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November 6

Microwaving Pritt Stick

Hi, this is a very random question but it's because I was having a conversation about it and we were merely speculting on the answer. What would happen to the gluey bit of Pritt Stick if you microwave it? I guessed it would turn into a hot clear viscous liquid, but I don't know. Any help you can provide is much appreciated. Thanks. 86.138.158.223 (talk) 01:18, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

My guess would be "not much". Microwaves only really heat liquids and Pritt Stick isn't liquid. It is pretty soft as solids go, though, so it is possible it would melt (I know glass will melt in a microwave if you heat it slightly to soften it - it's probably about as hard after being softened as Pritt Stick is). --Tango (talk) 01:21, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

[1] describes a glue stick exploding the in a microwave - I guess due to air pockets or just uneven heating (which microwaves are renowned for). --Tango (talk) 01:24, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't have thought it would cause a short circuit that blows fuses and ruins electronics (anything plugged in), as I've heard happening if an action figure like Gumby is placed in a microwave. Of course, I guess it depends on how long it's left in, too. (Before I read the article I thought you meant blowing up the microwave, not blowing up inside it.) Still, even if it didn't mkake the microwave explode, I'm surprised that more didn't short out. Of course, it may have been newer wiring, too.209.244.187.155 (talk) 01:55, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, the glue stick exploded, not the microwave - I've corrected my appalling grammar. --Tango (talk) 02:34, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life

It just aired on Cartoon Network in Australia, yet I can't find it uploaded on YouTube. The Shaymin movie was on YouTube almost immediately after it aired, so why isn't this movie uploaded and where can I find it online? --71.144.122.140 (talk) 13:00, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Tautological answer: it isn't online because nobody uploaded up. Why's that? There is no guarantee that anyone will upload commercial content (usually illegally) on the web immediately after something has aired. Whether something does end up on the web immediately (or at all) is no doubt a balance between interest, technical capabilities, and copyright enforcement. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:10, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

The previous movie was uploaded to YouTube almost immediately after it aired.

Do you know of anywhere that does have the movie uploaded? --71.144.122.140 (talk) 13:19, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

To be honest, it might be sometime before it is uploaded anywhere... If you really wanted to watch it again, perhaps check out the Pokémon website, and contact them about it. A quick email couldn't hurt. Letter ⁷ _{it's the best letter :)} 13:30, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

My sisters watch So You Think You Can Dance on YouTube, and the same user always posts the episodes after they air. Of course, he has to keep getting new accounts since they get closed down for copyright infringement, and they have to keep track of him somehow. So, you could start with finding the user that posted the earlier movie. —Akrabbim^talk 13:30, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

I suspect this is common—that the number of users who take the time (and have the know-how to do it) to upload any given movie or show are very few in comparison with the total number of viewers or potential audience. Uploading movies taken from the TV is not particularly difficult, but it is nowhere as easy as ripping/uploading an MP3 or even a DVD. (If I were a mean-ol' MPAA-like organization, I would target these users specifically, and/or the sites/software that make it easier to do so, and not worry about the downloaders so much.) --Mr.98 (talk) 14:28, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Again, that is illegal. Here's another suggestion, wait until November 20, 2009. It apparently airs in the United States on that date. Perhaps you could check YouTube, but there's no guarantee. Letter ⁷ _{it's the best letter :)} 13:33, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

We won't help you much with blatant copyright infringement on here, sorry. And just because it was uploaded once immediately after it aired does not mean that subsequent ones would be. You're talking about a sample size of 1 here—just because something happened once before does not in any way guarantee it will happen a second time. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:28, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

And there was I posting a warning because I thought someone had copied out some text from a site to Wikipedia. Bah! is what I say. I know where people posting complete episodes from television and having their accounts closed down can go jump. Dmcq (talk) 15:41, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Muslims

In the past, the Muslim world was the center of mathematical and scientific thought. In fact, Muslims invented such fields as algebra and chemistry, among others. Yet today, Muslim countries are among the most anti-intellectual societies on Earth, believing that math and science go against the will of Allah. What caused this enormous shift in thinking? --70.141.193.245 (talk) 17:54, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Does this qualify as a loaded question? TastyCakes (talk) 17:55, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

It's true that modern Muslim countries are very anti-intellectual. For example, Saudi Arabia has all but outlawed thinking. My question is, why has this significant change occurred? --70.141.193.245 (talk) 18:01, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

t takes a lot of math and science to build the tallest building in the world and a nuclear program... Adam Bishop (talk) 18:02, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

It does and it doesn't. Burj Dubai, like all big (non-military) construction jobs, is contracted out. If you look on the page for it, you'll see that the great majority of the companies are non-Arab (many are European and Asian). I don't know how the work is divided up, but either way, it's not like one has to "go it alone" on things of that nature. The Iranian nuclear program certainly demonstrates that even difficult technical feats can be accomplished by a state willing to fund it, and that Iran in particular has a well-developed engineering and scientific infrastructure. (This holds true even if one acknowledges that they received key help from other nations... as did, frankly, all nations with nuclear programs.) --Mr.98 (talk) 18:45, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, aside from the bullshit that muslim countries are anti-intellectual (they certainly don't hold a monopoly on anti-intellectualism), there certainly was a fundemental paradigm shift in the muslim world following the Siege of Baghdad in 1258. Baghdad was the cultural and philosophical capital of the Muslim world, the sack of Baghdad has been cited as the Muslim equivalent as the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in the West, the effects on the Muslim world in terms of decent into "so-called" dark ages is roughly equivalent. But the idea that modern Muslim countries are "more anti-intellectual" than countries of other cultures is bullshit; the idea that modern Islam as a faith is inherantly anti-intellectual is also bullshit. But there was a historical decline in scholarship in the Islamic world after the fall of Baghdad, so there is a nugget of truth in the question. However, ideas like "Saudi Arabia has outlawed thinking" shows such rediculous narrowmindedness I don't know where to begin in correcting the OP's rediculous prejudices. --Jayron32 18:08, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

He's from Missouri, which probably explains a few things. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:11, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

From Springfield, MO, no less. <<insert Simpsons related gag here>> ~~ Dr Dec (Talk) ~~ 18:36, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

I think we can say, however, that many Muslim nations have adopted very harsh laws restricting freedom of speech, access to education, and that the vast majority of the Muslim world lives in abject poverty. Such things are not generally a recipe for scientific innovation, but they are not all to lay at the hands of Islam specifically, but extreme religion more generally. Fundamentalist Christianity is not terribly favorable towards basic scientific research, either. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:48, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Many non-Muslim countries have done so as well; such restrictions on freedom are merely a symptom of an authoritarian governmental structure, and not a function of religion at all. There are muslim-majority countries, Turkey for example, where there is not any such authoritarianism. --Jayron32 18:55, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, I don't think one can totally disentangle the government structure from the religion (though obviously you would want to specify that "Islam" is as broad a category of viewpoints as "Christianity", and that both have their extremes) quite as easily as you would like to. Shi'a Islam is fairly straightforward on the types of governments which should follow from believers, which includes a strong authoritarian/theocratic element. Sunni Islam (like that dominant in Turkey) is more agnostic about the question of politics, as I understand it (see Islam and democracy). --Mr.98 (talk) 20:07, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

It's probably unfair to single out Islamic nations as "anti-intellectual". It's not that Islam was behind the rest of the world, but that for many centuries Europe was ahead of it (I am strictly speaking technologically here - I am fully aware of the cultural contributions of other civilizations). In the colonial period the nations of Europe were able to dominate most of the other civilizations they encountered, and were the equal of all. In short, Europe was the anomaly, not Islam. DJ Clayworth (talk) 20:13, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Let's stick to just answering the OP's questions and correcting his observations, and avoid calling him things like "rediculously [sic] narrowminded" and ridiculing his IP location. —Akrabbim^talk 20:25, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

There are, of course, arguments that different cultures and religions did affect the pace of science, long before the Europeans started colonializing in a significant degree. E.g. Joseph Needham famously argued that the Chinese culture of philosophical stability and the methods of advancement in governance boded ill for it actually using its technologies effectively, even though they were significantly ahead of the Europeans for many centuries (people have taken issue with this argument, of course, but it's not stupid). I don't know enough about the Islamic world to say much specifically on that topic, though. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:21, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

I don't know if there is an answer that fits on a bumper sticker. Here is an article that discusses the issue. All of this is terribly non-PC of course. (Btw, "Muslims invented algebra and chemistry" is a myth, see history of algebra and history of chemistry.) 88.112.58.122 (talk) 08:54, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The problem here is the distinction between an entire community of people ("Muslims") and some individual intellectuals within that society. While we know that the word "Algebra" comes from the title of a book written in 820 by some persian mathematician - that doesn't tell us much about Muslims in general in the first century. It might be that all of that society was galvanised by advances in math and science - much like Victorian England. Or it might be that there were just a handful of intellectuals who studied this field and came up with a few breakthroughs - while the rest of the population had no clue about or interest in math and science. I have yet to see proof either way.

I'm sure you can find a fair number of modern-day Muslims who are also responsible for breakthroughs in these areas. Abdus Salam for example - a practicing Muslim who won the Nobel prize in Physics for his work in Electro-Weak Theory in the 1970's. The reputation Muslims had back in the first century AD for this kind of progress might reflect only a relatively small number of individuals - comparable, perhaps, with the number working in these fields today. See List of Muslim scientists for many, many examples through the ages.

What I think is more significant is the nature of the entire body of society. There is no question that some (but not all) modern Muslim countries are rather hostile to the kind of modern educational systems that produces mathematicians and scientists. When you look at the modern era members of List of Muslim scientists - a large proportion of the ones recognised in the past 50 years are Muslims living in non-Muslim countries. In the past, that inattention to scientific education mattered little because a determined individual could be self-taught and still make breakthroughs that would change the world. But in our modern age, an individual with nothing more than a good intellect and a small number of books stands almost zero chance of doing that because there is so much more to learn - and all of the easy stuff has already been done. In the year 820, you could get an entire major branch of mathematics named after your book just by writing down the rules for making equations balance. Nowadays, you'd have to spend years of your life working on one narrow problem just to get a Theorem named after you!

To make progress these days, you have to stand on the shoulders of the giants who preceded you. Hence, without an educational system that strongly promotes and teaches these subjects, without access to large libraries, without computers and fast access to the Internet - it's going to become increasingly hard to turn out top class scientists and mathematicians - no matter how intelligent people are - no matter how enthusiastic they are for their subject - no matter how tolerant your society is of those activities.

But lest the western world become smug - remember, 44% of Americans believe that the world is less than 10,000 years old, 65% don't believe in evolution, 36% don't believe that global warming is a problem, 90%(!) of adult Americans are unable to add two fractions - even with the help of a calculator, 20% don't believe that men have walked on the moon. Science education is under assault from all directions. Things in Europe are not so bad - but there are signs that things are heading in the exact same direction (25% of Brits and 28% of Russians think the moon landings were a hoax).

In 50 to 100 years - will people in Japan be looking at America and Europe and say "In the past, the western world was the center of mathematical and scientific thought. Yet today, western countries are among the most anti-intellectual societies on Earth,"...I think we're seeing the start of a trend here.

SteveBaker (talk) 14:37, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Steve, I would like you to cite a source about the reputation of Muslims in the first century AD (500 years before the big M showed up :)

Steve, I know you're typically sketchy on citing sources, but do you have any for the dumb-Americans claims in the 2nd to last paragraph? Not that I'm doubting you or anything, but the citation would be useful. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:46, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Ditto to the above because I'm really interested in reading up more about this trend as well. Are those numbers from the book: Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future? Royor (talk) 16:54, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, there are plenty of sources - Google can be your friend. As far as I recall, these numbers came from:

• 44% of Americans believe that the world is less than 10,000 years old - comes from the book I'm reading right now - Richard Dawkins' The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution - quoting a 2008 Gallup poll.
• 65% don't believe in evolution - came from the same book (it happened to be handy next to my keyboard!). This number varies radically according to who you read - but this shows only 39% believe in evolution - this shows the number is much lower if you specify human evolution - just 15%. You can find numbers anywhere between those two extremes...pick whichever you want depending on precisely how you frame the question.
• 36% don't believe that global warming is a problem...I forget which web site I got this from - but a Google search turns up plenty of sources for this number or worse. But again, you see a range of numbers depending on precisely what you ask - this says only 15% accept that burning fossil fuels is the cause. This says only 35 percent describe it as "very serious". This says that only 57% say there is solid evidence for global warming. "Fewer than four-in-ten (36%) now say global warming is mostly caused by human activity such as burning fossil fuels,". Here is a graph showing the percentage of believers and disbelievers as a function of time.
• 90%(!) of adult Americans are unable to add two fractions - even with the help of a calculator. This was from a survey taken by Dallas ISD about 5 years ago - sorry I can't point to an online reference. I was surprised at the number at the time and I asked a bunch of people I know to add 2/3rds to 3/4ths - and very VERY few of them could do it - or even describe how to do it. An alarming number of people thought the answer was 5/7ths because that's (2+3)/(3+4). I went so far as to ask my son's math teacher to pose this question to parents who came to the high school open day - and it was amazing to see an entire roomful of Adults with absolutely no idea how to do this simple piece of arithmetic. Many said "I learned how to do that in school - but I've forgotten how."...argh! I now firmly believe the 90% figure (at least for people without calculators)...but it's pretty frightning.
• 20% don't believe that men have walked on the moon - came from a Fox TV show "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" which is a bit outdated from 2001. I believe that recent studies have found far worse figures - people are definitely getting worse on this one at time goes by.

SteveBaker (talk) 00:59, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Those "90% of people don't know how to do (random mathematical calculation)" are kind of misleading. 90% of people probably don't need to know how to add two fractions, except on their math tests when they are 12. Why do they need to know how to calculate the length of a hypotenuse? Or the area of a sphere? Who cares? Adam Bishop (talk) 03:13, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Hold on, he's not talking about something weird that nobody needs to do in real life; adding simple fractions is something Americans ought to be better at than most people as they still use those quaint fraction-based measurement schemes. Anyone who's had to add fractions of inches together should know how to add fractions together. Here in Canada, we could at least honestly say "Fractions?? What the fuck would I need to add fractions for, Yankee? Don't you guys still measure fuel efficiency using rods per hogshead or something? Gimme a decimal!" and so on. Or at least we would, if we weren't so nice. :-) Matt Deres (talk) 03:57, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Maybe, although we still do use imperial measurements for some things (do you know how tall you are in centimetres, or how much you weigh in kilograms? I don't!). But the only time I can imagine adding fractions is if I have to double a recipe that requires 1/3 or 1/4 or 1/2 cups. Adam Bishop (talk) 04:02, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

On a similar note, I'm often surprised by how many otherwise intelligent people believe that gravity is caused by the Earth's rotation.

