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February 8

Trashing Old Laptops

I have two old laptops to get rid of. Neither works well enough to donate to charity so I'll be dumping them.

Is there anything I can/should do before trashing them to get all the data off their hard drives?

They both run some version of Windows. AndyJones (talk) 19:24, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Do you mean

1. wipe the disk, so that anyone who finds the laptop can't get any of your personal data off it, or
2. back up the data, incase there is something important on it?

For 1), there are a number of disk-wiping programs out there, here's a list [1] CS Miller (talk) 19:53, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Do you just want to wipe them (that is, you've already backed up the data)? If they still can be booted, wipe them with something like (good but massively paranoid) DBAN. If they don't work well enough to boot from a CD, remove the drives and physically destroy the drive platters (e.g. with a punch). -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 19:55, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

I would go with Finlay McWalte's advice. Although Dban comes with the necessary legal clause that it carries “No guarantee that data is removed” that is just the authors being cautious to avoid silly litigation. Dban will make you data unrecoverable.

Because it has to overwrite everything on your drive don't expect it to do this instantly. I suggest you invoke it late at night and then go to bed. Then, you won't be on tenter-hooks wondering “when is it ever going to finish”. To make your data unrecoverable (even to the NSA) it has to overwrite the whole drive several times and that can take hours depending on the size of the drive. But what the hell – it does it automatically. Just go to sleep while it does its work. Microsoft doesn’t have anything as secure as Dban. --Aspro (talk) 23:06, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

If that sounds difficult here is a Youtube tutorial: [2]. If you are just selling the laptop on, 3 round should be sufficient. If you're Edward Snowden's twin brother then go for one of the higher security levels--Aspro (talk) 00:01, 9 February 2014 (UTC).

I'd said one pass of 0s is enough for almost everyone. Cost of recovering information from a 0'd out HDD, by a forensics team, is way above some thousands of dollars. It's not as if you pass a tool and the data is there again. When you analyze such a HDD, you end up with unconnected strings here and there and try to recompose them. Just imagine it's all paper, and you pass a huge amount of paper by a cross-cut shredder. The thing is a mess, but a dedicated group of people could still recover it, and it has been done before, but it requires hours and hours of work. Obviously, your average internet paranoid might disagree, but so far, I have never heard of anyone claiming that they could recover information from a HDD overwritten with whatever. Physically bending the HDD seem tough to deal with too. (Note: a simple delete is a complete different scenario). OsmanRF34 (talk) 01:53, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

OsmanRF34 is right. Armies of women have been employed to piece together shredder documents but if you are the average John Doe (Joe Blogs), that effort and cost is not going to be applied to your data. One overwrite should be more than sufficient to put beyond the reach of the criminal element. If however, you run Dban overnight, then you might as well ask it to to do 3 overwrites for complete peace of mind. If on the other-hand you have a laptop that contains privilege information that foreign powers (or jealous wives) might like to discover, then use Dban's higher levels (but in that case, you really should be using an encrypted drive anyway and know about these things). --Aspro (talk) 03:07, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Recovering an overwritten HD is very difficult and as others have said, you're probably pretty safe with something like DBAN. More problematic is a situation where the hard drive itself has failed, so you can't spin it up to run DBAN, but at the same time someone with the right tools could possibly repair it and conduct data recovery. Hard drives are pretty small so you could just remove them from the laptops and stash them someplace, while getting rid of the laptops themselves. 70.36.142.114 (talk) 02:01, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

• User:AndyJones, others have addressed your question, but please do not just throw laptops in the "trash" -- laptops are hazardous waste, our article Electronic waste outlines some of the dangers. Please find out how they are properly disposed of in your local community, they should not go to a landfill. Feel free to ask here if you cannot find how to safely dispose of your laptops in your location. (You may already know all this, but I prefer to err on the side of caution :) SemanticMantis (talk) 16:54, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Just wanted to point out that recovering data from an overwritten hard disk (whether with random data, a zero fill, a 1 fill or whatever) isn't just difficult, it may very well be impossible with current technology. See previous posts by me, I think BenRG and others. No one has ever come up with any evidence of anyone doing it in practice, and the evidence for whether it's even theoretically possible is mixed. Of course you need to actually overwrite the data. In other words, this doesn't apply to anything which isn't overwritten like reallocated sectors, parts of the HD not overwritten e.g. because the capacity was limited with manufacturer tools after it was used, or if you simply abandon overwritting the HD or add new data after it was overwritten (yes I'm thinking of the Manning case). We don't know what capabilities intelligence agencies have so if you're worried about that, you may still want to be concerned (but as others have said you likely also have a whole host of other worries in that case). But even if it's a serious criminal matter, since so far no one has found any evidence of it ever being done in any criminal trial yet, there's a good chance you won't be the first. Nil Einne (talk) 12:09, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Forcing Google Maps photodots.

The last few days (at least), Google Maps is just showing me Street View blue when I grab my Pegman. If I want pictures, I need to click the Photos option. That sucks for various reasons, but it's not important. Is there a way to force my browser to cooperate the old way? Not talking about signing a petition or throwing bricks or asking Google (that time it cleared up on its own after a week or so). Is there some cybermagic I can type into the URL bar to trick the beast? A Greasemonkey deal, even? InedibleHulk (talk) 20:22, February 8, 2014 (UTC)

I wasn't happy with the recent changes to Google Maps either, and asked my own Q about it here: Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Computing/2014_January_25#Is_there_a_light_version_of_Google_Maps_.3F. The answer included a way to set it to "Classic Mode", which might fix your problem, too. StuRat (talk) 04:53, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, but no. I already avoid the new version purely for fearing the future's sake. Good to know I have a rational reason now. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:12, February 9, 2014 (UTC)

Did Google.ru do the rainbow doodle with red orange yellow green blue violet?

