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July 18

cameos known to be from the ruins of the city of pompeii

I need to find someone in the gulfport ms area to find out if cameo is that material from the time the volcano that covered the city of pompeii in 79 ad. Please email me at >redacted>and let me know if someone is in the area — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.19.14.228 (talk) 00:47, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

You are not allowed to post email addresses here. You can sign up for an account, and validate an email address with that account allowing people to reach you indirectlyμηδείς (talk) 03:04, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

Note that per the header, people are still unlikely to email you in response to questions here even if you have an account. Nil Einne (talk) 03:50, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

For those who are mystified by the location that the OP states, "gulfport ms" presumably means Gulfport, Mississippi in a country called USA. Here are some Victorian Pompeii Cameo Earrings. Here is a book about Roman cameo glass. I suspect that only a museum such as the British Museum, or perhaps an author of the book if you can find one, can definitively date a Cameo item to Pompeii 79 AD. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:08, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

See Cameo (carving). Most cameos are probably modern. 92.28.249.93 (talk) 20:36, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

There are many cameo makers in and around Pompeii - it is a specialty of the area. (Here's a NYT article from the 1980s about cameo carving in one nearby town.) If you have a cameo from "Pompeii" that probably just means it is a relatively new cameo from a maker somewhere in the area. I'm fairly confident that cameos have been a popular tourist item around Pompeii for some time - my grandmother has a number of cameos she purchased there in the 1960s. Calliopejen1 (talk) 21:02, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

Television in the United Kingdom

Here in the US, most non-news television series (I think these are referred to as "programmes" in the UK) such as comedies, medical/police dramas, etc run from sometime in the early Fall to sometime in the Spring. This is known as a "season" ("series" in UK parlance, from what I can tell). The summer is known for having what are called re-runs (no idea if the word is the same in British English or not) of the previous season in the same time slot during the week. A season is generally 25 or so episodes.

How is this done with the BBC and such in the UK? I've tried to understand it when I buy new seasons of Doctor Who and Top Gear but can't quite get the hang of it. The seasons/series are much shorter and there seem to be two a year. Am I on the right track? I took a look at Television in the United Kingdom but didn't see anything about the yearly schedule, though it's a long article so maybe I missed it. Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 09:32, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

There is some (unreferenced) information at Television program#Seasons/series that may be useful. Often, seasons on UK TV last for 13 weeks or less - rarely 25 weeks. But I spend more time on here than watching UK TV, so what do I know.... Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:41, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

13 weeks used to be common, but these days a series is typically 6 weeks. According to this http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/05_may/26/drama.shtml a "series" can be two episodes. I think that we viewers are being short-changed! (Only a few years ago we had 6 episode mini-series.) --TrogWoolley (talk) 15:05, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

There isn't really a yearly schedule in the same way there is in America: that was actually a pretty foreign concept I had to learn when I started following American TV shows. We don't have sweeps, and we don't have seasons in the same way. There are programmes that run over the summer (Big Brother was one), there are programmes that run in autumn, or winter, or spring: basically a series is made to whatever length and fitted into the schedules where people think it will do well, or where there's a gap. We don't tend to do the whole spacing out of new episodes with repeats, to fill a year, either: new episodes in a series tend to run back-to-back in order without repeats until all of the current series is shown. It just doesn't follow the American pattern at all. Sometimes the schedulers don't know what programme they'll be showing in a slot until a couple of weeks before. 86.164.165.0 (talk) 12:43, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

With many of the US cable networks producing their own shows now, the "new shows in the fall, reruns in the summer" paradigm isn't really the standard in the US anymore, aside perhaps from the broadcast Big 3 networks (along with Fox and The CW). Summer reruns have been mostly replaced by other programming, such as Rookie Blue on ABC and Flashpoint on CBS. Reruns themselves tend to have moved to the cable networks; USA Network reruns several NBC properties, presumably due to common corporate ownership. Some shows, for example Psych, do indeed have two "seasons" per year, although the nomenclature gets fuzzy. IMHO, some of the best TV programming begins when the Big 3 seasons end. --LarryMac | Talk 16:49, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

The concept of a fall-to-spring TV season in the United States has all but fallen by the wayside as the sheer number of programming choices has grown so vast. The networks have experimented with all sorts of schedule options, with the common thread appearing to be reducing the number of rerun episodes; this allows you to promote every episode as "all-new", along with keeping positive buzz going week after week without viewers losing interest or missing episodes when reruns start. During a September-to-May "season", that's roughly 40 weeks, and a full-season order is only 23-25 episodes. So they've tried new things, including splitting the season into two parts by running a batch of new episodes in the fall, then leaving the schedule and resuming new episodes in the spring (like Glee), starting later and running non-stop till spring (like 24 and American Idol) or running two separate "series" during one season (like Survivor). And that's just the regular networks. The cable networks run things whenever they please, and seem to be mimicking the UK model (short seasons with under 10 episodes). --McDoobAU93 17:50, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

Fujitel

What is “Fujitel”? --84.61.162.29 (talk) 10:02, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

Google tells me it's a brand of electronic communications devices. Probably derived from 'Fuji' (as in the mountain in Japan, and the name of 'Fujitsu' (electronics maker) and a component in the names of lots of Japanese companies) + 'tel' for 'telecommunications'. The company appears to be based in Thailand, however. --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 10:56, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

Google says it is a lot more too; have a look.--85.211.128.99 (talk) 13:38, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

This is their official site. It seems to be a Thai company and to have nothing to do with Japan. See their history and profile. Oda Mari (talk) 05:40, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Is “Fujitel” a misspelling of Fujitec, Fuji Television, or Funitel? --84.61.162.29 (talk) 13:43, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Where do you see it? This question is meaningless to us without knowing that. Are you asking 'could it be a misspelling'? In which case, yes, it could, I guess. Or do you have a specific instance of this word that you are asking us about? --KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 17:04, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Review of English language

Hi, i'm not English as mother language, could you take a little review to the contents here?

