Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 February 15

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Computing desk
< February 14 << Jan | February | Mar >> February 16 >
Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.


Contents


[edit] February 15

[edit] ie search

some bastard called ie search has taken over ny system how do i get the bastrds off?Perry-mankster (talk) 00:24, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Spybot Search & Destroy. --140.247.11.3 (talk) 00:35, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
thank you, thank you but is there sumting that does not cost?Perry-mankster (talk) 00:55, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Um, Spybot is free. Please try reading what people give you as answers a little more closely!! --98.217.18.109 (talk) 14:54, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
Yes: your choice among the various Linux distributions. (Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu is easy to deal with.) You'll never experience a Windows trojan again, and I'm not aware of any written for Linux. -- Hoary (talk) 01:01, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Or one of the BSDs :D\=< (talk) 02:03, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Spybot doesn't cost anything. Algebraist 02:00, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Right. Nor does Ad-Aware Free, or Microsoft's Windows Defender, both of which seem pretty good at catching things that Spybot misses. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:34, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
I am using AVG Anti-Spyware [1]. It is free, too. In a test I saw just recently, AVG Anti-Spyware was the best of the free malware scanners. I earlier used Ad-Aware, but it got the worst score in the test. -- PauliKL (talk) 16:02, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Huh. Good to know. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:03, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Photoshop -- Photocopy-like effect?

I have a ton (maybe 3GB worth) of photos I took of documents in an archive with a digital camera. They are all grayscale. I'd like to improve the contrast on them so that they looked a bit more like they would if they were photocopied (both to reduce the file size, and to prepare for converting them all to PDFs and running OCR on them). I need something that can be done in a batched way, say through Photoshops Actions.

My problem is that running "autocontrast" doesn't really cut it (it just balances things out), while more drastic things like Posterize or Bitmap require a LOT of supervision as the gray tones are often a bit different from file to file and something that works on one might render the next one totally white or totally black.

Any suggestions? (Modern) photocopiers almost always seem to get it right. I know this is in part because they have a uniform light source and so that reduces a lot of the variation, but still, they seem to have a somewhat more clever way of reducing the total range considerably while still getting a good, very readable output (and readability is most important here). Any clue as to a good way to think about replicating this? (And no, the "Photocopy" filter in Photoshop doesn't do this, nor does it really try to. I'm not looking for "gritty", I'm looking for "readable.") --140.247.11.3 (talk) 00:34, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

The "Threshold" function might work, I'm not sure how it will work with batch processing of differently shaded images though. --Canley (talk) 01:20, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Try using a reasonably aggressive curve? --antilivedT | C | G 02:58, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
I don't think increasing contrast would reduce file size (unless large areas of the picture become totally white or black). Increasing contrast may be useful for scanned documents, but I wouldn't use it for photographs, at least not by using batch processing.
You are not likely to get good results with batch processing. You should interactively adjust each image. However, "autocontrast" could perhaps create acceptable results. I don't use Photoshop, but at least on Picture Publisher's autocontrast, you can select how much to sacrifice shades from high and dark end of the histogram, to get higher contrast than the optimal.
PauliKL (talk) 16:30, 15 February 2008 (UTC)


My copy of PS for mac has a photocopy effect in it already. However, I recommend changing the levels, contrast and possibly adding noise. Radiofred (talk) 12:45, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Why not upload an example image somewhere? We can see what you're dealing with 70.65.84.44 (talk) 03:06, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Dev-C++ Compiler

I recently downloaded the Dev-C++ compiler. It's working fine except every time I open the program, it has to install and show all the dialog boxes like the first time it's been used. I also have to reconfigure my settings for this reason. Is there any way I can get it to stay installed and not have to go through the installation and setup process every time I open it? Thanks, Zrs 12 (talk) 00:48, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

