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April 21

Pritam's Birthdate

I have read an article about Pritam (Indian composer), but it does not include Pritam's Birthdate. Please mention it.

Hardikfaldu (talk) 03:11, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

The article Pritam needs a lot of work, so if you know his birthdate and can reference any information you bring to it, feel free to edit. Julia Rossi (talk) 09:11, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Can I sale my blurtit account?

<link removed as advertising something for sale> Is link to my blurtit profile....Now I want to sale it to someone by putting it for sale online....can anyone help me in this regard....you may get doubt that nobody will buy this as the registration in that site is free...but i had answer for that too....one can register easily in that....but how he can get such a huge 3359 points at the time of entrance itself....As far as photo is concerned, he can change it to his wish.....so plz help me how to put on sale & where! Temuzion (talk) 09:33, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

We had this question on April 9. Click here for the thread[1]. Julia Rossi (talk) 11:35, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't understand. Why would you want to blur... Oh! Blurt!! I get it now.... Dismas|^(talk) 12:52, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Haha :-) It mentioned me infamous "penisland.com" domain name. 89.236.214.174 (talk) 14:29, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't get it, what is infamous about "pen island"? 206.252.74.48 (talk) 16:41, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

The same type of thing as Whorepresents.com, Therapistfinder.com, Powergenitalia.com, Molestationnursery.com, and Expertsexchange.com, I presume. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 19:56, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Good God, I didn't think to move the t to the left of the space! I assumed it was named for some imaginary bird, possibly one that was very fast. 79.66.99.37 (talk) 20:24, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Infact...nobody answered me straightly...I didn't got the proper answer. I thought u'll be helpfull to me in selling my accounts! But u did not answered upto the mark...sorry to be so harsh but it's true...! Still if u want to give me a proper guidance plz.....carry on....otherwise let me do it my own Temuzion (talk) 03:27, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Did you try reading the [26] link? That might give you the answers you need.HS7 (talk) 20:17, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia's refdesk is not a classifieds section. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:34, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm having trouble with my drug supplier.

This is not - NOT - looking for medical advice. My family doctor prescribed for me nasal drops containing betamethasone sodium phosphate. When I went to the pharmacy last January they told me that it was temporarily out of stock and to call back next week. When I did they told me that it would not be available from the manufacturers until mid-April. Now the story is ". . . another couple of weeks." What is going on. Does anybody amongst our illustrious readership have any inside info on this situation? For the caring ones who think about these things - I am presently using a different drug as a spray but with inferior results. Richard Avery (talk) 14:13, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Maybe a silly question, but have you tried a different pharmacy? Maybe an entirely different chain, in case they have different suppliers? Friday (talk) 14:17, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

My God, were you stood there watching me type!! Yes, I have, good ol' Boots who tell me this supplier is the only one. Richard Avery (talk) 14:19, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Its hey faver season so many people want it and supply runs low. it is for sniffy nose? I hasd a friedn who used a sprey from a little bottle from the chemest. now they use tablets called cetirizine witch do the trick. one a day.

"Subject to a manufacturing delay" according to this online catalogue too. William Avery (talk) 19:00, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

If it's a prescription drug I would expect that either your pharmacist or your doctor could recommend an alternative. And I would really take their advice over anyone on the internet. DJ Clayworth (talk) 20:21, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I understand your concern DJC, I'm not looking for a supply, I am curious to know the cause of the delay in manufacturing of such a widely used drug. Richard Avery (talk) 21:42, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

It says here "Often the true cause of a shortage is unknown, because the manufacturer will not provide the reason." William Avery (talk) 07:34, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Camel cigarettes

I smoke and like Camel, but it's quite hard to find these cigarettes for me. So the question: what other blends of cigarettes have exactly or approximately the same taste and strength as Camel (in hard yellow packs)? 89.236.214.174 (talk) 14:36, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

texan and lucky strike are similar. enjoy.

Where are you? I'd assume the Uk because Camels are pretty common in the US. Lucky strike taste nothing like Camels. Whenever I can't get camels I buy Marlboro Red, but they're not that similar. However, they're the closest I've found in the UK. Most supermarkets sell Camel filters though. Good luck Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 15:12, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Professional wrestling

When did pro wrestling become staged? I've been reading a few articles here on the subject, but it's not exactly clear, it seems by the beginning of the TV age it was fake, but it seems around 1900, as with this guy, it was real. zafiroblue05 | Talk 15:09, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

It probobly started when poor people needed to earn money and the rich were wiilling to pay too see them do all kinds of weird things. Back them days it might have been real. The Wrestling page has a nice history bit witch should exapine it.

My great uncle was a wrestling referee in the 1940/50s in the UK, and apparently the fights then were fixed, although not staged to such an extent as they are now - just the result and a few moves would be decided in advance. Warofdreams talk 01:36, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Did any punters take revenge? Julia Rossi (talk) 08:29, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Supreme Being?

I am not actively religious - I was brought up in my parents' religion but soon opted out because I didn't believe a lot of what I was told was "true" - there didn't seem to be sufficient proof to convince me I should have "blind faith". So as I watch the world through weary eyes, and listen to all the competing faiths insist that their God is the only true God, with some such as Islam finding it pleasing to Allah to slaughter non-believers, why are the leaders and adherents of these faiths not even a bit doubtful of the "all powerful" Gods they worship if those Gods can't achieve their objectives without the assistance of humankind? Strange to me that intelligent and educated people will accept the existence of an "all-powerful" God whilst believing avidly in that God's need for his human creations/creatures to carry out his/her/its will - as though he/she/it couldn't merely think it to have it so.92.9.140.220 (talk) 18:08, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

This sounds like a discussion that's more appropriate for a discussion forum like Craigslist's.[2] Imagine Reason (talk) 18:15, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

The article on Atheism deals with many such arguments and is worth a read if this is your area of interest. Fribbler (talk) 23:05, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Dig around a bit and you should find lots of gods that don't tell people to kill each other, or even insist that their religeon is the only right one. As for why people believe what they are told when it seems illogical and like any sensible person should be able to see that it is wrong, I have no idea. Even though I do that, I still don't understand why.HS7 (talk) 20:07, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Worker data

How many US workers make between 75K and 150K?

How many US workers are thinking about quitting their jobs right now?

1. I am. Edison (talk) 18:57, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

How many US workers are in the first five years of their career? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikijane13 (talk • contribs) 18:08, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

You can get census data on worker incomes in several ways here; the best bet for overall data may be this one. -- Coneslayer (talk) 19:26, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Crocodile eggs - the hatching of

Question my daughter had for her homework to do with mammals, reptiles etc. 'Crocodiles use an ----o-- to hatch out of their shell" The missing word has 8 letters , the fifth one is an o. We've looked up in her ref books and are at a loss. Can you tell us what the word is.196.208.0.10 (talk) 20:00, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I think it's actually two words - 3 letters and 5 letters. The first word starts with "e", the second word starts with "t"; so it's e-- to---. Gandalf61 (talk) 20:13, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Merriam-Webster lists it as a single word, as a variant to the standard two words. Wiktionary doesn't. jeffjon (talk) 20:49, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I believe the answer you're looking for is "egg tooth". --Candy-Panda (talk) 04:13, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

..and we even have an article on the handy egg tooth.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:41, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

..and we now have a redirect at eggtooth. Dismas|^(talk) 08:51, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Summer Coats

Is there a special name for a full-length coat that isn't made of thick or padded material? Finding one of these to ponce about in during the summer is proving troublesome. FreeMorpheme (talk) 21:07, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Something like a Duster? SaundersW (talk) 21:38, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

That's the conclusion I am coming too as well, although everywhere on the net that sells these is either a goth site or a cowboy site. Or a fancy dress site selling goth and cowboy costumes. Hmmmm. FreeMorpheme (talk) 21:45, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Driza-Bone? in Ozacorss. Julia Rossi (talk) 02:08, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

How about a rain coat, or, if your a Brit, a Mackintosh/Mac. The rain coat link contains a number of other terms at the bottom. StuRat (talk) 01:42, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Then there is the trench coat range worn by rivals Roy Batty and Deckard in Blade Runner.

I love my old trenchcoat. I have a design with a removable inner lining, which keeps you warmer in wintertime. Very nice for rainy weather, or light snow if the temperature's not too low. -- Kesh (talk) 01:19, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

← Looking at all those articles, I'm starting to think much of the content needs merged into Overcoat. Three stubs on similar items of clothing seems a bit much. -- Kesh (talk) 01:46, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Name these guns

The new BF:BC website [3] on how to unlock special guns is out now, and I'm just curious to see what they are. They only have the silhouettes. My guesses: 1-? 2-M60 3-F2000 ironsights? 4-Uzi (suppressed) 5-? 24.6.46.92 (talk) 22:23, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

April 22

God and Logic

Last time, when I asked about whether the omnipotence of God means that he can do anything logically impossible as well as anything physically impossible, some people responded by saying that God created logic.

I don’t understand! What do you mean by that? Logic has always existed before in the past and always will exist in the future! Logic exists eternally. LOGIC ALWAYS WAS, IS, AND WILL BE! One plus one has always equalled two in the past and always will equal two in the future. The three angles of a triangle have always equalled 180° in the past and always will equal 180° in the future.

Logic is eternal, absolute, immutable, and infinitely old. Logic has no beginning and no end. Logic has no reason and no cause for its existence. Because logic doesn’t have a beginning, it doesn’t have a cause, it doesn’t need to have a cause, and it can’t have a cause for its existence. If something doesn’t have a beginning, it doesn’t have a cause, it doesn’t need to have a cause, and it can’t have a cause for its existence. It is impossible for logic to have a beginning or a cause. If logic was created that means that it must have a beginning. If logic had a beginning, that means that there was a time when logic did not exist. It is impossible for logic to not exist.

If logic did not exist before God created it, then does that mean that one plus one did not equal two and the three angles of a triangle did not equal 180° when logic did not exist? If so, then what did they equal?

If God created logic, then when did God create logic? On which day of the six days of creation did God create logic?

Where in the Bible did it say that God created logic, or that logic was created by God?

The late, great Douglas Adams touched on this in a sort of coda to one of his books, I can't remember which one. He could never trust anyone so sure of his facts. A child's sense of wonder is required for faith and science alike. --Milkbreath (talk) 01:31, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

"Logic has always existed before in the past and always will exist in the future! Logic exists eternally. LOGIC ALWAYS WAS, IS, AND WILL BE!"

What makes you say that? What reason do you have for thinking it? 79.66.99.37 (talk) 01:59, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

It's entirely possible to postulate a completelynon-euclidian universe. If a god exists, I don't know of any reason to presume that he doesn't inhabit such a space. It's a bit harder to imagine and describe a universe where causality and logic work differently, but I'll bet it's possible.APL (talk) 02:02, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, to answer/ avoid your questions, there's an ancient philosophical tradition, reaching from the ancient Greeks, through Christianity ("in the beginning was the word...") down to Hegel and some of his followers that identifies Logic and God. (For Hegel, logic was God the father, the philosophy of nature was Christ crucified and the philosophy of mind/spirit (Geist) was the Holy Spirit.) One can compare the Tao in Chinese philosophy. See our article on Logos for some help.John Z (talk) 03:01, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

And remember, the angles of a triangle don't always make 180 degrees. FreeMorpheme (talk) 07:12, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Sadly, what you have to say is illogicalhotclaws 08:02, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

For the sake of argument, I'm going to assume that there is a god. As far as when logic began and so forth, one could argue that logic was created at the same time as this god was creating the universe. He was setting up his universe and by doing that, setting up logic as well. Now, if the universe was ever-changing due to this god changing the universe on a whim, then the logic of the universe would have to change with it. Dismas|^(talk) 09:30, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Does the Bible say God can do the logically impossible? Yes or no? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bowei Huang (talk • contribs) 10:09, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

The world is less logical than you might think. Physics provides wonderful examples of this. Triangles can easily be more than 180º if they are inscribed in a curved geometry rather than a flat one; causality has limited meaning in the quantum realm, where things can and do happen without antecedent; light can be both a wave and a particle at the same time, even though these things are mutually exclusive terms. I'm not sure it is, err, logical to think something as apparently outside of space and time as the concept of God should be any more bound to logic than an electron. The essential philosophical core of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is that ways of thinking that are perfectly valid at "human" scales are not valid at quantum scales—where would you put the "God" scale in this equivalent, that being that supposedly existed before space and time itself? (I don't believe in God myself, I might add, but I find these sorts of arguments against His existence to be flip and not well thought out. I think there are better and more straightforward reasons to suspect that the specific human ideas about Gods are, well, human in origin.) --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 14:45, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Logic is a human activity. It is one of the ways we interpret the world/universe/cosmos. One cannot extrapolate human activity to divinity. Even logic cannot contain all of logic. I refer you to Godel's incompleteness theorems. SaundersW (talk) 17:10, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Or maybe we're trapped inside logic and can't bend the rules in the same way he can, can't see how everything works like he can, in the same way that we can't understand extra dimensions, and things made with less dimensions wouldn't be able to understand us.HS7 (talk) 20:01, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

If you want to take the Cartesian view, then God is essentially able to transcend logic. In essence, everything, including logic, is created by God. Logic would be different had God chosen for it to be, and while we cannot imagine 2+2=5 actually happening (in a normal number system), God could make it so. God can square the circle. Descartes took the view that God could do literally anything,including create a stone so heavy that he could not lift it, and then later lift it. This seems impossible and contradictory, but logic is mercy to the whims of God in the same way all other things are in the Cartesian world view. Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 17:34, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

<see below as well>I can't say if the desk would lose or benefit by these questions not happening, but see the poster's talk pages here: User talk:60.242.166.182, User talk:Bowei Huang and here[4]. Responders are giving this user alot of attention. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:26, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Sick animals in vietnam

Why were there so many sick animals in vietnam? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.100.242 (talk) 00:57, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

When? Are you referring to some notable time period? Dismas|^(talk) 02:09, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Agent Orange  ? hotclaws 08:02, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Slam Poetry Topic

Hello, my school is doing a slam poetry competition. I need to choose a topic for it. It should be a social/political/economic/others issue that I can somewhat personally relate to. I am a middle-class, caucasian male teenager. So ghetto hood, drugs, prostitution and social injustice is out of the question for me. Can someone suggest to me some topics plz? Applefungus (talk) 01:25, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

So there are no drugs at your school? You might want to alert the newspapers about this extraordinary place! Seriously, there are still many issues that are relevant to you... Teenage alcohol use, drunk driving, pressures of getting into the right college, pressures about whether you should join the military, pressures of following the right career, sex/virginity, AIDS, (some may disagree with this one) the bias against white males because they aren't protected by anti-discrimination laws due to not being female or a minority, global warming, creationism in the classroom, etc. In short, you have plenty of social/political/economic issues that surround you everyday. Also, tomorrow is Earth Day, so that's relevant in a few ways. Dismas|^(talk) 02:31, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

White, middle class angst and guilt? I'm not being snarky either.hotclaws 08:04, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

1984 BMW 320i 2door coupe 6 cyclinder diagnostics

My 1984 BMW 320i 2dr coupe has a problem Can you help me please?

The car starts (sumtimes) but when the throtle is open it will only rev up to 3000 rpm and it will surge between 2000 and 3000 rpm or die on me (unable to drive like this) Has any one else had this happen? If so What and how can i fix it? How can we reset the computer? Cheeres. Madakker (talk) 07:36, 22 April 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Madakker (talk • contribs) 07:35, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I didn't realise cars had computer chips in 1984. It might be a good idea to consult with a professional mechanic though, no matter what wikipedians say. -mattbuck (Talk) 09:04, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, cars definitely had engine management computers by then, especially if they had electronic fuel injection as most high-end German cars did by then. But the computer interfaces weren't very standardized, unlike modern OBD-II. See our On-board diagnostics article.

Meanwhile, Madakker should consider a clogged fuel filter (quite likely if it hasn't been changed in a while) or a bad electric fuel pump. Remember that the car may have two electric fuel pumps, one obvious external pump and a smaller pump located at the fuel pick-up point in the gas tank. If you work on any of these components, be sure to work safely! If you don't know what you're doing, leave the work to your mechanic lest you create a carbeque, now or later!

Atlant (talk) 12:13, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Demographic Statistics

What were the life expectancy, death rate, infant mortality rate, and under-5 mortality rate of the world in the 1650s and 1660s? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.166.182 (talk) 10:22, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Obviously in most parts of the world non-one was collecting these types of statistics in the 17th century. Our life expectancy article has some estimates of life expectancy in various periods in history. Other than that, you may be able to find some research on European demographics in that period - I imagine the outbreaks of plague in Spain and England will have had a significant impact on mortality rates. Gandalf61 (talk) 11:23, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at Peter Laslett's The World We have Lost (Scribners, 1965). Although its coverage is limited to England, because it is based on contemporary records (primarily unbroken series of Parish Registers) his conclusions are worth reading. -- llywrch (talk) 22:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Claims of Evidence for Other Religions as the One True Religion

I’ve heard Christians claim that there are proofs and evidences for Christianity to be the “one true religion”. Those evidences include evidences that what the Bible says is true and evidences that Jesus Christ is God and the son of God.

But what about other religions? Do they also have, or claim to have, proof or evidences for their religion to be the one true religion? If so, then what are they?

Don’t tell me if those proofs and evidences of other religions are true or false, right or wrong, really proofs or evidences of them or not. Just tell me if they have or claim to have so. Bowei Huang (talk) 01:10, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Nearly every religion believes that it is the "one true religion". That's why Pascal's Wager is like a bad joke; sure, you believed in a religion. But you chose the wrong one to believe in and now Flying Spaghetti Monster has you by the meatballs!

Atlant (talk) 12:10, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, but the question is whether other religions claim to have evidence for this status. Pastafarianism cites the link between pirate numbers and global warming, for example. Algebraist 12:53, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't think this is a silly question. Buddhism for example, as far as I can recall, does not claim to be the "one true" religion and I've certainly heard people claim that you can be both a Buddhist and a practising member of another religion.

It's also easy to imagine a religion that says "we have no evidence at all for this - you just have to believe!". Christianity does not do this, contrary to popular opinion. Or at least not all of Christianity. There is certainly some evidence that Jesus existed, for example, and many Christians believe not through some mystical experience but because they consider the evidence sufficient.

I would imagine that Islam would make much the same claim as Christianity. There is little doubt that Mohammed existed and that he wrote and said the things that are claimed. You can believe he was inspired by God or you can believe something else. And if you believe he was inspired by God then it follows that much of what other religions say is wrong. Same with Jesus. DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

There is archaeological evidence that some events in the legend of Utnapishtim ocurred. Also read the complete works of Sechuanathon (which I probably spellt wrong, he was a theologian 3400 years ago, if that helps you find him) and compare them to archaeological studies. Also many older religeons don't clam to be the one true religeon, and many of those that do are based to some degree on the same few religeous writings, with the same myths/history.HS7 (talk) 19:52, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I believe that it's a fundamental characteristic of any monotheistic religion to believe it is the one true religion. By definition, if there is only one God and you worship him/her/it, then everyone else must be wrong. Polytheistic religions, on the other hand, already believe in multiple gods, so adding a few more isn't really a big deal. The largest surviving polytheistic religion is the Hindu religion.