• Unione Cestistica Casalpusterlengo
• Basket Rimini Crabs

Thank you! --El cestofilo (talk) 20:26, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

This has also been posted at the language desk. Please reply over there. —Akrabbim^talk 20:29, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

Physical relations in life-time relationships

Many a times i see people get into a relationships just to have sex. & There are people who Dont give much importance to sex that much which they should give. Now here my questions arises that In a true Realtionships, Is having sex before marraige necessary ? If yes, Then why do old people oppose that & If 'NO' then why do people of this time dont understand that?????? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shaival.acharya (talk • contribs) 23:26, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't think those questions have simple answers. We aren't very good at answering questions like that. Looie496 (talk) 00:03, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Old people have probably figured out that liking someone is important to a relationship. Pillow talk doesn't only take place on pillows. Our "pillow talk" article was probably written by teenagers or the silly elderly. Bus stop (talk) 00:20, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

What's a "true relationship"? Isn't the truthiness of a relationship determined by the people involved? This is an incredibly individualized question. I could impose a thousand criteria on a relationship before I deem it a Real Relationship, and nine hundred of them might be different than yours.Foofish (talk) 02:39, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

There are many good answers to this question. Yes, many people begin relationships based on carnal desires. Libido and Lust both deteriorate with age, yet "Love never fails." In answer to your question "Is having sex before marraige necessary," the answer is a definite, "No." In fact, many people whom I respect have chosen to abstain from fornication and to remain married unless his or her partner commits adultery. The follow up question you ask ("why do people of this time dont understand that") the answer is much more in depth, combining morals, sociology, and opinion, one of which follows: Ever since near the beginning of the human race people decided to forego self-control and embrace the aforementioned carnal desires, while others chose to be in good standing in their society and in the view of their God by choosing to save the gift of sex following the ritual dedication of husband and wife becoming "one flesh." Schyler (one language) 02:43, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Schyler, I'd say that enjoying premarital sex is always going to effect one's "standing in their society" nor the "view of their God," not everyone follows the same religious beliefs you do, even though you state them as if they were universal fact. --Daniel 05:54, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Actually, he did preface it by calling it an opinion. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 11:07, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

The claim that "old people oppose sex before marriage" and "people of this time (young people I suppose) support it" is definitely questionable. --Saddhiyama (talk) 08:30, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Here is an example article from 2006 which shows that clearly, our perceptions that old people now had less sex when they were young is clearly wrong. The issue, as I read it (as someone who, while I am not old, I am getting closer to that than I am to my youth) isn't that old people didn't have premarital sex when they were young themselves, it is that in all generations the older people want their children to be better off than they were. I was in my 20's before I learned about some of the "questionable" things my dad did in his youth, and when I asked him why he never told me about them, he said "because I didn't want you to think that because I did them it would be OK for you to." The idea is that the old aren't being hypocritical for not wanting the young (especially their own children) to do what they did, they realize that the lives of the young would be easier if they didn't make the same mistakes they did. And kids don't necessarily understand the nuanced difference of "Look, kid, I did this when I was a kid, and trust me, you'll be better of if you don't start" vs. "I'm a prude/hypocrite". So, when your mom tells you that she doesn't approve of premarital sex, it may be more a case of she remembers a nasty case of the clap than that she was a prude when she was your age. --Jayron32 12:38, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

The article is interesting but lacks details to really clarify the picture. It tells us most Americans have had pre-maritial sex since the 40s and the percentages haven't changed much, it doesn't really rule out increasing amounts of pre-marital sex. It doesn't address things like age of first contact, number of sexual partners, frequency of sex before marriage etc. It does mention because people remain single for longer they are sexually active as singles for longer periods, which would suggest a larger number of sexual partners. And also "among women born between 1950 and 1978, at least 91 percent had had premarital sex by age 30, he said, while among those born in the 1940s, 88 percent had done so by age 44" which suggests to me the age of first contact reduced over that time period.

Personally I suspect the age now is lower then the 40s or 50s although this is somewhat complicated by the fact people got married earlier then. I also suspect the frequency and number of partners has gone up although precisely by how much I don't know. Other then cultural reasons (including changes in living arragements), there's also vast changes in the availability of effective birth control methods and to some extent understanding and control of STDs although the rise of HIV since the 80s has probably put somewhat a damper on the later.

In other words, while the number of people having pre-marital sex may not have changed much, it doesn't automatically follow that 'old people now had less sex when they were young is clearly wrong' even if our perceptions on how few people did it and how little they did are wrong. To put it a different way, they may have done it, it doesn't mean they did it the same amount (implied by they didn't have less sex). And many non-religious people (and even quite a few religious people) would consider there to be a difference between someone who had pre-marital sex with someone they are engaged to and someone who has sex with many of the random people they meet at a bar (or wherever). Note this doesn't have to relate to morality.

I do agree many older people hope that the younger generations don't repeat their mistakes, which they made many of, but don't talk about. BTW a complicating factor when answering this question is I suspect the OP is from India and while it's likely there are some similarities there in perceptions vs reality, it wouldn't surprise me if the numbers and reality is also rather different.

Nil Einne (talk) 19:19, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

July 19

petrol pump with the highest sales in the world.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is Fortune 500 Company having its own Petrol/Diesel Retail Outlet viz. Auto Care Centre Coco VIII, Sajgaon whose highest sale was above 6000 Kilolitre per month. I would like to know whether this petroleum retail outlet is world highest selling retail outlet? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.99.137.70 (talk) 12:43, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

I have no specific knowledge on the matter, but I would expect that the answer would be a pump that fuels large ships rather then cars. Googlemeister (talk) 13:33, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

However I doubt that would be considered a "retail outlet". To the original poster, 14.99: it seems like you have elevated access to some Hindustan Petroleum's sales data; I doubt this 6000 kl/month number is very public knowledge (maybe I'm wrong, I don't know). How did you learn this? I ask because you may have to contact represenatives of other petroleum companies directly to find similar information on other pumps. —Akrabbim^talk 13:44, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

As per others not sure how would get the data but one place thats rationally may have higher than normal petrol sales... Petrol stations near (open) borders between 2 countries with highly varied petrol prices (e.g. previously it was common for people in the UK who were visiting France to fuel-up in France before returning because the petrol was significantly cheaper than in the Uk - I think that's not the case so much these days). ny156uk (talk) 06:58, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Infinite loop

Is "Infinite Loop" a proper name or a generic name? 474,473,911 24,486,514 14,940,669 13:51, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

The one you've linked to is a generic term. The street on Apple's campus as linked from the top of said article is a proper name, inasmuch as a street name can be considered a proper name. --LarryMac | Talk 14:15, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

If you are asking whether "infinite loop" is a proper noun then the answer is that in general usage it is not, because it does not refer to a single unique entity; it is a common noun. If, however, you were referring to a book or a band, for example, called "Infinite Loop" then it would be a proper noun in that usage, and should be capitalised. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:21, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

And welcome to the discovery of polysemy --Lgriot (talk) 09:27, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

