Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 January 14

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January 14

NFS Carbon graphics

Hello, I just installed the new Need for speed Carbon game. Every time I run it, first it doesn't show the intro video, but i hear the sounds and then in the game everything is made up of blocks and nothing is understandable. My computer meets the system requirements for the game. What can I do? --(Aytakin) | Talk 00:06, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Try the EA Support first? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 02:10, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Yea see if theres and update for the game on the site. Also you should update your video card drivers, with the make/model of your computer we can point you in the right direction, or if you know roughly what video card you have.--PiTHON 03:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Fast tests for non-convex dynamic-mesh collision?

Well, here's my situation. I'm not sure if this belongs here in the Computer Science section, or in the Mathematics section... being an obstacle in a program, I'm posting this here. I'm working on a game and most of the collision in it is rather simple so far; it will be not unlike Warning Forever, in that it is a single-screen player-vs-computer bossfest shmup. The collision of the bullets and even the player ship itself will be simple -- hitboxes, circles, and lines for lasers. This is the kind of collision I can find tutorials on, and which is described in detail in a couple of books focused on videogame and simulator mathematics that I have.

However, unlike the bullets and the player ship, the bosses are large, skeletal-animated, deformed-skinned models that take up the entire screen. This is where everything I know about collision is lacking for this problem, because a giant boss that fills most of the screen cannot have realistic collision with merely spheres or hitboxes -- I need to know if there are any known collision test algorithms out there that efficiently handle arbitrary mesh collision.

I'm not exactly math-savvy, so that's been a bit of a handicap in trying to figure this out. I'm certain there have been some games that do this -- using collision tests that determine as to whether a ray intersects a mesh, or if a single 2D or 3D point (x, y, [z]) is within a mesh. For what it's worth, here are things about my in-progress shmup engine so far:

• The gameplay is on a XY plane, a two-dimensional board. Like in most shmups, realistic physics will probably never be a part of the game's model (no gravity, only simple bouncing, etc). The large enemy bosses are 3D models, as is the player ship. The only collision that takes place is with anything sitting on the XY plane.
• The only polygon types in these meshes are triangles. No quads or ngons. The meshes are also all sealed (no "holes" in the model), so they are guaranteed to be finite volumes of sorts (although the mesh deforming into itself during some animation frames can happen and is unavoidable).
• The models are not guaranteed (and even highly unlikely) to be convex. I already am familiar with collision tests for convex volumes derived from a set of intersecting planes, but these algorithms don't apply to this problem.
• I use .md5mesh models, with .md5anim animations (the same format used in Doom3-engine games). These are multi-mesh models, meaning I can hold a very-low-polygon mesh that's crudely in the same general shape as the boss's visible mesh for collision, rather than the visible, higher-polygon mesh itself being used for collision. In fact, I think Quake 4 does this, because each enemy model has a collision mesh that's less than 100 triangles that's shaped generally like the visible enemy model.
• Probably the only tests the game needs for boss ships will be "is this (x, y) point within the mesh?" and "does this line or ray intersect the mesh?". There is no need at all for "is this mesh A intersecting at all with mesh B?", which is probably even more complicated than this.

As I said, I'm not math-savvy, so the only solutions I've come up with so far are crude hacks, and all of them have their own glaring logical holes. The most recent crude hack I thought up is one that, each frame, builds a list of 2D lines which each represent the intersection of the XY plane into each of the model's faces that intersect the plane; any sphere or box that touches any of these lines has collided. However, that's not foolproof -- if an object moves a certain number of units more than the size of its own hitbox/hitsphere in a single frame, it's possible that it can pass over these lines and be able to survive inside the boss. Oops! Also it's merely a list of lines which are "de jure" a polygon, but not "de facto", for lack of a better way to say it; to relate an arbitrary number of unconnected lines where each one shares each of its vertices with two other lines into a 2D n-gon would be expensive, especially done every frame (even moreso to convert that polygon into a series of convex n-gons for testing if a point is inside them).

