Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 January 24

= January 24 =

Spin-button control in HTML form
Does standard HTML provide, or are there plans to expand it to provide, a number-entry field with spin buttons, equivalent to the .NET Framework's System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown or Java's javax.swing.JSpinner? Neon Merlin  02:19, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * No. You can do it with Javascript but there is no standard control for it. (If you Google, "Javascript spinner control" you get a bunch of pretty straightforward ones.) --Mr.98 (talk) 05:42, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

How to connect speakers to my tv
I have a set of speakers with the sort of cords that plug into a computer sound cord. My tv/dvd only has rca inputs. Can I connect them using some sort of adapter? I found one review saying the speakers were good except they cannot be connected to a tv easily. Is there hope for me, or should I give up and just use them with my computer? Calliopejen1 (talk) 04:27, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * If your TV only has RCA inputs, you can't connect that to a speaker. Your TV needs outputs.  If it does have RCA outputs, you can buy an RCA-to-3.5mm adapter cable for anywhere from $5 to $15.  This cable may be called an "A/V-to-Stereo" cable, an "RCA-to-Stereo", "RCA-to-1/8 inch", or "RCA-to-3.5mm" cable.  Here's one from Amazon, and a similar one with a male 3.5mm connection.  Do these look like they would plug in to the input/output combination you need?  Nimur (talk) 04:36, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * The [ http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Adapter-Rca-Mini-phone-Stereo/dp/B000A3GPIS first one] looks good, but my speakers have three of the speaker cord things (black, green, and orange). Is there a cable for that? I'm so helpless because I don't know cord vocabulary. Calliopejen1 (talk) 04:43, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Maybe you can photograph the back of the TV or DVD player; and the speakers, with cord(s). Do you need help uploading images? If there's a black/green/orange set of cables, usually this is a 5.1 system or a subwoofer connection -   you'll need a source device (like a DVD player or Blu-Ray player) that supports surround sound to connect everything, but you can use the Green for just standard 2-way stereo.  But I'm confused - I was under the impression you said the speakers plug into a "computer sound cord" (i.e., like a headphone jack - a 3.5mm stereo cable).  Can you clearly describe or upload an image of how many speakers you have, how many cables they connect to, and what jacks you have available on the TV or DVD?  Nimur (talk) 05:36, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Okay, sorry for the confusion.... My TV has three holes. They take cords that look like this (I think these are RCA cords). My speakers are these and have three cords that look like this. I read somewhere on the internet that these plugs go into a sound card, so that's why I wrote that... They do plug into computer but I only have one speaker jack on my computer. When I plug the speakers into my computer, the black one makes the sound go to the back speakers, the orange one makes it go to the center speaker, and the green one makes it go to the front speakers. Calliopejen1 (talk) 15:01, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * The first image is of RCA connectors, the second is of TRS connectors and is probably the 3.5 mm version. You can get adapters at most big box stores. The Creative Inspire T6100 is a surround sound system— to fully use them, you need a system that has outputs for front, center and surround.
 * What model and brand is your TV? What are the labels on the RCA connectors? ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 15:55, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * My TV is an older Sylvania, I don't know what model. The labels on the RCA jacks are just L and R. I have two DVD players. (I could just hook the speakers straight to the DVD, because I don't need surround sound for normal TV.) They each have L, R, and coaxial RCA jacks. One also has an HDMI jack. Any thoughts? Calliopejen1 (talk) 17:31, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

So, if you want to have surround-sound, you'll need to get a DVD player which actually outputs 5.1 (i.e., has the electronics and software to generate separate signals for each speaker). In the meantime, you can do a few things. First, as I mentioned before, you can use the green cable only (which connects to the two front speakers) and one of the adapters linked above. This will produce sound, but most of your speakers will have no signal and will essentially be "off." Or, you can get an adapter like this, ($13), which "fakes" a 5.1 setup by feeding the single stereo signal from your DVD player to all of your speakers. This isn't really generating the full effect of surround sound, but it will make sound come out of all speakers. Is this what you're looking for? Nimur (talk) 04:30, 25 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your help! I ended up with these speakers because I got them for free to replace a 2.1 set of speakers for my computer I lost the power cord for... Then I found the power cord, so I was trying to put the new ones to use with my TV. But my roommate already has a 2.1 set for the television, so it doesn't really make sense to use these if I can't get 5.1. I don't really want to invest in a receiver or expensive cables because I rarely watch TV/DVDs anyways. So I guess these are probably heading to craigslist!... Calliopejen1 (talk) 20:16, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Looking for a data entry job
Helo sir This is tarak nath choubey from west bengal.

