Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous

June 12

grants

copied from WP:HD
In N.J. what governmental agency receives requests for grants and then issues the grant. Are there any internet info where one can find who has received grants and the amounts thereof?68.36.45.130 01:32, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Here's one: New Jersey Division of Local Government Services grants. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 03:38, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Source of fictional character archetype

Hello, I'm trying to find out the source of a staple cartoon/fantasy character. It is, basically, a large muscle-man with a little brainy elfin guy riding on his back. The idea is that the brainy guy, who is too weak to function effectively, is controlling the strong guy, who is too dumb to function effectively. I remember this type of character, or variations on it, from a few different movies or television shows, but I can't put my finger on it, I'm really confused on this. Anybody know what I'm talking about? --Clngre 04:07, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure this isn't the source, but my favorite example of this is Freak the Mighty. V-Man - ^T/_C 04:17, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Master Blaster was composed of a smart, diminutive "Master" who rode on the back of an enormously strong, but dim-witted bodyguard known as "Blaster" in the 1985 movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I think this archetype might be called giant/dwarf team up. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 04:23, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Yeah I think that's it! In any case that feels really familiar and is evoking all kinds of nostalgia right now, so it's something. Thanks a lot! I think I'll check out that childrens book too, it looks interesting.

But, out of curiosity, does anybody know any more instances of this thing? It's such a quirky idea, but still seems relatively common. --Clngre 04:34, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

In The Wild Wild West, the mad scientist Doctor Loveless (a dwarf) was sometimes assisted by an inarticulate giant named Voltaire. —Tamfang 08:18, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

The character Fezzik in The Princess Bride is a (seemingly) simple giant, although he displays more hidden wit and creativity than some of the other characters (notably the brainy-but-weak, hunchbacked Vizzini) give him credit for. —Steve Summit (talk) 11:27, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

In The Two Towers, the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Merry and Pippin sat in the branches of Treebeard while Treebeard attack Saruman at his stronghold of Isengard.[1] Treebeard was no dummy, however.-- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:32, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Contrast Mûmak. Perhaps the whole idea originated with war elephants.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:44, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

First ones to come to my mind doesn't fit your bill exactly, but I thought of the Nebraska family from Trigun, Cait Sith from Final Fantasy VII, and even Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 20:36, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

There's also a lot of giant robot anime/movies that have scenes like this -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 20:38, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Wow thanks for all the help, this is fantastic and really interesting, I really appreciate it.--Clngre 01:47, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

This isn't a unique pairing - just about any kind of contrast can be used to tie a small group of characters together. Size, for instance, has been used for decades in traditional vaudeville-style pairings, of the tall skinny guy with the short stocky guy. I tried to find a reference, the closest I got was Double act, but hopefully you know what I'm talking about. Smart/dumb has been used in all kinds of places as well. Pinky and the Brain actually followed a fairly classic formula in their character design, dating back past Laurel and Hardy. I'm pretty sure there's a name for it, but I can't remember it. Black Carrot 03:41, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Granted, the original question was about cartoons/fantasy, but surely there is room to mention Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men! --LarryMac | Talk 14:05, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

An oldie but a weirdie: Burrough's Rykors and Kaldanes from 1920s Barsoom. Also, of course, Observer (MST3K), to whom I think it was Crow once addressed the provocative question, why is it preferable to have a separate body which you control to haul your brain around, instead of just keeping it in your skull? Gzuckier 19:41, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Say, which came first, the Observers or the Ood? —Tamfang (talk) 01:54, 6 August 2023 (UTC)

Banjo-Kazooie? 194.80.32.9 19:27, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

ATC on delta

Do the delta airlines aircraft offer air traffic control audio on their flights.--logger 04:26, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Probably not, for security issues. Neil ╦ 13:13, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Why not? Other airlines offer this. Dismas|^(talk) 13:31, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

They do? Really? Then I don't know. Try calling them and asking. Neil ╦ 13:50, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

The one time I flew Delta (about ten years ago, I believe), I thought I was really sneaky because I could hear the captain and Air Traffic Control on one of the audio channels, and I assumed nobody was supposed to hear that one. It was neat, because I could hear all the jargon that preceded the "we're about to experience turbulence" announcements and stuff. I can't remember which channel it's on, though... Trial and error, I suppose. V-Man - ^T/_C 00:58, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't recall if Delta does this, (Although I strongly suspect that different planes are equipped differently.) but if you were really interested, An alternative might be to pick up a cheap aircraft-band portable radio. However a little research would be required to make sure you're listening on the right frequency. 69.95.50.15 13:40, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Let's nix the portable radio idea. It's not permitted by most (or all) airlines. For one thing, due the the frequencies generated by the radio itself, it could play havoc with the navigation equipment on the plane. Bunthorne 04:28, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

car boy

While cleaning the basement of my wifes grandfather I came across a thick light blue glass container (about 24" high by about 14" dia.)My father-in-law said it was a CAR BOY. It held acid for car batteries. Do you have any info on a car boy?69.21.24.6 14:35, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

See Carboy. I use mine for making beer, I never heard of storing battery acid in one. (Insert joke about the quality of my homebrew here). --LarryMac | Talk 14:48, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Don't know about beer, but a carboy is and always has been a glass container for holding acids or other corrosive liquids. Every UK garage had them whilst batteries needed regular checking. Incidentally - blue glass bottles always held poison.86.197.171.129 15:47, 12 June 2007 (UTC)petitmichel

Interesting. The 1911 Encyclopedia agrees, which means our article needs some updating. --LarryMac | Talk 15:53, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

LOL! One of my beer-brewing connoisseur friends insists that blue bottles are always the best to hold his home brews. I'll have a bit of info for him! V-Man - ^T/_C 01:00, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

My wife has just contributed the fact that brown glass was used for liquids for use externally. Also, she tells me, the bottles were shaped with two flat sides, and corrugations, to aid the visually handicapped.86.197.42.163 14:11, 13 June 2007 (UTC)petitmichel

Reconnaissance vehicles

I was looking for an article about reconnaissance tanks and other reconnaissance vehicles... is there any with a different lemma? --KnightMove 15:31, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

My scout couldn't find one. But you can find a lot of articles on individual models in Category:Reconnaissance vehicles, or create an article yourself (If you stub it, they will come). Clarityfiend 15:54, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Prince Harry is expected to patrol the southern Iraq desert in an armored reconnaissance tank, so it is likely that Wikipedia will have a reconnaissance tanks real soon. I'm not sure what you mean by "a different lemma". -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 17:15, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Lemma (linguistics) - a "form of a word". Yeah, I'd never heard of that meaning either. Clarityfiend 18:29, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

We have on article on Prince Harry's vehicle, FV107 Scimitar. Rmhermen 18:40, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. In the German Wikipedia, "Lemma" is the term for the article superscription. As this is an unusual wording in German, I deemed this to be the established word in all Wikipedias. So what is the correct term for article captions here?

Nothing special as far as I know, just "title" or "name". Clarityfiend 20:47, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Naming conventions uses "name", so that's probably the correct term for article captions. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 02:43, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I considered it possible that there is an article dealing with the topic, under a caption I don't know... "Surveillance craft" or whatever... --KnightMove 19:50, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Sorry to hijack the question somewhat, but Prince Harry will not be on patrol in Iraq, see [2], he will however be taking a desk job in Canada see [3] and [4] Xarr☎ 20:00, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

When I first read the question, I thought you were referring to this guy. -- JackofOz 23:17, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Creating worlds (Question especially for people who work in entertainment industry)

What is the usual process for creating worlds, as in, maps and floorplans and etc., and connecting them to work together? Mainly, I want to know about the following:

• Video games, especially RPGs and MMORPGs.
• How Tolkein came up with middle earth and it's locations

If anyone knows about this, it's appreciated -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 20:27, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Tolkien's work is basically a life-long thing, where he even created languages for (Elvish). He was skilled in linguistics though. When I try to create worlds, I just draw a map of how the area would look and add in as I see fit. I doubt you can find documentation on the exact processes Tolkien took though. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 20:41, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

For worlds with large outdoor areas (I guess that's what you mean) the terrain is generally generated with a procedural terrain generator (Terragen , Bryce (software), and many more). Some of these terrain generators are purely fractal, but some also implement a more physically accurate model (modelling erosion in particular). Google for "terrain generation", or look at this tutorial. In practice, for games, the designer will probably have some fixed ideas about where they want major features (islands, continents, mountain ranges, desert plains, etc.) to be found, so the terrain generator will allow them to rough out that and it'll fill in pseudorandom detail to produce a natural-looking landscape. Designers will then typically tweak bits they don't like, and then will decide where to place artificial features (cities, bridges, dungeons, castles). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:09, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

For indoor areas designers either use off the shelf 3d modelling programs like 3D Studio Max or engine-specific programs (which frequently use constructive solid geometry to compose complex forms from basic primitives like cubes and cylinders). In addition to doing the geometry the designer also has to position the correct textures (a texture is an image which is wallpapered onto the geometric model, giving it the appearance of a real object) and lights. The resulting file is often then processed by some tools which optimise it and precalculate some info that will be of help when later playing the map in a game. This whole process is rather an unpleasant and labourious task (which explains why so many games have large sections of very uninspiring architecture - the designer ran out of patience or time at that point). While it is possible to programatically generate indoor spaces, this tends to produce some very dull maze-like maps, so that's not very common. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:20, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Category:Level editors lists some editor programs used to create maps (which, perhaps confusingly, mostly means "indoor areas") for computer games. Category:3D graphics software lists some of the software that one might use when creating scenes for a computer-generated movie; big CG houses like Weta, ILM, DWA, and Pixar have sizeable internal software development departments and use a lot of home-grown tools. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:29, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

It appears that Tolkien made the geography to fit the plot; e.g. he shifted the course of Anduin, between Rauros and Minas Tirith, several times so that the various parties moving about would reach their destinations in the desired order. The distribution of mountain ranges in Middle-Earth doesn't make much geological sense. —Tamfang 21:26, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, there doesn't seem to be a gaping plot hole that Tolkien didn't feel could be plugged with another unfeasably jagged linear mountain range. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:43, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

