Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2012 August 9

= August 9 =

PHP processing time per function
Is there a way to break down a PHP process and have that process output what amount of time it is spending in what function? Magog the Ogre (talk) (contribs) 00:48, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

Let me rephrase; is there a tool that will help me do it without the brute force method of  Magog the Ogre (talk) (contribs) 00:49, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * That's a code profiler. You can use APD to profile (http://uk3.php.net/apd) and then pprof to process that to produce a report. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 00:52, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Or some people use xdebug's profiler -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 00:54, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you! Xdebug has worked brilliantly. Magog the Ogre (talk) (contribs) 01:46, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

Why does mass-pinging an IRC channel produce the (near-)worst of humanity?
When I'm on an IRC channel and ask for help, no one responds. After I ask, "Is ANYONE there?," no one responds. Yet there are over 50 users in the channel.

So in order to guarantee responses, I highlight the whole userlist (on Webchat) or type "/names #channel" (on other clients) and press Ctrl+C to copy all usernames.

Then I paste all usernames, and hit "Enter" to submit.

I get responses fairly quickly, but they're usually not friendly. Some say, "I hope you go die in a fire." Others say remarks that aren't worth repeating here.

What is it about mass-pinging that causes such incredible ill-will from fellow chatters? (Even though I wish somebody responded before the ping in the first place.) What real-world action(s) would best equate to mass-pinging an IRC channel anyway?

And is there an ill-will-free method to procure a timely response?

Lastly, are ill responses to mass-pings just a hallmark of the Freenode IRC network? What other IRC networks will not mind them as much? Which would?

--70.179.170.114 (talk) 07:54, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

The mantra is generally "just ask, don't ask to ask". In other words, rather than asking for somebody to put their hand up without knowing what they're volunteering for, you will generally get a better response by simply coming straight out and asking your question. Assuming these are technical channels, remember that IRC channels are often populated by people with a range of skills and specialities, only a small handful of whom may know the answer to your question and have time to do so; by asking your question up-front without waiting for somebody to volunteer, you're being polite by allowing the people whose skills don't relate to your question to pay attention to something else, and being efficient by giving useful information up-front.

To me, the real-world action that most intuitively equates to mass-pinging an IRC channel is coming into a room with lots of people - perhaps a party or perhaps a library, depending on the activity level - and shouting "hey everyone, pay attention, I need help" at the top of your voice. That's the sort of thing that may well get a response, but if it turns out not to be a life-threatening emergency it might not be a very kind one in real life either! Not that I'd ever condone things like "I hope you go die in a fire", certainly; but after you've seen this kind of pattern a few times, particularly if you've been polite and said hello only to end up in an hour-long "support call" about something you don't really know much about, it can get a bit frustrating, so it's worth following the norms of the medium.

--Colin Watson (talk) 09:13, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * It's spammy, Spam produces rage, frustration and confusion. 65.49.68.173 (talk) 12:54, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * First, you're technically using "ping" incorrectly when talking about IRC. A ping in IRC terms would be a "test" to either see if someone's connection hasn't failed (you receive a "ping reply"), or to test latency. Servers also do this to all users on a regular basis to ensure you're still there; your client automatically responds to this in the background. Anyway, in some cases (but I assume most non-techy people don't; I, for one, have it set this way), people have their IRC client set to play a sound when their name is said. In my experience, if someone isn't specifically asking for me, it can annoy me when the loud sound I have set to play (to ensure I hear it) is from someone who doesn't want my direct attention. Another reason is that it's just considered plain bad IRC netiquette to do so (in my experience, trolls tend to do this to intentionally anger people). [as an aside: I hope you pasted the userlist as one line - if your paste resulted in one line for each user, that's even worse netiquette; again, trolls love to quickly spam the channel with lines] -- 143.85.199.242 (talk) 16:05, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, it was normally just one line. However, if the userlist is LARGE, my XChat automatically makes new lines to make room. --70.179.170.114 (talk) 00:40, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

