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June 13

international costums for cars

Can I please have a E-Mail address for car costums in Cotomou. Thanks Mark — Preceding unsigned comment added by 105.228.233.62 (talk) 13:56, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Cotonou, Benin? The reference desk is probably not the best place to find such resources, but maybe if you clarify what you need we can point you in the right direction. Nimur (talk) 14:09, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

MS Access 2007: Populating Main Form Control with Subform Value

I'm updating a database that we use to prepare financial statements. The database has a form with the fields needed to calculate the final value: call this form Main. The user enters most of the values in Main, while others are calculated values. One of the calculated values is the sum of revenues from different part of the business. There is a subform (call it Revenues) where the user can enter the revenue values, and on this subform there is a calculated field that calculates their sum (SumOfRevenues).

What I'm trying to do (and failing) is to carry SumOfRevenues back to Main and insert it into a text box control (call this control TotalRevenue). I need to do this because the sum of the revenues is one of the values needed to calculate the final value on the Main form. I know how to reference a field on a different form, but I can't figure out how to reference a calculated value in a text box on a different form.

I could store SumOfRevenues as a field and pass it that way, but this a not good practice (and this database has enough issues already with saving calculated values and other programming no-nos). I tried creating a user-defined function that reads the SumOfRevenues value, and then setting the function result as the control source for TotalRevenue: this runs, but it just returns zero. The function was:

     Public Function ReturnTotalRevenue() as Double

          ReturnTotalRevenue = Forms!Revenues!SumOfRevenues

     End Function

I also tried SumOfRevenues.Value (also zero) and SumOfRevenues.Text (error, since the text box doesn't have the focus when the function is called).

So: how can I populate the TotalRevenue text box on Main with the value from the SumOfRevenues calculated text box on Revenues? Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.OldTimeNESter (talk) 14:37, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

June 14

Name of 25 pin laptop keyboard connector

Hello! I'd like to know what a keyboard connector that has 25 pins is called. It's the type pictured here.

Thanks!

3vilp4wn (talk at me) 01:05, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

A ribbon cable with a 25-wire ZIF connector? Nimur (talk) 01:41, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

That's it, thanks for the fast reply! 3vilp4wn (talk at me) 02:03, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

itunes and WMP

How can I export a playlist from windows media player to itunes?

Can I just sync an ipod directly whit widows media player? Like I do whit my sansa

thanks

Iskánder Vigoa Pérez (talk) 01:49, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

I was always under the impression that WMP and iPods just don't mix, but this video claims to show you how to do just that (and there are probably others if you do a little searching.) However, the comments seem mixed; be cautious when following tutorials like this - do so at your own risk! Good luck! --Yellow1996 (talk) 01:36, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

thanky ou very much... and what about to import the windows media play list in to itunes??? Iskánder Vigoa Pérez (talk) 03:45, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Check this forum post. Hope this helps! --Yellow1996 (talk) 23:57, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

History wiki

I would like to know about some wiki, other than wikipedia, that works with world history topics. Cambalachero (talk) 12:49, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Wikia.com hosts a variety of wikis. If you search for "world history" there, you get several results: [1]. The wikis are probably less reliably than Wikipedia, but they also have less restrictions. For instance, the Wiki on Wikia titled "AP world history" seems to be about the topic covered in an advanced high school class in the USA. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:05, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

There is also World History, a world history textbook organised by the high school class mentioned above.-gadfium 00:11, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

See "HistoAtlas" and Category:History - WikiIndex.

—Wavelength (talk) 00:25, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Want to rebuild RAID - not sure whether it was RAID 1 or 0!

