Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 April 17

= April 17 =

Touchpad
My touchpad is not working. How can I get it to start working again? Dr hursday (talk) 04:21, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Touchpad on what ? A laptop ? Did it ever work ?  Does it do anything ?  Are you using Windows ? StuRat (talk) 04:53, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * someone help me with this and now it works. I accidentally turned it off somehow thank you (Dr hursday (talk) 07:30, 17 April 2010 (UTC))

What determines if something is saved in the cache?
When browsing various websites and using Firefox, or sometimes Internet Explorer, with WinXP, I sometimes want to save an image from the cache, using the appropriate Firefox addons (PageInfo, CacheViewer) or other software (VideoCacheView which works with images too). But often, the image is not in the cache. What decides if something is saved to the cache or not? Second question: I recall seeing some freeware that would save to disk everything (although probably not video files) that was downloaded to your computer while browsing. Anyone know the name of this or something similar? In other words, I want to save things such as .jpgs even if they do not appear in the cache, and when right-clicking the image is not convenient. Thanks. 78.146.229.142 (talk) 13:10, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

email bounce
Is there a way to send an email to an account and then that email account will automatically send a message back to me telling me it arrived? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.125.141.232 (talk) 14:45, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Basically, yeah, it's called "requesting a read receipt" – if you're writing your message using Windows software (Outlook, Outlook Express or Live Mail), choose Tools and then Request read receipt. This will send you a note to let you know that your email has actually been displayed on the other person's screen.
 * Note that this can't work if you're using webmail (eg. Gmail), and if the person chooses not to send the receipt, obviously it can't force them. ╟─ Treasury Tag ► sundries ─╢ 14:50, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Read receipt is the article section. In my experience, it's considered a little discourteous to write an e-mail and mark it "read receipt requested", and also in my experience it is rare that people click "yes" when their e-mail program asks them if they indeed want to send the requested read receipt.  Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:19, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Some email systems also have a delivery receipt that says that the email arrived, but not yet read. Another technique is to sent to a bounce email address that does not exist, and get back a rejection.  At least you know part of the mail system is running. eg bounce@test.com Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:39, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

Zaped.info
Is this autotranslated into Engrish or something? 86.41.91.196 (talk) 15:50, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * It looks like someone taking the contents of wikipedia, machine translating it into some language, and then machine translating that back to English. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:57, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * And doing so live. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:01, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Why would anyone want to do that? I cannot see any advertising but my browser may be blocking it. 92.29.91.224 (talk) 11:36, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * You don't see the text ads for "Safe Pharmacy Big Pharmacy Phonecards Best Payday Loans Safe Payday Loans" at the bottom? Nil Einne (talk) 06:44, 19 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I can see one line of type as you describe, by scrolling down right to the bottom. Does not seem worth doing just for those almost invisible links. 89.240.44.159 (talk) 11:06, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

Printer problem


I have a Canon MP190 printer that is printing things like this. There is a single vertical line of smudged printing and lots of horizontal lines of displaced printing (it jumps about a 1mm). We have tried both cleaning and aligning print heads to no avail. Any suggestions? --Tango (talk) 18:13, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * What did Canon tech support e-mail say? Sorry, my reaction to this would be to throw away that US$61 printer and get another.  Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:24, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree, but be sure to keep the ink cartridge(s), as that's the most valuable part of the printer. StuRat (talk) 19:45, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I didn't try emailing them. Their online help system just suggests cleaning and aligning print heads. Is a tech support person with going to anything other than read the same thing off their script? --Tango (talk) 21:26, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I don't know how that printer in particular works, but most have a belt that pulls the heads back and forth. I'll bet the belt on yours is damaged. Possibly it's missing some teeth? APL (talk) 21:17, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * The solution being to replace the printer? --Tango (talk) 21:26, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Somehow I doubt if they sell spare parts for such a disposable printer. You could possibly find another one that is broken in some other way and take the belt off that, but finding it won't be easy. StuRat (talk) 22:36, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Yea, it's probably not worth trying to fix it. Though if it really is the belt, tightening might help, if possible. APL (talk) 01:15, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * They almost definitely do sell spare parts, most manufacturers do and it's a legal requirement in some countries. This doesn't mean it's worth buying the parts and trying to fix the printer Nil Einne (talk) 06:42, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

c program
Will u give me hint of a terbo c program to make a calender that shows me the date.Supriyochowdhury (talk) 21:41, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * What exactly do you want help with ? How to create a grid 7 days wide and 5-6 weeks long ?  How to figure out which days are in each month ?  Something else ? StuRat (talk) 04:55, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

Internet
Is it possible to instruct a Windows to send all internet traffic from any program, browser, game etc etc through a proxy server, instead of manually changing the settings for every internet capable application? 82.43.89.71 (talk) 22:18, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Maybe through Internet options or something like that in Control Panel? I am not using one at the moment and so cannot search for it myself. Chevymontecarlo . 06:05, 18 April 2010 (UTC)


 * You can route all your traffic to a server using a VPN, but it'd probably have to travel through a few routers first. VPNs are virtual private networks. It's not physically possible to go straight to a proxy unless it's physically near your computer. That is, your ISP would need to carry the traffic to the proxy. VPNs encrypt the traffic. The exact technique used to set up the VPN depends on why exactly you want to use a proxy.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 06:29, 18 April 2010 (UTC)


 * It is possible to set up a transparent proxy so that no configuration is needed on the source box. But this is not a windows feature. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 09:09, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

Ok, thanks. My friend said that this is possible on Mac, but I guess Windows doesn't have the feature. Are there perhaps some third party programs that would do this? 82.43.89.71 (talk) 11:33, 18 April 2010 (UTC)