75.75.42.89 (talk) 20:40, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Yes. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 20:43, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Microsoft Safety Scanner vs. Windows Defender

Does Microsoft Safety Scanner do anything that Windows Defender doesn't? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 22:49, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

February 9

credit card format

I had a traditional credit card (recently expired), with a magnetic stripe on the back and raised numbers across the front in "landscape mode". Most retail merchants have electronic terminals that read the mag stripe, but a few low-volume sellers use the old-fashioned machines that take an imprint of the embossed numbers with carbon/carbonless paper. The card just expired and the replacement card I got in the mail has the numbers in "portrait mode" and there is apparently a transponder chip in the card (I guess NFC). Does anyone know:

• (1) Can the NFC chip be detected or read from a distance by bad guys? I could get an RFID sleeve, but the sleeve itself would presumably show up on metal detectors etc. So I'd prefer a traditional piece of plastic that doesn't register at all.
• (2) Have these cards replaced the older style cards?
• (3) Do many merchants actually have NFC readers in their payment terminals? I don't remember ever seeing one.
• (4) What happens if I want to use the card with a merchant who has an old fashioned imprint machine? Have those been phased out? Last time I encountered one was about a year ago, but it was at a shop that I do like to buy stuff now and then.
• (5) Is it likely that I can get the card issuer to send me a traditional card if I don't like the new one?

Thanks. 70.36.142.114 (talk) 01:27, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

It would probably help if you told us where in the world you are. Here in the US, I've never seen a card without raised numbers and with the numbers printed in portrait layout, so I'm guessing you're not in the US. Dismas|^(talk) 01:33, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

I am in the US and was surprised to get a card with this format. I notice the NFC article has a "security aspects" section though it's not very thorough. The portrait mode numbers on the card are raised, but only slightly: it's probably impossible to get a usable imprint from them with an old fashioned machine. 70.36.142.114 (talk) 01:44, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

I also got a credit card without raised numbers, last month, in the US. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 03:32, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

I've numbered your questions for convenience. (1) Yes, see RFID skimming for ways to avoid it. (2) From the credit card article: "the trend is toward RFIDs based systems inside cards,..." (3) These are on the increase in the UK; presumably in the USA too. (4) Dunno. Suspect they have been phased out over there. (5) It depends on the card issuer. Some UK banks will send a "traditional" card to their customers, if they apply in writing.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:32, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

(4) I presume they write the number in by hand. That's how it used to be done.--Phil Holmes (talk) 10:31, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Having the card number embossed on the card is part of the credit card standard. I suggest you ask your card provider to verify that your card has the same account features as your expired card and ask them to clarify the procedure if you use the old fashioned retailer. The new card might contain 2 chips, a visible EMV chip (which looks like this) and is used with a chip reader, and a NFC chip which is buried inside the card and is used for contactless payment. If your card supplier is "upgrading" your card to one with a bunch of new features you will never use, while simultaneously locking you out of using your card in other places that use the old carbonless technology, you can ask for a downgrade. However, remember that credit card companies like to make a profit and one way to do that is to encourage you to spend using your card in new and wonderful way you might not have thought of. Astronaut (talk) 18:52, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Antivirus software in nuclear plants

So I'm in the middle of downloading AVG Free antivirus, and I'm quite confused by part of the license agreement: You agree that the Software is not designed or licensed for use in hazardous environments, including without limitation operation of nuclear facilities... Why would a nuclear facility be relevant here? Can radiation cause some unique sort of harm to computers? Or are they basically inserting something into the EULA that they figure that nobody will read? I'm trying and failing to imagine how the nuclear plant's conditions would have any effect on the software, even with Homer at the controls. Nyttend (talk) 04:58, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Maybe the point is that it doesn't promise to stop Stuxnet; or, conversely, that it's not certainly without bugs, and (slim though the chance is) they don't want to be responsible for the next Chernobyl. —Tamfang (talk) 05:32, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

At least in the United States, anything related to nuclear reactors is subject to a lot of extra regulation - that is, the body of laws and rules overseen by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Because the EULA is a legal document, they want to make clear that the software does not - from a legal-ese point of view - attempt to comply with those types of regulations. You'll find the same line in a lot of EULAs - not just AVG Antivirus. For example, iTunes' EULA expressly forbids you from using the music-playing software in the design or test of nuclear, chemical, or biological warfare, missiles, and contains other uncommon restrictions (most likely to imply that the software is not consistent with strict requirements related to ITAR); this is a line-item few people read, but I have on a few occassions actually wondered if I am totally in compliance with the agreement. Nimur (talk) 06:09, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

"You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons."[3] On close inspection, I spot a possibly extraneous comma in the iTunes EULA between "nuclear" and "missile" ... that sort of typo seems unlikely in a legal document published by a major corporation. There are, actually, a lot of comma-clauses, perhaps ungrammatical ones, even, in that sentence. I presume the Legal Department, in their infallible wisdom, decided to leave some room for interpretation. Nimur (talk) 06:26, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Antivirus software can potentially cause malfunctions in legitimate programs (e.g. by quarantining necessary files), so it's best avoided where a program malfunction will be extremely severe (such as where that program is controlling a high risk system). Instead, the control systems should be isolated from any sources of viruses as much as possible (e.g. no internet access, careful vetting of any media to be connected to the machines). Semi-relevant XKCD MChesterMC (talk) 11:04, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

