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July 6

picture transfer from cellular phone to PC...

i have a friend who is trying to send a picture from their phone to my pc. their phone does not seem to allow sending to email, but they say they can send pictures in a text message. However, i am talking to them using Yahoo Messenger, so i think when they send the picture to my number its useless, since yahoo isnt set up to recieve and display it. Are there any good programs that would allow me to receieve a photo from that method?

Thanks! 63.26.225.40 (talk) 08:56, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Lots of ways to do this without extra programs. If the phone stores the photo on a memory card (SD card, Memory stick, etc.) the card can be removed and put into a PC's card reader. Alternatively: many phones come with a USB data cable (or one can be bought as an accessory); some PC's particularly laptops have built-in bluetooth, like many phones do (if not a bluetooth USB dongle can be bought); old phones and old laptops used infra-red, but I've not seen one of those for quite a few years. Astronaut (talk) 12:07, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

I thought text was limited to 160 characters (or multiple thereof with multiple text messages). How can you send a picture in a text? -- SGBailey (talk) 13:26, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Multimedia Messaging Service -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 13:35, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Let me clarify. The entire point and context of this post is that there is no usb (the cable was lost) or memory card etc. they can ONLY send pictures to a PHONE NUMBER and not an email. Like i said, any programs that will recieve this? Or any other tips?

thanks again in advance! 63.26.227.89 (talk) 21:30, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Photobucket is an image hosting service that can be set up to accept mobile uploads, though if the phone has neither a good web browser (to browse to the site to fill out the upload form; smartphones such as the iPhone have this) nor the ability to send an MMS message to an e-mail address (none of the various services use "numbers"), that would not work. Some phones can send files via Bluetooth to other phones; if that is possible, you might be able then to upload to Photobucket from a phone that MMS e-mails can be sent from. PleaseStand ^(talk) 03:07, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I always thought MMS was a way to send images to other phones in the same way that text messages are sent to other phones - ie. not to an email address or a Yahoo ID. The trouble is, I've always viewed MMS as being quite expensive. In this case however, it might be the only way to get the image onto a phone with more capabilities (such as bluetooth, a memory card, a data cable that isn't lost, email, etc.) Once on the other phone, it should be easier to get the image off that and onto a PC. Astronaut (talk) 03:51, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

From my experience most phones can send MMS to e-mail addresses, although it will depend on provider support I guess. Depending on your provider MMS, may not be that expensive compared to the outrageous per kb cost of SMS and casual rate if you don't have a data plan. In any case, if your phone really doesn't allow you to send MMS to e-mail addresses (what phone is it?) you could see if your provider has a number you can send MMS to where you can get them online. I've never heard of any IM that can receive MMS but never really looked. Most people probably don't need it since it's more convenient to send it to via email. I would be surprised if a phone without removable memory that isn't a Kin or iPhone would have Bluetooth but who knows. Nil Einne (talk) 06:18, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Email program with external (Excel) contact list?

For our fund-raising organisation I maintain a membership list in Excel. It works fantastically well with the bulk SMS program we use, which links to the Excel sheet and allows me to send SMSes to all members in one shot. Any updates to phone numbers or addition of members is taken care of in the Excel membership list only. The program seamlessly updates its externally linked contacts (i.e. from the Excel list) on startup. At no point do I have to touch the SMS program itself to update contacts.

I'm looking for an email program to reproduce this EXACT functionality. I don't want to manage contacts from within the program as this becomes double work. I just want it to reference the email addies from the appropriate column in our membership list. I've tried searching to no avail, the search terms bring up the wrong type of results. Any help? p.s. Mail merge does not suffice for all our needs. Zunaid 11:05, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

p.p.s. Windows XP or compatible please, ANY email program will do. I will just install it for this one use for our organisation. Thanks. Zunaid 11:10, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

How many people in the list? I do something similar and on occasion send them in batches of 40 from Thunderbird by just highlighting 40 names from a column in excel and pasting them into a BCC field. If I do more than 40 at a time, something (Thunderbird? ISP?) thinks I might be spamming and doesn't send. -- SGBailey (talk) 13:24, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

I can and do do the copy paste method as mentioned in Outlook Express already. I'm trying to avoid it. I just want an email program to which I can link our membership list as an "external" contact list. "Set and forget" basically. It's not many addies (<40 definitely) but it's more for the ease of use. Zunaid 22:44, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Jailbreaking on iPod Touch 3G with iOS 4.0

Is it possible to jailbreak it, or must I downgrade to 3.1.2 then jailbreak? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 153.20.24.67 (talk) 11:44, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't own an iPhone, but looking at the article it appears that it's possible, however it does not yet work on all devices. : IOS_jailbreaking#Current_.284.0.29 APL (talk) 16:24, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Web server

I'm looking for a small web server that can display html pages and php. All the ones I've tried so far have additional functions like mysql, but I have no need for mysql so having that running and consuming 100mb of ram seems pointless. Thanks for your help! :) 82.43.90.93 (talk) 14:19, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

All the web servers listed as supporting CGI in Comparison of web server software will support PHP scripts via CGI. Some like lighttpd have optimisations specifically to improve PHP performance. Others, like Apache, have plugin modules (like Apache's modphp) which give PHP more access to web server internals and aim to improve its performance. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 14:37, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

I've have no trouble finding servers that support php. I just can't find one that only supports php and doesn't have mysql and perl and a load of other things I don't need but take up space on my computer. I want a small server than just has html and php 82.43.90.93 (talk) 14:57, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

You haven't told us what you've tried installing, or even what OS you're running, but it sounds like you're installing something like a LAMP stack (or WAMP or whatever) instead of just a web server. -- Coneslayer (talk) 15:00, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Can and Will are two different things. For example, Apache can run MySQL. If you download and install Apache, it will not run MySQL. You have to add that capability (usually as something like a PHP module). Further, Apache can run PHP. If you download and install APache, it will not run PHP. You must add that capability by downloading and installing PHP. As for PHP, it can use MySQL. If you simply download and install PHP, it will not use MySQL. You have to add that capability. So, it is hard to tell if you are worried that something can use MySQL or if you are worried that something will run MySQL. -- kainaw™ 15:14, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm on Windows. I've tried installing various servers like Apache and when it starts up it loads mysqld.exe which takes 100mb of RAM 82.43.90.93 (talk) 15:23, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

None of the listed servers "has myql and perl". Web servers are just that, and nothing more. You're downloading some package of stuff from goodness knows where. Don't do that. Download and install the servers from their own websites and you'll get nothing else. There is no requirement for Lightttpd or Apache to have either perl or mysql installed, and the official installers from their creators do not include either. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:39, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm so confused :( Thank you everyone anyway, obviously I made a mistake with what I downloaded 82.43.90.93 (talk) 16:02, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

When you "installed apache", you apparently did not get it from http://apache.org - which is where you should download it from if that is all you want. Then, download PHP from http://php.net (not from some other website). -- kainaw™ 16:06, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

IIS (which is included with Windows) supports PHP. Databases are installed separately. If you want to add IIS, you just go to the Control Panel, then Add or Remove Programs (called Programs and Features in Vista and 7), and then Add/Remove Windows Components.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 17:08, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Vista comes with IIS (Internet Information Services), but Windows 7 doesn't (Microsoft removed it). Also, as Finlay McWalter is trying to explain above, the Apache HTTP server (what most people call a "web server"), the PHP script interpreter, and the MySQL database software are three separate software programs, each of which can be obtained from their own web sites (although PHP is often integrated with Apache using a configuration known as mod_php, and PHP programs often do use the MySQL database software for backend storage). EasyPHP and others are bundles of those three programs' Windows versions. If you don't want MySQL running, either download and install Apache and PHP separately — you may want to refer to http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.apache2.php for information on how to set up PHP. PleaseStand ^(talk) 02:20, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

My installation of Windows 7 Professional lists IIS in that menu. I prefer IIS because all the configuration is done through a GUI, whereas most of the configuration of PHP is done by editing the php.ini file. But, aside from that, there is not much difference.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 02:57, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I was wrong in that Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate do include IIS, but the home version will definitely not have that feature. PHP should work on either web server though. PleaseStand ^(talk) 03:54, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Microsoft's Installing IIS 7.5 on Windows 7 Home Premium, Home Basic, or Home Starter says that the IIS component can be installed on Windows 7 using the method Best Dog Ever described, and Available Web Server (IIS) Role Services in IIS 7.5 lists which features you do, or don't, get in the various Windows 7 versions. I don't see PHP listed in the table, but if it's considered part of the CGI package, you're good with Home Premium or better. -- Coneslayer (talk) 11:14, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

If you are willing to wait a little bit, the recently announced IIS Express may be what you are looking for. 124.214.131.55 (talk) 11:51, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

dwg verses shp file formats

What is the difference between autodesk's .dwg and ESRI's .shp file formats ? Why are not they made compatible with each other, although their functions are similar? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.199.184.78 (talk) 16:00, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