You need to remember that Middle-Earth was created by gods, not by geology. --Carnildo 22:55, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, some features were intentionally made by gods – the Misty Mountains were raised by Melko to impede the migration of the Eldar, iirc – but such features seem to be a minority. The fall of the Lamps apparently shaped the land and sea more than all the efforts of the Valar combined. —Tamfang 17:15, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Tolkien created his languages first, then wrote a mythos to support them and their historical changes. Corvus cornix 21:42, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Image question

What is the person in this image wearing? Some sort of gimp suit? [5] Dismas|^(talk) 21:57, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I've heard of people putting on "fat suits" for sumo wrestling. I don't have a reference and don't know much about it, but maybe it's one of those. Friday (talk) 22:51, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Fat suits are usually padded and flesh coloured, that looks more like someone screwing around and connecting their oxygen tank or an air compressor/pump to a wet suit -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 23:03, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

It is nothing to do with fat suits or wet suits. It is a kind of fetish. Wikipedia doesnt seem to have a page on it. Im not sure what the proper name for it is, but its connected to rubber fetishism. Inflatable fetishism perhaps? Blow-up suit? Mr Blowup certainly likes it. p.s i am not into that shit. honestly. Willy turner 23:21, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Above link is not work-safe. Please mention it next time Willy turner. 74.111.82.91 02:31, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Fer real. >_< V-Man - ^T/_C 02:35, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

It looks like they just pumped air into a wet suit. But if it's a fetish, I can't imagine that Wikipedia is missing a page on it. Those guys are thorough. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 02:49, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

OK. There now is a little blurb on rubberists "Mr. Blowup" at Garment fetishism: Latex/PVC fabric. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 03:14, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Left side, right side

Here in the U.S. we drive on the right, so it's not surprising that we normally walk on the right side of a busy hallway such as in schools and at work. This got me thinking, do people in the UK walk on the left side of halls and such? I would presume the answer would be yes but you never know so I thought I'd ask. Dismas|^(talk) 21:59, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I was in Barbados a week ago, where as a former British colony they drive on the left, and yes, on sidewalks pedestrians tend to pass each other on the left as well. [But may the OR police strike me dead if I've transgressed...] --Steve Summit (talk) 22:05, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

As someone who lives in the UK, i would say catigoricaly that there is no favoured side to walk on. And i find it hard to beleive that in the US people normally walk on the right side of corridors. Surely its more of a free for all, with people walking wherever theres space. Willy turner 22:16, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Nope, generally on the right. And we push our carts on the right of supermarket aisles, as well. Corvus cornix 22:32, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

If you notice, most doors for those supermarkets have the entrance on the right as well. That's exactly why I keep trying to go through the wrong door on one particular market near me that for some reason does not follow this custom. Dismas|^(talk) 03:43, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Hey, now that i've thought about it, i guess we do walk on the right in the US. i never really noticed before.--Maddie ^{was here} 22:45, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm Australian, where we drive on the left, and we do tend to stick to the left side of hallways, footpaths, shopping aisles, etc as well. Even those of us who don't drive at all. Down M. 23:59, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I concur with that. I know of at least one case where a city council made it compulsory, on pain of a fine, for pedestrians to walk on the left-hand side of inner-city footpaths whenever there was any traffic in the opposite direction. -- JackofOz 00:12, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I have lived in the United States most of my life, and I agree that people here generally walk on the right, though there are always exceptions: people who are oblivious and people who cling to the left side of the sidewalk/pavement and force others to walk around them! I have been to England several times. When I am there, I have tried to keep to the left, but I must concur with Willy turner that it is a bit of a free-for-all, in London anyway. I think that Londoners have a slight tendency to keep left, but it is a much weaker tendency than the preference for walking on the right in U.S. cities. Incidentally, on a recent trip to India, where they drive on the left, I noticed a definite preference among pedestrians to walk down the left side of the street, even though there are seldom sidewalks/pavements, and walking down the left side of the street leaves you unable to see the cars, motorbikes, and autorickshaws (motorized tricycles) careening recklessly toward your back! Marco polo 00:25, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the responses, everyone! Dismas|^(talk) 03:43, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Weird. I was actually taught to walk on the right side in the US in either elementary or middle school, if not both. I think it's one of those mannerism rules that many people know. Just to add, moving sidewalks are on the right also in the US. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:58, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Apart from agreeing with all that it's a bit of a free-for-all in the UK (with the general rule just seeming to be that you give everyone as much room as possible in passing), people are taught to walk on the right hand side of roads, if there is no pavement or the pavement is small, so as to face oncoming traffic. I don't know if this contributes to the general situation. Skittle 18:04, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

On the London Underground system, which has a huge number of escalators, anybody wishing to walk (or run, which is a bit naughty) is urged to do so on the left, and standing users must stand to the right. As confirmed here, this is backed up not just by signs on every escalator but by custom - if you stand on the left of an LU escalator, eyebrows will be raised, at the very least. I don't think there's such a strong "convention" on other escalators, such as those in department stores, though. Hassocks5489 07:52, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

That is the convention on moving sidewalks in major US airports, such as O'Hare and ATL. I tried to find an image or something to support this OR, but failed. Hopefully the OR cops are still busy with Steve Summit! --LarryMac | Talk 13:49, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

So why the hell do Target stores (in the US!) have the automatic doors to enter on the left of the automatic doors to leave? See the red "do not enter" signs on the right doors and the green signs on the left? Recury 17:00, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't know. Now that you mention it, there is a Target in Jackson, Tennessee that is the same way. The cash registers are on the right as you go in, so there is a reason to have the exit on the right since people would naturally flow from the registers to the exit. But you're right in that this is not "standard". Dismas|^(talk) 20:16, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

This would be pretty standard supermarket design in the UK - you enter on the left-hand side of the store and proceed in a generally clockwise direction to reach the tills and the exits. -- Arwel (talk) 21:54, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Clockwise-counterclockwise

In the US, people walk/run counterclockwise around exercise tracks such at high schools, parks, and the like. Is that the same in other countries? -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 01:18, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Without knowing, I'd say it has to do with the direction of traffic flow, since roundabouts in the United States move counter-clockwise due to driving on the right-hand side. I'm willing to bet that countries that drive on the left-hand side also have people jogging clockwise around the school track. V-Man - ^T/_C 01:50, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't know about casual running in parks and the like, but I'm pretty sure that nowhere in the world do running races go clockwise round the track; certainly they don't hear in the UK (they don't go counterclockwise either, of course. They go anticlockwise). Algebraist 13:17, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

The Tawaf article states they circumambulate the Ka'bah in a counter-clockwise direction. However, the Circumambulation article states that Circumambulation is done in a clockwise direction, perhaps for religions other than Islam. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:11, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Hindus go clockwise to keep their right side toward the venerated object. —Tamfang 17:02, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

V-Man737, we drive on the left in Australia, but still run anti-clockwise (thanks, Algebraist). I've never seen any race run in the clockwise direction, anywhere in the world. Running has been around a lot longer than cars, so its traditions predate whatever rules apply to cars, and I doubt the latter have had any influence at all on running. Interestingly, the majority of horse races in Australia are run clockwise, but some states (eg. Victoria, where the Melbourne Cup takes place), opt for anti-clockwise. -- JackofOz 01:20, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

What is the world's largest prison?

my friend asked me this. have done a quick google search, but no joy. What i mean is, which prison holds the most inmates? Willy turner 22:10, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

North Korea. Corvus cornix 22:32, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Although technically the United States has more people actually in a prison complex (and has the largest institutionalized prison system in the world). Though I get your drift. --24.147.86.187 22:54, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

The largest in the US is, I think, Angola Prison, which has over 5,000 inmates. Not sure of other big prisons elsewhere in the world but that's a nice number to start from. San Quentin has around that number as well, though. Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai is said to have the capacity for 8,000 inmates — no idea if it really has that many, though (we don't have an article about it). --24.147.86.187 23:03, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Google gave no dice but hakia.com listed The Twin Towers Correctional Facility in LA as the largest prison (in square feet) in the world with 4,500 inmates. But “The Farm,” the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has at least 5,000 and may be the largest in the Us. I don't know why it is so hard to find the answer to this... Sifaka ^talk 23:05, 12 June 2007 (UTC) (sorry I accidently erased everyone elses edits then fixed it... whoops)

I found answers to every related question but could not answer the question asked:

• Tihar Jail in New Delhi is one of the largest prison complexes in the world (13,436 inmates)[6]
• Camp Lawton was briefly the world's largest prison camp in the waning days of the Civil War[7]
• Prison Fellowship International is the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families.
• California's Department of Corrections is the world's third-largest prison system
• Reporters Without Borders calls China the world's largest prison for journalists.[8] Cuba remains the world's second largest prison for the press.[9]
• Some say Gaza is the world's largest open-air prison[10]
• State Prison of Southern Michigan was once the largest walled prison in the world[11]
• The Vatican has no prison system[12]
• The GEO Group is the world's largest private prison company[13]
• The world's two largest women's prisons are both located in Chowchilla, California[14]

I think someone needs to bring out the big guns to answer the initial question! -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 03:46, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

According to this, Riker's Island is "the largest penal colony in the world." Our article says "The facility generally holds about 15,000 inmates at a time, although the daytime population (including staff) can be 20,000 or more." However, the 2000 census listed the inmate population at 12,780. Still, since Tihar Jail is comprised of 9 prisons, and Kim Jong Il isn't answering my emails, I think this may be it. Yours truly, Big Bertha. Clarityfiend 15:35, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Do you have Kim's email address? Is it k-tothej-tothe-il@pyongyang.nk?  :) Corvus cornix 16:43, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Oops. Riker's is also a multi-prison complex (10), so Tihar Jail is back in the running, depending on your definition of prison. Sincerely, Pop gun. Clarityfiend 18:26, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Interestingly, Guinness World Records has no records on prison. I think the initial question refers to a single, uninterrupted complex that is part of a country's criminal justice system (as opposed to facilities for holding prisoners of war). I don't think Tihar Jail is a single, uninterrupted complex. I'm still calling this one unanswered. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 15:31, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Obtaining a flight record

How do I go about getting confirmation from an airline showing that I was a passenger on one of their flights? Do I make a request to the airline or to a govt agency? (flight was on Virgin US -> UK). appreciate any help...

