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August 13

Drawing supplies

Can anyone recommend some good, high-quality-but-not-too-pricey drawing pens and inks that are available at most art supply stores in the greater area of NYC? Thanks in advance. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 05:36, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I would start with brands, perhaps, first. Chevy monte carlo 09:44, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes... that's what I'm asking. Can anyone recommend a good brand of drawing pens and inks. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 16:41, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's probably going to depend on what kind of illustrating you want to do. For general work, you could probably do worse than a fine point Sharpie. They're widely available, of course. This site deals with the materials you'd need for inking comic books, though I'm guessing they'd work for a wide range of applications. Besides Sharpie, other brand names mentioned include Staedtler and Pentel, among others. I've seen them here in SW Ontario, so I'm guessing they're widely available. This article might also be useful; you might also be able to contact the author for further advice. I don't do much drawing any more, but I found I was quite idiosyncratic regarding the types of pens I used - it wasn't simply a brand name (I used Sharpie), but I only liked using particular models, because they suited what I wanted to do and the shape of my hand, etc. A good art supply store will allow you to do a brief test on a scrap bit of paper; why not bring the kind of paper you plan to work on and have at it? The people who work in those things are frequently artistically inclined; they could also provide some advice. Matt Deres (talk) 23:52, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I'm extremely particular about the tools I use as well and am never quite satisfied, so I'm always on the hunt for a superior product. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 01:18, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Indian indendpendence but from what?

what does independence day mean to a common man who is struggling to make his ens meet and the society where he is a citizen of has all the laws which forbids him to get a job caused by reservations, pays tax that too substantial amount of his meagre earning,cannot buy a house(if has the resources),cannot get a public-sector job(especially the residents of the so called tribal protected zone like the north east india and many such parts within the country),has to run from pillar to post to get an identity card(passport/ration card/voter id/etc)that too after bribing the cops and the officers concerned,YES i am talking bout India rather the common indians.so what should freedom signify to them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.140.188 (talk) 09:58, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Your question seems to call for debate and ask for opinion, neither of which are appropriate here. Your post may be more at home on one of the many internet forums out there (Example). Since India is a democracy, perhaps you should also share your concerns with your elected representative. Matt Deres (talk) 12:40, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For questions on India's independence try - Independence Day (India) and Indian independence movement. In very basic terms the independence was from being ruled by the British Empire if my history is any good - whether that proved to be ultimately positive or negative will depend on the individual, the region, the aspect of life etc. as from my studies these things invariably have good and bad points. That said Matt Deres is right you are very much bordering on debate here and if that's what you want this isn't the right place for it. ny156uk (talk) 16:32, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Statement on Global Warming

In a section called "The Politicization of Global Warming" in Al Gore's book An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore said this statement:

As for why so many people still resist what the facts clearly show, I think, in part, the reason is that the truth about the climate crisis is an inconvenient one that means we are going to have to change the way we live our lives.

A highlighted statement separated from the main writing in that section was:

The truth about the climate crisis is an inconvenient one that means we are going to have to change the way we live our lives.

Have Bjørn Lomborg, Penn Jillette, and Teller heard about those two statements? If so, then what do they think about them? Do they agree with them? If not, then why not? How did they react and respond to them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.48.196 (talk) 10:12, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You asked this question already. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:20, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And again. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:22, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you have something to say to Penn Jillette and Bjorn Lomborg, you should know that they aren't likely to see it here. Send them one letter each, in care of their agents, then move on with your life.-FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 13:25, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Also take a look at politics of global warming. ~A H 1^(TCU) 22:59, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

fridge problem

I'm having probs with my refrigerator, actually an over/under fridge/freezer. Both the fridge and freezer are much warmer than I'd like, even set on maximum. The fridge is around 10C and the freezer is around -3C and both should be quite a bit colder. It worked fine a week ago so this is not a gradual buildup of dust on the coils or anything like that. I can hear the condenser fan running but only a faint wisp of chilled air comes out of the vents in the freezer. Is it supposed to be a stronger blast of cold air? I wonder if there is some kind of clog in there. The heat exchanger coils on the back of the fridge aren't especially warm. I haven't noticed any weird smells (I don't know if a coolant leak would cause a smell). Fridge is a small-to-medium sized and probably cheap unit with not too many operating hours. No obvious probs with the door gaskets. Any suggestions? I prefer DIY repair if it's something simple, since the alternative is to call my landlord and I'm happier if they don't send people into my apt to fix things. Thanks.67.122.209.167 (talk) 10:59, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Frozen ice out of view is a possible problem. Removing a plastic covering in the freezer, likely at the bottom, could reveal such ice. Bus stop (talk) 12:06, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Try thaw-ing it out and trying from there - sometimes they just get clogged up like BusStop says. All i've ever done is just find a friend that can take your frozen stuff for a day or whatever and then unplug it, pull it somewhere where you can get to it/round it, put towels down and then hair-dryer it (if there's a build up of ice on the back wall of the freezer). Also a good hoover of the coils is probably good regardless (since it's out). ny156uk (talk) 16:29, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That frozen ice is the best kind to have. Thawed ice isn't as cold.

If you have a "frost-free" refrigerator (one that doesn't require you to do manual defrosting), one possibility is that the drain line from your freezer is clogged (by ice, calcium build-up, or just dirt and debris). This clogging leads to ice building up (e.g., on the air vents in the freezer). So, if you've excess frost and ice in your front-free freezer, that might be why. Use warm water to thaw out the ice, sponge it up, and see if water poured down the drain hole comes out in the drain pan (under the bottom of the fridge). (This is the first part of Bus Stop's suggestion; I'm just drawing attention to the drain line, which might have a clog inside it. I've seen this type of line blown clean with a little compressed-air cartridge.)

Another possibility is that unwanted ice has built up around the fan that's probably hidden behind those freezer air-vents. The fan can't turn because its blades are frozen, so the cold air isn't being forced out as called for in the design. I once owned a fridge in which the pan under the fan had been installed backwards; the plan sloped the wrong way, water built up, water froze. Took the repairman about 15 minutes to diagnose and fix. --- OtherDave (talk) 20:40, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A common source of the problem you describe is a slow leak of refrigerant. When the Freon is a bit too low, the cooling coils paradoxically get too cold and ice forms, interfering with air flow and cooling. A good thaw would temporarily restore normal cooling, until the coils ice up again, if that is the problem. The solution is to use a Freon leak detector to locate the the leak, repair it, and recharge to unit with refrigerant. If no leak can be found, then the repairman might just recharge the unit. Edison (talk) 00:53, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I also suggest defrosting it fully. With my fridge the thermostat looks like a long loose piece of wire. The temperature you get depends where you put this wire. I've also found that I have to increase the temperature dial as the fridge is seemingly not so cold as it used to be when I bought it a few years ago, am not sure why. 92.28.251.219 (talk) 13:46, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

problem with audio headphones

There seems to be a loose connection or something inside the jack plug of my headphones. The sound only comes through one channel. If I wiggle the cable around a bit next to the jack plug, the sound returns to both channels but only temporarily. Is it possible to fix this myself? I can't see how to go about this, since the jack plug is hardwired to the cable and the cable is hardwired to the headset. I'm disinclined to buy a whole new set of headphones just because the cable has gone a bit wonky. Any advice gratefully received, many thanks. --Viennese Waltz ^talk 12:52, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Firstly, try the same device (ipod or whatever) with a different headset, to reject the possibility that the defect lies in the socket on the device (which can become partially detached from the circuit board). If that's okay, buy a new 3.5mm stereo jackplug (Radio Shack, Radio Spares, Maplin, etc.). Chop off the old one (and an inch or so of cable, as that's the most likely place for a break in the cable) and connect the new one (you'll need a wire stripper or a sharp knife, and a soldering iron and some solder). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 13:16, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oh Finlay, I was with you all the way until you mentioned a soldering iron. I don't do that stuff, unfortunately. But thanks anyway. --Viennese Waltz ^talk 13:25, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It requires no skill whatever. Shove little wire through little hole, hold length of solder over little hole, hold hot iron on wire for 5 seconds, done. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 13:35, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It may require no skill (though I'm skeptical!) but it certainly does require equipment which the average person doesn't have... ╟─Treasury Tag►secretariat─╢ 13:37, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Making a good soldered connection demands both skill and 3 hands to hold the wire, solder and iron. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:25, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's highly likely to be a flaky contact between plug and socket. You might be able to solve it by getting an adapter/extender that the plug can go into, which will itself plug into the socket -- cheap at Radio Shack or a similar place. I don't know an alternative other than doing things that you don't do. Looie496 (talk) 21:03, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The cheapest and dirtiest method by far is to bend the wire back against the socket in such a way that both headphones work and then just wrap some decent tape around it to keep it in place.. If you are lucky and a little careful they can work like this for a long time. I got so sick of soldering my headphones I now tape where the cable meets the socket as soon as I buy headphones, as a reinforcement because this is where they break 50% of the time, the other being at the headphone end. Vespine (talk) 02:54, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

At the risk of once again dragging the conversation into the eldritch world of rum arcanum, try heatshrink. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:10, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You can go someplace like a 99cent store or WalMart or someplace - and pick up a really cheap/nasty pair of 'ear buds'. Those have the right kind of connector. You could then cut off the connector from your broken (presumably more valuable) headphones - do it a good distance from the plug to be sure you've gotten rid of the broken part. Now do the same with the cheap earbuds. Now you can strip the plastic coating from the wires on both ends and twist them together to make a reasonably good connection - making sure that the various separate wires don't short together. Test that to make sure it works. Now get some electrical tape and carefully wrap the twisted ends of each separate wire to keep them separated - then (when you're sure it all works), wrap the whole mess tightly with more tape. The result will be a somewhat unsightly blob of tape - but it'll work. The tricky part is to make sure that you connect the correct wires on each side of the join. Generally, there are two connections - each with an 'earth' wire on the outside and an inner signal wire for each ear. You can connect all of the earth wires from both sides together (it doesn't matter whether they are mixed up) then join the signal wires together. The most likely mistake to make is to get the signal wires for the left and right earphones swapped over. It's easy enough to fix - but it's sometimes hard to figure out that you got it wrong. SteveBaker (talk) 01:44, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Can CIA officers Arrest people?

