Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing: Difference between revisions

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<!-- PLEASE KEEP THIS COMMENT TO SHOW TRANSCLUSION FORMAT:

= September 3 =

{{Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Computing/2006 September 3}}

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=September 22=

== Name that Game ==

I'm trying to find a [[computer game]] that I played several years ago (around [[2000]], I think). When I played it, it was a [[beta test|beta]], so I'm not sure if it was ever finished.

Things I'm sure about:

*[[4X]] [[space]] game for [[Microsoft Windows]].

*[[2D]] map.

*Instantaneous communication ([[FTL]]) for a set distance

**Upgradeable with [[research]].

**Can build ships/stations to act as [[repeater|relay]]s.

**Delayed orders and information beyond that distance.

**Leader can be shipped as cargo to change where the player "is".

*Around 6 [[resource]]s that you need, some in larger quantities than others.

*Can build space stations to handle [[micromanagement]] of various tasks.

Other features I remember:

*Research labs

**Can be built on ships and space stations.

**Tech level is upgradeable

*Remote mining

*Technology is on a per-planet/ship basis, can be transferred somehow.

*All ship parts could be upgraded by technology.

*Ships needed power.

*Engine [[efficiency]] was given as a percentage. (% reduction in cost of movement?)

*Huge [[universe]], on the order of thousands or even millions of systems.

*Designed your own ships by using components.

Anybody else remember this game, specifically what it was called? I was just telling a friend about it, and it's driving me nuts that I can't find it anymore, or even remember its name. -[[User:FunnyMan3595|FunnyMan]] 00:47, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Sounds very intersesting! If you're interested in that kind of thing you should check out [[Anacreon (computer game)]].. it's the RTS version of nethack as far as cult status is concerned :) --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 22:40, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== about price of laptop in different model ==

sir i want to know the price chat of different models of laptop,and what are the features it has?

:I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "price chat". But if you want to check on prices of different laptop models and get their specs you can got to [http://www.froogle.com Froogle] or [http://www.pricewatch.com pricewatch.com]. Both should be good for those needs. —[[User:Mitaphane|Mitaphane]] _{[[User talk:Mitaphane|talk]]} 03:53, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

I speak RefDeskia, and can interpret that into English as "price chart". :-) [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 04:15, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:How much are you looking to spend? Do you want the latest technology or a laptop that can suit specific needs? --[[User:Proficient|Proficient]] 06:38, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:500 to 2500 dollars is the typical range --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 22:41, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== Windows 2000 server not booting from first switch ==

Hi there,

If I have windows 2000 server and some times it is not booting from first switch on and I need

to do that again after some time then will work fine and after many hours or minutes will shutdown without notifying me.

What can I do regarding this problem??

Cheers,

Abdullah

:Just to be sure on this problem, is Windows locking up when it boots(i.e. you see notification that Windows is loading but never loads), or when you turn on the computer you get no computer screen activity at all?

:If you're computer is shutting down sporadically(without any notice from windows shutting down automatically), I suspect your [[power supply]] could be faulty and might need to be replaced. —[[User:Mitaphane|Mitaphane]] _{[[User talk:Mitaphane|talk]]} 01:13, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

== wiki - firefox ==

I've been experiencing a strange phenomenon when using firefox to edit the ref. desk pages. Ther eis a significant delay (~1 sec) when I type on my keyboard and when it shows up in the box. I'm sure ther eis a faq about this? ANy ideas? I'm forced to use IE!! [[User:Jasbutal|Jasbutal]] 05:02, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

: Are you clicking the edit links on the side, or editing the whole page? [[User:Dysprosia|Dysprosia]] 05:12, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

::I occasionally get this, too. I don't know the cause, but a reboot cures it. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 06:20, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Firefox is known to have issues with being memory [[FireFox#Memory_use|intensive]]. Next time this happens press (I'm assuming Windows here) Ctrl+Alt+Del and look at the memory usage for FireFox compared with amount of free RAM you have. —[[User:Mitaphane|Mitaphane]] _{[[User talk:Mitaphane|talk]]} 01:06, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

== PDF printing - slow and fast ==

I've noticed that when I convert Word docs to PDF using any kind of converter and then print them, the printing is very slow. However, if I print out the same Word doc and then scan it back in as a PDF using a Fujitsu ScanSnap, and then print it, it is much faster.

Apparently it has something to do with the way the program recognizes the text. Is there any way I can skip the step of having to physically print out the document?

Thanks, [[User:150.174.104.75|150.174.104.75]] 12:51, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

: You're actually looking at two different kinds of file here. When you convert a Word document to a PDF (using somehting like CutePDF with GhostScript, highly recommend) the pdf file contains text and vector graphics - you can zoom in as much as you like and it'll stay sharp. When you scan a document to PDF, it's saved as a raster image file, like a JPEG - if you zoom in, it'll get blurrier. It'll also almost always be a far larger file if scanned in like this. This exact activity used to be my job, and I once made a CutePDF version of a report that was 10MB to replace the archive copy which had been scanned - it was 150MB! [[User:84.71.169.89|84.71.169.89]] 14:31, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I've also noticed that scanned documents are bigger, but this isn't a big problem for me (yet). Can CutePDF convert a Word file directly to a raster image file without having to print it out and re-scan? [[User:150.174.104.75|150.174.104.75]] 14:54, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:Have you tried printing to a (generic) Postscript file from Word, then dropping the resulting PS file into CutePDF? This sometimes makes for a cleaner file.--[[User:Shantavira|Shantavira]] 18:14, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Actually, what I'm trying to do is convert the PDF files to PocketMod (booklet) form using the free convertor. This results in printing the text extra-small (but not too small for me to read). After scanning a document with the ScanSnap and making up a PocketMod that way, there's no problem. But if I convert from Word to a PDF, and then make up a PocketMod out of that, it takes at least 50 minutes to print 1 page. (Using PostScript didn't work for me...) [[User:150.174.104.94|150.174.104.94]] 20:01, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:I don't know why it should be printing so slow as a vector graphic. You might try using a different printer driver; it might be having difficulty translating or downloading the fonts as it is. It also might be that whatever you are using to encode the Word doc as PDF is not doing a very good job. When I export from Word to a PDF in OS X, it makes a very bloated and nasty file. If I run Optimize PDF in Adobe Acrobat, though, it shrinks it considerably and makes it much swifter to use. Just a thought. --[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 19:16, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

::I have read, but can't verify, that upgrading the PDF reader does not always work well, and it is safer to uninstall the old version and install the new version from scratch. --[[User:Gerry Ashton|Gerry Ashton]] 17:24, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:::I was specifically recommending trying a different printer driver, not a different reader. It's a very different distinction. --[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 22:42, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

== Hotmail attachment issue ==

OK... I've got a Hotmail problem, thought I'd bring it to you guys.

I need to download attachments (Word files) to an email that I've received, but Internet Explorer says it has an error retrieving the file (long URL) from a remote IP (presumably the Hotmail server). It's really important that I get this to work.

Some points:

* The problem applies to all standard (non-WLM) Hotmail accounts accessed by my computer.

* The problem applies to all emails in those accounts

* The problem has developed in the last week, I'm not aware of anything which has changed

* It does not affect my account accessed from another computer.

* It does not affect a corporate email account accessed from my computer.

* My computer is accessing the Internet through a cable modem, I don't have a network so can't tell if it's the computer or the modem.

Some suggested solutions:

* Windows Live Mail - I haven't tried it yet, but it's been suggested that if I upgrade to it then that might work

* Get Firefox - I don't really want to put any more software on my machine if I can help it

* Get an alternate account, Gmail or similar, and use that - I don't want to change addresses as I've had my current one for ages and it's my name, but forwarding stuff to Gmail when I need to download the attachment might be a workaround.

Any ideas? '''[[User:Tyrhinis|Tyr]]''[[User_talk:Tyrhinis|hinis]]''''' 14:40, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:I would try either using a different browser (Firefox is worth putting on your machine) or forwarding it to a different e-mail service and seeing if that improves things (in other words, the last two options you had). The first option will tell you if it is a problem with IE and Hotmail; the latter will tell you if it is just a problem with Hotmail. Once you've narrowed down where the problem is, you should be able to figure out the solution. ''My'' guess is that it is a problem with Hotmail's own servers — if you haven't changed anything on your own end of things then it is probably a problem on their end. --[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 19:19, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

== Which type of RAM to buy? ==

I want to buy some RAM for my desktop PC but there are so many different types available. What's the simplest way to find out which type of RAM I need for my computer? --[[User:Ukdan999|Ukdan999]] 14:50, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:[[DDR2]] [[User:A Clown in the Dark|A Clown in the Dark]] 16:48, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:Find out what motherboard you have, and check at the manufacturer's website to see what type of memory your motherboard accepts. Make absolutely certain of this, sometimes different versions of the same basic motherboard take different types of memory (for example, the [[List of Intel chipsets#Pentium 4 Chipsets|Intel 845]]E takes up to PC2100, whereas the 845GL takes up to PC2700, as I found out the hard way recently). For a desktop PC, do NOT buy SODIMM RAM, which is for laptops (I also found this out the hard way once). It should say which motherboard you have in your PC's manual. Alternatively, it can be displayed when you boot your PC up, and the model is often printed on the motherboard itself. If you want to cheat a bit, the RAM chips you currently have installed may have a label on them stating what type they are. Hope that helps. [[User:CaptainVindaloo|CaptainVindaloo]] ^{[[User talk:CaptainVindaloo|t]] [[Special:Contributions/CaptainVindaloo|c]] [[Special:Emailuser/CaptainVindaloo|e]]} 17:31, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:I suggest running this program [http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php here]. Report back here with the information you find under the "Memory" tab. This will be info on what RAM you currently have. It may also help to tell us a bit about your CPU ("Clocks" and "Cache" data). --[[User:Russoc4|Russoc4]] 17:34, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

:I suggest taking the ram out of your computer and walking into the store with it in hand. Then, say you need more of whatever type it is. --[[User:Kainaw|Kainaw]] <small>^{[[User_talk:Kainaw|(talk)]]}</small> 00:34, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

::Good idea. Just make sure your computer remains powered off while the RAM is not installed. --[[User:Russoc4|Russoc4]] 01:55, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

My brain has random access memory. For example, if I try to recall the largest city in [[Sri Lanka]], I come up with [[Peter Falk]]. :-) [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 05:37, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I downloaded that CPU-Z program and it says "Max Bandwidth" = PC3200 (200MHz).

When I search dabs.com for PC3200 RAM (1GB) it still shows me over 30 different items ranging from £60 to £110. Will all of these do the same job and if so why the huge range of prices? --[[User:Ukdan999|Ukdan999]] 12:31, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:I'm not sure what the differences are, to be honest. Maybe the most expensive ones will have some kind of flashy technology on them that enables them to make tea and coffee, or something? I suppose the cheaper ones will be older models made with older manufacturing techniques, therefore theoretically more prone to failure, but still highly unlikely to. Or maybe all the different memory manufacturers are in a huge price war with eachother. I recommend shopping around a bit, use Google. [[Amazon.com|Amazon]] and [http://www.lowestonweb.com http://www.lowestonweb.com] have reasonable prices on memory, too. [[User:CaptainVindaloo|CaptainVindaloo]] ^{[[User talk:CaptainVindaloo|t]] [[Special:Contributions/CaptainVindaloo|c]] [[Special:Emailuser/CaptainVindaloo|e]]} 13:55, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

: Try walking through the [http://www.crucial.com/ Crucial Memory Advisor] to see guaranteed compatible options. It's hard to find memory these days that is unreliable; most comes with a lifetime warranty. --[[User:KSmrq|KSmrq]]^{[[User talk:KSmrq|T]]} 18:12, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:Sometimes you can use RAM that is not in the manufacturer's recommended list. But it's better to do so if you're not experienced. --[[User:Proficient|Proficient]] 06:14, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

=September 23=

== Lists of names for download ==

I understand Wikipedia has [[List of people by name]], but is there anywhere where I can download a list of male names as well as last names? I am making an online football name and because I am not [[EA]], I don't have a complete list, so I want to generate random names. Ladies' football won't be available, sorry. :-/

The problem with [[List of people by name]] is that it doesn't actually list first names and last names. I thought of grabbing each name and using a regular expression to separate them, and I have software to remove duplicates and manage the files. But my regular expression coding sucks, so I'd rather find some lists online.

If the lists could be separated by nationality, that would be great, too.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 8pt;">[[User:x42bn6|<span style="font-weight: bold;">x42bn6</span>]] [[User_talk:x42bn6|Talk]]</span> 03:54, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

== iPod rumours ==

I keep hearing these horrible rumours from people about my [[iPod]] nano, such as that it will break down after a million songs are played, or that it will explode if left in a certain degree of coldness. I have no way of knowing if these are true, or if my friends are simply attempting to scare me. Anyone have any input? '''[[User:Russian F|<font color="green">Russian F</font>]]''' 04:00, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:A million songs ? At 3 minutes a song, that's 3 million minutes. Even figuring for continuous play, that would still be 5.7 years, by which time you will no doubt have bought the new nasally insertable iPod femto, which can store one trillion of your favorite songs. :-) [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 05:30, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:Any [[flash memory]] based device will have a limited number of read/write cycles. None of the articles I've read around on wikipedia address this the issue very well. From what I've read, that number varies around 10,000 - 100,000 cycles. So yeah, your nano will break down ''eventually'' but that depends on your use. Let's say, on average, you listen to 9 songs a day and put 1 new song on it a day. That would mean your nano would last somewhere between 2.5 and 25 years(I'd shoot some around 10-15 years before it crapped out). If you want more accurate number(instead my postulation), I'd go check Apple's website.

:As far as the explosion thing, that's rubbish. There is nothing combustable on iPod Nano, and even if there was it would probably need a very hot sauce to ignite it. —[[User:Mitaphane|Mitaphane]] _{[[User talk:Mitaphane|talk]]} 05:44, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

::Some thousand degrees for that good ol' anondized aluminum. — [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Mac_Davis X] '''['''<nowiki></nowiki>'''[[User:Mac Davis|<span style="font-family:Times;color:navy;"><em><font color=#006600>Mac Davis</font></em></span>]]] <small>(<font color=#6688AA>[[User:Mac_Davis/Desk|SUPERDESK]]</font>|<font color=#666666>[[User_talk:Mac_Davis/Improvement|Help me improve]]</font></small>)'''07:21, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

::Would [[Tabasco sauce|this]] do it? --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 20:50, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:: No, it's not rubbish; see our article on [[lithium-ion batteries]]: ''Lithium-ion batteries can easily rupture, ignite, or explode when exposed to high temperatures, or direct sunlight''. [[User:Dysprosia|Dysprosia]] 00:35, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:AFAIK, there's no limit to the amount of read cycles on flash memory; the limit is only on the write cycles. There's also [[wear leveling]], which helps increase the limit if you do not rewrite the whole memory all the time. So, even if it writes a counter every time a song is played, if it uses wear leveling, it should last for much longer than that.

