Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 April 21

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April 21

Tracking Cookies

Hello. Every week, according to my antivirus software's Full System Scan, I receive a few low-risk tracking cookies. I have installed the latest antivirus software. It has been two weeks this has been happening. I examined my Full System Scan results, finding that the last cookie's source was not disclosed. I searched my Interent History, discovering that I have not been on those websites or email addresses that the tracking cookies originated. As you might know, I am a registered member of Wikipedia. When I first registered, I knew that I must enable cookies to register. Is being a member of Wikipedia allowing tracking cookies in any way to be installed onto my computer? Is there any way to block these low-risk tracking cookies from installation? Thanks very much for your response. --Mayfare 01:40, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia's cookie system isn't so much a tracking system - it just helps save login information. The ones that get flagged by your spyware/virus-scanning programs are third-party cookies that are known to track user activity across multiple domains (via advertisements, for example). Wikipedia only tracks your user ID, some token thing, a sessionhash (I assume this is to track the last login date and time or something, or to keep sessions) and your username. x42bn6 Talk 02:14, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

See HTTP cookie. Cookies are used to identify you. For web sites like Wikipedia it identifies you as your username. If you click on an advert, you may be given a cookie to identify you, so if you buy something they can give money to the advertiser. If you use Firefox, you can use the CookieSafe Add-On to easily block or allow cookies for certain sites only. --h2g2bob 14:34, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Internet Explorer (and browsers which use IE internally, like AOL) also allow you to set cookie permissions by web site. If you are concerned, you can disable cookies for all web sites except Wikipedia (and any other sites you want to allow). Let me know if you need to know how. StuRat 17:33, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Can I solve this problem with my MP4 player?

I bought on 4GB mp4 player a china prodct...it has some mp3 files, one jpeg file and one video file as default(i dont rememberthe video format) and after i connect that to my PC i deleted all to upload new items...but now i can hear songs i uploaded..but video is not working....

This is its firmware version..

ACT2097_S72_12006/04/25 9.0.50 2006/10/30

how can i add videos and jpeg? i formatted that player with my pc as FAT32 file allocation... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 121.247.35.48 (talk) 06:12, 21 April 2007 (UTC).

You sure the videos are in the right place and in the right format? Those MP4 players are very, very, very picky about those things, and generally the software is rubbish. Stay away for any future buyers (I know because I own one... unfortunately) --antilived^{T | C | G} 09:39, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

You will have to produce an mpeg4 video. Software to do this pis fairly thin on the ground, but there must be some around that will convert an mpeg2, or video to mpeg4. GB 10:37, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Actually no, most Chinese MP4 players require some peculiar encoding. Mine accepts DIVX video with ADPCM audio encapsulated in ASF format. Don't ask me why, it just won't accept anything else. If you can read Chinese or be bothered to comprehend Chinglish, read the manual and probably use the CD it came with, otherwise please go ask for a refund. --antilived^{T | C | G} 10:50, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

AIRPORT EXTREME

Help to set up my G4 Powerbook for wi fi much appreciated. Think it is ready for me to add an airport extreme card - but what software do I then need to connect to the web ? Currently use Orange France as my ISP.90.27.174.30 10:58, 21 April 2007 (UTC)petitmichel

To use wi-fi you'll need a wireless card and a wireless router or modem. Your Aiport Card should be easy enough to install...In the System-preferences area under 'Network' you should have an 'airport' option as a network port. If it isn't already turn it 'on' and show the status in the menu-bar. The system will automatically scan for any available networks. If you have setup your router/modem correctly it should appear in the list. If you struggle try the Apple website's troubleshooting area. ny156uk 14:57, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

If you need help installing it, ifixit.com has lots of product-specific installation guides. Just select your Powerbook model on the left and then the airport card option. Airport cards are easy to install, generally speaking. --24.147.86.187 16:34, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks90.14.144.25 12:42, 22 April 2007 (UTC)pm

Creating a new web site

We want to create a website for our association. Want to know the procedures (Just how to proceed , amount, etc.,not the programing side) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sasthaanand (talk • contribs) 11:23, 21 April 2007 (UTC).