See .dwg and shapefile. They are two very different formats for similar but distinctly different purposes. -- kainaw™ 16:53, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Resetting Mac OS X permissions back to default state

So I let someone borrow my laptop and they accidentally overrode the permissions for the entire disk to make all folders read/write/execute. How can I set them back to normal? (And I can't use Disk Utility Repair Permissions... it times out after a couple hours) --70.167.58.6 (talk) 17:45, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

wow. just wow. first of all, no one can accidentally override the permissions for an entire disk. Even if you are silly enough to give someone access to an administrative account and give him the password to that account, it still takes a good bit of effort to change permissions system wide. this person was trying to screw you up, just so you know.

now, the best thing to do would be to fire up Time Machine and reset your computer to a state prior to this moment of good-hearted foolishness. If you don't have Time Machine set up, then what you should do is start up from the install CD and run disk utility from there. that will be more stable and reliable than trying to run it from the internal hard drive. However, this will only fix the permissions on standard OSX software, files and folders; it won't fix the permissions on your own personal files, third party applications, unix executables you'e installed yourself, and etc. depending on exactly what he did, this may be a bigger or a smaller problem. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'all folders' for the 'entire disk' do you mean all folders in your users folder? all folders in all users folders? all folders in the system area? does this include special folders (like application package folders) or just regular folders?

In the future if you want to loan your computer to someone, use the accounts preference pane to make a new account for them (standard user, without administrative privileges). it takes all of a minute and a half to do this, and it will protect your computer (and all of your files and personal information) from any dumb thing they may try to do and save you from more instances of the fairly major headache you're dealing with now. --Ludwigs2 20:25, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

"no one can accidentally override the permissions for an entire disk." - What's so implausible about chmod -R ugo+x . when you think you are in /Users/waldubar/tmp/collections/p0rnviewers but actually are in /? --Stephan Schulz (talk) 09:00, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Nothing is implausible about it, except that

1. you would have to be using terminal, which for Mac OS X users is a bit unusual (there are no common tasks that require terminal on OS X)
2. chmod and chown are common commands, but not frequently used, implying the user had at least some basic unix competence
3. chmod and chown are commands specifically designed for changing permissions, and changing permissions on a machine that doesn't belong to you is tres sketchy
4. you would certainly have to use sudo to change permissions on the entire disk, which speaks to even greater unix competence.

If I were to loan my computer to someone and find him/her using terminal in the first place (without some darned good reason), I would be suspicious. If I were to find him/her in terminal trying to change permissions on files and folders (using pseudo, for heaven's sake, with my administrator password), I wouldn't be suspicious in the least; I would know that they were up to something no good. Now if you like you can give that person the benefit of the doubt and believe that they were just trying to play some sort of practical joke by goofing with the system (there's a certain mindset which finds that kind of thing funny). But what happened here was too complex to easily fit in the 'stupid accident' model. It's a bit like finding some guy standing naked in your wife's bedroom who says he lost his clothes in a poker game and was just looking for someplace to sit while he waited for a cab. yeaunhhunh...--Ludwigs2 16:47, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't think 1-3 correspond to my experience at all. I'll grant you 4, but I've seen weirder things. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 16:58, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

I once made almost exactly that error on a Prism machine. I hit CTRL-C once I realized it was taking too long, but by then it was far too late.

Unfortunately that doesn't prepare me to answer the question. The solution involved spending hours on the phone with SGI support, and trying various recovery disks that had come with the system. APL (talk) 21:15, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

In this case it depends on how much damage the "friend" did. if it's just localized to folders in a particular user space, it might be resolved fairly quickly. most folders and files in a particular user are set at 700, so "chmod -R 700 /Users/username" should do the trick. that would still muck up the permissions on the Public folder (which should be 777) and the Sites folder (which should be 755) and any app-specific folders (heaven knows what they want). plus, it wouldn't fix chown changes if there are any, but it would be better. really, my easiest-safest approach to this would be to do an archive-and-install of the system entirely and then reinstall third-party apps from DMGs and recover files and preferences from the stored archives. it's a few hours work, but when you're done you know that the system isn't compromised. mostly I jumped on the IP to make sure s/he understood that computer security is no joke, and that even a well-intentioned friend (if stupid enough and given enough access), can cause you a world (and I literally mean a world) of grief. As the old saying goes: good fences make good neighbors, and that applies trebly with respect to computers. separate accounts are easy, recovery is hard, and I won't even give the love of my life access to my computer as an admin (and yes, she gets pissed about that, but there are some things a man has to do). capice? --Ludwigs2 04:58, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for all the responses. So is there a guide online that shows the default permissions of major folders (/Apps, /Library, /Users, ~/Library, ~/Documents, ~/Photos, etc) --70.167.58.6 (talk) 19:33, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

GFDL Picture

Does character that Wikipedia uses to represent the GFDL () have a name? If so, what is it? 98.227.232.84 (talk) 21:41, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

That's the logo of the GNU project in general, and seems just to be called "the gnu". I don't believe it has a proper name (that is, it's not "Geoffrey the gnu" or something like that). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:45, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

... and it's meant to depict the head of a wildebeest (with a strangely spaced-out expression). Gandalf61 (talk) 14:51, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

On the gnu website, it is referred to as the "gnu head". -- kainaw™ 14:56, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

This one in particular is an SVG adaptation of the original GNU Head. Indeterminate (talk) 17:59, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

July 7

How to...?

Please tell me how to make, I think it's called a template(?) like this (example)→

. Thanks  Jon Ascton  (talk) 00:22, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Just take a look at Template:Stephen_King. You'll notice it calls, among others, Template:Navbox, which is itself a pretty heavy-hitting, complicated template. When you are "editing this page" of a template, at the very bottom of the screen it shows you all of the templates called in it. To recreate this on your own wiki, you'd need all of the used templates in most cases. To recreate this on Wikipedia, just copy the top-level one (e.g. "Stephen King") and change the contents. Note that it would be non-trivial to copy all of these kinds of templates to a private wiki, as each one incorporates many others inside of it to work correctly. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:31, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

If you were copying a template to your own wiki (rather than using it on Wikipedia), you would use Special:Export here to get the template and all its dependencies and then use Special:Import to load in the export file. PleaseStand ^(talk) 01:52, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Looking for an intercom

Hi all. I'm looking for an easy to use intercom for a mentally challenged person to communicate with their parents (who live upstairs). It can't have a lot of buttons, since he isn't very coordinated and would get easily confused. His memory is also poor, so it has to be simple to use. Just a "Ring" and a "Talk" button would be good with a "Power" light but no button (just unplug to turn it off). It should ideally be duplex, so both parties can talk and hear at the same time, but I could slide on this req. It can't use batteries that need replacing. I think it should use wires to send the messages, since radio or electrical interference might cause confusion and he might occasionally get an unintentional call from somebody else, which would aggravate him. The wires need to be long enough to go up 2 floors and to the appropriate rooms, so at least 50 ft, but 100 would be better. So far this is the best match I could find: [1]. Unfortunately, it's in Australia, so uses a 240 volt plug, while here in the US we use 120. I suppose I could use an adapter to go from 120 to 240, but would prefer to find one that runs directly on 120. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. If anyone can provide more info on that Australian unit (like the manufacturer and model number and full specs), that would also be nice. StuRat (talk) 02:22, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

From the sound of the eBay description and the look of the devices and bit of guessing, thoses device probably just uses a typical wall wart type AC adapter so all you'll need if you want that one would likely be two 2 AC adapters which support a 110 input voltage and with an appropriate current and voltage rating and plug to connect to the units rather then a 120-240 adapter. Of course the AC adapter may be a 100-240V one anyway, many nowdays are as the falling cost of the components required for a switching PSU and the increasing cost of iron makes traditional liners PSUs more expensive so many AC adapters nowadays even for simple small cheap devices have switching PSUs and making one support 100-240V isn't that hard. Have you tried asking the seller whether it's 100-240V (also about the specs, model number etc)? Nil Einne (talk) 03:12, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I have asked, yes, but not yet had a reply. StuRat (talk) 03:28, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I got a reply, and they can supply a 120V "wall wart", but they didn't list the model number or manufacturer. One bad thing with this unit is that the buttons either call or monitor/talk depending on how they are pressed, and this may cause confusion. I'd prefer one call/ring button and one talk button, with no monitor option. StuRat (talk) 10:13, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Indeed this [2] mentions an AC 9V adapter for what looks like the same thing so I was almost definitely right about that part. For that one, the adapter isn't even supplied so you don't waste money on something you maybe can't use. The box suggests to me what I had suspected, this is just some cheap Chinese OEM product so there's probably not much point worrying about the brand or model number. More importantly, a quick search also found [3] which appears to be something very similar from a US seller. You can also get a mmaster+slave variant random e.g. [4] [5]. Edit: Ooops er just realise all those being discuussed including your original link is master and substation version (the one big button in the slave is the same size as the two small buttons combined in the master so I didn't realise they were different).

