Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 January 16

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January 16

AIM

When i am on AIM and i try to share pictures with my buddy not by email but clicking the little buton that says pictures at the bottom of the IM with (user name from (user name) window it say (user name) is unable or does not support this feature.Ive have searched all over the AIM help pages but it say that this mesage only comes up when you are trying to use a video or talk thing plz help thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.235.174.162 (talk) 03:01, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

One of you may not have the latest version of aim. Just a guess though so i could be wrong. BonesBrigade 03:03, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Alternative to Parallels Compressor? (Compressing a virtual disk)

I use Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 and I'm having trouble compacting my virtual hard disk file using the built-in Parallels Compressor (it terminates immediately because of "the unrecoverable error"). This is apparently not uncommon and I'm not sure the company knows what is going wrong (they told me to try defragmenting the drive, which I had already done many times, and to run scandisk, which found no problems). I'm wondering if there isn't another way to compress it, maybe another piece of software, maybe some sort of work-around or trick that somebody knows? The file is a .hdd file, and takes up about 20 GB of space on my Mac even though the drive itself contains only 9 GB of files, the extra 11 GB (!!) is just being wasted because it isn't compressed. Any suggestions? I know this is a long shot (nobody on the Parallel's support forum seems to have a clue) but thought I would ask. Any thoughts? In the future I think I'll have two partitions, one that is a small "core" one of just the things Windows XP needs to run, another that I install and delete stuff from and occasionally just flush, since I have so many difficulties getting these things to compress and they end up taking up sooo much more space than they need to. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 04:16, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

I want a cheap web domain name and domain-based email but I don't need hosting - any ideas?

I have a site set up and hosted. But no domain yet.

What I want is to get a website domain to point to the hosted page - and I want email address capability. So, say if I got "guroadrunner.net" , I want the site to point to my Geocities page, but I also want an email address like " me @ guroadrunner.net "

I don't want to pay for a hosting plan nor do I need hosting.

Throw out some names -- are there any domain companies offer domain pointing and email without requiring a host plan ? Guroadrunner (talk) 12:30, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, see List of domain name registrars. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 13:07, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Almost any domain registrar will not require a hosting plan if you don't want it. Godaddy.com works fine for this, I've used it many times to just point domain names at pre-existing hosting (and it is very cheap). You can set it up to redirect to your page. To make it so that your page transparently is hosted by geocities but has the other URL is a little more complicated and involves setting up the DNS settings correctly (and I don't know how that would work on the geocities end of things) but should be possible. I believe you can have domain-based e-mail separate as well, but I think that costs extra ($10 for two years or something like that). --24.147.69.31 (talk) 19:30, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Found one! Yahoo Customer Email -- http://order.sbs.yahoo.com/ds/LearnMore?.pnew=BM0&d=&.p=YD1&.src=sbs - $34 for a year and I get a domain name free. Anyone have any better prices that include a domain name? Guroadrunner (talk) 20:13, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

!!! You have got to be kidding me. I have already pointed out a list of 10. You can get domain names for 3$/yr, and email for 10$/yr (that I know of, you can probably find cheaper). Also, 34.95$ should be rounded up to 35$. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 20:22, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

GoDaddy.com will set you back only $10 a year for the .net name and another $10 for two years of e-mail for it. Don't pay more than you have to—you're just throwing your money away if you do, especially when you are only asking for such bare-bones services. GoDaddy is a reliable and well-established company. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 21:34, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

I am doing something very similar to what you want to do. I have a domain "example.com" from GoDaddy, Google is my free e-mail server, and I am using GoDaddy's free hosting. However, all I have on my GoDaddy page is a php header script redirecting to my free hosting website.

Need help installing Ubuntu

I currently have Windows XP pro on one partition, and Red Hat Linux Enterprise WS on another. I dual boot at start up using GRUB. I want to get rid of Red hat linux and install ubuntu in its place. Please give me step by step instructions as to how I can get this accomplished? Also, in case it helps, I have PartionMagic 8 with me on my Windows partition. Please help.--202.164.138.44 (talk) 12:47, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

