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June 26

Genealogy

Hi, I've searched for months and I'm stick. Is there a way to connect a person to another person??????? Example - I've traced my tree back Isaac Robinson (1768-1833). I AM VERY SURE that there is a connection with the following:- Christopher Robinson/Priest/died for Treason in 1598, Henry Robinson/Bishop/(1553-1616), John Robinson/Mayflower organizer/(1575-1625). I can't understand where they came from OR went to. Thanks for any advice you can give me. Once again, Thank You, Cathy Robinson Fitzpatrick.Limeycat (talk) 14:11, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

There are websites that will help you do this. Search "genealogy" on Google. Ancestry.com is one that's widely advertised, but I don't know what it's like. Exploding Boy (talk) 14:25, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Some websites like that are free, but many make you pay a subscription. With these paid sites you can access certain records available online. Ancestry.com is a paid site, I think. There's usually a monthly subscription to use sites like that, although as I've said already there are free ones out there. I have no idea what any of them are like, as I've never used them. Chevymontecarlo 14:36, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm puzzled how you can be VERY SURE that there is a connection to two people who died well over a century before the earliest ancestor you've traced, unless you've got some documents that establish the relationship. --ColinFine (talk) 22:58, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

I have to agree. It might be just a coincidence. Chevymontecarlo - alt 09:08, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

I agree, the OP is doing it backwards. You find evidence, then you work out what you can be sure of. You don't start from a position of being sure of something and try to justify it. Robinson is a very common name, so you need far more than just the name to even suspect a close relationship. --Tango (talk) 13:44, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

no moon ?? new moon?

Why do we call a night without moon a new moon day? Shouldn't it be called no moon day? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Myownid420 (talk • contribs) 17:16, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Have you read our new moon article? It discusses the origin of the phrase. However, "new moon day" is a phrase that I don't think has much common use. — Lomn 17:32, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

It should be noted, however, that during a new moon, the moon itself is in the sky almost entirely during the "daytime". A new moon should rise at about 6:00 AM and set at about 6:00 PM (with variances due to local time zones). This is because of the geometry involved in the phases of the moon. I agree, however, that the phrase itself is not in common use. --Jayron32 17:38, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

My grandmother used to turn round three times when she saw a new moon. Kittybrewster ☎ 19:26, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Have they unscrewed her yet?--SigmundColin (talk) 22:00, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

The ref desk has just sunk to a new low. Talk about unscrewing one's grandmother. I blush at the very idea! -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 22:57, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

What else would you expect from Elsie? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:01, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Schema for doing as much quality work as possible

I have a lot of deskwork and paperwork that will take weeks or months to do. I'd like to get through it as soon as possible. It is not routine, so I've got to stay alert and motivated as well. I am not an employee so can work how and when I like.

What would be the best scheme for doing the greatest amount of quality work? Working non-stop would rapidly lead to tireness and loss of motivation, so clearly work needs to be alternated with breaks. What routine should there be for breaks, and what should I do within those breaks? Would taking one or more days off each week pay back in greater efficiency on the other days? Thanks 92.15.5.103 (talk) 20:12, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Everything depends on your lifestyle, actually. Do you prefer working earlier in the day or later? Are you an early bird? Do you have a family? Will there be factors which will hinder you periodically?

For me, I'm an early riser, and even though I work from home and can do it when I please, I endeavour to get up early (of my own accord - even before 7 am) because I prefer to start early than to work late into the night. When I have to deal with large amounts of work to a deadline that's fairly loose but still impending, I try to divide the stuff into fairly equal larger chunks, and afterwards break these up to get the idea of the daily workload I need to complete. Then, in the beginning, I usually try to do the daily workload +10/20% extra if possible, to have an edge for the upcoming parts of the work in case I stumble upon unforeseen difficulties. I try to plan in a small break every hour (like five minutes to brew fresh tea, a sandwich) and larger breaks every three hours (a walk, a larger meal). You have to work out practically what's best for you. Just here to help. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:23, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

I like to get up early as well, and for breaks I take about 15 minutes every hour. I go cycling, read the paper or catch up on podcast episodes. I think that taking maybe half a day off a week as well as the weekend would be a good plan, but it's up to you. Chevymontecarlo - alt 09:07, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

"Half a day off a week as well as the weekend"!!!! That's hardly working. 92.28.242.168 (talk) 21:49, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

A trick they seem to teach in every school/college/&c is to take a short break about once an hour whilst working for a long time, apparently it helps to maintain concentration. As well, Bucky had some interesting ideas about sleeping for a few minutes whenever he felt tired, or once every six hours, apparently managing to get by on two hours a day, leaving twentytwo for his work. 80.47.203.9 (talk) 17:15, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

On a Tim Russert interview show several years ago, Phil Rizzuto commented that Joe DiMaggio used to occasionally take what Phil called a "power nap" in a corner of the dugout. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:50, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm asking about the best stategy for working solidly for many weeks or months, not just a couple of days here and there. 92.15.1.65 (talk) 13:25, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, which is why it is especially important that you take regular breaks, and give yourself time off. That will make the work you do higher quality, and you'll have less of a tendency to slow down during your work sessions. If you need to work solidly for weeks or months, you need regular days off to maintain that. Honestly, taking a few minutes off every hour, and a couple of days off a week, will lead to more work done in the long run. As will ensuring you get enough sleep. Motivation is much easier if you decide beforehand (and stick to) a set amount of work (maybe 45-50 minutes) followed by a set break (10-15 minutes). If you try to just work straight through for days on end, you will burn out and produce very little work for the time you're investing. It is inefficient to avoid time off. 86.164.57.20 (talk) 15:27, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Thats mostly repeating what the OP said in the 2nd paragraph. 92.29.119.46 (talk) 21:54, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Children's book

Looking for a childrens book I had as a child in the 1960s. Was about a boy with hair made up of/or colours of the rainbow. I think it had some pop ups. Poss titles I have tried are boy with the rainbow hair/rainbow boy - no luck. Writing from UK81.157.87.26 (talk) 20:44, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Struwwelpeter. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:19, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Bicycling up a hill

So, I'd love to commute to work on a bicycle. After all, I only live three miles from work, which would be a pretty simple ride. Problem is, I live on top of a hill. My question is threefold:

• Where can I look to find the specific grades of streets in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA? I tried some googling, but my google-fu proved inadequate to the purpose
• At what grade would we consider a street to be (a)a brisk bit of exercise (b) pretty darn tough (c) stupid to try to bicycle
• How much difference would it make if I bought an electric bicycle? -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 23:12, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Easy answer: Just try it once! How hard it is depends very much on how fast you go and how good your bicycle is. For me, 15% is about where it stops being fun. I'm fbf, and have two rather decent bikes. A good indicator for me is hearth rate...up to 150 bpm im ok, 160 is uncomfortable, and at 165 I drop off the bike. Any good E-Bike will make the hill essentially irrelevant, but it will also reduce the training effect. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 23:25, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm doubtful of that. I've seen people on electric bikes having to pedal furiously to drag the heavy bike up a hill. Going uphill is going to exhaust the batteries pretty quick. 92.29.114.87 (talk) 10:44, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

• • (ec) Don't know offhand.
  • For me, it starts to get noticeably difficult at maybe 7% or so, but I can do that for miles if I want to, which I often do. I can pull off 20% for very short distances, maybe in the hundreds of yards at most.
  • Don't get an electric bike. That's just cheating; might as well drive. Well, not quite; I suppose it's gentler on the planet than a car. But it doesn't do you any more good. --Trovatore (talk) 23:28, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

If you feel that you're beginning to slow down whilst climbing the hill, even when you're in the lowest gear and pedalling hard, then the hill's too steep! I think an electric bike is good in a city environment, for example after a green light to give you a burst of speed to get you started. Using the electric motor all the time is pointless though. Chevymontecarlo - alt 09:04, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

If you feel that you're slowing down, it's too steep? What kind of lazy advice is that? If it doesn't slow you down, it's not a hill. If you can climb it faster than about 5 mph (on a sustained basis), go look for a steeper hill.

Climbing is the soul of cycling, and it's supposed to be hard. --Trovatore (talk) 09:18, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Re electric bikes: I was thinking about a Pedelec which augments pedalling - the engine does not take over. Modern ones in Europe are barely recognisable as such - they are useful bicycles to begin with. If that makes you cycle, it's better than commuting by car. Wether augmented or not, exercise in fresh air is so much better than sitting in a tin can ;-). But yes, nearly every 3 mile distance is also reasonable to commute with a plain bicycle. As for "the soul of bicycling" - if you cycle to get somewhere, as opposed to cycling for the fun of it, issues like breath and sweat do play a certain role... --Stephan Schulz (talk) 09:48, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

I used to work at a startup about eight miles from my home (but not much elevation change), and I would bike in trying to maintain a moving average of 16 mph (stretch goal; managed it sometimes — this was on a mountain bike as I hadn't bought my cyclo-cross at that time). I took a change of clothes in my backpack. It did take about half an hour to cool down enough to really focus on my work. --Trovatore (talk) 09:53, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Oh, besides which: The original poster says he lives on a hill. So the climbing part would be going home; presumably he can be as sweaty as he likes when he gets there. --Trovatore (talk) 10:01, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

I used to get around San Francisco by bicycle. As you probably know, it is a hilly city. My strategy was to use a topographic map and plan routes that avoided steep grades up hills. San Francisco is built on a grid, so this often involved taking a street that ascended a flank of the hill rather than ascending directly to the summit. At some point, often a little past the summit, I would turn uphill perpendicularly to ascend across another flank of the hill. Eventually, using this method, you reach a point where the hill levels out and you can make a direct approach to the summit without ascending too steeply. Another suggestion would be to get a mountain bike with very low gears. If you are bicycling in a hilly area, whether on a mountain bike or a road bike, you definitely need to know how to shift down to deal with uphills. Marco polo (talk) 01:25, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

If the exercise enthusiasts are quite finished, I’d like to thank the original poster for his decision to find an alternative to automotive travel. As such, an electric bike is entirely appropriate and the views of those who cannot conceive of a bicycle as simply a means of transportation may be ignored. DOR (HK) (talk) 06:38, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

