Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 October 27

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October 27

Good headphones?

Does anyone know the best set of circumaural 'phones around $70 or less? I got the Koss Pro/4AA, but they are for things like amplifiers and studio equipment (handy, but not what I'm looking for). Sort-of looking for something that can work with a CD player. Much appreciated. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 00:37, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Best is really opinionated. I use a Cyber Accoustic ACM 800 which don't hurt my ears if I wear them for extended periods of time, have pretty decent sound, a few feet of cables, folds up (but not to anything small enough to really be considered portable), and has a noise cancelation system which doesn't work very well. I think it just boosts the volume slightly when it's on. I'm in no way advocating it, but mine costed me $50 at the time. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 00:53, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

My father is an audiophile, and he got me the Sennheiser HD 497. I've been happy with them, and I think they're in that price range. Hope that helps! -- Creidieki 01:31, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestion; I picked those up. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 16:44, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

I second the Sennheiser HD-497s. They're $70 and are fantastic. 202.10.86.63 04:38, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Not a shabby suggestion at all, but just take note that the HD-497s leak sound like mad. If you're using them in a very quiet place, you'll tick off the people near you. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 15:57, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Why aren't your current phones suitable for CD players? —Bromskloss 12:39, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

They have a plug like a guitar cable. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 16:44, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Why not just get an adaptor? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:07, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

I didn't know there were adaptors for that. Furthermore, I already ordered the other one. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 00:42, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Take a look at Top 10 Headphones Reviewed dpotter 18:04, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Firefox 2.0 and Wikipedia

Firefox looks really weird at Wikipedia. It's fine on other websites. Anyone know how to fix it? See pic. Thanks WP 01:52, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Are you actually using the release version of Firefox 2.0? It's just that I can see the word "Build" after Firefox, which may mean you are using a beta or pre-release version. The final version is available at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/, I'm using it now and it's fine. Note that Firefox doesn't seem to be detecting this new version as an update, so you may need to install it manually. --Canley 03:24, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't update automagically?! :-( Here I am, waiting for it to notify me about the new version, and you tell me it won't! Any idea why? —Bromskloss 12:39, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

No. As of 1.5.0.?, they all say "build". It annoys me, too. - Samsara

I havn't noticed that. Nor have I noticed the bug described by Canley. If you're using the final Firefox 2.0, which language is it and are you using an optimized build like swiftfox? Do you have any extensions installed, or a custom theme? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk)

You can't update from 1.5.0.7 to 2.0 because there's no way to stop an automatic upgrade; so the automatic upgrade hasn't been set up yet. Firefox 1.5.0.8 will let you decline an automatic upgrade. --Kjoonlee 18:46, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

It's called a build samsara. If it wasn't a "build" it would be "source" and you'd have to build it yourself (with make or a windows compiler) --froth^{T C} 21:27, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Err, right, but Firefox doesn't usually include its build number in the window title. I'm on 2.0, and it isn't doing so. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 21:31, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks everyone. I *am* using 2.0. The "build" thing is caused by Nightly Tester Tools. The problem is caused by my "classic 1.5 look" theme. WP 07:59, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Online Jobs

Hello all. Are there any legitimate ways of working and making money over the internet? I can find a job online, but how can I find an online job online? I've looked into survey taking and the like, and it seems pretty fishy. I'm a full time college student without a car, so I really need some information about working from my computer over the internet. Are there any job opportunities available? Thank you for your help. 72.228.54.222 04:24, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Well I'm a publicist and science writer, and I do all my work online. I know there are modestly lucrative and legitimate content-writing jobs out there, but from what my friends in the industry say they are jealously guarded by the people who have them. I make a bit of money on the side writing content for people on the KEEN and NiteFlirt sites, but I got those jobs thru word of mouth. Anchoress 04:32, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

It's funny you mention NiteFlirt--I have a friend who did some work for them. She referred me to their website about a year ago, and I was considering becoming a "flirt." Even that seems kinda sketchy to me though. 72.228.54.222 04:42, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I've done it (not with NiteFlirt), and a good friend does it. I found it excruciatingly boring, but she does very well. Anchoress 04:49, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I have an extra job in my spare time, I do translations over the web for a german company (and actually, I live in Sweden myself...). Unfortunately, I usually only get one or the documents to translate every three or four months, but anything is better than nothing? TERdON 00:55, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

The thing about online jobs is that it really depends on what you want/can do. If you happen to be incined in the computing field, there are some good places like rentacoder that allow you to make bids on projects. Pretty nice, because you get to choose what you work on. Projects range from simple things like making logos, to extreemly time-consuming programming jobs. - Ridge Racer 04:41, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Modem router combos

I'm looking to buy a DSL modem and a router. Is there any downside to the 2-in-1 router+modem combination units? The two I was looking at purchasing are the Netgear DG834 and the D-Link DSL-504G. Would they be wise purchases? Are there any other places I can find cheap routers in Australia? Thanks. 202.10.86.63 04:35, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I have used both of these, and while I can't remember the details, they seemed to do waht was on the box. Rich Farmbrough, 10:52 27 October 2006 (GMT).

