Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous

Reference Desk

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May 13

How numbers were expressed in ye olde times

Hi, I understand that in, say, the 18th Century, the number that we now say as 'twenty-one' would have been expressed as 'one-and-twenty'. How, then, would they express the number 4181? I asked this question in Humanities, and didn't really get an answer - someone referred me to the vigesimal page, which was interesting and helped a bit, but I'd really like an explicit answer on this -- how would the number 4181 have been expressed in conversation in, say, 1690?

Thanks Adambrowne666 03:18, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

You can look in electronic versions of the King James Version of the Bible, written in 1605-ish. Search for words like "thousand." Here is one: [1]. And on Wikipedia, for instance, Number of the Beast says "his number is Six hundred three score and six."--Teutoberg 04:46, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

And in electronic shakespeare, [2]--

King Henry V

Act 4, Scene 8

KING HENRY V-

This note doth tell me of ten thousand French/ That in the field lie slain: of princes, in this number,/And nobles bearing banners, there lie dead/One hundred twenty six: added to these,/Of knights, esquires, and gallant gentlemen,/Eight thousand and four hundred; of the which,/Five hundred were but yesterday dubb'd knights/So that, in these ten thousand they have lost, There are but sixteen hundred mercenaries--Teutoberg 04:52, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Good answers, thanks Adambrowne666 10:21, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

How many times are you going to ask this question? --LarryMac 14:08, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

British Army Generals

Was there a British Army General about 1925 in charge of the 1st Bn Baluch Regiment. If so was his name Gen. Laurer or Lawrer . This from a signature in a book . Thanks

At that time the Baluch Regiment appears to have been known as The Baluchistan Volunteer Rifle Corps and it either became the 10th Baluch Regiment in 1945 or the 10th Regiment is the only Baluch regiment extant. I don't know who the commanding Officer was but you could try to contact someone at this site & they should be able to either help you out or point you in the direction the 10th's regimental historian who should be able to tell you if the 1st was amalgamated into the 10th at any time. AllanHainey 14:34, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I believe that usually a regiment would be commanded by a lesser rank than a General. Traditionally a Colonel would command a regiment, IIRC. DJ Clayworth 18:12, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

my question about UN not yet answered

I have raised last 3 days abt the session of Un General Assembly. However, sofar i didn't get satisfactory answer. Let me leave the past questions & shift to specific question. I want to know the exact dates, month & year that the 6th session of the UN Gneral Assembly took place?

Is this page of any help? –Mysid^(t) 09:52, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

The sixth session of the General Assembly met in Paris from November 6, 1951 through February 8, 1952 [3] in a "temporary steel structure" built between the Palais de Chaillot and the Eiffel Tower. [4]. --Cam 03:30, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, steel is only temporary. And for us, humans ... --DLL 19:47, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Film trailer

Hi, is there anyway for me to actually download the low quality of the trailer here? I right click it and save targert as, but when I do that it just download the link and WMP just downloads it a tiny five-second bit at a time and wil tkae absolutely ages! Is ther any other or quicker way to do this? Thanks, Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 15:14, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

You'll have to download the actual MMS stream using a tool like Stream Down. Give the tool the stream's URL, in this case mms://streaming.strawberries.nl/Fortissimo/Snow_cake_promo_350K.wmv. –Mysid^(t) 16:26, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Bio for actress Patrice Jordan

I have been watching a 1997 Steven Segal movie, "Fire Down Below", and I am curious as to the eth nic background of Patrice Jordan, who played Natalie to Kris Kristopherson's Orrin Hanner. She appears to be part filipina, but I can find no information discussing her background. True, she didn't have a major role in the movie, therefore she is probably not very well known. Thanks for your help. CD Kirk

• According to IMDb, her name is spelled Petrice Jordan, which may or may not help you locate more information about her; IMDb lists no other credits for her at all. --Metropolitan90 05:25, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

invisible symbols now visible ( word ) ?

Hello , I'm facing a minor problem with microsoft word , there are some strange symbols on all my documents - things that should be invisible .. I cant even copy them to show you what I mean . When I press space I get dots instead of blank spaces , dotted rectangles around footnote partitions ... and so on . What I need is the way to make them disapear again they are very annoying !.. any clue ? Hhnnrr 15:51, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

They are control characters which have accidentally been turned on. There should be a pressed button with a "¶" character somewhere in the upper part of the screen – clicking it off should solve the problem. –Mysid^(t) 16:30, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks , but I've looked everywhere and I cant seem to find it . Where is it exactly ? Hhnnrr 17:07, 13 May 2006 (UTC) Found it ! Thanks alot Hhnnrr 17:16, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

There should be a >> button, which will give you more buttons. Failing that, click Tools > Options > and uncheck all the formatting marks. --Shantavira 17:16, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I think that there was a toggle in the View menu until version 2002. Now just type "Ctrl + *" or Tools > Options as Shantavira says. --DLL 19:45, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

BT Yahoo browser

What browser do BT Yahoo offer customers when they sign up? It isn't IE --iamajpeg 16:22, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Seems like they have a custom browser called BT Yahoo Browser (screenshot). –Mysid^(t) 16:48, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Chances are it's IE with a custom skin. If you actually have this browser, you can go to this page and it will tell you what browser you are using. --LarryMac 14:16, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Seriously, don't even consider BT for anything. Their customer service department is completely incompetent and only slightly better than their engineers ability to keep appointments. I'm not being very NPOV here but BT are bad, do yourself a favour & don't have anything to do with them. AllanHainey 14:23, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Heh, too late, but I haven't needed to use customer services yet so that's something. Unfortunately that link only pointed out the version of IE that I also have installed (I can tell because it's a special Tesco version :p), thank you all anyway --iamajpeg 16:22, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

All UK telecoms companies are as bad as each other. This is what I was told by the escalated complaint man at BT when I whined at them, and now that I am temping for another one I can confirm it. --Bth unlogged in 07:10, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Hey, that page isn't working! It says Netsacpe something, but I'm using Firefox! I haven't even got any Netscape stuff on this computer! 64.198.112.210 20:13, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Firefox is based around the same engine as Netscape. In fact, the Mozilla gecko is the layout engine of some old version of Netscape with a few features. Many programs can't distinguish between Netscape and Mozilla. Also, many sites are designed to assume it's a Netscape user when it's not an IE one. Computerjoe's talk 20:18, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

GTA San Andreas

Hi, my friend once showed me how to deploy a paracheute (I cant spell) and I cant figure out how to do it. Does anyone know how to do it? 70.39.37.218 16:23, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Google suggests it is done by pressing the left mouse button (PC) or the circle (PlayStation). –Mysid^(t) 16:43, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm guessing this turned into a messy situation a couple of times???

Name of the first Pokemon TV series.

You know how the original Star Trek is called "Star Trek: The Original Series"? Well, I'm looking for a similar tag to help me clarify that I'm talking about the original Pokemon TV series, and not any of the sequels or spinoffs. Does such a thing exist?

