Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous

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Church of Ireland dioceses

The Church Temporalities Act of 1833 degraded the archdioceses of Tuam and Cashel to dioceses. It also merged ten dioceses with other dioceses: does anyone know which dioceses were merged together? -- Emsworth 22:43, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

V. Ivanova

Text speedily deleted recently from above article:

Is this Vitaly Ivanova? I am interested in contact with a person of this name, originating in the Moscow region, City of Chernogolovka This person would be the father of Alla Ivanaova who married and moved to Canada. Please forward any contact to timsouth236@hotmail.com

Polydactyly

Hi, I was wondering if I could get anymore information on the genetic disorder polydactyly. I am doing a report for my biology class on it. My e-mail is vbrian48@hotmail.com. Thanks a lot, bye.

Brian

Here's a link to an image of a polydactylus hand: [1] and another [2] The extra digits of polydactylus appendages often lack effective muscular connections. Polydactyly is usually inherited as a dominant trait but is also sometimes induced by teratogens.

Formation of human hands and feet begins at about the 6th week of gestation, when cell death divides the apical ectodermal ridge into, normally, five segments. Normal patterns in digits are formed, or not formed, as a result of activity in a zone of polarizing activity at the base of arms and legs on their posterior edge. The morphogenesis probably involves retinoic acid (vitamin A) and a series of genes called homeobox genes.

Other embryonic malformations of hands and feet include ectrodactylyl, which is the absence of a digit, usually unilateral (one only one side) and syndactyly, which is abnormal fusion between fingers or toes.

Syndactylus appendages form in about 1 of 2,000 human births, when the normal breakdown of mesenchyme fails to occur. Clubfoot often presents along with syndactylus, but clubfoot might be inherited or a result of abnormal placement of the legs in the uterus during gestation. In clubfoot, the sole of the foot is turned inward.

None of these are the same as cleft hands or feet, called lobster claw deformity, consisting of an abnormal cleft between the 2nd and 4th metacarple bones and soft tissue, usually along with missing 3rd metacarpal and phalangeal bones, and often with fusing of the thumb and index finger and of the 4th and 5th fingers. You might learn more about this by reviewing articles on human embryology I'm not sure your teacher will be very impressed if you say a bird told you this. If you enter some of these words in the www.google.com search engine, you might find additional sources for this information. You should at least check my spelling, and do something to be sure the information I freely provided comports with some other reliable source. Byrd

Internal link: Polydactyly Bensaccount 04:15, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

After reading a bit more, I learned that polydactyly is present in as many as 100 other disorders, often as a minor trait compared to the gravity of the disorder, and that in rare cases it cannot be attributed to any known cause. RaymondByrd 04:35, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Static electricity and ice

Does anybody here know if static electricity discharges from breaking ice? I'm not sure if it occurs when ice separates from plastic or when ice separates from itself. I observed the phenomena while breaking icecubes from a plastic tray in a darkened kitchen. I would expect static discharges from plastic, though I never really contemplated why they occur, much less if they occur in ice alone or in ice separating from plastic. Just curious...

I remember hearing or reading that breaking icicles causes sparks. I've just spent 10 minutes searching, though, and can't find anything online at the moment. I read something about breaking things causing sparks recently (maybe lifesavers), and the only thing I can find on the net says that from personal experience that's false. I might have read it in Discover magazine--I'll see whether I can find it in an old issue, unless someone else can come up with something. Elf | Talk 17:10, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

The thing with Lifesavers is called triboluminescence and it does work (I've done it myself). There may be a similar effect with ice; a google search for triboluminescence+ice gives some links, such as [this scientific paper]. -- DrBob 17:46, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Root of the word "Germany"

Can any one tell me, why we call this country as Germany, while it is called Deutschland by Germans themselves? What is the etymological meaning of Germany? Thank you

The word Germany derives from the latin Germanic labeling the babaric tribes of northern europe, see Germanic peoples. The French word for Germany, Allemagne, derives from one specific germanic tribe of southern Germany, the Alamanni. The origin of the word Deutsch is a bit more complicated. The name derives from the germanic word theoda meaning folk, from which around the 8th century the latin word theodiscus labeling the german language developed. And I wonder why the above isn't included in the articles on Germany or German language yet. andy 10:10, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Maybe it's the same user who asked the same question before. See the 'Name of "Deutschland" ' section above. Jay 10:52, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I think it was named after Germanicus Caesar, the general at the battle of Teutoberg Forest. It comes from the Latin name for the area past the Rhine, that's for sure, but I could swear the Romans assigned that name to it and that it had been the name of a person. Diderot 13:42, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

It's the other way around - people were called Germanicus as a nickname for having served well in Germania. Adam Bishop 21:38, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

You can check out Germany at List of country name etymologies, it's pretty complete. Btw, it wasn't me who asked this time. Mjklin 15:03, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

im doing a A-level project

can you tell me the compostion of the english 2 pence coin when it was made of bronze and if you can can you give me detailed information on experiments that could be used to find how much copper is in the bronze.

  thank you Gettothegone_2@hotmail.com

According to the Royal Mint the composition of British 2p coins minted before September 1992 is 97% Copper, 2.5% Zinc, 0.5% Tin. Gandalf61 15:25, Apr 15, 2004 (UTC)

Page 594 of my copy of Analytical Chemistry, by Skoog and West (ISBN 0-03-097285-X) gives the procedure for determining the percentage of copper in an alloy. I'd post it, but that would be a violation of copyright, and Dr. West was too nice of a professor for me to do that to him. Gentgeen 06:21, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I doubt the procedure itself would be copyright, the specific formatted presentation of it might be - you could redescribe the procedure in entirely your own words - IANAL but I think that should be fine. Mark Richards 19:13, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

songbooks and music for basic guitar

I have been looking for good, simple songbooks for singing and playing guitar. All types of music from country to gospel. where and how to find the best ones.

An excellent resource is The Online Guitar Archive (OLGA). This collects songs transcriptions (both in chords and tablature) collected from various internet groups. The quality of the transcriptions can be patchy sometimes (or be in some deeply unsuitable key for your voice) but you'll often find that several versions exist for the more popular songs. And it's all free. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:01, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I recommend: Stylings for bluegrass and country guitar by Jerry Silverman New York : Warner Bros. Publications, 1982. Hyacinth 03:49, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

CATCH PHRASE- help

I am stuck on the last question in a local rotary quiz. The answer is a 'Silly Saying or Catch Phrase'. We are given the FIRST letter of each word but not told the NUMBER of letters in each word. Most of the other answers in this group are from British TV.

T T D S C W

Any ideas?

There's a fairly new article (not spidered by Google yet) called something like List of comedy catchphrases - except not that, cos I've just tried it. I can't seem to find the link. When I last saw it I don't believe it answered this question, but if you find it, it may appear there. Or you could ask on its talk page. It's infuriating that I can't find it. --bodnotbod 16:59, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

Ah. List of Comedic Catchphrases. --bodnotbod 17:02, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

Reagrding Pashto Article

"In Pakistan, Pushto has no official status; it is not taught in schools and Pushtun children learn Urdu as their language of education and activities outside the home."

I saw this statement in the article "pashto". I just want to make a correction that it is not true that pushto is not taught in schools. It is taught in all governemnt schools in peshwar. I am pushtoon and i lived in Nowshera for 8 years and i been to govrnment schools in nowshera and peshwar and it is taught in governemnt urdu medium schools in peshawar.

Thanks.

Thanks for the help! We'll change the article. By the way, this is an open encyclopedia and you can make any corrections you think necessary by clicking on the edit this page link. moink 21:36, 16 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing out this observation. However the line you are talking about is not in Wikipedia's Pushtu article, but in the website of UCLA. Wikipedia doesn't endorse the correctness of articles in external websites that point from an article. Wikipedia however strives to achieve neutrality in its own articles. Since you have a lot of information on Pushto, you can help adding information to the article. Jay 06:02, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Bootable business card

Are there any retail vendors of this media? I'm having trouble finding them at CompUSA type outlets. - Bevo 20:37, 16 Apr 2004 (UTC)

if you mean the business-card sized CD-R then Fry's Electronics sells em. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:02, 16 Apr 2004 (UTC)

you can also buy them at www.5inch.com - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 00:05, Apr 17, 2004 (UTC)

The District of Columbia (geography)

I'm ashamed that I, a history major, cannot remember this, but why is the District of Columbia called the District of Columbia? And once someone remembers, could they put it in that article, as well as posting it here? Thanks! :-) Jwrosenzweig 23:39, 16 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I found this, which doesn't really answer [3]. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:58, 16 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Columbia = an early proposed name for the new country that was eventually called The United States instead. Sounds better than District of the United States. I added that and some other info on the historical difference & gradual merging of Wash and D.C. Elf | Talk

list of Disney animated movies

From the village pump

I've looked all over trying to find a chronological list of the Disney cartoon movies and so far, your list is the closest to what I have discovered. Unfortunately, the second list omitted the two additional Lion King movies, the additional Hunchback of Notre Dame, extra Atlantis and extra Jungle Book movie. I am in the habit of writing which movies was which number on the inside of the movie box and I'd like them to be accurate to what the Disney studio says. According to them, like Peter Pan was 14th, The Jungle Book was 19th, Fox and the Hound was 24th, and so on. Can anyone help me number my other 30 some odd movies? Please? THANK U!!!

The article in question is List of Disney animated features. →Raul654 00:49, Apr 17, 2004 (UTC)

Sleep deprivation

Someone once told me that after around 20 days without sleep a person will... die. I was a little dubious of this, however the sleep deprivation article states that:

Lack of sleep may result in irritability, blurred vision, slurred speech, memory lapses, overall confusion, nausea and eventually death....

...but doesn't give a figure. Does anyone know what the (average) limit is?

(And yes, I didn't sleep too well last night.) Chopchopwhitey 15:09, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

If my shoddy memory serves me, the world record for human sleep deprivation was done by a california boy who did it under psychological supervision (from either Stanford or Berkeley - I can't remember which). He made it to ten days with no sleep, but at that point, it becomes a question of what exactly sleep is. Does microsleep count? Again, IIRC, in experiments with rats, the rats died after 3 weeks with no sleep. I don't think a human has ever made it that far. →Raul654 15:24, Apr 17, 2004 (UTC)

Am I the only one just a bit troubled by the fact that the world's leading sleep researcher is named Dr.Dement? -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:25, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I wondered the exact same thing recently; I learned in my high school psychology class that it's impossible to die from sleep dep, that you'd fall asleep before dying. I did some googling, and from what I can tell by making inferences based on vague speculation, the only way to die from sleep dep is to be incapable of sleep. Check out this small table giving life expectancy with total sleep deprivation (no references given); a newsgroup posting with (again unreferenced) replies claiming death won't occur... I'd also love to see a definitive answer on this. I'm not convinced by any lab studies in which animal (or human) sleep mechanisms were intentionally destroyed. Obviously, if one is physically incapable of sleep, death will occur before sleep. -- Wapcaplet 01:07, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I'd be very interested to know what the supposed physiological cause of death is in these cases. I believe I'm correct in saying that the Autonomic nervous system and brainstem don't really partake of "sleep", so surely can't itself be harmed by the lack thereof. And I think I'm (roughly) correct in saying that a patient with these intact can at least keep breathing, digesting, and heart beating. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:18, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Sleep is not well understood, so I think no definite explanation is known. But experiments have been done with rats: A pair of rats is placed on a circular platform in a pool of water, separated by a barrier. One is hooked up to an EEG (the other probably has a hookup which is ignored). Whenever this one rat starts to fall asleep, the barrier begins to move, forcing the rat awake. This way the rat can rest but not sleep, and the other rat can sleep sometimes. After a while (3 weeks?) the rat that couldn't sleep was unable to maintain its body temperature and died. Even if the rat was allowed to sleep after the body temperature began to wander, death still occurred. For this reason, volunteers are generally not permitted to become this sleep-deprived in studies. As for "you'd fall asleep first", this is probably true in a quiet room with nothing but food and water, but with suitable stimulants or a person to keep waking you, you could stay awake a very long time. I wish I still had the book I read all this in, but it (and its title and author) have now vanished into the mists of time. Perhaps the problem was that I was sleep-deprived to the point of hallucination and bad memory when I read it... --Andrew 15:22, Apr 25, 2004 (UTC)

The info about sleep deprivation killing people comes mainly from studies in rats where sleep deprived rats eventually die, despite being otherwise healthy. However, these studies are heavily confounded, since keeping an animal sleep deprived is difficult and stressful (for the animal). Usually it involves something like electric shocks or tipping it into a bucket of cold water every time it starts to fall asleep. This means that anyone who is sleep deprived is also very stressed, and it's hard to tell whether the stress, or the lack of sleep, kills them. The experiment Andrew describes is a better version of this, but it is still vulnerable to the criticism that the experience of the rat that kept on being woken whenever it started to fall asleep might be more stressful than the experience of the other rat. Mark Richards 19:17, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Thanks, Andrew and Mark. The mention of thermal homeostasis (and that water business) might implicate the hypothalamus, and I know there's a diurnal variation of core body temperature (a variation greater during sleep, I think). So one can see at least a shadow of a physiological explanation. Yeah, the water and stress is confounding, and it's tough to think of an experiment that wouldn't at least have the stress. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 19:57, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I don't know anything scientific, but I've heard of users of crystal methamphetamine staying awake for 30 days and more. Reports of a state of insanity, but at least some of them survived.

Aaron Hagans 00:58, 08 May 2004

EDI 301

from the Village Pump

Can you direct me as to where to get information about EDI 301. It has something to do with Ocean shipment loading. Please send response to my email address - ctuanqui@sunkistgrowers.com

Thank you.

Ethylene Glycol Production

I am trying to determine how much of the Ethylene Glycol sold as "new" is actually remanufactured or recycled?

If you can help in any way please email me back at jerrystumpf2@netzero.com

Thanks ------- Jerry

• I think I remember a project I once did on ethyleneglycol. You might want to try to contact the NW&S department at Utrecht University http://chem.uu.nl

--MacGyverMagic

REQUESTED INFO DR. PHIL/ANTHONY HOROWITZ/ALEX RIDER

I think Dr. Phil is enough of a phenomenon to get his own entry here. I'd also like to see pages for Anthony Horowitz and his fictional creation -teenage spy Alex Rider. However, I'm not knowledgeable about any of them and there don't seem to be obvious places to link them. Should I just create some stubs and hope for the best? Or does anyone else want to help out? -- MacGyverMagic

We do have Phil McGraw (I think I'll make some more redirects, as that isn't too easy to find) -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:55, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

We don't have a Anthony Horowitz page (although Crime Traveller links there). So yes, you should make a stub for it, I think. You might also like to tell User:Paul A, as his talk page seems to suggest he's a Horowitzista too. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:17, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

home runs

I'm wondering if anyone knows the entire number of home runs hit in MLB in 1927 versus the total number of home runs hit in the entire MLB in 2003?

http://www.baseball-reference.com is a great resource for this stuff. In particular, the information I used is in the "American League" and "National League" links at the top of http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/ . (The other leagues listed did not play in either of those years.)

