Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 May 31

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May 31

wii spiderman 3

hey, i have the spiderman 3 game for the wii, and i have been looking around for the spider symbols all around manhattan and i haven't been able to find one. I would just like to know if anyone can help me in that, and if anyone has already found them all, what is the surprise?

Wikipedia is not a guide. Check gamefaqs -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 02:25, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

WWII lighthouses

A question which I hope someone here might be able to answer... Dunring World War II, blackout conditions were enforced in many countries (stringent ones in the UK in particular). No house lights, no streetlights... but what about lighthouses? On one hand, they'd have been perfect navigational beacons for enemy aircraft, but on the other, extinguishing them would have been hazardous to all shipping, both enemy and friendly. How was this situation dealt with - were lighthouses lit or not? Thanks in advance for any answers. Grutness...wha? 06:16, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

A Google search on "lighthouses", "blackout", and "ww2" produces the answer in the first two hits. (There are lots of variations on that search possible, of course; that was just the first one I tried.) The answer is, some were blacked out, and some were not. Presumably the decision would depend on the particular risks at each location. By the way, this question would have been on-topic for the Humanities reference desk. --Anonymous, May 31, 2007, 06:41 (UTC).

In Norway, common practise was that harbour managers in major port cities along the coast controlled lighthouses close by. Lighthouses were nearly always turned on to aid friendly convoys, off otherwise. 81.93.102.185 17:06, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Likely hood of realistic androids and gynoids?

This kinda fits into both science and computing, so I figured i'd put it here. About when will robots be able to pass themselves as humans, such as in any number of sci-fi, kinda leaning towards Chobits or A.I., past the uncanny valley, and able to converse fairly realistically (at least a low highschool grade level)? And when will these be availble at realistic costs, around the cost of a car nowadays? -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 06:22, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps they're already passing for human ... how could you tell? Dum dum DUM! Neil (►) 09:59, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I believe ASIMO is pretty much how far our so called robots have reached in intelligence. From what I think, it's a stupid robot compared to the ones in tv shows and such. We would still need to develop a sort of AI that can create it's own logic, or somehow be programmed for infinite possibilites since interacting with humans is random, at best. Looks like ASIMO is 166,000 USD/year for rent. As for when? I think sometime in the next 20 or 30 years, but your guess is as good as mine.--GTPoompt 12:40, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

There seems little point in creating robots that are only as good as humans at doing stuff. It's a whole lot cheaper and more useful to build specialist robots that can do one thing better or more efficiently than a human, whether it's washing your dishes or mowing your lawn. There is only one area in which making lifelike robots is economical, and that is proceeding by leaps and bounds.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:25, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't think that's true, there's plenty of markets for realistic robots. Maids, nannies, caretakers for the elderly, companionship for the lonely, and in general, just something people will be expected to have, even if they don't really need them, like cars or a TV. I'm more looking for professional opinions/articles on when this would be probable, though -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 19:26, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I would expect development of such bots to stop at the lip of the uncanny valley. —Tamfang 01:03, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

A.I. is taking a lot longer than people expected it to, and robots that can reliably interact with the difficulties and unpredictabilities of physical reality still seem quite some time off, though in the last decade or so some big jumps have been made. As for cost, I think the price of a car is probably about right, maybe cheaper depending on the constituent parts, assuming you are mass-producing them and not building them as one-off, two-off models. --24.147.86.187 13:48, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

What you are asking about is a robot that can pass the Turing test. I doubt that there will be many such robots ever, because although it may be useful to have a robot on the far side of uncanny valley, having one that can pass pass for human is pretty pointless; besides, as robots become more humanlike, people will learn to be better able to tell robots and humans apart. — Daniel 03:37, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

ASIMO is preprogrammed to walk, isn't it? I remember seeing ASIMO and another robot on a program, and the other robot has the ability to learn stuff on its own. For example, if you were to delete its walking program, it can relearn it through trial and error, much like a baby. Anyone know of this robot? I'm not sure how much else the robot can do, but still, that's pretty impressive to me. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:23, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

