Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 May 24

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1 May 24

[edit] May 24

[edit] TI Programming maneuvers

Is it possible to jump to a label in a different program?

also Is it possible to archive and unarchive programs as part of another program?

thanks 74.37.228.44 00:09, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

As far as I know, you can only GOTO labels in the currently running program. Using the Archive command from within a program results in ERR: INVALID

PROGRAM:MYPRGM
:Disp "ARCHIVE ME"

PROGRAM:ARC
:Archive prgmMYPRGM

gets

ERR: INVALID
1:Quit
2:Goto

WikiY ^Talk 01:10, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

What you could do is this: since all variables are all global, save a number representing the label in a variable and then call the other program, and then use that to figure out where you're going. Sort of like this (I haven't my TI-83+ around, but this is kinda how I remember it):

PROGRAM:PROG1
:1729->J
:prgmPROG2
:42->J
:prgmPROG2

and in prog2

PROGRAM:PROG2
:IF J=1729
:THEN
:0->J
:GOTO A
:END
:
:IF J=42
:THEN
:0->J
:GOTO B
:END

I used strange numbers to ensure that J isn't accidentally set to them, and they are zeroed so it doesn't jump the next time you start PROG2. Even if you already have code in your program that you don't want to mess up, you can just add these lines to the top and it will not change how the function works since they will just be skipped. --Oskar 19:17, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Windows XP keymapping.

Is there a RAM-light, freeware app I can use in Windows to map keys to certain functions? For example, I want Numpad 2 to be "volume down", Numpad 8 to be "volume up", things like that. Down M. 00:59, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Try [1]. Several choices there, I have not used any of those programs so cannot vouch for them. I have used quickkeys, it works quite well but is not cheap. 161.222.160.8 01:08, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Automated Google searches: length distribution of written growls

How would I go about writing a C++ or JavaScript program that would create a table (CSV is fine for C++) of the number of Google hits for G followed by n R's, as n increases from 2 to 100? Neon Merlin 03:28, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Here it is in Perl, which should give you the general idea. --TotoBaggins 13:52, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use LWP::UserAgent;

# we have to set the user-agent to pretend to be a
# browser, since google doesn't accept robots
my $web_client = LWP::UserAgent->new(agent => "mozilla");

# Google allows query words up to 128 chars long
for my $n (2 .. 127)
{
    # make a string of 'r's, of length $n
    my $arrs = "r" x $n;

    my $url = "http://www.google.com/search?q=g$arrs";

    my $response = $web_client->get($url);
    $response->is_success() or die $web_client->status_line() . ": $url";
    my $page = $response->content();

    my $hits;
    if ($page =~ m#Results.*([\d,]+) for #)
    {
        # we captured the hits in the first parens
        $hits = $1;
        # remove the commas from the hits count
        $hits =~ s/,//g;
    }
    elsif ($page =~ /did not match any documents/)
    {
        $hits = 0;
    }
    else
    {
        warn "Could not parse url: $url\n";
        $hits = -1;
    }

    print "$hits hits for 'g$arrs'\n";

    # be a polite robot
    sleep 1;
}

[edit] World of Warcraft problem

I tried asking this on the wow technical support forums but didn't get a response so I thought I'd try here. I recently installed WoW on a new computer. After installing the cds, everything worked fine. However, after i download patch 1.12 (the first patch that automatically downloads after I install the game) I will get multi colored crystal-like distortions on the graphics that jump around change color. The game appears to run fine, and I can log in but it makes it hard to see.

Operating System: Windows XP Professional
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440

Here are 2 screenshots of the problem: 1 2 I have enough ram and the graphics card has enough memory.

Does anyone know what could be causing this? 68.231.151.161 03:57, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

The second pic looks like screen tearing. Try enabling Vsync, it can for sure be done in game via Video Options. Make sure your graphics card isn't forcing Vsync off by checking its options. If you can't change it in game due to the problem I think there is a .txt file somewhere in the WoW folder you can modify. I am not at home so can't check mine, but someone else may know of it. Also, the game is now up to patch 2.1 I think, so that might be it as well. Oh, and check for driver updates. Happy hunting 161.222.160.8 04:09, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Atleast your version of the game is interesting ;) 213.48.15.234 08:41, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't know what it is, but it's not a Vsync issue. Is the graphics card overheating? --Carnildo 20:46, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

The MX 440 has several unresolved bugs. I was once writing an application for my company and we had tracked done some display bugs to the 440. It was so bad, that we had to replace the cards eventually. You will have to consider the possibility, that the error might be unfixable and you need a new card. But try some cheaper things before doing that.