You could try Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition.. if you're developing on windows, there is no environment better than Visual Studio :D\=< (talk) 01:09, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Not an option. He's looking for a free compiler. In any case, it's actually the GNU compiler, and Dev-C++ is the IDE. And I have had many problems with this product in the past. I would only suggest playing around with the options, or reporting it on their bug noticeboard. The Evil Spartan (talk) 01:13, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
The express edition is free.. The microsoft compiler is a little screwy, but the IDE is fantastic. :D\=< (talk) 02:01, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Oh and let me clarify that by saying that Visual Studio is an entirely worthless pile of complete trash that doesn't even work. Gr. :D\=< (talk) 02:51, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Haha. I wish you had said that sooner. I just downloaded it. Zrs 12 (talk) 03:11, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
It'll probably work fine for you, I'm just one of the people that it mysteriously craps up on so I have to use Anjuta from xubuntu + mingw32 :D\=< (talk) 03:16, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

So is there any other free C++ compiler anyone would suggest? I'm willing to uninstall this one. It gets really anoying going through the setup process every time I use it. Zrs 12 (talk) 01:58, 15 February 2008 (UTC) OK. Thanks, Zrs 12 (talk) 02:05, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Wait. Will it compile ANSI-C++?Zrs 12 (talk) 02:10, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

It will compile microsoft C++ :) :D\=< (talk) 02:21, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
That is wrong. I have never had that kind of problems before. Do you have write permissions in the configuration files of the program (I guess so, but you never know). -- ReyBrujo (talk) 02:39, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
What is wrong and which problems are you talking about?Zrs 12 (talk) 03:11, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
The original question? :D\=< (talk) 03:17, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
If you just want a compiler and not an IDE, you could use MinGW, which includes GCC. MinGW is actually what Dev C++ uses for compilation. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:15, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] XML schema?

Do you need XML schema if you can generate perfect XML contents by a program?

Why couldn't people just use a simplified computer language to validate XML? If you can use a simplified version of BASIC or C to write the validator, you don't need to learn another set of syntax.

Why are there so many stupid ways to assign a variable? There are only so many types of data and logic operations, why can't they create a unified syntax? Isn't it stupid to have ADD(x, y) or x PLUS y when you can simply write x+y? -- Toytoy (talk) 05:38, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

It wouldn't surprise me if x+y is just an overloaded operator pointing at an actual function called ADD(x,y) and if something like x PLUS y was retained for backward-compatibility.. there are usually good reasons for this kind of thing :D\=< (talk) 14:45, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 3D graphics cards - just for games?

So you own a relatively high-end Nvidia or ATI graphics card and a modern CPU. You get a bit of eye candy in Windows Vista, and you can play the latest games. What other applications and software exist that demonstrate and take advantage of modern 3D graphics cards? I`m thinking along the lines of artistic graphics demos, graphics-creation applications, or even inventive game designs outside the standard shooter/RPG/RTS realm. Thanks, –Outriggr § 06:00, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Demoscene (specifically, try pouet.net for downloads), 3D computer graphics software, CAD, and there are countless 'inventive' games. Just pulling random (perhaps not altogether inventive) non-FPS/RPG/RTS ones from my computer, I've got Galactic Civilizations 2, Portal, Sins of a Solar Empire, Freespace 2, stuff from ABA Games, Toribash, Porrasturvat, and other things are scattered around. Other things that you may not have thought of include Folding@Home and other GPGPU applications. And of course there are various other bits of 3D software like Google Earth and Celestia, though these aren't necessarily GPU-straining. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:31, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Just a quibble - Sins of a Solar Empire is perhaps inventive, but is it not still primarily an RTS? -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 09:08, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Also Portal is technically an FPS/puzzle game. Mad031683 (talk) 17:28, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Well, they're both pretty much outside of the "standard shooter/RPG/RTS realm", and Sins is sooooo slow. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 21:57, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
In addition... you can enable maximum settings in older games and experience them again; there are many demos lurking around nvidia.com itself; demos from futuremark.com (3dmark) and related; run HDDVD or Blu-ray content on your computer instead of your PS3; do digital (DAT/HD) video-editing and compresssion to DVD or divx. In think we've pretty much covered most of it. It sounds quite limited but I'm personally contented with the wealth of games and demos out there. Sandman30s (talk) 11:28, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, this one is the best part about having a relatively modern machine.. even if it's not a gaming machine you can certainly play like Unreal Tournament, an excellent game better than UT 2k3, 2k4, and 2k8, at max effects and 1600x1200 resolution. :D\=< (talk) 14:47, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] fonts in the terminal