:As to exploding, iPods (like almost every portable electronic device these days) use a [[lithium ion battery]], which can explode if exposed to high temperatures or mistreated. (We seem to be missing an article on [[exploding battery]].) --[[User:CesarB|cesarb]] 14:26, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

== ANSWERED -> Transfering Data From an Old Computer to a New One ==

I just recently bought a new computer to replace my old, outdated one. There are quite a few extremely important files and a couple of small programs stored on the old hard drive that I really need to transfer onto my new computer. It's not really much, under 100 meg. The problem is my old computer doesn't even have a CD burner, so I can't do it that way. I suppose another option would be to upload it all to my Yahoo account, and then download it all to my new computer. But with my dial-up access that would probably take an eternity.

I know that "technically" I can remove the hard drive from the old computer and install it into the new one temporarily and then just transfer everything I want. I'm pretty sure I know how to do that, but my experience has been that every time I've ever tried to do something like that, though I may solve one problem, I inevitably create like seven new ones, so I've learned my lesson and I don't dare fiddle around like that.

I've gone to a few computer shops asking how this is usually done. I had expected it to be a pretty simple matter since it seems that almost everyone replaces their old obsolete computers with new ones every several years or so, and that they'd have a pretty simple answer. The really strange thing though is that at every shop I went to all they had was the same blank stare in their faces as if I was asking them for the answer to the meaning of life. It's really weird. I would have thought this type of thing is done all the time, whenever someone buys a new computer. Doesn't everyone do this when they get a new computer? Isn't this a pretty routine thing to do? It really doesn't make any sense to me.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions about the whole thing? Thanks. [[User:Loomis51|Loomis]] 04:44, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:Yeah, that is odd. Any tech person worth a damn should be able to tell you how to do this in a couple of minutes. Since it sounds like you have reservations with cracking open your new computer, one way you can do this is buy a [[Disk enclosure|USB hard drive enclosure]] and put your old hard drive inside it. From there, you can plug it into your new computer's USB port. Not only will it transfer the data quickly, you can use the old hard drive for extra storage. Another way, if your new and old computer both have ethernet cards, is buy a [[Ethernet crossover cable]] and hook up the two computers together via their ethernet cards. Or, if your old computer has a USB port, a [[USB flash drive]] is good too, I just recently perchase a 1GB drive for $25. I'll let you decide the best options on your needs [[User:Mitaphane|Mitaphane]] _{[[User talk:Mitaphane|talk]]} 05:12, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

::I agree with those options. Another is to set up a LAN so you can transfer files at will. You would need a network card or USB port on both computers to do that. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 05:24, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:A possible cause for the blank stares is that, in my experience, shop attendants are more and more often salespeople in stead of experts, a very regrettable development. Consumers are largely to blame for that, going for the cheapest seller, based on commercial blahblah. But not knowing how to install a harddisk is very extreme. This is a good way to find a good computer shop. Ignore the shouting high street shops and visit some small shops where they build computers themselves until you find one where you get some decent assistance and reward them by doing all your computer shoppping there in the future. That will in turn make them more helpful, etc etc. I make it a point to make friends with shopkeepers this way.

:As to the solution, this is a good opportunity to get to know the innards of your computer. Excepting Macs, computers are designed to be tinkered with. It is (always?) physically impossible to make damaging connections. Shut down the computer, open the case and look at how the present hard disks are connected (learning by example is another one of my favourites). Two complications. One is that there are three types of hard disks (excepting notebooks): [[AT Attachment|ATA]], [[SCSI]] and [[SATA]]. Look at the images to see what you have. SCSI is unlikely for a home computer. SATA is easy - just plug in (it's even hot pluggable, meaning you don't need to turn off the computer). But your old one will most probably be ATA, in which case you may have to fiddle with the [[Jumper (computing)|jumpers]]. If there already is an IDE hd present, just one at the end of the cable, then you could connect your new one to the connector in the middle of the cable, with a jumper setting for 'slave' (should be shown on the hd or else in the manual). You could also connect it to the second connector on the mb (there usually are two), but you'll need a cable for that (no idea what they cost). In that case the jumper should be set to 'master' and the hd should be connected to the end of the cable (maybe that is no longer true, but it's better to be safe than sorry). Make sure to remember (write down!) what you have done. If it doesn't work, just reverse what you did and try another option. [[User:DirkvdM|DirkvdM]] 08:32, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

::Laptops also are not made for easy maintenance. I disagree that changing hard disks is safe, as a stray static electricity spark from your finger can damage the circuitry. A more common problem might be bending the pins when installing the drive. Thus, if the asker is uncomfortable with changing the hard disk, we shouldn't force him to do so. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 08:48, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:::I would never not force anyone to do anything (don't do unto others ... ). I've done that several times per day recently, because I'm rearranging my computers. Maybe I'm to dynamic a guy to be statically charged. :) Anyway, I've heard from people who should know that this static charge risk is very exaggerated. And one solution is to touch a radiator pipe or such just before you reach for anything in the computer. [[User:DirkvdM|DirkvdM]] 09:17, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

::::Manufacturers seem to go to great lengths to ship hard drives, [[Expansion card]]s, etc in static proof plastic ... it might be a genuine problem --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 20:25, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:::::Putting a product in a wrapper is hardly 'going to great lenghts'. And if you do so, you might as well use that anti-static stuff. If only to set the minds of people who heard this static story at rest. [[User:DirkvdM|DirkvdM]] 06:50, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks again, for all the comments and suggestions. I've actualy found a guy who'll do the whole thing for me for $30, so the problem's solved and now it's all just academic. But of course I'm still curious. One of you guys remarked that I have reservations about cracking open my new computer. I'm actually more concerned with my old one, as I'd like to keep it in working condition as a spare. The thing is that it seems that the newer the computer is, the more "idiot proof" it tends to be. I look inside my new computer and I see everything neatly arranged, whereas when I look into my old one, it's just a spaghetti-like mess of wires criss-crossing each other, some of them plugged into certain things, and some of them just hanging loose plugged into nothing. What happens is that whenever I try to rearrange the hardware in any way, some plug doing God-knows-what ends up getting unplugged, and of course I have no idea where it got unplugged ''from'', and as a result the whole computer just stops functioning, and I end up having to bring it to a tech specialist who'll probably charge me more to fix it than the whole computer is worth. But now, as I said, they seem to be far more idiot-proof, so perhaps the next time around, when I buy another computer to replace this one, I won't feel so worried about messing around with the hardware installed inside the tower. Thanks again to everyone, you've been of great help. [[User:Loomis51|Loomis]] 02:19, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

;Flash drive seems to be an easy way. --[[User:Proficient|Proficient]] 06:18, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== Burning ISO image - data verification error ==

I just downloaded an ISO image of Suse 10.1 and the checksum checked out, but when I used [[K3b]] (under Suse 9.1) to burn it, with verification of written data, I got an error twice, not during the burning but after the verification ('data differs'). Is this a consequence of K3b comparing the ISO image with the 'unpacked' written data, which are of course not the same? If so, why does K3b offer the option? [[User:DirkvdM|DirkvdM]] 07:39, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:Perhaps you are getting buffer underrun error. This would be particularly likely if the computer is busy unpacking it while you are trying to do the burn. Have you tried lowering the burn rate ? [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 08:40, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

::I did and K3b still wrote at a higher speed (2.5x in stead of 1x, which is still not very fast) and got the error message. So I installed with one of those disks, let the installaion program do a check of the dvd and it said it was fine. So I suppose it is. I've got Suse 10 up and running now, but of course that doens't guarantee ''everything'' 's hunky dory .... [[User:DirkvdM|DirkvdM]] 06:58, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Did you write it using DAO or SAO? I think it's common for the last few sectors to fail to be read when written with TAO (it happens at least with my burner), but usually these sectors are just padding added at the end of the ISO image by mkisofs, so it causes no real problem. --[[User:CesarB|cesarb]] 17:41, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

== ANSWERED -> I need programming help with a program on my TI-84 silver edition calculator ==

I'm trying to write a program for the quadratic formula, but it's not working properly:

I'm a Java programmer, so I know the concepts of programming. But not this particular programming language. So through trial and error, I have written this so far:

:0→A

:0→B

:0→C

:Prompt A, B, C

:0→X

:(-B+(sqrt(B² - (4AC)))/(2A))→ X

:0→Y

:(-B-(sqrt(B² - (4AC)))/(2A))→ Y

:X

:Y

My first problem is that when I use example values when running the program (such as A=1, B=2, C=1, which is the polynomial x² + 2x + 1), it does two things.

First of all, it only returns one answer. Second, it returns -2.

So I have two problems, one is, I need to know how to make it display both roots. Second, I need to know how to make it display the '''correct''' roots. (-2 is obviously not a solution, since it evaluates to 1)

Help? It has stumped me. --<font color="red">[[User:Kirbytime|Ķĩřβȳ]]</font><font color="green">[[Islam|♥]]</font><font color="pink">[[User_talk:Kirbytime|Ťįɱé]]</font><font color="blue">[[Special:Contributions/Kirbytime|Ø]]</font> 08:11, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

*It appears that your parens don't divide -B by 2A. Fix that.

*There is sometimes only one root, when B² = 4AC. You can check for that in the program or just print out two identical answers. This is the case in your example.

*The roots are sometimes complex or imaginary, when B² < 4AC. Check for that and either print an error or add code to give imaginary and complex solutions.

*The quadratic formula can't be used if A = 0. Check for that and solve by other methods, if true.

*I would call the variables X1 and X2, not X and Y, that's confusing.

:[[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 08:25, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

<s>*It appears that your parens don't divide -B by 2A. Fix that.</s> fixed.

<s>*There is sometimes only one root, when B² = 4AC. You can check for that in the program or just print out two identical answers. This is the case in your example.</s> I want both to be printed out.

<s>*The roots are sometimes complex or imaginary, when B² < 4AC. Check for that and either print an error or add code to give imaginary and complex solutions.</s> My calculator is already set to a+bi form, so this is not a problem.

<s>*The quadratic formula can't be used if A = 0. Check for that and solve by other methods, if true.</s> There's no reason to do so, because I'm only going to be using this program myself, and the scope of the program should only be quadratic equations.

<s>*I would call the variables X1 and X2, not X and Y, that's confusing.</s> I don't know how to do that. The closest I can get is Y₁ and Y₂.

And I still need to know how to print out both roots and not just one of them. Thanks for your help though. --<font color="red">[[User:Kirbytime|Ķĩřβȳ]]</font><font color="green">[[Islam|♥]]</font><font color="pink">[[User_talk:Kirbytime|Ťįɱé]]</font><font color="blue">[[Special:Contributions/Kirbytime|Ø]]</font> 09:31, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:I was assuming that both the values you had called X and Y were printing out, but they were both the same. Is this incorrect ? Have you tested with a value that gives two different roots ? If so, I don't know specifically how to print two values, but can guess. If the display only has room for one value, then perhaps it prints the first value, then the second, so quickly that you can't see the first. Is there a "wait" function that can pause it for a couple seconds in between ? If not, perhaps it can wait until some input from you, before displaying the next result. We need a real expert on that particular calc here, I see. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 10:34, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

::To print out a value, you need use the Disp function:

:Disp X

:Disp Y

::--[[User:Pidgeot|Pidgeot]] <small>[[User_talk:Pidgeot|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Pidgeot|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Pidgeot|(e)]]</small> 10:40, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

: Aside from fixing the low-level programming errors, it would be wise to fix the algorithm as well. As already advised, check that ''a'' is non-zero, and test the descriminant. But numerical robustness demands more. Quoting from the [[quadratic equation]] article:

:: Assuming the discriminant, ''b''²−4''ac'', is positive and ''b'' is nonzero, [a careful [[floating point]] computer implementation] will be something like the following.

::: <math>t := -(b + \sgn(b) \sqrt{b^2-4ac})/2 \,\! </math>

::: <math>r_{1} := t/a \,\! </math>

::: <math>r_{2} := c/t \,\! </math>

::Here sgn(''b'') is the [[sign function]], giving +1 if ''b'' is positive and −1 if ''b'' is negative; its use ensures that we always add two quantities of the same sign, avoiding [[loss of significance|catastrophic cancellation]]. The computation of ''r''₂ uses the fact that the product of the roots is ''c''/''a''.

: To see why this matters consider (''a'',''b'',''c'')&nbsp;= (1.0,−10000.0,1.0). Then ''b''² is 100&nbsp;000&nbsp;000.0, 4''ac'' is 4.0, and the descriminant, ''b''²−4''ac'', is 99&nbsp;999&nbsp;996.0, with square root almost exactly equal to ''b''. When the numerator takes the negative square root, the subtraction of large and nearly equal quantities in the familiar quadratic formula destroys almost all numerical significance in the result. --[[User:KSmrq|KSmrq]]^{[[User talk:KSmrq|T]]} 18:53, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Uh why did you erase [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Computing&diff=77397858&oldid=77396597 my response], KSmrq? .... Annyway, read my response at that link, and also to address the concerns above (almost everyone is steering you wrong): You cannot arbitrarily name variables, you must use A-Z or Theta. Y1, Y2, etc are used to define functions that can be graphed or manipulated with the graphing functions. You don't need to worry about advanced algorithm concerns: at the very most, check if the descriminant is negative and print an error rather than having it print a cryptic answer in terms of i. To do this, do something like (I'll assume you're reasonably programming-intelligent):

:If (abs(D)=D)

:Then

:Disp "NEGATIVE","DISCRIMINANT"

:Stop

:End

Just put this somewhere before you take the square root of D. Good luck, and like a said, post on my talk page for help --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 20:33, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:I'm very familar with TI-BASIC. All you really need to write is:

:Prompt A,B,C

:(-B+√(B²-4AC))/2A→X

:(-B-√(B²-4AC))/2A→Y

:Disp X,Y

:If there is no real answer, then you will get "ERR:NONREAL ANS ".

