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June 18

Firefox 3 bookmark problems

I updated to FF3 today, but my bookmarks have been replaced by the ones I had a few months ago. It's probably no coincidence that these are the same as those I had when I installed and later uninstalled FF3 Beta a while back. I don't know where FF3 is even getting them from, because the correct bookmarks, rather than the incorrect old ones, are listed in bookmarks and bookmark backup in Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\. Does anybody know how to fix this problem? Thanks, --MagneticFlux (talk) 01:19, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi, try editing your Firefox shortcut so that it points to

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -p

Then you can try switching between different profiles. --Kjoonlee 01:34, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

If that doesn't work, then you can probably import your correct bookmarks from your bookmarks.htm file. --Kjoonlee 01:35, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Going to "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" isn't working (I only have one profile anyway). Importing the correct bookmarks would probably solve the problem, but I'm curious how FF3 got a hold of the erroneous, outdated bookmarks in the first place, and where it is storing them (since it's not in the bookmarks.htm file). --MagneticFlux (talk) 02:04, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I believe I've found the answer here. Thanks for your help. --MagneticFlux (talk) 02:58, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Firefox 3 - I hate AwesomeBar

Is there a way to disable/remove it completely and go back to the standard URL location bar (i.e. the one where you type in the first few letters of the address you want and the software retrieves all visited URLs that begin with those letters - as opposed to seemingly pulling randomly sorted results out of its arse with added big graphical mess and textual bleh)?

If not, I'm going back to FF2 ASAP, never to return. I'm aware of OldBar, but that seems to be more of a cosmetic fix. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 03:07, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Not sure, but Opera 9.5 added something similar, and Opera's version can't be disabled yet. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:00, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I hated awsomeBar initially, but after using it for a while I have come to love it. It learns which options you select most often, so after using it for a bit you will usually see the site you want at the top of the list. I would say stick with it for a bit, you may find your opinion changes. That said, if you really don't like it there is the oldbar plugin that is supposed to make it behave like FF2 (I have not tried it myself, as I now love awsomeBar). -- Q Chris (talk) 07:53, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Does this "Smart location bar" also display different pages within a site? One of my uses for the current URL bar is to open a specific page without having to navigate through the site. Is this still possible?

Anyway, shame on Mozilla for introducing such a controversial feature without including a simple option to make it the same as before. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 08:50, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes the smart bar does display different pages within a site. I agree, it is strange that mozilla don't make it an option (without an add-on). According to Bug 407836 this ability was removed deliberately, because Mozilla knows best what's good for you!!! Though I like awsomeBar and would encourage you to persevere with it for a while I don't think that removing customer choice is a good idea if you want to increase market share. You may want to add your own comments to the bug, there are many, many complaints about this choice there already. -- Q Chris (talk) 09:49, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

(after edit conflict) Well, suppose that you were trying to view WP. If you click on it and type in 'en', instead of popping up a list of previously visited URLs that begin with 'en' in the order of most pageviews (my WP watchlist would normally be at the top), it seems to return every URL from your history containing 'en' at some point within the URL itself or in the page title - in no apparent order. If you are trying to find a specific page, it seems that you have to manually type in *more* of the address than you would before and scroll up and down until you see it. It's actually quicker to just type in the address of the front page of wherever you're going and navigate to the specific location from there.

Okay, so it might get better once it learns your habits, as Chris says - but TBH, it feels like a classic square wheel reinvention on the part of Mozilla to me... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 09:56, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Old bar doesn't change how Firefox chooses which sites to list, it only changes the look of how it's presented. 24.6.46.92 (talk) 23:32, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm confused why the awesomebar option was deliberately removed considering all of the useless, obscure things which are customizable at about:config. --MagneticFlux (talk) 23:49, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

ISO image

I have an ISO image of a game I'd like to install and play. Is there any way that I can install the game from the ISO without mounting/burning the ISO to a DVD? --71.117.45.207 (talk) 03:24, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Try using PowerISO or Alcohol 120%. They let you set a number of virtual CD/DVD drives where you can place one ISO image in each drive. However, be aware that some games (in particular, those requiring SecuROM) will object to being run in a virtual drive. Legality aside, you may need to geat a SecuROM workaround or actually burn the CD. Freedomlinux (talk) 03:40, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Legality aside? What are you trying to say? =P ..but really, thanks for your quick answer, I'm downloading PowerISO as I type. --71.117.45.207 (talk) 03:52, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry for the confusion. By legality, I was referring to using tools to bypass the SecuROM protection. Just mentioning it due to the unusual provisions of the DMCA in the USA which prevent you from bypassing content protection, even in the case where you already own it, such as using DeCSS to decrypt your home movies from DVD. (Yes, this is technically illegal in the USA, but you are unlikely to be charged with a crime without the content owner [ie. yourself] complaining.) 166.66.127.43 (talk) 15:13, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Stupid cookies... Previous post made by Freedomlinux (talk) 15:15, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Category:Disk image emulators contains many other tools in this vein. ~~ N (t/c) 05:41, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

If it's a simple image (without any super-mega-special-protection), try Microsoft's Virtual CD tool. It doesn't use rootkit-like methods to hide itself, and doesn't need installation, but is very simple. --grawity 08:00, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Depending on the protection and its version, not all tools can mount all ISO's all the time. I have found Daemon Tools and Alcohol 120% to be the most reliable and up to date. Sandman30s (talk) 11:05, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I've been using Alcohol 120% and found it to be extremely useful; I highly recommend it. Matt Deres (talk) 15:35, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Daemon Tools Lite works well and is free for non commercial usage. It does come with spyware, but installation is optional. It's generally possible to overcome most copy protection systems, although you need an image with all the necessary information. If you have a good drive, making one isn't that hard although you'd probably need something commercial like Daemon Tools Pro or Alcohol 120% (personally unless you want to burn the image, I would recommend DTP over A-120% any day) or something to actually make an image. Tools like YASU can help to hide the virtual drive from SecuROM. Nil Einne (talk) 17:19, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Website font problems with different web browsers

I’m new at web design, and I’m working on my first website. I’ve got it pretty much finished (using Nvu and my limited knowledge of HTML and CSS). The problem is the font for some of the text, which should display as Adler, displays as a different font in some web browsers. For instance it the website usually looks right using Opera but not Internet Explorer. Often text will also incorrectly appear italic or something too. Any idea what the problem might be? --S.dedalus (talk) 04:47, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I'd expect that you are using a font which isn't native to all browsers. The browsers then substitute a font they do support. The solution: use a more common font. StuRat (talk) 13:41, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

That's not a Web-safe font. --Sean 14:04, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

If you're going to use a non-standard font, you need to either 1. accept that it will only render correctly in a very small number of browsers, or 2. render the font as an image (or embed it in a Flash applet). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 18:36, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Capacitor plague: CPU damage?

I have a couple of computers around that succumbed to capacitor plague years ago. How likely is this to have made the CPU unusable? ~~ N (t/c) 05:26, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I had a motherboard that released the blue smoke of my stick of ram while testing (along with the already dead cpu), so it's not impossible. --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:34, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I would find it very hard to draw a connection between failure of the decoupling capacitors (bypass capacitors/bulk storage capacitors) and the release of magic smoke from a stick of RAM. I think it's entirely likely that your CPU chip survived. In fact, if you're good at soldering, it's likely the entire motherboard could be resuscitated by the installation of new bypass capacitors.

Atlant (talk) 12:20, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Well you never know I guess. I had a CPU once which was killed by overheating (it was a A-XP and the HSF fell off, long story) and it then became a motherboard killer... Nil Einne (talk) 17:15, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

My experience came from a Pentium 4 Northwood 2.66Ghz, the whole thing died (can't get past POST) and took my stick of ram away with it while I was testing, no idea if it's the few bulging capacitors that started the destruction or what though. --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:33, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Music Programs

It seems Reason is like a more inclusive program, let's say, compared to a Digital audio workstation like Pro Tools. Are there any other programs like Reason, and if so, could you provide a list? My other question is if there are "higher-level" programs", than Reason, as it seems like Reason can do everything Pro Tools can do, and I'm wondering if there are any programs that are "higher-in-level" than Reason, and if so, could you provide a list. Thank you!

Pro Tools only mixes and records, but Reason mixes, records, reverberates, etc. etc.. That's what I mean by inclusitivity.

Yes, I'm after the software which does the most things. Hmmm, what's the difference between Pro Tools and Reason? And what exactly is a rack?68.148.164.166 (talk) 08:06, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Reason was originally a sequencer, which meant it had loops built in, and you would drag them into a timeline and make songs. Pro Tools is for recording a studio environment, with mixing desks and lots of inputs and outputs. It can mix and add effects too.

A rack is traditionally equipment used to process sound, which can be EQ, compressors and effects units. However, there are now sfotware rack units which do the same signal procesing, but within your OS. 81.152.82.72 (talk) 21:03, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. Is there a program that does both what Reason does and what Pro Tools does? Are there any other programs that do more?68.148.164.166 (talk) 21:31, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

This is totally a personal opinion, but Ableton Live does ALOT of stuff for your money. Also Logic ( apple platform only im afraid ) is packed with options too. 81.152.82.72 (talk) 10:34, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

What's the program that does the most?68.148.164.166 (talk) 10:58, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

ProTools can do more or less what Reason can, if you are willing to buy a lot of very expensive plug-ins. Reason, the last time I played with it, seemed flashy and built for instant gratification, but rather limited in a number of ways. Plus I hated the way it wasted screen space with its glitzy "looks like a rack of hardware" thing. Perhaps its improved since then. There's really no obvious answer as to "what does the most" -- it more depends on what you want to do. A program like Max-MSP can do way more than ProTools, Reason, Logic, etc -- but you have to program it from near-scratch, which takes a lot of work and know-how. The main trade-off in looking for music software seems to be ease-of-use vs open-ended power. Reason is easy to use, but not all that powerful. Max-MSP is hard to use, but very powerful. Programs like ProTools, Logic, Digital Performer, Cubase, etc, fall somewhere in the middle. Personally I've used ProTools for a long time but have grown tired of it. Once upon a time its performance was rock-solid, while Cubase and the like seemed flakey and crashy. These days, ProTools (LE & mbox anyway) are annoying unstable for me. And I hate the mbox, essentially a giant dongle. If I ever get around to making a change, I'm thinking of Digital Performer. I'm no expert on the specific features of all the possible choices, so this is mostly personal gut opinion here. Pfly (talk) 07:18, 21 June 2008 (UTC) BTW, I can't help but link to some crazy ugly screenshot of Max-MSP in action, here. View large and see if you can figure out what it is doing! Pfly (talk) 07:24, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Windows XP reinstall - have license sticker but no disc

Hi, I was looking at a colleague's PC problem yesterday and came to the conclusion that they have multiple weird things going on, and it would be a lot easier to just install WinXP.

They have a licensed version of Windows (hologram sticker with serial number on the back of the PC) but no disc (neither a true install disc, or a recovery disc).

As she the shop that she bought the PC from (Time) went out of business a while back, it won't be possible to get a disc from there.

I do remember having come up against something similar before (in that case the install disc had been supplied, but mislaid), and that time I managed to find an MS knowledgebase article describing how to obtain replacement discs from Microsoft (which I didn't need to do, as the disc turned up); but as sod's law would have it, the time that it is needed, I can't find this.

I've found websites describing how to create an install from .cab files on the HDD, but the PC doesn't seem to have the needed files.

Does anyone know of a legal way to get hold of this (in the UK if that makes a difference).

Thanks, Davidprior (talk) 12:43, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

If you have a license, Microsoft's installation key numbers, etc, (and it sounds like you do) the only issue would be actually getting the install CD. I am not up-to-date on UK law, but it seems like you should not have any trouble by using someone else's disc, as long as it is licensed with your license. So, ask your friends and around the office to see if your could borrow someone's install media - avoid install media marked as the OEM disc to a brand of computer other than the one you have. The retail media and the OEM disc from your manufacturer should work just fine.

- As I said, I'm not allowed to give legal advice on WP:RD, and even if I was, I don't know UK law. Therefore, this constitutes only moral and technical advice. Please consult the appropriate authorities for legal issues. Freedomlinux (talk) 15:22, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Age of Empires: Multiplayer

How many MB of data will I download and upload for an "average" game of Age of Empires III#Multiplayer? I'm in South Africa, if that matters. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:37, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Turing machine

Can someone help me understand what the concept of a Turing machine is and how it is useful to computer scientists or anyone else? --RMFan1 (talk) 15:41, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Did you start by reading turing machine? Asking more specific questions after doing so would probably be helpful. Friday (talk) 15:46, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Well one thing i don't understand is, I believe, that a turing machine has an infinte amount of memory yet real computers do not but are still descried as fitting the model. For the second part of my question i just want to know how this model is useful and the WP article doesn't mention anything about this --RMFan1 (talk) 19:08, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

You are right the Turing machine has an infinite memory. It is useful because it can emulate all those other computers that we have. That is useful as a theoretical concept, not as a practical machine. So it does not matter that it could be impossible to build or very inefficient. If you consider particular algorithms that terminate, the turing machine will use a finite amount of memory. The reason it is useful is that it is a simpler machine, but can still solve the same kinds of problems as other computers. Because it is simpler it can be more easily analysed. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:49, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Laptop and linux

I read that Ubuntu has a problem with laptop hard drives that causes them to fail prematurely because it parks and unparks the heads too many times or something (I am a noob). Is there any linux distro that can be run on a laptop(I have a dell latitude d830) without causing major problems like this, and is also user-friendly for noobs? Or a way to configure Ubuntu to prevent the hard drive problem, that a noob could handle?--96.227.25.205 (talk) 15:57, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

moved here from misc. Algebraist 16:01, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Try a Live CD. There are many available and they don't use the hard drive at all. D0762 (talk) 17:05, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

This isn't linux's fault. See this page. .froth. (talk) 21:40, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Large monitors/graphics cards which support low resolutions

I'm looking for a list of the above, for use by the visually impaired. Low resolution may offer a good alternative to screen magnifiers. Ideally, I'd like low resolution, large screens, but with 24-bit color. StuRat (talk) 16:34, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I think all monitors support such standard resolutions like 640x480 and 640x400. For example, the Microsoft Windows splash screen is displayed in VGA mode (640x480x256). --grawity 17:59, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

On LCD screens non-native resolution gives much worse output. In my opinion, a high resolution (number of pixels) can be used with more pixels per inch to give better (more legible) results. Many screens have resolution of 96 dpi (dots per inch), they show larger text when configured for 120 dpi. MTM (talk) 18:36, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Besides a permanent low-resolution screen setting, you might also try any assisitive technologies offered by your operating system. For example, on the Macintosh, the Universal access system preference can zoom the screen in a variety of ways.

