Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 July 20

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July 20

Using Evernote to find a map on the Harris County website?

I wonder if anyone is able to download the entire file collection of the Harris County tax office's block book maps and scan them to determine which file has the block book map for "Chevy Chase" (a part of Boulevard Oaks, Houston).

I ask because I found one map file had been miscategorized - it was listed under the wrong neighborhood, while the right neighborhood listing said there were no maps (when in fact there was one).

The block book system is normally accessed here: https://www.hctax.net/Property/Resources#tabs-3 - You select a letter for the name of the subdivision/neighborhood and select that to get the maps. However doing that over and over again would be tedious. I notice all JPG forms of the maps seem to be in the directory http://books.tax.hctx.net/v118/ so if somebody could write a script that mass downloads these things, that would be great. (trying to look at the page in an HTML browser says "Directory Listing Denied This Virtual Directory does not allow contents to be listed." but maybe there's a way around this?)

Thank you for your help! WhisperToMe (talk) 06:53, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

The way it's scripted makes it difficult to spider.

The search results wind up on this page. (Notice the "Vol=1" and "Page=1" in the URL.) That page would be easier to write a script and retrieve every jpg linked by every page on every volume.

On the other hand, If the administrator of that web-page noticed that traffic in the logs ... they might be suspicious that something criminal was happening.

Have you tried just asking them for a copy of the archive? They might be willing to put it in a zip file and send it to you. ApLundell (talk) 22:10, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

I've already e-mailed them about another matter (the miscategorization of one image). If/when they respond about that I'll ask about them sending an archive of the whole thing. WhisperToMe (talk) 19:29, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

Excel icon position on Android phone

In the Apps collection of icons on my phone, there is a group icon "Microsoft Apps" and for some reason Excel and Powerpoint have become separated from this. Is there a way of putting them back in? (This is not on my home screens (or whatever they are called) but on the complete list of installed Apps that I generally keep sorted A-Z.) -- SGBailey (talk) 15:33, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

You'll need to tell us more precesely what phone you have.

On my Samsung S5, when the app drawer is open there is a menu button (three vertical dots) in the upper right. Tapping it will put the app drawer in "edit mode" allowing me to re-organize my apps, including dragging them into or out of folders.

However, the app drawer is one of those things phone manufacturers like to customize, so if you have a non-Samsung phone, your experience will be different. ApLundell (talk) 16:26, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

What APL says is true although from my experience many different Android variants (and actually older versions of iOS at a minimum) allow you to move around apps, including putting them into folders if you hold down on the app icon. Nil Einne (talk) 06:32, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

By "hold down on the app icon", he means hold down the app icon until it becomes larger and the screen appears to drop back, without removing your finger, drag the icon to the Microsoft Apps container and hold the icon over it, after a second, the container will open. Drag the icon to the desired position inside the container and then remove your finger. If you have to drag the icon from one screen to another, drag it to the side of the screen and hold it there. The screen will flip and you can place the icon on another screen. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 12:36, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

Nil Einne, that works on some Android devices, but for a lot of them, including my S5, that doesn't allow you to reorganize the app drawer, it allows you to make a shortcut from the app drawer onto the home screen.

(This dichotomy doesn't exist on iOS devices and a few Android devices, and it seems to confuse people. If we compare to desktop computers, The app drawer is the analog to the Start Menu, while the home screen is the analog to the desktop. )

That's why I asked what device the question-asker had, there are very popular devices that have different behaviors in this respect.

ApLundell (talk) 14:42, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

Sorry my apologies, I missed the last point of the OP's comment and thought we were talking about the home screen. One of the reasons I mentioned it is IIRC I can say I've never actually seen an Android device, including my S4 Mini that didn't allow you to rearrange stuff this was on the home screen. I'm sure they exist, it's just seems rare from my experience. And one reason why I missed the OP's point is most devices I've owned didn't allow you to use folders for apps in the app list although yes I have come across devices which did let you. You're right though that customising stuff on the app list is often more complicated. I'd note though in both cases I'm pretty sure this depends more on the launcher than on the phone. If you're using the default launcher it'll be fine to follow the default instructions for your device, but if you're using a custom one you may find you have to do something else. Anyway sorry again for the unnecessary confusion. Nil Einne (talk) 16:28, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

Slow to respond - been away over the weekend - sorry. Anyway I have a Samsung A310 (2016). If I press and hold the Excel icon, all it does is fade out to a gap on the first home page. There is no sign of any way of grouping apps within the "whole app list". -- SGBailey (talk) 06:45, 25 July 2017 (UTC)

Is there an Android ad blocker that can be set to only block non-static ads?

Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 18:23, 20 July 2017 (UTC)