Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 December 21

= December 21 =

Good forums
Besides this RD (which is sometimes difficult to navigate) and stackoverflow.com which forums are there, which have a descent level (no Yahoo! Answers please) and have a general aim? 212.169.184.68 (talk) 03:06, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * There's Usenet. -- BenRG (talk) 09:26, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * 4chan 188.186.237.190 (talk) 10:32, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * 4chan is certainly a joke here. Quest09 (talk) 15:51, 21 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Could you give us your feedback on what it is about the Reference Desk that you find difficult to navigate? Improvement is always possible.  Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:26, 21 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Reddit has AskReddit, in case that's the sort of thing you're looking for. Marnanel (talk) 23:13, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

.net methods corresponding to old win32 api
i.e., how can I find the .net method corrensponding to FindNextFile function? t.i.a. --83.103.117.254 (talk) 09:35, 21 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Check the help for Directory.GetFiles. --Phil Holmes (talk) 09:41, 21 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Ok but it was only an example, is there any mapping resource? --83.103.117.254 (talk) 14:41, 21 December 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm not aware of one. Given that the .Net framework is quite different from the Win32 functions, I don't think a straight mapping could exist.  But it's not too hard to find the functions that do the same thing, or to read a book to understand how the .Net functions work.  --Phil Holmes (talk) 16:34, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Wifi type N or type G?
My internet connection keeps dropping. Then when I go downstairs it works again. I went to the shop to buy an external antenna. The man had some dongles for type N and type G. If the thing in my computer is type G then I can get a dongle for type N and that will double the range.It seems he was refering to the IEEE. But how I could check which one I have? — Fly by Night  ( talk )  15:02, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * see IEEE 802.11 standards - the N type has a longer range and probably might be more resistance to drop outs - but that might not be the cause of your problem.
 * For N to work you need N type adaptors at either end for it, (not just the aerial, the card, router etc must support N).
 * You can check the type you have by clicking properties on your wifi connection icon.. or maybe it will say on the box - for more specific info I think you need to say what OS you are using, or tell us what model wifi box you have.
 * As for dropouts - someone else might be able to give full advice - possible the range is an issue here - there are programs that can check signal strength which might help you decide - I'll leave that to someone else to complete.83.100.225.242 (talk) 16:49, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * If you buy an IEEE 802.11n router and an dongle that supports it, your problems should be over. 802.11n has a useful range of up to 70 metres indoors and more than 250 metres outdoors and it also can use two different radio frequencies at the same time which means that any interference will likely have much less impact. Of course, it is possible that getting a better 802.11g router will solve your problem too and it would much cheaper. I'm assuming you're using a laptop to connect wirelessly and if you are it will already have a 802.11g adapter built in if your computer is less than 6 years old. However, the only way to find out if a new 802.11g router would work would be to actually install one so unless you can return the router easily if it doesn't work, I would recommend that you simply get the 802.11n router and dongle. Though if you do, make sure you turn on the WPA security on the router because as stated before it will probable work more than 200 metres away and you don't want people freeloading off your internet access point. And if it gives you the option to use WEP for your security, just don't use it. One of my friends used to break it into WEP-secured routers in less than 15 minutes for fun. WPA is practically unbreakable. Thingg &#8853; &#8855;  21:22, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

script
In greasemoney, the following script makes an alert box appear after 6 mins saying "Hello"; window.setTimeout("alert('Hello.');", 360000); I would like to be able to see how long is remaining before the box appears. Would it be possible to generate a little countdown clock somewhere on the page? 82.44.55.25 (talk) 17:10, 21 December 2010 (UTC)


 * The problem is that the timeout event doesn't provide access to the time left. To do what you want to do, you need to go through the following steps:
 * Add an element to the page that will contain the countdown.
 * Write a function that places 360 in the element (360 seconds).
 * Have that function use setTimeout with 1 second call a function using setTimeout that will do the following:
 * Read the value of the element containing the countdown.
 * Subtract one from that value and update the value in the countdown element.
 * If it is now 0, do the alert.
 * Otherwise, call itself with another 1 second timeout.
 * It is a lot of work, but it will do what you want. -- k a i n a w &trade; 17:18, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick answer. I had a another problem with a script, I guess I can ask here instead of making a new section? I'm having trouble with the following: function nowtime { var currentTime = new Date var hours = currentTime.getHours var minutes = currentTime.getMinutes if (minutes < 10){ minutes = "0" + minutes } alert(hours + ':' + minutes); } I think the problem is that part of the script has a "}" in it and the function thinks I'm closing it when I'm not. Is there a way to fix that? 82.44.55.25 (talk) 17:51, 21 December 2010 (UTC)


 * What problem are you having? I copied your code into a very basic html file and it worked without any problem.  -- LarryMac  | Talk  19:07, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * If I try to use

setTimeout("nowtime", 5000);
 * nothing happens 82.44.55.25 (talk) 19:30, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * I guess you're going back to your first script? My comment was on the second script that you added.  What you've just posted tells the system to run the function "nowtime" five seconds from now.  What would you like to happen? -- LarryMac  | Talk  19:47, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * This was for the second script. The problem was greasemonkey does javascript a bit differently. Instead of

setTimeout("nowtime", 5000);
 * I had to use

setTimeout(nowtime, 5000);
 * It all works fine now :) 82.44.55.25 (talk) 19:53, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

I figured it out. Thanks everyone! 82.44.55.25 (talk) 19:42, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Memories of an old computer game
Back in the middle 1980s, I remember playing some Commodore 64 game. Its name was "Quanco" or something similar. It was a Boulder Dash clone and its instructions mentioned a character called Angus McFungus. That's all I remember about it. Does anyone know anything about this game? J I P &#124; Talk 18:50, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Are you sure about that name? Angus McFungus seems to be the victim in The Detective Game - see http://www.mobygames.com/game/detective-game. Exxolon (talk) 19:42, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, I'm sure. It seems to be a different Angus McFungus. The name isn't exactly difficult to think of. J I P  &#124; Talk 19:49, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Could be Quango - see http://www.gb64.com/game.php?id=6083. Exxolon (talk) 20:43, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, that's most likely it. Thanks! J I P  &#124; Talk 04:48, 22 December 2010 (UTC)