Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2012 November 11

= November 11 =

Pywikipediabot
Hello everyone. I'm helping someone to set up a Pywikipedia Bot on Wikipedia. We've followed all the instructions on Mediawiki and we still have a problem: it asks for the Wikipedia account password every single time that we try to use replace.py.

Any ideas what could be causing this? Thanks a lot. Leptictidium (mt) 09:58, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Have you run login.py and setup your user-config.py? Also, if you plan on running it here, make sure you have approval first. Legoktm (talk) 10:11, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, we have done both things. Approval has been requested on the relevant wiki (another language version of Wikipedia). So it can't be a login.py or user-config.py problem.Leptictidium (mt) 14:21, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Have you tried making a test edit on a sandbox? Something like:


 * Legoktm (talk) 14:34, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes. The bot has no problem editing. The problem is that it asks for the password every time I launch a task. Leptictidium (mt) 16:14, 12 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Hm. That basically means it either isn't saving the cookies, or it can't read them. In the ./login-data directories, are their cookies for the bot? And are the sessionID's correct? Legoktm (talk) 17:20, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Blocking pages
For labour reasons, I would need a software that prevents people from accessing to specific websites on a computer. But, as it is not a kid but a grown up person, it would be helpful if the existence of the software is hard to notice, and prevents tricks like uninstalling it or similar stuff (the uninstaller should have a password, or some other system). Is there some software you may suggest me? Cambalachero (talk) 22:55, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Most ADSL routers allow you to block by target IP address, although that might not be fine-grained enough. For example, most of the major blog hosts have adult-themed blogs - you couldn't filter out just one blog, you'd have to block the entire host. If you tell use what model of router you use, we can help you set it up. Note that it is relatively easy to by-pass most blocks if you know what you are doing; even the Chinese government can't get the Great Firewall of China to work 100% of the time. CS Miller (talk) 23:24, 11 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Editing the hosts file would allow you to redirect certain web addresses to an invalid address, or even to another web site, and could only be undone by someone with administrator privileges. Typically, you'd add a line similar to "127.0.0.1 site.to.block" to the end of the file (sans quotes, and replacing site.to.block with the domain name of the site you wish to block, of course). The only difficulty is you need to add every subdomain you want blocked (for example, to block google entirely you'd need to add google.com, www.google.com, video.google.com, etc). Horselover Frost (talk &middot; edits) 06:05, 12 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Horselover Frost said: "could only be undone by someone with administrator privileges" but it should be mentioned that circumventing it is very easy, even without administrator privileges. Proxies are your friend. Trio The Punch (talk) 10:53, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
 * In the case of Google, you may not even need proxies. Google is accessible from IPs (at least IPv4, IPv6 seems to direct me to my local google domain) so you just need to remember or bookmark some Google IPs. And note you don't need to just block Google subdomains but google 2nd level or third level domains like google.co.nz, google.com.my, google.us, google.co.uk, google.de, google.hk, google.com.hk. BTW, do note that blocking kids can often be harder then blocking adults. Nil Einne (talk) 13:44, 14 November 2012 (UTC)


 * For labour reasons? Do you mean you wish to stop your employees wasting time on Facebook/YouTube/Porn etc? If so, have it written into your IT policy that visiting such sites is a disciplinary issue that could lead to warnings and maybe dismissal.  Make it clear that you will be logging non-work related internet access. Then take action against persistant offenders.  Alternatively, you could just give your employees more interesting work.  Astronaut (talk) 18:01, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Looking for small computer monitor in UK
I've been looking at various websites and can't seem to find a decent new (not refurbished) computer monitor for less than about £80, probably because the ones I've seen have all been 18 inches+. I'd be quite happy to find a smaller one. Can anyone recommend a reputable retailer where I might be successful? I was hoping to spend more like £40 - this does not need to be a quality piece of kit, it's for kids to much about on. Am I hoping for too much for too little? Many thanks. --Dweller (talk) 23:19, 11 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Acer, LG and Samsung. For £40 all you get is crap, I would recommend spending about £65-£70 for a decent monitor with a decent brand. Trio The Punch (talk) 00:51, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * And what's wrong with used ? If the kids are just going to trash it anyway, might as well save some money.  In particular, if you don't mind a cathode ray tube monitor, they are practically giving away used CRTs now.  StuRat (talk) 07:15, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * StuRat is right, if a used monitor is acceptable you can easily find one for under £40, £10 is very generous for a CRT monitor, but all the new ones I found were crap. Trio The Punch (talk) 08:25, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Interesting idea, thanks. Does CRT mean a "big fat box"? If so, I'll pass, because space is also an issue. --Dweller (talk) 10:23, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Yep, CRT monitors are these big old things. Trio The Punch (talk) 11:13, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Some are a bit slimmer than that, like this one: .StuRat (talk) 19:37, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks all. I think I'll need to ponder this. --Dweller (talk) 11:54, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * In other words, dwell on it ? :-) StuRat (talk) 19:38, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * I've obtained several CRT monitors from various employers over the years. All of them were free.  Nothing wrong with them and usually very good quality, just old fashioned.  Astronaut (talk) 17:48, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Well, they also require a lot more power and emit a lot more radiation and include a lot more hazardous material; but ignoring all that they do function perfectly as monitors. ¦ Reisio (talk) 18:30, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * I have more CRTs than I know what to do with. I'm using one as a foot-stool, as we speak. :-) StuRat (talk) 19:18, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Seem to have gotten off topic a little, but ebuyer has plenty of choice-- Jac 16888 Talk 19:33, 12 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Its quite easy to find a cheap secondhand TFT monitor. Trio The Punch (talk) 19:48, 12 November 2012 (UTC)