Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 December 15

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December 15

Problem

Sometimes, when I view a Web page, I get a message saying something like "Internet Explorer cannot open the page (page name). Operation aborted." and then I get a "page cannot be displayed" page. Why? 58.165.14.208 (talk) 01:03, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Probably more information than you want. To fix, upgrade to IE 8, if it's available yet.  :) Indeterminate (talk) 01:33, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Latest version is IE 8 beta 2. It is only available for 2003 server, 2008 server, XP, and Vista Phil_burnstein (talk) 10:42, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

"Bookmarks" menu item in Firefox 3 upgrade

I upgraded my Firefox browser to 3 after some pop-up kept pestering me to do so. I don't usually like upgrades because I rarely get some that actually prove to be an improvement. More often than not some thing gets messed up or doesn't work as it used to. This time it's the "Bookmarks" menu item. It now automatically bookmarks the page I have open even when I actually only clicked the menu item to "open" an existing bookmark, not to create a new one. S.o. have the same problem and/or know how to fix it?? Thks.76.97.245.5 (talk) 01:22, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

If you're referring to the star, that's not supposed to open a bookmark menu. It's supposed to do just what it's doing - bookmark the current page. If you're referring to the little book icon, then that's got a problem. Try reinstalling it. And if it keeps happening, consider pressing Ctrl-B instead of the book icon. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 21:00, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't have a book icon. (Windows). There is a pull down menu selection item between "History" and "Tools" that says "Bookmark". Before the upgrade I could click on this word and it would open the pull-down menu. Now it opens a selection window "bookmark this page" which I have to close. On the subsequent second try the pull-down menu then works again as it used to. I guess something gets misdirected the first time around. ("Bookmark this page" is the first item of the pull down menu, but I'm sure that I don't click twice and this is the only pull down menu which shows this kind of error behavior. This would rule out a hardware error IMHO. Plus the behavior is reproducible with the first action always causing the misdirect and the second time thereafter working fine. I guess I'm going to have to live with Ctrl B till the next upgrade and hope it will be fixed then. Ctrl B opens the Bookmarks in the sidebar, with I don't like that much, but at least it works. Thks. for y'r help. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 23:43, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Internet problem

Hello! On my laptop, whenever I close the screen and put it in standby mode, occasionally after exiting standby, my Internet connection will stop working until I reboot. In addition, when this happens, when I try to reboot or shut down, the computer won't shut off unless I hold down the power button to "incorrectly" shut it down (screen comes up when I restart and tells me improper shutdown, can run in safe mode, etc.). The problems are strangely related. I've gone into the device manager (Vista 64-bit, latest updates) and switched the setting for my network adapters to not turn off the device to save power, but I still get the problem. When I try to get to the "Network and Sharing" window after this happens, it just won't load. Any advice? Thanks!--el Aprel (^facta-_facienda) 01:26, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

It's probably an issue related to the chipset drivers supplied by your laptop manufacturer. Try updating all your drivers from the manufacturer's website, and look around there to see if it's a known issue. If you want to post some info about your laptop, maybe we could be more helpful. Indeterminate (talk) 01:37, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

You might also check your control panel and see if you see something there for your adaptor. The Dells around the office had problems with the power-saving code. They would turn off the power to the card when the machine was on batteries, then forget to turn it back on when the machine was powered again. There may be driver changes to fix this, but the other option is to make sure it is set to 'always on' so that it never turns off. --Mdwyer (talk) 01:30, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Video cards/S-Video

Graphics cards commonly have an S-Video connector sitting meekly beside DVI etc. Is this an input or output, and what would be its application? Thanks in advance. –Outriggr § 06:55, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Usually it's an output and allows you to send your computer desktop to a regular TV (back when TVs were all about S-Video!) if you wanted to do a picture slideshow or movie etc. I find that the picture is usually pretty "soft" and fuzzy via most graphic's card's S-Video outs. NByz (talk) 09:06, 15 December 2008 (UTC) And you often can't get them to be the same resolution as your TV. NByz (talk) 09:07, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

