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March 18

which airlines normally have destination Toronto to Sydney and Sydney to Toronto

Which airlines normally have flights from Sydney, Australia to Toronto, Canada and from Toronto to Sydney? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.92.155.121 (talk) 00:48, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

According to our article Toronto Pearson International Airport, Air Canada is the only airline with regular direct service between those two airports. Marco polo (talk) 01:41, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This site lists eleven, and [the site's users] "...most frequently choose to fly from Toronto to Sydney with either Air Canada, Qantas Airways or Cathay Pacific Airways". However, Air Canada is the only non-stop carrier listed. —:71.20.250.51 (talk) 01:52, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Worth noting is that even the 'direct' Air Canada flight includes a fuel stop in Vancouver (YVR). Looking at the available online schedules, it's a nominal half-hour stop to top off the 777's tanks before continuing in the same plane under the same flight number; in practice, the typical time between arrival at YVR and departure seems to run closer to two hours.

In terms of total travel time, there's not a huge difference between the 'direct' Air Canada flight and one of the alternatives that makes a single connection at LAX. Mixed blessings all around, though—going via LAX means having to deal with U.S. customs, but you get to stretch your legs before the long trans-Pacific segment; going via YVR is slightly faster, and Air Canada tends to be more pleasant than United, but 22 hours is a loooong time to spend on one plane. Individual mileage and preferences will vary. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:42, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

French fire-safety standards

This image appears to illustrate some sort of French fire-safety standards, using monkeys in tuxedos as examples. Any idea what specifically it's talking about, and/or what an UP is? The upload summary, the current description, and the current category aren't that helpful, but there's no other information. Nyttend (talk) 01:53, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

UP = "unité de passage" ("unit of exit width" or something like that), defined as ... ehm see link, or your post, defined differently for the first three factors of 1, 2, and 3. ---Sluzzelin talk 02:01, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I guess the idea is that you can have a degree of overlap after the first one, and more after the first two? After all, monkey 2 and all the monkeys after him carry shorter canes, so they don't quite need as much room as monkey 1. Thanks for the explanation. Nyttend (talk) 04:05, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I hope none of the monkeys get singed by the fire! {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 14:21, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Very droll. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:28, 18 March 2014 (UTC) [reply]

I've been waiting patiently for the French monkey punchline; meanwhile ..."le singe est dans l'arbre" ? —:71.20.250.51 (talk) 20:26, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Naughty monkey. It deserves to be spanked. :) -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:53, 18 March 2014 (UTC) [reply]

Mais, ou sont les passageurs? Le baggage? Ils sont ici, dans le mouton de ciel! (Avec Les singes capitulards fromangeantes!)11:12, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

Minor clarification but as per the image, the definition of 1 and 2 is different from 3 and the rest. 3 is specified seperately, but uses a specialised case of the same definition used for 4 or more. The effect of the definition is that for 1 you have 0.90m, for 2 you add 0.50m to that, for 3 you add 0.40m to the previous total and for 4 and more you add 0.60m for each new person. Or alternatively, 1 person needs 0.90m, 2 people need an average of 0.70m per person and 3 or more need an average of 0.60m per person. (Although as stated by others, due to overlap it's probably a bit simplistic to view it simply as the average.) Nil Einne (talk) 16:26, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

WW II special services production

AS A CHILD IN Vallejo, Ca, during WW II the "military" staged an elaborate re-production of an amphibious invasion of a pacific island using the local high school football field. The "island" had complete foliage, sand, grass hut quarters, observation tower and uniformed "Japanese" soldiers. The attack featured blank firing weapons and "bombardment" explosions and the good guys prevailed, complete with raising a victory stars and stripes. This was all staged at night for effect and the full community filled the stands. Can you locate any details of this special services production?

How did this child in Vallejo come to be known as the "military"? —Tamfang (talk) 19:10, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You might have better luck with the Vallejo Community Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/vallejotogether —71.20.250.51 (talk) 19:19, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I did a quick Google search, but didn't find anything. Alansplodge (talk) 16:05, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Spanish gold in the 1600's and 1700's.

Clearly the Spanish were hauling massive amounts of gold from South and Central America during the 1600's and 1700's. How were they getting it? I can't seem to find any detailed description of how they did that!