Uhhh and? You want to hire someone to make one for you or you want to build it yourself? Do you require anything fancy like dynamic webpages (PHP, AJAX etc.) or do you just want a nice simple static HTML site? --antilived^{T | C | G} 11:48, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

You need a web host, and there are many to choose from! Before I start, I should admit that I've not had the pleasure of setting up one myself.

Which web host you want depends on what you want to do - eg do you need Windows, various *nix tools, PHP, etc? Think of what level of traffic you expect. You generally share a server with other websites; you do not often need to pay out for your own server. I hear good things about DreamHost for hosting big websites, but there are literally millions of others.

There are also free website sites like Geocities and Google Pages. Generally these are with the URL somesite.googlepages.com (or whatever) but you can spoof a nicer URL with freedomain.co.nr. You may also get free hosting from your ISP, or if you're developing free software (SourceForge, MozDev, Savannah, etc).

Check licensing and conditions carefully before using any service to make sure you continue to own the content once uploaded. Geocities is quite bad in this regard --h2g2bob 14:23, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Well, just to summarise I think on the previous answers, you need to decide on what your requirements are because there are various options.
Anyways, first you will need a host (where your website will physically be stored and other computers around the world will connect to) - and so you visit a host's website and it will list their various packages and options. Now the other key element is a domain name. On its own a host would have your website set up at an I.P. address like http://192.???.???.?? - which is not ideal. But the good news is that most hosts help you with the domain name registration process - and then once a domain name gets registered to your organisation the host will also help forward the DNS servers to their webservers i.e. Joe Public will type in www.yourdomain.com --> which will connect to a DNS server --> who has been set to forward the web broswer to http://192.???.???.?? (your webhost).
So typically you will want a host to do all this for you - so you have to do some shopping around, and you'll start to know what to look for - you'll find some hosts can only register domain names with certain extentions like .info and .com - and you might want a .org.
The other option as someone else mentioned is a free webserver, where typically they'll allocate you an address at http://example.yahoo.com and they might have to put (sometimes discrete) banners on your site - (I can think of a few already: tripod.com geocities etc).
So to recap, you find a host that offers the package you want, you then go through the process of asking it for a certain domain name - all the good ones are taken, especially on the '.com' extension. So if the exact domain name is important you need to be prepared for that - you might have to go back to your collegues and say "sorry, we couldn't get georgebush.com" or "freetshirts.com" - and then you'll probably try "georgebush.tv" or "georgebush.info" or "georgebush.net" or "georgebush.biz" and so forth - until you've come up with something.
Then your host will probably take a day or so to let you know if they managed to reserve the domain name, and set it all up - then they'll send you your account details - and these are typically your account details for the server you're hosted on.
A few of the good hosts (e.g. startlogic.com among others) have a system where you can upload your own creations, or use their tools and templates to easily create your own if you have no experience and knowledge of html.
Typically you'll be paying an annual fee for the domain name (through your host).
And your host will charge you a monthly fee for the hosting services.< br/> If you fail to pay your annual domain fee you will lose the domain.
I hope this has been of some help. One more thing: it may help to find a host from your country if it involves a foreign country domain name like co.uk or .net.us or .co.za and so forth - you'll find the major american hosts don't usually deal with those - but largely the American ones come in the cheapest and offer some nice packages.
Good luck. Rfwoolf 16:30, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I should have mentioned that you need to pay for both hosting (where you get given only an IP address); and also a domain name (the http://example.com, which then points to the IP address). It's easiest to buy hosting and address together, but it may be a little bit cheaper to get them separately. Use whois (like this one) to check if a domain name is already taken, or when it may become available again. --h2g2bob 23:17, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Big question at the begining is do you want to pay for hosting or not?

If you want it for free getting MySQL and PHP enabled hosting is nigh-on impossible, but free, html-only websites are easy to find and plentifull. FreeWebSpace has large list of free webspace providers with comments by users.

