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December 27

Career officer

What is a career officer? — Sebastian 01:28, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Someone who helps and advises on what career would suit you and what exams you need to do it.--GreenSpigot (talk) 02:05, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Or, in another context, it typically refers to a military officer who purposefully pursues a military career (as opposed to an officer who only serves for a while and then does something else). -- Captain Disdain (talk) 02:12, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

What happens if you keep talking to your mind?

Talk to your mind? How rediculous you say. But, you somewhat (actually very little) guide your thoughts. And you can "address" your mental chemistry by taking something to alter it. You, right now are the "driver". Sort of, anyways. Talking "to" your mind, more or less.....Or at least the observer of consciousness. I've heard the expression "be at one with your subconscious, and be whole!" but then a new subconscious would form and take over. Just like when you "wake up" in a dream and realize your dreaming. Because something was running the part of your mind that you took over. Now a new "driver". Always a man behind a curtain. If you get a few stages into your mind, what happens? If you keep receeding further and further, would you eventually reach the seat of all consciousness? And if you do access that nervous system alpha box that runs existence itself, what then?!--Dr. Carefree (talk) 01:34, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I've done what you describe for decades. What happens? You have a career and a rich life. Perhaps you become a Wikipedia editor or administrator. Edison (talk) 01:56, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

See Neuro-linguistic programming and Hypnosis for starters —Preceding unsigned comment added by GreenSpigot (talk • contribs) 02:03, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Whatever dreams I might have I don't remember having had any since I was quite young and I don't think in words much so speaking to myself is out. However I don't seem to have missed out on any of the career and rich life and editor on Wikipedia business so I don't think there is a link in that direction. Dmcq (talk) 15:44, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Do we have an article, or section of an article, about...

...the ethics of sexual activity with people who are legally adults, but with mental retardation giving them the mental age of a minor? I think it would be quite an interesting topic for an article if one doesn't exist already. I've tried looking but all I get is age of consent stuff which isn't exactly relevant.--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 02:00, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I am familiar with JJASONDJFMAM, the months starting with June, but not with this editor. (Was there ever a DJ named J. Jason who was on both FM and AM? Did he live under a bridge?) Edison (talk) 02:09, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you going to answer my question, or am I going to have to wait for someone else to do it? Are you going to continue to violate WP:BITE, WP:AGF and WP:NPA?--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 03:02, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

(DJ... Jason... AM/FM... Wha? Either I'm not getting something, or someone just said something really stupid.) After a thorough review of Template:Mental and behavioral disorders and mental retardation, I can't find anything on it. flaminglawyer^c 03:26, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I suppose this may have some information but I can't find anything about it in Wikipedia.--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 03:36, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

This ties into Informed consent#Sex as well. Exxolon (talk) 03:45, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

My post noted that someone who wants an article about having sex with people who are mentally retarded might just possibly be trolling. The articles you have edited started 3 days ago with Rings of Uranus and Anal Cunt , and your edits did not appear to be those of a new editor, given familiarity with redirects on your second edit, and an AFD nomination on your fifth edit. Edison (talk) 04:10, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Can we lose the 'troll' epithet please? Anyone can rationally see that it in itself is a potentially legit encyclopedic topic, or at least a subsection of a legitimate topic somewhere. Just search for articles about it online.--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 04:54, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

You are welcome to do the editing in question, consistent with WP:RS, WP:NPOV, WP:V and other relevant guidelines or policies. The articles Human sexuality or Sexual abuse might be good places to cover having sex with persons who are mentally retarded, so that sex with them is like sex with a child, per your original question. Consider adding "Sexual abuse of retarded persons" to Sexual abuse. Edison (talk) 05:24, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

You already read age of consent you say? Maybe try reading it more carefully? In several places it says "In many jurisdictions, age of consent is interpreted to mean mental or functional age.[2] As a result, victims can be of any chronological age if their mental age is below the age of consent.[3]" Nil Einne (talk) 07:49, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Incidentally, this was the topic of the movie The Other Sister. StuRat (talk) 08:25, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Having a mental age of a minor does not mean that adults with mental retardation are like children in an adult's body. "Mental age" is a kind of measure for intelligence-as-tested-by-intelligence-tests. Adults with mental retardation have sexual feelings and can have sex just like anybody else. However, because of their low intelligence, they are more at risk both to be sexually abused, and to sexually abuse others. Lova Falk (talk) 10:46, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

And as for the original question, about the ethics of sexual activity with people with mental retardation: as long as they want it and enjoy it, as long as having sex is not used as a way to manipulate them, in short, as long as they are treated as you would treat anybody else, there is nothing unethical about it. Lova Falk (talk) 10:50, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Dear Lova, This is exactly the sort of controversial personal opinion that this "question" was designed to elicit in hopes of sparking fruitless acrimonious debate. Soapbox stances have no place on the Refdesk, anyway. Even I am tempted to rebut. (The Other Sister is a great movie by the way.) --Milkbreath (talk) 15:47, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Regardless of the original questioner’s motives in asking the question, this does seem like a perfectly reasonable subject for an article. --S.dedalus (talk) 09:20, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

I think the best thing to say is per our own article if one parties mental age is under the age of consent and the other party is an adult in all regards, and there is no closeness of age exemption, then it is illegal in a number of jurisdictionms. Whether you consider it unethical it or not is of course moot since the RD isn't the place for such discussions. Nil Einne (talk) 11:07, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

How Many US Businesses currently have a website

I have been looking for data on the numbers of US businesses that have a website, could you refer me to a good source of information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 8.7.69.32 (talk) 03:04, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

<moved from WP:RD/C> flaminglawyer^c 03:19, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Extremely difficult number to ascertain, I'd imagine.--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 03:38, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

If you could get some other statistics about US businesses (number of businesses, no. of employees, turnover, profits, etc.) from the US equivalent of Companies house (would that be the SEC?), you could probably come up with some estimates like this:

• Once a business grows beyond a certain size, it is almost compulsory these days to have a website, so suppose a business with more than 100 employees is 100% certain to have a website, and one with 50 employees is 50% certain to to have a website.
• or, most if not all NYSE listed companies will have a website.
• or, profitable companies can afford to employ a web consultant to design their website.

Astronaut (talk) 12:23, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Day

What is the least talked about day of the year? 60.230.124.64 (talk) 12:15, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

My birthday to judge from the absence of cards and presents.90.9.82.48 (talk) 15:06, 27 December 2008 (UTC)DT

(lawl) (we see through your game, buddy. What's the least talked about day of the year? Why don't we talk about it so that it won't be the least talked about anymore? Wait a sec... You're the same person that asked about the states. <growl> flaminglawyer^c 16:19, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, can I have an answer? 60.230.124.64 (talk) 21:20, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

We have a page for each day of the year, and there's a list of notable people who were born or died on that day. It should be fairly easy (if a little tedious) to determine which day (apart from 29 February, which is often talked about out of proportion to its occurrence) has the least number of notable people associated with it. That might be a start. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:38, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

And now I can't help wondering what that day is, and why. Same for the day with the most people. Is there a quick way to count these, or is it as tedious a process as I imagine? -- JackofOz (talk) 21:35, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

How much snow is ONE INCH of rain?

Attention, ladies and gentlemen- If it snows, say, two inches does that mean it wouldve been a tiny bit of rain? By the same token does every inch of rain equal about 6 inches of snow?I'm Scared (talk) 13:11, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

According to our article new snow has a density of between 5% and 15% of water... Once the snow is on the ground, it will settle under its own weight (largely due to differential evaporation) until its density is approximately 30% of water. Increases in density above this initial compression occur primarily by melting and refreezing, caused by temperatures above freezing or by direct solar radiation. By late spring, snow densities typically reach a maximum of 50% of water. -hydnjo talk 15:14, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

And when compressed to ice, as in my driveway, it's around 90% the density of water. StuRat (talk) 18:22, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Well then, that would be ice, not snow :) hydnjo talk 20:57, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, exactly - so one inch of rain would be between two inches of tightly compressed snow - and twenty inches of loose, fluffy snow - and two inches of snow would be between one inch and one tenth of an inch of rain. SteveBaker (talk) 15:55, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

The rule of thumb I've heard from the TV weathermen is that 10 inches of snowfall equals 1 inch of rain. (Always accompanied by a disclaimer saying it's highly dependent on the type of snow.) -- 128.104.112.113 (talk) 20:28, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Very highly dependant. Around here, we've picked up almost five feet of snow in the past month, but the weather forecasters keep saying "It's only equivalent to three inches of rain, please don't kill yourself trying to shovel off your roof". --Carnildo (talk) 00:55, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Wet snow is denser than powder snow. ~AH1^(TCU) 18:29, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Important events in 2008

can someone create a page on inmportant events of the year 2008, with the year coming to an end. It will be really helpful. Thanks in advanceKumar rvce (talk) 13:54, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried putting 2008 in the Wikipedia search box? Happy 2009. Richard Avery (talk) 14:59, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Cadillac Allante Headlamps

Headlamps work fine on high beam. I have no low beam. Checked bulbs and power to socket —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.160.156.39 (talk) 13:59, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Have you checked the fuse? Astronaut (talk) 14:41, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

You're saying that there is power to the socket into which the bulbs are plugged AND that the bulbs light when power is applied to them - but NEITHER of them work when plugged into the car?!?! That's impossible.

There are several ways that cars get high beams - and I don't know which way yours work - however, I suspect you have dual-filament bulbs - where each bulb has both a high-beam and a low-beam filament. That being the case, you might not be measuring the right thing - perhaps the high-beam filament is fine - but the low beam filament is blown. That's not such a surprising thing since most people use low-beams much more than high-beams. It would seem at first sight to be surprising that both headlamps would be blown - but since both bulbs most likely came off the same production line on the same day - were stored for the same amount of time under the same conditions - then subjected to the exact same on/off cycles - it'd not be such a surprise that they'd fail at close to the same time.

SteveBaker (talk) 15:50, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Weeeeelll...not impossible. A high-impedance voltmeter would show a beautiful 12 volts across the socket with the bulb removed even though there was a high resistance in the line limiting current. You have to check the voltage with a good bulb in place. Look for corrosion at the contacts, although if both lamps are out that's a long shot. There are other even more unlikely situations that would cause this, also. I tried to Google for your schematic diagram to no avail, so I can't really help much except to say that they've been getting pretty tricky with xenon and LEDs and pulses in automotive lighting lately. If it was me, I'd get the Haynes Manual. --Milkbreath (talk) 17:37, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

The Allante ceased production in 1993 - it's at least 15 years old. I doubt it has anything other than filament bulbs - certainly they won't be LED's. SteveBaker (talk) 06:43, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

You also might have the wrong bulbs in the car, which might cause that behavior. We need to know some history on this car. Did you just buy it (used, of course) ? Did you just have the headlights replaced ? Did both low beams stop working at different times or at the same time ? StuRat (talk) 18:17, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

One suggestion: Until you get this fixed, fog lights, if present and operational, may be more acceptable to oncoming drivers than high beams. StuRat (talk) 18:19, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Altruism aside, I wouldn't drive at night with only fog lights :( hydnjo talk 21:28, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

In a place with no street lights, I'd tend to agree. However, if there are street lights, then fog lights are sufficient to warn other vehicles of your location, without blinding them, and the lighting of the street, along with that from the street lights, should be sufficient so that you can see your way. StuRat (talk) 22:24, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

It's probably the switch. That also would explain the weird behavior that there is sometimes power and sometimes there isn't. God Bless America (talk) 20:00, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

I had this exact same problem a number of years ago and it was the switch. I just drove around with high beams on all the time for a couple days until I could get it fixed. Dismas|^(talk) 04:29, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

And did you leave a trail of blinded oncoming drivers in the ditches ? There was probably a cop who was going to pull you over for this, but he was blinded and ended up in a ditch, too. :-) StuRat (talk) 20:01, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Toyota Camry low frequency noise

While underway in my 2006 Camry, there is a pronounced low frequency rumble emanating from either the left front or left rear side. A sharp right turn of the steering wheel makes this more pronounced.

Dealer suggested I rotate the tires, which were cupped. Instead I replaced all four, with new. No change. Any suggestions? Thanks for any and all help! --71.98.16.211 (talk) 19:44, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Could the tires be rubbing against the wheel well ? This is sometimes a problem with oversized tires, especially if new. StuRat (talk) 02:08, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Additionaly might be worth your while to check your tyre balance (especially if there is a pronounced vibration at a specific speed), your wheel alignment (tracking), your disc brakes and brake caliper adjustments, your shock absorbers and your constant velocity joints (especially the rubber 'boot' that protects them - deflated boots can allow dirt to enter causing rapid wear. Exxolon (talk) 02:42, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Doubtful, but possible; is one of the windows partly open when this happens? And does the problem go away when the window is open or closed? Sometimes the wind blowing across the open window will cause the same effect as blowing across an open bottle, except that the frequency is very much lower. Bunthorne (talk) 04:01, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Ages of Greek Mythological figures

Hi. I'm writing a story that takes place at some point after the Oedipus trilogy. Which of these characters would still be alive at this point?

• Creon of Thebes
• Adrastus of Argos
• Laertes of Ithaca
• Theseus of Athens
• Heracles
• Mecistus of Argos
• Phoroneus of Argive

And are there any other mythological figures known for strength in a specific skill? thanks User:Ye Olde Luke) 21:48, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Presumably you have already read Creon, Adrastus, Laertes, Theseus, Heracles, Mecisteus and Phoroneus? I'm hardly an expert on the subject matter, but it seems to me that it's not at all unusual for many mythological characters like this to never die -- which is not to say that they are necessarily immortal, just that their death is never discussed or described. To answer your second question... yeah. Lots. You'll be sure to find many, many more characters known for their prowess in their areas of expertise in Greek mythology alone. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 23:59, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

The second question first: well, yes, that's what polytheism is all about, the gods specialize in specific skills. Zeus, for instance, is really bitchin' at throwing lightning-bolts and Hephaistos is one hell of a blacksmith.

