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February 27

Looking for a good example of a concept map

I'm looking for a good example of a concept map capturing the relationship among the concepts and facts in some subject. I want to explain to a child the importance of understanding and knowledge organization in the learning. Ideally the topic is something a middle schooler hasn't learned in school yet but is small enough to be explained in an hour or so. My plan is to present same topic twice, the first time covering the concepts and facts but without providing a useful way of organizing them, then explaining the same material again using a concept map to show/emphasize how things relate. I hope to get across the point that a useful way to organize knowledge can make the same information much easier to understand and remember, and effective learning is more than remembering definitions and facts. Any suggestions for a good subject for the purpose? Thanks. --173.49.18.42 (talk) 04:08, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The relationships of the various species, families, etc. (which evolved from which, for example) always required a diagram for me to understand. Not sure if this type of evolutionary tree counts as a concept map though. StuRat (talk) 04:32, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I could never get a grip of the family tales my mother told me, until I drew a family tree. There turned out to be more than a thousand names in that tree in her head. Fortunately, she had birth certificates, books and things of about a third of the ones not still alive. Some seem to be able to hold a lot of old stuff in their head, but not me. I needed that tree.It is not exactly a concept map, I know, but close. The point of this is probably that whatever you settle for, it should be something that your audience really wants to learn about, but too much info to learn without some graphics. Star Lord - 星王 (talk) 08:28, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This reminds me of tutoring kids on how to improve their study skills in general, and especially in visual ways. So I searched google-images for "concept maps" and came up with a good start: [1] which has some simple examples (e.g Trees - Oxygen - Wood, etc) and lots of reading about using concept maps as educational tools. El duderino ^(abides) 08:56, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Brainstorming would work for the beginning of your lesson. Brainstorm a central idea, such as Sports, then get the child to name a sport (football), then ask what do they use (ball)? What do they play it on (field)? Then another sport (cricket, cricket bat/ball, field), then another (baseball, baseball bat/ball, field), and so on. Then in your next lesson, arrange them all and draw lines between those that are the same (ball, ball, ball, for example) - better still write them in different colours (so 'ball' would be red, 'field' would be green, etc. - kids love colours). Then, get the child to count all the connections between each one, and name the sports with the most connections. To make it even more fun, you could include Quidditch or other fictional sports, or make some sports up together (Bananaball, banana/ball, fiery volcano) and try to fit them into the concept map. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 10:01, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, yes, brainstorming. That led to a hugely uncomfortable moment back in the early 80's when my classmate, asked what one could do with a tire, said "hustle off little children". μηδείς (talk) 01:15, 28 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. If there are more ideas, please continue to post them. Thanks. --173.49.18.42 (talk) 13:44, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A question about references

In https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry a conversation from an aired conversation in the entertaining documentary BBC television series "Out there" by Stephen Fry is refenced simly by stating "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, 2013-05-22". Is this a good reference? Perhaps references are not required in wikiquote? If the reference is not good, will this question that I am posing here in helpdesk be deleted? Should it be deleted in the wikiquote section? Would it be possible to reference the video itself instead, since it is available on youtube? Star Lord - 星王 (talk) 11:35, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes its an 'ok' reference as it tells you where it was from and gives anyone who want's to check it enough information to find the source, it would help if it had the network it was broadcast on and perhaps an identifier to the episode/series number - but apart from that, perfectly acceptable. You can even use wikiquote:Template:Cite_video. No it would not be advisable to link to the video as no doubt the one on Youtube would be a copyright infringement and we can't link to illegal works. Nanonic (talk) 19:16, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Seeing as it is an ok reference, I will use it in another place too. Star Lord - 星王 (talk) 20:23, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved

Type of paper

Is there a particular name for the paper that's used for puzzle magazines (sudoku/crosswords/wordsearches etc., like these ones)? It's quite fibrous and isn't white; it's got quite a cheap/recycled feel. I'm at a loss of what to Google for or where to begin, so if anyone could help (especially if they know where I could buy some at A4 or A3 size) that'd be great. Thanks. matt (talk) 11:51, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's called Bleedproof paper. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 11:57, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think it is newsprint. --Jayron32 14:06, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks guys. I think bleedproof is a bit thicker than what I'm thinking of. Newsprint, however, seems too thin—but it's certainly that sort of stuff. matt (talk) 14:47, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Pulp paper ,hence pulp magazines Hotclaws (talk) 17:52, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly the same kind of paper they used to use (and maybe still do) in kindergarten or first grade to practice printing and writing. Thick enough to withstand some erasings. Possibly old-style comic books as well. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:48, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That's bleedproof, BB. I think the OP's paper is the same as that used in manga. It might be easier to look into manga paper than into puzzle magazine paper when googling, since manga is talked about a lot more. That's how I got the word 'bleedproof' (which I had never heard of before). KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 21:50, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think Manga paper is slightly thicker, but it's the same texture. Mingmingla (talk) 23:52, 27 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

