Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing

Welcome to the computing section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.

skip to bottom

Select a section:

• Computing
• Entertainment
• Humanities
• Language
• Mathematics
• Science
• Miscellaneous
• Archives

Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

   

How can I get my question answered?

• Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
• Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
• Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
• Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
• Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
• Note:
  • We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
  • We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
  • We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
  • We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.

Ready? Ask a new question!

How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

• The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

See also:

• Teahouse
• Help desk
• Village pump
• Help manual

March 30

Creating printed or PDF version of Wikipedia pages using custom style sheet

When creating a printed or PDF version of a Wikipedia page, is there a way to override the default styles? I want to change the fonts, spacing and a few other things to my own preferences. Thanks. --173.49.9.57 (talk) 13:34, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

You could click "Printable Version" in the sidebar, change your browser's settings to use the fonts you want, and save as PDF using a browser extension. But keep the attribution notices intact. Pokajanje|Talk 20:38, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Using two workspaces in GNOME 3 and Cinnamon

I recently got a second monitor for free from my father, so I set my system to use two monitors simultaneously. I'm running Fedora 17 with GNOME 3 and Cinnamon. This works OK, but I noticed that everything happens on the first monitor (workspace) by default. Unless I manually drag windows to the second workspace, it isn't doing anything. The second workspace doesn't even have a panel. How can I make some programs open up their windows on the second workspace by default? Or how do I add a panel to the second workspace, so that all windows from programs I launch appear on the workspace where I clicked the panel? JIP | Talk 15:05, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

There are apparently some workarounds, but if I were you, I’d switch to Xfce with Compiz rather than wait for GNOME to un-betray its users to the point of providing all its previous functionality. ¦ Reisio (talk) 19:52, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

OK, thanks. However, I don't think it's worth the problem. I tried Compiz once, but it was apparent my graphics card didn't support it. As for GNOME betraying its users, I share your sentiment fully. It is only thanks to Cinnamon I'm still using GNOME. As far as I am aware even Linus Torvalds was critical of GNOME's recent developments. However, my brother-in-law has expressed interest in a second monitor, so I'm thinking of donating my older, smaller monitor to him and keeping the newer, bigger monitor my father gave me for my own use. JIP | Talk 19:56, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

What does a slow hard drive do slowly?

I feel stupid asking this, but I am considering buying this Samsung laptop but reviewers complain it has a slow hard drive. What exactly would happen slowly if your hard drive is slow? Does it take longer to save or recall files? Something else? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 19:45, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

“take longer to save or recall files”

As compared to faster drives, yes. It says it has a 5400 rpm drive, which would be slower than a 7200 rpm one, and slower still than a solid state drive. You might not even notice it, however. The first comment I see on the drive being slow refers to an SSD, which means this person is already used to solid state drives and would obviously feel the “slowness” of older types of drives. If you’ve never used an SSD for internal storage, you probably will not notice the difference. ¦ Reisio (talk) 19:49, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Excellent, thanks. I am looking at an ASUS with even better stats and an SSD (which, no, I have never seen) the only drawback being it is 2" thick. μηδείς (talk) 19:58, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

One thing to note is that reading and writing to the hard disk occurs all the time, not just when you pick Save or Open in an application. Most hard drives have a hard drive light to tell you when it's being used, and you will notice that it flickers periodically pretty much all the time. Why so much hard drive access ? Well, it has to load all the programs off the hard drive, has to store temporary files there, say when transferring things to and from the Internet, and, if you run out of RAM, it even uses the hard drive for memory paging space. StuRat (talk) 23:41, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

My own understanding is that people reviewing things like hard drive speed are probably gamers and so forth - these types depend on the capacity of their computers a lot more than we do. I think it sounds like someone complaining his Ferrari has ordinary tyres, for example. If it is for general use, word processing etc., you might never notice these things. I notice my Windows laptop's slowness on startup, and nowadays, whenever I right click on a file, but not otherwise. IBE (talk) 10:43, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. I am looking at a gaming computer for other reason, I don't have a TV, I use my computer simultaneously often for various programs, with that causing occasional freeze-ups, I want a high-end screen and sound and a Blu-ray r/w DVD. I was going to get a Mac PowerBook, but they don't offer the 17.3" screen any more. And I want something that will be powerful enough that I won't regret not having gone bigger in two years.

Let me ask a Follow Up question:

Am I right in assuming that if you have an SSD your programs and operating system would be stored on it, while files you don't access that often would go on the hard drive? Would the mechanics of this basically be the same as dealing with a partitioned disk? The SSD article is hard to parse, and the applications section doesn't clearly answer to me what I want. I am assuming I would normally run everything of the SSD and essentially use the hard drive as an onboard external hard drive. And would the SSD communicate with the HD automatically, so that, say I were playing Sim City loaded on the SSD, and had saved a game onto the hard drive, would the computer know how to find it and use it without me dragging it back on the SSD? Thanks for the help. μηδείς (talk) 17:11, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Most laptops have only one bay to accommodate a disk drive, so if you have an SSD you won't have a hard disk. As you'll note from looking at prices, SSDs have much lower storage than hard drives of the same price. On a desktop or server machine, where there is more physical room, it's common to have an SSD for the OS, applications, and some user files, and have bulky stuff like music and movies on a hard drive. You can get a hybrid drive, which incorporates a flash and hard drive in the same enclosure (and appears as the same logical device); some attempt to organise what's held in the fast flash memory vs the slower hard disk storage by themselves. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 17:37, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

The ASUS model I am looking at has "Hard Drive: 120GB SSD + 1TB 5400rpm HDD". I assume this counts as a hybrid drive? Reading that article it would seem the SSD works as the cache? If that is the case, does it mean one cannot, as one would in windows 7, go to the "computer" heading under the start menu, open it up, and drag objects between different partitions? In other words, can you or do you decide which drive files go under, or does the computer do that for you? Or am I totally off base? μηδείς (talk) 18:54, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

It sounds like a hybrid drive, but absent a datasheet from Asus themselves (not just details from some Amazon reseller) I don't know for sure. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 19:13, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Let's say it is a hybrid. (I can't otherwise imagine what it would mean to say there's a 120 SSD and a 1TB HDD) Again, how would that work from a user perspective? Is it like a cache/memory system where programs and cache memory will be on the SSD and downloaded files will go on the Disk, without my decision? Or will it work like a partitioned system? I did just place the order for this ASUS. Thanks again for the help. μηδείς (talk) 19:23, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

To me, this sounds like it really has two independent drives, a 120GB SSD and a separate 1TB hard disk. In that case, the two will show up as two devices. How you organize them depends on your OS. I don't know a lot about windows, but typically, one would be associated with C:, and one with another drive letter. Typically, your OS files would live on the SSD at C:. Under a UNIX, I would have the OS live on the SSD (mounted as the root file system, "/") and mount the large disk somewhere under /home1 to use for large static files (movies, music, photos) and backups. "120 GB should be enough for anybody" (tm) ;-). I have a 256 GB SSD in my MacBook Pro, and no mechanical disk anymore. I highly recommend this if you travel - the SSD is a lot more robust, uses less energy, and is totally silent. The only drawback is price... --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:03, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Well, thanks. These have been excellent answers. At this point it's a mere matter of curiosity, since I decided on and bought the model I wanted for other reasons. I know how to deal with different drives, and except for my movie and music files I certainly don't need more than about 100GB. If the computer comes before this thread expires I'll update. μηδείς (talk) 20:19, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

• The ASUS arrived today. The SSD is the main drive and the HDD is assigned as a separate letter (E:) device under the Computer heading in the Start Menu. The computer boots and is web browsing within about 15 seconds, with the browser-internet connection being the slow factor. μηδείς (talk) 19:10, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Smartphone

Apologies if I've asked this before, I've been thinking about this for over a year and I really can't recall if I have or not.

Is there a smartphone (or operating system) that will support where I can write and run a program on the phone in the field? Ideally basic, but perl, python, even javascript would do.