Is the fraction thing a sign of "anti-intellectualism", though, or merely a demonstration that such skills tend to be lost by most people if they don't use them regularly? As for the recent increases in young earth creationism, etc, I think a lot of that is a reaction to militant atheism; when you get respected scientists running around telling people that they can have their traditions, culture and religion, or they can have science, but they can't have both, it's not surprising that many choose the former over the latter. FiggyBee (talk) 05:41, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, it's often Christians who make that argument - that science is incompatible with Biblical literalism, therefore science must be rejected. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:19, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

I think there's a temporary bulwark of hard-line nationalism in some Muslim nations, and that once things settle down we'll be able to see past the nuclear programs and Hezbollah attacks and recognize that part of the world as having a lot to offer, intellectually and scientifically. Vranak (talk) 18:32, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The enormous shift in thinking is called the Renaissance that did not impact Muslim societies. Is there a reputable source for the OP's claim that Muslims believe that math and science go against the will of Allah? Cuddlyable3 (talk) 18:38, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, there was a very explicit change in the history of Muslim thinking around the 12th century. In the early history of Islam there were too approaches to understanding the will of Allah. One might be described as fundamentalist in modern terms, relying on the Quran, textual interpretation, and authorities. The other was philosophical/scientific with Muslims believing that new insight into the Quran and Allah could come from studying the natural world with scientific reasoning. The two sides came into conflict. The Incoherence of the Philosophers, Al-Ghazali, and similar 11th and 12th century scholars and works led to the conscious suppression of the Islamic natural philosophers. Sort of a Renaissance in reverse. The universities and religious institutions of that era moved away from the study of natural philosophy and became more fundamentalist. The elimination of science as an accepted path to understanding Allah had a lasting impact on the development of scientific thought in the Muslim world that carries through even to the modern day in many places. Dragons flight (talk) 19:53, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The Christian world is facing that same anti-intellectual threat. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:27, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The Midrash Shachar Tov on Psalms makes an interesting statement when it compares all nations to animals, much like modern personifications as the Russian Bear. It compares the heritage of Ishmael (Islam) to a camel, the heritage of Esau (Rome, and often extended to embody Western civilization) to a pig and the heritage of Israel to a sheep. Rabbi Yoel Schwartz explains these references as follows: each of these animals displays different types of kosher signs. The camel ruminates, but does not possess fully cloven hooves; the pig possesses fully cloven hooves but does not ruminate; the sheep both ruminates and possesses cloven hooves. He explains that these personifications reference the global perspective of the nations. While, he asserts, that Islam displays tremendous respect for past tradition (regurgitation + rumination), they fail to make progress and move forward (hooves). Christiandom, he states, is the opposite -- they make great strides and advance (hooves) but they have little respect for things in the past (rumination). While I'm sure this is to be controversial -- I believe access to all knowledge is inherently good, and you may choose to agree or disagree as you will. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 14:51, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

And by an amazing coincidence, the Jewish writings (i.e. the Midrash Shachar Tov) about that group of nations conclude that the Jewish approach is the best. :) An interesting comparison, though. It's fortunate for the sheep that it gets a good chunk of its feed from a nation alleged to be a "pig". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:16, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Your apparent disgust is misplaced, Baseball Bugs. At the time that Midrash was written the kind of treatment Jews were likely to get from Christendom was not exactly liberal. For most of the last 2000 years, Jews got a much better deal from Moslem countries than Christian ones. You can't place a modern day interpretation on an historic text without clashing anachronistically. In this context, characterisation of a "pig" is actually pretty mild. You should also know that there are other bases for the characterisations - the Romans set up a pig in the Temple. And the Israelites (=Jews to the author of the Midrash) first encounter with the race that was to become the Arabs, was a caravan of Ishmaelites, who took Joseph away on their camels. Typical aggadic midrash, layers on layers, and a little obscure and generalising. --Dweller (talk) 16:23, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm not talking about Jews in particular. I'm talking about the widespread human tendency to conclude that a particular group is superior to all the others, and by an extraordinary circumstance, that happens to be the group they themselves belong to. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:36, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

The book What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis is about this very topic. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 22:01, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Try here for a quick answer.

I am surprised to find myself not in total agreement with SteveBaker, but of the two Moslem Nobel laureates, one did his work in the West, while the other was declared a heretic. Clearly, Muslims are not born intellectually inferior to any other group, but living in authoritarian societies that put education in the hands of fanatics with an agenda will make it all but impossible for its members to reach their full potential.

Examples abound -

• Many of the contributors to the Manhattan Project had fled Axis-controlled Europe and its racist fanaticism. Without that insanity, they probably would have supported those governments, as their parents had support the Central Powers in WWI.
• Communism, as interpreted by Stalin, demanded an "all nurture, no nature" view of the world. The USSR, which had been a leader in genetics, soon sank into the nonsense of Lysenko, helping to exacerbate its crop failures.

Religious fanaticism of any stripe and brand is equally likely to repress the growth of knowledge in any society that permits it to gain sufficient power. B00P (talk) 07:16, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Incorrect Info for Mike DeNiro

At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_DeNiro, it is stated that Mike DeNiro of Youngstown OH and (Youngstown) Chaney High School attended the Univ of Alabama. This is incorrect. Before his death, Mike attended Texas A&M. I know -- I was a friend and teammate of Mike's all though high school and into college. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.9.47.70 (talk) 19:21, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Are you certain? Wikipedia has no articles named Mike Deniro or Michael Deniro nor has any article by those titles ever been deleted, near as I can find. Are you perhaps mistaken about where you found this info? --Jayron32 20:05, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Interesting. As you say, the OP didn't see that info in an article by that name. He actually got it from List of people from Youngstown, Ohio. However, he got it from an old revision of the page, and only today User:DJ Clayworth deleted the Mike DeNiro name from that list, citing "redlink" as a reason diff. Now, I am unaware of any guideline or policy that says deleting redlinks anywhere, including lists, is a good thing. The whole point of redlinks is that they encourage people to start articles.

On the other hand, the OP should note that unfortunately, personal knowledge like he quoted is not sufficient for Wikipedia. We need a reference to a reputable, independent, verifiable source such as a newspaper or magazine article that says DeNiro attended Texas A&M. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 20:29, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

The deletion or retention of redlinks on WP lists is decided on a list-by-list basis. Some accept redlinks galore, others immediately remove them. Some let them stay for a month or so, then delete them if an article hasn't been forthcoming, e.g. Deaths in 2009. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:17, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

WP:REDLINK states "Do not create red links to articles that will never be created". Articles whose subject is not obviously notable are usually not placed into lists of "notable people from city X"-type lists. Redlinks in lists are useful for situations where the list contains likely notable subjects. Its fairly standard operating procedure to remove redlinks of people from such list; if such people are notable establish notability in an article FIRST, then add them to the list in question. --Jayron32 00:24, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

H. Upmann and Montecristo in the US

According to Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, "A smoke in times of rest is a great companion to the solitary soldier."

I was recently able to purchase H. Upmann and Montecristo cigars in the United States. It is my understanding that the US has a trade embargo against Cuba correct? Hence, is it safe to assume that the cigars I purchased were made by Altadis in the Dominican Republic instead of Habanos S.A. in Cuba? Acceptable (talk) 22:02, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Likely. Does the cigar band say? The Cuban ones seem to advertise it there. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:10, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes. After the revolution, the major Cuban cigar makers all set up shop elsewhere in the region. There is some debate about how well those cigars compare with the current Cuban product — the plants stayed in Cuba, but much of the expertise emigrated. The Cubans I've had have been good, but not enough so to justify the price. PhGustaf (talk) 22:57, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the answers; the label does not say the manufacturing origin. Acceptable (talk) 00:52, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

See United States embargo against Cuba. Smoking a Cuban-grown cigar could be viewed as burning their crops. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 18:13, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Below is a picture of "Mike DeNiro" which appears to have been scanned from a school album of some kind. /Users/billkemp/Pictures/A&M/MikeDeNiro.jpg

November 7

Ship related

What is the purpose of "Margin Line" on ships and what is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prashantpanchal (talk • contribs) 08:42, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

One online dictionary has "it defines the highest permissible location on the ship side of any damage waterplane in the final condition of sinkage, trim and heel". That's not particularly helpful to me, butI don't know much about ships. - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 12:53, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The OED has "a line on the after hull of a boat or ship marked by the ends of the bottom timbers; (in later use) a notional waterline intended to ensure sufficient buoyancy should the hull be holed and not more than two compartments flooded (introduced in this sense by the British Board of Trade after the loss of the Titanic in 1912)." Algebraist 13:04, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

In other words - if you get a hole in the hull below that line - the ship might sink. If the hole is above that line, it won't. One would assume, therefore, that it corresponds to the depth to which the ship might ride in the water if fully loaded - perhaps with some allowance for big waves. SteveBaker (talk) 13:40, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Why give an incorrect response after two other editors have provided correct and referenced answers?—eric 18:51, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Are we talking about the Plimsoll line (aka International Load Line, waterline)? Mitch Ames (talk) 01:29, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Nope, recall from all the TV programs on the Titanic sinking, the animations of the flooding in the damaged forward watertight compartments rising over the top of the bulkheads and flooding the undamaged compartments aft.[2] The margin line is simply a line drawn below the bulkhead deck (the top of the watertight bulkheads) and used to calculate the floodable length of the ship[3]. A google books search gives a number of explanations.—eric 16:28, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Lord Mayors

What year was the first lord mayors after the war ended 1945 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.11.87.149 (talk) 13:03, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

I assume you mean the Lord Mayor's Show. The wikipedia article on the show states that it was not interrupted for World War II, although this appears from my checks to be inaccurate - but it all depends what you mean. In November 1939 a Times leader complained that the Lord Mayor's Show had been cancelled and that "this 'Second Bore War' is living up to its name", while the paper recorded that the Guildhall Banquet "with its processions and fanfares" had taken place "with a ceremonial appropriate to war-time". In 1941 a parade of the Allied services took the place of the show and in 1942 there was a parade of youth showing how they were taking part in the war effort. There was a short "grim, mechanized procession" in 1943.

For 1944 the Court of Alderman initially decided that there was to be no show at all, but seem to have quickly changed their mind and held a full procession with 2,500 troops - described as the first since the outbreak of war. A very similar but much larger procession took place in 1945, still heavily dominated by the services. For 1946 the show reverted to its traditional pageantry. Sam Blacketer (talk) 13:17, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

I need $400 ASAP

My parents are making me get my own laptop. i have tried getting a job to no success, so is there any way I could sell items? I cant do a garage sale. And I dint have a credit card. So besides those two ways, is there any way I can sell old video games, or junk of mine? Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 16:52, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

More context needed. Are your parents forcing you to by a laptop as some kind of peculiar punishment (perhaps a really annoying laptop), or is it as I suspect that they want you to stop using their computer and get your own? If the latter, surely a cheap semi-obsolete one somebody is throwing out is the way to go? I've picked up three Athlons that way for nothing. Tricky parts then become mouse, keyboard, and monitor, which you'll probably have to buy, though there are still a lot of unwanted CRTs kicking around at the moment from people who've upgraded to LCD. Generally speaking it's easier to persuade people that they want to give away old junk they aren't using than to persuade them that they want to buy more old junk for significant amounts of money. 81.131.47.22 (talk) 17:13, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried looking on Freecycle? Is there a free ad service where you live, where you can place a want ad? You never know - if you don't ask, you don't get! What about selling stuff on Ebay? --TammyMoet (talk) 17:16, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Dont I need a credit card to sell on ebay?Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 17:22, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

How about this site [4]? ...which, if you're not in the US, I found from here: [5]. 81.131.47.22 (talk) 17:41, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

I don't know, but if you do then ask if you can borrow a card from your parents. Since you'll just be putting money *on* the card, I can't see why they would say no. You'll probably need to borrow a credit card (or debit card) to buy the laptop anyway (they are usually cheaper online than in stores). --Tango (talk) 17:58, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

This is the same question from the OP[6] "I need to make enough money to by[sic] a laptop" Cuddlyable3 (talk) 17:55, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Hey, I made that spelling error too, just noticed. You should take it easy on people who make that particular spelling error. This is an opinion I've formed recently. 81.131.47.22 (talk) 18:09, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Use of the Latin word sic when quoting the words of another is being fair both to the author who should not feel misquoted, to the quoter who should not be held responsible for the error, and to the reader(s) who should not be misled that the spelling is correct. IMO sic should be used more often.Cuddlyable3 (talk) 18:21, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

You can try Craigslist or trading in old videogames to your local Game Stop but eventually you're going to need to get a job. You can't make enough money to buy a (decent) laptop in a short amount of time without working. A minimum wage job at McDonalds (e.g. working at the weekend for four hours each day) could probably earn you at least $150 per month after taxes, and that's definitely more than you'd earn in the same amount of time through Craigslist, GameStop and eBay.

81's advice is also useful. Ask around (or go on Craigslist) and see if anyone's getting rid of an old laptop. With the definition of "old" becoming much shorter in recent times than it was, any "old" laptop should be able to run at least Windows XP. Even if it couldn't, you could still wipe the hard-drive and install a variant of Linux. Xenon54 / talk / 18:03, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

You don't need a credit card to sell on eBay. You can just set up a PayPal account, and then attach it to your bank account. —Akrabbim^talk 18:25, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Don't trade in video games to a store; sell them on Craigslist. You'll make more money. When you do, don't take any checks or do remote transactions; meet the people personally so they can inspect your stuff, and take cash only. In the end, as mentioned above, eventually you are going to have to get a job, though it is difficult to do now — you've probably seen on the news that the US unemployment rate hit 10% last week, which is something like a 26-year high; there are more job seekers than jobs available, so you are not alone in this — so keep trying, and try to not get discouraged. Be alert for other opportunities for non-traditional jobs. Find out what people are charging to mow lawns and undercut their prices and knock door-to-door to seek customers. Do also use Craigslist to look for dirt-cheap machines — I got a working desktop (no monitor) once for US$5.00. Tempshill (talk) 19:09, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Oh, and do use eBay, for sure, to find out the current going rate for the stuff you're going to try to sell. If it doesn't sell on Craigslist for the price you quote then I'd try eBay if you can get it rigged properly with PayPal and your bank account so that you can get paid ... eBay will make it much more likely you'll be able to sell your stuff within 7 days, but the money will be less (because the shipping charge will reduce the amount the buyer is willing to pay). Your choice whether to lower your prices accordingly. Tempshill (talk) 19:21, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Also, I have the impression you are, or have recently been, a student. Check with your school, or your ex-school, and ask if there are any paid jobs that you can qualify for. Custodian's assistant, library assistant, anything. And ask all your friends and (cringe) ask your parents to ask their friends. Word-of-mouth is, by far, the easiest way to get a job, in my experience; much easier than cold-calling. OK, enough advice for today. Tempshill (talk) 19:38, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Ok, Im 17, can I still attach paypal to my bank account?

