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= December 11 =
== Those are pearls that were his eyes ==


== If I ever opt to live in a [[group home]] for [[mental health client]]s, could my [[health insurance]] pay the rent and utilities? ==
This line appears twice in T.S. Eliot's modernist masterpiece "The Waste Land" (both lines 48 and 125 I believe) and is taken from Ariel's song in Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''. I was curious to see if anyone on here had any insight into the supposed meaning of this phrase, intended by both Eliot and Shakespeare. In another one of Shakespeare's plays I forgot which one exactly, a man describes a bad dream he just had where he is drowning in a ship-wreck type of disaster. And he describes how the jewels from the shipwreck are now sunken into the sockets of the skulls of others who have drowned where their eyes once were. Do you think the line "those are pearls that were his eyes" just means a drowning death and jewels replacing skull eye sockets - or something more? I've been through various idea of my own but nothing seems to feel right.


What is it like for mental health clients to live in group homes? What is paid out-of-pocket? What is paid by insurance?
I decided to put below the part of T. S. Eliot's poem, "The Waste Land" that contains the line I speak of above, for clarification purposes. Thank you!


As a diagnosee of [[schizotypal personality disorder]] and other disorders, and being thought to still be on the [[Autistic Spectrum]] by some therapists despite a rediagnosis to the above disorder, is there a group home near or in [[Hutchinson, KS]] for anyone with my types of disorders?
"...Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,


Could my Medicaid [[KanCare]] [[Sunflower health insurance]] pay for all expenses associated with living in the group home?
Had a bad cold, nevertheless


I hope to no longer have to pay $450/month in rent and over $100/month in energy bills as well as $70/month in [[Cox Communications|Cox internet]] at 1 GBPs if I move into a group home and have health insurance pay for it all.
Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,


I would only intend to live there until all of my debts are paid off and once I have substantial investments saved up, including [[dividend stocks]] so I can live off of a [[passive income]] that pays for basic living expenses in a normal residence again.
With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she,


And lastly, what freedoms might I possibly be giving up if I were to ever move into a group home? Thanks. --[[Special:Contributions/2600:8803:1D13:7100:7CBD:B058:3248:4DA3|2600:8803:1D13:7100:7CBD:B058:3248:4DA3]] ([[User talk:2600:8803:1D13:7100:7CBD:B058:3248:4DA3|talk]]) 04:47, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,


:The ''only'' people who could possibly answer this are KanCare Sunflower health insurance. Look at the terms of your agreement or ask them directly on their help line. [[User:Shantavira|Shantavira]]|[[User talk:Shantavira|<sup>feed me</sup>]] 09:56, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
'''(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!)'''


= December 12 =
Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,


== How to revert a company ==
The lady of situations.


I received an unsolicited email soliciting a contribution to an upcoming issue of a biomedical journal. My contribution, they assured me, coming from an eminent researcher like me, would greatly enhance the quality of said issue. This may well be true, but, since my knowledge of biomedical issues has largely been formed by doing research to answer questions at the Reference desk, this does not bode well for the quality of this issue, even with my eminent contribution. I don't want my name to be associated with low-quality journals, so I'll refrain from contributing.
Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel,


The email states at the bottom, in fine greyish print,
And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card,
:{{small|{{color|#888|BioMed Grid LLC, California, USA. If you do not wish to receive this email, revert us.}}}}
I indeed do not wish to receive this email and would like to unreceive it. But I can't figure out how to revert this company. Can anyone help me? (There are some more companies I'd also like to revert.) &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 09:19, 12 December 2024 (UTC)


:I guess it means block them or tag it as spam. I assume you've read ''[[American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research]]''. [[User:Shantavira|Shantavira]]|[[User talk:Shantavira|<sup>feed me</sup>]] 11:03, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
Which is blank, is something he carries on his back,
:I believe it's just corporate talk for "email us back". See definition 14 in [[wikt:revert#Verb|Wiktionary]]. [[User:AndrewWTaylor|AndrewWTaylor]] ([[User talk:AndrewWTaylor|talk]]) 20:09, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
:::Definition 14 has the label ''[[wikt:Appendix:Glossary#intransitive|intransitive]]'', while the spotted use has a transitive sense. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 10:03, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
::I was about to add that it's Indian English - but the Wiktionary entry says it is now global. [[User:ColinFine|ColinFine]] ([[User talk:ColinFine|talk]]) 21:02, 14 December 2024 (UTC)
:::But is it? I'd never seen this before. Our article on the journal states that the publisher, Biomedgrid LLC, was first registered in California in 2018 by Sasidhar Vontethina and Sushma Manchikanti, both Indian (more specifically [[Telugu language|Telugu]]) names. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 08:58, 15 December 2024 (UTC)
:::: I also question this. I'd be befuddled if I was asked to revert a company. But then, I always wince when I hear "write me" rather than "write to me" (other than "write me a letter"). -- [[User:JackofOz|<span style="font-family: Papyrus;">Jack of Oz</span>]] [[User talk:JackofOz#top|<span style="font-size:85%; font-family: Verdana;"><sup>[pleasantries]</sup></span>]] 19:27, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::::: Or, reverting to before the Internet, mail and maybe even speech a request to "reach out." All the best: ''[[User:Rich Farmbrough|Rich]] [[User talk:Rich Farmbrough|Farmbrough]]''<small> 12:33, 20 December 2024 (UTC).</small><br />


= December 13 =
Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find


== LUFS meter vs. Audiosurf algorithm ==
The Hanged Man. Fear death by water.


What are similarities and differences between [[LUFS]] meter (especially momentary) and [[Audiosurf]]'s audio analysis algorithm (when comes to how tracks are colored in particular way depending on the song intensity)? Considering the color (when "fancy coloring" mode is enabled) of momentary LUFS bar on my own [https://codepen.io/TF3RDL/pen/gONWJby multichannel peakmeter] when fed with the same song as the video, lines up with the color of the blocks and the tracks on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_YLetFU9bg this video] and/or [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpV4jFzOXj4 this] sometimes and at other times, it doesn't line up assuming they somehow sync with the video. [[Special:Contributions/2001:448A:3070:DCCD:D862:849B:9C69:6E43|2001:448A:3070:DCCD:D862:849B:9C69:6E43]] ([[User talk:2001:448A:3070:DCCD:D862:849B:9C69:6E43|talk]]) 03:43, 13 December 2024 (UTC)
I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring.
:[[Audiosurf|The article]] about the Audiosurf game tells that the game engine analyzes an imported song to create and save its dynamics in an ASH file. [[Reverse engineering]] these files to extract the generating algorithms is research that is beyond anyone here. This is proprietary information that the game creator Dylan Fitterer may choose to withold. Already as you look for correlation between your objective LUFS detector and the game screen, bear in mind that where the object of Audiosurf is more to entertain than analytical logging, some degree of randomity may be deliberately included. [[User:Philvoids|Philvoids]] ([[User talk:Philvoids|talk]]) 16:32, 14 December 2024 (UTC)
::@[[User:Philvoids|Philvoids]] BTW, what's the difference between song intensity estimation algorithm (which [[Audiosurf]] probably uses it) and a [[LUFS]] meter (aka. a K-weighted RMS meter)? And are these two even interchangeable? [[Special:Contributions/2001:448A:3070:E1D7:6927:DCA6:924C:1623|2001:448A:3070:E1D7:6927:DCA6:924C:1623]] ([[User talk:2001:448A:3070:E1D7:6927:DCA6:924C:1623|talk]]) 02:47, 23 December 2024 (UTC)


= December 15 =
Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone,


== Meta physics ==
Tell her I bring the horoscope myself:


about things beyond nature [[Special:Contributions/105.113.11.194|105.113.11.194]] ([[User talk:105.113.11.194|talk]]) 20:36, 15 December 2024 (UTC)
One must be so careful these days..." --[[User:Nadsat|Nadsat]] 21:47, Dec 31, 2004 (UTC)
:See [[Metaphysics]]? ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 21:34, 15 December 2024 (UTC)
:Note that metaphysics is not about phenomena or entities that are ''beyond'' the [[Scientific law|laws of nature]]. The usual term for these is "the [[supernatural]]". &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 07:57, 16 December 2024 (UTC)
:The word "meta" means “beyond” and “about”. The word “physics” means “nature”.  Therefore, metaphysics can be regarded as the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality and existence. [[User:Stanleykswong|Stanleykswong]] ([[User talk:Stanleykswong|talk]]) 06:45, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::[[File:Aristotle Metaphysica page 1.png|thumb|120px|{{small|{{serif|Των μετά τα φυσικά}}}}]]The Ancient Greek preposition {{serif|[[wikt:μετά|μετά]]}} also means "next, after". It is generally thought that the title of Aristotle's book [[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|{{serif|Των μετά τα φυσικά}}]] (Tōn metá ta phusiká), "Of the things after Physica", the etymon of our term ''[[wikt:metaphysics|metaphysics]]'', was given to it (not by Aristotle but by the editor) simply because it was the next book in series, following Aristotle's book ''[[Physics (Aristotle)|Physica]]'', "Natural phenomena". &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 11:22, 19 December 2024 (UTC)


= December 16 =
: Maybe petrified eyeballs? [[User:Poccil|Peter O.]] ([[User Talk:Poccil|Talk]], [[User:Poccil/Automation.js|automation script]]) 22:05, Dec 31, 2004 (UTC)


== My habit of feature requests scared a developer? ==
Here's the relevent text from ''[[The Tempest]]'' ([[Project Gutenberg]] edition):


Reading these posts ([https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,115912.msg1047396.html#msg1047396 this] and [https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,115912.msg1051731.html#msg1051731 this]) on a thread about foo_enhanced_spectrum_analyzer in [[HydrogenAudio]] forum about my doings that "scared" off a developer of foo_enhanced_spectrum_analyzer and foo_loudness_peakmeter components for [[foobar2000]] player and yet, the developer of a [https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=39765.135 spectrum analyzer plugin] for [[MusicBee]] did implement my feature requests into this plugin despite I've not have written fanon wiki pages about future version of CoolEdit Nostalgia (like I did [https://fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Enhanced_Spectrum_analyzer_2.0.0.0 this] and [https://fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Loudness_Peakmeter_2.0.0.0 this] before). So, why would they? [[Special:Contributions/2001:448A:3070:EA0F:F1A2:31A3:43A5:587B|2001:448A:3070:EA0F:F1A2:31A3:43A5:587B]] ([[User talk:2001:448A:3070:EA0F:F1A2:31A3:43A5:587B|talk]]) 18:22, 16 December 2024 (UTC)
FERDINAND. Where should this music be? I' th' air or th'earth?
:What has this got to do with wikipedia or finding references for anything? [[User:Nanonic|Nanonic]] ([[User talk:Nanonic|talk]]) 19:34, 16 December 2024 (UTC)
It sounds no more; and sure it waits upon
::{{ping|Nanonic}} perhaps finding a reliable reference for what some bad habits when comes to feature requests that are likely to made software developers quit their job. [[Special:Contributions/2001:448A:3070:EA0F:A59D:BE84:1D03:3CD|2001:448A:3070:EA0F:A59D:BE84:1D03:3CD]] ([[User talk:2001:448A:3070:EA0F:A59D:BE84:1D03:3CD|talk]]) 21:20, 16 December 2024 (UTC)
Some god o' th' island. Sitting on a bank,
:::Your questions are scaring off the Reference desk respondents. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 09:57, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
Weeping again the King my father's wreck,
:Whatever drama you're involved with on that board, I suggest you keep it there and don't post about it here. --[[User:Viennese Waltz|Viennese Waltz]] 10:02, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion
With its sweet air; thence I have follow'd it,
Or it hath drawn me rather. But 'tis gone.
No, it begins again.
&nbsp;
ARIEL'S SONG
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
[Burden: Ding-dong.]
Hark! now I hear them-Ding-dong bell.
&nbsp;
FERDINAND. The ditty does remember my drown'd father.
This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owes. I hear it now above me.


= December 17 =
Ferdinand believes that his father Alonso, the [[List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily|King of Naples]], died in the shipwreck, and he is stricken with grief. [[Ariel (Shakespeare)|Ariel]]'s song consoles him by presenting his father's drowning in a positive light, as a transformation, not just a loss. With his grief allayed, Ferdinand can carry out the next part of [[Prospero]]'s plan by falling in love with [[Miranda (Shakespeare)|Miranda]].


== Futures contract ==
So the line "those are pearls that were his eyes" refers to Alonso; we are to imagine that he has drowned and that his flesh has been colonised by marine life.


I don't understand finance, so I thought I'd ask. If I buy a [[futures contract]] for say a ton of corn at a specific price, and I hold it until the delivery date, will someone literally deliver a ton of corn to me? Thanks. [[User:Therapyisgood|Therapyisgood]] ([[User talk:Therapyisgood|talk]]) 00:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
In the context of [[T. S. Eliot]]'s ''[[The Waste Land]]'' the line describes the drowned [[Phoenicia]]n sailor on the [[Tarot]] card (the "drowned sailor" was added by Eliot to his Tarot deck for the purposes of the symbolism), who is presumably the Phlebas of part IV of the poem. It also establishes something about the character of Madame Sosostris &mdash; that she is prone to cliché (though quite learned cliché in this case). [[User:Gdr|Gdr]] 23:50, 2004 Dec 31 (UTC)
:The contract is likely to read "FOB Kansas City," or something like that. You'll probably have to move it from whatever transportation it is on (train, ship) yourself. Or, arrange (pay for) delivery. [[User:DOR (HK)|DOR (ex-HK)]] ([[User talk:DOR (HK)|talk]]) 01:38, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
::At the delivery date, the current buyer will have become the proud owner of a ton of corn ''somewhere''. The identity of the buyer of the contract almost always changes, so the seller drawing up the contract does not know the identity of the eventual buyer at the delivery date. Therefore, wherever the "somewhere" may be, you as the buyer can be reasonably sure it will not be delivered to your doorstep. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 09:54, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
:Oil futures have even been known to have a negative price, when the producers' local storage was full and demand was low. At that point the buyer of the contract is being paid to take it away. [https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52350082] --[[User:Amble|Amble]] ([[User talk:Amble|talk]]) 20:30, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
:Most futures contracts are cash-settled and there is no physical transfer of the underlying asset. [[User:Stanleykswong|Stanleykswong]] ([[User talk:Stanleykswong|talk]]) 06:31, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::True, but this depends on both parties agreeing to a new or modified contract. If the buyer does the unexpected and just sits it out, as suggested in the original question, and also does not agree to a new contract, the seller is obligated to produce the asset to the buyer, even if this means they need to go and buy it on the market. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 10:58, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
:Yes, a futures contract is ultimately for purposes of delivery of the specified contract in accordance with its terms. A standard corn futures contract is for 5000 bushels (although there is also a mini corn future for only 1000 bushels). A bushel of corn (maize) weighs 56 pounds, so at settlement the buyer owns 140 tons of corn (or, for a mini corn future, 28 tons).
:But that is not going to be you. You are a retail investor and would trade through a [[commodity broker]], who is probably not going to be willing to accept physical settlement on your behalf. [[User:John M Baker|John M Baker]] ([[User talk:John M Baker|talk]]) 00:41, 20 December 2024 (UTC)


== Which Political Bloggers are Former Programmers? ==
:Random thoughts. As Gdr says, think of this as a transformation symbol, life arising from death. The poem begins with a description of the meaninglessness/faithlessness of European society between the wars.


Such as [[Curtis Yarvin]] and [[Ruan Xiaohuan]]. [[User:Saedeer|Saedeer]] ([[User talk:Saedeer|talk]]) 13:45, 17 December 2024 (UTC)
:First instance of the allusion: April is cruel because it causes life to arise from death, and inspires hope. [[Marie Larisch]]'s conversation evokes the destruction of the structure of Europe by [[World War I]]. Mankind is left with no faith, only "a heap of broken images", dry, sterile, unable to grow, inspired to fear by a handful of dust. Sosostris tells the fortune: your card is a '''drowned''' Phoenician Sailor (the opposite of dry), transfigured by water, a sea-change, into something precious: "Those are pearls that were his eyes! Look!" Yet she tells you to fear death by water, the death that would result in that marvelous transfiguration. (Eliot probably was not referring to Larisch's tale (in her ghost-written ''My Past'') about a barren Queen whose tears become pearls, and is taken by a Water Spirit and impregnated with his daughter, who has her Fairy father's large black eyes, but is passed off as her husband's child). (Reflect here for a moment on the beauty of the interjection "Look!" here: Look at what (your eyes, for the card is you) with what (your eyes)!)
:Why do you ask that? I don't think the answer to this question can help you. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 01:15, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
::Maybe the OP wants to find out how many other former programmers aren't very bright. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 13:46, 20 December 2024 (UTC)


= December 19 =
:Second instance of the allusion: The dry sterile wind is again evoked; the sterility of sex alluded to with the rape of Philomel. The wife asks the husband about the wind at the door; it is death, or the death rattle; some have thought that the scene is a depiction of Eliot's wife Vivien asking Eliot about [[Jean Verdenal]]'s death. The lines as originally written read: "I remember the hyacinth garden. Those are pearls that were his eyes, yes!", but were edited to "I remember <strike>the hyacinth garden</strike>. Those are pearls that were his eyes, yes!", but the meaning in either reading is that the husband is thinking both of the hyacinth girl and ofthe phoenician sailor. This is then followed by the discussion in a pub of another sterile outcome, Liz's abortion.


== Who is the following unknown? ==
:So make of it what you will, I suppose, but transformation, sterility, hope, and death are all joined together here. - [[User:Nunh-huh|Nunh-huh]] 02:35, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)


When asked '''<span style="color: orange">"WHO IS YOUR X?"</span>''' (X still being unknown to me but is known to the respondents), here are the answers I get:
Or just a colorful description of clouded over dead eyes. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 07:07, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:
:'''<span style="color: blue">A answers: "A"</span>'''
:'''<span style="color: red">B answers: "C"</span>'''
:'''<span style="color: red">C answers: "C"</span>'''
:'''<span style="color: green">D answers: "F"</span>'''
:'''<span style="color: green">E answers: "F"</span>'''
:'''<span style="color: green">F answers: "F"</span>'''


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.
== "Apple in the Chapel" incident at Knox ==


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:
This was a notorious incident in Australia quite a while ago. Can anyone give me a references to an article, or point me in the right direction? Doug Mulray got sued by Knox I believe. - [[User:Ta bu shi da yu|Ta bu shi da yu]] 01:41, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:
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''. [[Special:Contributions/79.177.151.182|79.177.151.182]] ([[User talk:79.177.151.182|talk]]) 12:11, 19 December 2024 (UTC)


:Drummer? [[User:Card_Zero|<span style=" background-color:#fffff0; border:1px #995; border-style:dotted solid solid dotted;">&nbsp;Card&nbsp;Zero&nbsp;</span>]]&nbsp;[[User_talk:Card_Zero|(talk)]] 14:25, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
== Oceania or Australasia? ==
::The OP also posted this question on the Math desk. What if everyone says "I'm Spartacus!" ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 14:30, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::I forgot to add an important point (so I've just added it, thanks to your response): Everybody has their own X (usually). [[Special:Contributions/79.177.151.182|79.177.151.182]] ([[User talk:79.177.151.182|talk]]) 14:58, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::::What do you mean by "everybody has an X"? A lot of folks have an "ex", but is that what you mean? ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 15:08, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
:::::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. [[Special:Contributions/79.177.151.182|79.177.151.182]] ([[User talk:79.177.151.182|talk]]) 15:21, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::::::(ec)The statement "everybody has their own X" makes no sense to me, and I'm a native English speaker. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 15:36, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
:::::::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. [[Special:Contributions/79.177.151.182|79.177.151.182]] ([[User talk:79.177.151.182|talk]]) 15:42, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
: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? [[User:Komonzia|Komonzia]] ([[User talk:Komonzia|talk]]) 15:34, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::Thx. {{resolved}} [[Special:Contributions/79.177.151.182|79.177.151.182]] ([[User talk:79.177.151.182|talk]]) 15:42, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
:::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. [[Special:Contributions/176.0.128.31|176.0.128.31]] ([[User talk:176.0.128.31|talk]]) 08:24, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
: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: ''[[User:Rich Farmbrough|Rich]] [[User talk:Rich Farmbrough|Farmbrough]]''<small> 21:07, 20 December 2024 (UTC).</small><br />


== Street View ==
I am confused about which is the more correct name for the 'continent' housing Australia, New Zealand and the other small islands around there.


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?
Neither the [[Oceania]] or [[Australasia]] articles states which is 'correct' but Australasia does seem to have more history.


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? --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 17:54, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
Which is the generally accepted one these days, Oceania or Australasia? --[[User:Kevin Mulligan|Kevin]] 01:49, Jan 1, 2005 (UTC)
: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. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 19:07, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
:{{ping|40bus}} https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/160276 (and see also my comment below). {{tq|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. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 01:12, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
::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. --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 06:21, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
:::"[[If wishes were horses, beggars would ride|If wishes were horses...]]". ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 07:13, 20 December 2024 (UTC)


:Though a multinational, Google is at base an American company, or at least is perceived as such.
*Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think [[Australasia]] was the name of the [[tectonics|tectonic]] plate housing Australia and Asia. So my guess would be [[Oceania]] of there's no other options. [[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|<sup>(talk)</sup>]] 15:04, Jan 1, 2005 (UTC)
: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} [[Special:Contributions/94.1.223.204|94.1.223.204]] ([[User talk:94.1.223.204|talk]]) 20:51, 19 December 2024 (UTC)
::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. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 01:10, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
:::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} [[Special:Contributions/94.1.223.204|94.1.223.204]] ([[User talk:94.1.223.204|talk]]) 01:36, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
::::{{tq|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, [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 01:44, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
:::::Telling a user "your tin foil hat is malfunctioning" is offensive, and is by itself a "hijacking" of this section. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 02:20, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
::::::Incorrect (on both counts). And posting 2 conspiracy theories in 1 thread is a clear sign of a malfunctioning tin foil hat. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 02:21, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
:::::::If you love the Chinese government so much, maybe you should have your own "tin foil hat" checked for malfunctions. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 02:49, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
::::::::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". [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 12:07, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
:::::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. [[User:Card_Zero|<span style=" background-color:#fffff0; border:1px #995; border-style:dotted solid solid dotted;">&nbsp;Card&nbsp;Zero&nbsp;</span>]]&nbsp;[[User_talk:Card_Zero|(talk)]] 03:32, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
::::::Google's use of GCJ-02 coordinate data and WGS-84 sattelite images has led to [https://i0.wp.com/www.kronkeling.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-29-at-12.40.51.png?resize=1024%2C655&ssl=1 weird results] in the past. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 12:12, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
::::::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 [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 12:27, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
: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. [[User:PiusImpavidus|PiusImpavidus]] ([[User talk:PiusImpavidus|talk]]) 19:44, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
:Why Somalia, Venezuela and Cuba do not have Street View yet? --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 23:38, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
::This question can be answered by chatgpt or similar. Or by reading the Wikipedia articles about those countries. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 01:33, 21 December 2024 (UTC)


= December 21 =
== controlled aviation simulator ==


== Britannica ==
Do you have any info on a controlled aviation simulator? The disk is not a game and does not have a joy stick...but more, Thanks and Happy New Year,
Adrianna, @ ... awire253yahoo.com


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? --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 07:47, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
== Adding links to external material ==
:{{u|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. [[User:Cullen328|Cullen328]] ([[User talk:Cullen328|talk]]) 07:57, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
::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? --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 08:36, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
:::No. Go be bored somewhere else. [[User:Nanonic|Nanonic]] ([[User talk:Nanonic|talk]]) 09:27, 21 December 2024 (UTC)


:::If all else fails, you could try ''asking them''. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 16:43, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
:moved to [[Wikipedia:Help desk]] [[User:DJ Clayworth|DJ Clayworth]] 01:36, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)


== Webpages ==
== 220 V from 110 V Breaker box. ==


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? --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 07:53, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
How do I get 220V from a "D" breakerbox?.....Alex


: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 {{tq|2,879 websites established before 1995}}, so no, it wasn't common. [[User:Card_Zero|<span style=" background-color:#fffff0; border:1px #995; border-style:dotted solid solid dotted;">&nbsp;Card&nbsp;Zero&nbsp;</span>]]&nbsp;[[User_talk:Card_Zero|(talk)]] 09:19, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
:In standard North American residential electrical service, there's three lines coming off the pole into your house: one neutral, and two "hot". Each of the hot lines is 110V AC, but they are 180&deg; out of phase with each other. For a normal 110V outlet, you connect to the neutral and one of the hots. To get 220V you connect to both hot lines.
::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? --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 11:47, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
:::Are you just randomly asking questions? [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 12:00, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
:::Take the effort to read the first sentence of [[List of websites founded before 1995]] and you will have the answer to your question. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 10:41, 22 December 2024 (UTC)


== Did [[Donald Trump]]'s father, ==
:You'll want to use a double-pole circuit breaker. I'd suggest consulting an electrician, or at least reading the [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/electrical-wiring/ Electircal Wiring FAQ]. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 02:38, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)


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.[[User:Richard L. Peterson|Rich]] ([[User talk:Richard L. Peterson|talk]]) 22:43, 21 December 2024 (UTC)
Or alternatively (and probably safer) go out and buy yourself a 2:1 transformer, wire it up, plug it in and use that. For low current devices that will work fine. I used it for stereos, blenders and stuff like that. (Not microwaves or heaters). [[User:DJ Clayworth|DJ Clayworth]] 06:10, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)