.com .net domains registered in world

Hi

how i can know the total number of .com or .net domain names in world. if i write .me in the search bar, it show the article on .me domain names, and it also shows the total number of .me domain names in the world. Same i want to know about the .com or .net domain names

thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.27.235.156 (talk) 09:12, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia's article on .com reports that, by 2011, approximately 100 million domains were registered. The .net article doesn't give numbers, but this article suggests 14.9 million .net domains, and this site appears to give daily updates, but I'm don't know enough to say whether it is a reliable source. --Kateshortforbob _talk 18:58, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Trendnet's not giving my the full internet

For the last few nights and early mornings, my wireless router has been displaying weird problems: A few websites work fine most for the time, some websites work after I reload after the browser displays the "server can't be found" error, but many websites simply don't work. Meanwhile the wired connection has no problem. I've tried rebooting my laptop and restarting the router and all that kind of stuff, but the problem doesn't seem to be the laptop as my phone also has the problem on wifi.

The router's old but for the occasional problem it's been fantastic. I use channel 11. 1 neighbor's interferes. Others don't really overlap. Imagine Reason (talk) 13:57, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Table of contents with section linking in HTML

Hi everyone,

Here is an easy question for those fluent in HTML. But because I have elementary knowledge of HTML and no skills in Java and very limited CSS, I would prefer a pure html-code solution.

On a webpage, I would like to insert a table of contents after the lede text, which contains only headings (no subheadings) and links to each of the sections. A style format like the wikipedia version is good, and a [back to top] link underneath each section head aligned to the right is preferable. I have tried three different methods so far:

1. The nested ordered list format. This appears as very small text when inserted directly into the website, and it does not link or detect the headings found below the list. I want a clickable table of contents that works in as many browser formats and is as simple as possible.
2. Wikipedia style section linking. Should I try to combine it with method 1 above or will it work as a standalone in HTML?
3. Simply anchoring and linking plaintext ToC with a_href and #section tags with ID labels below. This seemed to be of limited functionality.

Can someone post some code that would enable the simplest, most compatible way to link a readable sized ToC near the top of the page with a code for each section (each heading already has three span tags and is included within a table format in order to provide sections and nested images) that I could fit around the title of each section heading? Please also include the code for linking #top. This is a volunteer based website, so source attributions for code should probably not be an issue, as long as functionality remains intact.

PS - I'm actually quite an experienced editor at Wikipedia, but my capacity in wiki text far surpasses my intellect in html, especially considering wiki ToCs are auto generated.

--OP — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.168.122.214 (talk) 16:14, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure I understand completely; are you looking for anything more complex than <a href="#section1">Section 1</a> in the TOC and <h2 id="section1">Section 1</h2> <span style="float:right;">[<a href="#top">Back to top</a>]</span> in the body? (You would have to give wherever the "top" of you page the id of "top".) ~HueSatLum 01:27, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Replacing a wireless mouse

So, I have a wireless mouse and keyboard, and the mouse has started skipping back when I scroll up or down the page. I've tried replacing the batteries as the need to recharge them was becoming more frequent, blowing dust from it, checking the performance, etc, but without success, so need to get another one. But how easy are they to replace? Would I need a new dongle for a new mouse? Would that require me to buy a new keyboard as well? Would there be any problems with installing a USB mouse instead? I'm using Windows 7, and tried an old USB mouse from a previous system, which appeared to fix the scrolling issue, but was slow when moving the cursor. Some advice would be much appreciated. Thanks 86.135.227.1 (talk) 16:30, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Before you replace it I suggest you try cleaning the mouse mat. If you're not using a mat, try doing so. Also try taking out the dongle and plugging it in again. You might also want to clean the lens with a cotton bud. They are easy to replace, and the new one will come with a replacement dongle. As long as the keyboard is working there is no need to replace that as well. It presumably has a separate dongle.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:51, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, they seem to both be controlled from the same dongle as neither would work when I unplugged it. Sadly, I'm still getting the scrolling problem after trying all of the above, so I think a new one's definitely on the cards. 86.135.227.1 (talk) 17:18, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

What brand is your keyboard / mouse combo? Most "cheaper" wireless mice / keyboards use an 2.4GHz RF dongle which are typically at least vendor specific, if not device specific. More expensive mice / keyboards tend to be Bluetooth, in which case any device 'should' generally work with any bluetooth dongle, except apple mice and keyboards which are designed not to work with Windows. I think your safest bet, apart from just using a USB wired mouse, is to replace your mouse with a similar mouse from the same vendor, there's a good chance it will work with your existing dongle, even if it comes with its own one. In any case if you google the specific models, you might be able to find if they are compatible before buying it. Vespine (talk) 23:39, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks again. The make is Cherry, which I'd not heard of at the time I bought it. I got the system from a place that build their own PCs, and that was the make they used. Looking on the web I notice Cherry keyboard/mouse combies and individual Cherry mice (mouses?) for sale, so could take a chance. Will definitely get an up to date USB though, and have it as back up if I can find a compatible wireless. 86.135.227.1 (talk) 23:53, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

1) It might just have reduced range. Does it behave when closer ?

2) Equipment which does multiple things at once, like your keyboard/mouse combo, is not a good idea due to precisely the problem you encountered. That is, when any one part breaks, then you often have to replace everything.

