. Thanks.--180.234.34.141 (talk) 19:54, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Unless I'm missing something, that's the default Windows Vista/Windows 7 Aero theme. I don't think the theme is available for XP -- Ferkelparade π 20:30, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

But I am using Windows 7, can't find that theme in OS. Also that theme contains colorful menus, which is absent in Windows default theme. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.234.34.141 (talk) 21:17, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you're talking about the menus with red icons in the "Catalyst Control Center" window, those are peculiar to that program. A theme won't add icons to ordinary menu bars. -- BenRG (talk) 23:11, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Printing multiple slides per page in powerpoint (Office 2010)

Hello, I am trying to print 2 slides per page in powerpoint. I can do it. But, it's small and there is a lot of white space that I would prefer be filled up with bigger slides instead. I did Alt F P to print and where I select to print 2 slides, I select "Scale to fit paper" and it gets a bit bigger. But, there is still an inch between the two slides and 1.5 inches at the top and bottom and 2 inches on each side. I'd love to at least make the slides take up an extra .5 inches each in height. Is this possible? I can't find margin settings any where... thanks. StatisticsMan (talk) 21:59, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have had a look at this, though in PowerPoint 2007. I assume you are printing in the 'Handouts view' ?. Try "Design" → Page Setup" → "Slides sized for" and select "Custom". You may be able to set it for larger slides, but when you print it may give an error rmessage as it expects the larger paper to be loaded in the printer. You may (again!) be able to tell it to continue and it will print assuming you have loaded the larger paper. (maybe!)

If you are trying the 2 slides per page via the printer's own setup software, then how it's done will depend on the printer and it's driver software.

You could probably paste the slides into a Word document and manually resize them, a lot of work though! 220.101 talk^\Contribs 10:36, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Can't log into facebook!!

Ok, so here's what happened. I created my facebook acount in the united states, and I later moved to British Colombia in Canada. When I tried to log in, it said something like "your location is unfamiliar with this acount,yada,yada,yada...", so then Facebook made me do a little quiz, where I had to Identify pictures of people on my friends list. The problem is that I have over 450 friends on facebook, and I don't know who all of them are...in fact most of them are random ppl I've met on the internet. Now my question is "is there any way to bypass this, or at least to trick facebook into thinking I'm still in the united states??". Would masking my ip help???? If so how do you mask an ip address??? Any help would really be appreciated, since I really need to log in! Thanks in advance! Wikiholicforever (talk) 22:14, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've never used Facebook so I'm unfamiliar with their policies, but searching google for "facebook proxy" lists a lot of sites which will mask your ip to (usually) a US address. Whether this will solve your problem I don't know. You could also try asking at their help page 82.44.54.25 (talk) 22:27, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In case you're interested in the technical details, Wikiholicforever, see proxy server. You aren't simply "masking" your IP address when you use one of these; you are actually routing all your data through a computer in the US. Facebook sees an IP address that appears to be in the US, and thinks everything's fine. Comet Tuttle (talk) 22:42, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have two questions: 1)so you guys can confirm that this will work?? and 2) Could you guys provide some links to some good facebook proxy sites, I was trying to find a few but I'm afraid I might stumble upon a phishing site... Thanks for all the help and support! Wikiholicforever (talk) 02:52, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I could be wrong here, but I was under the impression that it literally means location as in the the IP/block of IPs that you're connecting from. I don't think it's necessarily a country check, but rather the the IPs you would normally connect from. I'm happy to be proved wrong though, I only wanted to mention it incase you do use a US proxy and it still doesn't work. ZX81 ^talk 05:33, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not exactly sure what zx81 was saying but the proxys did work for one of my acounts, not for the other two... I'm still trying to figure out why its not working.... Wikiholicforever (talk) 16:14, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I just meant that I don't think being in the same country is enough, I think it has to be from the same block of IPs (at least the same Internet provider) as those which had previously logged into the account. If not it throws up the check. ZX81 ^talk 17:36, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I see what you're saying now, I think you might actually be right... In that case does anybody know a proxy that mask my ip to pensilvania???? Thanks a bunch guys! Wikiholicforever (talk) 19:47, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. Just search Google for "anonymous proxies." If you go to Start --> Control Panel --> Internet Options --> Connections --> LAN Settings and check the box that says, "Use a proxy server..." you can enter in the IP address of the proxy. Then, Internet Explorer will connect to the Internet using that proxy. You can also use WHOIS (Google that, as well) and enter in the IP address of the proxy to determine where it is located.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 22:41, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Flash video (in embedded player) restarting computer

Resolved

Hello,

I had something quite odd happen to me the other day: a Flash video in a player embedded on a web page (see link below) caused my computer to spontaneously restart (what Microsoft apparently refers to as a blue screen/stop error). Once Windows had started again, the "your system has recovered from a serious error" information box was displayed. No damage appeared to have been done, so I tried to watch the video again and the same thing happened again (at the same point in the video).

