Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 July 31

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[edit] July 31

[edit] a home printer for business cards?

Is there such a thing as a printer for my home that I can load with blank business cards, and it will print them out in duplex (double-sided)? If so, what brands or models are currently the most popular or highest-rated in the "low budget" category (maybe black and white ink jet, etc.)?--Sonjaaa 00:31, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Almost any printer will suffice. You can purchase pre-printed or just pre-perforated paper just for this task. are a few. However, these will not have the quality and features of a professionally-printer business card. For instance, you won't be able to get raised print on a laser- or inkjet- printed business card.

No I don't want pre-perforated paper. I find the quality poor, and there is too much work in detaching the cards. I want to load blank business-sized cards into the printer and it print on both sides.--Sonjaaa 02:12, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

That will likely require a custom printer. Consumer printers are unable to handle paper that small. It appears that Canon might have a solution, however: [1].
Canon says CX320 is the cheapest version whose price, and according to this source its price is 3100$... and can be found only in Japan. I couldnt find any price quote from Canon website, Google Product or eBay. It seems there is no low budget variant for card printers if you ignore pre-perforated paper. — Shinhan < talk > 12:08, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Might want to try printers from Fargo Electronics (I am suprised there is an entry for them). Anyway, they sell ID card printers that are Thermal Transfer I believe. Might be out of your price range though. --GTPoompt(talk) 12:13, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
I have had very successful results using "Pro Edge" business cards which are cut rather than perforated and have thin adhesive strips which hold the cards together in an A4 sheet for printing [2]. I have a Hewlett Packard Laserjet 2300d (the d stands for duplex) which prints the card-sheets with no problem. -=# Amos E Wolfe talk #=- 12:14, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Yeah but, the problem with those is that in order to have the backing paper, the cards themselves have to be thinner than the perforated ones. Flimsy business cards, ptui. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 16:34, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
Not so, in this case. They don't have a full backing sheet, rather something that resembles easy-peel sticky tape across the dividing lines between rows of cards. -=# Amos E Wolfe talk #=- 16:37, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
Really! That's new to me -- I'll check 'em out, thanks. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 05:42, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
I once saw an industry-advert for a printer that did that - although it probably only printed on one side at a time (i.e. you would have to do a run of the one side, turn the cards over and do the other side). I think the quality was "okay" (not great) and the company I was with found the whole thing to be a bit too expensive and not economical to get unless you print a great deal of cards and the customer's don't mind the lower quality.
These days card printing works a bit differently, depending on the quantity ordered and the amount of colours used in the card, and the glossiness of the paper.
For example, if someone wants a textured paper and they only want two colours for example a special red and black, then you could just litho-print them on A4 papers and cut them out - they would load a generic black ink and do a run, then they would load the specific red you asked for and run that. But to set up a litho printer costs ink and time and chemicals, so there would be a minimum run of say 250 cards. On the other hand if they wanted only 50 cards, you would be forced to use a digital printer, printing 5 pages of 10cards, and then cut them out. Now if they want a large run (say 1000 or 10000) of full-colour business cards, i.e. cards with at least 3 unique colours, then it becomes cheaper to print them on a 4-colour litho printer (the 4 colours being Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black aka CMYK which will print you "any colours"). So it all comes down to economies of scale.
At the end of the day, one option to look at is to find a person with a 4-colour printer (one model is a Heidelberg), tell them you run a small printing business and you want a wholesale price, and then you collect your orders, do the graphics, put your markup and send out the order. The problem is with business cards that these printers can't be set up for only 1000 cards even, typically they need to collect about 10 orders of 1000 cards = 10 000 cards and then they do a run, meaning your clients might have to wait a few days. Then the additional process of a high-gloss coating can add an extra day. That said, the printer you find will be able to tell you all these things.
Sorry I can't tell you the name of the printer that prints straight onto pre-cut business cards, but keep looking you'll find one. Rfwoolf 04:07, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Web browser switching problems

