Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 January 9

= January 9 =

how do i get broadbrand
i want to get broadbrand so that i can play a sertin game that allows you to host your own server and i want to host my own server. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.51.181.76 (talk) 01:37, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Contact an Internet service provider that provides broadband service. A good place to start looking for one would be the Yellow Pages or recommendations from friends or neighbours. Xenon54 02:11, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Getting broadband is pretty simple - you can sign up online with your chosen ISP. They do all the configuration with the telephone/cable company and you are given a date when your connection will go live (usually within a week).  You don't say where you are from and whether you have a phone or cable connection, so I can't help you pick out a particular ISP.  However, all ISPs will have a way to contact them to ask your specific question about hosting your own game server.  Bear in mind that if you are expecting a lot of net traffic, you might find your service capped or restricted in some way, so pick your ISP wisely.  There are some important things to note: Certainly here in the UK, most ISPs want you to sign a minimum 12 month contract.  The minimum cost I've seen is £10/month, but you might have to pay more then the minimum for your gaming purposes, and payment is through a Direct Debit from your bank account.  You will also need to buy a broadband modem for around £50 or more.  Astronaut (talk) 02:32, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Suggestions for computer science project
I can't seem to figure out what to do for my final year computer science project (University level). I would prefer to use java and an oracle database for this semester long project. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.16.131 (talk) 05:54, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Why not talk to your instructors, who presumably have some idea of your abilities and the nature of the assignment? Algebraist 06:03, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * You could write a game.  A multiplayer online browser game might have a significant database portion. APL (talk) 14:06, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * You could go look at the dozens of projects listed under Google Summer of Code which did not get done, which should be of about the right scope, and which have the potential to actually be used by millions of people, unlike any toy project you start from scratch. --Sean 17:35, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

How to make Greek diacritical marks in MS Word for Mac ?
Can't seem to figure out how to do this. At first I thought I would bypass the problem by going to the Wiki, choosing "edit page" on any given page, going to the drop-down "Insert" menu and selecting "Greek" and then cutting and pasting all the letters onto my paper in Word. But surprise! It doesn't show up! So I pasted the text into Notepad and then cut it from there to paste "unformatted" into Word...so far so good except that now Word doesn't know what to do re: changing the font. It only recognizes the first row and I cannot get it to format into Times New Roman (Stays in Lucinda)...is there some script or plug in or work around or something? This is stupid. Hating MS. Thanks for your help! 70.143.83.57 (talk) 06:53, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

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 * Have you tried "Edit"->"Paste Special"->"Unformatted Unicode text"?
 * Alternatively... copy-paste the following (its all in Times)
 * -- Fullstop (talk) 15:22, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

For some reason I just tried this and it doesn't work for me either. Same thing, it is as if Word cannot "see" it. alas. 70.143.83.57 (talk) 01:59, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Screenshots
Could someone remind me please how to make a screenshot? I'm trying to explain a problem with a template, and need to shew the other editor what I mean. Thanks, DuncanHill (talk) 13:52, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * On Windows the simplest method is to hit the print screen button. This places an image of the screen into the copy/paste clipboard.  Then you go to the image software of your choice (Paint, perhaps) and paste the image in by clicking "edit/paste".  Hope this helps. APL (talk) 13:57, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Cool, thanks - I sort of remembered after I posted here. DuncanHill (talk) 14:02, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * One nice trick is to hold the alt key down while pressing the print screen key. That will capture only the active screen instead of the whole desktop. Very useful when constructing directions etc...RxS (talk) 15:15, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Technical help with a facebook app
I'm in over my head here.

Trying to write a facebook application for a CS final project. Have a pretty shaky grasp of HTML, PHP, and SQL (this hasn't been my best class). Luckily, I've resigned myself to mediocrity, but since the project still comprises a fair portion of my grade, I should at least have a working notion of how a better programmer would conceivably put it together, so I can try to wade through it over the next couple hundred hours and figure my work out to about the C/C+ level.

So my app should do the following: allow facebook group admins to send mass text messages to the members of their group that have added the application and OK'd that group as one from which they are willing to receive texts. So, as I figure it, this would involve a tab on the main ("canvas(?)") page of the app for admins and another for general members. In the member tab, I'd theoretically want a blank into which users type and save their phone number, two privacy option checkboxes (whether they want to allow admins to see that they're OK with receiving their texts and whether they want their phone numbers to be visible to admins), and an automatically generated checkbox list of the groups to which that member belongs, which the member can select as wanted.