3) I don't like wireless mice or keyboards, because of all the new potential problems they entail, like range limits, dead batteries, and, in the case of the mouse, it's now easy to lose, without a cord to track it down. A cord isn't that much of an inconvenience for me to be willing to put up with all that, instead. StuRat (talk) 03:15, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

I personally use wired peripherals too, having said that, I believe Cherry is a reputable brand and I don't doubt there are many happy customers using cherry wireless keyboards and mice, you can certainly still buy a replacement and they aren't all that expensive, quick search shows them available for $20-$30, if that's they way you want to go. Vespine (talk) 06:14, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Keyboards and mice are easily available, your local PC World or even larger supermarkets should carry a reasonable selection of both wired and wireless models (~£5 wired, ~£20 wireless). The same goes for online retailers such as Amazon. However, I really doubt you will be able to find a wireless (2.4 GHz) mouse for sale without the dongle. Astronaut (talk) 07:28, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Sorry I haven't been back for a couple of days. I did try it at close range (on top of the tower, in fact, so it was about six inches away), but it was still misbehaving. Went to PC World this morning and bought a wired mouse from Microsoft, which I fitted about an hour ago, and seems to be performing well. Think I'll stick with that one. Thanks again for all the advice. 81.151.48.85 (talk) 13:26, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

You're quite welcome, and I'll mark this Q resolved for you. StuRat (talk) 03:28, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Resolved

February 10

Freedom and you.

What web browser respects my freedom the most? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.124.224.51 (talk) 17:22, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Lynx. Looie496 (talk) 18:01, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

What specifically do you mean by freedom in this context? Katie R (talk) 16:05, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Ha, Lynx is a good bet, though a bit extreme. I will assume by "freedom" you mean that the content and actions of your web activity will not be easily monitored and recorded by third parties. The Electronic_Frontier_Foundation has recommended (in the past, haven't checked recently) to use Firefox with Noscript as a good bet for many users, and you can add Adblock and Tor routing if you are extra paranoid protective of your privacy and security conscious. As another weirdo extreme, you could use Freenet, but that isn't a browser, and doesn't connect to the web per se.

Finally, TAILS (The_Amnesic_Incognito_Live_System) would get my vote as the most secure/private way to (relatively) easily browse the web and all its content. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:16, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

How to search the "Invisible Web" for entertainment?

How can we find entertainment videos on the Invisible Web? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.65.117.118 (talk) 17:23, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Our article Deep Web covers this issue ("deep web" is a synonym for "invisible web"). By definition, these are web sites (or just pages within web sites) that a search engine cannot reach for one reason or another. So simple automated searching won't find this content. That means that you have to do the work "by hand". Either someone has to tell you that the site is there - or it has to be advertised to you in some manner. It's usually the case that web sites are "invisible" by choice rather than by accident, so they may not want to be found. However, that's not always the case. For example, if there were a subscription-only entertainment site - then search engines such as Google would be able to tell you that the site exists - but not tell you what movies (or whatever) was on offer inside the site because the Google web crawler would be unable to "log in" to track the contents. This is inconvenient because if you want to watch a particular movie, you may not be able to easily determine which subscription-only sites have it available. SteveBaker (talk) 17:55, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

On a different tack, you could check out Freenet. It's debatable whether this counts as "invisible web" or "dark web", because it doesn't even use www protocols. Anyway, the whole thing is pretty much inaccessible unless you get a client and host some bits, so all of it is "dark" to the web search engines. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:04, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

How to draw with Android tablet

Dear Wikipedians:

I am a heavy user of Drawing in Google Drive. I have no problem creating new drawings and draw in them using my PC. However, when I use Google Drive on my Android tablet, I find that first of all it does not allow me to create a new drawing and second of all the existing drawings I can only download and view on my tablet, not edit them on my tablet. So I am wondering how I can work with my Google Drive Drawings on my Android tablet?

Thanks,

198.91.172.69 (talk) 18:44, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Update: I have successfully loaded the desktop version of Google Drive on my tablet by checking the "Request Desktop Version" checkbox in Chrome. However, the resulting Drawing interface is not responsive to the Scribble tool, I can click the Scribble button, but when I attempt to draw with my finger on my tablet nothing comes out. 198.91.172.69 (talk) 19:08, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Are you able to draw using other Google Drive tools on the Android tablet ? StuRat (talk) 03:56, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

The Google Drive tools on the Android tablet does not have the option to create a drawing or work with an existing drawing. It only allows for the creation and edition of word documents and spreadsheets. 70.27.83.213 (talk) 15:30, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

February 11

Keyboard for Nexus 10

Hi. I've been looking for a keyboard suitable for a Nexus 10. My fussy demands are not too expensive and good customer ratings. Amazon finds lot of keyboards that meet those demands, but all the ones I can check seem to have American keyboard layouts, and I really would prefer a UK version.

Can anyone help find such an item? Particularly helpful if it's available on Amazon prime!

Cheers me dears --Dweller (talk) 00:34, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Anyone? --Dweller (talk) 16:57, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Why do antiviruses do this?

