Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2015 February 24

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February 24

Large amount of pictures half need deleted

I have 5453 photos on my computer that I have taken from a video and when they were taken from the video each photo has a duplicate photo! so the photos name on my windows 7 pc are as follows: Untitled_000000 Untitled_000001 Untitled_000002 Untitled_000003 Untitled_000004 Untitled_000005 ... and so on until the photos get to Untitled_005453

Since the process I used to extract each frame from this video produced a double of each frame so I have 5453 photos when I should have half that amount. Every odd numbered image is a double and I need to find a way to delete every odd number photo without doing it by hand since I dont have enough time to do that. example: Untitled_000000 Untitled_000001 ^are the same photo

Untitled_000002 Untitled_000003 ^are the same photo and I need to get ride of each odd numbered photo in the folder to make sure I have no duplicates. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.42.31.250 (talk) 14:22, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

In principle, you can use rm Untitled_?????[02468]. This may overflow your command line, so you might want to use find and xargs like this (all untested ;-): find . -name "Untitled_?????[02468]"|xargs rm. This should work in any POSIX shell (and with Cygwin even under Windows). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:53, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

This seems pretty simple: Video on YouTube. --  Gadget850 ^talk 14:55, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

You could search for *1.jpg and delete all of those, then search for *3.jpg and delete all of those, and so on (assuming they are JPEG files). The search box is in the upper right corner of the Explorer window. -- BenRG (talk) 15:25, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Not a question, but Chrome is useless

I keep being told to switch to Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Usually Google Chrome. Well, because of the weather I had to go to a library that didn't have Firefox because I was lucky to find this library open. I wasn't sure about the other libraries. I did most of what I had to do on Internet Explorer but when it came to looking at newspaper web sites that limit the number of articles I can look at, I had to use Chrome and an incognito window. That's what someone told me to do. No explanation is ever given, but every few minutes Google Chrome shuts down. So much for any advice. If I had stayed home, Internet Explorer would have meant I would run into the limit on free articles. But I wouldn't recommend Chrome to anyone.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 15:52, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I don't know about your experience, of course. Chrome has never crashed on me. So I doubt this is a problem of Chrome per se, but rather think it's a problem of the particular installation. People will recommend an incognito window, because many sites track things like article views via HTTP cookies, to enforce the limitations. Incognito windows will not have persistent cookies, but will at most keep them for one session,so that the next user can also access restricted content. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 15:57, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I went to another site and it doesn't seem to have the problem. But I reported the problem when Explorer had it on this site and of course, they could never figure it out. Firefox at the other library doesn't have the problem but I don't know whether it's open.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 16:02, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Never mind, Chrome did it again.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 16:12, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

For IE8+ try InPrivate Browsing.[1] --  Gadget850 ^talk 16:16, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Really? I haven't seen the option when I tried. Anyway, on a third web site, just Shockwave Flash crashed. The rest of it is still working.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 16:25, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Or was. Shockwave Flash crashed again and then Google Chrome shut down. I do know one site keeps having problems with Explorer. It shut down at least once, but fortunately left my other tabs in place, though these were Hotmail emails where the draft had been saved.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 16:48, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

If you you don't get along with Chrome, then don't use it – it is that simple. I don't happen to like Chrome either but that isn't because I think Chrome is no good. Just think you were unlucky. Try again and persevere – it might just be an nouveau operator problem. Does this Library allow you to inset a pen-drive and boot into Linux. It effectively allows you to carry around your favorite browser, email-client (with bookmarks, extensions, pass-words, etc.) FTP client etc., etc., etc. Some institutions (maybe your library too) may have a block on pen-drive- booting as they think it is a security risk and gives their IT people more work to do, in order for you to boot from a pen-drive. If so challenge them upon this. If you don't ask you don't get. There is no perfect browser (otherwise we would all be using it). To find out what suit you, means (unfortunately) a bit of experimentation. No Pain, no Gain. So, from just one exposure to Chrome, I think you are not being fair.--Aspro (talk) 19:40, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I've used Chrome, but for what I tried to do today, it's not working. Hopefully the weather will be back to normal next week and I can use Firefox again.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 22:07, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia-related applications