Atlant (talk) 18:38, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like you want a CRT monitor. You might have trouble with Windows -- by default, I don't believe it will let you set the resolution below 800x600 -- but CRT monitors and every graphics card I've encountered will let you go down to 160x120 or lower. --Carnildo (talk) 19:56, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I've never seen a CRT go that low. I have 4 CRT monitors. The three on Windows 98 only go down to 640×480 and the one on Windows XP only goes down to 800×600. I also have a Windows 98 laptop, with LCD display, of course, which also only goes down to 640×480. This seems to imply that the O/S has more control over the minimum than the monitor. StuRat (talk) 23:30, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

USB camera no longer recognized

I was at my mother's the other day and her camera all of the sudden stopped being recognized by her computer. She is running XP, the camera is just a generic little digital camera that uses a USB jack.

I had been fiddling with her USB ports because they weren't recognizing my flash drive. After unplugging it and re-plugging it in a few times, the flash drive suddenly showed up fine.

But then when she tried to hook her camera up, as she had done a million times before, nothing happened. It didn't say any new hardware was found, it didn't say anything. I tried going into the Device Manager to look for anything anomalous but it didn't say anything. I scanned for new hardware, nothing. The camera software couldn't find anything either.

What could have gone wrong? The camera is fully charged, battery-wise. It works fine as a camera. It just won't connect over the USB. I tried it on all of the USB ports on her computer -- none of them worked with it.

Thoughts? Suggestions? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 16:43, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Are you using a USB Hub? Check that the hub has an external power supply, as devices such as cameras can sometimes draw too much power for the computer to handle. Other things to try are testing the camera on another computer to make sure it isn't the problem, and checking the USB connectors for dust. D0762 (talk) 17:10, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

(ec) My first suggestion, particularly since you were having problems early would be to try it on a different computer. If it's recognised there but not on her computer then it's obviously a problem with her computer, whether her USB controller, OS or whatever. If it doesn't work on a different computer I would also recommend you try a different cable if possible. Nil Einne (talk) 17:12, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

It could just be a case of "USB sag", where the weight of the cable pulls the USB plug partially out of the connector. The flash drive might have had a slightly larger plug and may have loosened up the tolerances on the connector to the point where it allows the camera's USB plug to sag. Try holding it straight in while checking to see if it shows up on the computer. StuRat (talk) 17:15, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Not a hub. Yeah, I've told her to try it on another computer, but she doesn't have a lot of access to other computers. I definitely tried making sure the USB plug was in securely; I don't think the flash drive could have had a hardware based effect on it since I only used the flash drive on one port, whereas the camera refuses to work on all four of them. Hmm. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 18:34, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Any chance the camera batteries have gone dead? --LarryMac | Talk 18:50, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

No. It still takes pictures just fine. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 22:22, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Try turning the camera on once you've plugged it in. With some cameras the computer doesn't recognize it if you don't. D0762 (talk) 18:57, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, we tried all sorts of things like that. No combination of settings/connection order/on and off seemed to work. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 22:22, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Two other facts I remembered: 1. when the camera thing started up, I couldn't get the flash drive to work again either. 2. While in the device manager with the flash drive, it was at first coming up as something strange, like "unknown USB device" or whatever. I tried uninstalling that driver and re-searching for drivers again, and it would come up again. Eventually, though, it worked again. Just putting that out there. My feeling is that it is something to do with the USB drivers, but I'm not sure what the problem would be. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 22:22, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Occasionally, the USB ports on my computer would also not recognize some of the devices that I plug into it and as a result, I have to resort to re-plugging it and hoping that it works. However, as I further examined the issue, I noticed that this was due to a build-up of dust in the USB ports of my computer. Vacuuming out the dust alleviated this problem. Acceptable (talk) 04:41, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

On some computers, (usually ones with the USB ports on the front) you can actually deactivate all your USB ports simultaneously via the unplug or eject hardware tray. To fix reboot. Also, I've found that "unknown USB device" is usually caused by a faulty cable. D0762 (talk) 08:51, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Asking you about Java Programming

I have installed Java on Vista Platform....

When I write a program in notepad and try to save it in the bin folder, the OS doesnt allow to do so. What to do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rusy uc (talk • contribs) 17:13, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Try logging in as Adminstrator (or with Administrator privs). StuRat (talk) 17:17, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

When running Notepad, instead of just double-clicking, right click and choose 'run as administrator'. Alternatively, save the file somewhere else e.g. make a suitable folder in your "Documents" or somewhere similar. Once you have saved it, copy it via explorer to the Java bin folder. Vista should ask you for permission, click yes. Alternatively, change the acccess/security settings for the 'bin' folder and allow your user full control over it. Nil Einne (talk) 17:24, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Note that simply putting java source code into a bin folder won't accomplish much. If you use something like Eclipse (IDE) instead of notepad, it should help take care of some of those details for you. Friday (talk) 17:27, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, putting source code in the bin folder doesn't do much. However, IDE's aren't the only answer. If you set your path variable to include the java bin folder, then you can use javac and java anywhere. So, using notepad, save the file somewhere that is easily accessible (and doesn't have a path with spaces in it; Java seems to have a hard time with them) with the java extension, and use javac to compile it. Then, you can run it with java. If you prefer IDE's, they usually handle the compilation for you, but I usually like to do it manually. I too have Vista, and this way works just fine. Leeboyge (talk) 01:49, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Ubuntu mail server

In the server version of ubuntu, there is a mail server option while installing. Is there a package in apt that I can install in a regular ubuntu desktop that will install and configure a mail server exactly like the ubuntu server one?

I think you should probably run tasksel --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 20:35, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Learn to program a basic OS

Where/How can i learn to program my own VERY simple OS? --RMFan1 (talk) 19:11, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

See x86 assembly and BIOS call. --212.149.217.163 (talk) 19:17, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Depending on your definition of "very", you might also want to check out MINIX. --Prestidigitator (talk) 06:47, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

It's almost an oxymoron, wanting to create your own OS, and asking how to do it! Even basic OS calls require some fairly advanced knowledge (interrupts etc.) of the hardware you would want to target. Sandman30s (talk) 12:21, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I have done some research on this in the past. The most helpful website I've found is http://osdev.org/. Also, try Google searches on things like "writing operating systems". Since floppies are so outdated, you will probably want to start by creating the simplest of Live CDs; learn about the GRUB bootloader and the El Torito standard. Finally, be sure you have a LOT of time on your hands (by "very simple", I'm assuming you mean, "boots without crashing and can write 'Hello, world!' to the screen"). « Aaron Rotenberg « Talk « 12:36, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

It's definitely not going to be easy for you. Let me give you the basics. First, you have to choose the hardware you're going to use (e.g. PC-Compatible, Macintosh). Then you need to figure out where that hardware starts things at (the boot sector), and write a boot loader in machine code. For example, on PCs, it looks at a certain spot on the boot disk (track zero, I think). You'd need to put the boot disk (be it a floppy or hard disk partition) into a working computer where you can use some type of hex editor to directly edit the disk, and machine code something that will start your operating system. From there, how you do things is up to you. DOS prior to Windows used the boot loader to hand off to a file located in the root directory which contained the BIOS, which then handed off to the kernel in another file. All of this would require you code in a file system, but if your OS is to do very much, you'd have to anyway. Other operating systems have the BIOS and kernel in one file; if you're trying nothing more than a "hello world!" you could even put it all in the boot sector. The last thing that needs to be launched is the shell, which is what the user actually interacts with. In Windows it's explorer.exe; in DOS it's command.com; in linux it's bash.

It might help to examine some open source OSes out there and see what they do. Check out the linux kernel, FreeDOS, OpenDOS, Open Solaris, etc. Warnings- operating systems are complicated. Old as they are, I'd recommend starting on a floppy disk, writing a volume boot record. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 01:24, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Openoffice vs. MS Word scrolling behavior

In MS Word, when you press down on the arrow keys to scroll down, the document scrolls one line at a time, but in Openoffice, when you reach the bottom of the screen it jumps down about 10 lines. Is there any way to make Openoffice scroll like MS Word does? --Anakata (talk) 19:23, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Should a somewhat well-known person be concerned about outing his/her IP address?

Someone with their own Wikipedia article made a little edit to it, and referred in the edit summary to "my book" and thereby let the world see his or her IP address in the "history" feature.

Yes, IP addresses are frequently recorded by websites, and if some bad guy really wants your IP address, it can be found. I informed this person that any further edits to Wikipedia under this IP address are easily seen by anybody on Wikipedia. The response was that no further Wikipedia edits are likely under this IP address and the person's only concern would be something like being roped into a "Nigerian inheritance" scheme, which sounds unlikely.

My question is: Should a somewhat famous person have any more concern about this being known than most of us average schlubs? (I assume the threat is slight for avererage schlubs.) Anyone could come up with possible scenarios, but is there a reason that a well-known person should be more concerned? This person often writes political commentary but is not a very controversial person, himself/herself. TryCoolCareful (talk) 20:11, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Provided they have a firewall, I don't see what harm could come of it. ~~ N (t/c) 21:12, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

(ec) Probably not, unless the IP address happens to reveal that they're editing from a place they shouldn't be editing from (such as from work) or unless it ties something else (potentially embarrassing) done using that IP address to the person. An IP address isn't private information in the sense that it could e.g. be used for identity theft, nor is it particularly useful for stalking (unless, again, the same IP has been used for something else that the person doesn't want connected to themself). In general, an IP address reveals a person's ISP and (possibly) their rough geographic location; the former is rarely very interesting, while for a moderately well-know person the latter is likely to already be public knowledge. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:19, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you both very much. TryCoolCareful (talk) 03:12, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

python question

hi, i have a question about python syntax:

• what does the assign (=) is doing in the fuction singanture

 def CellToString(state, is_private=1);  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.130.185.123 (talk) 20:40, 18 June 2008 (UTC) 

It's a default argument. If the caller provides only one argument, that argument is taken as "state", and "is_private" is set to 1. If the caller provides 2 arguments, the "=1" is ignored for that call. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:03, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

firefox 3 keywords

I was hoping that just the betas were sloppy, but today's is release day.. I use a Wikipedia bookmark with the keyword "wp" so that when I type "wp WP:RD/C" in the location bar, it should take me to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:RD/C. But the new smart bookmark behavior is to urlencode everything inside that "%s" text. So I see this. Any ideas? .froth. (talk) 21:54, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Jesus, what a pain that was to find. [1] Just use %S instead of %s. Obscure, right? Indeterminate (talk) 04:06, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Ah ha! Thanks! .froth. (talk) 22:05, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

June 19

Protect wiki

Hi, I have just created my own wiki, running MediaWiki software, but anyone can edit pages, register, and even create new pages, and I wanted to disallow all that... making it "locked down", just allowing users to read it and nothing more.... could you guys help me out? thanks. SF007 (talk) 01:55, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I think I already found it... [2] SF007 (talk) 02:01, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

yeah, it was it. SF007 (talk) 16:30, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

computer being slower than it should..

I just wrote some code for fun that prints "brute force" tries out of a character set (the alphabet), from A to ZZZZZZZZZZ (length is adjustable). I'm surprised at how slow it is.. I count like 10 seconds between A and ZZZZ, which by my calculations is under half a million combinations. How does a modern dual-core processor only get through 50,000 combinations a second? Should I be compiling my programs with arguments to g++ to optimize for my processor? I've been assuming that it does that for me. I'm running on linux with fluxbox, so not a lot of overhead. .froth. (talk) 01:57, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

My bet is that because you haven't broken your program into multiple threads it is not being distributed to both cores. You could use a process monitoring program to verify this. Multithreading of an individual program usually needs to be explicitly put in place by the programmer; your program, as currently written, cannot go in parallel with itself at all. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 02:16, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

It's the printing that's slower. If you only print out the first and last lines, you will see it will be dramatically faster. StuRat (talk) 02:43, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Oh, ok thanks .froth. (talk) 03:29, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I just did an experiment. I took Froth's program and lowered maxLength from 10 to 5, so it would produce only 12,338,351 lines of output. Then I independently tried three different ways of speeding it up. (1) I converted it to C, using calls like printf ("%c", charset[indexes[i]]) and in place of cout. (1A) In the C version, I replaced the printf calls with putchar. (2) I moved the strlen() call, which always returns the same value, out of the nested loop. You might expect an optimizer to be able to do that, but it's hard for it to figure out that it always returns the same value. And (3) I compiled the program with the -O2 optimization option of gcc or g++. And I timed each version, with the output directed to a file so that scrolling my display would not enter into the timing. In order from slowest to fastest:

Language/ output func.	Strlen moved outside loop	Optimizer used	User mode CPU seconds	System CPU seconds
C++/cout	no	no	15.326	41.575
C++/cout	no	yes	14.819	41.444
C++/cout	yes	no	14.329	41.728
C++/cout	yes	yes	13.527	39.986
C/printf	no	no	2.854	0.304
C/putchar	no	no	2.855	0.262
C/putchar	no	yes	1.994	0.368
C/printf	no	yes	2.075	0.284
C/printf	yes	no	1.878	0.308
C/putchar	yes	no	1.895	0.269
C/printf	yes	yes	1.780	0.333
C/putchar	yes	yes	1.719	0.265

As you see, the C++ version using cout is dramatically slower. The reason turns out to be that, on the machine I used, it is making a separate call to the underlying system call write() for every line of output, whereas the C version is buffering 1,024 characters of output before calling write(). I presume there is a way to tell C++ not to behave that way, but I don't know what it is, since I don't speak C++. Clearly that would be the most effective way to speed up the program, but the other things I tried also had some effect.

