Computing desk
< November 10	<< Oct \| November \| Dec >>	November 12 >

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.

November 11

divmod in Python language

What is the __divmod__ operator in the Python computer language? Can someone give me an example with the correct result of the operator. Thanks 211.28.120.117 01:05, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Seems to be an integer division which returns the integer and the remainder. There is something about it on pyref.infogami.com. –Mysid ☎ 11:41, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Some computer instruction sets compute both a quotient and a remainder for integer division. For example when 42 is divided by 11, the result is a quotient of 3 and a remainder of 9, because 42 = 11×3+9. In many higher-level languages it is clumsy and wasteful to write an algorithm that needs both results. A typical method would be q := n/d; r := n%d, where % is the "mod" or remainder operator. Although a smart compiler may emit a single division instruction, many will not; and divisions tend to be expensive. The idea of the divmod operator is to explicitly ask for both quotient and remainder simultaneously; it is defined to produce a Python "tuple", (q,r). --KSmrq^T 07:51, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

are you saying (q,r) = divmod(a,b) 202.168.50.40 21:05, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Which applications are necessary or recommended for maintaining a Windows XP system?

Windows XP is especially vulnerable to spyware, due to its extremely high user base and relatively poor security. Which programs would you recommend installing to keep a system clean and useful? I've got ZoneAlarm, Disktective, AVG Anti-virus and Webroot Anti-spyware. Are there any other apps I can use, either ones I don't have (such as RAM managing and disk defragmenting), or superior to the ones I do have? I'd appreciate any help.

ZoneAlarm by itself is fine. Nothing else is necessary. --Wooty Woot? | contribs 03:34, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I use McAfee and it works fantastic. Cbrown1023 03:36, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You've probably got more than you need. If you're using IE or like downloading strange executables, add Microsoft Anti-Spyware and Spybot to your anti-spyware arsenal. No spyware app is able to detect and defeat all spyware. Zonealarm is unnecessary if you have a router, and often causes more problems than it fixes; though if you don't have a router, keep it. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 03:48, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I stongly recomend using MBSA (Baseline Security Analyzer) as it will scan the service packs and fixes that could be missing in windows and in other Microsoft software, as Office, .net framework, SQL Server, etc.

And for heaven's sake make your user account a 'limited user'. At the moment, practically all spyware cannot infect a machine through a limited user account, although the scum are beginning to dumb up to it. Even then, infections are much easier to remove.Robbak 07:54, 16 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

iTunes video on Windows Media Center

I would like to get my iTunes music and video into Windows Media Center so I can use it as, well, a media center. I downloaded 3ivx, so now I have the music in Media Center. I still can't get in the mp4 videos now. I can play them with wmp, but they don't show up in Media Center. How can I get in the videos? Thanks. QWERTY | DVORAK 05:57, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

EVM

what is evaluation module with respect to DSP processors? why is it used?

Title of WIKI

How do i remove the title of the article like the main page? What code do i use?

You cannot remove the title (and the main page is not editable anyway). –Mysid ☎ 07:31, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

On my own wiki....

I believe that articles are looked up by name, so this would be no simple hack --⁪froth^{T C} 19:16, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not the Title its self..when you view it.202.172.124.197 22:58, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure how easy it would be, but look around for the templates people attempted to create a while ago in order to fix the "problem" where all articles with lower-case first letters (e.g. iBook) are automatically capitalized. Those templates tampered directly with the title, so maybe it's not that hard to use the same code to make it disappear completely. freshofftheufo ΓΛĿЌ 12:04, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You might be able to use a script like this, by changing the "correction" variable to "", though you'd have to run it on every page. freshofftheufo ΓΛĿЌ 12:10, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You probably could remove it with the help of CSS. TERdON 14:19, 17 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Transferring video to my laptop

I am facing a big problem with transferring videos from my video camera to my laptop. I have a USB cable only and I have connected it to the Laptop. My model is a JVC, model no.- GR-D53AS.I can transfer it but the only problem is that it is getting converted to a small screen size. If i try to do full screen the quality turns out to be very bed. somebody told me to convert it into a VCD and then play it on the T.V. Is it possible? If not, please tell me how to do so without spoiling the original quality of the video? Please! Its really urgent. Thanks.

Original quality? I doubt your video camera recorded at such a high quality for it to look good on the computer. The computer monitor generally has higher resolution, so playing something made for television will never look as good on a monitor. You can make it into a VCD, sure, or even an SVCD, but that doesn't solve the problem of the quality, since IMO VCDs are worse than normal TV images. As for the original quality, if you need it to be better, you'd need a better camera. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:42, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Do you know what the resolution is that's produced by the video camera ? It might be adjustable, but, of course, a higher resolution will mean the maximum length of each video will be shorter. The maximum resolution of computer screens is typically either 1280x1024 or 1600x1200, but it's unlikely the video camera can give you that resolution, it's probably only 640x480 or 800x600. Also, is it using 32-bit color, 24-bit color, 16-bit color, or 8-bit (256 color) ? Anything below 24-bit will start to look bad on the computer screen. On the other hand, 8-bit greyscale looks pretty good, if color isn't important to you, and if your video camera supports it. Finally, what video compression method is the camera using ? Some are quite "lossy", meaning they lower the quality substantially. StuRat 23:47, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

