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December 19

Who is the following unknown?

When asked "WHO IS YOUR X?" (X still being unknown to me but is known to the respondents), here are the answers I get:

A answers: "A"

B answers: "C"

C answers: "C"

D answers: "F"

E answers: "F"

F answers: "F"

To sum up, the special phenomenon here is that, everybody has their own X (usually), and if any respondent points at another respondent as the first respondent's X, then the other respondent must point at themself as their X.

I wonder who the unknown X may be, when I only know that X is a natural example from everyday life. I thought about a couple of examples, but none of them are satisfactory, as follows:

X is the leader of one's political party, or X is one's mayor, and the like, but all of these examples attribute some kind of leadership or superiority to X, whereas I'm not interested in this kind of solution - involving any superiority of X.

Here is a second solution I thought about: X is the first (or last) person born in the year/month the respondent was born, and the like. But this solution involves some kind of order (in which there is a "first person" and a "last person"), whereas I'm not interested in this kind of solution - involving any order. 79.177.151.182 (talk) 12:11, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Drummer? Card Zero (talk) 14:25, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The OP also posted this question on the Math desk. What if everyone says "I'm Spartacus!" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:30, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I forgot to add an important point (so I've just added it, thanks to your response): Everybody has their own X (usually). 79.177.151.182 (talk) 14:58, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What do you mean by "everybody has an X"? A lot of folks have an "ex", but is that what you mean? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:08, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I mean that everybody has their own X (usually), whether X is one's mayor, or X is the leader of one's political party, and so forth. Additionally, keep in mind that if any respondent points at another respondent as the first respondent's X, then the other respondent must point at themself as their X. 79.177.151.182 (talk) 15:21, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

(ec)The statement "everybody has their own X" makes no sense to me, and I'm a native English speaker. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:36, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

X is the usual symbol denoting an unknown (as in mathematical equations), but here the unknown is a person, like "a mayor", and the like. 79.177.151.182 (talk) 15:42, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There are too many possible answers that still don't involve order or superiority.

- Translator

- Publisher

- Spokesperson

- Copyeditor

- Cleaner

- Keyholder (person who closes a shop and responsible for turning up in cases of property related emergencies - sometimes it's a manager but sometimes it's merely someone who is willing to stay late or be early)

- Scribe

- Accountant

- Driver

Basically anything where there's a "role" in a group but usually only one (barring circumstances).

What are you hoping to accomplish by asking a question like this? Komonzia (talk) 15:34, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thx.

Resolved

79.177.151.182 (talk) 15:42, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don't believe it. A publisher doesn't have necessarily a publisher, because it normally is not an author. A keyholder could be a trusted neighbour,who doesn't work at the shop and is therefore not its own keyholder (at least in relation to the shop). Of course in relation to its own living quarters mostly everybody is a keyholder, but that was not part of the definition. Even a translator doesn't translate itself when it expresses itself in the foreign language. At least not necessarily. Even a cleaner doesn't necessarily cleans up after itself. I know one! Personally!

When you're satisfied by these examples that don't match your description, then I would like to see the real description. 176.0.128.31 (talk) 08:24, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

So this is interesting linguistically and socially - the use of the word "usually" lets in a lot of the examples given, at least in some societies. However mathematically you are looking for something impossible. Lets assume that everyone has an X (or equivalently ignore those people without an X, who are also no-one's X). The relation partitions the set into subsets (i.e. the subsets include all the elements, and each element is in one and only one subset). Each subset has one self-X call it C for centre, and all the other elements (0 or more of them) point to C. Example, whole numbers under the relation "what is the remainder if you are divided by 5". 5 subsets with C=0, 1, 2, 3, 4. In every case there is a "privileged" centre, whether it would be considered superior, inferior or just special is open to interpretation. You can only have no centres in the case where there are no elements at all. All the best: Rich Farmbrough 21:07, 20 December 2024 (UTC).[reply]

Street View

Why Googlehas not launched Street View in mainland China? There do exist several user-submitted photos, mostly from landmarks and historical cities, but why Google cars have not traveled there yet? How likely is that in 2034, mainland China will have photos by Google cars if Street view is launched there?

