Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 March 12

= March 12 =

CNC 3
Will the soon-to-be released Command and Conquer 3 ever be released for the mac? Thanks in advance!--Ryan 01:39, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Sadly, like 99% of the games on the market, probably not. Splintercellguy 02:41, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

BYTEWORKS/COMMUNITY INFORMATION NETWORK
I,am needing assistance in setting up my E-mail. I partcipated in the ByteWorks earn a computer program, 9/5/06, and have problems with the computer I received after completing the 6 week course. After several technical difficulties, which were resolved after I brought the computer back to ByteWorks three or four times, and usually, two to three weeks would elapse before the problem would be resolved, the last occurence happened in January, as the modem in my computer was not recognized with ByteWorks. After three weeks elapsed, I stopped by on a Saturday, as that seems to be the only time they are available, and the tech stated he did not know who the internet provider was. I was upset, since I just read the article in the Shaw Neighborhood Newsletter, to find out, it is through Community Information Network, that no one knew the answer, and I still have no access to my E-Mail, because of technical information not programmed into the computer at the time they finally gave me a replacement computer. I was embarrassed to try to contact them again to resolve the continuing problem, as I have had actual Internet Usage for about 6 weeks since September. I am disabled, and am in great need of their service, as it allows me to communicate and access information more efficiently. Please help me in setting up the E-mail account with the proper data. Originally, my E-mail address was  username removed @stlouis.missouri.org. Or I have information that the web page to change your information is www.missouri.org/user/index.cgi, I could not access that address. I decided I could not wait any longer, so I brought the computer to Word Pro, on Kingshighway, and paid to have the dial up connected, and all of the previous files deleted, but they could not set up the E-mail without having certain information. I gave Kent, at Word Pro, Greg's, and ByteWorks phone #, the Dr. was on vacation, they never received a return call. I would appreciate your help. ByteWorks, is a great community service, I understand they are very busy, and appreciate their continued service.

If you have any questions, my name is Patricia Di Gilio, *ADDRESS REMOVED*. Thank you in advance for any assistance you may provide. Sorry, Iam not a computer wiz, or I would remdy the problem my self.

Patty207.160.50.219 01:48, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * copied from help desk* You need to figure out who your ISP or email provider is, and contact them. http://www.missouri.org/ says their service is discontinued, so perhaps that is the problem. I suggest simply signing up for a ISP such as PeoplePC to get dial-up access rather than going through a ISP that keeps giving you problems. EDIT: try this link -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:54, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Web hosting service recommendation?
This is sort of subjective, but whatever. :) Does anyone know of a hosting service that is:


 * 1) Under $5.00 a month
 * 2) Will let me use two domains (i.e. host another site as a separate folder or something and have the domain redirect to there)
 * 3) Pay monthly rather than in a lump sum for a year?

Thanks in advance, -Wooty Woot? contribs 01:59, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Though they are a UK company, it might be worth looking at Meirhosting. About 25 of your United States dollars for a year. It's all paid up front, but it might be worth it considering the cheap overall cost. You can use two domains on the personal plan (using an Addon domain). Obviously you need to look at your space/traffic/etc requirements, but I have found them very good for personal use. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 02:34, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * fixed link Another mutant 03:18, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I like the MySQL and PHP support, but the 50mb storage isn't so hot. I'm planning to possibly run imageboard software on it as well. I may be able to dump the two domain requirement, anyone got further suggestions on monthly, but cheap hosting plans? If not, is there any with a relatively low per-year cost? -Wooty Woot? contribs 03:39, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

