I was going to write an article on <font"24>BEN UJCICH, <font"12">a kid I know. He's cool, he does stuff that's important. How do I start it?
I was going to write an article on <font"24>BEN UJCICH, <font"12">a kid I know. He's cool, he does stuff that's important. How do I start it?
:The first thing to do is, based on the guidelines at [[WP:BIO]], to make sure that he actually "does stuff that's important". If he's just a kid you know, though, I'm guessing that he won't meet said guidelines. Perhaps he should have a page on MySpace? — [[User:Lomn|Lomn]] | [[User talk:Lomn|Talk]] 21:53, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
:The first thing to do is, based on the guidelines at [[WP:BIO]], to make sure that he actually "does stuff that's important". If he's just a kid you know, though, I'm guessing that he won't meet said guidelines. Perhaps he should have a page on MySpace? — [[User:Lomn|Lomn]] | [[User talk:Lomn|Talk]] 21:53, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
He draws things that are really cool and he is very smart. He also knows the brother of a special effects man.
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August 24
Dodgers Captains
I was thinking about this today? Can somebody name all of the Dodgers' Captains both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles? Pee Wee Reese is a given, and I don't believe that they have one currently. Other than that, who would be on a "Dodgers' Captains" list?
Didn't the American League used to have a rule that no inning could start after 1 a.m.? In a recent Yankees-Red Sox game, the 10th inning started at about 1:04. When did the AL get rid of that rule? -- Mwalcoff04:22, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
fruits exported from india.detailed map of major fruit exporting states of india.
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.95.9.242 (talk • contribs)
ask specific questions.use full sentences.use appropriate capitalisation.don't expect people to do your work for you or read your mind.sign your posts. Anchoress08:10, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Unlike when googling, in Wikipedia you may allow yourself to express in a normal way. People shall answer the same way if they feel fit to. E.g. : "fruits exported from india" is for googling, "Please, can you help me to find which fruits are exported from india, and specifically do you know of a map, etc. many thanks" may be more relevant here. Thank you. -- DLL .. T19:36, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Stained glass
Those stained glass things in churches-what are they called? I looked in the church article and can't find what i'm looking for.
They are also called Illuminated (Stained or Painted)Glass Windows, and also Illuminated Lights. But Stained Glass Windows is in order amongst the proletariat classes.
I like to meet her beccause i love her.pls tell me if she is still single.in short i want to marry her.Iam a Nigerian christian,telephone is--you fool, do you think she will really call this number? She wouldn't but some spammers would, e-mail;<email removed>TONY
Is this the prequel to him coming into a fortune and then emailing us to tell us about his untold riches which he will generously share with us upon payment of a small processing fee and our bank account details? :)
Dear Wikipedia. The page on the Latin American Globalization Index has been tagged by Wikipedia as Advertisement. I have read the guidelines and wonder why you have tagged this as advertising. I feel that the entry is objective. Thank you, Joachim Bamrud, editor, Latin Business Chronicle
While the Wikipedia:Help desk is the usual place for this kind of question, the organization of that page is itself less than helpful and ends up misleading some posters here. For this article, I have asked the person who added the tag to add a comment on the article talk page. Rmhermen18:22, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And I;ve edited the article and removed the tag. It is notable, however, that the article and another on Latin Business Chronicle have been appended to wikipedia by the editor of the Latin Business Chronicle. There must be some questions about the notability of the chronicle and its index; others might wish to consider whether the articles should remain. --Tagishsimon(talk)
Laughing cavalier
I have a very old painting of the Laughing Cavalier,my stepfather traviled all lot all over the world. he was very wealthy and much older than my mother.Both my parents have passed a way. I know have this oil painting and would like to know where to go have it cleaned apraised. I do know that it isn't the orginal but I would like to see if it has any value. it is a perfect match to the one's on the interenet, but it has gotten so dirty and the painters name is not clear to the eye. ithe sig.is located in the upper right hand side of the painting but I can't make it out. The frame is very old it is being held together with beg's (wedge.s of wood) in the corners. it seem to be in gold leaf or possible paint? I was thinking that you might be able to turn me in the right direction thank you
their is a nice shop for that on High street across from the barbers
Look in your phone book for a good antique dealer specialising in art; they should be able to give you a quote or point you in the right direction. Ziggurat00:11, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Why not start at the top? Sotheby's and Christie's would be good places to sell a famous classic painting like Laughing Cavalier if you happen to have possession of it. Who knows, you might have a slightly different version from the same studio. If they say it is a copy of only "decorative value" then you could sell it on eBay. Edison13:29, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Do something that's awarded with an Order of the British Empire, become a head of state, or become the UK prime minister, the owner or manager of a theatre, captain of a ship, or other representative of a place that Her Majesty visits, become the representative of an NGO that is related to Her Majesty, etc. You could also just write to Buckingham Palace and ask if there are any opportunities to meet her. --GunnarRene20:36, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Should somebody put this generic question at the top? (not that anybody reads it!). The question is: "I would like to meet -a very famous person-, how can I?" And we would say: "We have no idea how you can meet -this very famous person-. If we did, we wouldn't be stuck in our basements, all alone, doing this sh*t. --Zeizmic21:13, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No, each famous person is different in some ways. Meeting and talking to Richard Stallman for example, was easy, since he came to hold a guest lecutre and took questions. The Japanese Emperor came to visit the city too, but since I was not the representative of the student body, I settled for waving back at him and taking a slight bow.
There actually are famous people on Wikipedia, and Jimbo talks to celebrities. Perhaps one way would be to call CrystalBuckingham Palace and offer to correct some errors on the Queen's Wikipedia page :-) --GunnarRene21:34, 24 August 2006 (UTC) And I'm on the top floor too (not the attic).[reply]
Have you considered applying for work at the Palace? Positions are very occasionally advertised in the London Evening Standard, on the Buckingham Palace website or through various agencies. You would not normally be expected to chime 'Hello Ma'am' unless previously spoken to --russ22:01, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The sensible answer is to find out where she is making a public appearance and get there early so that if and when she does a walkabout, you can be at the front of the crowd. Her coming engagements are listed on the Royal Family website. By the way, I met her once. She was OK. --Richardrj22:29, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Considering that she has spent most of her adult life as a professional at making small talk on such engagements, it's not really a surprise that she's good at it (and she is very good by all reports, including yours). One thing to keep in mind that it's probably getting a little bit harder than it used to be to do so, because I believe that she's cutting back on her public engagements these days. --Robert Merkel23:33, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Correct, but you wouldn't be addressing her by that or any other title. I believe "Ma'am" is the usual form of address. JackofOz03:54, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
On first responding to her (you do not address her first) "Your Majesty", subsequently "Ma'am", which it is said she prefers to be pronounced "Mam", not "Marm". Tonywalton | Talk07:59, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Apart from arriving early when she's going to do a walkabout, one way is to be involved in whatever it is she's visiting. My brother was involved in building something Prince Charles was opening, and got introduced to him. Strangely, both my next door neighbour and myself have met the Queen - he was part of the crew who originally installed the engines of the Royal Yacht Britannia back in the 1950s, and all the survivors were invited back when she was decommissioned about 10 years ago. In my case, an invitation to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party arrived in the post one day - I've no idea how I got on the list, but an involvement in local politics may have helped! -- Arwel (talk) 21:19, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There are some very good responses here. I met The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh several times in my public service career, and found them both to be very warm and personable characters, with the inimitable ability to put 'new' people at their ease. Ma'am and Sir were always the expected and accepted form of address, and a very light handshake de rigeur. But engineering an introduction to HMQ is well nigh impossible, unless, as above, you are fortunate enough to be invited (like myself and my wife) to a Palace Garden Party, either at Buckingham Palace in London, or Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. But I have been involved, in my official capacity, in organising functions when The Queen has asked to meet unsuspecting people from the waiting crowds. Except on 2 such occasions, there were no crowds - just a handful of people who were curious to see her, and in both cases, those invited to be introduced just happened to be holding a posy of flowers for her. So I guess the trick is to be somewhere where there isn't a large turnout anticipated (usually in Scotland where enthusiastic support for The Monarchy is less in evidence than in other parts of the UK), and be sure that you and your posy are well observed by one of the officials well before HMQ arrives. Clearly however, Royal Security Personnel are always well represented at such functions and thankfully, anyone intent on using such an impromptu introduction opportunity for sinister reasons would be easily 'profiled' before any incident could be initiated.
I can't speak for the UK, but Australians who reach 100 can arrange through their member of parliament to have the Queen send them a congratulatory message. JackofOz09:02, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Rolex replicas?
I keep getting spam about Rolex replicas for sale. Why the bloody fsck would anyone want one? If I want a cheap watch, I buy a cheaper brand of watch. If I want a Rolex, I buy a real Rolex. If all one needs is a watch, any old watch will do. If one really is obsessed with having a Rolex, then only a real Rolex will do, because there's always going to be someone who can spot the difference. Anyway, very few Finns seem to have a watch at all nowadays. They just look at their cellphones (Nokia, of course). Sorry, I just needed to vent my frustration. JIP | Talk20:54, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think the people who buy Rolex replicas just want to impress other people. If somebody looks at your watch, they may not know that it's not a real Rolex. --Bowlhover22:26, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I have heard that you can tell a real mirror from a two way mirror by putting your finger one the mirror and if there is a gap between your finger and the reflection its a real mirror and if you put you finger on a two way mirror there is no gap. Is this true? If so why does the real mirror have a gap and why does the two way mirror not have a gap?
It has been my experience that this is true! The reason for the gap in the real mirror is because the relective sheet is behind the glass, which is a few mm thick, "doubled" since light has to go through the glass twice. Two way mirrors have the reflective surface applied directly to the outside, so when you touch the mirror, there is no layer of glass between the reflective surface and finger. Of course, a clever mirrorist could probably just place another pane of glass on your side to prevent touching it. Hyenaste(tell)23:08, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Don't know about 2-way mirrors, but there is a definite gap with a normal one. If you want to identify a 2-way mirror it tends to be Shiner than a normal one.Ken23:00, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I assume that by "wo-way mirror" you mean what is usually called "one-way mirror": On one side it functions like a mirror, while on the other side it allows people (psychologists, detectives) to look through it, like through a window. The story is not true. Modern mirrors consist of sheet of glass with a thin reflective layer of "silver" (actually aluminium) deposited on the back. The glass layer, which is between your finger and the reflective layer, is the cause of the gap you see. Since the light has to travel twice through the glass, it seems to be twice as thick as a single sheet of glass. In a normal mirror, the silver layer is covered with a layer of (non-transparent) paint for protection. In a one-way mirror, the paint is omitted. The silver layer may be thinner, and there may be a second backing sheet of glass, because the silver layer is very vulnerable to scratches and corrosion. The gap can be eliminated by depositing the reflective layer on the front instead of on the back, but as before, that makes it very vulnerable. --LambiamTalk23:08, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Actually I think they are called "two-way mirrors". The name is confusing until you realize there's no actual directionality to the mirror itself. The directionality comes from the difference in the intensity of ambient light in the two rooms. In the room where it looks like a mirror, the lights are on high, and the reflection from the room dominates the transmission from the dimly-lit observers' room. --Trovatore23:26, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe you will want to fight it out with the guys over at Mirror#One-way mirror. I think two-way is just a popular mistake. Looking at a couple dictionaries though it may be more of a language issue, OED lists two-way mirror, but redirects to UK=one-way mirror. Maybe it is more of an American vs British thing. Nowimnthing14:13, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
On reflection (rim shot!) it's "one-way" that's the popular mistake. The thing actually does act as a mirror in two directions (and also transmits light in two directions), so "two-way mirror" is the version that makes sense, whichever side of the pond you're on. An ordinary mirror might reasonably be called a one-way mirror (seen from the back, it's not a mirror at all). --Trovatore18:55, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No idea what they are called, but the windows disguised as mirrors oft times can be seen through if you cup your hands around your eyes. They also usually look too silver (like chrome) or appear a greenish, dirty color. -Russia Moore03:52, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Is humour quantifiable?
Sounds like a totally dumb question, I know. My point is, is humour related to our past experience as most other emotional responses, or are some things funny regardless of culture and experience? Clearly our sense of fun is important to us, but does it have an evolutionary role, or is it something that exists purely in the human psyche? --russ22:30, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
More like a funny question. I've heard a clown who had travelled the world claim that the same (non-verbal) things make kids scream with laughter across all cultures. Although there is no generally accepted explanation about any evolutionary role, I could not help observing that for many a fine nubile woman the number-one requirement for a suitable mate is that he can make her laugh, trumping looks and earning power. It is certainly quantifiable how many laughs per hour a suitor can elicit. --LambiamTalk23:22, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Not quite sure what you mean by "Is humour quantifiable?" since the rest of your question doesn't seem to relate to it unless you're asking can a joke be objectively rated on it's amusingness, the answer to which is of course no since it's subjective. Most of what you're asking seems to be discussed in the Laughter article. --Kiltman6723:22, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In the sense of "can any hard scientific statements be made about it". Quantification is an important aspect of hard science, it distinguishes it from the 'soft sciences'. DirkvdM08:04, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps he intended to mean "definable"? I remember my prof H. N. Mahabala telling that, while at MIT, he worked on a project to "teach" a computer to distinguish between a joke and a non-joke. I'd presume they would've defined several features of a joke. -- Sundar\talk \contribs08:15, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It is remarkable to see that body gestures convey humour accurately, a success that written humour easily fails, because the plain sense of the words is the first to touch our brain without hints from the body or the voice. That's why emoticons were designed for (and not computers). -- DLL .. T18:54, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Can a college mailroom legally open my mail??
