Date: 12/15/07     Keywords: web

I'm not an Excel guru by any means. Here's where I am -

I have a spreadsheet with 140,000 rows. Each row has a numeric ID, a date/time stamp, a fully-qualified domain name and another fully-qualified domain name. The first is the path to a web page, the second is the HTTP_REFERRER. Finally, there is an IP address.

In essence, 140,000 rows from a web site's usage log, nicely formatted and placed in the appropriate fields.

They're called "id" "timestamp" "domain" "referrer" and "hostaddress"

What I need to do is create some charts that analyze this data.

Specifically, a pie chart that shows how many hits there were to any given "domain" ... of the 140,000 rows, the "domain" field is one of about 250 different possible domains.

I'd also like a pie chart showing the number of hits from the top 20 or so IP addresses, with everything else lumped as "other"

A pie chart showing how many rows have data in "referrer" vs. how many rows do not would be useful.

See where I'm going with this?

Anyone guru-level on Excel 2007 who can help 'splain how I might accomplish this?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1137171.html

Date: 12/15/07     Keywords: no keywords

Is it possible to save the contents of a PDF file as your desktop wallpaper? I'm guessing "NO WAY, Jose".

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1136892.html

Date: 12/14/07     Keywords: no keywords

I have a very silly (probably) question. I just got a brand new camera which is 6.3 mega pixels,I also have the same old icky printer that I have always had. Would the upgrade in mega pixels of my camera make a difference in the quality of the printing of a picture, even though it is still the same crappy printer I have always had?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1136629.html

Date: 12/14/07     Keywords: php, programming, web

I have a reliable version of webcrush working now. It is a site & file optimization program written in Ruby, that uses various OSS tools to shrink or optimize filetypes commonly used on websites.

http://www.wolfsheep.com/index.php/Programming/Webcrush

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1136326.html

Date: 12/14/07     Keywords: no keywords

ntoskrnl.exe seems like a low level process.

every other day XP crashes and crash dump points to ntoskrnl.exe

what gives?

i'll do the mem check next time, but this thing is getting on my nerves.

on the side note, did firefox got worse at spell checking some time in the past between version 1 and 2, or am i just getting dumber?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1135899.html

Date: 12/13/07     Keywords: no keywords

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1135797.html

Date: 12/13/07     Keywords: no keywords

I came home last night and tried to turn on my PC. It booted for 3 seconds or so, then shut off, then booted itself again for another few seconds, and yet again shut itself off. It kept going on like that until I just cut off the power. The whole system is relatively new, maybe 5 months old.  Someone suggested I take things out one by one and try to boot after each removal. I'll try that once I get home, but I was hoping maybe one of you had experienced this same problem before.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1135471.html

Date: 12/13/07     Keywords: php

Hi, here are two links for pdfs regarding the 60th anniversary of the transistor. If the links aren't working (pdf file not accessible) please leave a comment. Thanks.

http://download.intel.com/pressroom/kits/events/60th_anniversary/Intel_Timeline.pdf

http://download.intel.com/pressroom/kits/events/60th_anniversary/TransistorAnniversaryBackgrounder.pdf

In case those links can't be accessed, Gizmodo made a video that everyone could access:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/moore.s-law%7C-the-motion-picture/gizmodos-video-salute-to-moores-law-332051.php

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1135254.html

Date: 12/11/07     Keywords: html, linux

In case anyone cares, the technical details of the AMD K10 TLB erratum (that's "bug" for the layman) was posted by an AMD fellow on a Linux mailing list. I found it via a post response on Informationweek.com:

http://informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/bug_in_amds_qua.html

AMD Family 10h revision B2 processors suffer from an issue in the
processor TLB known as erratum 298. Erratum 298 is documented in
a forthcoming update to the Revision Guide for AMD Family 10h
Processors (PID 41322). The workaround in the Revision Guide
document is intended to be applied by BIOS. The BIOS workaround
has performance implications which can be avoided by having the
OS directly workaround the issue. A Linux 64-bit patch was developed
for 2.6.23.8 by AMD's OSRC team and will be posted to this list by
Joerg Roedel. The patch is for demonstration purposes and is NOT
being recommended to be applied upstream.

