Anon, highly opinionated and unreferenced...Polygamy, like all other forms of marriage, is a social construct, where as polyandry, heterosexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality are innate components of any given individual within that society. Now, are polyandry or bisexuality (not equating the two, just lumping them together for the straw man) more "normal" than either heterosexuality or homosexuality? Yeah, probably...any port in a storm, or at least as many as possible, right?...Love! 24.250.33.4105:31, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
24, polyandry is a form of polygamy. Polygamy includes polygyny (having many female mates) and polyandry (having many male mates). Bisexuality, homosexuality, and heterosexuality all appear to be innate to the individual, but marriage is a social construct based on how society wants to control, direct, or repress those innate tendencies. --Charlene17:28, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You know, that's terribly embarrassing. I meant polyamory and not polyandry...specifically the desire for multiple sexual partners. Rats and double rats. 24.250.33.4118:50, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Coincidentally, I've just read an essay that points out that in nature, every single solitary polygynous (one male, many females) species is arranged so that the males are the pretty ones and the females always, always choose the mates, never the other way around. Most human men who fantasize about polygyny, though, imagine that polygyny means they are the ones who pick the women (for looks, of course) and they can have as much sex as they want. There are a handful of human societies like this, but the essay contends that they are highly un-natural and are generally unsuccessful in the long run. The combination of being a picky male who chooses his mates and having a lot of sex is simply not seen in nature. --Charlene15:59, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think the desire of men to have many sexual partners so as to have as many offspring as possible seems to have an obvious evolutionary explanation. However the desire to stay with one person, and provide for your children, thus ensuring their survival also makes sense. So in conclusion, I don't actually know what is more natural, although if naturality is the way of deciding what is right (controversial) then our current climate of stopping polygamy but allowing gay marriage certainly makes no sense. Cyta16:02, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If naturality were the best way of deciding what was right, it would also make no sense to take a sick child to the hospital. Death from an infection or a broken bone is natural. --Charlene23:08, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia passing viruses ?
Is that really true ? A computer expert claims that Wikipedia is a hotbed for viruses and the like. He says that people use Wikipedia to upload bugs and others get them everytime they come to anything Wikimedia. 205.240.146.5802:23, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I wouldn't claim that it is not possible to do that but I certainly believe it would be difficult. Whatever the case you must protect your computer yourself and not expect the websites you visit to be secure, whatever the website is. Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_insecurity for more information. racergr02:30, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
To be entirely honest with you, that's complete bullshit. Really, there's no such thing as "upload bugs so others can get them on each visit". Wikipedia is pretty safe to surf, software-wise, and you should be more worried about the reliability of the information present here, since anyone can edit the content. — Kieff | Talk03:12, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
yep, agreed. Total BS. Unless someone manages to upload an infected jpg to imagespace, you download it onto your computer and run whatever virus is in it, WP is safe. It's far safer than Myspace, forums, just about anywhere on the internet is going to be dangerous, but WP is definitely no a 'hotbed for viruses'. Tell your family members to stop being idiots and spreading everything they hear. --Laugh!03:32, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Some noxious vandal added a malicious link to the German page on (I think it was) Blaster, and then SPAMmed people requesting they click said link. The only thing ON WMF servers was the link, which was removed and the page protected when they found out. 68.39.174.23815:01, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Right, the Nov 2006 BBC report is here. Someone added an external link to a German Wikipedia page on the Windows Blaster worm and then sent out spam emails with a link to the archived page, telling people to click on the link. Once the de administrators found out, they just deleted the revision. The interesting bit is that the hackers felt that Wikipedia had enough credibility that it was worth seeing if people would just trust the Wikipedia page to be correct, though the "you are looking at an archived page" notice should have been clue enough that something was wrong. - BanyanTree06:42, 16 July 2007 (UTC)l[reply]
We had this allegation before (also from a supposed "expert") - it's complete nonsense. It's possible to infect a poorly defended computer using a web page - but Wikipedia web pages are not directly entered by our editors - we edit the wikipedia database - and that database is turned into web pages on-demand. It's not at all clear to me that it's possible even in principle to put a virus or something up onto a Wikipedia page. It's also possible to put a virus into a jpeg image (again, this would only affect a poorly defended Windows PC's). But if this were happening with any frequency at all, the Wikipedia community would be all over it. This expert is talking complete and utter B.S. It might be possible in theory - but it's certainly not true in practice. SteveBaker16:10, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
My antivirus protection has never complained about anything actually on Wikipedia, but it is not unusual for someone to add "External links" or "References" which are external sites which attempt to load viruses onto the computer when you click on them and which get a block from the antivirus program. I suppose that when you find one of these it would be appropriate to delete it, but I do not know of a central point of contact to alert admins of it other than perhaps WP:ANI for someone to look into whether a user deliberately is adding virus prone sites to articles. Edison00:34, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I thought about it again and without having read the other comments I wanted to come back and tell you that it sounds more like an urban legent to me, so I guess I totally agree with Corvus cornix. My though was that, in theory, there is a small possibility that the wikipedia website is insecure somewhere. There is also a small probability that some malicius user might find a way to Exploit the problem. But there is a huge probability that the problem will be reported within minutes as there are many computer-literate users on the website. So by calculating the changes we end up into something which is not even close to the 'hotbed for viruses' description. By the way, has your "expert" been infected by a virus because of his own irresponsibility and accuses wikipedia for it? racergr00:43, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Torque vs Horsepower
I have read all the Wikipedia pages and many articles explaining this topic with Google; but I still am a bit foggy about this subject. What is the difference between torque and horsepower? I know that they are mathematically related and changing one means changing the other. But what exactly do they do (in perspective of a manual automobile)? In flatout drag racing, what roles do each play? I know that the best time to shift is when the engine torque at the present RPM on the present gear starts to fall below the engine torque given at the RPM of the next gear. Thanks. Acceptable02:50, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It certainly is confusing. Torque is mathematically just a rotational force. But cars have these wheel thingies that turn rotational forces into linear forces - so the torque is just the force that the wheel is applying to the ground. Accelleration is force divided by mass - and since the mass of your car doesn't change (much), we can say that your accelleration is proportional to your torque divided by the mass of the car. So in practical terms, more torque is more accelleration. So let's stop talking about torque and call it 'accelleration' instead. Horsepower is the amount of energy the engine can produce per second. Horsepower tells you how much energy the engine can put out to oppose things like friction and air resistance when you are going at a constant speed. In a car, your peak horsepower determines to your top speed in a given gear. Torque tells you how fast your car can accellerate. SteveBaker16:02, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Why is it best to keep the car in the power-curve and towards the peak of the horsepower curve for maximum acceleration and performance? Acceptable23:13, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Acceptable: That's wrong. You have to keep the car's engine close to the peak of the torque for maximum acceleration. However, in order to find the maximum acceleration ever possible on a car is something extremelly complicated. You have to consider the whole torque curve and how it is altered the ratio of the gears and then decide at exactly what rpm you need to change gears. Even if you find the optimal values you need to be very precise to actually do change gear at the optimum moment. racergr00:25, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The following was one of the articles I read on the subject: [1]. I was not unable to understand it all, hence my question here. But towards the bottom, titled 'At the Bonneville Flats', the author explicitly states that it's best to keep the car near the power-peak. I found concurring statements on other articles I have found. Acceptable00:34, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The author of [2] is speaking about the top speed, not the most efficient acceleration. You have to distinguish the feel of the "power" that you get when you drive a car than the scientific definition of the word "power". The feeling is mostly related to the perception of the torque by humans, we tent to think of torque as "power" of the car. By the way, I had the same concers with you at high school as what the teachers were saying didn't fit to what I was reading in automobile articles so keep reading and comparing and you will understand it better. You might also want to look and compare data from motorbike and car engines to assist you. racergr02:06, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Torque measures the amount of force that is can be exerted at the circumference of a wheel. Horsepower measures the amount of work that can be done in a given amount of time. Time is the key difference: by chabnging the the gear ratio, any horsepower can be converted to any torque. A farm tractor has an engine with a low horsepower, but the gearing is so low that the tractor applies a huge torque: it can pull a multi-ton load up a fairly steep incline, but only at a very low speed. A dragster has an engine with a high horsepower: it can apply less torque than the tractor, but it can continue to apply the torque even at high wheel rotation speeds.As a thought experiment, consider what happens when you enter a tractor and a dragster as competitors in a tractor pull. Now enter the same two machines in a drag race. -Arch dude03:16, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Quick bible question
Who was the fisherman who was seen as unlucky, and thrown overboard, or something to that effect? I looked up the names I thought applied, but he doesn't seem to be there --Laugh!15:46, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think that the OP was thinking of Jonah's story, although Antandrus is correct, he wasn't a fisherman, he was just hitching a ride. Donald Hosek20:43, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
According to the Book of Vacations, unfortunately not accepted by most religions, Jonah used to go flycasting for trout for two weeks every year. Gzuckier15:24, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Criminals in the states
Given a random white US male and a random Afro-American male, how much more likely is it for the African American to be a criminal than the white male?
One thing to consider is social class - poorer people do commit more violence on each other. However, it is true that black-on-black violence is higher than white-on-white violence. Poor-on-poor violence is much higher than poor-on-rich violence too (not to correlate this with the races, just social class).
I'd have to dig up the stat from Crim101 to give a reference, but I think it's in the textbook The American System of Criminal Justice, by Cole, etc. Guroadrunner17:58, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I Guroadrunner hit the nail on the head there. It's very obvious why a poor person is more likely to be a criminal than someone who is comfortably well off. There is no controversy there - it's obvious. Since African Americans are more likely to be poor than white Americans - it follows that they also commit more crimes. But it is very dangerous to extrapolate from that to some sort of racist conclusion that black people are 'naturally' more criminal than whites. So let's not go making that claim without detailed evidence. SteveBaker21:59, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The short answer is the African American, for reasons already outlined. A more interesting question might be "do populations of different races but similar economic situtations have similar crime statistics?". I personally think they would, but don't have any data. One thing to consider is that historically white governments have made previously-legal activities mostly done by black people illegal, for various reasons. Examples include cocaine/marijuana use (a current corollary is the huge legal disparity between smoked vs. powdered cocaine), noodling, and (in my hometown) putting a couch on your front porch so you can sit out there and socialize with your neighbors. That last one is such a shocking thing to outlaw! --TotoBaggins15:22, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
And interestingly, if you take the American part out of it, the statistics don't add up to prove any racial 'superiority' or 'inferiority'. Check out the Statistics Canada report for 2000 - blacks in Canada have the lowest per capita rate of arrest and conviction of any race. The difference is startling the further west you go - in Alberta and BC, blacks have half the arrest/conviction rates of whites. --Charlene15:32, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Now there are lies, damned lies and statistics, so providing context for statistics is important. However we seem to have lots of context and explanation, but no actual answers to the question. Can the questioner not be trusted with the facts? The question is not fantastically worded, but it didn't take me too long to find that blacks are 6.6 times more likely to be incarcerated in the US, rising to 7.9 times among adult males. That is simply incarceration, no other details. (The source is Human Rights Watch [3]) Cyta 07:25, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
Also we have an article Race_and_crime, but it is disputed so take it with a pinch of salt and check the talk page. Cyta07:35, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The trouble with that statistic is that nobody actually knows how many of those African American people were wrongfully imprisoned or how many White Americans got off without going to prison after they actually did the crime. There is really no way to gather such statistics because nobody beyond the perpetrator/wrongly-accused person truly knows for sure. So the Human Rights Watch are correct in suspecting that there is a serious problem of a racist nature in how the criminal system works - but there is no possible way to prove it. Even if they boldly assert that there is nothing genetically based that could provide a true race-related difference (as common sense and the Canadian finding suggest), the fact that poorer people commit more crimes and African Americans are statistically poorer than whites means that you STILL can't prove that there is a problem with the justice system. The Canadian statistics are interesting though - perhaps those provide a reasonable basis for unravelling the root causes. Whatever it is, it's very disturbing and ought to be studied a lot more carefully than it is. SteveBaker18:43, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
As I said statistics need context, but that's no reason not to give them. Studying it more is no doubt a good idea though. Splitting groups by income, comparing arrest and conviction rates, things like that could give more details on what effects possible police bias, poverty etc have effects. One problem is many researchers won't touch this for fear of being called racist. I agree it is something that should be studied, hence I wanted to provide statistics for discussion, rather than censor them from the original questioner. I even found a nice PC source (one of my google results was J. Philippe Rushton who I doubt anyone would have believed!). For the sake of debate though, which is always fun, Rushton suggests testosterone levels are a genetic determining factor in crime rates. You know in true wiki NPOV style. Cyta19:29, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What do you think this object is?