Hi
I recently received a shipment to my college via UPS, and it was signed for my someone in the mailroom. It was a package of co2 cannisters used for paintball, and it was 'deemed suspicous' by the weight of the item and the sound it made in the package, and was opened and sent to the college police department, and I have been placed on probation for receiving a dangerous item.
Is it legal what they did? Can they legally open my mail, even though it came properly packaged and was within UPS's guidelines for transportation of pressurized gases? What are my rights?
I am in desperate need of a response, and can't afford a lawyer, although I need one. I feel they violated my rights opening that package.
You need a lawyer, but I would check to see what you signed when you registered for college. There might have been some fine print waiving certain personal privacy rights on college grounds. Nowimnthing22:57, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Seen from the UK, I have to say this, and things like the Philip Sandifer incident [1] give rise to the view that the US, far from being "the land of the free" is rather a police state. Enjoy. --Tagishsimon(talk)
Think about this very carefully. Do you really want your college to be in a position where it has to say "we think there may be a bomb in this parcel, but legally we're not allowed to do anything so we'll just deliver it as normal". DJ Clayworth16:19, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
But there was not a bomb in it. And the guy's been put on probation. For receiving some weird heavy things. How many college students receive bombs by mail? Do we really need people checking for this? --Tagishsimon(talk)
Which country are you uin? That is always a first bit of knowledge needed to answer any legal questions.
My mother went to a school run by nuns, who opened letters pupils sent home (and even 'corrected' them back to ancient spelling, so there was nothing secretive about that). Most countries will have escaped the middle ages by now, so this should not have happened. They might have informed the police and they might then have opened it. I don't know the law well enough for that. But a school should never have such a right. Ayway, I don't understand one thing. You were put on probation? First, doesn't that onluy apply after you've been found guilty? So after the trial you don't seem to have had yet. And secondly, for what? They now know (illegally or not) they're canisters of CO2, so what's the problem? DirkvdM07:52, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Parachute failure survival
I read the other week about a man who fell 2,000 feet and survived with just bruises. How do people survive these kind of falls? And what is the best thing to aim for? --iamajpeg23:28, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Most likely the survivors had a partial parachute deployment, which reduces the speed of the jumper significantly, although not as much as usual. StuRat23:44, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Some people are just lucky, I guess. I suppose that if you deliberately land feet first, and bend your knees and allow sudden deceleration to crush your legs, then you'll have a better chance of being alive after several weeks in hospital than if you'd landed on your head. Protect the head and the spine - the rest can be fixed, or can be lived without. --Kurt Shaped Box23:59, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You might want to read [2]. Apparently, snow banks and trees (ideally conifers) are best at breaking your fall. I suppose you could also try for a steep slope, a breakable roof, or marshy ground. Concrete and water are not a good idea.
Oh yeah - apparently the right way to hit the ground is a five-point landing: feet, calf, thigh, buttock, shoulder. By splitting the fall five ways you're converting a 120mph landing into a ~55mph landing on each contact point - you'll break some bones but it is survivable. EdC03:30, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This is one of those recurring questions. We should really make a faq.
About the five point landing - that makes sense for parachutists because they come down feet first. But wouldn't a judo roll (or what is that called?) make more sense? That way you spread the fall over the entire side of your body. It would require perfect timing, though. And therefore practise, but for parachutists that would make sense. DirkvdM08:12, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My experience is limited as I have only done a tandem jump (and I wasn't the instructor) but :
-water is definitely a bad idea, if you do have to land in water, you have to cut yourself off the parachte like three meters above the surface; otherwise you will drown with the parachute
- usually a parachute can be controlled (going left or right) but a very important thing is to NEVER LAND IN THE DIRECTION THE WIND IS GOING, always in the opposite direction. So it requires quick thinking and good estimations of the situations if you think you are going a bit too far : if you turn around, will you still have to time to turn around a second time?Evilbu12:23, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with the spirit of nowimthing's answer, but not the numbers - it will take a bit more than 10 stories to get to terminal velocity. Assuming there is no drag (which is the generous case), it should take about 150 meters, which is 60 or 70 stories, and with drag, it will take longer (say 100 stories). But it's the same idea. At some point, the extra distance makes no difference. --bmk
Oops, left a zero off my calculations, thanks for the catch. Free-fall gives 1,000 feet as the time for terminal velocity in the box position. 1,000 ft divided by ~10 ft per story equals 100 stories. Nowimnthing16:43, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
...about the bastards robbing Pluto of its status as a planet? Anywhere I can go on the internet to register my disgust? I don't want to come across as a crackpot but this is just disgraceful in my opinion and pure revisionism of the most base kind. --84.65.80.2223:40, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
"Whenever life get you down, Mrs. Brown
And things seem hard or tough
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft
And you feel that you've had quite enu-hu-hu-huuuuff
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at 900 miles an hour
That's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckoned
A sun that is the source of all our power
The sun and you and me, and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hour
Of the galaxy we call the Milky Way
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whiz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light you know
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure
How amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space
Because there's bugger all down here on Earth"
God bless you, monty python people --bmk ("The Galaxy Song")
What sort of answer is that? Is no-one else concerned about the complete re-write of history that has now been greenlighted by the IAU? They're playing right into the hands of the creationists - by denying the existence of one planet, they're giving the right-wing loons the space to suggest that other planets may only exist as a concept designed to disprove the existence of God. It's the thin end of the wedge and no-one seems to care! I'll be damned if I'll ever change my beliefs. Pluto exists. I know it exists and I will not bow down to anyone that tries to convince me otherwise. We're not living in Orwell's 1984 here - just because they say that something hapepened or never happened doesn't mean that what they say is true! --84.65.80.2200:13, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Um, they're not denying that it exists, they're clarifying (for the first time) how we define the term 'planet'. It's a question of classification, that's all. Originally the term only applied to those solar-system bodies that were consistently visible from Earth (including the sun and moon), so it's not like this is a complete re-write of anyone's history. Ziggurat00:20, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) I think you may be misunderstanding the significance of this, if i may be so bold. They are not saying that Pluto no longer exists. Simply that, as our understanding of our Universe grows, we must refine our classification systems to encompass our new understanding.
Consider algae. At some point they were all considered plants, we now know that some are protists, so they were reclassified. This decision has no impact on the continued existance of algae, so whats the big deal?
It seems to me that "never changing your beliefs" is dogmatic and much more akin to creationism than the methods of the scientists you criticise. They are remaining open minded about how what we do not yet know can change what we think we know. Rockpocket00:28, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
He's got a point. As we all know, the reclassification of fifteen perfectly well-accepted planets in 1850 destroyed the fabric of post-Enlightenment science as we know it, plunging the world into the terrible theocratic state it is today. Or, er, something. Shimgray | talk | 19:25, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Much closer to home, I remember having the same kind of outrage when I discovered that Australia was no longer considered the world's largest island, because it was reclassified as a continental land mass. Then I was equally outraged when Uluru/Ayers Rock lost its title as the world's largest monolith. It was one thing to concede that Mount Augustus was much bigger anyway, but Uluru couldn't even take 2nd place on the list since it was no longer classified as a monolith at all. Yes, those school teachers sure have a lot to answer for by only teaching us current knowledge and not future knowledge. JackofOz01:43, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The biggest problem I have is that I so throughly grokked Robert A. Heinlein's Mnemonic that I'm not sure I can remember a new one. It's not even included in the list. Mother Very Easily Made Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest. With "A" between "made and "jelly" if you wanted to include the asteroid belt. CambridgeBayWeather(Talk)14:19, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Contrary to the tone in much of the media, this really isn't a demotion for Pluto; rather it's a promotion. For decades Pluto has been the uncomfortable weirdo at the the party of the planets. But these are exciting times for the inky outerparts of the solar system, and the discoveries of so many transneptunians means Pluto is no longer a singular freakish orphan - he's the brightest and nearest member of a huge family of interesting neighbours we didn't dream we had. This reclassification saves him from being a misfit loner and puts him in his proper place - Pluto, king of the great dark. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk00:08, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I was talking about 'Poor old Pluto' the other day, and we suddenly realised we were all referring to Pluto as "him" (the other planets were "it"). Presumably becuse of the dog! Jameswilson00:21, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
August 25
TV show House
What is the name of the actress that plays the legal consultant on House. House is in love with her but she is married to a man in a wheel chair. –Denise Mack
What is the percentage of Chinese people lived in Markham, Ontario.
Well, there are well over a billion Chinese people, and Markham isn't huge, so I'd have to say that a very small percentage of Chinese people have ever lived in Markham, Ontario. --Trovatore01:09, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Um, that's 30% of Markham's population, not China's population. There's around 80,000 Chinese in Markham, taking the 30% figure, and that's less than 0.01% of China's population, which is a drop in the bucket (this ignores the overseas Chinese population, but I figure the majority of Chinese still live in China, so it matters little either way.). ColourBurst13:21, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In my constant search for articles and other writings, I am now searching for something about how personal histories (e.g. writing journals, saving old movie stubs, tickets to shows, etc.) are largely pointless and irrelevant.
Hopefully, I will get a link to something about how a person had previously advocated in saving the above, but changed his/her mind and took a visit to the fire pit, bundles of papers in hand.
Hopefully, there will also be something on how the memory, although it will forget many things that aren't recorded on paper, is still the best system for keeping a personal history. -Wjlkgnsfb01:33, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Whether such memorabilia are "pointless and irrelevant" is surely a matter of opinion. I, for one, would strongly disagree. A concert program from years ago can evoke memories that even a recording of the event might not be able to. What about autographs? How can these be committed to memory? As for the memory being the best system for keeping a personal history, again I strongly disagree. If you want to rely on your memory for your own stuff, that's fine, but there seems little point in advocating others do the same. People will keep whatever records of their life are important to them, and you'll never stop them (nor should you try). JackofOz01:53, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Your post looked remarkably like an expression of opinion to me, and I responded in kind. (Oh, and despite this not being supposed to be a soapbox, that's exactly what it turns out to be in most cases. I don't have a problem with that, since most healthy discussions depend on the exchange of different opinions and views.) JackofOz05:49, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There are TV shows where the TV people come to the home of a packrat and convince them to get rid of most of their memorabilia and turn their home from a rubbish heap into a pleasant living space. Some items are sold, some are donated, and some are tossed. One principle is to get rid of the broken bike you used to ride but keep the picture of you riding it with your Dad watching. Same for your Mom's unused sewing machine, your Granddad's World War 1 uniform, collections of junk, nonfunctioning lawnmowers you are going to fix one of these years, etc. My sneaking suspicion is that a couple of weeks after the show, the packrats have re-stuffed their home with more junk. Edison13:38, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Anime series
I have two questions. Do developers start with an OAV usually before they start the series, or start the series than make an OAV? I'm asking this, because one of my favorite games, Tales of Symphonia has an anime OAV according to anime news network, but I don't see a series for Tales of Symphonia, nor not many information.
Second is a two part question. One is are there any animes that haven't had a corresponding manga, that were just completely made by the animation team? Also, could the Naruto animation team have done the filler arc any worse? The series was one of the most popular, if not the most popular anime at the time, but its possibility decreased rapidly during the filler arc.
Instead of Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Major hidden villages, Team Sand, new awesome jutsus, excellent storylines, we get the ugliest villains ever(Aoi, Raiga, Three-headed monster, 2 stupid brothers, 3 hornets, Amachi, and a bunch of others I'm probably missing), repetitive storylines(All 10 or so arcs have the same basic plot), Kage Bunshin and an extremely toned down Rasengan, and terrible artwork.
Yes this is extremely significant, because its such a high level gap in quality. I waatched the Bleach filler arc and it was 10 times better than the Naruto filler arc. So my question is why can't the Naruto animation team do better?
There are many animé series that are not based on manga: Cowboy Bebop (though there is a manga, it was made after the animé) and Spirited Away are two examples. For discussion of Naruto, try visiting the Naruto board at the IMDb. Taiq17:13, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
To answer your question about OAVs, in cases where a show has both a TV series and OAV episodes, it's a lot more common for the TV series to air first. The production team can make much more money from getting their show on TV than releasing it direct to video, so it's only shows that are unsuitable for television (either because of their small potential audience or unsuitable material) that get released in OAV format. It's not impossible for OAV shows to gain a large enough following to get a follow-up TV series (examples include Tenchi Muyo, Oh My Goddess and Blood the Last Vampire), but they are far outnumbered by TV shows whose audience was too small to keep them on the air but hardcore enough to make extra DVDs profitable. Ironfrost06:52, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Photography question
Hello, I am thinking of taking up photography as a hobby and was wondering if anyone could suggest a good starting camera that doesn't cost too much.(no more than $250). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you, Deyyaz[ Talk | Contribs ]02:56, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think you can buy a good camera for $250 or less. If you want to take up photography, I suggest buying a good camera (that's not a point-and-shoot), even if it costs several hundred dollars. Try to buy a camera that gives you full manual control, because the camera doesn't always make the best decisions.
If we're talking about digital photography, I don't suggest buying the highest-resolution camera you can find. Instead, I suggest buying a medium-resolution (maybe 4 megapixels) camera with a high optical zoom, because the zoom will partially compensate for the resolution. --Bowlhover04:15, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
What do you want to take pictures of? The best camera (and lens, if you go that far) for the purpose will vary considerably according to what you want to do with it. And certain photographic subjects demand much more equipment than others. Sports photography, for instance, really needs a lot of equipment.
