Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2015 April 21

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April 21

Do some websites use AdChoices pop-up ads?

Two years ago, I'd accidentally installed some malware, which made AdChoices pop-up "bubbles" for various keywords appear on a university website. Since this was completely bizarre to me, I investigated and managed to remove the offending program.

However, I've noticed that some websites still show me AdChoices pop-ups. (I use AdBlock on sites that have very intrusive adverts, or on sites that I do not want to see benefit from extra revenue. However, since I use a blacklist, rather than a whitelist, it takes time for me to figure out whether a site should be added.) For instance, this Chicago Tribune article was displaying ads to me. I've also, if I'm not mistaken, had similar issues with articles on the Anime News Network in the past, although from a quick poke around the website, I can't find any instances of these anymore.

Is it not uncommon for websites to use such pop-up advert bubbles from AdChoices? I'd rather not just use AdBlock everywhere to avoid such things, since that, if I happen to have malware, would just be deflecting the issue. --Morningcrow (talk) 02:20, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

ATX power

Additional 4 pins locked by the 20 pin main connector.

Single 12 volts rail 400 watts PSU PCB with some removed parts.
Organge: 3.3 volts
Red: 5 volts
Yellow: 12 volts

The 3.3 volts are sensed on the M/B and feedback to the voltage regulator. This is why adapters are not useful.

This feedback cable is the brown one.

Will a 20-pin ATX power supply work on a 24-pin ATX motherboard? It fits into the slot okay, missing the extra 4 pins to the left. But I don't wanna turn it on and blow up my face if it won't work. If it does work then what the point of the difference number of pins?

As per ATX#Power_supply, the additional pins are 1 each of 12V, 5V, 3.3V, and ground. The cables for the common voltages are normally soldered together in the PSU. I'm not sure about the motherboard. Is the PSU's power rating high enough for the the motherboard + drives? LongHairedFop (talk) 09:06, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

In some cases the motherboard might power up (but mostly it won't), and if does it will fail later. Also note that an old ATX power supply was usually asked to deliver the majority of its power to the 3.3 and 5V rails (the CPU ran off the 3.3V) but a newer one is expected to deliver most on the 12V supply - so a really old PSU (like yours) may not deliver enough on 12V for a new system. 46.208.136.65 (talk) 10:15, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm not convinced the first statement is really true. At the very least it depends on how old the mobo is, since many mobos from when the 24 pin was introduced specifically say they will work with 20 pin PSUs provided they can supply enough power, although it may limit overclocking or other things like that. And many people found that they did work. Even recently, my mobo from 2013 manual seem to suggest that 20 pin may be okay [1]. It isn't entirely clear and I don't have any PSU that I would test it on, but it wouldn't be surprising if it does work.

My understanding of a lot of mobo PCB design is that the extra pins are generally just used to reduce the possibility of problems rather than providing anything essential. And it's not like motherboard power demands have necessarily increased that much since the era when 20 pin PSUs were common (on the CPU side and in most areas they've sometimes gone down, they may have gone up on the peripheal card side in a multi GPU config). And mostly the changes have been to the greater reliance on the 12V as your last comment mentioned (and the extra pins only provided one more 12V+ground), hence why my mobo does require the 12V connector, something that wasn't so common then. I wouldn't exactly be surprised if there are some mobos which require the 8 pin 12 V in some circumstances but are okay with a 20 pin.

That said, I'm not saying I recommend it. For starters, as you mentioned near the end, there is a fair chance a PSU with only the 20 pin is woefully inadequeate on the 12V rail/s. And even even if's not, and so there is probably a resonable chance it will start, and resonable chance it will be okay provided the mobo is able to provide sufficient power, it could also cause weird problems which may confuse you. Also old PSUs, particularly crappy ones which are always liable, are liable to die and could kill components when they die. And they're probably more likely to die when you put high loads on them. As mentioned, for a modern computer, the loads may not actually be that high in general especially if you don't have a multi GPU config. But even if the 12V is adequate, it could still be a relatively high load for what was normal for the PSU at the time. You may also find they have problems providing the stable expected voltage.

