Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2011 March 25

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March 25

Computer display

VGA was for ages the most common and practically only monitor connection on all computers, that ubiquity made it so convenient. You practically never ever had to worry about not having the right cable or adapter for any computer and any display. Why is it that before a new standard completely replace the last one, we have a competing, partially compatible one replacing that. DVI was just fine. Then HDMI added audio, and rearanged the pins to ensure we need new passive (mechanical) adapters that are expensive and never there when you need them. And now, display port is already replacing HDMI (for computers at least), and again, we need to find proper mechanical passive adapters to get that partial compatibility. Whats the point of all of this? And to add to all of that, every one of these new standards has multiple types of connecters (Mini and Micro, and sometimes alternative pin arrangements even) makes it a huge hassle to find the right connectors and adapters. Why cant we agree on ONE standard that has only ONE or maxium TWO sizes, and keep the exact same connecter on future versions of it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roberto75780 (talk • contribs) 00:50, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Probably because they make more money selling you all the cables and devices with all those connectors. Myself, I just stick with a D-SUB DE-15F connector (the one you are calling a VGA connector). It seems to handle my monitor's max res of 1920×1200 at 32-bit color depth just fine, with no pixel crawl. I think part of the problem is the convergence of TV screens and computer monitors. TVs had their standards and computer monitors had their's. That gives us twice as many standards already for combined devices. StuRat (talk) 06:05, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Are there ANY penny auction sites without prepaid bid packages?

I'd rather pay-as-I-go instead of having to pay $60 for $100. Having only $40-odd in my checking account, I have no other choice.

Therefore, which (reputable) penny auction sites allow me to start without a bulk bid package, and pay as I go? I'd love to get started on this and one day even resell my winnings on Craigslist or at a consignment store for a good profit, but I need to find a good way to start. Thanks. --70.179.169.115 (talk) 00:55, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

PS: What is the best time-of-day to win these bids of brinksmanship? I need to know when the site is least active so I'd have a higher chance to win. Thanks. --70.179.169.115 (talk) 01:03, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

The only winners of penny auctions are the hosting sites, who get the vast majority of your money. They charge $60 a pop because there are suckers willing to pay $60 a pop. There are probably sites that charge less, in order to cater to suckers gambling away their last $40 like you. But please don't be an idiot. Everyone goes into these things planning to "beat the system", and most of them are much better prepared than you seem to be. If you can't do your own IP traffic analysis and rent a geolocated server close to the hosting server, you're wasting your time and money. If you can do those things, you're still going to lose money, but perhaps less than 100% of it. -- BenRG (talk) 03:10, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

The basic problem is that there is always a cost for moving money from one place to another -- whether you use Paypal, credit cards, or whatever. If the amounts of money moved per transaction are too small, the per-transaction costs will kill you. That's why pay-as-you-go doesn't work: the premium for each payment is too high. Looie496 (talk) 18:58, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Then how do I build my own penny-auction site?

You know, there could be a lot in it for me if I built my own penny-auction site, and I'll start it with a bid-as-you-go system of 55¢ each, then bulk bids to start at 50¢/bid in a package, and lower per-bid cost as one buys a bigger package.

Therefore, how do I get started? How much overhead and start-up costs, and what else would I need? I do hope to become self-sufficient on an online business one day. --70.179.169.115 (talk) 03:25, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

How do you start a penny-auction site, with only $40 in your account? You don't. Even the most blatant scam needs startup cash. Try earning an honest living instead. If that isn't an option, try relying on the kindness of strangers, rather than on the gullibility of fools. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:31, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Well Andy, how much would a typical penny-auction site cost to start-up then? (And would you break down the individual costs if you can?)

