Welcome to the miscellaneous section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.

Select a section:

WP:RD/M

Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

How can I get my question answered?

Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
Note:
- We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
- We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
- We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
- We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.

Ready? Ask a new question!

How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

December 5

Mexican dessert cube

Please do not double post questions: see Humanities desk
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Does anybody know a Mexican (possibly Latin American dish) which looks like a brown sugar cube and dissolves in your mouth? II don't think it was chocolate and I can't seem to find it on Category:Mexican desserts. It is probably available in US since that is where I first tried it.--The Emperor's New Spy (talk) 01:28, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

baseball

What was shoeless Joe Jackson's lifetime batting adverage against the Boston red sox pitcher George h. Ruth?---- — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.8.153.246 (talk) 09:44, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Babe Ruth's page on Baseball-Reference.com [1] only has game logs starting in 1916; he only pitched 4 times in his first season, 1914, but had a full season for which there is no data in 1915. In 1916, Jackson went 4 for 11 against Ruth, then 7 for 24 in 1917 (with some approximation for the games in which Ruth was not the sole pitcher; complete play-by-play records are not available). The two did not face each-other in 1918, and in 1919, Jackson went 4 for 10. Ruth only pitched once in 1920, and not against Jackson's team, the White Sox; after that season Shoeless Joe was banned for life for his role in the Black Sox Scandal. That gives a total of 15 for 45, or a .333 batting average for the five seasons for which we have data, which is below Jackson's career average of .356, but still quite good for a lefthanded batter facing the top left-hander of his day. --Xuxl (talk) 13:33, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Retrosheet, which I think is one of Baseball-Ref's sources, appears to have box scores for Jackson in 1915.[2] It could be a little tedious, but you could look at the games against Boston, see if Ruth was pitching, and see if you can infer which pitcher he hit off of (if any). You could also look for game summaries on microfilm of major newspapers such as the NY Times. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:28, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Obamacare age restriction

I went to check their web site for if my elderly mother can get any kind of coverage, but the highest age they list is 64. Does this mean there is no coverage offered through this program for the elderly ? I'm guessing they intend them to use Medicare alone, but she was hoping to find a plan there to supplement Medicare, particularly for catastrophic coverage. Does Medicare already cover such claims (like if a heart transplant is needed) ? StuRat (talk) 10:03, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

See here. Not that it was in any way obvious, but senior coverage is not an intended part of the health care marketplaces. That link I provided gives the various options your mother has. She can purchase insurance in the new health care marketplace, but she will not be eligible for a tax subsidy like those under 65. Someguy1221 (talk) 11:15, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I went through the Medicare web site to find her a Medigap plan. StuRat (talk) 12:06, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

How many states are there in India?

How many states are there in India? What is the easiest way of locating this information on Wikipedia? Thanks in advance, XOttawahitech (talk) 20:50, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The best way to find this information is typically the use of a search engine; a Google search for "states of India" refers to our states of India article as the first result. — Lomn 20:57, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The easiest way is to read the article on India. See India#Subdivisions. RudolfRed (talk) 23:43, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Contacting a Wikipedia contributor?

I'm an archives researcher/writer at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, trying to contact Cwmacdougall, primary author of your excellent article on Frank Archibald MacDougall. Is there any way you can advise this contributor that I'm trying to contact him/her? - David Helwig [redacted] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.5.176.222 (talk) 22:30, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

See if Cwmacdougall (talk · contribs) is still active and/or allows e-mails. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:32, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes on both. If IP's can't do e-mails, then leave the user a talk page message. But DO NOT post your own e-mail address here, unless you enjoy endless spam and malware. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:34, 5 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Bugs has, as usual, offered an incomplete and incorrect answer.

User:Cwmacdougall last posted here back in July - but only has sporadic bursts of activity separated by months of nothing.
If you go to his/her user page, you'll see an "email this user" link in the menu over on the left - so, yes, you can definitely send email.
Posting your email address here isn't recommended because of the fear of spammers harvesting email addresses. But in practice, I've had my web site and email address (<steve@sjbaker.org>) posted publically here and on my User: page for over 8 years and have not noticed any increase in my meager spam volume as a result. So I'm quite sure you wouldn't suffer "endless spam and malware" if you decided to do the same thing.

