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December 20

regional demographics

Greetings. I am searching for data on the number of ethnic groups in multiple regions, for example: How many ethnicities are represented / can be found in: Los Angeles, Miami, NY, London, etc. I have looked on the US census but have not found thorough / complete lists. Thank-you, Mike —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.181.158.143 (talk) 03:58, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm afraid the answer to your question is basically going to be "all of them." No, there probably aren't any Hi-Merima people wandering around New York, but it's almost certain that every European group is represented, along with most Native American tribes and at least one (usually more) ethnic group from every country in the world. That's quite a list, and it's impossible to compile in full because so many people are of mixed ancestry and don't know their family history (and that's assuming that you could, somehow, survey every person in New York). Cities like New York, London, and Los Angeles are not only huge, they're also immigration hubs and population magnets, so they'll inevitably have a diverse populace. You might find it easier—and more interesting—to look up information on randomly selected small cities, since they sometimes have unexpected concentrations of specific ethnic groups, and it's quite interesting to look at immigration patterns on a small scale. --Fullobeans (talk) 06:01, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

So my mother is terminally ill

My mother is possibly terminally ill with cancer. She might die within a few years. If so, that'll make my father a widower. This is quite uncommon, isn't it? I mean, it's more common for the man to die first, but out of my parents, it's almost certain my mother'll die first, yet they're still married and they're about the same age as each other. Is this the case? Please, tell me.-Nubile Servant (talk) 04:33, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

See List of countries by life expectancy and find where you live. In the more affluent parts of the world, the women outlive the men on average. In poorer countries, the gap is smaller, and in some cases, the men actually outlive the women. This is usally due to the inherent difficulties in child birth; in countries with poor medical care MANY more women die in child birth than in countries with good medical care. Incidentally, there was a time in the not-too-distant past when worldwide men, on average, were expected to outlive women. For example, in research I dug up while working on the article Plymouth Colony, historian John Demos quotes statistics showing that men usually outlived women in 17th century New England. Men there lived, on average 7 years longer than women (in modern USA, that number is about flipped, with the women outliving the men by 7 years) and women only had a 70% chance of seeing their 50th birthday. Men had an 85% chance of reaching the same age. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 05:06, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict, because I always get distracted before clicking "Save page") Apparently the life expectancy in Scotland is 75 for men, 80 for women. That's not too much of a difference, especially compared to extreme cases like Russia, which has a life expectancy of 59 for men and 73 for women. Worldwide, the five-year disparity seems to be fairly average (see: List of countries by life expectancy), and suggests that women have a slight tendency to outlive men, but not by much. Some families have a history of gender-specific disease, though, which will cause the life expectancy of someone in that lineage to differ from the national average. There are also local cultural factors which can come into play ("All the women in my neighborhood hang out smoking menthols at the bingo hall", "All the men in my town work in coal mines, shoot meth, and play Russian roulette on Tuesdays after work"). But here's some original research: the US has the same male/female life expectancy as Scotland, and I know quite a few men who've outlived their wives (though not in my family), and quite a few women who've outlived their husbands. I also know quite a few women who've beaten cancer, so here's hoping we can add your mom to the list. I'm sorry she's sick—that's never easy—and I wish you both luck. --Fullobeans (talk) 05:30, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

One thing to remember when talking life expectancies is that there also tends to be an age gap between couples. On average, the male tends to be older then the female. For examples the Age at first marriage shows a nearly 2 year gap in the US and slightly over 2 years in the UK. Obviously we're talking about averages here. If a 50 year old woman marries a 30 year old man, it's hardly surprising if the woman dies first. Nil Einne (talk) 12:18, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

As a quick way of getting some statistics, I just downloaded the raw data file for the biographies section of the Internet Movie Database. It lists marriage data for many of the people in the database. Of these marriages, 12,177 are listed as being ended by "his death" and 4,630 by "her death".

However, this may be unrepresentative of the statistics for people in general for several reasons. First, marriages in show business may really be different. Second, I expect the database contains more men than women, and the reason for termination of a marriage is more likely to be known if it is the death of the person who the database entry belongs to. Another source of error is that if both spouses happen to be in the database, their marriage will be counted twice unless one of the entries happens to be incomplete.

Incidentally, the number of marriages shown as terminated by divorce is 22,274. --Anonymous, 07:09 UTC, December 20/08.

St.Paul

After the baptism of St.Paul given by anania ,which city did st. paul go first?THANK YOU —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.252.237 (talk) 12:28, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Paul says only that he went to "Arabia" for three years. Presumably he means Arabia Petraea (as opposed to Arabia Deserta or Arabia Felix, so I'd assume he went to Petra. Adam Bishop (talk) 12:41, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Actually, in Acts 9:19-30 it describes Paul's first days after baptism. It states that he spent some time in Damascus (which is where Ananais lived and baptized him) preaching in the synagogues. The Jews in Damsacus ran him out of town, whereupon he went to Jerusalem; however the Christians there feared him(since like, a week before, he had been having them tortured and executed!), and threatened to run him out of town. Barnabas stood up for him, and sponsored him. From there he went to Caesarea and then on to Tarsus. There have been a LOT of questions lately about Paul, most of this stuff can be looked up in the Bible. I tend to use this one online: Biblegateway. Its fully searchable, and you could just, you know, read Acts (which is about 2/3 about Paul anyways) or any other book you wish... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:44, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Ah, I was reading the Wiki article which points to Galatians. Adam Bishop (talk) 07:41, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

It has long been noted that Acts of the Apostles' statements about Paul often contradict his own in the epistles. Luke may be the better - and more dramatic - writer, but Paul is the more reliable. For instance, Luke tells the Road to Damascus story three times in Acts, but with contradictions between versions. Paul never mentions such an event. B00P (talk) 09:32, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Ah yes, Galatians. Well in there, it does say he went to Arabia first. Well, regardless, the answers are quite findable in the Bible. You could just look it up... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 03:16, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Minefield → Shiretoko

<moved to RD/C> flaminglawyer^c 22:44, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

It's nice to put a link when we do that. --Milkbreath (talk) 16:07, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

December 21

Is there such a thing as a bus/train hybrid?

I couldn't have been the first one to think of this. Imagine the time saved- Take road to crossing, jump on tracks, beeline to next town, take backroad shortcut, hop on tracks again. Town billboard touts Time saved. Trus to New York city! Faster than Amtrak. At Trus,- we earn your trust!.--THE WORLD'S MOST CURIOUS MAN (talk) 00:50, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

See Dual-mode bus, Trolleybus, and Tram. The first is probably exactly what you are talking about, but Trams (which run on city streets, often between traffic lanes) could be thought of as a hybrid bus/train, as could a Trolleybus, which is like a Tram, but not tied to tracks. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:37, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

No, Jayron, a dual-mode bus does not mean it can run on tracks. This question is asking about a road-rail bus. As you see at that link, they have been tried, but not with any success. The engineering requirements for a good bus and a good train are just too different. (Similarly with road vehicles that turn into boats or into airplanes. Okay, DUKWs have found a niche role as tour vehicles, but it's a very limited niche.) --Anonymous, 03:34 UTC, December 21, 2008.

In Adelaide they have a bus which leaves the road and goes onto its own guided trackway, its called the O-Bahn Busway. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.165.239.250 (talk) 04:57, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

• Again, this does not run on railway tracks. --Anon, 21:51 UTC, December 21, 2008.

The one I know is developed by Hokkaido Railway Company in Japan. They are working toward the practical use. Watch this. Oda Mari (talk) 07:59, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

It might work in fairly isolated communities where trains are infrequent, but on more tightly controlled lines it would never work. However, making a bus and a train can work - for instance the British Rail Class 143 is built on a bus chassis. -mattbuck (Talk) 01:49, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

goats milk

waht would cause yeast in goats milk and how can i fix the problem —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.179.180.71 (talk) 01:22, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeast is floating around in the air all around you; it will alight on foods, and if it finds a friendly medium it will grow and multiply all on its own. You could perhaps pasteurize it... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:32, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

And any particular goat teat may have a yeast infection. If so, I suggest not drinking such milk until the goat is treated and healthy. I don't know that the yeast itself would be a prob, though, it's opportunistic infections that worry me. StuRat (talk) 14:55, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Infections of goat mammaries are noticeably smelly and painful. Udderly disgusting. Polypipe Wrangler (talk) 11:03, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Where did the word "gozangas" and another crude term originate?

What is the origin of the phrases "wham bam, thank you maam" and "gozangas"? As in "Hey, checkowtdat brawd wit da big gozangas!" and "with him, it's wham, bam, thank you maam!" These sound kind of silly and raunchy at the same time so I suspect one of those old WWII type burlesque shows.Sunburned Baby (talk) 03:50, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

And since we're on the subject, does anyone know where the word "broad" came from?Sunburned Baby (talk) 17:59, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like a bastardized version of either congas or maracas. The second phrase sounds a bit "Island pidgin". WWII seems a bit too far back IMHO. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 08:38, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

To me, WWII doesn't seem far enough back for "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am"; I'd be surprised if it weren't older than that. (Why, didn't the twelfth-century women refer to Maimonides as "Rambam, thank you ma'am"? ;-)) Deor (talk) 00:33, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, I suppose I'll have to take that back (the skepticism, not the parenthetical joke); the OP's guess of a WWII origin may well be correct, at least according to the dictionary cited in this posting. Deor (talk) 05:48, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and this book dates gazongas—note the spelling, which seems to be much more common than yours—to 1978, although this one dates it to the 1960s. As this one points out, it seems to be one in an extensive series of terms that ultimately derive from bosom. Deor (talk) 06:13, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

St.Paul

How many times St.Paul tell about his conversion in the Book of Acts ? THANKYOU —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.252.237 (talk) 06:05, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

This is the FIFTH "St.Paul" question in the last few days! Maybe it's time to stop and read the book? SteveBaker (talk) 06:31, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Excuse sir , i have read the book —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.252.237 (talk) 06:53, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Why don't you just count how many times then? Adam Bishop (talk) 07:40, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

As I said in answer to your previous question, the Road to Damascus story appears three times in Acts, once when it happens, and twice more when Paul tells about it. The details are different each time. Paul, himself, never wrote about any such experience in the epistles. B00P (talk) 09:41, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

That would be because the Bible is a rambling incoherent mess...as is obvious to anyone who attempts to actually read it from cover to cover as I once did. It does not appear to contain historical truth - so you're really just asking what was in the minds of the original authors and of the hundreds of subsequent amenders and tinkerers with the book. SteveBaker (talk) 22:09, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

It rambles because its written by several dozen authors over the course of a thousand years. Go to your library, take 70 random books off of a few shelves, and read them all. You don't expect a consistant narrative there, do ya? The Bible was compiled to be in roughly chronological order, but there is not the expectation for it to be a cohesive story. Outside of the Pentateuch (which is likely written by dozens of authors and compiled over hundreds of years itself) each individual book is rather coherant and self-consistant. Even in the Pentatauch, there are coherant stories that have a beginning, middle, and end, but they don't quite match up to the beginnings and ends of the books. Remember, the Bible is not a story, its an Anthology. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 02:57, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

If you pick 70 random books on different topics - sure you get a mess. But if you take 70 random books on Quantum Theory - or 70 books about the Watergate Affair - then I expect a fairly consistent story with a reasonable degree of correlation on the basic facts. The bible can't even get straight such rather fundamental things as the 10 Commandments! You'd really think that the one time God told the world what the actual RULES were - carved them on actual stone tablets - that the people who wrote about it afterwards would have taken just the teensiest bit of effort to get the wording straight. But no - there are at least three different versions (wildly different actually) of such a fundamental mission statement - not just different wording - totally different commandments! If the book (as it and it's proponents claim) is 'The One True Book' - then it is indeed a horrible mess - even on very basic factual matters.