Ask the airline. I have never done this but you could try calling customer service and ask for confirmation that you boarded on flight X. Only a video of you walking on the plane itself and not getting off would be fullproof confirmation, but for most normal reasons you can probably get the confirmation from them that you got your ticket, a boarding pass for your flight, and that it was scanned when you boarded your flight. If you picked up a boarding pass in the airport (rather than printing your pass from home and bringing it) and you still have the torn stub, that's great. Sifaka ^talk 00:51, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Asking the airline in a polite letter is the best way, but if they fail to tell you you can write to them claiming a "subject access request" under the Data protection act and then they have to tell you. I think this may only apply to UK citizens, and definately only to UK companies. Virgin is a UK company. Its a bit full-on, but it is then a legal requirement that they give you the information you need. This only applies if its your flight and not someone else... 195.137.96.79 05:20, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

By the way, should you need to use this route, and it's only a last resort, they can chare you a small fee to comply. I think its about £10 max. Calling or writing is the best way to start with 195.137.96.79 05:26, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

June 13

Choosing a martial art

I want to take a martial art, but don't know which. I want to take one that would be good to beat someone with in a street fight but also is good exercise and doesn't require or have a high risk of getting an injury(something a doctor would be needed for) while learning it. I am a 6' tall male who weighs about 190 lbs and am of about a normal build (neither fat nor very muscular), so I would prefer a martial art that would take advantage of my semi-big size. I also want the other people doing it to be adults(I am a college student). Also please don't respond if you (like me) don't know about the differences between martial arts. Thank you all you are good.--RorepmE 00:21, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I personally stick with the more traditional Japanese martial arts, such as Shotokan and Aikido. Aikido is a bit more fast-paced, depending on the instructor, but in my experience it has minimal rates of in-class injury, if practiced correctly. If you were to stick with both of them for about ten years (with a bonus of learning patience!), I think you'd stand a very good chance in a street fight (minus weapons - ya can't block a bullet). If you check the in-class training warm-ups and exercises with your doctor, he can tell you whether they are appropriate. Most SKA Shotokan dojos consist of mostly children's classes, though, so you may want to be organization-specific. The JKA and ITKF seem to be more inclined to host adult classes. Japanese styles plumb the depths of my martial arts knowledge; See List of martial arts if you have a buttload of time. V-Man - ^T/_C 01:58, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Martial arts, like the name suggests, is an art or sport. It can be used for self-defence and indeed many were originally designed with that in mind, however for self-defence on the streets I would recommend a "street combat/grappling" course and not martial arts. I, myself, is a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and have dabble my feet (no pun intended ;) in other forms of martials arts including Karate, Jeet Kune Do and a very limited amount of Kung Fu. I found that these arts did not compare, in terms of practical applications, as the street combat courses that I have taken. However, I recommend starting with a martial art, so that you can build a solid foundation, then moving on to street combat. Out of the martial arts listed, I would recommend Jeet Kune Do the most, as I find it a bit more practical than the other "showy" martial arts. 74.111.82.91 02:29, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Sorry if this is a bit nitpicky, but wouldn't "street combat" be a type of martial arts? I know the term implies some sort of pretentious school of thought, but the definition that I am familiar with simply means a certain fighting style, or self-defense, as opposed to being an arty methodization of street fighting. V-Man - ^T/_C 02:44, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

There is no "Best" Martial Art. Only students of varing abilities. The most important aspect to any martial art is the teacher. My sugesstion is to look around. Most schools will let you sit and watch, or even attend a class or two before signing up. It doesn't really matter what style you study, you will get good results from a good teacher, and bad results from a bad teacher. Also the teacher's style should fit your personality. Weather you would prefer a drill sgt type teacher or someone more laid back would your personal choice. Also Look at the equipment at the school. There should be proper matting for falls intentional or accidental. As far as injuries go, a good teacher will only teach what you are capable of. For instance a Judo teacher will teach you to fall properly, before he teaches you to throw (and be thrown). If you want to get good a fighting, be sure to take a class where they spar often. That is the only way to actually get better at actual fighting, and some classes spar rarely, while others spar regularly. For instance in the Tae Kwon Do class that I am currently taking, we spar every Thursday. Finally for an adult class, again look around, usually, what you see is what you get when you look at a class. If it is mostly kids you probably don't want to go there. I would look around for schools close to campus that would be catering to College students like you, rather than a suburban school catering to families. BTW I go to a suburban school, and the only time kids vs adults really matters is in sparing. -Czmtzc 13:13, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

From the newsgroup rec.martial-arts, a self-defense FAQ -- it's quite pragmatic, because a street fight is a horrible thing to be in and very different from just about any martial arts training you'd do. The best self-defense really is awareness. That said I recommend Systema for being very hands-on and practical (and fun! -- from my experience), if you happen to be near a good teacher. A martial art with a grappling component (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, etc.) tends to have more credibility among people who don't think much of traditional martial arts (usually Japanese and Chinese ones) because of a perceived distance from "real fighting" ("Yeah, but can you use it in a fight?"). Again, the more you're actually getting hit and thrown, the more likely you'll get injured. iames 13:54, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Further to Czmtzc comments, and the importance of sparring, you also have to get use to fighting. unless you are an inherently evil sod, it is difficult to want to hurt someone (which even with semi-contact sparring you are going to do). Getting over the natural consideration for you partner takes time (unless you really, really don't like them!) Continued sparring also helps with the Fight or flight response, most street fights are 10/20 minutes of starring each other out, traded insults (and yo'momma), then a frentic scramble of whirlwind arms, legs , teeth etc. Keeping clam, channelling you agression, and picking your targets and hitting them takes experince, best gainned during sparring. But the most important consideration to take into account when chosing a Martial Art is have FUN, enjoy your training, take pride in your abilities and kick the crap out of your opponent Perry-mankster 08:33, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

My advice would be, don't choose a martial art; choose a club. I study Kickboxing which is less-traditional japanese martial arts. It is all about the dojo or instructor; go round a few and see what tickles your fancy. MHDIV ɪŋglɪʃnɜː(r)d(Suggestion?|wanna chat?) 13:29, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

The advise I tend to gove at times like this, and which most people tend to ignore, is not to study any martial arts, as they are only used to trick people into thinking you can defend yourself :) Think, would I ever really remember all this, and be able to do it, in a real emergency :) HS7 14:55, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

rainfall

how many gallon per acre is 1 inch of rainfall equal to ???

• Well from google - 1 acre = 6 272 640 square inches and - 1 US gallon = 231.000001 cubic inches. So we get 6 272 640/231 approximately 27 154 gallons per acre. Lisiate 02:48, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Lisiate has it, here's a web source, from this page: "One inch of rain falling on 1 acre of ground is equal to about 27,154 gallons and weighs about 113 tons." Pfly 05:08, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

• There's a much easier way to get the answer from Google: 1 inch in gallons per acre, and 1 inch * 1 acre * 1 gram per cubic centimetre in tons, both of which match Pfly's quote. It's actually quite impressive the things you can do with Google calculator (it doesn't even list all the conversion factors, so you just have to experiment). Confusing Manifestation 01:40, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Cash value of a coupon

In the U.S. coupons often have a statement reading "cash value 1/20 of 1 cent." Does this mean I can collect thousands of copies of the same coupon and get a few bucks at the store?

I don't know, but I do know that the reason for this is that there has to be consideration for the coupon to be valid. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 07:13, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

You can't return them to the store: they'd have to be sent to the product's manufacturer. The reason appears not to be consideration as Richardrj said but state regulations that treat coupons as trading stamps [15][16]. Of course, generally you can only redeem them by mail, and since mailing them costs more than what you'd get back... --Charlene 07:16, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Incidentally, British coupons and vouchers usually have an even smaller nominal value: 0.01p or even 0.001p. Hassocks5489 07:56, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Is this value anything to do with the value of paper?

Paradise lost

Does anyone actually still read this book? Can you even still but it is shops? I assume a few theologists and university teachers/students might, but do people still sit down and read it just because it is a great book?

The book remains quite popular. There are several editions currently in print. You can certainly find it in all but the smallest bookshops. Probably a large share of the current demand for the book is for use by students, but probably a large share is by non-students who appreciate classics and who want to read one of the greatest works of English literature. According to Amazon, just one of the editions currently in print ranks number 4,683 out of the roughly million or so books on offer at Amazon. Marco polo 12:56, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, it is read by students primarily these days. It is a staple of intro to English lit. undergraduate courses. It is easy to find — it is a "classic" book and it is also totally out of copyright so there are a million cheap editions around. --24.147.86.187 13:02, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

That's odd, because I've never seen it in any shops. Why don't they make peoiple read it in school, it is much better than shakespear, and easier to understand.

Our article on the poem points out that F.R. Leavis and T.S. Eliot's literary criticisms of the poem have reduced its popularity over the last 50 years or so. I'd also point out myself that many American Protestant denominations find Milton's theology borderline blasphemous, so that might be another reason. --Charlene 15:26, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I did read it in my senior year of high school. I did also read a bunch of other "banned" books like Beloved as well. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 18:56, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Paradise lost isn't banned. But it is apparently more than twice as long as hamlet, which might be why it is unpopular in school. The religeous aspect might be part of it too.

Personal grooming habits- are they effective?

