Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 September 4

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[edit] September 4

[edit] Limewire Searches

Why is it that when you search for something on limewire, you get different results everytime. I can do two searches for the same term or name and I will get some of the same results, but I will also get different results. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.167.145.55 (talk) 00:04, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

That's because Limewire is part of a Peer-to-peer file sharing system. Each person running Limewire is sharing files off their computer. If someone quits Limewire or goes offline, their files are no longer available. So when you make a new search, it's showing you what's available now from the folks who are online. -- 68.156.149.62 00:45, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
I'm sure it's more complex than that- you might be getting results in a different order if the peers you're asking are answering on a first-come first-serve basis. Inter-network topology might have changed as routing tables are constantly being updated. The amount of time to connect to different peers is in constant flux because of load on different connecting routers and switches and exchanges (is there even such a thing for the internet?). And like 68 said, people are always restarting their computers or leaving limewire- think of a full 30 man game server. Even though every person might play for an hour at a time (which is unusally high on average IMO), that means that roughly only every 2 minutes a free slot opens up- not long to wait to play for 30 times as long. In the same way, there's a surprising amount of connects and disconnects on the massive limewire network which would affect your searches. Maybe there's also an actual random element too where it looks first in different areas of the network for each search to distribute load. --frotht 22:56, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] how can I block a Certain webpage in a website?

I want to block a webpage without anyone can know that this page is blocked intentionaly and without blocking the whole website.. I tried to use hosts files but they blocked the whole website.. and using security options of the IE will disclose the trick .. what can I do else??.. PS: I'm using IE6.. thanks in advance Hunter352 00:17, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Privoxy and a few rules? Splintercellguy 02:24, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
Some antivirus softwares let you block sections of website, and they don't disclose the fact you blocked them, they can just redirect the site to another one. My thoughts however are that the person you are blocking the site from may have an insight that eventually something is up with the computer itself and trying to disclose it could make it worse for yourself if they find out it is being blocked. ::Manors:: 02:42, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
I do not know. However, for me, to block YouTube, I must block youtube.com and www.youtube.com. --Mayfare 19:36, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I respect your privacy but I am left scratching my head ... why would you want to do that? --69.150.163.1 21:23, 6 September 2007 (UTC) User:Kushal_one

[edit] Maddening mail

E-mail, that is. I saved all my e-mail messages when I installed Vista, and now I can't get them back on the computer. Well, actually, I can, but Windows Mail won't open them. These messages were made with Outlook 2007; can Windows Mail not open files like that? So many problems, so little time...--The Ninth Bright Shiner 01:28, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Do you not have Outlook 2007 on your computer now? Why can't you just open the emails with Outlook, the program they were made with? ::Manors:: 02:38, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
I made a mistake that only I could make; I bought the upgrade disc for Office 2007. The computer was eligible for the upgrade when I bought it, but no longer so after I installed Vista. And it's gonna be a while before I can get Office back on the computer. I can't believe all the stuff I've overlooked!--The Ninth Bright Shiner 21:03, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
You're not the first person to have this problem. I've seen several posts on forums for people who can no longer use Office because they upgrade to Vista, and their Office upgrade disks won't work. -- 68.156.149.62 21:54, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Did you try Mozilla Thunderbird? --69.150.163.1 User:Kushal_one —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.150.163.1 (talk) 21:22, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Restriction Break

Americans only, Britishmen only and Frenchmen only. Now, how to break these rules?--JSH-alive 07:56, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

What rules ? If you have a question to ask, please ask it, don't send us to some web sites to try to figure out what you are asking. StuRat 11:36, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
I think the questioner is asking how to get around the country restrictions on streaming TV sites — Matt Eason (Talk • Contribs) 11:47, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
Find a good proxy that is hosted in the country the site is written in and powerful enough to support online streaming. ::Manors:: 16:45, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] this PHP file needs copy editing.

<?php
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && ('on' == $_SERVER['HTTPS'])) {
$uri = 'https://';
} else {
$uri = 'http://';
}
$uri .= $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'];
header('Location: '.$uri.'/example_directory/');
exit;
?>
Something is wrong with the XAMPP installation :-(
 How do I properly cut&paste this to get example.com redirected to example_directory, examplewiki.com redirected to examplewiki_directory, etc.
or in other words to simply enable the domain names (assuming there are) pointing to the IP of the server to land in their respective folders. Plz halp! :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by 354d (talk • contribs) 09:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