As for mythological charactars who are not gods, then yes, lots of them have specific skills too. Obviously, there's a metric butt-load of great warriors (Achilles, Hector, Theseus, Heracles, etc.), but there are lots of others. Daidalos was a great inventor. Tiresias was a sooth-sayer. Medea was a witch. Orpheus could play great music. Helen of Troy made men drool and betray their countries and stuff. Any special skill you're looking for?

As for the second question, well, lets see: Creon succeeded Oedipus, so he'd be alive after. Adrastus was part of the whole Seven against Thebes thing, which takes place after Oedipus Rex, so he'd be alive back them. Same thing with Theseus, he was also part of Seven Against Thebes. Laertes is harder, he's sort-of in a different time-line, isn't he? Playing six degrees of greek mythology, we can assume that he was: Laertes was an Argonaut, meaning that he lived at the same time as Jason, who lived at the same time as Medea, who lived at the same time as Theseus (after killing her children and those other folk, she fled to Athens and king Aegeus and continued her shenanigans there), and Theseus, as we've already established, was alive after Oedipus Rex. It's dodgy, pretty much every hero mentioned in greek mythology is claimed to have been an argonaut at some place or other. But you could certainly get away with it ("artistic license", and all that). Heracles was an argonaut too, so same thing with him. Mecisteus was part of Seven against Thebes, so he'd be alive after Oedipus Rex too (the Illiad also mention him being part of Oedipus' funeral). Phoroneus I'd never heard about, but according to the article, he seems to be some sort of primordial ur-man (great grand-son of Cronos and Gaia, in fact), so he shouldn't have been alive, I think. Well, that's it. Belisarius (talk) 19:57, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Aww, shite, I misread your question! You're not asking of people alive after Oedipus Rex, you're asking for people alive after the Oedipus trilogy. Well, Antigone is the last of the the Oedipus triology, and it takes place after Seven against Thebes. So who survived it? Well, Creon did, so he's still in. I think we can safely assume Theseus would be alive as well. Heracles and Laertes is anybody's guess (so if you want to include them, go ahead). Adrastus was alive after Antigone, because he went back to war against Thebes ten years later. I have no idea about Mecisteus and as before, I'm guessing Phoroneus had been dead a long time. So, same answer as before :)

BTW, can I ask something? It seems to me like you put the names of a bunch of greek heroes on slips of paper and put them in a hat, and then dragged seven out. Is there anything special about these guys? Is there any significance to the number seven? Belisarius (talk) 20:10, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

The only significance is that each seemed to have a specific skill, not counting Heracles and Phoroneus, who serve a different role in the story. Laertes is mentioned in a hunt for the Bear, Theseus defeated Medusa (so swordfighting), Adrastus is a good horseman, Mecisteus is described by Homer as defeated everyone from Cadmus in boxing. After your comment, I've decided to remove Phonoreus and have both roles played by Heracles, and add Paris of Troy for archery. Is that possible? I ask only because Paris is from the Trojan War, so he might be a bit young, but Oddyseus's father was alive during the timeline of my story, and Oddyseus lived at the same time of Paris, so I figured Paris was probably born in time. What do you think? --Ye Olde Luke (talk) 05:19, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like fun to me! I must say though, I'm not all that familiar with many of the stories featuring the characters you name, but why the hell not! And if you're going to allow Trojan heroes, why not substitute Hector for Adrastus for the horse-taming skill? Homer refers to him as "Hector, the Horse-tamer" (now that's an awesome nickname!), so that would be appropriate, I think (personally, I'd find any excuse to put Hector in a story, he's like the coolest guy in The Illiad). Paris makes a fine archer, can't really think of any Greek hero that's famous for that except him. As for being too young, I don't really think that's a huge issue. Greek mythology is so "fractured" into tiny different sub-groups with their own time-lines, quite independent of each other, and you can only make the most tenous of connections. Like, the Ithaca stories about Jason and Medea, the Athens stories with Theseus, the Corinth stories following Oedipus, the Homeric stories, etc. The connections are extremely vague ("Some dude said Laertes was an Argonaut..."), so you can absolutely take some artistic liberties with that. It's definitely possible that Paris was alive in the time after the Oedipus triology.

Also, I really think you should include Daidalos (or Daedalus, depending on how you spell it)! Every story needs a MacGyver type problem solver that can quickly invent a gadget or two! And he fits in the story-line, he was contemporaneous with Theseus. Patron saint of engineers, that fella!

BTW, I don't know if it was a typo or not, but Theseus did not kill Medusa, he killed the Minotaur (and a number of other strange beasts). That involved sword-fighting too, I guess. Although mostly it was all about seducing princesses to find out the secret of the labyrinth and then abandoning them on beaches :P. It was Perseus killed Medusa, and used her cut-off head to turn the giant Atlas (he who held up the sky) to stone, thus creating the Atlas mountains (I'm not sure that part of story is all that canonical, but someone told it to me when I was a child, and it's remained one of my favorites).

Good luck with your story! Belisarius (talk) 23:33, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your help! And I totally agree about Hector, rooted for him and Troy right up to the end :( --Ye Olde Luke (talk) 02:04, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

December 28

birds

birds fly south in a season, and make nests, eggs ect then fly north for the other 6 months so does this mean that most birds breed twice every year, and live thier lives in eternal summer? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.61 (talk) 02:48, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

No, because most of them don't cross the tropics; their winter and summer territories often overlap. —Tamfang (talk) 04:56, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

i dont understand please elaborate —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.61 (talk) 15:45, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Take the American Robin as an example of a typical migratory bird. This map is a picture of the robin's range. The robin spends the summers in the yellow and green areas (Canada and the US), nesting and laying eggs. When winter comes, the robins fly south, to the blue and green areas (Mexico and the southern US). They don't go all the way to the southern hemisphere; the southern most robins stop in Central America. Robins only breed in April to July, so during the winter they're just "hanging out", fattening themselves up on the food available in the relative warmth of Mexico. Note, however, the large green area of year-round occupancy, which extends into Minnesota and Montana - hardly "eternal summer" there. For more examples, take a look at Bird_migration#Long-distance_migration - most birds don't migrate very far. There are some, however, which do swap hemispheres. The Bar-tailed Godwit, for example, migrates from Alaska to New Zealand each year. Note, however, that they only breed in the Northern Hemisphere, and don't lay eggs when they're in the Southern Hemisphere. -- 128.104.112.113 (talk) 20:23, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

That map is out of date. Robins have been extending their winter range northward, to the point where they are now overwintering in eastern Massachusetts, something I don't recall seeing even ten years ago. My understanding is that the robins that winter here are not the same ones that live here in the summer. In the spring, the winter robins will fly north into Canada and be replaced by robins who spent the winter farther south. So, the Canadian robins spend their life in eternal chilly weather: southern New England in winter, subarctic Canada in summer. Marco polo (talk) 03:42, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I presume the OP means a bird such as the Swallow, which spends April - end August in the UK, then migrates to South Africa which means that it spends its whole life in summer? As far as I can recall they don't actually breed in South Africa but in the UK. --TammyMoet (talk) 10:30, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

To echo 128. the birds that come to the Arctic do so for the express purpose of breeding rather than breeding in the south. I believe that this is due to the lower number of predators. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 14:12, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

The OP may be interested in the arctic tern which flits back and forth between the arctic and Antarctica, so that it summers in both areas. Since those areas get 24 hours of sunshine in (at least some of) the summer, the arctic tern apparently sees more daylight than any other animal. Matt Deres (talk) 00:55, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

shitty xmas

i got no phone calls, presents or invites this year, is this normal as you get older, that people expect you to already have plans and people to give gifts to or is it just me, i only gave one present this year, and the person stood me up on the day anyway. is it normal for people to get nothing, not even a call from his mom? age 26 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.61 (talk) 02:54, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

First, sorry for the bad Christmas, and I hope it will get better in due time.

Second, to answer your question, it kinda depends where you're from. In the Philippines, where all aspects of Christmas form a very strong (and sadly rigid) tradition, people don't expect gifts from you when you're young, but as you grow older, and especially as you become an adult, there will come a time where you will need to have plans and need to give gifts as you become less and less dependent on your parents. I can't really answer for other places (except maybe the U.S., but I'm not so sure about that), but hope this helps. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 03:44, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Might I suggest you take the lead ? Call your Mom. Invite people over to your place for dinner. Put up a tree and decorations. Give out gifts. It's too late for Xmas this year, but how about doing this for New Year's Day. That's exactly what I did. You will find that people reciprocate. On the other hand, if you never do this type of thing, they likely think you're not the type who cares about Xmas traditions, so leave you out of their plans. StuRat (talk) 06:02, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

That likewise depends on the circumstances. Just because you don't have your own Christmas party or give people presents does not necessarily mean that you don't care about Christmas in general. If there was (or if you're in) some extraordinary circumstance, then people may understand why you don't celebrate Christmas, and they may console by including you in their celebrations. However, if you feel you're being excluded, then take the lead and include yourself in the season by celebrating it yourself, and don't be afraid to invite others so they can join in the fun. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 06:30, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

I think Christmas does get worse as one gets older. For me, bad things happen around Christmas - terminal illness of family members, car crashes, finding neighbours dead, you get the picture - and so each year it's a real effort to put decorations up and buy presents. But it's really important that the effort is made. I'll leave the "why?" for you to decide.

What you might want to consider next year is offering your services as a volunteer to one of the shelters for homeless people in your area. There's nothing like a bit of selfless giving to make you appreciate what you have a bit more. If I hadn't had the UK's cold this year I might have done so myself, family or no family. --TammyMoet (talk) 09:41, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Why are you expecting a call from your mother? Why are you waiting for invites? It seems tome your problem is you're waiting for others when you should be acting yourself. Call your mother. Ask people what they're doing for christmas or even consider throwing something yourself. I think the one thing that is normal is that as you get older, you do have to take greater responsibility for your life but really this should have began before 26. Maybe your mother thinks your too busy for her and so do your friends because your waiting for them? Nil Einne (talk) 11:03, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe he's afraid to take the lead for fear of failing to impress his peers or family. There are many reasons as to why someone can fail to act. It's all a matter of perception. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 14:08, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

this is th OP, i did make plans, but when it came to the day, the people i had plans with stood me up and went to see other friends instead. i did not get a single card. real nice, boosts my view of humanity. all i need now is a kick in the balls —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.61 (talk) 15:47, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Ouch! That must really hurt. Anyway, were they aware that you had plans? Did it conflict with their prior commitments? Maybe they forgot. Regardless, don't blame yourself. Yeah, as you grow older, Christmas begins to suck big-time, but make the best out of it. Think positive. Try talking to them about it or something. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 16:04, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

we had plans since late Nov, but then on boxing day they phoned me ans said oh, yeah sorry, but "bob" called and i went there instead, oh thanks for the present, sorry we didnt get you anything. its not that i want presents, i just want to know that some one loves me and cares. well, you know what they say, suicide is an option, and then they'll regret leaving me out of all the fun, 1 i hide my depression well, 2 a few different groups of my friends got together and even though they knew i was alone watching tv, eating a meal for one, they did not invite me. or even wish me happy xmas. sothis might be waht they call a cry for help, but fuck em theyll, regret it when i am dead, if they notice.

Uhh...well, this will be hard to solve. It seems that you were stood up, and that seems quite complicated to solve. I would normally invoke "forgive and forget" in this case, since if you reminded them about your plans, they should feel a little bit of guilt. Please do not kil yourself to make a point. By the way, Wikipedia isn't a suicide hotline (or is it?) ;) --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 17:38, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

If you're depressed to the point of being suicidal, seek medical attention. (I originally wrote a longer response to this, but I deleted it without posting it, because, frankly, the chances of you taking it the wrong way are astronomical. Seriously, call a doctor. I can't guarantee that it'll fix everything, but if you really are that depressed, I can pretty much guarantee that it's not just gonna sort itself out.) -- Captain Disdain (talk) 03:03, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

It might merely be a statistical coincidence that they all canceled. Let's say any given guest (or family) has a 50% chance of canceling and you invited 3 families. If the chances of each canceling are an independent event, then that would give you a 0.5³ or 0.125 chance that all 3 families will cancel. That's a 1 in 8 chance, so you could expect this to happen every 8 years, on average.

Now for some advice: after the last person/family canceled on you, try to get yourself invited to wherever they were going, or to one of the other events. Also, if you live near home, ask your Mom if she would mind one more guest. StuRat (talk) 11:35, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

The way I'd deal with this is to make heaps of plans, throw heaps of parties and don't invite any of the people who stood you up. This will allow you to cheer up and make new friends while making a point to the old ones about ditching you. The reason they stood you up probably wasn't personal. Some friends are shitty and only care about themselves and will drop everything with you when they think they've got a better offer. You don't need them, show them what it feels like to be ditched. --Candy-Panda (talk) 06:45, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

There certainly are valid reasons for missing an event you said you'd attend, like sickness. However, it sounds like your friends pretty much said "We were invited to another event we'd rather attend", which makes them disloyal friends who don't keep their promises. At least they're honest about it. Still, I agree that you should find some better friends. StuRat (talk) 16:13, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

did I see a fox?