I had the free McAfee antivirus on my Windows 8 computer for a while, but being more familiar with AVG (I had it on several different computers in the past), I decided to download and install it; a day passed before I got around to uninstalling McAfee. During that time, IE11 would continually log out of gmail after about one minute of inactivity, but it wasn't doing this before I installed AVG, and it's not done it since I uninstalled McAfee, so it must have been some weird interaction between the two. Why do antiviruses cause chaos when more than one is installed? I could imagine this resulting from something of "beat the competition", but that's not something I'd expect to see in this kind of situation. Nyttend (talk) 03:49, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Well, anti-virus programs look very much like some viruses, in that they lurk in the background, examine all incoming data, resist being closed by other applications, etc. So, unless an anti-virus program specifically adds exceptions for other anti-virus programs, a conflict can be expected. StuRat (talk) 03:53, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

In the worst case scenario, two antivirus programs will go to war against each other, each accusing their rival of being infested with every virus known. Simply put, do not attempt to run two at the same time. Astronaut (talk) 17:59, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

What is the clunk sound I am hearing?

Twice tonight I have heard the same "clunk" sound I normally hear when I receive a message using google gmail chat. have otherwise never heard this before. didn't have google open, or any email program. There was nothin being downloaded, so no sound announcing the end of a download. Is it possible the vidcam was activated? I am using an ASUS running Windows 7. I had IE and Safari open, IE to watch youtube and Safari to edit wikipedia. VLC open from playing back videos downloaded from youtube, and RealDownloader open, but not active. Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 05:14, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Did you have any other tab or window open in IE or Safari besides the one/ones with Youtube and wikipedia.? Some advertising may play such sounds for a variety of reasons so it always makes sense to close all other browser tabs and windows if getting funny sounds. Wikipedia and Youtube should be safe and there are other things, but if you don't know enough to evaluate just try closing everything. Secondly were you actually watching a Youtube video? If it's a home video it's isn't unheard of it for it to have such sounds and even some other videos may have. Nil Einne (talk) 12:01, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

You say you heard a clunk sound coming from the computer. Try to remember, if at the same moment you felt an impact to your forehead. If so, that would be indicative of a collision between you and the computer. You may want to adjust the distance between yourself and the computing device, or at least to remain calm while editing Wikipedia and using g mail chat. 66.87.129.174 (talk) 17:44, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

That's actually funny, although it should have been smalled as a joke. μηδείς (talk) 18:02, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

"Smalled" ? Meaning it should have undergone smallification, of course. Speaking of which, your response, also not being an answer to the Q, should also have been smallitized. StuRat (talk) 18:48, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

I just like how matter-of-fact it is, as if it were a serious response: polite, simple, and easily understood, but not talking down to you as an idiot either :-) Nyttend (talk) 00:57, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

• I think the source must have been the specific video I was watching. It only happened during playback, and hasn't happened since. Yes, I did close everything I wasn't using the first time I heard the clunk. μηδείς (talk) 18:02, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

FYI: The latest version of Chrome has a little icon it flashes up next to any tabs that are playing sounds so you can figure out who is the culprit! SteveBaker (talk) 18:46, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Recent versions of Firefox have a play icon (sideways pointing triangle) that shows up in the tab when playing a YouTube video. I haven't seen it do anything similar with other sites that play videos. Dismas|^(talk) 01:52, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, guys. Now who do I write to get them to update Safari for Windows similarly? μηδείς (talk) 02:09, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

http://www.apple.com/feedback/safari.html SteveBaker (talk) 15:23, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the GF effort, Steve, but my bad, that was a trick question, since Sfafari no longer supports or updates for Windows. μηδείς (talk) 01:21, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Question on livestream.

Hey. I was in a livestream at livestream.com, with a person drawing. her name was "mel" in the chat. Her full name on another site, was there posting, which was NOT her. and it didn't say anyone changed the name to that. and it said the full name was a moderator. yet it wasn't her. and like she has "mel" and was a "User" as she was posting under that in the livestream. then later that creep POSTED AS MY NAME! I didn't say anything but it normally if someone changes her/his name on Livestream it says "xxxx changed name to xxxx" but it didn't say anything like that when it changed to my name and posted under it, while at the same time I had it. What was going on? how did he post as an moderator? and the person livestream didn't find it funny when he was using her full name on another site. so it deff wasn't a person she knew.. and how did it change to MY name without showing anything? and posting under it at the same time? Was it hacked? or wtf!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.209.159.215 (talk) 18:49, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with livestream, but if names on there are as simple as "mel", this implies to me that they don't require names to be unique, or you'd expect "mel" to have been taken on day 1, and now be up to "mel2968" or some such thing. StuRat (talk) 21:37, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

How to force font size and language when pasting formatted text in LibreOfficeWriter?

(I use Windows7, Internet Explorer v.10 and LibreOffice v.3.5.6).
My Question:
Is there some way to keep the formatting settings for: normal/italic/bold, underscore, superscript/subscript and font colour — the way they appear on the web page — While at the same time forcing the font size into: 10pt and paragraph language into: <some language>?
(Or even better: to force the font size and paragraph language into those of the currently active paragraph style in LibreOfficeWriter)?
What I have tried:
When I cut text from a web page, using Internet Explorer, and then use LibreOfficeWriter «paste special» (Ctrl+Shift+V) choosing: «Selection»-«Formatted Text [RTF]», (I do not want «HTML»!), then the text always ends up with font size:12pt and paragraph language: Norwegian, which I then have to spend a lot of time correcting manually.
Could you please help me? --46.15.220.77 (talk) 22:42, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

February 12

Google chrome censors email

A couple of years ago, the Firefox browser ceased to be able to display my email on gmail.com, so I started using Google Chrome. This afternoon my computer went through a series of bizarre episodes in which various things didn't function. I was unable to see anything on the web via Google Chrome, so I tried the Firefox browser and found that I still had internet connections. I found that I was getting notifications from Quora and some other sites, about which I had wondered why they ceased a few months ago to send me notificatins. Those emails are not visible on Google Chrome, either in my inbox or in my spam filter. Google Chrome is failing to show me all my emails received on gmail. I would never have suspected this if Google Chrome had not entirely ceased to function for several hours.