July 20

pneumatic drills

There are workmen outside my office working on resurfacing a road. They poured about 30cm deep concrete on to their site which is maybe 30m across) and then put bricks or tiles (of quite nice blue stone) over the concrete in a nice interlocking pattern. They left three holes in the tiles which are presumably for some sort of street furniture. The holes are about a meter across. Now there are three men with pneumatic drills, one in each hole, drilling the original concrete away but being careful not to disturb the tiles that surround the holes. Why are they drilling concrete away that they themselves set down only a few days ago? Robinh (talk) 00:11, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Probably because it's easier to lay down a large, uniform sheet of concrete and then "chip away" the bits you need than to carefully plan out odd shapes. --Jayron32 01:07, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

As Jayron notes, and particularly in road work, it's often easier to do that to make the surface uniform, particularly if there are cross slopes and the like. They may have set pour stops or some other kind of barrier into the concrete so they can just chip back to the stop for a clean edge. Bracing pour stops in a 30cm pour would probably be as much work as taking a hammer to it. Seven-day-old concrete is not yet up to its 28-day full strength, so it would be easier to break. Acroterion (talk) 01:25, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

OK thanks guys, that makes sense. I can see that the pouring a uniform layer is easier than having some complicated system of battens. But I'm still not clear why they need to chip anything away, seeing as there are rods of steel maybe 3cm thick and maybe 0.4m long emerging vertically from these holes. I presumed that these rods were for anchoring the street furniture to, but maybe not. So, why the need to chip anything away? Robinh (talk) 03:09, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Hard to tell without seeing it. Maybe it will become plain once they've gotten farther along. You're probably correct about the anchorage, although if they're bare rebar, rather than threaded rods, they may be preparing to make another pour. Acroterion (talk) 03:40, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

To fit forms in the concrete that would be small enough, they would have to be removed by drilling anyway so it'e easier to drill directly into the concrete. Sumsum2010·T·C 04:07, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

(OP) OK, but why lay the tiles and *then* chip away? Why not chip away what needs to be chipped, and then lay the tiles? It seemed as though the drill operators had to be super-careful so as not to disturb the perfectly placed tiles. I guess I'm assuming that the workers are doing everything in optimal way. Cheers, Robinh (talk) 09:25, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps the tiles are laid early to get best adhesion to the concrete while it is softening. Perhaps the 1m diameter holes are for planting trees. Time will tell. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:23, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Keep in mind that a large portion of the expense for most endeavors is manpower, not material. Given the scheduling of the various crews on various projects, it may be most efficient to have a larger tile-laying crew come in soon after the concrete is poured, and then have the smaller hole-drilling crew come in later, rather than have the tile-laying crew waiting around for the hole-drilling crew to finish up - even if that means the hole-drilling crew has to spend extra time to avoid damaging the tiles. -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 18:10, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

(OP) Hmm. The mystery deepens! @cuddlyable3: they layed their 20cm of concrete, then stuck the tiles with what looked like grey gravel but must have been cement, about 5cm thick. @20.229: if manpower is important, why have a work practice that involves each pneumatic drill operator carefully pussyfooting round precisely laid tiles? Or maybe someone screwed up the order of work. Best wishes, Robinh (talk) 19:36, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Why not stroll out onto the street and ask one of the workmen? And then come back here and share the solution with us? 94.172.117.205 (talk) 12:06, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Forum for things that can't be discussed here

I know that one can't ask for advice about friends, family, co-workers, etc. here, or shouldn't anyway. What's a good site to go to for that kind of discussion? No, I'm not going to base major life decisions on what a bunch of random strangers say on the Internet. -- 174.116.177.235 (talk) 00:54, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

I recommend Yahoo Answers. Sure, you'll get a lot of opinions from non-experts and kids acting like fools, but sometimes you'll get something insightful. Foofish (talk) 01:18, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

You could do a Google search for "family advice forum" or something of the sort. Dismas|^(talk) 03:50, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

The AskME section of MetaFilter hosts questions like this. There is a small registration fee to post, so the quality and breadth of answers may be affected (positively or negatively, depending on your view).--Kateshortforbob _talk 09:07, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

I can vouch for AskMe - there seems to be a large pool of different people from all walks of life, that seem to be able to answer most questions, especially about relationships and family and so on. Most are well thought out and articulate, as mentioned the $5 fee keeps the trolls out, and the board is modded quite thoroughly - sometimes too thoroughly for my liking :-) 121.44.114.197 (talk) 02:25, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

FedEx tracking status

I'm tracking a package on FedEx and am confused by the status:

• Jul 19, 2011 5:22 PM - Left FedEx origin facility - SHANGHAI CN
• Jul 19, 2011 2:48 AM - Shipment information sent to FedEx
• Jul 19, 2011 3:33 PM - Picked up - SHANGHAI CN - Package received after FedEx cutoff

Am I to assume that it's on the plane, even though the package was apparently received too late in the day? Or is it simply moving to another nearby facility? What's the difference between "left FedEx origin facility" and "in transit"? Anna ^talk 04:09, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

I would say probably but without knowing the particulars of FedEx's warehouse and transit organisation (and perhaps even destination and package info) in that area it's difficult to say until there's further info from FedEx. Nil Einne (talk) 08:56, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Chess draw question

I was playing Chessmaster. My opponent had only a king left. I had a queen, 2 rooks, a bishop and several pawns. I tried to move one of my rooks and the game ended in a draw because the program said that I had "insufficient material". I do not understand how that could be. I could have easily defeated my opponent in a couple of moves. Please explain. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.244.106.201 (talk) 05:39, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

See software bug. Looie496 (talk) 06:13, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Did you put the king in a position where it could not move without going into a check situation? --Lgriot (talk) 09:30, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

To expand on Lgriot, when you have that much against just a King, the chances of stalemate are quite high. On your last move, did you place him in check? (Can you even remember!) Also, do you mean Chessmaster? --Dweller (talk) 09:45, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

None of those would be insufficient material -- insufficient material means not having pieces capable of forcing checkmate, for example having only a king and a single bishop. Either the description of the situation is incorrect, or its a bug, there is really no other possibility. Looie496 (talk) 22:29, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

PVC 1.5mm and 2.5mm sq Cable

What is the maximum amp that PVC 1.5mm2 and 2.5mm2 supported? Example i which to wiring my lighting and socket, so i need to figure out the number of light that i can loop for my 6A circuit breaker. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Laisming (talk • contribs) 12:39, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Published ratings are 19A for 1.5mm2 and 20 A for 2.5mm2. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:11, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