We hear stories of them forcing the local people to give up all of their gold ornaments, etc - holding hostage their rulers in exchange for rooms full of the stuff (and then killing them anyway) but surely that was only a sustainable way to get gold for a relatively short number of years...they were hauling boatloads of gold back to Europe for over 100 years.

What happened after that initial theft? Did they mine it? Pan rivers for it? Also, did they use their own workers, or pay the local people to do the work - or maybe employ slave labor?

If they were mining or panning for it - are there any good paintings or reconstructions of the equipment they used - any description of the techniques they employed?

Background: My wife's business (http://renaissanceminiatures.com) is to manufacture 1/60th scale model buildings, ships, etc for tabletop gamers - we're working on a series of kits for Caribbean pirate scenarios. When I researched the pirates in that area, they actually did more attacks on the Spanish mainland than in ship-to-ship attacks - so I'm interested in what a Spanish gold-production facility might look like so we can maybe make models of them.

SteveBaker (talk) 19:23, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The Mita_(Inca) article mentions a "Potosi silver mine" which when googled for images gave some ideas. Star Lord - 星王 (talk) 19:43, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, in one word, the Potosi silver mine. (Also, gold is often found in silver deposits.) μηδείς (talk) 20:00, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The common people had no gold or silver as it was reserved for the ruling elite and the priesthood. The Spanish melted down gold and silver temple furniture and statues. The Spanish enslaved the locals to mine for gold and silver and worked the slaves until they died.
Sleigh (talk) 22:36, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have a citation for that, Sleigh? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:51, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Science Show 15 March, 2014, Radio National.
Sleigh (talk) 05:21, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I meant a transcript we can read for ourselves. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 09:02, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Picked up out of streams. It was placer gold: [1] Rmhermen (talk) 15:52, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

From Mining Weekly - Spanish conquistadors and the looting of Mexican, Peruvian gold treasures which says; "The Incas were the great gold hoarders of America. Their treasure included objects and bullion looted from the Chimu civilisation in 1470 and also included gold that had been exploited from the alluvial deposits of the streams of Peru. It is also believed that the Incas mined gold in places such as the Curimayo valley, north-east of Cajamarca." It does seem from both theses sources that the Spanish were looters rather than miners of gold. Alansplodge (talk) 16:02, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Go to the library of your local good university or purchase from Amazon and consult the book Mining In World History, by Martin Lynch, published by Reaktion Books, 2004. In it you will find a chapter that discusses comprehensively how the Spanards got gold out of South America. Here are the essentials:_

1. The fist Spaniards in South America noticed the natives had a fair quantity of gold ornaments, and told every one else when they got back to Spain.

2. Spain then thought there must be large quantities of gold easy to win in South Amaerica, and despatched expeditions to get it.

3. The expeditions took by force most of the gold ornaments and then found there was no more. It turned out that gold was not more easily mined there than elsewhere in the World - it just that the locals had accumulated all the easily won nugget and fines stuff over the centeries...

4. The demand for gold from Spain created a huge problem for the Spaniards in South America. They could not meet orders!

5. The problem was solved with the arrival of mining engineers knowlegeable in mercury extraction. They set up mercury extraction facilities. Essentially, these were big shallow pits filled with ore mixed with water and mecury to form mud. Natives were forced to tramp around all day long in the mud pits (ie slave labour), to mix it all up and give the mercury a change to absorb all the gold. An activity which was definitely bad for the natives' health.

121.215.154.87 (talk) 16:06, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hunting for a (supposedly) disappeared Cracked article

Today Daniel O'Brien published a column detailing how he was investigated by the United States Secret Service over the publication of a satirical guide titled "how to kidnap the president's daughter", which was itself taken down (allegedly due to a government subpoena). However, I cannot find any evidence that this article ever even existed. It's a virtual non-entity on Google, and is not found in O'Brien's list of articles even as it appears in the wayback machine for any of the dates I checked. So was this entire incident, including the article itself, made up, or has the government actually done that good of a job erasing something from the internet? Thanks. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:04, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't remember that until you mentioned the title, but I'm also drunk so I may not be the most reliable source on this. I didn't read it at the time because it didn't seem funny (assuming my memory is not messing with me).

Oh, wait here's an article about said article, from 2009. Ian.thomson (talk) 22:09, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Aha, thank you Ian. That article contained the old URL, which allowed me to find wayback's copy. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:14, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, I was wondering about that myself, but didn't want to dig too deep. I might need to fly one day. InedibleHulk (talk) 15:03, March 19, 2014 (UTC)

Where an I find spreadsheets of random (fake) names and other personal info for data testing?

