Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 March 17

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[edit] March 17

[edit] Recording internet radio

I like listening to internet radio whilst at the computer. Is there an easy way to record this streaming data directly onto my computer?--SlipperyHippo 00:54, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Also would this be better or worse quality than DAB?--SlipperyHippo 04:33, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

NB. I want to be able to record whilst listening--SlipperyHippo 23:12, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

It should be mentioned that new copyright regulations are currently in the works that would shut down many internet radio stations for good. Based on the fact that many people are recording the streams (which is what this question is about), they're proposing that the stations be forced to pay huge fees that far outweigh their income. One site that describes the situation can be found at: http://www.saveourinternetradio.com/ --64.0.112.13 08:28, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I only listen to BBC radio (mainly) so that should not affect me.--SlipperyHippo 00:34, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Freecorder

A program like Freecorder would do this. There is a free trial which limits the bitrate you can record at to 64. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 01:42, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Yeah but is there a way you can record directly onto Windows Media player or Cool Edit?--SlipperyHippo 02:03, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
OK I have just downloaded Freecorder and am testing it at this minute. Will report results--SlipperyHippo 22:13, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
OK just recorded about 20 mins internet radio in mp3 format. I can play back in Cool Edit!. Only problem is the recording is over modulated (exceeds the peak setting of 0 dB in cool edit). can anything be done about that?--SlipperyHippo 22:24, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Streamripper

Streamripper works with Winamp, and it saves mp3 streams as mp3s. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 02:16, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
VideoLAN can do this too I believe. Splintercellguy 02:40, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Yes VLC media player can save streamed media with File, Wizard. --h2g2bob 06:28, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] screamer-radio.com

Screamer Radio lets you record their streamed audio; it records to whatever file type the streamed content is: ogg, mp3, etc. Anchoress 03:10, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Total Commander

I just let Total Commander download the stream. --Ouro (blah blah) 16:23, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
OK I got 'Total Commander' downloaded. Now which buttons to press?--SlipperyHippo 18:50, 17 March 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Update/Results

After some experimentation, I got Freecorder to work -- I just have to set the recording control (Windows controls) almost to minimum. Anyway, having found the recording controls, I also found I could record directly into Cool Edit!! (again have to have the Windows record mixer controls turned down though.) Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Problem solved!--SlipperyHippo 04:55, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Further update

I found that if you have the 'radio player' volume too high, you cant attenuate it enough with Windows recording controls. Something to bear in mind!--SlipperyHippo 04:24, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NetHack refusing to stay open

So recently I've discovered the joys of the hack of the net, and wish to put a shortcut to it on my desktop. However, when I move it from the folder thing it comes in onto the desktop it will refuse to open and will instead open quickly and then exit just as fast. If I move it back from the desktop to its home folder it will open fine. How can I make it work?

On an almost unrelated note, what's the deal with the 'Temp' folder? I assume it means 'temporary' because it apparently ceases to exist when I exit it, but when I download another thing Firefox 2.0.0.2 throws into the temp folder I can see it again. So it's not the same as a temporary folder, because it and the data within is kept. I just can't access it. Vitriol 01:15, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

I have solved the problem (or at least made the problem not there any more) by putting a shortcut to the Nethack folder on the desktop (should've thought of that before :/), but I still wonder about the temp folder that isn't. Vitriol 13:20, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
You might need to change the Star in bar, which might be why the desktop shortcut didn't work. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:30, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How can I use web templates ?

I have a new website , and its design is awful , and I'm on my own to fix with no experience whatsoever .. I can't even figure out how to update the content ! Its on a site called cPanel X and I'm supposed to edit through file manager - but thats as far as I got - can't figure out the rest ... anyway I would rather use a template which is easier and more professional looking .. but of course I don't know how to download a template to me site . I tried everything I could think of to help myself through Google but it got me no where - please help even with a link . How can I use a template on my personal website? Hhnnrr 05:52, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