Only human beings routinely clean their teeth, body and hair using various chemicals. This has been happening for a few centuries. What were the negative effects of lack of tooth cleaning? Do skeletons of ancient people show damaged teeth? The other higher mammals like monkeys certainly do not have our cleaning habits. Their physiology is not very different from humans. How do they manage to preserve their teeth or their hair? 131.220.115.227 14:23, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

When monkeys can bake donuts, they'll have to brush their teeth too. (Flour and sugar can be detrimental to dental health. Look at what some pet food does to dogs.) There are also many anecdotes of people who stopped washing their hair and liked it. (e.g. Google.) iames 14:34, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I was a little terse (answering while at work). In full, "stopped washing with shampoo for greater intervals than usual." My point being there is at least some evidence that nature can take care of itself. iames 15:26, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

People in ancient days (say, more than 2,000 years ago) indeed had badly damaged teeth, as can be seen from any archaeology text. The kind of damage was different, though. Other than the ancient Egyptians, most cultures didn't have much sugar in the diet so they didn't have many cavities, but they certainly had tooth wear from eating more abrasive foods such as roughly-milled grains and tough meat. There's even a chart in one of my old archaeology textbooks showing the correlation between age and wear - by 50 many of the rear teeth would have been worn down to the gum line.

But the idea that moderns somehow have fantastically worse teeth than the ancient Romans or Egyptians is a bit fallacious. Studies of Egyptian mummies have found case after case of dental caries, sometimes leading to death from infection. Two of the main crops of ancient Egypt were honey and wheat, which may explain why. We think we have worse teeth because we live long enough for our teeth to be more of a problem, and we have less tolerance for extracting teeth. Edited. --Charlene 15:20, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Studies have proven that brushing your teeth with just a brush and water is nearly as effective as using toothpaste, as far as avoiding disease goes. People have been using straw for this purpose for a long time. When you consider the fact that most of toothpaste is bleach and chalk to artificially whiten teeth, and a large bunch of other nasty ingredients (seaweed...), it's not going to hurt you to live without it. Likewise, most hair care products are probably more about making the hair look and smell nice than they are helping to clean more than running water -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 15:24, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't call seaweed a nasty ingredient. It's quite tasty. Skittle 17:48, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I would agree that most shampoos are quite useless. I am particularly annoyed at all the adverts that say that a shampoo can 'revitalise and rejuvenate' your hair. How can you revitalise something that's always been dead? Also, why do all toothpaste adverts seem to be based around the idea of shooting some very shaky and overall dodgy film of some people with no dental knowledge whatsoever and putting it in the centre of a large black border? Does this only occur in the UK? Also, on the subject of toothpaste, I would not be surprised if they do not actually do much. After all, the reason they added fluoride to the water mains is for the benefit of people who do not use toothpaste, is it not? --Five Miles Out^SQUAWK 21:22, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I'd say that the fact that humans tend to have a longer life span than other mammals has a lot to do with our grooming habits. Personal hygiene, in my opinion, has always had the aim of increasing one's lifespan along with the quality of that life; any tragic ironies in this field will soon be weeded out. V-Man - ^T/_C 00:56, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

MLA citations

How do you cite a play seen in a theater in MLA format? DuctapeDaredevil 15:01, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

To the best of my memory, you should cite it like a book, thus:

Doe, John. The play about a person who wrote a play. New York: Improv Everywhere, 2007.

V-Man - ^T/_C 01:30, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

If you actually saw a performance of the play, you should cite thusly:

Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. Dir. John Gielgud. Perf. Richard Burton. Shubert Theatre, Boston. 4 Mar. 1964.

This is based on an example in my MLA Guidebook. Basically, you list the title of the play first (note this, as it's unusual for MLA), then the director of the specific production, then the major actor(s), then the site of the performance, and finally the date of the performance. Hope this helps. Zagalejo 05:43, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

CC-BY-ND

Am I right in thinking that CC-BY-ND is not a suitable licence for a wiki (not WMF) intended to be used by edited by more than one user, if each successive revision is a derivative of the previous? 81.104.175.145 15:38, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

For text that's pretty much going to be true in practice. An edited version of a document is a derivative work, and an -ND licence disallows that. You could always have some weird mechanism on your wiki that flags content originally submitted with the -ND licence and disables editing on it, but that seems like too much work to pander to this minor, ill-used, and to my mind rather meanspirited licence. It's easier to do this for images (because images in wikis are changed much less), but really it's the same problem. In general, for a publically accessible wiki, the more licences you allow the more stupid licence problems and incompatabilities you'll incur. Personally I'd stick with exactly one licence and say "thanks but no thanks" to anyone who wants to contribute stuff under some other licence. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:45, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Name that vegetable

As pictured here: The Goon Show. NoClutter 16:11, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Leeks? iames 16:15, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I concur. Look like leeks to me. Skittle 16:17, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Leeks would make sense as they are the national vegetable of Wales, and Harry Secombe (aka Neddie Seagoon, right in photo) was definitely of the Welsh persuasion. (oops, forgot to sign) SaundersW 16:26, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Corn called "maize"?

What geographical areas call corn "maize"?

"The term maíze derives from the Spanish form of the Arawak Native American term for the plant. However, it is commonly called corn in the United States and Canada. Corn is a shortened form of "Indian corn", i.e. the Indian grain. The English word "corn" originally referred to a granular particle, most commonly cereal grains." according to our Maize article here on wikipedia. Dep. Garcia ( Talk + | Help Desk | Complaints ) 16:40, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

You should reverse your question: what geographical areas refer to maize as corn? The historic British usage is to call the principal cereal crop of a region 'corn'. In England wheat, Scotland and Ireland oats, and in North America maize.—eric 16:56, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your response. The reason I said the question the way I did is that I have never heard corn referred to as maize before, although I had heard of the spanish word maíz before.--71.185.138.232 17:18, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

People in the UK call it "maize," so that has been forced onto the article about corn. The US is the world's largest producer and does not refer to sweet corn or field corn as "maize." Canada calls it corn. Google shows 63,100,000 hits for "corn" and only 13,700,000 for "maize." [17] shows that the US is the world's largest producer, exporter, and consumer of corn. UK is lumped in with the "EU-25" Euro union, which collectively produce less than one sixth as much as the US. The term "maize" is rarely used in the US, and most people would not know what plant it referred to. Edison 19:17, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

What actualy does Corn/Maise refer to? Is it those little round yellow things that aren't really food? In the UK we call that corn.

So if we call it corn, you call it corn, canadians call it corn, who actually calls it maize?

I call it maize! - sweetcorn and maize are the samething? I agree with the earlier poster that there would be a confusion of corn with wheat in the UK. (There is a 'corn' processing factory were I live called 'MAIZECOR' - that may have affeted my usage..)

In the U.S., it is even called maize - sometimes. For instance, the USDA's Maize Genome Database. This usage tends to be in scientific circles and less often by the government and is not at all consistent. I just noticed a job posting for a maize geneticist in the USDA Corn Genetics Department! Rmhermen 20:40, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

That's really strange. I have lived in the U.S. all of my life and have never, ever heard the word maize, and if somebody had mentioned it to me before I saw the wikipedia article, I would've had no idea what they were talking about.--71.185.138.232 21:08, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

You obviously missed those Mazola (btw, the word Mazola comes from maize and oil) commercials where the woman says something like, "We Indians call it maize." By the way, corn/maize is also grown in Egypt, India, and China. Most of the corn/maize crop worldwide goes towards either non-food products (e.g. plastic) or heavily processed food ingredients (e.g. high fructose corn syrup).--Charlene 23:17, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Didn't you have a "maize" color in your box of 64 Crayola crayons? -- Mwalcoff 01:23, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Promoting the health benefits of Mazola corn oil, she said "You call it corn, we call it maize." I always thought Mazola maize oil sounded odd. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 01:37, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

In most Romance languages, I understand the root mais or mays is mostly used, with "corn" meaning more generally "grain" as an exception for those who came across it, not knowing what to call it. V-Man - ^T/_C 01:37, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, Italian is a Romance language, and they call it granturco ("Turkish grain") for reasons that are obscure to me. There's probably a cognate of "maize" somewhere in the language but I don't know what it is and don't think it's much used.

In the United States, in common speech, "maize" doesn't mean (what we call) corn in general, but specifically means "Indian corn"; that is, dry, hard-kerneled cultivars, usually in pretty colors (red, blue, purple). Yellow and white sweet corn, and popcorn, are almost never called "maize". --Trovatore 01:47, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, I may have been wrong about Italian. [www.garzantilinguistica.it Garzanti] seems to support me -- the definition of mais defines it as granturco, but the granturco entry doesn't mention mais, which would suggest that granturco is the more common word. However, picking up my copy of La polenta nella cucina Veneta (don't ask me why I have a book on polenta in Veneto cuisine), I see a section called Dal mais alla polenta, which begins

Il mais o granturco è una pianta erbacea annua appartenente ai ceriali....

and from there forward it calls it mais. --Trovatore 18:23, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

• For non-English names, see wiktionary:maize#Translations
• In my Irish experience, "maize" is used for the whole crop growing in a field (e.g. a maize maze), and perhaps as a bulk animal foodstuff or non-food. I have never heard "corn" used to refer to any crop or cereal other than maize, except in poetic, archaic or historic texts. As a human foodstuff, "sweetcorn" is usual for individual niblets (e.g. mixed with frozen peas or as a vile pizza topping). Note unambiguous uses in Britain such as "corn on the cob", "popcorn", "baby corn". Kellogg's don't sell "maize flakes" anywhere, AFAIK. I suspect this is one of those differences like "billion" that's embalmed rather than living. jnestorius^(talk) 20:07, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, if you're right about that, then I think the maize article should probably be moved to corn. --Trovatore 22:39, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

"Maize" is the term used in the US and elsewhere when one wants to be clear about exactly what plant species is being described. "Corn" may be a more common name, but due to the differing meanings of "corn" around the world, "maize" is commonly used by botanists and anyone else desiring clarity. I'd always heard that in England, "corn" meant something other than maize. But even if that is no longer true, the term "maize" is useful for describing the species. As a previous commenter pointed out, in the US the term "maize" sometimes means "Indian corn" rather than the "regular" corn people eat. But both are the same species of plant, a species called "maize". Pfly 06:35, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

Hey, I still say billion for 10^12 :( I always though maise was what the native americans called it, and maize maze is probably only used as corn maze or wheat maze doesn't sound as good :) HS7 14:53, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

Kennedy United States Half Dollar

I found a half dollar today that had two fronts (ie. Kennedy on both sides). Both sides are marked with 1972, and one side has it rotated 90 degrees from the direction the opposite side is facing. Is this worth any money? I've googled it but couldn't find anything. I've tried weighing it and bending it, but it doesn't bend and weights the same as a real half dollar. Have I found a special coin that's worth money? 69.117.135.228 17:00, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, but it's probably not worth a whole lot, see here. --LarryMac | Talk 17:07, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

It's a two headed coin. I have an english one. Try gambling with it.