--Anonymous, 23:34 UTC, June 19, 2008.

Did you try my suggestion, and only print out the first and last lines ? The intermediate lines really don't serve any purpose other than debugging to ensure that the program does what's it's supposed to, after all. So, once we know it works, why print out all that extraneous data ? StuRat (talk) 01:31, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, Stu, neither do the first and last lines. We know in advance that they're going to be "A" and "ZZZZZ" (of appropriate length). The advice to consider buffering, however, could be very relevant to another program where all the output actually is useful. --Anon, 03:20 UTC, June 21.

404 Not Found error

I tried to view in my usual way what froth had linked to, and got "404 Not Found". Several of those have appeared here recently, and when I've been assuming that they were temporary URLs that expired before I got to them. But I got to this one pretty soon after it was added, so what could be happening? I had to try another angle.

It turns out that froth's contribution is being given as an extended "error message" in the 404 response. It is neither mandatory nor (normally) useful to display the content ("entity" in RFC 2616 terms) accompanying a 4xx HTTP error code, and I'm glad that my favorite HTTP client doesn't. "Not Found" is a perfectly adequate description of something that was actually not found, and I don't need any extra verbosity. In this case, however, it seems that this "pastebin.com" web site decided that it would be l33t to disguise non-error entities as error messages, and return a misleading "not found" status when really something was found.

I'm not even interested in finding out what was going to the "mind" of the person who came up with this profoundly stupid idea. An interesting question did occur to me though. Those of you who do use a client which displays the 404 response in full: is there no indication at all that what you're viewing is the content of an error reply? Is the "404 Not Found" not prominently displayed? Displaying the 404 reply as if it was a 200, giving no clue to the user that the URL was judged to be nonexistent by the server, seems like inconceivably bad behavior to me, but this moronic web trick seems to be relying on it. Do clients really do that?

P.S. Computing strlen(charset) over and over again isn't helping your speed either. It has to scan through those letters to find the \0 --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 04:22, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Safari displays the 404 (wtf were they thinking?!) response in full, as AFAIK do most browsers, but I don't see how this is bad behavior, as the response is (almost) always a custom error page. ~~ N (t/c) 04:46, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Browsing with a real web browser doesn't show anything to indicate a 404 on pastebin, but I verify that error with livehttpheaders. I doubt they're trying to be "l33t"- pastebin is a well-respected resource. More likely apache is incorrectly configured- I believe pastebin uses funky URL rewriting and DNS services to offer its custom subdomains. .froth. (talk) 22:04, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

They might be trying to ensure that nobody spiders their content, which would make sense for a pastebin. If so, it's a pretty ugly hack, but presumably most of the time it does what it's meant to do: show the requested content to humans while telling automated software that there's nothing there. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 00:02, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

ePSXe again

Now that I know how to play games on ePSXe, I need to know how to save my progress. Because everytime I save, then quit, then come back in again, my file is gone. Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 09:42, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

In the top menu, click Run, then you should see "Save State (F1)" and "Load State (F3)". Each "state" is like a save slot. By default, state 1 is selected. When you press F1 it will save over the state that is selected. When you press F3 it will load the state that is selected. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 11:09, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

But now I have another problem: even though ePSXe worked perfectly before, everytime I try to load a game, I get a meesage that says something like "ePSxe is not completely configured; fix it by going to config --> video." I do exactly that, but the video plugin list is empty! How can I fix that? Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 11:43, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

It sounds like you have a problem with the path ePSXe is looking for its files in. What platform are you on?--Fangz (talk) 01:58, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Would people stop fucking (sorry about the langauge) asking that question! I did not have that problem until some time later, and I need to know how to fix it! Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 06:08, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I gave up hope and downloaded another emulator called PSXEven. But there's a problem with that one too: the games move too fast! How can I stop that? Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 06:32, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

You'd probably have more luck asking at a forum dedicated to that particular software product instead of here at the Wikipedia Reference Desk. For what it's worth, The PSXEven project seems to be completely dead. Back before I owned a PS2 I regularly played PSX games on ePSXe . I had good luck with it and the project seems to still be active. I recomend going back to ePSXe and asking about your problems in their forum. Good luck. APL (talk) 13:35, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm almost positive that doing this is against wikipedia policy as it involves moving around other user's posts, but not for the purposes of refactoring.. Even if it's not it's confusing and irritating and definitely against the spirit of how this page is organized. This is not a forum where you're supposed to "Bump" threads. Here they stay in one place and slowly fade into obscurity, you're not really supposed to interfere with that process. APL (talk) 13:35, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

The user is doing that repeatedly. He appears to be incapable of understanding the basic concept behind the reference desk and attacks anyone who tries to help because he doesn't get the answer he wants. It is my opinion that he should be labelled a troll and all posts ignored. -- kainaw™ 13:41, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

PDF to Word2007

As the title said, I want to convert PDF documents into Word2007-editable form. What can I do other than buying another software for just one single purpose?--218.102.124.108 (talk) 09:02, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Try media-convert.com or zamzar.com D0762 (talk) 10:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

If it is just a "one off" try copy and paste. It may be slow and you may have to reformat, but that might be quicker for a single use than finding, installing and using software. Some PDFs are protected to disallow this, but it would be quick to try. -- Q Chris (talk) 08:17, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Non-Windows based anti-virus scanner for Windows

I just had a brainwave. Say you had a virus on your PC and you needed to scan it. Why install/update your virus scanner while in Windows when the mere action of booting up and running Windows could cause you to lose even more data? Why don't companies make versions of their Windows anti-virus programs run on different OS's? A Linux LiveCD would be perfect for this application. Imagine AVG anti-virus on a boot CD which scans your Windows partition from Linux. Since you're not running Windows, no malicious code can execute.

Am I missing something? Can something like this easily be done? Zunaid©® 11:00, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

You are a genius! (not a sarcastic comment at all) Just a bit late. Knoppix or Ubuntu with ClamAV can do most of what you just said. However, if you happen to get filthy rich (if you are not yet) and then decide to use all (or some of) your money to translate your dreams into reality, you could create your own fork of GNU/Linux (or maybe you could buy Mac OS X from Apple, Inc. and make it available on all hardware platforms and have ClamXAV as an application installed by default). Kushal (talk) 13:46, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

It is difficult for that kind of things to succeed in a commercial and "legal" way, because it is very difficult (at best) to enforce copy protection on Live CDs. Of course then there are things like Reatogo-X-PE and VistaPE.... SF007 (talk) 23:45, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Why, if you are already super rich and you just need a supplement to keep the entity going, commercial tech support should be enough. Afterall, you will not have a wolf-pack of salivating shareholders trying to squeeze the last drop off the corporation, if you are working the way Ubuntu is working. Kushal (talk) 18:42, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm thinking specifically about free AV software like Avast or AVG so there's no revenue potential lost. Or how about the AV program boots straight off a CD or flash drive without running an OS? On a related note, could you run an AV program under Wine without the risk of executing malicious code while scanning? What about virtualization a Windows machine in Linux and mounting your infected partition as read only? Zunaid©® 09:20, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

A lot of PC-repair programs use a setup like that as well. Most of them used a DOS-based system. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 22:04, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

There are virus scanners that run inside Linux. BitDefender Linux Edition, McAfee LinuxShield, and Symantec AntiVirus for Linux are some examples. There is also Hiren's Boot CD that has McAfee and F-Secure. Trinity Rescue Kit is a Linux live CD with BitDefender.--Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 22:13, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

KIS 7: auto-closing confirmation

I use Kaspersky Internet Security 7. Sometimes, after the confirmation popup ("Firewall in training mode, allow connection?" or "Allow registry change") opens, it disappears immediately, as if "Allow" was clicked. Next time it stays open.

Is this a bug, or a sign of malware?

--grawity 11:09, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I think it is normal. It already happened to me with Kaspersky and I have no reasons to believe it is a bug or malware. My wild guess is that it detects a connection or something, but then it either gets info about the program from the internet, (and know it is a safe program, thus, making it unnecessary to warn the user) or Kaspersky just takes some time to read that info from the databases on the cumputer... (keep in mind this is just from my experience and wild guesses, don't take it too seriously...) SF007 (talk) 16:26, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Gtalk invisible

Hi, as you know that their is invisibility option in gmail. But I couldn't find any such option for the gtalk? Is their any plugin or other method by which I could get invisible on google talk? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.132.3.7 (talk) 11:53, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

AFAIK, there is not one, at least not officially. I am not sure if third party clients (applications) would be able to get you invisible, though. I think it is worth a try. Kushal (talk) 13:38, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

The XMPP standard supports invisibility, and so most of the XMPP (Jabber) clients will allow you to be invisible. (Pidgin and Miranda IM are quite nice.) --grawity 16:59, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

XMPP protocol supports invisible mode, but the server may not support the feature. gtalk does not support it. Even if third party clients allow user to set status as invisible, user's contacts will see the user online. manya (talk) 04:14, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

This in irrelevant, I know. However, I don't really understand the rationale behind the invisible mode. Kushal (talk) 18:37, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Invisible mode lets you seen which of your friends are on, without them seeing that you are on. This can be good if, say, you want to talk with a family member but not general friends. Being in Away mode tends not to be a deterrent for most folks, as they simply send you messages to get when you "come back." — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 14:37, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

The new Google Talk Labs Edition probably has this. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 11:17, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Zune backlight - hardware or firmware?

Bonjour my invisible friends.

I have a Zune 30 which I use with a Belkin FM car adaptor and it works surprisingly well. My only issue is that while plugged in, my Zune insists on keeping the backlight on all the time regardless of its instruction, which is a pain in the arse at night. Is it the firmware or something in the actual cradle that is causing this? Is there a good way of putting paid to it or do I need to make a little bag to cover it? Thanks. 195.60.20.81 (talk) 12:54, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

The reason most electronic devices do this is to show that they are making electrical contact (so you know they aren't draining the batteries). I agree that it sounds annoying, though. StuRat (talk) 22:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia fonts

Wikipedia uses UTF-8 encoding. However some other Wikipedias use some other encoding/fonts that my computer can't display e.g.: ta. I would like to install all missing fonts so that my computer can display any Wikipedia correctly. (I am using FF 3.0 under Win XP SP2.) My question: From where can I download the missing fonts? Thank you, guys. --41.196.69.186 (talk) 15:11, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Tamil Wikipedia also uses UTF-8, and works just fine for me. (FF 3.0, XP SP3.) --grawity 16:58, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Check out Help:Multilingual_support and Help:Multilingual support (Indic). --Sean 17:06, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Area codes

Wasn't sure whether to put this on Misc. or here...

1) When I dial a phone number that is still within my area code but is still considered to be long distance, why do I have to dial the area code at all?

2) Also, if I'm dialing a number that I thought would be long distance but turns out not to be long distance at all and I use the area code when dialing, a recording comes on the line saying that I don't need to dial the area code, furthermore that I should hang up, and try again. Why can't the system just drop the area code for me and connect my call on the first go? Dismas|^(talk) 16:41, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Are you in any particular country, using any particular phone network? Algebraist 16:47, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

One reason to force you to dial an area code for long distance is to avoid hassles with people claiming "I didn't know I was calling long distance. I don't think I should pay my $900 phone bill." If you dial an area code, you are calling long distance. -- kainaw™ 16:49, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, I forgot to say I'm in the U.S. Specifically in Vermont which only has one area code for the whole state. And Kainaw, that was the only reason that I could come up with for my first question as well. Though a similar recording coming on and informing me that "This call is long distance and you will be charged the applicable rates. We are now connecting your call..." would satisfy that. Dismas|^(talk) 17:02, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Telephone dialing has used several different plans in different parts of North America. Here in Ontario, until the 1990s, you dialed XXX-YYYY for a local call*, 1-XXX-YYYY for a long-distance call within your area code, and 1-AAA-XXX-YYYY for a long-distance call to another area code. But the reason this worked was that area codes then always had 0 or 1 as the second digit, while ordinary phone numbers never did. So 1-XXX could be distinguished from 1-AAA. The same dialing plan was used in a number of other states and provinces and Vermont might well have been one of them. But when ordinary phone numbers with 0 or 1 as the second digit began to be used, it was no longer possible to make that distinction, so 8-digit dialing (1-XXX-YYYY) had to be dropped. (Today, of course, in addition there are area codes whose second digit isn't 0 or 1.)

(*Note incidentally that 7-digit dialing for a local call used to work even to a number in another area code. That was possible because the same prefix XXX would not be used in nearby parts of different area codes. If you were in code AAA near the boundary of BBB, you might dial XXX-YYYY to reach the nearby number BBB-XXX-YYYY and 1-XXX-YYYY to reach AAA-XXX-YYYY in a distant part of your own area code. As area codes got down to the size where a single city might have its own area code, this convenient form of dialing had to be withdrawn.)

