Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 October 6

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Windows Media Player 10

How whould one remove Windows media players' online stores?

Every Time I open Windows media player it loads a list of online stores from some unknown server and then proceds to download the logos for the stores. Only problem is that 3 of the store icons are blocked by my filtering package.

This is getting annoying, everytime I open WMP, 3 error messgaes appear saying I tried to access sites I shouldn't have.

Any help would be apreciated.

--Kd7jit 00:29, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Arithmetic problem related to internet

I learnt arithmetic in primary school but I could never apply to any real situation such as the zero-sum game of money problem related to internet. If this is not the right place to ask, be grateful if you could answer with some pointers. Suppose that I visit a site such as Wikipedia and download one gb of information FREE of charge. Assume that the author of this information does not want any payment. Simple question: who pays for my FREE education?

a) Wikipedia has to run some hardware and to do maintenance with some donation or other revenue. By visiting Wikipedia, do I create a negligible amount of income for Wikipedia?

b) For the information to travel from US(?) to Australia, it requires some kind of hardware at the international level (satellites?). Does it mean that US government would charge the Australian government for transmission of information for using their satellites?

c) I pay for a broadband server which allows me to get certain amount of information? To whom my server would pay, Telephone Company or Communication Company, or Australian Central Server?

d) Who makes money and who pays for it when I get one gb of information free of charge?

I past my exam in arithmetic at primary school level but I can never add up. I understand that my questions are not well defined as a result of my personal ignorance. Please feel free to re-formulate them. Thank you in advance for your help.Twma 02:13, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

I think you mean you "passed" you exam, or possibly "got past" your exam. StuRat 22:02, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

These are interesting questions, but they have nothing to do with arithmetic and mathematics. You should post them at the Computing/IT reference desk.  --Lambiam^Talk 04:37, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

International communication is for the most part not done by sattelite (sattelite communication is very, very expensive). You can get messages across the world by radio waves, or if there is a hard wire connection you can use that. (There is probably a wire-connected network that can reach Australia from the US, though I am not certain.) - Rainwarrior 06:31, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

To give you a short answer, the Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, which receives funding from private and corporate donations. So, no, you don't generate income for Wikipedia by looking at a Wikipedia article (in the early days of Wikipedia, there was consideration given to allowing advertising on Wikipedia pages to pay for costs; after discussion it was decided to go down the route of trying to fund it as a not-for-profit through donations).

The details of how the internet traffic is paid for are quite complex. In the United States and Australia, most of the entities involved are private companies (with the exception of Telstra, which is of course still majority owned by the Australian government, but who are trying to sell it off as fast as they can). To get a sense of how this all works, you can try reading our article on peering, but it may be a bit too complex. The Internet article may clarify some of the terminology for you. --Robert Merkel 06:43, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Rainwarrior is also correct, long-distance traffic on the Internet is mostly carried by cable, in even across oceans. There are multiple submarine communications cables between the US and Australia.

(First: yes, the principal Wikipedia servers are in the US. Florida, to be more precise.) You pay for your Internet access in some way; even if it's "free", it's part of a lease agreement (and is thus really part of your rent) or an incentive to get you to patronize a business or so. A good portion of your access fees go to a higher-level provider (a sort of "meta-ISP") that, perhaps, runs a network covering all of Victoria. They own all the servers in that network (so only have to pay electricity and maintenance for them, and possibly rent space), and either own or lease the communication lines between them (if leased, often from a phone company or similar organization). Part of the money paid to them (by numerous ISPs) is used to pay for a connection to part of the Internet backbone, a coalition of companies that own (or lease, of course) the biggest, most powerful routers and the major cables between regions and countries. Those major cables can put through, in many cases, multiple GB per second, and so while to you that gigabyte is a lot, it's okay that you only paid them A$0.05 for that day; 100,000 other people did as well. The note about peering above is quite correct, but is limited in scope; simply put, the top-level network operations companies in the world do not charge each other for transferring data; each collects its operating costs from its customers and two-way connectivity between major networks (including, possibly, doing most of the work of forwarding some particular packet from another company) is considered an even trade. Does that help? --Tardis 15:50, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

much more than "multiple gigabytes" per second.. --froth^{T C} 20:12, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

You might want to check out Category:Intenet Archetecture and peering --froth^{T C} 20:45, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks to all friends for the free education to enrich my life.Twma 00:55, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Note that most of the value of Wikipedia is in the content, and for that, you can thank the millions of volunteers who have added to it. StuRat 22:04, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

