Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2013 September 7

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September 7

Featured picture in the English Wikipedia

Are all the Featured picture in the English Wikipedia from Commons? --ديفيد عادل وهبة خليل 2 (talk) 09:39, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Appears so. See WP:FP for more information. --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 18:41, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Sound barrier

When i speak to my mother on skype she can hear my voice but not the loud music i'm playing on my computer. This defies logic to me. Can someone explain why this happens?Pass a Method talk 15:38, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Well it's possible that you have some sort of background noice canceling software installed, but probably not since you're asking this. The other possibility (most likely) is that whatever mic you're using is really good at blocking out all noise other than the voice of the person talking to it. Is it a high end one? Do you have to talk very close to it (if it's a headset, this doesn't really apply)? Both? If so, that probably explains it. I'm not an expert, but these seems like logical reasons to me. --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 18:48, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Speakerphones subtract what's playing through the speaker from the microphone signal so that you don't get an echo feedback loop. A lot of computers (at least laptops) do the same thing; it may even be Skype itself that does it. I suspect that if you used a different device to play the music it would be audible. -- BenRG (talk) 19:54, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Elaborating on BenRG's response, the sound input device can use both digital and analog signal processing for noise cancellation. New computers often have multiple microphones and can use these for static or adaptive beamforming. The last time I tried to buy an audio-frequency input amplifier and ADC, I was not able to find one that didn't include multiple analog input channels and an on-board digital signal processor specifically aimed at the background noise cancellation problem. Moore's Law means more digital processing power is getting built in, by default, on even very analog-looking silicon like an audio microphone amplifier. Nimur (talk) 22:24, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

IRC client recommendation

Can anyone recommend to me a completely free IRC client for mac use? I would want one that is as simple as possible for a complete beginner (as I am). I don't know how to "compile" or anthing like that, so it has to be something that I can simply download a .dmg file and install. Thanks.--108.46.110.208 (talk) 20:44, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

We have a list of IRC clients sorted by operating system. If you're totally unfamiliar, start with ChatZilla (installation guide), Xchat, or Mibbit. Nimur (talk) 22:11, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. I've downloaded chatzilla as an add-on to Firefox. Now I have to figure out using it:-)--108.46.110.208 (talk) 22:48, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Because the controller of Xchat has apparently disappeared and no longer maintains Xchat's code, HexChat is considered to be the successor to Xchat. →Σσς. (Sigma) 23:59, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

I don't understand how that interfaces with my question. Is chatzilla something that runs "xchat", so I need to somehow switch to "hexchat"? (whatever either of those two are). I am a complete novice and totally unfamiliar with what you're talking about. You need to spoonfeed if I need to do something.--108.46.110.208 (talk) 00:08, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Xchat (and hexchat) are alternative software options. If you are using ChatZilla and you're happy with ChatZilla, you don't need to download or use Xchat (or HexChat). User Sigma was merely informing you (and me) that one of the alternatives in my earlier recommendations might be out-of-date. Nimur (talk) 00:45, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification Nimur!--108.46.110.208 (talk) 02:03, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Follow-up question. So I've been playing around and reading some tutorials and I've got the hang of some of the rudimentary stuff. Here's an issue I haven't figured out how to get around. When I want to find a set of related specific channel, I've learned to search using a keyword. So, for example, in Dalnet, if you use /list *trivia* you get only rooms with trivia in their name or description. And for others you don't need the asterisks. But for others the search doesn't work; it ignores the attempt at a keyword and lists all channels (which is a painful scroll with servers that have a huge number of channels, though I learned you can abort with /cancel). So how do I navigate to find a set of rooms where the keyword doesn't work? Specifically, Freenode, does not understand this command, it just starts listing 7,000 channels, ignoring the keyword. How I would search channels at freenode? Thanks.--108.46.110.208 (talk) 02:03, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

A good IRC client (like HexChat!) does the channel description filtering for you. That way the server's own capabilities are irrelevant. DrewHeath (talk) 07:34, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

List of VARs and Systems Integrators calling on Small and Medium Businesses

Hi,

I am trying to find a list of computer hardware, software, and/or services VARs and systems integrators calling on small and medium sized businesses. I would like to start with the US by state, then expand into Europe, India and China. I have found definitions of the terms VAR and Systems Integrator but not a list of them. How do I search for companies which have these terms in their descriptions? Thanks! 216.188.230.33 (talk) 21:01, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

I Googled "pc system integrators", which led me to a Yahoo!7 search and a list here. Not specifically "Small and Medium Business" but it may help you narrow it down. Googling "pc system value added retailer" led to U.S. Computer Systems Value Added Resellers Companies. --220 of ^Borg 03:48, 8 September 2013 (UTC)