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)

List of Church of Ireland dioceses -- Jim Regan 21:13, 11 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)

• Excellent for the minority view is Petr (sic) Beckmann's A History of π, if you can find it: chapter 5 is titled "The Roman Pest". A flavor: "Rome was not the first state of organized gangsterdom, nor was it the last, but it was the only one that managed to bamboozle posterity into an almost universal admiration. Few rational men admire the Huns, the Nazis or the Soviets; but for centuries, schoolboys have been expected to read Julius Caesar's militaristic drivel and Cato's revolting incitements to war. They have been led to to believe that the Romans had attained an advanced level in the sciences, the arts, law, architecture, engineering and everything else....What the Romans excelled in was bullying, bludgeoning, butchering and bloodbaths. Like the Soviet Empire, the Roman Empire enslaved peoples whose cultural level was far above their own. They not only ruthlessly vandalied their countries, but they also looted them, stealing their art treasure, abducting their scientists and copying their technical know-how, which the Romans' barren society was rarely able to improve on. No wonder, then, that Rome was filled with great works of art. But the light of culture which Rome is supposed to have emanated was a borrowed light: borrowed from the Greeks and the other peoples that the Roman militarists had enslaved." Well worth reading just for the prose style. - Nunh-huh 22:09, 13 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 [1] --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)

Interesting question. i wondered about that myself. german might be interesting too look at, as things changed here, at least according to my own perception: In old, pre-WW2 documents, one always reads, say "10 M" ("M" for "Reichsmark"), and also in post-war Germany, "10 DM", "10,00 DM" or (often) "10,-- DM". But then, on most forms, where you were supposed to fill in an amount, it is written "DM ______". While most people continue to write the currency symbol on the right-hand side, its on the left in most documents like invoices etc. With the Euro now, it's similar. Maybe somebody German who's a bit older than me could comment? Sanders muc 14:27, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

In Spain we write the currency symbol at the end as well: 1000 pts, 6,00 €, 6 €, and AFAIK it's the same in France. I wonder if it's a convention used only in the English-speaking countries. It's quite an interesting question, that's for sure ;) Sabbut 17:04, 25 May 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)

The obvious definition would be: the point in time exactly in the middle of two consecutive passings of the sun through the meridian (astronomy). The passing of the sun through the meridium is by definition 12:00 noon local solar time and hence midnight 12:00 a.m. (or 0^h00^min, as astronomers like to write times) local solar time. To calculate from UTC to local solar time, do the following: Add (24h/360^o=) 4 minutes per degree of longitude to get your mean local time and then change to actual solar time by adding a correcting value that gives you the difference between actual and mean solar time as function of the calendar date. This correcting value is given in tables and known as Equation of time (see there for details). HTH. Sanders muc 14:36, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

No, there's another more obvious definition. The sun rises in the east, reaches its peak altitude when it crosses the meridian (due south) at astronomical noon, and then sets in the west. But the next morning, it's back in the east again... how did it get there? Well, it must have crossed the meridian a second time, in the opposite direction, on its way back... except that happened invisibly "underground", and it was a due-north "meridian". Reverse north and south for in the previous if you're in the southern hemisphere. The underground, "northern meridian" crossing would be the moment of astronomical midnight, when the Sun is closest to the nadir.

So astronomical midnight would not necessarily be exactly halfway between two occurrences of astronomical noon, for the same reason that two occurrences of astronomical noon are not exactly 24 hours apart, due to the difference between actual and mean solar time, which is the difference between a sundial and a clock (see Equation of time).

-- Curps 17:02, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Of course, your way of phrasing it is more precise. I realized the imprecission myself but was to lazy to reword. So, to keep it succinct, let's define: Midnight is the time of the lower culmination of the sun.

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)

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)

Damn, my science teacher was boring enough to take us outside to do those demonstrations, though there was a rumour around that students at a neighbouring school stole the jar from the science lab and threw it into a toilet. (AFAIR, they heard the same rumour about my school). -- Jim Regan 20:02, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

Total land area.

Brief and to the point sir. I understand from this site that it is around 150,000,000 square kilometres

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)

I seem to recall hearing that "Donkey" was used because the person who named the game didn't speak English as a native language and thought it meant "stubborn". Actually, the Donkey Kong entry confirms this. LuckyWizard 05:08, 16 May 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)

Will respond on talk:diene. Gentgeen 10:37, 14 May 2004 (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 first one looks like an Iris to me. Thunderbolt16 22:11, May 12, 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)

Are you sure you're not thinking about the formation of the Bosporus (Black Sea) some thousands of years ago? I've never heard about a waterfall in the Straits of Gibraltar, and from what little I know I doubt there ever was one. --Smack 23:36, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

According to Flood#Significant_prehistorical_floods and Deluge (mythology), both the Bosporus and the Straits of Gibraltar were the host of immense ancient waterfalls. LuckyWizard 05:14, 16 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 [2] 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)

Wikipedia, as you may have noticed, doesn't provide references for each and every edit - there are too many contributors, relying on far too many resources. Thus, there really isn't any way other than those mentioned by Jwrosenzweig. -- Itai 16:55, 23 May 2004 (UTC)

were is the publisher

Could you elaborate a little? Do you mean 'who is responsible for "publishing" Wikipedia?' Mark Richards 16:33, 11 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?

You could start by describing the snake you want to identify, if possible with a photograph, on the Talk:Snake page. ;) Mark Richards 16:35, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

Or put "Michigan Snakes" into Google and write an article (240 hits w/ parenthesis; 72,400 without) --Neonstarlight 03:52, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

Or go to Wikibooks:Dichotomous Key:Reptilia, but the snake part isn't there yet, so again, you'd need to follow Neonstarlight's instructions and help that project. Gentgeen 01:10, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

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

You can check to see the edit history of the article, and find out who added that information. It appears to have been Deb - you could ask her where she got it. Mark Richards 16:39, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

I have asked Deb. Mark Richards 16:43, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

I got it from my usual source for such data - Alison Weir's very useful reference book, "Britain's Royal Families", which I find well laid out and generally reliable. However, I'm afraid I don't know which of the hundreds of sources she quotes originally provided it. Deb 21:01, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

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

Better bound on Cayley's theorem?

Cayley's theorem says that a group G with n elements is isomorphic to some subgroup of S(n), the group of permutations of n elements. However, there might also be m < n such that G is isomorphic to S(m). For example, C₆, the cyclic group on 6 elements, is isomorphic to the subgroup of S(5) generated by the permutation (1 2)(3 4 5).

What is known about the lower bound on possible values of m?

Weight on Other Planets

From the Help Desk Many years ago I was told, say a pound of matter, here on Earth ,would wight many more pounds on a bigger planit , If this is so, what effect would landing on a bigger planit have on us. Can we land on a big planit?

paul te groen salem oregon ptegroen@earthlink.net

(I hope you dont mind me asking this ? on this page no one ever says anything about this so Id like to know)

Of course we don't mind you asking! I've checked and we don't seem to have an article that answers this question, so we need to think about adding this info in somewhere. Probable here I suppose

Anyway to answer your question. You certainly do have a different weight on other planets. For example on Jupiter you would weigh more than twice as much. Now since no one has ever actually been to Jupiter we can't know for sure, but the closest thing we have done here on Earth is subject pilots to "G forces" when the execute sharp turns. How much G force a pilot can take depends on their physical makeup, with shorter stockily built pilots fairing better than tall ones (women generally do better than me because they are shorter) but sooner or later the heart has trouble pumping the "heavier" blood up to the head. This starves the head of oxygen and the pilot "blacks out". So for very massive planets, i don't think we could ever land on themtheresa knott 09:07, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

Also, Jupiter doesn't have a solid surface to stand on. The "surface" you see is just the top of the clouds, even though this is the place for which the gravitational pull is calculated. If you dive into the planet, the atmospheric pressure increases until the hydrogen gas becomes a liquid, and possibly solid at the core, but this would be a very unpleasant place to stand. The Earth is the largest planet in our solar system with a solid surface to stand on. GUllman 20:51, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

I have added a simple table / list on weight with each of the planets, but don't actually know what a kilo mass weighs on each one - could someone go and fill it in, and perhaps link from planet? Thanks, Mark Richards 20:12, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

Well a kilo weighs 9.81N on Earth so it seems to be me that all we have to do is multiply all the numbers by 9.81 to get the weights. (I'll do it later in order to give people the chance to correct me if my reasoning is wrong) theresa knott 11:37, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

When people talk about their "weight", what they actually mean is their mass (in kg or lbs.), which is what they measure when they step on a scale. You don't have to multiply all the numbers in the table by 9.8 to get newtons because all the numbers would be proportional to each other -- so they can be dimensionless numbers. Just label the column "multiply by this number to get your weight on other planets", with Earth=1.0, and they'll get the right number whether they're measuring in kg or newtons. GUllman 19:36, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

On the contrary, a scale usually measures weight, not mass. To measure mass, one uses a balance. Your mass in kilograms is the same on every planet; your weight (in newtons or pounds) is not.

Well, I think that people know their mass on other planets, that should stay the same, it was their weight they were interested in. Mark Richards 19:14, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

painting whitehouse

how often is the whitehouse painted, how much paint is needed.

According to this_site, the White House was painted 42 times during its first 200 years, and then 20 years ago, those 42 layers of paint were removed so that the surface could be restored and painted again. According to this_site, it takes 570 gallons of paint to cover the exterior of the building. GUllman 22:43, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Word for drama within drama

Is there a word which would cover a play within a play (eg Midsumer Nights Dream), Tv-shows-within TV-shows (eg the Simpsons and Itchy and Scratchy), Framing stories as dramatic techniques, radio shows that have radio shows within them etc etc? This is about trying to rename and edit Show-within-a-show to talk generally about the dramatic techniques, and not just about its use on TV. Thanks! Mark Richards 15:18, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

Hmmmm, metadrama is the closest I can come (or perhaps metafiction), but I don't think it's quite narrow enough -- it seems to encompass more than simply the show-within-show device. Perhaps you've a good dictionary handy (I don't) to look at definitions of those words, especially metadrama? Good luck! Jwrosenzweig 16:35, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

"play within a play" is as close an accepted phrase as I'm aware exists, even when the outer work isn't technically a play. Not that it's proof of much, but that phrase gets a stalwart 10,900 googles, "metadrama" a grovelling 678, and "drama within a drama" a positively no-soup-for-you 86. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:15, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

I initially thought 'frame tale', but according to that article, that's something rather different. An example that you could try to search for is the murder play in Act III (right?) of Hamlet.

Wikipedia mailing list

I think it'd be a really cool feature (and so easy to set up) to have a mailing list in which a random Wikipedia page (like the featured ones on the frontpage, for example) was posted plaintext or html to the subscribers once a day. Almost like dictionary.com's word of the day system. Only better :)

I think many people would be interested in this. Hell, I'd do it myself, but I don't think it'd be as a good as it would as a wikimedia supported service.