I've checked the integrity of my hard drive using CHKDSK and scanned for viruses using both MBAM and Symantec Antivirus and there don't seem to be any problems on either front.

I watched some other videos that use the same embedded player on the same site and they all played without incident. Today, my brother was watching a video on a completely different site that (as far as I can tell) uses a different embedded player and the same thing happened. In both cases, this was in Firefox (version 3.6.8).

So, does anyone have any idea what might be causing this? Could it be video card drivers? Firefox? Giant squirrels from the future? It's not really a major problem, but it's pretty strange.

Information

First video that caused the problem: "Everybody plays a part" (TVO video that teaches kids about civics)
- Note that other videos on the same site did not trigger restarts
Second video that exhibited the same problem: "Thor" (the first video on the page, described as "Tom Hiddleston tells MTV News ...")
Computer: Windows XP SP3, 2.4 Ghz Q6600, 2 GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770
Browser: Firefox 3.6.8

Any ideas about what's causing this would be appreciated - I'm pretty curious about how an embedded Flash video could trigger a system restart.

Thanks,

- Hiram J. Hackenbacker (talk) 22:15, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Neither of those videos cause my computer to restart. Click here. What version does it say you're using? You should be using at least version 10.1 of the Flash Player. You probably should uninstall it and then re-install it even if it's up to date, though.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 22:25, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's probably the video driver. Try upgrading to the latest version. -- BenRG (talk) 23:12, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My version of Flash is 10.1.82.76, which that site indicates is the most recent version. I'll try removing it and re-installing it, though, and check for updates to my video driver as well. Thanks for the suggestions. - Hiram J. Hackenbacker (talk) 00:42, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, updating the video drivers fixed the problem - now I can finally find out how little things we do in everyday life bolster our democratic society! Thanks for the tips, everyone. - Hiram J. Hackenbacker (talk) 01:10, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Batch download

How can I make my computer/Adobe PDF download all PDF files of an URL of a set format with one minor different? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.229.159.12 (talk) 22:27, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean you want to download stuff like http://foo.com/document_0001.pdf, http://foo.com/document_0002.pdf, http://foo.com/document_0003.pdf, etc., then I'd recommend you write a script in the scripting language native to your platform (probably Windows PowerShell if you're on Windows, bash if you're on *nix) to generate the list of URLs, then feed that to wget to download them. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 22:31, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Free Download Manager has an option for batch downloading similar urls which should work. 1230049-0012394-C (talk) 22:31, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Merge PDFs?

OK< this is kind of related, kind of unrelated to the above. I've got some PDF documents of the same format and stuff that I need merged into a single big PDF document. How do I do that? 76.229.159.12 (talk) 22:45, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

pdftk does this. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 22:48, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Since pdftk is a command-line program, you may want to get the GUI version instead (GUI stands for graphical user interface). If you are looking for a commercial software program, Adobe Acrobat (the full version that is quite expensive) and Nitro PDF (another commercial software program) will merge/split PDF files among other things. PleaseStand ^(talk) 01:51, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Download trouble

This is related to the 2nd post up, not so much to the one right up. I followed the instructions in the first and installed download manager, put in my URL, etc. But the download manager keeps logging a "redirecting" and the files don't work. They are too small and when I try to open them in PDF Reader I get the message "Adobe reader could not open [filename.pdf] because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged (for example, it was sent as an email attachment and wasn't correctly decoded". PS: This site requires a username/password so I gave the manager my username/password and checked the box and logged in; it still didn't work. Sorry for all the questions, I need to get these files loaded and there are about 800, so manual downloading won't work. Thanks for your patience 76.229.159.12 (talk) 23:51, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

When you log on to the site using a web browser, does it show a pop-up window just like [8] or [9]? If not (the log-in screen is in the same window as everything else), the site is probably using HTTP cookie authentication, ~~which your download manager likely does not support~~, rather than basic access authentication. PleaseStand ^(talk) 01:01, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, the download manager uses the cookies from Internet Explorer; did you make sure to leave the site open in that browser? A post on the Free Download Manager forum gives some information on getting it to work (although that post is specific to the RapidShare website, the general concept is the same). The username and password boxes in the download manager itself are irrelevant.

