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February 8

Is there a dollar amount limit when I place a bid on eBay?

Does eBay have any sort of "upper limit" check for bidding? In other words, if I make a high bid (let's say, I type in 999,999.99 or whatever), does eBay stop that bid? Or does it check with a message such as "are you sure you meant to type 999,999.99?" or something like that? I ask because I want to make a "last minute" bid. But I don't want any time wasted with intervening messages, etc. Which might delay me and bring me past the bidding deadline. Does anyone know? And, if so, what's the magic number that prompts a message? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 00:25, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

The only restriction I see on ebay's info page is that you can't bid over $15,000 unless you have a credit card on file. Doesn't say anything about special intervening messages. Also keep in mind that coming in at the last second with a bid won't win you the item if another bidder's confidential maximum bid is higher than yours. Someguy1221 (talk) 00:57, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

We have an article about this bidding tactic, Auction sniping. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 00:59, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks. I did not know about that. I will check it out. Thanks! Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:58, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 22:00, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

How would these two (similar) American football plays be scored?

(1) The score is 6-0. Team A is going for the point-after-touchdown, specifically the kick. Kicker kicks it short, Team B's defense retrieves the ball and runs it 105 yards to the opposing endzone. Or (2) the same as before, but in the endzone, Team B fumbles, Team A picks it up and is tackled within their endzone. --Aabicus (talk) 06:20, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

For (1), this article[1] states that because of a 2015 rule change, "the defending team will be allowed to score two points if it grabs possession of the ball and takes it back the other way." I don't understand (2). Are you talking about the situation discussed in the second paragraph in Safety (gridiron football score)#Conversion safety? That one's worth a single point. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:56, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

"In college football and the NFL, a conversion safety could also be scored by the defense.[22] To accomplish this, the kicking team would have to retreat all the way back to their own end zone and then fumble the ball out of it or be tackled in it.[24] A more plausible scenario would involve a turnover on the extra point attempt followed by a lost fumble before the defensive player reaches the end zone, with the ball finally being downed by the offense in its own end zone. While such a conversion safety has never been scored by the defense, it is the only possible way in which a team could finish with a single point in an American football game." Ooooh yes, this is what I'm talking about. I was wondering if that were possible. Thank you! --Aabicus (talk) 08:53, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

A tool for counting word frequency in newspaper archives

Is there such a tool? Something similar to Google Ngram or Google Trends, but for news only. I know there's a data range parameter in Google News search, but it seems that Google didn't index as many publications few years back, so the results are seriously skewed, I think. Is there any other more reliable service anyone could recommend, for checking whether a certain topic (word) was mentioned in newspapers over time? If you reply here, please WP:ECHO me. Thank you, --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 15:26, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Cars ID

What are brands and models of these two cars? See no clues on them, thanks. Brandmeister^talk 15:47, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

The top one is a Smart car - a sports convertible. The lower one looks deliberately disguised, which car manufacturers frequently do when testing new models.--Phil Holmes (talk) 18:09, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Smart Roadster Collector's Edition, to be exact. A nice looking car, but unfortunately it had waterproofing problems. Smurrayinchester 08:31, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

I think #2 might have been an Opel Calibra in a previous life, now suffering the torments of the damned following some none-too-skillful ricing. Tevildo (talk) 18:41, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

It's definitely been modified in a haphazard way. That can also happen with cars used in races, as they will just rivet on a replacement part to get it back on the track quickly, versus taking the time to do it properly.

The single wiper blade may also be a clue, not too many cars have that these days. StuRat (talk) 18:46, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I also thought of customization. Took them recently, this is the rear view, will tag the other as Smart then. Brandmeister^talk 19:08, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I'd plus Tevildo, I had exactly the same dream image - from a previous life - that such a beautiful rage automnile had to be a Calibra. Now I found it could also be a Mitsubishi Eclipse, although the windshield (front view) does not match exactly the series model ( rather that of the Calibra ). The single wiper blade I think, that is definitively a competition arrangement. --Askedonty (talk) 19:47, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

From the rear view it looks like a Nissan 180SX. Peter James (talk) 11:47, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

The "HOONIGAN" sign on the back of the second car relates to a "ricer" type of group - so whatever it is, it's probably been hacked around quite a bit by an 'enthusiast'. SteveBaker (talk) 20:18, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

It's a sticker. I've seen rather worse in the way of desacralization of the Ford Mustang's. --Askedonty (talk) 21:21, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I think the word you're looking for there is "desecrate".[2] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:50, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Sorry, you are of course perfectly right, Baseball Bugs. "Desacralisation" is actually French. It's "desecration of the Ford Mustang". --Askedonty (talk) 13:45, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

How do lottery officials insure that dollar amounts of jackpots are not too high?

