Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 October 23

=October 23=

Music writing program
Can anyone suggest a free program with which I could write standard notation music? --The Dark Side 00:40, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Although it is technically shareware, I recommend NoteWorthy Composer. It's only limitations are when you print sheet music, it prints an order form with it, and you are limited to 10 saves of its native file format .nwc, but have unlimited .mid saves available. Download it here. If you are in need of a keyboard program that can record keystrokes and save them as .mid files, then MidiPiano is what you want. Download that here.--Russoc4 01:02, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * GNU LilyPond! —Keenan Pepper 05:22, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Although I haven't used LilyPond, it looks like a pain for doing casual work in. Dysprosia 09:41, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Take a look at Scorewriter for quite a list. What OS are you using? &mdash; QuantumEleven 10:15, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Are you talking to me? Maybe you need to adjust your indenting. Dysprosia 10:19, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * You are, of course, right - I ran that answer off in a hurry. (and this time I am talking to you! ;-) ) &mdash; QuantumEleven 10:32, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Mediawiki needs a better system for talk pages – one where you are not creating indentation yourself but just click on the comment you wish to reply to. Much like many other discussion forums, that is. This, more structured way, would open up the possibility for automatic and uniform "archiving" (the process of moving old comments off the main talk page), permanent links to single comments and automatic signing of comments. And, no, this comment is not a reply to QuantumEleven, but to Dysprosia. I just didn't want to ruin the chain of ever-increasing indentation. ;-) —Bromskloss 11:53, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * (indenting for the sake of indenting, but speaking toward to OP) I use Finale NotePad. It is fairly simple, and does not have the limitations of NoteWorthy: NotePad will print and save always. Hyenaste (tell) 19:48, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * But also note the criticisms. It seems that Sibelius is quite popular too. Hyenaste (tell) 19:52, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Damn, I love Sibelius. A lot better than Finale, in my opinion. Lilypond is a joke (literally too). X [' Mac Davis '] ( SUPERDESK | Help me improve ) 07:17, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Sibelius is wonderful I'm sure... but the original poster specifically requested a free program. Shareware is one thing, but a progam costing several hundred pounds is quite another! Loganberry (Talk) 16:13, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia web services
Hello Wikipedians,

Does Wikipedia offer a web services interface (either SOAP or REST)? For example to search for articles and consume them in an application or website? Also I'd like to know about any good examples of public implementation of web services such as Amazon web services. Mahanchian 15:20, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia runs on the MediaWiki software, which uses a MySQL database. I'm not sure if you can access this from an application, you'd be better off asking this at the helpdesk or the village pump. --Jrothwell (talk) 10:33, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Accessing machines on the same gateway
I have two machines connected to the internet through the same gateway. I have admin access on both of them. How can I access one from the other? Both of them have Windows XP Professional. Thanks, deeptrivia (talk) 16:16, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * What exactly do you mean by accessing? If you want to view shared folders, you need to have "file and printer sharing for Microsoft networks" enabled on your network interfaces on both sites and the you can browse shared folders by typing \\[ip address/computer name]\[shared folder name]. Mahanchian 16:42, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I got it working! Thanks for your help. deeptrivia (talk) 17:46, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Ethernet hub
Do ethernet hubs protect computers from viruses?--209.106.197.241 18:37, 23 October 2006 (UTC) Jeremy Bartels


 * No they don't. Mahanchian 19:10, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Maybe you are thinking of a "router"? Many domestic models of routers have a built in firewall and it is the firewall that does the protecting, not the actual "router". Also, it isn't really viruses that a firewall protects you from, it's hacks. You can still download and run viruses with a firewall. You need anti virus software to protect you from viruses. Vespine 22:13, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Oh ok. I understand. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it. Baseball21888 21:23, 25 October 2006 (UTC)Jeremy Bartels

RSS / ATOM for Wikipedia
I want to use an RSS or ATOM feed for the Reference desk. What do you other editors use? I'm using Opera, but is there anything especially good for Wikipedia? And what's a good time frame to have it check for changes? --Wirbelwind ヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:55, 23 October 2006 (UTC)


 * What do you mean by "use an RSS or ATOM feed for the Reference desk"? I might be interested in that too, if I only knew what it meant. You mean a feed that tells you what is up in the reference desk? Is there such a thing? —Bromskloss 07:59, 24 October 2006 (UTC)


 * If you go to the history tab on wiki, there's an RSS feed. So yes, there is already such a thing. --Wirbelwind ヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 08:13, 24 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Ah, cool. —Bromskloss 09:20, 24 October 2006 (UTC)