I had a problem with my computer and cleared the CMOS. I solved the problem (and clearing the CMOS didn't help at all). Now I have another problem - two of my SATA HDDs were in a RAID configuration but I don't know which (1 or 0). I'd like to put them back together again so I can access my data. How can I proceed if I don't know what type of RAID configuration my drives were in in the first instance? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.19.68.88 (talk) 18:16, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Do you remember how large the storage was, compared to the hard drives? If your total storage was the sum of the size of the two drives, it's RAID0 (if those are the only two choices) - if your total storage was the same as the smallest of the disks, it's RAID1. But I would have expected your hard disk controller to have autodetected by itself how the drives were configured, if the drives themselves are still okay - so I'd proceed with caution and would prefer to have the drives backed up before letting the BIOS touch 'm again... Unilynx (talk) 20:41, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

When disks are set up for RAID, the RAID controller writes some metadata to each disk. This metadata gives some information about the RAID volume. Unfortunately there's a variety of formats used - Intel's ICH format, Adaptec's CPF format and their newer AMF type, and the "standard", DDF. If you have an Adaptec RAID, you should be able to find a utility on Adaptec's website which will allow you to interrogate the metadata blocks to tell you what you want; if its another manufacturer then you might find the same for them. Failing that (with the BIOS set for no RAID), I'd try booting the machine into Linux, installing the mdadm package, and running mdadm --detail /dev/md0 - if you're lucky, the Linux kernel will have automatically seen the DDF metadata blocks, recognised them, and created a temporary md0 device which mdadm can interrogate. In all these cases I'd repeat Unilynx's caution about backing up. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:43, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Why can't search engines find URLs?

If I copy and paste a URL at the top of the screen, but I accidentally included an invalid character, I get sent to a search engine and it tells me there are no documents containing this.

It seems to me they could find a way to give one result, that being the URL I intended to copy. And the URL as displayed is often too hard to convert into the form I need to go back at the top of the screen.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 21:23, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

It seems you're finding that a unified search-and-address bar in a web browser has serious usability problems. I agree with your frustration, but recent web-browser interfaces have trended towards unified search and URL bars. The result is that a malformed URL is treated as an even more malformed search query. Few modern search engines have a formally-designed syntax, so it's not clear why a URL fragment is "invalid" - but if the query returns no results, it can be assumed that your query is not an input that the search-engine can successfully process. Nimur (talk) 22:42, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

The complaint is stated as a universal fact, but I suspect that you really only know that one particular browser is sending you to one particular search engine that isn't giving you a useful result. Looie496 (talk) 22:48, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

"Too hard to convert into the form I need to go back at the top of the screen" puzzles me, but you might be encountering Percent-encoding, and could benefit from the use of this converter: [2].  Card Zero  (talk) 01:05, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

It happened to me last on Firefox. The problem with the search engine happens on Bing, Google, and Yahoo. I think it happens with IE. The most common occurrence of this problem is when the URL was in an email I sent myself, where the ">" character is on the same line because it was a reply.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 15:34, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

And as for why I can't just go back and copy and paste again: Perhaps I would have to click on "Back", or it might even be more complicated than that. It's not an easy URL to find again. Another way it happens is if I copied a part of the URL and inserted it into one already in the address bar.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 16:11, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Correction: Yahoo doesn't do this. But it doesn't find the URL I wanted.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 16:36, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Search engines build indices based on what searches they anticipate users will make. They have vast archives of searches people have performed, and looking at those has evidently persuaded them that searching for documents that contain a given url isn't what sufficient people what - so they don't add that to their index. To make their task tractable, search companies discard a great deal of information about pages; it would be perfectly feasible to build an index allowing you to search for pages where the word "carrot" is in orange text - but they don't think most people will want to do that search, so they don't index that either. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 17:17, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

This [3] shows how to search for sites that link to a URL using Google. 209.131.76.183 (talk) 14:49, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

I'll try that last solution. By the way, Google and IE do give me related results when that happens. Maybe Google found out about this and fixed it.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:11, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

June 15

Downloading PlanetMath full database

How can I download the PlanetMath's complete database of articles? Or does they provide an API to retrieve content automatically? Czech is Cyrillized (talk) 04:58, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

It seems the first step is to learn about the "Planetary" software, which is the content management system that is used on PlanetMath. They extensively document the data format, which includes XML, LaTeX, plain-text, and other data. Nimur (talk) 06:07, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Looks like a html site, wget or httrack should work 77.101.52.130 (talk) 10:45, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

why doesn't jakd have an upload/send file button in chat on my phone?