Our article on Pokémon tells that it is "often referred to as Pokémon: Gotta Catch Em All to distinguish it from the later series". –Mysid^(t) 16:36, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Text Messages in the UK

Does anyone have statistics on how many text messages are sent per person per week in the UK? Cheers

According to [5], a total of 32.5 billion SMS's were sent in the UK in 2005. Assuming everyone in the UK sends text messages, it would make 10 messages per person per week. Assuming e.g. that only 80% do it, it's 13 messages per week per person. –Mysid^(t) 18:01, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Question about immigration to Australia

Within the next few years I intend to relocate to Australia, possibly for the long term. I read the Immigration to Australia article, but I was wondering if there was anything that would interest or apply to American citizens in particular. I don't think many Australian immigrants are American and I was wondering why this is the case. Any general advice, however obvious, would be most appreciated. Thanks! Bhumiya (said/done) 18:16, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

As I'm sure you know, moving to Australia is not like moving to Atlanta. Immigration (even to Canada) is expensive and time-consuming. Australia is also on the other side of the planet, making it hard to Americans to move their stuff there. Not only would you be thousands of miles from your relatives and friends back home, but with the time zone difference, it will be hard even to call them. It's also a different culture, where they don't play our kind of football and probably don't have your favorite breakfast cereal. I'm sure Australia is a wonderful place, and I'm not trying to discourage you from moving there. I knew a guy in high school who moved to Australia and apparently really liked it. But to answer your question about why more Americans don't try it, I'm sure most people who migrate between countries have quite strong motivation for doing so. Most Americans probably feel comfortable in their current surroundings and see little reason to change countries. People in places like Honduras, on the other hand, are willing to crawl hundreds of miles through the desert to work for $5 an hour as dish-washers in Colorado because it's presumably so much better than living in Tegulcigalpa. -- Mwalcoff 03:15, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I have no vital or pressing reason to emigrate, but why limit myself to territory controlled by the U.S. government? I'm young enough to handle it. I've moved around a lot in my day, so the prospect doesn't worry me. I don't have much stuff to move, so I'm not worried about that either. My main concern is not cultural, cereal, or logistical, but legal: I want to know everything about Australian immigration policy concerning American citizens, if there happen to be special rules or agreements in place. Would my status be very different from, say, an immigrant from Asia or Europe? Are there special rules about employment I should know about? Bhumiya (said/done) 05:40, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

In Australia, your status as an expat from the United States would make you no different than an expat from any other country in the world in the eyes of immigration officials. I'm assuming you're looking at trying for permanent residency. This is a lengthy process, and your first step may be trying to get an Australian company to sponsor you in obtaining a 457 visa, though you'll need to check out the immigration website in order to find the immigration track that would be right for you and your circumstances. Bear in mind that the process will be expensive, and that you will probably be paying much more in taxes here than you're used to doing in the States, so you'll need to be mindful of this as you're planning your budget for living expenses with a new job and salary in mind.

As a side note, the only agreement I'm aware of that is unique to U.S. Citizens is a double-taxation agreement, which basically means that once you hit 181 (or maybe 183) days within Australia between July and June of any year, you'll be paying taxes to the Australian government at the Australian tax rate. 180 days (or maybe 182) or fewer within Australian borders during that time, and you'll be paying taxes to the U.S. government at the U.S. tax rate. DavidGC 06:18, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! Bhumiya (said/done) 00:01, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Help!!!

I accidentally made the font on my wikipedia page huge! Everything is magnified and it's really annoying! I have Windows XP and AOL, how do i fix the page? Its only this webpage that's big... PLEASE email me back at (email removed)!

~James R

In your browser, try going to view, text size, normal (or the equivalent, depending on your browser.) Hyenaste ^{[citation needed]} 18:32, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't know if it makes any diff, but under AOL 7.0 keyword "Preferences" there is an option to change "Font, Text & Graphics". Of course, they change everything for no apparent reason with each new version of AOL, so this may not apply to your version. StuRat 18:48, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Plugged Ears

I am sick right now and my ears are plugged. What can i do to get them back to normal? (not chewing gum or blowing air out with my nose plugged)

• Blow your nose. If you've got any nasal spray, use that.

Recommend you put a scarf on and some clothes, and go stand outside for a bit. Change in air pressure, moisture and etc can do wonders. Remember to ventilate once in a while, and to drink lots of fluids. 213.161.189.107 21:10, 13 May 2006 (UTC)YourMommyOnWiki

If music be the food of love, play on.

Aloha! I'm trying to find out what the piece of music played on this user movie is. I've tried the regular things: googling random lyrics and asking the uploader, with no hits from the former and no reply from the latter. Anyone out there recognise the piece, or even the group playing it? 84.65.36.17

Watch the end credits in the video. Weregerbil 22:31, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

US Horse Cavalry

When we the past horse mounted all attacked me and by The United States Horse Cavalry im arrested what should I do?

Stop taking drugs. User:Zoe|^(talk) 22:30, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Seek medical advice first. Slumgum | yap | stalk | 22:34, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

And after that please suitly emphazi. --82.207.202.16 23:13, 13 May 2006 (UTC) (unable to log in because distracted by juicy pastatutes)

I've but known as some he less stories was than acheiving desirable his horse at traders as in he counter farming was day mounting mines. Just don't do it too much, it can be addictive. – b_jonas 16:10, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok, now seriously, the original question from the history makes more sense:

When and where was the last "horse mounted frontal attack" made by The United States Horse Cavalry? And aganist whom?

Shame on User:205.188.117.68 who has replaced it with this bullshit so fast that no-one could notice the original version. – b_jonas 16:24, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm not entirely sure of the answer, but I'd have to guess sometime during the Indian Wars. The United States Cavalry article may also be of interest. — TheKMan^talk 16:43, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

And aganist whom ? In a war, I'd say agonist. --DLL 19:36, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Australian jobs

Hello I am doing a report on Australia and I want to Know What jobs AUSTRALIaNS have?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 205.188.117.68 (talk • contribs) .

Australia is a continent (as well as a country) so its hard to understand what you mean without a lot more detail regarding the parameters of the report. It's akin to asking "what types of jobs do American's have?" You see the problem? In any case, you can look at the article on Australia I already linked for general information on the country. --Fuhghettaboutit 22:21, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

As the previous answer says, most people in Australia work in similar jobs to those of any other developed country. There are some industries which are possibly quite different to those of other countries, such as agriculture and mining.

See Agriculture in Australia for an overview of the wide range of different types of agriculture there. To me, as a non-Australian, I think first of the stockmen riding horses across vast dry Stations. They are quite different from cowboys or guachos, their equivalents in some other countries. Looking at these links may help you.

We don't seem to have an article on Mining in Australia, but mining of uranium, gold and diamonds are all major industries in Australia. Perhaps someone else will be able to give you some useful links on these jobs.

Note to other people answering this: the IP address of the questioner seems to be in Melbourne, Australia.-gadfium 22:51, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Odd, every tool I use reports the questioner's IP address (205.188.117.68) as America Online in Sterling or Reston, Virginia. DavidGC 06:29, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

My mistake, I used a broken whois which seems to report every address as being in Melbourne. I'll use the one in WP:VAND in future.-gadfium 06:41, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't know whether this is appropriate for your project, but this Australian Bureau of Statistics page gives an indication of what proportion of people work in different parts of the workforce. Note, like other advanced economies, the proportion of people working in primary industries - agriculture and mining - is quite small, as is the proportion working in manufacturing (and in fact Australia's manufacturing sector is smaller than most). Most Australians work in the service sector. --Robert Merkel 23:18, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Having lived in both countries, my impression is that people in Australia work in pretty much the same jobs as people in the United States, except the economy is on a smaller scale. DavidGC 06:32, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

May 14

Kate's Tool

Forgive me if this is the wrong spot to ask, but is Kate's Tool broken or something? It keeps saying I have 1951 edits for a few days now. Pacific Coast Highway ^{blah • my tracks} 01:56, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

On Interiot's edit counter, data from en.wikipedia.org is no longer regularly updated...it is probably the same with Kate's tool. Try using Interiot's javascript counter for a more updated count (it manually counts your contributions). SCHZMO ✍ 02:20, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. It says I have 1984 edits. I wonder if that's a sign of something? Pacific Coast Highway ^{blah • my tracks} 04:20, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, I'd figured by Kate's tool that I'd made around 9,500 edits. The Javascript counter tells me this is my 10,002nd edit. Bah, if I'd have known, I'd have done something more interesting for my 10,000th edit than adding a category to Cyclic nucleotide. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 13:51, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

The English Wikipedia is no longer replicating (well, it is, but slowly, currently replicated up to Replicated up to 2006/05/11 15:05:03 as of 10:43, 15 May 2006 (UTC)) to Zedler (the toolserver), so your edit count is likely several days out of date. You might want to take a look at Interiot's 2nd tool, along with Flcelloguy's tool, which both get the edits directly from your contributions, instead of from the replicated revision table on zedler. Jude (talk,contribs,email) 10:43, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Help me kill time on rainy days

OK, this isn't really a Reference Desk question, but I hope that with all the questions I have answered, I can be forgiven this minor abuse of the page.

When I was younger, I loved to play games on PCs. I loved the Sierra "Quest" games, Ultimas VI and VII, Civilization 1 and other fun diversions.

