Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 14:21, 30 January 2019

Welcome to the computing section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.

skip to bottom

Select a section:

Shortcut

WP:RD/C

Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

How can I get my question answered?

Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
Note:
- We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
- We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
- We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
- We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.

Ready? Ask a new question!

How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

January 23

Is it possible to download copies of all revisions of all Wikipedia pages (that haven't been deleted yet) BEFORE the end of 2009?

Every revision that happened before December 31, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). Yes, this does include all pages in all namespaces. I assume I could just sift through every page on the whole site and do this manually, but that would take a bit too long maybe. :) Is there some automated way I could do this? PseudoSkull (talk) 08:40, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@PseudoSkull: I suggest poking around WP:DUMP to see what you can find. For example, here is a copy of English Wikipedia from June 2008: [1]. RudolfRed (talk) 20:53, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

January 27

SciData computers

In the 1970s there were some minicomputers named SciData. I saw at least two of them. They had 12K but I'm not sure if that is in words or bytes. I can't find anything about them. They don't seem to be related to Scientific Data Systems, but I don't know. Does anyone know anything about SciData computers? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 00:11, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The closest thing I can recall are the unique computers created by SiCortex in the mid-2000s. I recall a fellow researcher had been using one of their machines to benchmark some physics simulations before the company stopped building and supporting them. I do not know if the SiCortex machines, or the people who designed them, ever had any shared lineage with the SciData computers from several decades earlier. Nimur (talk) 16:55, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

These were definitely minicomputers and in the mid 1970s. They may have been something else rebranded. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 02:55, 30 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

January 28

How to use Multimedia Keys in Keyboard ?

Hello there, recently I've bought a gaming key board which has a plug and play feature and it has no driver dvd. The thing is that multimedia keys are not working. I checked device manager, keyboard options from control panel but there's no guideline whatsoever. I tried googling the solution but couldn't find any. How can I use them ? Thanks in advance--103.231.162.134 (talk) 15:28, 28 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried this? Ruslik_Zero 20:37, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

January 29

Can't see the "look inside" in books in amazon.com

Hello there, I suddenly noticed that I can't see the preview pages of books in amazon.com. Whenever I open the book by clicking on book cover it shows the blank white page. Front Cover; Copyright; Table of Contents; First Pages; Index; Surprise Me! - I clicked on all of this contents in book sections with no results. Why is this happening? Thank you--103.231.162.134 (talk) 10:56, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I can see a small selection of pages, but the book is copyright, and Amazon want to sell it, so they are not going to show all the pages. Dbfirs 14:19, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, hyperlinks (from the ebook version) do not work online, But you can scroll through to selected portions of the book using the next page button.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:22, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Grid cartogram with equal country sizes

Where can I find a GIS shapefile representing every country with an identical (perhaps rectangular or hexagonal) cell? This would be a simple case of a cartogram in that the variable controlling country size depiction is constant (instead of representing population, electoral votes, or any of the other attributes often driving cartograms). Hayttom (talk) 13:49, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

This image shows what I'm looking for - but I'm hoping to find, rather than having to make it as a shapefile.Hayttom (talk) 14:11, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much. It just works :) :)--103.231.162.134 (talk) 14:21, 30 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

deleting protected directories

I have developed serious health problems and need to resign my job. I gave my administration one month until the end of February, but in fact it is mostly for me. I am thinking about what I need to do to leave minimal footprint in the place which I actually love. This morning I went into a disk directory, sort of personal one and deleted as many files and directories I could. Then I discovered a folder which I kind of suspected existed but still was surprised to see. It is "Recent Places." All folders there and there are numerous, are protected. Some of them are not really mine, probably from the system.

Is there way to clean them up? I am not the administrator.

Thanks AboutFace 22 (talk) 17:53, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Are you referring to Windows 10? If you turn off the "show recently opened items" setting it should delete all the saved pointers to recent places. You can then turn it back on and they will remain deleted. There are more detailed instructions here. CodeTalker (talk) 22:19, 29 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

January 30

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 Where can I find a GIS shapefile representing every country with an identical (perhaps rectangular or hexagonal) cell?  This would be a simple case of a cartogram in that the variable controlling country size depiction is constant (instead of representing population, electoral votes, or any of the other attributes often driving cartograms).  [[User:Hayttom|Hayttom]] ([[User talk:Hayttom|talk]]) 13:49, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
 :[https://policyviz.com/2017/10/12/the-world-tile-grid-map/ This image] shows what I'm looking for - but I'm hoping to find, rather than having to make it as a shapefile.[[User:Hayttom|Hayttom]] ([[User talk:Hayttom|talk]]) 14:11, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
+::Thank you very much. It just works :) :)--[[Special:Contributions/103.231.162.134|103.231.162.134]] ([[User talk:103.231.162.134|talk]]) 14:21, 30 January 2019 (UTC)
 == deleting protected directories ==