Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 May 28

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[edit] May 28

[edit] Error Printing on MacOS 10.4.11

When I try to print on any program, rather than a print dialog box coming up, I get the error below (yes, 'failed' is misspelled) error. Clicking OK on the error dialog box causes the program which tried to print to give the standard "close unexpectedly" error, with options to report the error to Apple and whatnot. Suggestions?

filed to get device URI from printer

Unknown Error Code: 1030

71.184.223.246 (talk) 00:38, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like it is having trouble connecting to a printer or the printer's preferences file is corrupted. Try System Preferences > Print & Fax. Delete the printer that is likely causing the trouble. Then add it again. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:55, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
I don't actually have any printers installed at the moment, so that menu is empty. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 03:06, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Uh, perhaps I'm missing something obvious, but could the problem perhaps be related to the fact that you don't have any printers installed at the moment, but are still trying to print something? I mean, what are you expecting to happen? -- Captain Disdain (talk) 10:19, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
No, it's perfectly possible (normally) to try to print when no printers are available. I could print to pdf file or add a new printer within the menu that pops up, among other things. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 15:30, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Ah, right, I get you. If that happens with all programs, it strikes me as an operating system problem (though I should stress that I'm only guessing). If I were you, I'd try reinstalling OS X -- in my experience, that's a pretty painless procedure that tends to fix problems without affecting any of your settings . -- Captain Disdain (talk) 21:51, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
I suspect that's what I'll need to do, but am trying to avoid it.71.184.223.246 (talk) 22:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
Try using Print Setup Repair [1]. Also, try reinstalling your printer drivers. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 15:04, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have any printers installed and PSR didn't work, even when I reset the printing system. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 22:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Is bandwidth speed shaping legal?

My Internet connection has been shaped. I assume that is the correct term. I can see that my Internet speed is slow during some parts of the day and gradually goes up and down. It is very consistant, everyday the same results. I can see it clear as day using this Speed Test which has a graph that shows my results over time. Is it legal for my ISP to do this? How can I fix this? My ISP says they are not doing any shaping, but maybe the tech did not know what he was talking about, or I am using the wrong terminology. Please help!

Kirknoble (talk) 08:27, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Or it may be just congestion, shaping is more slowing down specific protocols such as bittorrent or other P2P transfers which tend to saturate a network very quickly. --antilivedT | C | G 08:40, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
In the afternoons, when the kids get home from school, oour Comcast cable-based broadband goes to hell and remains that way into the night. Week-ends and holidays are the same way. Like antilived, my frst thought would be congestion.
Atlant (talk) 12:34, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
It's going to depend on your jurisdiction, obviously, but I see no reason to expect it to be illegal. Most if not all ISPs have more expensive plans which provide guaranteed bandwidth at all times and for all protocols. If you don't like the throttling on the cheaper plans you can always upgrade, and that's what they'll tell you if you try to complain. -- BenRG (talk) 14:09, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ctrl Alt Del Box/Window

Hi, the box that opens when I hit ctrl alt del has changed!

http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=weirdwindowpm6.png

The tabs are gone, and I can't see the other stuff like the processes going on. How do I fix this to show them again? --Jeevies (talk) 09:16, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Double-click the frame around the window (the grey/sandy-coloured bit). — Matt Eason (Talk • Contribs) 09:39, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Thank you, thank you very much! --Jeevies (talk) 13:59, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] bestselling macbook

which of the following is bestselling totally online and offline

1)Macbook(13") 2)Macbook pro(15" & 17")

apple website says macbook oversells macbook pro. is it true

are more people buying 13" books more than 15" and 17" combined?

anyone in USA seem to think like that because people in USA know what people around you and friends are using

is macbook too small or I am thinking so?