And I'm sure we'd all like to thank DOR for her interjection :P 86.164.57.20 (talk) 22:24, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Electric bikes are a waste of money, do not buy one. They are heavier so more effort to pedal up hill, even if assisted. Riding an ordinary bike will soon make you fit enough not to need or want an electric bike. Electric bikes have problems with the batteries needing replacing after a while. You can get off and walk uphill, which is what I do, but using a low gear will work too. I prefer hub gears. 92.15.1.65 (talk) 13:33, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

This site mashes up google maps and a topographic map. --Sean 16:08, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, Sean! Using that, assuming I'm reading it correctly, I can see that the hill is probably too steep for me at my current fitness level, or at any fitness level I'm likely to reach in the foreseeable future, so if I want to be environmentally friendlier, a non-motor-assisted bicycle is probably out. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 16:24, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

If you choose a low enough gear, then you can get up almost any hill with the same effort as going along the flat, although slowly. Riding the bike will soon make you fit. Electric bikes still require peddling uphill, so you are not any better off. 92.24.188.76 (talk) 19:34, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I appreciate your comments, but I am afraid I find it difficult to believe that bicycling up a steep hill takes the same amount of effort as bicycling on flat road, or that an electric bike takes more effort than a non-electric one. I hate to doubt you, but those ideas seem so contrary to what my own experiences and reason tell me that I'm afraid I am not able to believe you without a good source that backs you up. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 20:34, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I suggest buying borrowing or hiring a bike and trying it. You could do it just one day a week, for example, to work your way into it. You says its downhill to work - that suggests that you will be able to freewheel all or most of the way there. You can use the bike for other trips also - you may find it liberating. I enjoy cycling in the countryside, but you may live in a different situation. It is true that cycling up a hill in low gear requires no more effort than cycling up the flat - but you move very slowly. You would have to do exactly the same thing with an electric bike, but you've got the much greater weight of the electric bike as well. I tend to get off my bike and walk up very steep hills. You will soon get more fit - possibly something you will not expect if you are not acustomed to exercise. 92.24.183.139 (talk) 10:34, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

[unindent] New set of questions: are you already in Cincinnati? And if not, are you very familiar with the city? Neighborhoods such as Hartwell (wow, what a messy article!) are far flatter than Clifton. Another thing you must consider is the paving material — if I remember rightly, there are some brick streets in the city, and steeply sloping brick streets are significantly harder to ride than steeply sloping asphalt streets; when I tried riding around in Freedom, Pennsylvania (northwest of Pittsburgh), I found it far easier to walk and push my bicycle, due to the uneven state of the bricks. Nyttend (talk) 17:36, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

By the way, the bit about choosing a low enough gear is true: if you're going up a decently steep hill but have a granny gear, you can move with very little effort. The catch is that you're going to be moving extremely slowly; if you don't have too far to go, you might be able to move faster by walking and pushing your bicycle than you could by pedalling in granny gear. Nyttend (talk) 17:38, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

"I can see that the hill is probably too steep for me at my current fitness level, or at any fitness level I'm likely to reach in the foreseeable future" The easiest and most pleasant way to raise your fitness level is to get on a bike. A virtuous circle. In any case you were not aware of low gears or just getting off and wal;king up hills. 92.29.114.87 (talk) 10:35, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

June 27

Gundam video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFh4ZeTThtM

Gundam 00 opening 4: Anyone would want to tell me why this video was flipped and is there a way to flip the video back to normal after I download it? I haven't done the latter yet but the video quality is really nice. 64.75.158.194 (talk) 00:22, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Presumably you noticed that one of the comments of the video claimed they have to flip the video or it gets removed. No idea if that's true, or why that would make the video less likely to be removed, but that's the claim. Comet Tuttle (talk) 03:39, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Copyright laws are very iffy things. I assume that flipping the video upside down lends some "creativity" to the video that lends it some legal property or another, though I am not sure what. You could turn your monitor upside down when you watch it. ^Avicenna_sis @ 07:49, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

The video is flipped left/right not up/down. Watch it in a mirror. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 10:03, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

While this is not legal advice and I'm not a lawyer, the chance simply flipping the video would do anything about the copyright status is close to none barring additional claims (for example if you are claiming the flipped version is better or proves that the creators are working with the devil or whatever and use a short portion to demonstrate this then you could potentially make a fair use claim). The reason why it may benefit here is I'm guessing Youtube or others have automatic copyvio detecting tools which aren't yet designed to detect such videos. As an example a few days ago I did a search for the controversial US non goal (can't remember why since I have a recording), most of the ones seemed deleted but I hit upon one which had been recorded off a TV or monitor with a camera. The quality was shit but at a random guess this probably was one of the reasons I could see it, it couldn't be automatically detected. Nil Einne (talk) 10:55, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Copyright is such a problem, isn't it? But if that is so, why are there so many videos of opening and ending scenes, and even entire episodes, of various anime shows all over Youtube? They don't seem to be affected by copyright in any way. Also, I can't watch this video on a mirror all the time (mostly because I don't have a mirror the size of my monitor). Is there some program that can flip flash videos around while playing them? 64.75.158.193 (talk) 10:46, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Youtube generally only uses the big guns for shows and music that the copyright holder is actively chasing them about. If the copyright holder does little to defend their copyright, either because they don't want to or are unaware, and nobody else reports the violation, Youtube doesn't really care. So this means that, in practice, if you look up a show that isn't currently a source of income for someone, because it isn't on air or out on DVD or whatever, chances are you'll find it. Whereas if someone is looking to release it on DVD, they will generally look it up and chase the hosted versions down. Anime is a bit weird because the Japanese model for making money from it is a bit different to the American and European models: the money isn't in selling the actual show, but in selling associated merchandise and toys. This makes it not as worthwhile chasing down pirate copies of the show itself. And short clips are usually left up, because they aren't a way for people to watch a show outside profitable streams, and can serve as viral marketing. Particularly credit sequences. 86.164.57.20 (talk) 22:20, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Article/Short Composition Wanted By Today

27 June 2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.198.3.7 (talk) 07:39, 27 June 2010 (UTC) I want a short article on the topic- "Importance Of Adult Education" by today in 150 words, as i have to submit it tomorrow. It should be of school standard. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.198.3.7 (talk) 07:38, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Welcome to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misinterpretation, but it is our policy here not to do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn. Please attempt to solve the problem or answer the question yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know. ^Avicenna_sis @ 07:46, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Search Wikipedia. There are many articles on here, and there's probably articles about Adult education. Chevymontecarlo - alt 09:09, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Adult education. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 10:17, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

I'll start for you.

There are plenty of people who don't study when they are young and instead transparently try and get others to do their home work for them at the last minute without even offering any payment and even though the header clearly warns them they can expect no such help. While far from a perfect solution, adult education can help teach such people to function independently and help them better their lives when they begin to realise the mistakes of their youth as they encounter their many limitations in adulthood. Clearly the benefits aren't just to the individual as the people who use adult education may becomes productive members of society instead of relying on welfare or crime to support them.

Nil Einne (talk) 10:50, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

The above is just 30 words short of the target. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:26, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Please help me find

It was an animated show about a boy and his St. Bernard dog, the dog was abused and pulled a cart, it was a dutch show, the boy at obe stage lost his ability to speak, this was due to trauma he had experiences. The boy was an orphan. This show was aired in south africa in the early 90's. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.89.16.154 (talk) 11:12, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

You might want to ask at WP:RD/E. Chevymontecarlo 16:46, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps A Dog of Flanders. Rmhermen (talk) 23:21, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

This one? Oda Mari (talk) 15:00, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Cheren

http://pokebeach.com/news/0610/black-white-character-cheren.jpg

Where does the name Cheren come from? The only things I could find were a village in Eritrea (which is now named Keren, anyway) and Cherenkov radiation, neither of which seems to fit.

Also, is Cheren male or female? Pokébeach outright says that Cheren is female, but when I looked at their forums, it seems that people can't decide. --75.25.103.109 (talk) 11:18, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Subsidies and discrimination

In some countries, many actually, there are laws against discrimination based on age. However, in the same countries, you also get subsidies or tax breaks, for hiring young people. Crazy, isn't it?--Quest09 (talk) 12:50, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

I don't understand what question you are asking. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 13:17, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it is crazy. As crazy as many other regulations. Mr.K. (talk) 13:27, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

No, it is rational. The reasons that employers are reluctant to employ very young or very old workers are different. Politicians may use laws and/or financial incentives to improve either case. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:23, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

In more details: Laws against discrimination exist to correct a social imbalance between two groups of people. Such laws come in two types: laws that prevent a type of action (sort of "negative" laws) and laws that require a type of action ("positive" laws, like affirmative action). The first is to prevent present or future discrimination, the second is to correct the social/political/economic imbalances created by past discrimination. These are not, as some conservative-minded people will have you believe, incompatable ideas. One might say "if we can't discriminate by age at all, then we can't give benefits to people based on age". The other point of view is "if people of certain ages have been denied access to avenues of power, then removing those barriers doesn't magically give them access. We also need to temporarily provide easier routes to power until such time as there is no statistical difference between people based on age". The same is true for any discrimination based on any other trait. --Jayron32 22:39, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

In regard to affirmative action and such, one former manager of mine said, "There's no law requiring you to hire an idiot." In short, regardless of race, they still have to be able to do the job. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:44, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

That is the standard argument for affirmative action, but it doesn't make sense to take affirmative action in favour of young people. They can't have been discriminated against in the past since they've only just entered the world of work. --Tango (talk) 22:43, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

That sounds more like a European situation, where oldsters have tended to be favored, hanging onto their jobs, theoretically keeping younger ones out of the market. In America, it's the opposite situation, i.e. they want to dump oldies and hire younger and "more innovative" (and particularly cheaper) labor. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:48, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

@Tango. I think they can. A class of people may have been discriminated against, albeit they had different faces. Kittybrewster ☎ 22:51, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

They would have to demonstrate that companies tend to favor older workers when it comes to hiring practices. Seems like that would be hard to do. Certainly in the U.S., companies are much more interested in hiring them younger. But maybe it's the opposite in Europe? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:54, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

You can't take affirmative action in favour of different people that now occupy a previously discriminated against class. That's just creates an inequality in the opposite direction, it doesn't remove inequality. --Tango (talk) 23:07, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

If that's the case, then it doesn't need affirmative action (which is a short term intervention to correct an inequality that has resulted from past discrimination), it needs enforcement of anti-discrimination legislation. --Tango (talk) 23:07, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

[1] may provide some clues as to some of the issues and why governments tend to feel high youth unemployement is a problem. Bear in mind that quite a few European countries may have high minimum wages and/or many union agreements preventing very low wages being offered to youth so any direct financial benefit may be small. Also when we refer to youth here people usually think about 25 or so and under. I'm a bit surprised if American companies really prefer a fairly or completely inexperienced 22 year old to an experienced 35 year old with okay references/employement history if their wages are similar but I don't know how things are in the US.