As to Dismas's question 2, my guess, and it is a guess, is that whoever designed that aspect of telephone dialing assumed people would know which numbers were local to them, and therefore if they dialed what was actually a local number as if it was long distance, they must have misdialed and therefore it would be correct not to complete the call. Certainly there are many people today who feel that on today's telephone network with many more area codes and increasing use of mobile devices, this argument no longer holds water, if it ever did. --Anonymous, 21:56 UTC, June 19, 2008.

Thanks, Anon. For the second question, there are areas that are what I would consider local but are long distance for me to call. And the opposite of that is also true where there are places that are farther from me but still a local call. So, I often have to wonder, "Is this local?" before calling. It's really only important to me because of the need to dial an area code or not. Dismas|^(talk) 22:11, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

If you are calling a business, you could always use a free of cost 411 service like GOOG-411 (I am assuming you are using an ordinary landline phone). Kushal (talk) 18:35, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

"Local" versus "long distance" has to do with the mechanics of the phone switching system. Everyone connected to the same telephone exchange as you is local for the purposes of dialing. Everyone else is long distance, and so needs to be contacted by dialing 1+area code. --Carnildo (talk) 20:37, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

No, that's incorrect in two ways, although it may have been correct years ago. First, while it is normally true that everyone else on the same exchange as you is a local call away, the reverse is not true -- the distinction between local and long distance is about charging, and for a major city any one of hundreds of exchanges may be a local call. Second, nowadays there need be no relationship between telephone numbers and what exchange they are on. One physical exchange may serve numbers with many prefixes, but some customers in the same prefixes may use a different telephone company (for this see local number portability). --Anonymous, 04:54 UTC, June 23, 2008.

Your area code may always require ten-digit dialing. Mine is 330, which has an overlaid area code. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 22:02, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

1 wifi card, 2 computers

i just finished building a new computer. it has 64 bit windows home premium on it. The problem is that i my usb wireless adapter isnt compatible with vista. i have another computer (running xp) that is compatible with the adapter, so i was wondering if i could somehow use the other computers internet connection. i did a little research, and learned about bridging connections. i cant seem to get that to work. can anyone help me get my internet connection to my vista computer without running a cat5 cable through my house to my router or buying a hub. thanks in advance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.175.15.126 (talk) 16:54, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

You could use a crossover cable, but it's probably easier just to go buy a wifi card that works on your upgraded computer. --Sean 17:08, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Sean. Kushal (talk) 22:14, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

See Windows Internet Connection Sharing .froth. (talk) 23:00, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

How can I import/play mpeg2 files on QuickTime/iMovie without buying "QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback - Mac OS X" ?

Hello, I have an Intel MacBook with Mac OS X 10.4.11. When I import movies from my Sony Handycam DCR-SR85, iMovie gives an error and QuickTime player tells me it is not a movie file. How can I import/play mpeg2 files on QuickTime/iMovie without buying "QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback - Mac OS X" ? Thanks. Kushal (talk) 23:12, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't know how you can play them in QuickTime/iMovie, but you can use alternative media players... like VLC or MPlayer. (both free) SF007 (talk) 23:39, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Try VLC... it plays back just about everything. Lots of Mac optimization too. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 23:40, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for your prompt answers. Well, I do have VLC. The problem is that iMovie '04 uses quicktime components to import video into itself. and quicktime will refuse to acknowledge that mpeg2 is a movie file until a certain plugin is active. I am trying to work on converting the mpeg2 files to mp4 files with iSquint. I hope that dummy Quicktime will acknowledge its own file format. I will be back with updates soon. Kushal (talk) 00:56, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

It's not that Quicktime is a dummy, it's that MPEG-2 has to be licensed for extra and so they make you buy it for extra. Which I agree sort of sucks, esp. when you have already bought Quicktime Pro. (And VLC sort of sucks too. Crashes pretty much constantly, crashes on something as basic as seek, etc.) I think HandBrake can convert from MPEG-2 without the component? (Nevermind, it only outputs MPEG-2.) In any case, if you find yourself really struggling, honestly, I'd just buy the stupid component. The whole "(insert name of hip-yet-unreliable open source component here) is free if your time is worthless" sort of thing. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:54, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to everyone. I have found a workaround with iSquint iSquint for now. I am working on the project. If I do succeed, I will let you know here (unless this section becomes archived before that). Kushal (talk) 18:31, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Do you think Google AdSense is worth it?

I have just setup a website, and I was thinking if Google AdSense could maybe cover the hosting expenses? (at least some day in the future) I mean, how many people click the ads? very few maybe... I only click them "just for fun", to see what the websites offer, but with no intent to spend money... Do you really think it is worth the trouble? Besides, Google does not even provides contact information, in case there is a problem... something I find very disturbing.... anyway, what do you guys think? SF007 (talk) 23:33, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Unless you have a ton of people visiting your website yet, it is probably not worth it. Kushal (talk) 23:40, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, probably to just wait and see how the website goes... thanks. SF007 (talk) 23:49, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

In the meantime, to let them know that we Earthlings are interested in Google services, you might considering signing up for Google Analytics. If you do not have something tracking your visitors yet, you can use Analytics to weigh what should be the best option for you. Kushal (talk) 00:58, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I already used AWStats... but thanks a lot, one more tool by Google can't hurt... I already registered for it :) SF007 (talk) 01:33, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Here's a nice, probably a little out of date blog posting about different ad schemes and how much they pay. According to it, Google AdSense only pays $1 per thousand clicks. So if your server costs are, say, a paltry $10 a month, you'll need 10,000 ad clicks to pay for them. 10,000 hits is kind of a lot for a non-established website (my website was linked to from a news story one weekend, and the story itself even got Slashdotted for the entire weekend), and it only got around 6,000 hits. Out of those visitors, how many would click on the ads? Probably not too many. So anyway, if you're the sort of website that gets a bazillion hits, maybe AdSense would pay for the server costs if they weren't very high, but if not, they won't even come close. In my opinion, you're better off starting with NO ads (server space is very, very cheap, as long as you are not doing super high bandwidth stuff—you can easily get a good server for less than $100 a year), try to build a base. Once you have people, then you can ease in advertising if it makes sense. ---98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:48, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, AdSense will definitely not worth it for now... thanks SF007 (talk) 16:18, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

June 20

Donations in website

I would like to setup a donations page on my website, is there any service to recieve money easily, and that does not require a credit card? I would like to to get a paypal account but i think a credit card is required, is this right? how about alternative services? any help is appreciated.... thanks SF007 (talk) 00:36, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Been a while but last I looked, PayPal didn't require a credit card. You could set up an account and have any money from your PayPal account transferred into your checking account. Dismas|^(talk) 01:04, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Guess they didin't require a credit card, I already created an account... thanks. SF007 (talk) 16:13, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Take a look at Amazon.com honor system. [3] You get the benefit of their patented 1-Click® technology! Yay! Another trivial software patent! NoClutter (talk) 16:57, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, "patented"... thanks anyway, I might try it... SF007 (talk) 23:54, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Cost of a parked domain...

How do you guys think an already registered and parked domain will cost? I know it depends a from lots of things but... could you give an estimate? I think it is not a very profitable one... (like utube or something, see what I mean?) It is parked with godaddy.com ads ("This page is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com")... Could someone give me an estimate? I know it's hard but... 20$, 50$, 100$? a lot more? I'm a little in the dark regarding this... Thanks SF007 (talk) 01:49, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I would say USD 10 to USD 50 per year.

I was referring to just buy the domain from the current owners... not the rest... but thanks anyway. SF007 (talk) 15:42, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

You could just click on the GoDaddy notice. If you get web hosting from GoDaddy for the website, they might lower (or even drop) the cost of the domain. All you need to do to find out is to talk with GoDaddy. Kushal (talk) 18:27, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Nah, I don't host with them, I already contacted my web hosting company and they tried to reach the current owners... I'm still waiting... they might not even want to sell... I' guess I'll just have to wait... SF007 (talk) 16:12, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Spore & rediculous copyright protection scheme?

I read that Spore is going to have some crazy copyright protection system that messes with your computer instead of just requiring a simple activation. Is this true? I want to play Spore but I don't want to screw up my new computer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.175.124.109 (talk) 02:07, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

See Spore_(video_game)#Digital_rights_management. It's a form of SecuROM. It's not crazy, but yeah, it's DRM, and it is a bit dubious. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:24, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

HTML code

Is there any HTML code that gives more space than say   oder
? Thanks, Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 02:55, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Um,   or

perhaps? --Kjoonlee 04:07, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

He wanted to say: Um, <span style="padding-left:10em;padding-right:10em">&nbsp;</span> or <div style="padding:3em"><br /></div> perhaps? --Con^structor 04:40, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Ah, yes. I like it. Thank you, Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 20:35, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Freeware time changer.

i need a software that will keep my system(pc) time constant in order to keep my system safe from time activated virus. is there any freeware/shareware software that wiil keep my system time and date constant? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shamiul (talk • contribs) 03:09, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Are you aware that if you do this, you won't be able to do automatic scheduled backups or get meaningful ETAs for downloads, which may be worse than the damage the virus would cause? I suggest that anti-virus software would probably be better. NeonMerlin 04:11, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

i'm fully aware! anti-virus tend to slow pc; especially old pc like mine. please inform me if i can do this by editing registry without using any software. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shamiul (talk • contribs) 04:40, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

You could have an antivirus program that does NOT provide realtime protection (like Clamwin) if you want to. Just keep it updated scan your entire system at least once a week, scan incoming files before opening them etc. It is not recommended to have a Windows computer with no protection. Kushal (talk) 05:03, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Try one of these. Copypaste into a file.cmd (or .bat) and launch.

If you use Windows NT/2000/XP:

:q
@echo %time%|time>nul&goto q

For Win 98:

:q
@time /t|time>nul
@goto q

If that doesn't work...

:q
@echo 13:37|time>nul
@goto q

--grawity 11:25, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Time-activated virus? This is really not as big a threat to your PC as you might think. Waste of time (so to speak) to try and do this. Just get a lightweight anti-virus scanner. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 11:41, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Even if you do have one of the rare "time activated" viruses, it will probably be slowing down your PC significantly as it tries to reproduce itself as much as possible before the 'go date'. APL (talk) 17:46, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

You may also want to think about switching to Linux. Linux tends to run better on older systems and be better supported than pre-2000 versions of Windows, and viruses for Linux are extremely rare. NeonMerlin 22:21, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

If you take NeonMerlin's advice and switch to Linux I'd personally recomend Ubuntu the laterst version is here or for a light antivirus software for windows use ESET. Xor24 ^{talk to me} 16:30, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

MySQL vs. PostgreSQL: Inheritance

Does MySQL suffer from the same limitations of inheritance as PostgreSQL, with respect to constraints? NeonMerlin 04:07, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Does MySQL even have inheritance? I see no mention of it here. --Sean 14:59, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Magsafe

1. I'm assuming the Magsafe patent has been granted. Why wasn't it disqualified as prior art? 2. When will the patent expire? Thanks in advance, --MagneticFlux (talk) 05:52, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I would assume there was some kind of confidential agreement between the fryer company and Apple Computers, Inc. The application was published on March 29, 2007^uspto. I would assume it does not expire until after 2027. However, I could be wrong. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth when thinking Apple would need to file a patent for such a useful thing (the legitimacy of the patent is another question, which I believe Apple has probably resolved in private). However, this is how the patent system works. Unless one has a large enough portfolio, expanding from A to Z so that one can countersue the entity (or partner entities) who charges (or threatens to charge) one with patent infringement. In this way, one would (hopefully) not have to pay up for patent infringements. Of course, in the real world, there are patent trolls among other problems. Therefore, even if one supports the idea of patents, (s)he must agree that the system is far from perfect. Kushal (talk) 18:24, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Sadly, it seems that you can take any existing invention, tack on "... but this time with a computer!", and the USPTO will accept it as novel. --Sean 15:04, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

PSXEven: More help

I fixed the speed problem in PSXEven and the games worked properly, but now I am getting another problem with PSXEven: I keep getting a general protection fault when I try to start a game. How can I fix this? Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 05:57, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Sometimes one can get around general protection faults if setting compatibility mode if you use Windows XP. --Con^structor 06:08, 20 June 2008 (UTC) PS: This is a general advice which may or may not work with PSXEven. --Con^structor 06:10, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Didn't work. Please give another solution. Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 10:48, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

How about : "Use a diferent emulator, one in active development with an active support forum where you can ask questions."

or : "Go buy a playstation. (I just checked "completed auctions" and Ebay often has Australian Playstations for as little as $10AU. )"

or : "Ask questions in such a way that they contain enough information to actually answer them without resorting to wild guesses."

or : "Be civil and polite on the RefDesk so that people may be more inclined to help you without prefacing their answers with smart-ass remarks like this one."

But seriously, you don't mention if it happens with every game or just one. If it's just one then I'd assume that that one game is not compatible with the emulator, or one of the plug-ins you're using. (Do not trust computability lists.) You might try it with different plug-ins, (and disable the ones that aren't absolutely necessary like the sound.) If the emulator previously worked, then suddenly it didn't work, then something has been screwed up. Likely a plug-in setting. It sounds ridiculous, but if you can't figure out what you changed to make it break, I recommend just deleting it and then reinstalling it. Emulators can be pretty touchy.

Hope this helps. APL (talk) 17:43, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I've had problems with ePSXe. First, I think the versions have incompatibilities. Get another version and see if that works. I have 1.6 and 1.5.2, because some games will only work on one. The best solution is to use PSX, which I've had much better luck with. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 04:03, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Mozilla 1.6 mail confusion

The mail component of Mozilla 1.6 (uh, yes, a little old I know; 2004) running under Mac OS X is giving error messages about having no space. The hard drive has 11GB of space. The inbox is about 2GB, whereas I'd expect it to be well under 10MB now that most of the mail ever received is in a subdirectory (which is 200MB or so). And there are various other oddities I shan't bore you with.