Are lottery ticket games limited to the amount of money that they can award? Or, in other words, can a lottery game "bankrupt" itself by awarding "too much money"? I assume that, by definition, this cannot happen. But I am not sure. I assume that the prizes are a function of how much money has been collected in sales of tickets. Is that correct? So, for example, if they sell $10 million dollars worth of ticket sales, the top prize is some fraction of that $10 million. Is that how it works? That would seem reasonable, but I can find counter-examples. Which is why I ask. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 19:39, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Yes, although in the case of rollover prizes, it is possible to pay off more on a given day than was taken in that day. StuRat (talk) 19:41, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

So, on to my counter-examples. One: I think that this very recent Power Ball lottery had a prize close to half a billion dollars. I thought there is some "multiplier" number. So, that if the multiplier is "3", you get your top prize money multiplied by three (and so forth). How would that work? Also, Two: scratch-off tickets. They have no idea if they will sell all, most, few, or none of these. So, how would that work? At the end of the day, maybe no one at all goes out and buys that specific scratch off game, so there is no revenue. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 19:48, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

The law of large numbers, as applied to potential lottery buyers (n), would ensure you never get zero or a very small number of buyers, where n is large. StuRat (talk) 19:58, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Huh? Your comment is: you can never get a small "n" when "n" is large. Isn't that what you just said? Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 22:53, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

I parsed it as "when there are a large number of potential lottery buyers, it's unlikely that any one scratch-off ticket will only get a small number of players" MChesterMC (talk) 09:14, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Correct. Or more precisely, you won't get a zero number of actual buyers when you have a large pool of potential buyers. We could even put some numbers on it. Let's say there are a million potential buyers, each with an independent 1% chance of buying one or more lottery ticket(s) each day. Then the chance of none buying any would be 0.99^1,000,000 = 1.5653×10^-4365. Not gonna happen. StuRat (talk) 19:57, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

According to [3]: the PowerBall multiplier does not apply to the jackpot, and for other prize levels "As with any lottery prize, if an extremely popular number is drawn and there is not enough money in the prize pools or reserves to cover it, we may need to reduce the prize." So for PowerBall, it cannot pay out too much. RudolfRed (talk) 20:12, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Well, there is some "fine print" that most people are not aware of! Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 22:55, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

In Canada's Lotto 6/49, the smaller prizes are flat amounts. So we can imagine a scenario where there are 10,000,000 tickets sold (at $3 each) and 40% of the people buying them all decide to choose the numbers 1, 2, 3, and three others. If 1, 2, and 3 did in fact turn out to be among the numbers drawn, then the lottery would be obligated to pay out $40,000,000 in $10 prizes (in addition to any major prizes), despite taking in only $30,000,000 on tickets. The official rules, at least in Ontario, make no exception for this situation. Of course, the probability of something like this happening by chance is ridiculously small, and it's not considered a concern worth worrying about. --76.69.45.64 (talk) 21:55, 8 February 2016 (UTC) (by edit request) ―Mandruss ☎ 22:07, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

• See the Triple Six Fix which had a record pay-out when white paint was injected into the 4 and 6 balls of a pick-three 0-to-9 Pennsylvania lottery. Triple six won. I believe it was a loss for the state from what I remember, as we watched the drawing, but it is not mentioned in the article. Of course they caught on to the the scam, and as a whole there was no loss on a long-term basis. μηδείς (talk) 23:00, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks. Well, scratch tickets are very different than lottery tickets (where numbers are randomly drawn). When they print the scratch tickets, they have already authorized all the total prize money to be awarded (regardless of how ticket sales go). (The prize awards are authorized, but they are simply "hidden" with that silvery scratch-off material.) Say there is a scratch off game that sells for $1. The top prize is $1 million. It's a very unpopular game, and no one buys these scratch tickets. Only one person does, and he happens to get the $1 million prize. So, the state (or government) "accepts" that $999,999 as a loss? And -- nowadays -- there are dozens of scratch games to choose from; they can't all be popular. I suspect some are popular. People are probably unaware of and unfamiliar with most of them, however. So, how do scratch off games insure a positive revenue stream to guarantee payouts? Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 23:02, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

