Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 September 3

= September 3 =

iPod launching iTunes
When I plug in my iPod, iTunes is automatically launched. Does anyone know how I could change that, and have it launch a .bat file or something instead? Thanks &mdash;Akrabbimtalk 02:12, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * You could get it to launch a batch file by modifying the autoexec... Tweak UI comes to mind. If you don't want the iPod to launch iTunes, remove 'ipodhelper' from your startup items. — neuro  (talk)  06:07, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Oh, OK, I had never known what ituneshelper did. That seems like the most reasonable solution.  Thanks &mdash;Akrabbimtalk 11:43, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * It's a setting in iTunes itself. iTunesHelper will reinstate itself the next time you start up iTunes.  Plug your iPod in, go to the page with the Sync settings, and uncheck the "Open iTunes when this iPod is plugged in" box.   Buffered Input Output 15:26, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I didn't send these emails.
I just got twenty-three delivery status notifications for failed emails.

Everyone on my contact list also got an email from me.

I sent no emails.

Does this mean someone's actually gained control of my email account? What steps should I take? 90.195.179.183 (talk) 12:54, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I also just noticed I've been logged out of Wikipedia... 90.195.179.183 (talk) 12:56, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * There are two possibilities. The first is simply that someone (a spammer) has forged your email address on their spam (making it look as if you've send a bunch of email about viagra or whatever) - but that mostly means you'll get mail-errors from people you've never heard of, often in foreign countries and foreign languages. But a spammer doesn't know who your friends are, so if, as you say, people who know you got the spam, them that looks like a virus that is running on your computer, and has raided your address book and used it to send emails that appear to come from you (often to propagate itself).  That's much more effective for the virus, as people who know you are much more likely to open emails that appear to come from you. But it's bad for you, because it strongly suggests your machine is badly infected. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 13:07, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * I believe some malware does forge the from address, so it's possible one of your contacts who also know all has all your contacts is the culprit. Analysing one of those failed delivery notifications or one of those emails received by your contacts should help you determine where the email originated from Nil Einne (talk) 14:52, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