If you want to be sure your website will be always accessible, with fast access, PHP, MySQL, almost everything else you need, there are many cheap hosting solutions (starting at 5$ a month; I wouldn't recommend anything lower). This sometimes (but not always) includes a domain registration. To search for paid hosting I recommend FindMyHosting. After finding several offers that look promising be sure to visit WebHostingTalk and search for reviews about those hosters. Finding a good, reliable hosting solution might prove time consuming but is well worth it. Shinhan 11:30, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

monitoring problems

I am inexpeirienced when it comes to computers and the internet, but i will try to explain best i can. We bought our computer windows xp home edition last year around july, we were not connected to the internet at the time but everything was going fine we played games listened to music etc, until early this year, one morning we went to turn the computer on and the screen remaind blac with a message suggesting we press "r" but nothing happened, eventually we had to reiniciate the computer, we lost all our data (photos,filmes,music etc.)but the computer was back to working again except we kept getting a message saying we had to connect to the internet.Unfortuanetly the time ran out and we were locked out again and in order to connect to the internet we had to reiniciate again which we did then we connected to the internet, our problem now is that games i played before with no problem now switch off at the monitor, ican hear the game running but the monitor goes into power save, this has also happened whilst my daughter has played games on line or is on her hotmail. what is causing this and is it fixable. (we are on a tight budget)could it have been caused by the reinisiating and do i maybe need to do it again. HELP PLEASE!!! im at a loss. 89.214.29.179 14:30, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Try trend-micro to check your computer for viruses. Also check the cable connecting your monitor to your PC. You may also want to check the drives of your monitor...Go into Start menu > Control Panel > System > Display Devices (something like that) and check for driver updates of your monitor. Some games when ran at an unsupportable resolution/dimensions may not work on your monitor. To fix this you should go into the game and change the display-setup. The menu system changes for each game but it should be under 'preferences' or something similar. The first problem sounds like it could be virus related, or malware related. I would recommend scanning your computer and also installing something like AdAware which is a free-download online and will scan you computer for malware/self-installing programs. Good luck ny156uk 14:52, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

There are various components in your computer that work together to show you the final effect. So, for one thing your computer is set to boot up with a certain loading screen where it will do a memory test and detect which harddrives are connected to it - it sets the display and so on. Technically at this point, you could have no hard drive in your machine and no Windows XP installed - and your computer would still show something when it started up. In other words if you you ever get NOTHING when you turn your computer on then you can forget about hard drive problems because then either your monitor isn't working (or plugged in), or the computer itself isn't running properly.
But you said the worst it ever got was when it just said "press r" - so this indicates that the first few things are fine.
The next problem is the monitor itself. The cord that connects from the monitor to your PC could not be in properly, or it could be faulty and damaged inside the cord - but if it's a good, solid cord that is screwed in nicely and your computer works good for a few minutes before you have any problems - then it doesn't sound like a monitor problem at all - it sounds like the hard drive.
Before we move on to the hard drive, there's still a nother possibility: The graphics card. This technically counts as the "PC" not working properly - there's a card that's plugged into your mother board that your monitor plugs into. If the card isn't plugged in properly then you'd immediately get display propblems.
My point so far has been that it doesn't sound like you've got a monitor problem - up to a point. It seems your monitor is fine for your computer to turn on, boot up, and get into Windows.
So the next problem is the hard drive - which is where all the files and games and operating system are read from. If your hard drive fails completely your computer will boot up to a point where it will try look and detect which hard drives are connected and it simply won't find it. But hard drives usually don't fail completely. They normally work okay up but just have trouble reading some of the data on its disk.

Anyways,in your case you need to try figure out which is failing: the monitor or the hard drive? If you are playing a game and it stalls and the screen goes black - but you listen on your headphones and you can hear that the game is still continuing normally - and you look at your keyboard and you can put the CAPS LOCK button light on and off (or the NumLock light on and off) then it seems like the computer hasn't stalled - then the problem is with the monitor (or the monitor settings).
However, if the game stalls and the screen goes black but you hear no sound (or the sound is 'stuck') and the Caps Lock and Num Lock lights don't respond when you push them - then it seems like the computer has stalled. - this is usually because you have hard drive failure (the hard drive didn't read properly), or the Operating System crashed (it could be because there is an error in some of the files in the operating system or the operating system just can't handle whatever it was trying to do), or the game you were playing made the operating system crash and your computer stall.
So you can try different settings on the game (settings that make your computer work less hard), or you can read up the help files for that game to see if other people are having the same problem, or you stop playing the game, - or if it's not a game then you look at re-installing the operating system, and if you still have a problem then it's probably the hard drive, or the operating system is just not properly compatible with your PC.

