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July 1

enrollment as a lawyar in uttar pradesh(under allahabad high court)

Hello sir/madam,i am a fresh law graduate,i would like to become enroll myself in uttar pradesh,under allahabad.i would like to know the proceedure of my enrollment as a lawyar,i would like to know how much money is required for my enrollment,i have passed my LLB from Gauhati University,ASSAM...please give the reply of my queries....thanking you... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.201.49.205 (talk) 10:36, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.

However, I did some research for you. Wikipedia has some useful articles in Category:Allahabad. Also, you might like to contact the Allahabad High Court (official site: http://www.allahabadhighcourt.in/indexhigh.html), or the Faculty of Law at Allahabad University (official site: http://www.allduniv.ac.in/).

Good Luck. Astronaut (talk) 04:44, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Arguing with Referees in Soccer/Football

In international soccer/European football matches such as the recent Euro 2008, players from different countries are frequently seen arguing with the referees. What language do the players and referees speak while exchanging dialogue? Obviously if both the players and referee speak the same language, then that is not a problem, but what if a Japanese-speaking referee was marshaling the game between Germany and Spain? Acceptable (talk) 00:03, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

It's english, generally. You can hear them sometimes and lip read their "filthy talk" other times :-) . Fribbler (talk) 00:06, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Also I suspect that often they are just babbling at the ref in their own language, regardless of whether or not it can be interpreted word for word it's generally easy to get the idea of what they are protesting about (hand gestures go a long way). 194.221.133.226 (talk)

The most effective language is universal... it is coloured red or yellow.86.209.25.112 (talk) 10:12, 1 July 2008 (UTC)DT

I also wondered what language Matarazzi used when provoking zidane into headbutting him. 125.21.243.66 (talk) 10:31, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Those insults were levelled through the medium of Italian. Zidane can speak the language having played in Italy for a number of years. Fribbler (talk) 10:38, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Oh, thank you! I always thought it was in English. Wiki's great. 125.21.243.66 (talk) 10:51, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Identify a form of mahjong

Please help me identify a form of mahjong which I was shown informally by a Chinese lady.

• Four players
• Only 128 tiles used (dots, bamboos, characters, winds, red dragons; no green or white dragons)
• Each player starts with 16 tiles, except first player starts with 17
• One tile is removed from wall and placed on top of wall; the three other tiles that match this are used as jokers
• Hand must consist of suited tiles only; winds and red dragons are treated as "flowers" (i.e. set aside and replaced from wall)
• Winning hand = 5 melds + 1 pair
  • by "meld" I mean either a chow (run of 3) or a pung (3 of a kind); presumably kongs (4 of a kind) are also allowed but this did not come up

What are dragons? I know how to play Canton mahjong at a basic level, and can't think of any tile that can be possibly translated as "dragon"... --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:30, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

This is what I mean by a "red dragon". See mahjong tiles for more info.

social studies

Peruvian flag has this animal that lives in mountainous regions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Akash2008 (talk • contribs) 06:35, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

In the article, Flag of Peru and Coat of Arms of Peru, I spy with my little eye, a Llama. Julia Rossi (talk) 06:43, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

The llama is a quadruped. Grutness...wha? 09:02, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

business or company

What meant by an incorporated company? or what is meant by Inc. in yahoo inc.? Sang048 (talk) 07:27, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

See Corporation. --Allen (talk) 07:31, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Sex over time

Is it easier to get laid nowadays that it was say 100 years ago? Are people more willing to "give it up" as it were and do the nasty than in previous historical incarnations? Why is this? Cadon Monrel (talk) 09:40, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I think for the first time in human history whores are out of work. Too many sluts these days, makes whores jobs harder when they could get it for free. The reason: Myspace.

I'd agree. I read a report which said whores in Germany were taking to other professions like caring for the elderly in old age homes because of diminished career prospects. Hail Wiki! 125.21.243.66 (talk) 10:26, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps what has changed is that we've moved from the more 'puritan' age into a more liberal age sexually. The only way I conceive of it being easier today than before is that there it is easier to travel and find someone willing to, but I doubt that people give it up 'easier' in the past - what I think has changed is the willingness of people to discuss such matters publically. Roman times, Greek times and etc. are all littered with examples of sexually liberal behaviour - it's really just that there seems to have been a period in the 1800-1900s that was more puritan/prudish than other points in history.194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:37, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

It should be noted that sex has both less consequences today than it did in the past. Pregnancy is very easy to avoid if one really wants to avoid it, one can choose when and with whom one reproduces much more reliably than anytime in the past. Additionally the transmittal of STDs can be mitigated greatly with proper use of prophylactics, and of those STDs, many more are curable than in the past as well (yes, AIDS is the big exception, but even the spread of that can be greatly mitigated with the proper use of prophylactics). So some of the great taboos and good reasons for them that developed around sex have lessened. Women are less likely to regard it as totally forbidden, because unlike in the past, they're not likely to produce a child from casual but protected sex.

At least, in the West. I've no idea about other places.

Again, I think 194.221 is right though that it isn't the case that it went from total abstinence to the present. There has always been a lot more sex going on than people thought was appropriate. But it is remarkable that in a world with the pill and latex—both late-20th century inventions—how much about sexual consequences has changed. I do suspect than most people have vaginal intercourse with more partners today than would have been the case 100 or 200 years ago. However it's worth noting that there are other ways to "have sex" than just vaginal intercourse.

Of course, just because abilities are there doesn't mean attitudes change. Notice the above determination about "sluts", which is really just a form of the old way raising its hackles, however meant to be a joke.

There is, as you can imagine, a whole lot of academic work on the history of sex, because there is a whole lot of academic work on just about any topic. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 11:34, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I have a problem with all the above responses as they all sound, to me at least, text-book-ish. They all sound too as though they have been written by 17 year old puritans. I think that most kids today are influenced by rock-concerts; teen-mags; and celeb-mags, which to me at any rate, give a distorted sense of values and practice to young yet-to-be adults. What a shame. And what a shock those kids are in for when they are in debt, in mortgage crises, in shortage of morality guidelines whilst their parents are away sunning themselves before death. C'est la vie. 92.20.117.56 (talk) 23:45, 1 July 2008 (UTC

Trust me 92.20, we 17 year olds do not "read" teen magazines. We just look at the pictures. :) But seriously, for teenagers who love to read, fiction is preferable, but some of us do read about global issues. The other 95% of teens dislike reading and avoid it at all costs. The Reader who Writes (talk) 02:13, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

And I don't know if I was being included in the group of "17 year old puritans", but I am neither 17 years old nor a Puritan. My main point was that in this day and age enhanced sexuality is not necessarily something that carries long-term physical consequences. And personally I think that "most kids today" think about sex exactly as much as "most kids in the past", the only difference being that they might be actually acting on those urges more often. And thankfully, most of us do outgrow the shortsightedness of our teen years, a period whose "distorted sense of values" has been lamented for centuries and yet somehow, in the end, we all grow up enough to lament it. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 14:00, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Q: Why do the natives throw the virgins into the volcano? A: Well, they're not going to throw the sluts away! :-) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.119.114.114 (talk) 14:23, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

lol Nice little dog (talk) 15:39, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Corporate Video

How to make an innovative corporate video? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.69.10.222 (talk) 09:41, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

By being innovative yourself, of course! Anything else would be false advertising, wouldn't it? --antilived^{T | C | G} 09:50, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

My old company once made a corporate video in which they laid down rails to move the camera thingy on and videoed the employees working. I "starred" in it as they videod me entering the office and going to my desk to work :P. There were other things in it like a message from the CEO, praise from clients etc. Hail Wiki! 125.21.243.66 (talk) 10:23, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

"The one where they let a film crew in" has been a standard episode in soap operas from, I think, M*A*S*H onwards. You could make a corporate video about what happened when you tried to make a corporate video ... Gandalf61 (talk) 13:36, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Baked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmtXaZ_HhBg 81.187.153.189 (talk) 22:55, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

What does the word assessment mean?

Manager would like for me to do an assessment on my manage and include any information concerning the avau=ilability of resources, relationship. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.213.146.150 (talk) 10:11, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Assessment means gauging, measuring, estimating or otherwise finding out the quantity or degree of something. You could also look up a dictionary. Could you please restructure your question so that we can better "assess" what you are asking? Oh, and Wiki knows everything! 125.21.243.66 (talk) 10:19, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Sounds as if your manager is asking you to give them a performance appraisal - this may be part of a 360-degree feedback process. There should be a form that you just fill in. Best thing is to ask them to tell you more about what they want - it is not a test ! Gandalf61 (talk) 13:31, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

See! 125.21.243.66 (talk) 14:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Inspirational individualist films

Is there a list of inspirational individualist films somewhere? Like Fight Club, I am legend, Into the Wild. Mr.K. (talk) 10:57, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Cast Away leaps to mind. Plasticup ^T/C 12:53, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

For someone who keeps their head while everyone else doesn't, there's The Shawshank Redemption. Julia Rossi (talk) 13:17, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Rocky????--Endless Dan 13:39, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Continuing a theme, how about Rambo? Rmhermen (talk) 13:53, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Hell, what about Over the Top?? Every single dad should watch that movie.--Endless Dan 14:00, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Million Dollar Baby, though it gets somewhat depressing towards the end. Forrest Gump too. 125.21.243.66 (talk) 14:16, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I guess the OP is asking for a whole list of all of them. 125.21.243.66 (talk) 14:20, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Million Dollar Baby would be good if Mr. K was Mrs. K. --Endless Dan 14:27, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Haha so I guess we should stick with Rocky :-) 125.21.243.66 (talk) 14:29, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

LoL, I was just sayin'. --Endless Dan 14:33, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Help with the initials of bands

a) DJ, MN, MD, PT
b) RT, KC, BY, PD
c) SF, BM, KE, M
d) ST, JP, TH, BW, JK

All refer to the initials of band members within these bands. GreekHeroine (talk) 15:02, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

First one - Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, i.e. the Monkees. Trying to get the others... this is a fun game... --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:19, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Apparently c) is incomplete and is supposed to be SF, BM, KE, MF, NB, which makes it Westlife. Strike that one off, then.GreekHeroine (talk) 15:31, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Westlife, eh? No wonder I didn't get it. Is this "Boy Bands from the Sixties to the Present"? I've racked my brains and I can't get the other two. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:35, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

No, the larger list is pretty much standard fare bands, Beach Boys to the Cure, Fleetwood Mac and what have you. There's a peppering of contemporary outfits like the White Stripes and Outkast too, if that's at all relevant. GreekHeroine (talk) 15:41, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

d) would be Aerosmith. Friday (talk) 15:44, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Matchbox Twenty for b). Gantpupo (talk) 16:00, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Solunds like an interesting quiz list... where is the original? I wouldn't mind trying my hand at the others! Grutness...wha? 01:07, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

how long is a piece of string?

Is there a witty answer to this question? It annoys me when people say this and I want a snap response to bark back at them. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nice little dog (talk • contribs) 15:38, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I did hear one once, from the British comedian Stewart Lee. He gave the question and then pulled a piece of string out of his pocket, saying "Well, this one is 12 and a half inches" or whatever. Pretty funny, I thought. Of course, you'd need to carry a piece of string around with you at all times to make this retort work. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:48, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Other retorts include "Twice the distance to its middle". Splash - tk 16:22, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Who says what? What bizarre situation would call for an expression like that? What does it mean? Matt Deres (talk) 18:19, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Is that a retort, Matt, or do you want to know about "how long is a piece of string"? Fribbler (talk) 18:35, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

No, it's not a retort at all. What the heck does it mean? Wiki doesn't even have an article for it, so I've gotta think it's a strictly regional kind of thing. Matt Deres (talk) 23:52, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Matt, it began as a facetious/idiomatic answer to an unanswerable question, or one where the answer is variable, to show that the question is impossible to answer. "How much does it cost to build a house?" – "[You might as well ask] how long is piece of string!" It might be regional, but it's pretty common. 95,700 ghits. Being a well known idiom, it is now also used as a cliched question, completely out of context, just for the sake of asking a stupid question. Gwinva (talk) 00:16, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I like Splash's suggestion. It is witty while at the same time nonchalant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nice little dog (talk • contribs) 18:32, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

When I'm asked this question I usually reply "Twice as long as one half its length". Get's em every time!--80.176.225.249 (talk) 19:37, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

The expresion means, the answer is unknown eg, how long does it take to write a post? depends on how much you choose to write, therefore a sarcastic answer would be... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.18.33.2 (talk) 20:10, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Good day. If anyone asked me that question I would answer simply: "As long as you want it to be."I hope I have helped. I'm sure my answer isn't as witty as others, but it still works. Have a positively wonderful day.Rem Nightfall (talk) 21:29, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

"No shorter than the Planck length". --Sean 14:15, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I also say 'twice the length of half of it'Avnas Ishtaroth (talk) 02:10, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Depends on how fast its traveling in the direction of its length. (relativistically speaking)

Meaning of an idiom

Hi! I am not native :) and am eager of the mood or atmosphere of the following idiom: Beware! Someone is about to read the riot act to you. Is it funny? Is it friendly? Or official? Is it well-known for everybody? Thanks, --Zimmy (talk) 16:42, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Conveniently, we have an article on the Riot Act—there's a section lurking down at the very bottom that addresses the question: Riot Act#"Read the Riot Act". Cheers! TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:59, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

(ec)It means "Someone is about to shout at you", generally for doing something wrong. The idiom comes from an old British law: Riot_Act#.22Read_the_Riot_Act.22. Plasticup ^T/C 17:00, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

My problem is not the meaning (we have also an article in Hungarian), but the atmosphere of the idiom. Pls. read again the second part of my question. --Zimmy (talk) 17:28, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

OK, the title was a bit misleading. --Zimmy (talk) 17:30, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

It can be friendly, threatening, funny or (rarely) official. It depends on context, and tone. In the exact example you give above I'd say it's friendly advice that you've done something that somebody will get worked up over. Fribbler (talk) 18:23, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I've only heard the idiom used in reference to something outside of the immediate conversation. That is, I've never heard someone say, "I'm gonna read you the riot act now!" In my experience, it's usually used as a gossip term, as in "Boy, he sure read me the riot act that day!" or "Did you hear about Jane? Her boss really read her the riot act over being late every day." That kind of thing. It is widely known among fluent English speakers, so far as I can tell. I would not say it to the person whom I'm planning on yelling at, unless it was completely clear that the entire situation was in good humour. Matt Deres (talk) 18:26, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I can't say I've ever heard this expression in an American English conversation. That may not count as "fluent English" for some people, though. --Several Times (talk) 19:48, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I speak American English and am quite familiar with this expression. --LarryMac | Talk 20:04, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

The article claims it long ago passed into history, but I have personally been present when a policeman informed a crowd via loudspeaker that they were unlawfully assembled and would be arrested if they did not disperse. Sounded a lot like the description of the "riot act." They didn't and most weren't. Edison (talk) 21:18, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Reading the riot act isn't a threat to arrest, it's a threat to use deadly force. Algebraist 08:24, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