If he's thinking about taking it up as a hobby he probably isn't sure yet what he wants to do and needs a first camera so that for the next one he will know which questions to ask and what to look for, which makes a lot of sense. I agree with Bowlhover that big image size ('resolution' is s misnomer here) isn't necessary and that will greatly reduce the price. Just look at my photographs at Wikimedia Commons to see what you can do with a 4 mp camera (or rather what I can do with it :) ). I took those with an Ixus 400. Also as Bowlhover suggested, what you would want is a camera with full control, so you know the worth of those features. I suggest you have a look at http://www.steves-digicams.com/. DirkvdM08:23, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I certainly think you can get a decent digicam for less than $250, mine (a Concord 5345z) was about $100 less, has 5 megapixels, 3X optical zoom, including rechargeable batteries and recharging unit. I did have to buy an SD memory card for it, but that was only $25 and gives me more memory than I need. StuRat10:40, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The reverse psychology is too much for me - now I'm going to go spend some time looking around so this fellow can play games on his cell phone, just to avenge Wikipedia's honor. --bmk -The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.92.251.11 (talk * contribs) 14:53, 25 August 2006.
Wikipedia is not honoured, but rather damaged, by being party to an attempt to defraud an intellectual property owner. You should think carefully about what you're proposing to do. --Tagishsimon(talk)
My sister Christine Atherton [ but remarried & pos.another surname] recently committed suicide in Victoria on Thursday.
I am trying to trace here daughter last know address :-
Mrs Helen Akkurt [nee Atherton]
14 Laurie Av.
Tecoma 3160
Victoria
Australia
Can any one help?
I'm very sorry about your loss. I'd suggest you try some regional bulletin boards and e-groups; I'm sure the city of Tecoma and state of Victoria have bulletin boards for current events, etc; I am sure yahoogroups has groups run by and for Victorians, Tecomans, etc, and you might try the Australian craigslist. I'll do a bit of checking and come back with some urls. Hang in there. Anchoress09:22, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
A forum called 'Study-Travel-Work Australia - it seems to be populated by travellers, but it might be a good place to post to get help and suggestions from people who might know some good nooks and crannies on the net
Since you have a name and address,International Directory Inquiries should give you a phone number.That way you can verify that she is still at that address and if she is,be able to get in touch very quickly.Good luck Lemon martini10:54, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
One way of tracing someone is to ask the neighbors if they heard where she was moving to. You could obtain the neighbors' names and numbers via a reverse directory. If you are serious about finding her, a private investigator can sometimes act as a skip tracer and persuade via pretext persons with access to driver's licence records, internal revenue department records, and the Australian equivalent of Social Security records to find someone in those files.Edison13:46, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Try the Salvation Army. I believe they have an international bureau for searching for missing relatives. At least they did have in past years in England - hopefully they've still got the same thing now in Australia. 81.104.12.911:51, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ships and their Builders
I am looking for the builder and date built for the ship now named Le Vacancier. Its current owner is C.T.M.A. in les Iles de la Madeleine, QC
Google is (probably) your friend. I don't speak french, but this google search looks like it probably has the answer. --bmk
The main page has links to several portals, including portal Society. These are not all portals, but there is also a link to all portals. Either will lead you to the portal Business and Economics, which you might call the field for this subject. Note that Wikipedia is not primarily organized as a top-down directory tree, unlike for example the Open Directory Project (a.k.a. dmoz). If you want to know about accounting or marketing, go directly to the articles Accounting or Marketing, or use the search bar. Once you have found a relevant article, you can navigate to more information by following the embedded hyperlinks ("wikilinks") to other articles, using the Categories at the bottom, or "What links here" from the toolbox in the left side bar. For example, Accounting is redirected to Accountancy, and has at the bottom the category Finance. Following that link, you will see it belongs to the category Business. --LambiamTalk17:08, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
He first thought of the question and only then he wrote it down, so he figured he was quoting himself? I get the notion he is talking about the business model of Wikipedia, but I can't really make out the question. DirkvdM08:07, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
teenage violence
what is the main reason for the increase of teenage violence in South Africa?
Basically, the same reason for general violence everywhere. SATAN!! Read the Bih-bal!!
But seriously, South Africa has by far the highest murder rate with firearms in the world—it probably isn't anything new. Is this a homework question? — [Mac Davis] (talk)
Because it had a high percentage of violence to begin with, then other kids wanted to fit in and became violent. Now a snowball effect has ocurred, I suppose. --Proficient02:51, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
That is always a factor, but there has to be something underlying it too. Poverty is indeed often a cause. But is it only teenagers and what kind of violence is it? Theft-related, vandalism or ideology-based? DirkvdM08:12, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Probably about twice as loud as the Great Mingun Bell, which seems the next closest in size (222 tons to 100) that can actually be heard and measured. But I can't seem to find anything about the loudness of it. Nowimnthing20:27, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Real Estate
÷ What does "&apos" mean in a home description? Example: ..."stainless chef's kitchen all of the amenities you could want."
It is bad html language transcription in a browser or similar program. "&apos" is "'", giving just "chef's kitchen". No mystery. -- DLL .. T18:43, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The 'special pages' link in the toolbox has some cool stuff. With the top link, 'all pages', you can browse Wikipedia alphabetically, like a paper encyclopedia. DirkvdM08:23, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In general? Kids usually like sweet foods such as candies, cakes, and pies; other junk foods such as popcorn and chips; or other kiddee foods like spaghettiOs, macaroni and cheese, or fish sticks. Of course, any kid can like any food, such as broccoli and honey (oh it's delicious). Hyenaste(tell)23:13, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
However, I don't think there's much difference in the food preferences of boys and girls, prior to puberty. As for teens, boys are more likely to eat protein to help them "bulk up", while girls are more likely to eat salads to "stay thin". StuRat10:11, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No-one's mentioned hot dogs yet. Or, if we're misunderstanding the question, 'Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy. Kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?'. Anchoress18:22, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I was wanting some more information on where to get this book or how to join a program involving sexual issues. please contact me at (e-mail address)
thank you, jessica
Did you read our article Masters and Johnson? They co-authored three books. You could try to get them through your bookstore, amazon.com, or various other channels through which books are regularly sold. Before we can give you fruitful suggestions on how to join a program involving sexual issues, it might be helpful if we have a hint of (a) where you live (Saudi Arabia? Sweden?); (b) what you expect of or hope to get out of the program. --LambiamTalk08:20, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Who is Cronin?
Who is the football player Cronin, who played for the Ireland National Football Team. I played International Superstar Soccer for Snes and that guy scored 5 goals against me. Who is he?
Unlikely considering that Glenn Cronin has no caps for Ireland and made his professional debut in 2001 (the game the question refers to would have been released in 1994 or 1995). In any case, the ISS series is famous for having fake names for real players, so the player in question would definitely not have been called Cronin, but would have had a vaguely similar sounding name. --Daduzitalk02:52, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
August 26
Copyright status of completing another person's work
I'm hoping some copyright experts could help me with the copyright section of unfinished work. What is the copyright status of work that was started by one person and then completed by another? Who holds the copyright, especially if the first piece of work no longer has copyright status? For example, if a novel is mostly completed but then the author dies and the book is finished by another person is it a joint copyright situation?
Lets call the original work A and the completed work A++. The author of A (or his estate) owns the copyright of A outright, and can do what it wills with it. The copyright of A++ is jointly owned by both authors (or their estates etc.). That means neither can distribute A++ without the permission of the other. If the copyright on A has lapsed, the author of A++ owns the copyright of A++ free and clear - but he doesn't own the copyright on the unmodified A. So I could write an "Illiad special edition (achillies vs the wookies)" and I'd own the copyright, but I'd have no case to stop anyone else printing copies of Homer's work. Now, if you're asking about cases where someone takes an existing PD work (like the Mona Lisa) and does stuff to it - do they then own the copyright over the product? The answer depends on whether that change has sufficient creative content to constitute a copyrightable work - merely importing it into photoshop and tweaking the colours probably doesn't, but artfully painting on a different person's face (in Da Vinci's style) probably does. Things get sticky when you get to Andy Warhol-style manipulations, where the threshhold of copyrightability largely depends on what the judge had for lunch. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk11:46, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You've confirmed some of my thoughts about it, and given me some great details there. You wouldn't happen to have any relevant links that I could further research this do you? violet/riga(t)11:54, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well in the middle of the night (at 3 AM) i got an amazing phone call (which didn't wake me up.) I found it very unique because my caller ID managed to pick up the phone number but it was even stranger to me (i've never seen this before). The # was 15 digits long and before the number was a '+' sign. Anyone mind helping me discover the strangeness of this? I'm interested in knowing who tried to call me too. (I tried googling this stuff but didn't get any answers). Thanks in advance!
Edit: I'm in the process of reading this article too Telephone numbering plan and if it helps i live in the U.S. (if it matters. --Agester14:01, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The + sign usually denotes an international call. For example, +44 is the UK (I believe). Usually most caller ID systems can't understand international numbers and thus don't normally display the number. violet/riga(t)14:07, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
i believe the first two numbers were 86. Any clue where that is from? (They called my cellphone which was able to record the number) --Agester14:11, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And at a wild guess it was someone in China trying to reach a mobile (cell) phone with a Chinese number. According to this Chinese mobile numbers start with 13x (within China, +8613x overseas), where x is 0, 1, 3, 5, 6. 7. 8 or 9, and according to the reference violet/riga gives the domestic dialling prefix in China is '0'. Assuming someone meant to dial 013095551234 but dialled 0013095551234 instead, the 00 on the front would mean "international access", and they'd get through to a North American number, 1-309-555-1234. Tonywalton | Talk13:33, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, a + at the beginning of a phone number means "the international direct dialing code for the country I'm in" e.g. 011 in North America, 00 in most of Europe. Most mobile phones know what the IDD code for the country you're currently in is, so you can store numbers in the memory in international format i.e. + followed by the country code, followed by the phone number but omitting the national direct dialling code (the leading zero in Europe or the leading 1 in North America). This means that if your phone is registered to roam internationally, you can hit the same number in memory regardless of where you are in the world. Nearly all the numbers in my phone's memory begin with either +44 or +353, so I can always get through regardless of if I'm in the UK or Ireland... -- Arwel (talk) 00:27, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Coin ???
I have a coin, i think. It is marked on the back " MAGYAR USZO SZOVETSEC " *1907-1932*. On the frount are 3 men. Above them are 4 buzards. also the words GREFF LAJOS in very small print. Thanks for your time, Wayne 65.145.194.915:11, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And for those who aren't aware of Hungarian name order, his surname is Greff and his given name is Lajos (kind of equivalent to Louis or Ludwig). JackofOz05:01, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Usually. Most brands are made without milk solids, and there are also some vegan lines of non-bitter chocolate, like Sweet Williams and certain decks of Lindt. Taiq16:44, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Have you looked at Ford GT and Ford GT40. The MkII did an average speed of 125.39 mph at Le Mans with the MkIV 10 mph faster. The top speed for the new GT is claimed at "...overr 200 mph ...". One of the external links on the GT40 may provide the top speed. CambridgeBayWeather(Talk)01:44, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Wikiquiz possibilities?
I'm not sure where to post this,so I'll start here.If it's in the wrong bit,point me in the right direction and push!
I had an idea for a 'general knowledge quiz' on perhaps a weekly or fortnightly basis with maybe 50 or 100 questions.
As these would be taken from a wide range of topics within Wikipedia(maybe including a special section with questions based on that week's featured articles/pictures),it should encourage Wikipedians to go exploring through a wide variety of articles to find the answers.
Perhaps there can be some sort of reward for the winner-maybe a small box with This Week's Winner displayed and some sort of small prize.
I would be more than happy to organize questions,receive and mark answers etc.
So-is this feasible?Is it a good idea?Any suggestions as to how to improve this?
Sounds quite similar to the "Did you know" section on the Main Page, only put in the form of a question. Perhaps you could work with whoever does that segment. StuRat21:33, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds like fun! A word of warning though, your "correct" answer will never satisfy everyone as the truth. Not that it can't work, it's just something to consider. --bmk
You should be OK with strictly factual questions where there is no controversy. For example, asking JFK's age when he became President would work, but not who assassinated him and why. StuRat08:05, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Doesn't the Wikipedia:Department of Fun sound freakishly like something out of 1984?! I do lots of pub quizzes and things like that,so I'm used to coming up with questions that can't start a mass brawl but are peculiarly interesting-when you hear the answer it's obvious! Lemon martini10:45, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
That sounds like a lot of fun and something we could get started. I am ready to help you, or be the first player! — [Mac Davis] (talk) (Desk|Help me improve)
Super-do we know we does the 'Did you know' section?Or is there any other way of getting some sort of honorable mention on the main page to let as many Wikipedians know about it as possible? Would it be feasible to create a 'Wikiquiz' section/article somewhere? Lemon martini15:11, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You remember that a jogging style that was popular in the 1970's was the "long, slow, distance," where one runs at a slow, constant pace? It was thought to improve the aerobic benefits of the exercize while being easy on the body.
Well, I run quite a bit, and before I set out today for a 6.5 mile run, I took several puffs from a marijuana joint. Within minutes that calming, slow feeling came over me and I found myself not running at my usual vigorous pace, but jogging in the "long, slow distance" pace popularized in the 1970s.
My question is that do you think the popularity of the "Long Slow Distance" type of running during the 1970s is in direct correlation with the greater amounts of marijuana consumed in that great decade?Courtney Akins22:01, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
(Response to Courtney) No, probably not and you shouldn't be taking hits of Marijuana anytime. Don't want to loose those ever important brain cells. :) Seriously though, I think you should overcome that, but hey, it's your life.. — The Future04:19, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There are really worse things people can do to their brain and their body legally than taking a few puffs of marijuana periodically. Cigarettes and alcohol are much worse for you on the whole (and a lot worse for society as a whole as well). --Fastfission15:10, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Were you standing on your head while doing that smiley? Tried the combination perchance?
