National Library Week
Stump the Librarian
Questions and Answers
Q: How can I store binary files in SQL using asp.net and C#?
Date & Time: Thursday, April 14, 2005 4:57 PM
A: HOW TO: Read and Write BLOB Data by Using ADO.NET Through ASP.NET
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;326502
"This article describes how to use the FileStream object and a byte array in ASP.NET to write binary large object (BLOB) data to Microsoft SQL Server."
AND
How To Read and Write BLOB Data by Using ADO.NET with Visual C# .NET
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309158
"This article describes how to use Visual C# .NET to read and write binary large object (BLOB) fields."
Answered by: Krista Graham, Electronic Service Coordinator/Reference Librarian
Date & Time: Friday, April 15, 2005 3:50 PM
Q: Can you specify a few links that provide information related to the technical explanation of the speech recognition process in Artificial Intelligence?
Date & Time: Thursday, April 14, 2005 4:57 PM
A: The questioner has been sent a list of references with full-text links to articles referenced in the Applied Science and Technology Abstracts database using the subject phrase AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION.
The first 13 are available full-text.
The second group (of five) are some recent reviews.
Answered by: David Ginsburg, Reference Librarian and Science Bibliographer
Date & Time: Friday, April 15, 2005 3:55 PM
Q: How can I create stored procedures in SQL? Where can I find a very good description of that process?
Date & Time: Thursday, April 14, 2005 4:55 PM
A: Detailed directions (with descriptions) for creating stored procedures in SQL can be found at:
Creating Stored Procedures
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/createdb/cm_8_des_07_7yw5.asp
From: Microsoft Knowledge Base, SQL Server documentation
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnanchor/html/sqlserver.asp
Answered by: Krista Graham, Electronic Service Coordinator/Reference Librarian
Date & Time: Friday, April 15, 2005 3:48 PM
Q: Who was the student in the Szechwan province who committed
suicide because he could not pay his high school fees in June 2004 and
how much yuan is equivalent to the average per-capita income for
farmers in Szechwan?
Date & Time: Thursday, April 14, 2005 1:48 AM
A: It was Zheng Qingming in the Sichuan province (variant of Szechuan
or Szechwan). He owed $80 in fees.
By my calculations based on the info in the article, the average per capita income for farmers in that province is 2108.33 yuan ($253). I used the example they gave of 500 yuan being equal to $60 to do the calculation.
Source: http://www.unh.edu/journalism/chinaboom.htm - [Web site no longer available - 4/14/06]
Answered by: Monica Fox, Veterans Memorial Library Reference Librarian
Date & Time: Thursday, April 14, 2005 5:48 PM
Q: How thick does neoprene sheeting need to be in order to repel
hazardous biochemicals such as anthrax?
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 10:47 AM
A: Protection from hazardous biochemicals (or any hazardous material for
that matter) depends on a number of factors:
First, is the specific hazardous material itself. Neoprene offers different degrees of protection from different materials. (See Baur, Robert, and others. "Assessment of Methods for Handling Mixed-Threat
Environmental Samples". 2004. <http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/phl/labep/hazmat/aphlreportmixed.pdf>).
Second, is the length of exposure. One measure of the protecting material is its "breakthrough time." That is the time it takes for the hazardous material to be detected on the other (inside) side of the protecting material. Obviously, the thicker the protecting material, the greater is the protection. Doubling the thickness generally quadruples the "breakthrough time." (Lab Safety Supply. "Chemical Protective Gloves," EZ Facts Safety Info Document #191. 2005. <http://www.labsafety.com/refinfo/ezfacts/ezf191.htm>.)
I have not been able to find specific data for neoprene and anthrax. Data for the resistance of Neoprene to various other hazardous chemicals is given in the Baur reference.
Neoprene, whose systematic chemical name is Polychloroprene, is generally used in gloves. The thickness of protective gloves manufactured by MAPA, for instance, ranges from 22 to 40 mils.
Answered by: David Ginsburg, Reference Librarian and Science Bibliographer
Date & Time: Thursday, April 14, 2005 8:51 AM
Q: Who are the three individuals who proved that SHA-1 is not
collision-free and what universities are they from?
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 4:30 AM
A: The three individuals who proved that SHA-1 is not collision-free are Xiaoyun Wang and Hongbo Yu of Shandong University, China, and Yiqun Lisa Yin formerly of Princeton and currently an independent security consultant.