First, make sure you backup everything you need on your Windows partition, since a single mistake can wipe everything out (or at least make it difficult to restore). Then, restart the computer with an Ubuntu installation disk inside. Follow the instructions, and when you get to the partitioning part, delete the Red Hat partition (triple-checking that you are not touching the Windows one), and use the freed up space to set up partitions for Ubuntu (the instructions should tell you what exactly you need to do). -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 13:12, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Once you're in ubuntu, hit alt+f2 and type "gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst" (that's ELL ESS TEE not 1st) and scroll all the way down. Take out the RHEL entry :D --f f r o t h 03:11, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks guys! That worked like a breeze. Only trouble now is that Ubuntu has some trouble recognising my monitor, and seems to be stuck at 640*480 resolution. A google search seems to suggest that lots of other people are also having the same trouble...--202.164.142.253 (talk) 16:06, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Try running sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg from the command line (or use your package manager of choice to locate the appropriate X server package and reconfigure it). Have the specs for your monitor handy for answering the various questions. (You can usually find the relevant information online by Googling for the monitor's model number.) When you're done, restart your X server (Ctrl-Alt-Backspace, or log out and select the appropriate menu option). If the reconfiguration doesn't work for some reason, as a last resort you could just edit the X server config file (found under /etc/X11/) yourself. Remember to save a backup. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:36, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

How can I host my own wiki?

How can I set up a wiki like conservapedia, anarchapedia, wikinerds, or wikipedia itself? I previoulsy hosted a project with wikicities, but I'd like to know how to set up a wiki hosted by my own organization. Can someone please give me info on how. --Gary123 (talk) 12:59, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

That depends on what you already know how to do. The easiest way is probably by using WOS. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 13:03, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Does your organization have a web server? If so, put mediawiki on it (along with PHP and MySQL). It is rather easy if it isn't a Windows server. -- kainaw™ 13:25, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually even on a windows machine it's not very difficult. I did it years ago with relative ease (PHP, MySQL and Apache install just like any windows software), and it's probably only gotten easier. Setting up image resizing and formula rendering was a little tricky, but only a little. If you want to use IIS instead of Apache, that could be a bit more difficult.

In case none of this makes sense to the OP, MySQL is database software that stores all the content you post to your wiki, IIS and Apache are webservers, they send out the wiki's webpages to anybody looking at the wiki and PHP is a scripting language that's used to translate the content in the database to webpages that the webserver can send out. For certain features, such as image thumbnails or mathematical formulas, you need to install additional software. risk (talk) 10:16, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

"The easiest way is probably by using WOS", well, no, the EASIEST way is to find someone who has a wiki server online you can buy an account on to run your own wiki with. I can't believe there wouldn't be such a thing, not EVERYONE runs their own server... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.4 (talk) 14:27, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

No, the E-A-S-I-E-S-T way is to read the original question, especially the parts where "I previoulsy hosted a project with wikicities" and "hosted by my own organization". -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 14:39, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Apologizing for your comment will also be easy. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 20:20, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah lets all keyboard in apologies for online *rolls eyes* --f f r o t h 19:02, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Hm? When a well-meaning individual makes a comment on Wikipedia which is in any way inappropriate, he apologizes when called on it. That's how it's been ever since I joined. Are you saying we should stop doing that? Does civility not extend to online communication? -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 19:38, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Many webhosts will include a 1 button install for Mediawiki, under CPanel. If this is not the case with your hosting then see this page. You need PHP5 and a MySQL 4 database, but most good webhosts will come with this.TheGreatZorko (talk) 09:11, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Is there another meaning to "hosted by my own organization" that I'm not aware of? Sure, it's quite possible the OP meant using a webhost, or that he didn't but the best solution to his real problem is to use a webhost. But until he clarifies, we should assume that he really wants what he asks. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 09:24, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

All the wikis that he named all run on Mediawiki software though (I think), so I'm not sure what you think he is requesting. If it is permission to use the software for his own means, well of course he can. Mediawiki is open source and can be used for commerical uses, as long as you abide to the GFDL licence. If he means hosting the wiki on his own server then the guide I linked to also covers this.TheGreatZorko (talk) 10:58, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, the OP does want to use MediaWiki to run the wiki. He also said he wants to host it on his organization's server. He requested to learn how. Your link to the installation guide does more or less answer his question, but referring to his "webhost" is irrelevant.