When the effects of pot on driving skills was going to be tested in the Netherlands (on a cleared highway), The Dutch comedian Kees van Kooten let his hippy character do that test too. He found that while he was doing only 50 it felt like 100, so that supports your theory. Although the announcement of the test got some media attention, the results didn't, so I suppose they weren't exceptional enough. DirkvdM06:59, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Where to find specific tags
Where can I find tags that relate to American Authors and Non-fiction books? -MF14
Does anyone have a handle on what approximate year and what philosophies came to the fore that allowed, once again, (the last time being the 1970s), that it became acceptable for women to wear high heels and short shorts at the same time? Courtney Akins23:30, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
A theory is that the better the economy the more prevocatively women dress. When the economy is not doing as well women tend to dress more conservatively. It's just a theory.74.12.154.12200:01, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I totally disagree with the economic theory espoused above. During the 1970s the economy was doing horribly. And its not doing so well right now, and I think there was a minor recession in 2001-02. Yet women dress more provocatively now than perhaps ever, in contrast to the 1980s, when the economy was in fever-pitch, yet what passed for "provocative" dress then (e.g. Madonna's outfits/videos) seem quaintly restrained now.
Furthermore, it is a fact that women dressed very provocatively in 1790's France (plunging necklines, and dresses fitted to a woman's body, in repudiation of the traditional hoop-skirt form) and not only was the economy doing badly -- performing much below the levels of the ancien-regime -- but the entire nation was in turmoil and upheaval. It was not until halfway through the Napoleonic Empire that the economy of France recovered to pre-revolution capacity.
Therefore, it might be true that women dress more provocatively during times of economic distress and national turmoil! (as in this decade, the 1970's, and Revloution/Directorate France. Any thoughts?Courtney Akins01:43, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Actually that bit about women's hemlines and the stock market isn't an economic theory. It's a frequently cited example of why correlation is not causation. To add to the bit about 1970s pop culture, let's remember dear ol' Daisy Duke. So far as I know, the late seventies were the only time when short shorts with high heels was considered acceptable (although far more common on television than in real life, as I recall, because few women have perfect legs). A related late seventies-early eighties fashion that more women observed was to wear high heels with designer jeans. Durova06:46, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Nothing politically correct about it. It is still based on christianity. The name is just changed. But even if you'd use the alleged birthyear of Jesus as a reference, it would make more scientific sense to make that the year zero (which is now odddly lacking) and referring to other years as, say, -42 and +42 (the latter could also be simply '42'). To make clear you're talking about years, you could make that y-42 and y42 (as in y2k for the year 2000). So this year would then be y2006. The unit time is a real mess - for more examples see the 'time' section on my talk page. DirkvdM09:12, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Our article states that one of the arguments for using the BCE/CE system cited by its supporters is that the calendar "should be religiously and culturally neutral out of consideration for those cultures compelled to use it out of necessity", which sounds like political correctness to me. --Richardrj09:50, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Dirk's point is that changing the name makes no difference if the point of reference is still Christ's birthday. And that's basically my beef with the CE/BCE reference. - Mgm|(talk)13:16, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Except that the connection to Christ's birthday has been lost. The Christian Era was set up based on the supposed year of his birth. They got it wrong, but that doesn't matter anymore. It's now called the Common Era because it's the era that has de facto come to be accepted and it's the system widely used throughout the world, regardless of religious belief. Whatever its historical origin may have been, and whether it was correct or not in pinpointing JC's birth year, are now irrelevant. Hence the name change from Christian Era to Common Era. JackofOz01:48, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
But the abbreviation is still 'CE'. Is that a coincidence? And why use two different abbreviatons? Why not CE or whatever for the years after and before the year zero? Anyway, if this is about worldwide adoption, then which abbreviation is used in English is fairly irrelevant. Not even the Dutch will be likely to adopt that. Something more international has to be chosen. Maybe 'A' for annum (Latin)? So something like A-42. (Of course one shouldn't confuse the year four with a paper size, but that is not likely to happen). DirkvdM07:11, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think you're confusing world-wide adoption of a system (which is a fait accompli) with the names for that system in various languages. Eg. the International Date Line is recognised throughout the world, but its name varies depending on which language you happen to be speaking. JackofOz04:42, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The same goes for the word 'table'. But not for units (at least not SI units). It's a simple abbreviation and while it is not strictly necessary to use the same one wordlwide, it would be something to strive for. DirkvdM05:19, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Are there Classics in nonwestern universities? If so, would, say, Chinese universities study Confuncious's writings & his students, like for example, Mencius, instead? An answer on my talk page would nice, thanks!10011010003:23, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Iam told that there are several websites which offer you money if you do their jobs. I have very basic skills in computers though I would be able to handle research related work. Can anyone tell me whether thare are any Indian web sites which offer such work and pay reasonably for the work done?
sumal05:46, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Minimal age to start a business in Australia
Could anyone tell me what is the minimal age to start a business in Australia. I'm 15 and wish to start a computer fixing business. I don't wona do anything against the law so will someone please help me!
Thanks for any help given. jeremy
I once saw a series about millionaires on the BBC. One kid of also around 15 did all his business through the phone and his parents kept his money in safekeeping for him, saying he hadn't a clue how rich he was. So he did do business. I just don't know the legal construct. Now this was about the UK, but I can imagine that in most places there will be laws about the age of employees. But if you work for yourself there will probably be no problem. I suppose the best place to ask would be the chamber of commerce. DirkvdM09:51, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Jeremy, congrats on your plan. I'm from Canada and we may do some things differently than in Australia, but I'll tell you what you'd need if you were here in Canada, and it'll give you a start anyways.
First, know this; if your business is small you might be able to do without any documentation, kind of like babysitting or mowing people's lawns. Just declare the income under 'other income' at tax time.
A lot of independent business operators need business licenses. There is probably an age restriction on that, but I don't know if you'd need one for your type of business. In Canada, you apply to your municipality (city hall) for business licenses.
In Canada, if you are providing a particular service in excess of $20,000 a year, you need to register with the Goods and Services Tax department, and get a tax number. I don't know if Australia has something similar? It's like the European VAT. I don't think there's a minimum age, but you'd need a Social Insurance Number in order to register.
If you are selling computer parts, in Canada you'd need to apply for a Provincial Sales Tax number, which covers manufactured goods. I don't know if there's an age limit for that, but I doubt it. In Canada, we have two separate sales taxes, don't know if it's the same in Australia.
Larger businesses need to register as companies. There are different ways of doing it depending on the size of the business. Sole proprietorship is for small, home-based businesses like computer servicing, accounting services, etc. It's for self-employed people. Limited partnerships and incorporation are for larger enterprises, I wouldn't worry about those yet. For a sole proprietorship, there might not be a minimum age, but if there is it's probably 16.
If people are coming to your home to drop off or pick up computers, you will need to check with your parents with regards to their house insurance, because they may need extra coverage.
You may want to start by placing an advert on [[5]], offering to fix PCs for a price. People will generally bring their PCs to you, and you can see if you're genuinely interested in starting. Pesapluvo
I'm sure some did and most didn't. Shaving is a cultural thing, so the answer varies from culture to culture and time period to time period. I think the modern Western trend to remove all armpit and leg hair peaked in the 1950's but is still very common, and in maybe the last ten years there seems to be a substantial proportion of Western (especially US) women who remove most or all of their pubic hair. I think this would have been very unusual in earlier generations.-gadfium22:23, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Don't joke - I did a night class in prehistory, and when we discussed microliths I asked if you could shave with one, and the teacher confirmed you could. Flint apparently can take a sharper blade than steel - steel's big advantage is its lightness and shapeability. --Nicknack00922:30, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
YTV Airing Pokemon this fall 2006?
Hello, I was wondering if anyone could help me. I've been trying to find this out for the past month, and so far, i've found nothing. Can anyone tell me if YTV will be airing the new Season 9 of Pokemon "Pokemon Battle Frontier"? Please I would be very grateful for this to be answer! Thank you
Sense
I noticed the Sense article only has 9 senses on it that humans have. Stephen Fry in an episode of QI said that it was more in the region of 33 after the guests had all answered in the common mistruth that there are five, some of the ones he noted that arent on the list are a sense of hunger, and a sense of tiredness. Does anyone know where there is a complete list. PhilcTECI21:31, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The article points out that: "There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to exactly how many senses there are, because of differing definitions of a sense." And: "depending on the chosen method of classification, somewhere between 9 and 21 human senses have been identified. In addition, there are some other candidate physiological experiences which may or may not fall within the above classification (for example the sensory awareness of hunger and thirst)." (my emphasis) So the question is: In what sense would such a list be complete? Many of the senses mentioned in the article can be differentiated, split into further refinements. Under "Sight" the article mentions that neuroanatomists generally regard it as two senses. The article gives several further examples. An example not given: the sensation of being touched is difference from itching. Does that mean "Itching" should be listed as a sense? If you stretch the definition enough, you can probably come up with even more than 33 "senses", but what is the point? --LambiamTalk21:58, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, I was not meaning to dig at the article like that, but do you (or does anyone) know where there is a list covering all of the sense including things like hunger etc. but without splitting them and becoming pinickity (so it covers all sense but not necesarily individually). Cheers. PhilcTECI22:53, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Song in Kill Bill
What is the name of that last song played in the movie Kill Bill Volume 1, when The Bride was riding on the airplane, drawing up the list of people she will kill? Thanks Jamesino22:41, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
l like this Asian girl, but don't know how to tell her. What should l do?
"You're an interesting person and I enjoy talking with you. Any chance you'd be interested in joining me for a drink/meal/concert/etc sometime?" Pesapluvo01:13, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You could do something notable. That'd get her attention. 192.168.1.1 01:25, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
Further to some of the suggestions, maybe it would be a good idea to figure out some potential appropriate locations for a first date, just in case the conversation does result in that possibility coming up. Planning is everything ;) --Robert Merkel02:04, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Because if the OP were Asian (from Asia), he wouldn't refer to her as an Asian girl - he would specify the country (in the same way that relatively few Europeans call themselves European, and relatively few North Americans call themselves North American. People from the United States call themselves American, but that's because they call their country America.) ColourBurst22:52, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I dont normally do anything like this but you are extrodenary and I would like to get to know you better. ( if the mother superior says its ok) Hobgoblin
If she is Asian, then you should probably not use e-mail. Or if she is not Asian, you still shouldn't use e-mail. A poem, a rose, a box of chocolates, an affectionate slap on the butt... They all work. VivaLaVieBoheme!
Telling a guy I like him
(Like the above question! ^_^) I like this guy, but I don't know if he is gay or not, but he might be. How do I ask a guy out without alienating the friendship if he isn't gay? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.153.40.162 (talk • contribs)
And if the kid has misjudged badly enough he gets the answer "No, you filthy fag" and a broken nose for his troubles. Show a little common sense, please. --Robert Merkel01:55, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Sinse the questioner pointed out that they were friends, I assumed that his friend would react calmly with a "yes" or a "no" and perhaps some humor to make sure there was no tension between them. True friends would not care as to what their friend's sexual orientation is. --ClockFace02:21, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Um, that's laudable, but naive. This person could be in an educational and family situation where homosexuality is accepted. Or he could be at high school in (insert stereotype of rural backwardness here) and about to ask the rampantly homophobic football team captain out on a date. --Robert Merkel04:20, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Both your comments, Robert, made me laugh, but I absolutely don't want to get punched in the face. And no, I'm not about to ask some clearly anti-gay guy on a date. My problem is that the guy has never really showed signs of heterosexuality, like hitting on chicks or whatever. At school (where I met him of course) social groups are tight and I'd hate to ask him, be rejected, have my orientation come out, then spend the next few years as "<my name>, the lonely fag". Aren't suicide rates high among gay teens? It's no mystery why. (not that I'm going to kill myself) 70.144.51.17504:35, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
From the context of the question, I gather you're a young gay man. While I can't precisely empathise with your situation, it's a difficult situation whether you're gay or straight if you're a teenager trying to guess whether somebody would appreciate you asking them out. In some parts of the world, there are support groups for gay teenagers which might be able to give you advice on the best way to deal with this situation - maybe a web search for "gay teenager support group" and your location might turn up some people who can help (but use your common sense to check out the bona fides of any such group). --Robert Merkel01:55, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If you aren't willing or able to let him know your orientation, you're in a difficult position, IMO. Because you don't want hitting on your friend to be the way he finds out you're gay. He probably wouldn't appreciate it even if he is also gay. I think that if you don't trust him with the truth about your orientation, you probably don't know him well enough to date him anyway. I'm not saying that's how it is, but your previous post suggests it to me.
If it were me, I'd just take him aside, and in a gentle, neutral, light way, tell him you're gay. Don't say you're attracted to him, don't make it a heavy conversation, just say this is something you want him to know about you, you're not weird about it, you hope he isn't, and you hope the honesty will make you better friends. If his response is negative, or if he makes no indication that he shares either your sexual orientation or a mutual attraction, leave it at that. If he indicates that he shares your orientation, or an interest in the lifestyle, suggest an outing (not a date) where the two of you can have some alone time and maybe explore gay culture (depending on your location, maybe it doesn't exist). Or, just go behind the 7-11, smoke a doobie, and make out. :-)
Not a criticism, but it's been my experience and observation that sometimes guys jump the gun, opting for action rather than talk. A couple of male friends found out their best friends were gay when they were asked on dates by said friends; neither appreciated it. I've found out guys liked me a couple of times when they kissed me out of the blue, that wasn't appreciated either. I know talk isn't as active as... action..., but it's usually the way to go. Test the waters before you jump in. And if you're too nervous to test the waters, it's probably best to leave it. If you don't feel you can trust him enough to be honest, you definitely can't trust him with what might be a big bombshell. Anchoress07:47, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Have you considered telling him outright? Perhaps you might want to start by telling him 'It's so bona to vada yer dolly old eek'? Check the article on Polari for a translation - or perhaps not --russ22:13, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Just because he's not aggressively heterosexual doesn't mean he's gay. I grew up in a suburbia-type environment and violent anti-gayness was the norm, so I may possibly be biased, especially since I still feel that way, !!but!! consider that chances are stacked dozens to one against you that he's gay and even that he's not revulsed by the idea --Froth03:33, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]
drilling
I need help in finding this answer:
explain the differences in the equipment required (power tool and drill bit type) to drill holes in timber v's those needed to drill holes in concrete.
aid of diagram would be greatly appreciated.
thank you.