Witchcraft question

In [18], four children try to sacrifice a cat to improve their grades. Of course, if it were common to sacrifice animals in elementary-level witchcraft, there'd be something about it on the PETA site. Nevertheless, it raises a few interesting questions, and I'm wondering if there are any witches here who could answer them. How experienced would a group of four witches have to be to cast a spell to improve their grades? How long would it take, and what materials would be needed? How would the constraint of not sacrificing an animal change this? Would charming the teacher necessarily be the easiest or most effective route, or would it be better to improve their own mental abilities or arrange to divine the answers? NeonMerlin 18:55, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I find the second one is the most reliable. It also alows a range of success rates depending on how good you are. Finding the answers intuitively is unreliable and only either works or doesn't. Doing something to a teacher is even more difficult and cheating. Skill isn't the only factor either, how long they spend trying to do this also affects their success. Generally thoughit is often easier for most people to learn to pass in the normal way.

Among those who take magick seriously (a few exist), I strongly suspect the common answer would be: Your best bet is performing magic on yourself to improve your study habits. Charming your teacher is hardly ethical, and most teachers probably won't give you better grades just because they like you. Friday (talk) 20:30, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

The only thing I've ever heard from Wiccans on things like this is that it's a bad idea to do bad things. Both the animal sacrifice and the cheating would count. The consensus seems to be that if anything happens at all, the result will be much worse for you than if you'd just let things be. Black Carrot 23:12, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm not a Wiccan, but I hang around quite a few. For Wicca, and some other forms of Neo-paganism witchcraft (Wiccan is not Witchcraft, it is a specific religion), it would break the Rule of Three which is part of the Wiccan Rede, which Black Carrot mentioned above. The Rule of Three is essentially a pagan version of the Golden Rule. It states that "An it harm none, do what ye will", it is also written as "Ever mind the Rule of Three, three times what thou givest returns to thee, this lesson well, thou must learn, thee only gets what thou dost earn".

Harming the cat (e.g. sacriface) would bring the evil/bad luck back to you three times. Most, if not all Wiccans and Neopagans would abhor this type of sacrifice. Magical spells is limited to divine energies, and herbs for the most part. Beyond that, I'm sure that the Neopaganism Wikiproject would love to answer your question. Zidel333 01:36, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

• It would take you longer to learn and successfully practice the magic neccessary to improve your grades than to study for them.hotclaws 08:34, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

And there is no proof yet that wicca theurgy actually works. Apart from the herbs, but that is just biology.

Wicca sounds like the kind and gentle side of magic. There is also Vodou ,Hoodoo , Pow-wow (folk magic) and the whole List of magical terms and traditions. The Malleus Maleficarum is an anti-witchcraft book from the 15th century, which was published in 36 editions from 1487 through 1669, and which provides a great detail about the supposed methods of witches. The Lacnunga is an early 11th century book which provides some remedies, and charms, which are much like Prayers. Many have found prayers comforting in the face of adversity, which exams often are. Studying (or "revising" if you are British) will likely produce higher grades, hour for hour, than any magical subterfuge. See also a reprint [19] of an editorial long printed at the end of each schoolterm by the Daily Illini about those who have not a prayer when exams are looming, even though they sought to pacify the diabolical instructor by offering up a little bull. Edison 17:09, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

One thing that should be pointed out: don't get your information on Wicca, or anything whatsoever for that matter, from a Chick Tract. --Charlene 02:49, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

indian ethos and business ethics

transparency international and other ethical bodies?59.88.79.109 18:58, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Are you wanting a list of organisations similar to the Berlin-based Transparency International that try and stop corruption in Indian businesses? As far as I am aware, Transparency International is the largest body that does this sort of work. I can try and find a list of others if you wish, though. --Five Miles Out^SQUAWK 21:17, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

arms

in america how far could someone streach the right to bear arms? Could you drive down the road in a tank or carry a huge rocket launcher thing around? What about in england, this little rock in the middle of the sea, which Actually Is Still Here. If I were to go in to a dangerous part of england, would I be allowed to defend myself? Finally, are there any countries where people have the right to arm bears?

Read Gun politics in the United States and Gun politics in the United Kingdom. Essentially, Americans are allowed to bear personal firearms - ie a pistol, but not automatic weapons. In England, firearms are not allowed anywhere, but "being allowed to defend yourself" would be different. You can use self-defence, but not with a gun. For instance, in 1999 Tony Martin shot dead a 16 year old burglar who was stealing from his farm. He received a 5 year sentence for this. JoshHolloway 20:31, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Note that this differs depending on what U.S. state you're in, who you are, and what the circumstances are. Note also that the Second Amendment has been the subject of very few constituional cases. It very well may be, for instance, that the federal government could ban handguns outright. It just hasn't tried. -- Mwalcoff 01:21, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Before answering, I should mention the fairly lively question and answer on the Second Amendment on June 11.

I will stay to the US component of this question, as that is the only one I'm removely familiar with. As the Second Amendment article will mention, there is not an absolute right to bear arms, and only a minority of courts have concluded that the right is individualized. So yes, consistent with the Second Amendment, your rocket launcher could probably be restricted (in fact, I'd also to have to wonder whether the FAA might even be able to restrict that for aeronautical reasons). I don't know about your tank; the tank itself is probably fine, but the armaments it is decked out with could easily be restricted.

I should also note that just because there might (or might not be) a right to bear arms in the United States, the right to use said armament is not implicit. You need to have valid reasons for self-defense, and those vary from State to State (for example whether you must retreat if possible or whether you can "stand your ground"), and exceptions for self-defense in homes (undoubtedly the most extreme standard would have to be the Make My Day Law; see also [20], since the Wikipedia article is little weak on the subject, and see also Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1-704.5). –Pakman044 02:59, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

The Tony Martin case is slightly more complex than first appears... the burglar was shot in his back, whilst fleeing, making Martin's argument of self-defence more difficult. It's also untrue that "In England, firearms are not allowed anywhere". See Gun politics in the United Kingdom, which unfortunately isn't a very good article, but does (just about) make clear that whilst the UK has "what is believed to be some of the strictest gun legislation in the world", you can possess guns. --Dweller 08:26, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

The possession of pistols is banned in some US cities. (in one small town, on the other hand, it was once REQUIRED). Where possession is allowed, concealed carrying is heavily controlled in many states, with permits hard to get. In some areas, people could theoretically wear a pistol on an exposed gunbelt like they were in the wild west, and could carry a rifle or shotgun. Possession of fully automatic weapons, RPGs, hand grenades and many other armaments is banned or strictly controlled in the US. In the early 20th century it was not so, and Thompson submachine guns were marketed to the public in the 1920's. In 1934 the National Firearms Act severly restricted purchase or transfer of automatic weapons by private individuals. In the 1780's in the US there was a difference of beliefs about armed power, with the "democrats" favoring state and local militias to prevent tyranny by central government as well as foreign invasion, and the Federalists favoring a national army. The second amendment to the US Constitution refers to the importance of a "well regulated militia" before saying the poeple have the right to keep and bear arms. Edison 16:38, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Although if the sole intent was to ensure that the States could keep and bear arms it could have said so. —Tamfang 16:55, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

In Vermont and Alaska you can carry a gun, exposed or concealed, for any lawful purpose (i.e. it becomes illegal if you're on your way to do a crime with it). In most states a permit to carry a gun cannot be denied unless you're crazy or an ex-felon; in most others, you can get a permit if the police chief personally approves (which usually means you need connections). Usually, I believe, the permit does not authorize carrying openly; but in some states, e.g. Virginia, you can carry openly without a permit. (Gotta say it felt a bit weird to walk into a stop'n'rob mini-market in Nevada with a pistol on my hip.) —Tamfang 16:55, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

One hears that in Britain you can be prosecuted for carrying anything that can be used as a weapon, including a pocket-knife or a walking-stick, particularly if you should be so antisocial as to defend yourself with it. —Tamfang 16:55, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

What about in the UK, what if I were to go to somewhere like the London Docklands where I might be attacked, what would I legally be allowed to do?

So that's it then? I'm stuffed?