On a computer not running a graphical user interface, what determines the fonts or letter representations used in the terminal? --Iownatv (talk) 07:33, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

It depends. My understanding is that the font used by many of these is stored in the video card's BIOS and implements Code page 437, though some operating systems do define their own fonts, or have the option to do so. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:49, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
There's an article: Text mode. It's not extremely detailed though. If you're talking DOS, it's probably using the font in the video card's BIOS. Linux distributions are far more likely to load an alternate font for the console, because the video BIOS font wastes a lot of slots on non-essential characters like smiley faces and box-drawing lines, which can be put to better use supporting larger alphabets. (There's only room for 256 characters in a VGA text mode font - 512 if you're lucky.)
Linux distributions are also increasingly likely to enable the fbcon console driver - which doesn't use the hardware's text mode at all, but requires the kernel to do the job of drawing character glyphs, using a default font that's built right into the kernel image! --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 09:04, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Original IBM-PC only had text mode, as did computer terminals such as adm3a, vt100, vt220 etc. Later, display cards were developed that had graphics modes in addition to the text mode. Even today all graphics cards have text mode, which is used for example during the boot time and when you enter BIOS setup.
When using text mode, only the text data is kept in memory (1 byte/character). This limits the maximum number of different characters to 256. The display controller hardware draws the character to the CRT screen on the fly while refreshing the display. The bitmap images of the characters are stored in the ROM of the display controller. Old terminals only had a single 7-bit character set (max 128 characters). More advanced terminals such as vt220 had multiple 8-bit character sets. The user (or the software being run) could choose which character set to use (for example for different languages). Downloadable soft fonts could be available, too. Different fonts (serif, sans-serif etc.) were usually not available (due to the low resolution).
Of course it is possible to create a terminal using graphics mode, too. And if you run DOS-box in Windows, it simulates the text mode inside a graphics mode window. Then you can choose the font from the system menu (at the upper left corner of the window).
-- PauliKL (talk) 17:09, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Software cracks

How do people make the "cracks" for software which requires a registration code? Does the wiki have an article on this? I have searched but found nothing. xxx User:Hyper Girl 12:13, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Um, is Software cracking of any use? Kushalt 12:51, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Kushal! Someone should really add a link to the disambiguation page. Think outside the box 13:22, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Its done. Think outside the box 13:24, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
A simple explanation may be appropriate.. on Windows (for *nix it's a little weird because of interpreters, though the .NET framework complicates things too) exe files are little more than processor instructions packed together into a file. These binary instructions can (with the oversight of the OS) be placed directly on the CPU's instruction inputs and the processor executes them.. if you're not familiar with how things work at the chip level, it doesn't make a lot of sense but for an extremely simple computer imagine the control lines going into a multiplexer- read that article and it'll make sense. Anyway, so these instructions are just binary machine code.. simple things like ADD, JMP (to another memory location), CMP (compare), but assembled into binary. Well with a (soon-to-be-illegal according to Richard Stallman) tool called a disassembler, you can interpret the binary instructions as data and and parse them so you can see which operations they correspond to, like ADD, JMP, CMP, etc. By examining the (extremely lengthy) assembly code you can get a feel for a program- and since you know exactly what bytes in the program correspond to which instructions (there are few things you can do to obfuscate the machine code since it has to go right into the instruction stack, and none to effectively obfuscate it) you can modify bytes. . . obviously including changing
CMP userinputtedkey therealkey
JNE failed