SteveBaker (talk) 04:20, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

And you're half-baked - as usual. I didn't redact the guy's e-mail address, in fact I hardly ever do that, as someone else usually does it first. As with this section.[3] So go yell at those folks. Also, Cwmacdougall (talk · contribs) is not a prolific contributor, but has a screen's worth of contributions since late October, including 9 in the last 3 day. Last time I checked my calendar, it ain't July right now. And by the way, wise guy, when I log out to my IP, the option "e-mail this user" disappears. Now, don't bother apologizing for your 3-strikes-you're-out. Just send 5 dollars in postage stamps to my lawyer, Hon. Charles H. Hungadunga, and tell him it's for my favorite charity, the Home for Disabled Veterinarians. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:17, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I redacted the email address, because it seems standard policy. Given the lack of response from Mr. Helwig, I informed Cwmacdougall on his talk page, with a link to the diff containing the email address. Ssscienccce (talk) 15:15, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

In the link I cited, Tevildo removed it. Be that as it may, Mr. Half-Baked may say it's merely "recommended", but it is in fact standard practice to remove it from ref desk entries. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:27, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You're correct that you need to be logged in with an account to email someone via the wikipedia email function. In fact your account needs to have a confirmed email address to be able to do so. Nil Einne (talk) 20:57, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

BTW, I'm somewhat confused by what the comment 'last posted here back in July' means. From what I can tell Cwmacdougall has never posted to any of the reference desks. However it doesn't seem a problem since I don't think anyone was suggesting to use the RD contact them, which is a suggestion which doesn't make much sense for account anyway (only really makes sense for fairly dynamic IPs which only frequent the RD). Incidentally, while I don't really want to get in to the above mess, and this is all a moot point since Cwmacdougall had already replied before Steve Baker's first post [4], I do agree with BB that their statement on Cwmacdougall's activity was sufficiently accurate. I looked thorough the history and until March 2012 Cwmacdougall was active every month. In fact, since that implies a maximum of 61 days or so between activity, and the activity before 30 March 2012 was 30 Janury 2012, we can specify a maximum of 61 days between activity until 31 December 2011. It's true the activity was more sporiadic before then, e.g. 28 August 2011 was the last before 31 December 2011 and then 29 July 2011 and possibly even more in some of the earlier times. But I question the need to go that far back, and it seems a little confusing to say 'only has sporadic bursts of activity separated by months of nothing' when the last time that happened was nearly 2 years ago. (Or at least if you're like me and when you say 'months between' it's assumed you generally mean more than 2 months because it would be normal to just specify a couple of months if that's all it is.) Notably as BB has said, in recent times they have been fairly active. In fact it looks to me like for at least a year (April-June & July-October 2012 it was around 20-30 days) they've generally been active for every every 18 days at a minimum (February 2013 was 18 days) with often less than 7 days, although I didn't look that carefully. It's of course possible they would go inactive again, and with such an activity profile it's somewhat more likely than with someone who has been very active for the past 6 years. But you can never guarantee someone will stay active even in such a case and considering the circumstances, it seem fair to simply say that the editor is active (perhaps adding the caveat 'appears' would be better). Nil Einne (talk) 22:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Before this discussion, Cwmacdougall had last posted to User talk:Cwmacdougall in July. I guess that's where SteveBaker got the month from, but I don't see the relevance of the last post to the user talk page. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:17, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah I noticed that and was in the middle of editing my reply when I found out you'd replied. Reading more carefully I realise SB did link to User:Cwmacdougall, so I guess 'here' meant the linked page rather than 'here' meaning where we are now. I presume this part was a reply to BB's suggestion of posting to Cwmacdougall's talk page. Except of course they linked to the user page (which hasn't been edited since September 2010) rather than the talk page so I still find it fairly confusing.

Particularly considering as you said, it doesn't seem relevant. A lot of people only use their talk page to reply to others. Some people still use the practice of replying on the talk page of whoever posted. And so the only time they edit their talk page is to archive and perhaps clear spam and stuff they considered unwanted.

The notification system (before this the orange box of doom) means people will often become aware of any message posted to their talk page if they're active and logged in. Some people have even set it up to get emails when it's modified.

None of which means they will choose to read it, let alone choose to respond in some way. But unless you have clear evidence the person generally ignores important messages, which will need to come from more complicated analysis and often you just don't know, don't worry about when someone edited their talk page.

