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July 21

filibuster

Resolved

I just read that the US Democrats "just" broke through a Republican filibuster -- what does this mean (emphasis on the "just")? Did not enough Democrats/Independents agree to signal that they wished the filibuster to be over and then they suddenly changes their mind? DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 02:26, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Today, Carte Goodwin was sworn in, so the Democrats got another Senator, for now, and that was the extra vote they needed. Comet Tuttle (talk) 05:22, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, thanx! DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 14:52, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Personal Opinions on Global Warming

What are Bjørn Lomborg, Penn Jillette, and Teller's personal opinions on global warming? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.176.14.2 (talk) 03:39, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Their own. (Couldn't resist). Moriori (talk) 03:55, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

F T W ! DOR (HK) (talk) 06:18, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

You again?! Okay fine. For what it's worth, the Bjørn Lomborg and Penn Jillette articles cover this. As for Teller, his views are pretty much in line with Jillette's. Dismas|^(talk) 10:21, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Following the axiom that "silence implies consent"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:33, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Breathes there a man....

Can a man love another man without becoming homosexual ?  Jon Ascton  (talk) 04:41, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

There are lots of kinds of love. I assume you're talking about the sexual, lustful kind? Also, people aren't always 100% straight or homosexual. There are shades between. --mboverload@ 04:46, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Our Sexual orientation article is all about this subject. Comet Tuttle (talk) 05:25, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

If no one is 0% or 100% gay (i.e. grayshades between exist) then how do governmnets (or alike) come to know them, for instance when they are "persecuted" (whatever that means) etc.  Jon Ascton  (talk) 04:56, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Let me ask you a more general question: Is it possible to love someone without it becoming sexual? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:43, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Usually people define "homosexual" as "self-identifies as homosexual" since that is pretty much the only reasonable objective definition. --Tango (talk) 06:10, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

This whole business of self-identification bothers me. Whatever one thinks of one's own sexuality, the fact of the matter is that there are societal norms and conventions which have evolved over time and those are what matters. As far as I'm concerned there are only three possible types of human sexuality, straight, gay and bi, and which one you are is defined by who you sleep with. --Viennese Waltz ^talk 07:50, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Jon Ascton, "shades of grey" exist between white people and black people, but that never stopped anyone from persecuting anyone else. APL (talk) 06:29, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I love my dad, and I'm not gay. -- Q Chris (talk) 07:43, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Bingo. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:31, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

See Down-low (sexual slang). Everard Proudfoot (talk) 06:14, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

John, just to be clear, what was said was that "people aren't always 100% straight or homosexual". This is not the same as what you then questioned when you said "If no one is 0% or 100% gay". "Aren't always" is not the same as "never". Dismas|^(talk) 09:56, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

To address the legal / persecution question, the behavior, not the emotion, is in some places (and for some weird reasons) considered BAD. DOR (HK) (talk) 06:19, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, sort of. Legally, DOR (HK) is correct; the society makes it a crime to have sexual contact with another person of the same gender. In practice, though, the police working in a certain neighborhood learn who is reputed to be homosexual and what places are gay hangouts, and then the police raid those places when they feel like it, possibly beating the crap out of apparently-gay people, or arresting them for, say, holding hands, for "disturbing the peace" or "sodomy" or whatever other crime can be applied. The "Background" section of our Stonewall riots article has some pretty good material on the USA's history about this. Apart from criminalizing the sex acts, "persecution" might mean a lot of things. About 500 people were fired from their US government jobs in the 1940s for being homosexual; that seems like a form of persecution. Nowadays, some activists use the word "persecution" to describe "ethically wrong discrimination", and currently in Western countries the focal area for this is the ongoing gay marriage controversy. In other countries the controversy remains simply "being homosexual"; our LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia article, for example, notes that homosexual acts are still illegal there, with a lengthy prison term or execution as punishment. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:08, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

How did those folks get fired from their jobs? What was the basis for it? Did the government ask, and did 500 respondents stupidly say, "Yes"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:31, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

No, someone said "I think XYZ is a homo; fire him." There weren't a lot of protections for gay people until very recently. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 22:27, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I wonder what they used for "evidence". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:42, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

The source - it's actually 420 people, not 500, sorry - is this book, which I don't have a copy of; it's cited many times in the Stonewall riots article. With regard to the basis of the firing, here's footnote #1 from that article:

Except for Illinois, which decriminalized sodomy in 1961, homosexual acts, even between consenting adults acting in private homes, were a criminal offense in every U.S. state at the time the Stonewall riots occurred: "An adult convicted of the crime of having sex with another consenting adult in the privacy of his or her home could get anywhere from a light fine to five, ten, or twenty years—or even life—in prison. In 1971, twenty states had 'sex psychopath' laws that permitted the detaining of homosexuals for that reason alone. In Pennsylvania and California sex offenders could be locked in a mental institution for life, and [in] seven states they could be castrated." (Carter, p. 15) Castration, emetics, hypnosis, electroshock therapy and lobotomies were used by psychiatrists to attempt to cure homosexuals through the 1950s and 1960s.(Katz, pp. 181–197.)(Adam, p. 60.)

Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:09, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

There are a whole lot of bi-sexual men. Also consider the identification men who have sex with men. Also, maybe they just got drunk one time :p Jabberwalkee (talk) 15:00, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, love of many kinds is possible without necessarily "becoming homosexual", as the OP puts it. See the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid for one way of interpreting different variables such as sexual attraction, behaviour, fantasies, and emotional, social and lifestyle preferences, as well as self-identification. Human sexuality is more complex than the Kinsey scale would have us believe. BrainyBabe (talk) 17:03, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Flying from Thailand to Israel

Can a user please tell me when flying by El-Al from Thailand to Israel, over which countries does one fly? Thank you.Simonschaim (talk) 12:47, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Egypt and Israel give each other mutual overflight rights, and Israel has decent relations with Eritrea, Djibouti, and India. Apparently, the usual flight path for El Al planes headed for South or Southeast Asia is to fly south within Israel to Eilat, then over the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea on the Egyptian side to avoid Saudi airspace. The planes continue over the Eritrean and Djiboutian side of the Bab-el-Mandeb, then make an almost 90° turn to proceed east over the Gulf of Aden, avoiding Yemeni and Somali airspace, into the Indian Ocean. El Al has overflight rights for India, so planes could fly over southern India. Israel also has good relations with Myanmar, so flying over southern Myanmar to Bangkok would not be an issue. Marco polo (talk) 14:05, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Here's an intercontinental destination map for El Al that shows the roundabout flight path Marco polo mentions. Note also the flight paths to Hong Kong and Beijing, which go around the Arab countries and Iran. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 22:13, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

You forgot the link. Rimush (talk) 08:22, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Map: http://www.airlineroutemaps.com/West_Asia/El_Al_international.shtml. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 12:46, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you. Simonschaim (talk) 04:33, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Public Speaking by Military Members

I have heard that a new policy prohibits members of the military from public speaking at any faith based functions. Is this true?

Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.53.51.238 (talk) 15:09, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Short Version : No. It is not true.

In USA the right-wing is always trying to spread rumors that the left it trying to oppress religious freedom. This is more of the same. (To be fair, The left also spreads rumors that the right is trying to oppress religious freedom, but they're rumors of a recognizably different flavor.)

If such a rule were really going into effect, It would cause so much wide-spread outrage from both the left and the right that you wouldn't be able to turn on a television without getting an earful of it!

In any case, here's the lowdown right here on Snopes.

APL (talk) 16:05, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

To extract the key information from the Snopes link:

In short, according to the U.S. Army, this issue was not a "faith-based" issue or a substantially new interpretation of policy, but rather an application of a long-standing policy that prohibits uniformed military personnel from engaging in most political, fundraising, and religious activities. They are allowed to participate in such activities, but only while off-duty and out of uniform, and only as long as they are not paid for their time.

Basically, the policy is intended to avoid giving anyone the impression that the armed forces specifically endorse any particular charity, political party, or religion. This is not new to the Obama administration. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 20:57, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Also, it would presumably be a breach of the 1st amendment for someone in the employ of the government to promote religion - and soldiers are presumed to be in the pay of the government whenever they are in uniform. SteveBaker (talk) 01:55, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

United States Air Force Chaplain Corps, Chaplain Corps (United States Army) and United States Navy Chaplain Corps might disagree with you Steve. Googlemeister (talk) 14:52, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

To clarify, there is a distinction between providing pastoral care to their own employees, and implying (by word or deed) to the public that the Armed Forces specifically endorse one religion or another. The Chaplain Corps are not meant to proselytize. The distinction may be subtle, but it is extremely important. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:02, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Toyota model in England

Does the 97 Toyota Corolla DX in the United States have a nearly identical model (body design) in England? I tried to look it up, but the models in England are hatchback, estate, and saloon. -- kainaw™ 17:59, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

To translate; "hatchback" equals "liftback", "estate car" equals "station wagon" and "saloon car" equals "sedan".

The WP article Toyota Corolla (E110) says: "Unlike the Japanese counterparts, the North American Corolla at this time was only offered as a four-door compact sedan." If this is correct, the "saloon" model is the one you want. Alansplodge (talk) 18:58, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Railroad lights

I joined a site a few years back which I had hoped would provide answers to these questions, but no one did.

I used to live on a main railroad line (actually, several hundred feet from the railroad at the end of a long driveway connecting to the road running parallel). Going both north and south from my house along the railroad tracks, there were basic sets of lights. Both north and south of my house, the first set of lights had green at the top, yellow in the middle and red at the bottom, green being normal, and one set of lights facing each direction. The next set of lights, in each direction, had two sets of lights facing each way. Yellow was normal on top, and the bottom set could be either red or green but not yellow. I forget which color was normal. Farther down the track going south, there were two full ses of lights facing each way. I don't remember the normal colors. I've forgotten what lights were next going north. The final set of lights I remember before a town had a structure over the railroad, with red, yellow and green possible on two sets of lights at the top, and always red below each of those. One set of lights like that is on a track I walked over yesterday.