February 28

Implication of astrological chart

This duplicate question has been merged with the identical question at the humanities desk--please follow guidelines on not making duplicate posts. μηδείς (talk) 17:25, 28 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

OSHA regulations on HCl

Does anyone know where I can find out what concentration of hydrochloric acid is considered a hazardous chemical by OSHA? I tried searching their website. OSHA is the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JackJoeJim (talk • contribs) 20:29, 28 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Here are some OSHA links I've found: This [2] says only anhydrous is considered a HHC (Highly Hazardous Chemical), and this [3] says that aqueous solutions are not subject to PSM (process safety management) regulations. Here is another response from OSHA about a similar question [4]. To be honest, I'd contact them directly. They seem to respond relatively quickly, and, as far as I can tell, there are different considerations depending on what you are doing with it! SemanticMantis (talk) 20:55, 28 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Maybe I'll be stuck writing to OSHA, even if it takes them months to answer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JackJoeJim (talk • contribs) 16:30, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

March 1

Fiscal year v. calendar year

Why do some entities and governments choose March 31 or another date rather than the calendar date to end the fiscal year? Gullabile (talk) 07:25, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Reading the article on fiscal year would probably answer the question. Hot Stop 07:32, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Australia's fiscal year is 1 July to 30 June. While I suspect we inherited the practice from Britain, it makes a lot of sense to not have it matching the calendar year. The period from Christmas through New Year and a couple of weeks after is summer holiday time, and a large proportion of people are not at work. HiLo48 (talk) 07:34, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In the U.S., the federal government's fiscal year starts October 1. It's supposed to give Congress more time to pass a budget, but that hasn't exactly happened in recent years. Hot Stop 19:43, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Is this really poutine?

A restaurant I frequent (in an English-speaking city in Ontario) serves dozens of varieties of "poutine" that don't include gravy or melted cheese. An example is the "Greek poutine" (fries cooked in olive oil, with feta cheese, olives, diced tomatoes and onions, spiced like a Greek pizza). Would most Quebecois consider dishes like that to qualify as "poutine"? Neon Merlin 10:17, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No true Quebecois would. Matt Deres (talk) 13:14, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As an English-speaker from Ontario, that is clearly not poutine! Adam Bishop (talk) 13:52, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Poutine is only one thing: Cheese curds and gravy over fries. However, like many other iconic dishes, variations exist. Most people eating these "alternative poutines" know they aren't getting actual poutine. Strictly speaking, even replacing the curds with regular cheese makes it not poutine, but in a pinch most people will let it slide. This comes from a Vancouverite poutine fan. Mingmingla (talk) 16:52, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As a guy on the provincial border, I'd like to think I'm neutral. Curds and dark gravy make the best poutine, but if someone offered me shredded cheddar and light, I wouldn't look at them like they're crazy. Feta's pushing it, and the second a tomato or onion shows up, it may as well be mashed potatoes. The last sentence in the lead of our article is was downright loony. InedibleHulk (talk) 19:43, March 1, 2014 (UTC)

People can call whatever they want, whatever they want. If someone wants to put tomato sauce and mozzarella on french fries and call it "pizza poutine" let them. It brings no one any amount of harm to do so, and frankly, it sounds kinda tasty. For a parallel example, there's a hundred different varieties of shredded beef-and-cheese-onnabun out there, and most of them are called some variety of "Philly Cheesesteak" and people bitch and moan about whether or not any of them qualify as a true "Philly Cheesesteak". Those people have nothing better to do with their lives and thus need to foist their misery on the rest of the world with their pointless and pedantic debates over words. The rest of us eat food that tastes good, don't eat food that doesn't taste good, and leave the debate over the names of said food to the miserable people who can't find a way to be happy unless it's telling other people they are wrong. --Jayron32 19:51, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A little intolerance isn't a bad thing. It's why poutine (and Quebec) continue to exist as they do. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:02, March 1, 2014 (UTC)

