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May 28

I don't understand this

I'm Muslim and I read this Wikipedia article about halal. It says that "It is estimated that 70% of Muslims worldwide follow Halal standards". This is confusing me because I know that I have to keep halal. I don't understand it. Should I believe it. What should I choose to follow? Note: I'm not asking for legal advice and please don't tell me this is legal advice. Thank you. Jet (talk) 03:58, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

"Should I believe it?" isn't really applicable to halal; that's not a matter of faith. As for your obligations as a Muslim, perhaps you should talk with people at your local mosque. As for legal advice, your user page suggests you're in the US, where the First Amendment guarantees that this is not a legal issue. Secularly speaking, observing halal standards is entirely a matter of personal preference. — Lomn 04:29, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Do you mean should you believe it from a religious/ethical standpoint or do you mean, "is it credible?" Theshibboleth (talk) 05:42, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

As with all religions there are people who practice at varying degrees and levels of discipline. The question is a matter of personal choice as Lomn says. The article refers to the fact that Halal is something that is practiced by a large percentage of the muslim population. That doesn't mean you have to (or don't have to) follow halal, it means that across the many variants of your religion there are sects that follow halal and those that don't. It's down to an individual to decide whether or not they believe it is fundamental to being a muslim. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 08:00, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

There may not be any entire sects that don't follow halal; it may just be that 30% of people who identify as Muslims are not actually religious enough to follow halal. I remember a friend of mine from Indonesia telling me about his very secular father who decided one year to fast for Ramadan – then told the family's cook to make him pork chops after the sun went down. —Angr 17:29, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

college gpa

How important is your college GPA? Does it have major effect on getting jobs later in life or is it usually sufficient to have graduated from a good school? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.114.222.188 (talk) 06:30, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I've never known any employer to ask anyone what their GPA was. Nor have I even heard of it happening... Dismas|^(talk) 06:56, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, it definitely has some effect on admission to grad school, and that in turn has an effect on employment later. But supposedly your letters are more important even for that. Free advice, offered as is with no warranty: Don't blow off grades, they do matter somewhat, but also don't duck hard but rewarding classes just to try to be valedictorian, and focus more on understanding the material than on memorizing stuff that might get you an extra two points on the next test. All of which may be out the window if you're trying to get into a first-professional-degree program like med school or law school -- I have a generally low opinion of those programs, but if that's the way you want to go then I guess you have to jump through their hoops, whatever they are, which I wouldn't really know. --Trovatore (talk) 07:39, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

When I hire people fresh from college I do look at their GPA, but that's only part of the picture. It can be a smudge on the record or a gleam of sparkle or it can indicate an upward or downward trend. (And yes, it does contribute to the decision where in the payscale you end up :-$) Later on it's only interesting if it indicates some general good/bad work habits. --71.236.23.111 (talk) 08:49, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

What employers mainly look for is: experience, experience, experience. Not your GPA; not whether you went to a fancy college; certainly not whether you were president of the Glee Club in high school. They want to know what you've done and how good of an employee you were. It's amusing how I see so many young people freaking out over things like whether they're going to make National Honors Society in high school or whether they're going to get into a particular college. The wealthiest person I've ever met -- one of the wealthiest in the world -- is a dropout from an unpretentious public university. Another super-wealthy person I met has nothing but a bachelor's degree from Kent State University, which was, when I was in school, considered bottom of the barrel by snobby kids in the Cleveland suburbs. I admit that graduating magna cum laude from Harvard gives you a good start, but it's really all about how you perform on the job. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 21:40, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Water bottle design

This may very well be one of the most pointless questions this Ref desk has seen but here it goes anyway... I have a water bottle, basically a Nalgene bottle but not made by the Nalgene company, which holds about a liter. The bottle is just under 4" in diameter and the mouth of the bottle is just under 2" in dia. The part that I don't understand and I've not been able to figure any reasonable explanation for is the fact that there is a small lip on the interior of the bottle that won't allow all the liquid to flow out. You can turn the bottle upside down and this lip around the interior edge of the mouth of the bottle will keep the last little bit, about two tablespoons, from pouring out. Why would someone design a bottle like this? What's the point? Dismas|^(talk) 06:53, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Without seeing the bottle to understand whether it might perform a useful duty I would assume that the design-flaw is a result of either the manufacturing process or stability/rigidity. The difficulty with designing a product is as much in making a machine-manufacturable/mass-producable design as it is in making something that is fit for purpose. I understand the grooves you see in plastic milk-bottles (you know the ones that seem pointless) are to do with increasing the rigidity of the plastic, and you can often spot the seam/place where machinery picks-up/holds products during the manufacturing process on low-cost items as the cost of overcoming the issue v aesthetic improvement is probably not worthwhile. Anyhoo if you could find an image of it someone might be able to offer a more reasoned explanation, but my gut reaction would be that it is due to manufacturing or structural reasons. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 07:54, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I think it is supposed to hold last bits of drink, thus making you buy it more. 89.236.214.174 (talk) 08:19, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Hardly realistic though is it? You buy a 500ml bottle and get 498ml, the 2ml it holds back is not going to make you purchase another bottle. It's not like say a marmalade where getting the last bit out will make it last another week and so slow re-buying, it's a full-use in one-sitting item. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:26, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

If it's one with a screw top then the inner lip will help seal the lid . If you turn over the lid you'll probably find a ridge inside about 2mm or so from where the top meets the side. If you look at your bottle the bulge on top (including the inner lip) will snugly fit into that space. In short the lip will help keep your drink in the bottle when the lid is on and you turn it upside down. Otherwise I'd go with 194. we'd have to see it. 71.236.23.111 (talk) 08:41, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm about to leave work so I'll get pics when I get home. I'd just like to note right now though, the bottle is reusable. I didn't buy it with anything in it. I refill it at home with juice for my breaktime at work. Dismas|^(talk) 10:54, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay. This should work for pics... [1] [2]. You can see the lip on the interior of the bottle in the second pic. It's a smooth lip. Dismas|^(talk) 21:35, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Do you not have manual focus? Nice ceiling, shame about the bottle detail :(. --Tagishsimon (talk) 21:38, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I think Dismas entered the wrong URL, try this one. It's still out of focus but I can make out a 2 inch diameter cylinder internal to the bottle. I guess it is a half inch lip, such that the liquid retained would be a cylinder of liquid 4 inches in diameter and half inch depth (minus the 2 inch cylinder that woul pour out). -84user (talk) 21:51, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, sorry about the focus. It's a simple point and shoot that I won in a raffle. So, what's the point of the lip? Dismas|^(talk) 21:58, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

No idea about the lip, except that it indeed looks like just plain stupid design. Maybe they expect you to use a straw or something? As for the photos, looks like the bottle was closer than the camera's minimum focus distance. Does it have a macro mode? (Look for a flower symbol or something like that.) If not, you'll just have to make sure not to put your camera too close to the thing you're photographing. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 22:33, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

(outdent) Here are some better pics. I went out on my porch for some natural light and used the macro function. Also found a wasp nest that I didn't know about... anyway... Pics: [3] and [4]. In the second pic, you can see a drop forming on the inner lip. Dismas|^(talk) 22:42, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

OK, nobody's suggested this yet, so here goes...

Suppose you put something in the bottle that's not 100% liquid, like coffee with grounds, cocoa from mix that hasn't all dissolved and reappears at the bottom of your cup, or even an old red wine with a few lingering bits of grapeskin. You don't really want to pour the solids into your drinking utensil, you need a form of decanting, which said lip provides exactly, yes?

-- Danh, 63.231.153.176 (talk) 23:40, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

It looks as if the neck and the body of the bottle have been formed in separate pieces, which makes sense since they're different kinds of plastic (black vs. transparent; no idea if there's any other difference). Probably they didn't have a way of reliably attaching the body to the very base of the neck piece, so they had to leave part of the neck inside the bottle, forming the lip. It almost looks as if the neck might be two pieces screwed together. If you took the top off, grabbed the neck and twisted, they might come apart. (Just don't twist so hard you'll break it.) —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 01:35, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Isn't it not Ironic?

In Alanis Morissette's song "Ironic", she sings about things that do not appear to actually be irony at all, like a 98 year old man dying the day after he wins the lottery. Thats not ironic, its just bad luck. Irony is the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention. Has anyone told her this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Copy of a copy cat (talk • contribs) 08:50, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at Ironic (song)#Linguistic usage disputes Think outside the box 09:09, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

And Ed Byrne SGGH ^speak! 09:55, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Off topic, but your definition of irony is exactly the same as the one Bender sings in The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings :) Think outside the box 11:09, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Killing and getting rids of fleas from your home- from cats and dogs.

Please help me. I have tried flea flogger, exterminator, and oil of eucalyptus. I ma a kidney diayysis patients and I need to find a cure to get rid of fleas. Please help. Send help to -email removed-. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.19.252.25 (talk) 10:52, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

See if you can find Neem oil or order online. Put the oil in a spray bottle and apply. You can also get the pressed out kernels/seeds (sorry I don't know which it actually is. They're like the press cake only they're not stuck together.) Sprinkle those on carpet and along baseboards and in places outside where your pets pick up fleas. The smell takes some getting used to!! You can cover it up some with lavender or mint but it is strong. Some also say that dusting with baking soda works, but I have no data to confirm that. Comb your pets with a flea comb [5] every day in a tub and flush the fleas. Good luck. --71.236.23.111 (talk) 15:47, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

We had a cat which suffered badly from Flea Allergy Dermatitis, and needed to eradicate fleas effectively from both cats and our home to prevent her being ill. Our vet recommended treating both cats monthly with an insecticide containing Fipronil (we used Frontline Spot On Cat, but I believe other brands are commercially available). It works by disrupting the fleas' central nervous system, poisoning them whenever they bite the cat and preventing them from reproducing before they die. The reproductive cycle is broken and over time the infestation dies out. There can be side-effects for a small number of animals, but we observed none ourselves and the cats remain healthy and flea-free with no residual population in the house that we have noticed. With the other treatments suggested by 71.236 above to attack the existing flea population, this may be effective for you. The Fipronil is administered in drop form on the back of the cat's neck once a month. Because Wikipedia cannot give medical advice you should check with your doctor as to whether Fipronil use on your own pets is appropriate in view of your medical circumstances, and whether you would need to take any special precautions around the animals immediately after treatment. -- Karenjc 19:05, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Eskimo

There is a legend that tells that some eskimos get rid off their old-aged parents sending them to the seas on a piece of ice. I think it's just a myth, but is it? 89.236.214.174 (talk) 12:22, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

From the article Inuit : "A pervasive European myth about Inuit is that they killed elderly and unproductive people." This is not generally true. In a culture with an oral history, elders are the keepers of communal knowledge, effectively the community library, and there are cultural taboos against sacrificing elders because they are of extreme value as the repository of knowledge. Fribbler (talk) 12:29, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

The people still exist and they do not commit senilicide now. There are certainly legends that, in times when the Inuit did not have the resources of the rich South and modern governments to call on, that adults did let elders die, or that elders chose to die in order to free the group of the burden of caring for them. (Cf the British polar expedition in 1912: Captain Lawrence Oates committed suicide, saying, "I'm going outside, and I may be some time" and walked into a snowstorm; his leader said after his death that it was the act of a brave man and a gentleman.)

The idea of the noble savage in relation to the abandonment of elders is discussed here: [6]

Text from Aging and Ethics: Philosophical Problems in Gerontology By Nancy Ann Silbergeld Jecker

The ice-floe legend you refer to may have come from here:

"There is no evidence to support claims that they were sent to sea on an ice-float, and this seems unlikely, as it would be logistically difficult—imagine trying to pull an existent ice-float in to shore, or to create a new icefloat by cracking it away from the ice on the seaside…without accidentally cracking off the wrong section. This popular conception probably originated with the popular work of literary fiction, Top of the World (1950), or the 1959 film adaptation, The Savage Innocents." [7]

Inuit did have a tradition of executing an individual who threatened the safety of the community: Harsh Justice

BrainyBabe (talk) 17:10, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

As a boy I read a book by Peter Freuchen which as I recall described elderly Inuits going out to freeze when they were no longer useful. Not sure which of his books it was. Edison (talk) 19:41, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Watch Type

On this page, there is a photo (4th row down, 2nd across) of a gentleman wearing a watch that looks like a bracelet. What is this watch called? Who makes it? I cannot find it on eBay. Any help would be most appreciated. --Endless Dan 13:21, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

List of Stubs for category tree

I want to get a list of the stubs for all categories under 'Biology' (and also Bacteriology and Physics) for he purposes of using these lists to evaluate a list extracted from an ebook. This is for evaluating some rsearch I am doing for my PhD in computational linguistics. trying to access the category pages directly from a program doesn't work as it is not a browser. Downloading the Biology pages is not what I need, just the list of stubs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DDLing (talk • contribs) 13:49, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Start here: [8]. I /think/ this is the best list of stubs page. You might also have a word with the people who run the stub sorting project, since they're most likely to know where other stubs might be found. --Tagishsimon (talk) 14:11, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Endonym map?

A previous question referring to exonyms and endonyms piqued my curiosity: Does anyone know of a map or atlas published entirely with endonyms? It may not be very practical to speakers of a single language, but it would be interesting to see. Thank you. — Michael J 14:05, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Maps of Switzerland often give the name in the regional language(s). German Zürich (not Zurich, Zurigo, or Turitg), French Genève (not Genf, Ginevra, or Genevra), Italian Ticino (not Tessin) etc. In bilingual towns or regions, both varieties are given (e.g: "Biel/Bienne", "Ilanz/Glion" etc.) I'm assuming the same applies to some other countries with multiple official languages (Belgium, Canada, South Africa, ...). I can't remember whether I've ever seen an entire world map printed in this style though. ---Sluzzelin talk 14:37, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Google Earth (mine, anyway) shows city endonyms with the english term in brackets (and un-ticking "alternate place names" even gets rid of the english names). Doesn't show country names at all though. Fribbler (talk) 14:48, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

European road atlases are very often published entirely with endonyms, including untransliterated Greek and Cyrillic. Atlases that also show parts of the Mideast and North Africa, though, generally do transliterate Hebrew and Arabic. —Angr 15:06, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry I can't give you a name or store to try, but I can at least tell you that maps of the kind you want do exist. I had a wall poster at university that showed all of Europe and some of North Africa and the Near East, all in local endonyms. It was not very detailed, though. Matt Deres (talk) 16:34, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I have an atlas that does a fairly good job of this, showing place names in both regular English form and various local forms, with a system of transliteration or transcription for non-latin alphabets. Unfortuantely out of print, it is Rand McNally's "Illustrated Atlas of the World", 1992, revised 1994, ISBN 0-528-83492-4. For example the map of the Baltic Region shows several names for the Baltic Sea, each located near the country in which that name is used, including Östersjön/Itämeri/Baltijskoje More, Balti Meri, Baltijas Jura, Baltijos Jura, and Morze Baltyckie (I'm not sure how to type a couple of the diacritics used -- a horizontal line over a u and a slash through an l). Egypt is shown as Misr (with a diacritic squiggle under the s), the Persian Gulf as Khalij-e Fars / Al-Khalij al-'Arabi (with several diacritics in there). The Sea of Japan is "Japonskoje More / Tong-hae / Nippon-kai". And so on. I haven't seen another atlas that does this. It's too bad this one is out of print because it is pretty nifty. Pfly (talk) 21:52, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Perhaps I will attempt to construct a moderate scale world map entirely with endonyms. I may even place it as an image on the exonym and endonym article. — Michael J 17:47, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Which boss wrote a compassionate email immeidately after 9/11?