At any rate - for our OP, when you've read all three versions of the story about the Road to Damazcus - you've read all there is to be said on the matter. The inconsistencies are...inconsistancies...and that's because this is mostly a work of fiction written by a bunch of different people with different agenda's to push. If you've read it from cover to cover without preconceptions (as I have) then such 'enlightenment' as you're likely to get (zero, IMHO) has already been gotten - and asking a bunch of people on the Internet for more information is a road to nowhere because they have no sources of information that you don't already have in that book. It's like asking what happened to Harry Potter on his 50th birthday - if J.K.Rowling didn't write about it then that information does not and cannot ever exist. Worse still, the authors of the Bible have all been dead for a very long time...and what they wrote has been messed about with considerably since then (evidence the number of different versions of the Bible over the years). SteveBaker (talk) 15:21, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

"The inconsistencies are...inconsistancies..." - very good, Steve. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I might turn it into a handy quote ("At the end of the day, inconsistencies are just that - inconsistancies"). Thanks. -- JackofOz (talk) 19:35, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Surprisingly - that one was intentional! Too many people see an inconsistancy and imagine something deeper going on - building huge wobbly conspiracy theories (or even entire religions) on something that was just an author making a mistake in a work of fiction. Just head out to any Star Trek convention and you'll be amazed at the amount of time spent trying to see deeper meaning in outright inconsistancy on the part of an author. SteveBaker (talk) 22:14, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Someone slap me if I ever use the form X is just that: X. —Tamfang (talk) 17:29, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Help

The battleship in the forground of the picture File:USS Iowa (BB-61) Preps.jpg is in fact Indiana and not Iowa. How do I fix this without getting reverted? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.31.26.179 (talk) 07:28, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Start by providing a source for your claim. Algebraist 08:17, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Its an observational thing, you need to look carefully at the bridge designs for both classes for the difference to show. Additionally, the text of the image caption suggests that the battleship Iowa is in fact in the background and not the foreground. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.31.26.179 (talk) 08:22, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

I take it the Indiana is meant to be in the background (captioned left to right), and here navy archives[1] state the same as the description in the file, "The Indiana (BB-58) & Iowa (BB-61) underway" then goes on to describe the Iowa. Do you have information to contradict this? It would help to have references or information that supports your view. Just saying "observation" is vague. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:26, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

No, Indiana is meant to be in the foreground, Iowa is supposed to be in the background. The description of the Iowa would be impossible to make from the location of the photographer: the paint scheme which is discussed can only be seen on the background ship, not the foreground, thus the caption in the Iowa article is incorrect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.72.221.167 (talk) 03:21, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I take it then, that you feel the navy has the wrong ship on their Iowa page. Will you take your concerns to the talk page of the USS Iowa (BB-61) article? Julia Rossi (talk) 06:09, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

St.Paul

In the first missionary journey of st.paul who were the two fellow workers with him? I got one fellow worker that is barnabas but i didn't get the other. I read the bible but i couldn't find the other . Please help me . THANKYOU —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.253.102 (talk) 10:14, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Titus ((Galatians 2:1–10). Available in the article, Saint Paul. Julia Rossi (talk) 10:41, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.250.113 (talk) 11:10, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

About the second visit, not the first. This is not my thing, so read the article, especially that table with loads of links for you to follow. I stop short after command+F "Barnabas and" – Julia Rossi (talk) 11:25, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

i think it is not titus , it may be john mark —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.241.214 (talk) 15:04, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Why would the person post if she didn't think she was right? And, if you think it was John Mark, why are you asking us who it was?

Now, I'll admit to having a degree so I am probably further along with my memory, but John Mark accompanied them on one journey, and he got cold feet and went AWOL. This caused a split between Paul and Barnabas, the latter thinking that they could still use him. (And, later, in his last days, Paul includes Mark in those he wants to see, as he is "profitable for the ministry," so apparently the lad did grow up quite a bit later.)

Reasoning logically, Paul made 2 with Barnabas, and 2 with Silas, IIRC. Okay, so John Mark could only have fled on one of those, because the split was right after that. Therefore, it was Titus on the first, John Mark on the second. And, Silas on the 3rd and 4th.Somebody or his brother (talk) 17:24, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Look - this is the SIXTH "St Paul" question this week. All of the information that exists about this person (who in all likelyhood is fictional anyway) exists in the pages of one book. Our OP claims to have read that book. That being the case - he/she is now in possession of all of the information there is to be had on the subject. If there are any remaining questions - then they cannot be answered because they are entirely in the minds of some long-dead authors. We are edging into the realms of 'trolling' here. SteveBaker (talk) 22:14, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you Somebodyorhisbrother, for righting my wrong. Julia Rossi (talk) 23:40, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Download Music of Blue - All Rise

I can't Download the Music of Blue - All Rise. everybody asks money to download the song. can anybody say me the site from where i can dowload the song Blue - All Rise. THANKYOU —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.241.214 (talk) 14:21, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, buddy, their music is copyrighted. That means that if you want it, you'll have to pony up. (but your best "illegal" chance is torrents or similar) flaminglawyer^c 14:55, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Daily Wages

equality among men and women in daily wages —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.241.214 (talk) 15:38, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like you're trying to use a search engine. The refdesk is staffed by real people... But as to your answer, please see the article occupational sexism. flaminglawyer^c 16:25, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Odd recurrent music in online features

<moved to WP:RD/E>

It's nice to put a link to the section. --Milkbreath (talk) 20:37, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Mind relaxation techniques

well I am a 22 year old working in a reputed software concern. I am working nearly 15-18 hours daily. I would kindly request you to give me some suggestions on how can manage my time and some mind relaxation techniques. I would be very much pleased if you provide me with simple actions which I can add up in the routine life which will make me feel relaxed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.68.5 (talk) 18:12, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Did you read the article about meditation? The first line says: "Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness." However, personally I would say to you: work less. Not being able to relax properly is a sign that you're working too much. Lova Falk (talk) 20:32, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

To be honest, 15-18 hour working days are dangerous to your mental/physical health. How many days are you working a week? Are there no regulations for your working hours? Exxolon (talk) 20:36, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at our articles burnout (psychology) and stress management. There is also a fascinating bit on stress balls, which, to quote the article "are presented to employees ... as gifts". Mind you, you may prefer to squeeze your own in an emergency, unless, of course, it were to be a software concern. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 21:42, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Let me tell you something - I've been a software engineer and a team leader since before you were born and I take my job very seriously. I've worked in - (and run) many projects with horrible deadlines and a need to work 'crunch time'. Once you start working more than about 70 hours per week, within just a couple of days you'll be so unproductive (making mistakes - failing to notice things that are important) that you'll actually get your work done in a shorter time if you work fewer hours. I've seen this happen too many times. You can productively work 60 hours a week for several months - and you can productively push it up to 70 hours a week for a few weeks. But over 70 hours a week - or continuous 'crunch' over too many weeks is not doing either you OR your job function any good at all. If you utterly have to do this - a short nap (20 minutes maybe) works wonders. A caring employer may be able to set aside a quiet room with sofa's and such to let employees do this whenever they need to - it really helps when you are pushing it out over 60 hours a week. SteveBaker (talk) 22:04, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Kevin Rudd needs to read this. He seems to have gotten by on 3 hours a sleep a night over the past year, which works out to a 147-hour week (mind you, he has a lot of problems to contend with, many of them legacies of the previous government) but also expects his staff to be there at any hour of the day, which is why a stack of them have become burnt out and quit [2]. -- JackofOz (talk) 22:40, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

As a programmer who has worked many 80+ hour weeks, I've found one technique that radically improved my productivity: staying out of the office during normal working hours. If I was at work 9-5, I'd be called into meetings, asked to help other workers, then waste more time by being bitched out by the boss for not meeting my deadlines. I would spend weekends and evenings at work, but was at home during the 9-5 period (or maybe 7-7 period, to allow for early birds and people who stay late). When you present this to the bosses as the only way to finish the project on time, they become remarkably agreeable, all of a sudden.

As for stress relief, I liked to walk around the building to work off stress. I tried to time it when my program was running a test or something like that, and also would get something from the vending machines during the walk, so I had an "excuse" if asked why I was walking around.

I'm also prone to getting finger cramps, so I would occasionally shake my hands with my fingers flailing about wildly (is there a name for this exercise ?). This really helped. StuRat (talk) 04:00, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

When your hands start to crap out on you - it's definitely time to stop. I've suffered all sorts of repetitive strain problems after 35 years of keyboard pounding. Learning to manage that is vitally important if you still want to be using a keyboard 20 years from now. SteveBaker (talk) 15:03, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm hoping speech recognition will actually work in 20 years, unless MicroSoft buys up all the patents so they can put out their own defective versions. StuRat (talk) 02:17, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Wow! That must be what modern slavery is like. Most of my working life I've rarely exceeded 50 hours in a week, usually managing to keep it to 40-45 hours - and I've usually managed to make my deadlines, though on a few occasions it has gone wrong (eg. very late arrival of requirements specs after weeks of asking) and I have had to do some extra hours or work a couple of weekends. What the OP (and StuRat) needs to ask himself is: "what the worst that would happen if I went home now and picked this up tomorrow?". In most cases they will find the answer is nothing; the work will still get sone and the deadline will still be achieved. A couple of hints: Don't provide (or be forced into accepting) unrealistic estimates based on you working a 80-hour week. If the deadline is too tight or you are going seriously off target, tell the project manager or your boss as soon as you can. Astronaut (talk) 14:00, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I have blown off some crazy overtime assignments. For example, I was asked to work over the holiday season 1999 checking for Y2K bugs, but found out this company planned to lay me off soon after. I called in sick, instead. Alas, they didn't have any Y2K bugs, what a shame. StuRat (talk) 01:38, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Crazy overtime (aka 'Death march' and 'Crunch time') is endemic to some parts of the computer software business. Computer games companies are particularly bad at this. There is an utter-utter-drop-dead date to get computer games done in...if you don't get it done in time for Xmas - your sales will either be a tiny fraction of what they would otherwise be - or you have to delay release for an entire year - which will cause horrible liquidity problems for your company AND risk your game being 'trumped' by some other product in the meantime. What makes this worse is the open-ended nature of a computer game. They are NEVER "done" - we always could have made the game a little better if only we'd had more 'polish' time...another level...more easter eggs...more variety in the AI behavior of the bad guys...nicer graphics...more objects that react under game-physics...another sound effect. There is always SOMETHING that you could do. So sadly - for a few months at the end of pretty much every game project, you go into crazy crunch-time - 60 to 70 hour weeks (hopefully no more unless you have very dumb management). It doesn't matter how well you planned coming up to the deadline because the game is never, ever finished. So the pressure to put in just a few more hours to get that fancy last-minute effect in there is unrelenting and hard to resist. What's amazing is that the games business doesn't pay overtime...people do this mostly because of the love of the project and the peer pressure of not letting down your buddies. People will quite voluntarily put in more hours that would ever be demanded of them - and it often takes forceful pressure from team leaders to limit what people will do. When they get tired they make mistakes that cost more hours to fix - before you know it, each hour worked late at night takes more than an hour to fix up the following morning.

But over 70 hours is just plain stupid - and doing it for longer than a few weeks is also just plain stupid. A few games companies are starting to realise this and while we all know that long crunch hours just prior to a release is well worth it in terms of review scores and sales success - the resulting 'burn-out' of your best people isn't worth it in the longer term.

SteveBaker (talk) 15:03, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

As I suggested above, part of the problem is poor estimating. Many times I've been asked "how long will it take" and I used to say "I'll have it done this evening" (or "Friday", or some other guess) without giving too much thought to it. It then turns out to be trickier than I thought and end up staying late to meet that unrealistic dealine. The trouble with this approach is that I'm giving the project manager what I think he wants to hear, not a realistic estimate. For future projects, that project manager comes to see us software engineers as miracle workers and estimates according to past history... and we get a project doomed to be late from the start. Now, I try to as vague as possible, have a good look first to see what is involved, and if I'm really pressed for an estimate I give myself lots of contingency to get the job done comfortably. If I finish up early, I look like the genius I am and I get to go home early; and if it turns out to be a difficult task, I don't get management breathing down my neck a week later. Astronaut (talk) 18:46, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes - that's a classic problem. I know I can't do time-estimation to save my life. Nowadays I take a good hard look at what I honestly think it'll take - and double it. Only recently (in my previous job) did I discover that my boss was privately doubling what I told HIM - and still it sometimes took longer than it should. My best advice is to have short 'sprints' with well defined goals and to split the task into sprint-sized chunks. Treat the end of each sprint as a deadline - and work hard to meet each one. If the work doesn't fit the time available (and it never does) then the 'crunch' happens in little bits at the end of each sprint rather than piling up at the end. We use 3 week sprints - and you might find yourself working late a few nights at the end of every sprint - but when the last sprint is done - we're DONE...except that we won't be - for the reasons I outlined above. No computer game (and precious few computer programs of ANY kind) are ever "Finished". SteveBaker (talk) 22:09, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Income of felons/nonfelons controlled for other demographics?

