Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing

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April 5[edit]

Toshiba drive[edit]

MQ01ABF032 - this is a 320GB drive. However the label also says "8455 MB" (along with heads, cyls sectors etc..) . What does this number refer to? All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 15:03, 5 April 2017 (UTC).

It looks like its the drive's cache size: descriptions of the drive online say it has a "8 MB cache". -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 15:07, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
Although that might suggest the label reads 8.455 MB? -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 15:08, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
There's always the issue of decimal MB (1,000,000) vs base-2 (1,048,576). Plus some of the cache might be dedicated to something else, or they may have an allowance for portions being bad. StuRat (talk) 16:55, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
Well, if you do a Google Images search for "MQ01ABF032" and "label" you can view the label. Apparently there are multiple versions of it, some of which say "8455 MB" just below the bar code and some don't. I haven't been able to find any sites that explain what it means, though. --76.71.6.254 (talk) 23:13, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
Some more research shows that this is (something I discounted earlier) a hybrid drive, with 8455 MB NAND flash and an additional 8mb DRAM cache. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 22:08, 6 April 2017 (UTC).

Shell32.dll[edit]

Is there any way I could extract the “Shell32.dll” in a folder, modify/amend than compress it back? If so, what opensource software could be used? 103.67.158.173 (talk) 18:00, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia has an article on Resource (Windows). For various reasons I recommend you do NOT do this. -- zzuuzz (talk) 19:30, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
A DLL is an executable file, meaning that it will be thousands of lines of machine instructions. It is possible to modify these if you know what you are doing, but if you don't know 80x86 assembly language like the back of your hand, you're not going to be able to do it (and even if you do, it's going to take *months* just to find the part of the file you want to modify: you'll need a disassembler, but that won't tell you what part is code, what part is data, and what part is the DLL header). I work with assembly language on a regular basis, and frankly, I'd rather code an entirely new file from scratch (as hard as that is) than try and do this. OldTimeNESter (talk) 15:03, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

Control Panel Applets Sidebar[edit]

I require the following file’s Location:

ID: #632 Type: ArgbBMP Dimensions: 200x542 Fixed size: Yes

Could you paste the address to me in your feedback.

Note: The file seems to be inside the “Shell32.dll”.

116.58.200.91 (talk) 18:43, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Are you the same person who posted the question immediately above this? This sounds like a case of the XY problem. What are you trying to accomplish? But, I am fairly sure you are not a native English speaker, and unfortunately the language barrier makes it difficult for us to help you. Have you tried asking someplace in your native language? Many other language editions of Wikipedia have a Reference Desk; see the "Languages" sidebar on Wikipedia:Reference desk. --47.138.161.183 (talk) 07:28, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

April 6[edit]

Why do android apps want your phone/call details?[edit]

I just downloaded the app Pleco from Google Play. It said the app wanted access to my call details (I didn't understand exactly what it was saying, just something about call details). What possible use would an app have for something like that? It sounded dodgy, although I clicked "yes". IBE (talk) 03:43, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

A lot of apps over-request permissions unfortunately. Pleco apparently needs it to reliably identify the device, instead of using the IMEI, according to their support forum. Hope that helps Jenova20 (email) 10:03, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
Many developers use software packages to produce their apps. Suppose that I write an app and I use the Ultra-X package for something - it doesn't matter what. I am using it in a way that I require seeing your photos, but the Ultra-X package has a camera function as well. While my app really only needs to see your photos, the inclusion of the Ultra-X package will make it ask to see your camera as well. A properly written package will only request permission for what is being used, but we live in a world where most apps are written by people who just want money. They don't want to learn how to program. So, you get badly written code using badly written packages which tend to ask for more permissions than are necessary. Also, we assume that the author of the app simply didn't know enough to do it properly. It is possible that the author does know how to program and has added hidden functionality to spy on you. I assume the author is ignorant, not nefarious. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 11:35, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
...It's also possible it's not anything nefarious and they really do need it as they claim. Thanks Jenova20 (email) 13:01, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
Thanks to you both, very interesting and useful, IBE (talk) 16:27, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

Reg Edit File[edit]

1) What’s the address/location of it in PC?