There do, interestingly enough, appear to be a few places in the Bible which seem to support polytheism, such as the Commandment: "Thou shall put no other gods before me". This seems to acknowledge that there are other gods, and they can also be worshipped, but that worship must be secondary to the main God. Then there was Moses turning his staff into a big snake which ate the smaller snakes produced from the staffs of the Egyptian priest, thus showing the Christian God was more powerful than the Egyptian gods. StuRat (talk) 01:30, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Christians who claim that Christianity is the one true faith tend to do so on the basis of Jesus' statement "I am the way, the truth and the life: nobody comes to the father but through me". At first glance that looks like an exclusive claim, but it can equally be read as "If you find somebody else who has found the father in some other way, do not reject them as a heathen, because it was I who brought them". SaundersW (talk) 08:12, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Christians stole most of their religious days from Paganism. Such as Zombie Jesus Day and Christmas. Christianity cannot be the one and only true religion. Cause they stole a lot of holidays from the pagans.Cardinal Raven (talk) 16:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

help me locate her

she is called clarice and she is from rwanda studing business administration in manchester .She lives formally in belgium with her sisters —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.82.68.213 (talk) 10:27, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Try searching her name on Facebook? --124.254.77.148 (talk) 14:37, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I admire those who are able to live formally. Edison (talk) 06:17, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

We're not supposed to make fun of questioners' errors in English (here, for "she formerly lived in Belgium"). --Anon, 21:36 UTC, April 23, 2008.

Actually, I thought he meant that her primary or official place of residence is in Belgium although she goes to school in England. Anyway, I won't help find her. My guess is that she could get in touch if she wanted to. --Milkbreath (talk) 21:50, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Holey Cons Batman!

I bought a really cool pair of Chuck Taylor All-Star hightops, the ones with the double tongue...truly awesome, however being Cons the right shoe quickly developed a hole in it. The hole is terribly annoying because if it's raining or if I step into a puddle my sock gets wet and stays wet for the rest of the day. Is it possible to repair a rubber soled shoe such as a Converse All-Star? I've tried gaffer tape, but it soon falls off, and I don't want to bin them because they're real nice and cost me £40 Jimmy tha fish (talk) 11:27, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps take it to a shoe repair place, they might be able to fix it. As a side note, I once had a pair that I wore nearly everyday for two years, those were the days :) SunshineStateOfMind (talk) 15:03, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

DIY glue on some canvas and paint/texta it. If it wore too fast you could tell the shop or the comany? Julia Rossi (talk) 23:51, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

(The hole is in the sole, yes?) As an experiment, try putting two or three layers of tape on the inside, and be generous about it. Water will still come through the hole; the goal now is to keep it from spreading past that point. -- Danh 63.226.145.214 (talk) 23:49, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm thinking bicycle repair technology - a vulcanizing glue. But only somewhat idly. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:53, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

moon phase and wikipedia

Does the phase of the moon affect the quality of questions posted on the wikipedia reference desk? oooh ps I currently live on Earth so am referring to that planet's moon 125.237.89.27 (talk) 11:43, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, its a full moon now [5] and your post is a little stange. Quality wise I'd rate it a 4. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.194.74.154 (talk) 13:25, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

No I don’t think so, sense the moons gravitational pull on the earth has no effect on human behavior it is unlikely it will affect the quality of peoples questions posted on the wikipedia reference desk.--Fang 23 (talk) 17:42, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Maybe it doesn't have an effect, but I've noticed that my mood follows the moon's phases so exactly that it's quite uncanny. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 18:43, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

see hold ya breath question 2 q's below —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 14:35, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

That probably has little to do with the phase of the moon, and more to do with David Blaine's plan to set the world record for holding his breath. -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:53, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

 AAAAA-RRoooooooooooooooohhhhotclaws 07:31, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

My mood seems to follow the moon too, in that I have more noticable mood swings around the time of the new and full moons. Which may explain why I'm bothering to type this now. And the phases of the moon affects the behaviour of lots of animals and even some plants, even stuff at the bottom of oceans where they can't see the moon.HS7 (talk) 19:47, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Some years ago (mid-nineties) I read an academic study relating acute psychiatric admissions with phases of the moon; too long ago to remember the authors, and quite possibly discounted now, but fascintaing. The researchers concluded that acute admissions rose slightly during a full moon – a conclusion which is supported by anecdotal evidence from various health professionals I've worked with. Gwinva (talk) 19:59, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I use to work in a local Emergency Room, and it did seem to me that full moons brought out the oddballs. Of course it could just have been me expecting it. That full moon thing is one of the many superstitions that people who work in hospitals tend to believe.SunshineStateOfMind (talk) 15:09, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Any site with a grand collection of world spanning "notebook" articles

You know the type of article that appears in good newspapers. An article that doesn't cover news but introduces an interesting place or culture. like this one I'm keen on seeing the world and I like reading these articles to get travel ideas. Is there any website that collects these kinds of articles? Thanks for your help.

Lotsofissues 12:33, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Try National Geographic: [6]. StuRat (talk) 01:17, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

hold ya breath

What techniques exist that enable a person to increase the length of time in which they are able to hold their breath for. Can any of them be done at home while watching television? Links would be nice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.194.74.154 (talk) 13:28, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

You might like to read up on Free-diving#Training. (You are not advised to try this without medical supervision.)--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:45, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Practice might help. Generally, the more you do something the more you adapt to make it easier for you to do it. Also, stop smoking, obviously, and if you have anaemia, do something about that too, since it reduces the flow of oxygen to your brain, which makes holding your breath difficult.HS7 (talk) 19:43, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

hyperventilating? Boomshanka (talk) 21:36, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Really bad idea (as I think the linked article explains, but you might have to read between the lines. Hyperventilation reduces the CO2 in your blood, and therefore increases the time you can go without feeling the urgency to breathe. What it doesn't increase, to any significant degree, is the length of time you can go without breathing (or passing out). So you just might be able to hold your breath until you pass out. If you pass out underwater.... --Trovatore (talk) 06:20, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

There's a large article in today's Science Times section in the New York Times on David Blaine, which is all about this. Check it out, it's pretty interesting. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:13, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Michael Faraday experimented with poisonous gases in the 19th century, and wrote an article saying that on several occasions he had been able to rescue persons who had passed out from asphyxiating fumes by taking a number of deep breaths before dashing into the lab and dragging the person out. to fresh air where they recovered. Going in and breathing the non-life supporting air is clearly a losing proposition and would only add to the body count. We at Wikipedia certainly cannot advise such a rash course of behaviour, and calling emergency personnel who will don respirators with airtanks before going in to remove the corpse is probably a more prudent course of action. Edison (talk) 06:16, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't know if it applies to you, but giving up smoking probably helps loads. Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 17:38, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Romance Standard Time

The article Central European Time includes the note "redirected from Romance Standard Time".

Why?

Is this an actual alternate name for the time zone, or just a quirk of Wikipedia? Thanks. Wanderer57 (talk) 14:41, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Googling for "Romance Standard Time" returns lots of links, many of which show it is UTC+1:00. I couldn't find a reason for that name though. Perhaps analogous to Romance languages? --LarryMac | Talk 14:46, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Maybe it's because all the British women say, "Not right now, dear, maybe later." --Milkbreath (talk) 14:57, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Keep your stereotypes to yourself, mate. Britain isn't even on Central European Time anyway. Malcolm XIV (talk) 15:33, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Right. That's why it's always +1. (That was a joke, by the way. If I'd been stereotyping, I'd have waited for a question about spanking and the men would have been the butt.) --Milkbreath (talk) 16:27, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

It will only say that if you arrived there having typed or clicked a link leading to Romance Standard Time. Perhaps if you told us why you typed that, or where you found the link, we could help. 79.66.99.37 (talk) 15:24, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Okay, given the link I just wrote appears to be the only link in Wikipedia leading to that page, I must conclude that you typed Romance Standard Time in the search bar. Why? Judging by the earliest forms of the article, before it was a redirect, the person who created thought it was linked to Romance languages. The only references they provided that actually seemed to use the term were lists of Microsoft timezones, so maybe it's a creation of Microsoft. These lists consider it a timezone covering Madrid and Paris, among others. 79.66.99.37 (talk) 15:30, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Looking at the history of Romance Standard Time suggests that it is a term used in some places [7] and that the page was redirected later to the previously existing article. -- Flyguy649 ^talk 15:40, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to all for the inputs. I found the term "Romance Standard Time" today while looking through my watchlist and following related links. I went to the page out of curiousity. Unfortunately I can't recall where it occurred. (I just found this UTC+1, which uses the term, but not as a link.) Wanderer57 (talk) 16:14, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

So it's just a random Microsoft thing? Weird. Skittle (talk) 20:15, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I was redirected here by a google search for "Romance Standard Time", and I found it in the VCALENDAR Entry produced by Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 (as written also in the same file, send via e-Mail to my account). The sender is known to me, and is a Outlook/Exchange Business User, inviting me to a meeting. So I guess this is a Microsoft Invention of a VTIMEZONE (as defined in vcal 1.0) that has daylight saving time starting on the 1st of January of 1601. This is my reading of the file send to me. (Matthias Š. 18. April 2013)

M'alaya

In your article M'alaya, where can I find videos of this dance, besides youtube and dailymotion? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.30.202.20 (talk) 15:12, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I cannot locate the article you speak of, do you mean this: Malaya (film)? Adam (Manors) 15:36, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

No, I mean the article "m'alayah".

Pumpkin Seed Fish

How do you skin a Pumpkin Seed Fish or a blue gill fish?--76.28.67.224 (talk) 15:51, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't think you do skin them. When I used to fish for bluegill as a lad, we'd just remove the scales with a fish scaler (there are many types; this sort of thing is about the simplest), gut them, chop off their heads, and drop them into a sizzling pan. Deor (talk) 16:14, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I thought the usual technique with Blue Gills was to fillet them. That is, you take a thin, flexible knife (called a fillet knife, oddly enough :) and remove the meat with the skin still attached from the bones. Then you place the fish fillet skin side down on a cutting board or other suitable flat surface, and use the fillet knife to cut the meat away from the skin and scales. Of course, this takes a bit of skill/practice to maximize the amount of meat you recover. -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 18:55, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Or grill them, then the shin lifts right off(and can be fed to happy cats) hotclaws 07:33, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Start a business

Where can I find a template to show me how to create a business plan. I wish to start a company with some friends, but we want to do it legitimatly, legally, and proffesionally as we are expecting to make ALOT of money. what sort of contracts to we need? do we need to inform any government body? how will we pay taxes? any relavent info would be appreciated. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 16:17, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Speak to a solicitor and an accountant.--Artjo (talk) 16:19, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Will do, but in the mean time, where can I find a template for a business plan? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 16:23, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Surely Google can locate several thousand for you. Even Microsoft Word may have one in its templates, whether installed or available from Microsoft.

Atlant (talk) 17:47, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

It's also probably worthwhile to go to your local public library. There are scads of books on "How to Start Your Own Small Business" (some better than others, though don't ask me which are which) they should get you started roughly, though as mentioned previously, there is no substituting speaking with a licensed professional attorney or accountant with experience in small business. Good Luck. -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 19:01, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

You'll probably have a business advisory service in your area who can supply you with a template as well as offer lots of other support. Speak to your business bank manager and (s)he should be able to direct you to your nearest regional office. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.112.28.152 (talk) 10:00, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Daughter of George Harrison?

> I was told George Harrison of the Beatles had a daughter named "Quandi" > (sp?) who sang "lead a Horse to Water" (with Jools Holland) in > "Concert for George". I can't find anything on line about this. Is it > true? If true, why no mention at all of her? Why was the song left off the CD? Thanks ever so----B.Beretta —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.89.149.78 (talk) 17:16, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I think your information may have been somewhat jumbled. George Harrison had a son Dhani, who, according to the article, played in the band for most of the Concert for George. The song Horse to the Water was written by George and Dhani, and during the concert was sung by Sam Brown while Jools Holland played keyboards. Presumably, Dhani would have been playing in the backing band during that performance. --LarryMac | Talk 17:45, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Linked Sam and Jools in LarryMac's response. --hydnjo talk 02:39, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

enh, they were linked in both the concert article and the song article, which are arguably more germane links to follow --LarryMac | Talk 13:39, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Sex

When you ejaculate inside a woman is she happy? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.18.144 (talk) 22:30, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

If she on the pill, you dnt have a broken condom, or your trying to get pregent id assume yes. БοņёŠɓɤĭĠ₳₯є 22:52, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

According to the article Semen: "Research has demonstrated that semen may have anti-depressant properties." --D. Monack | talk 23:22, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Wow. Awkward question. Nicely stated, but still awkward. flaminglawyer^c 01:28, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

To achieve that effect does it need to be taken orally or vaginally? --antilived^{T | C | G} 10:34, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

The simple answer....I hope yes. If she isn't happy then there is something done wrong.Cardinal Raven (talk) 02:33, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Since you expressed the question personally, yes, when I ejaculate inside a woman she is happy, and this is why. However, most people are very good at communicating whether or not they are happy, so I am not sure why you are asking me.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:42, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

The question was expressed perfectly appropriately. See generic you. -Elmer Clark (talk) 01:47, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

April 23

Sheep

Where would I sell a few sheep in Michigan? Where would I sell their wool? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.119.61.7 (talk) 00:55, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Well from a sight that I found it says that a sheep would cost $10-16 per skein. The wool varies on what you want to sell generally raw fiber would cost less then prewashed fibers. Hope this helps.

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 02:32, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

You should try contacting your local agricultur extension agent, they would be able to tell you who would buy your sheep and wool.SunshineStateOfMind (talk) 15:14, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

What kind of sheep? Are they specialized fiber sheep? Otherwise there is little market for their wool. You could use it for insulation or mulch though. Specialized breeds can have wool that sells for $3 to $10 or more a pound depending on color and quality (good or rare breeds, raised coated or fed on pelletized feed to keep fleece clean). Check out local handspinning, knitting and weavers guilds. If you want to have something to remember them by, you can send the wool out to be processed (washing, picking, carding, even spinning into yarn or processing into quilt batts) at several companies in Michigan. (I usually use one in Frankenmuth.) If they are a meat breed, run 'em down to the slaughterhouse and stock up the deep freezer. Check out local livestock auctions as well. Rmhermen (talk) 16:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

search box upgrade?

Since when has the search box at left been able to give suggestions? I just type in the letter "a" and it comes up with things in a box like "A" "A & A" "A & E" etc. Did it just start doing that, or has this been around for a while? flaminglawyer^c 01:25, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

It just started last night. Caught me by surprise, too. Fortunately, I'm on the wikitech mailing list, and about five minutes later appeared this message from Brion explaining. —Steve Summit (talk) 01:52, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, it seems to be overriding by browser's historical lookup/drop-down feature. If I wanted to use this new "feature" I'd use WikiWax and not mess with my personal history. --hydnjo talk 02:18, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

There might be a way to turn it off. See the cited mailinglist message. —Steve Summit (talk) 02:41, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

If they had to get full approval of everyone before changing something nothing would ever get done. A camel is a horse put together by committee. ;-) --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 03:42, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Special:Preferences/Search/Disable AJAX suggestions. Algebraist 07:46, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

i quite like it. it learns me things. Boomshanka (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 10:03, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Search/Disable... disables! Thanks Steve and Algebraist :-)) hydnjo talk 10:10, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I like it to. Because if you are like me and sometimes you forget how to spell something it helps a lot so that I get the right thing. Its also helps me find articles I've never heard of.71.142.208.226 (talk) 17:08, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

It seems to have the same advantages and disadvantages as a dictionary. If you know the first few letters, it's great. However, if you try to look up psychiatry and think it starts with an "S", you're SOL. Google's suggestion method seems to solve that issue. StuRat (talk) 03:12, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Robot Chicken Gave Me Ideas

Robot Chickenhas given me ideas. History has been forever changed such as 1776 when Jefferson jumped the red coats to sign the declaration. But the idea Robot Chicken gave me was the worse names you could give your kids. Robot Chicken only answered one worse name: Timber.

So my question to you is: What are the worse names you can give your kids?

Thank You

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 02:26, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

"Cunt smellly McVagina Cum" would be pretty bad БοņёŠɓɤĭĠ₳₯є 02:39, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

See Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116, a.k.a. Albin, as well as List of unusual personal names. Dismas|^(talk) 02:42, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

A:Dude imaging having to learn to spell ur name if that was urs. БοņёŠɓɤĭĠ₳₯є 02:55, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

It's also easier finding it here by just typing in "Albin". Dismas|^(talk) 03:05, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

XKCD has a comic for everyone... Paragon12321 (talk) 03:09, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I had forgotten where that comic was. It always makes me laugh...  :-) Dismas|^(talk) 03:13, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

If you name your daughter "Chastity" like Sonny and Cher, or the Southern U.S. variant "Chasity" it is likely to inspire contrarian behaviour. Edison (talk) 06:06, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Reminds me of a passage in Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies, where he talks about a family who, following standard practice of naming daughters after virtues, named their daughters things like "Hope", "Chastity", "Prudence", etc. and, applying a slightly literalist bent, named their sons after vices: "Anger", "Jealousy", "Bestiality", etc. -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 19:08, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Charity is another bad name.71.142.208.226 (talk) 06:51, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

There's an extensive annotated discussion here [[8]] with real-life examples culled from online baby naming forums (yes, they do exist). It's probably unkind, but definitely an eye-opener. Karenjc 10:24, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

For an alternative problem, consider that there once was a woman named Mrs. McCave, who had twenty-three sons... and she named them all "Dave". — Lomn 13:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

"lookout" is a bad name. will lead to several years of being laughed at for ducking whenever people call your name, then when you get sick of that you end up getting bashed in the head by board or something. "hey, why didn't you duck, i told you to look out!"Gzuckier (talk) 18:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Miss Ima Hogg was the featured article on April 1. Corvus cornix_talk 18:58, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

A kid with a first name of "Hurt" and a middle name of "Me "would be a pretty bad name as well.Cardinal Raven (talk) 00:15, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

 I knew a Dwayne Pipe.  hotclaws 07:36, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I happened to catch a bit of Wheel of Fortune last night and one of the contestants was named "Trashawna." But what I really wanted to ask was what was all that about "Jefferson jumped the redcoats"? Wha'? --LarryMac | Talk 14:02, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Larry, did you ever get the idea that Wheel of Fortune people might have been a bit setup when they didn't have enough of a real audience? I never believed Wheel of Fortune that was to strange for my young mine. My mom use to watch it when I was young warthog. I knew a man who was named Harry Red But. True story he came to my house and would watch Wheel of Fortune with my mother. Cardinal Raven (talk) 16:41, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Customer Relationship Management

PeopleSoft, a corporation with a fun-loving culture and a fanatical devotion to its customers, is one of the major players in the worldwide enterprise resource planning software industry. It specialized in complex software for managing human resource functions, accounting, manufacturing processes, and other systems. PeopleSoft competes with the likes of Germany’s SAP, Oracle, and Baan, and by some measures is #2 in its industry. Its customer retention is nearly 100 percent, and turnover among employees is very low. In fact employees pride themselves on how low their employee identification numbers are – indicating how long they’ve been with the company. Fortune magazine ranked PeopleSoft #6 in its list of the top 100 companies to work for in the United States. And customers rave about PeopleSoft’s service. Through the 1990s sales nearly doubled every year and the company’s stock prices soared. Only at the very end of the decade did PeopleSoft and others in the ERP industry begin to see slower growth.