In any case, while there may be some age discrimination component I suspect other factors also play a big role so enforcing anti-discrimination legislation won't be that effective. In NZ there's a related thing were companies may reject someone for 'no NZ experience' many feel that these claims are often just as much an excuse for discriminating against Asian immigrants but there's of course nothing illegal about rejecting someone for no NZ experience, I don't know whether you can reject someone if the experience is say in India but accept someone with experience in the UK but it may be possible if you can argue that the job market in the UK is far closer to what you expect. And of course proving discrimination is difficult anyway, it's commonly claimed that companies in Europe as well as here in NZ and also I think Australia that companies will discriminate against people with a non European sounding name and there have even been some tests where identical CVs we sent in but with a different name which seemed to show this in action.

A perhaps key issue is that I suspect from the governments POV they believe they are improving opportunities for all by helping companies to grow, people who can make important contibutions in the future including start businesses of their own get off their feet, better directing the work force (e.g. those with experience etc to go to jobs more fitting their skills rather then taking up jobs which less experience people could do if the company weren't so relucant to hire them) etc etc rather then damaging the prospects of older workers (by which I mean people in say 35-55 range) by offering incentives for hiring youth. Growing the pie as politicians like to say. Note whether these actually work is besides my point which isn't to argue in favour or against such policies. There are other alternatives (e.g. the UK appearently has incentives to hire the long term unemployed whatever the age).

Nil Einne (talk) 09:54, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

If there are benefits paid to the employer as an incentive to selectively hire young people, while at the same time there are laws against selectively hiring young people, that would indeed seem to be crazy, and to be incitement to commit a crime. I suppose there are no such benefits in countries with the anti-ageism law... or are there? 213.122.14.1 (talk) 10:11, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Dragoon Mountains of Arizona

Where did the Dragoon Mountains get their name? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zilchll (talk • contribs) 14:01, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article on the Dragoon Mountains does not say, but there is likely some connection to the Dragoons, a type of early-modern military unit that was a hybrid of an infantry and a cavalry unit. --Jayron32 14:06, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

It's pretty interesting, actually. This explains which dragoons the mountains are named after. I keep stumbling over Kit Carson references, and this is another. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:01, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Any tree?

I'm asking this question to the natives of New York: Can you see a tree there? --Extra 999 (Contact ^me + _contribs) 15:37, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

You don't need to be in New York (I assume you mean New York City) to see the trees there. Go to Google Maps and use the Satellite view. You can see many trees. Also, see Central Park. --- Medical geneticist (talk) 15:45, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Just look at the article on New York City. There are trees in the very first picture on the page. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:14, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. However, I thought I knew, but now I know that rose trees never grow, in New York City. --M@rēino 16:03, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Ginko biloba

I've emailed the NYC Parks Dept with no response -- I've noticed that many institutions of higher learning in NYC possess Ginko biloba trees on the street by the main entrance (Pace University, Columbia University (Morningside), Fashion Institute of Technology, Yeshiva University. Could anyone comment on this finding? I've seen Ginkos around Manhattan as well (3rd Ave) but I wonder if they were planted in clusters for some education-related significance. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 17:05, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

They are very interesting from a taxonomic point of view, though I suppose you already know that. A school might like to have one just because they're so interesting. (I've been to several other colleges that seem to have a token Ginko in prominent locations.) Staecker (talk) 22:36, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

[OR] When I lived in Cambridge I got to know trees around the city, and on the Downing Site there was a building with a ginkgo trained in espalier, all round the windows. I was just looking for it on Google street view, but I've been the length of Tennis Court Road and I can't find it. --ColinFine (talk) 20:43, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

• Several cities cultivate Ginkgo trees because they are extremely hardy under city conditions. I suspect it's hardiness, and not a symbolic association with education, that explains their prevalence. (Unfortunately, the best source that I can find right now glosses over the advantages and focuses on their main drawback -- their rancid seed pods.[2])--M@rēino 16:11, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Well, the seed pods do smell like dog crap; however, I understand that the nuts inside of them are quite tasty. My favorite collection of them is (or at least was) near the music buildings at UC Berkeley.--jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:09, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

pie-baking

When I was a youth in the 40's, my mother used to bake pies called "TOO-chays" (don't know how it was spelled), a custard-like pie (no upper crust), usually with red or black rasberries or cherries, depending on season. She had a recipe, but of course it's lost. Would anyone recognize that pie-type, and even better, would anyone have a recipe? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rjofrochester (talk • contribs) 20:07, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Well, the only pie I can think of which is pronounced like that is Tourtière, which in Quebec French or New England French (a dialect I grew up hearing) is pronounced something like "TOOCH-ee-aye". However a Tourtière is usually a meat pie, not a fruit pie. It is not inconceivable that the term is applied to other types of pies which arrived via other cultures. What is the background or cultural context of the Pie or your mother who made it? --Jayron32 22:28, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Custard tart

An open-topped pie is properly called a "tart"...perhaps in this case a "custard tart". Custard tarts topped with fruit are a reasonably common thing - and as you can see from the photo at right, they can be topped with seasonal berries. SteveBaker (talk) 02:03, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

What country/region was your mother from? Falconus^{p t c} 04:47, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I do note that in Maine, Tourtière is pronounced "Too-chay", according to http://masticate.tumblr.com/post/295634206/you-say-tourtiere-i-say-toochay. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:06, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

June 28

Global Warming

Have Bjørn Lomborg, Penn Jillette, and Teller heard about Al Gore's documentary film An Inconvenient Truth? Have they heard about his book An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It? Have they watched the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth? Have they read the book An Inconvenient Truth? Do they own a copy of a DVD of the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth? Do they own a copy of the book An Inconvenient Truth?

If so, then what do they think about them? What do they think about the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth? What do they think about the book An Inconvenient Truth? How did they react and respond to them? If not, then what would they think about them? What would they think about the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth? What would they think about the book An Inconvenient Truth? How would they react and respond to them?

Do they know why Al Gore made the documentary film and wrote the book? What do they think about why Al Gore made the documentary film and wrote the book? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.60.151 (talk) 09:38, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Do they know what the title means? Do they know why Al Gore called and decided to call them by the title? What do they think about the title? What do they think about what the title means? What do they think about why Al Gore called and decided to call them by the title?

Do they know that Al Gore is an environmentalist? What do they think about him? How much did Penn Jillette and Teller vote for Al Gore in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 United States presidential elections? Who did they vote for in the 2000 United States presidential election, George Bush or Al Gore? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.60.151 (talk) 7:39 pm, Today (UTC+12)

Season 1, episode 13 of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! deals specifically with environmentalism. And while it was broadcast three years before An Inconvenient Truth was released, I have no doubt that Penn & Teller are aware of Al Gore and the film/book. I'd say that over 95% of the educated public of the US is familiar with or at least aware of the film. As for their political views, both Penn and Teller are libertarians. Dismas|^(talk) 08:00, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Furthermore, in episode 6 of season 6 "Penn and Teller look at the climate change debate and question Al Gore's motives."[3] So yes, they know about Al Gore and feel that he is an "Egregiously Pushy Asshole". Dismas|^(talk) 08:06, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Bjørn Lomborg is clearly well aware of Al Gore and his documentary; this article notes a debate at which Lomborg challenged Gore directly. Warofdreams talk 08:20, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I have removed the same question from the science desk, please don't cross post particularly when it is mostly OT anyway. In addition either sign your post with four tildes ~~~~ or don't remove the signature when others add it Nil Einne (talk) 08:23, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Will I get a criminal record??

Hi , Ive never been pulled up by the police for any infraction before and am scared/curious as to what happens now.

I was recently stopped By police with a group of friends for drinking in public in an alcohol free zone. I am 17 and had never encountered the police before and was scared/in shock. At first I gave a fake name - then realised that that was a stupid idea and quickly told the truth.

A) Does any of This go on a Criminal Record? B) If it does , does it go on a juvenille record and not be held against me once I am over 18? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.78.92.3 (talk) 08:56, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

It probably depends on where in the world you are. In Germany, I'm fairly certain that nothing as trivial as that will go onto a permanent criminal record. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 11:50, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I would be almost certain it's the same story in the UK as well. Chevymontecarlo - alt 12:06, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I agree with Chevy. It would only go on a record in UK if you had been prosecuted and found guilty by a court. Kittybrewster ☎ 12:18, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Not so, cautions, reprimands and final warnings will go on record in the UK, and juvenile offences are still part of your record after you turn 18 in the UK. The OP should consult a lawyer if he is concerned. DuncanHill (talk) 12:20, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

That doesn't seem to be the whole story. First according to Police caution, cautions aren't issued to people 17 years and under so if the OP were in the UK then it seems if our article is reliable they can't have been issued a 'caution' as such so cautions are irrelevant. According to Reprimand (UK law), reprimands do go on the record but only stay past 18 if they were issued more recently then 5 years ago in which case they stay for 5 years. This would mean the reprimand should be gone by the time they turn 23. I'm not entirely sure if it stays on the record as such after 5 years, but I presume it's almost never disclosed (if it is then the situation is rather odd compared to that for adults which seem unlikely to me).

While cautions aren't particularly relevant, according to our article supported by [4] while they do stay on the record permanently, depending on the type of caution you don't have to disclose you've had a caution if asked either from the moment one is issued or 3 months later unless it's a case when the post (i.e. why they're asking if you have had a caution) is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. It does normally stay on the record permanently but depending on the type of offence, the reason for the check and the length of time it may not even be disclosed when someone does a background check.

