/dev/null forum FAQ | DSLReports.com, ISP Information

What is the purpose of this FAQ?

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, such as:

- How do I use bold, italics, ~~strike~~, etc. in my posts?

- How long do I have to write until my .sig show up?

Note: Your contribution to this FAQ is needed. Please allow up to 48-hours for your submission(s) to be made public as I do need to approve them. If after 48-hours and your submissions are not up, please IM Me or Me. Thank you.

The /dev/null mystery.

Written by James Baughn on December 1, 1998:

From the yet-another-convention-filled-with-mad-scientists department

NEW YORK, NY -- What happens when stuff is sent to /dev/null? Common knowledge dictates that it is deleted. However, a group of scientists suggest otherwise. At the Unconventional Scientist '98 Convention held in New York last week, several experts theorized that /dev/null is actually a portal to another dimension or universe. Others claimed that top secret government agencies or large multinational corporations (read: Microsoft) are using it to spy on innocent Unix users.

Bob "Paranoid" Johnson, a consultant for the National Expirer tabloid, said in a panel discussion, "Stuff sent to /dev/null on Unix systems, the Trash Can on Mac systems, and the Recycle Bin on Windows systems, is not really deleted. It is cached in a secret location on the hard drive until such time that the user is connected to the Net. Then it is sent over the Net to a destination me and my research team has been unable to identify. We suspect the 'resurrected' packets are sent to a government agency, perhaps as part of the 'Echelon' system. Or, for all we know, Bill Gates might be the recipient of all these packets, which usually consist of flames, spam, and porn."

When asked for proof of his contention, Johnson stuttered nervously and said, "Well, ah... I've compiled logs of all the, uhhh, packets transferred from my test system to some unknown Net server. These logs show some very, ah... suspicious occurences. But, well [cough]... I, um, accidentally left these logs on my other laptop computer which is still in, ahem, my hotel room. Sorry about that. I'll publish my logs and other findings on my website Real Soon Now."

Several other scientists argued that /dev/null acts like the singularity in a black hole. One said, "The bits sent to /dev/null have to go somewhere, just like the stuff that falls into a black hole. Physicists have speculated that black holes act as a portal or wormhole to other realms. If this is true, then it should be quite clear that /dev/null acts in a similar way. Unsuspecting Unix users could be sending their flames and porno to another realm/dimension/universe/whatever."

One convention attendee added half-jokingly, "Perhaps we're on the receiving end of one of those 'portals'. For all we know, the increased bloat in Microsoft software could be from excess bits funneled through /dev/null (or the equivalent) into our universe from another. Some guy in another realm could be sending his flame email to /dev/null, blissfully unaware that it's being included as part of our universe's Windows 2000!"

Where is the How-To for message posting?

Our forums are both UBB and HTML (limited tag set) friendly! (You may be familiar with UBB codes from other forums). Please take advantage of preview mode before posting, to get the format working the way you want.

Curious to know how to do those smilies, bold, italics, ~~strike~~ in posts? Look at the hints at the right side of your text box when posting a message.

There is more post how-to information in the Site FAQ.

What are the posting rules for this forum?

Currently, I don't think there's any posting rules. But it will be helpful if people indicate what they are testing in the "Catchy title" section. This way, others could help them out etc.

Things like Poll test, Sig test, Avatar test, Image test etc.

What languages are supported in syntax blocks

The word on the left in the list below, is placed in the opening of a syntax block where xxx is in the example here:

[syntax=xxx]
paste your code here
[/syntax]

Generally, whatever native file extension you are familiar with will work, especially popular ones (.h, .cc, .pl, etc). The list below is the exhaustive list of languages, but each of these languages may recognize one OR MORE extensions without drama. For example, PHP syntax highlighting will pickup on extensions php, php3, php4, and so on.

c:C

www.mbase.com.au

cpp:C++

cs:C#

csh:C-shell (csh)

css:Cascading Style Sheets

def:Microsoft Module-Definition (.def) File

dtd:DTD (Document Type Definition for XML)

www.snort.org

html:HTML

ishd:InstallShield Script

java:Java

javascript:JavaScript

jsp:JSP (Java Server Pages)

kixtart.org/

lifelines.sourceforge.net

perl:Perl

php:php PHP 3/4

python:Python

rc:M$ Resource files (*.rc)

registry:Windows Registry export with regedit (*.reg)

samba:samba configuration files (smb.conf)

sh: shell (sh) Korn shell (ksh) bash (sh)

sql:SQL, PL/SQL (Oracle 8i)

wsh:Windows Scripting Host

How do I make a poll?

