Welcome to the miscellaneous section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.

Select a section:

WP:RD/M

Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

How can I get my question answered?

Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
Note:
- We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
- We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
- We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
- We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.

Ready? Ask a new question!

How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

July 19

New problem

In the NES version of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, red enemies stay red underwater, but green enemies turn gray. Why?? I can't find any sources talking about the reason for this. (The SNES version doesn't keep this property; green enemies are always green in SMAS.) Georgia guy (talk) 00:00, 19 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Reds should actually be absorbed by water before greens, so they seem to have it backwards. Unfortunately most creators of video games, movies, TV shows, etc., pay little attention to scientific accuracy. SinisterLefty (talk) 00:18, 19 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The game probably simulated underwater using graphic filter(s) that added blue/green to the scene. The blending of the color with green objects makes them appear gray in part due to a process known as Chromatic adaptation. 107.15.157.44 (talk) 21:44, 20 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I promise you that they didn't use any sort of filter to blend colors together on the NES.

The NES could render 64 colors, but not at the same time. At any give moment, the screen is made up of four palettes, each with four colors.

I don't know the exact details of the scene you're talking about, but normally different enemies have to share color pallets, so probably that sort of compromise led to the color choices you're talking about. ApLundell (talk) 19:02, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 22

Ownership of a private jet

I recently saw a large airliner, an Airbus A330, parked in a quiet corner of Geneva airport. It had no airline markings and was clearly privately owned. I noted down the call sign, which was VP-CKQ. Googling this call sign in an attempt to find out more about the owner of this aircraft didn't bring up much, but did bring up this (pdf) listing of aircraft registered in the Cayman Islands. The listing says that the aircraft is registered in the name of a company called Skytrooper Ltd, about which there is also not much to be found online. I also looked up the aircraft on flightradar24.com, but there was no information there either (at least in the free version). So my question is, who really owns this aircraft? I fully understand of course that this information will not be in the public domain, but I highly doubt it is possible to keep it secret. Where is this aircraft usually based, and which routes does it usually fly? Such information would surely assist in identifying the aircraft's owner. --Viennese Waltz 16:11, 22 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Here is some info on previous registrants. Prior to Skytrooper, A330-200 serial number 1321 was registered in the Caymans by Hongkong Jet. Prior to that, it was registered to AirAsia X (the first owner) out of Malaysia. I really am not sure what Skytrooper is; it may be a holding company that then leases the jet out, or it might be an airliner repossessor, or it might be a charter airline with a very small number of customers. —/Mendaliv/^2¢/_Δ's/ 16:57, 22 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]
- A straightforward Google search turns up a few articles from Rappler in 2015 claiming a connection between Skytrooper and Iglesia ni Cristo, which is a religious organization in the Philippines. Specifically that INC leaders used airliners owned by Skytrooper in the Caymans for travel. I am not clear on whether Rappler is considered a reliable source on Wikipedia. I have found nothing else. —/Mendaliv/^2¢/_Δ's/ 17:13, 22 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  - Oh wait, I forgot to look into another angle. I’m finding information that VP-CKQ may now be owned by a different entity. Flightradar24 says it’s owned by Aegle Aviation (which is a charter airline in Hong Kong, though it may be a Bermudan subsidiary). Another website says Aegle registered it in June 2019 while the Planespotters page says Skytrooper registered it in May 2019 (a blogger site says May 17, 2019). Radarbox24, another flight tracker, says VP-CKQ is on its list of blocked aircraft (I think owners can request this for privacy). Multiple sites have it sighted and photographed in the last month at Amsterdam Schiphol, Zurich, Barcelona-El Prat, and Pisa; and at the end of May at Tokyo Narita and Tokyo Hadena. In fact, it was in Amsterdam last week. They variously identify it as Hongkong Jet and Aegle, but the livery is very nondescript. Same livery at all six airports. Another blog says that when VP-CKQ flew for Hongkong Jet the livery was even more nondescript—being pure white (i.e., no stripe). And, I don’t think I’ll be able to find more without access to specialized records. —/Mendaliv/^2¢/_Δ's/ 17:43, 22 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

That's really a lot of work, thanks very much. Looks like the owner will remain a mystery. --Viennese Waltz 19:32, 22 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Just hope they haven't been spying on your Google searches! ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:29, 22 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Looking to make relatively bulk purchase of kamifusen

I have bought kamifusen at Amazon in the past here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005LIHNTC

I would like to buy more, preferably about 8 inches diameter each and hopefully the same style as the amazon listing, although I am open to other styles. I have searched the internet with very few leads except for things like the above Amazon listing where you get a pack of 3 different sizes. I need all the same size and will buy up to 30 pieces if it's at a good price. Thanks for any help in advance.