:"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.<sup>[https://globalnews.ca/tag/donald-trump-is-a-shape-shifting-lizard/]</sup> 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. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 10:38, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
:I'm not getting something here. The voltage of an AC signal ranges from <math>V_{peak}</math> to <math>-V_{peak}</math> relative to ground, yes? So if I get two of these signals, half a cycle out of phase, and add them, shouldn't I get zero? --[[User:Smack|Smack]] ([[User talk:Smack|talk]]) 16:57, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:::Well, that's what the OP is asking. You're just repeating the OP's question using different words. --[[User:Viennese Waltz|Viennese Waltz]] 10:52, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
::::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. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 01:09, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
::{{small|No insult intended to shape-shifting lizards. [[User:Clarityfiend|Clarityfiend]] ([[User talk:Clarityfiend|talk]]) 10:50, 22 December 2024 (UTC)}}
::(it's easy for you to google that the rumors are out there, Lambiam.[[User:Richard L. Peterson|Rich]] ([[User talk:Richard L. Peterson|talk]]) 18:59, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
:::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. &nbsp;--[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 01:09, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
: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/ [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 18:22, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
:https://stevevillano.medium.com/the-trumps-an-incestuous-intertwining-with-organized-crime-ab65316c2b48
:[[User:Richard L. Peterson|Rich]] ([[User talk:Richard L. Peterson|talk]]) 19:30, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
::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. [[User:Richard L. Peterson|Rich]] ([[User talk:Richard L. Peterson|talk]]) 19:03, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
:::No, I haven't found definitive proof. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 12:08, 23 December 2024 (UTC)


= December 22 =
::No, because you subtract, not add. If you take the two phases and hook them across a resistor, one will be at 110V while the other is at -110V, producing a 220V drop. 110 - (-110) = 220 -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 00:19, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)


== changing wikipedia ==
== Policy related to places ==

So why was the editing pages locked for an hour or so?--[[User:Wonderfool|Wonderfool]] 07:30, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:Routine database maintenance that lasted longer than it should. I believe [[User:Jamesday|Jamesday]] has already been chastized for its length. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 08:47, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)



== Germanic tribes: Sugambri, Sigambrer or Sicambri or Sigambrer (or Sugumbrer) ==

There are two articles [[Sugambri]] and [[Sigambrer]] which interlink suggesting that they are talking about the same topic, but don't say so clearly and have completely independent facts. They also end up giving five separate names all of which are variations on parts of each other. I'd like to know if this is all one and the same tribe? Should these articles be merged? Where did all these names come from? [[User:Azikala|Azikala]] 10:26, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:From a little light Googling and my own books I see that Sigambrer mainly appears in German language sources and Sugambri on English ones. The names of iron age tribes often got mangled by the time they reached the ears of the Roman historians who wrote them down so they could all be the same people with variant spellings. I haven't any proof of this though and wouldn't feel comfortable merging them on this basis alone as they could have been neighbours who had similar names due to shared ancestry or something. [[User:Adamsan|adamsan ]] 12:53, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==Eaton, Leicestershire==
:''moved from article space'' [[User:BrokenSegue|'''B'''roken'''S'''egue]] 18:41, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Anyone have any history on Eaton, Leicestershire, next village from Eastwell? Any would be appreciated... missy290370@yahoo.com [[User:82.3.32.72]]

== ancient timekeeping ==
if you lived in 353 b.c., and someone asked what the date is today, what would the reply be

It would depend on where the person lived. If you asked a Roman, he or she would reply "400 anni ab urbe condita." [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 00:35, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC) Actually that gives you the year, not the date. Shall we say, "tres dies ante nones Ianuarii"? I'm probably off a day or a month, but you get the idea... right? [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 00:40, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)
They'd be more likely to describe the year as "The year of the consulship of C. Sulpicius Peticus and M. Valerius Poplicola" - see [[List of Republican Roman Consuls]]. -- [[User:Arwel Parry|Arwel]] 02:53, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC) I yield to your superior answer for the year. Did I get the day right after 3 tries? [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 03:32, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:Most cultures have measured years from the beginning of the reign of the current monarch, e.g. "the xth year of the reign of King X". This applies to A.D. dates as well as B.C., and is still in use in Japan today (2005 is the 17th year of [[Heisei]]). I believe the use of A.D. years is relatively recent. --[[User:Auximines|Auximines]] 10:36, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::The UK used the practice of dating by regnal years in a legal context until (I think) the 1960s, following on from English practice - I have several legal books that cite, say, "1 Geo. I §2 c.5" for what modern style would title the "Riot Act 1715" (and Kipling, bless him, even managed to work "Georgii Quinti Anno Sexto" - 1916 - into verse) [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 16:33, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[[Anno Domini]] dates have been used since the 7th century. See the section "The popularization of ''Anno Domini''" in that article. The article [[calendar era]] compares year numbering systems in several calendars. [[User:Alteripse]] seems to be groping towards ''ante diem tertium Nonas Ianuarias''. (''ante'' takes the accusative and ''nonae'' is feminine plural.) [[User:Gdr|Gdr]] 13:07, 2005 Jan 3 (UTC)

January 3 is the fifth day before the nones though, isn't it? The nones are on the seventh in a month with 31 days, so it's four days later, plus the day you are currently in. [[User:Adam Bishop|Adam Bishop]] 21:27, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:But Ianuarius had 29 days until the Julian calendar reform, so the Nones were on the 5th. See [[Roman calendar]]. [[User:Gdr|Gdr]] 01:30, 2005 Jan 8 (UTC)

== symtoms of imminent hard drive failure ==

My wife's computer is misbehaving and I suspect that the hard drive is in the process of going bad. Before going to the trouble and expense of replacing the drive, I want to be more confident that this is actually the source of the problem. What I'd really like is a list of common symptoms of an ailing hard drive. [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 00:38, Jan 3, 2005 (UTC)

:I have no idea, but if you even think the hard drive may be going be sure you have a backup. [[User:DJ Clayworth|DJ Clayworth]] 04:01, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:If your hard drive is making a clicking sound, that's the kiss of death. [[User:Raul654|&rarr;Raul654]] 04:11, Jan 3, 2005 (UTC)


::It happened to me too; the sound is the same one heard when turning off the computer. The drive will have to be replaced. [[User:Poccil|Peter O.]] ([[User Talk:Poccil|Talk]]) 04:38, Jan 3, 2005 (UTC)

:Weird noise, random lock-ups, random bluescreens (on Nt/2k/xp: 98 has them anyway). Stuff to look for especially are occasional failures to identify the HDD at boot (if your BIOS reports this), and lockups or reboots when running a scandisk or defrag. {{User:Anárion/sig}} 07:55, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:Before you do anything, make a backup (the cost of replacing a hard drive is vanishingly small compared with the cost to regenerate the work you store on it). Diagnosis by sound is imperfect, as noisy fan bearings or loose panels can make a variety of suspicious sounds too, and the failure modalities Anárion suggests can also occur due to software problems or hardware problems unrelated to the hard drive. Modern hard-drives collect a lot of information about their operation. By using a utility to query this information, you can check for impending failure. ATA/IDE drives usually feature [[Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology|SMART]]; you can query a given drive's SMART statistics using a number of commercial programs or open source program [http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/ smartmontools]. The documentation for the tool you use should tell you how to interpret the data it produces (i.e. how to distinuish between humdrum errors and auguries of doom). If you chose to use smartmontools, I'd recommend burning a CD or floppy with one of the diagnostic linux releases that contain smartmontools (listed on its website) so you can run it without having to install anything on a drive about which you are already dubious. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 14:05, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Drug for Alcoholics ==

A wile ago I heard that Trails were being performed with a experamental drug that controlls the urge to drink in alcoholics. What is it ? Did it prove to be effective and safe ? How can I get some in South Africa ? I need to save a alcoholic father's life !!

I think the drug is called 'Acamprosate', branded Campral® or Aotal® in France. It's produced by Merck-Lipha. Another drug is called Naltrexone and is approved by the FDA. I think you can get it in an online pharmacy; but, you should consult a doctor first and try to detoxicate the person before taking these drugs. Hope that helps you.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/08/19/alcoholism.cnna/index.html

[[User:M0rph|M0rph]] 13:17, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Electro Plating metals ==

I am involved in restorstion of motor cars and need to do small scale plating. Specificaly Copper, Chrome and cadmium. What do I need to get started ? What are the chemicals and their "Recipes" required ? How is it done ?

Thanks for helping,
Bennie.

== The mysterious Swedish fricative ==

Hi, I may need a native Swedish speaker and linguist on this one.

I've just added a [[Voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative|page]] for the swedish "sj" sound, which a previous
contributor gave as [&#615;] (X-Sampa x\) but also named the "Voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative".

I have tried reading up on the system of naming the consonants by place of articulation and
airflow, and as far as I can tell, this isn't a very good name for it. The consonant
is articulated in two places: The palate (like the 'voiceless palatal fricative' X-Sampa C2) and
the narrowed lips (like the Japanese "voiceless bilabial fricative" X-Sampa Pslash). Given that,
isn't it more accurate to call it the "voiceless dorso-palato-bilabial fricative" or something?

Also, what's the correct Kirschenbaum for this consonant?

Many thanks, --[[User:Steverapaport|Steverapaport]] 16:50, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:I'm not a fan of ascii phonetic transcription nor an expert in Swedish phonetics & phonology, but I do have a book that has a little on this sound. I have enclosed all sounds in brackets instead of using boldface like the book. Here we go:

:: Finally in this survey of possible fricative gestures, we must consider some more complicated possibilites....Some dialects of Swedish have a fricative that has been said to have two or even three articulatory constrictions (Abercrombie 1967). We do not, however, think it is correct for more than one of these constrictions to be considered a fricative articulation. There is good data available on the Swedish sibilant fricatives (Lindblad 1980) allowing us to consider these sounds in detail.

:: Swedish has four phonologically distinct fricative gestures. The contrasting sounds are sometimes symbolized [f], [s], [&#597;], [&#615;]; in addition, in Standard Swedish, there is a retroflex fricative [&#642;], which is, phonologically, the sequence of /rs/. The first two of these, [f] and [s], do not need extensive comment.... The other two, [&#597;], [&#615;]; are more difficult to describe. The basic descriptive problem is one of geographical, social, and stylistic variation....

:: The fourth Swedish fricative, usually symbolized by <&#615;>, is the most interesting. Lindblad describes two common variants of Swedish [&#615;]. The first, for which he uses a different symbol, he calls a highly rounded, labiodental, velar or velarized fricative. A redrawn version of his x-ray tracing is shown in figure 5.27. Lindblad suggests that the source of frication is between the lower lip and the upper teeth, and it certainly appears to be so from his x-ray. He also demonstrates that the upper lip is considerably protruded in comparison with its position with that in the gesture of [i]. In addition to these anterior gestures, Lindblad notes that the "tongue body is raised and retracted towards the velum to form a fairly narrow constriction. (The presence of this constriction is constant, but not its width or location, which vary considerably.)" The posterior constriction in this variety of [&#615;] is not great enough to be itself a source of turbulence, so that, although this sound may have three notable constrictions, one in the velar region, one labiodental, and a lesser one between the two lips, only the labiodental constriction is a source of friction.

:: The second common variant of Swedish [&#615;], illustrated in figure 5.28, is described by Lindblad as a "dorsovelar voiceless fricative" pronounced with the jaw more open and without the lip protrusion that occurs in the other variety. Lindblad suggests that the difference between this sound and the more usual velar fricative [x] is that the latter "is formed with low frequency irregular vibrations in the saliva at the constriction" (Lindblad 1980, our translation). We infer from his descriptions and diagrams that this variant of [&#615;] has less frication, and may be slightly further forward than the velar fricative [x] commonly found in other languages. Lindblad claims that between the extreme positions of the labiodental [&#615;] and the more velar [&#615;], "there are a number of intermediate types with various jaw and lip positions, including some with both anterior and posterior sound sources." As we note in chapter 10, we doubt that it is possible to produce turbulence at two points in mouth simultaneouly for ordinary linguistic purposes. &nbsp; (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996: 171-172)

:: Lindblad's demonstrations of his own pronuciations of some of the fricatives that occur in different Swedish dialects are shown in figure 5.31. He notes that these sounds may be characterized to a great extent by the frequency of the lower edge of the band of fricative noise. For the three sibilants [s], [&#642;], [&#8202;&#643;&#8202;] on the left of the figure, this frequency gradually descends. (It is somewhat surprising that it should be lower in [&#8202;&#643;&#8202;], than in [&#642;].) In the palatalized post-alveolar sibilant [&#597;] in the lower left of the figure there is a less sharp lower frequency cut off, as there is in the palatal fricative [ç] opposite it on the lower right side; [&#597;] differs from [ç] by having a higher mean spectral energy. The rounded fricatives in the upper right part of the figure have a strong low frequency peak. Both [&#8202;&#643;&#695;] and [&#615;] also have a low frequency peak, as well as a considerable amount of energy in the region just above 4 kHz. &nbsp; (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996: 173-174)

:: The other preliminary matter to be considered concerns the possibility of multiply-articulated fricatives. It is clear that generation of audible friction at two different locations in the oral cavity at the same time is very difficult. As noted in chapter 3, a fricative requires a more precise adjustment of the articulators than a stop or an approximant. The size of the inter-articulator aperture and the velocity of the airflow must be within critical limits for friction to be generated. To achieve two of these critical adjustments at the same time, especially when the flow requirements might be different for different places, is obviously problematical. From the auditory point of view, even if two sources of friction exist, the one further forward in the mouth is very likely to mask the acoustic effect of the more rearward one. Doubly-articulated fricatives would therefore seem to be linguisticall undesirable segments; they are hard to produce and poorly distinctive. Nonetheless, in a small number of languages it has been claimed that such segments do occur. We have examined some of these cases and found them to be instances of either fricative segments with a secondary articulation, or instances of a sequence of two fricatives that has been interpreted as a single segment for phonological reasons.

:: The most well-known case is the Swedish segment that has been described as a doubly-articulated voiceless palato-alveoar-velar fricative, i.e., [&#8202;&#643;&#865;x]. The IPA even goes so far as to provide a separate symbol for this sound on its chart, namely <&#615;>. The sound in question is one variant of the pronunciation of the phonological element [&#8202;&#643;&#8202;], which is highly variable in Swedish dialects, receiving pronunciations ranging from a palatalized bilabial sound to a velarized palato-alveolar one to a fully velar one. As we showed in chapter 5 it is not clear that any of the variants is actually a doubly-articulated fricative. &nbsp; (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996: 329-330)

:: References:
::* Abercrombie, David. (1967). ''Elements of general phonetics''. Chicago: Aldine.
::*Ladefoged, Peter; & Maddieson, Ian. (1996). ''The sounds of the world's languages''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
::* Lindblad, Per. (1980). ''Svenskans sje- och tje-ljud i ett Allmänfonetisk Perspektiv''. ''Travaux de l'Institut de Linguistique de Lund 16''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup.

:Maybe too informative, but please enjoy. Cheers! - [[User:Ish ishwar|Ish ishwar]] 21:09, 2005 Jan 3 (UTC)

::Beautiful, Ish! Thanks! Just what I needed. I understand a few things from this:
::1. That there are several different ways to pronounce this sound, so it's not worth my trying too hard to pin it down.
::2. That the way I pronounce it and hear it pronounced (in Stockholm) would fall under the "palatalized bilabial sound".
::3. That my contention of the doubly-articulated fricative was inaccurate -- what I meant was "either fricative segments with a secondary articulation, or instances of a sequence of two fricatives that has been interpreted as a single segment for phonological reasons." To tell the truth I could pronounce "sj" just fine in either of those two ways.
::4. And finally that this is an even more mysterious subject than I'd thought, and I'm unlikely to get it right on the first try, or even on the first Masters' thesis.... :-)

:: By the way, just saying "phew" after all that turns out to be a pretty good approximation of [&#615;], and I'll write that too.

:: Many thanks and cheers,
:: \ [[User:Steverapaport|Steverapaport]] 22:19, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:::I was about to write on this before I discovered that Ish Ishwar had already done so. There was a line confusing me, which I've now removed. I hope this doesn't disturb anyone. Unfortunately, there are lots of signs that this computer present as empty squares. I understand that to be IPA-characters, but I can not comment on them at the moment.

:::After this long quote, I may instead make a few more functional and anectdotical comments:

:::This subject touches on one of the major problems for students of Swedish, i.e. the absense of one single norm for pronounciation. In the case of English, it's easier to understand, with the huge distances and so on. For Swedish, the matter is further complicated by '''most Swedes''' being unaware or denying the great variances between "high-status varieties" of Swedish as spoken in Lund, Uppsala, Helsinki, Gothenburg or Umeå - this is particularly disturbing as it includes teachers of the language and writers of text books on Swedish, and '''even''' textbooks on phonetics written in Swedish: People know of ''lexical'' differences, but do typically believe that their own pronounciation is "the most common" and that other pronounciations can be categorized as more or less distinct "[[dialects]]". Australians, Indians, British and Americans do at least recognize that they pronounce differently - the Swedes do not, and put up a blank face when asked about it.

:::I'm not knowing enough to make a comprehensive list of such differences, but
:::* the assimilation of 'rs', 'rd', 'rt' and 'rl is surely one
:::** my personal experience is that foreigners better do not, unless one is firmly located within the area where people do so. They who assimilate 'r' <u>understand</u> you if you don't, but they who don't assimilate may get problems to understand you if you have also other marks of a foreign accent.
:::* the extremely confusing distribution of what the Swedes call "sje-sounds" and "tje-sounds". There is a whole series of sounds, I believe, and the lengthy quote above is probably not totally comprehensive.
:::**Chief problem is that the way some people realize the tje-[[phonem]] ''(kära, tjära, kjortel)'' to my ears sounds <u>exactly</u> as how others pronounce the sje-phonem ''(skära, skjorta, sked).'' To make it just a little bit more complicated: I believe some Swedish speakers furthermore make a difference between ''kära'' and ''tjära'' &mdash; but most do probably not.
:::**The solution for the student of Swedish can be to ignore this issue and strive to use one sound for both of these phonems, which results in a situation like when some foreigners neglect the difference between "living" and "leaving" in English.
:::**Or one could strive to use the most distant realizations in order to enhance the chances to get understood, which also will sound wrong to a native ear, but relatively comprehensible.

:::In the latter case, one need to use [[X-SAMPA]] /S/ or something similar for ''kära'' and the bi-labial X-SAMPA /p\/ sound in words as ''skära, skjorta, sked, sjuksköterska.'' When I learned that sound, we were a group of native Germans who used half a day trying to whistle a tune and then ''immediately'' continue humming on different vowels. After some exercise, we could all say ''sked, skära, sjuk, sköterska'' but to put that sound in the midsth of a word, as in ''magsjuk'' or ''sjuksköterska'' turned out to be even more demanding...
:::--[[User:Ruhrjung|Ruhrjung]] 15:12, 2005 Jan 4 (UTC)

:::P.S. Readers of Swedish can see this confusion illustrated at a Swedish-language cousin to Wikipedia: http://susning.nu/Sje-ljud --[[User:Ruhrjung|Ruhrjung]] 15:26, 2005 Jan 4 (UTC)

::::Thanks to all, I've fixed the [[Voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative|page]] to my satisfaction now. Edit away! [[User:Steverapaport|Steverapaport]] 16:30, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Adding a link from Celebrities Worldwide the Celebrity contacts service for the media and entertainment industry ==

Please could you be kind enough to advise how I may be able to propose adding Link(s)

kind regards


Richard (Brecker) tel: + 44 (0) 20 7836 7705 and mobile + 44 (0) 7836 246 777
Joint Managing Director
Upfront Television (established 1991) and Celebrities Worldwide (est.2000)www.celebritiesworldwide.com the online Celebrity contacts service for the media and entertainment industry
39-41 New Oxford Street
London WC1A 1BN
Fax: +44 (0)20 7836 7701
*I looked at Mr. Brecker's site and it's a subscription-based service that supplies the contact information for celebrities' agents, managers, lawyers, publicists, etc. A link from an individual article to this site seems inappropriate and not useful to our users. One person I queried his site for, [[Katie Holmes]], came up with a statement information was available but I'd have to pay to see it. But finding out her agent (or that of many Hollywood types) is a simple matter--call the [[Screen Actors Guild]] or whatever union they're in. [[User:PedanticallySpeaking|PedanticallySpeaking]] 19:44, Jan 3, 2005 (UTC)
**I've got to agree with PedanticallySpeaking's observation. This is entirely one-sided in benefiting Celebrities Worldwide. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 03:52, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

**A lot of agent information is available at the imdb page for each person, though Katie Holmes is one of those whose info is not available. imdb DOES have IMDbPro.com, which gives more information, but you have to pay for it. [[User:RickK|Rick]][[User talk:RickK|K]] 07:48, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

==Anti-randomness==
(moved here from [[Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous)]])

This has absolutely nothing to do with the Wikipedia, except that hopefully someone smart will read this, and there might be an article written about it already. A friend of mine is at a casino, which is having a contest. Whoever correctly guesses a 7-digit combination on a combination padlock wins a semi. (My friend is a trucker, and the casino gets a lot of business from truckers.) It seems to me that one way of improving the odds is to pick an "anti-random" number - a number not likely to have already been chosen at "random" by the last few thousand truckers. I'm not sure what the correct term for this is, but I'm sure there is one. I'm also sure that someone has already done a study on this somewhere, because it would be very useful for password cracking, and, of course, gambling. Does anybody know what the correct term for an "anti-random" number is, and where a good resource for selecting such a number might be located? (Of course, I'm sure the casino has the information, but "hacking the Gibson" doesn't seem like a good idea!) Also, assuming there is already an article written on this concept, it needs to be linked to from the [[random]] article. [[User:Crazyeddie|crazyeddie]] 05:22, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

:I've heard of this sort of thing, but also have no idea what it's called. Sorry. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 07:34, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

::Statisticians or mathematicians might know. [[User:Maurreen|Maurreen]]

Hmmm. While statisticians or mathematicians would probably be familar with the concept, at least enough to know the right name, I don't think they'd deal with it too much. I'm thinking cryptographers would know more about it. At any rate, this is about the only place I know of where I stand a good chance of running into somebody who knows something about it. [[User:Crazyeddie|crazyeddie]] 19:10, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Don't know the term but reminds me that I've always wanted to buy a lotto ticket with the number 1,2,3,4,5,6 (in NZ you choose six numbers from 1-40). It is just as likely as any combination but I'm not sure that it has ever occurred. It would be interesting to find out what the winning combinations have been. [[User:Evil Monkey|Evil Monkey]] &rarr; <small>[[User talk:Evil Monkey|Talk </small>]] 00:54, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC)

I'm sure the winning combinations are random, but I remember something about it being a good thing to choose an "anti-random" number for such lotteries, since it will reduce the chances of having to share the prize with someone who also choose the winning combination. However, in this case, as more people choose "random" numbers, ruling out commonly picked numbers, the chances of the actual combination being an "anti-random" one goes up. And that's assuming that the casino didn't purposefully choose an "anti-random" number to put off the payoff as long as possible. [[User:Crazyeddie|crazyeddie]] 01:13, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I'm not any kind of statistics expert, but I would suspect that in trying to outguess in a system where humans are doing most of the "random number" generation, you'd be better served to choose a more truly random number, since humans (either deliberately, by using birthdates and so forth, or accidentally, through some kind of unconscious bias towards certain numbers or the general feeling that sequences having "order", like 1,2,3,4,5,6, are somehow less likely) are already picking the less-random ones. In such a system, I would think it'd be best to say "what sequences are humans less likely to choose?" (assuming most other humans are not using a similar approach; if they are, then you're trying to guess what sequences are less likely to be chosen by people who are already trying to guess the unlikelier-to-be-chosen sequences. "''But you must have known that I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.''") -- [[User:Wapcaplet|Wapcaplet]] 21:10, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

:So by your quote you are suggesting that we shouldn't pick any of the numbers and buy tickets because we will lose either way? :-) &mdash;[[User:Moverton|Mike]] 04:09, Dec 30, 2004 (UTC)

::That's what I meant by "anti-random" - sequences humans aren't likely to choose. I'm using "anti-random" for the time being because I have no freakin' clue what the real term is. [[User:Crazyeddie|crazyeddie]] 06:08, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

: I have read of a similar question concerning a state lottery (I can't remember the citation). The advise was to pick numbers greater than 31, because a lot of people used their birthdays to choose their numbers. That advise makes it more likely that the player would choose numbers that other players did not choose. [[User:Mpearl|Morris]] 23:28, Jan 3, 2005 (UTC)

:: 1) I think "Anti-random" is the wrong word. In software testing that term means choosing inputs pecificially to be as far from all the previous values as possible. Actually, I suppose that is one way to describe what you want, except it implies knowledge of the previous picks.
:: 2) If I wanted to generate a "Crazyeddie Random" number, I would look at historical lotto results - specifically the draws for which there were no winners. I would weight my random number generator to favor those numbers which came up most often in the losing draws, on the theory that those are the ones least often picked by humans. I would also randomly shuffle the picked numbers, to avoid any kind of consious ordering. -[[User:Key45|Key45]] 00:43, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Well, I guess I have two actual ''questions''. Firstly, what is the correct term for what I'm talking about, and secondly, what resources are there out there on the web for selecting these sorts of numbers - like historical lotto results. [[User:Crazyeddie|crazyeddie]] 06:51, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I suppose this is not a problem of statistics at all, but one of sociology, because the distribution of numbers picked will probably depend on age and education of the pickers (e.g. if your method becomes really famous, you'd have to go back to picking truly random numbers). Here are two relevant links I found:
http://nrich.maths.org/public/viewer.php?obj_id=1355&part=index&refpage=monthindex.php
http://www.wilmott.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=17247&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=
[[User:Dbachmann|dab]] <small>[[User_talk:Dbachmann|('''&#5839;'''</small>)]] 18:01, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, it's not a problem of statistics, but I figured a statistician might know enough about the effect to pin the correct term on it. It would also vary from culture to culture - in America, 13 would be picked at a different rate than other numbers, while in Japan, something similar would happen with 4 (one way of saying 4 in Japanese is the same word as "death", so 4 is an unlucky number). I wouldn't expect "my" method would be used enough to make a difference in the overall results, at least in the case I'm talking about. (Most of the clients of the casino are truckers - one friend said "pick any number besides 1234567".) The results would probably also vary depending on the range of the possible choices - dates would probably be used for six digit numbers more often than for five digits.