My previous phone ran Windows CE and NSBasic ran on it. The new version for Windows 8(?) needs to be desktop compiled and downloaded, and the newer windoiws won't run the old NSBasic apparently. -- SGBailey (talk) 20:16, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Scripting Layer for Android works very nicely, and supports a variety of languages. I can't say editing program text with a phone keyboard is much fun, but apart from that it's just what you need. One thing you need to make sure is that the specific phone you're buying allows loading apps from untrusted sources (as you load the APK files from the Google Code repository, not from the Google Play store). Most Android devices allow this (also called sideloading) but a few are locked down by the phone company and don't. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 20:47, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

As to practical matter of storage. On my Nexus 7, the SL4A app itself (which provides the basic framework, script browser and editor, and access to the existing Android shell) uses 2.6MB. The Python (cpython 2.6) system is another 5.3MB. That's really very modest (Plants vs. Zombies is, for example, 79MB). -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 20:57, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Thx -- SGBailey (talk) 21:41, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Trouble with Blender

I'm working on an urgent Blender project that's due on Tuesday. I constructed a rig for the body, only to find that Armature Deform - with Automatic Weights had no effect whatsoever. In Pose Mode moving the bones had no effect on the body. So I deleted the whole armature and started over again (twice), but I forget to delete the old rig, and now it seems to be undeletable. You can get the 10 MB blend file at filedropper.com/groundhog. Is there anyway to get that critter animated? The boss is really going to be unhappy if this isn't in on time. Pokajanje|Talk 20:56, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

So, your cheap-skate boss is using free software, and is going to get annoyed if you struggle on the climbing the steep-learning-curve to learn Blender (which is brilliant)? Or any similar but propriety 3D computer graphics software. Find a better company to work for! - seriously! --Aspro (talk) 22:40, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

"The best answers directly address what the questioner asked..." Additionally, I'm kind of stuck in this position. Pokajanje|Talk 22:44, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

You might as well ask “how can I become an expert over-night.” That question too can be asked. Would you not agree, that if it could be answered – we could all become experts over-night? Yes, I can agree your stuck, but that is a rod your creating for yourself. --Aspro (talk) 22:57, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

P.S. Pointy-haired Boss's often-underestimate the tasks that they give subordinates to do. If he didn't hire you as an expert in 3D computer graphics software then he should arrange for you to receive proper training. Me thinks, he asks to much and you should not be having to post on Wikipedia in an effort to satisfy his ill-grasped demands. You are making a rod for your own back. If by magic you pull this off by Tuesday he will expect even more miracles from you. It's life.--Aspro (talk) 23:14, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

I am asking for help to fix one problem, after which I should easily be able to do the rest. I do not want cynicism. If you are not going to help me or add otherwise useful (repeat, useful) commentary on the situation, then you have no reason to post. Pokajanje|Talk 01:07, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Aspro, WTF? You're not being helpful here. If you don't know the answer, just keep it under your hat. The OP is asking a really specific technical question and you're basically mocking him and his situation. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:20, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

I'd like to help, but have never used Blender. However, is there a way to go back further than the armature ? All the way back to the beginning, if necessary ? Once you get past this problem, I suggest constant saving of each version, after each small change, so you can more easily go back to the last safe point. StuRat (talk) 03:00, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

There's nowhere near enough time. It took me weeks to get to this point. Anyway, I figured out how to delete the old rig, and I managed to find that there's a "Generate" button that needs to be clicked under the Armature object data settings, but no order of clicking that button and the aforementioned Armature Deform - With Automatic Weights seems to work. The problem has been solved. I don't know what I was doing wrong, but fiddling with it long enough made it work. Pokajanje|Talk 03:05, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Glad it worked out. I don't have enough experience animating with Blender to be helpful, but my suggestion was going to be to look for the old rig under the Outliner, which is where things like that typically hide. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:23, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

And I did manage to pull this off, a day early. Pokajanje|Talk 16:05, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Very good. Glad you figured it out, and I apologize for Aspro. I'll mark this resolved, but be sure to save your work more often, under a new name each save, to avoid this kind of panic when bad things happen in the future. StuRat (talk) 16:41, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Resolved

Any Google+ experts around?

Someone's set up a fake page - looks like part of an ongoing attack on me probably by another editor here (possibly a banned one). I've reported it to Google but would like to get the police on this, which they can't do at the moment as they don't have the information they need. Thanks. Dougweller (talk) 21:44, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Turns out I have a fake YouTube account also with gay porn. Dougweller (talk) 21:45, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Do you feel inclined to give us these links, it would be easier for us to then, to look for patterns, sources and things.--Aspro (talk) 21:54, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

It's fairly easy to find the accounts from a simple search. Nil Einne (talk) 23:49, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't mean to be rude, but I"m not really sure what you are asking us to do here. What information do they need that you can't provide? Mingmingla (talk) 21:59, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Look, it reads to me, that this editors has got the hebe-jebbies and hasn’t yet had time to stand back and look at this in cold analytical terms. In that state, knowing the right question to ask is difficult. Yet, surly we (most of us) can make contact with s/he's underlying issue. Use your intuition.--Aspro (talk) 22:09, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

I can't speak for the OP but my guess is it may be more complicated then that. I'm guessing in many jurisdictions, if an adult reports someone has been setting up fake accounts to impersonate and defame them but without other info or anything to push the harassment case into an area of concern (like a threat of violence), the police will tell them there's not much they can (or will) do although the person should report it to the providers involved. You could probably try and take legal action yourself but that's likely to be costly. If you are able to determine more details, in particular gather some evidence of who the person doing it is, they may more inclined to look in to the case. However gathering this evidence without a court order may be difficult or even impossible, it depends significantly on how careful the person behind it is. If there is evidence, someone with experience in the sites is most likely to be able to find it. Even if you can't gather any evidence of who's behind it, better documentation of what's going on is more likely to convince the police to look in to it. Nil Einne (talk) 00:00, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

What do you mean when you say you have a fake account? RudolfRed (talk) 22:05, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Think s/he mean an account has been created that could be mistaken by others as originating and pertaining to him or her. If this has been 'intentionally' done by someone else, then this is a fake account.--Aspro (talk) 22:17, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Sounds to me like someone is impersonating him on-line with malicious intent. This is unfortunately common. I don't think the police can do anything unless there are 1. Clear and legitimate threats of harm against you as a result the impersonation, and 2. You (or the police, through warrants) are able to trace the identity the real-life owner of the fake account. If it is simply your WP reputation you are concerned about, I don't think you have much recourse...but if it is tied to your real life identity, and it is causing you distress, you will probably need to get a lawyer if Google/YouTube do not remove the account. Ditch ∝ 00:41, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

If you want it taken down, first contact Google. They have official procedures for this. Second, if you want to go further, contact a lawyer and look into suing (many will consult with you for free if they are contingency based). They can advise you on everything else as well. Shadowjams (talk) 04:12, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Note that the OP already reported it to Google. Nil Einne (talk) 05:37, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Thanks all. The pages are still up - when this was done to my FB account they were gone within an hour after my complaint. I don't have the heebie-jeebies, just a desire for revenge (and to get Google to move faster in the future), especially if it's the Wikipedia editor who wrote an article in Examiner.com attacking me or one of the banned editors trying to get at me (one of them has created a sock to deny it). I guess at the moment it's Google I'll have to sue. If it's still up on Tuesday when law offices open, I'll look into it. No one should have to put up with something like this on a major internet site. Dougweller (talk) 06:38, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Hope you can get it down soon but I'd have to say having seen one of my uncles waste money on suing a newspaper for quite damaging lies and getting derisory compensation that going to the law isn't something I'd bother with unless totally and absolutely necessary. Personally I wouldn't even bother going to one of those reputation fixer outfits over something online but I guess other people are more worried about the internet. Dmcq (talk) 11:49, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

re-indent to break wall of text, @DougIf the imposter is claiming details more than just your name, such as using an actual picture of you as a profile, or biographical details like where you live, work, education, place of birth, etc (stuff that is beyond the scope of mere coincidence)...or if he/she is directly taunting you with the fake accounts, through e-mail or other communication...then you might have a stronger case. But if the imposter is simply usurping your first and last name, and the Google results associated with it, I could see how this would become complicated. There are ~40 people with the name Douglas Weller in the U.S. and I'm sure that number grows when you include people outside the U.S.. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that even though we know what's going on here, Google doesn't know that you are you, and the burden of proving that you are you in this case might be more complicated than simply registering a complaint with them. Also, I'm not sure what good a lawyer can do other than take your money. Maybe you need to find the equivalent of an Internet P.I. to see if you can find out who this person really is? Ditch ∝ 15:25, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