British English and never heard the term, nor read it. Danny252 (talk) 22:31, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I call it neutral - it doesn't imply humour necessarily, or familiarity, but it is colloquial, and its only use in formal situations is if you are literally going to read them the Riot Act. Steewi (talk) 23:51, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for the help. --Zimmy (talk) 09:10, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Would you find this or maybe any other idiom or proverb apropriate in the title of this template?--Dami (talk) 10:17, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Arabian Football Player Is Taken by the angel of death

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVjzSTIPOc&feature=related

found this while looking at Slayer music. What really happened during this incident, maybe some football fan can help us out. who is/was this guy etc etc etc Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.18.33.2 (talk) 20:07, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

There is some 'information' in the youtube video description on the right. Unfortunately this is the only information I could find; copied and pasted word for word (even in other languages) on hundreds of sites. No reliable sources, and the video is too short to see what happens before hand or afterwards. Could be a seizure, a heart attack, or just a really nasty tackle. One thing it ain't is the Angel of Death. He's too big of a football fan to interrupt a match like that. :-) Fribbler (talk) 22:27, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

The Angel of Death is a bigger fan of the real football. :P Useight (talk) 02:13, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

There is scant information on our article about Abdulrahman Al Shoaibi. Nanonic (talk) 06:35, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

If it WERE the Angel of Death,I'm sure he would be booked for entering the pitch without the ref's permission,and the team that claimed him would have 12 players... Lemon martini (talk) 09:21, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The New Age Has Risen

Good day. Lets talk New Age medicine for a second. Why do people think new age medicine works? I mean some work such as acupuncture for lower back pain, but I am talking about the crazier stuff. Such as the Chinese new age medicine Ti Ti (I think that is how its spelled)where they can rewrite your energy flow so you can heal better, but they don't physical touch you. Why do people want to believe that this stuff will work? Thank you for taking your time to answer my question. I really appreciate it. Have a positively wonderful day.Rem Nightfall (talk) 21:37, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

There's a sucker born every minute... There's hundreds of reasons, mistrust of mainstream medicine, misunderstandings of science, desperation to be cured when mainstream medicine fails and even just religious devotion. There's also the placebo effect which can lead to people feeling better and telling everyone they know that it works. While few to none of these methods stand up to scientific evaluation, most people don't care about this or know what it means. Some of the practitioners genuinely believe in what they are doing while others are the worst kind of con men, taking advantage of people in a desperate situation. -- Mad031683 (talk) 23:28, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Once again, Rem Nightfall, you seem to have mistaken the Reference Desks for some kind of discussion forum. That is not the case, we are not here to talk about "what people believe and why", except, perhaps, at a very basic factual level. Please keep this in mind. --LarryMac | Talk 12:53, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

and have a positively wonderful evening :) 125.21.243.66 (talk) 13:22, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Good day. I'm sorry. I'll be more formal next time then. Because when I talk about "what people believe" I am talking "why they believe." I am always curious about people and their thought process and I'm always looking for that proceess. I guess my questions aren't formal enough so they get misunderstood for something else. I apologize for this and I will word my questions in a better way. Mind you I am not trying to make excuses. I want to follow all the Wikipedia rules and the reference desk rules. I want to make this place a wonderful place. I will try even harder for that goal. With that being said have a positively wonderful day. :)Rem Nightfall (talk) 15:28, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Michael Shermer's books, including Why People Believe Weird Things (ISBN 0805070893) may be of interest to you. -- Coneslayer (talk) 18:33, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Rem, further to Larry's point, would you care to edit mainspace a bit more than you do? There is a massive backlog on articles to be wikified. It would be great to have some more help there, or maybe you would like to join the WP:ICU. Very friendly people and a collaborative atmosphere. I love reading reference desk questions and replies and contributing now and then, but there is a lot more to this encyclopedia. Itsmejudith (talk) 21:50, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think it's appropriate in any way for you to tell Rem how he should be spending his time on Wikipedia. There's lots of things to be done, but we don't require any individual to do all of them or any of them. Do you go around mainspace talk pages, telling article editors that it's time for their shift on the Reference Desk? If you wish to discuss your philosophy further, feel free to start a discussion on the talk page, where you'll reach a more complete audience of Ref Deskers (some of whom do a lot of editing, and some of whom don't). -- Coneslayer (talk) 00:37, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Good evening. All right Itsmejudith I'll edit some articles. I'm just a bit embarrass. Since I'm only in high school and only know so much. My knowledge is limited and I'm scared of putting the wrong thing. I can rewrite sentences though and I can change wording around. I'm really good in English, okay in science, really okay in history, and terrible at math. So I'll try my best. To make Wikipedia a better place of knowledge is my goal. And I will reach it by helping out the articles. I hope I can help. Have a positively wonderful evening. Here I go.Rem Nightfall (talk) 23:17, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Hi Rem, you might find the articles Energy therapy, and Energy medicine interesting, but as to why people believe or not, I have no answer. IMO only, wikipedia's a huge place and personally I'd say take your time getting used to it. If you make a few mistakes, someone will fix them. I went to ICU and it strikes me as not the easiest way to begin since it needs some surgical researching on not too central topics. You'll get used to phrasing the question in a way that pleases the desks by looking at the more basic ones. Ex: Why do some humans readily trust practices that are unverifiable, such as... etc. Users User:Mad031683 and Coneslayer are on the money. Cheers, Julia Rossi (talk) 23:46, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I think the reason people believe in things that may not work or are unproven is quite simple. We all believe in what it makes us comfortable to believe in. Same for disbelief. That's what keeps us sane.

That said, I think the question is not exactly appropriate for this setting as stated above.

Ruairí Óg the Rogue (talk) 02:30, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Merchant Marine Act of 1928

Working on the APL article, and on the APL website this act is mentioned (see http://www.apl.com/history/html/timeline_02.html - 1920s page, under 1928 quite obviously!). Wikipedia doesn't have this act, but has a Merchant Marine Act of 1936 when searching for "Merchant Marine Act". The link to the Jones Act on that page links to another Merchant Marine Act - but in 1920, and none are listed in between. Does the 1928 one exist, and if so, is it notable and/or worth having an article on? Danny252 (talk) 22:04, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes it exists. It was known popularly as the Jones-White act: see here. Looks like an article to be created to me.... Fribbler (talk) 22:16, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Righto, will put in a blank link to that and an article request. Thanks Danny252 (talk) 22:18, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

July 2

Liquor Store Laws

I'm 19 and my girlfriend just turned 21. Am I allowed to accompany her into a liquor store while she makes a purchase? We're in Pennsylvania if that's applicable. Thanks 71.175.59.53 (talk) 22:49, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Can you use any style of jump in high jump?

I was watching this:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nnIyjqcOUr8&feature=related

10 seconds in surprised me with how high he got. It appears as if it's 2m - 2.5m. With good high jumping shoes and small style adjustments it could be even better. Would this be allowed? --81.100.112.56 (talk) 00:47, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Saying that any style is acceptable may run afoul of issues, but you may certainly use unconventional techniques in the high jump. The Fosbury Flop hasn't always existed, for instance. I should also note that the gymnastics surface in the video appears quite springy, which isn't the case for the high jump. — Lomn 00:55, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

On further investigation, that style would be disallowed. High jump competitors must take off from one foot. — Lomn 01:01, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! --81.100.113.139 (talk) 21:03, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Branislav Ivanovic = Brother of Ana Ivanovic?

Is Branislav Ivanovic the brother of Ana Ivanovic? Both are Serbian people with the same surname, but t is not stated on their articles about their relationship. So are they realy siblings?--203.124.2.18 (talk) 03:58, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Possibly not - the Ana Ivanović article says she has "a younger brother, Miloš", which slightly suggests she has no other siblings. Also, she was born in Belgrade whereas Branislav Ivanović was born in Sremska Mitrovica.--92.40.81.160 (talk) 08:23, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Ivanovic is a very common name in Serbia. Going on the name alone, it would be highly likely that they're not closely related. -- JackofOz (talk) 11:35, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, just like Yankovic: Jelena Yankovic and Weird Al Yankovic are not related. Or maybe......14:29, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes, we have to be careful with language with this subject. All humans are ultimately related to each other, so you can't say that any two people are "not related" without engaging in terminological inexactitude. What we're saying is that 2 people with the same surname do not necessarily have any identifiable or close blood or marital connection. I see 3 scenarios:

Identified and close: e.g. siblings

Identified and distant: e.g. 23rd cousins 18 times removed (which means that for all practical purposes they're not considered to be related, even though they actually are); or

Unidentified: because of our lack of genealogical skills and/or the absence of relevant records, they might have no identifiable relationship at all. But this is not a reason to believe that such a relationship doesn't exist. We just haven't found out what it is yet, and may never be able to find it. -- JackofOz (talk) 17:39, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Ivanovic is like Johnson, isn't it? --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 21:10, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Guava

I have a guava tree in my kitchen garden. However it is attacked by bats which eat away all its fruits . How do I get rid of the menace? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sumalsn (talk • contribs)

I imagine 'getting rid of the menace' would be much more difficult than protecting your tree. This may appear naive but you ought to be looking for some sort of net that you can put over the tree when the fruits begin to ripen. This assumes your tree is small enough to cover easily and the cost of a suitable net is within reason. Richard Avery (talk) 06:58, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Hi Sumalsn. In some places bats are protected by law. Here in the UK "all bats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Acts, and even disturbing a bat or its roost can be punished with a heavy fine." I don't know whether there are similar laws in India but it might be worth checking in case you were thinking of taking action directly against the bats.--92.40.81.160 (talk) 08:32, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

If you can't net the whole tree, try plastic bags or netting over the bunches of fruit. Julia Rossi (talk) 11:14, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

or glass-bottles then you could have a guava-fruit in a jar thing like those apple/pear in a jar things you get! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.133.226 (talk) 12:40, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Maybe you can get a bat predator. [1] Says: "Numerous anecdotal observations have revealed a wide range of predators for bats. Raptors and owls approach bats and often catch them in flight. Opossums and snakes may wait close to roost sites or attack fruit-eating bats when they approach trees loaded with ripe fruits. Presumably to lessen the risk of being caught by predators such as owls, some bats are known to drastically reduce their activity level during bright nights around full moon (lunarphobia)." -LambaJan (talk) 13:45, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Dragon/Knight Riddle

A dragon and knight live on an island, which has seven poisoned wells, numbered one through seven. If you drink from a well you can only save yourself by drinking from a higher numbered well. Well number seven is located at the top of a high mountain, so only the dragon can reach it. They decide the island isnt big enough and they have a duel. Each of them brings a glass of water to the duel, they exchange glasses and drink. After the duel, the knight lives and the dragon dies. Why? I've asked a few people and they don't know XD Any ideas are much appreciated. Thanks, KiloT 14:01, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Are we allowed to assume that the dragon doesn't bring water from well number one? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:10, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Okay, I think we're allowed to assume that the knight is cleverer. Hint: if you were the knight, what would you bring in your glass (knowing how the dragon would react to what it expects you to bring) and how would you prepare for what you expect the dragon to have in its glass? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:19, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Here we go - We'll assume that the knight thinks the dragon is going to give the knight from well 7, so just before the duel the knight drinks from the well numbered 6, poisoning himself (and keeping a little extra to give to the dragon), then when the dragon givs the knight well 7 water to drink this cures the knight, allowing him to live. On the dragon dying stance i'm going to say that the dragon was far too tired to go back up to well 7 (it's a long way you know) after already being up there once, so didn't get the antidote and died. -Benbread (talk) 14:28, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Why would the dragon bring the only drink that would cure the knight? The dragon would surely bring a drink from well 6 because it knows that it can always reach well 7 but the knight never can, therefore by making the night drink well 6 the knight will never be cured, whereas the dragon can just go to whichever well is required after drinking the first drink and be cured. Am I missing something (sorry just reworded my answer a bit)? 194.221.133.226 (talk) 14:43, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Oh wait I see - if he pre-drinks a well then the higher-numbered well has no poisoning affect - only acting as a cure? If that's the case then the knight must simply pre-guess the dragon's choice and pre-drink from a lower-numbered well, that way provided the dragon brings a higher-well number down he will be making what was a poison a cure, and then whatever he gives the dragon would require the dragon to go get a drink from a higher-well. The problem here is like benbread said we have to assume that there isn't sufficient time for the dragon to get the cure (since he can access all the wells). Not a good riddle i don't think 194.221.133.226 (talk) 14:50, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

If the knight brought a higher numbered water than the dragon then on exchange he would drink from a low value glass. A drink from a glass leaves content, so the knight at once grabbed the glass the dragon has drunk from. This is a higher number than the one he drank from. So he is saved. AND this is a dual not a drinking contest, so the knight used his weapons to prevent the dragon reaching a well - or perhaps just killed him outright.86.197.172.94 (talk) 15:14, 2 July 2008 (UTC)DT

Good day. The knight could have brought the water from the higher numbered wells. That would seem more likely, at least to me. So the knight grabbed water from a lower level well and a higher number well knowing the dragon would probably get water from a low level well. Then during the duel the playing field is equal you have two glasses of poison and one glass of cure. Either that or the dragon brought a higher level well water thinking the knight would only bring lower levels. Even so I think that there were two glasses of poison and one glass of a cure. I hope I have helped. I know sometimes my answers can be a bit confusing so I hope this one isn't. Have a positively wonderful day.Rem Nightfall (talk) 15:41, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

At this point I'd be more interested to see the purported "solution". Much as Benbread has laid out above, I see no answer that assumes rational players without stepping into "one has time to get poisoned and then cured, but the other doesn't." — Lomn 16:37, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I think I figured it out: Before the knight comes to the duel, he drinks from Well 1. The dragon chooses to give him the water he knows the knight isn't going to be able to cure, i.e. from Well 6, which actually cures the knight. The knight gives the dragon normal (i.e. not from any of the wells) water. The dragon, convinced he is poisoned, drinks from Well 7, gets poisoned, and, since there is no well higher than 7 with which he could cure himself, dies. 80.123.210.172 (talk) 16:44, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

A brilliant answer. I am convinced. Plasticup ^T/C 17:02, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm not. Where does the non-poisoned water come from? The dragon knows good and well that the non-poisoned salt water doesn't require a drink from Well 7 to cure. — Lomn 17:05, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

It doesn't say anywhere that there aren't any other fresh water sources on the island. The knight and dragon don't normally drink from the poisoned wells, they're just doing it for the duel. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.123.210.172 (talk) 17:11, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

In that case, we're just adding silly content to change the parameters of the riddle to fit a proposed solution. Alternately, we've abandoned the notion of rational actors. Why can't the dragon engage in the same trickery? "The knight is smarter" is wholly uninteresting. — Lomn 17:15, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm adding silly content because the riddle is completely idiotic. There is no viable solution that I can think of without adding content. Is this just some elaborate hoax? 80.123.210.172 (talk) 17:19, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