Well anyway I guess the point is you'll probably have no problem finding something similar in the US. You can even get it in kit form without the boxes [6]

Nil Einne (talk) 03:20, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I actually don't want the master/slave set-up, which seems to go along with a one-way monitor function. I'd rather have both units be identical. StuRat (talk) 10:09, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I notice the australian kit only has 20 m of cable. I think you will be surprised how much cable will be required once it is routed around doors & windows and around the edges of rooms. I also note it looks very similar to the kind of thing that sat on my grandmother's wall in her sheltered bungalow; and also similar to the kind of thing I've seen in industrial applications. I'm sure people who build/maintain those kinds of places have suppliers for intercom equipment. Astronaut (talk) 04:52, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I'd prefer if it used standard phone cable, so I could buy a cable of the needed length with the proper connectors. I noticed that when you go to an industrial supplier the price goes up around 10X, and if they install it for you, make that more like 100X. StuRat (talk) 10:05, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

If you're going for standard phone cable, why not use a small home PBX (either not connected to the public phone network, or blocking the extension of your "patient" from making outside calls, and not routing any incoming calls to his number, either) and two regular phones? A lot of phones offer an auto-dial feature that will dial a pre-programmed number X seconds after the receiver is taken off-hook, or at the push of any number button. Using standard phone equipment would also allow you to use cordless phones for the parents' end, maybe even their regular (cordless) phone. And if you're afraid that too many buttons would be confusing, just place a cover over the dial pad that leaves only one button available (if the phone requires the press of a button in auto-dial mode). -- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 11:09, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

To clarify the above: Telephone line simulator (set for auto ringdown, no dialtone) + phones with no dial pad + cabling (might be long RJ-11 patch cords with couplers or bulk telephone wire terminated on each end with standard RJ-11 voice grade telephone jacks). The advantage is that no "push-to-talk" is needed to use the system, simplifying operation. However, the equipment is more expensive, and it is not possible to hear the other person talking without picking up the phone. PleaseStand ^(talk) 02:51, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

How about an American baby monitor?

Matlab costs

I am trying to do a cost estimate but Mathworks is somewhat unfriendly about giving out information if you aren't already a customer. Does anyone know how to estimate the annual cost of a commercial subscription for the Matlab Software Maintenance Service (e.g. the service that allows one to download updated software as it is released). I've been led to believe that it is a relatively constant fraction of the base software cost, but am unsure what the rate is for commercial licenses. Dragons flight (talk) 03:00, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Skype contacts

Hi, just a quick one; I'm very new to Skype. I've 'added' a bunch of people I know as contacts. How will I find out if/when they have accepted my request? Thanks! ╟─TreasuryTag►Captain-Regent─╢ 11:18, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

If you click on them in the "contacts" bar to the left, under conversations it should have a little silhouetted person with a green plus sign, saying "xxx has shared contact details with you". If they did it more than a day before you log on, you'll need to click on "show 7 days" or however many days it is. Tell you what, why don't we try it now? :) sonia^♫♪ 11:20, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Kilobytes and Megabytes

Given that a kilobyte is 2¹⁰ (1024) bytes, why is a megabyte not always 2²⁰ (1048576) bytes? Roger (talk) 12:32, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

• Because it is 1000000 bytes. Did you read megabyte? Graeme Bartlett (talk) 12:37, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
• It's not, and it is! There is a discrepancy between SI units and common usage. Formally, the "kilo-" prefix always indicates 1000, and the "mega-" prefix always indicates a million. For solid state devices, you usually get powers of two (due to addressing issues), so the closest equivalent was used (what's 2.4% between friends, anyways?), and people got used to it. With terabytes, the difference is up to ~10%, and hard disks do not have the power-of-two preference, anyways. So (cynic) manufacturers try to impress customers with larger numbers or (naive) interface designers want to follow standards and support the general public. See Kilobyte and Binary prefix. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 12:52, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Even solid-state drives use the decimal prefixes. A 64GB SSD holds about 64 billion bytes (see for example this Intel data sheet, section 3.1). This also goes for USB flash drives and SD cards and so on. Although I do have a Kingston 8GB SDHC card that holds about 8×1024×1000×1000 bytes (and a Kingston 2GB SD card that holds about 2,000,000,000 bytes, so Kingston isn't even consistent within its own product line). -- BenRG (talk) 04:50, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Whatever you do, a megabyte is not 10²⁰. It is either 2²⁰ (binary) or 10⁶ (SI). If it is binary it is in powers of 2, if it is SI it is powers of 10. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:01, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Dammit, and here I was about to reactivate my old 500MB hard drive and rent out the spare capacity to Google ;-). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 13:41, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I fixed my typo, sorry. Thanks for the answers. Roger (talk) 14:03, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Free flat-file database

I want to use a flat file database. I've already done Google searching and there is too much choice to evaluate all of them. Does anyone have any personal recommendations please? I'd prefer something that was not bloatware.

No, I don't want to use a spreadsheet thanks - the important thing is to be able to sort the records by column with just a click - no spreadsheet can do this as far as I'm aware. Thanks 92.15.27.146 (talk) 20:51, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

How do you intend to use this? Or to what end? I think that would help me give a recommendation. 198.161.238.19 (talk) 21:06, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I have at least two areas where I would like to create databases where the rows were the entities and the columns were their attributes. I'm expecting a display similar to that of a spreadsheet. Thanks 92.15.27.146 (talk) 21:09, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure why you want to do this strictly with flat files when there are so many simple relational database management systems (RDBMS) out there; you can create simple tables in any RDBMS then you use some GUI tool to query your table, then click on the columns in the query result window to sort them as you wish, like you wanted. A silly suggestion that just came to mind - you can trick Windows Explorer into behaving as a flat file database by creating all your files in a single directory then giving them "attributes" which you can define, then single click the window column headers to sort. Paradox is also a very simple relational database that comes for free with Borland products - it's file based (but not flat file) and 'database desktop' is very easy to use to browse/edit tables and sort data with single clicks. Sandman30s (talk) 11:12, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Google Documents spreadsheets can be sorted (though technically it takes two clicks): hover over the column you want to sort by, click the down-arrow that appears and choose "Sort A->Z" or "Sort Z->A" (which also work for numbers). There may be similar functionality in desktop spreadsheet programs, but I've never used any of them. Paul (Stansifer) 16:39, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

I'd welcome names of any other quick-to-learn easy-to-use free databases you recommend, suitable for the non-programmer. 92.24.188.89 (talk) 18:52, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

The problem here is that you are asking for database recommendations and then stating what you want the user interface to look like. The user interface is not the database. For example, if I use MySQL as my database, I can use a text-based interface, one of many MySQL-specific graphical interfaces, a web-based interface, or even connect through MS Access to the database. It appears that you are concerned with the user interface, not the database. -- kainaw™ 18:57, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Well recommend a database with an easy GUI then. There is no point in describing databases that are too complicated for a beginner user to use. 92.24.188.89 (talk) 19:48, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Like I said, Paradox with its GUI - "database desktop". Microsoft Access is easy enough but recommended for small and simple databases - ideal for your purposes I would think. You can investigate the Microsoft Access text driver (which you can find in ODBC user data sources) if you really want to stick to flat files. You can use almost anything because it's always simple to create tables but more "complicated" when you want to join tables, define master-detail and foreign keys etc. and write complex queries. So you can use something like MySQL and download one of thousands of GUI tools that connect (using whatever method e.g. ODBC) to them, then execute queries (select * from <table name>) and single click on the query result windows to sort by column. Sandman30s (talk) 04:18, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I understood the first two sentences, but you lost me after that. 92.24.181.157 (talk) 09:56, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Short of giving you a tutorial on how to use Access, I can't help any more. I guess this is why there are spreadsheets, so that beginners who are not comfortable with databases can work with two-dimensional data easily. I assumed that you knew a little more - you used the term 'flat file' which is not exactly what a beginner would use. If I were you, I'd look at the help files in Access and figure out how to create simple tables. Then figure out how to query them. The query result windows (rows and columns) are sortable by single clicks. Sandman30s (talk) 11:26, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

The suitible freeware databases I've found where the records sort with one click on the top of the column are List squared, TablePro (abandonware?), and perhaps Annuaire which I have not tried yet. For a database-pedant it appears that what I'm looking for would be called a "table" rather than a complete database. If you are prepared to spend the time programming then some BASIC languagages can deal directly with "comma seperated values" records and could therefore be used to write a flat-file database. Professional programmers might scoff, but I'm looking to use a bicycle rather than a jet-fighter. 92.15.3.130 (talk) 11:12, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Buying a DVD drive

I want to buy a cheap internal DVD drive for my old computer, that I can use for back-ups, so it has to be writeable. Are there any pitfalls or anything else that I should look out for? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.15.27.146 (talk) 21:07, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

