Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous

over and under-determined

Though it is possible to use 'Search engines' to discover the mathematical use of these concepts, there seem to be no clues available as to how they are being used in a psychological/philosophical sense. Are they Freudian? What is the link with mathematics? Where and when were they derived and first used?

Harold Bloom in his book 'Shakespeare - the Invention of the Human' constantly uses the concepts e.g p. 407 'Hamlet will not do anything prematurely; something in him is determined not be be over-determined.'

There is clearly some meaning at work here - but what? --User:Jeffrey_Newman

You are correct that Bloom, a literary critic, uses it in a psychoanalytic sense. Psychoanalysis was a "school" of theoretical concepts intended to help us understand normal and abnormal behavior and to provide tools and methods for treating mental illness. Freud was the principal originator, but many others contributed. It was very influential in psychiatry in the first half of the 20th century, but has been largely discarded among practicing psychiatrists in the last 40 years with the advances in understanding the brain and the evidence that most severe "mental illnesses" represent biological disease of the brain, and that for more minor degrees of psychological or social dysfunction, one "talking treatment" works about as well as another. Critics say that nothing in psychoanalysis was testable or falsifiable, so that it should not have been considered a branch of "science" in any form.

I have been wondering whether this can be considered an NPOV statement. What is not verifiable or falsifiable today may be tomorrow. The issue may well be limitations of present methodology. Often, as here, it appears in the way that such comments are stated that the shortcoming is in whatever is ruled as 'non-scientific' (and, therefore by implication, 'lesser' - here psychoanalysis)- not in present scientific methodologyJeffrey Newman 04:12, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

First of all, it is accurately NPOV to say, "critics say...". However, I will freely admit my answer as a whole has no pretensions to being NPOV, just defensible. I would respectfully say that your opinion (that it might be testable or falsifiable tomorrow) is a far shakier POV. There is a difference between whether we can test a theory today and whether it is even a "testable" kind of theory. I can imagine testing the applied process of psychoanalysis in a crude way (by comparing outcomes of patients getting psychoanalysis versus another "talking treatment"), and there have been treatments in medicine which worked by a mechanism we didn't understand or understood erroneously. For example, the efficacy of aspirin for pain was testable a century ago, but only in the last 25 yeasrs have we begun to understand the mechanism by which it works (though the mechanism could have been imagined in 1905). In my opinion, the basic psychoanalytic theories of how the mind works and mental illness arises are not even "testable" kinds of hypotheses, and virtually every advance in our understanding of the brain mechanisms of mental illness of the last 50 years has tended to make basic ideas of psychoanalysis seem less and less meaningful (not just less "true" but even less applicable as a kind of way to talk about mental processes). If you can describe a process by which some of the fundamental psychoanalytic ideas could be tested, you might change my POV, but I am not holding my breath.

Interestingly, (to me at least!) I think that, though your understanding of scientific thinking is far more advanced than mine will ever be, there are issues here, possibly about meaning which are for more subtle and that test the inter-face between science and other forms of knowledge. Please could you, or someone, direct me to where there is worthwhile debate happening between scientists and non-scientists (where there is an attempt to listen and understand one another) in Wikipedia. Sokal's work raises the issues[1]but is an example of a lack of understanding by a scientist of the way philosophy and language develops through the use of metaphor. I shall now look up my own 'links' to see if they lead me to what I am looking for.I admit I am partly raising all this also to practice how to write in wikipedian. Jeffrey Newman 04:58, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Well, I don't share your view of the cultural divide. The difference is not whether humanities scholars use metaphor and scientists don't. Everyone, including scientists, uses analogy and metaphor to think about things and solve problems: see Douglas Hofstadter's brilliant essay on "analogy as the core of cognition." I would argue that a much bigger difference is how one tests one's hypothesis, theory, mental model, asserted causal relationship, etc-- or even whether one tries to find a way to test it. The Sokal hoax exposed that difference spectacularly and if you don't see it that way, I would humbly suggest that it might be you who don't adequately understand what happened in that affair. I don't have an answer to your question about where to find "worthwhile debate" between scientists and non-scientists about these issues. Let us know if you find it. alteripse 22:47, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Psychoanalysis lived on in literary theory where there is less need for reality testing or usefulness, although among the younger generation of literary critics structuralism has largely replaced psychoanalysis in favor.

All that is background. A simple definition of overdetermination in a psychoanalytic or literary sense is that there are additional motives for a person's behavior which arise from unconscious conflicts and motivations. Thus a person may have a conscious reason for doing something, but a psychoanalyst may claim that there was one or more additional unconscious motivations, thus "overdetermining" the behavior in question. One may recognize that in its orginal, most powerful form, this concept fails the Occam's razor test (as well as falsifiability and perhaps common sense).

Note that in this sense there is no such thing as underdetermined behavior--- psychoanalysts will always come up with an "explanation", although in a logical sense it might make sense to use the term for anything you do "just because." alteripse 18:07, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

In epistemology, underdetermination can mean that any set of facts can be explained in many ways -- a given set of pieces of evidence can never have only one possible explanation. This is often used in philosophy of science, e.g. regarding the underdetermination of theory by data. This is similar to (but much easier to show than) the psychoanalytic sense.

Are you certain you have this right? It sounds almost exactly like the psychoanalytic usage of overdetermination (i.e., that a given action may have multiple explanations). alteripse 23:18, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yes. See Google, underdetermination of theory by data, or see this article entitled "Underdetermination". --FOo 04:16, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I've also heard the word overdetermination used to refer to a specification, possibly mathematical or technical, which places too many constraints on the possible solutions, such that there may not be any. For instance, three points determine a plane; for any three points in space there necessarily exists a plane containing all three. But four points overdetermine a plane -- given four points in space, there is not necessarily a plane containing all four. --FOo 23:11, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Need the name of a country music artist and lyrics to the song

I am looking for the name of the country music artist and the lyrics to the song. The song contains the words "I thought that you were gone forever, but it's nice here we stand" in it.I sure would appreiate somebodies help. Thank you kindly.--Rick1960 05:15, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Could it be "Hello Heart" by George Jones? Bovlb 06:04, 2005 Jun 18 (UTC)

When I only know a few words of a song but not the artist I normally go to Google and type "lyrics [insert words you know]". For instance, "lyrics "All that you touch and all that you see is all your life will ever be" would return numerous hits of Pink Floyd lyrics. Thus, it's probably their song, which in this case, it is. Normally the first 5-6 links all agree on who sang it. If you want to know who wrote it, some of the links might provide that info as well. Dismas 20:22, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Buckminsterfullerene

Would a kind synthetic chemist volunteer to make a small quantity of buckminsterfullerene, dissolve it in a vial of benzene, and take a picture of it for Wikipedia? What colour is the substance in and out of solution? --HappyCamper 15:00, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• I think it takes too long to just make it especially for wikipedia, but if someone got it lying around, I think you've got a good chance, I'll check with my local organic chemistry department to see if they know. - Mgm|^(talk) 15:48, Jun 20, 2005 (UTC)
• I'm sure you know the solvent can influence the color of a solution, why do you want it to be dissolved in benzene? - Mgm|^(talk) 15:50, Jun 20, 2005 (UTC)

I think a dilute solution of buckminsterfullerene in benzene (or even toulene) should give a pretty colour. It would be good for the article, as it would impress on the reader that buckminsterfullerene is indeed a novel substance. Even though it can be found in say, soot (and might even look like soot at first sight), it has some very unique chemical properties. --HappyCamper 23:49, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

you're about a decade too late most people just buy the stuff these days. The colour depends a lot on impurities though.Geni 02:24, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

What colour is it? I'd really like to know, even if it has impurities, it should not significant enough to shift the spectrum so much. Is it reddish-yellowish? Or bluish-purplish? --HappyCamper 15:43, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Birthdate of Adam

What date would you give for the birth of Adam, the first human? What about the birthdate of Eve?

Thank you,

Lori Harasta

Obviously you have to make certain assumptions here, but try 28 October 4004 BC according to Ussher calendar. DJ Clayworth 13:48, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You may want to look at Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve. Note however that human population was never, ever, 2 but rather these are the patrilineal and matrilineal respectively shared ancestors of us all. They also lived a long time apart. Dunc|☺ 17:11, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Neither were ever "born", they were both "created" (him out of dust, her out of his rib). So "birth" isn't quite the right word, I don't think. They were manufactured. --Fastfission 02:33, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I believe a "day" as referenced in Genesis, is 1,000 earthling years.--Phroziac (talk) 03:56, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

How do I burn paper in a small apartment?

Every time I've tried to burn a bunch of old receipts in my apartment, I end up ruining the pot I do it in. Since I'm burning private stuff, I can't just go out to a BBQ grill.

Is there anyway to make a controlled fire inside an apartment on my stove?