The two links aren't directly related, but I wonder what would happen if one set a darwinian algorithim up against human players at the means game and/or ro-sham-bo. [[User:Crazyeddie|crazyeddie]] 23:15, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)


Anti-Randomness: yes it is (mathematically sort-of-precise). More precisely, the concept of "most random" and "more random" finite sequences of a given length over a given alphabet is well-defined. You can start with a search for Gregory J. Chaitin's work (or if you have Knuth vol. 2 at hand, the only reference to Chaitin in that volume is about this). Kolmogorov came up with this independently IIRC, but he did so much work in probability/statistics and various other branches of mathematics and mathematical physics that you'll be likely deluged if you google him.

--- mp from Calcutta India

Looks like a case of same term (which I choose at, heh, random), different concept. A Crazyeddie "random" number is a number which is picked by humans when they are asked to pick a random number at a greater rate than predicted by pure chance. A Crazyeddie "anti-random" number is one that is selected less than the rate predicted by pure chance. [[User:Crazyeddie|crazyeddie]] 10:40, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Maximum speed of DVD and CD drives ==

Is there a maximum speed for a DVD recorder/reader? Is it different for plus, minus, DL or RAM? Is there a maximum for CDRW drives? Why can't CD drives go faster than 50x?
:My cd drive goes 52x. Off the top of my head, spinning faster poses a risk of shattering the disk. From the [[CD-ROM]] article:
:''CD-ROM drives are rated with a speed factor relative to music CDs (1x or 1-speed which gives a data transfer rate of 150 kilobytes per second in the most common data format). For example, an 8x CD-ROM data transfer rate would be 1.2 megabytes per second. Above 12x speed, there are problems with vibration and heat. Constant angular velocity (CAV) drives give speeds up to 20x but due to the nature of CAV the actual throughput increase over 12x is less than 20/12. 20x was thought to be the maximum speed due to mechanical constraints until February 1998, when Samsung Electronics introduced the SCR-3230, a 32x CD-ROM drive which uses a ball bearing system to balance the spinning disc in the drive to reduce noise. As of 2004, the fastest transfer rate commonly available is about 52x or about 7.8 megabytes per second, though this is only available when reading information from the outer parts of a disc.''
:From the [[DVD-ROM]] article:
:''The data transfer rate of a DVD drive is given in multiples of 1350 kB/s, which means that a drive with 16x speed designation allows a data transfer rate of 16 x 1350 = 21600 kB/s (21.09 MB/s). As CD drive speeds are given in mulitples of 150 kB/s, one DVD "speed" equals nine CD "speeds", i.e. 8x DVD drive should have data transfer rate similar to 72x CD drive (which do not exist). In physical rotation terms (spins per second), one DVD "speed" equals three CD "speeds", so the amount of data that are read during one rotation is three times larger for DVD than for CD and 8x DVD drive has the same rotational speed as 24x CD drive.''
: --[[User:Alterego|Alterego]] 06:43, Jan 4, 2005 (UTC)

:The maximum hypothetical speed for such devices depends on the materials involved. No, really.

:I have not seen the episode, but [[Mythbusters]] has reportedly quoted the CD manufacturers as stating that they don't see a need to go faster than 56x. Their testing indicated that it would take 100,000 rpm to cause a non-abused CD to fall apart. Standard 1x CD rotation is in the realm of 500 rpm, meaning you'd need a 200x drive. Given that at 1x speed, the linear speed is roughly 1.2 m/s, this translates into the edge of the CD moving at about 70% of the [[speed of sound]].

:''However'', destructive testing by people with too much time on their hands indicates that the average CD will self-destruct somewhere in the realm of 30,000 rpm.

:I'd imagine that right now the maximum speed for DVDs is limited by the host computer's ability to transfer data, but that's just speculation. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 07:02, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::The maximum data transfer rate for DVDs is not even close to the data transfer capabilities of modern [[computer bus]]es. Modern [[SCSI]] buses can handle 320 MB/s. And new bus designs are much faster; see for example [[InfiniBand]]. In theory you could make faster optical media drives using multiple read heads and appropriate track layout on the disk. (This is one of the ways in which hard drives have become faster.) However, the resulting disks wouldn't be compatible with older drives. [[User:Gdr|Gdr]] 11:43, 2005 Jan 4 (UTC)

:::Yes, there are big, fast connections out there. I was speaking of the average ordinary desktop computer. Besides, at 320 MB/s, where are you going to put the data? -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 13:04, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:::: [http://seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/marketing/detail/0,1081,660,00.html Seagate Cheetah 15K.4 37 GB HDD]. ''"Up to 320 Mbyte-per second throughput and faster sustained transfer rate"'' =) --[[User:Alterego|Alterego]] 18:01, Jan 4, 2005 (UTC)
:::::Like anyone believes a hard drive manufacturer's numbers on speed. :) -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 18:08, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)
::::::Just ask one of the techs. Ariel is running six of these bad boys (the .3 not the point .4 [http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/marketing/detail/0,1081,619,00.html same transfer rate]) at 73GB a piece. See also the [[meta:Wikimedia_servers/hardware_orders/May_2004#Vendor order summary|May 2004 hardware order]]. --[[User:Alterego|Alterego]] 18:20, Jan 4, 2005 (UTC)
:::::::I myself was interested in this so I asked a bit in #mediawiki (you were in there so you probably have it logged). What I was basically told was that the max that has been seen on Ariel is 40MBps, but this is because she doesn't use throughput, but in-out per second. She's still a babe ;) --[[User:Alterego|Alterego]] 19:30, Jan 4, 2005 (UTC)

== Drive backup software? ==

Is there a free software equivalent of [[Ghost (software)|Norton Ghost]]? -- [[User:Toytoy|Toytoy]] 16:10, Jan 4, 2005 (UTC)

: It's hardly fancy, but if you just want to wholesale clone drives or (better) partitions you can use [[Dd (Unix)|dd]], which is available on unix and windows. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 16:18, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: Perhaps [http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/ g4u] will suit you. &mdash;[[User:AlanBarrett|AlanBarrett]] 16:49, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Does anybody know the name of Pomegranate seeds? ==

I've spent hours on the internet and nobody knows it. I am about to loose a bet if I do not come up with the name in 2 days. Please HELP. TK
(Please email me if you know it at:thomaskerenyi@aol.com)

: Probably because nobody would think that the seeds of apples or oranges, let alone pomegranates, even had a name. And about losing a bet, you seem really desperate. [[User:PoccilScript|PoccilScript]] 03:23, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: I think they're called pips, although that might just refer to the bit of tissue that surrounds each seed. [[User:Rhymeless|Rhymeless]] [[User talk:Rhymeless| (Er...let's shimmy)]] 04:35, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:They're pips. I have cookbooks that call them that. Considering that it gets a fair number of hits on [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22pomegranate+pips%22&btnG=Search Google], I'd consider it an attested usage. [[User:Diderot|Diderot]] 08:47, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:All seeds are called "pips", whether or not they are from pomegranates. -- [[User:Dominus|Dominus]] 12:48, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Not exactly off topic, but there was a long standing problem in mathematics to prove what the optimum method of [[Sphere packing|packing spheres]] is. [[Johannes Kepler]] approached the problem in [[1661]] by considering how the seeds in a pomegranate would expand to fill the available space as the fruit grows. Unfortunately our article on the [[Kepler conjecture]] doesn't mention this, but a search for 'Kepler' and 'pomegranate' only seems to give results that call the seeds 'pomegranate seeds'. -- [[User:Solipsist|Solipsist]] 19:34, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Computer trouble ===
Computer boots up fine, but no picture. No signal at all. Replaced video card with a new one (PNY GeForceFX 5700LE), still no picture. What could be the problem? [[User:Masterhomer|Masterhomer]] 16:42, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: Well, I assume you've already checked the obvious (bad monitor/monitor-cable/kvmSwitch). Given you can't see anything, what convinces you that it is indeed booting okay? If it echoes pings then something is wrong in video land, if not then it can be any number of hardware problems (do you get the diagnostic beeps?). Oh, and make sure your motherboard doesn't have onboard video too (i.e. that you've plugged the monitor into the wrong video port). -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 18:49, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== compartment syndrome ==

how is it possible to find an expert witness on this subject? I need to be able to maybe find someone who is an expert on this subject so that I could get them to testify that my son had compartment syndrome and he was realeased from the hospital the day after his surgery.I just dont know where to look for this.

: Well, if you know he had compartment syndrome you could always use whoever diagnosed it... Speak to your doctor, who should be able to give you the name of someone who can point out a specialist. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 18:36, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC) (NB: This information is worth exactly as much as you paid for it)

:Shimgray, the message isn't clear, but the phrasing suggests this person isn't interested in an opinion as to whether the son acutally had compartment syndrome, but rather wants to find a doctor willing to support a lawsuit. A malpractice lawyer won't have any trouble finding an expert if the case is clear. On the other hand, looking here for an expert witness suggests a do-it-yourself "lawyer" with lots to learn or that the inquirer's lawyer's experts have already said the case isn't so clear, but the inquirer doesn't like those opinions. Ah, the wonderful American legal system! [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 04:09, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Rose Bowl ==

In years when the Rose Bowl football game is not scheduled on January 1st (like next year, when the game is scheduled to be played on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006), does the Rose Bowl parade still happen on January 1st ? - [[User:Bevo|Bevo]] 20:36, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== roman mouse diet ==

do you know what is the nutritional value of mice and rats e.g. edible dormice?

:Sure, just look on the package. It says one dormouse has 34 g protein, 4 g fat, but less than 1 g carbs (so Dr Atkinus would approve). But notice that it says a serving is only 1 mouse, and who eats just one once the package is opened? Rats I wouldn't touch-- nobody but the plebs eat those and only when the corn ships are late. [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 04:15, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:I'd imagine it'd be similar to [http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s03l9.html squirrel meat, nutritionally]. But that's just a guess. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 05:10, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::Or hamsters, but it may be just as tricky to find someone who offhand knows nutritional values for them (I'm told they're really quite nice, it's just impolitic to cook them here). [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 14:53, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Uh huh. foodie to the rescue: I suggest that you contact this link with this question directly. They will not only provide the nutritional content of mice, rats, dormice, squirrels, hamsters, and other vermints, but also safe cooking techniques and precautions for handling critters with sharp little teeth. Essential advice for any culinary adventurers: http://food.oregonstate.edu/

One question does beg another: Do you live in Rome, or do you just import Roman mice? Or is that the name of a new diet?

== Fighter Lead-In Trainer Course ==

Hi there,<br>
I am looking for a place where they train conduct FLIT course. Preferably from the European countries and allow the contract be handled by an agent, i.e. not a G-to-G thing.

Thank you.

== Who is William J. Bell? ==

When was this man born and where? How did he jump into the scriptwriting business? Any data would be of great use?

He's a long-time [[soap opera]] writer and producer. You can find his credits at [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0068589/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHxwbj0xfHE9V2lsbGlhbSBKLiBCZWxsfGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=20 imdb.com], but it doesn't say why he jumped into scriptwriting. [[User:RickK|Rick]][[User talk:RickK|K]] 08:20, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

==electronics fluorescent light==

please i want u to send me some literature review about electronics fluorescent light.i need it to complete my project.please you can send it to my mail if icant get the reply right now. my mail is clementito_1@yahoo.com.
thanks

== English word for ma'amoul? ==

There is a type of snack called "ma'amoul" in Arabic. (I hope I got that right. The actual Arabic spelling is meem-ayn-meem-waw-lam.) What is it called in English?

:A bit of Googling shows that other people have called them:
:*"nut filled cookies"
:*"Easter cakes"
:*"semoilina cookies"
See [http://www.google.com/search?q=ma'amoul], [http://www.google.com/search?q=maamoul&spell=1] -- [[User:The Anome|The Anome]] 18:39, Jan 6, 2005 (UTC)

:I've seen it for sale in Philadelphia under the name "mamool" and various other spellings. -- [[User:Dominus|Dominus]] 20:06, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Defined Benefit Plan ==

I am interested in understanding the differences between defined benefit plan and defined contribution plan.

Can anyone help? No pages exist.

Thank you,

Jay

twominute00 AT hotmail.com

ps. I have no idea where to get the answer, so please email me with your post!

:See descriptions of DB & DC in [[pension]]. (I'll email the user) [[User:Samw|Samw]] 04:14, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Recipe For Tortilla Pinwheels ==

Please, help..I need to know the recipe fopr Tortilla Pinwheels. Urgently. All I remember from the recipe is that it has olives and chiles in it, and you twist the ends..and it chills overnight.

--Tina

:Wikipedia is not a [http://www.google.com search engine], which would have [http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,tortilla_pinwheels,FF.html answered your question] in seconds. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 01:35, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:: Please [[Wikipedia:Don't bite the newcomers|don't bite the newcomers]]. If these sorts of questions bother you, then just ignore them. There are plenty of people here who are more than happy to offer friendly help. --[[User:Diberri|David Iberri]] | [[User talk:Diberri|Talk]] 17:56, Jan 7, 2005 (UTC)

:::Doesn't look like a bite to me. The question was answered and useful additional advice on the utility of search engines given. Terse, maybe, but not rude. --[[User:Tagishsimon|Tagishsimon]] [[User_talk:Tagishsimon|(talk)]]

::::It was somewhat rude. I was on edge that day and the triviality of the question pushed me over. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 23:22, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Uh huh. Well, Tina. I do a lot of research on food history. Here is a very comprehensive link with a lot more than you need to know. It's a lot better than Google (why does always say: Do a Google?) because it'll not only provide recipes, but recipes for EVERYTHING you need to know, and the history, nutritional value, food safety, heck - they'll snail mail you a chef as well: http://food.oregonstate.edu/
So: Share those pinwheels? Best Regards,--[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 22:21, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== [[Arabic script]] for "[[oud]]"? ==

I know that in Arabic, the oud is ''al-&#363;d'', but how would you write that in Arabic script? Thanks for the help, [[Liberal|Gelu]] [[Linguist|Ignis]]que

"oud" is written like this:

&#1593;&#1615;&#1608;&#1583;

--[[User:Auximines|Auximines]] 22:33, 7 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== about wikipedia picture ==

I've asked in the talk page, but no one answered. So I'll try here. The picture is in here [[:Image:Sojourner Rover taking measurements (large).jpg]], and the question is in here [[Image talk:Sojourner Rover taking measurements (large).jpg]].
[[User:Roscoe x|Roscoe x]] 06:28, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:Answered there with links and stuff. In brief: Pathfinder had a lander with a camera on it. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 07:34, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Help about relation between various categories and their hierarchy. ==

We are the GNU project working at TIFR under the guidance of Dr.Nagarjuna G. We had previously enquired about the hierarchy of categories.You had directed us to categorylink table.But we are unable to understand the hierarchy of the categories from that.We request you to tell us how the hierarchy is maintained.For eg: Anarchism has category Political Theories. This category has sub-categories like Nazism and Marxism. We need to such hierarchy and not the categories to which a particular article belongs to.

We would be grateful to you if we get some information about the above.

Thanking you. --[anon]

:There seem to be some words missing from your question (between "to" and "such"). [[User:Gdr|Gdr]] 13:46, 2005 Jan 8 (UTC)

:Like all of Wikipedia, the categories are defined and linked by many different users over time. Even if there was some "defined" hierarchy, there would be variances. However, there is no defined hierarchy. From [[Wikipedia:Categorisation FAQ]]:
::''The software feature does not force a strict hierarchy or tree of categories, but allows multiple categorisation schemes to co-exist simultaneously. Because each article can appear in more than one category, and each category to appear in more than one parent categories, the categories do not form a tree structure, but a more general directed graph. It is even possible to construct loops in the category graph, but this is seldom a good idea.''
:I hope this helps. -[[User:Rholton|Rholton]] 03:19, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== what is colour for? ==
Too good a question to ignore. Inasmuch as "colour" is the human perception of light, I'd say that the perception of colour provides important survival advantages in the interaction of the individual with the environment, notably the identification of prey and food. [[User:Sharkford|Sharkford]] 14:53, 2005 Jan 9 (UTC)

Animals can perceive light, too. Bees see well into the infrared range, and infrared photography I've seen of flowers show that some of them actually have a bulls-eye of different wavelengths which the human eye can't detect. [[User:RickK|Rick]][[User talk:RickK|K]] 07:22, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

:Your answer made me curious and then I quickly found [http://www.teresalunt.com/infrared/flowers.htm these infra-red images of flowers] --[[User:62.255.64.4|62.255.64.4]] 00:35, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==A rubbish question==
Why is it that, no matter what you put in the rubbish bin, it always smells the same? Is there some kind of chemical released by all foods when it decomposes? My housemates theorized that there must be a chemical reaction with the bin liner, but that is a lame hypothesis. And the above question on colour is a very [[wiktionary:poignant|poignant]] one too.

:There seems to be a small group of [[volatile organic compound]]s (VOCs) that are produced by the [[putrescence]] of rubbish. These include [[putrescine]] and [[cadaverine]]. See [http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/NSF/C10/C10Links/www.pharmcentral.com/flavors.htm here] for some more detailed chemistry. --[[User:Heron|Heron]] 15:00, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I wonder if it's also likely that your rubbish bin tends to smell the same since, over the average week, you tend to put the same things in it. Of course, to see if this is true, you ought to seek out the bins of people who are likely to have a different diet to yourself and give their bins a good sniffing. I think any problems of a social nature that may arise from this activity would be more than compensated by your increased wisdom.

Alternatively you could ''wuss out'' and decide that next week you are going to have a themed diet in the household: see what happens if you and your co-habitees live entirely on cake for 7 days. Surely that's an experiment with broad appeal? --[[User:62.255.64.4|62.255.64.4]] 00:42, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== 1862 Virginia Commenwealth currency ==

I would like to ask, how would I find out the value of a original 1862 $100.00 bill virginia treasury note? Featuring: John Letcher in the middle, George Washington on the left, and Indian maiden Pocohontas on the right. If you can answer my question, or help me with it, my email address is etriggs@knology.net. Thank You R.D. Scarbrough

:Here's the "Paper Money Collecting FAQ" [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/coin-collecting/paper-money-faq/] (from rec.collecting.paper-money on Usenet; it might be worth asking there, as well]. It lists several books (I believe Pick is the standard reference, but...); try seeing if any of your local libraries have access to these, as they list the market value for huge numbers of notes.
: [http://www.collectpapermoney.co.uk/lists/colombia-czechrep.htm] lists a $100 Confederate bill for about eighty dollars, although this could be due to something unusual about it. Condition will also - strongly - affect the value of a note.
:However... [http://www.money.org/replicas.html] notes that replicas of Confederate notes were commonly produced as souvenirs, and one of the known examples is a ''Treasury Note; $100; Oct. 15, 1862'', with the serial number(s) of the replicas given as ''119, 2875''. If it has either of those numbers, it may well be a replica. Just a caution. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 17:16, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:The American Numismatic Association [http://www.money.org/faq.html#Question1 recommends] tracking down a copy of Gene Hessler's ''Comprehensive Catalog of U.S. Paper Money''. If you don't have access to a library with the book, I'd recommend seeing if it passes the newsgroup's smell test. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 17:40, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

*One quick way to find out what the actual going price for collectibles is (as opposed to the book value) is to do a search on [[eBay]] for it. In this case, a look at these [http://search-completed.ebay.com/virginia-treasury-note-100_W0QQcatrefZC6QQcatrefZC6QQfromZR10QQsbrftogZ1QQsofocusZbsQQsoitemstatusZ2QQsosortorderZ2QQsosortpropertyZ1QQsotrtypeZ1QQsotrvalueZ1 closed auctions] shows that there were three recent auctions for such a note, at least one of which is a replica, and that the prices ranged from $2 (for a replica) to $275 (for one guaranteed by the seller to be authentic.) Me, I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole unless it were vetted by a highly reputable dealer or collector. --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]][[User talk:Jpgordon|&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710;]] 03:29, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== first world war veteran ==

Hi, I am looking for any information regarding my great uncle.

: Hmm. IP says you're probably British. But, really, give us a smaller target next time... if you can tell us where he was from, we can tell you where to look for the information.
: If he died in the war, the Commonwealth War Graves Commision [http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx website] will have an entry for his grave, and a small amount of related information. Mind you, he was a veteran of it, so probably didn't... The National Archives have a set of interesting leaflets on researching various topics [http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/researchguidesindex.asp] here; specifically, you might find [http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=23] this useful.
: If you collate all the information you have on him - where he lived, his full name, dates of birth, anything you know he did in the War - you may find this a very useful way of helping search for information, or decide if information is relevant (if he was an officer, for example, this opens up a whole new set of possible sources; if he won a specific medal ditto, since the citation will be filed somewhere). If he was in the Army, knowing battalion and regiment is very useful; if in the Navy, ship names.
: Genealogy websites may also prove useful, although the first half of the century is a bit of a blackspot - it's recent enough that many of the records are still private due to the fact the people in them may be living, but old enough that they're often not easily available.
: Hope this helps - we really don't have information to help you with individual people, but we can point you towards relevant resources. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 17:46, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Where is Silmi Island, Korea? ==

''[[Silmido]]'' (''Silmi Island'') is the best-selling Korean movie of [[2003]]. I can't believe it. I consulted the maps of Microsoft [[Encarta]] and the NASA freeware [[World Wind]] and still cannot find where Silmi Island is. I also googled. There are some guided tours to that island, but so far, none of them provide a map. There are dozens of small nameless islands off the coast of Incheon. I just don't know which one is that island. -- [[User:Toytoy|Toytoy]] 17:07, Jan 9, 2005 (UTC)

:From what I've managed to find, Silmi Island is located just off the larger Muui Island, which has ferry service from [[Yeongjong]], home of [[Incheon International Airport]]. At low tide, you can [http://english.tour2korea.com/03Sightseeing/DestinationsByRegions/Depth04.asp?sight=Sightseeing&sightseeing_id=639&ADDRESS_1=11614&ADDRESS_2=11387&konum=1&kosm=m3_1 reportedly] walk from Silmi Beach on Muui to Silmi itself.

:Based on [http://muuido.co.kr/02trv.htm this map], apparently from the Muui tourism board, I'm guessing silmido's the small green island off the northwest coast of the larger green island (Muuido). However, I have a complete inability to read Korean, so don't take that as being any kind of authoritative statement.

:I don't know how much this helps, but it's all I could find in a brief search. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 18:25, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

According to the map on http://www.hotelqueen.com/kor-1/new_land_mueui.html, Silmido (&#49892;&#48120;&#46020;, &#23526;&#23614;&#23798;) is the little island west of Muuido (&#47924;&#51032;&#46020;, &#33310;&#34915;&#23798;) (the 2nd umbrella from the top). For a broader view, you may visit http://www.viewkorea.co.kr/Korean/muido.htm.

Thanks to the movie, these two islands have become very popular in Korea. See the 3rd picture on http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/msrpine/330339.html.

Silmi Island (37.40 N, 126.39 E) is no more than 50 km (30 mi) from the North Korean border and only 5 km (3 mi) from the Incheon International Airport opened in [[2001]]. A high-flying aircraft would possibly had taken aerial photos of that island and the commando training camp on the west coast easily. This might not be the best place in the world to launch a top secret plan to kill [[Kim Il-sung]]. -- [[User:Toytoy|Toytoy]] 03:38, Jan 10, 2005 (UTC)

:Wait, so my interpretation of stuff I couldn't read was correct!? Hooray! -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 04:31, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Yes. You did it right! I used World Wind to simulate an aerial view from North Korea, if the weather allows, you may possibly take some good pictures of that island without crossing border (37.5 N) at 10,000 m altitude. That's business as usual for a commercial airliner. A piece of cake for a [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19|MiG-19]] that has a ceiling of 17,500 m. These are not the crystal clear "license plate" grade pictures taken by the Pentagon because of the 50 km atmosphere that gets in the way. But these pictures may still be marginally usable. What you need is a good camera and a good pilot. -- [[User:Toytoy|Toytoy]] 04:51, Jan 10, 2005 (UTC)

[[Image:Silmido map nasa world wind.jpg|thumb|320px]]

You may find this image useful. -- [[User:Toytoy|Toytoy]] 05:26, Jan 10, 2005 (UTC)

== Largest gun? ==

Were [[Schwerer Gustav]] and Dora really the largest guns ever made? [[User:Kieff|<nowiki></nowiki>]] &mdash; [[User:Kieff|Kieff]] | [[User talk:Kieff|Talk]] 18:41, Jan 9, 2005 (UTC)

: Depends how you define "largest". They were probably the physically largest guns (if you don't count [[Gerald Bull]]'s "supergun", which was never assembled or fired), but the [[Tsar Cannon]], built in the 1500s, had a larger calibre. I ''believe'' this is the largest-calibre weapon known to exist, although larger ones may possibly have been constructed and then lost to history. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 19:44, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== DNA ==

I have two questions relating to DNA:
1. How are purine and pyrimidine nucleotides similar and how are they different?
2. In order for DNA to bond to phosphoric acid, what type of reaction must occur?

See the [[DNA]] article for pictures.
#Adenine and guanine are the purines. They have double rings. Cytosine and thymine are the pyrimidines. They have single rings. A is slightly different from G and only pairs with T. G only pairs with C. Reciprocally, C and T are slightly different, and C only pairs with G, and T only pairs with A.
#There is a phosphate group between each base in each strand. Phosphoric acid exists primarily as phosphate. It binds to ribose even before the ribose and purine or pyrimidine become part of DNA, so it is misleading to say "DNA bonds to phosphoric acid"; rather the phosphate is already part of every base before it becomes incorporated into the string of bases that is DNA. The reaction by which phosphate bonds to ribose is called phosphorylation. [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 00:32, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Franklin D. Roosevelts legislation act of 1935 re; Social Security ==

Dear Sir or Madam,
Allow me introduce myself, my name is Mamie Glorioso and my e mail address is, honeybee12@cox.net.

Perhaps you can help me, I have been trying to find the acutal written contents of FDR's or Legislations Act of 1935 regarding Social Security.
By this I mean the actual written contents of this bill as directed under this act word for word. Is there such an animal? and if there is can you direct me to it? I haven't been able to find this anywhere, perhaps I'm not putting in the correct word search. I've tried just about everything.