:You could also use:

:Prompt A,B,C

:Disp (-B+√(B²-4AC))/2A

:Disp (-B-√(B²-4AC))/2A

:and not even store the answer(s). This would make the program a bit smaller. --[[User:Yanwen|Yanwen]] 04:24, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:Let's make it even smaller, shall we?

:Prompt A,B,C

:√(B²-4AC)

:Disp (-B+Ans)/2A,(-B-Ans))/2A

:I used to write a bunch of TI-BASIC programs. Nerd kid at my school, quite a few versions of the quadratic formula program, and a set of math utilities. But I use z88dk now to program my calculator. You could also drop a closing parenthesis, and it'll reduce the number of bytes as well, but that's considered really bad coding practice. [[User:Jdstroy|Jdstroy]] 06:17, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

== ANSWERED -> Firefox ==

How come Firefox has suddenly decided to display web pages ([[Wikipedia]], [[BBC]]) incorrectly, as in it's only showing the bare bones. Is it not recognising [[css]] for some reason? How can I fix it? I have redownloaded Firefox but it still doesn't work properly.

IE is working fine. &mdash; [[user:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|&#9786;]] 10:33, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:Have you tried a reboot ? [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 10:36, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:: Yes. Didn't make a difference. &mdash; [[user:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|&#9786;]] 10:43, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:Did you try running it with a new profile (use <code>firefox -ProfileManager</code> to open the profile manager)? Usually firefox problems are tied to the profile, which isn't overwritten when you reinstall it. You can also try the [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Safe_mode safe mode] (<code>firefox -safe-mode</code>). --[[User:CesarB|cesarb]] 14:11, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:: Yes, it's better now I've reset my profile. &mdash; [[user:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|&#9786;]] 14:27, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

==How does a processor work? ==

When it is working what is happening inside the processor?

Have you tried reading Wikipedia's [[CPU]] article? --[[User:Ukdan999|Ukdan999]] 12:47, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:It doesn't do a very good job of explaining how it actually does anything. See [[Sheffer stroke]] and [[Sole sufficient operator]] --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 18:18, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:I would start out with [[Logic_gates]], and then look into [[Flip-flop_%28electronics%29]], and [[Clock_signal]]. A CPU is a collection of digital circuits which form many, many logic gates. Many of these gates are arranged in a configuration which can keep state (i.e. a flip-flop and its variants). "State" in this case means that the current electric configuration of the system is dependant on the current input as well as the previous input. For example, it is possible to arrange flip-flops in a chain and add logic which will cause the chain to "count" upwards (each flip-flop can have the state of either "on" or "off", which correspond to a 1 or 0, thus a series of them can be made to count in binary numbers). The clock is used to synchronize the action of all the components, i.e. all the circuits move "forward" one unit during each clock pulse. If one can get ones mind around the idea of digital circuits performing a simple "computation" like counting, it isnt too much of a reach to imagine a CPU as working in essentially the same manner, but much more complex. By adding more and more gates to the design, features such as a turing-complete instruction set, registers, random-access memory, caches, etc. are implemented. --[[User:65.105.3.194|65.105.3.194]] 18:33, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:See also the articles at [[:Category:Central processing unit]]. --[[User:CesarB|cesarb]] 17:24, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

== Globals as functions (C++) ==

Since functions are in global scope, would it be a bad thing to do something like:

string getABC() {

return "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";

}

instead of just puttng a string declaration outside of a function?

--[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 18:15, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:The "bad" thing here in reference to scope would be that you're worried someone else may also define a function with the same name? There are differences between a function (which can cause symbol conflicts unless they are not exported from a module) and a constant, which would only cause a conflict if the header file was included, but why spend time thinking about this kind of minutia? C++ has features such as namespaces and the preprocessor which are very effective at resolving name conflicts. Use good naming conventions in your own code, and concentrate on getting the overall design correct instead of spending too long dwelling on trivial things.

:On the other hand, maybe you're referring to returning a std::string from a function which is automatically constructed from a const char *. In this case I'm not sure what "bad"ness you're referring to. Returning or declaring a variable of type const char * would be slightly more efficient, but would break binary compatibility later if you wanted to return a non-constant string.

::I'm referring to the convention of considering globals evil. --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 20:17, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

:::This refers to global variables, not constants. Global variables are to be avoided where possible because it is difficult to find all the pieces of code which read and modify them, thus making programs more brittle (resistant to change). A global function or constant is sometimes considered poor style because of name conflicts, but they are not neccessarily functionally wrong.

:There is also a performance issue. A constant embedded in a function won't be recognized by the compiler as a constant, which means that instead of the value being immediately fetched where you need it, a whole function call is added. If you were doing this in a time critical loop, all of these unnecessary function calls could slow down your program significantly. The real point of "const" values is to let the compiler know that it can optimize the code to take advantage of this fact. When you guarantee constness, there are all sorts of tweaks the compiler can make to speed up the implementation of your code. With a function encapsulating a constant, however, you've cut off that performance bonus.

:So, the code will still produce a correct result, but you've cut off one of C++'s big speed advantages. I would say that this is bad in general. The only time I'd think it was acceptable is if you believe that at some future time getABC will be changed into something that actually does a calculation. (In which case it's not really supposed to be a constant anyway.) - [[User:Rainwarrior|Rainwarrior]] 15:37, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

== Normalising mp3s ==

Is it possible to normalise mp3s without a further loss in quality?

:Perhaps http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ would help?

::There is a linux program "normalize" that normalizes the sound levels in mp3's and ogg's. --[[User:Kainaw|Kainaw]] <small>^{[[User_talk:Kainaw|(talk)]]}</small> 00:37, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Peak normalisation or RMS normalisation is not nice. Better to use [[Replay Gain]]. --'''[[User:Kjoonlee|Kjoon]]'''[[User talk:Kjoonlee|lee]] 03:31, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

=September 24=

== How does SMS to 466453 work? ==

Does anyone know how an SMS to 466453 ("Google SMS") work? I've read various things, and most just say that shortcodes are service-provider implemented, and that there's a shortcode database that manages stuff like this. But really, how does the message get routed? Does it go through an email gateway, then to Google, and back? [[User:Jdstroy|Jdstroy]] 06:23, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

== Big Screen, slow Computer ==

Hi! I plan to buy a 20 inch TFT screen. I´m using a eight year old Pentium II computer with a Riva 128 graphics card (without DVI connector) running Linux (Debian Etch). Can a computer be too slow for a big screen? Will the operating system and the graphics card be able to facilitate a 1400x1050 or 1600x1200 (SyncMaster 203B or 204B) resolution? Thanks in advance, Michael --[[User:208.101.59.30|208.101.59.30]] 07:39, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:From the [[RIVA 128]] article I see that it supports up to 4MB of memory (the ZX version supports 8MB). I can confidently say that it will not be able to reach such resolutions. ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR=\\\\\\\"#FF9900\\\\\\\">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 16:34, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

::Thank You! I´ve got the 8MB version. If I multiply the resolution with the color depth, I get: 1600 x 1200 x 24bit = 5.5MB. Does this mean it will work? If not, how much do I need? --[[User:208.101.59.30|208.101.59.30]] 17:04, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Well, there are other things to taken into consideration such as refresh rates as well. Fortunately, I shall take back my former statement. The NVIDIA press release for RIVA 128ZX[http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_20020114_4566.html] says "up to 1600x1200x32bpp @ 85Hz" which sounds rather like the extremes of what this card can do. Of course, don't expect to play games on it! To be on the safe side, I recommend buying a slightly better card, for example a TNT2 or GeForce 256 with at least 16MB as they cost peanuts nowadays. Of course, beware of AGP incompatibilities. Hope this helps! ---<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR=\"#FF9900\">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 18:29, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

::::Thank you very much for your advice, Ukdragon! --[[User:208.101.59.30|208.101.59.30]] 14:42, 26 September 2006 (UTC) Michael

== programming in python ==

Hello,

I have been trying to write a programme in python to mark a sudoku already solved by a play.I must confess that it has not been easy. Please could you just give me a clue?

Thanks

[[User:196.21.78.18|196.21.78.18]] 12:19, 24 September 2006 (UTC)Margaret

:I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "mark a sudoku already solved by a play" but you can solve sudoku puzzles fairly easily with a program, just teach the program the rules of sudoku, then have it put the first number that doesn't break a rule into the first open spot, then put the next number that doesn't break a rule into the next open spot and so on, if you ever can't place a number, you have to go back and change the last number you placed (and you may have to do this multiple times). Hope this general algorithm is understandable.

:It sounds like the questioner wants a python program that tells you if a puzzle is correctly solved or not. It isn't difficult in any way. First, make sure there are no blanks - quick check. Then, check every row to make sure it contains 1-9, check every column to make sure it contains 1-9. Finally, check each 3x3 box. You may want to hard-code the indexes for those as it will only be 9 3x3 box checks. I would use a shortcut solution. If I find a blank, return false. If any row/col/box doesn't have 1-9, return a false. If I get through it all without returning a false, return a true. --[[User:Kainaw|Kainaw]] <small>^{[[User_talk:Kainaw|(talk)]]}</small> 14:57, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== Mediawiki + NTLM ==

I have a problem on implementing [[NTLM]] on [[Mediawiki]] 1.7.1 on Ubuntu 6.06. i cannot get mod_ntlm to work on Apache2. it just don't compile. What i really need is a automatic login on windows infested intranet. Nothing fancy, i just want mediawiki to fetch username and password from [[Active Directory]]. I'm not too good with [[php]]. Any suggestions how to proceed to overcome this obstacle?

http://modntlm.sourceforge.net/

http://www.thebluesmokeband.com/mod_ntlm.php

--[[User:Ilmawi|Ilmawi]] 12:50, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

could this work? does it work as a module?

http://search.cpan.org/~speeves/Apache2-AuthenNTLM-0.02/

--[[User:Ilmawi|Ilmawi]] 13:30, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

== Access hidden options in BIOS and Memory Timing Settings ==

How can I access the options hidden by the manufacturer in the BIOS? I googled around and I tried the Ctrl+F1 and SHIFT+F2+ALT+F3 combinations but they didn't work. I use an Award bios with MS-6719 motherboard from MSI (which is an oem-only board). I am trying to avoid flashing my BIOS. The reason is that I wish to upgrade my RAM but unfortunately the Memory timing settings (CAS Latency and such) is hidden. I'm not sure if I need to modify them but I thought I would just make them available just to make sure.

Also is there a program that allows me to modify bios settings from Windows? --<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 14:33, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:I've never seen a windows program that can modify BIOS settings... In fact I think the only way to modify these settings is to use the BIOS configuration utility or to flash the BIOS with a BIOS that already has the settings you want --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 17:12, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

::Actually, AOpen's Winbios[http://global.aopen.com.tw/tech/techinside/WinBIOS.htm] lets you acess the bios setup screen but it only works for AOpen motherboards. Also a program called AMISetup seems to do what I want but it only supports AMI bioses. The program CtCHIPZ supports other bioses but I do not have the chipsets required. I know how to modify a bios image file to unhide the settings but that involves flashing. Unfortunately my computer is shared and I am very much afraid of other users' wrath if I mess it up. I am planning to upgrade to PC3200 DDR memory modules even though my motherboard only supports up to PC2700. The PC2700 version of the same modules were selling at the same price so I thought I would get the faster ones. Is it really that necessary to access the RAM Timing settings in the BIOS or should just install and hope for the best? ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 17:27, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

== Disconnecting without turning off modem ==

Since I use a always on DSL connection, and use it through an Ethernet port, I must turn off modem everytime I want to disconnect. Can I disable LAN by right clicking on it everytime I want to disconnect?

If I disable and enable LAN, will it cause any trouble for LAN card or modem? Is there no problem if I do it and do it as many times I want? Is there any better way to disconnect than disabling LAN?

:As far as I'm aware, disabling LAN is the only simple way to disconnect from the network without doing it to the hardware physically (unplugging the network cable etc.). There are other software methods (firewalls usually provide a "stop all network traffic" function for example) but obviously they are not bundled with Windows. Disable LAN in windows just makes the operating system disacknowledge the NIC so therefore it won't do damage to the hardware. Although this method is effective, every time the connection is enabled again it will do a connecting sequence, e.g. configuring from a DHCP server among other things, which will usually only take a few seconds but it may get on your nerves. The only alternative I think will be using a software firewall that has a one-click traffic-pinching feature wich jsut blocks all traffic in or out of your computer. --<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 16:13, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

::Here's just two examples of firewalls that "pinches" network traffic: both [[ZoneAlarm]] and [[Norton Internet Security]] have the block traffic button on the top left corner, as you can see from the picture in their articles. --<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 16:19, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

== files management ==

I always create file in one ___location.But the file is related to various folders.So i create shortcuts in other folders so that all shortcuts have the same target.

The problem is when i make a back up copy in a CD or Flash drive the shortcuts are also copied with the same target.When i open that CD or flash drive in another computer the target file is not found in that computer.Is there any way to avoid this problem?