I really can't think of any; you're mostly into true commodity territory. It's not at all clear that buying a name-brand model (over a cheaper name that you've never heard of) is cost-effective. It's pretty clear that dual-layer media is rare and disproportionately expensive, so any premium you pay for a dual-layer writer is mostly wasted (but does anyone sell single-layer writers any more?). If all you care about is the occasional backup (and playing DVDs at 1X speed) then you really don't care about speed at all (who cares if a backup, chuntering along in the background, takes 20 minutes instead of 10?). So, tl;dr, no, buy the second-cheapest the store has. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 01:24, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

One thing I would suggest is to avoid second-hand drives, if you were considering that as a means of saving money. Brand-new ones are incredibly cheap anyway; I was able to find one for under £8 (GBP) with barely any effort, so I daresay even better deals could be found with a little searching. Optical drives (particularly the lasers) have a finite lifespan, and you can't be certain how much use/abuse a second-hand one has suffered. Also, I'm unsure how familiar you are with computer hardware so sorry if this next point is a bit basic for you, but you also need to make sure you get a drive with the correct connection for your motherboard (IDE/PATA or SATA). IDE has been mostly (if not entirely) replaced by SATA, but depending on how old your computer is it may require an IDE drive. AJCham 01:41, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, how can I tell if my motherboard needs an IDE or SATA etc? Thanks 92.29.125.22 (talk) 08:21, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

You can check in your BIOS setup, or system information in your OS, or look physically at the connectors on the board; IDE is wide with 40 pins and SATA is usually coloured and a much smaller clip-type connector with about 8 pins. The IDE cable is flat and wide and usually grey whilst the SATA cables are thin and usually coloured. I agree that you should buy a new DVD writer because I've never had an optical drive that lasted, or worked like new, for more than 3 years. Sandman30s (talk) 10:54, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh and consider USB sticks and USB-powered hard drives for backup, as the lower capacity ones work out in some cases to be cheaper than buying a writer and blank disks. It depends on how much data you want to back up though. You could also consider buying cheap web hosting and uploading (ftp-ing) your data there; then the backup is free! Sandman30s (talk) 11:28, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

If this is a second IDE device, depending on the situation you might need to set the jumpers correctly so it is identified as being master or slave. Astronaut (talk) 14:58, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

If you are looking for an SATA DVD burner, there is one drive to avoid: the LG GH22NS50. Some drives of that model carry a spyware program called "Bluebirds" that installs itself when there is no disc in the drive. PleaseStand ^(talk) 02:32, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

ATAPI is what the software SIW says I have for my existing writeable-CD and nonwriteable-DVD drives. Does that tell me that I have IDE rather than SATA? The SATA connectors look unfamiliar to me. Thanks 92.24.181.157 (talk) 12:20, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes if you follow that article and the convoluted history, your connector is IDE. Because you have an old computer you should have at least one and usually two IDE slots. Even some modern motherboards include one IDE slot for compatibility. Sandman30s (talk) 19:18, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Note that one IDE connector on the motherboard can usually support two drives. -- Coneslayer (talk) 19:21, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

But make sure that your old computer has enough cpu power to write to a DVD. The older Pentium I's probably are too slow. But if you've underrun protection as a feature, you may be covered, it will just take much longer to burn. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 01:02, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Beautiful colors

I was watching various tv shows and I saw this beautiful light / color effect, see this for example. Is there a specific name for this effect? How would I go about generating a similar effect on my computer so I can look at it all day long? 82.43.90.93 (talk) 21:59, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Not that I know of... although it does look a bit like an Aurora (astronomy). Maybe some of the aurora-themed screensavers could scratch your itch? Indeterminate (talk) 03:32, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

The Mac OS X Snow Leopard default background is like an aurora - see here. Not really as impressive as the other links and the example you've given, but it's the closest thing I can think of. Chevymontecarlo - alt 19:15, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Windows Vista has an Aurora screensaver, but it's more of a "hanging curtain" type of aurora. Astronaut (talk) 08:33, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

...which is removed in Windows 7 (no major surprise - it was surprisingly CPU or GPU intense). --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 22:29, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

July 8

creating new language associations in Win7; viewing dead keys

I just created an IPA keyboard using MS Keyboard Layout Creator. Works great. However, I only know how to associate it with an existing MS language setting, which isn't the best fit. Is there a way to create a new language ("IPA") that I can associate with the keyboard, so that when I go to "Add Input Language" (under "Text Services and Input Languages"), IPA will show up with my new keyboard?

Also, the on-screen keyboard that comes with Win7 shows the characters selected with shift, alt, & caps lock, which I can take screen shots of for reference when I forget where characters are. But it does not show the characters triggered when I use dead keys. Anyone know of an on-screen keyboard that, when you press a dead key, visibly changes the characters on the rest of the keys appropriately?

Thanks, — kwami (talk) 06:46, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Import text from text file into Powerpoint slides or OpenOffice Presentation slides

I'm making an interactive presentation and I would like to make different versions where the text on certain slides is different. Ideally, I would like to just make one template set of slides, and then have text files with different versions of the text and import these into the presentation and have it go to the correct slides. e.g. imagine I had a template that on the first ten slides would display text. I could then have separate text files, Moby Dick, the Bible, etc. and text from these works would appear on the first ten slides. (I would delimit the text in the text file so that it knew which text went on which slides.) Has anyone ever heard of this being done or know/imagine of any way to do this? Thanks. --Rajah (talk) 13:01, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

I would suggest a macro tool that you can setup with a simple text script (where you can include your text), then activate the macro playback with a hotkey so that it would run within powerpoint. There are lots of these tools available for download e.g. hotkey. Sandman30s (talk) 04:42, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I will look into that. --Rajah (talk) 15:36, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Losing AOL Internet Connection

Hi folks, I hope someone here can advise as I seem to be getting nowhere by asking AOL. I signed up for their Platinum Broadband and telephone package a few months ago - I live in the UK. It seemed a great deal and broadly speaking it has been. But lately, I am experiencing sudden internet disconnections without any warning other than a female announcing, "Goodbye". I have reported this to AOL who have helpfully advised me to reload the software - renew the ADSL filters - and reboot the PC adjacent to the main telephone input socket. And then all is well for a while until she yet again says, "Goodbye".

I have discovered that when this happens, I can switch off the AOL-supplied router, and after switching it on again, reconnect to AOL, which makes me suspicious I was supplied with a dodgy router, and AOL have promised to replace it on 2 occasions, but no replacement has materialised - as yet.

But I also have a sneaking suspicion that as I am retired, and use the internet quite a lot, though I don't tend to download movies or music etc., I may be being "timed-out" by AOL. By the way, the router feels quite hot to the touch when it disconnects. So do you folk think it will be a faulty router, or am I being timed out? I know you can't be specific, but a few clues would be appreciated. Thanks. 92.30.173.26 (talk) 15:24, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

It's possible that you are being timed out, although from memory, it's more likely that the AOL software will "kick" you, if you have been inactive for some time. Past experience suggests that it could well be a problem with your router, but you can also try ruling out problems with the AOL software. You can access the Internet without signing into the AOL software by simply opening a browser window (if you use one of the Windows operating systems, you should have Internet Explorer; you can also download Firefox or Google Chrome). You can access webpages independently of the AOL software using one of these browsers, so that might be worth a try to make sure it's not a software problem.

I'm not sure what the AOL tech support meant by renewing your ADSL filters - you should have one of these plugged into every wall socket you use except the one you plug your router into. They have a lot of problems with faulty routers - the ones they supply are often poor-quality. It's not unusual for a router to get warm during use, but if they are too hot to touch, that often indicates a problem. I have found AOL tech support to be excruciatingly, headbangingly awful, having dealt with them over an 18-month period with a problem identical to yours. The problem will likely only get worse over time, and whenever you contact tech support, they will probably run you through the same steps you have already performed, and which did not fix your problem. If they have actually agreed to replace your router, and it has not arrived, I would call them again. Navigate through their phone tree to the "I want to cancel my account" option, and explain that you have been waiting on not one, but two replacement routers, and that you are frustrated enough with their service to go elsewhere. Astonishingly, after a year and a half of being told the problem was on the client end, 10 minutes on the phone with the charming cancellations specialist got the account holder a new router within a week. These CSRs can also arrange for actual technicians/engineers to look at your account in case the problem lies elsewhere, but a replacement router can frequently solve the problem. Hope this helps! --Kateshortforbob _talk 14:57, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks Kate for your kind and helpful response. I really appreciate that. I did in fact re-call AOL (in India) again yesterday and did as you suggested which was to threaten to cancel my account on the basis of their breach of contract/their failure to deliver satisfactory service and performance - and I have been GUARANTEED a new router by Monday (tomorrow). I will let you know how I get on, but thanks once again for your interest. 92.30.192.124 (talk) 09:31, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh good - I will keep my fingers crossed that your router appears and solves your problem!--Kateshortforbob _talk 20:29, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Typing in romanized devnagari

Help me find solution for typing in romanized devnagari script. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.199.138.142 (talk) 16:01, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Hmm. Do you want an input method, so you can use a roman-style keyboard to enter Devanagari characters? Or alternately, if you want to type using one of the Devanagari transliteration methods, which one did you want to use? Indeterminate (talk) 22:45, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

computer

question 1. where is computer science in the tree of knowledge. question 2. can man be said to be a collection of running algorithms

I don't think there is a standard tree of knowledge, but I'd place parts of it as applied mathematics and parts of it as engineering. As for 2, strictly speaking no. My foot is not an algorithm. In general, algorithms are immaterial. In the deeper sense of "is the human mind the result of a set of algorithms running on wetware", I'd say "probably yes". No doubt others will say no. ;-) --Stephan Schulz (talk) 16:25, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

(1) I'm not sure what you mean by "tree of knowledge", but computer science is a formal science (but that article feels a little iffy to me), like mathematics. This means that computer scientists are primarily concerned with deriving and proving results that ultimately come from some set of formal rules.

