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July 23

What's the closest I can get to something that spits out the home addresses of n random Americans?

For whenever I wonder what the graph of distance to the nearest food/roof height/plant hardiness zone/etc. by percentile looks like. No names, numbers or anything, just 100 buildings where a building with 100 Americans is 100 times more likely to be picked than a building with 1. If this is unavailable, are there proxies that don't grow the error bars much?

Also how do I draw error bars for the n samples? I dropped out before being taught this in school so I have no idea if say the lowest sample should be given a 1- or 2- sigma error bar that goes up to the value of the 20th sample or to between the 5th and 6th sample or what. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 22:53, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The generate.plus website has a real random address generator. It gives you a real address, but randomly chosen. If an address has multiple units (such as an apartment building), it is more likely to appear because each unit is an address. The problem is that the tool generates one address per click of the "generate" button. 135.84.167.41 (talk) 13:42, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, that seems good enough. I suppose I could count a sample who's census block has say 1.1 or 0.8 times the average humans per household as 1.1 or 0.8 samples but that sounds painstaking. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:14, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 24

Northernmost location that reached 40 C

After some searching I found that Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai at 52° 3′ 0″ N reached 43.2 C. Count Iblis (talk) 05:46, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

43.2° C. is 109.76° F. 40° C. is 104° F. Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2018 July 25#Why can Labrador get so hot? discusses a temperature of 107° recorded at latitude 53 1/2° N. 2A00:23C5:C708:8C00:B0C8:D69:FA32:D1C8 (talk) 09:22, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

If your Labrador is too hot, try giving him some cool water to drink. :-) 12:12, 26 July 2019 (UTC)

Not an answer, but Yakutsk (62°02′N) reaches 38.4. Granted it has unusual geography, but I'd be surprised if there weren't somewhere between Chita and Yakutsk which qualifies. Henry ^Flower 20:35, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

So far I have found 52d23m with many decicelsiuses to spare. I will check another country later. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:18, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Tara, Omsk Oblast, Siberia, 56°53′N, 40 Celsius exactly on the hottest day in Tara history (one of those days the wind came from the Central Asian desert). Altitude 70 meter, population 27,318. World record might be norther. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 03:22, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Beerenberg 71°4′36′′N during its 1980 eruption.--Wikimedes (talk) 06:47, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

A weather station that gets overrun by a volcano doesn't count for weather records. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 02:26, 28 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

"A Mounty always gets his man!" If we ignore the sexism for a moment, are there any instances where the RCMP have not managed to " get their man"? Thanks Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 16:09, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

If you google "do mounties always get their man" you will find various commentaries. This one is interesting.[1] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:03, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Are you seriously asking if there are no unsolved federal crimes in Canada? Matt Deres (talk) 13:05, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'd take the Q seriously. I mean, some people believe Canadians never lock their doors because no one in Canada has ever been a victim of a crime. --M @r ē ino 21:16, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Dudley Do-Right may be the only Mountie with a 100% success rate. SinisterLefty (talk) 20:22, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

As they serve as municipal police in many jurisdictions, and we have lots of unsolved crimes, yes, it is a regular occurrence that they do not "get their man". There are far too many instances to provide a particular instance. Mingmingla (talk) 03:35, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Is this website real or a scam?

I came across this website: https://beautyofthemoment.com/product-category/foundation/

It may look like a cosmetics on-line store, but if you look carefully, one of the products is actually a "BitCoin Code" scam.

Now my question is, is this a real cosmetics on-line store that some malicious cracker hijacked, or is the entire website part of the scam? JIP | Talk 21:57, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The website is less than a month old, which is one of the warning signs of a scam. I'm also suspicious of how few google hits it has. --M @r ē ino 21:23, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. They also hide who set up the site, and the contents are mainly javascript. I wouldn't trust it. Dbfirs 17:19, 26 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I did a little research of my own and looked at their contact page. They state a physical address, a telephone number and an e-mail address. The physical address is at "Spadafore Drive" but according to Google Maps, such a street doesn't exist. I didn't want to call or e-mail them as that would give away my own contact information to them. Also, if you put items into your cart and go to check-out, it's not actually possible to pay for them. The site doesn't offer any payment methods. JIP | Talk 19:21, 26 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 25

No. 10 filigree doodads

What are those cast-iron filigree doodads on either side of the door at Number 10 Downing Street? 2606:A000:1126:28D:8DD4:CFE9:7561:C95 (talk) 06:50, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I believe they're boot scrapers. Fancy ones. Very similar to this antique.

If you want a less fancy modern set, Amazon has a whole category[2].

