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[[Category:Non-talk pages that are automatically signed]]<noinclude>{{Wikipedia:Reference desk/header|WP:RD/C}}
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[[Category:Wikipedia help forums]]
[[Category:Wikipedia reference desk|Computing]]
[[Category:Wikipedia help pages with dated sections]]
[[Category:Wikipedia resources for researchers]]
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= December 28 =
{{Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Computing/2009 June 26}}

{{Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Computing/2009 June 27}}

{{Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Computing/2009 June 28}}

= June 29 =

== vista webpage ==

hello is there a webpage that looks like windows vista or xp is there a flash game for psp like vista <small><span class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Bubbafrogs|Bubbafrogs]] ([[User talk:Bubbafrogs|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Bubbafrogs|contribs]]) 01:06, 29 June 2009 (UTC)</span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:I do not understand your question. Adding some punctuation might help. -- [[User:Tcncv|Tcncv]] ([[User talk:Tcncv|talk]]) 01:26, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::You can take a screenshot, upload it to somewhere like imageshack, and view it in a browser - that would make a "webpage that looks like Vista or XP". But there's no need to upload anything, there are plenty of images of Vista/XP desktops that people have uploaded to various forums. [[User:Astronaut|Astronaut]] ([[User talk:Astronaut|talk]]) 01:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

== Vista desktops ==

Answering the above question led me to see several Windows Vista/XP desktops which appeared to have a Mac OsX-like docking bar (see [http://www.ashhaque.com/images/2007/08/desktop.jpg this guy's desktop] for an example). Where can I get that kind of docking bar utility from? [[User:Astronaut|Astronaut]] ([[User talk:Astronaut|talk]]) 02:04, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:I believe the one in the image is [http://rocketdock.com/ RocketDock]. :-) There are other ones available including [http://www.stardock.com/products/objectdock/ ObjectDock]--[[User:Xp54321|<font color="0070FF">'''Xp54321''']]</font><sup> ([[User talk:Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Hello!'''''</font>]] • [[Special:Contributions/Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Contribs'''''</font>]])</sup> 20:06, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:: Another option that I use is [http://arainia.com/software/gizmo/ Gizmos]. The toolbar is highly customizable and can launch stuff besides programs (such as Webpages, custom scripts you write). It also comes with some other cool features such as Virtual Drives and a color coded text editor for writing in C, C++, and other stuff I don't really use such as databases <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/24.171.145.63|24.171.145.63]] ([[User talk:24.171.145.63|talk]]) 05:46, 29 June 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

== CPUs ==

What is the fastest commercial CPU currently on the market? --[[Special:Contributions/128.12.77.85|128.12.77.85]] ([[User talk:128.12.77.85|talk]]) 04:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
:Commercially I'm going to guess *probably* the [[Intel Core i7]] 975 3.33Ghz Extreme Edition, but I'll happily be proved wrong! [[User:ZX81|<span style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;font-family:verdana;color:#800040;filter:Shadow(color=#000000,strength=1);height:15px;">ZX81</span>]] [[User talk:ZX81|<span style="font-size:11px;font-family:verdana;"><sup>talk</sup></span>]] 06:51, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::for x86.64 [http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html] - I'm willing to prove you right.
:Not quite what you asked, but in May, [http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fujitsu-venus-sparc64-viiifx-cpu,7806.html Fujitsu said one of their SPARC64 prototypes] is the fastest CPU, at 128 [[gigaflops]]. That same link says Intel's top-of-the-line [[Intel Nehalem (microarchitecture)|Nehalem]] [[Xeon]] is at 76 gigaflops. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 06:49, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

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

:A related question that should be asked is "What is the fastest motherboard on the market?" Placing a fast CPU on a slow motherboard will kill most of the benefit of the fast CPU. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 13:53, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

== Internet Radio Recorder ==

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

:[http://www.orbitdownloader.com/ Orbit Downloader] records internet radio I believe and it comes with browser plug-ins that introduce context menus that make downloading a snap. They have a tutorial [http://www.orbitdownloader.com/streaming-media-downloader/record-streaming-media-free.htm here]. [[User:Ank0ku|-ankØku-]] ([[User talk:Ank0ku|talk]]) 19:59, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

== Who uses Java servlets? ==

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

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

:::What's wrong with Flash? I use Flash on most of my sites. As you just said, Java is hard to use. And I doubt you could make a Java applet that looks like this: [http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/]. That's not even taking into account problems with debugging across platforms.--[[User:Dfnggcb|Dfnggcb]] ([[User talk:Dfnggcb|talk]]) 22:01, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

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

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

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

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

::::There's also [[Tomcat (software)]]'s list of companies using their popular JSP server: [http://wiki.apache.org/tomcat/PoweredBy]. [[User:Indeterminate|Indeterminate]] ([[User talk:Indeterminate|talk]]) 20:58, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

==Madden 07 Xbox 360 Controls==
I got this game at the weekend at a bargain price but it came with no instructions. Whilst I can get the controls from the in-game menu does anybody know of any resource that has a full list of the controls so that I can print them out for quicker reference? A pdf of the booklet, or anything like that would be great. I couldn't find anything when I looked. Is there a site that's dedicated to game-controls or online (free) PDFs of game-booklets? (oh and I know the game is ancient but as a non NFL follower I just thought i'd give the game a go as I used to enjoy the old Madden games back in the day). [[Special:Contributions/194.221.133.226|194.221.133.226]] ([[User talk:194.221.133.226|talk]]) 09:26, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:Found it (http://www.gamesegment.com/XBOX360/instructions.cfm/id/9110375) [[User:Ny156uk|ny156uk]] ([[User talk:Ny156uk|talk]]) 15:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

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

== My Computer is gone ==

On windows vista I accidentally selected "My Computer" or whatever it's called now and deleted it. I can't find it in the recycle bin, and I can't find any options to bring it back. How do I get it back? Thanks <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/82.43.91.128|82.43.91.128]] ([[User talk:82.43.91.128|talk]]) 11:33, 29 June 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

:I cannot be deleted because it doesn't exist. It is just a convenience link. By "deleting", you just removed the convenience. To replace it, click the Start button. You will see an entry called "Computer". Right-click on it and select "Show on desktop". -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 11:54, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::I don't have "computer" on the start menu, all I have is shut down, run, help and support, search, settings, documents, programs, windows update, default programs. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/82.43.91.128|82.43.91.128]] ([[User talk:82.43.91.128|talk]]) 16:23, 29 June 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:::If you right click on an empty area of the 'taskbar' - that's the bar at the bottom where the running programs and open files appear - you should see a dialog box. Press properties, then 'start menu', here you might need to change between different formats eg classic etc. Then select 'customise', then 'advanced' - this should get you to a box that shows a list of "start menu items" - from this list check the box for "display My Computer" or equivalent. Then press apply/ok. This should make the MyComputer icon appear when you press the 'Start' button. You can then get the link as described above. (Note this is for XP, though Vista should be very similar or identical method).
:::Once you've got the link you can go back and change 'start menu' to the way it was. Whilst you are there you might as well take some time to customise the start menu to show all the things you want - It's often useful, and you'll get familiar with the method. Hope this works for you.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 17:12, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

::::That worked perfectly! Thank you :) <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/82.43.91.128|82.43.91.128]] ([[User talk:82.43.91.128|talk]]) 17:31, 29 June 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:::::Spoke too soon, it only works if I say on vista start menu, but as soon as I switch back to classic start menu My Computer icon is gone again <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/82.43.91.128|82.43.91.128]] ([[User talk:82.43.91.128|talk]]) 17:34, 29 June 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:::::::Mmh, once you've got the icon on the desktop, right click on it, and select "create shortcut" - that should make a shortcut copy, probably named "shortcut to My Computer" on the desktop. Then you can switch back to classic view. The shortcut icon will definately not dissapear (I hope), then all you have to do is rename the shortcut icon to "My Computer" or whatever you want (another right click) - that should fix it.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 19:29, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::::::::Thats worked, thanks. The icon is slightly different now, it's got a shortcut arrow on it. But it works so I'm happy :) <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/82.43.91.128|82.43.91.128]] ([[User talk:82.43.91.128|talk]]) 20:07, 29 June 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:::::::::I don't know how to get rid of that arrow - if you find out - let me know :)
:::::::::[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 20:42, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:Just had the chance to look at Vista. Try this: Right-click on the desktop. Choose personalize. Do you have a Change Desktop Icons on the left menu? If so, click it. The possible desktop icons will appear and you can place a check next to those that you want to show up on your desktop. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 21:03, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::THANK YOU :D Worked perfectly :) <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/82.43.91.128|82.43.91.128]] ([[User talk:82.43.91.128|talk]]) 21:59, 29 June 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

==IBM POWER6 Decimal floating point==

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

:Well, one of the things IBM made it's money on is backwards compatibility. The POWER6 is an enhanced POWER5 which is an enhanced...POWER. The POWER uses the 801 architecture - which is backwards compatible with the [[IBM System/370]] - which is compatible with the 360...which was designed to emulate the 1400 - which was around in 1964! There is quite a lot of software that was written in the late 1960's and early 1970's on 'lumbering giants' that people still run. Very often, they don't even own the source code anymore - or the binaries have been patched so many times that the sources are no longer reliable. (This is one reason why concern over the [[Millenium Bug]] was such a big deal.) Being able to buy machines that still run that old junk is evidently still a good business model. [[Binary Coded Decimal]] arithmetic is still popular in financial processing because accounting systems have to be able to guarantee accuracy down to the last penny - even in calculations that might require millions or even billions of dollars/pounds/euro's. In a modern programming language, there are much better ways to deal with that - but so much of that old stuff is written in [[Cobol]] - so there you go. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 13:49, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::I suppose they can convert the BCD to decimal floating point and use the floating point units then.
::I'm still trying to come to terms with mending the binaries and not the source . ouch . Thanks for your answer - made me feel young (that doesn't happen so often nowadays!)[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 14:02, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:: At SteveBaker: Surely the POWER6 cannot be compatible with the S/370... My understanding is that the POWER6 a new implementation of the Power ISA (formerly PowerPC); the [[POWER5]] was an enhanced [[POWER4]], itself a new implementation of the PowerPC architecture; the [[POWER1]] was an implementation of the [[IBM POWER|POWER]] architecture, which was based on ideas from the [[IBM 801]], a RISC machine instead of a CISC machine like the S/370. The only microprocessor from IBM that has decimal floating-point and is compatible with the S/370 that I know is the [[IBM z10 (microprocessor)|z10]], which is used in the [[IBM System z10]] mainframe. [[User:Rilak|Rilak]] ([[User talk:Rilak|talk]]) 11:53, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

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

:Binary floating point is unacceptable for financial calculations even if they involve small amounts of money. Try running the following program:
#include <stdio.h>
volatile float f = 0; /* force rounding to single precision at each step */
int main() {
int i;
for (i = 0; i < 20000; ++i)
f += 0.01;
printf("%f\n", f);
return 0;
}
:My machine prints 199.969376. That's off by 3¢ after only 20,000 additions of amounts under $200. -- [[User:BenRG|BenRG]] ([[User talk:BenRG|talk]]) 15:52, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::Yes. Of course you could make cents (or hundreths of cents<small>why</small>) equivalent to 1 instead of counting in dollars - which solves that problem. Maybe I should email my CV to IBM :) [[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 16:11, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::More seriously, this brings me back to my original question which was why "decimal '''floats'''" - at my limited level of understanding it seems to me that only the mantissa is useful - eg if I have 10googlegooglebucks and spend 1 dollar then in a float representation it seems likely that the 1 dollar won't even register on the float representation. Wouldn't a fixed point decimal representation make much more sense?[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 16:28, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
:::It was precisely that type of "only 3 cents" fraction that was syphoned into another account to make the programmer very rich, in a famous early computer fraud case. If the program cannot be out by anything, nobody can steal the "mistake" and nobody has to account for it (either in the books or in a court). - [[User:KoolerStill|KoolerStill]] ([[User talk:KoolerStill|talk]]) 20:42, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:::Fixed point is like floating point with a constant exponent. The trouble is what exponent to choose. Some financial calculations are required by law to be done in [[Mill (currency)|mills]] and I think some are done in tenths of mills. You also have to work with multiple currencies and I don't know how the conversions are specified to work. Most likely a single program-global exponent wouldn't be good enough. Your other options are (a) work with bare integers and use variable names and comments to distinguish the formats, (b) distinguish them in the type system (if your language has a type system) or (c) distinguish them dynamically by bundling format specifiers with the numbers. Option (a) is horribly bug-prone. Option (b) is probably not flexible enough in general. Option (c) is decimal floating point by a different name. With any numeric format of bounded size you are going to have cases where the output isn't exactly representable; $1 googol + $1 is one such case for floating point, but in a fixed-width fixed-point format $1 googol wouldn't have been representable to begin with. The computation that produced it might even have wrapped around, which would be even worse. IEEE 754 provides inexact-result and overflow exceptions that will catch these cases. A well-written financial library would presumably check these flags and redo the calculation in arbitrary precision where necessary. I suppose I should mention at some point that I've never written any financial software... -- [[User:BenRG|BenRG]] ([[User talk:BenRG|talk]]) 21:04, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::::Thanks, my example about 1google$ was meant roughly as an example.. (obviously) though from my reading of [[Decimal floating point]] it looks like the format includes expressions for number that have an accuracy of less than 1 integer: eg ~33 decimal places and an exponent that has more than 12bits (14 I think) that's > 2^4000 or ~>10^1200 --- way more than 33 decimal - It looks like massive overkill - the exponent would never be used ??
::::These number formats are just for accounting (not engineering) ??
::::I suppose the solution is as you describe - make it easier on the programmers (and harder on the chip designers) - it would/does minimise possible errors if there is only really a single (hardware) implementation of the numbers, rather than 100s of program specific implementations. I suppose that's the real answer then. Thanks.
::::Still I didn't think financial calculations would ever be extensive enough to require hardware acceleration - even if I had 2billion employees (literally) it wouldn't take a modern desktop PC long to calculate their end of week interest, wages, and taxes (10 seconds?) Maybe someone could shed some light on this, and answer my additional supplementery questions?[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 22:19, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

