Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 October 22

= October 22 =

Semantic web again!
Hi! I know I had asked this earlier but I still have some doubts here. So, please bear with me.. The semantic web article and semantic web stack picture on wikipedia and another site I visited, gave me the impression that XML is one layer and you use an RDF-based language on top of it, ie., both are always used together. But some other articles I read, said that, you may use RDF/XML which is RDF-based and also incorporates XML, but it's not necessary that XML and RDF be used together. I might have misunderstood things here, but I'm still confused about what EXACTLY XML and RDF do. From my understanding, XML is used to give metadata 'tags', separately(while HTML takes care of formatting, etc.) and RDF is a specification, which is used INSTEAD of XML to convey metadata & RDF/XML is an RDF-based language that also uses elements of XML, ie., RDF maybe used using XML, but not necessarily. Can you tell me if, and where I am wrong?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.68.77.73 (talk) 01:47, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I think where you're getting muddled is in thinking of XML as a complete language that actually applies meaning to anything. A better way to think of it is as a generic syntax that you can write all sorts of languages in. RDF, on the other hand, is a very general language that can be written with various syntaxes.
 * To give a very rough analogy, human languages, say French and English, can use the same alphabet, but have very different words: XML is like the alphabet, RDF like the words.
 * If you wrote English in, say, the International Phonetic Alphabet, it would still be English. So in the same way, you can write RDF in a different syntax ("alphabet"), but it's still the same language, and still has the same advantages; but if you write it in XML, you also get the advantages of XML. - IMSoP (talk) 08:37, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

I think I get it now! Thanks a lot!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.68.77.73 (talk) 18:03, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Stata plugins
Does anyone have any experience writing Stata plugins in C++? I have been trying to replicate what they do in there website, but the dll does not load properly in stata. http://www.stata.com/plugins/ I have permissions to write in all the data drives, but I have no permissions in the drives where stata is actually installed, is stata attempting to add the dll to a system folder and that is why its not working? Or does stata treat this as it would treat an ado, and by that I mean that as long as it knows where to find it it can use it. If anyone knows about this, any info would be appreciated. Thanks, Brusegadi (talk) 05:58, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Driver installation problem
Hi, I am using windows vista ultimate. Lately, I am encountering problems with driver installation. The devices whose driver have already been installed and are in the windows folder, need to be specified again. When I plug in the device (for example, a pen drive) a message pops up that the device driver needs to be installed. Then I have to direct it to look for the devices in the /windows/system32 folder and then after sometime it installs it. When I plug in some other pendrive, I have to do the routine again.218.248.70.235 (talk) 06:33, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Time Machine
Even after I leave Time Machine backing up overnight, it still hasn't finished. In fact System Preferences says it's still "preparing." It's also unusually loud, with fans at 2300 rpm (says iStat, a dashboard widget). I know it's a new backup of about 80GB, but I've completed bigger backups in half that time before. Anyone know when it might finish? It's connected by USB, OSX 10.5.5.My name is anetta (talk) 09:29, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Today's log doesn't say much either. I got it by using "sudo grep backupd /var/log/system.log" into the terminal:

Oct 22 01:11:30 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[390]: Backup requested due to disk attach

Oct 22 01:11:30 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[390]: Starting standard backup

Oct 22 01:11:30 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[390]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Oct 2008/Backups.backupdb

Oct 22 02:04:54 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[390]: Backup requested due to disk attach

Oct 22 13:12:18 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[390]: Error: (-36) Creating directory Backups.backupdb

Oct 22 13:12:19 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[390]: Stopping backupd because the backup volume was ejected!