I can understand that released felons as a group have substantially lower income than non-felons, but are there any comparative income data controlling for other demographic factors? (e.g. education, age, race, sex, etc) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Boomerpdx (talk • contribs) 22:23, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

December 22

Chicago vs Salt Lake City

Is Chicago's numbering system for its streets anything similar to the one Salt Lake City has? 75.169.197.68 (talk) 01:47, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Many cities use a numbering system of some sort for its streets, but Salt Lake City (and indeed most of Utah) takes the cake as far as maddening adherance to the grid. Chicago's is pretty regular as well, but not exactly so. The numbers on Chicago streets ONLY apply to the east-west streets on the South Side (and some on the southside are named, and their "numbers" are skipped, like Roosevelt, Cermak, and Garfield) while all of the north-south streets and all of the streets north of Madison Street are named, and not numbered, meaning you have to "memorize" the name-number correlation. See Streets and highways of Chicago which has an explanation of the system in Chicago. I lived there for 2 years, and I have to say it was a GREAT system, by far the easiest major city in the U.S. to navigate. I personally find the Utah system confusing (for example, confusing the addresses between 1500 North 2100 West Street and 2100 North 1500 West Street and 1500 West 2100 North Street and... you get the idea) and would prefer a system which was a little easier to keep track of... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 02:46, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Ah, I see. I've lived in Salt Lake for eleven years and personally I find its numbering system to be quite easy. Using your example, the first address (1500 N 2100 West) is fifteen blocks north of the north-south line of the city, and then on a street that is twenty-one blocks west of the east-west line, while the second address is located on a totally different street (1500 West) and that location is twenty-one blocks north of the line on that street (if that makes any sense). If someone tells me to go to a house on 11400 S 2000 East I know exactly where that is. However, saying you live on a house that's on 2150 East 3000 South certainly does not have its appeal :) and sometimes addresses like 100 West North Temple are just plain confusing. But one gets used to it - 75.169.197.68 (talk) 03:03, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

My brain tends to confuse the numbers easier. Its easier to know that, for example, 2400 W Roosevelt means the corner of Roosvelt and Western, because its only got the one number in it. Even like 2400 W 23rd Street (corner of Western and 23rd Street, or one block south of Cermak on Western) is easier to keep track of because it uses a Cardinal number for the address and an Ordinal number for the street name. Having both the address and street name to be part of the same class of words makes it hard for me to parse. I suppose I would have gotten used to it had I lived there, but in general I find the system somewhat confusing. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 03:11, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

So a Salt Lake address always has a redundant '00'? — Street signs in San Francisco have a little number showing what block you're on; this can be important north of Market Street, where numbers don't run in parallel (because Market Street is oblique). If I were in charge they wouldn't all be n00: the four signs around a crossing would be 498, 499, 500, 501 so that you can see immediately which side is odd and which end of the block is which. —Tamfang (talk) 19:24, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Credit music to The Incredibles

What time signature is the music played during the ending credits of The Incredibles in? (you can listen to it on the Amazon page) 72.200.101.17 (talk) 02:06, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

It's all over the place. I heard 5/4 and 6/8, I believe, and maybe 4/4, too. Dynamic piece, and a great movie, dahlink. --Milkbreath (talk) 11:40, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Can't remember it, and the link is not working, but it's possible it is in a mixed meter (okay, try Time_signature#Mixed_meters). That could be why people can't agree on the time signature. -- 128.104.112.113 (talk) 19:43, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

The link worked for me. Under the "Incredibles" logo on the left is a link "Listen to Samples". "The Incredits" is the one. --Milkbreath (talk) 21:52, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Movies in the Great Depression

This is brief: Who could afford movie tickets during the Great Depression?

Thank as always.

Always Cardinal Raven (talk) 03:03, 22 December 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

Considering they likely cost a dime or so, probably most people. This article: [3] reports that a couple could get two movie tickets for $0.30, or $0.20 for a matinee. even that was affordable to most people. The first $1.00 movie ticket wasn't recorded until the 1960's: see [4]). Also see [5] where it notes that by the end of the 1930s, 80 million tickets were sold annually. The answer is obviously "a lot of people". Its pretty useless to speculate that "there is no way they could have afforded it" when the evidence is already clear that they did afford it. Also, remember that, in the 1930s, there were less things to spend money on. Consider that today you spend money monthly on cable TV, internet, sattelite radio, i-tunes subscriptions, NetFlix, land-line phones, cell phones, as well as buying the devices to use those, such as video game systems, computers, Televison sets, DVD players, CD players, MP3 players, etc. etc. In 1935, you had a) A phonograph b) a radio and c) the movies. And that was literally IT. So, the entertainment budget went a lot farther, since you didn't have a multitude of different media to spend it on. A dollar a month could get you all the movies you needed to see and then some... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 03:27, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

See that is what I expected, just had to make sure. Another question certain movies that come from 1930s and what not. If you ever watched them it appears the actors are talking really fast for a normal human being. Was this because they had a time limit of when to get their lines in? Why did they speak so fast? Thank you again. Its always appreciated.

Always Cardinal Raven (talk) 03:34, 22 December 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven

There was a certain "rapid banter" that was quite common for a few decades (Catherine Hepburn was one offender). Still, some people, like comedians Robin Williams and Dennis Miller, do the same thing today. I would like to sic them on each other and see which one explodes first. StuRat (talk) 03:50, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Howard Hawks, in particular, is known for the rapid, overlapping dialogue in his films, with His Girl Friday being the locus classicus. Deor (talk) 04:18, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Its also not confined to Hawks, or indeed to films of the 1940s. More modern directors who used similar techniques include Robert Altman, noted for such use of dialogue in MASH (1970), and Whit Stillman, who was famous for his "talky" films of the 1990's, including Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994). --Jayron32.talk.contribs 05:07, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

The Gilmore Girls also did that. Adam Bishop (talk) 08:14, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

The frame rate might have been different. Movie cameras from that era might have run at between 15 and 20 frames per second, but playing them back on modern equipment at 24 or 25 frames per second makes everying seem faster. In a dialogue scene, it would seem like rapid banter. Astronaut (talk) 13:26, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

This may be the case with movies from the silent era, but by the time of the talkies, the frame rate had been standardised at 24fps. (The WP article I've linked to references silent-film historian Kevin Brownlow as the source for this statement). Valiantis (talk) 14:38, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Remember that the $1 movie ticket in the 1960's translates to a $7 movie ticket today - because inflation has pushed down the value of money by a factor of 7 over that same period. It's hard to track inflation through the depression - but it's highly likely that the dime it cost for a movie ticket back then would be more like a dollar today. You'd have to be REALLY badly off not to be able to afford $1 in present-value money. There is evidence that distractions like TV, movies, computer games and such actually do better in times of financial crisis than they do in boom times because they are amongst the cheapest forms of entertainment - and people need (more than ever, actually) a way to take their minds off the daily grind and spend a couple of hours zoned out in a comfy chair with popcorn.

Another reason why it would have been popular in the 1930's would be that this was the only way for most people to see news footage - newsreel theatres did boom business because it was the only way to SEE the larger events of the world - and for people who probably didn't even own a radio, it was the only way to hear it either.

SteveBaker (talk) 14:38, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

SteveBaker (talk) 14:38, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

People had to have some relief from the staggering harshness of the depression. Some would take their main squeeze to a honky tonk, others to a movie, spending the price of a filling meal to have some joy in a stark world. Some sacrifice might have been involved. They skip a meal, or walk 3 miles to save bus fare, or put pieces of cardboard in the worn out shoes instead of having them half-soled. Edison (talk) 02:39, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Japanese Criminal Tattoos

Ive searched far and wide and can't seem to find any specifics on the tattooing of criminals in Edo period Japan. I only know that different markings or particularly bands were given for certain crimes committed. Bokukei or bokkei is the term thats used for the punishment by tattoos, but I can't seem to find any information regarding exactly which tattoos were given for which crimes. Ive only ever come across a book that showed an old illustration with various markings, but I couldnt translate any of the wording. Mugen, a protagonist in the Samurai Champloo anime is a good example. He has blue bands around his wrists and ankles, but other than him, I know no examples of reference. I've tried contacting traditional japanese tattoo websites for information, but have never received replies. plz halp. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.177.106.51 (talk) 03:03, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe following threads from our Yakuza article will help. Irezumi has a bit of info, but no examples. [Criminal punishment in Edo-period Japan] only mentions tattoos for prisoners. This site [6] had following info: The original punitive markings on criminals, usually in the form of rings around the wrists, or lines down the arm, were called Geishin. another source [7] had this, aparently from a different period: First offenses were marked with a line across the forehead. A second crime was marked by adding an arch. A third offense was marked by another line. Together these marks formed the Japanese character for "dog". It appears this was the original "Three strikes, you're out" law. For googling it would help if you got in touch with s.o. who can read Japanese. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 05:36, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Link #13 is a past version of our article tattoo. As for the letter 'dog' in Japanese, the stroke order is 「一」「ナ」「大」「犬」. It has four strokes. Tattoos as criminal punishment started in the middle of Edo period. A man named Hanbei was the first criminal who received the punishment. It was May 11, 1720. Where the tattoos were marked was different from place to place. The dog letter was used in Hiroshima and when the criminal committed the 5th crime, it meant death. Horizontal line/s on forehead was used in Tokushima. X mark/s on forehead in Hizen. And band/s on arm, mostly on the left arm, was used in many places for theft. See this. Oda Mari (talk)10:22, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

The irezumiwaku link is precisely what I'm talking about! Would a translation of that even be possible? The reference is perfect except that I cant determinine what any of the tattoos mean. thank you for the help.

@oda mari Our Irezumi article says that tatooing criminals began in the Kofun period but doesn't cite any references. Since you have such detailed info maybe you should add that to the article. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 12:29, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

As for the linked image, almost all words are place names. The top line from l to r: 京都/Kyoto, 人足寄場/Ninsokuyoseba/vagrant camp,？代/unreadable, 甲府/Kofu, 江戸（割増？）/Edo (additional tattoo?), 江戸/Edo. The second line: 大阪/Osaka, 伏見/Fushimi, 長崎/Nagasaki, 奈良/Nara, 駿河/Suruga, 堺/Sakai. The bottom line: 長州/Choshu, 筑後/Chikugo, 紀州/Kishu, 非人/hinin, 日光/Nikko, 佐渡/Sado. I wrote the fifth time means death, but some sites say it was the fourth and this one was sentenced death after his second arrest. Oda Mari (talk) 14:55, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

School teachers

Why is that either 1 or 2 of 100 techer of physics know how to derive why like charges or poles(magnetics) repel and unlike attract but say like repel and unlike attract —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.212.126.39 (talk) 06:34, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Do you have sources for that statistic? Dismas|^(talk) 08:17, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

To respond to the OP. The answer to "Why do opposite charges attract and like charges repel?" is not that complicated, and that your physics teacher has not explained it satisfactorily is probably because the real answer itself is so simple that it seems like an unsatisfactory answer. The real answer is "Because that's the way it works". Let me expand a bit on that, but its not any more complicated. The reality is, there are two fundemental Electric charges, and these charges either attract or repel one another. If we look at the atom, and look at say a proton and an electron, we can observe that protons will repel other protons, and attract electrons. Likewise electrons repel other electrons, and attract protons. This is an observation, and it is upon observation that all scientific thought is based. Now, the property of that attraction is called "electric charge" and, given that there appears to be two fundemental and complementary ways that charge works (i.e. the charge that attracts electrons and repels protons VERSUS the charge that attracts protons and repels electrons), we could call them anything we want, black and white, Peter and Stewie, A and B, whatever, but + and - has the advantage of also being mathematically useful in the sense that we can quantify this property called "electric charge" and then do real, useful math. By convention (and somewhat randomly) a proton's charge is called "positive" and an electron's charge is called "negative" and then all other item's charge is compared to these two; i.e. if it behaves like a proton does it is +, if it behaves like an electron it is -. Other articles that you may find interesting if you want to explore the nature of electric charge are probably electromagnetism, elementary charge, and quantum mechanics. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 19:09, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I read the OP's question/missive/whatever differently. The way I read it was "Why is it that so few physics teachers know even the most basic of material?" I got a sense of frustration from the OP, not curiosity. Dismas|^(talk) 01:26, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