Someone on craigslist is doing a guessing game of sorts. I just want to know what it is.
Well, part of it is. I can't work out what the whole (apparently home-made) device is though. I assume by the phrasing of the offer that it's a tool used in a particular activity - the offerer wants to make sure it goes to a fellow enthusiast. I wonder if it's some kind of gas analyser, perhaps for diving - the black cylinder seems to have a cable coming out of it and running under the board that it's all mounted on. I'm a bit mystified by the white plastic contraption on the left - it would be useful to know whether gas flows in or out through it. I also wonder about the blue plug on the manifold near the bottom of the picture - whether it's actually some kind of connection point, or if it's just being used to blank-off a port because the manifold has more connections than the builder needed. The fact that it's all mounted in a plastic box is presumably for portability, which reinforces the idea that it's to be taken on-site for some sport or activity.
The link no longer works. A notice saying that the article has been "flagged for removal" also says that the title willl be deleted shortly. We are doomed not to know. Bielle22:30, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It is a tank of "Inflamable gas"... oxygen? Too bad the image isn't any larger. The white thing on the left appears to be a vacuum pump, sometimes used by auto mechanics for bleeding brakes. I have no idea what the black device on the right is. I imagine that you would attach something to the black device, turn the valves to connect the vacuum pump and evacuate whatever is attached. Then, you would switch the valves, and then fill the whatever with whatever gas is in the cylinder. That's my guess, at least. By the way, it would probably be illegal to ship that, if the cylinder isn't empty. --Mdwyer15:53, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Sparkling wine is made sparkling with fermentation, and that doesn't look like any kind of winemaking apparatus I've ever seen. It's filthy and doesn't look completely sanitizable. (And the picture's gone.) --Charlene23:10, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
July 15
Name origin
Looking for the origin of my family name, CELIOUS?
In alot of documents on weaponry i read that one of its effects is knockdown of target. I know this sounds silly but does this mean knockdown as in enough force to push them off balance so they fall? or enough force to push them back hard enough so they are pushed off their feet?
thanks
Basically, if the weapon is powerful enough to knock over the target, it will knock over the shooter as well. Consider the Conservation of Momentum. Before the weapon is fired, the combined shooter-projectile system has momentum of zero. The weapon fires, giving the projectile momentum , and the shooter momentum . The total momentum is still zero. The target is initially at rest (momentum of zero), while the projectile has momentum .
The projectile lodges in the target, so the target and projectile combined have the same momentum . Assuming the target and shooter have similar mass, they'll have the same velocity (in an opposite sense). The velocity here represents the recoil felt by each (the real recoil is the force, but we need to consider internal ballistics and terminal ballistics to find those.) The target experiences the same recoil from the projectile as the shooter does, so for small arms, the bullet will not knock the target over. Of course they could be off balance to start with. anonymous649403:12, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I would disagree with that- rubber bullets could knock you off balance, even if they don't effect the shooter. if you're talking about a "force" weapon like in minority report-- well, that's sci-fi, so there's a way to work around the laws of, you know, science :p --Laugh!06:48, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The statement that "if the weapon is powerful enough to knock over the target, it will knock over the shooter as well" is an oversimplification. The weapon imight not be handheld; the shooter knows when he's going to shoot and can brace himself; and finally, he may simply be heavier. However, it is true that a handheld gun delivers at least as much of an impulse (change in momentum) to the shooter as to the victim. I say "at least" because the bullet might pass through the victim; in addition, at long range it will lose some momentum to air friction. --Anonymous, July 15, 08:53 (UTC).
Actually the vortex ring gun can knock down a target without nocking down the shooter as it uses a blank grenade launcher shell to knock down a target, this is because it creates a vortex ring that then hits the target, the impact of the vortex is much more than the recoil of the blank and only the target feels it
Anonymous
A simple kinetic weapon (like a bullet) that has all of the energy given to it in the gun will apply less force to the victim than to the shooter. The reason bullets kill their victims and not the shooter is that the bulled delivers all of that energy over a tiny area - where the stock of the rifle or the butt of the pistol spreads the load out over a much larger area. It is also possible for some of the recoil from the weapon to be directed out and backwards so it doesn't get transmitted into the shooter's body. Consider a Bazooka for example (although this isn't a kinetic weapon). But this does mean that the whole business of the victim being knocked back several feet by the impact of the bullet is pretty ridiculous. HOWEVER, I was talking about kinetic weapons. There are weapons (like the Bazooka) where there is propellant in the missile that continues to give the projectile more energy after it's left the muzzle of the weapon that fires it. In those cases, there is no problem whatever with the victim being hit with greater force than the shooter. SteveBaker19:15, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
In the shooting of people and other large creatures, a small caliber or low muzzle velocity bullet may penetrate the target, and may even cause a fatal wound, without preventing the target from continuing the attack. A person with a knife might be shot several times with a 22 a 32 caliber pistol and still cover several yards and stab you to death. A game animal may continue its charge and kill you. This reportedly happened too often to US troops in the Phillipine Insurrection leading to the move up to the heavier 45 automatic. "Knockdown" means the creature falls to the ground. It could be expressed otherwise as "blast an exit wound the size of your fist which cause rapid loss of consciousness from severe blood loss." Other ways to achieve this besides heavy/high muzzle velocity bullets would include bullets which tumble as they penetrate the body, and ones which mushroom or which open up like the Manstopper , Hollow point bullet or the Dum-dum. In some movies in the 1960'sand later like The Wild Bunch (iirc) someone would be standing and fire a shotgun, and a person leaping toward them would be thrown backwards, without the person firing the gun being thrown backwards. Very bad movie physics. Similar bad physics is a standing person being hit by a 50 calibre round from a strafing aircraft, and gracefully sinking to the ground. Is this case they would likely be thrown backwards, perhaps with limbs missing. Edison21:22, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I read an article approximately 2 years ago in the Times-Picayune newspaper (New Orleans, La.) that there were studies suggesting that mountain climbers, sky-divers and the like (i.e. risk takers) have typically higher I.Q.'s. Since then, however, I have been unable to find ANY article on the subject, let alone that exact article. Any help on finding information on the subject matter would be appreciated.
Hmm, I don't seem to be having much luck with my school databases. I did learn some interesting sutff though (e.g. homosexuals and bisexuals are more likely to take risks; the EPA puts the value of a single IQ point at $8,346). Do you know for sure the word "IQ" was in the article? Can you remember any uniquely identifying words? --YbborTalk17:34, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
$8,346 for an IQ point seems extremely low, in my opinion. If I had one million dollars, and people sold those for $100,000 each, I'd spend half my money buying five IQ points. A.Z.04:19, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
But the price of things doesn't really depend on how much people are willing to pay. I guess IQ points would be cheap if there were a lot of them to sell. A.Z.04:47, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm pretty sure they're talking about the average amount of money people with certain IQs make in their lifetimes. Obviously you can't buy intelligence --Laugh!10:23, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, learning costs money, either in the form of books or in courses or whatever. Since Equatorial Guinea has an average IQ of 56, and I seriously doubt that African country is populated exclusively by Down's Syndrome sufferers, I'm pretty sure IQ is highly dependent on education. --Taraborn18:41, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
As far as I can recall, "IQ" was used. Because, as risk takers were concerned, they were not neccesarily more intellectual than non-risktakers. The article simply suggested that their IQ's were typically higher and it may have something with the parts of their brains they use when they are, for instance, sky-diving, scuba diving, mountain climbing etc. I'm beginning to feel, though, that the article is some figment of my imagination. However, I recall that there were scientists involved in the study so there was some validity to it. Help!—Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.223.255.201 (talk • contribs)
Scientists make something as valid as gold does cheap. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if MRIs showed risk-takers as having more active brains, since they think on their feet, but I doubt that, on average, they would have higher IQs. People who are intelligent tend to be less likely to do things like jumping off a bridge, and more likely to be calculating what would be the best length of bungee cord for it --Laugh!18:34, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This looks to me like an instance of Selection Bias. Smart Risk takers will tend to be more wealthy than stupid risk takers. Smart risktakes will do the things like Mountain Climbing, Sky diving, and starting busineses. Stupid Risk takers will tend to do other things, like back yard wrestling, petty crimes, etc. I think a more accurate conclusion would be that smart people make more money, and are more likely to do things that are expensive. Like taking Skydiving lessons, or traveling to the mountains. -Czmtzc14:30, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
And in Australia (they're known as Safeway in Victoria but Woolworths in other states; it's the same company). -- JackofOz22:05, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
According to Woolworth's, the company has fragmented into a bunch of different bits...one part renamed itself Foot Locker - and those stores are still in business. There are other Woolworths that aren't descended from the original company. In short...it's a mess. SteveBaker18:33, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I work for Woolies (in the UK) and most of their stores do indeed open on Sundays, some of the smaller ones in my area are closed simply because they dont get enough customers on a Sunday. Opening times vary somewhat, based I believe on the shops floor area. My store is open from 11.00 til 17.00, plus half an hours browsing time before the tills open. Since the break up the Kingfisher group a few years ago it has indeed become something of a shambles but on the whole the company is surviving. Victory Is Mine20:53, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Robert Falcon SCOTT, (Scott of the antarctic), FAMILY TREE ???
Can some one please help?????
15 years ago I was left many many letters dated from 1800 onwards to around 1919. I was told they were all related to the SCOTT family in some way. Can anyone help me with a SCOTT family tree prior to his birth and after. Can anyone help me re SCOTTS family members. Can someone tell me where to look next. Any help would be much appreciated. 81.154.84.5113:28, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The letters may be worth a lot of money - just in case you havnt guessed already. Go to an international fine-art auction firm if you want to sell. When I was a schoolboy I remember buying a pencil covered in pictures of birds from Peter Scott, when he was running a small stall in a tent about bird conservation at an agricultural show. Although looking at an article about him, it seems a very humble activity for an upper-class man in his fifthies to do. Perhaps it was someone else.
Could anyone please advise me on the most number of steps that go up to a building?Whilst recently visiting Villefranch in southern france i went up 825 steps to visit the castle above the town, and i couldnt recall any larger staircase than this (Excluding sky scrapers)
My Guinness Book of World Records says "The service staircase for the Niesenbahn funicular rises to 2365 metres near Spiez, Switzerland. It has 11,674 steps and a bannister." Presumably it does go "up to a building" viz the terminal station, but I can't be sure until I've looked for this place on Wikipedia.--Shantavira|feed me18:32, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I now finally know how to make an AMV. I'm just wondering...in some AMVs I've seen, there was a clip in it where it was colored red. And I saw another one where there was a clip where it was black & white. Is there a way where I can make a clip to be any color or any color combination like black & white and red & blue?
According to AMV, the acronym AMV could stand for a bunch of things - including:
I'm assuming you mean "Anime music video", although it doesn't matter for the purposes of the video. It does however depend what software you use; the Windows Movie Maker doesn't appear to have this option (but then I don't like WMM; it's crashed on me too many times), but the Apple MaciMovie does, and you can find it under "Video FX", where it is called "Adjust colour". I'm sure most third-party apps will have this feature, though. Laïka22:47, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Law
Is it legal to live with multiple women as though married without being legally married to all of them. If not, what if youre muslim.
I am thinking of developing a macro for this type of question: Wikipedia is not a place to request a legal opinion. (See top of this page.)You should consult a qualified person in the jurisdiction in which you reside to answer the first question and your religious authority for the second. In some places, that could be one person. Bielle18:18, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Lighten up. This is obviously speculation, not a Request for Legal advice. Get used to FAQs. Don't bite questioners.Czmtzc14:47, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What is the legal status of a Muslim legally married to several wives in his own country who, let's say, moves to the US on a work visa? Are his significant others recognized under the law as wives or just the first one? Clarityfiend03:31, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
the U.S. government only recognizes one wife and I believe that spouses must be identified at the time of immigration. Not only would the others not be identified as spouses, they may not be allowed in on an immigration visa. I believe this was an issue with Hmong refugees. Practices of other cultures (i.e. female circumcision) are often illegal in the U.S. and immigrants must adapt their culture to be within the law or change the law. In other countries the law varies. For example, in India, they have the concept of personal laws. It is legal for a Muslim to have 4 wives, but it is illegal for a Hindu to have more than 1 wife. Canada allows multiple wives to enter with immigrants though I don't know if they are allowed to marry while in Canada. --Tbeatty07:17, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think everone is missing the point of the original question. I think another way to ask it may be: What would happen if a man were living with multiple women, without marring them? They may all have children, but the man would not claim to be married to any (or more thatn one) of the women.