Anyway, that's one example of a failed approach at solving this problem. Again, I'm familiar with the basic collision tests out there and, if this was related at all to static geometry rather than arbitrarily-animated meshes, I'd have likely solved this by now... but alas this problem itself is a bit of a monstrous juggernaut standing in my path. Has this kind of collision problem been solved in computer science? Are there any recommended texts and references that go into detail which I should buy or borrow at the library? Is there one specific named algorithm specific to this very thing that has an article here? --67.161.84.158 03:53, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I've never done any 3D game design so I don't know much about 3D collision detection algorithms, but... if your game is anything like warning forever, forget the 3D. Render everything in 3D of course, but have a separate layer for hitboxes. When a boss morphs, have the hitbox layer morph along the same vectors as the 3D model.. the hitboxes can be very simple and only roughly correspond to the 3D model and players won't be able to tell. And of course it should be trivial to detect if a ray goes through a square or something. By the way, I thought that even modern games like Counter-Strike: Source don't do actual mesh hit detection since it's so computationally expensive. I know that CS uses blocky hitboxes just inside the player model that morph with the animation "bone structure" along with the model. --froth^T 12:51, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

My first suggestion is to use "cubing" to exclude bullets which obviously haven't hit yet. This means you define a box for each boss from (Xmin,Ymin,Zmin) to (Xmax,Ymax,Zmax) and check each bullet to see if it lies within that range at each step. Now, once you've determined that a bullet is within a boss's cube, you need to do the actual collision detection. I'd check the distance with each node point on the boss's mesh which is within the mesh node distance of the XY plane (|z| <= D), and call it a "hit" if the bullet's distance to any mesh point is less than the distance between mesh node points. You can just have the bullet explode where it is, that should be close enough. There are more precise methods you could use, but the CPU cycle cost would likely be too high. One final hint, don't do the square root in the distance calcs, that's computationally intensive. Instead, compare the distance squared with the mesh node distance squared. StuRat 08:29, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

You can use raytracing to find collisions for objects that behave like points, such as bullets. Ray-triangle intersections are very quick to compute, especially since you only need to do a few tests per second.

If the triangle meshes are closed, you can also use raytracing to determine "insidedness", needed for computing collisions with more complex objects. The basic algorithm for seeing if a point is inside a mesh is to trace a ray in a random direction from the point, and count the number of intersections with the mesh. An even number means the point is outside, while an odd number means it's inside. Since there's a slight chance the ray could "fall through the cracks" in the mesh, you might want to trace three or five rays and go with the majority view.

To see a practical implementation, you can look at the POV-Ray source code. I don't know if mesh insidedness testing has made it into the mainline code, but the MegaPOV unofficial version has it. --Carnildo 22:27, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Google feature

Hi everyone... Sometimes when searching on Google, I come accross sites that have a "sub list" of pages besides the main page result, ie: when searching for "bank of america", I get a result to the Bank of America main page, but under that, there is a list which shows links to "Sign In", "Contact Us", "Credit Cards" etc. I was wondering where does the site admin informs Google about those "sub links". Any ideas? Thanks... Quase 04:34, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I believe they're automatically found by the google bot --froth^T 10:09, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Take a look at http://www.google.com/webmasters/ The titles probably come from the titles on the webpages. Which pages are chosen comes from ranking which are the most important pages on the website. If the website owner submitted a sitemap, then that's used, otherwise googlebot works it all out (mainly from page links). --h2g2bob 03:15, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks guys! Quase 04:43, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

How do you make a forum?

I'm in a gaming clan and we want to make our own website. I searched online and found this place where you can get a free website. I have a website now, however, i barely know anything about editing a website and i also dont know how you can "turn" a website into a forum.--Taida 04:49, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You need PHP support. Chances are more than likely that your free website provider doesn't do this. There are free forum providers, but the ones I've seen are horrifically ad and spyware laden. If really you don't want to shell out money for paid provider, you might want to look at community websites of the game you play; some tend to host forums for clans for free, though it may depend on the clan's size. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 05:14, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

forumer provides a resonable service, and not too many ads either. I recommend IPB over phpbb. --froth^T 05:51, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't know much about this so don't laugh at me. From what i can understand, you basically just open up notepad then type in some html code into it and upload it into your website. I think its kinda like how you take a code and paste it into your myspace. Can someone just give me the code to make a forum?--Taida 03:02, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Webpages in themselves are largely stoic. There is no way for a webpage to save users' input and then process it. To do this, you need a database and hence a mechanism to work with it, which is why most forums use PHP or similar files, not HTML. You can upload server-side files, of course, but you would have to write it yourself. In other words, you need to have your own hosting or use the free forum hosts like InvisionFree or Forumer (love Forumer). You could be talking about shoutboxes or comment boxes - which are not forums, but allow users to leave comments. x42bn6 Talk 20:03, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