Do CIA operatives (Intelligence officers, SAD/SOG Paramilitary operatives, staff intelligence officers) have the power to make arrests a) in the US and/or b) internationally (Iraq, Afghanistan)? Acceptable (talk) 18:54, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As I understand it, under US law, CIA officers have very broad powers when outside the US and can basically do whatever they like (local law disagrees, of course, but most of what the CIA exists to do violates local law, likewise for the equivalent agencies in other countries). I don't think the CIA have arrest powers, but Google finds lots of people talking in recent years (ie. since 9/11) about giving them arrest powers. --Tango (talk) 19:26, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Some of that might be exaggerations. There was a police action about a month ago here in Slovenia against some hackers or whatnot, and the Interpol and the FBI got involved as well. Arrests were made by the Slovene police force, but the American media reported the arrests were made by the FBI. I know, I know, different agencies, but I think the same general principle of possible exaggeration applies, IMO. TomorrowTime (talk) 20:53, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As our Central Intelligence Agency article points out, "As the CIA has no legal domestic police authority, it usually sends its analyses to the FBI and other law enforcement organizations, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice"... when it wants to have an arrest made. It is not a police organization, it is an intelligence gathering organization. This is different from, say, the FBI, which is both a police and intelligence gathering organization. Now, this doesn't mean that they can't do shady things that involve them taking custody of people — like extraordinary rendition — but they don't make "arrests" per se. (Their renditions, by themselves, do not set you up within the justice system — they are essentially state-sanctioned kidnappings. Later, hypothetically, a police agency could then arrest you and charge you. One of the reasons these kinds of things are so controversial is that they exist outside of the boundaries of the regular US justice system and thus are really quite nebulous about whether all of the rights guaranteed by said system are implemented.) --Mr.98 (talk) 21:43, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I would assume that a CIA officer has the same powers of arrest as anyone else (see citizen's arrest, a slight misnomer because generally it has little to do with citizenship). Might be trouble for him if he tried to arrest someone in the name of the CIA, though. But I'm really just speculating there. --Trovatore (talk) 21:52, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Of course, but citizen's arrests are usually only allowed in the US when you actually witness a felony. That probably wouldn't happen very often in the CIA's operations. --Tango (talk) 22:10, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

CIA officers who made a citizen's arrest would be doing so as private citizens, not members of the CIA. The CIA lacks police powers, as an organization. That is the salient and non-pedantic point. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:31, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As with the little known pilot episode for the prospective TV series, Gomer Pyle, C.I.A. Operative. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:36, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

do I need to point out that arresting people would only get in the CIA's way? The CIA is designed to operate outside the pale, to gather information that cannot easily be gathered through legitimized, official channels. like love and war, espionage prefers to remain unfettered. --Ludwigs2 22:23, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Not necessarily. The FBI is an example of an intelligence agency with arrest powers. I am pretty sure there are others elsewhere in the world. The KGB is one notable example of an agency with foreign intelligence gathering capabilities and arrest powers. The CIA was deprived of police powers very deliberately by Truman, who didn't want it to resemble a "secret police" in any way. (He already had the FBI for that, the cynic would say.) When the CIA does want to arrest people — which they do often do, they do not just go around assassinating people willy-nilly, political thrillers be damned — they have to go to DEA or FBI and hand them the evidence that they hope will actually be usable in court. --Mr.98 (talk) 03:21, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

An arrest in America implies that the arrested has legal rights, and that the arrester has legal authority to proceed with a prosecution. Thus, the CIA does not arrest, it detains and then renders the detainee to a legal authority. "Extraordinary rendition" is the latest euphemism for when the CIA renders a detainee to someone that it oughtn't. --M @r ē ino 02:25, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

need to find a street/house in romania

So I have a fairly obscure question/request... My grandparents are going to Romania next week and they hope to be able to visit my grandfather's father's home. I have some basic information, but my google skills are failing me and I haven't really found any useful information, here's the info that I'm going on:

It's in the town/village of Arbore, Romania which is in Suceava county. It's on Solgauer street and his family lived in the house until around the second world war (early 1940s...ish). The family name is Gebert and I have a few first names too (I figure as much information as possible will make the search easier) we have a John Gebert and a Ferdinand Gebert married to Amalia Koch.

Any help in this would be great because they'd really like to be able to visit the site when they're there.

thanks so much flagitious (talk) 21:12, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia has an article about Arbore. You can enter "Arbore, Romania" into the search field here and get a satellite view that you can zoom down to streets level. Individual buildings are visible but I have not found a map to identify Solgauer street. There is a genealogy database here that lists many people named Gebert but to access it you need Bukovina Society Membership. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:19, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) I find it hard to believe that a Romanian commune has street names. You are gonna have a very hard time finding it. Even in cities the street names are often unmarked (or there's just one sign at the beginning/end of a long-ass avenue). The street name (as well as the personal names) point to the period of Austro-Hungarian domination: I've lived in Austria for a long time, and every village there has street names - they probably did the same for their "dominions" in what is now Romania. I wouldn't think that the street names exist anymore, and you're probably gonna have to find some old guy or old lady in the village who still remembers which street was which. Rimush (talk) 12:32, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I looked at many sites (including hotels, tourist sites, even real estate adverts) but still couldn't find any street maps of Arbore better than the one main road offered by Google maps. However, the village does have a notable world heritage site and I'm sure there will be a museum or tourist info place either in the village itself or in Suceava (the county seat, 32 km away) - a place that is more likely to have English speaking staff, if that is important to your grandparents. The village also appears to have some other churches as well as the painted church, presumably all with local records and graveyards, though World War II did have a major impact on the former Ţinutul Suceava region (Suceava County is now in the Nord-Est region). In particular, the effects of The Holocaust on the local Jewish population may make family records of Jews particularly hard to find. Astronaut (talk) 12:29, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Communes in Romania don't usually have street names (there are some exceptions - Costineşti is one that I know of). Adresses are usually given as "Commune name, No. 254" or something. Also, knowing that Suceava is in the Nord-Est region will not help you at all. I bet around 90% of Romanians have no idea what development regions are. They are never mentioned here in public or private discourse. Rimush (talk) 12:35, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at the location of Arbore on the Google-linked map, I see that the next place to the south-west is called Solca. It is a reasonable guess that the road to Solca may have been called "Solgauer strasse" at some time in the past. Sussexonian (talk) 19:01, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

According to German Wikipedia, Solca's German name is Solka, not Solgau, though. :-( -- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 21:20, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks so much for the efforts - ref deskers never cease to amaze me when it comes to gleaning information off the internet. I've relayed to my grandparents that their best bet will be to hit up a local guide when they get in to Suceava. Apparently some cousins were successful in finding the house a few years back (but for whatever reason they can't give better instructions on how to find it [hence my 'apparently']...).

Thanks again flagitious (talk) 09:38, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

August 14

Tips for returning to school in a big exam year?

Ok I'll be going back to school in September. I have big, important exams this year. The trouble is I'm a little lazy, and while I have been doing the minimum required up to now, so that last year in maths only one of my small class was a very good result. Some tests in other subjects went badly as well. Obviously I'm going to start working hard, but do you have any other advice?--178.167.185.133 (talk) 00:36, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Foist decide that you are going to do better, and that you will put in a better effort. Set an amount of study and homework that you are going to do. Make yourself accountable so that you report truthfully what you have done to someone. Plan to reward yourself if you actually meet the standard you set. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 02:23, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Study skills self help information | Cook Counseling Center | Virginia Tech. -- Wavelength (talk) 02:30, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Study skills and Study Skills - How to Study. -- Wavelength (talk) 03:12, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Open Directory - Reference: Education: How to Study. -- Wavelength (talk) 03:44, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Here are a few tips from me.

Try to develop a love for your subject(s) that is strong enough to overcome any tendency toward laziness.
Try to associate with other students who really want to study (if they are good associates in other respects), and avoid the negative influence of students who prefer to party. (Think about how much your progress can be set back by even one accepted invitation to a party, when your time could have been spent in studying, not to mention the problems that can result from drunkenness.)
According to your time and other factors, you might want to reinforce what you are learning by teaching it to students who are having difficulty in understanding it.
Use some of the remainder of your summer vacation to review what you studied in your previous school year, because it is likely important for understanding what you will learn in the coming school year. Also, try to find out, as soon as you can, what you will be studying in the coming school year, and begin to familiarize yourself with some of the concepts.

—Wavelength (talk) 04:31, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

[I am revising to my second tip by adding two passages, each one in a set of parentheses.—Wavelength (talk) 14:30, 14 August 2010 (UTC)][reply]

[I am adding a fourth tip.—Wavelength (talk) 14:47, 14 August 2010 (UTC)][reply]

[I am revising my comment of 14:30, 14 August 2010 (UTC), by striking through the word "to".—Wavelength (talk) 02:36, 17 August 2010 (UTC)][reply]

Decide just how important this course is to you. If you decide that your interests lie elsewhere, then go elsewhere! Life's too short to waste it doing stuff you don't like. Having a degree isn't the be-all and end-all, you know. --TammyMoet (talk) 10:17, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Course? It sounds to me like the OP is still in secondary school, probably entering the year they're going to do their exams for the Junior Certificate or the Leaving Certificate. While there are alternatives particularly to doing the Leaving Certificate, for better or worse lacking secondary school qualifications in many developed countries, including I'm guess Ireland usually does greatly limit your options later in life so is not IMHO something that should be recommended lightly. In particularly, if the OP doesn't even have any basic secondary school qualification yet (the Junior Certificate in Ireland I think) I would urge great caution before abandoning secondary school and at the very least consider what you'll do instead, such as attending a vocational school Nil Einne (talk) 10:26, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Common Errors in English. -- Wavelength (talk) 14:33, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Glossary of Mathematical Mistakes. -- Wavelength (talk) 14:39, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Ask your parents to do a Web search for how to help children succeed in school.—Wavelength (talk) 15:36, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2010 July 25#Learning to hate (school) learning, and the two book articles mentioned.

—Wavelength (talk) 20:22, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There are lots of good bits of advice here that I won't repeat, and instead I'll add, maintain good physical health. Your brain is part of your body- it works better when you're healthy. Get plenty of sleep, regular physical exercise, and healthy food- it really does affect your ability to absorb, retain, and use knowledge. I found the book Brain Rules to be a very interesting and non-scientist-readable review of how brains work and how to use them effectively. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 20:53, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you have attention deficit disorder, keep on your meds. Comet Tuttle (talk) 15:15, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder controversies#Concerns about medication. Wavelength (talk) 21:48, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 May 2#Short list of the most important general skills

and Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2010 May 8#Helping poor students. -- Wavelength (talk) 22:01, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Foam on pond

i first ask for help to try and a problem with my pond so i will ask again i have a problem with foam on top of the water i have kept ponds for the last 20 years and never had a problem like this my water is taken by pump to three large filters then back to the pond by means of a man made water fall can you help please my computer skills are poor but i dont need bonzo bugs telling me so if you dont know the answer but out bugs —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.86.9.58 (talk) 14:39, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For what it's worth, Bugs wasn't the one who criticised your typing skills last time. In future it's generally a better idea to keep responses within the same section, rather than starting a new one. Vimescarrot (talk) 15:34, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There's actually a very good answer to your question under the original post. --TammyMoet (talk) 17:34, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

He still hasn't told us what the water source is. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:49, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And Tammy's right, the original section has a lengthy and good response. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:51, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have seen detergent, soap and phosphate contamination cause suds in bodies of water which have aeration/splashing/agitation of the water. How it got in the water is the real question, but I recall vandals thinking it was funny to dump detergent in fountains. Edison (talk) 20:09, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen a waterfall that produced foam when the water hit the lower part of the river. ~A H 1^(TCU) 22:55, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen foam appear on the surface of a severely algae-infested swimming pool after the pH was brought back to the right range and the pool heavily dosed with chlorine. The foam in that case was greenish-brown in color and several inches thick! It clearly consisted of dead algae - which in this context is a good sign that we were winning the battle to clean it up. The foam was quite effectively removed by the pools 'sand filter' - but that quickly became clogged by this material. Hence, it's essential to clean/backwash/replace the filters after such events, and it's possible that the problem here relates to that kind of thing. SteveBaker (talk) 03:43, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

pigs

What documentary is this from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYUSKWhb3sk —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.176.16.252 (talk) 15:39, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Your best bet would probably be to contact the uploader of the video and ask them. Tyrol5 [Talk] 17:03, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt that, given that 90% of the stuff on YouTube has just been re-uploaded from other sites. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:48, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps Dark Circle meltBanana 18:03, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That's a good candidate. One of the obvious things about the video is that it was made sometime before the end of US nuclear testing in 1992. Just naming off the documentaries I have seen, it is not from Atomic Cafe, Radio Bikini, or Trinity and Beyond. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:45, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Checking some more, I think that's absolutely correct. The narrator voice is the same as the short clip contained in this interview regarding Dark Circle (e.g. starting at 2:36). --Mr.98 (talk) 20:49, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

August 15

Citation using Chicago Referencing

How do you:

1. Cite a powerpoint presentation? It was given during a university lecture and my tutor seems to want me to include it in my assignment, but I have no idea how. 2. Cite a work that has been quoted in a different work? I would just include the entire book but it was written in German and it would be somewhat obvious that I hadn't actually read it.

