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January 22

Simple automotives question

Suppose one is driving in a car. Currently, the engine is putting out 100 lb-ft of torque, the gear ratio is 3:1 and the final drive (or trans axle) ratio is also 3:1. Assuming no friction or mechanical losses, is the overall transmission output torque 600 lb-ft (3+3) or 900 lb-ft (3 x 3)? Acceptable (talk) 00:01, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Your torque will be multiplied by 3 in the gearbox, and again by 3 in the diff (while the rotational speed will be divided by 3 each time) - the diff doesn't "know" what your original torque was, so adding makes no sense. FiggyBee (talk) 00:17, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Ah ok thanks. Acceptable (talk) 00:55, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Wait, did you mean to ask the exact question you asked? What is the overall transmission output? That would be skipping the final drive. I guess you meant at the rear axle? Or were you thinking at the wheels? Keep in mind, you have yet another ratio involved there, depending on the outside diameter of the tire. Friday (talk) 14:38, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, remember gearboxes are just like electrical transformers (but mechanical)--TreeSmiler (talk) 03:39, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Are there any GOOD translation sites?

I was surfing a site to translate Japanese to English. In those sites that I searched, like Altavista, when I put in a sentence in Japanese and translated it to English, it results in an abnormal sentence, like, "I think lives in the United States of America and bodybuilding is enjoyable sports." I need a GOOD translation site to go to. I mean sites that translate a Japanese language to a correct sentence, like "I live in the United States of America and I think bodybuilding is an enjoyable sport." Are there any GOOD translation sites? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sirdrink13309622 (talk • contribs) 06:43, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

If you want something REALLY accurate you'll have to have something done by people rather than programs. Something like... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Language !!! Bellum et Pax (talk) 06:44, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Concur. Automatic translation scripts/software are mediocre at best and should only be used for comedic effect. Ask a real translator to help you over there Bellum at Pax said. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:41, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

You have to translate with Babelfish and then think about the syntax on your own. 71.220.211.235 (talk) 21:19, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

"Blue Keld" -- what's the catch?

Lately I have discovered this heaven-like brand of fruit-flavoured "mineral water" that tastes almost exactly like regular soda pop. It claims to be both no-fat AND sugar free! So... obviously, I wonder what the catch is. Is it still bad for my teeth somehow? I have never, ever tried ANY "sugar free" product of any kind that tasted anything close to good. Coke Zero and Coke Light, for example, both taste like colored water. Seriously.

Also, while I'm asking, what does "no sugar added" really mean? It is very ambigious, and possibly for good reason. I have a conspiracy theory about it. Why not simply put "contains no sugar" or "no sugar"? It would make it clear that there IS in fact NO sugar, instead of "no extra sugar added since the last time your bought it" or whatever the hell it is supposed to mean. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 10:42, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

On your second question, I wouldn't worry too much about the word "added". It really doesn't contain any sugar. However, it will likely contain artificial sweeteners instead, which have their own issues. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 11:05, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I believe that sometimes the "no sugar added" line is used on products that contain fruit juice. Fruit juice in general contains fructose, so the label is indicating that there has not been any additional sugar added during the manufacturing process. A close read of the ingredients label should provide clues, if not details. --LarryMac | Talk 14:09, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Just as a note, as someone who switched to Diet sodas only recently, I found that 1. sodas that I liked in non-diet form I rarely likely in diet form (I can't stand Diet Coke, though Coca-Cola was always my favorite), 2. sodas that I didn't like in non-diet form, I sometimes liked in diet form (couldn't stand Pepsi but find Diet Pepsi divine), and 3. once you totally switch to diet sodas you start getting used to them pretty quickly. In about a week I no longer noticed how "off" they all tasted from the non-diet versions, as I had lost my reference point. So stick with it. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 15:05, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Diet Coke is a totally different drink which is not intended to taste like Coca-Cola. I don't know about Diet Pepsi. You will get used to weird-tasting diet sodas after a while, but by the same token you'll get used to skim milk and 100% fruit juice, so my advice to the original poster is to switch to those instead. Heck, fruit juice tastes pretty good from the get-go.

Carbonated drinks are acidic (as is uncarbonated fruit juice) and acid is bad for your tooth enamel, so even unsweetened sparkling mineral water is somewhat bad for your teeth. As for the conspiracy theory, can't you just read the packaging? At least in the US and UK there's almost always a complete list of ingredients and a table showing the amount of sugar per serving. -- BenRG (talk) 15:51, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Fruit juices are very high in sugar and calories, though, and as you note still very acidic. Personally I'll go with the carbonated sugar-free water. And skim milk—maybe in my coffee, but that's about it. Blech. ;-) --24.147.69.31 (talk) 16:03, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Also, just a note: almost all sodas are just colored water and sugar and a smattering of artificial flavorings. So finding a mineral water that tastes like a soda is no big surprise. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 15:06, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Elevator Buttons

The elevator in my building has two open door and two close door buttons. One of each is just the arrows: < > and > <, and one of each has a line in the middle: <|> and >|<. (I hope my attempt at replicating the symbols makes sense.) Is there actually a difference? Say, will one close the door faster than the other? Essentially, what is the point of these extra buttons? I've never seen it in another elevator, although I may just have never noticed it. I tried googling it to see if I could find a list of standardized elevator button symbols, but all I got was blogs about people complaining that they couldn't tell the difference between the open vs. close buttons quickly enough. 131.162.146.86 (talk) 11:03, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Maybe they think it's an air plane that needs redundancy for everything. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 11:05, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Try pushing them all next time you're in there (on your own, preferably) and see what different effects they have, if any. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 11:06, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Hey there. :) The buttons with the lines, I think, hold the door open or closed. Sang'gre Habagat (talk) 11:08, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

That's what they do in my doctor's surgery(sorry for the original research)hotclaws 17:53, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps you could take a photo of them and ask the elevator folks here? --Sean 14:40, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

User Sang has it correct - the buttons with the vertical lines indicate a state of permanence (open or closed) when they are deployed for say maintenance or trolley access or egress, particularly in say hospitals. But here in the UK, they are normally key-lockable by authorised personnel to keep mischievous fingers out of mischief. 81.145.241.145 (talk) 21:05, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I have been in elevators where <> is "front door open" and <|> is "rear door open" (and similarly for "door close"). Or maybe the other way around. Like everyone else, I find the symbols practically unusable. --Anonymous, 01:30 UTC, January 23, 2008.

Not only that, but many people believe -- with some justification -- that elevator door open/close buttons don't actually do anything (and if so, we can quit worrying about what the labels are supposed to mean!). —Steve Summit (talk) 15:39, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

In some elevators door-close buttons are only active in some situations, giving rise to the myth that they never do anything. (I'm surprised that the Elevator article doesn't cover this -- I expected it to go into excessive length on the subject, this being something that "everybody" knows about.) But if a door-open button doesn't do anything, that is a dangerous malfunction! --Anonymous, 19:54 UTC, January 24.

Dual Door open and Door close buttons, in an elevator with two sets of doors.

You mean like these buttons (at right)? As noted above, these dual sets of door open/door close buttons occur when there are two sets of doors, and they are required by current US building codes (if both sets of doors can be opened on the same landing), so that the doors can be controlled during independent service (e.g., during emergencies). The alternative <|> and >|< buttons are for the rear doors (in case of two control panels, the "rear doors" are relative to the panel: they mean "the other set of doors"). There may be other uses (other than "second set of doors"), but I'm not aware of any. More details at Elevator: General controls, as of this edit.

—Nils von Barth (nbarth) (talk) 22:20, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

Social interactions

If one were to, hyperthetically, pay a prostitute for sex, what would one expect? I do not mean to ask "how does one have sex". I am asking, in the world of call girls, how does one go about aranging a meeting and what are the expected protocalls of engagement? How should one treat the perspective lady and how should one expect to be treated in return? Thank you for you kind and unjudgemental help. Weasly (talk) 11:31, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I think it would be pretty awkward. Unless it's in like Thailand or something. I think that most prostitudes are too ugly/nasty for me to be turned on by them, but who knows? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 12:26, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Doesn't one just walk through the Bois de Boulogne, Quartier Pigalle, Tenderloin, etc. until one finds what one is looking for at an acceptable price or gets mugged first?

Atlant (talk) 13:16, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

It's always best to treat strangers with courtesy and respect. --Sean 14:08, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

You standards seem very high, 85.225.50.83. Regardless, none of you have actually given me an answer which is satisfactory. I am assuming here that one has already found what one is looking for and arranged the meeting. Now, opon arival of the meeting, how should one conduct oneself? Does one simply "jump her bones" or is there a degree of conversation required? Will she be nice in her tone of voice? Will she laugh out if, and I stress hyperthetically, ones manhood is not as large as she may be used to?Weasly (talk) 14:53, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Don't worry about that. She won't want to talk (unless you want to waste your hour/whatever of paid time for that) and has most likely seen many smaller penises than yours. Still hypothetically speaking, of course.

From what I have heard/seen, you drive through areas with prostitutes, and stop your car. One comes up to you, asks you if you are looking for a good time, you say yes, she jumps in the car. Then you ask her for sex and it turns out she's a cop and you go to jail. Or maybe the cops immediately surround your car as you pull away, and then you go to jail. That's what it looks like on television, anyway. ;-) --24.147.69.31 (talk) 17:13, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I thought you have to honk then she goes in your car, drive to a secluded place and the camera points to the boot of your car. The car starts to rock and your health goes up by 25 points. Ahhh good ol' GTA times... --antilived^{T | C | G} 22:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

As too meeting her, it's either go to a known location and trawl round in your car.They will approach you.Otherwise ,calling cards in phone books and some do work via the internet,that is ,they make bookings over it.I would be polite,I doubt they expect conversation but "Nice day" or "you look nice" at least shows you aren't a bore.Ask up front what the price is and what you will get,ask if you get charged extra for something.Use a condom even if they say you needn't bother."Thank you,that was nice " could be said afterwards.Most will be nice to you, they want return business.They know what they are doing and are used to dealing with first time customers and putting them at their ease.hotclaws 17:59, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

It's important to remember that it's a lot like buying a used car -- it might be your first time doing it, but the salesperson has sold twenty just this week, and will be prepared for any nervousness or unease. The salesperson will also find it in his or her best interest to relax you, get you in a comfort zone, and make it as pleasant for you as possible, so you'll be willing to let go of more money. Also like buying a used car, you wanna be really conscious of safety on any equipment wherein that many people have stuck their keys. Be careful out there. Faithfully, Deltopia (talk) 19:03, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

It depends on where you are. A single man walking down Wenceslas Square in Prague late at night will undoubtedly be approached by a prostitute asking, "Want sex?" Elsewhere in the world, there are cities where certain parts of town are known for their streetwalkers. Drive your car by real slow, roll down your window and if she's a hooker, she'll come up to you. I used to live in a town where there were several "Oriental massage parlors" widely known to be fronts for prostitution. My understanding was that you would go in and pay for a "massage" which would be performed by an illegal immigrant from China wearing a bikini. She would remove your clothes as part of the "massage." The customer would ask for one type of sex or another. In yet other places, "escort services" are the fronts for hookers. One time at a hotel in Toronto, I opened the phonebook looking for a restaurant. The phonebook opened to the "escort services" page, and inside was a piece of paper with a bunch of names and breast measurements written on it! Apparently, a previous guest called around looking for a properly shaped prostitute! -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:37, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I would expect that it would vary depending on the approach used. A prostitute picked up off the street may not be expecting much in the way of courtesy and conversation, but a legal prostitute at a licensed brothel would expect a level of respect, and will have a couple of well-muscled friends nearby in case of her being disrespected. Regardless of the context, most people will enjoy sex more if they are with a partner who they hold a vague amount of respect for. If you're nice to the woman (assuming woman here), she's likely to be nice in return. If you hold her in contempt, you're more likely to end up with a cold fish. A prostitute is a woman and a human being, so it is considered good taste to treat them like one, rather than an object for use and discarding. It might also be appropriate to treat the whole deal as a purchase of services, which, in a way, it is. Would you treat a sales person with respect when you're buying something off them? Steewi (talk) 01:08, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

One more thing - Apparently it is not uncommon for people to want conversation as much as sex, so if a client is nervous or having their first time, they can say so and they'll know to explain things as they go, including house/personal rules such as limits and requirements, (extra) costs, etc. Steewi (talk) 01:11, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Of course, there's no such thing as a "legal prostitute" or a "licensed brothel" in the U.S. outside of parts of Nevada. Just in case you were going to look for one. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 02:18, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I happen to have known a sex worker or two over the years. These days, most of the contacts are made online, but as in the days when johns looked for hookers by driving down certain streets, both parties need to watch out for police entrapment. I'm not sure, but I think that you can ask straight out something like "Before we get too far, I need to ask, are you a member of a police force or connected with the police?" I'm not sure, but I think that in the US, police can't lie about this. Still there could be some risk. I agree that once you meet the person, you should be respectful. You should agree to a price at the outset to avoid ugly and potentially dangerous disagreements later on. Also, talk about what you want to do to make sure that the other person is willing to do those things. Whatever you do, use a condom for both of your sakes. Particularly if you are dealing with an online "escort", they will want the repeat business and will certainly not laugh at your appearance. It is fine and pretty normal to want to talk before, during, and after the act. A decent sex worker should be prepared for that. Marco polo (talk) 03:22, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Not so with the "cops can't lie" angle, I'm afraid. [1] As Dureo (talk · contribs) so impressively detailed at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2007 December 30#Undercover cops..., not only can they lie, but they can expose themselves and even be fondled (at least in some US states) without prejudicing the arrest. Rockpocket 03:34, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Some of the comments above seem to be mildly tolerant of prostitution, if not quite encouraging the original poster. No one wants to be judgmental, I suppose. But some discouraging words are in order. First, having sex with a streetwalker is extremely dangerous. Sex with strangers is always somewhat risky, since condoms can break and are not 100% secure against all sex-related infectious diseases. It's even riskier with a prostitute, who may have had hundreds of partners before you. It's not just AIDS -- there are STDs out there far more common among heterosexuals that can wreck your life too. You might be safer in a place where prostitutes are licensed and monitored by the government. Secondly, you should think about what you're encouraging by frequenting prostitutes. In my area, the vast majority of prostitutes are on drugs, and many are victims of child abuse or domestic violence. They really need support from the social safety net, not the continuation of their current lifestyle. When you're buying sex from a hooker, you may be handing drug money to an addict, basically. (Others are illegal immigrants basically enslaved by their smugglers.) Finally, you get what you pay for. As a result of living the above-mentioned lifestyle, streetwalkers tend to be pretty hideous-looking and "worn out." A more attractive prostitute from an "escort service" may run you hundreds of dollars -- and she may not look like you expected when she shows up. So your options are to pay through the nose or sleep with a burlap sack. You've got to ask yourself if it's really worth it.

End of sanctimonious lecture. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 04:25, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Dayton Steele Foundry

Do you have information on the Dayton Steele Foundry? My results need to be specific. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jhughesw (talk • contribs) 12:57, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Your questions need to be equally specific. -- JackofOz (talk) 13:18, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

There was a Dayton Steel Foundry corporation which later became Dayton-Walther, but I don't see anything in Wikipedia about it, though Google may have some more information. UltraExactZZ ^Claims ~ Evidence 19:35, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Pellet gun shooting

HOw do I keep from wavering and shaking when holding a pellet gun (or any gun I suppose) in the standing position (no rests or benches)? I plan on enlisting in the USMC after highschool, so this is obviously a serious concern of mine. Is holding a gun something I'll just get used to over time, or am I doing something wrong? --AtTheAbyss (talk) 13:28, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Without knowing your shooting technique, any diagnosis is quite impossible. Practice is likely to improve this, and bear in mind that the problems can be both physical and mental (concentration, anxiety, things such as that). Perhaps there's a local gun club you could visit to gain insight? Hands-on experience with practiced shooters is likely to do you good. Bear in mind that there's a strong chance that the Corps will require you to abandon previous rifle techniques and learn to shoot "the Marine way", though I think prior experience would be of benefit regardless. — Lomn 14:10, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

To be honest I haven't been shooting long enough to have any technique. I bascially just point the rifle at my target, center it through my scope, and gently squeeze the trigger. --AtTheAbyss (talk) 14:25, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

This is hard to explain without a physical demo. Good technique with the rifle depends on triangles. Assuming you are right handed lock your left elbow into your body to make a strong base support. Pull the butt hard into your shoulder. Grip the rifle with your three fingers and thumb of your right hand and lock everything tight. This takes practice. An instructor would stand in front of you and strike the rifle sideways it should not move. You will have to swivel from the hips but the stance should not change. Unless you are that tight you have little chance of hitting anything. There is a lot more - but when instructing I always start with the sighting. Get that right, then move into shooting from a prone position (lying down) That gets the triangle position in place. Finally be aware that shooting from a standing position is the hardest to get right. As always, practice, practice and more practice. Good luck.86.197.23.15 (talk) 14:44, 22 January 2008 (UTC)DT

thanks mate that helps alot. --AtTheAbyss (talk) 15:03, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Are you saying a right-handed person should pull the trigger of a rifle with his left hand/index finger? I'd always thought it to be quite the contrary - left eye aiming, right index finger squeezing the trigger? 81.93.102.185 (talk) 16:04, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Pardon me, I didn't read that properly. :) Now I see you said elbow, not shoulder, which makes infinitely more sense. 81.93.102.185 (talk) 17:01, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Not specially related I guess, but there's a technique photographers use to avoid shaking when shooting that goes something like, line everything up, take a breath and exhale slowly as you press the shoot button (squeeze the trigger). Julia Rossi (talk) 01:36, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, there's a lot more to shooting than just the stance. But let's do one thing at a time.86.200.6.167 (talk) 16:20, 23 January 2008 (UTC)DT

Maybe more relevant when shooting from the prone (I haven't done much shooting from any other position) but it's important to check that you're pointed naturally at the target and not pulling towards it. The way to do this, once you've got into position, is to close your eyes and relax slightly. Not floppy relax, but just lie there for a second. Then open your eyes. If you were in a neutral position you should still be aiming at the target - but it's quite likely that you won't be. Shuffle slightly (usually moving your hips) in the appropriate direction, then do the eyes-closed thing again. One such repetition should be all that's needed with practice, but don't be afraid to do a couple more while you're still learning. This helps to reduce the amount by which the rifle moves during the shot. 81.187.153.189 (talk) 20:41, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

"Dumle Cocoa" -- sugar fest 2008?