2) I installed “Icon Packager” (don’t know which version it is) some time ago, ran out of ‘timeline’ now, re-installed with the hope that it will re-work (received no result) than uninstalled, and now I’m hoping that I could re-use it if I could delete some files from the Registry or so. Could someone help please, with what needs to be done in order for the free trial version to re-work?

Restoring PC option is unavailable.

43.245.120.214 (talk) 07:15, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

It sounds like you want us to help you circumvent an access restriction measure in a program. Doing so is illegal in many jurisdictions, notably the U.S., where Wikipedia is hosted. I have the feeling this question should be removed. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if there is free/open-source software to accomplish what you want, but this assumes you're on the right track. Are you the same person who posted the previous questions related to Windows and icons? If so, please take heed of the advice I gave above. --47.138.161.183 (talk) 07:35, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

WMV file issue[edit]

I enabled DreamScene on my Windows 7, but some WMV files (converted from animated GIFs) I want to use as animated wallpapers are rendered oversized on desktop, like this one. I thought it could be due to low resolution of original GIFs, but resizing GIFs and downloading larger WMVs didn't solve it (and neither did decrease in size). How to fix this? Brandmeistertalk 20:24, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

Odd website behavior[edit]

Hello dear ref desk; Basically I'm having a rendering issue (flickering bar) when loading pages on a message board. It's a very marginal issue, but the technical support person couldn't replicate. I tried it on four (!) different machines (three computers (two Windows 7, one Windows 10) and my Samsung Galaxy S5), happens only on Chrome or Firefox. Edge / IE seems too slow to replicate. Also tried the obvious, like disabling all extensions or background programs. Do you also get it?

-- Thank you! Matt714 (talk) 23:39, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

I can replicate a similar flicker on Forefox. It's the way the website is designed. Firefox and Chrome are both very well optimized for displaying elements quickly, and the element you see quickly appearing and disappearing is an element which is part of the page, but it set to be invisible in some way. FF and Chrome simply load the elements too fast for the invisible element to hit whatever trigger turns it off before it renders. It's perfectly normal behavior and shows why Edge is just IE 2.0 (new and improved, granted, but still). ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 14:33, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

April 7[edit]

Pictures for reuse[edit]

I'm doing a school project, and one of the criterion is that I need to have pictures that are high quality that I can reuse. I cannot find good pictures in Creative Commons because many of them are just pictures from a museum. I'm looking for pictures relating to seismology. To clarify, I am not asking for anyone to find these pictures for me, but I would appreciate some helpful sites since I am new to this. If it helps, I am using these pictures for noncommercial educational purposes. I am not entirely sure where this question should go, but computers sounds like it would most closely relate to finding pictures online. NerdyPerson (talk) 02:31, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