To help you any further you're definitely going to have to provide more information please, such as what operating system you are running, when exactly does it show a message about having to connect to the internet, what games were crashing, and detailed explanations of all the errors.
Good luck Rfwoolf 16:55, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

JavaScript/AJAX Problem

I am implementing a bit of AJAX into a page on a website where users can edit their own comments without reloading the page. The comments are arranged in a table, and each table row has a <div> with an edit link in it. The edit link has a parameter, 'onclick', which points to the JavaScript function 'editcomment(x)' where x is the comment ID. Clicking this link works fine, and the editcomment() function does some AJAX stuff and opens up a form for editing. When the 'Save' button in the form is clicked, it activates the 'savecomment(x)' function which gives the server the updated comment text and then replaces the original comment with the new one. However, this whole process can only be carried out once: once I've loaded the page, clicked on the edit button and saved a new comment, clicking on the edit button again does not work. Using Firebug I have found that JavaScript is apparently not finding the 'editcomment' function, dispite it being in the page header, and dispite it finding the 'editcomment' function the first time you click the edit button. Also, the edit button HTML is never changed by the AJAX process - the comment is within a <div> with a specific ID, and the save function edits only the content within it - the edit button is not within that div.

This is an abbreviated bit of the header code. The AJAX_Handler class is just a wrapper for different browsers' ways of handling AJAX.

var currentobject;
var currentcontent;

function editentry(object, edittype)
{
	if (currentobject > 0 && currentobject != object)
	{
		// Another entry is being edited right now - restore its original value before doing anything else
		document.getElementById('entry' + currentobject).innerHTML = currentcontent;
	}

	if (currentobject == object)
	{
		// Current active entry has been clicked again - restore original value then cancel the AJAX edit process
		document.getElementById('entry' + object).innerHTML = currentcontent;

		currentobject = 0;
	}
	else
	{
		// No active AJAX edits detected - start a new AJAX edit
		currentobject = object;
		currentcontent = document.getElementById('entry' + object).innerHTML;
		xml = new AJAX_Handler(true);
		xml.onreadystatechange(editprocess);
		xml.send('comments.php', 'do=editentry&id=' + object + '&edittype=' + edittype);
	}
}

function saveentry(object)
{
	artist = document.editentry.entryartist.value;
	song = document.editentry.entrysong.value;
	edittype = document.editentry.edittype.value;

	currentobject = object;
	xml = new AJAX_Handler(true);
	xml.onreadystatechange(editprocess);
	xml.send('comments.php', 'do=saveentry&comment=' + artist + '&listenid=' + object + '&edittype=' + edittype);
}

function editprocess()
{
	if(xml.handler.readyState == 4 && xml.handler.status == 200 && xml.handler.responseText)
	{
		document.getElementById('entry' + currentobject).innerHTML = xml.handler.responseText;
	}
}

Any ideas as to what this could be? Thanks. RevenDS 15:05, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

As a debug strategy, do you want to make two savecomment(x) functions like savecommenta(x) function and savecommentb(x) function and savecommentc(x) function and see if they all work once as well? -- other than that sorry I can't help Rfwoolf 17:00, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Is it that "currentobject" is not reset to null in editprocess()? Also "editcomment" is different name to the function "editentry" (I guess this is from trimming it for here). Short of that, add alerts everywhere saying whats going on, or see what happens if you disable the .innerHTML line. --h2g2bob 23:27, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