Thanking you in advance regarding the above request, I remain,
Very truly yours,

Mamie Glorioso

: The Social Security Administration has a copy [http://www.ssa.gov/history/35actinx.html here]; first hit on Google for [http://www.google.com/search?q=1935+Social+security+act 1935 Social security act]. [http://www.ssa.gov/history/law.html] has related historical material. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 21:52, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)



== Dryer lint ==

So... why is clothes dryer lint almost always (95%?) bluish in colour? [[User:Rhymeless|Rhymeless]] [[User talk:Rhymeless| (Er...let's shimmy)]] 06:00, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)
*Perhaps due to the non-binding nature of [[indigo dye]]. [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 06:23, Jan 10, 2005 (UTC)
*Mine is usually light grey to blue-grey. [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 20:00, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)
*When I shared a flat, and a dryer, with a woman, it was clear whose dryer lint was whose. I wore "guy" colours, she lighter and more "girly" ones, and so my lint was blue or black or grey and her's tended to be pink or white or yellow. As neither of us was terribly good about cleaning the lint-trap, several strata of lint would build up. On removing it, one could clearly see (''a la'' [[dendrochronology]]) who had done what washes and in what order. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 01:54, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)
*The article on [[belly button fluff]] has, loosely, I believe a scientific explanation somewhere]].--[[User:Wonderfool|Wonderfool]] 13:12, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==What is dryer lint?==
Does it come from the fibers that make up your clothes, or is it more like dust particles from the environment that collect on the clothes? [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 20:00, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

:I'm pretty sure it's mostly clothes. Mine tends to include quite a bit of Kleenex tissue in addition. Some small fraction is probably hair, dead skin, whatever. moink
::I'm surprised that old clothes continue to lose fibers, even after many dryings. [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 21:47, Jan 22, 2005 (UTC)
::: Not surprising at all, i think, because these are not whole fibers but small broken off ends. Notice how a garment ages, becoming softer as it's worn and washed; that reflects lessening cohesion between adjacent fibers as they break off where they come closest most often, from the stress that is makes the closth stiff. An old enough garment actually gets thinner as well as softer. --[[User:Jerzy|Jerzy]][[User talk:Jerzy|(t)]] 22:32, 2005 Jan 22 (UTC)

== I created a new article -- it's not yet posted. ==

About a week ago (give of take a couple of days) I created a new article for the Wikipedia. I titled the article PIGS IS PIGS (1937), which refered to a WB cartoon that was released in 1937. True, there is an article in the Wikipedia titled PIGS IS PIGS and is linled to the WB short by that title. However, the link and the article are both wrong. In 1954 Disney released an animated short based on the best-selling humour book by Ellis Parker Butler that goes by the same name -- the article referes to this work. This is a mistake.

The 1954 Disney animated short and the best-selling humour book by Ellis Parker Butler that goes by the same name have absolutely nothing to do with this cartoon!

Seeing that no article existed for this work, I set down to create one. It was submitted, but has not yet appeared on the Wikipedia.

Why?

Sincerly;

KRR

:Is that the exact punctuation you used? I've checked and found nothing in the deletion log, or your contributions listing. [[User:MacGyverMagic|MacGyverMagic]]|[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|<sup>(talk)</sup>]] (editing from public IP) 08:52, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I don't think so. I used the same puctuation as was used in the title of the other (unrelated) article. It would read as Pigs is Pigs (1937).

Thanks. I'll have to try again.

: Seems to be there now... [[Pigs is Pigs (1937)]]. I wonder if the old one hit one of the intermittent periods of the servers being overly strained, and got lost en route? [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 16:58, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== yaws ==
In the religious context or the seaworthy one? Either way, it's [[yaw]] singular. --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 00:55, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Problems occuring when cancelling unstable poles ==

I'm revising for an exam on classical control theory and have a few problems.

What are the shortcomings of using the cancellation process in the light of uncertainties in the values of the system parameters?

Also, if I have the system G(s) = 1 / (s-1.5)(s^2+s+1)
and have to design a stabilizer of the form C(s) = [k(s^2+as+b)] / (s^2+cs+d), how would I go about this?

anon

:Are you taking MIT PhD qualifying exams this week like I am? (which by the way, all of you who may remember me, is why i'm so seldom around).

By "the cancellation process" I presume you mean pole-zero cancellation. It's a somewhat reasonable strategy for stable poles, if you have a pretty linear, well-modeled system, but a BAD BAD BAD idea for unstable poles. Here's why: Our models of systems are never perfect. As you mention, there will always be uncertainties in the values of the system parameters. That translates into uncertainties in the positions of the poles. And of course, these "linear, time invariant" systems we're always talking about are just idealizations. Very little is ever truly linear, we just linearize about the operating point. So if the operating point moves a touch, our model is just a bit off at that point, and oops, the zeros we decided to put on top of those poles are a little bit off. Uh-oh. Unstable poles. They'll have small residues, yes, due to the proximity of the zeros, but something starting small and growing to infinity is just as scary in the long run as something that starts bigger and grows to infinity.

It's even a bad idea to use pole-zero cancellation on stable but "slow" poles. Again, you'll significantly reduce the magnitude of their residues, therefore making them unimportant (relative to other effects) right at zero, but if they stick around long enough they'll start to become dominant. It's really a better idea, in my opinion, to put some zeros way out in the left half-plane somewhere where they can suck in the poles as the gain increases and speed up and stabilize the whole system. That is, if you aren't trying to limit high-frequency noise...

As to your second question, I guess it depends on what your goal is. Do you have particular requirements for your control system? That plant transfer function you have there is pretty simple, just a real pole and a complex conjugate pair. I'd probably do a PD or phase lead if I wanted to increase the damping ratio or speed the system up. But that controller transfer function you've got there looks like a filter aimed at particular frequencies. Depending on the values you choose, it could be a bandpass filter or a notch filter. If I were you I'd use Bode methods to design the controller. And get some requirements. Like, do you have a bandwidth requirement? Are you trying to limit noise in a certain frequency range? If that's the extent of a test question, your prof doesn't know what she's doing. moink

==Gas Prices==
:''moved from article space'' [[User:BrokenSegue|'''B'''roken'''S'''egue]] 21:57, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Now when we think of gas we think of 1.79 to 2.00 dollars. I was wondering how much was gas back then in the year i was born [[1989]].
:: Was about $1.00 / gal in [[Pennsylvania]] that year. (I was delivering pizza, and filling up a lot...).
::: Using [http://www1.jsc.nasa.gov/bu2/inflate.html some inflation calculators] the actual difference ranges from negligible to moderate. [[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 00:19, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Hyperglycemia - is it a Metabolic disorder? ==

I see that [[Hypoglycemia]] is in [[:Category:Metabolic disorders]]. Why isn't [[Hyperglycemia]] also classified thus? [[User:Ancheta Wis|Ancheta Wis]] 02:44, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:based on a quick Google, I see [http://www.musckids.com/health_library/diabetes/diabetes.htm Diabetes & Other Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders] is probably sufficient justification for placing the [[Hyperglycemia]] stub in [[:Category:Metabolic disorders]]. Someone with better knowledge please reverse my cat if I am wrong. [[User:Ancheta Wis|Ancheta Wis]] 02:50, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:IANAMP, but I don't think that either should be in that category. Both are conditions that have various causes. For example, Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) can be caused by [[Diabetes Mellitus]], but there may be other possible causes. According to our article, Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) has at least 10 possible causes. -[[User:Rholton|Rholton]] 03:01, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

This is not so much a medical question as one of categorization and nosology. Both hyper and hypoglycemia, like [[hypothyroidism]] and [[hyperthyroidism]], and [[adrenal insufficiency]] and [[Cushing's syndrome]], refer to metabolic derangements with many causes. They can be mild or severe, transient or persistent, can be imperceptible to the patient or make the person feel ill, and can have minimal or severe consequences. I tend to favor a broad definition of [[disease]] that would include all of them. When you think of disease categorizations, think of a forest of trees. The trunk of one tree may be chief complaint:fatigue, with branches that include metabolic disorders, smaller brances that include each of the above categories, and still smaller twigs and leaves for the myriad disorders that can cause hypo and hyperglycemia to a degree that causes fatigue. However, the next tree in the forest is pancreatic disorders, which includes defective insulin secretion and hyperglycemia as one of the large branches and many, but not all of the same small branches causing hyperglycemia (but only those that arise from pancreatic disorders).

In practice, a physician does not always define a condition down as narrowly in terms of physiological function, molecular pathology, or tissue change as might be achieved, so he or she might think that this patient has hyperglycemia and treat it it without determining the cause (this putative physician is obviously not an endocrinologist). So I would tend to use the large category of disease for any condition that a physician might use to think about and treat a patient, recognizing that any system you use has some arbitrary and inconsistent exclusions and inclusions. Does this make sense? [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 12:14, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==Hitler and English==
Did [[Adolf Hitler]] speak [[English language|English]]? Thanks in advance, -[[User:Branddobbe|Branddobbe]] 07:05, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)
:While his Irish sister-in-law Bridget Hitler (wife of his older half-brother Alois) claimed that he spent some time living with them in Liverpool before the First World War, and consequently he ''might'' have spoken some English, this account is nowadays discounted. [http://veritas3.holocaust-history.org/questions/hitler-adolf.shtml This reply] on holocaust-history.org indicates that the replier doesn't think AH spoke English, citing AH's interpreter, and personally I've never seen any indication that he did. -- [[User:Arwel Parry|Arwel]] 12:18, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Medieval naming of animals ==

The medieval French gave standard names for animals in their fables, like Reynard for foxes and Chanticleer for roosters. Is there somewhere that I can find a list of those names? [[User:RickK|Rick]][[User talk:RickK|K]] 07:18, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

:I didn't find an exhaustive list of these names in English or French. There is one for German at [[:de:Fabel]]. A small list of English names is given in ''[[Reynard the Fox]]'', for French in [[:fr:Le_Roman_de_Renart]]. Regarding [[Jean de la Fontaine]]'s fables, the book by Pierre Bornecque, ''La Fontaine Fabuliste'', SEDES 1975, ISBN 2-718-10303-5, seems to be the standard reference, but it appears to be out of print. You could probably compile a list yourself from [http://www.lafontaine.net/lafontaine/lafontaine.php?id=48]. I am not aware of la Fontaine's animals having proper names. They do, however, address each other using various honorifics. The "Reynard" (typically "Renart" in French) in "Reynard the Fox" is obviously a word-play on the French word for fox, "renard". (In German, he is called "Reineke Fuchs" or "Meister Reineke".) About "Chanticleer", see [http://www.droit.univ-paris5.fr/jebrana/FACS/glossaire2.html] (derives from "chante clair", "sing clearly"). The wolf was called "Ysengrin" or "Isengrin" [http://french.chass.utoronto.ca/fre180/Renart.html], in French and English ("Isegrim" in German) (cf. [http://www.google.ch/search?q=cache:NddLSzPxO_oJ:www.britannica.com/eb/print%3FtocId%3D22491%26fullArticle%3Dfalse+%2Bysengrin+%2Breynard&hl=de&ie=UTF-8 Google cache of Britannica page]). See also [http://32.1911encyclopedia.org/R/RE/REYNARD_THE_FOX.htm the 1911 Britannica]. [http://home.scarlet.be/~ping2445/Waas_Waasland03.shtml] gives a few more, comparing with [[:de:Fabel]], it appears that "Grimbert" or "Grimbeard" is a typical name for the badger, and "Brun" or "Bruin" for the bear. You might also check out the [http://bestiary.ca/etexts/morley1889/Morley%20-%20History%20of%20Reynard%20the%20Fox.pdf History of Reynard the Fox] (PDF, 393kB). [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/english/Re/Reynard+the+Fox.html] also has some more info on Reynard. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] 11:57, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::I wrote: ''"...is obviously a word-play on the French word for fox, "renard".''. It appears that I have that backwards: according to [[:fr:Le_Roman_de_Renart]], "renard" is derived from "Renart" and effectively has replaced the older word "goupil". [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] 12:01, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== why does a year start on january 1? ==

Oh, does it? See [[New Year]] and [[New Year's Day]]. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] 16:08, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== False color images in astronomy ==

I understand that many of the astronomical images we see in magazines, etc. are actually black and white images that have had color added. But -Why not just take color images to begin with? -Is the choice of added colors based on anything other than aesthetic appeal? -What a about relatively close objects like planets, are some of these pictures in true color? [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 20:07, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

:::I've always thought the colors were supposed to convey information; e.g., green indicates the surface is primarily silicon dioxide, blue indicates water-ice, or some such thing. [[User:Michael Hardy|Michael Hardy]] 03:37, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:Reasons include:
:* The original image was infra-red, x-ray, or some other non-visible part of the spectrum. In order to render into a human visible form, some mapping between the "invisible colours" and the ordinary "visible spectrum" colours must be made. Such a mapping is of necessity somewhat arbitrary.
:* The original image, while technically in colour, occupied only a narrow band of the visible spectrum. To make details more apparent, the spectrum is "dilated": so things that in "reality" would be slightly green turn into things that are very green, etc.
:* The final image is a composite of different source images of different types.
:* Or simply that features of different types have been coloured (at a person's behest) or otherwise enhanced differently for didactic purposes.
:-- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 20:18, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:As to planets: yes, many of the photos you've seen of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are more normal colour images, largely because those planets are interesting to look at in the "normal" part of the spectrum. Still, there are plenty of artificial-colour images of all, particularly with planets like Venus which are uninteresting in the visible spectrum. But even though a telescope or probe's camera has a gamut that is roughly like your eye, that doesn't mean that those planets would look just like that if you were near them, looking at them with your naked eye; the detector will have different response characteristics across the spectrum. There was, for example, much debate about which was the "correct" way to post-process colour images from the recent Mars landers - some ways make the sky look the rose/red people expect, others make it appear almost blue, and it's debatable which (if any) is "correct". -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 20:29, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:: Consider (as a pleasantly weird example) Hubble's newer "normal" camera, [[Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2]]. It features broad-response (i.e. black and white) CCDs. Between it and the source are mechanically interposed a filter (one of 48, mounted on a wheel, I think). So the operators can pick one of 48 different response curves. And by taking the same photo through different filters the resulting images can be combined to give a huge range and scope of response characteristics. There's even one filter slide that has a graduated filter, so (by carefully placing the target at the point in the filter with just the desired frequency range) the operator has really accurate control of filtering [http://www.stsci.edu/proposer/cy11/documents/online/Ch_4_7.html (per STSCI)]. All in all this is a system of colour vision so utterly unlike the one your eye uses that really all HST-WFPC2 images (which is pretty much every Hubble image you see in the media) are, and have to be, false colour. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 21:09, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: The popular press, from your local newspaper to National Geographic, will insist on bringing visually interesting images to their readers. That means colour. Colour&mdash;or coloured&mdash;images will be requested or selected for publication even if specialists use greyscale ones for their own analysis. For example, how often do you see pure greyscale MRI or CT (aka "CAT") images in the popular press? And yet I do not believe you will see a radiologist make a diagnosis from a coloured image of these modalities. In fact, it has been the norm in many hospitals to render these inherently digital formats on film (inevitably greyscale) for use on lightboxes; this is gradually changing as hospitals find high-quality computer displays more affordable. --[[User:Sharkford|Sharkford]] 14:34, 2005 Jan 12 (UTC)

:Black and white (monochrome) images are probably more common in astronomy because they're much easier to accomplish. A monochrome image is a map of the intensity of radiation emitted by an object within a certain band of the [[electromagnetic spectrum]], such as the visible spectrum. A color image also contains information as to the specific wavelength of light.
:A camera that captures all of this additional information simultaneously is much more difficult to build than one that produces simple monochrome. AFAIK, spacecraft produce color images by taking a series of several monochrome images in different spectral bands. For instance, they might take one image in the red wavelengths, another in the greens, and another in the blues. The combination of these three images would produce what we know as "true color".
:Alternatively, they might take pictures in three (or two or four) radio wavelength bands. For several reasons, not least because we can't see radio, these images are ''printed'' in the visible spectrum, producing "false color". --[[User:Smack|Smack]] ([[User talk:Smack|talk]]) 05:59, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:P.S. in response to Michael Hardy: Yes, false-color images do often convey information as to the chemical composition of an object. However, I think it's ignorant to believe that someone comes in and applies false color based upon chemical data. I would guess that the image is the ''source'' of this data. Take a photograph at a wavelength corresponding to an [[absorption band]] of a molecule, and your photo will be a map of the presence of that molecule. --[[User:Smack|Smack]] ([[User talk:Smack|talk]]) 05:59, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== [[Frank Sinatra]] ==

What style of music did he work in? If the answer is [[Jazz]], then what type of Jazz? (Yes, I've already had a look at both articles, and it's still not clear to me). [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 02:14, Jan 12, 2005 (UTC)

:Musical categorizations aren't so neatly defined. Part of what's interesting about Sinatra is that he brought jazz-influenced vocal stylings (and especially phrasings) into realms of popular music that had previously not had much influence from jazz vocals. I suppose his early work was unambigously big-band jazz, but his later work was something else that he more or less invented. -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 19:11, Jan 12, 2005 (UTC)

== [[Bonnie Raitt]] ==

What is the similarity between her music and [[Rhythm and Blues]]? I know this is how she discribes her music, but I don't get it. They two don't seem very similar to me. [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 02:16, Jan 12, 2005 (UTC)

== [[Asperger's syndrome]] ==

Has there been any suggestion of a link between this syndrome and birth order? It seems to me that there are some similarities between Asperger's and first born children.

: A quick glance at [http://scholar.google.com/ Google Scholar] throws up some papers noting a link between birth order and autistic-spectrum disorders, eg:
:: [http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/61/6/618] '' Compared with control subjects, cases had significantly older parents and were more likely to be firstborn''
: There's a few others (mostly PDFs) which posit a link; it's debatable if that link is physiological (as in the paper above, which deals with related obestric complications) or related to the different upbringing of an older child. Certainly at least a correlation, though. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 03:15, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== English French ==

Are there any words that are pronounced exactly the same in both French and English? I would've thought the old reliable '''taxi''' would be, but my fr-eng dictionary puts a difference between the pronounciation: tæcsi for English, and tacsi for french. So i thought if taxi isnt the same, then surely no word woudl be.even French words borrowed from English, and viceversa, have been frenchised or englishised. Anybody spotted any?--[[User:Wonderfool|Wonderfool]] 09:48, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: Many Americans (though no Brits) pronounce "garage" in a very French way: accent on the second syllable, rolled "j" sound, etc., although the first vowel tends to be slightly off (a [[schwa]] rather than a pure "ah", but that sound is slightly off when they try to speak French, too!). Or how about "entente" and "detente"? -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 19:24, Jan 12, 2005 (UTC)

::It depends on whether you're looking at a [[phoneme|phonemic]] or [[phonetic]] level. [[French language|French]] /t/ is pronounced at the [[teeth]], or [[dental consonant|dentally]], whereas [[English language|English]] /t/ is an [[alveolar consonant]] pronounced at the [[alveolar ridge|ridge at the top of the mouth]]. Also, the final <e> in ''entente'' and ''détente'' reflects a central, [[voicing|voiceless]] and very [[reduced vowel|reduced]] vowel similar to the English [[schwa]]. So if you're looking at French and English at a phonetic level, there will virtually always be [[articulatory phonetics|articulatory]] differences. '''P.S.''' Any word that has [[spelling|orthographic]] <r> you can pretty much forget about—it's a [[retroflex approximant]] in English but a [[uvular R|uvular]] continuant in French. :-\ --[[Liberal|Gelu]] [[Linguist|Ignis]]que

: I may be answering my own question here, but I was lookin thru a big Collins Fr-Eng dictionary last night, pondering this and found none such - there was the 'r' being rolled or the 'i' being slightly diffrent or wotever. but, there were 2 words i did track down as having the exact same phonetics: [[wiktionary:Peppy]] and [[wiktionary:pépi]]; and [[wiktionary:messy]] and [[wiktionary:messie]]. I took about an hour to find those bloody words. Damn the uber-curious mind I have. And somehow, I was expecting a [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] reply.Its appreciated. --[[User:Wonderfool|Wonderfool]] 12:58, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::French orthographic <e-[[acute accent]]> is [[International Phonetic Association|IPA]] [e], though, whereas the first [[vowel]] in English ''peppy'' is [(lowercase epsilon)] in that same transcription. The first is [[tense]] and [[front]] while the latter is [[lax]] and [[central vowel|central]]. English ''messy'' is [[stress]]ed on the first [[syllable]], whereas ''messie'', if it is a French word, is stressed on the last. --[[Liberal|G.]][[Linguist|I.Q.]]

:::dude, you're right.that peppy and messie thing was wrong, lookin back.So I decide that there are, in fact, no words are the same--[[User:Wonderfool|Wonderfool]] 12:58, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Equality of the genders ==

In just about every society I have heard of where there is a big fuss about the equality of the genders, this assertion of equality seems to be specifically a denial that women are inferior to men. What, if any, major cases exist of assertion of the equality of the genders being specifically a denial that men are inferior to women? --[[User:Juuitchan]]
:In the US and other western cultures, women tend to be seen as better caregivers and nurturers than men. Some men contend that because of this bias they are at an unfair disadvantage during custodial battles. The group [[Fathers 4 Justice]] comes to mind in this respect. --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 20:03, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:[[The Two Ronnies]] had a long-running segment in their televison comedy show called ''The Worm That Turned'' which depicted a matriachal society that oppressed men. Dunno about any real life examples of such a thing. --[[User:62.255.64.4|62.255.64.4]] 00:52, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Trying to locate a soldier!!!! ==


Hello,
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? [[User:KhubsuratInsaan|KhubsuratInsaan]] ([[User talk:KhubsuratInsaan|talk]]) 11:16, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
I am trying to find out which troops were stationed in my hometown in 1945/46.

My grandmother got pregnant by a soldier - and it's been hard on our family - since my grandfather does not want to even discuss the subject and my grandmother passed away taking the secret with her.

The name of my hometown is: Schwabhausen - the next bigger town is Boxberg - the next bigger town is Tauberbischofsheim - they are all located in Baden Wuertemberg.

We only have the first name of the soldier - Oscar - and since there couldn't have been that many stationed in or around our hometown and I am assuming there can't be that many soldiers with that first name.

Where would I be able to find a listing of troops???

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Heike Puhr
Fort Lauderdale, FL

* You're not going to be able to find a listing of names, not easily; what might be plausible starting point is finding a broad date when you reckon the chap in question will have been in the area (birthdate of child less nine months plus or minus a month should do it), and trying to work from there. If you have dates and a named location, you ''might'' be able to get the names of a set of units from the Centre for Military History [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/], but I wouldn't bet on this being exhaustive or accurate (there'll have been a lot of individuals passing through, or non-combat units which often aren't recorded as exhaustively). The problem is... now you have a list of units, and you need to make the jump to the list of names and try to select one from ''there''... I'd suggest your best bet would be to figure out all the information you have, get it down on paper, and then contact the CMH (above) and NARA's Military Personnel Records department [http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/st_louis/military_personnel_records.html] - I don't think either will be able to help you on just that information, but it's quite possible they've dealt with similar queries before and may be able to put you in touch with organisations that help with this sort of thing. (Even if you did get a 1945 personnel list, it wouldn't help much; you'd still have to get hold of the records of the individuals)
* Note also that CMH has disclaimers like ''The U.S. Army Center of Military History does not maintain [information on locating veterans], and the release of personnel information is strictly governed by the Privacy Act.''. This is likely to be the case with most government bodies; they won't be allowed to release information regarding individuals to you on privacy grounds. If you can identify individual units, however, then you can try getting in touch with (eg) veterans' regimental associations, and asking if they can assist you. Best of luck. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 20:24, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==Burkitts's Lymphoma==
''(moved from Village Pump)''
Hello my niece passed away 2 weeks ago the hospital said she had Burkitts's Ly[m]phoma and we where wondering if this type of cancer can be spread to other children. She was only 15 when she died. Please emil me at jerryadams45505@yahoo.com

*[[Burkitt's lymphoma]] is not generally considered a contagious disease, though it is associated in some places with certain other infections, such as [[Epstein-Barr virus]] in Africa. "There is no risk to others from a person with Burkitt lymphoma or any other cancer." [http://health.discovery.com/encyclopedias/2500.html] - [[User:Nunh-huh|Nunh-huh]] 21:23, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==Why are roadways at night time always wet in the movies?==
This has intrigued me for years and years. I have noticed that in any scene in a movie that shows a sealed road or street in a town or city, the asphalt surface of the road is always wet. It is rarely raining at the time, and rarely has there been any previous scene where it had been raining, or where the roads were cleaned with water. IN fact, the absence or presence of water on the road is virtually always completely irrelevant to the story, yet the roads at night-time are virtually always wet, whereas in day time they are virtually always dry. This happens in American movies, Australian moves, European movies, and others as well. WHY IS THIS SO?? One theory I have dreamed up is that a wet bitumen surface at night-time provides greater reflection and looks "better" on the screen than a duller, darker, dry roadway. Is this something like the truth, or is there another explanation?? Cheers [[User:JackofOz|JackofOz]] 23:32, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:The reason you see this in the movies is that cinematographers put it there, and cinematographers love wet streets. They are more visually interesting; they reflect images, light, etc. It's a not-uncommon source of continuity errors, where within a scene you will see the street switch from wet to dry to wet. - [[User:Nunh-huh|Nunh-huh]] 23:36, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::So I WAS on the right track. Thanks for confirming my hunch. [[User:JackofOz|JackofOz]] 23:48, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:::When you think about it, you'll also notice that fog is quite often used for visual rather than narrative reasons. "Cinematographers Love Wet Streets" would be a fun title for an essay<g> - [[User:Nunh-huh|Nunh-huh]] 23:55, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::::And there I was thinking it was just a particularly obscure country music song... ;-) [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 03:03, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:I don't think nighttime streets are anywhere near "always" wet in movies. They're wet more often than it rains, yes, but most of the time they're dry. You're just noticing it when they're wet. -[[User:Branddobbe|Branddobbe]] 07:50, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)

Well, you may be right, and maybe I am biasing my observations. And yes, it is probably true that "always" is not correct. But why not take a tally of the next 10 movies you see that contain night-time streetscapes, and tell me how many of the roads are wet. I'll bet you that at least 90% of them are wet. I'll stand corrected if you can disprove me. [[User:JackofOz|JackofOz]] 01:46, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== TB PPD Test ==

The TB PPD test (or simply the TB skin test) is given to determine if a person has tuberculosis. Now, can having a cold affect the accuracy of the test? I mean, can my having a cold cause the test to be positive for TB?

