Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous

Reference Desk

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April 21

Good Friday

It says on Wikipedia today's main page that the 21st of April 2006 is 'Good Friday' - that's not right is it?

• It is in Eastern Christianity, but not in Western Christianity. --Maelwys 00:59, 21 April 2006 (UTC)
• Perhaps that mention should be made a bit more specific then. - 131.211.210.10 07:33, 21 April 2006 (UTC)
  • You mean the mention that says "April 21: Good Friday in Eastern Christianity (2006)"? How much more specific could it get? --Maelwys 10:57, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Finding flights on really short notice

My friend, who was accepted to Harvardl, had her flight to the preview weekend cancelled. What is a good place to find flights on short notice - as in tomorrow morning (Friday, around noon UTC)? I've checked LastMinuteTravel.com but they don't have anything reasonably priced...and they're not Continental, and Continental's refund voucher only works with their own flights (not all of SkyTeam, for some reason). --Geoffrey 01:18, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

how many questions does a four year old ask in one day?

how many questions does a four year old ask in one day?

Seven.

I was a camp councelor for 5 and 6 year olds. My friend who worked next door worked with 4 year olds. I can say with much confidence that a four year old will ask many more than seven questions in one day. M@$+@ Ju ~ ♠ 22:19, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

42. – b_jonas 21:53, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

The Iron Boot

Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked in the head with an iron boot? Brian G. Crawford 02:54, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Please don't ask us to do your homework for you. Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 03:05, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

I guess it'll be pretty painful.....Please try it out and check back with us if you have any more doubts..Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 04:04, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Have you read our article on Rugby league in England? Grutness...wha? 08:58, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

It is a lot less fun than not falling in the mud and getting kicked in the head with an iron boot. M@$+@ Ju ~ ♠ 22:19, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

No. Slumgum | yap | stalk | 20:28, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Japanese puzzle

Right, this is a long shot. I live in Japan, and I recently bought a Japanese sudoku magazine. As well as the sudokus, the magazine contains a page of different puzzles, similar to, but quite different from, everyone's favourite 9x9 grid-filling game. I've checked the List of Nikoli puzzle types and several pages dedicated to puzzle types, but I can't find it. Can anyone tell me the name of this puzzle? Basically it's played on a grid of boxes, sized (for example) 6x6. The aim of the game is to put the numbers 1 to 6 in the boxes, so that every row and column contains all the numbers 1 to 6. The boxes are linked by the mathematical symbols for 'greater than' and 'less than' (< and >), both vertically and horizontally. Thus, it is possible to enter the numbers logically, with very few initial numbers needed.

From this (admittedly awful) description, can anyone tell me the name of the puzzle? It doesn't seem to be given in the magazine. Phileas 03:15, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Does the magazine have a website? It might have the solutions on it and therefore the name of the puzzles.  -- Run!  17:46, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Stu Wilson

When Stu Wilson was captain 76 to 83 who were his centres?

The captain of what, a ship ? StuRat 08:02, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

The ABs, man! Stu Wilson was only captain twice, in 1983 against England and Scotland, and Steve Pokere was at centre each time. Grutness...wha? 08:43, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Oh, a New Zealand rugby team. And here I thought it might be something obscure. :-) StuRat 23:07, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Heh. Not a New Zealand rugby team, the' New Zealand rugby team, and in the world of rugby about as well known as the "dream team" is in basketball. So not that obscure :). Grutness...wha? 10:47, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Is it true they've got a new haka since a year or two back? I'd heard something about it, but it doesn't seem to be mentioned in the article here. --BluePlatypus 18:59, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it's true, though it's a bit controversial so they quite often still use the traditional Te Rauparaha haka I think. There should be mention of it on the ABs page. Grutness...wha? 23:16, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Illegal downloads of music

i was wondering if anyone could estimate how many music tracks are illegaly downloaded in a year or month or week and if they could provide a source. i need these figures for a report but i cannot find them anywhere. any help would be great. thanks Mr P

• I think the RIAA would gather this kind of data. What geographical area do you want the data for? - Mgm|^(talk) 11:57, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

• I wouldn't necessarily trust the RIAA's data. They have a stake in estimating high. --Fastfission 14:03, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

i looked on the riaa sight but no luck, i want figures for either USA, Uk or globally. any help would be great thanks, Mr P. 17:19, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Try this Google search. --LarryMac 17:50, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Tatoos and Copyright

Are there any legal ramifications to having copyrighted material tattooed on a person? The only discussion I've seen so far through Google is copyright of tattoos as original work. I'm referring to taking non-tattoo artwork and making it into a tattoo, specifically artwork which requires a subscription to obtain. Thanks! --Lwieise -=- Talk to Me 10:48, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

It would be the same as with registered trademarks. If somebody brings in a Harley-Davidson logo to the tattoo shop, then there is nothing to stop a hand-drawn facsimilie being tatooed. If, however, you are operating a tattoo shop, and you are selling copyright and trademarked material on your web site, you are in big doo-doo. --Zeizmic 13:13, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Hmm. My guess is also that the tatoo operator would be the one liable, as they are the content creator in this instance. So if I get a tatoo of Mickey Mouse, Disney could probably sue the tatoo operator for infringement, at the very least. (Just because something is re-drawn does not get around copyrights). --Fastfission 14:02, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

On the other hand, perhaps a woman with a Harley tattoo on her breast should get a royalty each time it's displayed. Perhaps this explains why such women display their breasts so often. :-) StuRat 23:04, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

what is the point

what is the point of this website if i cant use it for school since there are no sources listed. how can i believe an article that i have no idea who wrote it, an elementary school kid could have written it! someone please tell me how i find the author

Please see Wikipedia:Introduction, Wikipedia:Verifiability, and Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. Many articles in, say, Encyclopedia Brittanica aren't written by a single person either. You shouldn't take anything you read for granted, and Wikipedia is no exception. —Keenan Pepper 17:39, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

You should never use a single source, espiculy for things like Projects and reports. Wikipedia is probably a good start but you should verify evrything you find with at least one other source.

Also note that even an elementary school kid might have specialized knowledge in some areas, like say Pokemon characters, which would make a valuable contribution to Wikipedia. StuRat 23:00, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Also again, note that many of the articles on Wikipedia are basic groundings in topics and have links at the bottom for further in-depth reading of the sort that you would need to write a decent report. So to summarise,

1. Wikipedia can be cited, even though it has multiple authors;
2. given the large number of editors, we have information on a very wide range of subjects - more than you would find in any other single source;
3. it is a basis for research, not the only source you need;
4. it will help you to find those other sources.

Grutness...wha? 23:36, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

You're right, though, that Wikipedia would be more useful if contributors were more diligent about citing their sources. JamesMLane t c 15:09, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

You may also be interested in reading Wikipedia:Replies to common objections. — QuantumEleven 12:04, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

List of user infoboxes?

Where can I find a list of infoboxes/infobox templates for user pages? Thank you very much Bwithh 18:06, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

At Wikipedia:Userboxes ({{WP:UB]]). Couldn't you find that with the handy search box to the left? Daniel (☎) 19:42, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks... I usually find that search box quite ineffective and frustrating when searching for wikipedia help or wikipedia policy topics. I wouldn't have known to search for "userboxes" anyway. Bwithh 20:08, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Did you enable searching the Wikipedia: namespace in your preferences? —Keenan Pepper 20:18, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Okay thanks I didnt know about that way. Also, is there way of forcing Wikipedia search to display search results even if there is an article matching the search term (which at the moment it automatically goes to)? For instance, searching for userbox or userboxes sends me to a deleted page at the moment. and generally it'd be useful to always go direct to a search results screen rather than "I feel lucky" style immediate redirect. thanks. Bwithh 20:39, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

yes, just click search instead of hitting enter. Night Gyr 21:09, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Diplomatic Relations

Why doesn't the U.S. have Diplomatic relations with Andorra?

It does, though only since 1995 (Andorra established its sovereignty in 1993). The US Ambassador to Spain is accredited to Andorra, but the US Consulate General in Barcelona, Spain represents US interests in Andorra directly. http://barcelona.usconsulate.gov/emba/usandorraen.html

Bwithh 20:13, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

A linux question...

Hello gang,

I've recently obtained an older laptop, and in the process of fooling around with it lost the operating system that it came with (win 98). Now, i'm not too eager to plunk down +100 bucks on a new copy of XP to use on a $150 machine, so I'm thinking I'll install Linux on it. I'm no Linux expert myself. I've used the Knoppix live CD on my desktop system, and like it enough, but the laptop is too decrepit to handle it. So, does anyone have any suggestions for what distro I should use? I'd like a free, downloadable one, preferably. I browsed the "Comparison of Linux Distributions" article, but I'd like some first hand advice. The laptop in question is a Compaq with a 266 MHz AMD-K6 processor, 96 MB of SyncDRAM and a 4 gig HD. Any advice will be be greatly appreciated.Brian Schlosser42 19:59, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Ubuntu. You can wait until Dapper Drake is released in a few weeks, or just use the beta. I'm using it now and it's quite stable. —Keenan Pepper 20:17, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Knoppix will work well on that system in non-graphics mode. It likes 128 MB for graphics, which is less than XP with service paks. Knoppix can be customized to reduce memory use. Note that Knoppix and Ubuntu are both based on Debian Linux. --Blainster 23:09, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Just get a Debian install disk. I have it on a machine like that, and it works great for presentations and such. You can cut down on the 'eye candy', and big applications will be slow, but OpenOffice works quite well. --Zeizmic 23:45, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestions. I got Ubuntu to run on it, but it is deathly slow. I was planning to use the machine for transfering pictures from my camera to my external HD/MP3 player while away from my PC, but it takes 10 minutes to mount the drive... oh well, it is a cool OS, and I intend to install it on my PC as a secondary OS tonight. Again, thanks for the help folks.Brian Schlosser42 13:53, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

unusual Japanese vehicle

Years ago I had a toy from Japan, which was a motorcycle front wheel/fork/engine/seat, with a small pickup style box in the back, over a two-wheel rear end. There was a small cab around the driver, and a tarp-like cover over the bed.

I can't remember the name or the manufacturer, maybe it is one of the present manufacturers of cars. Would anyone remember what this thing was? It dates from about 1955 to maybe 1960 or so.

Gary, St. Joseph, MO

Probably a Keicar. Our pictures in that article are of modern ones, but in the 1950s they may well have been more of a cross between a motorcycle and a car. The microcar article also discusses such vehicles, which were quite common after World War II.-gadfium 01:44, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

He's describing a toy, though, so I think that its configuration may not necessarily have any connection to reality. I'm having visions of the configuration he describes in my head, and it's really nothing like most microcars which tend to go for the maximization of car volume within the dimensions, something incompatible with a motorcycle fork sticking out in front. Night Gyr 01:50, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Government Suppression

Is there any eveidence besides reviewing endless lists of patents, to understand, or gain information about, how the government exercises an ability to suppress technological innovations, certain inventions, or scientific data to control the public more than it should. I'm not trying to be some conspiracy theorist, but I have already found astonishing evidence about things I can barely believe in relation to the vagueness listed above. Anyone can go and read some writing about or by tom bearden to see a little bit of what i mean. I can understand the implications of monopolies blah blah and all that. but when something has the potential to beifit all of mankind in profound ways then why else does this seeming oppression prevail?

One problem with representative democracy is that, unlike direct democracy, there are representatives who can be bribed. So, while discouraging alternative energy technology is not in the interest of a country, it may be in the interest of the reps, if they are bribed (AKA receive "campaign donations") sufficiently by the oil industry to do so. To me, this amounts to treason, but it's so widespread that everyone accepts it now. StuRat 22:46, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Conspiracy theories about suppressed inventions, such as the 100 mpg carburetor, are typically urban legends. Having said that, innovation is in fact sometimes hindered by large business interests buying out their competitors, which indirectly suppresses innovation. In these instances the large companies inncorporate the competitor's product or idea into their own bureaucracy, reducing the efficiency of its use. Non-competitive oligarchies are what Congress needs to be encouraged to prevent. --Blainster 23:19, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

One way is classify stuff, make is so a security clearance is needed to look at it. Another is "need to know", even with a clearance you , as a person in the government, wouldn't be allowed to see things that weren't part of your job description. If you're interested in Tom Bearden, then you probably read Motionless Electrical Generator and his website http://cheniere.org. He makes a lot of claims, but has not been able to get anything to work convincingly. He may be wrong, in short. You have been vague about what you have found, why not be specific and tell us? --GangofOne 02:22, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

dear, gangofone and anyone else be specific and tell "us" what i have found? that sounds funny don't you think? did it sound funny when you said it to yourself? would you let someone know how to become god if you knew exactly how? maybe i cant answer for you im just making this up but you get the point right? heres a better example: if you knew of a bank that gave you money for nothing in exchange would you tell the world the directions to the bank? maybe you would im just being childish i guess excuse me oh yeah and who is "us"? nah im being silly again seriously though about bearden "he may be wrong, in short"  ? wrong about what? trying to extract energy from nothing? yeah it sounds "wrong" as in it appears ridiculously impossible or what?

but why live in a world of appearances?

surely you know nothing is what it seems? anyway bye bye im off to class... or somehting right?

Physics equation

and does anyone know what this means: e=±((square root symbol) since i couldn't find it)α(multiplied by something that looks like an h with the stem(top part)crossed through with a small line)finally multiplied next by c (the speed of light of course)

You want to look at Help:Formula to figure out how to properly typeset this. It looks like you want $e=\pm {\sqrt {\alpha \hbar c}}$; $\hbar$ is Planck's constant divided by $2\pi$. $\alpha$ is often the fine structure constant... but I'm not sure, even as a physicist, what the overall equation is supposed to be. The most similar common formula that comes to mind is $E=\hbar \omega =h\nu =hc/\lambda$ for photon energy. Can you provide a bit more context? (Also, why is this on the Miscellaneous desk?) --Tardis 22:13, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

$\alpha =e^{2}/\hbar c$ is definition of fine structure contstant, in cgs units. GangofOne 02:05, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Non-Linear Optics

lastly maybe someone can give me a vague explanation of non-linear optic effect

If the electric field becomes strong enough, it will noticably affect the material in which it's found. In the most extreme cases, it will cause ionization. Alternatively, the material may react in an anharmonic fashion to the fields. In either case, the normal linear Maxwell's equations will no longer apply in the usual sense, because the material parameters ($\epsilon ,\mu ,\omega$) become strongly dependent on the fields and on position and time. Hope that helps -- but why didn't you post on the Science desk? --Tardis 22:13, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Pogo.com

A friend told me that there was a website that told you how to win Pogo.com's game Pop-it every time. I havent been able to find it but I was wondering if anyone else knew about it. Thanks!! Zach 22:19, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

PDF files

Can someone tell me how to modify a .pdf file? Thanks in advance. --ShiningEyes 23:23, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

You have to download Adobe's software (http://www.adobe.com). I use InDesign for when I want to create a PDF. Some PDFs (assuming they can be modified) have the option of being opened Microsoft Word. -Mysekurity ^[m!] 03:07, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

I feel I should add to this, and disagree a little. You can download Adobe's free Adobe Reader, but this cannot modify PDF files. You can purchase the Adobe Acrobat product, but editing options are very limited and may disappoint. There is no option for opening PDF files in Word on Windows, except that you can open it and view the internal file format. Generally, a PDF is best thought of as "electronic paper" and if you want to modify it you get the original instead. Notinasnaid 10:34, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree, in that pdf is almost 'uneditable'. Many things are fragmented by single letters, like old typesetting, and there is no more relation to words or sentences. If it is a 'nice' pdf, you can extract the text and then edit it. --Zeizmic 13:00, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

If you just want to read the pdf then Foxit is better than Adobe. Also there are several free pdf creators available.

Info. Request: Gustavus Hindman Miller

Who was Gustavus Hindman Miller ? he wrote this book that I shared in the dream thread here: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/drmnt10.txt

I googled as well as searched Wikipedia. Just books he wrote comesup. No bibliography or none of his education or history etc.,

Please Assist.

Thanks in advance.

Vijay

April 22

Canadian Tire ad in a flyer

This is an ad in a Canadian Tire flyer I got:

Read it. Now look at the stuff that I highlighted in pink. It says that you could win WHEN YOU SPEND $40. But below it says NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.

How is it possible for it to be no purchase necessary when you have to spend $40? --Valuefreeperson1 01:36, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

There's probably a separate entry method described on their website, such as mailing an SASE to a specified address to request a game piece. Night Gyr 01:47, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Your right. I looked on their website and it says: "For no purchase necessary and Promotion Rules requests please send a unique hand-written 100 word essay entitled “Why I shop at Canadian Tire” along with a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Spring Thrill at the Till, P.O. Box 9998, Saint John, NB, E2L 4N4. Each no purchase necessary request must be mailed separately." --Valuefreeperson1 02:00, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

In the US, companies regularly offer "free" items which cost money. This apparent oxymoron is accomplished by shipping and handling fees which seemingly don't count as money, and the ubiquitous buy-one-get-one-free offers. The meaning of free has apparently changed from "at no cost" to "at no additional cost". StuRat 03:57, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

The 'no purchase necessary' is a legal thing in Canada. However, they can make you jump through a number of hoops. --Zeizmic 12:56, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

I read it. It says that, amongst things that you can win, are redeemable cash cards. They are redeemed (used) when you spend double (40$). Any problem ? --DLL 21:35, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Cmon DLL. Read it again. If it said that the cash cards are redeemable on spending $40, then how do you get the 1 of 3 GiftCards? OBVIOUSLY, it says that on spending $40, you go in the draw to win 1 of 3 GiftCards, or otherwise an instantly redeemable cashcard. Eh, doi? gelo 00:28, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

bibleography

how do I list Wikipedia and a bib IE( copyright date, volume and so on)

thanks mike

Try clicking the "Cite this article" link under your Toolbox (to the left of the article). The software automatically creates a cite that you can use. Good luck! -Mysekurity ^[m!] 03:05, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Purpose of wikipedia

This may sound naive but I am a little confused about the true purpose of Wikipedia. I can see that you do not want to include collections of external links or Internet directories, collections of internal links, collections of public domain or other source material or collections of photographs or media files. I can also see that you discourage inclusion of or links to primary resources. Isn't the ability to link to other sites and to primary resources what makes the internet such a valuable tool? Are you trying to create some kind of secular knowledge network, with minimal reference to outside resources? As far as I can see this means: a) While you may cover a broad range of topics, it is difficult to reach depth with any one topic and; b) The material is completely fallible- it seems to be publishing simply "what readers think they know about a subject"- a little concerning. I am not meaning to criticise the site, merely wanting to understand it a little more. If anyone can help me, please do.

Thanks.

Mostly we love cites, if you get information from a source, we really do want a link to it so we can show that its coming from another source. Mostly the links, we don't like people linkspamming taking advantage of Wikipedia's very high PageRank rating to obtain an advantage -- Tawker 02:59, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Please see WP:FA for Wikipedia's Featured Articles. these articles are considered to be the best examples of Wikipedia content - click on any of them and you will see extensive referencing and citation of external sources Bwithh 03:27, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

I think we have far more depth in the average article than any written encyclopedia, if in fact, a written version has any article on the given subject at all. Of course, there will be articles which are exceptions, but that seems to be the overwhelming pattern to me. I suggest you randomly look up a few articles and see if that's not the case. StuRat 03:44, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia serves no real purpose, except that it allows mugs like myself to pretend that they're doing something useful rather than wasting their life on the interweb. --Bonalaw 14:46, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

"Posh Nosh" theme song lyrics

Does anyone know the lyrics of the theme song to the 2003 British satire cooking show, "Posh Nosh" ? The one part I think I can make out is:

"I'm off with a raggle-taggle gypsy boy"

StuRat 03:35, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Sure. It's all over the web -- here's one source. It's called (unsurprisingly) "The raggle taggle gypsy". --jpgordon∇∆∇∆

Thanks. It seems to be about a woman who gives up money, title, a manor and land for true love, which is in sharp contrast with the woman in the show, who apparently is in a loveless marriage specifically for money, land, a manor and a title. StuRat 04:16, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

The O.C. season 3 release date

Does anyone know when season 3 of the o.c. will be released on dvd? If no date has been set, what is a good estimate of the date, based on the release patterns of the previous two seasons?