I have bought very few games in the past 15 years. I had little time for game-playing in recent years. I did buy one of the Warcraft games and Civilization III, but found them somewhat boring.

I now have a lot more free time and wouldn't mind killing some of it with some decent games. But there are so many hundreds of games out there that I don't know where to begin. I'm not averse to action games, but I'm not really interested in a game where all you do is shoot people. An online game where you play against other people might be worth trying, but I don't want to get involved in anything where I'd be expected to be online every day or for hours at a time. My computer is several years old, so anything that requires the latest and greatest equipment is out. Plus, I see no reason to spend $60 on something new when I haven't played the stuff now being sold for $20.

Any ideas? -- Mwalcoff 05:22, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

• If you want something fun and interesting on the conquer-the-world-with-subtlety track (àla Civilization), I would recommend Europa Universalis II. The game is about 5 years old, so it should be both affordable and easy to run.--Pharos 05:32, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
• Get involved in Whack a mole. You could see this as a game where all you do is shoot people, but they're live people, and some of them are quite inventive. (I see you already do play this game sometimes). Alternatively, join New Pages Patrol, and try to save some of the articles being created.-gadfium 05:46, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I recently discovered Laser Squad Nemesis, which is extremely cheap (I paid $8, including shipping), runs on low-rent hardware, and is designed specifically to appeal to "old school" gamers like me. If you liked X-com, you will like Laser Squad. Raul654 05:48, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I'll probably get smacked for this, but a couple slightly older games you might find interesting are the original Dungeon Siege (RPG) or either of the first two Thief games (1st person sneaking, killing is sort of discouraged). And although it's technically a first-person shooter (a genre I usually hate with a passion), No One Lives Forever will always have a special Austin Powersish place in my heart simply for its sense of humor and wacky 1960s spy movie parodies throughout. DavidGC 06:44, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the ideas so far. Please keep them coming. For the record, I have a 1GHz P3, so stuff from around '02 should still be OK. -- Mwalcoff 08:03, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Transport Tycoon is addictive, and so is its open source port OpenTTD. –Mysid^(t) 08:55, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I recommend Simutrans. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:41, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

If you can find a copy of it and can get it to run (it takes a bit of fiddling, use a DOS emulator like DOSBox), Master of Magic plays like Civilization I, but with Wizards and spells and fantastic creatures. It's utterly marvellous and has, in the past, chewed up large parts of my day. I think Home of the Underdogs has it - which, by the way, is a great site for finding those very old games which you can't even find on eBay anymore. If you enjoy fantasy role-playing games, I can very strongly recommend the Baldur's Gate series (start with Baldur's Gate I and work your way through the series from there) as well as Planescape Torment - they both have fantastic stories and are very very well done. You should be able to pick them up on eBay. If they're your thing, the X-Com series (especially the first two games, it went downhill after the third, IMO) is a nice combination between fighting an alien invasion on a global scale, and then going down to the fine detail and fighting it out on a landscape. It's third-person and turn-based, so nothing like a first-person shooter. You ought to be able to find these on eBay as well.

Alternatively, as gadfium pointed out, we love people with free time on their hands - join Wikipedia! Fight vandals! Write articles! Upload pictures! Make the world a better place! (come on. You know you want to. ;-) ) — QuantumEleven 09:44, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Useful. I was reading the Thief article and found 3 of 4 offical links were dead. Fixed now. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 12:54, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I like Age of Mythology very much, both single-player and multi-player. It is playable even on slower machines (a pentium-II-based celeron is too slow, but a real pentium-II or a pentium-IV-based celeron is fast enough), and with older graphics cards. – b_jonas 19:02, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Editing Wikipedia is sometimes perfect on a rainy day. --DLL 19:32, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

And who wouldn't wanna play in the rain on a rainy day.!!! (Not recommended to do it everyday though) ;-) Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 19:59, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm surprised no-one's mentioned the Myst games yet. They are great ways to spend the time. --Richardrj 08:01, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Good idea. Which should I try first? IV, "Uru" or the I-III compilation? Is it like a movie where you really should watch the original before trying the sequel? -- Mwalcoff 13:47, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

You don't really need to play the first few, unless you find it hard to pick up a story. My favourite is Myst 3: Exile - recent enough to still have stunning graphics, but before the series got too stereotypical and commercialised. —Vanderdecken∴∫ξφ 16:45, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

If you liked Civ I, then you might enjoy Colonization, which is a Sid Meier game exploring the European settlement/invasion of the Americas that was released between Civs I and II and is available as abandonware. I love it to bits and recently went back to it for a very entertaining month of colony building. However in the interests of NPOV, I should point out that you may find it overly micro-managerial, the fact that the only route to victory is to successfully acheive indepdenence too rail-roaded, and the way it models the treatment of Indians (rather stereotypical) and slavery (completely omitted) deeply offensive. --193.38.88.6 09:06, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Good suggestion; I already have it though. -- Mwalcoff 13:34, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm currently addicted to Rome:Total War (well, as addicted as my timetable allows). It's more-or-less historical (always a great plus in my opinion), should just barely run on a 1Ghz machine, allows sweeping world conquest while at the same time being quite challenging on the economic side, and looks gorgeous. If you have any kind of interest in antiquity, try it - you won't be disappointed -- Ferkelparade π 13:45, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

And if Rome: Total War won't run on your PC (I very much doubt it), the predecessors Medieval: Total War and Shogun: Total War are also excellent. They combine strategy-scale planning (a bit like Civilization, but simpler) with real-time battles (in the vein of Command & Conquer).

I imagine you probably have more than enough suggestions for all your rainy days! :) — QuantumEleven 17:51, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Myst, the rest of the series, and all the 'knockoffs'. My mom has a lot of fun with those. If your computer is old enough, and you can find copies, 7th Guest and 11th Hour were cool, and so was Lost Eden. Oddworld: Abe's Oddessey sticks out in my memory as well. Course, those are all from, like, the 90's. (Except the Myst stuff) 64.198.112.210 20:21, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

• I like Theme Hospital, Rollercoaster Tycoon and Civilisation 2: try them. Computerjoe's talk 20:24, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

(no heading)

Dear all, I am translating a book and I need you help. What is silent auction item? Does anybody know?

Have you looked at Silent auction? CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 08:59, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I think it's it. Actually I'm translating from English (Silent auction) into Russian, but just didn't know what it was

Stupid question

Hy you guys! I have a question and i would need an answer as fast as possible. Do airplanes have a key for locking them up, and how do they lock up(if they have a key where is it placed).--Captain ginyu 08:53, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Looking at the instrument panel of Cessna 172 (see image), it would seem there is an "ordinary" place for the key in the lower left. –Mysid^(t) 09:03, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Most aircraft doors do, I called a pilot and asked. Plus the three that that are parked out here do. I can't believe I've worked around thm for 30+ years and never noticed before! CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 09:08, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, both of you.--Captain ginyu 10:39, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Ah, but what about big planes? Does a 757 have an ignition key and a door lock? Or do they now use keyfobs? --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 17:14, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Didn't Jerry Seinfeld ask this question in the opening to a Seinfeld episode? -- Mwalcoff 18:36, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Is it so much better dramatically if the hero steals the airplane with the key and flies it himself than simply forcing the pilot to fly the plane? – b_jonas 18:52, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I have been told that tanks do not have keys, and I believe that this is the same for all military equipment. Jon513 19:04, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

It would be embarrassing not to have the key when you needed the tank. --Halcatalyst 21:45, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I just another doubt, Do the airplanes have some sort of an ignition key or something that only the pilots carry? So that the air hostess or some of the other crew members couldn't try to start the flight just by watching which buttons the pilot presses everytime he takes off. I know its far-fetched but, just a thought. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 21:40, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

At first I laughed like a maniac, but then I realized that I, as an aviation fanatic, cannot answer this with a 100% certainty. However, my answer is a clear NO to all big aircraft. In smaller Cessnas and such, a key is required for IGNITION, exactly like any internal combustion engine. In electrically powered aircraft, there are no keys apart from door-keys and such. 213.161.189.107 22:10, 14 May 2006 (UTC) Henning

This provides some information on securing aircraft. You need to scroll down. And to Captain ginyu, as you can see this didn't turn out to be a stupid question. I've worked at airports for over 30 years and never even thought about locking up an airplane. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 22:35, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

As far as a large jet like a 747, you don't need one. You can't actually start the aircraft from the pilot's seat. A small car-like machine, called an APU (auxillary power unit, sounds right), comes out to the aircraft and gives power to one engine. Batteries would be too heavy to carry around since they're only needed when starting the aircraft. Once the APU gets one engine going, the other engines are started via the power that is generated from the first engine.