(Rm indent)Yes, the riddle is flawed. The answer I had in mind is the same as 80's above (except I said that the dragon will give the knight water from well 7 - same thing, really). We have to assume that the dragon is silly and would expect water from some well. And I used the fact that they're on an island to assume that there's an abundance of non-poisoned water (it would have been quite obvious if the asker spellled this out). But I'm pretty sure that that's what the asker had in mind. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 17:30, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think the riddle is flawed at all. The fact that they "live" on the island proves that there must be drinkable water for the knight somewhere. I don't think that qualifies as added content; on the contrary, the only way we could have a situation without a drinkable well is if the riddle specified that there was no such thing or at least said that they'd recently been stranded there somehow. I came to a similar solution and I think it's a lot more sensible than the crap that often gets floated around as "riddles" on the net. Matt Deres (talk) 18:14, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I agree that the existence of non-poisonous water as well as the dragon's ability to taste salt are clutching at straws. I called it flawed because we have to assume that the knight is cleverer and riddles usually specify if the players are not rational or not equally intelligent. But now that I think about it, the riddle did mention that the knight won so the assumption is not unreasonable. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 19:01, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

My chief problem with an answer like that (specifically, the knight being more intelligent) is that it eliminates the notion of a singular answer. Once disparate intelligences are supposed, why not just say that the dragon was dumb and brought well 1 water? Or that the knight attacked the dragon's vulnerable throat when it tilted its head back to drink? Or that the knight had, in fact, spent years in Australia developing an immunity to iocain powder? All of these "solve" the riddle, and all alter the premise less than adjusting the central puzzle of the riddle by introducing unspecified water sources. — Lomn 19:35, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Fair enough, but I still prefer the given answer. The riddle is specifically designed to seem to favour the dragon (having access to well #7), but states clearly that the knight won the duel. The "good" answer should account for the result while only playing with the variables given (in this case, the order of drink). While you feel that the outcome removed the possibility of a singular answer, I think it's provided the single reasonable answer. Having the dragon be stupid and bring water from well #1 would only account for the knight surviving, not the death of the dragon. The dragon can only be killed (I think) if it is tricked in the manner described. Matt Deres (talk) 20:50, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, we could assume that the duel involves standing around until one of them falls over dead (maybe you only have 30 seconds to drink from another well and they only have the two carrying vessels), in which case the only way to protect oneself would be to pre-drink. If that's the case, then the knight raced to Well #1 as soon as the duel was called, camped there to keep the dragon from pre-drinking from it and from bringing it to the duel, and then left with a glass of its water at the last second, hoping that the dragon wouldn't sneak out of the bushes and fly to the duel faster than he could run. He also must hope that the dragon didn't collect water before the duel was called.

I don't buy the argument that there must be drinkable water somewhere on the island. We could say that the knight's morning routine is to take his glass over to Well #1, fill it, walk to Well #2, drink Well #1's water from the glass, then immediately drink from Well #2. And likewise for the dragon. --Prestidigitator (talk) 20:13, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Doesn't anybody have a problem with the dragon bringing a glass of water to the duel in the first place :-)} ?? Once you accept that, then 80.123 and Matt Deres have the basic keys. Ignore the knight for a moment; he's adequately dealt with. Then:

• What is the only scenario in which the dragon must die -- i.e., the only scenario in which there is no antidote? He has to drink from 7.
• The knight can't give him water from 7, therefore he has to drink it himself.
• If the knight gave him water from 1-6, drinking 7 cures him. Therefore, there must be nontoxic water on the island.

No other scenario forces the dragon to die, right? --Danh, 63.231.163.123 (talk) 23:33, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

The other scenario that forces the dragon to die is that it drinks no water after the duel drink. Actually the answer is that the problem needs to be stated much better. For example, must the second drink be consumed immediately after the first to cancel the toxic effects? Nothing in the problem actually stated that the successive drink from the higher-numbered well didn't also need to be cured, so a simple interpretation of the problem statement leaves them both doomed as soon as they take their first drink, for where is Well #8? This doesn't seem to be a very useful assumption, but I think the one about the duel drink being their last (before the life/death determination) is a reasonable one, and gives a sure answer to the problem as well (as I stated above). --Prestidigitator (talk) 08:33, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The dragon died of old age and the knight drank the brew that is truehotclaws 13:51, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Toast vs Bread: Calories

Whilst making some toast this morning, as if often the case, my mind drifted away from the charred wheat product i was about to indulge to more serious matters: Namely, which has more/less calories and is "better for you", Toast or Bread (commonly known as antitoast)? Here's my reasoning; When being toasted the bread is exposed to heat which causes the bread particles to become excited (and here's where my theory could be proved null) and presumably an exothermic reaction occurs, probably to do with all that tasty tasty starch being reduced to carbon. But then i though, what about warm toast? Warm toast is generally much hotter than that of the human body so energy in the form of heat must be transferred to the body, resulting in additional energy (just as drinking lots of cold water burns calories). But then, as the smoke alarm started to sound i was struck with a third conundrum; What about the increased hardness and general crunch-factor of toast, surely that would result in more energy being required to process and therefore less calorie gain? It's a dilemma, Wikipedia, so i'm hoping some toast connoisseur could spread some light on it. (Get it, spread? eh?) -Benbread (talk) 14:15, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

As per [2] there's no difference in the calory content of bread and toast. Hail Wiki! 125.21.243.66 (talk) 14:23, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

The calory content of bread/toast doesn't change based on weather it's crunchy or soft, or warm or at room temperature - it only causes a negligible change in the calories consumed to ingest it. Toasting doesn't convert starch to carbon, it only dehydrates the bread somewhat. Hail Wiki! 125.21.243.66 (talk) 14:25, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

But what if you're a particularly bad chef and whilst cooking set the toast alight due to overcooking resulting in a completely charred mess that has been extinguished due to there being nothing left to burn? Hail Benbread (talk) 14:33, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm... that would be interesting. AFAIK that should cause a decrease in the caloric content, since some of the oxidation that was supposed to happen inside the body occurs outside and the residue on ingesting doesn't give that much energy (or may even be undigestible). 125.21.243.66 (talk) 14:37, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Something else to ponder [3]. --LarryMac | Talk 14:59, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Haha LOL 125.21.243.66 (talk) 15:46, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Toast absorbs more butter or margarine than bread - that's part of the point of toast. So your total calorie intake will be higher if you choose toast. On the other hand if you don't like bread as much as you like toast, you might be tempted to spread a lot of nutella, jam or lemon curd on the bread, in which case that would be the higher-calorie option. Itsmejudith (talk) 21:44, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Zune

I have the old model 30 GB Zune. I use it at least 6 hours a day, every day. I usually have it connected to my PC via USB so the battery is always charged. I am now noticing something strange. The battery life at the corner of the Zune is red. I have never seen this before. Can someone tell me what this means? I don't have access to the internet (outside of Wikipedia..), so I apologize for what may be perceived as lack of foot work on my part. --Endless Dan 15:04, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Make sure that you have the device connected to a high-power USB port. For optimal charging, the Zune device requires at least 500 milliamps (mA) of power. Frequently, USB ports that are located on the front of a computer and on some USB hubs are low-power, 100-mA ports. Typically, the high-power, 500-mA USB ports are on the back of the computer. Additionally, when you suspend the computer or put the computer to sleep, high-power USB ports may be switched to low-power, 100 mA mode.

from zune.net - one possibility87.102.86.73 (talk) 15:18, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

What do the 'charging icons' say? eg from zune.net again

• The device displays the home screen or full-screen charging icons. See Resolution 1.
• The device displays the home screen, follow these steps. See Resolution 2.
• The device displays full-screen charging icons. See Resolution 3.

87.102.86.73 (talk) 15:21, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Since you use the Zune so much, it's entirely possible that the battery is simply not working at the efficiency it had when the device was new. The fact that you let it charge continuously may also be contributing to the issue; I know that some other electronic devices such as laptops may lose some battery capacity if they are continuously being recharged. --Several Times (talk) 19:48, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

What is it called?

What is it called when an image is placed on a black background, usually with a white border, and a funny caption below it? I see this a lot of websites and forums. What it it's origin? Examples: [4] [5] [6] 79.75.179.174 (talk) 17:29, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Motivational poster. --Sean 17:54, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I think you may be looking for LOLCats. DJ Clayworth (talk) 17:59, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

You are definitely looking for the image macro, or a specific form of it at least. --Several Times (talk) 19:41, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think LOLCats came before Yotsuba's motivational posters, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's ones that came before that too. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 20:30, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Since the OP mentioned that it has a funny caption, it is perhaps a demotivational poster- a mock of motivational posters. Acceptable (talk) 04:56, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

They are called Successories, both the motivational and funny ones. Peace. ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 06:14, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Are dogs prostitutes?

could I say that dogs are prostitutes, since they like us as long as we provide shelter and food to them, but they never provide us with food and shelter? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.59.90.236 (talk) 17:57, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Not unless they are having sex with us... DJ Clayworth (talk) 17:58, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Well in that case my dog is definately......eh....you could say it was a parasitic relationship. But since we benefit (by getting affection), it could be symbiotic moreso. Fribbler (talk) 18:01, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Temple Grandin, an animal behavior scientist, has said that dogs have probably lived in a symbiotic relationship with humans from the time that we bacame humans. They provided protection and probably assisted in hunting for food and in protecting crops. They also "provided shelter" by driving off animals or people who might have decided to take our shelter for their own use. In more recent millenia they have continued to serve in hunting, protecting, herding, and in search and rescue, as well as being trtained as service animals such as guide dogs for the blind. "Symbiotes" or employees would thus be a good descriptor of many dogs throughout history. There are also dogs which just provide companionship. See also "Eulogy of the dog," [7] by George G. Vest, September 23, 1870, 1 U.S., Congress, Senate, Congressional Record, 101st Cong., 2d sess., pp. S4823-24 (daily edition). Try substituting the word "prostitute" for "dog" in the passage and see if it makes as much sense. Edison (talk) 18:17, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

In any case I don't know how you'd get "prostitutes" out of them. Prostitutes refer specifically to sex workers—the return of sex in exchange for resources. "Happiness" and "sex" are not the same thing. --Fastfission (talk) 19:44, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Sort of, except you don't have to pay dogs to have sex with them.87.102.86.73 (talk) 20:06, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

example http://www.meancheese.com/pictures/bangkok/dogs3.jpg note the url - bangkok QED.87.102.86.73 (talk) 20:09, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

what about pimps http://blog.meevee.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/21/dogs.jpg you bet.87.102.86.73 (talk) 20:10, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

They do provide food. Heck they even fight for your country. As for me, my dogs and I have a symbiotic relationship. We feed and take care of them while they provide companionship and an early warning device.--Lenticel ^(talk) 21:20, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I take it you mean "prostitute" figuratively as in "a person who misuses their talents or who sacrifices their self-respect for the sake of personal or financial gain" – as if a dog might be a careerist speciesist opportunist. If you make it wider, there's an economy of exchange in there, companionship, protection, hunting skills and alarm notice for food and shelter and a reasonable amount of exercise. So there were times when breeds were kept to provide food as well. In Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin says wolves likely taught humans to co-operate with each other, and that dogs fit into human groups because they're a pack animal that expects a pecking order with allocated responsibilities. You'd have to ask a dog if it's been a fair exchange. A lot of the time it looks like sacrificed self-respect to me. Julia Rossi (talk) 06:12, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think dogs have a concept of self respect.87.102.86.73 (talk) 12:10, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Why not? They are reasonably intelligent. Plasticup ^T/C 12:23, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

animals

do animals have heart attacks like humans do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.76.197.50 (talk) 19:40, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Well, only those with hearts. Mammals also have cancers, diabetes, glaucomas, etc. Plasticup ^T/C 19:55, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Videos on iPod

Does anyone know how many Megabytes a 25 minute video takes up on an iPod? I want to download an episode of Family Guy from iTunes, but I have a 4 GB Nano and I don't want to download the episode if it takes up to much space. Thanks! Grango242 (talk) 20:21, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

It should fit. Entire DVDs are often under 4 GBs. --Endless Dan 20:44, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I think the OP was worried about one episode taking up too much space, not whether it would fit. If you don't get a good answer here, try the Computing desk. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 20:52, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

In my experience, 45 minute shows (i.e. episodes from full-hour slots) take up about 350 MB. I expect that a 25 minute show (which is probably more like 22 minutes if we are talking about a show from a 30-minute slot) would be about 175 MB. Plasticup ^T/C 21:04, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! Grango242 (talk) 01:15, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

What's that song?

<thanks for your vote of confidence on this desk, but off to entertainment it goes[8] because.. 1) there is an ent desk for a reason and the quality of questions there should be maintained and 2) it's generating debate (um-ah!) Julia Rossi (talk) 08:08, 3 July 2008 (UTC)>

Non-profits most profitable prophets

Since many non-profit organizations give exorbitant salaries and other benefits to their senior staff, this seems to bypass the spirit of the law, if not the letter. Recent examples include the Red Cross, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and, of course, a whole range of televangelists orgs which seem designed solely to enrich their leaders by collecting money "for charity" and instead using it to buy luxury cars (Creflow Dollar), private jets and mansions (Kenneth Copeland), etc. So, is there any jurisdiction which imposes a limit on how much money can go to individuals who run the "non-profit" orgs ? StuRat (talk) 23:59, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

In the USA, large non-profits make their finances public via IRS Form 990, so donors can decide whether the administrative overhead is excessive, just like with public companies. Most non-profits run on contributions of (presumably) informed donors, so I don't see the problem. --Sean 01:02, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

What makes you think Blue Cross Blue Shield is a non-profit organization? --LarryMac | Talk 01:04, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is a nonprofit, read the 4th sentence in the "Mission" statement on their page: [9]. I'd just assumed this meant all of them were, but maybe not. StuRat (talk) 03:03, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Wellpoint, which owns/operates BCBS plans in 14 states is clearly a for-profit, publicly traded company. It's not clear to me what the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is - the article says it's a federation, and their website doesn't really give any clear indication. --LarryMac | Talk 13:13, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

It's clearly impossible for the large organizations, like the American Red Cross, to use only volunteer labor. So they're going to have to hire truck drivers, janitors, HR staff, and so forth to operate. Should the truck drivers be paid a competitive (market) wage for their labor? How about the Oracle admin? The middle-managers? Upper management? At what point in the organizational hierarchy should the pay become sub-market, and what effect will that have on the quality of people you hire? (There may be independently wealthy, brilliant people who want to "make a difference" and will work for free. They'll make great Board members. That doesn't mean they'll take on the upper-management lifestyle of constant travel, long hours, etc.) -- Coneslayer (talk) 01:18, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I never suggested not paying people at all. If you want me to draw a line, I'd say US$100,000 a year in salary and other compensation is a reasonable limit. I would think there are many CEOs raking in millions a year who would like to retire from their current jobs and lead a major charity, for little or no compensation, as their way to "give back" to the community. After all, many of these "charities" collect money from people who can barely afford it, so asking the CEO of the charity to "get by" on a six figure salary hardly seems like an unfair sacrifice to expect. StuRat (talk) 02:48, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The article Non-profit organization warns not to generalize "about the comparative cost of a "nonprofit" versus "for profit" organization; there may be internalized profit in a nonprofit organization" since the distinction is between a company that pays shareholders (profit) and a nfp company that pays stakeholders (profit redistributed in other ways). A charity is something else. In Charitable organization it says, "Charities are all non-profit organizations, however, not all non-profit organizations are charities." Then there's misappropriation and some CEOs notoriously walk away with multiples of 7-figure payouts when a company fails spectacularly, so they don't look like the types to reduce themselves to working for 6-figure peanuts. Julia Rossi (talk) 06:24, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

That's a good distinction. I also question whether granting tax-free status to non-charities who pay their execs millions makes sense, but let's limit this discussion to charitable non-profit orgs for now. StuRat (talk) 13:20, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Julia makes an important point. Harvard University, for example, is a non-profit but not a charity. If the president of the university makes $100k, what do the deans and department heads make? How about the faculty? How will you attract faculty to the schools of business, law, and medicine, given their opportunities in the private sector?