I think they are very similar because the 1.5mm2 cable you've found is a fire resistant version. Click on the similar products tab for the 2.5mm2 product and you'll see it quotes 15A. --Phil Holmes (talk) 15:09, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

... and, of course, if the wiring is protected by a 6A circuit breaker then this is the limiting factor, not the wiring rating. Dbfirs 07:02, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Money

Is money legally considered property? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.198.151.104 (talk) 14:48, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Not that I am aware of; as you can spend it, can't you? Rcsprinter (talk) 15:15, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

It depends on what you mean by "property". In common law systems, there is a distinction made between "real property" which includes land and structures like houses and barns and stuff like that, and "personal property" which includes stuff you can pick up and carry around. Many laws treat the two kinds of property differently. Money would be considered, legally, of the second type of property; though it may also be considered under some systems to be its own class of property distinct from objects. It would depend on your local jurisdiction as to what was "legally" considered property. --Jayron32 15:21, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

In the basic sense that it can be owned, can be exchanged for goods, services, land or buildings, can be stolen, can be left in a will, can be donated and can be lent: yes, it is considered property. ╟─TreasuryTag►Speaker─╢ 15:34, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

By the way, keep in mind that there is potentially a distinction between money and currency - that is, the economic value itself and the physical coin/bill representation of that value. Although most jurisdictions may consider the monetary value to be your property, some jurisdictions (although I can't point to any specific examples) may make the claim that the physical tokens themselves remain the property of the government. (As many do with passports and other forms of identification - you can keep them and use them, although technically they remain the property of the government.) Even if the physical coins/bills are considered to be your property, they may be an encumbrance on their possession, for example prohibitions on defacement, destruction, etc. -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 18:02, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

In Australia, this is definitely true. In the good old days, diggers who were bored when waiting for action used to bash pennies into the shape of hats (quite an effort, I know), but the souvenir version I got of one (I think it wasn't an original one from those times) stated on the packaging that it was illegal, as it was then a coin of the realm. Don't quote me saying it was actually soldiers, for it may have been gold-prospectors or the like, but I did once hold the souvenir coin. The law remains to this day, and indeed, there was nearly a prosecution about it, criminal no less: see [1] and use ctrl-f to search for "Keating". It's been emotional (talk) 15:51, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Depression or assholes? Source requested

"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, just make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes."

I'd like to find the original source document (e.g. interview/article/transcript/tweet/blog post) for the above quotation. I tried googling but there was too much noise. 86.43.163.179 (talk) 15:24, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

It seems to be ascribed to William Gibson, but it's not on his WikiQuote page. Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 16:03, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

I know it's ascribed to Gibson, but I'm looking to verify the specific source if possible. 86.45.0.203 (talk) 10:45, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

EMPTY HOUSE

HOW CAN I FIND OUT IF A EMPTY HOUSE IN A PRIVATE ESTATE IN BATTLE HILL IS FOR SALE ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.98.234.185 (talk) 18:14, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

You could find out who the owner of record is for the house. This is usually the person and/or entity that pays the property taxes, which is a matter of public record. --Jayron32 19:36, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

You can also ask at any real-estate office that serves that area. Even if there is no active listing, the agents tend to know the status of anything even remotely saleable. Bielle (talk) 03:31, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

You could also look on a property website such as [2]. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 11:01, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

You could also send a mail to the address saying that you are interested in buying. The chances are someone will eithe pick up for the owner or s/he will have mail forwarding. -- Q Chris (talk) 14:56, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Are these two diagrams consistent?

I deem it impossible that the average GDP of South America and Latin America diverge that much, given that they overlap in most instances. So, what is correct here? --KnightMove (talk) 19:17, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

The difference between Latin America and South America is likely influenced by Mexico, which is a significant portion of Central America, and which may have a significantly higher standard of living than much of South America. There is a wide varience in Central American economies, in particular Nicaragua is particularly poor, while nearby Costa Rica is somewhat better off. Indeed, if you look at List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita you see that Mexico is ranked at 59th by the IMF data, higher than the large countries in S. America like Brazil (71st), Columbia (83rd), etc. --Jayron32 19:35, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Jayron is right that Mexico is the main difference, economically, between South America and Latin America as a whole. (That is, it is by far the largest Latin American economy outside South America, and second only to Brazil among Latin American economies in size.) In your first graph, Chile is compared to the rest of South America between 1972 and 1990, just a part of the period shown on your second graph. During this period, Chile is close to the mean for South America, but below the mean for Latin America. This is not surprising considering economic history, because it was during this period that Mexico experienced more rapid GDP growth than most Latin American economies due to the liberalization of its economy and the early development of maquiladoras. During the subsequent period (1990–2010), we see that Chile's GDP per capita rises above the average for Latin America. In fact, today, according to the CIA World Factbook, Chile's GDP per capita is higher than that of Mexico. It has grown faster over the past 20 years than Mexico because it began a process of liberalization later than Mexico and because it has benefited from the commodities boom of the past 10 years much more than Mexico. Marco polo (talk) 20:00, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Still, according to the diagram the average GDP of Latin America is nearly twice the GDP of South America, and even if the GPD of Mexico would be three times the one of South America, this is impossible. --KnightMove (talk) 09:39, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

The absolute numbers cannot be compared because the two graphs are measuring different things. The shapes of the graphs, and the relative position of Chile to them, may be more relevent, but the numbers running down the Y-axis shouldn't be directly compared because the two graphs dont' use the same set of data. --Jayron32 22:38, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

The main difference between the two charts is that the first is in nominal US dollars and the second in constant dollars. The first, therefore, includes all price and currency value changes when determining each point on the lines, whereas the other does not. DOR (HK) (talk) 06:58, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Ok, therefore the first shows a somewhat higher GDP for Chile, but this even increases the difference between South America and Latin America. --KnightMove (talk) 09:39, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Wait a sec... if the second diagram uses the dollar value of 2000, Chile should due to inflation have a higher GDP per capita than in the other diagram, shouldn't it? --KnightMove (talk) 09:47, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

No, because if Chile had greater inflation than the US, it would be canceled out by a drop in Chile's exchange rate. I don't have time to look up the numbers, but I think it unlikely that Chile's inflation was lower than that of the US. If it were, then Chile's exchange rate should have risen relative to the dollar. So, to the extent that there were differences in inflation, changes in the exchange rate would have (approximately) canceled them out. Marco polo (talk) 14:32, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

I had a talk with user @cantus and he added his source for the second diagram [3]. The source for the first diagram is linked on the decription page (United Nations Statistics Division, choose Chile and South America, GDP per capita US$, 1972-1990). --Pass3456 (talk) 17:17, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Help identifying letters around an ignition keyhole please

Hello. I would like to know what the letters around the keyhole of a boat's ignition mean. They are, in clockwise order, HS; H; OFF; A; S.