If you are not trying to make a religious point of actually Marring multiple women, what is to stop you from having multiple permanent live in girlfriends? -Czmtzc14:41, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
England has been ruled by kings and counts and such people for a long time. Those people being rich should have had many more children whose lineages survive to today, on average than peasants and nonroyals. So why isn't maybe 50% of England descended from royalty. Or are they.
If I understand the theory of branching processes correctly, then any native English person is almost certain to be descended from royalty. But so what? A single royal ancestor ten generations back (especially on the wrong side of the blanket) doesn't count for anything. For the record, England does not have and never has had counts. Bart133: do you have a source for that claim? Algebraist21:02, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's a matter of great personal pride to a few British people to be able to show that some dusty branch of their family tree proves that they are Henry VIII's seventh cousin 14 times removed or whatever, although most people probably don't care. But then, there are one heck of a lot people vaguely related to the British Crown; just take a look at the 1500+ names listed in line of succession to the British Throne (although all of them are called "Lord Phlegmbridge, Earl of Grimsby" or the like, and a fair few aren't British)! But remember that royals were very fond of marrying their cousins, merging the families upper-class relatives and just generally "keeping it in the family"; if royals had freely had children with peasants, perhaps there would even more royal relations...
Actually, a lot of them don't have titles. You've only got to go down to 10th and 11th in line to find Peter and Zara Phillips, children of Princess Anne. They have no titles whatsoever. But they are still members of the British Royal Family, of course, being grandchildren of the Queen. -- JackofOz22:02, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The English title earl has always, at least since 1066, been translated in Latin as comes and in French as comte, i.e. count. Even in English the wife of an earl, or a woman who inherits an earldom (rare in England but frequent in Scotland), is a countess. (Pre-Conquest earls were more analogous to dukes, but since the new king was also duke of Normandy he didn't want any other dukes cluttering up the realm.) —Tamfang19:24, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Being descended from royalty doesn't make you royal and doesn't give you a chance at the throne. To have a chance at the British throne you have to be a Protestant and descended from the Electress Sophia of Hanover, plus you can't be married to a Roman Catholic. To be royal you also must be allowed to use the style His (or Her) Royal Highness (or Her Majesty, but if you have that you probably already know). --Charlene22:57, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, if all it takes to be the King of England is being Protestant and a descendant of Electress Sophia of Hanover, then I don't miss the mark by much because her maternal grandfather, James I was my 14th cousin, 14 times removed. And I'm American! So, does being a 17th great-grandson of Edward I count?
This might have been better posted on the Science Ref Desk. However, as I don't know how to move it leaving the appropriate trail, I will say that, according to the FAQ on this site [6], the wild sunflower may have up to 20 heads on a single stem. The domesticated variety, however, has only one. Bielle22:19, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This AP article states that an off-Broadway play called "My First Time" offered free tickets to anyone who could prove they were a virgin by getting a hypnotist to ask them a series of mundane questions, with "when was your first time?" thrown in. No comments are made about the effectiveness of this system, of course... Laïka22:38, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Checking the hymen's also a notoriously flawed test, especially when one considers that a) there is more than one type of virginity and b) hymens can be ruptured by activities / accidents other than sexual intercourse. --Dweller12:23, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, and since ancient times bribing the doctor has always been a way out for those who had lost their virginity but didn't want anyone to know. (Since only one person is really "checking" it, and the chance of being found out a fraud are almost nil, it opens the door to such subversion.) --24.147.86.18713:11, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Teverga coat of arms Sadly, a Spanish language Google search failed to come up with anything much useful either, although it has turned up these nuggets:(unfortunatly, all the light-blue links in this answer are in Spanish) to some extent, the laws of heraldry dicate it so; the bear in the flag of Teverga is taken from the Terverga Coat of Arms, where it follows the normal heraldic rules of heraldry; the bear is passant, which is why the legs are in the same, and, following tradition, faces the mast. The flag was however adopted as late as 1996, as was designed by Eduardo Panizo Gómez, a renowned vexillologist, which may explain some similarities (there are very few if any other flags with passant bear charges, and none with all four feet flat (although note this version, the only image of the bear which isn't identical the Californian one), so copying the Californian flag would be easier than designing one of one's own). Laïka22:25, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I can't help but wonder whether the on-line images were made by directly copying the bear from the California flag and editing it. I wasn't able to find any non-digital images of the flag or coat of arms when I looked. Donald Hosek16:32, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The bears are so similar in outline that I can only conclude that the more recent one is a ripoff (or paying homage to) the older one, or that both ripped off an earlier one still. Edison23:17, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have a suspicion that the hind legs are positions in that manner because they're supposed to be male bears (Obvious don't know for sure one way or the other). 68.39.174.23816:26, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
In researching this, I found that according to Snopes.com, the Californian flag was originally intended to have a Pear on it - the Bear is there as a result of a terrible misunderstanding! SteveBaker18:52, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think there's a definite answer why, but India can support a much greater population because it produces much more food. It has a much larger land area, an immensely larger arable land area, and a larger shoreline (for fishing). Syria has also suffered in the ancient past from numerous earthquakes that have killed thousands and driven off even more. --Charlene23:16, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank You! Charlene.fic thanks for the info i needed it. could you answer this question? Why is North America eat more pizza than Italy? I mean wasn't Italy the pizza capitol i'am not sure but has this changed?
Well, Pizza isn't a place, so it can't really have a capital. It does originate from Italy though (Naples), and you can get more info about that here. Just because it was "invented" in Italy doesn't mean it has to be super popular there. The US also, of course, has a much larger population, and that is a big factor. Also, there is quite a big difference between the kind of pizza you'll get in the US and the kind of pizza common in Italy, so technically Italian pizza isn't popular at all in the US; American pizza is. 58.156.47.15406:48, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
cheers mate thank you again how about phobia of women or black people? not being prejucide or racise. --QSYM23:33, 15 July 2007 (UTC) i just ask a lot of q's? cheers antandrus.[reply]
Fear of beautiful women is apparently "caligynephobia". Now on the other hand, it stands to reason that "caligynephilia" would be ... :) Antandrus (talk)23:39, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You have to realise that these things are just made up from latin or greek roots, they aren't found in the dictionary unless it's in common usage (which hardly any are except the usual suspects, agoraphobia, acrophobia, arachnaphobia. etc.). For an example, there are plenty of widespread silly phobias that supposedly have names. A widespread one is Arachibutyrophobia, the irrational fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Capuchin07:12, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Bit of a change of topic! Artificial pacemaker insertion is usually done under local anaesthesia; a small pocket is made in the muscle around the breastbone, the wires forced into a nearby vein and guided into the heart by x-ray, and the pacemaker then slipped into the pocket, which is sewn up. The whole operation takes 45 minutes or so.[9]Laïka00:00, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hmm, tough question to answer. Stipends can vary a lot from university to university and discipline to discipline. On top of that, the exact amounts are rarely published — nobody likes to know how much their peers are making, and the departments like to keep things flexible for themselves. But if you find out, I'd be interested in knowing (though I am not in New York state). --24.147.86.18701:46, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think you logic may be flawed. Most people would be very interested to know how much their peers are making. It is the employer that want to keep salaries secret, so that underpaid employees will not know it. Czmtzc14:53, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm speaking from experience — most grad students I know don't want to know, and I don't want to know about them either. Why? Because grad stipends are offered to students as part of a "package" that in part reflects how good the department judges the student to be. They are not adjustable once you have accepted them. You are not an employee so much as an apprentice; you generally don't want to know, in cold terms, who is valued higher than you and by exactly how much. It isn't good for self-esteem. And it's bad social relations in general to know exactly how much each other makes — it breeds resentment, pride, etc. I think most grad students know this. Comparing it to typical employer relation situations seems to be to be the flawed logic — the academy is not a typical employer. --24.147.86.18716:24, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
In mathematics at least, stipends information is collected and published by the AMS. Most departments also publish the information on their web sites. It will vary a lot depending on field and degree. MA in English they'll probably laugh at your request for a stipend. Start with websites for programs that you're interested in, then check either directly with the departments or with the professional organization for your field. I disagree with the first responder though, exact amounts are VERY often posted, grad stipends are generally pretty standard. Donald Hosek14:10, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The first one looks like it may be a church or some such building. But about the second... Are you asking if this outcropping of rock has a specific place name? Or are you asking what such a formation would be called? If you're looking for a specific name, like Bob's Rock or something like that, then why do you think it would have a title at all? It appears to just be yet another outcropping of rock in an otherwise average desert. As far as a general term for it, I would call it an outcropping, possibly a plateau (though that would be slightly misleading since it's peaked), or maybe even a peninsula. Dismas|(talk)23:58, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The first one is awfully small to be an inhabitable building. Compare to the house behind it. It looks like some sort of monument to me — it is not very deep. --24.147.86.18713:53, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
July 16
What about the flaps of skin?
I am thinking of having gastric bypass surgery...for health and beauty reasons. I have known others who have had it. Mine and their medical insurance will pay for it but here's the problem. Once you lose all the weight you get huge flaps of skin, over your stomach arms, neck and so on. I have been told that medical insurance wont pay for this because it's considered "cosmetic". It would seem to be a health issue tho - low self esteem and the bacteria and skin irritations that come with the skin. Are there any orginizations that will help pay for or completely pay for the removal of this skin? Is there any information about this leftover skin?
Is this a weight loss question? ie what happens when you lose all the fat but still have the skin? Yes thats one good reason for not getting fat. I suppose a complete body lift would be the answer.
You need to discuss this with the surgeon who is doing the bypass surgery. Depending on your age, and the amount of weight you ultimately lose, your skin will do considerable shrinking over time. (Think of the number of women who have had their body shape return to pre-pregnancy size, plus a few stretch marks, within a few months.) If you are in your twenties, your skin is much more elastic than if you are attempting to do this in your fifties. There is likely a chat group for post-bypass patients somewhere on the Internet where you can learn about their actual experiences. You might also talk to your GP, who has no vested interest in whether or not you have the surgery (unlike the surgeon), and to your insuror, before you make any commitments to something this serious based on what you "have heard". Bielle02:47, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Note that while it is quite likely, there are cases where the skin retracts/shrinks with you as you lose weight - although I hear typically the stomach is more commonly where this doesn't happen.
As for gastric bypass surgeory, I highly highly highly recommend you read the Wikipedia Article - even if it doesn't answer your question.
Finally I have a close friend that went through gastric bypass surgeory and has only lost a small amount of weight because she continues to eat very badly. My point is that gastric bypass is really considered one of the 'last attempt' solutions to weight-loss. There are also various kinds of gastic bypasses that you can have. Some quite literally bypass some of your intestine so you get less absorption. Also you might consider some of the more traditional solutions, which you've probably tried several times before, and you might find that a lifestyle change might help you achieve it this time. Anyways I'm not preaching, good luck and I hope it works out if you do it. Rfwoolf14:14, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Air India Lost Baggage
I boarded AI126 from Chicago to Mumbai on 11 July 2007 and had a connecting ticket to Kochi on AI690. When I reached Mumbai, India, on 12 July 07, the AI690 to Kochi was cancelled. I was asked to check out the baggage at Mumbai. One of my two bags was missing. I filed a 'Property Ireegularity Report' at Mumbai before I was put on a Jet Airways flight to Kochi, India, ten hours after I had landed in Mumbai. I was given no food or accommodation. The staff did not respond positively to any queries. After reaching Kochi, I have been in touch with Air India at Kochi airport and also at Mumbai regarding the missing bag. Five days have passed since I lost the bag in which I had my contact lenses, all my clothes, and other valuable articles. The lenses alone cost more than 400 dollars. Air India officers at Kochi say that compensation is based on weight of the missing bag. My missing bag weighed 49.5 pounds (around 23 kilos). Going by what Air India officers say, the compensation could be around 440 dollars. This covers only the cost of my contact lenses, whose weight is less than a pound. The cost of my clothes and other valuables is much more. Please send advise me what I should do.