Jayron32, that's true to a point: poutine is becoming a whole category of food now, rather than a single dish. But if that point is where you can no longer get remotely close to what you expected (a la Greek poutine in NeonMerlin's example), than it just doesn't work; what would you call the classic to be able to order it? That classic stays as the archetype for all others to follow. Example, Canadian french fry chain New York Fries offers a few variations of poutine: pulled pork, butter chicken and braised beef: these all need to be qualified as a suset of poutine, while the original is just "poutine". Mingmingla (talk) 20:45, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't mind adding subset adjectives, like "veal poutine" or "honey garlic poutine". But they should be firmly based in fries, gravy and cheese. Once you start replacing ingredients, you have a new species of food and have to back up a level, to "fries" (hopefully they all have fries). "Pizza fries", in Jayron's case. Good stuff, whatever it's called. "Ketchup poutine" is disgusting, but was somewhat popular in my old town. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:50, March 1, 2014 (UTC)

I've seen "garlic aioli" on menus. I can only wonder what it is they put in the unqualified (and presumably non-garlic) version. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 01:22, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We must have an article somewhere on these interlinguistic redundancies, right? "Minestrone soup" would be another one. But they do serve a purpose; if you don't know that minestrone is a soup, you can at least figure out that minestrone soup is probably a soup. --Trovatore (talk) 01:36, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I wonder if some of them are retronyms. --ColinFine (talk) 01:40, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps relevant in light of the discussion above: No True ~~Scotsman~~ Poutine. SemanticMantis (talk) 18:52, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Matt Deres linked to that right at the beginning. --ColinFine (talk) 19:45, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, oops. I guess I missed it because he made a similar link joke :) SemanticMantis (talk)

March 2

Cities in Germany

I recently read the article List of cities in Germany by population, which states that the top five cities in Germany by population are 1. Berlin, 2. Hamburg, 3. Munich, 4. Cologne and 5. Frankfurt am Main. Now I have known for several years that Berlin is the most populous city and Munich is the third most populous city in Germany, but up to now I had always assumed Frankfurt am Main was the second most populous city. I don't know where I could have got this idea. Has Frankfurt ever been the second most populous city in Germany? Is it ranked second, behind only Berlin, by any other criterion? JIP | Talk 00:30, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Frankfurt is the hub of the second largest metropolitan area in Germany, even though by corporate limits as a singular city it is only the fifth largest city. Even then, depending on how "metropolitan area" is defined, it is only the third largest; the Ruhr-Dusseldorf-Cologne region is actually the largest in the country, but only when counted as a single region; apparently some definitions break this region up into three smaller regions, which pushes Frankfurt into second place. --Jayron32 02:06, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In addition to what Jayron wrote: Things like Frankfurt Airport (one of the busiest for decades) or the city's position as finance centre etc. might also have contributed to your perception. Yet Frankfurt has been behind Munich and Hamburg for a long time. It was never on second place in the Bundesrepublik either (i.e. before 1990). ---Sluzzelin talk 08:17, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yemen

What are three facts about the social groups in Yemen? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.50.204.187 (talk) 01:41, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like homework to me. We don't do your homework for you. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 01:43, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We can however, direct you to articles that might be helpful, such as this one → Al-Akhdam (and of course, Yemen) ~E:71.20.250.51 (talk) 02:20, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm almost certain that:

None of the members of those groups have pet polar bears.
Less than 50% of the people involved have names that begin with the letter 'Z'.
None of the people involved have ever swam more than 3 miles along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet.

The point being that there are an infinite number of facts available. What you need are useful, pertinent facts...and this homework question isn't so much about you knowing three random facts about these groups - it's actually a means to have you read about them and form some ideas of your own. That's the real reason why we're not allowed to help you with homework questions unless you've shown us that you've put in some effort of your own and gotten stuck on finding an answer. If you wish to grow up to be a knowledgeable, well-read, intelligent, well-rounded individual, you need to be widely read - and (most importantly) to gain the habit of enjoying to learn and to seek out more information. SteveBaker (talk) 20:56, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Convertible bond, premium, new TSLA convertible bonds

Ok, Tesla Motors issued $800M convertible bonds, 0.25% interest rate, 42.5% premium with 5 years expiration. But how it works from the investor point of view and what is the premium? I mean lets say investor John spent $1000. Tesla received $1k. Tesla will pay "coupons", $2.50 yearly to John.