:Try changing the shortcuts so that they use relative paths instead of absolute paths. See [[Path (computing)]]. For example, suppose we have a directory "foo" in the root C: drive. Its path will be "C:\foo". Inside that directory we have a file called "file.txt" and another directory called "bar". If we create a shortcut linking to "file.txt" inside the directory "bar" we can either use an absolute path or a relative path. With an absolute path the shortcut will point to "C:\foo\file.txt" but with a relative path the shortcut will point to "..\file.txt" (literally meaning pointing to file.txt in the parent folder). They both serve the same functions and will yield the same result. However, if we move the folder "foo" onto a CD and load that into another computer, the shortcuts will stay the same. Therefore, the absolute path will still point to "C:\foo\file.txt" which probably does not exist on the hard drive of the second computer and a not found error is displayed. The relative path will still point to "..\file.txt" but because it says "go to file.txt in the parent folder" which actually means the file copied in the CD. Absolute path is a specific ___location which can be located from any directory but it may break if moved to a different computer. Relative path is an instruction telling where to go from the current directory therefore it will not break if moved into another medium as long as each ___location where it points to is also copied along with it. Hope you can decipher my seemingly meaningful drabble! :) ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 18:47, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Ukdragon for very very valuable answer.That was what i exactly wanted.I tried it in my PC.But it did not work.I typed the relative path name on 'Target' box of the properties window of the shortcut.The system did not accept it saying 'invalid path name' or 'path name does not exist' [user:amrahs]

:I just did more research and found that the inability to use relative paths is an inherent weakness in the Windows shortcuts file format. However, I have found a workaround. In the target field of the shortcut, put in "%windir%\system32\start.exe " (without quotation marks, and with the space after start.exe) and straight after it put in your relative path but surround the path with quotation marks. Then in the start in field put in "%cd%". Start.exe has the same effect as double clicking a file. What this does is it passes the relative path to start.exe which starts the file. The start in field is also passed to start.exe so it knows where to go from. The variable "%cd%" simply translates automatically into the current folder path. Therefore, using my example above, a shortcut in the folder c:\foo\bar linking to the file c:\foo\file1.txt will have [%windir%\system32\start.exe "..\file1.txt"] (without square brackets) in the target box and [%cd%] in the start in box. Then you can change the shorcut icon to match target file instead of using start.exe's plain program box icon. Hope this helps! ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 17:20, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== NVidia VGAs ==

I have a question. Which one of these two NVidia VGAs are more "powerful"? The GeForce FX 5200 (64 ou 128 Mb) or the GeForce4 MX 4000 (128 Mb)? Thank you. Answer urgent!! [[User:Cedar-Guardian|CG]] 19:13, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:If you read the table of [[GeForce FX]] models in its article you will see it being described as "Replacement for GeForce4 MX family." The answer is therefore obvious. By the way, the FX series is the 5th generation of the GeForce series despite it having an odd-one-out name. --<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 22:23, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

::Also if you read the [[GeForce 4]] article it describes the GeForce 4 MX as:"it is a GeForce4 in name only. Many criticized the GeForce MX name as a misleading marketing ploy since it was less advanced than the preceding GeForce 3. On its release, disappointed enthusiasts described the GeForce4 MX as a GeForce 2 MX with a better (128-bit DDR) memory controller." ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 22:26, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Thank you a lot!!! [[User:Cedar-Guardian|CG]] 14:15, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== File Loss in Torrents ==

I've been downloading several 3+gb torrents using Azureus for the past couple of weeks. Recently Azureus has been crashing for an unknown reason. When I restart it everything is fine with my downloads. Last night Azureus crashed again and when I restarted 4 of the 5 torrents which were downloading which were at around 50-60% were all suddenly reporting that only 4% of each torrent was complete. On checking further I noticed that the pieces which remained were mostly clustered around the first files worth of pieces. Can anybody explain what's happened? I can see small amounts being deleted if it was corrupt but why would ~50% suddenly become corrupted when it's survived crashing in the past. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 20:49, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:Is your hard drive dieing? Run chdisk if you're on Windows. If not, use the corresponding disk scanner.--[[User:Frenchman113|Frenchman113 ]] [[User talk:Frenchman113|on wheels!]] 21:11, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

::I'll give it a try when I get the chance but it's doubtful as I only bought the hard drive about a month ago. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 21:37, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Managed to solve the problem by forcing Azureus to re-check the torrents. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 03:29, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== Volume Loss (Computer) ==

I'm not a computer professional who knows all about computers so I need help! My computer's volume is gone and it's not coming back! I checked the troubleshooting part of my computer and completed all the instructions to get the volume back, but it still doesn't work. This happened before but one my cousins fixed the problem, but I don't know how he did it! So if anyone could help it would be much appreciated. [[User:Himanyo|Himanyo]] 21:19, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:There should be a loudspeaker icon in your tasktray on the bottom right corner. Double click it and uncheck any "mute" checkboxes. There might be other causes but try this first. Remeber if you use Windows XP you may need to use the arrow button on the tasktray to show all the hidden icons. ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 22:19, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Nothing. [[User:Himanyo|Himanyo]] 00:53, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:One way that could happen is if you don't have a soundcard installed. If your computer is old, maybe you're having <del>hardware</del> problems with your soundcard? --'''[[User:Kjoonlee|Kjoon]]'''[[User talk:Kjoonlee|lee]] 03:19, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

*You can lose sounds if the computer is out of memory. If so, a reboot will fix the problem. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 08:53, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

*Some applications "take control" of the sound, and may not return control once shut down. Again, a reboot will usually cure this. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 08:53, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

*And, of course, the speakers themselves may have been turned off, unplugged from the electrical outlet, or unplugged from the computer. Check all of those. At work I used to have trouble with the cleaning lady disconnecting things to plug in the vacuum cleaner. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 08:56, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Been there. Done that! I appreciate your help, but it didn't work. Thanks anyways! [[User:Himanyo|Himanyo]] 23:56, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:If you're using Windows XP, did you try clicking Control Panel in the Start menu?<font color="Green">&mdash;</font>'''[[User:EdGl|<font color="DarkGray">Ed</font><font color="DarkKhaki">Gl</font>]]''' 03:05, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

If you're talking about having lost the volume control thing in the taskbar, what you need to do is go into your control panel (through your start menu), get to the sound control, and find the checkbox that says something like "show volume control on the taskbar". - [[User:Rainwarrior|Rainwarrior]] 20:35, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== Bmp in Java ==

How do I read a bitmap file (like from Microsoft Paint, or possibly PaintShop Pro) into and out of an array in Java? [[User:Black Carrot|Black Carrot]] 21:52, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

:I'm not a Java programmer (I deal in the much more mundane Visual Basic) but I did some googling and point you to this page:[http://schmidt.devlib.org/java/pixel-image-io-libraries.html] which seems to have some links on reading image files of a variety of formats including BMP. ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 22:33, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

import javax.imageio.ImageIO;

import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;

import java.io.*;

= August 19 =

public class Bmp

{

public static void main(String args[])

throws IOException

{

File file = new File("image.bmp");

BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read(file);

System.out.println("size: " + image.getWidth() +

" x " + image.getHeight());

}

}

:See also: google ''java read image file'', http://javaalmanac.com/ (examples of often-used stuff) and http://forum.java.sun.com/ (helpful folks knowledgeable in Java). [[User:Weregerbil|Weregerbil]] 11:21, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

::It's not working. I looked those terms up in the help system and they sound like they're right, but as it's written (with "image.bmp" replaced with an actual file, of course) it outputs a null pointer exception. I changed it to System.out.println(image), and it outputs null, which the ImageIO help file says means it doesn't recognize the file type. Any ideas? Also, once I've edited it with the BufferedImage system, how do I write it back into the file? [[User:Black Carrot|Black Carrot]] 17:01, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

=September 25=

== Batteries in Logitech Mice ==

About 3 weeks ago I bought the Logitech EX110 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse set. It comes with software which monitors the batteries and now after 3 weeks it's reporting that the batteries are critical. The ones that I've used are the Duracell AA's that Logitech supplied. I've spoken to my girlfriend who has a different Logitech wireless mouse but her batteries have lasted 3 years and are still going. Does anybody know if this is lifespan is normal (Which seems highly unlikely) or if there's a problem with the mouse or software? --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 01:31, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:Try popping in a new set of batteries. If they fail again after 3 weeks call Logitech (as something must be wrong with them). If they don't, most like there was a problem with the batteries. I suspect the latter. —[[User:Mitaphane|Mitaphane]] _{[[User talk:Mitaphane|talk]]} 07:18, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

::I have a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse as well. The batteries that they supplied me were rechargable and the time that they last depends entirely on use. When I type more they die faster. [[User:Dismas|Dismas]]|[[User talk:Dismas|^(talk)]] 07:29, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== Submitting music to iTunes ==

I wasn't sure if this should go in the humanities section or maybe the misc section, but...

I'm in a band (new album coming out tomorrow!) and I know a guy who said you could sign a deal with iTunes over the net and I assume one could just upload songs to them and eventually they'd be in the Music Store. Is this possible? If so, how do I do it? Thanks! [[User:NIRVANA2764|NIRVANA2764]] 02:03, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:See http://www.apple.com/itunes/musicmarketing/. You need to submit an application to Apple to become a signed iTunes artist/label before you can upload and sell your music on the iTunes store. --[[User:Canley|Canley]] 05:22, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== CIS and hardware ==

What would be the differences between the components of a computer informaiton system and the basic kinds of computer hardware components? I'm just confused by the difference between components of a computer information system and hardware, they seem the same. I'd appreciate it if anyone had any ideas. I know about Processor, input, output, storage, and communication devices, but I'm not sure which part that would fall under, and what thing or kind of thing would fall in the other category. [[User:Mason11987|Chris M.]] 03:35, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:You could consider CIS as discussing theoretical information systems, and a computer as being an actual implementation which is attempting to fulfill the goals set forth by such a theoretical system. In some cases the mapping from theory to implementation may be simple and obvious, but other times there may be computer components which map to multiple CIS components, or don't fit into any obvious category at all. A similar thing happens with the [[OSI_model|OSI]] 7-layer network model. When comparing this theoretic model with a real network stack implementation, one quickly sees that practical considerations have forced engineers to deviate from the "ideal" OSI model.

:Here's some examples from the categories you gave:

:Processor: CPU, GPU

:Input: Mouse, keyboard

:Output: Monitor, printer

:Storage: Hard disk, dvd-rom, thumb drive

:Communication device:NIC, modem --[[User:65.105.3.194|65.105.3.194]] 13:39, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== A driver packet received from the I/O subsystem was invalid. ==

I recently built a new a computer. Everything's running real well except that I occasionally get an error message appearing in the event viewer that says:

"A driver packet received from the I/O subsystem was invalid. The data is the packet."

When this happens my sound gets very distorted and I'm often forced to reboot. All my sound card (Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS) drivers are up to date and I've been unable to pinpoint what's causing this error. Anyhow, just wondering if anyone has any ideas what might be the problem.

Thanks in advance.

Windows XP Professional SP2

AMD 64 X2 4600+

Corsair 1GB X 2 TWIN2X2048-5400c4

connect3D Radeon X1900GT 256MB

Asus M2N-E

Seagate Barracuda 320 GB

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS

Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W

:Unfortunately not all problems with hardware are driver-related. I had a brand-new ATI Radeon 9600 which had similar problems; unexplained errors, random crashing/distortion. I tried every possible method of updating and repairing the drivers and the OS; finally one day I replaced the card with another one and not a single error has happened since. I'm not guaranteeing this is your problem, but you should be prepared for the possibility that your card is defective. --[[User:65.105.3.194|65.105.3.194]] 13:29, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:I plugged the whole error message into Google and found a lot of pages talking about this message, but did not locate a definitive answer. It seems to be related to networking, perhaps the sound issue is just an effect of the problem, not a cause. There were also a few sites discussing this message in relation to either McAfee or Kapersky anti-virus. Amusingly enough, the most relevant page at microsoft.com said "don't write messages like this." Check for updated drivers for your network card and also for your AV software. --[[User:LarryMac|LarryMac]] 13:37, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:I would guess the issue is not your soundcard, however, because you are listening to music, a constant stream of data, anything that hogs the system bus (the copper bits that connect PCI sockets, ram, CPU etc.. on your motherboard) will display its symptoms as the soundcard skipping. Try removing every hardware component you dont need to boot your PC and see if it works ok, then gradually re-add each component until you see the issue again. If you still see the issue without any 'extra hardware' then i'd try downloading a linux livecd (personally i like www.linuxfromscratch.org), when you get a boot prompt enter 'memtest86' without quotes, this will take several hours to examine your ram, if you see no errors, try booting into linux and follow the instructions on their site to try compiling GCC, this is a c compiler and during its compilation it uses most cpu instructions, which is how i pinpointed a cpu failure on my old P3 box a few weeks back. If you want more specific information on the linux memtest and compile stuff, either email [e-mail] or ask in here, i just don't want to flood half a book of text on here if it's not needed, regards, Phill Upson.

:Thanks for all the suggestions. I am currently running Kaspersky Internet Security Suite and as mentioned by someone on one of the Kaspersky forums I've noticed that it is actually happening when I'm accessing shared drives on my network. I don't have time to fool with it at the moment, but thanks again for getting me on the right path where I have at least narrowed it down a little.

== How can I code a program to execute several instances of StarCraft: Brood War? ==

That. Thanks.

:Open notepad and type this, then save it as something.bat

cd "%SystemDrive%/program files/blizzard/"

:LOOP

starcraft.exe

goto LOOP

I think it's called starcraft.exe (IIRC) but I'm almost certainly wrong about the install directory. Replace them with the correct values. Run something.bat to spam your system with starcrafts --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 20:37, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:I don't have Starcraft installed at the moment, so I can't check, but Windows programs have the ability to know whether there are other instances already open, and have the power to prevent multiple instances (a lot of programs do, I would expect Starcraft also does). In this case, you wouldn't be able to code something, unless you can tamper with the operating system to prevent this communication (like, if you wrote a Windows emulator, you could certainly take control of this). Alternatively (if you're handy with a disassembler), you could hack the starcraft program to not be able to detect the multiple instances. - [[User:Rainwarrior|Rainwarrior]] 20:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:It's usually done through semaphores + mutexes on Windows. The wonders you can work with Process Explorer! :) [[User:Jdstroy|Jdstroy]] 22:06, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::Well, it would have to be accomplished with some sort of system like that. The question is, can you break into the OS and change the mutex values? (Or prevent them from being set without blocking the Starcraft program?) - [[User:Rainwarrior|Rainwarrior]] 03:52, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== What is VPN - Virtual Private Network ==

:Search first, it's quicker. You can search for [[Virtual private network]] by using the search box on the left. --[[User:Robert Merkel|Robert Merkel]] 15:08, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== servers ==

how to access a server?

:What type of access do you mean ? After all, you use servers every time you go on the Internet. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 18:37, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:Simply by asking this question answered your own question. - [[User:Ridge Racer|Ridge Racer]] 00:26, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== Most direct way to register a .mobi ___domain name from the UK ==

I've just read that .mobi domains can be registered by the public tommorrow. I want to register one or two for a business I'm hoping to start - not cybersquatting.