Of course since the OP doesn't seem to be in the UK none of this seems to be relevant but anyway... Nil Einne (talk) 08:29, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Assuming you are in New South Wales, where your IP address is based, These links [5] [6] [7] might be helpful. My understanding (and this is not to be taken as legal advice) is that the police may give a caution for underage possession. The Police caution article says that cautions do go on the criminal record under English law, but NSW law may differ (for one thing, the article also states that cautions are only given to adults under English law).

I'm sorry this isn't the answer to your question, but it might help you understand the issues. It would help you if you know whether you have been given a caution. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 13:17, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia doesn't shouldn't do legal advice for legal/ethical reasons. Ask a lawyer. I wish you the best of luck. Falconus^{p t c} 16:00, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I would suggest asking the police. I don't think we have sufficient information to answer this question, but the police will know if they gave a formal caution or not. I don't see any need to consult a lawyer. --Tango (talk) 16:49, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Alien?

Are these pics of an alien ?  Jon Ascton  (talk) 09:03, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I highly doubt it, good sir. That creature is most likely a heavily mutated common animal or one that has suffered a rare disease of some sort. It is also possible that it has been photoshopped in such ways, or if I may say it, an outright plastic fake. 64.75.158.193 (talk) 11:23, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

There are enough sad things that can go wrong in fetal development that there's no need to cry 'alien' or 'monster' when we see one of them. I found a discussion of some of the possibilities among the folks at Snopes- they don't have anything more than the picture, just like us, but personally, I found the 'holoprosencephalic calf' theory the most plausible. One of them asked a Thai person, who said that the pictured ceremony isn't praying to the dead animal, but praying for its spirit, since the early death of an animal is unlucky for the community. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 11:52, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

There are some pretty obvious "photoshopping" artifacts in two of those pictures - and the perspective in the two photos doesn't match the scale of the "body"...so it's pretty safe to say that it's a fake. SteveBaker (talk) 20:22, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I see no obvious evidence of photoshopping or faulty perspective. -- BenRG (talk) 22:42, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

You may not, BenRG, but are you, like SteveBaker, an experienced professional in a field encompassing video display? That said, perhaps Steve might, if he feels so inclined, point out a couple of the artifacts explicitly. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 12:36, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Who makes this range of sauces

There's a range of "traditional" English sauces marketed under the brand "Geo Watkins" (short for George) - the range includes Mushroom Sauce, Anchovy Sauce, Brown Sauce, etc. Here is a link to an example on Ocado.

Who produces these? I can find no information on the company behind them. Anyone? Bobby P Chambers (talk) 11:29, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

A quick search finds File:Mushroom ketchup.jpg (and later [8]) which says G. Costa & Co. Ltd. with an address which I guess from another quick search is [9] who appear to have a part of a label which looks similar to the Geo Watkins sort of labels but doesn't provide any info or links for that specific brand. I don't know much about the brand, so it's possible different people have different rights, I would look more carefully at a bottle next time you see one (on all labels), it seems unlikely to me they won't have manufacturer info since I suspect it's required by law in the UK Nil Einne (talk) 11:44, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

The link provided by Bobby shews the manufacturer as G Costa and Company Ltd, which is the compnay linked at www.gcosta.co.uk, and is part of Associated British Foods, also known as AB Foods. DuncanHill (talk) 12:13, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

See also under "2003" on this Associated British Foods webpage [10]. DuncanHill (talk) 12:16, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Oh, that was a bit dumb of me! Thank you very much! Bobby P Chambers (talk) 12:58, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

This site used to be very good for this kind of question. Unfortunately it now seems to be very out of date.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:08, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

do indian ppl wipe themself with there hand?

hi pls my name is stan and i am new to the rferenc desk thx. okay my question is about i heard indian people wipe ther bottom with there hand even today in the modern era. i thought this was just a racist sterotype but my indian friend says this is true. is there an wikipedia article about indian bathroom hygein i would like to read about this because it is a bit hard for me to believe, thanks you.--69.114.214.58 (talk) 17:13, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Cecil Adams touched on this in part 3 of this 1986 column, though it isn't a statistical survey. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:58, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Having traveled in India, away from the tourist hotels with their Western toilets, I can explain how most Indians handle this aspect of personal hygiene. In an Indian squat toilet, there is a place to squat and a hole, lined with porcelain and leading to a sewer, or just a hole in the floor leading to a cesspit. In the same room is at least a pail of water with a dipper and a bar of soap and usually a towel. Where running water exists, there will be a sink. You do not really wipe yourself. You rinse yourself off. You are supposed to do it fairly thoroughly, using your left hand and pouring from the dipper (so as not to contaminate the pail of clean water by putting your hand into it). Then you carefully soap and rinse your left hand, dry off, and you're finished. Indians are VERY careful to use only their right hand for eating, shaking hands, offering cash as payment, and so on. To use your left hand for any of these purposes is considered offensive, for obvious reasons. In fact, the Indian use of soap and water is arguably more hygienic than our use of paper, which cannot provide the same kind of thorough cleaning. Some Indians view with disgust or distaste the Western habit of using only paper to wipe and then using the same hand for eating or shaking hands. Marco polo (talk) 18:09, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I've never been to India itself, but I have been to Indian quarters of other Asian countries, and my experience is that there is often a hole in the floor like you describe and then there is a tap with a short length of hose on it. You then use that hose, together with your left hand, to clean yourself and then clean your hand. --Tango (talk) 19:40, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

How could one wash the left hand with water and a bar of soap without transferring fecal bacteria to the right hand, and without transferring fecal bacteria to the next handler of the soap bar and the common towel? Soap is not self sterilizing. Great way to spread pathogens from person to person, such as Category:Intestinal infectious diseases. Wet wipes sound like a great alternative where a sink, running water, roller towels/paper towels/electric hand dryers are not available. For those who can afford them, carrying a pocket pack with you sounds like a good idea. Edison (talk) 19:19, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Edison, I've fixed your link to the category. In future use [[:category:whatever]] rather than [[category:whatever]]. Without the leading colon you add the category to the page, with it, you link to the category. I noticed the error because I saw the misc ref desk was suddenly an infectious disease! --203.22.236.14 (talk) 10:37, 29 June 2010 (UTC) (psud when I remember to log in)

(Snort!) Thanks! Wikipedia has untold subtleties of formatting and coding.Edison (talk) 16:58, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm having a golden run on the RefDesks lately, what with questions on Engineering, the World Cup, South Africa and now Indian culture. It is true, probably less so in modern times. Typically you'd use water and the left hand. And yes, it sounds disgusting to me too. I've seen those bum-washer pipes (a parallel of the French bidet) not only in India but in the middle East as well at the airports and in hotels. In our home (I'm from Cape Town) we've got the best of both worlds, toilet paper and the washer although this isn't typical, most people would simply have a jug for water. (Note in Cape Town this is not an Indian thing per se but more a Muslim thing. I'd point you to istinja but it's been on Request Articles for more than a year). I can't understand how you'd feel clean without using water. We also had a squat toilet for my grandmother when we built the house although she never ended up using it, preferring the western style seated toilets instead. Zunaid 20:18, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

In response to Edison, I think one is supposed to make an effort to keep the right hand away from this whole process. Certainly, there is a chance (all right, a near certainty) of transmission of microbia between people in Indian public toilets. However, the same is true in Western toilets, when you think about things like flush toilets (dispersion of aerosol droplets), flush handles, toilet paper dispensers, faucet (tap) knobs, soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, blow dryers (aerial transmission), and door handles. Marco polo (talk) 20:29, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

When I lived in university residence, there were a few south Asian Muslims, who kept a watering can in the bathroom for this sort of thing. (It did not occur to me that a watering can would be used for that, but there were also no flowers anywhere nearby, so I figured it out eventually, heh.) Adam Bishop (talk) 21:02, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

What you appear to be talking about is not an Indian thing, but rather a Muslim thing. See Islamic hygienical jurisprudence. Friday (talk) 21:24, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

This system may be common in the Muslim world, but it is definitely widespread across Hindu India as well. I recall a toilet with this system at a Hindu temple. I don't know in which culture this set of practices originated, but the extent to which Muslims have adopted Indian cultural practices (such as their system of numerals) is underappreciated. Marco polo (talk) 22:53, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Maybe there is something I'm missing but.. can someone explain a bit more? I don't get the mechanics of how you would take a bucket of water with your right hand behind your back, and pour it to hit the right "spot" while washing with your left hand, using soap, etc. without making an ungodly mess! do you have to get naked to use the bathroom or what? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.218.50.226 (talk) 22:47, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

No. You use the dipper to take water from the pail. You pour water from the dipper into your left hand and splash it into the areas that need cleaning and repeat as needed, following up with soap and another dipper full of water. You don't use a ton of water or soap. I was a little messy at it but managed to keep my clothes dry. I think it gets easier with practice, like most things. Marco polo (talk) 22:50, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Ok... that sound better 8') —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.218.50.226 (talk) 22:52, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

In addition this is probably easier with a squat toilet then a sitting one. Nil Einne (talk) 22:57, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

We await your inventions, till then, apna hath jagannath(my hand my lord) :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk) 12:19, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

See Anal cleansing and Health faucet. -- 58.147.53.253 (talk) 12:55, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Ice in Middle Ages

I have read that during reign of Akbar the mogul emperor they used ice in this and that beverages or recipes ! Of course they had no refrigeration, how the hell did they made it ?  Jon Ascton  (talk) 22:03, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I can offer a general description though without knowing the specifics of the place and time you ask. Ice is "mined" from where and when it occurs naturally (cold zones and seasons) and is then kept insulated with such readily available substances as straw, possibly in underground chambers. -- Deborahjay (talk) 22:20, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

See Ice#Ice harvesting. --Anonymous, 22:35 UTC, June 28, 2010.

