Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 November 15

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November 15

firefox 2 change

Anyone know why Firefox 2 no longer remembers passwords for the Novell BorderManager proxy login? I know that the form doesn't use that "high security" flag that banks set so that it won't remember the password. In fact it asks me "do you want to remember this password" .. and when I go to Show Passwords my login for the proxy's IP is listed- it's just not auto filling when the page loads. It's not using javascript to do this. Any ideas what else this could be? --froth^{T C} 03:56, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Is the page secure http (does it begin with https://)? I do not think that the password manager works for secure pages, regardless of any flags. --sish 06:12, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

The login page is unencrypted, though of course it submits over SSL --froth^{T C} 07:22, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Oops scratch that, it is over https! Is there any way to change this behavior? --froth^{T C} 17:54, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

I know there is a better way, I suggest going to MozZine and asking, or checking out this extention. 68.39.174.238 00:24, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

Firefox 2.0 buggy tabs

Hey everyone. I'm getting a very weird problem in Firefox 2.0 under SuSE Linux 10.1, where the tabs are buggy and cause pages to render incorrectly in any desktop environment except GNOME. That is, I have the problem in KDE, FVWM, Fluxbox, etcetra.

The problem arises when I select a tab. The tab sort of "shifts" down, as well as the content of the page itself. The "actual" page, however, is in its original position, and it "updates" when hyperlinks are hovered over. The position of the tab also "updates" when other windows are dragged over them. You can see an example here; the parts that have been "updated" and shifted up are the close button and the left half of the tab, whereas the middle remains in its shifted-down state.

Because of the resulting errors in page rendering, it is almost impossible for me to use Firefox in that state. The problem occurs in both the official SuSE build and the official Mozilla binary version of Firefox 2.0, but 1.5.0.7 worked fine. No-one from SuSE or Firefox has yet to give me any helpful answer, or have even suggested any possible cause of the problem or what it might be related to. I have tried many different themes for Firefox, but the problem persists under all of them.

Does anyone have any ideas? :( -- Daverocks (talk) 05:34, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Firefox is a GTK application just like Gnome. KDE is not. I've found that Firefox locks up KDE excessively - though not as much as Gaim does. So, I use Konqueror. I'd like to use Firefox, but it isn't worth having a computer that locks up randomly throughout the day. I'm not blaming Mozilla or Firefox. I blame KDE for not supporting GTK applications well. --Kainaw ^(talk) 15:52, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

I blame GNOME for gratuitously changing details in the environment's working and not giving the user the opportunity to configure them. For example, I always liked how the Gnome-Panel organised grouped windows in order of their opening. I never asked GNOME to suddenly make it organise them alphabetically. But they did it anyway, and I can't change it back. No wonder Linus Torvalds himself has been critical of GNOME lately. JIP | Talk 17:23, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks guys. I might just use Konqueror then. -- Daverocks (talk) 01:58, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Internet/Mobile advertising

In the case of mobile advertising, there is a popular type of advertising where readers are shown a advertisement, and then asked a question about it. If they ask them correctly, they are give a few credit like SMS and talktime. I just want to know whether any advertising agency provides such types of advertising in the Internet. Do you know any company that enables websites to show such advertisements where viewers are asked a question and if they answer that, they get credit.

Please name a few companies like that if you know. And, If you dont know but know any company which does that for mobile, please mention it too.

Also, can you mention some of the top mobile advertising companies?

Thankyou

Management Information System

MIS is just about the computerization and the management of database or it is presentation of information in desired and relevant form aiding decision making and problem solving?--203.78.175.219 09:07, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

In short MIS is the second definition - refer to Management information system. Your first one just sounds like a Database management system. --jjron 12:29, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

cd rom

i wanted to ask which irq does a cd rom use is it number 11 or does it depend to which adapter its attached to?coz i thot that it can be on the secondary ide 2.which dma channell is not free on a standard pc? is it 2 or 0?n why

A CD-ROM has no specific default IRQ. As you say, it depends on what controller it is attached to (e.g. IDE, SCSI, USB). Conventionally/commonly it is in the secondary IDE = IRQ 15. DMA0 is reserved for the system timer, not free. DMA2 is usually (default) floppy disk controller, so can cause conflict if another device is assigned at the same time. Can be used for another device if you do not have a floppy disk controller on your system. Seejyb 16:23, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Laptop docking station detection/profiles