• In what country? - Mgm|^(talk) 11:15, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Canada

Gas Prices

Why does California not put a cap on gas prices? I heard of other states doing it, I think Hawaii was one of them. Its about $3.30 for Super Unleaded (91 octane) and I saw diesel for $3.99 at this one gas station in Los Angeles. Prices are going out of control.

The risk of that is that gas may become unavailable. That is, if it costs more than that to produce it, the producers would be stupid to sell it at a loss. Another disadvantage is that high prices are actually needed to get people to conserve gas usage, by driving less, carpooling, getting more fuel efficient cars, moving to alternative energy sources, etc. StuRat 07:54, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

You ration a scarce good by either a natural price increase, or long line-ups. Think of Soviet toilet paper. --Zeizmic 12:53, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

From the look of the prices quoted and the information from here it would seem that Hawaii has capped the prices high. I see we are not listed there but I pay $5.00 a gallon. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 15:35, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes. It's worth pointing out the US has rather low gas prices. - Most of western Europe is paying over $6 a gallon. Of course, they don't drive as many SUVs over there. --BluePlatypus 18:54, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

That's not a coincidence. The high gas prices make it too expensive to drive an SUV, which is why they added taxes to make the prices so high. They don't want a lot of gas guzzling vehicles wasting precious resources. StuRat 19:42, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

That's where Canada gets a raw deal. Prices are higher but we are stuck with the same gas guzzling vehicles that the US has. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 19:47, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Stuck with gas guzzlers ? A US auto exec put a gun to your head, then made you sell your subcompact and buy a huge SUV ? LOL StuRat 21:35, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Here in the UK it is $6.50 a gallon, or 97p a litre, and the general press attitude over here, is that americans don't know how lucky they are. Its silly really, how people always complain, the grass is always greener on the other side... Philc _T+C 22:13, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

The difference is that most Americans have to drive far more than Europeans do. The idea of a family having only one car and using it only on the weekends and for trips to the grocery store, common in Europe, is a fantasy in the U.S. A resident of a European suburb can take public transit or an intercity train if gas prices get too high, but most Americans don't have that option. American communities are often built at such low densities that an automobile is required for nearly 100% of trips. So gas might be 2 or 3 times as expensive in Europe as in the U.S., but Americans may still need to spend more on gas because of their greater need for vehicle fuel. -- Mwalcoff 01:17, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Mwalcoff, That's a good point, but it's still not an excuse the the massive 4-litre engines on many many cars i've seen in USA - I've read in many places (and i'm not saying the sources are perfect), but there's a lot of people with the attitude that it's perfectly acceptable to drive to their next door neighbours house, next door, or take the car to the local shop which is a three minute walk away. I know i'm going to get flamed to hell for saying this, but it's just my opinion. Don't complain about high petrol prices - there's a lot of people who pay double what you do, Slashdot already argued this a few months back -Benbread 10:50, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

No, you're right -- a lot of Americans will drive very short distances and do buy SUVs. But I used to live in Prague, and believe it or not there are people who drive Hummers on the narrow cobblestone streets there. And it's not very fuel-efficient to drive at 90 miles an hour the way a lot of Europeans do. -- Mwalcoff 20:19, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

This wins the 'Maximum Indentation' prize of the week. You are allowed to drink one beer, while backing up out the door. --Zeizmic 22:04, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

hehe, just a few points, after reading extracts from a book on american culture, called notes from a big country, by bill bryson, which gave several insights into american car culture, that seem strange, and even humerous to the outside world, for example, driving to your next door neighbours, driving from one shop, to the next on your street, leaving your engine running while you go inside, driving a few miles to the gym to jog on a treadmill!?!?! and also, about your ideas of public transport, if you came to the british west country, you'd think twice, we are told to use more public transport, and one bus leaves our village a week, and even then you have to wait 2 days for the return. And we have to commute a good 30 miles to work everyday. I don't know what this is on american scales, but I shouldn't of thought that on average you drive to much over that, and we now pay £1 a litre ($6.84 a gallon)(yes its risen again), and we do complain just like you, but seeinge someone who pays half the price getting in a huff about it just seems silly. Philc _T+C 20:08, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

You seem to have hit it exactly - according to this site, the average American commutes 29 miles and spends 55 minutes a day driving. But note that this is a national average, not only the distance commuted by those few living in more isolated communities. Rmhermen 15:11, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Marine biology

Do fish do poos?

If anyone can clear this up, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

The-New-Kid 10:09, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

• Yes, they do. At least my telescope fish did. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:22, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
• My family had aquarium fish when I was a child. Therefore I can say that aquarium fish excrement is a long, thin, continuous line. Once the fish stops excrementing, this line of fish shit drops down onto the bottom of the aquarium, gets tangled around itself, and slowly decomposes. JIP | Talk 13:20, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

• I see the answer is definitely yes. However, I don't imagine anyone will be volunteering to clear it up. Notinasnaid 16:46, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

• They also regularly taste it, them spit it back out, then taste it again, ad infinitum. Nobody ever accused fish of being too smart for their own good. StuRat

Is this a case of ichthycoprophagia? JackofOz 03:11, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

• Yes fish poo - if someone else could clear it up, I'd appreciate it. Grutness...wha? 23:46, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

U.S. and Oil

Does the U.S. Export any Oil?

Yes it does, 1,048,000 barrels a day (2004). See Image:Oil exports.PNG. –Mysid 15:09, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Ok, why don't we stop exporting and keep it for ourselves? Would that help gas prices at all?

I can think of two possible reasons. One, the type of oil tends to dictate what it can be refined in to, as not all oil is suitable for gasoline production. Second, where are they sending it to? How much oil do you think somewhere like Saudi Arabia is sending to Israel? Have a look at Oil refinery. Also another interesting question would appear to be why is the US both an exporter and importer of electricity CIA world factbook?

In the case of a commodity, the price should remain the same whether a country chooses to export it or not, provided that there is sufficient global supply to cover the demand. In the case of a severe shortage, each country would be likely to keep their own production, at least until their demand was met. Unfortunately, the US produces far less than it uses, so there would still be a severe shortage in the US, even if this action was taken, but they could at least provide fuel for emergency vehicles. StuRat 19:31, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

According to this page, almost all of the crude oil exported by the US goes to Canada. None has gone to Israel for several years. -- Mwalcoff 01:23, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

It's about maximizing profit. Why would they want to reduce prices? Those who have the oil can provide more value to their shareholders (profits) at high prices. That's the important thing. GangofOne 03:36, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

That map seems to show total US exports, not just Oil. The oil the US produces is mainly from Alaska, whereas our refineries are on the Gulf coast. It's cheaper to ship the Alaskan crude overseas to Asia to sell, and import middle eastern/south american oil to refine into gas. As far as the electricity issue, the US and Canadian grids are interconnected, so I'm sure power flows both directions at times, so we both import and export electricity.Brian Schlosser42 14:19, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Sorry. Must be one of those CGI things. If you play with the settings, you can get it to show only oil exports. -- Mwalcoff 23:10, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Request for Information/Resources.

Good day,

Based on personal experience (and the experiences of a handful of others) that there are users with administrator/sysop rights who use the speedy delete process with wanton abandon. This is very distressing to contributors such as myself who have had their contributions discarded without discussion.

When I first arrived, I was intimidated by such actions, fearing that if I spoke up, I could invite the wrath of certain 'undesirable unmentionables' which happen to have system privileges. I have seen such behaviour on certain IRC channels, and was concerned that it could be the case here as well.

Here are my questions:

1. Could you please tell me where I can find more information (assuming it exists) about processes in place for keeping users with privileges in check? Deleting contributions without allowing for a defense of the content seems like a miscarriage of justice. Especially when it took hours of work to create the product. This concerns me because I perused the list of "missing wikipedians" and noticed a handful of users who departed the project out of frustration. I would like to know if there is anything done to keep such users in check.
2. Also, I recently stumbled upon a page which included a "statement of principles" for the project. It was rather encouraging to read, but I am unable to ascertain whether it is accepted as standard operating procedure for the Wikipedia Project. Is this the case, if so, is the content mirrored elsewhere on the Wiki to make it official?
3. Finally, it appears certain users within the community have formed cabals -- which the aforementioned statement of principles abhors. The consequences of the actions of such cabals (perhaps unintended) impedes the progress of the project. One way this manifests is the bias exhibited via the arbitrary defense of poor conduct exhibited by their "associates." What is being done to stem the tide of such insidiousness?

Thank you for taking the time to read this message; I shall look forward to constructive feedback to address these concerns.

Regards, Folajimi 14:35, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

You should have a read through Wikipedia:Speedy deletions, Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion, Wikipedia:Deletion review and Wikipedia:Articles for deletion. Concerns can go to Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents or Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard but again please read through the requirements. What did you write that was deleted? CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 15:20, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. I was well aware about the criteria for deleting articles prior to posting this missive. More importantly (to me at least), is ensuring that contributions satisfy the requirements outlined by Wikipedia:Notability; if it satisfies those requirements, then I do believe the article should be accepted.

However, this is not about addressing grievances. As such, I fail to see how posting to the noticeboard will address the problem at hand (i.e. the "mistake(s)" that can deep-six hours of work with a few mouse clicks.) As for deleted contributions, it is unclear what constructive purpose it would serve to raise it here. FWIW, several admins have seen the content of one such deleted article (which I secretly had another user resubmit) and have deemed the deletion to be unfair.

As I mentioned in my initial post, I would like to know if there are any procedures/safeguards in place to keep such deletions from happening in the first place. Fewer unfair deletions would mean fewer "incidents", which in turn allows for more time to be devoted to the creation and maintenance of acceptable, worthwhile contributions. I hope that makes sense. Folajimi 22:19, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Is this the wrong place for this matter? If so, where should such concerns be directed? Folajimi 20:53, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree that admins run roughshod over editors at times. What is even more distressing is when they appear to seek revenge against anyone who questions their actions. I found myself the victim of unfounded sockpuppet accusations when trying to defend my now deleted (and replaced with a link) article on linen closets. To me, an article would have to be really horrid before deletion is appropriate, but many admins seem to delete them simple because they are not notable to them. StuRat 19:17, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

For your review my deletion log. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 19:35, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

You might also like to check out There is no Cabal for information about real or percieved cabals. As for you, StuRat, we had this discussion before. It's not just the sockpuppetry or the AfD (not speedy) that was not in your favor, but also the fact that there is no need for an article on linen closets, as we already have closet, which, I dare say, is not of featured quality. Loading Wikipedia with trivial information (also called "dicdefs") is both unhelpful and a waste of your time as well as mine. I don't want to waste my time deleting articles, but if thats what it takes to keep this place clear, so be it. -Mysekurity ^[m!] 19:49, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

It really all comes down to what the Admin sees. If you post an article that is fairly long I will check it out and if in any doubt leave it be. If it's short but looks like it might be valid I would again leave it and see if it got any longer. I have on more than one occasion removed a speedy delete tag because of possible notability reasons but at the same time I would put it at AfD to get consensus. I think your best bet is to go to Wikipedia:List of administrators and ask another admin to review the deleted article and see if they agree with its deletion. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 01:39, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Where might I be able to obtain more coloured illustrations by Gustave Dore for 'Paradise Lost'?

I have been particularly intrigued by the main image in the article entitled 'Satan', which features an illustration by the artist Gustave Dore for Milton's classic 'Paradise Lost'. The interesting thing about this particular image, is that it is in full colour, unlike the original. I would like to know where it is possible to obtain more of these coloured versions of Dore's 'Paradise Lost' illustrations, as I am unsure whether or not they are available in one of the many different publications of Milton's book. Any help on the matter would be great.

cheers again

• Removed email address to prevent any future spamming. Please watch this space for responses. Tintin (talk) 16:25, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

The image in question was supplied by the user Scottykav. I would suggest asking him the source of the image on his talk page. Actually, it looks like someone has already asked him there. It looks like a scan to me - hence probably from a book. Hope that helps. --Estarriol ^talk 19:05, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I thought it looked more like a Photoshop job done after scanning. Hand-colored 19th century prints tend to look better than (or at least different from) that. --BluePlatypus 23:15, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

email pictures in text,

i am using windows xp,yahoo.com as isp,having trouble with foward or putting in pictures in the e mail i send,after highlighting ,copy, paste send there is no picture there sent. (e-mail-removed)

0. Make sure the recipient wants to receive your pictures; unsolicited pictures may be very unwelcome. 1. Save your pictures as JPEG files. 2. Check the file size. There is no need to send a photo that is larger than, perhaps, 250K. Never send more than 2 MB by e-mail except by special arrangement. 3. Attach the JPEG files to the mail message (as files, not pictures). 4. Write the e-mail as normal, explaining what each attached file is for. Notinasnaid 18:03, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

iTunes and DVDs

Is there a way to rip movies from DVDs so I can put them on iTunes and iPod? A program I can download perhaps?

--> [1] - open this page & download "DVD Decrypter" to decrypt dvds to your hard drive in it's entirity (vob format)

--> [2] - Download Dr. Divx to convert the raw dvd file (vob) to another smaller format of your choice (eg. mpeg, avi etc)

The DVD Decrypter isn't availabe anymore...

Try http://www.doom9.net for a nice list of DVD decoders and decryptors. -Mysekurity ^[m!] 19:51, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Also try videohelp.com, especially in the "tools" section. --Estarriol ^talk 18:52, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Medical condition

What is the medical or scientific term for the crusty things on your eyes when you wake up?

I can't find a direct name for it, but according to a local newspaper article [3], it's dried lacrimal liquid, i.e. tears, secreted by the lacrimal gland. Normally, during daytime, the fluid goes to the nasolacrimal duct and finally into the nasal cavity. But at nighttime a large proportion of the lacrimal fluid evaporates and all the dirt, dead cells and minerals it contains concentrate into the crusty thing. –Mysid 18:36, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

What, eye boogers isn't scientific enough for you ? :-) StuRat 19:10, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Eye Boogers don't sound good, I always called them Sleepy Seeds.

In my family we simply called it "sleep", as in "I have sleep in my eyes". Adam Bishop 17:13, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

(totally unscientific irrelevant piece of trivia) In Germany, they are known as "Augensand" (sand in the eye), and small children are taught that, when they sleep, a fairy (the Sandmännchen, or sandman... oh my gosh, I can't believe we have an article on this!) comes and sprinkles their eyes with sand to help them sleep. There is even a very short TV show on every night on the public TV channels just before a child's common bedtime.

Not that anyone wanted to know this. ;-) — QuantumEleven 11:56, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Don't sell yourself short, Quantum Eleven. There is always a market for apparently useless trivia, especially round these parts. There's a lovely German folksong about the Sandman, of which Brahms made a famous arrangement. JackofOz 14:09, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

The sandman theme also exists in the US. In an episode of Mad About You, Paul made a children's movie where he snuck in at night and sprinkled sand in the children's eyes. This terrified the kids, who were then afraid t go to sleep, LOL. StuRat 13:14, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Arrows

*How can I insert (if possible) up, down and left arrows??

[Currently in the edit box you can only insert an arrow pointing right, how does one insert other arrows?

You can insert arrows by using their HTML entities: → for a right arrow (→), ← for a left arrow (←), ↑ for an up arrow (↑), and ↓ for a down arrow (↓). –Mysid 18:41, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

You can also create them with ASCII characters (sort of):

   ^
   |
<--+-->
   |
   v

StuRat 19:07, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

What Colour Are My Eyes?

What colour are my eyes? One person tells me that they are blue, but I think that they are grey. You may want to read the article Eye color. I included five pictures (to avoid any mistakes); three have no flash, and the other two are with flash. If it helps, my mother's eye color is brown and my father's is blue.

PHOTOS WITHOUT FLASH

PHOTOS WITH FLASH

Thank you for helping me. --Valuefreeperson2 21:38, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, look blue to me. But perhaps they change color slightly. Some people's eyes do that. So sometimes they might look blue, but other times they might look grey. Also, I'm not exactly sure this is the right forum to be using to ask this question. --LV ^{(Dark Mark)} 22:29, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Looks "steel blue" to me - see the article - i.e. a "washed out" blue, almost grey. --Estarriol ^talk 18:49, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

If you see the article on Eye color, grey eyes are just a variant of blue eyes. (i.e. there's no 'grey' pigment.) So there's no sharp line between grey and blue to be had. Anyway, those look more blue than grey to me, but that can change with lighting conditions. (My own go from bright green to grey depending on the light). --BluePlatypus 20:05, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

This is easier for me. I just take my old passport from 1988 and it has a field for eye color saying blue. Nowdays no ID have such a field, even if they have a black-and-white photograph. – b_jonas 21:26, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Okay, thanks for your help.--Valuefreeperson2 20:36, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

windmills that produce electricity for homes

thanks for info that electricity produced for homes by windmills

They can only be used in a few areas which have a steady wind. Places with lots of hills, buildings, trees, or other obstacles are not suitable for windmills. StuRat 22:16, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

No, a steady wind is not necessary (see Wind power#Coping with intermittency. Beyond correcting that point, though, I don't understand the original question. Devices that use wind to generate electricity are described in our article about Wind turbines, which links to additional helpful information in Wind power. Do you have a more specific question that isn't answered in one of those articles? JamesMLane t c 15:22, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, using windmills exclusively as the only energy source would be a poor choice in a place without a steady wind, as that would require additional equipment, such as batteries, to store the energy, and there would also be significant energy loses, due to this storage. However, if this is just to supplement energy provided by the electrical grid, then it's not so bad, especially if you can sell the excess power generated during high winds back to the utility. StuRat 22:00, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Yakuza

Hello!You probably see what's coming(an idiotic question), but i can't help it. Let's say, purely out of example, that i am a person living in Romania, with no social status, very short with money, don't have any underground connections, don't understand Japanese, etc. I would like to know if there is any way for such or similar person to become a Yakuza gang member, even if he is not Japanese etc. I have put this example to see what is the criteria to enter, and can a below-average person even if he is living far from Japan and perhaps New York become a member of the Yakuza gang. I did my Google search but it doesn't actually answer my question. Is there any way for such a person to enter, and if it is, i would like you to say exactly how can someone enter. I would like not to have offensive or insulting answers to my questions, because even if it sounds ridiculous, i would like someone who knows exactly what he or she is writing, to give instructions on how to do it because it interests me. I understand that this question seems awkward but i would appreciate a helpful answer very much.--Captain ginyu 23:25, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

According to our Yakuza article they do accept non-Japanese members, and appear to quite a few of them. --Eivind^t@c 01:16, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but it interested me how to become a member of them without having any connections in the underground, e.g. can you just find a member of them and say:Hi, i would like to be a yakuza! or is it more complicated.If someone knows I would appreciate an answer very much.--Captain ginyu 12:23, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

You could try to first join the Hells Angels on your 10-speed. --Zeizmic 22:01, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Oh yes, thank you very much Zeizmic. I haven't written in any part of this question that I myself want to join the Yakuza, I just said that the process interests me. But, really, if you know something about this(and you obviously do) it would be nice to share it with us. And i get the part with the 10-speed, probably meaning that I am a kid that saw a Yakuza film and now I am eager to become a mobster, 'cus they have nice tatoos!--Captain ginyu 22:58, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I am a kid that saw a Yakuza film and now I am eager to become a mobster, 'cus they have nice tatoos!