What do these various sets of lights mean?Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 18:32, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Far as I know, those are used like traffic lights, in an area where a single track is bidirectional. I'll see what I can find out. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:35, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

And as I suspected, Railway signals were the inspiration for Traffic signals. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:37, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I even asked at the local railroad museum about 20 years ago and they tried to get my to look for guidelines which I would have to buy (today's equivalent would be going to eBay). That was before the Internet.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 18:39, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

The traffic signals article mentions that the original traffic lights were the semaphore type, like the railroads originally used. That's evident in some cartoons of the 1940s. Obviously, lights are easier to see on cloudy days and the like. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:42, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm afraid the article was not helpful. With all the different countries, I should add I'm in the United States.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 18:44, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Does this diagram help? (They are the U.S. and Canadian signals authorized by NORAC.) — Michael J 17:30, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

There are a few things to say here. First, the original poster seems to be describing signals with different lamps for each color, so that only one is on at a time, like traffic lights on a road. This type of signal is standard practice in Britain but in North America I have only seen them used on subway systems and most railroads use signals where the lamps are permanently lit and a colored filter is used to show red, yellow, or green. With the old-style semaphore signals you could see the colored disks, which rotated along with the signal arm (the idea was that you'd see the arm position in daytime and the colors at night), but the modern style has the works concealed so you just see a single lamp that changes color. (I suppose today an apparatus with this appearance might use LEDs internally instead.) In Britain they call this a "searchlight signal", as distinct from the other kind, which they call a "colour-light signal".

When there is just one colored light, the basic meaning is that green = clear to go (typically implying that the next signal is not red), yellow = prepare to stop at next signal (typically because it is red), red = stop here. Stop signals may be for any of several reasons, a conflicting train, a switch not set for your route, scheduling reasons, etc. Yellow may call for a specific speed, or on lines using written train orders, it may also mean to pick up a train order at this station with no need to stop. (Someone holds it up on a stick to be grabbed by a crew member leaning out.)

When multiple lights are used on the same pole, allowing a combination of colors, different meanings are possible. There is an elaborate standard code used on many North American lines, already linked above. I used to live in an apartment from which I could see every day a signal that used a different code: each light was used for a different way that the train might go, and had the usual meaning. So at this signal only one light in a column could be yellow or green: Green-red-red was "go, you will take right-hand track", red-green-red was "go, you will take middle route", and so on.

Subway systems and some railways may have their own codes. On the Toronto subway, where there are two lights on a pole the top one has the usual meaning while the bottom one is red if the top is red, and otherwise green for "you will take the usual route" and yellow for "you will turn off". (At the specific signal illustrated, there is no yellow bottom lamp because there is only one track that trains passing this signal are allowed to take. The presence of a second lamp just marks it as a "home signal", subject to possible manual control.) Likewise on some lines of the New York subway.

If you see signals that are "normally green", it probably indicates that they are controlled automatically. On railways where each train requires an explicit action by a signalman before it is authorized to proceed, the signals would be "normally red". The latter system is usual in Britain but I don't know if any North American railroads use it.

This is a big topic. There is no substitute for talking to someone with knowledge of the specific railway whose signals you want to know about. --Anonymous, edited 05:12 UTC, July 24, 2010.

the study of spiders

I hate spiders and so would like to know which ones are which. What I am looking for is a book on spiders that is much like a bird book. One can look up what one has seen by either where it was spotted or by what it looks like and therby can find the name and some useful information. Can some one sugest such a book for me, if it exists. The format that I would hope to find would be similar to that of Dr.Richard Liversidge's books on ornathology. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.145 (talk) 20:12, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

As you appear to be located in England, this one looks to be the sort of thing you want. Deor (talk) 21:19, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I haven't seen this one, but Collins Field Guides are generally excellent. Alansplodge (talk) 18:42, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Paris

My band and I would like to play a gig or two in Paris, after having met a Parisian band in England, I have promised my band that I will get this organised. Can some one please sugest some small venues where a five piece band might play in Paris. What I would ultimatly require is an email address for the pub landlord or the person that would organise gigs for small unsigned bands. Or any such venue that has a website where I can get this information. We play original music. also, how accurate is google translate? Any help in this would be greatly appreciated, and I will buy you a beer if you come and see us play. Thanks for everything Wikipedians. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.145 (talk) 20:17, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

It might help to know what kind of band. Is it punk metal, or jazz, or what? Googlemeister (talk) 20:35, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

we play a mixture of styles some where between pop, metal, jazz and funk. a bit like Guano apes meets evanesence meets gojira with a hint of the dave brubeck quartet, and a smidgen of incubus, but saying that it is not really for me to judge what type of music we play, I am just the bassist and manager. lots of fast drumming, female vocals, keyboards, pink floyd-esk guitar solos, and funky bass lines. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.145 (talk) 21:47, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

You might find it an easier start to try one of the many Irish pubs in Paris. This search might help you find a suitable venue and quite probably with English speaking staff. Astronaut (talk) 22:50, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

How about asking the band from Paris you met directly? They might offer suggestions, and You could take it from there once you have any leads on a place that would be sympathetic to you. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:56, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

You could browse the forthcoming event listings on Last FM and follow the links to the venues in those listings. Or buy a copy of the Time Out Guide to Paris and go through the venue listings there. --Viennese Waltz ^talk 08:10, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Back when my band was still active, what we usually did was to browse bands' Myspace profiles from the city we wanted to go, contact one or two whose style we liked and offer to set up a gig for them in Munich if they in turn organized something for us in their city. Wonderful times...that was a couple years ago, and I know Myspace is no longer as popular as it used to be, but from a quick glance at our band's long-neglected Myspace page there's still quite a bit of traffic so you should still be able to do that (or something similar, quite frankly I have no idea which social networking site is used by bands these days :) ) -- Ferkelparade π 09:40, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

My experiences with Google translate (the person did ask) have not been particularly positive. The results look silly nearly every time.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:20, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Here are some samples I found of Google translate (again, the person asked):

The company has its origins in the construction department of the VÖEST that after 1945 with the restoration of the mill was entrusted Linz.

In 1995, the GIA of Voest-Alpine and removed from a 100 -% - daughter of the then newly established VA TECH.

As the most important invention is still true as the LD process by which over 50% of the steel mills will be operated worldwide.

The VA Tech is in the Austrian Industries (a former project of the former conglomerate ÖIAG Boss Hugo Michael Sekyra emerged).

1997 1946 have been since the nationalized "ELIN-UNION AG" and the 1955 Upper Austrian company also nationalized electric Bau AG and transferred to the " VA Tech Elin EBG "together, today's division for infrastructure.

I needed to translate some Wikipedia articles from German to improve articles I was working on. This is not helpful.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:44, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Gas grill

I have a regular propane BBQ -- is it necessary to turn the propane tank closed after each use, or is turning the flame knobs to an off position sufficient? Will gas leak if the tank is not cranked 'closed' or is there any greater risk of exploding, etc.? DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 21:21, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I think it's just a matter of common sense. Places for leaks to occur when tank valve is closed: the tank valve. Places for leaks to occur when the tank valve is open: all those hoses and connections between the tank and the burners. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 22:20, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

What Jpgordon said. I was unpleasantly surprised recently to find that I was out of propane on a new tank. I had failed to close the valve on the tank itself. Never again, I say. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:55, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I also worry about rats/squirrels gnawing through the rubber hose. I've had various bits of my car chewed by rodents over the years - and I don't want to think about what could happen if they chewed the BBQ hoses while they were under pressure. I also strongly suspect (without actual evidence) that the gas gradually leaks out of the various fittings and hoses between the cylinder and the front panel controls. But the safety issue is the thing that bothers me the most...so I certainly shut off the cylinder at the valve. SteveBaker (talk) 01:46, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

What would be the proper term for "Italian bread" from an American bakery?

It there a specific traditional European loaf in Italy from which we derive the American term "Italian bread" (like "French bread" = "baguette") or is this a development of Italian-American bakeries? (Question referred from Talk:List of Italian dishes#Italian Bread?.)Novangelis (talk) 21:45, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I learnt to make two types of Italian flat bread from Jamie Oliver's first book. Both ciabatta and focaccia are available from my local (in the UK) Italian sandwich shop. The former is more common, it can be found in most supermarkets and many other bakeries here. The later tastes better, 'cos it has loads of olive oil in it. Restaurant chain Bella Italia makes the best fresh focaccia I ever tasted. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to go to Italy to try out the Real McCoy. --Chan Tai Man 22:24, 21 July 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chantaiman (talk • contribs)

Generally, the Italian bread sold at American grocery stores can refer to one of two items, neither of which would ever be found in Italy:

• Prepackaged, sliced white sandwich bread with sesame seeds is called "Italian bread". See [1]. Its basically "wonder bread with sesame seeds".
• An oversized loaf of white bread, roughly the size and shape of a flattened rugby ball, is also often called "Italian bread": [2]. This is usually fresh-baked bread (different from the chemical foam with sesame seeds cited above), and is distinguished in American bakeries from "French bread" which is usually the same recipe, but baked in narrower tube shapes, like this: [3].

So, there you have it. --Jayron32 06:38, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I was the one who originally asked the question. Thanks for the information! Still, should there be some sort of notation for that? How the Italian bread labeled as such in American bakeries is basically a fatter French bread and isn't actually Italian? There's no article on the bread as we know it, and not having it mentioned under that article could cause confusion. Even my Italian grandmother calls it Italian Bread. A Google search for 'Italian bread' brings up mostly the fat loaf, adding even more confusion to the issue. 149.15.75.191 (talk) 15:01, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

July 22

what are the duties of a hospital support service liaison?

what are the duties of a hospital support service liaison?