The results:

1927

American League: 439
National League: 483
Total: 922
Number of teams at the time: 16
Number of games to a season: 154
Home runs per team per game: 0.374

2003

American League: 2499
National League: 2708
Total: 5207
Number of teams at the time: 30
Number of games to a season: 162
Home runs per team per game: 1.071

Hope this helps. LuckyWizard 01:16, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Glasgow based novel

I'm trying to find a novel I read many years ago. All I can really remember is that it was set in Glasgow, or more specifically the Gorbals (I think). All the events took place between a Friday and a Monday (inclusive). I also seem to remember the protagonist accidentally setting fire to someone's flat (again, I think). Does this ring any bells for anyone? - Lee (talk) 01:25, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Nothing rings a bell. Take a look at No Mean City (30's razor gangs) which is supposedly the definative Gorbals novel. Then there's How Late it was, how late (written in the vernacular, lots of swearing) and Swing Hammer Swing! (about which I know very little). Perhaps it's one of these (they're all fairly famous). Maybe checking these out on Amazon.co.uk will refresh your memory (I'm ashamed to confess I've read none of them). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:56, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

D'oh. Swing Hammer Swing!, winner of the 1992 Whitbread prize - which was why I read it in the first place. Stupid memory. Many thanks. - Lee (talk) 02:13, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Pai Hsien-yung

Is Pai Hsien-yung gay? The article Pai Hsien-yung states that Pai has explained that he believed his father knew of his homosexuality and "never made it an issue," though it was never discussed. . If so, I would like to add him to the list of famous gay people, since he is a very influential writer among Chinese community. --θαλαμηγός (talk) 03:36, Apr 18, 2004 (UTC)

Okay, some one has given me a evidence. just post here as a reference[4]. --θαλαμηγός (talk) 09:53, Apr 20, 2004 (UTC)

Ganesha using tusk as stylus

I find this under your Mahabharata entry: "In the course of writing, Ganesh's pen failed, and he broke off one of his tusks in the rush to keep writing." But I cannot find any such mention in the epic itself. Kindly give me the reference to this breaking off the tusk to write down the dictation of Vyasa. Pradip Bhattacharya

kanakpradip@yahoo.com

Several Google references to this can be found here. RickK 20:03, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Scientology

from the Village Pump

Fred Brewer

380 Rexford Drive

Hermitage, PA 16148

(724) 981-4695

nittanyrebs@aol.con

To whomever it may concern;

In the 1950s, I heard that Scientology was started by fans of a novel L. Rod Hubbard wrote about a planet like Earth on the other side of the Sun. They said these fans disturbed Hubbard at first, but later he joined them and became the head of Scientology which had already started without him. In recent years, any source I ever see about Scientology says Hubbard started it after writing Dianetics. Which version is true?

Respectfully yours,

Fred Brewer

I'm no expert on the subject, but our articles on Scientology, Church of Scientology, and Dianetics are fairly thorough. According to those, it was initiated by L. Ron Hubbard himself. -- Wapcaplet 19:41, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Legend has it that scientology was started by Hubbard as the result of a bar bet between him and Robert A. Heinlein. This legend [5] is almost certainly false... but it's amusing, and that's the important thing. (It's one of those stories which I preface with "now, it didn't really happen this way... but it should have!") Grendelkhan 21:22, 2004 Apr 17 (UTC)

Ummm...."almost certainly false"? I forget if Hubbard Jr. discussed it in his book too, but the discussion on that very page seems to conclude that five independently corroborative accounts seem like rather more than coincidence. Chris Rodgers 02:31, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Grendelkhan said that the story of the bar bet with Heinlein was false. The five independent accounts are simply that Hubbard claimed the real money was in starting a religion. -- Wapcaplet 15:42, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Dianetics begat Scientology. Your story about sci-fi fans is much contrary to what existing analysis of Scientology/Dianetics/Hubbardism in general has said... Some of Scientology is derived from Dianetics... Dysprosia 02:37, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Presedentes

We would greatly appreciate to know the name and E-Mail of each of the LatinAmerican Presidentes.

Thank you in advance. Guillermo R. Morini morini@yunque.net

You can find the names by visiting each country page: Mexico, Costa Rica, etc. Tempshill 00:29, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

List of maps?

Did I once see a list of maps on Wikipedia, or am I making that up? —Bkell 04:10, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Maps has a list of sources within and outside of Wikipedia. Wikipedia:WikiProject Maps also has a list of orphans and requested maps. -- chris_73 07:45, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Matrix Inverse

Is it true that if a matrix A is nonsingular, does it always follow that its inverse is also nonsingular? Do you have an item regarding this?

Yes, since matrix inversion is defined as a reversible process. So since a matrix can only be inverted if it is non-singular, the result must be non-singular so that (A⁻¹)⁻¹ = A This is an important property, if you think about it, because it makes inverted matrices behave like inverted numbers, which is what they're for after all. See also Invertible matrix. - IMSoP 13:39, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

This is the "easy way out". You have defined non-singularity to mean invertible (and admittedly the article you cite does this too). But what if non-singularity is defined as "no non-trivial solutions of Ax = 0" (as is common, and I suspect the direction the original poster is coming from). How then do you prove that non-singularity is equivalent to invertibility? Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 13:47, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

If A is nonsingular, det A ≠ 0, that is, det A = c (c ≠ 0). Using the rule that det (A^-1) = (det A)^-1 (see Determinant), then for this to hold then c must not be zero, for if it was, det A^-1 = 1/0 which is not defined. Dysprosia 03:13, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Yeah, I also count that as a "cheat". If you "know" about the properties of determinants, and why they work, then you know about non-singularity and invertiblity. I bet this was a "from first principles" homework question, otherwise it is trivial.

So then prove that if a matrix has determinant zero, then it cannot be invertible. It becomes a little more apparent if you look at Cramer's rule. From there, then you can establish everything else you need. Dysprosia 22:23, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Cramer's rule constructively establishes the inverse (matrices with nonzero determinant are invertible) but does not establish your statement. One way of proving it is to look at the row-reduced form of a singular matrix, which must have zero rows or columns, then expand by minors. Another way is to prove that a matrix's inverse has the reciprocal determinant.

Derrick Coetzee 06:26, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I never said it'd prove the result ;) Dysprosia 06:19, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

los angeles county, california demographics

i am trying to get more specific demographics data for the south bay region of los angeles county. specifically, i am trying to find population densities by postal code, and/or census tract, and/or a.p.n....any ideas how id go about getting this info??

-adam el_bizzaro@yahoo.com

• This has them--you'd probably want to click Download rather than scrolling thru all the pages:[6]

For other available breakdowns, start here: [7] Niteowlneils 03:30, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Zip files and Cursors

1. The zip file format has been named after PKZIP developed by Phil Katz. Any idea why he called it "zip" ?
2. Also the cursor that we see on text editors - why is it called a "cursor" ?

Jay 17:48, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I suspect the computer cursor was named after the one on a slide rule. The COD says it's from latin, meaning "runner". -- DrBob 18:10, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Thanks DrBob, I looked at the picture of the slide rule cursor, it doesn't look anything like the blinking cursor we know of ! I was also wondering when did the cursor first come into computers. Before text editors, they must have been used on command line consoles, and the terminology must have gone into text editors which were developed later. Cursor talks nothing about the history. Jay 03:40, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Cursor has meant simply any movable item that marks a position, dating back to the 16th century. Nothing specific about its shape or material is implicit. So presumably "follow the bouncing ball" on Sing Along with Mitch was a cursor, too-- Elf | Talk 04:10, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

An anecdote I dimly remember from an anti-software patent screed from years ago: You know when your cursor is at the bottom of the screen and you hit Enter, and all the text on the screen scrolls up a line to make room for the next line? IBM supposedly holds (or held) a patent on that. AFAIK, they never shook down anyone for payments on this patent. Tempshill 00:26, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I've always assumed "zip" was meant to conjure up the idea of squashing things into a suitcase and pulling the zip (or zipper, if you're American) closed - and that metaphor has certainly been frequently used. The letter Z also seems to have some enduring connection with compression - perhaps because of LZ77 and its variants - so that connotation may already have existed when Katz started. I'm only guessing, though, I'm afraid. - IMSoP 18:20, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

LZ stands for Lempel-Ziv, after Jakob Ziv and Abraham Lempel. Perhaps "zip" was chosen because it similar to "Ziv", in addition to the metaphorical connotations of "zip". -- Tim Starling 03:33, Apr 20, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks IMSoP and Tim. while I had looked into every possible meaning of zip from the dictionary, nothing seemed to match the "make big into small" or "compress" meaning that I was looking for. Your visualization of squashing things into a suitcase is interesting, lets hope thats what made name it that way. Reg. the Ziv - Zip connection, if I'm able to get even a single external link, I'd make an entry of zip in list of computer term etymologies and make a mention of it. Jay 03:40, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Survey Lodge Ranger Station.

I am trying to find out information about the Survey Lodge Ranger Station that is located in Washington DC at the intersection of 17th Street and Independence Ave near the mall. I would like to know about it's history and what it has been used for over the last 100 years. Can anyone help me answer this question. Thank you.

AD 36

From the pump

Hello I recently hear about the virus AD 36. And was wondering if there is at all anyway possible to get a sample for myself. As I am underweight and think this could be the answer to my Problem. Please let me know. Regards

Bradley Janse van Rensburg

E-mail: Bradley@quyn.co.za

I'm afraid that Wikipedia is not a biotechnology firm, and is unlikely to have virus samples. - Fennec 17:46, May 5, 2004 (UTC)

Bradley is referring to AD-36, the so-called "Obesity Virus". Bradley - if the theory that this virus does cause obesity is true (bear in mind that correlation is not causation) then lots of overweight people will have it. It's an adenovirus, so it's very likely to be present in their respiratory tracts. So perhaps you should consider engaging several (perhaps a dozen or two) overweight people (the more overweight the better, I think) in extensive french kissing sessions, so as to maximise your exposure. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:14, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

And this is why Wikipedia does not give medical advice... Paullusmagnus 21:04, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

for information please

from the pump

i was wondering if i could get anymore information on the genetic disorder polydactyly? I am doing a report for my biology class. Thank whomever this may concern.

--216.16.116.171 02:41, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)Brian Douglas

• Brian,
  I can't give a direct link, but click this: Online Mendalian Inheritance in Man database and search for "polydactyly". You'll find it involves more than one genetic locus, and can click on the specific genes found by the search. (The main entry, or at least a useful one, seems to be here). - Nunh-huh 02:47, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

• • Also see this abstract, it looks like it would be a good article to have your library get for you. - Nunh-huh 02:50, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

A direct link is polydactyly. (Also in reference desk). Bensaccount 14:38, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Idenification of a Flag

from the pump

What flag has the british symbol (like the Hawaii Stat Flag) in the upper left hand corner, and red and white strips (like the American Flag?

It's either the flag known as the Grand Union Flag, used by George Washington's army in the American war of independence [8], or it's one of the flags of the British East India Company [9]. Depends where you saw it, really. Marnanel 16:47, Apr 17, 2004 (UTC)

I didn't know that about the E.Ind.Co., but to clarify: the modern US flag derived from one with the UK flag in its corner. When it became independent, the stars were put in the corner instead, and some have suggested that they were originally arranged to make the same shape. - IMSoP 11:38, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

help

From the pump

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am doing a report on Ai Yazawa for my school project. I have 20 questions to ask that will be published in our school news paper. I have looked all around the web for Mr. Ai Yazawa's email or adress, as to write a letter to him, but could not find it. I was hoping you could help me locate him for this interview. If you have any information that may be of help, please send it to meat Yueskaysgirl@aol.com

Sincerely, Morgan Rhodes

We do have an article on Ai Yazawa on the Wikipedia, but it doesn't have the information you're searching for. Searching for Ai Yazawa on Amazon reveals that her books are published in the United States by a company called Tokyopop, whose website is at http://www.tokyopop.com. They have a contact page on their website. If you ask really nicely they may pass on your letter to Ms (she is a woman, according to Tokyopop's profile on her) Yazawa. There are two other problems you may face - she may not speak much English, and she probably gets a huge amount of fan mail and may not have time to provide detailed answers to all your questions! Anyway, it can't hurt to contact Tokyopop and go from there. Note to Wikipedians: I have emailed this to Miss Rhodes.--Robert Merkel

Dual citizenship

I am 18 years old, and my Mother is a citizen of New Zealand, my Father is a citizen of the United States. I was accidentally born in the U.S. I now want to immigrate to New Zealand, and my Mother has always told me I have dual citizenship. She is not able to provide me with the appropriate paperwork. How do I find out this information?

My mother says I have to contact Washington, D.C.

Can you give me some direction on where I can get information regarding my dual citizenship? pamelaboyd1@cox.net

I had a friend who was born to in England to an American mother and a czech father. Until he was 18, he held dual citizenship in both countries (which allowed him to freely cross international lines). When he was 18 (for tax purposes), he had to choose which one to keep. At least between England and the US, there's a good faith arrangement to honor such situations. →Raul654 04:48, Apr 20, 2004 (UTC)

I believe that the US regulations have changed in the last few years (although I do not have the appropriate references) so that you can now be a dual citizen US/other country, for suitable other countries (Canada is OK, I believe). So, look it up, but make sure you're checking recent data. --Andrew 15:09, Apr 25, 2004 (UTC)

You will find contact information for the New Zealand embassy (Washington, D.C.) and consulates (Los Angeles & New York) here. If you're moving to New Zealand, you'll mostly be interested in whether New Zealand considers you a citizen or not. If you want to maintain dual citizenship, you may want to make inquiries about avoiding things that will effectively forfeit your U.S. citizenship. - Nunh-huh 05:01, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

As Nunh-huh has said get in contact with a NZ embassy or consulate, they will tell you what you have to do. Either you will just apply for a New Zealand passport or you will apply for a Citizenship by Descent certificate, then apply for the passport. -- Popsracer 13:46, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

You ought to be able to get a Citizenship by Descent by bringing proof of your mother's citizenship (NZ passport or other documentation) and proof that you are her child (a birth certificate will do). NZ is a signatory of the Hague convention on legalisations, so you may have to obtain an apostille on a copy of your birth certificate. You can get this from the Secretary of State of the US state in which you were born (or which issued your birth certificate). This will cost about $25 and may take as long as two months. This should be all you need to prove NZ citizenship.

Don't worry about forfeiting your US citizenship as Nunh-huh suggests. That is effectively impossible to do. You are a US citizen by birth under the 14th amendment and you cannot be stripped of your citizenship unless you become a member of the NZ cabinet, and probably not even then. A naturalised US citizen can lose their citizenship for lying on their citizenship application. Otherwise, it is effectively impossible to be stripped of US citizenship.