I skimmed some of the legal agreements at this page and it appears that you have to be 18 to get a regular PayPal account, but there is something called a Student Account for people under 18 (but over 13) in which the parent gets to set various permissions — they can prevent you from receiving money, for example — and they probably get to spy on everything you do. If that's all OK with you then it sounds like the student account might work. You should probably find the place on their website where they talk about what you can and can't do with a Student Account; I've no personal experience with it; the first I heard of it was today. Tempshill (talk) 07:08, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

The place I used to work had an internal auction to get rid of some old equipment (I picked up two 17" CRT monitors for 50p each), but many companies just chuck out old equipment after a couple of years even though it is still in working condition. If you don't fancy checking out the dumpsters behind the local office blocks, maybe you know someone who works in an IT support department who can let you have old equipment for free. Astronaut (talk) 01:03, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

50p? You were ripped off... I recently took a couple of CRTs to the tip - I would have paid you at least a couple of quid to take them away... --Tango (talk) 01:57, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Offer friends and neighbours to do chores for them, for a fee. I'd happily find a load of odd jobs I don't want to do and pay someone I know to do them, especially if I knew they were trying to save up for something special. Good luck! --Dweller (talk) 16:04, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

You can get a usable older laptop for $100-150 on craigslist. 69.228.171.150 (talk) 22:52, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

You can do what I'm doing right now: use an employment centre computer.
:-D
Civic Cat (talk) 19:11, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Finding Users

Hi, Is it possible to go to the user pages of the users of reference desk of the choice, e.g. If I want to find the users of Indian Nationality just to view his user page, Can I directly find it without knowing anything about him ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.55.135.211 (talk) 19:42, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

No, this is not possible. The list of "regulars" is here. It is by no means comprehensive. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 19:59, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

I suppose that you could try looking for names that are on that list and also on Wikipedia:WikiProject India/Members - that would at least give you the names of Reference Desk regulars who work on Indian topics. Grutness...wha? 23:38, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Odd Chinese money from WWII era

I've found this money on eBay and it says it was printed by Chinese outlaws during WWII. Anyone heard of anything like this or know where I could find out more info?Popcorn II (talk) 20:17, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The Chinese customs gold unit was a currency of China during WWII, but they were American-printed notes of the central government, not a locally-produced currency of any rebel group. The ebay page says "Non Original Issue", whatever that means. Reproduction? Perhaps the idea is that these notes are period forgeries? Additionally, our article says that the high denomination notes didn't come about until post-WWII hyperinflation, and only mentions notes up to 250,000 units, so there seems to be a lot that doesn't add up here. FiggyBee (talk) 22:06, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The page actually says "Copy/Replica" - so this is definitely not the real thing! SteveBaker (talk) 23:56, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Although "the paper has slight yellowing due to the age. I was told they were printed by Chinese Outlaws in the mountains during World War II" seems to suggest the seller believes them to be authentic artefacts, if not authentic banknotes? I dunno. FiggyBee (talk) 00:32, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Little Brown Bat residing on screen in window of our house

A little Brown Bat has taken up residence in our window screen between storm window and inside window. I know NOT to touch it but my concern is that I live in South Western Michigan and it's now November and winter will be upon us soon. I have the inside window open about 1" to allow heat from inside to flow up between the two windows. (Bat is on OUTSIDE of screen so can't get into house).I understand it is probably in hibernation mode and probably does not need to eat now but it does leave occasionally so I'm not sure if it's actually in hibernation or not. The weather temps in our area are now getting into the 20's at night and will be much colder soon. There are no insects available now so if the bat still needs food, what should I put out for it/and where would I find the food? And would it be a good idea for me to put a bat house in the window (fastened to OUTSIDE of screen)for better shelter for it. I just want to make sure I do everything I can to insure it's survival from the harsh Michigan winter. I would very much appreciate any advice/suggestions anyone with knowledge on this subject might be willing to share with me. Thank you in advance for your help.

NancyNancylm4419626417 (talk) 21:15, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

I would suggest that attempting to keep the little creature warm by opening the window a little is not going to help because it needs a really cool temperature to get it into hibernation mode with body function shutdown. A little warmth could disturb its sleep/hibernation cycle. Why not give these peopleor [7] a ring to see if they can offer advice or help. Richard Avery (talk) 23:21, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The next time the bat leaves, close the window completely so that it's forced to look elsewhere for shelter. While bats are great to have around, they are NOT suitable house guests. Besides being covered in lice and other bugs and possibly carrying rabies, bat shit is nasty stuff. The millions of other bats in your area have found suitable places to hide out the winter; make sure this one joins them. Incidentally, a pair of thick work gloves are enough to ward off the bite of a small bat (personal experience); pick him up and toss him out. And throw out the gloves. Matt Deres (talk) 04:08, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Why not put up a bat house first, then force him to leave your window, so he goes to the new house ? I don't think bat excrement is any worse than any other, it's just how there's massive quantities of it in poorly ventilated caves that makes it unhealthy. StuRat (talk) 05:02, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Visa debit gift card

Is it reloadable? Like there is this kiosk in a best buy where you can see your old video games. If I get a visa gift debit card, will it reload? Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 21:36, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Debit cards are tied to your checking account. Gift cards are not re-loadable. You're combining the two. Which is it? Xenon54 / talk / 22:27, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

It's both. They are a fairly recent invention. It works like a Visa Electron card, I think, but rather than a normal bank account on the other end it's a balance provided by the person buying the card. I don't know if they can be reloaded or not. Probably not - that would make them a bank account. --Tango (talk) 22:32, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

In NZ you can't [8]. The Visa site may have more for the US [9]. Nil Einne (talk) 16:15, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Visa calls the gift card a "non-reloadable prepaid" card. So it should not be reloadable, by definition. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:17, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

November 8

What is Virgin Galactic complaining about?

See this news item: [10] So far as I can make out, they wish that the Outer Space Act was more restrictive: they are saying that spaceflight in the UK is currently uneconomical because any commercial space operator has too much freedom, making insurance too expensive. Until they are prevented from doing more things, their hands are tied. Is that the right way to read the article? 213.122.41.68 (talk) 02:09, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, kinda. If you're an insurance agency, you'd want to ensure that the people you're insuring (Virgin Galactic in this case) are obeying safety regulations, etc. However, if there are no regulations - how can they measure that Virgin are being "responsible"? Since Virgin will certainly need insurance, it's in their best interests to have government regulations which they can point to and say "Look - we're being responsible - we're following all of the government regulations - we've been inspected - you can insure us at a reasonable rate." SteveBaker (talk) 03:00, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Couldn't the insurance company set rules as part of the insurance policy? They need to assess the risks in order to work out what premiums to charge, so it doesn't seem that much extra work to write the rules. I think what that article is saying (it really isn't clear) is that the regulation just isn't suited to private space travel. It's not to do with being too restrictive or not restrictive enough, it's about having the right restrictions. --Tango (talk) 03:20, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

OK, the first part of your answer seems to contradict the second part, so now I'm confused. Do you mean to say that they (VG) require there to be different legal restrictions, that is, some added and some removed - but also that you can't see why the additional restrictions would be necessary since the the insurance company could just set those rules itself? Meaning that removing restrictions is really all that's vital? (Though I suppose regulations enforced by government inspectors save insurance companies money and act like a spaceflight subsidy.) 213.122.41.68 (talk) 03:30, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Does anyone have any actual references on getting insurance for spacecraft? I would assume that it is such an unusual and exotic activity that the only insurer, other than possibly a government agency with a stimulus agenda, would be Lloyd's of London, which will supposedly insure anything, so they're the only ones who need to be impressed with your safety procedures. In practice, Lloyd's policies are not exactly discount priced, so self-insurance (that is, "no insurance purchased") would be what I would expect most spacecraft companies would do. Tempshill (talk) 07:14, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

I expect legislation will require good quality insurance so self-insurance would require an enormous amount in the bank. I doubt companies would have that much capital and they wouldn't want to take on that much risk - that is the whole point of insurance, passing the risk to someone else. --Tango (talk) 18:35, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, they would probably prefer no restrictions at all but they know that isn't an option. --Tango (talk) 18:35, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

The article doesn't go into too much detail. This article says that they want changes to Britain's "1986 Outer Space Act". APL (talk) 07:42, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

No the extra work to write the rules of safety is huge. That's why insurance companies want someone else to do it. Unfortunately also until we have a substantial number of flights, we won't know what is safe anyway. DJ Clayworth (talk) 03:01, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Cranberry juice in a cosmo

Hi Misc Ref Deskers,

My mum visited New York recently and the trip got her hooked on Cosmopolitans - the drink. Every recipe out there calls for 30mL of cranberry juice to give the drink colour, and it obviously also contributes to the flavour.

My mum and I are Australian, and the juice we find in the local shops is always 25% juice + water + sugar. Given that cranberry juice is pretty strongly flavoured, I wouldn't be surprised if the "cranberry juice" used in the US is the same as the "cranberry drink" we get here, but could someone confirm that for me?

In short to make a genuine New York Cosmo, do we need pure cranberry juice, or is the watered down, sugared stuff okay? And more importantly, with which was the cosmo my mum drank at Mickey Mantle's near Central Park made? --Polysylabic Pseudonym (talk) 02:19, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

No, cranberry juice in the U.S. is usually actual full-strength cranberry juice. Most is concentrated for storage and transport and then rediluted back to near natural strength, although some is of the "not from concentrate" variety. The industry standard for cranberry juice in the U.S., and the one most bars will use in a cosmopolitan, is Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail, which is pretty much just cranberry juice concentrate, sugar, and water. Some bars may use a different, but equivalent, name brand of cranberry juice. There are some "powdered cranberry drinks" like cranberry flavored Kool-aid, but you would never use that in a cosmopolitan. Cosmos are made with real, honest-to-God, cranberry juice. --Jayron32 02:37, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

The Cosmopolitan hotel web site doesn't even admit that they have a bar - let alone provide information about the cocktail.

[11] says that sweetened cranberry juice should be used - with 3.8 grams of sugar per 1 oz serving (my head is spinning at the mix of metric and imperial units!) - it doesn't say anything about water content though. [12] says to use more cranberry juice - and to add syrup...that suggests that the sugar is important. hubpages.com/hub/Cosmopolitan-Drink-Recipes says specifically that "Cranberry juice cocktail" is required - so that one definitely wants the sweetened/watered-down version. But then www.associatedcontent.com/article/2190019/premium_cosmo_cocktail_recipes.html specifically tells you to use the unsweetened kind. So the jury is out. The obvious answer is to try it and see...if it tastes like your mum remembers - then you're good to go...you may need to do an extensive statistical study! :-) SteveBaker (talk) 02:54, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

...27% real, honest-to-God, cranberry juice, apparently. [13][14] 213.122.41.68 (talk) 03:17, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Just to reiterate and clarify, in the US, it is called a "Cranberry Juice Cocktail" when it is with water and sugar. You can get straight juice in the US pretty easily though, so recipes might call for that. Recipes will no doubt vary, though. --Mr.98 (talk) 03:43, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

You can get it, but a lot of places charge a lot for it — you might pay nine bucks for a quart. Trader Joe's is where I buy it; they often have it at five or so. --Trovatore (talk) 08:16, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Well thanks everyone, and Steve, I assure you a proper statistical sample will be taken. Ocean Spray is what we've got and if it's good enough for most US bars it's good enough for my mum and I :) --Polysylabic Pseudonym (talk) 11:42, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

What is my chinese name ?

I tried google, but no appropriate answers. I just want to write my name in Chinese. My name is Vijayakumar. I can give you meaning of this name if that could be helpful. jay - victory; "vi" prefix makes it (victory) special; kumar - son ( as in Wilson, Anderson, etc. :) ) --V4vijayakumar (talk) 08:05, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

This is probably more of a WP:RD/L question that for here. Chinese versions of non-Chinese names don't tend to translate the actual meaning, they just use the appropriate sound characters. I can't answer definitely what your Chinese name would be, and a confusing factor is that - if I remember correctly - there are different variations used for the same names in Mandarin and Cantonese. One possibility is to check Wikipedia articles for famous people called Vijay and Kumar and see whether they have articles on the Chinese Wikipedia. If they do, you can check the titles on those articles. The Chinese article on Vijayawada suggests that "Vijaya" is 维杰亚. The article on golfer Vijay Singh also uses the same first two characters, so it seems to be constant for Vijay. Similarly, "庫馬" seems to be used for Kumar. From that - though I'd like confirmation from someone who has a better grasp of Chinese than I do - I'd say that 维杰亚庫馬 would be Vijayakumar. Grutness...wha? 10:13, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

nice suggestion. do they use sound, not meaning ? I thought if victory, son can be written in 10 ways then my name can also be written in 10 * 10 different ways. --V4vijayakumar (talk) 12:32, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

On a side note, 维杰亚庫馬 would be way too long, as Chinese generally uses two or three syllables for names. Names are usually 'one syllable for family name' + 'one or two for given names'. In my experience, however, while famous people may be given Chinese phonetic equivalents for their names, the general public can also receive names which are completely unrelated to how their name sounds in their language of origin. My Chinese name, for example, bears no resemblance to my actual name. --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 13:21, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

It's not necessarily "too long." As you, KageTora, non-Chinese (you're right, typically famous people) do sometimes receive lengthier names that are not really "Chinese names" but "Chinese transliterations" of their names. So if the original poster is happy with having a "Chinese transliteration" of his (correct gender?) name, then unless a native speaker -- which I'm not -- says it's absolutely ridiculous, then the longer version is a reasonable choice so long as he realizes it's not a "Chinese name" that a native-born Han Chinese would receive. By the way, names given to non-Chinese can factor in both sound and meaning. --71.111.194.50 (talk) 17:37, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

The general usage rules for transliterating the names of non-Han Chinese people is to transliterate by sound - in which case the above suggestion is perfectly fine. Separate names (surname, first name, etc) are separated by a dot.

