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July 1

Maps in southern hemisphere

Maps in the northern hemisphere typically have north at the top. If you live in Australia, for example, is north still shown at the top? Or is the map rotated 180 degrees with the nearest pole at the top? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 03:46, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Only as a gimmick in tourist souvenir shops. Ordinary maps still show the North Pole "on top". --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 03:48, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I see. I wonder if that is also true of South America and Africa? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 04:09, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Then there's Antarctica, for which technically "north" is on all sides. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 04:10, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Australia does look a bit like the U.S. upside down. Edison (talk) 05:48, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

That may not be a coincidence. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 06:29, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

So what would be the point of having the nearest pole at the top? Why would any southern hemisphere country bother to do that? The convention set by early cartographers was north at the top and everyone agrees. Easy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.4.190.83 (talk) 07:19, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

In theory, yes. I just wondered how it was actually done in practice. The orientation toward north is very strong. If you see photos from the Apollo flights, it looks like the spacecraft is positioned such that the earth's north pole is to the "top", even though there's no apparent reason for that other than convention. Either that, or they rotated the pictures. Somewhat related, when flying airplanes the cockpit sits atop the plane with the sky above and the ground below, even though being positioned "under" the plane could be advantageous. In defiance of that convention, though, the Shuttles generally fly "upside down", with the earth above, until they are ready to come in for the landing. I bet that takes some getting used-to. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 07:51, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Actually, at least in Europe, the convention set by early cartographers was that the map had east at the top -- that's why we call it orientation. See Map#orientation of maps. Maps with north at the top didn't become common until the Renaissance. --Anonymous, 08:32 UTC, July 1, 2009.

Yep. The term "orientation" originally meant "pointing toward the orient", i.e. toward the east, as opposed to "occidental", which would be toward the west. However, the "orient" in this case was not China or India, it was Israel, "the Holy Land". It has since evolved into a general term meaning any kind of activity that gets you "pointing in the right direction", such as "new employee orientation". I would suspect that the religious aspect was superceded by the secular - specifically, for sailing the seas, where they relied on the sun during the day and the stars at night - and Polaris was what they would have "oriented" around. Orienting toward Israel would have been useless. However, Polaris is not visible in the southern hemisphere, which is part of why I wondered about this. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 09:11, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I really think it was religious to point them east. If you wanted a useful map for sailing, putting an astronomical constant - north - at the top of a map would make far more sense, besides, the actual shaping of the Earth means once mapping was secular, I can't really see them pointing maps east. Just my opinion, since people are not quite that rational. Besides, maps like this are clearly in a Christian time, but point north.- Jarry1250 ^{[ humourous – discuss ]} 09:56, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

According to our article on the famous photograph "The Blue Marble" taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts, "The photograph was originally taken 'upside down' in that the South Pole was at the top of the photograph. This is because of the orientation in which the astronauts were traveling at the time." — Michael J 21:03, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Chinese maps traditionally had South at the top. DOR (HK) (talk) 02:53, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Former Canadian Blue Ensign

In the article re HMCS Kitchener, Corvette K-225, you show the flag the ship fought under as the older Canadian Blue Ensign. The ship fought under the standard British White Ensign. The Blue Ensign was flown on the jackstaff at the stern, but no RCN veteran of WW II would ever fly the Canadian Blue Ensign. They fought and died under the British White Ensign, which was the flag for all Canadian naval ships until 1965. Please correct this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.27.3.23 (talk) 09:04, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I assume you have a Reliable source which confirms what you have to say? If so, you are the best person to fix this. No one else at Wikipedia is a better editor than you, and the entire encyclopedia was built by people like you. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 17:58, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

First of all (as a non-Canadian outside Canada), let me wish you a happy Canada Day! See how other Royal Canadian Navy ships are treated. Perhaps the Canadian blue ensign is used in the information box to distinguish Canadian ships from (e.g.) British, Indian and Australian ships. Then you could start a discussion of the two competing considerations at (the currently-empty) Talk:HMCS Kitchener, which is really the proper place for this. See also WP:Manual of Style (icons)#Flags and its discussion page (reached by the "discussion" icon at the top of the page).

P.S., there seem to be similar problems with other flags in the Flower class corvette articles, e.g. the South African ensign is for the Republic of South Africa as she is today, and not the Union of South Africa as she was just after the war. Since the South African naval article only shows ensigns after 1952, when their Flower Class corvette had probably been decommissioned or retired, I'm not sure what to put instead, and I can't at the moment find my old flag books to consult. —— Shakescene (talk) 21:40, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

problem

I've been with my new boyfriend for only 6 weeks, but it was going really well and we were getting on well etc etc! We see each other most days and it felt like it was starting to get a little serious and it started to feel quite real for me, especially as it has been 4 years since i split up from a big ex in my life and have pretty much spent that time since we split, dipping in and out of silly little relationships that meant very little to me. I suppose what i'm trying to say is that this new bf means alot to me in a short space of time and i can see us having a future together. Im at that age now where i had made a promise to myself, not to get caught up in meaningless relationships and try to look for "the one" to settle down with. So that's how i feel (or felt) about him and me.....

Until yesterday, when he dropped a HUGE bombshell on me!! He told me that a girl had been in touch with him over the weekend and had told him that she is 9 weeks pregnant and that it could be his baby. He told me that they had had a one night stand back in the beginning of December (before he'd even met me). However, this girl is married and she doesnt yet know if she will keep the baby anyway!! He also told me that they had had a relationship (im not sure how serious it was) some time ago before she married and moved away. The weekend they had slept together, she had come back to our home town to visit friends, had bumped into him and one thing led to another. This girl had made the effort to travel 2 hours back to our home town to sit with him on sunday and tell him!!

When he told me, unfortunately, my reaction wasn't the best! I was quite harsh with him and i was in complete shock and didnt know what to say! If im honest, looking back, i was quite self-centred in my response and made out that it was all my problem, not stopping to think about how he might be feeling. Unfortunately our chat was cut short by an interruption and i left. He then did what blokes often do when things go wrong, and went out and got drunk with his mates. After he let me walk out, i had a couple of rather dismissive text messages throughout the night, but we agreed to meet today to have a chat. I spent the evening with a friend and we talked the whole thing through and she made me realise that if i honestly believed we have some kind of future together, then providing i can deal with the fact that another woman is having his baby etc etc, there's no reason why we couldnt make a go of it! Having said that.....it took hours and hours to come to that conclusion, discussing everything!! So after hours of discussing it with some friends, i went home feeling more positive and had worked out what i wanted to ask him and what i needed to say to him today. However, on my way home i happened to see him walking home! i couldnt just drive passed in the snow and blizzards, so i stopped and gave him a lift! He was very drunk and was trying to instigate the conversation, i kept saying that it wasn't a good idea and leave it til the morning. But he blabbed on and on and ruined all the good work my friends had put in. Basically he said that i should walk away and leave, even though he said that it's not what he wants to happen. He admitted that he's scared and doesn't know what to do. When he's had a few, he comes across aggressive, so when i left, i felt even more confused. He had spoken so openly and aggressively, albeit he was drunk and i shouldn't take too much notice, but what do i do???????? He has text me this morning and we will be meeting later to talk it through, but his text messages still sound dismissive and cut off from me, almost like he wants to push me away!

What should i do....should i stay with him or leave? I know it's only been 6 weeks, but none of this is my fault, and im willing to stand by him at the moment and see what develops over the next few weeks, but now i feel like he is pushing me away on purpose. I know i can't make a decision until we've spoken today, but i'm so scared that his reaction to what i have to say, won't be what i'm expecting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Salty Beef (talk • contribs) 10:25, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Okay, random people aren't all going to be Ann Landers, but here's my two cents' worth.

First, you say that he comes across as aggressive when he drinks. How aggressive? This is not a person you want to be with if he drinks a lot and is very aggressive. I know you probably feel like you can help him, but if he gets like this a lot and is really rough, for your own safety you should leave for your own safety.

Now, having said that, remember that alcohol is a depressant. It may make a person feel like they can't handle anything when in fact, if they look at the big picture (like your friend helped you do) they can. So, what's I'd suggest is that you try to draw out from him his true feelings. Why is he scared? Why is he pushing you away? See if you can talk about the person inside him. Show him that he can open up in front of you and not hide behind drinking. Because, that's what people in that situation are doing, in my opinion. They drink becasue they are hiding from their problems. Try to convince him that he should never turn to drink, but that he should always be willing to turn to you for companionship. Because, my friends and I are all abstainers - we choose to be that way, as most of us are Christian - and we feel much more open about things than some men. Those of us who are married do turn tot heir wives for stuff that bothers them.

That's what you should be seeking in a relationship. It's what you deserve. Ask yourself, is this person the kind you would be able to share everything with each other all the time, wthout him holding things back? If you're willing to show forgiveness for that fling, as long as you make sure he won't do it again, I see no reason why you can't remain in the relationship. Because, he might be pushing you away because he's worried you can't forgive him. At the same time, though, try to discuss with him why he felt the need to have this fling. You don't say how old you are, but he should be mature enough that "one thing leading to another" should not result in sex - and that might be something nagging at him. in which case, perhaps you can help him, too, by offering to provide him with accountability so he won't be tempted again.Somebody or his brother (talk) 11:11, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

(ec) Look at it from his POV. He's been going out with a great girl (that's you) for a few weeks, it's getting reasonably serious; then his ex says she's 9 weeks pregnant with his baby. What does he do? Well he tries to do the decent thing and tells his current girlfriend but she goes mad and storms off. So what next? Thinking he's messed up two relationships, he tries to pretend it's not happening, goes to a bar and gets drunk. So decide whether you could stand the idea that he fathered a baby with another woman (and all that entails... eg. child support payments, access, etc), give him a few days to come to his senses, and arrange to meet when neither of you are drunk and are prepared to sit down and talk like adults. Astronaut (talk) 11:28, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Also ask urself dat is he the kind of person who has let go of this sort of thing if dat has hapnd to u. If the ans is yes then its just a simple advise. Talk and let him know wat u think abt abt this and u are supportive, dat was something hapnd wen u were nt dere in his lyf so tell him this. If he undstnds u well n good, if he does nt den try once more if u still feel he is pushing u then keep urself away from him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 145.228.59.66 (talk) 11:48, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

He DID tell you right away about the "bombshell", didn't try to keep it quiet. That's a good start.

But there's something not right about the numbers. If he had an "old times' sake" fling with this former girlfriend in December, she'd be more like 6 months pregnant rather than 9 weeks. If it is 9 weeks, chances are the kid is her husband's, and I can't see what it has to do with him. Unless he met her again more recently, which you haven't mentioned. Perhaps what he's scared of is her being manipulative? you need to get a timeline on all this, and ask him how he feels about every step along the way. - KoolerStill (talk) 12:22, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah - I agree. There is something that doesn't add up there. He needs to get a paternity test done - because even if the dates do add up - it could easily be someone else's kid. I think you need to cut the guy some slack. It's not like he cheated on you - and it's far from clear that this is his kid anyway. He's under a spectacular amount of stress right now - it's enough to make anyone want to go and get drunk. He needs help and support and not another source of stress. You're the one who's gotta be there for him...at least until the facts become clearer...you can walk away from this at any time, so you can afford to be patient and let events unfold. SteveBaker (talk) 13:01, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I have to agree with my colleagues, you need to get the numbers sorted out. December was much more than 9 weeks ago. What you do next really depends on what the actual situation is. Generally speaking, though, I think you need to sit down and talk with your boyfriend while he is sober and work all this out with him. Tell him exactly how you feel. He is probably worried that this news will scare you off and would be relieved to hear how serious you are about making this relationship work. He is also probably very scared at suddenly finding out that he might be going to be a father and probably isn't thinking straight. The only solution to both those problems is talking, and talking while drunk doesn't count for anything. --Tango (talk) 17:18, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Discussion about whether questions like this are appropriate for the reference desk here. DJ Clayworth (talk) 16:07, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Wow relationship advice---ok; This is a guy you would like to spend the rest of your life with; he lied to you; he had a one night stand(probs not his first)with a married women so much for his opinion of marrige!!; possibly got this chick pregnant so much for protection; went out got smashed with his mates; when you had the audasity to question him on said women he dismissed you with a few txts; suggest finding out if he has been to the clinic as protection is not used; ok i am not to be rude or disrespectfull in anyway as these are the rules of wikipedia -_- but some advice you are getting is things like speak to him when he is sober(so he is a drunk); he is under stress(he is male dont talk rubbish); you have to be there for him(no thats what his beer and mates are for); resist rudness must resist- cough cough; Sorry ill try to be nice-if you need telling what to do in this situation after a whole 9 weeks such a long time. you now know he is a drunk; a womaniser; cares more for his mates or he would be in; doesnt use protection; cant wait to see what you know after 18 weeks :) pretty clear what i think you should doChromagnum (talk) 10:18, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Correction 6 weeksChromagnum (talk) 10:23, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

It will end in tears,stop seeing him now and save yourself heartbreak.hotclaws 14:51, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Na-Na, Hey-Hey, Kiss Him GOODBYE!!! Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 15:55, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Why doesn't milk curdle inside cows?

Currently in the UK we've been experiencing rather hot weather and its lead me to think about milk.. (hmmm). Milk seems to curdle very fast in hot weather and i would assume cows are hotter than most weather, so why doesn't the milk in cows udders curdle? Is there something in there that stops the process, and if so, why doesn't it go into milk bottles? -Benbread (talk) 18:24, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Curdling of milk is usually a bacterial process. So, what "stops" the process in the absence of milk-curdling bacteria in the udder. One can also curdle milk by adding an acid to it. However, I don't even want to think what a cow on acid would do ;). --Dr Dima (talk) 18:44, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

That is a moot question. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:00, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Udderly reprehensible answer. Edison (talk) 03:13, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

(ec) You need acid to make milk curdle so it will only happen naturally if the milk goes sour. The real question, therefore, is what stops milk going sour in the udder? Dairy cows are milked every day, so there might just not be time for it to go off. I'm not sure what would happen if they were milked less often. --Tango (talk) 18:47, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

The milk just gets reabsorbed by the body if it stays in the udder long enough.--Lenticel ^(talk) 00:21, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Milk is nominally sterile unless the cow (or any other mammal) has an infection. Tuberculosis and other diseases can be transmitted by milk, but the lactobaccilli that curdle milk should not be present in the udder unless something's wrong with the cow. Milk has mild antibiotic properties of its own, which help. Once milk leaves the cow, bacteria can be introduced at any point after pasteurization, i.e., during bottling, after opening the bottle, etc as they're endemic in the environment (and pasteurization doesn't kill everything). Ultrapasteurizing extends the life, at the cost of cooking the milk somewhat. Dairy cattle get milked twice a day, so milk in the udder should never be more than 12 hours old. Un-milked cows will tell you that they need to be milked in no uncertain terms - it's very painful (ask any nursing mother who needs to express some milk) and can lead to mastitis in both cows and people. Acroterion _(talk) 04:15, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Curdling is the clumping together of casein, which happens in an acid environment. The acidity can be from yeasts, mold and other bacteria, which are generally introduced into milk once it leaves the cow (sometimes immediately, by unhygienic milking equipment). Other curdling agents (rennet, lemon juice) are not likely to ever exist inside the cow. The high heat needed to curdle milk is around boiling point, which not even the hottest summer day will produce in a cow. Lower temperatures on a hot day are just speeding the growth of bacteria which contribute to the curdling. - KoolerStill (talk) 09:57, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Rennet being made from cow stomaches is certain to be found in cows - just not in the right place. Rmhermen (talk) 16:22, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

The closest thing to this might be Mastitis. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 22:45, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Rescheduling a job interview

I've been invited to interviews for two jobs I applied for, but on the same day. They are in different cities and I can't make it to both. I've already confirmed my attendence at the first interview (before I heard about the second) and it would be unprofessional to go back and ask to change it. The second one is an assigned date which I wasn't told about beforehand. What are my chances of rescheduling the second interview, and what's the least bad way to do so? 86.154.105.253 (talk) 18:26, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I'd tell them as soon as possible that you have a prior engagement on that day that you can't get out of (probably best not to mention that it is another job interview). What your chances of getting it rescheduled are, I don't know - it probably depends mostly on their recruitment process/schedule. If they have multiple interview days and you were just randomly assigned that one, then you might stand a good chance, if they plan to interview everyone on one day, you have a much poorer chance. You may need to decide which interview you would rather go to - if the 2nd is your preferred one, you should word your request in a way that allows you to accept the interview on that day if that is the only option. --Tango (talk) 18:42, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

