Wikipedia

Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2012 May 14

< Wikipedia:Reference desk‎ | Archives‎ | Computing
Computing desk
< May 13 << Apr | May | Jun >> May 15 >
Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.


May 14 edit

Free online GIF program... edit

I have created a string of GIF animations that I would like to join together. I've used free online software so far, but I don't know of any free programs that allow you to join multiple GIFs. Each of the GIFs that I have created have different timing speeds, so I don't want to upload them to a website that will force one timing speed on all of them. Suggestions are welcome. --Ghostexorcist (talk) 01:45, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I don't believe a single animated GIF has the ability to vary the speed. So, that leaves you with the options of keeping them separate, or using some other format. Apparently, they do. StuRat (talk) 03:02, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Depending on how long you want the animated GIF to be, maybe you can repeat frames to alter the length they each appear? The alternative is to make them into a slideshow with something like open office impress. Vespine (talk) 04:26, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, I just realized what you're saying, you have mutiple GIF animations, not frames, so my 1st suggestion won't work, however my second suggestion might still work. This post on the openoffice forums seems to suggest making slideshows out of animated GIFs should work. Vespine (talk) 04:30, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Each frame of an animated GIF has an independent delay value, so there's no need for hacks like duplicated frames. Gifsicle with the --multifile option may do what you want. I'm not sure, and the documentation is not very clear. -- BenRG (talk) 05:42, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
convert *.gif w00tpie.gif ¦ Reisio (talk) 12:31, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Are you sure that the ImageMagick convert statement can join multiple animated GIFs, and maintain the different time intervals within each ? StuRat (talk) 20:31, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
See ImageMagick docs [1]. --Colapeninsula (talk) 11:34, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, impressive capabilities. StuRat (talk) 17:41, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You better get used to it. After a few years with ImageMagick, I wouldn't be surprised if "convert mouse.usb energy.battery" would convert the material in your mouse into pure energy and reuse it to recharge a battery. And I know that "convert mossad.crypt clear.txt" will decrypt any document in no time. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 21:53, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That ImageMagick code is way too advanced for me. I just started making GIFs with free online stuff. I doubt I will ever get involved in it enough to learn code. Thank you all for the suggestions so far. I ended up downloading a 15 day trial of a GIF editing program. It has worked pretty well. Here is what I came up with (I'll make a second part later). It's based on a silly picture I drew a few years ago. I hope that I can figure out how to scale all of the images to a single sized window at some point. --Ghostexorcist (talk) 04:54, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Too complicated ? Once you download ImageMagick, all you need to do is type "convert", followed by the individual animated GIFs, in the order you want them, and then the name of the new animated GIF it creates. How could it be any simpler ? StuRat (talk) 05:29, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
There's no need to berate the OP for not being accustomed to command line interfaces. They look like programming to someone who doesn't use them regularly; don't take for granted the many years you spent getting completely up to speed with your understanding of what they can do and how they can work. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:18, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
OK, maybe the missing instructions are how to get to the command line interface. In Windows XP, it's Start + All Programs + Accessories + Command Prompt. Not sure what it is in Windows Vista and 7, but I have to assume they changed how to get there, for no apparent reason. :-) StuRat (talk) 16:23, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
on windows vista and 7, just type cmd or command in the start menu finder. Nil Einne (talk) 05:10, 17 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Or SHIFT+Right_mouse to get a cmd prompt in the directory of the ImageMagick dir, so he doesn't have to ask how to add it to his path. ¦ Reisio (talk) 18:17, 18 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Folders like this edit