Recently I saw an unfamiliar animal trot across the street here. It had short legs like a cat, a long thick black-tipped tail, and a face that (twenty yards away in dim light) looked to me like a coyote's. Are there foxes in these hills? —Tamfang (talk) 04:55, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

yeah, probably lives on the golf course —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.61 (talk) 05:13, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Quite possibly. They're more common than you might think, but normally keep hidden. StuRat (talk) 06:08, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Almost certainly a Gray Fox. They control the bunny population. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 08:31, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

It must be working, because I haven't seen a Playboy Bunny in years. StuRat (talk) 14:28, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

But have you seen a foxy chick? —Tamfang (talk) 08:00, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I saw one or two foxes while hiking when I lived in the Bay Area. So they definitely live there, especially in the open spaces. Gray fox looks right. Marco polo (talk) 03:39, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Bigamy

OK, keep your hair on, this is NOT a request for legal advice, just a general question! How come the crime of bigamy is so universally enforced? It seems (to me anyway) that no matter where someone is married, no matter how far out of the way it is or how different the laws may be, bigamy still seems to apply if you become married again, even if it is a different country to the one where the original marriage took place. Is the state of marriage a "universal" concept of law? Is anyone aware of a country whose marriage laws would NOT apply in the case of bigamy? Thanks everyone!! 121.44.151.254 (talk) 10:28, 28 December 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.44.151.254 (talk) 10:27, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

You seem to be confusing two concepts here. If a country recognises another countries marriages and it has laws on bigamy then clearly those laws will come into play if someone tries to/does re-marry. International recognition of marriages and local bigamy laws are largely, AFAIK, seperate concepts. There may be some cases where bigamy comes into play even if the marriage is not locally recognised but I think this is rare. Nil Einne (talk) 11:00, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Bigamy is not universally outlawed. For example, in certain Islamic countries (such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia) having multiple (official) wives may allowed, given certain restrictions. (I was hoping to find more details in the article Polygyny in Islam, such as the exact legal situation and the relevant limitations, but details on the official situation are rather slim.) If someone enters into a plural marriage where it is legal, and then moves to a location where it is not, our Polygamy#Legal situation article says "Polygamists may find it harder dealing with government agencies, such as obtaining legal immigrant status." I think that most countries have laws allowing them to deny entry to "people of poor moral character", and may view polygamists as such. If you are talking about marrying in country A, then moving (without your spouse) to country B and then trying to get married to a different person there, it's local laws that apply. Most countries recognize marriages performed in other countries (I'm not sure if there is a treaty which covers this). Thus if you get married elsewhere and move to the US (for example), the US usually recognizes the foreign marriage. Since in the eyes of the US you are already married, trying to get married to someone else falls afoul of the US bigamy laws. On the other hand, if you got married in the US and then moved to some place where polygamy is legal (e.g. Saudi Arabia/Malaysia), it is unlikely that Saudi Arabia/Malaysia would object to you marrying an additional spouse, provided that you met all the other conditions for polygamy in Saudi Arabia/Malaysia which may be hard for an immigrant to do. The fact that all types of polygamy are illegal in the US doesn't enter into it - it's the local laws which apply. Note, however, that if you then decided to go back to the US, the US may object to you being a polygamist on the grounds of US laws, even though your marriage was legal when and where you got it. -- 128.104.112.113 (talk) 20:06, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Do I remember right that the bigamy law in Venezuela (or possibly Colombia) was repealed on the theory that bigamy is its own punishment? —Tamfang (talk) 22:48, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Bigamy is the state of having one spouse too many. Monogamy is the same. BrainyBabe (talk) 12:17, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Also, it is worth pointing out that Islam and certain other legal systems, under certain restrictions, allow polygyny. They do not, and very few places do, allow polyandry. You might get better info from one of the modern polyamory groups that exist. BrainyBabe (talk) 12:19, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Borland C++

Hi,

Can i know how to get a print out of the executed file created by borland C++. What is the header file and the command? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.124.160.216 (talk) 14:05, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

• Firstly, you're asking the question in the wrong section of the reference desk, the Computing desk would have been a better choice, and I suggest you add a note here that the question has been moved, and repost the question there.
• Secondly, I suggest that you add more information when reposting. I've compiled many a C++ program, with Borland's compilers and others, but don't understand the question. Are you asking how to decompile a program that has been compiled with a Borland C++ compiler? Do you have access to the source code? What information do you have access to, and what information, in what format, is it that you are trying to obtain? --NorwegianBlue ^talk 21:48, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

I see that the question now has been asked on the computing desk, so further answers should go there. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 22:26, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Unexplored coasts

What are several of the most unexplored coasts in the world that aren't under constantly cold conditions? Thankyou —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.111.102.250 (talk) 14:22, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Honestly, I seriously doubt that there are any. Coasts are where boats go and where cities are. If there were a non-cold coast that was unexplored, it would be ridiculously easy to explore it. Just go there with a dinghy or something. If you're counting rivers, I'm guessing some of the rivers connecting to the Amazon in South America. Ridiculous amounts of jungle. Belisarius (talk) 20:18, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

It depends what you mean by unexplored. Pretty much everything has been digitally mapped by satellite, but a lot of the world has not been visiting by anyone who has written a book about it. Can you count the 2004 Congo River journey by TIm Butcher as "exploration"? His book, Blood River (2007), reads like exploration. BrainyBabe (talk) 12:33, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Many of the islands in the Arctic will have coasts that have never had boats sail around them. And while the Arctic is cold now, −39 °C (−38 °F) here, it can reach 20 °C (68 °F) and higher in the summer so it's not "constantly cold". CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 13:58, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

camp fire

how do you "bank" a fire so that it will burn all night without being tended, yet have flames throughout to scare off wildlife. this theory can be seen in the earth's children series, but the technique is not discussed, please help —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.61 (talk) 15:44, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm not an expert, but I don't think this is possible. If I was trying to make a campfire stay alight overnight so that I could build it up the next morning without starting from scratch, I'd be trying to make sure there were *no* flames, just a little airflow to ensure it kept smouldering. A fire with large, animal-scaring flames is burning quickly, and will only keep going if fed with fuel. I hadn't heard of Earth's Children before, but the article on it starts "Earth's Children is a series of historical fiction novels". The bold emphasis is mine, and I think is the salient point here. PeteVerdon (talk) 22:05, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

As a purely practical matter, if you need a fire to keep away predators, then you should also either post a watch or be prepared to sleep very lightly, if at all. Feeding a fire is a good way for the posted watch to keep usefully busy and thus awake. We bank a wood stove overnight so that it provides embers in the morning and continuous, low heat all night. Flames in this case are the sign of improper banking as PeteVerdon has written above. ៛ Bielle (talk) 03:18, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

This method wouldn't protect the flames, but rather the heat (like Pete mentions above). I've seen the SurvivorMan Les Stroud use dried cow patties (cow poop) to capture the heat and keep smoldering all night. If you kept some dried grasses nearby (not TOO nearby) you could probably get the fire going in less than 20 seconds. It wouldn't be a constant guard against animals though, just a one time "scare them away!" tool NByz (talk) 10:16, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Large logs will smolder for long periods of time, so use one of those then restart the flame by adding on grass or pine straw to rebuild the fire proper the next morning.--droptone (talk) 17:46, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I agree with the previous answers that a fire with large flames will not last all night, untended. However, I can think fo two exceptions:

1) A truly massive fire. There the oxygen is used up in the perimeter flames and the interior can't burn up until later.

2) An automatic continuous fuel supply. This would work best with a liquid, such as oil, which is fed by gravity. It could pour out of a small nonflammable metal tube into a nonflammable bowl. StuRat (talk) 20:37, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Try a lantern. Phil_burnstein (talk) 05:30, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

"Banking" a fire means to cover the coals or embers with ashes or cinders with a layer that is deep enough to slow the burning of the fuel, but light enough to allow oxygen to feed the combustion. In other words, you're not looking for an all-night flame, but an all-night burn, leaving you with coals that will still be hot enough to quickly restart a fire in the morning. 152.16.59.190 (talk) 06:10, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

out-of-copyright movies

Hi, I'm looking for a list of films that have fallen out of copyright or high quality torrents for them. Everything I found on google leads to nowhere. Thank you. Keria (talk) 16:08, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

There is a ton of stuff at the Internet Archive. And, we even have an article on it. --Milkbreath (talk) 16:18, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Guitar Hero World Tour drum kit

Does anyone know if you can learn to play drums (at least to some degree) with the Guitar Hero World Tour drum kit? When I say 'learn to play drums' I don't mean become the next Phil Collins or John Bohnam, but have some real drumming skills such as timing or something? BTW, I'm referring to the Guitar Hero drum kit and not the Rock Band drum kit because the Guitar Hero drum kit seems more realistic since it has cymbals. 67.184.14.87 (talk) 16:54, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

yes, this is basically a beginner electric drum kit and can teach you the basics. but dont expect much, it will take practice, skill, technique and a proper drum kit to be even moderately decent.

You can learn about staying on a rhythm using a digital tool like that for sure. This skill is universally useful for any instrument. And the drums are the one instrument in that game that make it almost possible for each "hit of the drum" to actually correspond 1:1 to a "note" in the song (at least compared to a 'basic' drumset - most professional drummers will have more than four things to strike). This means that - if you learn to play without watching the screen, just listening to the music, pretending each pad represents a specific drum or cymbal - you can improve your memory. I think most people learn to play those games by responding to visual cues, not memory cues. These are completely different processes.

As for things that it wouldn't help with:

1) Bandleading: The drums are expected to lead the rhythm of the band, with the bass, rhythm and lead instruments following (in that order). Playing along with a game like that will teach you to follow, not to lead.

2) Dynamics and Quality: Dynamics means controlling how "loud" you are, and by Quality, I mean controlling how good each strike sounds. This is especially difficult on the big cymbals and requires that you accustom yourself to hitting each type of drum/cymbal differently. The game won't help with this (and may actually give you the bad habit of hitting each note in the exact same place, with the same part of the drumstick, and with the same velocity)

3) Playing Quickly: The pads just don't have the response of an analog instrument. You'll never be able to practice quick runs on the same drum.

4) Improvising: This is where new music ideas come from. Later on, when you jam with friends, they'll expect you to come up with your own patterns and respond to their ideas. The game doesn't help with this.

5) The high hat: There is a special skill to getting used to how the high-hat operates, and getting good at including it in drum patterns involving the snare. I notice that the world tour drum kit only has one foot pedal.

Now for my personal opinion: These games exist to help people avoid the frustration and time commitment of learning a real instrument. They don't act as a very good substitute for practicing. The primary skill that they develop is around pressing a button when something on the screen happens. My friends that are good at - and enjoy - these games tend to be the same people who enjoyed the other arcade-style console games (like "fusion frenzy") that, for the most part, use basic skills like this. There isn't very much in music that uses this skill, except maybe sight-reading musical notation. Even then, you have to develop the instrument-specific skills first.NByz (talk) 10:11, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

The Rock Band drumset is actually a good deal more realistic than the GH one, despite having less pads. For instance, when playing the disco drum beat in Everlong, a real drummer would play the high-hat seven times and the snare once, and on any normal right-handed drum set that would entail going from the far left to the middle left. It's naturally more comfortable for ninety percent of the population and is the easiest way to play it. In World Tour, it goes from the middle left to the far left, which is backwards and awkward to play. You're expected to lead with your left hand and bring one stick down and to the far left somehow to hit the snare, and it just doesn't feel "right". Neversoft has never gotten note charting right, and Harmonix is especially good at retaining how a song was originally played (I can do the bass to Everlong in RB2 with my eyes closed despite having only seen it once or twice because it's actually the same pattern as real bass). As for teaching you how to play drums in general, yes, music games can do that to an extent... It certainly helps staying in time and understanding the basic concept of a drum beat. Heck, you can sometimes play along with songs and then transfer it over to real drums. It only really works if the drummer is using a pretty basic set, but it's possible.

As for the comment above mine, I disagree. One of the fundamental parts of music is understanding rhythm, and music games can really help with that. They're also good for developing dexterity and the physical prowess needed for the real thing. Obviously they don't teach you enough to be a real musician, but it definitely doesn't hurt. --69.146.230.243 (talk) 12:07, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm the OP on a different computer. I already play piano and have tried guitar and I can say that playing guitar on Guitar Hero is nothing like the real thing. (When I tried learning real guitar, I found it was harder than I thought. You really have to press on the strings pretty hard, plus my fingers kept accidentally touch the other strings.) I only play Guitar Hero on the easy mode because with all that time and effort it would take to play on advanced mode, I might as well learn to play a real guitar. One comment I have is that I agree with "The primary skill that they develop is around pressing a button when something on the screen happens". When I play Guitar Hero, I have absolutely no idea what notes I'm playing or what chord the band is playing, and without that critical information, you really aren't learning anything. I'm simply reacting to the buttons on the screen. I'll look into Rock Band's drumset more closely. 216.239.234.196 (talk) 17:33, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Would something like this [1] help in learning to play drums? 216.239.234.196 (talk) 20:59, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Who's in the wrong? And how to solve the problem.

My sister got married to a Jewish guy. Great. No problem there. But, I am South African, so although he and his family know me very little, they know my sister well, and I would hope they would expect our values and morals to be similar, and they are, being siblings. But they assume I am racist just because of my background, or some other reason, and actively say things to me when she is not around, such as: I happened to get a hair cut in a neat, manageable military style, and one of them said to me I look like an SS soldier and that I should fuck off back to Germany. I have never been to Germany, nor am I a Nazi. On a seperate occasion I was reading Dora the explorer to my nephew, getting him to count the number of trees in the Brazilian rain forest picture, for instance, and when Dora got to Africa one of them asked me, as if i was the child being read to: "How many Niggers are there?" But they are very sneaky about this and always do it when my sister is not around or change the subject entirely as soon as she appears, they also stick together, so even when I do try to say something, they all deny it happened, or openly accuse me of being a Nazi, saying that they would never use the N word in ANY context because they are Jewish and know more about racism than I (I doubt this as I am South African) So, is it just me, should i change what i wear, and how i look, fake a different accent? Change my religion? I am not racist, and have other friends who are Jewish, and of many other diverse cultures. I don't mean to sound antisemitic, and don't want to be, but they are ruining my relationship with my sister, who due to only hearing my side and their lies, seems to think it is me who is in the wrong. Or am I actually in the wrong? Should I join White Pride World Wide? Or just sit back and take it? Cut ties with my sister and her beautiful children? Once again, I am NOT antisemitic but if this continues I may soon start to understand what Hitler was talking about. I have also tried sitting down and calmly telling them of my beliefs and mortals and that I could be a wonderful addition (if removed by marriage) to their family if given the chance to. But they will not even speak to me on any one subject without calling another member to help insult me. It is not my fault that I was born in a country with racist laws, in fact I helped in a small way to reform my counties ways. Why do they hate me? They treat my mother in the same way saying things like: "Let me hold the baby, you will just drop it, in fact, we don't want you holding OUR baby at all."