PSOne Emulator

I've seen on the PSP Homebrew page something about a PSOne emulator which is made by Sony. I've looked on the Net for an official site or something but all I can find are forums about it and announcements. Does anyone know if there is an official site or where I could download it? Or does it just come standard with version 3.03 firmware? Mix Lord 05:02, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

It's part of one of the newer firmware versions, and is intended for usage with games one buys with their PS3. There is hacked firmware that lets this work with any PSX ISO though. Try Googling for "Dark_AleX", first result. (Edit: Yeah, I should have said the ISOs don't run straight up; they require modification :/) -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 05:11, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You need to use a custom firmware to run games that aren't yet available from sony, and one of many programs out now that convert a PSOne ISO to the PSP EBOOT executable. 3.03 OE-B is the newest one that supports it, in order to flash it, you'll need a homebrew-able firmware/motherboard, what firmware is installed on your PSP? Cyraan 06:13, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

How do I set up my own website with MediaWiki?

Could someone point me in the direction of information that would tell me how to set up a website, from scratch, and then have the MediaWiki software running on it?

Please bear in mind that I do not have my own website at present, nor do I have any experience of setting one up and running it.

Also, does anyone have an idea of costs, both set-up costs and running costs? jguk 10:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

If you want to set it up on your own computer (assuming that you have a broadband connection) and not register a dns-name, the set-up and running costs are nil (except your connection fee). All the software is free and open source, and there are comprehensive guides on the meta-wiki for installation, and you can use a service like No-IP to get a domain name (it would be something like "jguk.no-ip.org"). Your computer, obviously, would be the server. If it's just going to be a small site, for you and a couple of others, that would certainly suffice. Is that all, or are you launching something bigger? Oskar 12:17, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. How can my computer be the server though. Surely, whenever I turn it off, my site would go offline? How would others be able to update it? Also, wouldn't I be putting my computer at greater threat of viruses? jguk 12:31, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, when you turned off your computer, the website would indeed go down. And your computer wouldn't be so much at risk for viruses and trojans, the only risk is that your site becomes too popular and bogs down your internet connection and fills your hard-drive (although that is perhaps not so likely ;). This is by far the cheapest and easiest way to do it, and it is the one that I recommend (although not without a few drawbacks). You can atleast make try it, set it up and see what you think. If you're unhappy with it, no harm done, just uninstall Apache and MySQL. It would help if you described the purpose of your wiki. Oskar 14:13, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Try Wikia --froth^T 12:24, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

The reason why I might set up a site is so I don't have to use GFDL, so Wikia wouldn't be appropriate. jguk 12:31, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

There are two parts to the question, as it sounds like you already understand. (1) Set up a website, and (2) bring up mediawiki on it.

Step (2) is very, very easy -- my hat's off to the mediawiki folks for writing one of the hands-down easiest installation procedures I've ever seen. You basically press one button, and it does all the work. A few months ago, I installed mediawiki on my (Mac OS X) laptop in just a couple of minutes. (I did have the head-start in that Apple had already installed MySQL for me.) Even though it won't help you for stable, out-to-the-real-world hosting, I echo Oskar's suggestion that you go through the exercise of installing mediawiki on your own computer anyway, just to get more familiar with mediawiki and its administration side. (Just think: on your own wiki you can be an admin and a bureaucrat and a developer, without going through RfA or anything! :-) )

In terms of setting up a website, this too has two parts: (1a) set up a machine that's always on and visible to the rest of the world via a DNS entry and (usually) a fixed IP address, and (1b) install a web server (probably Apache) on it.

Needless to say, this is the more involved part of the problem. You can do it at home, but you'll probably want to dedicate a machine to it, and perhaps put it on a UPS. Depending on your internet connection, you may get into trouble with your provider, or be forced to pay more. (Many home broadband connection agreements specifically prohibit the operation of public servers.)

Other options are to rent space in a hosting center and install one of your machines there, or to rent a machine in a full-service hosting center. Some full-service hosting centers can rent you thin virtual slices of physical machines, so you can pay a relatively small amount, for just the usage you need.