To make a Poll:

The poll must be the first post in a thread.
You can now edit a poll once you submit it.
Use lower case for the poll command.

Your poll should look like this:

[poll]Ask your question?,Choice 1,Choice 2,Choice3,etc.[/poll]

For example:

[poll]What color is the sky?,red,blue,green,yellow[/poll]

If a poll works, during the preview stage it should display:

[Your poll will appear here after topic is created]

Images may be used for choices:

[poll]
Ask your question, , , ,
[/poll]

Note: There is a 255 character limit (including html tags) for each choice.

FYI: the poll function works even after the thread is locked. That is, users are still able to vote even when threads are locked.

To create a poll with multiple choices, use the [mpoll] and [/mpoll] tags.

How do I use commas in polls?

To use commas, other than, and in addition to the commas that are required to separate your poll options, you need to replace the commas with , .

Here is an example:

Here is the end result:

How do I post attachments & screen shots?

How do I post a screen shot?

The first thing to do is to re-size the window which you'd like to take the screen shot of to prevent "page stretch".

Then:
Make sure the window you want is the active window.

Press ALT + Print Screen SysRq (it will copy to the "clipboard")

Open MS Paint or other graphics program

File -> New

Edit -> Paste

File -> Save as JPEG or GIF

• Attachments

Finally, to post your screen shot, start a post on the site as you normally would, but then click on "Got Attachments?" and attach your file.

If you are using Internet Explorer, you will see the "attachments" button as displayed here:

The button activates the fields to browse and insert your image(s). If you have javascript disabled, the button may not work, so the link below it should be used.

If you've stored the image on your hard drive, then click on "browse" and navigate to the folder on your computer where the graphic is stored. Click on it, and it will be entered in the box to upload.

There is NO preview when uploading a graphic attachment.

--
Edit: This procedure has been revised and enhanced to remove the uploading limitation of two items. You can now submit up to sixteen attachments with one post, as illustrated below:

Note: Please heed the warning against attaching .bmp files to your posts.

Another recommended and freeware graphics program that can be used to manipulate your graphics is Irfanview.

How do I post CODE and HTML etc without it being converted?

As some of you may have noticed, if you try to post code (HTML, C, or other code), just by pasting it in and hitting PREVIEW, several bad things can happen.

Your code loses any formatting.
Your code may vanish completely if it contains angle brackets
If you spell-check, your code is spell-checked (pointless)
You get annoyed

The solution is to use [code] blocks.

Stuff within a [code] block is not mucked with, and is printed in a mono-spaced font, with all spaces (formatting) preserved.

To use a code block within a post, just post like so:

[code]
... (your code goes here) ...
[/code]

Note: the [code] and [/code] tags MUST APPEAR TO THE LEFT ON LINES BY THEMSELVES. Using [code]...[/code] inline, will not work.

The contents of the code block will be isolated from the post, shown in a mono-spaced font, and all angle and square brackets appear unmolested. Note, in order to preserve the right margin of the website, any lines longer than 90 characters are split, automatically, with notification at the bottom of the code block that this has happened.

Outside of code blocks, in order to use the characters: > < [ and ] use ASCII-ISO 8859-1 codes. These are codes that are specific to individual HTML characters:

[

]

<

>

Note: When using ASCII-ISO 8859-1 codes to post with, you can only preview your post once. If you preview twice, the second preview will convert the post. For example:

If you are making a long and detailed post using the ASCII-ISO 8859-1 codes, it is advisable to write it first into notepad and copy and paste it into your post when it is ready. This way you will keep the original coding intact.

Thank you Dooby for this FAQ.

How do I insert a 'clickable picture link' into a post?

This can only be done using a picture and a link that have a web address as shown below.

To insert a 'clickable picture link' into your post, use the following code:

<A HREF="http://www.dslreports.com/"><IMG SRC="http://i.dslr.net/go2.gif"></A>

The above example is a working link. To see how it works, just copy and paste it into a post.

How do I make the blue sad faces?

The blue sad faces were newly implemented and can be created using colon (:) and the square left bracket ([).

So to create this (

) whilst posting, use (:[).

How do I put extra emoticons in my posts?

You can put emoticons like

and

that show up when you create a thread or reply any where in your posts by using the following codes:

How do I add a link in my signature?

To add links in your signature, use the A HREF tags. So the syntax is:

<a href="http://url-here">Name of link</a>An example would be this:

<a href="http://www.dslreports.com">DSL Reports</a>would produce this:

DSL Reports

How do I print just a post, not the entire thread?