I post this here becasue I can't see that Wikiquotes has a ref desk. A beautifully worded email circulated in the days after 9/11. I think it was written by a high-up corporate type (a woman in publishing, maybe?) to all the company's employees. The email said, there are more important things than your job. If you need to skip some meetings to spend time with people you love, go ahead. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Who was she and what has happened to her? Is the text available? I know it's not much to go on. Thanks BrainyBabe (talk) 16:36, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Alot of these are well-meaning hoaxes/mis-attributions. Take a look over at snopes.com. They critique a lot of well circulated emails, especially of this variety. Fribbler (talk) 16:40, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Just because many are false does not mean that the one I seek is not true. The page mentioned above does not seem to provide any information about my query. Can anyone help? BrainyBabe (talk) 14:02, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I do not know if this helps, but in the barrage of television programming that immediately followed the collapse of the twin towers, one person I saw interviewed was the CEO of some kind of big-time firm whose offices were IN the twin towers. The company had a two-name title (you know, like Smith Barney or Berkshire Hathaway or something like that; I know this doesn't help much). It was one of those firms people more into money than me are well aware of. Anyway, this guy said he told his surviving employees to stay home, hug their families, be with their kids. Through his sobs, he said they almost all said they had to be there, to come to work and DO stuff. It was much more touching than I expected it to be. Anyway, I'm quite sure it was on ABC's Nightline, or at least on during the time period if Nightline was one of the shows that suspended broadcast. My guess is that it was the night of September 11 or September 12, so perhaps that will give you somewhere to start if this is ringing any bells. Good luck. Mitchell k dwyer (talk) 22:46, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

The person that Mitchell refers to is Howard Lutnick, head of Cantor Fitzgerald. The interview he gave was on ABC with Connie Chung. I couldn't find anything about him writing an e-mail, though. — jwillbur 08:05, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Is a penny saved a penny lost?

I've noticed that my school cafeteria has an interesting sort of informal change policy: if you don't have the correct change to pay for something whose price ends in one or two cents, they round down the price to the nearest five or ten cents. (On one occasion, they even rounded a $1:20 item down to one dollar, when I didn't have any change.) However, I've never been shorted any change at the cafeteria. I have two questions about this:

-Firstly, is it at all illegal? -Secondly, is it possible for a business to lose a substantial amount of money by rounding down prices now and then? 207.233.87.236 (talk) 17:33, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

No it is not illegal. Yes, it is possible to lose money, but it is as likely that a) there's enough headroom in the pricing to cope with it and b) it may pay back by encouraging those with 0.7% less than the purchase price to buy anyway. Assuming profit on the item is greater than 0.7%, then profit is still made. --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:46, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

And depending on the purchase volume per day it amounts to very little, potentially as much as is miscounted/lost anyway. I used to work retail and at the end of the day you counted up your box and compared it with your receipts, and you were usually off a bit, anything in the range of a few dollars or so was normal. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 18:56, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

You only get such prices if you adopt the usual policy in the USA of displaying prices without the sales tax added on ... so $1.99 + 7% tax = $2.13 and the checkout operator might round down to $2.10 or even $2.00. In Europe (and most other countries?), sales tax is already included in the price displayed ... so €1.99 already includes the tax, and there's no potential to round down at the checkout. Astronaut (talk) 22:33, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't know about "most other countries", but in Canada it's never done that way, and in some provinces it's actually against consumer protection laws. I suspect that's because some shady characters double-dipped on the tax by advertising the post-tax price, then adding tax at the till again and pocketing the difference. Tax can also vary depending on who's buying - tourists, status Indians living on reserves, and other government agencies don't always pay sales tax. --NellieBly (talk) 03:20, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Whereas in most European, Australia and NZ, advertising the GST/VAT exclusive price is likely to be against consumer protection laws, unless it's made abundantly clear. Also, in countries without 1 cents or even 5 cent coins, stores don't always round down. In NZ for example they used to round 1, 2 cents down; 3, 4 cents up when they had 5 cents. (This is often called Swedish rounding). Now without 5 cents, they round 1-4 down, 5-9 up. This isn't in law thought, it simply recommended (enforced?) by the retailers federation, a store is free to round however they want e.g. always round down, always round up, although they have to make it clear what method they use particularly I suspect if it differs from the norm (if they always round down I presume it doesn't matter). Of course, since the vast majority of transactions are probably not cash, no rounding usually occurs. (And yes, most items are still advertised as .99, .49 etc) Nil Einne (talk) 15:27, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Canada, as in many things, follows the US policy on this. DJ Clayworth (talk) 14:43, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

In Wisconsin, a merchant may either state prices with or without the sales taxes. If prices as stated include the tax (vending machines, for example), that fact must be clearly advertised (presumably to avoid the kind of double-dipping NellieBly references). --Orange Mike | Talk 16:48, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

If they want they can sell with a €1 price tag for 2 cents or €1,000, the price is just an invitation to bargain, so you can even haggle the price down (Though don't cos other people in the shop will think you're a moron and the people who run it might get annoyed and bar you).--Serviam (talk) 23:09, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

gasoline in diesel engine

what happens when you run gasoline in a diesel engine? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Evant1129 (talk • contribs) 18:21, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdieselvsgas.html --Tagishsimon (talk) 18:28, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Also, this, this and this might help. Anonymous101 (talk) 18:29, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

FIRE. 71.74.178.225 (talk) 03:11, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

parapsychological contact

Moved here from WP:New contributors' help page

Please fill in the subject box above, then replace this text with your question, and don't forget to sign by leaving the following four tildes (~'s) in place which automatically formats to your signature once you click "save page" below. 216.174.242.140 (talk) 17:35, 28 May 2008 (UTC) name jerry l capps recently i was contacted by several mediums and several psychics around the world all the big names as in biggest such as anthony carr lee moorehead etc my question is this i have been told by one ri--research in brooklyn that there is a thing called beyonders and i have the ability to heal people by touch how real is this my name is jerry l capps thank you am baffled at such things

(Removed personal contact info) Hi Jerry: we answer questions here rather than individually by email or other means, and contact details should not be added to Wikipedia for reasons of personal security. -- Karenjc 17:47, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I've done some Googling on the specifics of your question. "The Beyonders" refers, among other things, to the nickname of an amateur nonprofit paranormal investigation group based in Michigan; a couple of bands; and a fictional race of beings in the Marvel Comics universe. I cannot find anything linking the phrase to supernatural healing abilities, although I may not have looked hard enough. As for the existence of psychic healing abilities and the effectiveness or otherwise of such methods, this is a matter of opinion: see our article on Faith healing for discussion and further references. You do not state whether the people who have contacted you are asking for anything, and Wikipedia does not give legal advice, but before entering into any important legal or financial commitment it would be sensible to consult a professional advisor. -- Karenjc 18:12, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

book

Who is the author of Goldielocks and the three bears —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.171.129.69 (talk) 20:35, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

According to The Three Bears, it was composed by Robert Southey. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 20:40, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Or, rather, first published as a Southey composition, but possibly based on older tellings ... and I'm with Byron on Southey: You, Bob! are rather insolent, you know, / At being disappointed in your wish / To supersede all warblers here below, / And be the only Blackbird in the dish. I'm sure Bob didn't claim it as his own, and neither should we. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:30, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

"The earliest recorded version of the tale was found quite recently in 1951 in a collection of early children's books in the Toronto Public Library. The story was published in a homemade book titled, The Story of The Three Bears metrically related, with illustrations locating it at Cecil Lodge in September 1831. Apparently an aunt, Eleanor Mure, had written the story in verse and illustrated it for her nephew from the story she already knew through oral tradition. Mure's version of the tale featured an old woman who intrudes into the bears' home, sampling their food and other amenities (Opie 1974, 199-200)." [9] BrainyBabe (talk) 14:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

T-shirt

Hello, I'm a 24 year old guy in the U.S. Do you think I could get away with wearing this shirt without getting laughter or weird looks? The one I have is size XL (14/16) so it fits me fine. 76.8.208.24 (talk) 20:45, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Depends where you wear it. To a Pokemon convention, no problem. I wouldn't recommend wearing it to a wedding, funeral, or job interview though. —Angr 21:13, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

There's a bloke in my neighborhood (or was, I haven't seen him a year or two) with batwings tattooed around his eyes, and that's just the start ... I saw him once in the Kwik-E-Mart wearing Pikachu slippers. You never know about people! —Tamfang (talk) 07:34, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Unless it's a job interview for Nintendo or The Pokémon Company perhaps. And if it's your funeral, feel free to specify that you want to be buried in a Pokemon shirt in your will. And if it'd your wedding and your spouse agrees Nil Einne (talk) 15:18, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Haven't you asked this almost exact same question before? The answer then, as well as now, is sure, you could wear it, and it would look just as silly as some of the other silly t-shirts people wear. I don't think most people would notice or care very much about what you wear, in most cases, special situations (such as those mentioned above) as the exception. In any case, to some degree the deliberate embrace of kitsch can be considered "hip", though you have to realize it is kitsch before that can be the case. If you're doing it earnestly, that's never hip. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:25, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it was asked before. Dismas|^(talk) 21:31, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

This reminds me of the time I bought a T-shirt with a picture of George W. Bush with the text "International Terrorist" from an online store. I did it because I had heard of some American guy that had got expelled from school solely for wearing such a T-shirt, so I felt I just had to get one for myself. When I wore it to the World Bodypainting Festival 2007, no less than three people asked me to pose for a photograph for them. JIP | Talk 21:39, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Ball-thingies on shoes

Do those nice-looking ornamental ball-thingies found on women's high-heeled shoes at the top edge of the shoe have a name? JIP | Talk 21:16, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

?pom pom like [[10]], [11], [12] or would you have an image as to what you mean.--71.236.23.111 (talk) 22:48, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Bots

I would like to know, how do you make your wikipedia bots that can clean up vandalism and the like? I would like to do this on a wiki I am currently a member of and would appreciate it if you told me ow. Any help is grealy appreciated :) --Seablue254 (talk) 22:51, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm no expert on computer programming, so I wouldn't know how to program one from scratch. ClueBot is one of the best anti-vandal bots on Wikipedia, and it is open source. One should simply be able to copy the source and run it on any wiki. For future reference, questions about how Wikipedia works should go on the Help desk, not the reference desk. I hope this helps. Paragon12321 (talk) 01:55, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at the Wikipedia:Bot policy page. Note that all bots must be approved before use. - Akamad (talk) 10:05, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

We have a page on creating a bot. --Milkbreath (talk) 10:23, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Darn. Way for me to miss the obvious. Sorry guys! Thanks for your help! --Seablue254 (talk) 19:24, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

May 29

Paypal and payoneer

I want to transfer money from my paypal account to payoneer What can I do? 217.168.0.4 (talk) 03:41, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Yahoo answers had a go at a similar question. Fribbler (talk) 14:34, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Homeroom

What are the chances of there being only one female homeroom teacher in a year level at a particular school? What are the chances of there being no female homeroom teachers in a year level at that school? Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 06:24, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

One could do a statistical analysis based on the number of teachers and the observation that (approximately) half of the human race is female, and use something like a binomial distribution table at p=0.5 . But this would be correct only as an exercise in statistical methods - it makes the fundamental assumption that the probability of being a teacher and the probability of being female are independent, and I don't think this is a reliable assumption. You'd need real-world data (from surveys etc) on the proportion of male and female teachers - at that particular year level, since in the UK at least it seems that teachers of younger children are more likely to be female. Getting that data would be the hardest part of the task; once you have it you can use tables or whatever to find the probability of a particular number as you asked. I'll let someone else explain that bit (binomial or an appropriate approximation for larger numbers) as my A level stats course was a very long time ago :-) 81.187.153.189 (talk) 07:41, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

There's a huge number of extra variables here which would affect the probability. For example my high school had only one female homeroom teacher in the entire school (around forty teachers). My grade school had only one male teacher. DJ Clayworth (talk) 14:38, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Try an all boys school or a quran school to get better odds.--71.236.23.111 (talk) 19:26, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I was going to ask what on earth the question meant, but found that we have a homeroom article which tells me. --ColinFine (talk) 21:55, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Career

Is it possible to become a computer software engineer before becoming an animator? Aanusha Ghosh (talk) 08:13, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Simple answer: Of course. It's not like one prevents the other from happening? It's easier to move through branches/major careers if you can find some 'link' or something that helps you transfer the knowledge/experience you gain in the former into the latter (or at least at the interview stage give the impression that your unrelated prior career is beneficial to the role). 194.221.133.226 (talk) 08:28, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Fleshing this out a bit more, there's no meaningful similarity between a software engineer and an animator (even a computer-using animator) at all. One would similarly ask if it's possible to become an airline pilot before becoming a doctor. — Lomn 13:01, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

However it is possible to be a software engineer working on computer animation; that isn't the same thing as an animator of course. DJ Clayworth (talk) 14:36, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Or an animator drawing a software engineer. — Lomn 17:14, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

One problem you'd be facing is that unless you do some of your studying part-time while holding a job, it will take you an awful long time to reach the job market studying two unrelated subjects sequentially. You can get fewer credits for your existing degree applicable to a major that has little in common. That means you can't shave that much time off the time required to get a second degree. Employers look for job experience. It will take more effort to find, but there are always some jobs that overlap in several areas. For those a degree in one of those areas is usually sufficient. "Sliding" into a new profession not generally associated with ones original degree isn't that uncommon. As career path planning I'd not recommend aiming for it, though. --76.111.32.200 (talk) 06:06, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Burn

what is the minimum temp. for combustion to take place? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 11:08, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

See Combustion and look at the "Temperature" section. -- SGBailey (talk) 11:27, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Some chemicals, like white phosphorus, start to burn in air a fairly low temperatures, 35 Celsius [13]. Edison (talk) 19:37, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Pyrophoric chemicals burn at or below room temperature. -- 128.104.112.147 (talk) 16:11, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Flash point, fire point, and autoignition temperature may be of interest. --Carnildo (talk) 21:04, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Small plant, suitable for an office environment

Hi all,

My department at work is marking World Environment Day next week by running a Secret Santa-style draw in which we each buy each other a plant to go on our desks. This will be to the value of £3 to £5 (GBP). I'd appreciate some advice/recommendations on suitable and interesting plants which are likely to be easy to find in an ordinary garden centre in the UK, and which are appropriate for an office environment – so, at a guess, small, slow-growing, hardy and not needing too much water or other care.