Where do I find help if I want to code something involving Wikipedia's infrastructure? Discuss-Dubious (t/c) 18:19, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Don't know exactly what you mean. Does our article How to become a MediaWiki hacker link up with what's in your mind?--Aspro (talk) 21:12, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Something more like Wikiscanner or Wiki-Watch. Think "plugin". Discuss-Dubious (t/c) 23:54, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Start by reading the MediaWiki API documentation. Next, read about Wikipedia:Database download procedures and policies. Also consider whether client-side JavaScript, e.g. Wikipedia:User scripts, meet your needs. Nimur (talk) 01:51, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll read them. Discuss-Dubious (t/c) 20:05, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

regarding IEEE paper

I am doing a mini project based on the IEEE paper PSMPA.So as part of my literary survey i had to go through similar articles but most of them had very little in common.so,is there any medical centres or hospital that has implemented it(across the globe) or has likewise mechanism.also,it would be very helpful if i could get few links for my survey and understanding.106.66.174.167 (talk) 19:32, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Please provide a link or description of "PSMPA". StuRat (talk) 19:41, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Is this what you meant: [2] ("Patient Self-controllable Multi-level Privacy-preserving Authentication") ? StuRat (talk) 19:43, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Have you tried google scholar's "related articles" feature? See here [3] for that, and check out these [4] papers that have cited the PSMPA paper. I bet some of those are similar enough to be included in a student project. If not, try searching for other works by those authors, or using their keywords to search for other articles, like so [5]. SemanticMantis (talk) 20:46, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

@StuRat.yeah,thats what I meant.sorry for late reply. @SemanticMantis.thanks, links kind of worked (for my understanding). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.241.104.138 (talk) 06:20, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Why Boolean does not work in Google anymore?

It seems to me that Boolean is absolutely useless on Google. Try typing "NOT" and then you actually find what you DON'T want in the search results or the search engine may interpret that "NOT" is actually part of your query!?!? Is it me, or has Google changed? 140.254.136.177 (talk) 21:48, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

If you use a minus sign, like Jaguar -cat, it should find non-feline Jaguars, i.e. the car manufacture. However, minus-sign is a strong hint, not an absolute requirement. LongHairedFop (talk) 21:52, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

OR works in Google searches, and - to exclude a search term has always worked, but I can't find evidence that NOT ever worked. Parentheses don't work either. -- BenRG (talk) 07:40, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

Trustable DVD/Blu-Ray alternative to Format Factory?

I've been using Format Factory to burn my old DVD's to my hard drive, and have been about 75% successful. Some of the DVD's just won't burn, and others will not provide me with the proper subtitles. I have been through the advice on subtitles at google for Format Factory, and have been able in many cases to fix the subtitle problem with the advanced setting, although not always--often I get the commentary rather than the literal subtitles.

But I still have recent DVD's and Blu-Rays I can't burn. I know I am entitled to make a single backup copy of a video per US Supreme Court ruling. So I am curious what trustable free Blu-Ray (especially) and DVD burning programs are available besides Format Factory for free download. (I am pretty handy, and know how to do custom installs to avoid unwanted sideware.)

PS, my assumption has been that AVI is the best format, am I wrong in this assumption?

Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 22:59, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

If you want to preserve all the menu functions, you may need to keep it in it's native format. I've been able to do that with regular DVDs (except Disney's, which uses some different type of copy protection). I haven't tried this for BluRay. If you just want the movie to play through, with the captions and language burnt in, then a variety of formats can handle that. StuRat (talk) 23:27, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, I am not very much worried about the format, since I can play just about anything. I have noticed that burning a DVD to AVI seems to best retain the original quality. My concern is mainly what sort of burner can I use other than Format Factory to back up my blu-rays to my hard drive that is free and reliable. μηδείς (talk) 00:02, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

I think you mean ripping, not burning.

AVI is not a video format, just a container, so it's meaningless to ask whether AVI preserves video quality better. A particular tool might, if you pick what it calls "AVI" output, use a video format, compressor, and compression settings that happen to give you good quality. In that case, if you can figure out what the parameters are, you could put the same video in another container that supports more DVD-like features than AVI (probably MKV).

If you can afford the space, you'd probably get the best compatibility, and definitely the best video quality, by just copying the original files (.vob and .ifo) rather than transcoding. If you want to transcode, these tools might be good (I've never used them, though). Wikipedia also has Comparison of DVD ripper software. -- BenRG (talk) 04:04, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, BenRG. That makes sense to the point I as a layman understand it, and I'll look at the links tomorrow at lunch. What I want is to upload my DVD collection to my copious harddrive, be able to watch what I have uploaded on my computer, and be able to burn it again later if necessary. So yes, ripping is my main concern, but I want the files ripped in a way that I could re-burn them if I have to, say to play at my relatives' house at Christmas. I have been using the AVI output from FormatFactory since it plays best on my various computer video players. I am not wedded to any format, so long as it is convertible, and burnable should I need it.

My main issue at this point is (1) Certain disks, including Blu-Rays, simply won't rip with FF, and some (2) DVD's that do rip will not do so with the proper soundtrack or subtitles, even though I have the basic and advanced setttings right. So I am mainly looking for an alternative safe ripper to FF, I suppose.

Oh, and I have tried copying the vob files, but this does not usually give me the video with the foreign dialog and the English subtitles at the same time in a way I can play back. Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 05:30, 25 February 2015 (UTC)