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December 7

Maths homework

Q.Check which of the following subsets of R is compact, sequentially compact or countably compact :

 (a)   (-3,2]
 (b)   (1,2)
 (c)   [8,9)
 Support your results with suitable arguments.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.139.209.194 (talk) 11:00, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Do you see the sentence at the top of this page that says: "We don't do your homework for you, though we’ll help you past the stuck point"? Tell us what you are stuck on, and we might be able to help (though it would be better on the maths reference desk). --ColinFine (talk) 13:32, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I'll give some tips.

Compact_space#Introduction: first five lines should give the answer regarding "compact".
One of the properties of Countably compact space should tell you the rest.

then again, I'm not used to the English vocabulary in set theory and related math topics, so I could be wrong... Ssscienccce (talk) 22:44, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

How to install CNG/LPG system on a 1.6L Kia CVVT engine?

I want to know about how to install CNG/LPG system on a 5 m (16 ft) fishing boat's installed 1.6L CVVT car engine (for information purposes only)?

Engine details:
Engine from: 2012 Kia Rio SX GDI
Displacement: 1,600 cm³ (98 cu in)
Engine name: Gamma
Original fuel type: Petrol/Gasoline
Valvetrain: Dual overhead camshaft, 16 valve

How to pronounce Alexander Tietze's last name

Please help me with pronouncing Tietze. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Susanhaller (talk • contribs) 22:30, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Dutch isn't so different from German, so the first second of this youtube video should give you an idea. Ssscienccce (talk) 22:49, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

merriam-webster.com gives the IPA transliteraration of "Tietze's" as \ˈtēt-səz-\ and has a sound file - I can't tell you if it works because some ne'er-do-well has borrowed my speakers and not returned them. There's another sound file on memidex.com. Alansplodge (talk) 00:43, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Huh huh, \ˈtēt-səz-\. Huh huh. μηδείς (talk) 03:51, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 8

Congolese woman

Can anyone identify this woman, either individually, or in a more detailed manner than in the file history or at Flickr? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 04:46, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

[1] says Bangobango people group of Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sleigh (talk) 14:21, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I had seen that page when I did a reverse image search at google yesterday. But I believe they got the image from wikipedia--in any case, it is uncredited there, and described as a "representative image". Discussion of the image at Bantu peoples implies it was originally taken from flicker, where al it was described as was "Congolese woman". That's not to say it's not a Bangobango woman, but I was hoping maybe we could get something along the lines of "a woman wearing traditional Bangobango dress" or te like. μηδείς (talk) 18:25, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Alan Winnington/Winnington Baronets

Is Alan Winnington (de, [2], [3]) related with the Winnington Baronets? --Dandelo (talk) 10:38, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I can see, not directly. Sir Thomas Winnington, 4th Baronet (1811-1872) only had two sons; one died unmarried at the age of 21.[4] The other son, Sir Francis Salwey Winnington, 5th Bt. (1849-1941), had three sons, none of whom apparently had a son called Alan. I have discounted female children as they wouldn't have passed the Winnington name on to their children. You can follow the family tree backwards from the first page that I linked if you have the time, but lunch is ready now! Alansplodge (talk) 13:03, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, the 3rd and 2nd Baronets only produce one alternate line ending in John Francis Sartorius Winnington (1876-1918) who had two daughters before he was killed at the end of WWI. He would (I think) be a third cousin of the 5th Baronet; so if Alan Winnington was actually related, it would be only very remotely. Alansplodge (talk) 11:30, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Dip pen stuck in potato