It says on the package, that out of 100 grams, 80 grams is "sugars". Does this mean that this god damn thing contains 80% sugar?! That's insane. Do I even have to spell out the question? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 14:50, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

You don't. It does. Can we spell caries. --Tagishsimon (talk) 15:20, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

It sounds as though you have what in the UK we call drinking chocolate, which is basically icing (very fine) sugar with some added cocoa powder: an expensive way to buy sugar.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:58, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

trivia question

as i try to google the answer i wud like if any assistance can be offered on this question i got.'it was played for 70 straight days'.what is it? its probably an instrument thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.77.30 (talk) 15:41, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Monopoly (game). In terms of the "Official Recognized Monopoly Marathon Records", the Longest Game Ever Played was for 1,680 hours (70 days), according to [2]. And here's the google search which found that factette. --Tagishsimon (talk) 15:57, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Nutella vs peanut butter

Which has more calories, Nutella or peanut butter? --124.254.77.148 (talk) 15:49, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, there are many brands of peanut butter and only one of Nutella, yes? Nutella has around 100 calories a tablespoon, half from fat. Regular peanut butter will be pretty close to that (maybe a little less), but also high in fat. Light peanut butter, from what I can tell, has around the same amount of calories but less from fat. You know, you can google the calorie count of just about anything. Neither are very good for you from a weight-loss point of view. Switch to light cream cheese or butter. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 16:01, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Nutella and peanut butter do have about the same calorie density, but peanut butter has 3-4 times the amount of protein. Most people agree that protein is good for you. —Keenan Pepper 16:44, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Right, but you can get much more protein from much less caloric sources. An ounce of turkey has as much protein as a tablespoon of peanut butter but like a quarter of the calories. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 17:11, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Right, but turkey wasn't in the original question. Peanut butter not only has more protein than Nutella, it also has (or at least can have) way less sugar than Nutella. You can get low-sugar or sugarless peanut butters at ordinary grocery stores in the U.S.; here in Germany you have to go to Asian food stores or health food stores. So even if peanut butter and Nutella have about the same number of calories per tablespoon, peanut butter's calories are more nutritious than Nutella's calories. But yeah, if you're looking to lose weight, you should probably scrap both of them and go for much lower-calorie and lower-fat sources of protein. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 17:49, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, protein wasn't in the original question either. ;-) --24.147.69.31 (talk) 19:18, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Mmmmmmmm! Turkey butter! Could it be made in a blender out of some turkey breast and turkey fat? Edison (talk) 15:21, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Amount of information

Is there any data regarding the approximative amount of data contained in all of the language versions of Wikipedia? I assume it's a few hundreds of terabytes, but then it's only my calculations... -- Leptictidium (mammal talk!) 17:38, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

When all languages had circa 3M articles, the database size was 15GB. I think we have x3 that amount now, so say 50GB. Commons has a database size of 62MB [3]. Wikipedia had 2.8M images in Sept 06 ... probably 4M by now (rate of append has somewhat dropped off as the Commons bites). Commons has 2,381,991 media files [4]. So. Decide what you think the average media size will be, and do the maths. If my maths is right, 600k per image would be 3.78TB. --Tagishsimon (talk) 19:13, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Those vertical counting lines things

Sorry for not phrasing this any better, but I'm wondering does anyone know, what's it called where you count things by noting down little vertical lines like so: |||| for four items, then another one going diagonally across it for the fifth. And as you get more then you start putting down more strokes | etc., and possibly grouping the groups of five in larger units by spacing. I've tried searching but it's hard when I don't know what they're called. • Anakin ^{(contribs • complaints)} 20:49, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Tally marks. Bellum et Pax (talk) 20:53, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Perfect! Thank you! :D • Anakin ^{(contribs • complaints)} 20:58, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

C also tally stick if you are interested--TreeSmiler (talk) 22:44, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I've always called them 5-bar gates. SpinningSpark 23:34, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Let's see now - did I get this right???????????

So, the big banks and building societies lend loads of money at relatively low interest rates to people who otherwise would not qualify for a loan - OK so far - but then the Fed decides to gradually increase interest rates to a level that force many of those people to default on their home-loans - still with me? - then a lot of banks etc. are left with empty homes on their hands and no prospective purchasers - negative equity I think it's called - and then the bigger banks who funded the smaller banks decide to call in their loans - many of which are not forthcoming - so the smaller banks begin to collapse (thinking Northern rock here) - and the share values of the bigger banks tumble, and not just in the USA. Now, along comes nasty Mr. Recession who says, "Hey, the economy is in trouble here, and people are not only losing their homes, they are also losing their jobs, so come on down Mr. Fed and Mr. Treasury, and bring down those li'l ol' interest rates so people can buy their homes on discounted mortgages again and keep their jobs and allow this big 'ol money machine to keep on rollin' here. And guess what? Mr. Fed and Mr. Treasury roll over an' play ball. So why on earth did they raise the interest rates in the first place and cause this global credit squeeze if they now find it so easy to bring down the interest rates again? Or am I missing something here apart from an MBA and an Economics degree???? 81.145.241.145 (talk) 20:56, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes you are missing practially everything. Firstly the banks did not give low interest rates to people who couldn't afford them. They gave loans to people who were very unlikly to meet the payments, this had little to do with the interest rates. With the large amount of people now able to get a loan, as the banks relaxed their requirements, more people brought houses and the price/value of houses increased. Then people couldn't afford the loans they were forced to sell their houses. Selling many houses at the same time meant alot of houses could not be sold for what they were loaned at. So the banks who lent the money are now in the hole. The federal reserve injects cash at low interest rates so that the banks that lent money and lost, can now get money more cheaply. If they didn't they would fold over, and the next banks would loose money. The only way for them to get money back is to increase interest rates on everyone elses loans. Which in turn means more people can't afford the loan, and more houses fall over and the cycle gets worse and worse and we head for recession. In the mean time the banks have to continue to put interest rates up, to make back the money they lost of loans that fell over. When interest rates get to high, buisness stops. THis is because there is no point in conducting buisness when all your profits are now taken via interest payments. So if the federal reserve didn't offer money at low interest rates, no buisnesses nor investors would take loans. This is also why the stock market started crashing, beacuse the banks had high interest rates and neede cash, its was more profitable to pull your money out of shares and just put it in the bank. The squeeze was caused by people buying property for more than it was actually worth. What this effectively did was give free money to an over-class of individuals who are now in credit. The best thing the reserve can do to even it up is to reduce interest rates, so that those in the credit can't make moeny off it, and those in debt can get out of debt easier. The opposite has to happen sometimes as well.--155.144.251.120 (talk) 03:49, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

The Fed raising interest rates being the sole cause of defaulted loans is much too simplistic an interpretation. Spending above one's means and not reading the fine print are (among others) also major factors. Similarly, much of the rest of your thesis looks to find the no-econ-background answer when one does not necessarily exist. Anyway, the federal funds rate is one mechanism by which the Fed attempts to manage the economy. Why don't they keep interest rates at rock-bottom lows all the time? Because it's not sustainable. Our article on inflation may prove useful. — Lomn 21:48, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Telenovelas filmed in Florida

As of 2008, how many Spanish language telenovelas will be filmed in the state of Florida? Ericthebrainiac (talk) 21:12, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Power Stars

How many can you get before beating Bowser for the first time on Super Mario 64 DS? Vitriol (talk) 21:21, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Look for the video, super mario 64 in 20 minutes. This guy beats the game with 16 stars.--Dlo2012 (talk) 23:49, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Some guy did it with zero stars; have you seen it, Dlo? But the glitches involved in SM64 are probably not present in SM64DS. HYENASTE 23:33, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

YouTube annoyance

Why the hell do I have to "verify my age" every time I watch a "flagged" video on YouTube, even when logged in? (And who are these idiots who keep flagging videos?)

Incompetent Google. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 22:49, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

You have to verify your age so YouTube doesn’t get in trouble for letting minors watch what amounts to porn. (YouTube contains R rated content, and people sometimes upload more graphic content.) People flag video’s because that is how YouTube polices its content. The people who flag videos on YouTube are being good citizens in the online community. --S.dedalus (talk) 23:07, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Note the "even when logged in" part... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 23:21, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I think I answered that part, but maybe I was unclear. If a video is very explicit and lots of people flag it, YouTube adds a page that forces you to verify your identity. Note that you have to do this even if you have an over 18 account since many people lie when they create their YouTube account. This extra step also helps warn people who might not want to see adult content. --S.dedalus (talk) 02:17, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

• You might be having problems with your HTTP cookies. Some internet security programs flush out cookies way too eagerly, forcing you to log in over and over. --M@rēino 00:16, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I think the OP is talking about pages like this one but maybe I’m wrong. (Link does not contain graphic content directly, but the video is R rated obviously.) If it’s a problem with your computer instead the computing desk may have more suggestions. --S.dedalus (talk) 01:05, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

What's annoying about the "confirm birth date" page is that the page itself implies it is making some sort of change: "you are agreeing that all videos or groups flagged by the YouTube community will be viewable by this account." But in fact you have to click it every time. What makes it REALLY silly is there isn't an option to say, "Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm only 12!" I mean, it's a big button, it's the only button. It's a silly sham at best. As for who flags them—well, with any system where you have people flag things based on their own personal moralities you're going to get the lowest common denominator, by definition, because you and I, who may or may not think these videos require being flagging, cannot "unflag" them. So it's a system that favors those who like to flag. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 01:29, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

How does this work?

How does this work? --antilived^{T | C | G} 23:12, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Any two-digit number minus the two digits added together will be a multiple of 9. All the multiples of 9 in the table at the end have the same symbol. FiggyBee (talk) 23:26, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Incidentally, ♌ is the symbol for Leo. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 23:35, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

It uses a random one each time (so it's not so obvious it's always giving you the same symbol if you do it more than once, I guess). But yeah, they're astrological symbols. FiggyBee (talk) 23:53, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Ahhh yes that's why. I was confused with the symbols, but didn't really look at the similarity on the numbers. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:43, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

No satisfactory answers have been given so far. I tried it 4 times and it was always correct. Obviously not magic, but how does it work?--TreeSmiler (talk) 04:00, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

OK maybe FB is correct.--TreeSmiler (talk) 04:04, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

July 23 2008 ... _____________________________________

// ==userscripts.org== // @name youtube - confirm // @namespace http://userscripts.org/users/33073/scripts // @description confirms your birthdate automatically for you // @include http://youtube.com/verify_age* // @include http://www.youtube.com/verify_age* // ==/UserScript==

function $x(p, context) { if (!context) context = document; var i, arr = [], xpr = document.evaluate(p, context, null, 6, null); for (i=0; item=xpr.snapshotItem(i); i++) arr.push(item); return arr; }

var button = $x("//input[@type='submit' and @name='action_confirm' and @value='Confirm Birth Date']"); if (button.length) button[0].click(); _____________________________________ Requirements: firefox and greasemonkey

Alien Invasion ?!

What the hell is going on ? Is alien contact comming soon ?! I'm in the affecetd area in which a GIANT UFO, and now other UFOs are now being reported. If this was happening over the location that Wikimedia is located, I suspect that Jimbo Wales would have to change his shorts. IF I was planning a invasion I would scout all military targets such as:

• Military Bases
• Food centers (Farms, ranches, etc)
• Population Centers (incl. MAJOR cities)
• Transport routes
• Science and tech centers
• Power producing and transmission
• Communication centers
• Governing centers
• Incarceration centers, incl. the mental "hospitals"
• All medical centers
• Water —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.163.113.170 (talk) 23:29, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Last and not least:

• Area 51, similar "areas"
• Planetary tech advancement level

UFOs have been seen over all of these areas at one time or another.

Given the signals given off by this planet, I'd evaluate it as a Threat to all, because most to all of those signals are of and about WAR.

Agree ? Disagree ?

Wikipedia is NOT CENSORED. 65.163.113.170 (talk) 23:21, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Give it up, 170; what makes you think you'll get any more positive a response than the last half-dozen times? Read the bit at the top of the page where it says "Do not start debates or post diatribes. The reference desk is not a soapbox." And I'm sure that when the aliens invade, we'll all be too busy to worry about Wikipedia. FiggyBee (talk) 23:37, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't be so sure, I'm sure there would be a huge edit war over whether Extraterrestrial Enslavement Of Mankind deserves a ten page article, or is that just recentism, and besides, isn't putting "enslavement" in the title of the article POV? The article would fill up with graphic photographs of humans having their brain-slugs attached, and most editors would agree that there's no encyclopedic value to having two dozen brain-slug pictures, and that the article should probably be edited to just contain the picture they took themselves, because it clearly illustrates the subject the best.

Personally, I'm interested in the outcome of the inevitable debates over whether articles on our new alien masters fall under WP:BLP. APL (talk) 00:28, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

They would fall under WP:BLPP (Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Pod People). However, debates on guidelines belong at WP:Village Pump, not Ref Desk. Go away. Faithfully, Deltopia (talk) 00:47, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. —Nricardo (talk) 02:38, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

They're scouting water? --f f r o t h 12:37, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Isn't "planetary tech level" a phrase from the X-Com games? — Lomn 14:03, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

We've got nuclear missiles. I doubt that the alien ships would survive a nuclear missile attack. 71.220.211.235 (talk) 21:29, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

If I'd managed to either find a way to travel faster then light or had bothered to put together some sort of ship capable of lasting thousands or millions of years of travel with crew, I wouldn't worry about any of that shit when it comes to earth. I could destroy it (if that was my desire) in a few minutes without anyone on earth being any the wiser. It's like earth of Homo erectus versus modern USA. There is no war. Only anhilation Nil Einne (talk) 17:08, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I for one welcome our new alien leaders.They can't be any worse than the home-grown bunch... Lemon martini (talk) 11:42, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Punkrocker years

In that "punkrocker" song (which is great, BTW), she sings something about "in '77 and '69, revolution was in the air". What exactly happened at those pretty distant years that apparently are related? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 23:39, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

"extolling the virtues of the rebellious days of punk rock and the psychedelic Sixties", according to Sean Coughlan in the BBC News Magazine. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:46, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I would guess that specifically the lyrics refer to the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and to 1977 as a seminal year for punk rock. In 1977, The Damned released Damned, Damned, Damned, Richard Hell and The Voidoids released Blank Generation, the Sex Pistols released Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, and Wire released Pink Flag. --Joelmills (talk) 00:02, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

January 23

Local custom - crossing fingers on the sight of a fire-engine, ambulance etc

A local custom from my youth was to cross your fingers on the sight of a fire engine, ambulance or even a gas board van (whilst shouting e.g. GAS VAN GAS VAN) that was heading in the general direction of your house and then either leave them crossed until you saw another object (some friends say a dog or cat, others say the rules were more complicated) or have another person uncross them for you whilst wishing you good luck. I grew up in an urban area of Wiltshire, England, where this was fairly common in the 1980's amongst schoolchildren and adults.

I can sort of understand that this may have been a general superstition along the lines of 'I hope that fire/accident/gas explosion isn't related to me', but does anyone know of any other history in this? Does it perhaps stem from the warding off of evil? Does anyone know any other variations? 86.21.74.40 (talk) 02:33, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

In Cornwall one holds one's collar upon seeing an ambulance, as I recall untill one then saw a black or white animal. DuncanHill (talk) 08:49, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

While browsing A Dictionary of Superstitions, I read about a custom of holding or touching the collar of your coat when you saw an ambulance, and not releasing it until you saw a dog. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the book at the minute, but I remember this custom was prevalent in the North of England, reported most recently in the eighties, and that there were many, many variations on what to hold, for how long and what conditions had to be met before you could stop.

Sorry I haven't got more information, but the book is a fascinating read, if you can get hold of it. --Kateshortforbob 23:57, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

When I lived in Chile, it was common to cross oneself upon seeing an emergency vehicle, for fear that it would come for you next time. Steewi (talk) 00:46, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Same in Ireland. Guessing it's a Catholic thing. 83.147.143.14 (talk) 12:06, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

In Fire and Hemlock, the practice is mentioned of holding one's collar after seeing a hearse, until one sees something else specific. That bit's set in the 70s, I think, in Britain. 79.66.24.40 (talk) 18:40, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Ettitquette: Gold/silver/bronze when drawn

I was field marshell at athletics carnival. One event had a tie for second place place. We had spare medals just incase this happened. I order that first be given gold, then silvers to the two who came second, but no bronze medal be awarded as the next compeditor is judged to have placed 4th.