Oct 22 13:12:19 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[390]: Backup failed with error: 27

Oct 22 13:12:42 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1656]: Backup requested by user

Oct 22 13:12:42 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1656]: Starting standard backup

Oct 22 13:12:42 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1656]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Oct 2008/Backups.backupdb

Even after I started it again at 13.12.42, the drive is still empty.My name is anetta (talk) 12:39, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've no idea about this backup program, but as a rough guess I would check out the meaning of those error messages "...Error: (-36) Creating directory Backups.backupdb" and "...error: 27". Astronaut (talk) 12:56, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Time Machine is part of Mac Leopard. It was the next big thing when it came out last year. And thankyou, I'll investigate.My name is anetta (talk) 14:57, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Do you have all system files excluded from the backup (i.e. "System Files and Applications" in the "Do not back up" list in System Preferences -> Time Machine -> Options)? Time Machine sometimes gets stuck trying to figure out what this exclusion covers, and spends forever in the Preparing phase of the backup.  I'd have thought this would be fixed by now, but maybe not... So try removing the all system files exclude (you can safely exclude just the /System folder, though). Speaker to Lampposts (talk) 20:40, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

I'll experiment with excluding /System and see if it works. Although, the list of exclusions is absolutely clear: all partitions on the external drive and (by default of VMware Fusion), Virtual Machines. I would be surprised if that caused any problems. My name is anetta (talk) 23:15, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

"You've chosen to exclude the System folder. Would you like to also exclude other files installed with Mac OS X, such as system applications and UNIX tools?" I chose "exclude Systems folder only."My name is anetta (talk) 23:17, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

I have restored all of this from the history. Maybe it disappeared. Back to the question.... My name is anetta (talk) 19:36, 23 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I'd say try deleting (don't worry, if it works your backup will be back soon) the back up folder, Backups.backupdb. If that doesn't work, repartitioning your backup partition using Disk Utility in your Utilities folder most likely will. Visit the Genius Bar at any Apple Store, and they will fix it for you if all else fails. Mac Davis (talk) 03:09, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Syncing my iPod
Earlier, when I used to connect my iPod to my PC, and opened iTunes, iTunes automatically started syncing stuff to my iPod. But now, no matter what I do, I can’t get iTunes to sync my iPod anymore. Even the “sync iPod” option under the File menu isn’t available. Is there a way out of this?? Please help!! La  Al qu im  is ta  09:53, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Have you tried restoring the iPod? --grawity 13:27, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

I got a blue flashing screen
The screen went just crazy and I had to restart my computer. Using Windows Vista. It scared the hell out of me. Also I regularly download porn and go to sites like 4chan, so I am worried that I have a virus. I already use Norton, Spybot Search and Destroy as well as NoScript in Firefox. What could be wrong? I don't want this to happen again.-ArticleDiscussion (talk) 12:28, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * You're watching porn, eh? Hmm, I guess that's why your PC's acting strange. Some unscrupulous people riddle malware into porn; malware authors take advantage of the fact that a lot of people are into viewing sexually explicit content. Blake Gripling (talk) 09:40, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * You can't just "riddle malware into porn". Video file formats don't allow execution of arbitrary code. You need an exploitable vulnerability—either a bug in a popular player or user naïveté. As far as I know the usual approach is to make the file refuse to play unless you download a fictitious codec which is only available from the attacker's web site. -- BenRG (talk) 13:53, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * The biggest problem in regards to malware and porn is that there is a lot of "porn" on P2P networks that are really viruses. They are pretty easy to spot though (porn with an EXE extension... avoid it). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:58, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've opened movies in Quicktime that open the default web browser and go to a page, that could be used for something. Mac Davis (talk) 02:54, 26 October 2008 (UTC)
 * How about not watching porn? How about scanning your computer for viruses regularly?  How about dumping Spybot and using Ad-Aware (it's a lot better)?  HOW ABOUT NOT WATCHING PORN??? 31306D696E6E69636B6D (talk) 12:48, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Pfft. The guy wants to watch porn, let him watch it in peace. Based on his description of the problem, there's no real reason to believe that he has a virus, anyway. His computer crashed once, is all. It's not cause for concern unless it starts happening a lot, and even then my first thought wouldn't be that it's a virus or any other type of malware. (Which is not to say that you can't get a virus if you surf on random porn sites all day and click "yes" on every damn thing that pops up without any care or understanding of what you're actually doing, but porn isn't magically turning anyone's computer into a virus-infested mess by itself.) -- Captain Disdain (talk) 18:12, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Everyone knows the Internet is for Porn. Stop being such a prude. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:58, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Everyone looks at porn, including you. BTW, Ad-Aware is not as good as Spybot S&D according to Consumer Reports. Also, Windows includes an Event Viewer (Start --> Run... --> eventvwr.msc) that often says why you got a BSOD. Of course, the OP could also just write down what the BSOD said and Google it. To do that you have to disable automatic restarts (not sure what it is in Vista, but in XP, you right-click on My Computer --> Properties --> Advanced --> Startup and Recovery, and then disable automatic restarts).--Account created to post on Reference Desk (talk) 23:09, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Even if i do watch porn, i don't download it...:) 31306D696E6E69636B6D (talk) 16:37, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I see no reason to think you've got malware. Malware doesn't tend to make the screen "go crazy" (unless by that you mean "fill with ads"). It's more likely to be a bug in your video driver or something. -- BenRG (talk) 13:53, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Being at sites like 4chan doesn't mean you'll get a virus. Just don't download any of the pngs and run them as a js. Mac Davis (talk) 02:54, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Scrolling news display
Hi, I want to have a window on my screen which aggregates news from many websites (like BBC, CNN etc). The requirement is that it should have 10 (for example) new items in the window. when a latest item arrives, the oldest item should be deleted so that the screen just has 10 newest items. RSS aggregarors like RSSOwl require some manual intervention for this (it deletes the items only when the feed is deselected). I want it to be automatically deleted