They are using a lot of accurate details, a few inaccurate ones. I found the links to Google to complain about impersonation and sent them the photo ID they want. What's more interesting is that the fake Google+ profile ranks higher in a search than the real one, and that the Metapedia attack biography is up around the top, which seems odd. Dougweller (talk) 16:36, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

My three cents: 1. I would be proud of being bashed at Metapedia. 2. There seems to be a legit, gay Doug Weller in Australia who hit the news in relation to homosexual adoption. 3. It's amazing that Facebook managed to delete a fake profile so fast. Note: why do you believe a Wiki banned user did that all? OsmanRF34 (talk) 00:01, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

March 31

Basic word processor

Is there a modern word processor available? I know the obvious answer is a Mac or PC. But I am looking for something for my elderly parents, and they are intimidated by all the "bells & whistles" of a modern PC. I need something bare-bones where they can create, edit and save simple files (home budget, recipes, write letters, etc.). Also needs to be print capable. They do not need to get on-line. Just as an aside, my Dad has had a couple of mild strokes, and he gets confused with the system updates and pop-ups pre-loaded on off-the-shelf PCs...for instance, they bought a basic PC but it came pre-loaded with antivirus software, and even though they're not on the Internet, it kept prompting him to update the antivirus, and then of course the update failed, and it kept happening. He ultimately got frustrated and returned it...so you maybe can see what I am dealing with. I want them to be happy, but I running into an insurmountable learning curve with them over how the old word processors worked vs. a modern PC. Any ideas? Ditch ∝ 00:11, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps an electronic typewriter would be sufficient.

—Wavelength (talk) 00:18, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Well, on a Windows PC, Notepad is a rather basic editor without anything fancy.

Basically you just need to set the PC up for them. I suggest the following:

1) The oldest version of Windows you can find. Windows 7 and 8 are both easy to find in stores now. Windows 7 is a lot easier to use than 8.

2) No internet connection (no cable).

3) Remove any anti-virus programs from it.

4) Disable any automatic update settings.

5) Get a laser mouse and keyboard with wires. (Wireless devices can be lost, need batteries, and can go out of range.)

6) Set up folders on the Desktop for each of the things they do, like Recipes, Budget, Letters, etc. You can put sub-folders in each, like "Chicken recipes". Take all the crap on the Desktop they don't use, and put it in a new folder called "Crap we don't use", or something like that. (You could also delete it, but I feel safer keeping it.)

7) Also put a shortcut to every program they need, like Notepad, on the Desktop. (For the budget, a spreadsheet program would be ideal, but it might be too steep of a learning curve for your dad, so just have him use the Calculator and Notepad.)

8) If they don't need color, a black-and-white laser printer is the way to go. Color laser printers cost a lot more, and cheaper color ink-jet printers need constant replacement of ink cartridges. Set the printer up for them so it's all set to print.

9) If their vision isn't so good, pick a lower screen resolution and get a larger screen. StuRat (talk) 00:31, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

• Just a thought. If all they want to do is word processing and a little bit of surfing, plus emails etc. Then you could over-write their Windows Operating system with the Ubuntu OS [1]. You can easily set this up, so that if they have problems, you can use your home computer to get into their system and remotely sort it out for them – with out leaving your home. [2]. It makes life simple.--Aspro (talk) 00:34, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

P.S. Nor do you need anti-virus apps – that's mainly a microsoft problem--Aspro (talk) 00:38, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

I like all of the suggestions, but especially the ability to be able to access their computer remotely and "resolve" annoying issues is a GREAT idea. That way they could have Internet even thought they don't think they'd use it, but I think they would like email if they gave it a chance. I think that might be the way to go. Thanks! Ditch ∝ 00:46, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Very wise. They might be old folk but they brought you up. They will be able to grasp email if email's are explained to them bit by bit and then ….-'Wow “we can now exchange emails with old aunt Maude who ran off with a GI to outer Mongolia at the end of WW2 etc.. Emails can open up their world again when they find they are just a @ from all their friends and relatives. Just need to find one or two of their old friends (or grand children) that are contactable on email, lead them by rote and they will be away. They will soon be saying “Ditch ∝ why don't you email us more often?”.--Aspro (talk) 01:17, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

My elderly father learned to use email and got in contact with all his old cronies that way. He even found an old high school girlfriend and took her to his 50th reunion. One thing he never quite got the hang of, though, was that you can send a one sentence e-mail. He kept thinking "Only one sentence, that's a waste of postage !". Unfortunately, this meant he would write a novel in each e-mail (with a 50/50 chance the computer would freeze up over the week it took him to write it), and he often lost the whole thing.

One thing to beware of, though, access to the internet means scammers have access to him. My dad fell for the one where you supposedly get a free laptop by completing several "offers". He ended up paying hundreds of dollars for nutritional supplements he didn't want, from a company who refused to cancel his subscription, and he never got a free laptop, of course. To prevent this, you might want to use the whitelist system, where he can only receive emails from those on the list. StuRat (talk) 02:02, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

A one-sentence e-mail message reminds me of "End of message".

—Wavelength (talk) 02:40, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

On the opposite end of the spectrum is my father, who had his first computer bought for him by my brother when my father was in his 70s, who writes rather short emails. He doesn't like typing and keeps things brief. Sometimes too brief though because they leave me wondering how he got from point A of the story to point B. Dismas|^(talk) 02:49, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Think this is very much on topic when it comes to keyboards and male preferences. One friend has an elderly relative (male yet again) who not only has a wonderful and neat hand written script but through years of writing with a fountain pen, finds his mind/hand coordination is more fluent when writing with a pen. In other words, he does not get on well with a keyboard as it brakes his concentration when hunting the keyboard for the right letters and punctuation marks. The problem was solved: He now writes his letter out in long hand and scans them. The only hiccup, is the he sometimes uses full colour and too high a resolution, resulting in ignominious file sizes. Having said that, he likes sending scans from the local news paper, family photos and other stuff. It has had other bonuses, in that he has been able to send over scans of letters from officialdom, spammers, etc., that has left him baffled. That saves this friend from round trip of 120 miles just to look at these letters. Simply thinking, that if they can't get the hang of cutting and pasting then there is no point in trying to get them doing something more advanced -is down to our own misconceived ideas. When you show them something that suits them, they pick it up like lightning.Aspro (talk) 18:33, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

That, I think, is very wise advice as well. Rule of untended consequences, right? In the same way my Dad can't get over the pop-ups that tell him to "update" or whatever (even though I tell him over and over just to ignore them and hit "cancel"), he might also be gullible to all the "advances" in spamming that have evolved in the last 10-15 years since he retired and "left" the technological world (back when we all had bulky black Nokia cell phones, and text messaging was just really starting). I imagine when our parents get older, that it is like when we were 16 and got our driver's licenses. At some point you have to let go and trust the individual to make their own judgments, hoping that our own example will provide guidance, while always still dreading the late-night phone call that there has been a wreck. My Dad used to be able to do everything...he was. well, my Dad. Now it's different. God, I feel old. It's an amazing and scary world we live in. But that's life right? I feel much better now :) Ditch ∝ 02:46, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

BTW, there are computer services specifically set up for the elderly, like these: [3], [4], but I can't vouch for either, never having tried them. For example, I don't know if they can prevent other software from popping up windows telling you to upgrade (heck, they might even do so themselves). StuRat (talk) 03:10, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

I think you might be surprised at how well they get on with computers if they find they can use something like skype to talk to their children and grandchildren. Dmcq (talk) 11:55, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

• Older PCs can still be obtained from eBay and thrift shops. If you know what you're doing, you should be able to take any PC from the late 80s or newer and install Windows 3.1 (legal copies of Windows 3.1 appear to go for about $30 on eBay and Amazon), which would probably achieve what you're wanting to achieve. Do beware that Windows 3.1 came on floppy disks (some copies were on 5.25s, some copies came on 3.5s), so if you choose to install it on a modern computer you're going to have to either install a floppy drive or you're going to have to find some way to get it onto some sort of media compatible with the newer machine, but for what they want to use it for, any inexpensive piece of crap from the late 90s/early 2000s (which would likely have a 3.5 FDD already installed) should suffice. PCHS-NJROTC ^(Messages) 22:13, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