In an old Laurel and Hardy short, the desk clerk at a low rent hotel placed the registry dip pen into a potato, when not in use. Was this really done back then, and for what reason ? Perhaps it kept the ink from drying into clumps on the nib ? StuRat (talk) 13:15, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I found The Cambridge Companion to Elgar, edited by Daniel M. Grimley and Julian Rushton (p. 36) which says "He (Edward Elgar) avoided writer's cramp by using a dip pen rather than a fountain pen, which required him to lean forward to the inkwell and clean his pen by plunging it into a potato.". I also found a novel called The Accidental Time Machine, by Joe W. Haldeman (p. 131) in which one of the characters asks (in reference to dip pens) "'Why a potato?' 'It keeps the points from getting rusty. You stick them into a potato when you're done for the day.'" This latter explanation seems less likely to me. We used dip pens and ink wells at our primary school in London in the 1960s (not many people believe me but I assure you that it's true). The steel nibs that we were provided with were plated (maybe with chromium?), and I never recall seeing one go rusty despite the way that we abused them (we used to play darts with them by throwing them into the wooden floors - the points would need a bit of straightening afterwards). We were given pink blotting paper to clean them with, as the deposits of dried ink made them drop big blots in your exercise book - a caning offence in my father's day (1920s) but would still draw adverse comments in the more enlightened 1960s. The trouble with blotting paper was that it left fibres on the nib and you had to be careful where you put the inky paper afterwards in case you got ink on everything. So using a potato to clean the nib sounds plausible, but I'd never heard of it until just now. Alansplodge (talk) 19:42, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

my guess is that it was just a gag. you poke a potato a couple of times and leave it out on a desk and it is not going to last long. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 19:44, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Elgar is not well known for slapstick; calling his bicycle "Mr Phoebus" after a character invented by Benjamin Disraeli was his kind of joke (no, I don't get it either). Alansplodge (talk) 19:50, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Elgar may not be joking, but the bit in the Laurel and Hardy clip probably is. things that are standardly performed or perceived as a joke can be found to be actually done by at least a few individuals as their normal form of business.-- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 20:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well maybe, but going in search of backup, I found this interview with a lady who runs her own calligraphy business in California... Q. "What tool do you use in your business that you can’t live without?" A. "Don’t laugh. A raw potato. Its my secret weapon. A former calligraphy teacher showed me this trick to clean the ink off the pen nib, and I swear it really works!" Alansplodge (talk) 20:14, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks so far. It sounds like it was indeed used, and the blotting of excess ink seems like a good explanation. I agree that the avoidance of rust doesn't sound plausible, as a potato is wet inside, and the other chemicals found there would, if anything, promote rust, not inhibit it.

As far as a potato not lasting long, I suspect they would last a lot longer than you might think, perhaps months. I've forgotten about potatoes in a cabinet before, only to open the cabinet weeks later and find they had all sprouted. And, of course, potatoes are dirt cheap, so you can easily replace one that dries out, sprouts, or rots. I also suspect any slits in the potato would quickly "heal". Potatoes and onions are amazing things, I like to call them undead, based on their ability to recover from just about anything short of boiling them. StuRat (talk) 11:31, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Slits in potatoes don't heal, they scar, at best. μηδείς (talk) 21:25, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That's why I put it in quotation marks. They seal the potato, so it stops losing moisture and admitting bacteria. StuRat (talk) 10:41, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Clearing the sandpit in Long Jump

Are there any rules or regulations that cover the (admittedly unlikely) event that an athlete competing in the Long Jump actually clears the sand pit? Would the jump be a foul or would they be awarded a maxmimum jump distance? Likewise, in throwing events, is there anything covering someone throwing their object beyond the final line of the measuring sector. Nanonic (talk) 15:36, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Speaking from distant memories of school-level competitions (I once briefly held an under-16 County (Kent, UK) record in the 8lb Shot put), in throwing events the distance lines are only there for the informal guidance of spectators and competitors – the actual distance measurement should always be done with a steel or fibreglass measuring tape from the landing point to the edge of the throwing circle. The only problem would, I'd think, be determining whether the object landed within the permissible angle of the Sector if it did so beyond the end of the marked Sector lines and line-end flags.

In the (presumably representative) USATF 2006 Rules, the relevant Article III Section 1 Rule 187 goes into some detail about marking out the Sectors for the various throwing events, but I can see no suggestions of any maximum distance restrictions.

Regarding the Long jump (or Triple Jump), the eventuality seems so unlikely that there may be no relevant rules in existence. Note that in the above-linked Rules, Article III Section 1 Rule 185 Long Jump Item 6 states:

"It is recommended that the distance between the take-off board and the end of the landing area shall be at least 10 metres."