Have you considered buying a paper shredder? Unless you're trying to destroy top secret stuff, that should be quite sufficient and a lot less messy. More environmentally friendly too. --W(t) 16:04, 2005 Jun 21 (UTC)

• Well, since you already have one ruined pot, why don't you just use that one over and over? --CVaneg 16:12, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I have read the sink is a good place, but I haven't tried it. It should work in a pot, though. Try to burn it in smaller units. And use pots made of stainless steel.--Fenice 16:15, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yes, just go out and buy something meant for burning stuff in if you're going to be doing this a lot. I don't trust paper shredders. :) ¦ Reisio 16:22, 2005 Jun 21 (UTC)

If you have a stove, you can brown or blacken your receipts over the stove. Hold the pieces of paper over the heating element, preferably with tongs so you avoid burning yourself. Once they are sufficiently darkened, get a plastic container and rub the burnt papers between your palms so that the paper crumbs will fall into the box. Make sure the crumbs are quite small. Mix with some water and a small bit of detergent - then flush down the drain. A bit more messy, but saves having to start a bonfire in your kitchen. You want to limit the fumes from paper to be stuck in your apartment, especially if you are burning chemically treated papers, like photographs and laminated cards. --HappyCamper 17:00, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Of course, you need not answer this, but Happy Camper - how is it that you are such an expert on this matter??? curious, Mothperson 01:24, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Not an expert - just a Wikipedian :-) --HappyCamper 18:49, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

How about acid? Palm probss 02:26, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Acid would just wet the paper. Well I suppose thast concentrated Sulfuric acid would dehydrate it, but who would want to use that stuff? Theresa Knott (ask the rotten) 15:41, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

A chemist with an aptitude for teaching might. You'd need a catalyst to impress students though :-) --HappyCamper 18:49, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You could just eat the stupid things, come on, who hasn't eaten paper? Well, I guess I'm alone there. 67.160.39.151 03:24, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Have you ever heard of papier-mâché? Buy yourself a paper shredder and a powerful food processor or a blender and a sculpture How-To book, you'll become the top artist of your town in six months. (Unless there's another guy who has more secrets than you.) -- Toytoy 06:00, Jun 22, 2005 (UTC)

If it's just one or two receipts at a time why not just flush them down the toilet? Dismas 18:04, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Better yet, start to burn them, and when they begin to be unholdable, simply drop in the toilet and flush right away. The bowl doesn't get burned because of the water, excess smoke is elliminated (water again), and what isn't illegible as a result of the fire will simply be mush in a vat of waste in the unlikely event it ever makes it out in one piece. --Jeffrey O. Gustafson, Shazaam!

There are shredders for sale at commercial office supply stores which are listed as "DOD Certified", in that they are up to the standards of the Department of Defense for confidential material (they had one at an office I once worked in because they sometimes did some contract work with DOD which was "classified"). If it is good enough for national secrets, it should be good enough for you, yes? --Fastfission 02:32, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Please, do not burn your apartment down trying to burn the records of your drug deals. I agree with the above comment.

--Phroziac (talk) 03:57, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Palm 500 sync with Thunderbird

I am migrating from Outlook on Win2k to Thunderbird on Win2k. I used to sync my email inbox with Outhouse, and want to do the same for Thunderbird. I am of the opinion that this has nothing to do with the address book / contacts issue, which is all I can find on the web. Any help would be gratfully recieved. Palm probss 02:25, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

What is the history of the Ethene industry?

I am doing an assignment on the ethene industry and I am having trouble finding information on ethene, such as when it was first manufactured/how and when newer methods were first used ie fractional distillation. And I have tried searching using ethylene and I am still coming up blank. Thanx in advance, Jon Wednesday, June 22 2005

help identifying relatives of Juana D'Armagnac

(cross-posted from Wikipedia:Village pump (assistance)#identifying someone)

I have heard. or read, that Juana D'Armagnac, Princess of Aragon, who married Matthieu de Foix did not, after all, die childless but that there was a son, nicknamed "Juan Franchos", who left for Scandinavia and produced two daughters there.

Is there any verifiation of this highly romantic event?

It is highly conceivable that an heir from the first marriage for political reasons may have been hidden, or other-wise disposed of, in favor of expected heirs from the second marriage with Violant de Bar.

The only information on this that I have found has come fom Finn Asbjorn Wang of Norway but I have lost contact with this source.

Copyright: Mugs shots and other images created by the Texas state government

Such as this one of Ángel "The Railroad Killer" Reséndiz, for example. Any idea what their copyright status is? Shem^(talk) 02:21, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Could you link to the page you got the image from? ¦ Reisio 02:26, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

Surely. This page [2], courtesy this page [3]. Shem^(talk) 02:34, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Only publications of the US federal government and the State of California are public domain (or even otherwise "free"). -- Cyrius|✎ 02:50, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Any exceptions where strictly mug shots are concerned, that you know of? Shem^(talk) 02:57, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

None that I know of. The combination of copyright issues with public records makes my skin crawl at the thought of lawyers. -- Cyrius|✎ 06:35, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Agreed, ugh. Ah well. Shem^(talk) 08:46, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

They Are Amongst Us. -- ALoan (Talk) 11:15, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Whoa, creepy! Let's beat him up, ALoan! :p ¦ Reisio 15:13, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

State of California but not necessarily agencies of the state (i.e. the University of California has its own, completely different IP policy). I am sure though that mug shots, of all things, would fit under fair use without difficulty. --Fastfission 02:06, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

For articles about the person in the mug shot, definitely. For articles about mug shots, hair do's, facial types, probably not. --W(t) 02:12, 2005 Jun 25 (UTC)

Brach's Rocks dino

The commercials for Brach's Rocks candy featured a dinosaur character who ate these pieces of mineral candy. I can't remember whether his name was Rocky B or Rocky D. Does anybody know the name? Wiwaxia 04:26, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Since no-one's replied I might as well! I have no knowledge of this product, but logic tells me it would be B, the B being sourced from the company name and thus Rocky B = Brach's Rocks connects and reaffirms the brand in the subconscious. Of course D could stand for Dino, but companies are more likely to choose letters based off their names. I can't think of any examples offhand, but it's a fairly common thing, basing character initials off the company name. Master Thief Garrett^Talk 14:59, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Even More Unident photos

You guys must be getting sick of me, but anyway:

An Unident Moth/butterfly

Unident spider (he lives inside a leaf

Thanks for your kind help --Fir0002 09:05, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

The spider looks like some version of the family Araneidae. The article Orb-weaver spider mentions an Australian member of the family that doesn't spin a web. (Third paragraph.) The body type and coloration is similar to Araneus marmoreus, but that particluar example is from Ohio (US). I'm no arachnologist, but that would be my guess. (Frankly, they give me the creepy-crawlies.) -- Essjay · Talk 10:17, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

From [4]: "Phonognatha graeffei, leaf-curling or leaf-rolling spider, builds an orb web with a curled leaf retreat or sometimes a snail shell in the upper part of the web." Go to the very bottom of the page, and there are several pictures of very similar looking spiders. Could this be it? -- Essjay · Talk 10:31, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

Yes in my opinion you've got it! Congrats (there's another one for you guys to figure out ;-)) on figuring it out!--Fir0002 00:13, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

Ok, I've been wondering all along, what is Unident anyway? And that thing certainly is a mothy looking butterfly. Except the antennae are signature butterfly ones and you see it during the day, which according to Difference between a butterfly and a moth is another butterfly characteristic. That's all I've got for you without seeing it opened to see the wing markings. Well, that in addition to the fact I only know North American insects for the most part. - Taxman ^Talk 18:09, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

I think "unident" is unidentified. -- Essjay · Talk 18:18, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

Correct again. --Fir0002 00:13, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

The butterfly might be a large skipper. Of course I've yet to be right on any of these things, so take my guess with a very large grain of salt.--CVaneg 00:13, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

That looks pretty close to me, thanks cvaneg! --Fir0002 00:13, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

"Unident" means that it only has one dent, duh. --Fastfission 02:03, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Of course, what was I thinking? :-) -- Essjay · Talk 06:21, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

I was thinking of the same thing too... :-)--HappyCamper 15:47, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Community consensus vote

Do Fir0002's pictures make the Reference Desk a better, more interesting place?

• Yes - definitely!! :) -- Show your support by adding your name to the list! HappyCamper 12:47, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Although I can only speak for myself, I think your pictures are a great addition to the reference desk. It's fascinating to see how people share their thoughts about the pictures, and it encourages interesting questions to be asked on the reference desk!

Of course, if the community feels that this little "vote" here needs to be removed, please feel free to do so; I have no objections to it. I just thought it would be nice to show how appreciative we are of Fir0002's picture taking efforts. :-) --HappyCamper 12:47, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Yes -- it's like a treasure hunt. Reisio 14:10, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)
• It's wonderful fun! Of course yes -- "what the hell IS this thing" is probably the best use of the Reference Desk. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 23:49, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)
• Yes, great fun. It also helps lighten the reference desk, as most of the questions here at the moment seem to be very involved and can't be answered without hours of research first. Master Thief Garrett^Talk 00:09, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)
• Yes but I have no idea what they are, ever. But I was really happy when I found out that ant thing was really a wasp. --Fastfission 02:03, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)
  • Gee thanks! To test to see if you're genuine, I'll add some new "unident" photos today! --Fir0002 00:13, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

Standard for Purity of Gold

In India at present the purity of gold is being mentioned as "91.6 KDM". I would like to know what exactly these words mean.

Thanks Srinivas

• "KDM: Gold Jewelry from some places is / was marked with a KDM stamp which means that the Jewelry was soldered with Cadmium. Cadmium called 'Kadium' in some places and marked KDM was traditionally used in soldering of gold jewelry for its good properties of liquidity and melting at lower temperatures, which is not the case any more as Cadmium is known to create toxic fumes when melted, which are very dangerous to health, and may be harmful to humans, some countries have banned the use of Cadmium from use, from workshops. Jewelers in many parts of the world now use gold solders, now which are free from Cadmium." I'm assuming the number in front is the percentage of cadmium, but that's a guess. (source) - Mgm|^(talk) 11:06, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)
• Actually, I would imagine the gold is 91.6% pure (916/1000), that is almost 22 carat gold. The only other alternative would be that the Cadmium was assayed at 91.6/1000. --Gareth Hughes 11:38, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia n career

Is there any way that being on Wikipedia can help in a career? Has anyone put down their Wikipedia sysophood or bureaucracy down on a CV? Would jobs be interested if I held a position of power in the Wikimedia ladder? Could you say that this counts as charity work or volunteering? And would the employer care? --Wonderfool t(c)e) 12:33, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I put it on my CV as an interest. It's certainly how I spend of lot of my leisure time. I think it shows that I'm literate, and want to improve both myself and the world. Bovlb 13:35, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

By the way, I don't list my user name, and I've never been asked for it. Bovlb 14:54, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

In my job, for promotions we prepare long documents describing all aspects of our scholarly activity. In addition to research and writing of peer reviewed journal articles, this can include things that involve communicating science to non-specialists, such as writing popular press articles, or programs to interest kids in science. I considered including a mention of my Wikipedia activity, but decided against it. One reason was that I often contribute to articles on subjects that might make my employer uncomfortable (comic books, for example). I wouldn't enjoy this as much if I had to stick only to work related topics.