to

CMP userinputtedkey therealkey
NO-OP
This is ridiculously simple, and I don't know if crackers actually use disassemblers, but you get the theory.. the program is on your computer, and it can be modified transparently, though only on a very low level. A lot of people don't realize this but that's the reality of it- your programs are just data and they can be modified however you please. Microsoft was worried that drivers and other privileged code could be modified however """"malicious"""" people wanted, so they started signing their code, taking a checksum or something of all the code and then checking it before execution and refusing to run if the code has been changed- of course what's to keep people from just cracking the driver checksum code? Well, malicious code can't because of DEP but users can crack their own computer because they have root access (not at all really for Windows, but we'll say they do), and a lot of 64-bit windows users have done that since it doesn't allow unsigned drivers at all. Then Microsoft decided to do the same thing, but extend it so cracker's can't change code in other things too, including game files, so cracks are impossible. How do they do that though, if you can just crack the checksum program? Well they take away the user's low-level access to their own machine (well, another degree since a lot of things in windows are already locked out even to administrators). That's right- there's a higher level account than you on the machine, a hypervisor running in ring -1, and only Microsoft has the 'login' control information, not you. DEP prevents you from changing the code running in hypervisor mode, which includes the code that loads programs into the instruction stack (or whatever it's called I forget) and checks for signed code. That project was called, Palladium, now it's called the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base, coming to a near-future Microsoft Windows, utilizing the TPM in the computer you bought in the last 5 years, and taking away your freedoms. Due to the DMCA it's illegal to flip certain bits in your own memory chip, if those bits have to do with copy protection. With Palladium that's extended to the entire operating system, as well as trusted programs- you're legally locked out of your own machine, and if you attempt to regain control you may go to prison. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html :D\=< (talk) 14:38, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Froth, I believe you mentioned, quite some time back, that I can disable TPM using BIOS. Can I continue to do that in the future? What if the BIOS does not give that option to me? Do you think Intel will ever take away that option from its customers? Kushalt 16:25, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

I doubt they'd take the option out of the BIOS and (as long as you don't have anything authenticating to the TPM at boot) you can always just pry it out physically or use a free OS. But take a look at the diagram- without a TPM you can't use any secure applications. Presumably the OS would fall back to a crippled "non-secure" mode that still has functionality, but commercial programs would be encrypted with codes from the TPM so that only your TPM can run them (the wet dream of software licensing).. so you wouldn't be able to run them. SSL would probably be tied into it too so you wouldn't be able to connect to secure sites. But there's really no reason to tear out your TPM- the "trusted" platform is a very good idea from a security standpoint and dedicated cryptographic and key-storing hardware has been needed for a decade.. a TPM is perfect for storing and authenticating SSH keys or for hard drive encrpytion like BitLocker.. but when it becomes "treacherous computing" because you don't have access to it, that's bad. :D\=< (talk) 16:56, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

So is it "unbeatable"? Can someone "unlock" it? Kushalt 18:04, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

From what you said, I assume that it is up to the operating system to decide to have trusted or treacherous computing. Can I assume that if an application is available for an operating system that does not recognize Palladium (or some similar acronym), it can be run as if the TPM did not exist on the computer? I am sure that Linux and FreeBSD will have at least one distro/flavor that will not have anything to do with Palladium. If I can cite this, it seems that Mac OS X does not have TPM protection, either. Please correct me if I an wrong. ÍKushalt 18:12, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

No, the theory is perfect. Inevitably people will leak unencrypted versions of code or (extraordinarily unlikely) the control codes from Microsoft, and certain Palladium apps will become usable without it. But even with a free OS not running a Palladium hypervisor, the code is still encrypted and you need the TPM to use it :D\=< (talk) 21:42, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Hm ... Glossary term for me: Hypervisor =P Kushalt 07:18, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Edubuntu Installation

Hello!i am facing a problrm that i install Edubuntu 7.10 on my old compaq pc with 550 MHZ processor ,10 GB disk and 128 MB Ram,when i install the winxp after edubuntu as a dual boot edubuntu is not shown as the list and when i try to access the drice D on winxp also there is no D drive in My Computer, so what i do becoz i have many important files in that.......usman khan —Preceding unsigned comment added by Usmanzia1 (talk • contribs) 12:28, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Hi, Usmanzial!