You will, however, be required by law to pay US taxes, or at least to report your income, even if you live and work overseas. But, the IRS has no actual mechanisms for enforcing this law and won't even try to unless you get super-rich. Diderot 11:59, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Check this out though - I think there are other ways to loose your citizenship, by behaving in ways that they US Govt interpret as relinquishing your citizenship. [10]. Mark Richards 21:24, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Who authored the definition of these terms?

Hi! I'm currently working on a research and I need the author and book references these terms has been gotten. these are the terms:

• computer game
• god game
• internet game
• role-playing game (rpg)
• real-time strategy game (rts)
• computer
• computer software
• LAN party
• First person shooter (fps)

I need this as my reference/bibliography on my dissertation. Pls.care to e-mail me at: eve_girl_02@yahoo.com. I'm hoping for your immediate reply. Thank You!

Roanne Vista

Hi! If you mean the articles here on Wikipedia about those terms (e.g. computer game, LAN party, etc.) then the information you need is at Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia.

Note: I think I'll make an exception to my normal personal policy and send an e-mail as well for this one. - IMSoP 16:15, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Axial Tilts of Jupiter's Moons

From the village pump

I noticed that the Axial tilt was left blank for Jupiter's Moons, Europa and Ganymede...Does anyone know these values? (user:162.18.75.91)

• I went looking and couldn't find the information anywhere on the internet. Even NASA [11] doesn't list that info. SWAdair | Talk 10:42, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

8086 programming

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I am a student at my fourth year of study majoring in computer engineering?

I am having a problem with programming the 8086 microprocessor? I was asked to suggest 3 methods on how to minimize the run time of any assembly program I write?one of the suggestions is to minimize the number of instructions.

After reading the articles you've put on your site?I decided to come to you for help and any suggestions you could provide?

Thank you so much?

Please I need your help?

---

(1) Unroll any loops you might have. In other words, if you have the equivalent of (for a=0; a<5; a++)

Don't code it as a loop. Copy and paste your code 5 times. That way, you never have to call branch (this saves 3-4 cycles * the number of times you go through the loop). More info. →Raul654 18:08, Apr 20, 2004 (UTC)

(2) In-line expansion is your friend. →Raul654 18:13, Apr 20, 2004 (UTC)

Since you're talking about assembly language specifically, another thing you can do is become familiar with the number of cycles required by each instruction within the CPU. Some instructions require more cycles than others (one commonly-cited example is that multiplication takes longer than addition, though I understand that with modern x86 CPUs and their pipelining ability, this is not really an issue). Anyhow, using instructions that require fewer cycles would reduce run time. Assembly can be hand-optimized in other ways; for example, there may exist a single instruction that performs the same function as several other instructions together; use the single instruction, rather than multiple instructions. But the use of memory has possibly the most significant impact on run time; if you are using a value repeatedly, put it in a register rather than going out to RAM. Using a variable in a register can be hundreds or thousands of times faster than using a variable from RAM. And of course, you can always do a Google search for "assembly optimization" to turn up many other suggestions. -- Wapcaplet 20:18, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Read this: ISBN 1883577039 (and you'll see why Raul is at once totally right, and horribly wrong) -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:50, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

He said he wanted it time-compressed. Who cares if his code blows up to 3 megabytes? ;) →Raul654 21:28, Apr 20, 2004 (UTC)

The cache. If your level1 cache is 64kbytes or so (much much more than an old CPU or a current embedded CPU, a bit less than a modern mainline CPU), blowing your code to 3 megabytes will make it run very slow indeed (as that poor code cache thrashes the FSB madly), far slower than the few cycles you've saved binning a few instructions from the loop guard. So unrolling small (few iteration, small body) loops is usually a good idea, but unrolling big, multiplicitous loops is very bad. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:15, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)

He said he was optimising an 8086. I've never seen an 8086 with 64 KB of L1 cache, nor 3 MB of address space to unroll loops into. Optimising an 8086 is much simpler than optimising a modern computer. It's just a matter of counting clock cycles and using registers wisely. A good knowledge of the instruction set is necessary. Remember that many instructions set flags according to their result, obviating the need for an explicit test before the conditional jump. A nice trick I've seen is the use of self-modifying code -- you can store data in the immediate mode bytes of instructions. Immediate mode is faster than memory mode, and much faster than loading from the stack using a BP offset. -- Tim Starling 00:38, Apr 21, 2004 (UTC)

Yes, you're quite right. I read "8086" to mean "x86 architecture", which may be a rash assumption (if it _is_ 8086, I'm guessing it has to be a software emulation of the kind CS/EE lecturers are fond of using?). Indeed, an 8086 had no cache at all. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:43, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

But it did have instruction pre-fetch, which is another good reason for unrolling short loops. If this is a school project then its always worth stating the obvious: use registers, use the simplest addressing mode, count clock cycles. Oh, and if this is a genuine 8086, buy a floating-point co-processor. :-/ DJ Clayworth 13:39, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Ahem - self-modifying code considered *extremely* harmful. →Raul654 02:10, Apr 21, 2004 (UTC)

What would software engineers know anyway? ;) There might be issues with protected mode and pipelined processors, and maintainability is an issue given the lack of proper tools. But if your only goal is to find the fastest possible configuration of a few hundred lines of code, self-modifying code can give you an edge. It's a useful technique for competition or perfectionist thrill, if not production code. -- Tim Starling 06:58, Apr 21, 2004 (UTC)

Yes, but sometimes no. Like anything else, you can do it in an ad-hoc, spaghetti way, and spend weeks figuring out even the most modest of bugs. Or you can do it in an organised, structured way, and it can be a useful technique. Consider latest generation JVMs (doing things the "hotspot" way) which regenerate their assembly based on the runtime patterns of a piece of code, reorganising the code in the fastest and most cache-coherent way possible. Most modern processors (again, not 8086) perform branch prediction and often qualified conditional preexecution, so arranging your code so that all the compares are structured to branch only in the more exceptional case (a trick Abrash covers at great length, particularly in his latter book, and that Hotspot does) can be a big saving (as a failed branch predict causes a pipeline interlock). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 11:36, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

By the way, even minimizing the number of instructions isn't a sure method. (This isn't about unrolling loops, which increases the size of the program but reduces the number of instructions that the processor executes.) Lkewise, you don't always use a more powerful instruction in place of a series of lesser ones. By my recollection, the multiple-bit shift instruction is slower than a series of one-bit shifts! Dandrake 19:41, Apr 26, 2004 (UTC)

When a program doesn't do want I want it to do, I switch the computer off and on again and then hit it. I do not advise this course of action Dmn 21:42, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

MBE's AWARDED BY KING GEORGE V

How can I find out why an MBE was awarded to an ancestor of mine by King George V? Liz Stilwell 20/04/04

The honours in the Order of the British Empire are given for services to the United Kingdom. They are granted today to honour a lifetime of service in the arts, sciences, military or civil services [12]. You could try writing to the cabinet office at ceremonial@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk. Gdr 15:40, 2004 Apr 22 (UTC)

You could try the London Gazette, which records all honours awarded. Proteus (Talk) 21:43, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

For instance, if he had the same surname as you, he could be George Robert Fabris Stilwell, Esq., MB, MRCS, who appears to have been appointed an MBE for being a Medical Officer at the Balgowan Auxiliary Hospital in Beckenham in Kent. Proteus (Talk) 21:50, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

Greek Font

1) What is the name of the Greek font I see used a lot on Wikipedia and elsewhere? It is the font Wikipedians use to create symbols like ς and η and ζ.
2) Do you know where I can download it?

I don't know how you made those, but you just did it - it's built into Wikipedia. Type the name of the letter, preceeded by a & and followed by a ; and it will appear (& alpha ; written together without spaces will appear as an alpha, α). I hope that makes sense. Adam Bishop 06:04, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

If you're on a computer that runs windows, the font with the greek characters is called "Symbol". You don't need to download it, it comes with windows and is installed by default. (If you're not on a windows machine, they'll be some analogous font used instead - but if you can see the symbols, you already have the font).

The other way that greek is used in the (english) Wikipedia is inside mathematical equations (e.g. $\eta \zeta \varsigma \;$). That font is the default symbol font for Tex, and is called "Computer Modern", I think. --- DrBob 17:44, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

There is a misconception in this question. Fonts are installed on your computer, and have nothing to do with Wikipedia. Recent Windows distributions come with fonts for many languages: for example in Windows 2000, go to Start → Settings → Control Panel → Regional Options; tick all the boxes in the Language settings list; click "Apply" and follow the instructions (you will probably need your installation CDs at this point). Then you should be able to see not only Greek text (αβγ), but Cyrillic (АБВ), Thai (กขฃ), Japanese (あいう) and other writing systems. Gdr 18:48, 2004 Apr 21 (UTC)

Personality Cult

Is it considered a personality cult if the person at the centre of the cult is dead? I'm thinking of Lenin in the USSR and its propaganda. DO'Neil 01:07, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Well, considered by whom? This is not a term that has a precise, generally agreed-upon definition in this respect, so it would be reasonable to either include or exclude such a situation. -- Jmabel 21:36, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Who are these people?

OK, so I'm too cheap to buy Time magazine. But anyway, they have the following people listed as among their top 100 most influential people in the world. Who are they?:

• Abigail Johnson
• David Neeleman
• Lindsay Owen-Jones
• Hiroshi Okuda and Fujio Cho
• Bernard Arnault
• Daniel Vasella
• Eric Lander
• Paul Ridker
• Hernando de Soto - presumably not the Spanish explorer?
• Jeff Sachs

RickK 03:32, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

The "What links here" pages for some of the above pages show :

• Abigail Johnson - List of billionaires, Fidelity Investments
• David Neeleman - JetBlue Airways

I just created a stub entry for him using numerous Google resources; someone with the time and inclination should read the book I linked to or find some other information on him and help clean up that article!JimD 02:36, 2004 Apr 24 (UTC)

• Bernard Arnault - List of billionaires, Alexander McQueen

Jay 03:47, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Lindsay Owen-Jones is the chief executive of L'Oreál, I think. He's Welsh. DO'Neil 06:00, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Hernando de Soto is a Peruvian author/economist. [13] Gentgeen 06:05, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Based on a quick Google search Fujio Cho appears to be (or have been) president of Toyota. Hiroshi Okuda also returns references to Toyota, as Chairman of the Board, among other roles. Daniel Vassella is CEO of Novartis. Paul Ridker and Jeff Sachs both seem to be academics/pundits of some sort, you'd have to dig a bit to find out their claims to fame. I think we've covered all of them now, between us - time for someone to start writing articles on them! (And if anyone disputes inclusion, cite Time as a reason to keep :-p) - IMSoP 21:23, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

You'll probably find more on Sachs if you give his name as Jeffrey Sachs. -- Jmabel 21:39, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

What do you do if you think an article has many errors?

I just read the article on Simone Weil. I added a line saying that the claim that Weil committed suicide is countermanded by Simone Pretrement in her biography, Simone Weil, A Life [the definitive bio.]

But I think that there are a number of other erros in the article: It says that Simone Weil sought afflicition by going to work in the factory while Weil says that she sought the job because anyone who was to write about econmics/social philosophy should experience it before writing and because she sought to learn the special knowledge that workers possessed [epistemological priviledge].

The current artilce says that Weil's mehtod is like that of James. But James in a pragmatist. Weil is a Platonist -something that James criticized.

I do not know what to do about the article. I do not feel right just taking out someone elses work and yet, I think the article needs correction.

Katel

Woah, that's interesting. I was just by here on a lark; I would have expected this to show up at Talk:Simone Weil. I contributed most of the material on Weil's thought (not the biographical stuff), and thus some of your bone-picking should be with me. However, mayhaps better to do it on the Talk page?कुक्कुरोवाच 22:25, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Do not ask for permission if you actually have facts to improve. Change it! :-) Yes, Wiki means "Be bold"! (Actually, it means "quick", but....)

But if you have to have some controversial theories on some government alien conspiracies, you might wanna bring 'em up in the relevant article's Talk (discussion) pages first. Some people would say: "Still go 'head anyway!" But that may end up in disasters. Now, a French philosopher who died more than half a century ago, well..it's probably not THAT controversial nowadays, so, go ahead! Do what you want. Just don't troll! ;-p --Menchi 01:07, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Well, if there are actual factual errors, just correct them. On the other hand, if "Some people say X and some people claim Y" you can just add the unrepresented viewpoint. (E.g. "M. Smith says Simone Weil committed suicide, Simone Pretrement argues in Simone Weil, A life that she did not.") Don't worry too much about removing stuff, if someone disagrees they'll put it back in<G>! - Nunh-huh 01:10, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

radius

from the Village Pump

I am looking for visual representation for a radius, an ancient tool for measuring distance on maps. I hope it isn't just a compass.

thanks so much. wsubity@yahoo.ca

The following Google search should give you plenty to chew on: [14] -- Jmabel 16:40, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

physiological psychology

Hello Do you know where I can study physiological psychology? I am doing my honours in psychology now in Australia and wondered if I can go on and do a Phd or Masters in Physiological Psychology. Everything mainly seems to be neuropsych.

Help could possibly change my life. my email is h.haydon@student.qut.edu.au

(moved from Talk:Physiological psychology by chris_73 04:50, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC))

Identification of a Flag

I am an italian charm bracelet seller and have acquired a charm that looks like the british flag in the upper left hand corner and has the american red and white stripes on the rest of the charm. I have a picture, but do not know how to display it here. Can you tell me what this flag is?

I have color printed from your site all the countries for reference, and it does not appear to be any of the countries. Any help you can give me will be appreciated.

I apologize in adavance if you do not commonly answer questions of this sort, or if this site is not used for this purpose, but even my suppliers do not know the answer to this question, and they are selling these charms.

Thank you, Sandy

Like this flag? It could represent a flag the United States used during the American Revolution. Adam Bishop 16:07, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Are you the same person who asked this question before? Either way, there's some answers just up the page from here. - IMSoP 16:13, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Politically Correct Map of India?

The maps of the south asian region shown all over wikipedia are incorrect. Pakistian occupied Kashmir is showed as a part of Pakistan, which is gross. It is a part of India and should be shown as such. can any one upload the correct map?

Perhaps someone can make a map that shows it as a "disputed region." It's hard to make a map to satisfy both sides of a conflict. moink 00:48, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

That is the most correct thing to do. just mark of the whole area as disputed region. that ought to satify both sides.

As I am sure you know the best representation of Kashmir on large-scale maps has been the source of a lot of controversy. Small-scale maps are often less problematic because they can mention all claims and all controlled areas. Oddly our Kashmir article only mentions map issues by refering to ext. links. - perhaps we can improve this. Which image(s) do you find problematic, so we can look at it further? Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 08:56, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Term - "Seventh Wave"?

Greetings,

I have been unable to find out what "seventh wave" refers to.

Maybe you can add it to the wikipedia.