It's a basic problem in the educational system. The ideal physics teacher would have a degree in physics and a degree in teaching. But someone with two decent degrees can get a job doing some sort of technological thing for about twice what a teacher earns. Hence quite a few high school physics teachers don't have a degree in the subject and learned what they needed to learn in order to teach the curriculum but not much more. There are exceptions - people who do it for the love of it despite the poor pay - but from what I've seen as a parent, they are not in the majority. Personally - I'd love to be a teacher - but I can't afford it and (rightly or wrongly) I believe that the constraints of having to teach to the curriculum and deal with standardized testing would drive me nuts. My kid is now in college - he went to a 'magnet' school (The School of Science and Engineering in Dallas, Texas) which has been in the top ten rated high schools in the whole of the USA (public or private) and which is renowned for it's strength in teaching science and technology - and STILL the science teaching was (mostly) terrible. It's unlikely that was due to them being able to get good people because what dedicated science teacher wouldn't want to work for one of the best high schools in the country? So the problem must be with the curriculum or the 'teach the test' approach that's being forced down the throats of competent teachers. But that excuse doesn't cover the OP's complaint - which (I'm sure) is due to underqualified teachers - which in turn has got to be due to pay and working practices causing well-qualified people to be turned away. SteveBaker (talk) 13:17, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

I would disagree with that assessment. I have a Bachelor's of Science degree in Chemistry from a top-10 ACS ranked chemistry school (University of Delaware) and a Master's of Education degree, and I am a teacher, and could not imagine doing anything else, even for some more money. Nearly every science teacher I have worked with has had a degree, or equivalent, in the subject area they taught in. In the 6 years I was an active classroom teacher (I am on somewhat of a sabatical right now), every physics teacher I worked alongside had a degree in either Physics or Physics education. The greater problem is that there is a somewhat unrealistic expectation that everyone needs to know everything. Many students are placed in classes which they have no use or aptitude for, and yet we have to teach all of them. If, as a high school chemistry teacher, I didn't get to teach my students how to work with the Schroedinger equation or we never got to work with the Wittig reaction it wasn't because I was a bad teacher; there is a limited number of days to teach the curriculum, and by necessity there is some material we just can't cover in 135 contact hours. So when a Physics teacher doesn't take an hour out of his class to explain all of quantum mechanics to answer one student's question about electromagnetism, its not because he couldn't answer the question. Its because he's got all 135 hours filled with OTHER material that he has to teach first. You want science to be a more effective for these students? Introduce more levels into classes, and get students into the correct level, so that students who would benefit from it can move at a faster pace, and students who don't have the aptitude can move at a slower pace and work on the most important stuff only, so we can be sure they really get it. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 14:01, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

What does she want?

OK, I've got a question. I've been out with this girl 3 times. The first date was dinner. We hit it off pretty good, kept talking long after dinner was finished. At the end of the date, she gave me a hug. She e-mailed me the next day to say thanks. The next date was on my hour long lunch break. At the end of the date, she gave me a hug. Usually, I'm used to a kiss on the first or second date. Thought it was strange, but whatever. Yesterday was our third date. I took her to see the symphony. At the end of the date, I was expecting at least a kiss. Anyway, it was just a hug. I think she's into me but I can't tell if it is as a friend or more. She's going through a divorce which isn't finalized, so maybe she just wants to take things slowly. She has said things about wanting to see me in the future. For example, on the second date, she said she wanted to watch me play softball. On the third date - well, this takes a bit of explaining. I'm a musician who's recorded 3 demo albums, plus a Christmas album which I won't let her listen to because it's pretty bad (it was recording in a week and I used my family as singers) and she said that she wanted to hear it. I said no. And then she said she would hear it eventually, even if it's not until spring. Anyway, the thing that really got me was as she was leaving, she said that the holidays were coming up (which I understand), so "keep in touch". What the fuck does that mean? "Keep in touch"? I have no freaking clue what she wants. 67.184.14.87 (talk) 12:45, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

EDIT: She has three children. I'm 37, she's 33. (I'm the OP on a different computer.) 216.239.234.196 (talk) 13:41, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

She wants security and children. --Milkbreath (talk) 12:57, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

EDIT: She wants to inspire love. --Milkbreath (talk) 16:53, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Personally, I'd interpret that as 'phone me over Christmas and have a chat about whatever people talk about on phones once they've got past the "how you doin'?" and "what you been up to?" stage of the conversation'. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 13:01, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I guess it's also possible that the divorce situation means she has to be extra careful about not showing herself up as being the cause of the divorce - or risk losing her kids if her ex- makes nasty accusations about her going out partying all the time. Perhaps she's wondering why you don't kiss her? A peck on the cheek ought to be OK during one of those goodbye hugs. She's got to be under all kinds of stress right now. I think she's taking it slow for all kinds of very obvious reasons. I would try to help her out with that - keep in contact - phone often enough to keep things rolling but not so often as to appear "needy" (the last thing she needs is "needy"!) - invite her on low-pressure dates (lunch is good) - make it a regular thing (so she has it to look forward too when times are tough). And for chrissakes - she's 100% right about the Xmas album. On your very next date - put a copy of that crappy Xmas album inside a $20 portable CD player (don't forget the batteries!), gift-wrap the whole thing with a big bow on the top - give it to her and make her listen to it there and then! Tell her that she was right and that now she owes you the low-down on her worst screwup. If you can't laugh over your screwups with her - it's already over. SteveBaker (talk) 14:29, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Have you asked her what she wants? --Moni3 (talk) 14:38, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

That's always a good idea. The phrase "So how does that make YOU feel?" is one of the most useful in the English language when making conversation with women. While she tells you, you can go back to wondering how much better she'd look if that top button were to inadvertently come undone. SteveBaker (talk) 15:24, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I know that was a joke but I should point out actually listening is sometimes more important then asking Nil Einne (talk) 17:22, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Really?! Oh - crap. SteveBaker (talk) 22:02, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Not wanting to be a dick about it, but external events do not "make" people feel things. We all retain control over our feelings, no matter how compelling and automatic our knee-jerk reactions may seem. Take 9/11: the emotional responses ranged from fear and panic, through to joy and celebration. Some were amazed such a thing could ever have happened. Others were amazed it hadn't happened years earlier. Others were completely indifferent to it. I'm not saying don't ask her about her feelings, but rather than "How does that make you feel?", a better question might be "How do you feel about that?". -- JackofOz (talk) 22:12, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Knowing ladies well,and have had the same done to me,they are complicated,change their minds in a blink of an eye,keep in touch means just that,then you also might never hear from her again,it also sounds as if she wants time,and would probably like to keep you just as a friend for now,to see you when she wants.If you want more,you might want to seek another lady or just contiunually waste your time and money on dates with a woman that won"t even give you a kiss good night. Fluter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.86.15.15 (talk) 15:45, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

After your next date, go to kiss her first. But be prepared for any eventuality from a longer kiss and more, to a slap and a "I never want to see you again". Crude, but at least you'll know where you stand. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.114.155.166 (talk) 18:59, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for everyone's response. I think at this point I'm inclined to believe that she wants to take things slowly because she's still going through the divorce. 216.239.234.196 (talk) 19:25, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

My experience: if you're looking for anything beyond a casual physical relationship, a 2 or 3 year post-divorce No Fly Zone will serve you well. --Sean 20:43, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Non-Profit and Not For Profit

I was under the impression that any organization/person could establish a Non-Profit Company, but only the government could establish a Not-For-Profit company.

However, I have been told that non-profit and not-for-profit are synonymous and have no difference.

What is the difference between Non-Profit and Not-For Profit?

130.221.224.7 (talk) 19:27, 22 December 2008 (UTC)December22, 2008

It may differ from country to country. I used to work for a not-for-profit organisation, but their survival (and my bonus) actually depended on them making handsome profits. Not-for-profit in Australia means a company whose primary goal (officially, at least) is something other than profit, but they're not precluded from making profits. Non-profit means any profits they do make, after taking care of admin expenses, planned expansion etc etc, have to be disposed of and can't be retained for investment etc - not sure how this is done. -- JackofOz (talk) 19:42, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

According to non-profit organization, the terms are synonymous. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 02:45, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

In the UK the two terms mean the same thing. The main distinction is between "not for profit" and "profit" in the description of the way business is carried out. A "not for profit" business in the UK is a slight misnomer, as JackofOz pointed out these organisations still have to demonstrate a surplus in their transactions, and they have to demonstrate solvency. What the term actually should be is "non-profit distributing" as they are not able to distribute their profits to third parties such as shareholders. Profits should be retained as reserves after paying staff, taxes and administration costs, and if the organisation is a charity in England and Wales, the Charity Commission has guidelines on the amount of reserves which should be maintained. --TammyMoet (talk) 09:40, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Choosing your USAF aircraft

Hello. Is it possible that: when you enlist in the Air Force, that you can choose (or at least request) to fly an airplane of your choice?--DocDeel516 ^discuss 19:43, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Recruiters are big on allowing people to request things, and will even promise things orally, but, if you read what you actually sign, they can do whatever they want with you, and probably will. StuRat (talk) 21:26, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

It should also be VERY clearly stated that only a very tiny percentage of people who join the USAF will ever get to fly a plane. To put some numbers on this (data taken from our USAF article: The USAF has 328,000 personnel on active duty (plus a bunch of reserves and such like) - and it has 5,800 aircraft - of which 1,700 are actually air national guard, reserve units, etc. So - bottom line is that there are a third of a million guys out there who all joined the USAF with the dream of flying a plane (why else?) and about 4,000 planes for them to fly. Of those - many are big boring transport planes - and of the rest, aircraft are being replaced with pilotless drones and transports flown by civilians as fast as they can make the transition. So your odds of being able to fly a plane AT ALL is only about one in 75 - and the odds are getting worse - not better. Getting to fly the precise kind of plane (fighter, helicopter, ground attack, transport) has got to be lower than that - and your chances of getting to fly a particular kind of plane is very low indeed. Please don't take the word of a recruiter. If they won't give it to you in writing - assume it's not true. SteveBaker (talk) 21:58, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

How about going through flight school first, THAN joining up? Even better, go to college (if you haven’t already) and flight school first. As a fully qualified pilot already you would have a much greater chance of flying than all the thousands of kids than join right out of high school and end up polishing bird poop off the windscreens. Contrary to popular belief, the US armed forces are very interested in hiring well educated slightly older candidates, and because such recruits are in short supply they often end up in higher ranking, better paid positions. --S.dedalus (talk) 23:09, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I may be wrong, but I believe all pilots in the USAF, perhaps with the exception of some helicopter pilot, must be officers and hence, hold at least a bachelor's degree. Acceptable (talk) 23:42, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

SteveBaker's calculations depend on each plane only having one pilot so no co-pilots or rotating crews (I don't know if that is completely true). But also I would expect pilots to stay in the service longer than some more "lowly" occupations so that the number of grounded serviceman to pilots to be much higher. Any government statistics out there? Rmhermen (talk) 00:11, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Some aircraft types would rotate pilots - and transports planes often have two pilots - but mostly not. If you're a fighter pilot they even paint your name on the plane. SteveBaker (talk) 02:33, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Attaining US Residency as a student

I am going to the USA for university and am currently a Canadian citizen. First, do I need some sort of student Visa? Can I qualify for US permanent residency as a student? If so, how many years do i have to study in the US for? Hustle (talk) 22:16, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I am also a Canadian and went to a US school. You need an I-20, which as I understand it is not an actual visa but for all practical purposes the equivalent of one. I believe I got all the information I needed from the school, or else they directed me to the American consulate. It wasn't a particularly big deal, especially compared to the visas required for some of my classmates (from India, Iran etc). The I-20 requires the school registrar to confirm you're enrolled and that you can support your studies financially, necessary in part because the I-20 does not entitle you to work off campus. You have to get the I-20 re-signed each year by the registrar people, if you try to go through and it has expired they can hold you up at the airport while they check to see if you're really enrolled (I made this mistake at the beginning of my second year there, luckily I got to the airport early. Another lesson learned: keep your SEVIS receipt). I believe you have a 3 or 6 month grace period after your I-20 expires before you are officially persona non-grata and quite deportable. I also think it's likely that studying in the states makes it easier to attain permanent residency, but I didn't apply for that so I wouldn't know fo rsure. I suspect having an employer lined up after your graduation is the critical part of that process. TastyCakes (talk) 22:44, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

As to the second part of the question: if a green card is your goal, look for a qualifying job; 'student' isn't it. —Tamfang (talk) 19:45, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Some Variable terrestrial measurements