Thanks! Hassocks5489 (tickets please!) 11:35, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Do you guys have cactuses readily available in the UK?--droptone (talk) 12:19, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

With max respect cacti are the most boring plants in the world to have on your desk. They need large amounts of sunshine to ensure flowering and confining one to a desk would come close to plant cruelty.You need to think about plants that will flourish in shady places. Ferns, peace lily and the like. Any plant will be fine for a few weeks so you need to select with at least the medium future in mind. Have a look here [14] for a wide selection of indoor and office plants (makes it sound as though some offices are outside).Richard Avery (talk) 12:34, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Love Palms grow well in this enviroment. Also, I used to have a rosemary plant on my desk, and a Mint plant, that way I could eat parts of if when I got bored. They all three lasted a year or so each. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 12:44, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

If you want to grow more exotic plants, have a look at this USB Greenhouse Think outside the box 14:34, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Cacti, rosemary, mint are not good because they need a lot of light to do well. Most ferns need more humidity than the office environment provides. I have no idea what a "love palm" is. Plants that will do well in the typical office environment (low light, low humidity, mid temperatures) include Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily)[15], Syngonium (Arrowhead Plant)[16], Sansevieria (Mother-in-law's Tongue)[17], Dracaena [18], Chlorophytum (Spider Plant)[19], and Philodendron [20]. Some of these will grow large with time (depending on the specific varieties), but they are all plants that will grow and be healthy--not just hang on until they die!. Simply buy small specimens of any of these plants--all are readily available in nurseries and plant shops. They are all plants that I have grown successfully in my own home for many years.--Eriastrum (talk) 17:19, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

That's great – thanks to everybody for their suggestions! Hassocks5489 (tickets please!) 18:08, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Tillandsia can be arranged in interesting ways, because you can just stick them on to a rock or something. Go visit them with a spray-bottle occasionally and they're happy. Even I have failed to kill a Yucca (Not for lack of trying :-o) They come back after a lot of neglect. 71.236.23.111 (talk) 19:46, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Carnivorous plants? They do need some care with what they are watered with but my Venus Flytrap gave me amusement for some time until a cat decided to bite back.hotclaws 09:21, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Tillandsia needs a lot of bright light and fairly high humidity; it will last quite a while, but it is slowly dying. Yucca is also very tough and will last a long time, but it needs very bright light to grow. All the carnivorous plants I know of are very tricky to grow, needing high humidity and just the right amount of water and light. Although they are frequently sold as novelties, they are very poor choices as house plants. Ask yourself, do I want a plant that will simply survive for a while? Or do I want a plant that will grow and be happy (if plants can be said to be "happy"!)?--Eriastrum (talk) 20:33, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

What about a bonsai money tree? They don't require much light nor too much water. They look pretty neat too, and I think I paid $7-8 USD for a small one, which is within your price range. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 02:08, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

child custody laws

My great niece has been told by her Mother who is not her primary custodian, that she MUST come to stay with her for 2 mos this summer or she will have her Father thrown in jail. The child is 17 1/2 & gainfully employed & does not want to go stay with her Mom & stepfather (who hates her) & little sister who is spoiled. Can the Mom throw the Dad in jail if the 17 yr old girl refuses to go spend the entire summer out of state? Also, the Mom is behind on child support...does this factor in in any way? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.183.39.118 (talk) 12:54, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

If there's cause for the father to be jailed already (assuming that the police aren't yet aware of it), then the mother can opt to turn him in independent of the niece thing. Beyond that, though, this falls afoul of our "no legal advice" policy. These questions can be reliably answered only by a lawyer. — Lomn 12:59, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

The other thing I guess would be if the father has repeatedly violated or helped his daughter violate a custody arrangement then it may be a jailable offence if he does so one more time (which may be the case if the daughter does not stay with the mother during the summer). Your niece may want to seek the help of a lawyer to look into some sort of emancipation or at least to change the current custody arrangement Nil Einne (talk) 15:13, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Why does this always happen?

Does the toast really always fall buttered-side down? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.239.42.255 (talk) 13:15, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Essentially it's because of the height people have tables. If you drop it from 2m or so, it should land butterside up. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:18, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at [21] [22] Think outside the box 14:32, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

A science programme on British TV ran this expirement a couple of years ago. They found no evidence to support the claim. Their results showed random up and down results, the same as flipping a coin. (Don't people have better things to do?)86.200.130.105 (talk) 14:52, 29 May 2008 (UTC)petitmichel

Just blame it on Murphy. Or perhaps consider how memorable it is when the toast lands right-side-up; probably you'd just pick it up and go about your day without much thought. When bad things happen though, it seems our minds tend to flip into "Grr! Why, and how do I fix it?" mode. But that's just my take. --Prestidigitator (talk) 15:18, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I question the premise of this question on the grounds that it is not a usual occurrence for toast to be free falling often enough for this to be a notable phenomenon. Moreover, it is even rarer for buttered toast to be falling, accepting for the time being that some toasters may expel the toasted bread from the cooking instrument at a sufficient force for it to become airborne. Therefor, I can only assume you are intentionally dropping the toast, once buttered, to prove this point - which in itself seems somewhat paradoxical. Plasticbounceman (talk) 15:39, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Anyone else thinking of Sheldon? Think outside the box 15:46, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

No, it doesn't. I've dropped buttered toast and it landed butter-side up. Vranak (talk) 19:20, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

@Plasticbounceman: Rather than being due to a faulty toaster (which don't usually take buttered toast}, the phenomenon is usually more due to the fact that someone has to do the dishes, load the dishwasher or owns only 2 plates (both of which still have yesterday's leftover pizza on it). So you butter the toast in your hand and as you reach the edge it usually flips and leaves your hand holding it. (Also contributing the momentum getting what used to be the top you were spreading stuff on to become the bottom that messes up the floor.) Quite a few people who eat toast engage in OR during their student years. 71.236.23.111 (talk) 20:05, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

This question made me think of the Buttered cat paradox. 152.16.16.75 (talk) 09:40, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Not sure if Mythbusters declared it a myth or just inconclusive, but any buttered toast I've dropped (or cracker, for that matter) has landed butter down, with one exception only. My guess is the butter weights one side against the other as it falls from a reasonable (elbow) height, or the space allows for only one flip with no real thrust for a second turn. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:00, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

This is, of course, associated with the five-second rule, where most people think that toast which has been dropped on the floor is still edible if it's picked up within five seconds! -- Arwel (talk) 23:45, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Assume an equal chance of it landing either way. If it lands butter- (or jam-, or whatever sticky stuff you use) side down, it will stick, and you will find it thus. If, on the other hand, it lands dry-side down, or on an edge, it will bounce somewhat, and land again. If it lands butter-side down, it will stick, and you will find it thus. If, on the other hand, uh, how many times does it have to bounce before you realize that, eventually, it will end up stuck to the floor with the butter side down? The only way to avoid being stuck is if it randomly lands dry-side down so many times that it stops bouncing. -SandyJax (talk) 23:33, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

The British show, according to a book I've read (can't remember which one, but it was by Karl Kruszelnicki), made the methodological error of throwing the bread up in the air - not accurately reproducing the effect of accidentally nudging the toast off the table. Of course, it depends on whether you're testing the proposition "buttered toast when pushed off the table falls butter-side down" or "buttered toast has a natural tendency to fall butter-side down". Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 05:25, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

That's the reason Mythbusters annoyed me, because they shot the toast through the air wildly with apparent disregard for the real reason why people note the experience. I hate to think how often "carpet" comes into the equation.  :/ Julia Rossi (talk) 09:58, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Help with psych questions

I don't understand the wording of a couple of questions my psych teacher gave us and I'm not sure how to answer them. Here they are:

1) Describe the most common methods of studying perception and provide examples of each, including preferential looking, orienting response, habituation and dishabituation.

What am I supposed provide examples of? Perception or studying perception? Do I have to describe each of the perception terms or just the methods of studying them? Are there certain names for these methods or do I just describe how you can dangle a new toy in front of a baby and it will look at that instead of an old toy? Is "x is often tested by doing y" good enough to answer each of them?

2) Briefly describe the relationship between motor, perceptual, cognitive and social development.

Do I describe how they are all related or how each one is related to another? eg. "A, B, C, and D are all connected because they are all F" or "A is related to B because... C is related to D because..."? And how brief?

I know the material but I need to know how to answer these questions properly so she doesn't keep giving me half-marks and not explaining why! Please help. --124.254.77.148 (talk) 13:31, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

The answer is in the questions if you read carefully. DESCRIBE (give a detailed account of) the MOST COMMON methods (perhaps the five most used methods to STUDY perception (describe how perception is studied). She asks for examples of those you choose but insists that your choice must include the four she has specified. Briefly (concisely) describe how the four she gives are related (make or show a connection between). I am very sad that she won't explain. First and prime role of a teacher is to help students to learn. Best of luck.86.200.130.105 (talk) 14:50, 29 May 2008 (UTC)petitmichel

In order to show your teacher that you really try to get it right and are willing to put in the effort you could put in both versions, each heading with a sentences like you did here: Interpreting the question relate to overall relationship between A,B, and C. ... If we interpret the question to mean relationship between individual items .... That way you can be sure to get full marks or at least more sympathy from the teacher next time you ask an "I don't get this .." question. Going from experience such student questions are usually phrased in a way that take a lot of effort to figure out exactly what the problem is. Make your teacher feel it's worth giving you a little extra help. Saying something like "I seem to miss full marks because I fail to understand your questions. Could you help me with a method to figure out what the question is." Gets a heck of a better effect than "(I'm a dumbo)- I don't understand the questions." You could also swap something for a bit of help from the class star (there's always one). Feed him/her the occasional free pizza or game cheat or something in exchange for telling them what you think the question means and how to answer it. (The less time and effort the process takes the cheaper it'll come you.) Do forensics on past projects and see if you can figure out where you misunderstood and how you could have read it better. Good luck 71.236.23.111 (talk) 21:05, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Was there an assigned text or assigned readings for your course? I have done a fair amount of reading in psychology of perception, and this particular set of buzzwords seems to coexist only in texts from the last several years. A Google scholar search [23] particularly points to [24] shows particularly Emese Nagy and Peter Molnar's "Homo imitans or homo provocans? Human imprinting model of neonatal imitation" in Infant Behavior and Development, Volume 27, Issue 1, February 2004, Pages 54-63, which you can find in most college libraries. If they have a good literature review, that could help you in creating a scholarly answer to the question. "Preferential looking" seems to be the most recent buzzword or experimental paradigm. It is fascinating. I have long known that neonates will often imitate gestures, such as sticking out one's tongue. These researchers have apparently made an experimental paradigm of such play. The infants will also provoke gestures from the adults, and the researchers have physiological measures related to imitation or provocation. Edison (talk) 03:11, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

BFE

"Bumfuck, Egypt" is sometimes used to mean "the middle of nowhere", some remote human habitation. I would have sworn that there actually is a town in Egypt of that or a similar name, but I can't find it. Is it there, and, if not, why Egypt? --Milkbreath (talk) 14:34, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I've heard it said before that there was a place called "Bamfouk" in Egypt. There isn't. I guess it was chosen as Egypt, to Americans, is a faraway place of which they know little. Fribbler (talk) 14:50, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

P.S. here's a discussion on the topic. Fribbler (talk) 14:53, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

See Placeholder_name#Places. BrainyBabe (talk) 14:13, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

lost fish -- I need a more plausible story!

I am in really big trouble and none of its my fault. I very kindly offered to look after my girlfriends fish whilst she went on holiday to Teneriffe with some of her friends from work, one of who is getting married soon to frankly a very boring bloke from Sales called Darren. We don't live together despite having been in a relationship for the past five and half years. To be honest the crux of our lack of commitment to a long term relationship, marriage and kids is due to her obsessive need to love her goldfish named Kenny after the late DJ and comedian Kenny Everett. When she's had a couple of pints of Merlot she insists on recounting the tale of how she won Kenny at a fair on the Downs just after the erstwhile entertainer passed away in 1995. Her deep held belief is that Kenny the Goldfish is the reincarnated soul of Mr Everett. Sadly after only two days of looking after every whim of the ageing fish he decided to move on to having a bit of a laugh with me after I had smoked a scoobie or two. Lying with barely a movement at the top of his tank - I thought he was a gonner. I thought perhaps the kiss of life would save the fish but the slippery little sod wriggled out of my hands when I got him out of the tank - and to cut a long story short exited the seventh floor flat via the window. Please send me some help as to a more plausible story of how the fish dissapeared - as I will be accused of murder and dumped and I love her and don't want to lose her. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Copy of a copy cat (talk • contribs) 15:59, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Buy a new one, she will never know, and if she does and you get dumped, then a woman that loves her fish more than you is not the woman for you any way. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 16:20, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

The problem, as I see it, is that you lost the dead fish. The fish dying on you, that's not a problem, that could happen to anyone. But dropping it out the window, well, that's the slapstick aspect you need to get away from. The answer, as I see it, is to produce a new dead fish, not a new live one, and to treat it in a matter of respect, rather than dropping it out the window. Getting a new live fish will invite a variety of potential problems based around a BIG lie, whereas getting a new dead fish is a much SMALLER lie, as you are only covering up the aspect of your story that is totally unacceptable and also, coincidentally, quite improbable. She might think something is, err, fishy, but she'll never suspect you got high and dropped him out of the window, because that's just absurd. Additionally, she will never believe the story as you tell it: she will think you killed the fish by dropping it out of the window. She will never believe that it was dead first and you took it out to perform CPR on it. So you can't go with the actual truth, as she will never believe it to be the truth anyway. So you might as well be a liar in a way that makes her feel better about this ridiculous situation. So, I advise...:

Buy a new one of similar size. Take it out of the tank and let it die. (Sad, I guess, but I don't consider goldfish to be very high on the chain of being.) Then put it in some sort of ornate box. When she gets back, explain that the fish died on your watch, and that you didn't want it to get all nasty and bloated and whatever in the water, so you put it in a suitable burial device. Then you two can go bury it in a matter she would find fitting. She'll think it is sweet, in the end, and she won't be able to tell one dried fish from another (they all look pretty similar in that state). --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 17:24, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Let me get this straight, you are not satisfied with your own lie so you want someone to invent a lie for you. It's a f***ing fish for Christ's sake. Get over it, tell the truth and sleep in peace for evermore (maybe alone, but you're young!). 1 lie is the first step to a slippery slope. If a dead fish is all that stands between you and an ex-girlfriend you'll be well rid (and I don't mean the fish). Richard Avery (talk) 17:40, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

It's not about whether she likes the fish more than him. If she thinks he killed her fish in a crazy fashion it's about whether he's reliable, whether he's trustworthy, whether he's careful to understand what she appreciates. Think of it this way: if your spouse purposefully killed your pet, and you were upset by this, would it be because you loved the pet more than the spouse, or because what the killing of the pet symbolized? --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 19:05, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

You got a phone number, telegram address, telegraph wire? Just give her a ring and tell her the fish died due to old age and would it be o.k. if you gave it a decent burial. Find a nice spot in a park or friend's (her?) back yard dedicated to piscine memory. (See if you can find a picture of Kenny to mark the spot or look around at "odds and ends" places for a little ceramic deco fish.) If she's going to be back tomorrow you may have to produce a dead fish for her to be present at the ceremony. Also buying a replacement would show you care for her feelings. --71.236.23.111 (talk) 18:16, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

It's not about it being a "fish". It's about him being trusted with something. And in the end, it will be about him lying, whether he lies or not. Maybe it will work if he claims he flushed it, but it sounds like she is emotionally attached to it and will want more closure than that. If you don't lie, you'll still be thought to be lying: she'll just think the fish was not already dead when you tried to do CPR on it and threw it out the window. To believe that you really thought you could bring a dead fish back to life and then accidentally dropped it out the window would be to assume you are a total moron—it'll be easier, I bet, for her just to assume you are lying and you killed her fish. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 19:05, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Good day sir. Many people have given you good advice for lying. I do not particularly care for lies. Just tell her what happened. Maybe not the high part. That you got high. You could leave that out of the story. But tell her what happened. And if she dumps then she wasn't in love with you enough. A fish is a fish you can always get another. A relationship between two beings is a wonderful thing and if she loves that fish more then you she was never the right one. I prefer if you told her what happened instead of telling her a lie. Because that lie may hurt you in the end. I hope I have helped. I hope that what I have said may or may not reflect anything. I just appreciate if you took my words into consideration. Have a good day.Rem Nightfall (talk) 19:09, 29 May 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