Did you ask the hospital that is offering the job? They will likely tell you. --Jayron32 02:18, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, call them or go and visit. Chevymontecarlo 08:44, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

'Support services' in hospitals are generally the services that are not clinical, that is to say do not have direct intentional contact with patients/client/users. Examples would be catering workers, cleaners, secretarial staff, patient transport and the like. These services are probably managed by a department separate from the clinical management structure, or might be private sector contracts, and thus would not have any managers in common. It would be necessary therefore to have a person or persons who communicate between the clinical areas and the support services to ensure that problems are identified and solved. It would be essential to make contact with any particular hospital to understand how their support services are provided. Richard Avery (talk) 17:30, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

GSM phone with external antenna port?

I'm in an area with very bad mobile reception and am looking for a GSM phone with an external antenna port. These used to be easy to find but the quest for smaller packages and more crap in the phone seem to have caused most manufacturers to give up on the feature. Are any still made? Thanks. 67.122.211.208 (talk) 00:19, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Why not use an older phone model, if you don't want the hassle of dealing with features you won't use? Any GSM phone, however old, will still work on present-day GSM networks. My first phone was a Bosch 909 Dual S, which was already out of date when I got it, with no memory at all (it could store 12 txts in the simcard), and the only "features" being an alarm and a calculator... but it looks so cool I didn't care. Even after 4 years I still got compliments from randoms on the metro. They are still sold on eBay, and if you need, you can unscrew the antenna from the top and attach a more powerful one. You might find it works without that. I always got good reception and a long battery life. 86.147.153.126 (talk) 18:52, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Ratio of Unregistered Wikipedians to Registered Wikipedians

I'm trying to find information on the ratio of unregistered Wikipedians to registered Wikipedians. (I.e., how many casual, unregistered users get around to registering, at some point.) My apologies if there was a better place of asking this question; it didn't quite seem to fit in under science, computing, or the village pump. Katya (talk) 00:28, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

These statistics are tough to nail down. WP:STATS is a good starting point. There are 12 million named-user accounts - but only 130,000 of them actually edited during the last month - only 50,000 edited more than 5 times and just 5,000 edited more than 100 times. So an awful lot of named accounts don't represent what I would personally call "a Wikipedian" (someone who edits at least a handful of times a month). The claim in our stats is that there have been 400,000 unique users editing here in the last month - so on that basis, about one out of every three people who edit Wikipedia have accounts.

I couldn't find any statistics for the number of unregistered users who have edited Wikipedia over all time.

But even that 400,000 'unique users' number isn't right because we only know anonymous users by their IP address. But lots of people have DHCP accounts where they get a different IP address every time they turn on their computers - and other people share IP addresses. With named users, some people forget their passwords or something and create more than one account - but very few people share named user accounts - so the named user numbers could also be a little high.

So we can't really know how many actual people have edited Wikipedia.

SteveBaker (talk) 01:40, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

From personal experience, the "established" editor (that is to say editors that are either whitelisted or who are using an established automated tool) ratio tends to be extremely consistent around 82%. In other words, 18% of most edits are done by non-established editors. Shadowjams (talk) 08:31, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your help! Katya (talk) 15:10, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I think the question was about the number of editors - not the number of edits...but I agree about the ratio of edits by signed-in editors. The numbers are heavily skewed by just a few editors though - I like to think I'm pretty active here (22,000 edits over 5 years) - but I'm only the 1,600th most prolific editor! SteveBaker (talk) 23:32, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Are you competing against the bots there Steve? Googlemeister (talk) 14:09, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Evidently! It's hard to believe that Rjwilmsi has manually typed 423,521 edits! SteveBaker (talk) 15:01, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

I've run some stats scripts but they all rely on the basic wiki stats API functions. Those functions are confounded by a few things, including deleted pages, rev-deleted edits, and other quirks. But as a general rule, a vast majority of edits are done by a small portion of editors. I know there've been others that have published on this, and my numbers aren't verified by any stretch, but you might try pulling down some wiki stats, recording the time, and then doing so again a few days or weeks later. Those stats should show you some basic trends. Average edits are around 100-180 per minute (with the above caveats) and new user creation is surprisingly high (maybe about 3 per minute). New article creation holds steady (this incorporates page deletion) at around (this is from memory) 1 page per minute... but page creation is much higher (probably largely talk page creation for new users). If you want more details I can try and be specific, but it's pretty straight forward to query the stats API and then do the simple math. Shadowjams (talk) 07:39, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Job Prospects

How difficult is it to get a teaching/research assistant while doing a masters or doctoral degree at some of the more prestigious schools? Does the job count as your tuition, or do you have to put in extra money? How much (like percentage-wise)? What is the level of pay compared to other jobs? Is it easy to get a job, such as a research position somewhere, afterwards? 202.45.54.113 (talk) 06:11, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

For me it was essentially a required part of the degree. I suppose this may not be the case for every school, but we got fellowship money that paid for tuition and living expenses. We had to have a TA or RA job as well, which was technically a real job but in reality it just meant that whatever money we got from that was subtracted from the fellowship money from the university. (If that makes sense.) Not everyone always got an assistantship, but we always had to apply, to at least make the effort. After getting a degree, pretty much everyone gets an academic job of some sort, if they really want one (some people get the degree and disappear back into the real world, of course). But like I said, maybe this is just a peculiarity of my field and my university, I don't know. Adam Bishop (talk) 06:19, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

It depends a lot on the field of study. For some graduate degrees, especially those in the sciences, practical experience is required. If you are in a chemistry PhD program, for example, your degree requires a sizable amount of real laboratory experience. The usual arangement is that you get paid for doing this lab work and some teaching work; generally a tuition reimbursement along with a small stipend to cover basic living expenses. It will vary from place to place how this is handled, but in many fields, if you are accepted into the program it generally comes out cost-neutral for you, the student. In other fields, such as getting a managment degree or an MBA or something like that, the student incurs significant costs, much like an undergraduate degree. These are often (but not always) picked up by the employeer of the student; for example your employer may be grooming you for a management position, and would pay for the required graduate degree and give you time off to take the needed courses. --Jayron32 06:28, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

This varies a lot depending on the institution and the academic department. The more well-endowed universities in the United States (Harvard, Stanford, etc.) tend to offer grants to grad students that cover tuition. (That is, they offer free tuition.) They may offer additional stipends that cover or nearly cover living expenses. Back in my day (now more than 10 years ago), my social science department at UC Berkeley, it was possible for most (but not all) students to cobble together grants that covered tuition. Students then competed for TA and RA jobs to cover living expenses. Most who wanted those jobs got them, but not everyone did. Those who didn't were typically not progressing quickly enough toward their degree goal, not applying aggressively enough for outside grants, (occasionally) out of political favor, or otherwise deficient. Marco polo (talk) 19:58, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

The easiest way to find out is to look specifically at the few programs you are really interested in and to talk to existing students there (who are used to fielding these kind of questions). They'll be able to tell you, "oh, it's no problem" or "well, it's tough." It varies a lot. Even "well-endowed" schools vary a lot (e.g. Princeton and Harvard have in my experience pretty different policies in this respect).--Mr.98 (talk) 18:50, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

how can i be a space scientist? (Or astronaut)

i'm a person who want to study about space or kinds of space subjects. And, i'm Asian, 15 years old. Well.. actually, i wanna be a space scientist who are work at NASA.. But i know it is a huge dream. So i want to ask about

1. What university, is might be a best way to be a space scientist. (um... i'm not rich so.. you know like MIT Univ. need a lot of money.. so some other Universitys)

2. and what do i have to do to get to the college. ex. how much points do i have to get in TOEFL,or SAT and other things or tests..

Please answer me properly.. I really want to be —Preceding unsigned comment added by Choyj0423 (talk • contribs) 10:12, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Go to any good university and study either mathematics, physics, engineering or a combination of the above. Universities like MIT usually have scholarship schemes to help people that couldn't afford to go otherwise, so if you have the grades for somewhere like that don't rule it out. --Tango (talk) 10:47, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I recall reading somewhere that a relatively large portion of astronauts went to Stanford for a degree, but I don't remember any specifics. Googlemeister (talk) 14:19, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

See the articles Astronaut, especially Astronaut#Training and Commercial astronaut. At present you must be a citizen of the US to be a NASA astronaut. Some qualifications for astronauts are outstanding physical health, university education and similar abilities to a pilot. You could direct your ambition towards civil or military aviation. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 14:43, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

[Removed some unnecessary spaces from the OP's original formatting to improve legibility - no visible characters altered.] 87.81.230.195 (talk) 16:17, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I agree that step one is definitely to get a degree in a science or math-related subject - but at some point you're going to have to think about what you mean by a "space scientist" - someone who an astronomer, perhaps - who studies planets, stars and galaxies - or a cosmologist who thinks about problems like "how did the universe begin?" and "what is dark matter?". You might be a rocket designer - or a 'materials scientist' who might be working on ways to have spacecraft re-enter the earth's atmosphere without burning up. Maybe a biologist who is concerned about how humans adapt to space? Robotics, electronics - almost every field of science is involved in "space" in some way. At some point, you'll need to specialize in one of those narrower fields - and it's worth starting to think about which one. But yeah - get a science degree! SteveBaker (talk) 23:25, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't think it is a pre-requisite to have undergone pilot training to become an astronaut. Many non-pilots have flown aboard the Shuttle/Soyuz to the International Space Station. Astronaut (talk) 00:46, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