Smaller aircraft like a Cessna 172 are started with a key and have door locks. Dismas|^(talk) 04:21, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Hey, what do you know, we have an article on them... Auxiliary power unit. Dismas|^(talk)

Hmmm, I must always have understood this wrong - Dismas, are you sure about that? As far as I understood it, an APU is an auxilliary turbine mounted in the tail of a large plane, which produces electricity and compressed air when the plane is on the ground (so the lights and instruments can run even when the engines are not running). It's this compressed air which is used to start the main engines. However, I imagine that some external power source (from a truck, or a power plug) is needed to start the APU. Can anyone clear this up? — QuantumEleven 06:05, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

After doing a bit of research I've found that we're both right. I was just hasty in saying that the 747 would need the truck type of APU. There's this link at HowStuffWorks that basically describes what you were saying about a turbine in the tail. Though older jets required a truck type of APU to get their engines started. I made the mistake of using a 747 as an example. Our own article on the Boeing 727 says that it was one of the first to have an on-board APU:

Another innovation was the inclusion of an APU (auxiliary power unit), which allowed electrical and air-conditioning systems to run independent of a ground-based power supply.

Dismas|^(talk) 08:29, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

What can i say, CambridgeBayWeather must be right that this is not a stupid question... It's a miracle i even looked again at it after those two answered in the top...--Captain ginyu 11:33, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Silent auction item

What is that?

Please specify your question. From what language are you translating, and what is the word in the original language? –Mysid^(t) 08:58, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

See Silent auction. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 09:00, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

That question recurs periodically. --DLL 19:30, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Lauren Bacall

What do they mean by saying that Lauren Bacall was always mixing drinks for Bogie? Are they characters in a film or...? I know that Bacall is a film star, but good god, who is Bogie?

Humphrey Bogart? –Mysid^(t) 08:59, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I think yes, they just called him that way, something like a pet name ) I suppose there should be an article on Bogart in wikipedia. Thank you for such a quick reply )

There is an article, click on the name above. –Mysid^(t) 09:08, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Yup, definitely Humphrey Bogart.—Vanderdecken∴∫ξφ 16:46, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Effective Ways of Studying

Im sure many of you are quite well educated. In your experience what study methods have you found to be the best? Which methods help the formula and facts stick the best in your head?

Reading. Sorry, couldn't help myself. --Ouro 10:51, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

It depends highly on the person. I like to read on a bus or a train – places where I would have to sit still anyway. Somehow it reduces stress and makes concentration easier, as there is nothing else I could do instead. I also read additional material like Wikipedia articles (critically, when they tell things that my books don't). Sometimes I think aloud, sometimes I write about the subject (e.g. in the form of Wikipedia articles :). –Mysid^(t) 11:22, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Remembering. Henry^Flower 11:26, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

's somewhat true what Mysid wrote - writing things down makes you work them over in your head, thus enabling you to remember them easier. I do not know where this is from, but I remember a saying - it stuck, and, at least for me, is true: Tell me, and I'll forget; show me, and I'll remember; involve me, and I'll understand. --Ouro 11:44, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

The best studying method for you really depends on your own learning style. Generally, people learn better through one or more of 3 different learning channels: visual, auditory, or (for lack of a better term) tactile. In testing, I scored nearly equal in all 3 categories, so my preferred study method might not be right for you.

What I did was that all through the semester, I would be writing down major concepts onto note cards. So, if there were a certain number of identifying symptoms for borderline personality disorder, I would write those on one side of the card and on the other side of the card, I would write "Identifying Factors for Borderline Personality Disorder." Then, in the couple of days preceeding an exam, I would lock myself up in my room with my stack of note cards and spend a few hours lecturing to no one about whatever it was I was studying. When I no longer needed to look at the other side of my notecards while lecturing, I knew I had it down. This method combined visual (writing, reading the cards), auditory (listening to myself talk), and tactile (teaching the material) methods and was by far the most effective technique for me. DavidGC 12:20, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

How about mnemonics? They are very helpful for remembering formulae and lots of other stuff. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 12:28, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I completely agree with DavidGC. I read my notes out loud until I can explain my notes (not just recite them without thought). I think this helps because it makes sure that you really understand it. If you don't understand it, you can't explain it. --Think Fast 22:26, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

If you're studying for an exam and need to memorize stuff for the exam, get up really early (if the exam is in the morning) - like 5 or 6 hours before, and dump-load all your notes into your primary memory by continually reading/cycling through your crib notes as many times as possible.This sounds contradictory to the "get a good night's sleep and then go straight from bed to the exam" advice generally given, but it was actually the advice given to me by my best university supervisor (who said it worked for her). worked pretty well for me. Good, well laid out and neatly written and colour coded, crib notes or notecards are vital of course.Bwithh 22:31, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

This works too, especially if you don't have enough time to do a more thorough study spread over a couple of days. I did this the first year or two of my studies and it worked somewhat, though for me it was not quite as effective and the downside was that I was unable to remember most of it a couple months later, whereas I can still remember most of what I studied with the other method. (Retaining the information I learned was at least as important to me as doing well on exams, so any method that helped me remember the information long-term was usually given precedence.) However, each person is different, and the best method for me might not be the best method for someone else. ==DavidGC 03:01, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

When learning something "parrot fashion", some of us find it easier to do it backwards - e.g., if you're learning a poem by heart, start by memorising the last line. That way, you end up moving from the newly learned material (the first line, which is still fresh in your mind) to the material you're most familiar with. TheMadBaron 08:56, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Can a PDF document be considered a hard copy?

In my simple mind, a hard copy of a document is a printed, ready-to-use version that - to explain it bluntly - cannot easily be altered so that it is not noticeable. Can a secured PDF document, which are AFAIK also not easily altered without proper software [but this would also apply to e. g. Word documents, only Word is much more popular], be considered a hard copy? This is mainly out of curiosity. Thanks for the help. --Ouro 10:42, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

To me they are hard copies. Unlike Word documents, PDF's aren't meant to be altered at all. After reading Adobe's pages, I started to doubt even Acrobat could edit PDF's (they don't mention it anywhere). –Mysid^(t) 11:28, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I had always thought that Acrobat _is_ the tool to edit PDFs with, have never seen or touched it though. I myself, when working on a document, sometimes use Adobe Photoshop, as Photoshop allows you [on a limited scale] to edit and save PDFs. --Ouro 11:41, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Acrobat (not Reader) can be used both to edit PDF documents, and to protect them from further editing. heqs 10:59, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

• "Hard" or "soft" copy refers to the nature of the media carrying the data in question and is not related to whether or not the content can be easily changed. A hard copy is only a printed document and is not a digital copy in any form. Definitions can be found at Wiktionary, at dictionary.com, and at Merriam-Webster Online. A PDF is a soft copy when displayed on your screen or otherwise in its electronic form, but a printed version of that same file is a hard copy. As an example, if someone asks for a hardcopy version of a PDF file, they would be indicating that they want a printed version.DavidGC 12:04, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

A good clarification – I shouldn't answer things I know too little about... –Mysid^(t) 12:17, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Indeed - thank you for the insight, have a lazy Sunday. --Ouro 12:25, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Germs

Is it true there are no more germs on your genitailia than in your mouth??--—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.114.224.62 (talk • contribs) 12:35, 14 May 2006.