That was the standard procedure until refrigeration was invented. The original refrigerators were insulated boxes. You would buy ice from vendors and you would store it in the designated spot in the refrigerator. Hence the terms "ice man" and "ice box". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:46, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Some ice boxes even had openings to the outside of your house so the ice man could replace the ice without coming inside. They were clever designs. --Tango (talk) 22:51, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

The chambers in questions are ice houses. (Linked to from the Anonymous' article, admittedly, but I can pretend to be adding something to the answer!) --Tango (talk) 22:51, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

After the Battle of Hattin, Saladin offered his noble christian captives, who had suffered appallingly from thirst in the lead-up to the catastrophic defeat, rose-water, iced with the snows of Mount Hermon. Well, most of his noble captives. He made one notable exception when the tea trolley came round. --Dweller (talk) 14:47, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

According to this the first mention of ice-making in Egypt was in the 15th century BC. A combination of cool nights and evaporation in shallow containers, apparently. Zoonoses (talk) 23:44, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

June 29

Nintendo DS game repair

Is there any way that a Nintendo DS game card which has been rusted can be repaired? If so, how, and which organizations would do it? 99.251.239.89 (talk) 01:58, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I am having trouble picturing where and how a DS card could rust being made mostly of plastic with only a few gold plated contacts exposed. neither of those things normally rust, if you somehow managed to damage the connectors bad enough to reove the gold plating then the card is beyond repair. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.167.165.2 (talk) 04:35, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it's the gold-plated connectors that are rusted. At least I think it's rust - although it does appear to be partially green.--99.251.239.89 (talk) 12:58, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Copper oxidises to become greenish. See patina. --Ouro (blah blah) 13:11, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

. . or even verdigris 86.4.183.90 (talk) 14:01, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

File:DS-card.jpg

I think you can fix it. The connectors on things like small circuit boards are always made of copper - and in some applications they are then flashed with a super-thin layer of gold to improve the connection between circuit board and whatever you plug it into. Looking at the picture of a Metroid cartridge over on the right here, it doesn't look to me like they are gold plated. But even if they were, it would be very likely that the gold would wear off of an NDS cartridge after a lot of insert/extract cycles. But that's not enough to stop it working - copper-on-copper connections are still perfectly OK so long as they are clean. In this case, either there was no gold there in the first place - or it's all worn off - and that's enough to expose the underlying copper - which has then corroded ("rust" isn't quite the normal word...but yes, corroded copper is green - so that's definitely what you're seeing). You should be able to get the thing to work again by lightly scraping, or sand-papering the green stuff off of the copper until it's bright and shiney again. Don't over-do it though because if you wear right through the copper, you've permenantly wrecked the thing beyond reasonable repair.

If you do get it working again, you might consider buying some spray-on "contact cleaner" from an electronics store (Fry's stock it if you live in the USA) and give your cartridges a very light squirt once in a while. Don't over-do it though - one very quick squirt is plenty. It helps to remove corrosion - stops it re-corroding in the future - and lubricates them so the cartridge will slide in and out more smoothly - and thus wear less. You can also get contact cleaner 'pencils' - which get rid of the corrosion - but don't confer the other benefits.

SteveBaker (talk) 20:15, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Court Art

In some film court scences we see people sitting in court rooms drawing what they see, i.e. the judge, juries, lawyers etc. Why is that ? Is it because they don't allow camera there ?  Jon Ascton  (talk) 08:01, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Yup, exactly so. See Courtroom sketch, not that it adds much. --Tagishsimon (talk) 08:04, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Just go to Google News and you'll see examples of this. For instance, this story from the Washington Post. Dismas|^(talk) 09:21, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it's because they don't allow filming or photography in some courts. Chevymontecarlo 15:21, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Al Gore's awareness of various people and their work

Has Al Gore heard about Bjørn Lomborg? Has he heard about Penn & Teller? Has he heard about Penn Jillette? Has he heard about Teller? Has he heard about The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World? Has he heard about Penn & Teller: Bullshit!? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.60.151 (talk) 7:57 pm, Yesterday (UTC+12)

This question was originally added to the science desk but I removed it as it seemed to be a shorter duplicate of the question above. However the OP has informed me I was mistaken as it's asking about Al Gore having heard of these people rather then them hearing of Al Gore so I apologise to the OP and am adding it back. As it concerns whether someone has heard of other people and their work, it is largely off-topic to the science desk so moved it here adding it to the bottom due to the length of time since I removed it Nil Einne (talk) 09:15, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

As per responses to your earlier question, Al Gore is clearly aware of Bjørn Lomborg as Bjørn Lomborg challenged Al Gore directly. I haven't listened to that source, but even if the topic of his book never came up it seems unlike Al Gore isn't aware of it, in fact I would say it's unlikely Al Gore isn't aware of most prominent sceptics. Nil Einne (talk) 09:15, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Has Al Gore ever been challenged by Bjorn Lomborg in a mask? Would it be illegal for Bjorn Lomborg to challenge Al Gore in a mask? Has Al Gore heard of Penn and Teller wearing masks?Has Al Gore heard of Penn and Teller doing anything illegal?Has Al Gore heard of Penn and Teller doing anything illegal in a mask? ;) *chortle chortle* Lemon martini (talk) 14:39, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I think you may be confusing Penn and Teller with the Masked Magician. Now, is Al Gore aware of him? Warofdreams talk 14:50, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Come on, can you please just quickly answer my questions? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.24.42 (talk) 11:26, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

We've already answered part of this question. The most likely reason why no one has answered the rest is because none of us knows Al Gore and therefore we have no real idea who and what Al Gore does and doesn't know, and we also aren't particularly interested in finding out so have no interest in researching it for you. Nil Einne (talk) 13:58, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

As an additional note, it appears the earlier video link doesn't include the Lomborg part but [11] (try viewing it in the Google or some other cache to get the full text) has what appears to be the entire exchange and no mention of Lomborg's book (but yes of the Copenhagen consensus altho that was established in the previous source) however I still doubt Al Gore isn't at least vaguely aware of it. Nil Einne (talk) 16:07, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

want to know

Why do the people who live amongst limelight and glitter (like models/actors),have a lot of fun, outgoing,outspoken and so on,with all the wealth and desires would one fine day be depressed and comit suicide? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.140.188 (talk) 12:47, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Before delving into philosophical possibilities (of which I'm sure there are many), we should first ask: do models/actors suffer depression or commit suicide at a rate significantly greater than the population at large? Or do we just hear about it more? — Lomn 13:00, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Lomn's question should really be, do models/actors suffer depression at the same rate as the population at large? Given the factors outlined by the OP, one would naturally expect these people to commit suicide less than the norm, not at the norm. --Viennese Waltz ^talk 13:31, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

A separate and related question would be whether the people involved in such a profession self-select themselves. I seem to recall Drew Pinsky performing a study which suggested that a significantly higher percentage of "celebrities" are pathological narcissists. Obviously there's a correlation/causation question there—do they become narcissists because they are celebrities, or are narcissists driven to be celebrities? If the latter, it could easily be a self-selection sort of thing, a factor of who is driven into the profession more than what the profession does to one. (And of course, in practice, these things are probably complementary.) --Mr.98 (talk) 14:01, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

It's worth remembering these problems don't generally happen overnight. For most people, celebrities or not the problems tend to develop gradually over a long time frame. They don't just suddenly "one fine day be depressed and comit suicide". I also think it's a fallacy to presume people are less likely to be depressed because they are wealthy and among all the limelight and glitter. Particularly since we are seemingly talking about the extreme end of wealth etc vs everyone else rather then the very poor who can barely survive vs those who have enough to live a resonably comfortable live or whatever. Many studies and plenty of anecdotal evidence suggests things are far from so clear cut and really I'm hardly surprised (in other words, IMHO if you think about it carefully, no I don't think one would naturally expect those people to commit suicide less). Nil Einne (talk) 15:10, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Our Epidemiology of suicide article, in the section Social factors and suicide, claims, "Suicide levels are highest among the retired, unemployed, impoverished, divorced, the childless, urbanites, empty nesters, and other people who live alone", and says poverty contributes to suicide risk, though all these statements are unreferenced in the article. As to the direct question of why wealthy and seemingly happy people kill themselves, people despair because of many, many things; a lack of wealth is just one of them; and everyone has an inner life that others don't get to see — outwardly happy people may be despairing inside, too. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:05, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

bankrupcy

• This question has been removed as it may be a request for legal advice. Wikipedia does not give legal advice or opinions because there is no guarantee that our advice would be accurate or relate to your situation and location. We simply cannot be an alternative to visiting your legal professional, so we implore you to try them instead. If this is not a request for legal advice, please explain what you meant to ask, either here or at the talk page discussion (if a link was provided).

Whipped Cream

Context: I've noticed that American recipes online for whipped cream always specify adding sugar and vanilla. To my British eyes, this is surprising, since to me whipped cream is an unsweetened, unflavoured thing. For a while, the only squirty cream you could buy was sweetened, but for years now even that is available unsweetened, and it seems to sell well. So, my question is...

Question: Why are all these recipes sweetened and flavoured? My theories are:

a) That there is a cultural difference, such that Americans expect something called whipped cream to be sweetened and flavoured.

b) That, because these are recipes, the writers feel a need to include more than one ingredient. This seems unlikely, since some of these were instructions for people who had no idea how to whip cream.

c) That there is some different property of American cream, perhaps the lower fat content, which makes it more necessary to sweeten it for stability. The higher fat content of British double cream (which seems to be the main cream used for whipping these days) made me wonder this. But seems unlikely because British whipping cream (though less available than it once was) has a similar fat content to American whipping cream, and doesn't need sugar to whip up.