Our department recently acquired HP Compaq NC8230 laptops for everyone, including docking stations for work at our desks. What I wanted to know is, does Windows XP detect when a laptop is docked? If so, is there an application available that can automatically change profiles and settings when the laptop is docked/undocked? Things I'd want to change:

1. Screen resolution. The laptop is widescreen, but when docked we will use dual 4:3 LCD monitors. The secondary display resolution is not an issue; what I'd like is to have the primary resolution automatically change from widescreen to 4:3 (whatever resolution the LCD monitor needs).
2. Power behaviour. When undocked, the laptop will go on standby whenever the lid is closed. When docked, I want this setting to automatically change to "do nothing" (by the way, is it okay to run a laptop with the lid closed for extended periods of time?).

If these can't be done automatically, is there a utility that can store these settings in a profile so I can change quickly from one to the other? Thanks for your time. Zunaid©^{Please rate me at Editor Review!} 13:55, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

My only experience of this, from an IBM/Lenovo laptop, is that detection of the docking station (and application of the appropriate profile) was done by a system-specific IBM program, not by a generic bit of Windows. I'd think that you'd need to get the HP equivalent program. What complicates matters is that some docking stations are smart devices, which the laptop can detect, but some are just passthroughs, so the laptop can only detect the devices connect to it (the latter method being a bit harder for software to define as a "profile"). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:08, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

file.part1.zip

I recently downloaded an old abandonware game, and the download came in "parts." They're all pretty much identical zip files, containing the same information. I am able to play the game with part1, but what are the other ones for? —Akrabbim^talk 16:15, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

In the old days of slow dial-up and 1.44MB floppies, zip files would be split to make transmission easier, and file sizes smaller. Modern unzip type programs will stick the files back together if you have all the parts, and you may not even notice it happened. Mishatx 17:16, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Chances are that the data is distributed across all of the parts, and when you open one of them your zip utility merges them all into what you see. --froth^{T C} 17:16, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Oh, okay. Thanks, I appreciate it. —Akrabbim^talk 15:56, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Emacs question

How do I configure GNU Emacs 21.4.1 always use spaces instead of tabs when indenting in Java mode? JIP | Talk 17:06, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

See the variable indent-tabs-mode. If you want it to just take effect in Java mode, you could do something like (add-hook 'java-mode-hook (lambda () (setq indent-tabs-mode nil))). Also useful, perhaps, is the command untabify. --Tardis 17:37, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

computer memory related problem

can any one explan me how 32 bit wide databus can use 4k*8 static ram memory chip?if it is possible then what will be the smallest memory of that computer?

What do you mean? Are you asking if 32 bit wide databuses can use them, or are you asking how to get a 32 bit wide databus to use them? And why does this sound like a homework problem? But I would think you would be able to connect the 8 lowest bits of the databus to the static ram and ground the other 24. Or you put 4 of those chips in parallel, which is what you would normally do. The smallest you should be able to use is 1*1, that stores the whopping amount of 1 bit, but that's really pointless. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:18, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

request for an article

please create an article about nokia 5300 mobile phone. thanks! kathzzzz-ganda! 23:24, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Try WP:RA and you'll get a better response. Mishatx 23:37, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

the hierarchy of WIKIPEDIA

(moved from Misc. Ref. Desk)

Please can u give me the hierarchy,and the number of websites...................like a SITE MAP ....Thanx in advance.

Have you looked at Wikipedia or Wikipedia:Statistics. What hierarchy do you mean? Jpeob 03:24, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

This question would work better at the Computing Reference Desk. Also, please sign your posts with four tildes. -THB 03:24, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

More like WP:HD --froth^{T C} 03:58, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Keyboard malfunction

(moved from Misc. Desk)

On my laptop the "i" key is partially broken; everytime I type "i" I have to slam the key for it to work. Is there some way to fix this easily or do I have to shell out some dough to replace the built-in keyboard? By the way, my warranty is expired.

This question is probably better suited under the Computing/IT department. 惑乱 分からん 00:14, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Likely you can carefully pop the key off and clean under it and it will be okay. There are little tabs that can break. -THB 00:27, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Be as careful as you possibly can, you can't purchase parts (like a single key) and a whole replacement laptop keyboards cost $100-$200. Vespine 04:24, 16 November 2006 (UTC)