Thanks

I believe there is folklore in the surfing community that says that good waves come in cycles of sevens, to each seventh wave is a good one. But that's just my unreliable memory. DJ Clayworth 17:46, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Google-ing on "seventh wave" and "origin" I found a few references to that belief and one as follows:

Surrounded by water, it is not surprising that inhabitants of Ireland, Britain, Scotland and Wales considered water a boundary between this world and that. To go "beyond the seventh wave" was to disappear entirely.[15] JimD 02:49, 2004 Apr 24 (UTC)

I've heard of this as "The Ninth Wave" - via the Kate Bush album-side, supposedly from a poem by Tennyson - "Wave after wave, each mightier than the last/ Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep". This is also mentioned in Brewers. -- DrBob 06:59, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Finding a book whose title I can't remember

Hello,

I remember reading a book about a n older gentleman who was taken ill and traveld to a plave in Europe for rest. While he was there he "people watched" and landed his gaze on a beautiful young boy in his teens who was traveling with is aunt ot someone. This man spent all his time obsesing over this boy's beauty, and trying to come to terms with his own aging. Can you find the mname of the book and the author? I thought that Nietzsche wrote it, but when I looked up his titles, nothing rang a bell for me.

Can you help? Lisa Boerum ljboerum@yahoo.com

• Death in Venice by Thomas Mann. -- Nunh-huh 17:55, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Ancester-Mysliwa

I'd like to find information on the subject person. First name Julia-last name could be spelled Mysliwy, or Mysliwa

Charles Bed173@juno.com

Oh come on, give us a clue! We're surprisingly good at coming up with answers here, but give us something to go on — any particular time period in the last three thousand years or so of recorded history? Likely place? Did she do anything famous? Arwel 22:25, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Well, according to the section title, Julia's main claim to fame is being an ancestor of Charles. Likely time period? Perhaps 3-5 generations ago -- as far back as most people are just learning how to post a good genealogy query know their ancestry from oral tradition (at least he has collected two written samples of her name so far). Where? Judging from his American e-mail address and her eastern European surname, she most likely immigrated after 1880 or so since there wasn't much immigration from that region to the US before then. How's that for deduction? GUllman 00:42, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Not bad :) Still don't know anything about her though. I wonder if Wikipedians could find out anything about my great-grandfather John Jones (late 19th century, north Wales, where Jones is an extremely common surname and John was a highly popular first name)... Arwel 14:47, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

an elaborated version of the same question was added further down:

Gentlemen: I would appreciate any information you can provide or other link for subject name. The name could also be spelled Mysliwy. She left Galicia in 1910-1914 age 12,and came to the US. Her father had a glue factory(area unknown). She had three step-brothers same surname-first names unknown. sorry for the sketchy info. Thanks for any help you can provide. Charles Bed173@Juno,Com

Well, there's no Julia Mysliwy listed in the 1930 US Census (see [16], possibly married by then? The 1920 Census data requires registration), 3 J Mysliwy's found at [17], but I'm not going to register and possibly spend money there -- you'll have to do that! Try the Genealogytoday.com website -- Arwel 23:29, 25 Apr 2004 (UTC)

All I can add to this is that she's obviously Polish, at the time she emmigrated the area she lived in would be part of Austria-Hungary, her name is more likely to be Mysliwa as that name gets more Google results for Polish famale last names (tried using this in a phrase search together with common Polish first names,) and the actual spelling of the name in Polish would be "Myśliwa" (prounounced Mishleevah, or that's as close to the real pronounciation as you can get using english phonemes.) --Voodoo 20:53, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

¶ sic semper

Copied from the now-deleted article ¶ sic semper Dear all

May i ask you to help me ?

Where does the sentence "¶+sic+semper+tyrannis" appear?

I know the sentence is quite famous, but it is written somewhere prefixed by ¶

May I ask you for help

karluv@eresmas.com

Thank you

To the best of my knowledge, "¶" is just a mark sometimes used to set off paragraphs. The sentence "sic semper tyrannis" (Latin for "so always to tyrants") was most famously spoken by John Wilkes Booth moments after he shot Abraham Lincoln. -- Jmabel 21:46, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I realise it sounds stupid, but ¶ does look (very slightly) like a little handgun (barrel downward). Perhaps its a revolutionary rebus? -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:14, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

It's a sign - the revolution is starting! Who should we line up against the wall first? →Raul654 22:16, Apr 23, 2004 (UTC)

This is wikipedia - things don't work like that. We'll have a long argument about what to call the wall, a series of quickpolls to decide on who'll be shot and who'll do the shooting, and then the bullets will be slowly pushed into the most unpopular person. In the meantime, someone new will take the wall down and build a model of Barad-dûr with the bricks. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:23, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

On a somewhat arcane note, I believe "¶" is technically known as a pilcrow. - IMSoP 22:21, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Um, sic semper tyrannis is the state motto of Virginia. Booth was quoting it. RickK 23:55, 25 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Mary McGrory's 1975 P.P. article

from the pump

If anyone has a copy, please send to gil.garcia@ed.gov

Thanks

In case anyone was wondering, I think P.P. stands for Pulitzer Prize. This wasn't obvious to a non-American (me). Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 14:01, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

It's not obvious to this American, either. Kevin Saff 15:46, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Not obvious to me either... although I am curious as to why Pete thought that Americans as a group WOULD find it obvious... ;) --Dante Alighieri | Talk 17:39, Apr 22, 2004 (UTC)

Sorry didn't mean to be confusing. McGrory's recent death was quite well reported in the States, but not elsewhere. Even so, I guess it's still quite a poser - I had to look at her article to make the leap. The article also appears to give the answer to the original inquiry actually - she was awarded one of Prizes for a whole series of commentary articles about Watergate so it is not right to think of a specific article. Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 20:48, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Program guide

Alright folks, I've got a tough one. I'm trying to find somewhere (newspaper, internet site, by-request flyer, whatever) that regularly lists the program schedule for a local Spanish-language television station (Channel 14, Telefutura, out of Arlington, Virginia.) It's ok if it's in Spanish (in fact, it almost certainly will be,) I just need to know where to get it. I could use from the site's Spanish speakers. If you could actually find the info I'm looking for, that'd be great. Otherwise, if anybody knows the appropriate Spanish vocabulary for things like "television station" "channel" "program schedule" or whatever, that would help me in my own searches. Isomorphic 16:48, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Found it, and although I speak some Spanish, I didn't need to speak Spanish to find it. I found out by going to http://tv.yahoo.com and clicking on "TV listings" at the top, and when they asked for my ZIP code, I pretended it was 20007. (I had found out that that was a Zip code near Arlington.) I then went to the TV listings page, and the listings table contained a link to this page: http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvs&id=166053608&channels=us_WFDC&lineup=us_DMA511&.intl=us

I hope this is what you're looking for. LuckyWizard 22:22, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! Now that I see what you did, I feel silly that I didn't think of that, but then, that's what asking questions if for. Isomorphic 09:57, 25 Apr 2004 (UTC)

How many Wikipedia edits are there per day?

I'm working on a research paper, and have mentioned that the Wikipedia receives about 3,000 editorial changes/updates per day. I read it somewhere on the Wikipedia, but can't remember where. Can anybody direct me to the correct link so that I can cite my source appropriately?

Thanks!

--Lori 4/24/04

It varies, but it's not unusual to have 10-20 per minute.

Take a look at Special:Statistics too.  — Jrdioko (Talk) 03:26, Apr 25, 2004 (UTC)

According to wikistats - in March, there were 922,000 edits to all the language wikipedians combined, and 361,000 of those were to the english wikipedia. That's 30,000 edits per day to all of them combined, and 12,000 per day to the english wikipedia. →Raul654 03:28, Apr 25, 2004 (UTC)

One more site: Wikistats. Also, I'm not sure if you were asking about this but Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia has some information about citing the articles themselves. HTH  — Jrdioko (Talk) 03:31, Apr 25, 2004 (UTC)

Name of short story

I once read a short-story the plot of which is set at a dinner table having 2 (or more) families. The entire story is in direct speech (a monologue actually) by one of the ladies. As she keeps chattering, the reader gets to know the stories happening in the background of their lives. She is unaware that her husband was having an affair with the woman at the other side of the table, but the reader comes to know it before she does.

Expert piece of work, but I don't remember name of the story nor the author. Can someone help. Jay 22:00, 11 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Scheme issue

In Scheme, if I have an unnamed lambda function, how do I get that function to call itself?

For example:

(lambda (lst1 lst2)

(if (null? lst1) lst2

(name-of-lambda-function (cdr lst1) (adjoin-set (car lst1) lst2))))

In this case, name-of-lambda-function should refer to the lambda function itself. Basically, I need Scheme's equivalent of "this" in C++.

You will probably need to use a let or a let* to bind a variable to the function. You may need to use letrec to make the binding occur later. It's been quite a while since I've done scheme programming *sigh*, so I don't remember exactly.

This works in Common Lisp:

(let (foo)

(setq foo #'(lambda (x) (funcall foo x)))

I'm afraid I don't know Scheme in particular, but something of the sort ought to be doable. Just declare a variable before declaring the lambda function, then assign the function to the variable while at the same time calling it from within the lambda function. Diderot 11:47, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

In Scheme there is no funcall keyword. Just use the name of the function, or use apply to call a function with the components of a list as arguments.

French quotation

Would you have the name of the author of this quotation ('citation' in French): "Penser, rever, savoir,c'est tout là.?"

Or, where do I search for like proverbs in French?

Thank you very much.

vivelafrance@myexcel.com

Savoir, penser, rêver. Tout est là. - Victor Hugo, Océan prose Diderot 08:40, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Question RE: Wikipedia Article on Chakras

Dear Fellow Wikipedians,

I'm currently writing a paper for a comparative religions class I am taking. In the course of my research, I consulted the Wikipedia article on Chakras. The article stated that there is some evidence that the ancient Greeks as well as the Early Christians had systems of chakras. One external link attached to the article provided some good, but brief information on the subject. I'm looking for a list of books, magazines, websites or organizations that can shed some more light on the topic.

Regards, John Haun Email: Jhaun@nycap.rr.com

Short-toed eagles in Granada Spain

moved from Village pump by IMSoP 21:58, 25 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Hi,

Thanks for your site.

Could you please supply some information on Short-toed eagle breeding & migration habits. I live in Southern España (www.geocities.com/lecringranada/birdlist) and have become very interested in the local Eagle population. The Spanish Imperial has completely disappeared from our area. Over the last 5 years, due to changes in agriculture and hunting, I have seen the decline of Bonelli’s until last year we only recorded one in the valley. However, this seems to have increased the population of both Booted and Short-toed eagles and I would like to know how large a territory each pair will need. I have watched as the Short-toed have flown with snakes and indeed have located snakes which they have dropped in flight , the largest of which was over 5 foot long. Quite often the effort of flight with such weight forces them to rest in open ground giving wonderful observation opportunities. At the end of the last breeding season we watched a family of 4 Short-toed on many muscle building flights before migration. From this I thought (no doubt in error) they had reared 2 chicks. This year we have seen the return of a juvenile before the adults. We were expecting the adults to force it into a new breading area but this has not happened. My question is, did I see the same family grouping last year made up of a new chick, a juvenile from a previous year & the two adults because the text books say they only hatch one egg per year?

Thanking you in anticipation , Ken Sumner.

• Dear Ken, as main author of the Short-toed Eagle article I must admit that I am not so sure how many eggs they lay. So I'll look around for some more information. If you have any correct information that confirms that they lay more than one egg please change that information in the article.

Vanderesch 14:05, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Database dumps

I wanted to do some mining on Wikipedia data. I got the link Database download from Arvindn and downloaded the dumps. But, the dumps seem to have only two tables cur and old. I would want to have the complete schema replicated on my machine. Please direct me to where the information is available.

-- Sundar 05:40, Apr 26, 2004 (UTC)

As I understand it, the cur table holds all current revisions and the old table holds all the old revisions, so you have got all the data you need... or am I missing something? Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 11:50, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Pete/Pcb21, if we consider only the text of the articles, then these two tables suffice. But, I was looking for information like which page links to what page etc. which does not appear to be present in the dumps. If you have some time, please visit The Database schema.

-- Sundar 12:33, Apr 26, 2004 (UTC)

The link table isn't exported, but you can rebuild it yourself. In the maintainance directory in your mediawiki drop there is a script called "rebuildlinks.php" which builds it. It takes a long time to run (more than 2 days on my ram-poor desktop machine). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 17:51, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Actually the link table is exported, it's just hidden away in a secret location, namely http://download.wikimedia.org/archives/en/ . There are still a few tables which you won't find there. For instance the searchindex table is no longer kept up to date so you have to build your own anyway. And private data such as the user, watchlist and user_newtalk tables are not available. -- Tim Starling 00:27, Apr 27, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for the information, both of you. -- Sundar 08:56, Apr 27, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks

Gentlemen- Thanks for your help with locating info on Julia Mysliwy. I'll follow your suggestions and hope for the best. Congratulations on your site. Best of luck. Charles Bed173@Juno.Com-

More on Child Sacrifice?

In the Wikipedia entry on "child sacrifice", it states that "many religions" sacrificed children in order to ward off "chaos". Could someone point me to the source of this statement? I'd be curious to know what religions sacrificed children specifically, when and where, etc...

I don't know about "many". The most famous is Carthage, where the cult of Moloch required burning babies alive to maintain soil fertility and all. It's said that they got slack about this, but revived the custom when the Romans were attacking. On the other hand, all we know about the cult of Moloch (as far as I knw) is from its eenmies, both Roman and Hebrew; so perhaps one should apply some skepticism here. Dandrake 19:08, Apr 28, 2004 (UTC)

the beltway murders.

i worked as an xtra in the movie, see photograph 6 of 32. I am the guy in the plaid shirt and black jacket. I live in Canada and would love to obtain a copy of the movie. can you please help me. my email is davidwilliams@telus.net thank you

Mr. Williams, can you explain what website you think you're posting to? RickK 00:51, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Kumara - Purple Variety - Where?

Do you know where I can obtain the purple variety of KUMARA??

Regards; bluelytes@yahoo.com

For those who don't already know, it's a sweet potato. For bluelytes, how is anyone going to be able to answer your question when you haven't indicated where in the world you are? theresa knott 08:43, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Where can you get them? New Zealand. Sometimes at Sainsbury's in the UK, but not often. If you live in the States, you're probably SOL, although I'm told they grow a few in Hawaii now for the restaurants. Diderot 08:47, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Article about basic in Dutch

The translation of the 10 page article about basic in dutch results in a 4 page "summary" that is extremely inaccurate!! I vote for a new translation

This is a wiki: if you don't like it, edit it yourself. Furthermore, this is the English Wikipedia: try the Dutch Wikipedia instead. HTH HAND --Phil | Talk 10:27, Apr 27, 2004 (UTC)

And consider listing this on the Dutch version of Pages needing translation...- MGM 12:10, May 5, 2004 (UTC)

Crude oil refinement to diesel fuel on to gas

I am looking for a line drawing that shows the products as crude oil is refined. Do you have such a thing and can you send it to me. michael.majorana@gm.com

I've checked but we don't seem to have one.I will try and draw one and add it in. It'll take me a day or two. theresa knott 09:18, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

OK I've added the image here Image:Crude Oil Distillation.png and linked it to oil refinery. I need to add some explanation as well but I'll do it later. theresa knott 13:30, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

British soldier's grave.