It isn't anything to do with their being Jewish, there is a uniform percentage of eejits everywhere. I'm afraid you'll just have to confront it. But a tape recorder and hide it recording everything. Do not try leading them into anything, avoid it if possible. Take the machine away afterwards and listen to it. If what is being said is unacceptable to you play it to your sister. This is not a nice thing to do but it will ensure it is all out in the open and has to be dealt with. Dmcq (talk) 19:07, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I agree, this has nothing to do with being from south africa or being jewish, this is all about them being assholes. The way I see it, you have three options: take it, or confront them. They're not going to stop of their own volition, so either you sit down and take it for the rest of your life, or you say to them "Hey, listen up! I'm not a racist, I've never been a racist, I've never looked down on anyone because of their ancestry. I will not sit here idly while you imply that I do. In fact, it's you people who are looking down on me because of my ancestry. Knock it off."

If it was me, I'd just cut them out of my life. These people are poisonous. Continue your relationship with your sister and her husband, but don't attend functions with those other people if you can avoid it. You don't need it. Belisarius (talk) 20:25, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

In your shoes I'd say quietly: "I've never considered myself Antisemitic, but if you keep up your efforts I just might. Is that what you want?" —Tamfang (talk) 22:56, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

The family's Jewishness is really irrelevant to the situation. It is a fairly common thing, in my experience over the years, for one marriage partner (and or his or her family) to try estrange the other marriage partner from his or her family. What happens is that one side of the marriage wants their family to have exclusive rights to the couple and their offspring. Sadly, there may not be much you can do about it. You should let your sister know what you have experienced, but she may be under pressure from her spouse to side with his family or to "choose between" her spouse and her family of origin. You may need to give up on finding acceptance from your sister's in-laws and resign yourself to less contact with your sister. I must say that I think that Tamfang's proposed comment would probably only make matters worse. Commenting on the family's Jewishness would only strengthen their case that you are a racist. Marco polo (talk) 03:33, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Er, as I read it they're rubbing his nose in their Jewishness, so he wouldn't be introducing the subject. Though on second thought I like Belisarii angle better, perhaps with a twist: "Given how much ethnic persecution seems to be on your mind, I'd think you'd be a little less quick with the stereotypes." —Tamfang (talk) 08:06, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Has your brother-in-law ever said anything or is it just his family. If he's not said anything then is it possible a quiet talk with him might help? What about the rest of your family have they ever said anything to them as well? CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 13:50, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

And if it does come down to fighting it out, find out what their position is on Palestinians. Chances are they have some rather racist attitudes towards that group. If so, whenever they claim you are a racist for being from SA, just bring that up. Hopefully they will see this coming next time and not accuse you of being a racist. StuRat (talk) 20:27, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Dispute resolution Conflict resolution. If I may interject some personal opinion, it is the natural tendency to want to "win" a conflict - this is often counter-productive, unless you intend to dominate the other people (a difficult and tenuous proposition at best). Instead, intentionally "lose" conflicts and gird yourself for loss - there will be some poetic justice in this, as it is the traditional Jewish way - to endure. After all, eventually, Yahweh redeems his chosen. Alternatively, you could engage them on Judaism - the mitzvah article may be fruitful ground for things to inquire about. 98.169.163.20 (talk) 07:25, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

WAR

What are the implications if India decides to invade pakistan and there is a war.does it ensures the world would than be divided into two, one with pak(islamic world maybe) and the rest against them.would this probably lead to a third world war? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk) 17:29, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, we're not really a crystal ball, but world war three will likely be the last world war, because it will be fought with nukes, and after that there won't be anyone left to fight with. Would an India/Pakistan conflict touch off a world war? Who knows. Either way, we should hope it never comes to that. -mattbuck (Talk) 17:49, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

I would say that the risk of that happening is vanishingly small. Quite right, a world war involving nukes (and more than one country holding them) would very possibly wreak havoc on humanity, possibly to the point of extinction. That's the bad part. But you are forgetting the good part! You know, MAD! Neither India or Pakistan are insane enough to even consider using nukes against the other, and they would extremely unwilling to even go into a full-scale conventional war because of them. And if they did, the entire world would do everything in their power to intervene and stop it before it goes to far. Every other super-power (the US, China, Russia, the EU) would do everything in their power to stop it from happening. The whole "humanity-is-coming-to-an-end-like-tomorrow"-thing tends to get people on the same page. Belisarius (talk) 19:24, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

That reminds me of a quote from Albert Einstein. He was writing to President Truman, expressing his concerns about warfare with nuclear weapons:

I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. -- (From wikiquote).

It's very difficult to predict the outcome of a political process, and even more difficult to predict the outcome of a war. The volunteers here at the Reference Desk are no more qualified to answer your question than anyone else; though I imagine that someone can probably find some apocalyptic science fiction writing that would be on point. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 21:14, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

I can't see why many other countries would want to become involved. The United States and United Kingdom have tried to maintain good relations and even to form alliances with both India and Pakistan. Surely they and the European Union, whose main concern is trade relations, would work to defuse the situation and to get Pakistan and India to negotiate peace. Neither Russia nor China would have much to gain by supporting either party. Russia does not want more instability in the Islamic lands on its southern doorstep. China has sometimes supported Pakistan in the past as a counterbalance to its rival, India, but in the end would probably prefer for India to remain a viable threat to Pakistan to serve as a focus for Islamic militants in South Asia, since these might otherwise redirect their efforts to opposing Chinese rule in historically Muslim East Turkistan (Xinjiang). It is really hard to imagine most of the world lining up behind either India or Pakistan rather than urging both countries to end any conflict. Marco polo (talk) 03:23, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

When two nuclear powers hate each other, like the US and former Soviet Union, you rarely get a hot war between the two, but rather a cold war with an occasional proxy war in a smaller nation, such as the Bangladesh war for independence. That proxy war happened before they were nuclear powers, but I'd expect similar proxy wars in the future, perhaps in Sri Lanka. StuRat (talk) 20:16, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

"You rarely get a hot war"—I think you've got a pretty low sample size, no? I mean, the Cold War is sort of n=1, no? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:58, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, Pakistan and India have both had nukes for a few years now with no hot war. Pakistan and Israel could use nukes on each other, but don't. Same for China and the Soviet Union, who were once enemies, and China and the US, similarly. Other pairs of traditional enemies also have nukes, but have not had a war between them since this became the case. StuRat (talk) 04:04, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Both nations obviously realise that using a nuclear weapon unilaterally against the other would be a "game over" kind of event for them. The condemnation from the rest of the world - and the possible retaliation would be utterly crippling to them. Nuclear weapons are effective against large ground targets - but countries like the major European nations, the US and others could quite safely pound them into the dark ages with conventional bombing from the air from bases far beyond the range of the missiles those countries own. You can't take down an F18 with a half-kiloton bomb! That kind of retaliation for the unilateral deployment of a nuclear weapon would be rather likely - if only in the minds of possible perpetrators. The only possible way either nation could benefit from a nuclear weapon launch would be if they were totally overrun - their military in tatters with no chance of continuing - then it might be a viable 'last ditch' weapon. So the effect of these weapons is to deter full-scale conventional war. Nobody with half a brain is going to nuke a city over border skirmishes and risk having one of their own cities nuked in retaliation.

However, I could imagine (say) North Korea using a nuke - their government are quite crazy - they care absolutely nothing whatever for their people and might well stay in a nice comfy bunker and launch one for some kind of muscle-flexing kind of reason - but India and Pakistan are just not that kind of country. What's much more likely is a gradual escalation into larger and larger non-nuclear confrontation - from which both sides must ultimately back down without really achieving very much. SteveBaker (talk) 00:44, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

missing members from Basketball Hall of Fame

Hi, I just linked to the list of members from today's main page, and was astounded to find people like Michael Jordan missing. Am I missing the point here? Is there more than one hall of fame? Will MJ eventually make the list? Sandman30s (talk) 18:13, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

According to Basketball Hall of Fame, "to be considered for induction by a screening committee, a player must be fully retired from play for at least five years." By my calculations, that means Jordan should be eligible for induction next year. Deor (talk) 18:34, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Modifying Facial Structure

Assuming no external injuries, is one's facial structure entirely determined by genetics? When one performs weight-bearing exercises, the muscle tugs on the bones and stimulates them to grow and strengthen. Can the same apply to the bones in the face? If one smiles a lot, will that alter one's facial structure as one ages compared to if one did not smile? Acceptable (talk) 21:06, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

One's facial structure is surely determined by extra-genetic factors. Some diseases, acromegaly being the best example that comes to mind, have a large impact on facial structure, yet are only partially, if at all, genetically determined. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 21:28, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I would say that your facial structure could easily change over the years according to many factors, just not a great deal. You sometimes see identical twins that have developed slightly different features over time.91.111.67.44 (talk) 00:16, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

You do? Aside from physical damage, why would the features of identical twins develop differently over time, I wonder? Do you have a source or even a link to some photos on this? Thanks ៛ Bielle (talk) 06:11, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Climatic conditions, large weight gain/loss and smoking are three things that I can think of that could cause identical twins to develop differently over time. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 13:40, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

This link looks at examples and has images. I admit they're not huge but I can imagine more extreme examples.91.111.67.44 (talk) 23:31, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Cellphone's tap check by myself

Is there any way (especially simplest) to check whether my cellphone is tapped so that the tapper(s) wouldn't guess? 80.69.57.150 (talk) 22:11, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

No. Seriously, this just isn't possible. It's all in software (whether you're talking about someone listening in en-route or having modified your phone) and someone with the necessary access and skills to make modifications in order to listen can certainly make other modifications to cover their tracks. As a normal customer with a normal phone you have no chance of discovering such modifications. PeteVerdon (talk) 23:04, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Unlike a land line, which requires a physical device to be placed on your phone-lines, and thus could be detectable with the right equipment, someone tapping your cell-phone can do so by something akin to Phone cloning, whereby they simply passively grab and decode the signals intended for your phone out of the air. Knowing that someone was listing in on your cell phone conversations would be exactly like knowing, when listening to your favorite radio station, that someone else out in the world just tuned in that station. Its an impossibility. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:10, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Hmm but I suppose you could encrypt the signal somehow which would mean no one could decipher the message without a key... I guess that's not what he's asking though. TastyCakes (talk) 04:41, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

December 29

brown spit

• This question has been removed as it requests medical advice. Wikipedia does not give medical advice because there is no guarantee that our advice would be accurate or relate to you and your symptoms. We simply cannot be an alternative to visiting the appropriate health professional so we implore you to try them instead. Thank you and happy editing. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk &#149; Contribs)} 00:27, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Birthday

What is Tenma from School Rumble's birthday? 119.95.242.147 (talk) 01:43, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

According to ja:スクールランブルの登場人物#2年C組女子 it's November 30. And her blood type is B. -- BenRG (talk) 04:19, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Hitch Hiking

I was wondering, has anyone ever worked out what is more dangerous statistically, hitchhiking or giving a hitchiker a ride? TastyCakes (talk) 04:35, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I doubt that. First of all, I very much doubt that there are reliable and comprehensive statistics on this, because incidents where either the hitchhiker or the driver assault the other person probably don't get reported a lot of the time, and when they do, I doubt they show up in any statistics are hitchhiking-related crimes -- it'd just be an assault (or whatever the crime itself turns out to be). It'd be very difficult, if not impossible for anyone to collect statistics on those without examining each case to see if a hitchhiker was involved in it, and then it might not even show up in the paperwork.

Also, hitchhiking is considered dangerous not only because someone might stop with bad intentions, but because you might get hit by a car when you're standing on the side of a highway -- but those incidents certainly wouldn't show up as a hitchhiking-related statistic.

Personally, I think the dangers of hitchhiking are probably greatly exaggerated, as they usually are with things like this -- which is not to say that people shouldn't be careful whose cars they get into or who they pick up, of course. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 04:48, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Probably giving a hitch-hiker a ride; he/she could be a killer or even- a vanishing hitchhiker! Narutolovehinata5 ^tccsdnew 06:17, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't know, but hitchhiking is definitely much rarer than it was. When I was a student 25 years ago, I hitchhiked a lot (to save the train fare for more drinking money :-)). Later, when I first got a job and a car, I often picked up hitchhikers, usually for the company. I never had a problem; most drivers were pleasant enough and when I was driving, I had someone to talk to on a long trip. The only "rules" I adopted were to not say exactly where I was headed until we had chatted for a while - it gave me a chance to get out or dump the hitchhiker if I felt unconfortable; and to never get a lift from or pick up more than one person. However, all the hitchhikers seem to have disappeared. I only recall having seen one person hitching in the past 15 years or so. I think too many people are afraid of them being some kind of psycho-killer. Astronaut (talk) 16:40, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I still see the odd hitcher here in the UK, and in theory I'd usually be happy to pick them up. However, perhaps because they're non-drivers, they often seem to stand in a stupid place where I have no chance to safely stop, like the middle of a motorway junction. The greater speed of traffic these days also means that by the time I've registered their presence, established that I'm in a generous mood and prepared to give them a lift, and checked the traffic, I'm so far down the road that it's not really possible. PeteVerdon (talk) 00:24, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

names of continents

hi in world totally how many continent are have?.and what are their names?. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Karganapathy (talk • contribs) 08:23, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

6 continents: Europe, Asia, America, Africa, Australia (or Australasia or Oceania), Antarctica. Simonschaim (talk) 08:32, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

What I do like is how they all begin and end with the same letter (well the letter they start with). It seems to depend on when/where you were taught though. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:14, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

See Continent Dismas|^(talk) 08:45, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

There are two areas of dispute:

1) Are North America and South America the same continent ? I say no to this, based on the isthmus (at the Panama Canal) between the two being only 50 miles wide and the two having distinct tectonic plates.