The answer might be a Chromebook. I haven't used one, but my understanding is that they're cheap, and they boot right into a web-browser. APL (talk) 05:14, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I think, that’s a very good suggestion. Whilst one can not directly connect a printer to a Chromebook (which is a condition the OP requires) one can connect it to a cloud-print enabled printer. [5] That is a good excuse to provide the folks with an internet connection. Then, as you intimate, they can use Chromebook, which only needs to be set up for them and very little in the way of ongoing IT support from the OP. After that, a mere ten minutes of demonstrating how you can type key word into google like: Harley Davidson, Squirrel pie recipes, etc., and they will wonder why they did not get online sooner. These basic, no bells and whistles, low maintenance apps, is what I think Chromebook was designed for. Do any editors here, use a Chomebook daily? It sound like it would be worth getting one just to experiment.Aspro (talk) 12:40, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Router

Why would my router keep switching itself off? Any ideas please?85.211.138.47 (talk) 06:33, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

My first guess would be some sort of power saving feature. Could you tell us what the model of the router is? That might help. Dismas|^(talk) 07:47, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

It is a Belkin Model No:F5D8635-4 v185.211.138.47 (talk) 10:37, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Power-saving would not make sense in a wireless router. The user manual does not discuss this in the Troubleshooting section, or mention anything related as far as I can see, so I think you are reduced to calling Tech Support. You might try resetting to factory defaults first (p. 56 of the manual), but there is no special reason to think that will work. Looie496 (talk) 15:22, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

• If your router came with your internet service you might want to contact your provider and ask for a new one. I have had Belkin routers replaced twice at no expense to me over the last half-a-dozen years. μηδείς (talk) 19:46, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

• • I had a 2wire routers replaced twice by what was then called Embarq, the process was damn near painless. Make sure it's not a problem with the electrical outlet. If it's not an ISP issued router, you may still be able to get it replaced through the manufacturer's warranty, or if it's out of warranty but you happened to pay for it with an American Express card, through Extended Warranty offered by AMEX (same applies to any card company that offers a similar benefit). PCHS-NJROTC ^(Messages) 21:39, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

• I concur on the need to check the electrical outlet. Perhaps voltage periodically drops too low, causing the device to shut down. If so, the cure is a small uninterruptible power supply, not a new router. StuRat (talk) 16:47, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Is the router plugged into a swtiched outlet? That is, when you flip the light switch off maybe you are also turning off the router? RudolfRed (talk) 00:38, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

What does the OP mean exactly by switching off. Sometimes, my telephone exchange is doing maintenance and my connection goes down. The 'power' light on my router however, does 'not' extinguish. Once maintenance is over, the other little light flicker off and on until I am back online. Does the 'power' light go off?Aspro (talk) 12:49, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

• It can be : 1) Your router keeps on delinking - It can happen due to regular periodical refresh of the link i.e the signal from your ISP is updated periodically. It is a common occurence and can happen with any router or modem. OR 2) It keeps turning OFF: The power supply to your router could be experiencing issues. Ensure that you have a clean connection (with no wires being intertwined with your router power cord) and check that your router power plug is plugged in firmly to a suitable power outlet. If the problem persists , try contacting your router manufacturer or ISP. Prantik911 (talk) 15:31, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

TurboTax Tune

I remember TurboTax had a MIDI-sounding tune that played on startup back in the late 90s or early 2000s, but I can't find it anywhere on the internet. Does anyone know anything about it or where on the internet it can be found? 184.7.157.90 (talk) 20:51, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

April 1

Skinning a cat

How many ways are there to skin a cat? --Carnildo (talk) 09:50, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Most pet stores offer a variety of pet costumes, particularly around Halloween. Note that small (or medium, depending on the cat) dog costumes work as well. This is the computing desk, so I guess I suggest you search for pet costumes on amazon.com. Or do you mean cat (Unix), Cat state or .cat? 38.111.64.107 (talk) 14:42, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Precisely 32 ways according to B-9 --TrogWoolley (talk) 16:38, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

It depends on how evil you are. Pokajanje|Talk 19:52, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

One could find out the surface area of an average house cat. Then one could find out the angular resolution of the human eye. These would yield a maximum resolvable number of pixels (or approximations of same) from, say, one meter of viewing distance. Multiply that by the number of resolvable different colours (surely a web search will find that for you), and hey presto, there is your answer. 88.112.41.6 (talk) 20:51, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

How do I find my original spawning point on Minecraft PE v0.6.1?

Hi,

On Minecraft, I would like to find my original spawning point so that I can build a pathway to my house for guests; the only problem is that I can't remember where I spawned in the first place! Is there any way I can know where that point is? Please help me! Jorjamay122 (talk) 12:01, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Use a compass. Or use a level editor. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:03, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

For the future, you should craft a map ASASP. RunningUranium (talk) 00:39, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

How can I reverse sinification

I use CyberLink Power DVD8 player on my laptop. I purchased The Hobbit on DVD, started playing it, went to the program menu to see if I could change the volume setting, and lo and behold, the menu popped up in Chinese characters. Now, even with a different disk, it is still all in Chinese. I tried pressing every option to see if a "change language" menu would pop up. I have looked on the web, but the only thing I can think of at this point is seeing if I can un- and reinstall it. Any suggestions as to where I can look for a solution? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 16:42, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Just a thought, perhaps that DVD has the wrong DVD region code, causing the player to think you're in China ? Try playing a different DVD, and see if the problem goes away. If it does have region code 6, this might indicate that it's a counterfeit DVD, made in China. If so, return it and demand a refund, after telling them it's counterfeit. Even if they don't normally allow a return of an opened DVD, they are legally obligated to, in the case of selling you a counterfeit product. (You might not think a reputable store would ever sell counterfeit DVDs, but they buy from a supplier who buys from another who buys from another, etc., and nobody may know where the original came from.) StuRat (talk) 16:49, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

That was my first guess, and I do suspect something about the disk, which is the shoddiest and cheapest looking commercial release I have ever seen, caused the problem, since you have to go through a series of submenus to change the language, and I certainly did nothing like that intentionally. I simply right clicked on the program to get the menu and it was in Chinese. The program menu has remained Chinese with other disks since. I can play The Hobbit with VLC player--the DVD menu itself is in English. I am not really happy with any of the player programs, but I did link the "resume" function of CyberLink which is the only reason I use it. μηδείς (talk) 17:08, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Well, if you can't figure anything else out, I'd go ahead and reinstall it. And return that crappy DVD (after watching it for free on VLC, to compensate you for your trouble). StuRat (talk) 17:52, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

I suspect that the sinification was not entirely occidental. :-) StuRat (talk) 18:06, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Good one. μηδείς (talk) 18:13, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Medeis, I think it's pretty obvious that your fastest and most efficient way out of this predicament is going to be to learn Chinese. --Trovatore (talk) 18:16, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

If only I could cut and paste the characters off the menu I'd use google translate. μηδείς (talk) 18:31, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Look for 語言 in the first menu (this means 'language') and 英語 ('English') to choose the actual language. If it is in simplified characters, it will be 语言 and 英语 respectively. Failing that, take a cropped screenshot of the menu and then OCR it. This should produce an editable (and therefore copypasteable) document for you. Good luck! KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 20:03, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, I will try looking for the characters, that should work. I tried doing a screen shot, but when I open the snip tool the menu closes. This is a similar page to what I expect to see, but fiddling hasn't worked. Could you give me the symbols to expect for "user interface" and "user defined", KageTora? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 21:33, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

'User Interface' is 用戶界面 or 用户界面, and 'User Defined' would be something along the lines of 用戶定義 or 用户定义. Hope this helps. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 11:38, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Instead of the snip tool, why not try the older method ? Hit the Print Screen button on your keyboard then go into MS Paint and do an Edit + Paste. StuRat (talk) 22:26, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Wow, actually, I didn't know how to do that, but I see print screen works! (I am used to Macs.) I'll upload a screen shot if it gets to that. μηδείς (talk) 23:34, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

You learn something new every day (and forget something old to make room for it.) StuRat (talk) 22:19, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

How Find A Persons E-Mail Address

If I have 1 e-mail. Address from someone. How do I find all their other. E-mail accounts is there a way. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.125.251.254 (talk) 23:38, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Through one of those people search sites like Spokeo perhaps? PCHS-NJROTC ^(Messages) 23:52, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Have you tried a People Search or White Pages? 65.24.105.132 (talk) 23:40, 1 April 2013 (UTC) (moved from the humanities reference desk by User:PCHS-NJROTC).

