Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 October 15

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October 15

Length of address

Is there a technical limitation to the length of an email address or URL? Dismas|^(talk) 00:13, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Per RFC 3986, "should limit these names to no more than 255 characters in length." [1] I don't know what would happen if you had more than 255 characters. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 00:51, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

That's referring to the DNS machine name. I don't think there's any defined limit on URL length. An HTML form with method GET works by appending all of the form data to the URL, which can make extremely long URLs. Various browsers and servers impose randomly-chosen limits, though (possibly outdated list here). RFC 5321 limits the local part of an email address (before the @) to 64 octets and the domain part (after the @) to 255 octets. -- BenRG (talk) 10:14, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Flash

Is there a way to view the text file of Flash files? jc iindyysgvxc (my contributions) 01:15, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Are you talking about the source code? Most flash source files are in the .fla format, which isn't text, but binary (zeros and ones). You need a flash decompiler to get those files. Some people use Flex, which is plain-text XML that you compile into Flash. But most of the time, you work on .fla files and sometimes .as files (which are plain text, but don't work without a .fla file). You need Adobe Flash Professional to open .fla files, by the way.--Drknkn (talk) 01:29, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

What happened to the doppler loop radar gadgets on igoogle?

I've had a doppler loop radar gadget (or widget, if the term is preferable) on my igoogle page for months until today,centered on my hometown. Suddenly, it no longer worked as of today. As a result, I went searching for another one and either a) The gadget has been disabled and is no longer available or b) It is not a true loop radar display that shows the progression of rain etc. but rather a static display that updates perhaps every hour if I hit "refresh." Anyone else having this problem? Any explanations? Any solutions other than the NWS site? I loved having that gadget on my igoogle page!--Myersdtm (talk) 03:04, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Online translators for long documents?

Does anyone know where I can find Online translators for long documents? Google and babelfish only translate a certain portion of long websites. --Gary123 (talk) 03:19, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Google developed its own translator, but Yahoo apparently licensed Systran software, which offers paid home versions; maybe those would work with longer web pages. A clumsy workaround could be that you could view the source of the web page and split it up yourself into 3 (or 5, or 100) equal parts, and then post those pages yourself on your own website, perhaps hosted by sites.google.com, for your own personal use. View with the translator websites that you already know about, then delete them after you've viewed the translated pages. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:35, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Is it possible to navigate NYT.com without registering?

This is a deceptively difficult question --

You know how when you access NYT.com articles through news.google.com, you aren't asked for your password; but when you access the same article through the NYT.com site, you're asked for your password?

I'm not a techie, but I assume this is because news.google.com generates a special hyperlink which NYT.com recognizes and so grants access without a password.

If this is true, it must be possible to write a Firefox extension or greasemonkey script that permits the following: you browse the NYT.com site directly, and when you click on the link to the article, it replaces the link with the news.google.com version of the link, and then you can get in without registering.

And if it POSSIBLE, then it must have been done.

My question is, Where do I find it? Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 03:34, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

It appears that it's checking the HTTP Referer: header to see if it comes from news.google.com. You could install the RefControl extension and tell it to send http://news.google.com/news/search to www.nytimes.com. -- BenRG (talk) 10:46, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Another option is to use http://bugmenot.com. --Sean 13:41, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Powerpoint runs, but can't find my monitor. Seriously.

Yesterday I developed this bizarre new problem: Powerpoint (2003) runs, but appears to be running in some other display space. Keyboard commands work, but I can't see anything. I can switch between applications, bring Powerpoint into focus, and even pull down menus... but I can't see the Powerpoint window other than those menus. The slideshow mode works fine, however. On starting Powerpoint, the splash screen flashes on for a fraction of a second, and then vanishes off into its mystery display space.

A picture illustrates the problem. Here's Powerpoint running and in focus (note that it is highlighted on the taskbar) As you see, I can pull down menus by using the appropriate key combinations; note that all menus start at the top left of the screen (ordinarily the menu shown here would be docked to the top menu bar somewhere in the top middle of the screen): [2]

I have in the last week or so been using an external monitor (attached to my Thinkpad laptop) with the Windows desktop extended onto it. That has always worked fine. It is not connected now, and the Display settings show it not to be connected. I have rebooted a number of times since then. I do not have this problem with any other application (Word and Excel are perfectly fine).

I'm on Win XP SP2, Office 2003. Unfortunately, I bought this computer over 5 years ago and have moved a number of times since; I no longer have an Office installation CD.