Yes indeed. This idea has been moved several times (whether it's a random page, the main page's article of the day, a most-requested page, etc.). The forthcoming version of the software will support RSS (and I think ATOM) syndication, which could also be used. I think the reason we don't have this now is simply that no-one has gotten around to writing the (probably very modestly sized) chunk of code that would be needed to bridge mediawiki page into majordomo. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:32, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

Or more likely - to be somewhat pedantic - bridge it into GNU Mailman, which seems to have essentially superseded majordomo. - IMSoP 14:08, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Where to find "Top Ten Hits" of a particular week in a particular year

In the 1960's record stores would publish the "top ten hits" of the week. I am trying to find some from 1965 and 1966 and 1967. If anybody can help me find these items, I would be greatful.

C. Keeley dkeeley@erols.com

Which chart, in which country? I can find fair amount of UK chart data if that's any good. --Auximines 11:33, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Or try 1966 in music and related pages. --bodnotbod 16:39, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

'IY' in Middle East

I was looking at a map made by the UN, which has a region in between Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia that's labelled "IY". What does that stand for? Surely not some Japanese long-haired anime guy. --Menchi 11:19, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Can you direct us to the map? Mark Richards 15:55, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

It's not online. --Menchi 21:55, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

A guess (only a guess) would be that the land you refer to was the infamous disputed "neutral zone", which all three nations laid claim to part of for the longest time. I have no idea why "IY" would designate it. But if you look at older maps of that region, you'll always see one or two diamond shaped "neutral zones" along the border. HTH. Jwrosenzweig 17:05, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Why "older maps" only? --Menchi 21:55, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Older maps only, because the Neutral Zone was partitioned and divided between the surrounding countries in a series of secret treaties sometime in the 70s or 80s, I believe. For a while, some maps persisted in displaying the NZs because the exact provisions of the treaties were not public, but that practice seems to have ceased (whether because the treaties are now public, or because we've settled on our best guess, I do not know). Jwrosenzweig 16:27, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

IY is for Iraq-Saudi Arabian Neutral Zone [3] but don't ask me what the "Y" stands for, maybe they couldn't find another letter. -- Edcolins 21:37, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Yes, you must be right. --Menchi 21:55, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Bev Bevan's date of birth

Does anybody know for certain the date of birth of Bev Bevan (drummer for Electric Light Orchestra)? Different sources seem to have different dates. Thanks. --Auximines 11:30, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

For certain? - I think you'll have to email his mother ;o) --bodnotbod 15:37, May 19, 2004 (UTC)

CHICAGO FIRE

IS THERE ANYONE THAT WOULD KNOW ABOUT THE RUINS FROM THE CHICAGO FIRE? WHAT KINDS OF THINGS WERE FOUND? I HAVE FOUND ALOT OF JEWELRY, MILK BOTTLES, OTHER BOTTLES, TRINKETS...WOULD THEY BE OF ANY VALUE

It's hard to know whether the items you have found have any value, which fire are you talking about? Do you know how old the items you have are? What sort of condition are they in? Mark Richards 21:25, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Probably the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. LuckyWizard 05:17, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Old Covered Spring House.

I am trying to find out information about the Old Covered Spring House that is located in the Fort Bennett Park in Arlington, Virginia. I would like to find a picture of it and have a little information about the history of it.

Thank you Stephen Hosmer sh34g@nih.gov

Differences between Malayalam and Tamil

What are the differences between Malayalam and Tamil?

I speak Tamil (natively) and Telugu but not Malayalam.

That's too little to ask and too much to answer. They are obviously two different languages, though they have common roots. Malayalam is believed to have developed from a dialect of Tamil called Koduntamil or Malaithamil (literally Tamil of the mountains), spoken by the people around the hilly ranges bordering Kerala and Tamil Nadu states. But like other Dravidian languages, and unlike Tamil, it has borrowed heavily from the Brahmic script. Unlike Tamil, it has conjunct consonants and aspirated and voiced stops. For example, it has four gutturals, four nasals and so on (each pronounced with varying degrees of stress.) Malayalam is believed to have matured sometime around 16th century as a distinct language with the advent of people like Thunjathu Ezhuthachan (who incidentally authored Narayaneeyam - the ballad sung in praise of Vishnu in his 10 avatars. It is more influenced by Sanskrit than any other Dravidian language. Malayalam is the only language in the world apart from Tamil to share the retroflex rzh sound. (Marathi coming close with the hard la). That's as much as I can say from my limited knowledge. Chancemill 17:00, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

Loch and lough

Is there a difference between a loch and a lough? -- Edcolins 21:21, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

I think that both reffer to a long narrow inland body of water, but that loch is Scotish while Lough is Irish. Mark Richards 21:27, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Then there is a mistake in the lough article? --Edcolins 21:34, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Both simply refer to a nontrivial body of water. There's no restriction on the shape (Loch Lomond is a big wobbly triangle), and they don't have to be inland - Loch Fyne, for example, is a salty inlet of the sea (it's a fjord). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:51, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Interesting - can you throw any light on whether they are the same word in different languages? Mark Richards 21:53, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Scots Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are very closely related languages and have lots of similar words. Scots, by contrast, is a germanic language that's pretty similar to english, fresian, and lower-saxon (and utterly unlike the gaelic). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 22:15, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Possibly, although I wouldn't swear to it! Mark Richards 21:37, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Is Nessie to be found into the Lough Ness? (Lough Ness returns 162 items at Google...) -- Edcolins 21:41, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure it's just a language issue, there is no difference in meaning. I'd go ahead and make the change if I were you! Mark Richards 21:48, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Indeed. It's the same word in scots gaelic and irish gaelic, but the two are transliterated slightly differently. There are no loughs in scotland, and only one lake (it's a long story). Loch is used in scotland and generally in northern ireland, although Lough is used by some there too (I suspect for political reasons). Nessie is (or isn't) in Loch Ness. Lough should be a redirect to a (slightly expanded) loch. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:59, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Scottish Loch = Irish Lough = English lake. Simple as that. --Auximines 11:16, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Not so simple since lochs and loughs can be "large fjord-like inlets" while lakes cannot... --Edcolins 21:15, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Another Random British Peerage Quetsion

If someone is named, say, John Crypt, and he receives a life peerage, he'd be known as John Crypt, Baron Crypt of London. When I link to his name, should I link John Crypt, Baron Crypt of London or Lord London? I prefer the latter, but just making sure. cryptfiend64 01:36, May 14, 2004 (UTC)

• I'd put it in John Crypt and mention his titles in the lead section of the article. If his titles are more commonly known, make a redirect to John Crypt from those pages. - MGM 11:34, May 14, 2004 (UTC)

From Wikipedia:Naming conventions (names and titles)#Other Non-royal names, guideline #5 reads:

• Life peers (ie, people who have peerages awarded exclusively for their lifetime but who neither inherit it nor pass it on to anyone else)1 are generally mentioned by their personal name not title, because among other reasons a life peerage is often awarded at the end of a career, while the individual holding them may be far more widely known though their personal name, so use George Robertson, not Lord Robertson.

Gentgeen 11:52, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

I think the question was about how the link should appear rather than the title of the article it linked to. Clearly it depends on the article and the context. If in the midst of a sentence you want to refer to Lord Woolf, then refer to "Lord Woolf". In a list of Lord Chief Justices, however, it would be preferable to have "Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf", or whatever his full name and title is. 81.153.42.54 00:49, 23 May 2004 (UTC)

Phrase Marker

According to my dictionary, a phrase marker is "a representation of the immediate constituent structure of a linguistic construction." Could you provide an example? Would a phrase marker for the sentence "I gave the bird a seed" be divided into subject/predicate; verb phrases and noun phrases; subject, indirect object, and direct object; or what? Perhaps my first guess is the most likely, as I believe the immediate constituents of the sentence to be [I] [gave the bird a seed].

According to generative grammar (and confirmed by a Google search), a phrase marker is a diagram representing the structure of a sentence. So I think your dictionary is wrong to say "immediate". Gdr 16:18, 2004 May 14 (UTC)

help with 1940s chair

i am looking for an image of what a stackable wooden chair may look like! i have to recreate an 1940s village hall for the school i work at and its proving impossiable. where they wooden with metal legs maybe?

let me know on mooneykatie@hotmail.com

I can remember them from the 1950s. Our elementary school would set up obviously aged wooden chairs in the gymnasium for assemblies, cub scout and PTA meetings. I can describe them but can't find a picture. The chairs, including legs, were almost entirely wooden (with metal hardware of course). All the wooden pieces were flat or rectangular, so that there was little or no curvature of the back or seat. The seat folded down, pulling the front legs out. You had to be careful not to pinch your fingers. They were almost completely flat when folded, so they were stackable on a wheeled flat cart. They felt uncomfortably hard to a child's bottom. Good luck. Alteripse 17:36, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Bad smell in Cellar/ Impregnation of concrete

I've talked to someone who used some sort of chemical to stop the walls of their concrete cellar of crumbling 5 years ago. However, they have problems with a bad smell in this cellar. Could this come from the chemical and hwo would such a chemical smell?

Also when would the smell be worst. In a moist or dry environment?

Sincerely, MGM 11:38, May 14, 2004 (UTC)

Could you identify the chemcal? and what does the cellar smell like. How long after the application of the chemical did the small start? The easy answer is "yes, the chemical could be related to the smell", but with more information we might get a better answer. When it would be worst is dependant on the chemical, though when it's hot should be worse than when it's cold. Gentgeen 11:58, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

How old is the concrete? While, obviously, speculating on the structure of your cellar is foolishness on stilts, I am sceptical about the value of chemical treatment of old and crumbling concrete. Depending on how bad the spalling (crumbling) is, you should certainly investigate physically reinforcing it. Mark Richards 15:26, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

It occurs to me that this chemical may be a layer of sealant that was put on to stop moisture getting at the concrete. Not that that helps your question, of course... Mark Richards 18:16, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

The chemical in question is an unknown. It was meant to stop particles from the wall coming off. (It worked). The smell itself can be described as 'spicy', 'sharp' and 'solvent-like' (i.e. terpentine). Could a combination of stored food and cleaning products be the cause maybe? MGM 07:14, May 18, 2004 (UTC)

Richard Farina / Fariña ?