At least I'm not one of those paying gullible fools because I found *******.com, which happens to give me 19 free bids upon registration. (Found a 10-bid coupon code through Google, 3 bids for signing up, 3 bids for adding bank account, and 3 bids for adding debit card.) I didn't have to pay anything up-front on that one, though that will likely be one of 5 free-bid-giving p-a site of the hundreds (thousands?) out there. I have 6 bids left and didn't win anything, though several times I was pretty close. --70.179.169.115 (talk) 03:58, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

(Note: I have removed the name of the penny-auction site from the above post - we don't need spam links here) AndyTheGrump (talk) 04:02, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

No. Several times you thought you were close: if it was that easy to win, they wouldn't be making a profit if they gave away free bids. Since you appear not to understand how these sites work, why do you expect to be able to run one at a profit? AndyTheGrump (talk) 04:04, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

You truly live up to your name, and at least I never had to pay anything to participate in a couple of websites, thanks to their free bids. (Of course most I came across didn't give free bids, but some would like newcomers to "try out" their sites by giving very few upon opening accounts.) Now, would anyone please break down the costs of starting up and operating these kinds of sites? --70.179.169.115 (talk) 04:20, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I won't, because I don't want to help people run scams; but here's a paper by a Stanford economist that's all about penny auction sites. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:11, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

If I were starting one of those sites, I'd try to have between $50,000 and $100,000 available, with the major expenses being lawyer consultation and advertising. --Carnildo (talk) 00:26, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Good, Business Web Design Company

I am looking for a professional-looking business website to be created for a friend of mine's company. The website will need to have some server-side scripting with a searchable database. He is not financially-limited. Could someone recommend me a good web designer/web design company that will be able to do this? I know there's a lot out there, but does anyone know any particularly good ones? Thanks Acceptable (talk) 02:31, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

If the site is for marketing or public relations purposes, you need an advertising agency. If the site is for internal or operations purposes (things like cloud- or web-based enterprise information system), you need an IT consulting firm. 118.96.160.241 (talk) 06:31, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

There are lots of web designers out there that are not advertising agencies. Anyway, my recommendation is that your friend should check out local options first. Even in our well-networked world, there is something to doing business with someone who you can meet face to face to talk about particulars, and figure out whether they are legitimate or not. There should be a bazillion web developers wherever you are, these days, and they should all have ample examples of the kind of work they have done. It's a little harder to be more specific than this — it isn't like there is one big web developer clearing house or anything like that. Any web developer worth their salt can deal with server-side scripting and a searchable database, that is the easy part. The hard part is making it look and work right within a budget. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:40, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

How do I start my own money-making website with the lowest possible start-up costs and overhead?

To begin, I'd rather sell anything that doesn't involve physically holding an item and shipping them. I also don't want to have to pay wholesale costs until the moment the item is already sold and received by the buyer.

(One possibility is designing my own online e-cards and somehow selling their designs for starting at 50¢ each or so. There's no shipping there, so without the overhead of holding physical items, it should be an easier business to start, right?)

But if there are better ideas on how to start an ultra-low-overhead, and high-margin online business, then I'm all ears.

I don't mind paying a $20 upfront domain registration fee through GoDaddy or another domain broker, but I would hope not to pay much more beyond that just to start it off.

I look forward to suggestions. Have a good day,

--70.179.169.115 (talk) 03:30, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

You just need one red paperclip, i.e one original idea, which you won't get here.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:47, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Your most expensive outlay might be advertising your website because it will not make money (even with a brilliant idea) until people know about it. It is possible to do this at no cost to you, through social networking, Youtube etc, but you need some subtle marketing. Dbfirs 08:23, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Don't expect very good suggestions here. Usually these kind of questions get a lot of "if we knew how to do this, we'd be doing it, not telling you about it" mixed with "here is a ridiculously stupid idea I just came up with, look how easy it is to make money." The truth is that coming up with original business models that work is actually quite difficult. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:44, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Besides that, there's a logical problem: if someone posts a biz idea to the web, many can copy it, reducing its scarcity and making it less of a money-bringing idea. Quest09 (talk) 18:45, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I heard that there are still a lot of Nigerians who are entitled to plenty of money but have difficulties accessing it. Recently they have found it harder and harder to locate trustworthy people who help them. (I believe this is due to a number of black sheep who were not actually entitled to any money and were just scammers.) Just create a web page on which you offer your services to these poor souls. Hans Adler 18:52, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

If you can draw, write comedy, and dedicate a lot of time to the project for years before it makes you your first dime, then Webcomics may be your answer. See the book How to Make Webcomics for details.

