Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 April 9

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[edit] April 9

[edit] Speech to text systems

Are there any reasonable freeware or online versions of systems to convert speech files contained in ogg, mp3, wav etc files to text? We are getting more and more sound files here and it would be nice to have a more efficient method of converting them to text than just doing it purely manually. Any ideas?--Filll (talk) 00:38, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Sorry for the bad news, but I don't think you are going to have much luck with this. I hope I'm wrong, but here is why I think so. I got "Via Voice" for free with some other software I purchased. I'm thinking it was only $20 or so. Now, this was in 1999, but I think the software works the same nowadays. How it worked was, you would say paragraphs of text as the words were highlighted on the screen. Same idea as karaoke. Based on how the USER pronounced words, it learned THAT voice. There is just too many dialects, accents and slang out there for it to know what every voice is pronouncing. If you think about it, you know that our brain does not make out every word said, but it "fills in" based on the context, body language, inflection...
Here's the 2005 version of that software: http://www.nuance.com/viavoice/
Why I also think the technology is not where it needs to be yet is based on the job my cell phone does. It does fine with "digit dial". It knows it's only listening for 0 to 9. But when it comes to "name dial" I have to mispronounce some of my friends names to get it to dial them - and that is with a very limited menu of possibilities.
If you do find something, please post it here. I'd love to have it myself.--Wonderley (talk) 06:53, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
CMU Sphinx --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 07:17, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Small world. My sister mentioned recently adding a feature to her phone so she will soon be able to have her voice mails received as text messages. I'm very curious how well that will work. So, I went back to the via voice web page I mentioned earlier and saw this press release.
http://www.nuance.com/news/pressreleases/2008/20080401_vm2txt.asp
--Wonderley (talk) 07:35, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Games crashing out

I run a Maxdata dualcore 3.4g computer with 1g RAM and an ATI 1600XT card. Recently I felt like a bit of Quake 4 so I installed it up and blasted merrily away for an hour or so. Then the computer started crashing in a way I had not encountered before. The graphics stutter briefly, then the game crashes out to the desktop, then, with no warning text or choices, the PC calmly shuts itself down, going through the usual blue goodbye screen. When I turn it back on, it does so without fuss.

I wondered if it was a problem with the Quake install, so I tried Doom3, with the same results. My PC runs fine otherwise, and copes happily with fairly demanding apps like Photoshop. I wondered if the graphics card was overheating, but usually if it gets hot the control software sends me a polite message on screen. I tried playing with the case open, and updated the drivers for the card but got the same results. Any ideas? Cheers. FreeMorpheme (talk) 07:20, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

What's the bluescreen showing? Or is that XP's blue shutdown screen that you mean? If so, check the event viewer and see if it says why it's shutting down. What temperatures are your CPU and GPU reaching? Etc? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:45, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
It's probably an overheating issue. Playing with the case open would make it worse :D\=< (talk) 07:49, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Yes, I meant the XP shutdown screen. I've never come across Event Viewer, that does sound handy. It doesn't reset on shutdown does it? And would playing with the case open make it worse? I assumed that giving it some air would help if it was getting hot. 195.60.20.81 (talk) 08:29, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Overheating was my first instinct too, but I'm not so sure that that is it. When a computer overheats, doesn't it just power off? I mean, it doesn't fire up the XP shutdown procedure, it just kills the power. That's been my experience anyway. --Oskar 11:05, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
I thought that was odd too, but I can confirm it certainly shuts down normally after crashing out of the game. There are no error messages ever displayed and I when I check the graphics software when idling it seems to be running at normal temp. 195.60.20.81 (talk) 11:24, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Opening the case rarely helps if it is temperature related; it just reduces air flow. Make sure you check the CPU temp, not just the GPU. 130.179.29.132 (talk) 13:34, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Well, that event viewer is handy. Checking it after shutdown gives me: ATI HotKey Poller - System is forced to be shutdown because of graphic card in unexpected high temperature. So that's that then. Now... anyone have any ideas what I should do? FreeMorpheme (talk) 18:20, 9 April 2008 (UTC) EDIT Checking the temp of the card at idle or near idle gives a fairly steady 85-90C. That seems pretty hot. Hmmm.
Holy crap, yes. That would be high under load. Crack open the case and make sure there are no obstructions to air flow, the fan isn't dusty and is able to spin freely, etc. If it's still in the warranty period you may want to RMA it, though heat issues are usually because don't have proper airflow in the case. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 08:36, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Sigh. No, it all seems fine, it has a couple of slots to itself, the fan is spinning merrily away - but when I run a test in ATITools it immediately takes the temp to a healthy 129C. I'll find some compressed air and give it all a clean, but it looks like it's replacement time. FreeMorpheme (talk) 17:51, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] zip website