Before I go off writing stubs with the wrong names, is the correct name of the 60s folk performer (and Joan Baez' brother-in-law and Thomas Pynchon's college roommate) Richard Farina or Richard Fariña? "Farina" (no eñe) is, I believe, Italian for "flour" (whereas neither farina for fariña appear in my spanish dictionary at all) - but I belive Richard was of half-cuban descent. Does anyone know (by which I mean knowledge beyond what can be inconclusively derived from googling) which is correct ? -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:39, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

He was Richard Fariña. Among other things, that is how it is spelled on his copyrighted songs. And I'm guessing that you know that his wife Mimi was the former Mimi Baez, sister of Joan Baez... -- Jmabel 00:04, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

Japanese negotiations near end of WW2

Where can I read about the Japanese negotiations with Russia and the US near the end of WW2? I've scanned the WW2 and History of Japan articles, but couldn't find it.

Analagous to Americana?

Are there any other concepts like Americana that pertain specifically to other countries? Complete the analogy-- America:Americana::Britain:? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 15:24, May 14, 2004 (UTC)

Well, I've certainly heard of Canadiana. It tends to include both things that are very Canadian (the Tragically Hip, poutine) and sometimes it's a sortof derogatory word for a collection of merchandise (maple syrup, stuffed-toy beavers, that kind of thing.) moink 15:29, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Maybe a word like Americana had to be created because there was no equivalent word for what it refers to in the Old World? The variety of musical styles implied in the Americana entry would presumably only arise from a fusion of several different folk traditions as witnessed in that country. The whole Pop Culture movement came about from the unique American experience and perhaps required a new word to describe this material culture which was unlike and alien to European concepts. Australiana seems to exist on Google and I'm guessing there may well be a similar word for Japanese objets. As an Englishman I can't think of any similar words for my country, though we have plenty of terms for the ropey old tat that gets sold to tourists.adamsan 17:14, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Judaica? --Smack 23:36, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

chinoiserie? -- Nunh-huh 23:41, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Great word, but not exactly what I'm looking for. "Chinoiserie" refers to the western imitation of eastern art, like fake New York Feng Shui, or California's obsession with bamboo. Is there a word like this for authentic Japanese or Chinese culture? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 15:05, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

Definitely Canadiana. OED also has Africana (meaning not of African American, but South Africans). And believe it or not, the brandname Tropicana actually is a real word that means "Things associated with or characteristic of tropical regions". OED also has Australiana...and that's everything ends in -ana that OED has which refers to "characteristics of ___". There are a lot of -ana's which refer to characteristics of famous artists or period of tim, like Proustiana, Mozartiana, Edwardiana, Georgiana.... --Menchi 00:02, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

There is nothing mysterious or specially american about the word. The word is the plural of the latin "americanum," and has a centuries-long history in bookselling, book collecting, etc as a singular and plural phrase to denote "an item (usually a book) that pertains to ___". I've seen many place names and sometimes even people names or thing names so adapted over the years. Obviously some sound more barbaric, silly, or unnatural when latinized and these don't get used. A real latin word with continued usage that served as the original type was probably something like arcanum/arcana or esotericum/esoterica. (s/pl) Alteripse 13:22, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

But does Americana not transcend its Latin root to become something more? 'Item pertaining to America' could refer to the aeroplane, totem poles, George W Bush, Silicon Valley etc. I can't help thinking that Americana and the other New World -anas refer more to the cultural identity of the country concerned adamsan 14:12, 16 May 2004 (UTC) Sure, but that would be an expanded and relatively minority use of the word unless you could get lots of people using it that way. Alteripse 17:06, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Kiwiana is the term used in New Zealand. --Zigger 04:26, 2004 May 15 (UTC)

Hmm, I never thought of the similarities to "arcana" and "esoterica", but it makes sense now. Someone suggested to me that "britannia" was a anthropomorphic reference to Britain, and sometimes was used to represent the cultural artifacts as well, but I have been unable to confirm this. A british perspective, perhaps? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 15:05, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

Well, I'm British and do an awful lot of reading. If somebody said they'd bought some Britannia I wouldn't have a clue what they were referring to. I can't really think of a word that sits easily alongside Americana, I'm afraid. --bodnotbod 16:53, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

Hiberniana, Angliana, Caledoniana and Cambriana would be possibilities for Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales repectively- Google throws up results for all of them, often in scientific or abtruse contexts. I suppose Franciana, Teutoniana, Iberiana etc are also valid terms for other European countries adamsan 12:56, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

Perhaps Gallica, Germanica and Hispanica, respectively? Sabbut 17:18, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

Suggestion for Expanding Wikipedia

Hello, I'm a loyal wikipedia user and think this is probably one of the most impressive projects on the net right now. I was wondering if you had considered making a wikipedia toolbar, sort of like the googlebar, for searching wikipedia straight from Microsoft Explorer or Netscape Communicator. You could call it the WikiBar (original, I know).

Best regards, Andrei (Romania)

Andrei, sounds like a neat idea. :-) If you post this to the Wikipedia:Village pump you'll get more attention for the idea, I think, and (if I recall correctly) there is a page somewhere to request new features. But I think posting to the VP first is a good idea because it would be a pretty substantial new feature and we'd want to discuss it. Putting it here, I'm afraid, won't attract much attention -- this page mostly just answers people's reference questions. :-) Jwrosenzweig 16:23, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Oh, I forget the link, but a couple of people produced some javascript code a while ago, which did something like you suggest. I think one selected a word or phrase that one wanted, and clicked on a bookmark/shortcut that corresponded with the javascript, and it automatically jumped to the wikipedia article of that title. Writing a toolbar is a lot of work (so I suspect it won't happen soon), but adding an option to an existing search function (such as mozilla's) might be fairly simple. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 16:30, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Bookmarklets contains links to the javascript bookmarklets. - Lee (talk) 16:52, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

If you use a good browser (i.e. one that is neither Internet Explorer, nor America Online, nor similar foolishness), it is likely to have a built-in customizable search bar. For instance, I know that Mozilla Firefox does. --Smack 23:36, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

P.S: Yes, there is a Wikipedia plugin for the Firefox search bar. About 20 of them, actually, for various (but not all) of the languages.

G.E. CJ805 Jet Engine full discription location ?

I am looking for a place to go on the net to read a full description of the G.E. CJ805 Jet Engine. Any and all help would be appreciated !

Thank you,

Pete roughrider59@netzero.com

Some limited information is available at [4]. Probably the best information is from Jane's Aero-Engines, but you have to buy a subscription to see that online, from [5]. Sorry I couldn't be more help. moink 03:13, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

Transformational Grammar

According to what I've read at Transformational grammar, some maintainers of this page think what I'm about to suggest would complicate the issue. Here is my question: the article says "the mechanisms described in the example above have been out of date since the late 1960s", and I would really like to know what the current theory is to explain the transformation from "He went there" to "Where did he go?" I tried posting this query on the talk page, but nobody answered.

It's not an easy question. Many linguists never bought into transformational grammar, and by all appearances most have abandonned it now. It's hard to write an article on current thinking in transformational grammar because current thinking is much less clear. The ideas behind - for example - the head-initial rule are very simple and easy for English speakers to understand, but make no sense at all in discussing Russian word order. The result was a kind of "generic transformation" that didn't restrict any aspect of sentence structure, at which point many people began wondering what the point of transformational grammar was.

To the extent that there is a current version of the TG programme, it can be found in the section labelled Minimalism. As I understand it, it is an attempt to move forward with insights derived from the notion of "economy of derivation" - e.g., using the smallest possible set of rules to describe a language.

It should be noted that I am far from NPOV on this subject, so I haven't tried to touch the entry. Diderot 21:23, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

(Note this exact same question was also asked on Talk:Transformational grammar, where I answered it to some degree; here I'm answering Diderot more than the OP). To give a different POV, it's certainly not true that most linguists have abandoned TGG! You only have to look at the vast research literature on it which is still being expanded faster than that of most competing theories. I'm not sure what Diderot means about the "head-initial rule". There is no head-initial rule: it's just that some phrases in some languages are head-initial, and some are head-final. If head-initial makes no sense for Russian word order, I expect that's because Russian isn't head-initial (or because its word order is fairly free, in which case it would be explained by "scrambling" movements). It's true that some current thinking does hold that every language is head-initial, and that this is obscured by movement operations in some apparently non head-initial languages.

I don't know what Diderot is referring to by "generic transformation": there's certainly nothing of the kind in modern transformational theory, although there has been a revival of the "generalised transformation". But these certainly do restrict aspects of sentence structure.

Economy of derivation has nothing to do with the size of rule sets; rather the length of derivations. However reducing the number of rules in a grammar is a pretty central tennnet of Minimalism.

Generally, some people find all the movement in TGG rather spurious. Most of the movement operations I've talked about do have some independent evidence supporting them, however. It's not a case of "move anything anywhere if it gives the right answer".

Sorry to be a bit confrontational, but I hate to see my favorite theory attacked ;) Though having said this, the TGG page really needs a decent section on criticisms of Chomskyan linguistics. Cadr

Cadr, I was refering to that wonder of obscuritanism move-alpha, which makes no restriction on what it can move, or where it can move it to. Indeed, the whole criticism of the transformational programme is that when it is applied to relatively free word order languages like Russian, almost every kind of movement really does become possible. The point was that if some languages have free word order, it makes little sense to make universal generalisations from questions of word order or to see some metalinguistic structure in it. It was exactly this sort of point that carried most of the opposition to the transformational programme in the 70's and was one of the factors that led to the rapid decline in TG in the 90's. The allegation - the one that stuck - was that very little in this programme made sense when you condsider languages other than English. Confronted with actual language - something that became increasingly necessary with the return of corpus linguistics in the 90's - little of the TG approach could be sustained.

Recent work - trendy theories like cognitive linguistics and formalism like HPSG - really do massively reject TG. Cognitive linguistics is pretty hegemonic in linguistics these days. In Europe, it is easily the dominant paradigm, and it is certainly far better planted on the US west coast than TG or Minimalism is. TG is increasingly hard to find outside of metro Boston and a few other big schools on the east coast. Outside of the English-speaking world, there never was very much acceptance of TG.

I'm afraid I have exactly the opposite opinion of Chomsky - that he has done as much damage to linguistics as Skinner did to the behavioural sciences. But then, I work in dependency grammar, lexicography and empirical linguistics - all areas sharply undermined by the Chomskyan approach. I very much have a POV.