If you want to pilot a spacecraft then you need to be an aircraft pilot first, but you can be a "mission specialist" without any pilot training. I'm not some about commanders of spacecraft - I think they usually start of as pilots too (and often have some piloting responsibilities even as commander). --Tango (talk) 11:02, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

You'll also need to hurry up! America's last spaceship launches in February! APL (talk) 15:11, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Since the OP is age 15, I think the best chance is to get in on the next launch vehicle to be developed. Googlemeister (talk) 19:10, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

By far the cheapest way to become a pilot is to join the Air Force, and flying fast jets would put you in a great position for transferring to NASA later on. When you get to university, look out for recruiters during the freshers week. I'm not sure how it works in the US, but here in the UK there are cadet squadrons at many universities, and promising students can often get a Forces scholarship in return for a service commitment after graduation. 86.149.219.207 (talk) 02:22, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

One other point - all the replies have basically assumed you're a United States citizen, but you didn't say you are. If not, you would have to immigrate to the US and become a citizen before NASA will consider you. See the selection requirements. 86.149.219.207 (talk) 03:27, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

You might want to check this article, Space tourism and categories such as these, Category:Space tourism and Category:Space programs. The way I figure it, you need lots of money, lots of luck, or make it so that someone with big bucks wouldn't mind spending big bucks to get you into space. Good luck.:-)205.189.194.208 (talk) 20:42, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

SCALES INCREASE WEIGHT BY JUMPING = TITLE

Lets say I'm standing still on some scales, and they read 8 stone (because I'm not fat yo!) and now I decided to jump off the scales into the air. At the point where I lift off from the scales, they are reading MORE than 8 stone. Why? How have I increased weight just by jumping? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 1995THEYEAR (talk • contribs) 13:34, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

You have to exert force to jump. When we say that a scale measures weight, we're really saying that the scale measures the force exerted on it. It just happens that, when you're standing still, the force you exert on the scale is the force exerted by gravity on your mass (that is, weight). However, when you jump, you're exerting additional force so that you can overcome the force of gravity. At this point, the scale is measuring both the force of your jump and the force of your mass, making the value on the scale rise. This is not, though, the same as saying that your weight changed -- merely that the value on the scale changed. — Lomn 13:46, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Newton's Second Law of motion F = ma gives the extra downward force F that you exerted to give your mass m an upward acceleration a. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 14:32, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Wouldn't it be more technically correct to say their weight did momentarily change, but their mass did not change? -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:10, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Only to the extent that the gravitational acceleration on the OP would be lower as he moves further away from the Earth. But that's not what's going on here. His weight and mass didn't change - the scale can't accurately measure his weight when he's jumping about. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 20:18, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

I avoided that phrasing because our article, at least, defines weight as "the force exerted by gravity on mass". Once we accept that the mass doesn't change, then clearly the weight doesn't change here, either (at least not per this definition). That's why I instead noted that "a scale measures weight" is the misleading part. It measures force, and under normal conditions that force happens to be weight. — Lomn 21:12, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Harvard University undergraduate programs

The article for Harvard College (part of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences) states that Harvard College is "is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees". The article does not specify what the other school is that offers undergraduate degrees. Thus, if I may ask, what is the second school of Harvard University that offers undergraduate degrees?—Preceding unsigned comment added by DarkApollo (talk • contribs) 17:37, 22 July 2010

This is the wrong Wikipedia:Reference Desk, but isn't it Radcliffe College?—msh210℠ 17:59, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, I guess not. Scratch that. But according to the article Harvard Division of Continuing Education, it's the Extension School.—msh210℠ 18:03, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

That's right, the Harvard Extension School, though they are "nontraditional" degrees for "nontraditional" students. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:06, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

July 23

White photo backgrounds

How do photographers produce photos such as the ones I've shown here, with perfectly or virtually-perfectly white backgrounds? I see what appears to be some sort of paper or fabric behind the wine glass, but the bread appears to be sitting on nothingness. I'd welcome a link to an article, as I couldn't find anything with the search feature. Nyttend (talk) 02:13, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

We've had a question similar to this but it was at least a year ago, maybe two. One way of achieving the effect is to use a white sheet. That way you don't have a horizontal line where the "floor" meets the "wall" to contend with. Also the sheet allows for the light to either remain fairly constant or to taper as it goes. It's all in how you position the sheet relative to the lights. (My wife is a professional photographer and she was shooting with a white backdrop today). From her: A lot of photographers will use white vinyl (what she was using today) or white seamless paper. Dismas|^(talk) 02:31, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Also look up light tents (though we have no article, unfortunately, just a picture of an improvised light tent). These days it could be photoshopped too, of course. ---Sluzzelin talk 02:42, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Even before Photoshop, photographers could remove or diminish shadows and the like with crufty analog techniques like dodging and burning. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:38, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

The simplest way to achieve the effect is to drape white paper of low gloss from a rod, allowing it to gently curve down to the surface behind, and then under the subject. As Dismas says, white vinyl would be more durable. Diffused lighting, (perhaps from a soft box if you're going all out) on both sides and above will minimize shadows, and you can position a narrow key light on the subject if you want highlights, or you can bias to one side and accept a modest shadow. Also, judicious choice of aperture (and use of a tripod) will yield a controlled depth of field that will obscure variations in the foreground and background. You can get a lot of mileage out of a very basic set-up, once you've got the kind of light you like. Acroterion _(talk) 04:08, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Put "light box" and "light tent" into Google images for examples of exactly what you are talking about. They are standard setups for professional photographers. --Mr.98 (talk) 11:25, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

The photo of the wine glass looks like it was taken against white paper or something - but the bread basket was edited with something like GIMP or Photoshop to remove the background and insert a white background instead. You can tell because the shadow under the basket is completely unconvincing. If you want to do it 'naturally' - then Acroterion's instructions (above) are great - you can make your own "soft box" really easily:

1. Buy a super-bright (but cheap) 500 Watt construction light from the tools section of your local DIY store. These have a very bright white strip-light in them which is enclosed in a wire frame to stop you touching the hot surface - a reflector behind them and usually a fancy black and yellow stand. I've seen them as cheap as $10 in Home Depot.
2. Get some white 'foam core' from a hobby store or art supplies shop and cut out four large equilateral triangles - they should be at least 3' across.
3. Cut the last 10cm off of one point of each triangle and tape the four sides together with duct tape to make a kind of funnel.
4. Get some thin white cloth ("scrim" works best - but an old cotton bedsheet will do at a pinch) and tape this over the large end of the funnel.
5. Duct tape the small end of the funnel to the construction lamp.

This makes a GREAT soft box and you can do it for under $15 (I built two of them for $25). The only problem is the tendancy for the thing to overheat because it's all too easy to block the air flow over that super-hot construction lamp. So PLEASE - don't leave them turned on for more than a couple of minutes at a time and NEVER leave them on when you aren't there! I keep a fire extinguisher handy!

SteveBaker (talk) 13:53, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

A day to kill in Kent, England

I'll be staying in Tunbridge Wells, England (traveling from overseas) in a couple of weeks, and it looks like I'll have a day with nothing to do until evening on the Monday, as well as some unbooked time on Sunday. Anything worth seeing around there? I won't have a car. Churchill's house seems to be closed on Mondays. I'm happy to visit a seaside town if it's interesting, but I live on a coast, so seeing water won't blow me away. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 02:27, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

There is plenty to see in Kent. List of tourist attractions in Kent might give you some ideas. Canterbury is the main tourist hub and the Cathedral is well worth a visit. (It inspired me to take up an apprenticeship in stained glass.) If you find yourself in the Margate area don't miss the mysterious Shell Grotto. On the other side of the county the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is fun if you like railways, and it takes you to the wide open spaces of Dungeness.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:39, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

I would suggest Leeds Castle (which despite its name is not in West Yorkshire). It is about 25 miles (40 km) from Tunbridge Wells; but if there's no bus direct from Tunbridge Wells, it might be easier and cheaper to get to Maidstone about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the castle and take a taxi from there. There are some complex options to travel by train (involving two changes since most trains in that area are set up to take commuters into London) but the castle runs shuttle buses from Bearsted station. Astronaut (talk) 09:55, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Lots to see in Dover[4][5]. Also recommended is Rochester, which has a splendid Norman castle and a cathedral almost next door. Adjascent Chatham has an 18th Century fort and the historic Chatham Dockyard, now a maritime museum where you could easily spend a whole day. Alansplodge (talk) 12:42, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

As mentioned, Chatham Dockyard is a great day out if you have any interest in maritime history. The working ropewalk is especially fascinating. Gandalf61 (talk) 13:18, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

The following refers to Royal Tunbridge Wells Alansplodge (talk) 19:06, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

There are some things to do nearby, as well. The town itself is pleasant, particularly the Pantiles area, and there are various museums which may or may not interest you. High Rocks is a popular area for walking, and you can walk there from the town, or catch the Spa Valley Railway if it is running. Also, Tudeley is nearby, with its famous church. Warofdreams talk 14:09, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Dover Castle is pretty neat. Margate is pretty much the iconic British seaside experience - bring a bucket and spade. SteveBaker (talk) 14:15, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

I like Deal Castle too. If you fancy some exercise, the walk between Dover and Deal along the White Cliffs is stunning; "impossible to get lost" and "one of the finest coastal walks in England"[6]. A little-known curiosity in Dover is the Napoleonic Grand Shaft[7][8]; WP doesn't even have a page about it. Alansplodge (talk) 18:59, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't see that a staircase is really worth its own article. It's covered a bit in Dover Western Heights. Algebraist 08:51, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Those are all good ideas, but which ones are reasonably accessible by public transportation from Tunbridge Wells? I'm not as concerned with what county the place I go is in as whether I can get there from where I'm staying without too much trouble. Thanks -- Mwalcoff (talk) 22:24, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

By rail, Tunbridge Wells is on the Charing Cross - Hastings line. Charing Cross is in central London. Just two stops from Tunbridge Wells is Tonbridge where you can change trains to get to Maidstone or Canterbury, Folkstone and Dover. Towards Hastings is the small town of Battle, site of the last successful invasion of England in 1066, now with a small museum and an empty field where the battle is supposed to have taken place.