If TSLA plummets from $250 to $10, how much Tesla will pay John at the end of 5 years period? $1000? Or $1425? Probably just a grand, but what is a premium then?

If TSLA raises from $250 to $500 in two years, and John decide to convert at that point, how many shares he will get? He dose not need to pay anything at the time of conversion, correct?

Some explanations I read on the net say that companies limit upside potential of convertible bonds by reserving the right to "call" convertible bond if share price is too high. How dose that limit potential of conv. bond? If for example Tesla call conv. bond early, bond holder get shares, and upside potential would still be unlimited for him. I'm not understanding something, but not sure what I'm not understanding. Here is the link to TSLA SEC filling: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000119312514074411/d683441dfwp.htm
50.100.191.18 (talk) 08:21, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This means that the investor will get $2.50 per year for five years and then $1425 at the end of the period. I don't know how the conversion would work, but the other parts of your description suggest that the bond would be convertible to a fixed number of shares. (If the conversion was based on current value then Tesla would not face any risk that would require "calling in" the bond.) You are right that the upside potential after the bond is called would still be unlimited, but that's the same unlimited potential any shareholder has -- it doesn't impose any extra cost on the bond issuer. Looie496 (talk) 15:14, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The first part is actually totally incorrect. The investors would only get $1000 (the face value) at the end of the period and not $1425. The conversion premium is just a measure of how much the conversion price exceeds the current price of the share. In a simplified manner, it means that it will be worthwile for the investors to convert the bonds if the share price rises by at least 42.5%.129.178.88.85 (talk) 07:51, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you 129.178.88.85, that makes sense. But why would companies be interested to call convertible bonds early? 50.100.191.18 (talk) 10:06, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

One possible scenario is if market interest rates fall or issuer's credit rating improves, and so issuer decides to refinance at a lower interest rate. Not likely in current market conditions, but it's a possible scenario in general. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:05, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanx Gandalf61. 50.100.191.18 (talk) 14:25, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Foreign exchange reserves and current account surpluses

I have limited knowledge of macroecon so this paragraph is hard for me to understand:

"Unlike the deficit-prone emerging economies that are now in trouble -– whose imbalances are strikingly reminiscent of those in the Asian economies that were hit by the late-1990's financial crisis -– China runs a current-account surplus. As a result, there is no risk of portfolio outflows resulting from the Fed's tapering of its monthly asset purchases. And, of course, China's outsize backstop of $3.8 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves provides ample insurance in the event of intensified financial contagion."

1. Why are the large foreign exchange reserves of China a backstop? 2. Why would there need to be a backstop if the current account surplus were depleted?

Gullabile (talk) 14:54, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It's hard to be sure without seeing more of the context, but I think probably what the passage is trying to say is that if for some reason China gets into economic difficulties and their stocks and currency start to lose value, they will be able to use their foreign currency reserves to shore up their economy. It's basically the same as the reason why a person with millions in the bank is less worried about an economic downturn than a person who is living from day to day. Looie496 (talk) 15:07, 2 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The article is basically right, and Looie496's last sentence is a good summary. China now is very different from the countries who suffered the 1997 Asian financial crisis. China's and other Asian states policy are now guided by a desire to not repeat that crisis and is a kind of mercantilism, keeping currency values low, exports high and accumulating piles of dollars. Back then, Hot money often seeking higher yields by the Carry trade, and foolish policies and speculation in countries like Thailand etc made them owe a lot of dollars, often by trying to support dollar currency pegs by issuing high yielding dollar denominated debt. They eventually wound up short of dollars, and couldn't get enough immediately. So the international loan-sharking institutions (Jonathan Kwitny's accurate description) seized the opportunity to arrange for Western "investors" to procure valuable properties at fire-sale prices. Chinese foreign reserves can be used to pay foreign debts denominated in dollars, particularly to buy imports and to maintain the foreign exchange value of the renminbi. So it is a backstop against this kind of crisis, and against a fall in the renminbi - which China rather tends to keep down, not up. So the article is correct when it says that China has nothing to fear from the Fed raising interest rates, thereby making the higher Chinese rates, e.g. a carry trade, less attractive, because China will have no trouble keeping its currency pegged at its current value. It doesn't have too much to do with China's domestic economy, which they can keep moving ahead if it falters by repeating the 2008-2009 Chinese economic stimulus program - except that the size of the foreign reserves allow them to ignore any (unlikely, theoretical and probably minor) negative effect of such stimulus on exchange rates. John Z (talk) 07:23, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks John for a very clear explanation. But it raises some new questions for me. If there were another large loan stimulus and the loans could not be repaid creating a banking crisis, the negative effect on the economy would not be at all reflected on the currency? And couldn't the foreign exchange reserves also be used to provide banks in crisis with support? Gullabile (talk) 06:56, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

March 3

Expression for pi

The square of the Gaussian integral is pi, so my logic follows from expanding and integrating the integrand using a multivariate Maclaurin series, with use of the binomial theorem.

