Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 July 31

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ICT

what are the advantages and disadvantages of 3D and illustrator inadvertising?

If you read the top of this page, you'll see we generally don't do people's homework for them, and this sounds very much like a homework question. You can start your own research by reading the articles 3D computer graphics and Adobe Illustrator. --Canley 07:08, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

python

Whenever I launch a Python script I make, it closes immediatley before anything (desirable) happens. What do I do to fix this? --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 06:03, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

are you on Windows? 130.60.142.151 09:00, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

In my PC at least, you got to open the program using the cmd line (Start->Run->cmd) or it will instantly close once it's done. fetofs ^Hello! 12:43, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

The easiest way to avoid this is to make a two line batchfile - the first is "python foo.py" and the second is "pause", and then run that (from a shortcut or whatever). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 12:47, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

...or you could put the following lines at the end of your program:

print 'hit a key to exit'

import msvcrt

msvcrt.getch()

-- Finlay McWalter | Talk 12:58, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

MSN Messenger

Are there any programs that allows you to send nudges without delay? (I send my first nudge, i wait for 1 second an i send another nudge, the second nudge couldn't be sent because there's a delay, can i get rid of that delay?) = Thanks

It might be because of your slow internet connection.....

Yes, there seem to be programs that allow this. No, I won't put in any links, as I can't think of any reason one would need this capability. --LarryMac 14:02, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

I found this, but like most things on the internet... Iolakana|^T 14:07, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

MS/Windows Update

I'm on a really slow dial-up connection, but I also have access to a PC with a 10 Mbit/s broadband connection. Yesterday, I was about to download and install Office XP SP3, but I noticed that the download was about 50 MB (I don't have an original Office disc). This would take approximately 6 hours on my home PC (not factoring disconnects). Therefore, I was wondering if there is a way to install a MS or Windows update offline and manually (in the same fashion as DirectX redist).--Frenchman113 on wheels! 17:46, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, I think so. I'm too lazy to check, but there should be a way to download update files from Office Updates. As for Windows Updates, definitely. Again, I'm lazy to check, but there is a mechanism for downloading update files from Windows Updates. Splintercellguy 03:21, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

When you select an update, there should be a link named Details. This brings up a summary of the update. In that there should be a link to the download location for the Offline version. By the way, here's the link for Office XP SP3. [1] Scroll down to the Instructions section and select the full-file versios so you don't have to insert the installation cd to update. Harryboyles 06:32, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Heh, I just noticed that there's no download resume on that... It just seems like MS is out to get me...--Frenchman113 on wheels! 13:10, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

There are plenty of free download managers out there that allow you to pause and resume the download. See the list of download managers. I'd suggest FlashGet. However you can't just right click and go Copy Link Location. So you'll need to start the download using the browser, pause it, get the URL from the dialog, cancel the download, and paste the URL into FlashGet before restarting the download in FlashGet. Harryboyles 14:13, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

No no, that's not it. The MS download server is not resume enabled. A download manager won't solve that.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 19:05, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

And for the record, Flashget free is bundled with spyware.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 19:07, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

I tried using Download Accelerator Plus (BTW it has spyware as well) and it says that the MS download server doessupport resuming later. Even tested it myself. I wouldn't know why it wouldn't, but it does support it. Harryboyles 01:54, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Tutorial for setting up intranets

Too lazy to write one, so is there a ready-made intranet tutorial somewhere? -- Миборовский 21:47, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

wow you're also to lazy to search, thats something. Jon513 21:53, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

On the contrary, I used the time to write some Wikipedia articles. -- Миборовский 22:34, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

gifs and jpgs

Hi I am TOTALLY computer illiterate,but I know I have found the right place to get this question answered because the answers to other peoples questions look like a computer is doing the talking so here goes.I recently bought a computer just to email my friends and look at e-bay stuff like that. My friend sent me a little animated cartoon as an attachment to an email. I thought it was SO cute. So I started going to all these websites and downloading them into a file I had made for them.When I looked on the web for them I typed in "Gifs" and found them that way. After downloading about 30 of them my computer started acting really wierd Well to make a long story short I picked up such a bad virus that it actually destroyed an anti-virus pragram I bought BEFORE I could run it. I know, I was supposed to already have an anti-virus program but I told you I am comp. illiterate but I'm learning. ok. so i get my comp. swiped and cleaned and AVG free anti-virus and AD-aware se and Advanced spyware remover installed.The guy that cleaned and fixed my comp. said that some of those sites are nothing BUT viruses and spyware.Is he right? Because a page in my anti-virus thing said that "Gifs and Jpgs are DATA and can do no damage" So my question is are these things safe to download or not? Also can you get a virus just by LOOKING at a site? Oh and one other thing. When I run my anti-virus scan and my spyware remover thing it always shows that I have "Tracking cookies" in my comp.I tell them to destroy them and they do, but what are they? Like I said I know you guys can help and I greatly appreciate it.I would LOVE to know as much as you guys do about these things.

