Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 November 17

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November 17

Please help with viewing problem

On my laptop, I must have hit something. I run Windows XP and now all program -- browsers, etc., are sideways with what should be the top now on the left side of the screen. Any suggestions on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance. Mike B. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.235.67.132 (talk) 00:39, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Never mind, I was able to fix it. Sorry for the bother. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.235.67.132 (talk) 01:09, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

If anyone else is wondering, it's ALT+CTRL+UP ARROW. 24.180.87.119 (talk) 01:17, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Through stumbling around I found a solution through an icon "Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Mobile." I'd love to know what I did to begin with. The real fun is trying to negotiate a touch-sensitive mouse when all the directions are skewed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.235.67.132 (talk) 05:20, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

You probably accidentally hit ALT+CTRL+one of the arrow keys... doesn't seem like something that could happen easily, but it can! Either that or some unscrupulous person did it to your computer! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.180.87.119 (talk) 06:05, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I'm on Ubuntu and I sometimes accidentally hit Windows-M, and the screen colors are inverted. It's kinda cool actually. The first time I was freaked out. --76.91.56.34 (talk) 19:38, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Problem Connecting to Internet

My Internet provider is Charter, so the connection comes and goes at times, but if it can't connect, the browser I'm using will come up with a "Cannot find server" message or something. However, recently it simply won't load *anything*. Trying the ping test proves that the Internet is actually connected (usually), and both the router and my computer claim I'm connected to the Internet, but no matter what browser I try (IE 7, Firefox 3.0.4, Chrome), it simply will not connect to any page. For example, I try to open up Firefox. Instead of going to my homepage (which happens to be AOL), it loads for a while and then just stays blank. The tab's name is just "Untitled". It doesn't matter what website I try to go to, it simply won't finish loading.

I was deleting some files the other day (McAfee, for example) and I don't know if I somehow deleted something I needed to connect to the Internet, but I really need some help! The computer in question is a Windows XP. I don't know the technical terms, but there's a router hooked up, so our laptops work fine through the wireless connection, but the desktop simply will not connect. Help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.180.87.119 (talk) 01:06, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I've seen this problem on computers with rootkits. Did you actually delete McAfee's files or did you uninstall it? I recommend that you get IceSword [1], open it up and click the "SSDT" item. Check if any items are in red and if they are, tell us what driver is hooking it (e.g. rootkit.sys, sysprotect.sys, anything.sys). --wj32 ^t/c 06:04, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

The uninstaller wouldn't work (just came up with an error), so yeah, I did just delete it... probably wasn't a very smart thing to do! I'll have to try IceSword and get back here when I do. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.180.87.119 (talk) 09:02, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

That would explain it. You probably only deleted the program files in C:\Program Files. McAfee probably has drivers in C:\Windows\system32\drivers which load, can't find any configuration files/necessary files and then block all internet access (silently). Look in the drivers directory and move fw220.sys and naiavf5x.sys to some backup directory. --wj32 ^t/c 10:04, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

You're right; I found naiavf5x.sys but not the other one, though. I also deleted AOL Security Center (still dunno why that was on there); are there any files I need to find for that? It still isn't working. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.180.87.119 (talk) 19:16, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I also found a file called MpFirewall or something like that- it said the company was "McAfee" so I got that one too. 24.180.87.119 (talk) 19:29, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Did you run IceSword? Tell us what items in the SSDT are coloured red. --wj32 ^t/c 05:26, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

OK, I got IceSword and I don't really know how to use it (not being able to read the Chinese help files), but I clicked on the icon that said "SSDT" and... nothing was colored anything. It was a list of different things and nothing was colored anything other than just ordinary black. 24.180.87.119 (talk) 20:27, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Very strange. I guess my original theory was incorrect. Does your network connection icon have an yellow triangle with an exclamation mark in it? --wj32 ^t/c 22:01, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

No, it doesn't... at least, it didn't the last time I checked earlier today. 24.180.87.119 (talk) 02:12, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Just in case, would reinstalling and then uninstalling McAfee be a good idea, by the way? Just to make sure it wasn't that, after all. The internet worked before I messed with those files, but not after, so... 24.180.87.119 (talk) 20:08, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Asymmetric Cryptosystem