By bus, this map shows the central Tunbridge Wells bus stops (generally outside the railway station). This site is a journey planner that covers buses in Kent. I easily found guidance on what bus to get from Tunbridge Wells to Leeds Castle for example. Unfortunately, that site is not good for suggesting places you could visit. Astronaut (talk) 11:49, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. What about Hastings? Is that worth a visit? -- Mwalcoff (talk) 01:50, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes. The old town, the fishing quarter, funicular railway, castle, sea front. Tunbridge Wells itself is delightful, and it would be a pity not to allow enough time to look around. Itsmejudith (talk) 11:47, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Well it doesn't seem likely you're going to receive any more replies so I hopefully won't be killing the question by asking, are you visiting Tunbridge Wells so you can write letters to newspapers and such?? Nil Einne (talk) 12:57, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Online talent competition

http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/show/detail/120 . Do you scan a picture you drew, and then upload it? 24.189.87.160 (talk) 03:37, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Ask them directly. You'd have a better chance of getting a quality answer from them rather than anyone here. --Jayron32 04:12, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

If you click on the details link - you'll see that it says "Submission requirements: Please submit one illustration design of the outfit you will create for Florence in .jpg format". So you either have to draw it on paper and scan it - or use software like GIMP or Photoshop to draw the design directly in the computer. If you don't have access to a scanner, I suppose you could draw the design on paper and photograph it with a digital camera - but it's quite hard to do that well, keeping it in focus and well-lit without reflections and shadows. Good luck with the competition! SteveBaker (talk) 13:38, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll need it! 24.189.87.160 (talk) 23:42, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Falkland Islands

Can a British citizen who doesn't have a passport legally travel to the Falkland Islands? Because it's British right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by ComputerKeyboardUser (talk • contribs) 10:10, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Flights to the Falklands are either via Chile (which will obviously mean you'll need your passport) or on an RAF flight from RAF Brize Norton (which are open to civilians, space permitting). Details of that are here - they don't even let you onto the station without either a passport or a similar document (see the "access to the station" section). They also give an email and phone number for the office that you have to deal with when arranging the flights, so I'd recommend you ask them if that's not enough info. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:36, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

To be clear here: Legally - yes you can. Practically - getting there without a passport is definitely going to be difficult. However, if you were to (say) lease a private aircraft to fly you there non-stop from the UK, it ought to be legal. The tricky part of this is that while (as a UK citizen) you are legally entitled to go there without a passport - how do you prove that you're a UK citizen if you don't have a UK passport? Any time you leave the UK and head out into international waters/airspace, you are potentially going to have to prove you're a UK citizen in order to get back in again. That's what passports are for...they make it easy for you to pass through ports when you are legally entitled to do so. If I were to fly back to the UK from the USA without a passport, I'm certainly legally allowed back into the UK - but it might take a bit of work to convince the authorities that I am indeed a British citizen. That's even tougher these days because most airlines and ocean cruisers won't let you on board unless you can provide a passport to show that they won't have to bear the cost of flying you back again in the event that you don't have a right of entry. SteveBaker (talk) 13:28, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

City of London Police

Why did I see several City of London Police vehicles and officers working in Tower Hamlets last night (one police car was stopped for about an hour dealing with something and when backup arrived it was more City of London police, so it seems they weren't just lending a hand as the nearest police to an incident)? Doesn't the Met have responsible for Tower Hamlets? --Tango (talk) 11:22, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, Tower Hamlets is in the Metropolitan Police District. The two forces have been working much more closely with each other in recent years. I used to work in the City and it was not too uncommon for Met vehicles to arrive at incidents there; as Tower Hamlets borders the City, I expect it works the other way. Maybe the incentive is the regular murmerings by politicians about merging the two forces. During the 7 July 2005 London bombings, a Met Deputy Commissioner was "Gold Commander" and the City counterpart was "Silver Commander". Alansplodge (talk) 12:26, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Brackeler Straße

Why are automobiles without sticker or with red sticker not allowed to use the Brackeler Straße in Dortmund? --84.61.131.18 (talk) 13:58, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Are buses without sticker or with red sticker allowed to use the Brackeler Straße in Dortmund? --84.61.131.18 (talk) 13:59, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

A Google-translate of this document suggests that this is to do with severe pollution problems in the area. There seem to be special provisions for busses - but sadly the translation quality (and my German) isn't good enough for me to get you a definitive answer. SteveBaker (talk) 14:43, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

As SteveBaker has correctly found, parts of Brackeler Straße are designated an Umweltzone, or a zone with restricted access for environmental reasons, according to this source. Umweltzonen are being created in urban areas across Germany to combat air pollution. Our German sister project has an article on Umweltzonen. That article offers a list of types of vehicles exempted from restrictions on access, but the list does not include buses. So buses passing through the Umweltzone would presumably have to meet the same emission standards as other comparable vehicles. Marco polo (talk) 15:00, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Weight loss and extra skin

If a teenager looses 100 pounds will they have extra skin? or no? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.190.246.216 (talk) 14:41, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Well, it's got to depend on the person's initial weight. To take an extreme case, if the person started off weighing 800lbs and dropped to 700lbs - the amount of skin stretch required would be fairly small as a percentage...but if the person started at 200lbs and shrank to 100lbs - then the effect would be much greater because proportionately more weight was lost in that case. Fortunately, when you're just a teenager, your skin is still fairly elastic - so I suppose it would shrink back quickly. Another question is: How fast is the weight being lost? If it were as a result of some dramatic crash diet or liposuction or something - then the skin doesn't have time to change - but if you lost 100lbs over the course of (let's say) a year or two - then it would adapt gradually and there would be no "extra". SteveBaker (talk) 14:50, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

BTW while there's nothing wrong with this question, I would point out if anyone is planning to lose 100 pounds they most definitely should see a medical professional first. Nil Einne (talk) 06:58, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

May I also point out an unintentional Biblical echo arising from the spelling "looses".

• II Maccabees 12:46: "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins".
• 21st century version: "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the obese, that they may be loosed from their skins".  :) -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 19:32, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

At one point in my life, I lost about 60 pounds. There wasn't 'extra skin,' because the skin shrinks to adjust as long as you lose weight at a reasonable pace. I did have some 'stretch marks,' but they faded with time. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 19:35, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

If a teenager weighing 100 pounds looses 100 pounds, (S)he will have no extra skin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by FeedMyTrollPuppet (talk • contribs) 21:42, 23 July 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.104.95.35 (talk)

bmw locking nutkeys

could anybody tell me where i can purchase a locking nut key for a bmw 3 series. all i want to do is get a new key rather than buy a new set and have trouble getting the the old ones off. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.197.226.196 (talk) 16:37, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Your nearest BMW dealership and service centre should be able to help. Astronaut (talk) 17:56, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

It really depends if they are OEM lock nuts (probably not) or some brand of aftermarket item (likely). If they are OEM BMW will be able to help, if they aren't you might be able to determine the company that made them and they might be able to help. If you can't get either of these to work they will have to be cut off. I hate locking wheel nuts as the key will inevitably be lost at the worst possible moment. --Leivick (talk) 07:13, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

July 24

Skunks Diet

They are wild. Stinker is pretty tame. But I still don't try to get to close. I live in North Carolina.Thanks for the advise. I won't feed them cheese puffs anymore. They like dry cat food. I know alot of people don't agree but they are beautiful animals. I have 8 skunks which I feed. One I call Stinker. They like cheese Puffs. Will this hurt them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stinker2931 (talk • contribs) 01:40, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

The article on Cheese puffs makes no claims relative to whether they are a healthful part of human or skunk diets. The label of the "cheese puffs" should disclose the amount of calories, fat, carbs, sodium, fiber, fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol in a serving. See Skunk. They are omnivores. The typical diet of a skunk varies with the particular species, [9], [10] , [11]. Edison (talk) 01:55, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

They probably have much more salt in them than the animal would encounter naturally, and that may harm them. While the cheese puffs are unhealthy junk-food for humans, I'm guessing that the bad effects may not have time to take effect within the shorter lifespan of skunks. Eight skunks - I don't think you live in Tunbridge Wells. 92.24.191.36 (talk) 10:25, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Are these wild skunks? Or de-scented pets? If they're pets, obviously you'd be best off asking a veterinarian, but there's plenty of advice online. Including here : Pet_skunk#Diet.

If they're wild, It's probably best not to feed them too much of anything, and let them find food on their own.