For the original poster, this sort of opposition is why this is such a controversial area and one of the reasons why a clearer more comprehensive article is going to be hard to write. Chomsky evokes a great deal of loyalty from his followers and deep-seated hatreds among his opponents. His reputation as an influential thinker is thereby assured - although whether he will be praised on demonised by future generations remains up for grabs - but I suspect that a nice row over the legacy of Chomsky can probably put the edit wars over Kosovo to shame. I hate to wade into areas that I know are minefields. Most of us do. After exam season ends, I'd be willing to work with Cadr or other Chomskyans in an effort to provide more balanced coverage of trends in modern lingusitics. I've been thinking for some time that linguistics outside of Greater Boston is woefully poorly covered here, but it is a big project and one I simply haven't time for now. But, I'd only be interested in really taking it on with the assistance of an outside moderator. This is like attempting to write a biography of Lenin. Diderot 13:08, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm going to respond to this, but since I imagine most people(not least the OP) have lost interest by now, I'll do it on Diderot's talk page. Cadr

Seasons in the polar regions

How do season work directly at the North and South Poles? It's my understanding that the sun rises and sets exactly once a year (and takes its sweet time in the process). Someone made an edit to Season that seems to state otherwise. Could an astronomer or someone else knowledgeable clear this up? --Smack 23:36, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

They have seasons like everywhere else, and mostly days and nights like everywhere else too. Everywhere north of the arctic circle enjoys at least one 24-hour-time when the sun doesn't set, and one when it doesn't rise. The number of these periods (I'm avoiding calling 'em days) increases as one gets nearer to the pole. Ditto for south of the antarctic circle and the south pole. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:19, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

What physical mechanism causes the sun to rise and set at the poles? (I mean precisely at the poles, not just within the polar circles.) --Smack 02:57, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

The axial tilt. Gentgeen 03:19, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

Physical mechanism? The same as everywhere else - a large chunk of planet interposed between the observer and the sun :) There's really nothing special about the poles, other than they're the two points with the maxiumum and minimum day lengths (and then only on the summer and winter solstices). Like everywhere else, seasons there are entirely caused by the earth's axis of rotation not being perpendicular to the plain of the ecliptic - and remember that the earth-moon system isn't tidally locked, so the axis doesn't "point at" the sun. It's lined up (in one dimension) at the solstice, so you get maximum day length at one pole and minimum at the other. 90 degrees (3 months) later it's perpendicular (in that one "heliovertical" dimension) to the previous orientation, and everywhere on earth gets a 12 hour day and a 12 hour night (equinox). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 03:22, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

I understand that much. However, it doesn't explain why there should be multiple sunrises and sunsets. --Smack 19:06, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

You don't get multiple sunrises and sunsets. At most, you get one of each in any given 24 hour period, and (as noted above) sometimes none. You'd only see multiple sunsets or sunrises if you were moving (in an aeroplane or a spacecraft, for example). The sizeable anon addition, and the seasons article itself, looks fine to me, and I can't see anything that implies more than one sunrise per 24 hrs. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 19:21, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

Sorry if I'm not making myself clear. At the North or South Pole (I mean at the pole, not in the vicinity of the pole), the sun rises once a year, at the beginning of summer, and sets once a year, at the beginning of winter. Right? --Smack 05:22, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

You are making yourself clear, but your preconception is fundamentally flawed. The north pole is like everywhere else. It has days and nights - hundreds per year. The sun does not rise in the spring and set in the autumn. The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. For a few mornings it doesn't rise, and for a few evenings it doesn't set - apart from that, it's just like everywhere else. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:38, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

He means multiple sunrises and sunsets per year. I'm a little confused too; I can't see how the pole is going into the dark side of the planet more than once a year. Other places go into the dark side of the planet daily because they're moving around the pole; but the pole, since it doesn't have anything to go around other than itself (on a time scale of a few days or weeks, of course; it's of course moving gradually closer to the dark side over a time scale of months because of seasons), seems like it stays in the light side over a six-month period, and also stays in the dark side over a six-month period.

Remember that the earth is spinning about its own axis too - once every 24 hrs (with respect to its orbit around the sun). So a day is always 24 hours long, even if the sun doesn't actually make it above the horizon - even in the darkest polar winter, it's trying, and usually isn't very far below the horizon. I've uploaded a sketchy diagram (best my untalented self can do) which might help - it's at Image:Wfm sketch seasons.png. It should probably go on IfD once we're done with this discussion. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 19:35, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

As you correctly point out, every point on the Earth moves around the axis. However, the exact pole (which I think is what we're talking about) is right on the axis, so when it moves around the axis, it really stays stationary relative to the center of the planet. I've made a little Quicktime movie (Image:NorthPoleApril14.mov) in Starry Night Pro; it seems to show that, over a day in April, the sun stays above the horizon for 24 hours. LuckyWizard 02:28, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

I can't get the animation to play (dammit) but you're right - just at the pole, things are indeed weird (I guess the sun's path is "spiral", rather than diurnal). Mea culpa. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:16, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

I'd appreciate it if Finlay or someone links to a Flash animation or something so I can see what he's getting at. LuckyWizard 05:33, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

It's a damn hard thing to draw (and I've never seen an online animation - even the reliable howthingswork.com lets us down). The BBC has a half-decent diagram here -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:41, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

I'd be glad to work up a diagram in Blender with the potential for animation, as soon as I can get my own head around what exactly is going on. I think I see what F. McW. is saying, that if we use the term "day" to mean an approximately 24-hour period (or rather, "day" to mean a specific 12-hour period, followed by "night", another 12-hour period), then whether it's day or night has nothing whatever to do with whether the sun is visible or not. -- Wapcaplet 20:05, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

I did consider asking you, or cooking something up in povray, but it's tough. One really shouldn't use the words "night" and "day" (I know I do - there aren't any others!) in this context - there's a 24 hour period (the duration of the earth's rotation about its axis) and there's the period (a subset of that) when the sun is above the horizon. The best way to visualise this is to get a tennis ball, stick in a couple of cocktail sticks (for the axis) and then move it around a lightbulb (keeping the axis at a fixed angle) while all the time spinning it feverishly around by twidling the cocktail sticks. You'll notice that when the axis is aligned with the sun (when, in the plan view, it looks like it's pointing at the sun) there's a patch of the earth that never gets sun, regardless of which angle you twiddle the cocktail sticks. The seasons article (and the bbc, and how stuff works) just use the primary rotation (earth around sun), which explains the differences in average angle sunlight hits a part of the earth, and thus (partly) the temperature. But one needs to consider the earth's own rotation about its axis in order to understand day length. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:22, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

I've created a sample image. See Talk:Season. -- Wapcaplet 21:56, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Precisely at the pole, an observer would not observe sunrise or sunset. Rather, the sun would circle the horizon while remaining at the same height. This height would change with the seasons. Within the vicinity of the pole, the height of the observation point compared to the height of surrounding terrain and the distance from the pole would determine whether sunrise and sunset would be observed. The human settlements nearest to the poles are still some distance away from them, so this effect is not widely observed.

While sunrise and sunset do not occur during certain times of the year in polar regions, twilight prevails instead, at least in inhabited areas. It resembles the sky conditions elsewhere shortly after sunset or shortly before sunrise. Therefore, even during the winter solstice, there is still some illumination during the day. In Alaska, the law defines a period of "civil twilight" that is used for regulations that are illumination-based, that would refer to a certain number of hours before sunrise and after sunset elsewhere. Examples include the operation of anticollision beacons on radio towers, ships, and aircraft.

UninvitedCompany 03:30, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

It is correct that, at the poles, it is essentially night for half the year and day for the other half. The easiest way to see this is something that I thought everyone did in elementary school--get a globe (or a basketball if you don't have a globe), mark the north & south poles & Your Favorite City. Take it into a dark room with a flashlight. Make sure the globe is tilted at about the right angle. Shine the flashlight ("sun") directly from the side at the globe so that it lights up the half facing you, and spin the globe around its axis (formed by the north/south poles). That's a day. When the north pole is titled directly away from the sun, it's winter in the northern hemisphere; when it's tilted towards you, it's summer. You can easily see how the poles don't get rising/setting sun but Your Favorite City does--and for shorter periods during the winter than the summer. And how polar regions varying amounts of darkness depending on how close they are to the pole (whether hidden in earth's shadow). :Elf | Talk 19:54, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

Patrol vessel Schiff 26/ Polares.

Hi to you all.

I am searching for information on Schiff 26 captured by the Royal Navy destroyer Griffin on 26 April 1940 off Andalsnes, Sth of Trondheim, Norway. At the time the ship was disguised as the Dutch fishing trawler Polares.

I know the vessel was taken back to Scapa Flow and Enigma code books were obtained. What I am particulaly interested is technical details (dimensions and armament etc) and past history.

I am aware that such information may not exist,but I thought I'd enquire anyway. If anyone knows of other websites or archives I could try, please let me know

Kind regards

Bill Greathead

Schiff 26: former name Julius Pickenpack, with 393 BRT. [6]. Maybe that helps you in your search. -- Chris 73 | Talk 04:28, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

PSPACE

Is the Kleene closure in PSPACE? That is, if A is in PSPACE, is A* in PSPACE as well?

This is a question about Computational complexity theory phrased in terms of accepting a language rather than as a decision problem.

The answer is yes. If A is in PSPACE then A* is in NPSPACE. So by Savitch's theorem, A* is in PSPACE. Gdr 14:20, 2004 May 16 (UTC)

Swapping an article with its redirect (sometime fails, sometimes not)

Suppose A --> B (a redirect page with title "A" redirects to article with title "B")

You want to swap them so that B --> A.

I always thought that this involved a laborious manual procedure, involving renaming and petitioning admins to remove redirects to allow for further renaming, etc.

However, sometimes just "Move this page" allows you to rename "B" to "A", overwriting the original redirect at "A" and creating a new redirect at "B", magically doing exactly what you want. On the other hand, sometimes this fails: "Move this page" complains that the target page already exists.

I haven't been able to figure out any rhyme or reason as to why it sometimes succeeds and why it sometimes fails. Anybody know?

I suspect the cases where you're "succeeding", you're actually making a duplicate article. In addition to article names being case sensitive, special characters that should be equivalent (and look equivalent) generate different articles. I recommend you take a close look at your "my contributions" to see if one of those "moves" you made really did what you think. If you can cite a specific case where you're confident that a move really has overwritten an existing article, post it here and we'll check. If you've somehow managed it, that's a bug (a rather serious one), in which case we'll file it. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:47, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

Nope, it actually did succeed, on several different occasions. No typos involved.

If there's an article named A, and you move it to B, then you (or anyone) can use the move function to move it back to A, leaving a redirect at B, if and only if the redirect the move created at A has not been changed (that is, if A has a 'page history', an administrator has to delete it before anything can be moved there; if it doesn't, anyone can do it). - Nunh-huh 23:56, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

In the particular case I tried today, Zhu Da redirects to Chu Ta. Both were created today, and Zhu Da is a simple redirect page without any prior history. It should be possible to move Chu Ta along with its history to Zhu Da. No information would be lost. Any particular reason why such a simple operation requires so much manual intervention?

I run into this problem very often with transliterated versions of foreign names, where the more correct version is a simple historyless redirect to a less correct version. I don't want to become an admin... is there some other way to get around this hindrance?