To understand more, you need to look into the DiY Tivo culture. I don't know what the current status is now that everything is going HD and the limitation has always been the ability to keep up with the amount of incoming video data. -- kainaw™ 13:10, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I made a couple of DIY PVRs using old 800 mhz dell computers a couple of years ago. I tried $100-$130 video cards (they had to have onboard mpeg decoding) with S-video outs and it just didn't cut it. The component Video out was what I stuck with NByz (talk) 21:46, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Convert .cab to .exe

My operating system has becme too corrupt to use. My daughter's computer has a more recent operating system, but I don't have disks for it. I did notice that she has a bunch of .cab files that are each the size of a filled floppy disk. Can I convert the .cab files into install disks? How? Phil_burnstein (talk) 07:13, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Are the files all scattered in one folder on her computer? The .cab files will be archives. If they are the OS files, they will probably have an install or setup ".exe" around somewhere that will proceed to decompress the files. Sometimes you can run that installer right from where it is, and just tell it where the .cabs are. If not you can mount the .cabs using a "daemon tools" type program (advanced, but quick) and point the installer to the drive that you mapped. If you're not sure what a daemon tools type program is, then don't worry about it. Yes, you can make them into disks. Usually old programs like that will expect the setup or install ".exe" file to be on one disk (usually with a bunch of other stuff, you can tell what by trying to run it and seeing what files it says are missing) and each .cab to be on the next several. If you have only one floppy disk you can just copy the installer program and files onto one disk, run the program, then overwrite the disk with each of the next several .cabs one at a time. Since this is an OS install, you'd have to do that using another computer. If you have a whole bunch of disks, just put each .cab on a separate one. It sounds like the tricky part might be finding the right contents of the first disk. NByz (talk) 09:04, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

The above method is highly unlikely to work. You could use this, which I recommend personally. — neuro^(talk) 19:14, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Using a TV for Computer, Xbox and movies

I'm going to be moving in about a month, and won't have a TV when I go. Also, the dual monitors on my PC are both VERY old CRTs that are getting crappier by the minute.

I'm thinking of just getting a 24' - 32' LCD TV to be my primary monitor (and only keep one of the crap-tastic CRTs). I would be using it as a regular PC monitor (audio mixing, occasional gaming, regular internet use), XBox 360 monitor (has to be HD!), occasionally use it for watching DVDs and - more often - downloaded TV shows and movies. I may buy a new laptop in the next year or so as well, so I may end up wanting another input for that (so I can sit the laptop down and just plug right into the TV via a cradle or something).

I was thinking that the best way to do this would be to buy a rotate-able, swing-able, "human arm"-type stand that I could screw into a flat desk. This would allow me to have the TV face either towards the desk's chair, or swing it out toward the main living area.

Can anyone anyone give any advice on a set-up like this? Is there a good arm-like stand that I could use (that is sturdy enough to support a high-20-inch LCD)? Anything I should consider about the monitor itself? A good (cheap but quiet!) A/V switch that I could use to easily switch between inputs? Any other advice?

Thanks! NByz (talk) 08:56, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

You shouldn't need an A/V switch. Most decent LCD TV's should come with a plethora of connectors at the back, DVI, HDMI, VGA and RCA should all be present. You'd just need to change inputs using the remote. Note however that LCD TVs (as opposed to LCD monitors) have a much lower resolution (and thus a much larger pixel size - especially in the bigger TVs). A typical 20" widescreen monitor might be 1600x1050, compared to a 26" 720p TV which might be only 1366x768 (I think 1280x720 in the States?). 1080p should be better at 1920x1080 resolution. The upshot of all this is that a 720p TV (or even 1080p in the larger sizes) does not make a good PC monitor unless you're willing to up your font and icon sizes. The text is a bit "fuzzy" and hard to read for normal PC use. Zunaid 09:49, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd say a 1080p TV can be good as a computer monitor, provided it's one with a nice crisp image. A fuzzy TV, where the pixels blend together, would make a poor monitor, but a sharp one, where you can see every pixel, would make a good monitor. You probably won't be able to find a 1080p TV any smaller than around 32 inches. StuRat (talk) 13:41, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

You do need to check the inputs on any TV you buy to make sure they work with the outputs from your computer or laptop. Also, using some inputs you may not be able to get the max resolution of the TV. Read the user manual or look at user reviews of the model you want to ensure that the inputs you intend to use actually support the max resolution. StuRat (talk) 13:49, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

As for the swing arm, that would work, yes. Another option is to reposition the desk so your back is toward the main living area when you use the computer, which would put it in the proper position for viewing TV (although you might have to move the chair, if it has a rather high back). StuRat (talk) 13:49, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks guys! NByz (talk) 22:10, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Widescreen (large) CRT's?