Nil Einne (talk) 17:31, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

The voltage rails use parallel connected pins on the M/B. This is made to eliminate the resistance of the connectors and cables. Nearly every 24 pin M/B will work with the 20 pin plug. You need to ensure the lever on the plug locks the jack when connected. Releasing and disconnecting while operating the computer may cause a damage. An Adapter is not recommended making the 3.3 volts feedback measuring the Adapter, not the voltage on the board. Optional you can add the 4 pins from the 20 pin connector if you chose the correct voltage rails. Do not interrupt or copy the 3.3 volts feedback. Do not interrupt cables, just connect them without interrupting them. When the PSU has an additional 12 volts rail, do not feed anohter rail into the 24-pin connector. Do not interconnect two different 12 volt rails each other. See the article Power supply unit (computer) to understand how your PSU is working. I know, I have to draw an EPS PSU diagram with multiple 12 volt rails and single rail EPS. The connectors pins are coded to prevent wrong plugging. --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 21:02, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

To prevent damages and interference, always screw the M/B into the case. Do not substitute ground connectors of screwmount by plastics if not neccessary. --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 10:35, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

The 4 pin extention may be seen as having redundant 12 volts connector pins of a single rail and more stable 3.3 and 5 volts. Note the 3.3 volts sense may be dedicated to feedback the voltage on board, not the connector only. The engineers still see more cables and more connector surface as a lower desturbing resisitor. So they feed the 3.3 volts better to the board instead of measuring the mess. Former the 5 volts were used for chipset, RAM and CPU, today used for USB most common but still required for the M/B, cards and drives. See also what one M/B manufacturer did to use more current of 5 and 12 volts on the M/B.[2] --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 10:32, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

The 4 or 8 pin addional 12 volts connector is specified to get feed from another 12 volts rail. It is the DC input for the CPUs buck converter on board, yellow and black cables only. --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 10:43, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

RANSAC and input model size

For RANSAC, does the input model have to be the right size? Suppose I'm trying to detect all spheres (of various sizes) in a point cloud, do I have feed in multiple sphere models of different sizes, or can I just provide it with one generic sphere model that fits all? WinterWall (talk) 09:57, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Do you have a particular implementation in mind? RANSAC fits the model you give it. Generally, it is up to the user whether to include both centre and radius as parameters to be fit. 82.13.241.56 (talk) 21:57, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Animation

I would like to modify a picture/video into 3D/4D animation, something like, the way they made The Adventures of Tintin (film). What step should I take.

I also heard Autodesk Maya was used to create Pirates of the Caribbean...

I would like to acquire the knowledge and buy the softwares including the necessary bits required to create such works.

Could you help me please?

Extra info: My room walls are coloured in green paint!

Mr. Prophet (talk) 18:19, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

You will need to learn 3D modelling (research polymodelling), 3D scuplting, animating, lighting, materials, compositing. For the examples you listed, there are whole teams of people doing each of these individual tasks. To start, you should pick up a 3D package (3dsmax, Maya, Blender, Modo) and start to learn it. If you want to start right now, download Blender from blender.org (free), and watch some basic tutorials on modelling in Blender on Youtube. 217.158.236.14 (talk) 14:15, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

My internet usage is limited, I can't stream/download in other words, or perform a heavy research...

I understand what you mean, a team is required... It would be a rocket science for me anyway, I don't possess a vivid side either, its just a desire I have/had for a long time...

I have '3ds Max 2013' 32-bit (installed). I'll download the 'Blender' in two weeks time. Is it a must all that you stated?

Mr. Prophet (talk) 18:44, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

There are ways to create 3D movies without doing 3D modelling. One simple way is to take the same pic from two different locations, to simulate the separation of the eyes, then display a different image to each eye. The display part is the hard part here. You can physically have two different screens, one for each eye, with VR goggles, for example. Or you can have one image that is somehow separated by each eye, such as using red and blue lenses, polarized lenses, etc. The red and blue lens method may be the simplest and cheapest. You just keep the red from one image and the blue for the other (taken from a slightly different POV), combine them into a single image, get a cheap pair of paper red/blue glasses, and you have a 3D image (although without the correct colors). StuRat (talk) 18:05, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Lol, sounds like a manual labour, without mechanism... I do understand what you are saying though. -- Mr. Prophet (talk) 18:44, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

If you have the money, you can buy 3D cameras that will do all the steps for you. Here's one: [3]. (One thing I don't like about that model is the fixed spacing between the lenses. If you want a 3D model of a distant object you would need more separation.) StuRat (talk) 18:49, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

No, I'm in a different country buddy, and very very lucky because God exists... I've bookmarked the link you provided, thank you, I did need things to make it easy for me...when I look for it in the future, I'll look for this or something similar/better as I have this in mind now... -- Mr. Prophet (talk) 19:00, 22 April 2015 (UTC)