I don't know about virus in gif but you can get a virus just by visting a page if there is a bug in the broswer. Use Mozilla Firefox which is much more secure than IE. Jon513 22:46, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Just because a person says a download is a gif or jpg does not mean it is a gif or jpg. Last time I cleaned by father-in-law's computer, I deleted over 100 megs of files named things like "Cameron_Diaz_Naked.jpg.exe". It has jpg so it is a jpg, right? No, it is a virus/spyware installer. If you are searching for pictures, use Google's image search - click "images" above the search box. And, yes, 90% of the free downloads on the web are packed full of nasty junk.

As for tracking cookies, some websites use cookies (little bits of info they store in your web browser) to track you as you roam the web. It is perfectly safe to delete them. They will come back as soon as you visit a tracking site again. --Kainaw ^(talk) 22:49, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

As shockingly idiotic as it may seem, some images on some systems can be extremely dangerous; see MS06-001 for example documentation. To the best of my knowledge, a genuine GIF is unable to pose such a risk; something else disguised as a GIF is a different matter. Also, all current versions of the Internet Explorer browser introduce a serious and unnecessary security risk just looking at dangerous sites; see this Secunia bulletin for example documentation. Other browsers are safer, more standards compliant, and nicer to use; for example, both Opera and Mozilla Firefox are good free browsers preferred by informed experts. Finally, a major source of risk is screensavers; best avoid the temptation. --KSmrq^T 00:48, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Theorotically, images can contain virus code, but the code cannot be executed. However, remember that all content on a web page, including images, was placed there with HTML, JavaScript, etc. Therefore, it would be possible to embed malicious code in an online image. Some virus programmers use HTML images with embedded code, so when you open the e-mail and the image loads, the virus programmer knows you've opened the e-mail. It may be possible, though I'm not sure, for a picture to have an OnMouseOver event handler that executes code that might harm the system.

Another possibility is that the JPG/GIF is not a JPG/GIF at all! It is possible for a file to have multiple extensions, and the last extension determines the type of file. Therefore, you may have downloaded an EXE disguised as a JPG (SOMEPIC.JPG.EXE) and opened the EXE, which may contain a virus.

It is possible to exploit security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer to infect your computer using the above methods (particularly embedding malicious code in images), so you should switch to another browser to keep your computer secure. According to the latest figures from Secunia, Opera has the best security record; it is the browser I use daily, and the browser I highly recommend. Another popular browser is Mozilla Firefox.

I'm a 14-year-old who has been using computers since I was 3, so I'm a computer whiz kid, though not a professional. --J.L.W.S. The Special One 02:58, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Minor correction: Images sent in emails do not have embedded code to let the sender know you opened the image. Instead of an image, the email has an HTML link to an image from a website with an added query string. For example, getting the image "http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/monobook/user.gif" will just get the image - no big deal. However, getting the image "http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/monobook/user.gif?user=kainaw" will get the image and tell the server that "user=kainaw", so the server can record that I specifically grabbed the image. One security tool is to omit query strings when images are fetched, but then a creative programmer can set up a server so any filename sends the same image - allowing him to embed user IDs in the filename. In the end, the image itself has no embedded code. It is the request for the image that does. --Kainaw ^(talk) 13:14, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately you do need to seriously keep your whits about you when using the internet, other things to keep in mind are:

1. Anything you post on any internet site will be indexed by a search engine and viewable for ever. Guard your personal info.
2. regard any email purporting to come from you bank with extreme suspicion. Con artists create websites identical to those of banks with adresses that look to a newbie as exactly that of the bank and then email people trying to con them into visiting th site. The moment the victim logs in they have the username and password to go to the real bank website and clear out thier bank accounts. Likewise emails offering you something that seems to good to be true always are.
3. Free software is great and there is tonnes of it about. Unfortunately some of it contains nasties like spyware. After a while you start to get a feel for whats likly to be safe but initially you need to be suspicous. I'm not saying don't use it, I use it all the time, but do a web search first to make sure it's OK I get advice from internet savvy friends.
4. Illegal or barely legal sites, such as those offering Warez are run by people who aren't that worried about breaking the law. Nuff said. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 02:42, 1 August 2006 (UTC)