Windows folders with names like: C:\3a8039561e532edd33c74b are temporary and can be deleted, right? I have one but when I try to delete it, it says that I can't because it is shared with someone else. I am the only user on this computer, so how can I be sharing it? (I do have a second user account on it.) Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 02:50, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can delete it once whatever process created it has finished. It may not have finished. You could try rebooting. -- BenRG (talk) 05:44, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
This is a known issue with a recent Windows update. The files created in this directory are supposed to be temporary, but end up being marked as system files. Google for the exact folder name and you should be able to find a solution to delete it (such as killing Windows Explorer first, or deleting it in Safe Mode). Chris Cunningham (user:thumperward) (talk) 14:12, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
If you do get permission to see what's inside, it probably contains one file, MRT.exe. This is the temporary installation file for the Malicious software removal tool and can be deleted if you are allowed. Astronaut (talk) 19:03, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

about autorun.inf edit

Some days earlier I asked if the file autorun.inf is executable by itself, and the answer is no because computer will only check it when a CD or USB is opened. Is there a chance that something being run when the autorun.inf is checked? Because the content of my autorun.inf look like something in a dll file, and is it possible to have any influence on the system running?--Noname67097 (talk) 06:12, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It is got 86 KB in size and I am doubting if it just functions like an lnk file--Noname67097 (talk) 08:00, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That's probably something evil. Tricking AutoRun on USB drives is one of the more common ways for viruses to propagate themselves. If your Windows version is up to date, it shouldn't be able to run unless you give it permission, though. Looie496 (talk) 17:57, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

lost IE from desktop, etc edit

In Windows 7, I was messing around and lost the IE icon from my task bar and desktop. It is not in the start menu either. I tried downloading it, but that didn't work.

Is is still on my computer because I can enter ie.exe at the search and it comes up. But I cannot apply windows updates either (they fail). I did a system restore and got the icon back to the task menu. Then I unpinned it, thinking that would get it to the desktop, but it went away. I tried the system restore again, but then all of the networking and access to the internet went away. I restored to a different restore point and got networking and the internet back, but IE is gone from the task bar, desktop, and start menu (although the command still works),but updates don't work.

How can I get IE and updates back to normal? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 06:41, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Well, when I typed in ie.exe, it showed a shortcut that I was able to drag to the desktop. And from there I was able to pin it to the task bar. But Windows Updates are still failing. Any ideas? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 06:50, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
What happens when you try to run Windows Update? Do you get an error message? Chris Cunningham (user:thumperward) (talk) 14:11, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Could be a virus. MrLittleIrish (talk) 申 14:39, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I think I deleted some files that I shouldn't. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 23:23, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
If your XP installation took the Browser Choice update you might not be able to get back your original IE desktop icon (the one with no shortcut arrow and the internet options link on the right-click menu). Instead, you will have to make do with a regular shortcut. I don't think that update actually removes your original icon, it just removed the option to bring it back should you accidentally dfelete it, using the desktop settings. Astronaut (talk) 18:59, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Facebook page edit

Can a page admin delete(remove) the owner from the page..... AND TAKE OVER THE PAGE COMPLETELY.... 115.117.245.205 (talk) 07:11, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

They can find ways of doing so, though I did not check if there is any report of such thing.--Noname67097 (talk) 08:02, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, because the admin has the same page access as the owner. MrLittleIrish (talk) 申 14:40, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How can I ensure an Adobe Flash Player updater is a true one but not a Trojan? edit

Recently I have just heard about the Mac virus that disguises itself as an Adobe Flash Player Updater. I use Windows and updated my Adobe Flash Player for several times. How can I know if it is a true update or not (and also some Trojan disguises as Windows upgrade)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Noname67097 (talk • contribs) 08:06, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You can always just update from Adobe's website if you are unsure. If you are using Windows you should definitely be running antivirus all the time anyways. --Mr.98 (talk) 11:55, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
And be very wary if you click on a website and it displays a message saying you need to update Adobe - unless you 100% trust the website, don't accept its offer and instead update yourself from the Adobe website (or use the automatic updater for Flash). --Colapeninsula (talk) 11:37, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Monobook/vector edit

Morning! Idiot question here.