(2) If you are a functionalist, you believe that a person's mind is the structure of (or, equivalently, the computation performed by) their brain. If, on the other hand, you believe John Searle's Chinese room argument, you believe that a person's mind is (at least partially) the substance of their brain. Paul (Stansifer) 16:28, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I should acknowledge that computer science is a huge collection of disciplines, some of which (like human-computer interaction) are actually observational and empirical, like what we usually think of when we use the word "science". Paul (Stansifer) 16:33, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

computer science starts where the tree of knowledge ends: at the base of the tree, ie touching the grass next to it. Then, get this, computer science forms a tree growing DOWN, where every branch is deeper in the ground than the last. 84.153.202.156 (talk) 13:22, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Does ReadyBoost increase RAM?

I just plugged a 4GB flash drive into Windows 7 and told it to use for ReadyBoost. My RAM is not reporting an extra 4GB, and the system is still slow. What exactly is readyboost doing with the extra 4gb? I read the article but it's confusing 82.43.90.93 (talk) 17:25, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

No, ReadyBoost does not increase actual or reported RAM. The flash drive is faster than your hard disk for certain types of operations (like seeking between lots of small files), and ReadyBoost lets Windows use the flash as a cache for that kind of operation, so that some operations can be done on the flash, instead of the hard disk. The performance benefits of ReadyBoost are generally modest, especially on newer computers with more than 1 GB or so of RAM. -- Coneslayer (talk) 17:51, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

So, if you never want to use this feature, is there a way to stop Vista and 7 from asking if you want to use ReadyBoost every time you stick a flash drive in your PC? Astronaut (talk) 08:28, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

The Ultimate Windows Tweaker for Vista claimed to disable ReadyBoost; you could try the Windows 7 version to see if it has the same capability. However, I've seen other forum posts say that ReadyBoost and SuperFetch are tied together so you may lose SuperFetch, and there may be other "issues" with disabling ReadyBoost. -- Coneslayer (talk) 12:38, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

July 9

Applying a filter to a layer mask in Photoshop Elements 8

In Photoshop Elements 8, can you apply filters to a layer mask? --173.49.9.164 (talk) 01:50, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, I did find this. Chevymontecarlo - alt 14:43, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

New wiki

What would it take for someone to build a new Wikipedia? (I don't have definite plans to do so at this time, I'm just curious about what it took Jimbo Wales to build this whole thing.) 67.170.215.166 (talk) 02:55, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

One would need a web server (like Apache) with PHP (a server-side programming language), MySQL (a database language), and MediaWiki (the software that runs the whole thing.) 75.2.138.84 (talk) 04:08, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

...and millions of volunteers with spare time on their hands. Astronaut (talk) 08:29, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Not just volunteers, but volunteers willing to spend their time deleting vandalism. If it wasn't for all the tools to quickly and painlessly delete vandalism on Wikipedia, the entire project would fail. -- kainaw™ 12:21, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

According to your retirement post on another thread, you're looking for a Wikipedia-like project that is not so "extreme left-wing, cosmopolitan, pro-Soviet, pro-Third World, and anti-American/anti-Israel". You might like to check out Conservapedia, which is definitely none of those things. --Sean 16:38, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I already did; the problem is, it's extremely biased the other way, toward an extremely right-wing Christian fundamentalist point of view, and also doesn't seem to have a lot of info outside those topics. What I hope to do eventually is to create a wiki that's somewhere in between the two: it would have information on a wide variety of topics, and would present politically charged topics from a pro-American and pro-Western but (hopefully) non-partisan POV, representing all views in the political mainstream while excluding as much as possible those views that promote Marxism, jihad, or a world government or which denigrate Western civilization and in particular the United States. I could personally help with the first part by creating articles about all topics that I'm knowledgeable on (i.e. Earth sciences/Meteorology, Earth sciences/Geology, Chemistry/pretty much everything, Technology/everything except computers, History/American history, History/History by nation/Russian history, History/Military history, History/Biography/American presidents, History/Biography/American scientists and Scientists by nationality, History/Biography/American inventors and Inventors by nationality, History/Biography/American aviators and Pioneers of flight, History/Biography/American musicians, Arts/Literature, Arts/Music, and Arts/Film). As for the second part, I don't really know how to achieve that, but perhaps it could be possible to somehow restrict edits from those regions where there's widespread anti-Americanism? And as far as volunteers are concerned, I think that would depend in part on an effective advertising campaign to promote the new wiki. Well, what do y'all think of this idea? 67.170.215.166 (talk) 01:58, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

What do I think? It's an idea that's been tried before that has not gone anywhere. --mboverload@ 03:07, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

In fact this idea seems even less likely to succeed. For all conservapedia's criticism, and altho they do require registration and real names at least they generally AFAIK only restrict and ban editors because of behaviour (well sometimes in a bit of a random way) and not geographical origin. Nil Einne (talk) 03:58, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Speaking of mandatory registration, I think it's actually a good idea that will help maintain the new wiki's pro-American character without requiring any geographical-based restrictions. And, it will also help prevent vandalism. So what do y'all think of that? 67.170.215.166 (talk) 00:27, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Vandalism maybe. But why do you think mandatory registration will help maintaining a "pro-American" character? I also find it very unlikely that its possible to combine "pro-American" and "non-partisan". --Stephan Schulz (talk) 13:43, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm curious. Can the OP provide a couple of examples of articles which they believe "promote Marxism, jihad, or a world government or which denigrate Western civilization and in particular the United States"? Astronaut (talk) 05:45, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

I can think of quite a few: for example the article American exceptionalism devotes a huge amount of space to debunking American nationalism, and precious little space for the views of its supporters; similarly, War on Terror has a large section devoted to criticizing American intervention while largely ignoring America's successes in fighting terrorism. These are just the first two examples that come to my mind, I'm sure there are others. 67.170.215.166 (talk) 00:27, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

http://www.californiagovernors.ca.gov/

Does anyone know why the page didn't work anymore?-Henswick (talk) 07:59, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, like with any site like this, it might've been deleted, moved or the URL is wrong. The site also could be down for repairs/fixes or improvements. However, this seems to be a similar official site. Chevymontecarlo - alt 14:46, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

is it possible to program new gestures via macbook pro trackpad?

Is there a built-in way to program new gestures into the macbook pro trackpad (ie change meaning of 2-3-or 4-fingered swipes in various directions). thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.153.202.156 (talk) 11:43, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

By the way, for any questions concerning Mac/Apple products, you can always search Mroogle. It searches through the Macrumors forums, which is quite extensive. Sorry I couldn't give you a proper answer to this, but I would say probably yes, but only with a lot of work (hacks etc). There may be an app for that somewhere out there though. Chevymontecarlo - alt 14:50, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Built-in, no, but there is an excellent third party program you can download: BetterTouchTool. I use it myself, and it definitely makes the trackpad incredibly more useful. It has a large number of gestures you can use (with more added almost every time an update is released) and you can even define gestures for individual programs. 173.66.161.221 (talk) 22:30, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

PSTN Gateway in CISCO technology

Hi all, I need to know the core functionality of a PSTN gateway that is used in a stand alone deplyment of CISCO VOICE PORTAL. How it is used? What are the protocol structures ad messages it uses? and Anything else that one knows. Kindly answer in the most detailed way possible.

Thanks and regards C Pathak —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.242.118.17 (talk) 12:40, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

The chances are that it will interconnect to the PSTN using ISDN over T1 or E1 lines. These multiplex the voice channels using time division multiplex. One of the time slots is for signalling, and would use Q.921 at layer 2 and Q.931 at layer 3. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 00:48, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Python CGI script

I have a problem running Python CGI scripts: it does not run this line:

form = cgi.FieldStorage()

although I've imported the CGI module. It always respond with the message no attribute FieldStorage in cgi module.