What's wrong with Google? It's non-commercial after all. Thanks Jenova20 (email) 11:32, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
@Jenova20: Copyright violations have become fashionable with the internet because of the ease with which they are made, but it does not make them any more legal. (Whether copyright laws that make everything copyrighted by default are sensible is another debate, but it is what it is.) Listening to music you downloaded off The Pirate Bay is if anything "less illegal" than copying pictures from the internet to put them in a project that other people will look at, commercial or not. TigraanClick here to contact me 11:54, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
It is not clear what exactly you want, but you can try on Wikimedia Commons. Everything there is under a free license. You will find diagrams such as commons:File:Love_wave.svg in .svg format, i.e. vector graphics with an infinitely good resolution, as well as photographs. TigraanClick here to contact me 11:54, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
@Tigraan: I have changed the link to a Love wave so that it directly leads to Commons.
@NerdyPerson: I'd suggest visiting commons:Category:Seismology. --CiaPan (talk) 12:38, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
Funny enough my media studies course relied on us taking pictures from Google to create fake magazine covers. It was obscure and we never put them on the internet after though. That was my point. It's not legal, but nor are you likely to be prosecuted for it since everyone is sharing copyrighted pictures. Thanks Jenova20 (email) 12:58, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
I think this part of the discussion is missing the point. If someone already had "one of the criterion is that I need to have pictures that are high quality that I can reuse" specified as part of their school project requirements, then failing to fulfill this criterion is not a good idea. It doesn't matter whether or not it's illegal, whether or not you're likely to be prosecuted nor what other random people did in their media studies course without such criterion. Ultimately none of these are any comfort when you get a lesser or even failing grade because you failed to fulfill the project requirements. The only real relevance is that if such criterion really have zero reasoning behind them you may have a greater chance of challenging them. That said, in any such case you always have to consider whether you want to bother with such an effort and of course you're more likely to succeeed if you you challenge before hand rather than just failing to fulfill the requirements than saying there was no reason for them. And of course the circumstances of this case suggest you're not likely to succeed whatever you do, the lack of "prosecution" and everyone else doing it, or at least some people doing it on their project not withstanding. (Prosecution is the wrong word here anyway. In many countries this won't be a criminal matter and you can't be prosecuted for it. You could be sued for it and at a minimum the copyright owner could prevent you from publishing any further copies. Unless you have a reason allowed in law to do so without the copyright holders permission.) Nil Einne (talk) 13:33, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
Nil Einee is correct, but I have been able to find some pictures on Google and Wikipedia Commons with a Reuse license thanks to all of your answers. Thank you so much! NerdyPerson (talk) 17:35, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
You might start at our seismology article and follow links from there, copying any pics you want to use along the way (you may have to click on them several times to get to the max resolution). StuRat (talk) 18:18, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

How to make use of windows movie maker?[edit]

Please Suggest me to overcome this ... — Preceding unsigned comment added by SubmitForms (talkcontribs) 08:33, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

If you are looking at the icon from a desktop or folder, you double click the icon. If you are looking at the icon in the start menu, you click the icon once. If this does not work, make sure the program is properly installed. The easiest way to do this is usually to try to install it again: most Microsoft programs check for existing copies already on the system. Ian.thomson (talk) 09:31, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Alternative[edit]

Please suggest one which consist of many .file type saving option... 43.245.120.12 (talk) 10:34, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Headphone Software[edit]

A headphone software which could ‘min to max’ individual ear pieces, for self-hearing purposes… 43.245.123.186 (talk) 10:28, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

I don't remember exact instructions, but I've moved the sound between the left and right channels in Audacity (audio editor) before. You'd have to use the headphones on your computer, though. Ian.thomson (talk) 10:47, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
Left-right balance is common. My original Walkman had a left-right balance slider. On my phone, it is still there under Settings-Accessibility-Hearing-Left and Right Sound Balance. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 12:56, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Event-driven, data-driven programming, any other <something else>-driven?[edit]

Besides event-driven and data-driven programming languages, what else can be the driving element in a programming language? Or can be classify all languages in these two categories? --Hofhof (talk) 17:25, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

If you can make an interrupt, you can program around it. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 18:13, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
I wonder how Conway's Game of Life (or, more broadly, any cellular automaton) is classified. The only data is the starting config and rules. From there the program runs on it's own with no further input. StuRat (talk) 20:11, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
Zero-player game-gadfium 00:48, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
Would you classify it as an "initial conditions only game" ? Many fluid dynamics models seem similar, in that you just provide the setup and it does a simulation all on it's own, with no further input. StuRat (talk) 02:26, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

xyz-driven sounds buzzwordy to me, but I've heard functional programming described as "value-oriented" or "value driven". Functional reactive programming is implemented with events under the covers, but it's supposed to model continuous time, so I'd class it differently from event- or data-driven programming. 50.0.136.56 (talk) 05:24, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

Don't forget Imperative languages like Forth. --Guy Macon (talk) 06:06, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
There's also Time-driven programming. I've occasionally seen "State Driven programming" to describe using state machines, but that strikes me as an attempt to force a buzzword and isn't used often.
Of course, your development process itself can be buzzword driven too! You can have Test-driven development, Model-driven engineering, Domain-driven design, Responsibility-driven design, and who knows how many others. ApLundell (talk) 15:05, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

public DNS with AWS[edit]

Google runs a public DNS that's both free and fast at 8.8.8.8 (and memorable too). I use it for my home computers.