Thanks.

Sarah —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.53.104.14 (talk) 01:51, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For 1, if I were citing this for publication, I would cite it as a "personal communication", and possibly add a note clarifying the origin. For 2, I would cite the original and add a "quoted by" note pointing to the source that I actually got it from. In my experience, though, it's pretty common to just cite the original in cases like that. But for a class, I would play it safe and add a note. Looie496 (talk) 02:02, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

On #1: I would just cite it like a lecture. See here. That is what my students have done for me in the past, anyway. I would not cite it as a "personal communication." In any case, whatever you do, just be consistent, and give as much information as is necessary for the reader to understand what it is you are trying to cite, in a general Chicago-like appearance, and it will probably be fine. Make a good-faith effort but don't spend all day worrying about it; your teacher will probably not have any idea how it should be cited either, as it is not a common thing to cite. Citation, in general, should be taken seriously, but not at the detriment of the substance!

On #2: If it was translated I would use "Quoted in <source with the translated quote>." I have read some places where they very much want you to cite the original (e.g. the German) and then say "quoted in," because it would then keep you from having to track down the intermediary source, I suppose. I have always thought that to be a little silly unless you have yourself tracked down the original and confirmed it to be exactly what they said it was. In any case, you really must cite the source that you are getting the translated quote from. At the very least, because as you say, it will look suspicious if you don't. I had a student who plagiarized quite a bit once and the really key giveaway (it was otherwise a pretty good essay) was that he cited lots of sources that I knew he really could not have possibly gotten his hands on (because they were not only in a language which I was fairly sure he didn't know, but were probably available only in obscure archives in countries I was fairly sure he hadn't gone to), which prompted me to start running those quotes through Google, which revealed that he had just paraphrased another book entirely without citing it. Anyway, you are obviously not doing that, but it will stick out to a close reader for the reason you'd mentioned. --Mr.98 (talk) 03:16, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

On #1, if the lecturer was kind enough to put the powerpoint files up in hir personal area of your university's webserver, the you might be able to cite the URL. CS Miller (talk) 12:17, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Script/antiqua typeface

Does anyone know of a typeface that is script (i.e. looks like handwriting) but isn't as curly as Brush Script? I guess I want something a bit like an antiqua typeface but a bit more like handwriting. Yaris678 (talk) 07:33, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Lucida group of typefaces contains my favourites: Handwriting and Calligraphy.--TammyMoet (talk) 08:52, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

We also have a collection under samples of script typefaces. Maybe you can spot one there. ---Sluzzelin talk 14:25, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks guys. Lucida Calligraphy seems to be what I am after. Yaris678 (talk) 18:14, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Kiddies' rhyme

Can anybody help with the text (and variations?) of a rhyme that starts something like <One two three, mother caught a flea, put in the teapot and made a cup of tea>?Froggie34 (talk) 07:35, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

One, two, three, Mother caught a flea,

Put it in a teapot to make a pot of tea.

The flea jumped out! Mother gave a shout!

In came Father with his shirt hanging out![1] or

Father came in with his shirt hanging out![2] Clarityfiend (talk) 08:12, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens Border?

Where is the exact border between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.220.46.47 (talk) 13:19, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The official website[3] isn't much help. It does say that the Gardens were enclosed during the 18th Century and the map posted by Cuddlyable3 seems to show that. There is no boundary fence now. I seem to remember that Queen Caroline of Ansbach (maybe?) once asked how much it would cost to enclose the whole of Hyde Park to keep out the public and was told "a couple of crowns". Alansplodge (talk) 14:51, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A lot of current maps, including official Royal Parks ones, don't mark the boundary on. But several modern maps (e.g. [4]), using unstated evidence, continue to mark West Carriage Drive as the boundary, not the Serpentine. Warofdreams talk 16:50, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That's very similar to the 1833 map. Alansplodge (talk) 17:14, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The placing of the "H" of "HYDE PARK" on this map seems to identify all the land east of the Serpentine. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 19:06, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Pokémon probability

How come the probability of an attack hitting is inversely proportional to how important it is that the attack hits? --70.134.48.188 (talk) 14:42, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My guess is that it makes the game more exciting. If the reverse were the case then you'd almost always succeed when it mattered most and only have a serious chance of failing when it didn't matter at all. The game would be very unexciting because all of the 'drama' would have been sucked out of it! Game designers spend a lot of time thinking about things like that - they even plot graphs of player progress of stress versus reward and so forth. There is quite a bit of science to it. Making a game be both 'balanced' and 'fun' is rather tricky. SteveBaker (talk) 16:17, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It isn't. It's confirmation bias. You don't notice all the times when the important strike hits because it's non-notable, but you pay attention every time that important strike misses and place more importance on them. That said, as the battle wears on it's more likely that you will, at some point, have been hit with an accuracy-reducing move.

If it still really bothers you, have your Pokémon use Faint Attack, Aerial Ace, Shadow Punch, Magnet Bomb, Swift, Magical Leaf, or Shock Wave. They all hit without fail...with a few rare exceptions. Vimescarrot (talk) 16:23, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The random elements of games frequently appear unfair to users. In Battle for Wesnoth, this problem was apparently so severe that the developers made the game keep detailed statistics (accessible at any time through the menus) so that the user can see the overall behavior and trust that the "dice" weren't loaded. Paul (Stansifer) 21:56, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Will that explain why my rivals Magikarp can use splash 68 times when the move only comes with 40 power points? ^Avic _ennasis @ 16:28, 6 Elul 5770 / 16 August 2010 (UTC)

That's because the computer is a cheating bastard. 86.164.66.83 (talk) 00:48, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(Confession: In real life I am actually a computer game programmer.)

Well, yes, sometimes the AI's cheat a bit...but bear in mind that without cheating the AI's would fire 17 milliseconds after seeing you - no matter how subtly you hide or sneak - and with zero network lag. They would always get off the first shot. They would fire at the maximum rate their weapon will cycle and every single shot would be 100% perfectly on target - at maximum range, and even if both you and they are running flat out at the time.

To make the game even slightly playable, game programmers have to "cheat" by slowing down the AI's, by making them die from practically the first wound. The player always survives lots of hits without so much as slowing him down and has magical curative 'health packs' scattered around which the AI's are somehow careless enough to leave lying around their secure hideout...yet are stupid enough never to use themselves! We also make the AI's wait before they shoot - and shoot deliberately wildly.

So, (on occasions) we have to give them a helping hand ("cheat") the other way to make up for the deficiencies of them being a mere thousand lines of software running on a fairly cruddy computer - rather than being as smart as an actual, live human. There is no way that game AI's are ever going to be as smart as the player (or as smart as...say...a cockroach) - the art is to make use of the things an AI has got going for it - to cover for it's extreme stupidity. That means there is some compromise of reality. The art is to make the (inevitable) cheating look as unobvious as possible...and that's the tough part.

If you take the example of a car racing game. It would be the easiest thing in the world to make the AI's drive a perfect race - taking the perfect racing line, doing everything 100% right. You'd never beat them. So you have to dumb them down. But if you just make them perform at (let's say) 105% of the performance of an average player - then average players will almost never win a race...FRUSTRATING! If we make them perform at 95% of the performance of an average player - then average players will win about the right amount of the time - and they'll have fun. But the problem is that when someone first picks up the game, they won't be playing at average skill level. They'll spend the first 10 hours of game play getting frustrated - then they'll have a few hours of fun as they just start beating the AI's...then they'll get a little better and win 100% of the time which is BORING.

So the way to make the game challenging is to have the AI's adjust their skill level to yours. To keep themselves always close to your skills. That's easy enough to program - but it's still not enough to keep the excitement going.

In most real car races, if you spin out or crash - you're out of the race...game over. But game players can't stand to play games that are that realistic - nobody but the most hard-core would buy racing games where any crash ended the race. So we have to cheat and let the player carry on racing after a crash - with just a few seconds of penalty to make them try to avoid doing it. The trouble is that if the AI's are racing at close to the player's skill level, they'll be so far away after a few seconds of delay that you'll be racing alone through empty track for a long time...and THAT is BORING. So we cheat some more...when you crash, the other drivers slow down a bit to give you a chance to catch up and to rescue the game experience.

It works the other way too: if you get too far ahead, you are again racing on an empty track - which in the real world is great news! But in a game, it takes all the fun out of it. Where is the challenge? So when you get way ahead, we may have the AI's speed up some to get closer and keep the pressure on you. Having gotten ahead of the pack, you can't build up a massive lead and relax - because the AI's are always right there behind you.

Of course if that's all we did, it wouldn't matter whether you drove well or badly, the outcome of every race would be more or less random...and if anyone ever realized that's what we were doing, it would also be a disaster! So the trick (which is sometimes done well - and sometimes completely screwed up) is to make it so that the player wins races by doing better than he did the last time he played. You always feel like you're under pressure to get ahead or to keep your lead - and that pressure makes it fun. Even if you aren't a great race driver, the AI programming can make you feel like you are - which is what makes the game fun. In the end, you are really racing against yourself...which is automatically a challenge, no matter your actual skill level.