are there any browsers that can read a website stored in a zip file? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.159.16.175 (talk) 08:41, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Well there's content-encoding :D\=< (talk) 09:43, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
So how does this work? I compress it with 7zip then what? How can I direct my browser to the internal files? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.159.16.175 (talk) 10:07, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Uh no it's not strictly relevant to your question. The web server gzips it automatically, you dont use 7zip unless you're crafting some raw netcat bizarreness :D\=< (talk) 11:05, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
So how do people view html files etc in those .arc formats? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.159.16.175 (talk) 11:14, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Someone? Anyone?!? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.159.16.175 (talk) 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Take your pick from the Comparison of file archivers page - this bit is the bit to look at. --h2g2bob (talk) 22:10, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ubuntu Root

I'm hoping someone can save my sanity... I installed Ubuntu 7.04, and subsequently upgraded it to 7.10. At no point did the installation ask me to create a ROOT password. Now, however, I have come to install version 8.04, and there are an untold number of problems, all down to the fact that the software wants to update 2 files (gcc-3.3.doc and gcc-3.4.doc), neither of which it can access because they are 'owned' by Root. Does anybody know if there is a default Root password? I have hunted high and low on the web without success, including the usual suspects (ubuntu's homepage, various bulletin boards, and so on...) This problem has been going on for days now, and is preventing me from using many of the programs I would normally use day-to-day... Samilong (talk) 10:11, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

There is no default root password on ubuntu; you're supposed to use sudo for all your root purposes. If you really, really, really, really want a root terminal, you can type in "sudo -i" and enter your password (your user password, assuming your user is the admin on the computer). There, now you're root. If you want to start a root instance of the file-browser, type in "sudo nautilus" at the terminal. If you want to change the owner of those two files, type "sudo chown [your user name] [the file name]" in the terminal. --Oskar 10:35, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
BTW, if you need a little more basic help, like how to work a terminal or to change file permissions or something like that, we'll be glad to help. Cheers. --Oskar 10:36, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Oh, and another thing. If you do stuff using the root account, be careful. Changing stubborn file-ownerships of individual files is usually no big deal, but don't go crazy and start using it when you don't need to. Sudo has weapons of mass operating system destruction capabilities. You really only rarely need to change stuff outside of your home-folder manually. If you want to install a program, use "apt-get" or synaptic (or the neat little "Add/Remove Software" GUI that's in the main applications menu). --Oskar 10:55, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Here comes the light with which to cast back these shadowy sudo demons!! Apparently I'm the only one here who hates retarded sudo for a desktop distro and will give this fellow what he's asking for. Dum da da dum:
sudo passwd
This runs "passwd" as root so it sets the root password to whatever you give at the prompt. Also upgrading ubuntu is a bad idea. :D\=< (talk) 11:03, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Honestly, I don't know what's up with you people who wants to log in as root. I mean, it's sooooo much nicer to just use sudo! No need to constantly log in and out with root, and as I said, if you really, really, really, really wants a root terminal, "sudo -i" is just seven keystrokes away. All hail the glorious Superuser-Do! --Oskar 11:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
no need to constantly type sudo... :) anyway I have sudo configured to only stay authenticated for that single command and to require the actual root password, not the user's password.. so it's pretty much identical to su except for the convenience of auto de-elevating from root. :D\=< (talk) 12:16, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] using a digital photo frame as an ebook reader?