Alternatively, if the site works in Mozilla Firefox, the DownThemAll! download manager extension for that browser might work. It has a "Manager" tool accessible from the Firefox tools menu that allows you to add multiple URLs by replacing the number with [start:end], where start is the first number and end is the last number. Since that download manager is integrated with a web browser, it has access to that browser's cookies. PleaseStand ^(talk) 01:28, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

August 28

Origin of level numbers in Cobol

Hi,
How where the numbers 66, 77 and 88, used for Cobol level numbers, chosen? Apokrif (talk) 00:26, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This is definitely an interesting question. I did some research, but unfortunately language specifications and such usually don't retain this sort of information. The history of the choice might still be held by a programmer with a beard grayer than mine, but the reason seems obvious. Since these numbers have special meaning, it makes sense to use number combinations that are easily noticed in the middle of the code. It's an early version of Syntax highlighting. Zigorney (talk) 17:24, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sony Bravia TV time display

A small black box with the time in it is appearing on my Bravia when I use the PS3 on HDMI and the PS2 on component cables. I've looked through all the menus but I can't find where to deactivate this. Does any one with a Bravia know how to do this? Thanks. ArtistScientist (talk) 02:47, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Internet not connected" messages when internet works fine...

So, I'm obviously on the internet now. I can use AIM, browse the web (i.e. Google, Wikipedia, facebook, pretty much all websites). But for some reason, there are certain things that just WILL NOT connect, and I get "check your internet connection" and "internet is not connected" messages from them. I can't get on the iTunes store, use my iWin Games Manager for anything other than games I've actually bought previously, MSN Messenger won't connect, and when I try to download the daily free game from GameHouse, it won't play either because it thinks I'm not connected to the internet. To clarify, other than these things, the internet works FINE! It's even fast! This stuff is getting really irritating, so if someone could tell me how to fix it, that would be great... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.1.198.239 (talk) 04:44, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Which Web browser do you use (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome)? PleaseStand ^(talk) 04:58, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Firefox. Always. Not sure what version, but I'm pretty sure it's whatever the latest happens to be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.1.198.239 (talk) 05:03, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

From within Firefox go into the Tools Menu then Options, Advanced, Network and click Settings (Configure how Firefox connects to the Internet). Most likely you want this set on "No proxy", but auto-detect should usually work. Hope this helps! ZX81 ^talk 05:37, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No, what was asked for was to get the other programs working, not Firefox. Some programs (malware included) mess with the Internet Explorer proxy settings, which may be used by other software. What you should try doing is turning off proxy settings for Internet Explorer by following Microsoft's instructions, except that you need to uncheck "Use a proxy server" rather than checking it. PleaseStand ^(talk) 05:52, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As PleaseStand said, it might be caused by malware, but another possibility would be a transparent proxy or a firewall setting. According to http://en.utrace.de/?query=129.1.198.239, you are at Bowling Green State University, so you might want to ask the staff there. -- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 10:13, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(... and they might tell you that the facility is not provided for downloading music or games.) It sounds like a deliberate bock by the network administrators. Dbfirs 02:09, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

DHCP irritations

[Preamble: I made a confused question about this back on 10 August, then had to use a different place; now am back with a clearer head.]

There's an ethernet cable in my office. If it's plugged directly into my computer, then when I come in and first turn on the computer, start up a browser and attempt to go anywhere, I'm greeted by a page for DHCP that asks me for my ID and password -- and after I've typed both in correctly I stay connected all day, or at least until the computer falls asleep and is reawoken. By contrast, if the ethernet cable is instead plugged into a wireless hub (router?), and the hub in turn connected to my computer, then after just a few minutes regular browsing becomes impossible: I'm instead served with the log-in page and must again type in my ID and password, which gives me a few minutes, until I'm instead served with (etc etc). Of course the whole point of the wireless hub is wireless and/or a second computer; but for diagnostic purposes I only have one computer (and no printer, etc) connected, and by wire. I don't see why my choice among the output jacks should matter, but I've tried two: each has the same irritation.

What setting of my hub might be relevant? Or if I were to buy a replacement hub, then which "feature" should I look for? -- Hoary (talk) 06:47, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think I remember this question. If it's what I remember, this is a lot of new information, and highlights perhaps some misunderstandings. It's a bit of a non-sequitur to say that you're "greeted by a page for DHCP". When you plug in to your computer, what's likely happening is your computer asks for an IP address, a DHCP server responds with one, and then web server sends you to a login page. When you authorize, it somehow authorizes you.