Could anyone tell me the most direct and quickest way to do it please? And could I register a name for my business that dosnt exist yet? Amd does anyone know the exact earliest time (for London UK local time) I could register? Thanx. [[User:81.104.12.94|81.104.12.94]] 18:14, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:Select your favourite registrar from [http://pc.mtld.mobi/switched/findaregistrar.html the list]. Anyone can register .mobi domains, and the general registration period began yesterday. -- [[User:AJR|AJR]] | [[User talk:AJR|Talk]] 11:48, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

== computer wallpaper ==

i am sorry if you pain to answer a question so simple, but i am hopelessly computer illiterate. i want to know how i can change the size of my small pictures so they will fit the background of my desktop without being pixelish.

thank you a ton

[[User:142.161.231.45|142.161.231.45]] 19:10, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:It should be pretty obvious that in general this is impossible: what if your picture was 2 by 2 pixels, and your desktop 1600 by 1200? How would you display the picture at all without dividing the screen into four quadrants and painting each one a single color? There just isn't enough information to full the whole screen with "interesting" image content. However, it might occur to you that you could at least blend the colors together in the middle, so the pixels weren't so blaringly obvious. I believe common "stretch image as background" operations already attempt to do this, but you might be able to get something like [[Photoshop]] or [[The GIMP]] to do a better job of it. Then you could use the prestretched image that looked better. --[[User:Tardis|Tardis]] 20:32, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:There's only so much you can do, but as mentioned software like Photoshop and the GIMP can resize images with the best possible quality, and you can also use "blur" and "sharpen" tools to increase quality, but it's not going to be perfect. [[User:Sum0|Sum0]] 11:47, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

There are various options provided when assigning a wallpaper, such as tiling a small pic or stretching it to fit the screen. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 23:13, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== www.site.com/index/ ==

pretty simple question. instead of having a url such as www.site.com/index.html how would i go about saving it as www.site.com/index/ so it looks better and can be accessed easier?

[[User:70.80.66.195|70.80.66.195]] 20:01, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:If you mean when you're making the website, then you just make "index" a directory. Typically, a webserver, when asked for a directory, will look in that directory for a file named "index.html" (so, in this case, the file equivalent to www.site.com/index/index.html) and return that. So you could put your file there. (By the way, it's standard to use "example.com", "example.org", and "example.net" for dummy ___domain names; they are guaranteed to never actually point anywhere. See RFC 2606.) --[[User:Tardis|Tardis]] 20:35, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

== File Sharing ==

[[Limewire]] and similar systems are blocked in my university campus. is there any way around this? [[User:Kenneth Hynes|Ken]] 20:25, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:It varies very much by the specific systems involved. Most likely all traffic is routed through a gateway that censors "undesirable" stuff, like P2P. I think the best bet is to encrypt the traffic. You might want to try encryption-enabled [[BitTorrent_protocol_encryption|BitTorrent]] clients like Azureus or uTorrent, they are already proving useful in thwarting ISPs who try to detect BitTorrent usage. More "exotic" but probably impractical methods include tunneling under a [[VPN]] (might be difficult to do as you need a server outside the university campus); route the traffic through [[Tor]] (nearly impossible as many Tor exit nodes block P2P anyway) or using some other encrypted method or proxy. I'm not aware of any encryption implemented natively in LimeWire or any other Gnutella client. ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 21:38, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:Encrypt the traffic and randomize the port. Also you might want to change your mac address every once in awhile so not too much unidentified traffic is associated with you. By the way, P2P is blocked for a reason; bittorrent and other P2P protocols consume an ''enormous'' amount of very expensive bandwidth; use this advice conservatively! --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 21:52, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

::Yea and certainly ''don't'' download warez or pirated stuff. ;-) ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 22:12, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:[[Ares Galaxy]] is said to work wonders on college campuses. - [[User:Ridge Racer|Ridge Racer]] 00:23, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== 1080p HDTV ==

Hi. I am looking to buy an LCD or plasma HDTV. I have a few requirements, and i haven't yet found one that meets ALL of them. If you know of one, please advise me of the make and model name, and/or website or retailer you saw it at.

these are the requirements i have:

* Accepts AND displays 1080p (1920 x 1080 progressive).

* Has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and aspect ratio of 16:9.

* Has VGA-in (can be used as computer monitor).

* Has the option NOT to stretch 4:3 standard TV to fill the screen. (most of them do this by default, and its very annoying. i need one where this can easily be turned off).

one more question. which gives better overall picture quality, 1080i or 720p?

thanks in advance <small><font face="Verdana">'''[[User:adam_the_atom|<span style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px; border: 1px solid orange; cursor: crosshair; background: yellow; color: orange">adam&nbsp;the&nbsp;atom</span>]][[User_talk:adam_the_atom|<span style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px; border: 1px solid orange; cursor: crosshair; background: yellow; color: orange">T</span>]][[Special:Emailuser/adam_the_atom|<span style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px; border: 1px solid orange; cursor: crosshair; background: yellow; color: orange">E</span>]][[Special:Contributions/adam_the_atom|<span style="padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px; border: 1px solid orange; cursor: crosshair; background: yellow; color: orange">C</span>]]'''</font></small> 20:44, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:The answer to your second question can be found in [[720p#720p_versus_1080i]]. ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 21:46, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:I believe that if the TV accepts [[HDMI]] input, you can buy a DVI to HDMI convertor cable to connect your PC directly to the TV. Your PC will have to have a white [[DVI]] port rather than blue [[VGA]], but modern ones often do. [[User:Sum0|Sum0]] 11:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

::Yes and some newer graphics cards have HDMI sockets as well. ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 16:46, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== Logitech Technical Support ==

Does anybody have an E-Mail address or a link to a web form for Logitech technical support? What I've found already was useless, took me an hour to find a web form, which I found by accident through information about the Webmaster. Two week since sending the E-Mail I'm still awaiting a reply so I don't have much faith in the particular page. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 20:55, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:[http://logitech-en-emea.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/logitech_en_emea.cfg/php/enduser/entry.php Try here], if you haven't already. Whats the problem, anyway? [[User:CaptainVindaloo|CaptainVindaloo]] ^{[[User talk:CaptainVindaloo|t]] [[Special:Contributions/CaptainVindaloo|c]] [[Special:Emailuser/CaptainVindaloo|e]]} 21:06, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

::Checked that but yet to find anything useful. My problem is related to an earlier question. After 4 weeks of owning the mouse I've had to replace the batteries and on checking it I'm beginning to suspect that it doesn't switch off after a period of inactivity (Which wireless mice should) so after 4 weeks of being on non stop the battery died. I've been trying to find out if my mouse actually does switch off and if so after how long so I can check for sure and then try and return it. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 21:35, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Mine never does, even though its supposed to. Its a lot easier to just buy rechargeable batteries. I think they switch off automatically when you spend 10+ hours programming it to. Try this, it might work:

:::<code>Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager</code>

:::Find your mouse on the tree, double-click the entry, then click the Power Management tab. There should be an option in there to 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'. This is in WinXP, mind you. [[User:CaptainVindaloo|CaptainVindaloo]] ^{[[User talk:CaptainVindaloo|t]] [[Special:Contributions/CaptainVindaloo|c]] [[Special:Emailuser/CaptainVindaloo|e]]} 21:45, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

::::Just checked and while the option is there it's grey so I can't select it. I don't know if it's relevant to that option but the mouse isn't USB. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 22:15, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:::::Hmm. Worth a try. [[User:CaptainVindaloo|CaptainVindaloo]] ^{[[User talk:CaptainVindaloo|t]] [[Special:Contributions/CaptainVindaloo|c]] [[Special:Emailuser/CaptainVindaloo|e]]} 22:23, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

==USB ports failing in sequence==

This is a bizarre problem that is hard to explain, so bear with me please, folks. I have a computer here that is using a USB keyboard. For several weeks, the keyboard has been plugged into a USB socket on the back of the PC without incident. Then, a few days ago, it stopped working. Eventually, I got it working again by plugging it into a different USB socket, thinking that one socket was defective. The next day, this second socket did the exact same thing, as did a third the day after. Device Manager reports no problem devices, and a quick blast of compressed air into the ports (to dislodge dust, etc) was to no avail. I can't imagine this being a problem with the USB Controller/Driver, as if either of them failed, all USB ports would fail in one go, correct? It cannot be a Keyboard Controller failure, as a spare PS/2 is working fine. What is going on? The PC is a Packard Bell NEC, about 4 years old, 1.9GHz P4, built for WinXP. I don't know what model it is; I acquired it for spares when Windows corrupted without the manual or restore CD, and Packard Bell's website is currently down. [[User:CaptainVindaloo|CaptainVindaloo]] ^{[[User talk:CaptainVindaloo|t]] [[Special:Contributions/CaptainVindaloo|c]] [[Special:Emailuser/CaptainVindaloo|e]]} 21:01, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:What happens if you connect other devices into the USB sockets? Do they work? If they do, the problem is probably in the keyboard but if they don't then the system is at fault. ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 21:49, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

::A webcam powers up and is detected when plugged into one of these; I can do a more thourough test tomorrow; the PC is my brothers and he's switched it off now. If it is the keyboard acting up, I can probably return it as it is quite new. Thanks for replying. [[User:CaptainVindaloo|CaptainVindaloo]] ^{[[User talk:CaptainVindaloo|t]] [[Special:Contributions/CaptainVindaloo|c]] [[Special:Emailuser/CaptainVindaloo|e]]} 21:59, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Well if the USB ports work with other devices then obvious we can narrow down the problem to the keyboard. Just to make sure though, see if you can get another USB keyboard (borrow it or something) and plug that in, just in case your USB ports is really acting up. However, normally if a single device doesn't work but others do there's most likely something wrong with that device. Glad to be of help! ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 22:07, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Windows often keeps track of devices on a per-port basis, meaning if it sees a keyboard on port 1 and it moves to port 2, it thinks of it as a completely new keyboard, loads new drivers for it, etc. There is a chance that Windows is fouling the usb configuration for that one port and disabling just that device on that port, so it continues to work on other ports while other devices still work on all ports. Have you tried booting into safe mode and clearing out all usb drivers for devices that aren't actually plugged in? That, or boot to a live CD from the likes of [[ubuntu]] or [[knoppix]] and see if they exhibit the same problem, to confirm/deny an OS correlation. --[[User:Jmeden2000|Jmeden2000]] 15:00, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

=September 26=

== Finding public IP address for a remote server? ==

I am looking for the public IP address for our businesses server. I was just wondering how I would find it, because all I can see is the Private server address.

:You don't have access to the server itself, do you? Without that, I'm not sure it's possible. If a computer you have access to uses the same proxy/NAT/etc. to the outside world, you could use a site like [http://checkip.dyndns.org:8245/ this]. -- [[User:Consumed Crustacean|Consumed Crustacean]] ([[User talk:Consumed Crustacean|talk]]) 00:14, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:If it's an internal network, you won't have external access unless something special is set up like [[VPN]]. If you just want to know the IP of the website, just ping it to get that information from the DNS servers --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 17:13, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== Computer Error. ==

I'm Wanting to know what can be done when a computer won't play .avi files. It used to, and I was abel to play those files on several players but now when I try to open one (regardles of what player I use) it says there is an err in a MSVFW.32.dll file.

: msvfw32.dll is the module that contains bitmap compression and decompression routines used for Microsoft Video for Windows. You can download the DLL from various websites (just do a Google search) and place it in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder. --[[User:Canley|Canley]] 01:15, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:Also keep in mind that AVIs can be encoded in any one of many codecs, and that msvfw32 may not be the only thing you need. See [[FourCC]] and [[Video codec]] --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 17:12, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== Oz programming language ==

Oz language supports many programming paradigms even then what is the reason of low popularity of Oz/Mozart ? Where can I get a good tutorial on it as most of the material on the homepage is not meant for beginner I guess.

== Virusscanner BitDefender hangs on Linux installations ==

I'm trying to remove viruses with the Linux version of BitDefender, but it hangs on every scan of a Linux installation (I have collected several over the years), mostly on different files, such as /etc/bunzip2, /bin/bzip2recover and /bin/readlink. On /bin/readlink it only seems to hang if a previous try hung elsewhere. Or rather I should say it hangs ''after'' those files, bedause it gives an 'ok' and then hangs. But the first and weirdest one was /dev/core. Because /bin/readlink took half a minute if it didn't hang, I assumed I might have to wait a bit. After 50 minutes I gave up. I didn't use the disinfect option, so it was just scanning, so I can't imagine what it was doing. The weird thing was that after this, the filesize, which is normally 1024 MB, was increased to 262144.0 GB (!!). Which is a ''little'' bit bigger than the partition. :) On another installation the same happened, with exactly that same filesize. This didn't change after unmounting and then remounting, only after a computer restart. This is also the reason I said it hangs on ''that'' file and not the next one, but it is all so weird I don't really know how to properly formulate this question. Help! [[User:DirkvdM|DirkvdM]] 13:07, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== Link Request ==

Hello, my name is Malton Schexneider.

I am seeking out link partners that I believe visitors to my website would find interesting and informative.

I recently visited your website and thought it would be a very nice fit for my visitors. I have already instructed my web master to add your link to my website at http://www.livinglongerlookingbetter.com/links.

I am contacting you to see if it is OK to have done so. In addition, I would like to ask if you would please link back to us. If so, please use the linking details below and send me the ___location of our link on your website.

Our Linking Details:

• Key Word: Rotaotr cuff, low back pain, ACL, ankle sprain, tennis elbow, neck pain

• Description: Strategies and tools in treating various musculoskeletal injuries

• URL: http://www.ospt.net

I hope this can be a way for us to benefit our visitors with excellent content. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Should you have questions, please contact me. Thank you.

Malton A. Schexneider, PT, MMSc

(email removed)

:[[WP:NOT |Wikipedia is not a link repository]]. It is an encyclopedia. --[[User:LarryMac|LarryMac]] 15:25, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

::But he is asking if he can link to us. Which is a yes. — [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Mac_Davis X] '''['''<nowiki></nowiki>'''[[User:Mac Davis|<span style="font-family:Times;color:navy;"><em><font color=#006600>Mac Davis</font></em></span>]]] <small>(<font color=#6688AA>[[User:Mac_Davis/Desk|SUPERDESK]]</font>|<font color=#666666>[[User_talk:Mac_Davis/Improvement|Help me improve]]</font></small>)'''15:45, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:::He is also asking ''us'' to link back to him. Which is a no. --[[User:LarryMac|LarryMac]] 15:59, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

::::If he achieves [[WP:WEB|internet notability]] we'd link to him --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 17:17, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== c++ pass object as function parameter ==

Say I have a class called matrix. One of it's member variables is called cells and it's a 100x100 two-dimensional array.

Say also that I have a function (not a member function) that does some operation (say addition) on two objects of type "matrix". It would be called like

addUp(matrix1, matrix2);

Now when I do that, does it pass the entire object (including the massive array) by value into addUp, or just it just pass the address of the object or something? How are objects usually passed to a function, by reference?