As to your other question, I personally consider it valuable volunteer work, but I've never spoken about it that way. I'm not interested in getting into an argument on the subject with someone who doesn't 'get' Wikipedia. ike9898 14:04, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

I too have avoided mentioning my Wikipedia activities in my career. As a tenured professor, I enjoy a great deal of freedom in what I can and can't do without recourse, but frankly, I don't want any mistakes here to catch up with me professionally. Further, I don't know how well my university, and my department particularly, would take to me offering up my expertise for free. (Not to mention my publishers!) But, I think if you "don't have anything to worry about" then you should mention it; it may give you credibility as a writer (particularly if you contribute to scholarly subjects) that you couldn't get elsewhere. -- Essjay · Talk 14:12, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

That's true. If you're online and use a screenname, you can be bad or you can be extremely helpful. If you disclose your true identity, people might expect you to act the way you do things online. That could mean trouble. -- Toytoy 15:42, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

• I'd say it depends on what position you are applying for. Sysop-hood includes only few privileges here and if you try to sell that off as an important position a personnel officer who knows wikipedia might even think you're exaggerating. If he or she doesn't, it might impress them. In general: of course Wikipedia is important volunteer work. You should put in on your CV. To most jobs it'll be more relevant than collecting stamps or ballet-dancing in your spare time. In any case, you should instrumentalize your user page for self-marketing and prepare it so as to reflect you're the perfect person for the job (and to reflect that the job is perfect for you). It is very unlikely that he or she will check every single contribution. Probably he or she will not know anything at all about wikipedia and you might have to provide the URL of your user page if they ask. Summarize your contributions on your user-page and post praise/barnstars from other users.--Fenice 16:58, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

In the interview you can also stress how much you have learned on wikipedia in terms of interpersonal skills. Dealing with edit wars etc. and still being productive as a team is quite demanding and for most jobs interpersonal skills are part of the job profile nowadays.--Fenice 17:09, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

CV? This some sort of resume'? Dismas 18:16, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Curriculum vitae - British English (well, Latin) for résumé. -- ALoan (Talk) 18:51, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Cool, thanks! Dismas 05:19, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Desktop publishing

I'm looking for a destop publisher that can be used by a group of six, or so, people to produce a community magazine. As it's a community venture, we are not interested in paying a lot of money for software licences. However, it has to be easy to use (some are not too confident), and preferably able to run on different systems (Linux, Mac OS and MS Win). I know it's asking a lot, and I don't expect that there is a piece of software that is perfect for us, but is there anything that comes close? --Gareth Hughes 12:37, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

For a relatively simple publication, you might consider Open Office. The word processor component, while nowhere near as powerful as, say, Adobe Pagemaker, is very flexible and would probably meet the needs of a community magazine. (I've used it for similar projects myself.) It is free (open source) and works with Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and FreeBSD. amysayrawr 13:28, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, Amy. I use OO-Writer as my main wordprocessor, but I've never used it to deal with layouts, maybe I should have a play with it. Do you have any thoughts about which version to use? The beta version uses OpenDocument file formats. --Gareth Hughes 15:33, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Scribus is reputably a good desktop publishing and layout program with extremely good PDF support. It runs on Linux, but I don't think there's a Win32 port yet. If your magazine is technical in nature, you might find LaTeX appropriate, with LyX being a pretty good GUI front-end. -- Wapcaplet 02:03, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I was just about to suggest Scribus, and saw Wapcaplet's comment when I hit the edit button. I believe it runs on Mac OS X as well as Linux. Our article links to a site on how to run it under Windows, which appears to require compiling it under Cygwin.-gadfium 02:16, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Scribus is my favourite for this kind of thing. However, most of my colleagues are still locked in by Windows, and that makes Scribus and LyX both either very difficult or impossible. I think we shall try Amy's solution, OO-Writer, mainly because of its cross-platform support. Gareth Hughes 22:34, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hans Zwie(i)d(e)neck von Sudenhorst

Anybody know the correct name of this german fellow Hans Zwieidneck von Sudenhorst and Hans Zwiedeneck von Sudenhorst. He needs merging in one von Sudenhorst but I don't know if one is a spelling error or merely the vagaries of german translation. Google doesn't help as it is a hall of mirrors. MeltBanana 13:57, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I don't think "iei" is a common combination in German. DJ Clayworth 14:13, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The Library of Congress has him as "Zwiedineck-Südenhorst, Hans von, 1845-1906", if that's any help. Shimgray 14:23, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

1911 mirrors have him as both Hans Zwiedeneck von Sudenhorst and as Hans Zwiedineck von Sudenhorst (see [5]). Confusingly, he also seems to appear as Hans von Zwiedeneck-Sudenhorst (see the end of [6]. Hans Zwieidneck von Sudenhorst is, however, almost certainly wrong. --OpenToppedBus - Talk 14:31, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

I've checked on de.wikipedia - they don't have Hans, but they do have an entry for "Otto von Zwiedineck-Südenhorst" Shimgray 14:44, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for info I merged into Hans von Zwiedineck-Südenhorst and hung the consequenses. MeltBanana 21:09, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Fertility and age

Does WP have an article about the ages women have had kids in the past and do now? For example, the BBC's "Infertility time bomb" warning says they were intended to have kids late teens/early twenties.--anon

Origin of the phrase "bleed or bled like stink"

I have worked in a hospital operating room for 25 years and have heard this phrase used to describe hemorrhage, but no one has ever been able to explain the origin of the phrase. Any input would be appreciated.

Thank you, marija

I wouldn't be surprised if it, like many other phrases, was the work of the noble anonymous phraseologist (and the masses of unoriginal pukes that must've been around to hear it and propagate it [or merely the masses that knew a good phrase when they heard it]). The meaning seems simple enough: bleeding that spreads out a lot, like a terrible stink. Maybe related to "blow like stink". I'm not a medicine-related-literature buff, though; perhaps there is some interesting text out there that this came from. 2¢ ¦ Reisio 18:03, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

According to the OED, "like stink" is a pretty generic modifier meaning 'intensely' or 'furiously' ie: If I see a spider, I'm gonna run like stink. It has nothing really to do with odour, my guess is that "stink" is just substituted for to censor hell (as an expletive)as in changing mad as hell to mad as stink. Robojames 20:58, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Where did Cane's wife come from?

After Cane killed Abel and left his home with Adam and Eve, he went to "the land of Nod," where he met the woman he would marry. Where did she come from?

Iirc, Adam and Eve lived many hundreds of years and had ridiculous amounts of children. She came from Adam and Eve one way or another; that's sort of the entire point of Adam & Eve. ¦ Reisio 20:37, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

The Bible isn't a literal-factual and exhaustative historical account.--Fangz 07:44, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I can think of some Christian fundamentalists who would disagree with you. --CVaneg 17:50, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Dunno, but he's spelled Cain. - Mustafaa 18:06, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

If you're going to be picky, you may as well say קין, not Cain. ¦ Reisio 18:59, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

The question has no definite answer -- different sects of the Abrahamic religions have different answers, and the question has often been used to attack literal interpretations of the Bible's story of Creation. If you do a Google search for "Cain's wife" you'll see there are around 40,000 pages devoted to this question alone. One approach (I believe generally out of favor today) is the "multiple creations" interpretation -- God made Adam and Eve first, but may have also made other people later in different places. Another (I believe the more common one) is that Adam and Eve had a slew of children after Cain and Able who, by the time Cain and Able duked it out, had already created their own civilization somewhere else (in which case, Cain married either a sister or a niece!). But the Book itself doesn't give a very straightforward answer -- it takes a good deal of interpretation no matter what approach one does. --Fastfission 01:49, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The same problem comes when you think of the story that God had to mark Cain so that he would not be killed by those he encountered. If he and Abel were Adam and Eve's first children, who else would there be to kill him, his siblings? There are many other apparent difficulties with the bible, and it took me a long time to find our coverage of that, because it isn't even covered in the bible article itself, just as a see also. It's in the article Alleged inconsistencies in the Bible. Biblical inerrancy covers the belief in general, but not how the inconsistencies are resolved. Resolving them is the work of Apologetics, but our article on that doesn't cover much biblical apologetics. - Taxman ^Talk 15:32, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

did birds evolve from dinosaurs?

Probably. adamsan 20:59, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Comment: Clicking on the word "probably" will take you to the relevant section in Wikipedia. Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 23:10, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Vivaldi File

I'm looking for an online MIDI or WAV version of Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Cellos in G. I found one at [7], but it downloads the music to your computer, so the file has no real URL (unlike [8]). The reason I want the file to be locatable by URL is that that way I'll be able to set it as the background music on my Xanga Weblog. Could anyone try to procure a rendition satisfying my criteria? Thanks in advance, anon.

I don't know if this helps, but Barnes and Nobles offers clips (first 1 minute or 30 sec) or each track on select CDs. Check out these two CDs, which both offer audio clips: Vivaldi's Cello and Vivaldi:Cello Concerti, Vol. 2. In addition, you should also try Naxos music library- it offers thousands of classical songs from CDs online for a small fee- however, you cannot save them to your computer (I've tried it already...). Hope this helps. Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 21:56, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

MIDI files are tiny - you can surely just upload one to your blog's webspace. ¦ Reisio 22:06, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

It's also much better form to host the file yourself, rather than linking to someone else's site. --CVaneg 22:35, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Victor Khristenko's addess

To Whom It May Concern: What is the fax number and addess for the Prime Minister of Russia Victor Khristenko (Unsigned question posted to Wikipedia:Help desk by User:170.213.132.252.

