Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 January 1

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[edit] January 1

[edit] software of this kind??

hey!! everybody plz help me with the name of a software that could produce sounds of various specified frequencies.. & also recognize them.. returning those frequencies ...actually im trying to transfer data files using .. sound ...i wanna generate sounds of frequencies.. corresponding to given specified ascii code... and doin the reverse to recognize them to reverse them..

Audacity can generate sounds of a specific frequency and length and amplitude, i think it will read them as well i dont know. its a completely free program but is pretty powerful, check it out and see if it's what you need.--PiTHON 02:14, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
Transfering data files using sound?? You mean you want to modulate and then demodulate an analogue carrier signal to encode digital data? ;) Maybe researching modem might be useful? Vespine 21:53, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] open source flash?

I'd love to own Macromedia flash but cannot afford it. Are there any alternatives that run on linux? A google search has turned up nothing :-( Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 02:09, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

The Flash player runs on Linux, the development tools (bar perhaps under Wine) do not. One can get Actionscript tools (compiler et al) open source, but I think that's mostly it. SVG is intended (with JavaScript as the programmatic backup) to be the open source, open standards animated vector graphics solution, but the current state of browser support for SVG doesn't remotely match Flash. So, in short, no. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 03:15, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
Oh well that's what I feared. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 18:08, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
I use this program to do flash - it is shareware rather than open source. It is for windows, but I have managed to get it to work on Linux using Wine.--Bjwebb (talk) 22:26, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
Thank you I'll give it a go. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 21:16, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
The OpenOffice.org office suite allows you to convert PowerPoint and similar files to flash (.swf). It's fairly basic, so it depends what you want to do with it. (OOo is free but it's a big download, so you'll need a broadband connection). On a side note, the specifications for .swf files are available from Adobe (with some conditions), so there are probably some programs available for creating swf files - SourceForce has some (here) but I don't know how good they are. --h2g2bob 17:17, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
Power point to flash doesn't really do it for me. What I want to do is create interactive animations. But thanks anyway Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 21:16, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
kinetic fusion (used to have?) a free version on their site, apparently the product has been discontinued but you might still find the old free version. It allows you to generate flash from XML. Also OpenLaszlo lets you generate flash from XML, but it is greared toward GUI creation. That won't stop you from doing other things if you want though, and it is open source. NoClutter 17:54, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
Thank you I'll have a look at that too. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 21:16, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
Swftools includes a program called swfc "a tool for creating SWF files from simple script files." -- Bavi H 07:47, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
Well what would any law-abiding, patriotic citizen do when she needs software she can't afford? ^_^; --frothT C 19:51, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
As an alternative, free (as in libre) player, gnash also exists. skip (t / c) 14:58, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Paypal for Ebay

I've never used eBay before, so a couple of stupid questions. Firstly, assuming I'll be doing at least a few buys a year, whats the best way to pay/recieve money? It is optimal to use Paypal, correct? Then, on Paypal, can I just open a personal account to buy and sell on eBay? It mentioned something on the Paypal site that you need the upgraded premier or business account for eBay, but I may have confused this with something about credit card/debit card paying. Thanks! 172.195.1.55 07:56, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

PayPal is a popular method of payment on eBay. PayPal offers protection for both buyers and sellers. You can buy and sell items on eBay using a PayPal personal account. PayPal do charge fees for their services, these are shown on their website. This can be significant when selling low value items. Adambro 15:34, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
Your first two questions require a subjective response. However, if you were to ask an array of eBay users, my gut feeling is that you'd probably hear that PayPal is the best option for an occasional buyer/seller (mainly for the convenience).
If all you are going to do is buy, all you need to worry about is a hard $10,000 limit until you become verified. This entails either attaching a bank account to your PayPal account or apply for their credit card. If you start to delve into selling and using PayPal to receive payments, keep these limitations in mind:
  • Monthly receiving limit of $500 until you upgrade to a Premier or Business account.
  • Receive a maximum of 5 credit card or debit card transactions per year until you upgrade to a Premier or Business account.
  • Withdraw maximum of $500 monthly unless you do 2 of the following 3 things:
    • Add and confirm a bank account
    • Confirm your Social Security Number
    • Complete your enrollment in the Expanded Use Program. The Expanded Use Program requires these steps:
  1. Authorize PayPal to charge a $1.95 USD Expanded Use Fee to your card. (You will receive a $1.95 USD bonus in your PayPal account after you complete enrollment.)
  2. On your next credit card statement, find the 4-digit Expanded Use Number that will be printed in the item description section of the charge.
  3. Log in to your PayPal account, click the Complete Expanded Use Enrollment link on your Account Overview, and enter your Expanded Use Number.
Keep in mind that the biggest limitation is on selling. You only mention buying, which is all that I do and I have been fine with the personal account for a few years now. - (Nuggetboy) (talk) (contribs) 16:38, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] General MIDI's "Charang"

In the General MIDI specification, program number 85 is reserved for instrument sound "charang", part of the synth lead category. what is the meaning of "charang"? Is it related to charango? - Because mine doesn't sound like it.