== Windows graphing program for excel spreadsheets ==

We have data in excel spreadsheets. We want graphs that excel is not capable of producing. What is available to produce good graphics from the excel data? -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 13:55, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
:Did you want a stand alone visualisation program? It's easy to output as [[CSV]] and then import into your favorite programming language (assuming it has graphics support for the output) - using that method gives you as much flexibility as you could wish for the graphs, and is probably quicker (and cheaper) than finding a special program.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 14:12, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
::[http://www.sigmaplot.com/downloads/trial/sigmaplot-trial.php Sigmaplot] comes with a 30 day trial, which you'd expect before forking out around $800. Probably more affordable is [http://www.dplot.com/evaluation.htm Dplot], an Excel add-on for $60. This too comes with a free trial.- [[User:KoolerStill|KoolerStill]] ([[User talk:KoolerStill|talk]]) 14:20, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:::Thanks, we're debating Sigma and Delta. Perhaps using the evaluations will let the users decide which one they like. The problem with evaluations is that they assume the users know how to use the programs. In reality, you lose most of the evaluation time just trying to make the program function properly. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 14:47, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
:Crystal Reports is excellent at graphs, but run it stand-alone. It's horrendously slow in a multi-user datawarehouse or similar environment. [[User:Sandman30s|Sandman30s]] ([[User talk:Sandman30s|talk]]) 22:30, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
:There are graphing tools in Adobe Illustrator that will accept data from Excel. If you click with one of the graphing tools, a spreadsheet will pop up where you can paste data. After the graph is drawn, you can rotate it in 3D space, add shadows, reflections, and so on.--[[User:WinRAR anodeeven|WinRAR anodeeven]] ([[User talk:WinRAR anodeeven|talk]]) 22:48, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

== Replacing PS3 HDD... clone first? ==

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

:You have to use the backup utility to an external harddrive. You can't just copy the files. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 15:50, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

==Solaris 10 and open Solaris==
I was going to try using solaris, but Sun gave me two options - I don't need to see the source code, but I can't distinguish between the two otherwise from the description on Sun's website. Can anyone describe what the difference is? Thanks[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 20:09, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
:Open Solaris is free to download and use. But you can't update it. If you pay for Solaris, then you can download updates. In either case, keep in mind that Sun will be releasing version 11 in mid 2010. So, you might be better off waiting a year if you want to get Solaris.--[[User:WinRAR anodeeven|WinRAR anodeeven]] ([[User talk:WinRAR anodeeven|talk]]) <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|undated]] comment added 21:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC).</span><!--Template:Undated--> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
::OpenSolaris is free and you can get updates for free. Regular Solaris is free, and security updates are free, but any patches that add additional features require a service contract. Regular Solaris also is commercially supported by ISVs, so the software developers of any programs you may be specially running on Solaris will officially support your software - they may laugh at you if you tell them you're running on OpenSolaris, even if the program works as advertised. Solaris is better suited for commercial environments, and OpenSolaris is better for hobbyists. One is not necessarily better than the other. [[User:ShadowHntr|Alex]] ([[User talk:ShadowHntr|talk]]) 12:45, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
:::Thanks, that's what I sort of had guessed. Apart from the updates - are there any major differences between the two distributions that are obvious and important - such as compatability issues (general use) - also are both ok with the javabeans ide + c/fortran development kit (on experience) - or would one be a better match. (I fall into the amateur category, not major server vendor , obviously) [[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 19:20, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

== Ubuntu - still free after 18 months? ==

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

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

::(In case somebody doesn't know Ubuntu aims to make a new release every 6 months.) --[[Special:Contributions/194.197.235.36|194.197.235.36]] ([[User talk:194.197.235.36|talk]]) 21:16, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
The information could be worded less ambiguously. Does it mean "we give you free updates for 18 months, but after that you've got to pay for them!" or does it mean "We do updates for 18 months, and then don't do any more. All the updates are free."? [[Special:Contributions/92.27.159.22|92.27.159.22]] ([[User talk:92.27.159.22|talk]]) 23:15, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
:The latter. It should be made more clear, but it does say it is and always will be free at the top, so that gives you a bit of a hint. Thanks, '''[[User:Genius101|<span style="color:Green;background:Black">gENIUS</span>]][[User talk:Genius101|<span style="color:Green;background:Black">101</span>]]''' 23:59, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:::Just to be clear you ''can'' keep using any version of Ubuntu free of charge for as long as you want. After a certain time you will no longer receive updates and security releases. It is probably in your interest to upgrade but you are perfectly entitled to stick with the old version. -- [[User:Q Chris|Q Chris]] ([[User talk:Q Chris|talk]]) 08:17, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

== Windows or Linux - which is technically better? ==
{{hidden|Collapsed archived discussion due to request for debate|
{{discussion top}}
Hand on heart, which is the better operating system? All things considered, but ignoring the cost. Personally, Linux appeals to me because it does not require such a high spec computer. [[Special:Contributions/92.27.159.22|92.27.159.22]] ([[User talk:92.27.159.22|talk]]) 23:21, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
:The ref desk isn't really meant for debates. [[User:Friday|Friday]] [[User talk:Friday|(talk)]] 23:23, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:I personally prefer Windows. Linux and UNIX seem more complicated than they need to be. The directory tree is very confusing in Linux, with over a dozen root folders, some of which should be merged, whereas Windows organizes files by drive with three root folders each. You also have issues with root access and having to run certain processes as root from the command line, whereas both Mac OS X and Windows allow you to authenticate graphically. You also have problems with multiple distributions that are often incompatible with one another. Then you have the issue of a lack of software available for Linux. Then there is the issue of text configuration files scattered across the hard drive, whereas Windows lets you manage settings from the Control Panel.--[[User:WinRAR anodeeven|WinRAR anodeeven]] ([[User talk:WinRAR anodeeven|talk]]) 23:36, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

:This can't go well. Neither is 'better', because that's far too ambiguous. It depends on your exact requirements and preferences. This isn't really the place to hold a debate either. -- [[User:Consumed Crustacean|Consumed Crustacean]] <small>([[User talk:Consumed Crustacean|talk]])</small> 00:50, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

No debate required, just want to know the answer. [[Special:Contributions/92.27.159.22|92.27.159.22]] ([[User talk:92.27.159.22|talk]]) 01:43, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:The point is that judgments of "better"/"worst" depend on value judgments. Linux is harder for a novice to use. Does that make it worse? Windows can run 90% of all software. Does that make it better? That's the where the "debate" comes in. There isn't a straightforward, factual answer to this, as it depends on particular value judgments. --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 01:55, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

: I'm a big time Linux enthusiast - I spent about 15 years 100% Windows-free at work and at home. But even I have to agree that Linux isn't for everyone. If you want to walk into a store, buy a game, toss it onto your machine and play it - then you don't want Linux. If you want to stop worrying about virusses and other malware - you do want Linux. If you want absolutely any modern hardware to "just work" without messing around - get Windows - if you want modern software to run on older hardware - get Linux. If you are setting up a web server or a firewall or a file server...get Linux. There isn't a single answer that applies to everyone. Simply demanding that you want a clear answer doesn't change that. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 02:40, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

::...Or you could get a Mac and half about 50/50 of each benefit/problem with a lot of hardware overhead. :-) (I have a Mac, incidentally, and I love that I get about half the benefits of Linux with about half the benefits of Windows. And half the deficits of each, plus a few more unique to the system, of course. To each their own.) --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 02:57, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

: I think the NT kernel is much better designed than Linux - object manager, IRQLs, ACLs for kernel objects, etc. Not that it matters in practice, though. Linux is much more secure because it's free/open source, it has fewer users and its default security configuration doesn't suck like in Windows XP. That's changing with UAC, though. --[[User:Wj32|wj32]] <sup>[[User talk:Wj32|t]]/[[Special:Contributions/Wj32|c]]</sup> 07:39, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:Or, if you're just an enthusiast, go dual-boot on your computer to get the benefits of both. Personally, I've used linux many years ago but couldn't be bothered with fiddling with drivers etc. just to get something to work. I still have the dual boot but hardly ever go into linux. Windows is here to stay for me unless google can come up with an alternative including an emulator that can run the huge amount of windows software out there... you see where I'm going with this? [[User:Sandman30s|Sandman30s]] ([[User talk:Sandman30s|talk]]) 13:27, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:The answer is simple. Linux is better for some people. Windows is better for some people. They are the same for some people. They are both terrible for some people. This is not a question for the reference desk. Trying (twice) to start a debate is simple trolling and is heavily frowned upon here. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 13:46, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
::That's a very unfair comment, and not based on fact. I'm trying to decide if its worth paying for a Windows computer or converting an old computer to Linux for free. [[Special:Contributions/78.146.98.182|78.146.98.182]] ([[User talk:78.146.98.182|talk]]) 14:04, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:::IN which case you asked the wrong question. An old computer running Linux will be better than an old computer running a newer version of Windows. A new computer running windows or Linux will be better tan an old computer though. if I were you I would try running linux on your old computer first (because its free) then see if it is worth getting a new one. -- [[User:Q Chris|Q Chris]] ([[User talk:Q Chris|talk]]) 14:11, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:::It is not unfair at all and your continued refusal to comprehend the simple fact that "Which is better?" is a request for opinions, not facts, is trollish. You can ask "Which takes up less hard drive space?" "Which runs Sims 3 faster?" "Which has free math graphing tools?" ... and many more questions. Asking "Which is better?" is not allowed on the reference desk. Asking again after being told not to is ignorant. Asking again is plain trollish. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 14:22, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
::::Take a look in the mirror. [[Special:Contributions/89.240.105.155|89.240.105.155]] ([[User talk:89.240.105.155|talk]]) 20:26, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
{{discussion bottom}}

}}

= June 30 =

== Need help with chess ==

I want to play both sides. I want an AI to help me out by advising what moves White should take, then I move the black pieces on my own. That way, I can simulate playing against a human (myself) that doesn't always take the best moves. Any help is appreciated.--[[Special:Contributions/12.48.220.130|12.48.220.130]] ([[User talk:12.48.220.130|talk]]) 00:31, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

: Most chess programs allow you to set up the board any way you want and tell the AI to play from there so you could play black(human)vs white(AI) - but when the AI makes it's move, if you decide not to take it's suggestion then just move the piece where you want to play it - play your black move and then tell the AI to "play from this position". But many chess programs have a "suggest a move" feature. So I don't think that's a hard thing to do. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 02:29, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

: Most [[GUI]] programs also have a "[[kibitzer]]" functionality that allows you to add one or more engines to observe the game without interfering. Almost all engines are capable of displaying the [[principal variation]]. Some may also be configured to display multiple variations. <tt>[[User:Decltype|decltype]]</tt> ([[User talk:Decltype|talk]]) 06:28, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

== Webmail and wifi security ==

Using [[Yahoo! Mail]], I log in to my account through a [[https]] page, but then viewing and sending messages are done at regular http pages. Suppose I use my webmail from a laptop over wifi at a coffee shop, where I do not necessarily trust the owners. I assume the owners can easily see any messages I view, as well as the content of messages I send, while I am there. But can they do more than that? For example, can they call up messages in my inbox that I do not view while I am there? Can they send messages from my account unbeknownst to me? And can they continue to do this after I leave the coffee shop? --[[User:Mathew5000|Mathew5000]] ([[User talk:Mathew5000|talk]]) 01:44, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:They can intercept traffic but your login credentials are encrypted when you use HTTPS to log-in. Assuming the Yahoo! Mail is designed even semi-competently, they should only be able to read unencrypted traffic, which would not give them the ability to actually influence the account. Presumably when you log-in to Yahoo! Mail, whatever authentication it uses is hashed with your IP address. --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 01:52, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

::After I log in, Yahoo must give me a cookie (over https) confirming that I’ve given the correct password. Then when I compose and send a message (over http), you are saying that my web browser does not send back the cookie itself, but rather a hash of the cookie combined with the message I’ve composed? That would make sense I guess. Thanks. --[[User:Mathew5000|Mathew5000]] ([[User talk:Mathew5000|talk]]) 02:15, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:::I don't know specifically, but either way, the browser identifies itself as having logged in with some sort of hash value. That hash value probably has the IP and other identifying data encoded in it. That means that even if you had the hash value, logging in would not work if the other data did not match up. (Hypothetically. Some of that data can be spoofed. Your IP, though, needs to match up correctly, or else the server won't know where to send the response.) That's all I mean. There are probably even more complicated and clever things going on; all I've described is the bare minimum for using an encrypted/unencrypted arrangement that doesn't let a man-in-the-middle issue arbitrary commands. I am sure others will have more elaborate and learned explanations, though! --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 03:05, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:::Yahoo mail services check your IP, your browser make, your OS make and version, your Mail software version and WebService version, all down to the minor version numbers. The session cookie would include some or all of these. If you try accessing the mail from another browser on the same machine, it will normally require you (or the nefarious cafe owners)to sign in again. - [[User:KoolerStill|KoolerStill]] ([[User talk:KoolerStill|talk]]) 06:43, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