[edit] recognising gif and jpeg images

Please tell me how does a image viewer recognize a particular format as GIF or JPEG?What code is there to identify that?

They check if the file has a header from the GIF or JPEG file formats. Check the articles's external links for the specifications for each of these afile formats. — Kieff | Talk 05:19, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

You can see what Kieff means by just opening up a (small!) GIF or JPEG file in a text editor like vi or MS Notepad. Besides a bunch of binary gunk, you'll see something "GIF89a" or "JFIF" near the beginning, which are part of that header. --TotoBaggins 13:55, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

See also File format#Magic number --h2g2bob (talk) 14:10, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

In the end, it is a bit of guesswork. A RAW file could start with a valid JPEG header by coincidence. In general programs look at the file extension and the file header and then guess. They are ususally right. You can tell the program which format a file has in the opening dialog of better programs.

[edit] GIF

How do you create a moving GIF image and put it on powerpoint?

203.122.76.226 06:24, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Try Unfreez to string together frames into an animated GIF. I would imagine simply Insert -> Picture -> From File would work, assuming PP has animated .gif support. -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 07:19, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Yep, PP should support animated GIFs without any problems. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 12:28, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

The next question is "Do I want to put an animated GIF in my PowerPoint presentation?". And the answer is, almost certainly, "No, it would annoy and distract my audience." --Tugbug 19:07, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

That's not very fair: seeing as he wants to make it himself it's probably got a legitimate purpose (as a moving diagram of some process or other). That said, gratuitous animated GIFs are intensely annoying, due to the human tendency to notice movement much more than stillness. D aniel (‽) 16:52, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Thus the "almost" in my comment, which I stand by. --Tugbug 20:08, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Maple:simple fractions

How to develop something like (s+1)/(s^2+2*s+5) in simple fractions using Maple? --Taraborn 06:33, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

simplify( (s+1)/(factor(s^2+2*s+5)) ) may work, though it may not because there are conditions involved in the division. But come on, this is simple stuff. You don't need Maple to do this.

[edit] CSS border images

I'm trying to get the following CSS to work. It won't, for some reason. I'm attempting to use images as left-right-up-down borders, but they just don't show up. Yes, they're in the right directory, and actually exist. Now, I'm thinking that the problem is with CSS3 specifications not working so hot in Firefox - is there an alternative way to do this? -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 07:14, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

style.css:

div.sidebar
{
border-top-image: url(images/top.png);
border-left-image: url(images/left.png);
border-right-image: url(images/right.png);
border-bottom-image: url(images/bottom.png);
}

sidebar.php:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/style.css" /> 
<div class="sidebar">
   <div> 
   // content 
   </div> 
</div>

You're correct, there is no support for those CSS 3 selectors in the mainstream browsers. Unfortunately, the only way I know of doing that is to have a series of <div>s, one for each background image. It's easier if the side bar has a fixed width as then you can have the right and left borders as one image. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 09:49, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I'll just set it to a non-percentage width (300px or so) and mess around with some divs. Thanks. -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 21:31, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Themeing Qt

On Linux, is it possible to "theme" or customize the gray and angular look of Qt? –mysid ☎◥ 09:37, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Sure, see here and also Oxygen Project and Baghira. --TotoBaggins 14:02, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mac OS X Paint Equivalent

Is there an equivalent to MS Paint on Mac OS X, or at least somethihg free/cheap that does basic drawing stuff?

Thanks, --Fadders 11:13, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

There are a number of versions of GIMP, which is free, for OS X. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 11:31, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

The shareware OS X program GraphicConverter does what the older versions of MS Paint did. I do not know what all the current MS Paint can do, but I would imagine GraphicConverter would be pretty close. GraphicConverter in spite of its name does lots more than convert file formats.Zeno333

[edit] Video card question

Besides which slot a video card may plug into (AGP, PCI-X, PCIe), are there any problems of compatibility between a video card and a computer. For example, will certain cards not function with certain CPU models? Or is the slot type the only thing that I need to check (and having sufficient RAM)? − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 12:40, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

In case of AGP, you possibly also have to take voltage into account (see article) JH-man 13:22, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes. In particular I am looking at AGP cards. I have 4x, but I assume 8x cards will also work with this. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 23:44, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