I'd say it depends on how recently you last showered/brushed your teeth, as well as what you've been doing with the two parts in question. It may be worth noting, however, that not all bacteria are evil disease-causing monsters. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 13:15, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

This is a sticky question (sorry, couldn't resist), as it really depends on the hygenic conditions of the individual's mouth and genitals, as well as the medical condition of the person in question. It is possible to contract a disease from the secretions of genitalia regardless of how thoroughly they have been cleaned, and there are some diseases that can be transmitted in this way that would not normally be transmitted through the mouth without the presence of oral bleeding. IANAMD however, and am not familiar with any studies that have compared cultures gathered from genitalia vs. cultures gathered form the mouth for levels of pathogens, so perhaps someone else can give a more definitive answer or point you in the right direction. On that note, you may wish to ask this question over at the science desk. DavidGC 13:22, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

• The amount of germs is less important than the type of germs. I would thousands of harmless (or good) germs over one pathogen any day. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:35, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Becoming a Rasta?

How do I, as a white man officially convert to Rastafari? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.71.14.79 (talk • contribs)

As there is no centralised Rastafari organisation, there is no official method of conversion to Rastafarianism, irrespective of race. Oldelpaso 15:22, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

So, how do Rastafarians become Rastafarians in the first place? Is it 'simply' a matter of accepting and following the Rasta teachings and way of life and identifying yourself as a Rasta? --84.71.14.79 16:54, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, man - you gotta accept Jah's love with your own heart and soul. Fix yourself up some natty dreads, burn some herb and kick back and chill to some smooth, smooth reggae grooves. Of course, you don't have to do that to be Rasta but given the choice, why wouldn't you? :)

Don't matter if you're black, white, red, yellow or bright green - Jah love is one love. --212.126.156.103 17:41, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

FWIW, where I live the country's best-known rasta is of Hungarian/white South African descent. We are all one in Jah's eyes. Grutness...wha? 07:19, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

See the external links at Rastafari movement and Mansions of Rastafari for more information. --Metropolitan90 03:40, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

need article on binuclear families

we have nuclear family to describe married couples, but there needs to be the addition of binuclear families,

there are already a few places online using the term

http://www.bcfwp.org/Conference_papers/AhronsPaper03.doc

http://www.successfulstepfamilies.com/ecommerce.php/mode/view/id/15

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393306224?v=glance

http://www.ipfw.edu/phil/faculty/Strayer/Ethics%202%20Divorce.ppt

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1893033&dopt=Abstract

http://www.divorce90210.com/article-gooddivorce.htm

http://www.wycan.org/pressarchive.html

http://constanceahrons.com/the%20good%20divorce.htm

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6251458.html

and even in current college lesson plans http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=13319

• Looks like you've pulled together some sources and know a bit about the subject, so perhaps you could write a stub if you think it's needed. If you're not comfortable authoring an article yourself, you can request that it be added by adding "binuclear families" to the first section ("Anthropology, Sociology, Class Structure") of this page. --DavidGC 17:54, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

MothersDay

When did Mothers begin?

Presumably, mothers began sometime after the beginning of women and about the same time as the advent of children, though the actual date is unknown. Information about the history of Mother's Day, can be found here. DavidGC 18:17, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd say "mothers began" with the evolution of sex. Before that, there were parents, but no fathers or mothers. —Keenan Pepper 20:16, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

^That, was funny!! :-D Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 21:36, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh dear... you might as well try to answer these questions:

1)What came first, the chicken or the egg?

2)When or what is the origin of language? Luthinya 11:21, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

1) If 'the egg' is defined as a chicken egg and a chicken egg is defined as an egg from which a chicken hatches, then the egg. If a chicken egg is defined as an egg laid by a chicken, then the chicken. If 'the egg' simply means an egg, then the egg was first.

2) The origin of language is the conditions from which language first arose. This happened about the time language was arising. Some people think it arose as a form of social grooming, to replace nit-picking (...) and was possible because of the slight synesthetic abilities of most of the human race, meaning that some words/sounds would be easily understandable immediately. Skittle 15:40, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Risky business

Does anyone know what the World record is for the highest INAUGURAL parachute jump? I'm looking to do something for charity and would like it to be different (to say the least!) Plenty of people do a parachute jump or tandem skydive. Thanks for any help. Simon

Hmmmm, I dont know the answer but I have a question related to this. Whats an inaugaral parachute jump? ( No joke intended or anything, Its a genuine doubt.) Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 19:16, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

It's "inaugural" as in first ever. Can't find the answer though but here's some records that you could try for. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 19:36, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

So, Hes asking the height of the first ever parachute jump? or what? Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 19:45, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I'm confused too. If it's the first ever jump, then whatever height it was would be the inaugural height record. Or are you talking about the the highest first jump by any one person? JackofOz 19:52, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I think he means the highest jump of anyone's first time --Codeblue87 20:07, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I think Codeblue is right. If thats the case, this makes for a very interesting question.But if you are gonna do it for the first time, you'd need a license to do a solo jump from a certain height, you need to jump from lower heights first to earn the license. And the license is for the effects of low oxygen at the higher altitudes, which I am sure would need special training first jumping off from lower heights. Of course, you could just jump from a very high height to make sure that the records yours, but you would most probably pass out in mid-air, which i might add is the major cause of death for most of the sky-divers. This didnt probably answer your question, but best of luck anyways. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 21:34, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Ah, but how would he get get to that height without his licence? A 747's out, as we found out a couple of weeks ago.

I've never understood the whole sponsored charity event thing. Just ask people for the money, don't jump off anything, and add the money you save to the pot. Henry^Flower 21:56, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Do you really need a license? This would seem to indicate not but I would expect that you would need one to be an instructor. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 22:13, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

The original question does not specify a particular country, and I'm doubtful that every country that has parachuting would require a license. DavidGC 02:06, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I thought i read in an book that every sky diver required to have a license. Oh, well I suppose i could be wrong. But still, if he was going to jump off some great heights, he should get some kind of practise, secretly atleast. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 05:03, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

It might be useful to research the first and second world wars. There must have been a case when someone like an army general on a transport flight, or a journalist, or an untrained observer had to bail out when the plane was hit. --Howard Train 11:42, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Any Tips?

Hii,

I am leaving off to Kuwait this saturday and probably stay there for a month or so, and I was wondering if anyone could have any tips about how to deal with the local people over there. And what things I shouldn't do so that I dont invertently(?) offend anyone.? The article doesn't give all that information. And also any suggestions about what kind of clothes I should wear over there. My dad's already there and hes telling me that the temparature is almost 50 Degrees centigrade. So, any suggestions? Thanks a lot! Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 21:47, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

For this sort of information, you're probably better off checking out Wikipedia's sister project, a travel guide called Wikitravel. The page on Kuwait is here: http://wikitravel.org/en/Kuwait. Have a great trip! --Canley 03:28, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Wow, Thanks a lot for that. Thats a great site. But it doesn't tell what to wear, or does it? Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 05:08, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Two questions

I have 2 questions. 1. The bridesmaid looked at the young man seated at table 6 (does that mean that at American marriages all tables are ennumerated?)

2. those gray number 10 envelopes terrified me because I was in debts (why gray, what is number 10?)

Thank you

1) yes, guests are assigned to a specific table. unlike foreigners, we disdain chaotic celebrations. 2) not sure why gray. #10 is a standard business-size envelope in the U.S. --Nelson Ricardo 22:03, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the information )

Numbering the tables at wedding receptions is a popular thing in the U.S. It is supposed to help the guests mingle and the two families get to know each other. A table will usually have some members from the grooms side of the family with some from the bride's. Dismas|^(talk) 04:09, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Alternately, I've been to a number of weddings (in Canada) where tables were numbered (or places were otherwise identified) to put similar groupings together; for instance, friends from the groom's work at one table, the the bride's relatives from her mother's side at another and so on. The theory, I reckon, is that people who know each other are the most likely to want to chat anyways, and that this is the most fun for the guests. (The only weddings I've been at that mix the tables, I was in a "remainder" (e.g. 14 school friends, but tables of 8 mean one table with 6 school friends and two others), or the newlyweds were trying to set up a couple.) --ByeByeBaby 04:28, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Job of the drummer..?