If you absolutely cannot change the second, changing the first may not be *that* bad, though it depends. If you scheduled it with some secretary or office assistant, then they can likely change their boss's schedule without the boss even knowing that you had to re-schedule. You could also tell a little white lie and say that you're significant other just told you of a commitment that cannot be broken, or some other thing that they would be clueless about the legitimacy of. Dismas|^(talk) 19:02, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I scheduled the first interview with a recruitment agency. It was this morning at 11.30, and I don't know if they've contacted the employer yet. Three hours later I got an email about the second interview. I could call back the agency tomorrow, but I'd rather not risk it if there's much risk involved. If these were offers, not interviews, I'd take the first job like a shot. 86.154.105.253 (talk) 22:11, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I would advise against trying to reschedule the first one - it implies that there is something more important in your life than attending the interview...not good. For the second one - you can make up any number of reasonable excuses, but a "pre-existing business engagement" should be vague enough - yet truthful. It's not really a bad thing if one company knows you're interviewing at another - they aren't trying to share out the available people - they want the best, and discovering that you are in high demand is no bad thing. It's in their interests to try to recruit the people their competitor wants. SteveBaker (talk) 19:58, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree with SteveBaker. I don't think it's at all bad for a prospective employer to know that you are highly-enough thought of to be interviewing elsewhere; and you should keep the appointments that you verify if possible. Tempshill (talk) 21:19, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Make personal contact now with both employers if you can. The aim is to make yourself known and find out who is running the interviews. Asking some questions that are easy to answer like "Did my CV arrive alright?" or "Can you give me driving directions?" can get you talking. Be very uptone and positive about the coming interview and bring up the idea of rescheduling as something that would make it "even better" for you. Think this way: there is a 50/50 chance that an interview can be rescheduled. If the 1st employer you contact says No, smile and say that you look forward to coming. There is only a 1 in 4 likelihood that BOTH employers say No to rescheduling, which is pretty good odds. Even in the worst case of both saying No, you still have 2 cards to play. They are to go back and state firmly what date(s) are acceptable to you. Good luck. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:22, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Where do you get that 50/50 from? Just because there are two possibilities does not mean they are equally likely. --Tango (talk) 21:56, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

In the absence of data for relative probabilities of alternative outcomes estimating equal probabilities is the best approximation. In this context 50/50% is Merely corroborative detail intended to give artistic verisimilitude. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 10:07, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

I am reminded of Tom Hanks character in the movie The Terminal 65.121.141.34 (talk) 19:23, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Once I ask, I've let the cat out of the bag. If the answer is no, I would have assumed there's little point in even going to that interview, now that I've shown myself up as not making it my first priority. No? Thanks for all replies btw! 86.154.105.253 (talk) 22:11, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't say so. It's not just a matter of priorities, it's a matter of keeping commitments. If you have already committed yourself to one engagement then keeping that engagement doesn't necessarily mean you think it is more important than something which came up later. --Tango (talk) 22:34, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I have no idea what the two prospective employers are like, but a little tact couldn't hurt. If one (or both) of them thinks that no intelligent person in his/her right frame of mind could even think of working for anyone but their exalted organization (purely for hypothetical example: Microsoft, General Electric, the U.N., the Vatican, the White House, the Royal Household, Balliol College, The New York Times), tell them that you needed a backup because you know how fierce and qualified the competition for such a dream job must be. —— Shakescene (talk) 22:05, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, good point :-) 86.154.105.253 (talk) 22:11, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

In light of you saying the first job is the better job, I suggest you leave that arrangement as has already been agreed. Take a look at the second email, does it state "your interview is on: <date>" or does it ask "would you be able to come for interview on: <date>?" The second case would be a lot easier to rearrange by simply saying you have another appointment that day, but stressing that it is the only day you are unable to attend. Astronaut (talk) 03:39, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Moderately smart dress

In the brochure for the Culham Plasma Physics Summer School i read the following:

On Thursday 16th July a banquet will be held at St Edmund Hall for all students and lecturers. The evening will commence with sherry at 19:00, followed by a four-course dinner. Moderately smart dress is appropriate for this occasion.

How, would you say, should "moderately smart dress" be interpreted for males? A suit? Just shirt and trousers? Thankful for advice! —Bromskloss (talk) 21:51, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I'd take that to mean a jacket, but not a tux. An ordinary business suit, or a blazer and slacks would do fine. If you're a student then probably wear a tie. If you get there and find nobody else is wearing one, just nip into the bathroom and take it off. 86.154.105.253 (talk) 21:58, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

No way to know. I hate vague dress codes like that. You'll have to contact the organisers and clarify. They could mean anything from "don't wear trainers" to a suit and tie. They probably don't want Black tie or White tie, but how much less than that is acceptable is anyone's guess. I would guess you should wear a suit and tie - sherry followed by four courses sounds like a fairly formal meal. --Tango (talk) 22:02, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Also, remember that a jacket and tie can be removed if you are overdressed. But if you don't have them in the first place, you can't put them on if you are underdressed. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 22:43, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

When I was at university, we occasionally had formal dinners/banquets. Most guys turned up in a suit and tie. As the evening wore on, the ties and jackets would come off and the alcohol would flow pretty freely. Of course, if you have somewhere to keep a change of clothes (even if it's in the car), you could take several alternatives with you. Astronaut (talk) 03:20, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

In my personal experience, the community of Plasma Physicists is not prone to great formality. I attended a few Plasma Physics summer schools in my day in the United States, where dress was far from "formal." But, I have had only limited contact with U.K. researchers, so it's possible that there's a more ... "European" atmosphere over there. Nimur (talk) 04:04, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

I have now contacted the secretary that administers the summer school (why didn't I do this in the first place?) and have gotten the reply that smart trousers or chinos and a shirt, with or without a tie, would be fine. She also wrote that some might bring suits, but that it is very hot at the moment and that suits are not necessary. Thank you all. —Bromskloss (talk) 08:14, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

¿Would it be all right now to mark this question

Resolved

 ? —— Shakescene (talk) 00:33, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Button shirt; no jeans and no trainers (sneakers). The jacket-and-tie is very easy to set aside if you feel overdressed. You might also ask someone you know who is also attending what he is wearing. DOR (HK) (talk) 02:59, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Natural Gas

Why is it since there is such a push for natural gas and other alternative fuels that you can not find natural gas available at regular gas stations? Why are they available at just alternative fueling stations? I heard that natural gas doesn't work as effectively as regular gas, is this true? What are the negatives and positives of using natural gas in our cars? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.137.245.78 (talk) 22:22, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Do you mean liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)? That's not quite the same thing as natural gas. Note that "gas" in this context refers to the phase of matter (as in "air is mixture of gases") not the abbreviation of "gasoline". --Tango (talk) 22:32, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Which one is CNG, the one they use for cars and to heat homes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.137.245.78 (talk) 22:51, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Compressed natural gas, that is natural gas. I wasn't aware it was used in cars, but I see it is starting to be. LPG is more commonly available, at least in the UK. --Tango (talk) 23:25, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

According to the Wikipedia articles (Natural gas vehicle,Propane#Vehicle_fuel), there are 7 million CNG vehicles and 13 million propane ones. A bit more than "starting" for CNG. Rmhermen (talk) 02:43, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Your average gas stations will, generally, sell products that sell in high volumes. If the gas form you want is something of a niche product at the moment then it may be that the Supply chain is not advanced enough to service the requirements of most gas-stations. One of the biggest issues faced with replacing 'petrol' powered cars is building (or entering and supplying to) the infrastructure that exists for petrol. ny156uk (talk) 22:57, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

LPG is available in the overwhelming majority of petrol stations in Australia. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 23:58, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

My father used to convert cars to run on LPG in the UK - so I know a bit about it. It's just propane - the same stuff you might use in your gas barbeque. The conversion he did involved putting a LARGE pressurised cylinder into the trunk of your car (or into the bed of a truck, etc). There was a switch on the dash that let you switch between propane and petrol (aka gasoline). The gas from the LPG cylinder tends to freeze everything up as it expands - that means that it has to be heated - and for that reason it was generally necessary to use petrol to start the car - then to switch over to propane once it was up to temperature. The modification was pretty simple - and it didn't affect the way the engine ran on gasoline at all. Because you still had your normal petrol tank in the car - if you couldn't find an LPG station to refill at, you could just run on petrol for a while. The cars generally got pretty similar mileage on LPG and petrol - but in the UK, LPG didn't get taxed as heavily - so it was a cheaper alternative. My father's LPG station was the only one within maybe 50 miles. But most of the people who converted were taxi's, ambulances, local delivery vehicles, post office vehicles and such - people who do a lot of miles within a small service area - and who don't suffer too badly from losing their trunk. That got around the infrastructure issues and the system worked to everyone's benefits for many years. What eventually killed the system was that 'Calor' - the company who sold the LPG got complaints from their usual retailers (people who filled gas cylinders for barbeques and other uses) because my father could dramatically under-cut them)...they eventually jacked up the 'automotive' LPG to the point where it was no longer economic.

LPG is fairly plentiful stuff - which makes it an attractive alternative to gasoline - but it produces just as much CO2 as gasoline - so going to a lot of expense to switch over to using it would be highly counter-productive from a global warming perspective.

SteveBaker (talk) 00:23, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

(reset indent) I can think of one disadvantage here in the Philippines. When an LPG powered taxi has/had a leak, then the cab smell likes hell.--Lenticel ^(talk) 00:37, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

That's because propane and natural gas, being odorless, are impregnated with methyl mercaptan or some other sulfur-containing compound. Unlike higher-molecular-weight hydrocarbons which have distinct odors, propane and methane have no odor, so it would be impossible to detect a leak until it went BOOM! The sulfur-based dopants are added because insignificant amounts of them can be used, and still smell strongly enough to be detected without altering the combustion properties of the fuel. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 02:57, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

A disadvantage to LPG users in the UK, is that you can't take the car to France via Eurotunnel. Astronaut (talk) 03:05, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

LPG is widespread in Australia because it was widely adopted initially by Sydney taxis (which did the conversion and mileage experiments in the late 1960s. WP:OR) . The aim was to reduce the then crippling fuel costs for gasoline. The first LPG plant was expected to produce solely for export, but a small local market having been established, the Federal Government kept the excise low on LPG and legislated it to be never more than 50% of gasoline prices (currently it is around 45%). This produced local sales for Australian gas fields, where 80% of the nation's LPG comes from in naturally occurring reserves. In a country with around 10 million vehicles, some 650,000 run on LPG, mostly for high-mileage applications, making it viable to have many outlets selling it. Conversion costs are around $4000, of which the Government has been paying half for the past 3 years, to reduce dependency on expensive gasoline. As LPG does not have great emission savings, it is chosen on economics grounds; it will only become widespread if the prices allow the recovery of the conversion cost in a reasonable time, ideally 3 or 4 years. It is not regarded as good value for owners of older vehicles, which may not survive long enough, although moving the equipment into another vehicle is only around $500.

I imagine they don't allow gas vehicles in the Chunnel for fear of exlosion? The two in-vehicle explosions I've seen were fireless, caused by distortion of the pressure cylinder in crashes, the force barely enough to dent the boot (trunk) lid with the shrapnel. Any sparking caused by the tearing metal won't light the gas, which at that stage is liquid or too rich a mixture to burn. I have seen a 20,000 litre bulk storage tank take off from its cradle like a rocket, but that originally blew a hole from the expansion of the gas inside, the tank having been "cooked" by a grass fire under it. This requires 238 C, from memory, a temperature at which the tunnel would already be in big big trouble. - KoolerStill (talk) 10:48, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

When my father was doing these conversions, the claim was that fracturing of the gas cylinder in a crash wasn't a great concern - the biggest worry was if the petrol tank caught fire (and it's generally mounted right under where the LPG tank is) - that the resulting gasoline fire might be enough to heat the LPG tank until it exploded. However, this was claimed to rarely be a problem since people generally stay well clear of a gasoline fire - and it takes quite a long time for the LPG tank to heat up to that degree, so the gasoline fire will typically be put out before there is a major problem. I'm not sure I believe much of that - but it was the claim at the time. (I should point out that my father was doing this in the early 1980's). The LPG they sold in the UK hardly smelled at all - just enough so you knew it was leaking. Much less noxious than an equivalent gasoline leak. LPG is still very popular for powering fork-lift trucks - at least in the UK and in the USA - because it produces no carbon monoxide and no nasty NOx or SOx by-products - so it's quite safe to drive an LPG vehicle indoors. SteveBaker (talk) 12:22, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

I worked for a company that made several thousand propane tanks over the years and I don't recall even one report of a tank breaching in a crash (and we saw some pretty gnarly pictures of actual crash results). As I recall, the bigger worry was that the tank might shear its mounting bolts and find its way to something pointy. As I recall too, all our tanks (Canada) had safety valves set at 90% of the yield pressure of the material. This would give you a single jet of flame, which is not too bad. The same thing could happen if the fittings got knocked off the tank, which is a bigger risk than the tank itself being breached. Franamax (talk) 19:01, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

July 2

ASTER

How can I download ASTER GDEM? 128.12.77.34 (talk) 01:04, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

You can read the download instructions from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Nimur (talk) 04:06, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

How sensitive is TV antenna to direction?

This is regarding the recent DTV conversion in the US. I receive my signal over-the-air with a bigass antenna up in the garage rafters.

I've got problems with some stations pixelating some of the time, "hiccuping" through a show with varying degrees of unwatchability. After some searching, found an old plastic protractor and a roadmap, located the tower farm, lined up the axis of the house from an overhead photograph, and am estimating that the antenna is about 20-22 degrees out-of-line to the tower farm.

SO: Is 22 degrees significant, or not? I'm hoping that Here There Be Engineers who can give factual answers, or at least high-quality speculation. Even though the antenna is indoors, it's still a major effort to access the thing, so if "Try it and see" is your best answer, please keep it to yourself :-). Hope that doesn't scare off anybody with serious advice...

Thanks, --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 01:53, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, that's quite significant. The signal quality will vary from its best pointing directly towards (or away from) the transmitter to its worst when pointing 90 degrees away. It probably is worth pointing the antenna in the right direction. My grandfather had some problems with his TV signal after they changed transmitters and I managed to dramatically improve it by looking up the location of the new transmitter and pointing the aerial in the right direction. --Tango (talk) 02:06, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

TIP: If you aren't sure exactly what direction to point it in, move it around until you find the worst signal, and then turn it 90 degrees. It is far easier to spot the worst signal than the best. --Tango (talk) 02:07, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Those "bigass" antennas tend to be a lot more directional than the two rods on top of the set, so the sensitivity can fall off quickly when your are just a little way out-of-line. Can you get hold of a compass to get the direction correct (in my experience, those roadmaps you get from the gas station are not that accurate)? Alternatively, the professional installers sometimes use a signal strength meter which they just hook up to the antenna while adjusting the direction. Lastly, things like airports and skyscrapers can do kinds of weird things to your TV signal. Astronaut (talk) 02:53, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Appreciating that it is an effort to access your antenna, it is possible to try using a borrowed antenna and cable in the open. That will establish the true direction beyond doubt; that may not be what you estimated from the map. The larger the antenna the sharper is its directivity, and the more likely that 22 degrees off-axis makes a significant difference. (This answer is a variation on "Try it and see".) Cuddlyable3 (talk) 09:46, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Regarding directional rooftop antennas; they used to make motorized varieties with a little control box you kept inside the house. You could adjust the direction of the antenna using a little dial that looked like a compass, it would turn the antenna on your roof to face the correct direction. This was very useful for people who lived on the margins of TV areas; as they could turn the antenna to face different stations. They even had little stickers to mark the point on the controls where a station's antenna was located. My aunt had one when she lived in extreme northwest Connecticut; she was able to pick up not only the Hartford and Springfield Mass stations, but ones from NY City and Albany and Boston by finely tuning her antenna; and the motorized bit made it quite easy to do. This was back in the 1980's, but I imagine one could find similar set-ups for sale today. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:54, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, good morning, and thanks to all who replied while it was overnight in my time zone. Hmmm, I remember those motorized rotators (from my grandparent's house -- seems to be the common thread.) Y'all have given me the enthusiasm to tackle the task sooner rather than later.

For the record, part of the access problem is that, in its current position, some of the antenna's arms are "interlaced" through the various rafter beams. I'm pretty sure that once I get up there, I'm going to have to remove one or two of them, and replace them after the rotation. Should be an interesting task. --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 13:38, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Update, one day later: So, this afternoon I climbed into the attic and wrestled with the beast, the primary goal being not to break any of the arms off whilst jockeying it into a new position around the rafters. In the end, I think I was forced to "overcompensate", e.g. I'm now at 8-10° left of ideal rather than 20° right. The improvement is unbelievable, except for the ONE station that broadcasts from another location and is now farther off of axis than it was before.