2) Are Europe and Asia the same continent ? I say yes, based on the isthmus (if you can even call something so huge an isthmus), being thousands of miles across and them sharing the same tectonic plate.

So, depending on how you answer those two Q's, you get from 5 to 7 continents. StuRat (talk) 11:22, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

There are more than two areas of dispute! Can Oceania be considered a continent? Not by continental geography. The Australian continent does not include the region of Oceania. Some of that is on Zealandia (which doesn't begin and end with the same letter, so perhaps we can discount it). And what of Madagascar? Greenland? Iceland? Gwinva (talk) 22:59, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Oceania considered a continent ? On what basis ? The Pacific Plate is an oceanic plate, not a continental plate. Madagascar is part of the African Plate and Greenland is part of the North American Plate. Iceland is way too small to be considered a continent. If Zeelandia ever was a continent, it certainly isn't any more. StuRat (talk) 04:45, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

You're begging the question by assuming that tectonic plate boundaries are a key criteria for determining continents (it isn't once mentioned at Continent#Separation_of_continents). Is India is a separate continent, due to it being on a different plate from the rest of Asia? How about Central America, which is on the Caribbean Plate? Are Hokkaido and the Kamchatka Peninsula part of Asia or North America? (They're on the North American Plate.) Additionally, I'd contend the oceanic/continental distinction really only makes sense for crust material, not plates as a whole. The Atlantic is entirely on "continental plates" (North American, South American, Eurasian, and African), despite clearly being an ocean, and clearly lying over oceanic crustal rocks. In fact the only ocean that's over an "oceanic plate" is the Pacific. The Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic are all over plates with continents on them. At any rate, we have a nice table at Continent#Number_of_continents, with a very apt observation at the top of the Continent article "[Continents] are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria." -- 75.42.233.82 (talk) 05:35, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I didn't use the tectonic plates as the only criteria, but also included large contiguous regions in the same continent, with exceptions for very narrow land bridges, as at Suez and Panama. Being identified by "convention rather than strict criteria" simply means "it's that way because somebody said it should be", which seems most unscientific to me. Much as Pluto was considered a planet "by convention", but was later reclassified, we can do the same for the continents. StuRat (talk) 06:03, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Busking in Europe

I´m a puppeteer busker and am considering doing a tour through Europe but not sure which countries or cities allow busking or which ones would be most profitable... Any light on the matter would be appreciated... Thankyou 83.37.15.27 (talk) 11:32, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Join all the others on the South of France in the summer. Lots of pavement artists (and one can sleep on the beach.) Most seem to start at one end, say Nice, and move along from town to town. Lucrative I am told.86.216.251.55 (talk) 15:13, 29 December 2008 (UTC)DT

Barcelona allows licensed performers on Las Ramblas. Competition is extremely fierce. One thing might be to get together with someone with an existing license or apply as a group with others. Unlicensed performers can be found around the magic fountain [2]. They are tolerated to a certain degree. In Germany the season is extremely short and authorities frequently clamp down on busking. You'd probably do better applying at local "Kneipe" pubs [3](taverns?!) many of which will let you perform if you are good enough to increase their profits. For puppeteering there frequently are "Theaterfestival" [4] events in summer. You'll have to apply with the local authorities or risk finding a slot on the fringe. Local "Kindertheater" [5] theaters for children might offer you a gig. Another possibility might be a "Kinderzirkus" [6] circus. You'd need some rudimentary German there since the focus would be on teaching kids to puppeteer and maybe make their own (sock-) puppets. A bit more challenging financially would be renting a room at local schools or a local "Jugendzentrum" youth center [7]. You'd have to get posters printed at a copy shop and there would be no guarantee that you'd make a profit after paying the rent. Some small village places, though might let you have a room for free. Be sure to collect references / letters of reference they can open doors for you. Germans are sticklers for paperwork. Lisa4edit (talk) 07:00, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

After a love-hate relationship with buskers, Transport for London has allowed official busking at designated pitches on the Tube for the past few years. You will probably have to apply well in advance and maybe attend an audition. More details here. Outside of the Tube, there's a well known outside performance space at Covent Garden, but again you have to deal with some officialdom. Elsewhere, I think it is less certain, with the police only too ready to move you on, especially if you (or your audience) are obstructing the flow of pedestrians or vehicles, or if someone (shop owner, cafe owner, etc.)) has made a complaint; and there's also the rather variable weather to contend with.

Outside London, street performers are rarer but not unheard of. Probably the best way would be to contact the local council (see Category:Local authorities of England - their websites are usually nameofcouncil.gov.uk) and ask about street performers in their area. Astronaut (talk) 16:18, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Look out for festivals that have a street theatre component. I'm sure that street theatre performers are more welcome than buskers. Itsmejudith (talk) 18:29, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

It seems to me that you're going to need a particular kind of spot in order to do well with puppets. For example, in the London Underground (where limited busking is allowed), people can hear musicians from a long way off down the narrow, twisty pedestrian tunnels and stairways - so before they even see the performer, they'll have gained an appreciation for the performance - and will be ready to toss some change into the hat and keep walking toward their platforms while listening. Since tube stations are busy places with people who are mostly in a hurry, that's an OK business model. But for puppetry - I'm guessing you're going to need people to stop and watch for a while in order to get enough from your performance to make it likely that they'll contribute. So someplace like the London underground stations would probably be a total disaster for you. You need to be in places like parks, beaches and shopping malls - where people are in less of a hurry and can SEE you from a greater distance. SteveBaker (talk) 00:21, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

• I'm not sure about the legalities and the licenses involved, but George Sampson busked in Manchester. - Mgm|^(talk) 17:51, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Dental Records

A dead body that has decomposed is often identified through the use of dental records. If authorities don't know who the person is, how do they know which records to search? Does the government keep a secret database of everyone's dental records? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.120.95.34 (talk) 15:04, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I can't speak for all governments, but the United States doesn't. (I'm guessing that you're interested in the U.S. answer based on your IP address.) The NCIC (National Crime Information Center) has maintained a database of dental records of missing persons for the last 25 years or so. More recently, the FBI established the NDIR (National Dental Image/Information Repository) to support collection and analysis of more detailed image information. Individal states may have their own databases as well.

The authorities don't keep – or don't admit to keeping; if there were a secret database, how would we know? :D – records for everyone. Instead, federal law requires that police collect dental records for any person reported missing for more than 60 days. Records may also be collected for wanted individuals under some circumstances. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:28, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Such a database wouldn't be secret - more likely For Official Use Only (or a cousin) or the apparently new Controlled Unclassified Information. If it existed. 98.169.163.20 (talk) 07:16, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

The way we would know is that they would need to get those dental records from all the dentists in the nation, and there's no way the government could secretly obtain all of those. Such a massive conspiracy would be bound to fail. StuRat (talk) 19:56, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

It should be noted that often police have an idea of who the body is and the only way to conclusively identify it is via dental records. The dental records serve as official confirmation rather than a shot in the dark. Tomdobb (talk) 17:34, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Keep in mind this is different than, say, fingerprinting, which is comparatively easy to check through computerized means. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 20:43, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I see no inherent reason why computerized comparison of dental records would be impossible. Assign a number to each of the 32 teeth and record which of them have fillings or are missing for each person, for example. This should allow you to narrow the search considerably. The final step of comparing X-rays to the teeth in a skull may be a bit more difficult to computerize, but could be done manually until we get an automated system working. StuRat (talk) 04:33, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

The inherent reason against would be the cost of upkeep of such a system. While fingerprints stay moderately stable for most people, teeth get new fillings, fall out, get pulled, capped, replaced with implants at a fairly regular rate. (Which keeps lots of dentists in business throughout the US and elsewhere.) If you'd like them to report their activities to a central database that would considerably increase the already whooping costs of dental treatment. Keeping data on missing people makes a lot more sense, since what gets recorded is the state of their teeth at the time they went missing. Given that an overwhelming percentage of those who get murdered suffer that fate close to the date of their disappearance, the dental records on file will be relevant for most cases. Lisa4edit (talk) 04:59, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Even out-of-date records could be useful, though. For example, if the skull has a perfect tooth 7, you can eliminate all people on record with any dental work done to that tooth. StuRat (talk) 05:54, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Global debts.

Is it possible that the Us global debt (private+public)/GDP is 835% and public debt (considering the public debt of FNM anfd FRE)/GDP is about 130%? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Campi Lorenzo (talk • contribs) 17:59, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

I suppose anything's possible; what figures are you using? In the economy section of the article on the U.S., the GDP is $14.3 trillion. The United States public debt is around $10.6 trillion; toss in another $5 trillion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and call it $16 trillion for public debt. If by "private debt" you mean what's owed by individuals and organizations outside of the government, private debt would need to be about $103 trillion for the 835% figure to work: $16t public + $103t private = $119t; 119 is 832% of 14.3. I'm no economist but I'm doubtful that people and companies in the U.S. owe nearly one and a half times the world's gross domestic product. Keep in mind that if I owe $250,000 on a mortgage and I default, and Fannie Mae has to cover that, it's not the same as saying that for my house, Fannie and I owe $500,000 altogether -- it's the same $250,000. --- OtherDave (talk) 20:27, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Also, a large part of the public and private debt in America is domestic, that is it is owed to other Americans. So from the holistic angle you appear to be driving at, I do not believe America as a whole is in anywhere near that much debt. TastyCakes (talk) 22:46, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Dear OtherDave the numbers taht you showed were rights,but they consider the debt only once.Usa debt considering FNM and FRE is about 130%.The whole debt (private+public) is considered once and is about 835%.I know it's very much,but looking at many articles in financial newspapers of all over the world just today they are right.Thanks anyway for your answer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Campi Lorenzo (talk • contribs) 16:48, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Artist John Stanford

I bought a Civil War picture. I found the title to the picture it is " Blue Soldier on Horses" it is signed by John Stanford. I have tried every link to find info on the picture or the Artist. Is there any way you can help me or lead me to the place I need to look? I just wanted info on the Artist and if there was any history to the picture. Wanting to know what the flag stood for as well. Thank you in advanced. Seabird —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.210.114.145 (talk) 21:27, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Could this be him? Little Red Riding Hoodtalk 23:10, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

i want to know what the captions mean on the "big board": "VOLU", "UVOL", "TRIN", etc.. where can i get an explanation of all the captions? i have written all the news networks and the NYSE several times, without an answer.. are they really that busy? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Remoat (talk • contribs) 21:47, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

These are ticker symbols, abbreviations for company names and sometimes stock types. You may read, for instance, a news article mentioning "Electronic Arts (NYSE:ERTS)"; this means Electronic Arts' ticker symbol on the NYSE is ERTS, and ERTS on the display boards refers to EA. Your best bet is to look them up one at a time here. NeonMerlin 22:39, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

A quick google search will define these terms for you. VOLU is volume, UVOL is "up volume" (the volume of shares traded by issues that are currently (or were closed while) above their opening price), TRIN is the "short-term trading index" ([up issues / down issues] / [up volume / down volume]. If there are more that you are interested in, try googling the term and "NYSE". NByz (talk) 05:10, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

The original poster is referring to a particular display board in the New York Stock Exchange often seen on channels like CNN. The anchor will say "Let's take a look at the big board", then the entire board will be shown, and then a highlighted area will zoom in on the INDU and INDP numbers. (See Google Image Search Dow big board.) I found a list with many of the relevant symbols at Google Book Search Technical Trading Online, p 122. It's difficult for me to search for because I know nothing about stocks. And "Big Board" also means the entire New York Stock Exchange not just that one display board, so I'm having a hard time finding better pictures of it. --Bavi H (talk) 05:32, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

THANKS FOR THE REFERENCE TO THE NYSE TRADING CAPTIONS.. next question: is there a way to print this info? i don't see anything on this; highlighting doesn't work.. i never saw anything on the 'net i couldn't print until now.. what's the problem?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Remoat (talk • contribs) 05:51, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm. When in doubt, pressing ALT-CTRL-PRINTSCREEN will put an image of the page into your clipboard, then opening word or mspaint and pressing CTRL-V will paste it. You can trim off the parts you don't want and print that. 24.68.54.11 (talk) 07:17, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Rate of news

Have there been any studies to track how the rate at which distinct news events above a given notability threshold are reported in the media, or are actually generated by primary sources -- to track not just changes in reporting but changes in the amount of news actually happening? Is there a long-term trend? Can we expect more news next year than this year? Even more news the year after that? If there is a growth in the rate of bad news, will the rate of good news keep pace? NeonMerlin 22:36, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Hmm I'm not sure but on a sort of related note, I remember seeing a map (I think it might have been animated through time) showing where news stories were happening, based on the tag lines in the associated press, which was pretty neat. I tried to find it again and couldn't, but I found this instead which is sort of interesting along the same lines: [8] TastyCakes (talk) 22:53, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

It's interesting how uneven reporting is. Some major events may not get reported at all, while some triviality makes all the major network news shows. Or an ongoing event, like the Iraq War or Afghanistan War, can just drop right off the face of the Earth as far as news reporting goes. StuRat (talk) 04:28, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

News Reliability

Not sure if this is the right place for this question, but here goes. On CNN and the BBC websites, each has top stories on politics, the economy, etc. Why do some of them have an author listed and some do not? For example, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7803711.stm> has no author listed. Why?