Any comments or hints would be very welcome! thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.0.45.43 (talk) 03:41, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Sounds like it just got moved off your screen. There is a Windows keyboard shortcut to force the active window to slide into the main viewable screen. I don't know what it is (since I haven't used Windows in about 15 years). If you Google for that shortcut (or someone here knows it), I think it will make your window appear where you expect it to be. -- kainaw™ 03:57, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Press Alt+Space, then select Move. Press an arrow key on the keyboard to attach the window to the mouse pointer. Move the mouse (or use the arrow keys) to position the window, then click the mouse (or press Enter) to drop the window where you want it. --Bavi H (talk) 04:08, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Nice. That was it exactly, but I couldn't for the life of me find it. Thank you both! 24.0.45.43 (talk) 04:15, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Google for an application called "Pitaschio". It has many nifty features (including making your desktop icons appear as a list). One of the features it has is "place window only on screen" which doesn't allow any edge of any window to leave the boundaries of the screen. (It's annoying with multiple monitors though, it won't let a window straddle the two monitors. Zunaid 19:57, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

How can I record a landline phone call using my PC?

It is legal to record certain phone calls where I live. So. Is there software or a device I can use to record calls made to or from my landline using my PC? 207.216.177.88 (talk) 06:28, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

I think you can do that with a Voice Modem and the appropriate software. Other hardware will also let you do it (again with call recording software. If you're looking for a commercial product designed to do exactly what you want, they exist. I found this one by searching Google for phone conversation recorders (I know nothing about this product, it's just the first one I found). Many of the results don't involve your PC, but some do. –RHolton≡– 11:27, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

I have something very small and simple (no batteries etc) that plugs between the phone line and the telephone, with a small 'jack' that can plug into a tape recorder or the audio socket of a computer. Cost about £1. 92.29.118.227 (talk) 11:58, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Online game lagging

Is there any way ISP's can fix this by providing more bandwidth?Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 13:39, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

"Lag" can be caused by many things, including network latency, game server compute-overload, your CPU or graphics card overload, etc. If network latency (specifically, between your system and the server) is the bottleneck, then increasing the bandwidth from your ISP might reduce the lag that you experience. Whether this is possible depends on the technical and economic situation of your ISP in your area. Nimur (talk) 13:51, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

You can't always reduce latency by increasing bandwidth. If a network link is congested (too busy), then increasing bandwidth will reduce latency. But if you're just trying to communicate with a server on the other side of the planet, all the bandwidth in the world will not bring your latency down -- the speed of light is your foe, not congestion. --FOo (talk) 17:02, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

"Lag" is a kinda fuzzy term - "Bandwidth" and "Latency" are better precisely because their meanings don't overlap. Consider, for example, if you want to send a LOT of data to a friend on the other side of town. You could send it over the Internet - or you could write it onto a bunch of memory cards, put them into the back of your car - and drive over to your friends house. Now - the amount of data you can cram into the back of your car in micro-xD memory cards is spectacular - a petabyte maybe. The amount of time it would take to send a petabyte over the Internet would be measured in years! So the bandwidth of your car is vastly better than the Internet. But the latency of your car is awful - it takes half an hour to get across town even if you only need to send one byte! So if you want to send a 10 line email - then, because the latency, the Internet is a better choice. (See: Sneakernet and a real-world experiment to prove that a carrier pidgeon with a memory stick strapped to it's leg had better bandwidth than the Telkom ISP!)

The amount of "Lag" in the system is composed in part by a lack of bandwidth and in part by too much latency. When you are waiting for (say) a movie to download - then certainly a lack of bandwidth is the most likely reason it's lagging your expectations. But if you clicked on a link to a small page on a (mostly) text-only web site like the one you're reading now - then any lag is most likely due to a latency - and increasing the available bandwidth probably wouldn't help much...just as carrying that 10 line email across town isn't going to go any quicker if you drive it there in your car - or in an 18 wheel truck - because while the truck has much better bandwidth than your car - it's irrelevent because they both have the same horrible latency.

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway." —Tanenbaum

SteveBaker (talk) 14:17, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

What to do with a Toshiba Satellite 105CS?

I've recently been given a Toshiba Satellite 105CS. This is a very old laptop: Pentium 75Mhz, 16Kb cache, 500 Mb hard drive, no CD, 1 3.5" floppy drive, and only 8 MB of RAM (not a typo; 8192 kilobytes!). There's also no OS installed. There is a dual PC card slot, and I received with it a 28.8 kbps FAX/modem card.

I'm scratching my head about what to do with this beast without spending money. Yes, I could trash/recycle it, but I'd rather try to do something useful or fun. I'd love to learn to work with a flavor of Linux (I worked with MS-DOS and lived through Win3.1, Win95, Win98, Win2K, WinXP. Before DOS I worked with RT-11 and even CP/M). However, I have available a floppy-based install for MS-DOS 6.22, and a CD for Win2K that I'm not currently using. I may even have an old Win98 installation. And I have the (increasing rare) PC with a 3.5 floppy, so I can write to those. And, of course, access to the Internet.