There are two main exceptions to this: 1. where the name is from a language which either uses Chinese characters or can or in the past has been written in Chinese characters - mainly Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese - in which case the Chinese character representation is used, regardless of sound; this is the equivalent of writing your name in "English" as Vijayakumar. 2. where the person chooses to adopt a separate Chinese name, which may be related in either meaning or sound to the original name, but does not have to bear any relations, e.g. Chris PattonChris Patten, Kevin Rudd. This would be the equivalent of you, Vijayakumar, adopting an English name, say "Victor". As might be expected, with most names it's impossible to find "the" or even a reasonably numbered set of "correct" Chinese names in this latter case. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 23:46, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

I think you mean Chris Patten (one of my personal heroes), not Patton. I've added a hatnote at the latter's article. --Trovatore (talk) 07:19, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the correction - that's what I meant! - will also correct above. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 22:29, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

I understand what you want to ask, but I would point out that technically, you don't have a Chinese name, just a Chinese version of your name. There is no equivalence like Juan/John/Johann. 70.79.246.134 (talk) 05:47, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

sound leds

What's the LED thing on retro hi fis that jumps about when sound plays called? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.85 (talk) 12:19, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

'Graphic Equalizer? --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 13:22, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

An Equalizer looks similar but is very different. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:11, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

VU meter. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:10, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

It scares me a bit that something with LEDs is old enough to be "retro." Edison (talk) 21:31, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

How about an LED calculator ? I haven't seen one of those in 30 years now. StuRat (talk) 02:16, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

A Marchant rotary mechanical calculator is "retro" to me. An LED four banger is obsolete but somehow not so retro. A vacuum tube amp is retro to me, one with integrated circuits not so much so. Edison (talk) 19:50, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

If it's one LED meter for the overall sound level, or two for left and right channels, I'd probably call it a level meter.

If it's several LED meters for various frequency bands, I'd call it a spectrum analyzer.

A graphic equalizer is the set of sliders that alter the sound level of each particular frequency range. Graphic equalizer refers to the set of sliders, whether or not it has a corresponding set of LED meters. Apparently, it's called "graphic" because the sliders form a "graph" of the frequency response: Audio Video Glossary - Graphic Equalizer --Bavi H (talk) 02:03, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Mr.98 is correct that it was the LED equivalent of a VU meter, but did it have a different name (or just LED meter)? Dbfirs 17:12, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Airports: abbreviation "PR"

The article is titled List of airports in the United States Under "Primary airports" the term "ROLE" is defined as:

• P-L = Primary - Large Hub
• P-M = Primary - Medium Hub
• P-S = Primary - Small Hub
• P-N = Promary - Non-Hub

Then under the heading "ROLE" the designation "PR" is used and is undefined. What does "PR" mean in this context?Danwargo (talk) 14:17, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Added header, removed duplicate posting. From the context I guess it means primary, but even lower in traffic than a P-N / non-hub airport. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:16, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

The response that "PR" means lower in traffic does not square with the presented data. For example, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) enplanements are listed as 1,931,563 and the airport is classified "PR". North Las Vegas Airport (VGT) enplanements are listed as 85,900 and that airport is classified as P-N.--Danwargo (talk) 15:34, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Oops. Further roles are:

PR: Commercial Service - Primary are publicly owned airports which receive scheduled passenger service and have more than 10,000 passenger boardings each year.

CS: Commercial Service - Non-Primary are publicly owned airports which receive scheduled passenger service and have at least 2,500 passenger boardings each year.

RL: Reliever airports are designated by the FAA to relieve congestion at a large commercial service airport and to provide more general aviation access to the overall community.

GA: General Aviation airports are the largest single group of airports in the U.S. airport system. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 16:00, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Cleaning inside a microwave oven

Ok, OK, I DO actually clean the inside of my micro oven - but is it actually necessary? Surely any splashed food particles that might encourage the growth of bacteria will be zapped by the very nature of the oven itself such that the food I cook thereafter will be utterly safe to eat. Only asking. Don't imagine I am a slut - or want to be. 92.21.39.171 (talk) 18:08, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

(Slut? What?) I don't think you clean it because it is a health risk, I think you clean it because it looks pretty gross to have gunk on the inside of your microwave. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:13, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Words have different meanings in different dialects. While the 'whore' meaning of 'slut' is widely known in the UK, the 'lazy/messy/slovenly/slutternly' meaning is still in use. The detritus can also become quite smelly, and can pose a fire risk (I speak from shared-house experience). Plus, you can't recover spilt food from a dirty microwave, whereas you can get away with scooping some of it back up (immediately) if you keep the thing clean. 86.142.224.71 (talk) 19:05, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

In the US, slattern kept this meaning at least until pretty recently, but is now archaic. - Jmabel | Talk 02:45, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

A microwave oven that is filthy is a microwave oven that's inefficient. All that spatter is being heated up and all of that represents microwaves that are not heating your food. Also, I imagine that unless your filthy splatter is perfectly equal throughout the microwave, you're getting less even heating because particular sections are redirecting more microwaves away than others.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 19:16, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

So the logical conclusion is that if something spills on one side of the microwave, you should be sure to spill some on the other side, too, just to even things out. :-) StuRat (talk) 02:03, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps more important to note is that microwaves are very inefficient at heating very small objects. Food particles that are more than an order of magnitude smaller than the wavelength of the microwaves are very poorly heated, if at all. I'm about to go out the door so I can't dig for the definitive paper on the topic, but it's been demonstrated that fruit flies flitting about in a microwave oven don't get heated and don't die. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 19:33, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Totally unrelated to the OP, but isn't this because the fruit flies (or ants as I've heard elsewhere) can move around the microwave and find the coolest parts that don't receive much radiation? Smartse (talk) 22:36, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

I thought microwaves work by causing charges/polar molecules to rotate/oscillate very rapidly, thereby producing micro-friction and thus heat. How could anything with water not be affected? DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 20:22, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Standing waves due to reflections from the sides of the oven cause uneven heating. That is why microwave ovens have rotating platforms to cook food evenly.Cuddlyable3 (talk) 23:47, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Found this with a quick google search (Q: I nuked the fruit flies on the food, but they survived!). Not sure if it can be trusted but it sort of make sense. Royor (talk) 22:50, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Amazing that this subject is here. I just heated stuff in the microwave. The container cover popped off, and now I have splatter mess to clean up. But I'm too hungry to do it first, so I am sitting before my computational device, and this is the question I am reading about. Pretty amazing. Bus stop (talk) 22:55, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Related question/comment/musing: what makes some clear plastic containers that one can get take out food in microwavable and some not? They can seem pretty sillier similar. The one that says on it that you can microwave heat on it seems to be thinner plastic, more clear, maybe slightly more rigid. What is the distinguishing factor that makes one OK for the microwave and the other not? Bus stop (talk) 23:01, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Inclination to melt: Thermoplastics melt, thermosetting polymers burn (at generally higher temperatures). I guess. I microwaved a non-microwavable plastic once - it was...amusing. Vimescarrot (talk) 23:30, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for that information, Vimescarrot. Bus stop (talk) 17:55, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Nobody seems to have mentioned that spilt food on the microwave may taint new food with its odour or taste. You don't want to be heating milk and have it smell of the chilli you spilt in there the night before. --Lesleyhood (talk) 12:04, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

lol...slut... <-- Disregard this please ;) Letter ⁷ 13:45, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Dirty microwaves can be a fire risk, especially with the grease. And the smell of old food taints new cooking. They're easy to clean: just heat a cut lemon (for a short time), then wipe interior with a paper towel. If there's any grease/dirt remaining, squeeze the hot lemon juice over it and wipe again. Gwinva (talk) 07:49, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm late to this party, but the insides of microwaves definitely harbor bacteria. There is nothing implicitly sterilizing about the microwaves, and in any event they don't often interact with individual, especially dried, bacteria cells. I know this from experience--doing cultures from microwaves. I'm sure there's independent research out there saying the same. Shadowjams (talk) 21:12, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

NHS health and Safety protocols

Hi I've spent ages fruitlessly looking for NHS health and safety protocols for healthcare professionals regarding the likes of handwashing etc. but have so far found nothing. Are there any health and safety protocols that exist applying to all who work in the NHS or do health and safety protocols vary from trust to trust? I hope someone can help! Thanks RichYPE (talk) 20:16, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

I work for an NHS Foundation Trust and we have our own Trust protocols for things like infection control. I believe other Trusts will have similar arrangements. I am not aware that there are general NHS protocols - there may be, but I've never heard of them. Richard Avery (talk) 22:33, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

His Dark Materials

In His Dark Materials, a person said that children have difficulty separating fact from fiction. Really? It clearly says in one of the first pages in each novel of His Dark Materials that it is fiction. It says:

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidential.

Bowei Huang (talk) 23:10, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

That's a nearly universal disclaimer these days, mostly to head-off any potential libel suits caused by similarities to significant celebrities or groups. You can probably assume that no child bothered to read that. ~ Amory (u • t • c) 23:23, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

What does the existence of a legal disclaimer at the beginning have to do with children's perceptions? How many children read that disclaimer? --Tango (talk) 23:26, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

(ec)And even if they had, there's no guarantee they believed or understood it. Do children have difficulty separating facts from fiction? I believe Santa Claus would be an appropriate link here... Vimescarrot (talk) 23:27, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes really, User:Steewi posted "What many parents are worried about when they declaim [Pullman's] books are that his ideas will influence their children away from their parents' religion, because children sometimes have difficulty separating fact from fiction. That was part of a copious discussion that the OP launched with 3 question and persisted in driving. Nothing new is likely to be gained by again trying to prolong a debate about the subject here. For unknown reason the OP seems to neglect the qualifier sometimes in the sentence.Cuddlyable3 (talk) 23:41, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

I'd be more concerned about the cognitive functioning of an adult who claims that children can't distinguish fact from fiction, than the children being patronized by such a claim. It's very safe positing such ideas as an adult -- no one with any power can hold you to account. Vranak (talk) 04:20, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

The infantile difficulty "separating fact from fiction" may "influence children away from their parents' religion"? What biting sarcasm is that? If children - by different literature - were influenced "towards their parents´religion", would that then prove a capacity to differentiate ficton from fact? --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 10:10, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

I think what these commentators in the media are talking about is that children may begin to believe that the magic-like elements of the books (e.g. daemons -- yes I know there's not the same as demons) are real and cause them to doubt the religion of their family. --71.111.194.50 (talk) 14:28, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Indeed, what some commentators are worried about is the possibility that children may end up thinking for themselves, instead of swallowing whole the fairy-tales told to them by their priests or parents. DuncanHill (talk) 14:56, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Wow, that's a post from a while ago! In the context of that statement, I suggested that parents who object to Phillip Pullman's writing may believe their children cannot distinguish fact from fiction. I was not saying that no child can separate the two. There are some adults that have trouble with the distinction, and some children. The context of my statement was in addressing why some parents were concerned by the series. Knowing some of the parents who object to them, it was one of the statements they made. In a less extreme manner, the fear was that the theological content of the series might be adopted by their children by analogy with Christianity. Steewi (talk) 00:55, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

It's true that very young children have trouble telling fact from fiction (although not generally by the time they are old enough to be able to independently read such books as the Dark Materials series). However, at that very young age, they are equally unable to tell fact presented by their parents from fiction presented by their parents. We could cite parental imposition of religious ideas as one of those things - but belief in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are less controversial and more obvious proof of that. SteveBaker (talk) 15:21, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Seems like the same complaints arose about the Harry Potter series. And you're right, kids old enough to read those books are old enough to understand that they're fiction. The age of the kids is a factor, but I remember reading stuff like The Cat in the Hat at a very young age, and we kids didn't think there really was such a creature. Some folks don't give kids enough credit for native intelligence. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:33, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

When you said that that was a disclaimer, did you mean the all persons fictitious disclaimer?

Do any adults or parents who are against His Dark Materials, who don't like it, or who think that it is bad or wrong know that there is that disclaimer in those books? Do they know that? Have they read that? If so, then why do they still think that their children would difficulty separating fact from fiction or that their children would be influenced by the books away from their religion? If so, then why do they still don't like His Dark Materials, are still against it, or still think that it is bad or wrong?

Bowei Huang (talk) 23:06, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

What I'm talking about isn't parents thinking that they're children can't tell whether there is a real girl called Lyra who has a daemon and travels between worlds or not. Instead it's parents thinking that the *ideas* in the book are dangerous, because children with "impressionable minds" will apply the things Lyra says and is told about her God and apply it to their real-world Christian God that their parents teach them about, causing them to question their faith. Given that Philip Pullman does talk about questioning faith being a good thing, it's not a completely unreasonable thing to consider when considering one's children's reading material. (Personally I wouldn't be banning any children I might ever (somehow) have from reading it, but I would discuss it with them). Steewi (talk) 04:39, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

November 9

What happened to the BBC on YouTube?

What has happened to the BBC World News channel on YouTube? I cannot access the BBC World News account on YouTube and it appears to be no longer working. Was it shut down or deleted? The last videos that I can still watch from my subscription are from August of this year. --Blue387 (talk) 06:41, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Try here [15] and read the comments. Alansplodge (talk) 17:03, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

copyright my creations and publishing the same

i wrote some poems and wnted them to be copyrighted. i an sure it isn't a copy of somewhere else. can you help me by telling me some site that will copyright it and publish it too(better if for free).i am in india —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.200.48.182 (talk) 10:28, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

In nations that signed the Berne Convention, copyright is automatic. Getting published is a completely different thing - why not start a blog or something? Matt Deres (talk) 11:43, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

While it's true that you don't legally have to do anything to have a legal copyright on the things you create, you might potentially have problems proving that it was your own work if someone claimed it was theirs in the future. One cheap, simple strategy is to make a copy of your best work and mail it to yourself in a signed, sealed and dated envelope inside another signed, sealed and dated envelope - using whatever variety of mail your local post office has that requires it to be signed for on arrival. When the item comes back to you in the mail - DON'T OPEN IT! - and keep the reciept showing that the mail was delivered. Then, if in the future you are called upon to legally defend your right to the work over someone else who might claim it as theirs - you can bring the (still-sealed) envelope to the courts and have it entered as evidence. At whatever legal proceeding seems appropriate, the envelope can be opened revealing your signature and a postmark and a copy of your work that proves that the work was created on or before the date of the postmark. Your opponent will then be unable to claim prior publication of the material and you'll win your court case. In practice, merely asserting that you have the envelope around should be enough to scare off all but the most idiotic of plagiarists. This should be enough to defend your right to the material in court should you ever have to do so...and it costs almost nothing to do. SteveBaker (talk) 15:15, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

That is what they call a poor man's copyright. I am not sure they hold up in court, as they are easily faked (it is not hard to unseal and re-seal an envelope with a postmark on it—you could just send yourself an empty envelope and change the contents at a later date). I would suspect that using a cryptographic hash of the contents, posted on a "neutral", third-party site that time-stamped (like your Wikipedia user page), would be more legally compelling. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:26, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

SteveBaker's idea is worthless in the USA (see www.copyright.gov) but may have some value in the UK (Snopes [16]) or elsewhere. In the USA, copyright registration is not legally required but may be advantageous (for unpublished work); see for information [17], page 7 (PDF) and for online registration [18]. For more information you will have to explain which country/state you live, as the law will vary from place to place. Note however that nobody on Wikipedia can offer specific legal advice, only generalities. --Lesleyhood (talk) 15:51, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

See the article Notary public particularly the details for your region. Having a formally notarised and dated copy of your poetry is strong evidence that it is yours. That's no legal guarantee of course. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 17:39, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

It seems to me that the discussion of "poor man's copyright", at least, constitutes legal advice, which we aren't allowed to do here. --Anonymous, 00:24 UTC, November 10, 2009.