The question above got me thinking. I have yet to find an LCD or plasma TV that gives a better picture than good ol' CRT. With LCD's it's jaggy edges and low contrast ratio, and plasmas just look un-sharp and lacking crispness. Is there no manufacturer producing large widescreen CRTs for high-def use? I know they would be enormous and bulky but after you've installed it in your living room you're hardly likely to move it.

While CRTs do still have some advantages, primarily on colour fidelity and to some extent ghosting and viewing angle these aren't particularly relevant to TVs but high quality computer monitors (well except for the viewing angle bit perhaps). While I've never owned or used a plasma or LCD TV (or even monitor much) I'm pretty sure that for a TV the best quality ones are loads better in terms of picture quality then probably any CRT you are likely to encounter. I don't know what LCD of plasma TVs you've been looking at but it sounds to me like you're looking a crappy ones. Alternatibely, particularly your comment on jaggy edges and un-sharpness, this may be related to the fact the TVs your looking at are a lot larger then the CRTs your used to, so the SDTV picture is going to look a bit shit. A HDTV picture may be better. Alternatively try comparing a comparing a CRT to a LCD of comparable size side by side. One issue that may be relevant is that if the picture going to the LCD or plasma isn't the same resolution as the native resolution of the LCD or plasma, it needs to be appropriately upscaled either by the TV or the device sending the picture. If you do poor upscaling then you get poor results (quite a big problem for games run at non-native resolutions). In terms of CRT, it not just that they're enormous and bulky but that they cost a lot to make. Nil Einne (talk) 12:56, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Compared to a typical Television CRT, a LCD or plasma blows it away hands down. There are higher end PC Monitor CRTs that perform well but you are comparing apples to oranges there. If you are using an LCD/Plasma with your PC and are troubled by jagged edges, you are sitting too close! I use a Sharp 46" 1080p LCD TV as an entertainment monitor and it's every bit as effective as any other CRT or LCD at word processing or web browsing. The only difference is the pixel pitch is plain HUGE if you are used to a PC LCD or CRT, and up close the difference is obvious. This is why you simply don't sit as close as you would with a 20" monitor.--66.195.232.121 (talk) 12:46, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Viewing-distance is the most important factor. A large screen is not designed to be viewed up-close, just like (most) large photographs aren't designed to be viewed up close. It's important to consider your viewing-position when assessing the quality of any screen/image, because the design of the product will be based on an assumed viewing-distance range. So you can get giant billboard posters that look like photos from your 50-yard viewing distance, but up-close they look terrible quality. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 13:15, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Large CRTs just get to heavy, too quickly. Let's compare a 20" CRT to a 40" CRT. The 40" is twice as wide, twice as high, and twice as deep. In addition, the glass on the edge of the tube needs to be around twice as thick. So, we end up with a monitor that weighs maybe 2×2×2×2 or 16 times as much as the 20" model. If the original weighed 50 lbs, then we are up to maybe 800 lbs. This is more than even two people can move. You'd need to use a forklift to bring it in, which won't fit through the door, so you'd need to build the house around it. The 16 times heavier CRT is also likely to cost at least 16 times more. A 40" LCD TV only needs to be twice as high and wide and just a little bit thicker, so is maybe 5 times as heavy as a 20" LCD. Also, the weight of the 20" was lower, maybe 20 lbs, so we get more like 100 lbs in the 40" LCD, which can be easily moved by a pair of delivery men.

Another technology you might want to look at is DLP, which is a digital rear projection TV. They are bright and huge with good resolution and are inexpensive to buy. The downsides are that the bulb burns out every few years, it uses a lot of energy and gets hot, as a result. StuRat (talk) 13:27, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Better bulb for DLP TV ?