::::KoolerStill, all that can be spoofed, since the café owners can get my OS version and so forth from the http data going through the wireless router. --[[User:Mathew5000|Mathew5000]] ([[User talk:Mathew5000|talk]]) 11:13, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
::::::Yeah, now that you mention it, that's right. The router itself manages the IP to your individual machine. So obviously it could do all that. Bleh. Brain not working. --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 00:34, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
:::::The real question is, why does Yahoo use HTTP instead of HTTPS for the email data? The contents of your email should be protected as strongly as the session login authentication data. Perhaps you should consider switching to a different service provider, or see if there is an option in the Yahoo mail settings to enable HTTPS for everything. Also, sometimes (for reasons I do not understand) a web page will choose to load some data with HTTPS and other data with HTTP (e.g. by using HTML [[iframe]]s, or [[AJAX]] or similar "web 2.0" technical methods). In that case, it is ''possible'' that your email contents are securely transmitted with HTTPS even though the URL you access is prefaced with http:// . If Yahoo allows raw access to its IMAP server, you can use a client-side email program (like [[Alpine (e-mail client)]]) which will use strong protection for the entire session, unlike the web interface version seems to be doing. [[User:Nimur|Nimur]] ([[User talk:Nimur|talk]]) 16:09, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

::::::I often wonder about this too. All e-mail services should use HTTPS, really. It's an obvious and glaring problem to just send people's private e-mail in the clear. [[GMail]] can be told to use HTTPS for everything, though that is not the default option. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 18:46, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:::::::If you want an actual reason, it's just money. Serving emails over a SSL connection is more intensive, computationally and bandwidth-wise, than plain-text HTTP. The mail provider can have less sessions per server, so switching to HTTPS would require them to buy more servers just to keep their current client base. Basically, it would cost them a lot of money for a feature that most of their clients don't care about. [[User:Indeterminate|Indeterminate]] ([[User talk:Indeterminate|talk]]) 20:42, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

::::::::And if you really care about e-mail security you don't use Yahoo! Mail. (I'm talking to you, Sarah Palin.) --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 00:34, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:::::::See this from the archives: [[Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 February 5#HTTPS and Hotmail|HTTPS and Hotmail]]. [[User:Jay|Jay]] ([[User talk:Jay|talk]]) 10:13, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

==Problem==
With reference to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Computing#problem: Thanks a lot! I got the whole program and it's running properly except one thing.I didn't understand what the pointer const prompt is doing in the following function.

int GetRoomNumber( const char * const prompt )
{ int roomNumber;

do { cout << prompt << " (1 - "<<MAX_ROOMS<<"): "; cin >> roomNumber; } while ( roomNumber < 1 || roomNumber > MAX_ROOMS );

return roomNumber; }

what will be the alternative if we don't use pointer prompt?--121.52.148.13 (talk) 05:51, 30 June 2009 (UTC) <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/121.52.148.13|121.52.148.13]] ([[User talk:121.52.148.13|talk]]) </span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:It appears that you are using the function like this: <source lang="cpp">GetRoomNumber("\nEnter Room Number to be Reserved");</source> That is, you pass a [[string literal]] to the function. The string literal has type "[[Array data type|array]] of const char". The function call is valid because an array of const char can be converted to a pointer to its first element, that is, a "pointer to const char". Thus, inside the function, <tt>prompt</tt> is used to refer to the address of the first element in "\nEnter room...". <source lang="cpp">cout << prompt ... </source> will cause the program to write characters from this location until it encounters a [[null character]].

:a (const) pointer to const char is a perfectly reasonable way to pass a literal to a function. Alternatives include using [[String (C++)|basic_string]], a reference to the array, or passing the array [[Evaluation strategy|by value]]. <tt>[[User:Decltype|decltype]]</tt> ([[User talk:Decltype|talk]]) 09:07, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:The second "const" is completely pointless, and should probably not be there. All it says is that in that the pointer variable won't be changed inside the function. But there is no point in declaring that, as since the variable is local to the function anyway, it will never matter to anyone outside the function. It's like if you declared one of your arguments "const int x"; well the const does not matter to anyone outside, so there is no point in declaring it. --[[User:Spoon!|Spoon!]] ([[User talk:Spoon!|talk]]) 09:59, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
::I considered commenting on that. It does not matter to the caller, but it might matter inside (in this case it doesn't), since it prevents you from inadvertently modifying it. While I myself prefer dropping the const, I don't mind the alternative approach:
<source lang="cpp">
// foo.h
int GetRoomNumber( const char * prompt );
// foo.cpp
int GetRoomNumber( const char * const prompt ) { /* ... */ }
</source>
:: <tt>[[User:Decltype|decltype]]</tt> ([[User talk:Decltype|talk]]) 10:42, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

== How to replace an old url with the new url globally in all pages ==

Hai,

I need to replace old url with new url in each page. I dont want to do it manually. I want to change globally in all pages whereever the old one is there. i.e for example : Replace http://www.doc.com with http://www.docum.com

With Regards, Chaitanya.
:Since this is a question about links within Wikipedia, my advice to bring the question here was wrong: we'll discuss it back over on the [[WP:NCHP|new contributors' help page]] (though anyone from this refdesk who knows the answer is very welcome to contribute). [[User:Gonzonoir|Gonzonoir]] ([[User talk:Gonzonoir|talk]]) 09:53, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

::Are you sure the question is about links within Wikipedia? That's not clear to me from the question. -- [[User:Coneslayer|Coneslayer]] ([[User talk:Coneslayer|talk]]) 18:28, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:::<small>The original question was specifically about a "wiki" - we can assume it is a MediaWiki install. This is just a repeat of the question in a different area. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 20:05, 30 June 2009 (UTC)</small>

== What product is this ? ==

This is bugging me I cannot remember what this product is called

1) think that microsoft is involved

2) User takes a picture of a nine by nine grid with their phone - the grid has black dots on it - phones with the right software then turn this into a URL and take the user to the relevant website. The idea is that those grids can be used on posters, packaging and so on - allow mobile phone users to quickly access content.

Anyone know what this is called? --[[User:Cameron Scott|Cameron Scott]] ([[User talk:Cameron Scott|talk]]) 15:47, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

: Something like a [[QR Code]]? -- [[User:Coneslayer|Coneslayer]] ([[User talk:Coneslayer|talk]]) 16:07, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Spot-on! thanks chum. --[[User:Cameron Scott|Cameron Scott]] ([[User talk:Cameron Scott|talk]]) 16:29, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:: Microsoft is more heavily involved in their own competing format [[High Capacity Color Barcode]]. [[User:APL|APL]] ([[User talk:APL|talk]]) 19:10, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

== Firefox 3.5 ==

Just tried out Firefox 3.5 today. It's HTML5 stuff rocks! The <audio> and <video> tags work without a hitch to deliver seamless streaming media right inside web pages.

I'm wondering, since Wikipedia uses ogg exclusively, is there any plan at the present time for WP to incorporate HTML5 tags in some way?

[[Special:Contributions/70.31.154.75|70.31.154.75]] ([[User talk:70.31.154.75|talk]]) 18:27, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

:Since this is a question about the direction of Wikipedia, it should be asked over at the [[WP:VP|Village Pump]], probably in the "Technical" section. The reason: The people who help out over there are actually working on the software and configuration that Wikipedia uses. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 18:44, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

::Thanks, I'll ask over there then. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/70.31.154.75|70.31.154.75]] ([[User talk:70.31.154.75|talk]]) 19:37, 30 June 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
==machine code question==
Is this doable in x86 or Power/PC machine code (not ARM) without involving a jump ? :

flag:=(x<y) !ie flag(boolean) is set of reset on the condition x<y
if flag=true z:=a ! ie a is some constant
if flag=false z:=b ! b is a constant like a

I'm trying to avoid a jump on condition instruction - is this easily done - a formula like z:=b+g(a-b) seems to be the answer so I guess I need to get g (integer?) as either 1 or 0 dependant on the result of (x<y) - ie convert a flag to either integer 1 or 0 for use in a maths expression. I'm not very familiar with either ISA so please excuse if this question is somewhow fundamentally ignorant. Thanks.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 20:44, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:There's conditional move instructions on modern x86's, they were put in with Pentium II I believe. In the past one could use a much longer sequence of logical instructions after using one of the SETcc instructions. I don't believe the PowerPC has anything comparable but it isn't such a problem because it can separate a test and a jump much better. [[User:Dmcq|Dmcq]] ([[User talk:Dmcq|talk]]) 22:12, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
::Thanks! both setcc and move on condition were exactly what the sort of thing I was hoping for.
::[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 23:58, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:::The PowerPC can copy a condition code to a register so it can do the work without a jump. And in fact I think people do this when assigning a boolean 0 or 1 but it isn't worth it in general. The original POWER architecture had a conditional move but it was removed as not worth the effort. [[User:Dmcq|Dmcq]] ([[User talk:Dmcq|talk]]) 12:40, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
::::Thanks again. (going through IBM's pdf's is hard work for me I can never find anything) . Found the handle '''mfcr''' (introduced in POWER4 according to wikipedia). Now I know what I'm looking for, thanks again.
{{resolved}}

== google question ==

ive noticed that google is indenting all my search results by about 3 cm. i find this very annoying but dont know how to fix it. any help?--[[Special:Contributions/24.109.201.127|24.109.201.127]] ([[User talk:24.109.201.127|talk]]) 21:04, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:Is this a new problem? and what browser are you using, that's probably relevent too.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 21:07, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
::yeah its new. firefox 3 on vista. --[[Special:Contributions/24.109.201.127|24.109.201.127]] ([[User talk:24.109.201.127|talk]]) 21:16, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:Perhaps click "Hide options" at the top? "Show options" indents the results. If it's really chapping your hide you could fix it with [[Greasemonkey]]. --[[User:TotoBaggins|Sean]] 13:55, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
This just started happening to me too. Firefox 3.0.11 on XP. Thanks, '''[[User:Genius101|<span style="color:Green;background:Black">gENIUS</span>]][[User talk:Genius101|<span style="color:Green;background:Black">101</span>]]''' 19:13, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

== B/W ==

I'm looking for a JavaScript/Flash/C soucecode/GIF/APNG file that swapping black screen to white screen as fast as possible over and over again so I can use it on '''Full Screen'''. If possible I want to control the parameters (time, colors, monitor Hz) Same thing about RGB. Something like [http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/171064/blink-black-white-flash.gif This], but it's way too slow. Thanks. [[Special:Contributions/85.250.88.35|85.250.88.35]] ([[User talk:85.250.88.35|talk]]) 21:29, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

== Ogg ==

How is [[Ogg]] pronounced? Is it similar to the pirate-ish exclamation of "Argh!" just without the 'r'? Or like the first part of the word 'auger'? <span style="font-family:monospace;">[[User:Dismas|Dismas]]</span>|[[User talk:Dismas|<sup>(talk)</sup>]] 23:46, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:I pronounce it simply {{IPA|/ɒg/}}. [[wikt:Ogg|Wiktionary agrees]]. [[User talk:Algebraist|Algebraist]] 23:54, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
:Does anyone actually say it out loud? The only time I've ever even read about it has been on ''Wikipedia''. There can't be a "right" (i.e., common) way to say something until people actually talk about it offline.--[[Special:Contributions/24.8.176.112|24.8.176.112]] ([[User talk:24.8.176.112|talk]]) 00:02, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
::Believe it or not, some people in the internet age are still communicating with each other via speech. [[User talk:Algebraist|Algebraist]] 00:05, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
::::Why? Are you trying to impress all your "friends" while you talk about OGG? I bet all the girls love you.--[[Special:Contributions/24.8.176.112|24.8.176.112]] ([[User talk:24.8.176.112|talk]]) 02:44, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
::: I have often had occasion to describe aloud files encoded with the Ogg Vorbis codec. I have always said "Ogg files". (Rhymes with "Dog Files") I have no idea if this is the 'official' way to describe a .ogg file, but everyone knows what I'm talking about and no one has ever corrected me. Neither the vorbis.com website, or the official format descriptions[http://www.xiph.org/ogg/doc/] contain a pronunciation key, or even a etymology, I figure we should just pronounce it phonetically. .[[User:APL|APL]] ([[User talk:APL|talk]]) 01:52, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
:::: Hah. The article says that it comes from [[Netrek]] slang. In a Netrek "ogging" refers to a kamikaze attack. Usually against an enemy starbase. I don't think that helps, though. [[User:APL|APL]] ([[User talk:APL|talk]]) 02:02, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
:Maybe I'm just weird, but I've always pronounced it "oh-gee-gee." Whichever is more aurally pleasing to you! [[User:Ank0ku|-ankØku-]] ([[User talk:Ank0ku|talk]]) 04:25, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
::A somewhat related question: what do we call acronyms that look unpronounceable but that a significant number of people have figured out how to pronounce? (Example: [[SCSI]] interface pronounced "scuzzy interface"). --[[User:Goodmorningworld|Goodmorningworld]] ([[User talk:Goodmorningworld|talk]]) 15:21, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
:::I remember a very early Macintosh-enthusiast magazine claiming that for SCSI, PC users pronounced it "scuzzy" whereas Mac users pronounced it "sexy". Because that was how Mac users rolled, you see. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 04:51, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

= July 1 =
== Computer beep when notebook is off ==

Notebook unplugged, battery out, yet the notebook beeps every hour or so? I have never heard of this so I am asking help here. Does the cmos battery give off some type of alarm or something to cause this? is this even possible? <small><span class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Ivtv|Ivtv]] ([[User talk:Ivtv|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Ivtv|contribs]]) 02:13, 1 July 2009 (UTC)</span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

:That's the tracking feature so ''they'' can find you. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]]<sup>[[Help:Installing Japanese character sets|?]]</sup> · <small><font color="blue">[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|投稿]]</font> · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 20:33, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