This didn't go down well with the compeditors/family/friends etc. Someone told me in the olympics that they still award silver when two people tie for gold. I find such a concept rediculous but apparently its standard practice?--155.144.251.120 (talk) 05:58, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I think they were just sore losers. Ties at the Olympics don't happen often, but when they do, a medal is skipped, just as you say. See Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle for example. FiggyBee (talk) 06:56, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Leapin' Lent

Is Lent one day longer this year because of leap year? Pais (talk) 06:07, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

No. It does not depend on date. The Lent is worked out from easter, going back 40 days skipping saturday to arrive at ash wednesday. The date doesn't matter. It has no effect, it remains 40 days. This is the same reason why it doesn't change length even though easter changes what date it falls on practically every year.--155.144.251.120 (talk) 06:19, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

The date changes every year, no exceptions. I checked this out elsewhere - see Talk:Easter#Same consecutive Easter date. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:39, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

155 is correct that the actual dates are irrelevant for this question. I never knew until I read Lent that Sundays aren't included in the calculation. It's 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (often incorrectly referred to as 'Easter Saturday') inclusive, excluding Sundays. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:57, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, because the Sundays are feastdays, not fastdays. Which means you can eat all the chocolate you've been depriving yourself of during the week :) Skittle (talk) 16:38, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

As I once read, the exclusion vs inclusion of Sundays in Lent was one of the conflicts between the Celtic and Roman churches, with the Celtic church insisting the 40 days represented Jesus' 40 days in the desert, which certainly included the sabbath. But I couldn't see any reference to that controversy in those articles, so I can't confirm the accuracy right now. Gwinva (talk) 19:48, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

It's certainly in the articles as an Eastern/Western thing. Orthodox churches count the days differently to Rome and the protestant churches which practise Lent. I believe the Roman church also holds that the 40 days represent the 40 days in the desert, but that Sunday's being mini-easters trumps it :) I suppose once you're not spending those 40 days actually in a desert, consuming nothing, anything is a compromise... Skittle (talk) 01:13, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Map creating software

I kind of have a weird hobby where I like to draw maps of fantasy cities on paper. By fantasy, I don't mean the fantasy genre, just layouts of realistic looking, imaginary modern cities, kind of like urban planning. Anyway, I was wondering if there is any software out there where I can do this on a computer instead of paper. I basically want something like Sim City, but without any of the actual gameplay, if that makes sense. I'd like to be able to create terrain, lay out roads, place buildings, etc, and just keep doing this until I complete a layout. I don't really need a feature to design my own buildings or structures, I could use pre-made ones. If possible, I'd like to see a top-down map view, and maybe a 3D isometric view. I know many professional urban planners use software like AutoCad to basically draw urban layouts, but I'd like something simpler that maybe has a Sim City-like interface. Does any software like this exist? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rc251 (talk • contribs) 06:10, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

The sim city 2000 urban renewal kit seems to fit your description nicely. Other than that i can't think of anything. I would kind of like to know this myself. Cryo921 (talk) 06:24, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the response. I played Sim City 2000 way back in the day, and while I barely remember the URK, I do remember it gave a pretty good measure of control for laying out cities. I don't have it installed now unfortunately, so I can't check it out myself again, but something like that with graphical updates and more features would be great. I did a lot of searching online, but most of my results seem to be graphical or statistic based apps targeted at professional. Did the newer Sim City games get rid of the kind of control that the Sim City: 2000 URK had? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rc251 (talk • contribs) 06:52, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

• In Sim City 4, it's relatively simple to set up a map with infinite cash, allowing you to experiment with infrastructure as much as you want. I don't recall any easy way to make particular privately-owned buildings pop up where you want, though. Also, SC4 uses a "neighborhood" system where you have several smaller, interconnected maps -- this may be even more fun for you, or it may detract from the sort of designing that you want to do. --M@rēino 16:02, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

As a side note, if you like making such maps and the like, you might be interested in playing geofiction. I myself have been part of the ImagiNations game for years. (The game is indicated in that article.) — Michael J 02:30, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Toter Uhu

I just noticed that the English Wikipedia doesn't seem to have an article (not even a stub) on this Manet painting, which is currently featured on the German Wikipedia's main page. Out of curiosity, is there a list of foreign language FAs that have no corresponding articles of any quality here? Zagalejo^^^ 06:45, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

You might find this interesting. SaundersW (talk) 09:27, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

And also Wikipedia:Featured articles in other languages and Wikipedia:WikiProject Echo. Algebraist 10:11, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

relateed to chemical engineering.....

A space shuttle has to be launched in an orbit of radius 6700 km. The space shuttle to be launched is designed by a NASA Scientist. The mechanism used to launch is different from other old satellites. The space shuttle is first given a special velocity at special angle to do this fuel used here is nuclear type. The main advantage is that it uses a small amount of fuel and small weight of satellite. The reaction which takes place to provide energy by nuclear fuel is A�R. The amount of heat released is 9676 MJ/mole of A. Reaction rate is 1xCA and the reactor if mixed flow type and the concentration of A is 1 mole per litre. Cost of the reactant is 4500$ per mole of A and cost of reactor including installation, cost auxiliary equipment is 1000$ per hour per litre. The space shuttle is firstly rotated on a smooth vertical circular rod and the mechanism is such that when it acquires the special velocity the rod is broken at special angle and the satellite escapes. But there is a defect in the design as the special angle is increased engine has to do more useless extra work, the energy waste is 0.01 MJ/thieta (angle at which the satellite is launched Θ). While rotating in upper vertical circle the shuttle acquires n upper temperature T1=1000 K and lower surface acquires T2=298 K. Smart scientists overcome the special angle problem by exploiting the surface temperature. They make a thermal engine which works on temperature T1 and T2 and extracts 70% of the maximum possible work which they use in providing special velocity. The whole of the process is to be completed in exactly in one hour while rotating. The energy given by nuclear fuel in providing special velocity is 40% efficient. Mass of the upper and lower surfaces are same and equal to 15 kg and heat capacities of both the surfaces are same and equal to 10 KJ/kg C. Find: 1. Minimum amount of R to be produced 2. Optimum feed rate of A. Given the radius of earth is 6400 km.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Amitagl27 (talk • contribs)

There are two reasons this is unlikely to receive the replies you want. Firstly, it is on the miscellaneous desk, rather than the science desk, and I suggest that somebody who has not done the research to find the most appropriate desk is not trying very hard. Secondly, it looks very much like homework, and you will see if you read the rubric at the top of the page that we don't do homework (except on the Humanities page, but I don't think that the respondents there are terribly hot on physics). If this is a horrible misreading of your situation, then I apologise. SaundersW (talk) 09:23, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

A third reason is that it is not a question. It is an instruction, without even a please or a thank you.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:02, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I will answer, though - The minimum amount of R to be produced is the smallest amount of R that can be produced over the course of the hour, whatever other variables. The optimum feed rate of A is the best and most efficient rate at which the A should be fed. Never let it be said that the ref desk isn't helpful! Faithfully, Deltopia (talk) 13:59, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

This has got to be a school assignment, possible a mixed course first year university assignment.--Dacium (talk) 22:55, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

why don't women make sense====sonyaveen*** readers answer "short and sweet"

    Gentilmen, women do make sense but, dont be ashamed we ask the same questions about you. You see, the human hormones are very complex in such ways, women have periods which can cause cramps, bloating, headaches, ect. Therefor can make the female cranky and  irratible. Men don't understand this and can take it the wrong way.
    Men also can ask this question in lack of communication to the opposite sex, therefor not understanding there signs of affection, or any other physical or verbal actions. We as of women and men have diffrent ways of life, which recieve questions from one another such as.. "why don't men/women make sense" Hope this helps.

Sailor Moon's skirt

Why does Sailor Moon's skirt become much shorter when she morphs into "super hero" mode? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 10:25, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Two words: target audience.

Two more: Fan service. --Mdwyer (talk) 06:04, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Because superheroes are supposed to look exciting, and short skirts are that, aren't they? If you watch the old Wonder Woman TV series (featuring historic hottie Lynda Carter), you will find that her legs are featured prominently in her superhero feats. It's tradition. Faithfully, Deltopia (talk) 10:39, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

With many superheroes who magically transform from their alter-egos into their super versions, their clothing rapidly disappears. If I were to speculate it would be in part to draw the distinction between the "normal" people they are before and the "super" people they are after. A prominent example for males is, of course, He-Man, but even Superman has a variation of this (going from wearing a suit and glasses to a cape and skin-tight underwear). --24.147.69.31 (talk) 14:27, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

So it doesn't get in her way. --Masamage ♫ 16:48, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

So that both girls and guys want to watch it at the same time, even if it is for different reasons.--Dlo2012 (talk) 23:45, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

When is it proper to use Diamond Anniversary? 60th or 75th year Anniversay?

Hi! Our hospital will be celebrating its 60th Anniversary and we are unsure if it is proper to label the event Diamond Anniversary because the term Diamond Anniversary is also being used and accepted to celebrate 75th Anniversary. My question is: strictly speaking when is it more proper to use the term Diamond Anniversay to celebrate 60th anniversary and when is it more proper to use it to celebrate 75th Anniversary. Thanks. Arisluke (talk) 13:14, 23 January 2008 (UTC) Aris

Our article Diamond Jubilee says 60th for a person (eg a King or Queen), 75th for a thing. DuncanHill (talk) 13:29, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

(ec) According to Diamond Jubilee it's 60 years for a person (e.g. Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee) or 75 for an 'event'. However, there's no citation for this assertion, and I've never heard of the 75-year rule before. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 13:29, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Isn't 60 years ruby? 81.159.218.124 (talk) 13:40, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

No, Ruby is 40 - see Wedding anniversary for the full list. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 13:42, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Did Hitler really watch The Great Dictator?

Is it true that Hitler watched Chaplin's 1940 film "The Great Dictator" not once, but twice? I'd do almost anything to know what he thought of the film, or even better, watch his reactions as he sees it. Little or nothing is known about this, however. :| —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 14:54, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

According to the Internet Movie Database: "When this film was released, Adolf Hitler banned it in Germany and in all countries occupied by the Nazis. Curiosity eventually got the best of him and he had a print brought in through Portugal. He screened it not once but twice. Unfortunately, history did not record his reaction to the film. When told of this, Charles Chaplin said, "I'd give anything to know what he thought of it." It goes on to say: "Although this movie was banned in all occupied countries by the Nazis, it was screened once to a German audience. In the occupied Balkans, members of a resistance group switched the reels in a military cinema and replaced a comedic opera with a copy of this film, which they had smuggled in from Greece. So a group of German soldiers enjoyed a screening of this film until they realized what it was. Some left the cinema and some were reported to have fired shots at the screen." [5] Laïka 20:51, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

A bit of trivia - Chaplin was born 16 April 1889, and Hitler was born 4 days later, on 20 April 1889. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:15, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Ha! Thanks for this answer -- I have always loved Chaplin's parody of Hitler and had no idea that Hitler saw the movie himself. Makes my day. Pfly (talk) 09:03, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Is cherries and milk poison?

I've been worrying about this for a while. MalwareSmarts (talk) 18:45, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

It's a myth. There's an amusing anecdote about it at everything2 --18:51, 23 January 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tagishsimon (talk • contribs)

That's one I've never heard. When my sisters were little, a camp counselor told them they should never drink milk in hot weather, because it would curdle in their stomach. Now it's true of course, that milk will curdle in your stomach in hot weather, but then milk will curdle in your stomach in cold weather, too. That's what happens when milk comes in contact with gastric acid. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 19:06, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Cecil Adams briefly covers this here. APL (talk) 22:22, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

-sonyaveen***readers answer-

Theoretically no, cherries were once proven to have a spicific chemical to react with diffrent substances when the cherry was first founded, therefor are certainly not poisen. Milk however, is only considerd poison in which causeing illness, unless it has been starlyzed thoroughly throughout the packageing process. There have been reports of diseases such as salaminilla, a deadly infection spread from animal cells into what had consumed it. Therefor breaking down the liveing cells within a organisms body and shutting the organs down killing the host, unless the proper treatments and antibiotics are applied.

Do USAian schools actually metal detect search students?!

Is this just something you see in movies, or does it actually happen? And if it does, surely only very few schools do this? Sounds like total madness to me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 21:12, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

It actually happens, though the prevalence is fairly low (about 10%, as of 2003) and its efficacy is uncertain. Additionally, "USAian" is a rather awkward construction. Issues of national arrogance aside, "American" is generally unambiguous in this context. — Lomn 21:50, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Upon first reading, I thought 85.225 meant U.S. Asian. For some reason, my brain threw another "s" in there. I had to read it a couple times until I realized that you meant American, 85.225. Dismas|^(talk) 21:56, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

England is rushing to catch up, apparently. Metal detectors plan for schools from the BBC. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:53, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

On the other hand, north of the border in Canada, it is extremely uncommon for elementary to high schools to search students. Acceptable (talk) 23:16, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Most of the metal detectors were installed in the post-Columbine time period. --.ιΙ Inhuman14 Ιι. 02:36, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Talk about working from the wrong end... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 10:49, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

It's worth noting that I don't think that 10% is evenly distributed. APL (talk) 14:24, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Lombard Wikipedia fall

According to [6] the Lombard Wikipedia lost more than 90.000 articles last month. How's that? --Taraborn (talk) 21:51, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Something to do with this, perhaps? It looks like Lombard Wikipedia had thousands of bot-generated articles, and they're all getting deleted. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 22:11, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Heh. Thanks. --Taraborn (talk) 00:19, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Symbolism Meanings

Hello, I recently decided what I want for a tattoo, but before i get it inked on permanently i want to cross check any references that it may have...don't want to offend anyone accidentally. I've searched the web for references to this symbol, but with no leads, other then people recognizing it and seeing it on other people i have no clue how to locate it. How would you suggest finding this symbol? Vachementness (talk) 22:14, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

It would help if you told us or showed us what the symbol is. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 22:19, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Agreed. If you'd like to do your own research here, check out Category:Symbols and List of symbols. Dismas|^(talk) 22:37, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

There is also an encyclopedia of symbols that you can search by graphic elements as well as by meaning. SpinningSpark 00:19, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

If you don't understand what a tattoo means, then you probably shouldn't get it. Tattoos are expensive, personal and permanent. Unless the symbol has strong personal meaning to you, you should probably select something else. EvilCouch (talk) 02:51, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

January 24

A way to reduce crime

I'm sure this is not an original idea but I just thought of it and I'd like to get some rough calculations on it.

What if we paid criminals to stop committing crimes? Released felons would be offered $10,000 per year for up to three years if they are not rearrested and hold a job. At the end of each year, the ex-con would get the check if the conditions are met. I know the recidvism rate is about 50% within 3 years and the cost of a maximum security prisoner in CA is about $35,000 per year. How much would this program have to lower the recidvism rate to save the state money?

Can you think of objections to this idea other than the immorality of practically rewarding crime?

Lotsofissues 08:26, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Why would they do this if they don't do all the other one billion obvious things that would make the world better? They (those with power) are idiots. That's why. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 09:52, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

The obvious one is that very few crimes are commited with the intention of getting caught. If imprisonment is not enough to deter recidivism, why would the loss of a government handout be? FiggyBee (talk) 09:53, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Sounds cool. Are you asking to do that mathematically? Firstly there are probably hidden costs in maintaining a person out of prison anyway because it involves paying social workers/parole officers to monitor the person, programs to reintegrate them into society, and if they continue to be unemployed, the state benefits paid to them as support.

Though your idea tackles problems of recidivism due to low economic status, and the need for positive reinforcement it might be necessary to consider how the ex-con receives that money (or value) so it isn't reinvested in a life of crime rather than self-improvement. It might be worth considering how the money would be dispensed: outright check for 10 grand or vouchers, rent/travel assistance, scholarship/educational/retraining opportunities, even tax exemption. The calculation also needs to include what it saves society in terms of insurance, not increasing policing, reducing court case loads and other spinoffs.

The issues mount up, too. Recidivism is supposed to be affected by many factors such as opportunity (for repeat offenses), conditioning, social environment, social capital (as in ability to work, hold down a job, relate to non-criminal society by making new friends and start a new life), educational standards and low economic status.

For what it’s worth, I take it that if the ex-criminal is not re-arrested and holds a job it suggests the reward is not for crime (for having been a criminal) but for staying clear as you say and becomes a legitimate incentive rather than a moral issue. Julia Rossi (talk) 10:07, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

How about this for an objection:I'm a law-abiding member of society,maybe retired,living on a small pension or a low wage.If I legitimately work a few hours a week,I might make a couple of thousand dollars(as when I work over a certain number of hours,my pension is cut).On my pension I might get a few thousand dollars over the year.If I go out and commit a crime,get locked up for a few months,when I come out and get a small job,I get $10,000.Surely some people will go out to commit crimes to get the money as they will be better off than working legitimately. Lemon martini (talk) 14:42, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

As a law abiding tax payer, why should I pay people do not commit crime? lock them away. as for costing 35 000 a year, lower thier standard of living, and make it cost less, they lowered the standard of our living by commiting crimes in our society. Lock them away. 3 strikes and your out. Lock em away and throw away the key, especially the violent ones. Further more, most crimes are committed by teenagers, due to peer pressure, so... when they come out, make sure they do not go back to the same area. eg. Bob lives in Kent and always has, he has commited X number of crimes, so when he does get out of prison, he may not go into kent, ever again, there by eliminationg his peer group, he will have to make new friends, and they might be better people than the last bunch of hooligans —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.191.136.2 (talk) 14:58, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Sources? I’m especially dubious of your statement that most crimes are committed by teenagers. I’d think politicians and CEOs would be more likely. :) As for your statement about banishing people from specific areas surly you realize this is physically and ethically impossible. It would be unenforceable, cost millions in the attempt, severely violate civil liberties, raise suicide rates by several hundred percent, and especially wouldn’t work because people have little things called "cell phones" and "email." --S.dedalus (talk) 02:16, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

The greatest portion of violent crimes are committed by men in their 20s. Comparatively few violent crimes are committed by adolescents. The only serious crime in the U.S. (not counting status offenses) that is predominantly a juvenile crime is arson. See the the FBI Uniform Crime Reports. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 04:03, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

So, you want to create the Ankh-Morpork Thieves' Guild? --Mdwyer (talk) 17:49, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

photogenicity

I am very good looking but dark in complexion.My colour and my eye region are deterrring me from looking good in photos.My eye region is a little bit expanded but my eyes are small in comparision.They make me look gloomy.And my face is also boxy in cut which makes it look large in photos.Please help me to look more photogenic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.248.2.51 (talk) 08:38, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

• How To Be Photogenic at WikiHow.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:21, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

That's great – it even helps turkeys (see point #5)! But seriously, if someone has a darker complexion, the photographer needs to drop the shot a stop or two for exposure reasons. Anyone's beauty depends on the photographer mostly. Julia Rossi (talk) 10:15, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Not to mention the person who digitally "touches-up" a photograph. I've had the opportunity to see photos of people for magazine advertisments both pre and post touch-up and the difference was marked, with blemishes and other imperfections magically dissapearing in the final product. - Azi Like a Fox (talk) 11:09, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Retouching photos for glossy oh-so-glamorous advertisement-packed magazines is as standard as breathing while walking. However, a good activity (when you're really bored) is looking through those mags for photos that hadn't been carefully set up. I do it from time to time. --Ouro (blah blah) 17:17, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I like it when the mags for some reason decide to publish their pet celebrities in all their wrinkled, weathered, naturally saggy glory just for a change. Maybe the retoucher quits (unlike Sisyphus) and this is allowed while they chase up another to take their place. Julia Rossi (talk) 10:26, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

For a slightly exaggerated touch up sequence, see Evolution (Dove). GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 09:52, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Julia's recommendation that "if someone has a darker complexion, the photographer needs to drop the shot a stop or two for exposure reasons" was apparently taken to heart but inexpertly applied by the photographer of my high school yearbook. Every single photograph of a black person in that yearbook is overexposed, and no photograph of a white person is. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 10:13, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Dang. Where do they recruit those yearbook shooters from! I thought putting the stop back was meant to "underexpose" the subject. Julia Rossi (talk) 22:20, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Does it? I'm not a photographer, I wouldn't know. Anyway, if you were saying photographers should slightly underexpose photographs of dark-complexioned people, then the photographer was doing it bass-ackwards anyway. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 07:57, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

No beer atom?