Seems hard information to come by. I imagine it shouldn't be too hard, however, to get it from a consulate.
The relevant information according to the CIA World Factbook:

Diplomatic representation in the US:

• chief of mission: Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV
• chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
• telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708
• FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735
• consulate(s) general: Houston, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle

Diplomatic representation from the US:

• chief of mission: Ambassador Alexander VERSHBOW
• embassy: Bolshoy Devyatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow
• mailing address: PSC-77, APO AE 09721
• telephone: [7] (095) 728-5000
• FAX: [7] (095) 728-5090
• consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg

If nobody posts the exact info, one of those institutions I think should get you the information desired.
Also just FYI, it seems Viktor Khristenko has been replaced already by Mikhail Fradkov as Prime Minister. ¦ Reisio 01:56, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

(Celtic Mythology) Is Brionac the correct name for Lugh's weapon?

Hello,

I'm doing research in Celtic mythology and I've come across a Japanese web page that describes the Brionac as a 5 bladed lance or spear that Lugh used to defeat Balor.

Unfortunately I can't find any English pages to confirm this. If anything it appears that there are quite a few variations to this myth, and none of them include any entries on Brionac.

Can anyone give me a hand and explain whether this information is true, and if not, what exactly Brionac is?

Thanks,

Celtic Mythology newbie

Surprisingly, the answer was easier than I thought it would be! A quick Google Images search for Brionac nets me this weapon from Ragnarok Online. Obviously it's a fancy-pants technical name for a trident of sorts, rather than him naming his personal version of it. This also explains why (almost) no versions give this name, as the majority of readers would have no idea what the heck it is. Gee, that was easy, wasn't it?

Oh and as for the difficulty imagining a trident having five blades arrayed in a forward position but still being an effective melee weapon, it may in fact have looked like a bit like one of these. :)

I'll have to go research this thing some more now, it's fascinating. Anyway, hope that helps you! Master Thief Garrett^Talk 00:27, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

UPDATE: conversely, it may be that Ragnarok Online drew the name in turn from the myth, much as many fantasy games have generic "Excalibur" weapons in them. But, anyway, that's the best that can really be done without crawling through hundreds of crufty RO pages looking for the good stuff. But that still doesn't explain why few versions of the tale recount the name. It's one thing to lose details in variants, but I'd think a weapon's given name would be a very important detail. Master Thief Garrett^Talk 00:49, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Master Thief Garrett - a thousand thanks! Feeling much better knowing that there is material to back up the name/spelling. I am hoping that Ragnarok Online did proper research when they came up with this item name. I've seen too many bad J-to-E translations in video games (ala Lost in Translation).

Ok, here's a curveball--I don't suppose you can help steer me in the right direction for the proper pronunciation of Brionac?

BTW you really ought to pick up Japanese if you can. Among other benefits you'll get a kick out of watching anime/video games/movies that have been butchered by the cheap Chinese localization houses.

I'm assuming it's research of some form as it matches the description, and also the item's writeup is "A spear that radiates holy light in all directions" which is essentially what Translator English spews out for some of the Brionac pages. Also there's [another Brionac http://www.psox.it/immagini/armi/0004.jpg] in Phantasy Star Online. OK so it describes it as a sword, but it looks like a spear... and it even appears, different appearance again, in some random fanart of goodness knows what origin.

Pronounciation-wise... no idea. The fact that it only appears in Japanese sources leads me to think it's got some sort of Japanese origin, and yet neither bri nor ac can be turned back into Japanese. But it could be the Japanese person was just translating from scratch from the original and so didn't rationalise the meaning of this word the way the English translators did.

You could try posting in a Wikipedia:Wikipedians regional hub page (not sure which one(s) it fits into) and see if anyone there can give a rough guess of what the pronounciation ought to be. Alternately, you could ask somewhere on Wiktionary. Regardless, it's so obscure I doubt your take on it will be challenged. :)

Yes, I'm definitely considering picking up Japanese at some point. I can already recognise all of the characters (due to various translation efforts I've made) but I still don't have any real idea what they mean! I was hoping to tidy up my Latin and start on Greek first, but I'll probably do whichever I can fit in. In the meantime, splendid translations like Cats' All your base are belong to us and Samurai Shodown's "because he lived a bloody life" will have to suffice... and remember boys and girls, "Finger Lickin' Good!" retranslates as "Eat Your Fingers Off!" :) Master Thief Garrett^Talk 04:17, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Proper posture, and ergonomics

Does Wikipedia have articles which cover good posture, seating habits, and ways to set up a computer terminal so that it's ergonomic? Where can I find these articles? --HappyCamper 00:56, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Working in a Sitting Position - Alternative Chairs (http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/sitting/sitting_alternative.html). But that page is outside of Wikipedia. It's in Canada! -- Toytoy 01:19, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)

Articles like that would be how-tos, which are more appropriate on Wikibooks. A module on ergonomics in working with computers would do well there. JRM · Talk 07:57, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

O. Henry Story

What is title of the (probably O. Henry) story that features a marshall handcuffed to a prisoner who pretends to be the prisoner? Superm401 | Talk 01:30, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)

How about Hearts and Hands? [9] alteripse 17:33, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

How to find to old and new questions?

It looks as if 'over and undetermined' (presently question 3) is soon to disappear. Where will it go? I am looking to find a worthwhile discussion in Wikipedia on the search for meaning and truth in discussion between scientists and non-scientists. Can anyone help? Jeffrey Newman 05:37, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

At the top of this page, there is a link to the Reference Desk archive. ¦ Reisio 05:42, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

Generally speaking, though, far fewer people watch the archives (probably just the editor who created it). You'd be better off coming up with another question relevant to the subject you're interested in and posting it here. Alternatively, you cam try to get people to come to your talk page to discuss things there--CVaneg 17:47, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The Holy Roman Empire

...yes, what about it? ¦ Reisio 15:10, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

What is your question? As to why it's called Holy, Roman, and an Empire, none of which it was until later on? :) Or something else? 21:26, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Maloika??

Does anyone know anything about 'Maloika'? As I understand it, it is a sort of magical curse. I have heard about this tradition from Italian-Americans from south Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There is also something involving a gold necklace with a pendant shapded like an animal's horn. Google turned up a very little information on this subject.

Do you mean malocchia? That's Italian for the Evil eye. -- Arwel 16:24, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Or majolica - a form of earthenware pottery. Perhaps not. -- ALoan (Talk) 16:52, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Jennifer Lopez seems to believe in "maloika". [10] Note that this has every appearance of a rush transcript; the spelling is all over the place. Bovlb 16:55, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)

I know the pendant you are talking about. I'm not native to the area and associated it more with the good folks from Joisey rather than South Philly, but it's probably both and I suspect Arwel is correct about "malocchia." I will ask next time I see one, and let you know if I get a good answer. alteripse 14:04, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Re: Joisey/Evil eye: like many fine things Italian-American, it's mentioned in The Sopranos (by the late - and extremely great - "Pussy" Bonpensiero).

Paraphrasing (and probably misremembering badly): "I swear to God, someone put the malocchia on me."

Circa (IIRC) Season 2 episode 1...

chocolateboy 01:44, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Harry Potter's influence on the popularity of magic

Does anyone know whether the popularity of Harry Potter had an effect on the sales of magic kits and the general interest in this performance art by people like David Copperfield, David Blaine and all the others? (I'm not about interest in paranormal events) - Mgm|^(talk) 16:02, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)

I'd say not, as far as merchandising goes that is. I certainly haven't seen any professional magic kits of Houdini and Paul Daniels and whatnot like you could find everywhere in the '90s, but I've seen a crapload more "real" magic stuff.

Harry Potter is making "real" magic cool and all, and it emphasises that modern witches etc. have "real" powers, thus making it more appealing, whereas everyone knows professional magic is merely an illusion, so it doesn't have the allure of the supernatural realm that seems to have grasped modern society by the gonads as of late.

OK, so David Copperfiled claimed he really walked through the Great Wall of China, but that's a matter for another day, right? Just like how they only claim professional wrestling is rigged, right? :) Master Thief Garrett^Talk 21:05, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Which boiling point is correct?

A lot of different sites give different numbers on the boiling points of various elements, particularly Rhenium and Tungsten. I was trying to figure out which element had the highest boiling point, and found that sites disagree as to whether it's rhenium or tungsten. This site gives Re's as 5627 and W's as 5660 Kelvin. Wikipedia currently has Re at 5869 and W at 5828 Kelvin. Chemicalelements.com has Re at 5900.15 °K, W at 5933.15 °K. So who do we believe? There's a disagreement that ranges almost three hundred degrees Kelvin here. Mr. Billion 23:15, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC) (Question also posted on Talk:Boiling point)

Tungsten is the element with the highest melting point. Rhenium comes in second. Regardless, I have a feeling that the discrepancy between the Lenntech and Chemicalelements websites has to do with units. The temperature difference is exactly 273.15 K - In order to convert degrees Celsius to Kelvins you need to add 273.15. (The word degree should not be used with Kelvin. For example, water boils at 273.15 Kelvins not "degrees Kelvin).

I have not verified this, but I think the values in Wikipedia should be considered incorrect if the conditions for that result are not stated. I'll consult the CRC handbook to verify and get back to you on this here.

You might be interested to know that tungsten metal will snap if it is repeatedly heated and cooled, whereas rhenium will not. That's why rhenium is used in lots of airplane engine parts. --HappyCamper 23:37, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hmm...I learned something new today! Apparently, rhenium has the higher boiling point! This is quite a surprise to me, but according to the CRC Press, 85th edition page 12-220 "Thermal and Physical Properties of Pure Metals" rhenium has a boiling point of 5596 °C = 5869.15 K, while tungsten has a boiling point of 5555 °C = 5828.15 K --> these correspond to the values given by Wikipedia, so the ones on Wikipedia are substantiated. The temperatures are marked as "...normal boiling [points] at a pressure of 101.325 kPa..."