Did you try looking for the dead fish beneath the window? It would help if you managed to produce the actual dead fish. (Maybe refrigerate or freeze it if she will be gone for a while.) It would show that you at least cared enough for her feelings to go look for the body. (Even if her feelings for the fish don't make much sense.) Marco polo (talk) 19:29, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Please, never offer to babysit someone's children. Edison (talk) 19:30, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

You need a plausible story? Yeah, you do. Because frankly, the one you're telling here is pretty much completely ridiculous. The doobie notwithstanding, you thought the goldfish could have been saved with the kiss of life? What, were you going to take a mouthful of water, spray it at the fish's face and hope for the best? But -- oh no! -- the fish, whom your girlfriend, who drinks pints of Merlot, believes to be the reincarnation of Kenny Everett, escaped out of the window, and now she'll kill you? It's a funny story, but frankly, I have a lot of trouble believing it, unless you live in a sitcom. If you do, by all means, come up with some kind of a crazy and convoluted explanation or buy a new fish in the hopes of fooling her. Then you can enjoy the laugh track when she comes home and wonders out loud why Kenny's fins seem to have moved or how weird it is that Kenny is still alive, even though she forgot to mention that he's been ill and the vet didn't think he'd make it through the next few days. Or, alternatively, in the unlikely event that this really happened to you, you could just trust your girlfriend to realize that a 13-year-old goldfish wasn't going to live forever anyway, and that you really didn't mean to hurt it. (If she can't take that, it's okay, because I hear next week her mother's popping over for a visit, and unfortunately your girlfriend has been telling her that you're a chef, so she's going to expect a gourmet meal. So if you break up now, at least you won't have to ask a real chef to cook for her while you run in and out of the kitchen in a chef's hat and pretend to be the guy doing the cooking, prompting yet more laugh track action. Trust me, you're getting off easy here.) -- Captain Disdain (talk) 20:45, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I think the discussions of whether the girlfriend's affections for the fish are absurd or not are off base. The fish was a favorite pet. Who cares if it is fish or a dog or a pet rock. The point is, she's going to be distraught when it is dead, especially if the death has circumstances that make it look like he killed the fish through negligence or accident. It doesn't have to be a fish; it could be a favorite piece of pottery. If he destroyed the cherished thing by being a fool, as appears to be the case, she's got every right to question whether he's a good mate, whether he is being truthful, etc. It has nothing to do with liking the fish more than the fellow. If a girlfriend of mine destroyed my laptop in a ridiculous manner, I would be plenty mad, not because I liked the laptop more than the girl. The problem as I see it, as I've said, is that the truthful story, assuming it is true (unlike Captain Disdain), is that it is totally unbelievable, so she's going to think he's lying anyway. So if you're going to be thought a liar by telling the truth, you might as well tell a smaller lie that will make everybody happier, as I see it. Maybe there's an intrinsic value to telling the truth but in that case it'll never be appreciated, so tell a more plausible lie, one that conveniently overlooks the fact that you desecrated the dead fish, but has all of the other aspects intact. Don't try to pass of a new, live fish, you've no idea whether she'll be able to tell or not. Get a new dead fish. Then just write the story around it. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 23:39, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Seems to me that this has got well into debate status and I refer my learned friends to the guidelines. Richard Avery (talk) 07:15, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Say the fish died so you buried/flushed it. If you want to make your frankly bonkers girlfriend feel a little better, get her a replacement pet (rabbit, dog, hamster, or whatever - something you like) and say the fish was reincarnated as this new pet and that's why you've named it "Kenny". Just a note of caution though: she might not believe you, dump you and you'll be stuck with the rabbit, dog, hamster, or whatever for the rest of it's life - and remember a pet's "not just for Christmas". Astronaut (talk) 17:44, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Annals of Improbable Research, Ignoble awards

Hi

I would dearly like to see an entry for the word "cogno-intellectual". It is a fictitious word invented by the above people hoping it would spread and has, being treated seriously by others.

Regards

Martinmrt (talk) 16:06, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Avoid neologisms --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:09, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Arse Numbing Seats

Is it just me or are the seats on buses becoming more and more like torture especially if you are on the bloody bus for a long time. I have noticed this over the last couple of weeks and this morning I got on the bus sat down and by the time I arrived at my destination it felt like I had been fucked up the arse. These bloody bus companies need to get those seats sorted out and put in some really nice soft comfortable seats.Legoastheelf (Talk | contribs)

Felt like you got fucked up the arse huh?, how do you know, have you been fucked up the arse? <193.115.175.247 (Talk)>

I wouldn't be surprised to learn it is done purposefully in an attempt to keep homeless individuals from hanging out on the buses, though that is just a guess. Buses and fast food places both seem to do that, though in the latter case it may be aimed at all customers. Probably saves having to pay for something that's been ergonomically designed as well. In other words, I personally wouldn't hold my breath, nor waste it complaining to deaf ears. --Prestidigitator (talk) 17:17, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

We can't tell if it's "just you" without knowing which bus system you use, but here are three possible reasons why you may find bus seats less comfortable than you used to. (1) Due to budget problems, the bus company is buying cheaper seats. (2) Due to vandalism problems, the bus company is ordering seats that are harder for vandals to damage, or cheaper to repair. And (3) you are heavier than you used to be, and the seat doesn't have the necessary amount of padding for your present weight. --Anonymous, 00:01 UTC, May 30, 2008.

Good evening sir or madam. I understand what you mean. Actually I see a lot of dirty bus seats as well. Bus seats are hard and not very comfortable. It might be because if vandalism. Not sure why they aren't cleaned at least.I think some people notice because they might not live a rock bottom life. Now I'm not saying you may or may not live a rock bottom life, but I am sure its hard to live rock bottom. I can only imagine. Only buying at convenient stores and just trying to survive with the minimal wage. I'm sure anyone who lives a life like that doesn't care if the bus seats are hard or not.They don't care if the seats are dirty. Just as long as they have a means of getting home and getting were they need to. Now, I'm not just trying say poor people use the bus and buses are for poor people. No that isn't what I am saying. I am saying I notice most people on the bus don't have the life and the luxury we have. The kinda of life to complain about gas on cars, the kind of life to complain about hard seats on the bus. Now complaining isn't bad either. And I'm sorry I dragged this a little to long, but I'm trying to make a point. Or some of point. I hope I have helped. I hope I haven't said anything to offend anyone. I hope that my answers has helped. Have a wonderfully positively wonderful evening.Rem Nightfall (talk) 01:08, 30 May 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

Rem, there's generally no need to apologise for a lengthy paragraph. Brevity is not necessarily a virtue. If you think what you're just about to post is long-winded, then you have the option of rethinking and shortening your text before you post it, thus obviating the need for any apology - rather than compounding the problem by taking even more words to apologise for what you believe is already too long. That's from your frame of reference. However, if you do apologise for taking too long, your apology is somewhat undermined in the eyes of the readers if you then go on for 6 more sentences, particularly if they're unnecessary sentences. We operate on the assume good faith principle here, so that takes care of most problems of perceived offence. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:53, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Thinner seats on buses: harder to slash, take up less space; hard seats in cafes: moves customers through more quickly, saves the waiter asking if you want more coffee. Is there a trend towards profanity happening here on the desks? Julia Rossi (talk) 01:00, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Pollution

Does holding a handkerchief over your nose actually help reduce the amount of toxic fumes you inhale on the streets?? Aanusha Ghosh (talk) 16:43, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

To an extent. A handkerchief can help filter particulate matter above a certain size, though many fumes and such will still pass through. — Lomn 17:10, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

If you wet the hanky you can also catch a few of the chemicals that would otherwise react with the water of your Mucous membranes. For instance they could form acids that will then eat into tissue. Much better to have acid eat your handkerchief instead. The effect is going to be short lived and not highly effective, though. --71.236.23.111 (talk) 17:42, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Will dampening handkerchief with water make any difference? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.129.237.147 (talk) 03:23, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes. It will prevent you from breathing.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:50, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Unless you're a fish. Is that how you can give mouth to mouth to a fish?Snorgle (talk) 15:26, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Visual style of Dorling Kindersley books

Is there a good term for the visual style used in most Dorling Kindersley books? Specifically, I'm looking for a way to describe how the photographed objects are always contrasted against plain white backgrounds. Is there a specific term for that technique? See here, for example. Thanks! Zagalejo^^^ 17:37, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

In graphic design, the "cutting out" of part of an image to remove the background, and show only the object of interest, is called silhouetting. Is that what you're referring to? Deor (talk) 18:55, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I've worked with a number of designers, some of them at Dorling Kindersley, or DK, and they generally call it "DK style". I don't think that this is a recognized term, just a reference to a well-known style that is emblematic of that publisher. Marco polo (talk) 19:19, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

In the UK silhouetting is a related but opposing process (ie. it hides the selected material rather than hiding the background), the DK books are using masking. I'm surprised that wiki doesn't have articles on these, but maybe this is UK terminology. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.113.106.125 (talk) 22:36, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, "masking" seems to be the word I was looking for. Thanks, everyone! Zagalejo^^^ 23:43, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Questions, questions

• Why do people find it hard to accept that other people will shoot at Bigfoot, UFOs, aliens, even at ghosts (Seen one matter on Discovery Channel's A Haunting in which someone used a .45 on a ghost)? I've read the articles on each, even the "talk" pages. I've been with people who will actually shoot at strange things.
• Can a "IP's Corner" be set up (Other than the Sandbox, which is filthy by the way), so that IPs can create articles ? 65.173.105.197 (talk) 20:53, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I have seen a "Monster Quest" matter in which someone had tried to shoot at a Bigfoot, and I do NOT mean with a camera. The guy allegedly caught a Bigfoot in a dumpster and shot at it with what looked like a .45 ACP. IF that was some idiot in a costume, he/she would be DEAD. 65.173.105.197 (talk) 20:57, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

As for Q2, someone else asked about why IPs cannot create articles. 65.173.105.197 (talk) 21:00, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Question 2 may be partially addressed by WP:RA. Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)} 22:23, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

The best fix for question two is to create an account. However, if you have something you really need to get written down in Wikipedia format temporarily, you do have your talk page. Not really a solution, but a workaround. Useight (talk) 22:49, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

If you want to create articles, create an account. It's as simple as that. It's not a very onerous requirement. It will be less effort, in the end, to just create an account than it will be to whine about how you'd like to create articles. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 23:41, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I suppose that people that live in places where guns aren't regularly used would find it difficult to understand the mindset of other people who are so used to shooting weapons that they'll fire at random things without checking what they are first. Snorgle (talk) 15:31, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

WP:AFC was created for the express purpose of letting IPs provide the text of an article to create. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 05:20, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Hand to Balls Ratio - Contact Juggling

I'm starting up on contact juggling and was wondering if there was a good ratio from hand size to ball size, I have small hands. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.191.102.55 (talk) 20:57, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

And I have small balls. Let's meet!, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.41.139.85 (talk) 23:12, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Please ignore the immature users, I would say a good ball size would be one that you can fit two of the balls in your hand at the same time comfortably, as you need to in juggling.  Atyndall93 | talk  00:55, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Your response, while not immature, leads me to believe that you misunderstand what contact juggling is. It's not normally done, at least starting out, with more than one ball. The most popular example of contact juggling would be from the movie Labyrinth where David Bowie's character juggles a crystal ball. But back to the original question... You want a ball that is heavy enough that it won't fly off your hand while doing the juggling, especially when flipping from the palm/fingers to the back of your hand/fingers. The ball that I have is a bit bigger than a baseball but not as large as a softball. I have, from what I've been told, long fingers and I find this very comfortable for contact juggling. I think this size should work well for you, though I've never known any other contact jugglers in person so this is just a original research guess of mine. In my opinion, you want a ball that is not too large but also not too small. Also, it will be easier to learn with a larger ball and then get smaller with experience. Dismas|^(talk) 01:13, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, if you want to do palmspinning, you'll need to be able to fit three balls in your palm, and still be able to move them in a circle (if only clumsily at first). I'd say get the biggest balls you can, given that constraint. --Allen (talk) 06:05, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

GWB parting shot.

Given that the American people seem bent on "change" (because they can) at the forthcoming Presidential election, which presumably means change from a Republican leadership to a Democrat(ic) one; and further given the rumour-mongering that GWB is planning a last-minute (of his own Presidency) attack on Iran so as to win favour with the Saudi Arabian government and so obtain vast puddles of lower cost oil in return, would it be likely that his proposal to carry out such an attack (which he also supposes would win support and a decisive victory for John McCain) would win a vote of support in Congress, given the apparent war-weariness of the American people? A lot of givens I know, but as a UK observer, t'would be nice to have your views. Thanks. 92.0.97.156 (talk) 21:15, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

It seems extremely unlikely that the current US Congress would support a new war with Iran unless the provocation was direct (I think people have tired of the doctrine of "preemptive strike", given how the Iraq threat proved to be fairly nonexistent). Even the Republicans in Congress are now saying that it was a bad idea to get into the war; the military would certainly not support it, as they know exactly how stretched thin they are and how taken for granted they are. All in all it would be a pretty hard sell. Americans are also not too fond of "October Surprises" of that sort, and given that GWB is by far the least-liked President in living memory, I doubt people would be terribly sold on something just because he started it or urged it. But again, this is speculation. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 23:27, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

What would he attack with, considering the U.S. army is stretched to the limit in Iraq and Afghanistan? Clarityfiend (talk) 03:46, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

The Air Force and the Navy are pretty rested. Aren't there still two carrier groups in the Gulf, just sitting there hoping Iran will attack them? Corvus cornix_talk 19:07, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

The Air Force and the Navy can't win a war. They can reduce Iran to rubble, but without troops on the ground, you can't hold territory or force Iran to do anything. --Carnildo (talk) 22:01, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Feel This

Good evening gents and ladies. I was intrigued by a curious thought. What is the worse pain? Emotional pain or physical pain? Thank you for taking your time to answer this question I appreciate it. Have a positively wonderful evening. I hope this question is fine to ask.Rem Nightfall (talk) 23:29, 29 May 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

How about: whichever one you are experiencing at that very moment? --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 23:42, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

It might differ by person. Some individuals would endure torture to the point of death to avoid the emotional pain of betraying their fellows , their God, or their country. Others would find the emotional pain to be more bearable than the physical pain in the same situation. Edison (talk) 23:52, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Boredom. Mind-numbing eternal boredom.--droptone (talk) 00:39, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Droptone: Sometimes. Captain Ref yes, in some cases that is true. But other times that isn't true. Or at least the right kinda of question. There are times when you feel emotional and physical pain at the same time. Then what happens. Which one overcome the other? Which pain reaches you? Which pain will be felt for a long long long time? Even if its just a slap across the cheek, a twisted ankle, and you are being verbally abuse at the same time. Which overcomes the other? And I'm talking about the brain aspect not necessarily what someone is feeling at that moment. I'm sorry this question really does seem inappropriate for the ref desk. At least to me. I'm sorry if it does seem that way to anyone else as well.Rem Nightfall (talk) 01:11, 30 May 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

Hi Rem. There is an article on physical pain which deals with some of the biological reactions. There is also some stuff on suffering (emotional pain) which has a short section on neurological aspects.