Hii,

I just got this doubt while listening to Snow Patrol's You Could Be Happy. Many bands perform the acustic versions of the songs and sometimes record entire albums of them. And I was wondering what does the drummer during the whole album? Does he just sit around ans watch the proceedings? And in that case does he get his share of the money from the album? And do they mention his name in the list of band members in the leaflet inside the album? And since everyone in the band does not play an instrument or sing or anything, can they still call themselves by the same name they got by, or think of a new name? (I know the question is weird, but this 'is the Misc. reference desk, right? ;-D) Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 22:01, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Some versions of acoustic songs may include the drummer playing the drums as well. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 22:10, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Or the drummer could play softer percussion instruments to go along with the acoustic instruments. For example, the drummer could play drum set for the regular version and bongos for the acoustic version. —Keenan Pepper 23:06, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

The drummer does was drummers usually do - hangs around with the musicians from rock 'n' roll bands... :)

Oh, What about the songs with only acoustic guitars. I've heard entire albums without drums. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 05:06, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Almost all of the band spend almost all of their time hanging around, or somewhere else completely. Much modern music is recorded over and over, one instrument at a time. So even in a rock track, the drummer might play the drum track once, then perhaps the bassist, listening on headphones to the drum track, adds the bass. Now the guitarist, perhaps for weeks on end, and finally the singer. It's rare (but not unknown) for a studio recording to just be the band sitting down to play all together. Whether the band sit all around is going to depend on their commitments, how much they like one another, and whether the pub is open. Sometimes an album is recorded without the individual musicians ever meeting. Notinasnaid 07:41, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Wow, cool. I didnt know that! Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 16:38, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Talent Agents

Could you please tell what do they do in a talent agency? and who is a talent agent )

See Category:Talent and literary agencies and Category:Talent agents. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 22:28, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Basically, a talent agent helps people find jobs, especially in the entertainment industry. If someone is looking for people to be in a movie or play or whatever they will call a talent agency, describe the type of person they are looking for (male/female, old/young, etc.) and the agent will provide a list of that agent's clients. Dismas|^(talk) 04:05, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Back in the day

And also what can it mean% If you are telling stories from back in the day (I am interested in the second part)

It means a story from a long time ago.

Normally, it is 'back in my day', as in grandpa telling stories to the kids about walking to school 10 miles through 10 ft snowdrifts. --Zeizmic 12:59, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I have often encountered, or used, "Back in the day". In fact, more often than 'Back in my day', since it tends to be used semi-ironically to refer to a past time, so is used by a wider variety of people. I remember, back in the day, when people reported excitedly about the information superhighway... Possibly short for 'back in the days (when)' Skittle 15:34, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

May 15

Trip to Japan

Question copied from the Japan-related topics notice board

What would be the most likely, and surprising, aspect of living in Japan for the first time? I don't know what to expect and being American, I am a little nervous. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.26.104.217 (talk • contribs)

I'll give a short answer for now. The biggest obvious shock will be language. It is extremely easy to function in Japan knowing nothing but English, though while it will generally be enough to get you what you want walking around in the cities, it won't always be easy to communicate/make friends with normal people. If you're the type of person that gets lonely quickly you might want to find out the local foreigner spots where you'll likely find people similar to you.
There's no reason to be nervous though, it's as safe, clean, and welcoming a country as the US is (most Japanese are petrified about going to the US, thinking it like a virtual warzone) and if you keep an open mind about little things (like little grey things in your food that you've never seen before, and of course, the Japanese toilets) then you should be able to have an enjoyable stay.  freshgavinΓΛĿЌ  00:23, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Japan is a great place to visit and to live, and Japanese culture is fascinating and I'm sure the average Japanese is nice and polite, but honestly, the biggest shock to an American may be the "Japanese Only"/"No non-Japanese allowed" signs found publicly displayed at the entrance of some entertainment establishments such as saunas or restaurants. This may be disconcerting, but remember that multiculturalism and ethnic mixing is relatively new to Japan. (and I would say that Japan is significantly safer and cleaner than the US) Bwithh 00:25, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Now I'm not going to defend Japan on this, but according to the (now famous) Debito Arudo, there are only 15 such locations in Japan (out of tens of thousands), and of those I'm not sure how many would actually inforce it if you were well behaved. Besides, those are all in the most remote rural (and backward) places in Japan, and I doubt he'll be heading into that.  freshgavinΓΛĿЌ  05:30, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm... my friend who just got back from Tokyo 2 months ago, said he saw several of these kind of places in the city. He didn't go anywhere rural. Bwithh 22:23, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Also the Debito Arudo article says that there are 15 locations given as photograph examples on his website, not that there are only 15 in Japan!. Bwithh 22:25, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Um, just went to his website, and there are more than 15 examples now and some of the examples are in places like Tokyo.Bwithh 22:29, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I must assume that the places you are referring to have not gone legal with their un-warranted entry rules. The locations Arudo was initially listing had gained legal permission to refuse non-Japanese citizens, which is very different than an establishment that just has a pissed off 90 year old manager.  freshgavinΓΛĿЌ  06:29, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I might add, as for the toilet customs, the same applies for German toilets found around the Soviet-line (Erzgebirge and such). I was absolutely horrified anyone would make such toilets, it was as if perhaps Gestapo designed them to be able to analyze your poo and check for any anti-socialist activity. My reaction to seeing the Japanese ones were nothing short of shock.

I would suggest the racial homogenity homogeneousness lack of variety. If you're used to somewhere like the US where you always see a mixture of black, white, asian people etc, it's a little weird when everyone you see is the same. But the real weidness comes after a few weeks when you catch yourself thinking "woah, a foreigner" after seeing one on a train.

And even worse when you see the same foreigner and think "gaijin!" :) — QuantumEleven 17:54, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

The thing I find most disconcerting about japan is the objectifiacation of tweenage school girls as sex symbols. Philc _T^E_C^I 20:18, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I've been to Japan a number of times, and I have personally found more than 15 "No Gaijin" clubs. Mostly near ports the US Navy (or US Military in general) visits. As to the toilets, look for the handicap-friendly stall if there is one, and carry your own TP!

BigFatDave 23:35, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Snugglies

Hallo dear all! One more question, what is Snugglies? Didn't manage to find it

Looking up the term on dictionary.com revealed no matches, though searching for it at ask.com got several hits. Can you give us the context in which it was used? --DavidGC 03:37, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, it is Snugglis, it should be some kind for a game for kids, according to the context (Have a baby - be ready for Snugglis)

• Snugli is a brand of baby carrier manufactured by Evenflo. You can find more information about it here. From the Google search I ran, it looks like it is commonly misspelled snuggli. The correct plural form of this product would be Snuglis though I am seeing a lot of occurrences online of people referring to them as Snugglis, which would be a logical (though incorrect) way to spell it. --DavidGC 04:17, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Snuggle means hug. Thus snugglies are something that are to be hugged, or maybe hug themselves. I imagine it's some sort of children's product, plush brand or something.  freshgavinΓΛĿЌ  05:48, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

bett

One more question, if anybody can tell. I see in the same book, she made a scene worth Bett Davis (what grounds for such a comparison?!

Please be clear and specific with your question and sign your question with --~~~~ --DavidGC 04:23, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I suspect you mean a scene "worthy of Bette Davis". Davis was an actress "renowned for her intense, forceful personae and artistic versatility". --Shantavira 07:59, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Red Fox

I would like to know if red foxes live in the Patagonian desert. 68.237.175.21 04:20, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

The Culpeo, which lives in Patagonia, is sometimes called a "red fox" (zorro colorado), though it is a different species than the Red Fox. --Cam 04:46, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[strike Strictly speaking, it is not a different species], but a different genus (the branch superior to species). The Culpeo (Pseudalopex culpaeus) belongs to Pseudalopex, the red fox (vulpes vulpes) belonging to Vulpes. They are both canines, being in the family Canidae. Nitpicking scores! 213.161.190.228 10:17, 15 May 2006 (UTC) Henning

In what sense is that not a different species? I don't get it. --Cam 12:52, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I thought it best to specify that despite the Culpeo being NICKED "red fox", it is only as related to foxes as, say, a wolf is. It is a different species the way we normally use the word "species", but I used the word according to Scientific Classification. That way, different "species" are Red fox/Arctic fox, while different "genus" are Pseudalopex/Vulpes (respectively the different genus for the Culpeo and the red fox). Henning 13:33, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Business question

I'm not too well versed in business speak, and I'm trying to figure out the relationship of a company and it's subsidiaries ... in Japan.