202.172.110.20201:54, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
For wood you can use various types of drill bits: Auger drill bits, spade bits, and multi-purpose bits. It depends a bit on the purpose (woodwork? carpentry? pre-boring a hole for a screw?), the depth and width of the desired hole, and type of wood, which type is best. For concrete you'd want a drill bit that is advertised as usable for the purpose (masonry drill bit, concrete drill bit), but apart from extra strength this would not be essentially different from a multi-purpose drill bit. As to the power tool, for getting through concrete you need a hammer drill. Most hammer drills for do-it-yourself use will be combination drills: you can turn off the hammering action. If you want to see what the various drill bit types look like, go to Google images and search for any of the above types. --LambiamTalk02:28, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Using metal/masonry drill bits in wood can ruin them due to heating and de-tempering (lot of friction between wood and bit, and can't use cooling fluid in wood). Therefore cheap soft bits tend to be used for wood.
Masonry bits (concrete) are normally made of a small chevron shaped piece of tungsten carbide set in a helical shaft. See Drill bit. Rentwa14:24, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
To drill a hole in cured concrete you will need to purchase a Hammer Drill. These drills work by vibrating a masonry bit against the concrete and breaking off tiny bits. You can purchase a drill powerful enough for most home projects for around $65. You can also rent a professional grade one for around $25 a day. These will cut through concrete quickly, a 3/16"x2" hole can be cut in around 20 sec. (a traditional drill will take around 5 min and melt the bit to slag in around a half hour). You will need to use "carbide concrete/masonry hammer drill bits". Buy 2 or 3 per every 100 holes. If the timber is larger than 3/4" you will need to switch to a wood bit to drill through it. Just a traditional wood drill bit will suffice. If the timber is less than 3/4" you can use the hammer drill on direct drive mode with the same bit. Hope this helps. --DarkfredTalk to me20:35, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
diamond dave rides again
I want to learn how to buy loose diamonds at a local (Dallas+Ft.Worth) jewlery store. This is investments only not to wear. How can I get info so I dont get bad stuff? Thanks02:25, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
Diamonds seem to be a rather poor investment for several reasons:
1) There are many factors which affect the value of each; such as size, color, clarity, inclusions, cut, etc. Unless you are a gem expert, you are likely to be "taken".
2) They aren't all that rare, so the price should be much lower than it is. Only by restricting the supply has DeBeers been able to keep the price artificially high. I would be worried that this situation may not last and there could be a price collapse soon.
3) Artificial diamonds (real diamonds made in a lab) are increasing in quality and decreasing in price steadily. Soon they will offer serious competition for natural diamonds. StuRat03:32, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In addition to the reasons given above, diamonds are a poor investment because they lose value incredibly fast. Because the supply is a monopoly, margins are very high, and a used market is discouraged by add campaigns. A typical diamond will lose 80% of its value immediately upon purchase. Unless you are a jeweler (in which case you are already getting diamonds at a steep discount) buying diamonds is an incredibly foolish investment. Even if you intend to set them later and sell them as new, the jeweler will charge more for the setting to recover the loss of profit from the diamond margin. --DarkfredTalk to me20:27, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
phone number look-up
I need to look up a phone number that's not in the white pages reverse look-up (I assume it's a cell). How can I look it up? Thanks. -Wjlkgnsfb02:50, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My question is sparked from the saying "if joe jumped of a cliff would you jump aswell?" so how high does the cliff have to be to be classed as a cliff?
it's just a term...language alone isn't very precise on this matter. I doubt that even geologists and topographers assign a heigh requirement for usage of the word "cliff". Jasbutal04:35, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I thought that a cliff just meant a sheer, almost vertical drop. I suppose under this definition, the walls of a creek or other such artifical ditch could be considered a cliff as well. Hyenaste(tell)04:38, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think it is the angle rather than the height that allows it to be classified as a cliff. When studying topography, you realize that something may be defined as, say, a crest on a small scale (of <100m) but in the broader picture is classified as part of a "gentle slope". So topographical features can change classification depending on the scale over which it is being considered. I doubt any topographer would be interested in classifying something that was a few centimetres tall as a cliff. I think a person would just use their common sense to determine whether something was notable in the landscape, depending on what the information they were gathering was for. BenC709:14, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
For shorelines, we get this (which sounds reasonable): "High angle solid substrate shoreline; includes low cliffs (height < 2 m), medium cliffs (height 2 - 10 m) and high cliffs (height > 10 m)." --Zeizmic12:38, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Smallest thing rock climbers would call a 'route' (route up a cliff) would be about 20ft - i.e. worth putting on a harness and roping up. Anything smaller would probably be called a 'problem' (tricky sequence of moves) and climbed without rope (soloed).
Most cliffs are 'dynamic' - i.e. they are in a constant state of evolution - material is eroded from the bottom leaving stuff above unsupported which then falls - for this reason many 'cliffs' are not vertical but have jumble of debris at bottom. Especially true of smaller cliffs and ends of escarpments. You could still get a nasty bruise if you fell off though.
Has anyone any idea what this symbol means? I've seen it here in the UK on labels and printed directly onto bottles of alcoholic drink, including imported beer (Corona), Scotch whisky and wine. It's always accompanied by a very long number in the format 999/99999999/99 (or similar; I forget the exact format). I've searched symbols.com and asked around and no-one seems to know what it's about. It doesn't mean "contents under pressure", it may mean "recycle this bottle" though I've also seen it in combination with the usual "recycle" symbols. Presumably it means something to somebody, since manufacturers are taking the trouble to print it! Any ideas? Tonywalton | Talk12:45, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In my misspent youth I was a bartender in the great state of Texas. We where told to smash empty glass bottles so ner-do-wells could not use the emptys for bootleging and thus not pay taxes. There were and are federal (ATF) and many state regs about this. I got into big time trouble with a not so nice man with a badge because I did not grasp that the tax labels on the bottles had to be distroyed too. I feel your symbol is suggested break points indicators for brave brit barmen to use as a guide on such jobs as this. Not that it works, its just boilerplate to keep nanny government off their backsides when national health refuses to patch up a cut barkeep because of inadiquite labeling on the bottle. Stranger things have happened. That is my logical guess and legal view of the matter free of charge and totally worthless. Hobgoblin
Hmm, very odd. I checked on all of my wine bottles and didn't see it (I'm in the US). I would have imagined it was "contents under pressure" or something like that (it looks like a gas exerting pressure on an enclosed space) but if you're sure it's not that, then I don't have a clue. --Fastfission15:44, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I googlimaged for gas, pressure, bottle, can and regulation logo - scanned 880 pics for the last one. We still need a "something like" visual engine search. Any ideas ? -- DLL .. T18:52, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
http://symbols.com is quite good for that - it has a search facility where you tell it "is it an open or closed symbol", "is it symmeterical" and so on, and it comes up with best guesses. Unfortunately it doesn't know about this one. Tonywalton | Talk07:05, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I looked all over, as well. I'm sure it has something to do with pressure, but I've never heard of anybody killed by a beer bottle... maybe from mad Texan bartenders throwing them, but that would be a different symbol. :) --Zeizmic20:45, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Something to do with the fact that it is exempt from ecotax in Belgium probably because it is recyclable glass. Here is a Dutch page explaining it somewhat but it seems far too dull to investigate further. MeltBanana21:17, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The reason I reckon it's not "contents under pressure" is that as I mentioned I've seen it on both whisky and wine, neither of which are pressurised (and Corona beer hardly is). Thanks for the dull page in Dutch, MeltBanana, and the translation, DirkVD; looks like it's some weird EU tax thing which nobody outside Brussels understands or cares about, then. Thanks, all, for your responses! 86.129.77.199 06:43, 29 August 2006 (UTC)Tonywalton | Talk06:46, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
andy of mayberry
could someone please tell me the name of the diner on any of mayberry? Thank-you.
What are the flight regulations concerning carrying knives in your luggage, can you bring knives from one country to another?
Checked baggage only, of course. It depends on the regulations of both countries, and of the airline. Check all three. For example, discovered knives carried without "good reason" are generally confiscated on entry to the UK. Notinasnaid13:02, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Interstingly, this doesn't answer your question, but your question made me wonder how many miles or units of measurements a common computer mouse has traveled in it's lifetime. It would be intersting to find out. --Proficient05:07, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You're begging the question; they don't. They may appear to on occasion, for a couple of reasons. Certainly many Japanese people travel with tour groups, but not all of them. When visiting a country where you don't speak the language and don't have experience with the local customs, it can be helpful to be accompanied by a guide who can translate and advise. A planned tour also reduces the guesswork and planning burden for a traveller—transportation, meal planning, hotel bookings, and so forth can all be taken care of. (Some people enjoy the convenience, others will chafe from the lack of freedom. The latter won't do packaged tours.) I will note that it is easier for an English-speaking tourist to find someone who speaks at least some broken English than it is for a Japanese-speaking tourist to find someone who speaks Japanese.
You see a lot of Japanese tourists, period, because it is a fairly wealthy country whose people can afford to travel. You are more likely to notice Japanese tourists – particularly when they are in groups – because their appearance and language are different (I'm guessing that you're asking the question from somewhere in the West.) Caucasians sometimes also travel in herds, but you're less likely to notice because they blend in (to an extent) with the locals and with other, individual tourists. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:11, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, memories of being in a warm port when the cruise ship pulled in. Suddenly, you are surrounded by a herd of Oklahoma ladies with blue hair, and all the prices go up by a factor of 10... --Zeizmic20:47, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Another factor is that Japanese people tend to take very short holidays (even worse than Americans in this respect). Therefore, they try and pack as much as possible into that time, and having a tour guide take you to what you want to see saves time and hassle. --Robert Merkel04:13, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I have done a lot of budget solo travelling and the places I stayed at usually attract other solo travellers. They were mostly Germans, USians, English, Dutch, Canadians, Aussies and Kiwis (roughly in that order). There are many other travelling nationalities, but they seem to spend more money in less time. That almost automatically means taking tours, as Robert pointed out.
Speaking of Japanese herding, I noticed that at a specific tourist restaurant in Amsterdam, that Japanese package touirists frequent, that they don't seem to take much note of other pedestrians, getting in their way. So I once decided to just walk on and bump into one. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed there was no reaction. I suppose that in a crowded country it is more normal to get into each other's way and bump into each other. No offence was meant nor taken on either part. DirkvdM06:14, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Because you think they're different, so you notice them in herds more. There's a lot of American tour groups in China, but should I then think of them as travelling in herds as well? ColourBurst13:40, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Proving it's happening now
{{spoiler}}
In Miami Vice, the bad guys kidnap Trudy and then telephone her boyfriend. Before they let Trudy speak, first they play the current TV weather forecast "to prove it's happening now". Upon hearing this, the cops immediately conclude it's really happening now. Why? What's to stop them from first playing a live TV broadcast and then a recording of Trudy's voice? AFAIK they would have to have Trudy recite something said in the weather forecast to really prove it's happening now. JIP | Talk15:06, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I see what you mean, but I don't like "suspension of disbelief" being used as a blanket justification for every plot hole I see. If "suspension of disbelief" is by definition explanation enough, then how come, in the film, the cops didn't magically read Trudy's and the bad guys' minds, teleport to their hideout, and knock them out with their superhuman strength? JIP | Talk16:16, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Likewise, when Castro died and they showed him holding up the daily paper to "prove" he was still alive, how did anyone fall for that? Have they not heard of photoshop? Fidel Castro Photoshop contest... --Mary
If you don't like 'suspension of disbelief' being used as an excuse to cover every lame plot hole, I strongly suggest you stop going to see Hollywood movies. Especially action movies. DJ Clayworth19:43, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I prefer a "partial suspension of disbelief". That is, if a movie features something like a time machine, I don't question that. However, when somebody shoots at a car and what appears to be a low yield thermonuclear explosion results, it's time to change the channel. StuRat04:51, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I sympathize. I've had a lot of trouble deciding how I want to handle truly ridiculous plot holes - Complain? Watch something else, even though that would seriously limit my options? Just pretend I don't notice? I especially hate it when people accuse me of "overthinking" things that were quite clearly not even "thought" about in the first place. Like that. Or like in Saw, when the guy cuts off his foot to reach a phone they'd gotten to without difficulty just moments before, with the exact same materials. The best thing I can come up with is to quietly hate the people who were too lazy or stupid to do it properly, and resolve to slap/punch/shiv/pistolwhip them if I ever pass them on the street. Black Carrot05:07, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Haha, yes to StuRat. The Simpsons has parodied this at least twice (stroller hit by car catches on fire; garbage can rolls into tree, explodes), so you know it's true. --zenohockey21:22, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Macroeconomics
I need a definition of supply and demand, plus an article containing supply and demand. Thanks—
Yeah. I keep wondering why the desks are so slow. Wikipedia gets a lot of traffic to articles but not really to the desk. Perhaps the desk is too hidden? --Proficient05:08, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It wasn't a slow day, someone just messed up the date headers, the day marked as "August 25" was really the first 5 hours of August 26th, and August 25 was in an unmarked section containing everything from August 21 to August 26. This has been corrected--VectorPotential71.247.243.17316:04, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Macroeconomics
help
Please state your full name and location, and what has happened. Is anyone in immediate need of medical assistance? JIP | Talk17:57, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Of course, assuming that no-one is injured, that there isn't a lawyer involved and no kangaroos are trying to tell you that Timmy has fallen down a well, it's just possible - and I'm going to stick my neck out here - that the article Macroeconomics might be able to help. DJ Clayworth19:41, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think it was an accidental use of the title of the question above, and he/she doesn't actually want help with macroeconomics. --Froth21:31, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I'm going through a tutorial on neural networks, and in one section we need to have a function that is differentiable, and we need to have its partial derivative. The text has an example, but what I'm confused about is whether the partial derivative shown is only for the specific function given, or if it is a general case.