Is there a similar thing from Amazon? I have some servers hosted on Amazon's AWS EC2 service, and it would be great if I can get the same service as 8.8.8.8 within AWS's own infrastructure to reduce latency. ECS LIVA Z (talk) 18:02, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Do you actually have evidence that DNS latency is an issue for you? Your application must be doing an extremely large number of DNS lookups to many different domains for this to be a problem. If that's really the case, you may want to look at Amazon Route 53. CodeTalker (talk) 02:27, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
Route 53 is AWS's DNS service and is probably the fastest within AWS. It's not free but it's cheap enough that its cost shouldn't bother you unless your query load is insane. 50.0.136.56 (talk) 05:26, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Google's 8.8.8.8 role is telling me "If you want to go to wikipedia.org, head to this IP". Wikipedia pays someone to "map wikipedia.org to IP", but it's not Google.
Route 53 is the "map custom domain name to IP address" service, so it 1. is not free, and 2. is meant to service custom domain names owned the payee. I don't have a custom domain name in this case. I just want to find out the IP address of existing sites on the internet. So I don't think Route 53, whether free or not, is suitable for this role. ECS LIVA Z (talk) 23:17, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
DNS has two aspects: one is to be a trusted, albeit only local, registry which publishes the fact that "I control the example.org domain and I state that enquiries for it should be routed to IP 1.2.3.4". This is a low volume service that does not handle requests to resolve a domain name, merely to serve other DNS services.
The second aspect is servicing the client requests "where do I connect to example.org?", in bulk. This is a replicated service, based on trust. My DNS requests from my desktop might be handled by a machine on my own private network, my broadband router, my ISP, backbone host services, the domain's hosting company and name registrar in turn. This is largely a problem for the client to pay for, as close to that client as they can arrange it. This is a performance critical service.
My own DNS (i.e. the first registration aspect) was historically handled through my domain name registrar, with subdomains within this via my hosting company. Nowadays I'm migrating to Amazon AWS and Route 53. Not because it works better, but because it is easier to manage (Route 53 is a good product and perhaps "the best way to deal with DNS" for many of us) and more flexible for me, as a host rather than a client. This is (IMHE) true both for myself (my site hosting is migrating to AWS too) and also even for those who only need DNS services and are still hosting elsewhere. Andy Dingley (talk) 15:12, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
There is an Amazon provided DNS server for use by Amazon cloud apps. Information is here, in the documentation. I'm surprised your server wasn't already configured to use this DNS provider when you got it.
I agree with CodeTalker that you must have an unusual application if DNS latency is a big issue for you, and unless you're making an unusual amount of DNS lookups there's probably another problem. ApLundell (talk) 14:46, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

April 8[edit]

Qudratic Equations - Promise Problem[edit]

Is the follwing promise problem NP-complete?

Input: a system of quadratic equations with either one or zero solutions.

Question: does the system have a solution? 31.154.81.31 (talk) 06:56, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

A system of N quadratic equations potentially has solutions. Please, clarify your question. Ruslik_Zero 20:50, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
The question seems to me to be well defined: Given a system that is known to have at most one solution, how hard is it to determine whether there is one? —Tamfang (talk) 08:30, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

A spreadsheet question[edit]

In a spreadsheet, is there a way to format a cell so that when you click it, it brings you to the what is in the cell? I mean, if cell A1 contains "=A3", I would like to be able to click A1 and it jumps me to A3. Cheers. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 20:19, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