Does anybody understand this? What can be done about it? Is it dishonesty on the part of Google? Michael Hardy (talk) 05:02, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

That sounds like extremely odd behaviour. I don't understand why that would be. Are you certain that the two browsers are logged into the same Gmail account? Check by clicking the small profile picture in the top right hand corner and looking at the email address that is displayed. If the two browsers really are showing different mail for the same account, I can't imagine why that would be. It certainly doesn't sound like something Google would do intentionally—for one thing, what would be the point? —Noiratsi (talk) 09:17, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

I suggest you carefully compare the urls in the address bar of each browser. The only explanation I can think of is that one is pointing to your inbox, and the other is pointing to "all mail" or one of your other labels.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:12, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, Shantavira.

The URLs I get when I read gmail in Internet Explorer and Google Chrome are different. In Internet Explorer I see emails that I don't see in Google Chrome --- mostly mailing list items --- for example when someone comments on one of my reviews on amazon.com I get an email notice visible in Internet Explorer but not in Google Chrome. With Internet Explorer I get a notice at the top that says "Some important features may not work in this version of your browser, so you have been redirected to the Basic HTML version. Upgrade to a modern browser, such as Google Chrome." When I paste the URL from that version into Google Chrome, then the censored emails become visible and that same notice appears.

Conclusion: The "Basic HTML version" shows emails that are hidden by the "modern" version. Why is censorship of my incoming email an "important feature"? And how can I normally view the "Basic HTML" version from the Google Chrome browswer? Unsigned comment by Michael Hardy (talk) 03:35, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Just something to check - in Chrome (with the censored e-mails), click on the cog button at the top right, choose Settings, and then along the top go to the Inbox settings. The last setting on that screen is "Filtered mail" - try disabling that (Override filters) and see if it changes anything. (I haven't actually noticed that setting before today, but I'd be really interested if it helps.) Organics^LRO 09:50, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Gmail also offers sort of a tabbed view whereby it filters emails from social platforms into one tab, sales offers into another, etc. This feature was just rolled out a few months ago. So I'm wondering if that isn't the case for your missing emails. Dismas|^(talk) 11:09, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

My first reaction to this was to wonder what a "tab" is. Then I saw some buttons labeled "Primary", "Social", and "Promotions". (PS added later: I don't think those "tabs" were there until I followed the steps in "OrganicsLRO"'s posting above. Michael Hardy (talk) 20:13, 12 February 2014 (UTC)) The "Social" one contains updates from Quora and a couple of other sites. I'd wondered why they'd stopped sending me those. It also contains updates from facebook. I was under the impression that facebook had generally stopped emailing notifications to those who haven't requested them, and I was glad they had done so. Michael Hardy (talk) 16:08, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Yes, Social, Promotions, and so on was what I was referring to. Glad you found the emails! Dismas|^(talk) 20:21, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia bot for IP address updates

Dear Wikipedians:

Is there an approved Wikipedia bot that takes my computer's current IP address every hour and puts it into my personal user page on Wikipedia?

Thanks,

184.144.50.175 (talk) 17:09, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Unless I'm completely wrong, you don't have a personal user page as long as you're not signed in. So, I'm confused as to what you're asking. Dismas|^(talk) 20:19, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, forgot to log into my personal user page. Here it is: L33th4x0r (talk) 22:58, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

It looks like your user page hasn't been edited, by a bot or anyone else, for nearly four years. When you are signed in, only Wikipedia:CheckUsers can see your IP address and this right is only granted to exceedingly few Wikipedia administrators.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:54, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Flickr video length

I have a Pro account with Flickr, that I have had for years. Before I remember I could upload videos of 90 second length. What length videos could I upload now? Formats? --Doug Coldwell (talk) 20:06, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Per this, videos can be up to 1GB, but playback is limited to 3 minutes. Acceptable file formats are listed here. --Kateshortforbob _talk 09:48, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Opinion is solicited for two antiviral programs

Hi there. I have read a number of posts related to antiviral programs. Nobody has ever mentioned the ones I use. Actually I use two: (1)SpyBot Search and Destroy (free version) and (2) Microsoft Security Suite. SpyBot is a Swedish program I believe. This mere fact inspires confidence. Somehow McAfee infected one of my computers as well and I mean really infected since I never tried to download the sucker. Occasionally it actually becomes active, runs a brief, and I mean really brief "security check" and declares my computer in a hunky dory state. I haven't yet decided what to do with it. Shall I uninstall it?

Microsoft Security Suite has two modes: full check and brief one. The brief one apparently goes thru the registry and the long one take hours and hours to complete. I think it goes thru all directories and checks the actual code.