I personally use IX Webhosting for my site. It is 3.95 USD a month for a 24-month plan, but you must pay it "in a lump sump" for 2 years. They do, however, offer shorter term plans, but are more expensive. I have never had any problems with them, but again I haven't been hosting with them for too long. One of my sites is This site, which is a global warming site. You can check their server speeds. BTW: they offer 2TB of bandwidth per month and 200GB of storage space and allow 2 domain names to be registered on 1 account, plus 1 free domain name registration. Jamesino 04:20, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I looked at them. Nice plans, but the whole "pay us lots of money for a year or we bust out the setup fees" thing sort of turned me off. It's a necessity to be paying a low price per month. I'm looking at godaddy's hosting, because they'll let me do $3.99 a month. Also: nice site :) -Wooty Woot? contribs 04:30, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Off-topic, but that stock image on the IX site of the friendly customer-service woman with the headset is like the Wilhelm scream of the "operators are standing by" world. I'm sure she's retired by now, since I've been seeing her "standing by" for the last 25 years. :)  --TotoBaggins 13:33, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I find it pretty bizarre that you can't afford to pay for more than a month at a time. In any case you're probably not going to beat GoDaddy's $3.99 a month with a 2 month minimum. But inevitable if you cannot muster up at least $50 or so at once you are going to be paying more in the long run, and you're unlikely to get very good services. These things take a lot of capital, of course. --24.147.86.187 23:24, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * That's definitely true. I know the options are quite limited here, so I decided to see if anyone could suggest an alternative. Guess I'll stick with them then (if they ever reply to my e-mail..) Thanks, -Wooty Woot? contribs 03:28, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Mediawiki infoboxes
The infoboxes in my personal local MediaWiki wiki don't seem to be displaying properly... For one thing, the thin borders of the infobox don't show up, and the infobox itself doesn't want to sit to the side of the article text. I tested the very same markup in Wikipedia, and it showed up as it should have. Could it be that I need to update the software to a version closer to that used by Wikipedia? I've already brought this question up at the IRC Mediawiki support channel, but I was ignored. I've also posted this up at the MediaWiki support desk, but I doubt it'll ever get answered there. Any sort help with this would be appreciated. Thanks,

Knyght27 03:38, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * If it doesn't want to float right, it might be because you didn't copy one of the stylesheets where the infobox style is defined. Did you copy the relevant entries from MediaWiki:Common.css and MediaWiki:Monobook.css to your wiki? --cesarb 12:09, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

PDF Organiser
Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I'm wondering if anyone knows of (freeware) programs that will organise libraries of scientific papers for PCs. There seem to be a lot of mac programs. Any pointers of where to look would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Aaadddaaammm 06:28, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * If you click on the "file size" tab in the folder, it will organize them by size. But that's probably not what you meant, so perhaps you could mention how you want them organized, or the names of those Mac programs?  --TotoBaggins 13:40, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Yea that isn't what I mean. I mean I would like them to be organised in a database with authors, titles, years, space for notes of my own etc. An example of a mac program that comes to mind is "papers" . Any hints? Cheers, Aaadddaaammm 22:14, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

FIrefox downloading
Hi! Does anyone know of a way I can limit the amount of files FF is downloading at any one point to one and have a queue (like Net Transport)? I have a dialup connection and use webshots - I'd love it if I could just queue up 50 photos to download and just leave it do it in the background. Thanks --144.139.163.223 07:07, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Use DownThemAll? There's an option to limit them in that plugin. --antilivedT 07:15, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * No that won't work -   each have a seperate page with a download link. I want it so that I can click download, choose the filename and location I want, and then for firefox to queue it up. --144.139.163.223 07:38, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Still not sure why it won't work. The newer versions of DownThemAll come with a download manager. You just click each of those links, and when the Save dialog pops up, tell it to use the plugin. It should then add the files to its queue. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:53, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok that's getting there, but I don't like the "hard coding" saving options with the "name"."ext" saving feature. When downloading from webshots I usually copy the caption for teh file name instead of the encrypted name they give. Is their a way for DTA to come up with a save dialog box like what you usually get and still queue them up? --144.139.163.200 08:23, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Right click the link and "Save link with dTa on..." --h2g2bob 18:33, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * You can just change the mask from "*name*.*ext*" to whatever name you desire for the file. The name mask was probably originally intended to make it easier when downloading multiple files from one page (dTa's original purpose). It also adds itself to Firefox's normal save dialog, as "DownThemAll!" (opens the dTa save dialog) and "dTaOneClick" (saves to the last save location, using the last mask setting). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:35, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