In this particular case, a simple glance at the talk page history [5] will tell you no one edited it since Cwmcdougall did in July until the recent stuff, so it's fairly expected there would be no edits to it. (In fact, a glance at their talk page suggests to me they generally reply to most stuff fairly quickly.)

So yeah sorry to make a big deal about this dead matter, but although I'm frequently in disagreement with BB I just don't see what they did wrong in this case. Their statement was sufficiently accurate and helpful. And unfortunately for once, it's SB's statement which seems the more confusing or even misleading (well the spam/email bit is probably right). And this seems to have been borne out by what happened as well (Cwmcdougall also replied to Ssscience).

Nil Einne (talk) 22:39, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Does seem a big deal about my talk page, which you're right I only use when someone contacts me there (and which I clean up quickly), while I think I edit articles quite a lot, if anything too much! cwmacdougall 23:37, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Airliner window gaps

I flew in a [737] today and got to wondering about the gaps in the regular window spacing. I noticed that near row 8 there was approximately one window missing and the wall seemed thicker there. I'm pretty sure I've seen such gaps in other airliners. I'm wondering if this bit of thick windowless wall contains cables or ventilation channels or something like that? It can't be strengthening, because why would that be needed just there? Hayttom 23:22, 5 December 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hayttom (talk • contribs) [reply]

Ok, this isn't a sound reference by engineering standards, but SeatGuru confirms: "There are areas of the plane where air ducts or wires are run behind the wall. When this is required, it is not possible to have a window in this location, so instead, a solid blank wall will be there instead. Yes, airlines still advertise the seat as a "Window Seat" even though there is no window." [6] Various online forums give the same reasons, also talking about which rows are affected in which aircraft. ---Sluzzelin talk 00:12, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved

I sure would be pissed of if I was promised a window seat and got a seat with no window or even access to the aisle. Might as well toss me into the cargo hold. At least I'd probably have more legroom there. :-) StuRat (talk) 10:30, 6 December 2013 (UTC) [reply]

Note in some cases you will get a window which looks out over the wing. So if you want to be able to see the ground/ocean on the few occasions that's possible, even having a window may not be enough for you. Nil Einne (talk) 22:41, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I'm perfectly happy with a window over the wing. That gives me a chance to watch the gremlin as he tears apart the engine. :-) StuRat (talk) 11:46, 9 December 2013 (UTC) [reply]

Especially if you discover that you're seated between William Shatner and John Lithgow. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:34, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 6

Car Heater Malfunction

Hi, I'm not savvy about cars and wanted to see if anyone can explain to me what might be going on with mine- so I don't get ripped off when I take it to a shop (and because I'm curious). I was driving last night, my heater was working fine and, suddenly, it started blowing cold air (no noises, nothing). I checked the coolant, which was low, put some more in, no change. Then, I let the car run for a while to see if it would eventually heat up, it didn't, but the air coming out of the heaters smelled like a mix of burning oil/exhaust/something-along-those-lines. Any ideas?Phoenixia1177 (talk) 07:21, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, usually if you smell anything coming out of the vents, it's antifreeze, and that happens when you have a leaking heater core. That is supposed to act as a heat exchanger, taking heat from the antifreeze and putting it into the air, but a leak means the antifreeze actually gets into the air. Unfortunately, if this is the problem, it can cost hundreds to repair, since they often have to take off the dashboard to get to it. Not sure why it would smell like burning oil, though, unless somebody put oil in your radiator. StuRat (talk) 10:25, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Antifreeze smells very sweet - and it's not good to be breathing it - so you need to get it fixed ASAP if that's what you're smelling.

Generally, air smelling of antifreeze means that you have a leaky heater core. However, if that were the only problem, you'd still be getting warm air. Getting only cold air generally means that one of the internal flaps that directs air around the car is stuck - which could be something as simple a leaf or some other piece of debris stuck inside it - or something complicated relating to the motor that moves it or the thermostat that's sensing the internal temperature of the car - but if that's what it was, you wouldn't be smelling anything. The problem I'm having is coming up with a single explanation that would explain *both* the lack of heat and the smell - the only thing that comes to mind is if an air hose fell off inside the engine bay, which would mean that instead of getting warm air, you're getting air from inside the engine bay.