The most interesting new issue is the "hub", which you acknowledge is probably not a hub. That's probably the case, as it's hard to inadvertently buy one these days. What kind of device are you plugging this into? That is probably an important point. I'm fairly confident this issue has almost nothing to do with DHCP. Shadowjams (talk) 07:25, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your patience. I've located the box that this device came in. It advertises its features -- primarily a wireless throughput (measured in some way or other) of 150Mbps -- and I have to look long and hard before I see what it is: a wireless LAN broadband router.

(I transliterate/translate from the Japanese. It looks a lot less like the photo illustrating router than it does the photo illustrating network switch, or indeed ethernet hub. In the store, there are lots of cardboard boxes that all boast stunningly high speeds -- qualified by small print -- and lots of variants on "IEEE802.11". My ignorant choice among these cost me very roughly €50.)

It's got six sockets on the back: power, "WAN", and "LAN"×4. It also has on/off DIPs for multi AP function(s) and router function(s). (The manual -- 130 pages plus, most of which is specific to OSes that I don't have -- tells me that multi AP functions have something to do with security; I've no idea why anyone would want to turn off the router functions of a router. You've guessed it, I haven't a clue what any of this means.) -- Hoary (talk) 08:14, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Undoubtedly this intermediate device is involved in the issue. The fact it has a WAN and a separate LAN port designation strong suggests it's doing some management of its own. It's probably some relation to this that's the root of your problem. Is there a model number on the device? Shadowjams (talk) 08:36, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's a Corega CG-WLRGNX. You can see it (all in Japanese!) here. (Corega also has a website in a language approximating English, but I don't see anything looking like this "CG-WLRGNX" there.) -- Hoary (talk) 08:57, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Into which port of your CG-WLRGNX are you plugging which cable? As you said, it has one WAN and four LAN ports (let's call them LAN1 to LAN4), and plugging it in in different ways will yield different results. Please tell us where the ethernet cable from your office goes, and where you tried to connect the client computer(s). -- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 10:06, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The ethernet cable from my office goes into "WAN" and the cable going to the client computer was until today plugged into one of the four "LAN" connectors but from today is plugged into a different one of the four. Power cable, ethernet from my employer, ethernet from my computer: these three are all that are plugged in. -- Hoary (talk) 11:15, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What are you using the router for? If you're using it only as an extender or to get wirelesss access, consider disabling the DHCP server on it, and plugging the office cable into a LAN port too. That should turn your router into a switch/wireless access point and allow it to directly access the DHCP server on your company LAN Unilynx (talk) 13:24, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That is basically the idea I had in mind when I asked Hoary. Some important information regarding this approach:

DO NOT, under any circumstances, plug the office ethernet cable into a LAN port while the DHCP server on your CG-WLRGNX is still active! This will cause trouble in the entire network, and you might end up with the wrath of one or more severely annoyed network administrators.
You will probably lose the ability to access the config interface of your CG-WLRGNX if you disable DHCP and plug the office ethernet cable into a LAN port. You could avoid this by first asking one of your network administrators for a static IP address and assigning that to your CG-WLRGNX (again, do not do this with the office ethernet cable already plugged in - all that should be plugged in is the computer you're using to configure the CG-WLRGNX) before turning DHCP off.

-- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 20:19, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Vista copy paste problem

Hello there, I am having trouble in performing "copy paste" thing in my vista OS. I can't copy or paste any single file within my OS. Even I can't drag or drop any file or folder. All started suddenly. Is there any possible way to fix it? Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thank you--182.160.98.36 (talk) 14:04, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I used to have Vista and found it's copy system awful, although the fact that you can't copy anything at all suggests a bigger problem. Restart the computer and run a virus check in case your computer is infected, as this problem sounds like something a virus might cause. You could also try using TeraCopy or FastCopy as alternatives to the Windows copy system. 82.44.54.25 (talk) 14:10, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've found Vista's copy system works fine, though I tend to use drag and drop rather than copy and paste. The paste option is not available if the focus is in the wrong place. I agree that if neither copy nor paste is working then there is a serious problem. You could try copying from command line, but this just uses the same subroutines as copy-paste and drag-drop, so if these have been compromised by a virus then it will not work. Dbfirs 02:03, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Excel Graph