These TVs seem to use incandescent light bulbs, which waste energy, are hot, and burn out in a few years. Why can't they use CFLs, LEDs or some better technology ? StuRat (talk) 13:27, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Did you read the article you linked to? "replaceable mercury vapor arc lamp unit (containing a quartz arc tube, reflector, electrical connections, and sometimes a quartz/glass shield), while in some newer DLP projectors high-power LEDs are used as a source of illumination." and "Ordinary LED technology does not produce the intensity and high lumen output characteristics required to replace arc lamp" which is sort of what I expected (okay I expected halogen). Basically it hasn't been possible to produce sufficiently bright LEDs or fluorescent lamps until now (at least not at the needed size). Nil Einne (talk) 13:35, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I was going off what I've seen in stores. While I couldn't see the bulbs directly, judging from the heat they put out and energy requirements, it was not a very efficient form of light they were using. It looks like there are some LED models out now. But why won't CFLs work ? What I'd really like is a bank of commonly available CFL bulbs, as opposed to a single, expensive light only made by one manufacturer, with a patent on it (and thus a monopoly). I don't want to have to pay a hundred dollars for a replacement and also don't want a total failure of the TV when one bulb burns out. StuRat (talk) 15:42, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

The other problem with CFLs is that they do not generate a point light source, which makes it difficult to focus them. Also, to get sufficient brightness in CFLs requires more space that a projector is usually going to have. Note that for non-projected screens, like LCD, CFL can make sense. However, they normally use cold-cathode fluorescent lights instead of CFL or conventional fluorescent lighting. --Mdwyer (talk) 01:26, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

LED 1080p TV projectors ?

Are any of these on the market yet ? I wasn't able to find any with both the 1080p resolution and an LED source. I'm talking about the separate projector system, not a TV with attached projectors in the front at the bottom (do they still make those ?). StuRat (talk) 16:22, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Can we update offline in Kasersky 2009 as in Kaspersky 7?

Hi guys,I would like to buy Kaspersky 2009, but I can't connect to internet often. So I prefer ofline updates. Also I've heard that offline update is not possible with Kaspersky 2009 prior to Kaspersky 7. Is this true?.can any users suggest me this and help me out?. Thanks for your time!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.164.67.7 (talk) 11:19, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

From the horse's mouth [1]. So unless the computer you plan to use to download updates also has Kaspersky the answer appears to be no. If you are planning to use the same computer to download updates, I don't see why it matters that you can't connect often. You should be able to schedule updates so they only occur whenever you connect or alternatively on demand. Nil Einne (talk) 12:44, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

My problem with a C program PART 2

ON DECEMBER 13TH I ASKED THIS QUESTION BUT I FORGOT TO MENTION TO MENTION WHETHER I WAS WORKING ON WINDOWS OR UNIX PLATFORM: As a part of a college project, I have been asked to write a C program which accepts an employee's username and password. The difficult part is that the output screen is not supposed to show the password while the user types it in the console. I have a limited knowledge about C (since my major in college is electrical engineering) and do not know how to proceed with this problem. Please explain what to do. I will be very thankful for your help. I AM SORRY THAT I FORGOT TO GIVE THAT INFORMATION. I AM WORKING IN WINDOWS PLATFORM. CAN YOU TELL WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE IN WINDOWS PLATFORM. THANKS FOR ANSWERING MY PREVIOUS QUESTION. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.68.5 (talk) 13:39, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

As far as I know, the functionality you are looking for is is not part of ANSI C. Did you check out if your compiler implements a getpass() function? If it doesn't, there will probably be a nonstandard function that receives characters from the console without echoing them. In Microsoft C++ 6.0 (which I'm still using...), the function is called _getch(). Note the leading underscore. The function waits for you to type a character, and then returns immediately with the ascii/character code of the character you typed, without echoing it. Its prototype is in the header file conio.h. You can try it out with the following program:

#include <conio.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    int ch;
    do 
    {
        ch = _getch();
        printf("%d\n", ch);
    }
    while (ch != 'Q' && ch != 'q');
    return 0;
}

This program outputs the ascii/character codes for the characters you type, and exits if you type a Q. In your program, you'll have to test for an end of line, instead of the Q's in my program. The end of line character could be ascii 10 or 13 (you'll catch both if you test for '\r' and '\n'). You'll need a character array to store the password in, and an index that is incremented whenever you receive a character. You'll need to make sure that the length of the password is shorter than the length of your buffer, and you'll need to null-terminate it. And remember to prompt the user for a password twice, to make sure that no mistake was made. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 15:08, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

PS: Follow-up questions are best asked as a continuation of the original thread. You could have done so by clicking the "edit" link of your question a bit further up the page. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 15:08, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Have fun...