Your low coolant level could be a clue here. It would suggest that perhaps the heater core is leaking SO much water that none gets to heat up the air at all - and you're smelling antifreeze. I've never seen that happen - but I suppose it's possible...and it does neatly explain why your coolant level was low.

Heater core replacement (as StuRat says) isn't usually cheap because you have to remove so much 'stuff' to get to it...and if this is your problem, you need to get it fixed because otherwise you'll be out of coolant again very soon and because smelling antifreeze isn't good for you!

No matter what, you should definitely keep a close check your coolant level until you get this fixed because if it gets too low, you could trash your engine - or at least dramatically shorten it's life.

SteveBaker (talk) 17:09, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I like the theory that a hose fell off delivering outside air to the heater core, and now it's just sucking engine air in. The OP might want to put it into recirculate mode (sometimes labelled MAX), to see if that changes anything.

Also, if it was coolant he was smelling, buying some organic coolant (the stuff made to be pet-safe), might make it a bit less toxic to inhale, until he gets it repaired. And, if only cold air comes out, he might as well leave the heat off until it's fixed. That should at least reduce the amount of engine air that comes into the passenger compartment. StuRat (talk) 13:53, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

orginazational changes

Why are Jehovah's witnesses moving their world headquarters from Brooklyn NY where they have been for 100 years to upstate New York? Specifically Warwick NY? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.8.153.246 (talk) 08:56, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This link gives some reasons.Dalliance (talk) 12:52, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

http://e-watchman.com/home/on-jehovahs-witnesses-abandoning-brooklyn

For further info on the general topic (though not necessarily this specific instance), Google the subject "rats deserting a sinking ship". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:12, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

According to the last paragraph at http://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/americas/united-states/jehovahs-witnesses-sale-move/, it makes possible the continued expansion of their global work. According to http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2012605?q=wallkill&p=par, they have not changed their belief that the great tribulation will come soon, and they would be glad if it interrupts their plans.

—Wavelength (talk) 23:59, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Srisa Chandra Vasu

Hello,

I have an issue with this author, which is said to be born on 1861 [7], and according to this scan, translated a work the same year. He may have been a genius, but still… ;o) Any idea? Yann (talk) 10:38, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That scan appears to be a translation by Bapu Deva Sastri. Is that the same person? Rojomoke (talk) 13:35, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yann appeared to think so at a time per the history of Bapudeva Sastri. However I think they changed their minds but still think Srisa Chandra Vasu is the translator. Either way, it seems to me most likely both are two different people, one born in 1821 and one born in 1861. Both translated Siddhanta but not the same works (Srisa Chandra Vasu did Siddhanta Kaumudi at least, Bapudeva Sastri did the Surya Siddhanta and finished or at least revised the translation of the Siddhānta Shiromani by Lancelot Wilkinson, maybe because Lancelot Wilkinson died before publishing it or something). To be honest, I'm not sure why the connection was made, Yann appears to have been the one that added the name Srisa Chandra Vasu when uploading the work to the wikimedia commons [8], but I can't see the name anywhere in the source (well he is mentioned in connection to The Ashtadhyayi Of Panini but not the Siddhanta) nor in the original ebooks even the metadata (nor of course the book although I only looked at the beginning and the commentary at the end). Maybe the names are similar in Sanskrit or however they wrote their names natively? Nil Einne (talk) 17:22, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Kendrick Lamar's Verses in "YOLO"; sincere un-ironic advice?

I was always curious about Kendrick Lamar's verses in YOLO by The Lonely Island because unlike the rest of the song, it sounds like he's just giving correct advice. This doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the lyrics, which are all about going to unrealistic degrees to live a safe life. Even Rap Genius annotates Lamar's verses as correct financial opinions. Is there nothing ironic, no double-meanings or anything in that segment? --Ye Olde Luke (talk) 19:46, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I had always assumed the irony in Lamar's advice stemmed from just how boring it is. Someguy1221 (talk) 03:23, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Harold Camping's Bible.