One hosting center I know of, that would probably meet your needs, is Dreamhost. (I can't recommend or disrecommend them, as I don't really know how they stack up against their competition.)

In any case, you will need to register a domain name. There are a million domain name registrars out there, meeting a variety of needs. Your hosting center can probably help you with domain name registration and administration. (One registrar I've used, which again I can neither recommend nor disrecommend, is register.com.)

There are probably more options than the ones I've mentioned, but this should give you the outline of the problem. —Steve Summit (talk) 15:04, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Johnny come lately here, but: I also strongly reccomend running the wiki on your own machine (Unless it's really poor or you have dialup). I've done similar things with forums (Which also use php and MySQL, so there isn't much difference) and simple HTML. Finally, you don't really need a DNS, however if your IP isn't static, it'll be almost impossible to refer people to the site. And, as above, never shut your machine off or let it go into low power/sleep mode as that'll take it offline. 68.39.174.238 14:59, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Intel vs Amd, ATI vs Nvidia

which are the pros and cons (assembler set, current absorbing, Joule efect,..) in both the tradeoffs ? tia --Ulisse0 11:39, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Do your own homework. If you need help with a specific part or concept of your homework, feel free to ask, but please don't post entire homework questions and expect us to give you the answers. That being said, electrical phenomenon don't affect performance nearly as much as architecture does. And by assembler set do you mean instruction set? --froth^T 12:30, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

(It ain't a homework.) Yeah I mean instruction set; Intel is CISC, AMD masked-RISC, right? What's the tradeoff? Nvidia has a greater band, ATI a faster clock, rihgt? Again, hat's the tradeoff? --Ulisse0 17:16, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Well the most obvious tradeoff would be that AMD can get more done in a single cycle but cycles take longer (this has nothing to do with the instruction set) and Intel takes a dozen stages to finish a given instruction but cycles are lightning fast. As for instruction sets, there are various optimizations like MMX and SSE that let more actions be associated with a single opcode (instruction). I don't know anything about GPU architecture --froth^T 20:14, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You sure about that froth? Core 2 Duos are extremely fast, a 2.4ghz core 2 regularly beats a 2.6-2.8ghz athlon, doing more per cycle than an athlon. tomshardware anandtech. Read the full reviews, those are links to specific performance pages. Also the Core 2's have much better power consumption over the older pentium 4's, and even outpace newer athlons: hardocp. Not to mention the redonkulous overclockability of any core2: anandtech.

Yeah, while Intel is pushing to be more streamlined they're notorious for having ridiculously long piplelines and offsetting it with high clock speed. Core 2 might have changed that, but Intel's chips in the past have followed that rule --froth^T 22:20, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Same goes with the latest and greatest nvidia has to offer. anandtech hardocp etc... etc... Basically, today, there is no better combination than an Intel core 2 duo with a 8800 video card in terms of real world performance. If you are looking at instruction sets, amount of transistors etc.. you'll be blinded by mostly meaningless numbers until you see the actual performance of a processor. Sure tomorrows applications may run X amount better on so and so's architecture, but by the time tomorrows applications are out, so will tomorrows cpu's.--PiTHON 21:05, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't think you would notice much of a difference between high-end cpus anyhow, unless you were planning to build a super-supercomputer to play extremely consuming games (I mean "advanced"), or become a server, or say...calculate pi to the googleth digit. Simply, If an end-user was to use a high-end computer, they would not notice anything different. --Root2 01:45, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Aplescript Variable Help

How would I take 2 variables(both strings), and "add" them together? For example:

set string1 to "Hello "

set string2 to "World!"

set string3 to string1 + string2

And here, I want string3 to equal "Hello World!" THe syntax doesn't have to be like this, I just need to be able to do it! Thank you in advanced!--ryan 15:30, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

• What you are trying to do is concatenation, not addition. In Applescript I believe you use the & operators (as in: string1 & " " & string2 — don't forget the space!). This page discusses Applescript text operations. --Fastfission

Thank you! Works just like I needed!--ryan 20:24, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

USB flash drive

pl tell me....... Can i connect USB flash drive to PIC 16F877A EDS Kit? If yes How? If no why?