almost everyone else says they have an arrow button in chat that allows them to either upload and attach an image or sends a link to them automatically but for some reason i ain't there on my phone why is thus? Is there a patch or fix? I'm using an LG optimis elite Android on virgin mobile (didn't work with my LG optimus on metro PCS either? ! Whatsup? How can i contract JAKD about it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.212.70.237 (talk) 10:23, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

adding net 30 credit payment terms to my client's website

How do I add net 30 payment terms to my client's website? Are there any e-commerce vendors that support this?

24.240.74.46 (talk) 13:49, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Heatpipes on VGA heatsinks

My understanding of "heatpipes" in heatsinks is that the water inside them evaporates and moves to the fins, condenses and moves by gravity to heat source. This can happen on a CPU with the correct orientation. How is it supposed to happen on a graphics card? The pipes are upside down! Is it just for aesthetics? 92.19.68.88 (talk) 20:10, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

See Heat pipe. The fluid may not be water, and there may be a wick or similar material to draw the coolant back to the heat source. AndyTheGrump (talk) 20:30, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

In the (now seemingly defunct) BTX (form factor) the graphics adapter was the "right" way up - there was a unified air cooling path for the cpu and gpu, and the gpu was facing upward in a tower build. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:21, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Laptop Lid

Is there any way to prevent the laptop from shutting down/ going into hibernate/standby mode when I shut the lid all the way? I use Windows 7. Thanks in advance 117.194.224.96 (talk) 21:36, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

[Moved from WP:RD/M] Tevildo (talk) 21:42, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

It's in the "Power options" dialog - [4] -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 21:46, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Some laptops shut down on closing the lid because the lid incorporates a magnet in the lid . Try it. Wave a magnet across the keyboard (when open) and see if it shuts down.--Aspro (talk) 22:00, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Not wanting to rely on my technological knowledge alone. Just got my big fridge magnet off the fridge and waved it over this MacBook keyboard (which I'm writing on) . It shut down!--Aspro (talk) 22:10, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Just a word of caution; you really shouldn't be waving high-powered magnets around computer components - it can cause some damage! --Yellow1996 (talk) 23:59, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Aspro, the OP has a Windows machine and not a Mac. They may, and often do, function differently. Dismas|^(talk) 00:10, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Real quick way to find setting (under Win.7 Home Premium).

1. Type "lid" in Start Button search box, "Change what closing the lid does" should appear at top of list,
2. Click on that (or just hit ↵ Enter) and you should be taken straight to a window "Define power buttons and turn on password protection" with four 'buttons'.
3. Click the 'drop down' list button under "On battery" or "Plugged in". It should have "Do nothing" as a the first selection.
4. Select "Do nothing"
5. Click on the Save changes 'button' and your laptop should stay on when you close the lid.

Pretty much what Finlay McWalters' link says, just a bit quicker! 220 of ^Borg 02:41, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

June 16

Java update question...

I recently decided to disable Java in my browser (IE9.) I did so by going to Tools --> Manage add-ons and then choosing 'disable' on both Java things listed. However, every time I go on my laptop I get a notification that says "jucheck.exe" (or something) would like to run but needs permisson...I choose cancel and then in the bottom-right it says a new version of Java is ready to be installed! This gets annoying because for a few minutes before the message appears and a couple minutes after I cancel it my browser runs really slow. How do I stop this from happening? Thanks! --Yellow1996 (talk) 00:06, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

You need to go to add-and-remove-programs and uninstall "Java Runtime Environment". -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 00:07, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

It's not listed! All I've got is Java(TM) 6 Update 6 and Java(TM) 6 update 38?! --Yellow1996 (talk) 00:13, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Should I just uninstall those? --Yellow1996 (talk) 00:22, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

I just went ahead and uninstalled those two listed. Java isn't listed anywhere on my computer (that I can see...) anymore, so hopefully I did things right. We'll see if I get the notification next time. --Yellow1996 (talk) 17:14, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Resolved

No notification! Guess it worked. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Finlay! :) --Yellow1996 (talk) 01:30, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Can you run 64 bit Windows on a 32 bit CPU?

