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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2016 June 16

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June 16

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sf email

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What do the "sf email" bits do in this code? 

<a href="mailto:TownClerk@foo.com">[sf_email]Treasurer@foo.com [/sf_email]</a></td>

The code lets someone email Treasurer@foo.com, so it works as intended but I don't understand why it works. Dismas|(talk) 01:41, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Dismas: Square brackets are used for shortcodes (e.g. in WordPress). In this case it means that the website uses the Safer Email Link plugin for WordPress. Go here and scroll down to the "Safer Email Link Plugin" header. If you want the technical details you can read this and/or download the plugin and read the code (which is pretty much the same as the code in the "Examples" section of the Wordpress Codex).
The relevant line of PHP code looks like this:
return '<a class="email-link" href="mailto:'.antispambot($content).'" title="Email" target="_blank">'.antispambot($content).'</a>';
(((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 08:21, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@The Quixotic Potato: Thanks for that! But why are the two email addresses different? The first for TownClerk and the other, the intended recipient by the way, Treasurer. Thanks, Dismas|(talk) 11:36, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Dismas: I am not 100% sure, but I think that the most likely scenario is that a n00bish user used the WYSIWYG editor instead of the code editor.
  1. The user creates a mailto: link to TownClerk@foo.com like this 
    <a href="mailto:TownClerk@foo.com">TownClerk@foo.com</a>
  2. Some time later someone (maybe the same person) realizes that the mailaddress has changed or is wrong and thinks that using spam protection may be a good idea.
  3. The user tries to fix the mailto: link in the WYSIWYG editor (by selecting the text and replacing it with the shortcode) but doesn't realise that this replaces the contents of the <A> tag with the shortcode without removing the old mailto: link that surrounds it. If xe tests it xe will not notice it, because the shortcode is replaced by another mailto: link, which means that the user sees the behaviour the user expects. Nesting mailto: links doesn't send mails to multiple users (for obvious reasons), the correct way to do that is:
<a href='mailto:person1@domain.com,person2@domain.com'>Email Us</a>
(((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 11:49, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Hrm. Thanks. That's a reasonable guess as to what happened considering the user who I think created this code. This gives me a better idea of what I should do with the source code. Thanks again! Dismas|(talk) 12:02, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
YVW. You may be able to check the revision history in WordPress. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 12:13, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

What was the last processor to copy the Intel 80X86 name?

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The Cyrix 6x86 went up to 6 before they stopped. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 02:12, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Hike messenger for PC

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Unable to find this. -- Apostle (talk) 09:46, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It doesn't exist. If you really want to run it on a pc instead of on a phone then you'll need something "in between", like BlueStacks. Extra info: A few examples for Android can be found here. The APK can be found here. Like always, if you are not sure if the software can be trusted then it is a good idea to use a sandbox, see here. Another tutorial. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 16:30, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I'll check it out, at the end of the month/at the starting of next month. Thank you.   -- Apostle (talk) 19:12, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Alternative to the virtual assistant Braina which is not free of charge for its full functionalities

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Something good is sought. -- Apostle (talk) 09:46, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

In Windows you have Cortana (software). --Hofhof (talk) 18:24, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Justify to clarify, does it need internet connection? Plus I'm in Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1 32-bit. Is there a possiblity of retrieving this Cortana for my Operating System? I saw it in youtube once but I ran out of my kbs in the middle. Can you guys help me please? -- Apostle (talk) 19:12, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, it needs internet connection, but it spends rather little of the bandwidth. And yes, it can be installed in Windows 7: [1]. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hofhof (talk • contribs) 23:14, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Hofhof: Hello, could you specify if you don't mind please, I'm unable to find it. The one I found on what you guided is Braina. Briana is not an opensource/freeware software, you have to pay for its full features, plus unsure whether you would need internet connection for this too or not...
Btw, is it possible to use both Cortana and Braina without an internet connection? -- Apostle (talk) 11:45, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Cortana cannot be used without an internet connection, unless for the most simple tasks like opening an app. But even other trivial tasks like setting an alarm or dictating a note are too much for her without internet connection.
If you have an Android you can install it through Google play. In Windows you can download through the official MS download center Hofhof (talk) 16:53, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Happy to hear from you. And thank you. Regards.  
Btw, the link you provided for Cortana, I tried it once before, yet again it downloaded a .docx file only. -- Apostle (talk) 18:57, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, the docx file explains how to install Cortana from within Windows. You don't download the program and install it. Hofhof (talk) 23:14, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Its for Windows 10... -- Apostle (talk) 19:12, 19 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
You can update to Windows 10 for free. And maybe Microsoft even forces you to do it.Hofhof (talk) 17:59, 20 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  True say, I have a crap in my tray that exist on the right-hand bottom corner. Problem is, (1) I have internet usage issue, (2) Other problems that I can't discuss here... -- Apostle (talk) 18:58, 20 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Sony Erricsson’s K700i