Syncing Firefox

I have portable apps installed on my flashdrive, but how would i get the profile to sync with my home computer(XP) and the computers at school (Mac). In my head i envision something that would tell the program to look for the file in a different location. Is any of this possible without extensive reprogramming?

Omnipotence407 17:49, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You want Portable Firefox. The profile will be stored on the flash drive with the program. -- Kesh 20:42, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I have that, and it works great for windows, and i can get the mac program installed on my flash drive, but how can i get those two to work together? Omnipotence407 21:51, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

They both should use the same profile, so it won't be a problem. If it doesn't for some reason, contact the developer and they should be able to help you. -- Kesh 02:16, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Tunneling X connection

hello!

i have got a server in the internet and i want to run graphical apps on them, just like on Image:X11_ssh_tunnelling.png. how do i do this (and any way to let the applications run even if my PC ain't connected to the server anymore)?

HardDisk 17:52, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

If you're running X (if you're on Linux, for instance), just ssh to your server using the -X option and execute the command. (For instance, to run gaim, just execute gaim from your ssh session. If you want to disconnect the app and reconnect to it later without exiting it (as you would do with GNU Screen), I think you're out of luck. There was a Google Summer of Code project on this topic, but I don't know if anything came of it. grendel|khan 06:22, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Doesnt work :(

marco@debian:~$ ssh 12345.de -X gaim
Password:

(gaim:20475): Gdk-CRITICAL **: gdk_display_get_name: assertion `GDK_IS_DISPLAY (display)' failed
Gaim 2.0.0beta5

** (gaim:20475): WARNING **: cannot open display: unset
marco@debian:~$

Do you know what causes this? HardDisk 16:34, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Most likely, you're not running X. Are you running X? (and are you running the command from inside X?) What does echo $DISPLAY output? Also, it could be that X forwarding is disabled on the server. --Spoon! 07:08, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

starting x fails:

marco@www:~$ startx
xauth:  creating new authority file /home/marco/.serverauth.15479
xauth:  creating new authority file /home/marco/.Xauthority
xauth:  creating new authority file /home/marco/.Xauthority

X: user not authorized to run the X server, aborting.
giving up.
xinit:  Connection refused (errno 111):  unable to connect to X server
xinit:  No such process (errno 3):  unexpected signal 2.
Couldnt get a file descriptor referring to the console
marco@www:~$ sudo startx
Password:
xauth:  creating new authority file /home/marco/.serverauth.32696

X: warning; process set to priority -1 instead of requested priority 0

X Window System Version 7.1.1
Release Date: 12 May 2006
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 7.1.1
Build Operating System: UNKNOWN
Current Operating System: Linux www.REMOVED.de 2.6.9-022stab078.21-enterprise #1 SMP Fri Sep 8 22:46:58 MSD 2006 i686
Build Date: 09 January 2007
        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Thu Jan 18 21:25:49 2007
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
Data incomplete in file /etc/X11/xorg.conf
        At least one Device section is required.
(EE) Problem parsing the config file
(EE) Error parsing the config file

Fatal server error:
no screens found
XIO:  fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
      after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining.
Couldnt get a file descriptor referring to the console
marco@www:~$    

Maybe it is because there is no graphic card installed (it is a virtual server)? HardDisk 20:26, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

C compilers

what are open source C compilers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chandan tiwari76leo (talk • contribs) 18:14, 14 January 2007

A C compiler whose code is also made public. Try open-source software. If you're asking for one, gcc is common. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 20:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

See also the comp.lang.c FAQ list, question 18.3. —Steve Summit (talk) 21:00, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

GCC is the standard for Linux and Unix. However, for Windows MinGW is much better. --h2g2bob 03:00, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Hacking into a Windows XP Home Laptop.

How do you hack into a "Windows XP Home Edition" Laptop (Acer 5000)?

THat would be illegal (unless you own the computer I guess...), so I don't think Wikipedia is the best place to look.--Ryan 20:51, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

It's called CRACKING, not HACKING. Please don't use the Good Word to describe cracking. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 22:33, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Maybe he does mean remotely (which I guess is what you think it means). But hacking has many meanings, from hammering out quick code to "memory hacking" and the like (I guess what you call "cracking") to compromising systems --froth^T 23:57, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Simple. Hacker make things, cracker break things. --antilived^{T | C | G} 01:10, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

I'll assume that you want to know about security in general terms, rather than wanting to actually compromise another machine. Computer security is the CompSci collaboration this week, and is worth a look.