The point is that if nobody has guns - everything is taken down a notch. Whilst you cannot defend yourself against an attacker with a gun, it's very much less likely that your attacker will actually have a gun because they are hard to obtain. Since your odds of surviving someone attacking you with a gun aren't very good even if you have one yourself, your odds are better this way. Note the most important statistic of gun ownership in the USA: You are more likely to be killed by your own gun than by someone else's. The biggest benefits of limiting gun ownership - and the general ability for criminals to obtain them - is that events like Columbine and Georgia Tech are much, much less likely to happen. Sure someone can go nuts with a crossbow or a knife or a club - but just how many people could they kill that way without getting overpowered? You don't cut down on the number of violent crimes - but you do cut down on the number of deaths that result from them. SteveBaker 23:51, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Do you have a source for "more likely to be killed with your own gun than someone else's"? I asked because I used to be interested in the politics of guns, and there were always a ton of highly questionable statistics thrown around on both sides. Friday (talk) 00:04, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

To defend yourself, you are allowed to use 'reasonable force' in the UK. This means that if a jury feel the amount of force you used was reasonable in the situation, you're okay. If you use more force than a jury would consider reasonable, like shooting someone in the back as they ran away from you, you have a problem. If you're over 16, I don't think you'll have problems carrying one of the penknives that can be bought in many shops (but IANAL), but stabbing people with it could cause problems. Skittle 14:12, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Soup

Who (what people[s]) invented soup and how?--71.185.138.232 20:19, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

There is a bit of info at soup but I doubt you'd be able to narrow the invention down to a single culture or area. Dismas|^(talk) 20:28, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

This was already discussed a month ago. Adam Bishop 20:31, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Every soup has a different history. Work your way through list of soups and check out each one.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:48, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Shower

On top of my bathtub's spout, there's a little button thing. When you pull it up, water is redirected to the showerhead. How does that work? (I've been trying to find a diagram for a half hour, no luck.) Black Carrot 20:56, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

As far as I am aware, it is only a simple mechanical linkage to a valve. When you pull the button, the valve slides shut and prevents the water taking the easy route out of the spout. Instead, the water pressure forces the water to climb up the pipe into the showerhead, where it then sprinkles out. I'm not entirely sure exactly how the mechanical linkage works (it may even vary from manufacturer to manufacturer), this is the general idea. --Five Miles Out^SQUAWK 21:13, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

In my bathtub, it simply lifts a plug into the spout, and water pressure in the spout holds the plug against a protrusion in the pipe. When you turn off the water, the pressure is reduced, and the plug falls back down. --Carnildo 22:02, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Okay, that makes sense. When I turn the water up towards full pressure with the button down, some leaks out the showerhead. Would that suggest there's some kind of blockage in the spout, simulating what the plug does? Black Carrot 23:06, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

It probably works similar to this image. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 01:53, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Countries in the world

How many countries are in the world?

It depends how you define country. Our list of countries suggest there are "245 entities considered to be countries", for the breakdown, see List of countries#Entities included in this article. Rockpocket 22:01, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

The list at List of countries gives 245 entities considered to be countries. However, the exact number depends on how you define a country. Do you include generally unrecognised countries such as Palestine or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus? Unfortunately, because there are quite a few countries like this, the number could variate quite a lot depending on their inclusion. The linked article has much more information on what has been classified as a country for the purposes of the list. (EDIT: Sorry, looks like Rockpocket got there just before me...) --80.229.152.246 22:02, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

A stricter definition of "country" is that it is a sovereign (independent) state that other countries recognize as such. By that interpretation there are 193 countries: all of the United Nations members plus Vatican City. However, there are also a number of places that are de facto independent but are recognized by only some countries. Many people consider Taiwan a country, for example. See the list of unrecognized countries for this sort of situation.

Also, although the United Kingdom is a country by the above definition, it includes components such as England and Scotland that are themselves called "countries". When we speak of the number of countries "in the world", these are generally not counted.

--Anonymous, June 14, 2006, 01:08 (UTC).

THere are 192 countries in the UN, and the list of unrecognised countries has 12 more, whilst the list of all countries has lots of dependancies, which are still technically parts of other countries. So, depending on your definition, either 192, 193, 204, or 245.

The CIA Factbook [21] is a frequently-updated guide to details of each of the world's "countries." It includes everything from China (greatest population) to Pitcairn Island (smallest population) leaving out made-up "Micronations." Deduct the entry for the world itself and the European Union, since its members are also listed individually, and you have 233. Palestine has no entry in the list. Certainly some of these listed lack sovereignty. Edison 16:21, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

If you're thinking of 192 as being a possible answer because it's the number of UN members, that doesn't work. It would mean that Switzerland wasn't a country until 2002. As to the CIA World Factbook, I suggest that they are calling the things that they cover "countries" because they want a single short word for them; as noted, certainly include many of them are not sovereign. It's like American forms that ask for a postal address with "city and state", although your "city" may actually be a village and your "state" may actually be the District of Columbia. --Anonymous, June 14, 2007, 22:35 (UTC).

well as long as you trust Steven Spielberg, you can listen to this song from the Animaniacs viewpoint and count along http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDtdQ8bTvRc Childhoodtrauma 23:49, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

They missed out Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, and probably a few more, Transylvania is in Romania now, and lots of those names have been changed since then, so don't actually trust it :) And the 192 count doesn't have to not include switzerland, if you can think up some reason they are all countries apart from Vatican City :) China seems to have managed it somehow :) HS7 14:47, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

June 14

Windows annoyance

I want to adjust a setting, but when i open the window to adjust it, the "apply" or "ok" button is hidden under the bar at the bottom, so I can't ever reach it. It looks like this. Any help? Thanks, Яussiaп F 00:45, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

There are several things you can do; a) You can hide your taskbar temporarily, if that would give you enough room. b) You can use the 'tab' key to move to the button you want, and then hit 'enter' to enact it, even if you can't see it (that assumes familiarity with the dialog box). c) You may be able to move the dialog box by using the 'ALT+M' or right-click, 'Move' command. and d) You can (temporarily or permanently) adjust your screen resolution. Anchoress 01:58, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks :D Яussiaп F 02:05, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Or you can left-mouse-drag on an empty patch on the taskbar and pull it over to either side or the top of the screen. SteveBaker 02:25, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

3D pictures

A few days ago on youtube i saw someone left a 3D picture of two middle fingers pointing up(made entirely out of periods and underscores) as a comment . I was wondering if there are pictures people have made using a large amount of symbols , numbers or words. If so please paste here .Thnx 4 ur time.(Wookiemaster 02:31, 14 June 2007 (UTC))

No. Do not post them here. Read ASCII art and follow the links. --Tagishsimon (talk)

Psp

i type on wii, so briefly: is psp like ps2 in hardware/gaming power or better or worse--71.185.138.232 02:48, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Worse in both aspects. --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:19, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Evolution history of W 650cc KAWASAKI Twin cyl Motorcycle's from early 1960'sto 1975

Dear "To whom it may concern/ of Interest,
I seek means by which I may add to my present knowledge of the Planning, Design & Manufacture of the Historic KAWASAKI "W" -series MOTORCYCLES, Made at AKASHI Factory in JAPAN from Early '60's to W3A -RS of >1975!
Thanking You, DesmondA

It seems you already know more than most, even identifying the factory that manufactured the motorcycles. Kawasaki W650#History gives a very general overview of the W series history. A google search turned up some other general-information sites [22] [23], but few specifics. If you read Japanese, you might try this site, or write to the folks at Kawasaki. 152.16.59.190 07:57, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Liberal Hollywood

Why is Hollywood often associated with, and criticised for being associated with, liberals? 71.31.151.220 04:17, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't know. Ask (lobbyist/actor) Fred Thompson. Neutrality^talk 05:50, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't know either, but check out: Hollywood Left, Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show, or the external website THEHOLLYWOODLIBERAL. They might answer your questions. Anchoress 06:04, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

And THIS ARTICLE is also quite interesting. Anchoress 06:07, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Off the top of my head:

• Hollywood was founded by entrepreneurs who did not come from the upper, more conservative class.
• The acting profession and movie business were looked down upon by the upper class, further adding a bias towards liberals.
• The movie business tends to reward thinking unconventionally (though you wouldn't know it from all the sequels), so liberals are more likely to do well.
• The religious right (and possibly the rural right) tends to go to fewer movies on average, so movie producers cater to a more liberal audience.
• Teenagers, a big market segment, want excitement, violence and sex, which movies of a liberal bent are more likely to provide. Clarityfiend 07:42, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Interesting points, but your items seem to support the reality that Hollywood is liberal, while the questioner is wondering where the idea (real or imagined) originated, and why that makes Hollywood a target of criticism. In fact, a couple of the links I provided suggest that it's a useful myth perpetuated by various political forces. Anchoress 07:46, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

What I'm contending is that Hollywood is associated with liberals simply because it is more liberal than the mainstream due to cultural and economic reasons. Not everybody of course (Jimmy Stewart, Ronald Reagan, etc.), but on average. Clarityfiend 16:32, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Hollywood produces many movies that feature sex outside of marriage and other behavior condemned by religious conservatives. Hollywood produces these movies because they are extremely popular and therefore highly profitable. Hollywood executives need not be liberal to produce such movies; in the capitalist system, which most conservatives support, it is simply their job to produce whatever will maximize profits. It is demonstrable that not everyone associated with Hollywood is liberal. Consider the careers of Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Clint Eastwood, among others. However, conservative politicians can score points with religious conservatives by attacking Hollywood. When conservative politicians follow up on these attacks by enacting laws such as the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005, which threaten Hollywood's profits, Hollywood executives and actors will inevitably respond by backing more liberal politicians who will more effectively represent their interests in government. This gives conservatives yet another reason to attack Hollywood and to accuse it of liberalism. Marco polo 14:20, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

When did you last see a Hollywood movie or TV show when somebody actually had an abortion, let alone had one for non-medical reasons and felt happy about it? [24], [25] The simple fact is, that Hollywood is the freest of markets in the US, and its product reflects more precisely than any political platform what Americans not only want to see, but are willing to pay money to see. Gzuckier 18:17, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

The image of Hollywood largely is controlled by its more vocal actors, but that does not mean that Hollywood is controlled by one political ideology or another (business is more important than the show part of show business). At present, the liberal voice of Hollywood seems to receive more press. I believe that in the 1940s and 1950s, the conservative voice of Hollywood received more press. Once that voice reaches too far left (perhaps when they have their own McCarthyism type efforts), it probably will move back towards a conservative voice. The United States essentially works similarly - when conservative efforts get too far off center (e.g. the Iraq war), liberals are elected; when liberal efforts get too far off center, conservatives are elected (see, e.g., United States House elections, 1994). Eventually, each group (Republicans/Democrats) becomes complacent in power, uses too much of it, and they are replaced with the other group (Democrats/Republicans). Basically, that how the United States generally remains centered over time (at least that's how I see it). -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:31, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Here is an example of that association. Billboard Blitz to Blast Hollywood was a billboard blitz "thanking" liberal Hollywood for the reelection of President Bush. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:46, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

It has been argued that movie stars tend to lean toward welfare-statism out of a kind of guilt, because they know that it was largely chance that made them rich and not others. —Tamfang 16:37, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Some would argue that "liberal Hollywood" is a code word that has replaced the now-socially unacceptable Jews in Hollywood antisemitic stereotype (see secular Jewish culture, Neal Gabler's An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood (1989), and Harold David Brackman's The Attack on Jewish Hollywood: A Chapter in the History of Modern American Anti-Semitism [26] The ADL has spoken about this [27].