216.173.144.149 (talk) 19:12, 22 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

This reference desk isn't really a shopping forum. That being said, you could contact one of many suppliers about discounts for bulk purchases. For example, "Sold by single balloon, or as set of 5, 10 or 50":[1] -- same style, "21cm when measured flat" (about 8 1/4 inches) 107.15.157.44 (talk) 22:05, 22 July 2019 (UTC) ... (50 = $40 USD, 10x3 = $30 USD)[reply]

BTW, if you're feeling ambitious, WP could use an article on Kamifusen; presumably the tradition goes back to at least the Edo period (per the 1937 film: Humanity and Paper Balloons) 107.15.157.44 (talk) 22:36, 22 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Understandable. I was concerned whether this topic was appropriate for Wikipedia. However, i don't have a lot of other resources available. I have found a company called White Rabbit Express which helps people buy things from Japan. It seems there are LOTS of Kamifusen to be bought on Japanese Amazon! (Makes sense, right?!?) ... The only question is how reputable this White Rabbit Company is. (Has anyone heard of this company?!) It seems like a reasonable approach since it is hard to read Japanese, and even if i get a .jp account and set my language to English, not all items on Japanese Amazon will ship to the United States!

How reputable is White Rabbit Japan? The company has been around since 2003.

White Rabbit Express has a rating of 9.5 (out of 10) with 250 reviews on Trustpilot

White Rabbit Express as a rating of 4.9 (out of 5) with 44 reviews on Facebook

White Rabbit Express has a rating of 4.9 with 86 reviews on Google Takopus (talk) 08:34, 25 July 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Takopus (talk • contribs) 05:31, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

On a side note, i had no idea Wikipedia is missing an article on Kamifusen!!! I may actually take up the offer to add an article on this information! :) 216.173.144.149 (talk) 06:50, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

If any of the kamifusen manufacturers use Chinese factories, you might have luck on DHgate.com, which is a bulk-sale site for Chinese businesses. --M @r ē ino 17:49, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

If a JPL physicist takes the time to write a Physics Today paper on its workings,[2] (a) it's notable enough for an article, and (b) he needs to get out more. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:17, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 23

What's the closest I can get to something that spits out the home addresses of n random Americans?

For whenever I wonder what the graph of distance to the nearest food/roof height/plant hardiness zone/etc. by percentile looks like. No names, numbers or anything, just 100 buildings where a building with 100 Americans is 100 times more likely to be picked than a building with 1. If this is unavailable, are there proxies that don't grow the error bars much?

Also how do I draw error bars for the n samples? I dropped out before being taught this in school so I have no idea if say the lowest sample should be given a 1- or 2- sigma error bar that goes up to the value of the 20th sample or to between the 5th and 6th sample or what. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 22:53, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The generate.plus website has a real random address generator. It gives you a real address, but randomly chosen. If an address has multiple units (such as an apartment building), it is more likely to appear because each unit is an address. The problem is that the tool generates one address per click of the "generate" button. 135.84.167.41 (talk) 13:42, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, that seems good enough. I suppose I could count a sample who's census block has say 1.1 or 0.8 times the average humans per household as 1.1 or 0.8 samples but that sounds painstaking. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:14, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 24

Northernmost location that reached 40 C

After some searching I found that Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai at 52° 3′ 0″ N reached 43.2 C. Count Iblis (talk) 05:46, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

43.2° C. is 109.76° F. 40° C. is 104° F. Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2018 July 25#Why can Labrador get so hot? discusses a temperature of 107° recorded at latitude 53 1/2° N. 2A00:23C5:C708:8C00:B0C8:D69:FA32:D1C8 (talk) 09:22, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Not an answer, but Yakutsk (62°02′N) reaches 38.4. Granted it has unusual geography, but I'd be surprised if there weren't somewhere between Chita and Yakutsk which qualifies. Henry ^Flower 20:35, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

So far I have found 52d23m with many decicelsiuses to spare. I will check another country later. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:18, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Tara, Omsk Oblast, Siberia, 56°53′N, 40 Celsius exactly on the hottest day in Tara history (one of those days the wind came from the Central Asian desert). Altitude 70 meter, population 27,318. World record might be norther. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 03:22, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

"A Mounty always gets his man!" If we ignore the sexism for a moment, are there any instances where the RCMP have not managed to " get their man"? Thanks Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 16:09, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

If you google "do mounties always get their man" you will find various commentaries. This one is interesting.[3] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:03, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Are you seriously asking if there are no unsolved federal crimes in Canada? Matt Deres (talk) 13:05, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'd take the Q seriously. I mean, some people believe Canadians never lock their doors because no one in Canada has ever been a victim of a crime. --M @r ē ino 21:16, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Dudley Do-Right may be the only Mountie with a 100% success rate. SinisterLefty (talk) 20:22, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Is this website real or a scam?