HackThisSite

http://hackthissite.org

Anyways, on the third of the easy 'missions', I get stuck. I found out that the password is contained in a 'password.txt' file. However, I simply can't find it. I inputted in the file name into each of the respective sub-directories of the URL and none of them work. Help would be appreciated. Thanks. --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 05:03, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Lol, such an anarchist site. I haven't done the missions in forever. Splintercellguy 06:16, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

I'll help in 2 hours when I get back from class. In the meantime check out my hts profile --froth^{T C} 16:46, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

All right take a look at the submit action of the form. The passwords.txt is contained in the directory for Basic 4 (the next challenge) since each challenge page is really nothing more than the "password correct" output of the previous challenge. If you still don't get it, here's the direct link. Try the app challenges they're much more fun --froth^{T C} 18:55, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Also if you need any help on any of the challenges I've completed (check my profile) leave me a comment on my profile --froth^{T C} 19:53, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

How to put an e-mail address in a wiki running MediaWiki software?

Anybody know how to put an e-mail address in a wiki running MediaWiki software so that when the user clicks on it, the e-mail address will open up the e-mail client?

e.g. on the following site I have an e-mail address but it is just shown as text, so the user has to cut/paste into their e-mail client (e.g. Outlook). Yuk

• http://treekee.com/tervuren/en/wiki/Police

On the page you will see the address, politie at tervuren dot be (note, don't reply with your answer to this address!! Post it here.).

80.201.216.248 10:33, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Link to a mailto: URL like you would any other time? Like this. --Tardis 15:02, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

CD rom

What is the use of Headphone jack and volume controll on the CD rom. Can i Use the CD rom as a CD music player without turning my computer on. If yes, Then How?

No, though that would be nice, it's not possible. There are motherboards that allow you to listen to CDs (only "real" CDs) without running an actual music player, but Windows must be running for most of those to work. I guess some people like to plug in their headphones into the front of the computer, directly into the CD drive. (EDIT: Actually, I may be wrong. There may be CD drives with hardware to play CDs built-in that need only a power source to play CDs, though I would be really surprised if there was. Giving it power wouldn't be easy, as that usually requires the computer to be on, but it's not impossible I guess.)  freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ  11:38, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

There are external CD readers for computers (usually laptops) that can act as standalone CD players. However, I have never in my life seen a case-mounted CD player that could work as a standalone player. The headphone jack on the front is for listening to the CD audio. Most CD readers do not have this anymore. It was used in the middle ages of home computing when most people couldn't justify selling a kidney to purchase a soundcard with a CD line in connector on it. Now, sound is mounted right on the motherboard with everything on it, so the jack, if there is one, is purely redundant. --Kainaw ^(talk) 12:20, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

I used to have an internal CD drive that had "Play" and "Eject" buttons and a headphone jack (and possibly a volume control; I don't remember). So long as it had power (which could be arranged without even a motherboard present, of course), you could actually listen to things; Play was also "Next Track" and I believe Eject would just stop playing if you pressed it while it was playing. The CD jack is never equivalent to any other output, as far as I know; I believe it only provides the CD player's output, whether or not there is a sound card driving the other jack (possibly with the same data). --Tardis 15:07, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

On a system that I assembled about 7 years ago, the headphone jack on the CD drive was actually connected directly to the motherboard. It was, in fact, the exact same output as the regular speaker jack.  freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ  04:14, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Washing machine vs. USB drive

While switching the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer I found a USB flash drive in the bottom of the tub. Luckily my wife won't be killing me for this as it's not mine and I didn't put the laundry in the washer. :-) So, what are the chances of my wife's flash drive working again anytime soon? Is this just something that can dry out and will function again? Dismas|^(talk) 14:05, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Mine went in the wash once. Just let it dry out and it'll be perfectly fine, as well as nice and clean. :-) CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 14:07, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

If the water didn't corrode anything (unlikely unless it was wet for too long), and it's not powered up while still wet (be sure to dry it throughly; putting it within a sealed box with silica gel or other desiccant for a while would be a good idea), it probably will work. --cesarb 16:37, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Or you could continue the cycle and put it in the dryer with the wet clothes like I did. Came out good as new, and only partially melted because it got stuck onto of the lint trap. Still works though. --Russoc4 03:14, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

I too have witnessed many USB drives making it through the wash and dry cycles and working fine everafter. So long as the water is gone before it has a chance to badly corrode the USB contacts it will be fine. --Jmeden2000 14:37, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

I guess there's a hidden disadvantage to having a device so small that it will fit into any available orifice. :-) StuRat 21:55, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

about dealership

i the resident of ramayampet medak district of andhrapradesh,india hereby saying that i want to have the dealership of smithkline beecham so that i can improve the sales.i will be happy if you could give me an opportunity to serve your company.