Curps 00:40, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

PS, something apparently got screwed up by the attempted move. If you click on Zhu Da it's acting like a double-redirect (doesn't automatically redirect to Chu Ta)... meanwhile, invoking "what links here" at Chu Ta doesn't indicate that Zhu Da is a redirect, or show its incoming links.

PPS, never mind, it seems that problem was caused by the original creator of the redirect page leaving a space between # and REDIRECT. The automatic redirect is working now. But I still can't swap the pages.

You can't swap, because Zhu Da now has a history (the elimination of the space character). If not for that, you could. I imagine the reason is that we don't want to allow wiping out page histories, because that could be exploited by vandals. = Nunh-huh 01:41, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Results Of Previous Bledisloe Cup Matches

To whom it may concern,

My name is Nikki and I am a year 11 student at Rochedale State High School. As a course requirement at school, I have been asked to do an assignment on statestics. For my topic I have chosen to anaylse the scores in Bledisloe Cup matches, however it is difficult to obtain this information. I have asked Rugby Australia for their assistance but have not heard back from them as yet. Wikipedia has provided me with the best information so far, however I need to know the specific scores of each game, not just how many games were won by each country during the series. I can't start my assignemtn until I get this information, so please I am asking anyone who knows this information or who knows where to get this information to help me. My e-mail is rainbowsprinkles99@hotmail.com. Thank you all, your help will be greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,
Nikki :-)

This link should take you to the history of Australia vs. New Zealand results on planet-rugby.com .. how to winnow out the Bledisloe Cup matches from other matches, I'm not sure. Luckily the Wikipedia article Bledisloe Cup lists which years the cup was played in, and how many games each side won. Good luck! And here's looking forward to this year's Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations, should be some great games! --Stormie 01:02, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

Gold Sovereign

What year did the Bank of England remove the gold sovereign as part of the every day currency needed to pay for articles, clothing, etc.? --Unsigned comment from village pump

1914. They were withdrawn on the outbreak of the First World War and replaced by Treasury Notes for £1 and 10/-, which were issued within two days of the declaration of war. The Bank of England took over the issuing of £1 and 10/- notes in 1928. -- Arwel 17:59, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Nick Berg's decapitation murder

To make distinctions between Berg Murder and Abu Ghraib prison abusers:

Answer a few Questions that cloud who dunnit?:

Who issues Orange Jumpsuits for its Prisoners? Who has white plastic lawn chairs in its prisons, like the chair Berg was sitting in and appeared in other pictures of Abu Ghraib prison? Who uses military time on its Videos? Whose facilities has dingy yellow colored smooth walls? What kind of men stand feet apart at parade rest? Whose guards have white hands and a gold wedding band on the ring finger? Whose guards are often overweight with paunchy stomachs? Whose guards have AK-47's? Who would mutter "Thy will be done" (heard in the background) at the beheading? Which side desperately needed a timely refocus away from the prison abuse scandals?

Don in Seattle

Answers on a postcard please. Mark Richards 23:47, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

See Nick Berg conspiracy theories. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 16:32, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

Why non-online references are not found ?

Dear reference desk people,

shouldn't non-online references (books, papers etc.) be used in articles of an academic character ?

I could find none since i've started to wander through Webopaedia.

Regards, Hgfernan 02:18, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

Why? Because netizens are lazy bums who do not want to venture into public or university libraries to physically check books out (that is, after driving/bussing/walking to there). On the other hand, online references are ...a click away. --Menchi 02:33, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

Frustrates me, too. I think I've been better about this than most, but I certainly use online references over print by a ratio of about 5:1. -- Jmabel 03:46, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

However, print references are often available online, at least the newer ones, and at least in my field. Of course, I should add that all these are only available on a subscription basis, and so I'm lucky too be employed by a university. Sanders muc 11:26, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

Another factor is that an online reference is easy for anyone to check, simply by clicking on a link. A hard-copy of an off-line reference might not exist within 100 miles, never mind be sitting on your desk. HTH HAND --Phil | Talk 12:49, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

If an article lacks references to printed material, why not add them? Gdr 09:15, 2004 May 18 (UTC)

Chinese translations

The Youth Group to which I am attached at our local church (St Mary's Amersham) have decided to protest on behalf of two Chinese Christian leaders, one Protestant and one Catholic, who have, according to Amnesty International, been imprisoned or otherwise restrained because of their faith. They have composed a letter for each and are collecting signatures. I had the idea that getting the various documents translated into Chinese would present the project in a better light. Is there anyone who would be prepared to perform such a translation? The texts to be translated would be posted on sub-pages of my user-page to provide full disclosure and allow cross-checking if necessary. I am aware that there are two Chinese wikipedias: Traditional and Simple; whether or not two translations of our documents would be good is open to question (I would assume "yes"). Please post any offers of help, suggestions for procedure, or indeed properly-founded objections to my use of Wikipedia thuswise, to my talk page. (I have not posted any such text yet, so don't knock yourselves out looking :-) NB: this is not an official Amnesty International project, they were simply the source of our information, so don't go asking them, they almost certainly won't have heard of us. They should have heard of the subjects, however, should anyone require further confirmation once the source documents are posted.. --Phil | Talk 13:59, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

Might you have more luck if you posted this on the Chinese Wikipedia sites? Mark Richards 15:25, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

There are two potential Chinese translators listed on the relatively new Wikipedia:Translation into English page -- Vina and alchow. Go to their user page, click "Discuss this page" to get to their talk page and leave a message. No guarantees that they'll be able to help directly with a non-Wikipedia translation issue, but they may be able to help point you in the right direction. Good luck! Catherine - talk 00:31, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

Who Invented the first quantum computer?

I have been searching the net for the answer of my question and run into a brick wall with all my search attempts, I know that basic quantum computers have been made but I would like to know who invented the first quantum computer?

Also any general information you could provide, and links to other sources of information about quantum computers themselves would be very helpful to me.

                                                     Thanks for your time
                                                                    David

The Timeline of quantum computing might help. Mark Richards 23:25, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

In a way, the answer might be: nobody. It hasn't been invented yet. You see, all current implementations are so simple that they can only demonstrate the principle on two to five quantum bits, and they cannot simply be scaled up to higher qubit number. There are theoretical proposals around for scalable quantum computing architectures, but they are rather raw ideas in the sense that lots of resaerch is still necessary to surmount the formidable techical and physical deifficulties in implementing them. Most advanced are at the moment the ion trap quantum computer scheme (original proposal in 1995 by I. Cirac (now Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik) and P. Zoller (University of Innsbruck)), and (though debated heavily) the NMR quantum computing scheme (forget who brought up the idea).

Oh, and it was Richard Feynman who brought up the whole idea in the 1980s by noticing that a generic simulation of any quantum system is exponentielly complex but could still be tractable if one used a computer making explicit use of quantum mechanics. But he did not propose any way of building such a device.

Also, have a look at http://www.qubit.org Sanders muc 09:51, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

trademarks?

I am a trademark lawyer writing a paper on the use of trademarks on the internet, and am curious to know whether Wikipedia has received "cease-and-desist" messages from trademark owners asking that the site refer to the registration status of their marks. I've checked over the copyright/copyleft information on the site, but haven't seen anything about trademarks. If you have received warning messages from corporate trademark owners, what have you done in response--changed definitions? Added disclaimers? Does Wikipedia have a policy in place for dealing with such requests? Thanks in advance.

Wikipedia does not have a policy to refer to the registration of trademarks. We did have a brief discussion on the subject a couple of years ago, and came to the conclusion that specific acknowledgement of trademarks was neither legally necessary nor desirable in an encyclopedia (See Wikipedia talk:Trademark notices for the old discussion). I would be interested in your opinion as to whether our conclusion was correct.

To my (incomplete) knowledge, we have never had any problems with trademark owners, and we don't have a specific method for reporting issues with trademarks. However, as with anything else with Wikipedia, people who want something changed don't have to report it or discuss it with anyone - they can just edit the page there and then!

I hope this is helpful. Enchanter 23:57, May 17, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for your prompt response. My own brief response, which is not to be construed as a legal opinion (sorry, I had to say it), is that your decision not to acknowledge trademarks was not an incorrect one. Encyclopedias and dictionaries fall under a sort of "reporting exception" to trademark law, by which I mean that they attempt to describe language as it is used, and the law cannot fault them for the non-commercial use of such trademarks. The issue becomes a contentious one for trademark owners when their marks are in danger of becoming generic; if an encyclopedia or dictionary records, for example, the mark KLEENEX as the generic for a facial tissue, a court would consider that authoritative evidence that the mark was indeed generic, and Kimberly-Clark would be in danger of losing its trademark rights to the KLEENEX mark. I know several lexicographers who have reported getting nastygrams from big corporations trying to prevent them from using their marks generically in dictionaries; however, there is no legal basis upon which a trademark owner could technically force a dictionary to exclude a term. I had been curious as to whether Wikipedia had ever had to deal with a similar nastygram.

I don't know of any -- I suppose the person to contact would be our benevolent dictator Jimbo Wales. I do note that there is a long list of not-yet-generic but threatened trademarks on the genericized trademark article.... Catherine - talk 18:43, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

DVD Recorder and Player - To Anarion

To Anarion

Thank you for your explanation on why the DVD hestitates. You say that there is not any way to prevent this except by not using double layering. Does that mean that you are able to buy a recordable DVD that is single layered? If that is the case then we should be able to eliminate the problem, although I assume that we also sacrifice record time - by half?

Thanks for your help.

                           Ross Lambourn,

                           18th May.

Single layer DVD-R and DVD+R discs exist, and should be available for sale. But you are right that this will cut the disc capacity roughly in half (about 4.7GB as opposed to 8.5GB — 2 vs 4 hours of DVD-quality MPEG-2 video.) Anárion 08:48, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

Linux on blue iMac

I have an old Blue iMac with 64mb, and am running Yellow Dog 2.3 on it. It is paaiinfuully sloooow. I want to run a web browser and a word processor / spredsheet that is Word 2000 compatible (more or less, no need for 100%). Is there a better distribution? Are there things I could do to tweak the setup I have to make it more usable? Appreciate that this is not the right forum, but have exhausted all of the linux/mac resources I could find. Thanks! 207.189.98.44 17:40, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

Are you using the KDE ot the Gnome desktop? The latter is quite a bit faster adamsan 19:02, 18 May 2004 (UTC)

Using Gnome already...

I've found that the Fluxbox desktop manager is quite a bit faster than Gnome, or you could also try Blackbox. This might help speed things up--Gnome was quite slow for me, at least to start up, and the *box desktops are generally designed with speed in mind (I'm unaware as to whether they are available for your distribution though--I would assume so...) Hope this helps. Chopchopwhitey 08:11, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Great - thanks - I did manage to install Fluxbox, but I was such a raving noob that I couldn't make any sense of it. I couldn't find any of my apps, and gave up after a couple of hours. I couldn't find any tutorials or anything that didn't assume a whole lot of knowledge. They all seemed to be about writing scripts. Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks!