And since we are at it, how do I call Python functions within a Python cgi script? For example, how to I have a text field to input text and a button to save said text into file x? Or a button and a text field to display the results of a query to a database in the same cgi page?--Quest09 (talk) 16:34, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

That should work fine, unless somehow you're importing some weird module called cgi but that isn't what it should be. Try the following (by running this in the interpreter manually, rather than invoking from the webserver):

    import cgi
    dir(cgi)

and you should see 'FieldStorage' as on of the members. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 17:19, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Photo site

I recently came back from a conference, and I'd like to start or use a site that allows people from the conference to upload photos to the site and have them displayed in a gallery. It would be best not to force them to make a new account. Suggestions please? I have a list of all registered participants, and maybe that could be used for spam prevention or as passkeys.Mac Davis (talk) 17:06, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

What I would do is start a new Facebook account (in order to segregate this conference activity from your personal Facebook account), upload the photos into an album, set your privacy preferences so that your photos are viewable by friends only, and then send friend invites to all of the e-mail addresses in your list. People who already have Facebook accounts just have to accept the invite in order to see all the photos. People who don't have a Facebook account will have to sign up for one, is the only disadvantage. One benefit of this scheme is that the amount of effort you will have to expend is low. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:18, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, but it's actually in violations of the Facebook terms to create multiple accounts, see section 4, part 2. However, your idea could still work using the one personal account and applying privacy settings when adding the people as friends, but that is a bit messy to have to do this and the other people might not want to do this. Although you can create a limited "business" account, this can only be done within the terms if you don't already have a personal account. It's not possible to create both. Well... it is of course very possible to create multiple account, but if Facebook find out they'd be within their rights to suspend/delete BOTH accounts. ZX81 ^talk 18:57, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

1. How is this messy? In particular, how is this messier than any other solution? 2. You don't know that the querent has a Facebook account in the first place. 3. Your interpretation of section 4, part 2, differs from mine. I never said the new account had to be a "personal profile". 4. Has Facebook ever even deleted a single account under this policy? Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:33, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

1) I was referring to having it under your normal Facebook account since multiple accounts aren't allowed and it's fiddly/messy having to create different permissions to allow friends access to some things, but not everything else. It's not impossible, it's just... messy. 2) I don't know that the original poster has an existing account, I was replying to your post where YOU had assumed they did and I was informing you (and in turn them) that this is against the terms of Facebook. To quote what you said: What I would do is start a new Facebook account (in order to segregate this conference activity from your personal Facebook account). 3) I don't really see how it's possibly to interpret "You will not create more than one personal profile." any other way, however if you want it explained further, please see their larger explanation here which also says about you can't have a business profile and a personal profile. I mentioned business profile previously to clarify that regardless of the profile type you can only have 1 in total. 4) I have no idea if they've ever deleted a profile for that rule, but I don't feel it's good advice if the reference desk gives out suggestions which are in violation of the terms of another site hence my speaking up in the first place and trying to be helpful by correcting your misinformation. ZX81 ^talk 20:43, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Hello. I don't care if Facebook doesn't want one person to have two accounts. I will proceed to doing whatever I like with my own computer. Thank you for the idea Comet Tuttle, but many people are older than 50 and would not like to create a Facebook account. I've been building an idea, but I'm still looking for solutions. Mac Davis (talk) 23:11, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually, it's their site. Not your computer. --mboverload@ 03:02, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

If you want to use an existing site, Flickr has support for group-private images (info). If you want to host it yourself, I believe phpalbum is quite popular. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:16, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

I've used http://www.wikispaces.com/ to host a holiday diary and photos. It works a bit like Wikipedia, but the markup is not as sophisticated. Free accounts allow up to 2GB of storage. However, users would have to sign up and be invited to join your wikispace if you want them to be able to contribute to the gallery. Astronaut (talk) 07:02, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Executing bash at start-up

Hello! I'm pretty new to Linux, and I want to be able to execute a bash file every time my computer starts up, to schedule a shutdown, like this:

#shutdown -h 22:00

Two related questions:

(1) How do I schedule this one-lined bash script to run at every start-up? Do I just need to move it to a special directory (home computer, so I have root privileges)? I'm assuming a shutdown scheduled this way could still be canceled with #shutdown -c.

(2) Whenever I schedule a shutdown from the terminal, it blocks until the shutdown time. Is there a simple way to call shutdown (or any other blocking command) and return immediately without compiling some C code to run it on another thread?

Thanks!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 19:23, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

The easiest thing to do, to achieve just what you want, is to create a (root) cronjob that runs at 22:00 and does a shutdown -h now -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 19:26, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

More generally, you create init scripts in /etc/init.d and link to them from the relevant /etc/rcX.d directories (which are run by init as the system changes runlevel as it starts). This (which works on a start/restart/stop cycle) is intended for starting things like daemons or running things on the runlevel change - in your case cron is the better option. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 19:37, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Re: "is there a simple way to call shutdown (or any other blocking command) and return immediately ...". Have you tried running it in the background?

# shutdown -h 22:00 &

-- 124.157.197.248 (talk) 14:34, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for both of your answers! Very helpful.--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 20:43, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Windows XP

Anyone know what svchost does and what happens if it is terminated?--88.104.92.169 (talk) 19:28, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

See this link. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:30, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

See svchost.exe --Spoon! (talk) 06:33, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

What is trending and why should I care?

Every time I go to my Yahoo email it says something or someone is "trending". That is how I found out one celebrity had died, but why should I care?Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:36, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

I think it means that lots of people are searching for whatever the "trending" topic is. Like google trends 82.43.90.93 (talk) 20:16, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Yahoo still has its own search engine.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:23, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

I figured it out. There is a place to click for "Help" and at first I thought I'd have to go through that complex process they have, but there's a place to type in your question and if someone has answered, it's there.

The answer given by Yahoo Answers is that it refers to Twitter.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 21:04, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

what it is: a measure of what a whole lot of people are looking at

why you should care: you shouldn't. --Ludwigs2 18:08, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Hash calculator + cracker

Is there a free program for Mac and Windows that can compute hashes (from various algorithms) from a text string or file, and can also attempt to crack any hash (back to a text string), i.e. using brute force, wordlists, etc.? Thanks, Samwb123^{T (R)-C-E} 21:48, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

The ones I have seen use rainbow tables, like Ophcrack. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:11, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

No, no, no. I'm talking about something like this, with the added ability of being a hash calculator (from a file or a text string), too. Samwb123^{T (R)-C-E} 22:17, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Practical DSP book recommendation

Can anyone recommend a textbook on digital signal processing that has some decent coverage of reduction to practice (that is that it has robust coverage showing DSP in C, assembly, and/or discrete logic). I'm also interested in programming on dedicated DSP architectures, and implementations using DSP-helper cpu instructions like multiply-accumulate, SSE, and Altivec. While I'm initially thinking of doing stuff for audio (spectral analysis, filters, effects, synthesis) I'd be interested in image or video applications too. The DSP books I've looked at in my local academic bookshop have little or no code, and while the calculus and signal theory is instructive, I'm left unclear about how to actually build a thing that does stuff. The extensive bibliography in the Wikipedia digital signal processing article doesn't really help in this regard, and the hideous cost of DSP books disinclines me to experiment. 87.113.148.221 (talk) 22:46, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

You can look at application notes from some of the DSP manufacturers. These will often give simple complete programs that do something useful and explain how to make it work on their chip. Texas Instruments is one company that has made this, but I am sure there are others. The basic inside the loop functions are reasonably simple, and the complications arise when starting off, trying to minimize latency, changing or selecting the values (for multiplication) to use, in the optimum way, timing synchronisation. I would suggest starting with writing a program that gets input from one file and outputs it to another. THen on a PC you can try inputting and outputting to a sound card in real time, then yo don't have the complication of programming an external chip. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 23:45, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

This much I can do. What I'm wanting to do is the actual processing of the data. I don't know, for example, how to build a lowpass filter from FFT or DFT, or how to implement an FFT with SSE. 87.112.40.94 (talk) 23:51, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

FFTW is a free and open-source implementation of an efficient algorithm that takes full advantage of ugly details of modern computers (there are compiler directives for many common computer architectures, including Intel-based PCs with SSE). FFTW has a documentation page, and a chapter called Implementing FFTs in Practice inside the online textbook Fast Fourier Transforms. One of the best places to learn algorithms for computing coefficients for filters is the Mathworks filter reference documentation. Each type of algorithm is documented; most of the code is written in the MATLAB language and can be easily converted to C. If you do not have MATLAB, GNU Octave is a free alternative and all its algorithms are open-source and free software. It sounds like you are more interested in architecture optimizations than numerical algorithms; so you should also see the specific application notes for the DSP or processor you are programming for. Of course, sometimes "optimization" is secondary to correct functionality. But if you need help coming up with how to generate the FIR constants, when in doubt, consult Numerical Recipes. www.nr.com has most of the content available for free in C and FORTRAN. There are reference algorithms for ... everything. Nimur (talk) 00:53, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Here is a white-paper from Intel called FIR Filter Algorithm Implementation Using Intel® SSE Instructions -Optimizing for Intel® Atom™ Architecture. You can find similar results by searching for your favorite architecture or algorithm like so: Google-searching for Nehalem FIR on Intel's website. This will turn up results for loads of processors. Nimur (talk) 00:58, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

