Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 January 20

= January 20 =

Right click to mean ESC
Hello! I have a laptop that can connect to my TV so that I can see the screen and watch Internet TV. I use a wireless mouse to navigate from my couch. The problem I have is when I watch some full-screen videos, the player ignores all input and I must walk up to the laptop's keyboard and press ESC to access another video, change the channel, etc. I was wondering if anyone could write me a program so that when I right-click on my wireless mouse, the program "translates" the input and fires an ESC key event so that I can exit from full screen without getting up (and satisfying my laziness :) ). If it's C, I can compile the source on my side. If that's too much to ask, I would appreciate some pointer for writing the code myself (navegating the Windows API has been a disaster, and registering a global hook that can communicate with another application has been beyond my comprehension. My biggest problem has been after I load a dll with LoadLibrary that has the hook function and a function that returns a boolean of whether the right-click has happened, I don't know how to tell my C program where the right-click-checking function is in the memory). Thank you! (Windows Vista 64-bit)--el Aprel (facta-facienda) 00:50, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * You didn't mention what sort of mouse you have. I have the "Mouse" control panel here from a Microsoft IntelliPoint mouse, and it allows you to easily configure the right mouse button to be any text string, including just the ESC key.  You may be able to download and install the IntelliPoint driver without even owning the mouse (YMMV).  Comet Tuttle (talk) 01:16, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * You could use Windows' onscreen keyboard, or you could write a Java AWT Robot program to do this. Nimur (talk) 03:46, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Or AutoHotkey - it seems to be designed for just this sort of thing. I've written several small programs like that with AutoHotkey. AJHW (talk) 12:21, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Thank you so much for your responses. The IntelliPoint program worked great for me, but I will try the AutoHotKey in the future if I need more complicated keystrokes. A question about using a Java Robot: is it possible to have Java intercept input events (the mouse, in this case) even when the application's window does not have the focus? I've had this problem in the past, and I didn't know if there was a way around it.--el Aprel (facta-facienda) 16:58, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, and I vaguely recall that our conclusion was that no, an AWT Robot can't intercept mouse events unless it already has focus. You could try some clever tricks, like keeping the robot focused, but forwarding events to the intended program; but in general this isn't really going to work very well.  Other languages do allow you to intercept all system IO events, at the expense of guaranteeing enforcement of a security policy.  Nimur (talk) 18:24, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Acer eDataSecurity/EmpoweringTechnology
Hi! I had an Acer laptop up until a few weeks ago, when it crashed beyond repair. I rescued the data off it, but I had some files encrypted using this Acer utility (eData Security). I know the password... is there any way to decrypt the files? Thanks! ╟─ Treasury Tag ►  without portfolio  ─╢ 08:52, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't know the encryption algorithm, but if you can find someone else with an Acer laptop then the password should work on their machine. (I don't use the facility on my Acer, but I'm happy to test my claim for you if you have a not-too-confidential file, though it would not be wise to send your password over the internet).  This website claims to allow decryption on another computer, but I can't vouch for its safety or effectiveness.    D b f i r s   08:31, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

web design consensus on floating CSS sidebar menus?
Is there a web design consensus (acceptable / irritating & to be avoided) on floating CSS sidebar menus that maintain their position as a user scrolls down a long page? I'm considering adding one to a site I'm designing, but can't recall ever seeing one "in the wild" as opposed to on CSS menu demo pages. This leads me to wonder if they're considered bad form and I just hadn't heard... 218.25.32.210 (talk) 09:13, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * . Even the W3C uses elements that remain visible no matter how much the visitor scrolls: . --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 09:21, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * If it matters, I consider it kind of irritating. I think you can trust your user to know the menu is at the top if they want it. But it's a matter of taste, ultimately. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:45, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Thank you both. I appreciate the example links and the personal opinion. I guess I'll try and make it as unobtrusive as possible and see where we end up... 218.25.32.210 (talk) 01:19, 21 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Note that those examples links are different things: the corner logo on the W3C page is just a fixed background image on the body element, while the menu on the Celestia page seems to be some kind of JavaScript hack (judging by the fact that it moves jerkily and that I had to enable JavaScript on that site to see it). What you seem to be talking about is an element with position:fixed (like the little floaty box you should see at the bottom left corner of this page), which is something different from either of those (and, I would say, infinitely preferable to JavaScript kluges).  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 18:03, 22 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Could we remove the box? It's really annoying. Thanks,  gENIUS 101  22:17, 22 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. I've moved it to User:Ilmari Karonen/sandbox/floatybox instead.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 01:35, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Emailing RSS feeds
My work blocks web access to a large number of sites, unfortunatly these include blogs. I have been using a service called "FeedMyInbox" to forward the rss feed to me as an email. This used to be a free service, but about a week ago I got notification that they were switching to a paid service. Does anybody know of a free service that would send rss feeds to an email adress. I have tried searching with google but I'm not really much good with that kind of thing.