Could someone provide me with some variable terrestrial measurements, ex: atmospheric pressure, distance from Sun, temperature, wind speed, humidity, ceiling, etc... The stranger the better. Thanks! Acceptable (talk) 23:56, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Albedo, surface magnetic field strength, Environmental radioactivity, Biomass distribution, habitat quality, rheological behavior, crust thickness organic content of soil just for starters. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 01:14, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Magnetic declination is a favorite of mine: the variation of the compass needle from true north. It varies by location as well as over time at the same location. Old surveys were done by magnetic compass, and ewhen the declination varies several degrees in several decades, a new magnetic compass survey may put your house on the neighbour's farm. Edison (talk) 02:33, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Global warming of course. -hydnjo talk 04:03, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Duration of a day (compare UT1 and UTC). Daylight hours (by season). -- SGBailey (talk) 09:23, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Even the strength of Earth's gravity changes depending on where you are on the planet. Raven4x4x (talk) 13:24, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah - forget diets - just weigh yourself at the top or Mount Everest and you'll be 0.3% lighter! SteveBaker (talk) 16:27, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but taking all your clothes off first to get a true reading could be painful. StuRat (talk)

Also see Earth for some astronomical data on our planet. StuRat (talk) 16:56, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

December 23

snorkel monster

Once I was listining to the radio, and they said someting about a one footed snorkel monster. What's all this about?Warriorscourge (talk) 04:38, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Without some context such as what radio program you were listening to or where the station is or something like that, all we could do is give a rough guess. This is the first Ghit for "one footed snorkel monster". Dismas|^(talk) 04:44, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like a relative of the Purple People Eater. Edison (talk) 04:56, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

It could be a "one-foot" (length) "snorkel" (long tube) "monster"... kinda like "Willy the One-Eyed Wonder Worm"... aka, its a slang term for a penis... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 13:48, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Okay, well, the radio thing was KXNT, and they said it was being attacked by a UFO. I now, sounds pretty made up.-Warriorscourge (talk) 00:09, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Town layouts

Why are US towns & cities laid out in blocks? A simplistic answer of "it makes things easy/regular" is all very well, but what about nature / slopes / rivers? Who says regular is good anyway? No British town has regular blocks and even Milton Keynes where the roads are gridded have bending windy (as in wind a clock not blowing air) roads within the gridsquares. There is an obvious difference in viewpoint between the two countries. I was wondering what the rationale for the difference might be. -- SGBailey (talk) 09:33, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

A look at Grid plan suggest that this design/city-planning idea has existed for a very long time. I suspect that sometimes nature dictates how a city can be designed, but sometimes the city can be 'planned' in a simple grid format quite easily. There is a section on 'benefits' Grid_plan#Benefits_and_criticisms. It would probably be worthwhile also reading Street hierarchy. I suspect a large reason is because the expansion of British cities wasn't 'planned' or at least not designed in the same way as in the US - whose cities are (mostly) much younger than in the UK. Additionally there'll be 'cultural' economics at play. In the UK a grid-network might not be associated with wealth/high-value and so the money that can be made selling houses on a grid-network estate is perhaps less than the meandering/bendy setup we are used to here in Britain. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:40, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

While not all U.S. towns and cities laid out in rectangular blocks, two factors at work are:

• The Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which anticipated creating several states in the region near the Great Lakes, and
• The Land Ordinance of 1785, which provided a very rectangular system for surveying the land in those states.

My tongue-in-cheek explanation is that George Washington, a former surveyor who grew up in Virginia where it's apparently illegal for roads to meet at right angles, had a hand in this. You can see the effects clearly across the Midwest. Given the regular pattern for larger units like townships (six miles square)and sections (one mile square), it was easy to organize settlements along existing property boundaries. For example, Eight Mile Road, the northern boundary of Detroit, is also known as Base Line Road because it serves as a reference point for land surveys throughout Michigan's lower peninsula. But even Eight Mile varies from its "correct" path because of a stream.

I'd add that many suburbs developed in the past 30 years or so feature curving streets, cul-de-sacs, and other non-grid arrangements. As a developer in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC pointed out, in residential neighborhoods strict grids don't offer all that pleasing a view to the eye; curving streets offer greater interest and help modify the visual impact of roadways. --- OtherDave (talk) 12:19, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

In Victorian times in the UK, 'grid iron' layouts were popular - hence the rows of 'Coronation Street' style Victorian terraced housing in many towns and cities. Glasgow city centre is also built on a grid plan. 62.25.96.244 (talk) 12:33, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

The hey-day of the "grid-plan" in the U.S. was probably 1750-1900. Cities which came into their own in during that time period (Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia) display quite regular grid patterns. Cities which are older (notably Boston) than that have some rather, um, "un-gridy" streets, as anyone who has tried to navigate Boston can attest. However, parts of Boston that WERE built in that time period (like Back Bay), DO show a grid layout. Grids work best for horse-and-buggy economy; with the advent of the car in the 20th cenrutry, Grids fell out of favor for the street hierarchy system and for zoning, which keeps residential, commercial, and industrial parts of a city seperate. This is all friendlier to cars by better controlling traffic flow onto a smaller number of "major" roads, and keeping high-speed traffic out of residential areas. Cities which saw their development in the 20th century, like Atlanta, Houston, and my current city, Raleigh, North Carolina ascribe to the urban sprawl method of development, and not the old "grid plan". --Jayron32.talk.contribs 13:45, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Except that New York City is six years older than Boston... Rmhermen (talk) 14:40, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Absolute age of the city means little. The New Amsterdam of the Dutch has little remnant at all in the modern city of New York. New Amsterdam of the Dutch time period was laid out according to the Castello Plan, and aside from about half a dozen streets south of Wall Street (which at the time was the northern limit of New Amsterdam). So you could say that, for a little tiny plot of Manhattan, around the battery, there is no grid plan. However, the vast majority of the city was laid out much later, and most of the expansion of New York happened much later. Most of modern New York was laid out in a series of plans known as the Commissioners' plans. Everything north of 14th street was plotted out at that time, and most of the streets south of 14th street had been laid out in . Also see File:Grid 1811.jpg for a map of the New York city plan as it existed in the 1807 Commissioners' plan, an early draft of the final version that was passed in 1811, and which (except for Central Park) is still in place today. This article: History of New York City transportation is a helpful read as well.

The city of Boston never had a unified grid street plan, and it was mostly laid out in the 1630s and 1640s. According to our article on Boston transportation, most of the streets were laid out to follow the shorelines of the Shawmut Peninsula upon which Boston was first built. The local geography which was mostly hills, swamps, and brackish estuaries, which left little room for a real grid pattern. The "gridded" parts of Boston date to around the same time as the "gridded" parts of Manhattan; its just that by that time, there was far greater part of the Boston area settled and covered with streets already than there was in Manhattan. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 17:31, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

I would think the most obvious factor is that British city centers date to the Middle Ages, before they had the kind of surveying equipment and urban planning they had in the 19th century. I read once that New York considered straying from the rectangular grid system in the 19th century but stuck with it because it was easier to sell real estate in squares rather than oblong shapes. Note that nowadays, straight lines are very rare in North American residential developments, since curvy streets apparently give people the sense of exclusivity and higher property values. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 23:56, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Yep - according to Bernard Cornwell (an author of fiction, but an impeccably-researched one and in this instance writing a factual article) the layout and even many of the property boundaries in Winchester date from King Alfred's time - well over a thousand years ago. PeteVerdon (talk) 01:48, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but why is it felt to be a good idea? Grid plan suggests it reduces boundary arguuments and minimises road lengths. Modern British developments appear to be deliberatly curvy and non-griddy. -- SGBailey (talk) 00:06, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

The Manhattan grid has three advantages.

1. As each block is the same size, the buying, selling, and trading of real estate was greatly simplified in the era of the city's expansion northward.
2. As the plan was uncomplicated and straightforward, one could plan for future construction years before the work actually began. You could build with confidence that the rest of the city would expand to meet you. For example, the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West was built in lonely splendor a mile from where most construction was occuring, and thus, at less expense. In a few years, the plots around it filled in.
3. Thw city was, and is, host to many immigrants for whom English is not their native language. By laying out the streets in a regular grid, and numbering them, the city became instantly accessible to many who would, otherwise, have been completely lost.

B00P (talk) 04:04, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Modern British developments are definitely, as you say, non-gridded in almost all cases. A deviant of the road hierarchy system is in common use - Motorways for intercity traffic, dual carriageway A roads linking the former to the city centre (usually a ring road), single carriageway A roads radiating through the various districts, unclassified through roads serving individual estates and then cul de sacs off those roads that contain houses or industrial units. If you're building a town/city from scrach then a grid plan may be a good idea (ie Milton Keynes) but in existing urban areas which are not gridded then any developments have to fit in with whatever is around them.

Unlike US cities, UK towns/cities and even villages tend to have one of several different designs -

- Radial - All the main roads go out from a central point at whatever angle heads towards the road's destination (a lot of that is thanks to the Romans)

- Linear - The settlement has developed alongside a river, canal, railway or road and so tends to be longer than it is wide. 62.249.220.179 (talk) 00:23, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Actually, there are lots of American cities, expecially in mountain areas, which follow that linear pattern. C.f. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Charleston, West Virginia; where the cities are indeed quite long and narrow, as you note, following a river course. And the radial pattern you note, well that's essentially how urban sprawl works, see Atlanta, Georgia. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 00:54, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

I live in Boston (and love its non-griddiness), but as Jayron suggests, Boston is not the only U.S. city that is free of the oppressive order and monotonous sightlines of the grid. Citywide grids are really the exception rather than the rule east of the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes drainage (except for Florida). Even in New York City, it is really only Midtown and Upper Manhattan that have a unified grid. Other parts of the city, such as most of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, have a more organic street pattern. Maybe it is just that the parts of the United States most likely to be visited by foreign tourists tend to have citywide grids. Marco polo (talk) 01:11, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Brooklyn is more griddy than not, though there are several grids, not one throughout. (I used to live in Yonkers. I don't think there was a straight street in the entire city.) --Nricardo (talk) 01:54, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Use of the Theodolite for surveying probably facilitated grid designs. Property lines defined by natural elements like rivers, hills etc. tend to be rather unreliable. While today's advanced surveying methods make same size lots with curvy property lines possible, in former days straight lines on a map, transferred to the actual plot, would have been easiest to get each buyer the exact acerage they paid for. The disputed border between Georgia and Tennessee shows that such transfer was not always successful. (Rumor has it that the surveyors didn't fancy meeting the local native American population and surveyed a bit farther south.) As for Atlanta: The roads were designed along former cow-paths; and the cows were drunk! ;-) 76.97.245.5 (talk) 04:11, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I think that the reason for grid streets and parcels in the US circa 18-19th century had less to do with it being easier to sell the parcels and more to do with keeping surveying costs low. In those days there were vast amounts of land in America in the hands of people wishing to subdivide and sell, and not nearly enough skilled surveyers to fill the demand. Thus surveying work was costly. Grids are easier and quicker for even novice surveyors to plat out. There's more to the history of US street grids than just that, but the cost and time savings were likely a major factor. Pfly (talk) 10:19, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Why is cracking the knuckles/neck associated with toughness?

I do this all the time and I'm not particularly tough or manly! So what's the reason? 99.245.92.47 (talk) 13:41, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Because tough muscular people find it a convenient way of drawing attention to their physique? By the way I have a colleague who is super skinny and he cracks his neck all the time. ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 14:41, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Because it says: "I'm so tough that I don't expect to live long enough for the tendon damage I'm causing to myself to become a problem." SteveBaker (talk) 16:24, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

I think the biggest reason of all is that cracking nuckles is intimately tied in to the image of a man getting in to a fight. You know, imagine a big, tough guy, getting ready to fight someone. He jumps around and hits some air to warm up his muscles, he cracks his knuckles and puts up his dukes. That sequence has been in like a gazillion movies, thus forever associating that action with masculinity. Belisarius (talk) 23:00, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

You know, I do that all the time before fighting in Taekwondo, so the last guy was right.-Warriorscourge (talk) 04:57, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Or preparing to play concert piano? Julia Rossi (talk) 03:04, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Watch it, bub. I find playing concert piano to be very manly. Perhaps that's because I do play the piano... Or the fact that the name for a piano player is pianist... flaminglawyer^c 04:49, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

No-one doubts the masculinity involved in fingering away at a 88-key bench, but why a caricature that pianists first crack their knuckles? ; ) Julia Rossi (talk) 05:09, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps it's because someone who doesn't crack their knuckles or neck whould assume that it's painful, and therefore assume that anyone voluntarily inflicting pain upon themselves is a hardass.--AtTheAbyss (talk) 05:20, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

My man takes too long to orgasm.