It's a common view that game programmers are cheating because they want the AI's to win...but that's ridiculous. The objective is sell more games - and to do that, we need to give the player the most exciting experience we possibly can...and sometime we...erm...cheat a bit...to make it more exciting. SteveBaker (talk) 03:39, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wow! Thank you for that informative reply! It's a real eye opener and really helps to explain so much of my gaming life! Really, awesome info, thanks! ^Avic _ennasis @ 07:20, 7 Elul 5770 / 17 August 2010 (UTC)

How can I make my rice stick togther

I really like sushi and occasionally like to try to make it at home. I have lots of recipie books but usually follow the instructions on the back of the pack of sushi rice I buy from my local supermarket here in the UK. The problem appears to be, the rice has a huge preference for sticking to everything except itself. I end up with rice stuck to the pan, the utensils, my hands and anything else it touches. I really struggle to form the rice into the oblong shapes because each movement of my hand pulls it apart again. If I wet my hand with vinegared water - the usual advice in my recipie books - the rice doesn't stick to my hands but it still won't stick to itself; and if I do get somthing of a vaguely acceptable shape and size, it readily falls apart again when I go to eat it. So, how can I make my rice stick togther? Astronaut (talk) 15:15, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hard to know for sure what the problem is without observing you in action, but two things that occur to me are (1) it's easier if the rice is cold before you try to shape it, and (2) even with the vinegar water you have to keep your hands rigorously clean -- as soon as they get starchy you need to clean them before continuing to work. Looie496 (talk) 17:06, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

try adding a little more water and/or turning down the heat when you cook the rice. in my experience, the more liquid the rice absorbs, the stickier it is. just don't add so much water that the rice turns into a paste. --Ludwigs2 18:30, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you stir the rice a bit during cooking it will make it stickier. Don't do it too much or you'll get something like rice pudding! Yaris678 (talk) 20:24, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This might sound like a stupid question, but are you cooking the rice correctly? The best way to cook sushi rice is in a (preferably Japanese) rice cooker - considering the sheer number of Japanese people in the UK, these should be available in any major kitchen appliances store. If you don't have one, you can cook it in a regular pot, but it takes a little extra work - the lid must be perfectly closed (possibly weighed down as well) so that no steam escapes - the rice should effectively be steamed, rather than cooked. Lately special little plastic dishes for steaming rice in a microwave oven have become available, too - possibly you can get those in a store as well, but I wouldn't know. TomorrowTime (talk) 21:01, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I thought maybe I wasn't cooking the rice properly. Maybe too much water is escaping as steam - certainly the lid of the pot I use is not very tight. The instructions I use simply say put the lid on the pot, simmer for 10 minutes, then leave the pot to cool for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Today, I left the rice to cool for considerably longer (nearly an hour) before emptying the rice into a shallow dish and adding the sushi seasoning. I still got rice that stuck to everything but itself (it tasted good though). I had previously looked into buying a rice cooker, but I thought the typical 2+ litre capacity was much larger than I would need and they were quite expensive for an occasional use item. However, looking again just now, I can see Amazon has a few mini rice cookers at much more reasonable prices. Any hints on what I should look for (or avoid) in mini rice cookers? Astronaut (talk) 00:23, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My wife says that you're probably using the wrong kind of rice. Sadly, she went to bed without elaborating on that thought. SteveBaker (talk) 03:30, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You know, that was my first instinctive thought when I first saw the title of the question, but the rice seems to be OK, if Astronaut is using the rice on the JPG in his first post - it's an export from Japan and is supposed to be sushi rice. Steve, what your wife had in mind is that there are basically two broad types of rice, long corn and short corn, and here in Europe we use almost exclusively long corn, while in Asia it's short corn. The difference between these two is that long corn doesn't get nearly as sticky as short corn. TomorrowTime (talk) 08:28, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

While botanically rice is often divided into indica and japonica ([5]), commercially there are far more then two types of rice, even most simple divisions usually divide rice into long grain, medium grain and short grain. Note that the more then two types thing is important in a number of ways, for example there are glutinous varieties of rice (often called sticky rice) which are used in some Chinese dishes as well as SEA, South Korean and Japanese ones but these aren't used for Sushi.

Also it isn't true short grain is exclusively or even I would argue predominantly used in Asia, Jasmine rice and Basmati are well known long grain aromatic varieties that originate in and are commonly used in parts of Asia. (Although medium grain varietes of rice are popular in India too.) In fact my impression is long grain varieties are fairly popular in China as well. Medium grain is generally preferred in Japan and South Korea however. [6] says something similar and makes a distinction between Southern (preferring long grain) and Northern China (preferring medium grain). BTW I'm not entirely sure about the European division either. Arborio for example is a short grain variety. (I know medium grain varieties are quite common in NZ, probably partially because Australia produces a lot of that.)

P.S. Further research suggests that japonica derived varieties are generally more suited to more temperate area and indica varieties generally more suited to tropical area, hence tropical areas of Asia do actually tend to use longer grains of rice more. This supports my belief, which I didn't mentioned earlier because I wasn't able to find any refs, that longer grained varieties are common in SEA. [7] suggests the split is 70 indica-30 japonica in China. To state the obvious, with significant proportion of China's rice longish grain, probably something similar for India and seemingly much of SEA (although glutinous rice appears to be popular in some parts of that particularly Laos) it's probably more accurate to say longish grains predominate in Asia then shortish grain varieties.

In terms of the OP, since it's apparent they are using a sushi variety of rice I would recommend what others have mentioned, try adjusting the amount of water and the cooking equipment.

Nil Einne (talk) 13:56, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to me that you are using the right rice. Looking at the image of the pack, your rice is 無洗米. So you don't have to wash it. Just rinse it and put the rice in the pan and add water. Be sure to use soft water. Your water might be too hard. As for the water ratio, see Japanese rice#Preparation. If you have dried kombu, cut it about 5x3 cm and put it in the pan for umami. Put the lid on the pan and wait for at least 30 minutes. Then cook rice with the strongest heat. When the water is boiled and bubbles come out between the lid and the pan, turn the heat down to the lowest and cook 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and wait for another 15 minutes. Now you can open the lid. Mix sushi vinegar with rice on a tray or in a hangiri while the rice is hot. Oda Mari (talk) 16:16, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Rather than installing a (very expensive) filter in my water pipes, would a filter jug like this one make my very hard water soft enough? Thanks for the instructions. I particularly like the idea of waiting half an hour before turning on the heat - I might give that a go and I could use 2 rings on my electric hob to simulate an immediate turning the heat down to the lowest (it takes a while to reduce the heat with electric hobs). Astronaut (talk) 09:15, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why don't you buy a bottled soft water like this one? Of course the still one. Is it difficult to find any at your local stores? It is OK to wait half an hour before cooking. I didn't know you use an electric stove! I only cook with gas. Mmm....I cannot assure you my way of cooking rice would work well with an electric stove. Well, as I don't know how low the lowest of your stove, listen to the sound of the pot. When the bubbling sound of the rice stopped or if you smell something burning, turn off the heat, even if it's before 15 minutes. I think using the rings is a good idea. As for sushi vinegar, please use Japanese rice vinegar. Oda Mari (talk) 16:24, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have a general purpose steamer like this which I've used to cook sushi rice effectively. You may find it cheaper and more flexible than a specific rice steamer. --Frumpo (talk) 09:11, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Odometers vs Sat Nav Speed Indicators.

I guess the Subject line will alert the intelligentsia here to the basis of my query, but for the benefit of the less informed (including myself) and wider Wiki audience, please permit me to explain. I bought a new Suzuki car in March this year and am always careful to observe statutory UK speed limits. But I also always use a TomTom SatNav device so as not to get lost, but also, to advise me when I exceed chosen speed limits such as 30 mph or 70 mph. But I have begun to notice that whilst the Suzuki Odometer says, say, 70 mph, the Tom Tom SatNav says 67 mph, and other SatNav values are always lower by about 10% in favour of the SatNav reading against the Odometer. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR LEGAL ADVICE. But I am interested to know which device is likely to be the most reliable? And as an afterthought, what reading will the UK Traffic Police believe? 92.30.101.74 (talk) 20:42, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Don't know about the UK police, but here's some general thoughts. Maybe the car maker winds the odometer to show slightly more than your actual speed to keep you in the safety margin. Maybe the odometer is functioning slightly off - my last car would show as much as 10 km/h over the actual speed I was making on regular roads, and even more on highways - but it was an old car so maybe that can be expected. If it troubles you, maybe you could call your local Suzuki dealership and inquire. Lastly, the police is going to measure your speed with their own equipment, so how much your odometer shows is really not that important in that regard, IMO. TomorrowTime (talk) 20:53, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) :I've noticed the same discrepancy (confirmed using mile markers on motorways before I purchased a satnav) on several cars of different makes. I assume that manufacturers set their odometers to read about 3 mph "fast" so that they will not be liable if you are fined for exceeding the limit, and so that the dial will not read too ~~high~~ low if different tyres are fitted. I would expect the discrepancy to increase as the tyres wear, but I haven't checked this. Dbfirs 21:03, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I see the same thing, with TomTom vs a Mazda's ODO. I seems that the discrepancy grows with speed, leading me to believe the car's odometer shows about 92% of the speed the gps does. Note that, as a driver is legally responsible for operating a safe vehicle, telling a policeman that your odometer is defective will either fall on deaf ears or result on him issuing you a "fixit" notice (a "vehicle defect rectification notice"), which means you need to get that aspect of the vehicle tested (generally by an MOT tester) and then show a certificate to that effect at a police station. If the vehicle is new, or has passed the MOT, then it almost certainly isn't defective, so telling the policeman it is defective is daft. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:36, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think I saw a story on TV before about a popular car manufacturer taking advantage of the allowed tolerances in odometers. If I remember it right, for years, some of the models from the manufacturer would have odometers that ran too fast but within legal limits. A curious thing was that the model(s) that had the problem would changed from one year to the next. Supposedly the manufacturer benefited from the fast odometers because warranties would run out faster too. --173.49.81.80 (talk) 01:08, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The article Speedometer#United Kingdom has info about tolerances of inaccuracies. ny156uk (talk) 21:37, 15 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

An odometer measures distance travelled. A speedometer measures speed. Apart from that pedantic point, you might want to check your tire pressures. A speedometer works by measuring how many rotations your wheels do every second and multiply that by the circumference of the wheel to get the speed. If the circumference of the wheel changes, the speedometer will be wrong. The most common thing that can change wheel circumference is a change in tire pressure. That said, I would expect your tire pressures to be low, if anything, which ought to make the speedometer give a lower than actual value, rather than the higher value you are reporting. As for the police - they don't care what your speedometer or your sat nav say. They measure your speed with a laser and if that says you are speeding, then they'll give you a ticket. --Tango (talk) 01:27, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The two meters are almost always supplied as one unit with one feed, of course. I think Finlay McWalter's Mazda must have had oversize wheels fitted if the speedo read low (which is illegal in the UK). Tango, lower tyre pressure will make the speedo read even higher! Dbfirs 02:11, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You are right, I managed to get it back-to-front in my mind. The OP reports a higher than actual reading on the speedo, which is consistent with low tire pressure. --Tango (talk) 14:25, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Cars in the US (at least) almost all have speedometers that read high. This topic comes up on a lot of car forums. I believe your sat nav system is telling the honest truth and your speedometer is lying. The reason for this is that no speedometer can be 100% accurate (because of tyre pressure, tyre wear, descrepancies due to going around corners, etc) - but if for any reason it read LOW, then it's possible that you could get a speeding ticket while you were under the impression that you were driving a little under the speed limit. Because you'd probably have car owners suing car companies as a result (sigh), the manufacturers make sure that the error is always on the high side. Numbers between 2.5 and 5mph have been reported - I've heard that BMW's read high by 5% of your speed or 2.5mph whichever is larger.

I'd bet that the exact same thing was true in other countries too.