Either way, if I may hazard a guess : Cheese Puffs aren't too healthy for humans, they're probably just as much "junk food" for most omnivores. You'd hate for them to be neglecting real food in favor of delicious empty calories. APL (talk) 22:20, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Skunks are in the same subdivision of the carnivore order as dogs. Cheese puffs are not good for any animal in large quantities because of their high sodium (salt) content. Animals (including humans) are drawn to salt because it is necessary and somewhat rare in nature. However, too much salt is harmful. Because people and animals (including skunks) are drawn to salt, they will eat harmful amounts if salt is made plentiful. Another problem with cheese puffs is their carbohydrate (starch and/or sugar) content. Humans have digestive systems that are meant to consume a fair amount of carbohydrates, but skunks, like dogs, are meant to consume mainly animal protein. (See this article on dogs and carbohydrates.) I'm not sure what the ingredients of cheese puffs are, but I bet they include corn and/or soy, neither of which is good for carnivores like skunks. Really the best thing for skunks is animal protein, not including milk or salty products like cheese. The healthiest diet for them is their natural diet: insects, meat (especially frogs and birds), eggs, and smaller amounts of nuts, berries, and root vegetables. Marco polo (talk) 19:01, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Playing though injuries

Why do pro athletes found they have play though their injuries? Still don't get this aspect of pro sports because found its good to play though them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mybodymyself (talk • contribs) 01:41, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, I don't quite understand. Could you rephrase the question? As stated in our article Sports injury, sometimes athletes (or their coaches) decide the athlete should continue to play despite an injury, for "short-term gain", risking much worse injury in order to try to score another point for the team in the coming 60 seconds. Other athletes continue to play despite their injury because of machismo, or because they believe the pain is temporary, and not an indication of an actual injury. (The latter must be wishful thinking almost always, though I have no reference for that assertion.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 03:14, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Wally Pipp Syndrome: The fear that there's someone right behind you waiting to take your job. Wally Pipp was a firstbaseman for the New York Yankees, and a pretty good one at that. The man who replaced him in 1925 didn't give up the job for 2130 straight games. You can find stuff if you search for the phrase "Wally Pipp Syndrome" you'll find LOTS of famous examples where a pretty good player loses their job to someone who was formerly a nobody (c.f. Drew Bledsoe/Tom Brady). Professional athletes have a very tenuous hold on their jobs, and it is believed that any sign of weakness will open the door for a more determined player to take it from you. So you get examples like Jack Youngblood who played the entire 1979 NFL playoffs with a broken leg, or Ronnie Lott, who voluntarily had an injured finger amputated rather than repaired since it meant he could return to play faster. If you aren't playing, then there's a very good chance you may never play again. --Jayron32 06:39, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Question for chess enthusiasts: why this weird move?

Can anyone explain a puzzling move in the chess game at

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1503204 ?

It's Robert Huebner vs Werner Pesch (1967). Huebner was a grandmaster, and he annotated this game in a book he wrote (which I don't have). Pesch was (apparently) a tournament player whose opponents were respected.

Look at the game after the 23rd move. White then plays 24. Rxb6. Here's the move I don't understand: Black plays 24. ... Rxb6. Why doesn't Black, instead, take white's queen -- 24. ... Nxc4 ?

White ended up winning. What on earth was black afraid of? Why didn't he just take the queen (and perhaps win the exchange with 24. Rxb6 Nxc4 25. Rxb8 Nxa3 26. Rxc8 Rxc8, though that's not the question I'm asking)?

I set up this game in a good chess engine at the position following 24. Rxb6, then substituted 24. ... Nxc4. I let the computer play the game at a "9 depth" (it took more than an hour). After 20 moves (i.e., move 44), black had reached an insurmountable advantage, and ended up winning. Here's what the computer played following the substituted play 24. ... Nxc4 (the moves are numbered beginning with "1.," but move "1" would actually be move 25): 1. Rxb8 Re8 2. Bc5 Nxd6 3. Rd1 Nc4 4. Rd4 Ne5 5. Be7 Qe6 6. Bg5 Rg8 7. Ra8 h6 8. Bf4 g5 9. Be3 Ng4 10. Bc1 Kh7 11. f3 Ne5 12. Ra7+ Rg7 13. Rxg7+ Kxg7 14. Nd1 Qf7 15. f4 Qa7 16. Be3 Ng4 17. Rd3 Nxe3 18. Nxe3 Ba6 19. Rc3 Qd4 20. Rxc6 gxf4 , after which black's lead is insurmountable (checkmate took another 37 moves, but white would've resigned much earlier). 63.17.47.122 (talk) 04:42, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm no chess master, but just on inspection: If black had taken the queen, it might have played out this way:

Rxb6, Nxc4 (white takes bishop, black takes queen, +6 black)

Rxb8, Nxa3 (white takes rook, black takes bishop +3 black)

d7 (pinned bishop is toast, removing the trade advantage; queen can't be brought to bear effectively; possibility of an elevated pawn or loss of the remaining black rook).

As someone once told me, chess is a trapper's game, not a warrior's game, and this whole gambit looks like one giant mess of a trap to me. it just makes my head spin - lol. --Ludwigs2 05:59, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for answering, Ludwigs2, but you're responding to my (ignorant) suggestion of 24. Rxb6 Nxc4 25. Rxb8 Nxa3 26. Rxc8 Rxc8, which indeed WAS stupid and you're right that 26. d7 is the move White would have made. But the question isn't about the combination I suggested (which, again, was dumb, I see now). The question is, why doesn't black take the queen on move 24? You're absolutely right that it's a bad move if followed with the exchange I suggested, but otherwise it seems both absolutely obvious AND far superior to what Pesch did (and the computer follows up with 25. Rxb8 Re8 26. Bc5 Nxd6 etc. and eventually wins for black). Anybody? 63.17.49.128 (talk) 08:15, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

let me put it this way. there are only two reasons for black not to take the queen at that point: (1) he missed the move (happens sometimes), or (2) he was worried that the short term advantage of taking the queen would lead to a long term disadvantage. You can't really get inside his head on that point, but I was trying to point out that taking the queen at that point looks like a potentially serious error when viewed from a particular perspective. One thing you should be thinking about when you're playing chess with experts is that is that an expert who makes a bonehead move (e.g. a move that offers his queen up as a trade for a bishop) might not be making a bonehead move at all, but rather dangling a nice juicy worm for you to hook yourself on. --Ludwigs2 10:56, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm just a chess enthusiast, but I have some thoughts.

The nominal value of pieces is Q=9, R=5, B and N = 3. By taking the rook instead of the queen, Black gets a rook for a bishop, a gain of 2. If he had taken the queen, he would have only gained 1, since white takes a rook and a bishop for the queen.

If that is why he did it, it is ironic that gaining more material made his position weaker. It is the taking of the rook that turns the tide, according to the chess engine I was using -- black had a slight advantage up until that point, after that it is all white. The passed pawn (the pawn that has no opposing pawns on its file or the two adjoining files) becomes too much for Black to keep from queening.

rc (talk) 04:39, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

LOL

What does that mean please?--Artjo (talk) 06:45, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

"Laugh(ing) out loud" or "lots of laugh". See LOL, wikt:lol, and wikt:LOL. --Theurgist (talk) 07:04, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Occasionally LOL has been mistaken (as I did when I first saw it) for "Lots of Love". Cuddlyable3 (talk) 14:06, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

And it has often been used to mean exactly that. It does not have just the one interpretation. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 19:24, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

One such example of confusion between the two meanings was a text message that circulated around the Internet - it read 'heard your dad died, Lol'. Chevymontecarlo 08:39, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

If you're a touch-typist, "HA" is just as fast and is more obvious. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:23, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

If you typed "HA" in all-caps like that in a context where I see LOL, I would sit there wondering what it stood for. Hardly Awesome? Heard All? "HA", if it represents a short, loud exclamation, is quite a harsh thing to react with. It often implies a level bitterness or sarcasm. "Lol" would need some supporting context to sound as aggressive as a contextless "HA!" (if it isn't taken for an acronym).

In any case, LOL is fairly universally used and understood (on the internet) to mean "laughing out loud". So, while you could use it to mean "Lots of Love", you will be fairly universally misunderstood, often prompting some real lols. Perhaps people will be lolling, or exclaiming "Lollerskates!", or... The one interpretation is so ingrained on the internet that the other interpretation is non-productive, to the extent that I would generally call it an error. 86.164.66.83 (talk) 01:10, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Most likely it would be rendered as "(Ha!)" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:51, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Soviet submarine B-39

Is this the submarine that is now located in the River Medway near Rochester, in the United Kingdom? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.223.99.178 (talk) 19:11, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm confused. This site says that ex-Soviet sub B-39 "Black Widow" is (or was at the time of its writing) moored in the Medway as a tourist attraction (for which this appears to be the site). The Wikipedia article on Soviet submarine B-39 says it's in San Diego, coming there by way of Finland, Vancouver, and other locations, and also nicknamed "Black Widow". If that's all true, that would suggest that the sub was formerly in the Medway, but has been in California for some years. And that would mean that any sub you know to be in the Medway now must then be something else. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 19:21, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Sadly, the San Diego Maritime Museum plans to tow the sub out to sea and sink it, to make room at the pier for a simulated 17th century Spanish sailing ship in which Cabrillo sailed. I say "simulated," rather than replica, because they don't have a good description of the Spanish ship the new one represents. I toured the sub at San Diego last month, and it was really interesting to see the sort of sub that the Russians used in the 1960s. Some local opinion in San Diego was that an old sub is hard to keep afloat, so go ahead and sink it. The WW2 German U505 has long been a featured attraction at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and has been on dry land for decades. A museum exhibit does not have to be full functioning to be of historical importance. This museum fancies the extra dollars they can charge for admission to or cruises on the shiny new Cabrillo ship. Edison (talk) 19:31, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

There is a Whiskey class submarine from the Soviet Navy moored in Ostend, Belgium as a tourist attraction. From Rochester you could easily make a day trip by ferry. 81.132.218.31 (talk) 03:51, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Also check out German submarine U-534, one of the last Nazi submarines to be sunk in combat, which was refloated after the war and is now a shore exhibit in Birkenhead. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.132.218.31 (talk) 03:54, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Tetrahedral revolving mirrors on shopping malls

Does anyone know what those revolving pyramid-shaped mirrors on the roofs of shopping malls are called? They reflect sunlight and seem to have no other function than flashing and being eye-catching.