Since 10m is more than 10% greater than the current Long jump World Record, it's being exceeded in our era seems nigh-on impossible: should future athletes begin to approach 10m, doubtless the recommendations would be modified, since no-one would want to see an athlete injure him/herself by landing on the edge of the pit (or beyond). As for the Triple jump, the event's nature guarantees the final jump phase being shorter than in the Long jump, so the potential problem is taken care of by the former's set-up. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195 90.201.159.157 (talk) 16:49, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

IAAF Competition Rules 2014-2015 (4 MB PDF) pages 199-200 says:

RULE 185
Long Jump
Competition
1. An athlete fails if:
...
(d) after taking off, but before his first contact with the landing area,
he touches the runway or the ground outside the runway or
outside the landing area;
...
3. An athlete shall not be regarded to have failed if:
...
(d) if in the course of landing, he touches, with any part of his body,
or anything attached to it at that moment, the border of, or the
ground outside the landing area, unless such contact contravenes
Rule 185.1(d)
...
Take-off Line
4. The distance between the take-off line and the far end of the landing
area shall be at least 10m.

The World Record is 8.95m. They probably didn't have beyond the landing area in mind with "outside the landing area", but a literal interpretation says it would be a fail. If a jumper is about to go a little long then I suppose he could deliberately put down a leg to touch something inside the landing area first, but the whole thing is rather theoretical if the 10m minimum is satisfied. In practice I suspect the officials would either try to conservatively measure the actual jump length, or give the distance to the far end of the landing area. If they declared a fail then the jumper would probably protest to the Referee. Page 147 says:

To arrive at a fair decision, the
Referee should consider any available evidence which he thinks
necessary, including a film or picture produced by an official video
recorder, or any other available video evidence. The Referee may
decide on the protest or may refer the matter to the Jury. If the Referee
makes a decision, there shall be a right of appeal to the Jury.

PrimeHunter (talk) 16:53, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The 1980s javelin redesign was in (small) part because the world record was growing too close to the far end of the stadium. Footage of Uwe Hohn's remarkable throw is available at video sites of varying copyright compliance. jnestorius^(talk) 00:19, 14 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

How do they turn off/on the fuel pumps when a gas station closes/opens?

Not the emergency shut off. I'm looking for the method in which the older gas stations (before they were all 24 hours and took credit cards) would shut down the pumps at night, and then turn them back on in the morning. Is their a switch inside the station? A breaker box? A key that must be turned at the pump? Anyone ever worked at a gas station and know how they turned off/on the pumps? Just to be clear, this is for a story I'm writing, not looking to steal gas :) Thanks! Ditch ∝ 18:14, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen the forecourt lights and the pumps being turned-off at the same time, without anyone walking out of the kiosk. I would be surprised if there isn't a switch inside that turns off the power supply, but I don't know for certain. Alansplodge (talk) 19:13, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)I used to work at a country general store that had a couple pumps out front. They had just a simple switch behind the counter. It was the same as what you would use to turn off a light in your house. If you need a bit of realism for your story, it also had an ancient piece of masking tape above the switch that read simply "Pumps". Dismas|^(talk) 19:16, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

For fiction purposes, persuade your local gas station to remove the lower nacelle or cover of the pump. I haven't looked in side for many a year but the electric motor (the circuit breaker of which is back at the cash desk, so that it can be turned off in emergencies) usually turns a wheel - via a V belt. On that wheel (which drives the pump) is a square nut. A crank handle can be placed over it, to hand-crank the pump. This is for the reasons of: a prolonged power cut or WW3 breaking out and the survivors needing to... well as a author you know that scenario already. Also, the circuit breakers or on/off switches in old stations the would have be on the distribution board (for cost reasons) but modern stations may also have infra-red flame detectors for auto-shut off.--Aspro (talk) 20:20, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Now that you have me thinking about it, how far are we going back? I have never seen any key on the pump itself. The nearest, is that some nozzles and holsters had holes at the base so that a padlock shackle could looped through. We have had credit cards for some forty years - is this an ancient historical novel, where one had one had to change gear with a floor shift and control the a/c by winding the side windows up an' down and rely on the local blacksmith to change the tires? --Aspro (talk) 20:55, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 9