A primary driver behind PeopleSoft’s success has been its ‘outrageous customer service,’ resulting in a very loyal customer base that has grown with the company. Founder Dave Duffield embodied the company’s philosophy, empowering his employees to do anything to satisfy customers and build relationships. Over the years Duffield himself spend considerable time with customers, learning about their needs.

All accounts at PeopleSoft are assigned an account manger, at no charge, who acts as the customer’s advocate within PeopleSoft, representing the customer across all functions and units within the company. The account manager’s primary objective is to help customers succeed through their investments in PeopleSoft. Account managers are on salary and are rewarded for customer satisfaction and retention, not sales revenues.

Certain services (e.g., product installation, training credits, and maintenance support) are bundled with the prices of the software to ensure successful implementation at the outset of the relationship. Plus, PeopleSoft can grow with its customers, providing them with customized, tailored solutions to more complex problems as their needs evolve.

All of this is accomplished in a fun-loving, some would say eccentric, corporate environment where business is informal, yet intense, and people are recognized for doing outrageous acts for customers. The company’s reward customer loyalty and growth.

Question:

Discuss the strategy used by PeopleSoft to obtain customer loyalty and growth and show the importance of these for the success of an organization. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.43.53.97 (talk) 03:17, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

As it says at the top of the page, do your own homework. The reference desk will not give you answers for your homework, although we will try to help you out if there is a specific part of your homework you do not understand. Make an effort to show that you have tried solving it first. BrainyBabe (talk) 06:34, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Positioning Jamaica

Looking at the Caribbean from a tourist’s point of view, there are four major competitors to Jamaica: the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Bermuda. Each of these destinations draws more visitors a year than Jamaica. The consistent visual image that springs to mind when any of these Caribbean islands are mentioned is the couple in the bathing suits on the beach, underneath the palm trees. This sea, sand, and surf picture has become a visual cliché for Caribbean.

The exception, of course, is Bermuda. Years of advertising those motorbikes parked beside the pink sand have put a strong visual in the mind. Research shows that in terms of perceptions, Bermuda is second in desirability to the U.S. Virgin Islands. If it weren’t for the whether factor (Bermuda is considerably north of the other islands), Bermuda would have been in first place.

Jamaica’s positioning problem was how to put a mental picture postcard into the mind of the Caribbean prospect. The first approach is to sort though thousands of postcards to find the one perfect picture of the island of Jamaica. But it cannot be found. The reason being, if there were one image that captures the essence of the island, someone would have noticed it already and used it. In other words, there would have been an image already burned into at least a few minds.

A second approach is to visit Jamaica and shoot hundreds or thousands of pictures trying to capture that illusive mental picture postcard. Not surprisingly, nothing totally right turns up. The third approach is to look into the mind of the prospect to see what mental images already exist. And then select one you can tie Jamaica into.

An old advertisement said, “Jamaica is the big green island in the Caribbean that has deserted beaches, cool mountains, country pastures, open plains, rivers, rapids, waterfalls, ponds, good drinking water, and a jungly interior.” This description sounds familiar; in fact it reminds you a very popular tourist destination in the Pacific: Hawaii. Most people have a metal picture of the big green volcanic mountains coming down to the blue sea. It’s a view that you can also see as you approach the island of Jamaica, the Hawaii of the Caribbean.

The Hawaii of the Caribbean becomes an even more powerful concept when Jamaica is compared with its four biggest competitors. The chart below lists the highest point of each destination.

Bermuda 259 feet Bahamas 400 feet U.S. Virgin Islands 1556 feet Puerto Rico 4389 feet Jamaica 7402 feet

At 7402 feet, Blue Mountain in Jamaica is higher than any point in the United States east of the Mississippi River.

Another important comparison is the size of each destination. The chart below shows the length of the largest island in each destination.

Bermuda 4 miles Bahamas 6 miles U.S. Virgin Islands 7 ½ miles Puerto Rico 50 miles Jamaica 62 ½ miles

Again, Jamaica is considerably larger than any of its competitors. Jamaica has hundreds of miles of beaches and two volcanic mountain ranges with a towering peek over 7000 feet. This supports the ‘more to see, more to do’ advantages that are also implicit in the Hawaiian connection.

Conceptually, this approach says to tourists that the things they travel a great distance to Hawaii for (natural beauty, big green mountains, beautiful beaches, wonderful year-round weather) can be found a lot closer to home, down in the Caribbean.

Jamaica could even copy one of the most successful of Hawaii’s marketing ploys: meeting tourists with flowers at the airport. Jamaica has beautiful flowers and this gesture, above all would say that Jamaica is a friendly place as well as beautiful one.

‘The Hawaii of the Caribbean’ provides a quick visual analogy. Jamaica doesn’t have the luxury of building that visual image over the years. Transferring Hawaii’s mental picture postcards will save enormous amounts of time and money. Furthermore, the concept strongly differentiates Jamaica from the other Caribbean destinations.

Another major benefit of the Hawaiian analogy is the platform it provides for European programs. If you live on the continent, Hawaii is a long way away.

Question:

Explain the process adopted in the above case to position Jamaica and evaluate this process of positioning from a marketing perspective. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.43.48.255 (talk) 03:21, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

As it says at the top of the page, do your own homework. The reference desk will not give you answers for your homework, although we will try to help you out if there is a specific part of your homework you do not understand. Make an effort to show that you have tried solving it first. BrainyBabe (talk) 06:35, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

tl;drhotclaws 07:37, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Googel Earth Prank

Hello,

Does anybody know if there is a website somewhere, or a way of working out when a Google earth imaging satellite will pass over a particular point?

The point in question would be my school Melton Mowbray King Edward VII School. The prank is leaving some kind of witticism on the school roof in large white letters, for the whole school to see, just not necessarily any kind of authoritarian figure....

84.13.26.33 (talk) 08:07, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

But the images you see on Google Earth are not changing all the time, they are taken once and that's it. Once they've taken a picture of a certain area once, they probably won't take another one for years, if ever, unless it's to improve the resolution. If your school is already on there in a reasonably high res image, it's not going to be updated any time soon. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 09:17, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

And FWIW, the high resolution images are from aeroplanes, not satellites. --Tagishsimon (talk) 09:20, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

It seems that only MI6 has live satellite imaging capability. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 12:45, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Even so it is amazing how many people managed to "set up" things to see like this [9]. This particular one is in the Leeds/Bradford airport flight path, so it is probably a greeting to southerners on their way up North. -- Q Chris (talk) 12:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, sort of urban equivalent of crop circles. Richard Avery (talk) 17:58, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, if you found out the next day that pics will be taken by google, then you could make sure that you wrote on the roof by that day. It's extremely unlikely that you will be able to do this, but its your only hope.--Dlo2012 (talk) 13:29, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I know people who go to your school. But as said before, it's generally done once then left for ages. I think Google buys the images from various people, including satellite imagery for high altitude views, and then blends to aircraft at lower levels. It's amazing what you can find there. I remember a cloaked eurostar in London, an interdimensional portal (including possible TARDIS) in Holland, and a flying aircraft carrier in China. Try looking on The Register for this sort of thing - it starts with a flying car. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:42, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Is that true about MI6? Don't the Americans have it, too? Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 17:01, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Of course Americans do... but you think the military is gonna let commercial folks have keyhole imagery?  ;) Queerbubbles | Leave me Some Love 17:43, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Of trains travelling on tracks

Is there a set system for each country that trains travel on the left-hand or right-hand set of tracks like there is for cars? (I'm assuming all your trains going on one set of tracks would be travelling the same way!) If so,is there any link between the side of the road that the country drives on and the side that the trains use? Lemon martini (talk) 13:39, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Trains and cars travel on the left in the UK, though certainly some heritage railways do it the opposite way round. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:46, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

There is a bit about this in our article on Traffic directionality#Trains.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 15:53, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

The majority of long-distance rail tracks are single tracks, not double. This is done to save on the costs of construction and purchasing the right-of-way. When trains travelling in opposite directions need to pass the same point, a rail siding is employed to allow the trains to pass each other. As traffic volume increases (near stations or rail yards, for example) additional tracks are added. Thomprod (talk) 00:12, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Not many single train tracks in Europe. And none where high speed trains operate. Just a few in little-used lines.86.197.175.62 (talk) 16:42, 24 April 2008 (UTC)DT

A small point about British Trains - though it's true that they pass each other on the Right Side of Forward Direction as do cars on British roads, the drivers sit to the Left Side of Forward Direction unlike the drivers of British cars. I am led to understand this is because, certainly at platform stops where the trains pass between the opposite-direction-platforms, the drivers can see through their windows along the platform behind them when they stick their heads out of the windows - but that doesn't work when the platforms are co-located in a central island with the opposite-direction trains passing on either side of it. Any answers on a postcard please. ps. British trains do not have rear-view-mirrors mounted on the drivers' cabs. 92.9.52.26 (talk) 22:42, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Fallout NPC

I have been playing the PC game Fallout for a long time now, but there is one thing about our article here at wikipedia that confuses me. On the page there is a picture of Tandi in a leather jacket, and other NPCs wearing armor other than what they were wearing when they were recruited. I was always under the impression that you could not change an NPC's armor in the original Fallout. So how do you change NPCs' armor? --AtTheAbyss (talk) 14:01, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

The best place to ask would be on the talk page of the article (Talk:Fallout (computer game)), or of the user who created the photo (User talk:Larsinio), who may be active (last edit was a few weeks ago). Neıl ☎ 12:30, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I didn't ask on the talk page because the last time I did, I was refferred to the ref desk (man that was a while ago), but I will ask larsinio. thanks for the advice. --AtTheAbyss (talk) 12:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

WP, GDFL and you: "Can I sell Wikipedia?"

Hi everyone. I was surprised to see that the German Wikipedia is going to be sold as a book. My question is, what impedes me from doing so myself (with the English Wikipedia)? The GDFL states that anyone can "copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or noncommercially". So, why aren't more people publishing Wikipedia to make a profit? Could someone explain if the GDFL somehow prohibits this from happening? (cause that's a million dollar idea if I've ever heard one.:) Kreachure (talk) 14:44, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

You can sell it, provided you comply with the terms of the license (which requires you to allow others to copy/modify/distribute under the same terms). But why would anyone buy it? In case you haven't noticed, it's available for free. You'd have to provide some other value. Nice cover art, maybe? --Trovatore (talk) 14:49, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, someone could make a nice bound volume of articles related to a certain topic such as sport, music or film, or could make a volume of just featured articles, or something like that. And your question goes back to the physical book vs. e-book debate. Some people simply prefer the physical artefact because it's portable and durable. It's not a bad idea at all, in fact. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 14:53, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Note by the way that my comment above is in no way to be construed as legal advice or authoritative interpretation of the GFDL (note spelling). In particular the GFDL imposes other requirements beyond the ones I mentioned. --Trovatore (talk) 15:00, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, since books are still far more popular than e-books, and physical encyclopedias are still being sold 'even though there's an encyclopedia that's available for free', then yes, I think it's a great idea to publish Wikipedia volumes. The fact that it's available for free would obviously stop some from buying it, but yet others would buy it just out of convenience. In fact, if I sold it in places where Internet access is not common but more of a privilege, then it would do really good in sales. So yeah, I'm still wondering why (more) publishers haven't done this in order to make some money with very little effort. I'd do it in a jiffy if I had the resources publishers have. Kreachure (talk) 15:14, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

A specialized subset of Wikipedia might make a cool reference book to have sitting around. I'd consider buying it if it was nicely made and on a topic I was interested in.

Of course, no topic about physical, printed wikipedia is complete without a mention of Wikipedia:Size_in_volumes APL (talk) 15:44, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Quite. You are going to have to foot a massive print bill before you even start to try to sell it.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 15:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Note that the main German language encyclopedia, Brockhaus, will no longer be printing a paper edition - and one of the reasons they cited was competition from Wikipedia.[10] Someone is probably just trying to fill this potential void in a profitable fashion. Rmhermen (talk) 15:58, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

And don't forget a printed copy would already be several months out of date in comparison to the original by the time it hit the bookshops. Karenjc 16:46, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Encyclopædia Britannica's Macropædia (their long-form article collection) only has around 700 articles. It would be an interesting project to take the list of 2007 Macropædia articles and get all of the corresponding Wikipedia articles up to featured article status. --Sean 17:45, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Even if you aren't paying any authors it still costs a lot of money to publish a book. Even academics find it hard these days to sell more then 300 copies of their university press books. Are you really going to be able to cook up 300 people to read something that they could have just gotten online? Are you going to be able to justify the price? And how much editing are you going to do to each article to get a consistent style, quality, length, etc.? Personally I think you'd lose a lot of money on it, and then get laughed at for trying to sell people something they could have gotten for free anyway, but that's just me. There's nothing in the GFDL, though, to prohibit you from doing so. I don't think there are oodles of cash to be made, though. --Captain Ref Desk (talk) 17:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Is it cheaper than researching, writing, and publishing an encyclopedia from scratch? If the answer is yes, then it's indeed a good idea (and I already explained how 'it's available for free online' doesn't mean nobody will want to buy it). Kreachure (talk) 19:18, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Despite English Wikipedia being available for free online, my local library still buys 3-4 copies of the World Book Encyclopedia each year. Now if they stopped publishing it, as Brockhaus has stopped in Germany, there would be a large market right there. Add in schools, etc., and it doesn't seem unreasonable that they will sell some copies. Rmhermen (talk) 23:07, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

If there are 2 million articles, and you allowed an average of 1 page per article, then you will need to print and bind 1 million sheets of paper, or 1000 volumes at 1000 pages per volume. I would prefer my copy to be done with letterpress from hand-set type and bound in leather, thanks. Edison (talk) 23:11, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Not completely pointless and already late, but I've always wanted to mention The Treachery of Images and Borges' On Exactitude in Science. I like the idea and people could update their copy from the online text. Trouble for me is wikipedia's always in a state of flux and repair, like a living thing only without the entropy. Still with some fields/articles being better than others, an added extra like the binding and pics maybe I'd buy it for friends. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:09, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Is it cheaper? Maybe. There are still costs though. And the question is not just "is it cheaper" but "is there enough demand for it to justify the even low costs." I don't think there is. I think there are also serious quality issues relating to Wikipedia that you (and many Wikipedia fans) brush aside. The "real world," though, only pays for things that it finds to be high quality. It'll use things of dubious quality if they're free, but if they're going to be shelling out money they're more likely to shell out a little more than the minimum if they think the quality will be higher. An encyclopedia that is felt to be unreliable is not something you are going to be able to charge people much for. (Yes, Encyclopedia Brittannica and all other publications have their reliability problems too, but I think your "man on the street" is more likely to find them reputable than Wikipedia). Consider another issue: nobody who is very internet savvy is going to want to pay you for Wikipedia (heck, if I wanted a print copy I'd print out the articles I wanted!), so you're targeting the non-savvy as your market. What do they think about Wikipedia? Probably not much—everyone who I've tried to explain Wikipedia to who wasn't a big internet user has thought that the idea of a collectively-edited encyclopedia was daft. (Sometimes I think they are right!) --140.247.10.41 (talk) 02:29, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Liverwurst

Is there any difference between liverwurst and braunswager? Thanks, wsc —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.85.203.191 (talk) 18:17, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, Braunschweiger is a type of liverwurst (liver sausage) which originated in Braunschweig, Germany. I believe the main difference from "regular" liverwurst is that braunschweiger is smoked. -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 18:55, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

wouldn't it make the pipe hard to clean? Gzuckier (talk) 18:58, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Braunschweigers in Germany are exclusively smoked by inserting the sausage into an earthenware vessel (the German term is "Nachttopf"), attached to which are a number of flexible pipes (called "Schlumpfenschlauch" in the region of the Black Forest).

Similar to a hookah or nagila, villagers gather around the above mentioned vessel upon the rise of the full moon and, in between puffing on the psychedelic liverwurstian substance, recite the ancient legends of Little Red Riding Hood, the Nibelungs and Wittgenstein.

Anthropologists who have witnessed these secret rites report that this pagan activity culminates in the performance of early medieval fertility dances by the natives.

Bear in mind that the possession of liverwurst, even for personal recreative purposes is a serious offence. Offenders are subjected to gruesome periods of German humour. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:59, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Pshaw. If they were serious, they'd subject the offenders to Vogon poetry. Corvus cornix_talk 18:33, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

This is out-of-date information. The local authorities have clamped down on the practice of communal Braunschweiger smoking since it has led to yodelling and many other manifestations of moral turpitude. Nowadays the smoker hangs out, solitary and furtive, in his own garden shed, pretending to be fixing his barbecue. And occasionally setting fire to his beard. Women know better. SaundersW (talk) 19:52, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Single string

A few years ago, a guitar instramental played with only one string was released. What was the name of the artist and the instramental?129.112.109.253 (talk) 19:13, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Dunno. Youtube seems to have a bunch of one-stringed instrumentals like this & this, and so there are possibly multiple candidate answers, through which you might have to sort. --Tagishsimon (talk) 19:22, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Category:Monochords − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 06:36, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

iTunes

How much would it cost (£) to purchase every single audio release available for sale on iTunes?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.5.206.57 (talk) 20:44, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Millions of tracks at 99p each? Probably millions of pounds and you would need to find terabytes of storage to put them all in. Astronaut (talk) 20:58, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

There might be some "discount" to be had by buying full albums instead of individual tracks. But you'd also have to consider podcasts if you want every audio release. With over six million tracks available at 79p (according to iTunes Store, the rough math gives us at least 4,740,000 GBP. --LarryMac | Talk 21:04, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

And the download time would be a nightmare. Useight (talk) 21:44, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Not to mention the listening time: playing those six million tracks non-stop (assuming 3 minutes each on average) would take over 34 years. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 08:57, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

That all assumes that the collection on iTunes does not increase any larger than it is now. You must also take into account new releases that happen while you are downloading and listening to the current stuff. You'll never keep up. — Michael J 11:35, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

If it helps, you could miss out a few of the earlier Genesis albums. Some of them were pretty weak. Neıl ☎ 12:26, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

"A Popped String of a Banjo"

Help! Help! This post of immediate urgency! While I was trying to tune the banjo is ring a good G Major chord, all of a sudden its second string popped! Do any music stores advertise strings for string instruments? --Writer Cartoonist (talk) 22:33, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Hasty reply: Yes. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:39, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

All comprehensive music shops sell them. A cursory google search for "banjo strings online" shows that there are also many online shops too. But why not get them locally. Much handier. Fribbler (talk) 23:36, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

And buy a few spares while you're about it. The strings on stringed instruments break all the time (except on the piano, but technically that's a percussion instrument).--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:09, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

April 24

The Students are Upgrading

The students are upgrading, but the school districts are not. More and more students of the next generation are upgrading to virtual information. They can find information a lot faster then looking through a book. Why isn't the districts allowing them to? Why are the districts forbidden students to use information they find on the web? Or forbidden to find information on the web? In the real world it isn't what you know, but what you can find and using your resources. Why aren't the schools and school districts allowing students to use their resources? Isn't that what they want? Don't the schools and districts want their students to use their resources? Don't they want the student to use the textbook?