The references listed by the CRC press for their values is a little bit ambiguous, and it suggests that the original source of information is either from Dinsdale, A. T., CALPHAD, 15, 317, 1991 or, from Physical Encyclopedic Dictionary, Vol. 1–5, Encyclopedy Publishing House, Moscow, 1960–66. Hope this helps! --HappyCamper 00:03, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

An integral equation

Could some kind Wikipedian solve this equation for x or l in terms of the other variable? It comes about from the talk page on Heim theory, and I'm hoping to graph the result of this equation and place it in the article. C of course is an arbitrary constant, and can be on any side of the equation without loss of generality. Thanks in advance!

$\int {\frac {1}{1\pm {\sqrt {1-4x}}}}dx+C=\int {\frac {l+1}{2l(l-1)}}dl.$

--HappyCamper 00:18, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Not me. For sure. Yeah. Just a wikipedian. Mothperson 01:24, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Both sides integrate cleanly in terms of square roots and logs, so it would just be some algebra after that, which I haven't figured out how to get Maxima to hand me and I am lazy at the moment. I think that actually means there may not be a closed form solution in terms of x, but that wouldn't stop you from being able to graph it. I'll try to figure out the tex to lay out the solutions if someone doesn't beat me to it, but you could just type it all into any computer algebra system and get your solution. Tell me you have maple or mathematica avaialable? Actually my internet connection finked out before I could post any response, and I can't install any software on this computer. Maxima is open source so you can get it here and get the solutions pretty easily, and also wx maxima here which adds a better GUI I think, but I haven't tried that. - Taxman ^Talk 03:55, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

If you could find the solutions that would be great, as I haven't been able to do it. I don't have Maple or Mathematica...I have Mathcad and Matlab, but I don't know how to use them. --HappyCamper 15:53, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ok, I apologize, but I don't have time to do more. Here is the maxima session showing the solutions to the integrals. I would recommend just downloading and running it.

$f(x):={\frac {1}{1\pm {\sqrt {1-4x}}}}$

integrate(f(x),x);

$-{\frac {\pm {\sqrt {1-4x}}-\log {({\sqrt {1-4x}}\pm 1)}}{2}}.$

$h(l):={\frac {l+1}{2l(l-1)}}$

integrate(h(l),l);

${\frac {2\log {(l-1)}-\log {l}}{2}}$

I can't get it to format right, so I hope the text stays formatted in the edit window. Hope that's a start at least. - Taxman ^Talk 03:46, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, this is a great help! --HappyCamper 19:02, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

How to separate a plant tissue organelles?

Please answer this question in detail...

You are given a plant tissue. Design an experiment to seperate the organelles. How to observe the structure of the organelles separated from your experiment. Your answer must include:

• intoduction
• materials and method
• results and discussion
• conclussion
• reference

nettNettidlani 04:52, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Sounds a lot like a homework question. I'm afraid you're going to have to do some of the work yourself. To seperate organelles from the rest of the tissue, you need to destroy the cells plasma membrane. You may be interested in using detergents or sonification. - Mgm|^(talk) 07:25, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)
  • IIRC, you can get the chloroplasts out via centrifuge. You may be able to extract other organelles as well by using different solutions and durations in the centrifuge. It's been awhile since I had bio labs, so please correct me if I'm wrong. = ) Jeeves 09:14, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)
    • I could be wrong, obviously, but considering the question is being asked at all, my guess is that it doesn't require all that specific of an answer. It may just be a typical waste-of-time homework assignment where you just have to prove you know what is INSIDE a cell and then specify what you would have to separate/remove to get just the organelles. ¦ Reisio 14:55, 2005 Jun 25 (UTC)
      • That's right- you can use a centrifuge to separate cell organelles. After adding a solution that will create a hypertonic solution to the cell, the solution will flood the cell and burst it. Afterwards, you can centrifuge it. THere will be two parts- the supernatant and the pellet. Heavy organelles (such as the nucleus) are usually at the solid pellet, and the cytoplasm (cytosol) and other lighter organelles will be in the supernatant. There are many different chemicals and solutions (can't remember them) used to do this. Also, if you want to separate chloroplasts from a plant cell, a rough (and easy) way of doing it is to use a quarter to grind a leaf. Not the most scientific way, but... I hope I'm correct in all this information. Hope this helps! Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 22:05, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I found the question rather hilarious, thanks to the "answer must include", part. ;-) -- Natalinasmpf 28 June 2005 19:11 (UTC)

Unidentified trax

I have some mp3/ogg files representing (probably) tracks from various CDs. I know the artist, but have no idea as to the album or track name. Is there any way I can systematically identify them? It occurs to me that some kind of hash or checksum would probably be a good way to determine whether the ogg file I have is the same as the ogg file someone else has. It also occurs to me that my radical ideas about mp3 identification have already occurred to others. Is there a database of these things? If not, it also occurs to me that some kind of fuzzy match on the audio data might narrow it down. Ideas? (P.S. there are no lyrics!') Jeeves 09:13, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Are they ripped with ID3 tags? For example if you open it in your favourite media player can you open a "track info" window of some sort to see the album name etc.? If not, I really don't know. There's no way to tell from an ogg hash as each user's selected ripping quality or even differing version of the encoder used to create them would result in a significantly different file.

Since you know the artist's name, find a fansite or something. Cut up a short and crappy sample of the tune and upload it somewhere (you could try MegaWorm) and let the others download it, and they're bound to know what it is.

Alternately, go to your local library and borrow a CD or two (if they keep them at the checkout) or just listen to all of them with a portable CD player (if they're actually in the cases). Ideally bring along an iPod or a burned CD or something so you can compare the tracks to the rips you've got.

Another option, but a long shot, is to try is the Audioscrobbler plugin. It indexes tracks, and (I assume) can research them based on some method or other, perhaps relying on an ID3 tag or similar encoded in the file (I'm not very good with these things). If the file has tags intact, that would also work.

Hope that helps! Master Thief Garrett^Talk 14:10, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The same things occurred to me a while back, in pretty much the same order. The MusicBrainz Tagger looks like it's just what you may be looking for; unfortunately, it's Windows-only, so I have not tried it yet. -- Wapcaplet 15:15, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Edit: On closer inspection, it looks like a lot of applications can interact with MusicBrainz. Some support lookup only, but others also allow submitting your own song fingerprints back to MusicBrainz. Pretty cool! -- Wapcaplet 15:28, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

In the UK there's a nifty mobile phone service called Shazam that identifies songs easily. Dmn / Դմն 29 June 2005 00:00 (UTC)

Shazam and Musicphone introduced it last year in the US, too, but they only did press releases for ATT Wireless, which has since been sold to Cingular, and I don't know if they carried the service over. kmccoy (talk) 29 June 2005 05:22 (UTC)

Identify my shell stone?

File:P6120001.JPG

File:P6120002.JPG

I found this shell stone on the beach at Redcliffe (Moreton Bay, in Queensland) when I was six years old in 1970. I always carried it in my pocket. Years later at high school, I was sent to the Science Master to get 6 cuts from his cane for playing up. I whipped my shell stone from my pocket and engaged him in conversation about it: "Ahh! An Operculum!" he said. Completely forgot about whacking me. Can anyone identify the gastropod from which it came?

I've reduced your images to thumbnails, to save everyone's bandwidth.-gadfium 09:16, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Thank you... training wheels got a speed wobble-cathetus

I changed their place so that they don't overshadow my question :) --EnSamulili 10:05, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

pKa of asparagine side chain

I would like to know the pKa (Acid dissociation constant) of the side chain amide group of asparagine. None of the sources on the internet mention it exactly - probably because the amide is a very, very weak base which doesn't accept a proton in physiological pH. One source said it is around 17. --EnSamulili 10:00, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

And while we're at it, what about glutamine? --EnSamulili 10:06, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The pKa of asparagine is 8.72, and that of glutamine is 9.13. These are much more reasonable values than 17. The reference is Dawson, R.M.C., Elliot, W.H. and Jones, K.M., Data for Biochemical Research (3rd ed.), pp. 1-31, Oxford Science Publications (1986). --HappyCamper 15:37, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Those are the pKa's of the amine group, not the amide side chain. --EnSamulili 15:45, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ah, yes, my mistake. In that case, I don't know. All the standard tables and references I use don't indicate a pKa for for glutamine or asparagine. --HappyCamper 21:22, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

In proteins, pKa values of ionizable side chains differ from those of the free amino acids due to microenvironments within 3-D structure of proteins. (source) I guess it differs depending on the environment. - Mgm|^(talk) 16:23, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

Indeed. To be more specific, I'm interested in free asparagine (and glutamine). --EnSamulili 17:12, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

May I ask what you might use these two pKa values for? The highest pKa value I have listed for a side chain is for arginine (for the guanidino group). Would it be possible that at higher pH environments, asparagine and glutamine would break down? --HappyCamper 21:22, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It's for no special use, just to have them here on the Wikipedia :) Yes, the thought that they might break down has occured to me - like peptide bonds break in boiling alkaline solutions, so might arginine and glutamine. I suppose it might still be possible to find out those values. --EnSamulili 10:20, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yep, I suspect so too, although probably in specialist organic chemistry texts. I might try talking to a few biochemists and see what they might have to say about it. --HappyCamper 19:05, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Send me information on your school

My name is Alisa Hunter and I would like some information about your university. If you would send me info on your veterinary program, and your business program it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Alisa Hunter

([address removed]. Mindspillage (spill yours?) 14:24, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC))

I take it you are inquiring about Wikiversity, our free online university sister project? I hope you are aware that it is not a "normal" university, and (at the present) any job-application value of the degrees it will offer will be tentative at best. I'm afraid to say it will be some time before we will be offering any courses, and so we don't have any fancy guides to mail you, sorry. I like the idea of free university training too, but in the meantime you'll have to make do with a for-money university like I did :) Master Thief Garrett^Talk 13:58, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I think this is just yet another person who is confused about what Wikipedia is. We get this question fairly often. -- Cyrius|✎ 16:33, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

American passports

I was doing some research about two former chiefs of the passport office, Ruth B. Shipley and Frances Knight, and was to surprised to read in them of American passports having green covers and red covers. When did American passports take the current blue color? When were they red and green? PedanticallySpeaking 14:01, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