I went ahead and added your question as a different heading.

As far as I know, for dual booting between MS Windows XP and a Linux Distro, the best way is to install Windows XP first and then install Linux. I think your situation is more serious than what I originally thought. Do you have back ups of your important files from D:? There is a possibility that you might have deleted the data. If I were you, and if I did not have recent enough back ups, I would keep the computer turned off and try to discuss a solution for data recovery. I am thinking along the lines of removing the hard disk from the computer and adding it as a slave in another computer and trying to salvage the data using data recovery software.

I would like to know what other wikipedians think in this matter.

Kushalt 12:48, 15 February 2008 (UTC) Thank You Kushal but i say how can i detect the D Drive and also Edubuntu not boot.it says os error.i tried partion magic but no plus result.

[edit] runescape

what is the point of this game? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.80.28.243 (talk) 15:12, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

According to our RuneScape article, "Players [ . . . set] their own goals and objectives. Players can engage in combat with other players or monsters, complete quests, or increase their experience in any of the available skills" So the point is whatever you want it to be. --LarryMac | Talk 16:08, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
It's a fantasy MMORPG.. I'm sure a psychologist could do a real sikoanalyzation but IMO it's about being a powerful figure that all the NPC townsfolk love because you help them and and all the other players respect because you're high level, have good armor, etc.. mostly increases self esteeem, though of course addictive elements like micro- and short-term rewards are the reason people keep coming back :D\=< (talk) 16:19, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
For most people, to have most ca$h/highest skill level than anyone else has. --grawity talk / PGP 14:29, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Powering a video card

Is this power supply sufficient for this graphics card? I'm concerned about the card's system requirement of 30A, and the PSU seems to only have 28A. Useight (talk) 16:22, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Power draw is measured in watts. And what the HECK are you doing at tigerdirect? http://newegg.com :D\=< (talk) 16:45, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Newegg is great, but TigerDirect sells stuff über-cheap. I bought a used laptop there for about 1/3 the price of a new one, and it runs perfectly. Don't judge people on where they shop. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 17:11, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

I would not try it. If it says 30 A as minimum, I would not buy that PSU, unless I had evidence that this particular combination works. Kushalt 18:20, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

I have no idea what I am talking about, but... The graphics card says "combined 12V current rating of 30A". The PSU says +12V at 28A and +12V at 25A. Is it possible that its "combined 12V current rating" is 53A? This is consistent with the fact that this is a 750W PSU, and the card expects only 450W. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 18:54, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Watts are what matters, 750W is more than enough to power a system with a single video card. In an average system setup that's probably overkill, but it leaves room for future expansion and a margin of error should make the system more stable. Mad031683 (talk) 19:59, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Yes and no. No, in the sense that one could easily make a PSU which can give 126A of 5V and 10A of 12V - this will have a total of 750W but will be completely useless for running the aforementioned graphics card. Yes, in the sense that no-one would do that - the manufacturer of this PSU surely had high-end graphics cards in mind, and wouldn't make it incompatible with them just to spite you. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 20:28, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Hmm, perhaps I'll call the manufacturer, just to make sure. And yeah, I use newegg somtimes, too. I know that 750 Watts is overkill for a single video card (my motherboard can't handled SLI, anyway), but I want to future-proof it a little. Useight (talk) 21:23, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Resizing the partition on a windows xp system.

I would like to know how to resize the single partition on my windows xp system in order to make space for installing linux(keeping windows xp on the resized partition). Please give me information on what software to download and from where. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.110.245.31 (talk) 17:44, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Just make sure that you back up everything (this is important!), then, install Linux for double booting options. If you are using a mainstream distro such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Knoppix, you will be able to do everything from the live CD. Just please don't forget to back up your data, music and what not, please. Kushalt 18:18, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

You can use the "diskpart" command line utility. While the Microsoft description does not mention the "shrink" command, it does exist. (Maybe it's only in Windows Vista, which would explain why it's not mentioned on that page.) See [2] for command-line details.
You can also go into the disk management console. Use the Run command from the Start menu, and enter "diskmgmt.msc". You can right-click on the hard drive partition that you want to reduce, and "shrink volume" may be an option. –Outriggr § 00:38, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't have my Windows XPSP2 system anymore. However, as far as I remember, I did not have such an option. (Perhaps because I was too wary of NTFS and never converted my hard disk to a dynamic disk?)