The text says (where 't' is a little triangle symbol):
The function we will use is the sigmoid function:
1
t ----------
g(x) = 1 + e^(-x)
This function can be differentiated. Its partial derivative with respect to x, dg/dx, also written g', is
g'(x) = g(x) * (1 - g(x))
So is the second formula the case for any differentiable function, or just the sigmoid function?
By going to the Wikipedia Mathematics Reference Desk. I don't get it. You see a "Mathematics" and a "Miscellaneous" tab... and you got Miscellaneous??Evilbu19:20, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No, but I got used to url short-cuts, and accidentally presumed that WP:RD/M was for math, extrapolating from WP:RD/S for science. I greatly appologize for this mistake, and hope that you weren't irreparably damaged or traumatized by the use of math formulas on this page. For everyone else, thank you very much for your help. --Mary
I'm a mathie so I can handle it. To finish this problem, deriving the tanh function, well it depends on your definition of the goniometric functions. But are you familiar with the formula for taking the derivative of the inverse of a function?
omg EVILBU ur so mean!! om g I dunno what a goniometriciacaly function is please tell us evilbu and please derivise it for us so we can stand in awe of your euro-intellect . Jasbutal19:37, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Can someone tell me why I am mean?? I told the user that questions like these are supposed to be asked in the mathematics reference desk. Then I said that it depends on the given definitions (some authors define goniometric functions by starting with the arctangens, which is simply defined as the integral of its derivative). Calling me mean because I said something unclear or incomplete is one thing, but I find that "euro-intellect" comment far from friendly (Did you go to my userpage, and decided to do something "creative" with my "nationality"?)Evilbu23:28, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
brake pads
how much will it cost me to get a mechanic to replace two sets of brake pads on a 90's ford? looking for a ballpark figure.Jasbutal19:18, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
What kind of Ford? In what country? In what town? Seriously a five minute phone call would be a simpler way to find out this information. DJ Clayworth19:39, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The problem is, they almost never will replace just the pads..."Well, the rotors are warped, and need to be resurfaced, but that would mill them below specs, so they will need to be replaced, and you need new calipers, too. So, tell you what, just sign the title over to me and we'll call it even, OK ?". :-) StuRat04:40, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If I'm understanding you correctly, you want to use a colon (:) in front of the word "image" when you link it. For example [[:image:padlock.svg]] renders as image:padlock.svg instead of as an actual image. Hyenaste(tell)21:27, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
How many bells does the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris have, and were they operating at Christmas 1870 during the siege of Paris/Franco-Prussian war?
Many thanks,
Maja
Our article on the Notre Dame de Paris only mentions 1 bell. Have you tried the external links at the bottom of that article. One of the links will probably tell you more about the bell(s) or the period you're asking about. If all else fails, try to ask through the official site for the place. - Mgm|(talk)21:48, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The movie would've been too short(!) Perhaps he hasn't get enough explosives to get a hole in the plane, but enough to blow up a box? - Mgm|(talk)21:43, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
So he has access to enough venomous snakes to kill an entire flight of people but his gangster connections can't net him even the tiny volume of explosives required to cripple an airplane? --Froth21:50, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The attitude "don't question movies" annoys me greatly. It's poor writing, plot holes.
True. I'm not familiar with the plot of the film yet, but generally speaking the people with access to venomous snakes are different than those with access to explosives. - Mgm|(talk)08:24, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure why, but your comment has made me laugh more than any other tonight. Maybe it's because you were talking about "plot" and Snakes in a Plane at the same time. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 16:58, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Also to answer your question, he's some kind of mob boss or something, so I'd think he'd be able to get his hands on some explosives. In fact, he did, and he used them to blow up the snake cages to let them out --Froth14:38, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hi I was wondering if you could possibly help me Would anyone know the answer to this question? A sudden gold rush created a town faster than the law could order. Well over a hundred years later, legends born here have begun to appear in their prime, nationwide. Does anyone know the name of this town? Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you (email address removed)
I'm still trying to figure out what legends born here have begun to appear in their prime, nationwide means. But there were gold rushes in Australia, too. User:Zoe|(talk)15:31, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Realistically, how should the barrel of a rifle (M4) move during sustained automatic gunfire? In video games, such as Halo 2, automatic gunfire causes the gun to rise upwards. Why is that? Jamesino21:57, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The rifleing on the inside of the barrel causes the bullet to spin. This in turn causes the barrel to spin in the opposite direction. So it sort of twists in your hand. It also kicks backwards. The combination of the two makes the gun rise up as if trying to jump out of your hand. For guns without rifleing the gun kicks straight back with considerably more recoil. The video games have it basically correct. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn23:01, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Something inaccurate about many first-person shooters is that when you reload and still have some rounds inside your clip, only the amount of ammo inside the old clip is subtracted from your total ammo. For example, say you have the assault rifle in Halo: Combat Evolved, which has a 60-round clip. Pretend (this is theoretical) that you waste 30 bullets to kill an Elite, so you have 30 rounds left. If you are carrying 240 rounds total, you should notice that when you reload with these 30 bullets, you end up with 210 rounds left, instead 180 rounds left. I probably didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's just an interesting tangent. bibliomaniac1523:14, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'd be surprised if the spin imparted to the bullet caused any significant reaction in the gun - after all, the energy of spinning is very small compared to the forward energy of the bullet.
Also, the movement of the gun is more complicated than 'bullet goes forward, gun goes back'. The British LMG (Bren) for instance, pulls forward when fired. It depends, I think, on the mechanism of each particular gun, but an engineer could probably describe it best. Rentwa23:30, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Looking at this [[6]] it might appear that it just walks forward, depending on the gas ejection and the general spring constant. --Zeizmic23:51, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know, but it certainly does. I don't understand the science - I'm not an engineer, but I think the gun's behaviour is determined by its mechanism - or maybe significant masses of gas are moving around? Although I haven't used it, I'm told the Uzi Desert Eagle has almost no recoil - another mystery! Rentwa00:00, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Unless the shooter is pushing the gun forward, the gun will naturally move backwards. It has to! But see this.
Hey kiddies!- Thers no recoil when you fire a blank round,,,wait for it,,,so If you are in a fireing squad and your riflE kicks when fired, you just killed the guest of honour! BWA-HA-HA-ha hOBGOBLIN
The thing that bothers me is: on rifles with an anti recoil spring or mechanism, where does that momentum go? I guess the impulse is just smoothed out; all the momentum is finally transffered to the shooter, and if he doesnt move wrt earth, then the earth absorbs it. --Light current14:19, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Oh dear!
Veet Voojagig, was a quiet young student at the University of Maximeglon, who pursued a brilliant academic career studying ancient philology, transformational ethics and the wave harmonic theory of historical perception, and then, after a night of drinking Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters with Zaphod Beeblebrox, became increasingly obsessed with the problem of what had happened to all the biros he'd bought over the past few years.
There's some information at Recoil operation. Which I think has it correct with "When a projectile is accelerated down the barrel of a firearm, all or a portion of the firearm will begin to move in the opposite direction, as required for conservation of momentum,..." I don't think the spin of the bullet matters as you get a recoil with a shotgun as well. You can see recoil charts at Rifle Recoil Table and Shotgun Recoil Table plus pictures of recoil here. CambridgeBayWeather(Talk)18:45, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Many firearms "kick" by rotating upwards. Consider the reaction of the bullet departing as a vector relative to the center of mass of the weapon. The barrel is at the very top of most weapons so the shooter's eye can align the sights with the target (the rear sight being higher to allow for the fall of the bullet). Since the vector is above the center of mass, the gun "kicks" by the barrel rising after each shot. For some shoulder-fired automatic weapons like a Thompson submachinegun, the barrel would rise in each burst of fire. Some had a blast diverter to send some of the gases upward and counteract this tendency, IIRC. Edison04:08, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Not really. "There's nothing like a new car for enchantment" Oldsmobile ad in 1960. Olds 1958 industrial musical "Gotta get a car", etc. Rmhermen23:37, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
For some reason, a lot of British people seem to think that Americans don't (or didn't) use the word "car." We actually say "car" far more than we say "automobile." The latter word is used in more-formal contexts, probably like the word "motorcar" in British English. -- Mwalcoff00:04, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
because it is the more formal (as in found in writing). In US yellow pages, car always redirects to automobile. There might also be the distinction between car, suv, station wagon and truck whereas automobile covers all. Nowimnthing13:41, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Merriam-Webster says "automobile" and "car" are synonyms. Americans also use "motor vehicle" in formal contexts to refer to the class of vehicle that includes cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc. -- Mwalcoff22:25, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Merriam Webster is right and wrong. To specify ALL vehicle possibilities the word Vehicle would be used. However automobile can be used for a car, van, suv or light truck. Don't get me started on Truck (lorry) vs Truck (minivan with short bed attached). --DarkfredTalk to me23:40, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
'Automobile' literally means 'moves by itself'. Both that and 'motor vehicle' could refer to a motorised ship. 'Car' refers to something on (four) wheels. But then that could also refer to a horse-drawn cart. Or not? Anyway, If there is no logical solution I'd say go for the most used term, which is 'car'. Right? DirkvdM06:18, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Repeat after me: "Etymology is not meaning". As far as I know, 'automobile' has never, anywhere, been used for a ship - or, for that matter, for a train. What's logic got to do with vocabulary? ColinFine23:22, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
loch sheldrake, sullivan county, new york how deep?
i am a scuba diver used to live in sullivan county, ny.......i have never dived in loch sheldrake, ny and im curious how deep is this mysterious lake? thank you..signed r van loan
I propose deleting the above 7 questions apparaently serving no purpose other than implied criticism of some user names. Objections?--Light current00:35, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My ex-girlfriends who worked as strippers used to get their clothes from the local mall most of the time. They were normally bikinis or short dresses. Though it depends on the stripper. If they were more into leather and such, that might be harder to find. Dismas|(talk)06:16, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
When I went to Google Earth, I notice that on Portugal, there are highways on the map saying "A8", "A15" and "N45". Are these the names of the highway in Europe?
It depends on the country of course. Our article on Portugal has nothing, while Transport in Portugal only gives the total length of all Portugal's main roads.
In many countries, N signifies a national road, A and B indicate main roads and secondary roads respectively, while some other letter ("M" in the UK and "A" in France indicates highways. Some countries (eg Ireland) use N for highways. --Howard Train03:01, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The "A" designations mean auto-estrada (expressway or motorway). Many of these are also part of an IP (itinerário principal/main route) or IC (itinerário complementar/complementary route). Some of these roads may also have "E" designations, which are European routes. By the way, I created stubs for A8 and A15 not too long ago. http://www.aeatlantico.pt/index.asp has info. on Portuguese about these two highways. --Nelson Ricardo02:25, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Is there a website I can look on that will give me the history of my house? It's a fairly old house and I was just wondering if it has some history to it. It located in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. thanks for the help
I agree with Light Current, but you could try Googling the first line or two of your address just in case. You might also bear in mind that most older houses in England started out with names rather than numbers. Also check out http://www.old-maps.co.uk --Shantavira08:38, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Don't forget the Web has only been around for 15 years or so; it's unlikely that the history of your house is on a website unless you put it there. Try this BBC site for a guide to researching the history via old records. Best of luck! Tonywalton | Talk08:50, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My suggestion would be to ask your solicitor to obtain a copy of your title deeds from the Land Registry. You should already have seen these when the conveyancing was being done on your behalf by him/her at the time you purchased or mortgaged the property, but it may be that in the latter case, s/he has simply bypassed you and lodged the documents back with them once the deeds were modified and completed. I think you will be amazed with the information contained therein. My pal in Scotland makes an extremely good living researching old title deeds on behalf of solicitors acting for buying/selling clients, and as he has a good command of Latin and also Old Scots, his services are very much in demand. Good Luck.
I was searching for the word "cabron" a american spanish swear word to find out exactly what it means. Instead I was routed to the "Carbon" page, which has nothing to do with it.
I apologize but I'm not quite as familiar with the innards of Wikipedia to fix this, although I am a user for some time now.
Yes I removed the redirect, (as it happens leaving a blank page). I thought this page might hsave been populated by Mr Hartov. Anyway It should go in Wiktionary.
--Light current01:57, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not so sure it was a bad redirect: Are most people who type "cabron" into English Wikipedia looking for "carbon" or a Spanish swear word ? StuRat04:12, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If the word has a meaning in another language which is well-known, it shouldn't be a redirect. Usually we don't do redirects for typos (common mispellings, sometimes, but not typos). --Fastfission15:13, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
We're an English encyclopedia. It makes far more sense to redirect to something that could easily be misspelled than to redirect to something else. Besides, I don't recommend linking to other projects as it hinders the page being used for something else. If you want a dictionary definition, go to Wiktionary. Even better, if we keep it empty, the automated box that appears will suggest searching in multiple other projects. - Mgm|(talk)08:20, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
"cabron" means "goat" (technically male goat; a female is "cabra"). Colloquially it can be used affectionately ("how you doing, you old goat") or as an insult ("get out of my lane you stupid goat"). The difference is all in the delivery, so don't use it with a stranger who might misinterpret what you mean. Worse, I think in some latin american countries it mean cuckold. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk14:54, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
os crucis
I have a book which mentions the "os crucis" as being the same as "kreuzbein", which is apparently also "os sacrum"??
