Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 February 24

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February 24

The character ?

What is the ? character, and what is the point of it? Earlier, I was writing something in Notepad, which I saved and have just now reopened; while writing, probably when typing an extended character, I added the ? character, but since it was hours ago, I have no memory of what I was trying to type, let alone what I actually typed. When viewed in Notepad, the character's a little box, although in my browser it looks like a zero-width space. I attempted to see if we had an article about it (e.g. a redirect to some article about Unicode), but that link produces the MediaWiki:Badtitletext warning. It's percent-encoded as %7F, but Googling this produces confusing results: some pages seem to say that it's a control character (yet we have redirects from some control character titles), and others seem to say that it's something else that I don't even understand. Final note: this was the result of pressing the wrong buttons in Windows 8.1, and my browser is IE 11. Nyttend (talk) 04:57, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

It probably helps if you work this out from first principles rather than using an internet search. As percent encoding mentions, the way percent encoding works is to write the ASCII or UTF-8 (the distinction doesn't really matter in this case as it's a 7-bit character) byte value of the character in hexadecimal after the percent sign. As both the ASCII#ASCII control code chart article and the UTF-8#Codepage layout make clear the character 7F (or 127 decimal), which is the highest numbered 7-bit character, is the Delete character. Although as the article on it says, in some non ASCII character sets like Code page 437, it may be the house symbol. As Wikipedia:Page name#Technical restrictions and limitations which is linked from the bad title page says, the delete character or 127 decimal, is a restricted by the wikimedia software. It doesn't say why, but it's easy to imagine several reasons why it's undesirable. Nil Einne (talk) 05:38, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Question regarding Pyside and Qt for android app development

Hi, i´m new to the world of programming and I would like to know if I can build an android app using python (I have the 2.7.3 version)and also I have Pyside (1.2.1 version) plus Qt (4.8.5 version). Can I do it with what I have or I need something else to download or install? Thank you for your answers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.222.244.122 (talk) 05:13, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Android apps are generally created in Java - and Google provides a development kit with an IDE based around Eclipse and an Android phone simulator that lets you do most of your development work on a PC. I believe it's free to download after you register as a developer for a small lifetime fee ($20 IIRC?). SteveBaker (talk) 20:35, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Yeah, but I heard that it can be done with Python. for example these guys: http://is.muni.cz/th/255628/fi_m/openmobility_2013-python_and_qt_for_android.pdf — Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.223.202.155 (talk) 01:30, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Download XP SP3, but not through Windows Update

Hi all, a weird one for you... my father is the president of a non-profit community art group. While we have relatively new laptops, we need to maintain a desktop computer for our high-end printer. The computer we've been using for years died recently, so we've brought in one of the oldies that we kept on standby.

Thing is, the new old system has never been connected to the internet. I've got Windows Update turned on to automatically download, but it's not grabbing SP3. I go to the Windows Update website, it says I need a new browser. I downloaded a version of Firefox from 2012, the website says I need Internet Explorer. I try and download Internet Explorer, it says I need SP3!

I can access a SP3 download page, but it's supposedly only meant for IT professionals and developers. Will this work?

Is there any other way to download the Service Pack? They used to sell CDs of the updates, but I presume those are resting in Alamogordo, New Mexico with ET for Atari. Help? -- Zanimum (talk) 19:39, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

I know this doesn't answer the question but I assume the reason you need to use an old computer is because the printer connects via an LPT port? If that is the case, you can get LPT to USB adapters that should enable the modern computers to work with the printer. Also, are you sure you need SP3 to run the printer? It is very possible that the printer will work without SP3. I am very sorry if this has not been helpful. 82.44.76.14 (talk) 20:04, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

I had no idea LPT to USB adapters existed! I'll have to find one, that opens up lots of options, and might solve the problem. Thanks!

The printer does work without SP3, it's just we're wanting a modern browser on the system, but all the modern browsers need SP3 (or a newer Windows). -- Zanimum (talk) 01:26, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Microsoft ends the XP support in two months, perhaps sooner. --AboutFace 22 (talk) 21:24, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

I thought that they had already ended it! -- Zanimum (talk) 01:26, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

I haven't ever had this problem so I've never needed to try it, but I think this is the offline installer package for Windows XP SP3 here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24

Hope that works for you. -Amordea (talk) 21:29, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Yes, that is the SP3 download. And just because MS is stopping support does not mean it isn't useful. I just wiped some old PCs at work and reloaded XP so we can donate them to a non-profit. I have a client who has a lathe with NT Workstation integrated into it. --  Gadget850 ^talk 02:19, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Okay, so the Network Installation Package will work simply? I had found it, but shuttered in fear, thinking it would only work on networked systems. Do you think it might work on a standalone system? Thanks! -- Zanimum (talk) 01:26, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Microsoft tends to name things in ways that make more sense to a corporate environment. I suspect the intent of this package was to put it on a central server and have all the computers on the same network pull the package from that server, thereby downloading from the slower internet connection only once and using the faster LAN connection to install the service pack on potentially hundreds or thousands of computers on the network--hence the name Network Installation Package. That's speculation on my part, granted, but yes it should work for an offline install as well. -Amordea (talk) 11:02, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

No, but it does mean that it's not secure. I recommend disconnecting it from your network after support ends, upgrade to a modern OS (such as Windows 8) or get a new computer. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 22:53, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Right, I do realize we're vulnerable to any flaws exploited after support ends. I'm tempted to look for a lightweight, simple distribution of Linux; we're a little strapped for cash, or else we would have ditched the system a long time ago.

Lubuntu is pretty light and about as user-friendly as regular Ubuntu is (assuming you've ever used that). I run it on my older netbook and it runs pretty well. The main concern I would have if you want to go that route is if you can get the computer to serve the original purpose of running your printer properly. -Amordea (talk) 11:43, 26 February 2014 (UTC)