Thanks Schpat 196.213.43.74 (talk) 11:14, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Try these two links for alternatives. I don't currently use this type of service, but thanks for the idea
 * http://www.feedmailer.net/
 * http://feedneed.typepad.com/feed_need/2008/10/how-to-send-an-rss-feed-to-your-email-account.html
 * - Bevo (talk) 00:14, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Permissions in Ubuntu & Vista
I've asked a similar question before about this issue, but have not been able to get a solution, unfortunately. My problem is I have a folder moved from Vista to Ubuntu over my network. It still has Vista permissions on it, so my Ubuntu machine can't modify the folder (I actually just want to delete it), but my Vista machine can't delete the folder on Ubuntu because it doesn't have the Ubuntu permissions. I'm wondering if I can get Samba to allow all activity from my Vista machine (modifying and deleting folders, etc.) and yet still deny access from anyone else? Or at least, how can I get rid of this unsightly folder on my otherwise lovely clean desktop? A walkthrough would be wonderful because I'm still new-ish to Linux. TIA! --  KageTora - (影虎)  ( A word...? )  11:35, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, if the folder has been copied over, it will not have "Vista permissions". It may have limited permissions on Ubuntu, and it may belong to a different user from your normal account, but its permissions are under Ubuntu's control. Open a terminal, navigate to the folder containing your folder, and do either of  (to make it yours and grant yourself all rights), or simply do  .    may ask for your password, depending on the configuration. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 12:44, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Excellent! You are a genius! Successfully deleted! Thanks! --  KageTora - (影虎)  ( A word...? )  13:38, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Re-Activating Windows XP
Ok so I recently (well, 6 months ago) upgraded just about every component of a PC I bought in '07 that came with Windows XP, and now it's demanding to be re-activated. It claims I can do it online, but won't let me connect to the internet (I guess because it won't let me do anything until it's re-activated.) So I tried doing it over the phone but it was one of those weird "I'm a robot, read off some numbers to me" things, so even though it didn't work I figure it could just be because "3" sounds like "Z" or something. Should I go to the trouble of trying again, or is it impossible to reactivate Windows XP once you've changed the motherboard? Digger3000 (talk) 14:05, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * It's not impossible - it shouldn't be any different than trying to activate a completely different computer. &mdash;Akrabbimtalk 14:15, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * If it's an OEM version of Windows (and it sounds like it is because you said it came with the PC), then you shouldn't be able to reactivate it. I'm afraid OEM licences are for the machine they're sold with and can't be transferred (unlike retail licences which can). From Microsoft's point of view changing the motherboard is basically creating a whole new computer (which is essentially what you've done) and when changing a motherboard on an OEM licence it should be changed by the original OEM manufacturer who should supply a compatible one (if not exactly the same) thus not breaking the EULA so it can be reactivated. You can read more here. Basically though you can ring Microsoft and ask them nicely, but they're not obligated to transfer it as it's not the same machine. Sorry. ZX81  talk  14:41, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Game recommendation
I haven't played a game on my PC since the days of Quake, MDK and Riven. Can anyone recommend a good game to get me back into it? I like Myst/Riven type adventures, also shoot-'em-ups, but I'm not too keen on war scanarios - I prefer puzzle solving or the odd worlds of MDK etc. 86.150.103.201 (talk) 15:40, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * For a point and click game in the same vein as Myst I recommend Syberia.
 * For First Person Shooters, it's harder to say. That genre has grown enormously since the days of Quake. Do you want squad-based survival horror? Try Left 4 Dead.  Action Packed soldiering? Try Modern Warfare II.  Creepy retro-future single-player? Bioshock. First Person puzzle game? Try Portal. And that's just for starters. APL (talk) 15:56, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Wow, no games since the days of Quake? You missed out on a number of classics :) Sadly, adventures in the style of Myst and Riven have pretty much disappeared, but the AGS community is still pretty active...you can find a number of free adventure games on Big Blue Cup, the main AGS website. As far as firt-person shooters go, Half Life and Half Life 2 were pretty good (if you decide on getting Half Life 2, get the Orange Box, that way you'll also get Portal as a bonus - it's pretty short, not really a full game, but had extremely innovative and funny puzzle gameplay). My favourite Shooter in the last couple of years was Deus Ex - it's more of a hybrid of FPS and RPG gameplay, and it has the best storyline I've ever found in a game. If you don't mind the violence and occasional profanity, have a look at the GTA series - I'm still hooked on GTA San Andreas's early 90s nostalgia and open-world sandbox gameplay. -- Ferkelparade &pi; 16:09, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah, well, I thought I was too old to be playing them ... but an old nostalgia has crept over me. Never was a techie, so another related question from me - are games much better on a Gameboy/Nintendo/whatever the gizmo of choice is these days etc than a PC?  