Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 October 21

= October 21 =

Way to see history of pictures I viewed at Google Earth?
I clicked on a photo and closed it, and after seeing some more I couldn't easily track it (there where many Pic icons at the GE simulation. Any way to see "View History" list of pictures I clicked on? Thanks. Ben-Natan (talk) 02:30, 21 October 2014 (UTC)


 * I only use GE occasionally, but since nobody else has responded I'll just say I don't think that's possible. I prefer to use Google Maps in my browser, partly because the history is then available.--Shantavira|feed me 08:35, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

netsh advfirewall set store gpo = %computername%
How to make this work? I know need to exec to get the context but %computername% does not work. It works if I type the actual computer name but I have a batch file to use for a few computers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 42.61.51.210 (talk) 02:47, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

GRUB trusted boot
After two years of searching for some kind of easy secure-boot like process for x86 computers, I was pleasantly surprised recently to discover that GRUB2 has software-based digital signature verification capabilities. So, I fired up Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS in VMware Player. I generated a DSA key pair using GnuPG and exported the public key into the file  which I subsequently placed in. I signed my kernels, ramdisks, and GRUB modules with. I reboot into the GRUB shell and enter: trust /boot/boot.key set check_signatures=enforce I found that not only are these changes non-persistent, but  did not actually add   to the trusted list of keys as evidenced by   returning nothing. I did some reading and learned that  could make an instance of GRUB  with   embedded in it and that this would implicitly enable signature checking by default. So I did that and swapped out my  for the default one. Still nothing. I also tried to use  from the GRUB shell, but I keep getting. What am I doing wrong here? — Melab±1 &#9742; 19:47, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Yosemite default font
I installed OS X Yosemite today and, to my disgust, Neue Helvetica is everywhere. It does not belong in menus and even less in the list of unread mail. Is there a way to go back to the more legible Lucida Grande, if not generally then at least in Thunderbird? —Tamfang (talk) 22:26, 21 October 2014 (UTC)


 * There's a way to change it with Tinker Tool on the development builds. Not sure the same would work with the public release.   Dismas |(talk) 07:23, 22 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Tinker Tool took care of it (in most apps, including Tbird) without fuss. Thanks. —Tamfang (talk) 03:41, 24 October 2014 (UTC)


 * For Thunderbird see here . SemanticMantis (talk) 15:07, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

VLC and image stabilization
I just downloaded VLC to work with some videos I made. It's easy to use and I like it. But there is one thing I haven't figured out how to do: is there an image stabilization tool in VLC? I was at a sports stadium and the crowd foot stomping make it really hard to make a decent video so they're all jittery. Anyone know how to do this? Thanks. Pumpkin Sky  talk  22:50, 21 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Use VLC myself and as far as I'm aware it is purely for playback not editing of the footage, sorry can't point you at any editing alternatives maybe someone else can Sirrob01 (talk) 04:25, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Adobe After Effects can do automatic image stabilization. 217.158.236.14 (talk) 09:26, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Have you considered, for subsequent shoots, trying to stabilize the tripod? Google (or your favourite engine) searches for tripod steadyicam and tripod video dampening seem interesting, including this one http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/open-dv-discussion/469721-vibration-dampening-your-video-tripod.html which suggests using speaker/turntable spikes and a large weight. CS Miller (talk) 09:43, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
 * In case anyone isn't aware, digital stabilization is getting really good, and can be used to make cool stuff where physical stabilization wouldn't help much (e.g. motorcycle helmet cams, etc). Anyway, this subreddit has some tutorial info on the side bar, and occasionally some interesting clips . Here's a tutorial that seems to only use open source tools . I agree with the above that VNC is probably not the appropriate tool for this. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:13, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
 * I had nowhere to put a tripod. Thanks for the tips. VLC can at least easily cut out the unwanted parts of a video.  Pumpkin Sky   talk  20:33, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
 * The last few times I've uploaded videos to youtube, it has offered to stabilize my videos for me. I have always declined so can't say how good it is, (at least one person thinks it's awesome) so it might be worth a try, particluarly considering it is free. Might however not be particularly viable if you have a particularly large video file that you want to leave in high quality.Vespine (talk) 00:13, 23 October 2014 (UTC)