Thank You

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 00:20, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Do you have any specific instances where students are not allowed to use information that they find? Over here in Canada, many teachers encourage the thoughtful use of the Internet. Acceptable (talk) 00:52, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Well I'm in California right now. For two reasons one is business related the other is personal related. I'm taking care of my friends son while she is away on a business trip just like I am. He is in 7th grade and he is already taking Pre-Cal, I was in 7th grade and taking Pre-Algebra. Well he had a math question(they still get questions now and then when they don't fully understand even if they are in pre-cal.) and I couldn't help him. We looked in his text book and that just confused us. So I told him about an expert sight. So its a forum, but its a help forum. If you don't understand anything like that. Well he asked his question on the sight. The principal comes in and tells him he isn't suppose to be on those kinda of sights district rules. I told her that it was an expert sight he needed a little help with a math problem. Then she told that is when he speaks to his teacher and that even if its an expert sight that he shouldn't be on those kinda sights. I told her that he didn't understand his teacher. Then she told me that he shouldn't be taking the class then and walked off. Personally, I think myspace and yahoo are bad sights for school. But when it comes to an expert sight like Wikipedia or something else then it should be fine. He is learning right? He is going to get different ways to solve the problem, right? He is getting his homework done, correct? I see no problem in using expert forums for help on homework.

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 01:36, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

It's website not "web sight" (I was horribly confused at first while I was reading your post). I want to ask how did the principal find out in the first place? Did your friend's son use a school computer to post? If so why not just use a home computer or a library computer to ask such questions? I think this is an isolated case, most schools would have no problem with using the Internet as a source of learning. --antilived^{T | C | G} 01:44, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

We were at his school at the time. He needed the help and instead of waiting to go home before he forgot his questions. So I told him to go the expert site. I rather him want to understand it then instead of waiting till we got to his mother's house. I had no problem with him using his resources. It is probably just an isolated case, but it was an isolated case that pissed me off to no end. A kid should be able to go to an expert site to ask for questions. If the kid is looking for information then it should be okay as well. Its an expert site he should be fine. And I was with him at the time as well. I told him it was okay. An adult with the boy was there I'm watching him. I'm making sure he won't get into trouble. That should give the lady a clue.71.142.208.226 (talk) 01:59, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

I really don't understand the question...you're in seventh grade but take business trips, and take care of the children of your friends during these business trips?? Anyway...what do you mean by an "expert site?" Some kind of homework help site? It might be considered cheating, I suppose. -Elmer Clark (talk) 02:03, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

No I'm not in 7th grade. I'm not in school anymore. I'm a writer and have had two articles published in a two unknown magazines. My friend's son is in 7th grade. I mean an expert site like this one except in a forum format. They split it into subjects Science, Math, English, etc. Its not a homework help site just a site to help you sharpen your understanding or try to help you understand something you are having difficulty on. Its not cheating. Why should it be considered cheating? When I need help with my "homework"(sitting on my desk collecting information for my first book that I am suppose to write) I ask expert sites, I ask Wikipedia. Am I cheating on my work I have to do. No. Its called using your resources. So, why is it different for students? Why is it call cheating for students? I bet teachers and other people use their resources all the time.71.142.208.226 (talk) 02:58, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

I think it's reasonable for teachers to consider posting a homework question on the Internet, with the intent of getting other people to answer it, to be cheating. Even if the site is like Wikipedia, and the users won't outright give the answer but just help the student along in the right direction, it's easy to see how a teacher could misunderstand or be skeptical about that and assume the forum users are just doing the student's homework for him. -Elmer Clark (talk) 06:39, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Because when you do work, the desired result is what is written on the page. When a student does work, the desired result is what went on in their head solving the problem. While I absolutely agree that asking for help and receiving it can be useful, if I were a teacher I would be highly sceptical of someone asking their homework questions on a website. Even here you see people who can't resist just giving the answer, even after other people have posted hints that clearly show they know the answer but are trying to help the person work it out themselves. Unless I had seen the exchange myself, or knew the student well and believed that they would not do that, I would suspect that they were just getting the answers, not the understanding. Even if they had only intended to get guidance, I would suspect some (well-meaning or egotist, it matters not) soul would hand them the answer. Using your resources is all well and good, but if it prevents you from learning that's just silly. 130.88.140.123 (talk) 13:51, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Hiya... I was a teacher in an older life, and I can tell you that if the teacher and the book arent explaining something in the way your child needs it, it is perfectly acceptable to seek other explanations. It is not ok to post the question on a website and ask someone to answer it. Usually, textbooks have websites with extra help for those kids who need it, but the way I see it... getting a fuller explanation is akin to going to one of those "Huntington Learning" locations and getting a tutor. It all depends on how the kid described what he did to the teacher. It could be as simple as the administrator not understanding what was being explained, and from how you type, dont mean to insult, but it seems as though you have a hard time getting your point across. Explain that he was not cheating or trying to gain an unfair advantage, but simply getting external tutoring. No educational district can chastise for that. Queerbubbles | Leave me Some Love 16:04, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I did mention before that this boy is in 7th grade and taking Pre-Cal this year. Btw, he isn't my kid he is my friends kid. The boy can understand a problem quite quickly. He is ahead of all his classmates, whom by the way are mostly high schoolers,and he is extremely intelligent. My friends son tries to understand the problem. Most teenagers these days try to remember the problem and what steps to do. When generally you're suppose to understand the problem and why you are doing it this way. That's all he asked on the expert site what he was doing and why it was necessary. He didn't give them his homework and ask for help.71.142.208.226 (talk) 16:26, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

I suspect that the fear your school district has, and the reason for the ban, is that while it's possible to get help with understanding a problem on a website (especially a forum) it's also easily possible to get someone else to answer your question without your understanding it. Obviously that's a bad thing from an education point of view. I don't think many schools have really come to grips with allowing the latter to happen but not the former. DJ Clayworth (talk) 18:58, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

And, of course, since students have always had the ability to get outside help on homework, most schools have tests taken during class to establish whether the students have actually learned the material, which account for the majority of their final grade. Homework usually only counts for a small portion of the grade, just enough to ensure that students do it. Therefore, students who have someone else do their homework for them, without learning the material, fail the tests and the class. This policy should still work in the age of the Internet. StuRat (talk) 02:52, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

A bigger concern than cheating (at least here in the US) is that a minor may give out personal information online. So, many school districts have strict rules that disallow posting to message boards, chat rooms, etc. to prevent exactly that. Honestly, in a situation like that you have to do what everyone did before the Internet: Ask your teacher for help. That's what they're there for! -- Kesh (talk) 22:18, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Semen

This question has been removed. Per the reference desk guidelines, the reference desk is not an appropriate place to request medical, legal or other professional advice, including any kind of medical diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment recommendations. For such advice, please see a qualified professional. If you don't believe this is such a request, please explain what you meant to ask, either here or on the Reference Desk's talk page.

This question has been removed. Per the reference desk guidelines, the reference desk is not an appropriate place to request medical, legal or other professional advice, including any kind of medical diagnosis or prognosis, or treatment recommendations. For such advice, please see a qualified professional. If you don't believe this is such a request, please explain what you meant to ask, either here or on the Reference Desk's talk page. --~~~~

We're sorry, but we can't offer speculation on the possible causes or severity of your condition. Please consult a medical professional for further advice. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:26, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Meaning of "N"

On the back of an Italian pasta box the directions to cook the pasta read "cook 20 minutes at N (degree abbreviation) 100.

What does the "N" mean in refernce to temperature. Centigrade is "C", and Faherheit is "F".

Thanks for your help,

MIke —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.14.7.110 (talk) 00:55, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I would guess that either it's a typo, or the Centigrade scale has a different name in Italian. -mattbuck (Talk) 01:05, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Nº is an abbreviation for number or numero. --Bavi H (talk) 01:07, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

It absolutely means centigrade. 100 C is boiling, which is how you cook pasta. 100 F wouldn't even qualify as a simmer. — Lomn 01:08, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, 100 F barely qualifies as a fever. -- Flyguy649 ^talk 01:53, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

But it does qualify as swimming weather. Useight (talk) 02:45, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

They want you to boil them for twenty minutes??? For any shape/size of pasta I'm familiar with, that's far too long; the pasta will be massively overcooked. Representative boiling times should be 5-7 minutes for fettuccine to 10 minutes or so for penne or farfalle (this is assuming dried pasta; fresh pasta would be considerably less). Probably less than 5 for spaghetti or linguine (which I hardly ever cook, so no guarantees there); I could believe maybe 15 tops for lasagne. --Trovatore (talk) 23:16, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I've got some spaghetti that needs to be cooked for 11 minutes, so I don't see 20 minutes as being too outrageous. --Carnildo (talk) 20:14, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

20 minutes is absolutely outrageous for any pasta I know of. The only thing that makes sense is if it's being baked, or is frozen into a brick. 11 minutes for spaghetti is too high... are you using enough water? Any decent spaghetti (store-bought or otherwise) should cook in 5-8 minutes, tops, but you need plenty of water. -- Kesh (talk) 22:22, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

That's absolutely right. Even if you don't like your pasta al dente (that's very slightly chewy because the outside is more cooked than the inside), but more uniformly cooked, 11 minutes is plenty. Go much longer and you cook the guts out of it, and end up with bland, sticky mush. For Carnildo: 20 minutes is almost twice as long as 11 minutes; it's the equivalent of roasting a chicken for almost 2 hours rather than 1 hour. Why would you cook something twice when once is all you need? -- JackofOz (talk) 12:26, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

What is the name of this phenomenon?

How can I put this?....We know only what we know and can't know anything "beyond" what we're programmed to know. An ant, a penguin, and your next door neighbor only know so much from thier own private perspective. I don't care how you phrase it, I dont care how much effort you take to talk to them at thier level, a baby can never understand what his birth certificate is. They'll have no idea til they're about five or so what is daddy is talking about (???!). And if anything is presented to any conscious being that's so far outside of thier understanding, they wont even recognize what you're trying to show them. An ant doesn't understand physics or gravity, but still uses it like everything else. Even more interesting, if a set of brain cells gets chemically depleted from looking at something too long, you wont see it anymore!

It seems that everything and everyone can only learn what it's meant to know, in a certain order and only to a predetermined limit, and that's it. We all do own thing, because we just feel it's the right thing to do. And if math and logic are the ultimate in understanding reality, it's probably because we can't see beyond it.

Can anyone explain what and why this is , or does Wiki have a page that can explain this phenomena? It's not qualia, but it seems to be related. If you guys point me in the right direction maybe I'll win a Nobel prize for teaching a mosquito quantum mechanics. I'll be sure to mention you in my acceptance speech, lol. :)--Sam Science (talk) 02:26, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I can't answer your main question, but "Even more interesting, if a set of brain cells gets chemically depleted from looking at something too long, you wont see it anymore," is certainly false. That's not how vision works. -Elmer Clark (talk) 02:36, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Teaching a mosquito quantum mechanics? I'd be impressed if you could teach me quantum mechanics. Useight (talk) 02:44, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I have always wondered what the level of knowledge throughout the world would be if God had arranged that each offspring was born with the sum total knowledge of it's parents already installed (as it were, and assuming that there is a God of course).--Artjo (talk) 05:37, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

But wouldn't that mean Galileo would have been born absolutely certain that the Earth was at the center of the universe, and never would have questioned it ? StuRat (talk) 02:21, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Interesting idea - wild. Wouldn't that depend on the parents the offspring has? or are you speaking cumulatively. I'd have thought most offspring know what parents think and know and spend some time clearing the decks to realise their own knowledge in their generation. The God of books, information and life experience makes up for that, no? Philip Larkin wrote about nurture from his perspective[11]. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:48, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I just KNEW that you Julia would be the first to reply! Yes I meant cumulatively. Had that been the case we have probably been colonising the stars by now.--Artjo (talk) 09:28, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Haha. Still has a Sisyphysian something - dang. A feel of having once colonised the stars and then... pouf! Julia Rossi (talk) 10:32, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Something about frames of reference? Neıl ☎ 10:50, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

By using the phrase "...programmed to know" you have declared this to be a teleological argument. As an afterthought, you have added the observation that a complex universe can´t be comprehended as a set of qualia / sensations.

You appear to state that our mode of abstractly modelling natural phenomena - by using language, logics, mathematics, etc., none of which has an observable reality - may ignore an alternative tool.

You may be thinking about a concept like non-overlapping magisteria / NOMA proposed by Stephen Jay Gould. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 13:07, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Why is this? Complex ideas are constructions, like a building. They usually require scaffolding (ideas that are useful for a time but are eventually discarded), and they require 'building from the ground up'. You cannot attain supreme understanding just by cherry-picking the few best ideas from the best thinkers in history. You must start with the more mundane, simple, and obvious facts and work from there. Vranak (talk) 17:23, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

When I said a set of cells get chemically depleted after looking at something too long, I was referring to a Scientific American Mind article that demonstrates this (I cant remember what issue it was, I'll get back to you on that). It showed a set of dots, or lines, that actually do "disappear" when you stare at it too long. Apparantly if you stare too long, the cells responsible for perceiving whatever your looking at get fatigued (i.e. run out of the chemical that relays the message). It was fascinating, and I'll bet it has something to do with the gaps in our knowledge. Without the messenger, you won't get the message.--Sam Science (talk) 17:30, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

The question makes an assertion that is not self-evident. Yes there are obvious examples of an infant or an animal being unable to achieve some mental feat that an older human can do, but there are surprises, such as dogs which learn to ride on skateboards, or a cat who taught himself to flush a toilet just to watch the water spin around. Idiot-savants have done amazing things. Very young children have driven cars, however badly. Chimps can open all sorts of locks and latches without being trained to do so, and have been found to make and use tools. Individuals within a species differ in their abilities over their lifespans, and there are huge differences between individuals, as well as huge differences between species. We can fill out income tax forms and bees can't. But bees can navigate by the polarization of light and we can't. Many animals have perceptual and navigational abilities no human has. People from isolated and "primitive" societies catch on really quickly to all the technology and customs of "advanced" societies when explorers land. Things were not all that incomprehensible to them. As for fatigue, there are cases where brain cells do become fatigued, altering perception as by motion aftereffects that seem to be beyond the retina. Edison (talk) 19:02, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

airline regulations

In the united states, is it legal to bring alcohol in your checked luggage? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.101.53.161 (talk) 03:36, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Dismas|^(talk) 05:41, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Caveat: If you bring things into the U.S. like cigars from Cuba or absinthe from the UK, you will most likely run into legal trouble as those things are not legal in the States. Check with a lawyer for any more specificities. Dismas|^(talk) 05:46, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Or an airline, if you don't want a huge bill for a simple inquiry... -Elmer Clark (talk) 06:44, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

That would be my first suggestion too if I were to throw aside my worries of being banned for supplying legal advice. Dismas|^(talk) 15:21, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I'd suggest referencing TSA for such things.

You may take up to five liters of alcohol with alcohol content between 24% and 70% per person as checked luggage if it’s packaged in a sealable bottle or flask.

Airlines may have additional restrictions, though, so it's not a bad idea to check with them, either. — Lomn 15:34, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

(e/c) There is usually an upper limit to the amount of alcohol you can import (whether in checked luggage or carry-on) for "personal use". I don't know what that limit is for importing alcohol into the USA, but here in the UK you can only import 1 litre of tax-free spirits (over 30% alcohol) and 10 litres of EU tax-paid spirits without paying import duty. Sumggling more than these limits in order to avoid the import duty is a serious offence and subject to harsh fines and/or prison. Astronaut (talk) 15:45, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

It's common for people in the UK to think of these questions in terms of 'what can I import', but in the US the vast majority of air travel is domestic. I know, it made me feel strange the first time I walked out of an airport and there wasn't a customs desk to clear. DJ Clayworth (talk) 18:50, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't see why you couldn't bring alcohol in your luggage. If we think about it those rich fancy planes where you get meals and drinks are there.(Wish I could take a plane like that) So why the hell not. Though you should check with your airport and stuff. Read laws and regulations. The whole nine yards. Cardinal Raven (talk) 16:37, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Home load - a doubt

Consider, one person is paying EMI to a bank for his home loan, and for some reason he could no longer pay the EMI. Can he quit paying the EMI by letting the bank to take his home? Will the bank pay the amount paid so far (EMI) to the person back, with some interest? Are there any losses for the bank, if the bank does so? Are there any insurance for this case? --V4vijayakumar (talk) 12:25, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Ceasing to pay a loan (eventually) puts the mortgagor in a state of default, which can lead to foreclosure. The bank or other relevant agency can repossess the home. I would not characterize this as the mortgagor "letting" the bank take such action, and the mortgagor is certainly not entitled to any sort of refund. As for bank losses, yes, this can result in a loss. The current drop in home prices in many parts of the US means that foreclosed properties often will not sell for enough to allow the bank to recoup the loan value. As for insurance, the answer is "yes" -- for banks. Mortgagors who place less than 20% down on a home loan are typically charged an extra insurance fee until at least 20% of the principal is paid off. — Lomn 13:10, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

But, EMIs payed so far is gone for the customers. Why not banks consider homes as assets, and pay back the EMIs. Banks can as well sell those homes at any point in future. --V4vijayakumar (talk) 13:48, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Because that's not how a loan/mortgage works. The terms are (in short): I will repay my loan on time as agreed or I will forfeit the property. Additionally, the EMI isn't "gone" -- it's been converted into equity. — Lomn 14:46, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

What is EMI? ... E???? Mortgage Interest? --Tagishsimon (talk) 14:07, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

EMI is equated monthly installment, the payment owed each month. — Lomn 14:46, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Is it a US term? I'm not familiar with it in the UK. I note that there's not a trace of it on wikipedia. --Tagishsimon (talk) 15:30, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Beats me. It was rather tricky to trace down via Google. Based on reading I did, it seems to be a fairly uncommon practice, as EMI-based loans don't allow for premature payment, which most fixed rate loans do. My loan, for instance, simply lists the base monthly payment as P&I, or principal and interest. — Lomn 15:39, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

P&I is the term I'm most familiar with here in the colonies. And PMI for private mortgage insurance. I'd never heard EMI until this question. --LarryMac | Talk 15:44, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Or PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance. Here in the colonies, the mortgage-holder almost always collects and escrows the money from you that will eventually pay for your real-estate property taxes and hazard insurance; that ensures that they don't lose their claim on your title to the local government (for your tax default) or to a fire.