Be grateful you still have one of the bags and, next time, place anything valauble in your hand luggage, and make sure your baggage is adequately insured. Thousands of bags go missing every year, from all the major airlines, most of them stolen. Unfortunately, one has to expect this.--Shantavira|feed me07:38, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Offensive olfaction
What do I do when I have no choice but to use a toilet stall right after a person who leaves a particularly stubborn odor? Maybe I have a pretty sensitive nose, but I've always had trouble bearing strong smells; things like perfume and people that don't shower make me nauseous, though I know I'm not the only person that feels that way.
I often will cover my nose with a sleeve or a tissue, but is this really an effective filter? It also makes it difficult to breathe, so my search for a more effective escape continues. 58.156.47.15406:38, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There is no way of "turning olfaction off" (well, there are ways, but that involves using chemicals that destroy the olfactory epithelium and thereby your ability to smell anything for 3 weeks. You really don't want to do that). Breathing through your mouth is probably the best alternative, since the movement of air through the nose is important for olfaction. Rockpocket06:45, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Doesn't breathing through your mouth defeat the purpose of having a nose in the first place? I know I'm not the only person who feels unsure about breathing in the smell of someones shit directly into my lungs. I guess I could carry a toilet spray (or a pomander?) around with me wherever I go (I'm talking about public restrooms here), but that seems like a little much. 58.156.47.15407:00, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The nose has a number of purposes, one of which is to mediate olfaction. We don't have olfactory receptor neurons in our mouth or lungs. In addition, the air that goes through your nose goes to the same set of lungs as the air that you breathe through your mouth, so irrespective of which orifice you breathe through, the odorants will still end up there. The difference is, if you breathe through your mouth, you bypass the sensory organ that smells them, which appears to solve your problem. Rockpocket21:30, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
But smoking in toilettes carry a fine in a lot of places (well in the developed world anyway), plus it's very inconsiderate to the other people who find the smell of smoke equally offensive. --antilivedT | C | G09:32, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Lighting a match is a great way of eliminating the smell, at least very substantially - and it's much more acceptable to most noses than cigarette smoke. That would not breach the no-smoking rule. But it might breach some other rules in certain places. -- JackofOz22:06, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with the lit match. Although it won't actually get rid of the smell, it will cover it quite well. Doesn't work though if you don't like that sulfur smell of burning matches. 170.148.92.1815:53, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The John Cage character in Ally McBeal had a remote-controlled flushing device, to ensure he always encountered a clean pan. Even if the pan's clean, it seems to me that a flush can help with localised smells. Perhaps it's just a placebo effect, or maybe there's actually something to it. Of course, if the pan is full, a flush will definitely enhance your olfactory experience. Otherwise, try a clothespeg on the schnozz.--Dweller12:19, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Theseactivated charcoalunderwear won the 2001 Ig Nobel prize. You can put them on, and let your breezy nature take its course with no social discomfort. Perhaps you could buy a pair, but affix them to your face before entering the lavatory? This alternative usage might indeed cause some social discomfort, but at least you won't have aerosolized particles from a stranger's fecal matter entering your nose and mouth. --TotoBaggins16:03, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What about some of that Gel that Forensic Pathologists rub under their nostrils before they set to work on a badly decomposing stiff - or maybe more appropriate to the matter in hand - what about some of that GEL that dominant Gay Men use when they are about to get to grips with their submissive partner? I have never used either so can't offer any guarantee of success.
Vicks is the sort of stuff pathologists use, though as the OP says they have trouble with strong smells, it may not be of much use to them. DuncanHill23:31, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Febreze: The product's active ingredient, cyclodextrin, binds or entraps various hydrophobic compounds that cause odors.
Looks like it ties off that pants leg, but it's probably to make him easier to locate if he's wounded in a bunch of brush, while being discreet enough to not help out enemy shooters --Laugh!11:03, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Where did this picture originate? Is it possible it's being used as part of a war game to distinguish on team from another? --YbborTalk13:27, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It looks a bit like the sort of velcro calf strap that bicyclists wear to keep their pants out of the gears. Maybe it has no meaning at all, but was just a convenient way to keep his pants tight around his boots, maybe for tick avoidance or similar. --TotoBaggins15:58, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Not that it matters to the question at hand, but why do we think this soldier is US military? The weapon appears to be something from the HK stable, and the DPM isn't the ordinary US pattern. Looks continental European to me - maybe Dutch or German? PeteVerdon19:33, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you look at what's linked to the image itself, it appears to be an AK 4, formerly used by Swedish armed forces. --Charlene20:46, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I am concerned about the copyright status of that image. It was apparently moved from en.Wikipedia to Commons, but its source was lost somewhere along the way. Corvus cornix18:19, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
FROM WHAT SOURCE IS THE REFENCE MADE?
It your articles under Bast and Bastet, there is a link made from the mythological cat goddess to the Baby Phat clothing line marker. Is there a source for this or is this based only on a commonality in the appearances of the images?
No reference was given. The "fact" was added by User:Pinkleboo on the 13 June 2006, in this edit. I've copied your question and this answer to the article: someone who cares may want to amend the article. There's no information on the Baby Phat page to substantiate the assertion. (Please try to avoid using uppercase - it comes across as rather shouty.) --Tagishsimon(talk)
Backpack purchase
What would be an appropriate sized backpack for a 5/6 day mountain climbing expedition in a Southern Mediterranean area, in mid-late Autumn? Also, are there any special factors to take into consideration when choosing such a sack, and can you suggest any suitable sacks? Any guidance would be great - the selection of bags available in online shops is truly mind-boggling, and it's hard to get a sense of what's "best". 22:35, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
This is some sort of "how many angels on the head of a pin" type question; you'll not get it sorted out here, and this is almost certainly an inappropriate place to ask the question; not least it asks for opinion, provides too little input information, and is in any event a subjecgive not objective matter. I'd start here or here or here. Indeed, I'd probably start by getting a printed climbing magazine with an article on backpacks. Good luck. --Tagishsimon(talk)
(edit conflict):Hard to say - without knowing just what you need to be carrying (eg. tentage, food, climbing equipment etc). However, I would suggest you look in the 55 - 75 litre range. In my experience, there's no substitute to visiting real camping/hiking shops and talking to the staff and actually trying on rucksacks. The shape and arrangement of the harnesses vary, and a sack which one person finds super-comfortable may be unbearable to someone else! Features to look for include adjustable harnesses, a waist-belt (this takes some of the weight off your back), expandibility - some sacs have pockets or pouches which can be added/removed as neccessary - and this can make a sac more flexible to respond to your needs. Do you need a sac with lots of loops etc to fix things on the outside? Don't go for the cheapest models - you do get the quality you pay for with rucksacks. Makes such as Berghaus, North Face, Vaude, Karrimor are generally good quality and reliable - but some shops own-brand sacs are also worth looking at, eg Blacks. Hope this is of some help - and that you have a great trip. DuncanHill22:54, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
July 17
OP??
Why do people answering questions here refer to the people who are asking the questions as "OP" - I guess it's an acronym - what does it stand for? SteveBaker02:18, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you'd looked at OP, you might have picked out the right one. --Anonymous, July 7, 2007, 05:40 (UTC).
This is, of course, a good reminder to "regulars" to eschew "forum-speak," as we can't always assume any specific knowledge on the part of the questioners. --LarryMac | Talk14:50, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, excellent point. Also some of this might not be known, even to Wikipedia regulars. I'd never heard of "OP" until I saw some people using it on the reference desk. This term does not appear to be in usage elsewhere on Wikipedia. Friday(talk)16:28, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I recalled from the time I answered questions for the Internet Oracle that we used the term 'OS' for people who asked questions - that stood for 'Our Supplicant' - so I was thinking in terms of 'Our ...something-beginning-with-P...' and getting nowhere! Thanks for the prompt response. SteveBaker18:27, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Did you know about this source ? It is ANGELS A to Z, written by James R. Lewis and Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, Editor is Kelly S. Sisung, Foward by a Andy Lakey, ISBN is 1-57859-051-5. This is a encyclopedia that discribes different entities. 205.240.146.5806:42, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If I'm not mistaken, it's one of the books on my shelf at home. So to answer your question, yes, I know about that source. Dismas|(talk)06:45, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If it was used as a source for any of the articles here, then it should have already been listed. Are you proposing that we just state that information regarding "Angel X" is available in that book? If so, why that book in particular? There are many many books on the subject of angels. I really don't understand what point you're driving at. Dismas|(talk)08:37, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
According to IMDb there seems to be a possible a G.I. Joe movie scheduled for 2010 — meaning that it would be in the very early stages of development and might not come to pass. There was, of course, a animated movie in the 1980s which was originally intended for theatrical release, but because of the poor reception of the animated Transformers movie of the 1980s it was made direct-to-video. --24.147.86.18713:50, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
They were in the early stages of working on one until the Iraq War broke out; suddenly war didn't seem like such family-friendly entertainment and all work was switched to Transformers.[11]Laïka00:50, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hi,
I recently cooked some meat and found that I've way over salted it - any suggests as to how to reduce the level of salt in it? Thanks, --124.180.139.4808:31, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Feed the meat to your dog, if you have one, and start over. Both your dog and diner guests will thank you. Cheers! --Tom15:39, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oh heavens don't do that. The dog will be very thirsty afterwards, and a few hours later will be begging to go out every ten minutes. --Charlene20:48, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I knew a dog who spent a night eating from a heavily salted country ham, throwing up, eating more, throwing up again, etc. Thus I would exercise caution in this regard. Edison23:24, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What is a smurf-jack? I heard it was like a jumping jack? I'am not making this up.
I am not sure what you expect. While the second image is labelled a mystery and looks like people lined up for a parade of some sort in about the 1920s, the two others are labelled and appear be to what the labels says they are. Are you thinking someone will know whose stock car, or the reason for the detsruction? As for the ruins, are you expecting someone to come up with a GPS or a tribal name? Bielle15:19, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't understand the question either... The object in the middle of the second image looks a little Photoshopped however. Lanfear's Bane
How good is a Masters of Business Administration from an Australian University? Universities like Monash and Queensland does it have any scope in todays growing job markets in the Us/Australia/Canada? Particularly for candidates from the accounting background...
Judging how "good" something is is subjective, and will include a balance of many different factors, like for example employment stats, avergae salary of graduates etc. Why don't you judge for yourself by analysing the data provided at MBA#MBA ranking resources. Rockpocket17:37, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ask a Personnel (Human Resources) Manager from a big company. It is prospective employers who judge the worth - to them - of any degree. The academic world operates similarly, but their criteria is different.90.9.81.23614:41, 18 July 2007 (UTC)petitmichel[reply]
Does it matter? DuncanHill 19:17, 17 July 2007 (UTC) Why does it matter? He is a journalist writing about technology. He makes no reference to his religion or ethnicity in his webpage (linked below). DuncanHill09:10, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Don't assume that "last name ending in -berg" = "Jewish". "-berg" is also a common surname suffix in Sweden and some areas of Norway. But you could ask him (through the link on his webpage) if you really wanted to know. --Charlene20:51, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
As a resident and [presumably] citizen of the USA, Mossberg's religious affiliation and ethnic identity are private matters and not necessarily on public record. Should such biographical information be pertinent, it might be found on the websites of any of the organizations such as the Wall Street Journal that publish or broadcast his commentary as a technology pundit. According to the page, he is an alumnus of Brandeis University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, so perhaps either of those institutions might have records from his student period during which he might have been affiliated with a Jewish organization. -- Deborahjay21:00, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Mossberg can be a Swedish surname, but it also appears on a list of surnames of Jews from Zablotow, Poland ([12]). He's from Warwick, Rhode Island, which has a Jewish community. He went to Brandeis, the only secular Jewish university in America. The president of the Jewish Community Center of Rhode Island has the maiden name Mossberg. So it's very likely Mr. Mossberg is Jewish. However, as stated above, religion is a private matter, and he is under no obligation to tell anyone about his beliefs. -- Mwalcoff23:15, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm a little surprised at some of the above responses. True, religion is a private matter, but a great many of our biographical articles indicate the religious beliefs of the subjects, because they happen to be on the public record. So it's certainly of encyclopedic interest where it's known. Jewishness is a special case because it is both a religion and an ethnicity, and many of our subjects fall into both camps (but some fall into only one or the other). Saying "does it matter?" is not my idea of a proper way to respond to this, or any, question for the Ref Desk. If it didn't matter to rabmny, why did he/she ask the question in the first place? I'm assuming good faith; aren't we all supposed to do that? -- JackofOz03:35, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree, and a quick scan of the questioner's edits gives me no reason not to assume good faith. It's a totally legit question to ask about a person in public life, and if the answer is "Mr. Mossberg maintains it's none of your business", then that's a totally legit answer. --TotoBaggins15:49, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
While it's true that "a great many of our biographical articles indicate the religious beliefs of the subjects", it's also true that this is somewhat controversial. In particular, there have been charges that biographies of Jewish people on Wikipedia are much more likely to mention their religious affiliation than do biographies of Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist people. There have been charges that various editors have gone through systematically tagging everyone they believe is Jewish. It's not clear to me whether this is boosterism, or anti-Semitism, or some of each.