It would require a neurologist to answer you question. It may not even be possible to compare subjective mental processes, as individuals seem to react differently to the entire spectrum of sensations. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 07:48, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

4.0 on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index: "Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel." Cluster headaches and trigeminal neuralgia are also contenders for "worst pain", apparently. --Sean 14:05, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Different Youtube players?

Why does Youtube seem to have two different players? One had play/pause and restart, while the other one was rounder and only had play/pause. But it looks like they've updated the viewer's looks today. 24.6.46.92 (talk) 23:45, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

They've got a new player that was in beta until recently (i.e. in the last few days). Perhaps you somehow caught it in transition? Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)} 16:15, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I hope they fixed it. Every time I backed up a page using the pre-install beta version, it crashed my browser. Corvus cornix_talk 19:08, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Even before the transition, I could see 2 different kinds. 24.6.46.92 (talk) 22:21, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

YouTube partner videos (i.e., those where the account holder gets a split of the advertising income for the page) got the beta version earlier than others. In fact, partner accounts still appear to be using this beta version, which is slightly more rounded and has different icons: compare the official YouTube version of this video (a partner video) to the unofficial, non-partner version. Laïka 11:56, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

U.S. Oil Industry

Would there be any benefit to the U.S. if we nationalized the Oil Industry. Would there be negitive or positive effects on the industry, or no difference at all? Hypothetically, do you think this would lower oil prices? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.76.145.177 (talk) 23:55, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Would never happen. The U.S. is the capitalist nation, and would not nationalize any industries. --Nricardo (talk) 03:39, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I never asked if it would happen....I asked would there be a benefit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.76.145.177 (talk) 03:45, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't see too many positive effects that could come out of it. Oil is on is way out; the US would waste lots of money on something that simply won't make a profit 5-10 years from now. Paragon12321 (talk) 03:57, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I would epxect that it would have negative effects on the industry. The industry is already hugely political, with constant influence/pressure from the political world, making the industry nationalised would, in my eyes, only make it more likely that oil be used a political tool. That could range from things as cynical as reducing the cost of oil in the lead up to election (although reducing tax on fuel in this manner is currently popular in some countries) or could be using oil-exports as a carrot (or stick) for other countries. I expect it would have an effect on the global market for oil too. The 'benefit' could be that you could argue you would be able to increase fuel-supply security, it would increase tax-revenue (it's a profitable industry any profit made by government ran business is effectively a tax), it could improve stability of resource management, and it could allow bigger bargaining power on the world stage. I don't believe they are strong arguments and doubtlessly they are flawed but my instant reaction to the question is that those would be the sort of thing that could be touted as a 'benefit' to a nationalised oil industry. To be fair though the rest of the world is generally following the much simpler policy of: privatise and provide entry for the poor. The two most required things in society are privatised virtually the world over (food and water), and of those food has (to my knowledge) never been a wholly nationalised industry (dairy production was government owned in Britain in the 70s). Government just needs to ensure that the poor/unable are given the necessary means to be able to utilize resources that are vital to their survival/wellbeing. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 11:20, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

May 30

Thin Condoms Vs. Regular Condoms

Extra sensitive, thin condoms claim to be just as reliable at preventing pregnancy as normal condoms. But this just doesn't seem to make sense. Isn't it common sense, that if something is less thick, it has a higher chance of breaking or tearing? For example Durex Extra Sensitive Condoms say they are 20% thinner than normal. How can it be 20% thinner and keep the same durability? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.7.126.152 (talk) 05:43, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't know the answer to your question, but it's conceivable that the thinner condoms are made out of a better and more expensive grade of latex, so that all you sacrifice by buying the thinner ones is cost. But are you sure they claim to be just as reliable? I looked on the Durex website, and all I see is a claim that Extra Sensitive still gives you "the protection you need." All that really means to me is that it still meets some basic standard, not that it's necessarily just as reliable. --Allen (talk) 05:56, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Our condom article says the pregnancy rate is typically 10–18%. Using plenty of lubricant wll reduce the chances of tearing. And FWIW I find that ribbed condoms are better for increased sensation than the so-called extra sensitive ones.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:15, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I find it hard to believe that a device with a failure rate of 18% is still considered an effective form of contraception. I wouldn't buy a pair of shoes if there was an 18% chance they were going to leak. DJ Clayworth (talk) 18:10, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

It's worth noting that the 18% failure rate doesn't come from condoms breaking, but from improper use. The article also says, "With proper knowledge and application technique—and use at every act of intercourse—users of male condoms experience a 2% per-year pregnancy rate." The typical failure rate apparently includes things like the couple not using a condom every time the have sex, which is, well, a kind of a no-brainer. Personally, I've never had a condom break, slip off or otherwise malfunction. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 19:52, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

According to this [25] breakage and slippage may be of primary concern in a small group of users. While failing to use a condom consistently is obviously a problem, I suspect improper usage which may result in breakage and slippage is just as much of a problem. Evidentally "not living with partner" is significantly associated with increase breakage or slippage. Condoms is one area where size does matter Nil Einne (talk) 07:16, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, other issues absolutely contribute to the condom failure rate, yes. I wasn't trying to claim otherwise. I was just saying that the 18% failure rate shouldn't be taken at face value, because it includes situations where condoms weren't used at all. (That's really misleading, too, incidentally; I'm not sure it's doing the article any favors.) -- Captain Disdain (talk) 10:56, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Birds and hot chips

moved to the science desk here[26] where our resident gull specialist hangs out

indian nationality

it's written here in wiki that -

Citizenship by Birth Any person born in India on or after 26 January 1955 but prior to the commencement of the 1986 Act on 1 July 1987 was a citizen of India by birth. A person born in India on or after 1 July 1987 was a citizen of India if either parent was a citizen of India at the time of the birth. Those born in India on or after 3 December 2004 are considered citizens of India only if both of their parents are citizens of India or if one parent is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of their birth.

does this mean that someone who was born before 26 january 1955 isn't a citizen of india? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.50.248.96 (talk) 09:56, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

No. Anyone domiciled in India in 1949 and born in India is a citizen, for example, under Part II of the constitution (which also grants citizenship to a bunch of other people). I'm not sure what the status is for people born after the constitution was passed but before the 1955 citizenship law. Algebraist 10:16, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I said thanks to a ticket machine

This question has been removed. The questioner is a sockpuppet of an abusive pagemove vandal/troll. Please see Special:Contributions/Matt the barber. ~AH1^(TCU) 21:05, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

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Lending money

I confess, I really am in a tizz. You see, the thing is, I lent my friend (of many many years, not some geezer I spoke to in a pub)some money and now he won't pay me back. Alright it's not a fortune but its the principle of the matter. My friend won't return my phone calls or emails so I sent him a letter, recorded delivery, and he still ignores my requests. Now, I have little option but to consider going to the police. Grassing on your mates doesn't sit easy with me but in my opinion, my friend who won't pay me is the real Judas in this affair. I have emailed him to say that he has 24 hours to pay or I go to the old bill. This whole matter is bang out of order, and I have considered going to my doctors for anti depressants. Any advice (not legal or medical of course) on what I should do? Abwischbar (talk) 10:20, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Consider that this sort of loan may not be enforceable by the police. I'd think small claims court a more appropriate venue. — Lomn 13:05, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't remember who said it, but I've always like the quote. "If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again; it was probably worth it." Principle is one thing, but if the amount is fairly insignificant...it might just be money well spent. --Onorem♠Dil 13:15, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps a piece of advice and a joke will cheer you up. The advice: when lending money, have the borrower write you a check for the amount, but post-dated to when they agree to repay you. When the day comes, just go cash the check; they probably have the money and just have better things to spend it on than paying back loans. If they don't have the money, a check is more legally enforceable than a verbal agreement. The joke: two friends were walking down a dark alley when a man with a gun tells them to hand over their wallets. As one of the men is handing his over, he takes out a twenty-dollar bill and gives it to his friend, saying "hey, here's that money I owed you". :) --Sean 13:51, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree the principle of the matter is a lot more important than the need for the money. When I borrow from friends, I make damn sure I pay them back as soon as I can. If I've loaned some small amount to a friend, I'll give them several opportunities to pay me back without me asking, and then I'll start dropping hints. It's never failed me yet.

After that, I think the general rule of advice here is: If it's a small amount (say, £20 or less) then give up on it and just don't loan to them again. If they do ask again, just remind them of the previous loan. If it's a substantial amount (say, several hundred), then maybe you should seek the advice of a solicitor. If it's something in between, then you'll need to weigh up what's more important - your money or your friendship. Astronaut (talk) 17:10, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

But then you'd have to wonder what sort of friendship it is where your "friend" borrows money from you, and promises to pay it back (which is, after all, the definition of borrowing, as opposed to a donation), but then doesn't come to the party. He may as well have come into your house and stolen it. Maybe he's skint and can't pay right now, but at least he could say so and negotiate a new payment date or some suitable repayment arrangement. To simply avoid any contact with you is not the hallmark of a friend, in my book. So, you have nothing to lose by taking legal action, and everything to gain (assuming the cost of the action doesn't outweigh the amount that's recoverable). I don't see how the quantum of the loan has anything to do with the principle involved here. There again, your "friend" appears to have a hazy concept of principle, but that's no reason why you should have to be the victim here. -- JackofOz (talk) 17:53, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Lord Polonius, is that you? "For loan oft loses both itself and friend"... --98.217.8.46 (talk) 20:25, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

We don't give legal advice. But don't waste your effort going to the police! They have no more to do with this than your doctor or your milkman. If you want to pursue it, go to a solicitor or try a Citizens Advice Bureau. --ColinFine (talk) 22:22, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Bumblebees

Hi, I posted this earlier but it looks like it has been lost in the system. I am an artist and I'd doing an exhibition in the new few weeks. The piece I'm working on involves a bee. I had a bee, but it seems to have got lost. I it on a windowsill, but I wouldn't want to kill one, and I didn't kill mine, so if anyone knows good places to find dead bumblebees, in good condition, then please tell me. Many thanks. Thiagara (talk) 11:22, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at the Bumblebee article where you will find about a dozen pictures of (live) bumblebees. Also click on the link to Commons at the very bottom of that article, where you will be taken to hundreds more pictures. I know you wanted a real one but I'm sure the pics will help. Best Wishes- Adrian Pingstone (talk) 11:45, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Had you considered googling beekeepers or honey farms in your local area - they would probably have a fair few they could offer you -russ (talk) 22:42, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Windows are your best bet. Try looking in your neighbors greenhouses, where bees might have gone in and gotten trapped. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Clingfilm clive (talk • contribs) 15:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Girl in the photograph

I'm looking to trace a girl from an old photograph, taken in 1918. It was taken during the commemorations the end of the first world war. We were stood in the same street, a sepia tinge to your skin, you had nearly every inch of your body covered in excessively thick garments. Your perfect deportment was only marred slightly by the vague air of tuberculosis. I was the bow-legged gentleman with rickets. If she is still alive, how can I get in touch with her? Eff wone (talk) 13:51, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Craigslist missed connections? --Sean 13:54, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

She's probably hanging out with the goldfish and the bumblebee. They're having a ball on some money they loaned and never paid back. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 14:10, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Maybe, though their arses might be numb from the hard seats on the bus! JohnComputer17 (talk) 14:21, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

It depends on which country the photo was taken in. Whilst Craigslist might be useful in the San Francisco bay area or New York, I doubt a 90+ londoner would be as familiar with Craigslist. How about trying the local paper instead - sounds like a great "human interest" story a paper might love to publish. 17:18, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds nothing like a great "human interest" story. Sounds like a fucking idiotic load of fiction. Does any seriously believe that a 108-year-old man is trying to get back in touch with a woman he hasn't seen for 90 years through the Wikipedia Reference Desk? This sort of crap should be deleted on sight. Malcolm XIV (talk) 18:27, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Whilst it's likely he's a troll,I was assuming good faith here :-) Astronaut (talk) 18:43, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Good evening. All though its highly unlikely a ninety-year-old man is looking for his long lost Jane Doe. It might be possible that you look at some of your other old photos that might be from the same year. Look on the back of the photo to see any names and dates. But there are always two options on this one she is alive and will probably not remember you or the second one she is dead and had never made that ninety-year leap. Whatever the possibility, have a wonderful evening.Rem Nightfall (talk) 21:42, 30 May 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

Whatever drollness may be assumed: the OP should be awarded an antique rusty barnstar with verdigris and barnacles for being the first supercentenarian rickety bow-legged trollOP to grace this referential desk. If, in mumblety years, anyone of us has the computer skills and keyboard aptitude of the ancient one, we can then cast the first stone. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 22:22, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

And incarnated as an op who lost a goldfish called "Kenny". Time to put your t-specs on Cookatoo, Julia Rossi (talk) 01:49, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Its Hard to Part

Good evening sirs and ma'ams. I was just a bit curious. What would be the most productive way of stopping a drug addiction? Cause it seems, to me at least, that no matter how clean you are from a drug you are never clean. It always seems like that drug haunts you and your addiction may be subdued, but not entirely gone. So, what is the most productive way of stopping drug addiction? And, what would be the most productive way of never getting addicted again? One answer would be not to do the drug in the first place, but I am talking about those hopeless individuals. I hope I have asked a question that can be answered here. I hope you don't get trolled anymore, cause I quite like it here. Have a postively wonderful evening.Rem Nightfall (talk) 21:39, 30 May 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

A good night to ye sir :-)! the best method I found, when studying Psychiatry a few years ago, was gradual withdrawal. Slowly reducing the dose of the drug (whatever it might be) over a month or two allowed the patient to adapt to abstinence and also avoided the nasty physical symptoms associated with the withdrawal of some drugs: Heroin and in many ways Alcohol. Drastic withdrawal can kill. Fribbler (talk) 23:01, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

As a seamless sequitur to user:Fribbler:

Rigor mortis. My favourite panacea for all minor ailments, including impotence. Mind you, I have not tried it yet, but, one day, the night will fall... --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 23:12, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Speaking from my own experience, I think that the only way for a person to overcome addiction is the person must be committed to overcoming it, and the person needs support from others. Fribbler is probably right that gradual withdrawal is the only safe way for drugs that involve a strong physical addiction. However, that kind of gradual withdrawal is probably beyond the ability of even the most iron-willed addicts to accomplish on their own. Because each new dose brings a nearly uncontrollable urge for more. I think that a person trying to accomplish such a gradual withdrawal would be best off in a residential detox program, where he or she can receive constant psychological support and where his or her substance intake is controlled by others. My drug of choice was marijuana, and it is certainly addictive, despite the claims of some that it isn't. Fortunately, the addiction does not have a strong physical component. For me, the only hope was cold turkey, quitting completely and finally. I experimented with keeping a cache of marijuana somewhat remote from my home (buried in some woods), such that getting more involved an inconvenient drive and then hike through the woods. But I found myself organizing evenings or weekends around that trip, and I found that the drug was still dominating my life and impairing me socially and professionally. So I resolved to stop completely. Fortunately, I was involved at the time in a therapy group, without whose support, I don't think I could have done it. I think a person needs emotional support from a person or a group that also holds him or her accountable. (This could be, but I think need not be, a twelve-step program.) For several months after my last marijuana high, I experienced periodic intense craving, but the need to face my therapy group and my own commitment kept me from giving in. For more than a year, intense cravings would occasionally recur, but I reminded myself of how much better my life had become without recourse to marijuana. Even today, more than three years later, I still have occasional cravings, but they are milder, and the improvement in my life since giving up marijuana has been so dramatic that I am not very tempted to use it again. 24.91.137.158 (talk) 00:53, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I used to play an online game called Neveron, and one of the game's great players developed a crack cocaine habit. He claims he quit when he realised how much he could buy on Neveron for all the cash he was spending on drugs. -mattbuck (Talk) 18:19, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Outstanding Young Woman of America Award

I received this award in 1979, but can't remember much about it. Do you know the name of the organization that gave this award, and if it is still in existance? The little I do remember is that you paid a fee to be listed in a book, and then you were sent a certificate (suitable for framing), and I always used the reference on my resumes with some interesting results!Torriekster (talk) 22:57, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

It appears to have been presented by the association of Outstanding Young Americans. But that's the only reference I can find for that organization. Corvus cornix_talk 23:29, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Hate to break it to you, but that's one of those vanity operations whose basic goal is selling you a book. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:49, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

While this was primarily a vanity operation, it did require the recipient be nominated and the nomination process was quite extensive.