Fleur-de-lis

I don’t understand why you lot consider this to be a Christian symbol. I have never seen any biblic mentions or uses of this. Are you just classifying it as such simply because it was used by Christians? --66.190.69.246 (talk) 03:27, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

See the section: Fleur-de-lis#Symbolism in religion and art. Rmhermen (talk) 03:40, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Damn, I missed the lily mention in the Song of Solomon. Still, it’s ambiguous and not in the New Testament. At the very least, the symbol is not biblic in origin, surely. --66.190.69.246 (talk) 07:43, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Christianity has accumulated a great mass of symbols over the last two millennia, and not all of them are directly Biblical in origin. The Ichthys symbol was used from the very earliest days of the Church, but the mentions of fish in the Gospels don't really support it's use as a personal emblem of Christ, unless you accept that Jonah prefigures the Resurrection. Alansplodge (talk) 11:20, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough. --66.190.69.246 (talk) 12:50, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"You lot"? Is GWB lurking here? μηδείς (talk) 20:24, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Why would George Bush use a Britishism? --66.190.69.246 (talk) 10:22, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe he picked it up from our Tone? Alansplodge (talk) 16:54, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Verifying if two images taken by Edward S. Curtis the same person and Nampeyo on Wiki?

Viewing a biography of Edward S. Curtis on television which showed a variety of pictures of his work, being instantly attracted to one in particular. On searching the internet, found a handful of pictures I'm interested in, one from the show and another looking like it's the same person, but differently posed, sitting, painting pottery. The head shot showed on TV had been edited. I found 'that one' plus the original, where she's carrying pottery on her head. They've edited the pottery out, apparently for sales purposes because it's not looking very flattering? All his pictures are up for sale. So, I've discovered 'four' so far! In the effort of finding more, finding Nampeyo on Wiki, saw an old Nampeyo. Although it's probably the same person, but she doesn't quite have the same facial features as the younger pictures present, especially in the mouth? Zooming in doesn't help recognition? Finding another with a different hair a style that maybe of the same person taken at a later date, but unable to verify? After fruitless efforts trying to find email contact address or links to establish such, and finding nearly all in the Wiki article are either dead or sectioned off as a copywrite issue, I need to ask if you can help find the pictures of the same person to verify these two pictures as being the same person or not including Nampeyo in Wiki? Can't give you copies of the pictures I have, because I don't seem to be able to paste or upload them? They're not on Wiki to reference to? Names related to any of these pictures from sites are ambiguous? Best of luck!Priboi2011 (talk) 22:59, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

We have articles on Edward S. Curtis and many of his pictures at [5]. We also have articles on Nampeyo (which does not use a Curtis picture) and her descendants, also potters. This non-Wikipedia link shows a couple of non-Curtis pictures of her at different ages. There appear to be at least 3 or 4 Curtis images. Curtis visited the Hopi in 1900, 1902, 1904, 1906, 1911, 1912, and 1919. At least one image of Nampeyo is dated 1900[6]. There are about a dozen non-Curtis images of Nampeyo on that net, several which are sourced to museums, who you could also ask questions of. I don't see any copyright problems listed on these Wikipedia pages. Do you know which pages had that notice? Rmhermen (talk) 18:29, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A question about black light

A strange one this, but I'm wondering if the term "black light" (as in ultraviolet light) is predominantly an American expression. I live in the UK and am currently writing a story in which UV plays a small role. I remember the term from series such as Quincy, but when I read my piece to an audience this evening they queried my use of it, and it got me thinking. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance. 86.140.105.29 (talk) 23:57, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

When writing, one has to consider one's audience and how they will receive/perceive it – think that's what your asking. From a technical point of view, I live in the UK also and have always understood 'black light'. But I am of a technical background and your readers may not be. To dispel all doubt, it might be better to spell it out that it is ultra-violet 'A' that is your subject (or object or whatever)(gosh I can't believe I just got that all so mangled up). A good author does a little bit of research (as you're doing now). Your novel may carry more conviction (credibility) if you define (simply) that 'black-light' has a wave length of … OH, some one has just called at the door – I will try and come back later and give you a reference.--Aspro (talk) 00:23, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Back! As always Wikipedia has an article on it. Black light (Ultraviolet A) has a wave length of 400 – 315 nm.--Aspro (talk) 01:00, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Interestingly, on the US Amazon.com there are many products described as simply a "Blacklight", but on Amazon.co.uk the same products usually described as a "UV Blacklight" or a "Blacklight UV torch" or some other similar construction that gets both search terms in the title.

