Computing desk
< March 17	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 19 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 18[edit]

Animation[edit]

Hi,
I've recently created an animation in Terragen and it's given me a hole heap of bmp's - what is some good software free/shareware which I can use to make it into a movie file (eg avi or mpeg)? --203.54.74.247 11:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm... try tucows.com and do a search for something like 'animation' or 'animator' and then lookout for all the shareware/freeware stuff.

I know that Microsoft GIF animator could help you with the animation, but I'm not sure if it can export into mpg format. Rfwoolf 17:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think you can use virtualdub to animate pictures into movies, but that might be tedious, as I've never done it. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:49, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

On Linux or BSD you could use LiVES --213.129.227.107 01:43, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Types of mouses (pointing devices) & Carpal Tunnel[edit]

Question:
What can you recommend in the way of mouses or pointing devices that are effective and would not contribute to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - would you recommend gloves, drawing tablets or any other ideas?

Context and Explanation:
Having read the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome article I don't think I'm getting it (because you have to have some forms of numbness or paralysis) - but I am growing rather concerned.

My right wrist cricks a great deal especially if I push my wrist down and then rotate or wiggle my thumb -- and I think the cause is more my mouse than my keyboard (I only get stiffness in my right hand and a lot of stiffness in my right shoulder which gets raised a lot when I use the mouse). Rfwoolf 11:26, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The most complete solution would be to simply forgo the GUI and become a command-line purist! --⁪froth^t 13:13, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Good luck with that! That's like trying to operate Windows without visuals and only using the XP screenreader! I'm sorry but a pointing device is essential to me, I do graphics as well. Rfwoolf 13:20, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, that would be far worse! I feel just as comfortable in bash as in the windows GUI, that's what I meant --⁪froth^t 17:07, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

UPDATE:

I am busy looking into a Wacom Intuos3 A5 (6 x 8) tablet with pen. Can't afford much more than that though. Yeah I know there are cheaper options for pens and tablets but this one's really good for higher-end graphic design. I'm just worried I might be getting too small a size... Any thoughts? Rfwoolf 16:29, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Usually the issue is not the mouse itself but where you keep it. Is it on the same level with the keyboard? Is the keyboard itself at the right height? You might want to look into workstation ergonomics; the odds are that it has nothing to do with the type of mouse you have but how you are actually using it. (So says someone who had carpal tunnel for years, changed his setup around quite a bit, and now rarely has any incidents at all.) As easy way to alleviate mild strain issues is to buy the wrist braces that your standard drug store will have likely in stock. They are made of cloth and faux leather and have a metal bar in them that goes on the underside of your wrist. They work remarkably well for keeping you from annoying the nerves in your wrist and force good wrist posture — lots of people I know with wrist issues wear them and they can do a lot of good. --24.147.86.187 16:43, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've been using computers for almost my entire life, and I don't have the problem. Right now, my mouse is level with my keyboard, both below my elbow level, so if were to rest my arm on my chair's armrest and use the mouse, my wrist doesn't touch anything. Also, when I use a mouse without the arm rest, I generally don't let my wrist touch anything, and I'm personally against those gel pads where you rest your wrists on. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have a suggestion, swap the mouse to the other side half the time, to allow the other fingers, wrist, and shoulder to take the strain. Hopefully, you can reverse the button mapping on the mouse when you swap it. It might take a bit of practice to become mouse-ambidextrous, but it will be worth the effort. StuRat 15:28, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The problem with your mouse is that your arm is not in its natural rest position while holding the mouse. The wrist is bent backwards and the lower arm is rotated by 90° from ellbow to wrist. There are special mice that are held from the side (like you would grab a glass) that are supposed to alleviate this problem.

Ergonomic Chairs such as a Kneeling Chair[edit]

While I'm at it, I'd like constructive recommendations about ergonomic chairs - such as kneeling chairs and the like.
There's a lot bunch of nonsense on the net and it's actually hard to make sense of it all - right now I have my eye on a kneeling chair on ebay and the price is within my range, but I don't know just how effective these chairs are. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated? Rfwoolf 13:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I had one of these once, and it was actually pretty good. You can get a slightly sore lower back at first, but it seems to get better. I would strongly recommend you don't see them as "the" ergonomic chair, because if they were that good, government departments would have thrown out their old chairs long ago. I would see it as an alternative to prevent a fixed bad posture from setting in, and would rotate between your normal chair and your new one. 203.221.126.212 15:58, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Forcing expressions in Python to evaluate to a float[edit]

