Computing desk
< August 18	<< Jul \| August \| Sep >>	August 20 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

August 19[edit]

where am I getting the glyphs?[edit]

The appearance of one word in Gothic alphabet (𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺) on another RD made me wonder: How can I know what font my computer (or browser) chooses for a given obscure segment of Unicode? —Tamfang (talk) 00:01, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Which browser? Which OS? (Which RD?) ¦ Reisio (talk) 17:30, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Firefox, Snow Leopard, (Language). —Tamfang (talk) 00:48, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

http://www.google.com/search?q=firefox%20extension%20show%20fonts ? ¦ Reisio (talk) 13:35, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Illegal copies online[edit]

How difficult is it to remove illegal copies of your books/games/software online? Why is it so easy to find something, not only through emule and torrent, which are decentralized, but also for direct download? The copyright owners shouldn't have any problem finding those either. Comploose (talk) 00:06, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There are many issues. One is that there are a lot of sources — it's a game of whack a mole. Another is that it takes time to send out take-down notices, and if they are ignored, you have to file lawsuits — which costs money and time. Another is that there are hundreds of different jurisdictions — getting a copyright violation dealt with in the USA is different than the UK which is different than Sweden which is different than Germany and so on. There are different laws, different languages, and so on. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:27, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's virtually impossible. Making illegal copies of things mostly useless is not so hard though: make them call you up and prove you are the purchaser before the software will run (or the like). The only problems with this approach is that 1) it's really annoying to those who weren't trying to use an illegal copy in the first place, and 2) while people using unpaid for copies of your software aren't generating you revenue at the moment, you are still generating demand for your software, which can often lead to revenue should the persons using it ever want to appear more squeaky clean themselves. ¦ Reisio (talk) 17:35, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That approach in 1) rarely works, you just need someone who can work out how to bypass whatever check is done to make sure you call them first (or whatever) and then people download the cracked software or a crack for the software. Ultimately you can't assume that those designing the protection are smarter then those wishing to break it, if your software is interesting enough. The only two approaches which are likely to work are cloud computing/software as a service models where a significant chunk of your software is stored on your computers and never distributed to the end user. Or perhaps giving each user a steganography copy with the stenography designed in such a way that even with several copies of the software, they won't be able to safely remove it without the owners of the software being identified. Even that I'm not sure if it will definitely work, some people may be in jurisdictions where it's difficult to prosecute, or perhaps people will steal the software from zombie computers to break. If your software requires regular important updates, you can make things difficult if you keep modifying your protection enough that someone needs to spend a fair amount of time breaking it (something like what the BluRay people try to do) and also ensuring that they can't receive the updates from you (meaning they need to wait for someone to release them) but ultimately it still sounds like a losing proposition. (This is somewhat how BluRay is handling stuff although in that case the 'important updates' are new releases.) Even most ardent software DRM supporters usually acknowledge you can't stop hardcore violators, they just aim to make things difficult enough to scare away enough casual copiers. Of course an effective Trusted Computing system where the user loses full control over their system may be able to stop this, but we all know how successfull that has been. Nil Einne (talk) 18:15, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sort of precedes 1, but it can be SaaS ¦ Reisio (talk) 00:30, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

SaaS isn't necessarily that secure either. You can read how Chinese Studio Blatantly Copies Foreign Indie Game, Developers Pissed (and at reddit Some company in China stole my game.) Also, a lot of the times, the main customers of the software are large corporations/government so the illegal copies online hardly account for any business.Smallman12q (talk) 23:10, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Exactly what is it you imagine is "necessarily that secure"? :p If they had wanted to protect themselves from simple reverse engineering (a waste of time, but still) they could have, it just would've also been a huge hassle to paying customers. ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:22, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Drawpad[edit]

What is the cheapest, the best, and the most accurate drawing pad for PC. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.16.47.115 (talk) 03:45, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Do you mean a digitizing tablet ? StuRat (talk) 03:49, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sure if that helps you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.16.47.115 (talk) 13:49, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Specifically, I assume you mean, "what's the best tablet I can get for the least amount of money?" Because the "best and most accurate" is unlikely to be the "cheapest." I recommend just going on to Amazon and looking through their category on Graphic Tablets, sorting by rating, price, etc., reading reviews. You should be able to ferret out what the ups and downs of any option are, within the budget of whatever you consider cheap enough. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:53, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

UK shops- camera charger[edit]

So, I lost the charger for my camera, it's one of those ones with its own battery that needs taking out and recharging rather than just buying more from the shop, but I need it for tomorrow, so I need to find a shop that sells a new one very soon. I thought, try PC world, seeing as that's where I got the camera originally, but no, thousands of accessories, no chargers. any other thoughts?