How about e-mailing the person, and asking for other e-mail addresses? --Trovatore (talk) 01:55, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

How about dying in a fireleaving them alone. ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:10, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Please Assume Good Faith. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:05, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Not possible in this case. ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:09, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

There is no automatic, foolproof way to determine what e-mail addresses a given person has, if that is what you are asking. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:05, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Alexa statistics

Alexa gives reach and pageviews as a percentage. How do I convert that into an actual number? I don't need highly accurate results, just a ballpark. SpinningSpark 23:47, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

This site [6] partly answers my question by back-calculating global page-views from Wikipedia statistics. Still, some more direct numbers would be appreciated. SpinningSpark 00:06, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

The article Web analytics shows some of the problems with talking about 'actual' page views as opposed to just comparing sites. Dmcq (talk) 10:56, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

If a site claims to have 30,000 users, what is the best method of assessing the honesty of that claim? SpinningSpark 14:24, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Depends what they mean by users. If they just say users without any qualification then it is fairly meaningless, but possibly they say something like people who have bought products in the last year or contributors to a discussion board. It might just mean pageviews for an information site where they have to be careful to exclude robots and probes for weaknesses. Also they have to be careful about whether repeats are counted as one use or multiple uses. For sites giving advertising you have to be careful they aren't trying to take your money by faking views of the advertisement, searching for something like pay-per-click auditing will get you more about that problem. Dmcq (talk) 15:08, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Ok there might be all sorts of problems and quaifications, but that is no nearer to getting me some actual numbers to look at, however dubious. SpinningSpark 18:38, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Without qualifying what type user you might as well just use the figures you calculated above. Why are you unhappy with them if you are happy with something however dubious? After all users can easily vary by a factor of a hundred or even a thousand depending on what you mean. That is what I mean by 'depends on what they mean by users'. Dmcq (talk) 09:06, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

April 2

How do I speed up the smooth scrolling? (in InternetExplorer 10, Windows7)

With "smooth scroll" enabled in Internet Explorer 10 (IE10), The mouse wheel vertical scroll speed in IE10 is extremely much slower than all other vertical scroll speeds under Windows7.
How do I increase the scroll speed of "IE smooth scroll" in particular ?
There is no help in increasing the:
WindowsControlPanel->MouseProperties->MouseWheel->VerticalScrollNumberOfLinesToScroll
because then all other vertical scroll speeds get far to quick.
(Disabling the "smooth scroll" is not a tolerable solution either!).

Could you please help me?
PS! I need the solution to be both legal and no cost (gratis).
-- 46.15.145.216 (talk) 17:41, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Some ideas:

1) Does the mouse driver have it's own customization menu (some do, some don't) ? If so, that might allow you to set the smooth scroll and jump scroll speeds independently.

2) Try this: Press (as opposed to rolling) the mouse wheel. This should give you a white circle with 4 arrowheads inside pointing each direction. This is a special scrolling mode. In this mode, it scrolls in proportion to how far you move the mouse from that symbol. That is, if you are very close to it, you will get a very slow scroll. If you are quite far away, you will get a much faster scroll. Once you are done scrolling, press the mouse wheel again to get back out of scroll mode. This only works if you are on a screen with scrollable fields. (It will scroll vertically, horizontally, or both, depending on if there's some place to scroll to in those directions.) StuRat (talk) 18:08, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

No, the (1) mouse driver solution is not available, and the (2) special scroll mode (by pressing and holding down the mouse wheel button for a few seconds) is not helpful for me either, because the unintentional horizontal scrolling gets far to distracting (Poor eyesight forces me, most of the time, to zoom in on web pages which results in a horizontal scroll-bar in IE10 on the page).
What I would need Is a solution that I may use on any PC (running Window7 and IE10) regardless of which ever mouse is available there.
-- (OP) 46.15.5.184 (talk) 10:03, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Running Gnu/Linux on an Android phone

Is it generally possible? Can a manufacturer restrict what OS is running? Can you just format the phone like a PC running Windows and install Linux? The 1000+ Ghz of the processor and the 32 GB of a mini SD card seems as plenty of space to have a descent OS running, but does the phone need a dual-core or better? I read something about this last requirement, but I don't know if it's general or just for some specific Gnu/Linux installation. OsmanRF34 (talk) 18:20, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

First is: I suggest you get a multi core no-contract phone. You'll be able to then update the Android os with ease – without having to wait for your carrier to pull their finger out and do it - which might take years. If you load Debian I don't think you need a multi core. If you just want to experiment, then Ubantu Android may well be the easiest. [7] and that need s multi core. To answer your question. The manufacture can only use Android if they abide by the licence which ensures it remains under the control of the user rather than the manufacturer. So no, they cant control what you run on it.Aspro (talk) 19:38, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Ubuntu for Android actually runs on top of Android, IIRC. ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:15, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Good point. Ubuntu for Android OS runs on top of the Android OS. Ubuntu or any other Linux flavour on an android phone means: it replaces the Android OS completely. Just getting Linux to solely run an Android phone should not be difficult itself. Yet, to have a useful phone, then there are (as already stated) hurdles to over come. As Reisio suggests below (paraphrasing): Why reinvent the wheel when you can get a GNU/Linux phone that works out the box. Once you get comfortable, you can then experimenting with your own thing. So, again, one has the freedom to run Linux 'on' or 'for' with any Android phone – the manufactures can't stop you. The choice is: which route to take to satisfy your purpose or curiosity.--Aspro (talk) 12:13, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

The other problem with phone on contract from a carrier is that they add loads of their own stuff on it that gets in the way. Also in the long run, it cost you way more than buying the phone outright in the first place.--Aspro (talk) 19:44, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

But for this you must compile the Linux kernel and all other necessary software for ARM architecture. In addition you must obtain necessary drivers for all devices that the phone has. (See also List_of_Linux_supported_architectures). Ruslik_Zero 19:42, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

The greatest obstacle will be just installing any other OS at all, compared to that the drivers might be simple. If you are buying, you can get a new phone that comes with a real GNU/Linux instead of jumping through hoops. ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:15, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

April 3

Which laptops have the best keyboards for fast typing?

Hi, I'm thinking of buying a new laptop, and wondered whether anyone here had experience of laptops with keyboards that allow fast typing. I've had a couple where I've had to keep repeating missed keystrokes, and even had to use an external keyboard with one, so this time I'm looking for one with a really good-quality, responsive keyboard, if such a thing exists. Any advice at all would be very helpful. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 04:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I've always found the apple style chiclet keyboards to be excellent (for me the shorter keypresses just feel more responsive). I have been particularly impressed with the ASUS zenbook keyboard which I tried recently that uses this style of keyboard. Alternatively the Lenovo thinkpad family has always had a very good reputation for keyboard quality. Do you use a desktop regularly? If so, I find it nice to have a similar style of keyboard on both the desktop and laptop so the typing feel is more or less consistent (it may be easier to change the desktop keyboard to match whichever laptop you get). 143.65.196.20 (talk) 10:13, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

They’re all pretty bad (short travel, flat keys, cheap components, form over function). You might put hands onto a ThinkPad keyboard—despite being redesigned to look more like (awful) Apple-style keyboards, underneath the keys the mechanics are almost exactly the same (as they were before).
Something else you could try is getting a tablet with laptop equivalent hardware and capabilities and simply use one of your externals. ¦ Reisio (talk) 20:10, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Many thanks for the replies. I keep seeing the ThinkPad come up as having a good keyboard, so I'll definitely look into that. I've been using an external keyboard on and off (the same kind as with my desktop), but it kind of defeats the purpose of having a laptop, and the screen is then so far away that it feels odd. So I'm hoping I can find a laptop where I can stop having to think about the typing. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 21:47, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

My IBM ThinkPad keyboard isn't bad, I agree, but making a keyboard small enough to fit on a laptop is bound to cause problems. Perhaps one with a huge screen will have a bigger keyboard. Also, if you don't want to use an external keyboard, they also make an external numeric keypad, which is far more portable, and can speed things up when doing number intensive tasks, like accounting. StuRat (talk) 21:55, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Hi Stu, I'm looking for a keyboard without a numeric keypad. When you have one of those on a laptop keyboard, it pushes the letters (and trackpad) to the left of the screen as you look at it, and there's nothing you can do about it – unlike with an external keyboard that you can position wherever you want. If I sit in the middle of the screen (and it feels odd not to), it means when I'm touch-typing that I keep hitting the wrong keys, and the whole experience feels oddly off-centre. This is a separate issue from the keyboards that keep missing keystrokes, but it's an extra factor in having to think about the typing rather than the writing.