In terms of the culture wars, there are also deep anti-Jewish sentiments. When Republicans talk about "Hollywood culture" they mean "Jewish" culture...When Republicans talk about the "coastal elites" they mean Jews. When they talk about "intellectuals" with disdain, they mean Jews. [28]

Neutrality^talk 19:42, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Good one, Neutrality!! Anchoress 23:40, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

option open interest data of NSE ( INDIA)

i want option open interest data ( stocks & indices ) of indian stock market.where cn i get it? i know it is available on NSE website but its not very convinient for analytical work.i have tried some intertional financial data vendor as FACTSET but they dont provide data for indian stock market.can you please tele me where can i get open interest data on stocks and indices in option segment of NSE (National Stock Exchange, INDIA)?Please reply me via e-mail on manumzp@yahoo.com

Indian stock market option open interest data

i want option open interest data on stocks and indices of NSE (India).i know it is availabe on website but it is not in a convinient format for analytical work.can you tele me where can i get option open interest data on stocks and indices of NSE (India)?

DD or KK

What are the valid suggestions in that Dunkin' Donuts is superior over Krispy Kreme and vice versa? This may be incorporated into the article somehow.--SS420 13:20, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Define superior. Superior is a subjective term unless you're talking about figures that you can tie to reliable sources. If by superior, you mean which company made more profit, then that can be looked up in each of the companies stock reports. Though I doubt that's what you are going for. Are you looking for restaraunt critics' opinions? They generally don't write critiques on donut shops. Dismas|^(talk) 13:57, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is based on WP:RS. There may be enought WP:RS to create a Dunkin Donuts vs. Krispy Kreme article. As a similar concept, check out Cola wars. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:55, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

dress code

62.244.184.66 13:25, 14 June 2007 (UTC)what is meant by "planters order" when in context of a dress code.62.244.184.66 13:25, 14 June 2007 (UTC) mrbeowolf

According to this link it seems to be a term that is used in the British military to describe a certain level of dress though I was unable to find a specific description of it. This link (to an MS Word document) says that it is a long sleeved shirt and tie. The specific mention of it that I see is "Working dress in Kathmandu is civilian clothes, but uniform is worn in Pokhara. In the spring, autumn and monsoon, “planters order” is worn (long sleeved shirt and tie)." Dismas|^(talk) 14:06, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

The term is global. It simply describes what should be worn at a particular time and/or place. i.e. Dress code for the evening is black tie (ie tuxedo in American)86.216.122.39 14:42, 14 June 2007 (UTC)petitmichel

This "global" term seems not to have reached the United States. Corvus cornix 21:32, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Nor Australia. I agree that "dress code" is a universal term, but I've never heard of "planters order". -- JackofOz 01:06, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Vince McMahon bringing back WCW as a new WWE brand

Does anyone know when Vince McMahon would bring back World Championship Wrestling as a new WWE brand? User:Ericthebrainiac Thursday, June 14 2007 11:36 AM

Is this in real life or on a fictional island? Recury 20:22, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Can't answer the question, but Eric, could you use the standard four tildes ~~~~ to sign your posts? No sense in making redlinks of the date and time. --LarryMac | Talk 20:41, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Difference between Tuscan and French Provencal Architecture

Can somebody advise me of the main features that differentiate these two types of architecture. I have recently built a house which is "obviously" tuscan, but to be different from everybody else in the neighbourhood need to be able to substantiate a claim that it is in fact Provencal !--Dr snoobab 18:08, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps Tuscan order, Category:French architecture, and Wikipedia:WikiProject Architecture might assist. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 19:11, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

What is the meaning of this ?

Can anybody identify, or provide the meaning of this symbol and numbers which appeared painted on a rock in my garden one day ?

File:1010 411.jpg

--Dr snoobab 18:27, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I believe it's a phone thing. As in, "Call 1010-411 and then your number, and get SUPER LOW RATES!!11!". See Feature group. Friday (talk) 18:49, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

PS. As for the symbol.. I dunno, somebody's got crosshairs on your rock? Do you know if it owes somebody money? Friday (talk) 18:51, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I'll guess at a topological survey mark. Maybe we could have more context - are we talking private garden or common space outside your house? Can you think of any reason why there might be a survey going on? Any sign of such? --Tagishsimon (talk)

Further on Tagishsimon's post. Perhaps one of the contractors working on your home painted the survey mark on your rock, thinking "It's just a rock" or not giving it any thought. If true, you might ask them to replace the rock with they are through. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 19:21, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Looks like a white power symbol to me. I call graffiti. Have you got any Aryan skinheads living nearby (they're always painting that, the SS runes and swastikas on walls where I live)? --62.136.36.110 19:42, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

It looks like a particularly elaborate survey mark. Is there some construction work being planned nearby? Depending which country you live in, the number may be the height in metres (or decimal feet) above sea level. Does that check out? However, when I was a surveyor, we would never paint the actual height on the stone, just jot it down in our notebook. (In the UK, you can sometimes see similar survey numbers painted under railway platforms.)--Shantavira|^{feed me} 19:58, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I'd opine that the numbers are just a reference to whatever data was collected at the point. To build castles in the air, if this is so, then we might postulate that the survey is large, since it requires large reference numbers. Perhaps your garden has been nominated as the site of a forthcoming international airport? --Tagishsimon (talk)

Looks like a chalk mark that burglars use to mark a victims property to identify whether the owner of the house is either worth robbing or not. But don't worry it most likely isn't. Dep. Garcia ( Talk + | Help Desk | Complaints ) 20:54, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I'd be suspicious if thieves would ever leave chalk marks like that. Sounds like an urban legend to me. Why would a thief want to help other thieves? If they want to signal to someone in particular about a particular house, telling them the address would be a million times more efficient and a million times less conspicuous. It doesn't make any sense, and it sounds more like an old-wives-tale version of burglary than the reality. --24.147.86.187 21:18, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I'd guess it is a surveying or construction mark of some sort. Maybe geotagging (compare), though it only has one value, from what I can tell. Or pranksters. Hard to know. --24.147.86.187 21:22, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Looks way too big and sloppy (but then we don't have a ruler for scale) to have been put there by a surveyor. The ones I have seen at work cut an intersecting pair of lines in rock or concrete with a scribing tool or grinder, then usually spray some red paint on it. Found "1010-411 American Express Travel Related Services" which is "US CALLING CODES FOR DIAL AROUND

LONG DISTANCE SERVICES" at http://www.quantometrix.com/long_dis2.htm . Is there an AM radia station in your area? 411 is an information service, so that could be some publicity ploy. Edison 23:13, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

The circle/+ symbol is a common sign for an exact location or a coordinate - and two numbers could represent some sort of North/East offset from that. I wonder if it was something left by geocachers - they sometimes set puzzles like this by giving you rough Latitude/Longitude coordinates to lead to a hidden 'treasure' - then have you look around to get the last few digits that you add or subtract from the published coordinate that'll lead you to the exact location. If you could tell us your country and ZIP code, it would be easy to test that theory - of if you prefer not to do that, locate your home in lat/lon coordinates and enter them in www.geocaching.com to see if there is a find nearby - check out the clues on that find's website and maybe you'll see whether there are instructions relating to finding marks on a rock...you could also look for a geocache that was 'planted' around about the time when your rock was attacked. SteveBaker 23:35, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Different perspective but looks to me like a "native american" medicine wheel coupled with a date that all pot smokers rever. I could be wrong & never claimed infallibility but i think your looking at graffitti courtesy of a couple potheads. CHEERS 24.226.90.6 00:16, 15 June 2007 (UTC)Rana sylvatica

I'd say something to do with the Nazis too. That symbol is also an Aryan rune, IIRC. Stormfront use it as their logo, for exammple. --Kurt Shaped Box 00:35, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps it stands for "oihih" (multiply 1010 x 411 = 41410 and apply Calculator spelling) and is a message from Huhubiu Oihih, where the symbol represents his hair. Could be a devil worship thing. The cement drippings over the symbol might be a clue as well. It might be a hobo sign, meaning here you will find food, work, and money, or here live generous people.[29] The cross appears within a circle, touching the circumference, and extending beyond the circumference. This link says it signifies oil in alchemy. This symbol is close. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 01:32, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Try calling the number and seeing what happens. --Candy-Panda 08:23, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Sperm count!!!

Hello.....What are ways 2 increase sperm count and will the increase make my shooting more powerful if you know hat i mean...Please guide me through this

Sperm is basically protein, so apparently having more protein in your diet will increase it, but don't quote me on that, I'm not qualified by any means.

That said, there isn't really any reason to increase it unless it is very low, in which case I'm sure that a doctor could help. Daniel (‽) 19:28, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

[Sigh]. See sperm count and WebMD [30]. But of course we're not doctors and we do not give medical advice. See a real medical professional (mind our Wikipedia:Medical disclaimer). Neutrality^talk 19:45, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Well thank you for the advice but...how can i shoot sperm?

