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December 4

BCP 47 for biological names

Template:Btname is used to mark biological names, like Vombatus ursinus. It currently begins

<span style="font-style: italic;" lang="la">…

I think this is wrong, because biological names aren't in Latin: they're language-independent. The whole point is that they're the same, whatever language you're writing in. (Besides, they're fairly often drawn from other languages-- see for example Chrysoclista, which is Greek for "gold-washed".)

Now, it seems to me that BCP 47 should have something to say about how to write lang attributes for biological names, but I can't find anything. This must be a solved problem! How would you do it? Marnanel (talk) 08:56, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

According to Binomial nomenclature the names use 'Latin grammatical forms', whatever their linguistic roots. They therefore behave the same as any other words adopted into Latin from other languages. There is an extended dsicussion at Binomial nomenclature § Derivation of binomial names. What seems to be missing from the article (except by implication) is any indication of which alphabets or scripts may or may not be used. I guess that the 'Latin' alphabet (ie 26 English letters) is the only set of letters allowed? -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 16:47, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature states:^[1]

"11.2. Mandatory use of Latin alphabet
A scientific name must, when first published, have been spelled only in the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet (taken to include the letters j, k, w and y); the presence in a name when first published of diacritic and other marks, apostrophes or ligatures, or a hyphen, or a numeral in a compound species-group name, does not render the name unavailable (for corrections, see Articles 27 and 32.5.2)."

The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants has the same requirement:^[2]

"32.1.  To be validly published, a name of a taxon (autonyms excepted) must:
...
(b)  be composed only of letters of the Latin alphabet, except as provided in Art. 23.3, 60.4, 60.7, and 60.12–15; and ..."

 ​‑‑Lambiam 21:39, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

My issue here is that just as it's called "the common wombat" in English, it's called simply "vombatus" in Late Latin. If you were actually writing in Latin, you would only use the phrase "Vombatus ursinus" in exactly the same contexts you would use it in English. So I don't see that *Vombatus ursinus* is in Latin. Marnanel (talk) 16:13, 5 December 2025 (UTC)

Since there is no ISO 639 language code for binomial nomenclaturese, the only permitted alternative, within the HTML standard, is to omit the lang attribute altogether. I don't see much value in having it – or for that matter the template, used in only 23 articles – but I also do not see the harm.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:42, 5 December 2025 (UTC)

It's colloquially called a 'Latin name' for ease of reference: that doesn't mean it's what any classical (or vernacular) Latin speaker/writer would have called the entity in question (I'm pretty sure they never saw a wombat), but Neo-Latin remained the international language of scientists until relatively recently (I've read of one mathematician who still insists on submitting his new papers using it) and its specialised use in Taxonomy has persisted, because it works.

(I studied classical Latin at school and failed the exam, but it's still one of the more valuable subjects I took because of its prevalence underlying so much scientific vocabulary, as well as its relevance in linguistics.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2025-31359-08 (talk) 08:06, 6 December 2025 (UTC)

December 7

no sound on windows 10

Moved from Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) § no sound on windows 10

 – — DVRTed (Talk) 05:39, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Have our Lords and Master at Microsoft decreed that we can no longer audio?

My windows 10 machine suddenly has no sound. When I try to turn up the volume, a window opens that says "We're here to help."

Does any rational person not suspect fraud? Are they trying to take me captive to sell me on an auction block to a plantation owner? Is it possible to run the Windows operating system without assenting to that? ~2025-37205-52 (talk) 05:24, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

@~2025-37205-52 This is nothing to do with Microsoft. The sound on Wikipedia works fine for me. I suggest you check your connections and then try restarting your computer. Have you tried plugging in an external speaker? Failing that, take it to a repair shop. Shantavira|^{feed me} 11:42, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Ask yourself, what changed? I normally don't bother with the Google seach assistant, but if you stick this query in the search box: Windows 10 no volume, a window opens that says "We're here to help." a number of apparently helpful suggestions appear. Rather than to-ing and fro-ing trying to work out just what your system/device is and exactly what the symptoms are, why not try those and come back with some more information? My favourite trick is to try Windows Restore to a time before the problem occurred. Best of luck, MinorProphet (talk) 10:05, 10 December 2025 (UTC)

December 9

Microsoft Q&A problem (and a computing question)

I've been trying to ask the following question on the Microsoft Q&A site [3]:

---

I'm updating a WPF application that's written in C#. My development environment is Visual Studio 2023. The application currently uses .NET Framework 4.6.1, but I'm hoping to upgrade to a more modern version of .NET as part of the update.

The application uses a 32-bit COM dll, which I've called "DataTest" in the code below. This has been registered with regsvr32 and appears on the list of available COM objects in my project. When added to the "References" section, a DLL named "Interop.DataTest.dll" is created in my \obj directory, as expected.

