Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2017 July 23

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July 23

Links to external sources

Hi!

Not sure where to put this, as it is not something that belongs to a certain article or topic.

I wonder why links to external sources, which are marked thusly replace the current content and do not open in a new window or tab. Why was this illogical behavior decided? Most web pages these days open links that move the user to another site in a new window or tab.

Regards Johannes — Preceding unsigned comment added by Theking2 (talk • contribs) 09:28, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

@Theking2: Some sites do it but it's far from most in my experience. I find it to be a very annoying ploy by usually commercial sites to make it hard for users to leave. Wikipedia is non-profit. Most browsers have a fast feature to open a link in a new tab, e.g. pressing Ctrl when clicking. You can usually also right click to get a menu of options. Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets has the option "Open external links in a new tab or window". PrimeHunter (talk) 10:54, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

Wow, just the opposite for me. I find it helpful when sites open a new window when going off-site. Especially commercial sites that make more ad revenue every time they reload the page (like, for example, if I decide the link I went to wasn't useful and want to go back to the original page.) Anyway, you can set that in your preferences -- "Open external links in a new tab or window" is on the preference page called oddly "gadgets", though it's more about behaviors. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 16:22, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

The reason it's called is explained here Wikipedia:Gadget which is linked in that preferences pages and also on the preferences page itself Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets. All these "behaviours" rely on gadgets generally developed by the community and not part of the MediaWiki software nor skin elements. Nil Einne (talk) 04:17, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

I use Ctrl-click a lot to open links in new tabs but I like being able to choose it instead of a website forcing it. If I had no convenient browser feature to select it when wanted then I would be more tolerant of sites forcing it. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:06, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

There was some academic research on this about fifteen years ago that found wide variations between cultures in their behaviours and expectations. Westerners expected, and got, pages that opened in the same browser window. Egyptians and East Asians expected, and got, pages that opened in new browser windows. The paper saw this as strong support for the predictions of chronemics. Alas I don't think I could quickly find the paper now. Matt's talk 13:22, 25 July 2017 (UTC)

odd rainbow produced from light of a superior mirage of the sun

I wish to learn more about the optics & physics of highly unusual rainbows. Could you direct me to a scientist interested in this field in nature — Preceding unsigned comment added by 3d0gggs (talk • contribs) 16:11, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

You might start with the sources and links provided at Rainbow. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 16:16, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

There is some good information at this link. [1] 172.56.13.65 (talk) 17:21, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

Halo (optical phenomenon) may have the case you saw. Check out the gallery at the bottom of the article. Superior mirage may also be relevant. StuRat (talk) 17:50, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

See also Brocken spectre and Glory (optical phenomenon). Alansplodge (talk) 20:38, 23 July 2017 (UTC)