Erratum 298 will be described as follows: "The processor operation
to change the accessed or dirty bits of a page translation table
entry in the L2 from 0b to 1b may not be atomic. A small window of
time exists where other cached operations may cause the stale page
translation table entry to be installed in the L3 before the modified
copy is returned to the L2. In addition, if a probe for this cache
line occurs during this window of time, the processor may not set
the accessed or dirty bit and may corrupt data for an unrelated
cached operation. The system may experience a machine check event
reporting an L3 protocol error has occurred. In this case, the MC4
status register (MSR 0000_0410) will be equal to B2000000_000B0C0F
or BA000000_000B0C0F. The MC4 address register (MSR 0000_0412) will
be equal to 26h."

The L2 Eviction Linux kernel performance patch re-enables the
registers set for the BIOS workaround described in the Revision
Guide document. It then prevents the processor from performing the
operation that can trigger erratum 298. The patch works by emulating
the Accessed and Dirty bits.

The basis for the kernel patch solution depends on the root cause of
the L2 eviction problem. The only exposure for the problem is when
the TLB needs to set an A or D bit in a page table entry. If the TLB
never needs to set an A or D bit, the bug cannot occur. By emulating
the A and D bits with the help of the Present and Writable bits, the
patch will ensure the real A and D bits are always preset. It works
by forcing a page fault when the first access is made to a page with
the emulated A bit not set, and when the first write access is made
to a writable page with the emulated D bit not set. Emulated A and D
bits are stored in bits generally available to the OS in the page
table entry.

Elsie Wahlig

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1134601.html

Date: 12/10/07     Keywords: web

Hey there! I am in a contest and would like to spread the word, fast. There is a prize for being the most viral.

The method I have been using is not working sufficiently. I have been using the contest's "Post to Website Tools", but everyone else is blowing me out of the water with "hits".

They added a new feature where others can use the "Post to Website Tools" and it will earn me even more hits. Anyone interested in helping me "spread the word"? Please?!

Here is a link to the contest page (you can even read my submission and vote if you would like). Use the Post to Website button to help "spread the word".

Thanks!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1134568.html

Date: 12/09/07     Keywords: software, asp

I'm working with a museum that needs a better way to track visitors - whether they're members, why they came, etc. Right now they're using a log book which means that people write things that don't fit into the categories, skip anything they don't remember - well, it's a data disaster.

It seems to me that they need a simple laptop at the reception desk with a program on it that allows input into specific categories and an easy way to name and add special events. This sounds like an Excel script to me, but since I have virtually no knowledge of Excel (beyond making pretty graphs) I'm not sure I'm right. Does this sound plausible to you? Or is there existing cheap-free software that does it better?

If you know how to write such a script, how much should they budget paying a developer to do it?

FYI, http://www.haywardareahistory.org/default.asp is the museum. TIA for any help and advice.

edit: It should allow entries as visitors come in and provide a daily tally. Monthly and annual totals would be nice, too.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1134279.html

Date: 12/06/07     Keywords: virus, web

I believe this exact question was asked not too long ago, but I cannot find the answer. All of a sudden images from other websites that I frequent have been appearing on a few different websites. For example, when I do my banking, their logo is supposed to be there, but it is a picture from a different website that I go to. Is this a likely virus? I did a scan and it came up clean.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1133992.html

Date: 12/06/07     Keywords: no keywords

Hi guys, I was wondering if any of you had experience with a Dell Dimension 3000. I have been wanting to upgrade my PC (dvd burner, more RAM, another hardrive and better graphics card) but after reading on the internet, it seems my computer has no AGP or PCI-E slots. Does that mean there's no way I can upgrade the graphics without getting a new motherboard? I really hope not :(

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1133655.html

Date: 12/05/07     Keywords: no keywords

What is this?



It's the one-ton hard-disk storage unit for this:



"The 350 Disk Storage Unit consisted of the magnetic disk memory unit with its access mechanism, the electronic and pneumatic controls for the access mechanism, and a small air compressor. Assembled with covers, the 350 was 60 inches long, 68 inches high and 29 inches deep. It was configured with 50 magnetic disks containing 50,000 sectors, each of which held 100 alphanumeric characters, for a capacity of 5 million characters.

Disks rotated at 1,200 rpm, tracks (20 to the inch) were recorded at up to 100 bits per inch, and typical head-to-disk spacing was 800 microinches. The execution of a "seek" instruction positioned a read-write head to the track that contained the desired sector and selected the sector for a later read or write operation. Seek time averaged about 600 milliseconds."

I thought I got a pretty sweet deal on my 40GB flash drive; now I feel even better about it.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1133363.html

Date: 12/04/07     Keywords: no keywords

Ok, so I installed the new 1 gig stick in my PC (yay for Crucial's memory compatibility program and good advice!). I got the "new memory detected" screen before XP loads, and all looks fine, even after XP loads. The new memory is recognized on the properties page of My Computer as well. Yay!