There are many different spreadsheet programs, which all work differently, so there's no one answer that will be correct for all possible spreadsheet programs. If you're using Excel, take a look at this link: [1]. If you're using a different spreadsheet, you need to specify which one you're using. CodeTalker (talk) 20:59, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
Hi CodeTalker. A thousand pardons. I am using OpenOffice. And holy moly, the stackoverflow link you provided is way beyond my ability to understand. I thought there might just be a command or something. Best, Anna Frodesiak (talk) 21:12, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
Wouldn't that behavior look like a bug to anyone who doesn't know that A1=A3 ? StuRat (talk) 23:10, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
Well, StuRat, good point. Actually, it is just for me. I have a list at the beginning of the sheet. Each cell contains =BA1 then the next cell down contains =CA1 then =DA1 then =EA1, etc. BA1 is the text heading of a table there. So, the display at the beginning of the sheet is a sort of index or table of contents of what all the tables are. I would like to be able to click one of those at the beginning of the sheet and magically get taken to that particular table. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 23:54, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
It seems what you need is a Table of contents, but Calc spreadsheets for some reason can't have a TOC like Writer documents. You can use Outlines (Data->Group and outline->Group) to selectively conceal sets of rows or columns. You'll get a vertical or horizontal bar with tiny + and - buttons on it that you can use to expand that part of the table. This is similar to folding.
that said, it is possible to do what you describe by having a macro that sets the focus to a particular cell. However, the macro would have to be assigned to something like a hyperlink or a button - clicking on a cell alone can't invoke a macro (without contortions...) This seems to work:
Sub gotoCell
sheet = ThisComponent.Sheets(0)
targ = Sheet.getCellByPosition(0,2).string 'A3
ThisComponent.CurrentController.select(Sheet.getCellRangeByName(targ))
End sub
This transfers you to the cell whose coordinates are in cell A3. you'd have to manually insert this into the spreadsheet (Tools->Macros->Organize macros->LibreOffice Basic), then draw a button (View->Toolbars->Form controls), then set the button's "Execute action" event (right click->Form controls->Events) to "gotoCell".
I played with OO once. It's completely over-engineered and evil (esp. UNO - the macro above uses only Basic, though) Asmrulz (talk) 15:41, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
Thank you very much, my friend, for taking the time. It is so far beyond my mental pay grade, you wouldn't believe. I must give up on this quest. I must say that it is odd. I am often at a cell that contains something like "=AD37" and would like to jump there to see what is in that cell. These spreadsheets should have a hotkey or something that does that. Thank you again, and best wishes. :) Anna Frodesiak (talk) 22:40, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

April 9[edit]

Similarity to the C programming language[edit]

C#, Java, Python, Objective-C. Which of these, will you suggest, is most related to the C language, by all possible means (syntax, logic, internal functions, error handling, applications). Thank you, Ben-Yeudith (talk) 01:09, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

Plainly Objective-C, as the only one that is a superset of C. (You didn't ask to order them, but:) Python is the most removed (no braces, and it and C# have no non-object primitive types). I think C# is a bit farther from C than Java is (simply because it contains more special syntactic constructs). --Tardis (talk) 04:26, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

I am trying to remember the name of a program[edit]

I am trying to remember the name of a program that you run to set many windows 10 professional options to maximize privacy, remove the "Get Office" and "XBox" ads from the start menu, stop trying to get you to buy a OneDrive subscription, etc. I have a list of these sort of things things I do when I do a new install, and I have been meaning to try a program that automates most of that.

The thing is, I can't remember the nam of the program, or any similar program (which will lead me to where I want to go with some clever "alternative to", "comparison", and "shootout" searches). Anyone have any idea what it is called? --Guy Macon (talk) 13:47, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

OptionalFeatures.EXE ??? --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 16:36, 9 April 2017 (UTC)


──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Thanks! Not exactly what I was looking for, but it was the sttarting point that led me to find all of the major sofware programs that do what I want. They are, in alphabetical order:

I am going to try O&O ShutUp10 first. The reviews look OK.

General advice: Before trying any of these, look for reviews and when you dowload the program, san it at Virus Total ( https://www.virustotal.com/ ) before running it. I will be trying them on a clean install, so no worries if I screw up the system - just do another fresh install and try another. Do not experiment with these sort of system tools if you have data that is not backed up in multiple places! --Guy Macon (talk) 18:30, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

Ryan Dahl's, creator of Node.js, age[edit]

How old is Ryan Dahl, the creator of Node.js? --Schweinchen (talk) 20:20, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

If nobody has his exact age, I can provide an estimate. He was in his early 20s when I met him briefly at a conference in 2010. It only came up because I asked if he was 18 yet and I was told that he was 20-something (forgot the exact age). That would place him nearly 30 in 2017. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 11:57, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

April 10[edit]