Which Bible does Harold Camping use? --78.156.109.166 (talk) 20:47, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This is a WP:BLP. You might thry the external links at our article, assuming you have read it. μηδείς (talk) 21:33, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

There's a link in the article which points to an essay by Camping's group which talks at length about their view of the Bible. This is one page of it, in which he references the King James version and the American Standard version. It's possible he refers to other versions in later chapters. But this fits with other prophecy mavens like Herbert W. Armstrong, whose view (as I recall) was that those two versions were the "best" translations. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:29, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know that he is tied to one version like the KJV-only group is. Here he discusses studying words in the text in the original languages. Rmhermen (talk) 00:56, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

What is mavens? So is it KJV or ASV? Or something else? --78.156.109.166 (talk) 20:12, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A maven (rhymes with "raven") is an expert on a given topic. Indications are that he uses the KJV frequently, and also approves of the ASV. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:56, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Leslie Westbrook, The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette), March 17, 2011: The Lunch Hour: End of the world as we know it?: "As they do with most everyone they meet, they sent me home with several brochures, tracts as they call them, and a little book called "We Are Almost There." It was put together by Harold Camping, the president and general manager of Family Radio, and lays out a mathematical interpretation of scriptures in the King James Bible to create a time line of events that end with the rapture on May 21 and the destruction of Earth on October 21." -- Jreferee (talk) 22:18, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 7

Maths homework

Q.Check which of the following subsets of R is compact, sequentially compact or countably compact :

 (a)   (-3,2]
 (b)   (1,2)
 (c)   [8,9)
 Support your results with suitable arguments.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.139.209.194 (talk) 11:00, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Do you see the sentence at the top of this page that says: "We don't do your homework for you, though we’ll help you past the stuck point"? Tell us what you are stuck on, and we might be able to help (though it would be better on the maths reference desk). --ColinFine (talk) 13:32, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I'll give some tips.

Compact_space#Introduction: first five lines should give the answer regarding "compact".
One of the properties of Countably compact space should tell you the rest.

then again, I'm not used to the English vocabulary in set theory and related math topics, so I could be wrong... Ssscienccce (talk) 22:44, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

How to install CNG/LPG system on a 1.6L Kia CVVT engine?

I want to know about how to install CNG/LPG system on a 5 m (16 ft) fishing boat's installed 1.6L CVVT car engine (for information purposes only)?

Engine details:
Engine from: 2012 Kia Rio SX GDI
Displacement: 1,600 cm³ (98 cu in)
Engine name: Gamma
Original fuel type: Petrol/Gasoline
Valvetrain: Dual overhead camshaft, 16 valve

How to pronounce Alexander Tietze's last name

Please help me with pronouncing Tietze. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Susanhaller (talk • contribs) 22:30, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Dutch isn't so different from German, so the first second of this youtube video should give you an idea. Ssscienccce (talk) 22:49, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

merriam-webster.com gives the IPA transliteraration of "Tietze's" as \ˈtēt-səz-\ and has a sound file - I can't tell you if it works because some ne'er-do-well has borrowed my speakers and not returned them. There's another sound file on memidex.com. Alansplodge (talk) 00:43, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Huh huh, \ˈtēt-səz-\. Huh huh. μηδείς (talk) 03:51, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 8

Congolese woman

Can anyone identify this woman, either individually, or in a more detailed manner than in the file history or at Flickr? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 04:46, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

[9] says Bangobango people group of Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sleigh (talk) 14:21, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I had seen that page when I did a reverse image search at google yesterday. But I believe they got the image from wikipedia--in any case, it is uncredited there, and described as a "representative image". Discussion of the image at Bantu peoples implies it was originally taken from flicker, where al it was described as was "Congolese woman". That's not to say it's not a Bangobango woman, but I was hoping maybe we could get something along the lines of "a woman wearing traditional Bangobango dress" or te like. μηδείς (talk) 18:25, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Alan Winnington/Winnington Baronets

Is Alan Winnington (de, [10], [11]) related with the Winnington Baronets? --Dandelo (talk) 10:38, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I can see, not directly. Sir Thomas Winnington, 4th Baronet (1811-1872) only had two sons; one died unmarried at the age of 21.[12] The other son, Sir Francis Salwey Winnington, 5th Bt. (1849-1941), had three sons, none of whom apparently had a son called Alan. I have discounted female children as they wouldn't have passed the Winnington name on to their children. You can follow the family tree backwards from the first page that I linked if you have the time, but lunch is ready now! Alansplodge (talk) 13:03, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, the 3rd and 2nd Baronets only produce one alternate line ending in John Francis Sartorius Winnington (1876-1918) who had two daughters before he was killed at the end of WWI. He would (I think) be a third cousin of the 5th Baronet; so if Alan Winnington was actually related, it would be only very remotely. Alansplodge (talk) 11:30, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Dip pen stuck in potato