This is Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia. I suggest you contact a local office of Smith Kline Beecham. — QuantumEleven 14:30, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

How do these mistakes happen? Honestly I am stupefied --froth^{T C} 00:33, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Staging site in web development?

Is it true that a staging site can also be called a development site? Or is it slightly different?--Sonjaaa 16:48, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

A google search for staging site & development site seems to indicate "staging site" is the prefered term used in web development. But really both terms are general enough to be synonymous. If your curious about the addition of this information to the staging site article. I would look for a reliable source that specifically uses the term "development site". —Mitaphane _talk 03:41, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

• Web design, Brochure design title -->

Staging sounds like a later stage in the development/testing process to me. StuRat 21:40, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Brain transplant for laptops

My laptop crashed but the harddisk survived unscathed. I'm planning to buy a new laptop, but I'd like to have everything on my old laptop on the new one in terms of software and settings. Is that possible? I've taken out my old harddisk. Is there any way to use it as the "boot" disk for the new laptop, so that I can continue using the old operating system, software, settings, etc as if nothing happened? I had Windows XP Home edition on the old laptop. Regards, deeptrivia (talk) 18:49, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

First, can the old harddrive physically fit in the new laptop? That may not be the case. If it can, replace the one that comes with the new laptop and boot up. If the two laptops are identical - no problem. If they are not identical, you'll have to mess with driver installs for the new hardware. If you are lucky, you'll be able to get the new hardware drivers installed. You may hit an impass and be unable to continue. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:37, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

A laptop? Very very unlikely that you'll have success --froth^{T C}

Thanks. What's the most I can transfer? Software? Settings? My old laptop was a Dell Inspiron 8600 and the new one is an IBM Thinkpad T60. Both have Windows XP Home Edition. deeptrivia (talk) 20:14, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Backup is very complex and (in my opinion) quite poorly supported. And you're in extra hot water because you dont have a computer to back up from, just the hard drive. Basically your only feasible option is to buy one of these and hook up the USB to your new laptop. Make sure to find out what kind of hard drive it is. PATA is unlikely but possible; it's probably SATA. Once you plug it in, XP should mount it and it'll appear as a drive on your new computer. At this point you can copy the following things: documents, images, videos, binary installers (not the entire install directory on your old Program Files), basically any kind of file that you see on the internet will copy fine on your new computer (not settings or installed programs). When you have everything you want, right click the old drive and select Format. Format it FAT32 (or NTFS if you have files greater than about 4GB) and use your old drive as a portable hard drive! By the way, excellent choice of new laptop ;) --froth^{T C} 20:48, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

DNS rootserver IP list

Where is that file located in windows which is discussed in DNS_root_zone#Technical_details_of_root_server_lookup? How about *nix? I've seen a copy of the file but I don't know where it can be found locally --froth^{T C} 20:12, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, well the article specifically says the file is called "named.cache" in BIND. A quick search on google for windows "named.cache", hits up the path "<WIN DIR>\system32\dns\etc\" and for unix "named.cache" BIND hits up the path "/var/named" Hope that helps. —Mitaphane _talk 04:16, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

There's no dns folder in %WINDIR%\system32 --froth^{T C} 18:02, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Are you running a domain name server? Looking at the article it sounds like the file that is referenced is for domain name servers, not individual network clients. —Mitaphane _talk 05:54, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Clients would need the file if they're directly connected to the internet (not through a network or even a router). How else would they know how to contact the rootzone servers? --froth^{T C} 14:20, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Many netywork clients (such as your desktop PC) do not run a DNS server and do not query the root directly. Instead, they perform DNS queries via their ISP's DNS server, and just store the IP address of that server. -- AJR | Talk 22:28, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Right, that's why it takes some time for newly registered domain names to work every where; they have to propogate to all the various ISPs domain name servers (which cache the IP addresses). If you're curious, you can lookup your DNS server address with the windows command "ipconfig /all", or by loging onto your router(if you have a home network). —Mitaphane _talk 04:18, 9 October 2006 (UTC)