And, why South Korea, a country with a large economy and almost no bans, still has large unphotographed areas with most minor cities and major freeways are not photographed entirely? And could North Korea ever get Street View by Google cars? --40bus (talk) 17:54, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Here is some info: Google Street View in Asia There are some places in China where they have it. As to future predictions, Wikipedia can't do that. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:07, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@40bus: https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/160276 (and see also my comment below). could North Korea ever get Street View by Google cars That is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future, and anything beyond that is unforeseeable. Polygnotus (talk) 01:12, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

My dream would be every country in the world having full coverage. Is that likely in next 20 years? At least Belarus's lack of Street View should be corrected. I would like to see views from every country. --40bus (talk) 06:21, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"If wishes were horses...". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:13, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Though a multinational, Google is at base an American company, or at least is perceived as such.

Think about the political tensions between the Peoples Republic of China, and the West in general and the USA in particular. Now ask yourself – how might the Government of China feel about American-controlled spy-cars driving around the whole of China, photographing everything visible? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.1.223.204 (talk) 20:51, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That is (obviously) not the reason; your tin foil hat is malfunctioning. The USA does not require something as lowtech as a 360 camera mounted on a car to drive through an area to spy on that area. The reason is that Google does not want to waste its money. And China has a habit of creating local state-owned alternatives to foreign services, allowing those to rip off the foreign tech, and then massively disadvantaging the foreign company. They have done this many times before. Polygnotus (talk) 01:10, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not suggesting that the US would want (or need) to do this. I'm asking how the Chinese Government would welcome the appearance of it, particularly in the perception of their own people. International relations and management of internal perceptions are all about opinions, beliefs, and what can be spun, regardless of truth.

Recently, in my own country, Chinese visitors and personnel from an ostensible language school fomented a totally spurious 'incident' at a London railway terminus, by approaching a well-known busker and YouTuber filming his and others' performances on a public piano, and then insisting that he stop filming, complaining to police present that he was violating their rights by filming them. This was not done for any valid reason, but (presumably) to try to manipulate public opinion within China, and create a spurious 'grievance' to use in diplomatic discussions. Such games go on all the time. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.1.223.204 (talk) 01:36, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm asking how the Chinese Government would welcome the appearance of it I have answered the original question; please don't hijack this thread to ask a vaguely related question and then bring up unrelated stuff (which was not recent but a year ago, and a storm in a teacup, and your conspiracy theory is not supported by evidence). There are plenty of diplomatic incidents between China and the UK; neither side has a need to manufacture one. If you want to ask a new question, please post it in a new section. Thank you, Polygnotus (talk) 01:44, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Telling a user "your tin foil hat is malfunctioning" is offensive, and is by itself a "hijacking" of this section. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:20, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Incorrect (on both counts). And posting 2 conspiracy theories in 1 thread is a clear sign of a malfunctioning tin foil hat. Polygnotus (talk) 02:21, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

If you love the Chinese government so much, maybe you should have your own "tin foil hat" checked for malfunctions. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:49, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for proving my point. The CCP killed insane numbers of people through brutality and incompetence. But we should still call out tin foil conspiracy nonsense. The idea that all conspiracies about the "other" must be true, just because we don't like them, is a very very dangerous one. Just like the idea that everyone who points out that some conspiracies about the "other" are false must be an "other". Polygnotus (talk) 12:07, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Considering Restrictions on geographic data in China, it seems correct to mention the Chinese Government as a cause. Baidu and Tencent have presumably obtained authorization, because they're not foreign organizations. This incidentally functions as protectionism. I tracked the piano thing down to Brendan Kavanagh#St. Pancras Station piano dispute, and I suppose there is a tenuous connection since it involves the UFWD and image rights. Card Zero (talk) 03:32, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Google's use of GCJ-02 coordinate data and WGS-84 sattelite images has led to weird results in the past. Polygnotus (talk) 12:12, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Surveying and Mapping Law led to 14 companies being given exclusive rights to map China. All local companies. Google Maps applied and was denied. https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/63636/ https://medium.com/@anastasia.bizyayeva/every-map-of-china-is-wrong-bc2bce145db2 Polygnotus (talk) 12:27, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Relations between Google and the Chinese government have been difficult for years. China wants its citizens to see only a censored version of the internet, requiring Google to filter results from its search engine. In case of Street View, the Chinese government is concerned about what their own citizens can see (and I suppose they also want to know who views which streets). Google isn't very eager to comply with all China's request, as that could be quite expensive and bad for their image in less authoritarian states. PiusImpavidus (talk) 19:44, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Why Somalia, Venezuela and Cuba do not have Street View yet? --40bus (talk) 23:38, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This question can be answered by chatgpt or similar. Or by reading the Wikipedia articles about those countries. Polygnotus (talk) 01:33, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 21