Assuming you meant to limit the discussion to charitable organizations, the same reasoning holds. Suppose you're a talented mid-career Oracle DBA, in charge of the Springfield Datacenter of the American Magenta Cross, making $90k, in line with the for-profit sector. Your boss retires and you get the good news: You've been promoted to Manager of National Database Operations! It's a lot more travel, and your Blackberry will be surgically implanted, but don't worry... you'll be raking in $95k for the trouble! What do you do? What do you do?

The same goes for the CEOs and other upper management. CEOs are interchangeable in the modern business world. Whether that's a good idea or not, it's the reality—you don't have to be a "car guy" to run Ford. If the market rate for a CEO of you org's size is $5M, then what do you expect to get for $100k? Your question seems like it presupposes that the charity can dictate salary ("asking the CEO of the charity to "get by" on a six figure salary hardly seems like an unfair sacrifice to expect") but they simply don't have that power. Employees have excellent mobility between the for-profit and non-profit sectors, so the charities are competing in the same labor market as the for-profits. -- Coneslayer (talk) 11:20, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Of course the charity has the power to set the salary of their executive staff to be whatever they want. And certainly there are some people willing to work at a reduced salary for a good cause. The only issue I see is if there are enough quality people around to fill all the positions needed. I would guess that there are, but have there been any surveys asking people if they would be willing to work at a reduced salary for a worthwile cause ? Also, even if the CEO isn't quite as experienced, the extra millions the charity gets to keep and avoiding the PR disaster and resulting withholding of donations from paying millions to a CEO may well be worth it. StuRat (talk) 13:11, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Many of the world's problems disappear if you get to postulate a large supply of capable people willing to work at below-market rates for a good cause. Given the continued existence of these problems, I dispute the existence of this labor pool. -- Coneslayer (talk) 14:00, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Solving all of the world's probs would take millions of such people, while only hundreds are needed to lead major charities. I believe there are hundreds, but not millions, of such people. Also, I can't blame people who barely make enough to survive as is for refusing a pay cut, but can find fault with millionaires who refuse a pay cut for any reason. StuRat (talk) 22:22, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

The discussion seems to have drifted from my question, whether any jurisdiction currently limits the compensation of executives at non-profits, to a more general discussion of whether such a law would be good. Can we get back to the original Q, please ? StuRat (talk) 13:11, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

July 3

Another musical question

<moved to entertainment desk[10] because we can't have original posters creating new desk purposes without consensus. And for optimal results! Julia Rossi (talk) 08:16, 3 July 2008 (UTC)>

Nixon Road?

Could someone please tell me where this is? maybe someone could google it? --TheGreenGorilla (talk) 01:03, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Want to give us a town, city, county, state, province, country? --LarryMac | Talk 01:06, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

San Francisco California? i just pulled that out of the air. --TheGreenGorilla (talk) 01:08, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

[11] --LarryMac | Talk 01:13, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Mugabe opinion

will he lay down his arms if US threatnes to invaid? --TheGreenGorilla (talk) 01:37, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Probably not. If the US threatened to invade it'd probably get a LOT of opposition — people are not exactly happy with the US as the "interventionist" state, either domestically or internationally. Mugabe would probably try to encourage that, and bank on the fact that it would be easier for the US to do nothing than to start yet another unwanted war. (And the US probably is stretched too thin militarily to possibly open up a new front in a totally different region.) Anyway, there's no casus belli for starting a war with Zimbabwe—they don't endanger US security at all, there's no way you'd be able to sell something like that to Congress or the public without the "mushroom cloud" fear. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 01:52, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Last time I looked, Zimbabwe has nothing the U.S. needs, so just like the Sudan, Bush may talk, but he won't do anything. Clarityfiend (talk) 03:27, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Sudan does have some oil, so that might give Bush a reason to invade there. Then again, no matter where he decides to invade, his co-President Dick Cheney will get some lucrative no-bid contracts for his Haliburton buddies, and he'll receive "payment for services rendered" as soon as he leaves office. StuRat (talk) 04:03, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The only possible military intervention will be from the African Union, which may or may not work. Intervention from non-African countries would just play right into Mugabe's anti-Western-influence spiel. Plasticup ^T/C 11:54, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but there are more important issues than whether Mugabe gets to claim that his country would be paradise if not for Western influence. To the American public, establishing true democracy is important, while to Bush and Cheney raiding the public treasury to enrich themselves and their defence contractor buddies would be the goal. So, it would be a win-win situation for all. StuRat (talk) 13:39, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

If Mugabe's propaganda machine is given any more fuel the invading forces could well find themselves "installing democracy" on another unwilling populace. We all know how well that works. Plasticup ^T/C 13:49, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

"To the American public, establishing true democracy is important" — I personally doubt this. The American public cares about something called "true democracy" only in very inspecific ideological terms (most would not really know how to answer truthfully the question of whether the USA was a "true democracy"). They are not interested in wars in the name of "true democracy" unless they feel threatened. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:52, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Eric Shinseki: Ranger?

Was Gen. Eric Shinseki (Ret.) a member of the U.S. Army Rangers? A Ranger Tap is clearly visible on his uniform, but the article does not mention him serving in the Rangers. Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 02:41, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

He would only have to completed the Ranger's 2 month training course to recieve the Tab, and not have actually served in the Army Rangers. You will see most (all?) top US generals have it. Have a look at the other Chiefs of Staff in the template at the bottom of his article. Fribbler (talk) 11:41, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Michelle Obama and Mccains wife relationship?

what do you think of this? --TheGreenGorilla (talk) 04:41, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

they seem to be getting along with one another. clarify i didnt mean other type of relationship. --TheGreenGorilla (talk) 04:58, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

This sounds like a discussion topic, not a reference question. Plasticup ^T/C 12:22, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

oops --TheGreenGorilla (talk) 12:23, 3 July 2008 (UTC) srry

Well-known people on WP

Are there any well-known/famous people who are known to have accounts on wikipedia...apart from Jimbo? --212.120.246.239 (talk) 07:42, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

User talk:RichardDawkins. I believe it's really him. :) Zain Ebrahim (talk) 07:46, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

No, that's just outmoded superstition with no objective evidence to support it. ;-) DJ Clayworth (talk) 14:12, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedians with articles and Category:Notable Wikipedians. Best of luck in finding many household names in those lists, though. My favourite is Nicholson Baker. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 07:50, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

What is the largest bird in Europe?

--TheGreenGorilla (talk) 07:49, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

did you know this answer? Well, here goes, the Great Bustard. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:47, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Chicago: 360 N. Michigan Ave.

Is the London Guarantee Building (near the Michigan Avenue Bridge) the same thing as the Crain Communications Building? I asked at Talk:London Guarantee Building but haven’t received an answer. --Mathew5000 (talk) 08:56, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

They certainly have the same address. Here's Crain in Chicago:[12] and here is the London Guarantee Building: [13]. Couldn't tell you how much of the building is occupied by Crain, but they appear to have their Chicago offices there. Fribbler (talk) 11:23, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Further delving shows me that as of 2001 the building is wholly owned by Crain Communications and has been renamed accordingly. Fribbler (talk) 11:25, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Fribbler. I noticed in Google Streetview [14] that the building had "CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS" over at least one of the entrances, and I thought it was in the same place as the London Guarantee Building, but I couldn't figure out why the Wikipedia article did not mention it. --Mathew5000 (talk) 12:31, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I walk by the building every day and can confirm that the Crain name has been stuck onto the London Guarantee Building. Deor (talk) 19:30, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Colouring Text

I am groping in the dark to find the right code for the colour "red" in my user page. Can anyone point me to a place that lists all the colour codes used in Wikipedia?? La Alquimista (talk) 11:24, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Colours suggests you can just use the HTML code "red". I haven't tried it out though. Fribbler (talk) 11:28, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Web colors. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 11:28, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Top 10 most famous Wikipedians?

Hi, a previous question reminded me of the time when I tried to browse through the Wikipedians with articles page, but soon gave up because it's just too long and I didn't find anyone I recognized by name. So I'd like to ask, who (in your opinion, I guess) are the most famous Wikipedians of them all? Are there any well-known celebrities or not? The only one I actually know of is Stephen Colbert, but that's sort of a given; and Richard Dawkins as mentioned before, probably. (And you know Jimbo never counts :D ) Thanks in advance, Kreachure (talk) 14:05, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

(Edit conflict.) Do you mean wikipedians famous on wikipedia or in the "real world"? · AndonicO ^Engage. 14:12, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Real World, surely. The only two I know on the list by name are Peter Hitchens the journalist and John Romero of ID games. Fribbler (talk) 14:15, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I would think that Ted Allen would be one of the best known among the general public (but he's not active). -- Coneslayer (talk) 14:18, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

An American public ;-) Fribbler (talk) 14:20, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

It's not exactly a list of household names, is it. The only ones I've heard of, apart from the ones named above, are Nicholson Baker, Galen Strawson, Jakob Nielsen and Nigel Short. And I'm thrilled to see that Charles Ingram has an account (*cough*). --Richardrj ^{talk email} 14:27, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Real world, definitely. I'd rather wait a little while until Wikipedia gets more popular to start asking for celebrities from Wikipedia :) Anyways, I found Grant Imahara from Mythbusters. Cool... probably. Kreachure (talk) 14:42, 3 July 2008 (UTC) Weren't some country's royal family editing their article, identified by the IP being from the palace? Edison (talk) 18:45, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

To readers of books, Poppy Z. Brite and Christopher Cerf, among others, are fairly well known. And Roger Ebert has edited WP, though not for a while. Deor (talk) 19:23, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Mark Cuban, who only edited his own article (no surprise). I guess most of them are too busy doing stuff that we can write about. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:14, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Elizabeth Moon seems to have edited some of her own stuff in the past. --Masamage ♫ 23:23, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Bamber Gascoigne is pretty well known in the UK. You can see a long list of articles whose subjects have edited Wikipedia at Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:Notable Wikipedian. Warofdreams talk 23:38, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

User:Prz = Phil Zimmermann. --Mathew5000 (talk) 23:50, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I recently wrote a stub for Myer Fredman, who has a username of the same name but is not active. He's famous in my world, but I wouldn't be surprised if the mob have never heard of him. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:50, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Squeek-squeek, I'm wheeling out the only one I know I can find, Mike Dash aka User:Mikedash. Julia Rossi (talk) 02:34, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, Richard Borcherds, known on Wikipedia as user:r.e.b., is one of the most famous people in the world. (Except, perhaps, among non-mathematicians.) Michael Hardy (talk) 02:41, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Philip S. Khoury and J. Philippe Rushton are pretty famous to me. But come on, seriously, the most famous is obviously Mike Godwin! Adam Bishop (talk) 12:35, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Dont forget Weird Al--omnipotence407 (talk) 12:52, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

There are a fair number of people I'm came across who have edited their own articles or talk pages (and perhaps one or two other minor edits). E.g. User:RichardDawkins. If you count these you probably have quite a few candidates Nil Einne (talk) 14:40, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Richard Stallman, who among other things founded the Free Software Foundation which created the license Wikipedia uses, edited as User:Rmstallman. Graham87 17:02, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Diamonds

At what tempreture do diamonds melt? If they sometimes come out of volcanoes, then the temp at which they melt must be hoter than magma, so what temp is it?193.115.175.247 (talk) 15:20, 3 July 2008 (UTC)Zionist

According to Diamond, "Above 1700 °C (1973 K / 3583 °F), diamond is converted to graphite". -- Coneslayer (talk) 15:24, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

So at what temp does graphite melt? And what is the average temp of magma? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 15:39, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

For all your melting-point-of-graphite needs, heres a table from "the world of carbon": [15]. The Magma article gives a temperature range of between 700 and 1300 celcius. Fribbler (talk) 15:55, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

And for all your science needs, there's[16]. Just saying, Julia Rossi (talk) 02:28, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Horticultural advice?

In my backyard we have planted four sweet basil plants. The two nearest the house are doing great—constantly perky, lots of big, fresh leaves, constant regeneration of removed leaves. The two a little further our are doing lousy—droopy, yellowish, not very many new leaves, nothing very large. Both receive pretty much equal amounts of water and sunlight. Both were initially planted in soil with fertilizer.

What might explain the differences between the two? What ought I do in order to help out the struggling pair? I don't have much of a green thumb, so if this seems obvious to those who do, I apologize... thank you. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:47, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

What country/climate are you located in? Fribbler (talk) 15:51, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Oh, sorry. USA, New England. Very hot and humid in the summer, occasional thunderstorms and heavy downpours. (And obviously in the winter everything dies. That's fine. We just grow in the summer.) --98.217.8.46 (talk) 16:32, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Plant lots more basil seeds quickly. You will then be able to pick the leaves, even make pesto, before the fall/autumn. It should grow very quickly in hot and humid weather. As with some other herbs, it is a good idea to make weekly sowings so that you always have some at the right stage for picking. Itsmejudith (talk) 16:55, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

We aren't planting seeds, we're working from plants (seeds are too problematic for me). The four plants all came from the same source at the same state of health. Yet two do very well and two do not. That's the question I want answered. Even two plants produces more than enough to make pesto at the end of the year—I know how to pick th leaves off to stimulate production. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 18:22, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

If I were you, I would consider if the ground is different for the two that are struggling, I would consider pulling them up *VERY CAREFULLY* and putting them in a different location, or else "work" the soil. This is where you take a spade or a gardening claw and "agitate" the ground around the plants. It the ground is too hard and dry, the roots won't spread well, and the plant will suffer. Soil acidity can also be an issue. I don't know off the top of my head what acidity is right for basil, but you could probably look it up at www.homedepot.com or something similar. The soil may not seem to be different, but it can change a lot within even a foot or two depending on what (if anything) was planted there before. Happy Gardening! Xavier —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.76.224.67 (talk) 20:07, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I keep my basil plants in pots indoors. They are VERY thirsty and need watering two or three times a week, but if I've forgotten to water them, they will perk up in a couple of hours when eventually watered. I suggest you examine the soil drainage around your plants. Astronaut (talk) 22:40, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I'd give you some advice, 98.217, but I've always been told that you can lead a horticulture but you can't make her appreciate it. :) -- JackofOz (talk) 23:44, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Recession and prices - I am puzzled.