May 31

Thoughts

How do we "hear" ourselfs think? That is kinda creepy... Thanks, 86.148.184.99 (talk) 00:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

The same way you can imagine what something looks like without actually seeing it through your eyes: your brain can activate the visual and auditory parts of it without stimulus, but it is not as vivid or "real" as actual stimulus. Hence the blind can usually visualize things in their head just as well as a sighted person, so I have heard. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:52, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

You can hear you inner voice, but that isn't the actual process of thinking. You don't hear the neurones firing for example. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Clingfilm clive (talk • contribs) 15:09, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Beef Prices

Where can I find the price of beef for highland cattle? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.119.61.7 (talk) 00:15, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

You could try Google or get in touch with your national Highland Cattle Association. Looks like it's considered high grade beef, Julia Rossi (talk) 07:41, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Blood type

Generally, what blood type to africans have? Also, asians? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.103.202 (talk) 01:54, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

This page has some figures. I'm not sure where the data are from or how reliable they are. -- Flyguy649 ^talk 04:29, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Jaw exercise (please don't delete)

This question has been removed. Per the reference desk guidelines, the reference desk is not an appropriate place to request medical, legal or other professional advice, including any kind of medical diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment recommendations. For such advice, please see a qualified professional. If you don't believe this is such a request, please explain what you meant to ask, either here or on the Reference Desk's talk page.

This question has been removed. Per the reference desk guidelines, the reference desk is not an appropriate place to request medical, legal or other professional advice, including any kind of medical diagnosis or prognosis, or treatment recommendations. For such advice, please see a qualified professional. If you don't believe this is such a request, please explain what you meant to ask, either here or on the Reference Desk's talk page. --~~~~

I've moved the OP's reply to the talk page.

Yahoo

I am trying to use yahoo email but I am finding it difficult. Is there any manul or online guide I could read? Many thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cosmickly (talk • contribs) 10:23, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Here is the Yahoo email help page. Is there anything in particular that you are having trouble with? - Akamad (talk) 10:58, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

This is a FAQ page that looks like its a relic from the good old' days http://docs.yahoo.com/docs/info/help.html In fact its dated 1994-98, I think yahoo might have forgotten about this one :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Clingfilm clive (talk • contribs) 15:11, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I use yahoo email on occasions. Is there something you are having particular difficulty with? Astronaut (talk) 13:05, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

The Human Brain

My Question:

Is the human brain a muscle or an organ? My husband and i are in a discussion about this and we would like to know the answer? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.209.20.51 (talk) 14:35, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

The brain is not a muscle. It is an organ. Algebraist 14:44, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Someone should add this to the brain article, as it doesn't say this anywhere. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Clingfilm clive (talk • contribs) 15:13, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I have —Preceding unsigned comment added by Clingfilm clive (talk • contribs) 15:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Maybe someone should also say that it that it is not a bone either!!! Do we really have to cover all such options? Richard Avery (talk) 17:36, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

It could be cover in the definition. BTW, my penis is organ or a bone?

You might have a boner, but that doesn't mean your penis is a bone or contains any bones. It's made entirely of flesh, tissue and blood. Whales, on the other hand, are different. They and many other mammals have a penile bone called a baculum, surrounded by flesh, tissue and blood. -- JackofOz (talk) 11:58, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

It's not uncommon to hear people say that "the brain is a muscle", but I think this is almost never intended literally. It's one of those "higher truth" thingies. It is certainly true that cognitive performance can be improved through mental exercise, and that it will tend to degrade without it, and it may even be true that in some cases it's possible to "overtrain" (I seem to recall a study that suggested that some neural pathways could "burn out"), so it's a fairly good rough analogy. --Trovatore (talk) 18:58, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

If it's not made of muscle tissue, doesn't act like muscle, isn't listed in the muscle article, then it isn't a muscle. Btw, "muscle-head" gives a clue: being not-intelligent in the way of physical strength/intellect opposition. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:23, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Two same website sources in a row

I've got two websites in my footnotes in my report, though both websites are the same. How do I reference the second instance? I'm using the MLA style. Would I just use "ibid"?--Richard (Talk - Contribs) 17:56, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Ibid. means, "the source is exactly the same as the previous". If that's the case, yes, use it. Not that it is Ibid. with a period (it is an abbreviation). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 20:20, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Just to clarify: did you mean "Note that it is Ibid. with a period" rather than "Not that it is..."? Cherry Red Toenails (talk) 05:32, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

This is a trick question, right? If you are "using the MLA style", you must at least have access to a copy of the MLA, and they absolutely hate ibid. Appendix A9 says to use a shortened form in subsequent references. --Milkbreath (talk) 11:57, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Post-OP TS refractory period

This is a genuine question and I am not a TROLL, NPOV or VANDAL.

When a post-OP transsexual from male to female has an orgasm, is the refractory period the same as when they were a guy or can they experience multiple orgasms as women sometimes do? Is the orgasm the same except for not ejaculating? 79.75.195.226 (talk) 17:57, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Theres a lot of info here (not for those who are squeamish) but I couldn't find anything specifically mentioning the refractory period. Then again I didn't bother reading it all! Fribbler (talk) 21:58, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Capitalism 3.0?

I've been reading Capitalism 3.0 - A guide to reclaiming the commons by Peter Barnes and came to the authority that answers all my questions, Wikipedia. Only I can't find anything here. Any suggestions on what to search for are very much appreciated! -- Dale E. Moore —Preceding comment was added at 18:02, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Could you give us an idea of what type of questions you want answered? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 18:09, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Does building trusts work? Are there any examples of failures and successes? What reasons are there to avoid building commons trusts? Are there better solutions to protecting the environment, future generations and non-human life? —Preceding unsigned comment added by DaleEMoore (talk • contribs) 18:42, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I am now not eligible for the bright futures scholarhip, what do I do?

I got a notice that I am not eligible for the renewal of my bright futures scholarship because my GPA is too low (it is right below the limit of 2.75). I still need a year to finish by degree. What is the best course of action in this situation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.42.135 (talk) 18:26, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Take out a student loan? Work part-time? Both? (That's what I did.) 24.91.137.158 (talk) 19:11, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, pretty much. You've gotten yourself into a fix, better buck up, take out some loans, start earning some money. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 20:19, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm surprised that nobody has suggested that you talk to your lawyer doctor advisor yet. Your advisor should be able to give you information on scholarships that you may still qualify for. They may also be able to give you information on businesses that would hire you on a part time basis until you finish your degree and then bump you up to full time once your degree is finished. In short, talk to your advisor, dean, counselor, or whatever your school refers to them as. Dismas|^(talk) 22:02, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

That's true. I was assuming that with that low a GPA and this late in the game (most deadlines have probably passed) he/she would be out of luck (not to mention that the advisors have probably gone home for the summer), but if you can get in touch with them, give it a go. But coming at this in the beginning of June strikes me as a little too little time to secure serious funding by the fall. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:09, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

not sugary

Is there a legal difference between "sugarless" and "sugar-free"? I don't hear the first one much anymore. —Tamfang (talk) 20:49, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Per [27], "the label 'sugarless' food sometimes means that no sugar was added during processing, but these foods may not be sugar free. They may contain natural sweeteners, such as honey, molasses, evaporated cane sugar". It appears that the USFDA does regulate the use of 'sugarless' (as well as sugar-free, which is more straightforward). — Lomn 21:02, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Interesting. So my five-pound bag of sugar is sugarless. And they wonder why I don't believe anything anymore. --Milkbreath (talk) 12:01, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Names of Guns

I know a lot of names of guns, from the M40A3 sniper rifle, to the M16A4 assault rifle. i would like to know what the "m" in front of the name of the gun means. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.101.1.186 (talk) 23:26, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

According to these sources [28][29][30] it stands for "Model" though all but the first is just people making an educated guess. Dismas|^(talk) 23:56, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't know if it stands for anything, but it's simply the US military designation system. In the UK, the letter 'L' is used for the same purpose (L85, L98). Daniel (‽) 17:04, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

June 1

college rowing question?

how does the college rowing championship work in the NCAA system?Summonmaster13 (talk) 01:12, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

You'd think this (http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=81) would help, but the Championships Handbook link appears to not work. Oddly, they seem to sanction only women's rowing. --Nricardo (talk) 02:01, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Portable TV sets

WHAT DO WE DO WITH OUR D.C. POWERED PORTABLE T.V.'S AFTER THE DIGITAL SIGNAL CHANGEOVER IN JAN 09? THE CONVERTER BOXES ARE A. C. POWERED WHICH MAKES THEM NO LONGER PORTABLE. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.227.198.169 (talk) 03:12, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

The converter boxes are DC powered from an AC adapter, so in theory you could strap a battery pack to it and it will work just fine. Of course once you've got the tv, digibox, and battery pack to carry around it's not so portable. You're better off getting a portable digital tv.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:10, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

When it comes time to get rid of it, call up a local recycling center or even a local computer store. They will give you info on how to dispose of it. It'll be better for the environment if it doesn't end up in a landfill. A local computer store here (Small Dog Electronics) has an annual event that they advertise in all the papers asking people to drop off their e-waste to have it disposed of properly. They normally net several tons of equipment each year. See e-waste. Dismas|^(talk) 18:54, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

WHILE YOU'RE AT THE COMPUTER STORE YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET YOUR CAPS LOCK FIXED AS WELL Ziggy Sawdust 22:47, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

WELL MR. OR MS. Z. SAWDUST I LIKE BEING BIG AND BOLD. YOU MUST LIKE PUTTING OTHER PEOPLE DOWN TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BIG AND BOLD!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.227.198.169 (talk) 02:39, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

24, please read Netiquette and Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines. All caps means that you're yelling which comes across as rude. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 11:18, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

YOU COULD BUY AN UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY AND TAKE IT WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO TO POWER THE ADAPTER SO YOU CAN WATCH YOUR PORTABLE TV SET. Edison (talk) 00:48, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

TARAN TARAN TRAGEDY

WHAT IS TARAN TARAN TRAGEDY 61.1.232.189 (talk) 12:31, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Actual question transcribed from IP user's talk page by Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)}

Some Googling gives lots (a few thousand) of results, but nothing actually talking about it. Interestingly, it's also shown as a 30-something 'hot trend' on Google Trends. Put it in quotes, though, and the results drop dramatically (10 unique results). I'm guessing it's probably a contrived internet meme of some sort. If I wasn't assuming good faith, I'd wonder if this question wasn't designed to further its spread. The only plausible possible reference is to the death of a Taron or Teron Francis who seems to have died in some circumstances that lead to a wrongful death suit being brought against a medical practice. For this, see [31] (CNN transcript; search 'Teron') and [32] (memorial website).Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)} 15:06, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

ELL4

Could someone who knows the WJEC English exam board please tell me if the ELL4 paper on tuesday 3rd June will be Duchess of Malfi or spoken language. It is the ELL4 paper for A level English lit and lang in the UK. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.241.52 (talk) 15:40, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

You want us to help you cheat on your exam?? I suggest you revise both, and be quick about it because you only have one more day. Astronaut (talk) 19:22, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Rent deposit in the UK

What is the procedure to pay a security deposit for rent in the UK? Do you just give the landlord a check? 217.168.0.192 (talk) 16:17, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Great Britain is a cash society,Landlords will sometimes require a cash deposit,(Usually half the monthly rent)and rent also paid in cash every 4 week period,NOT CALENDER MONTH. This way they also get more cash out of tenants on a yearly basis,than if a tenant paid monthly calender rent.Welcome to rip off Britain!!! Fluter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.86.15.15 (talk) 14:46, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

You pay the landlord or letting agency. Due to large numbers of landlords unfairly keeping deposits, the government introduced a mandatory Tenency Deposit scheme in April 2007. It applies only for an Assured shorthold tenancy (which in practice, you will almost certainly be on one of these), and within 14 days you should hear from the landlord or agency about how your deposit is protected. See this site for all the information. Astronaut (talk) 19:19, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

"Due to large numbers of landlords unfairly keeping deposits" - not true! The bureaucracy was introduced to suck up to voters stereotype of the evil Victorian landlord. If you trash the place as a tenant, of course you won't get the deposit back. 80.2.200.148 (talk) 00:27, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Of course a tenant should not get their deposit back if they've trashed the place. However, on several occasions as a tenant, I have left a place in a much better (cleaner) state than it was when I moved in and still the letting agency has tried to keep the deposit. There probably wouldn't be the need for this "bureaucracy" if tenants were treated fairly in the first place. Astronaut (talk) 11:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

What reasons did they give for not returning the deposit - common reasons are cleaning being needed or a shortfall in rent. 80.0.108.118 (talk) 23:35, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

In my case, it's never been a rent shortfall. Usually they have wanted to bring in "professional" cleaners, when they clearly didn't bother doing that for the tenant before me (of if they did the so-called professionals did a particularly shoddy job). As a matter of pride, I have always left the place in a cleaner state than it was when I moved in, making a special effort to clean the kitchen and bathroom and vacuuming throughout. Astronaut (talk) 00:47, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Taxi transfers to Playa de Las Americas, Tenerife????????

We are a group of 3 adults and have just been looking on the Web for typical transfer prices from Reina Sofia to Las Americas and getting a bit confused. Some sites say we MUST pre-book (hard to believe), whilst others say we must pay anything between 20 euros and 80 euros per taxi per direction. Another site that sounds reasonable in all respects says 24 euros will secure a taxi and a Rep waiting to greet us. Any advice on this would be much appreciated. 92.3.27.116 (talk) 17:22, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

It's about 20 km, mostly along a motorway. Wikipedia's own Reina Sofía Airport article has a link to the official site which readily told me about bus and taxi options (suggesting a fare of around €21 one-way). This site has a breakdown of how the fare structure is supposed to work, suggests a fare of around €21 and indicates how to identify official taxis. But, my google search did reveal lots of tales of people being ripped off and various scams like claiming the meter's broken - if that happens, just get out again and get in the next taxi. Astronaut (talk) 19:54, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Astronaut; that's much appreciated. I'll let you know what happened once we return - and thanks again. 92.9.148.165 (talk) 23:07, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Wide differences in cost of living

I'm in Egypt right now. I notice prices are much lower than in Jordan. Restaurants in particular are 2.5 times cheaper. (The kind of lower end restaurants locals go to.) The countries are similar in income. So what accounts for the differences in COL? I know gas is extremely cheap in Egypt. And Jordan has a massive water crisis. Can these two reasons explain the whole story?