My user page and user talk page worked great under IE 7, but I use Mozilla Firefox on my new computer and have problems. I need the pages to look great on both browsers, how can I do that? There are also a few problems with IE 6.  Tcrow777  talk  01:56, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I'd like a solution towards World Peace, but I'm not gonna get that, either. Seriously, this is a gigantic question, and there is no short answer. I would probably start by reading at Quirks mode, though. --Mdwyer 02:07, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Is there any way that the fancy stuff would automatacally not be included when someone is not using IE 7?  Tcrow777  talk  02:41, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
For that you would want to look at Browser sniffing. --Mdwyer 02:51, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Those are articles detailing stuff that cannot be done on Wikipedia. I need something that works.  Tcrow777  talk  02:55, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Ah. I misread your question. I'm afraid I probably can't help you with your userpage, aside from just a recommendation to try to stick to techniques that work well with both (all?) browsers. I'm sorry I'm unable to help you more. --Mdwyer 02:59, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
I will wait for someone else to answer my question. Thank you!
What I want to know is how to fix my user page to work right in browsers other then IE 7.
 Tcrow777  talk  03:18, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
What exactly is wrong with it? If you're using some sort of code that seems to work only on IE7, then the standard procedure would be to use something that works in IE5 instead, which should display perfectly in IE7 as well, as well as FF and all the rest. There's nothing on your UP that would require the use of recent modifications in IE7s code. I recommend you don't use templates to separate the parts of the page as you've done right now; that's probably the number one culprit for screwey layout. 58.156.47.154 04:07, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
And, the system here doesn't take that well to pure HTML, because there are a handful of restrictions. Rewrite the tables in wikicode. 58.156.47.154 04:09, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

It is in wikicode.  Tcrow777  talk  04:20, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Dude, no offence, but looking at your editor review request, you've made about 800 edits, 200 are your user pages, and the rest I can't even find a single decent mainspace edit which isn't just a minor or formatting. Wikipedia isn't facebook, maybe you should worry less about your user page and worry more about what you are actually contributing? Please feel free to commence flaming reply. Vespine 04:56, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Actually, I think your right, that's why I have been looking for advice on fighting vandalism, but no one has given me any.
The problem code line appears to be in User:Tcrow777/main style:
<div style="text-align: left; width: auto; height: 100%; padding: 8px; background-color: #FFFFA4">
 Tcrow777  talk  05:27, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
You call that wikicode? Just putting a page full of HTML into a template doesn't make it wikicode dude. 58.156.47.154 05:32, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Apparently, firefox is having trouble with "100%" in the "line of trouble".  Tcrow777  talk  06:06, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
All bugs appear to be fixed!  Tcrow777  talk  06:30, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Congrats to having a beautiful page now... :o( ... I'm always stunned by how much people care about their (or their user pages') looks rather than what they're actually doing! ... --Ibn Battuta 13:51, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

You said no-one had given you any advice on vandal fighting - have a look at Wikipedia:Vandalism. That should get you started. If that doesn't help, then the Community Portal has plenty of things to do. If you have problems with any of it, then the Wikipedia:Help desk will help. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 16:53, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] GFX laptop in Asia

I live in Japan, and I've always loved the configuration of Alienware' laptops, though shipping one from the US to Japan would cost a lot of money. I've tried to go around to a few dozen "little guys" to see if they could make me a laptop of considerable power and price, but the market is just so different here in Japan when it comes to quality systems, and I usually just get laughed at, never mind the fact that I probably wouldn't trust any Japanese laptop manufacturer even if they did give me a good price.

Alienware US doesn't ship to Asia at all, but Alienware.uk does. A 700 EURO (which is more than I planned on spending) machine ends up costing more than 1200 EURO (which is way over budget) after shipping.

My house is in Canada, and if I send it there, it costs me only about 1400 CAD (1100 US?), which I can handle. But I'm still in Japan, and if I send it overseas, I have to pay shipping again, and I presume customs? would hit me again.

I've looked hard for some comparable gamer-ish computer manufacturer in Japan, but the only one I found is just an extension of the company that laughed at me in the first places when they couldn't supply a system with a reasonable price. I'm kind of at a loss here... have I missed anything? Must I give in and deal with it? 58.156.47.154 03:54, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

