Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2012 August 6

= August 6 =

upgrade android
hello. I have an android tablet running honeycomb and i can now upgrade to ice cream sandwich: but if i do this, will my apps and settings disappear? thanks Amisom (talk) 11:48, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * The short answer: You should always back-up all your data, including apps and settings, before upgrading. See here for a walkthrough of the process.
 * The long answer: You should always back-up all your data, including apps and settings, before upgrading, but you probably don't need to. Unless the upgrade process involves a factory reset all your photos, videos and documents should remain saved on your SD card. Your apps might disappear, but the first time you sign in to Google Play (formerly the Android Market) all your apps will be available to download. Contacts and mail are synced to Google's servers if you have turned the option on, so these will sync back again. I've done a number of upgrades where nothing bad has happened, everything's gone smoothly, and all my data's been there waiting for me when it's all finished.
 * But: doing a back-up will only take you 5 minutes. It's very unlikely something will go wrong and force you to use your back-up, but if it does, that'll be the best 5 minutes you spend all day. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:09, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Aaaand... I've answered the wrong question. My maths teacher would be very disappointed in me. Anyway, to answer the question you really asked, no, your apps and settings should be preserved through the update process. Without knowing what device you have I can't say that for definite, but I've never had to reinstall apps and change settings after upgrading. But, like I say, take a back-up first just in case. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:13, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * If it's an official upgrade from the phone company or manufacturer, then it should preserve apps and settings (though you're advised to back up, and also read any "small print" they provide with the upgrade). If, however, you've got a ROM from somewhere else, then it's likely to wipe your phone, requiring re-installation of everything. --Colapeninsula (talk) 17:23, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

Forcing a timeout with Google cdn
Hi folks, I'm using the google cdn (ie the google include files) for jquery with javascript, and I've found a neat way (here) to include jquery if the google server should be down. The code seems to be working fine, but after a pathetic evening spent waiting for a response from the server, I've realised I desperately need a way to just force the pathetic computer to just get the message that the server at the end just isn't interested in hooking up, and just cut its losses and go for the slightly less attractive option closer to home. Is there any way to force a computer to just accept a timeout? The code is here, although I do not know exactly which include is causing the problems:

Thanks in advance, IBE (talk) 13:07, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * The script you linked to adds a new SCRIPT element to the DOM. I figure you could set a timeout at the same time, and in the handler for that check again whether jquery is loaded (as that script as done already) and if it hasn't, remove that element from the DOM (with, I guess, removeChild). I've not tried this personally, so if this is what you end up doing, let me know how it turns out. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 15:37, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

how can I submit a review on Rotten Tomatoes?
The FAQ on flixster says "You can rate and/or review movies on their details pages, underneath the poster image.". But I can't find any link to post a review. All I can find below the poster image is a link to netflix and another one to itunes. There's also a trailer play button, but no link to reviews.

Please help me.

Thanks


 * Taking this movie as an example, I get 3 columns: (from l-r) the poster image, the title above the 'Tomatometer', and a list of links to other movies. Underneath the 'Tomatometer' is a section headed 'My Rating', with buttons entitled 'Want to see it' and 'Not interested', stars I can click to rate the movie out of 5, a text box which says Add a Review (Optional) and a 'Post' button. Are you seeing something different? - Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:18, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * If the above doesn't work, are you using the iPhone or Android app, the mobile interface, or the website on a desktop computer? --Colapeninsula (talk) 17:24, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

Virtualization of existing OS?
If you have two OS systems, and you install some virtualization tool like VMware; can you run the installed OSs without tweaking it, and with all its settings, files etc? Or you just run something like an image derived from an installed OS? Comploose (talk) 16:54, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, you have to run the installed os first to run vmware. (What are you asking, again?)65.49.68.173 (talk) 17:25, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * If I have Windows on c: (sda1) and Linux on d: (sda2). I run, for example, Linux from sda2 and run the virtual machine. Can I tell this virtual machine to run that c: (sda1) installation? Or it doesn't work like that? Comploose (talk) 18:09, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I have successfully done this using VMware, though in the other direction (Linux guest, Windows host). You just create a new VM and direct it to use a real hard disk partition instead of a file. You need to be careful that no partition is ever mounted by the host and guest OS at the same time, since that would certainly cause data loss. And you may have problems with hardware drivers, as others have said, since the VM hardware has nothing to do with the real hardware (except for the CPU). -- BenRG (talk) 21:52, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * You have a copy of an operating system installed on your PC, and want to move it to a virtual machine? It's potentially tricky, because the virtual machine may be set up to use different hardware than what you have on your actual installation. That's why with VMware the easiest way is to start off with a standard installation with a clean version of an operating system in place, or you can also get an empty virtual machine and install your own operating system. There are software tools that allow you to move a copy of an existing hard disk into a virtual machine, such as Microsoft's disk2vhd which claims to let you move a real Windows installation to a virtual machine, and there's VMware's vCenter Converter which is designed to move a physical installation into a VMWare virtual machine, but I'm not sure how effective they are - or how expensive they are. --Colapeninsula (talk) 17:38, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * No Comploose, it doesn't work the way you imagine. Virtualization software creates virtual hardware inside a program running on the 'host OS' and the real hardware.  The virtual hardware includes virtual disks on which you install a 'guest OS'.  When you start the virtual machine it boots the guest OS installed on the virtual disk.  Once the guest OS is running, you might have the possibility of mounting real disks.  So in your case, you can boot into Linux on sda2 and run your virtual machine, but that virtual machine cannot boot the existing Windows installation on the real sda1.  You will need to reinstall Windows on a virtual disk, or maybe use the disk2vhd tool that Colapeninsula mentions above to copy your windows installation from the real sda1 to a virtual disk.  Astronaut (talk) 07:20, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Actually, that's not the case. It's possible to use VirtualBox to boot a virtual machine with a physical partition (i.e. sda1), or even an entire hard disk. It's tricky to do, but there are instructions here, if you want to try it. WikiPuppies  bark dig 14:10, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

I would really like a new desktop sidebar
Google pulled one of the wrongest moves in the history of their company by discontinuing Google Desktop support, so they no longer maintain their Sidebar. I can no longer find a currency converter widget for said sidebar, and my Gmail feed hasn't updated since June 30.