I believe that there are several Self-publishing companies available on the internet. I know that at least one of them (Lulu) is free - or at least it was when my son published his book on there earlier this year. Mitch Ames (talk) 02:42, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

How to impress boss and colleagues at work?

I just got an entry to a job. They will try me for a few weeks and will then decide what to do with me. It is more like a paid internship. It is my opportunity to impress them asap. My guess is that employers like people with following traits: Conformational, flexible, sycophants, hard working , geniune interest in work and communicative. I have very little real life experience in the workplace. Please suggest me how I can score points in the work place. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.220.95.27 (talk) 12:47, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

At least until you have worked out which way is up in the new workplace

• Turn up early and stay late, take as small a lunch break as possible
• Be wide awake & attentive - get enough sleep the night before
• Be neat & tidy. Consider this & the above two hygiene factors
• As you say, show interest, and think about what you're being asked to do
• Communicate, yes, but make sure your communication is a) on topic b) at an appropriate time c) only after you;ve thought through what you're communicating about. In particular, remember that each communication has the potential to waste someone else's more valuable time. Make it count.
• Flexible & willing - yes
• Conformational & sycophantic - maybe not. Showing that you understand and accept the agenda is good; being enthusiastic about furthering the agenda is good. Sycophancy tends to show through and is not a very desirable attribute. --Tagishsimon (talk) 13:05, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Be humble - the fastest sacking I ever saw in an office was a newcomer walking in and criticising everything she saw.

Don't get hung up on hierarchies. In some offices the most powerful (and strident) voices belong to relatively lowly staff. Especially PAs.

Be personable.

Whoever has the keys to the stationery cabinet has almost unlimited power. Or so they think.

Good luck! --Dweller (talk) 13:38, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Here's a good book on Office Warfare Strategy :) It all depends on what you want to do. Do you want to be productive or help people or manage people or gain power or become a guru or what? I recently heard a four year old when asked what he wanted to do when he grew up say 'I want to tell people what to do' Dmcq (talk) 14:15, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

I'll second what Tagishsimon says - in particular about communication and sycophancy. "Communication" does not mean "talks a lot". Sycophancy is not a good strategy. However don't criticise the way the company does things in your first few weeks. That's not to be sycophantic - you simply don't know enough about the way the company works yet to be able to criticise. And good luck, by the way. DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:10, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

And I forgot to add "be keen to learn". DJ Clayworth (talk)

We have one mouth and two ears, so listen at least twice as much as you talk. (When you get to be the boss, you can do the talking then.) And when you do talk, limit your description of your private life, family, hobbies etc to only just enough to let your colleagues know you do actually have a life and you're an interesting person to know. Your main talking should be about the work. -- JackofOz (talk) 20:26, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Disagree with Tagishsimon on one point, but basically it's the same as any place... - *Turn up early and stay late, take as small a lunch break as possible - This is fine if you've got loads of work or been set a tight deadline, it shows committment. Doing so when you have barely any work to do suggests you are either incompetant and therefore need 10 hours to do a job someone else can do in 7 or wasting yours and your employers time. It is extremely likely that in your early weeks with a company you will not be worked-to-the-bone - save the late nights and long days for when the work warrants it. - *If you want the role - don't look all stressed, be quick to comprehend, don't make small jobs look like they are hard work. I know far far far too many people who make a 10 minute piece of work look like hard work. Similarly I know far too many people who get stressed about another nothing piece of work. Don't be nonchalant (spelling) about all work, but (in my experience) you're not going to deal with anything like the level of stress, workload and responsibility in the first month of your role as you are in the next year in that role - so the more 'easy' you make it look now the better standing that puts you in. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 15:20, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Yup, I endorse 194.221's discussion of that point. I think I really meant: don't be late; don't slope off early; don't give them any concerns about your timekeeping. The added point about not spinning a ten minute job to take an age is well worth noting. Oh - good luck with it. --Tagishsimon (talk) 15:36, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Be a "can do" person who shows a genuine interest and enthusiasm. Sycophants are mostly just annoying, "yes men" are strongly counterproductive - if your boss likes either then you'll need to start looking for another job! Don't be afraid to ask for clarification when asked to do something you don't completely understand - better to ask than to screw up by misunderstanding. The phrase "I'm on it!" is a useful one. If you think there is a better way to do something, pick a time when your supervisor or co-worker isn't too busy and ask why it's not done like that. This shows that you're being attentive and are interested - and who knows - maybe you'll be the one to save the company a million dollars by coming up with a clever improvement...but don't assume your idea is right - better to ask someone why your idea must be wrong (because it probably is). But showing that you're thinking about it is well worth the effort of asking - it shows that you care and want to learn more. When you're done with your assigned tasks - ask what else you can do to help. SteveBaker (talk) 15:41, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

SteveBaker's suggestion (about asking what else you can do) is a good one for the first few probationary weeks. However, once you are more secure in your position, you probably don't want to do that, especially if you combine it with Tagishsimon's suggestion of coming early and staying late. In my experience, (for-profit) companies will gladly load you up with as much work as you are willing to take and work you for as many hours as you are willing to work. Also, when you ask "what else can I do", the person you ask is likely to assign to you the most tedious and disagreeable work, because they would prefer to keep the more interesting or enjoyable work to themselves. At first, you will have to do a fair amount of tedious grunt work to pay your dues, but once you have impressed everyone with your willingness to work hard and once you feel reasonably secure in your position, you will probably eventually have to set limits by asking your boss to prioritize ("Would you rather have me do X or Y because I don't think I can do both by the end of the day?"). Or you can resign yourself to being an overworked peon without time for a personal life. But, I repeat, remember this advice for the time after you feel secure in the job. Until then, you will need to be eager to please and should follow SteveBaker's and Tagishsimon's advice. (This advice assumes that you will be paid a salary and are not eligible for overtime and that you will not be working under a union contract. If you have overtime or union protections, you have less to worry about.) Marco polo (talk) 16:14, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

The best way to impress professional people is to have good manners. Central to this is observation. Listen, but not like a slave eager to please. Listen to learn exactly what is required of you, and then execute your duties correctly. Contrived efforts to impress people are affront to good taste. Vranak (talk) 17:03, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Since people are trying to give useful advice can I just suggest one about getting overworked. Don't take on more work than you can do. Don't promise too much, if they ask for too much ask about the priorities. A manager much prefers to have a good plan about what's happening and what will happen than to be in a mess at the last moment. Making up time if you were already overloaded is not a reasonable proposition, if you have problems tell them early. Be forthcoming. If you can think of a way round all the better. Dmcq (talk)

Demonstrate competency and commitment. For instance, if the boss asks you "Can you design a database to track the ...." and you have the ability or can figure it out, work hard, and have it ready and working very soon. Don't say "Why should I have to do it? No one else has to do it." Be competent without being a showoff or braggart. Be someone that others look forward to working with as a coworker, which includes social skills, and someone that the boss can count on to get something done right promptly. Definitely make sure you understand the boss's priorities, and don't get sidetracked on low value work. Edison (talk) 19:46, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

(Unless the boss specifically wants you to do the low-value work so that the more experienced staff are freed up to do what they do best. In that case, you would be seen as uppity and not willing to pay your dues if you demand higher-value work. As Edison says, make sure you know what your boss wants. Marco polo (talk) 21:37, 9 November 2009 (UTC))

Don't take any sickies or spend lots of time on personal matters on the phone or otherwise wasting time. Dress appropriately for the job, no need to be sloppy or overdressed. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 11:08, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

If they do offer you the job, then whatever you do, make sure you carry on in the habits you set during your trial period. Don't feel you can start slacking because you've got the proper job: people will notice and your tenure in that position will be short. --TammyMoet (talk) 09:51, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Human Blood Sugar control

Some 10 or more years ago it was decovered by a research team that insulin didnt directly control sugar levels , rather it triggered the maufacture of another substance which did. What was the name of this substance as I would like to follow the research20:12, 9 November 2009 (UTC)~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Quadeco (talk • contribs)

Start at Blood sugar regulation and come back if you need more. --Tagishsimon (talk) 20:26, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Where does the word "firework" come from?

Can anybody tell me where the word "firework" comes from?

...more specifically, why the use of "work" in "firework"?

Is it a chinese translation? Is it merely archaic English?

Any help greatly appreciated, as, following Bonfire night, my 4-year-old son keeps asking this question. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.254.56.44 (talk) 21:07, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

The suffix "-work" or "-works" is old terminology for any constructed, like woodwork, earthworks, "the whole works", etc. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:17, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Here's all I could find[19] Alansplodge (talk) 21:28, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

OED implies it is a very old English word, no obvious etymological roots to other languages indicated, with first recorded instances in the 16th century, e.g.. "1575 GASCOIGNE Pr. Pleas. Kenilw., At which time there wer fire-works shewed upon the water; the which were both strange and wel executed. 1590 WEBBE Trav. (Arb.) 29, I my selfe was there constrained to make a cunning peece of fire work framed in form like to ye Arke of Noy." Looks like a variation on the -works trend, coming initially from any sorts of explosives or fire-involved "works", later being generalized as explosives, and finally as pyrotechnic displays. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:32, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Incidentally, when I was a kid and would ask my parents what a word meant, they would send me to the dictionary, a big honkin' old Webster's Unabridged, to research the matter. That's where my interest in words and word origins came from, and it might be good advice to the young'un in this discussion. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:28, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Webster's? I feel sorry for you, working with such a limited resource. My parents had the Oxford English Dictionary to refer me to. --Carnildo (talk) 00:14, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Isn't that, like, the size of an encyclopedia set? We only had so many shelves. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:01, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

The Compact Edition of the OED is contained in only two - admittedly large - volumes, both with over 2,000 12" x 8½" pages each carrying four pages of the original edition photo-reduced. They come in a 14" x 10" x 6" slipcase which includes a drawer containing a large rectangular magnifying glass (which I used to be able to dispense with in a good light). The whole thing weighs around 20lb, so rather than burdening a shelf with it, I use it as a telephone pedestal next to the desk where I'm now working. At one time this edition was an optional introductory offer from Book Club Associates, so there are likely quite a few still knocking around in 2nd-hand bookshops (where I got mine), for those who would find this format useful. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 12:06, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Signal light LED changing at Rancho Santa Margarita

When did Rancho Santa Margarita change the shadings on green light? Is it 2001 or 2002 then when they change to LED on the top stop light. They did them one year gap or all together at the same time just like Laguna Hills because none of them have the LED change on yellow light.--209.129.85.4 (talk) 21:41, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried calling City Hall or the Department of Transportation to find a person who knows? For this type of local, routine public works question, a phone call seems 10,000% more likely to yield an answer for you than Wikipedia's Reference Desk. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:59, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Before the Telephone?

What communication device did most people use before the telephone? Was it a telegram? <(^_^)> Pokegeek42 (talk) 22:33, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Long long before the telephone was invented there were Smoke signals, Talking drums/communication, and Semaphore lines and flags.Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:56, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Don't forget yodelling. --Tango (talk) 23:12, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Immediately before the telephone people would have used letters and telegrams. Earlier still, there were various other methods of communication. --Tango (talk) 23:12, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Amplifying on "letters", because if you imagine it's like today's postal services, you'd scratch your head and say, "Huh?"

If Arthur Conan Doyle can be believed, there were at least two postal delivery a day -- you could write a note to someone (local, that is) in the morning and expect a response by return post the same day. I understand the same existed even in the mid-to-late 20th century in France, as well; perhaps a local of the sufficient age can confirm this.

--DaHorsesMouth (talk) 23:18, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the afternoon post ceased to be a few decades ago in the UK, I think. --Tango (talk) 23:44, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

To an extent. More recently, Royal Mail tried to deny that there had ever been such a thing and a lot of people pointed out that it had still existed in their area not that long ago. 86.142.224.71 (talk) 00:19, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Darwin had similar rapid correspondence with people in London—one note in the morning, a note reply by evening. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:02, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Two deliveries on weekdays and one on Saturdays was the norm in Australia till around the early 70s. Now it's one a day on weekdays, period. That's called progress. -- JackofOz (talk) 06:52, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Most people, most of the time, got most of the information they needed locally. They walked to places, and talked to people face to face. Ghmyrtle (talk) 23:45, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

I think the U.S. Postal Service (as we now call it) had two deliveries a day not too many decades ago. Not knowing for sure, I would suspect the Saturday deliveries are a vestige of that. They probably worked all day during the week and half a day on Saturday - which is still not uncommon in businesses in some parts of the world. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:57, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

I lived in downtown Oakland and Berkeley, California, from 1969 to 1992, and was slow to learn that (because I was in the central business district) I was getting two deliveries a day, even on Saturdays. I sometimes forgot, and would assume something wouldn't arrive until the next postal day, when it actually came by the second post that day. —— Shakescene (talk) 23:24, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

We have gotten so used to fast communications that we forget that communication was at a much more leisurely pace not all that long ago. "What did we ever do without cellphones?" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:01, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

What did we ever do without Twitter? Until three tears ago teenage girls couldn't even tweet their friends to tell then they were eating toast. PhGustaf (talk) 01:53, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Three tears ago? Hey, big girls don't cry-yi-yi; they don't cry. No, they had no twitter, no blackberry; they had to resort to texting on their regular cellphones, which is like so Stone Age. This thread started out asking about long-distance communication, and by contrast, I saw some news segment not long ago that talked about teenage girls texting, generating book-size monthly cellphone summaries - much of it generated while sitting next to each other. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:30, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

I remember a vistor to the UK putting a job application in the mail one afternoon. The same company phoned them the next morning asking if she was looking for a job. She said "Yes, but how did you know?". "We got your application in the mail". DJ Clayworth (talk) 17:15, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Err, yes, but there was still plenty of long-distance communication throughout the 19th century before there were telephones, etc. It is not like everyone was just walking around for a thousand years until it came around. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:02, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, there was, but there wasn't an expectation of an immediate response. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:19, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Telegraphy was extremely common even after the telephone was invented, as it was often easier to send and use than the telephone in its earlier days and did not require synchronous communication (you didn't need to make sure that the party you were trying to communicate with was personally at the other end of the line at the same time). Telegrams were extremely common as late as the 1950s. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:02, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

One gauge of the popularity of telegrams is how often they turn up in WB cartoons of the 1940s (typically delivered by "Western Onion", of course). They were also an attention-getter. I recall listening to radio broadcasts in my youth were they would mention getting telegrams from listeners. That process has essentially been replaced by the fax, of course. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:19, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Telegrams were commonly available in the 1860's and 1870's, before the telephone came along for local voice communications in the 1880's and gradually to coast-to coast voice communications by 1920 or so, but telegrams were quite expensive. They were for important business communications, news, or crucial personal communications, not for chit-chat. The minimum charge in Britain was 1 shilling in 1880 [20]. A Western Union telegram in the US in 1871 apparently cost on average 49 cents, for a few words. What would that be today? Edison (talk) 03:49, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

$8.71, or so the internet tells me. --Tango (talk) 03:57, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

How about the 1880 shilling in today's money? And international telegrams were hugely more expensive. Edison (talk) 14:52, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Telegrams would typically be used for information that was seen to be of an urgent nature, such as births, deaths, etc. Paying by the word tended to keep messages short. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:33, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

We have an interesting article on History of telecommunication but most of the pre-telephone stuff has been mentioned above. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 08:23, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

If you want to read more about telegrams, how they were used, how the system developed, and that sort of thing, I recommend the book The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage. The book also goes into semaphore systems, which came a little before telegrams, but typically weren't available to the general public. But, as stated above, for things that weren't urgent enough that people needed to send a telegram, they did what people had been doing for centuries before the telegraph was invented -- they wrote letters. Postal systems as we understand them today, with sticky stamps and regularly scheduled deliveries (which, as noted above, not so long ago might be faster -- for short distances -- and more frequent than now), didn't always exist, but there were still ways for mail to get from one place to another. The article on mail has some descriptions of early postal systems.