Britannica

Why Encyclopaedia Britannica uses imperial units in its articles, ever for things that are measured in metric in UK such as temperatures, if it is based in UK and read by people in metric countries? --40bus (talk) 07:47, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

40bus, it is not based in the UK despite its British sounding name. The Encyclopaedia Britannica has been published in the United States since 1901. That's two years before the first human piloted airplane flight. Cullen328 (talk) 07:57, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Why it is not based in the UK? And if it is read and edited by people in metric countries, why many of its articles use imperial units first? It even uses British English spelling. And are there any similar UK-based online encyclopedias? --40bus (talk) 08:36, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No. Go be bored somewhere else. Nanonic (talk) 09:27, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

If all else fails, you could try asking them. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:43, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Can't you do that for me??? —Tamfang (talk) 21:47, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Webpages

Are there any web pages from late 1980s and early 1990s that are still in their original address, rather than on Internet Archive? Was it common for a company or person to have website in early 1990s? --40bus (talk) 07:53, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

We have a List of websites founded before 1995. The IN2P3 site from 1992 can still be visited, where you may enjoy seeing the French National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics's contact details, a small picture of the building, and five hyperlinks. The article says there were 2,879 websites established before 1995, so no, it wasn't common. Card Zero (talk) 09:19, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Were there any websites around in 1990? This year feels still relatively recent. And are there any saved TV broadcasts from that time in the web, from any country? --40bus (talk) 11:47, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Are you just randomly asking questions? Polygnotus (talk) 12:00, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Take the effort to read the first sentence of List of websites founded before 1995 and you will have the answer to your question. --Lambiam 10:41, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Did Donald Trump's father,

Fred, know Rudy Giuliani's father, who is said to have been a mob contract killer? I'm asking because I've heard rumors somewhere that both Donald and Fred had mob contacts in New York City.Rich (talk) 22:43, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"Said to have been"; is there a reliable source that claims this? It has also been said that Donald Trump is a shape shifting lizard.^[1] Harold Giuliani was at the bottom of the low end of shady dealings in the Italian immigrant community. It seems extremely unlikely that Fred Trump, a high-profile successful real-estate developer from the German immigrant community, would have a reason to meet him. --Lambiam 10:38, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Well, that's what the OP is asking. You're just repeating the OP's question using different words. --Viennese Waltz 10:52, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The OP did not ask whether it was plausible but whether it was true. Even if the mob contract killer story should prove more than randomly created innuendo, there is still nothing to suggest the two fathers ever met. The suggested mob contacts would not make this more likely than two random New Yorkers (like Henri who sometimes ordered pizza and Freddy who sometimes delivered pizza) knowing each other. It is very difficult to prove a negative, but the question implied the OP thought it was at least plausible, which, as I tried to point out, it is not. --Lambiam 01:09, 23 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No insult intended to shape-shifting lizards. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:50, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

(it's easy for you to google that the rumors are out there, Lambiam.Rich (talk) 18:59, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I did not dispute the rumours exist, but IMO they are irrelevant to the question whether the two fathers knew each other, so I ignored them. --Lambiam 01:09, 23 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Giuliani gave a eulogy and he probably would have mentioned it if they knew eachother, but it doesn't seem like he did. https://nypost.com/1999/06/30/trump-patriarch-eulogized-as-great-builder/ Polygnotus (talk) 18:22, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

https://stevevillano.medium.com/the-trumps-an-incestuous-intertwining-with-organized-crime-ab65316c2b48

Rich (talk) 19:30, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for finding this, Polygnotus. But are you sure Rudy would have mentioned it in his eulogy, being possibly embarrassed about his father's occupation? And mentioning an acquaintance with his father would not make Fred seem more illustrious, which eulogies are meant to do. Rich (talk) 19:03, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No, I haven't found definitive proof. Polygnotus (talk) 12:08, 23 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 22

Policy related to places

Hello,

I want to add an article for a place in delhi cantonment. However, i am unsure about the relevant Wikipedia policies on this topic. I tried searching on DuckDuckGo to no avail And the results of Wikipedia search gave unrelated things. What are the relevant policies? KhubsuratInsaan (talk) 11:16, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You may find this guide a good starting point. Be sure in particular to study the section on notability. You may also want to look up articles about similar places (if those articles exist) and review them to get a sense of what does and does not go into such an article.