The state keeps a house advantage for instant lotto. I don't think there's anything strictly preventing your scenario, but it just doesn't happen enough to be a problem. Same way sometimes a guy can walk into a casino with $100 and walk out with $10000. But the casino isn't worried, they know they have the edge in expected value and they know that they aren't offering fair games. There's tons of rather sophisticated probablity behind this. E.g. gambler's ruin, martingale, etc. Here's a decent overview of the elementary probablility [4]. If you're having trouble transitioning from instant lotto to regular lotto, just pretend that they drew a bunch of balls ahead of time and then printed up the tickets. Maintaining the house advantage is actually much easier in instant lotto. Realistically, they don't have to worry about tickets not selling. They know that those scratch off tickets are addictive [5], [6] [7] [8], and they know their junkies poor, under-educated working class upstanding citizens who enjoy an occasional gaming experience need their fix. Here's one piece that specifically covers how states maintain their edge and how instant lotto are usually the most popular product [9].

Here's some stats from MI [10]. You can find similar records on each state lotto, some of them are linked by our articles e.g. Ohio lottery. Unsurprisingly, the state of Michigan doesn't mention how most of the money raised "for schools" does not really help schools, because traditional government funding is simply cut back (discussion here [11], [12]). They also don't mention how the lotto is primarily a regressive tax on the poor, etc, but now I'm drifting off topic and should stop. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:22, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

The state keeps 40-50% of regular lotteries (minus expenses and plus extra income taxes) but 75% of the scratchy things. They have a big cushion. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 23:16, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 04:40, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

February 9

Sharing a Wikipedia post

How might I share this with other Wikipedians? It looks at Wikipedia a few years ago, and examines the open content phenomenon. Openness vs Authority.BooksXYZ (talk) 04:12, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

You could contact The Signpost and see if they are interested. Warofdreams talk 14:01, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Will do, thanks.BooksXYZ (talk) 02:52, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

It's worth mentioning that the description of the WikiMedia board from 2006 doesn't apply today. Things have gotten a lot better in the intervening decade. SteveBaker (talk) 15:44, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

Although there have been at least 2 recent major controversies relating to the board. I wonder what "create their own proprietary, for-profit version of Wikipedia" is about. There was a fair degree of controversy surrounding wikia but while there are some similarities (including 2 board members), the description there is not particularly accurate if it refers to wikia. Wikia already existed for 2 years by 2006-2007 (expanding and changing but it wasn't a new project). And it used the open source MediaWiki and shared resources with the WMF, but not much of wikipedia content. (I think some deleted stuff was sometimes copied there and some articles were used but AFAIK this was done by individual projects not by any board members.) So if it is about wikia, it's not a particularly accurate. Mind you that entire story seems to keep referring to wikipedia when it sounds like it's often referring to the WMF, so perhaps it's not that surprising. Nil Einne (talk) 12:18, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

It's certainly easy to get confused between:

• a "Wiki" - which is a style of website authoring and management found all over the web)
• "MediaWiki" - which is a piece of open-source software that's at the heart of most - but certainly not all - of the Wiki's out there),
• "Wikipedia" - which is an encyclopedia that is one of many Wiki's that happens to use MediaWiki)
• "WikiMedia" (strictly: "The WikiMedia Foundation", or WMF) - which is the non-profit organization that formally owns the servers and other infrastructure on which MediaWiki is mostly developed and Wikipedia is situated).
• "WikiCommons", "Wiktionary" and a bunch of other "WikiXXX" projects - that also use MediaWiki and run on WikiMedia's servers - but are not strictly a part of Wikipedia. Confusingly, much of Wikipedia's content (especially photos and video) is stored in those other projects and they cross-link to each other in ways that are almost invisible to the naive user - even though they are mostly independent.