I can't help you with the sales figures, but to answer your final question: no, it's not too small. I'm writing this very sentence on a MacBook. Of course, there are probably people reading this -- some of who may be on MacBooks themselves -- who think "no, it is too small". Is it too small for you and for the purpose you want to use it for? There's no universal size standard out there. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 10:15, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
The MacBooks have pretty big screens, even at the smallest size. They are wide-screens so they much wider than the smallest iBook screens, for example. As for too small, too large, it depends what you are planning to do with it. Mine is large enough for everything I need to do though there are time when I wish I had a little more screen real estate when I need to do things like put MS Word in one half the screen and Adobe Reader in the other.
The advantage to a smaller laptop is that one is presumably going to be taking it places. The smallest MacBook weighs about as much as a standard college textbook and is really quite easy to tote around. That's why I got it—I don't actually want a large laptop for what I use it for, which is taking notes, doing work in coffee shops, etc. In my experience, the students who gets larger laptops later regret it, because it becomes a pain to take them anywhere and they don't end up using them as much, and the activities for which one needs a large desktop are rarer than the ones in which one wants a small computer. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:01, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
You also want to consider that the laptops can be pretty-conveniently attached to a larger external screen if necessary. The 17" MacBook/Pro and the higher-end 15" MB/Pro can both drive the 30" Apple Cinema Display at full 2560x1600 resolution while still driving the built-in LCD as a separate screen so that's plenty of real-estate if you need it. Or you can attach (wirelessly, if you wish) a keyboard and mouse and close the lid and pretend the MacBook is a desktop system.
Atlant (talk) 17:11, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Audio streams

Does anyone know a good program that can add or remove audio streams in .avi files? Thanks. Think outside the box 09:54, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

What exactly do you want to do? VirtualDub can extract or add a single audio track; I haven't found how to use it with multiple soundtracks though. For removing unwanted languages in .avis that have several different soundtracks I've used VirtualDubMod. 88.112.37.214 (talk) 10:52, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Thanks 88.112.37.214. Yeah, I tried VirtualDub but it didn't work, I'll check out VirtualDubMod. It's a movie with Japanese and English dub. Think outside the box 11:04, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
A roundabout way is to use ConvertXtoDVD to convert to DVD, then DVD Shrink to remove the audio, then convert the resultant VOB's back to AVI. It's more work but a lot easier than fiddling with arcane VirtualDub settings. Sandman30s (talk) 11:40, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
But it's easy in VirtualDubMod, and it's nowhere near roundabout. You just choose the stream you want and you can more or less extract it from the file. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:49, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] computer buggage

what is it? computer student —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.178.102.86 (talk) 11:37, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

We don't do your homework. --grawity 12:54, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
By inventing the word "buggage", it is difficult to tell if you are trying to learn more about software bug or baggage for carrying computers, such as those made by Crumpler. A cool advantage to using real words is that others have the chance to know what you are asking. -- kainaw™ 13:03, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Apparently you can get a buggage allowance from China Airlines. Gandalf61 (talk) 13:14, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
I don't know what it's supposed to mean, but it sounds vaguely obscene. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:43, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
Try Software bug. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 15:47, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Based on the question at the Help Desk, he's asking about the Y2K Bug -- ShinmaWa(talk) 17:15, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] deleting google history

How can i delete search history in google? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.70.64.15 (talk) 15:11, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

From the Google homepage, log in to your Google account. Click, "Web History." Select, "Remove Items" from the left menubar. Click "Clear entire Web History »" . Click, "Clear History" on the confirmation box. Note that these instructions assume you are talking about the history stored in Google's system. If you mean the history stored by your browser that is associated with Google's search box, you'll need to indicate what browser you are using for instructions. 71.184.223.246 (talk) 15:35, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
What have you been searching for? :) ----Seans Potato Business 19:48, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How to extract the content from a wiki page and transfer the information to a database.

Hi,

How to extract content from a wiki page through a script. This wiki contains tables, and the information should go to a database. I assume, we can extract content from a wiki page preferably in a html format, and convert the same to a xml file, and add to the database. I'm new to programming. If somebody thinks of a better idea, please let me know at arjm24@yahoo.com

Thanks, Arun —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.167.94.194 (talk) 16:29, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Actually, you can jump right to the XML format. Take a look at the page Wikipedia:Export. This will give you all the information you need on extracting Wikipedia pages in XML format. -- ShinmaWa(talk) 17:04, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
Wikipedia has database dumps which you can use to get the entire Wikipedia. These are available in wikitext or html. To get the wikitext of a single page, use action=raw in the url. For getting only a few pages, lists of pages in categories there is API. --h2g2bob (talk) 22:47, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] computer sound

the sound coming through the speakers on my computer has been deleted how do i get this back on? speakers are on and connected properly the software doesn't exist anymore when it did up to a few weeks ago please help it's driving me nuts —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.101.105.82 (talk) 21:24, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Hello - can you tell us more? Which software are you talking about: the Windows volume control [2]; Windows Media Player; a special volume control that came with your sound card (eg Creative Labs); or something else? Does any sound ever play, or does sound work in some circumstances (eg: does it work in computer games, but not in youtube)? --h2g2bob (talk) 22:55, 28 May 2008 (UTC)