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I sought the "Music DJ software" and the "Tennis" game. I'm guessing they'd be .apk file types. I'm not sure if an emulator (or something alike) is requisite or not. Can someone help me please? -- Apostle (talk) 09:46, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Sony Erricsson’s P1i phone’s CD software that comes with it; CD’s software

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This is very important. An upgraded version is also sought. -- Apostle (talk) 09:46, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure, this is guesswork, but I think there is a chance that this works. Do not allow it to update itself (pro tip: disconnect from the internet before installing it), the new versions of that software no longer support the P1i (I think, again I am unsure). I found it very difficult to find good information online about this stuff. I usually install anything I am unsure about in a sandboxed enviroment like a virtual pc (I use Virtual PC and VirtualBox) or a sandbox (e.g. Sandboxie). (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 10:44, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I had a thought of some of the things you said too. Hopefully, your sandbox/virtual PC/Box/Sandboxie is what I'm thinking of. Thank you. Kind Regards.   -- Apostle (talk) 19:11, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The Quixotic Potato: Hello, Virtual PC was easy to download, VirtualBox was hard to understand/too technical and Sandboxie is not free/opensource. Just ot clarify it will do the trick right, i.e. allow me to install softwares in it without engraving it in the actual OS system? -- Apostle (talk) 05:26, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Russell.mo: Yep. Basically you have a virtual computer inside a computer. Here is a screenshot of me using Virtual PC on Windows Vista to run Windows 7 and Win98 SE and Windows XP; four different operating systems running at the same time! (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 05:32, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The Quixotic Potato: Thanks.
Btw, this is a guidance in a way, but a second thought is sought/beneficial: How do I use another OS? Note: I have a Windows XP and Windows 10 "installation software" in my RHDD copied from a CD. -- Apostle (talk) 10:30, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/install-windows-xp-microsoft-virtual-pc-53259.html (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 12:39, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  Thank you Mr. Quixotic Potato.   -- Apostle (talk) 19:56, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Suitable Unicode (UTF-8) characters for marking start and end of intended semantic formatting (bold, italic, underscore, strikethrough, subscript and superscript, etc… )?

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In a humanly readable plain text file (.txt), containing (UTF-8) text in various European languages, I want to use single character designated Unicode characters to mark the start and end of intended semantic formatting by typographical means (bold, italic, underscore, strikethrough, subscript and superscript, etc…) — but without actually employing any formatting on the text.
Of course one could use <nowiki> plain wiki-markup (<b>bold-</b>, <i>italic-</i>, <u>underscore-</u>, <s>strikethrough</s>, <sub>subscript-</sub> and <sup>superscript-</sup>), but I am looking for a single-character-solution (instead of the three, as in: “<u>” and the six, as in: “</sub>”) that will be less obtrusively distracting, regarding the readability and comprehension of the text, while still clearly visible and just as intuitively understandable as the <nowiki> wiki-markup-solution.
So, what single Unicode characters might be best suited for this task?
--Seren-dipper (talk) 14:22, 16 June 2016 (UTC) [Slightly rewritten -- 02:49, 17 June 2016 (UTC)][Slightly rewritten -- 00:01, 19 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