Am I then correct in claiming that, briefly, $\pi =\iint _{\mathbf {R} ^{2}}e^{-(x^{2}+y^{2})}dxdy=\lim _{(a,b)\to (\infty ,\infty )}4\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}(\sum _{j=0}^{n}{\frac {a^{(2j+1)}b^{2(n-j)+1}}{(n-j)!j!(2j+1)(2n-2j+1)}})$ ?--Jasper Deng (talk) 06:48, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think you wanted this at WP:RD/MA and not WP:RD/M. Dismas|^(talk) 06:55, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed. I forgot my shortcuts.--Jasper Deng (talk) 07:31, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Surrender

Russia has had troops in Ukraine for some time now, and yet there was no formal declaration of war. Ukraine has put its troops on full military alert, buy thankfully no shots have been fired. However, today, Russia demanded the surrender of the Ukrainian military by 03:00 GMT, or face out an all-out Crimea-wide assault. Would this demand (not the actual assault) be considered to be a declaration of war? Is there any protocol to decide this? KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 16:33, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Whatever you call it, it's a standard formulation. In WWI, Austria-Hungary had made several demands on Serbia in response to serbian nationals assassinating the archduke. The had until a certain time to meet those demands, and when they didn't Austria began firing across he border. Likewise, in the West, when it became clear Germany was mobilized with troops about to cross into the neutral Low Countries, Britain notified Germany they had until a certain time to cease troop movements, or a state of war would exist, which was then announced to the public when the Germans continued to advance. In the Iraq war we gave Saddam until a certain time to step down. When he didn't, Bush declared hostilities had commenced. Russian acts already amount to an act of war.

Putin's basically acting from a position of strength so he can say the Ukrainians were given a chance to back down, but didn't. Kind of like already having grabbed a woman and put your hand on her mouth telling he if he removes it and she screams he'll have to kill her. A brutal act in the form of a pretend courtesy. μηδείς (talk) 18:10, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The Hague Convention of 1907 set up protocol: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hague03.asp , but it is now considered obsolete according to Declaration of war. Star Lord - 星王 (talk) 18:27, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

On top of that, there are various definitions of war. The definition in the "Encyclopia of War, latest edition", if I recommend correctly, require a certain level casualties to be included there. I am hoping this conflict will not meet that criteria, but I admit to an optimistic view. Star Lord - 星王 (talk) 18:30, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In 1982, the UK and Argentina spent several months in full-blown combat without either side declaring war on the other - it wasn't even called "The Falklands War" until after the shooting had stopped, it was a "conflict" while it was in progress. Alansplodge (talk) 11:36, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Will 1 in 28 citizens of New Orleans be murdered, based on a rate of 53.2 per 100k?

If I said 1 in 28 of New Orleans residents will be murdered in his lifetime, is that valid? What we do know is in 2012 New Orleans murder rate was 53.2 per 100,000. [5] All I did was use a life expectancy of 68 years, then calculate 68 * 53.2/100,000 = 0.036 (3.6%) which roughly is one in twenty-eight.

This assumes the life expectancy and murder rate will hold steady of the next 68 years.

However, I notice that nobody, not even the most strident antigun activist ever uses this cumulative risk calculation for murder expectancy over a lifetime, even though it is an attention-getting statistic. Are there other problems with this calculation that I am missing? Thanks. (Please just dont repeat the life expectancy and murder rate realistically cannot be constant over 68 years, I realise that.) There is probably more that I am missing. Nobody uses this metric. Thanks Jojo Fiver (talk) 19:59, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This question also needs to be posted on Wikipedia:Reference desk/Mathematics. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:02, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, they'd be able to discuss any issues with the math better over there. Even if the math works, the whole concept seems a bit overly simplified. It assumes crime remains constant and the population stable. Ian.thomson (talk) 20:08, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. I am not familiar with how that works really. Can one of you cross post it for me? Thanks ..Jojo Fiver (talk) 20:18, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The numbers this was derived from is that New Orleans saw 193 murders over the course of a single year and a population of 362,874 people. So one person was murdered for every 1880 people living there. According to List of U.S. states by life expectancy, the people of Louisiana have a life expectancy of 75.7 years. So if that year was statistically typical - we'd expect a one in 25 chance (4%) of being murdered. According to List of causes of death by rate, the worldwide chance of dying from "violence" (broadly construed) is 0.9% - so this 4% rate of murder as cause of death is certainly fairly alarming.