British soldier's grave is buried at the top of the pass. What is the inscription on his tombstone? - (unsigned)

We really can't help much unless you give us some idea of [1] which British soldier, or [2] which pass? where is it? is it in some particular country?, etc. - Nunh-huh 22:21, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I just love these. Mark Richards 21:25, 1 May 2004 (UTC)

npr weekend edition

I heard a piece on NPR weekend edition where a caller asked for manners advice. The specific story I heard was about a teacher in Mississippi who was complaining about the grammar of the African-American students in her class. It seemed like a regular weekly segment, but I don't know the exact name and I would like to find a transcript. Can you help me?

See http://www.npr.org/transcripts/ is the place to start, but you'll have to pay for them. --Merovingian ↕ Talk 09:06, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

Lamas

On you begining paragraph for "Dalai Lama", you say that he is the most important religious leader in Tibetan Buddhism after the Penchen Lama. Then there is a link to "Penchem Lama", and the opening paragraph says that he is the second most important leader second to the Dalai Lama. Who is more important?

- :Huh. That's pretty funny. I don't myself know anything about Tibetan Buddhism, but I'll post your question on the Talk:Buddhism page, and someone may pick it up.कुक्कुरोवाच 21:22, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

It would be funny if that was intentional, in typical Zen fashion. WhiteDragon 12:57, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

Date of death of Kutuzov in 1813

The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica claims March 28, whereas most later online biographies claim April 28, including the current online concise EB [18]. In 1918 the Russian calendar advanced 13 days (from Julian to Gregorian), and was 12 days behind in the 19th century according to Russian Revolution. If anyone has more information, please add to Talk:Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. --Zigger 18:21, 2004 Apr 28 (UTC)

I think it's confirmed that it's April 28, see talk article.

Pradesh

What does "pradesh" mean, in stuff like Uttar Pradesh--state, land, country, county, etc? jengod 23:59, Apr 28, 2004 (UTC)

According to [19], Arunachal Pradesh means "Land of Rising Sun", so "land" would be my guess. - Lee (talk) 00:09, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Pradesh would mean an entity smaller than a desh. Desh stands for country, nation etc., so pradesh would be a state, district, etc. Jay 06:14, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Pradesh is similar to Province

Kishore

Prime Minister of Imperial China

According to http://www.worldstatesmen.org/China.html, the office of Prime Minister (宰相) only started in 1911. Before that, there were the Grand Secretaries. I thought there had been prime ministers for ages. What is "Grand Secretary" called in Chinese? --Jiang 00:28, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Perhaps 内阁大学士 ?

Main page news section

Am interested in knowing how (presumably) scripts pick up news information from Wikipedia articles and formats them nicely on the Main Page. Excuse me for being too lazy to look for the information myself. :p

-- Sundar 06:32, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

I think people do that. Dysprosia 09:09, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Yes, people do that. Stop being lazy! (That's my motivational speech for the day. Think I'm management material?) I went to the main page and clicked View Source. This showed that In the News comes from msg:In the news. So I put In the news in the search box and it brought up the appropriate page, which shows what's currently in the news, and then I looked at its Talk page for further information on the process. Took me about a minute (including slow load times) and I'm nearly world-famous for being lazy. If I can't make progress on finding an answer within a couple of minutes, then I ask. Elf | Talk 18:08, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for your advice, Elf.

-- Sundar 04:33, Apr 30, 2004 (UTC)

For what it's worth, everything on the main page is created by hand by an actual human. I do the featured article, Kingturtle and Jen do the new articles, several people do the In the News, and the Day in History is preprogrammed - IE, a human writes it beforehand and the computer updates it at midnight UTC to the next day. →Raul654 04:48, Apr 30, 2004 (UTC)

I dont know why it is worth mentioning or if most people know about this already, but Google News is completely automated. Chancemill 14:27, May 3, 2004 (UTC)

What words rhyme with 'wik'?

131.111.250.45 09:08, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

"Slick"?

"Dick"?

Sounds like a good job for a rhyming dictionary →Raul654 21:18, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

Dragonflies in Eastern Africa

Are there any species of dragonflies found in Eastern Africa, specifically Tanzania?

It would appear to be that " There are approximately 750 species of dragonfly in Africa" [20]. I have been unable to locate information relating to your specific questions, but may have another look tomorrow. -- Itai 22:59, 1 May 2004 (UTC)

Golf Scores

On PTI a few weeks ago, the hosts were impressed when 14-year old Soccer phenom Freddy Adu mentioned that he golfs in the low 80's. They seemed to take this number much like someone would say they bowl in the low 200s. I understand that that number refers to the strokes taken on an 18-hole golf course, but how can this be any sort of indicator of how good he is? Isn't the average number of strokes different on any course? Is there some way in which this number is regulated across golf courses? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 18:32, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

I went to the worlds leading expert on golf (my dad, a nutcase, plays golf every single day) and he informed me that you are quite right. the "par" of golf courses varies quite considerably from one course to another. Every golfer I know talks about handicaps, which are the average amount you go over par on a course. The lower the handicap the better the player, with "scratch" players having a handicap of zero. Come to think if it handicap is a stupid word for it, but that's what they call it. theresa knott 22:35, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

No idea about golf, but in some endeavours, handicaps are awarded to weaker players to allow players of differing skill levels to compete together on something like an equal footing. Obviously this doesn't mean that if I beat you with a handicap I am better than you, but it means that the game might be more interesting than if we know that you will thrash me every time. Mark Richards 21:28, 1 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm no expert on golf either, but I do know that while par varies a little from course to course, it doesn't usually stray too far from 72 - more than a shot or two either side of this is quite unusual, I believe. To quote golf: "Many 18-hole courses have approximately four par-three, ten par-four, and four par-five holes. The total par of a 18-hole course is usually around 72." --Camembert

Amusingly, that quote includes a minor grammatical error, which I've therefore just fixed on the article. Can you spot it without looking at my edit? - IMSoP 20:56, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

Easy-to-install wiki software with free links and versioning?

I'm looking to start a simple wiki for my own purposes, and I need to choose software to use. MediaWiki's install process is scary, and most of the simpler options lack the features I need (free links and version history). Wikipedia-like syntax would be nice, but not required. I would prefer PHP, or maybe Python/CGI; MySQL or flat files would both work.

Does such a thing exist? Thanks a lot. Eurleif 20:50, Apr 29, 2004 (UTC)

Well, if you haven't tried it, mediawiki really isn't as scary as it might at first appear (at least on windows). One really just runs four windows installers (apache, php, mysql, mediawiki) and twiddles two or three config files (a couple of lines in apache, and I think four or five in mediawiki's), all of which are fairly elementary (and pretty well documented). I think I did the whole thing in about half an hour (plus download time) the first time I tried. And I'm as thick as a plank :) -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:11, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

But to answer your actual question, see Wiki software and Ward'sWiki's list. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:47, 30 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I've personally had good success with MoinMoin http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/ and PHPWiki http://phpwiki.sourceforge.net/ Thunderbolt16 01:26, Apr 30, 2004 (UTC)

Do you have to run MediaWiki on your own server, or can it be set up on a webhost, if they have Apache, PHP and MySQL capabilities? Catherine - talk 04:54, 30 Apr 2004 (UTC)

You can run it on a hosted server. I believe there were some issues on hosted accounts which lack the root account on the MySQL, but I think those are fixed. And of course if you have virtual hosting there's no effective difference between that and a dedicated machine. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:06, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

Thanks Finlay! It'd be great if the m:MediaWiki User's Guide had step-by-step instructions for installing on a hosted account -- it would make the whole thing less intimidating for those who just want a wiki on their own little website... I'll go suggest it over there. Catherine - talk 20:59, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

blood group O recessive, thus dominant?

It is not clear to me why the blood group O is the more frequent around the world, when it is stated that either A or B alleles are codominant over i (O)allele.

Thanks. sleopoldo@tiscali.it

While the A and B alleles are codominant over i, the i allele is very common in many populations. Additionally, people with A or B blood can carry the i allele and pass it on to their children. As an example from real life, my grandfather had A blood, my grandmother has B, yet my mother is O, one of her sisters is A and the other is AB, so geneticly my grandfather was Ai, and my grandmother is Bi. For another example, blue eyes are recessive, yet lots of people have blue eyes because the blue eyed allele is very common in some populations. Gentgeen 10:31, 30 Apr 2004 (UTC)

PS: I found an article that discribes this better than I did above. Dominance relationship. -gent

Dominance relationship does help explain codominence, but the reason the blood group O is more frequent is a result of gene frequency rather than of dominance. The 'i' allele is much more frequent than the "A" and "B" alleles: that is, it all breaks down to allele frequency and the Hardy-Weinberg principle. For example, among the American white population, blood type frequency is 45% O, 41% A, 10% B, and 4% AB. From this it can be calculated that the frequency of the i allele is 67%, the frequency of the A allele is 26%, and the frequency of the B allele is 7%. So type O blood predominates because 67% of the alleles in the population are allele O. - Nunh-huh 07:37, 1 May 2004 (UTC)

Plastic bullets in NI

are rubber/plastic bullets still used in northern ireland?

May we have the circumstances for this question? Dieter Simon 23:40, 1 May 2004 (UTC)

Per Plastic bullet, rubber bullets were replaced by plastic bullets in 1975. I believe plastic bullets are still issued to riot police in northern ireland, but the circumstances in which they were used have (almost) disapeared. The plastic bullet page "in 1999 only 112 rounds were fired, compared to 8,300 in 1996", and that there hasn't been a PB related fatality since 1989 (which is both a reflection increased civil order in the province, and changes in police tactics when using PB rounds). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:48, 1 May 2004 (UTC)

Descendants of Cain?

Bible question - someone once tried to persuade me that (per biblical tradition) there were no surviving descendants of Cain, citing Noah as being descended only of Abel (and all postdilluvial humans being descended only of him). Neglecting the in-the-air provenance of 'er indoors (Naamah), does this theory, er, hold water (in a purely biblical sense)? -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 02:00, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

Well, this isn't my field, but I'm pretty sure that Genesis says that (a) only Noah and his sons and their wives went into the ark, and (b) that all flesh, including "every man", died in the flood except what was in the ark. This would indeed imply that all of humanity now alive is descended from Noah. (Making us really, really inbred, I suppose)

Obviously this contradicts the legend--where did it originate?--that Cain was doomed not to die, but that, as I understand it, has no particular biblical basis.कुक्कुरोवाच

Some popular (pulpy) stories like to explain vampires as being the "children of Cain", their doom indeed being not to die. This doesn't explain how they survived the great flood, but I suppose several months clinging to a log would explain their profound dislike of water :) -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 17:08, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

I've encountered related uses of the mythology. It doesn't hold water, I don't think, unless you can call them something other than flesh. Also, the original "children of Cain" (i.e., in some accounts, the nephilim), were definitely killed off in the flood, as that was the whole point of the flood.कुक्कुरोवाच 22:44, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

Thanks (I'd forgotten the nephilim). I can't seem to find a wikipedia article like Old testament family tree or Genesis family tree, which is rather surprising. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:28, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

You are being way too scientific! The Bible and Logic Based on Tangible Evidence? Not very hand-in-hand. --Menchi 00:28, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

That's why I said "in a purely biblical sense", hoping to sidestep discussions of out-of-africa hypotheses etc., while still entertaining tall tales of giants and vampires. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:38, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

At least you're making the Bible entertaining -- Something some priests fail to achieve with their numb audience.... But seriously, the Bible is so ingrained in the Western society, it is intransically linked with many elements of semi-secular folklore and culture. Quite intriguing these "pulpy" connections are. --Menchi 00:48, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

Genesis 4:15 says: '[The LORD said] "if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.'. and 4:17 'Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.'. So God prohibited Cain's family from taking vengenace on him, but did not say he would never die. Also Cain had descendants.

As to the question of whether Noah was descended from Abel only, Genesis 5 indicates that Noah is not descended from Abel at all, but from Adam's third son, Seth. DJ Clayworth 17:56, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

Noah may have been descended only from Abel, but is there anything that says his sons' wives (or Noah's wife, for that matter) were so "pure"? Or does the female bloodline not count in this discussion? Catherine - talk 21:18, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

The Noah article sheds much unlight on this: "Noah's wife is not named in the Bible; according to later Jewish traditions ... her name is Naamah". So the distaff line seems to be a "don't know". I dunno about the son's wives. DJ: thanks! -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:03, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

the science of whistling

Is whistling a voiced sound; that is, are the vocal folds vibrating during the production of a whistle? Please direct answers/comments to mari65@optonline.net. Thank you.

Whistling has nothing to do with the vocal folds; it's entirely labial. It is possible to whistle one note and hum (with the vocal folds) another - I can do this (I guess everyone can), although I don't (yet) have the ability to properly control the interval between the two notes. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 17:11, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

FDR's Four Policemen

                 02 May 2004 13:48 

Hello,

Firstly, I just want to say, I'm hooked on Wikipedia! It’s sad! But in a good way! Now, to the question. I'm a Poly Sci major at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) and I'm currently reading Henry Kissinger's Diplomacy and he makes reference to FDR's Four Policemen in Chapter 16. The Four Policemen is a term coined by FDR before D-Day that suggested that the US, UK, the Soviet Union and possibly China would be the only armed nations in the post WWII era that would restore and maintain peace, throughout Europe or so that’s what I get from it. I was wondering if any of you other learnt scholars could perhaps create a page about that, because I would like to learn more about this idea of the Four Policemen, and why it didn't work? Who gave up on it first? And why did Russia play for keeps, rather then simply liberating Eastern Europe. (Maybe I just answered my own question) So can someone make a page about the Four Policemen?

Thanks

Tony C. Anderson a.k.a. ConsensuOmnium

ConsensuOmnium@aol.com

Medals for Suez Canal Zone Veterans

imported from Village pump by IMSoP 18:40, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

It has been reported that there is significant delay in issuing these medals although I received mine without too much delay.

Why wait for applications? The M o D must have records of all those who served out there during the appropriate period. Army Navy RAF Records will also have such lists. Why not issue them based on these lists.? Many Veterans will have answered Roll Call elsewhere and their Descendants may not even be aware.

Maurice Scott ex 1 R Lincolns Mauricescott@Hotmail.com

science assignment - really need information fast!