Do they justify the cost?  Or should I just stick with my PC?  Thanks for all suggestions so far. I ought to add I'm female so the war scenario games don't do it for me though I did enjoy the sniper-scope in MDK with the mooning aliens. 86.150.103.201 (talk) 16:17, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, the main difference between PCs and consoles is that consoles are (in theory) hassle-free - you just put in the game disc and start playing without ever worrying about graphics drivers or hardware upgrades. The downside is that all consoles have a somewhat limited choice of games compared to whats's available for Windows PCs (still enough to keep you occupied for months, probably :) and that the controllers used by consoles take some getting used to and don't work too well for certain types of games (I can't play first person shooters or strategy games without a mouse, but that may just be me). All the games recommended by APL and me are already a couple of years old, so they will run on relatively modest hardware and probably not require you to spend huge sums on upgrading your PC -- Ferkelparade &pi; 16:34, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * While the PC has "more" games, I'm not sure that's a selling point. The vast array of crap tends to hide the good stuff, and the best games of recent memory sometimes don't release for the PC or delay the PC release for weeks or months. I'd argue that between the Xbox and the PC, the Xbox has more variety in modern games. That said, if she hasn't been playing since Quake and Riven, she's got a long backlog of good games for the PC. &mdash;ShadowRanger (talk 16:49, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * It's not true that point and click adventure games have disappeared. They're a large market. Walk into a Best Buy and they'll have an entire shelf of them for PC! (It's just that shooter games have gotten larger.)  Of course, only a certain percentage of those are worth playing, But that has always been true.
 * Try games by The Adventure Company. There are also a good number of adventure games for the DS. (Try Hotel Dusk) If those aren't "lighthearted" enough, The most recent Sam & Max game was in '07. That's not exactly point-and-click, but it's similar.
 * If you liked first person games like quake, and you like puzzles, I do recommend Portal (video game). It's quite good. APL (talk) 16:44, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Half-Life 2 is one of the more rewarding recent games I've played—it sucks you in pretty good, and has an excellent balance of action and puzzle sequences, great plot pacing, clever innovations, etc. GTA: Vice City is a great way to try out a "sandbox" style game. I tend to go for games that came out a couple years ago—the prices are usually low, my not-totally-up-to-date system can usually handle them just fine, and it's easier to figure out which are the stinkers and which are really worth your time. Deus Ex is a bit older but I thought it was pretty enjoyable as well. --Mr.98 (talk) 16:39, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * (ec)Games are *different* on a console vs. a PC. For certain genres, they may be better or worse (FPS games are usually better on a PC due to the enhanced precision of a mouse, but you may lose out on online matchmaking and co-op play that is more common on the console). RTS games are frequently harder to play on a console as well (though the Wii seems like it would work well, since the Wiimote can substitute for a mouse). And RPG type games are usually simplified for a console; on the other hand, any RPG released on both PC and console will likely be similarly simplified on the PC. That said, while the number of available controls is less on a console, it's easier to use them all due to the ergonomics of the controller, and game conventions are little more static, so it's often easier to translate your muscle memory across games. Shooting uses the trigger buttons, A (on an Xbox) is usually a movement related button (jump or roll), etc. While I still feel RPGs lose out from the reduced control set, action/adventure games which use less controls, but use them all frequently (e.g. Shadow Complex, Assassin's Creed and its sequel, Batman: Arkham Asylum) often benefit from the fact that all the controls are equally accessible.
 * Consoles provide a more consistent experience at a lower price; a PC capable of playing the most modern games will run at least twice what the console would, and is often less stable due to the array of hardware involved, but the graphics and load times can be much better in exchange. You'll have more options on a console too, particularly on a 360, less so on a Wii; the PS3 has some good exclusives, but far less games in general, and the multiplatform games released for it are usually better on the Xbox or PC. Porting to the PC adds enough of a test load that smaller game companies often don't bother.
