Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 April 13

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April 13

Problem

My computer shows Verdana instead of Times New Roman on sites that use TNR. How can I fix this? 58.165.25.29 (talk) 02:49, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Verdana is the default Windows font for sans-serif fonts. Are you absolutely positive that the website's css is not set to sans-serif? -- kainaw™ 03:00, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

A URL to such a website would be highly helpful. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 11:29, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Never mind, I found out the problem. It is because I chose that font for viewing text on such pages. 58.165.25.29 (talk) 11:56, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Website which follows correct legal practices

Hi everyone.I'm looking to creating a community website with a few community based sections. I am hoping to have a shopping section where I display various products from a number of online retailers. In relation to this -do I have to ask for permission of using a product image (i.e. like a dvd) from the online retailer (that does not own the copyright)? Can I simply just use the image and provide a link to the online retailer? If it is the case that I have to ask the copyright owner- would it be likely I even get a response (ie. From a big hollywood studio or a big publisher)? Would they care if I'm encouraging the purchase of their product? And secondnly do I have to ask for permission to link to someone else's website page? And just in case I WILL have google adsense on my website. Thanks for your help!

You do not need permission to link to websites on the internet. But beyond that, we cannot provide legal advice. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 11:36, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Actually you may need permission to carry out deeplinking (as obvious from the legal section on that page) although it doesn't sound like this is what's being talked about here Nil Einne (talk) 18:34, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Usually images of a product you are directing someone to buy are considered to be implicitly released for such purposes (for the obvious reasons—the copyright holder benefits directly when you are selling their product). In the US, the Copyright Act is pretty clear about this (17 U.S.C. 113(c), BUT that doesn't stop companies from trying to use legal muscle to keep you from undercutting their profits if they think that is what you are doing (here is a clear blog post about such practices). This is, of course, NOT legal advice—in particular, I am telling you that the issue appears in practice to be cloudy, though per the law it should be straightforward. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 12:58, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Asterisk

Why is the asterisk (a pop-up dialog with an "i") so-called? 58.165.25.29 (talk) 09:43, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean by a "pop-up dialog with an 'i'". Typically, "asterisk" refers to the character "*", which is called an asterisk after the Latin word asteriscum, which means "little star". -- Captain Disdain (talk) 13:45, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

In Microsoft Windows, the Win32 API provides a standard message box, via the MessageBox function. The function takes a parameter "uType" of type cardinal, and some of the predefined constants for this parameter are MB_ICONHAND, MB_ICONQUESTION, MB_ICONEXCLAMATION, MB_ICONASTERISK, MB_ICONWARNING, MB_ICONERROR, MB_ICONINFORMATION, MB_ICONSTOP, and MB_ICONMASK. Depending on this parameter, the icon (and the corresponding sound!) will be a red circle with a white cross, a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark, a blue circle with a question mark and so on. MB_ICONASTERISK (and MB_ICONINFORMATION) gives a blue circle with a "i" (as in "information"). --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 14:37, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

The asterisk character is often used in written text for footnotes and similar references. My guess is that some software has applied the name "asterisk" to an informational ("i") pop-up dialog used for a purpose analogous to a footnote. --Scray (talk) 14:05, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Possibly even with an actual asterisk originally, which was eventually replaced with the 'i' when they discovered it was too close to the 'x' or that the footnote analogy was lost on the majority of users (or even the majority of users likely to call tech-support). The problem with giving constants descriptive names is that, if the usage ever does change, you are left with a confusingly mis-labeled constant. About all you can do (without removing the old name and breaking all prior code) is to add a new name (like MB_ICONINFORMATION) and list the old name as deprecated. – 74  16:13, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Mac OS X Leopard using a non-Apple keyboard

Does anyone know of an easy way to remap and/or configure a non-Apple keyboard on OS X Leopard? Well, I know this isn't something that Steve Jobs and his Cupertino cohorts like to see, but I'm on an OSX86 install, using iDeneb. I could have burned a thousand bucks for a real Mac, but I tried on installing Hackintosh just for curiosity's sake. Blake Gripling (talk) 13:03, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

You can find them on the internet (e.g. here). Take the "*.keylayout" (e.g. "dellStandardUK.keylayout"), put it in Libraries/???/KeyboardLayout, restart, then choose them from the keyboard layout menu. yandman 09:53, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

I note that WebOfTrust says "This site has a poor reputation." —Tamfang (talk) 05:12, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Is this a good computer?