Many thanks for all the advice; this issue is

Resolved

. --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 23:04, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

DTV issues

Prior to the DTV transition, I was able to get WABC and, occassionally WNET if I was lucky. However, since the DTV transition, both channels have disappeared despite numerous scans of my box and adjustments of antennas. I have repeated this with my living room television and my father's television; he lives one floor above me. Furthermore, as I live in Brooklyn, I can only get ten or twelve channels while my aunt in Staten Island claims she could get over twice as many channels; she has a rooftop antenna and I have an indoor antenna. Is this a problem with my antenna or my location or is there something wrong with the station? --Blue387 (talk) 03:08, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

First of all, the rooftop antenna will DEFINATELY get you much better reception. Larger antennas are able to grab weaker signals than smaller ones; a four-foot rooftop antenna will be exponetially better than a little 12 inch settop antenna. Secondly, that's the way DTV works. Under analog signals, the signal strength drops off more-or-less directly with distance from the source; it just gets progressively worse and worse. With a digital signal, because of the way it is encoded, your TV essentially has to get the entire signal or its a garbled mess. Thus, DTV signals have a "reception cliff" of sorts; inside a certain radius from the tower, your signal will always be crystal clear and perfect. Outside of that radius, you get bupkis. That's the advantage and disadvantage of DTV; better reception for many, but NO reception for some others. That all being said, the distance from Staten Island to Brooklyn does not seem like enough to cause that big of a difference; I would say the effect is primarly caused by your inadequate antenna. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 03:59, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

But if my antenna was inadequate, why was I able to get WABC before the transition and not get it now? --Blue387 (talk) 05:57, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

As Jayron32 points out - with a digital signal, it's all or nothing. Either you have 0's and 1's or you don't. With an analog signal, you never COMPLETELY lose the signal - it just gets weaker and noisier. So your signal quality on WABC must have been marginal - and now it's gone. The trade-off with digital is that if you DO get a just barely good enough signal, you'll get a 100% perfect picture. With analog, even if your reception is only a little less than perfect, you have poor picture quality. Sadly, the price you pay for that is that you can't pull in a really weak digital signal and live with the poorer quality. Arguably, this is a net loss to society - but getting back a whole lot of valuable radio bandwidth is a worthwhile thing - it'll get us better wireless internet and a bunch of other good things. But getting a larger, outdoor or (preferably) rooftop antenna will allow you to pull in more channels...I think that's your only hope at this point. SteveBaker (talk) 12:08, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Another issue, especially in built-up locations like Brooklyn, is that (ATSC) digital TV signals are much more affected by multipath interference than analog ones. A multipath artifact which would be barely detectable with an analog receiver can completely kill digital reception. -- 76.201.158.47 (talk) 20:29, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm sure it's got a simple reason but...How come my digital-tv signal gets boxy, cuts out and gives basically a modern-day version of analogue interferance? Additionally differing signal-strengths show on my digi-box menu and I get better/worse reception depending on which I choose. Anybody? 194.221.133.226 (talk) 15:21, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

The science desk is the better place to ask about the types of interference --203.129.49.222 (talk) 11:18, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

High speed gas

Inspired by the natural gas question above. In the context of domestic gas supply to homes in the UK, I have vague recollections of the term "high speed gas" and domestic appliances being converted to use it. What was the conversion from and to in modern terms? And what was special about the gas to make it "high speed" - did it travel down the pipes quicker? Astronaut (talk) 03:10, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

"High speed gas" was just an advertising slogan, making the point that gas cookers were a lot quicker than electric ones (in those days). The whole of the UK was converted from coal gas to natural gas in the 1970s. See coal gas#Change over to natural gas--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:42, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

[Edit Conflict] Could this have been the conversion from "town gas" (made by heating coal) to "natural gas" (found under the North Sea)? I don't know why natural gas would be called "high speed", except that in programmes requiring mass public awareness it's common to pick a term which is technically nonsense but easy for people to remember (eg "broadband", "freeview", etc). 93.97.184.230 (talk) 07:46, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

No - the advertising of the time was clear that they were indicating that a gas stove could heat saucepans faster than an electric one. SteveBaker (talk) 12:00, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

If I remember correctly the key idea was that it was quick to stop heating. Didn't they have some milk bubbling up on a gas cooker and they turned it off and it settled down, then the same on an electric cooker and it boiled over. -- Q Chris (talk) 17:29, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Adverts lied quite a lot then,so they could say anything they wanted.Anyone remember Maltesers with the non-fattening centre ads?hotclaws 14:55, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Mac apps

What is the purpose of the "Time Machine" app on the Imac? How is it used? 128.12.77.75 (talk) 03:21, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

We have an article on that. Time Machine (Apple software) states:

"Time Machine is a backup utility developed by Apple. It is included with Mac OS X and was introduced with the 10.5 "Leopard" release of Mac OS X."

That article provides a good overview, and you can find official documentation directly from Apple or from the help feature in the program. Personally, I found Time Machine to be very confusing, and I prefer to manually archive my important data with subversion (software) or manually-created archive files. Nimur (talk) 04:13, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

A bribe

Is it illegal to bribe an employee who isn't a public servant? In the USA, I mean.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Peanut Butter Papers (talk • contribs) 04:37, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

That really depends on the favor being sought, the parties involved and the state. For example, bribing the employee of a corporation might in some cases be construed as defrauding the corporation's shareholders. On the other hand, tipping a waiter not only in gratitude for good service, but in hopes of its repetition in the future, is expected and recognized by state and federal income tax codes. Tipping a casino dealer to give you good cards, however, would violate the gaming statutes in almost every state that permits gaming with cards. —— Shakescene (talk) 04:56, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

In at least California and Nevada it's not only legal but expected to tip the dealer after winning a hand. PhGustaf (talk) 05:15, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in discharge of a public or legal duty. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 09:29, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

If someone is not a public official and not carrying out some function of government, then the question would turn on the "legal duty" of this "other person". And it can get very tricky to judge those duties. When is someone acting, for example, in a fiduciary capacity, with the obligation to treat someone else's interests as jealously as his or her own? If a company bribes the administrator of a trust to buy their products or stock (and thus perhaps put his or her own interests before those of the trust's beneficiary), is that bribery a crime? What about bribing a corporate board of directors, who should be acting on behalf of all the corporation's shareholders? Or a doctor being bribed to prescribe a medicine that she or he might not have prescribed otherwise? Or a lawyer being bribed to settle a client's case when the client might have done better to fight on? (Or vice-versa?) —— Shakescene (talk) 11:06, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Offering a bribe to a public official is often a criminal act, but I wonder, is it a crime to offer a bribe to other people? For example, is bribing a corporate officer to win a business contract a crime for the person offering the bribe (or only for the person who accepts it, or neither)? Or is it, as some might say, just another cost of doing business? Dragons flight (talk) 11:07, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

While bribery, kickbacks and facilitating payments may not be technically illegal in some cases, many companies have formal business ethics. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 11:49, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Having taken a number of ethics courses in my company, I can assure you that bribes of various kinds between companies are often illegal, particularly when they serve to stifle competition in the marketplace. If any doubt, speak to an attorney. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 22:40, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

That's misphrasing the quesiton. As has been pointed out above, a bribe is illegal, and a bribe is an incentive payment to influence a person in the exercise of his or her public duty in a way that is beyond what is allowed under that person's discretion.

The first question is "whether this payment amounts to a bribe". The next question, after concluding that it is not a bribe (if that be so), is whether the payment is illegal because of some other specific law.

For example, the seller of a financial product might make a side payment/commission to a financial advisor in order to increase the incentive for that advisor to advise his or her clients to put their money into this product. This is not a bribe: the financial advisor is not a public official and (without more) is not a fiduciary, and is just performing his or her private, contractual duties.

However, specific laws regulating financial markets may require that the financial advisor disclose the side payment/commission to the client. Then, if the payment is not disclosed to the client, it is illegal. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 00:17, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Cars - 2-door and 5-door

I don't drive.

Why are cars described as having "5 doors"? Two in the front, two in the back, and...? I was told one for the boot (UK English, the Americans call that something different, I think). If that's so, why is a car with no doors for the back seats referred to as "2-door"? Wouldn't it be 3-door? Or have I missed something vital? Vimescarrot (talk) 11:09, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Cars are described as 5- 4- 3- or 2-door because that is the number of hinged entranceways they have. An odd-number of doors means there is a part that opens at the back. The rear entranceway can be a door but is more often a top-hinged liftback or hatchback. These names are used interchangeably with 5-door annd 3-door. Americans call a car's boot an elephant's nose.Cuddlyable3 (talk) 11:29, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

See Trunk (automobile) for the etymology of trunk and boot. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 11:45, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Actually, Americans call the storage box at the back of the car the same word as other storage boxes (see Trunk (luggage)). The use of a term for footwear to describe a storage compartment seems more farfetched than using a term for a storage box for, well, a storage box! --Jayron32.talk.contribs 20:59, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Possible etymology is boot = boîte, French for box. 81.131.69.59 (talk) 23:01, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

I have always thought it silly, but a hatchback or estate car is refers to the rear opening as a "door", whereas a car with a normal boot doesn't. This is despite the fact that you would never normally enter or exit the car through a hatchback. -- Q Chris (talk) 11:51, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

It's definitely a european thing - calling a car with four passenger doors and a hatchback a "5 door" is a little odd...but that's what people do. It's particularly confusing when you find cars like my wife's new "MINI Clubman" which has two proper/conventional passenger doors plus one suicide door on the right-hand side to make it easier to get into the back seats - and two hinged 'barn doors' at the back. You could arguably call this:

• "two door" - because the little "suicide-door" on the right side of the car is about 8" wide and is really just a slight extension of the main door on that side of the car.
• "three door" - because it really does have three passenger doors - even if one of them is tiny.
• "four door" - three passenger doors and a big opening at the back.
• "five door - three passenger doors plus two barn-doors at that back.

The "trunk lid" ("boot lid") of a "three-boxes" style of car isn't ever included into the door count - so there is (I suppose) some benefit and brevity of description to talk about 4-door and 5-door cars - in that by changing a single digit, you have explained that "this car doesn't have a boot/trunk lid but instead a hatchback". SteveBaker (talk) 11:55, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

My understanding is that saying 3 or 5 makes it instantly clear the car is a hatchback/estate and not a saloon car. If you say 2 or 4 I know it is a saloon. As a result it makes it clearer to say that thn 2 door hatchback or 4 door saloon. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 12:11, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Actually, many older minivans were considered "3-door" minivans, as the entrance to the rear seating area only opened on one side of the van; this is despite the fact that the hatchback on the minivan would technically make it a "4-door" car, since one could access the passenger compartment that way. Contrast this with a "5-door" car, which has 4 standard doors and a hatchback... In that case, the hatchback "counts" but for minivans, it doesn't, perhaps not to confuse the customer, who if they heard they were getting a 4 door minivan, would expect 4 standard doors, and not 3 standard doors and a hatchback. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:42, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Heh. Replacing one type of confusion with another: I've never really understood the differences between basic types of car (hatchback, saloon etc). That's my problem though, not yours. Thanks. Vimescarrot (talk) 14:37, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Let's not forget the 1-door style. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 02:28, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

True story: A friend once had a three-door Volvo 122 sedan. It seems there was a four-door that got in a wreck, a two-door that did too, and a guy who was real handy with a welding torch... PhGustaf (talk) 02:40, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Beautiful. A true "hybrid". Reminds me a little bit of the Johnny Cash song, "One Piece at a Time". Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 05:52, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

We should probably add that cut-and-shut cars are generally illegal and very unsafe. Turning a 4-door and a 2-door into one 3-door is certainly an unusual form of cut-and-shut, but I expect the general principles still apply. --Tango (talk) 22:23, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Qualifications to start a career with the European Union

My question is about working for the European Union itself, or another international institution, not about immigration to Europe from somewhere else. I'd like to know what university degree subject(s) would be most useful, what sort of extra-curricular experience would help, if I should plan for postgrad study, and how/where I can learn more about working for the different institutions.

I don't expect the refdesk to plan my whole life for me, but other constructive comments are very welcome. I'm a British high school leaver with (office based) work experience, thinking of returning to study part-time (by distance learning) aged 27 with the University of London External System. I have good A-Level grades, obtained by part-time study after I started work (after leaving school in unfortunate circumstances with no exam passes). I hope to get a BA degree in 3-5 years, while working. I can speak French fairly well and have much more basic Dutch, German and Russian.

Suggestions also welcome about other international organisations, but (some part of) the EU would be my first choice. I have family connections to Belgium and I strongly support European integration. The general British attitude to the EU really depresses me, to be honest, and I'd like to be involved in trying to change it. The UK is not really that important to the United States, and splendid isolation only worked back when we had all the gunboats.

I realise I have wasted quite a bit of time already, but I don't want to abandon this plan for a safe but nondescript career at home in England unless my age makes it a spectacularly bad idea. My age has nothing to do with my abilities, so if I did that I know I'd regret it for the rest of my life. Thanks in advance for all replies! 86.154.106.137 (talk) 11:23, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

You could look for a degree in any of the Social Science areas, with a focus on Political Science, or do a degree in International Studies. I would also add that given the nature of working at the EU it would be likely beneficial to speak another language. The Open University do distance-learning degrees that combine Political Science with a language, or (seeing as you state you are already reasonable in other languages) perhaps do something to get those skills 'professionalised'. I would suggest approaching local political groups and offer your services, either volunteering or (ideally for you) paid. Getting some experience in the industry through that sort of work can really help.

Oh and there's nothing about your age that prevents you doing this. It would make it harder to be the highest ranking EU official, but it shouldn't prevent you entering a career working in the political arena and helping to push forward the cause you believe in. 12:07, 2 July 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.133.226 (talk)

Jobs for the EU seem to be like government jobs anywhere. The only extra thing that I've noticed in EU jobs is languages - usually mother-tongue fluency in one offical language and "a satisfactory knowledge" of another official language (I think "satisfactory" is defined somewhere but I can't find it). Age shouldn't be a problem because there is a specific council directive about equality in employment which prohibits age discrimination. Astronaut (talk) 15:44, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

I think you're going about this backwards. Decide what you want to do, rather than who for. The EU employs lots of people in all kinds of roles. Some, like security staff or drivers, would need no degree at all. Economists would need specific degrees and so would statisticians. Generally speaking, it would seem likely that having strong language skills to back up some kind of specialist degree would give you the best chance. Good luck. --Dweller (talk) 16:08, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

(response by OP) Sorry I wasn't clear, but what I'm looking at is the competitions for senior administrators (AD7 and up) shown in TammyMoet's link :-) I assume I'd need to pass that and get hired as a generalist before I have the option to specialise - no? 217.42.255.221 (talk) 19:30, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't think so, no. That link says AD7 includes "Economist, Lawyer, Translator etc.". You can't specialise in any of those later in your career with just general experience, you need the right education from the start. --Tango (talk) 16:54, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

A word of caution here: it used to be the case that the EU only recruited those under-35. This might have changed since the mid-1990s when I was interested in working for them, though. This site will help: [1] --TammyMoet (talk) 19:06, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

In the worst case I'd be 34 when I apply, so I'd squeak through even if this rule still exists. Hopefully it has been scrapped by now though! 217.42.255.221 (talk) 19:34, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

A good start would be to learn one/possibly two Language's; would suggest Aribic/Dari - or possibly even Mandirin Chinese; there is a very limited amount of people working in the China enviroment. If you can speak your native tounge and possibly two others this would be a fantastic advantage. A word to the wise most eastern eurpoean countries would speak there native tounge and English as a matter of course - so what ever you do choose wisly. If a language course is not in the offering as you need to concentrate on what ever you decide; spare time could be best used with this [2]Chromagnum (talk) 07:06, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree that languages are very important, but I would expect languages of member states would be best. Presumable the OP already has native English skills, it would be good to get the French up to a fluent level and maybe improve one of the others. He may have the minimum requirements already, but I expect better than minimum is beneficial. --Tango (talk) 16:54, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

WHO IS THIS GUY

Hello, Wikipedians I`am a practicing Jehavoah`s Witness, I wanted to ask you all If you have any idea about who is this guy, we learned about at Kingdom Hall. We were told His name, only that He was a German Soldier In The First World War. And that after the end of the war, He immigrated to the united states. Where He proselytized to Americans. Door To Door. Including to the father of an American solider killed in World War I. And that He convinced The Father to become a Jehovah`s Witness after He tried to close the door on them. By informing Him, He fought on the German side. And crying when He said, He might have killed His son. I really would like to know, who this guy might be. Not only because I`m a Jehaovah`s Witness. But because I`m an aspiring screenwriter as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.56.149.242 (talk) 19:32, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

You'd probably have to speak to someone who told you the story directly; the story may be entirely true, but it does not sound like the sort of story one could research unless you know the exact source of the story. It is at once interesting and unremarkable, and I am not certain that the person whom the story is about has gained much notability beyond being the subject of the story. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 20:55, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

The theme of reconciliation between former enemies is a good one. It has worked well in screenplays and will continue to do so provided the writer properly characterises both sides as people a viewer can identify with. Drama often comprises a catharsis that leads to a resolution, hopefully a triumphal one that does not depend on polarising viewers. Just my $0.10. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:35, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

An aspiring screenwriter might want to learn the conventional spelling of "Jehovah", among other things. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 22:35, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

So might a Jehovah's Witness; and some screenwriters don't spell it that way. :-) AlexTiefling (talk) 22:41, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

It's been a long time since I've seen that movie, so I'm not sure what you're getting at. But I'm fairly sure the term "Jehovah" was coined quite awhile after the Crusades had run their course. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 22:51, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Alex is referring to the scene near the end of the film where Indy has to spell the name of Jehovah by stepping on lettered tiles, which in the Latin text actually begins with an "I". Of course, Indy didn't know that until it was almost too late.--WaltCip (talk) 04:37, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Aha. Well, as I said, it's been awhile, and I only saw it once. And again, Jehovah or Iehovah, as far as I know, was a later invention. But I could be wrong. Maybe someone can answer that question? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 05:50, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The article Yahweh attempts to answer that question (pick your way through the overwritten history section and the answer is in there - complete with fact tag) Fouracross (talk) 11:29, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Another question, Baseball Bugs, is why you've twice used the adverb "awhile" instead of the expression "a while", which consists of the indefinite article followed by a noun. See this for an explanation of the difference. -- JackofOz (talk) 11:34, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

I've always written it as one word. The reasons are lost in the mysts of tyme. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 13:57, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The Jehovah's Witnesses didn't exist until 1931, when they split off from an earlier group. I don't know when they started doing the Fuller Brush thing, but the thirteen-year gap gives some pause. It's quite possible that this is a parable rather than a true story. Not that there's anything wrong with parables. PhGustaf (talk) 15:50, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Through a circuitous path, it does seem like "Jehovah" was first used in the general time frame of the Crusades. Of course, the users of that word are missing the whole point, which is that "Jehovah" or "Yahweh" or "YHWH" are not God's actual name, but rather are kind of a dismissive answer to Moses when he asked God what His name is. Basically it translates as "I am that I am", or "I am". In short, a non-answer. Names were considered of great symbolic significance, and if Moses knew God's name, then he would "have something" on God. Not surprisingly, God was a little smarter than Moses and didn't fall for it. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 05:24, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

In the BB tradition <g> a professor of comparative theology told me that a name in many societies is considered to have magical powers - if you give anyone your "real name" you place yourself under their power. If God gave his "real name" he would cease to be God is one reasoning. One should also note that "I am" in some languages has special significance (avoiding comment it being the sum of importance). BTW, the JW were earlier called Russellites. Collect (talk) 17:42, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

That "begins with I" bit grated on me: it's not that 'J' was wrong, but that there shouldn't be a 'J' option (distinct from 'I') at all. —Tamfang (talk) 17:57, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

July 3

What kind of hat is this (person in front of picture) and who's that person in the picture behind him ?

