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

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June 4

Domain and hosting

I've been considering getting a domain for a while now, but I have no idea who I should purchase it through, or where my site should be hosted. Does anyone here have any advice or recommendations on a reliable, low-cost solution for a long-term, low-traffic, personal site? — TheKMan 01:55, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Godaddy.com is very reliable, and cheap. You can get .com domain names for $6.95/yr. Najim22 02:27, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

I personally have a few concerns about Godaddy. For a small personal site, there's probably no need to worry, but this is kind of a dry run for something that could have some earning potential. — TheKMan 02:56, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

I recommend ikhost.net. For your domain you also get 75MB disk space/1500MB data transfer / month for life. I host with them and are very reliable, both for my large site (10 requests a second on one) and very very small ones. They're based in the UK, but have servers in America and Germany too, so you'll get a good ping (fast to load). JoshHolloway 09:14, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

I say dotcommaker.com is an excellent choice too. Chailai 17:03, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

InterNIC has a list of registrars, although the list is so long that it's bound to be confusing. In general though, your primary concerns are going to price, features available (does it have free URL forwarding? does it give you DNS tools? and so on), and how much support is available. If you run a site that turns into a high traffic, high visibility site, 24 hour support is a must as domain hijacking can be a concern (and the faster recovery can begin, the more likely you'll recover it). As far as hosting is concerned, that's a little more complex for me because I don't know per se what you want. However, the recommendation (which I agree with) is that you should generally not register your domain names in association with your hosting account. Often times there will be host packages where you get say 10 or some number of domains as part of the package, but these domains don't belong to you--if you drop hosting with them, you'll lose the domains too, so it's probably safer not to even use the same company. Good luck with your hosting! –Pakman044 03:32, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Whatever recommendations you get here, you should also check out the WebHostingTalk a forum dedicated to comments about web hosting and web hosting providers. Here you can see a larger number of opinions about each of the hosters. You could also first check out hosting search engine. Shinhan 12:44, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks everyone! — TheKMan 01:20, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

3D Models

I have some models in Google Sketch Up and I was wanting to animate them in Blender. I was wondering of there was a way to do that? Thanks for any help. Najim22 02:21, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

I would suggest you to simply remodel it in blender or something. If you export it as .obj and import it into blender it would work but the mesh is so messy and would take a long time to untangle that you might as well model it and rig it again in blender. --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:42, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

O, thanks. Najim22 02:53, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

what happened to xoomle

So, apparently, Xoomle (not the wikipedia article [if it ever existed at all]) but the actual service itself has been wiped off the face of the Earth, with all trace of it having been erased as well. Does anyone know what happened to it? Is it forbidden to even mention it anymore? I'm requesting info from someone who knows the inside scoop. NoClutter 09:45, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

If you mean the project that uses XML with the Google API, I can't say I know the inside scoop. Google's cache of http://dentedreality.com.au/xoomle/ says it was retrieved on May 20, 2007, so the change in that site is recent, though. Can't find any other places you could download it from either. It looks like the last post on the dentedreality page was from 2004. There's this, too: "XooMLe is not officially supported by DentedReality, Google, or for that matter anyone. It was created by staff at DentedReality as an experiment, and is provided here as a general service to the web-programming community. Feel free to send questions etc to xoomle (at) dentedreality.com.au, but please keep in mind that we aren't paid for any of this..." iames 18:24, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Another excel macro question 2 (Dates)

How would a macro that converts "abcdef" to "20ef/cd/ab" look? The macro should then let the cell with "20ef/cd/ab" in it be formatted as a date. Is this possible? Zain Ebrahim 11:00, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't know about a macro, but you could simply use left and concatenate to do the work as a formula.

Yeah, you could do it quite simply as a formula: ="20" & MID(A1,5,2) & "/" & MID(A1,3,2) & "/" & MID(A1,1,2), assuming that the cell to be converted is A1. As for getting it to be understood as a date, that is a little more complicated, I think. Easiest-but-not-dynamic way would be to then copy that column and then past it as values and then indicate those cells are a Date format. --24.147.86.187 15:23, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

If you want it as a macro, here you go. I just tweaked the code from another solution I'd fixed for someone else, so the code might be a little excessive for your purpose, but it works for any number of selected cells.