It looks like you're new to Wikipedia. (Welcome!) You may find it easier to write an article from scratch and get it past article review or new pages patrol if you spend some time here first editing other pages and getting to understand the culture. That's not a strict requirement, just something a lot of people benefit from when they first arrive! -- Avocado (talk) 14:28, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

And the place for new editors to ask questions is the Wikipedia:Teahouse (although we're happy to help here too, especially with references). Alansplodge (talk) 15:24, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

thank you. i will keep this in mind next time i want to ask a question. KhubsuratInsaan (talk) 12:56, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

thank you for the detailed reply ❤️ KhubsuratInsaan (talk) 12:56, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Indian city classification

I was looking at Classification of Indian cities. In tier Y, there are more than 100 cities listed. But in the reference given there are only 88. I even looked what appears to be official website, there's no new circular of new list. [2] Are there any other circulars or should I just remove extra cities. Also, as my main purpose to look for a tier classification, was to use it as approximation for urban (Tier X and Y) and rural districts (Tier Z). Is there any other department which does this kind of classification, please let me know. -- Parnaval (talk) 17:13, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That circular by the Department of Expenditure indicates that classification of cities depends on the latest census. Entities using the classification after yearly update seemingly are easy to find ( https://7thpaycommissionnews.in/classification-of-indian-cities/), regarding a specific source explicitly mentioning their is an update the department link to look for has to be related to the census. --Askedonty (talk) 21:28, 22 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 27

Black Cube, Melissa Nathan,&U.S. presidential candidates

Black Cube has a wikipedia article, Melissa Nathan is mentioned in the article It Ends with Us. Both are googleable. My question is if either Black Cube or Melissa Nathan were ever hired to discredit John Kerry or Hillary Clinton? I realize that in Melissa Nathan's case, if she had been hired for that, it would probably have been before she formed The Agency Group PR.Rich (talk) 06:52, 27 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The link should have been to It Ends with Us (film). --Lambiam 19:16, 27 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Griggsville, Missouri?

The Robert Fiske (actor) article claims (without a source) that he was born in Griggsville, Missouri. I can find no evidence whatever that such a place has ever existed. There is a Griggsville, Illinois, which is about 20 miles northeast of the IL/MO border (which I think is the river, and presumably was in 1889). Was there really a Griggsville in Missouri, or is this a simple mistake? The only substantive author (to the biographical part of the article) is long departed Wikipedia. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 20:12, 27 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I can't find an obit for Fiske in Newspapers.com, and the Findagrave entry [3] simply says he was born in Missouri. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:37, 27 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[Edit Conflict] I wondered if it might be something to do with the Mississippi changing its course, but it seems not. However, if Griggsville, Illinois is correct, he could be added to that article's Notable person [sic] section, doubling its complement!

The 'Missouri' inclusion was (as you may have noted) in the article as created in 2005, so at least we know it's not the result of vandalism.

I notice that the Unreliable sources IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Broadway Database also state Griggsville, Missouri, which may of course have been taken from Wikipedia, and Find a Grave gives merely Missouri. However, The Movie Database does give Griggsville, Illinois. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.1.223.204 (talk) 21:42, 27 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Indications in Ancestry.com are that he was merely born "in Missouri", not a specific city that I've found. Even though the original article writer has been offline for over 9 years, maybe his email still works? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:54, 27 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm wondering if there is some circular WP:CITOGENESIS between ourselves, Findagrave, and IMDb. I too considered the "moving river" hypothesis, but it's much too far away. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 22:42, 27 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Who Was Who on Screen (1977) confirms he was born in Griggsville, Missouri. No danger of citogenesis there. The search term "Griggsville, MO" throws up a few non-Fiske results on Google and Google Books, but I can't find precisely where it is. --Antiquary (talk) 09:22, 28 December 2024 (UTC) Ah, here we are, it's in Pike County, Missouri [4]. --Antiquary (talk) 10:00, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Griggsville, IL, is also in Pike County, Illinois and if you look up the zip code (62340) given on that web site you also land in Illinois. The two Pike Counties are direct neighbours, but there's no indication of any common history or even a shift in the state border. --Wrongfilter (talk) 10:15, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds ominous. Also, the more of my Google and Google Books hits I follow up, the fewer check out. The evidence that this place ever existed outside of Fiske's say-so looks rather slight. Here is one cite from 1907, and there are one or two more from the 19th century, but confusion with Griggsville, IL can't be ruled out. --Antiquary (talk) 10:46, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks everyone. I'll flag the birthplace in the article is questionable (and the whole article as poorly sourced), but I think there's enough uncertainty for me to not "fix" it. And I'll refer to this discussion on the talk page, for the (probably very unlikely event) that some future person cares enough about this rather minor actor to do more thorough research. Thank you. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 08:04, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