In an old Laurel and Hardy short, the desk clerk at a low rent hotel placed the registry dip pen into a potato, when not in use. Was this really done back then, and for what reason ? Perhaps it kept the ink from drying into clumps on the nib ? StuRat (talk) 13:15, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I found The Cambridge Companion to Elgar, edited by Daniel M. Grimley and Julian Rushton (p. 36) which says "He (Edward Elgar) avoided writer's cramp by using a dip pen rather than a fountain pen, which required him to lean forward to the inkwell and clean his pen by plunging it into a potato.". I also found a novel called The Accidental Time Machine, by Joe W. Haldeman (p. 131) in which one of the characters asks (in reference to dip pens) "'Why a potato?' 'It keeps the points from getting rusty. You stick them into a potato when you're done for the day.'" This latter explanation seems less likely to me. We used dip pens and ink wells at our primary school in London in the 1960s (not many people believe me but I assure you that it's true). The steel nibs that we were provided with were plated (maybe with chromium?), and I never recall seeing one go rusty despite the way that we abused them (we used to play darts with them by throwing them into the wooden floors - the points would need a bit of straightening afterwards). We were given pink blotting paper to clean them with, as the deposits of dried ink made them drop big blots in your exercise book - a caning offence in my father's day (1920s) but would still draw adverse comments in the more enlightened 1960s. The trouble with blotting paper was that it left fibres on the nib and you had to be careful where you put the inky paper afterwards in case you got ink on everything. So using a potato to clean the nib sounds plausible, but I'd never heard of it until just now. Alansplodge (talk) 19:42, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

my guess is that it was just a gag. you poke a potato a couple of times and leave it out on a desk and it is not going to last long. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 19:44, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Elgar is not well known for slapstick; calling his bicycle "Mr Phoebus" after a character invented by Benjamin Disraeli was his kind of joke (no, I don't get it either). Alansplodge (talk) 19:50, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Elgar may not be joking, but the bit in the Laurel and Hardy clip probably is. things that are standardly performed or perceived as a joke can be found to be actually done by at least a few individuals as their normal form of business.-- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 20:00, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well maybe, but going in search of backup, I found this interview with a lady who runs her own calligraphy business in California... Q. "What tool do you use in your business that you can’t live without?" A. "Don’t laugh. A raw potato. Its my secret weapon. A former calligraphy teacher showed me this trick to clean the ink off the pen nib, and I swear it really works!" Alansplodge (talk) 20:14, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks so far. It sounds like it was indeed used, and the blotting of excess ink seems like a good explanation. I agree that the avoidance of rust doesn't sound plausible, as a potato is wet inside, and the other chemicals found there would, if anything, promote rust, not inhibit it.

As far as a potato not lasting long, I suspect they would last a lot longer than you might think, perhaps months. I've forgotten about potatoes in a cabinet before, only to open the cabinet weeks later and find they had all sprouted. And, of course, potatoes are dirt cheap, so you can easily replace one that dries out, sprouts, or rots. I also suspect any slits in the potato would quickly "heal". Potatoes and onions are amazing things, I like to call them undead, based on their ability to recover from just about anything short of boiling them. StuRat (talk) 11:31, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Slits in potatoes don't heal, they scar, at best. μηδείς (talk) 21:25, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Clearing the sandpit in Long Jump

Are there any rules or regulations that cover the (admittedly unlikely) event that an athlete competing in the Long Jump actually clears the sand pit? Would the jump be a foul or would they be awarded a maxmimum jump distance? Likewise, in throwing events, is there anything covering someone throwing their object beyond the final line of the measuring sector. Nanonic (talk) 15:36, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Speaking from distant memories of school-level competitions (I once briefly held an under-16 County (Kent, UK) record in the 8lb Shot put), in throwing events the distance lines are only there for the informal guidance of spectators and competitors – the actual distance measurement should always be done with a steel or fibreglass measuring tape from the landing point to the edge of the throwing circle. The only problem would, I'd think, be determining whether the object landed within the permissible angle of the Sector if it did so beyond the end of the marked Sector lines and line-end flags.

In the (presumably representative) USATF 2006 Rules, the relevant Article III Section 1 Rule 187 goes into some detail about marking out the Sectors for the various throwing events, but I can see no suggestions of any maximum distance restrictions.

