Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 May 23

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May 23

Computer restart problem - fix

If we just add a power source into computer that would just keep data in RAM safe, then we wouldn't need computer restarts, right? --V4vijayakumar (talk) 13:34, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

What do you mean? Computer restarts are needed precisely because what is currently in RAM isn't what we want it to be, so we want to delete it and load everything from scratch. If you mean that if we keep the RAM intact when powering down the computer, we could avoid the long boot times - we already have that, and it usually goes by the name "standby". -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 13:58, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Restarts are also needed because the OS needs to load new frameworks or drivers. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 15:09, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Request: OpenOffice.org macro

OpenOffice.org Writer doesn't have a built-in feature for converting "straight quotes" into "smart quotes". Is anyone knowledgeable in Oo.o macros willing to implement the following rules in a macro and release it for anyone to use without charge?

Here are the rules:

1. Any straight quote that occurs immediately after a non-whitespace (i.e. NOT space, tab, line-feed, or paragraph break) character is converted into a "closing" curly quote of the right variety (variety meaning single vs. double).
2. Any straight quote not converted in the previous rule is converted into an "opening" curly quote of the right variety.
3. If there is currently a text selection, the quote conversion should be limited to text selection.

Thanks. --72.78.237.229 (talk) 14:06, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Check out http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.phtml?t=59003 --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:46, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

securing my wifi

how to make sure that no one is stealing my wifi —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.96.31.31 (talk) 14:55, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

For a starter, enable WPA2 security (or WPA if not all of the equipment involved supports WPA2). Do not rely on WEP or leave the wireless interface unprotected. Also, if a user-selected passphrase/key is used, use only long, random, unguessable passphrases/keys. Anything that would make a bad password under the usual password guidelines would also make a bad WPA passphrase. Change the key/passphrase every couple months.

There are other things that you can do to mitigate the risks, but the above should be among the first to do. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.78.237.229 (talk) 15:22, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree, enabling WPA2 is probably the best, easiest step. Some WiFi routers also let you define specific MAC addresses to accept, so only your devices can connect to it. Still others let you set specific times of day when the WiFi is active, so when you are away from home, no one can connect. But also, what would be so bad about someone getting your WiFi connection? --70.167.58.6 (talk) 14:52, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Debian SSL/SSH vulnerability

Does the recently-announced Debian SSL/SSH vulnerability put me at any risk of attack, given that I am the only user of my computer and it is firewalled against all incoming connections? Is it possible that I have a key that I will need to replace? Will the package manager automatically download all necessary updates, in case I need to generate an SSL or SSH key in the future? I use Kubuntu Hardy Heron. This is a home computer, and I am satisfied that an attack from within the LAN would be impossible even on those occasions when the one other computer on the LAN is running. NeonMerlin 15:06, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

You need to patch your PRNG now, not the next time you generate a key. It's used for more than just key generation. If your system is set to install security updates automatically (which it should be) then your PRNG is probably already fixed. Otherwise you should start the update process manually (I don't know how this works for Ubuntu). If you're running an SSL or SSH server then you need to generate a new host key, but it sounds like you aren't (or, if you are, it's inaccessible and you might as well just disable it). If you use the SSH authorized_keys feature to log in to a remote machine, you need to generate a new key for that. Any other keys you would probably know about. Not directly on topic, but for anyone interested, here is a very good technical discussion of the problem (not just the bug itself but the far scarier process failure that allowed it into the code base at all). -- BenRG (talk) 18:25, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Wait, isn't he saying that he doesn't run a SSH server? If you don't have an SSH server or a key for it, you're fine and dandy! To make sure you're not at risk, run

ssh-vulnkey

in the terminal. But if you've never manually generated a key then you don't have one. And yes, assuming you have updated your packages like you should, future keys will be properly random. Besides, if you run your home-network using a router and you haven't port-forwarded port 22 to your computer, you're protected by that too.