Assuming you mean the bone in the pelvis, apparently it is the kreuzbein or os sacrum. "Os crucis" is a literal translation of "kreuzbein", while "os sacrum" is not, so I guess that is why they call it that. Adam Bishop06:19, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
ordering checks online
is it safe to order checks online from a third party that is not my bank? (i.e. is it safe to reveal all my personal info. and my routing/bank # to these check printing companies) Jasbutal05:05, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Why on earth would you order checks (or cheques) from anyone other than your bank? I would only do this if your bank had specifically told you that it was OK to order checks from this company. Otherwise don't touch it with a bargepole. Your pretty checks will be useless if your account has been emptied. DJ Clayworth16:00, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
(At least in the US) the bank is perpetrating a fiction if it pretends its cheques are magically more "authorised" or "secure" than are those printed by others (a fiction from which it profits, as bank cheques are generally more expensive than those printed by a cheque printing company). In reality a cheque is just a piece of paper with your name written on it and some banking numbers (generally printed with MICR, but at least in theory handwritten would do, if you could presuade someone to actually take the cheque). All that you (or anyone) needs to have to make more cheques is an existing cheque (the cheque printing companies generally want payment by cheque, and they use the payment cheque to obtain the details and as basic verification that the account exists). There's no additional danger from Jasbutal ordering his cheques this way; anyone who has received a cheque from him could use the same information to manufacture a new cheque. As long as the sequence numbers don't take a huge jump (or repeat) the bank will honour the cheque just as it would one they've printed themselves. Now you'll be wondering "so what's all that security printing on the cheque for then?", and honestly I recon it's for decoration. With the passage of Check 21 Act every major corporation digitises your cheque and shreds it; having had to trace a cheque problem (caused by the bank's incompitence) the quality of these digital captures is pretty poor (you certainly can't see the security printing at all; I could barely read my own writing). Personal experience shows that banks will happily pay cheques into the wrong account (despite the payee account being written on the back), deposit unsigned cheques, cheques with amounts that differ in the numbers field and the written part, or will just deposit a different amount than the payer wrote. These are all elementary mistakes made by innocent cheque writers, and should all have been caught by even the most elementary checking procedure - if they don't catch these they're not going to catch even basic forgeries and reworked cheques, never mind Frank Abignale. I have a nice Sesame Street chequebook (I pay taxes using the Oscar the Grouch cheques) and the only ones who ever rob me are the bank. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk16:54, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Nothing I said above was in any way related to the security of the cheques themselves, it was to do with the unbelievable high risk involved in giving your bank account details to anyone you are not completely sure about. DJ Clayworth17:28, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You don't give them any more bank details than you give anyone to whom you send a cheque. Indeed, many of the online printers will happily not put your address on it, an idiotic practice still common to many US banks' own cheques. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk18:52, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It sounds like the publisher messed up. They changed their publication schedule for that book but forgot to alter the date inside. Theoretically, someone could now reprint their material, give it a 2006 date, and claim prior copyright. But otherwise the date is irrelevant: stuff is automatically copyrighted as soon as it first appears.--Shantavira07:44, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This is very rare, and is indeed probably a mistake. The opposite used to happen sometimes with pornography. By putting a publication date many years in the past, the publisher hoped to convince anyone planning to prosecute them that it all happened so long ago you'd never find the relevant people. Notinasnaid08:37, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Crediting a fictional printer in Amsterdam or Paris was also common, though not so much for porn as for political/religious texts. Shimgray | talk | 14:40, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I asked a friend, and he claimed a lot of things (cars were an example) are dated a year off, for no other reason than that that's the way it's done. Any thoughts? Black Carrot03:56, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I need help answering the following question,
Which approache is more relevant to the development process of developing countries
-the IMF or World Bank approaches to the strutural Adjustment Programme.
I have a 58cm LG pure-flat CRT. I'm looking at upgrading to an 80cm Magnavox curved CRT for $500. Wise or foolish? What are the disadvantages of Magnavox, and of a curved screen? Will this TV be better or worse than my LG one?
Are you sure you want a CRT at all ? Plasma and LCD screens are rapidly coming down to a competitive price with CRTs, and are much better in many respects. StuRat13:08, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
yeah, for the $500 price range you could get a 20"-30" widescreen HDTV like this one [7]. The benefit of curved screen used to be that you could see the screen from a wider angle than flat screens, but that has changed with technology and there should be little difference now. Now the advantage is with flat as they offer a more film-like experience. Nowimnthing13:25, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Don't you have that the wrong way around? When viewed from an angle, a curved screen distorts the 'other end' more. DirkvdM06:40, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Note: this is $500 AUD, which is around $300 USD. I'm looking more into large screens than HD ones, 480p/576p is enough for me; and 4:3 is actually preferable as I watch older TV shows and video games. It's just in my bedroom, so I'll be close to directly in line with it at all times. What do you mean by "a more film-like" experience, though?
Can anyone identify the artist of this song?
The song name, both in its filename and the track name that shows up in Winamp, is 'Neapolitan'. It has no attached artist or album name, and a Google search for 'neapolitan' was totally useless because of the number of other neapolitan things out there. Wikipedia appears to have no article about the song, so it's either non-notable or was mislabelled.
I'm not very good at describing music, but most of the lyrics are sung clearly and the singer is clearly male. There's not a lot of accompanying music, but it picks up in the chorus.
A portion of the lyrics are as follows:
When the waitress walked by
She must have caught his eye
And at that moment, he was mine
A little sleight of hand, and I had poisoned his bowl of Neapolitan
What else can I say man [chuckle]
Enjoy your ice cream
Murder is such an ugly word [But/I'll] use another if you so prefer
Me, I like to call it art
Art is its own reward
Just ask buttwad
Years of livin' in the shadow of the bat
But we'll come back to that
Right now let's roll this little [memo/pebble] out to the big boss
Next time you think I'm goin' soft
Send some punk to knock me off
Here's a reminder, you fuckin' hind-grinder
With a cherry on top
Is this enough? I'd rather not transcribe everything now (particularly the apparently-nonsensical chorus), but I will if I need to.
Furk1113:42, 29 August 2006 (UTC)What does the Hyundai service manual say on how to lubricate a 2004 XG350L Hyundai?eg.Where are the grease fittings located?what else should be checked routinely?etc.Furk11[reply]
I ve been suffering from what I think is trapped wind (abdominal) on my recent wikiholiday, where I ve been doing a bit of walking. I only seem to get this quite inconvenent condition when I do walk. I can only walk a bit then I have to find a public convenience again (or sit down to let the pressure subside). I did mention this to the doc once when I was on some medication that didnt agree. Any ideas as to what it could be, how to prevent it. Please do not suggest flying a kite! 8-)
--Light current16:39, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds as though you picked up a local bug, and these are sometimes difficult to avoid. Even a simple change of diet can have this effect. Try drinking bottled water rather than from the tap, make sure all you food is cooked thoroughly, and avoid takeaways.--Shantavira17:49, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If you're female, this might be an ovarian cyst (which can resemble gastric pain). I suggest you see a doctor (I'm no doctor). Durova19:15, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Does this only happen when you go walking (and so might be associated with other things you do then, like drinking), or when you walk any distance generally? Because you mention drink, and that can do weird things to some people's insides. Gas or constipation etc. Skittle20:26, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. When on holiday I usually drink large quantities in the evening. I also eat more than at home. I then go walking a few miles and this gas thing (its not diarrhoea) almost cripples me until I get rid of it. But half an hour after getting rid (so to speak) its the same thing again!--Light current20:30, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Mythbusters TV show investigated various supposed causes of flatulence. Swallowing air for whatever reason or consuming carbonated beverages can produce gas, as can consumption of cruciform vegetables or beans. If you're outdoors, why not relieve the pressure? Edison14:02, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Because it is not totally gaseous in some instances! 8-( Carbonated beverages such as lager are probably the answer, but why does the effect last so long (ie >12 hrs delay), unless the CO2 is stored in the body some how!--Light current16:24, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
european university applications
I'm an American looking to get a Ph.D. in engineering in europe. what standardized tests (if any) do they require on applications (norway specifically). Jasbutal16:43, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Serious question - do mainly Muslim countries manufacture their own toilet paper, or do they import it? If the latter, where from predominantly? Thanks.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.93.21.101 (talk • contribs)
Indonesia is the biggest predominantly Muslim country and they've got toilet paper. Also, they have plenty trees (not for long if they keep it up, though), so the means to manufacture it, plus the size for a sufficiently large market. So I'd be surprised if they didn't manufacture most. Many other predominantly Muslim countries are located in deserts and may not have enough trees (or am I exaggerating now?). That said, water isn't abundant in deserts either, so I'm a bit puzzled. I thought they traditionally used sand (ouch!), which the toilet paper article also mentions, but not specifically for Muslims/desert people. DirkvdM06:59, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
"Why is there a watering can in the bathroom?" "Well Muslims don't use toilet paper..." I didn't question any further, but I had a "he doesn't know how to use the three seashells!" moment. Adam Bishop15:08, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Apparently the ancient Roman soldiers used a sponge on a short stick (or is it s**t stick- not sure). THe sponge was then rinsed in running water. Actually I thing this is a good idea-- saves paper!--Light current16:30, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Need website that is possibly infringing on someone's copyrights.
As part of my assignment, I need a website that is possibly infringing on someone's copyright. Provide the URL of the site. I have to state why I believe the website might be in violation of copyright law. Thanks!
Search flickr for the name of a famous person (an actress or model) and you'll find lots of copyright problems. Similarly search youtube for the names of a famous TV show (e.g "Desperate housewives") and you'll find plenty of unauthorised clips. Or (for extra credit) discuss the many copyright problems at WP:COPY. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk18:14, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I have downloaded and installed the Adobe Photoshop CS2 30 free trial from www.adobe.com and the 30 days has been used up. Is there someway that I can uninstall photoshop and re-download and install it to use it again for 30 days? I have tried this, but photoshop must have installed some files in my computer that tells it that I have used the 30 days trial already. What do I have to delete in order to re-use the trial? Thanks Jamesino17:46, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And GIMP also runs on both msWindows and Linux, which Photoshop doesn't. However, it seems to lack the many keyboard shortcuts that I love so much about Photoshop. DirkvdM07:08, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Back in 1999, Nokia offered a 30-day free trial version of their WAP gateway. I found the trial period could be extended indefinitely by simply turning back the system clock. JIP | Talk19:13, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm going to take a stab at this - from the context I've seen it used, (as in: "firm has an annual fee turnover of 30 million pounds"), I'm going to guess it's similar to profit, or possibly revenue more likely, but I can't be entirely certain. That term appears to change regularly depending on what you look at. Tony Fox(arf!)21:03, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The way you phrased that question leads me to believe that this is a homework question or similar. Most emphatically, do your own homework!!! With love, Hyenaste(tell)18:18, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Looks more like a pub quiz question to me. Homework is not normally a puzzle like this. Don't know, though. --Tagishsimon(talk)
What makes you think that? (Sorry, misread what you'd written). Most mediaeval architects drew detailed plans, although these have rarely survived. Warofdreamstalk00:38, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
'Design' and 'without any plans' seem to contradict each other. In shipbuilding no plans were used for a long time because simply stating the type of ship and its size were enough for the shipbuilders to go by. I can imagine (don't know) that for the details the same was true in building churches, but the overall plan had to be more specific because it was less of a routine job and churches differed more. Although some Scottish (I believe) church was taken as the basic plan for many churches. Or was that monasteries? Sorry, vague memories. DirkvdM07:23, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Shouting & damaged hearing
Why do so many people (esp young ones) shout at high volumes when conversing when they are only a few feet apart. Have they all got damaged hearing or are my ears now super sensitive? --Light current20:12, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Increasingly many young people suffer from noise-induced hearing loss, not only from rock-music concerts and discothèques, but also from iPods. See Hearing impairment. The proclivity to using a loud conversational tone is culture-dependent, but particularly prominent in the United States. While auditory sensitivity in the sense of acuity of hearing declines with age, there is a little-understood tendency for the psychological sensitivity to increase: older people complain more about noise, possibly because it actually bothers them more. While several people have raised this as a hypothesis, as far as I'm aware the cause of the diminished tolerance has never been investigated. --LambiamTalk21:54, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Strangely enough, I agree with all of the above replies (esp #1). I actually find loud conversation etc painful altho' i play in a band and listen to other band (admittedly somtimes with earplugs)--Light current02:15, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Lambiam is right about there being a cultural factor about conversational volume. Western culture - (I use the term deliberately, as I doubt that the problem is particular to the USA; it is certainly the case in Australia and, from Light current's question, in the UK as well) - seems to be changing from one where conversations were kept private between the people involved in the conversation, to one where they are nowadays generally regarded as public. Well, that's how they're perceived by the hapless bystanders, office co-workers, or the captive audience on public transport, who have no choice but hear whatever the talkers are talking about. Once, you would only have heard what other people were talking about if they particularly wanted you to hear them, or if they didn't know you were eavesdropping; now, people generally seem to neither know nor care who overhears them - and the more the better, apparently. In an office, people applied the Golden Rule by keeping their conversations to a minimum volume, out of respect for their co-workers who were trying to concentrate on something else. The same rules applied in public transport or in restaurants. Despite endlessly chanting the "what goes around comes around" mantra, which is the same concept packaged slightly differently, people seem to have little or no regard for the Golden Rule any more. But apart from that, I don't understand what has happened to the "embarrassment factor" (for want of a better term) that should apply when you're talking about private and personal matters. One factor leading to overly loud speaking is the design of mobile (cell) phones - the mouthpiece is not as close to the mouth as it was on the traditional handset, so even though people know that the technology can pick up their voice regardless of the distance, they are at a psychological disadvantage so they feel the need to shout rather than just speak at a normal volume. The people who are bothered most by these phenomena are those who cannot switch off one sound in amongst various sounds. In fact, most people cannot do this very well, if at all. Those who, like myself, grapple with "recruitment" (we don't have an article on this, strangely), have to allow for this and keep their criticisms of conversational loudness in perspective. But even allowing for recruitment, tinnitus, and a significant high frequency hearing loss, I can still sometimes quite clearly hear people conversing 200 yards away from me. That cannot be put down to anything other than shouting. So, back to square one and Light current's question. Why do they shout? Clearly, their level of self-awareness is extremely low. While the world has become a lot more aware of itself, individuals have become so enmeshed in world-awareness that they have ceased to be aware of how unaware they are that they are unaware. JackofOz03:22, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I don't remember having noticed this elsewhere, so maybe it's a Dutch thing, but right wing ('neoconservative') people here have a tendency to speak in very loud voices. One of my sisters has moved to such circles through her husband and picked that up, so now when I talk to her on the telephone I keep it some distance away from my ear to avoid hearing damage (well, pain, actually). DirkvdM07:31, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
A similar recent trend is to play music using a mobile phone on public transport without any headphones! So the recent of the travellers are subjected to tinny rubbish at high volume!