I am writing some code that translates English calculations such as '3 over 2' into machine readable and calculable format such as '3/2' and then give the input back to the user. For example: User input '3 over 2', program converts input to '3/2', program calculates result and print it to the user '1.5'. Unfortunately, the program insists on returning the answer as an int, as both 3 and 2 are ints, giving a result of 1. Obviously, this is not correct. Does anyone know how to force the evaluation of an expression such as this to be given as a float? I do not want to have to change the input to be '3.0/2'. Thanks --80.229.152.246 13:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not familiar with python, but there are generally two avenues to work around this: one is to use a different operation; in some languages there's a difference between 'div' and '/' for example. You may wish to check the help files for 'div' and then see if it has anything like "see also" and "related". Finally you may wish to convert an integer to a float. Sorry I can't be of much help. Rfwoolf 13:18, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, converting it to a float won't work. The program works by modifying the input string until it is machine readable. Then, it uses python's eval function to execute it. Because it is a string, it will not convert to a float. If I wait for it to evaluate, then the answer is an integer and converting it to a float just gives the same, but with .0 on the end. Thanks --80.229.152.246 14:23, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's quite simple: from __future__ import division. Future versions of Python will give the behaviour you want; that import allows you to already write code depending on that future behaviour, easing forward-porting. --cesarb 15:29, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Changing the input is the easiest thing to do, but you could also do: "'%f / %f' % (3, 2)" --TotoBaggins 13:34, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

copying to cd with Linux[edit]

I am using Red Hat Fedora Core 3, and cannot copy to CD. What do I need to do to make Fedora write to CD? It's fine for reading CDs, just not writing to them. Also, does anyone know if clip drives work with Fedora 3? The Mad Echidna 13:47, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Use k3b (and make sure you have a CD burner and a writable disk in the drive). --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:53, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Verizon FiOS[edit]

Is "Verizon FiOS" the fastest internet in the US? —68.193.147.179 (talk) 15:07, 18 March 2007 (UTC). [reply]

That depends on the area and country you're in. Most Japanese have access to much faster Internet connections than FiOS provides. Droud 17:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC) [reply]

Surprisingly enough, Japan is not "in the US." --205.143.37.68 14:11, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Google Search on Website[edit]

Hello, I have seen many websites where they have a google search on the page. I cant figure out how to put one on my site. Anyone know how?

Thanks!! --Zach 15:19, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, it takes a couple of links to find it, but Google's [Webmaster Help Center] includes a link to [Custom Search Engine]. Hope this helps. 84.239.133.38 16:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Worked better than I expected!! --Zach 02:22, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Copyrighted video game soundtracks[edit]

Is it illegal to use a "chiptune" site (such as http://www.ocremix.org/ or http://snesmusic.org/) to obtain music from old video games (such as Super Metroid from the SNES)? I'm not sure that it would be legal, considering that the music exists within a copyrighted video game, but I am surprised to see that there are so many of these sites with such huge archives. Furthermore, would remixes of original songs also be illegal? Dlempa 15:42, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Remixes of the original songs would definitely be derivative works. That doesn't necessarily make them illegal, per say, unless they are being used in a way which is copyright infringement (there are non-illegal ways of using derivative works, though). The odds are that most video game companies consider the soundtracks of old games to not be worth the hassle of infringement suits at this point — they don't even sell the games anymore, and even if they did it is doubtful that they're actually losing any money off of the soundtrack being pirated about (people don't buy games just for the soundtracks), but that is a separate issue from whether they are copyrighted or not (they are, without a doubt). --24.147.86.187 16:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Mac Laptops and PC Laptops[edit]

Hi, I have a few questions concerning laptops. 1) How does a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro compare with a top of the line PC computer in terms of speed and relibability for everyday usage such as graphics design, web browsing and mild gaming 2) How well does a Windows parallel run on a MacBook Pro? Is it about as fast as Windows on a equivalent PC laptop? 3) Can you upgrade the MacBook Pro with more RAM?

Thanks. Jamesino 17:20, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

1) I would say Mac would have a slight edge in the graphic design, neither would have the edge browsing, and PC would have the edge gaming. But people will probably argue with me, so essentially, before I get flamed: there is no appreciable difference. there may be sites somewhere that say this is 10% faster here or that is %15% faster there, but that's not something you'll notice in the real world, unless you use the thing professionally.

2) What's a windows parallel? I believe it is possible to run windows on Macs, but unless you are a hacker and showing off your leet programming skills and are prepared to tool around for hours with drivers and such, if you want to run windows buy a PC.