The DLL exposes a single object, "CDataTest", with various properties and methods. I instantiate it as follows:

   using System;
   using DataTest;
   namespace MyNameSpace.DataTest
   {
       /// <summary>
       /// Wrapper for DataTest CDataTest object
       /// </summary>
       public class DataTest
       {
           private readonly CDataTest _dataTest;
           public DataTest()
           {
               _DataTest = new CDataTest();
           }
       }
   }

This works correctly when I build the application in "x86" or "All CPUs" mode. However, I now need to access a new 64-bit DLL, so I need to build the application in "x64" mode. When I do so, I get the following exception when instantiating CDataTest:

   System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x80040154): Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {[GUID]} failed due to the following error: 80040154 Class not registered (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040154 (REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG)).

"GUID" is the GUID of the CDataTest object. Following the advice in another question on this site, I've added the following keys to my registry:

   HKLM\Software\Classes\CLSID\{GUID}
   HKLM\Software\Classes\AppID\{GUID}

The first key contains only a REG_SZ value "AppID" which is set to the GUID, the second key contains only an empty REG_SZ value "DllSurrogate". However, this hasn't fixed the issue. A 64-bit version of "DataTest" or a 32-bit version of the new DLL are not available.

---

However, when I try and post it, I get a message "This question has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct". I have two questions for Wikipedia:

1. Does anyone have any idea why the question above violates Microsoft's Code of Conduct? I don't see any obvious Scunthorpe problem.
2. Can anyone help with the underlying DLL issue?

Thanks. ~2025-37950-70 (talk) 18:13, 9 December 2025 (UTC)

To answer the second part of my question:

1. Create a new GUID using your favourite text editor (I used the one in Visual Studio). APP_GUID in the code below.
2. In Regedit, find HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{GUID}.
3. Add a value "AppID" to this key, and set it to {APP_GUID}.
4. Create the key HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Classes\AppID\{APP_GUID}.
5. Set the (Default) value of this key to the DLL name (in my case, "DataTest.dll").
6. Create a new REG_SZ value "DllSurrogate" for this key, leaving the value empty.
7. Create the key HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Classes\AppID\DataTest.dll (or whatever your DLL name is).
8. In this key, create the REG_SZ value "AppID", and set it to {APP_GUID}.

~2025-37950-70 (talk) 13:38, 10 December 2025 (UTC)

December 14

Why is so much security camera footage shared by filming a screen?

Example here

Would it not make more sense for police departments to release the actual footage instead of just filming a computer screen with the footage playing instead? Is CCTV files really that hard to access Trade (talk) 05:39, 14 December 2025 (UTC)

They may be closed proprietary systems without any easy means to export the file in a common format.

Additionally for security concerns, they may not even have I/O ports to reduce the risk of someone tampering with existing footage or introducing malware. cmɢʟee τaʟκ (please add {{ping|cmglee}} to your reply) 11:45, 14 December 2025 (UTC)

A reason may be that this may be easier; the police department may not have the software or expertise to convert the format from what has been called a "maze of formats".^[4]  ​‑‑Lambiam 16:41, 14 December 2025 (UTC)

December 15

Two PDF options on print

I am using a Dell desktop computer running Windows 11. If I click that I want to print a page, I am commonly given the options of Save to PDF, Canon D570 (the printer that I have connected to the computer), Microsoft Print to PDF, and OneNote (Desktop). If I want a PDF, rather than paper, what is the difference between Save to PDF and Microsoft Print to PDF? Robert McClenon (talk) 20:20, 15 December 2025 (UTC)

Applications like Word, Excel etc. have their own feature implementation to save the document as PDF. The Print to PDF is like a print driver that any application can use to print the document as PDF instead of a real printer. 05:54, 16 December 2025 (UTC) manya (talk) 05:54, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

They are just two different virtual printer drivers that have a similar function but slightly different features. For example, on my computer, "Save to PDF" gives a choice of 10 paper sizes, while "Microsoft Print to PDF" gives 54 paper sizes. Any software can provide such a function and add it to the printer selection list. On my computer, I have Quicken installed, and there is consequently yet a third PDF selection in the menu, "Quicken PDF Printer" (which supports 149 paper sizes). There is probably little difference in the result if you choose "Save to PDF" or "Microsoft Print to PDF" unless you need a specific paper size not supported by the former. CodeTalker (talk) 21:27, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

There is an extra difference. Save to PDF maintains metadata, like links. Print to PDF acts like a printer. You can't have embedded links printed on paper, so those are lost. I like to say that Print to PDF flattens the document. ~2025-41612-53 (talk) 15:47, 18 December 2025 (UTC)