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December 20

Internet Archive pinpoint links not working

In Sticks Nix Hick Pix, the first external link is to https://archive.org/stream/variety119-1935-07#page/n124/mode/1up -- the Internet Archive's copy of Variety's issues from July 1935. However, the "n124" in the URL is supposed to go to the 125th page of the file (the numbering starts from 0) -- and when one tries to follow that link, one will be taken not to the directly relevant page, but to the first page of the file (https://archive.org/stream/variety119-1935-07#page/n0/mode/1up). Upon arriving there, one can manually change the URL to replace the "n0" with "n124" and then one will be at the page one was looking for. In other words, the "pinpoint" links to the specific pages don't work as links, but the URLs will work when typed in manually. What can be done to get the pinpoint links to work properly? This problem affects Wikipedia, but not only Wikipedia. I tried to add a bunch of pinpoint links to Variety on another website and had the same problem of the URL redirecting to the first page ("n0"). --Metropolitan90 (talk) 03:22, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The n124 link works for me: It shows a Variety front page with the headline STICKS NIX HICK PIX. In the address, the parts after the # are processed by a script on the page. Perhaps your browser prevents the script from working as expected when clicking on a link, but allows it to work when editing the address. Possible Ideas: 1. Try adjusting settings for script blocking in your browser. 2. Search for your specific browser version in the Internet Archive BookReader bugs list to see if anyone else has reported an issue. --Bavi H (talk) 02:23, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your advice. I was able to resolve the problem by resetting the settings in my browser. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 03:22, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

pages

Why do some pages take a long time to load on my phone, yet if I tether my phone's data connection to my laptop, they load right away? Benjamin (talk) 08:55, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I will assume that you mean that the same page, loaded either from phone with mobile data or from computer via USB link to the phone running on mobile data, takes different times to load. First of all, the connection between computer and phone should be extremely fast, both in bandwidth and in ping, that it does not matter.

It is possible that the phone and the computer do not load exactly the "same" page. Your computer's browser will likely send a different User agent than your mobile's browser, so the website could serve a different page. However, the mobile version of sites is usually lighter than the desktop version, so that is probably not the answer anyways.

Another possibility is that the data transfer itself is not to blame, but the combination of hardware and software makes that the computer is able to render the pages faster. Computer hardware is faster, unless the phone is 10 years newer than the computer. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 10:33, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

There are two meanings for "tether my phone's data connection to my laptop." I work with some people who call it tethering when they use the phone's data connection to the cell tower as the Internet connection for their laptop. I work with others who call it tethering when they use the laptop's wireless or wired Internet connection as the Internet connection for their phone (note: the laptops have security access to wifi and phones do not). I assume you mean that you are using the phone's data connection as your laptop's Internet connection. Therefore, the bandwidth of the phone's connection is not an issue, but you need to test it repeatedly. The way phone data works is not as simple as how standard WiFi or wired connections work. The tower broadcasts everything for everyone in a vast data soup and your phone has to pick out what it needs. If it misses it, it has to ask again (and again and again). So, it is clear that you can get an unlucky connection on your phone and a lucky one on the laptop. Ignoring that, the only differences are the web page itself, the hardware, and the software that renders the web page. I believe the main issue is the software. Are you using the same web browser on both the phone and laptop? Likely not. For example, Chrome or Firefox for Android is not exactly the same as Chrome of Firefox for Windows. So, the renderer will have differences. Phone-based renderers have been leaning to a render-first, display second method. Until there is enough of a stable page to render, nothing is shown. The purpose is to reduce the amount of times that you see a button or link you really want to tap and, the split second before you tap it, an ad squeezes into the display right below your finger. (Yes - web designers do work on making ads delay a second and then appear directly where menu buttons were a second ago.) This isn't such a big deal on computers with a mouse. You don't hide most of your view with the mouse pointer as you do with your finger. So, they show everything as it is rendered. If you are interested in this topic, the Gecko layout engine is free to download and play with. I've used it for class projects, having students work on methods to speed up rendering in the past, but now I am focusing on stabilizing rendering - trying to avoid pages that bounce all over the place as the content downloads. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 13:00, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Magic Mouse isn't pairing