[original submitter left no text]

Well, as an encyclopedia, this site is chock full of information, including plenty on Science, so you've come to the right place; but maybe you're after some specific information, in which case perhaps you could let us know what, and we may be able to point you in the right direction... - IMSoP 21:04, 2 May 2004 (UTC)

light bulb

I read the entry on light bulbs but still am confused about what makes the wattage of light bulbs different. For example, what is the difference in the light bulb between a 15 watt bulb and a 150 watt bulb that makes the 150 brighter? Is the filament thicker or does the bulb base reduce the voltage to it? Also if you drop a bulb, it often burns brighter for a short time before burning out. What causes that?

Let me try to answer that from a few things I remember from school :) A watt (the unit of power) by definition is unit Energy output per unit time. In electrical terms, that makes it 1 Volt Potential difference multiplied by 1 Ampere of Current. But Voltage/Resistance = Current. So, it becomes obvious that one cannot try to alter one quantity independent of the other two. But, on standard power supply lines, the voltage is practically maintained constant, by the huge capacity power grids which can pump in enough "energy" to compensate for any drop in the voltage due to commercial/domestic usage. So, in a constant voltage scenario, the only way to increase your power output is by increasing the current (by decreasing the resistance.)

When the power output increases, one needs to go for a compromise. In the absence of a suitable resisting medium, the excess power gets dissipated to the surroundings in the form of heat and also by raising the temperature of the carrying medium - which can in turn push the medium to higher energy levels and make it glow. The objective in a light bulb is to maximise the power output in the form of light. This also means that the substance that glows (in this case a filament) should be capable of withstanding the high temperature and glow without melting. This leads to a compromise which makes the best conductors of electricity (like silver and copper) unsuitable for the job, while others like Tungsten are better suited.

When we desire lesser luminosity, the power output desired is small and hence the resistance can be kept quite high, employing poorer conductors of electricity and/or substances, which are not capable of going beyond a particular luminosity without melting. The reverse holds good for bulbs, of which we expect higher luminosity. Note that I only mentioned "better" and "poorer" conductors here, because two filaments of the same substance can possess different resistances based on its thickness (the thicker the filament, the lower its resistance), and in most cases it is indeed the thickness of the filament coil that makes the difference. So, it is generally assumed that the wattage of the bulb has a direct bearing on the amount of power dissipated and the luminosity of the filament - all other factors considered equal. It is a complicated picture overall, where the wattage can only give a general idea of the luminoxity that can be expected of the bulb (more determinant in lower wattage operations, while at higher voltages wattage and luminosity are rarely in proportion) and can never pinpoint the exact behaviour of the bulb/luminosity under various circumstances (like the duress of the filament cause by voltage fluctuations, air pressure and the oxygen levels). Much of what I said may be crude/inaccurate, but I guess this is the big picture. Chancemill 13:54, May 3, 2004 (UTC)

Let me offer a shorter answer to the question. The wattage is set by the length and thickness of the filament. The are no extra components in the base to alter the voltage. -- Heron 14:21, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

About your second question, when you drop a bulb, it might develop a crack and allow air to get inside the previously vaccumised bulb. The oxygen in the air aids speedier combustion/oxidation of the filament (oxidation reactions are generally exothermic - they give out energy) which perhaps causes the bulb to glow a bit brighter than normal. However, oxides of almost all the metals possess lower melting points and strengths and hence go crack! Chancemill 14:13, May 3, 2004 (UTC)

original name of China

Why China is also known as zhong guo (mandarin pronunciation) ie.Middle Why its people were also called Hua ren? China was known as shen zhou or the God's Land, and why does this change and when was it changed. Thank you. --Anon

The answers can be found in China in world languages + Chinese. Shenzhou is not an original name, it is just a nickname. It is still in use in literary occasions. It was never changed. --Menchi 08:29, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

There's a bit more non-NPOV to the story than the Wikipedia article has. China is "中國" (Zhongguo) because in the days of the old Empire, China's official ideology was very ego-centric. They believed that China was the centre of the world, thus theirs was the "Middle Kingdom". I've never heard of China being called "神洲" (Shenzhou), but then, my Chinese sucks pretty hard so I probably wouldn't have. Diderot 19:04, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

Economic track time

Sir,

I am a keen researcher on economic matters of current day relevance. Presently, I am working on a subject i.e. Economic track time, which essentially mean the effective time taken for the movement of logistics from one place to another and its implication on national economy.

Please refer to educative articles on the subject and if possible, a communication to my e-mail raktimdutta@rediffmail.com

Do you mean Time and Motion Studies? --bodnotbod 16:54, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

Prostitution and singing

I was reading the article of the day on prostitution and it mentioned in some cultures prostitutes where the only women allowed to sing publicly. I was wondering what cultures (and what time periods) these were.

Speaking of cousins

I generally have difficulty in comprehending what people mean when they speak of cousins (especially the nth removed jargon). The article on Family says -

Two persons who share a grandparent are "first cousins" (one degree of collaterality); if they share a great-grandparent they are "second cousins" (two degrees of collaterality) and so on. If the shared ancestor is the grandparent of one individual and the great-grandparent of the other, the individuals are said to be "first cousins once removed"

My question - If my grandparent is the great-grandparent of another, will that make us first cousins once removed (from my perspective) or second cousins once removed (from the others perspective)? How did this phrase come into common parlance? Around where I live, regardless of the "removal factor" - the elder is usually considered an uncle or an aunt to the younger person. And while we are at it, is there a "once added" clause too :) ? Chancemill 07:16, May 4, 2004 (UTC)

To quickly answer the first and last of those questions, you are both "first cousin once removed" to each other. If the other person had a child, that child would then be your "first cousin twice removed". The "... removed" part of the terminology uses the word "remove" not as the opposite of "add": it's a technical term in Genealogy describing the number of generations between two people: if you drew up a family tree where each member appeared as high up as possible (given that some people might appear more than once because cousins may be married) people "twice removed" would appear two rows apart. HTH HAND --Phil | Talk 12:42, May 4, 2004 (UTC)

On "aunt" and "uncle"--commonly used affectionately for any close adult, usually but not always related to the child because we have no other term for it. My mom's cousin was always "aunt" to us; our great-aunts we also called "aunt"; close family friend of parents who was around a lot and maybe took kids places & did special treats and so on also "aunt". Elf | Talk 23:24, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

And just to further clarify Phil's excellent answer - regarding removed: you are only ever "removed" in one direction - that is, your second cousin's parent is seen as "one step down from a first cousin" never "one step up from a second cousin" - so they will be a "first cousin once removed" to you just as you are to them. - IMSoP 10:35, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Thanks everybody :) Chancemill 12:42, May 5, 2004 (UTC)

Towns in Bohemia

Do you have a source for the names of Towns, Villages etc. in Bohemia in the years 1905-1906?

Operation Overlord

What was the name of proposed British plan to build a pontoon airfield off the French coast for use in Operation Overlord?

How many of the 92 early warning stations were put out of action in the NEPTUNE area of Operation Overlord?

I've never heard of the pontoon airfield plan, and it seems an unlikely one given the immense logistical effort involved and the fact that it would, according to expectation, only be needed for a few days until an airfield was captured or built on land. If the Allies had really wanted air support closer than the British coast they had aircraft carriers available.

The second question is much easier. I don't have the exact figures but the answer is 'most'. I believe there were virtually no German radar stations left working in the Normandy area, resulting in a low in-air casualty rate for the airborne assault. However a few were left working in the Pas de Calais so that they would pick up large fleet of aircraft specifically sent there as a decoy. I think I got that from Keegan's "The Second World War". DJ Clayworth 16:49, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Washington State Name

I heard somewhere that Washington (the state, I mean) was originally going to be called "Colombia" or "Columbia" or something like that. Is this true?

If you look at Washington Territory, you'll see that you're exactly right! :-) Richard Stanton was the one who proposed "Washington" as a name. Jwrosenzweig 22:39, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

That's fairly ironic, considering Washington, DC stands for District of Columbia :-) --WhiteDragon 15:19, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Rare Beatle Recording

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been trying to track down an extremely rare (in 24 years I haven't found one person, Beatlemanic and or whomever that has ever heard of it?) recording done by a Belgian Pianist around 1979/1980/1981 of various Beatle Songs (this is all intrumental Piano) done up in the style of the Great Composers.

ie; Obladi-Obblada was performed by this Pianist as if he were interpreting a composition written by Mozart and so on. A Day in the Life was performed as if Rahmaninoff had written it and so on. This pianist covered Chopin/Bach/Shubert and most of the biggies?

I can't for the life of me remember his name? My father bought it for me as a Christmas present around 1980 I think? He purchased it through at that time what was called: "The Book of them Month Club" which at that point was also offering various LP's for sale.

I have never come across it anywhere? I have never seen any reference to it in even the foggiest details and I have been searching for 20 years. I lent it to a musician friend back in '82 and never got it back. Naturally, I lost track of him and have not been able to locate him either.

I would pay handsomely to find a copy of the LP (better yet on CD?) and or Cassette.

If you have any info on this and or could direct me to an internet url or what have you that might provide any clues what-so-ever, I would be grateful. Better yet, I would like to buy a copy, albeit from you and or one of your connections.

Thank You.

Sincerely,

Kip Long e-mail elangroup@hotmail.com 516-690-1206

I may be way off, but this sounds a lot to me like Richard Clayderman. I have no idea if he's Belgian, but I know he's from Western/Central Europe, and my recollection is that he did albums like this for a number of years. Hope this helps. Jwrosenzweig 07:17, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Clayderman is French. --Auximines 09:41, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Alternatively, how about the details of the musician friend, we could try to track them down! Mark Richards 01:08, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm emailing my brother about this. We had a record of similar description in our house many years ago, I just looked for it, but it wasn't there. The cover of the vinyl LP was a painting, possibly airbrushed, of - presumably - the pianist sitting at his piano. Eleanor Rigby was one of the tracks. I didn't used to play it much cos the cover scared me as a child. I'm pretty sure Bach is in the title. But I'll report back when my brother answers my email. --bodnotbod 15:14, May 6, 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia Talk and Google

Moved to Wikipedia:Help desk#Wikipedia Talk and Google - the Reference desk is for factual/encyclopedic information, the help desk is for Wikipedia-specific/technical information. - IMSoP 17:28, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

Bridget Riley Questions

To Wikipedia: I read your text about Bridget Riley, and I had a couple of questions for you. 1. Which of Bridget Riley's art pieces would you believe to be her masterpiece? Why? 2. How is Bridget Riley important to modern day life, and how has she effected the course of art and culture? Thank You.

1) the one with all the zigzag lines 2) having personally experienced a Riley-exhibition induced migraine, I can attest that her works surely have a future as non-lethal weapons for riot control or crushing political dissent. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 03:39, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

In case you have missed the point here, your questions sound awfully like a request to write a homework essay. We're not here to do your homework for you. --136.186.1.116 05:58, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

---

Thatcher?: 'any man who finds himself on a bus at the age of 26 can account himself a failure'

I have come across this quote, at least twice at different sources, but wonder if the attribution to Thatcher is correct? -- Kaihsu 09:26, 2004 May 5 (UTC)

Google returns one hit for the quote, attributed to That cher. Anárion 09:44, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.

The attribution is correct. She said it in 1986.

Mrs Thatcher was a snide conservative. Seems to me there is another word for her attitude, one that rhymes with "itchy", but it eludes me for the moment. (I am over the age of 26 and ride the bus to work, so I may perhaps be a bit POV.)

If you need an attribution, you can find it in refered to in the UK Hansard [21] on 2 July 2003 by Mr. Don Foster, MP for Bath. The exact time and place of the original speech I have not been able to identify, but my guess is that it is in the 1986 Hansards, which are not online. Diderot 09:49, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

I have made a tinyurl out of the above link: http://tinyurl.com/2dwcq and will add her quote to Wikiquote. I hope to eventually locate the Hansard source (1986). -- Kaihsu 09:59, 2004 May 5 (UTC)

---

Lindi and Malindi

(from Village pump)

Dear Ms/Sir

Is Lindi the new name of the ancient city of Malindi in Tazania?

Some one had said that Malindi is the name of three ancient cities located in Kenya, Tazania and South Africa. Is this true?

Malindi has been mentioned in Zhenghe's navigation chart as the last port of call in East africa.

kk Tan

Venomous snakes

To my fellow Wikipedians, I'm researching a piece of fiction and stumbled upon a problem. I need to find info on a venomous snake, its venom highly neurotoxic to humans, causing death in about 5 seconds (preventing someone from making a quick defensive move). The catch is: this particular snake needs to handled by a skilled herpetologist and temporarily put in a briefcase - so its size is limited. Also, I'd like the signs of poisoning to be minimal, besides the bite marks. I have no clie where to start. Can anyone point me to some relevant info?