Just about all answers are going to be along those lines. Many people make money on blogging, selling artwork, running forums, hosting interesting social web applications, etc. But these people not only have a talent, more importantly they've been doing it for years slowly building up a fan base and a reputation.

I'm not aware of any way to put up a website and just watch the money pour out of it like a faucet. APL (talk) 22:36, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Tyan 5086B-TRF Eight-Socket Server & Intel 80615 Series Nehalem-C Processors

Hello!

  Does anyone here have any information about Tyan's new 5086B-TRF Server and/or Intel's new 80615 Series 10-Core Nehalem-C Processors? I know the 5086B-TRF is 5U-high and is said to support eight Nehalem-C 80615 Series processors, but haven't been able to find anything much else about either from Google.

  Thank you. Rocketshiporion♫ 04:50, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Untraceable IP

Are there IP addresses whose origin is untraceable. I am unable to find 172.51.19.160 on any of the lookup databases, but the IP visited a webpage that I track. Shyamal (talk) 08:16, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

An untraceable IP address would be useless, at least for visiting webpages -- there would be no way to send information back to it. It is however possible for IP addresses to be de-allocated. Looie496 (talk) 18:51, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

There are also IP addresses that do not resolve to an internet name. --Phil Holmes (talk) 19:09, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

The specified address, 172.51.x.x, is close (but not inside) a reserved private address space block. So it's possible that your network administrator has set up a non-compliant private network and allocated addresses beyond the 20-bit block (at slight risk of routing incorrectly). Since it appears that 172.51.x.x is not allocated on the internet, including it in a local network address space seems like a functional engineering workaround if your LAN runs out of IP addresses, though it's really not "best practice" to override proper internet routing. Read RFC1918 for technical details. Nimur (talk) 15:26, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Japanese fonts

PC with Windows XP Professional. I can't see Japanese fonts on Wikipedia. I loaded them from Windows but it doesn't seem to work. Strangely, I see Japanese fonts on the edit mode. Any help? --Chris.urs-o (talk) 14:41, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Try this. Control panel → Regional and Language Settings → check ja. See List of Control Panel applets. Oda Mari (talk) 15:14, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Thx. Could have asked u directly ;) --Chris.urs-o (talk) 10:01, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Point and name color

Is there an app - Windows or Linux - which tells you the name of a color, when you hover your mouse pointer upon it? I know some applications tell you the name of a color in a palette, but I need a more general solution. Quest09 (talk) 17:40, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Both "name of a color" and "palette" have different meanings for computers and humans, so let's clarify: are you looking for a program which displays strings like "red", "green", "pale teal" and "french blue" - could be useful for the color blind - or one which displays strings like "0000FF", "00FF00", "7DC1BA" (ew) and "9CA6D0"? 213.122.56.174 (talk) 18:04, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I need something for the first purpose, helping the color blind. Both options may be combined. After pointing the mouse, it would say: green/00FF00. Quest09 (talk) 18:10, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

There is a program called gpick that I believe has this functionality -- written for Linux but it may work in Windows as well. Looie496 (talk) 18:45, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

This page - the section on colour recognition lists a couple of programs which claim to name the colour which the mouse is pointing to. Both for Windows, but I can't test them at the moment, as I'm at work. In the browser, there are several Firefox extensions which do the same thing, including this.--Kateshortforbob _talk 12:35, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Why is MySpace (reportedly) losing out to Facebook?

I've never used either of these sites and hence know nothing about their appeal to people, but why has MySpace been reportedly losing out to Facebook? See http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12862139

Is it just a fad or fashion, or can you do things with Facebook that you cannot do with MySpace? Thanks 92.28.242.170 (talk) 20:26, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Well, in principle, there doesn't really have to be any particular reason apart from people using a particular service more for whatever reason. I suppose that what makes Facebook so dominant is their marketing - I'm not sure how they did it, but in just a few short years, FB has managed to become a part of millions of lives around the world. I don't think MySpace ever was that significant from a cultural viewpoint, it hasn't been such an integral part of people's lives. And I'm not saying that FB should be, but to be totally honest, it is. Zakhalesh (talk) 20:45, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Here is one article from Fortune from a few months ago that claims 2 main reasons that Facebook beat MySpace. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:49, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Honestly, I have a hard time figuring out how MySpace got so popular in spite of having such awful design. Paul (Stansifer) 17:22, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