Would it be possible to use a digital photo frame as an ebook reader? They take memory cards, so if I put jpeg (or whatever) scans of the text I want to read on one, can't I use a digital photo frame to flip through them and read them? Maybe since their resolution is so low 800x600 maybe, I should create several photos of each page. Still, I have very little money for an ebook reader, so, would this work? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.13.205 (talk) 13:46, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

As you said, you'd need several pics of each page, which means you could store fewer total pages. This, combined with the lower memory on most digital photo frames means you likely can't store even an entire book on one. But, if you want to load one chapter each day I suppose that could work. Also note that books you just scan won't look as good as those which are first scanned, have OCR applied, and then have "perfect" letters recreated. StuRat (talk) 15:15, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

well I thought since it had removable memory I could store in toto as much as I wanted.... Anyway I'm a very very poor student, what do you think the cheapest photo frame is that can support memory cards? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.13.205 (talk) 17:21, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Photo frames do not have scrolling (up/down/left/right) capability. So, you will be viewing the image as is. You can't zoom in and scroll around. Also, there is no easy way to flip forwards/backwards between photos - especially the ability to jump to whatever page you like. As you can see, the big difference is functionality of the hardware - not just the resolution of the screen. -- kainaw™ 18:18, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
I'd invest in a 2nd hand laptop - if its just for ebooks then an early pentium would be fine. Boomshanka (talk) 00:07, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

why couldn't I flip forward and backward between photos???? surely there's a forward and back button. Anyway I'm talking about texts I'd spend a long time holding and looking at, such as obtuse old english. what price are we looking at for an 800x600 photo frame that flips forward and backward (its two buttons) between any number of photos on a removable memory card in it?? thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.13.205 (talk) 01:07, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

er, abstruse. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.13.205 (talk) 01:25, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
What price range are you looking at? Today's Woot is a iMate Momento 10.2” Wi-Fi Digital Picture Frame which looks great. The price is USD 12999 an extra of USD 5.00 shipping, presumably within the United States. It handles JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP. It even plays MP3 and WMA files (for all those LibriVox audio files). Even if you do not like this product, you can still read about the product on http://www.woot.com/ so you can start crossing out any feature you will not need and any feature that you find missing. I hope it helps. (Just for the record, I am not a Woot employee.) Kushal 01:39, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Notebook computers can be pretty inexpensive, too. Engadget is talking about the possibility of an 8.9" Dell laptop for USD 499 in the second or third quarter of 2008. However, I cannot see laptops matching the price of a photo frame ... unless eBay comes to the rescue. Kushal 01:50, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately $129.99 is outside my price range. For $129.99 I could buy a Nokia N770! Maybe I should lower my standards. What is the absolute minimum price for a digital picture frame that has VERY low resolution (just greater than 200x200 please) and nothing but an on/off and back and forward button and maybe one more to stop and stop slideshow mode, and supports an external memory card? Obviously $5 won't get me even this, so about how much will? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.13.205 (talk) 04:59, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

It's also okay if it only supports just 1 image format, it can be anything. basically, where do piece of s* photo frames start at in price? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.13.205 (talk) 05:02, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


For $8.50 I found <a href=http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-NEW-1-5-LCD-Digital-Photo-Frame-Keychain-PINK_W0QQitemZ370039668505QQcmdZViewItem>this keychain</a> (a <a href=http://www.batteryfast.com/digital-photo-frame/1.5/1.5inch-004.php>second</a> link). Now, as you can see from the Ebay page it has 128x128 pixels and forward and back buttons, and you can switch between auto and manual slideshow. Perfect. Now my next question is, after 128x128, no external flash, for $8.50, what is the next "step up" in terms of size and resolution? I haven't found other things close to that price range. I guess I'll forget about the flash, although I did find <a href=http://www.sourcingmap.com/tflash-card-reader-inch-screen-photo-frame-usb-mp3-player-p-8769.html?campaign=1002>this flash memory card reader</a> for $26 that is a 1.5" "flash memory card reader" (maybe for a photographer to use or something) but of unspecified resolution...

<a href=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882136146>This keychain </a> (Newegg!) gets mostly great and two awful reviews... but is $20 and TINY. $20 is much more than $8 and I'm sure there's something for around $25 that is like the $8.50 one I mention above but with a bigger resolution... I just can't seem to find it... :(

Have you considered, instead of a photo-frame, an older model palm pilot? Many of them support many popular ebook formats, and the ones with external memory could probably also handle the scans you'd find on usenet or bittorrent or something. APL (talk) 13:03, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Delay after locking computer

After locking my computer (Windows+L), there's sometimes a looong wait (up to three minutes) before the "enter password" dialog appears. What could be causing this? System: Windows XP Pro SP2. --grawity talk / PGP 14:55, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