Earth's core

Can u pls tell me if the inner core or the outer core of the earth is spinning in order to form the magnetical field. it may be a stupid question but i've seen the film "the core" where they said the liquid core was moving, that is the outer core. and in here it was written that the inner core is moving, the solid part, maybe a little faster than the earth. pls answer. iri

A helpful search term here appears to be "super-rotation" or "superrotation". Here's a detailed discussion of the finding and here's a set of Google search results you may find useful --bodnotbod 16:23, May 19, 2004 (UTC)

inventor of precast concrete paneling

hello i would like some information regarding the inventor, or the inventor team of the precast concrete paneling system?

Ron McDole

My name is Linda Garcher. I am the mother of Ron McDoles great nephew. He is currently experiencing epilepsy. His Father Roland (Ron) Mcdole 2nd informed me of His uncles migrain headaches while he was playing for the Houston Oilers. Although there is mention of it in one of your articles, there is no explanation as to what may have caused them. Was there ever a diagnosis? What was the outcome? How did he go on to play for the Bills? Was it indeed epilepsy? Please research this and get back to me.

Forever grateful, Linda Lou Garcher

I think that you need to seek medical advice on this. Mark Richards 17:54, 19 May 2004 (UTC)

That's a bit snide. This may be relevant to the article on Ron McDole. -- Jmabel 02:31, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

Appologies - no intent to seem snide, I worry about questions that seem to be asking for medical advice, but I seem to have misunderstood this one. Mark Richards 17:25, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

FWIW, I didn't interpret that as snide at all - seemed a sensible comment to me. --bodnotbod 23:09, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

Help for my Mother

Help me settle something with my mother. I have asked her to quit drinking for health reasons, I at least asked her to stop drinking Vodka. I thought I heard somewhere that Vodka goes through the liver faster than other alcohols. Is this true. If I am right, she will change her habits. Please Help. Jim Shook

I think that you need to encourage your mother to seek medical advice. Mark Richards 19:25, 19 May 2004 (UTC)

Apart from a somewhat lower concentration of fusel alcohols, Vodka has the same alcohol in it as other alcoholic beverages and affects the liver and the brain in the same way. The concentration (strength) differs however, with most vodka having 40% alcohol compared to about 6% for beer and 12% for wine. If your mother consumes excessive alcohol, or if alcohol is having a major negative effect on her life, you may wish to encourage her to obtain a professional assessment. See the article at Alcoholism for a comprehensive treatment of the subject. UninvitedCompany

Vodka has less additives than other spirits. As a general rule, the darker the drink, the more impurities and the worse the hangover. So, your mother might be having less of a headache than she would with whisky or - in particular - red wine. I think this may mean the liver has less work to do, however it would be infinitely kinder to the liver to drink water. And I agree with the others who have said she should seek advice from somebody medically trained. The first step might be to get her to keep a diary of her drinking - say for two weeks - and then present this to her physician for his opinion. --bodnotbod 23:34, May 19, 2004 (UTC)

How to find a list of original IRA founders

Well, as this article shows the origins are a bit fragmented, but there's some names there to get you started. --bodnotbod 23:38, May 19, 2004 (UTC)

Cotton Davidson

moved from the Help desk
I have been researching my memory with yourhelp for the 1960 Dallas Texans. You have a lot of infomation n the team and founder Lamar Hunt. I recall a quarterback named Cotton Davidson that first year. Do you have any info on him.

• Google is your friend. -- Jmabel 02:39, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

Noun

Meaning 2 of noun in my dictionary: "a word except a pronoun used in a sentence as subject or object of a verb, as object of a preposition, as the predicate after a copula, or as a name in an absolute construction". Absolute means "standing in an unusual relation to the rest of the sentence; for instance, modifying the entire sentence itself." How would a noun be used in an absolute construction?

I have no idea whether I'm right, but perhaps in the sentence "What should I do with this, boss?", the word "boss" (a noun) could be seen as "absolute". That is, it isn't connected to a verb or preposition in any way, and isn't the predicate of the sentence. It could be seen as "modifying the entire sentence itself" (specifically, indicating the person to whom the sentence is directed). Like I said, this is just a guess. -- Vardion 02:12, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm afraid boss there is a noun of direct address. An example of an absolute adverb would be frankly in "Frankly, the waiter disgusted me."

An example of an absolute word that does not modify the whole sentence: In Latin, multa is absolute when it is taken to mean "many (things)", that is, when the noun is implied and the neuter gender shows that it is referring to objects ("many things" word for word is multæ rêî); an absolute adjective is also called a nominal.

Absolute comparatives and superlatives express qualities in certain degrees with no reference points: "Treat an older man with respect"; "You're the greatest!" Gelu Ignisque 17:23, May 20, 2004 (UTC)

New message, previous correspondent didn't sign...

My friend, who is very good on these things says : Noun absolutes are usually a noun and its gerund (yes, we're never far from those), used as a subordinating adverbial clause, which modifies the main clause thereby. This is an instance where even I balk at the possessive with the gerund. For example:

"Graeme having asked, Nick replied".

Sometimes, the gerund is merely tacit:

"Book in front of him, he sat down and read", where the book's "lying" or "being" is the sublimated gerund.

Is that any use? I can't claim to understand that entirely (or even mostly). --bodnotbod 13:57, May 20, 2004 (UTC)

I am reminded of the accusative and nominative absolutes, which are constructions involving pronouns and nonfinite verbs (such as your -ing verbs above): "Him/he being my friend, I grudgingly acquiesced to grant him the favor."

Unfortunately, you cannot call your verbs gerunds, because gerunds are verbals (other parts of speech derived from verbs) that have meanings closer to action nouns: "the passing away of the king", "the testing of the students." Gelu Ignisque 17:23, May 20, 2004 (UTC)

OK. I put all that to my friend, Gelu. He says I agree with this, to an extent. They are here a weird part of a greater nouno-adverbial gestalt, which is why they are probably here better called gerundives than gerunds. Adverbial? In a sense, yes. One's sort of saying "I grudgingly, knowinghimasafriendbeingly, acquiesced to grant him a favor [sic]".

Personally I think you've got him on the ropes. --bodnotbod 23:47, May 20, 2004 (UTC)

This is one of the fine points of grammar that non–Latin students frequently miss: gerundive is not the adjectival form of gerund but a completely different verb form that indicates that the noun being described is to have something done to it: multiplicandus = "to be multiplied"; addendum = "to be added", etc.

Tangent: Both of these verbs can be broken down further: multiplicâre comes from multus, "many", + -i-, the connecting and thematic vowel, + -plic-, -plex; addere comes from ad-, "toward", + -dere, by vowel change from dâre, "to give".

Kudos to your friend for using the word gestalt! Gelu Ignisque 04:22, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

Chubb, Hungary

What happened to the city of Chubb . I have relatives who came from there and would like to visit the present "Chubb" Linda L

Measuring Instruments

What is the difference between Prescion and Non Precision Instruments and Checking Gauges?

new york knick history

was there ever a #46 on the team ? and if so who was he?

Classical Music Recommendation for Author

A strange question for this page but I hold the brains here in high esteem. I'm writing a humorous short story. At one point a character relates an anecdote about getting drunk and ending up at a chamber music or string quartet recital. He is desperate to urinate but is too blind drink to move. So he waits for the moment he senses the applause is about to occur and allows himself to release into the back of the chair in front of him. Unfortunately he chooses the wrong moment and the applause does not come. He is left with the sound of his... well, I'm sure you follow.

What I'm after is a bit of music that would be very soothing, played only by string quartet or in chamber fashion (please tell me which it is) and then has a pause for the next movement (where no applause would occur). Ideally it would be great if it were to end on a solitary violin, holding a high note, and fading. I would prefer it to be a quiet, introspective piece, with no staccato business, no bumptiousness. Very low key. Anybody got the perfect suggestion? --bodnotbod 19:14, May 20, 2004 (UTC)

Pachelbel's canon. →Raul654 19:19, May 20, 2004 (UTC) (And there's an ogg file there for you to listen to).

That probably wouldn't do, since it's in just one movement, and therefore the applause could only come in one place. The thing that springs to mind for me is the Adagio (second movement) of Franz Schubert's String Quintet - as soothing, quiet, low key slow movments go, that's about as close to archetypal as they come. But it doesn't end with a violin on a high note and, though it ends quietly, it isn't entirely soothing and so on all the way through (it gets a bit worked up in the middle)... I'll have a bit of think, see if I can come up with anything else. --Camembert

Got the ogg of Pachelbel. I'm enjoying it in its own right - which is nice ;o) But I see Camembert's reservation, and that is - indeed - a problem. Schubert sounds pormising. Be grateful for more suggestions. --bodnotbod 20:12, May 20, 2004 (UTC)

Though not the question you asked, it might conceivably be useful to point out the death of Tycho Brahe, purportedly because he was too polite to urinate at a dinner party... [7]. -- Nunh-huh 23:59, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

That's not in the least bit helpful... but I'm sure everyone enjoyed that ;o) --bodnotbod 18:22, May 22, 2004 (UTC)

Is Jueventaeu Gurerra, and Chavo jr. the same wrestlers?

Hello;

My name is Gregory Davis, and I thank you for taking the time out to answer this question for me. My best friend and I are at odds about the wrestlers listed above in the subject field. My best friend seems to think that Jueventeau, and Chavo Jr. are the same people. Please tell him that this is not so!! He says that Jueventeau has taken on the roll of Chavo Jr., is this true? If my memory serves me right, these wrestlers are two different people. They were two different people in the WCW, and they are still two different people today. Also, these two wrestlers are of no relation to each other, has that also changed? I am out to prove a point to my best friend that he is not always right! So please, just for me, set this stupid friend of mine straight, and tell him that these wrestlers are two totally different people, or at least were two different people. And if you can, please send proof of your info, just so that I can shut him up. thanks a million for your help. Please send your response to thablindlegend@bellsouth.net . I am not a subscriber as of yet, but I intend on becomeing one real soon. If I have misspelled any words in this letter, then please excuse me, and I apoligize for my mistakes. We have a chicken dinner at stake here, so please make me the right one in this dispute.

Gregory L. Davis

Cake cutting problem

Does anyone know more about the cake cutting problem and methods for arriving at a fair solution? --Eequor 01:01, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Well, there's a well-known solution for two people: If one cuts and the other chooses, then the first will cut in the manner he thinks is equal, and the second will choose the piece he thinks is bigger. So both think they are getting at least half the cake.

The cool thing I learned in my discrete math course is this: you can do it for any number of people using a certain method. This method entails the two-person solution.