Topic says it all. ScienceApe (talk) 02:13, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

No. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 02:16, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Not without virtualization, which you wouldn’t want to go through with, no. ¦ Reisio (talk) 04:04, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Don't think you could do with virtualization as it requires the host and guest to support the same instruction set. You could do it by Emulating a 64-bit computer on a 32-bit one, but the performance penalty would be horrible. davidprior ^t/_c 20:58, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Most emulators these days use dynamic recompilation, so I don't expect the performance penalty would be too bad. --Carnildo (talk) 02:21, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

cable modem dropping/rebooting

For the last few weeks my cable modem has been dropping the internet, often twice a day or more. Sometimes it comes back by itself in about 2 minutes. When it doesn't, unplugging the power and plugging it back in usually seems to not work whereas unplugging the power AND unscrewing the cable, then reconnecting both seems to usually work. When I call the cable company about connection problems, that is always what they tell me to do first (un-connect and reconnect both). Unplugging the power is easy, but I'm getting tired of doing the coax cable. I'm thinking of getting a coax cable switch to disconnect and reconnect the cable easier. Is there something better to do? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 02:15, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

How old is your modem? This happened to me once and my solution was getting a new one... --Yellow1996 (talk) 17:16, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

A few years old, probably 3 years, maybe 4. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 17:36, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

That's about how old mine was. If you don't feel like paying the extra money and don't mind getting a coax cable switch and doing it that way, then stick with that strategy. If not, you could just get a replacement and see if the problem still persists. --Yellow1996 (talk) 17:44, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

It turns out that I have an older cable modem (9-10 years) that was working when I quit using it. I could try it. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 18:26, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

The older modem may not support the required version of DOCSIS. Check with your cable company to see if, for example, they require 2.0 or above. RudolfRed (talk) 19:55, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Fluctuating power levels is usually the culprit 77.101.52.130 (talk) 21:35, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

That says that the S/N ratio should be > 30 and the downstream power level should be between -8 and +8. I looked at the modem stats and the S/N is 36-37 and the power level is -6.0 to -6.3, I'll look at it from time to time. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 22:26, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

I looked at the modem log and it is getting a lot of T3 timeouts. I'm not sure, would that be on their end or mine? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 22:30, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

T3 timeouts are when your modem fails to communicate with the ISPs equipment and after 3 seconds of trying it reboots itself. There are many things that could be causing it, most of them on the ISPs end like damaged underground cables, noise leaking onto the network from somewhere, faulty lasers at the optical node, etc. However, it could also be that your modem is failing. Typically the first step in an situation like this is for the ISP to send you a replacement modem to rule that out. If after getting a new modem the problem persists, then it is clearly on their end and they will have to chase down the noise or repull cables to fix it 77.101.52.130 (talk) 10:49, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

I bought my own modem years ago to not have to rent one from them. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 14:51, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

It may be possible that they would send you a "tester" unit just to rule out any issues on their end. Alternatively, you could try and track down a cheap one to use as a tester. --Yellow1996 (talk) 19:29, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Yes. Maybe I should start renting one from them and if the problems continue, I can say "fix it". If the problems go away, it is the modem and I can replace it. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 23:46, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Internet imux in Win 7

What would be the easiest way to inverse-multiplex a (generally higher-bandwidth and lower-latency) wired cable connection with wireless DSL (kept mainly as a fallback, and to accommodate other devices) on a Windows 7 Ultimate high-end desktop PC (Core i7 2600K 4×≥3.4GHz, ≥16GiB ≥2133MHz DDR3, GTX ≥480), downstream of both modems? (≥ signs indicate specs that I softly-can afford to upgrade or overclock -- although I'd be upgrading at the margin, and probably paying at least 150% of the international market rate since I'm a full-time grad student living in Canada.) NeonMerlin 07:31, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

What types of computer science classes are best for landing a high-paying job?

