Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 March 31

= March 31 =

help identifying
what kind of transducer is this?? http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/6551/transx.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.83.239.13 (talk) 11:58, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Looks like an average 12-inch subwoofer to me. The ridge style looks like JBL.  You need a photo of the other side of the subwoofer if you want worthwhile information. --  k a i n a w &trade; 12:59, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

it's got nothing on the back just the voice coil clear of any make marks or anything else i just wonder the size, type (pro-or home audio) and what the cone is made of —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.83.238.1 (talk) 14:08, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Exact time
Is the time.is website based in Iceland, and if not, how does it use the .is domain? --Магьосник (talk) 13:28, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Iceland does not appear to require .is-registered domains to have a presence in Iceland. -- Coneslayer (talk) 13:39, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Indeed, many countries sell ccTLD to anyone who pays. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.207 (talk) 13:49, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * The domain Time.is is registered to an address in Oslo Norway.
 * The IP address it resolves to geolocates in Oslo as well.
 * So I think it's safe to say that the website in question is not based in iceland. It is based in Norway. APL (talk) 18:28, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Note that even when a country requires local presence or similar for domain name registrations, it doesn't mean they require the server be hosted locally. Malaysia .my for example restricts domains to companies with a local presence and those with a MyKad (citizens and permanent residents) depending on the domain type. However they don't require the company host their website locally, and some do not. I personally have one such domain (as a Malaysian citizen) and not even my name servers are hosted in Malaysia (because I'm using free ones). China despite their often restrictive policies when it comes to domestic internet services clearly does not require it either hence why google can redirect google.cn to google.com.hk (of course they can still block domestic users from accessing non locally hosted servers). There are probably some countries which require servers be hosted locally but I expect it's very few. For a variety of reasons it's not generally a good idea. Restricting domains to local companies or citizens makes far more sense Nil Einne (talk) 07:22, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

oracle
I m studying in pune's sinhagad college in third year of IT(engineering)...i m thinking of doing Oracle Developer course...How much of salary i will get after having BE degree and Oracle Developer certificate..will this certificate help me to get a higher package job???is oracle developer certificate really is in demand??please help.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pratzkool (talk • contribs) 14:58, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
 * If you get your OCP your salary will certainly be on the higher end of the IT scale. I don't know about where you live but here in South Africa, Oracle skills are certainly in demand in corporates that are willing to pay big money for the stability and security that oracle brings. Bigger salaries are part of this budget. Ohter higher-paying IT jobs (at the risk of generalizing) are web/online related (java/flex/etc.), CISCO certified engineers, SAP/ERM. Any expensive technology used in mission critical systems of large corporates will have higher salaries attached. Sandman30s (talk) 09:12, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

iPhone, AT&T and Verizon
According to this article, there will be a huge exodus from AT&T to Verizon if/when Verizon gets the iPhone (due to AT&T's lousy service). My question is this: If this happens and there are fewer users using AT&T, does that mean that AT&T's cell phone service will automatically get better simply because there are fewer people using it? 67.39.175.2 (talk) 15:44, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * It will only get better if the cause of the problems is hitting user capacity. That is only one small factor in measuring service.  The other factors, such as coverage and speed, will not be improved by reducing the number of users. --  k a i n a w &trade; 16:03, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * And could get worse, if it means cutting costs, not developing infrastructure, etc. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:10, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

JScript
If I learn to use JScript on Windows, are there other similar languages that run on Ubuntu?

I've looked at the JavaScript article, but it does not mention Linux on the page anywhere, in fact it gives no information about what platforms it runs on. I'm guessing it could be cross-platform. If that is the case, could I run Jscript code with JavaScript, or would it need slight modification, or a lot of modification?

Are there any other languages that learning JScript would be in introduction for? I have previously only used BASIC, mostly GWBasic. Thanks 78.147.25.63 (talk) 17:07, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * JScript and JavaScript are, for practical purposes, the same. This assumes you are using the version of JavaScript that is currently deployed on the vast majority of web browsers in popular use at the time of this writing.


 * Javascript is probably best learned on its own terms since it is an easily misunderstood language because of its perceived similarity to Java, C and other languages that people usually have as their primary background when they come to JavaScript.