monitoring problems

thanks for your advice before i tried adaware and it found numouros kinds of viruses but though it says they are removable i need to buy a different version of adaware to do so. Would reinciating the computer get rid of them? I also tried altering the resolution on my game but the monitor still went black after i started playing, and as for the monitor devices i am wary about messing as i dont really know what im looking for, if the drivers need updating is this something i can do over the net if so is it free, or are they something i need to buy from a computer shop, i hope i dont sound to stupid but i find it hard to understand what is what. thankyou for your help.89.214.5.80 17:18, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Clarify, clarify! A reformat would put your computer into a clean state, make sure to back up data before doing so. Please clarify about your monitor question. Splintercellguy 20:28, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Some of the data that might be useful for us to know how to help you would be monitor name, graphics card name, game name, processor, RAM memory size... Updating drivers for your graphics card would be a good idea, check DriversGuide. You need to join that website to download drivers, but its free! AdAware free version *will* remove spyware! Only thing free version doesn't have is resident protection, so you will just have to rerun the program regularly (once day or once a week). Shinhan 11:56, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

PROJECT 64!

Hi, thank you in advance for the help. I would like to know how to get project 64 on my computer, which roms to get and where to get them. after i do install it, how do i use it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.170.44.145 (talk) 17:45, 21 April 2007 (UTC).

Have you read their FAQs here? Splintercellguy 20:27, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

i know how to get it on the computer, but they say that they won't help with the roms, which is what i really need.

Well, most ROMs are illegal to download, so we can't really help you here ... Tetzcatlipoca 18:55, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

Dual monitors (kinda)

Say I have a desktop HP Pavillion with an integrated NVidia 6150 LE video card. There are no graphical outputs other than a DB9 connector. Say I have an older NVidia 440MX with a TV out and a free AGP slot. Can I put the 440MX card in the HP Pavillion to output to TV and the integrated video card to output to the monitor (Both being active, they can show the exact same things or be actually dual monitor setup. The TV out is only for video.)? Thanks, as I have 0 knowledge about dual monitors. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:47, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like a perfectly fine setup. Just remember to set your bios to have the newer card as the primary, and have the monitor connected to it while you set up drivers and whatnot for the second card. Also, if you're going to be using the TV out functionality on a normal tv, resolution on the second card should be at 640x480 as that is closest to a standard TV resolution, anything higher will result in large chunks of screen being cut off. -M^ask? 21:38, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Airport Express and AirTunes

I'm looking for a way to get access to my iTunes (or other digital music) library on my physical stereo. Apple's Airport Express base station and AirTunes is one solution.

However, if Apple can sell a combination WiFi base station/audio extender for ~£60, surely someone sells something that just provides the audio extension functionality for less than this?

It doesn't have to work with iTunes; WMP / WMCE or even a standalone program are options.

I've looked, but haven't had any luck. Any ideas?

Rawling4851 18:33, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

character based mood icons

Where can I find a list of character based mood icons such as "=))" and ";)", etc.? 71.100.8.252 21:02, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Our article on emoticons — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 21:22, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Multiple IP addresses & open proxy

Hi, I tried to sign onto a forum today but it won't let me as I apparently have multiple IP addresses, news to me. It says "Our server has detected the presence of multiple IP connections from your machine, with one of the connections being an "Open Proxy" or blacklisted IP. Connections of this nature are often used in order to abuse, spam or defraud. Our server has denied you any further access until both IP addresses can be resolved or the presence of the Open Proxy connection closed. If you feel you are being blocked in error, then please visit http://www.spamhaus.org/xbl/index.lasso for information on why your IP is on a blacklist. If you are a Fastweb user, then you will need to use a different ISP to register with AVForums. This is because Fastweb have an irresponsible attitude towards dealing with spammers (i.e. they don't) and they therefore have got themselves on the IP blacklists." I checked the site they list but it doesn't tell me anything. Can someone advise me of how to fix this, as I don't have a clue. I'm using windows XP and have virgin as a broadband provider. Thanks. AllanHainey 21:15, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

The message isn't telling you you have multiple IP addresses, it's telling you that the forum server is seeing multiple connections from the same IP address. The most likely explanation is that your web access is going through a proxy, and that that proxy is, as the message says, on a blacklist. I don't know anything about virgin's network, but with any normal ISP you can just set your web browser not to use the proxy. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 10:58, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Ok thanks, I've just checked my internet oprions and it's got a checkbox asking "Use a proxy server for this connection", but it's unchecked. I take this as meaning that it isn't using a proxy already. Am I looking at the wrong bit, if so what should I be setting to get the browser to not use the proxy? AllanHainey 12:17, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

