Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2020 April 23

= April 23 =

Viable Alternative to Facebook Graph Search?
Up until June 6 2019, Facebook permitted its users to search for wide variety of more specific publicly available contents associated with a specific account as long as we know the associated Facebook ID number and how to construct the respective URLs. I and a lot of other people have been using this wonderful function to quickly search for all photos a user has been tagged in. It is similar to the "Tagged" page on Instagram. However, Facebook removed this function on the aforementioned date and you can imagine how disappointed I am. Does anyone know if there is a viable alternative to graph searching for tagged photos on Facebook? 70.95.44.93 (talk) 08:47, 23 April 2020 (UTC)


 * I've seen that graph.tips is popular for creepy Facebook stalkers. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 13:02, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I already try graph.tip. Unfortunately, searching for tagged photos of a specific Facebook ID is beyond its current capabilities. 70.95.44.93 (talk) 14:52, 23 April 2020 (UTC)

Why is a slash "sol" in HTML? Etymology?
Fritz Jörn (talk) 15:58, 23 April 2020 (UTC)


 * The / character used to be called a solidus. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 16:03, 23 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Solidus was a Roman coin. The name was later used for the shilling (as in £sd), and the sloping line used in writing to separate shillings from pence (12/6 which reads as 12 shillings and sixpence) came to be called a solidus. Hence the use of the name for an oblique line or slash. DuncanHill (talk) 16:24, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * See long s for the typographic development away from "ſ" to "s". 2/6 would originally have been written 2ʃ.6d. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 20:06, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * That makes sense, but I've never actually seen it, probably because I haven't read a lot of material from British sources in the era of the long s. Can you cite an example? --76.71.6.31 (talk) 21:13, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Sorry I can't offhand. My 1821 tables of interest use the short "s" consistently and my 1754 dictionary (unfortunately only D-K) uses both long and short "s"s in text, but abbreviates money amounts with a short "s".  None of the other 18thC books I have would have money amounts in them and any earlier texts are modern copies reset according to modern typographical standards.  The OED mentions the use of "solidus" for shilling but doesn't mention the symbol.  I'd try more modern reference books, but with COVID-19 I'm sleeping in the spare room and a bed is blocking access to class numbers 200-400.  I've had a quick look at Britannica for 1911, but unfortunately shilling hasn't been scanned in and there is no entry for solidus. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 22:07, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks for looking. And it's interesting that you did find examples with the short s, suggesting that your assumption above might actually be wrong. --76.71.6.31 (talk) 02:35, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Slash (punctuation) states descent from the long s, referencing . --Lambiam 06:29, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * The change from long and short "s"s to short only occurred during the C18, so it's not surprising that a dictionary of 1754 is transitional. I don't have earlier works on my shelves.  Remember "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", in other words just because I personally can't show examples doesn't make it wrong.  If the OED (and I've checked the 2nd ed. as well) claims the solidus comes from its use as a shilling mark I would be tempted to believe it! Martin of Sheffield (talk) 09:39, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks to both of you. --76.71.6.31 (talk) 16:42, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Chambers 20th Century Dictionary "... a sign (/) denoting the former English shilling, representing old lengthened form of s (£ s. d. = librae, solidi, denarii, pounds, shillings, pence), used also for other purposes, as in writing fractions". DuncanHill (talk) 00:48, 25 April 2020 (UTC)