Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 November 17

= November 17 =

Making semiconductor commercially
There are many questions, and I don't exactly know what to search for to get the answer. So, How are semiconductors made? The raw materials and process? Why is there a shortage of these? I am asking this because someone told my father that ''Semiconductors are not readily available, that's why there were less TV commercials for electronic items during this festive season. There is shortage as Semiconductors are made in China (Taiwan). It is because there is shortage of pure water due to lack of rain there. So that's why China is trying to capture gangotri glacier from India, as there is pure water which will be used for making semiconductors.'' I don't understand how much of it is correct. Can someone clarify everything. -- Parnaval (talk) 06:47, 17 November 2021 (UTC)


 * Here are three articles from reliable news sources discussing the causes of the shortage: BBC, Popular Science, Slate. None mentions water. The idea that Taiwan is trying to capture glacier water from Gangotri is nonsensical – the distance is more than 4,000 km, Taiwan is an island, and there is no way mainland China would allow the transport over their territory. Also, the glacier water flows off in India; the cost of pumping it up several kilometres so as to move it over the Himalayan Range would be staggering. --Lambiam 09:41, 17 November 2021 (UTC)


 * 2020–2021 global chip shortage. Sleigh (talk) 09:49, 17 November 2021 (UTC)


 * To answer the question "how are semiconductors made", see Semiconductor device fabrication. -- Jayron 32 17:14, 17 November 2021 (UTC)


 * There's a technology-free solution in Shelley's poem Arethusa, but it would need the intervention of an Alpheus. MinorProphet (talk) 20:10, 20 November 2021 (UTC)


 * Thank you all -- Parnaval (talk) 06:23, 22 November 2021 (UTC)

Using a video game controller as a MIDI controller
I want to use my Switch Pro controller (it's like an Xbox controller basically) to make music. Not to configure it as a keyboard, exactly, but as a MIDI controller with software designed for the purpose. I'm sure it's been done. So the face buttons and shoulder buttons are the notes in a scale, and the d-pad and sticks modify what's going on with the other buttons. Where might I find such a thing? Temerarius (talk) 18:22, 17 November 2021 (UTC)
 * This has many options for you to explore. -- Jayron 32 12:46, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
 * I've already searched google. I'm looking for something a little more specific and robust than mapping buttons to keys on a piano. Temerarius (talk) 18:07, 18 November 2021 (UTC)

Allow suggestions?
Hi! I understand that Corona is a hot topic and there would be vandalism if editing was free to everyone.

I don't care enough to really make a wikipedia account right now. But I am really shocked how a wikipedia article does not have a link to the full genomic RNA sequence of the virus variants.

Here are the genome sequences https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/MRA.00727-21 NCBI GenBank under the accession numbers MZ208926 (delta variant) and MZ571142 (kappa variant) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MZ208926 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.119.194.61 (talk) 23:31, 17 November 2021 (UTC)
 * "Corona" usually refers either to the sun's atmosphere or a brand of beer. As to the a Coronavirus article, what's stopping you from making improvements? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:36, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Or lemonade. Alansplodge (talk) 09:10, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
 * The OP's IP geolocates to Austria. Pure OR but an interesting observation I've made is that using the term corona in the manner the OP did seems common in English speakers from Germany and I guess Austria and maybe some other European countries but AFAIK it's not very common in most anglophone countries. Try a search for corona pandemic on some academic database e.g. Google Scholar to get one example of this. This may not be a new thing since I seem to recall someone suggested back in April? 2020 it would be called the corona pandemic which I said seemed unlikely since almost no one ever called it that which as said IMO is still the case in most anglophone media. Nil Einne (talk) 12:34, 23 November 2021 (UTC)
 * My date was right albeit it was the real end and my comment only came in May. See Traut's comments here (you will need to uncollapse survey) Talk:COVID-19 pandemic/Archive 34. From their userpage I think they may be French. Nil Einne (talk) 12:43, 23 November 2021 (UTC)
 * I believe the original poster's point is that that article is protected. I suggest he/she should raise this topic on its talk page. --184.144.99.241 (talk) 06:10, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, that's the place. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 06:32, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Though I fail to see how the genome sequence could possibly help the general reader to understand the topic. Please see WP:External links for what links from an article are considered appropriate.--Shantavira|feed me 09:08, 18 November 2021 (UTC)