Kitutal (talk) 12:00, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Better post the mark and model of the camera and maybe a (more limited) geographic area, people are more likely to answer if they know for certain that their answer will be helpful. Ssscienccce (talk) 13:56, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I thought the chances of someone coming from this exact area were rather low. but if you're sure, it's a panasonic lumix dmc-fs16 in east kent Kitutal (talk) 14:00, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Where+to+buy/All+Dealers/220395/index.html ¦ Reisio (talk) 17:45, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You didn't specify whether you wanted an original charger. A simple search finds these results [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] all I presume OEM chargers. If you search more, you could probably find 100+ more online sellers (even more if you expand to eBay and other places and even more if you expand to sellers outside the UK). It sounds like this is a common enough type of charger that many retail stores which stock the sort of think will have them as well. Nil Einne (talk) 17:56, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

ah, but could any online seller deliver by tomorrow morning? meanwhile the link brings up argos, currys and comet, argos has sold out anywhere near here, and the others have nothing even similar on sale... Kitutal (talk) 18:06, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry I missed the part about tomorrow morning. I suggest you either 1) Look thru some of the more trustworthy online retailers and give them a call if they have a number and ask them if they can do a next day delivery to where you live or 2) Look for an online retailer with a Kent or nearby address and call them and ask if it will be possible to pick the item up from somewhere. Either way you'd likely pay thru the roof for the service, but I guess you expect that. As I mentioned, you may also want to look at local electronics retailers, probably the less fancy ones. In particular, make sure you find out all you can about what you want (what the battery type is, what cameras have the same battery etc). There's a fair chance some of the stuff won't have your camera model on the packaging but will be compatible. Also I would ask the shop staff but not trust them, particularly if they're sales people rather then the owner. P.S. Looking at the time, you're probably SOL either way. Nil Einne (talk) 18:21, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

According to chargerbatteryshop, there are a few compatible batteries: DMW-BCK7; DMW-BCK7E; NCA-YN101F; NCA-YN101H, also used in other Panasonic camera's, see list: [7] and several chargers are compatible with your camera: the Lumix DMC-FS15 Battery Charger [8]; Lumix DMC-FS12 Battery Charger [9] ; the Lumix DMC-FS7 Battery Charger [10]; the Lumix DMC-FS4 Battery Charger [11]; and the Lumix DMC-FS25 Battery Charger [12]. Maybe one of those can be found in a local shop... Ssscienccce (talk) 21:35, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Go to a mobile phone shop and see if they have a universal charger that fits your battery. Bring your battery to the store to try different models. 69.228.170.132 (talk) 06:07, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Very often, though not always, a device connected to your computer via a USB cable will also get recharged. If the camera supports this charging method, it probably came with a suitable cable. If not, it might be easy to get a USB cable with the correct connector (bigger supermarkets might sell this kind of thing); though beware there are several different connectors so make sure you get the right one. Astronaut (talk) 16:07, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

surely there is a more pythonic way to do this generation of pandigital numbers?[edit]

PD2 = []
for D1 in range(10):
 PD2 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1]]
 for D2 in PD2:
  PD3 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1, D2]]
  for D3 in PD3:
   PD4 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1, D2, D3]]
   for D4 in PD4:
    PD5 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1, D2, D3, D4]]
    for D5 in PD5:
     PD6 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1, D2, D3, D4, D5]]
     for D6 in PD6:
      PD7 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6]]
      for D7 in PD7:
       PD8 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7]]
       for D8 in PD8:
        PD9 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8]]
        for D9 in PD9:
         PD0 = [x for x in range(10) if not x in [D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9]]
         for D0 in PD0:
          PandigitalNumber = int(str(D1) + str(D2) + str(D3) + str(D4) + str(D5) + str(D6) + str(D7) + str(D8) + str(D9) + str(D0))

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.255.2.58 (talk) 18:28, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

from itertools import permutations

def generate_pandigital(length):
    """Generates zerofull pandigital numbers."""
    for n in permutations("0123456789"[:length]):
        yield "".join(n)

→Σ σ ς. 18:52, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Or if you'd rather roll your own, you might consult The Art of Computer Programming chapter 7. —Tamfang (talk) 00:50, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That is a good exercise in using recursion. Note Σ's solution has some problems, like not eliminating results that begin with 0. Is this a homework exercise? If yes, we should supposedly only give hints and advice, rather than working solutions. 69.228.170.132 (talk) 05:28, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Blogging and social networking[edit]

I'm starting to think seriously about going in blogging once again, but kinda think social networking is like blogging. I have had a few of them in the past, but have given them up for social networking and etc. I'm still undecided on where should I blog from. My preference is a free vs paid or combo of worlds. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mybodymyself (talk • contribs) 21:15, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Blogger and Wordpress are two of the biggest free blogging sites. I personally have a blogger account because it is owned by google and it is very easy to set up if you already have a gmail account. Vespine (talk) 00:26, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure you can find some service for syndicating between facebook and your random blog, if that's what you're after. ¦ Reisio (talk) 00:26, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for both of your answers to my question here.--Jessica A Bruno (talk) 01:27, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm back to tell you that I have decided to go back into blogging again.--Jessica A Bruno (talk) 01:48, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This was kind of interesting. It says it's better to pay for and host your own blog, instead of using something like blogspot/wordpress. (This can be done at very low cost). 69.228.170.132 (talk) 06:04, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm interesting and I'm still a little unsure how I think about this.--Jessica A Bruno (talk) 18:09, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]