Do it the WikiSex way. bibliomaniac15 Join or die! 23:29, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I think you're more interested in the volume of semen in your ejaculations, rather than the number of sperm in each ejaculation. Semen is mostly water. -- JackofOz 01:04, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Closing a door with a window open/closed

When the window in the bathroom is open, the door shuts easily. When it's not, the door seems harder to shut. Why is this.--71.185.138.232 20:22, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

You're pushing air around with the door. If the air can easily move through the window, it does. When it can't, there could be more air resistance. Friday (talk) 20:25, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Or, put another way, when the window is closed, you're trying to compress the air and/or force it out of the room through the crack that is left as the door shuts. When the window is open, you merely push the air out of the way through the window. As Friday says, it is a matter of air resistance. --Tagishsimon (talk)

No no no, it's not air resistance so much as it is pressure. When the window is shut and you try to close the door you are overpressuring the bathroom, which takes additional force to overcome. --Cyde Weys 22:30, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

It's both. You are overpressurizing the bathroom, which sets up an airflow outwards around the sides of the doors, which creates air resistance. (This assumes the door opens outwards from the room. If it opens inwards, you are reducing the pressure and the airflow is inwards. But the effect is the same.) --Anonymous, June 14, 2007, 22:39 (UTC).

Actually its the less than infinite compliance of the air in the room that causes the increase in pressure and the apparent increased difficulty.

Population

I'm trying to find out the population of each of the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western hemispheres. I checked all four articles but surprisingly, none of them give a simple indication of it's population. I'm looking for current population estimates based on the geographical definition (half-ball, by the equator and 0°/180° longitude), not the political concept of Western World or any other definition. If you can list all four population numbers here that would be greatly appreciated. 209.53.181.65 20:55, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

The Northern and Southern hemispheres are fairly well defined, the dividing line being the Equator. However, the populations are not easy to calculate because there are a number of countries that span the Equator, and their populations north vs. south of the equator are probably not recorded in easily accessible documents, if at all. The Eastern and Western hemispheres are not well defined, because it's completely arbitrary where the dividing line is. -- JackofOz 01:02, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

No, they're perfectly well defined. And while the boundary has no particular relation to anything else, it certainly was not an arbitrary choice: the International Meridian Conference chose the prime meridian so as to pass through the Greenwich Observatory because that was where it already was on the majority of world's maps used by seafarers.

However, Jack's essential point is valid. Basically, the job of census bureaus worldwide is to determine the population of political units, and smaller areas that political units might be assembled from (i.e. to provide data for redistricting). The boundaries of these units are not likely to follow the equator or the prime meridian (one obvious example is Greater London, which the prime meridian obviously divides), and census bureaus are quite busy enough without tabulating populations by hemisphere.

On the other hand, there aren't all that many countries that have significant populations in two hemispheres, either on a N/S or an E/W split. So you could derive a pretty good figure by taking a list of countries (and other places) with their populations, and just assigning each country to one side of the line or the other: treat the UK as being entirely in the Western Hemisphere, France in the Eastern, Brazil and Indonesia in the Southern. Then just add them up. (You might want to use a, what do you call it, oh yeah, a computer for that.) Some of the errors will cancel out, and what's left will probably be less than the errors in the populations you're adding up anyway.

--Anonymous, June 15, 2007, 06:12 (UTC).

Tactile feel to the keyboard

When I type into Microsoft Word in bold characters, the keys on my keyboard seem harder to press than when I type those same letters in non-bold characters. What do you think causes this? (Note: I've experienced this on several keyboards on different computers.) -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 21:04, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I recommend the following test: blindfold yourself, and have a friend alternate between bold and not-bold. See how successful you are at telling the difference by feel. I suspect you'll find that the difference is all in your head. Friday (talk) 21:07, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, it's not a real effect outside of your own head. I've never heard of a keyboard that could affect the difficulty of pressing keys for any reason. If you take a keyboard apart you'll see it is just a button, a little plastic "spring" (really more of a hinge, but it has a spring effect), and at the bottom a little pressure-sensitive switch that closes the circuit when you press the key. While I could imagine very complicated ways to construct a keyboard whereby the hinge would become more rigid on a single given from the computer, to my knowledge no one has done this, for the simple reason that there isn't much utlity to it. --24.147.86.187 21:13, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Penis looks bigger in mirror

I've noticed that when I look down at my penis, it looks very small, but when I look at it in the mirror, it looks normal-sized. Why is this?--Paraguayan1 22:07, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Scientists can probably give you a technical explanation, but I think it's the same syndrome that occurs when you're standing at a urinal and you surreptitiously sneak a look at the equipment on the the guy standing next you, and you think "Wow, he's got a biggie", while that guy is also sneaking a peek at yours and thinking exactly the same thing. -- JackofOz 22:17, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Why, is it some kind of a vantage point issue going on? --Cyde Weys 22:27, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Perspective. --Carnildo 22:29, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

You may want to read Objects in mirror are wider than they appear. It seems to be a marketing thing. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 01:12, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Things are always bigger when you look athem Cyde Ways!

Things look shorter when you look down at them. --124.181.180.104 07:57, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

E.E.U.U.

Why is it E.E.U.U. and not E.U.? (in spanish[im not actually paraguayan])--Paraguayan1 22:51, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

This google answer explains. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:57, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

(incase someone reading was wondering, the E and U stand for Estados Unidos, i.e. the USA, not the European Union). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:01, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Ohh, more movie help.

So, I'm at the local Internet-Game Cafe. There's a big plasma screen that the owner and the other cashiers/players waiting for a open PC/Game Tournament to watch. There's this freaky movie about a family moving into a house, and a ghost starts to try and contact them. The father digs in the basement until he uncovers a corpse. It's revealed the ghost was raped (duh, a female) by two men. I wasn't paying attention (Garry's Mod does get your goat), until I hit another download screen. The movie ends with the two men "visiting" the house, attempting to kill the family, only to get shot by the man who nearly shot the father.

What is it? Mr. Raptor 23:07, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

If my memory doesn't fail me, I believe it's Stir of Echoes. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit 23:44, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Yep, that is correct Donald Hosek 00:10, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

June 15

Is this a coincidence?

The Wii is white. The PS3 is black. The Xbox 360 logo is sorta green. Sega's logo is blue. Atari's logo is mostly red. White. Black. Green, blue, red. Will Sega and Atari make new systems? A 5-way console war would be sweet.--Paraguayan1 00:19, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

The colour thing is not a coincidence so much as an emergent feature of an oligopolistic market in which there is little to differentiate vendors. Who knows if Sega or Atari will produce consoles? Very doubtful. And a 5-way console war might not be sweet if games vendors don't want to face the extra costs of developing for all of the platforms. --Tagishsimon (talk)

Console makers want their system to look cool. Colors are a by product, by the end of their life span most consoles are made in at least a few different colors (the only exception I know to this in the time since PSX is the xbox). And no, Sega won't- the dreamcast killed what little hardware ability they had left, Atari is dead, and 5 major consoles at the same time would be horrible for the consumers, since you'd have to purchase at least two or three consoles to play a decent number of games, instead of just one. -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 01:02, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Driving from London UK to Bangkok Thailand

Which would be the safest countrys to travel through and what visas would we require.

I tried searching for answers for you, but who knew that "asian road trip" is a phrase used by so many pornographers? Anchoress 03:09, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Once into Asia, your choices would seem to be Russia-China-Thailand, or some combination involving Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Burma. The first option strikes me as the safer bet, but I'm just guessing. Pfly 04:32, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

You could probably do Russia-Mongolia-China, but perhaps the toughest part would be getting from China to Bangkok. This page indicates the best bet might be to cross into Vietnam, take the main highway south to near Dong Ha, then cut west across Laos and cross the Mekong at Savannakhet. But the U.S. State Department warns that the area near the Laos-Thailand border is dangerous. -- Mwalcoff 04:55, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, stay out of Burma and Afghanistan at all costs (Burma probably wouldn't let you in)...there are probably few good roads in Afghanistan anyway. Waziristan and FATA in Pakistan are very dangerous. I would also recommend avoiding Southern Thailand due to the South Thailand insurgency. Neutrality^talk 06:06, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Google

Is anybody else having trouble getting to Google? My browser keeps saying its loading but it won't come up.--71.185.138.232 03:02, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Works fine for me -- maybe it's your ISP or browser. --Haemo 03:04, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Google and gmail didn't work for me awhile ago either, though wikipedia worked fine --froth^t 06:48, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Showering

When I took a shower today I noticed that my left hand was really red, and when I lifted it up to look at it it got normal again after a few seconds. I tried letting it hang and lifting it again and it did the same thing. Is this normal or is there likely something wrong with me. (btw I know Wikipedia doesn't give medical advice, but I'd like a response and I won't take it lke a doctor's advice please)--71.185.138.232 04:08, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

It's probably just blood rushing to your hand. In a hot shower, your body temperature rises, which can give your skin a reddish, or ruddy hue. --Haemo 04:10, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Rudi Bhaktiar?

Does she still work at Fox News? I haven't seen her in a while ...

Yes, see Rudi Bakhtiar. Neutrality^talk 06:13, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Where on Wikipedia can i have a discussion

it says on talk pages 'this is not the place for a general discussion on the topic'. and on the page saying 'what wikipedia is not', it says it isnt a discussion forum. My question is, is there anywhere on wikipedia where i could have a general discussion with people about an issue? what i have in mind is a discussion about a unique form/system of government and elections i have come up with. id like to explain it, and see what flaws people think it may have. im sure there are plenty of online politics discussion forums, but i would prefer it to be on wikipedia. Willy turner 07:28, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, you've already seen WP:NOT, and that states clearly enough that we are only trying to build an encyclopedia. Wikipedia makes a poor discussion group anyway, because of edit conflicts and the fact that every version of every page needs to be archived. I'm sure you'll be able to find a suitable group elsewhere.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:35, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

thats a pity. Shantavira if thats a photo of you on your userpage; A. your cat looks hilarious, and B. you appear to be a Bond villain. Willy turner 09:07, 15 June 2007 (UTC)