Well, are you...? ;-) I think that, on this one, the Wiki Ref Desk has to pass - it's unlikely that one of us has ever joined the Yakuza (ruling out first-hand knowledge), and criminal organisations don't exactly publish their joining procedure. Purely speculating, I'd imagine that you would first need to establish a name for yourself in the underworld (through committing crime and not getting caught, that sort of thing), eventually find out who runs the local Yakuza, and try to endear yourself to them. But, as I said, this is all just speculation. — QuantumEleven 11:52, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! This a very nice answer QuantumEleven, and no, I am not a kid that saw a Yakuza film and now wants to be a mobster.--Captain ginyu 18:53, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

April 23

World Baseball Classic Video

what happened to the mini-video that appeared on the world baseball classic page showing the controversial call of the japan v. usa game?

We have an extensive summary of the event at Controversies at the 2006 World Baseball Classic#Sacrifice fly appeal, JPN vs. USA. Basically, the umpire called a Japanese baserunner out, believing that he had left third base before a fly ball was caught. On television, however, they showed a synchronized composite video in which it was clear that the Japanese runner's foot was still on the base when the ball was caught. ×Meegs 00:51, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

What is the name & lyrics of Irish folk song

My Irish born mother used to sing a song about a young man who went hunting in a marsh and accidentaly shot his lover with an arrow and she turned into a swan. Can amyone help me track down the name and lyrics of the piece and ideally a recording. -- TedO

Are you perhaps thinking of the story of "Molly Bawn" by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, which has been featured in British folk songs, as well in more contemporary songs, such as Peter, Paul and Mary's "Polly Von" (or "Polly Vaughn"). The repeated line in the songs is "she'd her apron wrapped about her, and he took her for a swan". The version by Peter, Paul and Mary appears on their album "In The Wind", and is available on iTunes. --Aramգուտանգ 03:31, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Oysterband also does a great version called "Molly Bond". It originally appeared on an older album called Step Outside, but is also often included in their live sets (see Alive And Acoustic for one live version). - FlyingOrca 12:12, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Featured articles

How many votes does a nominated subject need to become an officially featured article? Thanks. PatrickJ83 01:19, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

It's not a matter of counting votes. Voting is evil. It just has to satisfy the featured article criteria. —Keenan Pepper 02:54, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

"Voting is evil"? WOW...!!! You just undermined all of Western Civilization...But I digress. Who decides to turn something into a featured article? PatrickJ83 04:10, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

• User:Raul654 is the featured article director and in charge of promoting articles who get enough community support. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:50, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

• Note also that you may nominate any article for selection as a featured article at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates. If you know a featured article that you'd like to see on the main page, you can suggest it at Wikipedia talk:Tomorrow's featured article (make sure they haven't already been featured there first!). Articles are usually selected for inclusion on the main page about one month in advance. Grutness...wha? 10:11, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

comparing africa to australia

i am planning on doing a lesson with a small group of 6/7y.o. i am teaching them about africa. before i teach them about africa i want them to develop a better understanding of where africa is,how big it is, and how far it is- compared to australia. i was thinking of showing them a map of africa and map of australia, and seeing how many maps of austalia fit inside africa, but when i use the maps i have, it doesnt seem to reflect the actual difference (am i right that there are about 4 australias in africa?-but i can only seem to fit two-ish)i guess i would like to know how long it would take to get to africa if you walked(maybe), from adelaide, australia. and some way of displaying how big africa is. thanks.------

I get an area-ratio of 3.54 from the Africa and Australia (continent) articles. Make sure your maps are to the same scale, and realize that you could never actually fit that many rigid Australias because they're not the same shape. I get (from Adelaide, Kinshasa, and [4]) 12700 km as a rough "to Africa" distance. Taking a normal walking speed of about 5 kph, that's over 200 days of walking 12 hours a day. Hope that helps (in particular, helps you see how to find answers to these kinds of questions). --Tardis 06:00, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

If you want to relate the dimension in a "tangible" way, then I can suggest cutting up a few maps of Australia into small blocks (a class activity?), which would give a better cover of the map of Africa (and having the kids do the overaying, one Australia at a time). I imagine one may get 3 to 4 sets of blocks to fit, depending on the size of the pieces (early calculus?), and the rules for overlapping - which you make up, of course. Similarly, linear dimensions can be represented by strips of map cut say from Sidney to Perth or where ever, and letting the kids find out how many of these fit into the distance they are learning about. I imagine that photocopied/computer printed maps would be the only practical way of doing this. I have always believed that teachers have much more homework than pupils... --Seejyb 14:36, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Part of the problem with the apparent difference in the maps you are using may be if you're using world maps. The particular map projection will make a difference to the appearance of the two landmasses - all projections produce some form of distortion because you're trying to represent the surface of a sphere (roughly) on flat paper. Most readily available projections make areas close to the equator appear relatively small compared to those further away. Since much of Africa is at more equatorial latitudes than Australia it will appear relatively smaller than it actually is. Grutness...wha? 10:15, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Martini/Cocktail Glass

I am looking for the specific name for this type of stemware. If it sits one way, it can be used as a martini glass but if you flip it over, it can be used as a wine glass. I want to buy some, but don't know how to find them if I don't know the name!

Can't find them anywhere! I wanted to write an article that competes with spork. --Zeizmic 17:31, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Ha! I found the stupid thing. [5] MoMastore is down right now, so I include a Google cache link. This is an 'original' piece of 'art', so expect it to be pricey. The plastic versions should be out soon. --Zeizmic 17:48, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Curious

What do a human woman's breasts feel like? I hope this question isn't agaisnt any rules. 71.250.6.144 03:04, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

It's not against any rules; you're welcome to ask questions like this. The skin feels more or less like skin from any other part of the body, maybe a little smoother and softer. The breasts themselves can vary from firm to squishy, it varies from woman to woman (and it also depends on the time of the month, as I understand). The most interesting part is the nipples, which feel weird and rubbery when erect. —Keenan Pepper 04:00, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I have it on good authority that they feel like bags of sand. --ByeByeBaby 06:49, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I would expect them to feel just like a man's breast, only bigger. StuRat 17:38, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

It also depends on the woman and the relative size of the breats. Younger women tend to have firmer breasts (not always, but as a general rule). With very young women, the nipples will often stand out as small cones above the curve of breast rather than as, erm, more nipple-like tips. Child-bearing can cause changes in the shapes of breasts too. And that's excluding the difference in firmness caused by the difference in size. A general alswer to your question, though, would be "very nice". Grutness...wha? 10:19, 24 April 2006 (UTC) (I can't believe I wrote all that)

I want to know if anyone knows what a non-human womans's breasts feel like...Brian Schlosser42 14:39, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

(lol) I think you'll find there are no non-human women (although some of the women I've known are marginal). JackofOz 14:43, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Try milking a cow. Its udder is basically its equivalent to a human woman's breasts. Not that they feel nearly as good. (I can't believe I wrote just said that either) Loomis51 00:53, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

That suggestion is udderly absurd. :-) StuRat 15:23, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Trainspotting Subtitles

A guy I knew - that was in Wales a few years back - told me that the movie Trainspotting had had subtitles put in for the non-Scottish English speaking audience. I suppose that was a joke, but I liked the idea so much I actually refrained from asking anyone for all the years. I think the time has come I'm more interested in the truth than in a good yarn. So - anyone from England who can comment on that? How about the US? --82.207.248.218 04:07, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I rented a DVD of it in the US and it didn't have subtitles, at least not by default. I could understand most of it, but sometimes I had to run it back and think hard to figure out what they were saying. —Keenan Pepper 04:41, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

If I remember correctly, there is a point in the movie in which subtitles are used, but for comedic effect and only for a single scene. (I could be remembering another movie, not sure.) But for the length of the movie, the DVD does not include subtitles. In addition, I am nearly sure that the theatrical release in the US didn't include subtitles either. That being said, while the idea of subtitles is a joke to you, to many US viewers it isn't — call us whatever you want but that dialect is hard to understand. And there are things far worse than subtitles - one of the (few) good things about the presentation of foreign films in America is that they never are dubbed, but always are subtitled (in theaters, that is - not necessarily on TV). zafiroblue05 | Talk 05:38, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I've seen many cases of people allegedly speaking English with subtitles used to make it clear. 911 calls and airplane "black box" audio always seem to have them, too. StuRat 06:04, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

There is one scene in the movie, where Spud and Tommy are talking about their sex lives, where there are subtitles. The rest of the movie doesn't have subtitles. -lethe ^{talk +} 06:43, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

The DVD sold in the US does have subtitles. In fact, most movie DVDs come with subtitles -- for the hearing impaired, if nothing else. But of course one can switch them off. Chl 11:37, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

That's correct, actually - but not subtitles by default. zafiroblue05 | Talk 17:12, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I see that newfangled DVD business complicates matters. But thanks for the effort. --82.207.222.172 23:44, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

There are two kinds of subtitles - 'forced subtitles' which are always visible (such as the English translations of Elvish spoken in the Lord of the Rings films), and then, on DVDs, the viewer can choose to show (in addition) subtitles for the entire film. Almost all DVDs include subtitles in the same language as the film (for the hearing impaired, or if your laptop speakers are lousy), any many will include a few other languages, so non-native speakers can get the translated dialogue while still hearing the original voices. — QuantumEleven 11:47, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I once saw a movie on the CBC about Norman Bethune that was made in China. The movie was of course in Chinese with English subtitles added, except when Bethune spoke. He talked in English with the original Chinese subtitles, looked a bit odd. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 12:11, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

To get back to the original question, I'm from Canada and I saw the movie "Trainspotting" with no subtitles whatsoever and it was completely comprehensible. (Great movie, by the way, except I don't understand the meaning of its title...does "Trainspotting" mean something particular in Scottish English?) On the other hand, I saw the movie "Snatch" with Brad Pitt where he played some sort of English brand of trailer trash. His speech was completely incomprehensible, even to the regular English characters who couldn't understand a word he said. Do these people exist in England? If so who are they? Loomis51 00:48, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Regarding the title, check out train spotting. The article on the movie mentions that the first 20 minutes of the film were re-edited with alternate dialogue, for us hapless Americans who wouldn't have been able to understand the accents. --LarryMac 13:38, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

FWLIW, Brad Pitt's character in Snatch is an Irish Traveller. This is not really the same as trailer trash; the closest thing we have over here to that is the chav. --Bth 09:31, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Eye lash

You know when your eyelash gets caught under the eyelid of the eye above it/below it and scratches against the eyeball? Is there a name for this? And any suggestions for getting it out? zafiroblue05 | Talk 05:39, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

First I'd try just blinking a lot. If that doesn't work, try an eyewash preparation. You might want to do this all in a dark room, since light may aggravate the irritation. StuRat 05:56, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

This is purely anecdotal but it works for me: grab your lid between thumb and index finger (thumb under lashes, index over lashes), pull you whole upper lid out and over your bottom lid and release--usually, after a few tries, the errant lash ends up sitting or half sitting on your lower lid. --Fuhghettaboutit 16:32, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

This is actually taught in any good First Aid course for removing small particles stuck under the upper lid. You simply wipe its inner side using the lashes of the lower lid. --Dr. Zarkov 16:54, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

The simpler but more common case is when the eyelash is still connected to yor upper eyelid. In that case, you can gently pull the eyelid away from the eyeball with one hand and drag the eyelash with the other hand without touching the eyeball at all. You can't hold the single eyelash between your finger and your thumb, you can only grub it outwards. You may have to retry this as it doesn't always work the first time. (Do this with a mirror.) If the eyelash is already detached, it's a more difficult to get out. – b_jonas 21:15, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

please show the picture of african witch doctor

i need african witch doctor resarch.and photo also

You're going to have to be more specific as to what information you want on the topic for your research if you want a good answer. For the second request, there's a photo of a number of witchdoctors at a gathering here. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 13:33, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

try going to www.google.com , going to "Image Search" and type in this following line:

"africa" OR "african", "witch doctor" OR "voodoo doctor" OR "shaman"

or use: [6] --Valuefreeperson2!

Teeline shorthand

I wish to learn Teeline, could anybody reccomend a good free online tutorial?--Keycard ^(talk) 08:34, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Is there an application that can limit my download speed?

I just need to limit my general download speed to 8 or 9 kb/s, down from 140-150. I use Windows XP.

You could get dialup internet; it does the job of being slow marvellously. ...Scott⁵¹¹⁴ 11:00, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Why do you need to do this? Daniel (☎) 13:20, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I *think* getright is capable of doing a throttled download Raul654 13:21, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and so is wget. Raul654 13:21, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I meant my total download speed, for all programs, not just transfers.

That would, by defintion, have to be done by the operating system. All modern operating systems enforce application seperation, meaning that an application is incapable of knowing how many other transfers are going on or how fast they are going. Raul654 14:44, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

gears of war

quick question:

was just looking at some trailers for the xbox 360's gear of war game. it lists the release date as "emergence day 2006," when the hell is that? is it an actual day, like 'independence day' or are they saying the 'emergence day [is sometime in] 2006'? any ideas? thanks. 67.141.142.9 09:20, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Emergence day is part of the backstory for the game [7]. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 13:27, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

911? How do i attain a map of Lampton county 911 emerg house #?

Recently i have been inquiring about 911 emergency location house identifaction maps. These numbers are used by emergency services( police, ambulance...)to locate your place of residence in case of an emergency. Any information on how to learn more about or get a 911 map will be appreciated.

vandalism? ip address?

Why does it say I have messages in an orange box at the top of the screen. I have clicked it and it mentiones something about vandalism... This is the best resource online. I use it all the time. But did I do anything wrong here? ... Could it be a virus or some other bug that isnt me causing the trouble (if there is any)? It also mentioned something about my ip address being on 2 computers. I have a wireless network and I'm not sure but I think I may have split the ip address on both.

Thanks for your help, Josh

(my email address is REDACTED)

The problem lies with the fact that you're using AOL. As a result, your IP address shows up on Wikipedia as that of the proxy server, which you share with a large number of other users. If you want to avoid getting messages not addressed to you, you may want to consider registering an account, or switching to another ISP. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 14:27, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Articles offensive or sensative to users

Is there a general policy to verify articles before they are posted? For example what happens if a person posts an article that although fact is offensive to other users? These could range from sexually offensive items, to racial or even religious content that affects other users. How do you deal with that?

Farid Ghalili

Verification (checking whether something is true) is not the same thing as censoring (checking whether something is offensive). Wikipedia is not censored. Verification is done after articles are begun, but not well. Henry^Flower 15:19, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I disagree (with Henry). Verification (in theory) is done while the article is written; every new piece of information should be verified and, if applicable, a link or source provided. In practice this does not work so well, but is still carried out. With regard to offensive content, Wikipedia does not censor anything that is verifiable encyclopedic comment. For example, Wikipedia has information about the Mohammed (pbuh) cartoons controversy (despite that being offensive to many muslims) but would not tolerate an article that simply said "Gays are going to hell". If something like that is posted, it is usually deleted very quickly. Daniel (☎) 15:26, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

In fact, during the great media 'smash the wiki' party, journalists reported on offensive statements, that were later have shown to have lasted only a minute or two. Makes you wonder about the ethics of some of these gossip columnists.. --Zeizmic 15:44, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Ethics? Gossip Columnists? Oxymoron of the day. Behold, yet another example of Wikipedia's tireless work to remove offensive comments. Daniel (☎) 16:43, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I've found that articles are quite often kept because they are offensive. See cleveland steamer, donkey punch, and Dirty Sanchez (sex), none of which are verified. A lot of Wikipedia editors are young, and they not only want to thumb their noses at what they see as established authority, they want to give it the double-barreled bird flip.

Good furniture store in Seattle area near Redmond

I'm looking to buy a nice couch in the Redmond area of Seattle/WA. Any suggestions? Pete

I can't suggest any specific stores as I don't know what you're looking for exactly. If you were more specifici, we might be able to betterhelp you. In general, if you don't care too much about factory shrinkwrapping :), I would suggest checking out Craigslist. You can find great stuff there. —WAvegetarian•_{CONTRIBUTIONS}^TALK• ^EMAIL• 17:58, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Wikinet

If Wikipedia were to gather enough information, sometime in the future could most of the rest of the internet become obsolete?

Wikipedia is for NPOV information, the rest of the internet is mainly for POV stuff. David Sneek 20:19, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Also, many pages on the internet are only notable to those who created them. StuRat 21:08, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

No, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, the scope of the web goes well beyond that of an encyclopedia. Due to the No Original Research policy alone, Wikipedia could never obsolete the internet - certainly no more than the Encyclopedia Brittanica obsoleted the rest of the contents of libraries. It is likely, if average article quality can be maintained or improved over time that Wikipedia will be the first-stop reference site for most web denizens (the way that Google.com is the first-stop search engine), but that is all an encyclopedia is ever really meant to be - an overview of a subject, and a launchpad for further research. --Estarriol ^talk 22:21, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

new product

spam deleted. --Zeizmic 21:56, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Walter Starkie

I have just written an article about translator Walter Starkie, but it doesn't seem to want to appear in the same format as all other Wikipedia articles. As it stands now, it is very difficult to read. I don't have this problem at all when I submit or edit other articles.

At the beginning of all this stuff, is a list of where to go for wiki technical problems. I found it very useful when my browser started to do wacky things. --Zeizmic 21:58, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Fixed it. I think it had to do with the use of indents at the start of paragraphs. --Joelmills 22:10, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks.

synesthesia

Hi, I found some really great visuals on synesthesia on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BoobaKiki.png

The problem is that I need a lot more of these types of illustrations (for my research paper) but can't find any. Would anyone at Wikipedia know where I could find more like these, online or anywhere?

Thanks!! Kim Scioloro

By pure chance, I vaguely know someone who is a researcher in this very field. Do a googlesearch on "Randolph Blake" + synaesthesia and you may turn up some interesting stuff. There are also some interesting links on this page. Grutness...wha? 10:31, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Footnotes

Is there a simple way to convert all footnotes into endnotes, or vice versa, in Microsoft Word? zafiroblue05 | Talk 21:56, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Move your cursor into the footnote, right-click, and select "change to endnote". — QuantumEleven 11:40, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Girl Jumps through a basketball hoop

Is the Video of a girl going through a basketball hoop at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5804139819441997248 real? Did she really go through. Who did this and where was it done?

Well, it certainly looks real - it would take very serious resources to fake something like that, and I don't see any of the obvious artefacts that effects would leave. However, since videos like this tend to spread very quickly, with little care as to the verifiability of their origin (see Urban Legend), it's almost impossible to find out where they come from with any degree of confidence. Snopes.com is all about deciphering the veracity of these things, maybe it's worth looking or asking there? --Estarriol ^talk 22:17, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

It looks like a good illusion. My guess is that she does a flip in front of the hoop, and someone else causes the hoop's net to move at the appropriate time. — Matt Crypto 14:59, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

It's computer graphics. There's actually an article I read about this at Snopes.com, but I can't recall the URL right now.--Pharos 07:03, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Stupidest question of the year

I would like to ask the stupidest question of the year.