 * I don't know of many Myst/Riven type games nowadays; on the other hand, most of my friends that appreciated that genre like the story driven games like Way of the Samurai. You might also like puzzle games like Braid. For FPS games, Left 4 Dead and its sequel are a good game to start on now; it encourages team play, and it works well on both console and PC (since zombies don't dodge much, the loss of precision with a console analog stick isn't a huge deal). &mdash;ShadowRanger (talk 16:45, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Oooh I've just looked at the trailer for Half Life 2 - looks good, with those war of the world tripods. Syberia looks like my sort of thing too. Not too sure about all the GTAs - too much testosterone/violence for me maybe (I like messing things up, not people): I prefer aliens/weirdness to human opponents. Thx. (Sorry for the edit conflict thingy too) 86.150.103.201 (talk) 16:48, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Just a note: I wouldn't discount GTA IV based on the reputation of the franchise. While you can play it as a sandbox mafia game, it actually features a reasonably in-depth storyline; the main character is at least somewhat conflicted by the actions he takes, it's not just "I'm the best, so I kill everyone and take their stuff". I haven't finished it myself (only just unlocked the third island), but it's not a mindless violence type of game. Yes, when you do fight, it's people, so weigh that yourself, but there's more to it than killing people (there's a reason the game is the highest rated Xbox game of all time on Metacritic). Also, for a shooting game that isn't just shooting (and features more alien surrounding), I'll plug Mass Effect. It's a hybrid RPG/shooter (weighted in favor of RPG) that features a decent storyline and some pretty awesome settings and enemies. &mdash;ShadowRanger (talk 16:56, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * "There's more to it than killing people". LOL. As I'm not into killing people, period, I'll give it a swerve, thanks! By the way, is there a single game with female characters without boobs the size of balloons? All that running around, they're in danger of giving themselves black eyes ... 86.150.103.201 (talk) 17:24, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Half-Life 2; the female character without boobs the size of balloons is a friend but not your character. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:45, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * I lost interest in GTA games now that I can get my "driving around recklessly" fix from "Offroad Raptor Safari". (Buy here, Play Free on Facebook Here) APL (talk) 17:53, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Mass Effect (which I mentioned before) has a range of body types. The female version of the main character (you choose the gender) has what I'd guess are around a B cup (my ability to gauge exact cup size isn't great, but it's no larger than a C cup, and I'm pretty sure A cup is flatter), though it's hard to tell through armor. An example can be seen here (ignore the specific facial features, which are customizable). I think the human female NPC that serves as a potential romance target is a little larger, but I'm pretty sure she's still well below D cups. I should warn you though, Mass Effect does occasionally involve killing humans. I can only think of one main story quest where it's required (tracking down a lead, you have to fight through a bunch of thugs protecting a minor crime lord, and some of those thugs are human). That said, most of the combat will be against sentient machines, creepy plant creatures, and psionic insectoids. The fights against humanoid creatures are less common, and those are fairly evenly split between the various combat capable sentient races of the galaxy, meaning humans are less than 10% of your total foes. Aside from the quest I mentioned, I believe it is possible to avoid killing any humans in the rest of the game, through diplomacy and avoiding certain side-quests. &mdash;ShadowRanger (talk 17:57, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * I liked Syberia, but I preferred Lego Indiana Jones, lots of puzzles and no blood (hides head in shame) :) Dmcq (talk) 17:17, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Er, ... there was no blood in Syberia.... APL (talk) 17:53, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I was just giving a reason I like it. I guess it's part of the reason I liked Syberia too. I think the Simpsons Hit and Run game based on  Grand Theft Auto is about my violence limit and GTA itself is far above it. I'm, a wus by the standards of hard core gamers. Dmcq (talk) 21:48, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * My admiration for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion knows no bounds. The female characters (you can play as several and alter faces, complexions, etc.) are not "Dolly Parton in zero gravity" boobed. Some killing of people, but mostly monsters and ghosts and such. Matt Deres (talk) 21:46, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm a 'bit' behind the times, But DOOM 3 for a shooter, and SPYCRAFT was a fun puzzle solver/adventure style game, though a bit dated now graphically, it's ~10 years old? Splinter Cell series is not a bad combination shooter/ 'adventure' style IMHO. The latest Lara Croft titles have at least (I'm told), toned down her 'assets' :-o. Too OLD! Never! Have fun!--220.101.28.25 (talk) 06:39, 21 January 2010 (UTC)