... DOS/Win console code to get username/password. Includes example as main() ...

#include <stdio.h> /* fileno, fflush, stdout */
#include <string.h> /* memmove */
#include <ctype.h> /* iscntrl */
#include <conio.h> /* getch, putch */
#include <io.h> /* isatty */
#include <errno.h> /* errno, E_ defines */
         
int getpass(char *buffer, size_t buflen, int hidden)
{
  size_t pos = 0, len = 0;
  int nextch = EOF;

  if (!isatty(fileno(stdin))) {
     errno = EIO; /* actually ENOTTY */
     return -1;
  }
  if (!isatty(fileno(stdout))) 
     hidden = 2; /* hidden=0=show input, 1=show stars, 2=show nothing */

  for (;;) {
     size_t t;
     int ch;

     if (hidden < 2)
        fflush(stdout);
     if (nextch == EOF)
        ch = getch();
     else {
        ch = nextch;
        nextch = EOF;
     }

     if (!iscntrl(ch)) {
        if (len < (buflen-1)) {
           if (pos < len) 
              memmove(&buffer[pos+1], &buffer[pos], len-pos);
           buffer[pos] = (char)ch;
           len++; pos++;
           if (hidden < 2) {
              for (t = (pos-1); t < len; t++)
                putch( (hidden ? ('*') : (buffer[t])) );
              for (t = pos; t < len; t++)
                putch('\b');
           }
        }
     } else {
        if (ch == EOF) { 
           ch = 0x04; /* ^C, end of transmission */
        } else if (ch == 0 || ch == 0xe0) { 
           ch += (getch() << 8);
        } else if (ch == '\b') { /* backspace */
           if (pos > 0) { /* like 'del' key but on previous char */
              pos--; 
              if (hidden < 2)
                 putch('\b');
              ch = 0x5300; /* code for 'del' key */
           }
        }

        if (ch == '\r' || ch == '\n') { /* end-of-line */
           break;
        } else if (ch == 0x03 || ch == 0x04) { /* ^C, end of transmission */
           errno = EIO;
           return -1; 
        } else if (ch == 0x4b00) { /* arrow left */
           if (pos > 0) {
              pos--;
              if (hidden < 2) {
                 putch('\b');
              }
           } 
        } else if (ch == 0x4d00) { /* arrow right */
           if (pos < len) {
              pos++;
              if (hidden < 2) {
                 for (t = (pos-1); t < len; t++)
                   putch( (hidden ? ('*') : (buffer[t])) );
                 for (t = pos; t < len; t++)
                   putch('\b');
              }
           }
        } else if (ch == 0x5300 || ch == 0x7f) { /* delete */
           if (pos < len) {
              len--;
              memmove(&buffer[pos], &buffer[pos+1], len-pos);
              if (hidden < 2) {
                 for (t = pos; t < len; t++)
                   putch( (hidden ? ('*') : (buffer[t])) );
                 putch(' ');
                 for (t = pos; t < (len+1); t++)
                   putch('\b');
              }
           }  
        } else if (ch == 0x4700) { /* home */
           if (hidden < 2) {
              for (t = 0; t < pos; t++)
                 putch('\b');
           }
           pos = 0;
        } else if (ch == 0x4f00) { /* end */
           if (hidden < 2) {
              for (t = pos; t < len; t++)
                 putch( (hidden ? ('*') : (buffer[t])) );
           }
           pos = len;
        } else if (ch == 0x3500) { /* numpad divide */
           nextch = '/';
        } else if (ch == 0x4500) { /* numlock */
           ; /* nothing */
        } else { /* not handled */
           if (hidden < 2) {
              if (ch <= 0xff && ch != '\a')
                 putch('\a');