I also remember Haiti being extremely expensive compared to many countries that were better off. I couldn't find a hotel for less than $30 and it was a prison cell where no tourists patronized. Also food was more expensive than in all countries.

I have never been to Indian but I've heard if you try hard you can live on $5/day. Gas prices are high in India too.

What gives?

Lotsofissues 17:30, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Taxation perhaps? Culture also plays a role. In Ireland we have a similar GDP per capita to other european countries, if a bit higher. Yet the cost of a meal in a restaurant is eye-wateringly expensive. <Original Research> I believe this is because as opposed to say, Italy, we have no tradition of regularly going to restaurants and it's still a "luxury" for which we expect to pay a lot for and also lower levels of consumption mean less competition, further increasing cost and I'd say this is the case in your Haiti example above. I've noticed that effect in countries across Europe and Asia: smaller tourist industry/less visited leads to very high hotel prices. I hope some of this applies to your question. Fribbler (talk) 23:10, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

There is also the problem of differential pricing for tourists, where the locals pay much less than tourists do. If a rich tourist visits a poor country and is usually prepared to pay over $30 for a room, than that is the price for tourists, despite it being well over what any local could afford. However such pricing is usually frowned upon in countries heavily dependant on tourism (such as Egypt) and so enforcement by the police or local tourism body is much more likely. In less tourism dependant countries (such as Jordan or Haiti), the controls are either non-existant or not enforced. The same is also true of taxi fares (see the question immediately above) - tourists are a prime opportunity for taxi drivrs to rip them off. Astronaut (talk) 23:27, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

As a side note, I remember that when I visited the Czech Republic in 2001, differential pricing was official policy. Twice the price for "non-citizens" (in practice, western tourists) into government run attractions; and museums in Laos were the same when I was there. Fribbler (talk) 00:03, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

June 2

Lawn care

Today I fertilized my lawn (st augustine grass). Then i watered it. Does anyone know how long before i see some results? (I live in a warm humid semi tropical environment-n. hemisphere) JeanLatore (talk) 00:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi JeanLatore, there's an article St. Augustine grass called Buffalo grass in Australia where I am, quoting: St. Augustine grasses will be in full bloom between springtime and summer and there are links to FAQ. Hope this helps, Julia Rossi (talk) 09:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I can't speak for your grass in particular, but I find that each spring after I've fertilized my lawn, the "nitrogen" in the fertilizer (combined with adequate water) causes the lawn to become appropriately green within about a week and "heavy mowing season" commences within two weeks.

Atlant (talk) 00:53, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Do horses enjoy being ridden?

I remember reading 19th. century literature where it takes an hour to capture a horse in a field before riding. In those days, when horses were almost the only transport, I can imagine they disliked having to trot or gallop very long distances.

But do modern horses, kept as a hobby, enjoy being ridden? They might like the variety or exercise. Do they still run away when being caught for riding, or do they approach the rider? 80.2.200.148 (talk) 00:34, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

It differs depending upon the horse, its temperament, the rider, their temperament, the relationship between the horse and rider and how much and how good the grass on the horses field is at the time. Parelli Natural Horsemanship is much about establishing a relationship with a horse where it will want to be with you. So the answer to your question is a "sometimes". -- SGBailey (talk) 12:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I would say that a riding horse craves being ridden, in general, and sulks if ignored and left alone in the pasture. This certainly supposes it is not abused by bad riders. Edison (talk) 00:46, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

While I've had a pony who could take an hour to catch, most horses come to call.They asocciate being caught with food and grooming which they definately enjoy.Most horses I've ridden seem to enjoy it, many being very keen indeed and wanting to dash off as quickly as possible. The pony who didn't like being caught had been badly treated and was eventually cured.,Horses often get to know when you come to get them ,if it's a regular time and will be found hanging round the gate.86.53.80.11 (talk) 14:03, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Yunnan tractor/truck hybrid - any term for these?

Saw these many times while I was in Yunnan. Basically it is either a tractor engine modified to include a small truck cab and flatbed or to be controlled by handlebars. Does anyone know if this is a Yunnan-only thing or does it also occur elsewhere? It doesn't appear that a single manufacturer produces these - there are no unique markings that I recall seeing, and the truck cabs can come from any model that fits. --BrokenSphere^{Msg me} 01:28, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

It is similar to the Philippine Kuliglig.--Lenticel ^(talk) 02:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I've seen them in Zhejiang, but I don't know the word for them. Steewi (talk) 02:09, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

One of my tourmates coined the term "trucktor", but I don't think this is definitive. BrokenSphere^{Msg me} 02:18, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

example 2 looks like a Rotary tiller (see the last image in the article), with the tines removed, adapted to tow a trailer. Mhicaoidh (talk) 03:09, 2 June 2008 (UTC)...and so does example 1, looking at the wheels.Did it have handlebars too? That flap to the cab looks like a flexible material that would allow handle bar type turning. Mhicaoidh (talk) 03:18, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I see what you mean. However most examples don't have this sort of set up; the cab tended to be closer to the engine and they had steering wheels. Also they seem to be treated as registered vehicles, as the ones with cabs do have license plates. BrokenSphere^{Msg me} 04:30, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Feasibility of real life batman

I have always wanted to get rid of the drug dealers, pedophiles and other assorted criminals in my town and after reading the law concerning the citizens arrest for my jurisdiction - New York, it seems that it is possible to be a sort of real life "batman" figure. Assuming you have witnessed someone committing a crime and film it, you could legally arrest lawbreakers and bring them in with your evidence. My idea is to stake out drug dealers, film them making illegal transactions then arrest them. I had hope of getting a group of friends together, getting ourselves sufficiently armed (legally of course) and making such arrests. My question is: is this realistic? Does anyone have any input or recommendations? --Baalhammon (talk) 04:24, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Usually drug dealers are better armed and better trained than ordinary citizens. I suggest that you give the evidence to the police and let them handle the stake out.--Lenticel ^(talk) 04:40, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

You are assuming that the police aren't corrupt and actually care about the community, or even more pragmatically, can spare officers from the NARC unit. There have been drug dealers in my community since I can remember, and they operate out in the open, on mainstreet, flaunting their wares. I highly doubt a drug dealer would pull a gun on 6-7 armed guys unless he had a deathwish. This does bring up an interesting point though... if frisking a suspect would be legal under the citizens arres clause of NYS law.--Baalhammon (talk) 04:50, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Drug dealers are only a small part of a drug syndicate. As I said earlier they are better armed and better trained and your group wouldn't stand a chance if their boss feels like your group is damaging his business. In my country, there are many cases and stories where drug dealers and those who pursue them "disappear" and end up floating in some body of water so I'm pretty familiar with that corruption, spare men problem.--Lenticel ^(talk) 05:05, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

No it's a very very foolish idea. The police are trained professionals employed by local/national governemnt. Groups of vigilanties going round trying to 'enforce' the law, or trying to play the role of police are liable to create as much headaches for the police (and local communities) as the people they are trying to remove/catch already do. If you have information/evidence pass it to the police. If you believe they are corrupt then take it to a higher level, pass those concerns of corruption on to the media/other government offices. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Batman is a Super Hero, what you're talking about is a gang of vigilantes and amateur cops. Consider that in a town the size of New York, even if you could do what you're planning (And I also think it's a very bad idea.) it would not make much of a difference. In a city the size of New York, adding one or two more cops would not make a noticeable difference to crime levels. Batman is able to make a difference not only because his crazy get-up and perceived immortality strikes fear into he hearts of men, but also because Batman has the advantage of having tremendous technological resources that he can bring to bear on difficult, high profile cases that the Gotham City PD can't crack. Finaly, the majority of Gotham City's crime problem seems to center around a remarkably small number of people, Batman has the skills and resources to go after super villains that the police department lacks.

Bruce Wayne is also idle rich. He's got plenty of spare time to spend crime-fighting. You've probably already got a job. Will your current boss let you take off time to spend in court? Not only as a witness against nearly everybody you bring in, but also in your own defense when the crooks inevitably bring all sorts of charges and civil suits against you. I suppose you could wear a mask and protect your identity in true superhero fashion, but that would probably cause even more problems. APL (talk) 13:15, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Also, being a vigilante is pretty illegal afaik. That is why we have the police despite corruption. There are departments within the police that investigate corruption even in the inner ranks, so that might be a start to vent your general frustration with the so called law. Sandman30s (talk) 14:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I doubt that "being a vigilante" is itself a crime; what'll get you prosecuted is breaking & entering, or assailing/detaining someone whom you have not demonstrably caught in the act of a felony. On the other hand, if you avoid these traps, the gang with the badges are going to be irritated with you for "interfering", and irritating them is always a crime. —Tamfang (talk) 19:44, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Batman also seems to operate without the burden of proof for much of the time. Most of Batman's enemies seem to either conveniently confess, or conveniently die (usually in a Batman-assisted manner) and so don't have to go through the process of a trial. As well as his convenient immortality he seems to be conveniently infallible, never killing the wrong person to avenge some crime. If he made the occasional mistake the inhabitants of Gotham would be a lot less happy with him roaming the streets handing out his own brand of justice. DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:06, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Note that the presence of drug dealers does not mean the police have not been doing anything. Arrest a bunch, pat yourself on the back, two weeks better there'll be new ones there to take advantage of the market. It's a case of classic supply and demand. The market will replace them.

Even worse: it's harder and harder to build real, workable cases against drug syndicates. The ones actually in charge of the operation hide themselves further and further from the actual crimes committed, and use violence and intimidation to stop people from testifying against them. There was a nice article in the New York Times a few months ago about exactly how hard it was to clean up one notorious little area in Brooklyn; about the difficulty of prosecution, about the difficulty of arrests, etc. The guy you see on the street making the actual transactions is the lowest level of dealer, easily replaceable.

As for vigilantism—how exactly are you going to make you case stick? With a video tape? Going to be pretty hard to convince a jury (or judge) that the tape is legitimate, that it is what it says it is, unless you're willing to testify openly in court. And if you do that, you're a dead man. So what will that accomplish? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Good day sir. I have a better idea for you, why don't you try to become a police office yourself. Or my least plausible answer, find a watch that turns you into ten different aliens and quick druggies butts. Of course this would require you to change your name to something that rhymes with ten like Ren. Hope I have helped in some way or maybe even made you laugh. Have a positively wonderful day.Rem Nightfall (talk) 18:15, 2 June 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

You might be interested in the Real-life superhero article. Our local alternative weekly paper, City Pages, did an article a few months ago about real-life superheroes. Some of the references and links might have some practical advice about how to go about doing your own investigations without being killed by drug kingpins. It's up to you to figure out what kind of superhero outfit you'd look good in, though. --Elkman ^(Elkspeak) 22:05, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Military officers in a number of countries had real live batmen or batwomen working for them. Some of them probably assisted from time to time in law enforcement, but others may have gone to the dark side by procuring women or black market goodies for their superiors. The comic book Batman had a servant Alfred Pennyworth who was considered "Batman's batman."Edison (talk) 00:43, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

can we soften hair by our own techniques?

Earlier my hair used to be soft & silky...it remains in whatever shape i comb it....but seeing my nephew i made an experiment with my hair...combing in a diffrent direction to finally make it curly. Now the curls are so strengthened that i can't make them lie down. They are always facing in random direction. Whatever is the issue now my hair is curly & ugly. I wanna make my hair soft as earlier. Put aside the silky nature first of all it's shape should be appealing. I went to a saloon & asked will u do that for me & he agreed to do that but charged such a huge amount that I can't afford. So what should I do to make my hair soft? I mean I'm asking u some simple home techniques to soften curly hair. I can't afford it in saloons. Plz help me! Temuzion (talk) 04:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm a little confused here. What do you mean you made your hair curly by combing in a different direction? Do you mean like when you have a ribbon and you hold it against a sharp angle (like the non-bladed edge of a pair of scissors) and scrape the ribbon against it to make it curl? I'm not sure what this is called, if it has a name. And what do you mean by making it soft? Do you mean making it straight? Did you try a hair straighteners to make it straight? There's also sprays to help protect your hair from getting damaged when you use hair straighteners. Does this or this help at all? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Use a good conditioner! That worked for me! ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 13:56, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

No guarantee, but try lemon juice, flatten (comb) your hair as much as you can for about 5-10 min. Rinse, apply aloe vera gel, rinse again, put one drop of jojoba oil on your comb and comb your hair as flat as you can. Good luck. Lisa4edit (talk) 17:02, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

You might find this a bit odd but there are lots of products marketed for African-Americans which are designed to help straighten curly hair—relaxers and straightening products that can be found at your standard pharmacy. You might try giving them a shot; I'd trust them more than the home remedies, personally, because there's a long-term market involved (and thus incentive to be correct; unlike random home remedies from the internet). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 03:38, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Binfield manor

I would like to know details about Binfield Manor house, as in how many rooms, bathrooms etc or better still a floor plan. Binfield Manor is in Berkshire, England and i believe owned by the Sultan of Brunei. If you could help or shove me in the right direction, i would be very gratefull. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.78.102.150 (talk) 09:36, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Why - are you planning to rob the place? Google Earth (and presumably google maps too) gives a pretty good resolution aerial/satellite of the house and the grounds. Astronaut (talk) 11:19, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Identify airplane

Is this a real airplane? If so any idea on the model and year. It just looks so strange but then it seems to have an engine and all the other bits. 200.127.59.151 (talk) 16:10, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Looks like an experimental design—maybe a parasite aircraft? (Doesn't look like it would be able to take off on its own.) Compare with, for example, the XF-85 Goblin. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 16:38, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

A good indication might be whether it has a registration number, if you had any other photographs. DJ Clayworth (talk) 17:59, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Clues: The tail has the colors of the Italian (or Mexican) flag. The badge near the nose looks like a fasces. HTH. —Tamfang (talk) 19:35, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

At a guess I'd say it's a one-off model built during the 1930s for racing purposes. --Carnildo (talk) 23:51, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Looks a touch underpowered to me, not to mention the lawn mower blades on the front. Could be a copy of something pre-war, one of these [33] but with a little engine intended only for trundling round the airfield, not unlike the similar craft to the left. Mhicaoidh (talk) 08:17, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Had a good look at this Italian aircraft production 1935 to 1945 and this [34] which I cant seem to link to properly and its many tributaries. But the more I look at the OP's image, despite its resemblance to say the GeeBee racers, and the Boeing p26 [35] the more I'm convinced its a toy or a parade float - so much seems wrong, lack of engine cone fairing, bad centre of gravity, poor angle of attack etc. Mhicaoidh (talk) 09:17, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

This is a replica of the Caproni Stipa, which, despite its ridiculous appearance, was a real flight-worthy airplane - see here for some original flight footage. -- Ferkelparade π 09:28, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Bravo Ferkelparade, that is amazing, my faith in the Ref desk is restored! not to mention the possibilities of heavier than air flight, though mind you 600m at 6m altitude in a straight line... You sound knowledgeable, care to do the decent thing? as we are missing this: Caproni Stipa. Mhicaoidh (talk) 10:06, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Your wish is my command :P -- Ferkelparade π 13:16, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Tracking old stock exchange data

Where could I get historical NYSE stock data from, say, the 1960s-1980s, without paying some huge fee? I thought about looking in old newspapers, though that seems, well, time consuming. Any place where it would be aggregated, say in print form? The company in question went belly-up in the early 1990s so there's nothing on it in Google Finance, for example. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:04, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried Yahoo Finance or Bloomberg.com? I tried searching for historical data for some other corporate failures but couldn't get much. Good luck! Zain Ebrahim (talk) 18:19, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

There a huge difference in availability of such data, depending on whether the historical data of interest is for a company that's still actively traded under the same symbol.