:The PPD test can't determine if someone ''has'' tuberculosis. It is used to determine whether they've '''had''' tuberculosis exposure in the past and (based on what their chest X-ray looks like) would benefit from antitubercular prophylaxis or needs treatment for tuberculosis. Many things can cause a false positive result (BCG vaccination, infection with mycobacteria other than ''M. tuberculosis'') and other things can cause false negative results (immunosuppression, AIDS). But having a cold should not cause a false positive result. - [[User:Nunh-huh|Nunh-huh]] 08:00, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Whats the name of this illustration style? ==

Ive wondered for a while what the formal name for this particular illustration style is, assuming there is a term for it, so maybe somebody can finally cue me in and let me sleep at night. It's basically that old, inky, highly detailed, medieval-ish style. Ive noticed a lot of variations in the style, so its hard for me to be more very specific, but I see it a lot inside of old books, logos and the like. Im refering specifically to the type that has very densely packed lines as shading, not just outlines and figures. This image is really interesting to me and Id also be very curious to know the name of this exact style (really detailed, busy, and whimsical ) if at all possible

[[Image:Templeofrosycross.png]]

this is another really good example of what I'm talking about:[http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg400/g421/g42190h3au9.jpg]

and another:[http://www.ripon.edu/Faculty/Amsdenr/THE231/MedievalTheatreFolder/MedievalImagesEdited/ManOnPageantWagonLeaP39.png]

I've heard the term "[[woodcuts]]" before, but I think thats just the medium and not really the style. --[[User:Clngre|Clngre]] 04:06, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:Ahem&mdash;''"...very densely packed lines as shading..."'' is a characteristic of a copperplate [[engraving]]. Wood generally doesn't support this style: if the fine grooves are very close together, the burrs can easily break off. With copperplates, that problem doesn't exist. But that still doesn't give a name to this style. I don't know of one, I've always known this type of illustration as "engraving". On a related note, cf. [[etching]]. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] 08:13, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
::are we just talking about the shading/lines, or also about the style of drawing the figures, or even about the content? I don't know the correct term either, but content-wise I would say it is a typical 18th century allegorical vignette, the kind they typically put on books' title pages [[User:Dbachmann|dab]] <small>[[User_talk:Dbachmann|('''&#5839;'''</small>)]] 09:50, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:::ok, so says 17th century on the parchment thing. sorry. [[User:Dbachmann|dab]] <small>[[User_talk:Dbachmann|('''&#5839;'''</small>)]] 10:03, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
: And there I was thinking it was just a particularly obscure prog rock song... ;-)--[[User:Wonderfool|Wonderfool]] 12:50, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I think searching on the word [[Intaglio]] will give you all you want. [[User:Steverapaport|Steverapaport]] 14:41, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Thanks a lot, I have enough keywords to branch out from for a while. At first I was wondering about the style of illustration, as if it were done with a quill pen or soemthing. Assuming that all of its look -- the basic aesthetic look of it -- was done intentionally, but I now realize that some of it is probably just a product of the medium. Just as a sidenote, how would you define that first image I posted; in any sense. So it's probably some form of engraving, it was an image associated with some secret society, its very lavish and busy, and what else? My goal is to narrow down my search for engravings more of the style seen in the first and second images. Kind of absurd, weird, mystical, symbolic, etc. Maybe its even naive to think that there are subgenres or specific movements or eras with it, I dont really know. --[[User:Clngre|Clngre]] 16:31, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:This is rather a side note, but I recall that shading drafted by using densely placed diagonal lines in two directions is referred to as ''cross hatching''. And my [http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/cross-hatching Google search for the term gave this] which might give you some related words. This gives you more on [http://www.methart.com/tutorials/hatching.html cross hatching].

:If you're looking for more images such as those you gave, the ones with textual content that act as labels for some of the figures etc are, I believe, usually political in nature. So, I would suggest trying to search for something like ''the history of political cartoons'' or ''history of satirical illustration'', things like that. Here's a site called [http://dewey.chs.chico.k12.ca.us/edpolcart.html Political and Editorial Cartoons In U.S. History] which ''may'' have some of interest, though a brief look makes me wonder if your style may be older and more European.

:Once you've got an idea what sort of period your style hails from try searching on ''X illustrations'' where ''X'' is a European ruler of that period, a King, Queen or Prime Minister.

:This [http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=political+engravings image search for politcal engravings] returns some nice images, though I think, again, possibly more modern than your style.

:Or maybe this one for [http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=century+woodcuts century+woodcuts] (dunno why) is of interest.

:I don't think any of them quite hit the nail on the head, but you should have lots of roads to follow, one of which should get you there. If you do find a good site, please report back as I quite like that style of stuff too. --[[User:62.255.64.5|62.255.64.5]] 01:16, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)...

:...found some more. A search on ''political etchings'' seems pretty fertile. Led me to [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/p?pp/ils:@filreq(@field(CALL+@od1(pc+5))+@field(COLLID+cph)]which stemmed from [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/cpbrhtml/cpbrrel.html this index]. You may also find some stuff at [http://graphicwitness.org/ Graphic Witness] of interest. ''Political lithography'' might give you some interesting results too. --[[User:62.255.64.5|62.255.64.5]] 01:52, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Wow, thanks a lot. Some of the images on those pages you posted were fantastic as it is. I really appreciate it, I'll defintately post some good links if I upon any. --[[User:Clngre|Clngre]] 06:24, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:A couple of follows up. Although you can usually get finer lines with copper plate [[engraving]], it is certainly possible to get fine detail with [[woodcut]]s - it depends on the preparation of the wood, density of the grain and the skill of the artist - see [http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/back-bmp/LW395.jpg for example] much of the work of [[M. C. Escher]] (more illustrations in the Gallery section of http://www.mcescher.com/). Also note that woodcuts are in a way the opposite of [[intaglio]] printing in that the ink remains on the raised surface, rather than the hollows. With copper engraving, the artist draws in positive cutting through the mask, whilst with woodcuts (and [[linocut]]s), the artist draws in negative - effectively drawing the white lines.
:The second image shown, is apparently neither woodcut nor engraving, but a [[pen and ink]] drawing by the the Jazz musician Lhasa herself [http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:SKM62xMd5AAJ:www.thevarsity.ca/news/2004/10/21/ArtsCulture/Lhasa.Takes.The.Living.Road-775776.shtml+LHASA+The+Living+Road+art+cover&hl=en&client=firefox-a]. Pen and ink drawing is quite a common technique used in cartoon illustrations. The style does remind me of someone, but I can't quite place it. I thought it might be [[Sir John Tenniel]]'s illustrations for [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|Alice in Wonderland]], but its not.
:In terms of the 'busy' style of the first image, as much as anything it is about finding space for each of the symbols that needs to be included. The style is somewhat [[baroque]], but also owes something to the paintings of [[Hieronymus Bosch]] and peasant scenes of [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]] and family (particularly his [[:Image:Bruegel Proverbs.jpg|Netherlandish Proverbs]]). Of course many similar engravings can be found in relating to [[freemasonry]].
:In general, engraving has been popular for illustrating books between [[16th century|16th]]-[[19th century]] so it covers a wide range of sytles. Try also [[Albrecht Dürer]] (and [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse|his Four Horsemen]]), [[Thomas Bewick]] (eg. [http://liesl.sharecom.ca/bewick/technique.html animal and bird illustrations]). You can also find a lot of interesting examples from early copies of the [[Illustrated London News]] (eg. [http://www.iln.org.uk/iln_years/year/xmas2.htm]) -- [[User:Solipsist|Solipsist]] 09:24, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

A wonderful book on the history and styles of printmaking is William M. Ivins, Jr., ''Prints and Visual Communications'' (Harvard University Press, 1951). It is a joy to read (it is very well written), puts forth a few provocative theses (without printmaking, we'd still be in the Dark Ages; and, the Greeks weren't actually that bright), and will also acquaint you with the different styles of printmaking and how they evolved from the 15th through the 19th centuries. Highly recommended. --[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 18:30, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Menstrual Cycle ==

I have heard differing opinions about how many eggs are expelled when a woman has her period. One friend stated that it was only one, as this was the one egg that wasn't fertilized (i.e. the woman is not pregnant, so she has her period) but then we later read in a magazine that it was somethign like 1,000 eggs that are expelled each time. Which ever number is right, is that for the 7 days or so that it lasts, or what? Thanks! --anon

:1000 is definitely wrong. Maybe the article was discussing fish spawning: but human women produce one or two mature eggs per menstrual cycle, not thousands. That's per month. - [[User:Nunh-huh|Nunh-huh]] 20:38, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:: As it has been explained to me, each cycle sees the "ripening" of many eggs (I believe on the order of a dozen), but usually only one is released (that term being more common than "expelled" in the books). Upon the release of the first one (which can be from either ovary), hormones are released which suppress the release of all others, in both ovaries. Sometimes, of course, two or more are released, which leads to the possibility of fraternal multiple births. Fertilization, if it occurs, is most commonly by sperm which is already present in the fallopian tubes, having found its way there up to a small number of days prior. (After a few days it degrades in motility and becomes unable to fertilize). If fertilization does not occur, the one (or sometimes, two or more) released eggs are lost in the next menstrual flow. In any event the eggs that were not released from the ovaries are "reabsorbed", whatever that means. They don't get re-used; each cycle a never-previously-used group of eggs are ripened. --[[User:Sharkford|Sharkford]] 15:13, 2005 Jan 17 (UTC)

== At-large voting ==

While adding an article on [[City Commission government]], I noticed that [[at-large]] is a red link. I've been trying to figure out if this is already described in an article somewhere or, if not, which article would be most appropriate to include this in. Any suggestions? (cross-posted to [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Voting systems#At-large voting]]). [[User:Bkonrad|older]]<font color=blue>'''&ne;'''</font>[[User talk:Bkonrad|wiser]] 19:27, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)

== [[Heckel and Jeckel]] ==

This is partly an article request, but it's also a more specific question. I have a (vague) memory from childhood of two animated cartoon birds, possible crows, named [[Heckel and Jeckel]]. In particular, I was wondering if anyone knows if these names may have a history predating those cartoon birds, and in particular if they may have roots in [[Yiddish theater]], which I have been researching. The names look like Anglicized spellings of Yiddish diminutives, and an early play by [[Abraham Goldfaden]] was apparently named ''Yukel un Yekel''. (As with all things Yiddish, that transliteration is rather arbitrary, it could as easily be ''Iukl un Iekl''). -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 01:36, Jan 14, 2005 (UTC)

:I remember them well. They were Anglicized further than you think, to [[Heckle and Jeckle]]. They were talking [[magpie]]s, debuted in 1946, and were "[[TerryToons]]" cartoon characters. I found a bit of info about them at [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220902/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9SGVja2xlIGFuZCBKZWNrbGV8aHRtbD0xfG5tPW9u;fc=1;ft=3;fm=1 IMDB], and a bit about [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0856056/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9UGF1bCBUZXJyeXxodG1sPTF8bm09b24_;fc=1;ft=20;fm=1 their producer, [[Paul Terry]]. Nothing too much there that relates to their history or any antecedent characters, though.A page on the 1955 show is [http://www.toonopedia.com/hekljekl.htm here]. - [[User:Nunh-huh|Nunh-huh]] 02:07, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Math question--Heyting algebra and intuitionistic logic. ==

I posted this on [[Talk:Intuitionistic logic|the talk page]], but thought I might get a better response here.

In the "law of the excluded middle" example under "Heyting algebra", <math>R^2</math> is divvied up into a set A and its complement, the first comprising <math>\{(x,y) : y>0\}</math>. Now, it would seem to me that the complement of A would be <math>\{(x,y) : y\le0\}</math>. However, it's given as <math>\{(x,y) : y<0\}</math>, which is then used to show that the <math>y=0</math> plane isn't included in the union of A and not-A. How can this be? [[User:Grendelkhan|grendel]]|[[User_talk:Grendelkhan|khan]] 03:45, 2005 Jan 14 (UTC)

:That's just weird. Doesn't look right to me. -- [[User:Phyzome|Phyzome]] is [[User talk:Phyzome|Tim McCormack]] 00:44, 2005 Jan 15 (UTC)

== Bloomstorm and Synnegi ==

Would you mind headlining or documenting these terms?

They can be found, among other sites, mainly here if you need further analysis: http://stormier.blogspot.com/

Synnegi can be described here: http://stormier.blogspot.com/2005/01/synnegi-explanation-death-creates.html

And bloomstorm here: http://stormier.blogspot.com/2005/01/bloomstorm-look-at-evolution-creation.html

Thanks much in advance. Bye

:These look to be the personal creations of one person, and seem to have little to no currency. Wikipedia is not (supposed to be) a tool for promoting one's ideas and theories. Specifically, [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a soapbox|Wikipedia is not a soapbox]], nor is [[Wikipedia:No original research|original research]] allowed. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 07:02, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== installation ==

please tell me how to install swarm-2.2 in windows 2000 ,thanks!--hywwlh

:You're going to have to be more specific. I see at least two pieces of software named Swarm that have reached version 2.2. Since I wouldn't be able to offer specific instructions for either, I'm going to have to go with generalities. Read the documentation, and use the mailing lists/forums. You're going to get better results asking the people that are interested in the software than from the random collection of people on Wikipedia. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 15:13, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Was there a crisis which called for action? ==
Abuse of technology in American schools is an excellent example of a crisis which called for action. Here we have an example where computers are available to students to further not only their education and schoolwork, but to provide them with the skills necessary to enter the workforce in society in a more competitive and productive position. In order to do so, however, these students must learn to harness the power of computer technology in a reasonable and responsible fashion. By not harnessing the full creativity and by the abuse of this powerful learning experience, this did indeed create a crisis which called for action. [[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 01:17, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC).

== Evolution ==

How and why did some animals becomer amblers others not?
Erik Borries, Denmark.

*I think you may get more specific information from editors at the [[Evolution]] and [[Horse gait]] articles. Personally, I think it's just something they tried early on in evolution. It worked for them, so they survived due to [[natural selection]]. That's my opinion, but unfortunately, I've got nothing to back it up. Also, you may want to be careful in giving out personal information like you did. [[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|<sup>(talk)</sup>]] 22:25, Jan 14, 2005 (UTC)

==Huygens probe==
Is this the first probe to land on a moon other than Earth's? I can't find any mention of this fact or any earlier lander. [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 18:16, Jan 14, 2005 (UTC)
:I'm fairly sure that it is. Nothing has ever landed on the Martian moons, although I think there have been some moderately closeup photos from Mars orbiters. Nothing has landed or impacted on Jovian moons either - the [[Galileo spacecraft]] made several closeup flybys, and launched a probe into Jupiter itself, but was deliberately sent into Jupiter at the end of its life so it wouldn't ever crash on a moon with possible contamination of any life there. [[NEAR Shoemaker]] landed on a asteroid in 2001, and the [[Rosetta space probe]] is intended to set a lander on a comet in 2014.-[[User:Gadfium|gadfium]] 19:10, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)
::Well, at least the first probe FROM Earth to land on on another moon;) [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 04:06, Jan 15, 2005 (UTC)

== Superpower competition? ==

The CIA relased a report that said by 2020 China might be a global superpower and the United States might loose its unique position of global dominance and instead share the global stage with China. But given the huge gap in military and economic power between the US and the rest of the world, is it realistic to be concerened that China might catch up to the US and restart a superpower competition?


: I just have trouble imagining China or any other country for that matter becoming a superpower anytime soon. Since the end of the cold war the United States has leaped light years ahead of all nations in economic, military, and technological capabilities. The United States is a megapower and no one comes even close to matching them. The only way China would catch up is if the US government allows it to happen but as long as the US economy remains strong and the government keeps spending 400 billion a year on defense there is nothing to worry about as China and the rest of the world would be left far behind




:Military power relies on having the ability to spend money. The [[economy of China]] is expanding at a huge rate whereas [[economy of the United States|that of the US]] is by comparison static. The Europeans are too good at arguing amongst themselves to present anything militarily. In twenty years the economy of China will be bigger than that of the US and hence they will have more power.
: Is this cause for concern? Yes. The Chinese have a very autocratic system of government, though I suspect democratic reforms will have to come at some point. It is very bad if you're Taiwanese. As for competition, this is different from the [[Cold War]] competition where the ideology of the two sides was different and at loggerheads, the Chinese don't now want to force [[Maoism]] on anyone else, they seem to be happy making money, and if they open their markets to global companies, those companies who weald power in the US and elsewhere won't kick up a stink.
: I am very concerned at the behaviour of the US government, and perhaps another large power block could help balance power so as not to leave it unchecked. [[User:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|&#9786;]] 21:06, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)


:I'm out of my depth here. But I would imagine any theory that China will match US power would make reference to the vast size of its population and lower labour costs. If the CIA have reported it I imagine you could also discover the CIA's rationale for drawing such a conclusion. In fact [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/1272691.stm here's a BBC thread about it with streaming video of a programme on the topic]. --[[User:62.255.64.5|62.255.64.5]] 01:34, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==The parliamentary verb "table"==
In the United States to "table" a motion means that the motion is disposed of, exactly the opposite of its sense in Britain where it means to put an issue on the agenda. I heard it used in connection with the Canadian parliament and wonder if Canadians use it in the American or the British sense. [[User:PedanticallySpeaking|PedanticallySpeaking]] 19:13, Jan 15, 2005 (UTC)

:You can google search for occurrences of "tabled" within [[http://www.canada.com/ canada.com], which is a news portal to major newspaper stories. See [http://www.google.ca/search?as_q=tabled&num=100&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=canada.com&safe=images]

:The answer seems to be, the word is almost exclusively used in the context of Parliament and the House of Commons, and there it's always used in the British sense, ie to bring legislation up for consideration. It would not be used in the broader sense of putting an issue on the agenda (of a business meeting or whatever) or the American sense of putting an issue "on ice". However Canadians have a great deal of exposure to American media, both print and television, and are probably familiar with the American usage as well. -- [[User:Curps|Curps]] 21:29, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:The British sense, I think...that is what immediately comes to my mind, at least. [[User:Adam Bishop|Adam Bishop]] 00:39, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== I'm looking for a particular phrase-please help ==

I'm stumped, the phrase keeps coming to the back of my head and disappearing.

The phrase, like an "occam's razor" phrase, is for the ultimate conundrum. A mother is holding two children in the tsunami, she has to let one go or all die. It's the ultimate conundrum that has no answer.

Praises from San Francisco for anyone who can name that obscure phrase.

Thanks.

: [[Hobson's choice]] (when the choice is illusory) or [[Gordian Knot]] (when the problem is insoluble). -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 20:46, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)
::Isn't the whole point of the [[Gordian Knot]] that it can be solved, but in a direct and bold way? ("Cutting the Gordian Knot") --[[User:80.3.32.7|80.3.32.7]] 21:00, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Occam's razor is correct. Without going through the Latin phrase, his theological rational, and etcetera, it means ''that the simplest theory is the best theory.'' Intellectual abstractions are not valid explanations; all reasoning must be based on experimental proof. In other words, there may be several hypothetical explanations for a situation, but the simplest one usually prevails. Yes: Occam's razor is correct. It's a Google hit, just took a really long time to get the search terms down. Best Regards, [[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 21:44, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:[[Morton's Fork]] seems to fit the situation.-[[User:Gadfium|gadfium]] 22:28, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)
::Wow, that [[Morton's Fork]] is an incredible article. If the quote that San Francisco is looking for isn't linked somewhere on that page. Thanks! I definitely learned something new! Best Regards, --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 21:31, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

How about [[Sophie's Choice]]? Much closer, both logically and literally. Occam's razor is a guide to choosing the most likely causal connection when one can imagine more than one possible cause. What does it have to do with this situation?[[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 01:02, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:True: I should have been more careful. He was a fourtheenth century theologian, and I merely followed up on the translation and its contemporary concept, without considering the proper usage for the phrase. That it is also referred to as the "law of parsinomy" should have been a good clue. I ignored it. Criticism well meant, and well taken. --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 21:31, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

How about [[Between a rock and a hard place]]?--[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 10:17, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

The closest single word to fit what you're after would be "dilemma" [[User:Noodhoog|Noodhoog]] 18:36, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==Dates of events on other worlds==
Yesterday's landing on Titan has made me wonder anew about whether there is any agreed convention as to the basis on which events on extraterrestrial worlds are dated. For example, the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon in 1969 happened on 17th or 18th July, depending on where on the Earth you were at the time. So what date do we use to record the event in history books on Earth?

Events on Earth are dated according to the time zone applying in the place where the event happened, at the time that it happened (so, for example, if Daylight Saving started or ended at around the time of the event, this could well influence the date of the event). The problem with events outside the Earth is, there is no such thing as a Greenwich meridian or an in International Date Line or any other type of time-keeping convention (or none that I'm aware of).

It would make sense to me if extraterrestrial "events" were dated either (a) always using Universal Standard Time on Earth, or (b) using the time zone in the place from where the spacecraft blasted off (eg. Cape Canaveral; Baikonur; China or wherever). Of course, the latter option would be of no use for events such as Shoemaker-Levy comet blasting into Jupiter in 1994. But I don't know if either of these conventions actually applies (and if so, when and how were they adopted), or if there is an alternative solution.

Also, when scientists are computing the date of an extra-terrestrial event, do they work out when it actually occurred in real time by taking into account the time it took for whatever electronic signal to reach the Earth to let us know about it, or do they base it on the time that Earth first got to know about it? Does anybody know? Cheers [[User:JackofOz|JackofOz]] 01:30, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:I can't tell you about other agencies, but I've got some ideas about [[NASA]].

:For most missions, NASA uses what is called "[http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/Academy/Rocket_Sci/clocks/time-met.html Mission Elapsed Time (MET)]. This clock hits zero at launch, which is why if you're watching a countdown, you'll hear a guy saying "T-minus #". The clock is negative at that point. This is all well and good for space shuttles and Voyagers and such, because days don't have too much meaning for them. They claim that they convert to UTC for use by others, but I've seen US Eastern ([[John F. Kennedy Space Center|KSC]]), Central ([[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center|JSC]]), and perhaps Pacific ([[Jet Propulsion Laboratory|JPL]]) used.

:However, you want to know about things that land on other things. As of right now, we've put landers on four planet-like objects: Venus, the Moon, Mars, and Titan. The landers on Venus and Titan didn't last long enough for any local measurement of time to have any meaning. Lunar landers did last long enough, but days on the Moon are a month long, so trying to operate off a lunar clock isn't really practical. While this is speculation, I'd guess they ran off MET.

:However, Mars is a special case. Because the Martian day is roughly the same as Earth's, and because landers have been solar powered, and probably because of some other things too, Mars missions have run off "Local Mean [[Solar time|Solar Time]]" (see [[Time and date and astronomy on Mars]]). As I recall, the Mars Exploration Rover teams had watches custom-made to run off the slighly longer days.