I always understood that western governments favoured spending their way out of a recession. Yet here we are surrounded by rising oil and fuel prices, rising food costs, rising mortgage and interest charges, and gloomy forecasts about the credit crunch and low investor returns on the world stock markets. Yet the people who are sitting on the capital that could be used to fuel a spending boom so as to get the economy going again are doing exactly that ie. sitting on it. On a more local note, I have been looking today at holiday costs (I live in the UK where the weather at present is very poor, unstable and unpredictable) and am surprised (having just returned from Tenerife where there is massive unemployment due to the downturn in construction and tourism)to see that despite the generality of increased consumer concern about the economy, most of the bigger holiday companies are charging an arm and a leg for a basic 14 day bucket-and-spade trip to the sun. No wonder the resorts were 40% down on seasonal trends. So what am I missing here? If I owned airplanes, or hotels, or jetskis, or bars, or restaurants that depended on bums on seats to survive, but which were all sitting idle, you can bet I would cut my costs to rock-bottom to entice the worried customers in and spend what little they dared on giving themselves a bit of fun; and me a decent income. Or is that too simplistic for our esteemed leaders? 92.17.189.128 (talk) 16:32, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The airlines are badly hurt by fuel prices, and the restaurants by food prices. You can't cut your prices much when your input costs are skyrocketing. -- Coneslayer (talk) 16:57, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Edit conflict: Prices already are rock bottom. You said yourself that fuel costs are soaring. This is not a typical recession. This is a recession combined with surging commodity prices. Your complaint about unemployment exemplifies the problems of a recession (slow economy) and your complaint about trips costing too much exemplifies the problems of rising prices (inflation). If the government tried to spend its way out of the recession we would see even more outrageous inflation - which would just make things worse. The best "solution" is an increase in foreign investment, but with xenophobia ruling America and current account deficits in all of the afflicted countries, that savior is ruled out. You can thank the last decade of decadence for that. Plasticup ^T/C 17:01, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Regarding why people with capital are not investing, if you had a billion dollars of treasury notes, what would you do with it given all this volatility? Btw, the US has passed this act. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 17:19, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

One of the things about capitalist economies is that people get to do what they want with their money. Taking the big picture it may make sense to spend in order to get the economy going again. But looking from the point of view of an individual it doesn't make sense. What happens if you spend lots of money and nobody else does? There is still a recession, but now you don't have any money left.

Incidentally Western governments have not tended to spend their way out of recessions since the days of Thatcher and Reagan. DJ Clayworth (talk) 17:47, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

OK - I accept much of what goes before, but if the future looks so bleak, with no sign of a silver-lining on the edges of the current and looming stormclouds, are we maybe looking at the prospect of another "inspired" war on - now let me see - Iran, to loosen the taps on the oil-wells and also to boost production of US Arms and Munitions? I would have preferred building say a Hoover Dam across the Colorado River but somebody already did that.92.17.189.128 (talk) 18:25, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

How would attacking an oil-producing nation increase oil production? Plasticup ^T/C 18:42, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

That is actually a good idea. I had a similar idea that the U.S.A. can accomplish -- that is to utterly destroy a large oil-consuming nation to decrease global demand. China comes to mind. JeanLatore (talk) 18:49, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I disagree with your use of the word "accomplish". Zain Ebrahim (talk) 18:52, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

But we've already accomplished so much! Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme (talk) 19:02, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I think the UK is still not in a 'technical' recession yet is it? Isn't it 3 months (or quarters?) of negative growth that's required? Anyway the problem with your idea is that the travel companies (and other companies in general) need to ensure they turn a profit. They can sell some units for under 'cost' provided they make an overall profit, but whereas during a positive economic climate it is easier to find people who are less sensitive to price, as the economy turns gloomier people tend to become more price-sensitive. Traditionally we see luxury goods sales drop in these times - holidays are (to many) a luxury that can be forgone. Personally i'm interested in how this economic-climate will affect fair-trade/eco/green sales - are these things going to suffer as people feel the pinch and try to save costs, or will people's desire to help/buy 'ethically' strong enough to survive a gloomy economy when cheaper alternatives are available during a time of need? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be amazed to see a sizeable slow-down in what has (in the past decade) been a extremely fast growing market. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 08:48, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

I echo the OP's puzzlement. Say there's a travel company with an unsold holiday whose normal sale price is £1,000. At that price, I wouldn't buy it. But if the travel company reduces the price of the holiday to £500, I may well buy it. And yet the point being made by several posters here is that the company would never do such a thing. But why on earth not? If they reduce the price, they make £500. If they don't, they make nothing. Why do they act in such a counterintuitive fashion? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 21:23, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

It may be that the company incur more costs selling that holiday for £500 than never selling it at all. If they don't sell it then maybe they pay nothing to the hotel/airline/other companies, yet if they do sell it they pay fixed-costs to those (as per an agreement) thus sometimes it makes more financial sense to not sell the holiday than to sell it. The risk of not-selling the holiday will be that in the future hotels/airlines/etc. will be more careful about how many seats/rooms/etc. they allocate your firm because they cannot trust your occupancy rates. This could be entirely incorrect but logically a sale isn't automatically better than no sale. I doubt that the tourism industry is seeing a major drop-off in occupancy rates, because I doubt that they will have expected this summer/holiday-season to be as high-volume as the last. Their 'buyers' will surely act on information/research in deciding what expectations to set for their sales during that year (certainly the business I work in takes into account many factors in considering it's expected sales-volumes/growth for the year.) ny156uk (talk) 21:38, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

You meant "...yet if they do sell it they pay Variable costs...", right? Fixed costs are incurred regardless of the sale. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 21:59, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Yeah sorry, I was thinking fixed more in-terms of that when they fill a room/seat they pay a pre-agree price to the firm (e.g. I'll take 250 nights between July and August in your hotel at a room rate of $10 a room - or something similar) ny156uk (talk) 22:17, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Pop culture since the mid 1990s

has anyone else noticed that not that much has changed in pop culture, music, fashion etc, (at least for white people) since the mid 1990s? JeanLatore (talk) 18:44, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Nope. My experience has been quite the opposite. Plasticup ^T/C 19:20, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

how so my friend? JeanLatore (talk) 19:26, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The following were undeniable catalysts for several revolutions in pop culture since the mid 90's, especially for 'white people': Backstreet boys, Pokemon, Britney Spears, Columbine massacre, Google, 9/11, iPod, Paris Hilton, Iraq War, Youtube, Social networking, many new TV shows since the 90's which are too many to be listed by me here, and a million other things that I don't have the time to list here but nevertheless prove to us that pop culture changes in an almost weekly fashion nowadays, and in fact much faster than in any other era of contemporary history. Kreachure (talk) 20:01, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

You left off Wikipedia. Corvus cornix_talk 21:28, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

the macro-differences are miniscule. Compare 1986 with 1996. Then compare 1996 with 2006. Furthermore, most of the songs on "new rock" radio these days are regularly 15 years old. I doubt back in 1985 the "new rock" stations were playing stuff from 1971 still. But that's what we have with Pearl jam, nirvana, stp, smashing pumpkins, etc still all over the new rock radio now. Fashions are pretty similar to the mid 90s, esp. for young women. JeanLatore (talk) 20:15, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I take that to mean pop-culture is more nostalgic today than it was then, and also as a testament to how good those acts were. If you think the internet hasn't caused a huge change in popular culture, then I don't know what to say to that. You-tube, myspace, iTunes and peer to peer networks have all had enormous impacts on pop-culture. -- Mad031683 (talk) 20:38, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Retro is a significant part of modern pop culture, but it's not the core or the majority of it. Kreachure (talk) 20:41, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Retro is great, at least I enjoy it. I still play games on my NES and Nintendo 64, listen to 90s music, and I'm wearing a Pokémon t-shirt right now. Useight (talk) 00:55, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

I was just thinking about this. The Simpsons episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" aired in 1993 and had all kinds of hilarious 80s references -- Rubic's Cubes, Baby on Board signs, Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone's vault, etc. There was just so much quintessentially 80s stuff. Recently there was an episode that took place in the mid-90s. It just wasn't that funny, and not just because The Simpsons isn't generally as funny as it used to be. The 90s just weren't all that different in terms of pop culture. Emasculated R&B pop on the radio, Seinfeld on TV, Super Mario games on the Nintendo. Technology has changed greatly since 1995, but not culture. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 01:45, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

(outdent) The online things are the biggest changes over the past few years - social networking, online free media (legal and illegal), instant messaging and pop-forums brought the internet out of Mom and Dad's basement and into the valleygirl's bedroom. In the mid 90s, chatting online was (stereotypically) for slashdot worshippers, tech staff, creepy cybersexers and roleplayers. Now it's for cool people, tweens and OMGLOL! fans. The reason it doesn't seem like so much change is that we've lived through it (and many of us as our forming, teenage or young adult years. It's not so noticable. Steewi (talk) 06:30, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

I find this Youtube video reminds me of how much technology has changed culture in the last decade, but maybe that's just me. 86.141.89.124 (talk) 22:41, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

I happen to totally agree with JeanLatore, especially in regards to fashion and music. As 60's, 70's and 80's all had true essence of orginal styles (fashion) for each decade, ever since it has been a mixture of elements from each of those eras.When Cobain and the Seattle scene exploded (grunge) it changed music on a grand scale. Its funny how I remember being excited around the year 2000 to see what was coming next. Well, nothing happened...yet. Don't get me wrong, I think there are some excellent artists making superb music these days, its just that many times I am hearing everything all over again now. Young bands sounding much like bands of the 80's, tired new rock acts that sound like Pearl Jam or Nirvana left over and re-heated.Yes, the 90's had iconic acts, people and culture that defined that decade, but ever since its been a remix of everything since the 60's. cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 14:44, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

sleep loss

Is there a link between sleep loss and brain damage or cognative impairment? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.23.66.167 (talk) 23:05, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think you can get serious brain damage from a lack of sleep, but you do function best by getting right around 8 hours of sleep. Its not good to get much less, and its also not good to get too much sleep. Grango242 (talk) 01:17, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Ask a doctor. Wikipedia cannot give medical advice 4.158.201.138 (talk) 02:40, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Who was asking for medical advice? --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 04:03, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

The answer is yes (especially cognitive impairment), and in a big way. Sleep deprivation sums it up pretty well. Kreachure (talk) 22:48, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

July 4

Gold from Mountains

Does ore or gold nuggets come down from a mountain or hillside and end up in the streams or rivers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.157.147.26 (talk) 00:07, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes. See gold and Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Miscellaneous#Gold_In_Rocks Plasticup ^T/C 00:17, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

So, initially it is embedded in the sides of mountains and hills and then through circumstances it falls away or down the hills into the streams (is that correct?), is that why it is so often found in streams and rivers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.143.241.13 (talk) 13:14, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

From the UK: Aliens or Hoax ?

From the UK:Aliens or Hoax? Just what is this, real aliens or CGI?65.173.105.131 (talk) 05:46, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Neither. Your own link explains that these are humans wearing masks. This is a form of advertisement, see viral marketing. --Dr Dima (talk) 06:08, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks man. Can this be placed in any appropriate articles?65.173.105.131 (talk) 06:15, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Probably not notable enough for that at the moment. This has already been discussed on the desks, see here. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 08:01, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

getting solution

what are the steps involved in finding a solution in any area?11:31, 4 July 2008 (UTC)59.93.112.77 (talk)

Assuming this isn't asking a stupid question on purpose. The steps involved to finding a solution are a matter of logic: First understand what you want to achieve, second detail what you need to do to achieve that - ideally in a step-by-step process. Try to break things down to their important parts and work on solving each of those in-turn. Obviously to cover all 'solution finding' you must be quite generic but different business-theories exist on solving different problems. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 12:15, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

All of the above and the list Process including Business process might be helpful. Julia Rossi (talk) 03:23, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia like Question

I love Wikipedia but I would like to try something new do you have a suggestion on where i can edit freely about just about everything type of encyclopedia? thank you --TheGreenGorilla (talk) 12:51, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

How about an internet forum? Personally, I enjoy giveupalready for a more discussion-based internet experience. Plasticup ^T/C 13:08, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

I think there are alternative Wikipedia-type encyclopedias where you can write about anything (the only example I can come up with is WikiPilipinas). Try searching on Google for similar, non Philippine-centric encyclopedias. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 13:19, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

sky i found zilch sorry but thanks --TheGreenGorilla (talk) 13:35, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Maybe you are looking for Encyclopedia Dramatica? I am not sure what type of thing you are looking for. Plasticup ^T/C 13:42, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Uncyclopedia [17] welcomes people to edit the hell out of articles with humor being the goal, as well as being a "giant mass of misinformation." There you can add nonfacts to articles such as Uncyclopedia's Thomas Edison article [18], to supplement the present nonfacts such as that his first invention, when he emerged from the womb in 1147 was a steam powered rattle, or that Edison's electric distribution system lost out to Tesla's alternating current system because Edison had "Electricity men" deliver batteries door to door each morning, or that he invented the electric chair to treat hemorrhoids. Edison (talk) 15:15, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

There is also everything2. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 18:40, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

And H2G2. 86.141.89.124 (talk) 22:34, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Wikia is what you're looking for, it hosts wikis on just about evrything, most of them don't have as stringent writing policies as us.--Serviam (talk) 12:41, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Or get yourself some free web space and write whatever you like. It's what the world wide web is for, after all. -Hence Piano (talk) 14:06, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

What is eye salt?

I have wondered this for years and never found an answer. Anybody here know? Thank you. --Freiberg, Let's talk!, contribs 14:53, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

The Plica semilunaris of the conjunctiva located on the inner corner of the eye produces Rheum, also known as as "matter," "sleep," "crusties" or "eye boogers" according to Discoverymagazine.com [19]. It has the function of keeping grit out of the eye so it does not irritate the cornea or sclera. It is a combination of mucus , tears , dead skin cells from the eyelids, leaked blood cells, and dust from the environment. Edison (talk) 15:01, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Never put salt in your eye...never put salt in your eye...PUT SALT IN YOUR EYE. Adam Bishop (talk) 04:53, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

That is just pure eyewash, and you know it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.76.137.118 (talk) 02:11, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Roasted chicken

You can buy roasted chickens in a plastic pouch which arent cut up in supermarkets these days. What I was hoping someone could tell me is that if it is safe to buy the roasted chicken, keep it in the kitchen then re-heat it in the oven when I need it warm again? Thanks, 86.145.104.228 (talk) 15:21, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Does "in the kitchen" mean "in the refrigerator"? If so, I'm sure it will be fine. Plasticup ^T/C 15:44, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

No because you need to let the chicken cool before putting it in the refrigerator. 86.145.104.228 (talk) 15:50, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, yeah, but it's certainly safe to buy the hot roasted chicken today, let it cool down, then put it in the refrigerator and then re-heat it and eat it, say, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Of course, you don't want to leave it lying around in the kitchen unrefrigerated any longer than you have to, but it's really no different from any other type of leftovers, and I would expect it to stay edible just as long as any other type of chicken dish as long as proper refrigeration is maintained. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 17:17, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

To be honest the more often you re-heat/cool the product the more likely it is to go off/food poisoning/etc. However that all depends on the conditions in your kitchen, AND how it was when you bought it..