Off is fairly self-evident but I'm curious as to the meaning of the other letters. The following info may be useful: The boat has a diesel engine which requires warming before starting but the dashboard has no 'glowing coil' symbol. (I've looked at ignition systems and glowplugs but they haven't helped).

If any of you wise people can help, It would be much appreciated. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.183.140.33 (talk) 19:19, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Not sure what "HS" and "H" mean, but by analogy to a car ignition switch, "A" usually stands for "accessory" and is the position where you engage the vehicle's electrical systems, such as the radio and lights, but do not run the engine itself. "S" is probably "start" which engages the starting motor. The ignition usually returns automatically from "Start" to "accessory" when the key is released, since once the engine is running, there is no need for the starting motor. --Jayron32 19:25, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Warning, this answer is based on a lot of guesswork. Based on this page, I'm guessing that HS and H may be for "heat start" and "heat", with the key springing back from HS to H, just as it presumably does from S to A. I couldn't find any links that mentioned a five position switch. --LarryMac | Talk 19:38, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

July 21

Charles A. Linbergh

Would like to learn about his political beliefs and involvement in the 1940 Republican Convention. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.27.200.115 (talk) 02:48, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

There's some info in Charles Lindbergh. He was an America-firster and and isolationist. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:53, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Wow, you learn something new every day. There's surely an irony in the fact that the person who proved it was possible to fly across the Atlantic to Europe was an isolationist. HiLo48 (talk) 03:10, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Here's your chance to learn two things in the same day: he wasn't. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:31, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

He was the first to fly solo. There were two other teams working on a solo flight at the same airfield near New York City, but Lindy's was the first team that was ready, and off he went. A couple of weeks prior, a European had tried the solo flight westbound, and presumably went into the ocean. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:31, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm curious as to what BBugs means about an earlier unsuccessful westbound solo flight - there's no mention of anything similar at Transatlantic flight#Early notable transatlantic flights. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:29, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps Bugs momentarily confused eastbound and westbound (an easy slip), and was thinking of " . . . Notable failed attempt (3): May 8–9, 1927. Charles Nungesser and François Coli." {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.201.110.206 (talk) 10:02, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Aha! So he didn't confuse eastbound and westbound so much as confusing solo and duo. Thanks! Ghmyrtle (talk) 11:09, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

I forgot Nungesser had a co-pilot. He was attempting the first non-stop Paris to New York flight, and the plane disappeared on route. Lindy made the reverse trip a couple of weeks later. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:14, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

A westbound solo fight is one that travels from east to west. A solo flight is one with only the pilot in the aircraft. The first translantic flight was, to quote Wikipedia (Alcock and Brown): British aviators Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919. They flew a modified World War I Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. Winston Churchill presented them with the Daily Mail prize for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 'less than 72 consecutive hours' and they were knighted at Windsor Castle by King George V.Froggie34 (talk) 09:10, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Alcock and Brown? Wasn't that Sammy Davis Jr's nickname? -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 12:27, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

While being "anhistorical" and dealing with a what if scenario, The Plot Against America by Philip Roth discusses with Lindbergh's politics extensively in an interesting fantasy scenario and is a good read. --Daniel 18:05, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Lindbergh was widely viewed as an aviation expert, and while the Nazis were preparing to launch attacks against other European countries, he was telling the non-Nazi countries that Hitler had far more and better airplanes than he really did, with far more devastating attack capability; that they were basically undefeatable. The German military was greatly aided by this propaganda, since it made the US, France and Britain cautious and hesitant to militarily oppose Hitler, and made France and Britain reluctant to respond militarily to the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Edison (talk) 19:07, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Casey Anthony's Photobucket

I'm hunting for the full version of Casey Anthony's photobucket. All the links here http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72608 have gone dead, but I'm sure it's still around on the Internet. I know there's a "reconstructed" account on photobucket but some pictures have been deleted it because of guideline violations. --85.76.44.22 (talk) 03:07, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

International space station

I seem to recall that when the last manned mission visited they took with them some x tons of food. Why, since no-one is left aboard the space station. Also what function will the station serve being unoccupied.--85.211.227.143 (talk) 08:24, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

There are still astronauts aboard the ISS; Nasa's website will tell you what's happening on the ISS[4]. Despite the end of the shuttle missions, Soyuz craft will continue to take crewmembers to and from the station. Future msisions: [5]. --Colapeninsula (talk) 08:50, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

There are six people on the ISS, and presumably there will continue to be at least that many until the ISS gets decommissioned. --85.76.3.93 (talk) 18:58, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

You might be confused because all the Space Shuttles are retired (And the Orion spacecraft are unfinished.) However, the Russians still operate the Soyuz program. So astronauts will still be able to get to and from the space station on Russian spaceships. APL (talk) 10:40, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

dark knight rises soundtrack

Anyone know where I can get the soundtrack playing during Gordon's little speech in the dark knight rises trailer? Or what it's called at least? --178.208.205.5 (talk) 23:12, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

July 22

Transmission

Manual transmission generally is more fuel efficient than automatic transmission. According to fueleconomy.gov, on most identical models with the same engine, just chosing the manual transmission instead of automatic will result in a car that is significantly more fuel effecient. So my question is, why hasn't somebody easily combined the advantages of both by putting a regular manual transmission in the car, and then make all of the clutching and shifting done completely automatically by a computer and some electro-machanical robotic arm?! It seems like a brilliant idea to me and I can't see how this would be prohibitively expensive to deveolop or have any other drawbacks.

Many automakers develop either "tiptronic" automatic transmission based systems with manual gear selection by the driver, or "semi-automatic" manual transmission systems which automatically apply the clutch. But that doesn't have the advantage of fully automatic cars and the fuel effeciency and lower cost of a manual gearbox.