Is [ Link to eBay Auction : "Compaq EvoN610c 512MB ram Pentium4-M 2GHz 40G Wifi" ] computer a good one? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.172.159.130 (talk) 07:15, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

The would-be seller would certainly like potential bidders to think so. (I wonder why you ask.) -- Hoary (talk) 07:52, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

No, it is not (by modern standards). A modern laptop would have a modern, faster CPU (with at least two cores), much more RAM (at least 2 GB = 2000 MB), much larger HDD (perhaps 200 GB), at least a DVD writer, and a newer OS (e.g. Windows Vista). But it is indeed cheaper than a new laptop, so if you think it would be sufficient for you, then it might be "good enough". --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 13:07, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

It's more than adequate for most purposes. The kind of user who needs a huge hard drive or the latest graphics card is likely to know that already. There are some red flags, though, like "the battery and the wifi card has been recently replaced and has not been tested" (emphasis mine) and the bit about the hard drive needing to "warm up" (I'm not convinced this is the reason for the startup problem, but if it is then the hard drive is likely on the verge of failure, and if it isn't then it still points to some other hardware problem that might be serious). -- BenRG (talk) 16:30, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

It depends what you want it for and how much you have to spend. For the $112 the bidding had risen to when I wrote this, I'd say it was a pretty good deal. I wouldn't pay over $200 for it though. For doing email, surfing the web, word processing and such - it should be perfectly good. Don't expect to play state-of-the-art games on it though...for that, it would be useless. The worst problem (IMHO) is that it has a teeny-tiny hard drive...if you end up replacing it, you'll blow my $200-is-what-it's-worth limit...but if you already have a decent USB hard drive, then you'll be fine. SteveBaker (talk) 18:51, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

For my part of the world (eastern USA) - I'd say Steve has pretty much nailed this one dead on. Price, content, value, etc. — Ched :  ?  21:16, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't touch this. Why? The seller can't even manage correct english for a start :- "Buildin modem", "carfuly handled" "write papers for collage" "fantatic gift" - hardly inspires confidence. Exxolon (talk) 23:43, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Besides the above mentioned spelling errors, I don't see anything wrong with that computer.. the only red flag that I notice is it's age, with old computers comes inexplicable problems. 69.62.193.42 (talk) 20:40, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

I did just notice something. The seller sais that all of the installed programs are trials or free, does this include windows? Can windows be installed as a trial?69.62.193.42 (talk) 20:46, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

You can, ie. [1]. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 05:29, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Note : The IP of the questioner resolves to an ISP less than 15 miles from the location of this auction. I have removed the link. APL (talk) 23:00, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

How is Grass Valley 'lass than 15 miles' from Roseville? Link added as hidden comment at the top of this section. – VectorEng. Inc.&nbsp18:55, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Link removed – Elliott(Talk|Cont)  15:39, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

After I said that, he edited his signature to obscure his IP address. His original IP resolved to McClellan. I'm not familiar with the area but I had looked them up on Google Maps. APL (talk) 14:12, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Well in that case I would agree it's difficult to AGF. However I would point out the seller living near the purported buyer is hardly surprising for something like this. If I were buying a random used laptop for this price via eBay there's little chance in hell I'm going to be willing get it shipped, I'd almost definitely want to pickup the laptop which would likely mean I'd restrict my search to people living near me (actually even then I probably wouldn't buy a used laptop at this price, but you get the idea). Nil Einne (talk) 14:34, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

That said, anyone who buys this should expect to replace the hard-drive. The seller admits that it's already starting to fail, but for some reason doesn't think this is a problem. APL (talk) 23:02, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

I didn't notice that. Then it's a bust - the cost to replace the hard drive means that it's going to wind up costing you more than $200 - and I don't think it's worth that much. Forget it. SteveBaker (talk) 02:49, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

I think the reason the seller does not recognize it as a failing hard drive might be because the seller does not know that much about computers. Or hes trying not to advertise that fact to try and get the most from his auction. An interesting note; He purchased 2 laptops of the same make / model a few weeks before. And at the time of this posting the Auction has sold for a little more than he bought it. This leads me to 2 conclusions. 1; he is lying about having used it for a long time to try and make it seem like it's in 'great shape' or 2; hes bought a replacement laptop and is now trying to get rid of the laptop being replaced, which i supose does not rule out conclusion number 1. I suspect that either way he will be getting a negative feedback or even a strike. If i were in the market for a laptop i would stay far from this one. – VectorEng. Inc.&nbsp18:55, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

YouTube limited amount of mail

Hi. Recently I have noticed that YouTube only allows me to send a certain number of mails at any one time. Usually the number is limited to 4 or 5 mails. Yet if I wait an hour I can send another 4/5 internal mails. I assume these measures were taken against spammers but is there anything that can be done against this. I would also be interested in any reports/blogs etc with any info about these limitations. Thanks for your help. --87.115.64.1 (talk) 17:52, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Online list of upcoming movies

This is also posted on the Entertainment desk. Is there a website where I can see a list of all upcoming major movies? i.e. ones that would be shown at my local theatre. It would be nice to be able to plan ahead with that. Thanks, 99.240.227.108 (talk) 19:26, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

See answer on the Entertainment Desk... -- kainaw™ 19:34, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

"Add/Remove Programs" in Windows Vista & Dealio Toolbar

Is Dealio Toolbar spyware? How do I remove it when Microsoft has made it confusing and changed the name of what used to be 'Add/Remove Programs'?