Personally, I don't think that biographies should prominently mention people's religious affiliation unless their religion figures prominently in their notability, any more than, say, biographies should mention sexual orientation. But this is more a discussion for some policy page or another than this Reference Desk. —Steve Summit (talk) 12:56, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Refilling a refrigerator with coolant
In your estimation, in a simple home refrigerator, how easy is it to patch a puncture in a coolant pipe, and refill the coolant? Is it worth it to have someone fix the fridge, or is replacing it cheaper? -- Ec561822:39, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If it's old enough to break, it's probably worth replacing. The fridge is going to be sucking a lot of cash out of you in energy anyway --Laugh!22:34, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Suppose the puncture was accidental, and not a result of normal wear and tear. It could have been caused, for example, by a chisel used to remove excess ice. -- Ec561822:39, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This is not to be taken as legal advice I suspect that the use of a chisel to remove excess ice may invalidate your warranty. DuncanHill23:14, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you have a great deal of fondness for your refrigerator, and do not just regard it as a fungible beer cooler, you might be able to find a repairman who could replace the damaged section of tubing, vacuum the system, and refill it with refrigerant. Only the repairman could tell you what he would charge. Edison23:22, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you took a course in refrigeration at your nearby community college, you might be able to repair it a no cost. You need soldering and tubing cutting equipment, a vacuum pump, and a freon tank with gauges to determine when the system is adequately refilled, if the hole is in a place where the tubing can be repaired at all. I once had a landlord who took such a course and bought a couple of items of equipment and kept elderly refrigerators and air conditioners going indefinitely. Edison01:58, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Poker website commercials
How can commercials for poker websites say in the fine print "This is not a gambling site" even though they totally are? Recury23:15, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It has to do with the legality of gambling websites in the United States. My understanding is that online gaming is illegal in the States, so the commercials do indeed point viewers to free gaming sites. The site advertised for FreePokerGamingSite will be FreePokerGamingSite.net (or something similar). No money changes hands, and its nice and legal.
The trick is that if you go to FreePokerGamingSite.com, you'll find a business that looks exactly the same and is owned by exactly the same people—but which is based in Bermuda or some other place where online gaming is legal. The "This is not a gambling site" messages and the free sites are just a dodge to allow the for-profit cash-gambling sites to advertise on U.S. television. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 23:26, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
see Online poker, the above is essentially correct except for the legality in the US. The DoJ says it may be illegal, based on our article it seems nobody really knows. Pay particular attention to the North Dakota case mentioned in the article. 161.222.160.800:59, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
July 18
Cats
is it true that old cats will leave their home and go away somewhere to die —The preceding unsigned comment was added by RFslats (talk • contribs).
I've never heard that one before, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear that cats want privacy to die, seeing as how they're very private animals. --PolarWolf02:29, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Animals don't know they're going to die and don't make plans for it. They do know when they feel sick or weak, and may change their habits then, going different places. In particular, the cat's instinct to seek a safe hiding place is likely to be stronger when it's sick. -Anon, July 18, 03:00 (UTC).
I've known a lot of sick cats and they tend to stay around their owner who can look after them before finally taking them to the vet once it's clear they've reached the end. I would guess that less well cared for cats might find somewhere they can be alone when they get sick, much as they do when they're about to have kittens.--Shantavira|feed me13:12, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well - that at least suggests one possible explanation why they run away - stay at home when you aren't feeling so good and it could be a quick trip to the vet followed by "Game Over". SteveBaker02:25, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
motorcycle classes
how do i go about finding the motorcycle classes available and how do i get an id
michelle frye
<e-mail removed>
It would help if you told us where you lived. Also, please do not post e-mails on here. The convention is to reply to questions here, and e-mail addresses are just spam fodder. Splintercellguy04:15, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please don't assume you have cancer. Hair arises from hair follicles, usually singly. There are certain very rare disorders where multiple hairs may grow from a single follicle. These include Tufted Hair Folliculitis (a type of alopecia) [13] and trichofolliculoma (which is a type of follicular hamartoma.) [14] Multiple hair follicle nevi (an unusual type of mole) may also appear to have many hairs from a single pore. There are also, very likely, spontaneous examples of multi-hair follicles with no underlying condition. If you are concerned with a strange looking hair or follicle, please see a doctor. Rockpocket05:25, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oh no, it's nothing serious. But it occurs in some parts of my body and several of my friends have it too. I just thought it was something common. Acceptable22:20, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Nameless trailer help.
So, I was watching Transformers (mindless fun), and during the previews, there's a trailer, shot in digital film. It's a going-away party for someone named Rob in NYC, when the lights go out, and there's a shake. Everyone attending heads to the roof top, with people talking about "no creature can't make a noise like that". Swivel to Time Square(?), massive explosion. Focus on street, people start running. From direction of explosion, cars start flying, and the head of the Statue of Liberty flies onto the street. There's a date (forgot exactly).
Thank you for asking this! I saw Transformers as well as this trailer and I was wondering what the movie was as well. I wonder how well their "let's not include the name of the film in the trailer" advertising is going. Dismas|(talk)05:49, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Pretty well, by the looks of it, [15] how many other films with no name have their own WP article and has the geekosphere abuzz with (at least) three viral websites? Rockpocket06:20, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Apparently people on an Atkins diet demonstrated a two-and-a-half fold increase in the number of dreams, most of which were described as "unpleasant". Whether the diet was simply stimulating memory or actually causing the dreams is unclear. [16]
No. I think that is mustard: Scrooge to Marley: "A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!A Christmas Carol. Rmhermen17:42, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Cheese is meant to give you nightmares; what cartoons did you watch? :) As you can see in the quote you give, many things are popularly believed to affect dreams negatively. Whether any of them actually do is the subject of the question. Ah, everything I need to know about popular culture I learnt in the Beano. Skittle20:58, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
My understanding on foods and dreams is based on the proven fact that dreams occur in REM sleep. This is a very light sleep, where rapid eye movemements under the closed lids are common. Foods that are hard to digest, in general, or by certain individual, are likely to cause mild discomfort and disturb the deeper rhythms of sleep which results in a greater occurence of REM sleep and thus a greater propensity to dream. Has anyone ever had a dream that was not strange? user: Richard Avery
I have had some dreams so extremely commonplace that the next day I thought about them and was surprised to observe that the dream events were just that and ha not really happened. Edison01:53, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What matters is not the number of times you dream - it's the number of dreams you actually remember. AFAICT you only remember a dream if you wake up before it's over. So I would imagine that the only possible mechanism for food to affect this would be if it makes you wake up prematurely. I strongly suspect this is an urban legend. SteveBaker18:32, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Obviously it is possible for food to affect dreams- ask someone who's spent some time in the Lucid Dreaming community- nicotine patches and B12 supplements can in fact increase the vividness of dreams (and for LDers, lucidity and control), which makes them easier to remember. Lately, I've been having a couple bottles of kool-aid before I go to bed, and waking up remembering a dream at least every other day. It wasn't until a couple days ago that I realized why, when I told someone about a very weird dream, and they told me to stop having so much sugar before I went to sleep. Whether they change the type of dream, who knows, but there definitely are chemicals out there that affect sleep and dreams. --Laugh!18:45, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Antartica a penal colony
Iam surprised that Anartica has never been used as a penal colony I just read the article not even in the late 1700`s when i think the icy continent was discovered.Or settled in any real form.Before the treaty was signed.Do you have any reasons why it wasn`t used for these purposes.
It's very very very very cold and at a very remote location? The Arctic is similarly disused as a penal colony (well no large scale colony anyway) because it's too cold and require too much resource to set one up (you have to transport all the lumber and building material whereas you can just chop down tress in the other penal colony. If a location that's closer to the people is not used, why would they use a further away location with similar conditions? --antilivedT | C | G07:39, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah it's well known penal colonies don't work. Hundred's of years later they turn round and beat you at cricket! Cyta14:30, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
One of the reasons for transportation is to annex the country as a colony. In the case of Australia, if the British hadn't colonised, the Dutch almost certainly would have. It was difficult to attract free settlers to such a remote destination, so unwilling colonists were an obvious alternative.--TrogWoolley18:48, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The point of a penal colony isn't to execute people. Putting them in Antarctica without lots and lots of logistical support (clothing, food, housing, heating, etc) would be a certain death-sentence. If you want to kill people there are much cheaper ways than dragging them halfway around the planet and through ice floes just so they'll freeze to death 24 hours later. If you want to keep them alive but just put them somewhere where they won't bother you anymore - then picking somewhere as far away from home as possible (on the opposite side of the planet!) - but where they can fend for themselves without having to send them support ships - is the cheapest and safest option. Hence Australia. SteveBaker18:07, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Are there any other programs?
I searched for iMovie, and I tried to download the program, but it was a MAC program. Then I downloaded the tools for Windows to download MAC files, but the evaluation version of WinZip had run out, and then it became to download the thing became complicated. Is there any other download program that makes clips and montages out there? If not, that's okay because I can get my mom to buy WinZip to download iMovie. Again, is there any other download program that makes clips and montages out there?
Did you see this thing ? Website is www(dot)cobrastunlight(dot)com It is a LUXEON LED light, has a laser in it and can shoot pepper spray. 205.240.146.5808:51, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I've delinked the URL, since this is probably a genuine question at least in my opinion. On the other hand having the URL here, it will eventually become cached by google no matter what the intentions of the questioner, so this seems like a reasonable compromise--VectorPotentialTalk12:45, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Us Brits also spell liqueur "liqueur" (and we pronounce it li-cure). I *think* that our definition is less broad than the American "liquor", e.g. Jack Daniels is regarded as a liquor, but is definitely not a liqueur. However, I stand by with asbestos underwear, in case I'm wrong. --Dweller07:47, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
No, that's the same in the States, except "a liquor" falls oddly on my ear -- to me "liquor" is a mass noun for the most part. Saying that JD's is a "spirit" sounds more grammatical (but might get you beat up in the sort of bar where people drink a lot of it). --Trovatore07:52, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah - in the USA, liquor means any kind of alcohol stronger than wine or beer. In the UK, liqueur means one of those super-sweet highly alcoholic drinks with fruit or chocolate or something in it that you'd drink after dessert in a formal meal. The approximate translation is that 'liquor' in the USA means 'spirits' or 'shorts' in the UK. SteveBaker18:00, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Cost-of-living comparisons
When applying for jobs, sometimes a potential employer asks for salary requirements. If the job is in a different city, it would probably be wise to adjust what I would ask for here to compensate for a different cost-of-living (especially if it is higher in the new city). Is there any simple way to translate what salaries would be equivalent in different cities? Or is there a specific piece of data that is best used as a multiplier to determine this? (Specifically referring to U.S. cities.) — Michael J18:57, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Salary.com has a "salary wizard" that is zip-code sensitive. While salaries tend to be higher in cities with higher costs of living, you may find that it is not always proportional to the change in the cost of living. For example, while houses in California cost three to four times as much as comparable houses in Texas, you will probably not be able to double your salary in California. You will get a larger salary, but a smaller house. Marco polo20:01, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Incidentally - when you get this question on a job application form - the standard advice is to either leave the space blank or write "OPEN". Don't put an actual number there unless they absolutely demand that you do so. If you pick a number that's too small - they are unlikely to pay you more - and if you pick a number that's too big, you may not even get as far as an interview (at which they might be so impressed that they'd actually offer you that amount!). Save it for the end of the interview. When they know whether you are any good and you have a feel for whether you like the place - and they ask the "So, do you have any questions for us?" thing - THEN is your cue that it's time to talk about salary. But by all means check out salary.com (and houses in parts of CA where you'd actually find a well paid job are 5x Texas prices...at least!) SteveBaker17:20, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
One approach is to ask "what is the salary range for this position?". That edges them closer to saying a number, and gives you something to go on. If you feel you are, say, at the top of your range in your current location, then ask for the top of the range in the new location, and explain that you're using that rationale. --TotoBaggins17:29, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the information. Usually I do leave it blank, but sometimes in online applications the "Salary" box has a red * next to it, meaning required field. (And my entire search is being concentrated in the Northeast U.S. — no intention of going to CA or TX!) Thanks again. — Michael J19:57, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Several wiki-questions
I just finished scanning in an ancient book (IE. Out-of-copyright) that's almost totally pictures and no text (It's an old National Geographic thing) as a bunch of TIFFs.