Being a high school senior, I am taught that a source that does not have an author listed is not particularly reliable. Yet, because it is from the BBC or CNN, all is well?!? Thank you, The Reader who Writes (talk) 22:49, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Some publications, particularly news outlets, do not give individual authors. I believe in most cases on cnn.com and bbc.co.uk this is because a number of people work on the stories and they are presenting facts (often from cooperative news pools like the Associated Press) rather than opinion or original research, for which knowing who produced the information is much more important. There are some publications (notably The Economist), that do present more opinionated articles but still don't identify individual authors. Their stated reason for doing this is to present a "collective voice" which remains consistent with the magazine's guiding principles in tone, content and opinion. In all of these cases, the organization as a whole is effectively giving their stamp of approval, so basically yes, it is all well that the BBC and CNN don't give the individual authors for everything because they would be held responsible as an organization if the information proved inaccurate, which should be as or more convincing than the name of a possibly unknown reporter. At least in theory... TastyCakes (talk) 23:06, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

As a counter example, most blogs prominently display their author's name, but are not terribly reliable! The determining factors in reliability are editorial control, that is multiple eyes on the same work, all checking each other, and reputation. Given that BBC and CNN and the Associated Press are all well respected, and show high degrees of editorial integrity, you can probably trust them. Even more important, is to state clearly where you got your information, so others can judge the reliability for themselves (i.e. "According to a CNN report dated yada yada yada" or "The BBC reported on such and such a date that so and so occured".) --Jayron32.talk.contribs 02:06, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Also, many stories are "off the wire", meaning they print them pretty much as they were reported by a news service, such as AP, UPI, or Reuters. In such cases you should see one of those services listed, but no author's byline. StuRat (talk) 04:20, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

One more point is that in newspapers it's often only longer stories, representing a substantial amount of work, that credit the author with a byline. In other words, the decision may be up to the editor's judgement about whether the individual story represents enough work for a credit to be appopriate. (This only applies to news stories as opposed to personal columns or opinion items.) --Anonymous, 03:56 UTC, December 31, 2008.

Orchids

In your experience, where in (A) United States and (B) continental Europe can one see the best collections of orchids? Thank you in advance. --Dr Dima (talk) 23:57, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

In the United States, Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has got to be in the running. By their count, they have "3,200 different types of orchids" and display from 200 to 500 plants at a time. It's breathtaking, and the orchids are only one small part of the place. --Milkbreath (talk) 00:33, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

December 30

Obama Doll Gag gift

Any tips on how i can get an Obama doll out of the corner of a Claw vending machine using the claw?--76.28.73.16 (talk) 03:37, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

One toddler seemed to figure out the only way to get anything decent out of those machines...she crawled inside through the prize slot. They had to call the paramedics to rescue her, if "rescue" is the right word, since she was having a ball inside playing with all the good toys. StuRat (talk) 04:11, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I heard that claw machines are designed so that the claws are weak most games then tighten up once every so many games. The way to test this is watch people use the claw machine until someone wins something then count the number of games until someone else wins. Then just count the number of games until you can win. --Candy-Panda (talk) 05:27, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't assume that it's a fixed interval, it's probably random. StuRat (talk) 05:48, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Claw machine toys are usually cheap trinkets. Google for it, I bet you can just buy it outright for less than it would take to try and get it with the claw. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:56, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Many, MANY years ago - my father made neon signs. He made a really nice one for an arcade on the beachfront at Margate - but the owner couldn't afford to pay for it. In recompense, he agreed to let my father run the arcade for thee months in the summer season and to take all of the profits. Hence (via a very complicated series of events) I ended up (as a 10 year old kid) being in charge of restocking the claw machine during my summer vacation. First, let me tell you that the 'prizes' in those machines cost less than the money you put into the machine for one play. It's AMAZING how cheap those crappy dolls and things actually are. So if everyone won a prize every time, the owner would still make a profit. Secondly, the owners invariable 'adjust' the spring tension in the claw so that they are not physically strong enough to lift the larger and more expensive prizes - so rule #1 is to always aim for something LIGHT. Rule #2 is that arcade owners almost always put very desirable - but very unobtainable things into the machine to attract people into trying to get them instead of the cheaper things. Since an Obama doll probably costs more than the other junk in the machine - the owner will have carefully placed that doll in a position where the claw cannot possibly get to it. In "our" arcade on Margate seafront, my father placed his own gold Rolex wristwatch into the machine - having first made very sure that it was smaller than the minimum gap between the teeth of the claw! After three months, it was still in there - and we probably made more than it was worth (which was a lot!) from the suckerscustomers who tried to get it out. Some owners have been known to surruptitiously glue valuable prizes to the bottom of the machines to achieve the same result. SteveBaker (talk) 00:06, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

How about if they grabbed the Rolex and a big plush doll in the same grasp ?

Were there any laws that governed such gambling machines ? Let's take an extreme case where every single prize was glued down. Would that have been legal ? StuRat (talk) 08:40, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Finding a Finance Sector Job in Vancouver, BC

I will be moving to Vancouver shortly, and am looking for a job in Finance. Naturally, it's not the best time for this, but luckily the big Canadian banks were conservatively capitalized coming into this recession and haven't announced any layoffs yet.

My plan is to gather a list of firms, rank them by my desire to work with them, gather HR or Management contact information and politely harass them in the same order as I have ranked them. This worked well for my last job in Victoria, BC, but Vancouver is much bigger, and I want to make sure that my list of firms is exhaustive.

I am looking interested in the following order:

1) Private Equity or VC 2) Commercial Banking or Business Financial Services 3) Asset Management (Mutual Funds, Pension Funds, anything market oriented) 4) Corporate Treasury

I am working on my CFA designation, so I need a job that satisfies the requirement that I be "...making investment decisions or adding value to the process."

I plan on using the chamber of commerce site, local Venture Capital firm listings, and just doing general searches on job listing sites etc. I want to approach firms before they post jobs, when possible. Can anyone recommend other places where I could find lists and/or HR contact info for financial firms around Vancouver? Any specializations or search terms I'm overlooking? General Job-Seeking advice? Thanks! NByz (talk) 05:57, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

What is this......thing!?

It's like the drainpipe grew legs......I HOPE YOU GUYS CAN IDENTIFY - AND STOP THIS CRAZY THING!...(!).....God, I can't figure out what this is.--Mark L. Dowry (talk) 06:08, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

A photo might be nice. -- JackofOz (talk) 06:11, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

See thing. - Lisa4edit (talk) 07:13, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

How many legs? --Dr Dima (talk) 08:12, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Wild guess: House centipede? --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:53, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks 98! I want some, they eat Cockroaches! What could be better? If they also eat moths I'll cancel our exterminator and get a couple of those guys instead. Does anyone know anything about their environmental impact in the US? Are they an animal form of kudzu? Lisa4edit (talk) 18:47, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Another wild guuess a shape shifting alien that'll destroy us all Dmcq (talk) 18:40, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd go with a badger flusher. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 23:17, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Player-managers

There was a time not that many years ago when player-managers were fairly common in English football, at least in the lower reaches of the league - but I can't remember the last time I heard of one. Are there any player-managers currently in charge of any English league clubs, and have there ever been any in the history of the Premier League? Thanks in advance, Grutness...wha? 09:08, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure of current player-managers but Chris Coleman managed Fulham as a player manager (EDIT - maybe he didn't - anyhoo check Player-manager it has a list of notable ones), and if I recall correctly so did Gianluca Vialli when he was at Chelsea 194.221.133.226 (talk) 11:23, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Glenn Hoddle at Chelsea and Bryan Robson at 'Boro? Heh, the way things are going at West Ham, Zola might end up having to pull his boots on again... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 11:38, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Gordon Strachan famously used his role as Coventry's player-manager to get around the 'manager can only give instructions from the technical area' rule by going for long and elaborate warm-up routines down the touchline whilst shouting at his players (and the linesman). Nanonic (talk) 12:36, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Peter Reid and Stuart Pearce (at Forest) were two others. Currently the only player-manager in the league is Barnet's Ian Hendon, but that's kind of cheating because he's a caretaker who was appointed on a temporary basis yesterday. I'd speculate that the reason for their decline is that Premier League rules stipulate that all managers must have a UEFA Pro Licence, a rule which was only introduced recently. Some countries do not permit player-managers at all, Italy is one of them, which is what made Vialli's time at Chelsea unusual. Oldelpaso (talk) 17:17, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Parts of Paul Tisdale's article seem to imply he is still registered as a player with the number 17 shirt, and he manages Exeter City. He has not played a match since 2000, however. --Iae (talk) 18:52, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

IIRC, Alan Curbishley was still registered as a player at Charlton for several seasons after he last made an appearance for them... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 21:20, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Roberto Martinez of Swansea City is still officially a player-manager as he has not yet officially "retired" from playing - however he is not listed on the squad listings for the team and therefore refered to simply as "manager" of the swans... He could however add his name to the squad list if he wanted and play... So that sort of fits i think... Gazhiley (talk) 10:53, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

About the pro-license. I am to understand that this is recommended but not required. From the looks of this (http://forums.cfcnet.co.uk/index.php?s=689ada1041157aed0e108f6fbfc318c4&showtopic=37553&st=0&p=639019&#entry639019) it seems that it is not until 2010 that managers coming into the Premier League are required to have the license. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:51, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

From [9] and [10], it seems that the rules already require it except for short term appointments, but seeing as Gareth Southgate, Paul Ince and Avram Grant all lacked it, the rules are rarely enforced. Oldelpaso (talk) 16:24, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Canadians abroad

Is it true that Canadians outside Canada often wear something with the the Canadian flag on it, so that no one confuses them with Americans? --88.27.176.105 (talk) 12:32, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, or so the joke goes. The joke continues with a story of astute and sensitive American tourists proudly displaying their Canadian flag as well. The real reason is that it is easier to find, and be found by, other Canadian tourists, or simply to show a bit of patriotism, but everyone has an anecdote about this situation, which may or may not be true. Adam Bishop (talk) 12:59, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Dave Foley had a great quote, which I will try to paraphrase here: "I'm Canadian. That's like being an American, but without a gun". I miss the Kids in the Hall. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 18:09, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Heh - and I miss Due South for it's continual series of US vs Canada jokes and situations. Grutness...wha? 23:01, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Those wearing the Maple Leaf are usually Americans with a touching faith in its ability to repel terrorists. (See I Am Canadian for the difference between the countries, seen from north of the border.) Canadians can be identified by the MEC patch they tend to wear, especially when travelling. BrainyBabe (talk) 19:27, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

In my experience, the number of Americans wearing maple leafs in foreign countries is vastly exaggerated. Most of the people you see are in fact Canadians, who are given to the (IMO) somewhat naive notion that Canadians are loved by foreigners as much as Americans are despised. I believe the true feelings of most non-north americans towards Canadians lies much closer to indifference. TastyCakes (talk) 21:52, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

FWIW, as someone living in a country that gets a lot of visitors from both countries, if you're unsure, assume the person is Canadian. Canadians will feel delighted that you've "spotted them correctly", and Americans for the most part don't mind being mistaaken for their northern neighbours 9those that do have usually made it abundantly clear they're from the States anyway). As far as wearing the maple-leaf is concerned, hitchhikers do, I've noticed, but hitch-hikers often temd to wear some sort of "country of origin" identifying feature anyway (the number of German flag patches I've seen over the years...) Grutness...wha? 23:01, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I just finished watching the movie "In Bruges" in which Collin Farrell punches out two tourists that he believes are American in a restaurant. Upon being arrested, and learning that they were Canadian, he shows remorse. NByz (talk) 02:45, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

On the whole I believe that American tourists (note tourists) are not liked in Europe. Their money is welcome, but so many brash 'yanks' have soured the image for the others. BUT - one has to acknowledge that brash and unwelcome tourists from any country are money welcome only. British and Germans abroad have received much criticism. Canadians seem relativelt few and far between - perhaps any that misbehave are regarded as from the US anyway ?86.202.24.247 (talk) 14:40, 31 December 2008 (UTC)DT

Another factor is the similarity in speech patterns. A random talking Canadian without any country identifiers on their clothing can quite easily be assumed to be a random talking American, until they say words like "about", which to my ears is more like "a boat". The differences between Canadian and American speech are somewhat fewer than those between Australian and New Zealand speech, for example. There are a lot more Americans than Canadians, so the assumption would be reasonable and statistically supportable. -- JackofOz (talk) 00:27, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Eh? CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 08:19, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Bush "White House Weekly Review" Emails

The Bush White House has sent out a weekly "White House Weekly Review" email to those who subscribe at least since June 2003. Most times it seems to come on Saturdays, which is how it is advertised here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/email/

However, I've subscribed since 2003 and found that sometimes the email comes on Fridays or, less frequently, Sundays, and sometimes not at all (the last few weeks).

I've got most of these emails saved in my email account going back to 2003. However, there are significant gaps. And I can't remember if I deleted them some weeks or if they were not sent out from the White House those weeks. So I'm looking for a list of these emails - including the date sent and the subject header.

Now, there is a "Newsletter Archive" website that has these emails available going back to only December, 2006, here:

http://www.newsletterarchive.org/2006/from/White+House+Weekly+Review/

I need them going back to June, 2003.

I'm working on a memoir and I need these emails to fill out the story.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you...

-SM —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.110.187.23 (talk) 12:37, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Um contact the Whitehouse? Isn't all presidential communication supposed to be a matter of public record anyway Nil Einne (talk) 16:38, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

How to stop a cavity from getting infected?

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. --~~~~

TenOfAllTrades(talk) 17:31, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Go to a dentist. Don't mess around. Tempshill (talk) 16:13, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Even if you don't have the time or ability to visit a dentist, you should at least talk to one. We can't offer you medical advice, and in any case you probably shouldn't trust the advice of random strangers from the internet. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 17:31, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

International / U.S. State borders

Where can I learn about the origins of border locations between nations and states? In the United States, I'm interested in finding out why in some places (mostly eastern states) the border follows natural landscape features such as rivers, while in others (mostly western states) the border is a straight line. I know the border between the U.S. and Canada is at the 49th parallel by treaty, but there are some oddities such as north-central Minnesota and a small plot of land in northwest Washington which are part of the U.S. but connected by land only to Canada. Also, West Virginia has a thin strip of land separated from Ohio to the west by a river and Pennsylvania to the east by a straight line. The way these boundaries are drawn sometimes don't make any sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.120.95.34 (talk) 16:13, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

• As it turns out, I've got a useful book sitting next to me called, "How the States Got Their Shapes" (ISBN 0061431389). Your question could be an ad for the book. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 16:33, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

As to the US/Canada border, the reason for the oddity at Lake of the Woods, where Minnesota meets Ontario and Manitoba, is as follows. At the end of the AMerican Revolution, the Treaty of Paris (1783) specified the water border as we know it through the Great Lakes and Lake of the Woods and the rivers and lakes connecting them. This ended at "the most northwestern point" of Lake of the Woods" and from there the border was supposed to go due west until it hit the Mississippi River. Unfortunately this was impossible, as the northwest angle of the lake is at 49°23'N while the Mississippi runs south starting from Lake Itasca at only 47°13'N. There are tributaries of the Mississippi, farther west, that do extend far enough north (the Frenchman River or Creek, a tributary of the Milk River, has a source in the Cypress Hills at around 49°45'N), but the treaty-makers didn't mean to count those. They meant the Mississippi proper, but the map they were using simply got the relative positions of the Mississippi and Lake of the Woods wrong.