Thanks --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 17:09, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:I think the default is by reference (pointer) but it can be changed. You can read more on it in [[b:en:C%2B%2B_Programming/Functions#Arguments|Wikibooks:C++ Programming/Functions#Arguments]]. ----<strong><em>[[User:Ukdragon37|龙★Ukdragon37★翔]]^{<FONT COLOR="#FF9900">[[User_talk:Ukdragon37|talk]]</FONT>}</em></strong> 17:33, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

::The default in C/C++ is to pass by value, except for arrays. When passing an array, its name is implicitly converted into a pointer to the first element of the array and ''that'' is passed by value. The end result is that arrays "themselves" can be treated as if passed by reference. Other objects, including class instances (even of things that look like and/or contain arrays, like your <code>matrix</code>), will be passed by value. However, depending on how <code>matrix</code> is defined, that may mean different things for the actual data in the array. If you merely have <code>struct matrix {double cells[100][100];};</code>, that array is part of the object and is copied. (That case is of course silly, but there could be other members of <code>matrix</code> too without changing the effect.) But if you instead have

<pre>struct matrix {

int rows,cols;

double *array; // allocated with new[]

};</pre>

::only those things in the struct get copied, and that includes the ''pointer'' <code>array</code> but not whatever it points to (if anything). If the class chooses, it can define its own rules:

<pre>class matrix {

public:

matrix(int r,int c) : rows(r),cols(c),array(new double[r*c]) {}

matrix(const matrix &o) : rows(o.r),cols(o.c),array(new double[o.r*o.c]) {

for(int i=0;i<r*c;++i) array[i]=o.array[i];

}

~matrix() {delete[] array;}

int getRows() {return rows;}

int getColumns() {return cols;}

double& index(int i,int j) {return array[i*c+j];}

private:

int rows,cols;

double *array;

};</pre>

::In this case (about which I make no claims of completeness, correctness, or robustness), an object, when made as a copy of another, allocates a new array and fills it with the contents of the original (in the [[copy constructor]]). Of course, at this point, anything is possible: [[copy on write]], [[reference counting]], [[garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collection]], etc. So for your own classes, you'll have to make the determination as to what happens. It's easy, however, to pass things by reference instead: look at the copy constructor I provided. The <code>const</code> prevents (so long as everyone is playing nice) the function from modifying its parameter, so you get the encapsulation benefits of call-by-value without the memory overhead. <small>(I should note that <code>struct</code> and <code>class</code> are exactly the same thing, except that in a <code>struct</code>, declarations before any access specifier are public instead of private.)</small> Does this help? --[[User:Tardis|Tardis]] 19:47, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:::So if I call it like addUp(matrix1.array, matrix2.array), assuming of course that array is the only thing that addUp needs, it would simply pass the address instead of copying the data? Unfortunately I also need some other member variables in the objects (the actual class I'm designing has nothing to do with matricies, though it does feature some large variables). I know that I could use something like addUp(matrix1, matrix2) and have the function addUp prototyped as addUp(int &matrix1, int &matrix2) but that makes me uneasy because then matrix1 and matrix2 can be modified from that function. I'm very unfamiliar with C-style pointers and the dereference operator- could these be used to somehow take the address of the objects through the function parameters and then make an undefined local const variable that exists over the same memory space as the object, so that accessing that const would access the object (but it would be unchangable)? If there's no easy one-line solution to this, I'll just *gulp* pass by value but I'd appreciate any advice you can give me. Oh and you said your code copies the matrix if the object is copied.. doesn't it do that anyway? --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 20:18, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

::::If you pass by value, the value gets passed, even if it's an object. (Arrays are pointers, so the pointer is passed, not the values in the array. Objects, on the other hand, are objects.) Passing big objects by value is inefficient if you don't need to change the value. This is why when using &, often "const" is specified, which tells to the user of the function that you won't modify the object (the compiler will stop you from trying to modify it within your function, but you can be evil and get around this with casting). So... yes, what you want to do is possible; your function should be called something like addUp(const Matrix& m1, const Matrix& m2). See [http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/const-correctness.html this site] for a good explanation of how to use const in C++. - [[User:Rainwarrior|Rainwarrior]] 20:27, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

== RUR and par ==

I can join rur files. How do I use par?

:Do you mean [[RAR (file format)|RAR]] files? --[[User:Canley|Canley]] 06:33, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::Yes. I can decode rar files. But how do I use the par files that follow? Thanks

:::Oh, OK, see the article [[Parchive]]. There are some links to software which can create/read PAR files. --[[User:Canley|Canley]] 04:06, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

== PF Usage ==

What is PF Usage? Mine is 1.41 GB. Is that high? --[[User:24.107.18.155|24.107.18.155]] 20:19, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:Ops. I forgot to log in. --[[User:Yanwen|Yanwen]] 20:23, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:Heck yes it's high. See [[Virtual_memory#Windows_example]] --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 20:24, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

::Ok, All of my web browsers just suddenly closed and the PF Usage went down to 325 MB. --[[User:24.107.18.155|24.107.18.155]] 21:21, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

::Not logged in again?! --[[User:Yanwen|Yanwen]] 21:22, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

:Page file usage, a temporary file used by the OS for virtual memory. See [[Paging]] and, as mentioned above, [[Virtual memory]] for what it is. —[[User:Mitaphane|Mitaphane]] _{[[User talk:Mitaphane|talk]]} 23:45, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

=September 27=

== [[On Intelligence]] ==

Has anyone read this? If so, what do you think of it? Have you tried out any of its ideas? [[User:Black Carrot|Black Carrot]] 06:55, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:You'd probably be better off asking this question on the [[WP:RD/SCI|science desk]]. &mdash; [[User:QuantumEleven|Quantum]]<i>[[User_talk:QuantumEleven|Eleven]]</i> 07:47, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::I could, but people get pissy when you double-post, and I'm really more interested in whether something like that could be usefully implemented on a PC than whether it's how our brain works. There's a lot I don't get, and it's entirely to do with the data structure he's proposing. Besides, I can just ask my mom about the brain part. If you've read it (and understood it), I'd appreciate comments, starting with "He's a visionary" v "He's stupid/insane/lying". [[User:Black Carrot|Black Carrot]] 14:23, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::Visionary's and Insane People are the same. the thread that divides those two words is called history(most of the visionary's of now were called insane in the past)[[User:Graendal|Graendal]] 06:33, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Informative indeed. I was hoping for something more specific, though. For instance, has anyone here worked in AI, especially on neural nets? If so, would what he's suggesting actually be able to train itself properly? I know that's one of the big problems with large, complex nets that don't use backpropagation. Would it actually be able to better model patterns than a normal net, or is it essentially equivalent? And how does it adjust weights? He doesn't really mention that. [[User:Black Carrot|Black Carrot]] 00:53, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

== software ==

[[User:41.220.14.7|41.220.14.7]] 10:37, 27 September 2006 (UTC)can i be able to get software of any type to help me in my field of computing? DAVID

:Yes, you can. And, if you wish to tell us what type of software you're looking for, we may even be able to help you find it. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 11:48, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

== ＤＶＤ ==

What's the deal with the Unicode characters ＤＶＤ, and what purpose do they serve? They're definitely not the ASCII letters DVD, because (a) in some fonts, they're shorter and/or wider-spaced, and (b) unlike [[DVD]], they return no results in a search of Wikipedia (although both get the same Google results). They came in a piece of Japanese spam. (Why I'd be getting Japanese spam, I don't know.) [[User:NeonMerlin|<span style="background-color:#000000;color:#00ff00;text-decoration:underline overline"><span style="color:#ff0000">Neon</span></span>]][[User talk:NeonMerlin|<span style="background-color:#00ff00;color:#ff0000;text-decoration:underline overline"><span style="color:#000000">Merlin</span></span>]] 10:57, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:These are unicode characters FF24 and FF36, which are named "FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D" and "FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER V" (along with the rest of the alphabet, and lowercase "fullwidth" characters at nearby codes[http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/UFF00.pdf].) Quite why the Unicode Consortium decided to put them in, I don't know, but that's what they are. Your spammer was proably using them to try to get round filters which only know about ASCII. And as for why you're getting Japanese spam, well, a Japanese spammer has probably picked up your email address, and doesn't care in the slightest that you're never going to buy anything from them. -- [[User:AJR|AJR]] | [[User talk:AJR|Talk]] 12:23, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::Might they be used as [[Roman numerals]]? [[User:Sum0|Sum0]] 22:36, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== Homemade Media Centre Extender? ==

I've got a [[Media PC]] with [[Windows MCE]] installed on it, running my TV/PVR. I also have a spare computer around that I would like to use as a [[Windows Media Center Extender]], to let me watch stuff on a second TV. I've tried just using [[Remote Desktop]] to connect it in (using the multi-session hack), but Media Center doesn't allow the playing of video over a Remote Desktop connection. Is there anyway around this, to make the spare computer act as an Extender (instead of buying the extra Extender hardware) and connect in that way, so that it could play the video? --[[User:Maelwys|Maelwys]] 11:48, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:I'm not familar with [[Windows XP Media Center Edition|Windows MCE]] but it can share files like regular Windows XP, yes? If that's the case, you could mount those files as a network drive on your other computer. From there you should be able to play the files off that computer. —[[User:Mitaphane|Mitaphane]] _{[[User talk:Mitaphane|talk]]} 02:04, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

== world town and city distances ==

I want to obtain software so that i can determine the distances between all cities and towns around the world please but cannot find it. Can you please advise. It would be the same as on some dating sites where they tell your possible date how far they are away from you in miles etc. Please could you advise me on ''<email address removed>''.

Many thanks,

Evan Williams

:Remember to '''not include your e-mail address''' (as stated at the top of the page). What you're looking for is a [[great-circle distance]] calculator, and possibly a table of [[geographical coordinates]] for various cities. You can find many free online instances of the first from the article, and the second is satisfied by Wikipedia's appropriate municipal articles. Anything else? --[[User:Tardis|Tardis]] 14:19, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:[[Google Earth]] might be a user friendly way to do it. It includes a ruler (measures direct distance), as well as a directions thingamabobber. -- [[User:Consumed Crustacean|Consumed Crustacean]] ([[User talk:Consumed Crustacean|talk]]) 03:00, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

== Computer Temperature ==

What would be a safe temperature to let a computer run at? I've noticed that a lot of motherboards which are able to regulate fan speed according to temperature tend to have as a default keeping temperature around 50 degrees centigrade. My machine is almost always around the high 30s and I'm interested in reducing noise overnight occassionally and if I trust these defaults it seems to suggest I could lower the fan speed enough to raise temperature 10 degrees or so and it should still be safe. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]]

:My computer is very quiet at night because I turn it off. --[[User:Kainaw|Kainaw]] <small>^{[[User_talk:Kainaw|(talk)]]}</small> 15:54, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:Depends on what model of CPU you've got, and what part of the computer you're talking about. With my computer (late-model Athlon XP) I try to keep the CPU below 70C, the northbridge below 40C, and the hard drives and general case temperature below 35C. The CPU can safely be run at temperatures up to the point where it starts crashing or giving bad results (it ''will'' crash before temperatures reach the danger zone), but doing so can reduce the life expectancy somewhat -- instead of failing after ten years, it might fail after eight. --[[User:Serie|Serie]] 19:37, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::My CPU is an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300. Intel [http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL9SA quote] a thermal specification of 61.4 C but I don't know exactly how this should be taken: whether I should take that as a maximum safe operating temperature or merely the limit of what the processor can take. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 19:47, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:Another way of reducing noise is to get a quieter CPU cooler. I bought a Zalman heat-sink/fan and now the noisiest thing in my computer is the hard drive. - [[User:Rainwarrior|Rainwarrior]] 07:23, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== Which version of Linux is easiest for newbies? ==

I have an old computer which I no longer use but is still resonably powerful (1GHz CPU & 512MB RAM) so rather than let it rot in a cupboard I thought I might install Linux on it and get it running again.

But my question is: which version should I use?

I know this depends on what you want from Linux, but essentially I want something that feels a bit like Windows (simply because that's what I'm familiar with) and which doesn't require me to invest a huge amount of time into getting it installed and running, as I'm currently studying for the final year of a degree course. Is there a "mainstream" version of Linux that Average Joe (me) can use as a replacement for Windows. --[[User:Ukdan999|Ukdan999]] 16:35, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:[[Ubuntu]] seems to be consdidered the best distro for those new to Linux. You download the ISO, burn it to a CD and then boot from the CD. During the boot process it does a scan of your hardware and configures itself as necessary. You can choose to install it from the CD as well, but you don't have to. --[[User:LarryMac|LarryMac]] 16:40, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::Thanks, I've decided to go with Ubuntu and am currently downloading it. I just need to know what I have to do to get my PC ready installation. It currently has Windows ME and a trial version of XP sitting on it, but I don't want to keep them. Should I format the PC entirely or just "uninstall" them, or what? And is formatting the hard disk done through Windows/DOS/Other? --[[User:Ukdan999|Ukdan999]] 20:17, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Check [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall this page], in particular the "Select A Disk" section. You can have the installer format your disk, which will effectively uninstall ME and XP. --[[User:LarryMac|LarryMac]] 21:34, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

I disagree, SuSE is the premiere "windows look alike" and KDE would probably make the job of getting used to linux a little easier than gnome, which kind of takes for granted the *nix directory structure (usr, bin, etc, etc ;p). However suse does a little too good of a job of it- it's a 6 cd install, though you do get a LOT of packages. Ubuntu seems a little more stable though. Eh I guess you made a good choice but maybe you would have been happier with suse. --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 03:37, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:I agree with the previous post, I run opensuse 10.1 on both of my desktops here, my parents seem to be getting used to it very fast and they really dont give a damn about technical stuff. There is also an excellent tool called YaST which is like control panel, only a million times better. For one the software management tool gives you access to thousands of apps and you can use add-on repositories for even more cool stuff, so the searching, download, install and configure is all done for you with a mouse click! Finally, if you have broadband, dont waste your time downloading all the CD isos, just download the boot CD and install via FTP from a local mirror, that way you only download what you need (my default install downloaded only 900mb of data, but would have needed most of the CD's to get my packages!). www.opensuse.org is the place to go. There are many other interesting distro's to play with though, one example is www.linuxfromscratch.org which teaches you how to custom build your own linux distro from the ground up, tweaking everything for you machine, it takes hours (if not days) but teaches you lots about unix in the process, it's worth doing if only as a learning excercise. Regards Phill ([e-mail])

== Converting an AVI file ==

I have a movie in the AVI format , i.e ".avi" . Windows Media Player is encountering a problem in playing this file, mentioning something about a Codec. Could anyone pl help me in suggesting a suitable codec and how to use it also ??? Thank you a lot.