I suspect the problem might be that you are using Windows...;-) Seriously, though, it sounds like a resources issue; have you downloaded all the latest updates and bug-fixes from Microsoft? If not, that would be my first port of call - or install SP3... Samilong (talk) 15:39, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
There's a SP3?
I've read a few days ago in this page someone suggested not to download Vista SP# but wait for it to be downloaded automatically (Windows Update), because it will then be configured for that specific system. --grawity talk / PGP 16:51, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
The computer I am typing on is an XPSP2. However, it has automatic updates enabled and has always on DSL connection. If you have a similar configuration, I will say you don't need SP3 (if it exists). Kushal 20:42, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
It will exist, or, if you want to count beta / release candidates, it does exist. --LarryMac | Talk 20:57, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Why is USB important?

why have usb ports become increasingly important. can someone tell me the answer. (E-Mail removed) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.103.97.82 (talk) 15:55, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Do you know what USB is? The article we have is pretty good and should tell you what you need to know. Friday (talk) 16:38, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Previous PC interfaces like RS-232 and SCSI did not support humping dogs or compact missile launchers. As office workers became more dependent on these tools, USB evolved to also support things like keyboards, mice, and mass storage devices. This progress made the earlier types of ports obsolete (they didn't even support pregnancy tests!), so now we mostly have USB. -- Coneslayer (talk) 17:39, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, USB flash drives made Zip drives and Jazz drives (both of which were thought to be the likely successor to the floppy drive) obsolete. They're faster, cheaper, and have greater storage capacity. Useight (talk) 23:10, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
But this has nothing to do with USB. There are USB Zip drives and non-USB flash drives. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 07:44, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
The real key is that USB is Plug and play. You plug in the device, and it's ready to run. Older RS232 devices and Parallel devices required you to shut down the computer before plugging/unplugging them. USB can be "hot plugged" while the computer is running, which means those portable drives suddenly become much more portable indeed. -- Kesh (talk) 23:28, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
I'd say it's a combination of a bunch of things. Apple supported the format heavily in the beginning which was enough to ensure that there were a large number of accessories like mice and keyboards that used USB. This solved the chicken&egg problem and stopped the format from dieing a premature death. But from there it gets more complicated. I'd like to guess that the availability of cheap flash drives small enough to go on your keychain was a major player, but I'm not sure if that was really it or not. APL (talk) 12:58, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
They're small, handy, fast enough for most purposes, cheap to manufacture, and, at this point, ubiquitous, which is worth the most on the whole. There are pros and cons of any given standard, but much to be gained if one is reliable enough. It didn't have to be USB, but something would have eventually emerged as a way of consolidating all of the different formats and plugs that are used by computers. A standard plug, a standard interface—it makes life simpler for both the consumer and the producer. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 14:44, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Captcha

Who writes the captchas on wikipedia?

Santa is nothing more than a greedy man

Santa is nothing more than a greedy man (talk) 18:52, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Check out http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ConfirmEdit --Sean 19:17, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Wait, was that (Santa is nothing more than a greedy man) what you had to enter on a captcha? :| Kushal 19:41, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Correct term

What is the correct term, if I were to say "Wikipedia is on the..." internet, world wide web, web, net, interweb? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.159.16.175 (talk) 19:12, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

The way I understand is Wikipedia is on the World wide web. The world wide web is a part of the Internet (abbreviated as net). Interweb is the creation of a confused mind. (Just don't tell Butters (South Park) that he is confused :D.) If I am correct, you can always correctly say, Wikipedia is on the Internet, and not worry about the protocols the computers use to talk to each other. Kushal 19:37, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Any of them except the last one is ok (only use the last one if you want to sound like a douche). --Oskar 19:40, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
I believe "Internet" is supposed to refer to the hardware, actual cables, hubs, routers, etc, while "World Wide Web" refers to the software (browsers, HTML pages, etc.). However, people use them interchangeably. Useight (talk) 23:07, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
The World Wide Web is an application layered on top of the the Internet. --71.162.249.117 (talk) 23:59, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
To say that a different way, the Web is one part of the Internet. Other parts of the Internet are e-mail, instant messaging, file transfer protocol, and so on. rspeer / ɹəədsɹ 10:23, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hosting