Rest assured, I'm not intending to handle snakes or use them to kill someone. - MGM 12:24, May 5, 2004 (UTC)

I don't know very much about snakes but I believe that even the most dangerous kill with in hours rather the seconds. (well they kill their prey much more quickly but a rat is a lot smaller than a man) I don't know of any snake that can kill within seconds. What about man made poisions. There are plenty, I think many of the cyanide typew compounds would work. theresa knott 13:34, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

In Kill Bill, author Quentin Tarantino uses a black mamba for this purpose. It is the fastest moving land snake, and has fairly fast-acting venom. (in the movie the speed was perhaps slightly unrealistic, but hey, it's fiction) -Anon

Yes poetic licence is a wonderful thing. According to this web site at U of C San diego 30 - 120 minutes is a more realistic timing. theresa knott 19:47, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Well, in the movie, it could have been that much time. Half an hour is certainly within the time frame of the movie. Two hours might be stretching a bit. --WhiteDragon 14:59, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Perhaps this explains why real assassins rarely use poisonous insects, venomous spiders, sawmill blades, runaway trains, burning ropes suspending heavy objects, or teenage japanese girls with katanas, but stick instead to a prosaic diet of bombs, rockets, and particularly guns. The "mercenary" manual for the ancient Traveller role-playing game gave sage advice in killing people. Despite technological innovations, it said, the easiest way to kill someone is to inject their body with a large amount of kinetic energy, ideally imparted by a large chunk of metal moving at speed. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:00, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

The fierce snake produces the most toxic venom of any snake. LD-50 is 0.025 mg/kg [22]. Trouble is, there are no recorded deaths. All recorded bites to date have been snake handlers, who generally have some anti-venom handy. [23] The Black Mamba venom has a toxicity of 0.32 mg/kg. Unfortunately readily-available toxicity data isn't particularly closely related to kill time. Hydrogen cyanide, when injested, has a toxicity of about 1 mg/kg, but kills much faster than snake venom. Perhaps you should pick some exotic snake that nobody has ever heard of, and claim it kills in 5s. -- Tim Starling 02:20, May 6, 2004 (UTC)

Are we decided on snakes? I think there are types of sea creatures that are more poisonous - what about the Blue-ringed Octopus, or the Pufferfish? Mark Richards 03:12, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

Hmmm, for some reason whenever people talk about poisonous animals, the discussion turns to Australian native wildlife. Blue-ringed octopuses aren't particularly dangerous, they take many hours to kill and even then I don't think they kill 100% of people. Pufferfish aren't really dangerous unless you eat them. No, if you wanted a truly dangerous poisonous sea creature, the obvious choice would be the Box jellyfish. They can kill in half an hour or so, fast enough that the victim might not be able to get medical attention. -- Tim Starling 01:56, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

• Please keep discussing, your ideas so far have been great...- MGM 19:38, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

I just remembered some information about snake bites that I learnt in school. In most cases, the snake venom is not injected directly into a blood vessel. Instead it's picked up by the lymphatic system. Unlike the circulatory system, material is moved by a ratchet effect, with help from gravity and muscle movement. The huge majority of snake bites are to a limb. Applying a pressure bandage to the affected limb, immobilising it with a splint or similar, and keeping the patient still can slow progression of symptoms by a large factor. I heard on the weekend about someone dying from a Black Mamba bite in a couple of minutes, because he sprinted away to get help. If the snake bit a person and by chance struck an artery, and the person had a very high heart rate at the time, perhaps death could occur in seconds. -- Tim Starling 02:31, May 10, 2004 (UTC)

Join venture 100-yen shop in Bangladesh

Hello! Last November03 I've visited some of the 100-yen shop Japan.I'm really interested to establish such type shop in Bangladesh. In this regard, I hope to get your assistance.Your experiance can guide our footsteps.I'm looking forward.Thank you. Major Rahman Bangladesh

I think you may be in the wrong place. We are an encyclopedia and have no money. DJ Clayworth 17:07, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Who knows though, there may well be people here with experience that can guide this gentleman's steps. Mark Richards 18:48, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

A name change would be a start. But I can't seem to determine how many Bangladeshi Paisas are in 100 yen (or vice versa). This venture sounds like what we in Britain call "Pound Shops" - everything within the shop costs £1 and stock consists of piles of buckets, rickety picture frames and gaudy plastic ornaments. --bodnotbod 20:18, May 5, 2004 (UTC)

Well, a brief look seems to show that 100 Japanese Yen = approx 56 Bangladeshi Taka, which would make the equivalent a '56-Taka Shop'. Of course, I'm not sure what the buying power of the Taka is in Bangladesh - it might be wise to set the value either higher or lower depending on the relative cost of living / earnings. Perhaps this is what Major Rahman needs advice on? Mark Richards 00:29, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

Some of you may be amused (or dismayed) to hear that in Romania they are "dollar stores", based on the value of the U.S. dollar. The Romanian leu is too volatile to provide a useful denomination for this purpose. -- Jmabel 01:45, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

...So does Israel....heaven knows why, as the currency is fairly stabel...I guess theres just nothing to sold for a shekel, and it sounds better than 4.3 shekel shop...I remember before the Euro, in the Netherlands I knew both of a couple 5 gulden shops, and few 2.5 ones....I always thought that was funny for some reason...Datepalm17 18:47, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Interesting, that may be a good approach for Major Rahman. A quick and crude estimate (Bangladesh's per capita GDP is 1,800USD, Japan's is 28,700USD), I calculate that a 6 Taka shop might be more appropriate - it's possible (although I don't know) that there is a 5 Taka note or coin, which might make a more convenient value. Bear in mind that there is 40% unemployment in Bangladesh, so a low value is probably better than a high. Best wishes, Mark Richards 15:30, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

Indeed there are 5 Taka notes here for a picture! I think we're in business - all we need now is to know how to write 'Everything for five Taka' in Bangladeshi, and we're away! Mark Richards 23:33, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

I think this would be the place to ask about translation - Bengali Wikipedia, but I can't read their main page to know where to ask... Mark Richards 19:45, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia Talk and Google (2nd Post)

I've merged this with the question it was a continuation of - please just edit a section to continue a discussion, rather than starting a new one. I've then moved the whole discussion to Wikipedia:Help desk#Wikipedia Talk and Google, as this page is for finding facts, whereas that one is for asking about Wikipedia itself. - IMSoP 17:33, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia Languages

I would like to know how many languages the Wikipedia articles are available in and which ones they are.

Check the "other languages" links at the bottom of every page theresa knott 20:02, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Since all the translations are done manually, it depends on the article in question. You can also see a list of languages an article is available in at the top of the page.. - MGM 22:39, May 5, 2004 (UTC)

Lect

In sociolinguistics, what is a lect?

"any variety of a language: family lect, village lect, etc." [24] -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:58, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

How do I refrence this website if I need to use it as a source for a research project?

anon

see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia - IMSoP 17:19, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

Sorted list meta tag

I feel we should extend the Wikilanguage to include a meta tag for specifying that a section is going to be a lexically sorted list, so that in whatever order Wikipedians add entries to the list, the list will always be rendered in a lexically sorted order.

I don't know if this is the right forum to ask this question.

Sundar 06:31, May 6, 2004 (UTC)

Of course it isn't. You're not even asking a question. Put it here. And make sure nobody else has already listed it or similar. --bodnotbod 15:44, May 6, 2004 (UTC)

I'd have been a bit more polite than that, but yes, that's the best place for this kind of dicussion. I also think that feature would be a bit magic and unwikilike, but that's just my opinion - the main problem would be dealing with the formatting of the list, which would vary from article to article. Once I'm not officially too busy, I intend to offer my services using Perl to sort lists that are badly out of order, and other similar jobs that are easier for a computer than a human. - IMSoP 17:13, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

definition of "dramatic programming" ?

Hi, could someone familiar with entertainment industry terms give a short definition of dramatic programming? (as used in BBC World Service for example, we stumbled over it while trying to translate that entry into German.) I understand that it is sort of an umbrella term for comedy, sports, sitcoms, movies...? thanks, High on a tree 13:46, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm not British, the definition may be a bit different at the Beeb, but I would define it as programming produced from a teleplay - e.g., there was a script, a director, and actors playing parts. This excludes sports, news, reality TV programs, award shows, stand-up comedy... that sort of thing. There is, to my mind, a strong implication of work commissioned for television, or at the limit theatre films being broadcast on TV. I would include sitcoms but not variety programs like Saturday Night Live or The Man Show, even though they are scripted and have actors. The sense I have is that dramatic programming ought to have a dramatis personae, along with a plot and a denouement.

However, there could be regional difference. This term is not often heard in America. Diderot 14:24, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

'programming' in BBC speak just means the making of programmes. 'dramatic programming' would be the making of programmes that are 'drama'. Drama shows (almost) are always scripted and fictional (so sports, news, reality and game shows are not drama). Drama is usually used in radio and TV to mean 'serious' or 'not comedy'. So a sitcom is not usually considered 'drama'. However it isn't a unniversal rule; a production of a classic play would normally be 'drama', even if it is funny. Miniseries are often 'drama' even if they are comedies. And some organisations may consider sitcoms 'drama'; it depends.

In the US I believe there is a very simple guideline - half hour shows are comedies; one hour shoows are dramas. But that's just hearsay or maybe common usage. DJ Clayworth 14:52, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm British. Diderot is right. At the BBC there is a job description Head of Drama (various posts throughout the regions). Instead, maybe, of trying to condense Diderot's reply - which is hardly short - perhaps you could red link it and someone else can make an article later on? Alternatively Google BBC "Head of Drama" to explore this topic. --bodnotbod 15:52, May 6, 2004 (UTC)

thanks for your replies! I googled a bit further (1920 hits for "dramatic programming"). Most hits seem to be for Canadian TV, there is a mandatory v-chip program rating system there which defines among other categories drama programming: dramatic series and soap operas, made-for-television movies, comedy series. That is in accord with Diderot's definition. Btw I'm not sure it is an official BBC term. Also, the article BBC World Service uses it in a radio (not TV) context: In addition (to news broadcasts), the World Service provides educational, dramatic, and sports programming.. regards, High on a tree 16:20, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

I'll write a stub. -- Jmabel 19:08, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

exact size of DVD-R

The DVD-R article gives the capacity of DVD-R media as the commonly reported 4.7GB. Does anyone know the exact size in bytes? I want to burn an ISO 9660 filesystem with one file on it. What is the largest file size I can use?

thanks, WhiteDragon 18:05, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

(not really answering your question directly) I dunno about the actual size of the disk (if it's anything like CD then it's horribly variable) but if you _really_ want to squeeze the max from it, don't burn a filesystem at all - just burn the file you want directly to the disk. The only way to read it back would be with dd, but you'd save some (rather trivial) amount of filesystem space. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:55, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

tuberculosis

Anyone know about the derivation of the word tuberculosis? And about old children songs that include disease?

"tuberculosis" means roughly "tubercle-disease". A tubercle is a tuber-like little lesion on the lung tissue, which the disease causes. It's called that because it looks a bit like a tuber. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:41, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

urgh. Well, "tuber" in latin is, I believe, "a lump". So really it means "lump-disease". -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:46, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

• Tuberculosis is so named because of the "tubercles" (bumps or nodules) it causes (specifically the nodules of greyish matter (characterized as caseating necrosis) in diseased lungs). The word originated in the Latin tuber, meaning a bump or swelling. When first used (in English, about 1860) tuberculosis could mean any disease characterized by the formation of tubercles. Since the discovery by Robert Koch in 1882 of the tubercle-bacillus it is restricted to diseases caused by it. -- Nunh-huh 23:48, 6 May 2004 (UTC)

• I can't think of any British children's songs about tuberculosis, not that I'm claiming there is any special reason I should know them, or that it's my field. You may be thinking of (what I call) Ring o' ring 'o roses - documented there in a number of different forms quite different to those I sang as a child and, apparently, NOT related to the black plague as I've thought for many years. How disillusioning this knowledge business can be. I quite liked the idea a song I sang at school had sinister origins. --bodnotbod 12:54, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

Who were the romans and what were their effects on modern life?

from the pump

P.S. this won't be a huge rabling on commentary article, unlike the title! Please participate in this discussion! ==

So we all know who the ROmans were, but what is their relevancy to modern day technology and life? They certainly were interesting folk, letting the most part of their P.O.W.s actually become citizens of their empire, which lasted over 2000 years!!!! The aqueducs are another sign of their ingenuity and originality. So, what do YOU know about the Romans, who influenced our life today? Where would we be without them? Comments, please!

This might be somewhat more appropriate on a page about the Romans? Mark Richards 01:59, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

• BBC - What the Romans Did For Us - knock yerself out ;o) --bodnotbod 12:58, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

• Try also: http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/brian-09.htm :) Adam Bishop 05:00, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

Semantax and Layering

In linguistics, what do the terms semantax and layering mean?

Semantics (if that is what you meant) is the study of meaning. I'm not too sure about layering, but you may want to check out the series of articles related to linguistics. -- Wapcaplet 04:09, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Try a Google search on "Semantic layering" (over 500 hits), include the quote marks. Here's the top hit. It's all greek to me. --bodnotbod 13:01, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

So why isn't it Columbia?

I was here a while ago and asked if it was true that Washington was originally going to be called Columbia. Someone answered yes, that is was true. Okay. So why didn't they name it Columbia? Did they give in to someone who wanted to name it Washington? Did they think that it might be confused with the District of Columbia? What? --SMWhat 04:53, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

It wasn't Washington they were going to call Columbia, it was the USA that people were proposing to give that name to. The District of Columbia was to be the US capital territory, containing the city of Washington. Compare to the contrast between Mexico City and México Distrito Federal or between Brussels and Brussel Hoofdstedelijk Gewest.

They didn't name the USA Columbia (which is probably for the best, it would be awfully confusing for Columbia to import cocaine from Columbia :^), but the name of the District of Columbia went unchanged. Diderot

I'm talking about Washington state. --SMWhat 00:44, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

As the person who initially answered the question (and a native of the state of Washington, born and bred in Seattle), I'll offer what I know here. There is a story (which I believe is at least semi-apocryphal) that they wanted to avoid confusion with the District of Columbia. Obviously this only makes sense if we assume people referred to DC by its full name at the time, rather than as "Washington" or "Washington DC". I think it likelier that there was widespread sentiment to honor George Washington (by the 1850s, they must have realized how hard it was to find a good president, no offense intended to Millard Fillmore and the rest) with a state, and that the new territory offered a possibility. I am sure there are books that go into this in more depth, but I have no idea what they are. Jwrosenzweig 16:08, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

Is Vietnam Part of Pacific ?

Is Vietnam Part of Pacific ?

Hi!

I would like to know whether Vietnam is still part of the Pacific? I read in one of your articles that:

Seventeen independent states are located in the Pacific: Australia, Fiji, Japan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Republic of China (Taiwan), Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Eleven of these nations have achieved full independence since 1960. The Northern Mariana Islands are self-governing with external affairs handled by the United States, and Cook Islands and Niue are in similar relationships with New Zealand. Also within the Pacific are the U.S. state of Hawaii and several island territories and possessions of Australia, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

If Vietnam is not part of the Pacific, where does Vietnam belong to?

Thanks, Gale

Looks to me like those are all island states. They are in the Pacific - e.g., surrounded by water. Vietnam is not an island, ergo, it is merely on the Pacific. Diderot 10:55, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

I would like to know whether Vietnam is still part of the Pacific? - I think it would be a hell of a task trying to move it. ;o) --bodnotbod 13:04, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

I always thought Vietnam belongs to Asia. At least, that's what I'm told in school. --Zinnmann 13:50, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Here's how the CIA World Factbook describes it's location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia [25] --bodnotbod 17:08, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

pounds 10?

Hi,

why do we write '£10' but say ten 'pounds' ie why do write the symbol for pounds before the amount and then say the opposite? Thank you michelle

Good question. I don't know. But it's interesting to note that units of measurement (ie 10mm, 10m etc) and weight (10lbs) go after. I hope someone knows the answer. --bodnotbod 16:48, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

And this is by no means universal for currency, either. Consider the US Cent symbol (¢).