Does anyone have any insight as to the likelihood of these theories, or pertinent knowledge of the American cream industry? 86.164.57.20 (talk) 16:00, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm an American, and my first response to your question was, "Ew! English whipped cream isn't sweet?" This makes me think that (a) is probably one possible answer to your question. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 16:02, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Americans generally have a sweeter tooth than Brits. I remember having some coleslaw on an American Airlines flight that was so sweet it took me a few mouthfuls before I was sure it really was coleslaw and wasn't a desert. --Tango (talk) 16:06, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Whipped Cream is usually used, at least within my family (I'm American) as a topping for dessert, or in some other dessert/sweet recipes. I don't have a clue what unsweetened whipped cream would taste like. Kind of like how I can't imagine unsweetened ice cream. What is unsweetened whipped cream used for in the UK? Falconus^{p t c} 16:38, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Seems like an unreferenced generalization. If Brits have less of a sweet tooth than Americans, does it follow that they have less tooth decay? A reference says tooth decay in Britain was less during WW2 when less sugar was available, but is higher now than in African countries where sugar (and presumably dental care) are in short supply. Another reference says that tooth decay was much more common after the 1400's when sugar became more available in Europe, and that when Brits ate less than 10kg of sugar per year in the 1820's, tooth decay was still uncommon, but by the early 20th century when consumption was up to 40kg per person tooth decay was "rampant." That ref says folks in the US also eat 40kg per person per year. What do official sources say about actual amounts of sugar and other caloric sweetners in the US versus the UK? Edison (talk) 16:40, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Sure, it's an unreferenced generalisation. Anyone that has eaten food in both countries will be able to confirm it, though. --Tango (talk) 16:46, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

The stereotype I'm familiar with is that the Americans have way more sugar and salt in their food than the Brits; but this sugar company's stats page has a nice per capita consumption graph showing that EU consumption is about 34 kg/year, while in the US it's a "mere" 30 kg/year. This isn't an absolute proof, because of artificial sweeteners, and it unfortunately blends the entire EU into one big swamp of sugar consumption; but it may mean the two aren't much different. And, hey, Australia, geez, you're at 45 kg/year, and I think I want to move to Brazil, which is at around 58 kg/year. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:46, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

And saturated fat as well. 92.29.119.46 (talk) 21:43, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Presuming this is including sugar in processed foods (and only sugar), it seems the comparison is flawed because of the different use of other sweetners (whether 'artificial' or 'natural'), for example HFCS in the US which AFAIK is far less common in much of the EU or for that matter a lot of the world. The ref notes a lot of the sugar is consumed in the countries that produce it, Brazil's high sugar consumption may be partially explained by the fact there is likely little cost incentive to use other sweetners there (for reasons of taste, health etc may be). BTW I have to agree with the idea of 'ew' for sweetned whipped cream. And I like my coleslaw more tangy then sweet. Nil Einne (talk) 21:50, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

HFCS#United States and File:Usda sweeteners.png somewhat support my theory Nil Einne (talk) 22:10, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

In the UK, sweetened whipped cream is called creme chantilly (and in France, I guess). TammyMoet (talk) 17:07, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Depends where in the UK you are. Have you ever gone shopping in northern Ireland? During the summer of 1995, when I lived there, the larger stores would typically have an entire aisle of biscuits. Wherever we went, there were always tons of sugary foods offered. Nyttend (talk) 17:26, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Sure, there is plenty of sugary food and drink in the UK, just as there is in the US. The US tends to add sugar to things Brits wouldn't, though. Whipped cream, coleslaw, salad, etc.. --Tango (talk) 17:32, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

You don't put sugar in your coleslaw, either? You do at least put it in your iced tea, don't you? -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 17:47, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Eeeeewwww! :P Nope, no sugar in my whipped cream, or my coleslaw. I use whipped cream on cakes, in trifle, Pavlova, to make fruit fool, Eton mess, etc. In the last two, there'll be some sweetening if the fruit isn't sweet enough, but it's unsweetened in other contexts. It tastes of cream :) I gather from this blog] that the taste of cream might be considered more desirable on this side of the Atlantic, since it is apparently far more common to add it to sweet food over here.

And some people certainly do add sugar to their tea in Britain, but they wouldn't drink it cold! 86.164.57.20 (talk) 18:01, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Oh, and I forgot to say: short of a cream expert, this looks answered. So, thanks all! 86.164.57.20 (talk) 18:06, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

It's actually quite easy to get through the week with no sprinkling of sugar on food, so sugar in beverages, and minimal consumption of sugary cookies or desserts, without replacing them by equivalent amounts of artificial sweeteners. Just don't keep the stuff in the house, for starters. To the list of things that Americans sweeten that need no sugar to taste good I would add barbecue. A TV show about competitive barbecuing in the US included ridicule by one contestant of Japanese origin who noted that judges commented his sauce was not sweet enough. He said that it was surprising that judges wanted the meat basically coated with candy or sugar syrup. I tried adding up how many grams of sugar are found in milk, bread, unsweetened cereal, packaged turkey, cheese and vegetables, and one wcould easily consume 10 kg of "sugars" a year without consuming cookies, candy, sweetened beverages, sweetened coleslaw, or other foods with added sugar. Just one small apple a day would total 5.4 kg per year of sugar. One raw carrot a day would total 1.8 kg sugar /year. Four slices whole whole bread a day would total 1.5 kg sugar/year. 240ml or 8 oz skim milk a day would total 4.4 kg sugar/year. So far we are up to 13.1 kg of sugar per year on an "unsweetened" starvation diet. A normal "unsweetened" diet would have several times this. Edison (talk) 18:32, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

For the record, real BBQ does not need sauce, especially a sweet one. I don't know what those so called judges were smoking, but I bet it wasn't ribs. Googlemeister (talk) 19:46, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm a Brit who's spent the last 17 years in the USA. I can confirm that Americans do habitually sweeten their whipped cream - and we Brit's generally do not. It's mostly a matter of what you're used to though. I'm continually disappointed that something like a chocolate eclair (which to my taste is plenty sweet enough without sweetening the cream) ends up being so crazily over-sweetened as to be almost inedible...but then I heard from an American friend of mine who spent a couple of years in the UK having precisely the reverse reaction - buying chocolate eclairs in the UK and being horribly disappointed that they seemed so bland. I guess it's what you're used to. I've noticed similar things with custard also...British custard tastes deliciously vanilla-ish, US custard tastes of sugar and not much else - they have to mix an even stronger flavor (cinnamon, for example) to actually make it taste of anything. Dialling down the overpowering flavors is (IMHO) the best way to get the most from the more subtle/delicate flavors in food. As for the overall sugar consumption in the two countries, it seems possible to me that the British eat desserts and such more frequently than the Americans do - but with less sugar per serving - which may well account for the relative similarities in the overall sugar consumption when averaged over a year. SteveBaker (talk) 19:56, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks Steve: it's helpful to get a strong confirmation of this from someone who's got personal experience! 86.164.57.20 (talk) 13:42, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm not a fan of British food in general, but I do have to admit that they do nice desserts. Scones with clotted cream and strawberries. Trifle. Trifle with lots of hooch. And pretty good coffee to go with it. --Trovatore (talk) 20:01, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I don't know about British custard, but I love the custard they had in Australia. Much better then what we get in the US. Googlemeister (talk) 20:27, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, don't know because I don't really like custard. To me anything with egg in it should be salty, not sweet. There are custard-like things that I much enjoy, such as panna cotta; I don't know whether the Brits have any equivalent. --Trovatore (talk) 20:54, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

In the UK, "custard" usually refers to Bird's Custard (or another brand of the same thing, but that would like eating baked beans from a company other than Heinz!), which doesn't contain egg. We refer to the traditional type of custard as "egg custard". --Tango (talk) 03:14, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Remember as well a lot of the sugar may not be coming from desserts anyway. For example, perhaps Brits eat more sweets (including fudge), more chocolate, more whatever else that is sweet than Americans. Nil Einne (talk) 22:04, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

As an American, the thought of sugar in coleslaw is revolting. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 20:05, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm also an American, and agree with the last three words in your sentence; no modification necessary. Basically I don't like raw cabbage in any form. Cooked or fermented it's OK, though nothing I'd go out of my way for. --Trovatore (talk) 20:08, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I think that it might be more a European/US than just a UK/US thing. At least we do not usually add sugar to whipped cream here in Denmark either, and I do not remember tasting sugared whipped cream in any other of the European countries that I have visited. --Saddhiyama (talk) 20:32, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Here in northern England it is not unusual to have sweetened whipped cream, though it is becoming less common. Perhaps we share a sweeter tooth with our friends in the USA? Dbfirs 20:55, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Can I have a Nobel Prize for pointing out the link between sugery food and obesity? And America really is like a Homer Simpson cartoon? 92.29.119.46 (talk) 21:43, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

No. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 18:26, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

In the Netherlands (also in Europe), it is customary to add sugar (and optionally vanilla) to whipped cream. 83.81.60.233 (talk) 04:55, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Next thing is you'll be saying you put mayonnaise on chips/French fries. -- SGBailey (talk) 11:10, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I have long refused to believe that rumour, despite all the evidence, because it would prevent me sleeping at night! Malt vinegar is all you need on chips. --Tango (talk) 16:35, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

At the risk of disturbing Tango's sleep patterns, I can absolutely confirm that the French eat their fries with Mayo. My (french) wife does it at every opportunity. I've tried it - but I agree that Malt vinegar and ketchup are vastly superior. SteveBaker (talk) 20:06, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I've never been a big fan of French fries, but steak fries are enjoyable with mustard (preferably not the fluorescent yellow stuff, though it'll do in a pinch). --Trovatore (talk) 18:29, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Are our friends dogs at risk?

We have a couple of very good friends who we spend a lot of time with socially. They are keen dog lovers, and have a large number of pugs, of whom they are very proud (and very protective!). On one of our recent visits, we were having a barbeque in the garden. There's nothing like a hamburger slathered in mustard on a sunny afternoon, as well as plenty of Heineken! But I digress - the point of the question is that I saw what looks to me like an eagle owl roosting in the trees around our friends garden. I pointed it out to my friend's wife, and she showed little concern. "He's been up there a few days", she said. Now what we were wondering was - could an owl like that make off with one of our friends pugs? I'd hate to see one of the little scamps disappearing into an eagle owl's nest. All the best, Artie and Wanda (talk) 19:06, 29 June 2010 (UTC) I fixed the wikilink to the pugs. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 20:17, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Judging by your British written accent, I assume you are talking about the Eurasian Eagle-owl, which seems to be the only eagle-owl resident in Europe (apparently including Britain). Our article suggests that they are very capable of killing an animal the size of a pug, though the pug would be too heavy for them to lift off the ground. Instead, they would consume the poor dog on the ground. However, I think the owl would be unlikely to attack if people were out with the dogs, unless the garden is quite large and the dogs wandered away from the people. The real danger would be leaving the dogs out unattended. Marco polo (talk) 19:29, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

The owl is more interested in scraps and easy prey such as mice, rats, rabbits and other birds than in taking on a boisterous dog. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 20:28, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm curious how you recognized a supposed British "written accent". Rimush (talk) 20:53, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I would guess he picked up on the words keen, slather, and scamp, which are rarely used non-ironically left of the Pond. --Trovatore (talk) 20:58, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

"Garden" for "yard", as well. --Sean 21:15, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

LOL, I was using "keen" and "slather" a lot. Guess I should stop. "scamp" seemed weird to me too, and I hadn't noticed the garden/yard thing. Rimush (talk) 21:36, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

• The eagle owl may fly south with the sun, and the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land. --M@rēino 02:17, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

JFK in Dallas 22.11.1963

I added the views of Dealey Plaza to clarify the question. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:12, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

English is not my mother tongue, so I hope that somebody could help me with the next text.