Now, I want to give this to WMF somehow, but don't know where it should go. WS is the place for books, but do they want a book that's a bunch of images? It's not anything for WP... does WS even take TIFFs? 68.39.174.23819:19, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If drugs such as heroine and nicotine can get through the blood brain barrier then what is the deal with genetic engineering and other drug treatment limits in treating things such as alzheimers not being able to get through the blood brain barrier, or am I mistaken?
Heroin and nicotine are very small molecules, with structures that make it easy to cross the barrier. Most drugs are based around proteins or other large molecules, which are too large to easily cross the barrier. Current genetic engineering techniques use viruses, which are even larger than proteins, and are exactly the sort of thing the blood-brain barrier is designed to stop. --Carnildo20:08, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, heroin's not that small, and morphine, which is smaller, has difficulty crossing the barrier. Heroin is morphine with two acetyl groups; acetyl groups somehow make it easier to cross the barrier. However peptides can of course be very much larger molecules, and whether there's any possibility of acetylating them to make them cross the barrier, I wouldn't know -- intuitively it seems sort of unlikely, as the acetyl groups might get in the way of the protein folding and completely change the substance's effect. But maybe it would work on some antibiotics, in cases of brain infection? (This is outside my competence; I'm really just speculating here.) --Trovatore22:30, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I read of a group of scientists attempting to coat the designer drugs or genetic engineering or proteins I can't exactly remember now, anyways they coated the cells in a fatty substance to by pass the blood brain barrier, it supposedly has had success, what does anyone else think of this. is that possible in order to treat patients with alzheimers and tumors? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.126.241.147 (talk • contribs)
Kinda peripheral, but I'm sure someone once told me that meningitis IS treatable with antibiotics because the infection compromises the blood-brain barrier, so the drugs can get in when they can't in a healthy person. Aaadddaaammm03:14, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm also worried about this "genetic engineering" which is being spoken about like a drug. Viral alteration of adult human genes is science fiction. Sure, it's getting there, but it isn't there yet.
I am trying to figure out what a particular flag represents. It has three large horizontal stripes. The top and bottom stripes are solid blue. The center stripe is solid black. I've seen it on everything from a minivan bumper to a motorcycle gas tank, but I can find nothing about it online. Any ideas anyone?
I'm going to take a wild guess that if you're in Virginia, you're not going to see many flags of Botswana. On a more serious note, are all three stripes the same size? How dark is the blue? (Pastel, baby, sky, royal, sapphire, navy)? TenOfAllTrades(talk) 01:21, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed, the official Thin Blue Line emblem is (black/blue/black). Yet, the commercial site I linked to offers the "Thin Black Line" variety (blue/black/blue) as well. The article I linked to states:
"It is alleged that relatives of officers display the emblem not to show solidarity, but to get immunity from tickets. Because of these allegations the use of bootlegged Thin Blue Line emblems has been a problem. Additionally, real emblems have been bought and used by people only peripherally connected to a Law Enforcement Officer (nephews, cousins) causing some sellers to restrict sales to people giving their department phone number and badge number."
Perhaps the inverted stickers being incontestable, they are safer to sell and own; the original poster has observed this variety, so I guess they are sold and owned. ---Sluzzelintalk21:09, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you're going to study something which involves math (so pretty much everything which isn't literature, philosophy or history), then Math 2 shows that you have been taking classes which lead towards college-level mathematics. If you're not, it shows that you don't shy away from difficult subjects. Math 1 tests you in the basic math that demonstrates that you have the basic skills to graduate high school. Donald Hosek18:31, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Car Scratches
Hi, recently some intertubes with wet sand on the bottoms were placed on the hood and trunk of my car, causing a bunch of scratches to the paint. Are there any cheap, non-professional methods of repairing this? Also, does anyone have even a ballpark estimate for what it might cost to have this professionally fixed? Thanks in advance for any help. 38.112.225.8405:12, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A friend of mine told me that even though I always delete internet browsing history, someone can still identify them because computers stores the history in a secret file. Is it true? if yes where does the computer stores them and how can I delete them.
Dercnat
The browser's history is AFAIK stored only in one place, and so once deleted, it's gone. However in addition [cookies]] placed on your machine may, if not deleted, provide an indication of the places you have been. More tenuously, if your internet connection uses a proxy server (e.g. corporate network and, in fact, most ISPs) then there's the possibility of a record being made at the proxy server. You have no access to this. In short, I think you;re being misinformed by your friend. -Tagishsimon(talk)
No - even that's not true. Whilst I doubt there is a "secret file" where this data is kept even after being deleted, there are lots of other possible places where the data could be. When data on a computer disk is "erased", all that typically happens is that the part of the disk drive where that information is stored is marked as "available for re-use" - nothing is actually erased. If someone really wanted to figure out what you'd been up to, they could almost certainly do so by using a program that looks through the "unused" parts of the disk drive looking for that information. There are software packages out there that will do a "true" erase of your drive by writing zeroes all over the unused bits. However, a determined forensics expert could still have a good chance of getting the "erased" data because each time your disk drive platter passes under the disk head, the head is in a very slightly different place from the previous time. So when you erase by overwriting with zeroes, it tends to be the case that a teeny-tiny sliver of the magnetic surface is not written to - and there are machines out there that can read that sliver and extract useful data from it. Moreover, when your system uses a 'disk cache' to keep copies of programs that are running but temporarily idle (better explanation needed!) whatever was in the RAM of your machine at the time ends up being written to the disk cache. This data could include whatever any program happens to be doing or working on at the time - and that data is also likely to sit around where it could potentially be found. So anything short of a degausser or a sledge hammer is not 100% certain to wipe the information. HOWEVER, it takes a very determined search and all sorts of highly specialised software and hardware to find these kinds of obscure thing - so unless you are trying to protect yourself against a major government shakedown - you're perfectly safe in deleting your browsing history + cookies + browser cache and then emptying the 'recycle bin'. SteveBaker16:56, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think if you use Windows and Internet Explorer, the computer stores typed URLs in a file called index.dat. I dont know if any other sort of information is stored (except that mentioned above). We have an article index.dat which may help you. Best regards TreeKittens21:53, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I use a program called Evidence Eliminator, and before seeing this program in action I had no idea how many places Windows and IE store temporary information. If you're using a work computer, don't do anything on the computer that you wouldn't be comfortable for your boss to see while watching over your shoulder. 152.16.59.19004:45, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
crack
am looking for a crack/licence key for a program.its tunebite platinum 2004 version4.1.0.22.
my pal told me that u can get the licence key free from the net.am still finding trouble getting them from the net.can anyone get it for me or give me a link
No. We're not into theft. Please go and buy the product. --Tagishsimon(talk)
is it ilklegal?under what law?how come there sites still handing them out?
Gosh yes, it is illegal, at least under US and UK law, and probably the legal systems of most countries. In practise it is more likely that such matters would be dealt with as a civil case than a criminal case, but make no mistake: in general terms, if you take for-sale software and crack it, you are committing a crime. As to why cracks and keygens still exist ... it's an interesting question. One element of the answer may well be that it is not illegal (or, in some jurisdictions, it is only in recent times that it has become illegal) to supply information which enables licence conditions to be circumvented. A more likely element is that there are always those who are content to break laws. Our article Copyright infringement of software provides more info and pointers to some of the laws you might be breaking. --Tagishsimon(talk)
It's certainly illegal in pretty much any juristiction - however, if a site is set up someplace where laws like this are not strongly enforced, it can be very tough indeed for the company that owns the software to get the offending web site taken down. The fact that you can find the key or the crack online most certainly doesn't make it legal!! Anyway - Wikipedia isn't allowed to hand out legal advice - so we can't tell you what to do. However we're also not allowed to break the law in our juristiction - so we can't give you the answer you're looking for on this question. SteveBaker16:43, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
can someone explain to me where to search for the abstract and implementation of any electrical project? i need to do an electrical project for my final year in college and i have already searched countless webpages in vain. i did not find a suitable project. can someone say where to search for a good electrical project (projects as advanced as the projects one can find in IEEE magazines).
Umm, IEEE magazines? Do you mean "where on the web"? Are there not textbooks which might give you an idea? --Tagishsimon(talk)
I have been involved in many electrical projects, and they were done by companies with the goal of making money. The project documents may have been filed with a utility commission if for a public utility, but the majority of projects are something like "Develop an ipod" and all project documents are proprietary. Look in the IEEE magazine, or one of the many specialized IEEE magazines for popular accounts of electrical projects. An electrical project could be a new computer processor, a high voltage electric transmission line, a radio, a cel phone, an integrated circuit, a capacitor, an efficient electric light, a meter, or a thousand other types of things which are published in very different places. Figure out if you are interested in high voltage/high current (power engineering), in high frequency (radio engineering), in digital circuits (computer engineering) or in consumer products such as plasma displays. For some ideas you might look at "Nuts and Volts" [17]or "Make" magazine [18]. A project for school should show a sound grasp of engineering principles and not just be the construction of something from plans or a kit someone provided. One neat trick is that if you need a chip or a transducer, you can often get it free by writing to the company and explaining that you are a college junior or senior doing a design project. You can also look at manufacturers' product literature and books, which often have application notes, then build a working model of something that a new chip or component makes possible, which is not on the market yet at all, or which is better than what is on the market. You can also look at defunct electronics magazines such as "Popular Electronics" or "Electronics Illustrated" and build an updated version of something there, which is better because it uses the latest integrated circuits instead of discrete transistors. You could start a project with a build-it yourself device like a Sumo-bot [19], which has a breadboard for customization, which has a Stamp computer you can program, and you can add sensory features or a manipulator. It has cool capabilities when assembled, and you can learn a lot about motor control and robotics. But just building a kit would deserve a failing grade. You need to add some interesting capability or interface. Edison15:50, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Citation needed
Could someone be so kind as to give me the citation to a concept having to do with “the one who opposed the most” as being guilty . . . Some said it has to do with a writing by Shakespeare. Chailai16:09, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There is the passage 'the lady doth protest too much' which is often used to mean that your protesting shows that you are actually 'guilty' of doing whatever it is you protest about (often used in comedies when a man or women protest too strongly that they don't like another man/woman). It comes from Hamlet I think. ny156uk16:59, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wasn't it Iago in Othello saying it about Desdemona? A vital point is, of course, that Iago was a Bad Guy trying to sow suspicion about an innocent woman; often overlooked when people use the phrase :) Skittle 18:56, 19 July 2007 (UTC) Nope, you're right! Silly me... Skittle19:01, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your response. Reading Hamlet is very difficult for me, but at least I get this much. Thanks again. Chailai20:03, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
As kids, we used to use "the one who denied it supplied it". This was the correct response to "the one who smelled it dealt it". Which was, in turn, the correct response to... um, I forget. --Dweller20:35, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The complete quotation is: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." The citation is from Shakespeare's Hamlet (III, ii, 239). Queen Gertrude speaks these famous words to her son, Prince Hamlet, while watching a play at court. Gertrude does not realize that Hamlet has staged this play to trap her and her new husband, King Claudius, whom Hamlet suspects of having murdered his father. She also does not realize that the lady who "doth protest too much" is actually herself, as the Player King and Queen represent King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude. The former will be poisoned (in this play within the play) by the king's brother, as in reality (Hamlet suspects) Claudius killed King Hamlet. Gertrude's statement is in response to the play-Queen's repetitive statements of loyalty to and love of her first husband. See [[20]]. (JosephASpadaro20:23, 20 July 2007 (UTC))[reply]
Copyright Protection - Policies
was reading a wikipedia article about misinformation/propaganda and a technique these use to uncover people who are 'leaking' information. I.e. they send out the 'same' letter to each person but every copy has minor alterations that help to identify the source of any leaks. I wondered whether there are any policies for Film-distribution firms to do this: A large portion of the 'dodgy' dvds my friends have show the classic "this is for promotional purposes" (or whatever) logo every 10/15 minutes. I wondered whether they might try to embed slightly different wordings for each association they send it out to. ALternatively they could alter the end-credit ordering/something like that. This could help them identify where the leaks are coming from. Does anybody know if such tactics are used by distribution firms to try combat piracy? ny156uk17:05, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't have a reference, but I remember an Academy Award judge getting in trouble for redistribution, where they had used just such a watermarking scheme. You might also be interested in cap codes, those dots that appear on bright parts of the screen in movies, which are used for similar purposes. --TotoBaggins17:13, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have a similar question. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Encyclopedia Britannica used a technique for "watermarking" it's article text by randomly inserting statistically-infrequent letter sequences into its articles; sequences that either represented English mistakes, or represented correct English, but otherwise were sufficiently improbable as to suggest that any repetition of these sequences (in other sources or periodicals) represented an obvious case of plagiarism. Anyone have a reference for that? dr.ef.tymac17:28, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I remember reading about a roadside attraction that featured blocky, folksy sculptures of famous figures in history. It is now thoroughly vandalized. Does anybody know the name?— Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.118.7.22 (talk • contribs)
What is the difference between gene therapy and genetic engineering?