 * I would recommend searching the internet for any video or writing done by Douglas Crockford if you want a good background on javascript.

128.223.38.131 (talk) 17:41, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
 * No, they are not the same. JScript is much more powerful than JavaScript. JavaScript is designed to run inside browsers, whereas JScript can run inside a browser, inside the Windows Script Host, or inside a web server like IIS. Running inside a web server, JScript can be used for server-side programming (sending e-mails, uploading files, etc.)--Chmod 777 (talk) 18:39, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

So does JavaScript run on Ubuntu and Windows or not, or is it a secret please? 78.147.25.63 (talk) 18:14, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes JavaScript runs both places, but you need something to run it in. You cannot just create a file on Ubuntu from the command line and type in some javascript code and run it. You need to run it in a browser or on a server or in some application that supports javascript or one of its language variants. (see e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript#Uses_outside_web_pages) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.223.38.131 (talk) 18:20, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * See JScript .NET. You can compile JScript into .exe programs and then run them inside Ubuntu using Mono. You write your JS files and compile them using the jsc command: . JScript is much more powerful than JavaScript, because JScript has full access to your computer. JavaScript cannot do things such as copy files, modify the registry, etc. JavaScript is designed just to run inside a browser. JScript is designed to do that and administer computers.--Chmod 777 (talk) 18:36, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Some advice: if you already know you need cross-platform capability before you even start learning a new language, don't start out with a Microsoft technology and hope to use compatibility layers on your other targets. Save yourself a lot of pain and just start out with one of the many, many, many, many, many, many, many languages that are actually cross-platform in the first place. --Sean 19:07, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
 * What's the difference (germane to the OP's question) between using compatibility layers and installing a language that uses a runtime? I mean, how is installing Mono on Ubuntu to run JScript a significantly worse plan than installing Python on Windows to run Python? 213.122.19.48 (talk) 05:26, 1 April 2010 (UTC)
 * The bigger the user base, the fewer rough edges and the better the community support. The Python-on-Windows base is going to be enormously bigger than the JScript-on-Linux base.  Also, if you file a bug report on Python that only occurs on Windows, the Python people are likely to fix it; if you file a bug report on JScript that only occurs on Linux, the JScript people are likely to ignore it.  --Sean 14:21, 1 April 2010 (UTC)
 * One big advantage JScript.NET has over languages like Perl, Python, and Ruby is speed. .NET languages are compiled into byte code, whereas a language like Python is interpreted as plain text.
 * Another advantage is readability. JScript clearly deliminates blocks of code with braces, whereas Python does not. JScript is even easier to read than Java, because functions are declared with the word function and variables with the word var. Its syntax is very similar to ActionScript, which is another great language.--Chmod 777 (talk) 21:22, 1 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Python clearly delineates blocks of code with tab indentation! This is just a matter of taste, or how you define clarity; you might say that impressionists produce clearer pictures than the Dutch masters because the impressionists achieve more saturated hues via optical mixing. Python puts less crap all over the screen than Actionscript. It depends what you want. 213.122.49.139 (talk) 22:59, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

How can i create a portable "mini network" with my portable USB as a shared drive?
Sometimes when I travel I have my laptop and simultaneous access to a desktop computer provided by a contractor or client.

In these cases, I would like to be able to access my portable usb hard drive from both the laptop and the desktop simultaneously.

Is there a way I can create a little mini "portable network" that will allow my usb drive to be accessible this way?

Is there a bluetooth solution or infared or whatever that is compact, easy to configure and does not require me to actually connect the usb drive to the local network of the business or office I happen to be in at the time?

128.223.38.131 (talk) 17:38, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * USB hard disks are not designed to do this, no. There are gadgets like this one that apparently make your USB hard disk into a Network Attached Storage device (note:  I've never used this gadget or any gadget like it).  Alternatively you could buy a NAS drive like this which is designed for what you're talking about.  You get to mess around with network configurations a bit, but that's the price for 2 computers being able to share 1 drive.  Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:32, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Alternatively, if your laptop can access the local network, you can attach the USB drive to your laptop and share the drive over the network with whatever OS support is provided. &mdash;ShadowRanger (talk 19:10, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