Hello, I am wondering what are the best types of college-level (can be undergraduate or graduate) classes you can take that will teach you useful technical skills for a high-paying job. You can answer this question two ways 1) classes that you took that would look good on a resume/CV and impress the employer or 2) classes that you took that will teach you useful technical knowledge for when you are actually on the job.

I am NOT trying to start a debate about the merits/flaws of Computer Science departments/programs in general, or whether academic knowledge is less useful than practical knowledge gained outside the classroom. Nor am I soliciting complaints about the current state of the job market for computer professionals. Those topics are interesting but they are not what I need help with. Given the realities of how computer science classes are, what are the most useful (or least useless) classes?--24.228.93.254 (talk) 11:11, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Hard to address, because the potential to be paid more is higher if you pursue some other field, or start your own business. Within computer science you would actually be paid more by specializing in something not a lot of people are able to deal with, thus making your skillset rarer and more valuable; but it could be argued this would net you less money in the long run as well (because the competition will be greater). If you merely want a high likelihood of being able to get a decent job, you need only familiarize yourself with whatever programming languages and frameworks establishments of the sort you’d be interested in working for use. ¦ Reisio (talk) 13:01, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

This question has recently been addressed at The Register, by someone who (apparently) knows. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 13:38, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

I was about to suggest "mathematics, and then more mathematics, and then even more mathematics..." - but it looks like Demiurge1000's reference already says so! (The humorous piece is spot-on about a few other things too - be sure you're good with computers, if you pretend to a computer science degree! For all that it's worth, learn to program in the C language - whatever other language(s) you might also learn - and learn how computers work). Depending on where you go to school, your college or university might administer math coursework through a different department or degree-track than the "Computer Science" program. However, a properly trained computer scientist should be almost a full-blown mathematician. Take math courses, even when they don't appear very applied, and think about how you might build a machine that can perform such mathematics. Towards the top of the scale, math- and computer-science classes are often indistinguishable. I highly recommend the subject(s) commonly lumped together as "analysis": numerical analysis, algorithm analysis, and so on. A good computer science, math, or engineering school should offer a few dozen electives relating to analysis, in pure or applied form. Nimur (talk) 20:49, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

As part of my MLS program, I was required to spend a couple of weeks in a technical class learning the basics of working with UNIX directories and things such as PuTTY. The UNIX professional who taught it observed that there are comparatively few UNIX professionals around anymore and suggested that anyone becoming familiar with it would have a good chance of finding good employment in working with un-replaceable legacy systems. Bear in mind that this was three years ago, so things may well have changed since that time. Nyttend (talk) 20:20, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

“Unix” is still a must for this type of work, but probably not as much the peculiarities of proprietary and legacy versions of Unix. ¦ Reisio (talk) 01:19, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the helpful answers and the interesting article. I'm just starting a computer science program in college and I am certainly willing to take a lot of advanced math classes (a lot of the higher level CS courses have math prerequisites). I know a lot of people who are good with computers but couldn't handle the math aspects of CS and thus dropped out of the program. As for me, I am good with math/logic but I'm not a math genius by any means; I've always gotten an A in every math class I've taken, BUT I've never taken anything beyond basic calculus before... should I be scared/concerned?--24.228.93.254 (talk) 11:33, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Scared not, but prepared to put a lot of work into math. I graduated high school with excellent grades and a specialisation in math and physics. It took me about a semester at university to notice that the math there was a lot different, and required much more serious study than high school material (which to me always felt as if I absorbed it automatically by osmosis). Get the textbook (or a textbook), and do all the exercises requested, plus a few more. For me, Schaum's Outlines on linear algebra came to the rescue and bridged the gap nicely. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:08, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