Atlant (talk) 17:14, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

If the property can be sold for substantially more than the amount outstanding on the outstanding loan, then the original property owner will receive the balance, less any fees and other costs involved in the sale. However, if this were the case, then the original property owner would probably have sold the property themselves and paid off the loan with part of the proceeds. Even if the bank could possibly get a better price for the property in the future, it won't delay the sale because it is a bank, not a landlord - it doesn't want to be owning houses, paying maintenance costs, finding tenants etc. etc. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:35, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

The usual advice in thse cases is "talk to your mortgage lender". Usually, some renegotiation is possible (for a future penalty) or you might be given a chance to sell. If you just stop paying, they will reposess/forclose, you will thrown out, flagged as a bad debtor and will still owe the money. Astronaut (talk) 15:54, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

In India, for the amount x home loan, one has to pay 3.5x (2.5x as interest + 1x loan amount) back in a typical 25 years tenure and at a interest rate 10%. I think, one will pay this back 3.5x / (25 * 12) monthly as EMI. Home loan interest rate is 11% now, and it was around 6% couple of years back.

For INR 5,000,000 (around 125,000 USD) EMI will be around INR 60000 (58333 to be exact). Let's say banks make profit with this money at a compund rate of interest 10% (after detecting depreciation, etc.), then at the end of 25th year, it would be around INR 80,000,000 (79610004.17 to be exact, as per [[12]]). That is 16 times what the bank initially given as home loan. Doesn't this mean even if sixteenth of money comes back banks are at no loss?

Now tell me, still banks can not pay EMIs back? Am I wrong anywhere here? --V4vijayakumar (talk) 02:09, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, you are wrong. You have misunderstood the economics of loans and mortgages. If a bank repaid mortgage payments to every borrower who defaulted then everyone who took out a mortgage would default towards the end of the mortgage term, and would then receive the whole capital amount of the loan plus interest - in effect the "mortgage" has become a monthly savings plan for them. Plus they have been living in a property rent-free for 25 years. Any bank that offered such a deal would be commiting commercial suicide. Gandalf61 (talk) 09:19, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Living in a property rent-free for 25 years, eh?! I didn't think of that. In this case, I am ready to pay money-back rent, with EMI. At the end, I want my home + my rent, or all of my money back? Is that ok? :) Is it really impossible for banks? :( --V4vijayakumar (talk) 10:21, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Home buying vs. renting

The above question got me thinking on another, related topic - buying one's own home vs. renting a property. My question is not about the pros & cons of buying and renting, but about which prevails in different countries and why. In the UK, everyone is property-crazy. You can't switch on the TV without watching some property show, it's a perennial dinner-party topic, and of course the media are full of speculation on when the next property crash will happen. Basically, once you've completed your education and set up on your own or with a family, the default position seems to be that you buy your own place. In parts of continental Europe, anecdotal evidence suggests to me that this mania hasn't taken hold to anywhere like the same extent. Many more people rent rather than buy, and they often keep renting for the rest of their lives. Any experiences? Which option is more popular in the North America, for example, and how do we account for this disparity in choices? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 14:20, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

The major disparity, of course, is one of equity. A buyer, even with a mortgage, owns some portion of the property and can potentially realize a profit on it. A renter doesn't. Property values have long been seen (in the States, at least, and certainly in many other places too) as a good low-risk investment, as they've historically risen in near-monotonic fashion. The last ten years (or so) in particular have been a real estate bubble in which values have risen dramatically -- people have realized returns of 50% annually or higher. Throw in the fascination with property in the media that you noted (I'll skip the chicken-and-egg bit here) and the common perception has become that any sort of property endeavor is a guaranteed ticket to riches. Of course, the collapse of the aforementioned bubble should hopefully make it clear that it's not a guarantee.

Anyway, with all that said, I expect that the disparity in owning versus renting depends highly on whether the relevant market exhibits properties like those I've just described. I'd bet on a short-term trend in the States towards renting while people wait to see what happens to house prices (though that's not going to stop me closing on a house next week), and I'd guess that continental Europe similarly doesn't have the lure of ownership being a good risk-vs-reward proposition. — Lomn 15:01, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Don't know about Europe, but in the U.S. there are many tax advantages to owning vs. renting. In particular, the deductibility of mortgage interest and local property taxes, and the capital gains exclusion. "Owner-occupier" lists home ownership rates for several countries. U.S. & U.K. rate at 69%, significantly more than most continental European countries. Of course renting has its own advantages, such as increased mobility and not having to maintain your property. --D. Monack | talk 18:55, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

In the UK mortgage interest tax relief was abolished in 2000. Local taxes don't differentiate between renters and owner-occupiers, so tax advantages are limited although you do have a capital gains exemption on your main home. The current British obsession with owning rather than renting is due in part to social policy over previous decades, with the Conservative governments in particular actively promoting home ownership (see the party's 1987 manifesto here and its 1992 one here for examples). Much social housing was sold off to tenants on favourable terms, reducing the available rental stock and the state's financial obligations as a landlord. Houses were at that point cheap enough for most working people to purchase (my first one, in 1988, cost me less than 3x my very modest salary in my first post-college job). Buying was affordable, and cost around the same as renting, with the advantage of an asset at the end of your mortgage period.

More recently, pensions have driven the dash for ownership. Changes in the tax system which make pension schemes more costly for employers, plus high-profile scandals where funds have collapsed or been misused (see Robert Maxwell, for example), have led to a mistrust of traditional pension saving in favour of property. Official policy made it easier to buy and let out property (the intention was for the private rented sector to fill the gap left by the sell-off of public social housing) but it has led to a development boom, with speculators competing for properties. As prices rose, buyers struggled to "get a foot on the property ladder" but felt compelled to do so in order not to be "left behind". -- Karenjc 19:57, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Bank Charges

Why is it that a UK bank will charge £23 for transfering money from a bank account at one bank to one in another if it's handled electronically, but charge nothing if you just take the money out, walk to the other bank and deposit it there? What is involved in the transfer that costs £23 more than two people physically handling the money and filling in forms? And why does no charge apply if you set up a direct debit between the same two accounts? Surely it's just a money transfer, repeatedly?

Of course, I may be stupidly assuming the world to be more logical than it is; there may be no reason. But I'd like to know, either way. 130.88.140.123 (talk) 14:26, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Why do they charge the money? Simply put... because they can. Banks are about profits, not helping you out.  ;) Queerbubbles | Leave me Some Love 15:58, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I regularly send money from bank accounts to others in the UK and it's free. Or isn't it? 200.127.59.151 (talk) 16:04, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Depends on the bank... but usually if you're doing an external bank transfer there is a charge... if it is an internal bank transfer, it might be free. Queerbubbles | Leave me Some Love 16:07, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

(ec -twice!!) If more people said "No" to such outrageous charges, banks might lower their charges. However, the only danger with the alternative is being mugged walking down the street with thousands of pounds in your pocket. Astronaut (talk) 16:09, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

In the Euro zone the banks charge when one pays by cheque or credit card across an old national border. No exchange rate percentages, so this artificial charge has been forced through.86.197.175.62 (talk) 16:39, 24 April 2008 (UTC)petitmichel

Apart from the reasons given you are paying for convenience and you are paying for 2 banks to maintain systems that can interoperate together. When you are paying in cash the bank does not need to know 'where' the money came from, only where it is going to. The electronic transaction needs to know who is sending it, from where, and who to. Whilst that's not going to justify the major increase in cost you must also consider a more generic answer too: Banks can take advantage of the relative lack of movement that occurs from bank customers to banks. Unlike say the insurance industry where motor-insurance customers often switch and change provider every year with relatively little hassle, the banks benefit from the hassle-factor of changing accounts. You maybe have to inform your employer, 5 bill providers, get new cards, remember new pin codes, etc. etc. etc. That hassle is maybe worth encountering if you are moving money and being charged regularly, but if it happens once or twice a year then while it might be annoying it's maybe not worth the hassle of moving to a bank where this charge doesn't occur. The bank charges because people. It's not 'outrageous' just like it isn't 'outrageous' that the bank allows you to pay in money for free, or withdraw case from 1000s of ATMs for free - they all cost the bank money - staff, refilling the machine, updating the machines, maintaining the machines, etc. etc. - but they don't cost you money at that instance. Why? Probably because the competition in that area is high and the hassle-factor is low. Who'd use a pay cash-machine if there is a free-withdrawl one 10 yards down the road? (Well actually millions based on the growing market of in-pub/in-restaurant charging cash machines - again convenience plays a role) 17:54, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but in my estimation £23 is 'outrageous' to simply move money through the already existing electronic transfer facilities. The charges don't reflect the true cost of the transaction and instead banks are ripping off customers to add ever more money to the vast profits they make every year from playing on the stock markets with your money. Astronaut (talk) 18:44, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

It is free to transfer money if your bank allows you to do it online, just a bit of a performance to set up the facility. SaundersW (talk) 20:49, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

You're onto it. The situation described by OP sounds much like what in the States is called a "Wire Transfer", which is just one more way to move money around the banking system. Technically, I don't know what makes it expensive, but in my industry, when one wishes to set up a periodic transfer between accounts, a phase of the process called "PreNote Validation" takes a week or ten days; during this time the two institutions validate the account registrations, run test transactions both ways, etc.

However, if our client doesn't want to wait that long, doesn't want to set up a recurring transaction, and doesn't want even to wait for a check to be mailed, then Wire Transfer is an option, and yes, it's expensive. But, it happens same day, so paying for service is certainly part of the equation. -- Danh 63.226.145.214 (talk) 02:09, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Interesting. So it sounds like it's a mix of factors. That it doesn't happen often enough for people to switch because of it wasn't something I'd really considered. Thanks guys for calming, thoughtful responses (so far). 130.88.140.121 (talk) 10:29, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I've learned a little bit more to firm up my own reply, and tripped over conditions in which the fee might be worth it.

Unless you deposit actual cash (banknotes), your bank will have a policy on how long a "hold" there will be on your check or money transfer before it is considered valid; this is frequently 7-10 days, can be 5 or 3 if the banks are in the same district, etc. You can't simply deposit a check from someplace and immediately have the cash; you cannot purchase securities with unsettled funds; etc. With a Wire Transfer, you get two things of value:

• Same day transfer
• Same day availability

Under some circumstances, the latter may be worth paying for.

-- Danh 63.226.145.214 (talk) 23:46, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I Officially Hate Microsoft

I officially Hate Microsoft. Vista is crap and doesn't work well. My Xbox can't read game CD anymore. Says they are dirty when I cleaned the Xbox reader and the game CD and it still won't work. My Xbox 360 broke down, but I'm not taking it back for 2 months just to get it half working. So my questions to you folks is: Why does everyone still support Microsoft? Why does everyone love their crap game consoles? Why isn't Microsoft doing anything to check their systems?(To make sure Vista actually will work, to relook the Xbox 360 {How many games new Xbox 360 have they made and still haven't had it right?}) Why does Microsoft still think they hot stuff?

Thank You

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 16:34, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

For you personally, I suggest that you stop supporting Microsoft with your wallet. Buy a Wii, install Linux, grab OpenOffice, whatever. Then you're free of their scourge. Beyond that, most of your questions have flawed premises. Not everyone supports Microsoft or the Xbox (not everybody demonizes them, either), and Microsoft absolutely does check their systems -- though there comes a point at which they stop checking in favor of profitability (or other concerns). — Lomn 16:41, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm might be getting a Playstation 3. I'm not a big Nintendo fan. I like killing and destroying people and Nintendo doesn't give that to me...much. Though Nintendo gives me real good RPGs. I was thinking of Fedora or maybe Linux. I have Openoffice cause my Microsoft word program doesn't work anymore even after I reinstalled it. But Microsoft word was getting annoying with it spellcheck. It wasn't even spell checking correctly. Well Microsoft isn't checking them right then. Cause I swear to you Vista still doesn't work and neither does my Xbox or my Xbox 360. I was still half way in Halo 3 with my Xbox 360 and it broke down on me, just like I was halfway with Morrowind Elder Scrolls Oblivion expansion pack Shiver Isles. The people that I talk to about Microsoft are always like How come you don't like Microsoft? They are such a good company. Yeah tell that to my Xbox 360. Cardinal Raven (talk) 16:53, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Dunno about Microsoft being a "good company", the Xbox might be crap but I've got no complaints with Vista and Office 2007 works fine. It makes me wonder what one has to do to make Word not work. So Cardinal, what happens in Word to make you believe it doesn't work? Is your PC free of viruses and spyware? Are you someone who installs untested beta software and expects it to work without error? Astronaut (talk) 17:27, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

This is not a place for diatribes, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Guidelines. 81.93.102.185 (talk) 17:44, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Every time Word opens up it is not responding. Even after reinstalling it, it just won't respond. I can't do anything with it. Yes, my PC is free of viruses and spyware. I don't even use spyware. I make my own computers. I go to tigerdirect and stuff. Right now I'm making another computer for myself with more memory and more power cause the new video games coming out was making my old one crash and lag. So I've been using my laptop for a while. I do not install untested beta software. I make sure the product is out for at least 3-5 years before I go and buy it. I also read about the programs and stuff. I waited for 3 years to get my first Xbox. That Xbox just doesn't work.

I'm sorry if this doesn't fit the reference desk guidelines. I won't do it again next time.71.142.208.226 (talk) 19:09, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Do you get the same problems with Word on every PC? I'm curious because whilst Word is not perfect, many of the problems experienced are either attributable to virus/spyware problems, or due to the unexpected effects of some of the automation that Word provides an therefore irritating inexperienced users (eg. automatic lists creation on entering "1. " drives my brother-in-law to consider reaching for his hammer). However, a very slow response from a heavyweight program like Word, does make me think of memory problems. Astronaut (talk) 19:25, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

In my house I have two other computers. Those computers don't use Word anymore they use Openoffice. But no they didn't have the problems with Word. Its my laptop that doesn't work with Word. I also had given my laptop a upgrade with memory and reinstalled Word once more. But it still doesn't work.71.142.208.226 (talk) 20:28, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Hi Cardinal. Maybe the computing ref desk can help you further with your Word problem. Astronaut (talk) 20:40, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

As an owner of both the PS3 and Xbox 360, my PS3 is basicly a Blue-ray player, I never touch my games for it. Whereas xbox 360 games tend to be a major strain on my productivity and relationships. Maybe its personal preference but I just like Xbox games better, despite the hardware problems. Mad031683 (talk) 21:47, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

My preference is my Playstation 2. Its still working even after having it for a long time. Great games are still coming out for it and its still not a piece of junk that you want to chuck out the window like my Xbox. I have always found a large variety of games for the Playstation 2. If I wanted an RPG they had one if I wanted a one on one fighter they had it. The only good games for the Xbox, in my eyes are:

Voodoo Vince Physknauts Halo Fable Morrowind

Those were the only good games,IMO. All the other games were lame or were some sports game. I hate sports games.71.142.208.226 (talk) 23:06, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Hi Cardinal Raven, try the computer desk here [13] without the (understandable) rant. Julia Rossi (talk) 23:55, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

There may be a more general question buried here: "Why do people continue to do business with a company that once had a good reputation, but has recently made inferior products ?". A lot of it is just "inertia". That is, people continue to think of a company the way it once was, not as it is now. To overcome this "nostalgia", people can either be quickly jolted to the realization that their product is inferior, as with Polaroid Corporation continuing to offer film cameras only, which means you have to take your film in to be developed (so they get to look at those naked pics of your wife and you get arrested if there are any pics of the kids in the tub), or the realization can take decades if the product is almost as good as the competition. American car companies might be in the later category. Their cars are pretty good, but not quite as good as Japanese cars. Over the decades, this has led to more and more people defecting. Microsoft is somewhere between those two extremes, so it may take a decade for people to dump them. StuRat (talk) 02:04, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Buy a Mac.--Artjo (talk) 05:23, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I use windows because I want to play games which only work on windows, and because it's the OS that most stuff works on generally. It's like that saying, if computers were cars, Macs would be 1000x more efficient, run on sunlight, but only work on 5% of roads. -mattbuck (Talk) 14:50, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Taking a leak

hoe can I teach myself to pee when I'm asleep so that I don't have to get up out of being asleep? I'm a femalePercy1957 (talk) 23:32, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

There was a question like this on the reference desk before. I don't know how to give you the link you'll just have to wait for someone else to tend to it.

May I say something though...disgusting. Why would the heck do you want to pee your bed just to sleep more? That is gross.71.142.208.226 (talk) 23:37, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

You have already asked this once, a few days ago. Please do not ask this question again. You have exhausted our knowledge of this obscure subject in the set of answers given here. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:40, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Play waterfall sounds as you sleep in a pool of warm water. Pretty soon you'll be doing more tinkling than a pianist. StuRat (talk) 02:08, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

In any case, this question asks for medical advice. You should consider seeing a doctor. Depending on your preferences, it may be an urologist or a neurologist.

If you possess sophisticated cultural roots Down Under, consider "pointing Percy at the porcelain" during REM periods. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 08:36, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Cockatoo, ladies don't point Percy because... well, I will let you work that one out. Anyway, if the OP is asking how to manage making the trip to the loo without disturbing her sleep, then maybe some kind of hypnotic suggestion might help. I doubt that it would work in REM sleep, though as during that phase of sleep the muscles are more deeply relaxed. Another possibility might be to investigate making it through the night without the need to get up and pee. SaundersW (talk) 12:37, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

April 25

Public surveillance

I am looking for a source that shows the number of surveillance in Britain over the time period from 1990 to today. Thank you. 70.162.25.53 (talk) 01:20, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

You'll have to define your terms a great deal more before it is possible to attempt to answer the question. --Tagishsimon (talk) 01:23, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, I meant public surveillance cameras. Whoops. 70.162.25.53 (talk) 01:28, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

This[14] gets you some hits on Britain surveillance society, one camera for every 14 people etc. Maybe your specifics are in there too. This[15] for 1990, this for 2008: 25 million by 2007. Our article Closed-circuit television has Britain notes too. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:28, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Breed of Dog?

What kind/type of dog is found in this video, from The Holiday? Thanks for the help. --71.117.46.162 (talk) 01:31, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Stating the obvious it seems to be some sort of terrier. There are many breeds of terrier, some recognised as specific breeds and named but there are many more mutts that are the happy consequence of a quick encounter and do not fall within the previous category. If you Google images for "terrier dogs" there are about 796,000 examples to look at, unfortunately nothing similar to Cameron's dog pops up in the first few pages. Richard Avery (talk) 07:59, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Food Cost

HOw do we reduce food cost in restaurants?