Downsde of using a combo is speed loss and less range and preformance all together..... best choice would be a D-link DSL-502T modem and the Netgear Rangemax 240 MIMO WNT834....... only downfall of the router is its close to $300 AUS....... pros are that it runs at 240mbps providing that you have a rangemax MIMO wireless receiver.... and the range is great. One of the 3 powerfull ariels are detachable alowing you to upgrade your range. Hardley ever disconects and looks quite sexy...... next best router option would be the NETGEAR Rangmax NEXT 802.11n Pre-n router.... this router has significant sped at close range but lacks at far range... also i recommend waiting for the full N release rather than using a Draft-n router. hope this has helped!!! pulo 08:37, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

sd cards

i have a dvd player that plays memory sticks,sd cards and cf type 1.my photosmart 8200 series has same.can i download and burn a movie on to one of these cards and then put in dvd player to watch it rather than burn to disc? thanx.x

Depends on the DVD player. I know you can do this with a computer. What is your model/brand of DVD player? —Mitaphane _talk 18:12, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

xml file

Hi guys, I am trying to create an xml file called banner.xml as per the instructions here. The text for the xml file is here. Can someone tell me how I can create the xml file. This software stuff is beyond me (sigh) -- Lost^(talk) 14:11, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

You can paste it into notepad and save it as xml --froth^{T C} 16:45, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Don't use notepad. Use wordpad. Notepad will save it as banner.xml.txt. You'll have to turn on file extensions (which should have never been turned off by default) and then rename the file. Wordpad will (if memory serves) save it as banner.xml. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:05, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Notepad will work. Just select All files under the Save as type: thing in the save dialog, rather than .txt. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:07, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Or alternativly in notepad, put the filename in "quote marks" and it won't add an extension. -- AJR | Talk 18:44, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks a lot everybody!! -- Lost^(talk) 07:34, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

join

When attempting to return only matching records from two related tables where the value in one column of the first table also appears in a certain column of the second table. this scenario best describes which type of "join"?

inner join
outer join
cross join
all of above
none of above

If you went through the trouble of typing "join" in the search box, you'd see the article Join (SQL), which explains each of the join types. Then, you could do your homework easily. --Kainaw ^(talk) 15:07, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Carbon fibre mice

Does anyone know of a computer mouse whose entire upper shell is made of carbon fiber? I recently got a carbon fiber laptop that I'm quite happy with, and would like to have the same material in my next mouse. There are rumours that some of Logitech's mice are made from carbon fiber, but from images I've seen it looks like the buttons are usually plastic (polycarbonate?), with the grip parts along the sides possibly carbon fiber. - User:Samsara

Why would you need carbon fibre in your mice? It's primarily used to save weight (which shouldn't be a concern in mice), and on the other hand scratches rather easily. ColourBurst 17:31, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I just like the feel of it. - Samsara (talk ·  contribs) 19:30, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Interesting, may I ask where you accuired this carbon fiber laptop from? - Ridge Racer 04:35, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Carbon fiber is pretty expensive for you to buy for a mouse. X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve) 05:04, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

I know that you can get a Formula 1 brand carbon-fibre mousemat, for a mere £250... Robmods 10:41, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Carbon fiber? why! If you want some cool looking and feeling material, try the magnesium/titanium composite that thinkpads are made of... sleek black and always cold to the touch --froth^{T C} 19:09, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes. Any mice made from that material? - Samsara (talk ·  contribs) 11:11, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Big VB Programming Project

Please I want to make a big programming Project in VB 6 or VB.NET . So Can provide me with internet site or institute to provide me with this complete code of project.

Now that would be cool. I want to do a big project (like the one I've been coding for last 36 hours straight), but instead of coding it, I just go to a website and download the code. Project done. Where's my pay? --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:02, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

There are seldom sites that will offer exactly what you want - and often not for a small fee, either. Unless it's something rather simple (a calculator?). x42bn6 Talk 19:23, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

OIN popup

Each time I search using Google, I get a strange and uninvited pop-up from OIN. I can neither block nor get rid of it. I'm hoping I'm not the only one dealing with this, and that someone can help me strike this from my computer. Thanks.Wolfgangus 17:45, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I bet it's spyware. Use Adaware, Spybot - Search & Destroy and Microsoft Antispyware. Then, stop using IE (or at least update it / increase the security level) or programs which bundle spyware. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:49, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Thank you very much. Spybot alone found 78 'problems'

If you want to continue using Internet Explorer, then upgrade to version 7. Harryboyles 22:47, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Video Ipod

How many songs can the Video Ipod hold?