PDF PECL shaded pie
I'm using the PECL libraries to create PDF documents programatically. I want to have a half-pie that sweeps from degree 0 (right) to degree 180 (left). I want the color at 0 degrees to be green, the color at 90 degrees to be yellow, and the color at 180 degrees to be red. I want the colors to seamlessly fade from one to the other. I can do it easily by drawing a green line at 0 degrees, add a little yellow, draw a 1 degree line, add more yellow, draw a 2 degree line, etc... Is there a way to do this with one PDF object, such as a shaded half-circle? -- k a i n a w &trade; 19:31, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
 * From what I understand, that is the correct way to do what you are trying to do. I personally do not know of a way to create a shaded half circle in any other manner using the PECL libraries except for the manner in which you described. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.162.0.45 (talk) 20:01, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * This example says:

/* Set the second color for the gradient to orange; * define a radial gradient with a size similar to the size * of the circle to be filled */ $sh = $p->shading("radial", 400, 600, 400, 600, 1.0, 0.5, 0.1, 0.0, "r0 0 r1 60");
 * , which sounds relevant. --Sean 20:34, 31 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I will experiment with that. --  k a i n a w &trade; 21:00, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

I'm looking for a speakeasy kinda wiki
I've asked pretty much the same question here but the last time the page was editted was 60 days ago; hence I'm posting a copy here. As much as I like, and contribute to, Wikipedia, I need a place where I can unwind. What wikis are there, their lists, or categories where the people are cool (unlike some folks in say Conservapedia, but also tolerant. Where I can do OR and POV's, upload regardless of some stoopid copyright guidelines, post articles regardless of notability, and upload pornographic images images of sexually liberated women (even stuff that might be hardcore--but not too much like the ones at the video shops). I doubt Anarchopedia and Wikinfo would allow such, as worthy as they are. Would I be incorrect to assume that it would likely have, say, less than 2 000 pages and 10 edits a day? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.205.189.194.208 (talk) 23:25, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

Uncyclopedia and Encyclopedia Dramatica are basically carefree, parody versions of Wikipedia. I'd suggest going there. The only kicker is that you can't edit anonymously, you have to register an account. 24.189.90.68 (talk) 01:21, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, Wikipedia may have a ton of rules, but at least you can stay anonymous. I suppose without the rules Wikipedia's info would be terrible and full of untrue things. Chevymontecarlo. 10:49, 1 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. It is not intended to be a recreational social club or internet forum.  So, the rules here are more stringent than other places.  A few wikis have been pointed out, and Wikia can direct you to thousands of other topic-specific wikis.  But, it sounds like you are more interested in the social conventions, rather than the editing method.  Maybe your best bet is to find an internet forum rather than a wiki?  Nimur (talk) 14:26, 1 April 2010 (UTC)


 * (Same guy, different IP). Again, no problem with WP. If it weren't for the rules, not only would it be a mess, but I doubt all the great articles would have been written. I've thought of forums, and maybe I might join (or get back) to a few; however, I like the wiki format. The problem with Uncyclopedia--aside that they are rarely funny--is that they are even more stuck up than what some critics of Wikipedia accuse Wikipedia of being. Encyclopedia Dramatica is more sexist, vulgar, and hateful--and not really having the humor to justify it. Besides I like to put in more serious content as well as the funny stuff. I'm also on Rational Wiki. Consider Andrew Schlafly. In Wikipedia he's a re-direct to Conservapedia (here's the Talk:Andrew Schlafly page). RationalWiki has far more here as well as the satirical stuff here. At least superficially their article on, for example Obama seems better than Encyclopedia Dramatica (I provided the link, but it seems to be on some sort of WP blacklist). The problem is, what if I wanted to have articles on subjects other than religion and politcs. RW is hardly the place. Consider Nina Hartley: nice article. In RW, they at least have porn but, again, it's more on religion and politics. Moby has a good article here, and a half-decent one in Uncyclopedia but nothing comes up in the RW searches. Also, again, they are worried about copyright: as again, I figure that a wiki even smaller than they would be less concerned--or maybe I should start my own. Hmmmm.  I will be going through the several 1 000's of pages at WikiIndex but that's a while off.70.54.181.70 (talk) 20:02, 1 April 2010 (UTC)