There's a site with pictures of passports, and you'll find USA near the bottom of this page. It doesn't detail when the changes occurred, but it does indicate that they were red in 1922 and green in 1966, and blue by 1976. It also shows a brown "official" passport and a "diplomatic" passport which is slightly lighter blue. kmccoy (talk) 05:47, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Villa Ridge, Illinois and John Morton Eshleman

Eshleman, lieutenant governor of California in the teens and namesake of a building at UC Berkeley, was born in Villa Ridge. But my atlas shows two different towns of that name, one in Madison County, Illinois, the other in Alexander County, Illinois. Does anyone know which Eshleman was from? PedanticallySpeaking 14:03, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

Afaik there is only one in Alexander - what atlas are you using and when was it published? ¦ Reisio 15:16, 2005 Jun 25 (UTC)

The DeLorme Company's Illinois Atlas and Gazeteer. Published in 1990s--don't have it before me, so I can't be more precise. PedanticallySpeaking 15:25, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

New poem by Sappho

If anyone has the Times Literary Supplement, can you please type out the original text of the new poem by Sappho? [11] that would be great; dab (ᛏ) 18:33, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

No ties in Iran

Why does nobody seem to wear a tie in Iran? Jooler 19:46, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I remember something I heard on a TV documentary or something, saying that the ties were prohibited by the radical Islamic government there. Of course, I may have remembered wrong, though... Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 22:08, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ties are considered a western fasion item, and are depreciated in many conservative islamic communities. It is quite possible that the Iranian govt banned them. Well wisher 16:23, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I recall reading in Akbar Ahmad's Postmodernism and Islam that, in his time at school (presumably in Pakistan) a stupid rumor was circulating that ties actually symbolized the Christian cross, based on their vaguely similar appearance. More realistically, they are quintessentially Western and thus do not fit the regime's preferred symbolism. - Mustafaa 28 June 2005 20:55 (UTC)

Interview with Jimmy Wales - URGENT!

Dear Sirs,

my name is Petros Kipouropoulos and I work as an author for PC master, a computers magazine in Greece (www.pcmaster.gr). I am writing about wikipedia and I would be glad if I could include an interview (not something special - just 5-6 questions) of Jimmy Wales. If it's possible, forward him my question or please give me an e-mail adress to where I will be able to contact him.

Thank you very much Expecting an answer as soon as possible Yours sincerely Petros Kipouropoulos Sir Pretender (my account in Wikipedia)

He has all his various contact details on his user page, and his email address is jwales (at) wikia (dot) com. He's a very busy man so you may have problems getting a speedy response, but I'm sure he'll be glad to answer all your questions when he finds the time! :) Master Thief Garrett^Talk 21:43, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Cous-cous

Is there an English word for cous-cous? What's the difference between farina and semolina? What is farina? Why is cous-cous so regional (i.e. it's a great idea, why didn't it spread?)? This is all sort of one question. --Mothperson 22:38, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The Couscous, Farina & Semolina articles have pretty much all the answers to the "What is" questions. As for regional, I'm not sure what you mean; Apparently it's from roughly Northwestern Africa and I've had it many times here in Florida (didn't have to go to any special grocery store, either). As the Couscous article states, that is not its original name, but what it's called in English (lots of words in English are just bastardizations of foreign words). ¦ Reisio 23:41, 2005 Jun 25 (UTC)

I don't think I phrased my question well, and maybe there just isn't an answer to the question I didn't manage to ask. Regional - why did it not spread out of North Africa much sooner than the last half of the last century? Never mind. Maybe it's just that angel hair pasta tastes better than cous-cous or something. Why did the chicken cross the road? sorry, Mothperson 00:00, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

No need to be sorry. Stick around and probably someone may have some insight. It seems like it would be a very involved answer, though. ¦ Reisio 00:58, 2005 Jun 26 (UTC)

It did spread out of North Africa much sooner than the last half of the last century - even in medieval times, to West Africa and to Sicily. I suspect it took so long to get to the Anglophone world because Britain had no North African colonies. - Mustafaa 28 June 2005 20:52 (UTC)

Unknown moth photos

Time for some more photos...

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  Unknown moth 01
• Unknown (and ragged) moth 02
  Unknown (and ragged) moth 02
• Unknown (and ragged) moth 02
  Unknown (and ragged) moth 02

Thanks for everyone's help in identifying my pix. --Fir0002 00:22, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

Are these moths from Australia? HappyCamper 14:00, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yes all my photos are from Australia --Fir0002 23:58, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

Are these ferns?

Hi, I was just wondering if these are actual ferns, I know "fern" has become pretty generic and all sorts of plant are called ferns when they're not so hopefully someone can positively identify these:

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Thanks, --Fir0002 02:01, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

I suspect the first one isn't and the other ones are, but I'm no botanist. If you can go back to look at them, check for spores on the underside of the leaves. --W(t) 02:06, 2005 Jun 26 (UTC)

My mother (who has a degree in botany [though not a practicing scientist]) thinks they're probably all ferns. The larger ones may be tree ferns. It's a lot easier to know for sure if you see spores or fiddleheads. ¦ Reisio 03:05, 2005 Jun 26 (UTC)

I believe that they are all ferns. Guettarda 04:00, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Name of a synthetic material

Alright. I quit. What's the english name of the white foam-like material that comes in packages to protect the content from shocks? I'm talking about the solid molded things that hold the stuff in the box, they're made out of thousands of little spheres put together. What's the chemical and informal name for that material in the various forms english (if there's a difference)?

Here in Brazil it's called isopor. Check those images if necessary. — Kieff | Talk 03:37, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

It's polystyrene :-) --HappyCamper 03:41, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Is this different from styrofoam? - Nunh-huh 03:43, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Happy Camper kind of beat me to it but what the article says about Styrofoam is more accurate about what Americans generally refer to the stuff as. The name Styrofoam is used almost exclusively by people not in the industry of making polystyrene. It's like Xerox instead of "copy machine" or Kleenex instead of "facial tissue". Dismas 03:47, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Strictly, it's "expanded polystyrene". It is not called Styrofoam (a trade name) in, say, Britain. Bovlb 05:42, 2005 Jun 26 (UTC)

Other than rigid Styrofoam, there's a similar packaging material that's white, pliable and has a smooth texture. How do we call that material? -- Toytoy 05:55, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

Are you referring to the little white "S" shaped or sometimes semi-spherical polystrene bits that they just fill in around packaged items that go absolutely everywhere when you take the object out of its packaging? If so, those are also polystyrene/styrofoam. In the U.S. they are often referred to as "packing peanuts" or "packing popcorn" because of their resemblance to real peanuts or popcorn. Picture of what I'm describing here Dismas

I know these "peanuts". Sometimes, people form that material into sheets. It's also polystyrene. I want to know about the material's forming process and the sheet's tradename. -- Toytoy 06:40, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

This has always confused me. -- Natalinasmpf 03:58, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

What do you mean? An African or European swallow? Zzyzx11 (Talk) 04:09, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• What? I don't know that! AAAAAAAaaaaarggghhh! Radiant_>|< 21:03, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

Forty-two miles per hour. DUH! Nickptar 04:50, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Well, about 24 miles per hour according to Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow (but I expect the OP already knew that). Gandalf61 08:52, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

Coleco Emulator for Zaurus 5500?

I now have a Sharp Zaurus 5500, and a while back i had a neat idea for a pocket colecovision. The other day i thought, why not just get an emulator for my Zaurus? Does this handheld have enough power for this? Is there already an emulator for it, or would one have to be ported? --Phroziac (talk) 04:05, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hmmm. As you presumably know, the Zaurus runs Linux. There is a Colecovision emulator for Linux available, but getting it to run with the Zaurus's display might be a challenge. Apparently, you can install X on your Zaurus, but it looks nontrivial to get working.

I don't think it'd be straightforward but there doesn't appear to be any fundamental barriers (certainly not processor performance, as the ARM should have more than enough grunt) to playing Colecovision games on your Zaurus. --Robert Merkel 04:04, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Unfortunately X won't work on the 5500, if it did i would already have it :) I've used adamem on PC, but never could get it to compile on linux. And to cross compile for the ARM i need 100mb of development tools, and I'm on dialup. SVGA Lib is available also, which would help --Phroziac (talk) 28 June 2005 03:48 (UTC)

Las Vegas

I've got a question about Las Vegas, but not about the place (or places, if you count the one in New Mexico) itself. What does the word "vegas" mean in Spanish? It's obviously a plural noun, given the "las". I've also heard of a place called La Vega, which was a Spanish town in Jamaica prior to the British conquest. DO'Иeil 06:16, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

It actually says in the Las Vegas article. ¦ Reisio 13:20, 2005 Jun 26 (UTC)

Ya, I'd always heard it meant The Cactus, I think I first heard that in the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Although, considering the forementioned movie, I was probably a bit out of sorts while watching it. I'll go along with The Meadows. Though I may look into this a bit deeper. BTW, I live in Las Vegas. 68.104.69.70 22:51, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You're correct it does mean "The Meadows". Cyprus 01:41, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC):

Identifying types of clouds

Now a serious question. There are some IMO brilliant pictures of clouds at high altitude (which are actually pretty low for clouds, just high altitude in terms of perspective with ground human beings), which I don't know where to classify them in. I figured that it'd be good to put them in specific articles about cloud types, or perhaps weather fronts on some of the pictures, but I don't know how to classify clouds. What types of clouds/possible weather formations are these, and possible articles I could put them in?

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I can't answer your question, but the pictures are stunning! Mothperson 19:12, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

There's a guide to identifying clouds here with some photographic examples. I hope that helps. —Ghakko 23:17, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hmm didn't help much, unfortunately. I was wondering because multiple descriptions of some cloud types seemed to fit some of the pictures, and I couldn't tell which type it really was. -- Natalinasmpf 02:21, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It's hard to say really because you do have a little bit of a few different types in the pictures. Some are lenticular clouds, some are stratocumulous, etc. Dismas 04:18, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hmm, but could you identify some of the pictures that prominently display a weather feature, like a front, or a definite type of cloud I could then place the article in? That would help a lot. -- Natalinasmpf 28 June 2005 06:12 (UTC)

Maps Containing Geographic Info Such as Provinces:

Hello:

I am wondering if Wikipedia can supply me with maps of the various countries of Africa, especially Morocco, with maps showing the division of these countries into smaller geographic entities such as provinces and the cities withinin these smaller units? If you do not have these kind of maps in your database perhaps you could give me an idea where to go?