However, this is a very tricky statistical matter. Your life expectancy varies dramatically depending on how old you already are - and I'm sure that murders are not evenly distributed throughout the age range.

But no matter how you slice it, this is a horrifyingly large number. SteveBaker (talk) 20:43, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Any prediction of how many will die from murder who are now living has to be based on a model predicting the future rate 80 years out or so. That takes into account a huge number of arbitrary assumptions, people who will move to and away from NO, future internal population growth and death rates from other causes, political, economic, and social and cultural changes. In the future most people will probably be killed by poisonous drones and weapons of mass destruction, think the opening and closing scenes of Dune.

Calculating that rate and the change in it over time up until now is a question of brute summation of historical data. That info may be available somewhere. μηδείς (talk) 20:50, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"The Better Angels of our Nature" by Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker (2011) has voluminous data on historical murder rates from the paleolithic times to the present in its endnotes and a comprehensive bibliography to find more. Sevastopol Dude (talk) 21:28, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

March 4

Titanic crew "kit"

Resolved

– 03:59, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

I've been editing a few RMS Titanic related articles and have come across a few mentions of crew members' "kit" (which, of course they lost, apparently at their own expense). (E.g.: controversy regarding Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon on Lifeboat 1) Since I am curious as to what exactly a "crew kit" entails, I assume other readers might as well, and thought I could add an {{efn}} for that. My research skills seem to be inadequate in this instance. ~Assistance with finding sourced answers will be appreciated! ~Eric the Inadequate: 71.20.250.51 (talk) 20:53, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Here's a description of two different sailor's kits, ~~from around the same time period~~ from the 1860s [6]. Pretty much what you'd expect: jacket, towel etc. Perhaps a decent starting point. SemanticMantis (talk) 21:20, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent! I should be able to generalize a bit (uniforms, related clothing and accessories, -or something like that) which I already assumed to be the case, but wouldn't add without a source. ::The source also generally describes the contents of seamen's chests from 1908 and 1930. ~Eric _theThankful: 71.20.250.51 (talk) modified:21:35, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

City of Molalla Or Signs

I have noticed that the City has posted SERVICE VEHICLES ONLY on most side streets. Is this a advisory or restrictive sign?? They don't specify weigh restrictions or truck restrictions on most of the side streets that have these signs, but I have been told that the City would cite Me if I drove my MT log truck on these streets. What is the legal definition of these signs?? Then problem I have run into is parking my MT log truck at the Stagecoach Motel while in town. WestateCo WestateCo (talk) 02:23, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Chinese Law Cases

I am looking for Chinese court cases on civil law issues, particularly contract law cases. I am also looking for Internet articles on Chinese contract law. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.141.115.253 (talk) 03:01, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Steps to the Cristo Rei of Dili in East Timor

The Cristo Rei of Dili is located at the top of a set of about 500 stairs. The stairs are very irregular in height and width. Consequently they are potentially very dangerous for users. Is there any background to design/construction of these steps that will explain why they are uneven? Other steps I've used in other parts of the world have been even and therefore relatively safe. Thanks, Garry — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.42.88.2 (talk) 03:57, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Separation Standards in ATC

Can we apply track separation to an aircraft established on specified track within CONTROL airspace with another aircraft established on required track but in UNCONTROL airspace — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.26.127.143 (talk) 07:31, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Why do people like to scold vulgarities?

So I have heard enough of vulgarities, but I am curious to why some people use it in their daily life as normal language and that they do not know how to control?

