Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 April 3

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April 3

Which is the best free Chess Game for Win 7 64-bit PC?

Hi, Can anyone point out best free chess games for Win 7 64-bit PC?--Joseph 10:03, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

I don;t know what you mean by "best" - easiest to use, prettiest graphics, strongest opponent, or something else? Anyway, Gnu_chess is a good place to start. It is free and fairly easy to use with strong AI. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:40, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

They've developed a strong AI, and all they're using it for is to play chess? It must get bored... MChesterMC (talk) 08:34, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

You might consider going to the Free Internet Chess Server (http://www.freechess.org/), from which you can download free client software to connect to their server and play online against other people (and some computers) with a range of different ratings. Mitch Ames (talk) 10:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Text-to-speech options to listen while I wash the dishes.

Sometimes I want to read stuff, like a long blog or a conversation that has occurred in a forum but I just don't have the time. Are there any reasonably good text-to-speech options that I could use either on my computer or Android phone (or both)? I don't mind paying so long as it's not unreasonably expensive. --129.215.47.59 (talk) 10:40, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Here is a review of 7 Android text-to-speech options [1]. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:44, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

I've even done this with pdf books that i've downloaded, it's great, I listen when I walk to and from the station and when I'm driving. ivona is a industry leading text to speech application. Single user license is $80, which might or might not be "unreasonably expensive". There is also a free trial. Vespine (talk) 23:43, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. I appreciate the advice. 78.148.110.69, formerly known as 129.215.47.59 (talk) 11:57, 5 April 2014 (UTC)

The noise from running water might tend to confuse speech recognition software. Some suggestions:

1) Get a headset with a microphone, to reduce background noise.

2) Fill the sink with sudsy water before you start talking, then wash the dishes with that, while talking. That will make less noise. You may need to rinse later (or fill the other side of the sink with rinse water, if you have a two tub sink). StuRat (talk) 04:04, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Stu, this is for text-to-speech, not speech-to-text… CS Miller (talk) 09:01, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Oops. StuRat (talk) 11:46, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Ancient PC, vital data, broken mouse port

I have a company/business PC dating from 1999 running Windows NT which ran a Superbase database containing subscriber details (the data is stored on a central server). The PC died. In the room of other 'dead' PCs the company has, I've found an identical PC, same age and operating system which boots up and has the Superbase database on it and links to the data on the server. The reason this PC was relegated to the dead room is that the mouse port no longer works (you know, the circle of holes type that is marked in pale green!).

I can navigate to around the basics of the database using hotkey commands, but to run a vital report, there is a customised button that needs to be clicked with a mouse - I can't seem to be able to tab onto it.

I understand that Windows NT does not support USB bits and pieces. The PC does have USB ports though. Other than providing you with an hysterical insight into our company's IT policy and a nostalgic blast from the past, is there a way of getting to this button and, also, why can I not plug the green-ended mouse into the lilac coloured keyboard port which evidently still works. Thank you. 83.104.128.107 (talk) 11:15, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

The two PS/2 ports are wired to different circuitry (which almost always isn't smart enough to adapt); so they're not interchangeable. Things you can try:

• try to transplant again to yet another PC; it doesn't need to be identical, and NT will (hopefully) default to a safe mode with basically working hardware
• try to find a DB9 serial mouse (e.g. on eBay); that should probably work, and your current computer should have a working DB9 COM port
• try to get superbase running on a modern computer and transfer the .SBF database file across to it.

I did try to see if modern desktop databases like MS Access or Libreoffice Base have .sbf import filters, but it doesn't seem they do. Recipes for moving old Superbase files to them all seem to involve exporting in Superbase to CSV first. See if you can do that. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 11:33, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

It might be possible to control the mouse cursor with your keyboard through Windows' accessibility options - this BBC article describes how to do it in Windows XP, I'm not sure if the same options exist in NT but it's worth checking. Organics^LRO 12:02, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Thank you both very much indeed. I shall go off and see about the DB9 mouse and read about controlling the mouse cursor with keys in the first instance and then move on to the other options you suggest. 83.104.128.107 (talk) 12:18, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