Would it be better

1. to try to fix the mess and then install a new Thunderbird on top, or
2. to leave diagnosis and repair to the new Thunderbird, or
3. to run some program that repairs mailboxes

?

The third sounds appealing, but what program is there?

If the first: My uneducated guess is that Trash or Trash.msf or their combination has somehow got corrupted. I'd guess again that Mozilla does elementary error checking when it starts up and if it doesn't find one or both of these then it automatically generates it/them. If I'm right, I could then simply delete the putatively corrupt Trash and Trash.msf and have Mozilla make new ones. But I fear that I could be wrong and that this superduper idea of mine might totally cuff up the missus' mail archive. Suggestions? -- Hoary (talk) 08:50, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Have you found any option within Mozilla to rebuild or compact your mailboxes? Unfortunately I am unfamiliar with your program, but I believe Mail.app has such functionality and other programs might as well. If you decide to delete possibly-corrupt files, make a backup first. Installing Thunderbird seems like a low-risk strategy. See if it can successfully import the Mozilla mailboxes. If it can, problem solved and you have a new mail client. If it can't, should be no harm done, as the import process should not modify your original files, I don't think. Fletcher (talk) 13:29, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! And I hope that this page will provide a solution for the un-compactable 1.9 GB inbox. -- Hoary (talk) 14:34, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Buying Digital camera

I am considering to buy a digital camera (in Europe), what brands do you think are the best? I can spend up to 140-150 euros (about 217-232 dollars) I would like some features, but don't need too advanced ones... And of course i would like a good image quality... Some sony cybershots seemed cool... but they don'y support xD cards, the ones I have, something that would also be cool, but not essential... what do you suggest? thanks. SF007 (talk) 14:01, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I suggest looking at dedicated review sites such as Steve's Digicams and DP Review where you'll get details from experts. --LarryMac | Talk 14:26, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I like my three-year-old Fuji, which I think is called F11. Recently I bought an Olympus wonder, new:: the Olympus has higher resolution but the old Fuji gives better results (less grainy in the dark, and it has a clue about white balance, whereas the Olympus makes spectacularly bad guesses). The Olympus is prettier but the Fuji has better ergonomics. Although I paid €350 or something for the Fuji when it was new, I'm sure that a used example would come within your budget. -- Hoary (talk) 14:41, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm advertising the fuji s5700 or s5800 - takes sd and xd cards, has an electronic viewfinder, macro, wide angel and zoom, as is just at the top end of your price range.. The sony (and panasonic lumix) cameras could be considered overpriced - but if you want 'cool' it's usually necessary to pay extra.87.102.86.73 (talk) 16:31, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Please try to stay away from xD card ONLY cameras unless you find one for an exceptionally good price (FREE). Kushal (talk) 18:05, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Let me point out that the Olympus SP-570 UZ is an exceptionally good bridge camera that unfortnately only takes xD cards, can I have my free one now. 87.102.86.73 (talk) 21:00, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't recommend a Vivitar Vivicam $20 model. They're $20 for a reason. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 03:56, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks very much to you all. I ended up buying an Pentax Optio E50, and it seems to be a good machine, as far as I could tell for the few hours i've used it... (140 euros/218 dollars for: the camera + 2 rechargable batteries + 2 non-rechargable batteries + a battery recharger + a nylon case + 1 GB SD memory card... WOW I think I made a very good deal...) thanks again. SF007 (talk) 16:00, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Bit late to the party but in case anyone else finds this useful I would also recommend you stay away from amy MemoryStick only cameras Nil Einne (talk) 19:56, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Analog passthrough on CECB

How does this feature work on the Zenith DTT901 digital-to-analog TV converter box ?

1) Does the analog signal only come out the coax output, or also out the RCA outputs (yellow, white, and red cables) ?

2) Do you need to select analog output on the remote or is it always produced whenever the CECB is on ? How about when it's off ?

These two seem related, as the coax output can send multiple frequencies at once, but, as far as I know, other outputs only produce a single frequency at a time. StuRat (talk) 16:04, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Analog pass-through is only relevant if you're connecting the CECB to your TV via a coax cable. Analog pass-through means you can turn off the CECB, then change channels on your TV and still receive analog channels from your antenna: The CECB passes the antenna signals from the antenna input jack through to the RF output jack. You don't need to activate any setting for this. But when the CECB is on, it will transmit its own picture on channel 3 or 4, and this will override or interfere with the analog signals from the antenna. --Bavi H (talk) 02:55, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

I couldn't find a manual for the Zenith DTT901. But the Apex Digital DT250 User's Manual clearly describes analog pass-through on PDF page 10 (printed page 9). Other CECBs that support analog pass-through will likely be the same. --Bavi H (talk) 03:05, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. If it helps the research any, it's twin model is the Insignia NS-DXA1-APT. StuRat (talk) 15:48, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, I went a bought one, so can now answer some of my own questions:

1) As we thought, the analog pass-through only comes through the coax output.

2) There's no selection for analog pass-through. It appears to occur whether the CECB is turned on or off. However, if the CECB is on, expect some interference, especially on channels adjacent to channel 3 or 4 (whichever is selected for the coax digital output).

And, in case anyone is curious, Zenith appears to have solved the issue with low volume output when set to stereo mode (this was a problem on their previous DTT900 model). It now provides the same volume as when it's set to mono output. StuRat (talk) 06:56, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

HTML question

I have a side menu on a web page. It's in a frame. I'd like there to be a background image in that frame but I don't want it to start at the top. I want it moved down 32 pixels and then repeat from there. The background image is 165x420. Is there someway to change valign to do this? Right now, I have:

<td width=165 height=420 valign=top align=center background="/images/voravert.gif" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">

Suggestions? Dismas|^(talk) 16:55, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

This is best done with a cascading style sheet. See http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/colors.html --Prestidigitator (talk) 17:27, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Dismas is suggesting replacing background="..." with something like: style="background: #ffffff url(/images/voravert.gif) top left no-repeat;". In this case, that might not do all you want it to - you could use this: style="margin-top: 32px;" which will also move any text in that box down 32 pixels. See w3schools for more on CSS stuff. --h2g2bob (talk) 00:44, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

FLAC in an .ogg file

I understand FLAC audio can be wrapped in an .ogg file container. Do any tools for Linux exist to do this? NeonMerlin 17:59, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Download the software for you version of Linux from flac.sourceforge.net, or compile it from source code, then run the command-line tool with the --ogg option, for example "flac --ogg imput.wav" and you should get a FLAC stream wrapped in an ogg transport layer. It will have a .ogg extension but will still be decodable by flac. JessicaN10248 20:11, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Mozilla Firefox Searchbar: Lost add-ons

I'm trying to find two add-ons for my Firefox Search Bar: --The first is a function that automatically clears the search field after a search is conducted. Immediately after clicking on the magnifying glass icon, or after hitting "Enter" or "Alt-Enter," the search terms are automatically wiped out. --The second function automatically expands the size of the search field in accordance with the length of the given search term(s). After a search is initiated, it reverts back to a standard, shorter length, thus maximizing space. Because I've had these add-ons in the past, I know they exist. However, I am currently unable to find them. I don't remember if these are 'official' Firefox add-ons or if they're simply modifying software developed and released elsewhere. I've tried a variety of searches/search terms to attempt to find these add-ons. I'm currently using Mozilla Firefox version 2.0.0.14. Please help. Lulletc (talk) 18:09, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

You are looking for this: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1172. This addon performs both the functions you mention. Mike R (talk) 21:09, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

That's *exactly* what I'm looking for. Thanks, Mike R. Tell Mike call me. Lulletc (talk) 21:39, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

If I must. Mike, would you please call this user?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 22:39, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I can but I will not. Mike R (talk) 05:39, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Router - Port forwarding problems

I have downloaded some software (ShoutCast) that lets me broadcast streaming audio, using my PC as the server, however it is not working because my router will not direct the port to the right PC.

I have two PCs connected to the router, their IP addresses appear as 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3 (the router itself is 192.168.1.1). I have tried accessing the Shoutcast web page that is supposed to be located at xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8000 but it doesn't work, obviously the router does not know which machine to send the request to.

I have gone into the Port Forwarding section of my router's config system and tried setting up a new 'rule', the fields and their current contents are below:

Connection: Connection1 (the name of my connection to the WWW)
Source IP address: Not sure what this should be
Source netmask: 0.0.0.0
Destination IP address: 192.168.1.3 (the IP address of the computer running the Shoutcast server)
Destination netmask: 255.255.255.255
Destination port start: 8000
Destination port end: 8001
Destination port map: 8000

The port Shoutcast broadcasts on is definitely 8000. It is not a LAN problem as I can access the stream by typing in 192.168.1.3:8000 but not when typing in the real IP address of the router.

I do have a static IP address provided by my ISP and I used to use Shoutcast fine before I got a router. Do I need to set anything up in the router to make it realise it is being used as a static IP address? If so, what do I need to do? The router is an Addon GWAR3000. I know what the IP address is but that is the only detail I have been given by my ISP, I do not know what to put for gateways and netmasks and all that sort of thing. If I type my IP address into a browser then the router config page comes up so the IP address setup is OK presumably.

Thanks in advance for any help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.249.220.179 (talk) 19:27, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I just tried going to your IP address port 8000 ([4]), and it seems to be working now. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 03:59, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Hmmn yes I just tried to connect to it and it said page cannot be displayed. Does it work now? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.249.220.179 (talk) 08:13, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I'm getting a Shoutcast administrator page. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 03:06, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Thunderbird spam filters

Thunderbird is doing a reasonable job at figuring out which emails I get are spam. Well, there are very, very few false positives and an acceptable level of false negatives. What I would like to do is get TB to just delete the damn spam mails and let me look at the ones it deems safe. Flagging them just seems pointless. Is there a way to get TB to either delete from the server or (preferably) move to trash automatically? Matt Deres (talk) 19:44, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

What version of Thunderbird and what Operating System? The menus are not the same in all versions. However, Thunderbird has always had the option of which folder to move junk mail to. You can send it straight to the trash folder. -- kainaw™ 20:17, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, I'm on XP and I'm using 2.0.0.14. After getting new messages, I can have the flagged messages moved to trash using the Tools menu; I'd like a way to not see them at all. Matt Deres (talk) 23:02, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

1. Tools > Account Settings
2. your account > Junk Settings
3. Move junk messages to:
4. select your preferred place (Junk, Trash, Important)

--grawity 19:20, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Cool - thanks! To be honest, though, it didn't work until I did the same thing to the "Junk Settings" under Local Folders as well. Matt Deres (talk) 01:48, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

IP address

How can one find out their actual IP address? Also, what does it give you when you go to command prompt and type "ipconfig /all"? This is different than the real address. What is it? Also, how does one find their actual IP address? Thanks, Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 20:37, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

You can get it at www.whatismyip.com. The IP in ipconfig /all is probably in the 192.168.x.x range; that's a local use range. If it's not showing your true IP address it's almost certainly because you have a DSL modem and/or router between your computer and the wall. If you have just a DSL modem, for example, the modem is making the connection, so it's generating your outgoing IP. Your computer's IP is only used by the modem to connect the two. FYI, if that is the case, you'll see a local address for the modem as well, under "default gateway". If you drop that IP into a browser, you'll get a configuration screen. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 21:49, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Ah, that makes since. Well, I knew one could get their IP from a website, but is there any way to get it from command prompt? Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 22:13, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

There sure is. Enter "ipconfig" without the quotations and hit enter. Acceptable (talk) 22:41, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

No, when I do that it gives me a "local ID"(?) (ie 192.168.x.x), not my true IP address. Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 22:53, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

[5] also works :) --Russoc4 (talk) 00:00, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

The internet IP address you are looking for is only known by your modem or router, and isn't available to your computer's command prompt. However, you can usually find the internet IP address on the status page of your modem or router as follows. From the ipconfig information, write down the address listed as the default gateway. Then, type that address into your web browser. You should be able to find a status page that will show the IP address your modem or router is getting from the internet. --Bavi H (talk) 01:30, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Right. I have SBC-Yahoo with a Motorola DSL modem; if I go to its default gateway address my IP is on the first page. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 03:52, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Alright, got it. Thank you all, Ζρς ι'β' ^¡hábleme! 20:20, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Unhide ~/.wine

How do I make the folder ~/.wine display in browse dialogs and Konqueror as though it didn't start with a dot? I'm using KDE 4. NeonMerlin 22:45, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Dot-files were meant to be hidden. If you want one of them, and only one, it is easier to just symlink it to a name without dot, so that it appears among your regular files.

$ ln -s .wine wine

--Juliano (T) 23:05, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Pardon me for butting in, but why bother symlinking in this specific case -- why not just hardlink? --Danh, 70.59.79.230 (talk) 23:26, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

If you can create additional hard links to a directory, you can create some really crazy structures, for example:

mkdir a
mkdir b
ln a b/x
ln b a/y

Now 'b/x' is equivalent to 'a' and 'a/y' is equivalent to 'b', so 'b/x/y' is equivalent to 'b'. In other words 'b' has become a subdirectory of itself - a filesystem loop. To avoid messy scenarios like that, hard linking of directories is not usually allowed. You may be able to do it if you're root, but even then it's not recommended. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 00:37, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

With most filesystems, not even root can make a hardlink to a directory: the filesystem simply doesn't support it -- for exactly the reasons you indicated. MacOSX seems to have implemented it for their Time Machine backup system, but I don't know what they're doing to prevent filesystem loops. --67.185.172.158 (talk) 01:36, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Like the anonymous above said, not even root can make hardlinks of directories. That was possible long, long ago, but that "feature" was removed from Linux, because it was only an official and supported way to corrupt your filesystem with 100% accuracy.

tcsetattr explained really well the mess you can do with directory hardlinks. There is another critical point to remember: Every directory links to its parent through a special .. entry. If a single directory is hardlinked from two different places, which one is the parent?