User : Sanchit

:Download [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ VLC Video Player], more than likely it will play your file. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 17:15, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Hi....i also encountered a similar problem as you sanchit. try downloading D-i-v-X AV Codec Pack from:

http://www.download.com/AV-Codec-Pack/3000-2194_4-10509746.html?tag=lst-0-1

after the download just try playing your AVI file.hope this helps you

:I wouldn't advise this. According to one "user review", this codec pack has some integrated adware/spyware nonsense (most seem to). Codec packs often have compatiblity issues anyways. Go with VLC, or find out which codec you need by using a tool like [http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ GSpot]. -- [[User:Consumed Crustacean|Consumed Crustacean]] ([[User talk:Consumed Crustacean|talk]]) 22:05, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Chances are it's xvid or divx, locate binaries for each and install them, then windows media player should play it fine --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 03:38, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:NEVER, NEVER, NEVER download codec packs, chances are you have no idea what they have bundled in them, including possible replacements for the default mpeg and avi encoders on your system, which can harm the stability and or security of your PC. If you need to install extra codecs, do them one at a time, www.doom9.net is a good place to learn about video files. Finally, you seem unsure in your question, a codec is a COmpressor/DECompressor. Computers can only play video as uncompressed AVI (about 1.5GB per hour of video) so most of us compress these into smaller forms, such as MPEG, divx, xvid etc.. The job of the codec is to decompress the video file back to a normal AVI (Audio Visual Interleave in case you wondered) so your computer can understand it. Audio works in the same way, WAV being the only true audio format and all others being compressed forms of it, such as MP3 files. Phill (email removed)

Thank you so much for your help, guys!

== Internet sharing problems ==

My household just got high speed internet last week, and my computer shares the internet with the main computer. However the problem is that my internet connection to it doesn't always work properly. When it isn't working right I can get on web sites fine like Wikipedia and such (albeit a lil slower) but I cannot play games online or do downloading or even go on MSN Messenger. Take last night it was working for me fine, but when i turned it on this morning it was back not working and i haven't been able to get it working properly. It sometimes starts working fine, but it never stops working after it's been working when i keep the computer on. It always seems to work fine on the main computer. Now my question is where is the problem? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. [[User:Croat Canuck|Croat Canuck]] <i><font size="1"><font color="blue">[[User talk:Croat Canuck|Go Jays Go]]</font></font></i> 17:34, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:How are the computers sharing the connection? Through a seperate router or something else? --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 19:07, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:Well we have a router in between our computers, sorry I forgot to mention that. [[User:Croat Canuck|Croat Canuck]] <i><font size="1"><font color="blue">[[User talk:Croat Canuck|Go Jays Go]]</font></font></i> 19:59, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::Since some things are working and other things aren't might be worth checking the firewall settings on the router, in particular port forwarding. When I was using DHCP on my router I used to notice I'd have problems with MSN if I wasn't given the IP Address the port for MSN was opened for. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 20:30, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Well i wasn't able to find the port forwarding part on the firewall (unless i have to do it from the main computer), but another thing I found is that the problem doesn't arrive if when I turn off the computer I keep the power bar on. However i usually turn the power bar off because otherwise my mouse stays on and illuminates the whole room, which is kinda annoying. [[User:Croat Canuck|Croat Canuck]] <i><font size="1"><font color="blue">[[User talk:Croat Canuck|Go Leafs Go]]</font></font></i> 22:17, 27 September 2006

::::If the only thing keeping you from having the power bar on 24/7 is the light on the mouse you could always cover it with a box or piece of fabric at night. --[[User:Kiltman67|Kiltman67]] 01:02, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

::::Are there only two computers? What makes one the 'main' computer? Is it running an internet connection sharing tool? When you say there is a router between your computers do you mean both computers connect to that to receive their internet connection? Also, if you want your mouse light to go away power off your computer with the main switch on the back (if it has one). If you can't get the internet to work right ask a computer savvy friend to take a look at the setup, it's probably just a layout problem. --[[User:Jmeden2000|Jmeden2000]] 20:22, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== MS Access ==

I am using a to_char and to_number function in sql. To make sure that my query runs successfully I created a mirror database in MS Access and I am trying that query there. But MS Access does not recognize to_cahr and to_number. Can anyone tell me what is the eqvivalent functions for to_char and to_number in MS Access?

:I don't see these functions in the MS Jet SQL reference. You may want to install a copy of [[MSDE]] or [[Sql_server_2005_express_edition|SQL 2005 Express]] to test queries for SQL Server. --[[User:24.159.108.105|24.159.108.105]] 03:47, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

::MS Access uses [[Visual Basic]] functions for data type conversions like this, so you'd use "Str$(number)" to convert a number to a string, and "Val(string)" to convert a string to a number. --[[User:Canley|Canley]] 06:43, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== Blu-ray and HD-DVD ==

What's the point of massive Blu-ray or HD-DVD discs? I was under the impression that XViD/DivX/H.264 could easily fit a 1080p movie on a normal single or double layered DVD, the previously mentioned formats certainly seem to work wonders with standard-resolution movies. Also, H.264 is part of the Blu-ray/HD-DVD standard anyway, so why the excessive bitrates? This would only increase the cost of Blu-ray/HD-DVD equipment. --[[User:Frenchman113|Frenchman113 ]] [[User talk:Frenchman113|on wheels!]] 19:27, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:I found somewhere that .21 bits per pixel is a good measure for good quality xvid. If you take the number of pixels per frame, 1920 * 1080, multiply it by the numer of frames per second (25 for europeans), and multiply that by 60 * 120 (for a two hour movie), you get the number of pixels in the movie. Multiplying that by .21 gets a rough number of bits for a good quality HD xvid encode. Divide that by 8 to get to bytes and three times by 1024 to get to kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes respectively. I come out at about nine gigabytes, which is half a gigabyte larger than the capacity of a double layer DVD. Ofcourse h.624 will compress better than xvid, but add a 5-channel high quality soundtrack to the mix, and the fact that DVD's should (emphasis on should) feature a quality that is better than just good, it's clear that regular DVD's don't measure up.

:The main thing, however is that it's not so much a question of necessity as of possibility. The reason that HD-DVD/Bluray is coming out is not that we need them foor our HD foootage, but rather that we can produce them at a decent cost. 25 GB is the next generation in optical storage. After that come the possibilities, which include not only HD movies, but also games with a greater detail in texture and personal data storage needs. The whole thought process starts with the capacity of the disks, and from that flow the ideas of what to do with them.

:Of course, there's also the [[Holographic Versatile Disc]], which comes out before the HD-DVD/Bluray, and has a capacity four times that of a bluray disc. Depending on the price of the first hardware, it might negate the whole next gen DVD wars. [[User:Risk one|risk]] 22:14, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

:AFAIK licensing costs for MPEG4 and h.264 may have been high. In any case, I guess the studios already have the appropriate systems and so would prefer to stick with MPEG2 for now. Finally, the studios would probably prefer their HD content to be larger rather then smaller to slow down P2P (obviously you may be able to recompress it but that's an extra step) and bluray/HD-DVD burners and media are going to cost a lot more for a long time. We can also assume it'll take a while for the professional pirates in Asia start to get in to the habit. On that note, the studios would have less of an excuse to add all their junk anti-choice (aka anti-piracy) measures if they were justing using DVDs. [[User:Nil Einne|Nil Einne]] 00:10, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Why don't movie companies just compress the video? ... mpeg2 is practically lossless, and it offers only a tiny fraction of the compression offered by even a high-quality double pass xvid compress --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 23:34, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:I think that's the point that the original poster was asking. I have no idea. Last I heard, it was something to do with the movie studios' video encoding tools not having a mature MPEG4 (h.264 ?) implementation yet. I don't know why they wouldn't, as the format has been around for awhile and is supposed to be supported by both HD-disc players. -- [[User:Consumed Crustacean|Consumed Crustacean]] ([[User talk:Consumed Crustacean|talk]]) 23:38, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== Bigger font for firefox ==

Can anybody tell me how to make the font in firefox big by default? I know how to change it in a given window, but I want all of my tabs to be in a large font by default.

:If you click on the '''Tools''' menu at the top and select '''Options''' then click the '''Content''' tab, I beleive its in there --[[User:Ukdan999|Ukdan999]] 20:20, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::That's only the "default font" --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 03:33, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:::Isn't that exactly what the OP wanted to change? It works as expected for me. &mdash;[[User:Dapete|da&nbsp;Pete]]&nbsp;<small>([[User talk:Dapete|ばか]])</small> 08:41, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:View>Texts size>Increase. Or hold down control and scroll the middle mouse button.

== Displaying Hidden Documents ==

I have a Windows machine. How do I get it to not display hidden documents when I go to Start>Documents? --[[User:Yanwen|Yanwen]] 20:53, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

go to control panel>folder options>View(tab)>choose Do not show hidden files or folders

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:34141414124llpoo412442424.JPG#filelinks]

:I already did that. But when you click Start and go to Documents, it still shows hidden files. --[[User:24.107.18.155|24.107.18.155]] 21:33, 27 September 2006 (UTC) Ops. forgot to sign in. --[[User:Yanwen|Yanwen]] 22:01, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

::You mean the recent documents list? I don't think there is a way to do this. You can disable it altogether (right click on the task bar, click properties, start menu, customize, advanced, and uncheck the thing at the bottom). -- [[User:Consumed Crustacean|Consumed Crustacean]] ([[User talk:Consumed Crustacean|talk]]) 22:08, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

== ActiveX ==

When I go to certain web pages, a pop up comes up asking me if i want to run an ActiveX control. Is there a way I can stop this from coming up every time.

[[User:207.200.116.65|207.200.116.65]] 23:12, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Check your securtiy levels from options--[[User:RedStaR|RedStaR]] 23:59, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Use firefox or [[Links (web browser)|links]] --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 03:23, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== C++ code ==

Can someone write me a basic geometry calculator using C++

or any suggestions would be helpful.

thanks

well you're going to want to include math.h ... --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 03:29, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:Include &lt;cmath&gt;, not &lt;math.h&gt; (math.h is a deprecated C header). But, the question posed is rather vague. If you want to do any of the standard functions, yeah, cmath has stuff like cos and sin and whatever (in radians). You'll probably want to use "double" for your numbers, as they're as accurate as you'll get without getting complicated.

:Are you wanting to be able to type in an expression like "5.0 + cos(3.028) * 40.2" and have your program evaluate it? Or do you just want to do calculations? (And isn't there a free calculator program already written that you can use?) - [[User:Rainwarrior|Rainwarrior]] 03:46, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

::Or maybe it's homework :) --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 21:21, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

=September 28=

== computer organisation ==

please answer the question with explanation

1>A DECIMAL NUMBER HAS 25 DIGITS.THE NUMBER OF BITS NEEDED FOR ITS EQUIVALENT BINARY REPRESENTATION ?

:Here's a way you can approximate it:

:<math>2^{10} = 1,024</math> so that means 10 bits gives you 3 digits (the first digit doesn't count, because it can only be a 0 or 1).

:<math>2^{20} = 1,048,576</math> so that means 20 bits gives you 6 digits (the first digit doesn't count, because it can only be a 0 or 1).

:<math>2^{30} = 1,073,741,824</math> so that means 30 bits gives you 9 digits (the first digit doesn't count, because it can only be a 0 or 1).

:Continue like this until you get the answer (you may want to add a few more bits to specify the ___location of the decimal point). [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 19:17, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

2>THE NUMBER OF INSTRUCTIONS NEEDED TO ADD n NUMBERS AND STORE THE RESULT IN MEMORY USING ONLY ONE ADDRESS INSTRUCTIONS

3>Let A be set having 'n' elements.the number of binary operation that can be defined on A ?

4>A certain machine uses expandind opcode.it has 16 bit instructions and 6bit addresses.it supports one address and two address instructions only.if there are'n' two address instructions,the maximum number of one address instruction is---?

5>A COMPUTER USES A FLOATING-POINT REPRESENTATION COMPRISING A SINGNED MAGNITUDE FRACTIONAL MANTISSA AND AN EXCESS-16 base-8 exponent.what decimal number is represented bya a floating-point number whose exponent is 10011,mantissa 101000,and sign bit set?

6>suppose the largest n-bit binary number requires 'd'digits in decimal representation.then what is the relations between 'n' and 'd'?

:You should probably read the instructions at the top of this page. Specifically, the one that says:

::'''Do your own homework.''' If you need help with a specific part or concept of your homework, feel free to ask, but please do not post entire homework questions and expect us to give you the answers.

:--[[User:Maelwys|Maelwys]] 14:18, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

first of all this is not my home work,if you can solve this problem then it will be great help,because i am very weak in co,so please

::The 'do you own homework' mantra applies even if it happens to be someone else's! The problem is that this is simple CS and is quite clearly intended for the assignee to learn, not for them to pawn off on others. --[[User:Jmeden2000|Jmeden2000]] 15:25, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:::I thought the "do your own homework" was code for other Wikipedia users to answer homework questions with complete nonsense. --[[User:Kainaw|Kainaw]] <small>^{[[User_talk:Kainaw|(talk)]]}</small> 01:54, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Why do you say the first bit doesn't matter? How do you think the computer keeps track of [[Sign bit|sign]]? --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 23:31, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== keyboard - windows xp ==

I use windows xp. When I leave the computer idle for 5 minutes, the keyboard stops functioning. The num lock light in the keyboard glows, but if I press any key, it does not function. I surely think something is fault with windows settings. But I dont know what settings I should try and change. Should I go for setup and try, or should I try doing in control panel?

where exactly should I try changing settings?

Thank you

:I would guess the power management is set to go to sleep, hibernate, etc., after 5 mins, or that the display is set to go to screen saver, and that interferes with the keyboard. [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 18:54, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== How to open Solaris screenshot rs files? ==

Hi:

How do I open the ".rs" files that contain screenshot images taken with Solaris's "snapshot" program? (Snapshot's interface seems to have that OpenWindows/OpenLook feel to it, so I surmise it's an ancient program).

Thanks,

[[User:129.97.252.227|129.97.252.227]] 17:39, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

== C++ sending input to another program ==

I'm trying to do 3 things:

1) Run an executable from my program.