To print just the one post and not the entire thread hover over to here:

.. and you'll see the number for just that post then replace user http://www.dslreports.com/speak/print/default;xxxxxxx with the post number.

An example would be: http://www.dslreports.com/speak/print/default;2092703 which would produce: Click to view.

How do I make ISO characters?

When you make characters such as � (micron) or � (copyright) in the DSLReports forums, they won't be shown unless you use the HTML code equivalent.

A list can be found at:
http://www.activejump.com/n.shtml

How do I make text appear small?

This is an ability that is included in the HTML help at the right side of the posting text box. To make text appear small, use the following code:

This will appear in your post as:

Your text here

You could also use <small><tt> to use the Typewriter text style font which appears to be smaller than using <small> on many systems.

For example:

Your text here

How do I center text and pictures in a post?

This is an extra ability that is not included in the hints beside the text box when posting. To center text and pictures in a post, use the following code:

This will cause that section to appear centered in your post like this:

Put your text or image tag here

Make a small website image appear in a post

Site premium users in the forums can insert an image of any URL into a new post by using the syntax

where .... is a valid URL, including http://

Click the image to go to the website mentioned and pictured. Click 'enlarge' to see the graphical snapshot at the time the post was created.

How do I post syntax-colored CODE

Use a syntax block within your post. The format is:

[syntax=xxx]
(paste your code here)
[/syntax]

xxx is the language of your code fragment, as it would typically be represented in a FILE EXTENSION. Some common extensions that will trigger syntax coloring are below. Replacing xxx in the example above with php, for example, will syntax color a php code fragment.

For the full list of supported languages, please see this FAQ entry - What languages are supported in syntax blocks

Note: Syntax blocks can be edited after the post has been made
Note: Syntax blocks will preview correctly. If they do not preview, they will not post correctly either.
Note: Syntax blocks cannot be AUTO-QUOTED, and should not be quoted manually
Note: The begin and end markers around a syntax block must be on their own lines and against the left margin

Convert raw HTML to escaped characters?

Yes. If you need to turn a lot of HTML into escape characters for posting raw, there's a nice utility here:

Quick Escape.

Why doesn't my signature show up?

First, make sure you selected "show signature." Also your post must be longer than your sig. For instance if your sig is "www.dslreports.com" your post would need to be at least 19 characters long.

By Dezbend.

Why can't I get an image to show up in my signature!?

HTML tags for images are disabled for signatures.

Why is my signature replaced with (sig was too long)?

If your signature is more than 255 characters long, including HTML codes, then your signature will be replaced with (sig was too long).

Just find a post before you changed it and restore it.

Why don't posting tag or signature changes appear right away?

Server caches may cause your changes to be slightly delayed. Wait a few minutes and post another test.

Why doesn't all my info show up?

If you are using a posting tag, you need a certain amount of characters for the info under your username to show up. Date joined, etc.

All the info will show up with any amount of characters, even one, if you don't use a posting tag.

Why do I have to do so much reading?

It is your responsibility to find the answers to your questions. No one can just give them to you because they don't know what needs fixing. When you have searched for the answer you're looking for in the site FAQs and the various forums and still need help then it's time to ask your question.

Why does my poll show up blank?

One reason that your poll didn't work may be that you did not enter a poll question. Another possibility is that you did not qualify to make a poll.

See FAQ 1140 for more information about this and the correct way to construct a poll.

Why did the graphic in my post show up small?

The preferred dimension of an uploaded/linked graphic is 640 pixels or less in width.

Using the Got Attachments Feature
Any graphic wider than 700 pixels uploaded via the "got attachments" feature will be auto-thumbnailed down to 200 pixels. Anything between 1 and 700 pixels wide is shown as is, unless the image file is very big in which case it is thumbnailed, and then is displayed using 1 to 3 column-spanning cells and as many rows as necessary for all attachments.

At this time, all .png graphics uploaded are reduced to 200 pixels.

The image below was uploaded as a 1600 pixel-wide .jpg file. The system auto-thumbnailed it to a smaller image clickable to see the original large version.

Using Image Tags for Linking Off-Site
Any graphic wider than 700 pixels linked off-site using [img] tags will not be resized, and will blow out the right margin of the posting window. The extended margin will affect the entire posting page, and can render the thread difficult for you and others to read. If this occurs, mods will edit the graphic to include a "width" statement, changing the graphic size.
Please be considerate of others when posting images.

If you must use "inline" images from another site, you can also bury width, or width and height attributes in the image html, to stop margin blowout. If you see a wide external image, "hey-mod" it, so a mod can edit in a width attribute.

1 General