You can't find a good laptop in Japan?? Are you serious? I find that very hard to believe. Isn't that like saying you can't find a lay in a brothel? ;) Have you been to Akihabara? Maybe it's a cultural difference that's preventing a successful transaction, I'm pretty sure you are in just about the best place on earth to find any kind of laptop, as long as you know where to ask. Do you speak fluent Japanese? If you don't, maybe you need to make friends with a tech nerd who does. Another reason not to import is that laptops are not as robust as desktops, many components on them can fail, and unlike a desktop, they are usually the opposite of "modular" meaning you can't just swap out the broken component with a generic one you bought at the market, most laptop warranties are NOT international unless you pay a premium for international warranty.. Vespine 04:28, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
I do speak fluent Japanese, and yes I've been to Akihabara, though I try not to. There's no reason to believe that buying a laptop would be cheaper in Japan. Have you ever studied economics? Electronics are big business here, which means they charge high prices, and people will pay because a) they have the money b) they believe that there is a need to keep up with all the newest trends. I could probably find cheap memory and other components in that one section of denkidai, but laptops are a brand commodity, and demand for laptops is really high here. 58.156.47.154 05:09, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
I'm still confused, you say 700 Euro is more then you wanted to spend, the cheapest laptop I can find even on the US alienware site is US$1000 which is also about 700 Euros. Unless someone can come up with a better idea, I think you have to deal with it, I'd recommend upping your budget and sourcing locally, perhaps a VAIO. Vespine 05:25, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Just a little miscalculation, sorry (trying to work with 4 currencies here -__=). 700 is right about my range, it's just the shipping that screws me over. VAIO is pretty much the last option on my list... with a 3D card there are few laptops in Japan more expensive, never mind all the bloatware. 58.156.47.154 05:30, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Yeah I'll pay that, fair call... I just remember getting a steal on a digital camera and a MD player back in the days, obviously laptops are a completely different kettle of fish. Sorry, don't know what else to suggest, apart from the obvious: if you take a laptop with your hand luggage you won't pay import tax, regardless of how new it is. So if find someone travelling to Hong Kong or something:) except I'd still personally not recommend importing a laptop because of the before mentioned warranty issues. Vespine 06:05, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cantralized Wikipedia geographic database?

Based on the recent visibility of Wikipedia geographic coordinates on Google Earth, I have collected a set of 600+ significantly incorrect geographic references. For example, 300+ of them are communes in the Calvados department of France which were placed east of the Prime Meridian, instead of west.

I have been told on the general help desk that there is no central database for such information. That would imply that the Google Earth presentation would be wrong in other languages, even if I manually fixed the English pages.

Surely, there must be a way to introduce a centralized geographic database which could be automatically referenced by templates for each language translation, and for any other georeferences.

Equally, I would expect that the multilingual links on the left-hand side of each page should be derived from a links database, so that when a new language translation were to be created for a page, all of the pages for the existing variuous translations would get the new link, and the links would always be in the same pseudo-alphabetic order.

Can you direct me to a forum where these database questions could be explored?

Fairfax Geographer 04:18, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

The central servers of the Wikimedia Foundation is in Florida, USA.  Tcrow777  talk  04:28, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Village Pump? Splintercellguy 04:32, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Problem with WMM / downloading YouTube videos

The first question can be summed up with this pic. M$ didn't have anything on it. MY OS is XP SP2, and it's WMM 2.0

[3] O_O.

For two, how do I do that? I downloaded Video downloader for FF, but it doesn't work. I don't knwo how to play .flv files. Can Windows Movie Maker read them?

Much appreciated. --67.66.232.120 04:36, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

  • I don't know the answer to your first question (although the same thing has happened to me before - you can just move the "error report" message to a corner of the screen and ignore it). To your 2nd though - there is a program called "FLV player" that can run flv files. Also, I believe VLC player can run them as well (though you need to download ffdshow, a codec package). Maybe we have an article on FLV? ugen64 05:05, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Although I really want to know how to get the .flv into WMM. --67.66.232.120 05:25, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Use VLC to convert to .avi or some other format supported by WMM. — Shinhan < talk > 12:16, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
There are instructions here. —Wayward Talk 00:40, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Overwriting of geographic coordinates

The article Lambach exhibits a rather rare problem in the double overwriting of the geographical coordinates in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Can someone describe the problem and a solution, so other articles with the same difficulty can be fixed? Fairfax Geographer 05:31, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

The problem seems to be that coordinates have been entered twice - in the infobox at the top, and using Template:coor title dm. Removing one of these should fix the problem. Also, this probably belongs at WP:VP. ugen64 05:50, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Enquire about computer projects

I am a Polytechnic student studying in Computer Technology branch & I want to know the sites where I can get free computer based projects with their implementation detalis.