Hi. I'm having a (most likely, very basic) problem with graphing some data in Excel and wondered if someone could help. So I have the numbers 1, 2, ..., 20 in one column. I then generate the next column (which lists my x values) by multiplying all of these by 0.2, giving me 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, ..., 4.0. In the next three columns I have some data determined solely by the x appropriate x value being plugged into one of three equations (for those interested, I'm actually finding numerical solutions to a differential equation). I then want to plot the final three columns against my x values but every time I try to do this, without fail, the scale for the horizontal axis runs from 0 to 21 and I cannot fathom how to change it to run from 0 to 4. Any ideas? I'm running Excel 2004 for Mac if that helps. Thanks asyndeton talk 14:35, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried graphing it as a scatter plot? --Phil Holmes (talk) 15:34, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No need. If it is the same as my Excel 2000, then just click on the series tab at step 2 in the "Wizard" and choose your second column for the "category (X) axis labels". Dbfirs 01:54, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No. All the excel options plot values against value index except for scatter which is the only one to plot values against value. In scatter standardly the lefmost column defines all the x coordinates and all the other 'N' columns define the matching y-coordinates of 'N' lines. -- SGBailey (talk) 07:19, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well it works in Excel 2000. I tested it before I posted. Are you referring just to the defaults for the graph-type options? You don't have to accept these! They are configurable at the next step. Dbfirs 07:55, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Screen

My computer screen is currently at 60 Hertz. It has the option to go to 75 Hertz. What's the difference? Might setting it higher make looking at the screen less headache inducing? 82.44.54.25 (talk) 20:57, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you have a CRT monitor, I'd set it as high as the monitor supports to reduce flicker. See Refresh rate Unilynx (talk) 21:11, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's not a CRT monitor, I think it's an LCD or something. It's flat 82.44.54.25 (talk) 22:24, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In CRTs the pixels decay in brightness until they're refreshed, so the refresh rate is the flicker rate. In LCDs they don't decay, so the refresh rate only affects how quickly the image shown on the screen can change. If an LCD is visibly flickering, it probably means the backlight is dying and changing the refresh rate won't help. If your display isn't visibly flickering but you're getting headaches looking at it, you might want to consult a doctor. -- BenRG (talk) 02:04, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Firewalled download

My connection to the internet is through a firewall. Whenever I try to download some big files ~50 MB, I get an error stating that the response to the HTTP GET request is above the limit. My guess is that the firewall's checking the file size from the response to the get and then disallowing the download. If that's the case, is it possible to circumvent the check ? 218.248.80.51 (talk) 22:32, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Splitcam open source equivalent

Hi, I use Splitcam to play avis as a webcam. Do you know any open source apps doing this? 83.31.86.106 (talk) 23:47, 28 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

August 29

Dissolving Exclamation Point

In the Finder Window on my Mac there is a different icon than there has been in the past next to my External Drive on the side under devices. Last week it was a partially dissolved exclamation point and now it is an almost completely dissolved exclamation point with a red octagon as a background. While this does worry me, the drive it self is working fine, able to save, copy, compress, and paste files with the same ease as in the past. Can anyone give me some insight? Thanks! schyler (talk) 01:08, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Getting windows key from an old HD

My previous computer went kaput, and I removed the HD and put it in an external case, which can be connected to my new computer via USB. Before I delete Windows, what is the easist free way to retrieve the windows keys etc from it, just in case I need to use them again? The software available from Nirsoft apparantly requires using command lines, the Magical Jelly Bean Finder has no option to choose another drive and its website is not working for me. Thanks 92.15.13.10 (talk) 13:01, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

IRC help

last night I downloaded an IRC connection program for the first time, Chatzilla, and was trying to explore how to do basic things like just chatting. Anyway, I actually got into a chat room and it was working, but the name I was logged in under, automatically, was the name I assigned to my computer, which contains parts of my real name. I want to choose a different login name and not have my real name displayed. How do I change my displayed identity? thanks in advance.--141.155.148.156 (talk) 14:13, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have a second question. I just logged in to Quakenet and went to join channel and the IRC browser found 56,000+ channels. Then I went to the search box and typed in something so I could find the channel and now its "filtering" the channels to find the ones matching my search but it's doing this for 56,000 channels so it's taking forever. Is there a better way, or a way for me to tell it to only go through a lower number?--141.155.148.156 (talk) 14:22, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

List of Internet Relay Chat commands lists the generally available commands. I think the one you're looking for, for your first question, is the NICK command. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 14:53, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks that works. However, it doesn't solve my issue. Once I join a chat room, I then change my name and have a new chat name. However, as far as I can tell when I do that displayed for everyone is the change from the old to the new. In other words, everyone sees my real name, and then they see something like "john doe has changed his name and is now logged in as jake doe". I was hoping to find a way to log in originally under a different name than the one assigned to me computer.--141.155.148.156 (talk) 15:12, 29 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]