Regarding the Long jump (or Triple Jump), the eventuality seems so unlikely that there may be no relevant rules in existence. Note that in the above-linked Rules, Article III Section 1 Rule 185 Long Jump Item 6 states:

"It is recommended that the distance between the take-off board and the end of the landing area shall be at least 10 metres."

Since 10m is more than 10% greater than the current Long jump World Record, it's being exceeded in our era seems nigh-on impossible: should future athletes begin to approach 10m, doubtless the recommendations would be modified, since no-one would want to see an athlete injure him/herself by landing on the edge of the pit (or beyond). As for the Triple jump, the event's nature guarantees the final jump phase being shorter than in the Long jump, so the potential problem is taken care of by the former's set-up. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195 90.201.159.157 (talk) 16:49, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

IAAF Competition Rules 2014-2015 (4 MB PDF) pages 199-200 says:

RULE 185
Long Jump
Competition
1. An athlete fails if:
...
(d) after taking off, but before his first contact with the landing area,
he touches the runway or the ground outside the runway or
outside the landing area;
...
3. An athlete shall not be regarded to have failed if:
...
(d) if in the course of landing, he touches, with any part of his body,
or anything attached to it at that moment, the border of, or the
ground outside the landing area, unless such contact contravenes
Rule 185.1(d)
...
Take-off Line
4. The distance between the take-off line and the far end of the landing
area shall be at least 10m.

The World Record is 8.95m. They probably didn't have beyond the landing area in mind with "outside the landing area", but a literal interpretation says it would be a fail. If a jumper is about to go a little long then I suppose he could deliberately put down a leg to touch something inside the landing area first, but the whole thing is rather theoretical if the 10m minimum is satisfied. In practice I suspect the officials would either try to conservatively measure the actual jump length, or give the distance to the far end of the landing area. If they declared a fail then the jumper would probably protest to the Referee. Page 147 says:

To arrive at a fair decision, the
Referee should consider any available evidence which he thinks
necessary, including a film or picture produced by an official video
recorder, or any other available video evidence. The Referee may
decide on the protest or may refer the matter to the Jury. If the Referee
makes a decision, there shall be a right of appeal to the Jury.

PrimeHunter (talk) 16:53, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

How do they turn off/on the fuel pumps when a gas station closes/opens?

Not the emergency shut off. I'm looking for the method in which the older gas stations (before they were all 24 hours and took credit cards) would shut down the pumps at night, and then turn them back on in the morning. Is their a switch inside the station? A breaker box? A key that must be turned at the pump? Anyone ever worked at a gas station and know how they turned off/on the pumps? Just to be clear, this is for a story I'm writing, not looking to steal gas :) Thanks! Ditch ∝ 18:14, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen the forecourt lights and the pumps being turned-off at the same time, without anyone walking out of the kiosk. I would be surprised if there isn't a switch inside that turns off the power supply, but I don't know for certain. Alansplodge (talk) 19:13, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)I used to work at a country general store that had a couple pumps out front. They had just a simple switch behind the counter. It was the same as what you would use to turn off a light in your house. If you need a bit of realism for your story, it also had an ancient piece of masking tape above the switch that read simply "Pumps". Dismas|^(talk) 19:16, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

For fiction purposes, persuade your local gas station to remove the lower nacelle or cover of the pump. I haven't looked in side for many a year but the electric motor (the circuit breaker of which is back at the cash desk, so that it can be turned off in emergencies) usually turns a wheel - via a V belt. On that wheel (which drives the pump) is a square nut. A crank handle can be placed over it, to hand-crank the pump. This is for the reasons of: a prolonged power cut or WW3 breaking out and the survivors needing to... well as a author you know that scenario already. Also, the circuit breakers or on/off switches in old stations the would have be on the distribution board (for cost reasons) but modern stations may also have infra-red flame detectors for auto-shut off.--Aspro (talk) 20:20, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Now that you have me thinking about it, how far are we going back? I have never seen any key on the pump itself. The nearest, is that some nozzles and holsters had holes at the base so that a padlock shackle could looped through. We have had credit cards for some forty years - is this an ancient historical novel, where one had one had to change gear with a floor shift and control the a/c by winding the side windows up an' down and rely on the local blacksmith to change the tires? --Aspro (talk) 20:55, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 9