Or is it?

I don't really notice much difference in performance - it still lags when I'm running more than one RAM-intensive program (DVDShrink, AVI movie on VLC, Utorrent, etc). I upgraded from 256 memory to 1 gig - shouldn't I notice more zip and pep in my PC's step? I know it's an old piece of shite, and I'm not expecting miracles, but I'd love to see some improvement from tripling the memory.

On second look at the setup page (I hit F2 when the computer was booting), the memory stick is being recognized at it's full capacity, but the "Computer Memory" still registers only 250-something mb's of RAM. I can't change this setting from that page - is there somewhere else that I can change it, if that's what is preventing my 'puter from using all the new RAM? Do I need to do something to the BIOS (another suggestion)?

From the setup page:
Installed system memory: 1024 MB DDR SDRAM
System memory speed: 266mhz
System memory channel mode: Single
AGP Apeture: 256mb

Dell Dimension 2400, using XP.
bios a103

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1132818.html

Date: 12/01/07     Keywords: no keywords

I am interested in putting multiple scenes from four different movies onto one DVD. I use DVD Shrink to burn a lot of my movies, but I'm not sure I've figured out the re-Author function.

Is this possible? I'm not that worried about creating a menu, the disc can autoplay and as long as I am able to navigate forward and backward through scenes, I'll be happy. (I do have Nero though, that can make menus, yes?)

How can I do this? I'd prefer to use DVD Shrink, but if I must get another program, I will.

Also, I'll be using one disc drive, so any programs that require two discs simultaneously won't work for me... I'll be ripping scenes to the hard drive.

Thanks for any tips, guys!!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1132326.html

Date: 11/29/07     Keywords: no keywords

Well, it's upgrade season, and with my aging Athlon 64 3700+ is hitting retirement.

To begin with, I've been looking at these two Intel products:

The E6750 and the E6700

Aside from the FSB, what differs between the two chips? Does the E6700's performance justify the price tag over the E6750? I've been looking at Newegg and my usual review sites. Though I see a lot of positive reviews for the E6700, I really didn't hear much about the other CPU... is that cause for concern?

While I'm on the subject of CPUs, I've been looking at some budget CPUs, looking at the Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 and an Athlon X2 5600+. Now, I really don't have brand loyalty, so to say, and I'm just looking for the best performance for my gaming buck. I'm just looking for some advice, and possibly for some first hand experiences with either of the products above. I haven't built a system in the past 3 years, and I'm grossly behind on my tech-knowledge. I've been hitting some sites for some Build Guides in order to stretch my dollars, and any help in the matter will be greatly appreciated :)

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1131542.html

Date: 11/28/07     Keywords: php, web

I'm looking for feedback and a permanent home for a set of guidelines people can follow to make the online experience more efficient than it currently is.

http://wolfsheep.com/index.php/Technical/FixOurWeb

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1131327.html

Date: 11/28/07     Keywords: no keywords

My friend's laptop crashed so he is trying to reinstall Windows XP professional. Unfortunately, he says that the laptop no longer recognizes the CD drive. Or so I believe he said. Any ideas on how to identify the problem and come with a solution? We can't afford a PRO as we're both quite poor.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1131037.html

Date: 11/26/07     Keywords: no keywords

I was directed here from someone lovely in another community. Desperately need some help - definitely feel like I've exhausted all my resources and searching skills. Please dumb things down for me - you can assume I can't read instructions well at all anymore.

1.  I have a formatted Sandisk (an old one I use to format after every single photo shoot), that I would like to get old portraits off of.  At my old job (the store has been closed, and I've already consulted my old coworkers), we had a program that could pull images up from years back.  I need something similar, but have no money to buy a program.  Any good trial versions that I can save from, or free versions that are powerful enough to do this?  I feel like I've tried everything on download.com, but was only able to pull up very recent images (photographs that hadn't even been deleted off the card yet). Help!

2. I'm building a site for a class in Dreamweaver and on my final nerve on how to figure out working thumbnails and/or swap image? I'm not even sure this is the right behavior anymore.  I have thumbnails of photographs that, when clicked on, need to bring up the full version next to the list of thumbnails.  It just doesn't make sense anymore, and I can't get it to work at all.  The professor has proved to be no help (i.e. "If you haven't figured it out by now...") and all the classmates I've tried to get a hold of haven't responded.  I'm running out of time!

Thanks in advance for any help!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1130931.html