cPanel X is just software meant to help you modify the server settings and maybe the files on the server. The actual work of making a webpage is writing up the files, which can happen offline, and then uploading them to the server.
As for templates... it depends what you mean. Personally you sound inexperienced enough with this that I might, against my good instincts, recommend you purchase web-designing software like Microsoft FrontPage, which comes with a number of templates I believe. After you've gotten the page the way you want it, you can then upload all of the files to your web server via the cPanel and then it will work.
In the long-run I would recommend getting a book about webdesign and maintenance -- something simple and appropriate to your skill level (at the moment -- it will grow with experience!). It will be more coherent than a lot of the hodge-podge you will find on the web. --24.147.86.187 14:35, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
If you have to use templates because you don't know how to do it otherwise, then you might as well abandon the whole website thing until you at least know what you're doing. --antilivedT | C | G 21:50, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
You could try using a web content management system (CMS) such as e107. Assuming you have PHP and MySQL support on your web host, and if you can get your head around installing it, it will make the website building itsself a lot easier. (You might be able to install a CMS from cPanel, look for fantastico). →Ollie (talk • contribs) 01:18, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Computer wattage

What is the approximate wattage of a typical personal computer? − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 10:31, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

I've actually tested this before and it had a reading of 60 watts but it varied widely when you used the computer; probably due to disk access and the processer needing more power. But 60 watts for a computer doing nothing (ie on the desktop) Think outside the box 13:54, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
This system is presently using between 233 and 239 watts, according to the UPS. That's for one computer only, without the monitor. It's a mini-tower with dual Athlon 2400s (a high end 2.5-year-old system at 1.67 GHz), and three semi-modern hard drives (80, 120, and 240 GiB). The CPUs are fully loaded at all times with BOINC directing SETI@Home, Einstein@Home and http://www.malariacontrol.net/. Cool! As an experiment I suspended all BOINC projects. The power usage dropped to 195 watts. With only one task (hence using only one CPU—taskmgr says 51% cpu usage), power is 220 watts. —EncMstr 17:02, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
16.6 W right now, according to ACPI (Dothan-based notebook). Obviously varies widely with CPU clock/voltage scaling, hard disk usage, backlight brightness, etc. The most I've seen it consume is about 28.5 W. -- mattb @ 2007-03-18T03:57Z

Thanks guys. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 19:34, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vista vs Mac OS X Tiger

I'm looking to buy a laptop, but the first big decision is whether to go Mac or Windows. Looking around, I see that Macs tend to be more expansive than their PC counterparts, and price is an issue. Are there any compelling reasons for/against each? Personal opinions would be helpful here,especially from someone whose tried both. I'd expect to use the new system for Wiki-browsing, web-page creation, programming (so Vista is preferable here for access to .NET (c#)) and working with documents - this being the day to day stuff. Like anyone, I would be working with images/video from time to time, and perhaps watching the odd DVD on it. Any thoughts, or better still suggestions for appropriate models (I'm in the UK)? Thanks, Martinp23 11:02, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