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

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

You should encourage your partner to speak to his physician or other expert about any concerns he might have; you might also ask if you can come along to participate in at least part of the discussion. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 17:11, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry I was did not mean to ask for doctor's advice, just some ideas and links to things to read. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.80.240.66 (talk) 17:30, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

You should perhaps, then, start with Human sexuality and follow some links from there. The only advice I can give is rather general, and to note that "different" is not always "wrong", and just because one person has a different method of participating in sexual activity does not always mean that such methods are "wrong". However, as noted, if you have a concern, please talk to your partner, and then consider contacting a professional who specializes in these issues. If there is one "wrong" thing, it is going to the internet to seek advice from random strangers!!! --Jayron32.talk.contribs 17:37, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

I guess that "This question has been removed." doesn't apply to answers ;) -hydnjo talk 02:45, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Kippah keptah on the headah

How the heck do Jews keep them from flying off their noggins? Clarityfiend (talk) 21:27, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

• They're held on with the horns. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 21:48, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

• They must be thoroughly attached to them. StuRat (talk) 01:34, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

The heads up in Comb says they're held on with combs and google says combs or clips. Julia Rossi (talk) 03:01, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

But what if you're bald? BrainyBabe (talk) 14:22, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Spirit gum works. Staples, too. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 16:52, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

You know what's really sad, is that I bet the standard belief in the Middle Ages was that the kippah/yarmukle existed to cover up those devil's horns. And there are bound to be some who believe it today. We mock ignorance at our peril. BrainyBabe (talk) 09:52, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

That's a good question actually...there were laws decreeing that Jews must dress differently from Christians but I don't remember ever reading about yarmulkes. They are often depicted wearing a judenhut though, maybe that is the same idea. Adam Bishop (talk) 14:11, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

• Ahem* The short answer is: a bobby pin, or two bobby pins.

The longer answer is: Conservative Jews don't wear them full-time (usually) and hence don't have to worry about them flying off during a basketball game. Synagogue, and other religious rituals which require a kippah aren't usually particularly hectic or head-shaking.

To be perfectly frank, go to a religious jewish wedding, watch the men dance for about 10 minutes, and you'll see kippot soaring in all directions.151.203.23.82 (talk) 00:02, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Printing custom postage stamps

Is there a company that will print custom-designed, gummed postage stamps? I don't want internet generated US postage, I don't even want "real postage", I just want to design my own postage stamps and have them printed. Whenever I do online searches I get rubber stamps, real postage to print and use, etc, That's not what I want. I know that the USPS prints it's own postage and doubt they would print my custom stamps. Any ideas? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.234.6.82 (talk) 21:58, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

When I was in Australia I found a company that made up some proper postage stamps that had a photo of me on them. It was a gimmick for tourists, like 'send a postcard home with your own holiday snap on it'. But I'm afraid that's all the info I can give.91.111.99.97 (talk) 22:37, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm betting that now that you can get actual postgae with a picture of your stupid cat on it, you're flirting with a charge of counterfeiting to make something that looks like a stamp. I googled my ass off just now and got no farther than you did. --Milkbreath (talk) 22:40, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

These[8] people claim to. Oh, I see, you want ones that aren't actually for posting letters, just for putting them on hand-delivered envelopes, etc. Steewi (talk) 00:24, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

[9]This is what 91.111 was talking about. You get the normal stamp, but on an adjoining stamp (with a perforation between them) you get your custom stamp (usually a photo of a person, but it doesn't seem to be restricted to that). Steewi (talk) 00:27, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Couldn't you do it yourself with a color printer and some special paper with either lickable glue or pull off tape on one side ? I bet hobby stores sell this. Cutting them into stamp sized portions would require a paper cutter or just some scissors, unless you want fancy edges. You'd need a special device to cut those. StuRat (talk) 01:31, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

I have a guillotine attachment that'll put fake perforation tearing down the edge of a sheet of paper. [10] - that would let you print the stamps out yourself. There is still the matter of adhesive. SteveBaker (talk) 02:28, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

As for adhesive, see this. Oda Mari (talk) 15:33, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Scandalous politicians

I was reading Todd Alcott's analysis of The Dark Knight and he compares what would happen to the people of Gotham's morale of finding out Harvey Dent is Two-Face to people's reactions to a "gay-bashing senator elicit[ing] sex in airport mens' rooms, or your law-and-order governor gets caught soliciting prostitutes". Who are these politicians? Alientraveller (talk) 22:51, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Larry Craig and Eliot Spitzer Belisarius (talk) 22:55, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

"Belisarius" isn't part of "Eliot Spitzer," just in case there's any confusion... · AndonicO ^Engage. 04:38, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

December 24

Moxie's

Moxie's has 3 "front" positions: Server, Expeditor and which other one?96.53.149.117 (talk) 01:39, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Money collector? -hydnjo talk 02:40, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Conan's last show

According to nbc.com, you're allowed a maximum of two tickets per request. Do you have to ask for those two tickets in your email or is it a default amount when they select your request? --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 06:24, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Why take the chance ? I'd ask explicitly. StuRat (talk) 08:32, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

julius caesar

bring out the differences between portia and caliphurnia —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.197.50.206 (talk) 15:40, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Portia ? Caliphurnia ? The similarity is that neither did their homework. The difference is that neither ever lived in Caliphornia.

Portia has about 20 lines, Calpurnia maybe twice as many. This [11] and this [12] site gives you nothing but their lines / clues.--Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 16:15, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Although when you do do your homework about Julius, you should divide it into sections. You're sure to get a C. --- OtherDave (talk) 16:36, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

You might also get a better grade if you spelled the names of the characters correctly. Little Red Riding Hoodtalk 20:58, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Sections? You should quarter it into three halves! Also, Portia spent more time in drag. --Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 18:08, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Theoretical Physicist

Hello. Since I want to become a Theoretical Physics doctorate, I better ask this question now: Where might a theoretical physicist be able to get a job, besides the universities? Merry Christmas to everyone at Wikipedia!--DocDeel516 ^discuss 20:05, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

At a science magazine (Throw in a couple of writing or journalism classes.) United States Department of Defense if you are in the US. Any government agency dealing with statistics and prognosis. (Quantum theory is being applied to economics sometimes.[13]) Theoretical physics concerns many areas of physics many of those have applications "in the real world" so it would depend on your specific background what companies or agencies would have use for your knowledge. If all else fails you can always become a contractor, write a book or become a motivational speaker. A lot depends on your personality, ability to network and how well you can sell yourself. o<:-)76.97.245.5 (talk) 23:27, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Mostly what a degree proves is that you are a smart person who can learn - and a post-graduate degree shows that you can think independently and produce original work. This opens the doors to many jobs that are totally unrelated to Physics. I heard a few years ago that stock trading companies were seeking physicists and software engineers because they were better at the kinds of thinking needed than people with more traditional degrees in economics or business. But if your heart is set on actually working as a theoretical physicist as well as studying for the qualification - then you're almost certainly going to wind up in academia. Almost everyone else wants some kind of result that either makes money or kills people...and that's more Applied Physics than Theoretical Physics. SteveBaker (talk) 01:58, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

There are likely to be jobs in the energy industry, broadly defined, including solar and wind power and "smart" electric grids. Edison (talk) 05:13, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

It used to be the case that a sure-fire job for theoretical physics could be found on Wall Street (they looovve number crunchers with unusual backgrounds) though I doubt that is the case at the moment. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:15, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Defensive Driving

Hello. I often see papers that urge you to "Drive defensively". What does this mean? (I am asking because I don't have a driver's license!)--DocDeel516 ^discuss 20:08, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

As in most cases, we have an article. It's not a great article, but the gist is "anticipating dangerous situations, despite adverse conditions or the mistakes of others." --LarryMac | Talk 20:14, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

I would add to that definition that it implies that one must not only be defensive about it, but also remember to actually do some driving, instead of going so slowly you become a hazard yourself.

It also implies that, to be prepared, you should be focused on the situation; this is why my state, plus others, have passed laws regulating what passengers teens are allowed to have in their cars, to avoid the problem of a bunch of teens having so much fun that the driver is distracted by his or her friends.209.244.30.221 (talk) 21:16, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

It would also usually be understood to include driving in a way that doesn't scare the bejeezus out of other drivers. Just because you know you can fit into that gap between the truck and the SUV doesn't mean that everyone else does and has the same trust in your driving abilities. Causing other parties to have to break hard because they anticipate running into you or speed up to prevent you from breathing up their exhaust pipe is usually considered opposite to defensive driving. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 23:06, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

At heart it means assuming that at any instant, any other driver may do something completely wrong. So instead of assuming that (for example) someone will definitely turn left because they have their left turn signal on - you have to consider the consequences should they not do so - and make sure that you have time to stop - or a space to safely move into. As the name implies, it's a matter of being defensive. In the UK (at least) you can actually take 'Defensive Driving' courses - which (assuming you pass) will get you a reduction in the cost of car insurance (I think I got 15% off...but that was a while ago). SteveBaker (talk) 01:45, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

And then there are the people who take defensive driving to mean "defending their patch of the road". And they will defend that patch of road fiercely... ;) --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:56, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

You can find hundreds of sites related to defensive driving, which makes me suspect that in the U.S., some states now require a course that calls itself by that name. What SteveBaker said above is true (I remember my driver's ed teacher saying, "You never have the right of way; you can only yield the right of way," an excellent philosophy for not getting broadsided. There are also some advanced-defensive-driving schools that have things like skidpads (to let you safely practice panicky stops on a wet road). As for other drivers, it's good to keep in mind that 50% of them are below average. --- OtherDave (talk) 02:38, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

In NZ, if you take an approvaed defensive driving course, you reduce the amount of time you have to spend on a restricted license before you can take the full license test. [14] Nil Einne (talk) 12:30, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

As everyone knows "the best defense is a good offense". With that in mind, I practice offensive driving and run everyone else off the road (before they get a chance to cause me to get in an accident). :-) StuRat (talk) 04:48, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Per Stu's suggestion, see the W.C. Fields film "If I Had A Million" starting at 1:30 in the clip. He (edited to clarify: Fields' character Rollo, not our StuRat) hires cars and drivers to follow him and run off the road anyone whose driving annoys him. Quote: "Perhaps you'll move over next time, you road hog!" Edison (talk) 05:09, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

December 25

indians born in the US

can anyone tell me where i can get a list of famous indians who were born in the US? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.50.128.178 (talk) 07:04, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

See List of Indian Americans

Please search before asking next time. Rachmaninov Khan (talk) 09:38, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

You might make clear whether you mean Americans whose families came from India (as I think you do), or Native Americans, who often refer to themselves as Indians. --- OtherDave (talk) 15:05, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Random letters

I randomly typed letters into the google search box (they turned out to be skdjfkds) and it came up with search results[15] instead of the expected reject notice. Do these letters actually mean something? Julia Rossi (talk) 10:49, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

If you look at result ~3, it apears to be a sort of lore ipsum. Or 1000 monkeys at 1000 typewriters? BrainyBabe (talk) 11:31, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

and what are the chances? One monkey on a keyboard, hehe. Julia Rossi (talk) 11:34, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

This is ye olde magick word (orally transmitted from the Dreamtime to the tribal elders) which is known to turn unsuspecting humans into supersonic wombats. Due to the ensuing atmospheric friction, of course, the wombats turn into magnificent balls of celestial fire.

I dimly remember reading about a case where three wise men from the Orient mistook the illuminating critter for a comet and - oh well, I seem to have forgotten the rest. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 12:32, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

If you look at the location of those letters on the keyboard, it's probably not as random as you think. Those are closely-clustered letters around the areas your hands traditionally rest on a keyboard, and probably more likely than most to be randomly mashed when typing 'random letters'. There are a lot of people typing gibberish on the internet. ~ mazca ^t|c 13:30, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, these "asdfjkl;" combinations are not random. If you google a more systematic "random" combination of the keys on which your fingers rest, you get even more hits: 115,000 for asdfjkl (left to right), 13,200 for alskdjf (alternating hands, inward bound). Even when including your pinkies and expanding these patterns to eight letters (and using the German keyboard layout, because it has an "ö" instead of a semicolon, which I don't know how to google), you still get 7,250 hits for asdfjklö and 279 for aösldkfj.

I used to occasionally play trivia quizzes online (in an IRC format not connected to WP), and one of the participants always let off her steam when someone else got the answer first by typing something like "asjdfksl" or "jsdkfjsffjl" or even "jasdlfkjalskdjaslkdfja;lskjalsj;dfalsd;flaljskdlkjf" (these are my random attempts), it came to be one of her pet-signatures, and we even greeted her with "asjdfkj!" when she entered the quiz room.

