Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 December 27

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[edit] December 27

[edit] axel.dav

can anyone supply me with the removal tool for the above? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.230.102.166 (talk) 22:20, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Google is your friend: [1] - also please sign your posts with 4 tildes (~~~~) -- Aetherfukz 01:12, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Does a Wiki-game exist?

I am not talking about a wiki aboug games, or about a particular game. I am talking about a game which uses a wiki to play it. Most likely such a game would use the wiki to rp out situations and other such things, and it would also use the wiki to document the statistics of the game or whatever. I am asking this because the (general) idea came to mind when I stumbled upon something that seemed to be like this, but actually wasn't. I think a fantastic game could potentially come to be with a dedicated enough creator(s) and without knowing anything about the game (or even if such a game exists) I've wanted to find it and be a part of it. Strange I know. I figured I'd ask here if any of you have any ideas. Sadly, I've found that google is useless for discovering this, although maybe I'm not lucky enough, who knows. Thanks a lot, I'm also posting this is the Misc. reference desk to try to get the largest group of people that might know about this. Thanks. Chris M. 06:18, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

I imagine you'd want some extra features to implement this idea. The MediaWiki source code is freely available, written in PHP (easy to learn and edit), and destined for such great things if you're willing to put the time into it. 68.15.208.73 15:38, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
Some people play Chess on Wikipedia: Wikipedia:Sandbox/Chess. Uncyclopedia also has several Wiki games, like Game, Zork and even Game online which, in the spirit of Wiki, you are supposed to help make. I dont know about any Wiki RPG, although I am sure such exist. Shinhan 15:51, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Accessing Wikipedia from Java?

Hi all-


I am trying to write a Wikipedia tool in Java, but while I am able to get the html for pretty much every other site I've tested (CNN, Google, Apple, etc.) including my own test MediaWiki, with Wikipedia I always get a 403 error (forbidden).

My example code is:

URL input_url;
String fullURL = new String("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X");
//String fullURL = new String("http://www.google.com");
//String fullURL = new String("http://localhost/wiki/index.php/Main_Page");      
try
{
input_url = new URL(fullURL);
HttpURLConnection urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) input_url.openConnection();
urlConnection.setRequestProperty("User-Agent", "Mozilla/4.0");
urlConnection.setRequestMethod( "GET" );
urlConnection.setDoOutput(true);
urlConnection.connect();        
System.out.println("Response was : " + urlConnection.getResponseMessage());                
InputStream urlStream = input_url.openStream(); // causes 403 error exception to be thrown

I've seen there are Perl modules that work, and I have a quick Ruby program that also works, but for whatever reason Java is not cooperating. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.176.139.105 (talk) 19:41, 27 December 2006 (UTC).

Your code works perfectly fine when I try it. Do you have a local firewall that prevents access? Weregerbil 22:17, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

No, no local firewall at all. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.176.139.105 (talk) 01:52, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

It is the USER-AGENT that is wrong. Use the one from Mozilla Firefox and it will work; I experienced same problem with my PHP bot. (Oh, and do not use IE6/7s, as there may be problems with UTF-8...) HardDisk 16:54, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Instead of getting the input stream from the URL, get it from the HttpURLConnection by using the getInputStream() method. Otherwise all of the changes to the connection have no effect. It should look like: InputStream urlStream = urlConnection.getInputStream();

[edit] DVD sound problems

I'm trying to burn a DVD with footage taken from my old camera. I transferred the footage from my old 8mm Sony camcorder to my computer using video capture (like the process in WMM) The footage is stored on my computer in an AVI format and does play with sound. Whenever I burn it to DVD, there is absolutely no sound. However, the video is unaffected. I've tried playing the DVD on other players and I get the same result. When I use videos in other formats (MPEG for example), this problem does not occur. What can I do to have sound? --The Dark Side 19:56, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

How did you burn the DVD? You can't just burn video files on a data-dvd for it to be played on a regular DVD player, it has to be authored, that is converted into an MPEG stream with AC3 sound files. Sounds like your problem stems from this, because you said it worked with MPEG files but not with AVI (which is a computer-only format) files. Try to author and burn the DVD with an authoring program like DVDlab then it may work. If the sound in the AVI plays on your computer without problems then it is just a matter of converting the video and sound files into the right format for it to be played on standalone players. Aetherfukz 08:43, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Medion MD9717/Philips SAA7134 & Debian

Hi all, what software do I need for Debian Sarge 3.1r4 to get my Medion MD9717 tv card (Chipset: Philips SAA7134) working? Google didn't help me in this case :-( HardDisk 20:18, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if it will be possible, as according to the Linux TV wiki support for the SAA7134 was introduced in Linux kernel versions 2.6.10 (analogue TV only) and 2.6.12 (dvb), but Debian Sarge ships with Linux 2.6.8, which will not include support for your card. -- AJR | Talk 01:44, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
after kernel upgrade and a hour of messing with the nvidia driver it worked. thanks! HardDisk 20:20, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] question about business and software

what is the difference between sole propriterships, partnerships, and corporation businesses, and how do you incorporate a business? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.10.15.194 (talk) 21:09, 27 December 2006 (UTC).

What's the computer related enquiry? As to the rest, sole proprietorships are a business run by one person, a partnerships is a business run by two or more people, a corporation business is literally a business which has been incorporated, this means it is a legally separate entity from its owners/proprietors. To incorporate a business you have to follow the steps of incorporation. [here are some links] specific to Canada in this case, but they'll give you an idea of what is involved. Of course if you are deciding if you should do this you MUST seek professional legal and financial advice. One of the highest costs associated with incorporation are the legal fees, this is unavoidable. Vespine 22:41, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] dvd-r cd-r

do cd-r's or cd-rw's hold video, and could they play back on a dvd player? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.23.104.243 (talk) 22:33, 27 December 2006 (UTC).

video is a mystical thing which comes in MANY guises. CD just like DVD do not hold video, they hold DATA. Once you make that distinction, the rest is cake. Or, in layman, yes, there is no reason why CDs can't hold video and no reason your DVD player can't play them, as long as it is compatible of course. The issue is really just that CDs do NOT have enough space to hold a feature length worth of MPEG-4 data. They do however have enough room to hold a VCDs worth, which are still quite popular in certain markets. Vespine 22:47, 27 December 2006 (UTC)