There is no such thing as a "beer atom", right? It would have to be a molecule (which is made up by x atoms, right?), right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 10:48, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Correct. Beer is not a chemical element, so there is no such thing as a "beer atom". Actually, there is no such thing as a "beer molecule" either - beer is a mixture of ethanol and other substances in water. Gandalf61 (talk) 10:58, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

This explains why so many people view beer as a solution... Sorry. Faithfully, Deltopia (talk) 15:04, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

There is a beeriodic table of the elements, though. :) --Sean 15:55, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Beer atoms? Of course. You need to split them to put bubbles in beer. Einstein invented Rock and Roll also. Gwinva (talk) 20:40, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Haha, kudos on your pun Delt. --72.69.148.54 (talk) 21:23, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Ein stein voll Bier ist gut, zwei steins sind besser. — Michael J 02:21, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Time travel positions

One thing that bugs me about time travel is that it's rarely addressed that the earth rotates and spins millions of miles in orbit around the sun in time, so to appear in the same place and not floating out in the void is you'd have to calculate exactly when the earth would reappear under your feet, making it not possible to jump to whatever time you want to. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 11:04, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Okay. And? FiggyBee (talk) 12:01, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

So you can accept travel through time, but not through the spartial dimensions O_o .... but anyway I know what you mean, some shows are done in stupid ways. What I hate more is the way inter/intra gallatic travel is done, its like that they always skip the most obvious way to perform the travel, by traveling at 0.9999999c. if you travel very very close to c, you practically instantenously appear at your destination. No shows use this because the downside is why you are travelling billions of years go by on earth. Still its much more likly to reach this travel than to reach travel that both breaks the speeed of light, and yet still isn't instantaneous but takes 'a few hours'--58.111.143.164 (talk) 12:14, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually to travel at even half the speed of light would require just about all mater in this arm of the galaxy as fuel. Still not that much more feasible. . . --S.dedalus (talk) 02:05, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Um, you wanna show us that calculation? --Trovatore (talk) 19:19, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

That is a bit of an overstatement, but even so, at 0.5c, your mass would only be 1.15 times rest mass, so the energy of the craft would be $1.15m*c^{2}-mc^{2}$. If we assume the spaceship is roughly the same mass as the space shuttle, this equates to 10¹⁶ joules. This is a lot - to produce this much energy on Earth, we'd have to divert the power from every single power station on the planet for an entire day - we'd have to be at least a Type I civilisation to achieve this much power on a spacecraft over a reasonable timescale. Laïka 12:14, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I time travel all the time, but only ever seem to go forward, exept, when on a trip —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.191.136.2 (talk) 13:20, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

You seem to be assuming that in the absence of special compensation you'd "stay in the same place" in some absolute sense, but all evidence suggests that there's no absolute space to give meaning to a notion of sameness of place. Your question could only be answered in the context of some well-defined scientific theory that allowed for time travel. I suppose exotic spacetime geometries in general relativity are the closest we have to such a thing. If you had a geometric wormhole whose exit was in the causal past of the entrance (and I'm not implying that such a thing is possible), then you could perhaps put both ends in orbit around the Earth. Then you'd go in one, and come out the other, and you'd necessarily be in Earth orbit because that's where the exit was. The point is that the entrance and exit points are themselves inertial objects which follow the same rules as everything else, including orbiting the sun rather than staying fixed with respect to absolute space. -- BenRG (talk) 16:44, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I'm reminded of that scene in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe where Zaphod asks to be taken to the nearest restaurant. As Arthur Dent points out, they travel millions of years ahead in time but don't move an inch. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 16:59, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

You need to travel through time and space at the same time. If one is unlucky enough not to have a TARDIS then a Vortex manipulator should do the trick. Gwinva (talk) 20:45, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

This is addressed in some time travel stories. Traci Harding's Ancient Future trilogy addresses the issue (but not until the second book), as well as Bearing an Hourglass, the second book of Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. In these cases it involves a calculated movement or distortion in the time-space continuum to remove the spatial travel issue. I've heard of it as a means of fast (but not FTL) travel as well, by creating a time shield and letting everything else move around you. In other time travel accounts, the magic (rather than science) involved is Earth-based, so the magic keeps you earth-bound during the travelling. Steewi (talk) 01:00, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

skipping vs jogging

im trying to lose a little bit of weight at the moment and was wondering which of the two would be most beneficial —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.149.110.226 (talk) 11:52, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Jogging, unless you are moving around while you skip, then skipping. But if you skip in the same place, jogging.--58.111.143.164 (talk) 12:16, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Don't only jog! Crunches, weights, push-ups - anything to get you sweating and exercising different muscules at the same time. Let some of that energy get useful! --Ouro (blah blah) 14:29, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I agree with Ouro totally. If you're really committed to getting into shape, you'll need to do more than jog. A healthy, balanced diet is essential, along with consistent exercise. If you really want to lose weight, buy a membership at your local gym and ask for help from the trainers there. Another method (OR, oh noes!) I've found personally beneficial because it burns a lot of calories and is relaxing is swimming. Plus being in such skimpy clothing makes you want to lose weight even more =P. Hope this helped. --72.69.148.54 (talk) 21:21, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

This space reserved for a more thorough note on losing weight to be added in the morning, when I get sober. --Ouro (blah blah) 00:26, 25 January 2008 (UTC) Okay, this is as OR as it ever gets. When I needed to shed off those unwanted pounds back in 2004, I adhered to a very strict regime. First of all, diet - no fried food, no butter, no sugar, (almost) no chocolate, cakes and things, lots of food and juices, vegetables, no sauces, ketchupy things and the like. Second - exercise. Once on the morning, once during the day, once in the evening - 150 crunches, 30 push-ups and exercises with weights. Third - outdoor activities, long (70+ km) bike trips and long (20+ km) walks. At the end of the month I felt sooooo good... at first it's very difficult to submit yourself to something like this, but you very much get used to the fact that you are healtier and in shape. Good luck! --Ouro (blah blah) 07:38, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Semen as a name

Is Semen ever actually used as a name? I'm sure I've seen it before but I'm not 100%. In reference to this edit. I don't think it was vandalism --Tombomp (talk) 13:19, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

There's the Russian Семён, which reads Syemyon, and the Ukrainian Семен, which should read something like Siemien (but pronounced somewhat harder than Russian), they are both translations of the English name Simon. That's the closest I come to the diff you mentioned. --Ouro (blah blah) 15:25, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

there was the famous German physicist Siemens, and of course the footballer David Seaman--TreeSmiler (talk) 18:31, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Please to not be forgetting early Grand Prix driver Richard Seaman, known to his friends as Dick. Also see List of unusual personal names 161.222.160.8 (talk) 00:09, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

The Welsh version of "Simon" is Seimon ... Neıl ☎ 11:41, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

There was a Governor of South Australia named the Reverend Sir Keith Seaman. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:05, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I know it's a bit corny but a long time ago I saw a definition of dancing (the old-fashioned way where the guy and the woman were in close embrace) as " A naval (navel) engagement without loss of seamen (semen)"220.238.74.36 (talk) 05:05, 27 January 2008 (UTC) . Get it.220.238.74.36 (talk) 05:04, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Reminds me of the old saw "She was only the admiral's daughter - her navel base was always full of discharged seamen".  :) JackofOz (talk) 03:35, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

How long time alone before you "go crazy"?

I have been "alone" for years now (no friends). However, I see mum daily and sometimes dad, my brother and sales people etc. I pretty much only cuddle with my cat for "human" touch.

When mum were on vacation without me in the past for like a week or two, or when I lived in my own place for almost two years, I began to feel really isolated. If that happens so quickly, even with access to the Internet, how would it be to spend years alone on a remote island or like Will Smith's character in the post-apocalyptic "I Am Legend"? Granted he had the dog, but I would probably start hallucinate in less than a year, and this despite me being anti social and a lonewolf to begin with... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 13:26, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

There is no precise answer to your questions "How long before you go crazy?" and "How would it be to spend years alone on a remote island or in a post-apocalyptic world?" It depends a lot on the situation and outlook as well as on an individual's mental framework and options. Maybe the articles on solitude (and solitary confinement) can offer a start. As for film reference, when there is no dog, compressed air clad in leather will have to do. ---Sluzzelin talk 13:50, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I have lived in a situation in which I spent 16-20 hours a day inside a 14 square metre room for six months and sometimes spent three days running inside the room. Ten days ago, I couldn't stand the stress any more (let's just say I had too much time to think) and went back to my parents' home... I can't give you an average figure, it's just my own experience. Hope it interests you.

On the other hand, I believe somebody in a post-apocaliptic situation would remain sane for a longer time (maybe indefinitely) as he would have many basic needs and problems to keep his mind busy and prevent him from retreating into his own mind too much. -- Leptictidium (mammal talk!) 13:52, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

You DO have friends, we are just here! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnluckie (talk • contribs) 13:55, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

It may depend on whether or not you break your reading glasses and/or have a volleyball with you.

Atlant (talk) 14:04, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I would guess there has been academic literature published on this subject (or similar ones), with examples culled from the experiences of castaways, kidnapping victims, prisoners in solitary confinement, POWs, etc. Ask at a local university library for help finding studies. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 03:58, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

How about this as an introduction? http://www.popi.tanos.org.uk/weblog/138653/ - 12 hours in isolation as the maximum you'd want to try, and really weird effects after 48 hours. Legirons (talk) 18:44, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

How crazy is "crazy" to you? Say, for instance, you decide that for comfort you invent an imaginary friend - it's perfectly normal for children, not so normal for adults, but not totally psycho, either. It's just a little bit of craziness that you use to keep your sanity, and I think with such a friend the length of time you could survive would be a lot longer.209.244.187.155 (talk) 17:36, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

"Wilson!!!!!"

Atlant (talk) 00:27, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

For it is he

What does this phrase mean? It's most commonly seen in Private Eye during transcripts, although it also appears with less frequency in other publications (this Guardian article for instance uses the phrase "George Bush (for it is he) turns to vice-president Dick Cheney"). Where does the phrase come from, and why is it so common in satirical works? Laïka 15:24, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Originated, I believe, by Private Eye, and was taken up from there. It implies a sense of unwarranted gravity/self-importance.86.197.148.206 (talk)

15:40, 24 January 2008 (UTC)DT

(ec) It goes back at least to Bleak House:

This fellow approaches as he speaks. Mr. Weevle softly holds up his finger, and draws him into the passage, and closes the street door. Then they go upstairs, Mr. Weevle heavily, and Mr. Guppy (for it is he) very lightly indeed. When they are shut into the back room, they speak low.

and it also occurs in the Nausicaa chapter of Ulysses:

Then all melted away dewily in the grey air: all was silent. Ah! She glanced at him as she bent forward quickly, a pathetic little glance of piteous protest, of shy reproach under which he coloured like a girl He was leaning back against the rock behind. Leopold Bloom (for it is he) stands silent, with bowed head before those young guileless eyes. What a brute he had been! At it again?

In both cases the idea is to identify a character who has been previously mentioned but not named. Its use by Private Eye etc is more clichéd and facetious.. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 15:42, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

The meaning might be paraphrased in modern informal English is "(he's the one we've been talking about)" or more literally as "([I mentioned this name now] because the one we've been talking about is him)". --Anonymous, 20:00 UTC, edited 23:26, January 24, 2008.

Thinking about thinking, desiring desire

If you've ever been 13 this sort of thing might sound familiar.

I've been thinking (in circles, really) about recursive thoughts and desires.

I can't get very far without going crazy.

Here's what I mean by recursive Thoughts and Desires.

Thought n+1 is a thought about Thought n.

e.g. Does John like Jen?

Thought 0 (John): I like Jen.

Thought 1 (Jen): I think John likes me.

Thought 2 (John): I think Jen thinks I like her.

...

Desire n+1 is a desire for Desire n.

(implicitly: not Desire n, but desiring Desire n)

e.g. Wanting to exercise

Desire 0: I exercise.

Desire 1: (I don't exercise, but...) I want to exercise.

Desire 2: I want to want to exercise. ...

We can define these thoughts and desires to the next level indefinitely, in some sense, but I can't imagine a meaningful situation much past the examples I give (which I've personally experienced).

(I have a bit of a theory that past a certain level "I think you think I think" and "I think you think I think you think I think ..." etc. are indistinguishable.)

My challenge, I guess: how far can you cook up a clear example of recursive thinking/desire to a level distinguishable from all previous levels? 207.148.157.228 (talk) 15:47, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I want to want to want to exercise?--Dlo2012 (talk) 17:10, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

You have quoted from the book Knots by r.d. laing it is basically poetry. and any way most of his theories have been shown to be dufunk. nul and void. he was a physcologist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.18.35.90 (talk) 18:43, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

The examples are confusing. The "recursive thought" example involves two people. Do they know what the other thinks? Is the whole thing a thought experiment in a single person's mind? The "recursive desires" example seems to be about multiple things -- at least wanting both to exercise and not to. If nothing was stopping this person from acting on their desire to exercise they could just act on it. There would be no need for "desiring to desire" to come up at all unless the initial desire was not possible to act on, or was not really a desire at all. The example given sounds like the person doesn't desire to exercise but wishes they did. So I don't really understand the question precisely. I have two guesses though.

First, is this essentially the same as asking how many distinct ideas one can hold in their mind at the same time? The working memory page describes various theories and links to the wonderfully-named page The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two (short for ""The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information"). Leaving aside whether your recursive thought is useful, perhaps 5-9 levels of recursion, or 5-9 distinct ideas of any kind at all, would be about the limit of what you can hold in your mind at the same time and understand as meaningfully distinct. Whether it is useful is another issue. "I think I'm hungry", "I thought "I think I'm hungry"", "I thought "I thought "I think I'm hungry""", and so on, to 5-9 levels, may be a useless thing to think, but still "meaningful". But there's no need for recursion in this case -- any ideas will fill up working memory in this way.

Second, is this more of a "purely abstract" thought experiment? How many levels of recursive ideas can there be without being indistinguishable from one level less? In a purely abstract sense there is no limit. Each new "framing" of an idea results in a new and different idea. As a concrete example, take ancestry. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather is quite distinct from my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Finally, I'm considering the "recursive thought" part of this only. I don't quite see how emotions can be recursive. The word is not well defined, as the emotion page makes clear. My usual understanding of the word is that an emotion is a physical feeling plus a thought. So, for example, pain is a physical feeling, while suffering is the emotion of being in pain and thinking about it. But that is just me. There is, however, the notion of meta-emotion.

See also Infinite regress and Map–territory relation. Pfly (talk) 02:18, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

may 2nd

i shaped the world and may 2nd is my day?what am i talking about? its a question i was given to research on the internet.am still researching on all famous things that occured on that date but no luck.assistance wud be nyce —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.87.196 (talk) 16:01, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Take your pick. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 16:14, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Circumcision

Why is circumcision frequently associated with cutting off a part of the actual penis? I mean... not just the foreskin? Am I missing something here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 16:28, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Frequently? where is your source? If removal of part of the penis other than the foreskin happens then the cause could be negligence on the part of the practitioner. However, I think you may be missing something. Richard Avery (talk) 16:40, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I sincerely hope he's not missing something :) --Richardrj ^{talk email} 17:02, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

All it is is the foreskin. Castration is losing the testicles. I don't think there's an actual word for losing the penis. (However, the term female circumscision refers to removing the clitoris and various other parts, and is the sensory equivalent of penis-loss. For this reason, circumsision is a pretty ill-chosen name.) --Masamage ♫ 17:05, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Penectomy is when the guy looses the guyness. --Ouro (blah blah) 17:12, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh, hey, Latin roots. 8P Right, then, thank you! --Masamage ♫ 23:13, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Only one Latin root there; ectomy is all Greek. —Tamfang (talk) 09:25, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

See also: Emasculation. That's right, kids. It's not just a figure of speech. It has a literal meaning, also. EvilCouch (talk) 06:29, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

snap "That's the word!" --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 17:22, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

OR commonly know as a John_and_Lorena_Bobbitt--TreeSmiler (talk) 18:40, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

My guess is that it comes from a fear of losing one's manliness. Putting a knife anywhere near that area will make most guys cringe, so it's not surprising that it gets a little exaggerated. Steewi (talk) 01:07, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

This question reminds me a lot of this [[7]]. Cryo921 (talk) 06:11, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

How do you jerk off once circumcised?

