# I Want Everything

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 30, 1999, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402 "1999-10-30T07:03:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/1 "1999-10-30T07:03:00Z")

</div>

How do I print the symbol for infinity in this form?

Ray (I know, nothin’ is free. But that ain’t what I want.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/2 "1999-10-30T16:05:00Z")

</div>

\*?

Option-5

* * *

Designated Optional Signature at Bottom of Post

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/3 "1999-10-30T16:05:00Z")

</div>

Try holding the “Alt” key and typing 0165 on your number pad. Let’s see if it works…

¥

Oops. More research is needed.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/4 "1999-10-30T16:07:00Z")

</div>

That’s weird, I didn’t **type** a bloody asterisk…

- 
  - 
    - 
      - 
        - five infinity signs, option-5.

Let’s see how this comes out…

* * *

Designated Optional Signature at Bottom of Post

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/5 "1999-10-30T16:09:00Z")

</div>

Hmm, it seems like neither the PC nor the Mac solution works. I see asterisks for my own posts and a yen sign ¥ in the post of the PC user who provided the Alt-digit-digit-digit keypad thingie for doing it on a PC.

* * *

Designated Optional Signature at Bottom of Post

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/6 "1999-10-30T16:11:00Z")

</div>

OIC what I did wrong.

If you have Windows 98, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then characer map. AFAIK, looks like anything that you put on the web goes in the “System” font. The character map for the system font reveals that the infinity symbol is not available. Typing Alt+0165 yields the Yen symbol, ¥, rather than the infinity symbol, available on another font.

As a plus, now I know how to get that æ symbol, as in Encyclopædia Brittanica. It’s Alt+0230.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/7 "1999-10-30T16:13:00Z")

</div>

You might need HTML instead of just ASCII codes. **Sterling North** ran some tests on the “About This Message Board” Forum at [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000292.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000292.html) , but he didn’t mention the code he was using.

Ironically, **Nano-Byte** , who raised the question, had one in his post, as well.

* * *

Tom~

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 1999, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/8 "1999-10-31T05:48:00Z")

</div>

Well OK, I do see now that the infinity sign [∞] does show up with IE 5.0. I normally use Netscape 4.63. I don’t see why the worried about all that stuff, even including the symbol for permil, before they worried about that for infinity.

Ray

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 1999, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/9 "1999-10-31T05:51:00Z")

</div>

BTW, what ever happened to Netscape Communicator 5.0 and Gecko? After AOL took over Netscape, I guess things sort of went down the drain.

Ray

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 1999, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/10 "1999-10-31T05:54:00Z")

</div>

In my second preceding post, make that Netscape 4.61.

Ray

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JBENZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@JBENZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZ)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/11 "1999-10-30T20:15:00Z")

</div>

I think NS 4.7 is the latest (at least that’s what I have and they notify me of updates). The 5.0 is supposed to still be in the works but the AOLification has supposedly driven a lot of the best people out of NS so I dunno if it has much of a future.

* * *

JB  
Lex Non Favet Delictorum Votis

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/12 "1999-10-30T23:02:00Z")

</div>

I keep thinking that if Nazi Germany had won WWII, all the computers now would have fonts with the swastika; maybe even on the keyboard!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 1999, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/13 "1999-10-31T02:26:00Z")

</div>

You can only see the symbols that are available in the font used on the Forums, and if you have that assigned font on your machine.

Infinity is not available for this font.

It’s that simple.

* * *

“Vyvyan! Where did you get that Howitzer?” “…I found it.”

[The Legend Of PigeonMan](http://www.hotkey.net.au/~guanolad/pigeonman/) - updates every Wed & Sat

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dfahs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@dfahs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dfahs)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 1999, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/14 "1999-11-01T17:12:00Z")

</div>

Nobody has bothered to point out that NanoByte got that working infinity sign (&infin 😉 by typing \<BLOCKQUOTE\>\<CODE\>∞\</CODE\>\</BLOCKQUOTE\>  
This is an HTML entity.

* * *

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dfahs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@dfahs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dfahs)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 1999, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/15 "1999-11-01T17:17:00Z")

</div>

Oops. caught by the smiley filter! Sigh, so that means to put an entity at the end of a prenthetical phrase, I have to represent the closing parentehsis as an entity too (∞).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 1999, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/16 "1999-11-01T17:58:00Z")

</div>

This works on PC and may also work on mac:  
\<font face=“symbol”\>¥\<font\>  
this gives:  
To \<font face=symbol\>¥\</font\> - and beyond!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 1999, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/17 "1999-11-01T17:59:00Z")

</div>

That should end in \</font\>

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/18 "1999-11-02T17:48:00Z")

</div>

Hey. . .“I got mail”. . .and _ **EVERYTHING** _, including:

**\<font face=“symbol”\>&165;\</font\>**.

I’ll worry about “beyond \<font face=“symbol”\>&165;\</font\>” next week.

Ray

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/19 "1999-11-02T17:55:00Z")

</div>

Oops! I guess I left the ‘#’ out. To try again:

Hey. . .“I got mail”. . .and EVERYTHING, including:

_ **\<font face=“symbol”\>¥\</font\>** _.

I’ll worry about “beyond \<font face=“symbol”\>¥\</font\>” next week.

Ray

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-everything/4402/20 "1999-11-02T17:57:00Z")

</div>

But I guess I wonder what they have against making the sign fill up a normal character space. My italic bold version didn’t come out so hot.

Ray