I'm looking for an asymmetric key encryption system that does not involve raising a number to variable power like in RSA and is medium to highly secure. --Melab^±1 01:17, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

If your facing limited computing power or memory, I would point you toward Elliptic curve cryptography algorithm like ECDSA for signature or ECDH for key agreement (fixing the public and private key instead of generating a new one each time make it usable for application where you can't have a key agreement each time like emails). However there is a tiny little problem : If you want to create a hardware using ECDH you will need a license from certicom who hold patents on the algorithm. If you want to use a software, you will probably be far far better using an established library like openssl. Public key cryptography got tons of way to end up being implemented wrong, using pure RSA without OAEP or at least PKCS1.5 is one good way to dig your grave. I'm ready to bet 50 dollar that you will end up getting your encryption software wrong if you got no prior knowledge in the field, which if you asked this question seems to be the case. It is far easier to use established solution, if you don't you may endanger yourself or your clients with a faulty solution that will make the nsa job a lot easier. Esurnir (talk) 20:17, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Font Editor

I'm looking for a free (as in no cost) font editor besides FontForge (too much of a pain the ass to have to download a Linux virtual machine to run). Any suggestions? Deshi no Shi (talk) 01:59, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Dell Inspirion 1300

I just got this laptop for free but with no OS so I was just looking for some recomendations as to the best Linux to go with it. Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 02:21, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I use OpenSuSE 11.0 - it's free, it's easy to install and it's VERY complete. However, you're going to get as many recommendations as there are respondants. If your laptop has a DVD drive then you can burn everything (the OS, all the documentation and about 1600 other programs) onto a single disk with a single download. You boot the laptop from the DVD, answer questions about timezone and such - and come back MANY hours later to find it all done. Easy! If you don't have a DVD then lots of CD's is painful - so I'd recommend the network installer. You download a single CD-worth of data - boot from that - then wait an ETERNITY while it pulls everything else over the network. It's still pretty easy - but S-L-O-W! SteveBaker (talk) 03:09, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll give that a try. Just so long as I can get that 4 GB file before anyone else wakes up and want's to use the internet. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 06:35, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

The most common answer to these kinds of questions is Ubuntu, which is a fantastic Linux distro for new users. I would recommend that, I love it. The great thing about Linux is that since it is free, you can try a few different versions, and see which ones you like. Ubuntu installation-disk (which fits on a regular old CD) doubles as a live-os, meaning you can just download it, pop it into your drive and start it up, no installation required (OpenSuSE probably has this too, I don't know). I'd recommend trying both, see which one you're most comfortable with. 83.250.202.208 (talk) 09:24, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I had thought about that but it was not clear from the site if I was going to get a Live CD, which I didn't want, or an installable OS. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 18:14, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

It's both, actually. Once you've booted with the LiveCD, you can choose to install. --LarryMac | Talk 18:33, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Portable Apps on Linux?

I have been searching for a long time for an (easy!) way to make (and run!) portable apps on a Linux system (even if they would only run on some distro with some kind of special software), I have tried many methods, but none of them worked properly, I just wanted to know it someone would know a method not already mentioned in this page: http://hacktolive.org/wiki/Portable_Applications_(Linux)

Any more ideas? Or is this just "a dream" for now? Thanks (PS: I have already checked wikipedia articles, of course!) SF007 (talk) 02:35, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

It's a tricky question - I have no problem writing a C++ program and moving the binary from Ubuntu to SuSE (for example) - it works just fine. However:

• Linux machines are everywhere. I have a complete Linux computer that fits inside a USB dongle - it won't run anything that runs on my PC because the PC has an x86 CPU and the dongle has an ARM processor. So there is the issue of CPU variability.
• Then there is the issue of what libraries you use and where you expect them to be installed and how picky you are about what versions you are using. If you rely on a particular version of (say) the SDL library (which is notoriously incompatible from one version to the next) then you have no chance of going even from SuSE 10.1 to SuSE 10.2. But if all you need is the standard I/O and math libraries - there is rarely any problem.
• Then there are data files. If you rely on all of your files being installed in (say) /usr/local/yourpackage - and some distro installs it in /usr/share/yourpackage - then you're screwed.
• Then there is the issue of installers - do you use RPM or APT or...gazillions of others.
• Do you even try to install a binary - in lots of cases you can distribute source code. I have source code applications that run on Solaris, Windows, MacOS-9 and MacOSX - and on every flavor of Linux - but you've gotta use the 'autotools' suite to build them and you need to install GNU C++ on platforms such as Windows that don't have them by default.

So it depends on your expectations. Some things are simply NOT going to get fixed...other things are easy.

SteveBaker (talk) 03:02, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Steve, I just wanted something simple to use (no compiling/coding/etc), ideally, what I wanted was something like VMware ThinApp for Linux... Anyway, regarding what you said, let's assume I want to make portable apps that only run on Ubuntu 8.10, on x86 computers, and that I only care if the app runs or not (meaning: the settings and user data don't matter), would it be easy? and what was that thing about coding in C++ to move a binary? Assuming we have a program with no dependencies on Ubuntu 8.10 x86, and if we copy all the binaries to other Ubuntu 8.10 x86, would the program run? And is there something like a "linux registry"? (similar to windows registry) or something besides "regular program files", that might complicate things? or the only thing that matters are the program binaries and it's dependencies? (assuming we already have 2 computers with exactly the same OS and architecture) SF007 (talk) 03:33, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

If all you want is to run the same app on multiple Ubuntu 8.10/x86 machines - then you don't have to do anything special! Just copy the application's binary file over onto the other machine. Easy! There is no "registry" under Linux - the only things you need to make a runnable program are:

• That the program file is a valid binary executable (which it is because you just had it working on your other computer).
• That the file permissions are marked 'readable' and 'executable' (eg Run 'chmod a+rx myprogram') - they're probably already set that way - but it depends on how you copied the file over.
• That either:
  • The executable file is in one of the directories in your 'PATH' variable (Run 'echo $PATH' to find out what those directories are)...or...
  • You type in the path to the executable file when you want to run the program (eg run it by typing '/home/SF007/bin/myprogram' instead of just 'myprogram')

...which will almost certainly be true if you put the program file into the same directory it was on the other computer. Generally - all of those things "just work" - so don't bother with all that stuff I just explained unless it doesn't "just work". SteveBaker (talk) 04:06, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! This really cleared up my ideas regarding Linux and software! Thanks again SF007 (talk) 04:39, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

batch things

OK, I've got a couple questions. 1) When I have batch file a.bat, and the only thing it contains is the term a.bat, and I run it, it opens itself in the same window. But when it contains START a.bat, it opens in a different window. Why is that? 2) When file a.bat contains

START NOTEPAD.exe
a.bat

it opens Notepad, then opens it again... endless. The only two ways I have found to stop the cycle is shutting down my comp -or- CtrlAltDel, rightclick the cmd.exe and click "end process tree." Are there any other ways to stop it? flaminglawyer^cneverforget 03:21, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Type start by itself at the command prompt and another command window opens. But if you don't want another window to open when you open notepad, just take it out:

notepad

When you type start /? you get this:

 C:\>start /?
 Starts a separate window to run a specified program or command.
 ... ... ...

That's what it's for. As for the loop thing, one way would be to circumvent the a.bat, like this:

 notepad
 goto :eof
 a.bat

In which case a.bat never executes, because it goes to the end of the file ("eof") first.--Areateeth34 (talk) 03:39, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Wait... so you're making a batch file... that calls itself... and then wondering... why it keeps calling itself infinitely? See recursion. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 04:59, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I was wondering about that. I wasn't sure whether to reply or not. I now realize that it was a waste of time. He wanted to show us he knew how to make a batch file and show us a neat little trick he learned that's been floating around the net for a long time. Then I waste part of my day replying to a "question" of his and he doesn't say thanks. I feel like an idiot.--Areateeth34 (talk) 08:45, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