I just bought a Magic Mouse for my Mac Mini (running OS X Yosemite 10.10.5) (note: not a knock off, a real Magic Mouse, made by Apple). My keyboard is connected to a regular mouse that is not wireless. Following the instruction booklet that came with it, I connected the charger (lightning end) to the magic mouse, plugged the other end into the USB port of the Mac Mini, and turned the magic mouse switch to on (I googled to make sure I knew which position was "on" and which was "off", though it's pretty obvious). The instruction booklet says: "Your mouse will pair automatically with your Mac." Here's what else I've tried:

I made sure Bluetooth was on in system preference.
I unplugged the regular mouse, then tried the same procedure set out above, again.
I went to system preference, to the mouse function, and then clicked on "Set Up Bluetooth Mouse..."; a dropdown then says "devices" with a blank field below and it shows its searching for devices by a circling wheel, but the field never populates as having found the Magic Mouse.
I tried restarting the computer with the mouse connected through the USB port and unplugging the regular mouse as soon as I clicked restart.

I think the context of my post makes it clear: all failed. The computer has never given any indication the mouse exists. Does anyone have any suggestions of what else I might try? Of course, it could be the Magic Mouse is defective, but I believe Apple's quality control makes this unlikely. Thank you. 96.224.82.196 (talk) 15:32, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I recognize it's unlikely you have a defective mouse or USB port, but it seems most likely. The only source I can offer for assistance is Apple's own support site for the Magic Mouse. Hope it helps! RedLinkJ (talk) 15:51, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I have no real idea, but you could try this command when the mouse in plugged in the USB port and see whether it appears. In all likelihood, it will not, but that is still one more test to narrow it down. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 17:52, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

FWIW, magic mouse is the most spotty apple product I ever owned, in terms of QA/QC on build quality. My first one broke completely after only one year of use. And my seemingly more reliable replacement still sporadically drops the connection. I'd recommend trying to get it working on another computer, and if that fails, try to exchange it. SemanticMantis (talk) 21:52, 20 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

We use magic mice in the graphics suite at the college were I work. Twenty Macs each with a magic mouse in the same room is "entertaining"! What we have found to do when mice refuses to connect or connects to a different Mac, is turn the mouse off, wait about 30 seconds, hold the mouse close to the Mac screen in the top left hand corner, switch the mouse on, and make like you are wiping the screen with the mouse - move it back and forth close to the screen. We've also found magic mice like batteries that are very fresh. It goes without saying YMMV. --TrogWoolley (talk) 11:46, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

December 21

Try to find old computer game

On Windows 95 or 98. Maybe in Japanese but not much words. Girl uses a hammer to whack small white-pink creatures (look like squid or insect with many legs) that come out from holes. If a creature touch her, she will cry and say something sounds like "come on". --Curious Cat On Her Last Life (talk) 02:52, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

A Whac-A-Mole game like this guy describes? (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 08:03, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I bet it's a fan game starring Skuld (Oh My Goddess!). In Skuld no bug taiji ("Skuld's bug extermination"), she says kono... ("why, you...") after losing a life. -- BenRG (talk) 20:34, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Yes BenRG that is the game! Thanks so much! Know the name can find and download the game. --Curious Cat On Her Last Life (talk) 02:07, 22 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Stopping Win XP installation part way through to continue later?

My mum doesn't want her ancient computer (>10 years old) anymore so I want to list it online as free to whomever wants such a relic. I've wiped the drive with random 1s and 0s and now I'm installing Win XP on it again. Is it possible for me to stop at this stage (Windows asking for name and organisation) in the installation, leaving the XP disc in the CD-drive for the new owner to continue where I left off? "Screenshot" --88.105.113.43 (talk) 13:21, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I'm doubtful. Of course, if you can just leave it running until then, paused at that screen, then continue the process when the customer comes over to claim it, that would work. But then you would need to wait for it to complete. I suggest you just give it a generic name and organization, like "XP User" and "No organization", then complete the install. Give them the disk with it so they can change it if they need to. StuRat (talk) 14:45, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Well, you need the disk to complete the installation, so if you are going to give it away with the computer why not let the "antiquitarian" (10 years is not that much...) do the full install themselves?