::Is the computer situated near a smoke detector by any chance? The smoke detector could be [[Smoke detector#Batteries|signaling a low-battery condition]]. --[[User:Mathew5000|Mathew5000]] ([[User talk:Mathew5000|talk]]) 23:53, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

== Player which can play with maximum Sound ==

Picture this - You're in a room with a group of friends, and you want to watch a movie on your Laptop. Problem is, you don't have any external speakers, and the headphones just won't do. So you've got this movie file which is just about audible. My question is, which player do you use in this situation ? Which player can give you the maximum sound on any media file ? I know VLC player is able to give a higher volume than Real Player or Windows Media player, but which player gives you the maximum ? [[User:Rkr1991|Rkr1991]] ([[User talk:Rkr1991|talk]]) 10:27, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:You will most likely blow the speakers in the laptop if you turn the volume too high. Get some external speakers, preferably with amplification and externally powered - decent ones are about £20 or more. [[User:Astronaut|Astronaut]] ([[User talk:Astronaut|talk]]) 11:49, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

::I think Rrk1991 is referring to a video or sound file that has been encoded with a very low sound volume, so that putting the volume to max everywhere would only produce, say, half of what the speakers are capable of. So I do not think there's any risk of blowing the speakers. I've been having this problem too, so I'd be interested in hearing some answers. <tt>[[User:Decltype|decltype]]</tt> ([[User talk:Decltype|talk]]) 11:55, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:::In that sort of situation, I think [[Media Player Classic]] has settings in its options menu to boost the audio. (the "Normalize" setting might also work.) [[User:APL|APL]] ([[User talk:APL|talk]]) 13:12, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:::Yep, Decltype is spot on, that's the problem I'm referring to... I would love some answers...[[User:Rkr1991|Rkr1991]] ([[User talk:Rkr1991|talk]]) 15:16, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

== <video> ==

Are there any webpages using this markup currently? —[[User:SpaceFlight89|SpaceFlight89]] ([[User talk:SpaceFlight89|talk]]) 16:46, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
:Sure, [http://henriksjokvist.net/examples/html5-video/ here's] one. --[[User:TotoBaggins|Sean]] 19:12, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks —[[User:SpaceFlight89|SpaceFlight89]] ([[User talk:SpaceFlight89|talk]]) 07:46, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

== intermittent monitor problem ==

My (HP) monitor is failing to display when I turn on the system. I can get it to recover by unplugging the power cord for a moment. What might be happening? Just curious. I have another monitor to replace it with when needed. --[[User:Halcatalyst|Halcatalyst]] ([[User talk:Halcatalyst|talk]]) 18:09, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
:I don't know the problem, but I had an old crt monitor that did the same thing. It would take up to 5 mins to turn on some times. Turning it off and on again usually did the trick after a couple of times, as did banging it with my fist. Very curious to know what causes this too <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/82.43.91.128|82.43.91.128]] ([[User talk:82.43.91.128|talk]]) 18:39, 1 July 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

== Excel IF/AND problem ==

Right. I'm having one of "those days" and can't get my head around something.

I have a spreadsheet in which one cell is a university mark percentage (0-100%). Using an [[if statement|if/and statement]], how could I have another cell display &ndash; in my case &ndash; the [[British undergraduate degree classification|mark classification]]?

Example:
:If the total is >70, the display will be "1st class"
::but
:If the total is >60 but <70 , the display will be "Upper second class"
::but
:If the total is >50 but <60 , the display will be "Lower second class"
::but
:If the total is >40 but <50 , the display will be "Third class"
::but
:If the total is <40, the display will be "Fail"

Thanks, I'm sure someone will nail this straight away &ndash; I'm just not in gear today! [[User:Fribbulus Xax|Fribbulus Xax]] ([[User talk:Fribbulus Xax|talk]]) 18:51, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:<pre>=IF(A1<40, "EPIC FAIL", IF(A1<50, "Third class", IF(A1<60, "Lower second class", IF(A1<70, "Upper second class", "1st class"))))</pre>
:Just be careful in case they should be &lt;= signs; your request wasn't specific about (for example) someone scoring exactly 60. -- [[User:Coneslayer|Coneslayer]] ([[User talk:Coneslayer|talk]]) 19:05, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
::Cheers, it works fine (with a bit of tinkering!). [[User:Fribbulus Xax|Fribbulus Xax]] ([[User talk:Fribbulus Xax|talk]]) 19:22, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:Note that sometimes nested IFs have funny behavior (they seem to be bad with any kind of rounding?), and there is a maximum number of nestings you can do before it will just give up (however you can use multiple columns to extend it a bit). It's a pain that Excel doesn't, after all these years, have more flexible comparison operators for its functions (other than complicated nesting or slow/problematic VBA macros), but such is how it is... --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 20:09, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

== Microsoft.com windows support ==

My hard disc crashed and I was told by a guy in a computing store that if I go to the microsoft windows website I can request a new installation disc and that this is free. Is this true? Where on the website can I find this? thanks in advance [[Special:Contributions/79.191.22.69|79.191.22.69]] ([[User talk:79.191.22.69|talk]]) 19:42, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:No, not true. If you bought your computer new, your copy of Windows was sold to you by your computer manufacturer (maybe it was Dell, or HP, or Gateway, or Lenovo, or whoever). In the old days, the manufacturer would include Windows installation discs in the box when you bought the computer. More recently, they charge $10 for this "service", or sometimes they have disc images included on the hard disk, and you are supposed to have the foresight to burn the images to physical discs right when you get the computer. In any case, the place to get a Windows installation disc is your computer manufacturer. The cost should be low - when you bought your computer, part of what you paid for was your copy of Windows (licensed to be used on that particular computer), so all you're buying now is a disc with a copy of that version of Windows. You're not required to go spend $150 for a fresh new version or whatever. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 20:17, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Am I able to use someone else's burned disc with my product key? I mean, I've already paid for the license.[[Special:Contributions/79.191.22.69|79.191.22.69]] ([[User talk:79.191.22.69|talk]]) 20:24, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

: Generally not. What Tempshill describes above is an OEM-specific restore disk, and that goes with your OEM Windows licence. If you have access to another computer of the same model (not just from the same manufacturer) then its restore disks should work. Otherwise you'll need to follow Tempshill's advice and get a disk from the manufacturer. [[Special:Contributions/87.115.71.220|87.115.71.220]] ([[User talk:87.115.71.220|talk]]) 20:58, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I didn't say before that I have put in a new hard disc since. Does this change anything you have said? <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/79.191.22.69|79.191.22.69]] ([[User talk:79.191.22.69|talk]]) 21:19, 1 July 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

: I don't believe so. Large-scale changes to the hardware might make a system restore disk fail, changing the hard disk shouldn't. [[Special:Contributions/87.115.71.220|87.115.71.220]] ([[User talk:87.115.71.220|talk]]) 21:48, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

::Look at your computer case for a serial number. It's usually on a yellow sticker from Microsoft. Then, you can download a copy of Windows, burn it to a disk, and install Windows using the product key on the case. It's perfectly legal to do, even if you download a pirated copy, because the license is still valid.--[[User:WinRAR anodeeven|WinRAR anodeeven]] ([[User talk:WinRAR anodeeven|talk]]) 22:09, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:::I certainly don't recommend this course of action because of the likelihood of [[trojan horse (computer)|trojans]]. Just call the manufacturer and see if they'll ship you the disc. It may even be free. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 22:19, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

::::Trojans are found in keygens. If he already has a key, then how would he get a trojan? He wouldn't even run the keygen.--[[User:WinRAR anodeeven|WinRAR anodeeven]] ([[User talk:WinRAR anodeeven|talk]]) 22:21, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

:::::If he gets a "pirated copy" there is a little issue. --[[Special:Contributions/194.197.235.36|194.197.235.36]] ([[User talk:194.197.235.36|talk]]) 22:34, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

::::::Trojans can be found in any software, including key generators, disc images, and just about anything else which you can execute. In extreme cases, they can even be found in non-executable files, (like media files), and can only cause an infection if there is a security vulnerability in the system which accesses those files. [[User:Nimur|Nimur]] ([[User talk:Nimur|talk]]) 04:26, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:::::::Yes, I'm a computer repairman, I know. But, I also download a lot of warez, and 99.99% of the time, it's just the keygen (or crack). If you're worried about it, you can scan the download with a virus scanner, or just read the comments on the download site. Attaching viruses to PEs is pretty rare because the programmers usually add code to the program that will warn you if it's been tampered with. I know this from experience.--[[User:WinRAR anodeeven|WinRAR anodeeven]] ([[User talk:WinRAR anodeeven|talk]]) 05:31, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

::::::::Rrrriiiight, because it's unheard of to crack the executable to avoid the selfcheck. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 06:28, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:::::::::I guess you're just too afraid to handle this kind of stuff. I, on the other hand, have complete confidence in my ability to detect viruses and disinfect my computer. I also have complete confidence in the OP, even though he's new to this. But, if you lack confidence in yourself, then there's nothing I can do to convince you.--[[User:WinRAR anodeeven|WinRAR anodeeven]] ([[User talk:WinRAR anodeeven|talk]]) 07:10, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

::::::::::What you are calling "confidence", I call reckless blind faith, or wishful thinking. There are bad guys in this world who are slightly smarter than you, you know. Trojans or keyloggers embedded in a pirated version of Windows are not necessarily detectable by any of the software you have installed, especially if the trojan writer rolled his own. If you choose to put ''all'' your personal data at the mercy of an OS that you downloaded from a warez torrent &mdash; well, that's just foolhardy. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 19:14, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
:::::::::::No amount of expertise, experience, or [[lolcat|L337 computer skillx0rz]] can allow you to look at a windows .exe file and ''know'' what it does. These files can contain megabytes of binary code - even if you open it with a hex editor and are proficient in reading machine code, it will take you hours to scan the entire file. Anodeeven, are you claiming that you can, via sheer force of will and expertise/experience, decipher the execution path of a large binary file? It's hard enough to follow execution paths if you have documented source-code, let alone if you are trying to reverse-engineer something. Merely "trusting" an executable is not a matter of skill; it is a risk, every time; you must trust the originator of the program. If you are willing to trust every pirated source on "the internet at large", then you are not instilling a lot of confidence in your own critical-thinking. [[User:Nimur|Nimur]] ([[User talk:Nimur|talk]]) 19:18, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Take it easy guys, thanks for all the responses lol

= July 2 =

== Boolean as tinyint(1) ==

Why does MySQL make columns specified as "Boolean" tinyint(1)s when bit(1) is available? Is there any way to have a group of Boolean columns stored internally as a bit field rather than giving each one its own byte? [[User:NeonMerlin|<span style="background:#000;color:red;border:#0f0 solid;border-width:1px 0">Neon</span>]][[User talk:NeonMerlin|<span style="background:#0f0;color:#000;border:red solid;border-width:1px 0">Merlin</span>]] 04:20, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

== 400 bad request ==

I get a 400 bad request while attempting to access YouTube with Google Chrome. Internet Explorer works fine for the site. Has anyone else noticed this? --[[User:Blue387|Blue387]] ([[User talk:Blue387|talk]]) 05:56, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:Worked for me just now with Windows XP. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 06:29, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
::Chrome works now. --[[User:Blue387|Blue387]] ([[User talk:Blue387|talk]]) 03:56, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== New tab problems in IE8 ==

Hi, whenever I open a new tab in Internet Explorer 8, I get a page that says

"The webpage cannot be displayed
Most likely cause:
•Some content or files on this webpage require a program that you don't have installed.
What you can try:
Search online for a program you can use to view this web content.
Retype the address.
Go back to the previous page. "

and instead if "about:Tabs" being in the address bar, it says: "tbr:res?id=tabs&rep=1"

I'm running Windows XP SP3.

How can I fix this?

Thanks [[Special:Contributions/144.138.21.100|144.138.21.100]] ([[User talk:144.138.21.100|talk]]) 06:32, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:Do you have a default homepage set up? It may be that the default home page is not loading properly. ···[[User:Nihonjoe|<font color="darkgreen">日本穣</font>]]<sup>[[Help:Installing Japanese character sets|?]]</sup> · <small><font color="blue">[[Special:Contributions/Nihonjoe|投稿]]</font> · [[User talk:Nihonjoe|Talk to Nihonjoe]]</small> 07:33, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

::Even if I had a default home page set up, it wouldn't open if I clicked new tab, as a new tab goes to "about:Tabs". [[Special:Contributions/144.138.21.92|144.138.21.92]] ([[User talk:144.138.21.92|talk]]) 21:45, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

== Internet Connections and Topology ==

Hi friends, can u please describe for me the various methods in which intrnet connections are made possible? (2) what is network Topology? Bye. Kvees. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/59.178.188.221|59.178.188.221]] ([[User talk:59.178.188.221|talk]]) 08:00, 2 July 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:I think that you can search Wikipedia to find your answers. In addition, you could try to search the reference desk archives. --[[User:Andreas Rejbrand|Andreas Rejbrand]] ([[User talk:Andreas Rejbrand|talk]]) 11:39, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
::From [[Network topology]]: "the study of the arrangement or mapping of the elements (links, nodes, etc.) of a network, especially the physical (real) and logical (virtual) interconnections between nodes." Hope this helps! Please try to use the reference desk search box at the top of this page or the Wikipedia search next time.[[User:Ank0ku|-ankØku-]] ([[User talk:Ank0ku|talk]]) 18:14, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
:::{{dyoh}}--[[User:Xp54321|<font color="0070FF">'''Xp54321''']]</font><sup> ([[User talk:Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Hello!'''''</font>]] • [[Special:Contributions/Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Contribs'''''</font>]])</sup> 19:57, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

== [[USB flash drive]]/[[pen drive]]/[[stick drive]] failures ==

I have a number of pen drives which I use to transfer data from one computer to another. Typical use would be to fill one up for a week with data from one computer, then move it to the other computer, copy all the data to that computer, then delete everything on the pen drive. So, I figure that's one read/write cycle per week, so it should last for years at that low usage rate. However, they don't last for years, but only months.