Any suggestions? –RHolton≡– 13:41, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

NetBSD[3] should run on that processor/memory setup[4]; it will boot from a floppy, though the laptop hardware may not be supported. The low memory looks like being a problem for most other Unix-like OSes: FreeBSD[5], DSL[6], Gentoo[7] and Devil[8] seem to need more RAM. I'm sure other people know more, though. --Nigelpackham (talk) 14:35, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

First, I would try it with the DOS 6.22. That should let you check the components still work. Alternatively, you could try some Linux installs but you would need to get them copied to a floppy disk somehow. How about looking for CP/M stuff on eBay? Astronaut (talk) 09:42, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

I do not know if MenuetOS would work, but it is incredibly small at 61kb. See http://www.goosee.com/menuetos/index.html and the MenuetOS article. See also the Floppy Disk Distributions listed at Mini Linux; and also BasicLinux

. 78.147.27.136 (talk) 13:08, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Once you've got an OS on it, laptops make great photoframes, especially one with 500Meg HDD. Josh Parris 20:57, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Thank you all for your suggestions. And please keep them coming! –RHolton≡– 00:43, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Web bots

How hard is it to lean how to make one?Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 13:42, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

You typically need to know a programming language - preferably one that has convenient standard libraries for working with web-based data (such as perl, or Java, but many others are also suitable). You need to know something about the technical structure of HTML (and often XML); and you should know something about the technical structure of HTTP and the way that web server software handles requests. If you have no specific task in mind yet, these articles will probably be the best places to start. Nimur (talk) 13:55, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Ok, what language should I begin? Ie, what is the easiest to learn?Accdude92 (talk) (sign) 14:17, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

It depends on what you want to do, but a scripting language like perl or python or PHP are all easily adaptable to making web bots without a huge amount of programming knowledge. They also have libraries that make certain tasks easier (e.g. PHP has Snoopy which lets you really easily simulate browser activity without having to really get into the nitty-gritty of forming your own HTTP headers from scratch). --Mr.98 (talk) 14:53, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Rebol seems able to do web-based things very easily and concisely. The Wikipedia article is far too abstract but the tutorial for Absolute Beginners is good. 78.151.83.175 (talk) 00:16, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Modern War Simulator

Is there any Modern War Simulator wich allows the player to control veichles, infarny and jet-planes, and has a campaign map like in Imperial Glory? --81.227.64.69 (talk) 15:51, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots is a few years old but still fun in multiplayer or solo mode. Nimur (talk) 16:31, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

World In Conflict is an Real-time strategy modern war simulation where you can control vehicles, infantry, helicopters, and artillery (as well as a number of off-map units such as longer range artillery and planes (and the odd nuke!)), but I don't know how it compares to Imperial Glory in terms of similarity. It's one of my current favourite games, anyway (as will probably have been noticed by regular readers here!). --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 16:36, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

(EDIT) What I can say is that there is no campaign map per se, and the player basically just follows a series of scenarios to make up a story. --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 16:43, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

The open source Warzone 2100 is fun, even if it's aging and the pathfinding AI is a bit thick. CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 17:31, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

I highly, highly, highly recommend Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Honestly, no joke, it is my favorite game of all time. If you have access to a DS, you must play this game. 198.188.150.115 (talk) 06:55, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Who owns ErdUndoCache?

Resolved

This directory, C:\ErdUndoCache (on a windows system, obviously) hold a lot of "stuff" on my system, which I'd like to clean up, and I can't figure out which application owns & operates it. Google searches for ErdUndoCache bury me in pages of HiJackThis logs, which make no sense.

My feeling is that it's one of the spyware scanner vaults, but I can't determine which one. SuperAntiSpyware, for example, has a Manage Quarantines feature, but deleting old quarantines doesn't seem to affect ErdUndoCache. Malwarebyte's product doesn't seem to have a quarantine manager or management feature. I'm pretty sure it's not AVG's vault, because a couple of lines above ErdUndoCache in windows explorer, there's a $AVG8.VAULT$.

So, who knows more than I do about this? --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 21:39, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

ERDUNDOCACHE is apparently created when you make an Emergency Repair Diskette in Windows and is a bunch of settings of a previous version of your computer (created at some point in the past). It doesn't have any active role though, so if you want, you can get rid of it. So says this page (which I found by Google ERDUNDO by itself). --Mr.98 (talk) 00:04, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Good job on that. Take a break, get a fresh cup of coffee -- you earned it! --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 01:15, 16 October 2009 (UTC)