Please link to my user page when you reply. Huang (talk ^{in public} _{in private} | contribs) 09:43, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Huang. There's a little information about this, but with some references you can follow, in Profanity#Research into swearing. --ColinFine (talk) 09:52, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

ColinFine:

Thank you! Huang (talk ^{in public} _{in private} | contribs) 10:37, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Neurologist Antonio Damasio noted that despite loss of language due to damages to the language areas of the brain, patients were still often managed to swear. "Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain". (I just added to article, thank you for the link, Colfine). It is something that many on brain damage wards can testify to. It seems hard to control in these cases, and perhaps it is also hard to control in normal life, since it does not appear to be exclusively under the control of the standard language centers. Star Lord - 星王 (talk) 11:33, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Uncontrollable swearing is also a common symptom of Tourette syndrome. Looie496 (talk) 14:34, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know that it is common. It is a symptom of some people with Tourette's; but I don't know that it is all that common. Most people with Tourette's don't swear uncontrollably, but have other sorts of tics; the swearing thing is attention grabbing, so people tend to remember it, and thus falsely assume that "Tourette's = that weird disease that makes people swear all the time". It isn't really, except in a few memorable cases. The article you cited notes directly, in the lead "this symptom is present in only a small minority of people with Tourette's" --Jayron32 14:39, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

People simply like to scold. See the talk page. Why vulgarities would be something to scold is that as mentioned above, the brain treats them as something more primitive than abstract speech. Consider Fred Flintstone can mock curse by grumbling with /r/s and low vowels in a way that sounds like a dog growling, but you never hear mock cursing with tweets and lisping sounds. μηδείς (talk) 18:06, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In defence of people who swear - there is evidence that it can help to relieve stress - and in a famous Mythbuster's episode, they seem to have sucessfully (although not rigorously) shown that cursing aloud will allow a person to tolerate more pain than using mild language. This Scientific American article seems to back that up. So it does seem that saying things that are designed to shock others helps people in some situations. This is plenty enough reason for people to do it - and a very good reason for those other people not to scold them for doing it. However, it occurs to me that if the swearing did not produce the expected reaction in others, it might not work as stress/pain relief. SteveBaker (talk) 18:27, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I virtually always use some form of "fuck" when I hurt myself, but it seems automatic (alone or not). If there's any reasoning, it's quicker than I can follow. Because of that, I'm not sure if it helps the pain. But it makes sense. InedibleHulk (talk) 01:52, March 5, 2014 (UTC)

As an aside, a native English speaker would not say 'to scold vulgarities' if what was meant was 'to use vulgarities'. Scolding vulgarities sounds like criticising their use - 'Jason! Don't use such foul language in front of Aunt Susie!'. AlexTiefling (talk) 19:48, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't make a generalization that the brain "treats them as something more primitive." Maybe there's something to that statement when trying to explain why those with certain neurological afflictions can swear (to explain that, maybe, a lifetime connecting the utterance of a sound with certain emotional expressions allows it to operate on a somewhat different level), but otherwise these are words! They have meanings and uses; they're tools for expression that sometimes communicate better than other words. People have trouble controlling their use when the words become part of their regular vocabulary (lots of people spend considerable time around people who don't care about appropriately used swearing). If you were used to using a certain vocabulary and then asked to alter it because certain words offend some people's sensibilities, then yes it may be difficult to control -- and not just for people with tourette's. Likewise if I requested you stop using the word "very" or "great" because it offends me, you might have some trouble controlling it, too. It takes considerable conditioning to be aware of communicative tools at your disposal while refraining from using them. ...Of course you could argue if there weren't people offended by swearing, at least some of the usefulness would cease. --— Rhododendrites ^talk | 01:58, 5 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