Pretty much self-explanatory. He's the lead singer of Laibach, which is Slovenian (the person in front of picture), if that helps.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1328/1430229060_e7a28a7e6a.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rachmaninov Khan (talk • contribs) 01:12, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Is the person in the picture Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow? The headgear appears to be identical. Not sure what the headgear is called (neither the Patriarch's nor the singer's). Tempshill (talk) 04:46, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The religious person is wearing a "patriarchal white koukoulion" according to Religious_habit. Rmhermen (talk) 05:03, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The singer seems to wear a headgear modeled somewhat after this one [3] 71.236.26.74 (talk) 06:18, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The man in the picture would be Kirill's predecessor, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow. 198.161.238.18 (talk) 20:10, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The hat looks like a pretty standard Do-rag with the side wings left untied. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 20:59, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Hairband

Is the thing in the girl's hair (a rubber band with two beads) as shown in this http://animea.net/images/db/41/card-captor-sakura-wallpaper-02.jpg picture, what they call a Love-In_Tokyo?? What is it called anyway?? 117.194.232.129 (talk) 07:22, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

When I grew up they were called "cherry hair ties" or "hair tie cherries". These day "pony tail ties" or "bobble hair ties" seems to be used, at least by some Chinese manufacturers (ghits). 71.236.26.74 (talk) 07:46, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

They were bobbles when I grew up in Australia in the 1980s. Steewi (talk) 04:56, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Is there such a thing as "mephitoline" or "oil of scallatine"

In the Pratchett novel The Truth Angua von Überwald is stopped with a Mephitic substance called "oil of scallatine". Googling revealed some sources using an alternative description "Mephitoline" equally unknown to wikipedia's chemistry. Is there a substance that was identified somewhere (maybe by Pratchett himself?) as the origin for these smelly materials?71.236.26.74 (talk) 07:35, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

L-space, which as we all know is infinite, must doubtless contain the answer - as indeed it does. Maybe. They identify possible real-world equivalents, which would lead me to believe it's not a real substance, but make no mention of any real-world inspiration. Vimescarrot (talk) 08:12, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Many thanks for that link. I hope I won't get lost like some visitors to the Unseen University library. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 09:07, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

No idea but could the linguistic origin or inspiration of this made up word be related to Skatole a real chemical.83.100.250.79 (talk) 17:00, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for finding that one. Smells like a likely candidate :-).71.236.26.74 (talk) 13:42, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Isocyanide has been suggested as a real-world equivalent : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isocyanide#Odor.

Numbered cards higher than 10

Are there any French-suited card games which use numbered cards higher than 10? --88.78.12.81 (talk) 12:20, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The French tarot uses the standard French suits plus a numbered trump suit which goes from 1 to 21 , but I can't think of any that use just the standard suits. Most games that require higher numbers combine packs and/or assign higher values to specific cards. Fouracross (talk) 12:52, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Intrigued by the question, I went for a quick search and uncovered this image of the 11 of hearts on Commons (from the description it appears that this one is a "proof of concept" rather than currently used in any games). Fouracross (talk) 13:14, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

What's about the Australian six-player card game of 500? --88.78.12.81 (talk) 12:56, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Indeed: [4], though I think that was originally played with additional cards from another pack with a trumping system (so the latter player had the advantage when two identical cards were played). Fouracross (talk) 13:14, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Are there any French-suited card games which use black 13's or numbered cards higher than 13? --88.78.12.81 (talk) 13:31, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

I can find 11's, but no 12's or red 13's on Wikimedia Commons. Please upload the missing cards to Wikimedia Commons. --88.78.12.81 (talk) 14:09, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Morphing

I was looking for a software something like they would use at a plastic surgeon's office when they take a nose or eyes from one picture and add it to another, or combine the two pictures to make one with new features. I am not sure what that is called or if it is ossible to do this? I tried using morpheus morph and a couple other morphing programs but they just play a movie of one picture after another, they don't actually combine the two photos. Does anybody have any idea what kind of tecnology or sftware this is and if it is available?

Identikit? Not software. I think you could use Photoshop or GIMP. 89.240.59.254 (talk) 14:36, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

I always assumed the "software" shown doing this in TV shows like Nip/Tuck was fake, and that the clever merged images you see around the Web are the result of skilled artists using Photoshop. Tempshill (talk) 20:46, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

For changing particular features of a face, with a bit of work you can get incredibly accurate pictures using applications like the ones from Flashface or Veer, although I don't think you could load a particular face into either of those apps. For averaging two pictures, try Faceresearch or Morpher 3.0, both of which do let you load your own pictures to play with. 152.16.16.75 (talk) 00:03, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Babymaker will combine two complete faces and make it younger (so you can see what your child will look like) but it does not seem to allow for adding different body parts. There is a specialist program for plastic surgeons, advertised for only $1295. You could try cutting out the part you want and positioning it on a transparent base, and morphing those together? - KoolerStill (talk) 11:03, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

If you just want to cut out part of one image and paste that into another Adobe Photoshop will do that. For putting two different halves together from two different pictures look at the "stitch" function that comes with your digital camera software (Photoshop does that, too, but more expensively and more complicated.) If you want to combine two images you can copy them onto two different layers in Photoshop and then use filters to combine them. (cumbersome)71.236.26.74 (talk) 18:31, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Starting a new article

I would like to start a new article on the Three Dimensional Black Board. I was concerned that it might be a COI and was referred to Requested Article. I'm not sure what category to put the request in, as it is both an educational tool and a sophisticated scientific instrument. I have been ponderinng this for quite some time, and seem to have reached an impasse. I am sure that this would be a notable topic, and a valuable addition to the encyclopedia. If I can get someone to start the article, I am sure I can provide the necessary references and details without using Original Research. Any ideas?Phineas J. Whoopee (talk) 13:07, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

You might want to put the bones of the article together at Wikipedia:Articles for creation. Alternatively, list the subject at plural categories. --Tagishsimon (talk) 14:36, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

If you have a business relationship to a company that makes or sells such things - then you should probably just drop a brief note at Wikipedia:Articles for creation - indicating any possible web pages where further information might be found and explaining why you think the subject matter is notable...you can refer to our WP:NOTE guidelines to help you with defending that position. The people at 'articles for creation' there are pretty good at understanding what makes a notable subject and they'll get the article started if the subject turns out to be notable - and to have adequate reference material to get a 'stub' article written. If you have a conflict of interest then you need to be super-careful about what you write. In fact, you should probably hold off from editing the article at all and confine yourself to providing information and references on the article's associated Talk: page. SteveBaker (talk) 14:49, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

90.1 in Austin TX

There is a radio station in Austin, Texas on 90.1 FM that is end-to-end rabid ultra-conservative talk-radio stuff - interspersed with adverts for all kinds of survivalist gear and alternative healthcare junk like silver colloids. I don't ever hear a station ID's from them (which I think is illegal) - and they don't seem to match with any of the Texas stations listed in our 90.1 list. I pick them up when driving from San Antonio, San Angelo or Arlington, TX - all of which have NPR stations on 90.1...as their signals fade out, this weird station fades in...although it's quite low power. Is this some kind of pirate station? SteveBaker (talk) 15:20, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Could it be "American Freedom Radio" [5]? I found it linked from "vote rescue" in Austin, who mentioned that they broadcast on 90.1 FM. Seems to be conspiracy theories/libertarianism/alternative medicine woo. Fribbler (talk) 16:54, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Ah! Thanks - that must be it. It makes hilarious listening if you don't take it seriously. They pick up on the tiniest thing and blow it up to amazing conspiracy theories. I'll add them to the 90.1 article. SteveBaker (talk) 17:33, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Is it a licensed broadcast station, and if so what are the call letters? I do not want to explore their website, due to the possibility of malware. Edison (talk) 17:36, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

This is interesting, although it's two years old, so probably doesn't apply any longer. This doesn't show any stations in Austin at 90.1. And this doesn't show any stations at 90.1. This talks about "VoteRescue Radio can be heard on the radio in the Austin area at 90.1 FM" but the link to http://www.wtprn.com/ shows that they are off the air. Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 19:17, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The "American Freedom Radio" site mourns the loss of WTPRN, and seems to suggest it has inherited the same looney causes and shows. Fribbler (talk) 19:45, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

The content of the "America Freedom Radio" site is almost identical to the WTPRN site - but WTPRN can't be the correct/legal call letters because FM stations in Texas all start with a 'K'.

So you parallel libertarianism with alternative medicine and conspiracy theories. Not POV by any standards, right?--WaltCip (talk) 19:56, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

No, it's just the station's themes. It could have been vegetarianism, pacifism, fascism, and holocaust denial. It's just what they do. I pass no judgement on any connection. Merely descriptive: look at the site. Fribbler (talk) 21:02, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

"WTPRN" does not sound like the call letters of a licensed FM broadcast station in the U.S., due to its having more than 4 letters. Edison (talk) 04:29, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

The 'W' stands for "We" - as in "We the people radio network" - the fact that it sounds like a call-sign may be just a coincidence. In the southern US, FM radio stations all have call-signs that start with a 'K'. SteveBaker (talk) 04:52, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Western. With a very few exceptions, US broadcast station call signs are "W" for stations east of the Mississippi and "W" for west, and they have three or four letters. The Austin station sounds like a pirate to me; and its web page supports that suspicion. PhGustaf (talk) 07:13, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Note that PhGustaf meant to write "K" for west. John M Baker (talk) 01:24, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Very low power FM stations are allowed for community groups, subject to a licence to ensure they don't interfere with their neighbours and don't exceed their equipment levels (100 watts, with a reference distance of 5.6 miles). An organisation with numerous branches may have a separate station for each branch, thereby vastly increasing their coverage. Tourist information services use these in many places. On campus radios need no licence.This FCC Document gives more very technical details. I can't see anything about compulsory call signs.- KoolerStill (talk) 11:25, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

I am aware of that. But, according to its web page, this station sells advertising, and I don't think LPFM stations are allowed to do that. PhGustaf (talk) 15:02, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah - there is certainly LOTS of advertising. (Very bizarre - and somewhat troubling advertising - "When the Obama new world order takes over and you and your family are denied food - you'll need to plant seeds to grow food - don't buy those genetically modified seeds - get our "traditional" seeds that are canned so they'll be fresh and ready to plant when you truly need them"). SteveBaker (talk) 16:47, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

There's a huxter born every minute. So what's the range of this station? Does it even cover a single county? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 10:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

It's hard to tell what the range is - I can't figure out where the transmitter is - and I'm really not going to drive around in circles of increasing radius in the hope of finding the limits. I get it pretty clearly in downtown Austin - and it's faded out completely by the North side of Round Rock...so I believe it's at least a 20 mile radius. SteveBaker (talk) 02:52, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Identify this old marine toilet

I've sailed on various boats over the years, and between all of them there's only about four kinds of toilet in common use. However, looking through some adverts for boats for sale, I've come across a model that's radically different from anything I've ever seen before. It's a long shot, but can anyone shed any light on this strange old marine toilet? 93.97.184.230 (talk) 19:40, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

There appears to be a manufacturer's logo of some kind on the front of the thing. Your photo isn't high enough resolution for us to be able to read it. Do you have a higher resolution photo someplace? Alternatively, can you get back to it and let us know exactly what it says? SteveBaker (talk) 04:16, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

The picture is from an online advert - I haven't seen it in person - so the answer is "no" to both questions. I too saw the logo, but absent Hollywood spy film "enhancement" technology I don't think there's enough information there to extract anything useful. 93.97.184.230 (talk) 09:01, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Once a Marine toilet, always a Marine toilet. Semper Flush! Edison (talk) 04:26, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

It seems to be an old vacuum head. The black handle on the lid is the pump handle. The pump in the bell creates a vacuum in the bowl. Seawater is drawn in and then flushed into the bilge tank on top of which the head is apparently mounted. [6]. Odd looking indeed. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 17:44, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

July 4

Require a straight answer

I would like to know what is the difference in 1) Dress size 2) Weight and 3) Height between a Petite, slim, average, tone and plus women? I keep reading women advertising themselves as petite, slim or tone to what I term average or plus —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.225.232.154 (talk) 00:30, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

If they are advertising themselves, the only ones you can be sure you are getting a straight answer from are the ones that call themselves plus-sized. You won't get one from us either, because the terms don't have set heights/weights/sizes applied to them. Probably your best bet would be to try a site that has users that post a lot of photos of themselves. Recury (talk) 01:29, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

See clothing sizes, US standard clothing size, Petite sizes for a general overview of some of the standards. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:36, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

NURSERY

Dear sir/madam

How do we designate staff team for a nursery nature company? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eflora (talk • contribs) 10:44, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Eflora, I removed your accidental duplicate question.

Please give a few more details. Does your company grow and sell plants? Do you need a name to call your staff members? If different people always do specific jobs, you could call them the Plant Team, the Customer Team and the Warehouse or Packing Team. If they all rotate doing the same jobs, you could call them all Gardeners. - KoolerStill (talk) 11:45, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

If you are just looking for what to call them "nursery staff" works fine. "Gardener" is rather what we'd call the customers at a nursery. If by "designate" you mean you are trying to figure out how many employees you'd need for each postition, start with an activity analysis. Write down what tasks need to be done throughout the workday and how long each task is going to take and what tasks have to be accomplished at a certain time. (That way you won't designate the same person to unload a truck and ring up a customer's order at the cash register at the same time.) 71.236.26.74 (talk) 16:34, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

drawing enlarging tool

I recently found a tool that i used a long time ago that concists of four sticks with holes trough them, a pointer, with a pencil and three pins [two short one long] used for enlarging or reducing draawing by tracing object with the pointer and tracing out with the pencil. i would like to know what it is called and if posible insructions thanking you in advance —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.59.179.11 (talk) 15:57, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

I think you are talking about a pantograph. I have never used one but now you have the name you can research a bit yourself. If you look at the links at the bottom of our article there are instructions to build your own. Richard Avery (talk) 16:08, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah - this has got to be a pantograph - the fact that there are four rods makes that almost certain. So the idea is to connect the pencil to the end of one rod (on the left in the picture), the one end of another rod is affixed to your desk in some manner (on the right of the picture) - then hinge those two together - the other two rods need to be connected up to form a four-sided diamond shapes - a parallelogram - as in the picture. The hinge at the bottom-center of the picture has the 'pointer' fixed to it. Then you can trace out a drawing or a diagram with the pointer - and the pencil will make a copy of it. Forming parallelograms of different heights and widths will allow you to make the copy either larger or smaller than the original...which is why (probably) your 'sticks' have more than one set of holes in them. There are other possible configurations that also work. SteveBaker (talk) 16:36, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Electricity in Hawaii

The article AES Hawaii Power Plant mentions that coal provides about 11% of Oahu's commercial electricity supply. Does any Wikipedia article break down the sources of electricity for the state by percentage? Nuclear, coal, wind, etc. I assume there are no power lines connecting Hawaii to the mainland. Are there power lines linking the Hawaiian islands with each other, or does each island produce its own power? The article Environment of Hawaii mentions that the state "is going to be 70% powered by renewable energy in 2030". Crystal-ball concerns aside, it would be useful to have an article discussing how much of Hawaii's electricity right now is from various sources. --Mathew5000 (talk) 20:29, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Each island has its own power company but they are all owned by the same company. Electricity comes from seventy-seven percent imported oil sources (feul oil) and thirteen percent from imported coal.[7] Looks like renewables haven't made much of an impact yet. Rmhermen (talk) 03:55, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Did Sacha Baron Cohen invent the Mankini?