laptop switching off itself
am using dell laptop N4050,when am using it it happens sometimes it switch off itself without providing any message — Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.43.65.200 (talk) 10:09, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Two possible reasons: it's overheating (take the case off and clean/check the fan), or else it's a dry joint (a solder joint has cracked) and a critical electrical connection is being lost (by & large, throw the machine away and get a new one). --Tagishsimon (talk) 10:41, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Plus another possible reason: maybe the battery is of no use anymore and the power supply is faulty. In this case, it's worth repairing. OsmanRF34 (talk) 15:40, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * In my experience repairing laptops, it's far more likely to be a heating issue than anything else. If you're comfortable, take it apart and remove the dust; if not, take it to a professional. Magog the Ogre (talk) (contribs) 16:30, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Another possibility is that the on/off switch is faulty. It should have a nice crisp click to it.  If it "smooshes", or doesn't always turn on the first time you push it, this can be a sign that it's bad. StuRat (talk) 04:07, 10 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Also, are you running on battery or plugged in when this happens ? If only one or the other causes it, this might be a clue to the problem, as well as suggest a workaround (use the other method). StuRat (talk) 04:07, 10 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Does the computer immediately restart or does it just die and you have to manually turn it back on? If it restarts, you can disable automatic restart (instructions for Windows XP) which might then show you a blue screen describing the cause of the crash. Another common cause of seemingly random crashes in laptops is faulty RAM. Vespine (talk) 00:42, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
 * If you are running a beta or RTM version of Windows 7, you computer will shut down after 2 hours upon turning on. 171.228.236.29 (talk) 09:40, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

What were the dates of connections for the ARPANET nodes?
I see lots of references to years even months but what was the date of the connection to the ARPANet, specifically Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University)? This would have been in the 1969-1971 range. Thanks so much user:MarketdiamondMarketDiamond 10:49, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I am not sure if this is the information you are after but have found quite a lot of information relating to your question here. Carnegie Tech is mentioned within this page and stated it was added around January 1971.


 * I am aware that you requested a more specific date in your question. The site does mention the first packets sent was on the Oct 29, 1969, but that the system crashed.


 * There is a possability that due to the buggy nature of the design of this new technology, that the actual date is poorly documented as it may have taken an epic debugging session to get the system to work, meaning the actual use of the system was enabled over a period of time, not on any one day.


 * Hope this was of some help. Just my 2¢.


 * Regards

Sirkus (talk) 18:09, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the response and link. You might be right to think of this as a "date" type of event may not be an accurate interpretation of how it actually came about.  The search continues though! User:Marketdiamond MarketDiamond 18:16, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Free web hosting in the Arab States
Hi, I would like to have an adress for free web hosting in one of the Arab Sates which is not: Syria,Lebanon,Yeman,Iraq,Jordan,Egypt and Saudi Arabia I would prefer if it will be in UAE... Exx8 (talk) 15:09, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Uh, why? ¦ Reisio (talk) 16:50, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Because I want one. Exx8 (talk) 17:36, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Why not Syria,Lebanon,Yeman,Iraq,Jordan,Egypt or Saudi Arabia? 65.49.68.173 (talk) 12:39, 10 August 2012 (UTC)


 * A Google search is probably the best way to find this kind of thing. Astronaut (talk) 17:24, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Yes, but I haven't found nothing. I don't speak Arabic, can someone be helpful? Exx8 (talk) 18:58, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Maybe if we knew what you wanted. ¦ Reisio (talk) 18:40, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

Exx8, could you explain what you mean by the site being "in" the UAE? Do you mean that the server is physically located in the UAE, etc., or that it has a .ae address, or something else? Marnanel (talk) 21:28, 11 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Does it matter why he want's an ISP based in a particular location? - of course not. If I wanted a british web host, I wouldn't expect to be questioned over that requirement.  Maybe Exx8 is an expat, just got a new job in UAE and needs to host is website locally?  Why should we care about this requirement?
 * Anyway, to answer the question, the first site in the Google search I provided above is all in English (though their service is not free). I'm sure a country like UAE with such a large expat community is able to provide services in a few languages other than Arabic.  If you have difficulty, someone in the expat community might be able to help you with recommendations or even some basic language help.  You can also try what I do... call up and listen patiently to the foreign language welcome message.  When someone answers ask (politely) if you can continue in English (or another language you know sufficiently well).  Astronaut (talk) 12:44, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
 * What's the first result for the search for you? The first relevent result for me is . They may be in English, but if the OP actually wants the server to be in the UAE, it's not clear to me they provide that. The website says 'Premium Web Hosting Service in UAE - Dubai - Abu Dhabi' but you'll noticed it doesn't actually say the servers are located in the US. They do mention in various places their US data centre but no where do they mention any UAE data centre. All this makes me think they don't actually offer any hosting service with webservers located in the UAE. Nil Einne (talk) 14:43, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I got the same site coming up first, but to be honest I didn't look that closely. Maybe we interprteed the question differently.  I thought the OP was looking for a UAE based company that offers free web hosting, not that their servers were physically located in the UAE.  Astronaut (talk) 17:37, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Marnanel already asked for clarification, unfortunately the OP has not yet provided one. I admit I find Marnanel's 2 suggestions (one of which is my interpretation of the question, more likely then yours (although it's obviously still possible), since I don't really get why someone would really care where the company behind a free web host is allegedly located, particularly if they don't even speak the language (so I presume it's not really a cultural issue) although I guess there may be some minor censorship advantage (since the company behind the service may have more knowledge and concern of legally avoiding censorship although the OP should also be aware the level of service from free web hosting is usually fairly limited, they could easily get more attention from a paid service in a country besides the UAE). If the OP does want the servers to be located in the UAE, I would caution that I expect the aeserver.com case to be replicated a lot since from my (admitedly limited experience) it's fairly common those providing commercial web services (particularly cheap ones) in various developing and even some developed countries only have data centres in the US (and even when they do have locally hosted ones, they usually cost more) due to the costs, customer preference etc. Nil Einne (talk) 19:28, 13 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Astronaut: I didn't ask why he wanted anything; I asked what he meant by what he was asking for. It makes quite a difference to possible solutions. Marnanel (talk) 05:01, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Max my pc speed on the internet.
I have a custom desktop computer and i wanted to know how to max out my internet speed, as of right now my speed is sort of slow i bought a new router linkeys 1500 and it did not seem to improve the speed much it is still slow and does not buffer videos well can anyone help? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.142.178.36 (talk) 17:13, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Eventually Google Fiber might be available in your community.
 * —Wavelength (talk) 17:29, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * A good first step would be to check whether you are getting close to the speed you pay your ISP for. Go to http://www.speedtest.net and run the test. (Once is fine but to get a really accurate result you can try it multiple times over a few days and at varying times. But just do it once for now.) Then compare this with what your ISP is saying you should get. If the speeds are about the same (say, within 10-20%) there won't be much you can do other than pony up for faster internetz. If not, though, it might be something on your end. Post back here and we'll see what can be done. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 17:36, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