:According to the [http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMXYGQ3K3E_0.html Huygens descent timeline], ESA is reporting things to the public in CET "Earth Received" time, which doesn't necessarily mean that's what they're operating on internally. I have absolutely no idea what the Russians were using on their [[Venera]] missions. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 07:44, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::[[Time and date and astronomy on Mars]] has some information about timekeeping on [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] -- [[User:Curps|Curps]] 08:00, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Ethel Rosenberg and VENONA evidence ==

The articles on [[Ethel and Julius Rosenberg]] and the [[VENONA project]] contradict each other, the first stating that the venona evidence proved that Ethel Rosenberg was innocent, the second, that she was an accomplice. Since I know next to nothing about the trial and encountered "VENONA" for the first time when reading the article on the trial (and I doubt any library within reach will have up-to-date info on this), could somebody else find out which version is correct? -- [[User:AlexR|AlexR]] 02:54, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Google venona rosenberg and you get all the details you want. E.g., [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/inte_19440921.html]. Venona proved the Rosenbergs were Soviet agents; a significant embarrassment to American liberals who long disputed the claim. [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 03:01, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Ethel's participation as reflected by VENONA is largely a matter of interpretation. She was not given a code name which seems to indicate that she was not a major player. But again, it's hard to know, and whether she was guilty of what they were accused of, were given a fair trial, or were punished appropriately are all somewhat separate from some of these facts, which is half of the disparity... If you'd read the very link you posted, alteripse, you'd see it says: ''Associated Press story, David admitted he lied under oath about his sister Ethel's involvement to reduce his own sentence and keep his wife Ruth out of prison. In an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes II," David said simply, "As a spy who turned his family in ... I don't care." David and Ruth Greenglass continue to live in the New York area under assumed names.'' The problem with the Rosenbergs in general is you are quick to get people on one side who say "VENONA is unreliable, throw it all out" and you are quick to get people on the other side who say, "VENONA proves everything." Neither show a very good knowledge of VENONA or the history of the case, in my opinion. --[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 10:01, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:You are right, I failed to recognize that the question was specifically about Ethel: the VENONA evidence indicated that Julius, Ruth, and David were agents. Whether you consider Ethel an accomplice depends on whether you think it likely (1) she didn't know what her brother and husband were doing, (2) that Julius wouldn't have confessed to exculpate her, and (3) that David and Ruth were evil enough to implicate her if she had been truly ignorant. It doesn't take much more than knowledge to meet the definition of accomplice. This and the other issues people will have differing opinions about. I will agree with you that the more you learn about a case like this, the less likely you are to think that either "side" is entirely right. [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 15:41, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Well, in that case both articles should say that it is not so easy to interpret the evidence, instead of interpreting it differently and therefore contradict each other. -- [[User:AlexR|AlexR]] 13:59, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:I agree completely. I think the Rosenberg article in general should go into more detail about where the points of differentiation lie. As I know them, they are: 1. they were innocent, 2. they were guilty, 3. Ethel might have been innocent or at least not guilty of what she was accused of, 4. the evidence is too weak/problematic to decide, 5. whether or not they were guilty, they were punished too harshly, 6. their trial was botched in any event. Or something like that. I'm sort of a #5 and #6 man myself, and though I don't take VENONA at face value I find it likely that Julius at least was guilty (what really bothers me the most about their trial, I have to admit, is that Julius wouldn't just say he was guilty, whether he was or not, to save Ethel. Instead, they both died, and left two kids behind. I find that extremely irresponsible, I have to admit. As despicable as Greenglass generally seems to be, if he did lie in order to save his wife, I would at least sympathize with his motivations, which I don't for Julius and Ethel. But I'm digressing). --[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 18:21, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:BTW, the picture gets even more complicated because while VENONA show pretty definitely that Julius was an agent, it doesn't provide evidence for any of the specific espionage for which he was convicted; also, there is, of course, the question of whether there was any "H-Bomb secret" to steal. -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 23:42, Jan 16, 2005 (UTC)
::I think you mean A-bomb secret ("H-bomb secret" wasn't even available until 1951).. the things that Greenglass testified that Rosenberg helped steal (which is now on the new page, [[David Greenglass]]) were on the construction of the lens molds and the implosion concept more generally. How valuable were they? Probably not very -- Greenglass's knowledge was fairly general, he often didn't know what he was looking at, and he didn't give them anywhere as complete or accurate information as Fuchs did (though he didn't know Fuchs existed at the time, of course). Did it actually help the Soviets "get the bomb" any quicker? New historiorgraphy based on Russian sources suggests not. But anyway, that's only one aspect of things, relating more to the severity of the sentencing than anything else... --[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 07:06, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Year of birth for [[Mary Kay Ash]] ==

I reverted what I thought was vandalism to that article, but Google reveals widespread disagreement about Ash's birthdate. 1915? 1918? Probably May 12 in Hot Wells, Texas, but I'm not confident about the year. -[[User:Phthoggos|leigh (&#966;&#952;&#8057;&#947;&#947;&#959;&#962;)]] 05:28, Jan 16, 2005 (UTC)

See [[Talk:Mary Kay Ash]] - [[User:Nunh-huh|Nunh-huh]] 08:20, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==Graphing with X, Y, Z coordinates==
I realized just today that Excel won't let me make the graph I want to make. Basically, I have a list of labels and for each label I have 3 different variables (X, Y, Z), which range from -4 to 4. I want to be able to graph them in space as points (not connected), with the label next to each point. What software will do this? (I have easy access to Excel, Freehand, Igor Pro, Matlab Pro, and Stata, though I have never used the latter three before nor do I know if they are even appropriate) Help! --[[User:Fastfission|Fastfission]] 09:55, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:Matlab would ''probably'' be your best shot, but I'm not sure how to go about it. [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 06:24, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)

:Matlab will definitely plot points in 3space for you, but I'm not sure how the labeling would look. It might depend on how many points you have. Here's a little Matlab program for you:

x=[-4 -3 2 2 1 0 1];
y=[3 1 1 -1 -3 0 2];
z=x.^2-y;
plot3(x,y,z,'x')
for i=1:length(x)
text(x(i),y(i),z(i)+0.2,sprintf('x=%d y=%d z=%d',x(i),y(i),z(i)))
end
title('My pretty plot');
xlabel('The x axis');
ylabel('The y axis');
zlabel('z=x^2-y');
grid on

:Type "help plot" if you want to see what options there are for symbols. moink

== scope and utility of sociolinguistics ==

can anyone give me in detail the answer of "what is the scope and utility of sociolinguistics now-a-days?"

: Well we wont' answer your teacher's question for you, but reading the article on [[sociolinguistics]] will give you a few examples and a reference and read pages linked from that page and [[Special:Whatlinkshere/Sociolinguistics|pages that link there]]. Remember however, to cite Wikipedia as your source. [[User:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|&#9786;]] 14:18, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Burning MPEGS to a CD ==

I want to burn some [[MPEG]] files to a CD so I can watch them on a VCD/DVD player. Do I need to burn anything else (i.e. codecs) or do I just have to burn the MPEG files alone and that will be enough? [[User:Johnleemk|Johnleemk]] | [[User talk:Johnleemk|Talk]] 11:23, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:No, that won't work - you don't need codecs or the like, but VCDs have a particular format. Most buring programs have an option for burning VCDs, or check http://www.dvdrhelp.com/ for more information. -- [[User:AlexR|AlexR]] 14:09, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:Short answer - no you don't need to put the codec on the disc. Long answer - you can't just burn any old file onto a CD and expect it to work. The content requirements for VCDs and SVCDs are very specific. VCDs hold MPEG-1 format video at 352x240 pixels (NTSC) or 352x288 pixels (PAL); while SVCDs hold MPEG-2 format video at 480x480 pixels (for NTSC) or 480x576 pixels (for PAL) (there are some slight variations that you can make on thse resolutions by changign the frames/sec rate). If your file is in any other format it needs to be converted. Very specifically if your file is in any form of MPEG-4 based format (i.e. DivX, XVid, 3ivx etc..) it must be converted with a high probability of loss of quality. If you use [[Nero Burning ROM]] (and if you're not using it you should probably switch to using it) then Nero will attempt to convert any file you try to burn to the correct format, but in all probability it won't do this in quite the way you would want, so I recommend you use [[TMPGEnc]] to convert the file if you need to. [[User:Jooler|Jooler]] 14:15, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:Addendum - as AlexR points out - normally you can't just burn a raw mpg file as a data file and expect it to play. You have to use your software to burn it as a VCD/SVCD. This will put various helper files on the disk as well (see http://www.videohelp.com/vcd). However, I am told that some DVD players will bring up a menu if you are trying to play a DVD- on which you have burnt several raw mpg1/2 format files. Maybe this works on some machines with a CD-R too I don't know. There are a few players that are capable of playing DivX format files burnt onto CD, itmight be the case that only DivX capable players treat raw mpgs in this fashion. [[User:Jooler|Jooler]] 14:35, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Digitally Synthesizing Siren Sounds (Police, Air-raid, etc.) ==

I'm trying to write a program to produce various types of [[Siren (noisemaker)|siren]] sounds, so as to immitate police sirens, abulance sirens, air-raid sirens, etc.. I already have a program that can take a [[sine wave]] and modulate the pitch up and down to create a bad impression of a siren. Unfortunately, the result sounds more like someone playing with the pitch-bend wheel on an [[analog synth]] than any siren one might actually hear in the real world. I suspect I'd get pretty similar results if I substituted, say, a [[square wave]] or a [[triangle wave]] for the sine wave in my program.

Does anyone know if there are any easy-to-synthesize waveforms that might sound more like a siren? Or am I going to need to actually go out and digitize sounds from a real-life siren (a la [[Sampler (musical instrument)]])? --[[User:Ryguasu|Ryguasu]] 04:58, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
*A simple sine wave might be a good starting point for a siren sound, but sounds in the real world are generally made up of a number of different waveforms at different frequencies - for a halfway believable siren, you might try adding some harmonic overtones and maybe a tiny bit of phase distortion (more of both for a classic air raid siren than for a modern police siren). It also seems that with most sirens, different frequencies aren't shifted up and down by the same pitch which leads to a slightly more distorted sound as the siren's wail reaches its highest pitch - I guess it would be pretty tricky to sysntheize a naturally-sounding siren unless you either have a pretty detailed idea what you are doing or you are willing to experiment for a couple of hours with some wave-shaping software (which is generally great fun but rarely leads to the results you were trying to achieve - at least, that's the case with most of my synth experiments :P ) -- [[User:Ferkelparade|Ferkelparade]] [[User_talk:Ferkelparade|&pi;]] 22:14, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

** [[Image:sirenspectrogram.jpg|thumb|Here's a spectrogram of a london-style police siren]]. As [[user:Ferkelparade|Ferkelparade]] said, you'd need multiple frequency sources to get the overtones. Notice that the highest frequencies bend up over a longer time period than the root frequency. Also note that this siren has 2 separate whistles, overlapping in time. An alternative to multiple sines or sampling the whole siren would be to record a siren, then take a small looped sample while it is steady at its highest frequency. Then you could pitch bend one or more copies of that waveform to get different siren patterns. -[[User:Key45|Key45]] 22:57, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

***Speaking of synthesizing instrument sounds, I've been trying to make them using overlapped sine waves at different frequencies and amplitudes, but it doesn't seem to work. What am I doing wrong, and where can I find analyses of real instruments to work from? [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 16:27, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)

**** search for "Physical Modelling" and "Modular Synthesis". Stanford's [http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/ Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics] is one place to start. -[[User:Key45|Key45]] 02:26, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Replicating the show/hide functions on TOCs ==

Ok, this could be a bit tricky. We all know that the TOCs on Wikipedia have show/hide links, which show or hide the TOC when you click them. How would I go about a similar function on a webpage I'm building, so that when I click a link it expands a table? [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 06:26, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)

:The simplest solution would be to have two versions of the page, one with the table expanded and one with the table shrunk. You should also be able to use [[HTML_frame#Frames|inline frames]]. --[[User:Smack|Smack]] ([[User talk:Smack|talk]]) 07:20, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:is there a reason why you can't do it the way Wikipedia does, using javascript to set the "display" [[Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]] property? [[User:Frencheigh|Frencheigh]] 10:05, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::Yes - I don't know how to. I'm quite opposed to using multiple versions of the same page, because I want a side navigation bar with "expanding" links. For example:

Link1
:This will become visible on clicking link1
:This will become visible on clicking link1
Link2
:This will become visible on clicking link2
:This will become visible on clicking link2
...

So how would I go about this using Javascript and CSS? Have a class element for each table row, and then have a JS function that takes variables to set the display CSS element? [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 06:25, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)

[http://members.lycos.co.uk/frencheigh/misc/sh.html] <- there's a simple example i've uploaded, the important part of which is the function
<code>
function toggledisp(x){
el=document.getElementById(x);
if(el){
if(el.style.display=='none')el.style.display='inline';
else el.style.display='none';}
}
</code>
which (when say called from the onclick of a button) toggles the 'display' (of say a div, with an id). but did you need it to expand a particular row of a table? because out of the browsers ive tested only IE seems to do ''that'' correctly. [[User:Frencheigh|Frencheigh]] 09:43, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

<del>:Well, I guess I can do it with a div, but my main problem now is how to get it to work when I use frames - I discovered the relevant bit of code sitting around from a downloaded WP page. I'm guessing that it's something along the lines of document.frame.parent.getElementById, but I have very litte experience with JS. [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 12:30, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)</del>

:Ok, I got it to work. Can I get it to work for all elements of a particular class? [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 13:46, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)

==Boil Advisories==
Sorry about there being no question here. I started typing and must have hit return and all that was posted was the header. Then when I went back my request to save text kept getting timed out. Anyhow, thank you, Sharkford, for attempting to answer the question based on only two words. The question I had was that boil advisories are posted by water departments here citing low pressure in the mains. What about low water pressure necessitates boiling water? Where I live most of the water comes from wells rather than surface bodies of water, so runoff shouldn't be the problem.

''Sharkford's reply was based on just the header--no question.''
*If you mean the boil-water advisories that towns occasionally announce, it means that the town water supply is known to have an unsafe high level of pathogens. Bringing water to a boil is presumed to make it safe for human consumption, so you are advised to do this for any water which you will be drinking or cooking with. It seems to be assumed, true or not, that you do not ingest water during washing or bathing. Often such advisories follow heavy rains which introduce lots of surface runoff into the reservoirs or lakes from which the town water supply is drawn, bringing more decomposing organic matter than the utility's chlorination process can accommodate. Less commonly it's associated with a breakdown of the water-purification system. --[[User:Sharkford|Sharkford]] 15:13, 2005 Jan 18 (UTC)

* At a guess, wouldn't one of the likely causes of low pressure be a significant leak (or leaks)? If enough water to seriously affect pressure in the whole system can get out, contamination may well be able to get in... [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 00:02, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)

* Could it also work the other way around? If the pressure is high, then any small leaks will be leaks ''out''. If the pressure grows too low, such leaks could leak ''in'', resulting in contamination. -[[User:Rholton|Rholton]] 05:22, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)
** That certainly makes sense - it's the logic behind overpressure systems, which we don't seem to have a page on. Military vehicles intended to operate "sealed" in NBC environments are often built in such a way that they're kept at a slightly higher pressure than the outside world, in order that if there is a breach in the protection, air will flow ''out'' of the vehicle and not ''in''. When the air outside may be full of nerve agents, this becomes really quite a nice detail... ;-)
** Similarly, some medical facilities are built like this; it's not uncommon for research labs to be kept at below the ambient pressure, so that if there's a leak nothing nasty can escape. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 16:30, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)

*In fact, when I saw the lone header "Boil advisories" my first thought was "don't break it, it will get infected". So relative to that I guessed prety close! Given the actual question, I think Rholton's got it; low pressure in the mains allows unchlorinated ground water to seep in. --[[User:Sharkford|Sharkford]] 21:29, 2005 Jan 20 (UTC)

== Is the Gang of Four's "Design Patterns" of More Than Historical Interest? ==

I'm hoping to read up on [[Design pattern (computer science)]]. It seems like the logical place to start might be where the description of design patterns began, i.e., with the Gang of Four's "Design Patterns". That book is almost ten years old now, though, so before I run out and buy it, I'm wondering if it has in any sense become "outdated". Is this book now better suited for those studying the history of programming than for those studying programming itself? Or does it still make sense as a good place to start learning about design patterns? --[[User:Ryguasu|Ryguasu]] 19:45, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:I'm sure it remains a perfectly good place to start, this is pretty timeless stuff, but if you don't mind reading on line, you probably won't find much in the book that is not also by now on line. -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 21:22, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)

:It's still a good, worthwhile read. It's well written and thoughtfully structured, and the patterns it decribes abound in current OO systems like the class libraries for java and c#. I guess it's no longer (if it ever was) a definative library of the patterns themselves, with numerous new ones being created and some of the existing falling from favour. But what's important isn't the list of patterns per-se, but the principle (you can find endless list of patterns and discussions on their pros and cons for free on the internet). But if you read that, beg borrow steal or save up for [[The Timeless Way of Building]], the original pattern language book (and pleasantly one without all that dull comp-sci stuff to get between your brain and the idea) - it's simply brilliant. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 22:47, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:A good place to dig around online is the [[Portland Pattern Repository]], aka '''the''' Wiki. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 22:52, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== What's up with the Nicobar Islands? ==

Reading some recent [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4181119.stm coverage] about tsunami aftermath in the [[Nicobar Islands]], I was puzzled about why the local government might be prohibiting foreigners from traveling to the island. [[Union territory]] says that the islands are ruled directly by the federal government, which seems to contradict the CNN article. [http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/andaman.htm] says, "Travel to the Nicobar Islands is restricted, and only Indian nationals engaged in research may visit. Some exceptions are made for tourists with special permits." [http://www.nicobar.org/BOOK/faq/faq.htm] says: "The Nicobar Islands are not open to visiting foreigners, whether scholars or tourists. Indian citizens need a special permit - which is hardly ever granted." [http://smh.com.au/news/Asia-Tsunami/Promise-to-rebuild-shattered-Nicobar-Islands/2005/01/09/1105205983786.html?oneclick=true] mentions the island's lieutenant governor.

So I'm wondering ''why'' the Indian government restricts travel to the islands. Is it for ecological reasons, to maintain tribal culture, something to do with the island's past as a prison, or some other historical or political context we're missing?

What is the actual structure of the island's non-tribal government?

The tribal/non-tribal population and protected land area figures also seem to vary a lot from source to source.

The situtation on the islands seems to be in a little bit of flux because of the tsunami, but it would be nice to get a handle on how things were right beforehand. Thanks for any insight you can lend. -- [[User:Beland|Beland]] 21:36, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: Hmm, there was a segment on [[Channel 4]] News a few days ago, I ''think'' about the Nicobar Islands. In this case the government was trying to keep modernity away from the few remaining aboriginal islanders, whose culture was clearly teetering on a precipice. I think the relief consisted of chucking coconuts at the islanders from a fleeting boat, while they chucked pointy sticks back at the boat. So your cultural contamination theory seemed to be supported by that. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 23:04, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Have a look at http://www.andaman.org/ - it has some related info on travel restrictions to the Andamans. But I think in this particular case, it may have a lot to do with not wanting people killed by the inhabitants, who are famously hostile to outsiders. - [[User:Mustafaa|Mustafaa]] 23:06, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::Interesting -- not so much for ecological or conservational reasons than for the safety of citizens and foreigners? [[User:Poccil|Peter O.]] ([[User Talk:Poccil|Talk]]) 23:16, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)

:::This [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4174635.stm BBC article] suggest that some islands are off-limit because of military reasons. Furthermore, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4161899.stm this article] states that there were 93,000 visits by tourists to the Andaman and Nicobar islands, but it may be that in fact these tourists all went to the Andamans. -- [[User:Jitse Niesen|Jitse Niesen]] 14:31, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== identity security issue? ==

Yesterday I received an email from

wiki@wikimedia.org

It states a password and username.

These do not refer to me!

I did not ask for any reminder.

Is this a scam or a security bloop from wiki?

I have posted this question on the general help page but thought it might be more relevant here.

*No, this page is not for Wikipedia-related questions. [[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|<sup>(talk)</sup>]] 22:34, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)

== Ton ==
The article on [[pressure]] refers to units of weight called 'ton(US)' and 'ton(UK)'. Does anyone know what these are? I suspect that they're Imperial and metric tons, respectively, but I'm not sure. --[[User:Smack|Smack]] ([[User talk:Smack|talk]]) 01:07, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: [[Ton]] explains this, to more detail than your poor mortal mind can possibly withstand. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 01:24, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It looks like ton(US) and ton(UK) mean short ton and long ton, respectively. The terms are not used verbatim in [[ton]] but the text leads fairly straightly to that conclusion. I have heard of short and long tons forever but never heard of them categorized as U.S. vs U.K. (as are e.g. gallons). Such opportunity for enlightenment is the joy of our poor mortal minds. However, it would perhaps improve [[pressure]] to revise it to the more standard terms? --[[User:Sharkford|Sharkford]] 15:25, 2005 Jan 18 (UTC)

== Weapons of Mass Destruction Destruction ==

Can anyone direct me to an article about the safe destruction of WMD's, particularly nuclear warheads? Every time I hear talk of destruction, I always become curious about the physics and mechanics as to how this is supposedly done. Thanks.

[[User:Lvlarx|lvlarx]] 09:49, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)

:AFAIK (but IANARS) a nuclear warhead will not detonate unless critical mass is achieved AND an appropriate neutron source is introduced to initiate fission. Removing enough fissionable material to prevent critical mass is the safest way to prevent a nuke from going nuclear; however, since critical mass and initiation are usually achieved by an explosion of some kind, it will still explode, making a reasonably big mess. Or at least that's what I've been led to believe. [[How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb]] might not be of use here. [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 12:46, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)

::Nuclear weapons are comparatively easy. Take out the (overwhelmingly plutonium) fissile core elements and they can be de-enriched (empoverished?) into fuel for a plutonium burning reactor. The polonium initiator is probably going to end up as medium-level nuclear waste. I've no idea what one does with a ton or so of powdered lithium-deuteride fusion fuel, but it's not particularly hazardous. Biological and chemical weapons are a bit harder. Biological weapons are fairly straightfoward, largely because there isn't such a large volume of it and it can't be stored in weaponised form for a long time. Bleach, irradiation and high-temperature incineration are straightforward options. The hard case is chemical weapons. By some estimates the US Army alone has over 30,000 tons of them, and the Soviets had (and thus the Russians still have) even more. The US solution is high-temperature incineration, which is rather expensive. Many of the shells and rockets are decades old and have been poorly stored, and nasty chemical reactions have changed and corroded them. So they have to be processed in a special facility that can dismantle them using machines. Here's a [http://www.mercola.com/2001/oct/3/chemical_arms_disposal.htm story] from the LA Times detailing how incredibly slow and expensive that process is. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 13:09, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:For [[chemical weapon]]s, see also [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] which describes how far various countries have come in regards to eliminating their weapons as well as the [[weapons of mass destruction]] series which describes in more detail. (By the way the U.S. has less than 22,000 tons of chemical agents and is testing chemical neutralization methods of destruction of chemical weapons) [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 16:23, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)

== LCD displays ==

I'd like to know why 17-19" LCD displays almost always have 5/4 aspect ratio, while most CRT and most 15" LCD displays have 4/3 ratio. What is the reason - is it easier to produce, is there particular demand for more squarish displays, do they look better on a desk?

And a second question is why the resolution of LCD displays is so limited? Why are there almost no displays with 1600x1200 or 1440x1050 resolution, while such resolution is commonplace on laptops. Is there no demand for higher res desktop LCD displays? Did someone decided that people don't need that resolution? Is the demand for hi-res LCD panels from notebook manufacturers so high that there are no panels left for stand-alone displays? [[User:Paranoid|Paranoid]] 17:16, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)


== a site to trace a great grandmother born in {gutengerg} mainz 1830 s ==

Dear sir, My grandmother emigrated to england some time in the early 1800s and her name was theresa breiding. theresa married edward byrchall in london 1873. she is mentioned on the english 1901 census as aged 70 years a british subject born in germany The latter day saints records give her birth place as gutenberg your assistance is requested on where I may search for information as non german perso and no knowledge of the language..
thank you very much ,
david r bluff

== School Research: Murder or Manslaughter? ==

I am presently enrolled in a college Socioligy course and where writing a paper on a certain incedent that has happened with two diffrent groups. I am to take a position on the detailed story and write about it but befor i take a final position i would like to learn the diffrence between the two. Here is the situation:

: I'm afraid we need a bit more detail than that :-)
: If you were going to ask about the difference between the two terms, then broadly speaking (at least in English common-law systems) the difference is one of intent; murder is unlawful killing with the ''intent'' to kill someone, whereas manslaughter is unlawful killing without that intent (although if you set out to seriously injure someone, that may well be considered analogous to the intent to kill)
:* To take an example, were someone to be assaulted and fight back - and, by using more force than they intended, kill their assailant... that would be manslaughter; the killing was not a lawful one (although a plea of self-defence might well see them acquitted of the crime), but they did not intend for the victim to die.
:* However, were they assaulted, and fight their assailant off - then chase them down and beat them to death... that would be considered murder, since they acted with an intent to kill.
: I have a suspicion you were going to ask for a suggestion over a specific case; my suggestion would be to go through the mind of the killer at the time of the incident. Were they aware their actions could or would lead to death? Had they taken a decision in the light of this awareness to continue with the action?
: Best of luck reaching a decision; a lot of very interesting debate has taken place in the past by judges mulling over this very issue, and you may find it interesting to try looking for some of those cases. (For example: if, in the fight example above, party A restrains B - but B party has a grave medical condition, unknown to A, which causes the restraint to kill them... is that murder? A acted with intent to do ''the particular act'' that killed B, but did not intend it to be an act that could cause death...)
::: Huh, it did post last night, after all. Oh, well. Still forgot to sign it, though... [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 20:45, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC))
::::And, don't forget - State law statute books list the citings of precedents. If I am not mistaken...they do vary by state. --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 02:16, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Postmodern economics ==

What are viable methods for establishing and maintaining a [[post-monetary economy]] free of [[barter]] &mdash; a system without a [[medium of exchange]] or [[store of value]]?

:In the absence of other answers, you might try reading the short story ''And Then There Were None'' by Eric Frank Russell. ([http://www.google.com Google] will tell you where to find it. Then you might consider whether that society depicted is truly free of medium of exchange. [[User:DJ Clayworth|DJ Clayworth]] 18:35, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:So ur after a society where people give and take at their own will? If i capte what u say, then try looking [[Economy of Smurfs]], or if that doesnt exists, try [[Smurfs]]. They may infact be a[[pre-monetary economy]]

==Breast cancer and mammorgrams==
:'''moved from Village Pump''' [[User:BrokenSegue|'''B'''roken'''S'''egue]] 01:54, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Hello out there!
I want to get feedback on the subject of mamograms causing cancer.
I read a long time ago (can't remember where) that the London Journal of Medicine stated that
the pressure put upon the breast during a mamogram could activate inactive cancer cells. Has anyone heard of this? Can you give me any insight? Could this be possible and why or why not.
If you have any info or links you can email me at pamelaleb@comcast.net Thank you very much.
:There is research on the x-rays used in mammograms causing cancer. [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 02:25, Jan 19, 2005 (UTC)
:First problem, no "London Journal of Medicine"... There seem to be quite a few papers discussing beliefs related to cancer, which mention the popular misconception that mammograms cause cancer, and a lot on the negative effects of excessive screening (basically, it screws with peoples' heads) but nothing I can find which seems to be the research you mention... this isn't a systematic search, but ten or fifteen minutes hasn't got me anywhere. [[User:Shimgray|Shimgray]] 03:39, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== do lemmings go in the water? ==

Look up [[Lemming]] (and, in particular, [[Norway Lemming]]). [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] 08:16, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:And don't bite the newcomers, Lupo. --[[User:Tagishsimon|Tagishsimon]] [[User_talk:Tagishsimon|(talk)]]

== Function ==

What is a function from x to y?
How to use an arc arrow diagram to depict a function.
:See [[Function (mathematics)#Formal_definition]]. [[User:Utcursch|utcursch]] 08:40, Jan 19, 2005 (UTC)





== Quebec French accent? ==

I had this question up on the Quebec French talk page for over a week and nobody seemed to know, so I'll try here. The basic question is:

"What are the linguistic terms and basics relating to this accent question? Is it phonology? or something physical? Where can I look up more on this question?"

<blockquote>
====On the Quebec french "ear" and "mouth"====

I'd love to note somewhere the obvious difference between the location in the mouth of Quebec French vs. France French, and the related difference in how a Quebecois hears foreign sounds. Unfortunately I'm not really qualified to do this in detail. All I know is that the foreign "th" sounds come out very different in the different French accents when speaking English:

<Table>
<tr><td>sound&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td>English&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td>Quebec&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td>France&nbsp;&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><td>[&#952;]</td><td>"think"</td><td>"tink"</td><td>"sink"</td></tr>
<tr><td>[ð]</td><td>"this"</td><td>"dis"</td><td>"zis"</td></tr>
</Table>

Obviously the two languages are either differently placed in the mouth, or have a different "ear" for consonants, or both. Anyone understand the linguistic terminology here well enough to comment on this?