I think my question belongs here because it is about a technical specification. Congratulationsfriend 08:42, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

I believe they're the same, google image search shows identical looking instruments for both. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 19:13, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
You're right, it does! But also a hodgepodge of other stuff, making me thing they might be misspelled filenames. What i'm most curious to know is: why it is grouped as a synth lead. Congratulationsfriend 09:40, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unicode input

I am using a laptop computer. I try to use the U+202E character with my virtual numpad by holding down a special key. But whenever I type the Alt+E, the "edit" menu pops up. Am I doing something wrong? Scienceman123 talk 09:18, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

Looking at Unicode#Input_methods, Alt codes and Windows Alt keycodes looks like Alt+ only does the first 256 characters, and in decimal. Then there's EnableHexNumpad. Weregerbil 16:54, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] linksys wireless rotor

I have a model WRT54G and wishes to prevent access from outside sources. The Linksys home page is blank. Where / how do I find the incripted code? Thank you. Remy R

Pull up a web browser, type "192.168.1.1" without the quotes, if you haven't changed it, the login and password should both be "admin" without the quotes. This should pull up a page with all sorts of settings/options, along the top, look for Wireless, once you click that, you should see a bunch of submenu options underneath the top row, one of them should be security, click that, from there, you can turn on wireless encryption. WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK are your best choices for security and simplicity (but make sure your wireless card can support them, if its not really old, it shouldn't be a problem), you can set any password you want with WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK. If your card cant support them, you may be stuck with WEP, which is still better than nothing, but you have to remember either a 10 or 26-digit long hex key, and WEP can be cracked by someone who knowledgeable/resourceful enough. Once you enable encryption, your wireless connection to the router will drop until you reconnect with the new password. Cyraan 17:33, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

The default username is not admin, it is just blank. The password is "admin" 70.18.228.121 05:24, 2 January 2007 (UTC)DAnyN

If 192.168.1.1 isn't your router's IP address go into DOS and type ipconfig /all The "DHCP Server" and "Default Gateway" will be your router's IP address --frothT C 06:59, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

You can get infos from this lame page. Note that if your router and network card(s) support WPA or WPA2 USE THEM! WEP is extremely insecure these days. 68.39.174.238 08:39, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Programming help request

I have recently obtained a TI 89 Titanium calculator and am wondering: is there is any logic to the numbering of the keys (for the getkey() command)? Please post your reply on my user page. Alphabetagamma 22:29, 1 January 2007 (UTC) By the way... In the 1985 Boise, Idaho, mayoral election, there were four write-in votes for Mr. Potato Head.

Um thanks for the trivia about mr potato head. Did you know that in the 2001 UK census 390,000 englanders stated their religion as jedi? But to answer your actual question... I have a TI-83 and 84, and the pattern for those is that the first row straight across is the tens (11, 12, 13, 14, 15) the second row including the top arrow is the twenties (21, 22, 23, 24) the third row including the left and right arrows are the thirties (31, 32, 33, 34, 35) the fourth row including the bottom arrow is the forties (41, 42, 43, 44) and so on down the calculator. My numbers probably aren't right exactly since I haven't used it in awhile but that's the general idea. Try using this snippet (you'll have to change it to '89 BASIC)

I know the thing about the 83 numbers... It's the 89 numbers I'm wondering about.Alphabetagamma 03:01, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Lbl A
Repeat Ans
getKey -> K
End
Disp K
Goto A
Just run that and hit whatever button you need the code for and it will display the code on the screen. This assumes that when there's nothing held down getKey returns 0, which might not be true for the 89 but you might as well try --frothT C 06:42, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Google Calculator dead?

I've been trying to do equations/conversions with Google Calculator but it isn't working for me (I don't get the "calculator" screen as I ought to). Is it gone for good? Anyone know? Is it just me? --24.147.86.187 00:34, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

It's not just you because I've just given it a try and it's not working amymore for me either. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 00:37, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Works fine now --frothT C 06:56, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

"9 * 10 + 32 / 3" works for me, both from FireFox search box and Google's main page. 68.15.208.73 13:52, 2 January 2007 (UTC)
OK, it works again for me too. Phew! Thanks for checking. --24.147.86.187 14:40, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

You can force google calculator to evaluate expressions it otherwise wouldn't by appending = to the end of google search queries.