It is possible to have an effect similar of a directory hardlink by creating a bind mount. It solves the problem of the parent directory and recursive directory by making it like a separate mounted filesystem, so the root directory inside the mount have a different .. than the original directory, and it is not recursive.

mount --bind origdir newdir

But this is not persistent, it is a logical (not physical) link, created at the VFS level. Unless you configure it to recreate at boot time, it will disappear as soon as you shutdown your system.

--Juliano (T) 17:37, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

In the ancient version of Konqueror that I have access to, you can click "View" => "Show Hidden Files". --Sean 15:07, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

June 21

MacBook Pro

I own a MacBook Pro and have had it for about 2 years now. For a while, I have noticed that it is not as fast as it used to be, despite there not being much data on it. Are there any Mac equivalents of Windows operations such as disc defragmentation, clearing the cookies etc that could maybe speed it up. Thanks 92.3.105.142 (talk) 08:18, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

iDefrag? · AndonicO ^Engage. 09:23, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

MacOS X will defragment the hard drive as it goes, so that's not likely the culprit. What programs are you running that you notice to be slower? How much memory does it have? Any issues with heat or odd sounds? — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 14:48, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

The only programs I run with any frequency would be Safari, iTunes, Microsoft Messenger for Mac, Microsoft Office programs, Google Earth and maybe Skype. When I bring up the finder, it says at the bottom of the window that I have about 45GB free and it heats up a fair bit but nothing terrible. No problems with noise. Any ideas? 92.3.105.142 (talk) 15:56, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Open up Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app and take a look at what is taxing your processor the most. Check if you are overusing your physical RAM and getting into virtual RAM—that slows things down a bit and is relatively easily fixed (add more RAM). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 16:19, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

I find that iWork is less bloatware than Microsoft Office - or you could reinstall Mac OSX.78.148.84.85 (talk) 20:24, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

The learning curve with iWork '08 is small. However, there is still a learning curve. Moreover, if one has already paid the premium to buy MS Office, why would (s)he pay to buy iWork again? Kushal (talk) 21:01, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Pages is better than word, Keynote is better than Powerpoint, and Numbers is better than Excel. A brand new clean computer is always faster than one that has been around for a while, in my experience. Make sure you have at least 20% of your disk free, or things might start seeming slow. Perhaps it's lack of virtual memory. Mac Davis (talk) 01:03, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

When was the last time you rebooted the computer, as opposed to simply putting it to sleep when you're done? OSX has trouble managing virtual memory, and the best way to clear things up is with a reboot. --67.185.172.158 (talk) 01:39, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Um, I have had this macbook (which does not have the best heat management in the world) running for 17 or so days until System update came to personally request a reboot. I did not notice significant slowdowns. (Or maybe I had my rose-colored glasses on.) Kushal (talk) 20:54, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Try defragmenting the virtual memory paging file. Disable virtual memory, restart, enable it, and restart again. This will write a new paging file that will be contiguous. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 02:55, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I am quite a computer noob and so I don't know how to do any of that. Could you direct please? 92.0.149.90 (talk) 08:40, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Snow Leopard boot camp

I'm lucky to have gotten a copy of the Snow Leopard developer's preview. I don't want to install it, however, untill I can make sure my Boot Camp partition is unaffected. Will Boot Camp be effected if Snow Leopard is installed? --Randoman412 (talk) 16:39, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

For information's sake, I'd like to note ahead of time that Snow Leopard uses a ZFS file system, while your Boot Camp (Windows?) partition uses NTFS oder FAT32. Mac Davis (talk) 01:18, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Ok... but that doesn't answer my question. --Randoman412 (talk) 14:52, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

As it is a developer's preview, why not post this question at Apple's Developer Connection http://developer.apple.com/ Unless you really aren't supposed to have a copy. In which case you get what you deserve. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 22:13, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Cannot add comments to article Talk page

I have twice tried to add comments to this page Talk:Alcohol_and_cardiovascular_disease but nothing happens. What is wrong please? Thanks 80.2.196.19 (talk) 17:59, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Someone has put a reference code and not closed it, causing your additions to be hidden. I've removed it here JessicaN10248 18:38, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Still, there's a complete article with a giant References section hiding in a Talk page. That's not right. And somehow the References switch from being numbered to unnumbered halfway through. That and other formatting weirdness makes it look like a sloppy cut-and-paste job. Maybe it should just be wiped clean. --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 18:44, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

I noticed that too. It appears to have been added in this edit. JessicaN10248 18:47, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Concatenate audio files

How can I concatenate audio files? I am using Linux --B. Rajasekaran 18:47, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

This page gives some info on doing that. See the "Splitting/Concatenating MP3 Files" section. JessicaN10248 19:04, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Syncing files

Is there any way to synchronize certain files between a local computer (Windows eXPee) and a remote system (OpenBSD) over SSH? --grawity 19:27, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

rsync? --antilived^{T | C | G} 06:10, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

no rsync doesn't support ssh; use the command line functions that come with putty (which is free) Sandman30s (talk) 14:30, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

See, for example, this guide to using rsync over ssh; the -e option can be used to specify ssh instead of the default rsh. -- Coneslayer (talk) 14:48, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

So, I need a new PSU for my PC...

My current PSU is undoubtedly on its last legs - the fan is clunking, grinding, and stopping from time to time unless I perform repeated percussive maintenance. So, I'm going to get a new one. I've been browsing the interweb for online sellers with cheap prices - but unfortunately, I don't know which PSUs will work with my machine and which ones won't. How do I determine what type I currently have in my machine? Believe it or not, I've been using computers for years, but I've never paid the slightest bit of attention to the PSU. ;)

I'll be requiring a complete idiot's guide, if you don't mind... :) --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 22:47, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Non-server PSUs come in three major varieties: ATX/EPS, BTX, and Dell. Assuming you've got a tower, if the mainboard is on the left side of the case, you've got a BTX system; if the mainboard is on the right side, you've got an ATX/EPS system, and if it says "Dell" on the front, you've got a Dell. The power supply has a wattage rating on the side: make sure the new PSU has a wattage rating at least as high. Finally, make sure you're buying a reputable brand: the good brands can deliver more power than they're rated for, while the cheap brands will break down, explode, or catch fire if you get anywhere near their rated power.

The big problem is Dell power supplies: they've got the same connectors as ATX power supplies, but they're wired differently. If you try to use an ATX power supply in a Dell, you'll destroy the computer. --67.185.172.158 (talk) 01:50, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

If you take appropriate precautions to avoid electrical shock hazards (a very real possibility with a PSU), replacing just the failed fan is not much more difficult than exchanging the entire PSU. It's cheaper plus, you know your current PSU, it's had all the infant mortality long-since burned out of it, and it actually works with your machine. If you decide to do this, make sure that you don't open the PSU for a few minutes after you have disconnected the power supply cord; that gives the bulk storage capacitors time to "bleed off" their stored high voltage. Then open the PSU, extract the old fan, and take it with you (as a model) to your neighborhood computer geek shop where you can a buy a proper replacement. Hint: If the old fan only had a red wire and a black wire and the new fan has red, black, and yellow, ignore the yellow ("fan failure alarm") wire. Just make sure it won't short out to anything.

Atlant (talk) 11:42, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

If you can't or don't want to simply replace the fan as Atlant suggested, I would suggest getting the exact same model if possible. I've had issues where the new PSU was built slightly differently so the screw holes wouldn't line up; that's a minor headache, but not one you particularly need ;). The info about the brand and model type will be on the casing somewhere, but may be on the side against the tower wall or the flange to help hold the unit in place and not be visible in situ. Matt Deres (talk) 16:57, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

YouTube video problems

A certain YouTube video won't load for me, and I haven't the foggiest idea why. Stranger still is that when I copied the URL and pasted it into Internet Explorer (I was previously using FireFox), I was redirected to the equivalent page on the French YouTube. Does anyone have any idea of what's going on?--The Ninth Bright Shiner 23:10, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Just a shot in the dark; maybe Flash is messed up. Couldn't tell you why it's going to the French YouTube. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 02:58, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Something like that happens to me too. Also, sometimes the sound just stops working. Some Flash component probably broke on my computer. Mac Davis (talk) 03:45, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

The first ten or so seconds went fine with me. Kushal (talk) 20:50, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Linux on Playstation 2

I have a PlayStation 2 slim, US model. I have an xbox and wii and don't need it anymore, so could someone give a tutorial for putting Linux on it? Any distro will do, preferably Debian or Ubuntu. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.125.133.42 (talk) 23:12, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

This might be a good starting point: http://playstation2-linux.com/ --67.185.172.158 (talk) 01:52, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

It's impossible. Linux for PlayStation 2 requires a hard drive interface, which the slim lacks. --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:06, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Not quite impossible, but a lot harder. I believe you can solder a ghetto hard drive to the PS2 slim. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:45, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

VC++ 2005 Configurations

Since the default configurations that coem with VC++ 2005 are not very good~(Debug/Release(, I often find myself changing the options for an individual project. Is there a way to make a new, custom configuration to save time? 24.125.56.9 (talk) 23:24, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

June 22

Programs launched at start-up in Windows

As I start windows up, many programs are launched automatically. How can I disable them? Is there a list somewhere or should I go through any individual program and turn it off? GoingOnTracks (talk) 00:02, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Windows looks to three locations by default for startup programs:

• The Startup folder in the start menu
• In the Registry: HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run and HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run.

You can go to these locations and delete individual items. This list is useful when determining what to keep. Utilites such as CCleaner and Spybot Search & Destroy also display startup items. Xenon54 00:10, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

MSConfig is the built-in tool to do that. Be careful not to accidentally turn off your antivirus/firewall/etc. --h2g2bob (talk) 16:26, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

As you said you have windows, you might also want to look at sysinternals autoruns. Kushal (talk) 20:49, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Extracting master tracks from Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero (series) contains the master tracks to famous rock songs. Has any work been done into extracting these from the .xen song files? Mac Davis (talk) 01:23, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

They don't actually contain the master tracks, just the guitar (or sometimes, bass) tracks and the rest. Frets on Fire already supports extracting them for in-game use, and you can find the extracted ogg files in the programme directory. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:45, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Also I'm fairly sure that all of the tracks in GH are masters, at best, of a cover band. They aren't the original recordings. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 04:59, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Not all the tracks are masters, but now that GH has turned out to be a successful franchise, they don't need to supplement their game with covers bands. Antilived, you're probably right about having just the guitar and sometimes bass. GHIII uses the same types of sound files that Bioshock and most video games use, I once found the program and company, and free software that makes the types of files, but now I can't. Starts with an F. Mac Davis (talk) 05:08, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Problem with Windows Explorer

For the last few days I've been having problems with Windows Explorer. Every time I use it to view a folder on my harddrive, it closes itself after a few seconds, and at the same time my desktop icons disappear along with the Taskbar. I have to restart my computer to get them back. I thought it was due to a virus because it happened after I downloaded a keygen for Quicktime Pro from a torrent, but I scanned it three times before I ran it, and I scanned it three times since just to check. I've also run HouseCall online, and Spybot, but the results are always that I have a clean computer. Is Windows Explorer corrupted somehow? How do I get a new copy of it? I'm running XP SP2. Thanks, Matthewedwards (talk • contribs • email) 03:32, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Well you can't "get a new copy of it" without reinstalling it. It sounds like Explorer.exe is crashing. Have you tried booting in safe mode and seeing if it still does it? That's what I would do -- it would help narrow things down a bit. And you could run your virus checker once more while you're in safe mode.--98.217.8.46 (talk) 05:04, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I've now tried to use it in safe mode, but it still works. I haven't done a virus checker in safe mode, though. Where would I go to reinstall explorer.exe? Or do you mean re-install windows? Matthewedwards (talk • contribs • email) 05:34, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I doubt the problem is with explorer.exe itself. Check your error log for details of the crashes: Start —> Control Panel —> Administrative Tools —> Event Viewer. Feel free to post any error messages you find.--Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 05:46, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

This also sounds like hard drive malfunction, crashing explorer because it can't read the content of the directory. Try a Linux LiveCD, if it still doesn't work there you should back up your data ASAP. --antilived^{T | C | G} 06:09, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Linux? But I have WinXP.. I tried to do the Admin tools thing, but Explorer crashed when I opened Control Panel! Matthewedwards (talk • contribs • email) 07:35, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

A live CD is a version of a Linux distribution that runs straight from a CD ROM. Running it and making sure you can read data from your hard drive is a way to help figure out if it is a hardware/filesystem problem, or a software problem. It might also be a good way to go about backing up your data if you have trouble doing it from Windows. --Prestidigitator (talk) 07:57, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

You can check for disk errors by opening up a command prompt and typing chkdsk /f. It will ask if you want to run it on the next reboot, and you press Y. It can repair damaged files and folders on your disk. Another useful tool is the System File Checker. To use that, you insert a Windows XP disk and type sfc /SCANNOW at the command line. It will over-write any damaged system files.--Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 08:12, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Also, to access the Event Viewer without the Control Panel, hold down your Windows key and r, then type eventvwr.msc. Your Windows key should be between your CTRL and ALT keys and has a Windows logo.--Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 02:52, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Ace combat - like games

Hi, i just love this game on my ps2 (belkan wars)... Can anyone here offer some suggestions on similar titles for PC? TIA 124.105.117.161 (talk) 07:52, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

RAR files

'Can you help me i selected a .rar file and I right clicked and went to Select a program for this file than I went to Internet explorer checked the box than i clicked Ok. Later I tried to open it. It opened the net it went to re download again. How do I reset it? I don't have a profile., This once I'm going to put my Email. its Loper324 hot mail dotcom (Please send it in a video response its easier.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.109.145.63 (talk) 08:09, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I hope you don't mind my retitling of your question.