You can use some simple ASCII characters for some of this - Markdown does all four, with markup that's still readable when looked at plain - see markdown cheatsheet. Some email clients (I know at least Thunderbird) implements some of this (Thunderbird supports * for bold, / for italics, and _ for underscored, but I don't know of a sequence for strikethrough). -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 14:38, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
In many cases the * _ / # ~ ^ (and the other ordinary keyboard characters) will do fine, but, unfortunately, these also very frequently appear as part of the body text (in the texts that I want to mark). Therefore I need some other Unicode characters which preferably also hints or indicates the meaning. (Besides I would strongly prefer, but do not absolutely need, to have different characters for «Start of…» and «End of…»).
--Seren-dipper (talk) 15:30, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Your example is not "wiki-markup", it is HTML (except the strike tag, which is actually strike, not s). The "ML" in HTML stands for "Markup Language". You are basically trying to invent your own markup language. As mentioned above, * is often used for bold, / for italic, _ for underline, and - for strike. The entire point is to embed markup in the content. No matter what you do, someone will say it looks like gobblygook. Then, you need to expand on your new markup language as people find problems, such as what I need to do if I want to show an equation like 10*3*5=150 and I don't want the 3 to be bold. If you strongly insist on writing an entirely new markup language, go ahead. Just be certain that you understand what you are doing. 199.15.144.250 (talk) 16:44, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Anonymous(199.15.144.250): Well, yes! You are right (it is HTML not "wiki-markup") ;-) But I am not looking for a new or expanded markup language either. (See below).
--Seren-dipper (talk) 02:49, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
If markdown is not an option then I would recommend HTML. You will quickly get used to typing HTML tags if you use them a lot. And if you want to show it without being distracted by HTML tags then you can simply use a web browser. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 17:53, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Can you describe in more detail what you want to accomplish? I'm getting a whiff of XY problem. Are you just doing this for people to read with their eyeballs, or are you trying to create something to feed into a program? Why do you care so much about using single characters? --71.110.8.102 (talk) 02:12, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Anonymous(199.15.144.250) and @The Quixotic Potato: and @Anonymous(71.110.8.102): █ No, I do not want to invent a new, nor expand on or use any old, markup-language. I do not want to produce/effectuate the actual Semantic markup effect (bold,superscript, etc…) at all. In fact, I want my text to stay plain (UTF‑8) unformatted text, no matter what software I open it in! What I need is a non‑distracting single‑character‑way to clearly show what kind of formatting is intended, but without producing it.
█ I am used to typing in HTML‑tags, but HTML does not suffice — both because each tag consist of many characters and therefore, overall, takes up quite a lot of space, and because HTML‑tags utilize letters and characters that also are part of normal text, thus they end up being hampering and quite disruptive to both the reading speed and comprehension of the body text. (And, again, some of the point is that I need the body texts to be readily readable as plain text UTF‑8 without ever effectuating any semantic formatting).
█ I guess what I need would be kind of analogous to the
«Control Pictures» (Unicode block 2400—243F) (http://unicode-table.com/en/blocks/control-pictures/ ) containing graphic characters for representing the C0 control codes, and other control characters.
(The C0 and C1 control code or control character sets define control codes for use in text by computer systems that use the ISO/IEC 2022 ).
As opposed to:
the «Control characters» themselves (Unicode 0000—001F ), which are Part of The Basic Latin (or C0 Controls and Basic Latin) Unicode block. (http://unicode-table.com/en/blocks/control-character/ ).
For instance, there is:
● One Unicode character for «Shift In», the Control character U+000F &#15; (http://unicode-table.com/en/000F/ ) and
● One Unicode character for «Shift Out», the Control character U+000E &#14; (http://unicode-table.com/en/000E/ ).
As well as the corresponding:
● One Unicode character for «Symbol for Shift In», the Control Picture U+240F &#9231; ␏ (http://unicode-table.com/en/240F/ ) and
● One Unicode character for «Symbol for Shift Out», the Control Picture U+240E &#9230; ␎ (http://unicode-table.com/en/240E/ ).
(Of course the semantic formatting picture characters, that I am looking for, would have to be a bit more recognizable and easily distinguishable than the «Symbol for Shift In»: «␏» and «Symbol for Shift Out»: «␎» ;-)
█ Well, the Unicode developers may not have made any recommendations regarding this (yet), but some Unicode characters surely would do better than others, so my question stands:
Which single Unicode characters might be best suited for the task of representing tiny pictures of intended start and stop of each of the various semantic formatting concepts ? (bold, superscript, etc…) ;-)
[Heading and lead section also Slightly rewritten --02:49, 17 June 2016 (UTC)]
--Seren-dipper (talk) 02:49, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart"

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This message has appeared on two computers running Win 10. Blue screen with a big :( In the one case, the computer actually restarted and all was well. In the other, the counter remained at 0% and I had to turn it off physically. Then it worked OK.