At first I thought I just had a defective drive, but now it's happened again. So, why might this be happening ? One theory I have is that while the data area only gets one read/write cycle per week, the index area is being updated every time I write a new sector. Since these are 32 Gb pen drives, that would mean there are some 64 million sectors at 512 bytes per sector. So, if there's an index that keeps track of the "highest occupied sector address" (or "lowest unoccupied sector address"), this might update 64 million times a week. In that case I could certainly understand why they would fail after a few months.

So, is this how they work ? If so, this seems to be a major flaw in their design. Is there any way to prevent them from doing this (say by having them only update that index after the copy operation is completed, instead of when each sector is written). Are there some brands that don't do this ? Are there some brands that include a small portion of more stable memory for this type of index space ? Any other solutions would be welcomed (I'm considering using a portable hard drive if I can't get the pen drives to last longer). [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 12:19, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:What file system did you use for the drive? I'd guess fat16/32 are the best for flash drives. --12:30, 2 July 2009 (UTC) <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/194.197.235.36|194.197.235.36]] ([[User talk:194.197.235.36|talk]]) </span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

::[[FAT32]]. Note that when you follow that link you get to a paragraph that says "...the boot sector uses a 32-bit field for the sector count...". If that "sector count" is updated every time a sector is written, then the low bit would be changed millions of times a week, and that may be the bit that wears out first. So, would some other file system be better ? I prefer a format that's usable by both Windows and Linux. Or maybe there's a way to periodically change where the "sector count" is stored so it can wear out other bits ? [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 12:33, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

: Most modern flash memory controllers incorporate [[wear levelling]] into the flash controller, wherein there is a lookup table that maps logical block addresses with physical block addresses, and the PBA for a given LBA is shuffled around (on erase)([http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corsair.com%2F_faq%2FFAQ_flash_drive_wear_leveling.pdf&ei=YrJMSuHHJtfMjAfE9Py4BQ&usg=AFQjCNF5uwscwNiX8itYX2d0McUJjfb2NA&sig2=g6XmgC3Ki0lCuVXoo2c7vQ example(pdf)]). So even a dumb filesystem that beats constantly on the same blocks will result in levelled wear. Now if you were using a unix filesystem with atime enabled, I could speculate that you'd be reading a lot, and updating those atimes would cause a large amount of writes you weren't immediately cognisant of. It seems FAT32 does store atime of a sort, one that (at least on linux) is honoured by the vfat driver ([http://www.technologyquestions.com/technology/linux/302220-rsync-between-fat32-xfs-partitions.html ref]); so if I were planning on doing tons of reads on a flash drive on linux, it would make sense to make sure that it was mounted noatime.[[Special:Contributions/87.113.26.43|87.113.26.43]] ([[User talk:87.113.26.43|talk]]) 13:23, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:: I did some experiments: by default Ubuntu does mount fat32 volumes with vfat with atime enabled, and it shows a proper atime (ls -lu) for files, down to the second - but remount the disk and the atime is shown with the HH:MM back to (UTC) zero. It's like the ref I gave above says, FAT32 only stores the day part of access-time stamps. So whether repeatedly accessing a file on a vfat volume actually causes a torrent of writes to the disk depends on how smart the vfat driver is (and I guess the same is true for its counterpart in Windows). If the update_atime() logic checks that the file's current atime(.date) is the same as that which we propose to write, and doesn't bother writing, then the wear from reading is trivial. If the driver is dumb, then what I wrote above is a real concern for read-heavy write-light flash devices. [[Special:Contributions/87.113.26.43|87.113.26.43]] ([[User talk:87.113.26.43|talk]]) 14:32, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:::But, in my case, the use isn't really read-heavy or write-heavy. I write maybe 100 files containing perhaps 32 Gb of data over the course of a week, then read them perhaps a few times each, then delete them. How can I find out if a given flash drive has the wear leveling feature, and does this apply to the index space/"sector count", as well as the data area ? [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 17:26, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

::::Open it up, figure out which usb<->flash controller chip it has, find its datasheet on the website of the semiconductor company that made it (lsusb -v might help, particularly for a sealed drive). As a simple block-structured device, it doesn't have any concept of the index or the fat or the data area; it's all just blocks of bytes. Failing that, I can't think of an easy way to figure it out only in software; much of the point of these controller chips is to hide the complexities of LBA<->PBA, wear levelling, and NAND flash's vexing rewrite characteristics. [[Special:Contributions/87.113.26.43|87.113.26.43]] ([[User talk:87.113.26.43|talk]]) 18:15, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:::::I don't think I'm willing to "open it up" quite yet, as I imagine them being even more fragile than a laptop, and I managed to sever a paper cable (yes, paper !) the last time I tried that. My Puppy Linux doesn't recognize the "lsusb" command at all. Under Windows XP I looked for "scandisk" and the help informed me that it's no longer supported and I should run "chkdsk" instead. I'm running that now. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 23:49, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:''quote'' "One theory I have is that while the data area only gets one read/cycle per week, the index area is being updated every time I write a new sector." - that would explain your problem - but would be a massively shortshighted way fo doing things - I doubt flash would have ever made it to market with algorhthyms like that - I give a better way below - but it is a guess - I'd like to know the answer too.. [[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 19:32, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

::I can easily imagine it happening, say if the manufacturers only concerned themselves with hardware issues and those that set the standards for the FAT32 file system didn't think about it's use on flash drives. In such a case, there may not be anyone who actually worried about the implications of having a FAT32 file system on a flash drive. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 23:49, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:As a related question - a perhaps close to what the OP was asking: The wear levelling of the LBA (the data) is I think easy to understand - but what of the PBA (the pointers or references to the actual data) - how are they wear leveled ? (I understand that a PBA will point to a relatively large block of data)
:''My guess'': linked lists with several pointer fields per PBA that can be 'crossed out' as used seems like one option - (coupled with a binary tree referencing the PBA<small>to prevent the flash chip turning into a vast tape drive</small> - also with 'cross outable fields') - but how exactly in practice - that was a guess - could someone give a simple(ified) example? Thanks?[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 19:30, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:: I think you've misunderstood what a PBA is, and you're conflating how ''flash'' works and how ''fat'' works. An LBA is just the linear block address of a hypothetical block; all the data on the drive is addressed using LBAs. LBAs are the chief part of the interface between drives (over SCSI,USB,SATA, or IDE), and really they're a bit abstract - you ''think'' about them actually being blocks in a row on the surface of a disk, but there's no guarantee that they are (and sometimes they aren't). IN the case of wear-levelling flash controllers, the controller device (I really mean the device, not the device driver, and certainly not the filesystem layer or OS block layer) has a translation table that maps 1-1 LBAs to addresses on the physical flash chips that only it can see. The OS/fs/blockdriver doesn't know anything about PBAs, and it can't see or manipulate that table. When filesystems manipulate storage, they do so solely by dealing with logical blocks, and they don't care if those are blocks of ram or flash or areas on a magnetic disk or blocks in a storage-area-network (wherein blocks get translated a bunch of times). So the fat driver doesn't know anything about flash (and doesn't do anything special for it) and the flash device doesn't know anything about FAT (and doesn't have any special support for it). [[Special:Contributions/87.113.26.43|87.113.26.43]] ([[User talk:87.113.26.43|talk]]) 20:20, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:::Not at all - I was taking about the underlying(overlying?) structure of the data+extra stuff for wear leveliing in the flash - independent of the data structure imposed on it by the OS. You prompted me to point out that there is more than one way to do this - including a method that doesn't included separate pointers (an index) - one which springs to mind would be a doubly linked list, containing blocks of data. In either case the idea of having more than one pointer field (ie the pointer to previous and next data items in the doubly linked list case) is still valid, maybe even more so.
:::ie the idea of having more than one slot for a specific pointer per data block so that as the pointer slots are used, they can be marked 'dirty', and the next slot used - preventing the movement of whole blocks because of the change of a single pointer (particularily necessary if a doubly linked list were used).

::::I get the feeling I haven't explained my response to the OP very well - maybe someone else could give it clearer. (Did I mix up LBA and PBA in what I said - it's summer - the heat may be affecting my clarity) [[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 21:49, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:All the above doesn't explain why you are getting such poor value from your drives - you should expect that say for a 1GB drive with 10,000 average time to failure that you can write 10,000GB to it before your [[expectation]] of failure becomes 50/50. One possibility is that you are immensly unlucky. Another is failure due to static (maybe) - they have static protection built in (not sure about USB)- but if you work in a high static enviroment eg lots of polyester seat covers and carpets - that might affect the lifespan - I've no data on this - it's a unlikely explanation - unless you are constantly getting staic elctricity shocks every time you touch an earthed object.
:Some devices do contain some normal ram that can be used to store acceleration data (either cache or lookup tables) - but that won't(shouldn't) be related to the lifetime. Are you doing standard read/write to large files eg documents/pictures - I doubt the standard thumb stick is configured for bitwise access?[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 20:10, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

::No static electricity problems around here, as it's usually quite humid. The typical usage is to use Windows XP File Manager (or, as they call it, "Windows Explorer") to copy large files (maybe 500 Mb each) to the flash drive, and then later off the flash drive to another Windows XP computer, followed by using Windows XP to delete the files. Puppy Linux may also sometimes be used to copy or delete files. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 23:49, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

In case it will help, let me describe some of the errors I get. On one flash drive I can write to about half of it, then it says "Device is write protected" and won't write any further. On another it says "File not found" when I try to write to it or read from it at all. I assumed these errors were the typical nonsense errors you get and that the actual problem is bad sectors on the flash drive. But how could I actually confirm that this is the real problem ? [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 23:49, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

OK, "chkdsk" completed on the "file not found" flash drive, after a very long time (good flash drives are usually very quick). No errors were found except that it said "Cannot write boot sector". I take that to mean that the boot sector is bad. What would cause the boot sector to fail before the rest of the flash drive ? Is there any way to designate a new sector to be used as the boot sector ? [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 01:20, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

:Maybe more info might help - is the card totally broken - is it possible to re format it and get it to work again (ie corrupted or just bust), vista? (sorry ms), works on other OS?, also card make - internet suggests FAT corruptions is commonplace on certain devices.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 13:46, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:chkdsk has issues of it's own with boot sector (see search) - also if you are using chkdsk to do write read tests to check for bad bits on the disk this would just hammer the flash data structure.. and wouldn't detect a bad bit properly.
:(Some computers automatically perform a defragment every day - is there a chance that the OS has been doing this to the flash drive if it's left plugged in?)[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 14:00, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:There's supposed to be a backup boot sector [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/247575] "If you have a corrupted primary boot sector..", but see also [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/246146] [[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 14:28, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

::Reformatting the flash drive doesn't work. That info about the backup boot sector is interesting, but unfortunately it looks like it just copies the data from the backup boot sector to the primary and continues to use the primary boot sector to boot. This won't help if the sector itself is bad, as opposed to the data stored on it. What I really need is the ability to designate some sector other than sector 0 as the boot sector, since sector 0 is apparently bad. Also, your links are for Windows 2000 and I use Windows XP. Does this info also apply to XP ? Defragmentation definitely doesn't happen, since the flash drives are only plugged in when the data is being written or read, then are immediately unplugged. As for the brand names, one is Micro Center, and I can't tell what the other one is. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 19:19, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
::Sorry about the 2000 didn't notice- don't know if it's the same in XP (ie has it been fixed?) - but as a format doesn't fix the drive I suppose it is irrelevent.
::If the microcentre drive is like this one [http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0267424] you've got a 3 year warranty - perhaps you will enjoy knowing that <blockquote>We use only the highest quality components from the leading manufacturers to give you many years of worry free use</blockquote>
::Sorry couldn't resist. Honestly I'd be blaiming the drive and returning for a full refund, receipts??. I've no reason to believe that USB drives are fundamentally short lived. It sounds like you are nowhere near to the level of use for failure.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 20:12, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
=== How do I make my [[USB flash drive]] last as long as possible ? ===

As I described in the section above, my flash drives die at an unacceptable rate. So, how can I make them last longer ? Should I use something other than the FAT32 file system ? (Remember that I need to access them in Windows XP and would also prefer to be able to access them in Linux.) Could heat cause them to wear out prematurely ? Would pointing a fan at them while in use help ? [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 19:52, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== Ajax with Scripted Content ==

Is there a "standard" method for handling the following problem: Going modern, you decide to pull page content using [[Ajax (programming)|Ajax]]. You place the content in some div's innerHTML. The content you pull is dependent on some [[JavaScript]]. However, the page is loaded. So, the browser won't load anymore scripts automatically. The content fails unless you load the script when the page loads, before the Ajax-pulled content is loaded. In other words, if you have 30 content pages, each with a unique script, you have to load all 30 scripts on page load just in case the user requests to pull one of the content pages. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 12:33, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:I guess I should point out what I am doing... I'm using regex to locate instances of the script src=.... tag. Then, I have an array of scripts I've loaded in the past. If the script in script tag is not in the array, I create a script node, set the src, and insert it into the head element. This functions but has the problem that once you hit a page with a script, the script is permanently loaded until you close the website. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 14:35, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
::When the user clicks to pull a page, set the head element and auto-refresh the page to run that script, whether it's a separate one or in the array. Each call for a new page should overwrite the src in the head; perhaps a graceful closing of the previous script would also be in order. - [[User:KoolerStill|KoolerStill]] ([[User talk:KoolerStill|talk]]) 15:10, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:::Well, this project is doomed to failure. The scripts, it turns out, are not all in separate files. Some is embedded in the HTML. Also, some of it must be run when the page loads (body onload option) to function at all. So, Ajax appears to be a bad tool. I'm suggesting they just load the whole page (content and all) per link instead of just trying to load the content. -- [[User:Kainaw|<font color='#ff0000'>k</font><font color='#cc0033'>a</font><font color='#990066'>i</font><font color='#660099'>n</font><font color='#3300cc'>a</font><font color='#0000ff'>w</font>]][[User talk:Kainaw|&trade;]] 19:40, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

::::I think the crucial point you've hit at here is that you really, really need to think through the overall organization of something like this. In any case in your scenario it is hard for me to understand why you are using AJAX in this instance ("going modern" is the worst reason ever—doing it just because it is current is an awful idea, you should do it because it works better for your situation), but I understand you haven't fully described that end of things. AJAX should not be used to just load pages that could otherwise just be served up regularly. --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 13:59, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== Data transmission speeds ==

I've been trying to understand how data is transmitted via modulation. Am I right in thinking that for short-distance transfer as in computers and USB (and ISDN for some reason), data are transmitted by serial/parallel digital communication - simply on-off-off-on etc.? But telephones, DSL, cable, optical fibres and radio all use modulation?