Many, many thanks for answering my question and for trying to help me.

Brad van Scriver

Just look up the regions in question, e.g. Morocco and see what information is there. — Chameleon 09:24, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You can also try image searches like these:

http://images.google.com/images?q=morocco

http://images.google.com/images?q=map morocco

http://images.google.com/images?q=al maghrib

http://images.google.com/images?q=map al maghrib

Official government sites (like http://www.mincom.gov.ma/english/reg_cit/regions.html) also often have very good information.

Just be careful, there will always be good and bad information. ¦ Reisio 13:47, 2005 Jun 26 (UTC)

Lazy Sheep

I googled for a song called "O Lazy Sheep", the tune intended for the Bagme Bloma poem by JRRT (see Songs for the Philologists). The only thing I could find was this. If you know anything about it, please come to the Talk:Songs for the Philologists page. dab (ᛏ) 13:45, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Composer was Mantle Childe, a british pianist. Music after an old French air, published in Childe, M.: Child's play: nine little pieces for piano, Oxford University Press, 1947, which is for sale at a price of £1. A reprint is mentioned in this large PDF (search for "childe" in both of them). The link you gave already gives a 1986 fake book that should contain the score. According to the index of Fielding, Ch., Ibbs and Tillett: the rise and fall of a musical empire, ISBN 1-840-14290-1, the composer's full name was "George Mantle Childe". I also found another brief mention of the composer. That's all I was able to find on-line on either the song (which seems to be entitled "Lazy Sheep, pray tell why"; text from an old nursery rhyme) or the composer. Lupo 29 June 2005 08:34 (UTC)

Abbott Willtraud 1401/Corvey by Hoxter

Where can i look for the Abbott Willtraud 1401??

Little context? What is this? ¦ Reisio 17:57, 2005 Jun 26 (UTC)

Technetium & Periodic Table

Hi, I have a question regarding the following information in the featured article Technetium:

For a number of years there was a gap in the periodic table between molybdenum (element 42) and ruthenium (element 44). Many early researchers were eager to be the first to discover and name the missing element; its location in the table suggested that it should be easier to find than other undiscovered elements. It was first thought to have been found in platinum ores in 1828. It was given the name polinium but it turned out to be impure iridium. Then in 1846 the element ilmenium was claimed to have been discovered but was determined to be impure niobium. This mistake was repeated in 1847 with the 'discovery' of pelopium.

Now my question is this: How could all these people have been looking for an element in the gap of a periodic table that had not yet been proposed? There were of course precursors of Mendelejev like Meyer, Newman or Béguyer but to my knowledge even they published their work in the 1860s. So what exactly did the people who "found" polinium, ilmenium oder pelopium think they had found? I already asked this question on the discussion page of the article in question but didn't get any response there, so I thought I try again here. Any answer would be appreciated. --Aglarech-en 19:47, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

mousepads

Is there anyway of making the mousepad on my laptop faulty? Cos its really annoyin having the pad there cos whenever i touch it accidentally, it moves the cursor. I'm on windows 2000 if that helps --Expurgator t(c)

You want to disable your touchpad? Probably just open up Control Panel and fiddle with the preferences. ¦ Reisio 19:54, 2005 Jun 26 (UTC)

Dante's Divine Comedy dramatised: characters individiualised by dialects & languages

I am in the final stages of writing an Italian/English dramatisation of Dante's Divina Commedia. Naturally, it contains a lot of talk and it has occurred to me belatedly that the characters could be individualised with accents or an occasional word or phrase appropriate to their region, time and status. The dialects/languages are mostly of Italy but there is also Latin, French, Frankish, Aramaic and Greek. I can supply Dante's words (with English) for the character(s). Can anybody help me? All contributions will be responded to and contributors will ultimately be acknowledged in the dramatisations's Programme.

Bright-line rule

I notice that in Kelo v. New London, the court mentioned that "Petitioners' proposal that the Court adopt a new bright-line rule that economic development does not qualify as a public use is supported by neither precedent nor logic." What is a "bright-line rule"? - Ta bu shi da yu 04:48, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You can visit Kelo v. New London. We already have such an article. 大魚先生, nice to see you.

bright-line rule: straight forward, black & white, easy to make a decision:

Nothing is easier to apply than a bright-line rule. Just plug in the facts and out comes the conclusion. No muss, no fuss.[12] (Timothy P. O'Neill)

Sorry, I have to go. More to come. -- Toytoy 04:58, Jun 27, 2005 (UTC)

tudo sobre a eurasia

This apparently means "everything on the eurasia" in Portuguese language. pt:Eurasia doesn't exist, though pt:Europa and pt:Ásia do. Dunc|☺ 28 June 2005 16:59 (UTC)

pt:Eurásia exists. -83.129.58.3 28 June 2005 18:07 (UTC) (are the section edit links broken?)

Kambar Cremation ground

Hello All, I want to know where is the Kambar's cremation ground in TamilNadu?

I couldn't get any online reference for that. However, I've asked a couple of people who might know. Just curious, may I know in what context did you require this information? -- Sundar (talk · contribs) June 29, 2005 04:27 (UTC)

Anti-nuclear Anti-virus

Please can you give me more information about Anti-nuclear Anti-virus disease. My sister is 24 and just lost her 4 baby during her pregnancy. If it's possible can you give me more information about this disease. And explain it so that a person like me can understand it

Thank you Lizelle van Heerden

Are you referring to anti-nuclear antibodies and the disorders related to them? ¦ Reisio 2005 June 28 20:33 (UTC)

Estimating distance of lightning from me.

I remember, as a child, being told to count in seconds - after seeing lightning - until I heard the thunder. I was told that each second counted meant the lightning was that many miles away.

However, light - as we know - travels bloomin' fast. Sound travels at around 330 m/s. A mile is about 1600m (here in the UK).

So, 1600m / 330 m/s = 5 (rounded to nearest full number).

So, if I count 5 seconds, does that mean the lightning is around a mile away?

Or is any kind of "I've seen the lightning, and now I'll start counting" method of estimating the distance completely futile due to other factors?

--bodnotbod June 28, 2005 18:57 (UTC)

For what I understand, taking speed of sound as 1000 ft/s is reasonably accurate. Just don't try it on top of a mountain. You probably wouldn't get to 'one' before your heart stopped from the strike anyway. -- Cyrius|✎ 28 June 2005 19:26 (UTC

That's a good first-order approximation. I doubt the speed of sound is materially much affected by other factors; there's a possibility you're hearing it reflected, but I doubt you'd be in a position to hear the reflection but not the original crash. Shimgray 28 June 2005 19:27 (UTC)

Thanks. I'm on high ground compared to the surroundings so I shouldn't get much or any reflection. But now you've made me wonder... what could account for occasions when the sound of thunder seems to build slowly to a crescendo, as opposed to beginning loud and then decaying? I suppose it could just be different thunderclaps intermingling which I interpret as related. --bodnotbod June 28, 2005 19:35 (UTC)

I know exactly what you're describing, I've heard it enough to cringe slightly when I realize what's coming. The resulting bang seems to be quite loud compared to the average. If I had to guess, it's due to some weird refraction effect on the sound. Given that a lighting bolt is miles long (producing sound along its entire length), and that sound can be bent and reflected by atmosphere and terrain, you can get all kinds of strange arrangements of sound coming out of a thunderstorm. -- Cyrius|✎ 29 June 2005 00:44 (UTC)

other origins of NO

whats the difference between nitrate and nitrite? And how does it affect the body?

See nitrate and nitrite for starters. Cheers, David Iberri | Talk June 28, 2005 20:57 (UTC)

Nitrite has an oxygen atom less than nitrate. For more info see articles as David suggested. - Mgm|^(talk) June 28, 2005 21:16 (UTC)

Nitric oxide has become an extremely hot area of physiology and medical research in the last decade. NO is a vasodilator and an important regulator of blood vessel narrowing and relaxation, resulting in increasing and decreasing blood flow through various organs. See for example,

Annual Review of Physiology Vol. 67: 99-145 (Volume publication date March 2005) (doi:10.1146/annurev.physiol.67.060603.090918) CHEMICAL PHYSIOLOGY OF BLOOD FLOW REGULATION BY RED BLOOD CELLS: The Role of Nitric Oxide and S-Nitrosohemoglobin David J. Singel and ­Jonathan S. Stamler­ alteripse 28 June 2005 22:44 (UTC)

The ions nitrite and nitrate behave differently, especially when one deals with transition metal chemistry. The biological role of nitric oxide is interesting since it can complex with metal ions in some proteins, and hence modify their functioning behaviour. Understanding the chemistry of NO in the body arguably contributed to a billion dollar industry. For example, see the article on sildenafil citrate for details. --HappyCamper 29 June 2005 00:13 (UTC)

Gosh, are scientific documents always in ALLCAPS? It made me think there was an uncivil poster for a while there. -- Natalinasmpf 29 June 2005 02:36 (UTC) That citation happened to be as is and I just cut and pasted without retyping in lower case. Your ears must be pretty sensitive if it bothered you. Normally I speak softly. alteripse 29 June 2005 07:01 (UTC)

Football

Does anybody know how Football (soccer) was started?