No, not really. For small form-factor PCs you have to worry whether the card will physically fit and will be adequately ventilated, and for PCs with unusually small power supplies you have to worry there's enough power to drive the card. For paired arrangements like SLI you pretty much have to have exactly the same card in both slots. But other than that anything that fits will work. It's a bit harder to determine what is an efficient, never mind optimal, choice - put a super-expensive card in a PC that doesn't have the IO bandwidth to drive it or the CPU power to supply it with adequate information (cf Amdahl's law). And you may have difficulty obtaining device drivers for 64-bit OSes, particularly on IA64. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 13:24, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. I've just ordered a 500W PSU, so that should keep a new card happy. What do you mean when you say it may be difficult to obtain device drivers for 64-bit OSes?. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 23:44, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

The operating system that you are using needs to have the proper driver-software to use the card to its full potential. Otherwise it will use some generic driver, possibly even not offer 3D acceleration! Because 64 bit operating systems haven't made their break-through (not enough software available that exploits 64-bit, no real need and/or wide motherboard support for +4GB RAM as yet), a lot of hardware vendors haven't made the effort to provide up-to-date device drivers. If you're not using or planning to use Windows XP 64, Vista 64bit or some 64bit Linux variety, all this is of no concern. JH-man 08:30, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Don't try to mix Nvidia cards with ATI mainboard chips, or ATI cards with Nvidia chips. Supposedly they work together, but in practice, they don't. --Carnildo 20:36, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I have an AMD CPU in an nVidia motherboard, so an nVidia card will work best? I will look into what sorts of problems may occur if an ATI card is used on an nVidia motherboard. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 23:44, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I have ATI card (X800GT) and nvidia motherboard chpiset (Nforce4 ultra) and everything works fine. -Yyy 07:38, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Same here, I have an ATI X800 pro in a Nvidia Nforce 3 motherboard and everything is ok. Only problem I have ever seen with a video card and a motherboard is that the 6000 series of video cards from Nvidia have a problem with the Nvidia Nforce 3 chipset for motherboards. On another note, AGP cards are usually 4x/8x compatible, so there shouldn't be any problem with that.--GTPoompt 17:03, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Coin a name

Hi All.,

can anybody suggest names for a "commercial transaction tracking system/application" that is built inhouse at a devlopment centre?

Thanks

Polevault - Rfwoolf 17:00, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

SideTrack, RaceTrack, Track 'n' Field, Trans Action, TransTrack, TrannyTrack2000, TrackAttack, ComTranTrackSys, DingDing, Star Trak -- the Final N-Tier, Track Star, Track Machine, Sound Track, Multi Track, Trax, Make Tracks, Tracking Stock, Native Tracker, etc. --TotoBaggins 19:06, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

You should go with "Star Trak -- the Final N-Tier", that's an awesome name (although "TrannyTrack 2000" isn't half-bad either). My suggestion is "Crosstown". I have no idea why, but I think that's a REALLY cool name --Oskar 19:37, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

COMTRANACK Sysapp.

BigBro, or perhaps Dr. Eckleburg: [2]. StuRat 19:15, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Call it the Transactions Archiving Recently Developed Inhouse System. Of course, you would only refer to it by it's acronym. --h2g2bob (talk) 22:51, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] XPS 710 H2C

Hi. im wondering if a dell xps 710 h2c computer has a processor core 2 extreme QX6800, physica accelerator, blah blah blah. u no all the BEST enhancments, would it be possible for this desktop to faster than even the mac pro?Jk31213 18:47, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Faster in doing what exactly?

Uh, yeah, that computer will beat the living crap out of a MacBook Pro, considering Macbook Pros have 2.1ghz Core 2 Duos and what I believe is an integrated graphics card. However, why are you comparing an Apple laptop to a Dell desktop - and why would you buy such an expensive computer from Dell?!?! -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 00:13, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Im comparing to apple because apple, for three years in a row, have produced the fastest computers for the home. now this new dell model is reasonably comparable to the mac pro. (which is also a desktop). i know the price is enormously great but hey, im looking at the advantages to having with that a 30-inch monitor, 1815dn printer, and to top it off, z-5500 speakers which are the best computer speakers of any kind in north america anyway.Jk31213 03:11, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Thought you were referring to the MacBook Pro, not the Mac Pro, sorry. The Mac Pro will indeed destroy the Dell in applications which can utilize many cores such as CAD. However, for gaming and most applications, the Dell will probably actually beat the Mac Pro, simply because most apps can't use 8 cores. -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 06:47, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] ASUS W5Fe

Where can I purchase "ASUS W5Fe"? 68.193.147.179 19:21, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Various computing outlets? It's a laptop so some laptop shops are bound to stock it if it is new. Otherwise you might want to try second-hand shops or sites like eBay. x42bn6 Talk Mess 21:00, 24 May 2007 (UTC)