If you need anything that only exists on Windows (like programming .Net stuff), then get the PC. Otherwise, the Mac will make you happier. Windows has many more security risks, comes preloaded with a poorer set of software, and seems to constantly pop up little things to distract you from your task. I bought my teenager a Mac to replace a PC and she loves it. Everything "just works". --TotoBaggins 12:16, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Depending what kind of .Net development you're doing, using Mac OS X might not be as big a problem as you would imagine. Check out Mono. Johnnykimble 12:30, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Yeah - I'm currently in Ubuntu on my desktop, so am familiar with mono - the only difficulty being that I need to write at least some windows forms apps. I suspect, having looked at the relative prices, that I'll have to go for PC. Is there any real reason that a Macbook can cost so much more than a similarly specced pc? Martinp23 13:20, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
With the Intel based Macs you can either dual-boot (switch into Windows) or run something like Parallels. The former is fast as lightning, of course, but the latter doesn't require you to log out of one of the OSes to use the other. So let's put it this way. If you get the Windows machine you are locked into using Vista, more or less. If you get the OS X machine you have the option of switching back and forth in mid-stream. As for why the MacBooks cost more, it's likely because the hardware is proprietary (i.e. it is not a clone). But it's pretty slick stuff — I just got a very cheap MacBook and it runs like the wind, works wonderfully. (Note that any day now Mac OS X Leopard is about it come out. Vista might look snazzy now but most of its features are blatantly ripped off of Tiger, which is now two-year old software). --24.147.86.187 13:57, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Yes - I see what you mean there. Dualbooting is a fairly viable option for me, though the cost of Mac notebooks is still hugely prohibitive. Maybe when I win the lottery :). Martinp23 17:42, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Get a Windows laptop. Then remove all the crapware and make sure you're behind a router. Spend the money you saved on the laptop's parts (nice processor, maybe a video card?) or hookers and blow or something. It's really not worth getting a Mac laptop just to dual-boot (in my opinion, it's really not worth getting a Mac laptop period..). I got a DV1000-series HP multimedia laptop for $500 at a sale at Best Buy, and it hasn't failed me yet. Runs fast, I can watch DVDs even out of Windows. Something like that with a large, bright screen should be fine for your movie watching, and of course anything else. No need to spend over $1000. :) -Wooty Woot? contribs 19:09, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Hm well I have a serious problem with the hardware being proprietary as martin said, and the commercials are insulting FUD. Also I hate the GUI. I would never buy a mac. And vista is a step up from XP but probably not that much of a step up. But there are definitely different camps on this- it just depends on who you ask --frotht 19:44, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Proprietary hardware is less of a concern with laptops than desktops, but with laptop CPU upgrades becoming more common, memory upgrades becoming even easier, and external video cards being marketed, it's still something to strongly think about. -Wooty Woot? contribs 20:01, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Yes - with PCs and laptops generally being increasingly easy to upgrade, Macs are becoming a bit of a hurdle in this area. I agree with you, Froth, about the commercial, but withhold judgement on the GUI until a few weeks from now, when a friend will be able to lend me his Mac for a while(!). Wooty, I also, in my annoyance at the prices of all Macs, tend towards your opinion of going for a PC and saving a load of cash. Dual boot is a pain for me, because I'd probably end up customising the Mac part to my liking, going to the Windows to do something and the finding out that I need to switch back to the Mac partition (if you know what I mean :)), and yet running Vista in Parallels within Mac OS would, to me, seem a doomed venture, with so little CPU speed for your money in a Mac. Even if it could get running, I doubt that running in parallel would work well, especially with the sort of high-CPU use stuff I tend to get up to in Windows. I 'm still sat here feeling that I'd be missing something by not getting a Mac, but that's probably just the try-out-all-technology bit of me - until I test out the GUI, I won't know for sure. What are your experinece with Mac OS X, anyone? Martinp23 21:19, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

My two cent's worth: I've been a programmer for 31 years, I've worked on every operating system under the sun, most of which you won't have heard of. The hardware here at home consists of a Mac notebook, an iMac, three PC notebooks, two Sun servers, several bits of Cisco kit and lots of other odds and sods. The only devices that stay on, and get used all the time, are the two Macs, one Sun server and a router. That should tell you a lot. The PCs only get powered up if it's absolutely necessary. All but 2-3% of my work gets done on the Macs. Moreover my girlfriend, of limited computer literacy, got pointed at a Mac with "Here's how you log in. You start mail like this, and the browser like this. Enjoy." I've answered perhaps two questions for her all year, both about automatic software updates. Like the man said, "It just works". Crashes are annual events. not daily like when I used Windows for my main desktop OS. Installing new software or hardware again, just works. It's easily worth the premium to have tools that I can work with rather than fight. Plus, if I want a Unix command line environment I've got it; if I have to run Windows I just use Virtual PC.