The cops don't give a damn what your speedometer reads - they are measuring your speed using radar or lidar or by measuring the time it takes you to go between two marks on the road. SteveBaker (talk) 03:24, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's a little subtler than that. Comparing with my GPS, I find that my Toyota's speedometer is pretty much dead on up to about 70 mph or so (I'd guess a standard error of measurement of 2 mph or so, but it doesn't seem to be biased high). However once you start getting the speedometer needle up around 80, the GPS will read at least a few miles lower. I think the discrepancy goes up faster than linear — I haven't had the nerve to really run systematic experiments.

So the speed-limit thing wouldn't really explain this (when the car was made the speed limit was still 55! I'm not big on buying cars, or really, shopping in general....). It seems more like they want to reduce the harm when drivers intentionally go fast just to see the needle go up. --Trovatore (talk) 08:38, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Your GPS (the Tomtom) is incredibly accurate as a speedometer. Even in the days of selective availability, when we only had 100m accuracy on GPS. Conveniently the science has been done, and the accuracy of consumer GPS devices was tested and found to be around 0.5km/h in most cases and 1.5km/h in the worst cases, and remained accurate even with poor satelite signal see this for example. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.202.43.53 (talk) 04:21, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That is not my experience at low speed. For example when I am straining up a hill on my bicycle at a speed I know by experience to be roughly 4 mi/hr, my GPS will show maybe anywhere from 2 to 5 (that's miles, not kilometers), and occasionally even 0. (I think it biases low.) This is using a high-sensitivity model in a hilly area where some satellites may be intermittently visible and ghosts are certainly not out of the question. I do have the impression that the reading is more stable at higher speed (even in terms of absolute difference, not just as a proportion). --Trovatore (talk) 08:28, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A point raised from you uphill cycling: does the GPSr register the horizontal component of speed (change in 2-D co-ords divided by time), or does it take elevation into account and calculate the true speed along the slope? Dbfirs 11:24, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't actually know, but it doesn't make much difference. A 10% grade is relatively steep; at a 10% grade the difference between the two speed measures is only about 0.5%. --Trovatore (talk) 18:13, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It makes a difference on a 30% slope (common where I live). I would test it out but these slopes are usually combined with dangerous hairpin bends! Dbfirs 18:29, 19 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Here in Auckland, they sometimes have a sign which tells your your speed, to encourage you to slow down if you're going too fast. I presume it uses LIDAR or whatever like a police speed gun or a speed camera. I've found on a friends red Mazda these show a speed about 10 km lower then what the odometer say (well at least at around 40-60 km/h. As I've hinted I've seen this on multiple different signs so I presume it isn't a calibration issue. And I don't see any reason why the government agency who put up the sign would want to make you think you're going slower then you actually are (no I doubt revenue collection comes in to it). In other words, the sign is probably resonably accurate and for this (fairly old) car the odometer shows a reading about 10km/hr faster then you're actually going. Nil Einne (talk) 13:40, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have nothing but personal experience to go on, but I do believe speedometers run a little fast. Fun test if you are really curious and have time to kill: Find a relativity straight stretch of highway. Get up to any safe speed, say, 55 or 60 miles per hour, (use cruise control if your car has it), reset your trip odometer and pay attention to mile markers, and drive for an hour. :) If you have driven 60 miles per hour for one hour and your trip odometer shows something like 56 miles, it's fast. If the trip odometer also shows 60, check the mile markers to see if that matches. (It's possible that your odometer is off, too.) ^Avic _ennasis @ 16:42, 6 Elul 5770 / 16 August 2010 (UTC)

I've worked as an engineering student at a Honda manufacturing plant in Canada and I can tell you with certainty that the speedometer is always calibrated to have a positive to zero tolerance. This means that your speedometer will always display a speed higher than your currently going or exactly your current speed. This ensures that your never speeding because of a bad calibration on the speedometer.

August 16

Enterprise

I thought that I watched every episode of Star trek the next generation before moving on to deep space 9 but now that I am on season they keep mentioning what happened to the enterprise and how it was destroyed. Can any one please enlighten me as to what happened to the enterprise? was Piccard okay? And what about Data? Basically, what happened in the last episode of the next generation? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.145.145 (talk) 01:10, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Enterprise-D was destroyed in the film, Star Trek Generations. They could have been referring to that. It wasn't destroyed in the last episode of the TV series (that episode ends with Picard sitting down with the other senior officers to play poker in Riker's quarters). --Tango (talk) 01:17, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There's a timeline on Memory Alpha that may also help. There are four Next Generation films which take place in various times during the other series. Vimescarrot (talk) 01:24, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You should also note that DS9 and TNG ran concurrently for a few seasons, so that's something to be aware of. Aaronite (talk) 03:25, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Haha, I'm on similar quest right now (but ahead of you) and I noticed the same thing. Yeah, it's the movies they are talking about. TomorrowTime (talk) 08:31, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

But if you're wondering whether Data is okay, you probably shouldn't watch Nemesis... Adam Bishop (talk) 15:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You probably shouldn't watch Nemesis anyway :) TomorrowTime (talk) 16:17, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The odd/even StarTrek movie rule definitely doesn't apply to Nemesis. It's the tenth movie - sadly, we now have to consider 10 to be an odd number because it was a truly terrible movie. SteveBaker (talk) 01:19, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Didn't like II or IV. II bugged me because it ruined the upbeat ending of the TOS episode ~~Botany Bay~~ whoops, apparently it was called Space Seed. IV was too much about Roddenberry's politics, which are quite different from mine (I like Babylon 5 and Firefly a lot). It did have a few good lines though — "Take me to nuclear wessels!".

But I liked First Contact reasonably well, mainly for the character of Zefrem Cochrane and the individual-inventor source of the warp drive. --Trovatore (talk) 01:28, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

IV was about not driving humpback whales to extinction. It's not exactly controversial politics... --Tango (talk) 02:08, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't mean the whales, per se. --Trovatore (talk) 02:10, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am not so sure Tango. If you were to plot the humpback whale population against the standard of living in the USA, you would find a pretty good correlation showing the standard of living increases as the humpback whale population decreases. Therefore, killing all humpback whales will solve all the problems in the USA. Googlemeister (talk) 13:36, 17 August 2010 (UTC) [reply]

Then what did you mean? It's all about whales... --Tango (talk) 15:35, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It struck me as anti-capitalist withal. --Trovatore (talk) 19:16, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What, and you only noticed this now? Think about it - obliteration of money, working in order to better oneself and contribute to the society... The whole idea of society in Star Trek is a highly idealized form of communism, FFS. The whole series is a leftist fairy tale. I mean, c'mon, the only major species that "still" uses money is portrayed as runty, greedy, untrustworthy, lustful, abhorrent and slug-and-bug-eating. TomorrowTime (talk) 19:35, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, you're treating the whole canon as one thing, which is probably unjustified. The original series was not quite so blatant on this point (though I do remember being struck by it in the episode where the spy disguised as an Andorian was fomenting discord among delegates discussing accession to the Federation of some little planet, the reason being apparently that it would interfere with mining interests). But it was very front-and-center in movie IV, which is why I didn't like that one very much. --Trovatore (talk) 22:19, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well yeah, you're right, I did commit the fallacy of encompassing the whole canon into this. But I did take the time in the meanwhile to watch the movie again (I did like it, after all), and I must say I'm not sure what bugged you so much. The only thing that could be seen as anti-capitalistic in the movie was, IMO, the brief scene where Kirk figures that "well, in this barbaric time they still used money, we should get some, I'll go sell my glasses". I'd be interested to know what it was that didn't sit well with you. (Bear in mind, I'm not trying to be antagonistic, I'm just a curious European lefty interested in an exchange of opinions.) TomorrowTime (talk) 23:13, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm equally confused. Star Trek generally is anti-capitalist, certainly, but The Voyage Home isn't particularly so. As you say, there is one mention of "they still use money", but that's all I can remember. --Tango (talk) 23:29, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't remember exactly. It was a long time ago. That was the impression I remember coming away with. --Trovatore (talk) 00:40, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, the solution is that the definition of "Star Trek movie" is functional, not nominal. Paul (Stansifer) 15:21, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

History of longcase clock I own

I have a small longcase clock with a brass face or dial and the name "Thos Wainwright Ashbourne" on the top. It is an 8 day clock with two key holes. Can you help me with the history of the clock and of Thos Wainwright of Ashbourne, in England. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.181.99.121 (talk) 05:44, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Page 8 of this PDF gives some information on Wainwright. Dalliance (talk) 09:13, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's all in the mind... and the location

Is there a disease which only manifest itself when one is placed on a specific area or induced with a specific type of stress? I just read a business magazine article where a guy suddenly develops a rash when he is placed on an area where he has to handle financial responsibilities like his workplace. He seems to consider money and power as evil or something so that seems to be the trigger. The problem seems to be all in the mind since he was reported to be successful and healthy outside the area of finances.--Lenticel ^(talk) 06:07, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have a specific answer for you but our article on Psychosomatic medicine has a section for disorders which may be of interest. Dismas|^(talk) 07:15, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There are cases of "school denial syndrome" in Japan (or sth like that, I don't think that's a proper English expression) - kids can get so wound up by the stress of going to school (exams, bullying, generally not fitting in with the rest of the crowd, stuff like that) that they actually throw up every morning when they are told it's time to go to school. And yes, it's considered an actual problem, not just some lazy brats' way of trying to wiggle out of having to go to school. TomorrowTime (talk) 08:37, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

School phobia which is actually a redirect. Sussexonian (talk) 19:31, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Laurence Olivier comes to mind here. It sounds crazy, but for some years during the latter part of his career he experienced severe and debilitating stage fright, but there was never a problem with the other public appearances he made during this time. I don't know whether he had visible physical symptoms, or internal feelings of fear, dread etc. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 09:27, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

NHL goaltender Glenn Hall supposedly threw up before each game. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:39, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A few years ago when I found myself working under a bullying and procedure-violating Line Manager, I used to throw up most mornings before driving to work, so it's not a problem confined to schoochildren! (For interest, I stuck it out until his (and the overall Site) Manager (who refused to initiate the complaints procedure over this) was fired for various incompetencies, and he himself simultaneously left for another company having anticipated his own dismissal.) (87.81 posting from . . .) 87.82.229.195 (talk) 11:00, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There are of course many physical stresses that can make one sick or worse. They include Frostbite, Heatstroke, Drowning and even more unhealthy things such as Crushing by elephant. Being in a location that prompts remembering or imagining such experiences causes unhealthy mental stress.Cuddlyable3 (talk) 11:27, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

An unwritten rule of the refdesk: If possible, always try to find a way to work one of the following two links into an answer: "crushing by elephant", "Japanese toilet" :) TomorrowTime (talk) 11:41, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Identity of torch bearer

The schedule of the Junior Youth Olympic Flame route states that Pal Schmitt was to be a torch-bearer at this stretch of road called Church Street. The man in the photo is definitely a torch-bearer, because his uniform is unique only to torch-bearers. However, I cannot confirm if this is really Pal Schmitt.

Can anyone identify the person? --TVB dx iang (Ta lk) 10:29, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, the man in the photo certainly doesn't look like the 68 year old man with grey hair that our Pal Schmitt article shows. Dismas|^(talk) 10:56, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I was about to suggest you ask User:Tdxiang, who took that photo ... --Sean 18:41, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's perfectly possible that this is either the person who will hand the torch on to Pal Schmitt - or who will take over the run when Schmitt is done. I'm sure they practice the hand-offs before the actual event. If you have details about the flame carriers, I'd definitely check the previous and subsequent bearers. SteveBaker (talk) 00:39, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's certainly not him; here is a picture of him at the time.