New Forum

I want to create a new internet forum, I have a domain name and have paid for hosting of it, but I'm not sure how to get the forum itself onto the internet. I quite like this vanilla (forum) thing, but once I have it, how do I put it onto the webpage I want and edit it the way I'd like, I know very little about this aspect of websites, and the available instructions I've found just confuse me. Can someone give more basic instructions, or point me towards a better, more in-depth guide? If it helps, I'm running Linux Mint on my main computer. 213.104.128.16 (talk) 20:15, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

The answer depends on what web-hosting service you are using. Each hosting service gives you a mechanism for uploading things, but the mechanisms vary, and many of them impose restrictions on what software you can use. We might be able to give a more specific answer if you tell us your web-hosting service. Looie496 (talk) 23:40, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

using godaddy.com for hosting. I'm sure they have some way of uploading stuff, but I couldn't work it out before, even with help. 213.104.128.16 (talk) 00:06, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with godaddy, but I assume you could just contact them and get them to explain the method? --Yellow1996 (talk) 01:33, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Start by reading http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/6815/building-your-first-web-page, if you haven't already. Probably the easiest way to add a forum is to use Godaddy's Website Builder add-on -- you can find instructions at http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/7723/adding-a-forum-in-website-builder. There are other ways to do it, but they require either additional software such as Microsoft's Expression Web or a lot more sophistication than you have right now. Looie496 (talk) 15:32, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

that building a webpage help isn't much use, since it covers buying a domain name and writing basic text, rather than uploading existing pages to the site, but I am looking around at other help topics, in case they're any more useful. Their website builder is rather expensive, considering I can get the same thing for free. 213.104.128.16 (talk) 15:38, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Well, I figured it out, it was pretty simple in the end, just had to look up my site's IP, username and password on the account, set that in the FTP program, then just drag and drop the entire downloaded folder and it's done :) 213.104.128.16 (talk) 16:15, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Awesome! Glad to hear that worked out for you. I hope your forum is a success! :) --Yellow1996 (talk) 16:22, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Extracting image from PDF

The lower image on page 4 of this document is credited to a United States Department of Energy agency, and since it depicts a site that I'm trying to illustrate, I'd love to upload it with a PD-USGov license tag. How do I get the image? I know how to take a screenshot, but I don't otherwise how to get images out of unsecured PDFs. Nyttend (talk) 20:23, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

The pdfimages program in Linux makes this easy. --Mark viking (talk) 20:34, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

You can get Windows binaries of pdfimages from the xpdf download page (in xpdfbin-win-3.03.zip). Later on the page are links to third-party binaries for other OSes including OS X. -- BenRG 02:56, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

[5]; I used evince. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 21:20, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! I read the evince article and everything that seemed relevant on their website, but nothing appeared to mention the kinds of image files with which it can work — for example, I never noticed anything about jpg. Does it know how to work with svg and png? Nyttend (talk) 01:04, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Finlay's extracted image is missing the bottom part (which is stored in the PDF as a separate image for some reason), and it's been converted to JPEG (the original is a gzipped bitmap). You can probably save the two images as PNGs from evince and stitch them together without any loss. pdfimages is preferable when you're extracting images that are actually JPEG-encoded in the PDF file – it can extract those losslessly to .jpg files, which most other tools can't (probably including evince). pstoedit, which I've never used, can allegedly extract vector images to .svg files. -- BenRG 02:56, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

June 17

Phone locating apps for android

At the moment I have an iPhone 5 and I use Find My iPhone to locate the device on a map via iCloud. I am thinking of changing to a Samsung Galaxy S4, but I'm unsure about the tracking software that is available for Android. Specifically, I'm looking for a tracking app that:

• Can be installed and running on the phone without showing icons or alerts on the interface (i.e. is at least partially hidden),
• Has an interface accessible from devices connected to the internet in a similar way to accessing Find My iPhone on iCloud,
• Displays the device on a map in a similar way to Find My iPhone,
• Allows all of the above functionality without requiring the activation of a special "Lost mode" or similar.