So what sidebar does a better job and stays up-to-date? I'd like realtime stock widgets, currency, and what all a good sidebar would provide. Thank you kindly. --70.179.170.114 (talk) 19:39, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * You might want to try a different venue. It hasn't been that long since the last time you asked this. BigNate37(T) 19:47, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Indeed. If someone here hasn't given you another option yet then it's getting pretty likely that nobody here knows of another option.  Trying a different group of users might have better results.  Dismas |(talk) 19:59, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * You could take a look at Rainmeter. It's not a direct sidebar replacement, and it has a very steep learning curve, but if you have your heart set on a currency conversion widget it may be your only option. Nothing's gonna bring back Google Sidebar though, I'm afraid. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 20:27, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * And in fact I'm pretty sure the alst time wasn't that long since the time before. Nil Einne (talk) 21:21, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Google search might be helpful too for these type of question! -- Tito Dutta  ✉  23:22, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

CS without programming
Is it possible that a computer scientist is unable to write code? Is there some field in CS that is so "philosophical" that no code writing is needed? Comploose (talk) 23:08, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * That would be like a mathematician who can't do arithmetic. Of course anybody can choose to call himself a computer scientist, but people in the field would never agree. Looie496 (talk) 23:19, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Plenty of mathematicians are not very good at arithmetic. It's not an important skill for mathematicians. -- BenRG (talk) 05:44, 7 August 2012 (UTC)


 * But, in a real life scenario, some college could offer CS courses for hardware developers or about the history of CS or Math of CS, these guys could be more like engineers and still call themselves computer scientists. Comploose (talk) 23:27, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * There are lots of jobs in the computer science field which don't require writing code, including hardware engineering, installation and maintenance. Unfortunately, many computer programming managers and spec writers also don't have a clue how to program, and the results suffer accordingly.  Database management might involve writing code, but doesn't always.  Customer support and testing doesn't require coding.  Most technical writers don't need to code either.  Then there's the vast number of people who use computer programs at work, such as animation software, but never code themselves.  StuRat (talk) 23:56, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * There are people who study theoretical computer science in CS departments who do not code. Some of the subsets of the field are as "philosophical" as it gets — i.e. mostly mathematics plus formal logic. A friend of mine used to do it and always had to emphasize at length that he didn't do coding for his field of study. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:08, 7 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I don't know where I read it, but I understand the second family of IBM mainframe computers were designed with the first family of IBM computers. Hardware designers write code, although not all of it is in languages familiar to the vast majority of programmers. Examples include VHDL, SPICE, and Library Exchange Format. Some of the code is higher-level programs to generate lower-level code. For example, I have written Java programs to create Library Exchange Format. Jc3s5h (talk) 00:23, 7 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Fundamentally, programming is about algorithms. While algoroithms are sometimes realised as computer programs, they don't need to be, and it is possible to focus on algorithm design without writing code as such. A very talented algorithm designer could never touch a computer and still provide value to computer science. That said, you are writing code, you just aren't expressing it in a particular computing language. :)
 * As StuRate mentioned, there are a lot of areas in IT that could be taught as computer science but don't necessarily involve coding. Personally, I think some understanding as to how to program is valuable in all areas of computer science (noting that I'm a programmer, so I'm not unbiased), but there are areas where it isn't a core requirement. So I think that systems analysis is better done by people who know how to cut code, but I know some people who work or teach in the field with little or no programming knowledge, and while I think coding is more valuable for systems design, it is still possible to be a good designer and not know how to program. (Although I'd be inclined to argue that you would be a better designer if you did). - Bilby (talk) 00:58, 7 August 2012 (UTC)


 * All of the responses above make sense in theory, but the simple fact is that you can't even get an undergraduate degree in Computer Science without doing a lot of programming, much less a graduate degree. Looie496 (talk) 02:34, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
 * It's easy to get a graduate degree in CS without writing any code. This is a CS paper. So is this. Even in undergraduate CS, though you'll inevitably write a lot of code, learning to write code is not the point. Computer science and software engineering are different things. -- BenRG (talk) 05:44, 7 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Edsger W. Dijkstra springs to mind. "Dijkstra was known for his habit of carefully composing manuscripts with his fountain pen ... Despite having invented much of the technology of software, Dijkstra eschewed the use of computers in his own work for many decades." Not quite what you asked for, but similar. Card Zero  (talk) 12:14, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Video to GIF in Ubuntu
Can anyone suggest a software which can convert video to gif ext images? Software centre softwares will be preferable! -- Tito Dutta  ✉  23:19, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
 * GIMP can do it using the GAP package, if it can handle the type of video you have. Looie496 (talk) 23:25, 6 August 2012 (UTC)


 * ffmpeg can do it thus: ffmpeg -i in.mpg -pix_fmt rgb24 out.gif -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 23:28, 6 August 2012 (UTC)