I really do think tho that todays young people have actually got significant hearing loss due to loud discos rock concerts and esp walkmans or iPods
Also most older people have hearing loss thro a life time of exposure to loud (>80dB) noises. Its time some laws were brought in otherwise well all be deaf.--Light current16:35, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Wikicharts?
I came across a YTMND that had a "Wikichart" on it. This was the list of the top searches on Wikipedia.
I haven't seen any changes in prices of cotton products or other agricultural products. Was there even a drought?? what gives. hey bush, I need some cash too, I was hit hard financially when my parents kicked my lazy ass otu the back door .
do you honestly expect a straight answer for this question? This is worse than light current's question what people call cars in the US. Jasbutal01:33, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
To provide a sensible answer to this, I would say that someone got a piece of string and fixed it at one point, then stretched it taut. That woud be straight. No kidding!--Light current02:09, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The oldest surviving man-made straight lines are probably irrigation ditches extending to the nearest river. While filled in with sediment long ago, the trenches can still be found, with a bit of excavation. StuRat03:33, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Light travels in a straight line, so it is quite handy to use for this purpose. I mean you can see when something is straight and when it's not. I think to get a better answer you need to ask a clearer question. For example, do you mean how did the Romans build straight roads?--Shantavira07:15, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Do you mean "who drew the first straight line and what tool did they use for it"? Drawing probably predates rock paintings by a fair bit (in sand or such) and drawing a straight line without a ruler isn't that difficult. What do you mean by a straight line? No line is ever perfectly straight (except for light maybe unless you look at it at a quantum scale). But this reminds me of questions I used to ask myself like "how do you make a straight ruler if you don't yet have anything that is straight?". I suppose that's a matter of getting ever closer to perfection.
As to how to make a straight ditch - put two people at the two ends, let someone with poles move from one to the other, getting directions from the others how to keep in line with them. Or just use a long rope between the two points, pull it taut and go 'dzingggg', leaving a mark on the ground. DirkvdM07:43, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
They do say that the first straight line, the first wheel, the first shoe, the first board game, and the first alloy, were all invented by a guy called Ug. We really should have an article about him.--Shantavira08:51, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It's not indicated in that recipe, but I find that a lot of the sweeter/not-so-spicy curry here (including school lunches and most omuretto rice stores) includes crushed pineapple. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 16:24, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Most curries include ingredients which are relatively difficult to use. Professionals usually blend the spice mix by taste, as age and water content differences cause batches to come out wildy dissimmilar when mixed by volume. Find a roux mix you like and order it online. Or you can purchase a concentrated indian curry paste and adapt it to japanese style by using pineapple juice, honey, starch and a little soy sauce. --DarkfredTalk to me16:43, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Publish Poor Customer Service
Under the Wikipedia Customer Service article there's a website here which seems to be the only one I can find where I ( as a consumer of all my daily worldly goods and services ) can rate / complain / publish poor customer service perceptions and evidence that I come across. I am irritated with Toshiba for what I perceive at their poor after sales customer service for the laptop PC that I bought, but after looking in Wikipedia and a lot of Googleing (is that the word?) I cannot find what I hoped should already be out there.
The rate-them.org site seems to be only for local services (restaurants, dry-cleaners, etc...) in the USA. I am looking for a global site that references global brand names. Companies such as Toshiba, and for that matter, Ford, HSBC, Carrefour, Dell etc.., these guys sell themselves all over the world on their global brand image for their products. There's nothing localised about it, so I hoped that there should be a website where I can post what I want to post so as to get the anger out of me. Of course, I could complain directly to the big company Toshiba, but such a website as I am looking for would make more of a change in the right direction than me receiving a stock letter reply from some overworked and underpaid Toshiba customer services employee.
Where are these websites that I seek, and how to find them ?
I understand that, if there are none of these out there, the reason may be cited of "legal reasons" (i.e. fears of litigation by the big companies against "trouble makers letterbox" websites). But blogs don't seem to suffer from such litigation problems (at least not as yet). And bittorrent websites, which are of dubious legality in many jurisdictions, seem to exist without to much fear of such litigation - be they hosted in western-world-litigation-non-friendly countries such as Romania or Russia. Such websites could also be structured in their data entry forms to force evidence as to the alleged complaints, so as to prevent spam and frivilous postings.
The point being is that there are no death-knell reasons that I can see why such websites as I seek do not exist ?
Any help out there please ? Someone savvy take on this project if there isn't anything in existance, and I will gladly donate a bit of cash to help get the ball rolling.
Thanks to all who ponder this posting. I feel better already..... Anon.
Hmm, I wonder if a Wiki project could be used, say "WikiConsumer" ? Logging individual complaints would be easy, but gathering statistics (like average customer rating) in a reliable way (so it can't be falsified by the company) would be trickier. Perhaps a format more like RateMyTeachers.com would be in order. StuRat10:39, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
What I've done is find a blog dedicated to the product that scores high with Google, and then I've put in an anonymous comment. For example, iRobot Scooba only comes with a very stinky cleaning solution. I found a very good substitute. --Zeizmic15:36, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Which countries accepting asylum, if we apply from another country? I mean, without entering that territory can i file an asylum in any country?
You'll need to contact an embassy or consulate of the country to which you wish to apply for asylum. They should have procedures in place for such a request. --Canley07:13, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Mr.Canley... Are you sure that they will take me as refugee if i go an Australian Embassy in my country?
No, Canley can't be sure because he doesn't know which country you are from and on the basis of what reason you're trying to get asylum. - Mgm|(talk)07:36, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Mr.MacGyverMagic.. I born in India and I live here..But Nowadays here its a bad situation for me to live here. thats why i want to go any country that i can live safely..and i have only 24 year old.
You will need to convince the Australian government that you are persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in your country. Is your case documented? Australia may not be as bad as Japan, but it is not known for receiving refugees with open arms. Also, if you are presently not in the country where you are persecuted, most countries that honour the right of asylum require that you first apply in other countries that you have visited since leaving your own country. In any case, the consulate or embassy should be able to tell you what the rules are. I'd try the consulate first.--LambiamTalk07:48, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
This sounds like a very serious inquiry. I suggest consulting an attorney if you can: if not, then contact the consulate for Australia or whatever other country you seek: embassies deal with government relations, consulates handle individual matters. If you're free to post the details on Wikipedia you might get more specific advice, but that might not be safe (depending on your situation) and it looks like you need expert advice. Durova16:26, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Phi Nu Pi.....
I Am Trying To Find Out About A Particular Organization. I Am Trying To Find Out About An Organization Named Phi Nu Pi. I Also Would Like To Know Its Relationship To Another Organization Named Kappa Alpha Psi And Whether Or Not Phi Nu Pi Still Exist To This Day. If You Could Help Me Or Tell Me Where I Can Find More Information About This Organization Please Let Me Know. Thank You!
I founD severaL referenceS linkingG kappA alphA psI tO phI nU pI, buT nonE particularlY cleaR. onE pagE listS thE founderS oF kappA alphA psI undeR thE headinG: "thE founderS oF phI nU pI": [10]. --LambiamTalk08:24, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If I were a bank, and I operated one of those voice-mail-hell, get your account balance thingies, I would never, ever, allow Voip connections. --Zeizmic15:33, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
River Willow
I have been told by a Native American that river willow can be used to make peace pipe stems. I cannot seem to find a picture of river willow or a location. Can you tell me where it can be found growing in New York State, or even a place where it can be purchased? Thank you.
24.39.110.2712:31, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If someone copies articles or parts of articles from a source like Time or The Boston Globe and then posts that material on a personal website without express permission of the source, can a link to that personal website page count as a reference source for a Wikipedia article? Are there copyright issues involved? Flinders14:27, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
no, because there is no way to know that the site is reprenting the newspaper accuratly. However the newspaper can be cited even if the article is not posted online. Jon51314:32, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You have two questions there—one is about Wikipedia's citation policy, another is about copyrights. On the copyright issue—no, there is no copyright issue for you to link to someone else's page, even if the page may be a copyright violation (it is their copyright violation, not yours). (There are some circumstances in which linking to someone else's copyright violation could implicate you—i.e. the Grokster scenario—but in the cases of articles, probably not.) On the citation issue—it depends. If the site looks reliable and there is no reason to doubt it, it could serve as a proxy for the source itself, though ideally one would want to check it against the original. How much one would want to trust another site depends on the issue at hand, of course — for anything really controversial I'd want to be very careful, but in many cases that level of suspicion is unnecessary. --Fastfission14:52, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I usually like to use university and gov't sources. Newspaper articles tend to disappear. However, if somebody has made a big effort, such as archiving articles about Katrina, or Boston's Big Dig, then that web site could be cited in the External Links section. --Zeizmic15:01, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
How do I find material from specifications mentioned on drawings?
I have recently come accross drawings, presumably in German. The material specifications are as - 1.0718K; 1.0401 etc. How can I find equivalent material available in India. You can contact me on (email address redacted)
The weirdest numbers I've come across in drawings is for the type of steel, and the type of cross-section for steel beams. Every country has their own standards for these things, and these tend to come in big thick books that you can't get on the Internet. Have fun. --Zeizmic16:28, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Name of that Song
There's this song sang a few years ago by an african american singer, it's a Pop song and is frequently featured on the Family Channel. The lyrics goes something like this:
A little bit of Mickey's all I need,
A little bit of monica's all i need,
A little bit of (name) is all I need,
etc...
That's roughly how the lyrics goes. I tried searching for it on lyrics engines, but I am unable to find the name of this song. It's an upbeat and lively song. Does anyone know the name of this song? Jamesino15:40, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
For the sake of a discussion elsewhere, If you're not from the US, without looking it up, do you know what 'area51' is? (And if you do, don't tell - yet). DirkvdM17:11, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Jonas Roberts, "Eames-era" 1950s stoneware designer
I am looking for any information on Jonas Roberts. Here is a response from an online seller who had some of his pieces: "I believe Jonas Roberts was one of those 'Eames era' designers back in the 1950s whose work was done by a company akin to Mikasa of Japan. The stoneware line the company produced was called "cerastone" -- stoneware with a finished ceramic-like glaze." I'm not looking for Jonas Roberts items to buy--a quick search usually turns up plenty on ebay and other places--but any other information (biographical, critical, etc.) would be very welcome. Thank you for your efforts!
I was going to write an article on <font"24>BEN UJCICH, <font"12">a kid I know. He's cool, he does stuff that's important. How do I start it?
The first thing to do is, based on the guidelines at WP:BIO, to make sure that he actually "does stuff that's important". If he's just a kid you know, though, I'm guessing that he won't meet said guidelines. Perhaps he should have a page on MySpace? — Lomn | Talk21:53, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
He draws things that are really cool and he is very smart. He also knows the brother of a special effects man.
Architectural Terms
We have been asked by a client to create an ahombria arch. 1st I'm not sure if that is the correct spelling, and 2nd we'd like to get a history preferably with picture or resource.
Thank you, Denise
Perhaps they mean the Alhambra? There are several images in the article. Some are typical Roman arches, others are somewhat more distinctive. . Durova20:48, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In my family there is a card game which we all love to play, but unfortunately none of us can remember its proper name or proper rules. I have tried looking it up on Google, but the closest I can find is "Spades", but that's not too related. I was hoping that if I explained the rules of the game someone would perhaps recognise it and link to the official rules. Anyway, here goes...
The game can be played with anywhere from two to five players, if you want to play it to its fullest extent, and is played with a standard pack of 52 playing cards, minus the jokers. There are nine rounds, and in the first each player is dealt ten cards (and thus five players being the maximum amount if all rounds are to be played), in the second, nine, in the third, eight, and so on. The remaining cards are not used, but top card is turned over to find out which suit is trumps. Starting from the dealer's left, each player takes it in turn to bid how many tricks he or she will win or take. However, the total amount of tricks proposed to be taken by all the players cannot equal the amount of cards dealt to each player. So, for example, if four people are playing, eight cards are dealt, and the bidding has gone 1, 3, 3, the fourth player cannot bid one. Each player receives a point for each trick he or she makes, and if they make as many tricks as they bid, they receive an added bonus of ten points. In each round, players are to follow the suit lead if possible, and the highest card played wins the trick. If a trump is played the highest trump wins.
... so those are the basic rules of the game, aside from basic card-game rules like what trumps are etc. I hope this is enough information to work with. Thanks in advance, --Zooba22:14, 30 August 2006 (UTC).[reply]
THis is not meant to be offensive to any one. But is it possible for people to become admins and then do nothing. If so, do they then get desysopped?--Light current22:24, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
