Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2022 April 13

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April 13

A Russian story

Well, I have a friend in Moscow, Russia and he got caught in Putin's war against mankind. The whole story is complex and I could not keep track of it, but I know that he found one day that his Windows computer did not work or he could not tap the Internet. Then he tried to install a VPN since some people had been saying that it works well, well in the sense that a person can bypass all the restrictions erected in Russian servers. That did not work, however his son and grandson installed the VPN in their computers, but they did it a week earlier and it worked for them. Then he tried to install the Ubuntu, - the same thing, the installation disk could not access the internet.

Well, the goal of this post for me is to find out if there is a possibility to bypass their servers. I've heard that Elon Musk, I think, wanted to send thousands of satellites in space. I think he does it to provide DIRECT access to the Internet in remote area around the globe like Africa, etc.I've also read that some of the satellites are there already, some of them serving people in Ukraine. I would appreciate any pointers to resolve this conundrum. AboutFace 22 (talk) 16:12, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Starlink is the SpaceX initiative to provide satellite internet access to the world. International treaties and regulations do require that, in order for Starlink to provide access to a country, that country has to formally agree to allow access; it is a regulatory rather than technical detail. Ukraine was granted that access in February, 2022. Russia has never allowed such access, so Starlink is not a viable option for Russians. --Jayron32 16:24, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

@Jayron32, thank you. Is it possible that the transmission to Ukraine might happen to be imprecise and part of the energy will be picked up elsewhere? How to access the Starlink? Thank you, AboutFace 22 (talk) 21:18, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

I found it, thank you. AboutFace 22 (talk) 21:21, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Just a quick note that the regulatory requirements likely also result in technical inability to provide access throughout the entire country. Starlink satellites may cover Russia but they require connection to ground stations to provide access. While some Starlink satellites have lasers for inter-satellite communication, it's only some of them and this process is still AFAIK partly in testing. Russia is big enough that I suspect it's unlikely that the entire country can be covered reliably without at least some ground stations in Russia. For reference, you can look into how access was provided to Tonga after their international link was damaged by the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Details may sometimes be sparse in part because this was a typical Musk effort where the details were partly discussed in 280 character tweets but I know even before this received media or political & Musk attention there was some brief discussion on Reddit etc of the feasibility of providing access and the limits of Starlink etc so you can probably find more if you look harder.

As per the last source, Ukraine is covered without any ground stations there but they are a lot smaller. Although they do perhaps illustrate an important point also made by the Tongan situation. I don't know where the ground stations used for Ukraine are located, but I think we can be fairly sure they aren't in Belarus or Russia. Likewise even where coverage could be provided by situation a ground station somewhere else, it may not be possible for regulatory or technical reasons. Ground stations in the middle of the ocean or islands in the middle of no where with no connections themselves are clearly out. Ground stations in China likewise and probably even in Kazakhstan.

Nil Einne (talk) 05:44, 16 April 2022 (UTC)

Stop Itunes from opening on mac mini when plugging in my iphone charger

The headline captures the problem in a nutshell: Every time I plug in my iphone (8 plus) via a charger cord from my mac mini, itunes opens.

The annoyance factor is compounded by the fact that the charger intermittently (though often) stops charging and then comes back on (i.e., upon the slightest jostling), resulting in itunes reopening constantly.

Thank you.--100.2.221.101 (talk) 18:04, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Clarifying a possible ambiguity I noticed in my post above: itunes opens on the mac mini, not on the iphone.--100.2.221.101 (talk) 18:07, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Well I think your charger issue might indicate that you either need a new charger or you need to get the lightning port/charging port on your phone repaired (which makes sense considering the 8 plus is 5 years old and plugging and unplugging of the charger into the phone will slowly wear out what's holding the charger in there). As for iTunes opening when you plug in your iPhone I can't help since I have never used MacOS. I know on Windows when you plug a new device in it'll ask you what you want to do with said device. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 18:08, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Yes, the iphone charger port (not the lightning cord) is worn out! Still, I'm betting there's some way to stop itunes from opening through some setting on one or both of the devices.--100.2.221.101 (talk) 18:11, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

There probably is, however like I said I don't have any experience using any sort of Apple Device (other than a 5th gen iPod Classic and 2nd gen iPod Nano) ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 18:18, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

I suppose you do not want to sync automatically. Then you can find a solution here.  --Lambiam 00:01, 14 April 2022 (UTC)

If you are charging via your phones USB-A port, then you can use a USB data blocker (aka USB condom). This allow power negotiation, but prevents the computer from identifying what the device is. LongHairedFop (talk) 18:59, 16 April 2022 (UTC)

Older emoticons

Is there any name for older emoticons like these? I couldn't find exactly those at Emoticons (Unicode block), but suspect this has to do with older HTML design. Thanks. Brandmeister^talk 18:55, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Unicode implementation is just a small part of the greater emoji universe. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 20:29, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Here it is called a Kolobok smiley, to be used with ICQ. Our Kolobok article refers us to www.en.kolobok.us. That page does not have the exact same goofy kolobok, but some of the koloboks shown use the same style.  --Lambiam 23:55, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

It is found, though, on this gallery, where it is an animated GIF named wacko1.gif.  --Lambiam 09:05, 14 April 2022 (UTC)