Gene Therapy would be a medical process (Please don't beat me this isn't medical advice!) used to treat a disease. For instance you could implant a diabeticpancreas with the proper gene to produce insulin. Genetic engineering is related, but would be used to create new genetic stock. For instance if you engineered an egg to produce a purple eyed person, they could potentially pass that trait along to their children. - --Czmtzc20:03, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Re:Veterinary advice - the How to use the desk section at the top of this page explicitly says that Wikipedia does not give veterinary advice, and to consult a professional. DuncanHill22:51, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It does now. It's not a long-established policy; see the archived discussion. It is good advice, though. --Anonymous, July 21, 02:56 (UTC).
Is that place for real? It looks suspiciously like a troll/parody site to me. For one thing, they don't seem to actually have anything for sale... --Kurt Shaped Box22:38, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
IT IS A TROLL SITE. Its one of those "Animal Rights Nuts" website. IF "you" hunt, own animals, these nuts consider "you" a ass, worse. Troll myself ? Hell no. Had some experiences with nuts like these. 205.240.146.5822:43, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Those are not the only options. If you look at our article on dog, you will see that they are carnivora, but that this does not necessarily mean they are carnivores in terms of diet. There is some discussion as to their most appropriate classification, with people leaning towards omnivore, like humans. Cats, however, are obligate carnivores. That means they need to eat meat, as there are some nutrients they cannot get elsewhere. It is possible that you could feed them synthetic versions of these nutrients, but it would be tricky and risky. Skittle22:53, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm well aware that there are people like that around. I remember some rabid vegan wingnut on a birdkeeping forum I was a member of a few years ago who was trying to force a vegan diet upon his owls, which were (obviously) getting sick as a result. Yes, he would actually see his birds be malnourished and possibly die in order to make a political point. --Kurt Shaped Box23:00, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It appears to be a philosophically perplexing position to take. I would have thought if you believed in animal rights (as one presumes those who would feed carnivores a vegetarian diet does), then it would follow that one would give one's companion animal the right to choose which food it would rather eat (and anyone that has had a dog or a cat can tell your they prefer meat) rather than forcing an unnatural diet on them. Rockpocket00:14, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, if you follow the principle of minimizing suffering, you could, conceivably, weight the total suffering felt by all the individual animals of prey (mice, pigs, or whatever has to be killed to feed the carnivore) as higher than the total suffering experienced by the one carnivore forced into a vegetarian diet. (Even if the diet weakens or kills the carnivore, you could reach that conclusion.) This isn't my statement on the issue, just one way of applying utilitarian ethics to the dilemma. ---Sluzzelintalk00:23, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The only way you can keep it and its prey from suffering is to kill one painlessly. If you let someone else keep the pet, they will either feed it meat, or not feed it meat. — Daniel02:37, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This is the poorest set of answers I have seen so far to a Reference Desk question: Unsourced answers and value judgments about what animals deserve to live. Pretty sad. Snakes should starve so mice can live. Edison05:07, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please explain what makes that a troll site. They do, indeed, offer products for sale. I may disagree with their approach, but I don't see them as a troll or parody site. Corvus cornix21:46, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Canines and felines have canines and carnassials for ripping meat. They have these as meat is an integral part of their diet. If they were herbivores they would not have evolved with a set of teeth for a carniverous diet. Or if you wanted to look at it from the other side of the coin, why would a god have created them with mouths, teeth and digestive systems opposite to that which they required? Lanfear's Bane
Well, cats have a short digestive tract, as part of the carnivore adaptation; it makes them lighter and more efficient hunters, but on the other hand it's less efficient at digestion and requires a high protein diet. There are other adaptations, such as required amino acids, as well. You can put together an adequate synthetic diet, but as the guy said, it's absurdly hard and expensive; and quite likely a lot of the components will turn out to be animal-sourced.
Dogs, not so much; their digestive system is like ours, their protein requirements aren't greater than ours; a large part of the wild dogs' diet consists of intestinal contents of their prey. Like a human on a vegetarian diet, you do have to make sure it's complete. There are arguments over whether it's optimal or not, and whether vegetable proteins even if "complete" are as well tolerated as animal sources, and in special cases like running the Iditarod, a high protein intake has been shown to be better, but in general a dog can do pretty well on a quality vegetarian diet.
The flip side is that cats and dogs are not as prone to the cardiovascular problems people develop as a result of our relatively recently adopted carnivorous diets; they can eat cheeseburgers all day and put on weight but they won't have a heart attack and need a bypass. Gzuckier15:05, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure that's necessarily an adaptation. Very few humans who ate meat 100% of the time and slept 20 hours a day would die of a heart condition before the age of ~15 when most dogs are reaching the ends of their natural lives. Dogs and cats simply don't live long enough to die of most of the things we die of...and certainly not in their natural state when they evolved their meat-mostly diets. SteveBaker00:56, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia has a software limit of 256 characters per title - and a bug that actually limits you to (depending on whom you talk to) either 254 or 255 in practice. SteveBaker00:51, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Dog defense
What should one do to defend oneself against an attacking dog (german shephard or doberman). Assume one is alone with the dog and has no weapons. I also heard that dogs can smell fear; is this true? Acceptable03:37, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A utility company, whose employees had to enter private property to read meters. had a training video with helpful sugestions like "Always leave the gate open for easy exiting." "Always have the owner lock up the dog, even if 'he never bites.'" "Always carry something like a bagor briefcase that you can place between you and the dog's jaws." "If confronted by an aggressive dog, try saying "Who's a good dog? Where's your ball? Wanna go for a ride?" I imagine a mean dog rolling his eyes at the absurdity of any of these before tearing out a piece of your flesh. Still, it might work with some. Per TV documentaries about police dogs, yes, when you are frightened your body sprays out hormones which tell a dog, even German shepherds with their limited scent capabilities, that you are the "bad guy." Police dog handlers can say "Find the bad guy" and their dogs track down the frightened person who is hiding in the bushes. Edison05:03, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
TV documentaries about police dogs are not the most scientifically rigorous of sources. "Smelling fear" is a term often used, but there is limited experimental proof of it. If fear hormones were being "sprayed", it would be an example of a kairomone, which have yet to be definitively determined in mammals. Nevertheless, considering that dogs have a sense of smell much more sophisticated than us humans, it is not unreasonable to imagine that they could differentiate between the small of stress-perspiration from heat-perspiration (they are chemically different), and associate the former with "fear". Rockpocket05:23, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I had read somewhere that it's possible to kill a dog quickly by taking its two forelegs and pulling them apart with some force. I have no idea if it's really true - and luckily have not been faced with the situation. I do know, however, that if a dog has you in its jaws (an arm perhaps) then you need to insert a finger into the dog's mouth. At the back of their jaw, there's a space with no teeth. Get a finger in there and keep pushing deeper and the dog will open its mouth. (Well, it works when my dog won't release the ball its just fetched!). Also - and this is another apparently - if you block a dog's nostrils with your fingers - ie one in each hole - the dog will have to release whatever is in its mouth so it can breathe. 83.104.131.13508:38, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
With a small dog this may be difficult as they can still breath a little through the small slits to either side of the nostrils when the nostrils are too small to stick your fingers up and therefore harder to cover effeciently. With some dogs it may be as simple as reaching over them and grabbing them by the tail or hind quarters and / or lifting them by the tail. They will often respond to the 'attack' from a different direction by releasing you, giving you time to escape / restrain the dog. Breathing may also be resticted by inserting your hand or a number of fingers under the dogs collar, tightening it. Lanfear's Bane
It's different whether the dog is truly attacking, for instance if it has plans to eat you, or if the dog is merely defending/being territorial. or even just "mock attack"ing. In the latter cases, it's not too hard to get the dog into a standoff, where you're both agreed to to just stare at each other and growl and not attack first. But if a large dog is really intent on killing you, it's pretty much like a strong human of similar size, armed with a big knife; you can inflict quite a few blows, even serious ones, without changing his/her mind, since the pain doesn't really set in until after the adrenaline goes down. So mostly, you're on the defensive; concentrate first on keeping the sharp parts away from vulnerable areas, secondly on getting him/her entangled or off balance or something so that you can get away, and only thirdly on trying to "win". Going after the vision works with either species; you don't have to actually poke the eyes out, but if you can get a copiously bleeding cut above the eyes, that makes it harder to see. If you're lucky, you can get your hand clamped around his/her muzzle; it's easier to keep it from opening then keeping it from shutting on you. PS if you expect to get bitten/cut in a non-life-threatening place, then if/when you do, you are less likely to panic and completely lose the ability for further rational defensive action.Gzuckier14:48, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have broken up many dog fights over the years, and found the most effective non-damaging method is to pull the tail, as someone else suggested. I've always thought that this vulnerability is why guard dogs often have their tails docked, but that article doesn't mention it. --TotoBaggins17:21, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Reminds me: pepper spray, which I presume is what mailmen carry for dog defense, doesn't work. You can ask my substitute mailman, me, or my (late) dog. This was the typical territorial thing, so didn't go any further, but if a faceful of pepper spray wouldn't discourage a dog who's being defensive, it sure isn't going to discourage a determined dog. On the other hand, as my regular mailman, or me, or my (late) dog can tell you, handing him a milkbone will do wonders to change a territorial dog's opinion of you, although he will still glare suspiciously and woof from time to time to let you know you haven't got a free pass. I doubt it would do anything to distract the determined attack, though. In addition, serious guard/attack dogs are trained to refuse any food offered them by anyone other than their handler, or found anywhere. For obvious reasons. Gzuckier17:32, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Dogs can tell if a human is frightened, happy, scared, etc. because of the scent that we give off under those circumstances. --PolarWolf19:10, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I would be interested in a source for that too. Though dogs can tell if a human is suffering from bladder cancer from the smell of our urine. [21]
It might not necessarily be the smell. My dog can regularly tell when I am upset about something, and I'm willing to bet it's my body language and not a smell that's giving it away. — Laura Scudder☎20:14, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Internet problems
I would have gone to something else like Yahoo Answers, but your quicker. My internets screwed up, it lets me onto everything, Youtube, your guys, Runescape, anything I want, but just a while ago, I was on Bebo, and I click on Profile, then guess wat happens, "The page cannot be displayed". Anything involved with Bebo can't be displayd according to the internet, I can enter anything else, but Bebo. I know it's not construction on the site, the site would have told us, and it would be said in the 'Cannot find server' page. any ideas about whats happening, and how to stop it so I can get back in?