Sir i am a handicaped person and i find a Genuine homebased data entry job for high Earning.

Sir now i am lossed my both legs, that's Why i need this type jobs for high earn To join my artifitial legs.

Sir need your great response as soon as Possible.

THANKING YOU. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nirmalbaba (talk • contribs) 05:17, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Hi Tarak. This is the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk.  We're able to help answer your questions related to technology problems and computer-related issues.  But, we're staffed by volunteers; we're working on a non-profit encyclopedia.  It's possible that somebody who reads this desk may know of online job opportunities, but in general this isn't a great place to post job-seeking requests.  Have you tried searching the web for data entry jobs?  There are lots of commercial job-finding websites which are better equipped to help you find a job you're qualified for.  There are also non-profit and government organizations that can help you specifically, whether you need medical care, financial aid, or job/occupational advice/placement, because you are handicapped.  Here are some organizations which might help:
 * National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped (NIOH), Calcutta - Rehabilitation services including occupational therapy
 * Disability India - information on facilities and benefits
 * Centre for Services and Information On Disability (CSID), Dhaka, Bangladesh
 * Further contact information, including address and telephone numbers, are available in the links I provided. Good luck with your situation.  Nimur (talk) 05:57, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * That was a nice response Nimur, I hope that it helps him Regards,--85.210.90.232 (talk) 12:28, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

php database question
is there any concept of grid is in php as like asp.net data grid ?if not, then what we can used for the same in php. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rahjos4 (talk • contribs) 09:57, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * There is no built-in functionality for this, but you can use PHP to build up a datagrid-like control. Google "datagrid php" and you'll find lots of code that others have used to do just this. E.g. phpGrid looks pretty snazzy and straightforward, though I haven't used it personally. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:34, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Wireshark help
I'm trying to use Wireshark but I keep getting the error ''The capture session could not be initiated (failed to set hardware filter to promiscuous mode). Please check that "\Device\NPF_{30841233-ED1D-4C6E-9CF1-440DB4D01588}" is the proper interface.''

I've tried with Belkin N1 Wireless USB Adapter and D-link DWL-G122 on Windows 7 and Windows XP. How can I solve this problem? Thank you! :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.83 (talk) 15:23, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * You're trying to set the ethernet adapter to promiscuous mode and its driver is saying it can't. Promiscuous mode is rarely supported by wireless ethernet adapters (and is meaningless when the connection is encrypted) and usually doesn't work with modern wired network equipment (even the cheapest hubs really work like switches and don't send all traffic to each port). So you need to set the capture session to not use promiscuous mode. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 15:28, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Note that even if a wireless driver claims to support promiscuous mode, it may be lying. My Belkin USB 802.11g adapter (with the Microsoft Win7 64 bit driver) accepts a request to go into promiscuous mode, but you still only see traffic for the same machine (and broadcast stuff). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:21, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * kismet (program) could be of interest. home page --91.145.88.228 (talk) 16:24, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * See the Comparison of open source wireless drivers for a list of open-source drivers that support monitor mode (virtually all of them do). That page only lists drivers for Linux and BSD, though; not Windows. --128.97.245.117 (talk) 01:14, 25 January 2010 (UTC)