ApLundell (talk) 07:07, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm... wonder if they've been there since the Great horse manure crisis of 1894 (an actual article). 2606:A000:1126:28D:8DD4:CFE9:7561:C95 (talk) 07:23, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure they have. That is exactly why they used to install these on downtown buildings.

(This seems to be a common, if expensive, style. A google search for regency iron boot scraper turns up a bunch of antiques in this exact style. )

Looking closely, it looks like the left one is damaged. It's missing some of the decorative bits. Must be a common fault, this one in Ireland has almost identical damage. I'll bet people kick them.

ApLundell (talk) 07:56, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I would guess people trip on them. Looks unsafe to me. Something like Astroturf, epoxied down, but in an appropriate color, would be more practical and safer. SinisterLefty (talk) 13:18, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

You mean a welcome mat? It would probably depend on the amount of... stuff you needed to remove and how much usage it will be getting. On a rainy, muddy, day (in London?!) 10 Downing might end up with more sludge than a mat could accommodate (after the first user it progressively gets less and less effective). Matt Deres (talk) 14:53, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Not quite a welcome mat. I'd leave it on the sides, so people can avoid them when not needed. And welcome mats aren't normally epoxied down. The texture should also be that of rough bristles, which most mats lack. SinisterLefty (talk) 17:20, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Modern boot-scrapers (see Amazon link above) usually have a tough-bristled brush, in addition to a scraping bar. These have probably been installed for well over a century, though. They might not have had brushes that could withstand the elements back then.

Automobiles don't leave the streets as messy as horses do, I suppose they're probably mostly decorative these days. ApLundell (talk) 18:09, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

They are decorative here in Charleston, SC. They are very common. Ours is shaped like a hedgehog with steel bristles for spines. Many homes in the pretigious areas also have stepping blocks at the street. In old days, it was a bit of a drop to leave a carriage. So, fancy homes had permanent blocks to stop down on. So, if you have boot scrapers and a stepping block, your home is considered very fancy. 199.164.8.1 (talk) 11:42, 26 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

And is the height of fanciness to have an outhouse, complete with authentic stench ? SinisterLefty (talk) 17:25, 26 July 2019 (UTC) [reply]

As to kicking them, sadly the general public hasn't been allowed onto Downing St. for nearly 30 years now. People who do have permission do to be there are probably not so likely to misbehave. --69.159.11.113 (talk) 06:17, 26 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"Doodad" is actually an appropriate name for these.

doo — (childish) feces

dad — etymology 2.2: A blow; act of striking something.

2606:A000:1126:28D:8DD4:CFE9:7561:C95 (talk) 08:53, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds more like a monkey's 2nd favorite hobby, tossing their poo at people. :-) SinisterLefty (talk) 20:16, 25 July 2019 (UTC) [reply]

UPDATE: Finest Hour (Spring 1987), the magazine of the International Churchill Society, has on its front cover a ceramic statuette of Winston next to the No. 10 bootscraper, which the description inside (p. 3 bottom left} says was damaged by being "kicked by a horse in 1926". Alansplodge (talk) 20:21, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

And they haven't replaced it or fixed it in 95 years ? Wow, and I thought I was cheap. :-) SinisterLefty (talk) 05:12, 26 July 2019 (UTC) [reply]

Asset Forfeiture Unit sales

In South Africa, assets seized as part of criminal investigations can be sold by the South African Asset Forfeiture Unit. I am please looking for a website where such items are sold, specifically property. I was also hoping there is such a thing in the UK and any available links. Google has proved to be useless. Thanks Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 15:11, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

You might add the word "auction" to your search, as that's a common way to sell such property. SinisterLefty (talk) 17:17, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

For small items in the UK, there is BumbleBee Auctions and some forces have their own eBay presence now. (see [3] [4] [5] [6] etc) Large items (cars, houses etc) will be sent to a formal auction house for disposal. Each force and department chooses where to list them, there is no central place. See also Government auctions and Police auction. Nanonic (talk) 21:33, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

History of local daylights time observance in the US

I feel that our article Daylight saving time in the United States is very lacking regarding the period of 1918-1942 and 1946-1972, partly even up to 1986. Is there a complete list of what states and other US territorries or areas where locally observing DST during the period of 1918-1986, and particularly during what years (as many of them seem to have alternatingly dropped, re-adopted, and re-dropped it recurringly during that timeframe)? --2003:EF:13C1:6862:FC70:30DB:3E3F:7D0F (talk) 16:09, 25 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The tz database attempts to record all historical time zone changes since 1970. It has older data, but incomplete. For the US it might be fairly good though. That solves at least part of your problem. Jahoe (talk) 09:44, 26 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

You need a book called Time Changes in the United States by Doris Chase Doane. It's very comprehensive--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:51, 26 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 27

What are these round plug(?) sockets in the UK?