So it's a complicated picture that almost every journalist gets horribly wrong. Whoever named MediaWiki and WikiMedia so confusingly should have been slapped with a wet fish! SteveBaker (talk) 03:56, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

: Can I use an Octopus -- Apostle (talk) 09:56, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

February 11

plastic surgery

this is not a discussion forum --Jayron32 12:51, 11 February 2016 (UTC)
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Was watching this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9puAFk5X918 and it made me insecure about all the women getting plastic surgery. How do you tell? I always thought people like her http://imgur.com/yp3zja4 were the 10/10 angel faced dream girl any guy would die for, but now I think she is a fake plastic surgery faced average girl? This thing is very wrong, they should make plastic surgery illegal it's the same as false advertisement (and that's illegal). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Money is tight (talk • contribs) 11:28, 11 February 2016 (UTC) This is not a discussion forum. What's your question? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:48, 11 February 2016 (UTC) There could be a legal question there, in the case of a marriage contract, if nondisclosure of plastic surgery in order to disguise one's true appearance constitutes fraud. I could see financial costs associated with not knowing, if the future husband must then pay for follow-up surgeries to maintain the wife's appearance, and perhaps do the same for the children, if they inherit the woman's hidden physical flaws. It would be interesting to know if any legal challenge has even been brought, based on this legal theory. StuRat (talk) 13:47, 11 February 2016 (UTC) On the other hand if you marry a girl just for her looks then you deserve what you get. Richard Avery (talk) 14:50, 11 February 2016 (UTC) Not necessarily just for that. But, from an evolutionary POV, appearance is an indicator of fitness, and therefore most species consider appearance, to some extent, when selecting a mate. StuRat (talk) 16:27, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

February 12

Request for help at Government of Portland, Oregon

I'm trying to insert commissioners from 1953 to 1971 into the table, see User:MB298/sandbox. I'm not quite understanding what's wrong with the table. It's fine if anyone edits the sandbox page to attempt to correct the errors. MB298 (talk) 04:40, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

It'll be best if you ask at WP:Help desk or WP:Teahouse. It may also help if you explain better what the problem is. I had a quick look at the source and it looks like there could be major problems with the table. For example there's a 6th column without a subject heading. The only person in this column seems to be commissioner 2. But the person listed as commissioner 2 for this time in the table was actually the mayor. The person listed as mayor was never mayor but commissioner 4. You'll want to make sure the rowspan for the people already listed are right before you make any adjustments to the people below, and make sure the ones on top are showing up in the right column (and for the right number of rows) then move on. Nil Einne (talk) 12:04, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

Embedded videos not showing in email subscriptions

I have a blog on Blogger where I sometimes embed YouTube videos. However, I've just realised that people who read the posts from the email subscriptions can't see the videos at all. Embedded images seem to show up fine in the emails, but embedded videos don't. I've tried mucking around in Feedburner trying to find a setting that will allow embedded videos to play in the emails, but I can't seem to figure it out. Please help. La Alquimista 10:20, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

February 14

History of abstract expressionism

Is there any history of how this movement became a global phenomenon and also written from the perspective that as art it doesn't have merit? From searching there's a lot on how CIA money promoted its further glory after it caught on but I'm more curious about the early stages of its rise before the CIA took an active interest. Muzzleflash (talk) 09:17, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Abstract Impressionism is an art movement originating in New York City in the 1940’s. Robert Coates coined the term ‘abstract impressionism’ in 1946 in one of his critiques of the new artwork. The most important predecessor of abstract impressionism is Surrealism, which also emphasizes spontaneous and subconscious creation. See [13]. The Wikipedia article Abstract expressionism has an extensive section about its history. Reports that the CIA financed and organized the promotion of American abstract expressionists in the 1950s have appeared but have also been rejected as historical revisionism. The OP may be looking for opinion essays about hostility to abstraction in art, such as this example "modern abstract art is a disgraceful mockery of all that is right and good in the art realm". AllBestFaith (talk) 10:17, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Duck Penis Question

Why do ducks have corkscrew penises that hinder mating when successful evolution would seem to depend on passing on ones genes? 109.207.58.2 (talk) 12:47, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Female birds have an all-in-one entrance called a cloaca. It's very rare for birds to reproduce by means of penetration of the cloaca: the sperm is usually deposited on or near the entrance.