But interestingly not the US dollar symobl - $10. '£10', but 10p for ten pence. I can't explain it... Mark Richards 18:38, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

I'll take a guess that the convention came about so that if someone with sloppy handwriting wrote $10 or 10¢, people could tell whether the squiggle with a vertical line through it was a $ or ¢ by whether it came before or after the number. 4.22.114.34 21:37, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Good work 4.22.114.34: If you have the symbol for smaller denominations on the right, then it's intuitive to put the larger denomination on the left. Otherwise you'd have the possibility of things like 200.55$c or 178.34£p. Sort of.--bodnotbod 01:36, May 8, 2004 (UTC)

On the other hand, the Portuguese escudo was written as e.g. 200$, and in the days when they still had centavos, 200$50. -- Arwel 09:52, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

Ah, yes - I hadn't considered the symbol going in the middle. --bodnotbod 12:46, May 8, 2004 (UTC)

What Rhymes with "Julia"

I'm writing a Clerihew for a friend of mine. What rhymes with "Julia"? Right now I have "fool ya", but i'm trying not to be too insulting... - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:29, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

Julio, like Julio Iglesias. Its not perfect, but close enough. Sam Spade 20:43, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Rhyme Dictionary. --Menchi 20:45, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

The rhyming dictionary provides gibberish words; when you click on them, it says that they're not real. Can anyone think of any real words? If not, two words that make sense? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:49, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

Does she have another name? Mark Richards 21:39, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Since you are rhyming a name have you considered using another name? Tia Carerra comes to mind. What is the sentence you are rhyming? Think of Mambo #5. - Tεxτurε 21:45, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

I presume this is some bizarre courtship ritual? ;) Mark Richards 21:46, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Actually- I have to give a toast at her wedding rehearsal dinner. I thought a funny poem would be good, but I just can't rhyme her name.

the rymezone link given above by Menchi is rather useful. If you search for words ending in lia it lists 209. such as Thulia, Sterculia & Hyperdulia.Scraggy4 21:47, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Yes, 'Black Maria', 'North Korea', 'Diego Garcia', 'pizzeria', 'tortilla' ! Mark Richards 21:53, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

abulia, Apulia... - Nunh-huh 23:23, 7 May 2004 (UTC)

Ummm, Sterculia, Thulia, Hyperdulia, and Apulia all seem like gibberish to me still. I would prefer something more accessible (as the audience will be pretty wide). I think that "peculiar" is the closest I've seen to a decent rhyme that is still a recognizable word. Keep in mind that he rhyme doesn't have to be spot on (as is the nature of Clerihews), but it should be somewhat clever. Anybody else have any ideas? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 03:01, May 8, 2004 (UTC)

Well, there is a perfectly good Spanish word (occasionally used in English-language contexts): "tertulia", a type of social gathering, usually of intellectuals or artists. -- Jmabel 04:50, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

You mentioned fool ya. In a similar vein, and in keeping with your request for pleasing a broad audience: at school ya..., in a swimming pool ya..., you're so cool, ya... make me wanna drool, ya blah blah blah - which wasn't like you at all, ya.... Lots of that sort of thing would get you out of a hole, I think. --bodnotbod 12:52, May 8, 2004 (UTC)

taken from Talk:Abu Ghraib (prison)

photo CD request...if anyone got this CD with the 1000 or so photos, i'll pay to acquire it. Please contact me (xah@xahlee.org). The photos will be used for documentation purpose. Xah Lee P0lyglut 22:41, 2004 May 6 (UTC)

Who Was Karl Josef Weinmair(1906-1944)?

from the Pump

Who was Karl Josef Weinmair? He did some sketchings that have political cartoon-like qualities. I am interested in detailed biographical information.

Sabbath days

I today learned from the Sabbath entry, all about the split between Christians and Jews over whether Saturday or Sunday should be the day of rest/Lord's day etc which had been something about which I'd often wondered, but it doesn't explain how the Muslims ended up with Friday. As I understand it, Islam and Judaism come from the same cultural background with Abraham and the rest, so can anyone explain the divergence in the choice of the day of rest between those two religions? adamsan 21:34, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

It's not quite as simple as "Christians vs. Jews". Seventh Day Adventists (and the far less numerous Seventh Day Baptists) have their Sabbath on Saturday. -- Jmabel 23:20, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

Islamic days run from sunrise to sunrise; Jewish days run from sunset to sunset. Islamic Fridays and Jewish Saturdays actually overlap. In general, I don't think Muslims consider Friday a "Sabbath". - Nunh-huh 23:26, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

OK, I've now looked at the entry on Shabbat which asserts that the Muslim day of rest is 'based on Shabbat' but on a Friday. It doesn't explain further however. adamsan 08:05, 9 May 2004 (UTC)

Astronomical midnight

How does one calculate the astronomical midnight for any given location? I don't know of any strict definition for astronomical midnight, but one might suppose that is when the sun is closest to nadir. arj 10:28, 9 May 2004 (UTC)

This is a subject I know nothing about, but I've Googled the term and this seems as though it might be fertile reading for someone who uderstands this stuff: Moon Data. It's broken English, but if you know the terms used it may be useful. The first few Google hits are unenlightening so this would make an EXCELLENT article if we get enough info to create - at least - a stub. --bodnotbod 15:43, May 9, 2004 (UTC)

Historical Infinitive

My dictionary defines historical infinitive as "the present infinitive used with a subject nominative as a finite verb in place of a past indicative." I know what each of those words means individually, but I can't conceive of how this construction would be used. Could you provide an example?

"Historical infinitive"? Not "historical indicative"? -- Jmabel 02:10, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

Google gives some examples in Latin and Greek. This page also suggests that it was used as a replacement for the imperfect indicative by some classical authors. I'm not sure English supports it but I would suggest (with plenty of commas to aid the context): "I, to flee, (appeared indecorous)' in place of 'I was fleeing (which appeared indecorous)'. adamsan 08:39, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

Historical Infinitive

My dictionary defines historical infinitive as "the present infinitive used with a subject nominative as a finite verb in place of a past indicative." Although I know what each of those words means individually, I can't conceive of how this construction would be used. Could you provide an example?

Degradation of Uracil to Cytosine

Where can I find more information regarding this, in the context of the stability of RNA compared to that of DNA? EB doesn't mention this in their article about Uracil, and neither does Little Alberts. taion 09:24, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

"Distilling Potassium and Sodium"--when Philo Farnsworth did it a fire broke out on contact with water?

b's'd Greetings.

I read in a biography of Philo T. Farnsworth that he "distilled potassium and sodium", and moisture seeped in and started a fire.

Could somebody please explain the procedure, and what is accomplished by it, how a fire could result, and how the fire could be put out if not with water?

Many thanks.

Elise Teitelbaum eliseteitelbaum@yahoo.com

I don't know how they "distil potassium and sodium" but I'm not surprised that a fire resulted if moisture got into contact with it -- metallic sodium and potassium are extremely reactive with water; one of the highlights of my school chemistry lessons was seeing my chemistry teacher drop a small piece of sodium into an open container of water to demonstrate exactly how reactive it it -- the metal literally explodes across the surface of the water. The metals are usually stored in oil. -- Arwel 10:00, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

I'll never forget teaching practice with a group of 13 year old kids. The protecol is a piece the size of a grain of rice - Everyone ignores that. I put it a bit of potassium the size of a small split pea. It looked very pretty skidding around on the surface of the water with it's lilac flame. Then I made the error of allowing the kids to egg me on "go on miss, put a bigger bit in". I put in a piece the size of a cherry. It exploded with a huge bang, spraying water everywhere. The potassium shot up and hit the ceiling, leaving a burn mark, then fell back onto the bench leaving another burn mark. Fortunately we were all behind a safety screen, and wearing goggles. The pupils thought it was great, but I had to swear them all to secrecy, the lab was brand new. If you want to see what happens when you put a really big but of sodium in water see sodium party (broadband only the movie files are huge). theresa knott 10:33, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

That's a wonderful site! My story of accidentally redecorating the school chemistry lab involved heating some substance in a test tube which we were supposed to agitate rapidly. Unfortunately I didn't agitate it quite enough, so it went "whoof!" and produced a pretty circular pattern on the ceiling which was still there when I left four years later.... Arwel 13:02, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

It's nice to leave your mark on the place, and carving your name in a tree is so unexciting. theresa knott 13:24, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

Donkey Kong Entry

In your "Donkey Kong" entry you state that the "Donkey Kong" character from the videogame "Donkey Kong Country" is generally associated with Donkey Kong Jr., not the original Donkey Kong. However, if you read the INSTRUCTION MANUAL to the "Donkey Kong Country" game, you will find that the character "Cranky Kong" was the original Donkey Kong who "fought Mario in many of his own games". It also clearly states that Cranky Kong is the new Donkey Kong's grandfather. This means that the Donkey Kong from the "Donkey Kong Country" game is actually Donkey Kong III, son of Donkey Kong Jr., and grandson of the original Donkey Kong (now called Cranky Kong).

Peace.

Italic text

Well get stuck in and set the record straight! I'd always thought the original Donkey Kong was a mistranslation of Monkey Kong adamsan 15:29, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

No, it's not as simple as that. I've read the origin in a book I have, but I can't rmember what it was now. --bodnotbod 17:44, May 10, 2004 (UTC)

Becoming a fashion designer

Hi,I am a student at Pattengill Middle School and we're doing a project on what we are planning to be when we get older.I,out of many students want to be a fashion designer.I would like to know how does one become a fashion designer,and what is expected of the employee or the designer? I would trully appreciate if you would write back.

Sincerely,

Felisha P.

Well, it's a very difficult business to get into. You would probably need to go to college to study design, though I suppose you might become an apprentice to a taylor or dressmaker and learn like that. Either way you need to know the materials you will be working with very well. Then you'd need a flair for design. You need to come up with things that other people want to buy. I think most colleges have showcases of their students best work, where you can show off your designs. One of the big fashion houses may like what they see and employ you. Alternatively, you can start your own business. You'd need to rent a shop (very expensive!) and produce some goods to stock the shop with. If people like your designs and if your goods are well made, you could have plenty of customers and become rich and famous. On the other hand, you could struggle for years never making any money at all.

I hope this helps a bit, and best wishes theresa knott 14:48, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

If you have a local university or college have a look to see if they have a website with an Art & Design Department. You should look at, what we in Britain call, a prospectus. This will tell you what qualifications you need to get onto the course you want to take. At any rate, you will be wanting to improve your drawing - so be sure to take classes at school which will teach you such skills. Which country are you in? Which area? If you don't mind telling us we may be able to track down local education institutions and link to relevant information. See also Fashion design --bodnotbod 17:53, May 10, 2004 (UTC)

What's the difference between allenes and cumulated dienes?

What's the difference between allenes and cumulated dienes? From the description, it looks like they're the same thing. Anyone know enough chemistry to clear this one up? I ask because diene seems to be poorly worded. (See talk:diene.) Grendelkhan 13:58, 2004 May 10 (UTC)

Flowers

Hello, I've got three unidentified flowers here. Please inform me on my talk page if you know the name of at least one of them.

Thank you in advance, --webkid 15:30, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

The middle one is a passion flower. theresa knott 15:37, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

The flowers:

File:Unidentified Flower 01.jpg File:Unidentified Flower 03.jpg

Mediterranean Sea

Many years ago, I read an (illustrated) article about the formation of the Mediterranean Sea. There was a large illustration of the falls which fell over the (now called) Straits of Magellan. Can you direct me to a similar article about the formation of this sea? Thank you very much.

The Straits of Magellan are near Cape Horn, do you mean the Straits of Gibraltar? Try Googling for that and 'waterfall' adamsan 16:46, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

What are the citizenship requirements?

What are the citizenship requirements for taking a seat in the US House of Representatives?

The requirement, as I understand it, is that one must be a U.S. citizen for seven years prior to taking office -- see [26] Article 1, Section 2, Clause 2. :-) Was this all you needed? Jwrosenzweig 20:03, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

What are the various levels of drawings associated with the manufacturing process?

I understand that a Level 4 drawing depicts jigs and fixtures that facilitate ease, accuracy, consistency and efficiency in manufacturing. Please tell me what all the levels of drawings for an item to be manufactured are.

Thank you.

what are the references that you have about the article on Hitler

Anon

If this is for citation purposes, see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. If you want to know where the info came from, why not look at the page's history and ask some of the contributors directly on their Talk pages? If you want to know about books on Hitler, there is a whole section at the bottom of his article devoted to books about him. Jwrosenzweig 22:04, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

Contoid

A contoid, according to Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged on CD-ROM, v3, is "a speech sound of a phonetic rather than phonemic classification that includes most sounds traditionally treated as consonants and that excludes those (as English \y\, \w\, \r\, and \h\) which like vowels are characterized by the escape of air from the mouth over the center of the tongue without oral friction". I have looked up phonetic above to find out what it means, but to no avail: the dictionary does not define it in a way that it would make sense in the above use. What does phonetic mean here?

Maybe you should try following the trail from Wikipedia: contoid (or the List of phonetics topics). Phonetic here means in relation to phones - the use of phones in a language, as phonemics relates to phonemes. -- Jim Regan 00:45, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

Hindu astrology: Shifting to a new house

Dear Panditji

I have been visiting your site since last month everyday, I find it an extremely useful source of Vaastu which helps a lot of people in learning the real science behind vaastu which other sites dont even mention about. Your site is THE BEST SITE i have come across.

Panditji I have a question to ask you. We live in Dubai and planning to shift from a rented house to a rented villa, currently the villa work is going on, its a new villa its a north-east entrance, it would take another 20 days to complete atleast. My question to you is would it be wise to shift to the new house on May 24. Is it a good month as well as a good day? Is the Shukra weak at this point in time.

If 24th May isnt good month would it be advisable to stay on the 19th of may in the house for a night and cook a little and some back to the old house and then shift once the work is complete. if not 19th of may which other day would you advise.

We are in Jewellery business which involve sale of gold and diamonds. As diamonds relate to Shukra we donnot want to shift to the new house if it isnt good. Please advise, we would really appreciate if you can give us your advise.

Awaiting for your reply

Thank you very much. Regards Heemanshu Waya

Hmm...this seems to be a question about Hindu astrology. That's all the help I can provide.--Samuel J. Howard 03:02, May 11, 2004 (UTC)

Norman Ritchie

I am looking for biographical information on a cartoonist named Norman Ritchie AKA William Norman Ritchie. Mr Ritchie was a Canadian born in 1865 or 67 and died 1948 He created cartoons for the Boston Post in its hey-day, 1901 to 1940. One source I consulted has 800 of his original cartoons but no biographical information. Thank you for any information or direction to an authoritative source. Paul Liebold pliebold@earthlink.net

DVD Recorder and Player

When playing a DVD recently the DVD would hesitate momentarily occaisionally. I noticed that it said on the cover that double layering could cause the DVD to hestitate. Do you know why it happens and is there anything I can do to stop it? My machine also records and the same thing occours when playing DVDs I have recorded on both my machine and others, both R and RW. Thanks for your help.

When the DVD laser has to go from layer 1 to layer 2 it needs to momentarily reset itself, which causes a slight hesitation. There is no way to prevent this (except NOT using double layering), but some players have caching of a sorts which bypasses this. Anárion 10:18, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

Snakes

How to idenify snakes in Michigan?

Joan of Kent

I am researching the life of Joan of Kent. Where did you get the exact date of her birth from please?Thank you. Penny.lawne@btinternet.com

King Umberto I of Italy and Olive Trees

I am trying to find out if King Umberto I of Italy prohibited the felling of olive trees on Italian land. What year was the law and does it still exist today?

Thank you

King Umberto I of Italy and Olive Trees

I am trying to find out if King Umberto I of Italy prohibited the felling of olive trees on Italian land. What year was the law and does it still exist today?

Thank you