XFX Nvidia Geforce or XFX ATI Radeon
Hello there, I am confused with XFX Brand. Are Nvidia Geforce and ATI Radeon under the same company? Is there any only Nvidia Geforce cards available out there?--119.30.36.53 (talk) 15:00, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * It's a bit confusing, so I hope the following will help. Nvidia is a company that makes a range of chips, including fancy graphics chips (geForce). ATI also makes a range of chips; their graphics chips are called Radeon. ATI is now owned by AMD. ATI/AMD is a different company to nVidia. None of these guys actually make graphics cards - they sell their chips (and designs, and software) to companies that put them onto graphics cards (with memory and other bits from other suppliers). XFX is such a company. XFX makes a range of graphics cards - most have nVidia GeForce chips on them, but one has an ATI Radeon instead. XFX is a different company from both ATI and nVidia; it's not owned by either. Lots of other companies also make graphics cards with either nVidia or ATI chips on them, although XFX is rather rare in using chips from both. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:36, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Testing something on IE6
I'm trying to do some javascript debugging, and apparently something is not working correctly on IE6, but works fine on IE8 (which I have). What's the easiest way for me to get a copy of IE6 up and running, assuming I already have IE8 on my system and am not that interested in totally rolling back? Running a virtual OS seems possible though a huge hassle for something as simple as thing. Is there a better way? Note that the issue is with some Javascript—it's not just displaying the page, so those services that let you see how a page in rendered on different browsers don't really help me. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 16:02, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * I believe paid subscribers to MSDN can get Virtual PC images of older OSes with a range of stuff installed, including various browsers. I don't believe this is available for free, unfortunately. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:34, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * This site claims to allow you to run IE6, along with a number of other browsers, directly from the web. I've not tested it, and you need to "install spoon" before it will work, but it seems like a good option to try. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Avrillyria (talk • contribs) 17:16, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * IETester might also be worth checking out
 * They're available free here - they're timebombed, though, so you can't run them after a certain date. They release new images around the expiry date of the old ones. IETester is usually the easiest and best option. — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 19:56, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * You could uninstall IE8 inside of a Sandboxie sandbox. -- BenRG (talk) 19:03, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Languages of the Internet
Is there something like this but that isn't so incredibly outdated? Thanks. --Belchman (talk) 17:50, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Try these: (2009), Global Internet usage (Wikipedia article),  (2008). ƒ(Δ)² 18:02, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks, mate. But I'd like to know the % of web pages (not users) in each language. --Belchman (talk) 18:10, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Freeware to manually sort a large group of photos
I have a large number of photos in one folder. I'm looking for something like this: the software shows a photo on screen. I click the appropriate button to move it to my "Holidays" folder, or another button to move it to my "Office Party" folder, or other choices of button I have pre-established, including a button to delete it and a button to do nothing. Ideally just one button to click: I do not have to confirm things. The software then shows me the next photo, and so on. Does anyone know of any freeware or otherwise free software that can do this please? Thanks 78.146.3.82 (talk) 20:16, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Can you not use windows explorer to show thumbnails of the images, and then drag them into directories, including one named "bin", which you can later delete? --Tagishsimon (talk) 20:28, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * It takes far too long, particularly if you have a large number of photos, and the thumbnails are too small to see clearly. 78.146.3.82 (talk) 21:07, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * mirage let's you set custom actions on keys. I've used it for mass deletion of bad images and moving should be as easy. --194.197.235.240 (talk) 20:46, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. It does not seem to mention that in the documentation - how would you do it please? The commands do not seem to include moving a photo to a folder. 78.146.3.82 (talk) 21:13, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * On my Linux machine I would move the image to my-dir and change to next image with 'mkdir -p my-dir; mv %F my-dir; [NEXT]' and delete the image with 'rm %F; [NEXT]'. So you basically give mirage a shell ("command prompt") command with extras. On windows the corresponding should be 'mkdir my-dir; mv %F my-dir; [NEXT]' and 'del %F; [NEXT]' but I'm not sure. --194.197.235.240 (talk) 22:13, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * IrfanView has single-key commands to move (F7) or copy (F8), to a set of up to 10 predetermined destinations. All you need to do is set destination 1 to be your "holidays" folder, destination 2 to be your "office party" folder, etc. It then takes only two keystrokes to move or delete a photo, and a right-arrow (or Page Down) to view the next photo. It also works in thumbnail view (key shortcut: T), where you can adjust the thumbnail size if you wish. &mdash; QuantumEleven 08:53, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

3g mobile dongle top up...hidden costs in uk?
I am thinking of getting a 3g mobile dongle to but feel that there may be hidden costs not outlined.

Is there a 30 day time limit on top up purchases?

Can you just buy a £10 top up that will last until you use it up?

The websites just seem to give no detailed info.its more like..."hey lets be friends and just buy it"..!

any websites with proper info or horror stories appreciated.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.41.154.137 (talk) 21:47, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Sorry, but we're going to need more information. What network is this on and/or can you give a link to the tariff/purchase page so we'll know what you're talking about? ZX81  talk  22:19, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * If you do pay-as-you-go from Three, they give you a free SIM anyway. Yeah, it only lasts 30 days for each £10 top-up. Personally I have a Three SIM card that is embedded in the notebook; before that the dongle cost me about £60 but that included three months and three gigs not 30 days expiry. Maplins and Argos have them from about £30, of course prices for this kind of thing change so quickly, so that is just a ballpark figure.