The recent MySpace site redesign seems to have pissed off a lot of long-time users. MySpace was always clunky and slow to navigate to an extent (depending on how OTT the user in question went with the gratuitous embedded stuff and hi-res images - often 'very') but now it seems much, much worse. I only really go on MySpace to see what my favourite bands are doing and I've noticed a lot of 'MySpace has gone shite now - go to our Facebook page for regular updates'-type posts popping up over the past few months. Just a personal observation. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 17:45, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Virus problem, help appreciated

Resolved

 – Darigan (talk) 00:10, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi, I've picked up a virus that has changed my screen background blue, with the warning "Warning!Your're In Danger! Your Computer Is Infected With Spyware!......", and something called 'System tool' uses constant alerts to try to flog me some anti-spyware software. Now, I know that this is a scam (The grammar as much as anything else would suggest this), and having looked at forums the top suggestion seems to be to use system restore, but, system restore will not open for me. I have also tried to insall Kaspersky from my uni-student license, but while I can download kaspersky, I cannot install it - It fails in the same way as system restore. Has anybody got some straight forward (laymans terms) way to sort this out. Lots of my programmes won't run, and those that do, run very slowly. Any and all help appreciated, cheers, Darigan (talk) 21:03, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Edit - Running vista if that makes any difference, Darigan (talk) 21:04, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Do you know how you got the virus ? That is, what was the last thing you did before the problem occurred ? StuRat (talk) 21:17, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I was browsing online, I think I must have picked it up from a dodgy website. Currently trying to download and install Kaspersky again. Darigan (talk) 21:20, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Did you download and execute a file ? StuRat (talk) 22:29, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

This article http://www.removevirus.org/warning-yourre-danger-your-computer-infected-with-spyware seems to cover the issue I have, but I am not familiar with the site, and am a bit worried that downloading anything from it could exacerbate the problem (If linked site is also dodgy) Darigan (talk) 21:22, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Try downloading and installing the antimalware program from Malwarebytes. Our list of steps at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing/Viruses discusses what to do if you have to reformat your hard disk and start from scratch. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:24, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi,was writing a response when windows shut the computer down because of threats - Working from my partners' now. Tried downloading the Malwarebytes software (V 1.50.1), but I get the message: "Warning! Application cannot be executed. The file FlashUtil10l_ActiveX.exe is infected. Please activate your antivirus software" - And, when I click on that alert it directs me to a window (designed to look like a windows window) asking me for bank details to purchase a 'software license' for 'System Tool'. The virus appears to be blocking me from using any tools (already installed,or newly downloaded)that might let me get rid of the virus. Is it the case that I may need torestorefactory settings? Thanks for your help. Darigan (talk) 21:59, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

The first thing I'd try is killing whatever virus is currently running. Use <CTRL> <ALT> <DELETE> to bring up the Task Manager and kill anything that seems suspicious (this is written for Windows XP, but I assume it's similar in Vista). If you kill a vital process, then you might need to reboot and start the process over. Hopefully, after you kill the currently running virus process(es), you will be able to run anti-virus scans again. However, some more sophisticated viruses are able to spawn new processes as fast as you kill them. StuRat (talk) 22:13, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

CheersStuRat, but, unfortunatly, when I use Ctrl-Alt-Del, I get the options: lock this computer; switch user; start task manager; etc. - But, when I hit "start task manager" the Ctrl-Alt-Del menu disappears (almost as if task manager was going to start),and I return to the windows interface but nothing happens. It is as though the virus is disabling all programmes that could be used to stop it functioning(Such as system restore, and the installation of Kaspersky). Darigan (talk) 22:24, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Have you tried a reboot ? (I'm not encouraging you to reboot normally, as this could make it worse, just asking if you already tried it.) If you have the ability to boot in "Safe mode", this might be a good first step toward disabling the virus. StuRat (talk) 22:28, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I have rebooted,but not using the safe-mode restart yet.I am a couple of minutes away from completeingthedownload of some anti-spyware software - If that doesn't work, I'll try the reboot and restart in safe mode fingers crossed Cheers Darigan (talk) 22:33, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