If it is not illegal to be naked in public, what percentage of the the public would walk around and do their daily business naked? You may assume that the weather is too cold to go around naked. Ohanian 23:32, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Where would I put my wallet and keys? --ByeByeBaby 00:59, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Zero percent. You'd be the only one walking around naked and everyone would be laughing at you. Brian G. Crawford

If I wore nothing but shoes and a backpack or something to hold my stuff, would that count? —Keenan Pepper 02:11, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Depends where you were wearing your shoes and backpack. I think if people did walk around naked here we would see some of that permanent shrinkage that was asked about. I think that a lot of people would not walk around naked and not just because of the weather. Because of cultural taboo and modern day bias against "non-optimized" body shape most people would probably choose to wear clothes. Take a look at Nudity. And this is not the stupidest question of the year. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 06:04, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Maybe we should have a space on the Main Page giving away the Stupidest Question Of the Day Title.. ;-D .....Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 06:26, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Wait - you mean it's illegal? whoadarn. Seriously, see if you can track down membership (no pun intended) numbers for naturist clubs anywhere online. That might give you a rough idea. And CambridgeBayWeather, if you went naked in your everyday life you'd probably need hospitalisation for hypothermia, so I wouldn't recommend it! Grutness...wha? 10:24, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

If I wented naked I think a lot of people would get very ill. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 11:39, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

The Naked Rambler tried to walk round the U.K. in the nude, he got arrested (a few times I think) for indecent exposure. AllanHainey 12:32, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

In Western societies, very few. Wearing clothes in public is a social norm and norms in a society exist independent of the law. Many would avoid not wearing clothes for fear of being socially isolated. Andrew Martinez is a famous public nudist, he spent much time at UC Berkeley without clothes but inspired few others to do the same (interview). Many sources, including our own Wikipedia article, state that this nudity was not outlawed in the Berkeley until recently. However just as it is the norm in Western societies to wear clothes, there are (and were) nudist tribes where it is (or was) the norm to not wear clothes. For more on such tribes and other nudity related topics, consult the article on nudity. Even in societies where nudity is outlawed some nudists report that, provided their behaviour is not overtly sexual, they are usually only told to move on by law enforcement and not arrested (UWA Pelican Student Newspaper, 2005). Cedars 15:41, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Interestingly you can get some insight into this, because it was decided in 1996 that in Ontario it was legal for women to bare their breasts in public, and that prosecuting them consitituted discrimination (it being allowed for men to go topless in public). However this ruling has had virtually no effect on the number of women going topless in public, even on beaches and in swimming pools. I would expect much the same response if full nudity were allowed. DJ Clayworth 20:51, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Memory

Why can't most people remember being born or remember being a baby?

because their minds are so young they have not cognitively disassociated themselves as separate entities from the rest of the world. Rlevse 00:04, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

So how far back should a normal person be able to remember?

IANAP (I am not a psychologist), but I can distinctly remember things from when I was 5 years older and younger, but I'd imagine it has something to do with the development of memory and such, at the younger stages of life. Check out memory and childhood amnesia/human development (psychology). Happy editing, Mysekurity ^[m!] 03:41, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

To remember events one has to understand them. Babies don't understand much so they don't remember much. Compare it to being read a book in a language that you don't know: you won't understand a word, and you certainly won't remember any of it. Chl 13:04, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

It probably also depends on the significance of the memory. I strongly remember stepping on a hot heating register in the floor of our house when I was three. User:Zoe|^(talk) 01:38, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

April 24

citations

How do I reference/cite wikipedia in a paper I am writing in MLA style?

See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia, or go to the article you want to cite and click "Cite this article" in the toolbox, which is at the left side of the page under the search box. --Cadaeib 01:29, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Family Guy - Gumbel 2 Gumbel

In the Family Guy episdoe If I'm Dyin', I'm Lyin', one of the Gumbels is interrogating a suspect by saying "uh-huh. mmhmm uhuh.." etc for about 10 seconds. Does anyone know if this is this a parody of a specific show (such as Miami Vice, Hart to Hart or Pacific_Blue_(TV_series))? or just a general gag? Thanks. -Bill

I always thought the point of the "uh-huh. mmhmm uhuh.." was a joke about Gumbel himself since he uses these grunts in interviews instead of saying things like, "I see" or "Yes". Dismas|^(talk) 06:41, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I thought Gumbel 2 Gumbel was hilarious, and I (living in GB) never knew the Gumbels were real people. I've just found the articles Greg Gumbel and Bryant Gumbel. -- Slumgum | yap | stalk | 10:54, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the name has to do with Jungle 2 Jungle, a Tim Allen movie, but the "plot" (if you want to call it that) didn't make any allusions to the movie. -Mysekurity ^[m!] 14:52, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

someone from there who i would like to know something about

has anyone know mr.Asif Ahmed the only son of Dr.Amani Ahmed who was a chief protocol officer to late Robert guei.

i took an email resently from the person who named Mr.Asif Ahmed with a strange and as well as acceptable.

i would be appriciated if anyone let me know that in fact there is a person with the above name and who lives there in Abidjan.

ogun from turkey

Let me guess: the e-mail suggests that you can help with getting a large sum of money which is otherwise locked up, with no risk to you, but a good profit? If so, I have lots of e-mails like this. I get about ten each week, with different names. This is a scam: do not reply, not even to complain. These people are ruthless criminals. See Advance fee fraud. Notinasnaid 08:10, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

And this is a copy of the letter that you received. I used to have a lot of fun responding to these mails but after a while it became boring. Tintin (talk) 08:21, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Please repost Military Tactical Gear

Feel free to examine current thread. WE submitted, we email as per instructions, we authorized release of all materials. Please repost article Military Tactical Gear, or instruct.

For clarification, the user seems to be referring to the article Military Tactical Gear, which was deleted earlier today as a copyvio (see deletion log). –Mysid 11:01, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

It's been resolved in User talk:Military Tactical Gear Tintin (talk) 12:08, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Axe

Hello!Another question by me. I saw an Axe(deodorant) comercial about two or three years ago. It had a few sweaty men in tuxedos jumping one next to another, and in the background was this song(or something like that): Girls girls 1 2 3 say my name, girls...Girls...(2x i think), and I am very curious what the song name is and who performs it. I tried searching but nothing like that came up.--Captain ginyu 11:29, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

credit risk

WAYS FOR A BUSINESS TO counter credit risk?

• Avoid lending. Notinasnaid 11:57, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
• Have employees who did their own homework in school. — QuantumEleven 14:31, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

If you guys can't come up with a serious answer, please don't reply, you may think you're funny, but you're just annoying. As for avoiding credit risk, one solution is to sell your receivables to a factor who will charge you a percentage of the receivables for their services, but will assume the credit risk. There are several other ways of countering credit risk, but I'd have to know more about the business to answer. Loomis51 03:04, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Projective Tests

Hi,

I read a couple of days ago about a new trend of projective tests, and I would really like to know what it is called. The test explains aspects of ones personality through a series of metaphoric questions that represent something in real life. for ex. one of the questions i remembre reading was you are walking on a hill, what does the hill look like? in this case the hill represents ones father, and so on. I remember this type of personality test starting with a k or something.

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Best Regards

Les Moonves

How is his surname pronounced? Is it MOON-vezz, MOWN-vezz, MOONVZ, or what? I'm not even sure whether it's one syllable or two. We ought to put the pronunciation on his page. Bhumiya (said/done) 12:37, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I've heard it said MOON-vezz in an interview with him. Don't have a source thoguh. --Chapuisat 18:11, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Identifying a comic strip

I'm trying to find the title of a comic strip, perhaps defunct by now, where every strip is a photocopy of the same crudely-drawn scene, involving a small barking dog chained to a tree or something. The only variation is in the text bubble in the final panel. It was of course regarded as cutting-edge and postmodern, though your average comics reader probably found it pretentious. I think it was drawn (or written, rather) by a prominent film director. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Bhumiya (said/done) 12:47, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

The Angriest Dog in the World by David Lynch would be what you're after. --Roisterer 13:29, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

That's it! Thanks. Bhumiya (said/done) 00:27, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

True story?

Hii...

I remember reading a short story in my English literature when i was in 4th or 5th grade... it was about a gunner on a fighter pilot and he sits in a small bubble on the tail of the plane.. and when he goes somewhere to bomb a city or something.. his plane gets shot... although he has the time to get his parachute, he discovers that its on fire... and he jumps from the plane... when he wakes up he finds that the branches of a fig tree and soft snow on the ground had broken his fall...he doesn't even get a scratch...i think he falls from 10,00 ft or something.... after he gets captured by the enemies and they find his parachute or a piece of the plane or something and let him go... this was supposedly a true story... can anyone verify this? and if its just a story can anyone give me the title of the story and where i might find it on the net... Thanks a lot.. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 14:41, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Yep, his name was Nick Alkemade. There was also Alan Magee, who survived a longer fall, but given the "small bubble at the tail", the plane was more likely to be Alkemade's Avro Lancaster than Magee's B-17. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 16:27, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

See The Free Fall Research Page for more stories. —Keenan Pepper 20:12, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 04:45, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Windows Media Player question

Hi !

I am listening to a radio channel using Windows Media Player. I would like to know how i can add a track right in my library. Actualy, all i can do is add URL's . Is there some way of copying tracks directly on the hard disk like with those good old radio cassettes ???

Thanks for the help... --62.128.184.76 14:51, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Hey, not that I know of. Oftentimes, if the URL supports it, you can save the file to your harddrive (using File|Save as), and then add it to your library, but you may be able to drag-and-drop the URL into your library as-is. You can also try Save any File, which a nice little tool for downloading things off the web. Good luck! -Mysekurity ^[m!] 15:03, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

You can record any sound your PC makes. If you download Audacity (which is free), you simply select Wave in the drop-down box at top-right and press the record button to start recording whatever your speakers are playing. Note that this also means you'll record Windows error sounds, other program sounds, etc. as well as the radio channel.

If you don't want to use Audacity for any reason, open up Windows' Volume Control (under Start Menu -> Accessories - > Entertainment) and click Options -> Properties. Select "Recording" and click OK, then tick the "Select" box under Wave. Then you can use Windows Sound Recorder, or any other recording software, to record as above.

Hope this helps! Sum0 16:13, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Bold text

Bold text

Thanks guy... Just gonn have a try. Very kind of you taking the time to help. Thanks again, SUMO....

World Record for Hand Clapping

I want to find the word record holder for hand clapping named Vanna White71.142.248.251 15:58, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Go to the search box at the top of the page on the left and type in Vanna White, press Go, and it will lead you to our article on her. DJ Clayworth 20:42, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

american airports

what was the first airport built in new york and when was it built?

First airport in New York City? New York State? First public airport, or are you counting private ones as well? --Chapuisat 18:19, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

If you mean the first major airport to serve New York City, that would be Newark airport according to its article. --Chapuisat 18:24, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Converting .png drawings to .svg drawings

...Is any software available to perform this conversion? Subhash 19:55, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Converting raster to vector is much more difficult than the reverse, and better results can always be obtained by doing the original drawing in vector format, but there is software that can do it, for example autotrace. —Keenan Pepper 20:05, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Author of An Article

I can't find who wrote the information I collected. This is for a school project and I need a bibliography. I can't find any site titles, or the authors of the article i found. Thanks for your help.

See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia, you will find that articles don't have a single author. Dismas|^(talk) 21:27, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

norton Internet Security

Hi ihave interent security with Norton and recently its been playing up, not letting access any security pages e.g. hotmail and sometimes cuts my interent connection. So i tried to unninstal it, but i have to not been able to it says every time that i must be supervisor to do so buti am i have full access rights on this computer. i have tried all accounts on this PC to unninstal it on but it says the same thing please help how can i unninstal Norton? Any suggestions will be much appreciated. By the way when i open my security it appears that it is off but i know that it is working because there is nothing else to be doing this. 86.143.84.23 21:22, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Without knowing your operating system, I'm going to assume you're using Windows XP, as you referenced the Security Alerts panel. Because of the way Windows interacts with Norton, it may not show up in the alerts panel, although it is still active. To make Norton allow your connections, you have to right-click the taskbar icon (or launch it from Start|All Programs|Norton|Norton Internet Security), and go to the Firewall tab. You can then enter in the sites you want allowed or blocked, and it will often work like that. As for administrator privilages, you have to make sure you have the ability to install or uninstall programs, and are not on a Limited Account (check Start|Control Panel|User accounts if you're not sure). Other than that, I'd try Symantec (the creators of Norton) and ask them. Good luck! -Mysekurity ^[m!] 22:02, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Try Symantec's Norton uninstall tool. If that doesn't work, the page also provides a "manual file download" solution. Both have detailed instructions you can print out. --jh51681 01:06, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Geography

Regarding the geography of England, Is Leytonstone in Essex County? Can you tell me the where can i find a detailed map of essex?

Leytonstone was in Essex, it's now in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, postal district London E11. Leytonstone is here - zoom out to see where it is in relation to nearby towns and districts. -- Arwel (talk) 00:43, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Not Vandalism, but not good either...

I have no idea where to ask this, hopefully this will garner some help (which makes my time here seem all the more shorter)

Hello all, I have noticed an anon user using User:206.173.159.62 (contributions) to change a bunch of articles regarding a series of for-profit career colleges into clear POV adverts. As the original creator of this series of articles, I know that all the colleges the user is editting are owned by the same company --thus this seems to be an anonymous user from said company, Corinthian Colleges International, Inc. The person is also removing any critical commentary (which was one college out of more than a dozen articles). I don't think this falls into "vandalism", because the person is adding some useful info. I have left a warning on the talk page, but the reverts keep happening and as I leave work tonight I realize that this person will keep going on like this and tomorrow (or whenever) there may be a hell of a task reverting some of the changes. There is obviously something wrong occuring, but it seems to be a different kind of wrong (like a cigarette company coming in and removing all negative info about itself). Would you call this vandalism/corporate whitewashing? Any advise/help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead. --Bobak 23:56, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

You should contact an admin, Wikipedia:Requests for administrator attention. --Eivind^t@c 00:45, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

He seems to have stopped for now. If he continues to mess around, report him at Vandalism in Progress, the Administrator's Noticeboard, or my user talk page, and we'll block him. Good luck, Mysekurity ^[m!] 04:20, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

April 25

Insurance against nuclear war

My renters' insurance policy has a clause about what isn't covered by the policy (emphasis mine):

We do not cover any loss caused directly or indirectly by any of the following:

...

• War
• Undeclared war
• Civil war
• Insurrection
• Rebellion
• Revolution
• Warlike act by a military force or military personnel
• Destruction, seizure, or use for a military purpose

Discharge of a nuclear weapon will be deemed a warlike act, even if accidental.

Now, this clearly means that loss caused by the accidental discharge of a nuclear weapon by anyone other than a military force is covered, but aside from that, what is the history of this sort of clause? When did insurance companies start announcing that nuclear weapons discharges are not covered, and is there a US state or federal law covering this? Is this related in any way to accidents during nuclear testing? --Carnildo 01:12, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

A history of nuclear liability insurance is [here, although it is admittedly from a "nuclear responsibility" organization, so it's not bias-free. Essentially, it seems that as early as the 1950s the insurance industry realized the hazards of even nuclear accidents. For damn sure, every policy that was issued or renewed September 12, 2001 or later contains a nuclear weapon clause. --ByeByeBaby 01:44, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

My dad went over with me his in surance policy and pretty much the same thing shows up. It says that it does cover against fires caused by a nuclear explosion though. schyler 02:06, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

If you look further, you will see that it doesn't cover damage by earthquake. However, it covers a fire caused by an earthquake. So if the building is a big wreck after an earthquake, throw some gas on it... --Zeizmic 02:18, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Hahaha. Does burning a pile of rubble count as arson...?  -- Run!  13:39, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

These are pretty much industry standard exclusions, though the wordings & way of expressing the exclusions will vary. I doubt that if a nuke was accidentally detonated by civillians you would be covered as for them to get one in the first place would probably require rebellion or insurrection. There's also the fact that once its been detonated it would be hard to say who detonated it & why & some politicians would automatically consider it an act of war (after all 9/11 was carried out by civillians too).

These types of exclusion are quite common in the U.K. we have exclusions against sonic booms (from a hold-over from when Concord was being tested) & some still have Y2K exclusions on their policies. AllanHainey 14:18, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

My understanding of the reasoning of this (and similar non-coverages, such as "war declared and undeclared") is to avoid the insurance company being accused of fraudulently charging you for insurance against events which, if they did occur, the insurer wouldn't be able to pay. Say, for example, if I sold you "global atomic holocaust survival" insurance, which said that if you were the survivor of a large-scale nuclear exchange (which killed say 95% of the population of your country) then you'd receive a cheque for a million dollars. Clearly my offering that insurance would be fraudulent, as I'd be unable to pay you in the event that you became elligible (I'd be dead, my company destroyed, my underwriters evaporated, my reinsurers vapourised, and all my records burned to ash). Now, if I wrote you a policy that simply said that in case of something bad happening I'd pay you the cost of damage to your car, but I didn't disclaim the nuclear-megadeath scenario, then you could sue me saying I was fraudulently charging you a portion of the premium for those scenarios were I wouldn't actually be in a position to pay. Indeed, as every clause in a contract has its origin in an earlier lawsuit, it's likely someone has sued an insurer with such a claim. So, as a consequence, they disclaim every liability where they'd clearly be unable to pay. The Canadian law mentioned in ByeByeBaby's link merely institutionalises this understanding, for one particular uncoverably-huge risk. The author of that page is, really, living in a dream world: no private insurer will ever cover such massive liabilities (and as noted above, it would be fraud if they were to collect insurance on the pretense that the did). So the nuclear industry just wouldn't have any insurance anyway (you can't mandate an insurer takes business he doesn't want to). So the Canadian government would be left with a choice - have no nuclear industry, or act as an insurer-of-last-resort itself. And that, really, is what national governments do; although they don't call it insurance, a national government will always end up holding the bill for a nuclear cleanup, and will be left with the electorally touchy issue of whether to pay the medical bills and resettlement costs of its newly irradiated citizenry. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:13, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and another reason: what differentiates being an insurance underwriter from a gambler is that the underwriter tries to change the odds. So if you get fire and theft insurances the underwriter will mandate a certain level of fire alarm and security system. To facilitate that, they sponsor research and standardisation (that's what Underwriters Laboratories and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are for). They can control some big stuff (they can specify designs for houses in earthquake and tornado areas, and ask for much higher premiums for non-compliant homes) but stuff like revolution, war, major civil unrest aren't something that a normal insurer can influence, so it's a game they don't want to play. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:37, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Fat or lean?

I'm a junior on my high school wrestling team. My questions deal with weight gain. My coach advised me to gain some weight at the end of last season but now he thinks I've added to much (I'm six three and went from a rail-thin 163 to a bulky 220, which means I jumped three weight classes). I've actually improved a lot over last year, but my body fat is way higher, and I'd ideally like to have it be lower. But if I burn it off, I don't think I'll be able to stay in the weight class, since I've never been able to build pure lean muscle. See the problem?