2) Wait for it to ask for input and feed it input.

3) Check its output (at this point the executable terminates on its own)

How can I do this with C++? Is there any way to stream it input without actually giving the exe window focus and simulating keypresses or something? Also I'm totally at a loss as to how to check its output. Also will any problems arise with it terminating on its own?

The exe is written in assembly if it makes any difference to the I/O.

Thanks --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 21:20, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:The [[POSIX]] way to do this involves the system calls <code>pipe()</code>, <code>dup2()</code>, <code>fork()</code>, and <code>exec*()</code> (see [[fork-exec]]). Basically you set up a pipe to communicate with yourself, then copy yourself (<code>fork()</code>), then arrange for that pipe to be treated as standard input and output in one copy (<code>dup2()</code> and <code>close()</code>) and become the other program you want to execute (<code>exec*()</code>). Then the parent process can just sit and act like the other program's keyboard and screen with its copy of the pipe.

:Two caveats: not all of these may be available on Windows (as I presume you are, since you mention an EXE), although it may depend on your compilation setup; also, some (but not all) old [[DOS]] programs (which an assembly program might very well be) sometimes behave very badly when their standard input is not connected to a terminal (the keyboard): typically they never terminate. (You can sometimes fix this by making sure the program is told explicitly by its input to terminate, as by including <tt>"quit\n"</tt> in the text you send it.)

:The other progam terminating is no problem, except that if your program is going to do anything else (or you're calling many child programs), it should call <code>wait()</code> (or a variant) after the spawned processes die to clean them up. (It's okay to call <code>wait()</code> before they actually die, so long as you're sure they will do so; your program will, well, wait for them to exit.)

:Does that help? (If you can use those functions but can't figure out how to do so, just ask.) --[[User:Tardis|Tardis]] 22:36, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

::Addendum -- unless you want to use the direct functions <code>read()</code> and <code>write()</code> with the pipes, you'll want to make streams for them. In C, you can always use <code>fdopen()</code>, but there's no standard way to do it in C++ (aside of course from using the C library!). There are, however, common extensions to <code>iostream</code> that let you open a ''file descriptor'' as a C++ stream object. --[[User:Tardis|Tardis]] 22:38, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:To do this in Windows, call the Windows API function <code>CreateProcess()</code>, declared in windows.h, with the STARTF_USESTDHANDLES flag set in the dwFlags member of the STARTUPINFO struct. The hStdInput and hStdOutput members should then be set to the reading and writing ends of two anonymous pipes, created with <code>CreatePipe()</code> (note you'll probably also want to set the wShowWindow member to SW_HIDE to hide the child process' window as per your requirement, as well as setting the STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW flag). As per the documentation, for this to work the bInheritHandles parameter must be TRUE. <code>ReadFile()</code> and <code>WriteFile()</code> can be used to communicate over the pipe. More information is available from MSDN, however you may have trouble following it unless you are somewhat familiar with Windows systems programming.

== Password on USB Drive ==

I have a 256MB SanDisk Freedom.

I would like to put a passowrd on it, just so that when i plug it into either Windows or MAc OSX, I need to enter a password to access it.

My optimum budget for this would be $0

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

== Shortest video game ==

[[User:Omnipotence407|Omnipotence407]] 22:27, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:[[Truecrypt]] is the first thing I can think of, but it supports only Linux and Windows, not OSX. -- [[User:Consumed Crustacean|Consumed Crustacean]] ([[User talk:Consumed Crustacean|talk]])

[[A Short Hike]] (as the name suggests) can be beaten within a few hours. What other games are like that? [[User:JuniperChill|JuniperChill]] ([[User talk:JuniperChill|talk]]) 19:18, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

::Something works on Linux and not OSX? Weird. --[[User:Kainaw|Kainaw]] <small>^{[[User_talk:Kainaw|(talk)]]}</small> 01:51, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

: "50 Games Like" aims to be a weighted-category based games recomendation engine. Just based on ''A Short Hike'', it lists [https://www.50gameslike.com/games-like/a-short-hike these games]. But that's based on ''all'' the categories ''A Short Hike'' is in ("cute", "adventure", "exploration", etc.). If you just want "short" games, you click on just the category button and it gives you [https://www.50gameslike.com/best-games-by-type/short short games in all genres] (which aren't like ''A Short Hike'', except in shortness). Subjectively, it looks more useful than Steam's recommendation engine, which gives me some fairly bonkers suggestions ("you liked FTL, so you might like Doom Eternal"). -- [[User:Finlay McWalter|Finlay McWalter]]'''··–·'''[[User talk:Finlay McWalter|Talk]] 19:40, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

:If it's a [[U3]]-compatible device, just put it in, open the U3 menu, and select "set password" --[[User:Froth|froth]]^{'''[[User_talk:Froth|<small>T</small>]] [[Special:Contributions/Froth|<small>C</small>]]'''} 23:28, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

:Finlay's answer is excellent, but I can't help mention that the original ''[[Portal (video game)|Portal]]'' game is both famously short and considered one of the best games of all time. If shortness is the prime criteria, you could do worse. But apart from the duration, it's nothing like ''A Short Hike''. [[User:Matt Deres|Matt Deres]] ([[User talk:Matt Deres|talk]]) 12:40, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

::Guess that means that ''A Short Hike'' is unique in its shortness, cosiness, and adventure. ''[[Lil Gator Game]]'' is quite close in terms of layout and that the player can climb but idk about its length since I haven't played the latter, but have played the former. I was mostly focusing on shortness, hence the title of the discussion. [[User:JuniperChill|JuniperChill]] ([[User talk:JuniperChill|talk]]) 19:37, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

:Check out https://howlongtobeat.com/user/a19xys/lists/25829/%5B-Short-%26-Good-(-5h)-%5D, perhaps. [[User:Aaron Liu|<span class="skin-invert" style="color:#0645ad">Aaron Liu</span>]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu#top|talk]]) 23:37, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

:@[[User:JuniperChill|JuniperChill]] In Far Cry 4, if you just sit at the table and wait for Pagan Min to return, it is a very short video game. Less than 15 minutes. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 00:56, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

::Well, consuming the crab rangoon can't be so bad it's considered an "adventure", can it? [[User:Aaron Liu|<span class="skin-invert" style="color:#0645ad">Aaron Liu</span>]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu#top|talk]]) 01:04, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

:::@[[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] Traveling to a country far away, ending up in a firefight in which some people get killed, seeing a murder close-up (over a simple miscommunication), getting invited to the palace of the dictator of said country as a VIP guest, bringing moms ashes to their final resting place and learning about your tragic family history is quite an adventure (although some would just call that Tuesday). [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 13:40, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

= August 20 =

=September 29=

== Which year American staté the bill on count ==

== Battery woes with technology ==

We need to know that year [[Special:Contributions/41.114.142.143|41.114.142.143]] ([[User talk:41.114.142.143|talk]]) 05:21, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

I've just gotten a new 30GB movie iPod, and I'm so excited! But I've received a lot of different comments about how often I should charge it. One person told me that I should let the battery drain all of the way to dead before charging it, and the other said that the iPod should be charged a lot so it always has some charge. What's the better idea? I've heard a lot more about the drain-it-all idea, but the person who constantly charged her iPod said she still has the same iPod from two and a half years ago and it works great. [[User:Ikiroid|The ikiroid]] ([[User talk:Ikiroid|talk]]·[[User:Ikiroid/Desk|desk]]·[[User talk:Ikiroid/Help Me Improve|Advise me]]) 00:28, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

:I can't understand the question. ―<span style="font-family:Poppins, Helvetica, Sans-serif;">[[User:Panamitsu|Panamitsu]]</span> [[User_talk:Panamitsu|(talk)]] 06:41, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

:What type of batteries does it have ? [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] 01:09, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

:Are you sure this question is about computing, which includes information technology, electronics, software and hardware? Otherwise, please post it at a more fitting section of the reference desk. If the question is about history, politics or economics, the appropriate section is [[Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities|Reference desk/Humanities]]. Also, do not repost your question as it is now. Please rephrase it, so that we have a chance to understand the question. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 13:21, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

:Google AI says: The United States passed the Coinage Act of 1792, which established the U.S. dollar as the unit of currency and mandated that public accounts and court proceedings use this standard, making it the first "bill on count" in the sense of the financial unit. [[User:Shantavira|Shantavira]]|[[User talk:Shantavira|^{feed me}]] 17:45, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

::{{small|I am unaware of ''[[wikt:count#Noun|count]]'' having a sense "dollar" (or any financial unit). &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 13:09, 24 August 2025 (UTC)}}

:::<small>AI is aware of all sorts of imaginary stuff.</small> [[User:Shantavira|Shantavira]]|[[User talk:Shantavira|^{feed me}]] 07:54, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

:Apple have [http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipods.html a page about battery care in iPods], and a page about [http://www.apple.com/batteries/ lithium-ion batteries] in general. Also, see our article on [[Lithium ion battery]]. --[[User:Canley|Canley]] 03:59, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

==BitTorrent==

I have been considering joining a BitTorrent project lately, but a question has come up that the project in question's FAQ that seems to be neatly avoided. Is BitTorrent file sharing legal, or not? I am under the impression now that it is legal as long as you do not sell the product, but I don't know. It would be nice to know the legality of BitTorrent before I engage in any activity with it. Thank you! [[User:PullToOpen|PullToOpen]] ^{[[User_talk:PullToOpen|talk]]} 00:57, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

:There is nothing illegal about BitTorrent. The legal question comes into copying software that you do not hold the legal copyright to copy. Yes, sharing files online is legally copying thing (I am amazed that people who are smart enough to use a computer claim "You can't copy files - they are just electronic ones and zeros"). If you do not have the right to copy something, it is illegal to copy it or to help someone else copy it. By sharing files on BitTorrent, you are either copying or helping someone else copy the files. It may not be what you want to hear, but the law couldn't be simpler. I'll never understand why it is so hard for people to understand that if you don't have the copyright you don't have the right to copy. --[[User:Kainaw|Kainaw]] <small>^{[[User_talk:Kainaw|(talk)]]}</small> 01:50, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

::What he said. You fast one you. — [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Mac_Davis X] '''['''<nowiki></nowiki>'''[[User:Mac Davis|<span style="font-family:Times;color:navy;"><em><font color=#006600>Mac Davis</font></em></span>]]] <small>(<font color=#6688AA>[[User:Mac_Davis/Desk|SUPERDESK]]</font>|<font color=#666666>[[User_talk:Mac_Davis/Improvement|Help me improve]]</font></small>)'''01:51, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

== Windows clock one our late ==

= September 1 =

My system clock in Windows 2000 is one our late . I set it properly but the next day the same story.

I do not have the "Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes" option enabled

== Estimating nodes in a tree for depth-first search ==

What could be the problem?

I need to traverse a large tree with a depth-first search. I need an estimate of the number of nodes to get an idea if it is feasible to do it. What I have in mind is to start the search but at each node, select one edge at random. Keep track of the branching factor at each level. Then repeat this maybe 10⁵ times and get an average branching factor at each level. Then multiply the branching factors to get an estimate of the total number of nodes.

Thank you

Should this give a reasonable estimate of the total number of nodes? [[User:Bubba73|Bubba73]] ^{[[User talk:Bubba73|You talkin' to me?]]} 22:18, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

: Try enabling it! Mabye your clock is automatically synchronizing itself every day or so, and since daylight saving is off, it shows winter time. That's my guess, anyway. —[[User:Bromskloss|Bromskloss]] 11:56, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

:If you know nothing about the tree in advance you will still not know, as the branches may go to any huge depth, including those branches you don't go near. Are you going to go full depth 10⁵ times? That would give you some sort of probabilistic idea, but not any certainty. [[User:Graeme Bartlett|Graeme Bartlett]] ([[User talk:Graeme Bartlett|talk]]) 10:18, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

: <s>Do you have any way of knowing or estimating the total number of nodes? That in conjunction with your "branching factor" might give a better estimate.</s> —[[User:scs|scs]] ([[User talk:scs|talk]]) 10:48, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

::I think the point of the described sampling method is to ''obtain'' an estimate of the total number of nodes, to be used to determine whether a full traversal is feasible. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 14:44, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

:::Ah, yes. (And: "[[D'oh!]]") The emphasis on depth-first in the title had me assuming that the question was whether specifically depth-first traversal was possible, and the intent was to estimate the depth of the tree. —[[User:scs|scs]] ([[User talk:scs|talk]]) 21:24, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

:Assume you have a finite tree with a gazillion nodes that is completely linear: each internal node has exactly one child. With your method, you compute, each of these 10⁵ times, the product of the branching factors as being 1^gazillion = 1, which is not a good estimate. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 15:09, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

:: I was planning to go different random routes, each as deeply as I could, for enough trials to get an estimate. I picked 10⁵ as an example. I could do more. The tree is largely unknown - I don't know how many edges a node has until I get to it, but the number of edges for each will be between 0 and 8. Very few paths will reach the maximum depth. The object is to get the path that goes to the maximum depth of the tree. [[User:Bubba73|Bubba73]] ^{[[User talk:Bubba73|You talkin' to me?]]} 22:58, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

::Perhaps uncheck the checkbox in the Internet Time tab (although that MAY be an XP only feature. [[User:Mason11987|Chris M.]] 14:39, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

= September 2 =

== Windows Update Issue? ==

== What does ''illegal'' mean in the context of HTML? ==

A computer here worked fine on Monday. It sat idle all week (but did have Windows Auto-Update running). Now, it will not accept any USB thumbdrives. Was there a MS patch this week that restricts USB access? --[[User:Kainaw|Kainaw]] <small>^{[[User_talk:Kainaw|(talk)]]}</small> 14:02, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

:UpdatingTo thisuse question,it justin founda outsentence (no pun intended), it's isillegal Win2000to andplace a Sandiskdiv Cruzerinside Microan 1GBinline tag. --– [[User:KainawMrPersonHumanGuy|KainawMrPersonHumanGuy]] <small>^{([[User_talkUser talk:KainawMrPersonHumanGuy|(talk)]]}</small>) 1401:3315, 292 September 20062025 (UTC)

:It violates the specs of the HTML syntax, is not correct HTML, and may be expected to cause renderers to behave erratically. [[User:Aaron Liu|<span class="skin-invert" style="color:#0645ad">Aaron Liu</span>]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu#top|talk]]) 03:05, 2 September 2025 (UTC)