I'm in charge of speeding up the data processes at my office, and part of this involves taking long lists of names with various data and tinkering with it. I'd love if I could get long spreadsheets of just names, addresses, social security numbers, etc. of fake people just to test my programs. Is there a place I can get long lists like this? 50.43.148.35 (talk) 22:29, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

For example, this site (http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/) is great, if they had some sort of bulk download option, that'd be stellar. 50.43.148.35 (talk) 22:33, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Never mind; They've got one! Thanks guys! 50.43.148.35 (talk) 22:36, 18 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome!

(This was an easy one) 71.20.250.51 (talk) 18:05, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

March 19

Violation of the rules: self promotion

Isn't self-promotion on wiki forbidden? Here is a post created by the user/account holder which appears to do just that...self promote. There is nothing famous or notable about this individual as there are thousands of female attorneys in the state of Georgia. Thanks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:StephanieWoodsMiller

TraceyJHall (talk) 03:46, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You're correct that Wikipedia isn't meant to be a web host for people's personal pages. See Wikipedia:User pages#On others' user pages for info on how to proceed. Dismas|^(talk) 03:54, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/User:StephanieWoodsMiller. Hot Stop talk-contribs 04:01, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note however, that "notability" is irrelevant for WP:USER pages. ~:71.20.250.51 (talk) 04:17, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And that WP:BLP does apply. Nil Einne (talk) 14:24, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As you will see from Wikipedia:User pages#On others' user pages, one option is to add {{noindex}} to the user's page. This will have the effect of preventing the page being indexed by search engines, but will still allow the user's information to be visible if that page is directly accessed. That is, the information will be preserved but the self-promotional element will be substantially reduced, particularly because the user in question hasn't actually made any edits other than her self-promotional user-page creation. RomanSpa (talk) 14:33, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Neighbor

Can call anyone a neighbor who doesn't live next to you nor in the same house but simply in the same street? --2.245.92.86 (talk) 18:36, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It's not common, but yes, you can. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 18:39, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sure you can, for at least everyone in your neighborhood. In fact, the Biblical commandment "Thou shalt not bare false witness against they neighbor" is usually taken to include everyone as a "neighbor", not just "next door neighbors". StuRat (talk) 18:44, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The term neighbor comes from words meaning "near dweller",[2] so whether one qualifies as a neighbor or not would depend on the specific usage of "near". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:26, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure the other commandment "Love thy neighbour as thyself" was not meant to extend only to your literal next-door neighbour, or even just people in the same street, suburb, city, or even country. It applies to anyone at all with whom you ever come into contact. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:55, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

KageTora lives in England, and I wonder whether this is another of those differences between varieties of English. In American English, neighbor normally refers to anyone living nearby. Of course, nearby is a relative term. In an urban area, it might be residents of the same building or the same block. In a rural area, it might be anyone living within a few miles. Does neighbor (or neighbour) usually only mean a person who lives next door in varieties of English other than American? Marco polo (talk) 20:02, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

BE speaker here. If someone said "my neighbour came round to complain about the noise", I'd assume in the absence of other evidence that it was a next-door neighbour; if someone said "a neighbour of mine" or "one of my neighbours" I'd be less likely to reach this conclusion. The term "next-door neighbour" is entirely commonplace in the Britain, so I'd conclude that although an unqualified "neighbour" would make me think of the person in the next house or flat, "neighbour" might equally mean someone from another house in the same street, or another flat in the same block, as otherwise there would be no need to have the more precise phrase "next-door neighbour" in British vocabulary. It's probably worth pointing out that in the UK "neighbourhood" is used less, as far as I can see, than "neighborhood" is used in the US (and this ngram search seems to support my impression) and that I'd be unlikely to use the term "neighbour" for a person from the wider neighbourhood, but would rather restrict it to someone from my street only (and probably, if it's a longer street, to my part of the street only). Valiantis (talk) 22:17, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I think of people living a few miles away as neighbours, but then my nearest neighbour lives nearly a quarter of a mile away! Dbfirs 23:28, 19 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As always, etymology is your friend, and context is key. The roots of neighbour are those of nigh and boor, "near dweller". Interesting how often wars break out with the Boors. The fact that we have the term next-door neighbour proves we have non-next-door neighbours. μηδείς (talk) 00:14, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No, it is not always your friend. It produces the right answer this time, though. --50.100.193.30 (talk) 01:45, 22 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, etymology is a science, and using it is always your friend. That has nothing to do with the fact that people will draw incorrect inferences. If that is a problem, you might as well shut your eyes and willfully walk into ditches. μηδείς (talk) 05:03, 22 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

