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June 27

What's the point of the "<html>" tag in html?

I don't really get it. If you already know your gonna be coding an html file then what's the point of specifying its an html file? (Sorry if this is a stupid question.) Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 15:30, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

HTML is a markup language. As such, it can be used in any file. I can put HTML in an email or a PDF or this answer here. A file with the extension .html simply acts as a hint that it contains HTML. So, the <html> tag means "I am starting HTML now." Also, you should use it to further define the content like <html lang="en">. ~2026-35761-94 (talk) 17:30, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!! Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 18:16, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

See also File format#Magic number. -- Verbarson ^talk_edits 19:35, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Also, when Tim Berners-Lee designed HTML, he intended it to be an application of SGML. SGML documents have a tree structure of entities, whose root is an element as indicated by a tag. This was copied in HTML, in which the root is the <html> element. ‑‑Lambiam 22:11, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

In addition to the above, for a long time you didn't know you were getting an html file (when transmitted over the Internet, which is the main application of HTML). DOCTYPE was only used latterly, so browsers mostly relied on the content-type field of an HTTP header. If an html stream was saved to a file, browsers had to rely on that having a .html or .htm file extension. In any case, the web has never been entirely HTML - there's always been XML and SGML, at one point there was some XHTML and VRML, and SVG is now fairly common. So as late as HTML3, browsers were relying heavily on janky quirks mode heuristics to guess what content it was actually receiving. It's basic good design (and good manners) for file/stream format to explicitly say what it is - image and video formats (almost) universally do this, so you can tell a JPEG is a JPEG from its own header, without relying on being told, or assuming, or guessing, what it is. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 13:57, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

Thank you so much!!!!!!! Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 13:58, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

June 30

why does termux ignore the "!" command

whenever I type the command ! in termux it just ignores it and when I also type any other command and put " !" At the end of it termux just ignores it like I haven't typed it at all why? Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 11:05, 30 June 2026 (UTC)

termux uses Bash shell. The ! is a history expansion command. When you have !, it checks the history of commands for nothing (there's nothing to search for with just !) and silently does nothing. To use the ! as a !, you can put it in quotes like "echo 'Hello!'" or escape it like "echo Hello\!". Alternately, if you have a .bashrc file, add "set +H" to it to turn off the history expansion. ~2026-35239-54 (talk) 11:15, 30 June 2026 (UTC)

Thank you! Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 11:17, 30 June 2026 (UTC)

July 2

Handling decimal separators in SVG for different languages

This thread makes me wonder if there's a standard (or clever) way to automatically handle decimals in multilingual SVG or rsvg. For example, showing "1.234" in English and "1,234" in German.

I'm aware that the usual way to translate strings is with switch and systemLanguage. However, it is tedious and prone to error. Moreover, if a number needs updating, editors have to ensure that every instance is updated.

Is there a way to define text strings analogous to

<defs>
 <switch>
  <string id="decimal" systemLanguage="de,fr,es,it">,</string>
  <string id="decimal" systemLanguage="ar">٫</string>‎
  <string id="decimal">.</string>
 </switch>
</defs>
<text>1<use href="#decimal"/>234</text>

Thanks, cmɢʟee τaʟκ (please add {{ping|cmglee}} to your reply) 10:49, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

It is very clunky, but you can use text spans for it:

<text>

</switch>

234

</text>

Most renderers should obey the switch. An old (or just badly coded one) will display 1.,.234. ~2026-35239-54 (talk) 13:33, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, though it looks even more tedious and error-prone. Any other way? cmɢʟee τaʟκ (please add {{ping|cmglee}} to your reply) 22:57, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

its also possible to simply use a (non-breaking) space instead, such as 1 234. That way, the confusion between systems regarding thousands is largely removed. I tend not to use three decimal places for this reason and not bother with the comma for four digit numbers. Its why I see the decimal comma being used on nutrition information products in the UK imported from the EU, such as 3,5g. JuniperChill (talk) 08:46, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

@JuniperChill: thanks, though I was meaning the decimal "point", not digit grouping separator. cmɢʟee τaʟκ (please add {{ping|cmglee}} to your reply) 20:02, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Faithful rendering of bitmap in Word

Hello, does anyone know of a way to include a bitmap image (e.g. pixel art) in a Word document so that pixels remain sharp squares and are not smoothed or blurred? For example, I have a 20x20 bitmap image and I want to make it full page and keep all the pixels square and sharp. There are some discussions online that I have found, but they all suggest methods that do not actually work, or the responders fail to understand the question. Yes, I am aware that the bitmap could potentially be resized to 1000x1000, or whatever, in another application; what I am asking is whether there is any setting in Word itself that achieves what I want. I haven't found one so far. Thanks. ~2026-37847-80 (talk) 20:35, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

I am by no means an expert on this subject, but given all the difficulties one is likely to run into, I would seriously consider creating a (say) 500x500 pixel image, with each pixel in your original represented by a monochromatic 25x25 px square. That way, when Word (or a web browser, or a PDF viewer, or whatever comes into play down the line) insists on resizing your image, you'll still get (i.e. the end user will see) something like what you want. —scs (talk) 22:01, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

I doubt this is possible in Word; it's just not that sophisticated an image tool. One option might be to create a table and colour each cell as required. This could also be pasted in from Excel if that's easier. Matt Deres (talk) 12:41, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

In this instance I'd say the opposite: it's too sophisticated for what I want, anti-aliasing bitmap images that would be simpler to leave alone, and apparently no way to switch this off. ~2026-37847-80 (talk) 21:23, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

Phrase it however you like, but unless you restrict people with very stringent rules about what size/ratio they can change their images, bitmaps have to be aliased in some way during resize. You're perceiving it as a silly hindrance now because you happen to want to multiply the size out perfectly, but the users who want to make their 20x20 image into 25x25 or 30x30 or whatever and can only do that if the program allows aliasing would not. Of course, if you want to avoid aliasing, you could make it into a vector graphic, though that comes with annoyances of its own. Matt Deres (talk) 01:31, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

I don't have access to Word, but using LibreOffice Writer, which has very similar functionality, an inserted bitmap has handles along its edges when selected, which allow the user to resize it into a page-filling image in which each original pixel becomes a strictly monochromatic rectangle. ‑‑Lambiam 06:14, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

July 4

Sending bank account info

I need to communicate a checking account number to a family member who uses yahoo.com email. The person isn't technical enough to use PGP or anything like that. I also think she'd somehow get confused if I tried to give it to her through a voice phone call. So I can email it, send an SMS text message or whatever that's called now, or maybe upload it to a personal web page (https of course) and ask her to save a screen shot on her phone (but it will be easier if it's something she can copy/paste from). Any advice about just how sensitive this type of info is? Does SMS sound better than Yahoo email? Thanks. ~2026-38271-65 (talk) 21:08, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

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