Any comments? Thanks, --AboutFace 22 (talk) 21:53, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

I think you mean Microsoft Security Essentials, which is built into Windows 8 and now called Windows Defender. I use it at home; at work I use it for the few residential clients we support. It gets pretty good ratings and for free, it is a good value. The free version of Spybot – Search & Destroy does not do real-time antivirus. I mainly use it for its inoculation feature. --  Gadget850 ^talk 01:04, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

I work in the IT field and I use and recommend security essentials / windows defender to my friends and family. It is integrated into windows better than pretty much any other third party program and its updates and status are easier to maintain, requires pretty much no maintenance on your behalf. I find with a lot of programs, if something goes wrong you can fall behind on updates, or it asks you to periodically resubscribe or does some other pesky and annoying thing at some stage. I'm not a "huge" fan of Microsoft or anything, I don't use internet explorer because I don't like it, I hate windows media player, I don't particularly like windows 8, but I think they nailed it with security essentials. Vespine (talk) 03:38, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Thank you very much. It sounds I am on the right track. In Windows 7 you have to download and install MSE. I am glad it got such rave reviews. --AboutFace 22 (talk) 23:44, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

February 13

Mousing over a link turns the page background white in IE

(As a preface, I like IE, I can't update past the version I'm on (last ver of 9) at present, and I'd not like to switch browsers. So please don't suggest that, because I've gotten that suggestion in the past when it wasn't really needed, and it just kind of annoys me. This issue doesn't truly bother me, I'm just curious as to why it's happening.) So, in IE9, when I mouse over a link on some pages with non-white backgrounds, the section of the background that is not white (presuming the background is not an image) will turn white (this is mostly noticeable to me when I'm in, say, Wikipedia space here, where the slightly blue content area becomes sharply white). Using here (and to a lesser extent, Tumblr) for testing, it seems to only happen with links to outside of the page; links internal to the page like section links do not produce the behavior. Links on Tumblr are strange, as it only seems to happen (in my testing so far) with the like and reblog buttons, but not the share links or links within a post (then again, Tumblr's behavior is strange itself in that the background does not turn white but a slight different (possibly either darker or more vibrant?) shade of blue than normal). When I mouse over the link, it takes about half a second to a second to produce this behavior. It also doesn't seem to happen on all websites (for instance, the Wikia I frequent doesn't seem to do anything), but I may be wrong. Is there any reason it does so? Thanks. - Purplewowies (talk) 22:25, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

This sort of behaviour would usually depend on the default (User Agent) stylesheet in the browser, so if this was happening on a site in IE but not others, I would suggest that the default stylesheet for IE has a background-color attribute for the a:hover pseudo-class (but other browsers do not, and the web designer of that site had not overridden it, like this:

a:hover {
 background: none;
}

However, the default style sheets for IE on http://www.iecss.com/ do not indicate any default style for a:hover, so I'm not sure this is it. Strangely enough, there was a weird bug in IE7 that would not allow a hover to trigger a background color change to white where that was specifically done in the CSS (Hover White Background Ignore Bug). --Canley (talk) 01:51, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

February 14

After a memory upgrade.

I have Dell R5400, it is a rack mount 64 bit workstation. For years I had 4 GB of RAM, then I began setting virtual machines and as a result came to the conclusion that this memory is not enough. So I ordered 8 GB of memory (two chips 4 GB each from Kingston via Amazon). Now I installed the chips however I am not sure I put the new chips into correct slots. The existing 2 GB chips were locked into two receptacles with white braces (staggered arrangement), I moved them both to the outer slots (one white, the other black brace). I put two new chips (4 GB each) together close to the center of the motherboard and they ended up in two slots, one with white, the other with black brace which lock them in place.

I checked the BIOS, everything seems to be OK however a momentary warning message first appeared and I lost it. Now I am looking at Control Panel==>System and Security==>System. This is what it says:

Installed memory (RAM): 12 GB (8 GB usable).

The question is why? Did I mess up the installation? I've been planning to purchase another 8 GB to make it 16 on brand new chips but now have second thoughts.

I am looking at the Dell Setup and Quick Reference Guide. It says

Memory capacities 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, and 8 GB; Minimum memory 256 MB; Maximum memory 32 GB

Thus I am within legal limits. Why is "usable memory" not 12 GB?

Please help. Thanks --AboutFace 22 (talk) 01:28, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

The DIMM slots are in color coded pairs- a black pair and a white pair. You need to put the 2G DIMMs in one pair and the 8G DIMMs in the other pair. The DIMMs is each pair of slots must be identical. It is recommended that all four be the same for best performance. --  Gadget850 ^talk 01:43, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Thank you much. You are very fast. --AboutFace 22 (talk) 02:04, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

What makes Linux the OS of choice for the TOP500?

Almost all of the Top500 computers use Linux. Not even Unix seems as a serious competitor, and Windows certainly not. What's under the hood, that makes Linux excel over all the others? OsmanRF34 (talk) 13:11, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Did you follow the link to Supercomputer operating systems? It looks like a pretty good overview. In the end, the key is that Linux is free and open source, so it is easy to tweak to the exact needs of their systems. They don't usually run straight Linux, but a customized Linux-based system. Katie R (talk) 13:53, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

The question is not what caused it, but what is in Linux that runs differently. And as a second point, that still doesn't explain why is Unix so underrepresented, when it was, not long ago, the OS of choice in the field. Here we are talking about corporations, which have access to resources to tweak Unix as much as they want. OsmanRF34 (talk) 14:24, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Yes, but it's still a lot more expensive to pay for Unix variants. Large corporations have the money to spend if they want, but will still be thrifty when there's no downside. Also, for any of the computers that are used in a research setting, many academic researchers put a value on using open source tools, and may be obligated to release code to the public when they publish results (many sources of public funding, such as NIH, NSF in the USA, come with obligation to release data and code). Distributing code that is modified from a Unix proprietary system would be problematic. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:10, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