First, I'd like to point out that some 'pedians actually spend some time on other things than Wikipedia (hard to beleive, I know, but it's true). I am one of those people. I do most of my edits between 3:00 and 9:00 PM Central time. That was posted at 10-ish(?) last night, after which I went to bed, got up late, and went to school, where I saw your post (but couldn't respond, because WP was having login "errors" and the school IP is indef-blocked). My point in saying this is: don't be so quick to say that I didn't say thanks, because I was sleeping at the time of your 2nd post, and had been since my original question. So I am saying a cold, lifeless thanks now, because you answered the first part of my question (and taught me a new trick, the command \? for command info thing) ( =] new trick, =[ criticism of me ). And, as a closing thought - don't feel like an idiot. That's self-degrading. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 21:53, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

iMovie '08: Editing Slow Motion & Fast Motion

Dear All,

Apologies for my repeated question but I still as yet haven't found the information I am looking for. I'm looking to learn how to insert clips in slow motion or fast motion into iMovie 08 projects. Does anyone know if this requires a plugin to be downloaded or if there is a feature I am missing within iMovie? Specifically I have a 7-minute clip that I want to insert into my video sped up so that in real time it passes in 10 or 20 seconds.

Many thanks again.

Lukerees1983 (talk) 05:16, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Googled "Slow down movie in IMovie" and it was the first one. Read this tutorial here Rgoodermote  05:32, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Scaling PHP and MySQL

I have spent the better part of the week reading about scaling MySQL, PHP, and so forth, but I really find it difficult to find information on how to do it - most specifically with MySQL. While MySQL has a lot of documentation on their site about scaling, what I am interested in are some PHP-based approaches to scaling (preferably Master+Slaves) with MySQL. I browsed around the MediaWiki code, but it's loadbalancing class is very large and complex.

I was wondering if anyone knows of a place where I can get straight forward information about using PHP, plus examples, to scale MySQL. I have spent some time googling around for this, but it's mostly power-point presentations telling me that I should scale, not hot to exactly.

Thanks, --Anthonysenn (talk) 06:58, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

A big problem here is that "scaling" is a generic term for a thousand different things. When I use it, I mean "taking a single server and making multiple mirrors that update when the master updates". So, I use a master with dozens of slaves. That is rather easy. I set up replication on MySQL (easy - just google "mysql replication") and I set up SVN for my php files so changes on the main server get sent to all the slaves every night. But, there is a problem here. What if the site allows users to add data to the database? If it is a slave, the slave database is updated, but I'm only replicating from the master to the slave, not from the slave to the master. So, it won't work. Luckily, I don't do that. If you can be painfully clear about exactly what you mean by "scaling" for your project, I can provide a much better answer. -- kainaw™ 12:52, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Actually, what you're talking about is exactly what I mean. I basically want to have a master and two slaves (at first), and I read about that on mysql's site, but the problem comes with PHP, I know how to connect to the mysql master and update/insert/delete with that, but when it comes to slaves, how do I connect to them for my selects? I was hoping perhaps there was a class out there in PHP that at covered soemthing like that. --Anthonysenn (talk) 17:55, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

In MySQL, the slave databases have the same data as the master. So, a server with a slave MySQL will have PHP that queries the slave. Nothing special in any way. Just select as you would if it wasn't a slave. The issue is with updates. Updating a slave does not update the master or any other slaves. In fact, it can break a slave. So, if you want a situation where two servers work together, each mirroring each other and each containing a separate MySQL database that has to be mirrored, you cannot use a master-slave setup. -- kainaw™ 23:01, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

If you wanna do simple load balancing of queries, here is my suggestion:

• At the start of the page initialize connections to all three servers and make two different connections, like $dbmaster, and $dbslave. Which Slave to use would be randomly picked at init. That way users are randomly assigned to different slaves. (and hopefully both slaves will have same load)
• Change your SQL class's query method (or if you always manually use mysql_query function, make custom query function). If the query has "SELECT" or "(SELECT" as the first word (the other option is if you are using UNIONs), then use the slave connection, otherwise use dbmaster connection.
• Or, you can manually choose the connection when using queries, to send update/delete/alter/... queries to master DB connection and to use slave connection for SELECT queries. — Shinhan < talk > 11:58, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Laptop Brands