Like that answers my question. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.142.178.36 (talk) 17:41, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Results from online "speed-test" websites should be treated with caution. At best, they tell you about the connection between your client and the web-site's host.  In reality, they tell you almost nothing - the host could be transparently cached, proxied, or relayed through the internet by your service provider or by some other provider upstream.  And of course, because The Internet is an internet, and not a point-to-point connection, there's very little useful information you can derive from a speed-test to a single host.  For example, when I used to downlink data from my campus network servers to my on-campus apartment on the residential network, I could obtain internet connectivity speeds upwards of 1 gigabit per second, even though both hosts were on the Internet.  It so happened that "the internet" route I was using happened to pass entirely through campus-owned-and-operated routers that were incredibly fast.
 * After I left school, connecting from the same host to the same server, but now routed over a different, commercially-provided internet service router, I would typically max out at a few megabits per second. My speed to Google did not change; but I don't happen care how quickly I can downlink data from Google.  (Perhaps I'm not an "ordinary" internet user, in that most of my data is raw binary scientific data from a select few servers).
 * If you want to "max out your internet speed," you should figure out what you want to connect to, and buy a fast router, high quality cabling, and own every link between your host and your server. Otherwise, you're relying on some other network engineer to do the best job possible at the lowest cost.
 * If you want to "max out" the connection to Youtube, ... you're just plumb out of luck: you're relying on your ISP, and Google (and their proxy affiliates, the content distribution networks with whom Google conducts business). They are delivering the fastest connection to you that is cost-effective for their business needs.  Nimur (talk) 17:48, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

Getting a programming job without academic credentials
I'm wondering how likely it is to get a computer programming job with only a BS in engineering and self-taught programming skills. I was hired by my current employer as a process engineer, and I officially became a programmer when I took over for a programmer who left. I have 15 years of programming experience in various languages (C, C++, C#, Java, VBA, MS Access, SQL, Matlab, Lua, x86 Assembly, and probably a few others I can't think of right now.) So how do I prove my abilities to a prospective employer? Are there worthwhile certifications I can get? I've done some freelance development on Rentacoder.com and got only positive feedback, but that site doesn't exist anymore, so I don't know how I could back that up on a resume. Jerk182 (talk) 22:54, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Just list the languages you've used and the projects you've used them for, and let the person who interviews you figure out how to verify your skills. The market is hungry for good programmers, so there are going to be people out there who care more about whether you can do the job than about which pieces of paper you can flash. Looie496 (talk) 23:14, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Any reasonable employer who is seeking somebody with 15 years of experience will put more stock in your experience than in your credentials. Have you worked on projects that demonstrate your ability to perform in a future job role?  Your resume should reflect that.  Nimur (talk) 23:55, 9 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Plus it would be good to have an online portfolio of things you have done that your prospective employer can see Horace Grundle (talk) 12:13, 10 August 2012 (UTC)