• If the computer has a USB port, why not try plugging in a USB mouse? You never know, magical things might happen. At worst you lose a few seconds for the experiment. Looie496 (talk) 12:29, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
  • As the OP said, NT doesn't support USB. IIRC, for NT, Ctrl+numpad-arrows should move the mouse, Ctrl+NumIns & Ctrl+NumDel, are left and right click. Shft-F10 should be the same as a right-click in a standards-compliant programs. However, Finlay's instructions (for XP) might be correct. CS Miller (talk) 12:37, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
    • Looie, I am so desperate I did indeed try what you suggested! Something magical may have happened somewhere when I did it, but unfortunately not with my mouse port! I have ordered an adaptor for £1 so the mouse can be used in DB9 socket and we shall see if that works. In the meantime I shall have a go with CSMiller's commands. Again, thank you for all the advice. I am very grateful. 83.104.128.107 (talk) 15:50, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

I know WinNT didn't support USB - that was a deliberate decision by Microsoft to try to persuade people to migrate to Win2k, WinXP or whatever - but I kinda vaguely recall there being a piece of add-on software you could use to make it function. The discussion here: http://nt4ref.zcm.com.au/usb.htm seems to have what you need...but getting it working could be a bit of a challenge.

Another option is to go back yet one older generation of mouse - when there was no special port provided for them and they were plugged into a nine-pin RS-232 port. It's likely that a PC of this vintage has one of those ports - and it's pretty much certain that NT supports it. So maybe there is an ancient RS-232 mouse sitting amongst all that stuff in your "Dead PC" room, you can plug it in...maybe tell the BIOS about it or something...or maybe NT will auto-detect it.

If you can't find (or buy) an ancient 9-pin RS-232 mouse, then I used to own a plug that let you plug the circular mouse connector into an RS-232 port - and maybe you can find one of those.

Check out this image of an RS-232 mouse: http://haqiailahi95.mhs.narotama.ac.id/files/2013/10/new-microsoft-9-pin-serial-mouse-ibm-pc-xt-no-germs-nib-765e.jpg

Check out this eBay listing for the special connector gizmo: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PS-2-Mouse-to-DB9-Serial-Port-Adapter-Adaptor-F-F-/291108616041

But honestly, it's time for your company to move this data somewhere safer. Sure, you may be able to get this working and be the office hero for a week...but what happens when THIS PC fails? You probably won't be able to pull off that stunt again - and now, while you still have access to the database, is the time to pull all of the data out of it in some more basic file format (comma-separated-values or something) and get it into something like MySQL that's more widely supported...web-accessible and all of that good stuff. Fixing this so that they can continue to ignore the problem is doing them a massive disservice.

The PC you've found may have been junked just because the mouse port died...but they had access (much more easy access back then) to all three options I describe above. So what if it was junked for more serious reasons? Maybe it has an intermittent fault of some more major kind? You got lucky once - but you're just asking for trouble!

SteveBaker (talk) 18:07, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Windows NT did not have native remote desktop, but you could try to install VNC without a mouse, this would let you remote control the computer from another terminal. Vespine (talk) 23:34, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

It was mentioned above but I'll say it again: Mouse Keys is almost certainly the easiest way to do this. Windows has supported it since forever. In NT 4.0 it should be an option in the Accessibility control panel. -- BenRG (talk) 01:11, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

We even have an article on Mouse keys. I occasionally have issues where a client's server has a dead mouse and I just need to do some simple task but don't feel like running back out to the car. --  Gadget850 ^talk 12:30, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

OP here. Once again, thank you for all your help. I ordered a PS2/serial port adaptor which it did not like either. I could not get the mouse keys to work and unfortunately my version of NT had no such luxury of an Accessibility control panel. Distraught, I left the office on Friday and returned this morning turning it on with and without its ethernet cable connection to the network just for fun. At some point in the proceedings the mouse miraculously began working whereupon I triumphantly clicked the vital button only for a error window to appear. While I was banging my head on the floor, a colleague arrived and we managed to export all the data as a .csv file and now have it in all its glory in ExCel. 83.104.128.107 (talk) 15:51, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

iPhone using too much data

Help, how do I stop my iphone from chewing up so much data? I've turned off push notifications for every app, and turned data off for almost every app, but it still keeps chewing data for "System Services". This is mostly made up of 2 things: "push notifications", even though they are off for everything, and "iTunes accounts" (both about 8mb). What can I do to cut it down? I often turn cellular data off altogether, but I get sick of doing it. Thanks, IBE (talk) 15:04, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

There are ways: How Can I Avoid Using Too Much Smartphone Data? But the real (or practical) solution is to trade your phone in for an Android and then you have full control.--Aspro (talk) 23:08, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

I dig that idea, and when I get around to buying my own phone (instead of using my boss's) I'll probably do just that. Until then, I'm going to have to try and circumvent Apple's obstructive, recalcitrant behaviour. IBE (talk) 05:18, 4 April 2014 (UTC)