There is no skin to pull back and forth, so I assume it is extremely difficult. What do you say? And yes, this is a serious question, and no, I'm not a troll, and blablabla... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 17:30, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

As I understand it, circumcised guys usually use some sort of lube, like hand cream or Vaseline. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 17:34, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

It's not difficult at all; there is still a good amount skin available. Lube is not required. (I'm speaking entirely from OR here, sorry.) Faithfully, Deltopia (talk) 17:50, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Ditto. --LarryMac | Talk 17:51, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually, depending on the circumcision (and I believe this goes true for most), there is no skin available. Speaking from someone who received a medically necessary adult circumcision due to phimosis, I never got used to "jerkin it" without the foreskin. I actually ended up getting used to using my boxers as an aid to replicate the function of the foreskin, as I don't like the mess that comes with lubricant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rc251 (talk • contribs) 17:54, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah but what about the mess that 'comes' in your boxers? :). Any way this is why I believe males of the Jewish faith were originally circumcised: to stop sinful self abuse.--TreeSmiler (talk) 18:26, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, I can't say it's impossible, but you're not going to find much evidence of it in the Bible. (In fact the Bible hardly mentions masturbation at all -- contrary to the popular notion, the sin of Onan was apparently that he refused to impregnate his sister-in-law, thereby failing in his duty to give his dead brother an heir. Or something like that.) What you're talking about sounds more like the justification that was used in the United States in, oh, the late 19th and early 20th centuries, I think. Same time frame in which breakfast cereal was invented, and for the same reason -- figure that one out. --Trovatore (talk) 07:30, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

The mess doesn't come in my boxers. Most boxers have slits, so sticking "it" partially out, you can use the boxers to replicate the function of the foreskin and proceed as normal. I'm sure this isn't common among most people but I just can't get used to lubricant. And for people with tight circumcisions, there really isn't any skin on the shaft to use. --Rc251 (talk) 18:32, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

The skin of the shaft acts as a perfectly adequate replacement. It's all in the grip ;) --WebHamster 18:29, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Diagram?--TreeSmiler (talk) 18:33, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Honestly, if you're looking for movies of circumcized guys jacking off, you can find them all over the internet! --24.147.69.31 (talk) 04:17, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

No I was asking for a diagram of WebHamsters grip--TreeSmiler (talk) 04:38, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I am again shocked at the inadequate studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association. I don't -know- this, but I suspect most people are like Rc251 and me in that they can't be arsed to buy, apply, and clean up lubricants. I have heard, in occasional barroom conversations, talk of a "finishing cloth" which I surmise is used in the same manner as Rc's boxers. I hadn't really thought about it before, but I think the variety of replies here probably implies that there are variations in circumcisions (as, indeed, there are in wangs) so no one answer can be definitive. Faithfully, Deltopia (talk) 19:33, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Simple answer: you pretend you're a woman and do it their way!--TreeSmiler (talk) 01:41, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

What? --24.147.69.31 (talk) 04:17, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

When a circumcized penis is erect it is smooth enough to just use the hand. You don't rub anything against it except your fingers themselves. It works just fine. I imagine it's just whatever you are used to doing. I think if I suddenly had a foreskin I'd be thrown off too. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 04:17, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

VHS-C to PC?

I have a bunch of old VHS-C cartridges. I have a VHS-C-to-VHS converter as well, so let's just say I have a bunch of VHS cartridges.

OK. I wanna get them into my PC somehow without installing equipment in the PC or using a VCR and elaborate, advanced stuff. Quality is NOT a priority.

I heard there is supposed to be a USB "magic box" for exactly this purpose, in which you put a VHS/VHS-C and plug it in via USB to your PC and it transfers video somehow. Do you know what it might be called so I can search for it? (I run Windows on the PC, if that matters.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 18:21, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I have a USB device that allows me to plug in a VCR's output and thus capture video to my PC (with the appropriate software). My device was from "Dazzle" which either was part of or was acquired by Pinnacle Systems, which appears to now be part of Avid Technology. I am not aware of anything that has the VHS(/C) drive mechanism built into it, that seems like it would be a highly specialized product. --LarryMac | Talk 18:27, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

You are going to have to buy equipment. There are tons of video capture cards and USB devices on the market. You can find them in any large electronics store. -- Diletante (talk) 18:47, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Why are there no PDO and DOM alternatives for procedural PHP?

The last few years, PHP has been promoting OOP heavily. I can't stand OOP and I refuse to code in it. Why do those two things lack procedural means of doing things when all others (that I know of) don't? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 20:05, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Well hullo, PDO is pretty explicitly OOP (hence the O). If you want to access databases without using PDO there are plenty of other database functions with procedural approaches.

As for DOM, well, there are plenty of XML parser functions for reading XML. If you want to create XML without using OOP (which is not a good idea in my opinion), you can always just treat it like a big string.

Anyway, the short answer to why-doesn't-everything-in-PHP-do-things-just-the-way-you'd-like-them is because, well, that's not how the developers did it. It's pretty clear that different people worked on all of the different function groups as they all have very different syntax (the only real problem I have with PHP is that it is very patchwork compared to most languages; there's no one reliable way that things are going to work with any given set of functions). Still, I think asking that two very explicitly OOP-heavy concepts (DOM and PDO) have non-OOP functions might be asking for a bit much.

And honestly, come on! Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you shouldn't figure out how to use it if it's something you need to use. I don't like the way PHP does a lot of things but that doesn't exactly give me the luxury of throwing my hands up and refusing to do things when I have to. --24.147.69.31 (talk)

WQXR

QXR means, I think, "You transmitted wrong". (Our article Q code doesn't say so, but see sv:Q-förkortningar.) Was the callsign WQXR meant as a joke?—msh210℠ 20:16, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

An explanation of the original call letters can be found at WQEW, which is what the AM side of WQXR-FM has been called since 1992. — Michael J 03:09, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks.—msh210℠ 19:17, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

ADVICE PLEASE

I like a girl BUT I CANT tell her She knows me a little n only passes smiles when we meet or when she sees me When I try to be close by askingf for coffee or study she feels uncomfortable

Well she doesn’t like me or dislike me I guess

What shall I do to approach her or make her feel how much I like her deeply How can I attract her?plz help —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.128.4.231 (talk) 20:19, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

There are probably hundreds of websites that are appropriate for these Dear Abby type questions. This is not one of them. --LarryMac | Talk 20:39, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

People can ask about alien invasion but not about relationships?.

Indeed, I’m not sure how much we can do to answer this type of question, but there’s no reason as far as I know why we shouldn’t try. This comes up quit often here. --S.dedalus (talk) 01:39, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

False dichotomy. --LarryMac | Talk 14:19, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

If she seems uncomfortable she probably doesn't like you. If you have really deep feelings for her and you can't pull it together and tell her to her face, try writing a letter. If you just want to approach her try being attentive, show her that you care by listening to her, finding out her likes and dislikes, etc. --Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 22:15, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Please don't crosspost on multiple reference desks. --208.81.93.39 (talk) 04:40, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Movie phone number?

What is the number always used in movies for phone numbers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 22:03, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

They don't use one number, but they pretty much always start 555- see 555 telephone number (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_telephone_number) ny156uk (talk) 22:07, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

"Jenny's" phone number has been used a lot (see 867-5309/Jenny). You could also check out Category:Numbers in pop culture.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 22:09, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

As you see at 555 telephone number, the numbers reserved for fictional use in the North American Numbering Plan are now just 555-01XX. With only 100 different numbers available, we now see the same numbers repeating in different movies. Of course, some movies use other approaches: never show the whole number, use an impossible number, use a number belonging to the production company (which is answered with an advertisement), or use a valid number and hope to get away with it. --Anonymous, 23:31 UTC, January 24, 2008.

In the UK, Ofcom provides a list of fictional numbers, which are less obviously made up than the 555 ones. (Can't get to their website at the moment to confirm an exact pagesee here. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 08:59, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Naming your child

Can you name your child anything you want? Like something without vowels or constinents. Also can you put a number in there name? Or even spell the entire name with numbers. And can you spell your childs name "johnny" and insist you say it like "rasputant". Well ive come to the RD after NONE opf my teachers could awnser. BonesBrigade 22:25, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

This will depend on the jurisdiction you are in. If half-remembered anecdote is to be trusted, in Germany the official you register your child's name with is empowered to refuse really stupid names. Algebraist 22:41, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

That's true, and I think it's true in other European countries, too. Check out Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 for an example from Sweden. I also vaguely remember a story about parents in Roussillon wanting to give their son a Catalan name rather than a French one and the authorities wouldn't let them. In the U.S., on the other hand, I think anything goes. When my grandmother was a little girl, she knew twin boys named First Thessalonians and Second Thessalonians. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 22:47, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it is dependent on the country you are in. In the U.S., you can name your child anything you want, including numbers, strange pronunciations, etc. See Jennifer 8. Lee (although her legal name has it spelled out as "Eight") and Jon Blake Cusack 2.0. Other countries restrict the names to those that will not cause the child undue embarrassment or difficulties in life. Germany is pretty restrictive, there's a bit about it in German name#Rufname. Sweden has restrictions (see Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116), as does New Zealand (see 4Real/Superman). jwillbur 22:58, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Judging by this story, Spain seems to be extremely restrictive. jwillbur 23:06, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

In France it's up to the official you register with (like Algebraist said). It can be anything you want as long as it's not something completly ridiculous or degradant. If after a month the parents have not chosen a proper name, the people from the registration office will choose one for them.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 23:26, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I remember a reference to some jurisdiction allowing children to sue their parents for excessively embarrassing names (fake?). Korean name and Japanese name both imply restrictions to the writeability of personal names into hanja or kanji. Steewi (talk) 01:16, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I was at school with a lad whose legal name was 'Jhonathan'. There had been a typo at some point when registering his name. Also see the second paragraph of the Davey Boy Smith article... ;) --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 01:22, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Couldnt the parents Technically just go and change it citing a typo on the johnathan thing? and my sig is so much more awesome now BonesBrigade 02:11, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I once met a woman named Diania pronounced Diana – a nurse had miscopied it. Why she kept the misspelling is beyond me. I informally changed my middle name from Anthony to Anton and officialdom never batted an eye. —Tamfang (talk) 09:32, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I read that Quebec is unique in North America in having the ability to refuse ridiculous names for kids. They don't use the power very often. But apparently, one couple tried to name their daughter "Spatula" or something similar. That was rejected.

In the Czech Republic, on the other hand, the authorities have traditionally been very strict with names. It used to be that you could only name your kid something on the calendar of saints' days. Now, it's easier to choose another name, but the authorities will reject anything too radical. You could never invent a name like Nevaeh in the Czech Republic. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 03:52, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

In Poland it's also quite strict, however right now the Polish authorities are allowing the use of non-Polish names like Angelika or Jessica (or Jessika) - in those spellings, which have no tradition of use in Poland. Thought-up names are not allowed. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:42, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Iceland is another with a process of approving new names: see Icelandic name. One of the criteria is whether the name can be declined grammatically. Telsa (talk) 11:36, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Additionally, the U.S. military doesn't seem to have any regulations on what their members can change their names to. For reference, see Optimus Prime#Cultural influence. Dismas|^(talk) 16:40, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Regardless of any restrictions on the spelling of a name, the pronunciation is not something that can ever be regulated by a bureaucracy. For example, if you name your child Siobhan, which is pronounced Shi-vawn, be prepared for lots of people to call her S-eye-o-ban. -- JackofOz (talk) 20:56, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

IIRC France and Belgium up until about 1984 had a list of about 2000 names that you had to choose from-you couldn't choose a name that wasn't on the list... Lemon martini (talk) 21:02, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

As for using a number, see Jennifer 8. Lee for an example of someone relatively famous. 204.10.160.194 (talk) 02:03, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Obviously there is no rule against this in the United States, or celebrities would not be able to name their children "Pilot Inspektor" or "Kal-El". Adam Bishop (talk) 09:09, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Or Moon Unit. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 09:37, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Obligatory XKCD link. Ojw (talk) 19:56, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

WII

I put an avi video on my sd memory card and then put it in my wii, but whyen i tried to watch it, it said that the wii does not support that kind of file. When i checked both the wii manual and wikipedia, they both said that it does play avi files. Then why is it that it won't play my avi video? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dlo2012 (talk • contribs) 22:34, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Probably doesn't have the right codec --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:37, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Download the SUPER converter and convert the file to flat .avi, sans codec. --^(FNM) _(BANANA!) 02:23, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

An AVI file NEVER has a codec. AVI is simply a container. The video and audio is stored in some method and the FourCC helps the program to recognise what method. It then passes the data through an appropriate codec (if it has one). I can tell you straight away that you will not be putting uncompressed video in the avi. What you probably mean is a more compression format that the Wii supports. The codec is in the Wii not the AVI file. The AVI file simply has the data the codec decodes. Nil Einne (talk) 16:29, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

January 25

Road Gradient

What's the normal maximum gradient in the developed world, or even better, New Zealand? Of course extremities like Baldwin Street are out of the question, but I just want to make sure if 200W is enough to power a person up at walking speed (1m s^-1). Also can anyone confirm my calculation of ignoring any resistance, 200W can power 75kg load up a 15 degree (27%) slope at 1m s^-1? --antilived^{T | C | G} 01:46, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I would search www.transit.govt.nz ; they are bound to have some statistics (or at least links). Gwinva (talk) 04:13, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Here in the Western US, any grade of 4% or steeper gets a road sign warning truckers; the standard highway grade seems to be 5% to 8%, and sustaned grades of more than 10% are only found on very minor roads. --Carnildo (talk) 09:07, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Constantly descending pitches

I once found a page on wikipedia, about a music/audio 'phenomenon'? In this 'phenomenon', it sounds as if it's constantly descending, and it works because there are really 4 tones ( i think ) and when one reaches a lower bound, it goes back to the top. Anybody know what I'm talking about and wouldn't mind providing the proper link? Thanks. 67.174.193.69 (talk) 04:03, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Here it is Shepard_tone--TreeSmiler (talk) 04:48, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

(After e/c)

Any repeated change of a given interval will eventually result in a repeating pattern; thus, if you keep moving down major thirds from C, you will reach C again two octaves later, whereupon the pattern starts over again. However, by the time the pattern starts over, the notes will be one or more octaves away from the starting point. Musically, it may be necessary to 'jump up' an octave at some point, as in the theme of the First Movement of Brahms Fourth Symphony, where the composer uses this 'broken' figure of descending thirds as the main melodic material. The article interval may help you, although it does not (as far as I see) mention this property. --MatthewLiberal (talk) 04:54, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually, I think TreeSmiler's response was more what you were looking for -- I didn't quite understand the question -- so never mind me! Shepard tones are quite cool. --MatthewLiberal (talk) 04:56, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

That's exactly what it was, thanks!67.174.193.69 (talk) 05:03, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

If you ever happen to be at the Exploratorium, you can hear one of these, but their version constantly ascends. It's a very impressive effect.

Atlant (talk) 13:27, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Question about Return of the Jedi.

I have always found this a little confusing. Why when Vader Brings Luke to see the Emporer, the Emporer says "He's looking forward to completing his training", however, a short time later the Emporer tells luke to "strike him down" because he's defenseless. Then later he tells luke to kill Vader and take Vader's place as the right hand man of the Emporer. This scenario would create 3 options for Luke if he wanted to join the Dark side:

1. Give in and Join the dark side 2. Kill the Emporer and rule the Galaxy as father and son. 3. Kill Vader and become the sith lord.