BBC requires Flash

Is there no Law in the UK that requires the BBC to let people watch the videos without forcing them to install Adobe Flash to view a video (like this)? 78.35.207.52 (talk) 11:13, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As a US American, I'm confused as to why there would be such a law in the UK. Adobe Flash is one of the most common pieces of video software available. Why would there be a law requiring something else? Dismas|^(talk) 11:23, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That's not the issue. Apparently they're being forced to use Adobe Flash when they'd rather use something else. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 11:49, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No, there is no such law. --Viennese Waltz 11:54, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No, no such law. Why would there be? It's just an annoying policy decision of the BBC, along with some other websites, but it's their website, so their choice. Dbfirs 12:03, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I thought, since the BBC is a public broadcaster they are required by law to make their programs accessible to all and not only to people that have installed Proprietary software, but seemingly this is not the case. 78.35.207.52 (talk) 12:31, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have to pay to use Adobe Flash Player where you live? Dbfirs 20:02, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You can contact the BBC to make a complaint at this page. People there are far more likely to be able to provide answers to your questions and/or act on your request than anyone here. --Jayron32 13:12, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There's no difference between installing Flash and using a web browser to access the site, or even in using a TV to access programmes broadcast by the BBC. Really. In order to access a broadcast from the BBC you have to have a TV and you have to have Freeview (or an equivalent service such as Sky). That's all. --TammyMoet (talk) 14:36, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And a TV License. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 14:46, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think the OP is suspicious of Flash itself, as any TV of any brand or any browser is sufficient to access BBC program, but Flash is the only software allowed. If the OP is patient, HTML5 codecs will eventually replace Flash and it will no longer be an issue. Mingmingla (talk) 19:51, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The BBC standard media player does support HTML5 video where available (e.g. on iOS), as does the new iPlayer. Did you try uninstalling Flash and trying? It does seem that Flash is still used by default in places (and some archived content may use not use the standard player). As [[7]] points out that development is ongoing. This being said, Flash video is still supported on more devices (e.g. IE8) -- to the point that not supporting Flash video would, in fact, be a bigger accessibility concern especially in some critical groups. As for legality, the OP may be referring to either to Equality Act 2010 or the BBC Charter, both of which have some force in law of course (not that anyone would be arrested). Clearly this is something being worked on, but any complaint to the link provided above would no doubt get a response, and the cost that Capita will charge to handle the complaint will go a long way to ensuring your license fee is spent. 92.28.77.132 (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 22:09, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Photographs of airplanes in flight

I saw this picture on the Internet today. See here: [8]. It made me wonder, how are such photos taken? Are they actually photos that are taken as they appear? How is this accomplished? Or is a photo taken of a plane, and then that photo is photo-shopped into a background of air and clouds? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:42, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

They just fly alongside with another plane. One thing that's clear from this genre of photo is that there isn't much perspective forshortening of the airplane in the photo - which probably means that it was taken with a telephoto lens. That means that the plane doing the photography could be quite a long way away. Another clue is that very often the aircraft in the picture is in a somewhat nose-up attitude. That usually happens because they are flying very slowly - even though they are at cruise altitude. That suggests that a slower plane is doing the photography and struggling to keep up with the speed of the big passenger plane...which would make sense if they just hired a light aircraft to take the pictures from. SteveBaker (talk) 18:18, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sky-level photos and films of airplanes have been around for quite a few generations before photoshop was around. Some of the pictures could be fake, but it's like you said - you just send another plane up to take the picture or film. No mystery there. I suppose what would help is a third plane taking pictures of the first two. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:31, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Просьба к Администрации

Уважаемая администрация Википедии, мы обращаемся к вам от имени жителей Украины с просьбой добавить в смайлы по ресурсу (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji флаг Украины, так как там уже есть другие флаги, нам кажется это целесообразным. (хочеться использывать даный смайл в одной из социальных сетей, которая полбзуеться даный ресурс). Заранее спасибо. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Андрей Голляк (talk • contribs) 22:25, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This, as per Google Translate: "Request to the Administration: Dear administration Wikipedia, we are writing to you on behalf of residents of Ukraine to add emoticons on a resource (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji flag of Ukraine, as already there are other flags, we think it appropriate. (wants MĀ danyj smile in one of the social networks that polbzuetsya danyj resource). thanks in advance." Not everything translates, but it's enough to get the idea. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:44, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) My browser translate tool renders this as "Dear administration Wikipedia, we are writing to you on behalf of residents of Ukraine to add emoticons on a resource (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji flag of Ukraine, as already there are other flags, we think it appropriate. ( wants MĀ danyj smile in one of the social networks that polbzuetsya danyj resource). Thanks in advance".

I'm not sure what they're asking, but I think they want the Ukrainian flag added to the list of ten flags mentioned in Emoji#places. (In my browser, most of the Unicode characters in that article don't display anyway, so I don't know what is supposed to appear beside the countries mentioned). It's not clear to me whether there is any significance to the particular 10 countries listed there, but I'm guessing that they are just an arbitrary set chosen for the purpose of illustration; in which case the set I would not recommend adding any more countries. I may be misunderstanding, though. --ColinFine (talk) 23:53, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Premier League abbreviations

Do the three-letter abbreviations for Premier League teams (as seen across the top row of this table) have any official status, or are they Wikipedia creations? (I wondered if they might be comparable to the IOC country codes,) → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 02:33, 5 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Quote

Who was the one that said: I may be drunk tonight but tomorrow I will be sober and you will still be ugly.