What apps are there that meet the above requirements? 182.8.177.168 (talk) 04:04, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Prey (software) - Cucumber Mike (talk) 06:46, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Prey does not meet the above requirements and it was my previous experience with prey on my galaxy tab that lead me to ask the question in the first place. Specifically, it doesn't show the phone's location on a map in real time (it sends reports at a maximum frequency of 1 every 10 minutes), and it doesn't send any location data unless you activate lost mode. 39.214.54.44 (talk) 23:52, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

On the Android, phone finder functions are usually included in Antivirus apps such as Lookout Mobile Security, Avast and AVG. This makes sense as you'll need some form of AV on the device anyway and it's an always resident program. I use the free version of Lookout which gives basic functions such as AV, Data backup, phone finder (both Google Maps and making it sound an alarm) and also automatically taking pictures of the phone user. The premium version adds remote wipes and locks as well as more AV and backup options. Other Apps offer all of these functions for free and the majority allow you to access the phone finder and backup features from a web browser on another device. Nanonic (talk) 06:48, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

I challenge the "need" for AV on Android devices. If installing only from the Play Store the majority of people are unlikely to ever encounter malware. Plus, since the apps are sandboxed, the AV can't do anything anyway. It's a myth that AV is a requirement for Android perpetuated mostly by Kaspersky, who (gasp) sell a security app on the platform. Never known anyone ever have a security issue with an Android device and the infectees are mostly confined to lab tests and China (where piracy is rife and multiple app stores rule). Thanks ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 10:03, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Hmmm I've known a couple; I've also heard the rumours of a virus-laden marketplace for that platform but since I don't own one I cannot validate those claims. I thought I read a study once (a year ago or so) where they tested for malware on iOS vs Android - and found Android to be a lot more susceptible. --Yellow1996 (talk) 19:37, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Android has more variables: More marketplaces and lots of phones running different versions of Android (A volatile mix). But, malware is still something 99% of people outside of China will never experience.

If i keep my phone on an outdated version with well publicised vulnerabilities and install from another marketplace for example, then i'd expect to find malware and exploits quite often. If the stories in the news are from security researchers for Anti Virus companies, then take em with a pinch of salt. For comparison i use Windows 7 also and would never use the thing without multiple security layers active. Thanks ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 15:28, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

You make some good points, Jenova. Mobile phones are probably my least-learned (or paid attention to) subsection of computing - thanks for explaining it in better detail for me! :) --Yellow1996 (talk) 15:54, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

How were Google Promotion Videos made?

I think Google Promotion Video looks great. By which software they made it? --The Master (talk) 13:15, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Many screencast software packages are able to produce that. However, not all support editing recorded video such as cropping, trimming, zooming, focus, or splitting. Knowing exactly which package Google used is kind of difficult, since they exported the results to an avi, mpeg or whatever video format they chose. OsmanRF34 (talk) 17:12, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Energy consumption of a PC/notebook

How many volts and amperes does each component within a PC need? OsmanRF34 (talk) 17:06, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

This is an immensely complicated topic and there is an enormous variety among different manufacturers, models, technology- and cost-points. Start with some primer-knowledge by reading about standard ATX power supplies. Nimur (talk) 17:32, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

June 18

I've been hacked--What should I do?

Yesterday both of my Yahoo! accounts email sent spam messages to everyone in my contacts. I have strong password on each. Accordingly, I can only guess that I must have a active keylogger or some worm/virus that does the same. I dump my cookies all the time. I use only macs. I have, of course, changed my Yahoo! passwords. Can anyone give me some advice on what I should do now to 1) route out anything on my Imac and 2) keep this from happening again? Since I thought it might help you identify the source of the breach (since they may do this to others all the time), the spam messages were varied, such as "How are you?" followed by my Yahoo username; and then a whole, bunch were to different URLS in the form "hello! http: usokgor.com/nhv/jik/ohy/piosz.html and many others URLs, all linking to some spam advertisement for "RASPBERRY ULTRA DROPS TO HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT" from a fake Fox News site. I am really concerned.--108.27.62.131 (talk) 14:36, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

