Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 April 29

= April 29 =

Box-drawing character
I'm looking that the tables in Box-drawing character to try to get the characters with the alt-codes. If I do alt-2510 I get ╬ when I expect to get ┐. Others give different characters too. What is wrong? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 01:30, 29 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Not sure why the offset, but that's close to the one you want. You might just experiment with numbers nearby until you find the ones you want. StuRat (talk) 03:11, 29 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Check the character encoding that your viewing software (browser, tty emulator, or whatever) is set to use. 173.228.123.121 (talk) 03:43, 29 April 2017 (UTC)

Different Google accounts on Android phone for email vs contacts and calendar
I have two Android handsets, and two different numbers for them. Can I set up the phones to share the same Google contacts and calendar, but use different Gmail accounts? 94.119.64.29 (talk) 10:35, 29 April 2017 (UTC)

dropbox, syncing and data
Hi, if I update a dropbox file, say by making a small edit, then clicking ctrl-s, when it syncs, does it sync the whole file? So if I have a 1mb file, and I click ctrl-s, will it save the whole 1mb? This might be chewing data up, and I have only got cellular broadband. IBE (talk) 13:40, 29 April 2017 (UTC)

nbn and cabling requirements
Hi, I've asked similar questions before, and gotten good answers, but this is slightly different. Officially, in Australia, your NBN provider (eg. Optus) will install an HFC (cable) connection for you, at no cost. One provider confirmed this was the case, though when I asked them to email this information, they said yes but didn't do it (presumably no one wants that paper trail to lead to them). So before bothering to hope they will do anything useful, I'm turning here, where I always get the best service (thanks!). I live in a block of apartments, and adding a cable outlet would mean fishing the cable through the wall, between my premises and the neighbour's. Does anyone know, is this generally possible? Is it essentially an easy job to thread cables through the gaps between walls in an apartment complex? Is it fairly quick, simple and conventional? Then I will know what generally to expect - eg. if it is a hard thing, I will be suspicious of any company telling me it's free and simple. Thanks, IBE (talk) 13:49, 29 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Any reasonably modern apartment building is very likely to have a conduit which brings existing phone cables into the building, and either a conduit or a wiring space which those cables run inside the building. Inside the building it's common for cables (power and data) to run through a common utility space (often with water and sewerage) - the specifics will vary by country, and by building norms, and by prevailing fire regulations. Running cables into existing buildings is a common task for electricians and phone engineers, and shouldn't really be too hard for them (as long as there's a void for the cables to go in). Very often there is an existing guide wire (and it's good to leave a guide wire in once you've used one). Sometimes they will dangle a weight down on a string, tie the cable onto that, and pull the cable up ( e.g.). In other circumstances they will use lightweight rods to fish around (example video). It's extremely common these days for electricians to have a fiber-optic guide light and sometimes an inexpensive borescope, meaning they don't have to work so hard to fathom what's behind the walls.  Old houses, with solid walls, which were built with no care as to running any kind of cables, are more of a problem, and sometimes the only thing to do is to run the cables on the outside of the building and terminate them just inside. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 14:57, 29 April 2017 (UTC)


 * And if there is existing closed conduit (which is more common in business premises) they may use fish tape to push or pull the wire through. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 15:14, 29 April 2017 (UTC)


 * This is great, thanks. My apartment complex dates (I think) from the 60s to the 80s, somewhere in there, I think 70s. Is this likely to be ok? I'm figuring, well, we had phone and electricity back then, so ...? Thanks, IBE (talk) 15:33, 29 April 2017 (UTC)


 * I don't know anything at all about Australian buildings specifically, but I imagine you'll be fine. As with so many other things, it pays to have circumstances similar to everyone else, because (even if what you have is inconvenient) the installer find it familiar.  I can't imagine what horrors lurk in the wiring spaces of Australian buildings -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 16:41, 29 April 2017 (UTC)

Future of Google devices
Taken literally, the following URL suggests that there never will be an Android Q:

http://www.valuewalk.com/2017/04/google-confirms-end-life-pixel-phones-android-p-last/

Any flaw?? Does Wikipedia have an article about any upcoming Google devices?? Georgia guy (talk) 19:42, 29 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Doesn't that just say that the Pixel won't get any Android version beyond P? There are known to be more phone models coming in that line.  --Tardis (talk) 22:50, 29 April 2017 (UTC)
 * As for such models, Wikipedia itself doesn't have any articles for such models, but it references them in the Pixel's own article; the first paragraph says "...with successors confirmed for 2017." Georgia guy (talk) 22:59, 29 April 2017 (UTC)