I have Spybot Search and Destroy already, denying the changes.

--Sennheiser hd 433 (talk) 20:00, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

In Windows Vista, you open the "Uninstall an application" option under "Applications" in the Control Panel (or whatever the strings are in English). --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 21:04, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

It's "Programs and Features". --LarryMac | Talk 13:51, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Game

I remember playing a game when I was 5 years old. This game was a circus game. I think it was a DOS game. I remember there was a trapeze event, and an event where a car drives to the top of a hill with traffic lights (you lose if the car passes a traffic light when it turns red). But I don't remember this game's name. What is it? 58.165.25.29 (talk) 22:11, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

There are a number of circus games in the database of the resurrected Home of the Underdogs. (Or try the other resurrection of Home of the Underdogs. ) APL (talk) 22:54, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Could you perhaps draw what the screen looked like and include the drawing here? That might ring a bell. Tempshill (talk) 23:01, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Was it Fiendish Freddy or Freddie's Big Top Fun? -- Guroadrunner (talk) 04:53, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Help with reformatting my PC

Resolved

Hello, I have a PC running Windows XP that has been sitting in my bedroom untouched the last few months. I dusted it off (literally, first time with a can of compressed air) and plan to put Linux Ubuntu on it. The PC has a 300 GB secondary hard drive that I added some time ago (though it shows up at 279 GB -- I know there's a reason for this, but can someone explain why?). I have old personal files on this drive and nothing too important on the primary drive. I was wondering how to best handle reformatting and still keep these personal files. Do I need to detach the secondary hard drive from the PC and reattach after reformatting? Or can I proceed with the reformatting and expect Ubuntu to recognize the drive (after installing the appropriate driver, I expect)? Let me know if I need to provide additional information. 98.228.34.62 (talk) 23:22, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

This may well be a 300 and nine zeros byte drive; when you divide this by 1024 three times, you'll get a number below 300. Further, some drives have chunks reserved for other purposes.

Ubuntu will point out that you have two drives and will ask what you want done with them. After having made trebly sure that you're not mixing the two up, you ask it to install itself on one and to ignore the other.

Oh, hang on -- I suppose the second drive would be NTFS; does Ubuntu handle that these days? Somebody else here is sure to answer that one for you. -- Hoary (talk) 00:16, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

There are several ways to do this. I would first suggest booting into XP to verify that all files you wish to keep are on the second hard drive, or better yet, burned to a disk(s). Then you run a live cd (your Ubuntu disk can do this) to browse around some more, to further verify that all files are accounted for. Running the live cd will also verify that all hardware is supported (it very likely will be, without additional drivers.) Install Ubuntu on the first drive (which should be labeled hda,) which will format the disk to a new filesystem (you will probably choose ext3.) Boot into your new operating system, and it should recognize your second drive (hdb.) Since this drive is formatted as NTFS, which is windows proprietary, you may want to move all of your files to hda, then reformat the second disk to either ext3 or fat32 (if you want it to be read easily by both windows and unix systems.) Or, if you've burned the data to disk first (which runs the cdfs filesystem,) format hdb and copy your files back there.

Regarding why your (and all) disks show up in your operating system with less space than advertised, it has to do with the difference in terminology, see Gigabyte, especially the section on consumer confusion. Taggart.BBS (talk) 00:20, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Appreciate the explanation! I have checked and ensured that all my personal files are on the secondary hard drive. The primary hard drive has a C partition and unallocated space (used to be D partition, but it was deleted), so I'm wondering if I install Ubuntu on the first drive, will I be able to claim all space in the primary drive? Also, for moving files over, I would be able to move stuff like JPEG images to the primary drive? (I think I just did that successfully with a JPEG image with Ubuntu Live just now! Is it that easy?) Once I reformat the second drive, can I move back my files with no problem? For what it's worth, I'm not pursuing dual boot because I have Windows XP on the laptop I'm using now... feeling like making this a full Linux machine. 98.228.34.62 (talk) 00:35, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

If you want to see how your hard drive looks (and what it will look like during installation) you can run gparted during your ubuntu live session. Open up the terminal (applications-accessories-terminal) and type in gparted. This will give you a graphical look at your hard drives. In fact, you can pre-format your drive before the install, but i'd just wait and do it during the installation. You can delete the ntfs partition, and your disk should now be all unallocated space. You will need at least two partitions for your ubuntu install, one of which is called swap. Your swap space should be about twice as much as you have RAM, or probably between 2-4 Gb. And yes, moving the files back and forth really will be that easy, no matter what kind of file they are. Taggart.BBS (talk) 00:48, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much for your help! I am now running Linux Ubuntu on my PC and very happy about it. The OS recognized my local disk, so I will take care of my files. I have already been retrieving packages (VLC and Amarok, for example) and getting used to the whole thing. I have a book I'll use, and there seems to be supple documentation online to help with using it. Thanks, all! :) 98.228.34.62 (talk) 12:50, 14 April 2009 (UTC)