I'm curious to know why the OP thinks a corkscrew penis hinders mating. I've not noticed a shortage of ducks, they seem to be a very successful family. Richard Avery (talk) 14:02, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

See Female Ducks’ Twisty Tracts Defend Against Screwy Males quoting recent research. It seems that the twisty male shape allows for a great deal of extension at the appropriate moment, but that female ducks (Muscovy ducks at any rate) have evolved parts that may spiral in the opposite direction so that they can prevent penetration by unwelcome males. Alansplodge (talk) 16:36, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

A more detailed report on the same research is at Yale Scientific - Unraveling the Mysteries of Duck Mating. Alansplodge (talk) 16:44, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Penis#Birds goes into a fair amount of detail on the subject, including an appropriate photograph. See also Mallard Song. Tevildo (talk) 16:42, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

As for "Why?", see mate selection. The female's children (and therefore her genes) have most chance of surviving if they get the genes of the best possible mate, so the female has an incentive to keep the less desirable males away (and in turn, the males attempt to overcome these defenses). Smurrayinchester 12:51, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Jaguar model

What Jaguar model is this one? Took it today and reverse image search looks unhelpful. Thanks once again. Brandmeister^talk 18:19, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

It looks like a Jaguar XJ (XJ40) of some sort. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 18:28, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Confirm above, compare File:1989.jaguar.xj6.arp.jpg. Our article points out that both chrome and black window surrounds were available. Nanonic (talk) 18:31, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

I also felt it's some 1980s Jaguar. Brandmeister^talk 19:04, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

It's a Jaguar XJ40. The round headlamps suggest it's an XJ6 model, not a Daimler or Sovereign (the Jaguar badge and hood ornament confirm it's not a Daimler), while the lattice wheels suggest a later model, maybe 1992-3. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 11:50, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

February 15

US presidential election question

In America, how do people get to be a presidential candidate for a political party? My question is prompted by the reports that the Republican party does not really want Donald Trump to stand as a candidate for them. Nevertheless, he is doing so, so how did this happen? Why was he accepted if the party doesn't want him? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.152.224.55 (talk) 03:13, 15 February 2016 (UTC) (PS, I understand that he isn't yet the final choice of candidate for president. I understand that part, so there is no need to explain it.)

The primary elections and caucuses currently underway are how the parties chose their candidates for the election. Many state parties do not have any party membership requirements, whoever shows up and takes a ballot is part of the party. Ballot access explains a little of the process but each state (and state party) is different, gathering signatures may be required, paying a filing fee, registering with the Federal Election Committee. Rmhermen (talk) 03:38, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

What do you mean by "takes a ballot"? (I am not asking about who can vote but who can stand.) I looked at Ballot access, but it is long and daunting and I can't understand its relevance. It says "Each U.S. State has its own ballot access laws", and then there is a long list of per-state detail, but I don't understand how this applies to my question. Trump is standing across the whole country, not just in one state. There must be a country-wide procedure whereby he can stand as a Republican. That is what I want to know. 109.152.148.126 (talk) 12:17, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Why do you think there "must be a country-wide procedure" be? As I understand it, there isn't. The fact that Trump is "standing across the whole country, not just in one state" is largely irrelevant. I'm pretty sure the reason why Trump is standing across the whole country is not because there's some country wide procedure, but because he can afford to pay the people and attract the supporters who'll make sure he is eligible to stand in every "one state". Nil Einne (talk) 15:19, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

There has been some discussion in the US Republican Party about a need to change the nomination process to prevent people who aren't really Republicans from running. Presumably that would involve something like what we call superdelegates to decide who can run in the Republican primary. Unfortunately, there seem to be many people who vote Republican who don't want a traditional Republican candidate, so that might mean they would no longer vote Republican, if people like Trump were excluded. On the other hand, if people like Trump win the nomination, they aren't likely to win the general election, so the Republican Party is in a tough position either way. (Personally I think they need to cut the "tea party" contingent loose, to form their own tiny party, and hopefully the Republicans could then pick up more moderates from the US Democratic Party and the independents.) StuRat (talk) 04:52, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, you say "change the nomination process", but what is the existing nomination process? That is my question. 109.152.148.126 (talk) 12:17, 15 February 2016 (UTC) PS, in case there is still confusion, I am not asking about how the primary elections and caucuses work. I am asking how people get their names on the candidate lists that people vote on in the primary elections and caucuses. 109.152.148.126 (talk) 12:20, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