           #if 0 /* 1=show_unhandled_keystrokes, 0=don't */
              for (t = pos; t < len; t++)
                 putch( (hidden ? ('*') : (buffer[t])) );
              printf("   (key=0x%04x)", ch ); fflush(stdout);
              for (t = pos; t < (len+15); t++)
                 putch('\b');
              nextch = getch();
              if (nextch == EOF)
                 nextch = 0x04;
              for (t = pos; t < len; t++)
                 putch( (hidden ? ('*') : (buffer[t])) );
              for (t = 0; t < 15; t++)
                 putch(' ');
              for (t = pos; t < (len+15); t++)
                 putch('\b');
           #endif /* for debugging */
           }
        }
     } /* if (ch == ...) */

  } /* for (;;) */
  buffer[len] = '\0';
  return len;
}

int main(void)
{
  char user[64], pass[64];
  int rc;

  printf("Username: ");
  rc = getpass(user, sizeof(user), 0);
  if (rc >= 0) {
     printf("\nPassword: ");
     rc = getpass(pass, sizeof(pass), 1);
  }

  if (rc >= 0)
    printf("\nResult: username='%s' password='%s'\n", user, pass);

  return 0;
}

I slapped that together in about 40 minutes. Please post questions about the code on my talk page. -- Fullstop (talk) 21:20, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Game has resources in a .cat file

All the resources in this game are stored in a .cat file. I can't find a program to open a .cat file because it's supposedly a "Security Catalog." Can someone help?  Buffered Input Output 14:27, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

If they are genuinely stored in there, it is nonstandard and likely a one developed by the game's creators. You might find a tool on their website, or a third party tool elsewhere - what is the game? — neuro^(talk) 19:12, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

You may be lucky to find that the data is stored uncompressed/unecrypted within the .cat file, and be able to extract their names from said file. However, this needs to be done manually at first in order to figure out how the .cat file works. In some cases, you could ask the author how the .cat file works, some of them may give you tools. --Sigma 7 (talk) 19:42, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

The name of the game is Zulu Assault (sorry i should have told you). It's on one of eGames many game packs. Happy Hunting (i got this CD in 1999 and still cant find anything):)  Buffered Input Output 14:04, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Sometimes games programmers don't WANT you to be able to get at game resources - so they may encrypt them - or simply compress or store them in a non-standard way ("security through obscurity"). If they wanted you to do it - it would be obvious - if they didn't want you to then you probably won't succeed without an outrageous amount of effort. SteveBaker (talk) 04:37, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I found a demo of it, and took a look at the file in question main.cat. It's definitely proprietary, and has almost no plain-text, (but has some, so it's not simply encrypted.) Since I couldn't get the demo off of an official site, you'll be hard pressed to get any sort of tools from the developer. Your best bet is to hope that there's an obscure forum group out there that has taken it apart on their own. But judging from the fact that you got it in a bulk-pack, and the screenshots I saw were completely unimpressive, I'd say this game has passed so far off the radar that it's surprising that I found a demo at all. --EvilEdDead (talk) 12:53, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Plugin required?

Hi! There is a web-page with a password-protected PDF embedded in it, here, which has suddenly started refusing to display in either Firefox (3.0.4) or IE (last version before tabs - not sure what number!). Anyone got any clues?

It definitely works for some people. ╟─TreasuryTag►contribs─╢ 17:36, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Says "This operation is not allowed" for me. Perhaps the people who can access it are using a different version than you and I? — neuro^(talk) 19:11, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

It's not working for me. I go there, and it says "download plugin" inside of a blank box. Then I click to download it. Firefox searches for the appropriate addon, but to no avail. It seems that there is no plugin/addon for that file type. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 19:15, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

On that page, the PDF is embed using the HTML "embed" tag:

<embed src="http://patentedpages.googlepages.com/tifquotesL6.pdf" width="900" height="520" href="example1.pdf"></embed>

and none of my plugins seems to be able to deal with that. I am not sure whether it is standard to embed PDFs this way. I have seen one other site that does this. You can easily go around the problem by going to Page Info or viewing the page source, copying the URL of the PDF, and paste that into the address bar and access it directly. --71.141.147.69 (talk) 19:41, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for this, but it always did work for me before (as in, from a year ago up until last week) - what can have changed? ╟─TreasuryTag►contribs─╢ 20:10, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

The plugin/program? — neuro^(talk) 02:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

It seems to be working fine for me. (Firefox 3.0.4, Adobe PDF Plugin for Firefox and Netscape installed as well. Only relevant plugin I have.) No idea why it wouldn't work for an average user, since I haven't done anything special when it comes to PDFs on Firefox. --EvilEdDead (talk) 13:05, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Transferring an article in WORD into a new Wikipedia entry.

