Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 November 11

= November 11 =

assign programs to network cards
I would like to know if there is a way to assign programs to specific network cards. Example: I have firefox, i want that to use my ethernet connection, then i have iTunes, i want that to use my wifi1 connection, then i have starcraft, i want that to use wifi2 connection. and so on in this manor. I have been googling and googling, and i have turned up only one answer: Not Possible. Knowing computer i know that this is complete bullshit. My goal is to get this to work on windows 7, but any OS is an option. 76.20.35.236 (talk) 05:39, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * One way to do it would be to set up a network proxy for each network card and configure each application to point to the desired proxy. Another way would be to twiddle your routing tables so different cards will connect to different services preferentially. Another way would be to use a dynamic library to intercept calls into your network library and force them to use a particular interface rather than specifying "don't care".  --Sean 17:34, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Converting .ps to .ai on Vista
Does anyone know how to convert .ps files to .ai files? I would prefer a way that does not involve using Ghostscript while I struggle to get my head round it. Cheers. -- KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 12:55, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Inkscape should be able to do this. Sometimes with complicated images its AI export leaves something to be desired, in my experience, but it's probably the only free way to do it. Obviously Adobe Illustrator can do this quite handily but I'm assuming you don't have it since you are asking. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:13, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, I used Inkscape to get the .ps format. I now need to convert this to .ai. Inkscape won't do this, unfortunately (hence using .ps format as a start point). Inkscape can open .ai files, but can't make them. Inkscape can make .ps files, but can't open them. It's pretty..... weird. -- KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 17:43, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Oh. Hmm. Dare I ask why you need them in AI format? AI is proprietary to Illustrator, and if you have Illustrator, you can export them from Inkscape as SVG and open those with Illustrator (or send them to whomever is trying to open them, if that's the case). If you need to insert them into something else, there are probably better formats (e.g. EPS) for doing that than AI. I'm not sure any program other than Illustrator can save native AI files... --Mr.98 (talk) 20:51, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I need the splines. I am trying to use Japanese characters in a 3D art software that does not support the input of unicode characters. I read somewhere (in a thread on the software I am using - dated many years back, and therefore cannot be resurrected) that somebody used Inkscape to convert to .ps and then Ghostscript to convert that to .ai, then imported that file into the software to get the Japanese he needed. Anyway, thanks. -- KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 01:05, 12 November 2010 (UTC)


 * There's an article on the format (Adobe Illustrator Artwork) that lists programs that can support .ai file. That said, most recent versions of Illustrator work with (single page) PDF files just as well as they do with .ai files. The PDF page notes that recent Inkscape versions can edit PDF files. The Inkscape wiki also mentions that there are external scripts to directly import postscript files into Inkscape . There's even a .ps to .ai conversion script listed on that page. -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 21:09, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Cheers! -- KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 01:05, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

mobile network
what is difference between cdma gsm —Preceding unsigned comment added by C2me happy (talk • contribs) 13:35, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * We have articles on CDMA and GSM which may help. --Phil Holmes (talk) 14:46, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

10 Gigabit Ethernet to DDR InfiniBand Converter
Hi Everyone, I am now seeking a device which has one 10GbE Port (RJ45 type), one DDR InfiniBand Port (CX4 type), and will convert signals from Infiniband to Ethernet and vice versa. Anybody know any suitable device(s)? Thank you, everyone. Rocketshiporion ♫ 19:01, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

My isp disconnects my connection
I need a program that can make random connections and google searches or whatever so it seems like someone is using the internet, even when no one is at the computer. My isp disconnects my connection after 10 mins of no activity, and then I have to dial back in over and over and over and it's driving me mad. A program that could fake internet activity would be ace —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.197.232.246 (talk) 18:55, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Might be as simple as using ping with (in windows) a -t switch? It depends what they're looking for. --Tagishsimon (talk) 19:01, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * (In Windows) you could test this by clicking on "Start/Run", typing "cmd". This will bring up a "dos" prompt. Then type "ping -t google.com" and then hit enter.  This will send a "ping" signal to Google.com every second or so.  Your ISP might be too clever to be fooled by this, (ping signals are really just used for testing purposes, so they might not count them as "usage".) but it's worth a shot.
 * However, I'm not sure if this is a good long-term solution. Google might not appreciate there servers being used in this way. APL (talk) 19:49, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * How about leaving a web-browser open to a page that uses AJAX? For example, Google News runs server-side and client-side scripts to "reload" content on the page.  This will generate new network-traffic at periodic intervals.  You could also write your own client-side script to guarantee a particular functionality or refresh-interval.  Nimur (talk) 19:51, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Make a .html file on your computer and put the following in it;     That will refresh the front page of wikipedia every 30 seconds. You can change the time interval and the site it refreshes by editing the code. 1230049-0012394-C (talk) 19:54, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * The foundation would probably not appreciate that at all. APL (talk) 19:57, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * The official policy is outlined at the crawler policy, and current robots.txt does not specify a crawl delay. Common courtesy is to use an "intelligent non-zero delay."  I think 30 second update intervals will not harm our servers.  But if you're intent on manually refreshing your content, why not use a service (like Google News, as I mentioned above), which is intended to keep a sustained traffic load?  Nimur (talk) 20:10, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * I just want to note that a refresh from one user ever 30 seconds will not hurt any website that is being run on a dedicated server. It's not that much bandwidth in the face of things, esp. since the browser will probably cache the images and non-changing content. Nobody at the WMF would even notice if someone was doing that. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:44, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Searching on Google for "freeware keep connection open" (without the "") brings plenty of results. 92.15.3.20 (talk) 22:26, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * It seems to me any chat client (IM, ICQ, MSN, QQ, Skype, etc) would provide enough constant flow to keep your connection alive, and might provide other positive effects (folks could leave you messages while you're away). The Masked Booby (talk) 01:13, 12 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Are you sure it's your ISP and not actually your router that's dropping the connection? The reason I suggest this is because a lot of routers default to dropping the connection after 5-10 minutes of idle time and this might be what is happening here. Obviously if you don't have a router then this isn't applicable, but I just wanted to mention it in case! If you do then you need to go into the router's webpage/settings and change the drop inactive/idle connections setting, usually to 0 minutes (making it never disconnect).  ZX81    talk  01:40, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

Google News page reloads automatically in 15 minutes. Open this page in one tab of browser and after around 8 minutes open the page in another tab. These two tabs will ensure Internet usage activity once in 10 minutes. - manya (talk) 04:50, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

If you are using Firefox, try. The Hero of This Nation (talk) 22:40, 12 November 2010 (UTC)