The one I saw on the program wasn't as small as Pino, a robot that can also learn to walk, and it was developed by a group that spoke English, as they had no translators during the program. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 19:30, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Architecture

Where does it fit in to Ref Desk enquiries I wonder. Anyway, does anyone know who designed the Ministry of Transport building here in Tbilisi, Georgia: [1] Thanks Mhicaoidh 10:43, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Georgy Chakhava, according to this new york times article. "Mr. Chakhava was not only an architect but also the minister of highway construction. As such, he was not just his own client; he could also hand-pick the project’s site." ---Sluzzelin talk 12:47, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

extended lifecycle of food products

could you please help me to understand what the title of this homework means: "list products that have had their lifecycles extended ie mars bars" --89.240.86.145 13:53, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Question slightly refactored. Answer: it's not a very good question, for the reason that it is ambiguous in nature. Taking the example cited, it is (to me, at least) unlikely that mars bars have had their lifecycle extended. A mars bar is a chocolate & toffee based confection, which without modification will probably last for months and years. Breaking the question down, it could be asking about a couple of things - list products which have a longer shelf life (i.e. longer period in which the product is usable) as a result of some process which extends the life (like canning fruit, ultra-heat-treated milk). Or it could be asking about products which in recent times have achieved longer shelf lives as a result of recent innovations (e.g. selling sandwiches in containers filled with inert gases, or the use of carbon dioxide gas, bacteriocin production, high-pressure, pulsed electric fields and irradiation to increase the shelf life of milk.) I'd advise you to answer the question by setting out the two possible branches of answer, and then illustrate each as I've done. You may find a google search on extending shelf life of milk and more generally on extending shelf life useful. --Tagishsimon (talk)

Oh boy! You have a problem with the setter of this question. I can't think of any way that Mars Bars have had their life extended. Extension comes primarily from promotion, based on either a real or perceived improvement. i.e. Soap power brands gained extended life through adding blue pieces of bleach, perfume, etc. But the Mars Bar hasn't changed. The Mars Bar Brand, however, has been extended... into Easter Eggs, mini-bars, ice cream and so on. You must define your terms (and hope that whoever set this question is smarter and fairer than it would seem). (p.s. Not a snide comment. Have been examiner for 20 years and this question is awful.)86.202.156.187 14:59, 31 May 2007 (UTC)petitmichel

Good catch. In which case Product life cycle management won't help you much, but it is at least in the right area. --Tagishsimon (talk)

word(s)?

What is it called when someone does something to get people to notice them. I think it begins with p. HS7 14:17, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

• pestering?
• Self-promotion? --Tagishsimon (talk)

Pose, as in poser ?86.202.156.187 14:51, 31 May 2007 (UTC)petitmichel

"Grandstanding"? Bielle 15:43, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

"Peacocking" would also be a possibility. Friday (talk) 16:25, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Posing, preening, posturing, or pretence/pretension? Neil (►) 17:11, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Publicity stunt?

Politics?

Atlant 20:01, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Peeing in Public? Thats 2Ps for the price of one!

As per Neil above, "posturing" and "preening" would both fit. I'd be inclined to go with "posturing". In yesterday's Times newspaper, columnist Matthew Syed described Graham Poll, the controversial football referee who is now retiring, as "preening" and "pouting"; if you read the article (see here), Syed certainly holds the view that Poll is somebody who often "does something to get people to notice" him! Hassocks5489 08:06, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Spelling Bee Protests

BBC News currently has a intriguing quote which it claims comes from protesters outside a spelling bee[2] - however, I can't find anything, either on the BBC or through a Google News search, which explains why people would be protesting over a simple spelling competition. Can anyone shed some light on this story? Laïka 14:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

An article from 2004 regarding this "fenomenon". --LarryMac | Talk 14:40, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Spelling Reform -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 20:51, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Wiki Markup

In [3] and other versions you can download Wikipedia, what I'm wondering is: where is a list of the markup (stuff like <foo>bar</foo>), and there function, that, I've heard but not seen, gets used? Thanks, Jeffrey.Kleykamp 14:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I found something, is the markup used in the download the same as this: Wiki markup? Jeffrey.Kleykamp 14:41, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Are you talking about HTML? Neil (►) 17:04, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

No, I heard that the all files in the link are all text files with extra markup in between. Jeffrey.Kleykamp 18:44, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

The database dumps use XML. I'm not sure if there's a schema document for it or not, but it's pretty self-explanatory. --Carnildo 23:01, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Location of image

Can someone help me identify this building?