Am I then right in saying that DSL, for example, uses Discrete Multi-Tone Modulation and that this works in a way similar to that mentioned under [[Modulation#Digital_modulation_methods]]?

Why then is this not much faster than serial communication? Why is USB2 so much faster than ADSL (and even Fibre-to-the-home) when each symbol in ADSL can represent many bits compared to one bit in serial? And this is without going into the complexities of [[Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing]] and [[Quadrature amplitude modulation]]. Why not have a serial internet given that USB3 is 5Gbit/s and presumably a robust signal as it is only binary? [[User:ASmartKid|ASmartKid]] ([[User talk:ASmartKid|talk]]) 15:28, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:The trick is, you can ''send'' data as fast as you want - but if the signal gets corrupted, you can't ''receive'' it. USB can make some assumptions about the signal integrity - the cable will only be a few meters long, and the wire will be inside a house with reasonable, homogeneous temperature; etc. etc. All these mean that there is an implicit "guarantee" that a certain quality of signal will be received on the other end. (Specifically, high frequencies will not be attenuated). DSL, however, must travel for kilometers over an uncontrolled, outdoor cable. Along this signal path, the analog details start to matter, and the signal will become distorted. (It's going to get distorted; the only question is - how much?) So, the engineers must be a little more conservative with the amount of data that they put on the long-distance cables, given that they have an expected signal integrity. Depending on the particular transmission method, the signal degradation might be quantified as a total power loss ("[[decibel|dB]] of [[attenuation]]") or it may be a particular frequency-response. This analog error creates a loss of digital information. One option is to slow the amount of data so it is always below the distortion threshold. This severely throttles the network speed, though. Another option is to push data as fast as possible, right on the edge of the "lossy" part - so that there's a particular statistical likelihood that the data gets through undistorted. If there is an error, the network controlling software and hardware must request re-transmissions (which of course slows things down a little). If properly designed, based on a realistic [[bit error rate]], this is the fastest way to transmit data over an analog channel with a known amount of expected distortion. This is the reason for the [[OSI model]] of networks - where a variety of interoperating abstraction layers all have certain understandings and assumptions about the end-to-end connection. [[User:Nimur|Nimur]] ([[User talk:Nimur|talk]]) 16:22, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

== SQL Server 2000 & 2005 Residing on the same server ==

Does anyone know if it's possible to run two different versions of SQL Server on the same physical server if they are installed in different directories? Thanks in advance for your help.
:Yes it'll work just fine (you shouldn't even need to specify a different directory as the default locations are already slightly different). Install the 2000 server first AND updating it to service pack 4, but after that just install 2005 as normal. From memory it'll either ask you if you want to upgrade the 2000 server (if it can) or if you want to install a new instance and you just want the new instance option. [[User:ZX81|<span style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;font-family:verdana;color:#800040;filter:Shadow(color=#000000,strength=1);height:15px;">ZX81</span>]] [[User talk:ZX81|<span style="font-size:11px;font-family:verdana;"><sup>talk</sup></span>]] 19:51, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
:Yes, I'm currently running both versions on the same machine at the same time. Yes, they are installed in different directories. [[User:A Quest For Knowledge|A Quest For Knowledge]] ([[User talk:A Quest For Knowledge|talk]]) 02:38, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== Linux keyboard issue ==

I have a Linux home computer (not sure about details) and the backspace key has started making this symbol ( ç ) but the keyboard configuration says it should be backspace... If anyone could shed some light on the matter that would be greatly appreciated. [[Special:Contributions/83.50.42.15|83.50.42.15]] ([[User talk:83.50.42.15|talk]]) 21:59, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

:It sounds to me like Linux may think you have a foreign language keyboard, perhaps Spanish or Portuguese. Hopefully others can provide details of how to check and change that setting. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 00:46, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah it is set in Spanish (I live in Spain) but it used to be absolutely fine and it just decided to go haywire with the backspace key for unknown reason [[Special:Contributions/81.32.39.224|81.32.39.224]] ([[User talk:81.32.39.224|talk]]) 11:32, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

:What distribution of Linux are you using? If you are not sure, open up a terminal and type ''uname -a'' and tell us what the output is. - [[User:Akamad|Akamad]] ([[User talk:Akamad|talk]]) 22:51, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

= July 3 =

== Does anyone know of a good macro program? ==

I would like a simple program thats free and accurate. The program should be able to record and play back macros for keyboard and mouse. Im looking for something with a low file size, but its not a neccessity. Does anyone have any good programs for this?

I use Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit version, if that helps.

[[Special:Contributions/209.240.240.230|209.240.240.230]] ([[User talk:209.240.240.230|talk]]) 00:07, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== Morphing ==

I just purchased morpheus morphing software because I want to take two pictures and ad the nose or eyes of one person and replace the nose and eyes on another person and make it look like another person as a picture. But so far all I can do is make a movie of the two pictures transitioning one after the other. How do I change the features of a person's face and body and make it look like another person without looking all cut nd pasty? Is this called something else besides morphing? <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/71.137.242.85|71.137.242.85]] ([[User talk:71.137.242.85|talk]]) 00:30, 3 July 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:Just to confirm, [[Morphing]] is literally changing one image into another so I'm afraid you're looking at the wrong sort of software, but I don't know if what you want to do actually has a name. [[User:ZX81|<span style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;font-family:verdana;color:#800040;filter:Shadow(color=#000000,strength=1);height:15px;">ZX81</span>]] [[User talk:ZX81|<span style="font-size:11px;font-family:verdana;"><sup>talk</sup></span>]] 11:45, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== Attempts to access TCP port 445 and 135 ==

Today, someone with a residential DSL IP kept trying to connect to ports 445 and 135 on my network for an hour or longer, and I'm not running any kind of peer 2 peer software. My router's firewall continued to block the attempts to access the ports. I've had my IP address for a couple of months. Apparently ports 445 and 135 are commonly abused by hackers. What are the chances that the IP was trying to hack in? [[User:GO-PCHS-NJROTC|<font color="red" face="Comic Sans MS">PCHS-NJROTC</font>]] <sup>[[User talk:PCHS-NJROTC|<font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS">(Messages)</font>]]</sup> 02:29, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

:Oh, 100% or so. See [https://www.grc.com/port_445.htm the ShieldsUP 445 page] for some information/ranting about it. I'm glad to see you have a router; keep it between your computers and the wall port, and you have nothing to worry about. [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 04:26, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
::Note Steve Gibson, the Shields Up guy, is pretty kooky and you shouldn't worry about his constant fearmongering. This was definitely a hacking attempt, though. -- [[User:BenRG|BenRG]] ([[User talk:BenRG|talk]]) 22:01, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:That IP address isn't necessarily owned by a hacker. It could well be a PC that is infected with a virus or worm that tries to infect other computers at random IP addresses. Lots of worms out there that do that. E.g. the somewhat famous [[Blaster (computer worm)|Blaster worm]] spread through port 135. [[Special:Contributions/62.78.198.48|62.78.198.48]] ([[User talk:62.78.198.48|talk]]) 09:27, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

::Right. It's likely not a "hacker" in the sense of a guy in a basement looking to get your secrets anyway. It's an infected machine, trying to infect you. --[[Special:Contributions/98.217.14.211|98.217.14.211]] ([[User talk:98.217.14.211|talk]]) 13:43, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== editing firefox add-ons ==

How do I edit the .xpi files? --[[User:penubag|'''<span style="background:#00CCFF;color:#0066FF;font-size:84%">&nbsp;penubag&nbsp;</span>''']] ([[User talk:penubag|talk]]) 07:46, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:Change the extension from .xpi to .zip, then you can open the file in a program like [[WinRAR]] or [[7zip]]. [[Special:Contributions/8I.24.07.715|8I.24.07.715]] ([[User talk:8I.24.07.715|talk]]) 08:49, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
::I do not know anything about .xpi files, but if they really are simple .zip files (but with a strange extension), Windows Me and later versions (e.g. XP, Vista) can open them as well. --[[User:Andreas Rejbrand|Andreas Rejbrand]] ([[User talk:Andreas Rejbrand|talk]]) 15:25, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== help regarding the asteganography project ==

i want to do my project on "steganography on vedio containers" can i get any source code for image container steganography <small><span class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Sandeepborra|Sandeepborra]] ([[User talk:Sandeepborra|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Sandeepborra|contribs]]) 10:06, 3 July 2009 (UTC)</span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

== Facebook's insides ==

Sites like Youtube have the videos "available" for download (if you know where to look) in formats resembling the original formats (though probably converted and compressed to a certain degree). Is anything known of this for Facebook? I'm mainly wondering about the images, which I sometimes want to download from a profile but the visible resolution is incredibly small, even when the upload was quite large (images are resized after upload, though obviously the originals might be deleted). Any help is appreciated, thanks! [[Special:Contributions/210.254.117.186|210.254.117.186]] ([[User talk:210.254.117.186|talk]]) 10:29, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:I afraid I don't think any higher resolution images exist (it's just not in their interest to store them because of the amount of disk space it'd consume and there's no wording in the privacy policy to say they're storing a higher resolution version), but I'm afraid I disagree with you on the part about images being resized AFTER upload. If you do the "simple file upload" then yes that's correct, but if you use the Facebook Photo Uploaded ActiveX control, all the resizing is transparently done ''before'' it's uploaded. This is easily verifiable because in my case I take my pictures at 10 megapixels (~4Mb each) and it will happy upload ~300Mb of images in less than a few minutes and my ADSL upload speed is nowhere near fast enough for that (should take well over an hour). [[User:ZX81|<span style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;font-family:verdana;color:#800040;filter:Shadow(color=#000000,strength=1);height:15px;">ZX81</span>]] [[User talk:ZX81|<span style="font-size:11px;font-family:verdana;"><sup>talk</sup></span>]] 11:42, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
::Hard to argue with your empirical observation about the ActiveX uploader, that's good data. I'd argue against your claim that it's not in their interest to store higher-res photos. Big disks are really cheap. Cheap enough for YouTube to have decided, before their recent "HD format" player, to keep the original higher-res uploaded videos around, at the time when they were recompressing the crap out of every video that got uploaded. When they eventually debuted the "HD format" player, bang, they suddenly had all this content in a higher resolution and did not have to just be "the video site of low res". [[User:Tempshill|Tempshill]] ([[User talk:Tempshill|talk]]) 16:51, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:::Yes you are quite right, I forget how cheap disk space is these days (I've got 4 x 1 Tb disks in my workstation and it really didn't cost all that much). I suppose thinking about it that it is possible they're storing a slightly higher version of the images for future use (although not necessarily as high as the originals), but if they are they haven't mentioned that and it doesn't seem to be web accessible. [[User:ZX81|<span style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;font-family:verdana;color:#800040;filter:Shadow(color=#000000,strength=1);height:15px;">ZX81</span>]] [[User talk:ZX81|<span style="font-size:11px;font-family:verdana;"><sup>talk</sup></span>]] 17:30, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
::::I've used both the Java uploader (Firefox here, so didn't even know an ActiveX uploader existed) and the regular file uploader, and probably simply because I've never thought about it, I never noticed a difference; I'll keep that in mind next time. Mind you, all of my photos are ~5megs, and I resize them to a more reasonable size anyway, because Facebook never lets me upload photos that large. Thanks for the comments! [[Special:Contributions/210.254.117.186|210.254.117.186]] ([[User talk:210.254.117.186|talk]]) 08:06, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

== What happened to my Copy Response Body option in Firebug's Net tab? ==

Using Firefox 3.0.11 on Jaunty (Mozilla Firefox for Ubuntu; canonical - 1.0) and Firebug 1.3.3. I know it was there a week ago, but it just disappeared! I can no longer right-click on a link (or the Response tab or whatever) and select Copy Response Body. The option isn't there. There's only Copy (doesn't do anything), Copy Location and Copy Response Headers.... --[[Special:Contributions/205.174.162.243|205.174.162.243]] ([[User talk:205.174.162.243|talk]]) 19:09, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== Turning off DEP ==