So if nobody has invented this completely automatically controlled manual gearbox, why not??— Preceding unsigned comment added by Roberto75780 (talk • contribs)

The major thing that a computer cannot do is anticipate what to do as well as a human. When you drive a manual transmission, you will upshift or downshift depending on what you plan to do, and there is no conceivable way a computer could do that, if it could it would do all the driving for you. For example, how can the computer know the difference between when you apply the brakes because you are approaching a stoplight vs. when you hit denser traffic, vs. when you are letting someone move over vs. when the speed limit drops, etc. Each of those situations is going to necessitate a different set of actions, yet all the computer knows is that you applied the brakes. Now, eventually its going to be able to tell (broadly) between stopping at a light and slowing down because you just spotted a cop, but not as fast as you will, because it can only react to what you do with the brake and accelerator, not predict how to handle all three pedals at once, as you do. --Jayron32 01:31, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I think Jayron has it exactly right there. The fuel consumption for manual gearshifting varies considerably depending on how far ahead the driver is anticipating conditions, and the fuel saving can easily be wiped out by bad driving. Also, you haven't considered the extra fuel required to operate the robotic arms (and leg?). Dbfirs 07:30, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

It has been invented, see Direct-Shift Gearbox. BTW I'd be interested to know whether the "better fuel economy" for a manual transmission is with an average driver or a highly skilled one. I read an issue of Autocar many years ago when they got a number of "ordinary drivers" to accelerate from 0-60 in a manual transmission and auto-transmission Ford Granada. Whereas skilled drivers could easily accelerate faster in the manual than the automatic, few ordinary drivers could. From the lack of anticipation I have seen on the road I expect the same goes for fuel economy. -- Q Chris (talk)

You can even improve your fuel efficiency on an automatic cars by easing off the gas when the engine gets over 2000 rpm, causing the car to shift, and then applying the gas again slowly once it has done so. μηδείς (talk) 22:29, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

In the end of the world, what would be the most valued currency?

In the event of an appolytiptic scenarion, what would be the best currency in the case "money" (i.e. paper, gold, silver, etc) was deemed worthless? Quinn ^{❀ BEAUTIFUL DAY} 04:11, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Id just assume everyone would be screaming for their lives and just grab the last bits of everything they couldAccdude92 (talk) 05:19, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Bullets? Cigarettes? Food? The Mark of the Beast (talk) 05:44, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Fuel? Antibiotics? Nuclear bombs? Attractive young women? (To be honest, it probably depends on the precise nature of the apocalypse; if the earth's climate suddenly becomes much cooler, then your needs are going to be very different from if there's armies of marauding zombies/aliens/giant ants.) --Colapeninsula (talk) 09:12, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Sex will still be nice to offer and receive. It will be not only for entertainment because if only a few humans survive they will need to protect their diminished gene pool from inbreeding. Another valuable item will be a dictionary that contains the correct spelling of "apocalyptic". Cuddlyable3 (talk) 09:13, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

I'd probably still value my iPhone above all possessions and human interaction, even if lack of electricity means it's reduced to just being a smooth paperweight. Come to think of it, that happens every few hours now. --Dweller (talk) 10:07, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Depending on your location, water would also be pretty big. Basically, you would want to look for commidities that have a practical use or that can be used to defend your existing commodities. Based on Fallout (game), that appears to be a suit of power armor and a minigun, but your needs might be a little different. Googlemeister (talk) 13:08, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

• Currency only has real, widespread value in a society where wealth needs to be stored. In a subsistence economy, where people are literally living day-to-day for their entire lives, currency has no use, and most people rely on a form of barter to get what they need. In the post-apocalyptic world, the only form of wealth you will have will be your own set of personal skills and abilities, and you will need to turn these skills into something you can trade for that which you cannot make for yourself. --Jayron32 17:06, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

The most useful 'currency'? Friendship, and the ability to work cooperatively. About the most apocalyptic, but survivable (as a species) scenario would involve a return to a hunter-gatherer existence, and we are fairly hopeless at this as individuals. Instead we'd have to organise into smallish roaming bands, where rather than using 'barter' (fairly useless where everyone has much the same resources available), we instead rely on the egalitarian cooperative spirit that worked so well for most of our existence, prior to the Neolithic revolution/cock-up. AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:35, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Based on the last 5,000 years of human experience, that statement would need to be taken with a ton of salt. Speaking of salt, that would also be a useful currency as people need salt to live and it tastes good. Googlemeister (talk) 18:24, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

I wasn't basing it on the last 5,000 years of human experience - I was basing it on the previous half-million or so. ;-) AndyTheGrump (talk) 18:29, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

But the last 5,000 years is much better documented, so we have much better data on that period. Doesn't mean you are wrong, just that we have a lot grainier picture of the 500k BC to 3k BC so I choose to stick to what I know rather then taking a leap based on data that thin. Googlemeister (talk) 20:10, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure what 'better documented' has to do with it. Humanity as a species has survived a heck of a lot longer as hunter-gathers than any other way, and I'd stated that the apocalypse had forced us to go back to hunter-gathering. All the evidence we have on this suggests that lifestyle is sustainable even with very small populations in a very hostile environment - and all the evidence suggests that we did it through small roaming cooperative bands for most of the time. So what exactly is it that you are disagreeing with? AndyTheGrump (talk) 20:18, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Mostly the peace and flowers aspect. Whenever two groups of humans interact, conflict inherently is a result. Romanticizing about hunter-gatherer culture and lifestyles being egalitarian and cooperative is not all that accurate. Humans are prone to violence and this is demonstrated that in the last 2,000 years, there has probably not been a single year without war. I mean heck if humans were naturally non-violent and egalitarian, how the heck did we end up the way we are today? Googlemeister (talk) 20:41, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Hunter-gatherer lifestyles are egalitarian and cooperative, within the group. This is well-documented. The violence you describe usually only happens when two groups meet. --Carnildo (talk) 01:03, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

"In the last 2,000 years, there has probably not been a single year without war". Yup, that is one reason why the neolithic revolution may have been a mistake. ;-) AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:09, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

The question for you and your smallish roaming band is "Which is better - to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?" Or did you mean this kind of band? Cuddlyable3 (talk) 18:13, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Batteries. Looie496 (talk) 18:20, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Don't batteries go flat after a few years, even if you don't use them? Googlemeister (talk) 18:25, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

I agree with Andy, and depending on the kind of apocalypse, LETS might be usable. Itsmejudith (talk) 19:41, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Bullets. μηδείς (talk) 19:42, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

What does "Most valued" mean in this context? The naive interpretation is "Most valuable" in which case it'd be much the same as it is today. I think an atomic bomb would be near the top of the list as would anything else relating to nuclear power. APL (talk) 10:34, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Google street view question