That's quite the building. Can you tell us what city and/or country it is located in? That information will help us narrow it down, as well as encourage people with the appropriate, specialized knowledge to click through. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:13, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

To my untrained eye, the writing on the boat looks like it could be in Arabic, suggesting a Middle Eastern or North African location. Rockpocket 18:03, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Or Farsi (Iran) or Urdu (Pakistan). Marco polo 19:13, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I just asked some friends in an IRC chat who reside all over the world. The general consensus is that it's probably in Thailand. This is deduced from the type of building and the dragon on the side of the boat. However, being from Tunisia or Morocco is just as likely. JoshHolloway 20:33, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

My eye is even more untrained in respect of languages, but my immediate thought on viewing the picture was "Thailand". I did spend some time there and something about what little we can see of the writing on the boat suggests Thai lettering to me. Bielle 04:36, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that there's enough resolution to say for sure that the marking on the stern is writing, but if it is, I agree with Rockpocket that it's most likely Arabic script (which, as Marco points out, is also used in Iran and Pakistan). I can't absolutely rule out any other script. —Tamfang 05:55, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Arecaceae in Mumbai, India

If you are so eager to know, try to post the image in the Science RD. Maybe the vegetation would help narrow down the location. CG 11:47, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

I have already tried that scope of investigation, the resolution of the image doesn't appear sufficient to identify vegetation precisely. There is what appears to be at least two Arecaceae species, but they grow through-out the tropics and subtropics. The thin pointy trees are more interesting and I can't identify them. This question is driving me crazy, I'm going to be pissed if we can't get to the bottom of it! Rockpocket 17:29, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

This t-shirt

Is the "Tooth Juice" t-shirt male or female? Thanks, 86.148.185.28 17:21, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

The shirt goes either way from what I can tell. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 17:43, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

The shirts that have straight sides are generally unisex. Girl's t-shirts have a curvature on the side. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 20:20, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Food coloring in water

This may seem a little out there, but: once water has had food coloring put in to change its color, what would one have to add to it to make it appear clear again?--Fyre2387 ^{(talk • contribs)} 18:32, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I believe you could try and freeze it or boil it. There's probably nothing that could simply be added would make the water clear, unless it's a very specific sort of food colouring. Neil (►) 19:05, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Bleach will probably remove some colors of food coloring, see here (scroll down to item K912). Just don't drink the water afterward. --LarryMac | Talk 19:52, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

United States Postal Inspection Service

...is headquartered where? The official link does not give an answer. Scriberius 19:06, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

According to the article's infobox, the headquarters is in Washington, D.C. Marco polo 19:12, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, but I need the address. Scriberius 19:19, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Since the headquarters is supposed to be in Washington, I don't know if this address is correct but I found it on the website.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS SERVICE CENTER

222 S. RIVERSIDE PLAZA STE 1250

CHICAGO IL 60606-6100

Hope that helps. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 19:30, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, the C.I.C. is just a branch - isn't the HQ located in Washington, D.C.? A source would be great... -- Scriberius 19:38, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Okay. Here is a source. Notice that the second person listed in the second panel is the Chief Postal Inspector, head of the US PIS, who is based in Washington. Note the statement of the top post in this thread that US PIS employees are employees in the USPS headquarters. (Admittedly not the most reliable source.) The USPIS is a division of the US Postal Service, as you can see in this organizational chart. Per this document, and other documents on the web, the office of the postmaster general, and USPS headquarters as a whole (including the USPIS) is at 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260. Marco polo 20:13, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Alright, that's more than I expected ₪ thanks for the research! -- Scriberius 01:41, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Harmonica

Hi!