Of course, all these letters were handwritten until the typewriter was invented. --Anonymous, expanded 08:38 UTC, November 10, 2009.

If films are to be believed, before the introduction of mail service, written communication were carried by personal messenger. Astronaut (talk) 17:38, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

For the wealthy, yes. For a poorer person wanting to send word to a relative a few villages away they would just give it to someone they knew was going in that direction, I believe. (Of course, they would probably have to find somebody to write it and then the relative would need to find somebody to read it - the local priests, perhaps. Just giving the person going in that direction an oral message may be easier.) --Tango (talk) 18:30, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

When there was regular railway or stage-coach service between two places, it was common (either formally or informally, with or without payment) to hand on a letter or small package to a passenger, driver or guard for transmission to the next inn or station. —— Shakescene (talk) 23:31, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

November 10

Strange Powerball "Snyder" commercial

Is there some kind of inside joke to the currently-airing Powerball commercial which includes a guy named Snyder who is walking into an elevator covered in tar and feathers without anyone else seeming to notice? I read how there's a Redskins coach named Snyder some think this ad is pointed at, but I also read how this commercial was taped at least a month before the coach drew negative press. So is the comedy of this ad just supposed to be its randomness or something else? 71.168.4.163 (talk) 00:35, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Correction: Daniel Snyder is the team's owner; Jim Zorn is the head coach. However, Redskins fans have wanted to tar and feather Snyder for years now (Redskins' Dan Snyder now NFL's worst owner). Clarityfiend (talk) 03:14, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

This USA Today item states that "Cary Hatch, whose MDB Communications is the ad company for the D.C. Lottery, told the Washington Post the commercial was not intended as a slap at embattled Redskins owner Daniel Snyder." (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Clarityfiend (talk) 03:41, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Aninotes

Anyone know of any sites like the old aninotes that work the same way? Thanks 66.133.196.152 (talk) 04:13, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

It might help if you could tell us what an aninote is. Dismas|^(talk) 06:16, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Googling "aninote", it seems to be short for "animated note". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:22, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Die Clippy, die is what I think when I see things like animated emoticons. I wonder how a web could provide a note? Dmcq (talk) 15:05, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Prices + tax

how do I know how much something REALLY costs with tax, by looking at its price?Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 14:32, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Add the tax to the posted price. If it says $24 and the tax is 10%, then add 2.40 and the total cost is $26.40. Edison (talk) 14:49, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Ok, but how do I know how much the tax is?Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 15:12, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

In the US, it depends on where you're buying it (but it's generally constant within a city or county). Most cashiers should be able to tell you. — Lomn 15:17, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Where are you? Our Value added tax, Sales tax, Sales taxes in the United States and Sales taxes in Canada give the rates for some regions and goods. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:21, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Fort worth,txAccdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 15:26, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, then Sales taxes in the United States#Texas should give you a rough indication. 6.25% state-wide, with local jurisdictions able to apply another 2% (Fort Worth apparently does) for a total of 8.25%. The main items exempt from sales tax include medicines (prescription and over-the-counter), food and food seeds (but prepared food, such as from a restaurant, is subject to sales tax). As an aside, I find it weird that US price displays need not include compulsory taxes, as UK ones do. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:35, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

I have never heard of a tax that was not compulsory. Imagine a tax where you elect to pay when it is not mandatory. Googlemeister (talk) 16:35, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Neither have I, but the word compulsory was there when I looked up about the UK regulations. I was just sticking with my source. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 08:50, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

The taxes are compulsory. The display of the tax-inclusive price is not. DJ Clayworth (talk) 17:11, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Which is what is weird. You have to pay the price including tax, so why is that not the price displayed? I find it really annoying to buy something for 1$ in the US, pull out a single dollar bill to pay, and then get asked for more cash. --Phil Holmes (talk) 17:41, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Even worse is when you turn in one of those winning pop caps that get you a free pop, and they want to charge you tax. Googlemeister (talk) 17:43, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Or, if my memory of US TV ads is accurate, when you fall for one of those "Order in the next 10 minutes and get XYZ free" cons where you have to pay postage, packing and sales tax on the "free" gift, which are massively overpriced so you end up paying at least cost price for the "gift". --Tango (talk) 18:16, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Australia introduced a GST in 2000, applying to most goods and services. Right from the start, it was illegal to advertise the price of something without including the GST. I once reported a company that advertised a certain price for airport car parking, but when I got there, they only then added the GST in. If the true price of obtaining something includes postage, packing, handling, etc, they also have to advertise that (otherwise they'd be in breach of the Trade Practices Act; but sometimes the huge highlighting of the cost of the good itself swamps the minuscule mention of the extra costs, and that borders on misleading, imo. -- JackofOz (talk) 20:42, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Grand_Theft_Auto:_San_Andreas sex scene

Are you aware that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto:_San_Andreas has a sex scene in it of a man having sex with a nurse? I had school children using this site and now I have to remove it. Please tell me this was a mistake. Mr Duty <email redacted> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.83.148.110 (talk) 16:43, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

This has to be trolling. Anyway, We know that. But we won't do anything about it because Wikipedia is not censored. Goodbye Mister.--Ace Oliveira (talk) 16:49, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Although we do remove email addresses left here - please don't post them. See instructions at the top of the page. Karenjc 17:15, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

If you think that page is bad, you should see the other pages. Wikipedia: not for prudes, not for educational institutions that are worried about censorship! --Mr.98 (talk) 17:25, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

I like the way people aren't worried by minor infractions as in 'police will handle "minor" infractions (attacking people, pointing guns at people, stealing cars, killing a few people, etc.)' but are worried about a sex scene. Strange priorities. Dmcq (talk) 18:26, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Sure Wikipedia isn't censored, but still, is that really necessary? You might expect something different in one of the sex position articles, but this makes it seem like Wikipedia is run by lame teenagers looking for an excuse to rebel. (Oh wait...) Adam Bishop (talk) 19:06, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

I don't know, it was pretty controversial at the time. I'm not sure a screenshot of two blocky polygons having sex is really very titillating, and I do think it improves the article. When I first heard about the "hot coffee" controversy, I was pretty curious to see what it was all about. Unsurprisingly, it is a bit underwhelming, and I think that is made fairly clear by the image being included. --Mr.98 (talk) 19:32, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Does the OP believe it is possible to have sex in the position depicted with a fully clothed nurse? We need a Template:Titillating fact tag for this. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:06, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

As stated before, there are far more 'interesting' things around here than that...but no doubt the students have already found them as well. Perhaps closer supervision is in order instead of complaints to the reference desk. 10draftsdeep (talk) 21:17, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Having kids unsupervised in front of any Internet-connected device basically leaves you open to all manner of such things. There is no screening software or school policy-making that's going to prevent that because when it comes to digital stuff - they can run rings around you. If you leave them unsupervised then Wikipedia is the very least of your concerns. You really only have three choices: (1) Don't let the kids use the Internet. (2) Supervise them closely when they are using it. (3) Stop worrying - kids find out about this stuff perfectly well even without the Internet - and that's really a good thing because parents really don't like having to give "that talk" if they can possibly avoid it! What you DO need to teach them is stuff like not revealing personal information over the net - that can get them into real, physical harm - and with sites like FaceBook enticing them to put up personal information...that's where your concerns should lie. SteveBaker (talk) 22:48, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

crank

is crank (film) medically accurate? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.85 (talk) 17:35, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

For the most part, Not remotely. Googlemeister (talk) 17:42, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

No. If such a drug did exist the solution would be regular injections of epinephrine, which is relatively easy to get hold of (illegal without prescription, sure, but still easy to get if you don't care about the law). In fact, our plot summary (I've haven't actually seen the film and don't intend to) says he did break into a hospital and steal epinephrine, so I don't know why he had to do all those reckless stunts. --Tango (talk) 17:55, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Also, a drug that inhibited adrenaline production would not result in cardiac arrest. Your heart can survive just fine without adrenaline. Fribbler (talk) 21:09, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

there's worse on this site if u LOOK for it 69.122.39.75 (talk) 01:22, 11 November 2009 (UTC)sam

. So we can go fix it. Comet Tuttle (talk) 01:30, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Wrong section perhaps? Fribbler (talk) 01:48, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Railroads, space shuttles, horses' behinds - author?

The story is famous, but does anybody know the author? --KnightMove (talk) 18:19, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

I don't know the author but at the website you gave the header says By Astrodigital and the footer gives an e-mail address astro@astrodigital.org. A name Jim Plaxco is also shown. Send Jim an e-mail with your question. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 20:51, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

I'd be willing to bet a large amount that neither Astrodigital nor Jim Plaxco authored this bit of urban legendry, portions of which seem to date back to 1905 at least. --LarryMac | Talk 22:01, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks alot, LarryMac! --KnightMove (talk) 15:55, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Pregnancy Test

I am not asking for medical advice, just curious. When taking a pregnancy test, if there is a faint like (like faint to the point that you have to look at it at the right angle) does that indicate pregnency... Is there any other reason or hormones that might make the line appear? Or do they only test for certin hormones etc.? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.218.50.226 (talk) 20:29, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

It probably says on the box or in the instructions that anything that looks maybe, sort of, possibly, something like whatever sign they are using for "positive", actually means "positive". Not that this is medical advice or anything, but just take another one, there are usually two or three in a box. I think the box will also tell you to go see a doctor if you are still unsure. Adam Bishop (talk) 21:21, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

What we have starts at at Pregnancy test#Modern tests, and goes on to includes a section on false positives. The technology of the tester is most likely a Lateral flow test; my reading of that suggests that it may be possible that very low levels of the target analyte (as I learn to call it) will in certain testers produce faint lines. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:50, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

In the old days they would have said "The rabbit is a little bit dead." Edison (talk) 06:04, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Except "the rabbit died" indicating a pregnancy is a fallacy; the rabbit always died when it was cut open to check the results, whatever they were. FiggyBee (talk) 06:43, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

The rabbit didn't die on an episode of MASH when Hotlips thought that she might be pregnant. Radar was upset that his rabbit was going to die, so the doctors promised to keep the rabbit alive. Sorry, I can't recall the episode title. Dismas|^(talk) 07:43, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

What's Up Doc? - from List of M*A*S*H episodes (Season 6). --LarryMac | Talk 14:51, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Are you trying to summon User:Baseball Bugs? --M@rēino 15:27, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Vehicle registration plates of Bremerhaven

Why hasn't the city of Bremerhaven an own district code? --88.77.232.41 (talk) 22:04, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

It is part of the state of Bremen, which consists of the city of Bremen and the - entirely seperate - enclave / exclave Bremerhaven. Both are completely surrounded by Lower Saxony. For both the license plate is HB (Hansestadt Bremen = Hanseatic city Bremen) plus the suffix. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 22:35, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

This doesn't really answer the question why. Bremerhaven is the only city in Germany that shares a license plate code with another city. I have searched in vain for the reason why, alone among German cities, Bremerhaven was not assigned a distinct code in 1956, when most of the West German codes originated. I will repeat this question on the German Wikipedia Reference Desk and hope for an answer. Marco polo (talk) 03:07, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

It probably has a lot to do with the unique relationship between Bremen and Bremerhaven, which is really a sui generis sort of relationship. They are seperate settlements in the sense of being geographically distinct concentrations of population, but they were historically a single municipality; it might be better to think of Bremerhaven and Bremen as a single city in two seperated chunks rather than as two distinct cities. --Jayron32 04:59, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Jayron, actually Bremerhaven has been a separate city since at least the early 1900s. It was under the jurisdiction of the city-state of Bremen, but still considered a separate municipality. By the time German license-plate codes were issued in 1956, Bremen was a state, much like the other German federal states, except that it consisted of just two cities. In every other German state, each city got its own license-plate codes, though some of them shared this code with a neighboring rural or suburban district. Bremen and Bremerhaven are the only two cities not part of larger districts (state subdivisions like US counties) that share a license-plate code.