DFBM —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.26.98.66 (talk) 02:56, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

1. Steal it.
2. Broker a better deal with your wholsaler(s).

Choose wisely. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 06:25, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Eat it and then sneak out could be another option. If you are a good sneaker that is.71.142.208.226 (talk) 06:36, 25 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Order the cheapest thing and fill yourself up with the bread. --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:51, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

• Order the most expensive menue.
• Select the top offering recommended by the sommelier.
• Enjoy the magnificent food and delight in sipping the superb wine.
• On swallowing the last bite of the dessert, indulge in a thespian performance of gasping for air, choking to near death and slide from the chair unconsciously, pulling with you the table cloth and associated porcelain, glasses and cutlery. Kick over the table in your death throes and wait for the ambulance.
• Warning: This does not work twice in a row. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 09:59, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

The answer would likely depend on whether you are the restaurant's customer or the restaurant's owner. If you are the customer, you could choose the less expensive menu items, order the daily special, or go to a restaurant with better value. If you are the owner, you could switch to a different supplier, use a less expensive grade of ingredient, use less of more expensive items, and more of cheaper ingredients (e.g. use more bread crumbs in the meatloaf), or simply reduce portion size altogether. -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 15:59, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I consider myself to be a cheapskate extradonaire, so here is my advice:

1) If you have a partner who is also interested in saving money, go to a restaurant that offers large servings for the money, then order one meal and split it. You are less likely to get dirty looks if you explain to the waiter "neither of us is very hungry and your servings are so large, maybe you could bring us an extra plate and we can split a meal ?".

2) Instead of ordering drinks, just have water. A bit of lemon in it makes it more palatable, so ask for that. If you want, you can even add sugar from packets to make free lemonade.

3) Skip desert. If you must, have some ice cream when you get home.

4) If they have lots of crackers at the table, order soup and put many crackers in it to fill up.

5) As mentioned before, fill up on free bread or anything else free, like tortilla chips, peanuts, etc. If you run out, ask for more.

6) Also feel free to ask for extras like tomato sauce. In "uppity" restaurants they always seem to want to serve a pizza without tomato sauce, so I have to request it on the side.

7) Go to an all-you-can-eat place prepared to spend the day there. Bring a newspaper and/or laptop computer. Fill up, then use the toilet, then fill up some more. Get used to eating one large meal each day like this. This may get you thrown out once they figure what you're up to.

8) Use coupons. A very common one is "buy one meal at full price get the other meal of equal or lesser value at half price". If you're with someone who doesn't care about money, they can pay the full price while you get the deal. A good portion of the junk mail you get is probably such offers.

9) Join birthday clubs. Some will give you a free meal, others only give you a free cupcake. Some are only good on the actual day and some are good for a month. Some check your ID and some don't.

10) Never leave food on the table. Ask for "doggie bags" to take extras home (although most all-you-can-eat places forbid this). Also take home as many crackers as you can steal. StuRat (talk) 05:06, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Oil Wells in Arizona

Are there many oil wells/refineries in Arizona? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.120.225.116 (talk) 03:11, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

According to the Energy Information Administration site, "Arizona’s annual crude oil production is minimal. Arizona has no refineries and receives its petroleum product supply via two pipelines, one from southern California and the other from El Paso, Texas." (added)The same source says there are 12 wells producing crude oil. SaundersW (talk) 15:54, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

AP Calculus AB exam

My teacher told us that the short answers on the exam have a 9 point rubric. Does anyone know what the rubric is? Also, anyone have any general tips for that part of the exam since I am not doing well on my practice tests?71.218.9.160 (talk) 03:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Considering that no one knows where you got to school or who your teacher is or what exam your are taking, there might be a few AP Calculus AB Exams, i remember the my AP calc test did not have any short answer questions. --Nick910 (talk) 04:29, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

let me rephrase that: the free-response section and every ap calculus exam in the us is the same 71.218.9.160 (talk) 04:49, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Took mine in a DoD (department of defense school) about 5 years ago, so who knows. --Nick910 (talk) 05:08, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Dictionary.com definition of rubric - depending on context, it could either mean the instructions on the front page (no calculators, no dictionaries, whatever), or possibly something about the actual mark scheme. -mattbuck (Talk) 10:56, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

This may be what you're looking for: College Board. As for advice, try to understand the concepts behind what you're doing, not just memorizing the steps, that's a problem I've seen alot of people have. _{(I got a five on mine...)}. Mad031683 (talk) 16:33, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

ok, but i was told there were specific thinks they look for in a free-response answer71.218.22.196 (talk) 20:27, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I think you are being too literal. In the free responses, the test writers have identified certain specific items or steps they wish to see in the response, which the free response readers/graders are to look for. Obviously they would not be the same things for every questions; probably there's not always 9 of them. (That's how you get partial credit for a wrong answer, IMHO.)

-- Danh 63.226.145.214 (talk) 23:55, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, they just split up each question into 9 possible points. So if the question were, say, a definite integral, you might get two points just for setting it up right, four points for integrating properly, and three points for plugging in the bounds and getting the correct value. Most of the time you can get over half the points without getting the right answer in the end if your process is solid. Keep this in mind, and work out each problem as far as you can, even if you know you won't be able to fully finish it. -Elmer Clark (talk) 01:28, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

who is this girl?

http://www.celebroundup.com/wp-content/uploads/1692_6sc3.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.167.192.168 (talk) 08:37, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

According to the page on which it appears, she is a "Catherine Bell look alike". But I've no idea who Catherine Bell is, or why she is notable enough to have a look alike picture posted on the internet. Astronaut (talk) 10:09, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Catherine Bell played one of the two principal protagonists in the TV series JAG.

Atlant (talk) 12:53, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Careful, googling her could turn up porn images. XD. Queerbubbles | ^{Leave me Some Love} 13:07, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

That girl doesn't look like Catherine Bell at all... Adam Bishop (talk) 03:29, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

I was just about to say that. Corvus cornix_talk 20:19, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, she is pretty. That is all I know. --Blue387 (talk) 01:02, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

I want to hover around town

Balloon/lawn chair flight So if I used 40 balloons could I hover a couple of feet and air paddle from my house to the mall? Lotsofissues 10:01, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

You probably could, but you should take care not to end up (heh) like Lawnchair Larry -- Ferkelparade π 10:14, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

(ec) Maybe it would work, but I doubt "paddling" will generate enough thrust to move you, so you would probably be better off rigging up a motor-driven propeller. On a cautionary note, just make sure you don't over do it like Larry Walters did in the 80's. Astronaut (talk) 10:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3802071.ece :(

What if I used 20 balloons and a pogo stick. Could I make mega leaps to the mall? Lotsofissues 10:35, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes. --Sean 13:52, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Although the balloons would be a source of drag, and would respond to the wind direction. There are assuredly easier ways of a) getting to the mall and b) killing yourself. --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:26, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Since you only intend to hover is that because you heard of the Brazilian priest with helium balloons lost in the heavens recently?[16] Julia Rossi (talk) 01:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Sorry only just now went to the timesonline link – good one. Julia Rossi (talk) 01:03, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

excercise

why when one does alot of excercise and is unfit, one can start to feel quite ill. and any relative info thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 10:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC) Also theres the pain in the back of the throat can that be explained? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 11:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, we can't give professional advice. However, if prolonged exercise causes pain or discomfort, you should immediately cease. Your body is smart-- this is its way of telling you that you're abusing it.

Consult a reputable fitness coach to find an appropriate exercise regimen. It would be wise to consult your physician, as well. Rhinoracer (talk) 13:04, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Of course, I can only answer from experience and any major issues should be taking to your doctor. But in my history, (I'm a big girl) the pain from the back of the throat is caused by breathing heavily, and the ickyness you feel when you exert yourself could be due to your blood pressure spiking because its not used to pumping so much to your muscles. More blood to the muscles takes away from the rest of your body (like your head) so you might been lightheaded and dizzy for a bit. After regular excersise though, your body becomes more efficient, and used to the extra pressure, so it begins to condition itself to being able to handle the differences. But once again, this is my own personal experience and should not be used to treat anything whatsoever... at all. :P Queerbubbles | ^{Leave me Some Love} 13:05, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Also look at Microtrauma and Side stitch.--Lisa4edit (talk) 05:27, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Correct form on letters in UK

To what extent (if any) are there differences between the name and address (of the recipient) put on the top of a letter vs the envelope? Kittybrewster ☎ 10:45, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, you don't put the recipient's address on the letter, you put yours on, and the recipient's on the envelope. As for the actual differences, you right align the letter address, and then there are two options with the actual address. You can either centre it, or you may find that people

do

it

like

this.

Oh, and the whole thing about putting the stamp upside down is a myth. -mattbuck (Talk) 10:54, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

You so do put the recipient's address on the letter, if it's a business letter. It goes above the salutation, even if you're not using a window envelope. You probably don't need to put the address if it's your mother you're writing to, however. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 13:57, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

You just need name, address and post-code on an envelope (infact even without a post-code it mostly makes it, the post office do a thing most years exampling their most amazing deliveries - one I think had "you know that house on the hill down the road near the Bakers in [village]" and still made it to the correct person). The letter inside is irrelevant unless you have an envelope that shows the letter (windowed one). Like Mattbuck says you find some people do use a moving-across format but that's probably more 'stuffy' and formal than is general these days. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:59, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Most envelopes have the address left aligned, not right aligned or centred like apparently suggested above and the staggered format is falling into disuse. Another difference (with US letters for example) is that most personal letters, don't feature the sender's address on the back of the envelope.

On the letter itself, the senders address is usually written top right or occasionally centred.

Addresses are in the form Name, Street address, Town, Postcode (though the county occasionally appears between the town and postcode, especially if the town is not a major town or city). The Post Office tries its best to deliver, even if some important parts of the address are missing.

Astronaut (talk) 11:20, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

The Post Office request that the post town be written in block capitals when addressing an envelope. Similarly they request that you omit commas and do not stagger lines. You might not wish to follow all this advice whenever you write an address. See their advice. (That site also provides an answer to the question "I’m moving, why can’t I keep the same postcode?") William Avery (talk) 11:48, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

All nighter

Dear wikipedia,

Due to an excess of work, I am staying up all night. Right now it is 5:30 AM. Tomorrow I have a quiz and a meeting with a teacher at 4:00 PM. I am open between 2-4 PM and after 6 PM. When do I sleep so I don't mess up my internal clock too much? My relatives are coming to visit me on Saturday. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.126.67.144 (talk) 10:36, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Moved from Language Desk - don't feel bad about putting it in the wrong place, I'm sure you're tired :) -Elmer Clark (talk) 11:10, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

In my experience it's best to stay up until as close to the time you normally go to bed as possible. I generally end up sleeping in rather a lot the next morning, but by the next day my sleep schedule is generally back to normal, more or less. So if you can stave off sleep until 10 PM or whatever, that's what I would recommend. Of course, this is all just from personal experience - I wonder if any studies have been done on the topic... -Elmer Clark (talk) 11:10, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

OK thanks, that was what I suspected. Sorry about the bad placement, I'm so used to asking wikipedia language questions that I put it in the wrong place. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.126.67.144 (talk) 11:36, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

See polyphasic sleep patterns, also jetlag. BrainyBabe (talk) 08:34, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Rich list

When magazines have a top celeb rich list, like the one I saw today, Amy Winehouse 10 mill, ect how do they know? I dont tell anyone how much I earn so hoe do they know that george harrison's son has 160mill in the bank —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 11:11, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

As I understand it, it works on estimates. So if they have a source or somwthing that says Amy Winehouse gets, say, 15% of everything she sells (concert tickets, CDs, drugs), and they know how many CDs and tickets and rocks of crack she's sold, then they can estimate how much money she had made. Then they add on things like her marketability and her earning potential to give you a rough estimate of what she's worth. I doubt that George Harrison's son has an actual bank balance of $160 million, but he might own the rights to various things that are worth that much, and he probably has a whole bunch of art, too. Once you get tothose sort of levels, actual wealth is very difficult to ascertain. Michael Clarke, Esq. (talk) 22:19, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Do you have a source for the accusation that Winehouse sells drugs? That sounds like a violation of WP:BLP and, moreover, a big fat libel. Malcolm XIV (talk) 08:28, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Girlfriend

Hi! I have faced to a problem: I cannot get a girlfriend. I'm healthy, clean, and usually well-dressed guy. I'm not poor. And I'm not too shy for accomplishing such tasks (finding girlfriends). I'm 22 years old. But when I get acquainted with some girl, and I ask her about dating (and stuff like that, you know), always it turns out to be that she has already a boyfriend. Yeah, I'm aware of Murphy's law, but I haven't been thinking that it works all the time. So the very question is: what should I do in order achieve a girlfriend? PS. Wikihow couldn't help. 89.236.214.174 (talk) 11:55, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Keep trying. Keep in touch with girls you like; "other boyfriends" aren't always permanent. Ask friends to "fix you up". And (did I say this already?) keep trying. And never, ever "settle" for a partner you don't actually care for; it's not fair to you or to her.

Atlant (talk) 12:57, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

As the other said aboce keep trying. There is no end to who is willing to spend time with you. Respect, honor, and trust are the most important things in the world.Cardinal Raven (talk) 18:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

If you try and try and try at something and don't get anywhere, it's never a bad move to back away and reflect on the situation. Us males are prone to the belief that if we aren't getting any action, there's something desperately wrong with us that needs to be addressed. There may be something desperately wrong, but a good first step is to give up the expectation of having a girlfriend. Often times, only by resigning ourselves to defeat can we take the first step toward victory. Vranak (talk) 19:07, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

1. You're 22. Often, people dating at this period are just looking for companionship, not long-term relationships. You may just be talking to folks who aren't willing to commit, and get the impression that you are (or the reverse, as the case may be).
2. Vranak is right. Don't worry about it. Just make friends, socialize and enjoy this part of your life. Most folks (myself included) didn't find their partner by looking, they found them because a friend just happened to introduce them. Most folks looking for dates are going to bars, clubs, social events, etc. and just asking folks they find attractive. That's not a good way to find someone, IME. -- Kesh (talk) 22:31, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Make a list of what you are looking for in a girlfriend. What of your interests do you want to share with her. Then mingle in crowds or attend groups that make it likely that you find a "soulmate". Then don't try. Very few people want their boy/girlfriend to appear desperate or clingy. Good luck. --Lisa4edit (talk) 05:18, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

so much noise

In pornos the woman always moans and screams a lot. Is this typical of normal sex? I've only been ith one woman and she was pretty quite throughout the experience. 195.194.74.154 (talk) 12:02, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

It varies from individual to individual. Some people find making noises adds extra pleasure to proceedings (both for him and/or her), others don't. From an adult-movie perspective it's another way for them to add to the viewer's enjoyment of the performance. It's really just a case of them catering to what they think the consumer wants. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.133.226 (talk) 12:56, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

It depends on who you're with - some people are quite vocal, some are not. Of course, you might also be contributing to it - one person being quiet means the other person is more likely to be quiet, and vice versa. -mattbuck (Talk) 14:45, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

paradox

So the other day I was thinking about time travel, the Grandfather paradox specifically. Then I thought of this little thing from an old PC game about pipes. I made a little illustration to help.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6808/86336352qb8.png

What happens after that? Disregard gravity (imagine it's on ISS), assume constant pressure throughout the pipe, assume absolutely no leakage. Can as answer here be used to answer the Grandpa paradox? Aurora sword (talk) 12:46, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, since you've got open spots in the pipe where two streams of water collide at 90 degrees, I imagine that basically water would go everywhere and be a major pain to clean up. Beyond that I'm not sure what you're getting at.APL (talk) 13:45, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Is this the same as "what could happen if you shine a light in a box made of mirrors?" I guess if the pipe were sealed the pressure would remain constant, but nothing would cause the water to move around the pipe. How does this relate to the Grandfather paradox? Think outside the box 14:41, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Does nobody think like me? First, water travels from the first pipe, straight into the second pipe because there is no gravity. Then the water change direction according tot he shape of the pipe. The stream coming out, down from the pipe will intercept the horizontal stream, causing it to miss the entrance of the second pipe. But if it misses the pipe, it wouldn't have been able to come out from the second pipe to intercept itself, which means that it should've travelled to the second pipe successfully, and so on. I find that very similiar to the grandfather paradox. One answer that sounded probably was...alternation. So the flow of the water goes on&off repeatedly, but how would this apply to the grandfather paradox? Aurora sword (talk) 15:34, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

You'll likely set up an oscillating behavior (more probably a chaotic system). There is a short time delay from when the water first enters the second pipe and when it intercepts the incoming stream. During that time you'd have no interruption in flow. But once it hits, the flow will get interrupted. Due to momentum, the water coming out of the second pipe will continue to move for a short time after the incoming water stops. Once that clears, the incoming stream will be restored, resulting in flow into the second pipe for the short period of time it takes before the pressure wave moves to the pipe outlet. Lather, rinse, repeat. Since there's a time delay for the water pressure to travel through the pipe, and due to the momentum of the moving water, you'll never get into a self contradictory grandfather paradox type situation. -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 15:50, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Ah, I see now. 128.104.112.85 has it right, the momentum of every single water molecule will be enough to continue it's movement, without the need for pressure from behind. Think outside the box 16:37, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Animals we eat

I'm sure this will have come up before but...Is there any reason why most of the animals we eat are non-meat eaters (chicken, cows, sheep, turkeys & pigs being my main meat consumption)? I guess it's easier to catch non-predatory animals but just wondered if there was a more indepth reason why - you know like eating something that eats something is somehow more dangerous etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.133.226 (talk) 13:00, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

It could be due to the fact that those animals are easier to domesticate since they arent trying to imagine you in an oven... just a thought. Queerbubbles | ^{Leave me Some Love} 13:09, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

There have been numerous studies suggesting a link between meat eating and increased propensity for disease. The last I saw suggested that eating a sausage a day improves your chances of developing colorectal cancer. If there is something inherently unhealthy about meat, perhaps it is compounded through the food chain, like mercury into tuna. Speculation, of course. Vranak (talk) 13:16, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

This is probably caused just as much by the preservatives used in sausages as the meat in them. Aaadddaaammm (talk) 02:27, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

It's simply more expensive. Predators are at the top of the food chain, so they consume a lot more. If we raised wolves for food, for example, we'd have to feed them meat; much more efficient to raise herbivores such as cows, or omnivores such as pigs.

That being said, there is one type of carnivore we eat large quantities of-- fish, such as tuna or salmon. Even then, farmed salmon is expensive to feed, and pisciculturalists are constantly looking for non-meat protein feeds.

Dog is raised as a delicacy in China and Korea, and even in America hunters won't turn up their nose at a nice bear steak! Rhinoracer (talk) 13:20, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Dogs can be non-meat eaters. But as Rhinoracer said, its inefficient to raise carnivores because on average only 10% of an organism's energy is passed on to its predator. The other 90% is used for its life processes or it is lost as heat to the environment. Think outside the box 14:36, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

With dogs ans some carnivores you have to avoid eating the liver, as it's high vitamin A content can be toxic. -- Q Chris (talk) 14:47, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Chickens and pigs are omnivorous foragers; that is, in the wild they eat a wide variety of foods that they find. Chickens consume a lot of insects, for example. Under factory farming conditions, normally vegetarian animals such as cows, have been fed on industrial supplements that include(d) bone meal, resulting in , notoriously, mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephaly. BrainyBabe (talk) 08:41, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

The argument that carnivores are more expensive to raise only applies if you supply them with meat. Eating carnivores which forage for meat themselves doesn't have this problem. This includes (as mentioned previously), many fish, and hunted animals like bears, crocs, tigers, and whales. StuRat (talk) 04:39, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Where is the right place to discuss EB WebShare as reference source?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28miscellaneous%29#Encyclop.C3.A6dia_Britannica_WebShare --Historiograf (talk) 13:02, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Hello my name is Ann.