One thing I noticed in Newspapers.com is that Missouri papers that referred to Griggsville usually made it clear that they were talking about the one in Illinois. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:08, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

December 28

Why do news reporters name the programme they are reporting for?

This is an example by BBC News. ―Panamitsu (talk) 05:44, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You have linked to a BBC TV program where at 0:40 the presenter introduces "Our science correspondent Pallab Ghosh" who signs off his report "Pallab Ghosh, BBC News". His report includes statements by two experts each identified by name and affiliation. The video typifies the high standard of jounalism where BBC emphasize distinction between source and editorial content. Incidentally, a good BBC TV reporter tends to become a "household name" (the likes of Clive Myrie, Fiona Bruce, Sophie Raworth, Reeta Chakrabarti, Steve Rosenberg, Michael Buchanan and more). Edit: I apologise to Pallab Ghosh for initially misspelling his name and thank Antiquary for correcting me. Philvoids (talk) 11:19, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Pallab Ghosh, but I'm sure he's used to it. --Antiquary (talk) 11:29, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

As I understand the question, it is not why reporters identify themselves, but why for instance Ghosh does not sign off by simply saying "Pallab Ghosh", full stop. --Lambiam 10:29, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's a standard practice, which might even be in their contracts. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:55, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I seem to recall American channels using clips from the BBC. Such sign offs would serve to identify the source in these cases.--User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 17:22, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

THat was my thinking, too. These days they tend to have on-screen watermarks, but reporters still sign off with "Jennifer Superior Bitch, Infinity News. Alex". -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:55, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Navigation lights

Does the fact that aeroplane/ship navigation lights are green and red cause problems for pilots who are red-green colour blind? How do they deal with that? Can they even become pilots? ―Panamitsu (talk) 22:49, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I couldn't be a pilot because of my red-green colour blindness, but people with a mild version can apparently - this is a link to the UK's Civil Aviation Authority's guidance on colour vision requirements. Mikenorton (talk) 23:25, 28 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

How fascinating. Thanks. ―Panamitsu (talk) 00:21, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Similarly, red-green colourblind people may not be able to become helmsmen.

You might think it would have been more convenient to make those lights red and cyan, as far fewer people are red-blue colourblind, but when navigation lights on ships were introduced, bright blueish lights couldn't be made. That only became possible with gas discharge lamps. Traffic lights and railway signals these days (often using LEDs) use a slightly blueish green, so that most colourblind people can see the difference between red and green. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:55, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

They could have agreed (and still could agree) on assigning distinct flashing patterns, like •••—— and —••—• . --Lambiam 20:48, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Flashing patterns would be a very poor method for aircraft and probably ships also. Navigation lights are meant to give a quick indication of the relative position and heading of another aircraft/vessel. When seeing navigation lights a pilot instantly has an indication of the relative flight direction of the other aircraft based on which red/green/white lights are visible. Also there are already the anti-collision lights, red flashing beacon on the tail at least and white flashing strobes on the wingtips and tail. How could a pilot possibly decode flashing lights reliably enough and quickly enough to determine relative heading? fiveby(zero) 18:06, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wouldn't that be a problem because the sky/ocean is blue? I understand that the lights are used at night so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. ―Panamitsu (talk) 22:39, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It would involve more complex lighting circuits/equipment and massive world-wide retrofitting, which (I suggest) would be prohibitively expensive, to solve a relatively minor 'problem' more easily answered by simply not employing colour-blind people in the relevant positions. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.1.223.204 (talk) 13:12, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Flashing lights have been used on lighthouses for a long time. They use an assembly of lenses and shutters rotating around a fixed light, using a low-friction bearing. This works fine for stationary lighthouses, but is more problematic on moving ships. There's more wear and the lens assembly could jam or rotate at variable speed. Better to use an electric light, switched repeatedly by a rotating switch powered by an electric motor (all available late 19th century), but both switch and lamp have to switch reliably at least a million times. No problem today, but there's still the issue of recognising a flashing pattern if it's intermittently obscured. It's considered acceptable for lighthouses and buoys, which are usually more or less where you expect them to be, but a moving ship may be a different matter. PiusImpavidus (talk) 14:45, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