I had a nice set up in my monobook whatsit where I had a good script for adding refs, where I could add the URL and the rest of it would self-populate. A while ago it stopped working, and now when I added a new link to AfC categories in my toolbox list it's now stopped working altogether. Can someone who knows about computers fix it for me? S.G.(GH) ping! 09:23, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Uhh… not without seeing it. ¦ Reisio (talk) 12:25, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, please post the script here. StuRat (talk) 20:28, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What product (name & version) did Steve Wozniak use to program the ROM of the very first Apple Is made in Steve Jobs's garage? edit

20.137.18.53 (talk) 13:36, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The excellent apple2history.org website has a section on the Apple I here, which seems to say that Woz coded a lot of it on an HP computer that ran a 6502 emulator written by a friend of Woz's. Other parts, he wrote on the Apple I itself by hand-assembling the code and typing it in using the Apple I's Monitor, a 256-byte program that he had already written. Comet Tuttle (talk) 02:56, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Programming a ROM means burning the bytes into a (programmable) ROM. The device you use to do this is called a programmer. According to the page you linked to, "Wozniak used two 256 x 4 PROM (programmable read-only memory) chips to create a 256 byte program (called a 'monitor') that looked at the keyboard when the computer was turned on." 20.137.18.53's question seems to be asking what programmer device Wozniak used to program (burn) these ROMs. --Bavi H (talk) 03:46, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. 20.137.18.53 (talk) 12:34, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Connection issue edit

So, I have this issue. This happens about once a day on average...I lose the ability to make new Internet connections. If I have Skype or Team Fortress running, they'll keep going without a hitch, but if I try to access a new web page, or sign into another online program, or play a different game, I won't be able to. I have to reset the router...which fixes the problem. But I shouldn't have to do that daily, right?