Otherwise, as the installer has no option for that, you are looking for a suspend-to-disk option. Without a full operating system in place, I doubt it is possible, but maybe I could be proven wrong. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 16:10, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I guess OP means to deliver the PC in the "pre-installed" state, just as it came from the manufacturer. I've often tried the same when selling used PCs. Unfortunately that's not possible with the customer CD. Microsoft has tools for this, but they are available only to manufacturers and official dealers. I usually finished the install, leaving organization and passwords blank. The buyer can rename the user account and install a password, even without the CD. (Of course it's nice to include the original CD anyway). I never had complaints about it from buyers. Jahoe (talk) 16:35, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

You might as well just leave it with a blank drive. Anyone taking it will probably just want it for scrap parts. You're giving it away for free. Let the person taking it worry about it. --47.138.163.230 (talk) 05:43, 22 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Even if the new owner doesn't want the computer for scrap parts, if he is somewhat computer literate, he may want to wipe the hard drive and install his own favourite operating system (which may or may not be Windows XP or any other Windows version) just to be sure there's no malware installed. After all, you're not a reputable computer retailer. With a light and secure operating system (probably some Linux), a 10-15 year old computer is still useful as a desktop system, and definitely as a server. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:34, 22 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

EE network adaptor problem

I got an EE netwrok adaptor, but when I try to connwect it, Windows 10 says there is a problem with the network adaptor. As a result I have to connect to Internet via a shared Wi Fi network. Is it a problem with the adaptor or Windows 10? I have had this problem ever since the computer ugraded itself to W10. Help!!--86.187.165.94 (talk) 17:38, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It could be that the device doesn't support Windows 10. If you still have the box it came in or written specs, check those. If not, search for the specs online. StuRat (talk) 18:24, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

We need to know the exact make and model of the adapter to tell if it has Windows 10 drivers. It is common for older devices to NOT have drivers for newer operating systems. Otherwise, I'd still be using a beautiful 2400 dpi scanner I purchased in 1995, but never even got Windows 98 drivers, let alone Windows ME, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 10 drivers. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 20:02, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@209.149.113.5: Check if Vuescan supports your scanner. The program supports LOTS of vintage scanners that are no longer supported by current Windows versions. I think there is a trial version. I bought the program to continue be able to continue using slide scanner that wasn't supported by windows 7. --82.164.37.199 (talk) 17:27, 23 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Flexi Osprey 2 Mini MBB31.109.76.5 (talk) 20:06, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Solved it. I had trashed/erased the drivers somehow. REinstalling did the trick.--31.109.76.5 (talk) 20:21, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved

December 22

Logic needed to describe a natural language

Is propositional, first order, second order, higher order logic or type theory needed to describe the grammar of a natural language? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.7.33.34 (talk) 18:49, 22 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

See Linguistic description and Generative grammar. From here are listed several schemes. I would not call them logic, but you can use natural language to describe logic. Did you also read the Logic or Argument articles?Graeme Bartlett (talk)

December 23

CNN domain redirect

Why exactly CNN.com redirects to edition.cnn.com? Is there www.cnn.com at all? This says "It probably redirects in order to acquire information about the edition from the visitor and populate the most relevant content according to their edition". CNN doesn't explain this, so I thought a relevant note in the infobox would be nice, but couldn't find a reliable source for it. Thanks. Brandmeister^talk 19:35, 23 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

For me, cnn.com redirects to www.cnn.com, not edition.cnn.com. Going to the latter directly gives me a page with a different title and different articles on it. The title for www.cnn.com is "CNN - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos" while edition.cnn.com has "CNN - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News" I think edition.cnn.com is the US version. Isa (talk) 05:29, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Where are you Isa? I'm getting edition.cnn.com here in the UK, so it's not that simple. Rojomoke (talk) 06:23, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, both cnn.com and www.cnn.com are redirected to edition.cnn.com for me in the UK. My guess is that the website is programmed to deliver American content (us.cnn.com) for American IPs, and the international edition to the rest of the world, but perhaps it makes some errors in identifying IP addresses, or perhaps some Americans use a proxy elsewhere? There are only minor differences, and you can set your preference at the top right, or opt for content in Spanish or Arabic. I've added a sentence to the article, but need a citation for our original research on the server behaviour. Can anyone find one? Dbfirs 11:55, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

As a side note, is there a way to get directly to www.cnn.com for those who are redirected to edition.cnn.com? Brandmeister^talk 12:53, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I think the former cnn.com has been renamed us.cnn.com. Dbfirs 12:58, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

... but I was wrong — there seem to be two ways to reach the American edition, but the www.cnn.com is not available from IP addresses in the UK. How strange! Their server is obviously making some decisions based on IP addresses. Dbfirs 18:22, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I was on a Canadian IP when I did my original test. I've done other tests and I got edition in the UK, Germany, Norway, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, but www in Canada and the US. It seems my original guess was wrong and that www is Canada/US and edition is for the rest.