I don't see how any of that's a problem to a relatively savvy computer user though. I haven't had a complete crash on my XP system for years, and I play tons of memory-intensive games. Most literate computer users know how to install drivers, and if it doesn't just work on a Windows computer, often installing them is a "insert CD, click next five times, done" process. I for one wouldn't pay an extra $500 to never have to insert a driver CD again. My experience with the OS is limited - I used it a long time ago and was far from impressed. Dragging floppies to the trash bin to eject them wasn't my idea of an intuitive interface - of course, you know how dated that is, since floppies aren't even in use anymore. It may be worth it to go down to a computer lab or something to see if you can find a Mac and play with the GUI a bit to see if it's to your liking. -Wooty Woot? contribs 02:11, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
I agree- I have never had a crash with Windows since early XP. --frotht 03:15, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
My feeling on the crashing windows problem is that, with knowledge, it's farily easy to keep Windows stable - just don't let it install crap onto itself. I should make it clear that the laptop would be used for MS Office tasks, as well as general stuff on the move, while I'll still have access to my main system here (Ubuntu), which I use for most things. As everyone knows, Windows is great when you first install, but the difficulty is keeping it in that state, so perhaps Mac and Linux win on this front. However, for a recurring problem which is perfectly fixable, and considering that I know my way around Windows, and like somthing that I can mess around with (not something that "Just works"), I still can't really see the point in paying double the price when Windows (Vista?) would struggle to work under dual boot/Virtual PC on the hardware provided.
I use both linux and windows. Linux doesn't have me sold on Gnome/KDE/xfce - I find Windows much more intuitive to work with for common tasks. But I appreciate the power of the bash shell- when I need something done that I know would be easy in bash, I just ssh to my Ubuntu Server box, copy whatever files or data I'm working with, and move it back to windows when I'm done. It's a lot easier than dual booting, and the 2nd computer is my school's so it's no extra cost. I wouldn't say windows or linux is better or worse, they just have different uses. A bit OT since it's not about mac but whatever --frotht 03:15, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
I quite like Ubuntu, but like you say, there is occaisionally the need for a more intuitive GUI, and (more importantly for me) easy interoperation with most other systems - neither of which Linux seems to be able to give at the moment. Martinp23 09:19, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
"intuitive GUI"? How is it bad? To me Scale and the Cube (Beryl) is better than that taskbar crap. --wj32 talk | contribs 09:46, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Don't get me wrong - I love Linux, but from time to time I just need to use a Windows feature, or need to use the intuitiveness (word?) of a particular Windows application, often a feature which the Linux counterpart can't provide (especially when I'm already used to the Windows versions). Martinp23 09:55, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Yeah that's pretty much what it comes down to- I'm a guru at windows and I know how to do things. Not quite so with linux. I love getting really technical and DoingItMyself™ but sometimes I'm doing something more interesting and I don't really want to get caught up in the details. I'm talking about the command line- the GUIs don't even hold a candle to windows. --frotht 13:21, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Examples? Scale > taskbar, GTK+ > Aero, Beryl > Aero, GNOME Panel > Explorer bars, Nothing > Sidebar, Kino & Cinerella < Anything else, VMware Server > MS Virtual Server, XFS & JFS > NTFS, Freedom & GPL > MSEULA, gedit > Notepad, OpenOffice.org < Anything else, VNC > RDP. --wj32 talk | contribs 21:19, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Oh and sudo > UAC! --wj32 talk | contribs 21:22, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] IPs

Okay, the article "Sinbad (actor)" was vandalised recently, saying that he was dead. The person who made this vandalism was using a South Carolina IP address range, 167.7.0.0 - 167.7.255.255, based out of Cottageville, South Carolina. Cottageville is a town of just 707 (our article), later 712 (an out-of-date website).

Is there anyway to derive any more detailed insight into this South Carolina IP? -- Zanimum 15:29, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

The ISP will very likely be able to link IP addresses with full customer details - but they do not normally hand over this information. I can think of no good reason that you'd need this information anyway. --h2g2bob 16:15, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
It's just to make sure that the person wasn't a government employee. Many companies, including the government, have things telling employees that they can't use the internet for destructive purposes. -- Zanimum 18:51, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Really, who cares? And why on earth would you assume it was a government employee? --24.147.86.187 21:14, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Why all the superfluous non-breaking-space tags in HTML email?

When I look at the source code for my formatted email messages, I see it's loaded with unnecessary non-breaking-space tags. If I want to use the code (or just want the message to appear properly), I often have to search out and replace some of these tags with spaces. Why are the messages burdened with these superfluous tags? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Richard Odin Johnson (talk • contribs) 15:56, 17 March 2007 (UTC).

That'd be a result of whatever program made the email. I normally view my emails in text-only mode, and don't pay any attention to emails which do not carry a text/plain alternative (see MIME). --h2g2bob 16:20, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] . avi No Picture

I recently downloaded a film from LimeWire to find the file has no picture, only sound when i play it in Windows Media Player. It is a .avi file, if that helps. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 91.109.49.195 (talk) 16:05, 17 March 2007 (UTC).