See our Football article. Dmn / Դմն 28 June 2005 23:51 (UTC)

edit links broken on this page

The side edit links by each heading on this page are broken, they're out by about two, somewhere. Can anyone fix it? Dunc|☺ 28 June 2005 23:48 (UTC)

I fixed this already. Template:Rd header used <h2> instead of == for some odd reason, and that confused the hell out of the newer revision parser. -- Cyrius|✎ 29 June 2005 00:32 (UTC)

I think it used the h2 header because that way, the first question listed would be numbered as 1. Right now, it's numbered as 3. --HappyCamper 29 June 2005 01:32 (UTC)

(As the one who originally inserted the <h2>) That's one reason I used <h2> instead of the equivalent wikimarkup. Another disadvantage of using == is that the "how to ask" and "how to answer" sections appear below the TOC when they should appear above it. Inserting __TOC__ could fix that, but then that wouldn't solve the numbering problem. So I've replaced the <h2>s with <big> and bold wikimarkup, which solves both problems pretty nicely IMO. --David Iberri | Talk June 29, 2005 04:17 (UTC)

A Wikipedia joke involving coffee rolls

A little bird has pointed out to me some sort of joke on Wikipedia involving coffee rolls. Could someone tell me what it is all about, and what makes it funny? Thanks :) --HappyCamper 28 June 2005 23:51 (UTC)

Image:Coffeeroll.png ? -- Toytoy June 29, 2005 12:55 (UTC)

Help identifying an incredibly large moth

Good morning/day/afternoon/evening ladies, gentleman, and et ceteras. This question, as one would guess from the headline, is directed at our resident biologists and/or, applicably, lepidopterists.

On more than one occasion some five or six summers ago I spotted the single largest moth I have ever seen. While I am not a lepidopterist, it was quite obvious that this animal was exceedingly large by any measurable standard. At the time, I was employed at a movie theatre in a mall in Rochester, New Hampshire. Due to the nature of the business, work would end usually around midnight. At least three times during this time period I spotted the aformentioned insect, simply lying on the ground with it's wings spread out (unlike the other more common moths hovering near the bright lights above the back parking lot).

Needless to say, the moth was instantly noticable, in part because it was so huge. Spread out, imagine a triangle with a hypotonuse of six to eight inches. The creature, whatever it was, was that large in a resting position. Also of note was that I never saw it move - it simply laid there. I assumed it was alive as 1) It got there somehow, and 2) On two occasions when I returned to the scene it had either folded it's wings or was simply gone.

The characteristics of the moth, besides it's incredible size, are, also of interest, it's color - it had none. The parts of the moth visible to me (the top) were completely white, with zero markings anywhere on the top of it's wings. It's body, from what I can remember, was white, as well, or at least very light grey. I cannot guess it's weight, however it appeared to have bulk to it. I'd imagine anyone observing this creature flying (if one could - as I only saw it at night, it may have been nocturnal) would easilly mistake it for an oddly shaped and clumsy bird.

The environment in which the moth lived was, I would assume, the environs outside of the mall there in New England. The mall was built just outside of a densly brushed and wooded area with small swamplands nearby. The time of year was in the height of summer, and the time of day was always around midnight.

I am making this far too long query off of an old memory - but my mind is not playing tricks on me as I was instantly wogboggled by the thing at the time, and it has stuck with me since. Searching has found nothing, and wikipedia seems to turn up nothing. Any help would cary many thanks. --Jeffrey O. Gustafson - Shazaam! 29 June 2005 03:01 (UTC)

The only thing I can think of is that it was a Luna moth. They can be very light colored. How close to it were you? You may have missed the small markings. The location fits too. The other possibility is that someone had raised some caterpillers from some tropical moth. Besides, what makes you sure it was a moth and not a butterfly? - Taxman ^Talk June 29, 2005 04:18 (UTC)

Nope, definitely not the Luna Moth - that was one of the earliest candidates as I was doing my research as the approximate wing-span is almost right and the habitat area is within a possible window. But it's not big or bulky enough, and is far too elegant - I would have remembered something like that for sure. Additionally, the thing I saw was white, and I got real close. And it was definitely a moth (already looked at the page you cited to make sure I was in the right neighborhood here before I made my initial post) - it had a stubbier furrier body than a butterfly, was resting lying down and spread out, and was out at night, all indicative of moths. I curse myself nowadays for not capturing it, but I didn't want to risk injuring it if it was rare (my assumption at the time). I should have taken a picture, but didn't have a camera ready. --Jeffrey O. Gustafson - Shazaam! 29 June 2005 06:17 (UTC)

North Africa watershed maps

I was wondering: where would one find maps showing drainage basins for each river in North Africa, specifically Algeria? - Mustafaa 29 June 2005 04:27 (UTC)

Identify this lizard? salamander?

Is it possible to identify this creature using this picture? I'm not a herpetologist, and it seems using field guides or the Internet (except now, hopefully!) is not much help. Sorry for missing the latter half of the body.

Thanks! TresÁrboles 29 June 2005 05:09 (UTC)

File:MelonLicker.jpg

Unidentifed creature enjoying watermelon

I'd vote for salamander over lizard based on the fusiform legs, but IANAH either. Pretty cool either way. Where are you geographically? alteripse 29 June 2005 07:03 (UTC)

Just what is the scale here? The window-like structure in the foreground makes it look like it's eight feet long, but that it's standing on the melon makes me think in terms of inches.

If it's sized to more or less fit in the palm of your hand, then I'd say it looks like an Anole with its head turned and underdeveloped upper "arms". Can't help you with species, except to say the coloration's inconsistent with the US native Carolina Anole. I am not a herpetologist either, but I've caught enough of the buggers when they get inside the house. -- Cyrius|✎ 29 June 2005 13:04 (UTC)

Fusion power?

Okay, maybe I'm dumb and the answer is right in front of my face but... I've gone through a number of the articles about fusion and the ITER project specifically and I can't find anywhere that says "This is where the power actually will come from..." With fission it's basically a steam engine but will they use the same methods to extract useable electric power from the fusion reactors? Dismas 29 June 2005 05:34 (UTC)

To say that nuclear fission is basically a steam engine misses the point. Steam driven turbines are one way of putting the energy gained from controlled fission to use. As it has nothing to do with the fission process itself a similar method could possibly used to make use of the energy produced by a fusion reaction. --Gareth Hughes 29 June 2005 10:48 (UTC)

Actually, it doesn't miss the point. Well, it does, but it finds a different but also valid point. It's big and complicated, so there's lots of points that need to be addressed. The problem of pulling power off a fission reactor is one of radiation containment and explosion avoidance. The problem with fusion is how to pull power out without disrupting the reaction. I have no idea how that is accomplished. -- Cyrius|✎ 29 June 2005 13:17 (UTC)

My name written in Ancient Aramaic

I am really wanting to find how my name is written correctly in Ancient Aramaic. I have looked through many sites and do not think I am doing the translation properly. Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated. My name is spelt Raelene, sounds like Rayleen. Thankyou again, Raelene.

[email address removed]

Hallo, Raelene! Please take a look at our article on the Aramaic language for more information. A phonetic spelling of your name is רילין in Imperial Aramaic script (which happens to be the same as Hebrew). In the Syriac alphabet it is ܪܝܠܝܢ (although some browsers, including my Firefox browser, have trouble with this). If you have any questions, let me know. --Gareth Hughes 29 June 2005 10:39 (UTC)

Of course, it isn't really possible to write your name in Aramaic because your name isn't Aramaic. I mean, you could also write 累林 lèilín in Chinese, but it wouldn't really be your name. But Gareth has provided a helpful approximation. — Chameleon 29 June 2005 13:22 (UTC)

Written in Latin

I'm going to plead ignorance (they say ignorance is bliss, but I don't believe them) and ask you to please let me know where I can get the following phrase written in Latin...

Moderatio est Figmentum

Thank you... Rich T.

The phrase means 'control is fabrication', generally with the idea that controls are unnatural. It seems to be a popular motto with trendy US children and on certain message boards. --Gareth Hughes 29 June 2005 12:29 (UTC)

Priesthood

What is the theological basis for the succession of Levitical Priesthood in the Eastern Orthodox Church?

Richest person in a plane crash

Before John T. Walton, who would have been the richest person to die in an airplane crash? PedanticallySpeaking June 29, 2005 14:16 (UTC)

See list of people who died in aviation-related incidents, including Mike Todd possibly? though that was 1958, do we take inflation into account? Dunc|☺ 29 June 2005 14:24 (UTC)

Blondes in the Roman empire

A book on personal appearance had a chapter on hair and it stated (without a source) that in ancient Rome, prostitutes were required to wear blond wigs because blonde hair was disfavored then. Anyone able to confirm or refute this? PedanticallySpeaking June 29, 2005 14:16 (UTC)

Allison Janney's childhood

In The West Wing episode "Behind the Podium", where press secretary C.J. allows a PBS documentary crew to follow her for a day, the narrator tells us C.J. grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and then shows some home movies of her as a child. Some of them are at an amusement park. Since Janney really is from Dayton, is this footage from Kings Island, about thirty miles to the south of Dayton? PedanticallySpeaking June 29, 2005 14:16 (UTC)

Lying birth certificates

The New Scientist in its December 24 issue stated that 10-15% of all children were not in fact fathered by the man named on the birth certificate, but did not provide a source for this statistic. Does anyone know where this figure came from? PedanticallySpeaking June 29, 2005 14:16 (UTC)

Koran vs. Quran

The holy book of the Muslims always seemed to be spelled "Koran" until recently, when the press (especially in coverage of the allegations at Guantanamo Bay) started spelling it "Quran". Why the change? PedanticallySpeaking June 29, 2005 14:16 (UTC)

How do you say Qatar?

I always pronounced the Gulf nation's name "KAY-tahr" and that seemed to be what was used on television. But when it was in the news a couple years ago because the U.S. military had a base there, it suddenly became "KATT-uhr". Why the change? And why isn't the name transliterated with a "k" like "Koran"? PedanticallySpeaking June 29, 2005 14:16 (UTC)

Some explanation can be found on the list of words of disputed pronounciation. There is no "official" pronounciation because it's an English pronounciation of an Arabic word. Maybe the media just have trends in their pronounciation. Robojames 29 June 2005 14:36 (UTC)