(I felt this didn't quite deserve to be asked under science, because it isn't theory.)

As a kid in the '80s I remember that in the living-room there was a thing like a plug socket (i.e. plastic plate on the wall) but instead of the usual three holes for an electrical plug, it was just a single round hole. I've got a vague feeling I once asked my father what it was for, and he said something about radio.

These days I'm an adult, worse luck, and my house has also got one of these things. (The previous occupant covered it up with black tape and I've never touched it, but it's clearly the same thing.) I feel stupid asking this here because how could I possibly not find out from Google "what UK plug socket is just a single round hole?" but I swear I've tried and I just get swamped in irrelevancies about older circular versions of the normal three-pin plug.

Help me out. What is this thing for? Equinox ◑ 10:20, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like the socket where you plug a TV into an ariel. Mjroots (talk) 10:34, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, technically an RF connector, but commonly known as "co-ax" plugs and sockets. They can be for either radio or TV depending on the frequency that the co-axial cable is designed for, and, of course, the aerial on the roof. Dbfirs 10:43, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Here are some examples for you to check. Mikenorton (talk) 10:53, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Some of those have more than one "hole", but that just means it connects to more than one antenna, or perhaps antenna(s) and cable TV/satellite TV, which also use coax cables. Of course, these holes are normally occupied by a coax cable with a connector at the end, but those may have been removed in the OP's case, perhaps as it was replaced by Internet TV or just rabbit ears/built-in radio antenna(s) and the coax cable/connector reused elsewhere. Covering it with tape is a good idea, as it may let insects and spiders in, or at the very least allow the outside air in, which may be the wrong temperature and humidity. For a more aesthetic solution, they do sell plates with no holes, for just such a purpose. That would be a lot easier than patching the hole in the wall. SinisterLefty (talk) 13:14, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Could be for Rediffusion or the like. DuncanHill (talk) 21:53, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

And if I were you I'd peel the tape off, take a picture, and post it for us to see. And if you were me you'd unscrew it to have a look behind. DuncanHill (talk) 21:54, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

What's the meaning of 'x' in

a botanical article's name like Pelargonium × hortorum ? Is it due to being a hybrid plant out of two cultivars ? בנצי (talk) 21:17, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

A cross of first one with second one. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 21:56, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe Hybrid name will help. 93.136.43.218 (talk) 22:15, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

No, that's not what it means.

The actual meaning depends a little upon the qualifier. It's a cross between two (unnamed) species of the Pelargonium genus. It will usually imply which species they are (i.e. P. hortorum is specifically a hybrid of Pelargonium zonale and Pelargonium inquinans, but you'd need to check a reference to know this, it's not obvious from the name). As the qualifier is a nothospecies rather than a formal Linnaean species name, it may be varyingly precise or imprecise. Many are a 'use' name, this one roughly means "Horticultural Pelargonium", i.e. one found useful as a garden plant. Some of these hybrid names imply a range of species, often one particular one hybridised with any of a number of others, even a mixture (in mixed seed). Terminology varies significantly between botanists and commercial horticulturalists.

If it's a graft-chimaera (i.e. a chimera formed by grafting, rather than cross-breeding) then a + sign is used rather than the × Andy Dingley (talk) 22:20, 27 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 28

What does "coot or transparent material" mean?

The awning article deals with "a light structure of aluminium, iron or steel, possibly coot or transparent material". What is "coot" supposed to mean in this context? Surely it doesn't refer to the bird called coot. Coot (disambiguation) does not offer an explanation either. --Head (talk) 19:59, 28 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Probably a typo for "clear". SinisterLefty (talk) 20:07, 28 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism unnoticed from 2016 [7]. I changed it back to wood. Someguy1221 (talk) 20:23, 28 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 29

Oculus Go advert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlNHLsw4qko was this staged by Oculus or not and who is Awkwafina in this advert I know about Leslie Jones through but nothing abotu Awkwafina — Preceding unsigned comment added by Joe2k19 (talk • contribs) 23:53, 29 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

For your last question, we perhaps not surprisingly have an article Awkwafina. Nil Einne (talk) 01:41, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

July 30

Is there any constructed language that eliminated all fallacies related to how language works?

Is there any constructed language that eliminated all fallacies related to how language works, that made extinct all fallacies that could be made extinct by creating a language from scracth to avoid them?