How can you see the road beneath the Google street view car if the camera is mounted on a car?Accdude92 (talk) 05:18, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Given that there is a clear line of 'blur' when looking down I would suspect they use angle-images from before the car reaches that part and then stitch it all together to appear as though it was taken all at the same time. ny156uk (talk) 07:01, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Laptop Charger

Today, when I plugged in my laptop charger into the wall socket,I immediately heard a buzzing/crackling sound and smelt something burning. When I pulled the plug out, I saw the one of the three pins had become a bit blackened. I plugged it into another socket in another room, and the laptop recognised the charger and started charging itself as usual. So I guess my charger hasn't been damaged. It's working, right? Or is there something wrong that I should get fixed? Was the burning because of some problem with the charger, or the wall socket?? Will this have any future repurcussions on the life of my charger? 110.225.183.63 (talk) 09:36, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

By the sounds of it, one of the spring terminals in the plug socket is not performing well. The charger and its plug are probably okay. I doubt it'll have long term repercussions. The socket, however, could do with changing. --Tagishsimon (talk) 09:48, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Depends on which part became blackened. If it was the pins of the plug that fits in the wall socket, then it is probably as Tagishsimon describes above. However, if it was the low voltage plug that you plug into your laptop or the plug where the mains power cord plugs into the laptop's power pack, then it could be more serious. Astronaut (talk) 15:29, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

You might want to contract a professional before your house burns down. μηδείς (talk) 19:57, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Get the wall socket replaced ASAP! Roger (talk) 09:09, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Practise in a practice

I have just been reading the biographies of current and still living (though retired) justices of the US Supreme Court, and was (and remain)puzzled to see that the official website of the US Supreme Court repeatedly describes them as having practiced law in xxxxx Law Practices prior to appointment as Associate Justices. I live in the UK and have worked within the Scottish Judicial system and have always worked on the principle that lawyers and doctors and architects etc., practised their professional services within a practice. Is this not the case in the USA? 94.172.117.205 (talk) 11:58, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

No, the US spelling is always practice, whether it's a verb or a noun. See American and British English spelling differences.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:06, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

(EC) No: this is just one of the many examples of well-established differences between American English and British English spelling conventions. [Says this UK former editor] {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.66.107 (talk) 12:10, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

I wonder if the Justices need a licence to practise or is it the practice itself that's licensed? Sussexonian (talk) 21:05, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

appeal of snuff

I am curious as to the appeal of taking snuff recreationaly as its main function seems to cause the participant to sneeze. Do some people find sneezing entertaining or something? Googlemeister (talk) 14:52, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Snuff is generally popular in contexts where smoking is prohibited - traditionally in the UK, among coal miners, and now in certain pubs. As I'm sure you realise, the sneezing is an undesirable but mild side-affect. Addiction and negative effects on health are far more serious, but there are plenty of people who haven't been discouraged from cigarette smoking as a result of them. Warofdreams talk 14:59, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't know, but do snuff users get used to the nasal irritation and stop sneezing? I know that new smokers stop coughing after a few cigarettes. Astronaut (talk) 15:25, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Snuff#Sneezing actually has a bit on this, but it is unreferenced. In the U.S., nasally inhaled snuff is essentially unknown, snuff is used as an alternate name for what is usually called dip, which is probably the most common form of "smokeless" tobacco, followed by Chewing tobacco. --Jayron32 17:02, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

As a sometime user of snuff, I would report that the sneezing sensation is actually quite pleasurable. I once read that the nasal passages are made of the same sort of tissue as the penis and clitoris, and can become similarly engorged. That might explain something... --TammyMoet (talk) 19:00, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

I used inhaled snuff a few times years ago. It was rather pleasant. The sneezing wasn't bad, and the nicotine got into my system quite quickly. The only unfortunate effect I observed was that after a period of overuse there was a grating gooey mixture of tobacco and snot dripping the back way into my throat. PhGustaf (talk) 19:46, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Interesting. Googlemeister (talk) 20:07, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

That's my experience too. Using a bit too much is quite unpleasant, but once you figure out the right amount, it's a nice quick nicotine fix. Sure makes your snot look funny, though. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:10, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Arm-R-Clad Safety Tempered

All of the windows in my school say Arm-R-Clad Safety Tempered by Hordis Bros Inc or Arm-R-Clad Safety Tempered by C-E Glass (the newer part of the building has the one's that say C-E Glass). Out of curiosity, I Googled it and it appears as if Hordis Brothers was swallowed up by HGP Industries (which was apparently later swallowed up by Oldcastle), and that C-E Glass stands for Combustion Engineering and they were swallowed up by Asea Brown Boveri, who was later swallowed up by Alstom. So my question is, what happened to the Arm-R-Clad brand and is it still being produced by someone? 64.31.57.3 (talk) 21:55, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

please advise w. social stuff, don't know where else to ask

Hello, this is awkward, oh boy. I've got the social skills of a loaf of bread. if, say, I want to meet someone on the weekend (a co-patient at a therapeutic institution), and I suggest to meet at the library where I'm going to go to anyway, but that someone happens to be a member of the opposite sex, should I say in the e-mail I'm not trying to hit on them - which I really aren't, and I don't feel like getting the sack (being turned down) because of them thinking that I was and creeping them out. Why am I trying to arrange to meet a member of the opposite sex on the weekend in the first place? Well, I don't - actually, anyone else I know (who of them there are not many:) is unavailable - thus, any company would do and I know that the person frequents that library, too. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.226.2.154 (talk) 22:04, 22 July 2011 (UTC) by therapeutic I meant mental.

I'm afraid that the Reference Desk guidelines state that we're here to help "find information relevant to questions posted by others." Your request seems to basically be asking for advice, and that advice is not recorded anywhere that we can direct you to. Perhaps you could get in touch with the Samaritans if you're in the UK, or their equivalent wherever you live, but we're not able to provide counselling here. Sorry. ╟─TreasuryTag►hemicycle─╢ 22:21, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Samaritans? Do I sound that confused? Wow. But thank you anyway. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.231.117.148 (talk) 08:24, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Multiple myeloma