If you are creating a dual booting computer, it never hurts todo check disk and dis defragmentation just before you pop in the Linux live CD for the installation. Kushalt 13:29, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

On a machine running Windows XP SP2, I checked diskmgmt.msc and it does not have a 'shrink' option, i.e. a way to shrink an existing partition without loss of data. Same thing for the command-line utility diskpart. Google for 'diskpart vista shrink' and you can confirm what others said above, that the shrink is only available on Vista. Buying an external USB hard drive instead of partitioning your main disk is another option to consider, now that hard drives have become so cheap. The Linux program GParted says that it can shrink partitions. I personally think I'd only trust Partition Magic since I've used it and realize that XP has tricky corner cases to solve, like immovable files. EdJohnston (talk) 19:06, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
No, stay away from Partition Magic if you have Linux on there and stick to gparted. Partition Magic can wreck havoc with its half-ass ext3 support. --antilivedT | C | G 04:37, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
Concur on GParted. Used it on all kinds of systems. The Partition Magic CD is best used as a crude mirror. --Ouro (blah blah) 09:48, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
Not really that crude, they make great signaling mirrors. Just put the hole up to your eye and quickly look alternatively at the sun and whatever vehicle you want to signal (but close your eye when you look at the sun!). They can also be snapped into shards to make crude spear points. Remember that when you are stuck on a desert island. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 16:22, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Carriage return

To whom it may concern: I am 8l years old and have been an able typist since I was a young girl. Having recently received an electronical typewriter and printer, which I am using at present, I have been unable to return the line carriage whilst composing correspondence electronically. My neighbor is a young boy and has mentioned to me that I cannot use a computer as a typewriter, but I believe that must surely be bunkum, as I have seen instances of people typing correspondence on electronical typewriters numerous times on the television. Whilst using this Encyclopedia, I noticed the Reference Desk and hope the librarians may be able to render assistance. Yours faithfully,Mary Gilmore —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.122.32.97 (talk) 20:35, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Just use the Return key. It's in the same place you'd find it on a typewriter. JIP | Talk 20:42, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
On the other hand, you might be talking about manual carriage returns, where you have to physically push the carriage back, which predated my time. You can't do this on a computer. Instead, you have to use the Return key as I said above. It's the key to the right of the P and L keys. (I'm European, so on my keyboard, there are other keys in between, but I am fairly sure Americans have it immediately next to the P and L keys.) JIP | Talk 20:49, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Nope, most American keyboards have it on the middle row with ; and ' between the l and return, \ is above it and Shift is below it. I find this post a little strange since she had the computer savvy to post on this page. Mad031683 (talk) 21:29, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Some keyboards have the 'Enter' key make an L-shape, taking up two rows, but most American keyboards have it on one row. I also find this thread suspect. Useight (talk) 01:36, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
I have to raise an obligatory mention of WP:BITE and WP:AGF. --antilivedT | C | G 04:07, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

In other words,

Do not be hostile toward newcomers. Remember to assume good faith first and approach them in a polite manner.

  • Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it.
  • If criticism is needed, discuss editors' actions, but it is never necessary or productive to accuse others of harmful motives.

Kushalt 07:12, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

Re the WP:AGF issue: Note that the original poster wrote "I am 8l years old", using a lower case "L" instead of a "1". I'd say that supports the claim that she has been working as a typist long before the PC era, and posted the question herself. --NorwegianBlue talk 10:44, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
I will assume good faith. The poster has also shown perfect grammar, which seems to be lost to most of the younger generation. I think you guys misread her question - she said that she had problems with the carriage return with her "electronical typewriter" and then asked if she could use a computer as a typewriter. Well Mary of course you can. Keep your printer to use with your computer, and use a popular Word Processor to do your typing. If you are using Windows, then Microsoft Word is the most popular. My grandmother uses her computer for exactly the same things - typing and internet. Good luck! Sandman30s (talk) 11:33, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] A WYSIWYM XML editor?