I don't know if that indicates an English Language variation, or just that the UK copy editor is more thorough. APL (talk) 02:00, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I could swear I remember hearing an engvar term for this just recently, not just the term UV light, but something colloquial. Of course I cannot remember what that was.... μηδείς (talk) 02:18, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Many moons ago I had a blacklight in my bedroom, so it's been known in the UK for at least 35 years! --TammyMoet (talk) 11:14, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

In many cases, we Brits understand American use of the language - mostly because we watch a good number of US TV shows and movies - but we often do not use the Americanisms ourselves. So when an American talks about (say) putting something into the "trunk" of their car, we know they are referring to what we call "the boot" - but we wouldn't ever use the word "trunk" to describe it. So it comes as no surprise that we understand "blacklight" to mean "UV" - but use "UV" ourselves. The idea of light who's color is black because you can't see it is an interesting description of UV - but sadly, the exact same reasoning would lead you to describe infrared light the same way. SteveBaker (talk) 13:39, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Do you actually watch those shows on the TV? Or on the telly? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:31, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

TV is the normal BritEng term. "Telly" is a very informal - and somewhat old-fashioned - colloquialism. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:41, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Aha! Old-fashioned. As in, in my youth it was often called a "TV set", short for "television set". I don't often hear it said that way nowadays. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:51, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I live in Texas...so I'm somewhat immersed in the American dialect. But yes, we Brits gather around our Telephonoscopes each evening to watch dim, flickering black and white images from our ex-colonies. SteveBaker (talk) 17:31, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

When I (here in the UK) first read the heading, I thought for a moment "what do they mean by black light -- oh, they probably mean ultra-violet". The term was coined by Gustave Le Bon in 1896 for radiation that passes through opaque objects, but soon afterwards it began to be used for UV light (C S Page in 1913). The term appears in the revised 14th (1957) edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, so it is clearly British as well as American, but I haven't seen it used here for a long time. From the 1960s, ultra-violet became well-known, and this seems to be the preferred term here in the UK. Dbfirs 22:03, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think "ultraviolet" is the normal US term for the radiation itself, what you block with sunscreen. No one would say "don't stay out too long in the sun, kids, or you'll get too much black light!" That would just be silly.

But the gadget that you buy specifically for your haunted house at Halloween, or to show to best effect your black-velvet painting of some reclining pinup model, that's a black light. --Trovatore (talk) 01:43, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

So, is there no other colloquial British term? I thought I remembered reading of something around Halloween, and then realizing what was meant was a black light. μηδείς (talk) 00:39, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Nope; we say "ultraviolet" or "UV" - see [7] or [8]. Unlike some of the other British editors here, I have never heard of "black light" before - I initially thought this thread might be something to do with black holes... Alansplodge (talk) 16:46, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It occurred to me that you may be thinking of a "nightlight", now called a tealight by manufacturers, although nobody uses them to make tea with. Their main use nowadays is to light up pumpkins at Hallowe'en. Alansplodge (talk) 08:47, 13 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Black light was certainly a very common term in the UK during the decade of the 1970's and 80's. Discothèques, the Marquee Club, 100 Club etc, and other music venues all had 'black light' tubes. They were definitely not tea light nor night lights. Neither of which can penetrate woman's outer garments to make their synthetic brassieres and knickers beneath - glow in the dark! I had synthetic fur covered boots that shone brilliant blue. My girl friend (who had to have a lot of dental work done, after she went over the handle bars of her Triumph Rocket – we were all, very much into motor bikes in those times) had a mouthful of glowing mosaic nashers under black light. In my attic, I still have some tubes sold to me as 'black light' that I bought in Acton, London W5 in the early 2000's. Colloquially, when someone here, talks of a UV lamps, they usually mean a sun beds – different spectrum. One's usable vocabulary often depends on which circles one circulates in.--Aspro (talk) 16:46, 13 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You mistake my purpose - in my second post I was trying to identify User:Medeis's "other colloquial British term" - apologies for not making myself clearer. I defer to your greater knowledge, however it does seem to be (in UK usage) entirely confined to the field of disco lighting, about which I know very little. Alansplodge (talk) 20:01, 13 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Even this British company [[9]] and this one [[10]] differentiates black light from other UV lights.--Aspro (talk) 17:05, 13 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, I surrender. Fact remains, I'd never heard of it. Alansplodge (talk) 20:01, 13 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 10