Based on my research yesterday evening and some of the answers on the German Reference Desk, I think I can formulate a speculative answer to the question, though I don't have sources. Prior to the 1950s, German license plates were issued by federal state, though some of the larger states had different codes for different internal regions (though these regions were larger than the present-day cities and districts). Bremen was and is one of the smallest German states. When the present system of license-plate codes was created in 1956, each of the German "city-states" (Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen) was assigned a single code, even though one of them (Bremen) consisted of two municipalities. The principle of one code for each city-state seems to have trumped the principle of one code for each city outside of a district, perhaps because Bremerhaven is such a small city, and it might have seemed inefficient to create a separate licensing authority just for Bremerhaven. Marco polo (talk) 16:12, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

What about Rust in Austria? --88.78.10.61 (talk) 16:46, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

November 11

Today's Date is Wrong

Today is November 10, 2009. Wikipedia tells me that it is November 11, 2009. Does anyone realize? Can someone do something about it? Am I wrong in that I have to do something in order for it to be November 10? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Samuel Rosenbaum (talk • contribs) 00:21, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Check out Special:Preferences, Date & Time, Time offset. Presumably server time and your local time are different - you're some hours behind the servers, which seem to be on GMT. Different parts of the USA are from 4 to 11 hours behind GMT, meaning it's the 11th in London whilst its still the 10th in the USA. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:28, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

(ec) The relevant article is at Time Zones, specifically UTC, which is the time zone Wikipedia uses (because of the international nature). -- 128.104.112.237 (talk) 00:29, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia uses UTC and it has just gone midnight UTC, so it is the 11th. --Tango (talk) 00:29, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

It's 2pm on the 11th here - I often accidentally enter things on the wrong section of Wikipedia process pages that are arranged by date because I forget the rest of the world is so far behind :) Grutness...wha? 01:01, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

It's not that so much; it's more that all the Time Lords have gone to live in New Zealand to be nearer their annular cousins.  :) -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 02:02, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

This is quite an interesting problem for databases. Sometimes people want their local time, sometimes they want a standard time, and other times they want the time of an event at its own location. I've even seen where the date of the event location is used but the time is the local time - so you can have minus hour or 36 hours past. Having a round world is a real problem :) Dmcq (talk) 10:29, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Marx, Lenin, and Stalin

I have three questions to ask you:

1. I have heard that Karl Marx bore an illegitimate son. Is that true?

2. I have heard that Vladimir Lenin contract syphilis from prostitutes. Is that true?

3. I have heard that Joseph Stalin was sued for forcing a sexual relationship upon a singer. Is that true?

Bowei Huang (talk) 00:31, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

For the first one, search for "illegitimate son" on Karl Marx. Googling "lenin syphilis" brings up this article. Googling "stalin assault" and "stalin sexual" doesn't bring up too much that seems specific to a singer, but he was no peach. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:11, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

It would be pretty tough for Marx to bear a son... Aaronite (talk) 03:35, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Therefore the answers are, Yes, No, Don't know. Itsmejudith (talk) 10:57, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Are these three "facts" being strung together to make it appear that Communists are sexual deviants? Fribbler (talk) 13:42, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

If so, then that's nothing compared to Lavrentiy Beria! Adam Bishop (talk) 14:55, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

The OP has a history here; some regulars have accused him of positing accusations as questions. Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:27, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

CBS Evening News on the radio

(I admit this is a far-fetched question, but it's been bugging me for quite a while. Thanks in advance for any help.)

Oftentimes I find myself away from the television when 18:30 rolls around and the CBS Evening News comes on. I remedy this problem by turning on the radio and tuning to WCBS, which simulcasts the first ten minutes of the show. As a clear channel, WCBS should be audible throughout the eastern part of the U.S. However, oftentimes atmospheric conditions, combined with the terrain in my area, mean the broadcast is not listenable. Though the broadcast supposedly goes out over the network, I am unable to find another CBS Radio affiliate that carries the broadcast.

This brings me to my question: has anyone heard another CBS affiliate carry the broadcast? (I thought of streaming over the Internet, but usually I'm not near the computer either.) Again, thanks in advance: Xenon54 / talk / 01:22, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

According to this site, many CBS-affiliated radio stations offer this simulcast. Check this site for a directory. Marco polo (talk) 02:16, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick response. In theory, all CBS-affiliated stations would carry the broadcast, but the reason I'm asking is because this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Compounding the problem is the fact that CBS' own list (e.g. this one) is several years out of date, therefore hindering the search for other stations that might be in listening range. For example, my local affiliate, WTOP-FM (which carries hourly news bulletins but not the Evening News) is listed on being on 94.3 MHz, which it hasn't been since 1998!

Other CBS O&Os that I have heard - KYW, KDKA, WBZ and WINS - don't carry it either. I'm wondering if WCBS is the only station that still carries the broadcast (which is quite unusual considering it appears to have started with Katie Couric), and if it is not, if anyone has heard the broadcast for themselves on another station. Xenon54 / talk / 02:39, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Efficient Shuffling

Forgive me, I don’t know whether to ask this in the Maths desk or the Computing desk or… So I decided here!

I play a card game where the number of cards in the deck is too large to riffle shuffle. At the end of a game, the top (approx) one-third of the deck is placed back on top of the unused cards and the entire deck now needs to be shuffled. The cards used in the previous game tend to be in “sets” (c.f. Rummy) – therefore the shuffling process should attempt to break up the sets and distribute the cards throughout the deck.

Currently I have been performing four riffles shuffles as follows… Consider the desk as being in 4 parts ABCD (where A and some of B contain the cards used from the previous game). I now riffle shuffle A into D and B into C. Re-stacking the deck into parts PQRS, I again riffle shuffle this time P into R and Q into S.

Question – does this give a reasonable distribution of cards throughout the deck? Is there a more efficient riffle shuffling algorithm for shuffling such a deck? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.208.156.129 (talk) 05:27, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

The advantage for riffle shuffling is that it is inefficient. A perfect riffle, whereby you perfectly alternated every single card, would actually be a lousy way to randomize a deck of cards. The reason why riffling works so well is that the cards tend to stick together a bit, and since there are lots of "little stacks" of cards of varying sizes (1 or 2 or 3 cards together), the deck can become quickly randomized; certainly faster than it could via the "overhand" shuffle method. Your method sounds like a fine way to randomize a very large deck where you can't shuffle it all at once. I generally just divide the deck into two smaller, managble stacks, riffle each among itself, then recombine the two decks into one with a few rough overhand shuffles. Then I do the whole procedure again 1 or 2 more times, usually until the banal story I am relating to the other card players is over, or until I am done overanalyzing the play of the last hand. Then I pass out the cards. --Jayron32 06:06, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

According to Shuffling#Randomization, mathematicians have shown that you need five good riffles just to start to get randomized, a minimum of seven to achieve it. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:07, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

A friend is a dealer at Bay 101, a local cardroom, and in sometimes called upon to deal panguingue, usually called "pan". I know little about the game — it's about old ladies making melds and throwing poker chips at one another.

She says that he accepted way to shuffle the game's 320-card deck is to split it in half and shove and moosh the halves together, lather, rinse, repeat. Perhaps not an efficient shuffle, but the old ladies demand it. PhGustaf (talk) 15:15, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I believe that the best card games come about precisely because the cards aren't perfectly shuffled. Who remembers poker games when everyone gets pairs and triples? Meh! The whole thing somehow becomes much more exciting when people have flushes and straights and four of a kind all over the place like when James Bond plays at the bad guy's casino (and those guys shuffle REALLY badly!) So forget perfect shuffling - fair-but-imperfect is what produces the most exciting game. SteveBaker (talk) 05:29, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Meta-question: where can I find a certain video?

If I am extremely lucky, someone might recognise the video I am thinking of, but more realistically, can you suggest a forum or other location where this sort of question would have better luck?

It is a minute or so, and features only a scrolling screen of text, chunked into relatively short lines. It is read by a young woman. When she gets to the end, the scrolling reverses, and she reads it again, backwards (sometimes inserting a linking word). The first version is pessimistic and the second is optimistic. I can't remember any of the exact phrases (as my Google failure attests) but it was something along these lines:

In 30 years I will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of my divorce.

I refuse to accept that

My pension will be worthless.

The experts tell me that

one person alone cannot change anything.

I know.

So, reversed, and de-chunked: I know one person alone cannot change anything. The experts tell me that my pension will be worthless. I refuse to accept that in 30 years I will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of my divorce.

Any ideas where this is to be found, or where I could ask a more targetted audience?

Thanks. BrainyBabe (talk) 14:44, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Not sure if this is the one you mean, or just a variation based on it, but it's very much the same idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlkyy3T4xbY 93.97.184.230 (talk) 21:34, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I watched this video several months ago, but don't consider yourself "extremely lucky" as a result, because I'm also unable to find it. It was white text on a black background, if I remember correctly. Comet Tuttle (talk) 22:52, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the clues. I found it! "Lost Generation" by American Jonathan Reed, based on the Argentine political campaign ad "The Truth" from Lopez Murphy. BrainyBabe (talk) 23:49, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

subsidy

In how many crops indian govt.give subsidy —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mytas1983 (talk • contribs) 15:41, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Who would win in a fight?

If the USA went to war with the rest of the world (but absolutely no nuclear weapons were used), who would win? XM (talk) 16:43, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

It depends on the author. I'm just now reading the Heritage Trilogy in which the United States and Russia are the two last holdouts in joining an all-powerful United Nations, which ultimately ends up using force against the two powers. However, any opinion on this matter would be speculative, and more appropriate for an internet forum. For a few references, however, see: People's Liberation Army, United States armed forces, Portal:War. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Taggart.BBS (talk • contribs) 16:50, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

For some relevant facts and figures, see List of countries by level of military equipment, List of countries by number of troops, List of countries by military expenditures and List of countries by GDP (nominal). Gandalf61 (talk) 16:54, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Why limit it to "no nukes?" Why would any future US Commander in Chief limit his options in that way? A President who insisted on fighting a war aimed at the total destruction of the U.S. without using the most effective weapons would likely be removed from power. In the 1980 BBC Oppenheimer (TV miniseries), General Groves was recruited to direct the project by the assurance that even if the Axis powers conquered the rest of the world, the U.S. could win with the A bomb. Accurate or not, that forecast did not even include ICBMs with MIRV warheads, intercontinental jet bombers and ballistic missile submarines. With conventional forces alone, and the rest of the world sufficiently riled up out of their traditional apathy and desire not to get involved in foreign military operations, invasion forces could assemble in Mexico and Canada and carve up the U.S. Getting any serious commitments of men, money, and materiel from the various countries of the world would not be an easy task, if one considers the token and grudging commitments for UN peacekeeping efforts, or armed actions in Afghanistan recently(only 9 countries contributed 1000 or more foreign troops). A passive defense in which the U.S. let a hostile world marshal forces along the Canadian and Mexican borders preliminary to an attack would be silly. An overwhelming force of troops and tanks could sweep into the U.S. if a large portion of the enumerated military resources shown in the articles cited by Gandalf61 were truly committed to the invasion. Good luck getting cooperation between Israel and the Moslem countries, or India and Pakistan. Good luck getting repressive governments to pony up the tanks and troops they use to keep their own people from rising up against them. Transporting these forces would likely require a lot of ships and a long time, and would need the harbors of Mexico and Canada. Rapid air transport of an invasion force adequate to overwhelm the U.S. military and civilian 2nd Amendment militia forces seems dubious. Ocean crossings by troopships, cargo ships and tankers could be detected by spy satellites or long distance recon flights if satellites were knocked out. Cruise missiles, airplanes and attack submarines could decimate an invasion fleet. War Plan Red, maintained by the U.S. War Department until 1939, called for the US to seize Canadian harbors to prevent the assembly of invasion forces. It went into detail as to which beaches to use for amphibious landings and which rail lines, highways and bridges to seize, along with how fast British forces could reinforce Canada's small forces during a "period of strained relations." Another of the United States Color-coded War Plans, War Plan Green dealt with preventing attack from Mexico. Mexico City would be seized within 30 daysof the invasion's start and a puppet government installed. U.S. forces would seize Veracruz, Tampico and oil fields. This war plan remained active until 1945. Parts of those two countries would have to be seized before forces for an invasion could assemble along the long and undefended borders of the U.S. The early 20th century war plans envisioned total mobilization of the U.S, with heavy losses, fighting against an invasion of the Puget Sound area by forces of Japan, Australia and New Zealand, with British and Canadian forces attacking from Halifax against the Northeast. Naval and air forces would provide the initial defense, while the general population was mobilized and equipped. [21]. The best defense might be an offense. If the world were crazy enough to try and conquer the U.S., then the U.S. might be crazy enough to conquer the Americas and add defensive naval bases in the Atlantic and Pacific from which to bomb Europe and Asia and interdict trade until they agreed to an armistice. Edison (talk) 17:08, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

If either side used nukes in such a war we would face mutual assured destruction. I would classify that as a stalemate. Any country with nukes can pretty much guarantee that they will never lose a war, but nukes don't help you win wars (they only did in 1945 because only one country had them). --Tango (talk) 18:15, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I don't know about that, Tango -- using nukes ensures your opponent doesn't win, but you can still lose. The stalemate of MAD is that both parties lose. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 00:50, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Tactical nukes could be used against port facilities, railhubs, and troop concentrations minutes after hostile forces rolled across the US borders. It is unlikely such an invasion would start without achievement of air supremacy by the invaders, and air attacks on US airbases might call for destruction of the attacking bases, again with tactical nukes not ruled out by fear of MAD. Total mobilization and allout war , followed by guerrilla warfare against possible evil occupation troops (Red Dawn?) would result in the death of a huge portion of the population, not so different from widespread use of tactical nukes against military targets. President Kennedy made such an equation in 1960. Edison (talk) 20:28, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I would expect the use of tactical nukes by one side to quickly result in tactical nukes being used by the other. The size of those nukes would gradually (but quickly) creep up until you have full-sized nukes being fired by both sides and you would have MAD within days. I don't disagree that there is little difference in the direct results of a nuclear attack and a conventional one (compare Dresden and Hiroshima, for example), but the indirect results are very different due to psychology. --Tango (talk) 22:28, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Of course, you also have to consider what the objectives of both sides would be. It's fairly obvious (for the reasons Edison has given) that a straight-up invasion of the US would be incredibly difficult if not completely out of the question, but what if the alliance only wanted to cripple the US's economy or military strength? Obtaining their objective would be much easier than trying to invade and occupy the 4th largest country in the world. —Akrabbim^talk 18:40, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

That would be easy - you just ban all trade with the US and ban the purchase of US debt. The US economy would collapse pretty quickly. It would be very painful for the rest of the world, but if the rest of the world were united they could get through it. Standard of living in the US would plummet, although it would level out - without the massive trade deficit the US wouldn't need to borrow so much and they could probably reach a sustainable economy (at a much lower level) within a few decades. --Tango (talk) 18:58, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Forgive me, but there had been multiple complaints about the RD being too forum-y (and rant-y). I’m just a lowly RD newbie but is it wise to continue with this opinion/debate thread? Royor (talk) 18:59, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I am going to agree with Royor..."The reference desk does not answer requests for opinions or predictions about future events. Do not start a debate; please seek an internet forum instead." This is a classic "what if" question that ultimately has no definitive answer. Further discussion should be moved to the ref desk discussion page if necessary.10draftsdeep (talk) 19:19, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