Sub formatDate()
Dim i As Long
Dim daypart, monthpart, yearpart As Long
Dim datestring As String
For i = 1 To Selection.Cells.Count
    daypart = CLng(Mid(Selection.Cells(i).Value, 1, 2))
    monthpart = CLng(Mid(Selection.Cells(i).Value, 3, 2))
    yearpart = CLng(Mid(Selection.Cells(i).Value, 5, 2))
    'internal representation is now in 3 parts
    Select Case yearpart
        Case 0 To 9
        datestring = "200" & Trim(Str(yearpart)) & "/"
        Case Else
        datestring = "20" & Trim(Str(yearpart)) & "/"
    End Select
    Select Case monthpart
        Case 1 To 9
        datestring = datestring & "0"
    End Select
    datestring = datestring & Trim(Str(monthpart)) & "/"
    Select Case daypart
        Case 1 To 9
        datestring = datestring & "0"
    End Select
    datestring = datestring & Trim(Str(daypart))
    Selection.Cells(i).NumberFormat = "yyyy/mm/dd"
    Selection.Cells(i).Value = datestring
Next i
End Sub

-wizzard2k ^(C•T•D) 20:10, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Internet Radio

To whom it may concern, This is a request for the full information regarding "internet radio". The plan that I have would be to record into the computer PC by means of a microphone information recording that information on to a DVD, And then having that recorded information posted for peoples to obtain by means of their internet connecting them to my Web Site for the information. Would you please comment on this plan.

Ok, I'm slightly confused by the way in which you phrased this. Maybe I'm tired, I don't know. Anyway, I'll answer as best I can. DVD need not come into it, but you can record voice on the microphone and then upload it onto the internet for people to download. JoshHolloway 16:25, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like you're talking about a Podcast. --JSBillings 16:32, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Lots of people do this, but the step of recording onto a DVD isn't necessary; it is easier to just record it to your computer's hard drive. You can then make a DVD copy from it later, if you need one. Recury 13:47, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Privacy Safe - Wireless Video & Tap Detector

Need opinions if this product is efficient enough to detect whether someone is electronically spying: Innovative high technology device keeps you safe from wireless wiretap and video cameras. Detectable radio frequency width 30MHz - 2.4GHz. Responding distance 10-15 feet.

Does anyone have other suggestions? 18:10, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Won't work, there's no physics behind it. --Zeizmic 23:52, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Note that it's not proposing to catch receivers that are eavesdropping on wireless networks. It is instead proposing to catch transmitters that are sending wiretapped audio or a signal from a microphone or video camera; that's entirely practical if the transmission method from the bug is "wireless".

But even for the tap on a wireless network, there's technology that can help. Most receivers are actually superheterodyne receivers and they leak a little of their local oscillator frequency; this can be easily detected. It's one method by which the cops catch people who use radar detectors. Also, any radio is composed of active semiconductors and there are devices that detect the presence of semiconductor junctions by means of the effect that they have on radio fields (notably, the generation of harmonics of the fundamental frequency of the radio field).

Atlant 13:29, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

In theory, it could work as a spectrum analyzer. In practice, that will not work; there are way too many noise sources, not all covert microphones/cameras are wireless, it would fail to detect anything using 802.11a, and the bug could use tricks like burst transmission. --cesarb 00:29, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Or spread spectrum. —Bromskloss 10:40, 5 June 2007UTC)

So there is no product that can effectively detect bugs or hidden cameras? 14:36, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

I mentioned several techniques that can be helpful.

Atlant 15:54, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

I am not technically savvy but could you name some brands perhaps. I am not sure what I should be looking for.... 18:49, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Portable Media Player

I'm looking to buy one for myself. More accurately, an MP3 player with a large memory. Nothing less than 30GB. Any recommendations? I have a budget of about $200-250.

Apple's iPod immediately comes to mind. But I've also heard good things about Toshiba's S Gigabeat. I've read plenty of reviews of both, but cant seem to make up my mind.

I've heard good things about the gigabeat as well. There's also the possibility of the Zune, but I hear it has somewhat strict DRM software. --GTPoompt 20:26, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Another thing, if I wait for the 6th Gen iPod, will this reduce the prices of the 5th Gen items? That way, I could buy the 80GB iPod using the same amount of money. Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks. Hasanclk 18:45, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

How about a Creative Zen Vision:M? I own one, and I paid that price range for a 30 gig version (actually, less, because of a rebate). It's full of features, don't have strict DRM, won awards, etc. However, as a warning, they do have bad customer support if you ever happen to need it, and batteries aren't easy to replace (and Li-ion batteries lose about 50% of their capacity after 2 years even without use unless stored in the fridge, but that's not really an issue since they all use Li-ion). I'm not advocating for them or anything, but it does fit what you need. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 22:27, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Oh, and there's the Zen Vision:W as well, which has a rebate, which brings it to $219.99 after rebates. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 22:31, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

In my opinion, the creative players sound much better in therms of audio fedelity than iPods, if that's important to you. 213.48.15.234 08:23, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Just my two cents, you should avoid buying an ipod. They're really just ridiculously priced- the components don't come to anywhere near the price of the whole, and that's an important relationship given I could probably build one myself for the price of the components. Also the DRM on the ipod/itunes application is restrictive (same with the zune) --froth^t 17:11, 8 June 2007 (UTC)