Again, this depends on which parts of the process he needs assistance with - does his organization already have a server, or does he need to set one up (for a lightweight endeavor this may amount to just taking a computer and delegating it as one)? Does he already have a domain name, or does he need to register one? Does he need help with the installation of Apache, PHP, and\or MySQL? Does he need help creating a MySQL database? Or maybe all of these are covered and he just wants to know how to install MediaWiki? All this discussion is pointless until the OP specifies what it is that he wants exactly. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 11:24, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

"Windows Explorer" right click options

Does anyone know of an add-on for Windows (in my case XP) that will allow the addition of customised right-click options to the "Windows Explorer". I know it is possible since I have seen applications such as Winzip and Clipfile which do this. An example of what I want to do is to add an option "Autorename" which will inspect the file name and if of the form "Copy of abc.xyz" rename it as "abc_yyyymmdd#.xyz" where yyymmdd is the files datestamp and # is a unique letter within that folder. I would like to "write" the autorename function in a language such as basic or perl rather than in C. Any ideas folk? -- SGBailey (talk) 14:29, 16 January 2008 (UTC) I can't help you, but perhaps it's helpful to recall (for googling) that many such programs (like winzip you mention) call this "shell integration". perhaps searching on that might get you to the answer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.4 (talk) 15:45, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

First write the command-line program (in any language) that will take a file name/path as its input and will rename it based on whatever. Once you have the program, then you can either:

1. Just use it with the "Send to" menu.[1]
2. Fiddle with the registry to make it an integrated part of the shell.[2]

Both are pretty simple though the first one doesn't require any mucking around in the registry. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 19:39, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Object Oriented Programming

Can I use Hylemorphism to help conceptualize object-oriented programming? How? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.4 (talk) 15:02, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Possibly, although it is an imperfect analogy, so a deep discussion of Hylemorphism is probably not interesting. Socrates theory of ideal forms is often mentioned when explaining the difference between classes and objects. Taemyr (talk) 15:25, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

whoo-hoo! I never heard the connection, but am glad I made it myself. So, even though it's imperfect and not warranting deep discussion, Taemyr, could you expound the analogy here ad hoc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.51.122.4 (talk) 15:36, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Boot message

I was messing around with songs on FL Studio when my computer locked up. so i restarted and i got an "unmountable boot volume"message. is my computer ruined?the juggreserection ^IstKrieg! 15:34, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Run chkdisk. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 15:52, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

chkdisk is definately the way to go - although you'll need your original Windows XP CD. Without that you're in a bit of a sticky situation. Kavanagh21 (talk) 01:27, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Video Card

How do I find what kind of video card I have? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.119.61.7 (talk) 21:08, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

On Windows XP, you can right-click on a blank part of the desktop and then select properties. From the properties window, the settings tab will often give you some information, and if there is an Advanced button, perhaps more detail. --LarryMac | Talk 21:13, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Under Windows XP bring up the start menu, and click "Run" then in the box that appears type "dxdiag" without the quotes (To do the same under Vista just type dxdiag in the search bar). On the Display tab will be the name of your graphics card along with other information.TheGreatZorko (talk) 09:09, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

On Mac OS X click on the Apple, and then About this Mac..., click on More info, then Graphics/Displays on the left column. Mac Davis (talk) 12:00, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

accounting and machines

Will accountants be ever replaced by machines such as computers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.90.44.64 (talk) 21:15, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Depends on what you mean by it. If you mean, "will many people just start using computer programs instead of accountants," the answer is clearly yes and we already see this (I did my taxes last year entirely by myself using TurboTax, which made it easy enough that I didn't feel it was worth hiring someone to do them for me). If you mean, "will we start letting computers do all accounting work, including in big corporations," the answer is probably no, because 1. people don't and probably won't trust a computer 100% when the stakes get really high, and 2. there is still a lot of work for a very clever accountant that is more flexible than a machine is going to be. People like human judgment, and they like human judgment when enhanced by things like computers, but not replaced by it. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 21:32, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

In the foreseeable future. As long as there isn't a major "paradigm shift" in the next few hundred years steering human interest away from science (though it's practically certain this will happen eventually), computer systems could well be far more advanced than humans ever could be. Even if computers are a little duller than people, I'd be far more likely to hire computers who work 24/7 with no vacation or weekends. Anyway, you could always simulate an entire person and give him weekends and breaks and everything (but have billions of them so who cares) and pay them with worthless virtual currency and let them live their own virtual lives in ignorance, but give them real work.. so if computer power grows enough, that's the most brute-force way to replace human workers.. showing it's at least possible with enough power --f f r o t h 03:06, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Accountants have many kinds of duties. Bookkeeping is highly automatable and is largely done by computer. But validation — checking that the entries in the database are legitimate according to law and the accounting rules — is not. (For example, a computer system can check that a payment to a supplier matches a purchase order or a delivery receipt. But it cannot tell whether the payment is for a legitimate business purpose or is a fraudulent back-hander.) Analysis and forecasting also rely on human judgement. List of accounting topics should give you some idea of the scope of the profession. Gdr 18:59, 19 January 2008 (UTC)