DVD formats

Please find time to answer the following regarding DVD formats

-As can be seen there are lot of DVD formats like DVD+R, DVD-R -What is the difference? - What is the advantage of having so many formats

There is hardly any advantage. They are competing formats developed by different corporations; see DVD-R and DVD+R. –Mysid ☎ 12:49, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yahoo messenger 8.1

Hi I have windows xp installed, and i have dialup for 33kbps when i download yahoo messenger: it shuts down and restarts it crashed when it is 11% or 30% completed. Can someone help me

thanks Slmking 12:32, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You're saying it stops downloading in the middle of the download? Or that it crashes when installing? --Wooty Woot? | contribs 20:57, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it stops downloading, and also shuts down the system Slmking 21:43, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What browser are you using? --Wooty Woot? | contribs 05:20, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

We use Internet explorer - The latest i suppose. Slmking 08:45, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If you are using dial-up, I would suggest a download manager... many are available at download.com. They let you resume interrupted downloads. Back in the day, I used GoZilla, but it seems that program is no longer free.--Mabris 22:55, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

are gmail conversations still secure?

are gmail conversations secure from any browser? Not just the page that we enter email and password, but all pages including email messages? in all browsers including opera and firefox?

Is this feature still available? Because I dont find a certificate while not on google homepage. Please help

Instead of going to http://mail.google.com go to https://mail.google.com. --Jrothwell ^(talk) 19:20, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Blog post about old games now stickied with demos and intros and cracks.

I cannot for the life of me find a blog post that I had found some time ago. It was about running an old abandonware game, which was copy-protected. The company that made it and the manual ("enter the fifth word on the third paragraph of page fifty-whatever" or the like) are long gone, so the only way it can be played is by using the l33t crack for it. The author had mused about our gaming culture only being preserved by those crackers who disabled the copy protection on these things.

Googling has been unsuccessful. (Even on "blogsearch".) I also remember that the same blogger had also written about how he was leaving Apple behind and never using a Mac again, because of the new mail program horribly mangling his forty thousand or so emails from years past that he had been keeping in (I think?) mbox format in the process of importing it. He detailed a history of getting screwed over by Apple in the name of usability. I can't find this guy's blog, I wish to hell I had bookmarked it, and I want to use it as an example in a school assignment. Help, anyone? grendel|khan 15:50, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

An addendum: the bit about mangling email was about the "emlx" format, and I think the blog had one of those short, clever names, and I don't think it was hosted on blogspot or anything like that. grendel|khan 15:53, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Do you know the name of the game? Something like that would really help out a lot. --140.247.249.100 21:20, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Found it! The blog is "Dive Into Mark". It was Spyro the Dragon, and here's the bit about him leaving Apple. grendel|khan 22:17, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Video Card Compatibility

I am looking to buy a new Video Card, and subsequently found two that I may buy. However, I am not sure how to see if these cards will run on my computer ([Video Card One] and [Video Card Two]. So my question is this, what would I need to know to see if my computer would run either of these cards and how would I find this information out? Sorry that I cannot provide the neccercery information before hand, but I'm really not sure what I need to know and Google doesnt seem to bring up much help for it either.

--84.64.184.213 21:39, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

First you need to know what your motherboard supports (AGP or PCIX
secondly do these video cards require a large amount of power (most video cards that are new require a power input from the power supply)

202.172.124.197 23:01, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

On the Setup Menu via the boot screen, I can change my Main GPU (Or Something to that effect) from PCI to either PCI-E and Onboard, so I assume my motherboard supports PCIX. --84.64.184.213 12:02, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Used to be that a range of motherboards from a manufacturer would all have the same BIOS and the settings could include features which were not necessarily supported by every board in the range! It would really be necessary to look at the written specs or physically look for the component on board to verify if the functionality was there. Having said that, for your own piece of mind, it wouldn't hurt to have a look, PCIE slots are not very hard to tell apart from AGP or normal PCI slots. Vespine 03:36, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You may want to download and use a program like Sandra Lite to help explore the capabilities of your hardware. However, some questions require opening the computer case. Here's a guide to help you visually distinguish AGP from PCIe slots on a motherboard. Other physical issues include the width of the card, available cooling, and required power. Some sites that sell cards will actually talk to you, by email if not by telephone. --KSmrq^T 08:20, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the help, I think I'm just going to take the computer itself down to a computer store and get an upgrade there. Thanks for the help, regardless. --84.64.184.213 19:29, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say wait till the DX10 cards come out. We'll probably all get stuck using Vista at some point...--Mabris 22:52, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What happened to all the game sites?

A few years ago, you used to be able to go to zone.com, games.yahoo.com, games.com, station.sony.com and other sites and play games online against other people. Now those sites just have single player and downloadable games. What happened? Are there any good sites left? TacoDeposit 23:15, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I played web-based games on play.yahoo.com yesterday. I don't think I just imagined playing them. --Kainaw ^(talk) 23:20, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pogo.com [1] still has many two and four player games (mostly board and card games), as well as many single player games. They will try to sell you their Club Pogo membership, but free Pogo still has many good games. StuRat 23:38, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks all. TacoDeposit 20:22, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]