For those of us who don't live in Bisonland, it might be easier to visualise the problem by saying that he is 1.90 m tall, and went from a "rail-thin" 73.9 kg to a "bulky" 99.8 kg. Isn't it time the USA stopped stubbornly being different from the rest of the world? JIP | Talk 09:12, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Ignoring health issues (which I already dealt with) and looking at it only from a strategic position as a wrestler, what would be better for my performance? Should I risk losing mass/power or risk losing speed/agility? My coach says fat gets in the way and throw off your balance, but many of my teammates are huge and have no problem. Does anyone here have any experience with this kind of thing? Also, sorry this is a strange question, but can an athlete add fat to one part of the body while keeping another part lean? For example, harden the chest and legs but not the stomach? That one isn't practical, I was just curious because I've seen some wrestlers with strange body types and I thought maybe they were ignoring some exercises and overdoing others. Thanks in advance. 65.97.28.200 01:54, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I don't think that you'll get any better expertise here, than your wrestling coach. He presumably has seen a few things... --Zeizmic 02:20, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Probably, but I thought someone might have a different perspective on it. 65.97.28.200 02:47, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

As a football player (lineman) and person-who-attended-one-wrestling-practice-before-deciding-he-didnt-like-cauliflower-ear, I can tell you that aside from the health issues and the stupidity of losing and gaining weight quickly; yes, it is possible to tone just one part of your body by lifting, but not by eating. You can't really control where the food is going on your body, so you're best left just running and lifting in certain areas. But I'll warn you, not only is it bad for you, a good deal of my teammates do extreme stuff, and they look deformed. If you want to keep looking handsome, I'd recommend you work out, build your base, agility things and the like. Do squats, dead lifts, power/hang clean, and leg press, and you'll be a) stronger, and b) steadier on your feet, not to mention have a better advantage. Just so you know, muscle weighs more than fat (yeah, I forgot I was supposed to be wikilinking things), so that's something you might want to take in mind. If you would have to choose between one or the other, I'd say go with what you're best at, and failing that, go for agility. As my obese pop warner coach told me, "eat lots of cantaloupe." Y'cant go wrong. -Mysekurity ^[m!] 04:35, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Short answer: lean. Long answer: it depends on your technique and body type. I have some vague experience with this from playing intermural football, but it probably works a little differently in wrestling. Nevertheless, it seems like most of the wrestlers at my school (especially the underclassmen) are rather small and lean, and restrict their conditioning to weightlifting, running, sparring, etc. They might be asked to lose weight, but I've never heard of them putting on weight on purpose. That strikes me as a bit intensive for high school. Our wrestlers tend on average to be shorter and lighter than the football players. They have a reputation for being wiry.

I can tell you from personal experience that raw body mass isn't always an advantage. In sumo, it's a different story, but I think the standard procedure is to work off as much dead weight as possible before gaining back weight as muscle (I had to do that every spring). Of course, several of our wrestlers are enormous and heavy-set, and they seem to do just fine. I think it has more to do with your personal style and how you handle yourself. I'm sure if you tell your coach you have a problem, he'll be able to work something out. Or simply indulge his request -- if it turns out you don't perform as well after you've lost the weight, no one can say it's your fault. Bhumiya (said/done) 05:12, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Windows XP Home Edition, whatever that is

So, my computer (running XP) was fine until my cousin screwed around with it a few days ago and now the STart menu is much smaller and says "Windows XP Home Edition" on the left hand side. I can't figure out how to change it back to whatever it was before. Help?

Try Start | Settings | Taskbar and Start Menu, then click on the Start Menu tab and change Classic Start Menu back to Start menu. --jh51681 02:58, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

And you are aware there are two versions of Windows XP: Home and Professional, right? Even though SP2 seems to disguise that. -Benbread 17:22, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Help with Game Informers Subscription!

Hi, I know this might sound dumb but, how do I subscribe to Game Informers VIA Mail? I am just 14 years old but I have the money, my problem is where do I get a money order, and what do I do next, because I just came here in the United States 4 months ago, so I'm not yet used to all this stuff. I would appreciate it if someone would help me step by step, starting from the money order, to where to place the subscription card, and sending the mail with stamp! And if you are wondering what if I just ask someone older than me, well they are also unfamiliar with this. Again I will thank everyone who will help me.

Most magazines have a subscription card in them, it's usually made of a thicker paper than all the other pages of the magazine. There is also generally an address on the card saying where to send it to and how much money to send for the subscription. You can normally mail all this in to the magazine and they will then start your subscription. As far as the money order goes, you can get these at any bank or major grocery store although they generally charge a couple dollars for them to print up the money order. There is no minimum age limit to get a money order. Dismas|^(talk) 04:51, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

The Moon Illuminating the sky

For a Science Badge, I have to find out why the moon does not illuminate the sky. I have not been able to find this information anywhere on the internet and would be grateful if someone could tell me this. --Caleb 03:43, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

The Moon does not create any light like the Sun. It only reflects the light from the sun. See also Phases of the moon. Dismas|^(talk) 04:47, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Next time maybe ask in the Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science. The moon doesn't illuminate the sky because it is not bright enough. The air is illuminated somewhat, but not enough light scatters to make it a bright blue. Unless you ask why you can see the stars when the moon is there. Then that would be because, again, the moon is not bright enough. -- Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 10:47, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

AH, but when the moon is full, you can see signifigantly fewer stars than when the moon is new! It is not bright enough to make the sky blue, or banish all the stars, but it's certainly the brightest thing in the nighttime sky.Brian Schlosser42 15:10, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

A full moon directly overhead is also bright enough to lighten the sky at the horizon (this is much easier to see over the sea or open countryside). Grutness...wha? 02:53, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Dismas had it right, and I'm surprised s/he's been virtually ignored. The moon has no brightness of its own. It just reflects the light of the sun. Otherwise it's basically a sphere shaped rock that orbits the earth. So to answer the original question, the moon does not illuminate the sky for the same reason that a rock doesn't produce light: it's just a rock, not a light source. (Or you can think of it like a giant mirror orbitting the earth. When the sun shines on it and the light of the sun gets reflected on the earth, it would appear that the "giant mirror" was actually producing light. But in reality it's just a mirror, and has no brightness of it's own.) Loomis51 02:56, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

AFAICS no one ignored him, they just added to his answer. And I think possibly we're overdefining "illuminate" here. Yes, the Sun is ultimately the source of all the light that we're talking about (except the starlight that's being drowned out), but if I use a mirror to shine light into a dark corner it seems silly to say that I'm not illuminating the corner. If the Sun were much brighter than it is, the amount of light reflected from it by the Moon would be enough to overwhelm all the stars and illuminate the sky, just as the amount of light we get from the Sun does now. It's the reflection that reduces the intensity (partly because the Moon's albedo is <1, but mainly because the light incident on the Moon is then scattered rather than pointing coherently at Earth). --Bth 08:33, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

That's exactly the reason I ignored it extended the answer into other areas. Intriguingly, the Moon has an extremely low albedo (only about 0.09, IIRC) so in planetary terms it's very dark indeed. The Sun's apparent magnitude is something like 2.5^14 times that of the full Moon - about 400,000 times as bright. The Moon, though still a very bright object as seen from earth, simply doesn't reflect enough of the Sun's light for the sky to be illuminated by it (by comparison, BTW, the full Moon's AM is about 2000 times that of Venus at maximum, and that's about 16 times as bright from Earth as is Sirius, the star (other than the Sun) with the highest AM. Grutness...wha? 08:28, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, you've all been a great help.

--Caleb 04:18, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Mail Recovery Center at St. Paul, Minn.

How do I contact the Mail Recovery Center in St. Paul, Minn.? I'm desperate to have a certified letter to my son returned to me & apparently it is in the Mail Recovery Center in St. Paul (according to my tracking by computer). Thank you.

I would try going to USPS and click on the "Contact us" link. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 07:02, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Credit cookie

Roger Ebert's review of American Wedding says that "Note: In a stunning breakthrough in the raunchy comedy genre, "American Wedding" doesn't have a single credit cookie." My question - what's a credit cookie? 130.91.117.181 06:40, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

It's an extra scene or a blooper they put in during the credits. See [8].-gadfium 06:54, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Need for Organization Chart of an Investment Bank

Dear Sirs/Madam,

I am currently employed in a leading asset management company in Turkey, called Finans Asset Management. For a project that I am dealing with, I need:

The main activities and units in an investment bank, preferably the organization chart of such a company.

During my search in internet, I have ran across this association and decided to contact you for this matter.

I would appreciate if you could assist me in this.

Sincerely yours.

Fırat Selli

Excuse me, when you write "this association", what do you mean? Notinasnaid 09:40, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

searched googlimages for "bank organization chart". 235 hits first time : try one of those. --DLL 20:19, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Length of time between crime and punishment...

Does anyone know what the longest time has been between the time a crime was committed and the perpetrator put on trial? Murder has no statute of limitations, and I have heard of people being tried decades after their crimes. What is the record? 30 years? 40? More? Brian Schlosser42 15:19, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, taking into consideration some of the massacres committed during the second World War, and the fact that some of those held responsible have been charged this year, the record would at the very least have to be 61 years. --212.202.184.238 17:14, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Pardon my ignorance of current events, but I'm curious, who would that be? They would have to have been very young during WW2 if they're still alive today... — QuantumEleven 21:48, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Most concentration camp guards and members of the SS would have been in their early 20s during the war, so they'd be in their early to mid 80s now, and it's quite reasonable that a bunch of them would still be alive. --Serie 00:18, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Indeed. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which has offices in 5 countries, continues to seek them out and bring them to justice. JackofOz 08:52, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

And, more often than not, sees them being released because by now they're no longer fit for trial. --Dr. Zarkov 13:13, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Audacity file format...

Hii..

After downloading Audacity and using it....i found that i couldn't save the files as .mp3..when i tried to export as .mp3 i could only save them as some audacity project files... the programme itself told me that i would need to download some special mp3(lame) converter that can convert the audacity project files into .mp3.. I cant seem to find this software.. can anyone tell me where i can find that software? Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 18:23, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

For Windows or MacOS, see the Audacity website FAQs[9], where they answer this very question. If you're using Linux, the best way to get lame depends on your distro and how you installed Audacity (you can either build it from source or install via the distro's packaging system.) -- AJR | Talk 18:50, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I have to ask, where did you look? I Googled "lame mp3" and got the information immediately. Alternately, typing "lame" into the search box here brought up a nice disambig page which clearly offered the LAME page. --LarryMac 19:20, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for that.. I was actually trying to search for .mp3 converter and stuff like that... i always got programs which couldn't convert audacity file formats.... Thanks a lot again! Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 20:00, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

This might be a little late, however, you can use the lame dll file in the Winamp directory. Apostate 02:39, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

oh..Cool..! Thanks! Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 09:47, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Zipper came apart

I have a zipper on my backback. The teeth of the zipper have seperated, and the metal piece which connects them has disconnected, leaving it attatched to only once strip/side of the zipper material. I have tried in vain to jam the teeth back into the metal piece that zips the zipper, so that I can zip it back up again.

How do I repair this? Thanks, Mike 161.45.160.127 18:47, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

You have a 90% chance of being unsuccessful. I've tried many times to bend the main zipper closer open, jam in the teeth, and pinch it back with pliers. Do you know that the ductility of zipper metal is zero? Best thing to do is take it to a nice person who sews in a new zipper. --Zeizmic 19:10, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

You might also like to try calling up the company that makes your backpack to see if they can either do anything about it or send you a new zipper. This might be a perfect time to hone your sewing skills! -Mysekurity ^[m!] 21:39, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I have now discovered that the metal used in zippers is about as malleable as a diamond. Perhaps they should use this metal for constructing cars and airplanes? Thanks for your responses, Mike. 68.52.56.111 02:03, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

It's probably grey iron. It's a cheap, easy-to-work metal with low tensile strength and low ductility that's pretty much useless for structural applications. --Serie 23:04, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree, you probably have to buy a new zipper and sew it on, or better, take it to a zip specialist who'll do the same. – b_jonas 22:18, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Sore Throat

I've got a sore throat but the weird thing is, it only hurts if I swallow, is this something common or is it something bad and if you know what it is, could you please help me to make it feel better, THANKS!!!

I had the same thing about a week ago. It seems to be gone now, so I'm assuming that it's nothing serious. Flea110 20:58, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Take some cough syrup, drink plenty of liquids, and also try not to swallow too 'hard' - instead of a violent gulp, do it more gently. These tend so sort themselves out after 3-5 days. --Sam Pointon United FC 21:16, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

You are better off going to a doctor than asking around on the internet... But, personally, if you want to take my advice... i'd advice you to take some warm water, add some table salt to it, and gargle in your mouth, and spit it out.. repeat till you are satisfied....It sure tastes like hell...but it should provide you with temporary relief atleast.. I'd suggest you to do it before having a meal or doing something that requires a lot of swallowing.. ;-D ..Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs

Oh yes, that was the other thing - some dilute TCP (antiseptic) (not UDP - that's too unreliable) gargling can work wonders on a sore throat. --Sam Pointon United FC 21:53, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

To quote the intro above: If requesting medical, dental, or legal advice, please consider asking a doctor, dentist, or lawyer instead. However, there are many good community health websites, such as this one from BC. Specifically, Sore Throat. Andrewjuren(talk) 00:34, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Most sore throats only hurt when you swallow. In fact it would be more uncommon if your throat was just as sore even when you didn't swallow. In any case, an important factor is how long this has been going on. I occasionally get a sore throat, and give it a few days to go away, which it usually does. But if this has been going on for more than, say, three days, I'd strongly recommend you see a doctor to check it out. This also happened to me several times, and the doctor took a swab of my throat, and it turned out to be strep throat which requires anti-biotics to be cured. But I feel compelled to point out that I'm not a doctor and so my comments are only from a layman's perspective. Loomis51 02:39, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I think I might know the sort of sore throat you mean, as though it is a bit swollen? I get these "throat cramps" every few weeks, and cure them by letting my head fall right back and relaxing my neck for a few minutes. This usually cures the problem right away. It's not the same as a regular sore throat. Shantavira 13:11, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

a famous person from philadelphia

could you name one famous person from philadelphia for me please.

Um, the only one I can think after 5 minutes of really hard thinking is "The Chicken Man" as immortalized in the Bruce Springsteen song. is that helpful? Bwithh 22:16, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Rocky Balboa! -- Slumgum | yap | stalk | 22:28, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Err, Benjamin Franklin, Kim Delaney, Edgar Allan Poe, Betsy Ross, Will Smith, Bill Cosby, Grace Kelly, David Brenner, Walt Whitman, Kevin Bacon, Richard Gere, Patti LaBelle, Wilt Chamberlain, Mario Lanza, Gallaudet, W.C. Fields, James A. Michener, Walter Annenberg, W.E.B. DuBois, Marian Anderson, John Coltrane, "Dr. J." Julius Irving, M. Night Shyamalan, Allen Iverson...--Fuhghettaboutit 22:30, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

isn't Ben Franklin from Boston? Bwithh 22:53, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Did you look at List of people from Philadelphia. Anyway which Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Tennessee, Philadelphia (village), New York, Philadelphia (town), New York, Philadelphia, Mississippi or perhaps Philadelphia (disambiguation)? And Franklin did live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but was born in Boston. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 23:03, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I don't think y'all can claim W.E.B. DuBois, but I agree with CBW that those lists are a nice place to start. Good luck! -Mysekurity ^[m!] 03:31, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

personal money management advice for my spendthrift Korean galpal, preferably answered in Korean

She thinks "money grows on trees" (so do her 2 teen daughters). Is there a reference titled "personal money management for dummies", written in Korean, which is available? Thanks for your help....—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.180.156.8 (talk • contribs) .

You may have a better response if you ask this question at the Korean Wikipedia. However, I'm not sure if they have a reference desk, so I can't direct you to the appropriate place to ask.-gadfium 08:50, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

One piece of advice i can give you is that you can forget your wallet whenever you go out.. ;-) Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 09:52, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Find Korean copies of the Archie comics. She can use Veronica as a role model... Seriously, North American experience indicates that she is not going to read anything, and become suddenly converted to frugality. --Zeizmic 12:22, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

If you want to be very cruel, stop supporting her financially for awhile (I presume she knows about your concerns?), and see how she manages. Lack of money will make most people spend less :) — QuantumEleven 14:50, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

• Unfortunately, that's not always true. Some people believe that credit cards were created for people that don't have money, so that they can still go buy whatever they want. So instead of teaching her a lesson, this might just result in her quickly accumulating a LOT of credit card bills. --Maelwys 20:17, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

European economy

How did communisim shape the European Economy of the late 19th Century? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.239.72.175 (talk • contribs) .

I'm sorry but we don't normally answer homework questions, which is what your question sounds very much like.--Fuhghettaboutit 00:16, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

In any case, the first communist state, the Soviet Union, was only established in 1917. Late 19th century Europe was charactized by quite the opposite, laissez faire capitalism. Marxism was obviously an interesting topic among intellectuals in the late 19th century, but as for its role in the "shaping" of the European Economy in the late 19th century, I'd describe its impact in one word: Zero. If this is indeed a homework question, it appears to be an essay question, and one that would require more than a one word answer. Good luck! Loomis51 02:30, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

That would seem to ignore the impact of mass labour movements (and indeed full-on attempted revolutions) on the economy. Which is definitely non-zero, and a decent fraction of those were explicitly Communist with a larger fraction at least partly inspired by the ideas floating around. The working classes didn't just sit around putting up with their condition while they waited for their betters to debate the pros and cons of different economic systems, y'know, and nor did the more committed intellectual supporters restrict themselves to firing off scholarly articles at their opponents. (Right, that's enough hinting at a productive line of enquiry.) --Bth 08:04, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

April 26

Flamingos

Hello, everyone. I heard once that flamingos are the only animals that can form lesbian groups. Is this true? Are they at least the only birds that can form lesbian groups? Thank you in advance.--64.12.116.199 00:48, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I'll go ahead and mention the bonobo before anyone else does. The bonobo is often cited as an animal that engages in rather free expressions of sexuality. Brian G. Crawford 00:55, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Some species of dolphin are also, um, liberally-minded in that regard. There are two famous swans or geese in a zoo in Canada (IIRC) that were named Gertrude and Alice (after Stein and Toklas) because of their preferences. Penguins have also been known to exhibit lesbian behaviour. A pair of female swans in Boston are also lesbian, apparently (see [10]). And it is occasionally found that if a rooster is removed from a flock of chickens, one hen will "assume the role of the rooster" both in its general behaviour and also - very occasionally - in its sexual behaviour. Grutness...wha? 03:04, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I was reading about gay sheep in the paper a while back, but I do remember the beloved Boston swans' getting it on stirring controversy :). -Mysekurity ^[m!] 03:33, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Don't forget humans. Bhumiya (said/done) 04:43, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I've been trying to find an online reference to a claim I once read that every seventh female seagull is a lesbian. No luck but maybe others have heard of this scientific claim. --Roisterer 13:07, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

• • • I've never heard of that scientific claim, but in Beavis and Butthead, Mr. Van Driesen sang a folk song called "Lesbian Seagull." Brian G. Crawford 22:54, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

And cows often mount each other. In fact many animals don't really care who they do it with if it feels good, especially with the many species in which the sexes look and smell pretty much alike. But to call this lesbianism seems to me to be anthropomorphism. Shantavira 13:17, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Upload a picture

How do you stick a picture onto lets say this, on this question, how would you do it?

thanks.

01:26, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

See WP:IMAGE: you upload the image, then place it in the text of the article (or in this case, the question). --Canley 01:41, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

What do you put in the "destination filename" thing? 02:13, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

whatever you want the file to be called - quite often that will be the same as the name of the file being uploaded, but it may be you want a slightly more descriptive name (especially if the file is straight of a digital camera and currently has a name like DSCF00257.jpg!). if you don't put anything in there it will default to the name of the uploaded file IIRC. Grutness...wha? 03:14, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Gold

(1) Why did the price of gold spike in 1980? I've read it was because of the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan [11] , the Japanese trade deficit, OPEC's oil pricing, Nelson Bunker Hunt?? ? No piles of cash [12]? Perhaps a combination?

(2) from E-gold: "Proponents of the e-gold system contend that e-gold deposits are protected against inflation, devaluation and other possible economic risks inherent in fiat currencies."