An interesting use of neighbor comes in the prologue of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, AKA the Great Commandment. The concept "who is my neighbor" is specifically discussed between Jesus and the teachers of the law and provides the backdrop for the Parable. Nearly every English translation uses the word "neighbor" here. Does the original Greek word (I wonder) have the same context and meaning? --Jayron32 02:42, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The Greek word is πλησἰον which the dictionary says is neighbour. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 11:43, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Transliterated as "plision" (is there an English cognate?) and meaning "close" or "nearby", which puts us back where we were, using that flexible term. The guy the next block over is far away compared to my next-door neighbor, but he's close compared to the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean is far from us in the US, but it's near compared to the moon. The moon is near compared to Pluto. Pluto is near compared to Alpha Centauri. And so on. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:46, 22 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well one English word is Plesiochronous. (I would have transliterated the word above as plesion) This article says it means "near". Graeme Bartlett (talk) 07:30, 22 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Aha! And Plesiosaurus, "near [to] lizard". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:17, 22 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This sinister person no doubt thought so. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:43, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

March 20

IQ test

So I was talking to a guy today and he said for the career/job I want I need a high IQ. I've always known my IQ wasn't great, just slightly above average, probably because I'm terrible at performing under stress/exams (my mind often gets a heart attack during exams). So I did this test http://www.iqtest.com/ and got 143. Is that test reliable? I remember taking a test before where the average was 140, lol. I can't be bothered to pay for their report, anyone know if the test is reliable and if so do you have a distribution of the general population's results, and average score etc? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Money is tight (talk • contribs) 12:41, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

They;ll tell you anything if it makes you give them money. It's just a pity that some people believe in this IQ test stuff (check that link to our article). It's supposed to be about being able to solve problems, but a lot of the questions are very very culture-centred, such as one question in that test, about how many letters there were between G and M. Not an exactly useful piece of knowledge to be able to bring out from your head when bizarrely needed, and totally impossible for someone who lives in the Amazon and has never learned English, but you try living in the Amazon, and see how long you survive..... Anyway, I'd give you full marks for your IQ - not chucking your money away swayed it for me. When do you start? I'll send you the contract by email. :) KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 13:09, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Was this caution hard to understand: "If English (American) is not your native language, then your reported IQ score will probably be lower than it would be if you took an IQ test in your own language." ? 84.209.89.214 (talk) 15:25, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Obviously it would be to someone who doesn't speak English. HiLo48 (talk) 17:17, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

FYI: WoT has a warning that the site you linked is a "scam" and has an "unsatisfactory" reputation:[3]; however, "Users' ratings on this site vary strongly". ~:71.20.250.51 (talk) 18:24, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Whatever the test says, I'd double it for your "my mind often gets a heart attack". Brilliant. May I borrow it? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:19, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the replies. You people know of any reliable iq tests? Must be free. I need to know if I'm good enough for what I want to do. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Money is tight (talk • contribs) 23:01, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't put too much credence in IQ in relation to any specific career choice. Aptitude, dedication and education are also important. A relatively high IQ might make education easier, but I know people in Engineering and/or Physics fields who did well in schooling due to sheer determination and hard work, despite an "average IQ". ~:71.20.250.51 (talk) 23:16, 20 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

IQ tests solely measure one's ability to answer questions on an IQ test. They are only useful insofar as that skill is transferable to other aspects of your life. Where other things you intend to do with your life don't bear any relation to that very narrow and specific skill, it's a meaningless thing. --Jayron32 01:13, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

IQ tests (assuming you're taking one for your culture) are really only useful for determining if someone might have an intellectual disability (when it is not plainly obvious), not how smart someone is. Problems with any result in the triple digits include cultural bias (as previously mentioned), the concept of multiple intelligences, and test-taking as a skill in itself. Once you're in the triple digits (which, in theory, most people are), your IQ doesn't really affect your chances of reaching (achievable) goals. Ian.thomson (talk) 01:15, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Try this IQ test. Count Iblis (talk) 00:51, 22 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