You'd think college students would be able to ask better questions... Anyway, what type of project are you looking for? Off the top of my head, sourceforge has a lot of programming stuff you could work on. If you want something more low level, take a look at this. You're going to have to be more specific with what you want, though. A computer project could be anything from making a power point, to distributing thousands of PCs to the third world --Longing.... 12:01, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
It sounds more like a student who is asking for a pre-made project with already written code and paper that can be slightly altered and turned in as his/her project assignment. -- Kainaw(what?)
I really don't understand that. Why is this kid studying computer technology unless he wants to learn how to do it? This sort of cheating is the exact opposite of learning. And then when he gets a job, he'll be quickly fired as his incompetence becomes apparent. Better to skip the polytechnic and go straight to the burger flipping. It'll be better financially. 65.91.98.102 23:03, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
You would not believe the vast number of computer science students I've taught who blatantly told me that they want a degree in computer science, they don't want to learn to program. Apparently, they see programming as something completely different from computers. -- Kainaw(what?) 12:01, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
Summer of code --Russoc4 00:17, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] to convert a pdf file to word/excel file

Is there any free software to to convert a pdf file to word/excel file? thank you for your help.124.43.245.95 12:08, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Generally speaking PDF is a "write-once" format — it is easy to convert Word/Excel into PDF, but going the other direction is hard. Converting something to a PDF is basically like printing it; once out of its original format it doesn't quite fit back in the same way.
That being said, if you google "PDF to Word Free" you'll find some options. All basically work by extracting the text and then trying (usually poorly) to replicate some semblance of the layout. Generally speaking it is not a whole lot better than if you copied-and-pasted the text from Adobe Reader into Word or Excel yourself. --24.147.86.187 13:55, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
If the pdf will allow you to select text, you could try highlighting the entire document (maybe less one sentence...) and pasting it into a new word document. Crude and may not be all you want, but I have done this occasionally. -- SGBailey 20:14, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Further I have noticed that even in some PDFs if you do not have a "select all" or "copy" option in the edit meny, the keyboard shortcuts CTRL-A and CTRL-C still work. If the PDF has been 'flattened' there is no way to extract the text, short of printing it and scanning it using OCR. Vespine 01:53, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Safari Flash Problem

Does anybody know what I must do to fix my Flash plugin in Safari? One day, I went to YouTube and no video would load. I checked some other flash sites and I had no success with them either. I was using Safari 3 BETA. First I tried re-installing the flash plug-in and nothing changed. Next I decided to uninstall Safari 3 BETA and move back down to Safari 2.0.4 (419.3). Again, flash objects would not load. I tried re-installing the flash plug-in again with no success. It is interesting to note that other users on my computer have no problem with Safari, though it is the same application. I tried resetting Safari, deleting all of my settings for it and re-installing, but I had no success.

Any suggestions or solutions?

[edit] free graphics program

Which program can you recommend for designing relatively simple graphics (out of geographical forms etc.)? I'm usually using the Gimp, but it's not really meant to design in this way, and even Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint give an easier time drawing and moving circles, rectangulars, arcs of a circle, etc. and especially keeping those objects seperate, so that you can go back later and easily change their sizes, move them, etc. (I'm not saying it's not *possible* with the Gimp... I just can't believe there shouldn't be a software out there with which it's easier, i.e. less time-consuming.)

I'd appreciate all recommendations for free programs, currently esp. for "easy to learn" software, but generally also other stuff. Thanks a lot, Ibn Battuta 13:43, 31 July 2007 (UTC) PS: Photoshop doesn't seem to be able to do it either, or does it? I'm currently using a computer that has it, but I'm not familiar with the program; but if there should be a menue or stuff I've overlooked, I'd be interested in that, too.

Inkscape is good for drawing multiple objects. It is like adobe illustrator and is free. Try it. Very useful program [4]--64.40.88.131 13:47, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Google's SketchUp might be useful, too. --Mdwyer 14:17, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
If you are really just using circles, squares, and lines - are you making flowchart type things? If so, dia is a better tool because you can link the objects and they stay connected as you drag them around. -- Kainaw(what?) 14:19, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for all tips! As I'm more thinking in the direction of things like this image, I'll try Inkscape, but I'll keep the other two suggestions in mind for future projects... One follow-up question: To get 3-D effects (esp. on round objects) - is there a particular "trick" or is it just skill using the ordinary features (colors, gradients, ...)? Thanks, Ibn Battuta 15:48, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Adobe Illustrator has some (not terribly useful) 3D rendering features; I don't know if Inkscape has anything similar. I usually manage faux-3D with gradients, blurs etc but if you're going to be focussing on 3D you might want to check out Blender. The hollow sphere image you linked to was almost certainly rendered in 3D. — Matt Eason (Talk • Contribs) 16:09, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Anim8or is a great 3d program for beginners. Inkscape is a 2d vector program so I don't think it will do 3d easily. Using both exported images from anim8or and inkscape would be good for what you want. Although I am not sure if inkscape can remove backgrounds to make it transparent for layering so you may need a image editing program to save it with a transparent background before opening it in inkscape.--64.40.88.131 16:32, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Automatic Computer Power On