It would be interesting to see a statistical evaluation of a "type some random letters as fast as you can" test, but I found nothing. ---Sluzzelin talk 14:25, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Ah, well I still found nothing worth linking here, but I did learn that the "asdfjkl;" keys lie on the home row and are called home keys, and that asdf is "often used as a metasyntactic variable". ---Sluzzelin talk 14:54, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

There are well over a billion web sites and over 30 billion individual web pages on the Internet - and Google also indexes things like usenet postings, forum systems, wiki's and such - so the total is likely to be quite a bit higher than that. Even for a short, completely random sequence, the odds are pretty good of finding it somewhere. As others have said - the less random your sequence, the higher the odds of it happening to be out there...and something you just type quickly and without special thought is MUCH more likely than a truly random sequence. So I don't think you should read anything special into that. SteveBaker (talk) 15:06, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks all for your interesting answers and helpful efforts. I was completely focused on the google revelation and only after your replies did I see skdjfkds doesn't involve any other row, just alternating hands, making the chances close to core. : ) Julia Rossi (talk) 03:24, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Toilet seat

Why is it that women complain about men not putting down the toilet seat? Is it that it is just good manners to put it down yourself so that the next person doesn't have to, is it because the woman might not look before sitting down, or is it something else that I am missing? Thanks Crack in the road (talk) 15:17, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Not surprisingly, there is some information under toilet seat including a link to an economic efficiency study.

(In my world you don't need to put down the seat, because it's already down. You shouldn't be using a private toilet from the standing position. If you believe you're a straight-shooter, I recommend considering how the height of drop influences the ballistics of a splash and you can try the standing position while wearing shorts and registering wether your bare legs feel anything prickly during the process. Now think about the floor and walls ...) ---Sluzzelin talk 15:43, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

I have never really understood the complaint. The idea seems to be that it's somehow wrong for someone to have to put the toilet seat down, but a non-issue that someone else has to lift it up. And in any case, to hear people tell it, it's as if this was a Herculean effort that takes a great toll on the poor individual forced to change the position of the toilet seat. (I did check out the the article, and the idea that having the seat down somehow makes the bathroom more aesthetically pleasing, for example, strikes me as pretty ludicrous. Hygienic reasons also strike me as irrelevant -- I mean, if people were constantly getting sick because of this, that would be different, but I don't believe this to be the case, at all. You should be cleaning the toilet and the area around it on a regular basis anyway. I mean, if you miss, you clean up after yourself, right? And if you don't, you're a dick, but that's got nothing to do with the position of the toilet seat.)

I'd say the whole thing has a lot more to do with psychology -- the need to establish control over your environment, things like that -- than anything else. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 16:49, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

To bring a (possibly biased) woman's perspective to the issue: Women need the seat down 100% of the time. Men, as far as I know, need it up when urinating and down when defecating. Therefore, it spends more time down than up and that's what its default position should be. That, and most women tend to be more squeamish about touching bacteria-riddled objects with their hands than most men, and would prefer not to be the ones moving it back to what should be its default position anyway. (Of course, this "logic" ignores the fact that things like telephones and doorknobs are likely to be just as germy as toilet seats... On that note, please bear in mind that not all of the above is necessarily my personal opinion, just some general observations.) Cherry Red Toenails (talk) 00:27, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Isn't 'toilets are bacteria-riddled' a myth? AFAIK, toilet seats are actually quite clean. The door knob has far more bacteria than the toilet seat. 67.184.14.87 (talk) 14:50, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't care if it's up or down; I wouldn't touch it either way. SN0WKITT3N 00:49, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

But you DO touch it! With your A*** (unless you are percher)--GreenSpigot (talk) 02:32, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

One possible explanation might be that in my experience women are generally more houseproud than men and a lowered toilet seat could look neater when your mother comes to visit :-) However, when I find the seat down I have no problem raising the seat, so why can't women simply lower the seat without making such an issue about it? Astronaut (talk) 01:19, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

My solution would be (in a house with 1 woman, 1 man): If you are a man, leave it down. If you are a woman, leave it up. ie leave it as you would expect to find it if you were the other person. --GreenSpigot (talk) 02:30, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Very tactful. Maybe it's because Emperors kept their toilet seat down. =P Julia Rossi (talk) 03:27, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I may have an unusual perspective on this. I am male, and do pee standing up. However, I leave the seat down (but not the cover, obviously). Why do I do this ? Two reasons. First, a seat occasionally falls down mid-whiz, with very messy results. Second, I have back problems, so prefer to avoid any unnecessary bending. I try to avoid peeing on the seat, but, if I do, I clean it up after. Before you complain about this spreading germs, note that urine, unlike feces, tends to be quite antiseptic. StuRat (talk) 04:31, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

With respect StuRat I think you might mean sterile not antiseptic ;-) Richard Avery (talk) 14:30, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I did mean antiseptic, as the acidity of urine can kill bacteria. However, I should have said "quite sterile and slightly antiseptic". StuRat (talk) 15:13, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I've heard that some people have been injured by accidentally sitting on a toilet with the seat up when it's dark or they're in a rush to use it or something. --124.254.77.148 (talk) 06:34, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Back to basics: if a toilet has a lid, it should be lowered. That of necessity involves lowering the seat too. BrainyBabe (talk) 13:48, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I've never understood this, either. I'm a man—a he-man, if I do say so myself—and I put the lid back down when I'm done. I've had a running disagreement with my to all appearances equally testicular brother-in-law about this. He seems to take any female interference with the male toilet ritual as a challenge to his postion within society. Me, I think the toilet is a machine, and a real man leaves a machine in good order, be it a Camaro or a commode. I've had a lot of plumbing experience, having installed, repaired, and unstopped many, many toilets, so maybe that's the difference. You put the lid down. It keeps the dog out. If something goes flying in the bathroom, it can't fall in there. You don't have to look at any skid marks or rings. You can sit on it or put your foot on it. The top is often decorative and should be displayed to maintain the integrity of the decor (No, no, no—he-man, remember?). You put the lid down. Just one thing, ladies—no slip covers, please; I have trouble aiming while holding the seat up with my knee. --Milkbreath (talk) 16:14, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

But without the seat up, you'd have to remember to leave water out for the dog, and he'll soak the whole floor with it. I even had a cat who could drink from the toilet, quite impressive. StuRat (talk) 17:45, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

See also the dreaded Toilet-related injury: a small boy could be traumatized by an ill balanced lid, or one with a padded cover, which falls at an inopportune moment. Edison (talk) 22:28, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

"The toilet: friend or foe?" lmfao!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 22:31, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Hosting an Annual Party

Hi, can anyone help me with few tips , as i have been chosen randomly to host as an announcer, for the annual official party to be held shortly this month ,it is mailly for rewarding the employees for the year. i am nervous and do not want to let go it as well as i have never done this before, can anyone help me ovwercome this nervousness and suggest few tips,your answers will be treasured. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk) 16:11, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

1. Write out what you intend to say (almost word-for-word) and then
2. recite your remarks in front of a friend or a family member several times and then
3. when it's showtime, pretend that you're in "practice" mode and then,
4. break a leg! hydnjo talk 16:39, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

If you are also going to be handing out the awards make sure that you have a list of who gets one and if there are physical awards that they are correctly labled. If you make an error just laugh it off and carry on. These are your co-workers and are probably going to be supportive and aren't going to heckle you. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 12:29, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Practice recording yourself, at least audio or video if possible. BrainyBabe (talk) 13:49, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Be sure you have a good start and a good finish. Write out, practice, perfect and learn the first 100 words, or so. The same with the conclusion. You are inexperienced so NO jokes. learn the beginning and end by heart. Break the middle down into sections. Understand what needs to be said in each. Put beginning, sections and end on separate post cards. Punch cards in top left hand corner and string them together (in case you fumble). If you have a practiced start you will get away smoothly, and clear most of your nerves. The end is important because you have the safety of knowing you can cut to a solid end from anywhere in your presentation. You won't just fade away. Nerves are normal. be grateful for them - they pump up your performance. Good luck.90.0.7.27 (talk) 15:20, 26 December 2008 (UTC)DT

Also, if you feel the need to expend some energy once up there, wiggling your toes a little always helped me, though your mileage may vary on that.Somebody or his brother (talk) 20:49, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Lucid Dreams

I've been talking with my friends on the internets (well, not friends as such, more acquaintances) about lucid dreams. Many of us have extreme desires for a certain celebrity and it was suggested by someone about three weeks ago that we try lucid dreaming for this. I've looked at a few online guides, done the reality check and dream recall stuff but I still haven't had one. I know lucid dreaming isn't something you can do overnight, but what advice is there for this? Any good links or books to read? SN0WKITT3N 22:42, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Oh crap I just realized what an awful unintentional pun there is in that :/ SN0WKITT3N 23:39, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Overnight Pun, what pun? hydnjo talk 00:05, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I know this is 'original research', but the best results I've had with encouraging lucid dreams, have been when I've had LOTS of time on my hands and have slept in day after day. Knowing that I don't have to get out of bed for anything drags out my sleep pattern and results in me being asleep through a morning that I would normally be awake during. This in turn seems to mean that my mind is active in a different way whilst I sleep. Add to this some unusual dietry intake (such as more cheese or alcohol than you're used to) and perhaps a different environment (such as a hotel room or a friends spare room) and you should up your chances considerably. This current seasonal break could be the perfect opportunity. Although I'm not sure how you would go about incorporating your 'certain celebrity'. Try influincing your dreams by spending plenty of time reading about him/her, watching them on video, etc. before you go to sleep. This often affects my dreams. Good luck. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.111.67.44 (talk) 22:40, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

The process of dreaming seems designed to eliminate all traces. This has survival value in the process of evolution, so if caveman Og dreams that caveman Gog tried to kill him, he does not get into a fight as soon as he wakes up, thinking the attack was real. You may be having vivid, realistic dreams for 5 hours out of an 8 hour sleep period, but remember nothing. Dreams seem evanescent, like unrehearsed nonsense syllables seen briefly once, or unattended conversations overheard, and they go away in seconds unless somehow noted. So if I am awakened by an alarm clock at random times of the night, I might be more aware of dreams I had, than if I slept uninterrupted for 8 hours. This is just an observation and not a suggestion. Edison (talk) 02:04, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

December 26

A Captain the Head of Guinea?

How did a Captain, a mere junior military officer, become the interim head of state of Guinea during the 2008 Guinean coup d'état? Why not a General? Acceptable (talk) 00:25, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

It's possible he's just a figurehead - the public face of the coup while the generals remain as the "power behind the throne". Exxolon (talk) 00:44, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't think it's the rank per se, but rather means, motive, and opportunity. Although the Wikipedia article on Samuel Doe doesn't mention his rank, he was a master sergeant when he helped overthrow Liberian president William R. Tolbert, Jr., in 1980. Doe remained in power till 1990. --- OtherDave (talk) 03:33, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

He's not the only one, Muammar al-Gaddafi was a captain and only got the promotion after the coup. Jerry Rawlings was a Flight Lieutenant and Gamal Abdel Nasser wasn't a general either but his group made one president. It may be that there non-general officers have less to lose in a coup. Though it would also depend on their being able to pursade their fellow officers and involve the major part of the countries armed forces. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 12:21, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

The other obvious factor is that the people in government often have some say in the appointment of generals and in general who controls the armed forces. They may therefore choose people loyal to them and unlikely to stage coups whereas those who may stage coups are kept at relatively low ranks for precisely that reason Nil Einne (talk) 12:26, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

My understanding was that the coup was basically staged by a cadre of 'junior military officers' - which would explain why one is the leader of the resulting junta. 161.181.153.10 (talk) 21:45, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Subtitles

Why do subtitles sometimes show words that are already on the screen? For example, when the words "Joanne Buck: Director" are on the screen, why are they also in subtitles? 60.230.124.64 (talk) 02:47, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

An educated guess: because those subtitles can also be used to provide the source text for translation into other languages, so that the translation may be performed without the translator actually watching the TV show or movie in question. So in order to translate text that appears on the screen that may be vital to understanding the plot it must also be included in the source text. Then nobody bothers to go back and remove the unnecessary text strings from the original transcript. (There may well be other reasons as well, but my personal experience with localization work has included many instances of comparable situations.) -- Captain Disdain (talk) 03:43, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Also, at the time of creating the subtitles, it is commonly not known exactly where on screen they will be. That means there is a chance that they will obscure the original "Joanne Buck: Director", and thus it is safer to include it as well. /85.194.44.18 (talk) 10:40, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