So why does The Emporer want Luke to kill him? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.210.98.148 (talk) 04:09, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, without getting into all the speculation as to whether or not the Emperor had many clones of him made etc. etc., it's worth noting that the Emperor was not, in fact, defenseless, despite what he said, as he demonstrated later by zapping them both with force lightening. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 04:13, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

That, however, does not answer the question. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.210.98.148 (talk) 04:25, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

He doesn't want Luke to kill him. He wants Luke to try and kill him, because that would mean Luke giving in to his hatred, which would leave him vulnerable to the dark side. As 69.31 pointed out, the Emperor was in reality far from defenseless, and no doubt thought he could take anything Luke could throw at him. FiggyBee (talk) 04:40, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

So why does he then tell Luke to Kill Vader? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.210.98.148 (talk) 04:45, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Because Sith only rule 2 at a time, master and apprentice. The emperor wanted to remain master and replace vadar with his more powerful son.--155.144.251.120 (talk) 04:56, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

What bugged me about that scene — Luke came there expecting to die (and take badguys with him). During at least part of the scene, he's standing beside a window that looks out on vacuum. So why doesn't it cross his mind to light up his phallic symbol and break the window? —Tamfang (talk) 09:36, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Well the Death Star still shielded at the time and while it was never explained it's resonable to assume the shield will stop the atmosphere leaving even with a broken windows. Also, even without shields the Death Star was designed to be a fairly hardy ship. With an amazingly stupid flaw but still otherwise hardy. The windows were I presume designed to stand against crashing fighters, proton torpedos, laser blasts etc. I somehow doubt that the phallic symbol would be able to damage the window sufficiently to break it. It might not even penetrate it at all. It's logical to assume the window was made of some sort of extremely tough polymer probably several metres thick. Nil Einne (talk) 16:23, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Also, if he killed himself, the movie would have been over. Adam Bishop (talk) 19:07, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

So? It was due to end soon anyway – and it's not as if the only significant characters were in that room. —Tamfang (talk) 22:37, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

But he's the hero, I mean, George Lucas is a crappy writer and such, but he wouldn't kill the protagonist! Adam Bishop (talk) 11:56, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Sustainable Competitive Advantage and knowledge Management

In the engieering consultancy industry, Knowledge, tacit (mostly available in the the consultants heads) and explicit(in files, computer systems,project reports etc) is a critical asset. I am assigned to convince top management about the importance of KM in the firm

The issue is:

How can sustainable competitive advantage be attained/created/achieved by the firm developing KM practices as a corporate culture? Tkabaza (talk) 07:17, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Trite I know, but the first and foremost reason for a firm such as yours to exist(assuming you are NOT a charity) is to survive - in a very competitive market place. In short - if you're not fast - you're last! And if your top management can't see or won't see that, then they're yesterday's men. Trouble is, many such dinosaurs exist long enough to take home a big fat pay-off or pension, while all around them are other hard working and ambitious colleagues trying to stay ahead, if not abreast of the competition. Oh, by the way, dinosaurs aren't always "old" - there are many stick-in-the-muds in their 20's and 30's who really should be "let go" too. Good Luck in your efforts, but being World-Class really does mean getting off your Butt and doing the Benchmarking to see whereabouts you are in the field, and if you can see any others out in front, you had better start getting fit and lean - or else!!!!81.145.241.211 (talk) 13:18, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

David Blaine Street Magic

Is this the real David Blaine, or some sort of guy making a parody of him? Is he parodying himself? What's with the "look"? Why is nobody amazed by the tricks he actually does? They just find it funny (which they are, too). But he does a lot of really awesome stunts without cuts, like making people "fly" and put on roofs, etc. Nobody seems to wonder how this is done. I don't get it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 11:25, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I think you're allowing Blaine's casual performing technique to colour your judgment. He's a conjurer with a particular and idiosyncratic approach. The normal wonderment about how he achieves his tricks still pertains. What is your evidence that "Nobody seems to wonder how this is done"? Any lack of wonderment is surely nothing more than an artifact of the way the TV programmes are edited? --Tagishsimon (talk) 11:32, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Is who the real David Blaine? Are you referring to a similar question t.hat was asked here on 9 January?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:15, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

My guess is the anon is referring to the series of parody videos of David Blaine (part 1 here). No, they are not real, it's just a parody.

judging by the fact that his beard is drawn on with a marker, iwould say its safe to assume hes not the real david blaine —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.101.53.138 (talk) 17:38, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Free chess server with ELO rating

Any recommended free chess server that supports ELO rating among its users? If that's impossible, I'm willing to pay a small sum of money, too. Thanks. --Taraborn (talk) 11:41, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

All chess servers I know (www.gamecolony.com is where I'm playing this very moment, games.yahoo.com is where most people go, the ICC is a popular non-free site) have some kind of rating system that resembles the Elo (not an acronym!) rating system, but for the real thing you have to play official, over-the-board games. Other chess servers I should mention are the Playchess server (for which you need to buy a copy of Fritz) and the Free Internet Chess Server. 194.171.56.13 (talk) 14:14, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! --Taraborn (talk) 00:34, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Bank security

If a bank gets robbed or goes bankcrupt, are my money still safe (insurace company/whatever)? If so, how long has this been the case? "Back in the day", wild west banks got robbed and your money was lost forever. These days people don't have to give a shit about the security of the bank... right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 14:57, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

If you are in the US, the FDIC insures accounts against insolvency, but specifically not against fraud or theft. For the latter, a bank would most likely have a policy with a private insurance company. The linked article has specific information on limits per account per institution. --LarryMac | Talk 15:10, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Most countries offer (and require) some form of insurance on deposit accounts. Our article on deposit insurance links to many of the national and international organizations responsible for such insurance. Typically personal deposits will be insured against a bank failure up to some substantial cap (several tens of thousands or euros or dollars, at a minimum). The idea is to protect private individuals and small businesses; it's assumed that large businesses will be able to appropriately protect their cash on their own. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:12, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

chicken

how do you eat a chicken? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.80.28.189 (talk) 15:11, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Pluck it, gut it, stuff it if you want, and stick it in an oven. Cook it up until it reaches an inner temperature of ~100 C. You can get thermometers to measure it at a store. Then cut it up and dig in. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bellum et Pax (talk • contribs) 15:28, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

100C?? That seems excessive. --LarryMac | Talk 15:31, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Joy of Cooking recommends 170F (77C) and I've found this to be satisfactory (no bloody bird bits).

Atlant (talk) 17:30, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

My meat thermometer recommends 185°F/85°C for poultry. If you use a meat thermometer, be sure to stick it into the bird's thigh, and be sure it doesn't touch the bone. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 17:39, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

It depends on the meaning of "how". One answer could be that you have to kill it first, another that you may use your hands rather than a knife and fork, a third answer would be that you bake it and serve it with oyster sauce. 194.171.56.13 (talk) 15:31, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

no I mean do you kill it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.80.28.189 (talk) 19:48, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Of course the chicken must be killed. Trying to eat it without killing it would be unpleasant and dangerous for you and more unpleasant for the chicken than being killed humanely first. Marco polo (talk) 20:00, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

If you mean "how", farmers generally use decapitation; they can use special funnels or blocks that the chicken is placed in which hold the neck still. The process isn't perfect, though - just see Mike the Headless Chicken. Laïka 21:01, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

You can rely on the fact that Marco Pollo knows what he's talking about. :-) Gwinva (talk) 01:08, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

mike rocks I hate chickens exept for mike —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.222.156.191 (talk) 01:35, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I believe Mike had more of a strut than a rock. His decapitation didn't appear to inhibit his gait too much. Rockpocket 07:39, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Water drainage

Where does the overflow water drain to in the Ladybower Reservoir, as seen in this picture? xxx User:Hyper Girl 15:41, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Into the River Derwent below the dam. If you look at the reservoir in Google Earth, you can quite clearly see the two overflow inlets at the upper corners of the dam, and the outlets below. FiggyBee (talk) 15:51, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you, FiggyBee! xxx User:Hyper Girl 16:01, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

The rest of the water goes through the 4½-mile Rivelin Tunnel. It's fun to watch it gushing out at the other end.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:30, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Why did my CD get corrupted?

Once a CD got corrupted when I burned it while playing a game (Windows). This was a long time ago and I think I ran Windows 98 at the time. What was the cause of this, though? The OS? The software? The hardware? Or was it just something that would've happened even if no other apps ran on the same time? I think I used Nero or something. Somebody had warned me that it would fluck up, but I didn't believe it could be that way, since it makes no sense if the OS is multi-tasking... apparently, I was wrong? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 15:55, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Buffer underrun used to be a serious risk when burning CDs; basically, the laser couldn't stop mid-burn, and if the computer couldn't pass the burner information fast enough, it would just write garbage and ruin the disk. More modern burners have buffer underrun protection and can stop the laser, so it's not as much of a problem as it used to be. FiggyBee (talk) 16:03, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

The computer desk is good for this type of question. As FiggyBee said: burning a CD, especially on an old computer, requires a lot of processor power to copy the original data from the hard drive, covert it, and burn it to the disk. Playing a game also uses these resources of the computer, and the CD-R drives buffer wouldn't have gotten the data in time to burn it to the disk. Think outside the box 16:10, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

This property where doing something in a timely fashion is part of the correctness of the system is what real-time computing is all about. General-purpose operating systems just aren't made to do it, although the problem can be alleviated with brute force (big buffers, fast processors, etc.) --Sean 16:23, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Bircham International University Claims Need Investigation But Must Speak Spanish

I'm not sure if this is the right place to get the question answered but here it goes.

The apparent owner of an institution that has been called a diploma mill by some authorities has a user account, user_talk:Bircham. They are understandably unhappy with the Wikipedia article Bircham International University. They have complained a number of times. The complaints have involved numerous misleading statments. However, I feel that we should still diligently investigate every point they make. Here is their most recent complaint, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Bircham_International_University#Neutral_Point_of_View.3F with some responses from a couple of different editors, including me. The problem is that their points 5 & 6 require an understanding of spanish to verify. I don't know spanish. Can someone that knows spanish please investigate these points? I would really appreciate it. Thank you, TallMagic (talk) 18:19, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

You might also try the Spanish Wiki Embassy. --Sean 22:42, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll wait a few days and if there's no response here then I'll try there. I don't want two people working on the same thing. :-) Thank you, TallMagic (talk) 00:19, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I'll help you. There's a lot of reading needed so give me an hour or so.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 00:23, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Early NASA simulators

I have heard that back in the day, NASA used "analogue" simulators. How was this done? They apparently used video cameras and a model of the moon and the camera physically moved around with advanced, elaborate setups. Please link me to a video of this or an article or something. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 20:01, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Here is a bit of an article about analogue flight simulators, which was where I came across analogue simulation in the mid-late 1970s. I will try to find you something more related to moon landings! SaundersW (talk) 20:28, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Here is a chapter from NASA's history on the use of simulators in the various missions. No good diagrams though. SaundersW (talk) 20:36, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

And here there seems to be an account and a photo of the facility used to practice landings, which has been given national monument status. SaundersW (talk) 20:41, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

In this article there is a link to a photo of the Landing and Ascent facility where the camera and plaster model were located, beside the LM Mission simulator. Have fun reading all this lot! SaundersW (talk) 21:06, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Is anyone actually given the United States citizenship test? In what cases?

I know two people over the years who have gone through the process of naturalizing, my mother and grandmother. Neither of them was given the test. My mother was asked the name of Bill Clinton's dog. So I'm curious is there any discussion on how the citizenship test seems optional? From what I read, it seems to be mandatory.-128.54.77.37 (talk) 20:03, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

According to United States nationality law#Naturalization, everyone has to take the test. It's probably not optional for the person demanding the citizenship, but the officer might be able to give the person an easier test or none at all.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 20:39, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I took it in 2004. It was short and extremely easy; I think the hardest question was "how many branches does the US government have?". I'm a native-level English speaker and look white, so I don't know if that affected how it was administered. Perhaps if I'd had a bushy beard, he would have asked me in what order the states ratified the 12th Amendment. --Sean 22:52, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

And would have rejected you if you were able to answer? Makes the most sense since the people who would know that shit would be the most likely ones who have incidious motives to be come US citizens :-P The rest would just go 'screw this shit' and go somewhere where they aren't treated like shit Nil Einne (talk) 16:12, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I think I know what one of your favorite words is ;) Poechalkdust (talk) 19:50, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Ham Spray House, at Ham, Wiltshire.

I want to go and see Lytton Strachey's house, Ham Spray House (Wiltshire, England), but is it open for tourists? --Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 20:31, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately not, the grade II listed building and estate is still owned privately. Foxhill (talk) 21:23, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

But many such properties which aren't regularly open to the public in the way you mean are sometimes open in other ways, for instance for one or two days a year as part of the national gardens scheme, or else for events for local groups. You could try contacting the Hungerford Historical Association - they should be able to give you an idea of any possibilities. Xn4 21:12, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

HUMAN RIGHTS

i have been just recently seeing human rights violation (things) such as

gender inequality

mistreatment of homosexuals

immoral acts such as adultery,rape,

child abuse

domestic violence

where can i find more about these issues?

i ACTIVELY want to work for human rights?

what shall i do? and is there any website or group i may call in pakistan (i live in pakistan) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.128.4.231 (talk) 21:10, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

To find more about this issues, check out the articles on: Gender inequality, LGBT rights opposition, Domestic violence, adultery, Rape and Child abuse. See also Human rights in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have more information about Human Rights in Pakistan. I'm sorry i can't be of more help, maybe someone that knows Urdu will be able to give you more information on who to contact in Pakistan.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 21:56, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

citizenship

what are the requirements of citizenship of countries such as iran?kuwait?n other gulf states n please tell specially about iran n india? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.128.4.231 (talk) 21:13, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia has an article for Indian nationality law and i found a vague answer here for Kuwait. Here it says that it's almost impossible to become a citizen of Kuwait, specially if you are not a Muslim.

When it comes to Iran, here it says that ...foreigners might become Iranian citizens within the regulations. Their citizenship might, however, be denied once they are either accepted as citizens of another country or file an application for the citizenship of any state. The prerequisites for gaining Iranian citizenship, are:

1. The applicant should be 18 years old.

2. Five years of consecutive or alternate residence in Iran is required.

3. The applicants should have served their military service.

4. The applicants should not be convicts of any major crime or non-political offense in any country. Of course, given the revision of the nation's Penal Code and the elimination of such terms as offense and crime, Paragraph 4 of the Civil Code Article 979 should likewise be revised. It should be noted, however, that the government might refrain from granting Iranian citizenship to aliens either on account of political reasons or for the protection of national security. The admission of such applications might, therefore, require the Cabinet's approval.

Once you become an Iranian citizen, you would not have the same rights as regular Iranian citizens of descent blood (Iranian citizenship is determined by blood, not by country of birth like in the United States), you cannot practice law, become Majlis deputies or members of the Guardian Council, or provincial and urban councils as well as president.--Yamanbaiia^{(free hugs!)} 21:37, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Bullets and guns power

When you shoot somebody with a gun from "near", does the bullet actually make the body fly backwards, or have movies been lying to me? If not from one bullet, maybe from a machinegun? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 21:48, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Per conservation of momentum, the most a gun could push someone back (if the bullet transfers all the energy to them) is the same that it pushes back against the shooter. Notice how the shooter doesn't fly backward? Neither would the person being shot. Nearly all movie depictions of guns are silly inaccurate for this and several other reasons. Friday (talk) 21:52, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Friday above. It is also worth noting however, that even though the kinetic impact of the bullet may not push one backwards, one may still collapse to the ground due to the pain or the psychological shock of being shot. Acceptable (talk) 21:55, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

But the individual shooting a gun is 'prepared' for the power so their stance is likely to be stronger than someone who perhaps isn't expecting to be hit? For instance here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlFlXMHaSVQ) shows people being pushed-back by the force. Now I agree that a bullet would give a lot less push-back but I don't think it would be impossible to imagine someone being knocked back by the power of a gun-shot - though not to the dramatic extent that you see in movies/tv no doubt. ny156uk (talk) 22:00, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Recoil does exist, certainly, and it's sensible that being prepared for it could make a difference. Also, someone might jump upon getting shot, making it look like the bullet pushed them around. A big factor to consider here, tho, is that the more powerful the gun, the more likely it is the bullet will zip right through a person, thus not exerting as much force on them. Friday (talk) 22:09, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I have shot pistols before with my feet together, thus "not preparing" myself for the recoil and I was not pushed back at all. However, I have never fired guns with larger recoils, such as a shotgun, from this position so I wouldn't know about that. The Youtube video posted was an example of an extremely powerful catridge, the .577 T-Rex, which has almost 10 times as much energy than a standard 5.56mm NATO. Acceptable (talk) 22:17, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Maybe if the shooter was using a shotgun, like Acceptable mentioned, since the pellets are more spread out would they exert more force on the body (instead of going through it) ... possibly knocking them backwards? --72.69.145.183 (talk) 22:57, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but the best you can do is still limited by the force that was exerted on the shooter. And, a shotgun is pretty darn mild recoil compared to a monster cartridge like mentioned above. Friday (talk) 23:03, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Just to add my above was pure speculation i've no idea about recoil/power, just remember having seen some you-tube vid of people being pushed-back by the power. The guys above certainly sound like they understand the effects much more than me ny156uk (talk) 23:17, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Just do add a little more, suppose if a light person was wearing several layers of bulletproof vests and was shot by a powerful .50 BMG from a anti-material rifle from a point-blank range or by a 20mm round from an aircraft cannon, I think it's possible for them to be knocked over by the kinetic energy from the bullet. Of course, this is assuming that the bullet doesn't penetrate and that the multiple layers of vests will be fairly low in mass. Acceptable (talk) 23:39, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

This really should have been asked on the Science Desk. But anyway, I just want to point out that the bullet's impact on the victim is not necessarily equal to the recoil in terms of force or in terms of kinetic energy. It is necessarily equal in terms of momentum — provided that the bullet does not pass through the victim and has not yet lost signficant speed due to air friction. If either of those conditions applies, then of course the momentum transferred to the victim is less.

The article on the .577 Nitro Express bullet for elephant guns cites a mass of 750 grains (about 48.6 grams) and a muzzle velocity of around 2050 ft/s (625 m/s). If the shooter is a smallish person weighing say 50 kilograms, the recoil would therefore be enough to put their whole body in motion at about 2 ft/s or 60 cm/s. In practice, of course, most of the recoil would impinge on the body parts holding the gun, delivering quite a kick — but not enough to throw the whole body backwards. Likewise for the victim, with the further note that such a large bullet at high speed would be very likely to pass through, thus reducing this particular effect. So even with a gun that big, what you see in bad movies is impossible.

--Anonymous, edited 02:25 UTC, January 26, 2008.

On generic TV cop show, generic forensic female scientist (the one in the sterile white bubble clothes) tells the generic all-knowing male detective that when shot, the body would not have arced dramatically, spun around or landed elsewhere – it would just drop. (Can't remember where or when, they all seem to run together somehow.) Sounded boring enough to be convincing at the time. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:09, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

It may be a bit late for this response, but MythBusters thoroughly debunked the "fly backwards" bit of this, all the way through the .50 cal rifle idea. Bullets were able to knock the dummy off the quick-release stand (demonstrating force transfer) but wholly unable to push the dummy backwards. Most of the position change was the result of how the dummy's knees buckled. If I recall correctly, armor plate was used with the .50 cal to ensure that it didn't pass through and instead fully transferred its momentum. In other ref-desk staple news, I'm hella excited for this week's put-an-airplane-on-a-treadmill episode! — Lomn 20:24, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Poison Sumac Cure

What are some home remedies for Poison Sumac?--76.176.130.141 (talk) 22:34, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

This might interest you; it would be appropriate to scroll down to the "Treatment" section. Good luck. --72.69.145.183 (talk) 22:51, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

How were audio tapes mass produced?