I am having a problem in which DEP keeps attempting to shut down IE8. I have added it to the list of exceptions, but it continues to pop up. All anti-Internet Explorer statements aside, how can I fix this once and for all? --[[Special:Contributions/74.46.74.205|74.46.74.205]] ([[User talk:74.46.74.205|talk]]) 19:09, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:See : http://www.bing.com/search?q=Data+Execution+Prevention+internet+explorer+8&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IE8SRC
:<u>Plug ins seem to be a major cause of it triggering</u>. including java flash etc - you may need to add those to the list of exceptions? (someone should clarify this)
:Alternatively you can turn it off. [http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/1d9bb9b4-f6ba-466d-ac2b-7b8c4f8361611033.mspx#E1B]
:[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 19:23, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:Before starting it might be a good idea to check the boot file to make sure DPE is set to "opt out" [http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc700810.aspx] - might be different for vista - see also BCDedit - below. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 19:57, 3 July 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:(If it's vista this [http://blogs.technet.com/robert_hensing/archive/2007/04/04/dep-on-vista-explained.aspx] to check what is and what isn't using DEP. In XP DEP can't be shown in the task manager.)
:If it's behaving erratically one suggestion is to reinstall IE8, or you could just use IE7 [http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/InternetExplorer/thread/3e658be7-7d29-4218-9c20-91324c9ec965] [[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 19:33, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:As a last resort see [http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/tips/debug_vista.mspx] , [http://www.vistax64.com/vista-general/68450-data-exception-prevention-dep-error-internet-explorer.html] which describes what BCDedit.exe is, and how to use it to totally turn DPE off. Don't do this - try other options first. If you get this far, and nothing works (including the reinstall) - try microsoft support - but search the index first.
:Hint try uninstalling your plugins (shouldn't do any harm and they are easy to get back) eg java, flash, google toolbar are probably there. See if that fixes it, if it does add them back one by one to see which is problematic.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 19:42, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

== Delphi Debugging Tips? ==

I am currently debugging a rather complicated piece of Delphi code. Placing a breakpoint before the most interesting part of the algorithm, I step the code one line at a time. Eventually, I end up on a <code>while <var>expr</var> do</code> statement, and the <code><var>expr</var></code> expression is obviously true, for it is or'ed with a trivially true statement. Yet, the program appears to skip the entire <code>while</code> block, as if <code><var>expr</var></code> had been false. I have experienced similar odd behavious previously, and, if I remember correctly, this has been due to some sort of "silent access violation", e.g. trying to access <code>s[4]</code> in a string <code>s</code> with <code>length(s) = 3</code>. This time it is rather difficult to pinpoint the source of the problem, due to the complexity of the code. Is there any debugging trick I can utilize to find the (potential) problems? --[[User:Andreas Rejbrand|Andreas Rejbrand]] ([[User talk:Andreas Rejbrand|talk]]) 20:26, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
{{resolved}}

== Spider Web Evolution Program ==


== File disambiguators (1): Explorer/W11 ==
Hi, I remember reading quite a while ago about a computer program that mimicked the evolution of spider web designs. Essentially you started off with "spiders" who drew random designs of "webs", then "prey" items were thrown at the "webs" and if sufficient were caught the spider could survive and breed with a random other surviving spider, but the "webs" of their offspring would be some kind of cross between the two initial successful designs. Each generation had to catch more prey items to survive. Apparantly from a completely random start within about 20 generations the webs were basically identical to real spiderwebs and as efficient.


Óla! So Explorer adds (''n'') to a file with a duplicate name to an existing one. Do you have suggestions how to easily identify and delete them? The search option doesn't recognize parentheses, so a search would merely identify files with that number in the title. The reason for asking is that if a folder has a large number of duplicates that should be deleted, it would be easier to sort/select/delete rather than ctrl+click individually. Thank you! [[Special:Contributions/2.28.124.91|2.28.124.91]] ([[User talk:2.28.124.91|talk]]) 16:31, 28 December 2024 (UTC)
I'd be very interested in runnning this program - does anyone know if it (or a clone) was publically released and/or available online? [[User:Exxolon|Exxolon]] ([[User talk:Exxolon|talk]]) 21:06, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
:https://www.alldup.de/alldup_help/alldup.php and then set it to compare 100% of the content. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 17:16, 28 December 2024 (UTC)
::Thank you [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]], that's great, and freeware too. It looks like it might take some getting used to! Cheers, [[Special:Contributions/2.28.124.91|2.28.124.91]] ([[User talk:2.28.124.91|talk]]) 18:13, 28 December 2024 (UTC)
:Use a better search program - [https://www.mythicsoft.com FileLocator] will find {{code|* - Copy (*).*}}, and I'm sure there are others with will also do the job.
:Use the [[cmd.exe|command]] prompt, eg {{code|dir "* - Copy (*).*"}} works. (You can also use {{code|del}} similarly, but do so with caution and at your own risk.)
:[[User:Mitch Ames|Mitch Ames]] ([[User talk:Mitch Ames|talk]]) 09:35, 2 January 2025 (UTC)


= December 30 =
:A search for "spider web genetic algorithm" turned up [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.17.5279 Analysing Spider Web-building Behaviour with Rule-based Simulations and Genetic Algorithms] from 1997 (the download link is broken but the CiteSeer cached copy works). The program was written in Smalltalk on a Power Mac 8100. Nothing about a public release, but you could try asking Vollrath, who's [http://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/staff/academics/vollrath_f.htm now at Oxford]. -- [[User:BenRG|BenRG]] ([[User talk:BenRG|talk]]) 22:25, 3 July 2009 (UTC)


== Selecting multiple items in checkbox on this website. Is there an easier way? ==
== Use PSP for both music playback and GPS? ==


Please look at this link:
As the map data on my satnav is quite out of date and the map update for it is both itself quite old, and quite dear, I'm thinking about buying a new one


https://www.archonia.com/en-us/search?q-a2%5B0%5D=1&q-a2%5B1%5D=2&q-a2%5B2%5D=3&qf%5B0%5D=3046&filter_string=doctor%20who
I'm quite drawn to Sony's [[Go!Explore]], as I already have a [[PlayStation Portable (PSP-3000 series)|PSP]], but I'm dithering over it. One thing that'd make my decision easier is knowing whether I can still use the PSP for playing back music at the same time as navigation - that'd mean one less thing cluttering up the car.... does anyone know if it can?


On the left of the web page you will see a checkbox "Status" with 3 items checked. The problem I have is that the only way I can get multiple items checked is by '''editing the URL'''. If I just click on an item in a checkbox on this website the other items get unchecked. In other words: the checkbox works like radio buttons. I tried a different browser; I tried ctrl-click and shift-click and alt-click. Nope. On other websites ([https://www.w3schools.com/tags/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml5_input_type_checkbox here] for example) I do not have this problem. Do you experience the same inconvenience? And if so any ideas on how to do this easier than by url editing? [[Special:Contributions/213.126.69.28|213.126.69.28]] ([[User talk:213.126.69.28|talk]]) 11:55, 30 December 2024 (UTC)
Cheers, [[User:davidprior|<font color="#000000">'''d'''</font><font color="#808080">avid</font><font color="#000000">'''p'''</font><font color="#808080">rior</font>]] [[User talk:Davidprior|<sup>t</sup>]]/[[Special:Contributions/DavidPrior|<sub>c</sub>]] 21:19, 3 July 2009 (UTC)


:Not necessarily AFAIK, and that's coming from someone with experience in web design. You're unfortunately seeing their poor web design. <span style="font-family:monospace; font-weight: bold"> <span style="color:ForestGreen;font-size:15px"> [[W:EN:User:TheTechie|<span style="color:#803280">TheTechie@enwiki</span>]]</span> (<span style="color:#324c80">she/they</span> {{pipe}} [[User talk:TheTechie|<span style="color:rgb(90,50,128)">talk</span>]]) </span> 00:17, 31 December 2024 (UTC)
==LCD vs CRT VGA ouput==


== Windows 10 Bin ==
Just a quick question: Using the intel software for the 945 graphics chips I find that when examining the properties of an attached LCD TV it has its display type as CRT. (Another device is LFP - liquid flat panel)


Doing a quick search online I realized that the path to the Windows recycle bin is C:\$Recycle.Bin; however, for some reason I don't understand, it doesn't seem to be the "Recycle Bin" on the desktop, they just seem to be two different paths (explanatory screenshot at the following link: [https://imgur.com/a/2tn8HFy]). Are they actually two different paths? If so, why? If not... why aren't the two windows synchronized? [[Special:Contributions/2A01:827:160:D601:2E75:E3BA:BBBF:B55D|2A01:827:160:D601:2E75:E3BA:BBBF:B55D]] ([[User talk:2A01:827:160:D601:2E75:E3BA:BBBF:B55D|talk]]) 14:35, 30 December 2024 (UTC)
If the chip thinks it is a CRT will that effect the output? (the default display is a little bright, but otherwise seems well set up)


:C:\$Recycle.Bin has the recycle bins for all users. Yours will appear with the normal name and icon, the others will appear as the [[Security Identifier]] of the respective account. If you click on the one for your account, it should show the same contents (note Windows Explorer shows the files which are in the recycling bin - it does not show the actual files storing the data used by the recycling bin). As for why they are different, it's hard to say without more information. If you delete something, does it appear in both or just one? Thanks [[Special:Contributions/2603:6011:9440:D700:2080:28C1:577E:41B3|2603:6011:9440:D700:2080:28C1:577E:41B3]] ([[User talk:2603:6011:9440:D700:2080:28C1:577E:41B3|talk]]) 23:26, 7 January 2025 (UTC)
Also in the same properties box the gamma is said to be 2.2 or something, but in color correction the gamma is clearly 1.0 - is the colour correction gamma applied on top of the of another unseen gamma?


Also I'd like (for fun) to be able to make the display black and white - I can only find gamma brightness and contrast settings - is there a way? Thanks.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 22:09, 3 July 2009 (UTC)


= July 4 =


= January 1 =
== Neurotypical computer scientists/programmers ==


== Question(s) about Arch Linux ==
What famous computer scientists or programmers, if any, have been conclusively determined ''not'' to have ADHD, autism-spectrum disorders or Pervasive Developmental Disorder? [[User:NeonMerlin|<span style="background:#000;color:red;border:#0f0 solid;border-width:1px 0">Neon</span>]][[User talk:NeonMerlin|<span style="background:#0f0;color:#000;border:red solid;border-width:1px 0">Merlin</span>]] 00:07, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
{{Moved from|User talk:TheTechie#Aaaaarrrrchh brrr!}}
:Normal people don't need tests to determine normality - your question is kind of weird in that respect - however as far as I know <s>Niklaus Wirth</s><!-- ha! get a sly poke in at captain Pascal-->, Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustrup have never been suggested to be neuro-socialially challenged.[[Special:Contributions/83.100.250.79|83.100.250.79]] ([[User talk:83.100.250.79|talk]]) 00:41, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
::Which means to say, they've never eaten pieces of skin off their foot during a class lecture. --[[Special:Contributions/156.34.71.129|156.34.71.129]] ([[User talk:156.34.71.129|talk]]) 01:55, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
@[[User:TheTechie|TheTechie]] ... A question? Do you used [[archinstall]] to install Arch Linux? I think i will install Arch Linux, cause, i want BTW [[User:Vitorperrut555|Vitorperrut555]] ([[User talk:Vitorperrut555|talk]]) 23:31, 1 January 2025 (UTC)
:Moved this here as I found this to be a better place for it. As for your question, no, I used text commands. Though I may be able to help. Any specific questions? <span style="font-family:monospace; font-weight: bold"> <span style="color:ForestGreen;font-size:15px"> [[W:EN:User:TheTechie|<span style="color:#803280">TheTechie@enwiki</span>]]</span> (<span style="color:#324c80">she/they</span> {{pipe}} [[User talk:TheTechie|<span style="color:rgb(90,50,128)">talk</span>]]) </span> 00:32, 2 January 2025 (UTC)
:@[[User:Vitorperrut555|Vitorperrut555]] <span style="font-family:monospace; font-weight: bold"> <span style="color:ForestGreen;font-size:15px"> [[W:EN:User:TheTechie|<span style="color:#803280">TheTechie@enwiki</span>]]</span> (<span style="color:#324c80">she/they</span> {{pipe}} [[User talk:TheTechie|<span style="color:rgb(90,50,128)">talk</span>]]) </span> 00:41, 2 January 2025 (UTC)
::When I installed Arch Linux, I used a live-boot USB. Once booted, it has an "install" icon that can be used to do a basic install. Then, once installed, you can customize it by removing and adding the packages you like. [[Special:Contributions/68.187.174.155|68.187.174.155]] ([[User talk:68.187.174.155|talk]]) 15:42, 2 January 2025 (UTC)
:::68.187.174.155, I think you're confused. Archinstall is a command on Arch Linux, and the Arch Installer boots in text mode. You may be thinking of an Arch derivative like Manjaro or EndeavourOS, which do indeed boot up in graphical environments. <span style="font-family:monospace; font-weight: bold"> <span style="color:ForestGreen;font-size:15px"> [[W:EN:User:TheTechie|<span style="color:#803280">TheTechie@enwiki</span>]]</span> (<span style="color:#324c80">she/they</span> {{pipe}} [[User talk:TheTechie|<span style="color:rgb(90,50,128)">talk</span>]]) </span> 20:23, 2 January 2025 (UTC)


= January 2 =
== Unable to Login Into Wireless Router Configuration Page (Using Firefox) ==


== Bayeux Tapestry website ==
Hello everyone! I hoping you could help me with a problem I'm having. This computer (connected via Ethernet) cannot login to configure the network but any of the computers in my house connected wirelessly ''can'' login. (Yes, I am using the right user name and password) Could anyone offer an explanation for this and some solution(s)? Thanks. [I just discovered this today but I haven't attempted to login for several days so the problem may have appeared anytime within the last week]--[[User:Xp54321|<font color="0070FF">'''Xp54321''']]</font><sup> ([[User talk:Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Hello!'''''</font>]] • [[Special:Contributions/Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Contribs'''''</font>]])</sup> 03:06, 4 July 2009 (UTC)