In the admins tab, the admin could check any of the groups he/she administrates and then would be given a text box with word max of 160 (general text limit) to fill out before clicking send. Additionally, the list of members and their phone numbers (as provided or not based on member privacy options) would be listed (my TA wants this to be more complicated. It's way complicated for me already). Due to facebook restrictions, that group would then be off-limits for texting for 24 hours. Because facebook's built-in texting mechanism (which is really poorly explained and which I don't understand at all) is designed only for one-recipient texting, mass texting would involved a series of individual calls to text individual members. So behind the scenes, my notion of how this should work gets a bit murkier. I think when somebody joins the app, their information (facebook unique user id ("uid"), name, phone number, and, somehow, list of groups to which they belong and have checked) should be added to a MySQL database. When an admin adds the app, all the groups he/she administrates should form another MySQL database, (with group name, then list of uids of group members). When the admin tried to send a message, a call would be made to the groups database, and then the list of uids associated with that group would then be searched for one by one in the other database. When there was a hit (uid match) then, somehow (this is all magic to me), the application would then check to see if the group was in that user's group list (i.e., if they'd checked it and didn't just belong to it). If so, that uid's associated phone number would be added to a list of recipient addresses (stored where??) that would then be sent, one at a time, the admin's message. Somehow, a timer would then be set for that group, such that it couldn't message for another 24 hours.

So, the question. Is any of this right? How could I begin coding it? What separate files should this be written in? What languages? Are the dynamically expanding MySQL databases I envision possible? How? What would be the easiest to start working on (and how to start) so I have something to show when the deadline rolls along? Any other suggestions?

Thanks thanks thanks,

68.236.124.253 (talk) 14:40, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Start small: just try to get a basic hello world facebook application running, then add a little at a time. Work your way through a facebook tutorial first.  --Sean 17:40, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm not really following your explanation. Do the database tables already exist or are you being asked to design them ?  In either case, what table design to you have so far ?  I want table names, columns, data types, etc.  I also think you might be using the word "database" to mean "table", such as when you said "form another MySQL database".  StuRat (talk) 20:42, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

I neither have the tables nor am I being asked to write them. I'm supposed to write the program, and, as is probably readily apparent, I have no real notion of how. By "database" I probably do mean "table." So I don't have the table names or anything. I'm just trying to figure out a structure of how I might lay out a program that could conceivably achieve what I'm trying to. I doubt I'll actually be able to accomplish this given the deadline, but the closer I get (and being well organized with a working idea of how to go about the task) from the start will likely help me towards that end quite a bit.

Which is why I was asking for suggestions, double checking, all that.

Thanks, 140.247.242.88 (talk) 23:19, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Well, I suggest you come up with a table design, as you will need those to format the SQL statements. If you take a stab at it, I'll take a look and suggest changes.  But, this being a homework assignment, I want to see some work from you before I put in my two cents.  Also, if you could type in the exact homework assignment as listed on your homework sheet, instead of in your own words, that might help.  If you don't have such a statement of the assignment, I suggest you ask for one from the teacher or T/A.  StuRat (talk) 07:21, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Content management system for photos?
Hello,

I'd like to know if there's any sort of content management system, free or low cost, free-licensed or copyrighted, for photos?

Specifically, something that artists could upload a photo of their work to, add information about it and themselves, and it would appear online instantly a-la Flickr, preferably without having to create a user account. Is that possible?

It's for a project Visual Arts Brampton, a community art group in Canada that I'm part of, is trying to undertake. We're wanting to have people from anywhere digitally send in their art, and we print it out for display. We could just have people fill out a form to upload photos, or email the photos, but I'd prefer an instant upload thingy. -- Zanimum (talk) 17:48, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Well you could write code to make this happen pretty easily. It's a standard web project. I'm betting a college undergrad CS major could write the whole thing out in a week with MySQL and PHP. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:16, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yeah, that's probably true. But I was hoping something would be already available, save the hastle of finding someone, and getting extra funding to carry out the project. But its a possibility. --  Zanimum (talk) 22:10, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * See Comparison of photo gallery software. I'm currently using Gallery2, but I don't recommend it (I'm looking for alternatives myself). The reason I want to switch, is that I find that Gallery2 is a real pain to back up, and that it creates an enormous number of files and folders (7000 photos corresponds to 102,000 files on my server. IMHO a little over 21,000 should have sufficed). I haven't been able to restore my backups painlessly on a different machine (for some reason it wants to rebuild all the thumbnails and downsized pics, which takes ages, even though I've copied them to the same directory on the second machine). --NorwegianBluetalk 12:06, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the suggestion. I've read about Gallery2 before, and it seems to be one of the better photo gallery hosting sites. Special thank you for the warning, that doesn't sound problematic.