The participants are listed here; I tried Googling up some of the names, but haven't found anyone who looks like this chap yet. Chzz ► 06:33, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Could it be Zsolt Gyulay? See [8] [9] (on right) and Google for more. Chzz ► 06:51, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

economic benefit from debit cards

How does the government of a country benifit from DEBIT CARDS? Let me clarify that I'm talking about DEBIT CARDS specifically and not CREDIT CARDS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rajat hira (talk • contribs) 15:15, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but it saves some money for Bureau of Engraving and Printing.(Or its counterparts in other nations)

It probably makes law-enforcement easier to have traceable transactions. APL (talk) 16:01, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It also makes economic activity easier - you don't need to have money on you to have money on you (that is physical cash is somewhat redundant). It likely increases efficiency for businesses - they spend less time maintaining their accounts as it is electronic activity with built in automation compared to the more time-consuming dealing with cash-transfers and so on. It also makes banks more efficient and, whilst not favoured at the moment, banks make huge amounts of money and pay large amounts of corporation tax / lend-money to small busineses etc. ny156uk (talk) 16:23, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Aside from not printing cash and minting coins, I can't see any other way, since the government doesn't run debit cards; the banks and credit companies do. Aaronite (talk) 16:49, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What do you mean by the government benefiting? Assuming we are talking about legitimate democratic governments, then they don't try and benefit the government, they try and benefit the country. Debit cards benefit the country because they make it much easier to engage in economic activity (which is generally a good thing - a trade is (assuming no inefficiencies like one party having incomplete or false information) a win-win scenario for the two parties). --Tango (talk) 17:17, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As noted above, the ease of use of debit cards can be expected to increase economic activity. Transactions are securely recorded, so they can also be expected to reduce tax evasion. Debit cards also can be expected to reduce counterfeiting and crimes involving the use of currency, although this may be a limited benefit because (1) currency is still in use, and therefore these crimes can still occur, and (2) there are corresponding crimes involving debit cards, such as fraud and identity theft. A major offsetting consideration, from the government's point of view, is that debit cards give it no opportunity for seigniorage, the difference between the value of a dollar bill and what it costs the government to print it. John M Baker (talk) 17:35, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Being charged a debit card overdraft will increase the profits of the bank, and those profits are taxed. Googlemeister (talk) 18:23, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Our article on the broken window fallacy might be relevant here. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 20:43, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Not applicable in this case since we are not talking about a benefit to the economy overall, just a benefit to the government. The glazier benefits from broken windows, even if everyone else suffers. Googlemeister (talk) 13:33, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That is only if he is incapable of any employment other than glazing. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:45, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If there hadn't been a bank charge (and an associated, taxable bank profit) the original purchaser could have used his money to buy additional goods and services from other non-bank companies who would have profited and been taxed in their turn. In other words, some of the profit and associated tax burden was shifted from the widget supplier to the bank; you've not made a convincing case that the government coffers are any further ahead. The example you offered didn't indicate how the bank charges improved the overall output of the economy, and so don't demonstrate how overall there would be more for the government to tax. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:00, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

He could just have easily not spent it at all though, or spent it on a product from a non-profitable company in which case the (federal) government does not benefit (assuming the person is not on welfare I guess).

San Francisco Chronicle article by John Wasserman entitled "Very Very Terry Terry"

I'm looking for an article by John Wasserman written in 1967 or 1968 about a grand opening at Ghirardelli Square in which the band The Who and Neighbr'hood Childr'n is mentioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.185.13.170 (talk) 18:16, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

We have an article about him under his fuller name of John L. Wasserman, which mentions that he was an entertainment critic for the San Francisco Chronicle (whom you could try contacting, and who might be able to sell you a copy) and that a book incorporating many of his articles (see the end of our article for details) has been published that might include the one you want. The existence of this volume reduces the likelihood of the article being available free on the internet. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 19:39, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As with your last question on this topic, your best strategy might be to contact the San Francisco Chronicle directly. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 20:41, 16 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You're better off calling your local library; newspapers aren't generally in the business of looking up 40-year-old articles for people, although some do offer such a service for a fee. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:33, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

August 17

Proposed UK responce to nuclear attack after Trident

What is the proposed responce of the UK if a rogue state (and in time all or nearly all states could have the technology) explodes a nuclear missile in or over London, if Trident was no longer available? Write them a very stiff letter of complaint? 92.28.247.204 (talk) 09:26, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed by whom? The UK has the third largest military expenditure of any state in the world, so it would have a large number of potential responses to any attack. If the question is intended rhetorically, bear in mind that, to date, the only state to have exploded a nuclear weapon agressively is the United States, that most states, including Western European ones, do not maintain a nuclear capacity, and that in an actual event of this type, it may be far from clear who is responsible for an attack or, if it is an organisation, where would be an appropriate target for a nuclear response. Warofdreams talk 09:50, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"It would have a large number of potential responses to any attack" - could you be more specific please. 92.28.241.20 (talk) 12:36, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(If I may) Might I suggest air strikes, naval bombardment, targeted air drops, full-scale invasion. Just what comes to mind. - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 12:44, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In terms of solely nuclear response, the idea would be, I think, to rely on the nuclear powers still left in Britain's military alliances (NATO comes to mind). - Jarry1250 ^{[Humorous? Discuss.]} 12:27, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The main proposers of not renewing Trident are the Lib Dems, and I don't think they are proposing having no nuclear deterrent at all. They are just proposing a thorough review of the options. --Tango (talk) 12:50, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Though it is worth noting that at the moment, the only UK nuclear weapons system is Trident, and introducing a new (or old) system would be non-trivial. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:59, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Trident is reaching the end of its operational lifetime, though, and renewing it is also non-trivial. --Tango (talk) 14:24, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

True, true. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:44, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Even with Trident, it's not clear what would happen. If Pyongyang slipped a nuke into London and sets it off today, what happens? Well, first you'll want to make sure it actually came from Pyongyang. This can be done without too much difficulty (isotopic analysis) but will take a little time to check the results, assuming they are straightforward (and not some kind of elaborate Tom Clancy scenario involving stolen HEU and a false flag operation or something). Then what? Do you just nuke back? Or do you laboriously go through the UN or NATO? What if China and Russia say, "please don't nuke back, we wouldn't like it if you nuked back"? Do you risk escalation and involvement of two other (very nuclear) superpowers? Or do you try to do some kind of coalition invasion force thing? I don't know. I'm sure this kind of thing keeps people up at night at high levels. It's not straightforward. The best part about nuclear deterrents is that you hope you never have to use them — put on a tough face and hope that works to deter. Actually contemplating what you'd do with or without them is a little tough.

If we switched it from London to, say, Berlin, it becomes a little more clear: Germany limps over to UN/NATO, says "help," and then the US and everyone else tries to whip up a war party to go (conventionally) bomb or invade under a UN police action (again). It seems unlikely on the face of it to me that the US, for example, would respond with a nuke in such a situation, but this is just speculation on my part. I don't think the US wants to start nuking people (again) if it can help it. Presumably a similar situation would unfold if the UK got rid of its deterrents. (Or the US, for that matter.) --Mr.98 (talk) 13:59, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt N. Korea would be nuked in retaliation. While it has an enormous army, it is outdated. NATO wouldn't have any difficulty defeating N. Korea by conventional means. The only thing stopping them at the moment is China and if N. Korea did launch an nuclear attack on Britain (or anywhere else, for that matter) I doubt China would be able to do much to help them. --Tango (talk) 14:37, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, though I don't think China would be very happy if the response was nuclear, which was more my point. (I don't think China would risk nuclear war over North Korea, mind you.) My general point is that once you really start contemplating this beyond the slogans, it gets really murky and problematic. Once you expand the "nuclear war" timeline from "we have 30 seconds to make a decision" to "let's ponder what to do for a few weeks", the decisions actually get a lot harder. It's easier to say, "well, if they're going all out, we'll go all out too!" than it is to say, "well, what exactly does this horrible but not all-out attack warrant?" --Mr.98 (talk) 14:47, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The civilian response would be to Duck and cover and might have looked like this (45-year old film that was banned by the BBC). Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:42, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Considering that North Korea can barely put together one working test, Iran seems adamant (for now) that their nuclear ambitions are limited to civilian power stations, and neither nation has a history of threating the UK, what possible reason would either nation have attack a nuclear-free UK? A much more likely scernario is a dirty bomb detonated by a home-grown suicide bomber, against which Trident is absolutely useless. Astronaut (talk) 15:06, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's worth noting that even the "dud" North Korean bomb was significantly more powerful than a conventional bomb. .5-1kt is still a deterrent if you consider tens of thousands of deaths to be undesirable. I'm not sure too many people really feel that Iran is trustworthy in reporting their ambitions. But in either case, I do agree it's hard to figure, exactly, why they would want to attack the UK, nuclear free or not. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:14, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not too worried about Iran. They won't use nukes for the same reason the existing nuclear powers don't - mutually assured destruction. North Korea, on the other hand, isn't exactly a rational regime. They could easily decide that going out with a bang is better than making a few concessions but keeping your country. I agree, they wouldn't target the UK, though. We're not in range of their delivery systems and a suitcase-bomb style attack doesn't seem likely (missiles can be launched at short notice, suitcase-bombs can't). --Tango (talk) 16:54, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As I see it — and this is getting into soap box territory, I admit — the main problem with a nuclear Iran is not so much that Iran will use them (I don't think they will — their hard-liners have issues to be sure but they are not suicidal or millenarian), but that it will spur other countries in the region to develop weapons as well. If Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, and Egypt get bombs, that's an awful lot of nukes clustered in a very volatile region (along with Israel). It would be certainly going the wrong direction when it came to making a "safer world." That being said, I don't think it's worth overreacting to, either. The world will not end if Iran gets the bomb, nor do I think nuclear war will suddenly break out. But it would not be a very good thing. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:02, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A suitcase bomb could be smuggled into the country. The time it takes to get here is not important. Over the next few decades ICBM technology, or even just an aircraft with a hidden bomb, could become easily buildable in any country. The technology that launched the first satellites is fifty years old. 92.28.255.157 (talk) 19:31, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Right, but ICBM tech is still pretty hard. The North Koreans are basically just augmenting old Soviet technology (and the Iranians are augmenting North Korean technology based on Soviet technology). "Rocket science" is actually a lot harder than building nuclear weapons, as it turns out. It is a non-trivial problem to move a large amount of mass to a given place with any accuracy. I don't want to make it sound impossible — it's clearly not — but I don't think it's going to become "easily build-able in any country" anytime soon. Nuclear weapons, by contrast, especially crude ones, are "easily build-able" if you have the fissile materials.