March 21

what is the word?

is there a word for racial mixing? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.235.89.211 (talk) 00:55, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. —71.20.250.51 (talk) 01:03, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Which is Latin for "mixing races". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:21, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note their warning that this term has a negative connotation: "The term's historical use in contexts that typically implied disapproval is also a reason why more unambiguously neutral terms such as interracial, interethnic or cross-cultural are more common in contemporary usage." StuRat (talk) 04:33, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Apart from historical social opposition to the mixing of the races, the prefix "mis" might look like it implies something socially wrong, such as "misbehave". However, the actual prefix is "misce", which means "mix(ed)"; the same prefix and meaning as used in "miscellaneous". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:57, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Visible but closed. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:16, 22 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Note that IP's other contribution, so to speak:[4] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:40, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That's from several weeks ago, and we have no evidence that this is the same person. I thought, Bugs, that you'd been explained to before about your misunderstanding that an IP address is not a personal ID number, and that there's no reason to believe that the same person is tied to the same IP address for their entire life. --Jayron32 04:57, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I just thought it was funny. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:50, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes,Bugs. This is the first time I have seen that word, and I did wonder about the 'mis-' prefix, but knew there was no such word as 'cegenation'. I am glad you have clarified. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 16:44, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

. . . I figured the less said, the better. Smells like trolling. ~E:71.20.250.51 (talk) 05:35, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Sorry Jayron, but I thought my contribution, at least, was relevant, and was directed to BB, and his contribution. Unhatting, though discussion may be considered closed. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (Chin Wag) 22:20, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note the alternate approach, which seems to fit your criteria. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:16, 22 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What is the point of this blog?

attempt to drive hits

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

//wyldeplayground.net/cannot-see-the-computers-hard-drive-through-disk-utility-or-gparted/

Am I correct that it's just copying original posts from an Ubuntu help forum? Why would anyone set something up like that? 50.43.148.35 (talk) 21:44, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There are at least 5 advertisements on that page; that's why. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 21:59, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hm. I removed the http so people don't click through; I don't want to help the guy. Does this really get much traffic at all? I find it hard to believe this even covers the hosting fees of the blog. 50.43.148.35 (talk) 22:01, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well, you found it, presumably from a search engine lookup about gparted or something. I'll bet the query you submitted wasn't particularly obscure, so others will likely do the same as you. Hosting is cheap, particularly for text - automate mirroring a bunch of resources like that and someone can produce lots of content for next to nothing, so even a marginal clickthrough is likely to generate income. People used to mirror Wikipedia content for the same reason, and it took Google several years to add in special code to lower those folks' rankings. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 23:53, 21 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Given we don't have a reference that will tell us the point of this spam, we can safely ignore it. μηδείς (talk) 10:15, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

March 23

Building material.

What building material is the most durable and requires the least maintenance? I'm just curious. Thanks in advance. 190.19.107.202 (talk) 08:35, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Granite and slate should be strong contenders in most environments. Dbfirs 09:09, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Legal action against books or publications containing misinformation

Hi, Anybody know any instance where a book or publication has been on trial for publishing errors, serious mistakes, blunders etc? For example, a school text book with erroneous information or a guide for a competitive examination dishing out utterly wrong information? Anybody can help? Thanks in advance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.253.198.198 (talk) 10:20, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Legal action is taken against persons, not objects. Perhaps in regards to objects. Books don't do anything, or write themselves. There are such things as fraud and defamation. In the US, prior restraint is usually not an acceptable legal remedy for such things. But publishers do withdraw books from publication, and have them destroyed. These are usually "biographies". See our own policy on WP:BLP. At least in common law, books that make factual claims are treated entirely different from religious texts. That's basically a convenient fiction of a distinction that allows Cromwellians and Catholics not to sue each other in court. If you have a specific example you'll get an actual answer. μηδείς (talk) 11:02, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

However, see Lady Chatterly's Lover and Oz (magazine) for examples where the content of a publication has been the cause of legal action. Rojomoke (talk) 11:49, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