It could be a transparent proxy. Go to a site like http://hostip.info/ to get the IP address web servers are seeing as yours, and do a lookup at the blacklists (I normally use http://www.completewhois.com/rbl_lookup.htm to lookup several blacklists at once) to see why it's being blocked. --cesarb 16:50, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

I've now tried this & it comes up with 2 sites my IP is listed on: SORBS, which says "Dynamic/Generic IP/rDNS address, use your ISPs mail server or get rDNS set to indicate static assignment.

Currently active and flagged to be published in DNS

If you wish to request a delisting please do so through the Support System."

and tqmcube which says "Dynamic IP or generic rDNS. Please create a unique pointer or use your ISP's mail service. "

It looks like I've got a dynamic IP addess or generic rDNS, I'm afraid I'm none the wiser though. AllanHainey 18:38, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Anyone offer anymore assistance? AllanHainey 16:28, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

PDF file

How do I type onto a PDF file? 68.193.147.179 22:44, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

You need a PDF editor. The viewer is free, but the editor (from Adobe) isn't. However, you can also make pdfs with Impress. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:11, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Not just Impress, but all OpenOffice.org applications can output as pdf, Writer is probably the most relevant. OOo Writer does it well, as cross references and footnotes are made as links for easy navigation. I think Microsoft Office might also be able to output as pdf, but not used it for ages so can't say for sure. --h2g2bob 23:48, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

MS Office can only output PDFs if you have Acrobat, as far as I know. - Akamad 01:05, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

There exist programs for Windows (e.g. CutePDF Writer, which is free) which when installed "pretends" to be one of your printers so that when you go to print a document you have the option of writing the print to a PDF file, whatever program you're printing from. --87.194.21.177 07:21, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Also pdftk for messing about with PDFs in other ways. --87.194.21.177 07:24, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

In OS X just about everything can output as PDF. Hoorah. But in any case, if the poster is asking how they can, say, fill out a PDF form that does not have fields already in it for filling them in, the short answer is that you can't, without Acrobat. And even then it is a pain in the neck to set up correctly. --24.147.86.187 13:06, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Seems like the other people aren't answering your question. As far as I know it is possible to make PDF files where it will automatically allow you to type something in - but I haven't encountered these in ages - if they exist. To be able to type over a PDF document that would involve editing the document - which is something you're not supposed to do with a PDF format - it's one of its features. However, if you load the PDF file into the program that generated it (eg Corel Draw, Photoshop, Freehand etc) it is usually able to import an editable version of it. So you could try an image-editing program such as those ones - but there's always a 50% chance they won't be able to import the file.
One Solution: One thing you can try is opening the PDF, and

• printing it and scanning it in as an editable format, or
• printing it in Microsoft Document Writer will generate a TIFF format file and save it to your desktop - that's an image file that you may be able to edit with a common image editor, or
• in the PDF viewer, see if it allows you to select a portion and copy it to the clipboard as an image - and you'll then paste this in your image viewer.

Right, all these methods involve getting an IMAGE from the PDF document, which you have a higher chance of being able to edit. Then import it into your image editor (even PaintBrush is worth a try) and you can then try typing over the image.
Good luck, and I hope this helps. Rfwoolf 11:54, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

The user didn't say anything about images. Some limited editing of PDFs is possible with an tools like Adobe Acrobat (not the reader). Unless of course there are restrictions on the PDF which prevent editing in which case you will need to remove these restrictions Nil Einne 00:49, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

iPod Video

How do I take a YouTube video and put it onto my iPod Video? 68.193.147.179 22:45, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Just search for a converter for the file formats. iPods use er... mp4s, I think? So just google it and see which one you like. I don't use iPods, so I don't have a recommendation, sorry. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:13, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