Separately, the transit time does matter if one is actually trying to use it for specific ends, and it is not a trivial thing if you actually care about it making it there and not getting caught. (You can be sloppier about things like smuggling counterfeit money or even drugs because it's not quite as hard to cover one's tracks and the consequences at a state level are pretty low, especially with regards to North Korea, who is already pretty much a pariah. But nukes are expensive, both in terms of real dollars and in terms of what would happen if you got caught smuggling one, and they are traceable — through isotopic analysis — to specific countries.) The more realistic scenario, if the North Koreans wanted to target the UK (for whatever reason), would be to smuggle in the bomb some time before you thought you might have to use it, and just have it hidden away and "available" if necessary. This was the old US fear about the Russians in the 1950s, before the USSR had means to deliver its bombs to the US with any reliability. There was even some concern that one could, given enough time and will, smuggle in nuclear weapons parts by means of diplomatic pouch! --Mr.98 (talk) 21:58, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For the record, a "diplomatic pouch" can be a giant crate with a nuke in it. It isn't literally a courier's purse. It would not be necessary to ship over 100 parts and assemble them in the target country. The serious concern on the US side was that the USSR would just ship over whole nukes in crates which were marked "diplomatic pouch" and which were therefore unsearchable. Comet Tuttle (talk) 22:39, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

They were also afraid of them shipping the parts in literal pouches, incidentally. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:06, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Real?

Is this image real ? Jon Ascton (talk) 11:59, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Probably. And if it is, it sure gets around. Dismas|^(talk) 12:57, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Dismas. It's probably a naturally-occuring formation. Chevy monte carlo - alt 13:06, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wow ! never knew such cool search engine exists (and actually works) ! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jon Ascton (talk • contribs) 14:16, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Given the number of trees in the world, I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least one that looks similar to that, so it's probably real. --Tango (talk) 14:26, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And what about this one? My question is : Is the image a)Real b)Fake c)Photoshopped —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jon Ascton (talk • contribs) 14:16, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt that's real. The spinal damage caused by carrying that much weight would be enormous. --Tango (talk) 14:26, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Obviously fake/photoshoped, just like this :) --Galactic Traveller (talk) 15:19, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, that's almost certainly photoshopped (which is pretty much the same as fake). Chevy monte carlo 16:53, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's fake (though not in the usual sense that breasts containing implants are considered "fake"), but it's not photoshopped. There are videos out there with a similar (or the same) model. Not my cup of tea, but it's some kind of prosthetic. Videos involving the male version are also out there. Whatever floats your boat, as they say. Matt Deres (talk) 19:24, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

duct cleaning regulations for restaurants in Oakland Cty, Michigan

I need to know how often hood and ducts in restaurants have to be cleaned per NFPA96 fire code —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.226.45.113 (talk) 14:28, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

According to this, Regulation 11.4.2 says: "Hoods, grease removal devices, fans, ducts, and other appurtenances shall be cleaned to bare metal prior to surfaces becoming heavily contaminated with grease or oily sludge." - so there is no definite interval. You just have to avoid them becoming "heavily contaminated"...which is a pretty vague rule (how much is "heavily"?). However, they do have an inspection schedule. You have to have the system inspected by a specially qualified professional at intervals depending on the type of cooking you do:

Systems serving solid fuel cooking operations -- Monthly
Systems serving high-volume cooking operations such as 24-hour cooking, charbroiling, or wok cooking. -- Quarterly
Systems serving moderate-volume cooking operations. -- Semiannually.
Systems serving low-volume cooking operations, such as churches, day camps, seasonal businesses, or senior centers. -- Annually

So what I think this means (and I'm not a lawyer - nor is Wikipedia allowed to give out legal advice - so read the document for yourself) is that you have to have the hoods & ducts inspected by a professional at these intervals - and you have clean then BEFORE they become heavily contaminated. That's a tricky standard! If you're coming up for a quarterly inspection - and right now they aren't heavily contaminated - you have to somehow guess whether they'd be classified as heavily contaminated sometime within the next quarter - and if so, clean them.

I think the bottom line is that to be on the safe side, you should clean everything to the bare metal before each inspection - but it's kinda tricky.

SteveBaker (talk) 17:24, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

++ Since NFPA is a collection of Fire Protection Codes and Standards that become enforcable when a government or insurer ("Authority Having Juristiction" "AHJ") requies their compliance, you could consider contacting the local fire marshall or building inspection official or your insurance company. Chas in BR (talk) 21:07, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Last day of summer vacation

Hey guys. School starts tomorrow so this is my last day of vacation :( I have got all my stuff ready for tomorrow so today I'm free the whole day. What are some things I can do today to bring a spectacular end to my summer? BTW I cant leave the house. 76.229.199.177 (talk) 15:10, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That last bit kind of puts a dampener on things. If I couldn't leave the house, I would probably spend it playing all my favourite albums back to back while eating pizza and drinking beer. YMMV. --Viennese Waltz ^talk 15:12, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You could write a Wikipedia article. --Tango (talk) 15:38, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 August 14#Tips for returning to school in a big exam year?.

—Wavelength (talk) 15:50, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That's a completely unrelated question. This OP is asking for ideas for something fun to do on the last day of vacation, that OP was asking for advice on how to study better during his final year. Please don't give people such pointless links. --Tango (talk) 17:04, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Good preparation can help to relieve stress, and therefore it can contribute to fun.—Wavelength (talk) 17:31, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are friends available to come over? Do they have friends of the opposite gender? A party may be afoot. (Of course this is not great timing because you will have to clean up when the party is over at 3AM.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:28, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off - then think carefully about whether "I can't leave the house" means "I shouldn't leave the house" or "If I leave the house it's essential that <person X> doesn't find out", etc. (PS, don't do the thing with the car at the end).
OK, OK, that's not gonna work, I can tell. How about you spend the day PLANNING what you're going to do at the end of the coming semester? Plan something utterly outrageous - something so stunningly awesomely huge - that you'll look forward to telling everyone about it when you get into school tomorrow. Make it so it's definitely going to happen - you have months to arrange whatever it takes. SteveBaker (talk) 17:36, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Spend the day making up the most preposterous possible idea you can, and then spend the whole semester trying to convince your peers that you did this activity during the summer. Googlemeister (talk) 18:29, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why not cook something extravagant, or that you've never cooked before? An enormous chocolate cake with 3 layers, filled and covered with chocolate fudge icing and raspberry jam. Pizza topped with fish and chips, or chicken nuggets and fries. Make the biggest sandwich you've ever seen, 10 layers, filled with the most over-the-top fillings. Chocolate brownie baked Alaska combo. There are loads of recipes online that you can use for inspiration, help, or to make the components of something awesome and ridiculous. 86.164.66.83 (talk) 19:30, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Photographing the Perseids might interest you.—Wavelength (talk) 20:41, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Internet stuff? YouTube? Facebook? Chevy monte carlo 06:55, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

MIght I recommend that you find a means to view the film American Graffiti? It is the definitive "Last day of Summer Vacation" movie. --Jayron32 07:08, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

An excellent film, although the viewer might want to refrain from the part about destroying a police car with the police in it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:28, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Crisps or Chips?

In the US, we call them "Potato chips" and in the UK we call them "Crisps". So why does a packet of Baked Lays, sold in Texas, say "FLAVORED POTATO CRISPS" on the front? This bag says "65% less fat than regular potato chips" - and uses a US phone number for their "Questions or Comments" number - so these are clearly marked for US sales, not UK.

Weird. SteveBaker (talk) 17:28, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It may be a marketing requirement thing. There may be a statutory definition of "potato chip", which Baked Lays may not meet. They might be legally prohibited from calling them "potato chips", so they settle on a term that gets the same point across, but is not legally encumbered. Another option is that it's a marketing ploy. They want to distinguish themselves from potato chips, so they use a different term so that they can say, effectively, "We know potato chips are unhealthy, but don't worry about it, because we're not chips!" -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 18:10, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There was a lawsuit on this important topic, needless to say:

How are Pringles made and why do you call them crisps and not chips? Pringles aren't just any old potato chip, they're called potato crisps because of the ingredients we start with and the unique way they're made! To be called a chip you have to begin with whole potatoes. Pringles starts with dried potatoes which have been cooked, mashed and dehydrated.

Source. Same deal with your ~~chips~~ crisps, I imagine. --Sean 18:35, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I was just in the U.K. and saw a bag of "crisps" labeled... French Fries. Blew my mind. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 23:32, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actually even more so with the Baked Lays. To get them crispy without frying they have to mix in a whole bunch of strange stuff with the cooked-mashed-dehyrdrated-ground-up potatoes. Looie496 (talk) 23:59, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My point was, the British call our french fries "chips" and our chips "crisps," but they have crisps called "French Fries." My head is spinning. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 01:11, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You mean freedom crisps? --Trovatore (talk) 01:21, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

But we Brits wouldn't call those long thin straight or curvy potato-based snack things sold in packets either "chips" (which are hot and sold freshly cooked) or "crisps" (which are basically roundish and thin and served in packets). So, "French fries" seems a perfectly sensible commercial name for them. :) Ghmyrtle (talk) 06:45, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In America, the things that Walkers are calling "French fries" are called "potato sticks". Potato_chip#Similar_foods actually discusses a brief history of potato sticks and mentions "Walker's French Fries" directly as well. --Jayron32 06:52, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm &mdah; this American never heard of "potato sticks" till just now. ---Trovatore (talk) 08:28, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You can buy something called 'potato sticks' in the UK, but it's nothing like Walkers French Fries. Potato sticks, here, are thin sticks cut from actual potatoes and sold, usually under a supermarket own brand, with the other party snack crisps. French Fries (the crisp) are more extruded, puffed up a bit, and much larger. And I'd call all of these things 'crisps', like I'd call Monster Munch 'crisps'. 86.164.66.83 (talk) 11:08, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Architecture: Victorian restoration of local churches

Neither Pevsner (1970) p. 471 nor Pugh (1953) VCH p. 157 tells me who restored St George's Church, Little Thetford, Cambridgeshire nor the nearby St James' Church, Stretham. VCH confirms "... drastic restoration [of St George's] in 1863, ..." and also "In 1876 the [St James'] church underwent a severed restoration". According to VCH, J P St Aubyn designed the two schools in 1872 at Little Thetford and Stretham. Is there any way of finding out who restored the churches? --Senra (talk) 17:47, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have always found the staff at Cambridgeshire Archives to be knowledgable and helpful, and I'm sure they will be able to lay their hands on useful information for you. --TammyMoet (talk) 18:15, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Following your reply I sent an email to Cambridgeshire archives. In the meantime, I thought there may have been an (digitised?) architectural tome that might have the answer --Senra (talk) 18:35, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I found a reference; according to Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England. St James' Church, Stretham, was indeed J P St Aubyn although Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England. does not say who did St George's Church. I hope IoE is a RS; I am not holding my breath—I know of at least two IoE records which have the wrong images attached to them --Senra (talk) 19:13, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved

--Senra (talk) 14:33, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

longest straight section of rail(road) track

Since railroad track alignments are most often selected to minimize grade (steepness), the idea occurs that a straight run (section) of track is an oddity.

What is the longest straight run of track in the US? In Europe? in other locations?