central pain

I am shocked to read under the entry central pain, wiki wrote this reads like an ad. I am one of millions of cp sufferers and it has ruined my life. don't you do any basic research at all?? contact dr. wise young, head of research at Rutgers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.46.234.95 (talk) 10:03, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This is a user-written encyclopedia. There is no "you" that wrote the article, it's a collaborative effort. Some articles are better than others and if you don't like the one on Central pain syndrome the best thing to do would be to improve it yourself. No-one here is going to contact a third party and get them to improve the article. --Viennese Waltz 10:08, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The treatment section lists many possible treatments, so it doesn't look like an ad, to me, which presumably would push one form of treatment only. StuRat (talk) 10:19, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I just removed the list of external links in the See Also section. Four of them were for the "Central Pain Foundation", including one Facebook link. If you have specific concerns on the page mention them on the central pain talk page. Katie R (talk) 13:21, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The Treatment section is rather badly written, but it seems to me to err more on the side of medical and "how-to" advice than advertising. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 13:33, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Andre Bocelli

He has sent a picture out of himself and Joyce, who is Joyce? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.189.11.175 (talk) 16:41, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Just a guess - but American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato? You can do a Google images search on her name to see photos of her - perhaps you'll be able to make a more positive ID from that? Can you post a link to the photo you're talking about? SteveBaker (talk) 17:26, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 11

Former roads across the US/Canada border

Looking at Google Maps' images of the US-Canada border, there are a lot of places where there clearly used to be a road across the border (eg. Foxcroft Road/Woodlawn Road or Snow Road/Snow Settlement Road). When were these roads closed? --Carnildo (talk) 02:15, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Entirely speculation here, but I suspect that many of these roads were closed post 9/11. Many rural US-Canada border crossings were rather open and unguarded pre-9/11. Even major crossings like the Ambassador Bridge were pretty easy to get across. Usually a border agent stuck his head in your window and asked "Where ya headed" before just waving you through. I used to drive across the Windsor-Niagara Falls section of southern Canada quite frequently on my drive from Chicago to New Hampshire, and other than checking my license and absentmindedly asking some simple questions, nothing ever happened. Post 9/11 the world is VERY different, and border crossings have become much more restricted. It is quite likely that many places like this have been shut down because the U.S. cannot provide the level of security they wish to. --Jayron32 02:49, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, in many of these rural, out-of-the way crossings, there was no border officer on duty. There was either a remote link from which you talked to a border officer via phone, or nothing at all except a sign saying you had to report to the nearest border station at wherever after entering the other country's territory. It all depended on people collaborating willfully, as well as a willingness to turn the other way and not harass local residents who crossed the border regularly. This has largely ended post 9-11. Since it is too expensive to put a manned border crossing on all those little-traveled roads, the roads have simply been closed off, and a more circuitous route must be used to cross the border via a formal border crossing. --Xuxl (talk) 15:44, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Round town in the middle of the desert

It has a round layout. It's in the middle east somewhere in the middle of the desert. I think it's military. It was built within the last 30 years, I think. Does this sound familiar? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 03:17, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Shot in the dark. Are you sure it isn't the UTA Flight 772 memorial: [11]. --Jayron32 03:36, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It's a town, not a giant white tylenol. :) Anna Frodesiak (talk) 05:58, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe King Khalid Military City in Saudi Arabia (though it looks more octagonal than circular in layout)? Deor (talk) 16:03, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes!!!! That's it!. Thank you sooo much! :) Anna Frodesiak (talk) 01:01, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Determining network of mobile phone number