".com" vs ".co"
Why do Australian commercial domain names end in ".com.au" but other countries' domain names end in ".co.uk", ".co.nz", ".co.jp" etc... Why does Australia have ".com" and not the shortened ".co"? --Candy-Panda 08:31, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Australia's Internet naming authority gets to choose everything to the left of the ".au", so they could have picked either one. Presumably they went with .com because their government thinks the USA is just the bee's knees.  --TotoBaggins 13:46, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I always thought .com was for 'commercial' business and so .com.au was commercial business in Australia. From a quick read of .com that isn't the case. Look at .au for more info about australia based web-address setups. ny156uk 21:44, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Help with mastering DVD's and VideoStudio
I've recently transferred a tape from my Samsung digital videocam onto my hard drive and it appeared as a 12 gig AVI file - don't know why it chose to do it this way as previous transfers contained split files. I have Ulead VideoStudio v7 installed. I am eventually going to do some VS editing and save the result. Now the problem is - when I write it to DVD, is it going to ask me for 3 DVD's, and break the file up at odd intervals? If so, is it advisable to compress the video into one DVD? Can VS do this or does someone have a better method to compress AVI into DVD VOB format? Sandman30s 09:56, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * That's too big to work with, with a Windows machine. Probably, it's too big for my Linux computer.  If you captured from an analogue tape, you should chop it up into 2 gig hunks, at natural breaks.  --Zeizmic 13:35, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Does anyone have any other ideas, please? Sandman30s 19:08, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * If Ulead can work with the file, go ahead and edit it. Once you've decided on the resulting video, render it and look at how big it is.  Maybe it's less than 2 hours anyway.  If it's much larger and your goal is to produce a single-volume standard DVD, then you'll have to reduce the content (run time), number of audio channels, or resolution, or increase the mpeg compression.
 * If Ulead chokes on the 12 G file, look for a transfer setting like "maximum filesize" or something along those lines to break the file up. Then retransfer the video.  —EncMstr 07:24, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Setting computer to computer wireless ????
how can I set up a computer to computer wireless network ...??? I know its something called ad hoc but how does one set it up ????
 * Buy a wireless pc card, put it in your computer (or usb port) and install it. If there are other computers nearby which also have wireless they should connect. If all else fails, read the instructions. Think outside the box 12:42, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * On my wireless card settings (a Belkin), there is an option you have to change to adhoc. Sorry to be so vague, I don't have access at the moment. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 12:45, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Here's a quick tutorial on Microsoft's site: Making the Wireless Home Network Connection in Windows XP Without a Router Ayecee 08:41, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Slyberoam
Hi! I have a small doubt, if anybody could please solve it! What exactly is slyberoam and how does it work? Could anybody tell me how to use it in detail? What does it actually do? Can u use it to bypass cyberoam and if so, how? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bk2001050 (talk • contribs) 15:17, 12 March 2007 (UTC).


 * Slyberoam is a software that it is designed as an alternative to Cyberoam. It runs as a Windows service. Something pretty unique about it is that it lets you use various MAC addresses, not just the one that your ethernet card has. People with gateway/proxy computers with NAT can choose to log in to any computer inside their LAN. The long log file it keeps is helpful because it records any malformed or unrecognizable packets it receives there for later manual evaluation. It comes with Slyberoam Configurater. This makes it easy to configure Slyberoam to different 24Online networks. It's licensed under the GNU Public License (GPL.) The latest version is Slyberoam 0.4.0.0. This is just sort of a basic overall summary of the product. I personally don't know anything about how to use it or if it can bypass Cyberoam. If it is an alternative to Cyberoam, I kind of doubt it bypasses it. --Theunicyclegirl 19:35, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Serial key
Suppose I get a software with my laptop which is already installed. and I want to check its CD-key. Where do I go t check what my produts CD-Key is? Do I have to edit the registry for this?

It depends on the software. Some of them show them in plain sight in the registry. Some of them show only hash values in the registry, or hide them. Some of them provide another means of seeing keys without poking around in the registry. And there are utilities for some software that lets you see the keys easily when the software doesn't provide a means to do so. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:32, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Magic jellybean keyfinder will do the job for XP and Office. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 149.135.83.72 (talk) 06:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC). Just save your .nfo files :D --⁪frothT 18:11, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I tried to install the software on vista. It got installed and it started working but suddenly it showed some error and only the vista serial key was shown and not the office 2007 serial key that I actually wanted. What do I do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bk2001050 (talk • contribs) 15:23, 12 March 2007

Using javascript to change content of divs
Hi all,

I want to be able to replace the contents of a div in my webpage with other content when a link is clicked on. I want both sets of content to be defined in the html page, not the javascript, so that it's easy for a non-programmer to edit the html page and understand what they are doing. Here's some pseudo-code/bad code for what I want to do:

 Click here to change!  Some text, graphics, etc  Some other text, maybe an applet, etc

Is there a simple way to do this?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mary


 * I think I know what you're after:

#div1 { display: block; } #div2 { display: none; } function swapDisplayed(elementOneId, elementTwoId) { e1 = document.getElementById(elementOneId); e2 = document.getElementById(elementTwoId); if (!e1 || !e2) return null; if (e1.style.display == 'none') { e1.style.display = 'block'; e2.style.display = 'none'; } else { e1.style.display = 'none'; e2.style.display = 'block'; }   return; }  Click here to change!  Some text, graphics, etc Some other text, maybe an applet, etc That should do the trick. Johnnykimble 16:57, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Thank you! --Mary

adding vector images in MS Word
I've been able to convert a GIF image to EPS or SVG, but I'm unable to paste this image in a Word file for printing, etc. I don't want to paste the GIF cuz then you see pixels and it's less smooth and scalable. Word doesn't seem to support SVG import, and when I import the EPS version, it just pops up as a totally blank box, even after printing... no doubt a bug.

Any suggestions? Should I just make a really gigantic version of the image so when I size it down to word, it will be smoother?

--Sonjaaa 16:48, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Why don't you just print it from a program that does support SVG? There's a list at Svg.  --TotoBaggins 20:31, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Word doesn't support vector images to my knowledge. When I want to put SVGs into Word first I export them as PNGs from Inkscape at 300dpi. --24.147.86.187 22:32, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Panomorph optic for panoramic photo/video.
70.55.145.227 20:02, 12 March 2007 (UTC) Alain Marchildon

(email address removed)


 * Please do not leave your email address - Wikipedia's pages are widely copied and distributed throughout the web and it's very likely it could end up in the hands of someone you wouldn't want to have it. Also, please ask a specific question and someone will be happy to answer it. Thanks — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 20:22, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Who made this?
Hello wikipedia. what i would like to ask is: who made this website and how long did it take to make? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.144.48.66 (talk) 20:14, 12 March 2007 (UTC).
 * Wikipedia was created by Jimmy Wales in 2001 and its articles are created and edited by several thousand volunteer contributors. The software Wikipedia runs on is called Mediawiki. — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 20:19, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * If you mean the infrastructure, see History of Wikipedia. If you mean the content, it's people just like you; see About.  Neither is complete—it's a never-ending project.  It's 4-7 years to this point, depending on how you count.  —EncMstr 20:21, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * The website is made by a large number of users - anyone can edit Wikipedia. Take a look at About and Welcome. --h2g2bob 18:31, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Internet activities privacy
My home PC is connected to some cybercafé's router, which enables me connect to the internet.. to what extent can the cybercafé administrator view my internet activities??

PS: I use ZoneAlarm. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 41.196.224.191 (talk) 20:50, 12 March 2007 (UTC).


 * Pretty much entirely if they are intelligent administrators. Their router software should tell them the IP address assigned to any computer going through their router. Unless zoneAlarm is some program that tries to hide your tracks it is likely they can see. Whether they care or not is another matter - if you don't steal too much bandwidth/speed then I guess there would be A) No need to check for free loaders and B) Little reason to both following it up even if they did. I think in extreme cases people have been sentenced for bandwidth-theft and I understand it isn't legal without permission. ny156uk 21:40, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Zonealarm won't help you here, but if you used a VPN it would hide your activities from them. But otherwise your communications are pretty much totally in the clear and if they were unscrupulous they could monitor everything you sent out. You should be quite wary in using public routers for anything sensitive; even if you think you know who they are you are quite vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack. --24.147.86.187 22:34, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Anything sent over http (or other cleartext protocols) can be seen quite easily as it goes through routers or proxies. However, content sent over https is encrypted before being sent: only the bank (or whatever) can see your bank details when you send them. So always log in to websites using the https (secure) option if there is one to prevent your username/password being stolen. There are a range of MitM attacks which can attempt to fool you into believing a fake website using https is real, but these should create warnings about invalid https certificates. --h2g2bob 18:26, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Volume control
When i start a voice conversation with other people they always seem to be able to hear my music so i was wondering if there is a program that will fix this problem? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.212.42.55 (talk) 21:58, 12 March 2007 (UTC).


 * Headphones is a good idea. Oskar 22:22, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Or just turn down your music... -- mattb


 * I use headphones....69.212.42.55 (talk) 21:58, 12 March 2007 (UTC).