What companies are like 'the hosting company of everyone' or like a VW of hosting?WikiWiking (talk) 19:52, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't quite understand the question. In what aspect should the "hosting company" be similar to Volkswagen? I agree that VW makes fine cars but I don't quite get what you imply by "like a VW". I am curious to learn more about it. Care to explain? Kushal 22:03, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
As far as I can tell, the questioner is asking if there are any "we do it all for you" hosting companies. Yes. In fact, I own one. We do everything (including some in-office computer support). However, it is very expensive. So, I would call it something like the Ferrari of hosting, not the VW. If, instead, the questioner is asking if there are any hosting services that are so cheap that anyone can have one, but it only provides the basic functionality - then yes, there are those too. I saw one for $5/year once. -- kainaw™ 22:51, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
That's the idea. But $5/year is incredibly cheap. Do you mean $5/month? WikiWiking (talk) 23:37, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
It was $5/year. I cheap guy I worked with used the service. Something didn't work right. He tried to get in touch with them to fix it, but they never responded. I told him he shouldn't expect service for $5/year. -- kainaw™ 01:51, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
My host (nearlyfreespeech.net) has a chart somewhere showing how much their subscribers spend on average (it's priced based on how much bandwidth/storage you use).. like 30% spend less than a cent of bandwidth a month so they pay nothing. Only maybe 50% IIRC use enough to cost a dollar a month or more. I'm burning maybe $6 to $8 a month :D\=< (talk) 03:24, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
oh here it is https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/pocket.php :D\=< (talk) 04:04, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How to let a third-party developer modify a website safely?

Hi all, I have a website running a off-the-shelf CMS (GeekLog). I have some basic grasp of PHP and MySQL, enough to have made a couple of changes, but I'm not so hot. I have plans for some upgrades, and have been considering renting a coder for not too much (therefore I'm not going to be able to afford the cream of the crop with hundreds of references and testimonials). What is the general way to allow an unknown coder to modify my website?

I'm not so worried about there being anything to steal (although if he changes the passwords on me and sells the domain to someone else I'd be annoyed...), it's more than he may have to be working on the underlying code base, and so wouldn;t want the thing to come crashing down.

Do people usually give the admin passwords to the developers? Can he somehow download the whole site, make the changes he needs to, and have me upload those changes? What's the best way of dealing with this?

Thanks!

— Sam 23:22, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

It is too late now, but you should have your website under some sort of version control (ie: SVN). Then, the developer can download the site, make changes on his machine, and submit them to the control system. You can download them and view them on your local machine. If you like them, you an update them to the main server.
Since, you probably don't have that, you should download the whole site to your PC (you'll need to dump the database and build it there also). Once you see that you can run it from your PC, you can send it to the developer to have him make changes. He'll send them back to you and you can check them on your PC. When you like the changes, you can send the site back to the webserver. -- kainaw™ 23:28, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
That sounds good -- SVN that is. Why is it too late? Would I be able to put it up now?
I've used some SVN for software code, and with we build directly from the code on SVN. How does it work for a website? Are the originals on SVN, or do you just duplicate everything, and merge it in when there are changes?
What about the databases and the MySQL stuff?
Thanks! (And if there are any other suggestions, I'm still very open to hearing them) — Sam 02:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Trying to switch to SVN mid-stream is difficult. Everyone involved is already in the mindset of working on the live code. That is the problem. As for dealing with the MySQL database (or any database). It was most likely created by hand. Obviously, SVN won't know about it. So, you need to include a "make my database" script. This is cool in that it allows you to update the version of the database as well. For example, you can have a table with one row/one column that contains the current database version. Then, the file will create/update/alter the database as necessary. If a developer decides a new table is needed, he adds the command to create it to the database script. Then, when anyone gets the latest SVN and hits the new site, their local database will be updated. The drawback is that each person will have different actual data in their database. But, that can be good. For example, I work on an EMR system. On my computer, all of the Simpsons characters are patients and there are two doctors (Hibbert and Riviera). On the real system, there are real patients and doctors. If this all makes sense (which I doubt, since I'm going on 38 hours without sleep), then you can use SVN to dump your site to a repository and check it out on your local PC. Then, work on a script to build the database. Then, check it back in and let the other developer check it out. -- kainaw™ 03:13, 10 April 2008 (UTC)