Some example of those fallacies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Verbal_fallacies 201.79.56.26 (talk) 01:17, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The "no true Scotsman" thing is not a fallacy of language.

What constitutes a "fallacy of language"? Arguably it is, based on deliberately or inadvertently confusing the definition (or conflating different definitions) of "Scotsman", and/or of "true", and/or of the phrase "true Scotsman". Iapetus (talk) 09:08, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Such a hypothetical language would have to somehow make "Scotsman" and "true Scotsman" the same word. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:18, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The OP may be interested in our articles on Loglan, Lojban and logical languages. Loglan and Lojban do eliminate syntactic ambiguity, but eliminating semantic ambiguity and other "language fallacies" is likely impossible. For example, James Cooke Brown argues in Loglan 1: A Logical Language that all noun phrases involving a modifier are metaphors whose exact meaning cannot be determined from the meaning of the constituent words. Thus the meaning of a seemingly simple phrase like "blue house" cannot be determined unless the speaker knows what people generally mean by that phrase. A Martian hearing the phrase could not know that a blue house doesn't necessarily have blue windows, a blue roof, or blue walls and floors in the interior. Similarly one has to have knowledge of the real world to know that a "water pump" moves water, but a "bicycle pump" moves air, not bicycles. CodeTalker (talk) 14:46, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Likewise that a can with a picture of a salmon on it has salmon inside it, and a can with a picture of peas has peas inside it, though a can with a picture of a baby... Language has always been in the world, and always has a presumed context among the interlocutors. Wikipedia does have an article on Context-free language but it's written in rather arcane symbols and doesn't really explain itself well (rather ironically), and doesn't seem to apply to any actual in-use human languages, but rather on highly theoretical ideas. In practical terms, humans will always invent novel communication where none yet exists to adequately describe a situation; that's the downfall of any perfectly constructed language: humans will use it, and will change it up to suit their needs over time, introducing their own meaning to fit their own context, and thus ambiguity. "Wouldn't it be great if we could introduce a perfect language that allowed for no ambiguity or contradictions or fallacies and thus could always perfectly communicate every idea without error" You could, until you taught it to two people and they started using it among themselves, and then it would quickly all go to shit. --Jayron 32 15:30, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

For a fictional treatment, you may be interested in the language of the Sheliak, in the Star Trek universe: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Sheliak https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Sheliak_language. Any such language would need to have far more words, and we would need to keep adding to the list. For example, a "window", meaning the thing that lets flies and burglars into the house, would be a separate word from that in "window of opportunity". The Windows operating systems would need a new name, and the individual windows that pop up on the screen to sell you crap would also need a new name. SinisterLefty (talk) 17:52, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Help identifying a princess in a photograph

A discussion at Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Sikhanyiso Dlamini has stalled because one of the subjects in the photograph can not be identified. Who is the princess on the right? We know she is a member of the royal family because of the red feather crown she is also wearing. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 14:30, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly Tiyandza Dlamini, but I haven't found a definitive source. Keep in mind that the photo was taken in 2006. 107.15.157.44 (talk) 19:49, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Not a "reliable source", but potentially helpful: "Royal Princess Temashayina of Swaziland Incrivel t". kolimger.pw. —107.15.157.44 (talk) 21:13, 30 July 2019 (UTC) 107.15.157.44 (talk) 21:13, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Unlikely. Most likely Temtsimba if you care to investigate.--TMCk (talk) 22:07, 30 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@@ Line 191: / Line 191: @@
 :Possibly  Tiyandza Dlamini, but I haven't found a definitive source. Keep in mind that the photo was taken in 2006. [[Special:Contributions/107.15.157.44|107.15.157.44]] ([[User talk:107.15.157.44|talk]]) 19:49, 30 July 2019 (UTC)
 :Not a "reliable source", but potentially helpful: {{cite web |title=Royal Princess Temashayina of Swaziland Incrivel t |url=http://kolimger.pw/Royal-Princess-Temashayina-of-Swaziland-Incrivel-t.html |website=kolimger.pw}} —[[Special:Contributions/107.15.157.44|107.15.157.44]] ([[User talk:107.15.157.44|talk]]) 21:13, 30 July 2019 (UTC) [[Special:Contributions/107.15.157.44|107.15.157.44]] ([[User talk:107.15.157.44|talk]]) 21:13, 30 July 2019 (UTC)
+::Unlikely. Most likely Temtsimba if you care to investigate.[[User:TracyMcClark|--TMCk]] ([[User talk:TracyMcClark|talk]]) 22:07, 30 July 2019 (UTC)