Personally though I have no issues buying that pre-cooked chicken you described (the type that is found in the fridge section, not the sort that is still hot when you buy it), and re-heating it in a microwave or oven. 87.102.86.73 (talk) 18:45, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

I would tend to keep it in the fridge, and eat it fairly rapidly though.87.102.86.73 (talk) 18:46, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

I think the confusion about re-heating chicken (and other fowl) (once cooked) is more widespread than might be imagined. The problem is that many chickens, when slaughtered, carry a strain of salmonella poisoning, which, when heated to the recommended levels, for the recommended duration, is killed off; hence, salmonella-free cooked chicken (or fowl), and unless the carcase is re-connected with another source of salmonella poisoning, it is perfectly safe to eat, either immediately, or soon thereafter, whether cool, or hot after re-heating. So yes, you may safely put it into the fridge for a day or two, so long as it is kept away from any other cooked or raw meats, or eggs for that matter, after which it may be re-heated whole, or in slices, or in chunks for say a casserole type dish. And clearly, given that it should already be salmonella-free, and further given that it will be re-heated to a temperature that will be hot enough, for long enough, to provide a tasty and nourishing hot meal, it will still be perfectly safe to eat. But will my wife believe me? No chance. If it isn't eaten the same day as purchsed, it goes in the trash can.92.16.245.183 (talk) 19:37, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

The tricky part is in the "free" part of salmonella free. Obviously, it's possible to completely kill off the bacteria, but I don't know if it's a good idea to assume that they're all dead, when it could be that the bacterial load has simply been reduced to the point where there's not likely to be infection - if eaten while still hot. A single germ of something is not going to make anyone but the immuno-compromised sick, so it's perfectly safe to eat, but left at the wrong temperatures (which will happen during repeated cooling and heating cycles) that single bacterium could multiple to dangerous levels without coming into contact with anything else. I'm okay with cooling store-cooked poultry and re-heating the next day, but I wouldn't do the trick more than once or for more than one day; those conveniently warm birds are usually the leftover whole raw chickens nobody bought on the shelf the week before. Matt Deres (talk) 20:19, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Dog breeding = animal cruelty?

Are there any notable groups that oppose the practice of purebreeding dogs altogether, contending that selectively breeding animals into (what are, in my mind) grotesque shapes and sizes results in genetic defects and serious health problems for these poor animals? I am the only one who views this practice as cruel? (I'm not looking to start a debate/diatribe--I am merely wondering if there any known organizations who share this view). Please also note that I'm not interested in the distinction between "responsible," licensed breeders and the shadier, puppy mill sort--I am talking about moral and philosophical opposition to purebreeding in general.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 17:39, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

If it's philosophy you want then I'm sure Peter Singer is opposed to the practice. You could see what the RSPCA in the UK has to say about it, but I doubt that they have denounced purebreeding per se. Itsmejudith (talk) 17:46, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

There certainly are see Dog_breeding#Criticism and Dog_breeding#Genetic_defects as well as the linked http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,163404,00.html

Biologically, this is just asking for trouble. For one thing, the characteristics judges and clubs have decreed to be gorgeous can themselves be bad for the animals' health -- huge heads on bulldogs that make it difficult for them to be born naturally, for example, or the wrinkled skin on Shar-Peis that sets them up for rashes. For another, the best way to produce a puppy with a specific look is to mate two dogs who have that same look. As with any species, though, the closest resemblances are found among the closest relatives. So breeders often resort to inbreeding, the mating of brothers and sisters or fathers and daughters. Or they "line-breed," having grandparents mate with grandchildren or cousins with each other. "If we did that in humans," says Mark Derr, who wrote a scathing indictment of America's dog culture for the March 1990 Atlantic Monthly, "we'd call it incest."

suggest you read it all, obviously it doesn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that "there are moral questions arising from a practice that increases an animals pre-disposition to genetically inherited diseases"..

'Notable groups' certainly includeds 'many vets', Search for "anti pedigree" for more details. eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/real_story/3797783.stm

If you were looking for an organisation set up to oppose this I'm afraid I can't find one, maybe here would be a good place to start http://www.naiaonline.org/articles/archives/nobred.htm

I think it's more general to use the less condemming tone of 'let's not make pedigree our only concern and thus show some restraint in breeding for the general welfare of the offspring'

Personall I adore Dachshunds but I wouldn't encourage it..(they suffer from spinal problems Dachshund#Health) 87.102.86.73 (talk) 17:58, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Most animal rights (as opposed to animal welfare) groups are against breeding dogs for human enjoyment or use in principle. This includes groups such as Animal Aid. However, in practice they tend to promote a more pragmatic view and focus their attention of issues of cruelty and abuse, largely because much of their human resources come from people that "love animals" and hence tend to keep them as pets. As any successful organization knows, it doesn't pay to piss off your patrons. Most of these groups do advise, if people wish to have a dog, to take a mixed breed rescue dog from a pound.

There are people that maintain a strict abolitionism philosophy, though, such as Gary L. Francione and Roger Yates. These guys are totally against any human exploitation of animals as pets and spend as much time criticizing other animal rights groups for take a "new welfarist" approach as they do promoting their own ideas. I don't believe there is a well organized group mainstream that has formed their ideas yet, though. Note however, that it isn't the issue of pure-bred vs nonpure-bred that they are working on, its more one of any pet ownership. Rockpocket 18:54, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Bribery

Do abrahamic religions forbid bribery? 89.146.76.39 (talk) 17:59, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Exodus 23:8. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 19:12, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

But what of indulgences? Could they not have been construed as bribes? The church certainly accepted them for a long time!

Atlant (talk) 21:26, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, and some others thought so too , see Indulgence#Protestant_Reformation

The false doctrine and scandalous conduct of the "pardoners" were an immediate occasion of the Protestant Reformation. In 1517, Pope Leo X offered indulgences for those who gave alms to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The aggressive marketing practices of Johann Tetzel in promoting this cause provoked Martin Luther to write his Ninety-Five Theses, protesting against what he saw as the purchase and sale of salvation. In Thesis 28 Luther objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel: "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs"

87.102.86.73 (talk) 21:32, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

No. --S.dedalus (talk) 05:24, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

What exactly have you been offering an omnipotent deity in terms of favours, S.dedalus? DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:12, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

MIscapped FAcebook PRofile

I just registered for a Facebook profile, and accidentally capped the first two letters of my last name. Is there a way to fix this? --Ye Olde Luke (talk) 21:55, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

There is here. It looks like you will have to make a request, and Facebook will have to review it.--omnipotence407 (talk) 22:36, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

That did it. Thanks! --Ye Olde Luke (talk) 23:37, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Calling a whole computer a CPU

How did that start? 67.169.56.232 (talk) 22:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

See Synecdoche. It's a pretty standard device. Consider also "screen" for "monitor". Matt Deres (talk) 00:33, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Not to be confused with Schenectady.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 02:56, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Hardy har har. —Keenan Pepper 05:43, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

July 5

Foreign Aid

Which countries do not receive foreign Aid? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dwestgate (talk • contribs) 00:45, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Do you mean foreign aid from a specific country, or from any country? Over what time period? I am sure that every country in the world has accepted aid from another country at some point in its history. Plasticup ^T/C 03:42, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

What kind of foreign aid? Developmental aid, disaster aid, food aid, military aid? The U.S. received disaster aid in the form of search and rescue teams, etc, during Hurricane Katrina a few years ago. Would that count? The U.S. provided a military presence in Iceland from 1941-2006. Would that count? Rmhermen (talk) 13:35, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

I think we can safely say that countries that don't exist anymore no longer recieve foreign aid. --Ye Olde Luke (talk) 16:47, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

NCHS Life Tables

I'm sorry, currently? I'm curious because in my research I want to compare it to national debt. Economic Aid.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Dwestgate (talk • contribs) 05:07, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

When are there no tables past 2004? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikindeling (talk • contribs) 04:32, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

I accidentally delete a friend on YouTube and I added the user back

I accidentally delete a friend on YouTube. I was rushing and thinking about the OU (kosher). I accidentally click the "Remove Friend" buttin and I addedthe user again. I'm afraid the user will reject (denied) me. What should I do? Should I pray for the user to add me again? Jet (talk) 04:46, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Well if they are your friend why not call/speak/email/text them and explain this. I'm sure anyone who is a friend wouldn't consider this anything more than a little odd - it's hardly like it takes effort on their behalf. ny156uk (talk) 07:53, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

If I may be so bold, I feel our friend Jet is a member of the well known and well loved Reference Desk band of trolls. See Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 January 1#How to be a YouTuber's friend when s/he denied me to be her/his friend on YouTube? for a similarly silly question. These sorts of questions amuse me, but I doubt other Reference Desk regulars appreciate them.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 17:59, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Really? Jet has an extensive history of contributing the main space it appears. Perhaps we should give him/her the benefit of the doubt and assume that’s/he is simply confused by the YouTube layout? --S.dedalus (talk) 05:23, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Couldn't get a answer on Humanities or Entertainment

Is 大戲, or Cantonese opera, in A flat Major?68.148.164.166 (talk) 06:06, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried the language desk? Julia Rossi (talk) 00:29, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

child development

pyshical,social and cognitive aspects of growth of a child aged between 2-3yrs ——— —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.220.225.10 (talk) 08:22, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes, they definitely all exist. That is, if you mean "physical". I'd suggest you have a look at some of Wikipedia's articles on the subject, such as child development. Either that or actually ask a question. Grutness...wha? 09:01, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Garden Party Games

We are organising a traditional English garden party and would appreciate suggestions for activities suitable for adults. Along the lines of: guess the weight of the cake; how many sweets in a jar; what is the time on a watch sealed in a package. In each case the winner takes the item as a prize. Thanks in advance for the (hoped for) avalanche.86.209.28.131 (talk) 14:59, 5 July 2008 (UTC)DT

Instead of "guess the weight of the cake", why not have "guess the weight of the hostess"? (Prize: the hostess). Or maybe you don't want to go down that road. ;) You could try pass-the-parcel (prize: whatever's in the parcel), or croquet (prize: the croquet set, though it might not be easy to get hold of in the Paris area). Also, here's a link to games played at Butlin's in the past.--87.252.35.195 (talk) 18:29, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

If you play at garden parties, you might want to consider this article.

Atlant (talk) 21:03, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Charades is very traditional, and similar guessing games, such as pictionary, human putty, and so on. Steewi (talk) 00:31, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

I might be a bit late now, but I would suggest a tombola, there isn't a specific article and indeed what is in the raffle article isn't quite what I think of as a tombola, but it is common in fetes in England. In brief, it is similar to a raffle but the selection of prizes are allocated to specific winning tickets prior to the draw (prizes are generally smaller than in a real raffle though, bottles of wine, cakes and books are normal). People then pay a fee to draw a ticket from a hat. If the number drawn matches the number allocated to a prize then they win that prize. It is basically the same as a raffle but the prizes are won instantly, rather than waiting for a draw at the end of the day. According to raffle they are also a way of circumventing licensing laws!Franmars (talk) 10:27, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

How much money will a music artist typically make off an album?

For example, 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' sold 12 million units worldwide, and is $9.99 on iTunes. How much money out of that $120million (if its the same price everywhere) does 50 actually see? How much does a music artist typically make from the sale of an album? Thanks. 70.105.164.43 (talk) 15:11, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, first of all, whatever 50 Cent makes off an album of his, it's probably not going to be what a typical artist makes from an album. There are a number of reasons for this, the chief among them being that 50 Cent is not a typical artist; he is -- at least in terms of popularity -- an exceptional one. Secondly, much of the sales took place outside of iTunes, and a new album in the stores tends to cost more than $9.99. It's also possible that the royalties are different for an online sale than they are for a store sale. Thirdly, to (kind of) answer your actual question: I don't know exactly how the royalties for sales work out for artists, but of course the idea is that the artist gets a percentage of the sales. However, there are a lot of factors that affect this.

Naturally, the percentage varies depending on how good a deal you've got (50 Cent presumably has a pretty good deal, at least these days, as he's a very popular artist and therefore has obvious leverage in negotiations), but in addition to that, the actual performer isn't the only one getting a cut of the profits. Usually, the person who wrote the song also gets one, and so does the producer, and as it's not uncommon for there to be numerous song writers or performers on a CD, things can get a little complicated, with lots of people getting little slices of the profit. So a big factor in this is how much of the actual creative work the artist is doing himself. I wish I could provide you with some typical numbers here, but, well, I can't; I tried to look things up, but couldn't find anything definite.

Also, bear in mind that a successful album also spans singles and music videos, which can be a pretty significant source of income, and all sorts of merchandising, which tends to bring in a lot of money for successful artists. These things go beyond the scope of your question, but you may want to take them into consideration anyway. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 19:52, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Although I too, can not give specific numbers, most artists that are signed onto a record label receive only a small portion of the total revenues from the album sales; the producers receive most of it. On top of that, the artists themselves have to pay for recording time and all sorts of other expenses that further allocates the revenue towards the producers. That is one of the reason you see so many rap artists, like 50 Cent, creating their own "mini-record label" within a larger record label in an attempt to generate a larger stake in the profits.

50 Cent, specifically, owns G-Unit Records, which, I believe, is further owned by Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, which is further owned by Interscope Records, which is owned by an even higher parent company. As a result, I would imagine 50 Cent would receive a larger portion of the album sales than artists such as Clay Aiken, whom, I believe, do not own their own record companies. Acceptable (talk) 04:27, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

One indicator of how little artists actually receive from digital downloads is the Radiohead experiment. They put their album up for sale on their website, and they let the user choose what he wanted to pay for it (including not paying at all). They had it up for two months. Read what Thom Yorke had to say about the experiment:

In terms of digital income, we've made more money out of this record than out of all the other Radiohead albums put together, forever — in terms of anything on the Net. And that's nuts.