It's rather hard to know just what you mean. (What does "open the net" mean, what "opened the net", what went to download, what did it go to download, what do you want reset?) Anyway, do you have a program for opening RAR files? If not, take a look within the article "RAR". -- Hoary (talk) 10:00, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm a little confused by your question too. If I understand it correctly, the issue is that you've set RAR files to open with Internet Explorer and want to change the default program. Yes/No...? If you already have an appropriate program (as Hoary suggested) installed, it should work anyway, but just in case - open Windows Explorer and right-click on the RAR file. Go to the "Open With" option and click on "Choose Program...". Select your RAR program and check the box for always opening that file type with that program and you should be set. If you don't already have a program for RARs, installing one will set your file types to the correct program. Matt Deres (talk) 11:44, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

(obfuscated email). A list of programs which can read compressed files is at comparison of file archivers - check the table for reading different file formats. I'd recommend the freeware FilZip because it is quite easy to use. --h2g2bob (talk) 16:21, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Personally I won't recommend FilZip since it doesn't apparently support 7zip which is increasingly important. Instead, I would recommend either 7-Zip or IZArc both of which support 7-zip and RAR. You may be interested to read [6] which I find useful in deciding which program to choose (while it only represents one person's opinion, the explainations are IMHO useful) Nil Einne (talk) 19:49, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

ep, .7z compatibility is becoming increasingly important. Kushal (talk) 20:46, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Ogg

I run XP on a PC (also MSIE). I occsionally want to listen/view OGG files. The "help" wikipedia gives on this is hopeless. One link via Media wiki wants you to download a "Cortado" applet but doesn't tell you where to find one. It does tel;l you about downloading Jave, but I've already got Java installed. Another link doesn't mention Cortado but goes on about Windows Media Player which I have installed. The link to illiminible ends up as a redirect, etc, etc. It would be good if someone who understands these things made it all much clearer.

I got it working in the end (on sound), but boy - was it a struggle. -- SGBailey (talk) 10:00, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

In future, you could try downloading it and opening it on Audacity. It opens *.ogg files.78.150.225.157 (talk) 17:47, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

If you already have Java installed just press the big button and it'll magically play in your browser! Don't over-complicate things next time... --antilived^{T | C | G} 20:09, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I have, it didn't. But I can't recall exactly what it said and I've got it installed now. -- SGBailey (talk) 22:40, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

AMS-IX peering

If you check the list of connected parties to the AMS-IX, a rather substantial part of them lists their peering policy as "not public". Why is this? Quite a few of these are 'normal' ISPs, and one of them is SURFnet, an educational network. User:Krator (t c) 11:33, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

os for programming

Suppose I wish to buy an x86 computer and use it for programming (including variants of lisp, fortran, scripting languages, and assembler/machine code) - does any of the available os's eg microsoft/apple/linux/other represent a better choice? Also consider that I am a 'cheapskate' and may be looking to pay as little as possible for the software..87.102.86.73 (talk) 13:44, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

You're going to get more development tools for less cost (nothing but the cost of burning a CD) with an open source operating system, such as Linux or one of the *BSDs. -- JSBillings 14:02, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I refused to pay for Windows 98 - so I haven't used Windows for a long time. I haven't heard of many free and good development programs for Windows. In Linux, there are many development tools - all free. However, developing for Windows on Linux can be difficult. So, it really depends on what you are developing for. I don't develop for Windows. Nearly all the work I do is for the web. So, I just use Linux as my OS which seamlessly blends with my BSD and Linux servers. Every server is a mountpoint, so I can easily move files around and edit them as though the whole thing was local to my computer. Since I don't use Windows, I don't know how easy (or possible) it is to have a similar setup. -- kainaw™ 14:08, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

What about apple? also - when for windows is it possible that things designed for XP won't work for vista - or will they always be ok?87.102.86.73 (talk) 12:26, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Apple OS is now based heavily on Unix (which is nearly identical to Linux for users, which is why they are collectively called *nix). What Apple did was take the Unix core and wrap a very Apple-like GUI on top of it. So, when it comes down to it, asking about Apple vs. Linux is really asking about the Apple GUI vs. the popular Linux GUIs (KDE and GNOME) as well as support from Apple vs. support from the *nix community (or Redhat if you buy a license). -- kainaw™ 14:58, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Actually, if you're spending any time in Apple's CLI, it's far inferior to Linux since they don't use the GNU utilities. --Sean 15:10, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Please see the note at the top of the page that tells you that the Reference Desks aren't for rants; while you're not there yet, "far inferior" is pretty far down that unfortunate road.

Atlant (talk) 11:35, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Huh? I love the OS X machines I have at home, and would hardly rant against them, but stating a fact about an area where they compare poorly is no more a rant than stating the fact that video-editing software on Linux is far inferior to what you can get for a Mac. Using Apple's shell is not far removed from using BusyBox, which is quite mystifying to me given Apple's usual focus on user-friendliness. --Sean 14:12, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

On second thought, I acknowledge your desire to avert religious wars and rescind my comments. --Sean 14:22, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

PROBLEM

Hellow, We faced a problem here, we are in a school where every class room has about 20 computers and all these computers are equipped with limited internet(no YAHOO OR HOTMAIL, but WORLDCLIENT for sending and receiving emails), All these computers are controlled by a server, 2 days ago we faced a problem ,By some means it happens that when we send or reply a mail inside the school,the email message goes to email addresses of all the students (who were provided email IDs by the server) inside the school even when their email addesses are not included in email direcction, Plz tell me what is this problem, how did it happen and what is its solution. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.220.222.145 (talk) 16:47, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Is "Worldclient" an email client, like Thunderbird or Outlook? I'm sorry that I can't find anything about it whatsoever on Wikipedia, or elsewhere on the internet.78.150.225.157 (talk) 17:45, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

It appears to be a GUI for MDaemon email servers [7] JessicaN10248 17:52, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes it is GUI for MDaemn email servers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.220.222.145 (talk) 01:29, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Does the school (or, more likely, the school board) have a computer technician? I think they might be in the best situation to sort this out. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 01:33, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Firefox 3 always crashing

Is it just for me, or Firefox 3 on Windows Vista is always crashing? everyday, several times a day... WOW it is terrible... I was expecting a stable software, but damn... Does someone has the same problems? SF007 (talk) 23:25, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Nope. Using x64 Vista, no crashes at all (whereas I did notice the occasional one with FF2). Have you tried removing all extensions you have installed? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 00:08, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I've run into several crashes when trying to organize bookmarks. And often find my mouse lagging on some sites. Other than that, nothing major. --Russoc4 (talk) 00:50, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I haven't even thought of removing the extensions (and I call myself a computer scientist!), anyway, I disabled all the extensions a few hours ago, and since then I have already had about half a dozen (6) crashes! This is really terrible... it just crashes ramdomly, opening regular websites (gmail, wikipedia, hi5...) it was the same thing in beta, but well it was a beta, but now... damn... it's a "pain"... I hope they fix it soon... SF007 (talk) 04:17, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

You ought to try and figure out what sites do it and report it to them. It's not standard behavior. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:08, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I doubt it is the websites problem, it once crashed just with google and en.wikipedia.org! it may not be only Fireox fault... maybe Vista or maybe both... or some other thing.... don't know... SF007 (talk) 17:17, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

June 23

1080p concerns

There seems to be something wrong with my T.V. somehow. I have an hd dvd player and set it to 1080p but for some reason won't play hd dvds. i tried to set my 360 and ps3 to 1080p mode but it wont go to that quality. is there some reason y, something i missed? Its a sony 46" full hd tv. Jwking (talk) 01:59, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Which type of output are you using? Some TVs don't support 1080p via component video cables. And which particular Sony TV is it (ie. model #)? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 02:03, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

It's a full hd sony tv thats 46". the model number is kdl46s4100. either that one or the other one only instead of an "s", its a "w".Jwking (talk) 02:21, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Some questions to the original poster:

1) What type of cables are you using to connect your HD DVD player to the TV ?

2) What's the make and model of the HD DVD player ?

3) When you say the HD DVD player "won't play", what do you mean exactly ? Do you get some type of error message ? Is it possible you have a BLU-RAY or standard DVD in it instead of an HD DVD ?

4) When you said you "tried to set my 360 and ps3 to 1080p mode but it wont go to that quality", does that mean those devices don't support 1080p, or that they do but it wouldn't display on your TV ? StuRat (talk) 12:03, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I suspect this is a cable/connection thing. Do you have the appropriate HDMI cable in place? If you do - have you also got other cabling to and from it (e.g. scart-connection) - if so, try removing those. Sometimes the machinery gets confused if you are using both connection-methods at once (admittedly this is on my somewhat older non-HD tv but I suspect the same could happen on a more modern tv). ALternatively a tried-and-tested technique is to unplug everything entirely and start again. It's only a 10/15 minute job and sometimes that alone will be enough. Good luck 194.221.133.226 (talk) 14:28, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I also suspect this is a cable thing. In order for your TV to be in 1080p mode, it should need at least component (the one with 3 plugs for video, and 2 more for audio, not to be confused with the typically yellow composite video cable), though some devices don't support 1080p in component. In which case, you would need an HDMI cable (most likely) or DVI (less likely). --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:38, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

USB-based data acquisition system -- recommendations?

[Question and first few answers transferred from the Science Desk --Anonymous, 04:42 UTC, June 22, 2008.]

I'm in the market for a decent-quality, reasonably priced, USB-connected data acquisition system. For me, "reasonably priced" is somewhere in the US$100-200 range. Likely systems are the Data Translation DT9812], the LabJack U3, or the miniLAB 1008.

My other big consideration is that I want the thing to be Open. I don't want one where the only way to talk to it is with the vendor's own proprietary, quirky library, that requires the use of some limited number of mainstream operating systems and C compilers. I want to be able to open the USB port and talk to the device myself, partly because I'll be doing it from Mac and Linux systems which the vendor might not support, partly because I've been disappointed too often by the quirkiness (and worse) of the API's provided by vendors like these, but mostly because if I'm programming down to the bare metal by having my code twiddle bits out in the real world via one of these boxes, I want to, well, program down to the bare metal.

Anybody here have experience with any of these systems, or anything similar? —Steve Summit (talk) 02:49, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Steve, it might be helpful if you said more about what you want your DAQ to actually do, such as number of channels, response times, analog/digital, etc. Dragons flight (talk) 03:00, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

4-8 analog in, at least a couple of analog out, at least 8 digital in, at least 8 digital out, at least 12 bits of analog resolution. Frequency and response time not critical; this would be for simple monitoring and control, not audio or anything high-frequency. —Steve Summit (talk) 03:21, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

With some programming, perhaps something like this could be adapted to suit your needs? APL (talk) 05:28, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

problem with wiki

Hi, I have a complicated problem with my own wiki... I wanted to make the link "pretty", like:

www.example.com/wiki/Page_title
Instead of:
www.example.com/w/index.php/Page_title (the default)
and ther a are many ways to do it:
-the first one (used on wikipedia), does not work for me because I don't have root access to the server
-And then another one (recommended if the above does not work), works fine, but it breaks my website, because I had www.example.com pointing to my homepage, and with this second method www.example.com points to www.example.com/wiki/Main_Page which I don't want to... do you guys think there is a workaround for this? (I think I have PHP in safe mode, in case that matters). Thanks. SF007 (talk) 08:06, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I think you should just get rid of the third RewriteRule, since it does nothing but rewrite a root-directory request to /wiki/ which then redirects to Main_Page --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 08:12, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

You mean this: "RewriteRule ^/*$ wiki/ [L,QSA]", right? I did it and it woked like a charm! it was EXACTLY what I wanted, thank you very much! I also found a better place to post my questions regarding MediaWiki software http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Support_desk. Thanks again! It finally works! :) SF007 (talk) 17:24, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

MS Excel: VBA: Selecting a range using variables

I'm writing a macro that creates many new sheets and I need to copy a different column of data from a "Master" sheet to each of the new sheets. So I ran a loop using the column number (Col) as the variable and then I used the following code:

myRange = Sheets("Pivot").Range(Sheets("Pivot").Cells(5, Col), Sheets("Pivot").Cells(941, Col))

but I get an error: "Object variable or With block variable not set". Please help, thanks. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 10:29, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Please provide a larger code extract, :)88.105.217.30 (talk) 14:01, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry for not giving more context. I tried the following and it worked!

   With Sheets("Pivot")
       Set myRange = Range(.Cells(949, Col), .Cells(1885, Col))
   End With
   
   myWS.Range("B7:B943").Value = myRange.Value

The last time I left out the ".Value" bits. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:07, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Access to en.wikipedia.org

When I try to access this page it takes 5 minutes to come up. All other sites come right up. I have tried to empty cach but that makes no differance. Any suggestions? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.62.126.82 (talk) 12:58, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't understand what you are trying to say! The gen-X (talk) 14:44, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia can be slow. It is a very popular website. You just have to wait. As for accessing the Reference Desk pages, they are slower than most of Wikipedia both in size of data that is transmitted and the time it takes your web browser to display the data. -- kainaw™ 15:00, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

5 minutes is a loongg time though. It comes up fast for me—no slower than any other pages. You might want to run a tracert to see where the hangup is—it might just be an issue of something going slow somewhere between your computer and the Wikimedia servers. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:06, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I too have experienced periodic (once a week) slow downs with wikipedia, it usually clears up the next day.87.102.86.73 (talk) 16:12, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

facebook/myspace tracking

somebody at my school yelled at me cause i'd been looking at their pages on facebook and myspace. How are they traking users? do facebook/myspace send out notices of whos lookking? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.213.24.10 (talk) 14:51, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Facebook doesn't let you track that sort of information—the only way to know is if someone clicks on a link in your profile to an external site, and then it shows up on tracking software you have on that site. Don't know about myspace. (And honestly, if they want you to be locked out of looking at their pages, there are privacy settings they can adjust. If they've made something public, you've every reason and right to look at it.) --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:02, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

According to this page, Facebook doesn't really allow tracking, but MySpace does. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:04, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I think there's a Facebook app that will track, as long as both you and the other user have the app installed. I've seen a number of supposed Myspace trackers, but I'm skeptical that they actually work. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 06:05, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Webcasting

I need to set up real-time webcasting (streaming of audio and video) for a conference.