The Ref Desk is for more than "Simple Questions With Definite Answers." It is appropriate to ask questions which lack simple straightforward answers, and to cite references in response. Note that I referenced US war plans relevant to the US defense against at least the British Empire and Japan seeking to attack the northern U.S. border, and did not just speculate. Does it really matter what uniforms the troops seeking to invade the US wear? As for the general question of possible economic warfare, the UN often imposes sanctions against rogue states, and might do so if somehow the General Assembly voted that the US were such a rogue state. Such sanctions are weakened by countries neighboring the rogue which do not comply fully with the sanctions, and are not that effective against a large country with agriculture, natural resources, and a manufacturing capability. Canada and Mexico could conduits to aid the US in marketing its output and in purchasing raw materials, if some religion or political movement had taken over the rest of the world. The political front would be used to try and break up the improbable worldwide alliance of US Haters, playing off one faction against another. In a college political science course, the textbook (which I no longer have) said that the consequences of a WW2 victory by the Axis would have left the US facing a world where slave labor and access to natural resources would enable them to undercut the price of US produced goods, while restricting access to markets and to raw materials. It was judged that economic war for an extended period would be a more likely strategy of Japan and Germany than an immediate military invasion, even while neutral countries were converted to puppet states, like the "domino theories" of the Cold Warwhile research would continue on "superweapons." Edison (talk) 19:51, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

A single Third World country smaller than Wisconsin defeated the U.S. in a war (with help from allies). That just proves a question like this is unanswerable without knowing the circumstances and considering all kinds of variables. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:07, 12 November 2009 (UTC) ". . . with a little help from my friends. DOR (HK) (talk) 04:23, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, that was a dark day. Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:24, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Victory is convincing the other guy to stop fighting, or eliminating his ability to fight. On that basis, if every other country were against the USA, the overwhelming likelihood is that the US would stop fighting. DOR (HK) (talk) 04:23, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

There was no "defeat" in the sense that Vietnamese troops now occupy the US and control all our activities. I am told they do operate excellent nail salons here, and the US has outsourced some manufacturing there. Retrieval of the remains of US air crews is also a profitable line for Vietnam. In the end the U.S. just adopted the initially ridiculed exit strategy of George Aiken: "Just announce we have won, and leave." In ending today's Afghanistan War, I would be happy to welcome Senator Aiken back. Edison (talk) 05:56, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

I suspect the USA would quickly lose because of all the things it needs to import that it would no longer be able to import. Much as Britain almost lost WWI because of German U-boats sinking merchant shipping. --Dweller (talk) 12:41, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

See World_War_I#Naval_war parags three and four. --Dweller (talk) 13:05, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

As recent wars have shown, military might doesn't always lead to victory. If there was a USA vs Rest-of-the-world war, I imagine it would quickly degenerate into a lengthy and bloody insurgency against occupying forces. Astronaut (talk) 13:42, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

• "United States of America": 17.7M GHits
• "The rest of the World": 153M GHits

Question answered. ~ Amory (u • t • c) 14:50, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Region of eastern China that doesn't have many people

http:/upwiki/wikipedia/en/4/41/2006megacities.PNG

There's a giant area of eastern China that doesn't have megacities. What's this area called? What's the geography like?

M4e (talk) 20:01, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Compare to this.--droptone (talk) 20:47, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Shameless, only tangentially related plug. TastyCakes (talk) 20:55, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Are you asking about western China? (Having lived for significant amounts of time on both coasts of the U.S., as well in London during my youth, I know how hard it is to keep east/west and coast/inland straight.) Western China, from my extremely limited and casual knowledge, is more mountainous and/or more arid than densely-populated Eastern China. Starting from the northeast, next to Korea, the four great regions surrounding the main part of China are Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Sinkiang-Uighur lands-East Turkestan (Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region) and Tibet. [The four smaller gold stars surrounding the large star in the flag of the People's Republic of China can either represent different social classes allied with the working class, four smaller parties allied with the Chinese Communist Party, or those four large ethnic/geographical regions, which have a limited form of formal autonomy under the PRC's Constitution.] While Sinkiang and Tibet were historically sparsely-populated and isolated from central China, the Beijing government has recently been increasing communications, such as a long railway to Tibet, and encouraging much Han immigration fro Eastern China in efforts to increase economic development and political control. Wikipedia's not the place for either censorship or political advocacy, so I'm trying to write as neutrally as possible without distorting important facts, but it's no secret that both areas have seen both increased nationalism and sometimes-deadly ethnic conflicts. —— Shakescene (talk) 21:53, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I think the OP means the rather "strange" hole in megacities on the map, rather than general population density, although what you say is true. - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 21:59, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Although looking belatedly at Droptone's map, I think that my impression of Manchuria's status is rather out of date. —— Shakescene (talk) 22:06, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I think the Steppe article describes a lot of this sparsely populated area. TastyCakes (talk) 22:07, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I think the OP was not referring to Manchuria or the out-lying areas, but the south-central portion which apparently does not have as much population density.

The area in question is roughly southern Hunan, Jiangxi, and northern Guangdong and Guangxi.

I'm not sure of the precise reasons for the relatively lack of large cities in that area, but this area roughly corresponds with the areas of the Nanling Mountains and the mountainous areas to the south of it ("Lingnan area", or "south of the mountains"). The hilly and mountainous terrain, and the fact that the area was absorbed into China rather late, may help to explain the phenomenon. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 22:20, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Fertilizer

I've heard that part of the problem finding bombs in Afghanistan (and Iraq) is that they're usually made with fertilizer that is widely available for use in agriculture. I have no feel for the chemistry behind this, so maybe it's a stupid question, but is it possible to turn all fertilizers into bombs? If not, couldn't the government ban the types that can be turned into bombs and/or subsidize the type that can't? Are alternatives to the bomb making fertilizers (if they exist) more expensive? TastyCakes (talk) 21:13, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

See ANFO. Comet Tuttle (talk) 22:41, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Expanding on the above: most nitrogenous fertilizers are at least somewhat amenable to use in making Improvised explosive devices, due to the nature of their chemistry. Because of their near indispensibility for agriculture, it was impractical to ban such fertilisers in the comparatively highly controlled UK and Eire when they were used by terrorists on both sides of those states' mutual border during "The Troubles". Government "control" is far, far weaker in the huge, rugged and diverse country of Afghanistan, which also has extensive un-patrollable borders. If the Powers That Be (or Would Be) can't make many inroads into the huge illegal opium-poppy growing industry of the country, cracking down on a primarily innocent and essential commodity like fertilizer is going to be a non-starter. The only effective way to stop such (mis)use is going to be to remove the motivations for it. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 02:09, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

One option might be to "go organic" and use manure as fertilizer. It is flammable when dried, but not very explosive. I suppose if you could make it into a fine powder, blow it into the air at just the right concentration, then ignite it, you might get something like an air fuel bomb, but all that is likely well beyond the capability of the average Taliban terrorist. StuRat (talk) 04:28, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Knizia elevators

Are there any Knizia elevators in Germany? --88.78.10.61 (talk) 21:19, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

What is a Knizia elevator? Google doesn't get any results. --Tango (talk) 23:06, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Dunno, but I bet it's 'knizia than walkin'. --Dweller (talk) 12:40, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Knizia-Strelow is a German manufacturer of elevators. Official site. I'm not sure they are notable - there's no article on the German Wikipedia and this elevator "fan" site lists no Knizia-Strelow installations in Germany or elsewhere. Astronaut (talk) 13:21, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

November 12

aggressive invasion of personal space

Please answer as fast as possible. I noted that some youngsters, especially immigrants from less civilised countries (like Pakistan), sometimes invade my personal space in an aggressive manner. This is how it happens: They come extremely close, and have their arms streched out to the sides. At the moment that this actually happens I feel extremenly uncomfortable. I normally step back. At the same time I have the desire to strike or call the cops. I do understand that I feel uncomfortable because they invaded my space, and the tendency to step back is a normal unconscious response. However, these kids interpret my stepping back as a sign of weakness. What should I do? What would be the right response? Simply punching them??? What is happing in the mind of the "attacker"? This technique so common among the youth. What are they trying to achieve? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lowlife001 (talk • contribs) 01:33, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Your question unfortunately includes an unacceptable attack against Pakistanis as "less civilized," and therefore should be removed from the reference desk as trolling. Edison (talk) 05:47, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

You obviously don't understand what trolling is; it's the intentional wording of things to make another person angry. In this case it appears the OP was unaware that their text caused such an effect. Now, I'm not saying it's ok or that the question (or section) shouldn't be removed, I'm simply correcting you on your wrongful labeling of the OP as a troll. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.85 (talk) 08:56, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Ok, a fast and inadequate answer which others will doubtless improve upon. If you haven't already, read our article on Personal space, which includes the paragraph

"Personal space is highly variable. One factor in the general population density of a society with those living in a densely populated places tending to have a smaller personal space. Residents of India tend to have a smaller personal space than those in the Mongolian steppe, both in regard to home and individual. For a more detailed example, see Body contact and personal space in the United States.

So two factors are likely operating here. One is that those individuals themselves have a smaller perception of personal space than you and are invading yours unconsciously: this may be seen operating at a less overt level at multinational/multicultural parties, where one of a conversing pair with a larger PS is unconsciously backed around the room or into a corner by one with a smaller PS. The other is that crowding someone's personal space is a widely-known technique for intimidating or dominating that person, and since your description implies some potential aggression in the situation ("these kids interpret my stepping back as a sign of weakness"), they're likely doing it deliberately to intimidate or provoke you. How you behave in the light of that is down to you - personally I would try to avoid getting into such situations in the first place, but neither I nor anyone else on these desks can fully appreciate your personal circumstances and provide explicit advice. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 01:56, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

I've had to deal with "violations of my personal space" in three main places: at work, at the grocery store, and on airplanes. In all cases, I think it's just because others have a smaller personal space, not that they are trying to intimidate me. My first solution is to put an object between us. At work I might use a chair, at the grocery store I might use my grocery cart, and when boarding and leaving a plane I might use luggage. However, there are times when I don't have an object handy. I then resort to the "side stance". I stand with my legs spread out, with one foot right up against the person or people trying to crowd me. I look something like this at the time:

       O
      /|\
       |
      / \ 
    _/   \_ 

While this has prevented me from having the pleasure of smelling and feeling people from around the world, it has also kept me from grabbing a machine gun and mowing them all down. StuRat (talk) 03:30, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

It also helps to avoid crowds. If the elevator is full, I take the stairs. When leaving an airplane, I let the crowd pass, first, and leave last. If a store or restaurant has long lines, I go elsewhere. And when going to renew my drivers license at the DMV, I'm careful to call in a bomb threat first to thin out the crowd. :-) StuRat (talk) 03:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Also, I would like to point out that the Pakistani people (or any group of people for that matter) are not less civilized. Your customs and my customs are just as strange and potentially impolite to them as theirs are to you and me. If there are certain individuals who are trying to intimidate you, it is because they are jerks, not because of their nationality. If they are not trying to intimidate you, it is merely cultural differences, and if it really bothers you, I would recommend discussing politely that you don't like it when people are too close. If they are really trying to intimidate you, then avoid them or go through the proper channels to stop it. Under no circumstances would I recommend punching anybody unless it is necessary for defense of yourself or others. Falconus^{p t c} 04:25, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, trying to intimidate people is more common is some societies than others. For example, this could be considered a part of the machismo which is expected of men in certain cultures. StuRat (talk) 04:34, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

One more point to make. Obviously it's possible that some people will do things like this to intimidate others. But it's also possible that if A (with a small personal space) tries to get into what A sees as a normal position near B (whose personal space is larger), B will withdraw to the distance comfortable for B, but A will see this withdrawal as rude in the same way that B sees A's stance as aggressive. A is thinking "what's wrong with this person, how awful does he think people like me are, that he has to stand way over there?" Thus both people can make each other uncomfortable without either one understanding why. I'm not saying that this does or doesn't relate to the original poster's situation, just that it happens. --Anonymous, 04:42 UTC, November 12, 2009.

OP, if your definition of ‘more civilized’ is ‘more consideration of personal space,’ then Mongolia heads the list, and Macao brings up the tail. And, if someone standing nearby with their arms out makes you feel the need to strike out, you seriously need to learn some basic civility yourself. (Just for clarification: you yourself would be the ‘attacker.’) DOR (HK) (talk) 05:34, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

If they are bumping into you a lot, they may be trying to pick your pockets, so take precautions (e.g. jam your hands into your pockets if you can't zip them up). 69.228.171.150 (talk) 07:58, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

It is possible that this is behavoir (particularly the spreading of the arms) is a form of intimidation and is not limited to "immigrants from less civilised countries". If they are obstructing you when you are just out walking, or if it makes you feel threatened, you might be better off seeking the help of the police.

One the other hand, if you are feeling brave and want to challenge such behavoir yourself, why not step even closer instead of backing away. Of course, you will need to be ready in case the intimidation turns into violence. Astronaut (talk) 12:40, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Try commuting on the London Underground for a few weeks - you'll soon get used to not having a "personal space" at all. Alansplodge (talk) 12:43, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried actually saying you'd prefer them to remain at arms length or whatever? Many poeople can go for ages wondering why people treat them wrong without ever being told it's for something like this. Dmcq (talk) 12:46, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Eating Garlic gives a personal space increasing effect. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:12, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Safe Deposit Box Theft?

Where can I find out the approximate number of thefts that occur each year from safe deposit boxes in the United States? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.253.80.241 (talk) 01:37, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm having trouble finding an answer too. This article has a lot of talk about the insurance, and WPs FDIC page makes clear that safety boxes aren't covered by FDIC insurance (although banks may have outside insurance). You might be able to extrapolate from bank robberies. If you assume that not every bank robbery results in the theft of the box, then that provides an upward bound on the number. The FBI has a whole section dedicated to the issue. Other governments may have similar statistics. Shadowjams (talk) 06:35, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

About 10 in 2006. Around 26 in 2005. It's in that FBI statistic above. Shadowjams (talk) 06:36, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Inter-American Highway

What s the condition of the Inter-American Highway between San Jose, Costa Rica and David, Panama? 190.141.96.115 (talk) 13:27, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Our article on David mentions that the road is popular and a important trade route to Costa Rico. Our Pan-American Highway article mentions that this section is Central American Highway 1, about which we have no article. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 15:29, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

find a fiction book

 i read a book several years back about an american police detective who's son dies of an overdose, he finds and kills the dealer and goes on the hunt for the suppliers, the reader feels for the detective and sympathises with his hunt...ring any bells ? any sugestions. thanks, bob≠