I can't make any suggestions for malware scanning on a Mac, but you should be aware that there are other ways your password could have been compromised as well. If you use the same password for several websites, then it is possible that one stores it unencrypted, and someone gained access to that site's password database. It makes headlines when major sites are compromised, but if a random forum you signed up for 3 years ago got hacked, you may never hear about it. It's a good idea to have a different password for every account. 209.131.76.183 (talk) 14:45, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Yahoo isn’t historically particularly secure, IIRC, nor Mac OS. Tough ole world. By strong password do you mean around 10 chars of highly random chars, or do you mean quite a long password?* ¦ Reisio (talk) 14:47, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Eight characters, not random but a totally unusual and unguessable five letter English word, followed by three random numbers that are meaningful to me, but idiosyncratically; not like a birthdate or anything anyone who knows me well could ever divine.--108.27.62.131 (talk) 14:54, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Okay, that link is great and has taught me a lesson. Good on ya. I will go make my passwords much stronger. However, I highly doubt it could have been anyone breaking the passwords, even if you've disabused me of how strong they really were, for one simple reason: the timing. Specifically, both Yahoo email accounts have completely different passwords, and each was compromised the same day.--108.27.62.131 (talk) 14:57, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Are you sure your account was compromised? Many people mistake email-spoofing for "hacking" (compromising of the account password). Spammers can send mails that appear to come from your email account, but with a little closer inspection, actually did not originate from your account at all. E-mail headers can easily be forged. This is called Email spoofing and is the digital equivalent of a postal-mail prankster who writes your address as the return-address on the outside of his envelopes. He can do so without actually breaking in and mailing it from your house. And he knows your address - in fact, he knows almost every address - he can get it by walking down the street and making a list! Email addresses, like return-addresses written on the outside of a real-world envelope, are not "trustworthy." Nimur (talk) 15:35, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

I have had the same problem and have read that this is quite common on Yahoo mail. Rather than someone haviong cracked thousands of passwords, is it possible that a spam email can have carried code that hi-jacked our contacts lists and sent emails apparently from us? Gurumaister (talk) 15:41, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Responding to Nimur, I am rather sure, or let me put it this way: I already get email from spammers to me pretending to be me, spoofing my Yahoo account name--have for years. That isn't the issue. What happened here was that my Yahoo! sent box shows emails being sent by me, and I got a few hundred Mailer Daemon failure notices in my inbox from these emails my account sent out.--108.27.62.131 (talk) 15:51, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

@Gurumaister - Yeah I think that is possible; I've known many people who have had that happen to them (which is one of the reasons I don't use Yahoo mail.)

@108.27.62.131 - If it wasn't a spam e-mail doing what Gurumaister suggested, then it could possibly have just been a really unfortunate coincidence that both your accounts were hacked on the same day; but I doubt it. --Yellow1996 (talk) 16:11, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Hey Nimur, I doubt there was a coincidence and that we were both hacked at the same time as I have heard of literally thousands of Yahoo account holders who have this problem. I think it might be time for both of us to transfer to Gmail :) Gurumaister (talk) 17:12, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Have you used a public computer lately? While it is of course not impossible, infecting a Mac should not be the easiest thing in the world, especially since you do not appear to be a complete idiot. Much more likely you accessed your e-mail using a public computer that was infected, and "they" obtained your password in this way. Try to remember which computers you've used to access your account lately, and see with the maintainers of those computers if they can scan their computers. Certainly do sweep your own computer for possible malware (how exactly I'm not sure as I'm not a Mac user), but unless you have very poor security habit (e.g. you regularly install pirated software, or don't read those annoying pop-ups asking you to enter your administrator password) it's fairly unlikely the breach came from your own computer. I don't know if Yahoo! Mail uses HTTPS - if they don't, it's also possible that they obtained your info from an unsecured network, but HTTPS should protect against man-in-the-middle attacks. Oh, and do change your password if you haven't already - from a computer you trust. 64.201.173.145 (talk) 17:17, 18 June 2013 (UTC)