3) Yes.

Vespine 21:56, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(Parallels is a Mac software tool (a hypervisor) that allows a Windows operating system to be simultaneously booted with the Mac OS environment. Windows windows can appear right on the normal Mac OS desktop.)

Atlant 22:31, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Parallels runs pretty fast on a MacBook, but not as fast as if it were running natively, of course. I would guess, roughly, that the emulated Windows runs at about half the speed as it would if it were running natively (or dual-booted). And I don't think you can play many games with Parallels — it doesn't emulate a 3D card, last I checked, so most games are ruled out by default. But you could run games on the dual-booted MacBook. --24.147.86.187 12:02, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have a 2Ghz MAcbook pro with Parellels, and Windows runs very fast. Everything, except gaming, works perfectly. You can even drag files back and forth, and drag the windows programs along your mac ones. I think it works very well.--Ryan 03:52, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The first question: I don't really know what you are talking about. As in, if you are asking about the laptop specs, or the OS. Just because it is a mac doesnt mean the specs mean different things, no. Just look at the specs as if it is a normal laptop. You can dual boot, so reliability comes down to the OS, and windows will be the same as on any pc. Vespine is a bit of an idiot, you don't need "leet programming skills" to run parrelels. It should be about the same as running it native, but perhaps a bit slower, as you are also running os x at the same time, and it still emulates some things. --91.108.193.62 00:23, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Plotting software[edit]

I'm wanting to produce some clear, simple time-domain and frequency domain plots of audio signals for a audio processing assignment I'm working on. Audacity does both, but I want to produce more "generic" plots where the particular GUI of the audio editor is not visible. For instance, if I want to display the time-axis information in Audacity, I have to show other parts of the program which is most undesirable.

http://img.waffleimages.com/2125764ae49011cfd7de2c41f1d106b708c6cb7e/img24.png

The picture above is an example of what I'm looking for. In particular, there are horizontal and vertical lines at the marked values for the axes. Naturally, I'll want control over how "zoomed in" I am to a specific plot, vertically and horizontally, and make it simple to load in any wave file.

My assumption is that more customisable, generic plots can be produced using some kind of maths package , but if there's a nice GUI program for outputting custom generic plots that would be preferred. Thanks. 164.11.204.51 18:33, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The URL you added simply says linking is not allowed. So, I can only assume you want a very basix XY plot. GnuPlot for Linux does that easily. In fact, that is what it was made for. --Kainaw ^(talk) 21:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To copy the data from audacity, click the export button. It saves it as tab separated csv format. This will open in xmgrace, gnuplot, OpenOffice.org Calc, Excel ... anything really. --h2g2bob 21:43, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is ideal, since I want to plot waveform information extracted from sound files. But unfortunately I can only output a .txt of the frequency-domain information, which isn't good enough for my needs. I need to be able to load wave files into plotting software since I cannot simply mathematically "plot" the complex waveform information. I want to do both time-domain and frequency domain analysis. 164.11.204.51 22:11, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

ATI Mobility Fire GL V5250 256MB[edit]

How are the ATI Mobility Fire GL V5250 256MB graphic chip found inside Lenovo ThinkPad T60p's? Can they be used for gaming and intensive photoshop graphics design and web design? Where in the performance spectrum of graphic chips do they stand? Thanks. Jamesino 20:15, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You might want to look at our article on ATI FireGL. They should be OK for modeling, texturing, web design, etc, but I wouldn't try to play DOOM 3 or anything on them. -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 20:34, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It should be more than enough. The T60ps are built for speed and performance. I've played Neverwinter Nights 2 on a lesser chip (a Mobility Radeon X300) and it's quite capable -- and NWN2 is notorious for its graphics card requirements.

FireGL is a workstation chip, not for gaming. I think some operations used in games are actually throttled so you won't use it for gaming. You can order it with the Mobility Radeon x1400 or x1600 which are gaming cards but when I ordered mine last summer I had to dig around quite a bit to find it. --⁪froth^t 17:03, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Would I be able to play games like Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield or Rainbow Six Vegas on it? Jamesino 22:36, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

For Rainbox Six Vegas, you might be able to, but laptop video cards are not supported. For Raven Shield, the Mobility FireGL is not listed as one of the supported chips, but it might also still run due to the card being compatible with DirectX 9.0. Best bet is to ask owners of the card and Rainbow Six. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:19, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

default programs for Windows Vista[edit]

