Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 September 21

= September 21 =

Highest PageRank?
According to the little PageRank plugin I have for Firefox, CNN.com has a Google PageRank of 9/10, slashdot.org has 9/10, Wikipedia has 9/10 for the Main Page, etc. Does anybody have 10/10 other than Google.com? Is it possible to? --140.247.10.7 (talk) 00:15, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * There certainly used to be twenty or so sites with a pagerank of 10. I tried out ebay and youtube, as well. It's very inefficient of Google to restrict their range like that. Interestingly Alexa tends to rank yahoo first :) Dmcq (talk) 11:12, 21 September 2008 (UTC)


 * w3.org has PR10 (assuming the page I'm using is accurate) — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 11:53, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * (whitehouse.gov too) — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 11:58, 21 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Do you think those are "native" or artificially generated? That is, did someone at Google say "give the white house 10/10" or does the math just work out? I suspect it must be artificial because while I'm sure the White House has more incoming links than outgoing ones, I don't think of its website as being much of an internet hub in comparison to some of those that only have 9/10. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:44, 21 September 2008 (UTC)


 * My hunch is that Google don't touch individual PageRanks. Although Slashdot is extremely popular, I would guess that it's linked to by high-profile sites less than the White House is, and PageRank is based partly on the PageRanks of the linking pages. As a very rough example, according to Yahoo CNN links to whitehouse.gov 5510 times and slashdot.org 1080 times. It's worth noting that the PageRank used internally at Google is far more subtle than the out-of-ten values they show to the public. Although the ranking algorithm has changed considerably over the years, Brin and Page's original paper is worth a look for the nitty-gritty of how the original PageRank algorithm worked. — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 19:21, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

What's a good PC oscilloscope?
Anyone has recommendation on a 2 channel entry level PC oscilloscope that can preferably be used, with its software, in Linux? I've also seen DIY scopes that uses the line-in/microphone plug from the sound card, how well do those work? Thanks. --antilivedT 01:58, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Are you looking for just an oscilloscope or, more specifically, a software synthesizer? If you just want to generate waveforms, Audacity can do the job. If you can program, you can quickly learn how to generate some more complicated waveforms with some Nyquist plugins. If you're looking for a softsynth, SynthEdit is pretty good, but it's only for Windows. I found the tutorials in the help file useful for figuring out how to program simple synths. Maybe there's a similar Linux program.--Russoc4 (talk) 02:29, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * No I'm looking for an oscilloscope. --antilivedT 07:53, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh, a hardware one. My mistake. --Russoc4 (talk) 20:09, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Enabling only minimal features in an OS
I want to make a computer available at a public programme for registration of participants coming there. The participants themselves will be typing their details on the computer. Is there some way that I can limit what they can do on the computer to just entering their details in a browser page? I do not want them to be able to access any of the other features of the OS. Preferably, even the desktop menu and icons should not be seen. Only a single browser window should be visible on the screen (ie, it should be full screen), and it should not be possible for them to close the window either. Is there some method with which I can implement this? A solution for any operating system will do.--thunderboltz(TALK) 02:23, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Go to start>run and type "gpedit.msc" when you are the user in question. Lock it down as you wish.  Then install Windows SteadyState, which resets the computer's hard drive each night for free - making it immune to viruses. --mboverload @  02:25, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I'll try that out. Could I get a solution for Linux/Unix-based systems as well?--thunderboltz(TALK) 02:30, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/twiki/bin/view/Linux/LinuxKiosk --mboverload @ 02:33, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Great! That looks like just what I needed. I'll install it and get back. Thanks again for the link.--thunderboltz(TALK) 02:52, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Cool, PLEASE let me know how well it works. I may need to use it some time =) --mboverload @  07:57, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I tried it out, and it did work as said. It did detect my wired LAN; however it failed to detect my WLAN card, and hence did not serve my purpose. The OS booted up quick and loaded a full-screen browser (firefox) with the default page I set. One another problem was that I couldnt figure out how to switch the system off, as the OS always restarts into the same guest account. I didnt tinker with it longer, as my wlan was not supported. Though I believe you can get it to detect pretty much any hardware if you remaster the iso file correctly.--thunderboltz(TALK) 17:30, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * See kiosk software. ~ Jafet • business • pleasure • voicemail 07:34, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

BEST PROXY SITES
which is the best proxy site to be able to bypass websense and the works. I use Ninjacloak.com but on that the links are disabled and you can't chat on it.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.1.26.35 (talk) 04:33, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Like I have said before if you need to get to a site just ask one of the IT guys. In some companies bypassing restrictions on web access is considered industrial espionage and will get your fired on the spot. Example: Cisco. --mboverload @  07:56, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I dare someone on CCPS to try going on a proxy. Since most organizations monitor their employees/students/volunteers/patrons internet activity at random, it is probably not the best idea to use a proxy to by pass the filters, and if you're asking this from work, then these type of questions just might get this Wiki blocked too just so know. :) GO-PCHS-NJROTC  (Messages) 01:57, 24 September 2008 (UTC)