I need to know two things. Well, first I would like, (if possible) the information on the author, publisher and copyright date of Wikipedia-The Encyclopedia. Also, I would like to know waht material(s) the harmonica was originally constructed of.

 Thank you!

P.S. Please supply by today! (Thursday, May 31)

Wikipedia is collaboratively edited. However, citation suggestions can be found for every article via the "Cite this article" link at the bottom of the left-side toolbar. Please be aware that for many papers, citing encyclopedias is generally frowned upon; consider independently checking the sources in the harmonica article and citing them directly. — Lomn 21:32, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree that it's a little hard to tell by reading the article, but it sounds as if the materials haven't changed very much in the hundred years or so that harmonicas have been around. The article seems to me to imply, though not state, that the earliest harmonicas would have been metal, like the majority of modern ones. -FisherQueen (Talk) 22:11, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

How many feet are in a year?

Plz answer how many feet are in a year?

This is not a meaningful question, because a foot measures length, while a year measures time. -FisherQueen (Talk) 21:31, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

However, you can find how many feet are in a light year, should that have been your intent. Google "feet in a light year" for the answer. — Lomn 21:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm thinking one unisyllabic foot (if there is such a thing) in "year", or one iambic foot in "a year". Clarityfiend 21:47, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

How many insane questions until Wikipedians refuse to answer more? :))) Keep up the good work! 81.93.102.185 22:07, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

There will always be new Wikipedians to answer the insane questions when the old Wikipedians get tired of them, or die. So the answer is, "As long as there are insane questions, there will be insane Wikipedians to answer them." -FisherQueen (Talk) 22:09, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

The answer is blowing in the wind. —Tamfang 05:57, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Maybe it means how many feet are grown by all the animals in the world in a given year. —Tamfang 01:10, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps this user/ip means how far does the earth move in a year? --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 01:30, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

1. V-Man - ^T/_C 03:48, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Or perhaps the OP wants to know how many footsteps the "average person" takes in a year. -- JackofOz 01:58, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't think an object can be inside a unit of time. ❤ ɱӑԀסԀÏƏ₭Ⓐ†Ǝ ✭ | ^talk 03:55, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

You can say either "I'll send it to you in a week" or "I'll send it to you in a padded envelope." —Tamfang 03:53, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

If year is a typo for yard, the answer is three. ---Sluzzelin talk 05:37, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Pace (unit of length) may be useful. -- SGBailey 06:12, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

My friend used to have a calculator which would happily convert seconds to meters to energy etc. I'll have to see if I can get hold of it 213.48.15.234 08:29, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

42 --LarryMac | Talk 13:16, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

A year is 1/100th of a century. In cycling, a century is 100 miles. So 1 year = 1 mile. Thus 5280 feet in a year. iames 15:49, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

What about cricket? —Tamfang 03:53, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Five tons of flax. NeonMerlin 14:58, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

times square recruitment center

are there any picture on the internet of the interior of the times square recruitment center? also does the building have 1 or 2 floors

I could not find any picture right away, but an idea would be to do a google image seacrh for time square recruitment center. As to the 1 or 2, from the exterior photos I found, it looked like two. I'm not sure though. --Tλε Rαnδоm Eδιτоr 01:37, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

This is the building, and looks like it probably only has one floor, because of the way it's stuctured. Plus, it'd be just too small to fit two floors in for fully grown adults, so unless they employ midgets on the top floor, I can't see it being two. No luck on the interior front, sorry JoshHolloway 09:59, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Both of you might be correct as per Storey#First floor. Europeans count floors AFTER the ground floor, while in US ground floor is synonymous with first floor. Shinhan 19:46, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

That's silly. Naming floors is different from counting them. A two-stor(e)y building has two floors, weather they're called first and second or ground and first. To put it another way, if a building has floors called ground floor and first floor, you wouldn't call it a one-storey building or say it has one floor. 20:25, 2 June 2007 (UTC)