 * One problem with PC games is the never ending cycle of developers stretching the latest/fastest/best hardware to the absolute limit. In my experience it is not long before your bearly 1-year-old PC is incapable of playing new games without serious upgrades.  On the other hand, consoles tend to be much more stable in their long-term specification.  Astronaut (talk) 10:10, 21 January 2010 (UTC)


 * You should try Unreal Tournament 2004 or Unreal Tournament 3 which have an assortment of soldiers, aliens and robots. I agree with Mass Effect although I found the controls a bit klunky and cumbersome. Call of Duty is just awesome - you should try it. You're never too old to play games! Sandman30s (talk) 14:53, 21 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Actually try Machinarium. Adventure game, click on stuff, free Flash demo.  Comet Tuttle (talk) 22:06, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

If you like a combination of adventuring and at-your-own-pace shooting, I can't recommend Fallout 3 highly enough. Also, if you're thinking of taking up shooters, you will find that Team Fortress 2 is an excellent light-hearted FPS (with fairly modest requirements). It is probably worth noting that Modern Warfare II is controversial with some PC gamers as a result of some development choices, and that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare still has a very active online community. Brammers (talk) 11:40, 22 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I was going to recommend Fallout 3, but I didn't think that would meet the questioner's standards because she specifically asked for no human-on-human violence. (It's not all humans, though! There's also mutants and giant ants!)  Modern Warfare also fails that, obviously.    (Team Fortress 2 might be ok, though. Still human-on-human but in hilarious cartoon rendering.) APL (talk) 15:31, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Probably not too hard OpenGL question
If I create a cone in OpenGL, it will point in the $$(0, 0, 1)$$ direction. I want to rotate it, so that it ends up pointing in the $$\mathbf{v} = (x, y, z)$$ direction. Then I have to rotate (a positive angle) around the $$(0, 0, 1) \times (x, y, z) = (-y, x, 0)$$ axis. To this end, I introduce a new orthonormal basis in $$\mathbb{R}^3$$: I set $$\mathbf{f}_1 = (x, y, 0)/norm$$, $$\mathbf{f}_2 = (0, 0, 1)$$, and $$\mathbf{f}_3 = (-y, x, 0)/norm$$, where $$norm = \sqrt{x^2 + y^2}$$. Hence, the orthogonal basis transformation matrix is
 * $$T = {1 \over norm}

\begin{pmatrix} x & 0 & -y \\ y & 0 & x \\ 0 & norm & 0 \end{pmatrix} $$.