OK - Same problem as before with the latest anti-virus/spyware software I've tried (I can download it, but it won't install). I've restarted, and the computer is in 'Advanced Boot Options' - Amongst a number of options, I can "Repair your computer"(sounds promising), or start in "Safe mode"... are either of these options likely to help? (BTW - Really appreciating the feedback) Darigan (talk) 22:40, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Safe mode is likely to help, as it limits the number of things which are loaded automatically at startup (such as viruses). One potential but rare flaw in this is rootkits. I recommend rootkit revealer and (more practically) autoruns, both found here: [1]. The latter shows you what is set to load automatically and lets you turn off anything suspicious (which, of course, works best in safe mode, so the virus doesn't just undo your changes). Picking through everything that loads at startup by hand is tiresome, but educational. 213.122.11.210 (talk) 23:10, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Yea, I'd try safe mode first. It probably will stop the virus from running, but may very well stop the virus scanners, too. Let us know if this happens. The "Repair your computer" option will probably want to do a system restore, which should work, provided it was saved before the virus, but you will also lose changes made since then. StuRat (talk) 23:15, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi all, I've restored factory settings in the end - I lost quite a bit of data,which is frustrating, but I did have my more important recent work backed up on USB. The virus stopped me from installing/executing anti-virus software,and'safe-mode' didn't help either. I tried a number of options from the boot menu, but again, to no avail. Cheers for all your help tonight, I think that part of the reason I got infected in the first place was because I let my anti-virus run out (face-palm) - Silverlining: my desktop is a lot cleaner now *grinding teeth*. Cheers, Darigan (talk) 00:10, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Glad you were able to fix it. Did the virus still run, even in "Safe mode" ? StuRat (talk) 00:27, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry you lost data. May I recommend that you set up two accounts on the computer now, one account with administrator rights for installing software, and the other account with no admin rights, for daily use? If you accidentally download any malware in the future, the lack of admin rights will limit the amount of damage the malware can do to your system. Comet Tuttle (talk) 02:33, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

This seems less than ideal, unless the account with the admin rights has the foresight to install lots of anti-malware tools on the account without admin rights - and even then, I don't think they'd be allowed to operate on the more privileged account. So all it would really be good for would be seeking online advice, and since applying the advice would require switching account, and getting more advice would require switching back again, using somebody else's computer in a crisis, as the OP did, seems preferable to me. 213.122.33.172 (talk) 02:59, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

I advise that if needed, you try to recover any data that you need. Just be more careful now while on the Internet. General Rommel (talk) 09:01, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Mega-unindent... FWIW this particular nasty could be picked up without downloading and running an exe. My recollection is that it relied on a browser flaw and came from adverts on innocent sites, with the advert server having been compromised. The simplest way to get rid of it was to run as an uninfected user and clean the PC - a further reason for always having separate admin and user accounts. I did this with my next-door-neighbour's PC and cleaned it in about 20 minutes.--Phil Holmes (talk) 11:20, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Unfortunately I didn't see this discussion before you restored from your backup. I've had good results from booting up in "Safe Mode with Networking", then downloading, updating and running Malwarebytes. Safe mode seems to stop the problem of the malware intefering with the execution of Marlwarebytes itself. You might want to try this if the situation recurs. Exxolon (talk) 19:12, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

VoIP and 7/10 digit dialing

I currently use FiOS Digital Voice for my home phone, which requires 10-digit dialing, even if the area code itself doesn't require it by default. Is this the general rule with VoIP systems? 98.116.108.191 (talk) 22:17, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Well, if they didn't do it that way, they would first need to determine your location to know which numbers are local. This is possible, but they must find it simpler to skip that step. Cell phones are similar, in my experience. StuRat (talk) 22:25, 25 March 2011 (UTC)