That's subjective. It depends on how long your songs are, and what bitrate they're encoded at. Apple gives a number of 7,500 songs, which is based on every song being a 4-minute 128 kb/s AAC. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 21:38, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

If you had mp3s, theoretically, how many songs could you fit on? X [Mac Davis] (SUPERDESK|Help me improve) 04:37, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

The container itself shouldn't make a big difference. So, if you have MP3s encoded straight at 128 kbps, they should take about the same amount of space as AACs encoded at 128 kbps. You should be able to use Apple's guesstimate number in either case. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:38, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

If the playtime is equal, a 128kbps MP3 should be exactly the same size as a 128kbps AAC. Bitrate is filesize divided by playtime. --Kjoonlee 09:24, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

You forgot the overhead; I doubt that, for instance, the headers of both formats are exactly the same size. Bitrate does not include all the overhead (the file header and ID3 tags most probably aren't included in the bitrate). --cesarb 15:59, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

The headers are generally of an insignificant size compared to the data. - Rainwarrior 17:23, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

I did have the overhead in mind, but some of my software ignores all that, using total filesize and total playtime to calculate the average bitrate; so I just went ahead. --Kjoonlee 01:31, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

NTFS & Linux

When I was able to run my live Ubuntu CD, linux could not mount the HDs. Is this because they are NTFS formatted? --Username132 (talk) 23:30, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

While it is possible to read an NTFS file system from Linux, I know of no safe way to write to one. It is possible if you don't mind the risk of trashing the NTFS drive. If all you want is read access, mount with a normal mount command, but add the "ro" for "read only", such as /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows ntfs users,owner,ro,umask=000 0 0 --Kainaw ^(talk) 23:44, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

There is a (perpetually "experimental") NTFS-write module for Linux - http://www.linux-ntfs.org/ As Kainaw says, it's a bit risky; an ro mount should work fine. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:52, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Well all my drives are formatted with NTFS - I have enough spare capacity to shift all the data from one drive at a time - how do I then format the drive with a file system that both Win and Linux can read? A right kaffufle... --Username132 (talk) 01:48, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

The obvious solution would be to format the drive as FAT32. Both Linux and Windows will do this. You need a spare partition, and this might be hard to get on an already-formatted drive.--Silvaran 02:35, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Captive NTFS? It taints the OS with a proprietary driver, but blarblar. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 02:38, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

leave a message on my talk page if you need it and don't have NT :o --froth^{T C} 19:07, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Is Captive NTFS easy to install? I'm interested in Suse and Ubuntu but I read of problems that people are having with Captive NTFS and both these distributions. I'm a Linux beginner and don't really want additional headaches from experimental software. If you agree, I suggest that I can;

a) shift the data from one drive to a spare drive

b) reformat the empty drive using the Disk Management utility available in Windows

c) shift the data back to the drive

d) repeat from a) on each drive and then finally on the spare drive (five total)

Then my drives will be in FAT32 and all will be well in the world? --Username132 (talk) 13:04, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I don't know how well Linux would run on a FAT32 partition. For sure, it would miss the benefits of a journaled file system. The only drives that need to be in FAT 32 are the ones you want to share between Linux and Windoze. And it's fairly easy to relocate your Linux home directory to a FAT32 drive. But some more options: (i) Puppy Linux reads and writes to NTFS out of the box; (ii) it might be far less trouble to go the other way and enable Windows to read and write to ext2 using the Ext2 Installable File System for Windows. If you look around, there is a registry hack for Windows allowing you to relocate Documents & Settings to a different drive/directory. If you would like to try to make Ubuntu talk nice with NTFS, here is a how-to. --Marbux 22:23, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Will I be able to reformat my drives in Windows for ext2/3? I'd like to have my drives prepared before I start to install Linux. Since that means reformatting them all, I guess ext2/3 is the way. Will that software you mentioned (thanks) allow only to read/write files on such drives, or will it let me format in ext2 or 3? --Username132 (talk) 13:50, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

If the computer in question has USB, go buy a 1GB USB key for $20USD. Ubuntu can read the NFTS drives and you can keep any writable files on the USB key. This does not solve all possible problems, but it does solve a large subset of your problems. -Arch dude 01:08, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll take that under advisement... ;) --Username132 (talk) 13:04, 31 October 2006 (UTC)