Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 December 30

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[edit] December 30

[edit] Multiple versions of warcraft3 - frozenthrone

Good day, i once read an article somewhere on how to be able to keep and run warcraft across multiple game patches but i can't seem to find it any more.. As far as i can rememmber it had to do w/ copying a few dlls then making a batch file.. To be perfectly clear, iwant to be able to make a backup of sorts of patch 1.20c that i can still run after applying patch 1.21.. (am running win xp sp2 if it matters). Thanks in advance 58.69.149.50 (talk) 05:03, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

You would have to keep the .dll, .mpq and .exe files of each version of the game in a seperate folder. Then depending on which version of the game you want to run, copy those files to the Warcraft 3 directory. In order the make it a little easier, create a batch file which would copy the files for you and run the game. The batch file could look something like this (assuming the backup directories are in the Warcraft 3 directory):
@echo off
copy *.dll ..
copy *.exe ..
copy *.mpq ..
cd ..
war3.exe
Hope this helps. Aroak (talk) 15:02, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] to cut away a part of an image

I scanned an image. The top of the image has a large empty area. I want to cut this away so that the image is resized. I am not trying to remove part of the pic and leave the empty white space. I want to remove the whitespace itself. Is this possible? Kneader —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kneader (talk • contribs) 06:44, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Sure, just use any image editor's "crop" tool. If you let us know which image editing software you're using we could better assist you. Equazcion •✗/C • 07:34, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
And if you're on a PC with no image editor installed whatsoever, you can even do this using Microsoft's paint tool. If it's a small image, simply mark the area you want to keep, copy it to the clipboard, create a new image, resize the new image to say 5×5 pixels, and paste the image on the clipboard back. If the image is larger than your work area, it's a little trickier:
  • Remove the unwanted right and bottom part by resizing the image. Note: I'm not talking about stretching, the menu option is, rather un-intuitively called "Attributes", and it's under the "Image" menu. Here you may enter the new size, in pixels, and the part of the image that exceeds what you've entered is removed. You'll have to experiment a little to remove the exact number of pixels that you want. If you remove too much, undo with ctr-Z.
  • When you're happy with the right and bottom edges, rotate the image 180 degrees.
  • Repeat the same procedure. The image is now upside-down, and resizing removes the top and left edges of the original image.
  • Finally rotate 180 degrees again and your image is cropped. --NorwegianBlue talk 09:28, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
I would avoid using MS Paint if at all possible, 'cause it's the most hideously designed piece of software in existence. If you have access to just about any other image editor, it'll be many times easier than the steps outlined here -- although these steps will work if need be. You may want to check out some free image editors that'll be worth getting and installing in case you need to do stuff like this in the future, ie. Inkscape, OpenOffice.org Draw, Picasa, or check out this list. Equazcion •✗/C • 09:38, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

I tried with MSPaint at first and then with OpenOffice Draw. I am able to crop using OpenOffice Draw but can't save the file in jpg format. Any way out? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kneader (talk • contribs) 10:11, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Go to File-Export. There's a JPEG option there. Superm401 - Talk 10:13, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

GIMP is also a good option for this; it even has an autocrop that may be helpful. Inkscape and Draw are more designed for vector editing. Superm401 - Talk 10:11, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

If you don't have access to any image-editing program, and can't install one, an online editor may be an option for some edits, although they're not great for high-res images or complicated work. Picnik is the only one I can remember off the top of my head, but there are loads of others.--Kateshortforbob 15:08, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

You should install GIMP - it's a great tool for this kind of thing - and it's free. When you start it, load up your image from the "File/Open" menu - then click on the 'scalpel' tool (or type Shift-C) to perform cropping. You can then left-click/drag a rectangle over the area of the image that you want to keep (you can refine that using the origin/width/height numbers in the dialog box) - then click on the 'Crop' button in the crop tool's dialog box. Finally, right-click on the image and select "File/Save" from the popup menu. Done! SteveBaker (talk) 16:22, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

I totally agree that the GIMP, as well as other proprietary software is the way to go. However, the original questioner might be working in an environment where s/he does not have administrator privileges. My point with the mini-tutorial above was that it is actually possible to solve the problem using the ubiquitous Microsoft paint. I work in such an environment myself, and find Microsoft paint quite useful for such simple tasks. --NorwegianBlue talk 19:59, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Which language is used

I am interested to know which programming language is used to write the following softwares and OS: Windows, Norton Antivirus, Nero, Winamp, the Adobe series. Thank you. CG (talk) 09:55, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

I believe those are all primarily written in C/C++. Windows, Winamp, Adobe, and probably the others have extensions written in other languages. More information is available elsewhere; it's complicated. Superm401 - Talk 10:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
When substantial portions of the Windows 2000 source code got leaked a few years ago, it turned out to be a complicated mish-mash of C, C++, and assembly language, all compiled with Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler. • Anakin (contribs • complaints) 16:07, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
This list asserts that (parts of) Windows, Winamp, and all major Adobe apps are written in C++. It doesn't mention the others, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were, too. --Sean 16:19, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] An idea for a bot

I'm not a programmer, but I had an idea for a bot. Maybe this bot already exists.

I noticed that certain popular websites tend to be consistently used as unreliable sources.