I'm pretty sure it's arranged like this:

Watanabe Production Group

Watanabe Productions Co., Ltd.

Watanabe Entertainment Co., Ltd.

many others...

Group info More profile info

What I can't really figure out is what the Watanabe Production Group exists as. Should I expect any entity called Watanabe Production Group or is it just a phrase they are using to classify all of the related companies? If so, does that make Watanabe Productions Co., Ltd. the parent company of all the others?

Also, Watanabe Entertainment was created in 2000, and seems to be a split off of Watanabe Productions (or Watanabe Production Group). I think it's rather safe to assume that they are trying to use an Americanized system, though it would appear that way primarily just on the surface.  freshgavinΓΛĿЌ  05:39, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

By the way, don't refer me to the English wiki articles, because I'm the one who wrote them - -;;.  freshgavinΓΛĿЌ  05:40, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Generally speaking, the "Group" organization would include the upper executive management team and their support staff, who collectively oversee all subsidiary companies within the broader organization. There should be a CEO, General Manager, or some other such titled position in each of the subsidiary companies, such as Watanabe Productions Co., Ltd., but each of these people would ultimately report to someone in the management team at Watanabe Production Group. (Note, I am not familiar with this organization. This is merely a generalization based on my own experiences within my own organization and in working with several Japanese companies. For example, I do business with someone in New Zealand who is CEO of a subsidiary company of a "group" company located in Tokyo, and their overall corporate structure is as I've described. For family-owned companies, the original family members generally maintain ownership of the "Group" company through share holdings, and the other companies remain subsidiaries of the "Group." Thus, when one of them dies, ownership is passed to next of kin, while the subsidiary companies and their management teams remain undisturbed.) --DavidGC 08:48, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok thanks. That's exactly what they seem to be, a family company, and Watanabe is just one of the thousands of oversized super-companies in Japan, so I'm sure a generalization wouldn't be that far off.
Through all appearances though, it appears that Misa Watanabe (who is one of the original founders) is the Director/GM, though all sources list her as the head of Productions Inc., Ltd., which leads me to believe that "Production Group" is just a moniker for all of the related companies under the family name. I'll try to look a little bit further into the family. Thanks again.  freshgavinΓΛĿЌ  06:18, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Where can I find an online article database

I remember once coming across an online database that stored hundreds of thousands of articles on all subjects, but I can't seem to find it any more.

I ask because I'm doing a university assignment on Princess Mary of Denmark, and I need to analyse an article written about her which ideologically positions the reader. I can remember having to write something similar in Year 12, and the article was written about the royal wedding - by a middle-aged woman, who was just gushing on and on about how it was such a magical fairytale. If I could find that article again, this essay will be an absolute breeze. Battle Ape 11:03, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

It just struck me so hard... is Crown Princess Mary of Denmark of any help? Probably not. Was this an English article? Could you explain what "ideologically positions the reader" means in this context? Henning 11:16, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't know myself, so this will be a fun assignment. It was the kind of wishy-washy "Fairytale wedding" article you'd find in Woman's Weekly. Don't worry, though, I think I've found a good danish substitute. (And the wikipedia article would be no good because it's supposed to be NPOV). Battle Ape 14:08, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Distance Learning Institution Recommendations

I know I have already placed this request a few weeks back on another FAQ, but since the response has been somewhat unfruitful I have decided to try once more. Does anyone know of an English (and by that I mean imparting its courses in Enlgish) distance learning/open university institution that allows under-18s to study Mathematics and Physics- with other related subjects- until the Bachelor's Degree? It would be great if the fee was fairly cheap and affordable also- our purse is kind of tight at the moment and I am not yet certain of my venture. Still I hope all turns well. I'm a teenage Chinese girl studying in a private school with Great Britain, if that helps. Luthinya 11:18, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I did a little ringing around for you. Norwegian universities (if you want to travel abroad) are as cheap as they come, while still holding a rather high standard. Basically, you do not pay to enter the school (perhaps a fee of up to... max $100 for one period (two periods in a year), not even that. Food and shelter is not covered, but as a compensation, food and shelter aren't always the cheapest things in Norway. I'd say a typical student's flat could cost you... well, $400-700 per month. Dormatories (is that how it's spelt?) usually come in far cheaper, and sharing the commodities and/or bedroom, you might get as low as $300 or so, at least I have seen such prices.

BUT, and there are a few big buts (pun intended, because I am cheap): If you are to enter a Norwegian university, you have to prove that you have education equivalent to high school. If I did not misunderstand the lady on the phone, Chinese students need to show the equivalent of high school plus a year on university. As you are studying in Great Britain, I have no idea what rules apply, but you should probably be able to send in a request for special evaluation. The perhaps biggest but (pun intended, again) is that at LEAST NTNU (one of the universities) do not teach maths/physics Bachelor level in English, only Master. I think the same applies for the other universities, but I am not sure. The best thing for you to do, if interested, might be to send a swift email with some questions.

Here are links to some Norwegian universities:

• www.uio.no (biggest, located in the capital, some expensive flats)
• www.uit.no (far to the north, gets cold during winter)
• www.uib.no (geographically closest to you, with ferries travelling Bergen-Newcastle)
• www.ntnu.no (squat in the middle of Norway, emphasizing on maths/physics)

Good luck! Henning 12:11, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Two edit conflicts in a row!

The Open University are highly-regarded in the UK and most courses have no age requirements and fees of a few hundred pounds. Otherwise, I recommend asking around your local colleges to see if they will allow you to do a Higher National Diploma - the credits invested in an HND can be put towards a degree later on. There is probably a careers advisor at your school , and if you talk to them they should be able to help. Even if there isn't, there will be a local careers service who can give you the same information. Your school will have the information. Good luck. --Howard Train 12:13, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

If you're not a UK or EU permanent resident, however, the OU fees are much higher- generally about 1400 pounds per course. Henry^Flower 22:51, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

The University of South Africa is a entirely distance- learning university, with fully recognised degrees. Total cost for an undergraduate BSc in mathematics about 110 US$ a year. The low cost is partly to try to enable tertiary education for as many as are able in post-apartheid SA. Requirements would be about an British A-level, I think, but I see O-level is mentioned for some special courses. See Admission requirements for foreign students. I have not heard of age being any factor in being admitted for a course, only your prior qualifications. --Seejyb 21:34, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you very much, these advice have been greatly appreciated. The only problems are that my school demands upon me upon full-time education so I can't really wander off to Norway... and it doesn't really approve of girls studying formally in material beyond their years, although I have recently achieved an A* in an A-level mock my maths teacher gave me in jest. None of this is intended to impress anybody, it merely shows my desperation in attempting to achieve formally in a level of education fitted to the efficiencies of my didactism without having to be constantly pursued within the anxieties of autodidactism. If my school does not formally approve it is unlikely that my dad will approve of an Yr 8's somewhat indeterminate whims either- in fact, I am beginning to wonder if it in reality of excellent judgment to consider these alternatives at all. Luthinya 21:39, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

You don't need the school's permission to do the Open University courses. Maybe also contact the Further Mathematics Network or the Millenium Mathematics Project to see if they will connect you with tutors/mentors who can give you specialized higher level online teaching. When did they introduce "A*" grades for A-level? Bwithh 22:20, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Cows' milk/dairy farming

A friend of a friend, who is a vegan, says that he doesn't drink cow milk (and presumably other kinds) because the cows are impregnated, they carry the calf/ves until they start producing milk, and then the calves are killed (either by abortion or slaughtered after they're born, I don't know which). This smelled a bit fishy to me, because I'd never heard anything about it, and it would seem impractical to impregnate the cows so much (couldn't hormones be used?). The article on Dairy farming says "Most dairy farms sell the male calves borne by their cows", which suggests that although the impregnation method is used there's no killing involved. So:

• In dairy farming, are the calves borne by the dairy cows killed?
• Wouldn't it be possible to use hormones to induce milk production?

Thanks lads/ladettes. Sum0 14:37, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

You say "Most dairy farms sell the male calves borne by their cows", which suggests that although the impregnation method is used there's no killing involved.