I came across this website: https://beautyofthemoment.com/product-category/foundation/

It may look like a cosmetics on-line store, but if you look carefully, one of the products is actually a "BitCoin Code" scam.

Now my question is, is this a real cosmetics on-line store that some malicious cracker hijacked, or is the entire website part of the scam? JIP | Talk 21:57, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The website is less than a month old, which is one of the warning signs of a scam. I'm also suspicious of how few google hits it has. --M @r ē ino 21:23, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 25

No. 10 filigree doodads

What are those cast-iron filigree doodads on either side of the door at Number 10 Downing Street? 2606:A000:1126:28D:8DD4:CFE9:7561:C95 (talk) 06:50, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I believe they're boot scrapers. Fancy ones. Very similar to this antique.

If you want a less fancy modern set, Amazon has a whole category[4].

ApLundell (talk) 07:07, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm... wonder if they've been there since the Great horse manure crisis of 1894 (an actual article). 2606:A000:1126:28D:8DD4:CFE9:7561:C95 (talk) 07:23, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure they have. That is exactly why they used to install these on downtown buildings.

(This seems to be a common, if expensive, style. A google search for regency iron boot scraper turns up a bunch of antiques in this exact style. )

Looking closely, it looks like the left one is damaged. It's missing some of the decorative bits. Must be a common fault, this one in Ireland has almost identical damage. I'll bet people kick them.

ApLundell (talk) 07:56, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I would guess people trip on them. Looks unsafe to me. Something like Astroturf, epoxied down, but in an appropriate color, would be more practical and safer. SinisterLefty (talk) 13:18, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

You mean a welcome mat? It would probably depend on the amount of... stuff you needed to remove and how much usage it will be getting. On a rainy, muddy, day (in London?!) 10 Downing might end up with more sludge than a mat could accommodate (after the first user it progressively gets less and less effective). Matt Deres (talk) 14:53, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Not quite a welcome mat. I'd leave it on the sides, so people can avoid them when not needed. And welcome mats aren't normally epoxied down. The texture should also be that of rough bristles, which most mats lack. SinisterLefty (talk) 17:20, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Modern boot-scrapers (see Amazon link above) usually have a tough-bristled brush, in addition to a scraping bar. These have probably been installed for well over a century, though. They might not have had brushes that could withstand the elements back then.

Automobiles don't leave the streets as messy as horses do, I suppose they're probably mostly decorative these days. ApLundell (talk) 18:09, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

As to kicking them, sadly the general public hasn't been allowed onto Downing St. for nearly 30 years now. People who do have permission do be there are probably not so likely to misbehave. --69.159.11.113 (talk) 06:17, 26 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"Doodad" is actually an appropriate name for these.

doo — (childish) feces

dad — etymology 2.2: A blow; act of striking something.

2606:A000:1126:28D:8DD4:CFE9:7561:C95 (talk) 08:53, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds more like a monkey's 2nd favorite hobby, tossing their poo at people. :-) SinisterLefty (talk) 20:16, 25 July 2019 (UTC) [reply]

UPDATE: Finest Hour (Spring 1987), the magazine of the International Churchill Society, has on its front cover a ceramic statuette of Winston next to the No. 10 bootscraper, which the description inside (p. 3 bottom left} says was damaged by being "kicked by a horse in 1926". Alansplodge (talk) 20:21, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

And they haven't replaced it or fixed it in 95 years ? Wow, and I thought I was cheap. :-) SinisterLefty (talk) 05:12, 26 July 2019 (UTC) [reply]

Asset Forfeiture Unit sales

In South Africa, assets seized as part of criminal investigations can be sold by the South African Asset Forfeiture Unit. I am please looking for a website where such items are sold, specifically property. I was also hoping there is such a thing in the UK and any available links. Google has proved to be useless. Thanks Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 15:11, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

You might add the word "auction" to your search, as that's a common way to sell such property. SinisterLefty (talk) 17:17, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

For small items in the UK, there is BumbleBee Auctions and some forces have their own eBay presence now. (see [5] [6] [7] [8] etc) Large items (cars, houses etc) will be sent to a formal auction house for disposal. Each force and department chooses where to list them, there is no central place. See also Government auctions and Police auction. Nanonic (talk) 21:33, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

History of local daylights time observance in the US

I feel that our article Daylight saving time in the United States is very lacking regarding the period of 1918-1942 and 1946-1972, partly even up to 1986. Is there a complete list of what states and other US territorries or areas where locally observing DST during the period of 1918-1986, and particularly during what years (as many of them seem to have alternatingly dropped, re-adopted, and re-dropped it recurringly during that timeframe)? --2003:EF:13C1:6862:FC70:30DB:3E3F:7D0F (talk) 16:09, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The tz database attempts to record all historical time zone changes since 1970. It has older data, but incomplete. That solves at least part of your problem. Jahoe (talk) 09:44, 26 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 26