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.130.170.7 (talk • contribs)
How long ago did this happen? Have you tried again? All websites occasionally have this sort of problem, especially Wikipedia. Just wait a few hours and it will probably come back.--Shantavira|feed me08:44, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Clear your internet history, cache, cookies etc. It could be something to do with that. Also as noted sites do ocassionally drop (though most are kind enough to have a 'oops' style page. ny156uk16:02, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
How do professional Hollywood film-studios give their movies that "movie-effect"? For example, it's very easy to distinguish a home video from a feature film, so what done to the feature film to look professional? Another example, if you were to watch the "Behind the scenes" material on a DVD movie, you can tell the "atmosphere" of the clip is different from that of the movie. The movie seems darker, and more movie-ish. So what effect is given to the movies to look like they do? Acceptable05:51, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I know exactly what you mean. The basic difference is that the feature film is filmed on film itself (i.e. celluloid), whereas the home video and the behind-the-scenes clips are shot on video (usually digital these days). Video tends to look brighter and sharper, and as you say, celluloid looks darker and more atmospheric. --Richardrjtalk email06:28, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Also I have noticed TV shows tend to look different from films, soap operas from America look different to those from the UK or from Australia. There's lots of different film you can use and filters and things I guess although I'd be interested to know more myself? Has anyone from the UK noticed Casualty/Holby City (I don't know which) has started using different style film, it looks more fuzzy somehow? Cyta08:12, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Sometimes a show/movie has segments filmed on tape and on film both, and when they switch from one to the other it really jumps out at you. Gzuckier14:50, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A lot of it has to do with professional lighting. That was one of the things that distinguished the look of the amateur-produced Star Trek episode on the web a few years back from the original series. It certainly wasn't the acting or special effects. 76.80.21.8114:55, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Quality of film used, lighting, processing (they will put more work into cleaning up/perfecting the film than the extra features). Also home-movies are often filmed with worse camera-technique so they'll feel jerky instead of smooth, wobble instead of stable and focussing may be softer instead of sharp. Lighting will be the biggest difference though. Much like in photography good lighting makes a good shot great. ny156uk16:00, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I imagine a lot of it is also post-production work and/or processing. Ergo the "deleted-scenes" bits that look nothing like the original. But actually, I got to watch a movie getting filmed once, and it was amazing how different "real life" looked compared to the monitor right next to it, which looked like a "movie". Things really looked differently on camera than they did in person, without any post-processing, due to the filters on the lens, the settings, etc. (In this case they were shooting digital video for possible feature release. It was a small production.) --24.147.86.18721:40, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The celluloid makes a lot of difference - the colour range of film is quite different from TV and also the frame rate is much lower on movie film than on TV. This produces a subliminal difference that's quite noticable, although it's often hard to say why. This is going to change though - more and more movies are shot on digital movie cameras because it's easier to do the special effects - and it's cheaper, faster (you don't have to develop it) and safer (you're less likely to accidentally expose a day of work!) - and of course movies are making less and less at the box office and more and more on TV and DVD - and digital movie theatres are popping up all over the place. Celluloid film is going the way of 35mm still photography. SteveBaker00:46, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Runescape
What is Runescape?Is it a game or a software application that tests our patience?
It's a games. You could play it to learn more Here or read more about it Here. Runescape is one of the biggest MMORPG's in the world, patience is important when playing it, but it's not a test of your patience. If you want to know how to sign up, just ask at my page. §→Nikro07:17, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Campfire game
The article on games with unspecified rules reminded me of one that I could never figure out. It may have just been an elaborate ruse, but it seems to have some method to it. It might have been called magic stick, but it's not the same as the one in this article.
Basically someone took the stick and tapped complex rhythms while uttering cryptic phrases. Then people would try to guess which movie (etc.) was being referred to. Does this sound familiar to anyone? iames14:47, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
No. But of course, your question could be some sort of double bluff elaborate ruse. I'm sure it's not, though. --Tagishsimon(talk)
A double bluff elaborate ruse! My head is spinning at the thought. I may never know if it was a code of misdirection (as Daniel's comment below) or something more like a no soap radio prank. iames16:32, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
They do something like taking the first letter of every word and making it spell out the movie. You could also take the last letter, a certain letter in the most stressed syllable of every word ect. — Daniel16:15, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Board Elections
What exactly is "The Board" that these people get elected onto? What do they do? Leave answers on my talk page please - Wardhog16:22, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Someone seriously tampered with the Mood Ring Color Chart again, so I did make some corrections this time with a few minor edits. I believe that the color "Brown" on the Mood Chart would more appropriately be placed in between Grey & Amber, but decided to leave the order of the Colors in the Color Chart as is to avoid anymore confusion. I am going to think about it for now, but may consider transposing those 2 Colors- where Grey would follow right after Black, and then Brown right after Grey.
Hope this helps as I did my best to edit correctly.
In Microsoft Windows Live Messenger, I remember there was a letter you could put into a convo (alt+####) and it would make whatever you typed really BIG. It made the font huge. Does anyone know what the alt+#### is? It looked kind of like an apostrophe. Acceptable19:44, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Difference between a scone and an english muffin
I'm based in the US; I showed a picture of jelly on an english muffin to a friend in the UK and she said "oh, Jam on a scone-like thing". Wikipedia is helping me translate various foods so she can understand me and vice versa (this all started because she said she was going to "eat a jelly", and I thought of the jam condiment where she thought of the gelatin dessert); however, I've had scones before and I've had english muffins and they seemed rather different to me; then again, my scones were baked by my stepmother in the US, and I've never been to the UK. Anyway, the foods apparently strike her as similar and me as very different; are they, in fact, similar? Kuronue19:59, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Most English "scones" would be called "biscuits" in the States. An English muffin is closest to what the English call a "crumpet". That's my understanding, anyway -- there could certainly be variations or nuances that I'm missing. --Trovatore21:25, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
English muffins are in fact seldom eaten in the UK, although I think I did see some for sale once. There are lots of confusing differences like biscuit, cracker, chips, crisps, and so on. 80.2.202.13021:29, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A crumpet in Britain is a disk-shaped piece of bread-like thing that on the top surface has a large number of open pores. It is designed to be put in a toaster and the pores soak up the melted butter. Its not designed to be eaten cold, but if you do it is of a rather rubbery consistency. 80.2.222.18822:16, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
An English muffin in the States is also designed to be put in a toaster, and has pores to soak up the melted butter. It's true that it's usually breadier and less rubbery than a crumpet. But I still think UK "crumpet" is the best translation of US "English muffin", mainly because of the holes. --Trovatore22:19, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
We have 2 kinds of muffin in Britain, a cake-like thing (often involving blueberries) which is a comparitively recent import from the USA, and a bread-like thing, which is split in two, toasted, and spread with butter, jam, etc. we also have crumpets, which are porous in texture, also toasted and served with butter, jam, honey etc. A scone is something else, somewhere between a cake and shortbread in texture. It is baked, and split in two and served with buttr, jam, cream etc. Without actually baking some for you, it is amazingly hard to describe the differences! DuncanHill21:41, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
"and a bread-like thing, which is split in two, toasted, and spread with butter, jam, etc." I would call that a bap that someone decided to toast. I'm unfamiliar with either "muffins" or "english muffins". In the 60s to 90s my elderly mother would often prepare a tea for me, and we never ever mentioned the word "muffin". I expect there is a different dialectical use in other parts of Britain. 80.2.222.18821:51, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't like 'scone' as a UK English translation for 'biscuit'. They aren't even close to being the same thing. Biscuits (here in Texas at least) look just like scones - but that's where the similarity ends. They aren't anywhere near as sweet as scones and scones are generally much harder in consistancy. US-style biscuits are served with savory food - and here in Texas, often with "Gravy" which is a peppery white sauce - and frequently for breakfast. Scones are eaten with either butter or clotted cream and would most likely be eaten with tea at teatime.
I'm also not entirely happy with the translation of the UK word "Biscuit" to the US word "Cookie" - whilst there are things (like Oreo's for example) that an American would call a 'cookie' and a brit would call a 'biscuit', if you think of something like those huge chocolate chip cookies that are baked deliberately soft - you wouldn't call that a biscuit in the UK. We don't really have those and if we did, we'd recognise them as an American import and call it a 'cookie' because we're generally pretty well informed about US English. Similarly, we Brits have an alarmingly large and diverse repertoir of 'biscuits' that no US store can come within 1% of. No Jaffa Cakes (which are biscuits, not cakes), no digestive biscuits (chocolate or otherwise), no HobNobs for chrissakes! Not even the boring plain ones! I mean - FIVE YEARS without a HobNob...oh the humanity! You think it's bad not having sausages (and no - I'm not talking about those small burger-like things) - and having to eat bacon with no discernable meat content - or baked beans that don't taste right and are mysteriously labelled "Pork and Beans" even though the pork content is ALWAYS one 1/4" x 1/4" cube of gross undercooked fat, and having to call chips 'fries' and crisps 'chips' and no Marmite, no Bovril, no Daddies sauce, no HP sauce - and you have to check 12 supermarkets just to find one jar of Branston pickle and it costs like $5 and is the smallest jar of the stuff I've ever seen!...Look I just need one, lousey stinking HobNob - is that too much to ask of a nation of 300 million chronic over-eaters? Can someone PLEASE send me a care package?! I promise I'll spell 'colour' and 'tyre' properly and use the word 'rubber' only in the context of things you do with a pencil.
(For some reason, food and cars collect more linguistic differences between UK and US english than any other subject!) SteveBaker00:37, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Arrghh its obvious to us Brits: A scone has fruit in it , a muffin has none!
As Adam said it's as much about people's perception of the animal as anything else. Of course ideally we don't want to harm other animals whilst gathering our own food so dolphin-friendly netting is better if we can still catch our tuna and not harm the dolphins. ny156uk21:30, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Here are some references for you. The depletion of any member of an ecosystem has a habit of messing up the rest of the habitat. A cynical way of putting this is that it might mess up the fishing industry if we killed all the other predators in the sea.
Boredom in travel, for example, often lends itself to a portable game or a repetitive song such as 99 Bottles of Beer. It is not clear why repetitive singing would be a response to tedium, but it may be a form of mockery. Similarly a number of repetitive gestures or games may be considered imitations of the tediousness of waiting, or of the moving hands of a clock.
Driving superfluously, especially very fast, is
The question was why the repetitious act.
The answer is that we chant when we can't. Also a reference to music or muse sick. It is very clear. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.96.67.183 (talk • contribs) 21:29, 20 July 2007
Huh? There is some information at 99 Bottles of Beer. Per "The crystal ball: 99 bottles of beer on the wall--and other countdowns" by "Anonymous" in Telecommuting Review. Monmouth Junction: Jan 1999. Vol.16, Iss. 1; pg. 1, 10 pgs, the song may date back to college drinking songs, where the goal was to keep up with the tally by drinking. We at Wikipedia do not encourage irresponsible drinking games. You might also consult "Circular Jingles" by Roger Abrahams, Western Folklore, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Jul., 1962), pp. 192-195, which discusses this and other songs such as "My name is Yon Yonson" and "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" which were noted back in the 1940's. There are also the classic timekillers of counting telephone poles, spotting license plates from as many states as possible, asking every 5 minutes "Are we there yet? How much further is it?" and fighting with your sibling in the back seat until Dad threatens to "Turn this car around and go back home."Edison22:00, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Chants and songs for physically demanding or extremely repetitive work may have evolved to get the participants into a beta trance which would allow the work to progress without much active thought or resisitance. If I am focussed on a piece of writing or a painting, I will often hum the same phrase or chorus mindlessly, over and over and over again, driving everyone within hearing range to distraction. Perhaps these songs are the "group version" of the hum. Bielle00:12, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think the point of those songs is that they are LONG and you don't forget the words. I just timed myself - it took 8 seconds to sing one round of 99 bottles - so it takes over 13 minutes to sing it all the way through - there aren't many songs that last that long. Interestingly, there is a UK English song that's very similar to 99 bottles of beer: "10 green bottles, standing on the wall, 10 green bottles standing on the wall - and if one green bottle should accidentally fall, there'll be 9 green bottles standing on the wall." - Then there is "Old MacDonald had a farm" where every time around someone adds an animal and the noises that you have to make get more and more contentious and silly "An Ardvaark does NOT go either "aaard" or "vaaark"...and so on. SteveBaker00:13, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
July 21
Supermarket fruit
I live in the US. A friend of mine recently said that she had heard of supermarkets storing fruits for up to two years before they are sold. I don't really believe it's that long, but how long on average does it take from a fruit being picked to being actually sold in a supermarket? Also, is it possible to preserve a fruit for two years (or how long would it be possible?) and have the taste and texture stay relatively the same? 68.231.151.16101:51, 21 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Flag of Teverga