Disclaimer: I am not a hacker

To get access to a computer, you can

• guess or discover the password (eg: by performing a man in the middle attack)
• take control of an already running program by giving it malformed data (a buffer overflow or code injection, etc). Some developers, like Mozilla Firefox will pay you a bounty if you find a new way to exploit their code.
• or get users to override their own security or provide their passwords (social engineering).

Once you have some control, you would try to take over the administrative account (privilege escalation). You would then do whatever you wanted, then cover your tracks.

A reminder that gaining access which you cannot reasonably expect to have on a computer is illegal. Owning tools which help you to do this (even if you only use them on your own computers) may also be illegal depending on where you live.

Plenty more information on the internet. --h2g2bob 02:48, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Fastest ISP?

What is the fastest ISP for a home computer?

Depends on your location, if you're in the US (and you're lucky), FiOS may be available in your area, which is pretty fast (up to 50 Mbps Down/5 Mbps Up). Try calling your local cable/telephone companies, and see whats available. Also if you're in the US, cable modems tend to be faster than DSL, but this may not be so in your area. Cyraan 18:40, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Also, if you live in an older building, take stock of the age of your phone wiring! If it's knob and tube or similar vintage, it may be fine to talk over, but give unbelievably terrible speeds. 68.39.174.238 15:02, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Getting image to look like this

I have Google's Picasa, and a photo. Is there any way that I can use Picasa to get my picture to have the same color/grain detail as this photo? Thanks, 81.131.8.246 18:33, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Not sure how you would do it with Picassa, but you need a Hue/Saturation layer on colorize with red. To get the graininess, you need to add noise. Jamesino 22:38, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I suggest the brightness/contrast has also been adjusted. Vespine 02:36, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

youtube

how can I download videos from youtube?

not just watch online, i want to save them to my hard drive.

I guess I have to hack the link? How do I work out the link in the html? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.128.194.101 (talk) 19:25, 14 January 2007 (UTC).

Use this tool to get the URL of the FLV file. Download it to your computer and use VLC to play the file, or use mencoder or riva to convert it into a more widely-supported format --froth^T 20:11, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Or, if you have a mac, you could use iSquint(It's free!) Just drag the FLV file on to it.--Ryan 20:52, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You can also try out youtubex . It lets you save videos onto your hard disk. There are similar sites that let you save google videos googlevideosx , myspace videos, etc.

If u have firefox, simply download one of the flash download addons. It saves the file into .FLV format which u could change using certain encoders, to MPEG or others. --|K.Z|Z.K| Do not vandalize... 04:03, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

This guide is one way to fix flv -> avi. --h2g2bob 04:09, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Forgot Password to Window Xp

Is there anyway to log onto a Windows XP Home Edition if you forgot the password to all the accounts? Jamesino 22:42, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You can boot to safe mode and log in as administrator, which is locked out in normal mode. You can get to safe mode by hitting the F8 key a few times, before windows loads. Instead of loading windows it will pop up an options screen, select safe mode and hit enter. Try to pick a more memorable password, or stop trying to log into a computer you shouldn't be :p--PiTHON 22:47, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Burn the ophcrack livecd, pop it in the drive and turn on the computer, and wait 10 minutes and there's your passwords --froth^T 23:55, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

this doesn't really answer my question.

If you can log on as an administrator, you can change the passwords. If you can run the crack CD (although that probably requires using another computer), you can typically learn the passwords. In either case, you then have the passwords and can log on normally. Was that not obvious? --Tardis 16:27, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

this might not work.In windows XP professional, u type the password wrong too many times and the password automatically reset itself. The password will change to nothing so u just have to type ur user name. --|K.Z|Z.K| Do not vandalize... 04:09, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor --Spoon! 06:59, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

the sims 2

when i first tryed to play the sims 2 on my computer it gave me a message saying " could not find directx 9.0 compatible graphics adaptors". so what do i do? should i buy a new grapjics card? or what? ,thank you —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.234.40.122 (talk) 23:52, 14 January 2007 (UTC).

Short answer: Yes. --froth^T 23:55, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

AND, install DirectX 9 if you haven't already done so --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 07:00, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

i already have so then what.