Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2024 July 9

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July 9

Possible battery problem

I always use my laptop (a Dell Latitude) plugged in to the power supply. Every so often, apparently completely at random, the power indicator in the system tray starts strobing, as if the battery needs charging. Soon after the "Your battery level is very low" warning flashes up, and the computer goes into hibernation. When I restart it, battery level strobes for a few more seconds, but then stabilizes back at 100%. Can anyone suggest a reason for this behavior? Would a new battery help, or am I looking at replacing the whole power unit (if that's even possible)? Rojomoke (talk) 06:34, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

In our office setting, that tends to indicate a bad battery. We get about two years out of a Dell laptop battery on average. I'm sure if I ran the numbers, it would be somewhere between 2 and 3, but at 2, we plan ahead to replace the battery or the entire laptop. Batteries are not very expensive. We pay $60/battery buying in bulk, so I expect yours would be around $80. Then, you can know for certain if it is a battery issue or a driver issue or a charger issue, etc... 12.116.29.106 (talk) 11:40, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

Area and Google Earth

This isn't really a computing problem, but I'll ask here. My cousin and I needed to get the area of a piece of land that is bounded by a hexagon. He used a planimeter and he sent me a printout from Google Earth, with the lines drawn and a line segment scale showing "1000 feet". I used a website that will give the area of quadrilaterals (with the hexagon broken into two quadrilaterals). I double-checked with county tax maps, which gives the area of a more inclusive area. My method gave a result that was inconsistent with the other two methods. The only way to reconcile the methods is if the 1000-foot scale on Google Earth is actually about 730 feet.

Can the scale on Google Earth be that far off? `Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 20:16, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

What was the planimeter used on? The same printout?  --Lambiam 20:37, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

I believe so, but I'm, not sure. My cousin sent me the paper with the Google Earth map with his measurements of the area on it. But that raises the question - how did his planimeter get it right if it used the wrong legend from Google Earth? I used a ruler and protractor on the tax map, and it is consistent with his figures but not with mine. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 21:22, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

What I'm really getting at is if it is known that the scale given on Google Earth can be grossly in error? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 04:55, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Google Earth gives a 3D rendering, which can result in distortions when a piece of terrain is viewed under an angle. If you have the geolocation, you can compare the printout with Google Maps satellite view.

Perhaps the website giving quadrilateral areas is broken. There is a relatively simple formula for determining the area of a simple polygon given the Cartesian coordinates of its vertices, called the shoelace formula.  --Lambiam 05:23, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

You could always check by repeating your exercise against something that you know the real-world distances for. For example, if there is a running track nearby or even a regulation football/baseball field, that kind of thing. Pitcher's rubber to home plate will be 60'6", etc. Matt Deres (talk) 14:53, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Good suggestion. I'll look for a football field. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 21:49, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Well, I measured a football field and it is within 2%. So that doesn't solve the mystery of the inconsistency. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 22:29, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

We do not have enough detailed information to point to a likely origin. Can the outcomes be divided into two groups, say group A and group B, such that the inconsistencies are only between outcomes in group A and outcomes in group B (so either group just by itself is not plagued by inconsistencies)? If so, is one group considerably smaller than the other one? Or do the measurements and procedures determining the various outcomes in one group have an element in common not shared with the other group?  --Lambiam 17:43, 11 July 2024 (UTC)