VLC media player --h2g2bob 16:20, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
In my experience VLC media player is your best option - because unlike Windows Media Player, it will read incomplete files (if enough data is available) even avi files. Rfwoolf 11:29, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
You are probably missing a required codec. You might try downloading a codec pack; DefilerPak is one I had good experience with in the past. VLC (linked above) is useful too though personally I have found it to be rather unstable (it crashes a fair amount on my system). --24.147.86.187 17:00, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Try downloading a package called AVICodec - http://avicodec.duby.info/ this can be used to identify which codecs you're missing in most circumstances Elaverick 18:21, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

And make friends with FFDshow. --Ouro (blah blah) 18:51, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
and mplayer --193.16.218.66 11:16, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] HP Deskjet D1360 On Mac OS X

I'm having trouble installing my HP Deskjey D1360 on my iMac with Mac OS X Tiger. Anyone got any tips? Thanks! --Fadders 20:08, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Could you describe the problem? What have you tried? Are you using the latest drivers? We can't read your mind here. --24.147.86.187 21:12, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wireless Router

I am looking to buy a new wireless router. Is there one that is fast and could connect to a laptop and a desktop at the same time? -68.193.147.179 21:28, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. Routers, by their design, are suppose to connect to multiple computers simultaneously. Any 802.11g wireless router (the most common type these days) you buy will be the same speed (54Mbps) and allow you to connect your desktop and laptop to it. Do you mean a wireless router that connect wirelessly and through wired ethernet ports? If that's the case, there are many routers out there that have 4-port switchs built into them as well. —Mitaphane ?|! 00:03, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Got it sorted! --Fadders 21:57, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Computer Ques

For gaming, is there a better computer to use than an Alienware Desktop Computer? -68.193.147.179 21:19, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Several companies make "gaming computers" (notably CyberPower PCs, Falcon Northwest, VoodooPC, Commodore Gaming, Maingear, and so on), and several other companies that build more general PCs also build gaming machines (i.e. Dell, and most of the major companies). You can also just build one yourself that is the equivalent or better, for less money. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 21:29, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Agreed, My most recent computer is a darn site cheaper than anything alienware will try to sell you, and runs every game out the with all the boxes ticked at comfortable frame rates. Built it myself and darn proud of it. Capuchin 13:00, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Website Update

Is there a way to find out when an web site has been updated and receive an email? -68.193.147.179 21:30, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe that's what RSS feeds do. Coolotter88 22:32, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
What if the website does not offer RSS Feeds —68.193.147.179 (talk) 00:10, 18 March 2007 (UTC).
Take a look at RSSPECT. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 01:03, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Kubuntu wireless

Ethernet works fine, but not the wireless. I have a Dell B120 (which is a piece of ***p, at least for me), and I think I have a broadcom 1016. I dont know anything about code. I want to connect to a 2wire network. Can someone please tell me what to do?69.29.36.91 22:37, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Try NdisWrapper? It allows you to use Windows drivers for you wireless chip, in Linux. You'll also probably want a nice GUI tool for connecting to wireless networks if you don't have one already. Kwlan looks nice, and it works with wpa_supplicant to support WPA/WPA2; KWiFiManager is also a possibility. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 23:27, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] FAT-32 versus FAT-32 LBA

Dear Wikipedians:

What is the difference between FAT-32 and FAT-32 LBA?

65.95.199.72 22:49, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

The LBA refers to logical block addressing, which replaces the older cylinder-head-sector style of accessing the hard drives. Practically speaking, it lets you access more than ~8 GB of space on one hard drive. Any OS or PC nowadays will support this, so you generally don't have to think about it. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 23:20, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] CMD.exe question

In bash and the like, one can set a variable with the value printed by a process, like this:

 x=`ls`
 somecommand -foo $x -bar

Can one do something similar inside a Windows XP cmd.exe batchfile? Darryl Revok 23:14, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

The following demonstrates what you need:
 @echo off
 @setlocal
 set X=ls
 echo %X%
 @endlocal
The setlocal and endlocal make sure that any variables set within them do affect global environment variables of the same name. The echo off simply turns off echoing of each command in the file. Johnnykimble 23:26, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
Oops! Didn't read the question carefully enough - mistook those backticks for quotes! Anyway, to address your actual question, I'm not aware of a way. Batch files in Windows are pretty pathetic on the whole. Johnnykimble 23:38, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
You could use cygwin and use bash itself. --h2g2bob
Hi, I'm new to this, so sorry if I'm not answering the question using the correct method... You can use a For loop with backquotes enabled to parse the output of a command, then concatenate the results together. This needs delayed variable expanansion and command extensions to both be enabled, but you end up with something like:
 @echo off
 setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION ENABLEEXTENSIONS
 set RESULT=
 for /F "usebackq tokens=*" %%I in (`dir`) do (
        set RESULT=!RESULT! %%I
 )
 echo "%RESULT%"
This does concatenate each line separated by space (as opposed to new line characters), but it may be workable for you. You could also replace the 'tokens=' to select parts of the output lines you want - e.g. just the filenames. NB: the speech marks in the echo statement are just for displaying the result, as there are redirection characters in the environment variable RESULT. I think there is an easier method, but I can't quite remember. -- Will Mc. 81.183.221.251 09:01, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Computer