In any case, on the right side of the header is a dropdown where you can select between the "International" (goes to edition.cnn.com) or "U.S. Edition" (goes to us.cnn.com) . The content is the same for us and www, so they seem to be aliases. As for why cnn.com redirects to www instead of us if you're in North America, I'm not sure. Maybe they assume Canadians want US content but would be offended by seeing us in the URL. Isa (talk) 17:50, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

December 24

Keyboard

request for opinion

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

1) What is the best ergonomic keyboard available?

2) what is the best multi-keyboard available?

3) What is the best ergonomic keyboard multi-keyboard available?

My research accumulates various conclusions...none of it I'm happy with.

27.147.226.140 (talk) 18:20, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

All I can say, is if you buy an expensive keyboard, make sure it has good cord strain relief (see [1]) where the cord leaves the keyboard, or you can expect the wires inside the cord to break there. StuRat (talk) 04:08, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Mouse

request for opinion

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

What is the best mouse available? 27.147.226.140 (talk) 18:21, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Mickey Mouse, according to Minnie. Akld guy (talk) 03:55, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

You need to decide what type of mouse you want. There's the choice between the old ball-style mice and laser mice. Here I prefer laser mice, as they are less likely to get "gummed up". Laser mice can sometimes get lint inside, but that's easy to remove. You also need to decide if you want a cord mouse or a cordless mouse. Here I recommend the cord, as the cordless mice have all sorts of problems unique to them, such as limited range, needing batteries replaced, and getting lost. StuRat (talk) 04:03, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Copy pasting Issue

I just copied from Wikipedia and pasted the information to MS Word, some things doesn't seem to appear. How do I mitigate? 27.147.226.140 (talk) 20:19, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Can you explain what didn't copy over ? One possibility is that you lost the HTML rendering, so fonts, colors, etc., may have been lost. Try editing the Wikipedia page, then cutting the entire thing (CTRL A, CTRL X, CTRL V), before pasting into Word. This may help, assuming Word then knows to render the HTML bits. There could still be links that are lost, however. StuRat (talk) 03:59, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The image doesn't appear. It appears when I save the page by right-clicking the mouse button option... 27.147.226.140 (talk) 10:50, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

That's because the image isn't directly on the page, but rather a link is provided to it. If you click on the image you will be taken to that page, and there you have options to download the image. But, it sounds like you have a better method already. StuRat (talk) 14:51, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Action Centre

I clicked on the flag (Action Centre) thing that pops-up next to the digital clock on the right bottom of my window, a drop-down-list appeared for review. "Network Access Protection" is off in the list and I wish to active it. There weren't any option available, what do I do? 27.147.226.140 (talk) 20:27, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

December 25

Regular expressions help

I have a piece of renaming software called "Name It Your Way". It's proven itself invaluable over the years, but I now need it to do something a little more complicated and I'm stuck. I have a large number of files with somewhat similar names, following a pattern something like x###_xxxx ### ##xxx-xx#####.jpg, though the lengths are variable. I would like to be able to identify a particular piece for removal. In English, what I want to tell it to do is "Find the only dash in the string, remove it and all the text to the left of that location until a space is found, then stop." I don't care if it removes the space it finds as well or not, but assuming it left it alone, in my example, it would remove the ##xxx- and leave me with a string of x###_xxxx ### xx#####.jpg. How would I construct that? Just to be clear, the program does the removal; I just need help with being able to identify the string accurately. I would normally use number of characters, but the filenames are all of different lengths. Thank you in advance and Merry Christmas to all! Matt Deres (talk) 15:17, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If it supports Perl or POSIX regular expressions, you can probably do this by replacing " [^ ]*-" (including leading space, not including quotes) by a single space character (to preserve the space) or the empty string (to remove it). -- BenRG (talk) 18:29, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Downloading site

1) I'm looking for a downloading website from where I could download movies, cartoons, dramas games and so on. Any particular site you could recommend? 27.147.226.140 (talk) 19:41, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Pirate Bay 201.16.175.102 (talk) 19:51, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Checked, its illegal in the country that I'm in... 27.147.226.140 (talk) 19:54, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It's likely any site that offers downloads for "movies, cartoons, dramas games and so on" is going to be illegal since the copyright lobby is still heavily invested in physical media. Either suck it up or cough up your shekels for the legal versions. 201.16.175.102 (talk) 19:56, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