You say that Trump is standing across the whole country, not just in one state. Actually, he is standing (running as we Americans say) separately in each state. Each state sends delegates to the national Republican convention, and the delegates there vote for who should be the national party's candidate. So the candidate tries to win as many delegates as possible in each state, according to the rules of that state. Loraof (talk) 15:18, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

So someone like Trump would need to go through 50 state-specific procedures in order to get on the ballot in all 50 states? 109.152.148.126 (talk) 18:12, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Yes. Which is why one occasionally has serious "candidates" that fail to the get on the ballot on all of the states. The participation requirements vary widely. New Hampshire is one of the most liberal states, and anyone can stand in the primary by paying $1000 and declaring they want to represent the party. Which is why there were 30 Republicans and 28 Democrats on the ballot [14]. Dragons flight (talk) 19:28, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

I see, thank you very much. I didn't realise it was state-by-state. 109.152.148.126 (talk) 20:24, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Trying to get some clarity here...we're talking about how you get to become a candidate to enter the race to become the party nominee for the presidential race...in other words, how do you get to the position that Trump, Cruz, et al are at right now?

First, you're supposed to set up an exploratory committee to and a political action committee - people within your chosen party assess whether you have the ability to raise funds and capture attention. When those groups raise $5,000 - you have 15 days to file a "Statement of Candidacy"...and then 10 days more to file a "Statement of organization". These things are about legally collecting and spending money as a candidate.

To be honest - it's still not clear how those committees are formed and who has to be on them. SteveBaker (talk) 16:35, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Wow, only $5000 ? That's not much of a barrier. I'm guessing that's a very old standard, set when that was a bit harder. So now we have the situation where pretty much anyone can run (and I do mean anyone !). StuRat (talk) 17:47, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Bugs Stu, I think you and Steve are talking a bit at cross-purposes here. The $5000, if I've understood correctly, is not a barrier to be achieved. It's a threshold at which US elections laws and regulations begin to apply to you. Presumably, if you somehow could run a campaign for $4999, you would be much freer in how to conduct it. --Trovatore (talk) 18:21, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

That raises a possibly interesting question: Could someone, theoretically, be running in both parties? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:02, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Many states require candidates sign some form of a statement of allegiance to the party in order to participate on the party's ballot and prohibit candidates from participating in multiple parties simultaneously. People do occasionally try this though, e.g. [15]. Dragons flight (talk) 19:41, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

@SteveBaker, when you talk of raising $5,000 and filing statements, do you believe that this is a state-by-state process or one process that covers the entire country? 109.152.148.126 (talk) 18:08, 15 February 2016 (UTC) Answered above. 109.152.148.126 (talk) 20:24, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Those are requirements under Federal campaign finance laws. Nothing to do with getting your name on a state ballot. Rmhermen (talk) 20:30, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Well, that seems to be different again. So you're saying there is a federal procedure first whereby "people within your chosen party assess whether you have the ability to raise funds and capture attention" etc., and then there are the state-by-state procedures too? I wonder how Trump got through the first stage? I mean, I'm sure he has the funds and can "capture attention", but could he not have been blocked under some pretext if the party did not want him? 109.152.148.126 (talk) 00:09, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

There is no national party to block him - there are 57 state and territorial parties for each. See Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties. What the state parties want is what the primaries determine. Rmhermen (talk) 03:35, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

I am buying a new refrigerator ...

