Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2011 July 5

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Computing desk
< July 4 << Jun | July | Aug >> July 6 >
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.


July 5[edit]

Youtube app[edit]

Is there any way I can contact Google/YouTube to complain that their app is malfunctioning? Because just merely bitching in the review section of the Android Market doesn't seem to be enough. 173.2.165.251 (talk) 01:13, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

If you are referring to this app, it has a rather obvious 'Visit Developer's Website' link displayed. From there you can see the community help forum which as with many large companies appear to be their primary method of support and I guess has some Google monitoring. For example the Error during loading help topic directs you to the YouTube Help Forum specifically the mobile subsection for loading issues with the Android app. In other words, your best bet is probably to use their assigned support method which unsurprisingly isn't the review section, but is the forum. This isn't a direct support method but if enough people complain you may get action. Of course it also depends on whether the 'malfunctioning' is a fault in the software or user error. P.S. There is currently 2 recognised bugs for the Android app [1] Nil Einne (talk) 10:35, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the links! I'm not sure that my issue will be taken seriously enough in the Google forums, but it's better than nothing, I guess. 173.2.165.251 (talk) 08:20, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Even if they cared, and even if you could reach them, and even if they could figure out how to fix it, it wouldn't matter because they've already got a new version that's totally different that you're going to be forced to use soon. :) If you were using a more proper Linux distro on your phone than Android, you wouldn't have to deal with this. Of course Flash will always be Adobe's, and relying on proprietary software will always let you down. ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:05, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I wasn't even aware that Linux had operating systems for smartphones. 173.2.165.251 (talk) 08:20, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The word/name "Linux" is often used incorrectly. Specifically, linux refers to the linux kernel, a very small piece of software that performs basic tasks to schedule the CPU(s), manage memory, load programs, and mediate I/O operations. Many people use the word/name "Linux" to refer to "any software that includes the Linux kernel," or in some cases, to refer to "anything that is in any way associated with the Linux kernel." Numerous smart-phone software platforms do actually incorporate the Linux kernel, including the Android operating system, WebOS, and some smaller brands. Nimur (talk) 15:22, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Reisio appears to be a fan of MeeGo but I'm not aware of any resonably priced phones using it. Nil Einne (talk) 18:23, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
How did Flash come in to this? Surely the YouTube plugin just uses the MP4 files and doesn't use anything remotely Flash which isn't supported on many Android phones anyway (although it could use the FLV or more likely F4V files without any real Flash support but my impression is one of the reasons YouTube started serving MP4 files is for phones). In the future they may use the WebV files although considering hardware support for that is still limited it's likely a long way away. Nil Einne (talk) 18:23, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe that's why the youtube app doesn't play everything. :p Same problem. ¦ Reisio (talk) 19:29, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I'm pretty sure YouTube has been providing MP4 files for all their videos since the iPhone even before they launched apps.... Note that the OP hasn't actually said the problem is the app not playing files. Nil Einne (talk) 05:28, 7 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, I just have this app, and that's what it does, it fails. ¦ Reisio (talk) 18:02, 7 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

c++[edit]

give me some c++ program about looping and statements — Preceding unsigned comment added by Avi009 (talkcontribs) 15:31, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I find http://www.cplusplus.com/ to be a good reference* - I'd recommend you look there. (*at least for STL things - I would guess they'd be halfway decent for basic language issues as well) -- 174.31.196.47 (talk) 15:40, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

help[edit]

my bookmarks toolbar dissapeared in firefox — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kendoll123 (talkcontribs) 19:37, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See the Mozilla article on restoring bookmarks. Ctrl + Shift + B, 'Import & Backup', 'Restore'. TheGrimme (talk) 19:45, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Upon reading the question, it sounds like your bookmarks toolbar is simply hidden. (Although if it is empty it might not be shown). Hit the Alt key to display the toolbar. Alt -> View -> Toolbars -> Bookmarks Toolbar TheGrimme (talk) 19:48, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

that didnt work — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kendoll123 (talkcontribs) 22:35, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

How to avoid "credential storage password" prompts on Android phones[edit]

I have a HTC Hero mobile phone, and when I connect to my university wifi I am prompted for the "credential storage password". I have set the password and I know what it is, but could anyone tell me if there's a way to get rid of it completely? I never chose to turn on this feature, and it's really just a nuisance. I want my phone to remember connection settings when I enter them and never bug me about it again. And if someone jacks my phone, as far as I'm concerned they are most welcome to my uni internet connection. I've tried googling this but I must be using the wrong search terms, cause I can't find anything very insightful... :-) 78.105.230.100 (talk) 20:39, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure, but I suspect that once you password protect your credentials you can't un-protect them. If you still remember the credentials for the university wifi, then an easy option would be to clear the credentials, which also clears the password protection. Re-enter all your credentials, Then simply never set a credential storage password. APL (talk) 04:31, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Just tried what you said, but I can't create a new 802.1x Enterprise connection without setting a new password. It asks for the SSID, then the type of security, at which point a prompt appears to set a new credential storage password. I can back out of that prompt and even save the connection, but with no way of adding the rest of its details, so it won't work. Maybe I need to install a third-party connection management app - any suggestions? 78.105.230.100 (talk) 09:02, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Creating 366 Page .pdf[edit]

Does anyone know a quick and effective way to create a .pdf from 366 pages scanned from a book? I have downloaded a book from the University Of Pennsylvania's website, and wish to put these 366 pages into a single .pdf, as for some reason the university only allowed me to download individual pages (in .png format). Would Acrobat do it? --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 21:11, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

If you are running Linux, ImageMagick can do this. The Windows version might, but I haven't tested it. --TrogWoolley (talk) 21:38, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, sorry, I forgot to mention I am using Vista. I do have an Ubuntu partition, which I rarely use, but if there is anything (else) I can use in the time being while I am on Vista, I would appreciate it. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 22:25, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
pdftk can merge single-page PDFs into a single output file. Use the command:
pdftk *.pdf cat output combined.pdf
You can find other example commands on the official PDFTK website; and you can download the Windows version here. Nimur (talk) 22:44, 5 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]


Though this won't help if the source files are PNG, I don't think. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:34, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
ImageMagick can do this. It's super easy to use on Windows. You may have to install Ghostscript for PDF support, I can't recall. But it's easy to install. It's a command line thing, but very easy (as easy as convert *.png book.pdf). --Mr.98 (talk) 01:34, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Comic Book Archive file (or pump it all through OCR and see if you can get something even better) ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:08, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, guys. I tried pdftk and ImageMagick, and could get neither to work (the cmd.exe-like window pops up for a split second, then disappears, in both cases), and I was unable to find anything to turn my large group of .png files into comic book archives, so I tried Acrobat and was surprised to see that it was as simple as just dragging the lot and clicking 'start'. Cheers anyway. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 16:45, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
You just ZIP (etc.) up the PNGs and rename the extension .cbz to make a CBZ. :) ¦ Reisio (talk) 19:28, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Good to know you solved the issue. As an aside: the reason your console disappeared was because you did not provide any command to the program. (I assume you double-clicked on the program from the UI). You will need to actually open a Windows terminal, change directory to the program folder, and then type the command manually, including the command-arguments. Otherwise, if you just click on the executable the program will have no input arguments, so it will terminate "normally" after doing nothing, and your console will close automatically. Nimur (talk) 17:09, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't realize you had Acrobat -- yeah, it's super easy with Acrobat. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:12, 6 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]