Examples:

9 out of 10 times these citations are used, they're used inappropriately. As such, is it possible for a bot to automatically watch pages that use such references or automatically generate a list of pages which use such references? Zenwhat (talk) 14:30, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Don't we already have a system which blacklists certain domains? Or are you saying that citations to, say, WSWS, are possibly permissible but deserve an extra layer of checking, so the bot would alert a human? Marnanel (talk) 15:18, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Blogspot is not on the list and I would accept [1] as a reliable source as much as anything else. However, there maybe some cases in which a blogspot [dot] com may not be appropriate (personal nonnotable blogs like mine). was that too obvious? if so, please delete this comment. thanks Kushalt 15:51, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

There's an extensive URL blacklist at m:Spam_blacklist that can be used in various ways. I think that rather than a robot there's already an extension built into the Wikipedia software to stop any of the urls on it being used. If you think those other sites should be added to it you could try discussing it there, but Blogger is a problematic one since there are legitimate uses for it. • Anakin (contribs • complaints) 16:22, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

There's also a special page listing all pages linking to any given external website, eg:
and so on --h2g2bob (talk) 16:24, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
Hmm - that catches the User and Image namespace too, perhaps using the API is better: XML list of pages linking to *.blogger.com. Can only just be read by humans, so here's a html one --h2g2bob (talk) 16:33, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
Marnanel, few domains are inherently evil. Yes, certain ones just need more double-checking because systemic bias is generally spread through the use of the same unreliable sources. It looks like I don't need a bot. The page h2g2bob sent is what I need. Zenwhat (talk) 20:59, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sandisk Sansa c250

hi there,

I have a sandisk sansa c250 for which I would like to do a firmware update. however, the official website only supports WIN XP while I have Mac OS X on the computer I am using. Is there a way for me to update the firmware without walking on my knees to the next block and begging someone to let me use their Windows Computer so that I can update my firmware? Thank you. Kushalt 22:56, 30 December 2007 (UTC) The current version information is below (please delete if it contains any personally identifiable information)

Version Info: Product Rev.: PP5022BF-06.10-S301-06.10-S301.00.04ART Base Code: 06.10-S301-06.10-S301.00.04ART ODM Ver.: S301-06.10-S301.00.04ART OEM Ver.: S301.00.04ART Build Type: RT Build Date: 2006.10.04 Build Number: (Build 13.17)

I just discovered rockbox for my e280. Maybe give that a try for you :D I loooovvve rockbox. I can play Pokemon Red on my mp3 player! Also doom. --ffroth 01:13, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

thanks ... i am itching to look into it. Kushalt 01:57, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

A stable release does not exist but I am trying out the latest build. I hope it works. Kushalt 03:47, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

I got some "file not found" error while booting. the sansa boot option is working, though. I am working on it. Kushalt 04:05, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Can Inkscape speed up development by copying code?

The Inkscape select feature doesn't even let you lasso - it's all rectangles (no convenient for selecting around a circle). Can't they just copy the relevant code from GIMP? --Seans Potato Business 23:13, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Probably not. The code for drawing a little lasso is simple enough; the harder part is making the program know what exactly one needs to select with that area, and here I would suspect there would be a BIG difference between bitmap and vector based graphics. Personally I've never lassoed in Inkscape—it's not the sort of operation one normally does with vector graphics, where you usually are selecting elements rather than parts of elements. --Panoptik (talk) 01:24, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
I've never lassoed in Inkscape, but only because it's not possible. I needed to select and delete many nodes, avoiding other nodes on a curved surface. I had to do it using the only selection tool provided - a rectangle - and it took an extended amount of time. Even if you're just selecting elements, if there are many and you want to avoid certain objects, a lasso tool still becomes useful. --Seans Potato Business 01:32, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
You don't understand the problem. GIMP works in units of pixels - everything is a pixel - so a lasso can simply pick the pixels within whatever shape you select. Inkscape works in units of lines, rectangles, circles, whatever - it literally cannot operate at the level of pixels. Whilst you certainly could write a lasso function for Inkscape, it would have to select whole objects (just like the rectangular selection does). For this reason, lifting the lasso code from GIMP would completely not work - they are TOTALLY different tools at a very fundamental level. It would be possible to write a lasso function for Inkscape - it just couldn't make use of any GIMP code along the way. SteveBaker (talk) 01:39, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
However you CAN simulate it. Draw out the area you want to lasso using the pen, make a copy of both the original object and the lasso, then select both the lasso path and object and click Path/Intersection, which will give you the part of the object that intersects (ie. performing AND on the two objects). Then do the same thing except do Path/Difference instead of Intersection. Once you have finished editing the lassoed section, just select both sections and do Path/union. It may seem complicated here but it's really straight forward once you get used to it. --antilivedT | C | G 04:42, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
The same argument applies to rectangle selection, though, which inkscape does have; it can't just select the pixels in the rectangle. It has to choose to select either all objects overlapped by the rectangle or all objects completely enclosed by it, replace "rectangle" with "lasso path" and you have the same thing. —Random832 16:15, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
I don't care to select pixels - I want to be able to select nodes or objects, depending on the situation and I want to be able to do it with a lasso. Is it worth filing a feature request? --Seans Potato Business 18:16, 4 January 2008 (UTC)