I am a computer pioneer. I have prepared a 4-page article in Word that I wish to contribute. It meets your submission criteria. I am not a registered contributor. Can I just send you the article in an E-mail and have you enter it? If so I need an E-mail address. R. L. Patrick —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.205.246.185 (talk) 19:03, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Why not just create an account and then add the article yourself? --Sean 19:13, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Creating an account is both free and no-strings-attached. Better yet an account is more anonymous than editing without an account. (When you edit without an account your IP Address is published for all the world to see.

If you don't want an account, you can still request that someone else create the article by asking at WP:Articles for creation.

(If your first sentence wasn't a joke, please keep in mind that Wikipedia's policy on conflicts of interest forbids you from creating an article about yourself, or an organization you've founded.) APL (talk) 19:28, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Creating a straight text article here is quite easy. Articles with illustrations or mathematical formulae are quite a bit more complicated, however. Is this a straight text article ? StuRat (talk) 20:02, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

If you download the free software OpenOffice.org you can use the MediaWiki extension to convert from Word to Mediawiki formatting automatically. Odt2Wiki

thunderbird w/ msn

Why can't you access MSN (or Hotmail or Live) with Thunderbird (or Outlook Express, or Mail, or any other client)? I know that there's that addon for Thunderbird that lets you do it, but why can't you just do it normally? flaminglawyer^cneverforget 19:25, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Because normally you can only use one of the standard mail access protocols (IMAP, POP3). So if they offered IMAP/POP3 access, then you would be able to; but they don't, at least not for free. --71.141.147.69 (talk) 19:33, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

In a word: money. — neuro^(talk) 02:08, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

At one point, I used to use Outlook Express to get my hotmail, however, as was already stated it's no longer free. Quote from Hotmail's help system:

Add your e-mail account to Microsoft Outlook Express
If you have a Windows Live Hotmail Plus subscription, you can use a POP3 (POP3, or Post Office Protocol 3,
is a protocol that's used to retrieve e-mail from a mail server.) server to add your Windows Live Hotmail
account to Microsoft Outlook Express and access messages there. If you download and install Windows Live Mail beta,
you can add your Windows Live Hotmail account to Windows Live Mail beta and access your messages and contacts there.

That's the simple truth. --EvilEdDead (talk) 13:01, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Web Photo Portfolio

Hello.

I`m looking to make a web photo portfolio, but without getting into Flash or PHP. I can stick uniquely to CSS and HTML. Something along the lines of this page: http://www.beatricepeltre.com/

However, when I delved into the code of that page, I realized that each picture has its own particular html link and folder and address. Is there a program that automatically creates these for you? or do I have to do it by hand?

Thanks!

-jacko- 82.123.66.225 (talk) 22:20, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

There's nothing that'll create something exactly like this website for you. There are other ways get the same effect, though, with, say, just Javascript. (Or, dare I suggest it, a tiny bit of PHP. But I know you don't want that, so I'll hush my mouth.) If you want more info I'd be happy to provide it. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 22:44, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

It doesn't take much PHP. I did this with very little PHP. Most of it is JavaScript. All PHP does is see which directory (month) you selected and sticks the photos from that directory into the JavaScript. -- kainaw™ 23:24, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

That's a tough call. All that fancy scrolling stuff really demands JavaScript. My web photo portfolios are made with PHP and JavaScript - with some C++ code that creates the HTML automatically from a list of files in a bunch of directories. But it's a hackish solution that only works on my setup. This is my son's portfolio - which was created with the same tool. Notice that it works with movies too! But this isn't much of a solution for you I guess. The page you reference [2] uses JavaScript - and probably it was generated with PHP. SteveBaker (talk) 04:31, 17 December 2008 (UTC)