Here's how to do it with three people: Two of the people divide the cake among themselves by having one person cut and the other choose. Then, these two people each divide their portion into thirds. They will try to do it in a manner that they consider equal so that they don't lose the bigger portion. Then, the third person comes into play. He will choose two of the six pieces -- one from the first person, one from the second. Algebra can be used to show that, if the third person chooses the slices he thinks biggest, then he will think the two pieces together to be at least a third. So we have a fair division algorithm for three people.

For four people, divide it among three of them as above. Then each of the three divides his portion into quarters, and the fourth person chooses one quarter from each person. For five people, divide among four, then each of these four divides his portion into fifths and the fifth guy chooses one of each person's fifths. And so on. Mathematical induction can be used to show that the last guy will always receive what he believes to be at least 1/n of the cake. LuckyWizard 05:50, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

What if none of the people can divide a slice into equal pieces to their own satisfaction? At least, not without cutting a bit off one slice and adding it to the other, then a bit back again, and forth, and back and forth, resulting in piles of cake purée instead of neat slices? Κσυπ Cyp   10:05, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Take the cake puree and weigh it out. Each person get's 1/n of the total weight. easy! theresa knott 11:17, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Bah!! typical illogical reponse!! Find the original recipe, make up the mixture and create $n$ small cakes, one for each recipient!! H!T!H!! H!A!N!D!! --Phil | Talk 12:22, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

Rofl. But seriuosly: I remeber having once read at that at least for certain numbers of people there are schemes that can avoid the puree problem. Are there any? Sanders muc 12:16, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Here's a method that gives each person a solid slice of cake with not too much puree: Suppose there are n people. Person 1 cuts a slice he believes is precisely 1/n of the cake. Person 2 examines the slice. If he thinks it's 1/n or less, he leaves it. If he thinks it's more than 1/n, he cuts off a small amount to reduce it to what he thinks is 1/n. Person 3 then examines it in the same way, and so on up to person n. The last person to cut off a small amount takes the slice. Repeat until everyone has a slice. --Auximines 13:07, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

There, I've written the article for fair division. Thanks! I... don't know... how to wikify it! Ahhh! Where can it be linked to? --Eequor 15:23, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

I first read the heading as "the coke cutting problem". And similar problems apply - except that several loaded, powerful handguns in the room concentrate the mind. --bodnotbod 23:21, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

Ha. Funny, that cheered me up this morning! Mark Richards 18:20, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

Help identifying a piece of modern classical music

A while ago someone lent me a novel piece of classical music. I've lost touch with that person, and can't for the life of me figure out what it was. Do the following characteristics ring any bells:

• it was a live performance
• it was largely (or perhaps entirely) strings - I think it might just have been a string quartet
• it came on several (I think 2) CDs
• it was incredibly repetitive - the same phrase (about 20 seconds long) was repeated endlessly
• but with each repetition it changed subtly, until it was quite different to how it had begun
• it wasn't especially chromatic, nor especially dissonant
• I heard it in about 1997, so it's no newer than that
• so I suppose one could call it classical-ambient

Does this sound familiar to anyone? -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:27, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

I'd hazard a guess we could be in Kronos Quartet territory here, in the region of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley. Could I just put in an off topic plug for John Adams and Nixon in China, which you're bound to love. Have a search for these on allclassical.com, since I think they may describe each of the albums. --Tagishsimon

Thanks for the ideas. I don't think it was Kronos Quartet or Philip Glass, I'll have to check the others out (the latter sounds familiar, but the trouble with wikipedia is that after a while everything sounds familiar) -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:52, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

As stupid as this might sound, Finlay, if you really want a good answer, I'd suggest you hum/whistle/sing it, record yourself, and post it here. →Raul654 01:43, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

That's the trouble (and the point, I guess) - it didn't really have a tune (at least, not one it stuck to long enough to matter). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:52, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

I was going to say Philip Glass too, but I would also add Michael Nyman. --bodnotbod 23:25, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

Ooh! I've just remembered the Penguin Cafe Orchestra too. We don't seem to have an article on them. So much to do, so little time. But so many people... (Stares at room) --bodnotbod 18:26, May 22, 2004 (UTC)

Term of address for Eastern Orthodox clergy?

Yeah. So, er, how exactly does one address Eastern Orthodox clergy? -Penta 04:39, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Carbon Monoxide

Is CO heavier or lighter than air--does it reside nearer the ceiling or the floor in undisturbed air.

thanks

CO has a molecular weight of 28. Air is 79% nitrogen (N2; molecular weight of 28) and Oxygen (O2; molecular weight of 32). →Raul654 16:00, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

In other words, CO is very slightly lighter than air. However, the difference is so slight that in any real situation, the CO and air will be well-mixed. -- DrBob 16:41, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

So in theory, if you had a sealed box, would the gases in air 'settle out' or remain mixed? Mark Richards 16:43, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

As long as it was a very sealed box (nothing moving inside, well isolated from the surroundings, no thermal gradients, etc.) you should get a concentration gradient with the highest-density gases concentrated towards the bottom, low-density gases tending towards the top. There would still be some mixing. I think the lower the temperature, the sharper the gradient, possibly with almost-discrete layers at low (<100K) temperatures. -- DrBob 17:03, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

The extent of a density gradient is almost immeasurable even under conditions favoring it. The gas laws, based on the newtonian mechanics of each gas molecule bouncing around in the box, can be used to derive a density gradient based on the height of the box and hence the pressure difference from top to bottom. While a gradient would be most notable at low temperatures and pressures, it would still be limited unless a centrifuge were employed as is done in uranium enrichment, which relies upon this effect. UninvitedCompany 17:37, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Theodore Roosevelt

Was Theodore Roosevelt a liberal or a conservative?

He was a republican, but that didn't mean quite the same thing in his historical context as it does now. Whether he was liberal or conservative depends largely on how you define those terms - he probably doesn't fit comfortably into the categories that our political shorthand uses today. Mark Richards 21:23, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

"progressive" --Jiang

Short-circuit Motherboard

Does this sound like the motherboard was short-circuited?

Metal forceps touched another metallic part of the motherboard, and sparkles went up, and a smell (silicon or plastic, I don't know) went up.

If the motherboard was short-circuited, and since the laptop motherboard is stuck inside the laptop, does this mean the laptop is useless and needs to be replaced entirely? Thanks. --Quester 23:38, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

There's usually some nontrivial capacitors on any motherboard, and a laptop usually has an integrated mainboard with all kinds of stuff on it (soundcard, low-volage power-conditioning). It's also possible to short the lithium battery that keeps the C/NMOS clockchip running. So it is indeed quite likely that the board is toast (particularly if you smell burning). If the laptop is very new, it might be worth getting a new mainboard (as the cost of a high-end laptop display is quite a large proportion of the overall cost), so in that case it would be worthwhile taking it to a qualified repairer who can tell what is actually toasted. If the laptop is old, and/or has a small screen, then it's likely not to be cost-effective. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:47, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Gull identification

Any idea what this bird is? Image:Juvenile Gull 800.jpg When I took the picture I thought it was a juvenile Herring Gull. But the eyes are dark - and an adult Herring Gull's eyes are yellow, I'm not sure if they change. I wondered if it could be a young Great Black-backed Gull. The beak of the Great Black-backed Gull is black when young (yellow later) I'm not sure if the same is true of the Herring Gull. Or it could be something very different. Scale is difficult to see without something else in the picture - but it was large, about the size of a Herring Gull if I recall. the piture was taken in Devon. Can anyone help? -- sannse (talk) 09:17, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

I've been given an answer - a very kind man at http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/ thinks I was right in the first place :) -- sannse (talk) 17:21, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Looking for a specific Japanese Proverb

Hi...

I stumbled across your site while looking for a specific (1 or more) Japanese proverb for "persistance"

Could you forward a few or direct me to where I could find it?

thank you..

Mark ps... I love your site. It is very informative.

I don't know if it was just a typo or whether your search has been hampered by your misspelling of persistence.

How's this?...

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. - Confucius

If you Google for persistence confucious (no quote marks) you'll find plenty of hits.

--bodnotbod 18:32, May 22, 2004 (UTC)

"Nana korobi, ya oki", which means something like "Fall down seven times and stand up eight". -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:13, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

Is that a comment on the fabled genetic inability to handle booze prevalent in the far east? --bodnotbod 00:23, May 23, 2004 (UTC)

Thomas Adrian McTaggert

Hi,

Have you ever heard of the McTaggert family, the family of printers during the Revolutionary Period? I'm looking for information on Thomas Adrian McTaggert specifically.

Thanks,

Curtiss

Cabinet ministers

Why are British cabinet ministers called "secretary" while other Commonwealth ministers are called "minister"? --Jiang 21:57, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

Hmmm. Good question. You might find these definitions instructive secretary and minister. They'll tell you that a secretary was someone in high office permitted to know secrets, whereas minister was generally considered to be below the master.

This doesn't quite untangle it but I can tell you that in Britain we commonly refer to secretaries when we mean secretarial assistants (now often called a PA or Personal Assistant - organising the affairs of the person in charge). So, I suppose meanings have become confused over time, and there's a battle between acknowledging the power of secretary's etymology and the current usage. It's not a great answer but hope it helps a bit. --bodnotbod 00:33, May 23, 2004 (UTC)

A Yes Minister quote seems appropriate here-

"I am the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, known as the Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private Secretary; I too have a Principal Private Secretary and he is the Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly responsible to me are 10 Deputy Secretaries, 87 Under Secretaries and 219 Assistant Secretaries. Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretary are plain Private Secretaries, and the Prime Minister will be appointing two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries and you will be appointing your own Parliamentary Private Secretary.'

"Do they all type?"

"None of them type. The secretary does that"

theresa knott 14:15, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

They aren't simply called "Secretary", but "Secretary of State for ...". There is a Usenet discussion on the same subject as your question at [8] Andrew Yong 01:03, 23 May 2004 (UTC)

Thanks, but my main question is why the commonwealth countries/former colonies haven't followed Britain and named their cabinet members "secretary of state..." --Jiang 01:08, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Probably the same reason they haven't gone on to call their Finance Ministers "Chancellor of the Exchequer" or their Prime Ministers "First Lord of the Treasury": it's a bit pompous to use old names for brand-new offices. The office of Secretary of State in the UK is just an old office that originally belonged to one, then two people, and then multiplied like rabbits in the 20th century. Part of the reason this has happened is because of convenience: there is still in theory only one office of Secretary of State, so every time you re-arrange cabinet responsibilities you don't have to transfer the powers, because any Secretary of State can exercise them. The exception is the new Secretary of State of Constitutional Affairs, whose powers cannot be exercised by other Secretaries of State. Andrew Yong 22:32, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

edible Brodiaea

where ca I obtain "brodiaea" plant or seed that has a potato like tubers that are edible. It is or was used as food by some California Native Americans. I want to propigate some experimentaly.