Did the Mankini actually exist as something that guys really wore to the beach or pool before it was featured in the Borat movie? --84.64.254.183 (talk) 22:51, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

It's just a standard bikini bottom with the side straps pulled over the shoulders rather than over the hips. I am pretty certain Borat invented this particular style of wearing an otherwise standard bikini bottom. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:14, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

No there's quite a bit more material there. Your suggestion sounds somewhere between painful and impossible. Anyway, the Mankini page says Borat made it famous, not that he invented it, and pending new sources I'd go with that. PhGustaf (talk) 04:55, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

This is starting to get into the realm of TMI. I can pretty well guess what it looks like from the back - probably the Pia Zadora look, if anyone remembers that. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 05:16, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Having seen it done, the method described worked fine. My buddy did it with a standard speedo-type suit. Spandex stretches quite a long ways... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 00:38, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

See also: Wedgie and Atomic wedgie. :-) SteveBaker (talk) 16:18, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Great. Even more TMI. One thing that's puzzling is where someone said it was a standard bikini bottom stretched. What material would be that stretchy? Unless this is the bikini bottom worn by, say, Queen Latifah. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 19:37, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I saw something similar to that years before Borat was ever popular. Dismas|^(talk) 00:52, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Fritinancy: Put on a Suit and You'll Look CuteThe worst -kini garment is surely the mankini, as made famous (ish) by the fictional Borat.Ms. Dowd Interviews the Inventor of the Telephone nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away.../put-on-a-suit-a.html------found this on google but cant enter site as on work PC and big brother forbids me to access the site but it may have the name on here if the phone call to the inventor is anything to go by??Chromagnum (talk) 14:22, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

July 5

Sending Mass Photos over Internet

I have 105 photos (250mb in total) that i want to send to someone over the Internet without sacrificing image quality. I am using a PC and he is using a Mac. What is the best way to do so? What about vice-versa? Would WinRAR be a good choice? Would the compression and decompression of .rar files result in loss in image quality of the photos? Can Macs run it? Acceptable (talk) 06:31, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

The compression used in WinRAR must be lossless data compression and will not reduce the quality of your files. If WinRAR caused file degradation, a binary program compressed with WinRAR would never work again! A Mac can open WinRAR (.rar) files using UnRarX, which is available from [8] unrarx.com. Sending such large files over e-mail is not very polite and sometimes impossible, so consider using a file hosting service such as Megaupload. Freedomlinux (talk) 06:44, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I use The Unarchiver on OS X. It can handle many formats and is very good. Computerjoe's talk 12:52, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

You don't say what format your camera saved the photos in. They are probably .jpg files. WinRAR will not change the files' image quality, but also will not be able to compress the files (WinRAR will report 0% or 1% compression). You didn't ask this, but one way to transfer large files is to use a service like DropSend instead of e-mail. Tempshill (talk) 15:40, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

But WinRAR will "merge" all the photos into one file to allow upload onto sites such as Megaupload right? Acceptable (talk) 19:14, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I would just create a TrueCrypt volume and transfer it via DropSend. Another option (if security is not so important) would be to use Picasa and Picasa Web Albums. Just make sure when you upload the photos, you select "upload at full size". I believe the default is to reduce them to 1600x1200. Your friend will need a (free) Picasa Web Albums account as well, and then can download the entire album. When you create the album, you can specify whether it is to be open to the general public, or only to certain people that you specify. The advantage of doing it this way is that you can look at the photos individually without downloading the whole thing. --Mathew5000 (talk) 22:53, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Saving the files in '.png' format would guarantee no loss of quality - and compress them to pretty much the best you're going to get without some degree of quality loss. Most applications (including web browsers) know how to work with PNG files directly - so you'll never need to uncompress/recompress them again. Much easier then messing around with compression tools. However, if your files are already in a lossy format (JPEG most likely) - then they are already lossily compressed and quality has been irretrivably lost. There is no point in uncompressing them - and certainly no benefit to be gained from trying to compress them anymore or in any other way. SteveBaker (talk) 23:15, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Fast

If you watch films or tv shows at a faster speed, ie the play speed, do you get accustomed to it after a while? Does it start to sound normal? -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 08:56, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Although I have never tried this, it does sound daft to me. What is the point of watching a movie at double the speed it was made at? Watching a film is (in most cases) about being able to relax and get your mind off your work or anything else. I know that DVD players offering this kind of feature also compensate for pitch (meaning that the characters don't sound squeaky when speaking at double the speed). If you'd watch films like that exclusively it would probably start to feel more normal to you, and after a while you'd have the feeling that movies played at a normal speed feel slow and stretched out. Hope this helps. --Ouro (blah blah) 09:18, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I do this all the time, especially for documentaries. I use software called PowerDVD, that came bundled with my computer; it will play DVDs at either 150% or 200% of normal speed while processing the sound so the pitch is normal even though the speed is faster. In documentaries where there are a lot of talking-head interviews, people usually are talking slow enough that you can still easily absorb the information when you speed them up. And yes, you do get used to it quickly. Of course if there's an interviewee who happens to speak quickly naturally, or the information is particularly complex, you can slow it down to normal speed. Certain narrative films such as The Day of the Locust also benefit from being sped up, in my opinion. Another use for this feature is if I've seen a movie and I want to listen to the director's commentary track, it's great being able to do it in half the time. --Mathew5000 (talk) 21:29, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

National Express rail franchises in the UK

National Express have just walked away from their biggest (of three) British rail franchises, after the government refused to negotiate more favourable terms. Transport minister Lord Adonis is now threatening to strip the company of its other, still profitable, franchises. NX says that would be illegal, and threatens to fight it out in court. Assuming NX is right (with the law as it stands), why couldn't the government pass special legislation to change it? Btw, this is not my homework or an attempt to get free legal advice (I have no connection to NX), but if it's still against the rules then I apologise in advance! 86.166.70.64 (talk) 12:27, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, they could, but there are two things that might influence the government not to do it. The first is that we are at the end of the Parliamentary term: the recess begins on 21 July, and it is highly unlikely that legislation would make it through all its stages by then. The other is that they may wish to have the additional safeguard of case law, which would set a precedent for future instances. --TammyMoet (talk) 13:26, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Also, changing legislation to change the terms (or the interpretation of the terms) of a contract with the state would set a bad precedent. People would be very wary about signing contracts with the state in future. --Tango (talk) 16:20, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

The government position is that there is an explicit clause in the NX contract which says, pretty much (but in legalese), "if you screw up another franchise then we have the right to relieve you of this one". The court will decide whether there is such a clause, and whether a default by NX on the ECML triggers the clause. Meanwhile Tango has it: a state which unilaterally changes the law to disadvantage a part of a market for no good reason, is not one which people will gladly do business. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:10, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

And I believe the NX position is that all the franchises are technically with different companies and NX is just an innocent shell company. Whether the law will fall for such a ruse, I don't know... --Tango (talk) 00:48, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Spectral Plane

What is a sprectral plane? Someone joked 'sprectral plane to rob' instead of 'earth to rob'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.168.215.180 (talk) 15:55, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

People talk of 'planes of existance'. They are fictional concepts - maybe talking of heaven and hell - maybe talking of other concepts like parallel universes. The 'spectral plane' would be one where 'spectres' live...spectres are ghosts. So (being very clear that this is an entirely fictional concept) the 'spectral plane' is where ghosts live. SteveBaker (talk) 16:14, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure I would call it a "fictional concept" (although by some definitions it is). It's a "religious concept". Fictional concepts aren't usually claimed to be true. --Tango (talk) 16:18, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

(ec) Plane (esoterism) explains what "plane" means in this context. "Spectre" is another name for a ghost. I'm not entirely sure what "spectral plane" means but I would guess it means "plane of ghosts". It may be a bit like "astral plane".--Tango (talk) 16:16, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

¶ If the joke was oral, rather than written, then maybe it was "spectral plain", perhaps alluding faintly to the often-quoted last lines of Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach"

And we are here as on a darkling plain,
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,

While ignorant armies clash by night.

[Purely by way of an irrelevant aside, the last line gave Norman Mailer the title for his 1968 book, The Armies of the Night.] But if instead it was a reference to astral planes, then this is a complete red herring. —— Shakescene (talk) 17:56, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

The term "spectral plane" is fairly obvious. Far less obvious, to this cultural ignoramus, is what is meant by "earth to rob". Unless you're talking about when someone "spaces out", and if their name is Rob, then "earth to Rob" makes sense. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 19:35, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Is it possible that the original context intended to discuss the polarization plane? "Spectral plane" is not quite proper terminology, but if the wave is monochromatic, or if the polariztion is particular to a single spectral element, this might be a case of abuse of notation. It wouldn't be an isolated case, either: more than 1000 publications use that exact phrase. Nimur (talk) 20:04, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

This looks like a job for Wonder Woman! Clarityfiend (talk) 02:34, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Edible Cherry

Is there a way to distinguish an edible variety of cherry from a non-edible variety without just eating one to see? --TammyMoet (talk) 17:50, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I eat sweet cherries as well as pie cherries. What are "inedible cherries?" Edison (talk) 22:24, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Tricky...the main distinguishing feature of "non-edible" varieties is that they are very sour. Sourness is a measure of acidity - so perhaps you could distinguish them by testing the juice with some pH paper or indicator? I think you'd need to do some experiments to figure out whether this actually works before you rely upon it. SteveBaker (talk) 22:23, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Even sour cherries could probably be sweetened and make a decent jam. They wouldn't be poisonous, as far as I know. However, in general edible fruits grow on limited varieties of trees. As in, you'd know if you have one in your yard. Decorative fruit trees, like crabapples and Bradford pear have fruit which is usually not edible. What exact variety of cherry tree are you inquiring about? If you know the variety, you could easily look it up... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 00:33, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Crabapples are apples and are edible. Crabapple pickle, crabapple jam - and an important ingredient in many blends of cider. Rmhermen (talk) 03:23, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, you can make anything into a jam. I wouldn't want to just eat the fruit straight off of my japanese crabapple tree in my yard. They're about the size of blueberries and hard as rocks. I tried one once, they had no flavor. There are some varieties of crabapples which are more akin to heirloom tomatos in the sense that they are edible, but just not of a standard "breed" of apple. But back to the OP, if she gave us something more to go on, like which type of cherry tree she were asking about, we could answer her better. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:49, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Could you link to a page for "non-edible" or "inedible" cherries? Just like Edison I don't know what you mean. Sour cherries tend to be firmer than sweet ones. They are edible, though.71.236.26.74 (talk) 04:06, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure exactly but Sour cherry, Wild Cherry, or Cherry might fit the bill. See also Acerola. Sifaka ^talk 07:04, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

They're all quite edible.71.236.26.74 (talk) 08:19, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Has the original poster Googled this question? There must be information, in depth, about anything food-related that you can think of. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 10:13, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Just to give you a bit more to go on, the backstory is that I was talking to a friend yesterday. We both have cherry trees in our gardens but neither of us planted them, nor dare we eat one in case the cherries are inedible and make us sick. We were wondering if there's a way to tell just from the tree, fruit and blossom. BTW we are both UK. --TammyMoet (talk) 15:23, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

See this google search which shows some promising hits. here's another one. There are online tree identification guides which could help. Also, if you post some pics here at Wikipedia, there are some botanists who patrol the science desk who have an AMAZING skill at identifying plants pretty well. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 00:56, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Late response but have you tried asking a local gardeners group?

You could always take a picture of the tree and post it (under a free licence) asking for identification over on the Science Desk(as suggested above there are people there that can identify stuff, even give full scientific names :) ), of course a picture of the blossom , leaves and any fruit helps :) Sfan00 IMG (talk) 19:10, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Checking the weather in the past

Is there a website where one can go to, and ask for the weather in a particular place in a particular date in the past? Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 18:55, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Are we talking days, months, years ago? It might help. - Jarry1250 ^{[ humourous – discuss ]} 19:04, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh and where in the world? E.g. here would be a start (by month, back to 1959 in a limited range of places) for the UK. But it depends. - Jarry1250 ^{[ humourous – discuss ]} 19:06, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Years ago, throughout the world. Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 19:08, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I can't imagine, and I can't find, a centralised repository. Anything close to the UK and and the Met Office can be asked, at least. I'm no expert but I think you'll have to do it case-by-case. - Jarry1250 ^{[ humourous – discuss ]} 19:47, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Here's a good place to start. –Juliancolton | ^Talk 19:52, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Also here. –Juliancolton | ^Talk 19:53, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

(double ec) Weather Underground's day-by-day historical data for some cities goes back to 1945—less far for other cities. Deor (talk) 19:54, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Great, thanks, guys. Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 20:13, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

WolframAlpha does a pretty good job for these kinds of things. - Akamad (talk) 23:03, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

¶ For what it's worth, I recall that a particularly severe recent winter in England was announced as being the coldest (or second-coldest) since records began in 1659! That would be under the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell's son Richard, during England's brief flirtation with being a republic (and before the restored King Charles II sponsored the Royal Society). So there are at least some records that go back 350 years, although I don't know if or how you could find them on the Web. —— Shakescene (talk) 11:23, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Or how accurate a thermometer from 350 years ago would have been. 65.121.141.34 (talk) 15:45, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I wanted to defend the thermometer of the mid-1600s after reading this. Thermometer#Early history is good reading. Tempshill (talk) 04:07, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

July 6

Secular Humanism Under Attack!!!

I've heard that David Noebel and Tim LaHaye have written a book called Mind Seige: The Battle For Truth In The New Millenium and David Noebel alone another book called The Battle For Truth severely criticizing secular huymanism.

Here is another article criticizing secular humanism: Humanism: Wrong Values Taught In School, Media, And Education.

I want to ask you some questions:

1. Is secular humanism a religion?

1. No. Secular humanism lacks a key attribute of religion, which is the reference to a "higher power" or "god". However where religion is used in a colloquial sense in which its meaning is reduced to "belief system", pretty much anything can be labelled a religion.

2. Do secular humanists worship humanity as God?

2. No. Worship is not involved whatsoever in secular humanism.

3. Is it true that secular humanism comes from pagan polytheistic origins?

3. No, but that does sound like a rather charming slur.

4. Is it true that secular humanists believe that humans are born good by nature but corrupted by corrupt society?

4. I tend to think the secular humanist position is slightly more complex and nuanced than that.

5. Do secular humanists support socialism in economics? If not, then how come communism and Marxism originated from it?

5. No. It's not prescriptive like that. As SH was coined only in the 20th century, it is highly unlikely that communism and Marxism originated from it. However it is the case that communism, marxism and secular humanism all have a common origin, which is of groups of humans seeking to think logically from first principles having discarded religious dogma.