I am buying a new refrigerator. Regular, standard size. The company (Lowe's) will have it delivered and will haul away my old refrigerator. It has to be delivered up a flight of stairs to the second floor of the house. Do I "tip" these delivery men? How much? I have no idea if I do and how much I do. I assume they will send two guys, not just one? These are not Lowe's employees; I believe that Lowe's simply contracts with a delivery service company. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:33, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

There will almost certainly be two people. In Germany, I'd tip them EUR 20 (but I'm generous, it's not really required, and EUR 10 might be more common). In the US, tips are normally higher than in Germany, but if you hand them US$20, they will probably be happy. If you are elsewhere, I'm out of my comfort zone ;-). In any case, it certainly also depends on what you can easily afford. If you plan to tip, it's a lot less awkward if you have bills for the exact amount (or a range of amounts, depending on quality of service) at hand. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 18:53, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

I once lived in a motel for two weeks and didn't tip anything because I couldn't afford to. I think this is why my phone charger was stolen. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:57, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

It would not occur to me to tip someone for this sort of delivery unless they did something extra special, and carrying the shipment up one flight of stairs does not count. I'm in Canada, by the way. However. here are a number of opinions from people in the US, including some who disagree with me. --69.159.9.222 (talk) 21:56, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

It depends. If I liked the service, I might tip them lunch money, i.e. 5 to 10 dollars each. More if they go above and beyond the call of duty. But if they refuse the tip, I wouldn't fight them. If you're really concerned, call the store and see if there's any sort of policy about it. Although, obviously, what you do behind closed doors is up to you. At the very least, though, offer them some cold water before they leave. They'll probably have their own, but the gesture will be appreciated. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:10, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

• Yes.

When I had my posturepedic delivered, I asked the guy in charge, "Que prefieren como propina, ¿mota, o efectivo?" The response was, "¡Los dos!" So they got a five each and a fat spliff to share. The basic rule is that delivery people work on tips, those who are paid by the hour don't. μηδείς (talk) 00:19, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

February 16

references

````Hello, I submitted a Wikipedia page regarding Mr. Mir Abdolreza Daryabeigi' biography, It was rejected. I included all references. What kind of references are looking for so I can provide them. I am really disappointed why he was not accepted. There are painters of his time period with same kind of information were accepted. I am trying to gather more information through archives.- — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mirrezd (talk • contribs) 02:58, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

The notices already on Mirrezd's talk page answer the question better than we can do here, and indicate where to discuss it further. —Tamfang (talk) 06:04, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Format

A while back it seems to me you addressed the format issue and the fact many, in fact, very many articles are getting very long and directed specifically at "experts" and the already well read, rather than common knowledge and common information seekers.

Qualifying as a unique expert in very few fields, I would comment too many subjects are still so, and consequently not too useful. I find myself looking else where.

You might limit your experts to addressing and writing a common knowledge brief first, before allowing them to write their masters thesis on the subject.

Roger A. Newman (talk) 03:07, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

What's your question? ←Baseball Bugs <sup>What's up, Doc?</sup> carrots→ 03:48, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Study in Europe as a visiting student

Hello. May I ask you a question? I am not a European but I want to study in Europe as a visiting student for one year(undergraduate). Recently I have begun to make my motivation letter, but I have some problem. I know that admissions offices of universities are presumably interested in the extent of directly relevant knowledge and understanding, relevant language proficiency, and credible reassurances from a third party that the applicant is honest and mentally stable. But I wonder if there have been studies of the importance of other factors and/or the persuasiveness of different kinds of argument. (I'm particularly interested in northern European universities.)Hippojunior5 (talk) 04:14, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

S rank

Where did the convention of having an "S" rank above an "A" rank come from? This is found in video games. — Melab±1 ☎ 05:15, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

The first hit I get on Google for "S rank" looks informative. Of course it's difficult to verify, but the page seems to jibe with my anecdotal knowledge (I'm a big gamer), which is that such ranking systems are most common in Japanese video games. --71.119.131.184 (talk) 07:25, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

sum of edits

Likely this belongs in one of those places I never go, but anyway:

Many of my Wikipedia edits are to tighten an article's language; consequently, it's possible that my net contribution, measured in bytes, is negative! I wonder, has someone made a tool to add up a user's net byte-count in article space, or to count up the plura and minora (that's plural of plus and minus for you non-Latinists) in one's contribution log? —Tamfang (talk) 06:13, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Plura and minora? I'm reminded of lung membranes and Jewish lampstands. -- Jack of Oz <sup>[pleasantries]</sup> 06:21, 16 February 2016 (UTC)