My uncle thinks it's an issue with my router. A classmate thinks it's a DNS issue and I should switch to OpenDNS (about which I know nothing). Would anyone here be able to shed some more light on the issue, or my options? Thanks in advance. 90.193.232.159 (talk) 18:24, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Is this a cumulative issue ? That is, does it only happen after you've been on awhile ? If so, it sounds like it might be failing to close connections after the apps close. At some point it then hits the maximum open connections limit and needs a reset. StuRat (talk) 20:26, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
It has happened the moment a computer gets turned on. Sometimes, I'll go to bed when this happens (all computers get turned off at night), turn on, and it's sitll the same way; other times, it'll be fine when I go to bed and broken in the morning. On the other hand, if the router never gets turned off, and that's what's failing to sever the connections, I'm not sure there would be any way to determine if the effect is cumulative easily, would there? 90.193.232.159 (talk) 22:04, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Does it ever happen right after your reset the router ? (I notice ours automatically resets once a day, presumably as a kludge to handle problems like this.) StuRat (talk) 23:58, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Like your classmate, I also suspect DNS problems: When you connect to a name address, you computer actually contacts a DNS server first to look up the number address for that name, then it connects to the number address. When existing connections continue to work fine, but new connections fail, there may be a problem with the DNS lookups your computer is performing before every connection.
Some routers run a local DNS server that acts as a middle man between your computers and the ISP DNS server. You might investigate your router settings to see if it acts as a local DNS server. If so, you might disable the router's local DNS server as a test. If you disable the router's local DNS server, you should release and renew your computer's IP address (or restart your computer) so the computer will get set up with the ISP DNS server to use for new DNS lookups. --Bavi H (talk) 00:30, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
StuRat; I don't think so. I only ever reset the router immediately after this happens, and it clears it up almost every time.
Bavi; is this safe for a novice to do? I'm not even 100% sure how to access the settings on my router (although I could probably find this information out); is disabling some of its settings safe if I don't really know what I'm doing? 90.193.232.44 (talk) 01:05, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I can understand you don't want to cause worse problems. Of course, you'll want to read the router manual to find if there's one specific setting that could turn off the router's DNS server before attempting any changes. You typically log into the settings page of your router using a number address like 192.168.1.1 or similar, so even if DNS isn't working correctly, you can always log into the router and change the setting back. (Connecting to a number address doesn't need a DNS lookup.)
Are you using the same internet connection to post to Wikipedia? The IP addresses shown in your signatures are owned by Sky. If you use a Sky router, I briefly looked on their website, but didn't find any router manuals. If you've never logged into a router settings page before, you might not want to experiment without a manual. However, while on the Sky website, I did find this service status page that suggests there may be known internet problems right now. Perhaps you might go to that page, enter your postcode and see if there's additional information. --Bavi H (talk) 02:18, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Before you consider logging into the router, you can check what DNS server your computer is currently using. On a Windows computer, click Start, Run, and enter nslookup. If you see an address like 192.168.1.1 or similar, your router may be acting as a local DNS server, and you may want to see if you turn it off as a test. If you see an address that looks like it's from your ISP, that suggests your DNS lookups go directly to your ISP. --Bavi H (talk) 03:05, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I am indeed on Sky, and I do see 192.168.0.1 when I run nslookup. The website you linked me to indicates no issues at my nearest exchange, although that doesn't surprise me...this has been happening since 2009. So I'll be changing my router settings and seeing if that helps. Thanks for the help, by the way, you've been excellent. 90.193.232.44 (talk) 17:32, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Can't make the changes right now; someone's changed the password and I need to find out what it is. In the meantime, I'm curious as to what the purpose of this function - using the router as a DNS server - is? 90.193.232.44 (talk) 17:56, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Here's one advantage, as I understand it (I think I remember reading this in the manual for one of the routers we've had): If your router has to reconnect to the internet connection in the background, and for some reason the new connection specifies a new ISP DNS server, there's no easy way to pass that DNS server information to your computers unless you release and renew their IP addresses or restart them. Letting the router act as a middle man DNS server lets the DNS lookups continue to work in this case without fuss. Additionally, some routers use their local DNS to give the router itself a name like "myrouter" so you can just type "myrouter" into your web browser address box to access the router settings page. --Bavi H (talk) 03:53, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
My mother is so paranoid about losing our Internet connection that she won't give me the password. Well, she doesn't know it, but she could probably find out if she were so inclined. I realise this is nothing you can help with, just thought I'd let you know, in case I don't come back. 90.193.232.44 (talk) 18:01, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Since you can't disable the local DNS server in the router, another possible idea is to change the DNS server address the computer uses. Go to 192.168.0.1 and see if your router shows a status page without needing to log in. If the ISP DNS server addresses appear on that page, you can make a note of them, then change the DNS server settings in your computer to use the ISP DNS servers for a test period. You might want to print the steps out. (If you put in incorrect DNS server addresses, then your computer can't make connections to name addresses, and the webpage with the steps would be inaccessible.) If you want to undo the settings, go back to the same place and change it back to "Obtain DNS server address automatically." If you decide to leave the settings in place for a while, remember that if you ever experience connection issues in the future (or change ISPs or locations) you should change the setting back to automatically obtain the DNS address. --Bavi H (talk) 03:37, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
For your symptoms (existing connections continue fine, new connections fail), my hypothesis was that your router's local DNS server may periodically have some internal problem causing DNS requests to fail until you power cycle your router to restart it. To test that hypothesis, my idea was to bypass the router's local DNS server and see if sending DNS requests directly to your ISP DNS server worked more reliably for you.
Your classmate may not have been aware the router was doing DNS as a middle man, so they suspected Sky's DNS servers were flaky and suggested you use another DNS provider. You might want to try DNS lookups directly to Sky's DNS servers first (bypassing the router's local DNS). If you still have problems, then you might decide to test another DNS provider. --Bavi H (talk) 04:35, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

CSS: fieldset and div automatic width difference edit

Question to follow: 

<!doctype html>
<html>
<body>
<div style="width: 220px; height:300px; float:right;">&nbsp;</div>
<fieldset style="background:black;">&nbsp;</fieldset>
<div style="background:black;">&nbsp;</div>
</body>
</html>