Hi,

I am keen to buy a new laptop, but want to know which brand is best (e.g. dell, apple etc.) i am looking to buy a light weight laptop with a large memory and small screen. any suggestions?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.108.160.123 (talk) 07:20, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

What do you want to accomplish with the laptop (e.g. image/video editing, general use (internet, word processing), games, etc)? Are you limited by price? I've owned an IBM Thinkpad, now Lenovo, laptop and have been quite happy with it but they tend to be a bit more expensive than brans like Dell and I have friends who swear by Apples.--droptone (talk) 12:52, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Don't get a screen larger than 13.5 inches, and make sure you get 2 gigabytes of RAM or more. You haven't mentioned anything that indicates specific use, so that probably means you're going for general use. :) Mac Davis (talk) 02:40, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

If you are in the US, are ready to buy now, watch out for Black Friday (shopping). Word is^{Ars Technica} that Apple may announce price cuts ... Very unlikely? Yes. But still worth a shot. Kushal (talk) 13:19, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Personal abuse on YouTube

Someone has uploaded (for the second time, it was taken down once already) a hate-video to YouTube, featuring images of me from a video I uploaded, graffitied with sexual abuse, with abusive captions and an abusive song. Their profile-pic is also abusive against me. It's been 12 hours since I reported the video for "bullying" - and it's still up. Can anyone suggest a way to get it taken down? Its info includes my full name, so it now comes up in search results. Thanks. ╟─TreasuryTag►contribs─╢ 08:05, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Wow, that sounds awful. Have you tried using this form, where one can report abuse? Don't know if it does anything different than just using the "Flag" function on the video, but it's worth a try, I guess. 83.250.202.208 (talk) 09:29, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

It has images that you uploaded, so if it doesn't meet the legal criteria for fair use material, you can send a DMCA takedown notice. For the intricacies of this, I'd look elsewhere. Legal advice isn't kosher here. 24.76.161.28 (talk) 10:01, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I don't think that would work; they could say that it "parodies" or "criticizes" the victim. --wj32 ^t/c 10:06, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Youtube doesn't make fair use judgments. They recieve a take-down, they take it down, without hesitation, fair use or no. The other party can send a counter-take-down notice, but at that point the two people have to battle it out in court, and I suspect that the other party in this dispute would take it that far. 195.58.125.52 (talk) 14:00, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Parody has a specific meaning under the law—it is not a free-for-all license to attack people. This is not parody. This is just harassment. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 03:07, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Short clips (<30s) = fair use. Kushal (talk) 13:21, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

That's not true. 30 seconds out of a 31 second movie isn't fair use - if you make profit from your 30 second clip it's not fair use - there are a bazillion ways in which a <30 sec clip could infringe on the law. SteveBaker (talk) 01:53, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

The problem with YouTube is that they have almost virtually no rules about a user's conduct. I've seen people call each other very nasty names and make threats of violence towards one another all because they disagree over whether a video sucks or not. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Where else can one upload video of girls beating one nearly to death and that ends up as the evidence police use? That sort of stuff would never fly here. --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 04:53, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

download website using webripper

Hi. I need to download some webpages with the following format: www.somesite.com/page[0-99].htm. I am using webripper. Any alternative open source software will also do. Care is also to be taken of the images appearing at the web pages (which isn't downloaded using the flashgot->build media), and needs to be downloaded. 218.248.70.235 (talk) 11:19, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

On something Unix-like, the following will do it:

for i in $(seq 0 99); do
  wget -p www.somesite.com/page$i.htm
done

--Sean 15:55, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Can I merge .debs?

