Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2011 June 26

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June 26

Saving passwords on Android apps

Is there a way to save the passwords for Android apps I use, so I don't have to type them in every time? Like Wells Fargo app. I have the HTC EVO. CTJF83 00:29, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Do you feel good about a person who steals your EVO having access to your bank account? Looie496 (talk) 00:32, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

....Well Wells Fargo covers it, but is it possible? It's a pain typing in long complicated passwords on a phone. CTJF83 00:35, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

I have an Android, and I've worked in the computer support departments of a bank before. I am 95% sure this isn't possible; banks would make sure to not to include the capability from the app, and I don't know of any apps which can manipulate other apps. You might find one that can automatically paste a given piece of text, but that's probably more effort than it's worth.

If you're really worried about it, you might try using the web interface and saving the password. I do not recommend this unless you have decent security on your phone already, and frankly, not even then. But if you do implement it, make sure that if you ever lose your phone, that you immediately check your online banking that your password hasn't changed, that your address hasn't been changed, that you haven't sent any secure messages to your bank. Your bank may or may not have a note upon sign in telling you of your most recent sign in time. Magog the Ogre (talk) 01:02, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Oh, ok, thanks. And actually now that you mention it, even on Firefox and Chrome it won't let me save any of the 3 banks I use to log in. Like you said, they must have something to prevent it. It makes sense...ok, I'll just be non-lazy and type it in. Thanks to both of you! CTJF83 01:07, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

It can be done, but it's probably not worth the trouble. ¦ Reisio (talk) 03:55, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

RoboForm isn't free, but it has an Android application in the market that can do this. It protects all the passwords with a master password, but it will also (as part of how it works) synchronise the passwords to an online RoboForm account as well as any other computers you have connected to the account. Whether you want it to do all this or not I don't know, but the product itself does what you ask and may be worth a look (I use it myself).  ZX81  ^talk 18:37, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

adding automatic subtitles for VLC videos?

is this possible?

is there another player who does that if not VLC?.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.179.8.59 (talk) 02:45, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

What do you mean automatic? VLC will play embedded subtitles, and subtitles of certain formats that have the same filename as the video being played, and are in the same directory. It doesn't find subtitles automatically, but it wouldn't be that hard to make a script or two to, for example, check the entire tree of a directory for subtitles files (even in archives), and use them, or even to find subtitles from sites such as opensubtitles.org. ¦ Reisio (talk) 03:57, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Hello. what i need is a plug-in or maybe another player how could automaticly show subtitles to my videos, whatever this will be?.

is there such a thing today?.

thanks. 79.179.8.59 (talk) 13:24, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

I doubt there is (any public/official support for that), but the data (the subtitles) and the technology (it'd only take a simple shell script or batch file) is all there for someone willing to put in the time. ¦ Reisio (talk) 14:41, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Tracking down a group of hackers

I'm talking about a notorious group of hackers who have a significant presence on Twitter. I'm curious as to why they haven't been tracked down already by law enforcement. The VPN they use (by their own account) is HideMyAss which keeps logs for 30 days, and for at least 7 on US territory. Its a US based company too. Judging by their IRC conversations, they only use the VPN, and not any shells or such. Why haven't they been tracked down then? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Temptre.22 (talk • contribs) 10:55, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

You are referring to LulzSec. The identity of the main players were posted online by a group of kids who admitted to having no real hacker skills. Very quickly, one was arrested, a few quickly left the group, and the rest decided (yesterday) to shut down LulzSec. They are probably busy trying to erase every computer they've used while they wait for the slooooooow arm of the law to knock on their door. (Damn laws - require real evidence to arrest someone.) -- kainaw™ 13:02, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

I know who I'm referring to; I avoided naming them. But that's just the thing. Their identity was posted online, but not due to their VPN. Those who quickly left the group left because the group attacked the FBI. And I don't pretend to know why they disbanded, I'm just curious as to why they would choose a VPN that logs, and why the FBI hasn't used the Patriot act to seize logs. Temptre.22 (talk) 13:06, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

The Patriot Act will do nothing more than speed a warrant request through the court system. That is only useful when trying to get a warrant for logs kept on a computer inside the United States. Where are the HideMyAss servers located? If they are in Virginia, that may explain why the FBI stormed a data center and took all the servers - even those that didn't have anything to do with HideMyAss or LulzSec. -- kainaw™ 13:19, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