What I am asking is similiar to a stockmarket ticker (but scrolling from bottom to top), which shows me the latest 10 news items from many websites.! Can you suggest some software ? WikiCheng | Talk 12:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Free software
Hello. Are there any free video editing software that I can download to synchronize sound and video for a video clip (avi file)? I have a video clip but the picture is quite lagged, can I download something to fix this? Thank you. --AreDeeCue (talk) 13:14, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

VirtualDub should allow this. Also if the lag is constant you can do it in real time as you watch using VLC and ctrl and (I think) [ and ] or possibly, and. although this will not be saved. 88.211.96.3 (talk) 14:14, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks I downloaded virtualdub but can you please tell me how to do this with it. AreDeeCue (talk) 20:07, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Restoring order of Microsoft Excel Database
I was entering data of names, phone # and addresses into Microsoft excel. I resorted the data to be in alphabetical order by first name. However only the name were sorted and now the names don't match up with the contact info. Is there anything I can do to resort the names back to the order that I entered them, so they match with the contact info? Thanks --Gary123 (talk) 18:23, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * If you haven't saved the data, you can undo the sort (Edit|Undo, keyboard shortcut ctrl-z or alt+backspace). If you have saved the data after doing the sort, I'm afraid you're out of luck. As you probably now have found out, what you should have done in the first place, was to highlight the entire area to be sorted, before doing the sort. If you have a previous copy, with the names in the original order, you might try to cut-and-paste the column with the names into your updated document in a vacant column, hopefully at least blocks of the data will be in the desired order, and you could do the final realignment by hand. --NorwegianBluetalk 19:27, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Tables in Neo Office
How is it possible to make two separate tables on the same lines (next to each other but not touching) on Neo Office Writer? Or have a table, but still be able to use the rest of the line? I can resize the tables, but I end up with loads of space to the left or right and can't use it. Regards.--ChokinBako (talk) 21:43, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * One thing you can do (at least in OO and Word, surely in NO too) is to have one big wide table, but set the borders of a middle column to "none", so the two sections look like different tables. There's probably also a way to put a table into a floaty-box, but I'll have to get back to you on that. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:50, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Yeah, in OpenOffice (which I understand has generally the same codebase as NO; I don't know how common their interfaces are) you'd do insert->frame and set the resulting frame to be anchored as character. Then put a table in that, then repeat for a second frame with a second table.  To make the frame itself invisible on print, set its border to "none". -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:54, 22 October 2008 (UTC)