Probably just that, you saw them didn't you and maybe you went to the Mall too!--Artjo (talk) 23:34, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

The description reminds me of a pyramidion, although I doubt your shopping mall was built in Ancient Egypt. Still. Vimescarrot (talk) 01:50, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Split-level skyscrapers

Why aren't there any split-level skyscrapers? --84.61.131.18 (talk) 20:48, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Why do you assert that there are not? I can't think of specific examples (though I'm looking and will report back), but I'm pretty sure that a split level configuration is not unusual in a skyscraper, particularly for the ground floor/lobby area. AJCham 21:04, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

What would constitute split-level and how does the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) not fit the description?Novangelis (talk) 21:07, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Seems the Gherkin would fit the description: pic. AJCham 21:09, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

What advantage is to be gained by offsetting the floor levels? It reduces flexibility and makes the building harder to construct, and essentially requires that a fire separation be built at the offset to achieve the code-required fire rating between floor levels - otherwise, a fire could just zigzag up the structure. 30 St. Mary Axe has a series of atriums, which aren't quite the same thing (and has special fire control features to deal with the interior spaces). Acroterion _(talk) 01:27, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

This question has been asked before (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010_May_21). I assume you're the same OP given the way the question is worded. Your best bet is to re-read the answers given at the time or to provide more information about what it is you're trying to find out as otherwise you're likely to get the same responses (oh and if you're just asking these questions for 'sh!ts and giggles' - as my brother would say - then please don't). ny156uk (talk) 15:57, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

July 25

Pocket Monsters Best Wishes

What's the attack that Tsutarja is using in the new Best Wishes promo (you can see it at http://pokebeach.com)? --138.110.206.99 (talk) 01:26, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Since this is a new pokemon that hasn't been included in any released games, you're mostly going to get guesses and difficult to verify information. Based on the second link, I'd say it's probably either Leaf Storm or Grass Mixer. Incidentally, you might get more answers if you refer to the usual English term pokemon when asking in English rather than pocket monsters, since pocket monsters can mean different things in English. 86.164.66.83 (talk) 19:00, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

"Pocket Monsters" is the correct name! The so-called translators ruined it! --138.110.206.101 (talk) 21:21, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

You may feel "Pocket Monsters" is a translation that is more accurate and has better 'flavor', but Nintendo chose a different name than you did, and it's the name that 95% percent of players are familiar with, so if I were you I would go with the flow when fishing for answers, in the hope of expanding the number of people who are likely to volunteer an answer to you. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:31, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

You do realize that while "pocket monsters" is indeed the full naming, the shortening "pokemon" is taken straight from the Japanese language? They are both correct, but "pokemon" is way more common. The "so-called translators" don't deserve your wrath, at least not in this instance. TomorrowTime (talk) 10:01, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Concrete screed to reduce damp

Would concrete screed poured over a stone garage floor be likely to reduce damp? We have a double garage that we partitioned into a games room, a small garage for bikes and garden tools, and a utility/washing machine space. Last month we got linoleum fitted in the utility, with a layer of screed underneath to even out the surface. The floor below that is stone flags sitting directly on the ground. Since then, the utility feels warmer and more comfortable to spend time in. But on the other hand, it's summer, we've had lovely weather recently, and there might even be a placebo effect from the room looking nicer. Is the screed likely to have stopped damp coming up through the stone paving? 81.132.218.31 (talk) 03:39, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it would help, but to completely stop damp you would need the plastic film manufactured for that purpose. Often, what people call "damp" is not rising at all but is condensation on the cold floor from the moist air above. Any thermal insulation will help prevent this. Dbfirs 07:44, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

No, the damp would soak though the concrete as well, unless you put a damp proof membrane underneath. You should be able to buy one from a builder's merchants. There used to be a self-leveling plastic liquid that was made for flooring in these circumstances - it should be still available. 92.29.122.159 (talk) 13:16, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

I agree that some rising damp might still soak through. This commercial link might help in the UK Visqueen Dbfirs 16:15, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

vague memory of watching TV

I remember seeing some TV program a while ago, where they gave energy drinks or such like to possibly a young child, until they ended up running so fast they went back in time, or something, and might have saved the world. Does anyone have the slightest idea what it might have been that I was watching?

80.47.195.242 (talk) 19:48, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Was it a cartoon? Do you remember anything about the style or colours? 86.164.66.83 (talk) 20:18, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Something like that happened on The Incredibles, but that was a film. Chevymontecarlo - alt 07:24, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Mmm... not really. Dashiell "Dash" Incredible's superpower was speed. There were no energy drinks (or time travel) involved. Kingsfold (Quack quack!) 18:38, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

It may well have been a cartoon, and quite possibly a film. I think I also remember one of the other charaters saying something like "the last thing you need is [whatever]" and then then thinking 'actually, maybe that is a good idea'. 80.47.204.116 (talk) 09:19, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Lens colour question

Why are really expensive zoom lenses for SLR cameras coloured white instead of black, and really, really expensive zoom lenses coloured dark green instead of black? Is there some technical reason or is it just to visually set them apart from conventional lenses? JIP | Talk 19:49, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

(OR) Large black tubes show up any fingermarks and green is a good camouflage colour for a Paparazzi. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:03, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Not all long lenses are white, but many Canon L lenses are; see also here. I have not seen dark green lenses, but it may be a branding thing also. --LarryMac | Talk 10:09, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Canon uses it as a marketing tool: the term Big White Lens is widespread in the photographic community for Canon's long lenses. I believe the original motivation was to reduce potential calibration effects of heating in the sun and to make them more comfortable to hold, as they are used almost exclusively outdoors. Acroterion _(talk) 12:16, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Tandem bikes

A TV program (Countryfile, if you are interested) just had a short bit on tandem bicycles and said that the person with the longest legs should go at the front. Does anyone know why that would be? --Tango (talk) 20:01, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

I've no idea but a blogger named cdnallie says[12] "The EZ tandem geometry offers good adjustability regarding seat positioning so many different sized riders will feel comfortable in it. I do however think it works best for the rider with longest legs to steer on this particular bike." Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:58, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

The shape of tandem frames typically has a sloping top tube from front to back. Therefore it fits best with the most long legged at the front. You could, of course, have oddly sized seat pins or a strangely shaped frame, but that's not the normal way. Steering and braking a tandem also takes a fair amount of strength, so it makes sense for the stronger person to steer and the weaker to be the stoker. --Phil Holmes (talk) 16:34, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

cemetery symbols

I visited a vault in an east coast cemetery. The 15 or so burials had taken place from 1869 - 1881. On the top shelf in the vault, in the two center spaces, there were the remains of metal crowns, one big (about basketball size) and the other smaller, like a large tiara. They had rusted to the point of looking like barbed wire. I don't know if originally they had been covered with cloth and/or other ornamentation. The vault occupants were not royalty. Most were Episcopalians and some were Baptists. What would have been the meaning of these crowns? Jaduff (talk) 22:01, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

East coast of where? "Episcopalians" suggests you might mean the USA, but it would be nice not to have to guess :-) . 87.81.230.195 (talk) 01:39, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

My guess is that they would be wreaths, where the foilage has gone and just the metal part remaining. 92.29.121.198 (talk) 08:30, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Supervisor wages in Costa Coffee (UK)

Ok, this probably isn't the place but I don't know where else to look. Does anyone know what a shift supervisor, or a shop manager, makes in British cafe chains? I mean places like Costa, Nero, Starbucks, Pret à Manger etc. The ordinary servers will be on minimum wage, but surely their bosses get a bit extra? Just curious cause it looks like a lot of hard work, and I'm wondering if anyone might choose it as a career instead of just drifting there. 81.132.218.31 (talk) 22:03, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

This site says coffee shop managers in the UK earn between around £14k and £19k. That seems surprisingly low to me, though, so I'm not sure I trust it. I think a lot of coffee shops are franchised, meaning the managers are actually self-employed and their income will depend entirely on how well the shop does. --Tango (talk) 22:32, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

(ec) Actually, a better site is here - the Costa Coffee jobs page. It shows several vacancies for management positions. Store Managers seem to get around £17k to £21k, Assistant Managers get around £6.55 - £7.25 an hour (compared to minimum wage of £5.80/hr). It seems making coffee is really not a well paid job... --Tango (talk) 22:41, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

here's the current vacancy page for Costa Coffee UK, you can see the range of wages on offer for different positions there. Nanonic (talk) 22:35, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

July 26

Can you name this author?

I read parts of one of his books some time ago, but I can’t think of his name. He writes about his sailing adventures, and these are very intense and exciting. I think he might be Welsh or Irish. He can’t swim. He sails yachts, often to deliver them to a customer, and often around the world. He was stuck in ice for about a year, and almost starved. He has written quite a few books of his adventures, and I think he’s retired now, after losing a leg. In the book of his I read, he had a couple of parodies, one of a Sherlock Holmes story, and one of a Joseph Conrad story. They were amongst the best parodies I have ever come across. I’m pretty sure he is still alive. Anyone know his name? Eric155 (talk) 06:26, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Well he will, but sorry I don't.--Artjo (talk) 07:12, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Tristan Jones --Viennese Waltz ^talk 07:47, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Yearly number of deaths whilst climbing Mt. Fuji

I climbed Mt. Fuji recently and was amazed at the high level of risk involved, the lack of safety measures and the sheer volume of climbers, but I have been unable to find out the number of deaths each year from falls etc. Can anyone help? 150.49.180.199 (talk) 06:56, 26 July 2010 (UTC)Mark

Wikitravel tells us: "on average, around 4 people die and over a dozen are injured every year on Fuji by hypothermia or falling rocks." along with other dire warnings about the conditions. Astronaut (talk) 07:43, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

American car number plates

Why don't American cars have front number plates? In Europe we have number plates on both sides, but I was wondering why it was different in the US. Anyone have any idea? Chevymontecarlo - alt 07:21, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

They usually do have front plates. Some do not, and others use joke or some other form of non-standard plates. I always assumed that the law in most (all?) states only requires state-issued "official" plates in the back. Rimush (talk) 07:47, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, that's me wrong then. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Chevymontecarlo - alt 08:34, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Many USstates in the South require only a rear plate: according to Vehicle_registration_plate#United_States_and_Canada 19 states require only one plate, and nine of 13 Canadian provinces require only one plate. Acroterion _(talk) 12:33, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

In case it's not totally clear, the individual states define the rules for the issuance of their plates (and it sounds like the provinces do also). Why no front plate in some states? Perhaps cost; perhaps the assumption that you really only need to see it when the car is "escaping". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:40, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Just to be thorough and connect the dots, most U.S. states do require license plates (as we call them) on both the front and rear end of the vehicle. Certain states, however, do not. Marco polo (talk) 17:43, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, so it's a state-by-state law. Thanks for helping! Chevymontecarlo - alt 19:00, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

50 bn deal wrecked?