GOG.com has a pretty good selection of PC games and a limited selection of movies for download free of copy protection / DRM. A few are freebies but most of them you have to pay for. The Humble Store also has DRM-free games. You can download video from many free video-streaming web sites with youtube-dl or one of its many frontends, but the legal status of that may not be entirely settled. There are lots of free games on the Internet but I don't know whether there's a particular site that offers them all for download. MobyGames has a list of freeware/free-to-play/public-domain games with 2,121 entries at the moment. -- BenRG (talk) 20:28, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Try the Internet Archive. —Nelson Ricardo (talk) 01:29, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Alternative of

"Internet Download Manager", an opensource one that is easy to use. Does any one know anything good? 27.147.226.140 (talk) 19:53, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

We have the article Comparison of download managers. -- ToE 21:05, 25 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

December 26

OpenFOAM

I'm trying to download the entitled software and this is what I found so far. I'm confused, I just want the software in order to use it thereafter. Could you give me a direct link to download the latest version of this software please? 27.147.226.140 (talk) 16:31, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If you click on the picture it's supposed to give you the installer but instead it gives you an error message because the file is not found. Maybe because the latest version was only released a few days ago and it's the Christmas period so it hasn't been produced yet, or an error was found which had to be fixed so it was removed. You can check out the directory for the latest version v1612+ and confirm for yourself that there is no installer there. If you go to the directory for the previous number in the list v1606+, you should see the installer which is clearly labelled WindowsInstaller. Depending on you OS and browser, you may also see the old version of installer suggested at the top of SourceForge (i.e. after you click on the picture) as the latest version ("Looking for the latest version"). Do note that this appears to be a command line tool originally developed for *nix without a GUI. The installer may make it easier to install, but if you can't even figure out how to download the installer, even considering the minor confusion over the newest version being missing, perhaps consider again whether it's really the sort of software suitable for you. Nil Einne (talk) 23:17, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Tails 2.9.1

I'm trying to download the entitled software and this is the farthest I went with my research. Could you give me a direct link to download the full Live version please? 27.147.226.140 (talk) 16:31, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I think that you should follow instructions on that page. Ruslik_Zero 20:40, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

You can download an ISO image directly here[2] or here,[3] but of course you should assume that those ISOs have subtle changes in them designed to reveal your tails use to the NSA. Far better to do it the way the tails webpage recommends. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:49, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If you click "Download and verify using OpenPGP" at the bottom of the page, it takes you to another page where there is a direct download link. However, that download is unencrypted HTTP. It would be safer, more reliable, and more polite to download using the torrent file and a BitTorrent client (more polite because it saves the Tails project some money). -- BenRG (talk) 22:24, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Another alternative would be to simply buy a copy here:[4] One advantage of doing it this way is is that if osdisk was shipping an altered version, it would be quickly found out and widely publicized. Of course the NSA could still intercept and change the disks sent to certain individuals, so if you are working for organized crime, terrorists, foreign governments, etc, even buying from osdisk is not secure. For the rest of us it should be fine. --Guy Macon (talk) 23:01, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Taskbar not registering left clicks

Start button doesn't bring up menu when I left click it, but right-clicking works just fine, also the Internet access icon doesn't accept left clicks, but it accepts right clicks. (It doesn't show the networks even when I try to access them by other means.) Date-time and volume slider don't accept left clicking either. Left and right clicks are accepted by web browsers and other taskbar programs. Note: There is not an issue with my mouse; in fact, this is not a hardware issue at all.--63.143.232.77 (talk) 22:21, 26 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Help with Installing a Dual Boot on an Ancient PC

I am currently sitting in front of an ancient PC. Here are its specs:

AMD Athlon 64*2 Dual Core Processor 4600+ 2.41 GHz, 1.93 GB of RAM, 74.5 GB of C: drive, about 39.3 GB of which is unused, running Windows XP, Home Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 3.

The machine itself is physically sound, except for a rattly cooling fan. It seems a waste to dispose of it just because it has been replaced by a more up-to-date machine. So, I'd like to use it to learn how to set up a dual boot for a suitable version of Linux, then use the machine to run OpenOffice and a suitable web browser (probably something like Firefox or Pale Moon). Problem is this: I don't know what version of Linux would work best on this hardware set-up. Any help or advice on this would be much appreciated.

If possible, I'd like to be able to read existing files in the existing directory structure from Linux. I've heard that this is possible, but don't know how it can be made to work, so any comments on this would also be useful.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.