I write an article to newspaper and I need your help.
If your partner comes from the different country and you use several languages simultaneously. Mabye you speak two or more languages.
If you have the dog.

Please answer this questions:

• How do your dogs bark?
• Do your dogs react to commands given in the different language?
• Do you teach your dog commands in the different language?

Please write your, your partner and dog name (what races the dog is) J Could you also write the country from which you come.
Thank you for your patience and sorry for my english Best regards —Preceding unsigned comment added by Odd helop mangoon (talk • contribs) 16:10, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Dogs can be trained to follow commands in any language. Even gibberish languages that don't mean anything. A dog only knows to sit when you say "Sit" because you taught him that. You can teach a dog to sit when you say "Stand" just as long as you are consistent with the commands that you use. Many dogs in the U.S. are taught commands in German. See Schutzhund for a bit of background info on that. The key is to be consistent with the commands given. Trying to train a dog to sit by using both "sit" (English) and "sitzen" (German) may confuse the dog since while they sound similar, they aren't the same word. Dismas|^(talk) 17:30, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I take it that this means is you and your partner need to agree on the same word to use for each command and stick to it, for the dog to understand, for example "sit" or "sitzen" – not both. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:50, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

That's what I was trying to get across, yes. Dismas|^(talk) 03:50, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but the command form used in German would be "sitz!" "Sitzen" is the base form of the verb. With humans you'd use "setzen".--Lisa4edit (talk) 05:03, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Not necessarily, depending on the similarity of sounds. With sit/sitzen (above), a pair of commands sharing an identical first syllable, the dog might not have difficulty discriminating between them. In our (bilingual) household, our dog, incompletely obedience trained, will only halfheartedly respond to either "Sit!" or "שבי" (shvee!) and "No!" or "לא" (lo!) when she doesn't want to, unless we load the delivery with increased volume, body language, tone of voice, etc. Consider also the dog's motivation: this indoor dog is walked only on a leash, and has learned to demonstrate animated enthusiasm if anyone within earshot uses the word "walk" or the initial letter "W" (as in w-a-l-k; she's yet to learn the other evasive synonyms we've adopted such as "stroll," "perambulate," etc.). This dog is a Lab/Amstaff mix; the same behavior and circumstances were true for my parents' purebread silky. -- Deborahjay (talk) 12:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Hello Ann. We are English but live in France. Our dogs bark just like others throughout the world - but the description of the bark in English is something like woof woof. In French they say ouah ouah. Our dogs (Shepherd and poodle) respond to both languages but, as has been said, a lot of it is to do with body language and situation (i.e. at the post office the dog expects to sit). Neither respond to the commands from people not in the family.86.197.147.9 (talk) 14:04, 26 April 2008 (UTC)DT

Funny thing, though, they respond differently. True story: a friend of mine once went on a trip to Mexico and saw a cat on the street. Calling "kitty, kitty" didn't make it come. After a while, she called, "gato, gato" and the feline came purring along. I might also add that the mewings of cats in different languages are used differently ("meow" in English, "meo" in Southeast Asia, etc.)--^LaPianísta! 15:32, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Racism

When one is accused of racism, what is the best way to counter this argument, as I have lots of ....friends does not cut it as seen on the Humanities desk. How can a normal suberban white guy prove that he is not racist? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 16:20, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

What prompted the charge of racism in the first place? -- Coneslayer (talk) 16:39, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Racism by a minority who assumes that all white men are racist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.18.34.51 (talk) 16:54, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't think you can ever disprove it. My mother was once accused of being racist towards a group a member of which she had been married to for more than 20 years and whose culture she had brought her children up in. There's no real point trying to counter the accusation, beyond scorn. Perhaps try and work out what prompted the charge since, even if you weren't being racist, there may be something to learn there. 79.66.99.37 (talk) 16:56, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Saying "Actually, I do have some inherent prejudices; I'm aware of them and try to resist them and think of everyone as a person" will get you much, much, much further than flat denial. --Masamage ♫ 17:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Why not just accept their accusation with humility, assume that they are right, and move on from there. People don't make arbitrary accusations just for the fun of it. Vranak (talk) 19:00, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Why should you assume they are right, and that people don't make arbitrary accusations just for fun? That implies that no one was ever falsly accused of being racist. Racism is an ugly accusation, and it affects the way people perceive you, so ignoring it is not really a viable optionespecially if the accusation has personal consequences. In terms of proving you aren't racist, there is no real way other than showing through your actions over a long period of time. Mad031683 (talk) 20:16, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

People don't make arbitrary accusations just for the fun of it. There must at least be a kernel of truth to an accusation, even if on the whole it is wrong. Vranak (talk) 00:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

There are all sorts of reasons to make false accusations of racism. They can be made to win an argument (say with someone opposed to a quota system for minorities), they can be used to get a guilty person acquited (like O. J. Simpson), and possibly even to win the US presidency ("if you don't vote for Obama, you're a racist"). StuRat (talk) 04:29, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

And some people really do make arbitrary accusations for the fun of it, or because they have problems. And some people just can't tell the difference between racism and not agreeing with someone about something that involves 'race'. 79.66.99.37 (talk) 14:09, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Ask the person "Why do you think I'm racist?" Either they have a valid reason, or they don't. If they have a valid reason, it's best to accept the criticism and move on with the conversation. If it's unreasonable ("All white people are racist," "all black people hate mexicans," "You're a Republican," "you disagree with (political/religious figure)'s opinions", "You're from (nation)"), then point out that it is not a reasonable argument. At that point, it often degenerates into yelling or just insisting that you are racist for disagreeing, so it's best to sever ties with that individual. -- Kesh (talk) 22:38, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I've often found the phrase "I hope you won't hold it against me that I'm ####" rather useful. (### being whatever trait or feature your opposite might want to object to.) If your opposite is in a civil frame of mind they'd usually not want to say "yes" because they are trying to paint themselves as the hapless victim or having the moral upper hand. Another way of moving yourself into the other corner of the ring is saying "Well, you have me at a disadvantage here. You are obviously very experienced at accusing people of being ###. But no one in their right mind has ever accused me of being ### before, and I have absolutely no clue how to respond to that." If you don't mind the possibility of things getting ugly you could say: "I know 2 facts here. I know I'm not ### and you are making false accusations without checking your facts." Another thing is to check why your opposite is making the accusation. Unfortunately humans haven't developed that far from their tribal roots. They try to make points with their "pack" and try to segregate it from "outsiders". Anything that will give them an angle will do and the list is endless. Your opposite may not be in a frame of mind to listen or argue logically. Thus, anything you say might not be heard or turned against you. People who lack the communication skills to make their point stick verbally, often turn to violence to show others they're boss. You should try any means you can think of to prevent that. There are many books on "verbal combat" / "verbal self-defense". But a. you have to remember what the book said just when you need it and b. what the book said may just not work for you in that particular situation. Good luck. --Lisa4edit (talk) 04:52, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

University or technicon?

I want to study mechanical engineering next year but I am not sure which institution to study at. Both universaties as wel as technicons in South Africa offer qualifications which is wanted by the industry. What I want to know is: what exactly are the practical implications of using one and not the other? How will it affect my job, job description, pay and possibilities to be self employed one day? Yours Truly --41.208.50.176 (talk) 17:34, 25 April 2008 (UTC)Christo Cronje

Potential employers are the best to answer this question. Why not contact the Personnel (Human Relations, whatever) of firms in the business and simply ask what they look for. Alternatively (and also) look at job ads. Send for job descriptions as though you are wanting to apply. (You will, one day.) Good luck, good question.86.197.147.9 (talk) 13:59, 26 April 2008 (UTC)petitmichel

Time spent creating Wikipedia

I vaguely remember seeing this before somewhere, maybe here, but are there any estimates of the total amount of time that has been invested to get wikipedia to its current state? JMiall₰ 18:03, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

As WP articles are compiled by thousands of private contributors, I doubt that any realistic estimate can be made.

Bear in mind that there are articles where research is minimal (your textbooks, Britannica or a translation from language xy.Wikipedia); others may require some visits to a library or your bookshelves; still others need photos or time consuming graphics. Also consider that many articles are deleted for being non-notable or need to be heavily edited because the original creator may have been biased or poorly informed. If you have a look at some of the discussion pages you will realise how much "invisible" time is spent by many on this project.

Finally the question arises of what to count as an effort sine qua non WP. If the study of linguistics or philosophy is a prerequisite for writing a useful article on subject X, if having seen 12 actors interpret Hamlet in different ways is needed for another, if knowing classical Greek / perpendicular Gothic or IPA is required for a third, is the gaining of such knowledge part of the "construction time" ?

I think that any estimate would be a useless stab in the dark of no representative value.

--Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 20:02, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Just for me, it's 4 hours a day since March 2002 (I'm retired) so that's about 6 years times 350 days times 4, which is 8500 hours - Adrian Pingstone (talk) 20:27, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Clay Shirky wrote this a few days ago, by coincidence: "So if you take Wikipedia as a kind of unit, all of Wikipedia, the whole project--every page, every edit, every talk page, every line of code, in every language that Wikipedia exists in--that represents something like the cumulation of 100 million hours of human thought. I worked this out with Martin Wattenberg at IBM; it's a back-of-the-envelope calculation, but it's the right order of magnitude, about 100 million hours of thought."--Tagishsimon (talk) 15:21, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Cheeky greek philosopher

I read somewhere a story about a greek philospher/mathematician/all-round smart guy who went around saying he had the brainpower of 100 men. The local king heard this, and got annoyed, because this guy was a pretty pasty git who spent too much time lifting books and not enough lifting weights, and said back to him, "If you've got the brainpower of 100 men, then you must have the strength of 100 men too. I happen to have a ship that's beached over there. Drag it back to the sea alone or I'll kill you." The philosopher guy thought about this. He couldn't drag a heavy warship all the way from high up a beach to the sea, all on his own. The night before the day he had to try and drag it, he was despondent, and felt doomed to die. Then he had a brainwave. In the morning, when the king and his entourage turned up, they saw an elaborate system of dozens of pulleys firmly set into the ground in front of the ship, with one end tied to the ship and the other in the philospher's hand. He says to the king, "Are we ready to begin?" and the king nods, not understanding the principle of pulleys. He gives the rope a little tug, and the ship slides out, into the waves. The king is astounded, and never messes with the cheeky philosopher again.

I might have the details wrong (I pieced it together as best I could, for narrative effect), but the single-man-pulling-pulleys-pulling-ship thing is the main thing. The question is, who was this philosopher, and did it actually happen? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.72.245.218 (talk) 18:36, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I remember the story, it may well be attributable to several people, but Archemides springs to mind, although I'm probably wrong. -mattbuck (Talk) 19:23, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Try Archimedes instead, "Discoveries and Inventions". It's not much like the silly story above, but it's probably related somehow. Matt Deres (talk) 20:05, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

and incidentally it wouldnt be a "little tug", moving that weight would involve pulling a very long length of rope through the pulley system 125.237.89.27 (talk) 00:24, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

How clean is the rice?

From where I grew up, we always rinsed the rice thoroughly before cooking. I've read that this washing takes away much of the vitamins and other nutrients. So how clean is the rice from supermarkets? Imagine Reason (talk) 20:34, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi. Some rice I've seen at supermarkets says no washing nessecary. However it is usually good to wash your food to get rid of the chemicals. Especially in second and third world countries washing rice is almost universal even if the water isn't clean. Thanks. ~AH1^(TCU) 21:25, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Depends on where you get rice. I usually wash rice once for high grade rice and twice for low grade rice. Low-grade rice and rice that was stored for a long time tend to be infested with rice weevils so you have to double wash to get rid of the insects. I don't think that you need to worry about the vitamins though as carbohydrates are the nutrients that you want from rice and the vitamins are compensated by the meal (vegetables or meat) that you eat with the rice.--Lenticel ^(talk) 23:39, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Agree. I would have thought with white rice the nutrients are lost in the processing not in the washing (unless it's to do with loss of "enriching" by the manufacturer as in the US but not clear how this is done or lost). See brown rice. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Most people wash their long grain rice to get rid of excess starch, making the cooked product less sticky, more fluffy. Rice in the United States is sometimes fortified with vitamins and minerals through a dusting of powder and rinsing will also remove this Mhicaoidh (talk) 03:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Semen

Restored per consensus on the talk page. --S.dedalus (talk) 21:03, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Is it normal for semen to be yellow, every time?--BootAsdew (talk) 00:50, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't know, and we couldn't tell you anyway. Why don't you ask your doctor? — Kieff | Talk 21:03, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't think it's providing medical advice to report the factual information that drinking a lot of coffee can produce yellow semen (and yellow urine). That, combined with not drinking enough water unpolluted by coffee. But it doesn't always happen that way, and there may be an entirely different cause in your case, so I agree you should check with your doctor. -- JackofOz (talk) 01:31, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

According to Semen#Appearance_and_consistency_of_human_semen, it can sometimes be "yellowish in color." -Elmer Clark (talk) 02:05, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Hypothetically, yellowish semen can be in indicator of an infection, and one should consult their doctor. Neıl ☎ 10:51, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't have a source for you, but I believe I read somewhere that the white color was due to the seminal fluid but a yellowish tint may be added with lots of sperm. I think it mentioned something about eating lots of protein makes your semen more yellow, and that (excepting infection, etc) the more yellow the ejaculate the more sperm it contains... --71.117.34.192 (talk) 01:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

What is the name of the anime?

I cannot remember the name of an anime that I use to watch religiously. It was about a girl with orange hair and her classmates who crashed landed on another planet. I know there was a rich blond boy who bullied others and would cry for his daddy whenever aliens came. And there was a blue alien whom they named Allan I believe. What was the name of that anime? I just can't put my thumb on it.

Thank You

Always

Cardinal Raven 71.142.208.226 (talk) 23:28, 25 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

This might go better on the entertainment desk here[17], cheers Julia Rossi (talk) 11:15, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

April 26

Does This Count

Does making contributions to a political party require that i report these contributions on my income tax the next year???--logger (talk) 03:16, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

It depends on which country you live and pay taxes in. Here in the United Kingdom, after a brief search of the HMRC website, I couldn't find anything about tax allowances for political donations. Astronaut (talk) 10:49, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

I think this falls under legal advice, which we are not allowed to give. Regardless, a Certified Public Accountant would know much more than we do. Paragon12321 (talk) 15:58, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

If this is for the U.S., there is no place on tax forms to report political contributions, nor can they be deducted. This is not legal or financial advice, just fact. The party receiving your contribution is required to report the amount, your name, and your employer. --Nricardo (talk) 22:44, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

See Federal Election Campaign Act and Campaign finance in the United States. --Nricardo (talk) 22:52, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

This is not legal advice, just a general comment. A donation that you make is not a form of income - it's the reverse - so I can't see how you'd be required to report it. You may in some places be entitled to claim a deduction, but it's surely not mandatory to claim deductions. The only thing I can think of is if the government is keeping tabs on political parties by matching up what they report as donations received, with what individuals and companies report as donations made to them; but that would be an inefficient system because they'd get many thousands of taxpayers claiming bogus donations just so they can get an illicit deduction. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:36, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Flashbacks

Can someone have another's flashbacks? Like flashbacks that don't belong to their life, but another persons life.

Thank You

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 04:29, 26 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

To have flashbacks of someone else's life, there would have to be some understanding of reincarnation, cause i would think that the only way it would be feasible is that the flashbacks you would be seeing would be of a past reincarnation of yourself. If that makes any Sense. --Nick910 (talk) 04:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

That makes total sense. I guess what got me interested was that I had a bit of a flashback of a first birthday party. They were a lot of smiling people and I remember a camera flashing. But when I found pictures of my first (thank my mum) there was only my mum, my pa, and myself. There weren't flashy cameras or many people at my first.71.142.208.226 (talk) 06:28, 26 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

See also: confabulation, or it might be your second or third birthday that you remembered. --antilived^{T | C | G} 12:20, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Or a dream. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 13:18, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Well I was awake when it happened. All my young birthdays when I was little were just with my mum, my pa, and myself. When I turned ten I had no more parties. There were never ever big parties. 71.142.208.226 (talk) 20:03, 26 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

You might have also had more than one birthday party that year. I recall having a home birthday party and then one at school, for example. StuRat (talk) 04:14, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Do Macca’s quarter pounders really contain a quarter pound patty of beef?

I’m in Sydney, Australia, so I would love to hear from Yanks and others, including elsewhere in Australia, to get an idea of what variations exist around the world when it comes to MacDonald burger dimensions. I remember these QP patties years ago and they seemed a LOT bigger back then. Today, the QP patty looks a hell of a lot like the ones in the other burgers like the Big Mac and so on. Are we being dudded here? I have a pair of scales at home and I won’t hesitate to deconstruct one of these QP burgers and weigh the patty. Maybe this is a job for the Mythbusters? Myles325a (talk) 06:33, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Apparently there is a quarter-pound (113.5 g) beef patty, before cooking, in a quarter pounder according to our article. jeepers I'm a bit concerned about the preponderance of New Zealand info in this article although...umm...I for one welcome our new alien overlords Mhicaoidh (talk) 06:44, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

McDonalds's's own web site also says it's an actual quarter pound, so I think we can consider that settled. --Anon, 00:18 UTC, April 27, 2008.

And the Big Mac is a hamburger consisting of two 1.6 oz (45.4 g) beef patties. Funny it doesnt look anything like the ads in our image...kind of dry, dessicated, shrunken... Mhicaoidh (talk) 06:47, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

I imagine Macca's quarter pounders contain no beef at all. He's a vegetarian. Malcolm XIV (talk) 08:22, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

I definitely remember Quarterpounders being way bigger than what's shown in the image of the article, way more salad as well. But then, it's been years since I've been to McDonalds.. --antilived^{T | C | G} 12:18, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

That's because our image is honest: food from fast food restaurants never looks like the advert. In fact, our image looks more like the advert image than I've ever seen a real Big Mac look. And if Antilived is thinking a Quarterpounder contains more salad, perhaps a Whopper is being remembered instead. Skittle (talk) 14:52, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm maybe... --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:21, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

All I know about Mcdonald's food is that it is nasty. There burgers are gross and so is everything else. The only exception is the chicken pieces. Not only that, but they take make those burgers with love. I got a hamburger, because I was really really really really hungry, the bun was slanted, there was barely any mustard or ketchup, and it had one pickle. 71.142.208.226 (talk) 20:28, 26 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Please note, Myles325a, as Malcolm XIV pointed out, Macca is a nickname for Paul McCartney. When I saw that someone had edited a question about Macca's beef burgers, I didn't think "McDonalds", I thought "McCartney" and decided immediately that I had to see this question. Here in the States, McDonalds is never called Maccas (original research, I know). Mickey Ds is the most common slang for McDonalds. Not saying you did anything wrong but some confusion could have occured if you hadn't pointed out in your question that you were referring to McDonalds. Dismas|^(talk) 03:45, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

how can creditors frezze your bank account

(Removed legal question by 75.75.140.217 (talk) 13:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC))

Do not request medical or legal advice. Any such questions may be removed. If you need medical or legal advice, do not ask it here. Ask a doctor, dentist, veterinarian, or lawyer instead. See also Wikipedia:Medical disclaimer and Wikipedia:Legal disclaimer. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:47, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Legal facts differ from legal advice. --Nricardo (talk) 22:35, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Curtains?