 * See Argos latest catalogue p1291 £19.99 for just the dongle + £10 min top up, or dongle and up to 3 months at 3Gb at £39.99, 12Gb for up to 12 months at £99.99. They do expire but you can always top up more, and at those prices it seems not a lot in it: I would recommend start small and see how much you really use. Cat. nos. are respectively 549/0433, 549/0440, 549/0457. Full disclosure: I have no financial interest in Argos but do find them a good guide to prices (not always the cheapest). PC World and Maplin will also have them. Check Three for coverage though, I believe they are the only UK 3G network. SimonTrew (talk) 01:05, 4 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Just a suggestion but you might want to consider using your mobile phone as a modem instead of purchasing a separate dongle - most recent mobile phone support tethering, either through USB cable, Bluetooth, or even Wifi. --antilivedT 04:37, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

As a former 3-mobile pay-as-you-go broadband users my advice is...don't. No matter where I used it I got slow speeds (in a city that was highlights as 'good coverage' by their site). It constantly hung, it had the ridiculous problem that once my credit ran out and I went on their site to buy more it wouldn't let me (because to pay it required me to navigate off to a bank-specific verification site). I used it for about a year (last year for info) while I was in short-term renting and it was poor. That said i've heard others have good times so it could've just been me.194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:55, 4 September 2009 (UTC)


 * I have the 12Gb, which is valid for up to 1 year. Works well for me; I didn't want any kind of contract. It's not lightning fast, and it occasionally fails, but for 100 quid, if you're not downloading movies or streaming things, then it's a v cheap option. Their customer support does seem poor, but as I will never use it, it's not an issue. After the 12Gb ran out (8 months for me), I just bought another.  Chzz  ►  16:44, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

Slow loading websites
My friend is testing a program, and needs some websites that load really slow.Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 22:07, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Possibly the best way to do this is to set up and configure a proxy server or other controlled source to emulate the behavior you want in a controlled way. You can set up a Squid proxy to intentionally delay or limit the bandwidth available.  Nimur (talk) 22:13, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * (e/c) One problem: a website that is slow for me might not be slow for you. Besides the obvious connection speed differences, distance is also a factor. http://news.bbc.co.uk/ loads relatively quickly for me (Washington area), but if you lived in, say, Anchorage, it would probably take longer. In residential areas, traffic can often be slowed if many people are online at once, during afternoon "peak hours". So I'm afraid that this might be a query that cannot be answered. Xenon54 / talk / 22:18, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I know. But this is not an application to test from a proxy, but from the USER's network connection.Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 22:23, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
 * 4chan is shit slow most of the time cause they're under constant DDOS attack
 * Google maps, maps.google.com, usually loads pretty slow on my DSL connection due to the large about of data needed for the maps. Dismas |(talk) 00:24, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
 * The point of the proxy is that it can be used to simulate any network conditions. Put it on a fast local network, and the proxy server can be slowed down to deliver at any desired latency and throughput rate.  Nimur (talk) 01:54, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Define 'load really slow'... do you mean that they exceed most timeout caps? — neuro  (talk)  09:05, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
 * You could route all traffic through Tor which is often very slow loading normal pages. If your application does not have proxy settings or support proxy servers nativity, you can make it use Tor with sockscap —Preceding unsigned comment added by Avrillyria (talk • contribs) 09:48, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
 * OP has already said they do not wish to proxy or route. — neuro  (talk)  10:25, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I know. But I thought it possible that the OPs application might not have proxy settings, which might be the reason he was reluctant to use a proxy. This is why I suggested sockscap —Preceding unsigned comment added by Avrillyria (talk • contribs) 11:19, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Since this is a test-suite, it seems like a bad idea to "trust" some other website to be slow. Software tests should take place in a controlled way - which means simulating the desired failure case (slow loading websites) - as opposed to just loading a slow-ish website and hoping it's slow.  That's why I suggest using a proxy (or a locally configured web server) - as a simulation of a connection to an actual slow website - and not as a conventional proxy.  There's no way to guarantee performance, or lack of performance, if you are testing against an external website - so your test will be full of uncontrolled variables.  Nimur (talk) 16:21, 4 September 2009 (UTC)