I don't mind the MacBook chiclet keyboards, but the letters are spaced slightly too far apart for me, which slows typing down a little. The ThinkPad is the one I've seen praised most often specifically for the keyboard. People rave about Das Keyboard too, but then I'd be back to using an external one. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 23:42, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes, my point was that with an external numeric keypad, this allows you to get a laptop without an internal numeric keypad, which allows it to be spaced out better. However, the external numeric keypad is still there when you want to type in lots of numbers quickly, and is reasonably portable. StuRat (talk) 01:13, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes, good point. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 01:46, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I’ve been contemplating this issue for a while (read: years :p), and I’ll probably end up going the tablet + external route myself. You can get some pretty compact external keyboards that are also undeniable typing machines, such as the Noppoo Choc Mini or Happy Hacking Keyboard (none of them are absolutely perfect, of course; the noppoo makes use of function keys smartly but still has an extra column of keys on the right, and the happy hacking is actually missing keys where you’d expect them… but they’re about as good as you can do short of waiting for a Miniguru). You can of course make your own as well, heh. For joining with a tablet there’s 3D printing (or duct tape!). :) ¦ Reisio (talk) 15:01, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

steps of writing a system proposal

What are the steps of Writing a System Proposal — Preceding unsigned comment added by Maddalaratan (talk • contribs) 09:47, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Step 1 is to know what a "system proposal" means. This is not a common expression. When you have solved that, tell us what it means to you, and we might be able to help you with it. Looie496 (talk) 19:41, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Inserting an image into an Excel-type spreadsheet

Is there a way to keep it "inside" a single cell, rather than have it sprawl over a bunch of them, until you click on it? Clarityfiend (talk) 10:26, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Have you tried the instructions that come up if you Google "insert image into Excel cell"? E.g. this sort of thing: ehow.com/how_5452020_insert-picture-excel-cell.html If they're inadequate, let us know, but try those first... it might help also if you clarify whether it is just an "Excel-type spreadsheet" or really that you are using Excel, and what version/OS, as they can differ quite a bit. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:01, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Okay, that explains how to resize the image (d'oh). Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:32, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

HD TV channels

Why do HD TV channels look sped up a bit like a film playing in 48fps? I checked and HD TV channels are broadcast at 25fps so why does it look sped up compared to SD? Clover345 (talk) 14:17, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Your TV probably has some sort of built-in interpolation or tweening. This computer-generates in-between frames to double (or quadruple!) the frames per second.

Philips calls this feature "Digital Natural Motion", I'm not sure what other brands call it.

Personally, I recommend turning it off in your TV's settings. I think real 48fps is great, but faking 48fps is like colorizing Casablanca. IMO, Better to see things the way they were intended to be seen. Flicker and all. APL (talk) 19:31, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

But interpolating frames would not, in-and-of-itself, speed things up. If the broadcast is at 25 fps and they interpolate one frame per actual frame, then they would hopefully be smart enough to play it at 50 fps. However, they may have done something wrong, in which case, turning this feature off might fix it. StuRat (talk) 21:48, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I assumed it wasn't literally sped up. Some people report that the smoothness of high-framerate video looks "sped up" to them. (And he did say "look sped up".) But you're right, if it's really playing back at a noticeably wrong speed there may be a greater problem. APL (talk) 01:10, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I can't picture interpolation of frames being much good. For example, if a tossed ball is on the right side of a pole in one frame and the left side in the next frame, how would the software know whether to place it in front of the pole or behind it, in the interpolated frame ? StuRat (talk) 03:56, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Presumably the same way they knew what color things were when they 'improved' Casablanca : It guesses.

However, I'm forced to admit that any object moving that fast would basically just be a blur anyway, and many people seem to really enjoy the processed effect, despite the artifacts. APL (talk) 04:23, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

(On the other hand, if it acclimatizes people to high framerates so that we can finally have movies with framerate better than they used in silent era, then I'm all for it.) APL (talk) 04:26, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I myself have noticed when walking through places like Best Buy where many televisions are playing the same movie that some of the upscale models showing the same movie just seem to be different, more "videoey" is the best way I can describe it. 67.163.109.173 (talk) 22:33, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Who manufactured the Osborne 1?

The article about the company states "Osborne had difficulty meeting demand, and the company grew from two employees, Osborne and Felsenstein, to 3,000 people and $73 million in revenue in 12 months." So who physically made the things at the very beginning when it was just Osborne and Felsenstein? Felsenstein burning the midnight oil in his garage? Or a contracted company not mentioned in the article? 20.137.2.50 (talk) 16:19, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Very begining? Do you mean the first Osborne 1 ever built? If so then it would have probably been Osborne making a prototype. RunningUranium (talk) 08:57, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Not the prototype, the first ones for sale. 20.137.2.50 (talk) 12:43, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me? (garbled text on web page)

Does this page have a bunch of gibberish in the last few sections or is it just me? Dismas|^(talk) 20:21, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

At a glance it all seems to make sense. What specifically are you seeing? APL (talk) 20:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

One of the last lines of the page reads: Dostallatnt pninstds either Java llory aning the Java Navis from ntt>/usrloweining.rong>IInternetytis part of the want t. What is going on here?! Am I having an aneurysm or is that gibberish? Dismas|^(talk) 20:33, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Close your browser and restart it. ¦ Reisio (talk) 20:35, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

It's doing it on both Firefox and Safari. I don't think it's a browser issue but I'll give it a shot. Edit: I restarted Firefox and it's still gibberish. Dismas|^(talk) 20:36, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

In that case it could be something worse, something to do with your text or graphics rendering system in general. What do you see if you use wget or curl? ¦ Reisio (talk) 20:39, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I've never used either of those commands. I'm running OS X. I have the terminal open, what now? I tried wget http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/webnotes/install/mac/mac-jre.html but that just came back as command unknown. I just tried curl and I got the same text as what I gave you above, gibberish. Dismas|^(talk) 20:47, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I read the final line as

Do not attempt to uninstall Java by removing the Java tools from /usr/bin. This directory is part 
of the system software and any changes will be reset by Apple the next time you perform an update of the OS.

How strange that it doesn't work for you. APL (talk) 21:10, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Not only does it not work on this computer but it doesn't work on my iPad or my MacBook (in either Safari or Firefox). Can someone please email me the text from the page? Dismas|^(talk) 21:30, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

FYI the Google Cache version is here. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 21:33, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

By any chance have you changed your font size ? I've seen problems where each letter is drawn larger, but they don't increase the distance between them accordingly, resulting in overlapping letters. StuRat (talk) 21:35, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, Finlay! That works! I can read it.

Stu, no that's not the issue. I uploaded a screenshot. Dismas|^(talk) 21:43, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

[Readability.com Link Here. Hope this helps. APL (talk) 21:44, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I can read both the Google archive version and the Readability version. Thanks, both of you. Unfortunately, my original problem, the one I was having that made me pull up the instruction page in the first place, is still occurring. So I'm back a square one. Thanks again, everyone! Dismas|^(talk) 22:06, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

That's a very odd sort of error. Try turning off Javascript or other extensions and see if that changes it. The two options that I see are either that your client is executing something wrong (unlikely given that you've used two browsers and curl), or that some sort of proxy between you and the server is malfunctioning. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:15, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I am having the same problem with viewing this page as the OP. So it is not just his setup. The strange text is also present if I "view page source". Firefox 17.0.5 on Linux. 109.153.20.62 (talk) 22:26, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Well, in a way, I'm glad. And yes, I tried turning off Javascript and when I did, I got an error at the top of the page saying that Oracle wouldn't display it, or some such thing, because it required Javascript. Dismas|^(talk) 23:25, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I added to the title to make it more useful. StuRat (talk) 23:17, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for that. I should have come up with something better. Dismas|^(talk) 23:24, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. StuRat (talk) 01:08, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I wonder if by shear chance it's somehow triggering a packet-mangling function on your routers or something.