Later, when this was realized, the 49°N border was established by the Treaty of 1818. This time the treaty-makers wanted to make sure they didn't have an impossible border, so they specified that from the northwest angle of Lake of the Woods the border would run "due North or South, as the Case may be" to reach 49°, and then due west. And this produced the present border. In other words, it forms a weird shape because it was drawn by people who didn't have maps they could trust (and through country that didn't have a lot of settlers already living in it, so their wishes didn't have to be considered). And when it turned out that the north-south border clipped off a peninsula on the west side of the lake, well, that was just too bad.

(Incidentally, it turned out that the 1818 border actually was still impossible, or at least ambiguous. The northwesternmost point of the lake turns out to be at the end of an inlet that runs almost due north from the main part of the lake, with the result that the border within this inlet, as defined in 1818, crosses itself. No land area was affected this time and a later treaty cleared things up.)

As for Point Roberts, it's a similar thing: the Oregon Treaty specified that the 49° border would be continued as far west as the middle of the channel between Vancouver Island and the mainland, nobody had detailed maps that showed that this line clipped off the tip of a peninsula, and there weren't enough people there who would care to worry about it. No doubt the third such anomaly, the Alburg Peninsula in Lake Champlain, arose in the same way when the Treaty of Paris (1783) specified latitude 45°N for that part of the border. (This one is less well known because the lake is narrow enough that the peninsula is easily reached from the US mainland by roads bridging across it.) --Anonymous, 05:07 UTC, December 31, 2008.

"How the States Got Their Shapes" is a pretty good book for this topic, but it is not without mistakes. For example it traces the use of the 42nd parallel to the Nootka Convention, and even explains the reason why the Nootka Convention chose the 42nd parallel--but in fact the Nootka Convention says nothing about the 42nd parallel and the reason given in the book is absurd. Still, for the most part, the book is good. Pfly (talk) 08:19, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Also, see wedge (border). ~AH1^(TCU) 18:44, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

For the rectilinear boundaries of western states, the longitudes were defined from Washington (in at least some cases); what was the exact reference point? —Tamfang (talk) 20:26, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Before the world settled on a single standard for longitude, different countries used longitudes based on their capital city's observatory. That was where the instruments were whose observations you compared your own against to compute your longitude. (And this is why the standard agreed on for longitude 0 goes through the old Greenwich observatory in London -- of the various standards that were in use, Greenwich was the one that most of the world's shipping was using maps based on.) So if longitudes were being referred to Washington DC, it would be the observatory there: the United States Naval Observatory at its original location in Foggy Bottom. --Anonymous, 10:15 UTC, January 2, 2009.

Correct Etiquette of some difficult foods

What is the correct etiquette for eating cherries? Does one put the entire cherry into one's mouth then spit out the seed in the middle? Where does one place it afterwards? Acceptable (talk) 18:13, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

When eating cherrys or olives or other pitted foods, I generally politely spit the pit either into my hand, by bring my hand directly to, and covering, my mouth, and then immediately transfering the pit to the edge of my plate or a napkin, or alternately, you could bring your napkin to your mouth, and deposit the pit that way. Eating pitted fruits means you will ALWAYS have a pit to spit out, the trick is to extricate the pit from your mouth without showing everyone what you are doing. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 18:24, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

For some reason I remember watching a morning news show like Good Morning, America or something and they had an etiquette expert on the show. A similar question was asked of the expert. She basically just said to nonchalantly pull the pit, bit of bone, whatever, out from between your lips and place it on the side of your plate. Trying to hide what you're doing would look silly and childish. Though don't make a production over it such as spitting it out which would be considered vulgar. Dismas|^(talk) 20:19, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

There's a fine line between discretely removing the seed from your mouth, and pretending there's no seed to remove. Pretending is absurd, particularly if the cherries are on the table and everyone's seen you partake of the fruit (and, more than likely, others are doing the same thing). Just use your fingers, as Dismas said. Everyone knows it's a seed, and you don't have to take any special pains to hide it, because it's going to be visible once it gets to the plate anyway. Putting a napkin up to your mouth seems somewhat distasteful to me; it's normally only done when you've put something in your mouth that turns out to be off, or extremely hot, or for whatever reason you need to get rid of it immediately without appearing to spit or vomit. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:26, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

An old joke that my grandmother used to tell in order to discourage swallowing cherry pits:

Mother: Son! You're not swallowing those cherry pits are you?

Son: Of course not mama!

Mother: So what are you doing with them?

Son: (who is seated with a window behind him) I'm throwing them out the window mama!

Mother: The window is closed you stupido .... <fill in the rest>...! hydnjo talk 22:24, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

This says to do it while hiding the pit with your hand as does this. This says to put stuff on a seperate plate. However, my favourite is the 1940 Formal Dinner Etiquette. They suggest using a spoon first or if in the mouth already just remove it. Of course the most fun way involves two people, nudity and no kids around. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 23:13, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Some etiquette book I read once (I wish I could remember which one it was) said that you should remove a seed, pip, pit, etc. the same way you put it into your mouth. In other words, if you used a fork to insert it, remove it with a fork, if you used your fingers to insert it, remove it with your fingers. Little Red Riding Hoodtalk 23:15, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Uploading picture

I'd like to upload a picture of a chicken that I took myself. I don't care if anyone uses it and I don't care if I'm not given credit. I can't figure out how to upload it on Wikimedia Commons. Can someone help me?--Pufferfish4 (talk) 19:24, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Have you registered on commons? If so, you go to the commons main page and click on "upload file" on the left hand bar. TastyCakes (talk) 20:14, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I know how to do that. I can't figure out what lisence to use.--Pufferfish4 (talk) 21:55, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

At commons they give you several choice for your own work, any of which is fine. GFDL works fine for wikipedia using it, PD (i.e. agreeing to put it in the Public Domain) lets anyone use it. RJFJR (talk) 22:09, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Converting software

What is a good video converting software where I can at least convert a fifty-second video from .wmv to .avi? A Google search returns no good free ones. 75.169.199.193 (talk) 20:01, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you using Windows XP or Vista? If so, have a look at this page: [11]. - Akamad (talk) 21:06, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Oh... I have never thought of that! Thank you (I have Vista and the link does work). 75.169.199.193 (talk) 22:53, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Additional question

I have converted it and upon attempting to place it on my Nikon L18 camera, a message appears stating the file has one or more properties outside the device limits, then encouraging me to use a media program to convert the file... however, the file is already converted to the proper format. If I should place this question on the technology section just say so. Thanks for the help. 75.169.199.193 (talk) 23:15, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Place it on a camera? As in on the built-in memory? AVI videos are uncompressed, it's not inconceivable that it's rather larger than the (23MB) space available. You may need to purchase an SD card. If this is what you're trying to do, then this probably isn't the problem. Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)} 01:15, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Correct, I am trying to place it on the camera - however, I did compress the AVI video to 13 MB so space is not an issue - perhaps the compression renders it incompatible with the camera? 75.169.199.193 (talk) 01:34, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Check to see that your converted file matches one of the supported modes, which (according the manual on the Nikon site) are -

Image size Frame Rate 
640x480    30 fps
320x240    30 fps
320x240    15 fps

--LarryMac | Talk 17:05, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Lowered the frame rate (640x480 video) to 29, but to no avail. It simply looks like I won't be able to do this, but that's okay. Thanks for all your help. 75.169.208.225 (talk) 20:16, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

December 31

What is " A NI SA HA NI " ?Siouxlin (talk) 01:28, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Saw on a T shirt: may be an organization or philosophy or group. I would like to know what it refers to.Siouxlin (talk) 01:28, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Blue Clan. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 03:07, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

(after ec on Humanities desk, where the question was drawn away from under my feet, while I was answering): Possibly the Blue Clan in Cherokee/Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya society. See the article on Cherokee Clans where it's transliterated as "Ah-ni-sa-ho-ni". ---Sluzzelin talk 03:12, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Ooops, sorry about that, Sluzzelin. It was thoughtless of me, and the consequences entirely unintentional. I do apologise, and Happy New Year! ៛ Bielle (talk) 00:07, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Song

In NCIS Season 3 Episode 21 (Bloodbath) when the team is entered Krime Kleaners building there is a song playing, I've been unable to identify it, can anyone tell me which one it is? Joneleth (talk) 03:29, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

It's got to be Rob Zombie, "American Witch". --Milkbreath (talk) 03:59, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Yea thats it, thanks alot. Joneleth (talk) 04:32, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Market prices/agriculture

Where can I find market prices(U.S., or anywhere, just ballpark values) for farm-type stuff like cattle, pigs, whatever. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.98.148 (talk) 04:12, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

The Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are the main places where futures contracts (an agreement to deliver this good at a future time) are traded. This should represent the expected basic price of a large-volume or industrial order, but not a consumer-facing price. Here is CME: [12] and here is CBOT [13]

You will probably have to look up the units of measurement used to convert it into whatever you're using it for. Most things are "bushels" etc. NByz (talk) 06:25, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I was interested, so I looked this one up: Live Cattle is traded in units of 40,000 lbs of "55% choice, 45% select grade" (not sure what that means). Price quoted is cents per pound. NByz (talk) 06:33, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

You might find the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service a useful source of info. Astronaut (talk) 08:27, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

British Farthing

Is there a connection between the last year the Farthing was legal tender and the fact that it was 1/960th of a pound sterling? Or just coincidence? Coolotter88 (talk) 04:36, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

There are no coincidences, only hitsuzen ;) HHOS --Dr Dima (talk) 06:19, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe you mean "a coincidence" is not "just a coincidence". -- JackofOz (talk) 06:23, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Which strangely reminds me of the Seinfeld about whether there are degrees of coincidences - "there are no big coincidences or small coincidences, there are just coincidences" is how it went, I think. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:46, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I can't imagine it would be anything other than coincidence. Astronaut (talk) 08:10, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

To give the questioner a more serious answer, I think there is a connection. The farthing went out of circulation in 1960. In 1960, the pound sterling was worth about only one third as much as it was in 1940 due to inflation. People's earnings grew even faster than inflation during that period. Consequently, where a shopper might have cared in 1940 whether potatoes cost two pence per pound or two pence and a quarter per pound, so that it was worth the trouble to the shopper and the merchant to account for farthings in accounts and in tills, the shopper no longer cared much about such a trivial difference in 1960, and it was no longer worth the trouble. Put differently, the 1940 farthing was worth about 5p in 2008 terms. By 1960, it was worth barely more than 1p today. It would not be so far fetched today for the Bank of England to retire the penny as a cost saving measure, since the average shopper doesn't care much whether a pound of potatoes costs 55p or 56p. Marco polo (talk) 16:53, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I realize that the coin was not worth a lot in 1960. I was talking about whether if the year 1960 had anything to do with 1/960th of a pound. Everyone seems to say that it's a coincidence. Thanks for the help though. Coolotter88 (talk) 19:15, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I suppose it's not utterly out of the question that there could have been a subconcious influence on the decision-makers. We don't seem to have an article on arbitrary coherence, but here's an article on it. I don't have any suggestion as to how you might figure out whether this was actually a contributing factor. --Trovatore (talk) 21:48, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

It seems to me that if someone in government with enough influence to set the date of the farthing's demise had come up with this idea - they'd have made it very public at the time and we'd be able to discover that fact. There would be little point in picking that exact year - forcing either the early or late retirement of the coin through all of the necessary regulatory hurdles just to make that date work - then keeping entirely quiet about all of that cunning planning! So I'm going to say "Coin-cidence". SteveBaker (talk) 23:35, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Sexy veggies

A few months ago there was an add campaign for greenpeace or a similar organization that showed sexy vegetables and greens photographed in an erotic manner. I can't find it anymor. Would anyone have a link to the adds? Thank you. Keria (talk) 14:42, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Where did the ads appear? (What country, region, or market?) Were they print, television, or billboards? Were the ads in English? TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:33, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately I didn't see them at the time, they were all over the ternet though, and I guess they must have been published in some magazines I really couldn't say where (surely in the US and UK, I would guess in continental Europe, I don't know where else). They were print and internet campaigns I don't know if they made videos for them. It's strange that I can't find it through search words as I remember it being all over add and visual production blogs. Cheers. Keria (talk) 15:45, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Did you mean People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals#Lettuce Ladies? CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 20:22, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Should have looked further down, Lettuce Ladies and Broccoli Boys. Good thing I know the enemy. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 20:24, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

All right, I think I found what I was looking for. It is actually called Forest Love and I was really misleading as it seems to actually be a campaign to save trees by Greenpeace. I also heard there was a Norwegian campaign to promote vegetarianism that used the theme of sexy vegetables, so if anyone has any more reference on that theme they are very welcome. Keria (talk) 21:33, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried a Google Image search on "sexy veggies"? I have, and I'll never eat cucumbers or corn on the cob again. Search tip: turn on SafeSearch. --Milkbreath (talk) 21:40, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

It was pretty bad, but it wasn't as bad as the time I didn't know what "yaranaika" was. bibliomaniac15 21:48, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

There was an ad campaign advocating use of condoms last time I was in Germany. There were posters featuring veggies wearing "rubbers" in places like subway stations. Found one in Google: [14] 76.97.245.5 (talk) 09:10, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

What is Topaz Gold please

No definition on WKPD —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.110.149.97 (talk) 15:59, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd never seen that abbreviation before and thought you were talking about a television or radio station... Anyway, could you provide some context? Topaz Gold could be used to refer to anything from a brand of organic beverages to gold rings with topaz gems in them to a color of decorative bead to a cellphone. Dismas|^(talk) 16:13, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

used to be a brand of poppers from what I remember.86.53.80.11 (talk) 06:52, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

MIT Undergrad

What is the best dorm? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.98.148 (talk) 22:05, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Presuming there are MIT residents on here, you might get some answers, but you'll have to provide a little more context, as to what you're looking for? Low crime? (Yeah, even at MIT it could be a problem?) Activities? (Some dorms have things more geared for fellowship and community.) Offering single rooms versus rooms where you must share?