How do these supposed proponents defend this statement when so little it traded within Digital gold currency that you're bound to have to convert to a fiat currency through a Digital gold currency exchanger to buy or invest in anything useful. And gold fluctuates with the fiat currency, not vice-versa. I mean sure if everyone did it then it would be great... -Snpoj 03:36, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Liberty Dollar is an article about a multi-level marketing scam aimed at people who fear the government's control over money. Of course, such people don't seem to understand that if gold were the principal medium of exchange it too would be controlled and manipulated by governments, banks, and wealthy citizens. Brian G. Crawford 22:58, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

User Page

I want my user page to look cool, but I don't know of any wikipedia resource to find out about doing that. Can someone help, either by directing me to the appropriate resource or giving me a crash course in this? --Matthew 06:57, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

View the source (via edit this page) of those user pages that (in your opinion) "look cool" to figure out how they do it. Copy any good tricks. --Bth 07:19, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

PS Bear in mind that some of the more complicated things may be templates substituted in using {{subst}}.

Yes, I can recommend that. I did the same. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:10, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

And if you do choose to include Userboxes, try not to go overboard with them. User Pages look very weird when you have two screenfuls of coloured boxes and more text in your category list than the entirety of most articles. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 07:47, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I'd have to say that there's nothing cool about pages full of little boxes with odd pictures, and even less cool about pages full of colored text. Notinasnaid 07:52, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Hahaha, I did that. Flameviper12 (not logged in) 216.11.222.21

And you could also make your userpage look a little better if you can arrange the stuff on the page so that it all looks neat and symmetric.. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 09:50, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

On the other hand you could forget about a cool user page which you cna't be sure anyone except vandals look at and go with a cool signature that everyone will see. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 10:16, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Maybe we should have a Vote for the best Signature thingy ... ;-D Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 10:35, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Voting is evil. I demand you rename it "Signatures for Appreciation". --Bth 11:08, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Alrighty... Signatures for Appreciation it is then... i nominate myself because this is my idea...;-) Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 12:09, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

creating a page

how do you create a page on this website?

You need to get an account and sign in to be able to create new articles. See Help:Starting a new page. If you're unwilling to create an account, you can go to Wikipedia:Articles for creation and use the more cumbersome process there. Please bear in mind the notability guidelines as to whether your subject is a suitable one for the encyclopedia, and the usefulness of building the web. --Bth 10:28, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

i still can't find where on the help menu where it says starting a new page

I know. I thought that when I joined. Its bizarrely difficult to find.

1. Type the name of your article, exactly as you want it appear (spelling, any capital letters), in the search box and click on "Go".
2. You will get a page saying "No page with that title exists". Below that, click on the red link "Create this article".
3. You should now have a page called "Editing (name of article)". And away you go. Jameswilson 02:51, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

thanks for that james

4th member?

Hii...

I just watched the video of Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends....When the band is playing on some raised white pillar kinda things...there are 4 people playing... Billie, Mike, Tre' Cool, and who's the 4th one? He plays the guitar i think and they never show a close up of his face... Can anyone identify him? Thanks a lot.!! Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 12:13, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Many questions...

I have many questions for you.

One, most important: How the #*%) do you use Photoshop? I have to figure out how to use it for an assignment...or at least point me to something nice.

---

Two: I want to use my old Game Boy Advance. I dropped my backpack one time and the LCD broke. It's black in some places, has cracks in it, and won't work. However, the game will still play just without the visual. My question is, how can I fix it? Can I go to anyone for help? If so, how much would it cost, and would it be worth it? Thanks.

• It would most likley less expensive to buy another GBA from ebay

---

Three: Who's a Peach?

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Four: What is the keyboard shortcut for MouseKeys in Windows? Anyone with Windows can find that out, just go to Control Panel, then Accessability Options, then go to the MouseKeys tab. I know how to get to it, I just can't get to it because teh draconian admins at my school won't let you change *anything* to save your life, i.e. when the computer freezes you can't Ctrl+Alt+Del, you have to shut it off. But don't get me even STARTED on my vendetta. Did I use that word right?

---

Five: Who would win in a fight: George from Of Mice and Men or Winston from Nineteen Eighty-Four?

---

Thank you very much for wasting your time on me. My eternal gratitude and good karma for j00. 216.11.222.21 12:21, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

1. I believe Photoshop still comes with a nice manual. Have a read. There are also many other books, and a "Classroom in a Book" course from Adobe. It is a professional tool, don't expect to just be able to dive in like one designed for consumers. Notinasnaid 12:57, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Never mind about that. I left the special assignment for the normal one because Photoshop was the work of the devil, and it kept *(#@ing me up. Thanks anyway. Flameviper12 14:44, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

5. :I'll just pick up your last question (and probably cause the others to be buried under a long series of nonsensical posts) and point out that, althogh George could probably whup Winston's scrawny butt (after all, he's used to hard work and a tough life, and Winston is a pathetically unfit button-pusher weakened by malnutrition) or could simply have him beaten up by Lennie, Winston would only have to grab his speakwrite and feed some wrong information into the system in order to completely vanish George, Lennie, all the farms they have ever worked on, the American midwest, and any mice accidently contained therein, along with John Steinbeck and all his ancestors, yeah, back to seven generations. Of course Winston himself would be vanished as soon as someone discovered what he was doing, but by then the damage would be done. --Dr. Zarkov 13:03, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Dr. Zarkov, I want to thank you. That was the funniest thing I have read in over a week. I'm going to put on my talk page when I log in...Flameviper12 14:44, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

2. Maybe you should take it to the guy from whom you bought it... Trying to repair it on your own isn't such a good idea...

It came from Toys R Us...I really dislike going to a non-game store for games. I'm always afraid this will happen...I need some support or to fix something, or something like that, and I just bought it from the worker drone at Toys R Us or Target, instead of the human at EB Games or GameStop, who actually knows a lot about his specialty. I was wondering if there was perchance a kind of shop who could fix this kind of crap, or if I only need to unscrew it, etc.

4. Keyboard Shortcut is left ALT + left SHIFT + NUM LOCK keys .... Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 13:09, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

YES! It works! Now I can use the mouseless computers! (Although I'll have to write that down and stick it in my pocket to remember) Thank you! Flameviper12 14:44, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

3. I presume you don't mean the fruit? Take a look at peach (disambiguation), do any of these match who you were thinking of? Also, "peach" is an American term of endearment, usually used to describe someone sweet and lovely and kind. Hope that helps. — QuantumEleven 14:46, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

As you've mentioned Game Boys, I think it might be Princess Peach. – b_jonas 22:12, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

4b -- that's not the most accurate use of vendetta, no. Diatribe might be better in this context. --LarryMac 15:29, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

3. Regarding the peach question, I must sadly report that no-one is a peach. --212.202.184.238 17:49, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Ty Cobb was known as the Georgia peach. Loomis51 21:43, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Soccer players who where street children

Are there famous(known) soccer(football) players who where street children.? If there are can you inform me about 6 or more of them.

Some were also boulevard or avenue children. Does that count ? --DLL 20:01, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I can't think of any that were street children, strictly speaking, but Diego Maradonna, Rivaldo and Ronaldo all come close, according to this page: [13] Phileas 01:40, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Never mind those piddling small-fry. Start with Pele. Grutness...wha? 08:09, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Francis Scott Key

My daughter is writing a report on Francis Scott Key and is using an article from Wikipedia. How do we find the Publisher, where it was published and the copyright for the article? Please help!

See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 12:54, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Pronunciation

How is Stieljes pronounced? I appears in mathematics as Riemann-Stieltjes.

Thomas Jean Stieltjes, a Dutch mathematician. I'd pronounce it something like "steel-tyes", with stress on the first sillable. There's a slight possibility that an actual Dutchman might tell you something different, though.--212.202.184.238 17:41, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Is this here because the poster couldn't decide between the Maths and Language reference desks? Anyway, here's a link to the article: Stieltjes. – b_jonas 22:02, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

American law

In San Fransisco, it is illeagal to wipe your car with what?

Another person? User:Zoe|^(talk) 20:35, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

According to this site, it's illegal to wipe your car with used underwear, though I would have to ask for a cite. User:Zoe|^(talk) 20:36, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, NOW I HAVE TO CANCEL MY WEEKEND PLANS. :( 12.183.203.184 04:16, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

coffee...out...nostrils... Grutness...wha? 03:26, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Looking for name of a spy movie

This picture was made about thirty years ago, or more. The story takes place in Berlin, of course. It is about a spy ring whose members make all their reports verbally to one man, whose identy they do not know. His face is always coveren. (The audience knows, of course)This man has a photographic memory and never takes notes. I remember one man is always knitting when he makes his reports. This is one of the best spy movies ever made and is a bit complicated, also.Any help I can get will be appreciated.

The Kremlin Letter ? MeltBanana 23:42, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

health

I am writing a book and need a little background on TB and Jamaica I would like to know if there were any cases of TB, prior to the aids epidemic, if so how widespread was it?

How many cases were there?

Thank you

Sylvie

Tuberculosis was a more deadly and feared disease in a time without antibiotics than AIDS ever will be. "Consumption" was a common cause of death, and still is in many parts of the world. Many people don't realize that diseases come into and go out of existence all the time. For example, venereal disease in ancient Greece and Rome was nonexistent. "The grippe" was a mysterious disease that killed many people in Europe in the 19th century. No one is sure what it was. Brian G. Crawford 23:04, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Do you want to know about TB in Jamaica or both of them separately.. In case you want them separately just check the articles on Tuberculosis and Jamaica.. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 08:37, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Relativily new to investing

Which stock would be the better buy today?

Budwieser Vodafone Cendant Dell Computer Bank of America XM Satellite Radio Wal-Mart

199.201.168.100 21:16, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

If anyone knew the answer to that simple question they'd be a zillionaire. My suggestion: Put your money into a mutual fund and let the experts decide. Sure, they skim a bit off the top but it's worth it. Loomis51 21:39, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Firstly, I would suggest Sun Microsystems. Nobody could be such a loser forever, and I hear they are coming up with a Sun-pod. Secondly, I would invest in something that made people actually refer to the question, and thirdly I would just read the letters (forget the warnings) in Advance fee fraud, and send me the money. --Zeizmic 22:54, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

First, with regard to Sun Microsystems, the argument that "nobody could be such a loser forever" is a classic example of what is called the Gambler's Fallacy. Second, do you think that the fact that you "hear that they are coming out with a sun-pod" has somehow not been priced into the stock price already? Are you aware of something that hasn't hit Wall Street yet? Do you actually think you can outsmart the street? Third, if you're implying that by suggesting mutual funds that I'm suggesting in any sort of fraudulent scheme you're sadly mistaken. Loomis51 01:52, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Hey, chill. I wrote that before your response (edit conflict). The concept of 'sun-pod' is a joke (apple rose from a sinking morasse with the i-pod). Finally, anybody asking for advice for investing on the Internet brings to mind Nigeria. Finally, finally, will the original questioner ever return? And ultra-finally, I own mutual funds, too. --Zeizmic 11:33, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

My bad, Zeismic. It just seemed like your answers (in particular the reference to Advance fee fraud) was a response to my statement that mutual fund managers "skim a bit off the top." Thanks for clearing it up. Take care. Loomis51 15:02, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Cash from a credit card

I wish to use the 0-interest loan on credit cards to invest in securities. Any ideas how I could do this? Or does anyone know other very low interest loans I could get? -Snpoj 21:45, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

What credit card are you refering to that offers you 0% interest? I'd really be interested in knowing because I can think of a tonne of ways you can profit by it, which unfortunately means it probably doesn't exist. Nonetheless, I'm curious about your question. Loomis51 22:34, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

That sounds like an introductory rate, which is just an incentive for you to get into debt to the credit card company. Using credit cards for anything but true emergencies is almost always bad for you in the end. Credit card companies are very good at getting people into debt, and as with a casino, the house always wins. Brian G. Crawford 23:10, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I think you would be better off trying to get a line of credit or a loan from your bank. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 05:37, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Ok here's what I was thinking. When I borrow with a credit card I don't have to pay for ~1 month (as Brian said, this could be higher with an introductory rate). It's a 0-interest short-term loan. So I'll in turn loan that money to the Feds...I'll buy a 28-day T-bill with my credit card. Come the end of the month, the feds will pay me back 4.5%, which I'll pocket, and I'll send back the rest on to Visa. Make sense?

So what I was saying is that if I can get a loan for 0-percent interest (in truth if I can get a loan for anything below the yield on a T-bill or bond) I can make money on it by just loaning it right back to the Feds. So the problem with the credit card scenario is, how the hell do I buy treasuries with a credit card!?? Cash advances charge up-front interest so they're no good and I don't think treasurydirect.gov accepts Visa...

Now this is playing on the safe side. If I wanted some real excitement I'd get a big loan from the bank for probably more than 8% and put it into stocks or other investments, expecting 10% or more on it. But that's risky, especially when you're inexperienced with that kind of thing.

-Snpoj 21:25, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Buying stocks with a loan is called buying on margin, and it's a very risky way to invest -- if the stock goes down in value, you can lose far more than you invested in the first place. Margin buying was one of the factors that made the Wall Street Crash of 1929 more severe. --Serie 22:27, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

well no kidding, that's why I want to buy treasuries......sorry, guess I'm still not making myself clear here. oh well. -Snpoj 23:05, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

You've answered your own question. Cash advances charge up-front interest, and it's impossible to buy t-bills with a Visa card because Visa charges the vendor a small ≈ 2% fee for the service. Most vendors are willing to pay the fee because it has a relatively insignificant effect on their profit margin, and is good for business because it's a convenience for customers. That explains why Visa charges up-front interest for cash advances (for which it receives no 2% fee), but gives you about a month of interest free credit for purchases (where it does collect the fee from the vendor). However anyone looking to sell a t-bill would certainly not be willing to take Visa as the fee would be far too high to make the exchange profitable. In other words, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Loomis51 02:02, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

aha! You're right. I was making an assumption that vendors using Visa were not charged which is incorrect. I figured Visa made all their money off of the folks who didn't pay them back after the first, zero-interest month. I refine my criteria:

1. credit card with "x" dollars credit limit

2. credit card with 0-interest or payments for 12 months

3. Assumption that Paypal takes off 3.5% for any cash transfer with a credit card (2% fee going to Visa, 1.5% for their business)

4. A close relative or closer friend that will quickly process "x" dollars after I Paypal it to him, and then (more importantly!) write me a check for it.

5. Assumption that I can make a guaranteed 4.5% on T-bills or other treasures for a 12 month period

With this criteria, I will be able to make a clean 1%. Half of that would go to my Paypal friend. For that to be worth my while to establish the accounts and move the money, additional stress, etc. "x" would probably have to be at least $10,000...but hey that's about 8 free-lunches for each of us to go out on ;).

Morale of the story, if all those criteria are possible and everything works as planned: you can beat the system but only for relatively miniscule amounts.

But now, you say that the 2% is relatively insignificant on their profit margin? So when a grocery store prices its items it probably takes into account the percentage-by-price paid for with credit card and then weights that to increase their products proportionally? e.g. if Walmart finds out that credit card purchases make 75%-by-price of their sales, and the credit cards charge a total of 2%, then they would increase the price of all of their goods by 1.5%. Visa shoppers get a "discount" of 0.5% (that is, they use a service costing 2% and only pay 1.5% for it) and cash-customers "get hit" for 1.5% (they pay for other customers using Visa)! Thus, the hegemony of credit cards is perpetuated... -Snpoj 22:04, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Oh, one more thing. According to Google Finance:Walmart:

Net Profit Margin: 3.66%

Operating Margin: 5.87%

I don't know what those terms mean precisely, but does that mean they charge a 5.87% more on all products compared to their purchasing price on those products? Would I be able to see the effects of a credit card's 2% charge with these numbers? I'm guessing not and I'm sure that the 5.87 - 3.66 = ~2 is coincidental. Maybe this is another question for another question for another topic... -Snpoj 22:11, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Donny Hathaway

Anyone know what was the name of Donny Hathaway's high school? (Google and Wikipedia have failed me.) 21:55, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia

Is it possible to get a downloaded version of Wikipedia? (I know it wouldnt be updated but it would allow me to search through it while offline.) - Joneleth 23:32, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Database download. —Keenan Pepper 00:27, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Breathing underwater through a tube

I'm sure most of you have heard the 5-minute mystery or smoething like that where a guy dies from breathing in and out underwater through a long tube/blowgun/bamboo stick because he is breathing the same air he is breathing back out. My question is that if you inhaled from the mouth where the tube was and exhaled through your nose, would that make you survive since the air in the tube only travels in one direction? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Wizrdwarts (talk • contribs) .

That seems like it would work to me. —Keenan Pepper 00:26, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

The issue here is that generally whenever some guy has tried the whole breathe through a tube underwater trick, he is doing it to hide...at least thats how it is in cartoons. Anyway, if he is doing this to hide, then by being in this murky water with nothing but a small reed that looks as though it is floating in the water or growing from it sticking out, he has hidden successfully....however, if he were to breathe out through his nose, that would cause bubbles to float to the surface, which gives away his hiding spot. But, for any purpose other than hiding, yes, exhaling through the nose and using the reed only for inhaling will keep the reed/tube filled with fresh air, oxygen rich and capable of sustaining life.

Also, very deep inhales and exhales might get some fresh air in without the bubbles that give away your position, as long as the tube isn't too long. StuRat 03:02, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

If you're deeper than a few feet (does anyone know just how deep?), the water pressure on your chest will prevent you from breathing in. --Shantavira 15:18, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

According to the snorkel article, the limit is twenty inches. --Serie 22:33, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

April 27

rubber tree plant

is the rubber tree plant poisonus to small children.

Call your state poison control center. The number is in the phone book under emergency numbers. They have a database available to them that will answer your question. Brian G. Crawford 00:31, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I do not believe that it is poisonous, but the sap has the potential to irritate the skin and mucous membranes. — TheKMan^talk 00:45, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

According to [14], the latex may cause a rash in sensitive individuals. SCHZMO ✍ 23:25, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Staples

Anyone know off the top of their head where I can bring a CD and print a long document (300 pages) for cheap? Does Staples do that sort of thing?

--Shadarian 00:30, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Kinkos is what I use and sometimes Office Depot. I don't know about Staples, but I'd betcha they do. schyler 00:48, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, says on your userpage you're from New York. I'm sure Google Local would have something to say about that (search for "Copy shops in New York" or "Print Centers in New York") and you're bound to find something. Good luck! -Mysekurity ^[m!] 03:49, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Call around. You might be able to find a local digital print shop that can do it substantially cheaper and they can tell you what file formats they can handle. Also ask about the ink and paper types as those can vary in how long they will last, depending on your intended use. Last time I checked it's still pretty expensive to print that much. Let us know if you don't mind what prices you get. - Taxman ^Talk 22:44, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Simple question

This'll probably sound really dumb: Who can award barnstars? Only admins? Can I just go on a big barnstaring streak and give people barnstars for miniscule achievements, or is that considered vandalism? NIRVANA2764 00:49, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Anyone can give out a barnstar if they feel a user deserves one. — TheKMan^talk 00:55, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

TheKMan's right. Anyone can award as many barnstars as they like, but consider not going too overboard. Like a lot of other things, awarding too many would sort of reduce the effect. Saving them for really worthwhile stuff is probably the way to go. Grutness...wha? 08:14, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

.s3m files

Is there any way that I can convert my random .S3M files into a more friendly format (preferably MP3)? Google provides pages and pages of entirely useless stuff.