Hello. After my aunt fixed and returned my computer, my PC automatically turns on at 8 PM (Eastern Standard Time) everyday. If I turn off the power supply to my computer for a few days (I use my comupter once in a few days) and then turn on the power supply and the computer, AwardBIOS appears on the startup. How can I avoid all this? --Mayfare 14:30, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

It's possibly a bad Wake-on-LAN joke. Far more likely, however, you have your system set to turn on, such as for updates, at a set time every day. Check your system settings and see if it has a section on power management, check there first, that is the most likely place for this. After that, check your system update settings, and see if it has a selection to automatically start the computer at a certain time to update. --Longing.... 14:34, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. However, my Automatic Updates are set at the recommended setting to download and install them everyday at 3:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time). My PC does not turn on at that time. I am unsure of what you typed after checking when the updates are set at what time every day. --Mayfare 18:12, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to request more info about what is actually happening when you say your "PC turns on" (or doesn't). If the computer is not powered on, then it certainly can't be retrieving automatic updates at 3AM, or at any time for that matter. Also, when you refer to turning on the power supply, what exactly do you mean. To us computer geeks, the power supply is a component which sits inside the computer, and is not something you would turn on separately. To help us get to the same page here, the box that all the cables connect to we can call "the computer." The screen is the monitor. Can you give more details on what is happening?
Also, you would almost always notice the BIOS screen on any PC when it is first switched on, among other things, this gives you a chance to access the BIOS configuration screens before the operating system starts up. --LarryMac | Talk 18:31, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
I'm pretty sure one of my motherboards in the past had auto turn off and on at certain times.... This is in the BIOS and I don't think a program outside of the BIOS can do anything like this. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 20:44, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Programs outside the BIOS can do it quite easily. On Linux with ACPI, for instance, you can simply use /proc/acpi/alarm. --cesarb 23:32, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I meant power supply as my power bar. When my power bar is on and the time is 8 PM (Eastern Standard Time), both my Intel Pentium 4 computer tower and my LCD monitor turn on. My computer was bought on about 2003 or 2004. (I do not exactly remember.) --Mayfare 02:28, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

This page has PDF copies of manuals for several versions of the Award BIOS, along with instructions on how to determine which version you have. But maybe the easiest thing to do is ask your aunt what she did. --LarryMac | Talk 12:22, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

And did you check my original suggestion on power management settings? --Longing.... 12:56, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I deleted all scheduled tasks. Still, my computer turns on at 8 PM (Eastern Standard Time) everyday. --Mayfare 15:11, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Flash CS3 question

In Flash CS3, I have a situation where I need to have two instances of the same MovieClip with the same instance name next to each other, which I then set to a given frame number using gotoAndStop() in Actionscript.

Even normally this does not work perfectly. Despite being basically identical instances of the same movie, they often end up out of sync. This seems to happen even when I give them different instance names (which is not as desirable for my situation but if it is necessary I'd be happy to do it).

So that's the first problem. Why do they get out of sync? Even when I compare them in the Actionscript (are they are the same frame?) and they say, happily, "no, we're not." Then I try to put them at the same frame. But it doesn't reliably work, and I can't figure out what's going on here.

The next problem is when I make the layers above those two objects a masked layer. (Basically these layers are allowing me to do color shifting for something which is also shape tweening, independent of its tweening because the shape tweener is acting as a mask). Then all sorts of hell breaks loose; the instances are often null for no reason I can discern. After a second or two they stop being null. It is as if they aren't initializing correctly? I have no clue why they should be null there.

Any thoughts/suggestions? I'm really scratching my head here since logically what I'm doing ought to work but for some reason it isn't, and there isn't really any indication why it isn't working. --24.147.86.187 15:27, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] hardware

Can you please define the term Hardware in terms of computer science?