[[User:Steverapaport|Steverapaport]] 20:20, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

: While the fact has been widely aknowledged (I've seen numerous references to it), I have yet to see a suggested hypothesis. Maybe Quebecois are more exposed to [[slang|English slang]] /t, d/ for [&#952;, ð] than European French speakers? --[[User:Circeus|Circeus]] 20:42, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::First, my qualifications to comment: I lived in Ottawa (near the Quebec border) for a year, and in Northern Quebec for a summer. I've also spent a bit of time in France and in other parts of Europe where I have had business dealings with Frenchmen. In English and in Parisian French, which I studied for 7 years.

::The difference is definitely not due to slang English influence, because in the remote parts of Quebec there isn't any to speak of. It is rather due to an entire way of speaking. To my ear the Quebecois speak a version of French that is spoken further back in the mouth -- their "R"s retreat almost to the uvula, the mouth is held further open, and the words alternate between sounding swallowed and sounding flat. The articulation points are further back on the tongue. There's also a bit of an adenoidal sound, as if the speaker has a cold.

::The Parisiens speak closer to the front of the mouth, with more closed mouth, and most of the articulation done near the tip of the tongue and lips. I'd love to say all this with authority but all I have is my own eyes and ears for this.

::I'm pretty sure that the difference in the "th" sounds is related to the different articulation points or the adenoidal thing, but I don't have much to back it up. But I'd love to hear from someone who does! [[User:Steverapaport|Steverapaport]] 23:37, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

</blockquote>


So, pointers to more on this question?

[[User:Steverapaport|Steverapaport]] 18:20, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)


== Deaths from the Crusades ==
I'm trying to find out how many people died fighting for the Vatican during all of the Crusades - all 12 or 13 or however many there were. That is, not the people defending the Holy Lands, just the people 'on offense'. Thanks! [[User:168.213.1.134|168.213.1.134]] 18:45, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

There was no Vatican during the Crusades. You might want to look at [[Papal States]], but even so, the Crusaders weren't fighting for the [[Pope]]. [[User:RickK|Rick]][[User talk:RickK|K]] 01:19, Jan 21, 2005 (UTC)

:Thanks, I guess I'm a bit off on the exact background of the Crusades. But you still understand my question - the number of people who died trying to reclaim the Holy Lands. I guess I'm really shady on my history here... [[User:168.213.1.134|168.213.1.134]] 16:49, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::I think that the kind of answer you're looking for may not exist. Our article on the [[Crusade]]s contains some good summary information, and links to more detailed accounts. From [[First Crusade]]:
:::'' Both knights and peasants from many different nations of western Europe, with little central leadership, travelled over land and by sea towards Jerusalem and captured the city in July 1099...''
::The crusades were not simple military campaigns, but were also a sort of migration. You might want to think of something kind of like the invading [[Vandals]]. -[[User:Rholton|Rholton]] 15:56, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Academic failure ==

What are some good [[Web]] resources that deal with the causes of [[academia|academic]] [[failure]] in [[high school|high-school]] [[student]]s? I'm not looking for ultra[[scholar]]ly [[report]]s but rather for [[Web site|site]]s that an ordinary intelligent person can understand. Thanks, anon.
:Rather than a link, I can offer some [[guideline]]s which are known to be predictors of failure:
* 7th grade performance of a student is an early indicator of how well that student, who was used to the less demanding environment of 1st - 6th grades, might fare. This is an indicator of high school performance for that student. (Specifically, how well they cope with [[change]])
* Similarly, the grades in a high school [[chemistry]] (including lab work) course are precursors of college-level performance. Those students taking the manual [[drafting]] course will get grades that are precursors of post-high school performance.
* The key is how do the students react to more exacting or demanding standards. [[User:Ancheta Wis|Ancheta Wis]] 15:02, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== equation for the area of a triangle ==
See [[Heron's formula]] -- [[User:Dominus|Dominus]] 16:51, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)

... which is fine if you know the lengths of all three sides, but if you know the length of one side and an altitude then you can use ''Area=(Base x Height)/2''. The [[triangle]] article describes several different ways of calculating area. [[User:Gandalf61|Gandalf61]] 10:49, Jan 21, 2005 (UTC)

== [[Usenet]] [[hierarchy]] ==

Can someone either direct me to a webpage completely explaining the Usenet hierarchy (eg alt. and talk.) or explain it below. I have looked at [[Great Renaming]] and [[Usenet]] already. Thanks, --anon

== free articles? ==

Hello,
I am building an internet business and am looking for a source for free articles that I can send through a retail opt-in list. Can I use Wikipedia and if so then what is my next step? Thank you in advance.
Best Regards,
-anon

: Well, theoretically yes. But in practice you have to comply with the [[GFDL]] which means that in addition to sending the article itself you'd also have to send the entire text of the GFDL (which is rather large) and a full list of all the wikipedia contributors who contributed to the article. Now, there are those (left-handed unibrowed communists, all) who'll tell you that you need only distribute a ''link'' to the latter, but that's never been tested in court; I can't recommend volunteering to be the test case. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 01:20, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Medical records ==

I would like to know if I have a right to request copies of medical records form the various doctors and hospitals I have gone to through my life (I live in the US). How do I go about it? Should I expect to pay very much?
[[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 19:39, Jan 20, 2005 (UTC)

: Your right to access and correct your medical record (aka "personal health information") is protected under the [[HIPAA]]. Unfortunately, the HIPAA doesn't help make the process of obtaining your PHI any easier -- I'm pretty sure you'll have to request documents from each hospital individually. Just call or write them; they'll send you a form or (rarely) direct you to a website where you can download and print out a [[PDF]] and mail it in. IIRC, in many (most?) cases, you should expect to pay up to about $1 per page. --[[User:Diberri|David Iberri]] | [[User talk:Diberri|Talk]] 21:38, Jan 20, 2005 (UTC)

These answers apply to US only. You have the right to see your records and request copies, but remember that they are the "work notes" of your contractors and the original physical record does not "belong" to you. In general most doctor's offices, clinics, and hospitals do not charge to send a single copy of your current records to another doctor or hospital. Especially sensitive (mental health, HIV, addiction) records have tighter legal restrictions of various types and transfer and access can be a bigger pain in the rear. Many will charge to make a copy if you ask them to send to yourself, especially if the records are voluminous. You mention "through my life;" I don't know how old you are, but law does not require storage forever for adults. Most hospitals and clinics send records to storage occasionally and you might expect to pay for accessing archived records (or you may find they cant be found). As far as I know, there is no law regarding charging for copies of records, so above is custom and may or may not be followed in unusual cases (e.g., if your inpatient records take up an entire shelf in the hospital). If you are an adult and you actually get records from, say, the 1970s, you may be surprised at how scant they are. Legally required documentation has increased probably 10-fold over the last 25 years (and you wonder why health care costs continue to rise). And absolutely, you will have to request from each provider; legally, even if your current provider has a complete set of your whole-life records from ten previous providers, they can only transfer the record of their own care of you to another provider. [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 13:26, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Metaphysical Psychotherapist ==

Is there such a thing as a Metaphysical Psychotherapist

: Yes, but not for long. You see, the constructive interference caused by the wavefront coincidence of two such strong sources of pseudoscientific claptrap will produce localized levels of blatant untruth that exceed the fundamental capacity of Einstein-Minowsky spacetime to sustain dissemblance (given by the Rumsfeld constant, that is 14.6 barefaced lies per cubic inch). To shed the excess nonsense a Heisenberg-Posen bridge will form (a perfect sphere with a diameter of approximately one meter) and the space therein will be ejected into hyperspace. From the frame of reference of a nearby stationary observer, that volume will appear to vanish (with the corresponding inrush of 4*pi/3 cubic meters of air, producing a loud "gasp" sound) leaving only the calves, feet, and sandals of the metaphysical psychotherapist (unless they're a midget, of course). -- [[User:81.153.211.84|81.153.211.84]] 01:56, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:It is with extreme reluctance that I venture to even slightly temper the positively awe-inspiring paragraph offered above. And I've been led to believe that some of my wit was a tad sharp for tastes here... I also wouldn't trust a "Metaphysical Psychotherapist" as far as I could speculate her, but their more honest cousins usually hang out under the sign of "philosophical counseling." Google it [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=philosophical+counseling&btnG=Google+Search] and you will find an immediate page of references to their learned societies and even pages answering that common, burning question, "what is philosophical counseling" [http://www.interchange.ubc.ca/raabe/Raabe_article1.html]. [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 02:46, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::It only leaves us with the burning question ... can paragraphs from this page be transferred to BJAODN? (Though GJAODN might be more appropriate). [[User:DJ Clayworth|DJ Clayworth]] 04:34, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==Veterans Administration Cuts - 70% ?? ==
Reference junkie here can't find anything to verify this. According to the VA Patient Advocate at the VA in Florida, the administration is cutting the VA budget by 70%. Now, why can't I find anything to substantiate this? It's not on Google or High Beam - nada. Apparently, it was just announced to the VA. Even if it wasn't released to the press yet, wouldn't there be something somewhere to confirm this? --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 22:10, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Time warp? This [http://www.vaiw.org/vet/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=59] was posted in March 2003. Here is another angle from approx 1 year ago on this same topic [http://www.factcheck.org/article144.html]. These two [http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=1576] [http://www.cbpp.org/2-27-04bud2.htm] from last spring address the planned reductions through 2009: more like a 17% reduction over 4 years, it looks like. A 70% imminent cut that none of these groups has heard about seems unlikely. [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 05:06, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:Thank you. I feel like such a dyslexic dolt. Appreciate the references, very, very much. --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 11:09, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Sri Lankan local government ==
What is the structure of [[Sri Lanka]]n govt (not LTTE areas) below District level? What are the names of the administrative subdivisions in [[Trincomalee]]? Thanks! [[User:203.94.91.81|203.94.91.81]] 05:10, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Intermittent modem hardware failure ==

Yes, sad to say, some of us are still using 56k dial-up modems. Occasionally mine attempts to dial and says "hardware failure". Now, it only does this when my dial up tries to connect (my ISP disconnects me every 2 hours on the dot but I have a little bit of software that ''reconnects'' me automatically to fight my ISP's evil ways), so it ''can't be'' a loose connection. Rebooting often, but not always, solves it. Any ideas?

<strike>Apologies in advance if my signature appears strange. I've been told off. I worked on the bloody thing for ages, but now I'll have to simplify it again. Grrrrr! </strike> Actually, what was said was that it made somebody's page go broken, so probably best not to put it on a significant page at all. (No sig, this is user : bodnotbod).

== Saving money by cancelling school ==

About how much money would the U.S. and the school systems in it save if they took off the last day of school for all public schools? How much would be saved in pay, transportation, etc? --[[user:elpenmaster|elpenmaster]]

:In all likelyhood, not as much as you might think. I believe all administrators and teachers are exempt from overtime laws, meaning that they get paid the same regardless of how many days they work. You might get some savings in power utilization, and perhaps fuel and salary from busses, assuming that the district picks up the tab for them and not the parents. Also, it's important to remember that many schools do not shut down just because the school year is out. There's always summer sessions, the janitorial staff is typically employed year round, so costs will always be incurred. Also, I believe in California at least, a district's funding is directly tied to their attendance, so by cutting a day, the district itself would be getting less money. Of course, this also raises the counter-question, "What is the average cost/benefit to society per student per day of school attended?" --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 22:42, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Asian alphabetization ==

Let's say the only language you know is Japanese, or one of the other Asian languages that doesn't use a [[phonetic alphabet. Is there an equivalent of ''alphabetization'' that your can use to organize items, such as an index or a phone book? How does this work? [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 14:16, Jan 21, 2005 (UTC)

:[[Japanese (language)|Japanese]] is a bad example, because it ''does'' have a [[Japanese writing system|phonetic alphabet]], and has had for about a thousand years. But your question is reasonable. I recently did some research into the way medieval Chinese [[printing press|printers]] organized their type cases; as you can imagine, the problems are similar.

:Typically, each Chinese character is associated with a "[[radical (Chinese character)|radical]]", which is a common subpart of that character and many others. For example, the character for "&#26126;" = "bright" is clearly a compound of the two characters for "sun" ("&#26085;") and "moon" ("&#26376;"), and the radical is "sun". The radicals themselves are ordered partly by the number of strokes they contain and partly in an arbitrary but conventional way. Often, a major dictionary such as the ''K'ang Hsi Tzu-Tien'' (''Kangxi zi dian'' in modern spelling) of [[1716]] will establish an order for characters or radicals, and this order will be re-used for hundreds of years afterwards.

:Chinese characters in dictionaries are usually ordered by one or more of: number of [[stroke (Chinese character)|stroke]]s; what radical they contain (with the radicals themselves ordered as in ''K'ang Hsi Tzu-Tien'' or some other well-known and widely-available source); how many strokes they have in addition to the radical; what order they appear in a standard dictionary; or some combination of these.

:Typically, for example, the dictionary will list the characters ordered first by number of strokes; characters with the same number of strokes will be ordered by radical, with the characters with simpler radicals before those with more complicated radicals; where the radicals have the same number of strokes the radicals will be ordered in a conventional and well-known order; and where the characters contains the same number of strokes and the same radicals, they will be ordered in a conventional order.

:Note that even a phonetic alphabet doesn't solve all your problems. Consider the problem of locating John Smith in the telephone book. The spelling is unambiguous, but you still can't find the one you want. Modern Chinese dictionaries often list words in order by [[pinyin]] phonetic spelling, but some languages, like Mandarin and Korean, contain so many [[homonym]]s that this is insufficient. My Chinese dictionary, for example, lists seven different words all pronounced "chá".

:I suggest that if you're interested in this you go to the library or bookstore and take a look at a Chinese-English dictionary. You will probably find its organization quite absorbing.

:I hope this was helpful. -- [[User:Dominus|Dominus]] 16:07, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:: THEN

:: Even though it was Chinese who invented [[printing press|movable type]], as late as a couple of hundred years ago, many Chinese printers preferred [[block printing]] because of economics. Reason: Cheap labor. Some books are selling like hot cakes. Instead of reset each page at each run, they could save the wooden board for later use.

:: Movable type was not very popular in China. However, it was a different story in Korea. Many Korean scholars studied Chinese works. To help their customers catch-up quickly, many Korean printers used durable brass type to print Chinese books as soon as they got a copy from China. I don't know how they managed the font.

:::The project of Chin Ch'ien (Jian Jin) in [[1776]] had twelve huge type cases with two hundred drawers each. Each drawer was divided into eight compartments and each compartment held four types. The cases were labled with the twelve divisions set out in the ''K'ang Hsi Tzu-Tien'' and each drawer also had a label; the drawers were ordered (as usual) by radical and by number of strokes.

:::Before each page was composed, the printer would go through it and make a list of which characters were required and how many of each. Then his assistants would gather the types from the case. Another person was responsible for returning the types to the cases when a page was broken down.

:::Often an unusual character would be required that had not been made up beforehand. Chin Ch'ien was using wooden type, so he could have a new character made up on the spot when necessary.

:::Wang Chen in [[1313]] was using metal types. He had them organized on two huge round tables with rotating tabletops. On the tables, the types were organized as usual, by strokes and radicals, with one table for the common characters and the other for the rare ones. As the types were needed, a printer sitting between the tables would select the appropriate types. -- [[User:Dominus|Dominus]] 13:54, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

:::In the

:: NOW

:: A Chinese dictionary usually has two or more index systems. The formal one is [[radical (Chinese character)|radical]] + stroke number system. No matter which dialect you speak, if you can write, you can use it. A schoolboy has to spend weeks to months to learn how to use the 100-some radicals. Usually, there will be another index that orders words using stroke numbers only. These are usually for the "difficult" words. Sometimes, you just can't tell which radical is the one.

:: Another method is to order the characters according to its pronounciation. Before the 20th century, there was no widely accepted way to so it. People invented many ordering systems. Currently, two widely used standards based on [[Standard Mandarin]] are used: [[pinyin]] and [[bopomofo]]. If you can pronounce, you can find it.

:: There are many less-used index methods. Example: the [[four corner method]]. Not each dictionary is using it.

:: Today they don't print so many copies of telephone directories. A telephone directory may order names according to the family name -> given name order. Family names are sorted by stroke number -> order of pinyin or bopomofo. -- [[User:Toytoy|Toytoy]] 18:37, Jan 21, 2005 (UTC)

:::Okay, so if a literate Chinese person was given 100 index cards that each had a different word on it, could he easily put these cards in order according to one of the above schemes (without using any sort of reference book)? [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 22:34, Jan 21, 2005 (UTC)

:::: Possibly not. To sort several English words, you just compare each word's each alphabets. With Chinese characters, this can be more difficult. 1st level ordering could be easy. 2nd level would be much more difficult.

:::: Radicals and stroke numbers are 1st level. They do not distinguish each charcter withing the group. You need another ordering method to sort each character. ("&#29436;" (wolf) and "&#29399;" (dog) both have the "&#29356;" (the left part) radical, you don't know which comes first). Using phonemes is usually easier.

:::: Some methods are too difficult to do it in mind. There are 100-200 radicals (1st level), you just can't remember the correct dictionary order of them unless you are truly insane. Counting stroke numbers (1st level) is a tedious job because there are some exceptions when two strokes are actually counted as one (or vice versa) because you are wrong and they are right. (How do you write R? P then slash or I then "a crescent and a slash"?) Sometimes, your order of writing is just different from theirs. (How do you write H? Vertical, vertical, horizontal? Or vertical, horizontal, vertical?) Possibly you still need a dictionary.

:::: Ordering using phonetics is somewhat easier. Many people in Taiwan were taught bopomofo (a set of non-Roman phonemes) in kindergarten or 1st grade. People in China learned pinyin (Romanization) at about the same age. Both systems are nearly identical except for the writing systems. (See: [[music notation]]). It is possibly easier to order in pinyin because many bopomofo users forgot the exact order except for the first four or eight phonemes: bo, po, mo, fo, de, te, ne, le ... . They know the order of Latin alphabets.

:::: If you have a rollodex or a notebook filled with telephone numbers, you may use stroke number or pinyin to order names. There's a system of family name's order "The Hundred Families' Surnames" ([http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/3919/ &#30334;&#23478;&#22995;]) (&#36249;&#37666;&#23403;&#26446; &#21608;&#21555;&#37165;&#29579; ...) and another list of 1,000 frequently used characters "An Essay of One Thousand Words" (&#21315;&#23383;&#25991;) (a meaningful article written in exact 1,000 different words: "&#22825;&#22320;&#29572;&#40643; &#23431;&#23449;&#27946;&#33618; ..." "In the beginning of the time and universe ..."). These are not usually used for general purpose ordering. Many ordering systems may be too difficult to implement in mind.

:::: You can configure your Chinese version of Microsoft Windows, Linux or MacOS to order using the [[Chinese character encoding|character codes]] or language specific orders. With the Traditional Chinese Windows, you can choose between stroke number and bopomofo. Some systems may support more ordering methods. -- [[User:Toytoy|Toytoy]] 04:25, Jan 22, 2005 (UTC)

== Sculptured Reliefs at [[Perspolis]] ==

Can someone find info on the Sculptured Reliefs at Perspolis? I can't seen to find anything on them ((well at least not that which is useful.. >>; )) What info I do have is mostly pics and that cannot help me do a report on it. So please if you do find something ie- How is it made... What materials where used... What techique was used.... In what location are the works found.. bla bla bla.. you get the Idea I'm pretty sure

It's possible your trouble finding info is that most people who are likely to be providing useful info spell it [[Persepolis]], and PRESTO, there's a whole article about it right here! [[User:Alteripse|alteripse]] 12:44, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== electrical heating element ==

My electric stove has a heating element that has 'gone bad' (doesn't heat when voltage is applied across it). I assumed these things go bad because somehow the conductive path is broken, like a light bulb burning out. However, when I test the resistance across the busted heating element, it is not infinite but something more like 1 M-ohm. Can these heating elements go bad in some other way? [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 22:44, Jan 21, 2005 (UTC)

:Ordinarily, the resistance should be a few tens of ohms (e.go., 220 V across 30 ohms gives 1.6 kW of heat). 1 M-ohm will be leakage across imperfect insulation somewhere. &mdash;[[User:AlanBarrett|AlanBarrett]] 10:56, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Chef ==
Is there a complete list of the Chef's songs from [[South Park]]? I cannot find one that is GFDL or other open license. --Fan

You mean you want the lyrics, or just the titles? The lyrics are copyrighted, and will be for many years, so you're not going to find a GFDL listing of them. If you're just talking about the titles, that can't be copyrighted, so a list is perfectly free use. [[User:RickK|Rick]][[User talk:RickK|K]] 21:59, Jan 22, 2005 (UTC)

Just the titles, and maybe some information about where each one appears, the context and some description of what the song is about and any guests who feature on it. I could not find it on the South Park article. Am I missing it? Thanks --Fan

:I can do some research on this - I'll post it at [[List of Chef's songs (South Park)]]. [[User:203.94.91.71|203.94.91.71]] 10:12, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Police (APCO?) 10 codes ==

What are all of the (APCO?) [[10 codes]]? (i.e.: 10-4 = "Message recieved", "OK"; 10-10= "Negative","No.") I found a list of them, but it only have from 10-1 to 10-34 or somewhere around there. I know there are more (95?)..
*Codes above 40 vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; APCO only created (I think) and standardized the first 40, and allowed anything higher to be defined by the user. --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]][[User talk:Jpgordon|&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710;]] 03:05, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Okay, thank you. Do you know of a website (or do you know them off-hand?) where I can find the entire list for the NYPD? (And uh...just out of pure curiosity, what does APCO stand for?)

:The [[10-codes]] are ''not'' standardised. APCO stands for Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials. I think the 10-codes are different for each city or whatever. [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 09:45, Jan 23, 2005 (UTC)
*Here are the [http://maxpages.com/frequencies/NYPD_Radio_Codes NYPD radio codes]. They differ significantly from common (if not "standard") usage -- so much that an outsider trying to interpret and act upon them could get quite confused. For example, the "common" (if not standard) 10-10 is, as stated, "negative"; but for the NYPD, 10-10 means "Possible crime" -- while for FDNY, 10-10 means "Current location". --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]][[User talk:Jpgordon|&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710;]] 17:58, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== South Park Script? ==

Where can I find the script to "[[South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut]]"? I found a script once, but it left out some parts. I'm looking for a script that has everythnig every character said, word-for-word, including the songs. Does such a thing exsist? o.o;

Can you buy it? It must be copyright. The [[South Park]] Article is a little vague about many details. --Fan

:It's not unusual for movie scripts to be published. If this one hasn't been, it probably will be. You might do a normal web search for the title plus "ISBN"; you might try a book-focused site like Amazon or Abe Books; you might talk to a library or book store, especially a book store specializing in film-related books. -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 21:54, Jan 23, 2005 (UTC)

== [[Religion]] question ==

Which are the most and least religious [[country|countries]] in the world? Are they [[Senegal]]/[[Nigeria]] and [[Czech Republic]]/[[France]] respectively? A [[Google]] search yields [[contradiction|contradicting]] results.
:I'm guessing ur aware of the [[laicité]] situation in France, whereby it seems to me that its illegal to do a survey on the national religious practices. So France is vague. Hard to get a decent value for number of believers. I'd imagine [[Pitcairn]] is not very religious --[[User:Wonderfool|Wonderfool]] 13:08, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
::Actually, every [[Pitcairn]] Islander is a member of the [[Seventh-Day Adventist Church]]. This makes it the most religious country in the world, although the population is only 47.-[[User:Gadfium|gadfium]] 21:53, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:::It is probably impossible to answer this question objetively. It depends on how you define the word ''religious''. Most Americans would probably claim to believe in God, but how many ever actually do anything religious on a regular basis? What about countries with a state religion, where everybody is ''technically'' a member? There are also people who don't like the word ''religion'', even though they might seem very religious by your standards. You can, I am sure, find statistics on this, but you have to remember that their interpretation is very subjective. -[[User:Aranel|Aranel]] ("<font color="#ba0000"><u>Sarah</u></font>") 22:37, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Creative writing assignment ==
Have you ever been trapped and imprisonned in a tall dark tower? What do you think it would feel like? What thoughts would go through your head? Tnx. Nigel

:I doubt [[Wikipedian]]s will be of much help to you, because a [[creative writing]] assignment isn't a matter of [[fact]]. Only you can tell your [[teacher]] what would go through your [[head]], etc. --[[Liberal|Gelu]] [[Linguist|Ignis]]que

:Or, of course you could arrange to be trapped and imprisoned in a tall dark tower. -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 21:56, Jan 23, 2005 (UTC)
::Try [[Anne Boleyn]] and [[Rapunzel]], Nigel. Then go lock yourself in a dark closet before tackling that assignment and try not to [[plagiarize]]. --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 00:24, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I reckon, first thing would be annoyance that u let urself get trapped. then later stages would come paranoia, hunger, thrist, boredom, until you eventually get used to the dark and use the time to think really deeply. what id do is invent a language or sumthin, just to keep my mind from going to jelly. sometime during the imprisonment i'd think "does the fact that the tower is tall actually affect the mindframe? i'd make up dozens of stories in my head, then put music to them in my head. and try and think of every single person ive ever met, of every place ive ever been, of the best things i've ever done. maybe u should put sumthing in the essay about time, and how it all seems so pointless when there's no days or nights, and everything is the same always. The key is keeping ur mind and body useful. so i guess doing pressups or pushups or situps or some kind of exercise would be a good plan. And I'd spend a certain amount of time simply doin nothing, paying attention to the sound of silence, trying to somehow make things appear or happen thru [[telekinesis]]. And id also try somehow to inscribe something into the wall or the floor, with my nails perhaps. inscribing things like how many times i peed, or trying to draw perfect circles. I would create an imaginary friend, and talk to him/her/it about escaping and what we would do when we got out. And some time i would possibly think "Dude, am i dead? i may aswell be. Death is just darkness and nothingness. or is it? how should i know.im not dead. because i can think. dammit who said "credo ...." i think therefore i am. I would love to die just to feel what it feels like". paranoia, u know. at some time, id be eventually thinking "i wish i had internet here". And worry about if my capturees have forgotten about me.but then again, i guess they'd be obliged to send me food. So the food would be a pleasant relief.u could use the time to try and cunt to a million; and try to predict, using ur counting, when the guards are gonna come and feed you. Phew, that was the fastest thing ive ever typed in my life. also the most useless. but i hope this shit helps. if only i had an essay like this to ask the world help for
:Yanno--that's ''exactly'' what happened to [[Anne Boleyn]]! And then she had her head chopped off. But I don't think she did push-ups...or said, "dude," but really accurate nonetheless. A- based on creativity, turning in the assignment with lightnening speed, but the spelling and grammar gets you every time... Best regards --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 02:24, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Removing the border from frames in XHTML ==

Now, I understand that this can be done with <code>frameborder="0"</code> in the frameset tag, but this isn't official. Is there an official way of doing it? [[User:Alphax|Alphax]] [[User_talk:Alphax|(t)]] [[Special:Contributions/Alphax|(c)]] [[Special:Emailuser/Alphax|(e)]] 09:54, Jan 23, 2005 (UTC)
:In fact, <code>frameborder="0"</code> is ''exactly'' the coding to remove frame borders in [[XHTML]]. This is shown in the [[DTD]] as produced by the [[W3C]] [http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-frameset.dtd]. If you search for "frameborder" in that, you will see that this coding is allowed under XHTML 1.0. It is also allowed in [[HTML]] 4.01. However, in HTML 3.2, not only was <code>frameborder</code> not allowed, neither were <code>frameset</code> and <code>frame</code>. If you are interested, this can be seen at [http://www.w3c.org/TR/REC-html32], where trying to search for "frame" does not yield results. So if your website is being written in strict 3.2, you cannot actually use frames. They are an innovation introduced with HTML 4, although, obviously, many browsers already had them in their programming, and they were ''[[de facto]]'' standard, although not ''[[de jure]]''. However, most websites you will write today will be in 4.01, so you can include <code>frame</code>, <code>frameset</code> and <code>frameborder="0"</code> to your heart's content. :) [[User:Smoddy|Smoddy]] <nowiki>|</nowiki> [[User_talk:Smoddy|&epsilon;&iota;&pi;&epsilon;&tau;&epsilon;]] 19:37, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== rainfall patterns in Ireland ==

Does anyone have a link for rainfall patterns in Ireland on a month by month basis? I'm thinking of holidaying in Ireland in the summer and would like to know what is most likely to be the least wettest month. [[User:Jooler|Jooler]]
:For a start: [http://gouk.about.com/cs/northernireland/a/aa040303a_4.htm] and [http://www.wordtravels.com/Cities/Ireland/Dublin/Climate] [[User:Joy Stovall|Joyous]] 16:46, Jan 23, 2005 (UTC)

== Canadian pilot ww1 question ==



I am having trouble finding any information on the
Canadian Pilot (ww1-?) Eddie Redenbacher.

