Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 May 2

= May 2 =

How to delete Empty lines in word?
I copied a document and suddenly it has empty lines between it's paragraphs. I can't delete each one as it would take me much time. Google didn't help me finding an answer! please help! Ben-Natan (talk) 02:35, 2 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Do these instructions for changing paragraph spacing work? .( They might not. In my experience, Word is best avoided... ). SemanticMantis (talk) 03:04, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
 * I can't see them for some reason but I eventually fixed the problem by printing the relevant document directly from the net (My printer hasn't been completely set but after I synchronized it, I could print the document online, without importing it to word --- what was adding the empty lines)... Ben-Natan (talk) 05:16, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
 * I think its a web style that gets mis-interpreted. I've cured it in the past by highlighting everything and changing the style to "normal".    D b f i r s   16:15, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

mgnt.sys not found
Hi there,

I've moved to windows 7, and when I tried to open an old software that had worked with xp,

I got that error: "MGNT.SYS not found". then I open it differently, but still when I tried a feature, the program collapsed.

What it is possible to do? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.126.192.34 (talk) 09:59, 2 May 2014 (UTC)


 * MGNT.SYS is apparently part of a system called MicroGuard Copy Protection, which prevents software from being illegally copied. They seem to have gone out of business, but at least some of their products rely on a dongle, for which MGNT.SYS is the driver.  Bottom line: you are probably out of luck. Looie496 (talk) 16:46, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

Freeware alternative to Powerpoint
Hello, I have another question - I'm looking for a freeware alternative to Powerpoint that will allow me to display a basic image slideshow, flipping between images by pressing the space bar (or similar). Would have to run on XP. Does anyone have any suggestions? Horatio Snickers (talk) 12:34, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
 * LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice both feature presentation software. If all you want to do is to display a presentation (not create one), Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer is free to download and use. WegianWarrior (talk) 12:50, 2 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Microsoft offers a free version of PowerPoint through Office Online, PowerPoint Online. It will let you create and edit PowerPoint presentations, although I don't know if it has the specific feature you're looking for, but it's worth checking out. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:45, 2 May 2014 (UTC)


 * My low rent approach to that has been just use HTML pages and a web browser, with a simple http server running on the same machine. 70.36.142.114 (talk) 22:17, 4 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Second the LibreOffice/OpenOffice suggestion. There also is Calligra Stage, part of the Calligra Suite, descended from KOffice/KPresenter. If you just want to present a basic image slideshow, there should be plenty of maximally cheap applications. If you are a pervert like me, use Beamer (LaTeX) and the PDF viewer of your choice. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 22:36, 4 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Does Steve Ballmer or Bill Gates bore everyone to death with Powerpoint presentations? Power point is marketed as a 'must have' commercial product – to make microsoft money.  It give no guaranty of effectiveness. So, take your lead from the people  who know. If you want to get your point across  then here is :10 Things to Do Instead of PowerPoint and A Successful Presentation: Steve Jobs without PowerPoint; oops, Keynote. There  is   much more on this subject on the internet. Movers and shakers don't use PowerPoint – sheep do. Do you think your audience wants to sit through yet another mind-numbing  power presentation with someone going Bhar Bhar ? A presentation is your brief  opportunity to get your message across to your audience–  not your duty to cure them of insomnia.--Aspro (talk) 22:25, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

How do I unroll the circumference of a circle?
How do I unroll the circumference of a circle as in this picture?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Pi-unrolled-720.gif — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.238.19.174 (talk) 14:09, 2 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Can you clarify? Do you want to make a .gif animation like that? Do you want to understand more about pi? Do you want to do a demonstration in real life with a circle? etc. I think we'd be happy to help if we knew what you wanted :) SemanticMantis (talk) 22:55, 2 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Please don't double post. I already replied on the Math Desk.  Ironically, I gave a computer science answer there, while Mantis gave, in part, a math answer above. StuRat (talk) 11:46, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

Serious security flaw in OAuth, OpenID discovered
Serious security flaw in OAuth, OpenID discovered How can I reproduce the Covert Redirect issue? I want to know what the attack looks like so I know what to watch out for. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 14:20, 2 May 2014 (UTC)


 * This is not new and not a bug in OAuth or OpenID. Here's an accurate article about it. What it looks like is you click a phishing link, are prompted to enter your Facebook/whatever login credentials, and if you do, the attacker can mess with your account. The workaround is to not enter your credentials on a page you got to by clicking a link in an email. -- BenRG (talk) 04:02, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

Check if a user is logged in with external app
I'm developing a website (in RoR) and I want to see if a user is logged in to my seperate mediawiki-application. I think a good way to solve it is to do an API-request to the mediawiki-application and check if the user is logged in. The only problem is that I have no experience at all with JSON or API:s :D.

The main problem is that when I do the API-query in my ruby app it is done on behalf of the server and not the user. I won't be able to see if the user is logged in but I can see if my server is logged in. Which I don't care for... Any solution on how to do this api-request on behalf of the user?

If I could do it like mediawiki does it would be fine. Here is an example: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:ApiSandbox#action=query&meta=userinfo&format=json

Maybe you could do some javascript that would solve this problem...

Any other solution linking an already existing mediawiki authentication system to a new app? — Preceding unsigned comment added by OXp1845 (talk • contribs) 22:38, 2 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Is there something in the mediawiki api that reports whether a user is logged in? It would surprise me if mediawiki reported that, since 1) privacy; 2) more info to keep track of in the mediawiki server.  Usually "logged in" on mediawiki just means there is a non-stale browser cookie that says the person is logged in.  If your Ruby app and your Mediawiki instance are in the same domain, then the Ruby app could inspect the Mediawiki cookie.  What are you trying to do?  Is the Ruby app supposed to edit the wiki or something, using the person's credentials?  70.36.142.114 (talk) 22:15, 4 May 2014 (UTC)


 * I want to develop a separate app, but with the same login-system.


 * If you for example enter this address in your browser you are querying the API to check which user you are logged in as: "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&meta=userinfo". I want to use this info in my app :). How would I inspect the mediawiki cookie? OXp1845 (talk) 10:40, 5 May 2014 (UTC)