Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 June 3

= June 3 =

Search engine
Are there any search engines that would allow me to search Wikipedia for uncapitalised forms of words? Occasionally I look for "s" added to Inuit in error. I want to look for inuit as some could be correct but the majority would not be. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 01:42, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Our search engine can do it with insource regex like . The first inuit is a filter to reduce the number of hits before the expensive regex. The space is to avoid url's. See more at mw:Help:CirrusSearch. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:29, 4 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I forgot to come back and check for a few days. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 23:56, 5 June 2017 (UTC)
 * That worked perfectly. I even found one where the references had been vandalised. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 07:59, 6 June 2017 (UTC)
 * The space makes it miss wikilinks. They can be found with . Some characters must be escaped with a backslash in regex like   instead of  . PrimeHunter (talk) 09:01, 6 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks that found several more. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 07:03, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

Firefox/windows 10 weird "lightning" flashes
Hi, been searching for this on google, but every search string is also the name of some software package ;) So just started using Win10, and Firefox, and every so often, there is some white flash on the screen, it's like some window is about to pop up, then it disappears, all in about half a second. What is going on? IBE (talk) 22:00, 3 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Probably malware. They often pop up a window, then change it to "always on bottom", so you don't close it immediately.  They hope that you will discover it later, not know it's just a worthless ad, read it, and maybe buy whatever useless crap they are selling. StuRat (talk) 22:07, 3 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Interesting, but why can't I find it? Does firefox/ win 10 actually delete/forcibly close the window? If malware, can they also manage to install software using this junk? IBE (talk) 00:17, 4 June 2017 (UTC)


 * I've also sen versions that make the window invisible somehow, possibly off the screen. I'm not quite sure what they are up to with this, but I'm sure it's not good.  Possibly it can just generate visible pop-ups from there periodically. StuRat (talk) 01:38, 4 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Is there a way to hack in and see what they are up to? IBE (talk) 02:14, 4 June 2017 (UTC)


 * You could read the JavaScript referenced from the pages you visit (JS is how they usually do it). But that is pretty advanced.  First, learn JavaScript.  Then find developer extensions for your browser that let you view the JavaScript that is loaded in various sneaky ways.  Then you'll discover that much of JavaScript is minimized/obfuscated.  It's an uphill battle; sometimes it can be done, sometimes it's not worth it.  Better avoid sites that do popunders.  And obviously never buy anything from popunder ads or click them, that would just encourage the miscreants. 91.155.195.247 (talk) 14:17, 4 June 2017 (UTC)
 * And if learning Javascript is hard, ignoring it is very easy. You'd be amazed at how much smoother most sites run when they only have to deliver the junk you want. That said, it's from the Internet and it's free, so maybe there's a nefarious hidden catch. I haven't found it yet. InedibleHulk (talk) 03:42, 5 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Thanks to all, is there a search term for this sort of thing? Because "lightning flash" doesn't work - both "lightning" and "flash" are names for software. Also am I the only one who notices this with Firefox/windows 10? IBE (talk) 02:01, 5 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Note that I have popups blocked in Firefox, just checked just now. I had one exception listed, quora.com (don't know how that got there) but I don't visit it often, and I doubt they'd be malware people. Also, I never find these popups with Win 10 (happens with Vista, and I'm aware of it, and of course, I just instantly close them down). IBE (talk) 02:05, 5 June 2017 (UTC)