6. Is it true that secular humanists want to establish world government? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.108.43.77 (talk) 00:30, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

6. No. They're simply not that highly organised nor motivated to do so. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:47, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

These sound like very specific evangelical Christian bullet points against any sort of thing that isn't evangelical Christianity. Isn't this also the plot of Left Behind? Adam Bishop (talk) 02:45, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

One of the funnier notions implied by the religionist point of view is that God and Jesus are apparently capitalists. I guess they forgot where Jesus admonished people not to store treasures on earth, but rather treasures of a spiritual nature. That, of course, leads to the other extreme I used to hear, "Jesus was a Communist!" Yeh, He used to read the works of Marx and Engels in breaks while studying the Talmud, for sure. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 10:11, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Also funny how both books has "The battle for truth" in their titles, yet, judging from these questions, contain some very dubious claims (to put it mildly) that have very little to do with truth. --Saddhiyama (talk) 10:17, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

That is not exactly a new problem. As soon as someone says they know "the truth", it's a good idea to check and be sure you've still got your wallet on you. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 10:31, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

It seems every time one group of people says something about another like this they say far more about themselves. Is there an article like that in wiki? Just go through each of the bullet points above and just think to yourself, does this sound more like a description of secular humanism or of evangelic christianity? About the only thing that doesn't describe themselves is the title 'The Battle for Truth", why don't they say the battle for faith? Dmcq (talk) 12:37, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Those questions reminds me of this dialogue from Love and Death, where a priest shows some alleged pictures of Jews to the young Boris (Woody Allen). He asks, "Do they all have those horns?" The priest says, "No, some have these stripes." Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:55, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Even from the Christian point of view, David Noebel and Tim LaHaye are not necessarily the best writers to be reading on this. May I recommend Francis Shaeffer as a rather more nuanced and scholarly Christian treatise on the same themes. Even Phillip E. Johnson is more thoughtful. DJ Clayworth (talk) 13:53, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

We've already given you a thorough answer on your Q5Q4, User:Bowei Huang, please see RD Archives, instead of asking the same question over and over again. /Coffeeshivers (talk) 17:44, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Now, now — it was obvious this is Bowei Huang, but the other times he seemed to be trying to pin observation #4 on several different philosophies. I am not sure why he keeps asking small variants of the same question, but personally I salute him for asking questions about these accusations in this book of his, rather than just believing everything he reads without trying to investigate counterpoints. And in the answers in May, it's not like we handed him the easiest-to-digest articles on Wikipedia for background. Tempshill (talk) 04:03, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

You're right. I apologise for not WP:AGF. The repetition of questions made me feel frustrated, as if people put effort in writing answers that are never actually read by the OP. Follow up questions are great, but when they just repeat the wording of the earlier ones.../Coffeeshivers (talk) 11:01, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Construction Foreman Training Exercises/Games

I am looking for exercises to include in a non-profit training program for construction (specifically roofers) workers in the following areas; Plans and specifications, job setup, jobsite organization, leadership, motivation, manageing conflict and discipiline. Exercises that get students up from behind their desk and doing hands-on projects associated with the listed topics. Thank you. 71.164.13.96 (talk) 03:49, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

You could split your group into two teams, cut out model workers from cardboard and build 2 reduced scale models of roofs. Then have the 2 teams run against each other in the parking lot or a warehouse. That should cover some of your requirements. Be sure to do a follow up discussion on issues that came up. You could video tape their efforts and do a quality analysis afterward. Another idea would be contact your local OSHA office. They have lots of material on work site safety including presentation material, videos and role-playing. (If your local office doesn't have it they should be able to find something a level higher up in their organization.) Professional organizations for your profession (e.g. local roofing contractor's association) might be able to help, too. For motivation, again split your teams and set a task. Team A has to find reasons and arguments why they don't want to do the task. Team B has to find reasons and persuasive arguments for doing the task. Then have them battle it out. Again make sure to discuss the results. Conflicts: Give each member a profile and attitude description (e.g. eager, meticulous, slow - unmotivated, fast, sloppy - hierarchical, rule-bound, theoretical - chaotic, result oriented, practical). Then set timed tasks for the team and have each member act according to their profile. Set the times for the tasks ever tighter. Observe conflicts arising and discuss how to resolve them. Go though construction forums and copy out the most incensed complaints. Then have your group find a response to placate the customer. (While keeping their boss happy who doesn't want to spend any money on this.) If you want hands on here building models might again help. Hope this helps. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 07:40, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Factory Outlets

Why are goods cheaper in Pantaloon Retail India's Factory Outlets than in the other Pantaloon outlets? As far as I know, the clothes aren't defective, yet they cost about half the price of what the usually cost in the regular malls. 117.194.231.136 (talk) 06:53, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Please don't feed the troll. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.4.190.83 (talk) 07:57, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

EC (Only because I've already typed this up now anyway) Don't know about this particular case, but factory outlets cut out a lot of steps in the supply chain. The factory usually would sell to a wholesaler who has to maintain an organization - including ordering, accounting, advertising, sales, warehousing and distribution network - then to a local distributor and further down to the retailer selling to the public each step having to finance similar organizations. Instead the factory will only invest into manpower for afixing price tags and running the cash register and a retail location which usually isn't in a high-rent area or is on the factory's own premises. Advertising is commonly minimal and done at the least possible costs. Sometimes the lots offered were unsold or returned. (Remember there are many months between the factory offering their spring merchandise, the retailers ordering and you finding it in the store) The resulting cost savings vs. the final price an ordinary retailer would charge are passed on to the consumer. The consumer has to pass up shopping at a place where they can buy various goods at the same place (the idea behind malls and Wal-Marts), a pleasant shopping environment with trained shop attendants, outfits in co-ordinate colors and usually return policy, layaway, possibility of reordering, full range size spread, glossy advertising, TV ads and other amenities/information available through standard retail. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 08:16, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't know what 86.4.190.83 means by "Please don't feed the troll.". Anyway, the strange thing about these so called factory outlets is that they are also situated in malls (at least, that's the case in Kolkata), just like the other regular Pantaloon outlets. They are also situatued in really busy areas, right in the heart of the city, with the factory situated nowhere near them. 117.194.228.16 (talk) 08:24, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

They are still saving a lot on cutting out the middle men. You'd also be surprised what manufacturers are tossing out. Particularly if they have a good brand name and charge a high price. I used to work at a watch factory and quality control inspected watches with huge magnifying glasses and checked works for fraction of a second running precision. Your ordinary consumer wouldn't notice any of the "defects" that got rejected and ended up in the outlet sales. On the other hand if you shovel out oodles of money for a watch you don't want to find out it looses a second each week. Competitors are just waiting for an opportunity to "alert the media" (anonymously of course :-). Trainee products are also sold in outlets, even if they are perfectly fine and up to specs. Not to mention that you have no way of knowing if the model you are buying was rejected by lots of buyers from wholesalers, returned because someone made a mistake in ordering, were reclaimed in an insurance settlement or payment default etc. (Since the sale of goods for this season though their usual channels is long past they can't just sell such goods to another of their usual wholesalers.) All these sources add up. Factories used to sell all these goods to "salvage traders". Then they found that they could make more if they ran their own outlet stores. Apparently the brand in question has found that they can turn a (bigger) profit if they put their outlets in malls. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 08:53, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia has an article Pantaloon Group. The "troll" comment may reflect someone's suspicion that the OP has an interest in advertising the enterprise. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:28, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

It's not clear to me that factory outlets have lower quality goods than regular stores. No factory outlets near me advertise the fact, and the Wikipedia article doesn't say so. Why would the hypothetical watch manufacturer mentioned above be less embarrassed by a poor quality watch just because it was bought from a factory outlet? And if that's the case then the savings aren't nearly as great as the anon above would indicate. DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:28, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

If they sell rejects they often alter or remove the label. (e.g. FTL T-shirts are sold by salvage traders with the tag cut in half. The watches had a special mark on the case backs.) As I said B quality flaws are usually imperceptible to consumers. I'm not saying this is what this store does, but I know many brands that include those as part of their outlet consignments. As stated above even if they just cut out the supply chain middle men they could offer significant savings. The only problem they might run into is that retailers might drop the brand because they can't compete. For "exclusive" brands that threat is less because part of the price is the image you buy and people who buy it for that don't want to get caught coming out of an outlet store. (I've met people who bought stuff at certain stores only to get the bag the stuff was packed in!) The one's who don't mind are unlikely to shop at the higher priced retailer to begin with. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 16:34, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

When I asked such questions to a factory outlet manager, he mentioned that all goods in his outlet have some kind of defect, and there is no "Exchange" policy once you buy anything (because customer may find defect after purchase and then try to exchange with excuse of garment size not fitting him/her). The "No Exchange" policy banner is clearly displayed in the mall, and when customers asks why, staff explains facts, and even tells where is company's retail outlet where one can buy goods with no defects and exchange possibility, and finally they mention that the price there may be almost double than offered at the factory outlet. manya (talk) 06:43, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

God

Is God really invisible or is it just a trick?--Quest09 (talk) 09:22, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't understand the question - isn't invisibility a trick? --Dweller (talk) 09:31, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

When David Copperfield makes himself invisible, that's a trick. Quest09 wants to know, can you really see God, except that God is pulling a fast one on you to make you think you can't?

I do not think anyone at the RefDesk can answer this one definitively. On the face of it, it would seem odd behavior for God, but then not as odd as some other things that are ascribed to him. In the Old Testament it is suggested that for a human to see God is dangerous, possibly fatal; in that case it wouldn't be so odd for him to keep us from seeing him. --Trovatore (talk) 09:36, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

The Old Testament describes how God revealed Himself to Moses. The passage is understandably not very understandable. Commentators, philosophers and various scholars have had a thoroughly good time twisting themselves in knots* down the years to understand the passage, but ultimately, because we are human, assuming God exists, we can't understand Him because our frame of reference is so limited. There are countless parallels for this difficulty - I like Mao's parable from the Little red book about a frog - I'll dig out on an online version. Hang on. --Dweller (talk) 09:51, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Here it is, page 50 --Dweller (talk) 09:58, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

By the way that (*) was a bad pun - a widely-held Jewish understanding of the passage is that God only showed Moses the knot of his Tefillin, as a human could not cope with "seeing" God Himself. --Dweller (talk) 10:00, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

As hinted at in the film Oh God! in which God appears to John Denver in the form of George Burns, and tells Denver that he had to appear in a form that Denver could comprehend. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 10:07, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Another parable has to do with someone who wants to see God should first watch the sun all day. When he says he can't do that, he is told something like, "How can you see the face of God when you can't even look at merely one of His lights?" Said more eloquently, but hopefully you get the picture. All this assumes that God actually exists, of course, in the conventional way, i.e. a "personal" God. That's a whole other can of worms. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 10:05, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Why should God have an appearance that is incomprehensible/dangerous/etc.? Why should God have any intrinsic or natural appearance at all? And if God does have some natural appearance, why should it have the property that it makes human minds explode? The expanses of the Milky Way are already far beyond the limits of what human senses can adequately measure and comprehend, and yet it is pleasant to look upon, easy to identify, and doesn't cause heads to explode. I see no reason to assume that God is necessarily different. (He might in fact be very different, but never having seen him/her/it, I wouldn't want to prejudice myself by guessing.) Dragons flight (talk) 10:52, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

The Bible consistently portrays God as being essentially a super-human, the same kind of being as Zeus, "only more so". The early parts of the Bible also have God directly interacting with humans as if He were another human. The alleged nature of the alleged "God" has changed over time. The theologist would point out that man's perception of God has changed, while God Himself has not changed. (Note, for what it's worth, that the root for "theology" is the same as the root for "Zeus"). I once heard a minister ridicule Michaelangelo's depiction of God as "an old man sitting on a cloud", but that comes pretty close to both the Zeus concept and to the concept as seen by the average citizen. Except He's invisible, or at least we can't see Him. Only the ancients could - by some amazing coincidence. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 11:01, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

¶ Those who believe in the Trinity (at least nominally, the overwhelming majority of Christians) would ask which face of God are you asking about? One of the most important Christian mysteries is how God assumed a human, visible and tangible form (became flesh) as Jesus of Nazareth, called the Christ or the Son of Man, and suffered on the cross as other men did, before ascending into Heaven and assuming (I think) a more ethereal and invisible form. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost, another member of the Trinity, is always treated as invisible. As I recall, the Mass (or Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper) is called the "outward and manifest Sign of an inward and spiritual Grace". I'm no theologian, so I apologise for any clumsiness or inaccuracy above. —— Shakescene (talk) 11:06, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Shakescene, I'm no expert on Christian theology, but I think that sequential description is a "heresy", from memory, I think it was the Arian heresy. I'll speculatively link that - have we an article on it? IIRC, conventional / traditional church thinking is that the Trinity co-existed, but as Robbie Coltraine's character memorably put it in the otherwise dire Nuns on the run, "it's a bit of a bugger" to understand. --Dweller (talk) 11:16, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I wasn't trying to say that God the Father changed or transformed Himself into God the Son (is that the Monophysite heresy?), but I also wanted to avoid stating as common today the opposite early heresy (whose name I forget, 47 years after I took Sacred Studies in 7th or 8th grade), that Jesus didn't "really" suffer because he wasn't "really" flesh and blood. And if you recall the Apostles' Creed, that is cast in sequential form ("conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; he descended into Hell; the third day he rose again from the deadl he ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the the right hand of God the Father Almighty,..."). The Nicene Creed is also sequential in form, although maybe less so. —— Shakescene (talk) 11:44, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

• True, he could just be one of us - just a slob like one of us, like a stranger on the bus, trying to make his way home. You know, back up to heaven all alone, nobody calling on the phone, except the Pope maybe in Rome. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 11:02, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
  • What song is that line from? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 11:05, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
    • ONE OF US
    • Words and Music by Eric Bazilian ,
    • (performed by Joan Osborne)
    • http://www.geocities.com/relishjoan/lyrics_relish.htm
    • I'd forgotten, but all I had to do was Google the lyrics. (And get them while they're hot, because Yahoo! is shutting down GeoCities. They won't be there next year.) —— Shakescene (talk) 11:57, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Yahoo! presumably won't be shutting down our article, which is at One of Us (song) --Dweller (talk) 12:31, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Actually, it sounded to me more like something written by Dr. Seuss. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:42, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

All this business about how dangerous it would be to look at God puts me in mind of an equivalent to hear. Dmcq (talk) 12:09, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

As far as I can tell - working from what can actually be known (as opposed to guessed) - God is actually invisible. But not in the way that air is invisible, more like the way the invisible pink unicorn is invisible. Also not the way I'm invisible (in that I'm far away and fairly anonymous), more in the way my paternal aunt is invisible (in that there is no such person). I suggest you analyse your reasons for believing that there is such a being. --203.129.49.222 (talk) 12:33, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Humans invent a concept and then wage wars over the details of that concept. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:46, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Are we not confusing the word invisible with the word indivisible? Bus stop (talk) 12:48, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

You mean like in the Pledge of Allegiance, "one nation under God invisible"? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:51, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

(partial edit conflict) Yes, exactly, Baseball Bugs. I am just thinking that the original question may be meaning to refer to the concept of indivisibility, and not invisibility. Could the original questioner confirm or deny my hypothesis? Bus stop (talk) 12:56, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I took it as "invisible", but either way, if anyone can do tricks, it would be God. Maybe the original poster could get back to us, assuming he was actually asking a serious question. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 13:00, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I guess if you can see GOD you would be in heaven and there for dead; So it isnt that you die; it is that you are already dead :)- We as Humans like to glorify certain things-even in religious parabels ect...i would imagine these have grown from feeding 25 people with some fish and bread to 5000 and so on and so forth.- Moses/Mohamed/Jesus Blah Blah Blah if they are profits of God maybe they have special viewing rights off SKY tv;)Chromagnum (talk) 14:30, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Some interpreters of the 5-loaves-and-2-fishes story say that what Jesus actually did was to get everyone to open up their satchels and share with everyone else. As far as "profits" of God... see the section above, on Secular Humanism. Evangelicals claim God is a capitalist. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 18:18, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Like Stone Soup. 89.168.106.72 (talk) 03:14, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

in the ass

hello.does it hurt to have sex in the ass?becaus it sound good but seem like the ass is too small for the cock?Trebsic Greave (talk) 11:10, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

This might answer your question. Theleftorium 11:27, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

That yahoo answer is pretty much right. --203.129.49.222 (talk) 12:38, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

The user should give it a try, and get back to us with a report. There's always room for some original research on this page. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:53, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

The cited Yahoo answer promotes anal sex by phrases such as "it will feel great" and "it will be a gggrreat experience, orgasmic all the way". It is a POV how-to guide. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 12:54, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Remember that case a few years ago where the NYPD did this (with nightsticks or broomhandles or something) to some unfortunate arrestee? That's probably what they were telling him. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:58, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Not relevant Baseball. The OP is asking about phallic not baton penetration. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:14, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Abner Louima--droptone (talk) 15:50, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeh, that's the one. And, yeh, I know what he's saying. I'm just saying he might want to practice on something first, before hitting the bars or inviting the cops over. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 18:16, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

First stop you should read the anal sex article, to get some info and background on it. But as with any form of sex, if it hurts stop immediately and seek medical attention from a qualified doctor. -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.90.6 (talk) 13:11, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

That Yahoo answer neglects to mention that it depends on the person. The real answer is: Maybe. Vimescarrot (talk) 18:07, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

For a detailed guide on this practice, read "Anal Pleasure and Health" by Jack Morin, Ph.D. (no relation), published by Down There Press, San Francisco. It basically says that, if done "right" (and it goes into chapter and verse about does and don'ts), it should be pleasurable and not painful. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:47, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Powerpoint Presentation

Can anyone give me any tips(weblinks or otherwise) on giving a good Powerpoint Presentation. Thanks Shraktu (talk) 11:24, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Here's some good tips: [9]. :) Theleftorium 11:48, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

A couple more not on there: If you use line graph charts try to limit them to 2 graphs per chart. 3 is getting confusing and 5 is overload and will let your audience either ignore the image or spend time trying to figure it out and not pay attention to the information you are giving. Treat slides as visual aid not a medium for transferring information. Lots of people can't listen and read at the same time. If your slide has more than key words on it, they'll have to chose between listening and reading and will lose track of what you are saying when they switch from one to the other. Be sure to address all the points presented on the slide. If you want to skip one point (e.g. you have to use s.o. else's slide for your presentation) make sure to inform your audience about it (e.g. "The production figures for Poland we shall skip at this time". or maybe as a joke: "At this time we won't look at the pathology report which I'm sure you were all eager to learn about. ) Ideally you should have a rhythm in how often you present a new slide, so your audience expects it. Having one slide up for a quarter of an hour and then quickly going through 10 in the next 10 minutes is going to confuse a lot of listeners. Be sure to adapt your presentation to your audience as much as possible. (I've often had people ask me to "translate" their presentation. Most of those ended up being entirely revamped.) There are cultural differences in what information is expected and how much explanation is required. Some cultures move from details to global information, others do it the other way round. Some don't like to have "obvious" information pointed out, others don't want to play guessing games as to why you are presenting that particular piece of information etc. Abbreviations, acronyms and jargon are another minefield. Make sure your audience knows what they mean but watch out not to "dumb down" your presentation too much. Hope this helps. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 12:54, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