Source: "Collision Search Attacks on SHA1." (by the 3 above authors)
http://theory.csail.mit.edu/~yiqun/shanote.pdf
Also: From the Schneier on Security weblog (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/02/sha1_broken.html):
"The research team of Xiaoyun Wang, Yiqun Lisa Yin, and Hongbo Yu (mostly from Shandong University in China) have broken SHA-1."
A short, unpublished paper on their research is available online at:
http://www.infosec.sdu.edu.cn/paper/sha-attack-note.pdf
Answered by: David Ginsburg, Reference Librarian and Science Bibliographer
and
Answered by: Stephanie Mathson, Instruction and Reference Librarian
and
Answered by: Monica Craig, Off-Campus Reference Librarian
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 6:31 PM
Q: In the web page, we can generate a pop up in javascript using
the alert() function. How can I make the text bold that is dislayed in the alert message box?
Date & Time: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 11:49 PM
A: I have done extensive searching on this topic, and as far as I can tell there is no simple or straightforward method for bolding the text displayed in an alert message. This javascript.faqts entry from 2002 would tend to support my conclusion ...
Is there a way to bold certain letters or words in a javascript alert box?
http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/17329/fid/53
"At this stage there does not appear to be a way of making text bold in an alert box. The reason for this, I would suggest, is that the default Javascript font is not dependent upon the document font ..."
That being said, I was able to find another source that provided instructions for creating "Custom Alerts" by over-riding the default window.alert method. Using this method, one could completely change the "look and feel" of the "alert" window (including the message text). Of course, by doing so you are actually creating an entirely new alert window that obscures the default. Instructions and a demonstration of this method can be found on this page:
Custom Alert Demonstration
http://slayeroffice.com/code/custom_alert/
Presumably, alternate programming methodologies could also be used to produce this type of effect, but I think that goes beyond the scope of the question in that you would need to use programming languages other than JavaScript.
Answered by: Krista Graham, Electronic Service Coordinator/Reference Librarian
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 8:36 PM
Q: What was Oscar Wilde's favorite tree?
Date & Time: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 2:20 PM
A: "These Confessions were written by Wilde in the book of Adderley Millar Howard, a young American actor, during a visit to that country in 1877."
Oscar Wilde's favorite trees were the STONE PINE and LEMON TREE.
Source:
Mr. Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde American Confession 1877
http://www.bl.uk/services/learning/curriculum/cnv/section7wildeconfessions.html#menu
Answered by: David Ginsburg, Reference Librarian and Science Bibliographer
Date & Time: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 10:09 PM
Q: What is the biggest unicellular organism on our planet?
Date & Time: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 1:30 PM
A: The largest unicellular organism on earth is Caulerpa prolifera, a species of tropical algae which grows to a length of two to three feet.
Source: Jacobs, William P. "Caulerpa." Scientific American 271 (December 1994): 100-105.
While I was researching this, I came across a number of other related facts which may be of interest:
The largest single cells are bird eggs. These are, of course, part of another organism. Of currently extant birds, the ostrich egg is the largest weighing about three pounds. The egg of extinct Aepyornis maximus (elephant bird) weighed about 27 pounds with a volume of 2.4 gallons!
The slime molds, e.g., Physarum polycephalum, are also large, growing to nearly eight inches across, but they may be better considered acellular rather than unicellular.
And the largest single organism is the fungus Armillaria bulbosa, an example of which occupies a minimum of 37 acres and weighs over 11 tons. [Smith, Myron L. and others. "The fungus Armillaria bulbosa is among the largest and oldest living organisms." Nature 356 (1992): 428-431.]
Answered by: David Ginsburg, Reference Librarian and Science Bibliographer
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 2:05 AM
Q: How can we run JAVA script functions using ASP.net?
Date & Time: Sunday, April 10, 2005 8:41 PM
A: We have two possible answers to this question. We were not sure whether the question refers to JavaScript (a web scripting language) or to JAVA (a complete programming language).
1) If the question refers to JavaScript, the answer can be found in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
Using JavaScript Along with ASP.NET
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnaspp/html/aspnet-usingjavascript.asp
2) If the question refers to JAVA, the lengthy answer can be found in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
Moving Java Applications to .NET
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dndotnet/html/dotnet_movingjavaapps.asp
And this tool will convert Java language programs into Microsoft Visual C# for movement into the .NET framework
Microsoft Java Language Conversion Assistant 2.0
http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/downloads/tools/jlca/default.aspx
Answered by: Krista Graham, Electronic Service Coordinator/Reference Librarian
Date & Time: Monday, April 11, 2005 6:35 PM
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