Chas in BR (talk) 20:29, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This says it's on the Nullarbor Plain in Australia. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 20:35, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And this verifies it, though there are no sources. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 20:36, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I have been on that track. A full day of travel with no hills or curves. Googlemeister (talk) 20:44, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the answer. You have given the longest in the world. I am also interesteed in the topic by country or continent. Any ideas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chas in BR (talk • contribs) 20:42, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This posting appears to reproduce information from Guinness World Records that names the longest straight rail section in several countries, including the USA and Britain. Ka renjc 21:56, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

However, that might not be current information; it says one section of route is "now" part of the Seaboard Coast Line, which, as everyone knows, hasn't existed under that name since 1982. (After several mergers, it's now part of the CSX system.) So it's possible that some sections of straight track have closed since then, or (less likely) that some new ones have been built. --Anonymous, 23:08 UTC, August 17, 2010.

Who you callin' "everyone", pardner? :) -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 05:50, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If a long section of railroad track were literally straight (not following the Earth's curvature), then the train would tend to accelerate toward the midpoint due to gravity, then decelerate from there toward the end. Edison (talk) 14:59, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, these discussions are only about horizontal curvature. The Nullarbor Plain track is described as "dead straight although not level". --Anonymous, 21:20 UTC, August 18, 2010.

Technically nothing can be literally straight since things are made up of generally round atoms. Googlemeister (talk) 16:25, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Chinese or Japanese equivalent of Celtic Knotwork?

(could someone please move this to Humanities? That desk is currently blocked in China. I can view it with a proxy, but I can't edit it to ask a question because the proxy is blocked. So I ask here and kindly request that you transfer this question and remove this header... thank you!)

Is there a Chinese or Japanese equivalent to the Celtic Knotwork artform? 61.189.63.157 (talk) 22:55, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a link to Celtic knots--Lenticel ^(talk) 00:25, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Où puis-je acheter un beret?

Where in my area (Milwaukee WI, 53220) can I buy a plain black French-style men's beret? I've looked at the places where I frequently shop, and performed several searches to no avail. This store should be in the city or in the southern suburbs. I prefer not to buy it online because I don't wish to send my information across the internet, even though I know the chances of its being stolen are minuscule. 76.199.154.210 (talk) 22:59, 17 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I did some searching, too, and I now very much doubt that any store in southeastern Wisconsin stocks French-style men's berets. However, there is a store in Milwaukee that may be willing and able to special-order a beret for you. Here is a link to its website. Marco polo (talk) 00:37, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Searching Google for "hat shop Milwaukee" or "milliner Milwaukee" gave several options, although most look like they specialize in baseball caps. It may be worth phoning a few of the more likely shops, to see if they stock or can special order your desired beret style. -- 174.21.233.249 (talk) 05:48, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Kangol used to make those exact berets.Googling found many outlets in Canada.Hope this helps..88.96.226.6 (talk) 23:38, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

spartagus blood &Sand

How can I obtain a copy of the last episode of this series? I saw the entire series and missed the last episode " Kill them all". Is there anyway I can download that episode?

Dorothy Reed

(e-mail removed for security reasons) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.141.233.242 (talk) 00:12, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think you mean Spartacus: Blood and Sand. If you have a Netflix account, the episodes will be available for streaming in three days. Dismas|^(talk) 00:41, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to be available through TVDuck: here. Dismas|^(talk) 00:44, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In the UK, at least, it'll be repeated several times over the next week, generally later at night. Take a look in a TV guide. I'm assuming you're more concerned with simply watching the episode than obtaining it from the way you phrased your question. 90.195.179.60 (talk) 02:30, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think you can also see it on watchtvfreeonline.net. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 06:59, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Authenticate your account"? WTF is this nonsense?

OK, so I sign up for an account on IMDB. It tells me I must "authenticate" my account before I can post on any message board, which means using an Amazon account (didn't have one, so I created one, now I must place an order in order for it to authenticate my account, I'm not about to do that), a credit card (hell no, I'm not gonna give out sensitive information like that), or text messaging (those charges aren't cheap, so hell no as well). Why are those my only options, and what is the reasoning behind all of this? 24.189.87.160 (talk) 03:10, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It makes sure you are a real person, and not a spam-bot or other automated program which will quickly clog their message boards with spam to the point where it becomes impossible to use. --Jayron32 04:41, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Does that explain why I would have to place an order on Amazon in order for the authentication to go through? 24.189.87.160 (talk) 06:41, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The use of the Amazon account is only one option. If that method bothers you, then use the text message or the credit card. The Amazon authentication procedures are different from the IMDB ones and presumably have different reasons for existing. WRT Amazon, one way to ensure you are a real person is that you correctly ordered an item to be delivered to a real address and paid for with real money. --Jayron32 06:47, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The OP's point is that such elaborate procedures should not be necessary just to sign up on a friggin' message board. There are plenty of much simpler ways (e.g. captcha, or just responding to an automated email) to ensure that the person is real. IMDB's policy is completely over the top. --Viennese Waltz ^talk 07:50, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

IMDB have had problems with studios astroturfing their own films. It's not that hard for the PR dept. of a large studio to create a large number of webmail accounts, and then create one IMDB account for each webmail account. Presumably the studios were to do this, they'd use a small company grade line that's not publicly tied to the studio, or their PR staff's home lines. Tying your IMDB account to a credit card makes this a lot harder. As Amazon own (at arms-length) IMDB, they can do the credit-card check via Amazon. CS Miller (talk) 11:33, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This would be an example of how a few rotten apples trigger mass-punishment and inconvenience. Luckily, that never happens on wikipedia. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→

I've contributed to a few IMDb message-boards and link-pages (outside reviews, official French site, etc.), and I didn't have to do any of that when registering in 2003 or 2004. But I can see that when a film is in release or approaching an awards season, its promoters might spam IMDb and more insidiously its rivals might also spam it with negative reviews. —— Shakescene (talk) 20:35, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Though strictly speaking, you only need a certain, relatively small percentage of "rotten apples" to render an entire system unworkable. I am better that a clever sociologist or economist either could or has come up with a fairly precise "rotten apple rate" that is necessary to tank an organization's effectiveness (with variance, no doubt, in the structure of the organization itself, whether it can effectively screen out the "apples" or reverse their harm, etc.). If I were a sociologist or economist (or Malcolm Gladwell), this is something I'd probably find pretty interesting to work on. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:53, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Travel from China to US by boat?

I'm interested in traveling from China to America by ship. I don't care about stopping at exotic spots along the way, I just don't want to fly. I've tried Googling a variety of phrases but I can't find anything aside from the usual "Orient Cruise" type stuff. Can anyone help me find some basic information. Surely there must still be SOME demand for sea travel rather than sea-based sightseeing? Rates? Duration? Anything? thank you! 218.25.32.210 (talk) 05:09, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You can sometimes book passage on cargo ships; there is a large amount of cargo sent by ship between the U.S. and China. This google search has some general articles on traveling in this manner; no idea if it is possible to travel this way from China, but it is a viable method in general. --Jayron32 05:20, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Try Googling "Freighter Travel Voyages" this will bring up names of specialist agents dealing with freighter trips.--85.211.142.98 (talk) 05:47, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You could also check Cunard. Jørgen (talk) 06:24, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

...and seat61 has a lot of information on ground-based travelling (though not much trans-Pacific, though). Might be worth a look if you end up going via the trans-Siberian to Europe and from there across the Atlantic. Jørgen (talk) 07:10, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

...and couldn't resist doing some research: from Beijing it's six days to Moscow, plus three days to London, and then six or seven nights from Southampton to New York with Cunard. That is fifteen days of travelling, but of course these things don't depart every day (and you'd have to have some days margin as well). Might be faster than a trans-Pacific freighter, though (I have no idea) Jørgen (talk) 07:19, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Here is a website listing freighter routes across the Pacific that accept passengers. The website mentions prices for trips beginning and/or ending in the United States, but presumably you could negotiate directly with the companies owning these ships to arrange a passage from China to the United States. Going directly across the Pacific will almost certainly be less expensive than traveling by rail to western Europe and continuing by freighter or passenger liner across the Atlantic from there, especially if your destination is on the west coast of the United States. Marco polo (talk) 14:26, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Isn't that piece of advice in conflict with your user name? In any case, you are probably right. By the way, train service across the US is fairly good, so your final destination in the US need not affect much which way is best. In about three days you can get anywhere in the States by train. (Or you could, of course, rent a car.) Jørgen (talk) 16:40, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You mean three days if there is a train to where you're going, and if you don't lose a day connecting between the western and eastern halves of the rather sparse Amtrak system. (Air travel, on the other hand...) --Anonymous, 21:24 UTC, August 18, 2010.

Indian TV audio problems

My Sky TV package here in the UK lets me watch NDTV 24x7, the Indian TV news service. One thing I have noticed, that is not present on other TV news channels, is the audio is often distorted, like the amplification is turned up way to high. Is there a technical reason for this distortion? And is there a way I can remove the distortion without affecting the other channels or involving huge expense on my part? Astronaut (talk) 09:33, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Zh.wikibooks pictures

w:zh:File:3.3.3.gif, w:zh:File:Fsockopen.gif, w:zh:Gethostbynamel.gif. (I think there are more but I won't bother finding all of them. :P) What are these screenshots licensed under? (I'm trying to tidy up zh.wikibooks.) Kayau Voting IS evil 13:51, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Police are idiots

Why do the majority of childrens shows depict Police Officers as bumbling idiots who jump to wild conclusions based on little or no evidence, and often wrongly imprison (admittedly usually for only short periods until they're proven innocent) people without trail? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.160.214.26 (talk) 19:11, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe because it makes for a more interesting story? Or maybe it's a Commie plot to undermine authority? Can you name any specific shows? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:23, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PoliceAreUseless 82.44.54.4 (talk) 20:28, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's pretty standard to have children's stories where the adults are oblivious to what's REALLY GOING ON, leaving the children to solve the mystery, catch the villain, find the treasure, or whatever.

You'll notice that the teachers in the Harry Potter books are equally useless.

A story where the children more realistically bring their concerns to their parents or guardians who then take their concerns to the police who then resolve the issue, would not sell as many books.

I suppose a really good writer would get the adults out of the way in some really believable way, but making them stupid is easy and moves the plot along. APL (talk) 21:04, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If the authorities are not useless, or corrupt, then most plots would be resolved pretty quickly. "Oh no, someone has killed Mr. Body!" "Well, just call the cops." "OK, problem solved." I mean, how much fun is that, especially when you're a hard boiled private detective who won't stop until he gets his man? In any case, these things generally reflect (and feed) larger cultural concerns. For example, after Watergate the "daring investigative reporter who uncovers the official conspiracy" became a major trope in films. In the 1940s and 1950s, the "G-Men" (FBI) were all good guys; in the hangover from McCarthyism and Vietnam, they were often as not sinister figures. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:49, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the answers. I guess I just wondered if there was some specific, social reason for it. After having watched so many shows during my childhood where the police lock up the heroes of the story based on zero evidence I developed a strong dislike and distrust for the police. But if it's just lazy storytelling then that explains it maybe —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.160.214.26 (talk) 22:00, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

manufacturing of nuts for gluten free diet

 i have recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. a lot of the recipes call for nuts, which I love. However, i cannot find any nuts that have not been processed where wheat has been processed.

Even the fresh nuts at places like Whole Foods have been manufactured where wheat has also. Any ideas where or how to find gluten free nuts? Coolel01 (talk) 23:12, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]