• If so, then Y!finance is as good as any.
• If not -- and this includes the case where NXTL became S, for example -- the free sources won't have anything.

The latter, you've probably already discovered. -- Danh, 63.231.153.176 (talk) 22:09, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Earplug purchases

I'm interested in buying some earplugs (preferably Moldex Rockets). What sort of shop would I buy them in, in the UK? Not online, an actual physical one? :-) Thanks. ╟─TreasuryTag (talk ╬ contribs)─╢ 17:39, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

You could try contacting Moldex's UK office. They should tell you who their distributors are. Fribbler (talk) 20:08, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Music Shops in the UK sell earplugs. But I don't know about that brand in particular.Franmars (talk) 11:05, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I mean music instrument shops.Franmars (talk) 11:07, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

The Multi-Gender Question

Good day sirs and ma'ams. This question will be strange. Are they any famous multi-gender people, and by multi-gender I mean hermaphrodites, recorded in history that were ninjas, warriors, samurai, etc? I hope this question isn't to strange and is a turn off by any means. Thank you for taking your time in answering the question I appreciate it. Have a positively wonderful day.Rem Nightfall (talk) 18:21, 2 June 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

This is about the closest I've found for your query. It's not quite what you were asking, but it's close. I hope this helps. :) --Mizu onna sango15/水女珊瑚15 19:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

If we're talking about people who are not just transgendered but have physical characteristics of both genders, Wikipedia does have a short list of notable intersexed people. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 21:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Good evening. Thank you for all the help you are trying to give me. But its not really what I am was asking. Maybe I should just ask more boldly. Are there any recorded hermaphrodites who were ninjas, samurai,knights, etc? I am looking for armed hermaphrodites who use both of there sexes to their advantage. This is the strangest though I have had. I write comics for a hobby and I would like to write about a famous hermaphrodite, not something that comes from the strangeness of my mind. So I need to find ninjas, samurai, knights, etc. that were hermaphrodites. I don't want to seem like I have strange fantasies. Have a positively wonderful evening.Rem Nightfall (talk) 22:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

Since you're writing fiction, maybe you could get ideas for characters by looking at people passing as the other sex such as women pirates, ninjas included women and Joan of Arc dressed as a knight, there was Pope Joan, cowboys who were women in disguise and many soldiers in early armies were female as were sailors. The article might help with the reverse and if needed, you can herm them as you will. Julia Rossi (talk) 01:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

The Burnham Scale-academic qualification equivalent

I have a diploma in marketing (from the Chartered Institute of marketing), graded II/III on the Department of Educationn Burnham Scale. What is the Burnham Scale and what is the equivalent of this scales II/III qualification ie. is it equivalent to an A level or BA degree? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.212.86.222 (talk) 18:56, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Tools

Does anyone have tools that help keep track of articles that are most watched, have been edited the most, which articles were the first to be created, etc.? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, --Mizu onna sango15/水女珊瑚15 19:08, 2 June 2008 (UTC).

Help:Special page may be of use, though some of the functionality you reference (most edited, first created, and other depends-on-early-history-of-WP) doesn't exist as there aren't records to support it. — Lomn 19:21, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Oldest articles, most linked-to pages, pages with the most revisions and Wikipedia:Most frequently edited pages. There are no logs for the watchlist. D0762 (talk) 09:18, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

"Oldest articles" is actually a non-functioning page at this point. The discussion of the oldest remaining traceable edits to the project is at Wikipedia:Wikipedia's oldest articles. Rmhermen (talk) 13:45, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

White foods

What cruel fiends invented white bread and white rice (or if unknown, when did they start plaguing the human diet)? Clarityfiend (talk) 19:30, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

According to this history of bread, white bread was first made by the ancient Egyptians. Historically, white bread, which is more expensive to make, was associated with wealth and privilege, and it is only recently that brown breads have been preferred by the upper classes. The cultivation of rice predates written history, but according to this history of rice, the more labor-intensive white rice was eaten by the upper classes, while the poor ate the cheaper brown rice. In both cases, although the white variety is more expensive to make and has been associated with the food eaten by the wealthy, the less processed brown variety has more nutritional value, which has resulted in the recent popularization of brown rice and brown bread among health-conscious educated people. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 20:58, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Oil price watch

Hi:

Which website offers historical and current oil price information? (Like stock websites)

Thanks.

76.65.14.129 (talk) 19:31, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Many sites that track the stock market also track crude oil prices; CNN Money is one that springs to mind quickly (see the banner at top). Google reveals many sites with a historical summary of crude oil prices; a search for "oil price per barrel history" yielded this site with a chart of normalized prices over the past 140 years. — Lomn 00:59, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Genealogy Tree

As far as I know my ancestors emigrate from Bollo d'Oletta,Corsica.My great grandfather names was Nuncio Colombani Grimaldi,son of Francisco Colombani and Maria Ignacia Grimaldi.Emigrate to Guadalupe island in the caribbean and then move to Puerto Rico,they were three or four brothers.Can you help me to find information related to my ancestors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.207.124.143 (talk) 19:49, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Milzwurst?

What the heck is "Milzwurst"? I had a dish of fried Milzwust at the Aumeister restaurant in Munich, Germany. The dish had two deep-fried patties of something that looked, and tasted, like a cross between meat, liver, and vegetables. It was served with potato salad, mayonnaise, and lemon juice. This is the only dish I have eaten during my whole trip to Munich that I do not know what it is, so I would very much like to know what it is. JIP | Talk 19:53, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Do you sprach the auld Deutsch? My german isn't good enough to translate the article, but a quick search-box nosey on the German -pedia shows that Milz is spleen. Fribbler (talk) 20:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Ah. So I have eaten some animal's spleen without knowing it. The taste was something between meat and vegetables, so I thought I was eating an internal organ, I just didn't know which. It was the cheapest item on the restaurant's "daily recommendations" menu, so I ordered that, because I knew from experience that Bavarian "würste" are good to eat. I just didn't know what the German word "Milz" meant. Had I known, I had probably skipped it and ordered normal Bratwurst instead. JIP | Talk 20:05, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

It is the Germanic equivalent to:

• the death penalty
• McDonalds

It also is a good excuse to drink lots of beer (Dr Ferkel´s - the notorious expert in sausages - venerable surgery in Munich recomends liberal dosages of Augsbuger) to forget the taste of it if you have been lucky enough to survive the gruesome punishment. If you are a Catholic, one helping of Milzwurst reduces your stay in purgatory by half an eternity but prolongs your life in Bavaria by five minutes... --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 21:38, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I have nothing to add, except that it's Augustiner. Every other beer is That Which Has Been Passed Through The Horse's Bladder. -- Ferkelparade π 09:44, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

According to food from bavaria, the Milzwurst consists of 65% "Brät" (the filling used to make a Weißwurst, which in itself contains at least 51% veal, back bacon, boiled bacon rind, as well as herbs and spices), 25% pork, 10% spleen (usually bovine), salt, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, grated onion, lemon, and parsley. There are three varieties of Milzwurst: The most common Brühwurst type (boiling process denaturates the proteins. Pieces of spleen, 5-9 cm in diameter, get processed into the sausage, and everything is held together in an artificial casing. The Brieswurst is basically processed the same way but also contains chunks of sweetbread (thymus gland). The rarer third variety is a filled bovine spleen. --- Sluzzelin talk 11:22, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Why was this link removed?

Please lets discuss below links if ours are inappropriate external links (wiki delited ours but accept those once). We just added it the same way with our visitor centre and other additional information. Could someone please advise why it is not allowed for us? Thanks a lot!!

	Te Puke 

Comvita Visitor Centre

You can learn about Comvita, which manufactures honey and health products, and buy their products at their shop.

For more information, visit the www.comvita.com Comvita website.

	Leptospermum scoparium 

... which received FDA approval in the USA on 23 July 2007. www.comvita.com/mediareleases_1.htm#2776. ... www.nursecentral.com.au/ Nurse Central, Australia www.comvita.com Comvita Limited (New Zealand) Press Release 2005-03-21

The reply to our adding... Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a collection of links, nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Inappropriate links include (but are not limited to) links to personal web sites, links to web sites with which you are affiliated, and links that attract visitors to a web site or promote a product. See the external links guideline and spam guideline for further explanations... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Manuka Health NZ (talk • contribs) 21:53, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

The reply you received should have had links to the appropriate policy. In short, adding content in which you have a vested interest is highly discouraged. In this case, the links in question were being added to drive sales to a company, not to enhance the quality of the encyclopedia article. — Lomn 00:55, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Holden's Hat

Does anybody know where i can purchase a red hunting hat similar to the one Holden Caulfield frequently wears in Catcher in the Rye ? Thank you . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.5.206.57 (talk) 22:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Although I'm not sure of the direct answer to your question, it may aid others answering the question to know that from what I can surmise, Holden's hat is a red deerstalker cap, with a long peak. --Ybbor^Talk 01:15, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Horses

I had once read that horses won't sleep much unless there was another horse to stand guard. Is this true? If so, would it be alright to have a donkey in place of another horse? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.119.61.7 (talk) 23:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

There's something in the article Horse under behaviour and another Horse behavior which looks interesting. As you say, horses lay down to sleep with others standing guard. This is related to horses being herd animals. In the same way race horses are nervous types and are calmed by a companion in the stables, sometimes a goat is enough. They also settle well if there's a pony with them. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:59, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Louis XIII vs XO Cognac

To the average drinker, can one really distinguish between the taste of a $2000 bottle of Louis XIII Cognac compared to a $200 bottle of Remy Martin XO Cognac, or other much cheaper cognac? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 23:17, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

As we are all volunteers - and, given a chance, even average drinkers - on this reference desk, please supply adequate quantities of the aforementioned beverages for copious original research to <address removed by soberbot>. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 23:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Is it really $2000? I always thought it was $700ish. My dad has one, but no one in my family would ever open a bottle that costed more than $100 to drink, so I can't tell you first hand. =P --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 01:03, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes and no. There was a test done on Mythbusters about different filtered vodkas and the 'expert' got them all right, whereas the 2 presenters had varying degrees of success. It is a question of interest. My aunt (who has zero interst in cars) didn't realise my parents had switched from a saloon car to a 2-seater sports car becase it was the same colour. To her there wasn't a memorable difference. Similarly if you play me a song and miss a few notes/get a few out of key i'm not liable to notice, but maybe a musician would. If you enjoy cognac then you may notice a difference in taste, for better or for worse. Applying 'value' to it is the unthinkable part. To me $2k on a bottle of drink is unthinkable, but $600 on a lens for my camera isn't. There'll be people who think $600 on a lens is insane and that they can get just as nice photos with a $5 throaway camera - value and worth are things we apply to items, so if it sells at that price then somebody values it at that. As for taste I suspect yes you'd notice a difference, but not necessarily improvement/betterness, just that it differs. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:17, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

June 3

Call Centre - 3 beep caller

Working at a call centre, I used to occasionally get a mysterious 'caller' that just beeped. No one there, just a beeping sound of three quick beeps, followed by several seconds of dead air, then three beeps again. It sounded the same each time, with the third or fourth set going staticy for a second each time. After a couple minutes, it would drop. Any idea what this is? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 02:54, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Remote Access attempt on a wrong number? Or alien trying to contact you :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ranemanoj (talk • contribs) 03:54, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Or maybe Robinson Crusoe sending an SOS to you. :P Aanusha Ghosh (talk) 06:05, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Someone sending a fax to a telephone number by mistake? I used to get that a lot in the office - though sometimes it would beep, sometimes it would be the annoying static/modem style noise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I'd guess a fax machine too, Whistle back at it (at 2225/2025 Hz) and see if it begins the Bell 103 modem-based "negotiation" sequence with you. That will confirm that it's a mis-programmed fax machine.

Atlant (talk) 12:02, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Suggestions Wanted

I have to do two case-studies and one project for Environmental Education for my school. I'd be glad to get some suggestions as to what topic to choose. Please keep in mind that it should be something fairly current, and I should be able to get lots of newspaper clippings and photos ( I don't have a printer) from magazines. Something in the lines of "the plight of Olive Ridleys" and such like. Aanusha Ghosh (talk) 06:04, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

How about the recent extinction of the Yangtse River Dolphin (caused by environmental change) and comparing it to the older extinction of another species caused by a different means like hunting (eg. Tasmanian Tiger) or the introduction of foreign species (eg. Dodo). Astronaut (talk) 11:57, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

introduction

how to represent onself at best in some interview....? and do tel me some good points to say in "introduce urself" session? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lovindhawan (talk • contribs) 08:55, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Name of this machine

A friend needs to know the exact name for that machine that sits in the corner of music stores where there are about 20 CDs and it plays a small sample of each when you press the appropriate button? He wants to buy one and knowing its name would help!

Lemon martini (talk) 11:28, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't know whether there is a specific name for those used in retail, but to me it sounds like a type of programable CD changer with an all disc random play function. ---Sluzzelin talk 11:34, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I would describe it as a "music-sampling kiosk". "Kiosk" is certainly the correct generic term used by the engineers who design these sorts of free-standing, commercial, screen-and-input device computers.

Atlant (talk) 11:58, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Some stores call them "listening posts". I've seen two types, one with 6 or 8 CDs that you can listen to all the way through if you wanted (the CDs are usually displayed on the listening post), and a wall mounted device with a barcode scanner which plays short samples of every track on every CD in the store. The latter device is probably networked to a central server to make updates easier, while the first device is seved by a bank of multi-disk CD players behind the checkouts. A shop fitting company might be able to help (look for "shop fitters" in the yellow pages), but you might have more success by asking the manager of a music store where the machine came from. Astronaut (talk) 12:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Travelling in Australia

What is the easiest route from Brisbane International airport to Rockhampton? Frankm195378.150.174.50 (talk) 11:49, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

The easiest might be an internal flight to Rockhampton Airport. But there's also the 618 km drive by car; or you can get the train, first from the airport to Brisbane Central (20m, AUS $13 one way), then Brisbane Central to Rockhampton (7h30m, AUS $105 one way on the North Coast line). Astronaut (talk) 12:40, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Merit is not the criteria for promotion

My friend says the opposite of the subject i gave is true.I would like your opinion basically on this subject.I would like people who believe that merit is not the criteria for promotion and those who are against this subject to please site examples and prove themselves.I amreally gratefull to eeryone who bothers to answer.Make sure your answers are long.My riend is going to lose. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.109.135.156 (talk) 12:59, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps you are looking for a discussion forum; there are many such places on the internet, however the Reference Desk deals primarily with matters of fact, not opinion. --LarryMac | Talk 13:03, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Fitness

So I used to be very active but then a few years ago suddenly got really lazy and stopped playing spots often and after a while I noticed that when I did play any sport I usually got tired quite quickly. My question is if I start getting back into shape is it possible/likely that I want be able to get fit past a certain point due to all that time spent being lazy? --212.120.247.132 (talk) 14:04, 3 June 2008 (UTC)