In this basis, we need to rotate the angle $$\varphi = \arccos { { {(\mathbf{e_3}, \mathbf{v})} \over {\| \mathbf{e_3} \| \| \mathbf{v} \|} }}$$ around $$\mathbf{f}_3$$. Hence the linear tranformation matrix is
 * $$ A_f =

\begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & \cos(\varphi) & -\sin(\varphi) \\ 0 & \sin(\varphi) & \cos(\varphi) \end{pmatrix} $$

so that the matrix in the standard basis is


 * $$ A_e = T A_f T^t$$.

Before I tell OpenGL to render the cone, I multiply the model-view matrix by $$A_e^'$$, where $$A_e^'$$ is obtained from $$A_e$$ by first adding a zero row and then adding the column $$(0, 0, 0, 1)$$. But it appears not to work quite as one would expect. Why? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Andreas Rejbrand (talk • contribs) 18:56, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * The matrix $$A_f$$ above is a rotation around the first basis vector, not the third one. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 18:57, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Special characters question
I have a Mac using OS X 10.4. I'd like to use the characters "barred small capital i" (U+ID7B, ᵻ) and "barred Latin upsilon" (U+1D7E, ᵾ), which I've heard are available on newer versions of Lucida Grande, but on my version they just show up as boxes. See this not so enlightening exchange that I had with John Wells:

Lazar said... I'm still waiting for barred small capital i and barred Latin upsilon. John Wells said... Lazar, didn't you like the ᵻ (U+ID7B) I gave you yesterday? Or have you not got the current Lucida Grande font installed? The other one you ask for is ᵾ (U+1D7E). Lazar said... Oh, I have an older version of Lucida Grande. I must look into that.

These characters show up fine on the computers at my university using Vista, but on my Macbook, they don't. How do I go about getting them? Do I need to buy Leopard or Snow Leopard? --Lazar Taxon (talk) 23:29, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * I know this will seem like a dodge, but you're probably better off asking on the language desk. In my experience the only people who really know about linguist-related computing are other linguists (I say this having worked with one linguist on a computing task once, and finding out there was a whole crazy world of "how do we type these crazy characters" that went well beyond the standard character sets). --Mr.98 (talk) 13:27, 21 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Interesting question - I never thought that extended characters could be font related. I can't talk for Macs since I use Windows 7, but doing some tests on Microsoft Word it seems that weird characters are supported by all fonts. I'm not sure if it is font support or at some point there is a cut-off and it extends less common fonts into a system font that supports characters beyond ASCII. You should investigate unicode support for your Mac - see if there is a setup somewhere that allows you to change the default code page being used. AFAIK UTF8 (unicode) and variants like UTF8-AL32 support all languages and major characters (unless you happen to speak Klingon). Sandman30s (talk) 14:32, 21 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Note on your last point, many unicode fonts do however lack support for less common real world languages. Take a look at Help:Multilingual support (Indic) for example. Windows 7 & Vista are a lot better then Windows XP, but still lack the Burmese character set. Also for extinct languages, e.g. Gothic alphabet or Help:Fonts (we helped someone with this here once). may also be of interest. Of course in some cases even if the fonts are there, the OS or browser may not handle Complex text layout properly, necessary for some languages. Nil Einne (talk) 14:34, 22 January 2010 (UTC)


 * If you don't mind any font, there may be a free font available which supports them. Usually I believe, the OS or browser will automatically use an alternative font if necessary so it should show up fine if you have at least one font. If you want Lucida Grande, I'm not sure if there's much we can do. Presuming your computer is up to date, it may not be possible. It's fairly common that fonts are not updated and you need a newer version of the OS or program to get the latest version. And scalable fonts are held to be copyrightable in the US so you're not going to get help violating copyright here. And Lucida Grande is almost definitely copyrighted. P.S. If you know John C. Wells, could you see if we could get some other free photos of him? Currently we have a decent one from 1991 albeit black and white and one from 2008 which is okay but fairly in profile and with a mic which some may find distracting as it was taken while giving a talk Commons:Category:John Wells. Nil Einne (talk) 14:47, 22 January 2010 (UTC)