I just installed Vista a few days ago, and most things are working correctly, though I am having trouble with the default programs. I have Vista business, and when I go to "Default Programs", I click on "Set program access and computer defaults", and then I change my browser to Firefox and my media player to iTunes, and then I save settings. However, next time I open Firefox, it says it is not the default browser, and when I look at the default programs again they are back as before. No matter how many times I do it, my settings are not saved. What can I do about this? —Akrabbim^talk 21:02, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Just a guess but there may be a setting in Internet Explorer itself to act as the default browser. Alternatively, you could disable the 'always use Firefox as the default browser' text in Firefox, which will stop that text coming up when you use firefoxMix Lord 23:33, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I want links from other applications to come up in Firefox, so I don't want to disable that feature. The problem is that whenever I try to save the settings, I go back and it didn't change anything. —Akrabbim^talk 00:04, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Setting default applications in Mac OS X[edit]

How do you set the default applications to open certain files in Mac OS X. For example, how do you set Pages as the default file to open Word documents, rather than Word? I'd greatly appreciate any help! Thanks, --Fadders 21:59, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Highlight a Word document.
Press <command-I> or do "File -> Get Info"
In the dialog box that pops up, look for "Open with:"
Change it as you see fit. Optionally, press "Change all..."

Atlant 22:44, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks very much! That's great! --Fadders 07:39, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

WikiSVG[edit]

I'm posting this in computing because, while it could apply to Wikipedia, it could easily apply to any other wiki-format...

I know very little about the SVG format at this time. As I understand it, SVG is a text-based format, possibly even ASCII-based. Therefore, it is more of a markup language than a binary image format. Assuming it is human-readable, is it reasonable to make wiki-SVGs? My idea is that the SVG file will be a wiki-page (like this). People can go into the text and improve the SVG. Also, if that were to work, I would be interested in expanding one SVG from another. For example, have an SVG map of Hawaii. Then, instead of copying the whole SVG for a map with a big red dot on Honolulu, I can tell the Honolul SVG to use the Hawaii SVG and add the red dot. In fact, it should be possible to include multiple SVGs into one - such as comparing the size of two states. You can include one on the left and one on the right in a new SVG and then draw some milage ruler between them. Hopefully this idea makes sense. I just wanted to know if it was feasible before spending much time investigating the possibilities of SVGs. --Kainaw ^(talk) 22:51, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, it's an XML markup language. What you're talking about sounds technically feasible to me. I'm not sure if it's possible to include/link to one SVG file in another, but you could almost certainly mash them together using some external script/application. I'm not sure how willing people would be to edit SVG markup by hand though - it would be cool to have a Flash/Java/JavaScript/XUL/whatever app to visually edit the SVG file in the browser. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk  Contribs)} 00:38, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think I've read about this on WP:VPT before.. IIRC people liked the idea but doubted it would be implemented --⁪froth^t 17:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There is already a project like that, it is called "mapomatix". http://mapomatix.sourceforge.net/ --213.129.227.107 01:38, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Lack of driver[edit]

I recently bought an MP3 player. It's supposed to connect to my computer via USB and start working right away. However, it keeps registering as "Unknown device" on my computer. It didn't come with a device driver on the installation CD. I've contacted the producer's customer support line several times, and they ended up telling me to contact Microsoft. They told me to search for the device driver on the Windows XP installation CD, but that didn't work. I've been having a lot of trouble with hardware that's supposed to work right out of the box, but it always registers on my computer as "unknown device." If it means anything, I have an authentic version of Window XP Home edition. I would greatly appreciate any advice on fixing this problem. Thank you!--El aprendelenguas 23:07, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What is the device, specifically? You should be able to find drivers on the web. -Wo o ty Woot? contribs 23:55, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It might help if you could tell us a little more about your problem, for instance, if you go to My Computer, does the player show up under the Devices with Removable Storage header?--VectorPotential^Talk 00:06, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's an e200 Sansa MP3 player with 2GB storage, made by Sandisk. It is not listed under My Computer at all. The only listing of it I can find is under Device Manager under "Universal Serial Bus controllers" as an "unknown device." I've looked at the Sandisk website, but I've only found "firmware"—no driver—for the MP3 player, and I didn't think that would help me with this issue. Like I said, this isn't the first time I've gotten the "Unknown device" message after plugging in hardware to the USB, but then again I have successful connected other devices in the past.--El aprendelenguas 01:35, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have one computer that has a miswired USB port - devices connected to it cause the usb-detector thing to run, but it fails to properly communicate with the device, and so the device shows up as "unknown". So try another USB port. If that fails, try another computer. If that fails, return the player. Darryl Revok 18:16, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]