On the "publishing errors" front, there was notoriously the case of the Wicked Bible. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 5.66.222.221 (talk) 12:04, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That wouldn't happen in England nowadays. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:18, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Legal action is taken against persons, not objects. I like, for example, United States v. Ninety-Five Barrels Alleged Apple Cider Vinegar. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 15:39, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In that case the bottler was held to have mislabelled the cider. In rem jurisdiction cases apply against abandonned property. Otherwise, "This last style is awkward because in law, only a person may be a party to a judicial proceeding – hence the more common in personam style – and a non-person would at least have to have a guardian appointed to represent its interests, or the interests of the unknown owner.[citation needed] The use of this kind of jurisdiction in asset forfeiture cases is troublesome because it has been increasingly used in situations where the party in possession is known, which by historical common law standards would make him the presumptive owner, and yet the prosecution and court presumes he is not the owner and proceeds accordingly. This kind of process has been used to seize large sums of cash from persons who are presumed to have obtained the money unlawfully because of the large amount, often in situations where the person could prove he was in lawful possession of it, but was forced to spend more on legal fees to do so than the amount of money forfeited.[2]"

Hustler Magazine v. Falwell taught us that lying about famous people is alright, so long as you lie so hard no reasonable person should believe it. InedibleHulk (talk) 16:23, March 23, 2014 (UTC)

Not exactly. What the U.S. Supreme Court said in that case is that public individuals cannot sue a publication because a parody of them is unflattering to them. --Jayron32 01:20, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

My Google search for "defendant is a book" found this article about the Warren Report.

—Wavelength (talk) 01:45, 24 March 2014 (UTC) and 02:26, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Who is Tysen? (in File:Relatives Chart.svg)

Hello. On top of [5] says "Relatives Explained by Tysen". Who is Tysen, please? Regards, --Edupedro (talk) 13:38, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The chart was uploaded in 2006 and if no one recognizes "Tysen" as a reliable source, it should be replaced with another such as [6]. The phrases "The Land of (In-laws/Cousins/Children)" are strange because this is a chart, not a geographical map. 84.209.89.214 (talk) 16:46, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

After a lot of Googling I tracked him down to www.hotcactuspepper.com; apparently Tysen Perszyk is one and the same as User:Hotcactuspepper mentioned in the "Permission" section of the image file. The table is listed in the "Pictures" section of the linked page and seems to have been created for one of his family blogs, although I couldn't see it - you have to create an account to view all the content. To quote Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources, "...self-published media—whether books, newsletters, personal websites, open wikis, blogs, personal pages on social networking sites, Internet forum postings, or tweets—are largely not acceptable". Alansplodge (talk) 17:13, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It might be churlish to add (but I'm going to anyway) that Tysen's self portrait on his Flickr account bears a striking resemblance to Shaggy Rogers from Scooby-Doo ;-) Alansplodge (talk) 17:33, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Just a quick question. Is there reason to believe this freely licensed image on Commons is incorrect? From my reading, the names of the relations matches that of the reliable source noted above. If the source confirms that our graphic is correct, why must it be removed? --Jayron32 01:15, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, --Edupedro (talk) 20:41, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We need a few more urbane churls around here. Carry on, Alan. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:40, 23 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"A gentleman is someone who never insults anyone unintentionally." Oscar Wilde? —Tamfang (talk) 00:29, 24 March 2014 (UTC) [reply]

Robert Mankoff - New Yorker

I want to know if Robert Mankoff, the cartoonist who works for The New Yorker Magazine is related to me. My name is L. [hidden] We are of Jewish Russian descent. How can I get ahold of Robert Mankoff to send him an email? 65.128.176.193 (talk) 01:06, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have hidden some of your personal information (we can't confirm who you are, and people who see your name here may spam you) and corrected your formatting. The name Mankoff/Mankov/Mankow/Mankiw/Mankovits etc., is very common. There are several geneological sites, someone here will probably comment with advice shortly. μηδείς (talk) 01:15, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You can contact him by email Here. This is a blog of his published by The New Yorker, and there's a link near the bottom that says "E-mail Robert Mankoff" --Jayron32 01:17, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You might find Ancestry.com of interest. Shadowjams (talk) 02:00, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Publicly accessible "microdata" statistics for Europe

Does the EU or any European country have something like https://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/public_use_microdata_sample/ ? At least Eurostats seems rather all or nothing [7] and there is no way they would give access to a random guy like me. --82.128.250.221 (talk) 02:37, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]