Is it possible to easily merge .deb files? I have a program with about 30 dependencies, and I wanted to make only one deb, the program + dependencies, for offline install, is it possible? is it easy? I know I can automate the installation with a bash script and dpkg, but that's not what I want... SF007 (talk) 15:39, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

PC Upgrade

Okay, I'm currently running an Athlon FX-60 (2.6 GHz, dual-core) on a socket 939 motherboard with 3GB of DDR. I am also still using IDE hard drives (200GB and 160GB). I'd like to upgrade, but just to switch my CPU, I'd have to switch out pretty much everything. The FX-60 is the fastest socket 939, so I'd have to switch motherboards to upgrade my processor. Doing that would also require that I upgrade my RAM from DDR to DDR2 (or DDR3) and probably my hard drives from IDE to SATA because it'll be impossible to find a mobo with two IDE ports (one for optical drives and one for hard drives). So, the question becomes, what do you guys think of this setup? Is it good enough to get me bragging rights over my peers? Is it future-proofed enough to last me a year or two?

• Motherboard: MSI Intel X58
• CPU: Intel Core i7 920
• RAM: Corsair 4GB of DDR3 PC10600
• HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB

That setup would cost me $832.96. I am also using a GeForce 8800GT Superclocked and an 850 Watt PSU. Any suggestions would be great or if any of those items are incompatible, I'd really like to know that, too. Thanks. 76.8.208.7 (talk) 17:28, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

The bragging rights will only last till your peers upgrade themselves. If you buy the best you can now, it won't be better than what can be purchased in 9 months time. But even your current setup sound like it could be useful to you. Your new system is not much of a memory upgrade. My rule of thumb is that the new system should be 4 times the memory/disk/speed of the old system. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 20:37, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Spending $800+ just for bragging rights sounds daft to me. Your current PC sounds pretty well specified already and can't be more than a year or two old. Hang on to your $800 until the current PC really needs upgrading and get something bleeding-edge then. Astronaut (talk) 07:54, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Just for the record, Socket 939 was obsoleted 2.5 years ago. I bought my Socket 939 system almost 3 years ago, and it had SATA drives by that time. I would guess that he might not have a PCI Express slot for modern graphics cards, either. Depending on what he does (e.g. gaming), I don't think it's unreasonable for him to be upgrading now. -- Coneslayer (talk) 14:59, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Gaming is my main use. Yes, my motherboard does have PCI-E, but it is not SLI-capable. I'm using IDE hard drives because I've had them for awhile and haven't yet replaced them with SATA. My mobo can support 6 SATA drives, I just don't have any. The motherboard also has 2 IDE ports, which is good, one for my optical drives and one for my hard drives. 76.8.208.7 (talk) 02:44, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Setting up LaTex

Can somebody talk me through the software I need and the process for installing a LaTex system for use alongside GNU Emacs on XP. The internet is full of tutorials for how to use LaTex but there's very little attention given to how to actually set it up in the first place and what I've found is either outdated (perfect example being that I'm yet to find one which deals with a relatively recent version of MikTex) or makes too many assumptions about user knowledge and what has already been done. --Kiltman67 (talk) 19:36, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I'll tell you the software you need. It's called Ubuntu. Half a smiley. --Trovatore (talk) 21:25, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Frustratingly you're probably right, but stuck with Windows for now... I think I have it set up properly now and it seems to be working fine, though may die on me when I ask it to do anything more complicated then print out one line of text. --Kiltman67 (talk) 22:01, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Hi, I don't know if this is what you were planning anyway, but you could see what AUCTeX can do for you. You should be able to install it and point it at your MikTeX installation and away you go. Good luck. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.86.164.115 (talk) 21:36, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Sorry I can't help you with Windows stuff, but if you just need to do a litte LaTeX work, there are some online versions, like here. --Sean 12:54, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Are you talking about getting the LaTeX system itself to work, or about getting Emacs to work with it? If you're stuck installing the software, I would think that MiKTeX's web page would be a good place to start.

If you already have some distribution of LaTeX installed, it should be a simple matter of customizing variables (M-x customize-option) like latex-run-command, tex-bibtex-command, and tex-dvi-view-command. For large projects you might want to set up file-local values for tex-main-file. You can find other options to play with by doing M-x customize-group tex RET. See also tex-mode in the Emacs manual. (AUCTeX, mentioned above, is a more powerful and more complicated TeX support system for Emacs; you can try it too.) --Tardis (talk) 17:17, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Does anyone else use Google as a spell checker?