It is not clear whether the OP plans to make a stand-alone PP or to use a Powerpoint slideshow when addressing an audience. In the latter case, preparation of what you will say is all important. Know in advance what your purpose in showing each slide will be, and fit your words to that slide at that time. A common mistake is to rely on one's own slides to prompt one what to say. Suppose the projector lamp fails during the presentation: will you be able to continue? Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:10, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Don McMillan made a helpful presentation about it. I have written some short notes about it on my blog, http://blog.mtjm.eu/2009/3/20/some-semi-technical-notes-on-writing. MTM (talk) 15:05, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Edward Tufte, who is probably smarter than all of us combined, has written a bit about PowerPoint. A 32-page essay on it is for sale at his website for US$7. He wrote a very short article on Wired about it. He wrote that a bad PowerPoint presentation contributed to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and wrote about how that presentation should have been improved (see the Tufte article for the link). Tempshill (talk) 16:48, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Or see here [10] 71.236.26.74 (talk) 17:23, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

PowerPoint is fine. Bullet points are fine. Bad public speakers can give bad talks in any medium. Good public speakers give good PowerPoint presentations. Is that Stalin cartoon Tufte's idea of a well presented argument? -- BenRG (talk) 20:28, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

No, the US$7 essay is his well presented argument. Tempshill (talk) 03:59, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

You can often score brownie points by not using Powerpoint. It's dreadful. Death by Powerpoint? If you have to use the thing, my first, second and third piece of advice would be not to read the slides to the audience. The government forced them all to go to school for many years to make sure they can read for themselves. So devise the slides to prompt, not to hold every word you also want to say aloud. --Dweller (talk) 20:14, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh God, I worked somewhere that had the general policy that your slides should contain everything you said, so that people could study them later. All attempts at putting additional information in the notes or other documents and keeping the slides actually useful in the presentation were quashed. So many torturous meetings... Seriously, people will love you if you keep them brief, to the point, and useful. Pictures are good. 89.168.106.72 (talk) 03:12, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

...you know it's going to be a long presentation when the speaker starts by reading the title slide to you. Ouch. -- Flyguy649 ^talk 07:29, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

• Another suggestion is to use sans-serif fonts for visual presentations as they are more readable from the back of the room. Further to user:Cuddlyable3, *know* your presentation, but don't memorize it (I watched someone flub a line on the second or third slide and have to restart the presentation several times). However, it is helpful if a question or sentence at the bottom of the slide gives a clue to the audience what is on the next slide. And it really is important that the presentation be tailored for the audience; it can affect which concepts require introduction, the depth of detail, etc. -- Flyguy649 ^talk 07:29, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Fighting Animals

When I have fights with animals I often fight to win. I will regularly fight with an animal such as a dog or small horse and will usually emerge the victor. Recently I had a wrestling match with an alligator which was one of the toughest I have ever had and he slashed at me on the arm with his teeth. But I was the victor, it was the greatest day of my life. In a fight with a small bear I got defeated and it was only because my friends held the bear back that he did not kill me. My questions are: What animals is it best to fight with? What gives the greatest challenge? What are the most interesting ones to fight with unexpected consequence?

Also why is it that fighting with humans is not as exciting? Please do not list any stupid animals like a mouse, they are actually VERY HARD to fight as they are so small and I do not want to accidentally kill any animals whilst fighting them - you can tell when they admit defeat and they know that you are the vinner. Some animals like a goat will never give up, they can be beaten and still they will try to come back for more. So these are my questions as far as I can tell but I can let you know if there will be any more Sandy Warhol (talk) 14:25, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Go fight a great white shark please let me know the out comeChromagnum (talk) 14:33, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Theres no need to be sarcastic - but in case you weren't, I don't think I could fight with a great white shark. We wouldnt have a fair contest - I am not suited to fighting on water, him not on land, so one of us would be in trouble. Sandy Warhol (talk) 14:40, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

• Note: User blocked indefinitely. decltype (talk) 15:14, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

The best kind of animal to fight is the troll. DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:22, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

The thread is over; we have a winner. Tempshill (talk) 16:42, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Resolved

Too bad he's blocked. I was hoping to hear about what animals he doesn't fight to win. I'm guessing sheep. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 17:38, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

You're right. Now unblocked. decltype (talk) 21:29, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

What sort of good faith are we assuming about a user who makes edits like this and this? Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 21:33, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

As much good faith as one can possibly allot. Here on Wikipedia, we should answer questions objectively regardless of the prior or current status of the answeree, because others may be interested in the same issue.--WaltCip (talk) 22:24, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for the unblock and for having faith in me, the answer about the animals I do not want to fight are legion: here are some samples;

a) I would not want to fight a sheep as they are notably not agressive animals generally and not much of a challenge to fight - if I was against a sheep in a contest I would take it on but it is not the sort of battle i relish b) I would not like to fight (like I said earlier) an animal so small I could easily defeat it and/or actually kill it during the fight - I do not want to kill any animal during a fight - maybe if it was a very fast but small animal it might be a challenge but more a chase than a fight c) as I said above I would not like to fight a great white shark as this is a silly answer - if I could esqual our handicaps then perhaps. Sandy Warhol (talk) 09:52, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

(EC) Our psychology pages are a bit thin on the basic concepts. Challenge only has one sentence on the disambig. page: A challenge is a general term referring to things that are imbued with a sense of difficulty and victory. We don't have a page on Superiority (psychology) only on Superiority complex. If you read a bit between the lines there and tone down the exaggerations that make it a complex, you should be able to get an idea of the basic concept involved. What people consider challenging and what makes them feel superior or think of as exciting depends on individual tastes and circumstances. (BTW: Have you ever gone hunting with a predator? Might be s.th. you'd enjoy and find educational pitting your own skills at finding and stalking prey against theirs. Even a dog or cat might do for that.) 71.236.26.74 (talk) 15:26, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

This sounds interesting actually - but as I said above I do not want to kill animal - perhaps if I was hunting a gazelle with a lion this sort of thing could work Sandy Warhol (talk) 09:52, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried cattle? They do that at some rodeos, so it is a somewhat legitimate sport. 65.121.141.34 (talk) 18:26, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I have fought some cattle before, only ever one at a time. I think bullfighters are prety lame to be honest; that they need a blade to fight a bull is lame. Sandy Warhol (talk) 09:52, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

When would you not fight to win? Maybe if the match is fixed and you've been bribed? Or if you've got an overwhelming desire to be gored or eaten? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 18:34, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Wat you going on about? Sandy Warhol (talk) 09:52, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

You say you "often fight to win". That means sometimes you do not fight to win. Under what circumstances would you not fight to win? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:12, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Never mind, I see you answered it. So that gets us back to your original question, which is what animal would provide the greatest "challenge". I'm assuming you would not be carrying weapons. So I'm thinking offhand that one of the big cats, for example a tiger, would be a pretty good challenge. Another would be a large venomous snake such as a cobra. Or maybe an animal with an inherently chippy disposition, such as a grizzly bear, a wolverine, or maybe even a bison. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:15, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

If you read about I did fight a bear and nearly was killed Sandy Warhol (talk) 12:29, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

OK, so you can check that one off the list. You asked for the greatest challenges, and I've given you some. Are you saying they are too great a challenge? Then you want something comparable to your height and weight, but not human. So maybe an adult chimpanzee? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 12:33, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Suggesting possible opponents to the OP is unwise. We do not suggest ways for questioners to commit suicide, however innovative the methods may be. An adult chimp would be capable of killing him with little difficulty. Fouracross (talk) 15:32, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

So would any of the other animals I had listed. The one with the wolverine should be especially interesting. Do you think closing this thread would be the best option at this point? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 17:30, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

You really should fight humans, as they are craftier opponents. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.121.141.34 (talk) 15:05, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

A hungry constrictor would be a challenging opponent for a human, especially if large enough to swallow the OP. Edison (talk) 18:31, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I have no desire to encourage such fights for sport (on the human side only), but the current (July 2009) issue of Popular Mechanics (U.S.), page 76-81, has a brief guide to self-defense against wild animals that might cross one's path or encroach on one's property. The emphasis, however, is on avoidance and survival of such encounters, with a view to escape, not on confrontation or victory. —— Shakescene (talk) 19:56, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Using Cell phones in Fukuoka, Japan

Hello all,

I will be working in Japan for about 2 yrs. (or more), and I am searching for a cell phone plan similar to what I currently have in the USA. However, it is becoming difficult to find one even remotely similar. I currently use a Cricket wireless phone.

It costs ~$50 a month, and I get:

• Unlimited local/long distance calls;
• Unlimited text messages;
• Voice mail;
• Caller ID;
• The phone has a 2 megapixel camera.

I really do not need anything else (i.e. Web brower, GPS, etc.).

I enjoy a plan like this because I do not have to worry about "running out" of minutes. I just charge the phone, use it, and pay the bill.

Does anyone know of such a plan, or resources which may guide me to one?

--161.45.106.251 (talk) 15:25, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Why is it so expensive to go from Norfolk International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport?

I checked prices and it costs around $700+ nonstop, but with stops it's still around $600+. Why the insane price for a 1 hour flight????--12.48.220.130 (talk) 15:35, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Economy of scale and Pricing should hold the answers. Your airline might even have a Monopoly on that route. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 15:52, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

For comparison, it costs only $80 by Amtrak - but it takes 5 1/2 hours with one transfer. Rmhermen (talk) 16:04, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

So people would have to budget a $115.56 hourly wage to break even? Not a bad rate. (I know it's a bit off because I just calculated the flighttime without check in, boarding etc.) 71.236.26.74 (talk) 16:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

The Travelocity returns seem to all go through NYC or Philadelphia then back down to Washington, so it isn't necessarily a 1hr flight. A Greyhound bus would be cheaper ($50 vs. at least $500) and about the same time investment (especially with the layovers at NYC/Philly). In my experience, Greyhound buses don't have as many questionable folks as the smaller bus lines.--droptone (talk) 16:26, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Are there any non-stop flights between the two? They're sufficiently close to one another that running a regular shuttle between the two seem likely to be uneconomic. Anyway, I poked around kayak.com and found: Continental $340 changing at Newark Liberty, or (if you're willing to go to BWI instead of Reagan) $191 on US Air changing at Philly. Because of the change, both are markedly slower than driving. 87.113.26.43 (talk) 16:27, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

The Norfolk International Airport article doesn't mention any, but the airport may have small flying services — the sort that rent out 4-seater aircraft to private pilots — if you locate and call one up, you may be able to pay them to fly you out to Reagan on a Cessna or a Bonanza. This would be less than $700. Tempshill (talk) 16:39, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

How much would a limo or cab be? Could that come cheaper? 71.236.26.74 (talk) 16:46, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I would think you could get a cabbie to do the trip for $500. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.121.141.34 (talk) 18:24, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Google maps indicates it is about 200 miles via I-64 and I-95. Perhaps you find a one-way rental for the 3-hour drive. Perhaps you could hitchhike. Perhaps you could get a ride from a friend for the gas money and a few beers. Astronaut (talk) 14:45, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Goverment question

Why does Texas have so many special districts —Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.81.248.6 (talk) 16:53, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Does Special-purpose district help answer your question?71.236.26.74 (talk) 17:29, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Being proud of what you are

If you are white and male, how can you express it without being attacked?--Quest09 (talk) 18:25, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Be more specific. What do you mean by "express it"? Because if you're white and male, it's pretty much obvious. Especially if your hanging out in, say, Bedford-Stuyvesant. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 18:39, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Do you mean something like a white parallel to black pride? Because that kind of movement is centered on the history of humiliation from being black. It is a statement of "look at me, I have risen above being ashamed of what I am". In western culture, it has never been demeaning to be white or male, so any kind of "pride" would be taken as excessive, arrogant, and/or selfish. —Akrabbim^talk 18:56, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I think that is the problem that the OP is driving at. 65.121.141.34 (talk) 19:10, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Is self expression formulaic, and if it is, is it self expression? Bus stop (talk) 19:20, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

My point was that I don't know how you would express it tactfully. I suppose we would have to come up with something to express, besides a history of superiority and privilege. I suppose you could simply regale people with the accomplishments of western culture, as that has been dominated by white males, but most people would probably be of the opinion that there shouldn't be any pride in that respect, as it was to the exclusion of non-whites and women. I speak as a white male myself, and I just don't think it is possible to be politically correct while pointing that out. Unless somebody else can come up with something, I would just quietly make the best out of being non-disadvantaged by birth. —Akrabbim^talk 19:36, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Your responses are right on the money. So-called "white pride" is actually a sneer at minority pride. And being a white guy, I know what I'm talking about. I've had my fill over the years of hearing why white males are the supreme beings of the universe. White humility would be a much better stance to adopt. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 19:43, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Ah yes, those terrible, privileged Scottish coal miners, and Irish potato farmers, and Welsh shepherds. How dare they! Wikivanda199 (talk) 19:58, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, your Brit-themed response reminded me of something. If you are British, expressing pride in being British would probably be the closest you could get to being pround of being white (as about 92% of Brits are white), without pissing people off. If you are American, as I am, maybe you could play up your British ancestry (or whatever white ancestry you have), as "American pride" tries to embody ideals unrelated to race. —Akrabbim^talk 20:14, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

He's talking about Scottish pride or Irish pride, not "white pride" as such. "White pride" is actually code for "white supremacy". Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 20:57, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

He could always get some CDs by that nitty-gritty, down-to-earth white bluesman, Blind Lemon Pledge. PhGustaf (talk) 21:02, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

White male pride. Bus stop (talk) 21:06, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

It isn't for nothing that White pride begins with White pride is a slogan used primarily in the United States and Canada to agitate for a white European racial identity. The slogan is widely used by white nationalists and white separatists movements.. And see the accompanying image. Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 22:01, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I assume you meant "white, male and gay" - because the average white guy doesn't go around "expressing himself".. That is a truthful comment.83.100.250.79 (talk) 00:14, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Sean Hannity does not express himself??? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 00:37, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

You would seriously call Sean Hannity an average white guy?--WaltCip (talk) 01:53, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Only if bellowing asinine crap = expressing oneself. Rockpocket 02:10, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

What is it, exactly, that you want to express? Obviously if someone asks you "what gender and skin colour best describes you?", you could reply "I am a white man." This is very simple. I also assume it is not what you mean.

If you mean, how can you express it in the same way that people express being gay at Gay Pride marches, or people express pride in their ethnic background at themed festivals, or pride in their 'race' at marches and events, I would ask you why you feel you need this? Do you understand why people feel the need for these marches, events and festivals?

If you are a white, straight, able-bodied male, understand that the culture you are living in (I'm guessing you're from a western culture) is geared precisely to advantage you. Most media output is aimed at you. You are unlikely to find yourself in a situation where you feel people are judging an entire group based on how you act. You are unlikely to find it difficult to find people like yourself in TV programs you watch, or films, or games, or performing music you like. You probably learnt about a lot of people in history who resembled you. You will have seen a lot of people just like yourself on the news achieving great things, in all areas of human achievement. You will have had few to no conversations in which you are asked to explain how white, able-bodied, straight men view a topic. You have probably never watched an evening's television and seen no white men. You almost certainly have never watched an evening's television and seen no white men talk to each other.

In brief, your culture is everywhere all the time. It is 'expressed' and celebrated all over the TV, in films, in computer games, in magazines, in many internet pages. It is the dominant culture, and you can be surrounded by it all the time if you want. And everyone else is surrounded by it most of the time too.

I say this as someone who, until not so very long ago, would have thought you had a point. Even though I don't fall into the same demographic as you. What are all these people making a fuss about? They must be looking for offence to find... But once you have seen it, you can't unsee it. It's like the glasses in They Live, except you can't take them off. And people who don't see it think you are (one is) making a fuss about nothing, because they don't see anything. And often the point is that there is nothing to see.

You are privileged in many ways. This isn't your fault, and you can't avoid it, but you can avoid exploiting it. And you can avoid being an ass about it :P 89.168.106.72 (talk) 03:04, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

What's with the idea of white people being privilidged and thus having to be humble - not all white people are John F. Kennedy.83.100.250.79 (talk) 13:47, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I am not sure how I view this. On the one hand, the OP has a point, why should straight white males be labeled as racist if they are proud of being straight white males. 89 also has a point however. Around here there are things like Dutch days and whatnot. That might be the answer if you know your ancestry, you can celebrate that. 65.121.141.34 (talk) 13:50, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

If you are British, then I would go with the traditional British approach. It's considered bad manners to puff yourself up, or and kind of self-aggrandisement. Instead be quietly self-deprecating. It's a great way to show your innate superiority, and demonstrates a high degree of self-confidence. DJ Clayworth (talk) 13:54, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

If you look at the basis for "black pride", "feminine pride", "Irish pride", etc., the common thread is that these are folks who were once (and often still are) treated as second-class citizens in this country. These "pride" marches and such have to do with standing up and saying "we are first class". White males have never been second class citizens in the USA as a class. From what I've seen over the years, those whites that are individually "second class", are so because they're lowlifes, not because they're white. (Being a lowlife knows know racial or gender lines.) "White male pride" is the ruling class celebrating that they're the ruling class. Not good. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 15:04, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

white male pride

83.100.250.79 (talk) 17:18, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

"White" is pretty broad, and as a group, whites haven't had any special suffering unique to them that you can be proud about overcoming, either in the USA or in general.