For instance a DMZ mode on some routers will occasionally mangle packets when it incorrectly tries to translate ip addresses contained in the packet. APL (talk) 01:08, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Plausible, but I doubt that is it in this case. It seems like a reordering of the data, address translation would mangle it worse. I can't see a pattern in how things got rearranged. I'm assuming that the "Navi" in it got pulled from the "Navigate" instructions just before the whole thing. I can't view the screenshot to see if anything else is garbled because photobucket is blocked in my office. 38.111.64.107 (talk) 13:33, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Do you have a setup that lets you plug your computer directly into your cable/DSL/whatever modem? It would be nice to see if the problem happens in your router/switch or if it is further upstream. 38.111.64.107 (talk) 13:38, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I did the view source (IE8, win7, HP elitebook 8440p laptop, company firewall and VPN) and the source it shows me is all garbled. Gzuckier (talk) 16:02, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

• My guess is that you are seeing a bug in the server (bad php code or something), and that trying to figure it out is a waste of time. If you care enough to do something about it, report the problem to Oracle. Looie496 (talk) 16:11, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I have reported the issue to Oracle. here. And, as of this writing, my laptop is directly connected to my ISP's modem and I am still seeing it garbled. And no, it's not a cached copy. I refreshed the page. Dismas|^(talk) 16:21, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Refreshing the page does not necessarily purge all the cached values. Your ISP, or Oracle's CDN, may maintain multiple cache servers between you and the actual web server (Oracle almost certainly does; Wikipedia does also). If one of those has cached a bad value, simply revisiting or reloading the page will have no effect - you'll just be sent another copy of the bad cache. To make them flush their caches, your browser needs to send an HTTP cache-control header that forces this. Depending on the browser this is done with Ctrl+F5 or ⇧ Shift+reload. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 17:07, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Finlay, that's what I did. I didn't just hit reload. I hit shift+reload.

And if anyone is curious, I'm at work now and see the same problem using Windows Server 2003 R2 through a Citrix Kiosk account which forces us to use IE 8. I haven't had a chance to get to my office yet where I can try the site on my laptop running Win7. Dismas|^(talk) 02:26, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

I guess that limits it to the ISP, likely. ¦ Reisio (talk) 05:44, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Would a large multi-national corporation go through a local ISP like I have at home? Dismas|^(talk) 09:42, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Our IP user with the same issue locates to the UK, and your user page shows that you are from the US, so it isn't specific to your local ISP. I sent an email to Oracle's documentation feedback address and referenced this conversation before you posted in the forum. I'll let you know if they have anything else to say. That glitch is just bizarre. 38.111.64.107 (talk) 15:39, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

S.Ytimg.com

Hello After hours of Googling etc. I find no answer as to whether this is a harmless cookie or malware that needs attention. Every time I open a video this appears and obviously is a YouTube feature. Any advice appreciated. Peter — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:558:6020:153:3D72:ECEF:7370:1ADC (talk) 21:41, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Seems like you answered your own question. ¦ Reisio (talk) 22:17, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Virtual box spawning X windows on host?

Can I get an Ubuntu virtual machine guest to create windows through an X server on my OSX host? I run the virtual machine in console only, for performance reasons, but I'd like to be able to launch a few GUI applications from the VM to a window that OSX or X11 can see. I know a bit of the basics here, but apparently not well enough to find an answer by googling. SemanticMantis (talk) 22:18, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

So you want to do something like run the Ubuntu version of Firefox and have the window appear on your OS-X desktop (without it being inside the ubuntu VBox window)? Sure, that's straightforward:

• On OS-X, xhost + (to allow other X clients to connect without the requisite magic cookie); I know very little about OS-X, so I'm assuming its X server is already running.
• On Ubuntu: DISPLAY=192.168.0.11 firefox, where 192.168.0.11 is whatever the IP address of your real OS-X machine from the perspective of stuff running inside the ubuntu virtual machine. That'll differ depending on how you set up the networking emulation when configuring the virtual box.

That should be it. It's possible to start a VirtualBox session without creating a dedicated window (it's one of the gazillion options of vbox-manage), and you can to the 2nd step above over an ssh from OS-X into ubuntu (which can be automated if you set up passwordless, credentialed authentication in ssh with an RSA keypair in ssh's authorized_keys file). If you need more info, I'll do something tomorrow (it's my bedtime now). -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 23:32, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Note that, if you're in an untrustworthy environment, xhost + is a bit of a security hole. If that's a possibility, tunnel the X connection over ssh instead, by setting up a ssh -X session. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 23:34, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

By which I mean run the following on OSX: ssh -X virtualMachineIPaddr firefox This relies on you having a working sshd on the ubuntu virtual machine (which is usually a good idea anyway); this is probably the simpler, safer way, rather than the xhosts way. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 00:04, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Finlay! I'll try it out in a few hours. I can/do use ssh to connect to the VM, so I guess it's just like any other ssh connection at that point. I'm not entirely sure how to get the host IP from the guest's point of view, but I do know its "real" IP, and it's also matched to a hostname. So, if I can ssh to the host from anywhere as ssh user@hostname, will setting the DISPLAY to "hostname" resolve properly? SemanticMantis (talk) 13:26, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

If you do the ssh -X thing (which you should) then sshd will set the DISPLAY variable to a magic socket it makes itself, which will forward any outbound X connections back to your host machine (so on my machine it's set to localhost:10.0). The host's IP address from the guest's point of view is usually just the host's usual address; to find the guest's run ifconfig inside it to see what it's been given - I usually run VMs with their network set to "bridged" rather than "NAT", so they're given an address by the local network's DHCP server (that is, the internet router box thing). Once you've got it working interactively, you can spin up the VM without starting its own gui with vboxmanage startvm --type headless "vm name"     -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 13:41, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Incidentally, when you're experimenting, don't use Firefox as an example (or run it with firefox -no-remote), as Firefox will otherwise try to talk (over the X connection) back to a Firefox instance on your host machine, which will confuse the heck out of you the first time. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 13:49, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

• Magic, I was expecting this to be much harder than it was. Used Xterms as examples, ssh -X works like a charm! Thanks again, SemanticMantis (talk) 14:42, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Resolved

April 4

wireless pointing stick keyboard?

Does anybody make a wireless keyboard with a pointing stick (you know, those little widgets between the g and h and b keys to do mousy things like many laptops have?) I know there are a few wired pointing stick keyboards still made, but i might as well go for the moon, right? My fingers are too big for touchpads and use of a normal mouse always makes me wish i had three hands. Gzuckier (talk) 15:54, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that the pointing sick is exclusive for laptops only because some people prefer the pointing stick over the mousepads. So yeah I'm sorry no I really doubt that they make them. One other thing, why do you not like normal ordinary mouses?RunningUranium (talk) 00:23, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

I found this, it's not exactly waht you want, but it could solve your problem. I hope it helps. — Preceding unsigned comment added by RunningUranium (talk • contribs) 09:03, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

"automated response might cause WWIII"

A topic such as "automated response might cause WWIII" seems highly appropriate right now when one of China / Japan / US / North Korea / etc might trigger our next World War unintentionally. To the history of the triggers that caused wars, we now must add: computer causes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.135.147.4 (talk) 20:36, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

The Reference Desk is intended for questions that can be answered with factual information. It is not a discussion forum. What you have written is not a question. Looie496 (talk) 20:45, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

It's not a new concern; people have been worried about it since the 1960s at least. In the United States, the fear of automated or accidental nuclear war has led to non-automated procedures. During the Cold War there were a number of close calls attributable to computer or detector errors (e.g. 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident and several in the US in 1979-1980). Currently, accidental nuclear war just redirects to nuclear warfare, but arguably you could make a full article out of it, as it is a rich topic of both real history and popular culture. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:13, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Windoes 8 CHKDSK

How can you run Chkdsk in Windows 8? When I try to do it at the command line, it says that I have to be in "elevated mode", what ever that is. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?}