Am I spelling the name wrong....Can you offer me
any help or suggestions on how to get the info??

Thank you C. wallace

Do you mean [[Eddie Rickenbacker]], American WWI ace ?

== question_output ==

Output to screen: How does an appropriate binary pattern output by a program get

turned into a pattern of pixels on the screen? How is it possible to change the

appearance of some text by changing the font, font size, etc.? How is flashing text

implemented? How is it that a picture (e.g. text) stays on the screen, even if the CPU

is now executing some quite unrelated task?


:It's not done in one step, of course. If you're talking about text, the rough order is:

::Text memory -> markup engine -> video memory -> video driver

:The text memory remembers alphanumerics, and handles remembering what's been printed, where the cursor is, and what will come next.

:The markup engine (in a word processor, etc) will keep invisible tags in the text that indicate that some text is bigger, smaller, flashing, colored, etc.

:The video memory is on the single pixel level, and has enough memory to represent the output screen, in full color, at least once. The markup engine writes the text in fonts and colors to this memory, where it remains until it's erased or changed. Video memory is often double-buffered, so it keeps two copies around -- one for updates, and one to display. This way the memory doesn't have to change while it's being displayed on the screen, which would cause unpleasant flashing effects.

:The video driver simply copies the appropriate video memory buffer to the display, sixty or so times a second, over and over. Or you could consider it the other way round, the driver repaints the screen many times per second, taking its latest information from the video memory.

:Note that the CPU need be involved only in the first two stages. In modern computers the video memory and driver are in separate hardware.

:In general, which of these components is on the motherboard, which is part of the video card, and which is included in the operating system, all change between vendors and over time. That's why I've used very generic names for everything.

[[User:Steverapaport|Steverapaport]]

== Four and nine ==


''Anonymous request moved from article space. [[User:Poccil|Peter O.]] ([[User Talk:Poccil|Talk]]) 21:44, Jan 23, 2005 (UTC)''

song Title Four and Nine
Words I took a lady out one night
she had a very large appetite
I took her to Lockharts but we didnt go inside
I took her to the Cecil Four and Nine
This song was sung in the music halls about the 1930's

Can somebody help. If so please contact gerryb@big pond.net.au



== Scrap Iron for the War effort-WW II ==

Where or how can I find information about the United States civilian war effort during WW II? Specifically farmers turning in scrap iron and farm tools for the war effort.
Thank you,
Gary Owens
coyoteridgeranch@amaonline.com
: The Library of Congress: http://catalog.loc.gov/ has a good selection of photographs, but it'll take some research to find more than that. I tried the "Farm Administration Bureau" but be sure to narrow your search terms to a specific area or a more specific request, or you'll just end up with some very interesting photos, the way I did. Hope that's a lead for you. --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 00:47, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Effect on (air) pressure by filling up a space with fluid ==

Hi,

please assume the following:

I have a cylinder that is filled with air (1 atmosphere) and it is oriented in a horizontal direction, so that you could roll it, on a table for example. The top and bottom are seals.
The seals are necessary, because on both sides of the cylinder you have oil.
Now, the seals are leaking, and oil seeps into the cylinder.

What I am concerned with here is the effect this seeping of oil has on the pressure inside this cylinder.

My thoughts are: the air gets compressed, so that if we would half the cylinder filled with oil, instead of having 1 atmosphere, we would have 2 atmosphere, in the part that is filled with air. (note: I assume that air cannot leave the cylinder)
Is that correct?

This is the pressure, that according to my thinking, is now acting on the surface of the oil, and on that part of the seals that is not yet covered with oil.
The next question is: what is the pressure on that part of the cylinder wall that is covered with oil?

The surface of the oil at midpoint should be
length of cylinder * diameter of cylinder

The cylinder surface that is covered with oil is:
2* 1/2 of the top and bottom (=2* pi*r^2)
1/2 cylinder side surface (= 1/2 * h*2*pi*r)
What pressure will be acting now on this surface, if the pressure on the top of the oil surface is 2 bar?

Thank you very much for your help!

Sincerely,
Juergen

:Oil is a [[liquid]], so we're going to assume that it's incompressible. So yes, if somehow oil is getting in and air is not leaving you will get an increase in air pressure. Now, the next question is whether or not the temperature varies, and how. If your system is in contact with a constant-temperature reservoir, you could assume it's isothermal (i.e., the temperature is not allowed to change). We can model air as an [[ideal gas]]. Then you get pV=RT=const, or, if you halve the volume that the air is in, you'll get twice the pressure. Alternatively, you can assume, instead of being isothermal, that the system is [[adiabatic]]. That means that there is no heat transfer from the air to the oil or the cylinder or any kind of reservoir. Then you'd use:

:<math> pV^\gamma=const </math>

:Where for a diatomic [[gas]] such as the [[nitrogen]] and [[oxygen]] that mostly make up air you have <math> \gamma=1.4 </math>.

:Now for the pressure in the oil. Since air is much lighter than oil, I ignored the hydrostatic pressure variations in the air. But you're going to find that the pressure varies with height through the oil. Specifically, in the oil:

:<math> \frac{dp}{dz}=-\rho_{oil}g </math>

:where <math> \rho_{oil} </math> is the density of the oil and <math> g </math> is the acceleration due to gravity: 9.81m/s^2.

:And the pressure on the top of the oil will be the same as the air pressure. So, at a distance d below the surface of the oil, the pressure in the oil will be:

:<math> p_{oil}=p_{air}+\rho_{oil}gd </math>

:So it's going to be different at different parts of the cylinder. If you want the total force, you'll have to integrate it. Or alternatively, the total force on the bottom of the cylinder is just the weight of the oil plus the weight of the air. On the ends of the cylinder, you'll have to integrate it.

:Hope that answers your question. [[User:Moink|moink]] 20:20, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== material that lets through air, fuel and oil, but not water and dust ==

Hi,
I am looking for a material that I can use to plug a hole.
It should let air, fuel and oil through, as these are inside the pump I want to plug, but it should not let water and dust through (possible contaminants from the outside)
If the material gets destroyed over some time by fuel and oil, this is okay.
Thank you!

:How about a few more details - what is the pump for? Is it a fuel pump? If so, you should filter the fuel before it gets to this stage. Can you post a sketch?

:: Hi, yes, it its a fuel pump with a weep hole chamber into which oil and fuel are leaking.
So, we want these to run out of the weep hole chamber, by putting a weep hole on top, but we don't want to let water and contaminants in through the weep hole. Therefore I am looking for a material for a plug that might be suitable here.

Thank you!

== Music: turning 1 beat into 2 (or 4)? ==

Sometimes, it seems, a song will have its tempo increased, not by shortening the duration of each beat, by placing new beats halfway between the original beats, so each beat becomes two beats. One Celine Dion song had so slow a tempo that each beat had to become, not two, but four beats for the dance version!

What is it called when the tempo is increased in this manner?

--[[User:Juuitchan]]

:In what you are describing, does the "faster" version of the song take the same amount of time, line for line, for instance (the dance version may be longer, but through repetition)?
:[[Rock and roll]] usually features an eigth-note ride (or cymbal) pattern, while [[disco]] and later dance music usually features a sixteenth-note ride pattern.
:Thus when a song is turned into a dance version the amount of rhythmic activity increases even if the tempo does not. [[User:Hyacinth|Hyacinth]] 03:45, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

::I don't know, and don't care, about eighth notes and sixteenth notes. And of course what I described increases the tempo! --[[User:Juuitchan]]
:::If you take eight notes and split them into sixteenth notes, the effect is just what you described. The ''tempo'' describes the length of one ''measure'' (for instance). If you have two beats in one measure (say they're ''half'' notes because they take up ''half'' the measure) and you add two extra notes in between, then you've got four ''quarter'' notes. The tempo, however, is the same, because it takes just as long to play two half notes as it does to play four quarter notes. You can divide it again into eight ''eighth'' notes or 16 ''sixteenth'' notes, all without necessarily changing the tempo.
:::You increase the ''tempo'' by shortening the duration of each beat. Subdividing the beats as you described does not change the tempo at all, although it does make the music sound "faster".
:::(And no, I don't know what this is called.) -[[User:Aranel|Aranel]] ("<font color="#ba0000"><u>Sarah</u></font>") 22:30, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

==Educational System - 1879-1890==
Whatwas formal name of boarding schools
what are names of schooling like college?

:I think you may have to say a bit more about this question? Are you looking for an official name used to describe schools where the pupils live there? If so, which country are you interested in? [[User:DJ Clayworth|DJ Clayworth]] 04:22, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== ethical code of professional teacher in republic act 7836 ==

== File formats ==

Can anybody tell me if [[Au file format]] is lossless or not? [[User:Rhymeless|Tim Rhymeless]] [[User talk:Rhymeless| (Er...let's shimmy)]] 07:32, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
:To my eye (based on readnig the header information), it looks like it's lossless and uncompressed. [[User:Raul654|&rarr;Raul654]] 07:35, Jan 24, 2005 (UTC)
:: It depends on the value of the 'encoding' field (word 3 of the header). Formats 2-7 are uncompressed [[PCM]], therefore [[lossless]]. Formats 23-26 are ADPCM, which is a lossy, roughly 4:1 compression. Formats 1 and 27 are [[mu-law|&#956;-law]] and [[A-Law]], respectively, both lossy. Several of the others are [[DSP]] commands or data, designed to be processed by the [[NeXT]] [[MusicKit]] software. -[[User:Key45|Key45]] 21:22, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC).

== Neon lamp ==

Hello,
my question is about a neonlamp I have in my room. It has the shape of a palmtree, but the right part of it doesn't glow as much as the left part.The weirdest thing is: when I touch the topdown right point of it the whole tree glows at the same amount, it has someting to do with the touching. Can I fix my lamp? And why is my lamp ok when I touch it?
Hope you know the answer!
greetings
--[[User:Sanneseubers|Sanneseubers]] 13:25, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Nellie Harbridge, artist ==
''moved from [[Wikipedia:Help desk]] -- [[User:Ferkelparade|Ferkelparade]] [[User_talk:Ferkelparade|&pi;]] 13:34, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)''
I am looking for any information on one Nellie Harbridge. I have recently acquired a pair of watercolours at auction, and would like to know if anyone knows anything about the artist. They appear to be approximately 70 years old, possibly older, from the signatures. Both are beautifully executed works of wild flowers gathered from beside a riverbank or pond, with details of waterlilies, water iris, forget-me-nots, mimulus, tansy and other flora, grasses and leaves. It may be that she was an amateur painter and I have purchased something which just gives me pleasure, but if there is a history behind the glass, I should be happier to know of it.

:Well, a quick flip through Google, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Museum yielded nothing. However, do not despair: a call to Sotheby's and to Christie's American Arts Department in Manhattan might yield a clue. Both have an 800#. They'll ask you to send in photographs and won't guarantee a response; lovely, I know, but there you go. There is also a special database that dealers use, so try to locate a reputable one who specializes in this market - watercolors, prints, posters, et. cetera. A lot depends on the ''provenance'', the condition of the watercolors, and of course - the name. Good luck! --[[User:Alisonsage|allie]] 02:10, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== What does the letter K stand for in this CNN article? ==

CNN.com
Updated: 10:54 a.m. EST (15:54 GMT) January 24, 2005

• Man wins 450k for wrongful surgery

LAW CENTER:

$450,000 settlement for wrong surgery

Friday, January 21, 2005 Posted: 9:12 AM EST (1412 GMT)
NEW YORK (AP) -- A hospital and the New York Rangers' hockey team doctor Thursday were ordered to pay $450,000 to a dance director and choreographer who had surgery on the wrong knee.


What does the letter K (450k) stand for in this article?

With kind regards
Martin de Wit
The Netherlands

: [[kilo]], i.e. thousand. -- [[User:John Fader|John Fader]] 16:37, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== American Election 1860 ==

As I understand it, the population of the US at this time was about 31,000,000

ONLY 5,000,000 PEOPLE VOTED


:You may find [[Help:Your first article|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.
hOW MANY PEOPLE HAD THE VOTE?? or WHAT WAS THE APPROXIMATE BREAKDOWN OF THE POPULATION??
: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! -- [[User:Avocado|Avocado]] ([[User talk:Avocado|talk]]) 14:28, 22 December 2024 (UTC)


::And the place for new editors to ask questions is the [[Wikipedia:Teahouse]] (although we're happy to help here too, especially with references). [[User:Alansplodge|Alansplodge]] ([[User talk:Alansplodge|talk]]) 15:24, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
pRESUMABLY WOMEN COULDN'T VOTE


== Indian city classification ==
:I unfortunately don't have time to dig up the numbers right now, but here's a couple of thoughts:
:*Age distribution. This has been changing in recent decades, but in the 1860s, I'd be surprised if more than 20 of the 30 million were of voting age.
:*Of course, women could not vote in the 1860 election, so take away another 10 million.
:*Slaves also couldn't vote, but I don't know if the 31 million figure is for population or for number of citizens, so let us ignore that for the moment.
:Now take into account spatial distribution (most people lived in the big cities in the East coast, but maybe a million or two lived out in the middle of nowhere without much communication with the outside world and without much interest in the goings-on in politics), and an approximate 50% voter turnout does not look all that bad.
:Oh, and methinks your caps lock key got stuck :P -- [[User:Ferkelparade|Ferkelparade]] [[User_talk:Ferkelparade|&pi;]] 17:46, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)


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. [https://doe.gov.in/orders-circulars/32] 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. -- [[User:Parnaval|Parnaval]] ([[User talk:Parnaval|talk]]) 17:13, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
== Area from GPS coordinates... ==
:That circular by the [[Ministry of Finance (India)|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. --[[User:Askedonty|Askedonty]] ([[User talk:Askedonty|talk]]) 21:28, 22 December 2024 (UTC)


Anybody know the best algorithm to calculate the area of a region bounded by points of which you know the latitude and longitude (from a [[Global Positioning System|GPS]])? At the moment I'm cheating by assuming the earth is flat (which is a reasonable enough approximation over a small area, but not so great on a big one). Do I have to approximate the surface with a bunch of triangles in 3D space, or is there something more elegant? --[[User:Robert Merkel|Robert Merkel]] 23:40, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)


: I'm guessing here, but how about mapping the coordinates onto an cylindrical equal-area [[map projection]], and then taking the rectangular area? for "Lambert's Cylindrical Equal-Area" projection, it should be simply: x = longitude, y = sin(latitude), where lat and long are in radians. You'll have to multiply x and y by the number of kilometers in one radian as measured at the longitude of the equator. -[[User:Key45|Key45]] 02:32, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)


= December 27 =
== What are thedifferent types of Indonesian Values? ==

Latest revision as of 00:06, 27 December 2024

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December 11

[edit]

If I ever opt to live in a group home for mental health clients, could my health insurance pay the rent and utilities?

[edit]

What is it like for mental health clients to live in group homes? What is paid out-of-pocket? What is paid by insurance?

As a diagnosee of schizotypal personality disorder and other disorders, and being thought to still be on the Autistic Spectrum by some therapists despite a rediagnosis to the above disorder, is there a group home near or in Hutchinson, KS for anyone with my types of disorders?

Could my Medicaid KanCare Sunflower health insurance pay for all expenses associated with living in the group home?

I hope to no longer have to pay $450/month in rent and over $100/month in energy bills as well as $70/month in Cox internet at 1 GBPs if I move into a group home and have health insurance pay for it all.

I would only intend to live there until all of my debts are paid off and once I have substantial investments saved up, including dividend stocks so I can live off of a passive income that pays for basic living expenses in a normal residence again.

And lastly, what freedoms might I possibly be giving up if I were to ever move into a group home? Thanks. --2600:8803:1D13:7100:7CBD:B058:3248:4DA3 (talk) 04:47, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The only people who could possibly answer this are KanCare Sunflower health insurance. Look at the terms of your agreement or ask them directly on their help line. Shantavira|feed me 09:56, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 12

[edit]

How to revert a company

[edit]

I received an unsolicited email soliciting a contribution to an upcoming issue of a biomedical journal. My contribution, they assured me, coming from an eminent researcher like me, would greatly enhance the quality of said issue. This may well be true, but, since my knowledge of biomedical issues has largely been formed by doing research to answer questions at the Reference desk, this does not bode well for the quality of this issue, even with my eminent contribution. I don't want my name to be associated with low-quality journals, so I'll refrain from contributing.

The email states at the bottom, in fine greyish print,

BioMed Grid LLC, California, USA. If you do not wish to receive this email, revert us.

I indeed do not wish to receive this email and would like to unreceive it. But I can't figure out how to revert this company. Can anyone help me? (There are some more companies I'd also like to revert.)  --Lambiam 09:19, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I guess it means block them or tag it as spam. I assume you've read American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research. Shantavira|feed me 11:03, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I believe it's just corporate talk for "email us back". See definition 14 in Wiktionary. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 20:09, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Definition 14 has the label intransitive, while the spotted use has a transitive sense.  --Lambiam 10:03, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I was about to add that it's Indian English - but the Wiktionary entry says it is now global. ColinFine (talk) 21:02, 14 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
But is it? I'd never seen this before. Our article on the journal states that the publisher, Biomedgrid LLC, was first registered in California in 2018 by Sasidhar Vontethina and Sushma Manchikanti, both Indian (more specifically Telugu) names.  --Lambiam 08:58, 15 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I also question this. I'd be befuddled if I was asked to revert a company. But then, I always wince when I hear "write me" rather than "write to me" (other than "write me a letter"). -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 19:27, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Or, reverting to before the Internet, mail and maybe even speech a request to "reach out." All the best: Rich Farmbrough 12:33, 20 December 2024 (UTC).[reply]

December 13

[edit]

LUFS meter vs. Audiosurf algorithm

[edit]

What are similarities and differences between LUFS meter (especially momentary) and Audiosurf's audio analysis algorithm (when comes to how tracks are colored in particular way depending on the song intensity)? Considering the color (when "fancy coloring" mode is enabled) of momentary LUFS bar on my own multichannel peakmeter when fed with the same song as the video, lines up with the color of the blocks and the tracks on this video and/or this sometimes and at other times, it doesn't line up assuming they somehow sync with the video. 2001:448A:3070:DCCD:D862:849B:9C69:6E43 (talk) 03:43, 13 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The article about the Audiosurf game tells that the game engine analyzes an imported song to create and save its dynamics in an ASH file. Reverse engineering these files to extract the generating algorithms is research that is beyond anyone here. This is proprietary information that the game creator Dylan Fitterer may choose to withold. Already as you look for correlation between your objective LUFS detector and the game screen, bear in mind that where the object of Audiosurf is more to entertain than analytical logging, some degree of randomity may be deliberately included. Philvoids (talk) 16:32, 14 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Philvoids BTW, what's the difference between song intensity estimation algorithm (which Audiosurf probably uses it) and a LUFS meter (aka. a K-weighted RMS meter)? And are these two even interchangeable? 2001:448A:3070:E1D7:6927:DCA6:924C:1623 (talk) 02:47, 23 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 15

[edit]

Meta physics

[edit]

about things beyond nature 105.113.11.194 (talk) 20:36, 15 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See Metaphysics? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots21:34, 15 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Note that metaphysics is not about phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The usual term for these is "the supernatural".  --Lambiam 07:57, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The word "meta" means “beyond” and “about”. The word “physics” means “nature”.  Therefore, metaphysics can be regarded as the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality and existence. Stanleykswong (talk) 06:45, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Των μετά τα φυσικά
The Ancient Greek preposition μετά also means "next, after". It is generally thought that the title of Aristotle's book Των μετά τα φυσικά (Tōn metá ta phusiká), "Of the things after Physica", the etymon of our term metaphysics, was given to it (not by Aristotle but by the editor) simply because it was the next book in series, following Aristotle's book Physica, "Natural phenomena".  --Lambiam 11:22, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 16

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My habit of feature requests scared a developer?

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Reading these posts (this and this) on a thread about foo_enhanced_spectrum_analyzer in HydrogenAudio forum about my doings that "scared" off a developer of foo_enhanced_spectrum_analyzer and foo_loudness_peakmeter components for foobar2000 player and yet, the developer of a spectrum analyzer plugin for MusicBee did implement my feature requests into this plugin despite I've not have written fanon wiki pages about future version of CoolEdit Nostalgia (like I did this and this before). So, why would they? 2001:448A:3070:EA0F:F1A2:31A3:43A5:587B (talk) 18:22, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What has this got to do with wikipedia or finding references for anything? Nanonic (talk) 19:34, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Nanonic: perhaps finding a reliable reference for what some bad habits when comes to feature requests that are likely to made software developers quit their job. 2001:448A:3070:EA0F:A59D:BE84:1D03:3CD (talk) 21:20, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Your questions are scaring off the Reference desk respondents.  --Lambiam 09:57, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Whatever drama you're involved with on that board, I suggest you keep it there and don't post about it here. --Viennese Waltz 10:02, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 17

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Futures contract

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I don't understand finance, so I thought I'd ask. If I buy a futures contract for say a ton of corn at a specific price, and I hold it until the delivery date, will someone literally deliver a ton of corn to me? Thanks. Therapyisgood (talk) 00:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The contract is likely to read "FOB Kansas City," or something like that. You'll probably have to move it from whatever transportation it is on (train, ship) yourself. Or, arrange (pay for) delivery. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 01:38, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
At the delivery date, the current buyer will have become the proud owner of a ton of corn somewhere. The identity of the buyer of the contract almost always changes, so the seller drawing up the contract does not know the identity of the eventual buyer at the delivery date. Therefore, wherever the "somewhere" may be, you as the buyer can be reasonably sure it will not be delivered to your doorstep.  --Lambiam 09:54, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oil futures have even been known to have a negative price, when the producers' local storage was full and demand was low. At that point the buyer of the contract is being paid to take it away. [1] --Amble (talk) 20:30, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Most futures contracts are cash-settled and there is no physical transfer of the underlying asset. Stanleykswong (talk) 06:31, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
True, but this depends on both parties agreeing to a new or modified contract. If the buyer does the unexpected and just sits it out, as suggested in the original question, and also does not agree to a new contract, the seller is obligated to produce the asset to the buyer, even if this means they need to go and buy it on the market.  --Lambiam 10:58, 19 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, a futures contract is ultimately for purposes of delivery of the specified contract in accordance with its terms. A standard corn futures contract is for 5000 bushels (although there is also a mini corn future for only 1000 bushels). A bushel of corn (maize) weighs 56 pounds, so at settlement the buyer owns 140 tons of corn (or, for a mini corn future, 28 tons).
But that is not going to be you. You are a retail investor and would trade through a commodity broker, who is probably not going to be willing to accept physical settlement on your behalf. John M Baker (talk) 00:41, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Which Political Bloggers are Former Programmers?

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Such as Curtis Yarvin and Ruan Xiaohuan. Saedeer (talk) 13:45, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Why do you ask that? I don't think the answer to this question can help you. Polygnotus (talk) 01:15, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe the OP wants to find out how many other former programmers aren't very bright. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots13:46, 20 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

December 19

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Who is the following unknown?

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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? carrots14:30, 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? carrots15:08, 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? carrots15:36, 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

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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? carrots19:07, 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? carrots07:13, 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? carrots02:20, 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? carrots02:49, 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

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Britannica

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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? carrots16:43, 21 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Webpages

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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,

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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.[2] 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

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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]

Indian city classification

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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. [3] 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

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