I recommend finding something a little more specific to be proud of. Since you're trying to be proud in your heritage, I assume you know a good deal about it, so be more specific! Be proud of being Irish, Norwegian, or Polish, or whatever the heck you are. You don't have to go that far back either, Ancestors fought in the civil war? Worked their way up from nothing in the Lowell mills? Be proud of that! (On the other hand, if you don't know anything about your heritage, what right have you to be proud of it?)

At least in the USA, Just being proud of being "White" is a bit like being proud of being right handed. It's boring, and doesn't intrinsically imply that you, your ancestors, or your community has done or overcome anything particularly noteworthy. (So people just assume you're a racist asshole, because they can't think of any other point you could possibly be making.) APL (talk) 22:44, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Getting to know local people as tourist

What is the best way of getting to know local people as tourist? I am specially against going to some place to visit its museums.--Quest09 (talk) 18:28, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

You mean as if you were living there? Maybe something like a bed-and-breakfast, as opposed to a hotel. The best thing, of course, is if you know someone that already lives there, and would be willing to put up with you, er, put you up for a few days or weeks. Then you'll feel like a citizen instead of a tourist, and you'll get a different perspective. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 18:33, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Couchsurfing may be of interest. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 18:37, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Odd, but I was just thinking about this the other day. If you are travelling and want to get to know local people, stay away from places that tourists go to. Local people don't go there. Eat at small cafés or diners, not at big restaurants and especially not at chains or franchises. For example, if you had been in the United States on the Fourth of July, I would have advised you to attend the festivities in a small rural town rather than a big city to get a flavor of what Americans are like. You would have seen a parade featuring a high school band, a couple of fire trucks and the local dairy princess. Then quite likely a local family would have invited you to join them for a backyard cookout or picnic, followed by a fireworks show at the local park. That, my friend, is how most Americans celebrate — not at the big concerts or fireworks extravaganzas you see on TV. ... Therefore, to know a people, know its small towns. — Michael J 20:34, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I dispute several things about this statement. "Most Americans"? You know that most Americans eat at big restaurants and chains and franchises, yes? Local dairy princess? How many dairy princesses have you actually seen? This article shows that you're espousing a dead dream — "the idea that we are a nation of small towns is fundamentally incorrect." 84% of Americans live in the top 363 metropolitan areas, and a full 55% are in suburbs of cities. I don't disagree that you'd have a much more interesting experience by trying to have a "local" experience and not making your American trip a visit to a generic shopping mall full of homogenized, nationwide store chains and one of our 13,000 McDonald's — my point is that this has become who we are ... well, most of us, anyway. Tempshill (talk) 03:44, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Why would you avoid cities to learn what Americans are like? Most of us live in cities. Here in New England about 51% of people live in either the Boston, Providence, or Hartford Metro areas. Very few of the remainder live in anything that could be considered "Rural". APL (talk) 22:34, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

The noted travel author Rick Steves has several books on the subject, most recently his book titled Travel As a Political Act. An interview with the author talking about his book can be found here: [11]. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 20:43, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

There are sites that offer holiday swaps and accommodation swaps. Depending on the variety chosen you get to stay with a family, live in their apartment or their house. They then in turn stay with you or live in your apartment or house at home. Another possibility would be to join some organization that involves travel to partner organizations in other countries (e.g. choir, sports club, folk dancing etc.) Also check what sister towns your hometown/city has. Such things often involve several exchange programs or facilitate setting one up yourself.71.236.26.74 (talk) 23:10, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I think the best way to get to know the people of another country is to reserve 6 months and just live there — rent an apartment, arrange all the mundane stuff that the locals have to deal with (arrange the electric bill, do your laundry at the laundromat), and get a job and make friends with your co-workers like everyone else does who lives there. However, working without a work permit is of course illegal, so this advice is probably pretty bad, and if you don't work, you probably can't afford this anyway. Tempshill (talk) 03:56, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Homeowners association bylaws

We have an association with bylaws. I believe the board is not following the bylaws correctly. What is the procedure to take this to circuit court? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.149.67.193 (talk) 19:40, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Consult a lawyer. Wikipedia cannot give professional advice. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 19:45, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Suicide again

Reading above thread got me thinking why is suicide illegal? Well it is in Ireland, also is it legal in any country? BigDunc^Talk 19:50, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Just to note, suicide is no longer a crime in Ireland. The law was changed in 1993. [12]. Fribbler (talk) 19:52, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

How odd. What kind of penalty could be used to enforce such a law? 65.121.141.34 (talk) 19:53, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, it's illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament...the punishment is death. Vimescarrot (talk) 19:15, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

You can probably find your answer in this article. Theleftorium 19:58, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

People aren't generally charged with committing suicide, they may be charged with attempted suicide, conspiracy to commit suicide, aiding and abetting suicide, etc. --Tango (talk) 22:22, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

See History of suicide (a short article that's all over the place, but interesting), Cultural views of suicide (same comment applies), and, as Theleftorium suggested, Legal views of suicide (same comment applies). Hm, maybe our editors are getting interrupted by something while they're half-done with all these suicide articles. Tempshill (talk) 03:47, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Basic laws, while officially secular nowadays, are rooted in religious beliefs. "Thou shalt not kill" is taken to mean thou shalt not unlawfully take human life, because human life is supposed to be sacred. That's part of the reason that murder is considered so horrific (along with the fact that murder unchecked is very damaging to a society), and is also the main "moral" reason opposing suicide - in effect, that only God (or the law) can take your life, and the latter only under certain severe circumstances. I'm not saying I totally buy into all that, but that would be the reason. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 05:23, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Selling Stories

I apologize in advance if this is an inappropriate place for this question, but I don't know where else to ask it. I've written a few short stories, of decent quality, and I need to find a means of selling them. But I don't have the slightest idea where to begin in the search for finding magazines or publications that would take short stories. (If it helps, they're memoiristic/fantastical stories, but I've also written numerous unpublished essays). Really, I just need some assistance knowing where to start.

Thank you for all of your help! MelancholyDanish (talk) 23:09, 6 July 2009 (UTC)MelancholyDanish

The Writer's Digest is always a good resource. Who then was a gentleman? (talk) 23:12, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree. Writer's Digest is a great resource about publishing stories and books. There are also many guides and books at bookstores and libraries that teach you how to publish and sell a book (a little ironic about books tell you to publish books). I'm also writing some stories often and trying to seek some opportunities to publish them (although I haven't publish any...) so I knew there are books about publishing. Anyways, good luck about selling and publishing your work! --98.154.26.247 (talk) 05:39, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

One way might be to contact your local newspaper. (They are currently dieing like flies, though.) Some well-off associations and clubs might also be willing to shovel out some currency units to spruce up their association/club newsletter. If you contact a publisher, the small ones are generally a better target than the big publishing houses. 71.236.26.74 (talk) 13:19, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

You might try making contact with established writers in your area. A common way of doing this is to take a writing class, even if you don't think you actually need the training. It puts you in contact with others in a similar position, and at least one published writer (the instructor). DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:07, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Since you mention that your stories have 'fantastical' elements, you might consider attending a Science Fiction/Fantasy Convention - SF & Fantasy fans, authors and publishers are often the same people or associate closely: also, in the SF/F genre (which has very elastic boundaries), many if not most published authors started as and still are fans, and mingle very freely with unpublished writers and non-writer-aspiring fans. A useful starting nexus for finding out about the SF/F community, and about writing and publishing in general, is the blog Making Light, which is run by two professional SF/Fantasy Editors, contains within its voluminous (but indexed) archives discussions about how to (and how NOT to) go about getting published, and which has a plethora of links to other useful and relevant sites. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 19:12, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

While Writer's Digest is suitable for an American market, for the UK (or Commonwealth) then you want Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. If you ask at your local library, they will have various volumes of writers' guides you can consult. The library staff should also be able to give you information about local writers' circles, who would be a good source of advice. Also, if you're searching the internet, a good rule of thumb is to avoid any magazine/agent/website/directory asking you to pay money to them for reading or listing fees, or for publishing it. They are vanity publishers, fraudsters or incompetent agents; good literary agents operate to a code of ethics which involves payemnt by commission, not fees to authors; reputable publishers will pay you for the work (not necessarily much, of course!). Gwinva (talk) 22:40, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

July 7

A man called "The Professor" that associated with the Founding Father of the United States.

I recently watched a show entitled "Secrets of the Founding Fathers" one the History Channel and while the show in general was quite interesting, one specific part of it really caught my attention. This part was in reference to a man the show called to as "The Professor". It described him a a mysterious man that seemed to have a lot of influence over the Founding Fathers. The program never mentioned his name. The really strange part about it was that he was described as being other realmly or other dimentionally. While this could be taken several ways, the show was trying to emply that he was not from this world. I tryed to find some information on this figure but I came up empty. Anyone have any info? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.15.158.143 (talk) 00:41, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Some of the stuff on the History Channel is pretty good, but anything that calls itself "secrets of..." is pretty much crap. There's been stuff on there about how the Freemasons run everything, how aliens came to earth to teach the egyptians how to build pyramids, etc. etc. I am not saying there's not a character called The Professor who may have been a real person, but take his supposed "influence" and "importance" with a grain of salt. If he was supposed to be some sort of ghost or alien or "other worldly being" then the show was 100% bullshit.--Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:04, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I do believe this was total whacko loony stuff, from this loon. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 04:06, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Roy Hinkley? I always wondered how he was able to construct all those things with just coconuts and bamboo... It's all so obvious now - he used advanced alien technology. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:14, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

MacGyver had nothing on The Professor (and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan's Isle). Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 05:18, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I dunno, I can't help thinking that MacGyver would have worked out a way to actually get off the island. DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:05, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Not while they were still under contract to do a series. Or am I letting reality interfere here too much? :) Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 17:28, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

My favorite Gilligan's episode was the one where they almost got off the island, but Gilligan screwed up and they're still stuck there. PhGustaf (talk) 21:45, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Are you sure it wasn't "The Doctor"? -- 128.104.112.85 (talk) 23:25, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Swimming championships in Luleå in 1953?

Were there swimming championships in Luleå in 1953? If not, were there other sports championships there in the early 1950s? JIP | Talk 06:17, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

The Swedish Swimming Championship for 1953 was held in Linköping. If you are talking about local championships, I think you'll have to hope that an old local swimmer is passing the Reference Desk. Fouracross (talk) 15:18, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Was there some swimming contest in Luleå in 1963 then? The Swedish championship was held in Stockholm and the FINA championships hadn't even started yet, but was there some minor event? JIP | Talk 17:58, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Quality and quantity

How correct is it to say that quality and quantity do not go hand in hand or parallel, as in the endeavour for quality the quantity is compromised? I think the right quantity in itself guarantees quality. Anybody? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk) 15:52, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I have read this several times and I think you're asking, "Is it true that increasing quality decreases quantity?" The answer to that question is yes. I do not think the generalization the right quantity in itself guarantees quality is correct at all. What do you mean by the "right" quantity? What if the factory (or country) cuts corners everywhere to hit their production targets in order to reach "the right quantity"? Tempshill (talk) 16:22, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

straight from the eye  ???

What does it mean if a girl/women you do not know/interact stares in the eye all the time? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.140.188 (talk) 16:23, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

It means you should see an ophthalmologist. There might be some deformity with your eye that you're not aware of.--WaltCip (talk) 16:49, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Body language can mean anything. It all depends on context, which we can't see and I doubt you'd be able to describe in enough detail (You wouldn't know exactly what to look for, nor would we). If you were just after possible answers, someone else might have some - I'm just letting you know that no answer you get will be definite. Vimescarrot (talk) 19:08, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

It's the sort of thing vacant teenagers do a lot, amongst other people - but hey! this page isn't a coucilling service. 83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:24, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Sinebot

How do I ban Sinebot from posting on my talk page every time I forget to add the little ~ things? I know how to sign posts, I just don't always remember and Sinebot does not help. 65.121.141.34 (talk) 16:45, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

See User:SineBot. Algebraist 16:48, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

oh Sinebot lol, at one point I have over 30 messages from him on one of my old ip talk pages —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 19:06, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I need help learning makeup

I want to learn how to apply makeup to myself. I'm 16 and my parents divorced and I live with my dad and he's no help. Where do I start? Where do I get the materials needed (I'm in the san francisco bay area)? I'm mostly concerned about something that can cover up acne. Thanks. --12.48.220.130 (talk) 19:02, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Google it? "How to apply makeup" turns this up as the first link. I know nothing about makeup, though. Does it help? Vimescarrot (talk) 19:10, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Have you asked your friends? It is hard to give advice on makeup without knowing things like skin tones and such. Wikivanda199 (talk) 19:11, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

If you can't ask your friends, then perhaps the staff in a shop that sells makeup might be willing to help. I don't know how friendly the strangers are in your area, though. Vimescarrot (talk) 19:12, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

As I'm assuming this is normal cosmetic makeup, not theatrical, why not ask your female friends,

or the nice friendly assistant on the 'cosmetics' counter at a local store?

In general though to cover up mild acne, what's I think you need is a concealer(?) stick (which is kind of like a 'lipstick' but for your face in a suitable flesh tone) which you apply as patches over an affected area and gently blend in.

Over this you would use normal foundation, which comes in either liquid form ( for which you would need make-up sponges) or powder (which uses a brush or 'powder puff').

If you have skin allergies seek professional advice on what products are suitable for you as the reference desk CANNOT give medically related advice. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 19:24, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Okay, the main ways in which teenage girls learn to apply make-up:

1. Buy some cheap make up from a drug store or similar, perhaps on a trip with friends. Experiment, again perhaps with friends. Sleep-overs and generally hanging around in each other's rooms are opportunities to play around with make-up.
2. Teen magazines usually have features describing how to get a particular look, which can be useful for getting tips for up-to-date looks.
3. Make-up counters at big stores are almost always staffed by people who would be delighted to introduce you to make up tips, give you a make over, suggest what works for you, and try to sell you some things. They do tend to cake it on, though.
4. My sister was worried about this when a little bit younger than you. For her birthday, my parents hired a make-up artist to spend an hour showing her how to get different looks and apply various cosmetics. This seemed to work for her, and make her more relaxed about it.
5. If you're looking for a smoother look to your skin, as Sfan says the usual approach is concealer and foundation. Concealer is for small, specific areas that need covering. Foundation is for giving your whole face a uniform appearance. Once you've put on foundation, you probably need at least lip gloss and a little (discreet!) blusher to make your face look natural again.

If you want to look more made up, you can move on to lip gloss with more tint, lip stick, eye liner, eye shadow, mascara. These are all things that you might want to buy cheap versions of, as described above, to experiment with. 89.168.106.72 (talk) 22:07, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Hey everyone... thanks for the help... but I forgot to mention that I'm a guy. Thanks.--12.48.220.130 (talk) 22:39, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

needs delete

Idiotarod needs deleted. Wikivanda199 (talk) 19:25, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Why? Algebraist 19:29, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

To expand on Algebraist's interrogative, the article was already nominated for deletion, and the result was Keep. In any case, the Reference Desk is not for discussions about Wikipedia articles; try the article's talk page or Wikipedia:Help desk, but be prepared to make a stronger argument than you have here. -- Coneslayer (talk) 19:36, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Dude, that thing is for serious? Wikivanda199 (talk) 19:57, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

lol looks like. more weird articles here if you're interested -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.91.128 (talk) 20:38, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Honestly it looks totally non-notable, despite the keep, and I think you know it.. Some sort of student/young person prank/meme. Perhaps "FAT MOUSE" should have had it's article kept too? (Would this article exist if it weren't for the internet)

My very strong suggestion: ignore it - it's just childishly wanky, don't waste your time on getting into any arguments over it.83.100.250.79 (talk) 21:20, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Economic Bailouts: Bush vs Obama

How much money has each respective president so far given out in bailouts and/or economic stimulus? Anythingapplied (talk) 20:10, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I suspect knowing this would tell you very little, if anything all. Bush's first few months were considerably different to the first few months for Obama. ny156uk (talk) 21:51, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Not exactly an unbiased source but take a look at these numbers: [13]. There really was very little reason for Bush to do bailouts until there was an economic crisis, which he had a great hand in causing. The meltdown came just in time for him to do one bailout, and then handed Obama the fruit of his malfeasance. So like the person above, I'm not sure what the comparison will do for you.--162.84.166.147 (talk) 22:03, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

US coin

there is a 1864-L one cent coin. From what I can tell, it is the only US coin with an L for a mint mark. What does the L mean? 65.121.141.34 (talk) 20:42, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

This page says it's not a mint mark, but a credit for the designer, James Barton Longacre. They were all made in Philadelphia, just like all the other US coins with no mint mark. Interesting; I had never heard of this before. Tempshill (talk) 21:06, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I remember that some US pennies similarly have the initials VDB for Victor David Brenner. According to that page, the US has gone back and forth over time as to whether coins should show the artist's initials, and a number of them now do. --Anonymous, 23:06 UTC, July 7, 2009.