How do you run Command Prompt? If you click on an item to do so, try right-clicking said item and clicking "Run as Administrator" instead. If you don't, open up "cmd" in C:\Windows\System32 (at least there's where it is in Windows 7) by doing the same thing (right-click "Run as Administrator"). I'm not sure how 8's Start Menu operates (not sure how different from 7's), but you could also try typing "cmd" into the Start Menu's search box, right-clicking the "cmd.exe" (or "Command Prompt") that appears, then clicking "Run as Administrator". -- 143.85.199.242 (talk) 21:20, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

That worked, thanks

Resolved

. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 21:38, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Partitioning a 3TB drive

Hi! I bought a 3TB HDD that contains 3 1-TB platters. Is there a performance advantage in partitioning the drive into 3 1-TB parts (or subsections thereof, e.g. 500 GB, 500GB; 1TB; 250GB, 750GB), such that no partition spans across more than one platter? Is partitioning software conscious of the drive's platter composition, so that if I specify to GParted to create 3TB partitions, it doesn't push a few sectors over to another platter because of adding some metadata? I'd ideally like to use 3 partitions: 1 exclusively for Windows, 1 for Ubuntu, and 1 to share between them, but I probably wouldn't make them each exactly 1TB large unless there was some benefit to that partitioning scheme. Thank you for any info or advice :) --el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 21:34, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

There is a performance disadvantage in having a block or sequence of blocks on only one platter, and drives will typically organise things so that a single block (or logically adjacent LBAs) is distributed across a cylinder (meaning it's on all platters) because that means each head (one per surface) can read the data concurrently with its brothers. In practice you have no control and little knowledge of how a disk controller organises itself. Makers of server-grade storage devices, which use higher performance drives like Cheetah, may be able to extract from their disk-maker partners information (and, crucially, guarantees that information will remain valid) about disk organisation, but for the rest of us don't know, and really don't need to. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 21:49, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for your response, Finlay. Is my understanding of your comments correct, that for a consumer-grade HDD without knowledge of the fine-grained internal details, there is no performance-preferable partitioning scheme, so one might as well partition the drive however one wants, and the internal controller of the HDD will optimize for performance as best as it can?--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 22:28, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

As long as you are using an up-to-date version of gparted, and use it as described here, it won't let you organise the partitions in a wrong way. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:57, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

For sequential reads, the outer edge of a platter is the fastest part of the disk, while the inner edge is the slowest. Some operating systems will reorganize the disk contents to put frequently-accessed data in the faster areas, and you can force this by partitioning and putting data in the "fast" partition. --Carnildo (talk) 02:42, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

To amplify what Carnildo is saying, with most consumer level drives, the fastest transfer rate and fastest seeks times are at the beginning of the disk and slowest at the end with a gradual slow down over the disk, regardless of how many platters are in use. See for example [8] [9]. However to amplify what Finlay McWalter is saying, the actual translation between performance for a certain purpose and raw performance metrics is quite complicated, see for example [10]. Even so, it's normally better to keep the most important (frequently accessed) stuff at the beginning of the disk. Nil Einne (talk) 03:25, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

More relevant to Windows(-specific filesystems), yes? ¦ Reisio (talk) 05:50, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Not really. There may be other reasons for wanting multiple partitions in non Windows systems and with some systems it may be difficult to ensure stuff within a partition remains at the beginning of the partition because of different allocations schemes but the actual raw performance advantage doesn't change. While as I mentioned, the raw performance advantage doesn't always translate into better performance in a certain app (for such purposes you need to benchmark whatever app you're using), generally speaking it's more likely to help then hurt presuming the choice is arbitrary. There are also benchmarks on *nix systems if anyone chooses to disbelieve. (I actually wonder whether the raw metrics more closely correlate to app performance in *nix systems because it's likely the various optimisations and caching algorithms are tailored to Windows systems but I suspect it's probably not that simply since some of the workloads are not that dissimilar across operating systems.) But the fact that most systems on average benefit from improved transfer speeds and particularly improved seek times shouldn't exactly be surprising. Now as I hinted earlier, if you are forcing abnormal behaviour or there are other factors at play, then you have to consider whether it's really a good idea. But on the other hand, if you have a data partition and a system partition/s and you're trying to decide whether to put the system partition/s at the beginning before the data partition or at the end after the data partition then yes, generally speaking it will be better to put the system partition/s first to keep the frequently accessed/important stuff at the beginning (this may also reduce the risk of boot issues in some cases but I wouldn't consider that an important factor). In a case like this, where there is Windows, Ubuntu and data, the logical choice would be for the Windows and Ubuntu partitions to come first. The question of which one of Windows or Ubuntu will come first will generally depend on how much you expect to use each one. Depending on your plans, you could also consider a more complicated partitioning scheme but in such cases it's probably better to ask in a more specialised forum (there are complicating issues here since of course if you spread out the important data over more of the disk you increase the seek times). P.S. I wasn't able to find any benchmarks online in my quick search earlier but I currently own 2 Seagate 3TB, 1TB/platter drives. These vary from 197MB/s at the beginning to around 90MB/s at the end for reading with very similar performance at writing. This benchmark was done in Windows but with an unpartition disk using HD Tune and were repeated a few times including some times without much usage of the computer. They do start slow for some reason at about 175MB/s with a fairly linear rise until they reach the 197MB/s speed after a few GB. Seek times are not that dissimilar from for other HDs. The sort of benchmark raw metrics are fairly similar to pretty much every example I've seen for a consumer HD (only the rise at the beginning is a bit unusual). Nil Einne (talk) 07:23, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Meant more in regard to file systems; how the more common Windows and Unix file systems tend to order things differently (some starting at the beginning of a disk[?], some not). Afraid I don’t know much about it. ¦ Reisio (talk) 09:14, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Win7 Laptop, Wrong Language

My Power Settings window now has one power plan setting option in the wrong language. The rest are in English. Can anyone think why? KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 22:51, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes. Somebody screwed up. The person who set up the language support for that application accidentally put the Turkish version into the file of English translations. Either that or the application text was originally written in Turkish, and no English translation was provided for those items. Looie496 (talk) 02:42, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

So, basically, you are saying it is 'supposed' to be like this, as in, it was like that all along? Either nobody has noticed it, or Microsoft or HP (whichever is responsible) has not bothered to fix it? KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 09:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

It would be HP, and of course it isn't supposed to be like that, but it's easy for things like that to slip by -- especially if you are, for example, using British English rather than the default form of English. Translation of computer messages is a mass-production job, and it's easy for errors to creep in. Regarding whether it has been like that all along, I haven't the slightest idea how old your computer is. Looie496 (talk) 15:39, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Working on many files in unix

I need to write a bash script to run a program against all the files in a directory tree. The program takes two arguments, the input filename and the output filename where the output filename should be the same as the input filename but with a suffix added. So, for one file it works something like this: program -i filename -o filename.suffix. For many files I thought about using the find command, but can't get either the -exec action of find or xargs to work with the filename appearing twice or with a shell function. So that is something like:

find . -type f -exec program {} {}.suffix ;

or

afunc()
{
   program $1 $1.suffix
}
 
find . -type f -exec afunc {} ;

The first reports "find: missing argument to `-exec'". The second reports "find: `afunc': No such file or directory".

I am also looking for a way to avoid processing a file which has already been processed (and ending up with 2 suffixes) and for a way to report and act on any error messages the program might produce, but without stopping the script. Astronaut (talk) 09:26, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

The first case should end in ;\ so

    find . -type f -exec program {} {}.suffix ;\

The second case can't work because afunc is a name inside this bash script, and program is a subprocess of a subprocess of that shell. You can create another script and have find's exec call that. Personally my bash scripting is weak and I devolve anything but simple tasks to a Python script (where os.walk does the hard work). -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 10:53, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Shouldn't it be \; rather than ;\ ? (That is, you want to escape the semicolon argument required by find from being misinterpreted by the shell as a command separator.)—Emil J. 14:11, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Oops, yes, it should. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 14:12, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

• I've written probably thousands of scripts that do things like that (neuroscience data analysis), and I recommend using a "for" loop. You can probably use $(ls -r) or something similar to generate a list of files. I have always used C shell because I know it better, so I can't be very helpful about the specific syntax, but I've always been able to make that method work pretty easily. Looie496 (talk) 15:32, 5 April 2013 (UTC)