[1] suggests they used more then HideMyAss. BTW Telecommunications data retention#Commercial data retention and National Security Letter suggests the Patriot Act expanded the scope for NSLs which don't have to be issued by the court and which can be used to demand some non content info, from the sound of it probably including stuff like who was using IP X at time A (see also [2]). Although whether they could be used in this case and the FBI would risk it even if they could I don't know. Nil Einne (talk) 18:06, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the link, Nil, it was an interesting read. They mention on that forum that the group might have used SSH to carry out the hack. I see the group also discussed a few VPNs, but they all recommended HMA, and at least one of them was using it. This is all hypothetical, but since they were so good with networks and such, why would they use a VPN that logs? What am I missing here? (and don't say they were dumb or something... they might have been many things, but dumb is not one of them) Also, to be clear, NSLs are much faster than typical search warrants. They're issued almost immediately. Temptre.22 (talk) 18:38, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Most obvious reason... a friend worked there. -- kainaw™ 23:01, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

I don't know about LulzSec, but any serious technophile will have no trouble at not being located by anyone. ¦ Reisio (talk) 14:39, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Cat5e crosstalk

Would the reduced crosstalk in cat5e compared to cat5 cable, over about 2 metres, be enough to see an increased bandwidth/speed between a 100mbps router and a pc? Would type of telephone cable between a router and phone socket also make a difference? Bahr456 (talk) 14:55, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Do you have any reason to believe the bandwidth of your connection is actually affected by the cable? For a 2 metre cable I doubt it. Bear in mind many of the cheaper network adapters often don't actually achieve the maximum speed particularly if the computer is slow which if it still has only a 100mb adapter it may be. Intel adapters are usually considered the best I believe although 3coms are also considered not bad and nowdays even the Marvell and RealTek GbE aren't too bad (RealTek fast ethernet adapters were often considered rather crap).

Also I'm confused about your setup. Are you referring to a LAN? If so what does the router or phone socket have to do with it? If you are referring to an internet connection using the phone line, I guess some sort of DSL, I quite doubt you have anything close to a 100mbit connection so there is very likely no point worrying about the connection between the router and PC.

Improving the household cabling for the phone line may help a bit, you'd first want to install a dedicated DSL splitter at the point of entry of the phone line, if one isn't already installed rather then using microfilters on each phone jack. Using cat5 between the splitter and xDSL router may also help. But don't expect miracles, there's a fair chance the difference won't be much if anything [3]. Also are you sure your bandwidth is not being limited by your ISP whether at the DSLAM or the IP level? If it is then and you're getting the advertised speed then there is likely no way you can improve bandwidth other then to upgrade plan.

Nil Einne (talk) 15:17, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for your answer. Im referring to a DSL line. My router is profiled for an 18mbps download speed but speed test results only give a result of about 15mbps. 18mbps was what the ISP set the line speed to, saying its the best the line can handle, guaranteeing a reliable connection. So I assumed the drop in speed was either the internal wiring or the router? Bahr456 (talk) 17:40, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Is the router actually syncing at 18mbps? If it is, then there's probably not much you can do about the speed. It's quite unlikely to be the connection between the router and PC. And if the router is syncing at 18mbps and your ISP is only willing to let you sync at that speed then there's probably not much you can do. Bear in mind Asynchronous Transfer Mode has about a 10% overhead so if DSL router is syncing at 18mbps you will only expect about 16mbps via any sort of TCP speed test (I think you should actually use about 13% to take in to account TCP/IP overhead). Nil Einne (talk) 17:50, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Most error correcting file compression?

Is there any file compression type that is better at error correction than others? Given the same recording medium, what archive formats are better at reconstructing missing/damaged data? I read about [RAR]'s recovery volume (.rev) option, but I can't find any Mac RAR client that can read/write these files. --68.102.167.95 (talk) 18:13, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Have you tried Parchive? 118.96.163.71 (talk) 13:18, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Right to left encoding

Hello, I keep having problems with copying right to left encoded text , eg from this page http://www.mapnaec.com/persian/ I got شرکت مهندسی و ساخت برق و کنترل مپنا which has curious properties when I try to select it with a mouse from end to end (I assume others will get this too).

Can someone explain what is happening to cause this, is it standard behaviour, and is it unavoidable on a computer set up for left to right text. Or whatever you want to tell me. Thanks.Imgaril (talk) 19:23, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

It is complex behaviour but I don't think entirely unintentional. It's just that you are trying to mix two systems (LTR and RTL). It assumes you want to copy a passage in order. Imagine the following example in Latin text (since the character set has nothing to do with it): "lufrednow si taht, yM", Mr Backwards exclaimed. Now, selecting from right to left, your browser assumes you want to move backwards through the prose, in which case the order is exclaimed - Backwards - Mr - lufrednow- si - taht - yM. The browser "Helps" you select it in that order, which is weird but makes perfect sense for many usages. - Jarry1250 ^{[Weasel? Discuss.]} 20:41, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes thanks - I'm starting to understand it now - I haven't check but it seems obvious that the byte order and display order are swapped in the persian text, causing the odd looking behaviour. I supposed there must be some sort of control character in their, or perhaps that's inferred simply because of characters coming from the "right to left" unicode code space. It suprised me that even notepad does it...Imgaril (talk) 18:33, 27 June 2011 (UTC)