What is the most expensive home computer? 68.193.147.179 00:12, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

How much you got? I can let you have one of mine for say $10k :) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.110.41.242 (talk) 03:48, 18 March 2007 (UTC).
Because the limitation is "home" computer and the assumed restriction is "retail cost", I would have to say it would be a custom model. Very easy to run up the cost. Get a quad board, of course. Fill each slot with at lease dual-core if quad-core won't work. You need dual CD/DVD burners. Slip a SCSI controller in so you can slip in 15 hard drives for a raid system. There's always the new ultra-expensive video card. Get a dual-head in AGP and fill a few PCI slots with the most expensive dual-head video cards too. That'll get at least 6 monitors going. The 6 42" monitors you get for them will rack up a few bucks. Toss in some 5.1 sterio surround. You'll want a remote. Add mood lighting to the case. You're certainly up to 3 power supplies by now. If you haven't topped the bill for the most expensive computer yet, get VMWare and install fully licensed copies of both Windows Vista and Windows XP with the whole line of MS stuff (office, money...). Then, stick a Vaio label on the side, that'll add a good $5,000 to the cost. Of course, we now have to discuss what the limitation of a "home" computer is. --Kainaw (talk) 05:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Custom paint jobs and extremely expensive cases can add quite a lot on their own. The fancy "gaming PC" manufacturers tend to have extremely expensive computers, and it's partly because of that (and the markup / "labour" costs) -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 05:45, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
We also have to discuss the size of the case, and how to cool it!! You're going to need about fifty fans or a water cooling system hooked up to a 15 gallon fishtank. -Wooty Woot? contribs 07:48, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Nah, go to the Dell website and customize your system. Make sure to check off everything :). That gave me around $10000. The really strange thing is that they have checkboxes for the printer selection. So you could get 10 printers... --wj32 talk | contribs 09:41, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Yeah, you can get pretty expensive with Dell.com, but that's nothing compared to supercomputers. The fastest look to cost about US$100 million. --h2g2bob 22:01, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
As for it being a home computer, if you can afford $100m, then you can afford a very big home to put it in :D Alienware gets up to about $6,500 for just the box (no monitor or software). --h2g2bob 22:08, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Router

What is the fastest router for a home computer? 68.193.147.179 00:14, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

The fastest wired ones use 10/100 ethernet. I can find switches but no routers that use gigabit ethernet (1000Mbps). The fastest standard wireless ones are 802.11g at 54 Mbps, though I am aware of some brands which can double this to 108 Mbps. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 01:00, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Yeah by taking up a huge band of frequencies. Do your neighbors a favor and don't contribute to radio spectrum pollution --frotht 03:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
If by "huge band" you mean "two 802.11g channels (~44 MHz wide each, depending on how you count)", then yes. Atheros' channel bonding is totally within FCC compliance and arguably within 802.11 spec. The rest of the tweaks used to get the higher advertised throughput rate are merely data massaging (some trickery with frame headers, LZ compression, etc). You do your neighbors' electromagnetic spectrum a far greater disservice by operating one of those awful FM-on-a-chip transmitters that have been popping up lately. -- mattb @ 2007-03-18T06:01Z
Hi mate. The best router for you would have to be the Netgear WNR854T Pre-N router. This utalises the N band (802.11n) and has a gigabit switch, which means you will acheive 10/100/1000mbps ethernet. On the wireless side of things this router can acheive upto 270mbps wireless speed as long as you have purchased the Pre-N wireless cards. Hope this helps mate, you might want to look at the Netgear Rangemax 240 WPNT834 aswell as it acheives better speeds at long distances to the pre-n router. user:pulo —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 58.179.137.106 (talk • contribs).
That's somewhat bizzarely brand-specific. There are other companies with pre-N routers, and with better non-pre-N routers. I personally just bought a Buffalo 802.11g router and put DD-WRT on it. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:11, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Freecorder