Fleur-de-lis

I don’t understand why you lot consider this to be a Christian symbol. I have never seen any biblic mentions or uses of this. Are you just classifying it as such simply because it was used by Christians? --66.190.69.246 (talk) 03:27, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

See the section: Fleur-de-lis#Symbolism in religion and art. Rmhermen (talk) 03:40, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Damn, I missed the lily mention in the Song of Solomon. Still, it’s ambiguous and not in the New Testament. At the very least, the symbol is not biblic in origin, surely. --66.190.69.246 (talk) 07:43, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Christianity has accumulated a great mass of symbols over the last two millennia, and not all of them are directly Biblical in origin. The Ichthys symbol was used from the very earliest days of the Church, but the mentions of fish in the Gospels don't really support it's use as a personal emblem of Christ, unless you accept that Jonah prefigures the Resurrection. Alansplodge (talk) 11:20, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough. --66.190.69.246 (talk) 12:50, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"You lot"? Is GWB lurking here? μηδείς (talk) 20:24, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Verifying if two images taken by Edward S. Curtis the same person and Nampeyo on Wiki?Priboi2011 (talk) 22:59, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

Viewing a biography of Edward S. Curtis on television which showed a variety of pictures of his work, being instantly attracted to one in particular. On searching the internet, found a handful of pictures I'm interested in, one from the show and another looking like it's the same person, but differently posed, sitting, painting pottery. The head shot showed on TV had been edited. I found 'that one' plus the original, where she's carrying pottery on her head. They've edited the pottery out, apparently for sales purposes because it's not looking very flattering? All his pictures are up for sale. So, I've discovered 'four' so far! In the effort of finding more, finding Nampeyo on Wiki, saw an old Nampeyo. Although it's probably the same person, but she doesn't quite have the same facial features as the younger pictures present, especially in the mouth? Zooming in doesn't help recognition? Finding another with a different hair a style that maybe of the same person taken at a later date, but unable to verify? After fruitless efforts trying to find email contact address or links to establish such, and finding nearly all in the Wiki article are either dead or sectioned off as a copywrite issue, I need to ask if you can help find the pictures of the same person to verify these two pictures as being the same person or not including Nampeyo in Wiki? Can't give you copies of the pictures I have, because I don't seem to be able to paste or upload them? They're not on Wiki to reference to? Names related to any of these pictures from sites are ambiguous? Best of luck!Priboi2011 (talk) 22:59, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A question about black light

A strange one this, but I'm wondering if the term "black light" (as in ultraviolet light) is predominantly an American expression. I live in the UK and am currently writing a story in which UV plays a small role. I remember the term from series such as Quincy, but when I read my piece to an audience this evening they queried my use of it, and it got me thinking. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance. 86.140.105.29 (talk) 23:57, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

When writing, one has to consider one's audience and how they will receive/perceive it – think that's what your asking. From a technical point of view, I live in the UK also and have always understood 'black light'. But I am of a technical background and your readers may not be. To dispel all doubt, it might be better to spell it out that it is ultra-violet 'A' that is your subject (or object or whatever)(gosh I can't believe I just got that all so mangled up). A good author does a little bit of research (as you're doing now). Your novel may carry more conviction (credibility) if you define (simply) that 'black-light' has a wave length of … OH, some one has just called at the door – I will try and come back later and give you a reference.--Aspro (talk) 00:23, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Back! As always Wikipedia has an article on it. Black light (Ultraviolet A) has a wave length of 400 – 315 nm.--Aspro (talk) 01:00, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Interestingly, on the US Amazon.com there are many products described as simply a "Blacklight", but on Amazon.co.uk the same products usually described as a "UV Blacklight" or a "Blacklight UV torch" or some other similar construction that gets both search terms in the title.

I don't know if that indicates an English Language variation, or just that the UK copy editor is more thorough. APL (talk) 02:00, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I could swear I remember hearing an engvar term for this just recently, not just the term UV light, but something colloquial. Of course I cannot remember what that was.... μηδείς (talk) 02:18, 10 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

December 10

central pain

I am shocked to read under the entry central pain, wiki wrote this reads like an ad. I am one of millions of cp sufferers and it has ruined my life. don't you do any basic research at all?? contact dr. wise young, head of research at Rutgers.