It's not quite the same as supercomputer requirements, but the fully open source is why I am using Linux for a new project at work. I need a system based on off-the-shelf PC hardware that can communicate with a PCIe board we're developing, and in some situations the response time must be on the order of a few microseconds. The completely open kernel lets me account for every bit of delay along the execution path if I run into situations where things are running slow. With various UNIXes this is possible, but to get that level of source access or to modify sources would require expensive contracts. Integrating GPL code from somewhere else into a closed-source kernel would be impossible, so if I find something that does what I need in the open-source world I wouldn't be able to integrate it into our product, instead we would have to find a vendor that offers a non-GPL solution or develop it in-house. I would expect that the same kinds of issues would push supercomputer software engineers towards Linux as well, they just may be tweaking the kernel for different reasons than I do. Katie R (talk) 17:51, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Because Microsoft keeps putting one foot in front of the other and unloading a full belt of machinegun ammo into it. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/12/feature_microsoft_caught_in_virtual_monkey_trap/ Hcobb (talk) 18:01, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Spacing in MAC finder windows (Maverick)

Hello all! I recently switched from Mountain Lion to Maverick. The issue that I'm having (well one of the issues, but I don't want to state them all b/c forest for trees and all that) is that when I open up a finder window, the categories of data are hugely widely spaced. For example, I open up a window and see my folders, then, farther to the right in the finder window I have categories for "Date modified", "Size" and "Kind" and others but they are way to the right with huge whitespace in between each one, and I have to drag the window much wider and then manually drag the categories closer together so they fit in one view in a reasonably sized finder window. Is there any way to set how far over they are when a finder window opens so I don't have this issue? Thanks!--71.167.166.18 (talk) 15:07, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

I don't regularly use a Mac, but I searched for Mac Mavericks Finder list view columns to investigate a little bit for you. From what I'm reading, it looks like this is a bug. Finder is supposed to remember the column widths when you re-open the window but doesn't. Until Apple fixes the bug, here are some ideas I found from others having the same issue:

• In this thread (original seems to be down, so see Google cache), there's a suggestion that pressing Esc twice (to toggle to Full Screen view and back) will restore the Name column to a normal size, however, that person notes that only works for folders on internal drives not external drives.
• In this thread, a person seems to be describing adding many additional columns (right-click on a column header and check several items). It sounds like this will cause the overall space to be divided among more columns making each one smaller, but I'm confused by their description.

--Bavi H (talk) 04:01, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Windows folder column widths

I've had the same problem with Windows windows. Ideally they would adjust their column widths to be no wider than the widest item in that column, when the window is first opened. Alternatively each window could remember the final column spacing the last time it was opened, and recall that. However, differing data widths each run might make that approach less useful. StuRat (talk) 17:38, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

I split the Windows comments into a subsection.

I mainly use Windows XP, so I'm not sure if my experience will be the same for newer version of Windows. I find that Windows does remember column widths and other view settings for each folder, but there's a limited number of folders it can remember. After I've opened many folders, the least recently used ones forget their settings.

Filenames can sometimes get really long. If opening a folder automatically resized the columns to show everything you might end up often resizing them smaller. Perhaps that's a reason why Microsoft hasn't implemented that.

Here are some tips for automatically resizing columns:

• You can double-click on the "resizing line" at the end of a column to automatically resize just that column.
• You can press Ctrl and the plus key on the number pad to automatically resize all columns.
• In Windows 7 and Windows 8, you can right click a column header and choose "Size Column to Fit" or "Size All Columns to Fit".

--Bavi H (talk) 04:01, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

I just remembered there's a setting in Windows XP that controls if Windows remembers each folder's settings. In Windows XP, open any folder, go to the Tools menu, choose Folder Options, go to the View tab, and look for "Remember each folder's view settings". StuRat, maybe this option is turned off on your computer. On my Windows 8 computer, this option isn't there, so I think Windows 8 will remember each folder's settings and won't let you disable it. --Bavi H (talk) 04:20, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

How about on Windows 7 ? StuRat (talk) 04:31, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

The easiest way to deploy a local DNS proxy/server?

I need recommendation on a simple solution for deploying a local DNS server or proxy. What I want to do is to allow local DNS names to be used, in addition to global ones. I can't spend too much time on setting it up, so a simple-to-deploy solution is better than one that is feature-rich but complicated. Thanks in advance. --108.36.90.200 (talk) 15:53, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

Create a hosts (file) on each machine. If you want to synchronize updates to this for n machines, set up a cron job or a scheduled task to copy the latest canonical hosts file from your server. Nimur (talk) 03:19, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Alphabet upgrade?

I was looking at the article Emoji. Except for one small section, all of the symbols that are supposed to be displayed are not showing up for me. They're just little square boxes with what I guess is their code inside them. Can anyone tell me what I need to download or upgrade to make this display? I am on an imac with snow leopard and using the latest version of Firefox. Thank you. 108.46.100.156 (talk) 02:50, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Capturing the "Sometimes" Subtitles on Handbrake

Good Evening, O Ye Wise and Powerful Reference Desk People,
I'm trying to make some Mp4 copies of DVDs that I own so I can watch them on my iPhone. I've been using Handbrake, which works great, but there are some movies (Kill Bill, etc.) that are mostly in English but have a few scenes in other languages. I am having trouble figuring out how to code the subtitles to only burn in during these scenes. I've checked into the Handbrake user guide (online) as well as Googled for an answer, and haven't had much luck. Has anyone here used Handbrake for similar movies, and knows/remembers exactly how it's done? I'm using version 0.9.9.5530 - 32bit Version. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!