It's a long shot I know, but try hardware. Lanfear's Bane
If you really want to get wild and crazy, you can try computer hardware. That's only for professionals though. I wouldn't try it at home. -- Kainaw(what?) 16:46, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Hardware is real stuff you can pick up. Software is information without physical form. (Yes I know you get software on a CD, but the CD is hardware and the information on the CD is software). -- SGBailey 20:10, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
And the stuff inside your skull is wetware ;) Vespine 00:48, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
And Duke Nukem Forever is vaporware. --Oskar 23:20, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] CAN bus

On the Controller Area Network bus, the article (& Bosch) say that the MS 7 identifier bits must not all be 1. Why? What happens if they are? -- SGBailey 20:08, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

It's to provide compatibility between 2.0A and 2.0B versions of the protocol. Presumably if you choose an identifier with all 7 bits on, you'll reduce compatibility. "Implementations should be liberal in what the accept and conservative in what they transmit", and all that. --TotoBaggins 03:51, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Page Traffic

I am not sure if this is a question appropriate for this Computer Reference Desk ... if not, please redirect me to the appropriate forum to ask this. Thanks. Is there any way on Wikipedia to see how much traffic any given article gets? Sometimes, on websites, you will see a counter that says "This page was visited 723 times" or so. Are there any indications on Wikipedia that tells us how often (or infrequently) a given article is accessed (moreso to be read, than to be edited -- since we can see all edits in the History log)? Ultimately, when I create an article, I would like to know if no one has ever read it ... or a million people have read it ... or whatever the case may be. How can I do that? Thanks. (JosephASpadaro 20:40, 31 July 2007 (UTC))

Not really. While the Mediawiki software does have a page-counter functionality, we keep it disabled for performance reasons. Anyway, there are several layers of cacheing between the software and visitors, so most of the pages are served straight from cache without there being any opportunity for counting. There are (but I can't remember where) some statistics somewhere, based on an analysis of the squid proxy logs. But these only count the 1000 or so most popular; frankly if your article isn't on List of sex positions then it won't make it to that cut. So, for the great majority of articles, there's no way of knowing. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:01, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
I have access to a number of servers that are linked to from a few articles. The traffic coming from Wikipedia is not particularly high, indicating that 1. those particular articles are not viewed with great regularity, and/or 2. those links on the articles are not clicked with great regularity. That doesn't at all help you, but it would give one some sort of information if you had something like that. (And how, pray tell, do you come up with a good reason to have an external link in an article you made go to your website? The easiest way is to scan some sort of historical document—a source for your article, for example—that is not elsewhere on the internet and then link to it from Wikipedia. Just make sure the copyright is kosher enough for your own safety. I get absolutely nothing out of people coming to my server from Wikipedia; it is just a way to help out and also spy on the statisitics a bit.) --24.147.86.187 22:29, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Wait ... so we can send a man to the moon ... but we can't count hits on Wikipedia pages?!?! Oy, vay ... (JosephASpadaro 23:43, 31 July 2007 (UTC))

It takes a lot less computing power to put a shitton of rocket fuel in a giant tube and hope for the best than it does to track millions of operations every minute. Technically, we could, and smaller wikis do, but it would be incredibly costly to us --Longing.... 00:08, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
But you don't need to track every page view, just a sample. Surely that would be cheap enough.
... and it is. Check this out. I never knew it existed until just now. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to query a specific page. -- BenRG 01:10, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
Holy cow, is half our wikipopulation < 13 years of age or what? Harry potter dominates that list! --frotht 13:24, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
To the best of my knowledge, the Wikimedia Foundation has not sent anyone, man or woman, to the moon. 69.95.50.15 13:28, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
Touche! (JosephASpadaro 02:35, 3 August 2007 (UTC))
They've done better- I'd like to see a bunch of 1969 nasa engineers handle this many gbps (I forget the exact number) --frotht 13:24, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] access from alternate locations

I have several pictures I uploaded to a site that I want now to delete. My access to the site, however, appears to be blocked from my home computer but a friend says that he can still access the site from his location and that my user name and password are working. Also the librarian tells me that she can access the site from the library. Is there a service that will allow me to access the web site indirectly from the service's location (like the services that allow me to do a traceroute indirectly from the service's location) instead of directly from my home since my friend does not have time to do maintainance for me until I can find out why I'm being blocked from my home? Clem 23:55, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm not exactly sure I understand you correctly, but it sounds like the site may be blocking you based on your IP address. You could try one of the anonymous proxy websites to try to bypass it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Google that term, and you'll get heaps of links. --jjron 09:36, 2 August 2007 (UTC)