 * And how do they hear your music? As though it's being sent to them rather than your voice? It's possible that the Microphone isn't selected in the recording part of the sound mixer. Assuming Windows: Try double clicking the volume icon, then, and then select the checkbox under Microphone. If that's not it, then you're either playing your music at a level that is gradually deafening you, or your headphones really leak noise. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:51, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Streaming video -> saved
Hi. I thought I saw this question here before, but I can't find it so I assume I found it elsewhere. Basically, is there a handy way to save streaming video from a site like youtube? As in, a way of saving to my computer for later viewing a video that is only available streaming, not for download. Not that I'm thinking of using this for anything copyright, just free stuff that I'd quite like to view offline. I seem to remember the replies talking about going to some folder without ending your windows session, copying some particular file and saving it somewhere else, then converting it to another form using some free program. I also seem to remember some firefox add-on doing it quickly and conveniently, although I'd have to install Firefox to use that, so it would have to be really quite convenient :-) Thanks for any help. Quite apart from instructions, I like to get specific downloads from specific sites recommended by knowledgable people, since I really don't want spyware/viruses; I hate having to wipe the harddrive and reinstall everything.

Thanks. Skittle 22:55, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I found the firefox thing; it was on the Misc desk! However, if I want to download video provided as streaming, particularly form a site that isn't in the list for that addon, what folder do I have to look in? I gather I have to look for .flv files, and then either download an .flv player or get some converter? What would be safe downloads for these? Skittle 23:02, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Try vixy.net for saving YouTube videos; it is the easiest. As for converters, it depends on the type of OS you have — Mac or Windows? -24.147.86.187 23:02, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * It's Windows XP, with IE6 ('cause I don't like 7), and I was hoping for non-youtube directions, although youtube directions are useful too :-) Skittle 23:11, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, vixy.net can hypothetically work with non-YouTube sites though I've had some trouble with it in that respect. So OK, you have the FLV downloader; I use a Mac so I use iSquint like crazy, but this article contains some more discussion on Windows-based conversion tools. But thus ends my ability to give specific programs and instructions. ;-) --24.147.86.187 23:19, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't have an .flv downloader. Is there a particular folder .flv tend to be stored in? I've tried a couple of video saving sites, but they tend to work for youtube or google video. I need to save the file before working out how to watch it! :-) Skittle 23:27, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * KeepVid.com--droptone 01:30, 13 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Try javimoya. Play the FLVs with VLC or convert to xvid or h.264 or wmv with mencoder if you want to play it in a conventional media player- but transcoding will result in a loss of quality --⁪frotht 06:51, 13 March 2007 (UTC)


 * With Firefox, you could install Greasemonkey and then get some scripts from userscripts.org. Downloading FLVs from video sites like YouTube is a common use, and there are several scripts for that purpose (search for something like "video download").  I've even written one myself, though that one's specific to a local site.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 03:29, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

array_multisort in PHP
I'm trying to sort some columns of data in a dynamic and flexible way in PHP. At the moment I have four columns of data stored in arrays, whose data is in $f[0], $f[1], $f[2], and $f[3]. ($f[0][0] would be the first value for column 0, item 0; $f[0][1] would be column 0, item 1, etc.)

Now I can get them to sort by column using array_multisort. For example, if I want to sort by column 1, I just do:

array_multisort($f[1],$f[0],$f[2],$f[3]);

Awesome, yes? Except I can't see how to make that scaleable -- i.e., what if I later have five columns of data? Or six? As it is I don't want to hardcode the number of columns (obviously I can do some trickery to make the order variables change).

There's clearly something obvious I'm overlooking, and maybe it will come to me in a minute, but in the meantime, how to go about doing this? --24.147.86.187 22:58, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm having a bit of a mind-blank for the actual code (late over here) but surely you do a foreach for $f and find what array values there are and then array_multisort(@array)? Josh Holloway  23:21, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I do not use eval, but it can be useful here. Try:

$cmd = "array_multisort("; foreach($f as $i=>$a) $cmd .= "$"."f[".$i."],"; $cmd = substr($cmd, 0, -1).");"; eval($cmd);
 * Basically, you create your function call as a string and then eval to run it. --Kainaw (talk) 02:18, 13 March 2007 (UTC)


 * A foreach loop is probably the most elegant way of going about business. Be warned, however, array operations in PHP are fairly slow and you'll want to avoid sorting very large arrays in PHP. -- mattb


 * It's not a very large array (a few hundred records); Kainaw's code should work fine though I too am suspicious of eval. Thanks! --24.147.86.187 23:58, 13 March 2007 (UTC)