What image-serving technology is the [https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/discover-the-bayeux-tapestry/explore-online/ new Bayeux Tapestry website] using, and how can high-res images be downloaded? <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 20:59, 2 January 2025 (UTC)
For some reason I can't login using Firefox [3.5] but I can login through other browsers like Google Chrome or Internet Explorer. Strange... Does anybody have any possible explanations for this? And hopefully some solution(s)?--[[User:Xp54321|<font color="0070FF">'''Xp54321''']]</font><sup> ([[User talk:Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Hello!'''''</font>]] • [[Special:Contributions/Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Contribs'''''</font>]])</sup> 03:15, 4 July 2009 (UTC)


:@[[User:Pigsonthewing|Pigsonthewing]] Welcome to the Reference Desk for Computing. Are you trying to download all images, or only specific ones? {{User:TheTechie/pp}} <span style="font-family:monospace; font-weight: bold"> <span style="color:ForestGreen;font-size:15px"> [[W:EN:User:TheTechie|<span style="color:#803280">TheTechie@enwiki</span>]]</span> (<span style="color:#324c80">she/they</span> {{pipe}} [[User talk:TheTechie|<span style="color:rgb(90,50,128)">talk</span>]]) </span> 00:54, 3 January 2025 (UTC)
:I don't know. You didn't say the brand of the router or what it says when you can't log in.--[[User:WinRAR anodeeven|WinRAR anodeeven]] ([[User talk:WinRAR anodeeven|talk]]) 03:43, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
::The former preferably, but an answer for either would be of interest, as the technology is likely in use elsewhere. <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 16:46, 3 January 2025 (UTC)
: According to their [https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/discover-the-bayeux-tapestry/explore-online/#termsofuse terms of use], "Access to this panorama is free for a private or public non-commercial use. Any commercial use of this tool is prohibited, '''as well as the extraction of images from this panorama'''" (my emphasis). This may or may not bother you. [[User:Chuntuk|Chuntuk]] ([[User talk:Chuntuk|talk]]) 18:24, 3 January 2025 (UTC)
::Even more, the "images" which get loaded are tiled portions of the actual image. <span style="font-family:monospace; font-weight: bold"> <span style="color:ForestGreen;font-size:15px"> [[W:EN:User:TheTechie|<span style="color:#803280">TheTechie@enwiki</span>]]</span> (<span style="color:#324c80">she/they</span> {{pipe}} [[User talk:TheTechie|<span style="color:rgb(90,50,128)">talk</span>]]) </span> 19:11, 3 January 2025 (UTC)


::Apologies; it's a Westell router and the message it states is "Login failed, please try again: " Though I just tried it and another error message appeared mentioned cookies being disabled. (I have third-party cookies blocked but cookies from sites are still allowed; I tried to login again but with third-party cookies enabled and the login still failed)--[[User:Xp54321|<font color="0070FF">'''Xp54321''']]</font><sup> ([[User talk:Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Hello!'''''</font>]] • [[Special:Contributions/Xp54321|<font color="4CBB17">'''''Contribs'''''</font>]])</sup> 05:13, 4 July 2009 (UTC)


= January 4 =
==geforce gt220==
I recently bought a new PC with a GeForce GT220 graphics card. Do it have a 40nm chip?<br>This is the PC: [http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366633&type=product&id=1218092152998]. As far as I had known, the GT220 was not supposed to come out until after this summer ends, so you can imagine my suprise when I saw a retail computer with it! --<font color="green">hello, i'm a [[User:Member|<font color="orange">member</font>]]</font> | [[User talk:Member|<font color="grey">talk to me!</font>]] 05:51, 4 July 2009 (UTC)


== Zoomify ==
== YTMND audio loop problem ==


Is it possible to download the map [http://cartesmich.free.fr/ww2.php ''La ligne de démarcation''] that is shown via Zoomify?--[[User:Antemister|Antemister]] ([[User talk:Antemister|talk]]) 22:48, 4 January 2025 (UTC)
:Yes, if you google "download zoomify image" you will see various ways. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 23:44, 4 January 2025 (UTC)
::Ah, of course I googled before and found that but was not successful. So I asked here.--[[User:Antemister|Antemister]] ([[User talk:Antemister|talk]]) 11:31, 5 January 2025 (UTC)
:::Please mention what you've already tried before and what did not work and what happened instead (e.g. error messages). [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 04:57, 6 January 2025 (UTC)
::::Tried [https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/h9sb3g/do_you_guys_know_some_way_to_get_the_full_image/?rdt=65502] and of course also the dezoomify tool but got immediately stuck because I was not able to find an URL. Very few programming skills, none regarding HTML, that's why I ask here.--[[User:Antemister|Antemister]] ([[User talk:Antemister|talk]]) 10:46, 6 January 2025 (UTC)
:{{Outdent}}
:@[[User:Antemister|Antemister]]:
:I wasn't able to download the file as it was taking forever, but [https://dezoomify.ophir.dev/#http://cartesmich.free.fr/ww2.php this] URL appeared to download the files for 30+ minutes on a fast internet. Let us know if this works. <span style="font-family:monospace; font-weight: bold"> <span style="color:ForestGreen;font-size:1.15em"> [[W:EN:User:TheTechie|<span style="color:#803280">TheTechie@enwiki</span>]]</span> (<span style="color:#324c80">she/they</span> {{pipe}} [[User talk:TheTechie|<span style="color:rgb(90,50,128)">talk</span>]]) </span> 03:19, 8 January 2025 (UTC)
::I've successfully taken images off the [[Imperial War Museum|IWM]] via their source code and dezoomify, but I'm puzzled as to how to extract images here, as Dezoomify appears to be perpetually stuck on 'preparing tiles load'. The longest I've seen it take for large images in the past is a couple of minutes. Like Antemister, I've little programming knowledge, but I think the following elements in the code are related:
::<code>
::<!--Zoomify--><script type="text/javascript" src="ZoomifyImageViewerFree-min.js"></script>
::<!--Zoomify--><script type="text/javascript"> Z.showImage("myContainer", "images/France_LD"); </script>
::</code>
::On going to http://cartesmich.free.fr/images/France_LD/ I get [[HTTP 403|error 403]]. Perhaps this website is savvy about theft of its most high-resolution public domain images. Maybe someone has the patience to hunt about in the browser console. '''[[User:JayCubby|<span style="background:#0a0e33;color:white;padding:2px;">Jay</span>]][[User talk:JayCubby|<span style="background:#1a237e;color:white;padding:2px;">Cubby</span>]]''' 04:51, 8 January 2025 (UTC)
::: If they're public domain images, it's not "theft". Please avoid such misleading and perjorative language. <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 10:52, 8 January 2025 (UTC)


= January 8 =
OK, so I was browsing some [[YTMND]] sites, but one thing that bugs me is the broken looping sound. Sites that are supposed to loop properly, i.e. ''LOL, Internet'' and many others, pause at the end and cut a bit of the beginning part. I'm using Firefox 3.5 and Quicktime 7.6.2; there had been at leat one thread in the forums describing the problem, but I couldn't seem to track it down and resolve it. Even other browsers don't loop wave and MP3 files properly. Any thoughts on this? [[User:Blakegripling ph|Blake Gripling]] ([[User talk:Blakegripling ph|talk]]) 06:13, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 10:53, 8 January 2025

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December 28

[edit]

File disambiguators (1): Explorer/W11

[edit]

Óla! So Explorer adds (n) to a file with a duplicate name to an existing one. Do you have suggestions how to easily identify and delete them? The search option doesn't recognize parentheses, so a search would merely identify files with that number in the title. The reason for asking is that if a folder has a large number of duplicates that should be deleted, it would be easier to sort/select/delete rather than ctrl+click individually. Thank you! 2.28.124.91 (talk) 16:31, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

https://www.alldup.de/alldup_help/alldup.php and then set it to compare 100% of the content. Polygnotus (talk) 17:16, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you Polygnotus, that's great, and freeware too. It looks like it might take some getting used to! Cheers, 2.28.124.91 (talk) 18:13, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Use a better search program - FileLocator will find * - Copy (*).*, and I'm sure there are others with will also do the job.
Use the command prompt, eg dir "* - Copy (*).*" works. (You can also use del similarly, but do so with caution and at your own risk.)
Mitch Ames (talk) 09:35, 2 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

December 30

[edit]

Selecting multiple items in checkbox on this website. Is there an easier way?

[edit]

Please look at this link:

https://www.archonia.com/en-us/search?q-a2%5B0%5D=1&q-a2%5B1%5D=2&q-a2%5B2%5D=3&qf%5B0%5D=3046&filter_string=doctor%20who

On the left of the web page you will see a checkbox "Status" with 3 items checked. The problem I have is that the only way I can get multiple items checked is by editing the URL. If I just click on an item in a checkbox on this website the other items get unchecked. In other words: the checkbox works like radio buttons. I tried a different browser; I tried ctrl-click and shift-click and alt-click. Nope. On other websites (here for example) I do not have this problem. Do you experience the same inconvenience? And if so any ideas on how to do this easier than by url editing? 213.126.69.28 (talk) 11:55, 30 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not necessarily AFAIK, and that's coming from someone with experience in web design. You're unfortunately seeing their poor web design. TheTechie@enwiki (she/they | talk) 00:17, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Windows 10 Bin

[edit]

Doing a quick search online I realized that the path to the Windows recycle bin is C:\$Recycle.Bin; however, for some reason I don't understand, it doesn't seem to be the "Recycle Bin" on the desktop, they just seem to be two different paths (explanatory screenshot at the following link: [1]). Are they actually two different paths? If so, why? If not... why aren't the two windows synchronized? 2A01:827:160:D601:2E75:E3BA:BBBF:B55D (talk) 14:35, 30 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

C:\$Recycle.Bin has the recycle bins for all users. Yours will appear with the normal name and icon, the others will appear as the Security Identifier of the respective account. If you click on the one for your account, it should show the same contents (note Windows Explorer shows the files which are in the recycling bin - it does not show the actual files storing the data used by the recycling bin). As for why they are different, it's hard to say without more information. If you delete something, does it appear in both or just one? Thanks 2603:6011:9440:D700:2080:28C1:577E:41B3 (talk) 23:26, 7 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]


January 1

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Question(s) about Arch Linux

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Moved from User talk:TheTechie § Aaaaarrrrchh brrr!

@TheTechie ... A question? Do you used archinstall to install Arch Linux? I think i will install Arch Linux, cause, i want BTW Vitorperrut555 (talk) 23:31, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Moved this here as I found this to be a better place for it. As for your question, no, I used text commands. Though I may be able to help. Any specific questions? TheTechie@enwiki (she/they | talk) 00:32, 2 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Vitorperrut555 TheTechie@enwiki (she/they | talk) 00:41, 2 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
When I installed Arch Linux, I used a live-boot USB. Once booted, it has an "install" icon that can be used to do a basic install. Then, once installed, you can customize it by removing and adding the packages you like. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 15:42, 2 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
68.187.174.155, I think you're confused. Archinstall is a command on Arch Linux, and the Arch Installer boots in text mode. You may be thinking of an Arch derivative like Manjaro or EndeavourOS, which do indeed boot up in graphical environments. TheTechie@enwiki (she/they | talk) 20:23, 2 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

January 2

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Bayeux Tapestry website

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What image-serving technology is the new Bayeux Tapestry website using, and how can high-res images be downloaded? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:59, 2 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Pigsonthewing Welcome to the Reference Desk for Computing. Are you trying to download all images, or only specific ones? If you reply here, please ping me. Thanks, TheTechie@enwiki (she/they | talk) 00:54, 3 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The former preferably, but an answer for either would be of interest, as the technology is likely in use elsewhere. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 16:46, 3 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
According to their terms of use, "Access to this panorama is free for a private or public non-commercial use. Any commercial use of this tool is prohibited, as well as the extraction of images from this panorama" (my emphasis). This may or may not bother you. Chuntuk (talk) 18:24, 3 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Even more, the "images" which get loaded are tiled portions of the actual image. TheTechie@enwiki (she/they | talk) 19:11, 3 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]


January 4

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Zoomify

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Is it possible to download the map La ligne de démarcation that is shown via Zoomify?--Antemister (talk) 22:48, 4 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, if you google "download zoomify image" you will see various ways. Polygnotus (talk) 23:44, 4 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, of course I googled before and found that but was not successful. So I asked here.--Antemister (talk) 11:31, 5 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Please mention what you've already tried before and what did not work and what happened instead (e.g. error messages). Polygnotus (talk) 04:57, 6 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Tried [2] and of course also the dezoomify tool but got immediately stuck because I was not able to find an URL. Very few programming skills, none regarding HTML, that's why I ask here.--Antemister (talk) 10:46, 6 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Antemister:
I wasn't able to download the file as it was taking forever, but this URL appeared to download the files for 30+ minutes on a fast internet. Let us know if this works. TheTechie@enwiki (she/they | talk) 03:19, 8 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I've successfully taken images off the IWM via their source code and dezoomify, but I'm puzzled as to how to extract images here, as Dezoomify appears to be perpetually stuck on 'preparing tiles load'. The longest I've seen it take for large images in the past is a couple of minutes. Like Antemister, I've little programming knowledge, but I think the following elements in the code are related:
<script type="text/javascript" src="ZoomifyImageViewerFree-min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript"> Z.showImage("myContainer", "images/France_LD"); </script>
On going to http://cartesmich.free.fr/images/France_LD/ I get error 403. Perhaps this website is savvy about theft of its most high-resolution public domain images. Maybe someone has the patience to hunt about in the browser console. JayCubby 04:51, 8 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
If they're public domain images, it's not "theft". Please avoid such misleading and perjorative language. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:52, 8 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

January 8

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