There may also be weird contractual/union rules about credits. I know that in the computer games industry, the rules for presentation of credits are long, complicated and (on occasion) bizarre. SteveBaker (talk) 01:24, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't think the original poster was referring to credits, but rather a situation where there's a sign that says "Joanne Buck: Director" somewhere on screen. (You're absolutely right about the games industry, though; I just finally got around to completing Crysis a day or two ago, and the list of credits at the end is utterly ridiculous. As it happens, I also decided to wallow in nostalgia tonight and played through Half-Life: Blue Shift for the first time in, what, about eight years, and I was struck by the contrast: the in-game credits on that one included the names of maybe fifteen people and five companies. None of them were even credited with any kinds of titles. I very much doubt you'd see that in any modern game.) -- Captain Disdain (talk) 02:25, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Video Card RAM

Moved to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing#Video Card RAM Nil Einne (talk) 10:21, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

foreign born in the US

can anyone tell me in which US city, there is the most conentration of i) indian americans ii) chinese americans iii) japanese americans iv) african americans —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.50.137.154 (talk) 11:05, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Wouldn't a European (white) American be foreign born too? Nil Einne (talk) 12:23, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd say they want to know about people born in India, China, Japan, and Africa who are now living in the US. And yes, people born in Europe and now living in the US are also foreign born, but that's not what they were asking about. StuRat (talk) 15:08, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you asking about people who were born in Africa and live in the U.S. or "African Americans" whose African ancestor were brought to the U.S. as slaves before such importation became illegal in 1808? And do you want the cities with the largest number or the largest percentage of such people? Some small communities have a small population but 100% composed of one such group. Edison (talk) 16:51, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

i)New York City seems to have the largest number of immigrants from India per [16] . Edison (talk) 19:13, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

i want the largest percentage of the above mentioned groups please tell me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.50.132.53 (talk) 17:45, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

In general, see Lists of U.S. cities with large ethnic populations or do your own search at the U.S. Census database. 1) We have no article List of U.S. cities with large Indian American populations, but see Millbourne, Pennsylvania which has about 63% Indian American population. 2) See List of U.S. cities with large Chinese American populations and see List of U.S. communities with Asian American majority populations .3)We have no article List of U.S. cities with large Japanese American populations 4) See List of U.S. cities with large African American populations says Detroit is 83.73% African-American. There are some all smaller communities with much larger African-American majorities, as shown at List of U.S. communities with African American majority populations. For instance McMullen, Alabama (population 66) is 100% African American, as is Birdsong, Arkansas (population 40). It is unlikely that any of the inhabitants were born in Africa in the two small communities, but some might have been. Edison (talk) 22:05, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Missing storage

When one buys, for example, a 4 GB USB drive and plugs it into the computer, there is not actually 4 GB of memory available. Instead, it is always several hundred MB's smaller. The larger the marketed storage capacity, the larger the difference between this marketed value and the actual value. Why does this happen? Is there a name for this phenomenon? Should there not be laws regarding this practice? Acceptable (talk) 18:21, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

There is some disagreement as to how big a GB is. Binary prefix seems to be the most relevant Wikipedia article. Algebraist 18:29, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict)It's a combination of a couple of factors. One of them is the difference between definitions - see Binary prefix. As far as your computer is concerned, a kilobyte is 1024 bytes, and a megabyte is 1024 kilobytes. But in some contexts (including, conveniently, hard-drive marketing) you use powers of ten instead, so there are 1000 bytes in a kilobyte and 1000 kilobytes in a megabyte. Hence, a binary megabyte ends up being a fairly significant fraction larger than a decimal megabyte. As they're smaller, it entirely makes business sense to sell hard drives in 1000-multiple bytes instead.

The other factor is simply the directory file - when you format it, a hard drive needs to use a certain fraction of itself to store information on where everything else on it is stored. This can be 5% or so of the total capacity - so the larger the hard drive, the larger in absolute terms this file will be. Hence, even once you've figured out the binary/decimal difference in a hard drive's size, you may still find yourself losing several gigabytes in every hundred to the directory file. ~ mazca ^t|c 18:32, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Then there's also the possibility of bad sectors, although this is more likely on older devices. StuRat (talk) 19:59, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

wiki codes about Sociology,Islamit, international Relations,Journalism

Respected sir i need the best wiki codes of these subjects for Educational purposes. Kindly inform me the exact location of wiki codes Thanx. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Awan 2008 (talk • contribs) 18:29, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

What do you mean by 'wiki codes'? Algebraist 18:30, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Sociology, Islamit, international Relations, Journalism ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.87 (talk) 18:34, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Question

What is the least popular talked about United State? 60.230.124.64 (talk) 22:43, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

You could try Google. "north dakota" (in quotes) gets 70,900,000 hits, which is the lowest I can find, but I didn't try all of them. Also try Google Trends[17]. That could be taken as the least talked about online, but what do you mean "least talked about"? On TV? Usenet? In person? Radio? Newspapers? In the USA? In the world? --Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 23:11, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

We're wise to your game, buster: If we talk about it enough here, it won't be the least-talked-about. Nice try. Who's the least interesting person on earth? Doesn't the fact that he is the least interesting make him interesting? --Milkbreath (talk) 23:16, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Excellent, you just scored one for the inclusionists! The least notable are now notable! Off to rewrite WP:NOTE. ---Sluzzelin talk 00:38, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

@ Milkbreath due to bumped post (naughty sluzz): According to this, you've just given him a nice start,  ;) Julia Rossi (talk) 00:04, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, I just did search on all the state names in Google and got the following counts. Google counts sometimes display weird variations and I think the very low count for Louisiana must be some sort of anomaly, not a meaningful result. And of course the high counts for New York and Washington are because many of the hits on those two will really be for the cities of the same names; similarly Kansas and Oklahoma for the same reason, and Georgia because of the country, and maybe some others. But just for fun, here are the numbers:

    1. "New York"       1,190,000,000   (see note above)
    2.  Washington        703,000,000   (see note above)
    3.  California        618,000,000
    4.  Texas             479,000,000
    5.  Florida           431,000,000
    6.  Georgia           369,000,000   (see note above)
    7.  Virginia          279,000,000
    8.  Ohio              265,000,000
    9.  Michigan          255,000,000
   10.  Illinois          241,000,000
   11.  Colorado          219,000,000
   12.  Arizona           213,000,000
   13.  Hawaii            207,000,000
   14.  Pennsylvania      206,000,000
   15.  Indiana           199,000,000
   16.  Oregon            195,000,000
   17. "New Jersey"       191,000,000
   18.  Massachusetts     187,000,000
   19.  Kansas            185,000,000   (see note above)
   20.  Wisconsin         183,000,000
   21.  Minnesota         179,000,000
   22.  Alaska            176,000,000
   23.  Maryland          172,000,000
   24.  Missouri          162,000,000
   25.  Tennessee         161,000,000
   26. "North Carolina"   160,000,000
   27.  Alabama           158,000,000
   28.  Maine             156,000,000
   29.  Montana           154,000,000
   30.  Oklahoma          153,000,000   (see note above)
   31.  Iowa              153,000,000
   32.  Kentucky          148,000,000
   33.  Utah              145,000,000
   34.  Nevada            139,000,000
   35.  Connecticut       139,000,000
   36.  Mississippi       135,000,000
   37.  Arkansas          129,000,000
   38.  Idaho             124,000,000
   39.  Nebraska          115,000,000
   40. "South Carolina"   114,000,000
   41.  Delaware          111,000,000
   42.  Vermont           108,000,000
   43. "New Mexico"       106,000,000
   44. "New Hampshire"    102,000,000
   45.  Wyoming            96,800,000
   46. "West Virginia"     88,500,000
   47. "Rhode Island"      85,100,000
   48. "South Dakota"      79,400,000
   49. "North Dakota"      76,100,000
   50.  Louisiana          15,800,000   (see note above)

--Anonymous, 01:17 UTC, December 27, 2008.

You must be right about the anomaly, Louisiana gives me 133 million hits at the moment for me. Either that or you spelt it wrong when searching. North Dakota gives me about 80 mill and South 83 mill Nil Einne (talk) 08:41, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

December 27

Career officer

What is a career officer? — Sebastian 01:28, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Someone who helps and advises on what career would suit you and what exams you need to do it.--GreenSpigot (talk) 02:05, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Or, in another context, it typically refers to a military officer who purposefully pursues a military career (as opposed to an officer who only serves for a while and then does something else). -- Captain Disdain (talk) 02:12, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

What happens if you keep talking to your mind?

Talk to your mind? How rediculous you say. But, you somewhat (actually very little) guide your thoughts. And you can "address" your mental chemistry by taking something to alter it. You, right now are the "driver". Sort of, anyways. Talking "to" your mind, more or less.....Or at least the observer of consciousness. I've heard the expression "be at one with your subconscious, and be whole!" but then a new subconscious would form and take over. Just like when you "wake up" in a dream and realize your dreaming. Because something was running the part of your mind that you took over. Now a new "driver". Always a man behind a curtain. If you get a few stages into your mind, what happens? If you keep receeding further and further, would you eventually reach the seat of all consciousness? And if you do access that nervous system alpha box that runs existence itself, what then?!--Dr. Carefree (talk) 01:34, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I've done what you describe for decades. What happens? You have a career and a rich life. Perhaps you become a Wikipedia editor or administrator. Edison (talk) 01:56, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

See Neuro-linguistic programming and Hypnosis for starters —Preceding unsigned comment added by GreenSpigot (talk • contribs) 02:03, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Do we have an article, or section of an article, about...

...the ethics of sexual activity with people who are legally adults, but with mental retardation giving them the mental age of a minor? I think it would be quite an interesting topic for an article if one doesn't exist already. I've tried looking but all I get is age of consent stuff which isn't exactly relevant.--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 02:00, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I am familiar with JJASONDJFMAM, the months starting with June, but not with this editor. (Was there ever a DJ named J. Jason who was on both FM and AM? Did he live under a bridge?) Edison (talk) 02:09, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you going to answer my question, or am I going to have to wait for someone else to do it? Are you going to continue to violate WP:BITE, WP:AGF and WP:NPA?--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 03:02, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

(DJ... Jason... AM/FM... Wha? Either I'm not getting something, or someone just said something really stupid.) After a thorough review of Template:Mental and behavioral disorders and mental retardation, I can't find anything on it. flaminglawyer^c 03:26, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I suppose this may have some information but I can't find anything about it in Wikipedia.--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 03:36, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

This ties into Informed consent#Sex as well. Exxolon (talk) 03:45, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

My post noted that someone who wants an article about having sex with people who are mentally retarded might just possibly be trolling. The articles you have edited started 3 days ago with Rings of Uranus and Anal Cunt , and your edits did not appear to be those of a new editor, given familiarity with redirects on your second edit, and an AFD nomination on your fifth edit. Edison (talk) 04:10, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Can we lose the 'troll' epithet please? Anyone can rationally see that it in itself is a potentially legit encyclopedic topic, or at least a subsection of a legitimate topic somewhere. Just search for articles about it online.--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 04:54, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

You are welcome to do the editing in question, consistent with WP:RS, WP:NPOV, WP:V and other relevant guidelines or policies. The articles Human sexuality or Sexual abuse might be good places to cover having sex with persons who are mentally retarded, so that sex with them is like sex with a child, per your original question. Consider adding "Sexual abuse of retarded persons" to Sexual abuse. Edison (talk) 05:24, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

You already read age of consent you say? Maybe try reading it more carefully? In several places it says "In many jurisdictions, age of consent is interpreted to mean mental or functional age.[2] As a result, victims can be of any chronological age if their mental age is below the age of consent.[3]" Nil Einne (talk) 07:49, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Incidentally, this was the topic of the movie The Other Sister. StuRat (talk) 08:25, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Having a mental age of a minor does not mean that adults with mental retardation are like children in an adult's body. "Mental age" is a kind of measure for intelligence-as-tested-by-intelligence-tests. Adults with mental retardation have sexual feelings and can have sex just like anybody else. However, because of their low intelligence, they are more at risk both to be sexually abused, and to sexually abuse others. Lova Falk (talk) 10:46, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

And as for the original question, about the ethics of sexual activity with people with mental retardation: as long as they want it and enjoy it, as long as having sex is not used as a way to manipulate them, in short, as long as they are treated as you would treat anybody else, there is nothing unethical about it. Lova Falk (talk) 10:50, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

How Many US Businesses currently have a website

I have been looking for data on the numbers of US businesses that have a website, could you refer me to a good source of information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 8.7.69.32 (talk) 03:04, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

<moved from WP:RD/C> flaminglawyer^c 03:19, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Extremely difficult number to ascertain, I'd imagine.--J. F. Mam J. Jason Dee (talk) 03:38, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Day

What is the least talked about day of the year? 60.230.124.64 (talk) 12:15, 27 December 2008 (UTC)