I'd recommend you contact MIT and search under "housing." My hunch is you'll get a good description of each dorm. Of course, the description won't always be perfect. At College of Wooster when I was there, one dorm was supposed to be a quiet community, with much more stringently enforced quiet times, but the times they could be loud it was loudest on camps; and even times when it was supposedly quet. :-) So, some contact with students who can answer would help, too.Somebody or his brother (talk) 23:46, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

This article might interest you [15] - 76.97.245.5 (talk) 09:19, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Here is the official introduction to MIT housing. Here is a clickable list of dorms. And here are some student blog posts on life in specific dorms. Marco polo (talk) 19:24, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

January 1

What Vietnamese ethnic groups originate from the North Central Coast region?

I understand that the Montagnard/Degar people originated from Central Highlands (Vietnam) between Huế and Ho Chi Minh City. I am inclined to believe that Vietnamese people from Huế are similar to the ethnic groups found in the Central Highlands and South Vietnam regions but I don't want to make any rash assumptions. During the Vietnam War, for instance, Huế was considered South and was anti-Communist. Lhboga (talk) 01:00, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Most people in this region are from the Kinh (Viet) ethnic majority. This is certainly true of the main cities, Hue and Danang. Inland in the hills and mountains there is a very wide range of ethnic groups, for example Muong people. Although there is some overlap, the mix of ethnic groups is different from the Central Highlands. Itsmejudith (talk) 22:45, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Death Pool 2009

Well it's that time of year again. Once again I dominated my celebrity death pool with the help of Wikipedia. Thank you to anyone who helped me last year. If anyone knows of a famous person who is likely to cash it in in the year 2009 please reply below.

DISCLAIMER - the death pool I am in is for entertainment purposes only(no money.) I will not kill anyone and please don't kill anyone for me. The only requirment to being famous is that they have to have a page on wikipedia. Thanks again! --ChesterMarcol (talk) 01:26, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

I hope you're making good by donating half your winnings to the Wiki foundation (see top of page)! SteveBaker (talk) 01:32, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

If I got any money for winning I would.--ChesterMarcol (talk) 01:40, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Angela Lansbury is getting up there in age. Though her article doesn't mention anything more than a knee replacement in the last few years. Dick Cheney and John McCain are thought by many (WP:OR) to be in view of death's door. Bob Barker is no spring chicken. And Ed McMahon has had a number of health issues in recent years. The stress of being in financial trouble could be weighing on his health. Dismas|^(talk) 20:47, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

A couple of people I've written articles about must be about due: Hugues Cuénod is 106 and Roy Douglas is 101. But Cuénod married his partner only 2 years ago, when he was 104, so maybe he now has a new reason to keep on going. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:51, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Question (2012)

Why do people believe there will be an acopalypse in 2012? 60.230.124.64 (talk) 01:59, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Because they are extremely misguided. There's a bit more information at 2012#2012 metaphysical speculations. Algebraist 02:02, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Millenarianism is very, very common. People are constantly harping about the end of the world (and have been for literally centuries and centuries and centuries), and it consistently fails to occur. In a way it's a nice idea—no need to plan for the future, to think about today's problems. But it's not a sound bet. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 03:14, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Naturally, nobody can actually guarantee there won't be an apocalypse in 2012; but I agree, that's not the same thing as saying there will be one. -- JackofOz (talk) 03:30, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Ask yourself how close did George Orwell get with his prediction in the novel 1984 or how close did Arthur C. Clarke get with his predictions in 2001: A Space Odyssey and they were comparatively modern and scientifically educated people trying to guess only a few decades ahead. 86.4.182.202 (talk) 15:21, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

That's not fair to either Orwell or Clarke. They wrote fiction as in, "I made this up myself". Neither ever claimed that their visions of the future was going to come exactly true. Especially 1984, you'd be nuts to think that that is the actual future. Orwell wrote it to make a point, it's a futuristic parable describing the dangers of totalitarianism, not a prediction of things to come. That's the difference between great writers like Orwell and Clarke and hucksters like those maniacs saying that the world will end in 2012. Lets not smear the former group with the taint of the latter. Belisarius (talk) 16:44, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Although good science fiction, as opposed to fantasy, does try to predict a possible future. However, even someone like Clarke is not writing with any attempt to predict the future. Clarke was merely looking at the way things were going, using his imagination, and creating a fictional world from the way things appeared to him. It's just like Joel Rosenberg has done with his books. Some of the things he postulated as possible have come true, though even those he has written about haven't happened in exactly the same way. (His fictional account of how the U.S. might invade Iraq, for instance; obviously, a good writer with his finger ont he pulse of the world could have predicted something like that.)

Bring this full circle back to 2012. the end of the Mayan calendar in its present cycle, I think some New Age stuff, and other things are merely guesses. they don't really have their "finger on the pulse" of anything. Those who do have their finger on the pulse of things (some sci-fi writers with space travel, Rosenberg with the Middle East) may come close to the truth, but none of them is predicting the world to end in 2012.

However, it is much easier for the masses - the "lowest common dennominator," if you will - to follow those who just prdict big things that make noise. Noise makes news. It requires more effort to figure things out in a logical way, or even to listen to those who use knowledge of technology, Middle Eastern politics, etc.. The masses would often rather listen to those who excite them rathe rthan those who reason things out in a logical manner. Although, if it can be written about in an entertaining way (like Rosenberg), it can still be a bestseller. :-)Somebody or his brother (talk) 17:29, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

See 2012 (film). Little Red Riding Hoodtalk 04:00, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Poster keeps falling down

I have a holographic poster that I tried to stick on my door but it keeps falling off no matter how much blutack I put on it. What can I use to stick it up without wrecking my door? I can't be bothered getting it framed. --124.254.77.148 (talk) 06:32, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Is it coming off because it's too heavy or because the Blu-Tack won't stick to it?

• If it's because the poster is too smooth and the blutack won't stick to it - then you could permenantly stick some kind of backing to the back of your poster using a really strong glue (maybe stick a sheet of thin cardboard onto the back using PVA glue) - then stick that backing to the door using blutack. You'd actually only need to stick little pieces of backing to the poster in the corners where the blutack has to go.
• If it's because the poster is too heavy then use many more blobs of blutack all over the back of the poster.

Incidentally - it's possible for the blutack to damage your door - it's kinda oily and that can affect some surface finishes. SteveBaker (talk) 07:26, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Go to an office supplies store and get yourself something like this [16] Clip a couple on to the rim of your poster. You can then attach them with 3M "Command" strips or those blutack things to your door. If all else fails you can run a string through them and put a small nail or tack onto the top of your door (not the face) where one can't see it. Then suspend your poster from that nail. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 10:03, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Blu-tack can indeed damage walls and doors—I've often seen it leave behind nasty oily residues. I usually use Scotch tape myself—it doesn't damage the door or wall. One way to get around it damaging the poster is to put up little pieces of tape on the back of the poster that you then use double-sided tape on for the wall. If you do it that way you should be able to just peel off the poster later without any tape ripping it. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 12:57, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

What is this?

File:Dog feces.jpg

--Wmrwiki (talk) 14:06, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

troll food?86.4.182.202 (talk) 14:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Picture size reduced. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 14:40, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Contemplation ---Sluzzelin talk 18:17, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Defececation. ~AH1^(TCU) 18:30, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Oh boy, Cooky really shrunk that one, all the way to 3 pixels! I thought it was a speck of dirt on my screen! Nope, I don't wish to contemplate over canine feces right now, and the question has been answered. ---Sluzzelin talk 01:30, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Well, it had been 1,000 pixels originally and looked like droppings from tyrannosaurus rex. I thought that 3 pixels adequately represented the significance of the doggy poo. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 11:21, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

pharmaceutical oath?

I heard a short exchange of dialogue from 6teen while flipping through the channels last night, which inspires me to ask: Is there a law (or something like it) that prevents people working at drug stores (pharmacies) from telling everyone what people bought? i.e., if someone goes into a drug store and gets like 70 packs of condoms and a couple energy drinks (they're getting ready for an all-nighter), what stops them from chatting to their coworkers about it over a lunch break? On that show, they called it a "pharmaceutical oath," which sounded authentic, but Googling it gets no good results... flaminglawyer^c 19:29, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

I doubt there is an oath. There are basic medical privacy laws, though, which would surely cover situations in which practitioners were exchanging patient medical information just for a laugh. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 19:53, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

I would be surprised if there's any rule that says they can't discuss what's happened at work. The privacy laws, I assume, would restrict them only from doing so in a way that allows individually identifying the person involved. I'm not a lawyer. --Trovatore (talk) 20:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

I Googled on "pharmacist's oath", and there is a site, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy with an oath. I imagine that the taking or administering of this oath is up to the school. The oath makes mention of "the highest principles of moral, ethical, and legal conduct", which covers blabbing, I think. --Milkbreath (talk) 23:31, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

That wouldn't have any meaning from a legal point of view, though; breaking the oath wouldn't be a sign of a firm moral backbone, but the cops wouldn't lift a finger on that basis. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 00:25, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

However some pharmacies may make the oath compulsory. And in some countries the oath may considered compulsory by the Pharmacy/ist Council/Association or whatever organisation is involved in registering pharmacists. In other words, even if the oath doesn't have legal standing, it may still be expected of pharmacists and failing to respect it could put their careers at risk. Here in NZ I can't find any specific mention of privacy but there are probably generic terms that cover it [17]. Nil Einne (talk) 09:17, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

The key thing is the issue covered by 98 and Trovatore above. Are you referring to a personal privacy or generic privacy? Many countries have basic medical privacy laws which will likely prevent pharmacists from discussing specific patient medical details. In other words they can't discuss how Flaming came in and asked for a 60 pack of condoms and 2 energy drinks. These laws probably don't prevent the discussion of a case in a generic terms without mentioning names or information that could lead to the identifcation of who you're talking about. In NZ the specific laws are covered here [18] and the Privacy Commissioner can handle complaints (and I presume if a complaint is upheld forwards it to the Pharmacy Council or the Health and Disability Commissioner for further consideration.) I only found one case relating to a Pharmacy [19] although I obviously could have missed some or perhaps others were dealt with by the H&D Commissioner without the involvement of the Privacy Commissioner. Also since condoms and energy drinks are not usually controlled as requiring a pharmacist to dispence, these laws may not apply in some circumstances. E.g. I suspect if you go to your local store/supermarket and get the condoms (not from a pharmacy) they won't apply. There are more generic and less stringent privacy laws but whether they cover a situation like this I don't know. It's possible they do but have never been tested. Nil Einne (talk) 09:17, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Er, what country are we talking about? See Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Little Red Riding Hoodtalk 04:03, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

How tall is Danbo?

I'm making some papercrafts from a bunch of huge boxes I have, and wanted to make a life-size Danbo. Could someone find out (or hell, approximate) his height?

Thanks.

71.74.181.173 (talk) 22:09, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Apparently Danbo is a a robot-like costume worn by Miura Hayasaka who is a class mate of Ena Ayase who is a few years older than Yotsuba who is a 5 year old Japanese Girl. If "A few years" = say "3", the Miuri would be about 8. If the final height of a Japanese lady is around 5 foot, maybe an 8 year old is 4 foot tall. This is all a wild guess from a brief read of the wikipedia article. -- SGBailey (talk) 00:15, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Betting on bad things

Are there websites where you can bet on politicians dying, wars starting, places being bombed, etc? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.98.148 (talk) 23:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

One place would be your local bar. Other than that, this is the best thing I could find on Google (and that's not even remotely close to what you want). There are some flaws with the concept of a site like that, though. It might end up like a bounty site or something. I'd be interested in how long a site would be able to stay up on the web without being pursued by activists and/or the US Government. flaminglawyer^c 05:25, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

If the president was shot on the day you bet $10.000.000 he would die you would never see the light of day again Pez00 (talk) 05:51, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

The "External links" subsection of the article on Dead pool might be of use. For history's sake, you might be interested in tontine. ---Sluzzelin talk 08:37, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Betting companies such as Ladbrokes and William Hill will sometimes take bets based on individual punters requirements and offer odds - they are a specialist form of bet and so it'd need to be a worthwhile amount of money for them to draw it up (I understand a number of ambitious fathers place bets on their son Captaining/playing for England/their country within a set time-frame). I don't know if they would accept disaster-style bets though. Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway (spelling) did a 'bet' with, I think, Florida state regarding the cost of damages by hurricanes/tornados last year. If it was below X million then they received $250m and if it was above X million then Buffet's firm would've had to cover the costs for the state. It turned out that Buffet's bet won and the firm got the money. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 11:50, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

January 2

NCIS topless protestor

They said she was on every front page in the country. But it looks fake and I can't find reference to it anywhere. Anyone find this image familiar? http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/5784/screenshotgh7.png Pez00 (talk) 05:49, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

It's fiction. Little Red Riding Hoodtalk 06:01, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Elevation of Mumbai

Mumbai is listed in List of places on land with elevations below sea level. The Mumbai article mentions that it is just above sea level. I think there may be few small areas which are below sea level, but does it qualify to be included in the list? manya (talk) 06:47, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Question

Is the course in the golf game in Wii Sports based on any actual course? If not, are the individual holes based on any actual holes? 60.230.124.64 (talk) 12:16, 2 January 2009 (UTC)