Yes - get XMPlay from http://www.un4seen.com/ (it's free & no spyware). It's interface is a little fiddly, but it's a great little player and does by far the most accurate MOD/S3M/XM playback I've heard anywhere.

Fire up XMPlay, right click to get into the options, and set the output device to be wav writer. Then play your S3M in it, and it'll write out a wav. Then just use any software of your choice to convert the wav to MP3/OGG/Whatever. if you need software for that, I'd recommend CDEX, which is open source, from http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

I assume here you're using Windows, but similar solutions are avaliable for Linux and Mac. You just need a player that'll write to WAV (or even direct to MP3 - XMPlay can do that, but I've found it fiddly) and an MP3 encoder --Noodhoog 01:47, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. 22:08, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Identify a movie

Can anyone identify this movie for me.. here's what I know. I remember it's name is a single word, beginning, I think, with O. It's Asian, probably Japanese. It came out within the last 5 years, I think. I've only ever seen the trailer for it, but it's live action with lots of special effects, futuristic - seems to have almost a steam-punk look in places. It appears to be an action film about some kind of ninja type main character with a sword, and the trailer shows large robots, lots of them, and I think the hero is shown leaping from one to another, fighting them. I think there's a bit with an airship too. It has a very manga type feel to it - giant robots, ninjas, all that kind of stuff. Looks like it must've been a pretty big budget production, as the I recall the effects looked really slick I've tried IMDB's power search, putting in various combinations of what I know, but can't turn anything up.

Thanks in advance! --Noodhoog 01:42, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Ah, found it! just a bit extra persistance with google got me there. it was Casshern, if anyone's interested. --Noodhoog 01:56, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Good for you!! Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 08:22, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

It has that look because it's a live-action remake of an earlier anime. See our article Casshern. Night Gyr 04:10, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

i want light catchers on wikipedia

It has come to my attention that while there is a lot on stained glass and that craft, light catchers are not mentioned anywhere in wikipeida.... I however do not know a lot about them so I don't feel as though I am an intelligent enough source to edit or add this. What can be done to fix this issue. I initially searched light catchers because my friend refused to believe that they exist, and when I couldn't find it, my argument was shot down.

I've created the page Light catcher for you, but I dont know anything about it, so up to you LOL Jameswilson 03:02, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Um, what is a "light catcher"? I googled it and it seems like it's just a little doodad made of glass and paper that you hang in your window. Why would your friend believe they don't exist? More to the point, what would you expect to find in an encyclopedia article about them? —Keenan Pepper 03:31, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Ah, so they're called "light catchers"! I must have seen a million of those things hanging on people's windows. Well, now that I know its name, I can conquer it. Now just what can be said encyclopedically on those little stained-glass kitsch pieces?--Pharos 03:43, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Winged Liberty Head ("Mercury") dimes (1916–1945)

I found one of these coins that was dated 1944...I read all the information on the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_%28United_States_coin%29 and I couldn't find any information about 1944 coins or the market value of these coins. If anyone has any information please let me know through my personal email: <removed> Your information and time are greatly appreciated.

I removed your email address in order to spare you of all the spam its posting was going to bring you. You should return here and check for responses. ×Meegs 06:42, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Depending on the condition of the coin, the value of a 1944 Mercury dime is around $2. It's a bit more if it's in mint condition. — TheKMan^talk 11:44, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Why do people forward those stupid superstitious chain letters

Forward this to 20 people in 15 minutes or you'll be raped by a mad goat or whatever other unfortunate thing is in the chain lettter....How can people be that dumb?

Many people do not have a very strong grounding in objective reality (see flat earth, holocaust denial, apollo hoax). To such people, there seems to be no cost to doing the forward (as they obviously do not find it so annoying as you do), and there might be a cost to not doing it (the goat rape). Now, the "might" actually has probability 0, but given that many of the same people likely do not know what probability actually is or how to properly gauge it, it's not too surprising that this little "detail" is ignored, and the forwards go on. It's also quite possible that the forwarding merely includes the threat and was not inspired by it; if (for whatever reason) someone finds the chain letter amusing, they should be expected to believe that you will as well. --Tardis 06:50, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

They exploit people's superstitions. Also, note that many of the most successful instances promise rewards for compliance instead of punishment for noncompliance. As suggested above, besides superstition, many people surely participate simply for fun, without belief in the promised result. Take a look at our articles chain letter, chain e-mail and pyramid scheme. ×Meegs 06:59, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

They do it for fun mostly.. Its your choice whether you wanna ignore it or send it... And people can be quite dumb sometimes.... That explains the chain letters in the first place... Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 08:30, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Oh, you my scoff, but my friend's brother's uncle's sister's neighbour failed to send one of those on, and what that mad goat did to him ain't pretty. --Noodhoog 14:22, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

XviD machine?

I'd like to have a machine with a large hard drive and a DVD-reader that plugs into my TV, that would let me copy XviD-encoded .AVI files off DVD-Rs and watch them on my tele. The closest thing I can think of is Xbox Media Center. Is there something that would accomplish the same functions, only cheaper?

Wouldn't a DVD player with XviD support work just as well? Maybe I misunderstand. You have DVD-Rs with XviDs on them, and you want to play them on your TV? Do a froogle search for "DVD player Xvid" to find a number of models of dvd player that support XviD files. --Andrew c 21:10, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I tried this and had three horrible experiences. None of the machines would play even 50% of my files.

Roofing:best material

I am considering of putting a metal roof for my house.The climate here is hot and humid with seasonal rain.I have cut my options down to three materials-aluminium,G.I powdercoat&galvalume(galvanized steel).I would like to know which of these is the most suitable material.I amnot sure whether galvalume,galvanium and G.I powdercoat refers to the same material or not.Heat reduction is definitely a high priority.Also,can aluminium roof be painted?Please advise.--202.191.64.82 07:10, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

You will need to take into account the weight of each option, and ensure the roof can be properly jointed and supported. Also local planning regulations might restrict the type of roof you can use. Your neighbours are probably the best people to advise you. What sort of roofs do they have? An aluminium roof can certainly be painted, as long as you use a suitable primer. However, for heat reduction, a non-metallic roof would be better as metals conduct heat quite well. --Shantavira 15:24, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Also, the steel might eventually rust. I would go with a slate roof, if you can afford it. StuRat 15:34, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Premier league referees

hi I heard that premier league referees have an obligation to tell the club who they support or to which club they are fancy for. Is this true? If this is true can you tell me the club which they support.

I can't see this as making much sense; if someone admits to fancying a club, they'll only get more criticism for themselves and their decisions. For instance, our article about international and Serie A referee Pierluigi Collina notes that he is a Lazio fan, but didn't admit this until after he retired. Even if it were true, we couldn't tell you which club "they support"; presumably Premier League referees support a wide variety of clubs, since they're recruited nationally. Our article about Mike Dean (referee) notes that he's been moved from the FA cup because of suspicion he might not be impartial to Liverpool. Were he to have an obligation to tell who they support, there'd be no suspicion involved. Personally, I'd claim I supported my team's rivals; then I could give more calls to my favourite team, and people would just think I was being impartial. --ByeByeBaby 18:36, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Gabriel Alomar facts

Thanks for the help with finding the facts. I've been looking for about 6 hours and cannot find any. They are all due by Monday.

Does any one have any facts about Gabriel Alomar facts?

Facts about Gabriel Alomar facts? Well, one can say with certainty that Gabrile Alomar facts are facts about Gabriel Alomar and that a number of them can be probably found in the Gabriel Alomar article. -- Ferkelparade π 14:12, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I have looked at those facts. But, they do not have much information about why he was exiled and the years of his life in detail. do you know any site i could find more information about him that is in english?

Well, he was a leftist Spaniard who lived and worked during the Franco regime - I think he had a pretty good reason for going into exile. I agree, though, that our article leaves much to be desired - I don't know much about Alomar, else I'd try and expand the article a bit (if nobody else does so before me, I'll see what i can do over the weekend). By the way, when replying to a specific question on this page, it's better to place your answer (or follow-up questions) under the already existing header instead of creating a new header each time you write something, otherwise the page will quickly become cluttered up and unusable -- Ferkelparade π 14:34, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Franco was a Fascist. Extreme Right winger. Gabriel Alomar was a Leftist. The two do not mix. All Leftists were considered Communists and therefore Godless. It is interesting to note here that Franco and his regime considered Hitler and the Nazis as acceptable allies and therefore requested their aid. The Nazis responded by bombing Madrid. What is even more intriguing is the fact that very recently, the Vatican cannonized six Rightwingers. It seems these Magnificent Six fought bravely against those Godless devils. This means, that the Catholic Church raised to Sainthood, six Fascists.

Expats in Europe

Hello, My name is Isaac Dwek and I am writing to you from the North American Sports Network (NASN). I am doing some research on Expats throughout Europe and I am finding it very hyard to obtain any useful information. I am hoping you can help me with this. Do you have any statistics or tables of info with the population of of expats in European Countries (e.g. How many Spanish live in France, and how many Germans live in France etc.) Any information which might help would be much appreciated. I hope you can aid my enquiry.

Kind Regards Isaac Dwek

Such statistics may be hard to come by, because the EU guarantees freedom of movement to the citizens of its member states; there is no need to register and nobody is officially keeping score. This could be as hard as finding out how many expatiates of Michigan live in Montana. However, some have tried to accumulate such statistics, and a recent UK radio program claimed that half a million properties in France are British owned. Not that not all of these are expatriates; many, perhaps most, are holiday homes, and others are buy-to-let. Notinasnaid 14:20, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

All countries take censuses, which typically ask for birthplaces and other such information. Contact the statistical agencies of each of the European countries. NASN is a godsend for Americans in Europe. -- Mwalcoff 23:20, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for that information. If you are able to find any more could you please help me? I am having a very hard time writing about him.

• Eurostat to the rescue!! Actually the European Union does collect estimates of the number of expats (not quite like Michigans living in Montanta, as the EU expats will be a different national citizenship) living in its member states (the statistics themselves are gathered by the national governments but the methodology is harmonized by the EU. "Eurostat" is the name of the central statistical bureau of the EU, and they make many of their data series on a wide variety of areas available online. Follow these steps:
  • Please find the main Eurostat portal at this link.
  • Next select the blue "Data" tab in the middle of the screen. Now select the "Population" link. (incidentally I believe the methodlogical info underlying the data series you will be retrieving can be obtained through the blue "Methodology" link here) You will be taken to a new page. The page says you have to register, but I was unable to use this without registering at all (well, not that I can remember anyway), and I'm based in the US. So never mind that.
  • Open the folder tree (the "+" sign) by the red "International Migration and Asylum" label. **Open the "+" sign by the green "Population and citizenship" label
  • Open the "+" sign by the black "Population by sex and citizenship" label
  • Now click on the blue/white icon which looks like a cartoon computer window that appears
  • A new window will open, which will allow you to customize the data series you want for download.
  • You start off with the data selection menu for geopolicital entity ("GEO"). In the Blue tickbox menu on the right hand side, scroll down and tick all the countries you want information on. There are also regional groupings such as the EU15 (all 15 EU members) and the EUROZONE (countries which use the Euro). There are some non-EU members such as Turkey and Croatia on the list too
  • Next click on the "CITIZEN" button. Select all the kinds of citizenship (the list seems to list every kind in the world) you are interested in. For your purposes, just press "Select All" at the bottom.
  • If you are not interested in the gender breakdown, ignore the "SEX" button.
  • Click on the "TIME" button". This shows that the there are data series reported annually for the years 1985 to 2004 (2004 is the most recent data they have). Unless you are interested in changes over time, just leave it at 2004 being selected for now.
  • Now press "Next" at the bottom
  • The next screen lets you tweak the way the rows and columns of the data output is laid out. I would just leave this as is for now. Press "Next"
  • The next screen asks you for the data format you would like - if the data is to be viewed in a browser, or if you want it downloaded in a spreadsheet or database format.
  • Finally... press "Download"!! (note that not all the data will be complete for all nationalities, but all the member EU countries should have data for expats from other EU countries at least)
• This EUSTAT how-to as been brought to you by an EU citizen expat, of Asian birth, living in the United States Bwithh 23:53, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

And very impressine it was too. I'll chip in a few bits and pieces. As of 2006 140,000 Polish citizens are registered as living in the Republic of Ireland (3,5% of the population). as of Jan 2004 Spain had 175,000 registered British, 117,000 Germans, 77,000 Italians, 67,000 French and 56,000 Portuguese. There were also 208,000 Romanians and 70,000 Bulgarians (they are so-called "accession countries" which are to join the EU in the next few years). Jameswilson 01:04, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

animal conception

I would like to know what mammel is capable of choosing the sex of their off-spring. I remember seeing a wildlife program, but cant remember the animal.

Thank You

A simple google search comes up with this [15] article, as well as one about certain lizards.--Shandon 17:29, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

This question reminded me of a New Scientist article, so I've gone and digged it up.  -- Run!  19:39, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

newyork city and niagara falls

can you please tell me the distance between newyork city and niagara falls by road and by air? thank you!

Wouldn't it be the same distance either way? 199.201.168.100 18:42, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Well due to the curvature of the Earth it would be slightly longer by air. -- Run!  19:34, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, it would be if the road was dead straight. Presumably it goes round hills, connects towns not quite in straight line between the two, etc etc etc. Grutness...wha? 03:27, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Google Maps [16] says 408 miles by car. --Chapuisat 19:53, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

This page says 310 miles as the crow flies. -- Mwalcoff 23:18, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

What if the crow meanders around dragging his ass the whole way by straying from the straight-line path to stop at a starbucks or something? 199.201.168.100 16:35, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Seeking Tai Chi class

I am looking for a Tai Chi class - preferably one in the park (Ft. Green). There used to be one in the park that started when the weather turned nice. Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.

What country and city? Do you mean Fort Greene in NYC? --Chapuisat 19:49, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Question (how to rob a bank)

How would one go about robbing a bank. I don't want to rob one, but I was wondering why everyone who tries always gets caught. It seems like it would be relativily easy with a little planning. AGAIN, not wanting to actually rob a bank, just wondering how one would go about it, and why so many percentage-wise are unsucessful?

Banks get robbed a lot, and so they have a lot more security devices and precautions than you might imagine. Experienced criminals know this, so only desperate losers rob banks, as opposed to other places with more money but worse security. This in turn means even more of them get caught. Notinasnaid 19:18, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Let me tell you why I think it's difficult not to get caught. If you enter the bank with a mask on yor face, everyone would immediately see that you're a robber, and they'd probably sound the alarm. If you enter without the mask, the security cameras and people in the bank will see your face, so the police can find you easily. An other problem is the time-limited safes, which open only some time after the code is entered. (Btw, next time you ask a question here, please give it a more descriptive title.) – b_jonas 21:53, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

The best that you can hope to do it is to have lots of inside help...and if possible from the president of the bank.... ;-) ... Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 11:04, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Only stupid criminals rob banks. The smart ones know that other crimes are much more profitable, such as robbing an energy trading company. See Enron. Technically, that was fraud, not robbery, but in the end it's the same difference. Chl 12:47, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Question (CEOs faking resumes)

Would it be possible to deceptivly apply for and get an executive level position like CEO or COO of a medium-large company? The CEO of Radio shack misrepresented himself and got his job, could one do that today? How would one go about doing so? To what extent can they verify one's employement history & accedemic career? I realize they can verify degree/school, but what about GPA? As to employment history how would a prespective employeer know the accuracy of previous positions as they relate to title & salery given? 199.201.168.100 18:37, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

In this age of extensive background checks, referencing and networking, it's very, very unlikely that an unexperienced person would be able to land such a high level job through deception. For an executive position, especially at the levels you're asking about, an employer will likely have some familiarity with the companies a prospective employee have worked at due to things like collaboration/competition in similar fields (i.e. John Doe once worked as Marketing Director at Anytown Bank and is now looking at a CFO position at Bank of Anytown) or through professional organizations that would legitimize a company in the eyes of others, such as Rotary or the BBB. Finally, many upper-level jobs of the sort you mentioned don't have the typical application process you find at lower levels; openings are filled by invitation to individuals the company is interested in. "Don't call us, we'll call you." Ah, and GPA's are rarely investigated by employers after a prospective employee has held a job since college. Tijuana Brass^¡Épa!-E@ 19:55, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

So what level position would one be able to obtain though misrepresentaiton? Would one be able to atain a position that has a nice golden-parachutte like severence package? Also, if one were to represent a GPA of 3.9 - 4.0 in the application//interview process, this would not discovered? My understanding is that GPA is private and cannot be disclosed by my university without my premision via transcript. is this correct? Do many people do this? What are the likely consequences if any?? 199.201.168.100 21:03, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

You're right in saying that GPA's from universities are typically not allowed to be disclosed without your consent. As "what level position" one could obtain via misrepresentation, that would depend largely on the company and their competence in the hiring process. It would likely not be too high up the totem pole at all. If you're asking for personal reasons, I wouldn't suggest doing it, as it could easily result in job termination or legal consequences. Tijuana Brass^¡Épa!-E@ 04:15, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

If you're applying for an executive level position, the people recruiting aren't likely to look very hard at the academic record. The track record of experience in executive level jobs will count for much more: indeed, overcoming a limited education to succeed would count for something. (Everyone likes to see an MBA, though, it seems; but at the very high levels you'd be looking for someone who taught MBA, rather than learned it.). If you have lied completely, you won't get far as CEO if you haven't learned the basic parts of the job, regulatory responsibilities, and you especially won't get far if you think the CEO doesn't have a boss. Notinasnaid 11:03, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

As to legal consequenses, what would they be? I don't think there would be any. Of course, I risk getting fired, but I would be getting fired from a job I wouldn't have otherwise gotten. If I were able to sucessfully misrepresent myself until hired as a CEO, I would recieve a large signing bonus, at least a full quarter's pay before the board of directors discovers their error, and a nice severence package for stepping down quietly. That would be enough. If CEO canidates are screened so thoughally I would be unable to get that level of position, what about others lower on the totem pole, such as middle management, senior engineer, senior buyer/planner, etc, etc 199.201.168.100 16:34, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Daniel Jonah Goldhagen

Please help me contact Mr. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. I am writing a book. He will be pleased to learn what I am writing about. Thanks. Leslie.

He is a writer, so you could probably send him a letter c/o his publisher (Random House, I believe). --Chapuisat 19:43, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

He is at the Center for European Studies at Harvard. They don't list his contact info but I'm sure if you sent a letter for him at their address it would get to him. --Fastfission 03:33, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

KKK

does any one know what the ku klux klan stands for? i know it has something to do with greek

Check out Klu Klux Klan for the answer. --Chapuisat 19:43, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Two Doors

A friend asked me a logic question, and I have not been able to figure it out. It is a classic question, and he insists there is an answer. Any insight?

Question:

There are two doors, one leads to pain, suffering, and death, one to eternal life, wealth, and happiness. You don't know which door is which. There are two guards to help you, one who always lies, one who always tells the truth, but once again, you do not know which is which. They will allow you one question, then you must choose a door. What is your Question?

Thanks -Chris

Open one of the doors. If you see pain, suffering, and death on the other side, close it and go though the other door. Ztsmart 19:07, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Ask one of the guards: "if I asked the other guard, which door would he say leads to pain and suffering?". Whichever door you get in your answer is the door to wealth and happiness. This, of course, assumes that the guards know about how honest each of them are. --Aramգուտանգ 19:19, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Ku Klux Klan

thanks anyways...

i did find the answer

While the above theories deserve merit for their creativity, the true origin of the name Ku Klux Klan is Greek. Richard Reed proposed the name Kuklos meaning circle and with an ear for alliteration, Captain Kennedy added the word Klan. With a little more tweaking the organization knew itself solely as the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan also chose intriguing names for other facets of the organization. Instead of clinging to traditional names for organizational posts, it chose to call the president Grand Cyclops, vice president Grand Magi, and secretary Grand Scribe. Two Nighthawks served as messengers, two Lictors as guards, and all other members would be known as ghouls. The meaning behind these names had no special significance; the Klan chose names based on the peculiar and impressive sound.