I am looking for a WYSIWYM XML editor. Is there such a product?

I need a tool to open plain text files and manually annotate the plain text according to a pre-defined schema. For example, if you're a cook, you may want to mark up your recipes according to the ingredients and cooking methods. -- Toytoy (talk) 20:45, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

The first reference in WYSIWYM is a link to an article that mentions ButterflyXML, which is available at SourceForge. It is a WYSIWYM editor, but I don't know if it will do exactly what you want. --LarryMac | Talk 21:51, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] smartax mt882 modem

hi, I have just switched isps (now with talktalk in uk).

The modem seems to have a mind of its own, and will switch off or stay on when IT wants.

The power supply looks really cheap.

Is this renowned as a bad product? should I demand a better modem ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.241.132.238 (talk) 22:52, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Is that a cable modem? Kushalt 01:19, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Never mind. I googled for it and guess what, the first result isn't the company! It is a forum of dissatisfied customers. If [3], is correct, you should demand a new modem right away. The link suggests a telephone number (0870 444 1820) but you probably have the number already. Hope that helps, Kushalt 01:24, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] wii LAN-adaptor or nyko ethernet adaptor thingy

Hello, I was wondering of the nyko ethernet adaptor for the Wii is the same as ninendo's lan'adaptor. And if so what's the difference —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.234.62.251 (talk) 23:16, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

They both perform the same function. In fact, you can use any adaptor on this list.118.90.78.205 (talk) 11:13, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
It's just a USB Ethernet adapter. There's no special software involved. It if it's USB and Ethernet compliant, I would think any adapter would work. The Datal model is less than $5 on a well-known internet auction site. --70.167.58.5 (talk) 19:53, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] viruses on Wii?

This little ?'n just popped into my head. Is it possible to catch a virus, trojan, or worm, or other malware using the wii's internet browser? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.234.62.251 (talk) 23:25, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm not positive, but I imagine that it'd be difficult to get malware, since it uses Opera. Useight (talk) 23:42, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
Wii security is good. There are a few potential ways a hacker could try and get in:
  • The Opera web browser - Opera is very good when it comes to security and patches quickly. Not much risk here.
  • Adobe Flash is also installed, and is a bigger target due to its large install base. This is a bigger risk.
  • If anything, the games might be an easier exploit then Opera, as games tend to be built for speed over security. But I imagine this would require some hefty reverse-engineering to do.
If someone tried to exploit one of these, it could crash your machine. However, taking control of the machine would be difficule. Exploits normally need to interact with the operating system, so exploits written for other operating systems (eg: Microsoft Windows) won't work. In short, exploits affecting the Wii would need to be written specifically for the Wii.
Another route would be the WiFi connection. This sort of approach would lead to man in the middle type attacks, rather than taking control of your Wii. It would only be available for anyone in range of your wifi connection. The Wii supports good encryption (WPA), but some older WiFi routers only support the older (broken) WEP.
A check of SecurityFocus shows only one issue (CVE-2007-3456), which has already been fixed. --h2g2bob (talk) 12:21, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
No one outside of Nintendo knows how to make a program run on the Wii, yet. The best they could do now is to make Zelda crash. [4]. So the answer to your question is no, at least not yet.118.90.78.205 (talk) 11:09, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
That's not true anymore. An exploit involving causing a buffer overrun in Epona's name has been used to run arbitrary code. Check this out.
However there is no known way to run code on the Wii without editing a savefile or modifying the hardware. While this doesn't completely, 100% absolutely rule out the possibility of trojans or viruses, I think it's safe to say that it will not happen and you don't have to take any special security precautions when you use the Wii online. (Of course unencrypted wifi can, as always, allow anyone within range to eavesdrop on your traffic, possibly including personal information. )APL (talk) 22:02, 17 February 2008 (UTC)