I'm just curious. Does anyone else use Google as a spell checker? I do because loading Microsoft Office takes longer than running a Google search. Plus, Google's suggestions are usually more accurate than Microsoft Office's. Does anyone else use Google as a spell checker? 216.239.234.196 (talk) 20:02, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

As a student, I've found that WordWeb is an excellent dictionary/spell checker that is extremely light on system resources...and free! --71.117.39.132 (talk) 20:26, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I might use it for things like names which wouldn't be in a regular spellchecker, yes. But spellchecking an entire document with Google would be painful. StuRat (talk) 20:43, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

You're right. I was not clear. I didn't mean spell checking an entire document, I meant spell checking a word or name. 216.239.234.196 (talk) 20:51, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

You know, sometimes I wish that the Wikipedia search would have a decent spell checker. --128.97.244.10 (talk) 22:07, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

You should know, Hungary is such a shit, backwater country, culture, and language, that it doesn't have normal dictionaries people consult -- in fact most people are forced to resort to googling two forms of a word and seeing which one has more matches!! (English analogy: book-keeper or bookkeeper). Some guy actually rigged up a whole web interface to doing comparisons of two alternatives the poor user is forced to guess between. As an adult learner of the language, having not gone to school in Hungary but only speaking it fluently, I am saddened by this absurd situation. Also, to learn the meanings of words, there's nothing like Websters or anything else -- I have to use a Hungarian-English dictionary (even though I speak the language perfectly) because they just have no lexicographic culture. Never forget how lucky you are that you can just type Define:_____ into google and get a boatload of definitions. /rant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.27.195.51 (talk • contribs) 22:22, 17 November 2008

I use google for spell check often when my computer's spell check isn't working well for the certain word. Mac Davis (talk) 22:45, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I have never used Google for a spell checker. This may be because all popular OS's come with a spell checker. I have used Windows for most of my life, Mac for a considerable portion of it, and Linux for not very long (but long enough for me to mention), and have never used Google for that. Ever. (and in my opinion, Hungary should be much more populated and popular than it is, even if it was just because of the name - hungry) flaminglawyer^cneverforget 22:50, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I'm on a Mac, and the system-wide spellcheck mainly works by alphabetical order. If you've got the letters wrong somewhere in the beginning half of the word it often doesn't work very well. Google's "spell check" is based on the errors that people actually make. Mac Davis (talk) 02:38, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Hungarian wiktionary anyone? [2] ? SteveBaker (talk) 01:31, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

That's what I'm talking about! The Hungarians don't even know what a dictionary is. Unlike normal wiktionary, which is like thefreedictionary, will tell you the meaning of words, the Hungarian one WON'T. It'll just give you translations into other languages. What a bunch of losers. They have no culture or scholarship to speak if, if a Hungarian would like to do science, he or she should write it in English.

It depends on where I am entering in text. If I am sending an IM or talking on IRC, then I'll use Google since it's quicker. If I am using Firefox for entering in text online, I'll let Firefox give suggestions first then I will fire up Google if Firefox's dictionary isn't sufficient. I use both quite often since my spelling is atrocious.--droptone (talk) 13:11, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

I use Google for the odd word. I thought I was unique! -- Q Chris (talk) 13:21, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

I often use Google for misspellings that 'stump' other spell-checkers. Google's spell-check seems to be much smarter than any other I've used. I suspect that it's based on a giant database of actual misspellings rather than the approach other spell checkers seem to use, but I have no idea. APL (talk) 14:19, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Check out Google's list of how people misspelled "Britney Spears". 118.92.127.61 (talk) 00:30, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

most people are forced to resort to googling two forms of a word and seeing which one has more matches!! is googlefight still operating? that was very useful. i've used it for deciding which of the various spellings of somebody's name was most likely, for wikipedia bio articles. but the reason i'm writing is.... the google toolbar has a spelling checker which when clicked will do all the text edit boxes on your page. i'm assuming they use google as the basic data, because it does the most amazing job, much better at guessing what my various typos are intended to be than spelling checkers in word, etc. Gzuckier (talk) 19:56, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