I havc just downloaded Freecorder to try recording internet radio. It always records a t too high a level cuasing gross distortion. Any suggestions?--SlipperyHippo 00:54, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Assuming you haven't already, naybe try lowering the volume in "Sounds and Audio Devices Properties" in the Control Panel? I'm not convinced it will help, but worth a go. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 01:07, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Well I have found the windows recording control panel does have some effect on reducing the levels, but honestly, the sound quality when played back on Cool Edit is pretty awful. Maybe something to do with the low bit rate sampling or something.--SlipperyHippo 03:46, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Slight correction: When I turn the recording level right down, the playback sound seems ok, although I havent listened to any high quality sources yet.--SlipperyHippo 05:22, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] IE7

Since upgrading to Internet Explorer 7 I've had a very irritating problem with Wikipedia:

  1. Log in.
  2. E-mail another user (thoughtful and researched with diffs and links).
  3. Hit "Save page".
  4. Wikipedia tells me I've timed out and it can't send my message.
  5. Hit the back button in my browser hoping that my message still exists, but it's gone gone gone.

Grrr. Similar annoyances happen whenever my connection drops. So I've gotten into the habit of CTRL + A saving my words before posting, but of course once in a while I forget until after it's too late. Then I have to rewrite and re-research the whole thing. Sometimes it's just too much trouble.

Don't preach to me about Mozilla because even though you're probably right I'm not changing. My last version of Explorer didn't pull this irritating stunt on me. Is there a setting I can alter or an update I can download that would fix the problem? DurovaCharge! 03:50, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

You should consider switching to firefox :) --frotht 04:34, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
While Frot his preaching to you about Firefox, I'll preach about Opera, which isn't Firefox. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:45, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Err, IE6 and earlier don't save form contents if you navigate to a different page, at least to my recollection. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 149.135.99.162 (talk) 05:16, 18 March 2007 (UTC).
Yes, I know this wasn't a problem with IE6. Don't pitch me about other web browsers. I'm interested in one specific question: Is any fix available within IE7? DurovaCharge! 17:26, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
i don't use internet explorer 7, and i don't log into wikipedia, but it sounds like your problem has to do with cookies. i'd poke around in the options (privacy, security, and advanced) and check if any settings relating to cookies sound like they might be causing your cookies to expire or anything. if nothing fixes it, and checking windows update for patches doesn't change anything, perhaps adding wikipedia to your "trusted sites" zone (in the security tab in your options, i believe) might do the trick. if all else fails, i suppose you could try running a spyware scan, or try temporarily disabling any internet explorer addons that might be causing problems. just some friendly suggestions! --64.0.112.13 08:39, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] ES builder

Can anybody tell me what ES builder is and what it does, please?Dudforreal 04:55, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Why not look at the homepage http://www.mcgoo.com.au/html/es-builder.htm (it assumes you know what an expert system is). --Kainaw (talk) 05:26, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Thankyou.Dudforreal 06:05, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] HardDisk Change File System

I currently have an FAT32 system. suppose I were to transfer the entire hard disk contents to another media(preserving all the files and data and path and folder structures, something like norton ghost), convert the present drive to NTFS and copy the data back in same order to the NTFS drive, will the programs still work?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.92.244.31 (talk) 06:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

I would guess that the only problem would be the Master boot record. Windows should be able to fix that; the fixboot and fixmbr commands in the recovery console (start the setup CD, and press R when it tells you to) should be sufficient; whether both are required, I do not know. Mind you, I've never tried this, nor heard of it being tried. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:08, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
If you copy the drive over logically (eg, file copy), then sure, I guess, why not? But when you do the NTFS conversion, you shouldn't lose any data from those programs in the first place. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 06:29, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
Err, that's a good point too. If you're "converting" instead of "reformatting", nothing should change. The backup is still a good plan though. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:41, 18 March 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Picture Zoom Clarity

Any idea why when we zoom in a picture in linux Os the quality does not change much, wheras if we were to do it in windows application we would start seeing blocks? Any such program for Windows??~~ —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.92.251.144 (talk) 07:24, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

Because Linux picture viewing utilities does interpolation when you zoom in, while applications in windows doesn't. Try IrfanView, I think (but not quite sure) it does that is well. --antilivedT | C | G 09:33, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] software Testing

Question:What are the significance of v-model,when carrying out funtional testing? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.129.98.255 (talk) 07:37, 18 March 2007 (UTC).