 * It's the same for all operating systems. The only way to do it on any operating system is to either (1) attach a physical device between your modem and your ISP, or (2) use tunneling software (such as a VPN) to tunnel your traffic to a proxy somewhere. Let me guess: you're doing this for anonymity? If so, you'll need to tunnel it using VPN software (or possibly a SOCKS proxy). The problem is that most proxies you find on the Net only handle the HTTP and HTTPS protocols. To handle all kinds of traffic, you must tunnel all of your traffic through their HTTP and HTTPS ports. Your friend is wrong because how would a Mac funnel traffic destined for, say, port 23 (Telnet) to a proxy with a single open port (port 8080). The answer is that it's impossible to do automatically without a VPN.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 17:48, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

Setting up an online casino in the UK
Supposing I wanted to set up an online casino in the UK, and disregarding getting a licence or doing the marketing, what would I need to do to get it running? 78.147.241.153 (talk) 23:16, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * As well as the obvious (actually setting up the site) the website would have to have adequate security (you're dealing with credit cards here) and some way for customers to pay. The animations (if they even use them in online casinos) of the roulette wheel spinning, cards etc. would also have to be coded in. I suppose there are companies out there that specialise in this kind of website construction that would be able to do the practicals themselves whilst you concentrate on the overall picture. Chevymontecarlo . 06:02, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * How could such companies be found please? 92.29.91.224 (talk) 11:27, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * You would need a web site — probably one hosted by another company. You would also need card games (or virtual slot machines, etc.) created in either Adobe Flash or Adobe Director and placed on the web site. They could also be written in C++ and run directly from the gamblers' machines. You would probably also need an encrypted login form connected to a database. You would create all of these things using many different tools. My workflow for creating full-featured web sites looks like this: Adobe Flash Professional for interactive items (such as games); notepad for writing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (which are used for the home page); and Visual Studio for creating the login form and connecting it to the database. If you don't know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then you would use an IDE like Visual Studio, Expression Web, Dreamweaver, or GoLive to create the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for you. Good luck.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 07:07, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

What mystifies me at the moment is the situation where you have a domain name, you have an ISP willing to host it, and you have bought some ready-made casino software. In practical terms, step by astep, what do you need to do next to get all that running? (Are there any books that would help in this situation?) Thanks 92.29.91.224 (talk) 11:11, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * You can get off-the-shelf casino software? That is news to me. Running a successful casino site isn't going to be easy. It needs to have something that is better than all the other ones, which you won't get if you use ready-made software. You also need to have enough money in the bank to pay winners (if you set it up right, you should make more money than you have to pay out, but there is always a chance that people will get lucky and you need to have the money in the bank to be able to pay them). How much you need to have will depend on how much you let people bet, but you will need thousands of pounds at least, probably millions. You might be able to shift some of that risk onto an insurance company, but it won't be cost effective to shift all of it (you would end up paying all your profits in premiums). --Tango (talk) 13:10, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * None of that answers the OPs questions. 89.241.47.121 (talk) 09:44, 20 April 2010 (UTC)
 * There is no ready-made casino software. You would hire several experienced Web developers and designers, who would architect the web site for you, write a lot of code (as Best Dog Ever outlined), go into a testing phase, and finally "go live".  Comet Tuttle (talk) 15:53, 18 April 2010 (UTC)


 * 1. Point domain name at hosted server (the server will give you the information you need to put into the domain name settings), 2. Upload casino software to server and set it up, 3. Profit (maybe). The easiest thing is starting it up once it is all ready to go—you just change a few server settings and you're up and running. The hardest part is getting it ready to go. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:55, 18 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Oh. So, someone has already made everything for you? Then, why would you need any help from us? There should be a help file included with your package and perhaps even a support department at the company you bought it from. Also call your ISP. We don't even know what software you're using (or how your ISP handles hosting), so how exactly could we help you?--Best Dog Ever (talk) 17:53, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

There are various software companies who specialise in providing software for online casinos. It is very unlikely that they start from a zero-base for every customer. Rather, they have ready-made software that they tweak for individual clients. I had a sales call from an American company trying to sell me their ready-made software a while ago. Interesting that people believe mistaken premises that constrain themselves from achieving a result. 89.241.47.121 (talk) 09:44, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

printout of output of a c program
please tell me the way by which I get printing out the output of a terbo c program using windos xp or dos ,in a paper by a printer machine.Supriyochowdhury (talk) 23:23, 17 April 2010 (UTC)Supriyochowdhury (talk) 23:25, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * As far as I know, turbo C is pretty old, and there are a lot of better alternatives out there. But for DOS printing and calendars (your earlier question), perhaps the old C Snippets collection is of use ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Unilynx (talk • contribs) 23:34, 17 April 2010 (UTC)


 * It should work if you redirect the output to LPT1: with syntax like myprogram > lpt1:
 * You may need to configure the printer in the XP print dialog to be lpt1, as I don't think this happens by default in XP. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:35, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
 * You may get started by reading our Turbo C article. Turbo C was introduced in 1987, which is over 20 years ago. I believe that other free C compilers are available that run on PCs and you might have better luck using a newer one. At least, it may be easier to get information about using them.  The Turbo C++ compiler is still discussed on sites like stackoverflow.com. EdJohnston (talk) 23:47, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I think that it makes the most sense to redirect the output of your program to a file (run ), and then print the file from a normal Windows program.  If you want to programmatically print, then using the special filename   may be your best bet, but programmatic printing is probably pretty painful.  Paul (Stansifer) 12:37, 18 April 2010 (UTC)