I have my computer automatically check everything I type in a default text format like how it done in word. If the word is particularly difficult then I will either use google or dictionary.com .Google only offers one "did you mean" where dictionary.com offers many more. Strifeblade (talk) 16:34, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Spyware redirecting my browser

I have a spyware/malware that is slowing down my browser and redirecting certain youtube links to other sites, and google.com won't work at all. I used adaware to remove the 4 spyware files, but everytime I reopen mozilla or IE, they reinstall automatically. How do I get rid of them for good? 128.6.30.197 (talk) 20:09, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Run Spybot and then look at its advanced tools to figure out what the problem is. It is probably playing with yours HOSTS file or something like that. Spybot can take care of that. --140.247.243.142 (talk) 20:36, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

And if you couldn't fix it any other way, you could always reinstall the browsers or get other browsers (like Firefox and Opera). StuRat (talk) 20:40, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

That doesn't make sense; spyware can't just reinstall itself when you open your browser. Maybe you mean you're directed to another website other than your home page? What error message do you receive when you try to open Google? --wj32 ^t/c 05:38, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Sure spyware can reinstall itself from a hidden file (one the spyware remover doesn't find), when you do something like start a browser. Another favorite trick is to have a startup process run that reinstalls the spyware as soon as it's removed. StuRat (talk) 06:03, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Hmm...I need a Laptop

Alrighty then. I'm going off to college, and I need a laptop. Here are my needs/wants/etc.

• INTERNET USE! Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, research, etc.
• Some picture storage
• Preferably not crazy expensive
• Definitely music (iTunes, Limewire) friendly
• Maybe lightweight? Not a must, though.
• Very lightweight gaming. Like, probably just Furcadia and pinball.
• CD Burning, etc.

Hit me with suggestions! :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by EWHS (talk • contribs) 20:59, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like you can get just about anything out there made today. Make sure you take good care of it, don't buy on how they look, remember to get a CD (R/RW) burner and/or DVD. Mac Davis (talk) 22:47, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Mac daddy is right - pretty much anything is good for you. If you could elaborate on what you meant by "crazy expensive," I could give you a real list. But for now, I'll reccommend a MacBook - they're a bit xpensive, but they'll do everything on that list and more. Otherwise, I reccommend a Windows laptop - that's right, I didn't even specify a brand, because it really doesn't make a difference, as long as you have the right stuff inside. (as long as you know how to open up your laptop and install new parts, that is) flaminglawyer^cneverforget 23:03, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

As for a Macbook, Apple will be having its Black Friday sale pretty soon which could be topped by a student discount. The Macbook is pretty easy to use, reliable, and doesn't get viruses, so it might be a good option for you. It also turns out Furcadia runs on Mac OS 10.4 or higher.[3] How lucky for you! Oh, and under internet use you meant JSTOR too, right? ;D Mac Davis (talk) 02:36, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

another vote for apple, the student-on-campus version of recommending a honda to anybody who wants to buy a car. also, there's a thriving market in used macs, unlike PCs which become landfill very rapidly on the basis of resale value Gzuckier (talk) 19:52, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

AES

I'm looking for a fully debugged source code for a program implementing the Advanced Encryption Standard, NOT FROM A LIBRARY. I also want to know how to hook Dev-C++ up to GCC and how to compile in Code::Blocks. --Melab^±1 23:17, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Check Advanced_Encryption_Standard#Implementations first. 118.92.127.61 (talk) 22:34, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia Usernames

Is there a good reason why Wikipedia usernames are case-sensitive, or was that one of those decisions that "seemed like a good idea at the time it was made"? CBHA (talk) 23:29, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

I think this would be best suited for the help desk. it does seem like a good idea though to me NOW even. 66.216.163.92 (talk) 23:43, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I will post the question at the Help Desk. CBHA (talk) 01:53, 18 November 2008 (UTC)