The Warren Commission Report says this about the route of JFK in Dallas:

"From Houston Street, which forms the base of the triangle, three streets--Commerce, Main, and Elm--trisect the plaza, converging at the apex of the triangle to form a triple underpass beneath a multiple railroad bridge almost 500 feet from Houston Street. Elm Street, the northernmost of the three, after intersecting Houston curves in a southwesterly arc through the underpass and leads into an access road, which branches off to the right and is used by traffic going to the Stemmons Freeway and the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike.

The Elm Street approach to the Stemmons Freeway is necessary in order to avoid the traffic hazards which would otherwise exist if right turns were permitted from both Main and Elm into the freeway. To create this traffic pattern, a concrete barrier between Main and Elm Streets presents an obstacle to a right turn from Main across Elm to the access road to Stemmons Freeway and the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike. This concrete barrier extends far enough beyond the access road to make it impracticable for vehicles to turn right from Main directly to the access road. A sign located on this barrier instructs Main Street traffic not to make any turns. In conformity with these arrangements, traffic proceeding west on Main is directed to turn right at Houston in order to reach the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike, which has the same access road from Elm Street as does the Stemmons Freeway."

I would like to know, would it have been technically possible to JFK to drive straight on Main Street after crossing Houston Street, go under the railroad bridge and then turn right to an access road that goes to the Stemmons Freeway.

It would be nice to have an answer to the next question too:

Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby in the Dallas Police Headquarters in Main Street. They took him by an ambulance to the Parkland Memorial Hospital - the same hospital where also JFK died. It is very possible that they drove with dying Oswald by the Stemmons Freeway. So did the ambulance driver drove the fastest and straight way from Main to the Stemmons or had he drove like JFK and make a curve (Main>Houston>Elm>Stemmons)? 85.156.62.17 (talk) 20:45, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

With regard to your first question, the text states that "a concrete barrier between Main and Elm Streets presents an obstacle to a right turn from Main across Elm to the access road to Stemmons Freeway and the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike. This concrete barrier extends far enough beyond the access road to make it impracticable for vehicles to turn right from Main directly to the access road." In other words, although it was possible to drive down Main Street and under the railroad bridge, there was a barrier preventing a right turn on to the access road. By the sound of it, the barrier does finish a little way further on, so it might have been possible for JFK to drive past the turn, and then ignore the signs and do a "u"-turn back on to Elm Street, and then back to the slip road - but, when the roads were not closed, this would be against regulations and probably dangerous. Warofdreams talk 09:09, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

A very similar question was asked just a few days ago. I provided a couple of links which you too might find useful.

In terms of breaking the law, the present day satellite image suggests to me the driver could have either gone past the end of the concrete barrier, backed-up elm street about 250 ft, then taken the freeway on-ramp; or they could have done a couple of difficult U-turns - I don't think either is a good thing for the presidental limo to do in full view of the public. There are alternative routes: via N Lamar St (as suggested by Google Maps directions), or passing under the freeway to take N Riverfront Bvld; though of course available routes could have changed in the past 50 years. Astronaut (talk) 21:10, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

June 30

Where can I purchase Brazilian novelas?

Where online can I purchase Brazilian novelas on DVD for delivery to the United States? - Vikramkr (talk) 02:32, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried using Amazon? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rmp99 (talk • contribs) 05:18, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Are you allowed to use a calculator in the exam in Mathematics and Applications 1 (H) at the Australian National University?

? ?––Wikinv (talk) 03:59, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

This would probably be best answered by your Mathematics and Applications 1 (H) professor. Falconus^{p t c} 04:21, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Too bad I don't do Mathematics and Applications 1 (H) yet :P ––Wikinv (talk) 04:38, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

You can still ask the relevant lecturer. Or you can try and find some past papers and read the instructions on the front (some unis publish past papers, some don't). --Tango (talk) 16:38, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Exams finished at the ANU last week. Why would you still want to know this? My exams are long marked and final marks entered. Steewi (talk) 23:33, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Edit - Just read the other responses. The ANU examinations timetable shows that the permitted materials did not include a calculator. Steewi (talk) 23:37, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Catmose College (CC)

Can someone help me add references for the article? Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rmp99 (talk • contribs) 05:19, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Hi, you're probably better off asking at either the Wikipedia Help Desk or at the Requests for Feedback page. Thanks. Chevymontecarlo 15:16, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

If the OP wants help finding the references, then we are the right place. --Tango (talk) 16:39, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Any country in the world who has more than one name?

Is there any country in the world who has more than one name. For example India has got three names 1. BHARAT 2. HINDUSTAN 3. INDIA

Bds.lko1999 (talk) 07:19, 30 June 2010 (UTC) BHARTIYA DHARM SANSTHAN (LUCKNOW - UP)

For example until the seventies it was all right to say The Netherlands or Holland when you were talking about the same country.

I am from Finland and the name of our country is "Suomi" in Finnish language. We have own Finnish names for example to next countries:

Germany - Saksa Russia - Venäjä Sweden - Ruotsi Estonia - Viro Denmark - Tanska Poland - Puola

80.186.66.250 (talk) 07:37, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Greece aka Hellenic Republic. Dismas|^(talk) 07:38, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Republic of China, also known as Taiwan and Republic of Ireland, also known as Éire. Both Taiwan and Éire are also the names of the islands. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 08:28, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I think you'll find that the name (in English) of Ireland, the sovereign state, is simply "Ireland". "Republic of Ireland" is a widely/often/sometimes used description, but not a name. As you might imagine, this leads to a considerable amount of discussion on various talk pages, like Talk:Ireland, and Talk:British Isles. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:39, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Wait, are you saying that Ireland is the so-called "long name" of the country? The way Republic of France is the long name of France and Kingdom of Sweden is of Sweden? That would strike me as odd, given that Ireland is also the name of the island. Or is this a deliberate political choice, asserting sovereignty over the entire island? --Trovatore (talk) 10:01, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I suggest you look at Names of the Irish state. A simple explanation is beyond my level of competence.  :-) Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:14, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

By the way, the actual long name of France, translated into English, is actually French Republic. --Anonymous, 03:40 UTC, July 1, 2010.

List of alternative country names gives you a complete list - but includes antiquated and unofficial names, as well as those used for official purposes. Countries whose official names in English differ wholly from the official name used by the state's government (that is, with a wholly different derivation) include Albania (Shqipëria), Germany (Deutschland), Greece (Hellas), Hungary (Magyarország), and Montenegro (Crna Gora). And (depending on your definition of "country"), Wales (Cymru). Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:53, 30 June 2010 (UTC)
Also Egypt (Miṣr). Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:06, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

That list shows Switzerland, which has five official names (in French, German, Italian, Latin and Romansh), all of which differ from the name in English. Warofdreams talk 09:11, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Obviously, many many countries have native names which differ from their names in English, simply because they use different languages - but Schweiz / Suisse etc. have the same derivation as the word "Switzerland" (as do (for example) Sweden / Sverige, Croatia / Hrvatska, etc. etc.) so I didn't include it in my list. Switzerland is also interesting because, in some official uses such as postage stamps, it uses the Latin name Helvetia. Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:51, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

United States of America, US, the States, America, the US, the United States, USA.

China, PRC, People’s Republic of China, Zhonghua Renmin Gonghe Guo.

Japan, Nippon, Nihon.

DOR (HK) (talk) 09:39, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

See Names of Germany.—Wavelength (talk) 18:50, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I think there's a difference between a country that has different names in different languages(every country will have that) and one that has different official names. Let's not forget Burma which according to its government is called Myanmar-and here the choice of name does have some political slant-because the government officially has named it Myanmar,using that name shows some support of them.The UK still uses Burma,implying a tacit non-recognition of the government. Lemon martini (talk) 21:10, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

North Koreans call Korea "Choson" and South Koreans call it "Hanguk." These aren't names for "North Korea" or "South Korea" -- they are different names for the entire peninsula. The Czech Republic has been trying to get other countries to call it "Czechia," with varying levels of success. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 23:22, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I prefer "Czechia" to "Czech Republic" despite 837,000 versus 299,000,000 Google results.—Wavelength (talk) 23:29, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

See Name of the Czech Republic and languagehat.com: CZECHIA.—Wavelength (talk) 00:20, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Sydney street widths

Hi I was wondering if anyone knows how to find out specific street widths in Sydney without visiting them and measuring?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Patiocamel (talk • contribs) 08:48, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

The "satellite" view of Google Maps has very good resolution in Sydney, and the "Street View" function (drag the yellow peg man onto the map) will let you see how many lanes any street has. Any particular street you were thinking about?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:06, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Google maps also has a nice measuring tool, though I don't know quite how good the resolution is, I have never tried measuring something that small. I will try it with my car later today. Googlemeister (talk) 13:26, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

You're going to measure your car with Google Maps? Were you lucky enough to find your car pictured on GM? Dismas|^(talk) 22:46, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

No, I think he's going to measure some street widths with his car. Me, I'd use a tape measure. :)

One thing to bear in mind is that, from my knowledge of Sydney, street widths vary quite considerably. It's been growing steadily since 1788, when ideas about street widths would have been somewhat different to ours of today. The Sydney conurbation (which is a moving feast in itself) has for a very long time been split between a large number of different councils, who would undoubtedly have different rules about such matters. The state government would also have a stake in determining the characteristics of major thoroughfares that pass through Sydney. -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 03:44, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Psychology

WHAT IS CONFLICT?WHAT ARE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSES OF CONFLICT IN INDUSTRY?SUGGEST MEASURES TO REDUCE CONFLICT IN AN ORGANIZATION. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.194.232.17 (talk) 14:52, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Please do your own homework.