The most convenient option, I've found, is online tools. Vixy.net will convert YouTube videos to iPod (MPEG-4) format, adding a second of their logo at the end. There's also Media-Convert.com, that will convert much more than YouTube. They both work well, with the latter providing much more freedom for the input file (be it online or on your own computer), the resolution and such, and the output file. -- Pohatu771 (talk) 21:42, 22 April 2007 (EST)

Look on this website http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html this has a converter for almost anything i've ever tried to use and it's free so just look into it. i use it for the .3g2 format on my cellphone i'm sure iPod is on here 200.12.231.42 21:58, 16 April 2007 (UTC) Ag for MemTech

Disc Drive

Is there any particular reason that anyone can think of as to why a disc drive would play cds fine and play some dvd's fine whilst not playing others. Some dvds when put in, just lead to a kind of clicking sound for a minute or so then just stop and seemingly arent recognised at whilst other dvds start straigt away (all dvds are same region by the way). I cant think of a reason why some would play and others not. Any thoughts would be appeciated. Rickystrapp 23:01, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

First thing that comes to mind is the DVD +R/-R compatibility issue. The two different formats are only compatible with about 90-98% of the drives, according to their self-published data. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:09, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

I read 'clicking sound' and instantly shivered. With no idea why for a minute, then I remembered Zip drives and the Click of death. -M^ask? 00:20, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

I've seen a clicking sound on a CD player before; in that CD player, it happens when it fails to focus and lets the lens fall back in suddenly (the lens go up slowly, fall back with a click, go up slowly again, and so on). If that's the case, your drive failed to recognize the disc (the region wouldn't matter, since it doesn't even get to the point where it can read the region information). --cesarb 16:44, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

internet service at a school or business building

At the school I go to there are hundreds of computers with really fast Internet connections in this one building. What type of internet service is this? Im assuming its very different from a cable or dsl connection like I would have in my apartment. How is it split up among all the computers so that they all have fast connections? Can one computer take up the entire bandwidth possible or is it partitioned in some way? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Iownatv (talk • contribs) 23:42, 21 April 2007 (UTC).

Most likely a T1, T3 or Fiber optic connection. The principle behind a T1 and T3 are extremely similer to a normal dial up connection, only you have dozens or hundreds of circuits that all connect instead of one, while fiber optic uses light traveling down thin, flexible glass wires. The split has nothing to do with any of these technologies, its simply a good, enterprise router from Cisco or similiar. These usually cost several thousand dollars. The internet connections them selves range from hundreds up to around a thousand a month, and the max bandwith your computer can use is determined by your network card and the speed of the webserver sending you the page. Be aware though, that while the traffic is split between many computers, because of how we browse the internet (short bursts of traffic to load the page, then several minutes to read it, repeat with new page) that you frequently ARE using the entire connection when you visit a web site from your school. -M^ask? 00:13, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

In the UK, universities connect directly to each other, so get internet connections cheaply as they act similar to a Tier 1 ISP. This network of universities is called JANET [1] (technically JANET connects a series of smaller networks). This is mainly funded by the UK government. These networks have fast connections with speeds of 40 Gbps in places.

As for local hardware, I did a bit of snooping at my university and found I get to the internet via a BigIron 8000 switch (about US$12,000); some other kind of switch (probably gigabit); then to one of the two Linux Squid proxies to finally gets to the internet (SWERN and JANET). A few years ago this was at 100 Mbps, but they've just upgraded it (not sure what to). --h2g2bob 01:23, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Winamp and Emusic

I just downloaded Winamp and installed it on my PC, and as part of the download, I am entitled to 50 free music downloads from eMusic. But in order to get those downloads, I have to sign up for eMusic, which will bill me after my 50 downloads for any further downloads, unless I explicitly unsubscribe. My question is, has anybody had any dealings with eMusic? If I unsubscribe, will the songs I download no longer work? Corvus cornix 00:05, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Emusic is DRM free right? So your music will still work after you unsubscribe. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.195.124.101 (talk) 00:39, 22 April 2007 (UTC).

71.195.124.101 is right, it is DRM-free, so will play fine after unsubscribing. --h2g2bob 00:43, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Corvus cornix 20:00, 22 April 2007 (UTC)