How were audio tapes mass produced? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 22:34, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

When? A more specific time or time period would be helpful if you want a complete answer to this question. --72.69.145.183 (talk) 22:49, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

For compact cassettes Cassette duplicators were used running at ~10 times the playback speed.--TreeSmiler (talk) 01:05, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

still available! [8]--TreeSmiler (talk) 01:07, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Try Loop bin duplicator. Poechalkdust (talk) 20:01, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

JLC rates

Employer is paying JLC rates. What does it mean? Aligatorek (talk) 23:26, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

JLC rates are decided by independent Joint Labour Committees (of which there are 17) comprised of worker and employee representatives. These rates are legally enforceable minimum wages for given sectors, it would appear. More information here and here. Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)} 23:35, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Printer DPI resolution

When the stated printing resolution of a printer is listed at 600 x 600 DPI, it means that there are 600 dots across and 600 dots down of ink per one inch of paper. But what does it mean when the printer is rated at 4800 x 1200 DPI? If it means that there are 4800 dots across and 1200 dots down, wouldn't the inch be stretched rectangularly? Acceptable (talk) 23:33, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

The inch wouldn't be stretched (the inch itself is the same length, regardless of the number of dots therein). Rather, it would have a higher resolution in a given direction. Much the same as taking an inch and marking it off in quarters, and placing an ink/pigment/toner dot there, or marking it off in sixteenths and doing the same. Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)} 23:36, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

But what would the advantage of having more inches dots across the width than keeping both width and height the same? Acceptable (talk) 23:56, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Not more inches, more dots (I can foresee an intention where I could have misunderstood you, it would have to be a fairly obtuse wording). OR, but I'd suggest that it's probably easier to boost resolution in one direction than it is in another (through the quality of motors available to feed paper/drive the head back and forth or the like) and so you achieve a higher overall resolution (in terms of dots per square inch) at the loss of symmetry. I'll do a little searching, but this could be tricky to phrase in such a way as to get useful results from a search engine! Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)} 00:12, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

A search for asymmetrical resolution turned up this comment, which mentions that having a higher horizontal resolution means printed text will have more even looking vertical stems and less jagged italics. So if a manufacturer can only afford to increase resolution in one direction, it may be better for them to increase the horizontal resolution. --Bavi H (talk) 06:08, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

January 26

irish citizen

Im a British citizen, however I qualify for Irish citizenship, through my gradparents. Would it be worth applying for it, other than for the reason of not losing it? I suppose what I mean is can anyone think if there is any benefits to it (monetary, socially, travelling-wise (as in easier visa's for places) etc etc) that i'm not already entitled to through the whole EU stuff. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.64.96.154 (talk) 00:14, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

It is, apparently, significantly less expensive to get a visa for some countries as an Irish citizen than as a British one - Russia, for example. I have also heard that, in the current international climate, Irish citizens receive a friendlier welcome and have a generally easier time travelling in some countries (all original research, I'm afraid and I'm too tired to look for reliable sources at the moment). I've experienced situations where people aren't quite sure where Ireland is (I'm Northern Irish), which I suppose could be good or bad... Kateshortforbob 01:28, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, if you want to travel to China, for instance, a single-entry visa from the embassy in London costs £65 for US citizens, £30 for British citizens, and £20 for everybody else. -- Arwel (talk) 16:43, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

world chess records?

Who holds the FIDE records for wins, losses, winning percentage, and games played?72.50.180.208 (talk) 01:57, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

accupational health and environmental safety traineej jobs

≈how do i get a trainee job in this field in he subject line? I am working on my master degree in occupational health and environmental study in grad school now.

I have been working in the safety and environmentao field for my californida state job for over 10 years . P

Thanks for your time in reading this question. Please direct me to somone who will take the time to work with me in finding a job in this field in which i love to do. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bobcatjim (talk • contribs) 04:31, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

question moved from the Help Desk. --The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 04:40, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Overseas Filipino Workers

My Question is: 1. Why do you think that OFW's are considered as the present heroes of today? 2. What is the importance of the OFW's today? 05:52, 26 January 2008 (UTC)210.185.184.170 (talk)

We, the respondents here, don't think those things. The question, I'm guessing, was why do you think these things? To help you answer these questions, you could start by reading Overseas Filipino and the links from that article (e.g. [9]). Good luck. Rockpocket 08:32, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Aircraft company advertising

Why do I keep seeing commercials for Boeing and Lockheed Martin? What sort of audience would they be attempting to reach when their primary customers are airlines and militaries? Bellum et Pax (talk) 06:37, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, you're not going to buy one of their planes, but you're probably going to fly in one at some point. I suppose they want their passengers to know how great a job they are doing, and that their products are safe. Adam Bishop (talk) 09:04, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Business to business advertising is relatively common. Rather than simply advertising in trade-magazines and business-newspapers it make sense for businesses to also use mainstream tv to raise the profile of their company. It can reach a bigger audience, it can be more inventive/have more appeal through tv than simply photographs. Businesses are run by people and people watch tv. One of the most important roles of advertising is making your name 'known' so that it has the potential to be considered. Now it would seem insane that a company like Boeing might not feature in the mind of a business when they are considering aviation companies, but the advertising will keep it fresh in their mind, 'sells' them the idea of safety or of quality, maybe even of them being 'bigger' than other firms (even if perhaps they are not). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_marketing ny156uk (talk) 09:23, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Another thought-provoking case is Intel's "Intel inside" campaign. And then there's mass-market advertising of prescription drugs... —Steve Summit (talk) 15:15, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

You might also want to check out the excellent documentary The Corporation, which touches upon this phenomenon. A section of the film is devoted to what is referred to as "Perception Management". While business-to-business advertising may be a small part of it, ny156uk, its purpose is primarily for the public's... well, I won't go so far as to say indoctrination but there is definitely a goal of softening the image of the corporation in the eyes of a public it may not be directly benefitting (and in some cases is actually harming). Poechalkdust (talk) 19:58, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

In the case of airliners, note that some members of the public may choose airlines according to which airlines (or which flights) use Boeing planes, which ones use Airbus, and so on. If Boeing's advertisements induce more people to fly on the airlines that mostly use their planes, then they'll tend to order more of them and Boeing will benefit. --Anonymous, 22:30 UTC, January 26, 2008.

Why did my Windows share my HDD to the entire world?

A long time ago, runnin Windows 98, somebody on IRC or ICQ chatted me up and asked me what "very-specific-filename.jpg" was. I had taken this picture with my Web camera of a meal of noodles. Somehow, he had got access to my HDD. I instantly got chills on my back and instantly wondered what else he had seen and if he had write/delete access as well...

I don't quite remember, but I MIGHT have had been to my first "LAN party" at that time (those were the days) and the rule there was to "share your entire C:". So, I might not have turned that off. However, this person was not on the LAN, and didn't appear Swedish either, since he could not understand the filename (which was in Swedish), and the filename kind of sounded in English like it would be a nude picture (but was not, luckily). I don't know if he thought it was perfectly OK to snoop around on my (apparently) free-to-the-Internet system, or if he just wanted to scare me by asking the question out of the blue.

In either case, I have not trusted Windows ever since. How could this possibly happen? Why was my entire system shared to the Internet? And how did he find it? And how do you connect remotely with a Microsoft network anyway? So many strange things associated with that OS... I'm really scared to this day. Ideas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.50.83 (talk) 09:14, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure how it happened -- I don't use Windows, for various reasons -- but this tale rather nicely illustrates one of the fundamental issues in computer security.

Sometimes, of course, having your files shared with other users is useful, and is precisely what you want to do. If you wanted to share files, and if file sharing was turned off, and if the technique for turning on file sharing was arcane, you might find it difficult or impossible to achieve your desired result.

Historically, Microsoft's philosophy has been to make it as easy as possible for you to get arcane things done. They've made it as easy as possible for you to install any and all new software on your computer. They've made it as easy as possible to have extensions installed in your browser. They've made it as easy as possible for active content in emails you receive to be automatically activated. They've made it as easy as possible for the "right thing" to happen when you insert a removeable disk. I haven't heard of file sharing being globally enabled by default, but (in a Windows environment) the possibility doesn't surprise me too much.

Critics and naysayers will suggest that by making all of these things so easy, Microsoft has also made it easy for miscreants and ne'er-do-wells to install and run various kinds of malware on your computer, against your will. But what's so wrong with making it easy for you to do what you want to do? What's so wrong with Microsoft's strategy, if it has turned them into one of the most phenomenally successful corporations on the planet? (Don't answer that.) —Steve Summit (talk) 15:10, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, "what's wrong with making it easy for you to do what you want to do" comes down to the "what you want to do" part. If what you want to do is to open a permanent security hole—sure, why not let you do it? But if what you want to do is to share some mp3s with people and NOT open up a permanent security hole, but doing the former easily leads to the latter, then Microsoft is making it easy to do a lot of things you don't want to do without realizing it in the process of doing things you want to do. I'm of the belief that anything should be optional in an OS but that things that expose your to bigger problems should require higher tech knowledge to even do—want to open up your computer to malware? Fine—but you'll have to muck around in RegEdit a little to do it. Sound a bit too scary for you? Then you probably shouldn't be opening up your computer to malware. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 18:15, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Windows file/printer sharing is a NetBIOS service, and these days NetBIOS normally runs over TCP/IP. This is what you want if you're on a firewalled managed LAN, but it's very bad if you have a public IP address. Windows Firewall (which was introduced with XP SP2) blocks NetBIOS ports by default. In earlier version of Windows you had to explicitly unbind the file sharing service from the network interface (in TCP/IP properties) to get it to go away.

It's also possible that this had nothing to do with Windows file sharing and it was your chat program that was at fault. Many IM-type programs have file-sharing features built in, and it might be that through a bug or misconfiguration this person had access to your whole C: drive that way. -- BenRG (talk) 18:37, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Electrocuting electric breakfast toasters?

My dad is convinced that if you use a metal knife to take out the toasts from the toaster (AFTER it has "popped up"/finished), you will get electrocuted. He constantly tells me I must use a wooden. I always use the metallic one anyway (since it's less work). I'm convinced he's living in the early 1900s or something when this might have been the case in toasters. These days, surely they are not sending out electricity like that? I highly doubt I will get an electric shock even if I put my fingers on it or indeed use a metallic tool while it's "running" (toasting).

What do you say? Please enlighten me. I admit I somehow fear that he might be right. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.48.80 (talk) 10:08, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

You can buy wooded tweezers for this job, why take the risk and prove your father right!?--Johnluckie (talk) 10:14, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

(ec) My brother once knocked out the house's electricity doing this (with a wooden-handled knife) </OR>. I'd advise turning off the toaster at the socket before you start poking metal things into it. Algebraist 10:16, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

The response so far seems to be "better safe than sorry." But I still feel the OP's question is not really answered...how great is the actual risk of sticking a fork in a modern toaster? Is it possible that the electrocution danger is an urban legend?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 14:20, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Once the toast has popped up, the heating elements (the orange / red glowing wires) no longer carry an electrical current, and in theory it should be safe to stick a fork, knife or you fingers in there without risk of shock. HOWEVER! Never stick anything into a running toaster! You will get a nasty shock, and if you're electrical supply isn't fused, it could kill you. Even modern toasters use electrical currents to work. Think outside the box 14:26, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

• Important correction: for "isn't fused" (which is never true in the modern world) read "doesn't have a GFCI" (which is often true). A fuse protects against currents big enough to start a fire; a GFCI (called by various terms in various countries) protects against currents big enough to kill you, which are much smaller. --Anonymous, 22:37 UTC, January 26, 2008.

IF the toaster has a polarized plug and IF no one has defeated the polarization and IF the wiring to the polarized receptacle is all correct and IF the toaster internals are all working correctly, it MIGHT be safe to stick a conductive object in a toaster that is not toasting; USUALLY you'll only connect yourself to the neutral wire of the mains power and that's USUALLY safe. You wanna count on all those ifs, mights, and usuallys or would you rather just unplug the toaster before messing about with it? I know which choice I would make.

Atlant (talk) 14:33, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Atlant's right. The OP's father is exaggerating somewhat -- it's not guaranteed that if you stick a metal object into a toaster you'll get electrocuted -- but it's unquestionably quite dangerous.

Here's the issue: those glowing wires that create the heat that toast the toast are, rather obviously, electrically live when they're on and heating. There's no practical way to insulate them -- any electrical insulation would also tend to serve as heat insulation. So sticking a metal object into a toaster when it's on is right out.

What about when the toaster is off and not toasting? How likely is it that the toasting wires are not live? Well, as Atlant suggests, the issue is whether the hot or the neutral side of the circuit is switched. It's supposed to be the hot side that's switched, and if the plug is polarized that's supposed to guarantee that the hot side is really the hot side, but as we've seen, there are a lot of "if"s involved. It's quite possible for those wires to be (thermally) cold, with no electricity flowing through them, but for them nevertheless to be sitting at a high potential voltage, just waiting for an alternative circuit to be completed through a metal knife or fork and a careless toast lover's body.

If I were a safety regulator, I'd insist that both sides of the circuit be switched (that is, both ends of the nichrome wire be disconnected from the wall when the toaster isn't heating), for precisely this reason. But I've never heard of that actually being a requirement.

I have heard that toasters are deliberately not grounded. The thinking is that if you do go and stick a metal object into a toaster (which, of course, some people are going to do), you're actually more likely to get shocked if the metal body of the toaster that your wrist is resting against is grounded, than if it's not. —Steve Summit (talk) 14:57, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I've always figured that toasters are one of those appliances that give regulators nightmares. I mean, the thing, given its function, almost has to be designed in such a way as to render it inherently dangerous, both from the points of view of the risk of electrocution and the risk of fire. The one change I suppose I'd make if I were the Chief Regulator would be to require a GFCI-style plug on the toaster, much as hair dryers are now required to have in the U.S.. But that would probably increase the cost of the toaster by 50% while halving its reliability. Toaster ovens at least use Calrod-styled heaters where the exteriors of the heating elements are (at least theoretically) insulated from the mains connections. But as Steve Summit observed, that electrical insulation makes the Calrod heaters much slower to begin working than the bare nichrome wires in a toaster.

Atlant (talk) 17:49, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I have a Philips toaster. Its outer body is all plastic, although there is a metal frame inside, which is accessible around the toast slots. I just tested it by unplugging it and holding one probe of an ohmmeter across both prongs of the plug. I pressed the other probe against the metal frame, then against the resistance wires, then against other metal parts in the heating area. No current flowed. Conclusion: this toaster does indeed use a double-pole switch to ensure that no parts are electrically live when it isn't operating. The plug is unpolarized, which makes sense in view of that design.

Perhaps Philips has tighter standards than some companies, or the Canadian standards that it has to meet are tighter than US ones, as I've sometimes heard. (British standards are reputedly tighter yet.) It was, by the way, made in China, something that didn't even occur to me until I looked just now — such is the power of brand names. --Anonymous, 22:54 UTC, January 26, 2008.

That's all quite fascinating. Perhaps you guys can answer a question for me. If a domestic appliance (specifically, a fax machine) is plugged in and turned on, and a child decides it is a fun idea to use a pair of metal scissors to cut the dangling cord, what sort of shock (if any) would they get? (nb. The child I have in mind did not do this; he elected to cut up the neighbouring telephone cord instead). Gwinva (talk) 19:01, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

The last time I cut through a power cord (apologies for the OR here), the only shock I got was one of surprise, at the loud noise, shower of sparks, and sudden cessation of the lights. Typically, whatever metal implement you use to do the cutting will short across either the hot and the neutral wire, or the hot and the ground wire, resulting in a quick, hard short circuit which blows the fuse or trips the breaker just like it's supposed to.

With that said, however, if you were unlucky, and well grounded, and in good contact with the metal tool you were cutting the cord with, and the cut happened to go through the hot wire first, without impinging on the neutral or the ground wire, you could get a nasty shock.

Moral: don't cut through live wires. :-) —Steve Summit (talk) 20:27, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, well, the scissors were kept locked up for some time afterwards... Thanks. Gwinva (talk) 20:30, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

A metal object could damage inside the toaster though making it dangerous in future.hotclaws 23:52, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

No one has mentioned the conduction of heat yet. Because metal conducts heat well, if you are holding a metal implement in the toaster and the heat travels up the implement and onto your hand I imagine you could be burnt. Less serious than death by electrocution, but still painfull. RobertsZ (talk) 16:08, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

If its dangerous to use metal in a toaster, why isn't it dangerous to use metal pots on an electric stove? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Diletante (talk • contribs) 04:02, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Laying brick

I am putting in a brick hearth but cant find any instructions.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.165.84.97 (talk) 19:39, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

(E-mail removed to prevent spam.)

Atlant (talk) 20:33, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

I googled "laying a brick hearth" - results include this[10] and there are FAQs. Julia Rossi (talk) 22:29, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

How to cults begin?

Anyone have a step to step guide to cults. Something that really lays out how they begin, how people are lured in, how finances and housing works It always amazed me how seemingly talentless cult leaders are able to get loyal followings. So if you know of any books that lay the really nitty gritty of how a cult actually grows and functions that be great. Case studies work too. --Alxcgn7 (talk) 22:27, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, our article cult is pretty solid, and provides a very long list of books and articles at the end which you could consult if you want more information on the subject. -Elmer Clark (talk) 03:36, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

The book Join Me is quite an entertaining look at how cults can start - indeed, the tag line is "The true story of a man who started a cult by accident". Laïka 10:13, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

What kind of skull is this?

Does anyone have any idea what animal this could be? I suspect it's a boar, but I'm not 100% on it. Odd skull (imageshack). Froglars the frog (talk) 23:19, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

According to this[11] it looks like a bear skull. Maybe that's what you meant to say? Richard Avery (talk) 08:19, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

January 27

Reference Desk for Entertainment Purposes

Does anyone here read the reference desk solely for entertainment purposes, as I do?

I visit it about once a week; the Misc. desk usually has the funniest questions/responses.

Some of the ideas are fascinating to learn about, but more often than not, the misc. desk makes me laugh more than learn!