 * The thing is-- can Joe Smo upload his work to the site, or is it just me that can? Because I was trying to cut down on the middle step, have it just Joe sends, it appears, rather than Joe sends, I save and post the info, it appears. I mean, I can find endless volunteers (high schoolers in Ontario have minimum volunteer hour requirements, before they can graduate), but I'd rather not have them doing that sort of tasks if they don't need to, they would be better used by other charities and non-profits. --  Zanimum (talk) 22:10, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I don't think it's very newbie-friendly. But you certainly can have multiple users, and I believe you can configure it to accept anonymous uploads (I'm not sure about this, and am unable to check it from where I'm located now). I've only used gallery2 with administrator-added users, who have ftp'd the images to a writeable directory on the server. --NorwegianBluetalk 08:43, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Command Prompt (cmd.exe) in Fullscreen Mode in Vista?
Is there really no way to run a command line application, e.g. cmd.exe, in fullscreen mode in Windows Vista (w/o any third party software)? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 18:49, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * You can right click the title bar, select 'properties' and alter the window size from the 'layout' tab. It seems a bit haphazard to me though. CaptainVindaloo t c e 19:22, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, of course, but I mean "true fullscreen", as in Alt+Return. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:16, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * For cause and workaround, see KB926657. -- Fullstop (talk) 23:45, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 * ps: I think "do not support running all of the DOS video modes" is a bunch of consoles-are-evil crock, and an artificial limitation. After all, Vista can bluescreen just fine. -- Fullstop (talk) 23:53, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Agreed. Installing XP video drivers is not very tempting... --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 01:41, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

Are the files really gone?
A few years ago, before I had my own computer, I spent a lot of time on several occasions using my uncle's Dell computer. I didn't know that it didn't delete stuff because I stopped using the Internet. I had seen messages at libraries saying temporary files were being deleted. I think the term was "cache cleanup". I no longer see that. Nevertheless, I didn't realize the files stayed there until one day when my aunt said my uncle spent all day deleting the stuff I had put in it, thereby slowing the computer down.

Now that I have my own computer, I make sure to delete the browsing history each day, including specifically deleting temporary files. But when I asked my uncle how he did it, he didn't say anything that suggested he did anything different. He did say he didn't know if those files were "really gone". Vchimpanzee ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 22:30, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Operating system, web browser? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 22:34, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 * If you're using IE, you should be able to go to Tools --> Internet Options, and then Delete Cookies or Delete Files. Useight (talk) 00:47, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Unless you have a verified reason to bother, deleting browser "temporary files"/history/cache are unlikely to provide any (real) performance gains whatsoever. Browser caches are designed to use a specific amount of space (possibly configurable in an options menu) with newer content replacing old content when at the specified size. Even if the cache is gigantic it is a common misconception that data on the computer's hard drive causes performance degradation--this is only true if the hard drive is very near to full (which, with current drive capacities, is near to impossible without massive downloading). Much more likely culprits for poor performance are auto-running applications (those often stuff icons in the system tray on boot) and the cruft that windows collects from long-term use (excess registry entries, drivers, etc.). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.137.108.115 (talk) 01:31, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

I was in a hurry. Here is where I have put my system details.

I'm still wondering how to prevent what happened to my uncle. Vchimpanzee ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 19:39, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * There is a lot of misinformation here. Filling up the hard drive doesn't make the computer go a whole lot slower.  On the other hand, cache files DO make the computer go faster because they store information from the web locally on your computer so you don't have to go and fetch it again each time you visit the same page.  So before we go ANY further - if you're deleting files for reasons of SPEED - then you're heading in the wrong direction!  You might want to delete files for privacy reasons - or because you're running out of disk space - but that's a different matter. SteveBaker (talk) 01:27, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

No DRM with iTunes anymore
So does that mean I can buy songs from iTunes and sync it to a device such as Archos, and therefore not be a slave to the iPod?--Crackthewhip775 (talk) 23:16, 9 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Right, but only the DRM-free ones which are not yet all of them. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:48, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Not all = 6 million of 8 million. That is to say, 75% of the songs are now DRM-free, and the remaining 25% still have it - for now. Apple has said that 100% will be DRM-free soon. flaminglawyerc 03:24, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Right. But that's still 2 million. Just saying is all—that's still a significant number! --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:50, 10 January 2009 (UTC)