Is it really Win 10 doing this or something else? --Halcatalyst (talk) 15:09, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Well, Win10 is restarting the computer, that is true. But the problem may be caused by something other than Win10. I hate vacuumcleaning with the burning passion of a thousand suns so most of the problems with my computers are caused by dust. There are a couple of options:
  1. if this happened only once, or very rarely, then you can probably ignore it (it probably won't be worth the time and effort to investigate why it happened).
  2. if this happens often enough to bother you then you can check what caused the error. Usually the error message displayed under the big :( gives an indication what may be wrong. If you are too late and the computer has already restarted before you can read what it says (or better yet, take a photo) then you can find the error by following these instructions. Once you know what the error message says you can post it here and people will probably be able to help you.
  3. if this happens often and your pc is very dusty then it may be a good idea to ask your local computershop to clean it, or ask a local nerd to get it cleaned. Always ask what it costs first, if it is expensive then politely refuse. My computer is very big, and the last time I paid 15 euro to get it cleaned (because I was too lazy to do it myself, and I don't have an aircompressor). I do not recommend trying it yourself unless you have experience with this kinda stuff. Oh, and never give it to someone who is not a nerd but has a cheap air compressor, because those things will blow water in your pc and damage it permanently. :(((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 15:30, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The only way I can imagine dust causing problems is if it prevents the fan from cooling the processor sufficiently, but then the system will shut down and not restart (my old computer does this occasionally). I suppose it's just possible that greasy dust could cause a short circuit, but I think it's unlikely. I would think that a software error is a more likely cause, otherwise I agree with everything The Quixotic Potato wrote above. Windows logs its errors. here is a tutorial on how to read the error logs. Dbfirs 20:27, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Dbfirs: See here. I've seen computers that look like this one irl. My heatsink gets full of dust once in a while. But most people frequently use their vacuum cleaner. I do not, because I hate vacuumcleaners (just like cats do). (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 00:38, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@The Quixotic Potato: Thanks for the images. I've never seen computers that bad! I still think the processor will shut down and not restart under those conditions. Dbfirs 06:05, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Many of the pictures I've linked to are quite extreme, but it is possible to have a situation where dust reduces the cooling capabilities to a point where for example webbrowsing is not a problem, but playing modern resource intensive 3d games causes the computer to overheat and shut down. Rebooting it afterwards is not a problem, because the GPU (which is usually the hottest component) is barely used at that point and the CPU cools down quickly if it barely has to do anything. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 10:14, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, that happens on the old laptop on which I'm typing this, but the processor shuts down. It doesn't restart, as described by the OP. Dbfirs 13:26, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
From my personal experience I know that some computers do reboot in these circumstances. But I've also seen them simply shut down. Fun fact; one time I opened a friends computer and I found an empty beer can in there... (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 14:51, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The processor obviously liked to have a cooling drink when it was overheated! I think you are correct that the BIOS can either restart or shut down the processor when it detects too high a temperature. I suppose the problem could be in other hardware, but overheating seems the most likely cause. I wonder if the OP is using the computers in a confined space. Dbfirs 20:03, 18 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Using programming languages as a formal language, to describe a procedure, not to obtain a program

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What are the applicaitons of programming langauges outside computer science, that is, using the programming language in human to human communication, not human to machine,just because it's precise. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hofhof (talk • contribs) 17:56, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

See Pseudocode. Also there is a bit in a scene from WarGames where one of the characters uses pseudocode to tell someone to leave. I won't go into more detail because of minor spoilers. RegistryKey(RegEdit) 18:43, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't mean pseudocode specifically, but it will also do. But I am more interested in uses completely outside CS. Describing an algorithm in pseudocode is mostly for computer algorithms, although algorithms could be of use in many other fields. --Hofhof (talk) 18:54, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Our article doesn't quite agree, but I was taught that Algol was originally developed as a formal way to describe algorithms, and was only later used to program computers. Rojomoke (talk) 03:15, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
ALGOL. --CiaPan (talk) 10:44, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Protocol_(science) - these are sometimes very nearly formal language, using controlled vocabulary, and all attempt are made to describe procedure/algorithms unambiguously. You might also be interested in reading some Standard_operating_procedures, which again are sort of a nearly-formal form of natural language. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:52, 17 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Trying to find Hofstadter's Scheme tutorial

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Any idea where I can buy or download it? --Hofhof (talk) 18:25, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

According to this thread, it's in Metamagical Themas (unless that's a different tutorial). -- BenRG (talk) 22:13, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I came across that thread and went through the book. Other references online also refer to this forum. There are certainly articles on Lisp in the book, but there isn't even a mention of Scheme (as a programming language). Maybe people are just using the word Scheme to mean Lisp, which is technically true. --Hofhof (talk) 23:27, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

just a main page direction idea

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i was looking at you globe and it has different symbols on it and i was thinking that you could create a link or note for each symbol — Preceding unsigned comment added by Srstewart0412 (talk • contribs) 22:15, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Srstewart0412, see Wikipedia logo. Dismas|(talk) 23:04, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
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