This site claims to be able to identify the network mobile numbers were originally assigned to based on OFCOM records. However, it also claims to be able to identify the 'actual' network a mobile number is currently registered with, even after number transfers and so on. Does this sound legit? What mechanisms might it use to be able to do this? --81.101.105.36 (talk) 12:47, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I can't speak for that site, but I can tell you there are publicly available websites (in the US) that telephone company specialists use to check just such information when needed. μηδείς (talk) 00:19, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The Name for a Fear of Risk

What is the name for a fear of risk? Examples of this could be:

An individual fearing to do something which would risk his or her life (such as joining the military).
A fertile biological male refusing to have any sex with a fertile biological female due to his fear of accidentally getting her pregnant.
An individual trying to avoid driving a car whenever possible in order to avoid accidentally causing a car accident and/or getting in legal trouble as a result of this.
Et cetera

I just saw an Wikipedia article for Atychiphobia, which is the fear of failure (I suppose that all of these things could be considered failures in a way). However, is there a better term for this specific fear? Thank you very much. Futurist110 (talk) 23:11, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Risk aversion (psychology). Card Zero (talk) 23:26, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note that a phobia isn't just a fear, but an unreasonable one. So, being afraid of joining the army and getting shot isn't a phobia, while a debilitating fear of butterflies is. StuRat (talk) 00:01, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it has to interfere with normal functioning (the article says significant interference in social or occupational activities). Whether joining the army is normal or not is debatable, which underlines the cultural aspect of phobias. It's certainly an "occupational activity", although the article also says (quoting the DSM) if a phobic stimulus ... is absent entirely in an environment — a diagnosis cannot be made. So I think "occupational" refers only to the person's own occupation, and I get the impression that a fear of being in the army counts as a phobia if you are likely to join or already in the army, unless it's not culturally normal for you to be there anyway (e.g. you were drafted and aren't keen), in which case you're just scared. Card Zero (talk) 00:24, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The third item could be a phobia. The first two shouldn't be. Those "fears" are simply common sense. As the Wizard said (or should have said) to the Lion, "You're confusing cowardice with wisdom". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:21, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 12

Cast iron in a dish washer

What would likely happen if I were to clean one of my cast iron frying pans in my dishwasher? I'm guessing that I'd have to re-season the pan but would there be anything else wrong with it? Could the cast iron possibly crack?

Please note, I'm not asking for any health, financial, or legal advice. Dismas|^(talk) 00:43, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"Cast iron is likely to rust in a dishwasher" says dishwasher, but without citing a source. Card Zero (talk) 00:50, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Dear god, please don't. Anything that needs to be cleaned off can be done with a scrub brush and some elbow grease. A little vegetable oil can also be used to loosen any particles, and kosher salt makes a really good abrasive. Many instructions recommend vegetable oil and kosher salt and a sponge. Soap should NEVER touch a cast-iron cooking vessel, and a diswasher is probably way too harsh. You'd likely ruin it in the dishwasher; cast iron can rust rather quickly in the hot, soapy conditions in a dishwasher. If you must use soap because nothing else works, consider a) buying a new one, because you may need to anyways or b) if you must use soap, HAND WASH the dish, dry thoroughly and immediately, and reseason the pan immediately. See [12] for some tips. If you google search "Cleaning a cast iron skillet" you'll get plenty of tips; if you also add the words "In a dishwasher" you'll get plenty of real world stories of people who did that, and then promptly had to buy a new one. --Jayron32 00:53, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I should have said that I do not plan on doing this. I'm well versed in how to clean cast iron and take care of it. It was just a curiosity. Dismas|^(talk) 01:11, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I've done it. So long as you don't end up with a puddle of standing water in it, and quickly remove it and re-apply oil to it after, it works out fine. I agree that hand-washing is better, but if you don't have time to hand-wash it right after use, and it's already wet (say you just sauteed some veggies), then you sure don't want to leave it wet or soak it in detergent, so a dishwasher is a good alternative. StuRat (talk) 03:36, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Symbol of Romance

(This is probably too subjective, but here it goes…)

What symbols, if any, are most closely associated with the Romance languages or Romance peoples? --66.190.69.246 (talk) 10:27, 12 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]