July 10

How do I get out of this without losing everything?

http://mudkipz.ws --138.110.206.101 (talk) 00:46, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Here is how to get out of the most common type of moving-window rickroll, kip roll, etc. on a PC with a minimum of effort:

• If you use the Mozilla Firefox web browser, which is sensible enough to not allow the window to move around by itself, select Tools → Options. Under the Content tab, uncheck "Enable JavaScript". Then you can leave the rickroll page, and after you do, turn JavaScript back on again.
• If you use Internet Explorer, select the window and press F12 to open the Developer Tools. Click on the Script tab, and in the small box above "Run Script" type self.alert=null;self.close() and press Enter, clicking OK to the pop-up window.
• If all else fails press Ctrl-Shift-Esc to open the Task Manager. Look for iexplore.exe (or firefox.exe if you use Firefox); select it and hit "End Task". At least you don't have to restart the computer. Repeat if the rickroll automatically opens again. Other browsers have their equivalents.

PleaseStand ^(talk) 02:53, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

GREAT answer PleaseStand - that's awesome information. You could also use Google Chrome. It's the fastest growing browser for a reason. I got out of it no problem.--mboverload@ 02:58, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Er, it's the fastest growing browser because it's brand new and has nowhere to go but up. It's easy to triple a 2% market share., harder to triple a 20% market share, and a lot harder to triple a 60% market share.

It's also pretty cool, but it's status as "Fastest growing" has more to do with basic math than with its qualities as a browser. APL (talk) 03:00, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

And Opera is immune to that particular one — it doesn't support the onbeforeunload event used to trigger the alert boxes. PleaseStand ^(talk) 12:27, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Sadly though, that doesn't make it a good browser - it makes a browser that doesn't work correctly with sites that use the 'onbeforeunload' event legitimately. SteveBaker (talk) 14:38, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Here's a dopey follow-up question on a related topic. Let's say there is a webpage that contains Javascript like the following:

for(i=0; i<1000; i++) { alert("hello"); };

That is, either a long (or infinite) for loop that triggers a stream of alerts (or confirms). Is there any way out? I've been frustrated by this in the past because the alert window is usually application modal and thus turning off Javascript, or even closing the browser, seems impossible. I end up having to Force Quit which is a little annoying. Is there a better way? --Mr.98 (talk) 16:08, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

trying a Wacom tablet

Does anybody know where can I try a Wacom tablet? In Europe, if possible. I'd like to try one before buying it. --Belchman (talk) 00:53, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

I would recommend just asking a salesperson at a local computer store. In the hope that it will secure them a sale, they may be willing assist. AJCham 02:58, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

A couple of months ago, the sales assistant in PC World let me try a new monitor before I bought it. I simply took my laptop to the store and asked if I could plug it in to the monitor on display. Despite their reputation for poor service, the monitor worked and I paid £20 less than the sticker price (not sure if that was a discount or an error on their part).

However, it might be different for something like a tablet which will probably require you to install some driver software. That said, PC World are usually pretty good about you returning stuff so long as you keep your receipt and bring it back in perfect condition within 7 days (so open the box and CD envelope very carefully :-). Astronaut (talk) 06:50, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, guys. --Belchman (talk) 12:02, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Refurbished laptops: websites? And Dell: "Grabs" gone? How else to search then?

I'm looking into refurbished laptops. Lower end of the spectrum, most computers can do what I'm looking for. Longer expected lifetime (= several years) would be highly appreciated. Any websites you'd suggest?

Years ago, Dell had a webpage where it listed all its refurbished computers, and you could very conveniently (and probably in real-time) search their offers, narrow down your search, etc. Every time you refreshed, you could find another offer--every customer could only put up to five items into his basket and keep them for 15 minutes, so items kept popping up and disappearing... In short, it was as exciting as it was useful. I suppose that's gone, or where did they move it?

If that search engine is gone... is there any other chance to search their offers "usefully"? I'm at this website (again, if there are alternatives, I'd love to know), and for most categories (on the left), I can only check one single option, e.g., one screen size, one model, etc. [I've tried both Firefox and IE.] If I want, for example, "an Inspiron or (!) a Studio laptop," I can't check both... same for all the categories, so I'd have to do multiple, multiple searches. Waste of time, which is a bit scarce for me right now. So... any alternatives?

Thanks to you all!! --Thanks for answering (talk) 02:51, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't think it's a complete answer to your question, but in addition to the Dell Outlet that you linked to, there's Dell Financial Services, which sells equipment that was previously leased to businesses. -- Coneslayer (talk) 03:00, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Assembling a PC

I am assembling a PC from scratch for the first time, and I'm finding it's not as easy as everyone tells me. I have a bundle of wires leading from the power switch area with connectors labeled "Power Switch", "Reset Switch", "Power LED", and "HDD LED". I found the region on the motherboard where they connect; however, the connectors are in-line, so I can install them two ways (one way or turn the connector 180 degrees). Is there a right way and wrong way to do this? If I get it wrong will the PC go poof when I power it up? The installation manuals are of little help in this area. Hemoroid Agastordoff (talk) 04:13, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

You can install the switches any way you like. (I generally install them label side out so I can read the labels.) The LEDs have to be installed correctly. You will know if they are not correctly installed if they don't light up. Don't worry, it wouldn't blow up. 121.72.173.157 (talk) 06:01, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

For completeness, the speaker cable can also be installed either way. 121.72.173.157 (talk) 06:03, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

If you are the type of person who likes things to work on the first try, a good guess is that the color of wire that is common to both of the LED cables is probably the negative side on both connectors. The case of the last computer I assembled had white-colored negative wires to the LEDs. PleaseStand ^(talk) 06:28, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

If it's any consultation, I've been building PCs for years and have just given up getting anything but the power button working! =) --mboverload@ 18:39, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

It is possible to get the LED wires backwards but generally they prevent this by using a connector with one of the holes blocked off - and the corresponding pin on the motherboard is missing so you physically can't plug it in backwards. But plugging an LED in backwards doesn't hurt either it or the motherboard - it just stops it from working. Nothing else cares which way it's plugged in, you're OK on those things. SteveBaker (talk) 14:34, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Deleting rights in mediwiki

I have set the code in my LocalSettings.php to look like this:

$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['delete']           = true;
$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['bigdelete']        = true; // can be separately configured for pages with > $wgDeleteRevisionsLimit revs
$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['deletedhistory']   = true; // can view deleted history entries, but not see or restore the text
$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['deletedtext']   = true; // can view deleted revision text
$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['undelete']     = false;

but I can't seem to view deleted revision text, the reverse should happen if I set it like this(able to undelete but not view deleted revision text):

$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['delete']           = true;
$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['bigdelete']        = true; // can be separately configured for pages with > $wgDeleteRevisionsLimit revs
$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['deletedhistory']   = true; // can view deleted history entries, but not see or restore the text
$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['deletedtext']   = false; // can view deleted revision text
$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['undelete']     = true;

Is there anything I am not doing right, as it seems to not be working for me. Thanks Paul2387 10:25, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

By default, administrators (sysops) should be able to view deleted page text. Make sure you're logged into an administrator account (you can check this at "Special:ListUsers"). You can also try explicitly assigning the "browsearchive" user right, though really all of these should already be assigned to the sysop group by default. Other help is available at mw:Help:User rights and mw:Manual:Preventing access. Hope that helps. --MZMcBride (talk) 16:16, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

HARD DISK DRIVES

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SATA AND DIMM HARD DISK DRIVES? HOW ARE BOTH OF THEM USEFUL FOR A LAPTOP? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.193.33.78 (talk) 10:54, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

See SATA—it's just a hard disk bus, which controls how the hard disk interacts with the overall computer. DIMM on the other hand is a way of grouping RAM memory, something quite different. Please don't type in all-caps. --Mr.98 (talk) 12:10, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

DIMMs can have a SATA interface in a DRAM based drive Unilynx (talk) 13:45, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Effects of deleting boot.ini in XP?

What would happen if I deleted boot.ini in XP? Thanks 92.15.5.169 (talk) 16:03, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Boot.ini is critical to the boot of Windows XP. [7] --mboverload@ 18:40, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Would my computer explode for example? 92.15.3.130 (talk) 11:18, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

No, but next time you turn it on/restart it, it probably won't boot, and you'll need to go through the repair procedure in the article linked above to fix it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Unilynx (talk • contribs) 13:41, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Resolution: 1280×800 vs. 1440×900... or where do I find *no* widescreen?