No, it does stand for something...it has greek roots

What does Ku Klux Klan stand for?

Nothing, it was originally chosen to sound ridiculous (as were most ranks in the KKK). Try going to the article on the Klu Klux Klan before asking here. Daniel (☎) 20:22, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, the Klan part, is, of course, just a variation on clan. StuRat 00:18, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

They got their name from the Greek word for "circle," which is κυκλος, transliterated as "kyklos." Brian G. Crawford 00:50, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Evidence

What's the best way to get rid of a body so there is no evidence? 199.201.168.100 21:05, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Do you want to be a magician? Read Magic (illusion), I bet it has some info for you. Lapinmies 21:38, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

There's no way to know. The films and books only tell the wrong ways, when the detective always manages to find it by the end. There might be good methods, but they are of course kept secret. – b_jonas 21:44, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

"Ebay, the World's Online Marketplace" --Canley 02:04, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

"And I imagine...we get fed to the pigs." [17]--Shandon 22:24, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

(After edit conflict) That may not be true of all films. Snatch offers a method that seems pretty valid:

I hear the best thing to do is feed them to pigs. You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to go sievin' through pig shit, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig". -- Brick Top

Though I'm not sure about pigs, but feeding a body (with hair and teeth removed) to animals that can chew through bone, then disposing of their excrement through the sewer system, along with the ground-up teeth, and burning the hair, seems like a pretty valid method. A possible caveat is that forensic examination of the animals may show that they have recently consumed human flesh, but that's nothing a nice big barbecue won't fix. --Aramգուտանգ 22:34, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

You could strip the corpse, wrap it corpse in chicken wire, tie a few cinder blocks (also known as foundation blocks) to the chicken wire, and drop whole thing into the deepest part of a lake or in the ocean. The wee beasties in the water will help break down the flesh and such, some fish may dine on it as well since they'll be able to fit their mouths through the chicken wire. All that will remain is the bones. I don't recommend killing anyone or hiding any bodies. Dismas|^(talk) 00:27, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Put body in metal coffin. Drop coffin in deep ocean. Ohanian 09:25, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Put body inside a boat. Sink boat in deep ocean. Ohanian 09:27, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Ron Smoorenburg

Hello! I was planning to edit an article on Ron Smoorenburg(martial artists, one of the two assasins in the movie Who am I starring Jackie Chan, seen in the fight near the end), but i don't know if wikipedia has a similar article or something like that. Also, i would like to know if this article would be speedy deleted, so I can start editing it.--Captain ginyu 21:31, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not have an article about Ron Smoorenburg, you have to start from scratch. Searching for Ron Smoorenburg in google gives thousands of relevant sites and he seems to be on the top of his field of expertise, so I am sure it will not be deleted. Lapinmies 21:43, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

However, if you start the article without providing sufficient detail it might meet the criteria for speedy deletion. Many stubs are posted saying almost nothing ("_____" is a martial artist"), and only after being speedily deleted under, for instance, {{db-empty}}, does it come out that the poster was writing the rest of the text at the time of deletion. So either write enough before posting, or place this tag at the top of the article to show others that you are currently writing the text: {{inuse}} (just click on it to see how it would format in your article)--Fuhghettaboutit 22:24, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I checked everything but i cand find an appropriate infobox, so could someone please name it.(infobox that i should use for a martial artist)(--Captain ginyu 12:40, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Cost of transporting gas

How much will it cost to transport one gallon of gasoline from Venezuela to somewhere in the US, let's say San Fransico. Because I heard on the news that a gallon of gas is only 12 cents there. So let's assume I will buy gas there for $0.12/gallon, and sell them for $3.50/gallon. Will the transportation costs cancel out my profit? Will it make me lose money? Will it make me become rich? Wizrdwarts 22:24, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

In order to make enough from the resale of the gas to pay the shipping company, you'd probably have to import a whole lot of gas. You can't do that because Venezuela is a member of OPEC and is supposed to adhere to the cartel's rules on production and pricing. The 12-cent price is presumably meant only for domestic consumption and may not reflect the actual cost of producing the gas. -- Mwalcoff 23:14, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Well let's assume they let us resell the gas in the US. And what about a pipeline? Would that cost more or less on both long and short term costs? Wizrdwarts 00:14, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Governments and oil companies put enough regulations in place to prevent people from doing what you are thinking about. BTW, the 12 cents a gallon price in Venezuela is subsidized (partially paid for) by the government of Venezuela. Brian G. Crawford 00:38, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Mind you, fuel smuggling to get around such government restrictions is hardly unknown. --Robert Merkel 01:07, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Interesting that, if such a large scale move takes place, the taxpayers of Venezuela would be paying for low gas prices in California. I can't see that being accepted for very long by the voters of Venezuela. Notinasnaid 09:56, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, since I wrote this, I found that the kind people of Venezuela already are supplying discounted oil to poor Americans, something that all US oil companies declined to do... [18] and [19] give rather different views on this. Notinasnaid 10:29, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

The last time I traveled out of the country, customs regulations stated that a person could bring $400 worth of goods purchased abroad into the U.S. duty free. That's 3200 gallons of gasoline from Venezuela. Transportation or shipping may be a problem, though. Venezuela isn't exactly next door. Brian G. Crawford 15:42, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

April 28

light pollution

Dear Sir, I read some time ago that there is a city in USA that have, at night, a fantastic view of the sky due to a special public ilumination to avoid "artificial light pollution". Would you know name of it? I am working on a project to build several houses on a large piece of land (1,500,000 square meters) at the mountains close to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, because is very dry and it is 1,200 meters high, the view of the sky at night is beautiful. I would not like to spoil it. I would like to get in touch to get some information about this matter. Thank you, Luiz Lopes

You could read our article on Light pollution, which has a section on reduction of the effects. However, you have to realise that light pollution is caused by a very large number of buildings and light sources (such as those in a large city). "Several houses" over a large area are unlikely to have a light pollution effect on the night sky unless they are densely placed and heavily illuminated. --Canley 02:00, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Luiz, you may enjoy Stellarium, a free program which shows what the sky looks like at any time and place, without light pollution. Take a look. Tijuana Brass^¡Épa!-E@ 04:11, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Riding ostriches/emus/rheas

Does anyone know of a place in the UK I can go to experience riding an ostrich, emu or rhea (bird), or even get a chance to ride one in a race? --81.77.159.59 00:35, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I severely doubt that emus, ostriches and rheas would be able to bear the weight of anything more than a small child. --Roisterer 03:04, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

(after edit conflict)You underestimate ostriches. See this picture. it's a moderately common event in southern Africa, though presumably not that good for the birds. Grutness...wha? 03:37, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

You could always play the video game Joust, which allows you to ride one. StuRat 03:32, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Search Google images for ostrich riding as evidence that this is not uncommon. Because of the lack of ostriches and laws about animal welfare, I doubt there's anywhere you can actually do this in the UK. But you can rent a costume that makes it look as though you are riding an ostrich, and these are much funnier and safer than the real thing. --Shantavira 08:39, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Oh dear... images of David Brent have been conjured up for many WP editors now, no doubt... Grutness...wha? 10:47, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

.mov editing program!!!

Does anyone know of any program similar to Windows Movie Maker, is FREE, and has .mov capabilities? The reason is that I wanted to do some editing of some .mov files I took with my digital camera, but Movie Maker cannot work with .movs. gelo 23:48, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

That the filename ends in .mov doesn't mean much. The QuickTime file format is a container format that can contain audio and video tracks in many different codecs. You have to know what kind of data is inside the file if you want to do anything with it. - Keenan Pepper 03:05, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Ok... Can you HELP me with that? gelo 03:11, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for being unhelpful, but you'd be better prepared to look for an editor if you knew what video codec your camera uses. Does your camera's manual say? —Keenan Pepper 03:40, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Anyway, check out List of video editing software and Category:Video editing software. —Keenan Pepper 13:42, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

This is what I know from the specs which I just found over Ebay for my Kodak V550. Video mode continuous MPEG-4 video with audio capture and playback Video resolution 30 fps @ VGA (640 × 480), 30 fps @ QVGA (320 × 240) Video format QUICKTIME, MPEG-4 gelo 01:36, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

If I can't find a program to edit such .mov files, does anyone know of a free program to CONVERT these files to something editable in, say, Movie Maker? gelo 01:40, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Gelo, check out http://www.opensourcewindows.org/. It lists a number of excellent open source programs which can download for free; Media Coder, which is listed there, is an excellent converter program. There's also an open source website linked to there with Mac software. Tijuana Brass^¡Épa!-E@ 04:08, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Checkpoint Charlie poster

Does anyone know what the purpose/origin of the big poster of some Soviet/GDR-looking military officer right behind the current Checkpoint Charlie replica is? I've always thought it to be a replica of a former propaganda poster, but I've never found any information about it, and the article makes no mention of it. (here's a clear view of the poster) Thanks --Colonel Cow 01:51, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

No, it's not a propaganda poster (it'd be a quite odd one if it were - just a guy in uniform?). It's symbolic. The other side has an American soldier on it. --BluePlatypus 07:56, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Alright, thanks --Colonel Cow 19:40, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Screen Plays / Transcripts for Films

Dear All

I'm doing a research paper on a few films and was wondering where I would be able to find printed versions of various movie transcripts and/or screen plays. The movies I'm particularly interested in are:

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington A Raisin in the Sun Midnight Cowboy Wall Street

Thank you!

http://home.online.no/~bhundlan/scripts/MrSmithGoesToWashington.txt; http://sfy.ru/sfy.html?script=midnight_cowboy; http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/wall_street.html; http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/r/raisin-in-the-sun-script.html.

Just google it next time, ok? gelo 03:46, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Dating

What you call this dating tht deals with older women dating younger men, while other is older men dating younger women?

We have a whole article on this subject (the things you find while browsing around Wikipedia...): Age disparity in sexual relationships. The section on slang terms should provide some of the answers you seek. — QuantumEleven 07:37, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Ferrero Rocher jingle

Can someone help me out with the following song lyrics:

This song is played on the ferrero rocher ad ( and raffellos chocolates commercial) and has the words, "Bring on the night, bring on the night" (dance song very repetitious) can someone please tell me what the song is please?

Kind Regards,

Ellie.

PS. My e-mail is: <email address removed to avoid spamming> so you can contact me.

According to this it might be an Alan Jackson song... or according to this theres also a song by Sting with the same name... Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 10:45, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Pastatutes

I suspect that many girls would be willing to have sex in exchange for money. What would be the best way to go about finding one that is willing & setting up an arragement without offending her or exposing oneself to more than minimal legal risks, if one were wanting to do so? 12.183.203.184 04:04, 28 April 2006 (UTC) Note: This is not a request for prostitution (Who would want to sleep with someone who uses Wikipedia? :) ) 12.183.203.184 04:13, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Legality of prostitution varies by area. For example, in the United States, the only place where prostitution is legalized (to my knowledge) is in some counties in the state of Nevada. Soliciting prostitution in a place where it is legal would be the minimum amount of risk. Tijuana Brass^¡Épa!-E@ 04:21, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I suspect that many girls would be willing to have sex in exchange for money.

Views of that nature will get you into very hot water in many places, how did you jump to that conclusion? As to 'solving' your problem, go with what Tijuana Brass said, find a local brothel (if necessary in a different state/country, depending on where you live) and purchase their services. — QuantumEleven 07:02, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I'd just as soon that he or she not pursue an experiental knowledge of the issue, really. Tijuana Brass^¡Épa!-E@ 07:17, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Pastatutes - is that sex workers who do kinky things with linguini? JackofOz 08:38, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Tee hee...! I hadn't even noticed that! :) — QuantumEleven 12:15, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

You can usually find them at church, and just feel free to ask - no worries about offending them

So, if I were to go up to a girl and ask "how much do you charge for sex?" that would be legal right? I am not scoliciting prostituion, as I am only asking a hooker how much she charges. I don't think prostitution should be illegal. I can pay Olive Garden $20 for a meal so I dont have to do any hands-on cooking, why can't I pay a girl for the convience of not having to do everything myself?? 199.201.168.100 16:27, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Let me spell it out for you as simply and clearly as possible. YOU give her MONEY - SHE gives you SEX - this is called prostitution. Your proposal, in contrast: YOU give her MONEY - SHE gives you SEX. Quite obviously, this is not in any... no, wait! It's still prostituion! D'uh! If it's legal depends on local laws. --Dr. Zarkov 19:21, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

If you go up to a girl and ask how much she charges for sex, that's called "soliciting prostitution" in most places, and legally, it's considered the same as actually paying for the transaction. It's also called "extremely stupid", as most girls will respond by slapping you upside the head. I know I would. --Serie 21:05, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, this word is certainly entering my Wiki-wokabulary. --Zeizmic 19:41, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

What if I give her a Wal-Mart gift card instead? 199.201.168.100 20:50, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Train derailment

Dear Sir or madam:

Kindly tell me the details regarding the technical reasons for train derailment.. I am doind a project work on train derailment so that it wil be much helpful to me in my project work...

With regards, R S Ranganathan Government college of engineering salem 636011 INDIA

There are several causes. An obstruction on the line is a common one, but sometimes the rails are broken or a joint comes apart. Did you see our article on derailment? --Shantavira 08:45, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Prominent soap opera fans

I'm trying to compile information to be used on Wikipedia in some fashion, whether it be on the soap opera article, or in individual articles. I'm trying to figure out who prominent, usually in American politics or another non-acting profession, confesses to be a fan of soaps. I've done research and I know John Connally, the former Governor of Texas, would not be interrupted for anything short of a catastrophe while Love of Life was on. First Lady Pat Nixon's favorite soap actor was Larry Haines from Search for Tomorrow. Former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall would actually recuse himself from hearings just to watch Days of our Lives. I just want to know if there's anyone that you may know of, despite my searchings, that I may have left out. It may borderline on crufty but I am a bit intrigued about it. I know people on this page can be horribly sarcastic so I'm asking this in all seriousness. Thank you for your time! Mike H. That's hot 09:48, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

ISTR Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother was a huge fan of Coronation Street (no pun in the title intended!) as is her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II (who is believed to be a big Doctor Who fan, not that that would count as a soap). Grutness...wha? 10:51, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Account/Balance sheet

Why in some businesses do they not inlcude personal assets and liabilities on their accounts? is there a reason?--193.63.158.179 13:15, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

question

Can I use some historical Links in my commercial work

Bladder Infection

How long after getting a bladder infection will the pain persist in my side? It has been 5 days that I have been medication but the pain is still there. My fever is gone though. Should I go back to the doctor? Thanks!

Going to your doctor would be the best thing to do. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 13:47, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Rating

Do you know what this site is rated? I couldn't find any rating. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.213.67.178 (talk • contribs) .

Do you mean "rated" as in overall quality or as in appropriateness for children? For the latter, see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not censored. —Keenan Pepper 13:57, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

If you mean the Alexa Internet web traffic rank, it is 17 [20]. SCHZMO ✍ 16:30, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Probally R because wikipedia is not censored. ILovEPlankton 17:22, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Crediting images in the article namespace?

Hi there, I deleted someone's name from an article photo, as I understood it was common practice to credit pictures only in the Image description:

Photos should be credited to the photographer who shot them. This is a universal rule. And there are no Wiki rules that suggest the opposite. In the case with the Lipovans, just like with my other photos donated to Wiki, I ask to leave the byline. This is a common rule for any encyclopidia.

Any advice?

Thanks, --Asterion ^{talk to me} 17:46, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

How to install a new processor into a desktop..

Hi there,

I have a reasonable knowlege of computers, yet not to the extent to know how to install a new processor in my desktop computer.

I just wanted to know the steps to installing a new processor [Pentium 4 (3GHZ)] into a Desktop Computer.

I would also like to ask; if in order to carry out installing a new processor whether I would need to save all my important files, as the computer would be wiped, therefore resulting in re-installing my Windows XP, Windows Office and other programs. etc. I also have Wireless internet card in my desktop along with graphics card, would these both need to be re-installed, set-up?

Finally i would just like to thank you for your time, and effort in looking at this question.

Thanks,

Burnham Associates

Whether you need to save your important files should be a non-question. You should be doing backups regularly anyway: I start to worry if I haven't backed up every one of my computers, every day. It might be possible to complete this task without needing to restore anything, if all goes according to plan, but don't take a chance.

Your processor is plugged into a motherboard. While motherboards do take a range of processors, any serious upgrade probably needs you to buy a new motherboard, which would contain a new processor. This would include the BIOS and plug-and-play settings so all of that would need to be done again. You may not be able to reuse all of your memory either: a new motherboard might require a new set of RAM.

A crucial point is space. Not all motherboards are designed to fit the same space. Obviously, one that is too big won't fit in your existing case, but one that is not exactly the same size, but smaller, may be difficult to mount securely (it has to be secure because so many things are connected to it).

If you aren't daunted, open up your computer, and measure up the motherboard. Examine all of the connections to it, to see what the new board must support. Also, evaluate whether a new computer would be more cost effective. Look into how much of your existing software could be just copied to a new computer (Windows and Office, if bundled with the original computer, cannot). Notinasnaid 19:29, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Carpathian Mountains - Slovakia

Kozie Mountain in the Carpathian Mountain chain was formerly known as Vikartovsky Mountain. This info taken from a minerals website online: http://www.fns.uniba.sk/prifuk/casopisy/geol/1997mon/cwsu2.htm

Boardom

I'm board. What is something entertaining that I can do at work? 199.201.168.100 18:53, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

You can learn to spell 'bored' (and 'boredom') correctly. This isn't really the place for these kind of questions, but go to I-am-bored.com for ideas. Daniel (☎) 18:55, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Persuasive Paper

I am writing a paper in English. It must be a topic to persuade the audience on, but at the same time it must offer solutions and opposite points of view. I had a couple of ideas. One was the subject of whaling. I have heard about the controversy of commercial whaling in Norway and Japan. They keep killing whales and want to increse the amount for "scientific" research. I think this is an okay topic. Another idea was very broad...the subject of juding people based on their appearance. (Age, Gender, Race, Wealth, Religion, Physical Appearance) I am just not sure what is a good persuasive topic. Any examples?

Well, it's pretty easy to be persuasive on things you and all your audience will agree with (I assume you live in a country where whaling is popularly abhored). Can you offer the opposite points of view? There are opposite points of view on whaling which you can find and present, but is there an opposite point of view for the other one (that is, can you find anyone who says it's a good thing to judge people based on their appearance). Think closely about what you have been asked to do. For instance, would you get more marks if you picked a difficult point of view and argued persuasively (e.g. could you argue persuasively from the point of view of a Norwegian whaler)? At a guess, the teacher is looking for you to be able to present both sides of an argument fairly: this sounds easy, but most people need practice at this, for a subject they care about. Perhaps you could practice by picking a controversial subject on which you have no opinion of your own. Anyway, if you want more tips, you probably need to give more detail on the assignment (the exact phrasing is important). Notinasnaid 20:55, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Sham 69, The Angelic Upstarts or The Anti-Nowhere League

Which is the best band out of Sham 69, Angelic Upstarts and The Anti-Nowhere League? --84.64.0.71 20:57, 28 April 2006 (UTC)