What are my software options? I'd be interested in something that was: 1. free but reliable, 2. compatible with a range of web cams (though it'll probably be a Logitech Quickcam Orbit MP), 3. easy for someone on the other hand to watch no matter what kind of computer they had (and not cost them anything), and 4. would lend itself to being recorded (that is, the stream being saved) as well.

Any suggestions? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:01, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Have you looked at Skype or Stickam? The first allows video conferencing (IIRC), and computer-to-computer calling is free, and it's encrypted. But you need a third-party software to capture the streams, unless they've since changed it to include it. Stickam is the same, should be free, and it puts more of the load on their servers afaik, and you'd need a third-party software to capture those too, I think. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:28, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Is it a public event? Please support Yahoo! by using Yahoo! Live^BETA. There is no software to install (apart from a standard web browser and Adobe Flash technology) and it is free of cost. Kushal (talk) 02:48, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

You could use the ancient Microsoft NetMeeting, which operates in H.323. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 06:07, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

having problem unistalling FIREFOX 3.0

I having some problems unistalling FireFox 3.0. When I load up the unistall wizard to unistall Firefox 3.0 the wizard it freezes my pc and I cant do jack about it. I tried to CONTROL-ALT-DELEATE TO "STOP the freezing" but I cant get Program Manager to work. I tried Mozilla tech support I dont think they help me that much. I've tried to unistall Firefox atleast over 6 times I'm getting frustfrated right at this problem I'm just asking the large community of Wikipedian users to help me at here. Thanks. --Rio de oro (talk) 16:15, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

If the uninstall wizard failed you can try using ccleaner to remove it. Or you can manually uninstall by deleting the Firefox Installation directory (C:\Program files\Mozilla Firefox), then remove the shortcuts from the Start Menu by right-clicking and selecting delete. To remove the Windows registry entries use "regedit", but this is not necessary as they are harmless if left, and registry editing can completely screw up your computer. If you decide to reinstall Firefox at a later date try Portable Firefox which does not need to be installed, doesn't leave personal information behind or interfere with any currently installed versions of Firefox. JessicaN10248 16:30, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

If I do System Restore(the "time machine" undo thing) well that do any much . Btw, I know what ccleaner is but I dont got a clue on how to use it right. The web browser I'm currently right now is Internet Explorer 7Rio de oro (talk) 18:39, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Automated access to email account?

PROBLEM: I get periodic updates in my gmail e-mail box that I need to routinely scrub by hand and pass into a database. I need a way to automate this.

QUESTION: Is there a free or for-fee service out there that will allow me to easily access a passworded e-mail account, grab out specific messages by subject line and then process the message body all automatically via scheduled daily task? By easily I mean something that does not require compilation or hand-coding SOAP requests. Basically I'm just looking for an e-mail account with an easy-to-use API so I can talk to it with some kind of scripting language. Gmail doesn't have an api, so I have to look elsewhere. NoClutter (talk) 17:05, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, gmail does support POP3 though. That's a relatively easy way of managing something, and you should be able to parse the retrieved message with a script. Not sure if this would be something acceptable as a solution for you though. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:24, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

If you use Firefox you might be able to use a greasemonkey script but don't ask me to write as i have no clue how to... Xor24 ^{talk to me} 02:02, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

June 24

DVD authoring

Could you name me a free software for MS Windows or Mac OS X that will burn a DVD video (or create an ISO for the above). Well, I guess, beggars cannot be choosers so freeware would be fine as well. The only condition is that the app should not keep crashing forever like DVD flick tends to do with my Toshiba Satellite. :( Kushal (talk) 03:00, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

For working with isos, I see no reason to get fancy. I use cdrecord and mkisofs (both command-line utilities). I don't need pretty animations. Just type a command to make an iso or burn an iso on the command line and wait for it to get done. -- kainaw™ 03:43, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Can I make ISOs of DVDs that will play on most DVD players, if not all? Hmm ... let me look up mkisofs. Thanks, kainaw. any more takers? Kushal (talk) 04:08, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

The program you use to make and burn the isos has very little to do with what DVD players will play the DVD. Of course, if you make an ISO from scratch (not from an existing DVD), you will be responsible for building the chapter and menu structure so the DVD players can properly play the DVD. This is just like making an audio CD. You can't just throw random mp3s on a disk and call it an audio CD. It must have the proper track format. -- kainaw™ 04:28, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

I am kind of looking for a software like DeVeDe for Windows or Mac OS X. I know the software that burns the iso does not matter but DeVeDe makes iso files which I can stick into the dvd burning program and DeVeDe kind of makes the dvd iso's. Kushal (talk) 10:02, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

I just stuck with trusty old Wubi to go to DeVeDe in Ubuntu 8.04. Then I let it work all night long and got an iso. I will probably go back to Ubuntu and use Brasero or something to actually burn it into a disc. I was hoping a similar approach was possible on Windows or a Mac. Please help. Kushal (talk) 18:03, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Contactless smart cards

Are there contactless smart cards which function identical to regular contact smart cards except for their physical interface? We are experimenting with using smart cards with Linux and looking in to contactless smart cards to store RSA private keys for login authentication, file encryption, and e-mail S/MIME signing/encryption. Is this possible to do with current contactless smart cards? Is it secure (both in transmission and having a PIN with the same protections as PINs on most contact smart cards)? What additional resources are there for investigating this? Thanks 192.156.33.34 (talk) 04:21, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

All smartcards I've worked with do nothing more than respond with a number when a signal hits them. That number could be a public key in some sort of PGP system. But, you'll need to make your own smartcards if you want them to perform internal logic and perform a proper PGP handshake. As for having the cards store private keys - that is a bad idea. They respond to a signal that may easily be duplicated. What happens with some guy puts a laptop in his backpack and has it emitting the "give me your keys" signal to all nearby smartcards and gets in an elevator with all the executive personnel? In that case, you want smartcards with about a half-inch range. They may as well be contact smartcards. -- kainaw™ 04:32, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Yea, I'm looking for a contactless smart card that's identical to a regular smartcard and can do processing. For your private key statement, that's why I was wondering if the transmission is secured and has authentication with a PIN, as it would mitigate any issue with eavesdropping or brute forcing -- with regular smart cards, if an incorrect PIN has been entered too many times it locks. We can do everything we want with regular smart cards, but the feature of being able to just tap your wallet or ID badge on a sensor seems very convenient and I'm trying to research its feasibility. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.156.33.34 (talk) 05:34, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

See Oyster card and contactless smartcard? -- SGBailey (talk) 09:07, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Transferring big files between PC's

What is the simplest and cheapest way to move big files (15 MB) one time between an old, bare bones PC with Windows 98 SE to a P4 running XP? Can I hook up my network card from my new machine to the old one and email the files to myself? Or will a USB drive work? Or do I have to hook up a CD or DVD burner? Bear in mind that I'm a hardware klutz. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:35, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Flash drives are not an ideal solution here because Windows 98 SE might require you to supply device drivers manually. Burning CDs for 18 MB files seems wasteful unless you do multisession optical disc authoring. Wiring the two computers together seems like overkill because it will not be used any often. Kushal (talk) 10:15, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

I prefer to just remove the hard drive(s) from the old PC and hook them up to the new PC. This can either be done temporarily to transfer files, or permanently, if the new PC can accommodate both the old hard drives and the new hard drives. If it's only temporary, you can disconnect the cables for the CD and/or DVD drives and use them to attach to the old hard drives. Stores also sell a "docking station" to convert an internal hard drive to an external, USB hard drive. StuRat (talk) 10:22, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

StuRat's solution is good and might be my preferred solution (on a PC; on a Macintosh I'd use either the built-in networking or Target Disk Mode), but for a self-described "hardware klutz", Kermit or ZMODEM might be nice, albeit old-fashioned solutions. But those are almost certain to work given the null modem connecting cable.

Atlant (talk) 10:28, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

I'd go with the USB flash drive. They're easy and cheap (you can get a 2GB flash drive for $20 nowadays). Yeah, you might have to look up some drivers the first time you plug it into the old one. But that's a one time thing. It's a lot easier for a novice than removing the hard drive, much less re-connecting it and getting all the jumpers right (and potentially having to fiddle with the BIOS, depending on how the system is set up).--98.217.8.46 (talk) 13:23, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Apostrophe

Where did this apostrophe ' come from ? Not ’ (the real apostrophe) or ′ (the prime symbol) but ' (misuse for the real apostrophe). In the article, we can read : The typewriter apostrophe ( ' ) was inherited by computer keyboards but where exactly ? Who invented this approximative symbol ? VIGNERON * ^discut. 09:35, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Our article on quotation mark glyphs has some answers. In summary:

• Vertical or "ambidextrous" double quotation marks were introduced on typewriters to reduce the number of keys on the keyboard; the single apostrophe was presumably made vertical for consistency of appearance in typed text.
• Early computer keyboards inherited the standard typewriter layout.
• Vertical quotation marks and apostrophes became enshrined in the ASCII character set as ASCII codes 34 and 39 respectively.
• Various word processing systems and programs adopted different (and often inconsistent) conventions for distinguishing, interpreting and presenting quotation marks, apostrophes, grave accents and primes.
• This confusion has been somewhat reduced by the introduction of separate Unicode codes for left/right single/double quotation marks. Gandalf61 (talk) 10:56, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

But before computer ? (uh, maybe it’s not the right place to ask that) Is it Christopher Latham Sholes or someone before who introduce this misuse ? VIGNERON * ^discut. 11:05, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Typewriters existed long before computers; as VIGNERON said, it's from there that the "tradition" comes.

Atlant (talk) 11:44, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

aabout alcatel

can you help me on alcatel omni pcx enterprise working on IP. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kapiltci (talk • contribs) 11:01, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

We might be able to help, but you'll have to ask an actual question. --LarryMac | Talk 12:59, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Does IP mean Intellectual property? Kushal (talk) 17:57, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

More likely it means Internet protocol, because "The Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise is an integrated, interactive communications solution for medium-sized businesses and large corporations." ([8]). --LarryMac | Talk 19:01, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Hornet 3.0 for Vista

I enjoy playing old games and one of those is Hornet 3.0 by Graphsim. I used to play it on my older Compaq laptop which ran XP and had an older processor and stuff but I recently bought a new laptop which uses Vista with newer stuff. Installing the demo as a test, the thing did not work. What should I do? --Blue387 (talk) 14:22, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

gmail e-mail notifier for multiple gmail accounts...

I'd like to be able to be notified of new e-mails in real-time, but for multiple gmail accounts. I found one such solution "gmail notifier", but unfortunately it requires java, which I wouldn't like to have running all the time. Is there anything else like that? Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.120.108.31 (talk) 14:55, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Digsby will do this, but it might be more memory-hungry than you'd be happy with if you're only using it as an email notifier. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 16:48, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Webmail Notifier works on Mozilla Firefox including the latest Firefox 3 browser. Please give that a look. Kushal (talk) 17:55, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Database of current digital cameras?

I had a Kodak v570 which was fantastic because it had an ultra-wide angle lens (23mm equivalent on a 35mm camera). However, it seems impossible to find any modern cameras that have a wide angle anywhere close to that. Anyone know of a model like that or a website that would contain the 35mm equivalents for lenses of all currently available cameras? --70.167.58.6 (talk) 16:10, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Linux kernel 0.01

Ive been given this link to the linux kernel 0.01: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/ but don't know which item on there is the kernel. Can anyone help me? --RMFan1 (talk) 17:45, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Both the one ending in .gz and the one ending in .bz2 contain the kernel source code. They just use different compression formats. --Sean 18:56, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Java Help

Yes, this is homework; however, I'm fairly sure that I know what needs to be done and I just need to know a specific function to do what I want to do. While it is easy to look up a function to see what it does, unfortunately it is very difficult to find a function that does a specific thing, so I'd just like to ask for some help here. I hope this doesn't break the "homework" rule.

I'm writing a basic hangman program to introduce myself to basic string manipulation, but i'm stuck. I have an array with a dictionary of words to use (one word per element) and then a rng to grab a word from the array. I then put that word into an array, one character per element. I can use the *.length function to get the number of letters in the array. I want to then print one underscore per character that exists in the array, as is standard in hangman, but I don't know how to do that. I was thinking maybe a loop, where it prints one underscore while the number of underscores is less than the number of letters in the word, but that seems overcomplicated. Anyone? 152.23.160.76 (talk) 18:35, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Your approach sounds fine. Let us know if you have any trouble doing it. --Sean 19:01, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

You might want to print an underscore and a blank space for each letter, so that the player can easily tell how many letters are in the word. --LarryMac | Talk 19:06, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

That is specifically what "for" loops are made for. For each letter in the array, print an underscore. -- kainaw™ 19:20, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

what in the world is this: �?

I found it in the word g�teaux here. Thanks. --MagneticFlux (talk) 20:11, 24 June 2008 (UTC)