I need to replace my laptop (which has 1440×900 resolution/14,1"), and what I find online are almost exclusively displays with 1280×800 or 1366×768. At least when I switch my current laptop to display in a 1280×768 resolution, it looks aweful--very blurred, and because everything is displayed bigger, the display shows considerably less (duh, it's fewer pixels :o)), and so on. I'm trying to find out if it's really possible that these new(er) laptops have such displays... or if they're using some different technology in order to display more stuff and have less blur? (Unfortunately I can't go to a store, where I could simply look at such displays.)

And/Or where do I find decently-priced laptops without widescreen with approximately 12.5" displays?

I really care about size, resolution (so that I can fit more onto the screen and still decipher it) and price (and some general specs, which seem to be fairly easy to find) because I don't game, I rarely watch movies on my laptop, and so on. Any place where you'd look, any manufacturer you'd suggest, etc.? Or even: Any internet/computer forum you'd go to to ask these questions? Heartfelt thanks (!): Thanks for answering (talk) 16:37, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Well the laptop "native resolutions" you see will not be blurry. The "native resolution" of an LCD screen will be what looks like a perfect match pixel-to-pixel. It sounds like you are looking at netbooks, not laptops. LCDs generally need to run at their native resolutions if they are to look any good. Now as to why you are seeing the differences—I suspect it's just whatever models you're looking at. There is plenty of variety in laptop native resolutions, just as there is variety in the size of the laptops. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:41, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

It is very hard to find laptops with non-widescreen displays. Widescreens are cheaper to make, so that's what they use. --mboverload@ 18:44, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

It's also become rarer to find ordinary LCD monitors for desktops that aren't widescreens. I sympathize. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:28, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Free software re-licensing

I'm trying to create an image showing how software under one free software license can be re-released under a different license. My attempt at this is at File:Licenses colored by license type.svg. Are there mistakes? Have I missed any relationships or major licenses? --h2g2bob (talk) 18:46, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Are you working from any particular listing or what? Because most of us don't know what off the top of our heads (even if we are pretty familiar with some of those licenses) and are not terribly interesting in looking up 15 of them or so and looking over their provisions quite closely. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:42, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Been working from http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html mostly, which is obviously mostly about compatibility with the gpl licenses. --h2g2bob (talk) 05:19, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Widescreen LCDs cheaper to make?

I have heard throughout the years that widescreen LCDs are so prominent because manufacturers can get more widescreen from a batch than normal 4:3. I've been trying various Google searches trying to prove this with no luck. Any help? --mboverload@ 20:23, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't believe that it is especially true. Widescreen LCDs for TVs are that shape because that's the fashion, and because there are now practical sources of wide format content for that aspect ratio. As LCDs for computer monitors are the same as those built for TVs (bar some high-performance ones) the cost-effective sweet-spot is just to go with the TV market. The only thing I've ever seen about aspect ratios and price is that they prefer the finished screen dimensions to evenly divide the mother glass from which they are cut (that is, without any waste left over), and the sizes of the mother glass is determined by some other standard. That said, now that LCDs are made from plastic rather than glass, I don't know if that's still an issue. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:32, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

In fact, if one is being particularly reductive, a wider aspect is probably slightly more expensive than squarer, as it requires marginally more row/column pins to address the pixels. A 1440x900 display addresses 1.3Mpixel with 2340 pins. A square 1140x1140 display addresses 1.3Mpixel with 2280 pins (woo, 2% more efficient). Clearly the cost of a few extra pins isn't a significant cost item, compared with the benefits of being in the same market space as all those TV displays. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:53, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

It may be relevant that a 16:9 screen is about 12% smaller than a 4:3 screen with the same diagonal size, and the diagonal is the measurement used for advertising purposes. I have no evidence that that was a factor in the change, but it seems plausible. When I bought my old Thinkpad they had 14" and 15" models, and when I bought my new Thinkpad they had 14" and 15" models, but the aspect ratio had changed in the meantime. -- BenRG (talk) 00:52, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

(ec) Usually the "widescreen is cheaper" argument is based off of the total amount of screen for a given quoted (diagonal) size. For example, a 22" 16:9 widescreen would be 19.2" by 10.8", for a total area of 207.4 sq in. This is in contrast to the 22" 4:3 display, which is 17.6" by 13.2", with a total area of 232.32 sq in; a 12% greater area from the "equivalent" 16:9 version. If production costs are dominated by area of screen produced (either because of material costs, or because a given production line can only produce a fixed area per unit time), then the widescreen will be about 10% cheaper to produce. That assumption, however, (that production cost are the dominated by the cost per square inch) is rather nebulously justified - I haven't seen any references which would confirm it. -- 174.24.195.56 (talk) 01:02, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

For a given number of pixels, the more square the aspect ratio, the cheaper the display because you save on 'addressing' logic and wiring. But I agree that the traditional way of stating screen sizes using the diagonal means that if you're comparing only that diagonal distance then the wider aspect ratio screen - being much fewer pixels - would be cheaper. So it's not really true to say that widescreen is cheaper - it's more accurate to say that people are prepared to live with fewer pixels for the same price if the resulting screen has a wider aspect ratio. SteveBaker (talk) 14:21, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

(Ah! I just read the previous question about laptops.) In the case of a laptop - the screen needs to be wide enough to fill the width of a standard pitch keyboard. However, with 4:3 aspect ratio laptop screens, you end up with these wide areas of useless plastic above and below the keyboard that are needed to make the bottom half of the clamshell the same size as the top. The shape of a keyboard is more like the shape of a widescreen display - so I'm sure that's the driving force here. For a given number of pixels per inch - a widescreen laptop can be a lot cheaper than a 4:3 laptop because there are fewer pixels and less wasted case around the keyboard. Fewer pixels also means less power consumption - which means a smaller battery is needed. SteveBaker (talk) 14:29, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

July 11

URL for a specific page in a PDF

Is it possible to link to a specific page in a pdf? I'm doing an article and I'm wondering if it would be better to link to a page... (that would be convenient for DYK checkers as well as readers). Kayau Voting IS evil 01:53, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

You can add #page=4 or whatever to the URL if you want. Not all readers recognize it, I don't think. If you are referencing a specific page, make sure you have it as, [the link], page 5. Better to have it clear and redundant than techie and potentially nonworking. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:41, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Ports

I want to run two instances of the same program on Windows, but unfortunately they both "bind" to the same port, and there are no settings to change that. The only way I've managed to do it so far is to run a virtual machine with the second program in it. But this takes up 150mb of RAM to run the VM which I really can't spare. Is there any other way to force programs to bind to different ports? 82.43.90.93 (talk) 13:21, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

That depends on your prowess and the program. There may be configuration options to the program that are not available via a settings dialogue, e.g. via command line switches or a configuration file. You can also try to make a copy of the binary, hunt out the port number in the code, and replace it with e.g. a hex editor (this is likely non-trivial unless you know the structure of Windows programs quite well). That said, what are you trying to achieve? If the port is hard-coded, clients are likely to try to connect to that port, too. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 13:36, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

how much more should I ask for to work for the mafia?

so a guy I did casual contracts for has asked me how much I would want for serious involvement, so he can freely share everything I need to do my IT job for him, but the problem is everyone knows he's mafia. so, there is a chance he could go to jail and not pay (I suppose even I could go to jail), all in all how much more should I ask for than my usual rate to cover these risks? (I am not asking for legal advice, just practical economic advice). I was thinking of 2.5x my normal rate but I wonder if there is a more standard recommendation? Thank you. 84.153.234.184 (talk) 18:04, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Guys who work for the Mafia don't get paid well unless they are at the top. You'll not get squat unless you're well committed, and then you're liable to go to jail. Personally I think you should be committed but in another sense. Dmcq (talk) 18:23, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

So this sounds like he wants to reveal illegal activities to you so that you can construct a proper mafia website. That will put you in a position where you are a vulnerability to the organization without actually being a key figure in the organization. generally that will mean:

• broken kneecaps are as likely as a higher salary
• you go to jail if the organization gets busted (as an accessory after/before the fact)
• you get yourself beaten/killed if the organization thinks the police are interested in you

If a life in he mafia is what you want, this would be a good way to enter the system (though you'd have a long way to go to prove yourself). if a life in the mafia is not what you want, then this is not a good idea. Tell your guy you'll do the work at your normal rate, but that you don't want to know about any illegal activities because you'd have to report them to the police. If he really is mafia he'll go bug someone else to do the work. --Ludwigs2 18:36, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Imaging an SSD - Easiest Imaging Software/Process

I'm planning to upgrade to a SSD to be "OS and program files" hard disk in the near future. I was wondering what the easiest (and preferably free) imaging process to transfer my OS and existing data to the new drive would be.

I might just do a clean re-install because that always feels good. But I wanted to keep my options open.NByz (talk) 19:29, 11 July 2010 (UTC)