I AM DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE MYELOMA BY A LOCAL ONCOLOGIST THAT IS TREATING ME WITH ORAL MEDICATION "ALKERAN". I WOULD LIKE TO RECVEIVE AN E-MAIL WITH INFORMATION ABOUT ALKERAN (PILLS), AND ALL OTHER ORAL MEDICATIONS USED FOR MULTIOPLE MYELOMA PATIENTS INCLUDING OLD AS WELL AS NEW, AND MEDS. STILL IN TESTING PHASE WAITING APPROVAL FOR HUMAN USAGE,WITH MALES. I AM 78 YEARS OLD,CAUCASIAN, LJVING IN FLORIDA FOR >40 YEARS. OF CAUSE, THE ANSWERS IN RESPONSE TO THIS INQUIRY WILL BE INTERPRETED IN NON-SPECIFIC GENERAL AREAS OF CANCER PATIENT TREATMENTS. THANK YOU, <email redacted> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.185.237.166 (talk) 23:58, 22 July 2011 (UTC) I redacted your e-mail address to discourage spam. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 00:37, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

We have an article on that drug at Melphalan, and a decent article on Multiple myeloma as well as most major cancer treament drugs. We cannot offer medical advice or a comparative analysis of the various drugs, but you can probably get the information you need by reading the articles on the drugs. Beeblebrox (talk) 01:17, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

The Ukraine

Where does the "the" in its name come from? Unlike the US, the UK, and the Netherlands, there doesn't seem to be any logical reason for adding it. --134.10.114.238 (talk) 23:59, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

The word means the border(land). See Ukraine#etymology μηδείς (talk) 00:00, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

When the region formerly known as "The Ukraine" split off from the old Soviet Union, it declared its preference for dropping the article, and the country is now properly called simply Ukraine.[6]. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 00:42, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

What ever became of the grand plan to have Ref Desk FAQs - because this one would definitely be in the top 20 (along with related questions about The Gambia, The Lebanon, The Argentine ...). -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 00:45, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

And believe it or not, there have been grand old, repeated and protracted, Wikipedia fights over the definite article in almost all of those, as I found over several years editing The Bronx. See Talk:The Bronx/Name, Talk:The Bahamas, Talk:The Gambia, Talk:Netherlands, Talk:The Hague, Talk:Ukraine, Talk:Lebanon, Talk:Yemen, Talk:Sudan, Talk:Strand, London, Talk:Witwatersrand, etc., not forgetting to check their archives which are sometimes almost entirely devoted to lengthy discussions of the definite article over long periods of time. One long-time editor of [The] Bronx marvelled at how much heated (though usually civil) debate and renaming had occurred over three small letters. (I don't know about Talk:The Argentine, which is apparently about a film, or the very-dated and quite ambiguous Talk:The Soviet.) In short, an FAQ couldn't begin to address the different situations and how they've been addressed here. If Ukraine means "Marches" or "Borderland", I think the same arguments would apply to The Voivodina. [I'm an old-fashioned sort who still says Munich, Zurich, Venice, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Moscow, Warsaw, Prague, Naples, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Colombo, Burma, Canton, even Peking, so I think we should follow English usage, sense and meaning for The Ukraine and The Voivodina, but this is hardly the place to reignite any of those debates.] —— Shakescene (talk) 01:59, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

If you want sensible place-names, the English language isn't the place to look for them. We can't even give our own places sensible names sometimes. A prime example is the delightful (but tautological) Warwickshire village of Napton-on-the-Hill - that's hilltop-town-on-the-hill, as the etymologists will tell you. I think Ukrainians are lucky to get away with nothing more than a surplus definite article. AndyTheGrump (talk) 02:17, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

I was going to say, don't forget "Hill-hill-hill Hill", though I've just discovered that's apparently a rural myth. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:18, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

We have more than a section in the Ukraine article, we also have an entire article on the Name of Ukraine. None of these articles deal with the reason for the use of the "The" in the name, however. Its odd, since other countries in the area don't take it (its not "The Belarus"), and its never been part of the name in Ukrainian or Russian either. Part of it probably comes from the fact that the countries which traditionally take "the" in the name were regions before they were independent states, and the "the" carried over after they became sovereign. For example "The Sudan" originally refered to the entire area of Africa immediately south of the Sahara Desert and the Sahel (see Sudan (region)), so besides the two countries today which use Sudan in the name, you also had French Sudan which is an old name of Mali, The names of "The Gambia" and "The Congo" derived from the territories around the eponymous rivers. The Netherlands literally means "the low country" and they were called that long before they were ever independent, refering just in general to the low tidal flats that make up most of the region. --Jayron32 04:53, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

... its never been part of the name in Ukrainian or Russian ... - that's a bit of a non-sequitur, Jayron. It couldn't have been part of the name in Russian, because it contains neither definite nor indefinite articles. I'm almost sure that's true for Ukrainian too, but maybe a ukrainophone can confirm. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 06:28, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

July 23

No Edit Button

I can't see the edit button in any of the sections in this page, with the result that I'm unable to add comments to a question I posed earlier. Please help! Is something wrong with my net connection, or browser? I use Google Chrome. 223.177.184.50 (talk) 05:35, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

That happens every so often for reasons that are not clear. The easiest way to fix it seems to be by purging the page cache -- you can do it by clicking this link. Looie496 (talk) 05:46, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Alternatively, you can do what (following others' previous advice) I've just had to (facing the exact same problem, as happens not infrequently) in order to add this comment! Go right up to the top of the page (of the Refdesk you're on), and you may see that the tab that should say 'Edit' instead says 'View Source'. Click it, click your cursor anywhare in the edit box (no actual edit is necessary), then scroll down and click 'Save Page'. This usually (for me at any rate) returns me to the current version of the RefDesk with all the section edit links. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.66.33 (talk) 11:14, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Insurance question: Proof of theft?

I recently submitted a compensation claim to my insurance company because of the theft of my camera in June. But this got me thinking: While I can supply proof that the camera existed, and belonged to me, is it in any way possible to prove it was stolen? Will the insurance company accept simply that I say so on the claim and write a description of the event? What's stopping someone from falsely reporting something as stolen? JIP | Talk 09:10, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

In my experience you need to have reported such a theft to police, and be able to give the insurance company a copy of the police report. You can lie to the police too of course, but it's generally regarded as less likely. HiLo48 (talk) 09:17, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Well, I reported the theft to the Swedish police only half an hour after it had happened, and the police sent me a copy of the report, which I sent to the insurance company. The report is in Swedish and spells my first name wrong, because I reported the theft on the phone and the police heard my name wrong, but I guess the insurance company won't have a problem with that, because the report does contain my correct contact information. JIP | Talk 09:22, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

They usually reserve the right to conduct Insurance Investigations, but I can't imagine that would be worth their time and effort for anything small like a camera.

In theory if they did do an investigation and discovered evidence that you were making it up you could be in serious trouble. APL (talk) 10:25, 23 July 2011 (UTC)