Thanks, --67.177.170.218 (talk) 01:10, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I pretend to read it for educative purposes, and of course it's entertainment! ---Sluzzelin talk 04:33, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh, yeah, I do that too sometimes. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:02, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

There certainly are some witty folks around here. The funniest page on Wikipedia, though, has got to be Wikipedia:Talk page highlights. Whenever I feel stressed, I always read that and have a chuckle. Rockpocket 07:29, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Ha! I hadn’t seen that one. Wikipedia:Unusual articles is also quit amusing although not tagged as wikihumor. --S.dedalus (talk) 08:22, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I look at the new entries at least twice a day. Ok, I know that I should get out more! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnluckie (talk • contribs) 11:02, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

It eats up time like nothing else. But it is funny. Gwinva (talk) 20:31, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

2 by 2

Anyone notice the commercials ? They're getting 2 by 2. Too damn stupid and too damn many of them. Just seen a Burger King commercial, and it was idiotic shit. What is the most stupid commercial YOU have seen ? Wikipedia is NOT censored. 65.163.113.170 (talk) 09:01, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

What does "2 by 2" mean? Like it or not, TV commercials are made by people who have worked in advertising for many years. They know what they're doing. That Burger King ad may not persuade you to go in there next time you're hungry, but you can bet your boots it will others, otherwise it would never have been made. And don't post diatribes here. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 09:06, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

THAT IS NOT A DIATRIBE AT ALL ? HAVE YOU SEEN THE COMMERCIALS LATELY ? SOME OF THESE ARE REALLY BAD, SUCH AS ONE SAYING YOU CAN SPRAY SOME SHIT IN A DOG'S WATERBOWL AND IT STOPS THE DOG'S PAINS !!!! 65.163.113.170 (talk) 09:24, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

By the way, 2 by 2 means too damn many AND too damn (whatever you're complaining about). 65.163.113.170 (talk) 09:26, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and do not post in all caps and bold, as this is a) frowned upon, b) considered shouting, c) not polite really. And keep in mind that ads (especially tv ads) are made for the less-than-average Joe that needs someone else to decide for him where he should eat. --Ouro (blah blah) 09:28, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I think he posted in all caps and bold to reinforce the notion that it was NOT A DIATRIBE AT ALL. —Steve Summit (talk) 14:49, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

The ratio of ads to programme time is what is getting much worse. I tune out the sound, look away and by the time the programme has returned I've forgotton what it was all about!--Johnluckie (talk) 10:59, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Well most '30 minute' shows run for around 22 minutes, so if you get 2 shows in one hour that should make for about 16 minutes of advertising. Advertisers will have a key demographic they are aiming for - what is stupid and terrible to you may be funny/appealing to their key market. Advertisers are aiming at millions of people it's unlikely everyone will approve of them. The most 'stupid' adverts are generally those that try to be funny/have comedy but don't quite get it right (at least in my opinion) - but for me the worst adverts are injury-lawyers and debt-consolidation ones. ny156uk (talk) 13:25, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Always during lunch. Ads are one of the reasons I stopped watching tv altogether. --Ouro (blah blah) 16:02, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Is "fairy liquid" ok for washing vegetables?

My wife often uses Fairy to wash tomatoes and other vegetables before cooking them. I am converned however that active chemicals which Fairy is made of can be dangerous for health. I believe that putting that liquid on the tomato skin makes it absorb it and then you can not easily get rid of it by rincing anyway. Could anybody shed some light onto this issue? Is there any real threat or am I just paranoic? 88.112.249.11 (talk) 09:43, 27 January 2008 (UTC)Andrey

I also wouldn't do it, these are chemicals after all. As far as health safety is concerned, better to just wash/rinse them with tap water before cutting/slicing/dicing/cooking. --Ouro (blah blah) 09:46, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Ouro - but a splash of ordinary vinegar in the water bowl helps to kill off any predators and freshens the veggies up. 81.145.240.42 (talk) 10:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

"Predators"? Corvus cornix_talk 00:41, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It probably is a bad idea to wash vegetables with dish detergent—but what does "these are chemicals after all" mean? Water is a chemical too, you know. -- BenRG (talk) 11:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I meant to say they're fairly unfriendly chemical substances if swallowed (any residual traces left on/in the to-be-washed veggies apply). I know water is a chemical, too, but quite safer overall than washing-up liquid, not? --Ouro (blah blah) 11:53, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Procter & Gamble has set up [a web site] for product safety information. The EU-regulated safety data sheet for the Fairy Original liquid tells that "Repeated exposure to low levels (e.g. residues left on dinnerware) will not cause adverse effects." However, ingestion of the liquid as such can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. In case of ingestion, you are supposed to drink water to dilute the liquid. You can draw your own conclusions on whether you want to raise your intake higher than the level you already get from dinnerware. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. 84.239.133.86 (talk) 14:22, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

It makes you think who they got to drink it to see what the result would be :) --WebHamster 15:03, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

A modified version of the song I'm forever blowing bubbles quickly comes to mind.--TreeSmiler (talk) 00:37, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

HMM article title has wrong capitalizations I think I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles--TreeSmiler (talk) 01:16, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

If your wife really wants to use some sort of soap on fruits and vegetables, I'd recommend hand soap as it's much gentler and much less toxic than dish detergent. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 18:14, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

News, Wikipedia Praise

Just seen on the news that a rogue satellite will hit this planet. Seen it on FOX News during Obama's speeches, then no futther news on that matter. the satellite has lost power, propulsion. It is due to hit Earth on Jan 28-29, 2008.

Wikipedia is one hell of a website. PLEASE DONATE. 65.163.113.170 (talk) 11:00, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Rogue Satellite

I just found out on the news that a satellite had lost power, propulsion, and it will impact on this planet on Jan 29-30. I saw this while watching Obama's speech (it was on a strip that is on the bottom of the TV screen). Saw this on FOX News. Appreciate the help. 65.163.113.170 (talk) 11:28, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

One hell of a site

This is one hell of a website. It has helped ME. Please DONATE. 65.163.113.170 (talk) 11:28, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes we heard you the first time. I think most of us know about the 'rogue' satellite and realise that it is extremely unlikely to cause any significant damage at earth groundlevel. And most of us agree that Wikipedia is excellent. Richard Avery (talk) 11:52, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

The news about that satellite is hardly secret. I saw it on Google News yesterday, and there are plenty of articles today. —Steve Summit (talk) 15:10, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

The news of the satellite is hardly secret, but info about the satellite is still hush-hush right? --f f r o t h 15:56, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Supposably, that means you shouldn't reveal those sensitive details you have. --Ouro (blah blah) 15:59, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

how can I use virgin mo bile

Am in Kenya and I want to use virgin mobile, is it possible?please help.am kindly in need.phone no. <removed> serial no.<removed> please connect me to Virgin mobile.YOU CAN CALL ME ON MOBILE NO <removed> KENYA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.178.100.254 (talk) 11:14, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Can you clarify whether this will involve my bank details. Richard Avery (talk) 11:56, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I have removed your personal information - you should not post this on a website as it may fall into the wrong hands. And for goodness sake, don't post your bank details online! Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and it is unlikely we will be able to help you with anything more than general information. You probably need to get in touch with Virgin to activate your phone for use internationally (from personal experience). Their website is here and there's information about using your phone abroad here. If you're already in Kenya and can't get in touch with them, your best bet may be to buy a phonecard - they're reasonably easy to use. Kateshortforbob 14:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually, that's the UK website - the US one is here. And Richard Avery - I'm sorry, I don't know if your question is related to this one --Kateshortforbob 14:42, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

That's OK Kateshortforbob, my response was alluding to the Nigerian scam which this question immediately put me in mind of. Richard Avery (talk) 20:44, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Ah... it does, actually. I'd rather have someone (unsuccessfully) trying a scam than someone stuck in a foreign country without being able to ring home! --Kateshortforbob 22:40, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

How many people speak Finnish?

Finland hasn't more than 5 million people in it, and many of them speak Swedish... how many actually speak Finnish? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.51.253 (talk) 13:42, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

My 2002 edition of the SBS World Book says 93.4% speak Finnish and 5.9% Swedish (these figures are listed as "official"). A 1972 publication "The Book Of The World" says 92% Finnish and 7% Swedish. A fairly consistent percentage over a 30 year period. --TrogWoolley (talk) 14:23, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Our Finnish language article says the language has about 6 million speakers, but the figure is unsourced. The Ethnologue entry for Finnish says 4.7 million in Finland and about another 500,000 in other countries. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 15:28, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Why only tasteless book covers?

I have been trying to find the book Lolita in its original form for a long time. All I can find in on-line book stores are tasteless new editions with 32x32 JPEG screenshots from the movies scaled to become a "cover". It's insane. I don't even know how that is legal, or how this can be. According to Wikipedia, the original is very tasteful. The same Wikipedia article also shows a "recent cover" which looks really good too, but that one is not available anywhere where I can see. I live in Sweden, so I have mainly looked at local ones like Adlibris.se. Amazon seems to have the same ugly, cheap covers that they couldn't pay me to accept. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.51.253 (talk) 16:12, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Why? Because they draw the eye when they're on the shelf. And it's pointless to print two covers, one for brick and mortar stores and one for online stores. Dismas|^(talk) 16:18, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

If you want to find an old edition of this or any book, you can't look at sellers of new books. abebooks.com (maybe there's an abebooks.se too, I don't know), for example, sells used books, and I bet there are dozens of others who do too. —Angr ^{If you've written a quality article...} 16:30, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't want a USED book! Sheesh! I want the ORIGINAL, printed at any time, unused. Not some cheap remake crap. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.51.253 (talk) 16:47, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I'd recommend getting the annotated edition [12] which, in addition to having a simple, unassuming cover, has a plethora of supplemental information that really expands upon the whole experience. Since Lolita is the kind of book one would (or should at least) tend to read multiple times, the notations are excellent for a second or third read after you've absorbed the flavor of the prose. Poechalkdust (talk) 17:13, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Used isn't 'remade' it's just pre-owned. Also gotta hope the above is meant tongue in cheek otherwise it's rather mean spirited. Anyhoo here (http://www.fulmerford.com/waxwing/lolita.html#shop) has a lot of different editions. I have no idea which will meet your requirements for cover-quality but they range in cost. This one (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679410430/waxwing) has a pretty non-dubious cover. ny156uk (talk) 17:07, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

The first edition of Lolita (Paris, Olympia Press, 1955) has a plain olive-green paper cover, with an inner rectangular border of a white line and an outer one of a black chain. Inside them in black capital letters are the author's name, the title, and the name of the publisher. Xn4 18:35, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

P.S. - I've uploaded an image of this and added it to the infobox. Xn4 19:26, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

There's a great "Library of America" edition of Nabokov's works that features Lolita, Pnin (hilarious), and Pale Fire, all great books, in one very fine volume with a picture of Nabokov on the cover. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 19:01, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Stochastic matrix (few questions)

copy of discussion from RD/math removed by Meni Rosenfeld.

Please do not cross-post (as it says in the guidelines at the top). If you do not get an answer to a mathematical question on the Mathematics desk, it is very unlikely that you'll get one on the miscellaneous desk.

It seems to me that Lambiam has patiently answered your questions. He says above, "State 1: cat in the first box, mouse in the third box: (1, 3)". --ColinFine (talk) 16:49, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Stochastic matrix (few questions)

Considering the fact that many Reference Desk helpers, don't frequent the Mathematics desk, and I am still confused, and no one has replied for 2 days, I am posting the above question here. --Obsolete.fax (talk) 16:24, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Don't remove, please discuss in the talk page if you don't agree in the question being here, and state your position there. --Obsolete.fax (talk) 17:17, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Copying this question here is wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to begin. It splits the discussion to several places which is bad for both you and respondents. It is rude to take away space from this page which makes it harder to follow the other questions. It is vain to assume that your question is more important than those of others and deserves copying, cross-posting and bumping. It is certainly unacceptable to continue this after being told not to. And of course, people who don't frequent the math desk are much less likely to be able to help you. A slightly less offensive way to attract more respondents is to simply place a link to the question, which I will do for you - the question is Wikipedia:Reference desk/Mathematics#Stochastic matrix (few questions). -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 17:30, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Furthermore, in restoring your question, you deleted my response, which is also contrary to the guidelines. Oh, no you didn't: you just crossposted a complete second copy. My mistake. --ColinFine (talk) 17:46, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

History of Clerical Collars

When did priests first start to wear 'dog collars?

86.27.92.178 (talk) 16:32, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Our article on clerical collars discusses this in some detail. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:36, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Cost-of-living websites

I'm trying to find some good websites for comparing the cost of living in different locations. I've found two reputable sources (http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html and http://salary.monster.com/CostOfLivingWizard/layoutscripts/coll_start.asp) but I was wondering (a) which one would you believe if the two of them show substantially different results for the same location and (b) if anyone can recommend additional good-quality websites for this purpose. Thanks so much! --24.211.242.80 (talk) 19:26, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

You might see if the U.S. Department of Labor has a standardized way of doing this on their website. I've used their cost-of-travel estimates for calculating grant proposals and things like that when visiting different cities (it costs a lot less to visit some cities than others)—even that data, while not quite the same thing, would tell you quite a bit in terms of relative cost of living. --24.147.69.31 (talk) 03:24, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

release date for "felix castor : thicker than water" by Mike Carey ?

Hi Im a huge felix castor fan, just finished "dead mans boots" and wondering when the next one is released, it says 2008 so its this year, but does anyone have an idea when? early, late, april, september? any info will help thanks

Rob —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.68.253.24 (talk) 21:11, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

SP Artillery exploding in Iraq

Hi, I came to remember an incident a few years ago, where a TV camera caught on tape some ammunition (or similar) exploding inside a coalition Paladin. Does this have its own article, or are there details mentioned anywhere? It was said that there weren't any casaulties, but I remember the blast looking awfully massive. Thanks in advance. 81.93.102.185 (talk) 23:48, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

January 28

How did they take these pictures?

• http://www.hnabooks.com/product/show/6266
• http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/look_inside/Q081099285X/081099285X_s4.jpg
• http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/look_inside/Q081099285X/081099285X_s5.jpg
• http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/look_inside/Q081099285X/081099285X_s6.jpg
• http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/look_inside/Q081099285X/081099285X_s7.jpg
• http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/look_inside/Q081099285X/081099285X_s8.jpg
• http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/look_inside/Q081099285X/081099285X_s9.jpg
• http://www.hnabooks.com/images/sites/9/look_inside/Q081099285X/081099285X_s10.jpg

These airplane belly pictures are almost plan view. You can even see the ground-touching areas of the tires.

You can dig a deep and large hole in the ground and hang the Boeing 747 on a very tall tree to take these pictures.

You can put the Boeing 747 upside down, and take the picture from a helicopter.

Well, I don't think these methods are practical.

Did the photographer take several hundred pictures and stitch them together in a computer? -- Toytoy (talk) 03:13, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Or you could just lay on your back at the end of a runway and take pics of the underside of planes as they land. And seeing that some of these images show landing gear and flaps extended, i'd imagine that's just what he did. Foxhill (talk) 03:26, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Uncontrollable light condition, engine exhaust, control surface movements, landing gear angle, ... . There can be all kinds of problems. If I were the photographer, I may setup multiple cameras at different places and take as many shots as possible. All these factors may still ruin my pictures. I am skeptical to this theory. -- Toytoy (talk) 04:40, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

No doubt there is a great deal of skill and luck involved, otherwise his work wouldn't be so widely renowned. Some extracts from news coverage - "Jeffrey Milstein, a New York based photographer, has a recent series entitled Aircraft, large-scale photographs that are not of model airplanes but rather of incoming planes outside of LAX [...] Outside the fenced field, he waits for approaching airplanes and snaps crystal clear shots of the incoming beasts."[13] and [14] says the only alteration he made was to replace the sky with a uniform white background. Something he himself admits to - "I take the pictures near the end of the runway, mostly at LAX. I use a 39mpxl digital back on a Contax 645. I use Photoshop to remove the backgrounds, and I print limited edition pigment inkjet prints in 20″x20″ and 40″x40″ size, which sell in my galleries in NY and LA."[15] Foxhill (talk) 05:41, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Falling from the sky

Dear Wiki contributors,

I recall being told that Galileo conducted an experiment where he showed that two balls of different masses fell at the same speed towards the ground. I know this may sound naive but, with that logic, does that mean a 300 lb man can use the same parachute rated for a 180-lb man? If so, then you should also be able to drop a tank from the sky with the same parachute?

Also, I recall reading that terminal velocity for a human body falling is somewhere less than 200 mph. Why then, did Joseph Kittinger reach speeds of 600 mph when he was doing his landmark world-record skydive?99.240.177.206 (talk) 03:26, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

No. Speed is not the same as momentum which is speed and weight. If the parachute is going to change your speed it has to be able to change your momentum.

Joseph Kittinger was skydiving from an astonishing 19.5 miles up. I imagine the air is a lot thinner up there, resulting in a higher terminal velocity. APL (talk) 03:55, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

The air is a lot thinner -- Kittinger needed to wear a pressure suit. See Project Excelsior for more. Also Armstrong Limit -- above about 12 miles the pressure is so low water boils at body temperature. Pfly (talk) 04:42, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

The media isn't doing a very good job of explaining the SocGen debacle

"In fact, Kerviel's first portfolio of financial instruments -- in his case futures -- included genuine operations -- but the offsetting portfolio proved to be "fictitious," the bank said." That's the typical explanation. But I still don't understand how 50 billion euros in positions can be concealed. Are there tens of trillions of euros worth of trades moving through the bank everyday? Help me understand.

66.91.224.203 (talk) 04:58, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

The bank indicates all controls were violated. As far as I understand, he bought positions and then created "faked" sales document to cover himself. That way, although there were a couple of operations, the balance of the bank was unaffected. Electronically, the bank still had the same amount of money, but in reality, that money was transformed into stock positions. According to the bank article here, French presidential aide Raymond Soubie stated that Kerviel dealt with $73.3 billion (more than the bank's market capitalization of $52.6 billion). Remember that he has been doing that, apparently, for over a year, and that the only way the bank noticed was when he forgot to "sell" what he had bought. -- ReyBrujo (talk) 05:11, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Completed eBay auctions

Is there a way to see results of previous eBay auctions? I know there is a completed listing search on ebay.com, but it only goes back 15 days. Is there a website that will go back further (a free website, preferably)? --71.194.241.127 (talk) 05:04, 28 January 2008 (UTC)