When I answered telephones and sold passenger tickets for Eurostar I had to pass an Ishihara test, the same as signalmen and train drivers. DuncanHill (talk) 21:27, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Depending on the signalling system, train drivers may also have to discriminate red from yellow/amber. This is less important for road users. And states of tracks and signals are colour-coded on the computer monitors of signalmen, but it should only take a simple software update to accommodate colourblind signalmen. (Yes, there're still some old-fashioned signal boxes in some countries; I've passed the one at Severn Bridge Junction on my way to Wales.) I don't see the objection against colourblind ticket sellers. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:58, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 29

Domains

Are Eritrea's .er and Belarus's .by ever used in domain hacks? .er could be used in shortcut to Blogger, blogg.er, like goo.gl and youtu.be, and .by could be used in domains such as drive.by and in Nordic place namesmas by means "village" in Swedish and "city" in Norwegian and Danish. And can South Africa's .za and India's .in be used directly after the main part, such as in piz.za and drive.in? Also, can .pl, .cz, .sk and .hu addresses contain diacritics, such as gdańsk.pl, česko.cz, košice.sk and magyarország.hu? --40bus (talk) 10:10, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See URL#Internationalized URL. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:30, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Plusimpavidus has only answered the last sentencee.

The answer to the first part is entirely dependent on the policy of the controller of the ccTLD in question, and that controller may or may not publish a policy. Technically, of course they could be used: the government of Tonga sells .to domains to any interested party, as I presume you know.

According to our article .by The Operations and Analysis Centre under the President of the Republic of Belarus allows for anyone (not only for those who reside in Belarus) to register a second level domain such as something.by, and it also says he .by code is used for domain hack by institutions from the German state of Bavaria (German: Bayern), such as bayern.by, the Bavarian Tourism Agency. Since "by" means "town" or "city" in Norwegian, it's also used by some Norwegian newspapers, such as osl.by for an Oslo newspaper, and trd.by for a Trondheim newspaper, however, neither of these statements appear to be sourced. When I just tried it, trd.by seems to redirect to a Norwegian casino site.

Our articles .er and .za say nothing about whether the ccTLDs are available to anybody outside Eritrea and South Africa respectively. .in doesn't explicitly address the question, but in talking about the use of subdomains it repeats "in India" several times. ColinFine (talk) 20:38, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Colored asphalt markings

What's the purpose of such blue, green, pink marks on street grounds? I've seen them in multiple places in Warsaw (typically in non-traffic places, such as sidewalks) where they've stayed for several months or even years without being erased. From what I've read, those marks can be made for some roadworks, but I'm not sure. Brandmeister^talk 20:06, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen them used for several purposes, mostly for marking the course of some underground pipe or cable, but also for marking a distance such as 500m from a given spot. In the first case, there is a sequence of similar markings, not too far apart from each other. In the second case the marking is usually accompanied by a number or some code. --Lambiam 20:55, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See utility location. --142.112.149.206 (talk) 22:09, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In my experience (UK) they appear in preparation for invasive ground works, most recently in our road prior to the installation of the third set of broadband cables under our pavement. Apparently, existing suppliers and their customers get sniffy if new upstart suppliers not only add their own cables, but put a shovel through the existing cables in the process! Different colours may denote gas, water and telecommunication lines.

There is also an occasional rash of markings that outline potholes; whether this is done to guide the repairers of potholes, or as a placebo to pacify local road users, is not always clear. It is possible that the process accompanies the calculation of a cost for the work; the expenditure may not be forthcoming.^{[citation needed]} -- Verbarson ^talk_edits 21:24, 29 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

January 1

Peugeot's rivalry

Did Peugeot have any rivalry with other auto manufacturer that became famous or was famous but forgotten, like Lancia and Audi in 1983 and Ford and Ferrari in the 1960s? --Donmust90-- Donmust90 (talk) 19:15, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]