If it is reporting that something is wrong with the XAMPP installation, you need to fix the installation before you worry about the PHP script. To put it another way, if I were to ask how to get to the grocery store in my car and I complain that it won't start, you would tell me to get my car to start before worrying about getting to the grocery store. There is nothing you can do in a PHP script to instamagically fix a broken installation. -- kainaw™ 12:14, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
As a side note, a common way to do what you are trying to accomplish is to set up multiple virtual hosts in Apache. --131.215.159.4 20:30, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

kainaw no no no XD lol - I copypasted the contents of the file it works fine the last line is what it throws (or how do they call it) when something is wrong, but it works, i.e it doesn "throw" that line. In this case, as I type the IP of the computer that the server is on I get "redirected" to the folder example_directory, because that's what's specified there in this file the http:// and https:// lines are blank and I wnated to know how do I properly compose this thing to get different domain names (supposedly that's what I type in after the https:// and http://) land indifferent folders (considerying a site is a folder on your server)
I usually get by looking for patterns (like which part repeats) well you know and then I'm just copypasting it, but I kno w nothing about php and I can't tell where there is some header or something, etc. I tried some random copypasta but in all cases it landed in http://anotherexample.comanotherexample.com/anotherexample_directory and obviously I don't need the domain name duplicated. Actually, idk, perhaps I'm assuming something this file actually doesn't do, idk.
now virtual hosts sounds like a clue 354d 07:35, 5 September 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 354d (talk • contribs) 07:34, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

If you truly copy-pasted the code above, the first "if" has unbalanced parenthesis. What would cause the error you are talking about is a missing "." (period) in the $uri .= $_HTTP['host']; line. Without the period, you would drop the preceding http or https. -- kainaw™ 13:20, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
Am I missing something? How could $_SERVER['HTTPS'] be on if you're not already connected to https? Just use relative links and it'll preserve the type of connection --frotht 22:46, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
He should be using "isset($_SERVER['HTTPS'])" instead of "!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS'])" in this case since that is what he is checking. The "isset" check will avoid throwing an error when you check to see if $_SERVER['HTTPS'] == "on". However, he is apparently a beginning programmer, so I wouldn't fault him for using a nearly identical function. In all reality, he should use "(isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && ($_SERVER['HTTPS']=="on")) ? $uri="https://" : $uri="http://" ; -- kainaw™ 23:47, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Casual Games Market Size Europe/UK

Hi , Does anybody know what the casual games market size is in Europe and/or the UK and what its projected growth is for the next 5 years? I have some figures for the global market size (200m players, $1.5m by 2008)but am looking for some specific European and UK data. I am also interested in casual gaming market shares - who are the key players in the industry? Thanks, EB —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.96.27.149 (talk) 13:47, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

What are "casual" games ? In the US "gaming" is a euphemism for gambling, is that what you mean ? StuRat 21:15, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
Casual game. --LarryMac | Talk 16:13, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Winxpsp2 object block

Any idea how do I download a file through WINXPsp2 from a site which does not provide direct links such as rapidshare? can this feature be disabled? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.242.179 (talk) 15:08, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Internet

How can i find out if someone is looking on my computer. I am connected to a home linksys with others? Frankish12 18:08, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Your country may have laws requiring your Internet Service Provider to watch you, so law offenders can be tracked. In communist or dictatorship regimes, you may also be watched. (Wikipedia cannot say much about legal issues.) --Mayfare 19:33, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
What do you mean by "looking on your computer"? --131.215.159.4 20:28, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
If your computer has parental control, your parents may be watching you. --Mayfare 20:56, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mysterious Ink Level Increase

Hello. Using a remanufactured ink cartridge for about three weeks, the printer status window shows that my cartridge is very low on ink. (I print a lot.) On the next day using the same cartridge, the same window shows that my cartridge is almost full as if I recently used it. Has my HP Deskjet 3420 printer mistakened my cartridge for a full one? If possible, can it be fixed? --Mayfare 19:27, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Original manufacturers generally recommend you not to use remanufactured/refill cartridges for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are more to do with keeping the money flowing into their bank accounts rather than someone elses, but some of their reasons can be valid. This is one of the issues that I have seen mentioned in the past, that the printer may not be able to detect things such as ink levels correctly on remanufactured/refilled/imitation cartridges (the reasons for this vary from more to less technical). There's a bit of a discussion on it here in the Inkjet printer article (point 2 in the 'disadvantages' is perhaps especially relevant). Don't know of any 'fix', not that I've looked into it. --jjron 08:04, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Thank you Jjron. --Mayfare 01:06, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Improving grainy audio

Part 1,000,000 of the infinity-part series chronicling Orannis' problems with Vista! Well, it's not really Vista's problem. You see, back when I had XP, the computer came with a sound-enhancing program, I can't remember what it was, though. Something to do with True-Surround something-or-other. Anyway, this program was able to highly increase sound quality, as well as specialize it for the computer's speakers, external speakers, different types of headphones, etc. But now, I don't have such a program, and sound is much grainier compared to what I'm accustomed to. Are there any good programs out there that could improve overall sound quality? I'm looking for both a free and non-free program; one to carry me over until I can buy a better program. Any suggestions? Thanks.--The Ninth Bright Shiner 21:30, 4 September 2007 (UTC)