Indeed it is. --Oskar 16:11, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

It's worth bearing in mind digital downloads come in various shapes or forms. iTunes for example is extremely large and have significant clout meaning that they can afford to dictate their terms including taking a significant proportion of the profit. Smaller sites in generally probably can't afford to and so may have to give the artist a larger share of the profit (however this may mean fewer total customers for the artist so it's not necessarily better for them). Clearly selling your songs directly means you only lose out on whatever PayPal or whoever your payment processor takes (but unless your already a big artist it may be hard for you to get people to even visit your site so no one may notice the songs you're selling) Nil Einne (talk) 07:28, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Flashes from Zen Vision W

The flashes from my Zen Vision W, which I told you about earlier, are real, not my imagination. I've just seen one while looking directly at the device. The screen flashed a solid light gray for about a tenth of a second, while the device was turned off. What is the cause of this? JIP | Talk 17:33, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

So the backlight turned on by itself? --antilived^{T | C | G} 23:43, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Seems like that, yes. And it turned off by itself immediately afterwards. JIP | Talk 18:18, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I'd like to direct you to the science desk - where the 'flashing light experts' hang out.. One moment please...

Please see Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science#Flashes from Zen Vision W. Good luck87.102.86.73 (talk) 19:33, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Weekly Universe

Is there a article on the article Weekly Universe?65.173.105.131 (talk) 19:24, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, if you searched for "Weekly Universe" and came up with nothing, I guess not; if it's of enough notoriety to be included in wikipedia (in other words, something enough people would find noteworthy, etc.) then cretae one.209.244.187.155 (talk) 19:54, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

ferdinand maximillion, i have one of his walking sticks.

hi there, im new to your site and found lots of information on maximillion, my quistion is i have one of his walking sticks do you know who would be interrested in it, ie a musume. if you can help please let me know many thanks. terri —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.9.201.125 (talk) 19:26, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

To which "Ferdinand Maximilian" do you refer? We have articles on five or six people with that name. Fribbler (talk) 22:49, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Additionally, if the person in question is of suitable historical significance for his walking stick to be of interest to a museum or a collector, you should also make sure that you have some way of proving that it is, indeed, his walking stick, as opposed to any other walking stick from the appropriate era. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 23:44, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

If you know which Maximillion, you can contact the curator for that century's artefacts. Some museums have periodic times (such as once a month) when the public can bring along stuff to be identified or assessed. If he's a VIP he might have a museum in his name somewhere. So yeah, contact your museum, Julia Rossi (talk) 03:18, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

If the querent talks about Ferdinand Maximilian I, last emperor of Mexico, then Miramare in Trieste is the only museum. Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City is today the Historical Museum. The man is buried in the local Imperial Crypt in Vienna and, of course, there is Manet´s painting of his execution.

About half a year ago there was an exhibition where it said that he gave a - well, royal - tip to the solders entrusted with this final task.

And here I am, answering questions for free on the the WP:RD when I could make a maxi million in maxico. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:34, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Women bodypainted topless

Why do so many female body painting models (not all of them though) go topless while being painted? The idea is to present the most of one's body to be painted, not necessarily all of it. They're already wearing panties while painted, surely a thin top covering just enough of the breasts to be decent wouldn't hurt the effect that much? JIP | Talk 19:52, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

• Killjoy. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 20:55, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

You may be missing the point, which is simply that body painting is about painting the body, not tops -- small or otherwise. Whether that's a reasonable distinction or not can be argued, of course, but then you might just as well ask why some people want to play specifically a Fender Stratocaster rather than, say, a Gibson Les Paul, even though you can play the same songs on just about any guitar: the answer is simply that the end result or the process itself is different, and details tend to matter quite a bit in art. Also -- I know I'm stating the obvious here, but anyway -- people like titties, and a lot of people like showing their titties, either for fun, for art, or for money, or all three. That's by no means a factor in all cases of topless body painting, but it's certainly one in a lot of it, especially when done for commercial purposes. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 21:18, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

The Captain speaks the truth. Also, in some cases there's an artistic point to be made about the nature of the naked human body. I've seen several body-paintings that look just like clothes if you don't look closely (and then suddenly, it's like, "Hey, an areola!"). This gives the artist a way to comment on nakedness and the clothedness. Mostly, though, it's about the honkers.--Oskar 22:36, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, this sounds reasonable. I am by no means advocating women covering up their breasts while painted, I was merely asking. (Hey, as a man, what do you think I would think?) I have seen body painting in two different places: at the World Bodypainting Festival in Seeboden, and at the Health & Beauty Fair in Helsinki. Female models go topless in both places, but in Helsinki they are more shy about their breasts until they are fully painted. JIP | Talk 18:18, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Visiting U S need to buy oxygen Maryland area. Resident of British Columbia

I'm hoping to visit my great niece for four days July 31 to Aug. 3. I'm 91 and use oxygen therefore can only go if I can buy the commodity and have it delivered I will of course get a doctor's prescription, if in the event I can't buy it then I shall have to cancel air and accommodation and probably never see her again.. I would deem it a favour to be advised of the cost, thank you in advance. C. Baker —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.69.101.26 (talk) 21:31, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

There appear to be a number of firms providing home care medical equipment including oxygen. Here is a contact for a company which serves Maryland, having a medical branch in Linthicum Heights, MD 21090 (sorry, I am European and know nothing about the state).

I hope a local USian across the pond can advise you on the cost. A Californian supplier charges around USD 60, but this clearly depends on the volume. I hope you will enjoy your visit with your grand niece. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 22:34, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

I would suggest a google search for medical oxygen and the name of at least the county that your great niece lives in. Im sure you will be able to find a supplier. But really, you would have to contact them first. If you cant find a supplier online, I would recommend calling the hospital nearest your daughter, and Im sure that they could give you some options.--omnipotence407 (talk) 03:15, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Come on, oil don't come in "barrels" anymore, do they?

Why do people measure oil prize in barrels? It makes no sense to me, oil hasn't come in barrels since like the There Will Be Blood times, has it? I mean, you get it out of the ground, into a pipeline, into a tanker, then to a refinery, from there to tank car and finally to a gas station. I probably got that chain wrong, but the point is: at no point in the chain is the oil in a barrel, right? So why are people reporting "Oil hit $100 a barrel!" instead of reporting "Oil hit 85 cents a liter"! (or, if you're a silly American, "Oil hit $3.22 a gallon!")? I realize that it's a tradition, but it's not like we prize the cost of wheat in sheafs. --Oskar 22:31, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Well wheat is priced in bushels as far as I know. Another outdated measurement. And diamonds in carats. I'd say changing to litres, although it would make sense, would be very disruptive as people are used to hearing about the 'per barrel' price. Fribbler (talk) 22:47, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

When oil refineries buy oil on the wholesale market, they buy it by the barrel. It is a good standardized unit of measurement that lets us compare prices across many decades. It also abstracts the price of the raw commodity from "retail effects" that might distort the price at the pump and not reflect the underlying value. Plasticup ^T/C 22:52, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

But you could still compare it to old prizes, a barrel is simply 117.35 liters (or so google tell me). And the liter is also a very good standardized measurement, since we use it for, you know, everything else. And also, tankers (boat or car) presumably have a capacity measured in a regular volume measurements, and pipelines in liter/[some time unit]. Same thing for refineries. Doesn't measuring oil in an artificial unit that hasn't had connection to the real world for half a century just make everything more cumbersome? There seems to me that there is a whole lot of converting from barrels to liters and back to barrels for no good reason. --Oskar 23:04, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, I dunno. It's really no different than someone selling paper by the pallet or eggs by the dozen, is it? -- Captain Disdain (talk) 23:39, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, eggs come in discreet units, so there's not really a unit that makes sense. And paper actually come on pallets (unlike oil). But I guess you have a point, commodities come in many strange units. --Oskar 01:26, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean when you say a barrel is an "artificial unit". It, at least, refers to actual containers that existed at one time, unlike the liter which really is artificial. I suspect that the continued use of the barrel as a unit of measurement in the petroleum sector is due to path dependence. Since nearly all of the infrastructure (tankers, refineries, pipelines, commodity markets) is measured in barrels, very little conversion has to take place and changing the whole system to metric would be expensive and disruptive without much benefit. --D. Monack | talk 02:58, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I in turn don't know what you mean when you say "the liter ... really is artificial". The litre not only existed at one time, but still exists, and is in very wide use. (Except in certain countries, where, despite not using it, they've chosen to change its spelling to liter.) -- JackofOz (talk) 15:23, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't know if artificial is the right word (I would use "abstract"), but barrel is much more concrete in the sense that barrels are standardized in terms of shape and size. A litre is like an inch or a pound; it doesn't look like anything in particular. Oil barrels were created first and the unit of measure was derived from that whereas a litre is just the volume taken up by a kilogram of water; it's not based on anything else. Matt Deres (talk) 15:42, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Hi. This isn't really relavent to your question, but err, since when is oil 85¢/litre "expensive"?! We here in Canada pay on average roughly the equivalent of $1.40 USD per litre, and there's more fuss over it in the US, where it's cheaper, than in Canada! In Europe, they pay roughly the equivalent of over $2.00 USD! Thanks. ~AH1^(TCU) 19:50, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Hi. The current Canadian average price for oil, by the way, is equivalent to ~$163.80 per barrel (or $5.30 per gallon). Thanks. ~AH1^(TCU) 19:53, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Standardisation is the reason. WP has an unhelpful article (for this purpose) on Standardisation in oil industry. Basically, the hassle involved in changing the unit would offset any good that may come off it. Players in the Petroleum industry and commodities-trading industry (see Commodities market and Commodities exchange) use the barrel as a unit of measurement which imho gives it a very tangible "connection to the real world". A futures trader would be more interested in the price per barrel. Also, quoting the price of brent crude in litres wouldn't be very helpful because people who buy/sell petrol in litres (e.g. the retail market) don't buy brent crude and don't all pay the same price. They only look at the oil price to gauge the relative value of oil to determine what might happen to the the price they pay. I can't see how much good will come off changing the unit for this purpose. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 13:27, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

July 6

Solve this puzzle and win some bragging rights!

I created this puzzle and was then told it was too hard, so I want to see if anyone can get it. First to explain the solution correctly will win the right to gloat or a barnstar (I've never given one to anyone so be the first!). The numbers in each row share a common feature with one another. Please explain what it is.

• 1
• 2, 5, 10
• 3, 4, 6, 9, 11
• 7, 12, 15
• 8, 13, 14

The order of the numbers within a row does not matter. Additional numbers can be added to the series. If you passed 5th grade you probably have the knowledge you need to solve this puzzle. Happy solving! Sifaka ^talk 00:06, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I *think* I've solved it. If I'm correct, then you can add more numbers like this:

• 1
• 2, 5, 10
• 3, 4, 6, 9, 11
• 7, 12, 15, 20
• 8, 13, 14, 16, 19
• 17
• 18

Mind you, four could have gone in a different row... Am I right? Cute, and nasty, too! Grutness...wha? 01:07, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Right on! Four belongs where it is, but your placement for all the numbers is correct! You win the prize! Sifaka ^talk 03:33, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Actually you were right about the four having the possibility of being in a different place... Sifaka ^talk 03:33, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

What's the solution??? ~EdGl (talk) 03:03, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Spoilers!!! Highlight to see it. Sifaka ^talk 03:33, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

• Hint:Try thinking writing them in a different numeral system
• Answer:When each number is written in roman numerals, each row represents the number of strokes used to write that number. 11 = XI = 3 strokes so row 3, 5 = V = 2 strokes so row 2, 19 = XIX = 5 strokes so row 5, etc...

I'm guessing whoever told you it was too hard isn't someone who does number puzzles very much. The two things the seasoned puzzler knows to look for before anything else is patterns formed by either spelling the numbers out as words, or changing them to roman numerals. - 89.168.238.53 (talk) 14:54, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Bass distortion

I have an Ibaneze practice amp for my bass that unfortunately does not feature distortion/overdrive... I did, however, once get it sounding like it was distorted (it was impossible to tell the difference between it and actual distortion) by fiddling around with the settings. But I can't seem to get back to that sound and I'm not sure why. On the amp I can control bass, treble, middle, and volume, and on the bass itself I can control bass, treble, pickup sensitivity, and volume. Anyone have any idea what combinations of settings might get it back to its pseudo-distorted sound? I need to just get a new amp, obviously, but I'm a little short on cash at the moment and wouldn't mind being able to play overdriven songs before then. --69.146.230.243 (talk) 02:00, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

If you boost the treble quite a lot on both you can usually get a pretty nasty sound. You could, of course, just get an overdrive pedal—it'll be cheaper than a big new amp, and probably have more variability to its sound than the distortion built into the amp. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:31, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

True... It's a sucky amp to begin with, though, so I need to get a new one eventually. But I'll try the treble and see if it doesn't help. Thanks --69.146.230.243 (talk) 20:48, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Help Wanted

I've been trying to upload images by going to

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Upload

but everytime I go there, I'm asked to log in, even if I already am. Then, when I try to log in, I'm told that no one with the username La Alquimista exists!! Please help. La Alquimista (talk) 05:50, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

see meta:Help:Unified login —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tcsetattr (talk • contribs) 07:31, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Do you have an account on Commons? It is not the same system as Wikipedia. You probably need to create a new account there. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:32, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

instruction to use valiya narayanatailam

i would like to know how to use valiya narayanatailam. is there any after effects for this oil. can male and female use this regularly. we are 64 and 60 years old —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.100.2.3 (talk) 08:21, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Please understand that we cannot give medical advice regarding your specific case or possible side-effects (whether it's conventional or ayurvedic medical advice). Please seek a professional medical doctor or pharmacist for your query. ---Sluzzelin talk 09:00, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

AS Roma Strip

Could someone be kind enough to tell me what the Red, Wite and Green circle on the AS Roma strip represents. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.71.248.179 (talk) 11:15, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

File:Coccarda italia.png

It's a cockade ("coccarda"), similar to a roundel, carried by holders of the Coppa Italia. The colors are the Italian tricolore, see the article on flag of Italy for possible interpretations of the green, white, and red. ---Sluzzelin talk 11:36, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Foot

would it be corrent to say that all animals have

a least one foot? For example snails and snakes

could be considered their whole body as one foot? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.255.21 (talk) 16:59, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think so. I can think of many examples of animals without feet. Fish, for instance. Plasticup ^T/C 17:02, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

A snail has a foot (it is a gastropod); a snake does not.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:16, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

The late S. Freud has proposed the term Pedis Envy for the traumata experienced by species having no feet or less. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 18:36, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps you mean limb? 87.102.86.73 (talk) 18:09, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

parodies of wikipedia

out of all the parodies of wikipedia, like

uncyclopedia and encyclopedia dramatica, w

hich is the biggest and most active. Thank

s —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.255.21 (talk) 18:14, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

ED has approx 2x hits of U - source http://www.alexa.com/87.102.86.73 (talk) 18:41, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I disagree with that. Uncyclopedia has a traffic rank of 6,309 [20] whereas encyclopediadramatica is much lower down with 13,823,307, and doesn't even show a graph as it's not in the top 100, 000 [21]. Also, a quick glance at both site's recent changes logs and Uncyc has a lot more activity than ED. JessicaN10248 12:56, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

There are 2 m's in it... http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/encyclopediadrammatica.org87.102.86.73 (talk) 15:21, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

There is one m but it's http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/encyclopediadramatica.com 87.102.86.73 (talk) 15:24, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Which has 'rank' 2000-3000 depending on what day of the week.87.102.86.73 (talk) 15:25, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

drainage grids

Hi everyone! I hope someone can help me here, I'm looking for the company that makes drainage grids, similar to the one in this picture: http://www.eriding.net/media/photos/maths/060627_psimmons_mp_maths_env_maths3_120.jpg Can one order them directly from the supplier? Thanks. RHODOPSIN DRINKER (talk) 19:56, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

They're almost certainly made by a foundry, and often have the foundry name on. They are also called manhole covers.. that article actually gives the names of major manufacturers of, luckily. (if you want more help on this page you'll have to tell us what country you're in, and if it's a big country possibly the state as well.) Hope that helps.87.102.86.73 (talk) 20:20, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

They would normally by purchased from your local builders' merchant rather than the manufacturer.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:15, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Style of Shoes

Within the past several month here in Canada, I've seen quite a few teenagers/young adults walking around in a specific style of shoes that I am unable to name. These low-cut shoes are characterized by their slim, form-fitting shape and are very "slick" looking. Puma shoes like these ones: [[22]] are a prime example, so are these Lacoste ones: [[23]]. Adidas ones: [[24]]

By style of shoes I mean, like skater, "gangsta", "preppy", etc...

Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 20:53, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

They look like sports sneakers that would mostly be worn by atheletes (or slang, "jocks"), but really anybody could wear them. Highly doubt skaters would wear them, since they favor wider shoes like DCs, Etnies, and Vans (all skateboarding shoe brands). Also punks don't wear sneakers like that. ~EdGl (talk) 02:23, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

They actually look like track shoes, without the spikes. Maybe an athletic-inspired street version? Plasticup ^T/C 02:52, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

I've been searching around some more, could they be driving-styled shoes? Acceptable (talk) 03:09, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

How to Compliment Wikipedia?

How do I compliment Wikipedia?

Just state:"This is a hell of a website! Keep up the good Work!"?65.173.105.27 (talk) 21:25, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

• The best compliment you can give is to contribute via editing or make a donation. Exxolon (talk) 22:32, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
• I've found that it goes well with fish, chicken, and even pasta on occasion. --Several Times (talk) 16:02, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

can someone identify this SUV?

Image:PCMS.jpg (or tell me where I should go to ask?) ninety:one 21:44, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

From the shape of the windows, this looks like a Chevrolet Tahoe to me - according to our article, the Tahoe is widely used by Brazil's police forces -- Ferkelparade π 21:59, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

wikipedia is amazing, thank you :) ninety:one 22:13, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

July 7

UK SIZES TO US SIZES

I'm a size 8 in the UK... but what letter would that be, like an S(small); M(medium); L(large)? PLEASE TELL ME! Thank Youuuuu :) BringMeTheHorizon112 (talk) 00:09, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

We need more info. Is that your hat size, dress size, man's shoe size, or all of the above ? StuRat (talk) 02:19, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Googling UK SIZES TO US SIZES gives this helpful page as the first hit. 152.16.59.190 (talk) 04:07, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Size 8 UK dress size is definitely not M or L. It is S or XS. You should try the clothes on anyway because whatever the system the labels are often inaccurate. Itsmejudith (talk) 11:08, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

How many MB's does 1 minute of music and 1 minute of video take up?

I'm wondering how much space music and video take up on a computer hardrive. In addition to the above question, about what length would the music (or video) have to be to take up one GB of space? I realize different file formats (such as .mp3 and .m4p) will take up different amounts of space, so what are those different amounts of space? Thanks. 70.105.164.43 (talk) 00:19, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

This depends on the so-called bitrate, that is, how many bits per second a multimedia file takes up. Higher bitrate = higher quality = bigger size. So one minute of video can take up anything from a few megabytes to as high a number as you want. Say you have a music file with a bitrate of 256 kbit/s (this is the quality you get from the DRM-free files from iTunes and from the Amazon MP3 store) one minute will be 256 kbits/s * 60 s = 1.875 megabytes (this is a fairly high quality for audio). A standard youtube video has a bitrate of around 320 kbit/s, so that would be 2.34 megabytes. However, as I said, these are not hard and fast numbers, especially the video one. Youtube is fairly low quality, those numbers can grow virtually without limit. One minute of DVD-video (at about an average bitrate of 4.5 Mbit/s) is at 33.75 megabytes. --Oskar 01:52, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Oh, yeah, as for how much music and video it takes to fill a gigabyte

• iTunes/Amazon DRM-free music: 9.10 hours
• Youtube quality video: 7.28 hours
• DVD quality video: 30.34 minutes

(I love Google calculator :) Here you can really see the difference between different qualities in video. --Oskar 02:32, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

It's worth bearing in mind you can easily get DVD quality video at a much lower bit rate (at least half) by using a more efficient codec, e.g. H.264, compared to the rather old MPEG-2 used in DVDs. Nil Einne (talk) 06:52, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Religions without Claims of Evidence

Once, when I asked others if religions other than Christianity also claim to have proofs or evidences for themselves as the one true religion just as Christianity does, in Claims of Evidence for Other Religions as the One True Religion, one person replied: It is not too difficult to imagine a religion which says, "We don't claim to have any proof or evidence for our religion. You just have to believe it!".

Do such religions actually exist? If so, then what are religions are like that? If they don't have any evidence for themselves, why would anybody believe in them? Why would anybody be so stupid to believe in a religion which doesn't have any evidence for it? If you tell or show the evidences that Christians have, or claim to have, for Christianity to the believers of such a religion, what would they say and think?

Bowei Huang (talk) 01:55, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

All of them? I don't mean to be flippant, but when you talk about "proof" the way you do, you mean something like scientific evidence, and there's no religion that provides that, not even Christianity. That's why they're called faiths, because you have to have faith in them. People believe in them because they want to believe in them, because it gives them comfort and makes them feel loved. It has nothing to do with looking at all religions objectively and then picking the one that's the most plausible. People who look at the world that way are called scientists.

Ask a person from some religion "How do you know, for a fact, that what you believe is true?" most of them will say that they feel the presence of God inside of them, or that they look at the world and see purpose in it, or something like that. They couldn't care less about the ontological argument for the existence of God or anything like that (although the teleological argument seems to have won a lot of people over recently). Most people just simply subscribe to the religion in which they were raised.

Personally, I don't subscribe to a religion, but I understand those who do. I understand why they don't need a proof. It's not for me, but hey, judge not lest ye be judged, right :P In my opinion, analyzing religion through the lens of "What proof is there?" is the wrong approach, since lets face it: there is none. --Oskar 02:09, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

If there was incontrovertible proof that a religion was the one true one, either:

• vast numbers of people from other religions would become adherents, or, more likely
• the religion would cease to exist because there's nothing to believe in any more. It would have become a matter of accepted fact (no different than the existence of Henry VIII or the achievements of Roger Federer), not faith or belief, and religions are all about believing in things that can't be proven scientifically one way or another. -- JackofOz (talk) 02:34, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Bowei Huang is not asking whether religions actually have proof of their veracity. He is asking whether they all claim to have proof. Off the top of my head I cannot think of any religions which make no claims to evidence, but I am sure that some exist. Are you willing to count "cults"? Plasticup ^T/C 02:49, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

I had some liberal Jewish religious teachers who told me that we can't prove that our religion is "true," but, similarly, no one can prove that it's untrue, and therefore, we can assume it's true for the sake of its rituals, traditions and ethics, which tie into its metaphysical beliefs. Not everyone follows the same reasoning, however, and some consider that line of thought downright atheistic. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 02:52, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

I consider that line of thought stupid, but that's just me. --Oskar 02:59, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

You may have been talking to an adherent of Reconstructionist Judaism. I'm no expert on that sect, but it is interesting for this discussion in that Reconstructionist Judaism is an explicit rejection of theology. Their main "belief" is that Judaism is culturally important and should be preserved by performing Jewish rituals. It makes no truth claims about God or any other theological concept so it may satisfy the original poster's question. --D. Monack | talk 06:33, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

I guess it depends on what you mean by religion. To me, a sytem which contains no spiritual beliefs but is simply about preserving culture is not a religion. (This doesn't mean it's followers are stupid or it's unimportant.) For example, I preserve some part of my Chinese culture including the reunion dinner on Chinese New Year eve following some of the rituals on rare occasion (e.g. ancestor veneration). But I don't actually believe in any of this from a spiritual context and wouldn't say I practice any religion nor do I consider these religions practices of mine even if a lot of this originates from what are generally regarded as religious practices. But to answer Bowei's question, I think many non-organised religions and also Eastern religions are less focused on proof then simple belief. It's IMHO a different philisophy. It's not so much about 'you must do this or otherwise you'll go to hell' nor is there any call to convert people. If you believe you believe if you don't you don't. I'm not saying there are is no proof, obviously there will still be a lot of 'I did whatever and then whatever happened' from people who believe that carrying out (or not carrying out) some ritual or following (or not following) some practice either helped or harmed them but by the nature of most non-organised religions, there is no general concern about proving the 'religion' must be true/correct. Nil Einne (talk) 07:19, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Archaeology and the Book of Mormon may be of interest.--droptone (talk) 12:25, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Buy Tickets Don't Use Them

I recently bought some baseball tickets for a game in august, however after purchasing some i realized i got tickets which were all the way at the top of the seating section i was looking at and so i decided to get some that were lower. all in all it was a total of $20 i spent. I want to make sure i won't get a no show charge for not sitting in those higher up seats. These lower seat tickets i got are the ones i am using. i was wanting to call the box office to release the earlier seats but they were no help. is it common for a sports club to charge you if you do not cancel earlier tickets?--logger (talk) 02:38, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

The short answer is yes, you will be charged. This response presupposes you have left a credit-card number in order secure your tickets. As far as the organization is concerned, you have purchased both sets of tickets, which you may have done for any number of reasons. I don't know of any group, sports or otherwise, that allows you to return purchased tickets. The organization does not care if the seats are used, however, or even if they are picked up; they only care about being paid for them once they are sold/reserved. This is personal experience speaking, which may be too much WP:OR for you. ៛ Bielle (talk) 02:55, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

These tickets are non refundable and i realize i can not get any refund back, all i want to do is release those seats for other fans and void those earlier tickets.--logger (talk) 03:04, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

I've never encountered any scenario where you can simply "release" the seats and "void" the tickets. You could, however, sell them for face value on Craigslist or some other web site. Or sell them near the stadium on game day. As long as you sell them for face value and/or away from the premises of the stadium, you shouldn't have to worry about being arrested for scalping. Check your local laws for specifics on this before attempting it though. Dismas|^(talk) 03:54, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

You can also just give them away, if re-selling them is not an option. As you are going to the event anyway, drop by the "day of game" sales window and just give them to someone in line. Be a hero! ៛ Bielle (talk) 03:59, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

What to drink when sweating

What drink should one drink when sweating, but not physically active? Such a scenario could arise when one is lying or slowly walking on a very hot and sunny day. Sports drinks that replenishes electrolytes and other vital minerals lost through sweating are usually high in calories and are suited for those that sweat due to physical activity. Does there exist a drink that has the mineral-replenishing ability of a sports drink, but without the caloric content? Thanks. Acceptable (talk) 03:17, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Propel is similar to Gatorade, Powerade, and the like, but it only has 6 grams of sugar and 30 calories in a 24 ounce bottle. Also, to be honest, nothing works like plain old water. Grango242 (talk) 03:59, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Plain water is good. Slightly salted water can be better.86.219.36.166 (talk) 10:23, 7 July 2008 (UTC)DT

Training and eating

When I go training, particularly early in the morning, what is it best to eat before? --212.120.246.239 (talk) 08:33, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Wipro

who is the CEO of wipro? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.2.236.143 (talk) 13:58, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Azim Premji. Fribbler (talk) 14:47, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Russia

I have read the article on Russia numerous times and have read the articles for as many particians thereof as I possibly can, from the Jewish Oblast to Siberia and many many others inbetween. However I still have an almost unnatural fasination with what is very very far from where I originally come from, however. What I still wish to know, is how did such a large county develop? how were all these minor regions brought under one Tsar? and why have they not disbanded over the centuries, they all have different cultures, different languages, and are vastly seperated by enormous areas, yet they all are Russian? How can Chukoltka honestly consider themselves to be even vagly related to Omsk and how can moscow all the way in the east maintain control over Kamchatka further more how can they be happy being ruled by Moscow? Please help me to understand this Thanks193.115.175.247 (talk) 14:02, 7 July 2008 (UTC)Zionist

Have you read Russian conquest of Siberia? While this article does not tell the complete story, it provides the essentials. The Russians were able to conquer this vast area because they had European technologies, particularly weaponry, much more advanced than those of the various peoples who inhabited Siberia before the conquest. Essentially, the Russian empire was brought under the control of the tsar by superior force of arms and the superior organization of a modernizing state. The empire did not disband over the centuries because the Russian-dominated state was able to put down any challenges to its control, even after Communists took over and reconfigured those state structures. The Russian state, like any other state, retained legitimacy for its ethnically Russian subjects largely through ideology. During the tsarist period, the key ideologies were the image of the benevolent, paternalistic tsar and the religious sanction of the Orthodox church for the tsar's rule. During the Communist period, the key ideology was that the benevolent, paternalistic Communist leadership was fulfilling Marx's prophecy and championing the interests of workers and peasants. Most of the productive resources, and particularly the industrial infrastructure of the Russian state lay within areas with ethnic Russian majorities, and so the state maintained control of these resources. This control allowed the state to put down any challenges to Russian control by the numerically much smaller ethnic minorities. As you may know, some parts of the former Russian empire did in fact disband after the collapse of Communist control in 1991. However, the post-Communist Russian state, which has increasingly relied for legitimacy on an ideology of the benevolent, paternalistic strongman (Yeltsin) as the nationalist defender and champion of the Russian people, has so far successfully put down the only serious challenge to its power (in Chechnya) by a subordinate ethnic group. As before, the state controls organizational and material resources that allow it to overwhelm any challenge to its power by an ethnic minority, and the state's willingness to deploy those resources with deadly effect in Chechnya has probably discouraged other ethnic groups from attempting to break free of control by Moscow, even if they aren't happy about Moscow's control. Marco polo (talk) 14:45, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Optimising gear raitios

What sort of things do you need to look at when optimising the gear ratios of a car for a particular race? --RMFan1 (talk) 14:44, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

I believe this is frequently done in things like formula 1 and stock car racing. The general idea is that you can trade top speed for better acceleration at lower speeds. So, if the track is short and/or twisty, and you know you won't go above a certain speed, they gear for better acceleration. Given enough gears, of course, you don't need to make such tradeoffs. I don't know if the limited number of gears tends to be due to rules or due to engineering constraints. Friday (talk) 14:50, 7 July 2008 (UTC)