In short: you're almost certainly not at risk. Still, run ssh-vulnkey. 83.252.191.19 (talk) 19:23, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

SSH is the easiest way to attack a computer with a faulty SSL random number generator. However, OpenSSL is used for a number of other encryption systems, so you still need to update it. --Carnildo (talk) 19:29, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Home Server

I recently asked whether how to create a mediawiki wiki. I cannot do this on a home server. This site offers MediaWiki hosting. Does this involve a home server and does it contridict AOL's T&Cs. Thanks. CyberThing (talk) 15:43, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

If someone offers hosting, then it means exactly that: the company hosts your wiki/site/whatever. So the rules like 5.3.2 won't apply to you. --grawity 17:56, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

quality of Windows Live SkyDrive

What quality can I expect form Windows Live SkyDrive? Will it be always free? Is it reliable? Can a third party access my files? Should we trust them? Mr.K. (talk) 18:16, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

It looks similar to other online file storage services. I see nothing to suggest that it's especially secure (or especially insecure). You can always use a service like this securely by encrypting your files locally before you upload them with a program like GnuPG or TrueCrypt. As far as uptime and long-term availability, you're probably better off with Microsoft than some fly-by-night web business. -- BenRG (talk) 20:45, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Exceptions to crossfading

Does any music-management software on the market allow the user to mark specific songs so that they will not overlap other songs, and/or so that they will always start or end at full volume, even when crossfading is on? NeonMerlin 18:42, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

MS Word 2003 Question

Is it possible to remove the 'author' details from a Word document? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Givnan (talk • contribs) 20:39, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Google for "remove personal information" "MS Office 2003". --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:59, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Restricted Surfing Zone

In the oceanic sport of 'Surfing' when beach employees close a section off for surfing, they put out these Black flags, the term is 'BLACK BALL'. My question is in regards to the Internet surfing restricted zones (per employer): Is there a site that you can surf within a surf / A webpage within a webpage / Browser within a browser?

Note: in surfing the sport, you can go inside the wave, they call this the Barrel, seen by beach go'ers as nobody out there, but being inside the inside spot, we say 'Man...Dude...did you catch my wicked Barrel back there!!?'

--216.100.216.5 (talk) 20:49, 23 May 2008 (UTC)jacob v

Can you explain your question a bit more, it's hard to see what you're getting at. Employers can restrict what web pages employees visit. Normally this is done through some kind of content-control software. Sometimes these restrictions can be circumvented by going through an open proxy or one of the methods described at Internet censorship#Circumvention. --h2g2bob (talk) 22:06, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

iphone vs blackberry

which one do you prefer? why?

The Computing Reference desk isn't really the best place to start discussions / debates. There are a lot of message boards and forums where this sort of question will be greatly appreciated. Nimur (talk) 23:05, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried typing in "iphone vs. blackberry" into Google? --70.167.58.6 (talk) 23:18, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

android

there are many mobile platforms like windows mobile, mobile linux, limo linux, symbian palm etc..

but why has google launched android? how is android different from above mentioned platforms? what does google want to achieve and what is their gameplan plan

This is more of a business strategy question than a computing question. Clearly Google is hoping to position itself for participation in the rapidly emerging market of mobile telephony. Many modern phones are more than just a voice communicator - they are an internet-enabled mobile data platform. Google's efforts are definitely guided by the idea of mobile internet. As far as what differentiates its platform from the many various alternatives, the best reference would be our Android (platform) article. Nimur (talk) 23:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Failed RAID mirror - both drives

I am running Vista on a Dell XPS 420. I came home to find both drives failed in a RAID 1 mirror. Dell gave me no help recovering data, but did send two new drives. I have installed Vista on one of the new drives without RAID. I wanted to see if I could recover any files from the failed drives, but I can't seem to get Vista to recognize either of the old drives that were in the failed RAID array. The failed drive does appear during boot up and still shows as part of a failed array. How can I get Vista to recognize the failed drive so that I can then attempt to run file recovery software on it? dryguy (talk) 23:46, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I think it's be better and easiers to use PhotoRec (it recovers more than photos) on a Linux LiveCD than trying to get Vista to recognise the drive. --antilived^{T | C | G} 00:18, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

This is of little help now, but RAID is not a backup solution -see link[1]--70.167.58.6 (talk) 15:10, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

a