Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 December 21

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December 21

Could a java Kaliedoscope applet run as a screensaver?

I really like the larger version of this kaliedoscope http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/Kaleido.html I do not know anything about Java. How easy or difficult would it be to get the same code to run on my computer rather than on a webpage? The source code is given further down the page. I have WinXP. Thanks 89.242.211.123 (talk) 00:35, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

What's wrong with my monitor? Does this problem have a name?

Resolved

There seems to be some sort of visual artifact with my new LCD monitor. I don't know how to describe it, but there's an echo effect with everything on the screen. It's like a faint mirror image of the entire desktop appears slightly offset by a couple centimeters to the right. Actually, there's as many of five of these mirror images, each slightly offset. The problem is subtle, but noticeable. Does this problem have a name? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 03:04, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

What you've described sounds like ghosting. Are you using a VGA cable? If you can, use DVI to connect to your monitor instead, as interference in the VGA cable can cause this artifact. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:50, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

I've seen, at most, 30 cases of ghosting on LCD monitors. Every single one, without fail, was caused by a cheap VGA cable. Cheap cables are OK if they are very (VERY) short. The longer they get, the worse they get. Using a DVI connector (or at least a good VGA cable) will most likely fix the problem. -- kainaw™ 04:49, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I am using a VGA cable. However, it is the same VGA cable I used with my old monitor and it did not have ghosting issues. I'll try a different cable when I get home from work. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 13:31, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Are you using the same resolution as you used with your old monitor? Some cables only support resolutions up to a certain figure before you get ghosting issues and so if your new monitor is a higher resolution than your old monitor (probably?) then it could still cause the problem and be related to the cable. ZX81 ^talk 17:07, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Check the simple things first: if you don't have the VGA cable correctly inserted and screwed in, you may get this effect. I had this with my PC at work. Rjwilmsi 19:07, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes, it was the cable. And yes, I was using the cable from the old monitor. Thanks! A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:47, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for coming back & telling us; it's always good to hear how things turned out and to get confirmation of the advice given here. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:49, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Google Maps errors

How does one report an error on Google maps (for London) to them? AFAIK, they have no feedback mechanism. The particular problem apears to be that Earl's Court Exhibition Centre is labelled Clarion Events (which for all I know may be its official name) and teh Olympia Exhibition Centre is labelled Earl's Court Exhibition Centre - which is obviously wrong. -- SGBailey (talk) 11:36, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Is this not it [1] it seems you contact their data providers or use the map makerShortfatlad (talk) 12:57, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

If it is, it is beyond my abilities to use it. There are lots of links on that page none of which appear to permit the reporting of an error. Some of which allow you to fix things - however I don't know what is right, only that what they have is wrong. -- SGBailey (talk) 13:56, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

For most of Europe, Tele Atlas is Google's data provider, so (unfortunately) you have to report the problem directly to them and hope it gets fixed. Google uses their own data for the US and Canada, so these are the only locations where you can report problems directly to them. Xenon54 / talk / 14:16, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Tele Atlas also has a fancy interactive reporting mechanism, so it isn't possible for me to report this error to them. These organisations strive very hard to prevent you contacting them. -- SGBailey (talk) 16:49, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Why not simply use the interactive reporting mechanism? It looks like they worked very hard to simplify the submision, and subsequent handling of error reports. (Imagine the difference in efficiency between this and people from all over the world reporting errors in long, rambling prose in a few dozen languages.) But if you have to do it the difficult way for some reason, you could try the address here, on their contact page. APL (talk) 02:01, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

From my experience (reporting a mountain marked in the middle of a river) GooglemapsEarth seem to ignore errors reported through their automated submission. Dbfirs 08:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

In the US, you right click on the item (marker, label)and there is a "Report A Problem" menu option. I would think the UK would be the same. I have a Google logon and it shows me my logon on the top when I am on Google. I would suspect you have to be logged in to report the problem. BTW - I reported some errors last week that have not been changed yet. --Wonderley (talk) 16:31, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Um did you really expect them to fix an error in a week? Nil Einne (talk) 23:47, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Back in the day when Google had an error feedback feature, I told them about a street mistake near my house. Ten--count them--ten years later it was fixed. I highly doubt my email had anything to do with it. One of the main problems with this is that no organization that manages and published geographic data is going to accept the hearsay of some random yahoo without checking up on it. In my case0--and many others--checking up on it had to be done in person in the field, as dense trees obscured the (non-existent) road segment. Of course everyone wants accurate geodata, but really, do you want mapping apps to adjust their data based on random complaints from unknown users? Give it ten years. Pfly (talk) 10:08, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

No, but it is very simple to check whether a mountain has moved to the middle of a river! (See above, reported several times, beginning about five years ago! ) Dbfirs 15:36, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

... (later) ... Apologies, it is GoogleEarth that has a mountain in the middle of a river, not Googlemaps. Dbfirs 09:11, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

Bluetooth chaining

I have to disconnect my Bluetooth headphones from my laptop to connect them to my Samsung Vice phone (model SCH-R561) and vice-versa. I think a solution to this problem would be if whenever the phone and headphones were linked, the phone told my laptop that *it* was a headset, and passed through the laptop's sound output in addition to its own (except during a call and while playing an alert, when it would ignore the laptop's output). Can I do this with a J2ME app or by installing alternative firmware on the phone? I'm willing to void the warranty. NeonMerlin 17:08, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Handle unrecognized SSL issuers better in Firefox

A lot of sites seem to issue their own SSL certificates, use expired SSL certificates, or use single-domain certificates when they should be using wildcard certificates. It takes a lot of clicking to get past Firefox's warning about this. Can I set up Firefox to, when the problem with the certificate is one of these, simply display a warning message above the page and present it as non-secure? (In such cases, I'd ideally like JavaScript and applets to be initially disabled, and for Firefox to refuse to send pre-existing cookies, load saved passwords into forms, or submit forms, until I'd confirmed the exception.) NeonMerlin 18:31, 21 December 2009 (UTC)