 * You might never get this working in Windows. The driver framework for Windows will crash if you succeed in putting a wireless device in promiscuous mode. I would suggest to try Kismet on a linux-based OS, as then you'll be able to use promiscuous mode as you wish. NeoThermic (talk) 11:18, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Precision of older British credit cards
To which precision could the value stored on older British credit cards? --84.61.165.65 (talk) 19:32, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure I understand the question. AFAIK, credit cards do not store values on them. However the account to which they are attached produces statements accurate to 1 penny (0.01 GBP). I'm not sure what the banks' computers do about daily interest which is probably calculated to more precision - no idea what though - likely to differ from bank to bank. -- SGBailey (talk) 21:55, 24 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Interest usually isn't paid daily. It may be compounded daily, but it will be paid monthly or annually. --Tango (talk) 02:50, 25 January 2010 (UTC)
 * As I understand it, they do the calculation daily based on the balance in the account each day - so yes computed. But to what resolution do they store the result? They certainly don't put 8 decimal places on a statement, but they may well store the balance to that accuracy. -- SGBailey (talk) 15:46, 25 January 2010 (UTC)
 * It's been some time since I read the article, so I don't know if it addresses the question, but Salami slicing may be of interest to the OP. Dismas |(talk) 20:07, 25 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Is the OP thinking of Stored-value cards or a prepaid debit card instead of credit cards? And in particular those that use a magnetic strip instead of a chip? In both cases, I don't know if the precision stored is particularly relevant. Even if the card could store the value to 8 decimal points, they would usually only work with the normal precision that people use in daily life i.e. to the penny in the UK. In other words, when someone subtracts or add value, it would only be to the penny, it may not even be possible to subtract to a greater precision. Nil Einne (talk) 08:46, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Because of Floating point, any system designer would be foolish to store currency values as a real number/floating point number. The only rational method of storing currency values in computers is as fixed point numbers - that is, as an integer representing the smallest possible denomination. Conversion to the printed denomination then happens at the computational level. For example, the computer would do all the calculations with number of pence/penneys/cents, and then divide by 100 to compute the number of pounds/dollars/euros. The original questioner may have had pre-decimalisation British currency in mind. In that case, a reasonable design would be to store the amount in farthings, and then divide by 4/48/960 to get the number of pence/shillings/pounds. If you're confident the system would never encounter a farting, you would be able to store pence, and do division by 12/240 to get shillings/pounds instead. Note that even with a fixed point scheme, you're still going to have rounding issues with compounded interest. -- 174.21.224.109 (talk) 05:47, 28 January 2010 (UTC)


 * The OP appears to be a known on RDL for asking non-sense questions and has been blocked. I suggest this question be ignored Nil Einne (talk) 08:49, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

4G Network
What does "4G Network" mean? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.249.193.88 (talk) 22:42, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * It probably means the next (forthcoming) generation of cellular telephony and data services and equipment - see the 4G article. -- 22:45, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Finding and adding to CSV (Comma-separated values) files
I have some CSV records of my bank accounts, or checking accounts in American-English. The CSV files have the fields of a record delimited by commas. ",," would be an empty field. Is anything available (preferably easy to use and quick to learn by the non-programmer please) that could look through all the records, and for example where it finds an entry for "567.89" in the seventh field, will put the text string "mortgage" in the empty third field? Something to insert an empty field in the right place would be useful too. Thanks. Update: I have found and installed CSVed dot exe, but I do not think it can find in field X and place in field Y. 89.242.94.72 (talk) 23:53, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * OpenOffice.org has a spreadsheet application similar to excel called Calc which can do all sorts of fancy things to CSV files. Doesn't sound like it would be too hard to work out how to do it, you might even be able to do it with the find and replace tool. Vespine (talk) 00:23, 25 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Depending on how many distinct substitution cases you have, a spreadsheet such as in OpenOffice will enable you to use a series of nested IF statements in column Y, acting on values on column X. So, in cells in column Y one might write:


 * =IF(X3=567.89,"Mortgage",if(X3=100,"Cash withdrawal",if(X3=123,"Very large pizza","Not sure what this is"))) --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:33, 25 January 2010 (UTC)


 * (Note that Excel will do the same thing, if you have it.) --Mr.98 (talk) 01:20, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Since BASIC was built to use CSV, I wrote something in that. I had to change the 0A character to 0D in the CSV file to get it to work though. 78.149.231.228 (talk) 02:22, 28 January 2010 (UTC)