Why did the 50 billion airtel deal could not be completed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.140.188 (talk) 10:45, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

You have not provided a link to tell us what you are asking about, but I assume it's about this news story which is a report claiming that Vodafone may sell its 4.4 percent stake in Bharti Airtel, valued at around 52 billion rupees. This is just a rumor, from what I can glean from that article. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:33, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Genealogy

To whom It May Concern,

I've searched for months and I'm stuck.

Is there a way to connect a person to another person???????

Example - I've traced my tree back to 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  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Limeycat (talk • contribs) 11:35, 26 July 2010 (UTC) 

You have previously asked the same question. Did the answers you received back then not help?

It is worth noting that is a gap of some 160 years, perhaps 6 generations, and Robinson is a very common surname. Back then, records of births, baptisms, marriages and deaths were usually held at the parish church. There are also the usual geneology websites that have copies some information from parish records. We do have some articles: Christopher Robinson (priest), Henry Robinson (bishop), John Robinson (pastor) and with such prominent church people the records might be better. Try following all the references and external links in these articles (in particular the 'Posthumous events' section of the last of these looks quite promising. Other than that, I doubt there is much we can do here at the Wikipedia reference desk to bridge such a huge period of time.

As an aside, I share my less common surname with a noted writer from medieval times. Whilst a link would be an interesting fact in my family's history, the liklyhood of proving such a link is all but impossible due to the lack of decent record keeping until the 19th century. Astronaut (talk) 12:08, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

I think you're at the stage where you need professional help with this. If you can get to the National Archives at Kew, then you may be able to enlist the help of one of their archivists. The only way I can see you being able to do this yourself is if you get to the local archives for where the family were in 1768, to see parish registers. Whereabouts are you, and where is Isaac Robinson's birth? You might also be able to get help via Rootsweb, if you join one of their communities. (By the way, congratulations at getting your Robinsons back so far - I've only been able to get my Robinsons back to 1893!) --TammyMoet (talk) 18:17, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

One millionth customer

It used to be a staple of TV cartoons and suchlike that an unsuspecting customer would walk into some store or restaurant or other to be greeted with the words "Congratulations, you're our one millionth customer!" They would then be presented with a car or showered with gifts. Is there any evidence that this actually happened anywhere? I can't see how a store would count the number of customers, for starters. --Viennese Waltz ^talk 11:57, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

It happens all the time, as a quick Google search will show. As for how stores could count customers, receipts are a logical mechanism. Any well-managed store will track their sales, and so even in the pre-computer era, it's far from unreasonable to have a store able to count (or at least reasonably estimate) how many customers they've had. — Lomn 13:29, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Google suggests it happens, although the gifts aren't that fabulous. The count is probably an estimate - "we had X customers per day in the 90's, now we have Y a day, so let's say the 20th person to walk in next Wednesday is it (or the next smily happy photogenic person after the 20th)." A more accurate - though not perfect - count can be had keeping count of how many receipts the cash register prints out, especially nowadays with computerized cash register systems. Amusement parks, theaters etc may also be easier to count, any business with one ticket per customer. 88.112.56.9 (talk) 13:39, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Disneyland has, or at least used to have, a giant counter at the entrance that supposedly counted each visitor upon entrance -- every millionth or whatever visitor would get some prize, I think. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 21:30, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Identify this mammal

What mammal is in North Caroina, USA that has a long hairless tail long whiskers and somewhat long fur/hair that was white with some grey,brown in it? It was not a squirrel, racoon, skunk, possum... I think. I looked up muskrat, didn't look like that either. It walked on all four, but sat on it's haunches and used it's front legs like hands. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.63.209.38 (talk) 12:15, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Sounds like a rat, though it is not as big as the muskrat. Astronaut (talk) 12:33, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

The OP probably means ITS haunches and ITS front legs, without apostrophes. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:41, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

No shit, Sherlock. Matt Deres (talk) 14:03, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

You know, Cuddlyable3, the whole purpose of written language is to communicate efficiently and record words. He did that perfectly. You understood it fine, we understood it fine. Unless he asked you to edit his writing, it was rather redundant to rewrite part of his question in this case. Falconus^{p t c} 16:24, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

With no disrespect to the OP, they did not communicate perfectly as you claim. Your vast generalisations about the purpose of language are suited to the Talk page and not to this specific enquiry. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 17:12, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

All I know is that your grammar and spelling corrections make it less enjoyable to read posts on the Reference Desk. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:30, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps the good old opossum? Matt Deres (talk) 14:03, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

OP already mentioned it wasn't a possum (and I assume with possum he meant opposum, because there probably aren't any possums in Wilmington, North Carolina). Rimush (talk) 14:39, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Possum is the usual name in the States, outside of a formal biological or veterinary context. Opossum is likely to get you looked at funny in North Carolina. (The Aussie possums are named after the Yank ones, BTW.) --Trovatore (talk) 20:07, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

D'oh, right you are. I read squirrel, raccoon, skunk, and then skipped right over. To be honest, based on the description, I don't think it could be anything else, so I guess my answer still (kind-of) stands. Matt Deres (talk) 16:31, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Truth be told, I also skipped over the possum in the question at first. And when I looked at the picture in the opposum article it seemed like a perfect fit. Then I reread the question and the rest is history. Rimush (talk) 17:50, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

One of the oldest people in the USA

I didn't see the name of Mamie Truesdale on your list of oldest peolpe in the US. Every year, however, there were always newspaper articles and local news reports about here on her birthday. She was born on September 6,1873 in Columbus, South Carolina. She passed away in August of 1990 in Morristown,NJ. at the age of 116. She received birthday cards from Presidents Carter to President Bush. I think Wikipedia should include her to this list. If the leaders of the free world acknowledged this wonderful women, then I think maybe you should too!69.160.224.34 (talk) 14:16, 26 July 2010 (UTC) --Amiyra

For future reference, it helps to include a link to any article you mention. I'm guessing you mean List of supercentenarians from the United States. If you have a reliable source (which would probably include the newspaper articles you mention) for this person's age at death, then you can add them to the list yourself. --Tango (talk) 14:40, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

(ec) The best place to raise a query like this is on the talk page of the relevant article - I'm guessing you are thinking of either List of supercentenarians from the United States or List of the verified oldest people. Although there is very little online about her, there are a couple of news articles behind paywalls which confirm that she did receive news coverage. Warofdreams talk 14:41, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Free access to the internet in central London

Where can I get free access to the internet in central London please? I do not mean wi-fi, I mean being able to use a computer so that I can look at my emails. Thanks 92.15.0.178 (talk) 20:01, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

From your IP, I see you are a TalkTalk customer. Their Customer Experience centre in Soho is free to use for all customers (to sit down and surf) and their drop in area is free for everyone. Nanonic (talk) 20:32, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Public libraries will have computers you can use. You'll have to join the library first (since 2009 you don't need to have a local address for that) and probably wait in a queue til a computer is available. 81.132.217.90 (talk) 22:09, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Plant ID request

We saw this plant at Disneyland and was wondering what it is. Any help from an editor out there? Thanks, Alanraywiki (talk) 19:50, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Looks to me like a cultivar of Impatiens hawkeri or New Guinea impatiens - see here for more. It's become a very popular bedding and pot plant in the UK in the last ten years or so. Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:41, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks! I know impatiens are pretty common, but these looked just a little different to us so I appreciate the feedback. Alanraywiki (talk) 21:57, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Funny 3D things

When your looking at those weird images that make you see 3d, are there some people who can't do it? Is there a physical reason or are they not trying hard enough? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.15.3.229 (talk) 21:16, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

If you're referring to Autostereograms, see Autostereogram#Mechanisms for viewing for a quick list of reasons why some can't see the 3d image. Personally, I've never been able to get them to work for me. Nanonic (talk) 21:35, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

I can never get them to work either. --Tango (talk) 21:41, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

There is definitely a learning curve to seeing them. It's difficult how to communicate how to "diverge your eyes", like trying to explain how to roll your 'r's. You're left using metaphors like "look through the image".

But some people are literally incapable of seeing stereo images. No matter how much they try they're not going to get anything useful out of a autostereogram. APL (talk) 21:57, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Age discrimination campaign groups in the UK

Just wondering if there are any British charities or pressure groups that support *genuine* age equality. There are well-established campaign groups for the elderly, such as Age Concern and Help the Aged, which have campaigned against compulsory retirement and age discrimination in the job market, and I totally agree with them. Trouble is, they also want old people to receive taxpayer-funded care home places without having to sell their houses. As a 26 year old with a lot of university debt and no chance of inheriting a house, that really isn't something I can support. 81.132.217.90 (talk) 22:22, 26 July 2010 (UTC)