When was the curtain invented and when did it's use become common place? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Quidom (talk • contribs) 14:06, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

There's some stuff about lace curatins here from a quick google search. -mattbuck (Talk) 14:43, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

When cave dwellers found that it was a good idea to block the entrance of their cave in cold weather and/or for privacy.86.200.2.102 (talk) 09:58, 27 April 2008 (UTC)Dt

Art websites

What other websites are there like DeviantArt than are art websites? xxx User:Hyper Girl 15:20, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

CGsociety. Its computer graphics. Just go on google and search CG you should fined it like that. That is all I do.71.142.208.226 (talk) 20:06, 26 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Elfwood is a fantasy art site. SaundersW (talk) 21:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

yellowjackets (wasp/bee)

I have a question about bees or yellowjackets. After trying to idenify a very large bee in my house, I looked up on wikipedia the types of bees and it seems that my new friend is a yellowjacket. However, the facts on yellowjackets are that they are only .75" in length (typically) for the queen. I don't know if my bee is a queen but it is definitely larger than .75". It is at least twice the size (1.5 inches). Is it possible for yellowjackets to get that large?

Sincerely, Rockie —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rockieb57 (talk • contribs) 15:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

It may be a European hornet, or some other hornet ("the largest eusocial wasps"). For the European hornet, "the queen measures 25 to 35 mm (1–1.4 in) long" -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 16:06, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, many bees, hornets, and wasps look similar, so check again if the size doesn't match. Better to bee safe than sorry. StuRat (talk) 03:58, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Need Help in Determining a Phone Number

Hi, I keep getting phone calls from 2,500 miles away. Every time I answer the phone the other end won't talk or sprouts gibberish. I realize it might be a stalker, but I do have a really old friend from that area and think it might be them. So, in essence I'm looking for a website, or a company like *69 that can help me figure out who keeps ringing me, specifically their name. Thanks for your help. :) Zidel333 (talk) 16:57, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Could it be a fax machine or dialup modem calling? -mattbuck (Talk) 18:53, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Nope, when I do answer in time its not those electronic/technological sounds. Zidel333 (talk) 19:21, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Does your phone bill show the incoming caller's number? Or if you called your phone company and asked for a list of numbers that called you, would they give it to you? Because once you have the phone number, it's a simple matter of searching for it in Whitepages.com or some similar website. --71.98.13.82 (talk) 20:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Your phone company should (for a small fee) be able to provide you with telephone numbers for incoming calls. Calling Directory assistance(aka Information or 411) or consulting a Reverse telephone directory for the originating number's area code will likely be able to get you a reverse directory lookup. (Note that even unlisted numbers usually are still listed with directory assistance.) Also, if this is a repeat problem, your phone company may also be able to help you report it as a nuisance call or harassment. -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 20:45, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

There are probably many tens of thousands of people who live in the same area as your old friend. To be honest, if it was your old friend would they really be bugging you with silent calls or shouting gibberish? Both are forms of phone harassment for which you should call the telephone company and make a complaint. Astronaut (talk) 02:07, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Also note that cell phone numbers usually can not be found on whitepages.com or any other reverse look-up service. Dismas|^(talk) 06:41, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Not much help I know but here in the UK all we have to do is dial 1471 and the automated answer service gives you the last number dialled - unless the caller has withheld it by preceding your number with 141 in which case you get the message that the caller has withheld their number. Don't you have a service like that? 92.9.229.60 (talk) 12:13, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Knot question

What is the name of this knot that my father taught me to tie my shoelaces when I was a small child?

1. Form a loop in the string.
2. Tie the string once around the base of the loop.
3. Form a bight in the remainder of the string and push it through between the original loop and the string going around it.
4. Tighten by pulling from both looping ends.

I only know this by memory, I actually had to try it out to be able to write how it is done. JIP | Talk 19:14, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Wow, reading this just makes tyeing your shoelaces sound so much harder! Edit: did some research and found that the technical knot name is Reef (Square) Knot [18] --Nick910 (talk) 20:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Shoelaces#Shoelace tying says it's a common bow. 84.68.75.56 (talk) 20:19, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I think they're a few different ways of tying shoelaces, but they all produce the same knot in the end. It's a "common bow" or "slipped square/reef knot"; they're the same thing. Ian's Shoelace Site is an amazingly detailed reference for this. —Keenan Pepper 21:57, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

A Song

Moved my own question to entertainment desk :-) sorry --Nick910 (talk) 21:19, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Wives

How many wives can I have?

How many wives is the world record, present and historical?--Iboneknawibo (talk) 21:50, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Well generally law says one. But I say as many wives as you want. More wives probably would allow you to be able to get away from another if they bother you. Can't help you on the second one cause I don't know how to do most of those specialty links.71.142.208.226 (talk) 21:59, 26 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Well if you live in a polygamist compound in Texas, you can have lots of wives! --Nick910 (talk) 23:18, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

This is not legal advice, but I think you'll find that the law generally allows for one wife at a time. There's theoretically no limit to how many different wives you can have as long as you divorce them serially, or they die serially. Glynn Wolfe holds the record for the greatest number of serial marriages - 29. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:26, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Or you can live in a polygamist compound in British Columbia. I don't know what the record is but King Solomon had a thousand wives. Adam Bishop (talk) 01:21, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Note that it depends on what country you live in. Our article on polygamy (the term for having multiple wives) has a section of the status of polygamy throughout the world, as well as details about the historical context. In the United States and Europe, the law usually restricts you to one wife at a time (see divorce). Other countries, especially some Muslim countries (see Polygamy in Islam), do not have the same (Christian derived) "One Man-One Woman" definition of marriage. For example, according to Islamic law, a man may have up to four wives, as long as he is able to treat them all equally. -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 17:38, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Oh, I should probably clarify for the people that won't read the linked articles: Even in countries where polygamy is allowed, the rate of polygamy is usually very low. The article Polygamy in Islam quotes a rate of 1-3% of all marriages in the Islamic world.-- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 17:50, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Stag badge

The other day I was looking round a car lot and found a small boxish car that I couldn't identify, the only thing I have to go on is the badge on the bonnet which looked like a leaping stag. I live in the UK, so I hope that helps. Thanks DTWATKINS (talk) 22:57, 26 April 2008 (UTC).

Hello DTWATKINS, You looked at a Triumph Stag. Adam (Manors) 00:18, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

...and here is the jumping stag logo: [19]. StuRat (talk) 03:52, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

No that's not the car I looked at, the car I looked at was a hatchback, also the badge is different,the antlers on this badge were more upright. ThanksDTWATKINS (talk) 12:41, 27 April 2008 (UTC).

April 27

What is the origin of the phrase"Kill them all;God will know which ones are His"

Dear Sir/Sirs or Madam/Madams, I inquired about the origin of the phrase now rendered,,approximately,"Kill them all;God will know which ones are His" once before but I unfortunately lost the answer to a sadly inadequate brain and a crashed computer back-up.I believe it was spoken in the Middle Ages during the suppression of the Hugenots but exactly who said it and what the exact circumstances were are lost to me. My ultimate goal for this and many other information quests is to eventually publish a book/website showing how most popular quotations are much,much older than previously believed by most people.Of course,many people don't know that "Lock,stock and barrel",meaning "in it's entirety" comes from a list of the main parts comprising a flintlock rifle,but I'm going for the more obscure examples. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Leprae

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Leprae (talk • contribs) 00:00, 27 April 2008 (UTC) 

It's attributed to Arnaud Amalric, when asked how to distinguish Cathars from good Catholics. Algebraist 00:26, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

It is also attributed to Simon de Montfort when Beziers, in the south of France, surrendered - during the Cathar crusade of the 13th century. The Wikipedia article attributes it to Arnaud, the Cistercian abbot-commander, but the locals around Beziers tell one it was Simon de Montfort. Search Wikipedia for Cathars and you have the whole story.86.200.2.102 (talk) 09:51, 27 April 2008 (UTC)petitmichel

Movies translated into most languages

What movies (top 3) have been translated (dubbed) into the most languages?--96.227.105.45 (talk) 00:34, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

We have an entertainment desk if you need to move your question there, click here [20] Julia Rossi (talk) 11:07, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Christmas in Fallujah

Mostly, I download music from Amazon.com's MP3 system but I would like to download Christmas in Fallujah which is not available. I am unfamiliar with iTunes and had some questions about iTunes. Do I (should I) need to install iTunes just to get to one song? Is iTunes compatible with my MP3 player, a Samsung YP-U1? (Based on the article, I doubt it.) Is this song on iTunes at all? --Blue387 (talk) 01:07, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

I thought iTunes were only for iPods. So no I don't think your Samsung YP-U1 is compatible with iTunes. Cause I already tried and my Sandisk and now my Sandisk MP3 player is dead. The computer no longer reads it and no matter if its new batteries or low batteries it won't work anymore.

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 03:37, 27 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Id download it. Even if it doesnt work for your MP3 player its still a nice music player. Also you could always get pirated music if your into breaking laws and stuff. БοņёŠɓɤĭĠ₳₯є 05:31, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, you do need to install iTunes to download from the Store. I don't know whether your mp3 player is compatible with iTunes; however, it is possible to convert the AAC format used by iTunes and iPods into other formats using the iTunes software itself (right-click on the song and choose "Convert selection to MP3) to allow you to play it on a wide variety of devices. There are 4 results for "Christmas in Fallujah" on the iTunes store; I'm not sure which, if any of these, is the one you are looking for. --Kateshortforbob 11:34, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Farm

How much does a farm cost (median cost, maybe) in (a) a poor country, (c) a country of average wealth, and (b) the United States?--96.227.105.45 (talk) 01:42, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Minnesota is a major agricultural state in the U.S. In 2004, the average price per acre for farmland there was $2067, with the average sale being 112 acres. In the southeast portion of the state, farmland sold for $3442 per acre. (where 640 acres equal one square mile, and 1 Acre = 0.4047 Hectares).[21]. The average Minnesota farm is 340 acres [22]. Corporations own a lot of farmland and may have extremely large farms, rather than small family farms as in older times. In Iowa, in 2007 farmland sold for an average of $2,900 per acre [23]. In 2004, the average Iowa farm was 353 acres [24]. In Illinois, good quality farmland sold for $3,450 to $5,952 per acre in various counties in 2007/ [25]. In 2002, the average Illinois farm was 374 acres [26]. In the days of family farms, 160 acres was more typical. From the stats for these midwestern farming states, the average farm would cost a little over 1 million dollars, before you spent anything for buildings, equipment, field drains, chemicals, seed, fences, etc. A typical farm would probably have drains, fences, and some buildings already there, but if the previous owner was contemplating sale they might need renewal.Edison (talk) 03:08, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Braces (suspenders)

222.153.32.146 (talk) 03:41, 27 April 2008 (UTC)are the patterns on men's braces (suspenders) printed onto elastic or are they woven into it. Where can I obtain machinery to do either job?222.153.32.146 (talk) 03:41, 27 April 2008 (UTC) Deigh Davies

I'd think decent ones would have the pattern sewn in. The printed-on patterns quickly wear off. StuRat (talk) 03:43, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Name of that island

Does the island currently occupied by England-Scotland-Wales have a name of its own? Other landmasses surrounded completely by water usually have a name which is independent of the country which currently sits on it:

• Example, Hispanola is the island on which one finds the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
• "Great Britain" seems unlikely, is a political rather than geographical name.
• "The U.K." is too big, as it includes part of another island :-)

Surely the landmass has a separate name -- or does it? -- Danh 63.226.145.214 (talk) 04:05, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

I thought it was called Britain. Britain + Ireland + the rest are "the British Isles", as much as that pisses off the Irish. According to Wikipedia it is called Great Britain, and you are told to see also British Isles and British Isles (terminology). Adam Bishop (talk) 04:46, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

see also Pretani and Britannia for some discussion of the origin of the word Mhicaoidh (talk) 06:05, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Yep, Great Britain is the island. It is the largest of the British Isles, hence 'Great'. Like Little Glossop and Great Glossop or whatever. The political name which is often shortened to Great Britain is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island. 79.66.99.37 (talk) 14:04, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

England & Scotland are united independent kingdoms. Wales is a Principality that is joined with England. The three make Great Britain. Add Northern Ireland and you have the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The generic name for England, Wales and Scotland is Britain. The Union Flag is the crosses of the two kingdoms - England: St George (red 'plus' on white) and Scotland: St Andrew (white 'multiplication cross on blue). The Union Flag is only the Union Jack when flown on a jackstaff - i.e. on the bows of a ship. (But the most used name is Union Jack.) The Flag is not symetrical. When flown upside down it should be a distress signal, but often it is flown wrongly in error these days.86.200.2.102 (talk) 09:48, 27 April 2008 (UTC)DT

The interesting thing about the flying-upside-down thing is that there's no chance whatsoever of it working. Suppose you're actually in distress and attempt to summon assistance by flying the flag upside-down. Most people won't notice, but even worse, of those who do notice, every single one of them will automatically assume that it's upside-down in error, and instead of actually providing assistance will just say "that idiot's flying the flag upside in error which is a distress signal, don't these ignorant plebs know the difference?". And the poor sod who is quite properly flying it upside down as a distress signal gets no help and dies. -88.110.26.180 (talk) 16:15, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Girl who likes me

This girl i know asked me out erailer and i really didnt no what to do so i avoided the issue but still left it open for discussion. I kinda like the girl and stuff but idk what to do. Advice? БοņёŠɓɤĭĠ₳₯є 05:34, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Flip a coin? (Wikipedia knows.) Better still, take a step, then decide again, take another step, decide again... You don't have to have all the outcomes at the beginning, as you know. Julia Rossi (talk) 05:45, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

If the girl asked you out you should take a chance. I know how rushy that sounds or doesn't sound as clean cut as what Julia said, but these thing happen ever so once in a while. You either need to seize the moment while its still there and open. Or you can let it go through your fingers. What is there to be nervous about? You like her and she likes you. I'm sure that seizing this moment would be the biggest pay.

Always

Cardinal Raven (talk) 05:58, 27 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Ask yourself 'what if I never get asked out by a girl again'? This may be the opportunity of your life. Say YES, what have you got to loose. After the date, if you didn't enjoy it, so what? You've learned something. Your a little nearer to discovering exactly what your looking for in a partner. Iiidonkeyiii (talk) 11:47, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Says on your page you're 14. (I peeked.) Girls tend to be a bit ahead at that age. You don't have to go and marry her. Go out, do something you both enjoy, (heavy metal maybe?) then see if you'd like to go out to do something else together (paintball??). The thing is to not rush into something you don't want to do. If you like doing some of the same stuff that she likes doing, then why not do it together. --Lisa4edit (talk) 13:13, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Who will Make History?

This is an interesting question who will make most history. The win of Obama or the win of Hilary Clinton? Which will make history more the first black president(no offense just stating it how they would in a textbook.) or the first woman president?

Thank You

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 05:55, 27 April 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Can you please define how you can have more or less history? Looking at it one way, Clinton could be credited with more historical trivia due to A) being a woman B) becoming president after having been first lady. All Obama has going for him in these respects is that he's black. Dismas|^(talk) 06:36, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Plus he's only half-black. Clinton as far as we are aware is all woman. Adam Bishop (talk) 07:56, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

There have been plenty of black leaders of country's, and there have been plenty of female leaders of country's, all around the world. The usa seams to have took its time in catching up with the rest of the world in this regard. What I find fascinating (as a non-american) is that, even in these troubled times, America might be on the verge of electing a man, to the position of president, who was educated in Indonesia - a Muslim country. I'm not muslim myself, but I think that would be historic.Iiidonkeyiii (talk) 11:29, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Having talked to some people in the UK who arn'ty even sure who's standing, maybe you better qualify that as American historyhotclaws 11:47, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Who will make history? Ummm...they haven't won yet. McCain has something to say about that. Clarityfiend (talk) 17:24, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

What was the role of the Korean financier in this Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe arms deal gone awry?

"Whilst the mystery over the missing mortar shipment continued, ZDI forwarded fraudulent documents to the Sri Lanka Army to obtain payments for the military hardware. That was to be made through a Korean financier-Kolon International Corporation (KIC)- in five instalments after a grace period of one year.

The Sri Lanka Army had already remitted $ 1,724,443.50 to Kolon International Corporation as the first instalment but later asked them not to release the money to ZDI since the 81 mm mortar shipment had not arrived. This money is now accumulating interest at KIC. Be that as it may, the Army, in a strange move, made direct payments for shipments that arrived."

Some sort of quasi-escrow? Why did Sri Lanka already remit if there was a grace period?

Also looks like the stated business of Kolon is to buy dyes in one place and sell wool somewhere else. So why are they the financiers?

Lotsofissues 06:33, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Top World Ports

I am looking for a list of Top World Ports by the ammount of traffic, or perhaps by cargo capability.

I hope to find a list of at LEAST the top 100, but more would be nice...

The closest i could find is the top 25 from 2002 here: http://www.bts.gov/publications/maritime_trade_and_transportation/2002/index.html

Can anyone help? :)

137.81.113.204 (talk) 07:04, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried all of these?

Zain Ebrahim (talk) 07:49, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

ahhh, not quite 100 but much better than what i had, thank you! I think that plus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_seaports will give me enough of what i need! 137.81.113.204 (talk) 10:14, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

One last question though, what about rather minor ports in obscure places like madagascar and Jan Mayen etc (im looking at islands here...)? What im looking for specifically is city names of such places (surely if theres no major port there must be a major ferry landing or something to get to mainland? 137.81.113.204 (talk) 10:20, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

List of islands would be a good place to start. Looks like you could reach more than 100 in a jiffy. There are some islands that are too small or too unshippable (?) to have a harbor, but most do. --Lisa4edit (talk) 12:54, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Jan Mayen specifically has no port at all, and no real population other than meteorological and military staff (18). Transport by air. Not at all comparable to Madagascar. :) 81.93.102.185 (talk) 13:44, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

car

does a vehicle need to be left on for a while before beeing driven? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.253.83.147 (talk) 17:13, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Years ago, yes, today, no--Artjo (talk) 19:07, 27 April 2008 (UTC)