Why do all major browsers apply different widths to the fieldset and the second div? Or rather, how can I make that div the same width as the fieldset that precedes it (without wrapping it in one and preferably without relying on the fact that the width of the right hand column - 220px - is a known figure)? The same effect occurs even if I copy styles such that the only "computed style" difference Firebug reports is width. Thanks, - Jarry1250 [Deliberation needed] 20:44, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Probably quirks mode from not starting your source with <!doctype html>, for starters. ¦ Reisio (talk) 21:47, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Well yes, obviously my actual code does actually have a doctype, the addition of which to my test code does not unfortunately resolve the issue. - Jarry1250 [Deliberation needed] 21:52, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Firstly, you're making assumptions about the default styles of the fieldset vs div tags - it's likely that the fieldset gets default padding (see the html doc). In general, excepting div and span tags, you can't assume browsers will give them the same default style, and have to either set them yourself or use a stylesheet that zaps all the css. Secondly, if you want two block level elements to have the same width, you have two choices - explicitly set the width of both to be the same, or wrap them with another block level element. You can't, in CSS, say "make me the same with as otherblock N". You can do it in JavaScript, but that's dumb. 87.115.21.67 (talk) 21:58, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed. Actually, the solution I found here was to use "overflow:auto; padding:2px;", which prompts the div to begin a new Block Formatting Context (whatever one of those is), which makes it behave in the same way as a fieldset (i.e. respecting the confines of that div on the right. I don't pretend to understand, but it works, anyhow. - Jarry1250 [Deliberation needed] 22:11, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

hacking cell phone number edit

I'm not sure if I should be asking this in this forum or another one but here goes: If I text someone they can see my phone number. My question is: can a scammer hack my cell phone number based on recieving a text from me? 99.250.103.117 (talk) 20:49, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what "hack" means here. They will know your cell phone number, unless your phone has the option to hide your phone number, and this is the setting when you send the text. StuRat (talk) 20:55, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry. I should have been clearer. What I am asking is if I text someone and they then can see my cell number, can they then send texts and/or make phone calls using my cell number via their own phone? 99.250.103.117 (talk) 22:08, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That's called spoofing. See that article for a discussion of when this is possible. (Of course, they already have your number, if you didn't block it, as mentioned in my previous post.) StuRat (talk) 23:52, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Bear in mind that if you do manage to hide your number on outgoing texts, your texts will be a) probably blocked by the network as spoofed (ie, they think you're doing exactly the thing you're worried about other people doing), and b) impossible for the recipient to reply to. :) FiggyBee (talk) 01:41, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps one of the former staff of News of the World could answer this question? 217.158.236.14 (talk) 14:13, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Let me just look through their cell phone messages to see if any discussed this... :-) StuRat (talk) 17:05, 15 May 2012 (UTC) [reply]
Note that spoofing Caller ID is not the same as using somebody else's cell number. My understanding is that this is either impossible or very difficult, because each individual phone has a unique identifier built into its hardware, which identifies that individual phone to the cell network but is not transmitted to people who receive calls. To hack in as a different phone, a hacker would have to know the hardware ID of that phone, and Caller ID is not going to be useful for that. Looie496 (talk) 00:19, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]


Thanks, everyone. As usual, Wikipedia is the place to go! 99.250.103.117 (talk) 01:51, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome. I'll mark this Q resolved. StuRat (talk) 16:19, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  Resolved

Windows 7 network problem edit

I've been having some networking problems. I'm on a Windows 7 (W7) computer, with two W7 computer on the network. One I can't access now. The other one has two internal hard drives, and I can access both of them. I moved a printer and an external HD to that computer. The printer can be accessed fine. The external HD cannot - it says "Windows cannot access ... you do not have permission ...". When I click on that computer in Network, all of the drives are shown, but only the external one gives that message.

The external HD has exactly the same sharing options as the two internal HDs that work. I checked the general sharing options, network detection, etc, and they seem right too. Why wouldn't the external HD be shared properly? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 23:30, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Check the permissions by right clicking, security. Make sure that they are set correctly. MrLittleIrish (talk) 申 12:44, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Properties/sharing/advanced sharing - yes they are set correctly. It still doesn't work on that drive. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 14:45, 19 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Computing/2012_May_14&oldid=1180252545"