You could put a request here: [9] I have no experience of the site, though - so you might want to navigate around it and see if it's trustworthy first. I suppose it might help others seeking to assist you if you tell us which country you live in. --bodnotbod 16:12, May 23, 2004 (UTC)

"corn" in ancient Middle Eastern texts

The term "corn" is found frequently in translations of Josephus, the Bible, other documents, and clearly refers to some type of grain. "Corn" (maize), however, is native to the Americas and was unknown in the Old World until the 16th Century. What plant is being referred to in these ancient texts that has come to be translated as "corn"?

Wheat - see Corn. I guess this ambiguity doesn't exist when said middle-eastern texts are translated into other languages (like Spanish, for example). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 16:35, 23 May 2004 (UTC)

To further strengthen a point already made, see: The Straight Dope: How could the Romans use corn? It's American! -- Itai 07:08, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Not just wheat, any grain: barley, oats, millet, rye, ... Gdr 09:00, 2004 May 25 (UTC)

how smart are you?

Smart enough to do your homework ;-) Anárion 12:16, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Spelling inconsistencies in modern english can be attributed to the fact that the spelling used in BEOWULF was the main influence for the future pronunciation of english words True or False

Neither. The spelling as used in Beowulf was that of English at the time: a language before the corruption by Normandic French, and it was pronounced as spelt. Anárion 12:16, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Before the great vowel shift the word right would have rhymed with what modern word... feet/tight/bait/spat or none

Right rhymed with tight, pronounced /rixt/ and /tixt/ (rhymes with German nicht). At the time English was pronounced as spelt. After the vowel shift spelling should have been reformed but it was kept at the illogical old spelling, also partially due to Samuel Johnson's Dictionary: Johnson arbitrarily chose spellings for many words. After this the spelling of English remained frozen for the next seventy years, and then again it was frozen by the Oxford English Dictionary. English has resisted most spelling reforms since, the American spelling variants such as color are the only reforms which have been moderately succesful. See Spanglish spelling for a more logical spelling. Anárion 12:16, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Did old English have third person object forms?

As far as i know, working from memory only, yes. Anárion 12:16, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Does wikipedia have an article on third person object forms? I, for one, don't know what one is. Mark Richards 18:26, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

Her / Him / It / Them are the 3rd person object forms in modern English, the object forms of the third person pronouns She / He / It / They. i wouldn't know what else to say on them that would warrant an article. Anárion 14:45, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

entry for Twentieth Century Fox and The Love Boat, other TV serieses

Will you please file "Twentieth Century-Fox" under "T" alphabetical word-form when doing a formal reference for this studio, since that's how they copyright their end credits, using the worded name of this studio. Thanks for putting the other studios under their alphabetical letter proper. What about a seperate underlined blue or purple entry for Battle For The Planet of the Apes and reference to it being at the turn of this (21st) century ? A bold-face "The" is needed in "The Love Boat" reference and will there be a seperate reference to "Hardcastle & McCormick" and "T.J. Hooker" ?

                        k.karpinski@comcast.net

Why not fix these problems yourself? Wikipedia:Be bold in updating pages. Gdr 10:49, 2004 May 24 (UTC)

Runic spelling of "Ragnveld"

I'm looking for the correct runic spelling of the name Ragnveld, which I'm told is the norse root of my name, Ronald. If anyone has information on this I appreciate your sharing it.

Thanks

i hope you can read Runic Unicode! You did not specify if you wanted the name itself or the more common transcription, so here's all:

Ragnveld: ᚱᛆᚵᚿᚡᛂᛚᛑ

Ragnvald: ᚱᛆᚵᚿᚡᛆᛚᛑ

Rahnualtr (actual spelling of the name from a stone near Edsjoe lake): ᚱᛆᚼᚿᚢᛆᛚᛏᚱ

Remember there was probably no 'correct' spelling in runic times, so the name may be spelt differently. ᛆᚿᛆᚱᛁᚫᚿ/Anárion 17:17, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Academia - field or discipline?

What is the difference between an academic field, and an academic discipline. I wrote a paper using the two words interchangeably, but got a comment back asking 'what is it, a field or a discipline?'

Maybe, one could argue, that a discipline is broader, rather something, than can be studied as major. Let's say, physics is a discipline, and solid state physic a field. But that might be a matter of taste. I don't see anything wrong with using the words interchangeably. Sanders muc 21:00, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

The comment might also have been a roundabout way of saying "you're using two words that could have different meanings or not; if you mean one thing why are you using different words because it makes me think that they *are* two different things?" Elf | Talk 05:44, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

A third sun

moved from Wikipedia:Help desk by User:Finlay McWalter

This will, possibly, not be a simple question to answer. Assume the following:

• One, a binary, consisting of a red giant, or a super-red giant, and a Sol type star
• Two, a planet with Jupiter's mass
• Three, a brown body, a planet, or proto-star.

How would these four factors interact?

I can be reached at stproof@yahoo.com. Don't hurry, please. I want to get the interaction right. Thank you.

The best place to try might be Wikipedia:Reference desk, but I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by "interact". Yours, Meelar 19:41, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm guessing that the major interaction between such massive bodies would be a gravitational one, and thus this would surely amount to a three body problem - and as such, an unpredictable (and probably unstable one). This instabiliy will, I guess, be compounded by the ongoing changes in the sun's masses (as whichever ones are burning will slowly but surely shed mass). So I don't think there's a simple, or even a single, answer to your problem, other than "chaos". But I'm not sure a circumstance you describe can arise (barring the occasional collision of solar-systems) in a single system anyway. The gas cloud from which the protostar would eventually condense would likely be blown away by the main-series star that becomes the red dwarf long before the red dwarf became so. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:07, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Soviet military might

During its peak, was the Soviet Union's military the most powerful in the world, even more powerful than the United States military at the time?

In manpower but not in armament. Anárion 07:23, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

It all depends on what you mean by 'most powerful', by some measures, yes, by others no... Mark Richards 16:01, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

why did the second Macedonian war start?

Philip of Macedon had by ~200 B.C. begun claiming land in Illyria, a Roman province. After a Roman ultimatum he instead began conquering the Hellenic city states. These Greeks called for help from their old ally Rome, and Rome responded by attempting to force Philip to sign a 'treaty' which would make Macedon a Roman province, under Galba. Philip refused, and Rome declared war.

Other reasons for the war were that Rome saw Philip as a backstabber (he had supported Hannibal of Carthage, leading to the First Macedonian War), and that Rome and Macedon both wanted to claim Greece. Anárion 07:34, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

You should add that to the Second Macedonian War article. Gdr 08:57, 2004 May 25 (UTC)

Done Anárion 09:20, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

Strawberry flavouring in yoghurt

I've now more than once came across the claim the strawberry yoghurt does not contain many strawberries. The claim sounds credible because (a) strawberries are indeed to expensive when compared with the low price of fruit yoghurt and (b) in the European Union which has rather tight laws about ingredients declarations, the ingredients lists of all strawberry yoghurt brands (except one) in my local supermarket in fact sound suspicious: it says Fruchtzubereitung (fruit preparation) and natürliche Aromen (natural flavouring).

Now I remember having read that said prepared and unspecified fruit is actually some not very well knwon North American fruit which has hardly any taste of its own but a texture very reminiscent of strawberries. And the natural flavouring is claimed to be an extract from the bark of some tree species.

Anybody knows, whether this is true, and if so, which fruit, and which tree's bark is used? TIA! Sanders muc 09:46, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

According to [10], you can make artificial strawberry jam with ash gourd. Maybe that's what it is? I don't know what the artificial strawberry flavour is though. moink 00:02, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

no subject

just want to say thanks for putting true information out there.

Thank you, that's very kind. Mark Richards 16:06, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

Identifying a Verb

What is the grammatical or linguistic term for the verb fall in "I saw him fall"? Is it an infinitive ("I saw him [to] fall"), which is a type of verbal? Please help.

Rate of Prime

What does "rate of prime plus 6%" mean when speaking of interest of an overdue payment? --Thanks, Interested

Take a look here - we could do with an article on Prime rate. Mark Richards 23:25, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

Haida mythology

Hi,

I'm writing this question from the Haida village of Kasaan, Alaska. I've been studying Haida culture for many years, and would like to know who submitted the materials from the page entitled "Haida Mythology". I do not see any sources quoted on the page. I'm a Haida, and was amazed to find this, since I've never seen the references to the gods before. I would like to write to the authors. Are they acedemics, or what?

Thanks,

Della A. Coburn

You can see who contributed material by looking at the Page History. They could be academics, or just regular Joes. I'll take a look for you. Mark Richards 23:39, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

There are several anonymous users who have contributed material, it would be hard to track them down. Of the users who have accounts, User:Elegor, User:TUF-KAT, User:Meb, User:Fabiform, User:Maximus Rex, User:Average Earthman, and User:Ausir have edited this page, although whether they contributed material, or simply re-arranged it, I didn't look. You could try asking them, or leaving a message on the talk page of Haida mythology (Talk:Haida mythology). Mark Richards 23:45, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

TUF-KAT's original version seems to have been left largely unchanged. It's not a very long article - Della, we'd be very happy if you were to edit the page and add in some more detail, references, links to relevant websites, etc. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:17, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

I used Encyclopedia Mythica as the primary source for mythology articles -- in all likelihood, it was my only source. At the time, that site didn't include many citations, but now has more. Some exploring over there might turn up a reference or two. Tuf-Kat 01:39, May 26, 2004 (UTC)

Giraffes in Australia?

Do giraffes live in the Australian Outback?

No, only in Africa. There are, however, lots of camels, imported as pack animals from Arabia. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:32, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

We're the only country in the world to possess wild camels, indeed. Giraffes are limited to zoos here. The first giraffe to come to Australia was imported from Africa in 1935 to live in Taronga Zoo, in Sydney. DO'Neil 10:44, May 26, 2004 (UTC)

The wild giraffes were all eaten by the drop bears. Κσυπ Cyp   14:32, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

Duration....

Hello,

Well, my friends and I have been having a discussion about drugs, and mainly meth. We all gave our two-cents worth of our thoughts, opinions, facts, etc...but one thing that we can't all agree on is the duration that Crystal Meth is in your system after you stop smoking it. I heard somewhere around a month, 28 days I believe it was, but one friend interrupted me and said that she heard it only stays in your system for approximately 5 days. So, we want the truth...If you know how long meth stays in your system please let us know.

Thank you!

Sincerely, All of us!!!

Depending on the type of meth, 4 hours to one day. But users report physical cravings (physical de-ja-vu’s) for up to a year, often intensifying at three month intervals. Anárion 15:54, 26 May 2004 (UTC)