Welcome to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misinterpretation, but it is our aim here not to do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn nearly as much as doing it yourself. Please attempt to solve the problem or answer the question yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 15:05, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Also, please do not type in ALL CAPITALS - it is considered "shouting" and therefore rude. You might also consider saying "please" when asking for help. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 15:07, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Commercial leases

Are there any websites (or other sources of information) that give estimates of the "going rate" for renting or leasing commercial property? In other words, if I were to rent out (or to rent) commercial property, I would not know if the rate were too high or too low or just about right. And I assume there must be some type of "industry standard" for this type of matter. Example: As a general rule, commercial property located in Hartford, CT, should expect to be leased at about $10 per square foot. Or whatever. Something along those lines. There must be some industry standard expectation rates, I would imagine. Does anyone know anything about this ... or can direct me to any good websites or other sources of information? Thanks. (64.252.65.146 (talk) 16:22, 30 June 2010 (UTC))

There is indeed a going rate, in any particular area, but it's all really local and dependent on the property itself and its amenities: is this a AAA full-service office space on the 20th floor of a downtown office tower, or is it a NNN lease in a run-down business park on the bad side of town? If you really want to search online you could google commercial real estate, but if you are the renter, you are going to want to talk to a commercial real estate broker. It costs you nothing; the landlord ends up paying the broker if you lease his property. The broker will chat with you over the phone about your budget and the square footage you need and other amenities you want, and he'll possibly prepare an "information packet" for you containing a dozen "sell sheets" of properties that seem close to what you're seeking; and he'll meet you at the properties of your choice so you can browse. Any decent broker will give you way more information than you can glean from browsing lease websites, IMO. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:28, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I am the landlord, in this case, not the tenant. The long and short of the matter is ... I'd rather not "hire" and pay an agent for some basic general info that I can probably find out for myself and on my own. I already have a tenant in a lease, and we (the tenant and I) are simply renewing the lease. Any suggestions? Thanks. (64.252.65.146 (talk) 18:22, 30 June 2010 (UTC))

Well couldn't you tell the agent that you are looking to rent a space with specifications very similar to what you have and find out what similar landlords are charging? Googlemeister (talk) 20:15, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

He could, but that's rather abusive of the broker, who is acting in good faith. It would of course be fine if you honestly told the broker you're a landlord and not looking to engage his services but are interested in the comps. Sorry, original poster, my experience is on the other side of the table from yours, so I don't know of a great resource for landlords to compare prices. The commercial landlords I know do seem to know the names and locations and conditions of the other office properties in the neighborhood, and how they compare to the landlord's own property; so maybe they all do the underhanded thing that Googlemeister suggested (although I assume the brokers would then get to know their faces really fast) — or maybe there's a Secret Landlord's Club. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:29, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Related question

Perhaps a better way to phrase the above question might be this. Where can I find the going commercial "reasonable rates" (i.e., in percentage terms) of an increase in rent from year to year? In other words ... regardless of the initial base rental price ... rents are generally expected to increase by XX percent per year. Is this type of information readily available on the interent or at any particular websites? Thank you! (64.252.65.146 (talk) 18:32, 30 June 2010 (UTC))

Cheating in South Asia

Only around 2% of Wikipedia traffic comes from India & Pakistan, but I've noticed that many/most of the "do my homework for me" posts come from those nations. I speculate that there's a different cultural view on behavior that a Westerner like me considers "cheating", perhaps based on the greater stakes of living in a country with a lesser social safety net, but does anyone happen to have any solid data on this phenomenon? Thanks. --Sean 19:27, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

First, I do not think that most of our homework questions come from South Asia. Second, if those questions come disproportionately from that region, it may reflect something like desperation. I have in my head an image of a university student with a full-time, low-wage job, desperate to escape from his dead-end existence, but without sufficient time to devote to his studies. Marco polo (talk) 20:18, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

When I've taught at various universities, I have definitely heard people say that Chinese immigrants in particular have a very different conception of what counts as "cheating" than Western students, and that one often had to re-stress to them exactly what counts as "copying" or "plagiarism" and so on. I don't know if that is backed up by empirical facts or not, and my own experience is not broad enough to draw any conclusions. Similarly I doubt the sample size of Ref Desk questions is probably not large enough to use to draw any conclusions either. It seems plausible to me that different cultures would have different standards for this sort of thing. Professors I've had in the past recounted that growing up in the USSR in the 1960s and 1970s, that cheating was considered fairly obvious and not shameful, and part of the pedagogical culture of Soviet classrooms from very early on. Again, just anecdotes, no data. But the American "standard" for what constitutes creativity, proper citation, and so on, is certainly not transcendental (or even transhistorical), and is itself fairly slippery on a number of points (e.g. the entire culture of "gaming" standardized tests, which almost all recognize as undermining the entire point of testing, but is near-universally regarded as "necessary" if one wants to get ahead in life). --Mr.98 (talk) 21:23, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Mothering/Parenting/etc along those lines media

Looking for alternative/s to mainstream and Midwifery Today--Jessica A Bruno (talk) 19:43, 30 June 2010 (UTC)?

Yet to reach this stage of life and etc. I'm just a student of life.

2nd guessing myself now if I should have looked into other media along those lines. To see if there was something more/much more cheaper then resubscribing to here (MTM). At the same time already tried most of the all other media before landing here. Found the other media are good in areas, but lacking in areas. Which I found that MT and MTC are good in areas and not lacking in areas. Still think I should have looked into another media besides here before deciding to resubscribing to MTM. Also, have resubscribed to 2 other meida that I used to get as well. Don't worry they aren't in this subject/s, but other subjects.

Think thats it for now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mybodymyself (talk • contribs) 19:32, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Cell Phone Explosion?

Is it true that cell phones can explode if left on the charger too long, or is this an urban myth like allegators in the sewer system (at least outside of Florida? If so, do I have time to overcharge it before the Forth of July? Rebele | Talk ^{The only way to win the game is to not play the game.} 20:05, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I would hope that if this scenario were possible with the standard cell phone charger that there would have been a recall, or at least a nice big warning label. That said, I suppose if the charger was faulty and the phone was in a hazardous location, it might start melting and cause an explosion. Googlemeister (talk) 20:13, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Snopes say "True"! --Tango (talk) 20:41, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I don't see anything in the Snopes page about phones expolding simply because they were left charging too long. Rmhermen (talk) 21:18, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Lithium batteries are dangerous because they can easily heat up and catch fire; however the chargers and batteries include circuitry to prevent this by limiting currents, preventing over-charging, and cooling the battery. Lithium-ion_battery#Safety_requirements describes. So they won't usually catch fire if left on a charger because the charger or battery will cut the current; however if there is a fault (or if vents are covered) they can get very hot, and lithium is very flammable. More information at [12][13][14][15][16][17]. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.41.14.1 (talk) 22:41, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Congratulations Mr. Castro, you've just won a brand new special edition iPhone! Clarityfiend (talk) 03:36, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

gmt

I'm scheduled for an online interview. I live in Kenya and the interview is slated for July 1, 2010 8:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. So in Kenya what time is it. Please just tell me the answer, I've heard enough people tell me to Google it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.212.91.149 (talk) 21:14, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Plenty of time zone converter services are easily found on the internet; here's one. 2030 EST would be 0430 the following day in Nairobi. Note, however, that the US (if that's the target destination) is presently on daylight savings time, and EST is not commonly in use at present. I recommend double-checking the relevant time. — Lomn 21:20, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

(ec) Yup, 04:30:00 a.m. Friday July 2. --Tagishsimon (talk) 21:23, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Warning: In my experience, many people in America thoughtlessly use the terms "EST" and "PST" for "Eastern time" and "Pacific time", respectively, whether the country is currently on Standard Time or Daylight Time. "EDT" and "PDT" are really never seen ... again, in my WP:OR personal experience. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:16, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, if the place is in the US or Canada, and someone is saying EST for that date then it is almost certainly an error for EDT. Which means the time you want is one hour earlier -- 03:30 Friday morning in Kenya. Good luck with the interview. --Anonymous, 03:46 UTC, July 1, 2010.

Eastern Standard Time may also refer to Australian Eastern Standard Time, which is GMT+10. Steewi (talk) 23:41, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

July 1

Star Spangled Banner -- Music question

With a range of one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing.

I don't understand any musical jargon but am interested in knowing what this means in reference to the Star Spangled Banner (copied from the second paragraph). Reading the octave article doesn't help me, because in addition to now not understanding what octave means, I have the added difficulty of interval, pitch and frequency. I understand that frequency is the number of sine waves within a given length of rope, but I don't know how that physics-lab sort of definition necessarily plays into music. If someone could please explain in complete and utter non-musical-jargon (or at least define jargon words exceedingly well when used) what it means that the Star Spangled Banner ranges in one and a half octaves and explain which words are the ones that go to the varying ranges (I do know the tune). Thanx. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 03:00, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

One and a half octaves is about the limit an untrained voice can sing. Unfortunately, unless the pitch range of the song as sung on any given occasion exactly matches the pitch range of your voice, it will be tough to sing.

The lowest note in SSB is the third note, on "say"; the highest, an octave and a half up, is on "red glare". Antandrus (talk) 03:07, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

To be honest, defining words such as "interval" and "pitch" are difficult to describe non-musically. (I'll tell you straight-out that few musicians use the word "frequency" when describing a song - that's really more a scientific thing." But I can describe it in terms of the song. In "The Star-Spangled Banner," an octave is the distance note-wise between the words "say" and "see" in the first line. The distance between the very first word of the song, "Oh," and "red glare" is also an octave. (Timing doesn't matter here - I'm talking just about the sound of the notes.) As Antandrus mentioned above the average untrained voice can only sing a maximum range of one and a half octaves - about the distance between the words "say" and "red glare" in that song. Which means that for an untrained singer this song may start on notes which are about in the middle of their able singing range and end up—when we get to the "rocket's red glare" bit—higher than the person can sing. Hope this explanation helps. Ryankiefer (talk) 03:27, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

1/2 ounce gold coins

I have noticed a large difference in the price of gold coins. Is it because of the % of 24 karat gold the u.s. mint used in producing them and how can I find out how pure a coin is? I have seen 1986 coins for sale at $250 and 1998 ones listed at $1400.184.0.110.238 (talk) 04:58, 1 July 2010 (UTC)