Now, what do you think happens to all these male calves? Do you think they get sold as pets to loving families? Or do you think they're used as veal? If you have a herd of cows and want them to produce milk all the time, and enlarge your herd, you need them to give birth every so often. You could inject them with hormones, but then you wouldn't get the female calves (which you want) and you would be injecting hormones into your foodsource. I don't know how it is in America, but in Britain it is illegal to inject certain hormones (like growth hormones) and antibiotics into dairy cows. This may come under that.

So yes, thousands of young cows are a byproduct of the dairy industry. They are made into veal, ie killed, because what else are you going to do with them? And if you do not eat veal, but eat/drink dairy products, then the veal will be exported. Certainly this used to happen through shiploads of live calves being transported in horrific conditions, but I don't know if that's true anymore. They may be slaughtered in Britain now and the meat exported, but I don't know. Skittle 15:19, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I always love these arguments, because they can go on forever: If we didn't use any products of domesticated farm animals, they would go extinct. Would they be happy with that? Could we feed everybody with veggies, and no animals? Why eat farm products at all, since the fields displace forests? --Zeizmic 15:29, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Well yes, but if you're not eating meat specifically because you don't agree with killing animals for food, it would be hypocritical to consume dairy products. If you were vegetarian for other reasons, or had no problem eating veal, then it is different. If you're not eating meat because of fields displacing forests, then you need to find another way to feed humanity. If you imagine that milk is produced in a milk factory and nothing is killed, then you are sadly mistaken. Incidentally, my brother's goal in life is to find an alternative use for pigs so that he can run a pig farm without having to kill them :-) Maybe someone needs to do the same for cows. Skittle 16:52, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

What, does he just enjoy the smell of a pig farm ? I know of one non-lethal use for pigs, they can be used to sniff out truffles, a fungus considered to be a delicacy. This method of finding truffles is used in France. They could also be raised to be sold as pets (particularly Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs) or used in making movies. StuRat 03:29, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

He just likes pigs. I think he was thinking more mass-production than truffle hunting, and more sustainable than the film business. Pets would be his favourite, but he'd have to restart the trend and really persuade people to buy them and keep them when they grew up. We're wondering about pig dairy farming, but what to do with all the young boars? Skittle 10:30, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Pig milk sounds rather unappetizing. It would have to taste better and/or be healthier for him to sell it, especially as it would likely be more expensive than cow's milk, since dairy farmers have bred cows and perfected techniques for maximum production over centuries. StuRat 15:48, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the replies. I'm not vegetarian (though I wouldn't mind cutting out some/all meat), so the question is moot, but I suppose I'm not too comfortable with the idea of milk being responsible for killing widdle baby cows. But I eat grown up cows, so I guess that's just hypocritical. So the majority of male calves born from dairy cows in Britain are used for veal? I hadn't thought of that. Some research [6] suggests that some calves are raised for veal in the UK, presumably some are exported to Europe for veal (now that the beef ban has lifted) and some are "likely to face an early death." So I suppose that wraps that up. Thanks! Sum0 17:15, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Since my girlfriend works in the dairy industry in the U.S., I have some knowledge of what goes on over here. If the calf is a female it is either raised and added to the herd or sold to a farm that will add it to their herd. Male calves are sold. I've never asked where/who they're sold to or what purpose their sold for though. Dismas|^(talk) 05:19, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

"If we didn't use any products of domesticated farm animals, they would go extinct." That's an interesting assertion. Is there any reasoning behind it, or is it from the same school of thought as "if we didn't milk them, they'd explode"? BTW, I think everyone should stop milking mosquitos immediately. TheMadBaron 09:13, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I can't think they'd go extinct. Wild boars can live quite happily on their own, chickens are just a kind of pigeon, cows eat grass and have no predators... sure, a lot would die, but extinct? I don't think so. Sum0 18:13, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

The domesticated versions of most animals likely could not survive on their own. For example, domestic chickens typically can't fly well, as that was not a goal of the breeders. This would make it difficult for them to escape predators and survive on their own. (While there are natural flightless birds, they typically have some other way to avoid predators, like being huge enough to defend themselves, fast enough to run away, or living in Antarctica, where there are no natural predators.) StuRat 06:13, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Voting on Wikipedia

Where can I vote for administrators on Wikipedia?--Porsche997SBS 19:30, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Go to Requests for Adminship, but make sure to familarize yourself with the voting guidelines. -Mysekurity ^[m!] 20:53, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks!--Porsche997SBS 21:38, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Football edit: accurate?

Is this edit, made by an anon (the IP address's only edit), accurate? --zenohockey 19:33, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I can confirm that Green was a Freshman at Nebraska in 1995 and find his rushing total of 1086 yds [7], but I don't see anything specifically stating that he was the leading rusher (and with Nebraska being such a running-oriented team, with ~400 yds/gm rushing, it's possible he wasn't). However, in the absence of contrary rushing totals, I'd let it stand. 20:48, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

New born Foals

Someone told me that new born foals are born with full size legs. That is the length at birth is the length at maturity. I tried to find out this information but obviously I'm not looking in the right place. Can you let me know where to find this information or just let me know if this is accurate?

Foal has some pictures. Their legs look smaller than their mothers', but maybe every generation gets smaller and smaller, so that soon the animal lovers' cry will be "Don't step on the horses!" --Zeizmic 22:14, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Inaccurate. You can tell someone the following: A young horse has epiphyseal growth plates in all the long bones (see illustration at [8]). These are growing areas where bone gets added on to the existing formed bone making the long bones longer. These fuse (stop growing and disappear as recognisable growth regions) at different ages for different breeds, in fillies sooner than in colts. Until all the leg bones have fused, leg length increases with age. After that the bones can only get thicker. --Seejyb 18:03, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

baby greens

What kind of food is baby greens? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 83.237.40.68 (talk • contribs) .

Well, since they are a type of salad, baby greens would be a vegetable. SCHZMO ✍ 21:23, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Deleting a raft of unused templates

I've found about 50 or so templates which are unused, but the current means of proposing templates for deletion is unwieldy and unsuitable. What should I do? Fake User 21:34, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

You don't need to do anything. They aren't hurting anyone. Henry^Flower 22:43, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for removing them! Fake User 00:01, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

May 16

love

What you would call this love when a male student like the female teacher?

A school-boy crush. User:Zoe|^(talk) 02:14, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

A tabloid goldmine. Howard Train 02:25, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Fear

I really enjoy painting, drawing and writing, but I can't seem to get over this strange fear. I have this great idea in my head and I can see exactly how I want something, but I soon as I start, if something is not perfect I get frustrated. I know practice makes perfect and don't worry about mistakes and blah blah. I'm afraid to start because what if it's not perfect? This is causing me to never finish anything... The preceeding unsigned comment was added by 172.192.133.64 at 03:21, 16 May 2006.

On your next attempt, instead of trying to make a perfect piece of art, don't try to make a piece of art at all. Instead, paint or draw only as an experiment designed to allow you to discover the areas in which you are most likely to make mistakes. Once you have gotten the feel for which sorts of areas you are most likely to error (and you may have to paint a few projects in order to find this pattern), then and ONLY then, try painting a piece similar to one that you did before, and see how many attempts it takes before you begin to see improvement. --DavidGC 02:49, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

In relation to writing, creating Wikipedia articles is good therapy for that fear. You can be guaranteed that no matter what you write about some subject that we don't yet have an article about, someone will come along and change it (hopefully for the better), and then you can continue the process. Making a start is just one step, but it makes a significant psychological difference between having started and not having started, and it gives you energy and motivation to make the next step, and the next ... JackofOz 03:02, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Also see obsessive-compulsive disorder and perfectionism (psychology), especially the External Links section on each. --zenohockey 03:07, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

A technique that I was taught: The Ten-Minute Mess: Draw a recognisable picture of a given theme, in ten minutes. Be strict about the timing. You are not allowed to erase or add anything after that. Then look at it and see if you can do better in a second 10min session. And so on, increasing the time when you feel you can. You are supposed to learn that, while no perfectionist is ever really satisfied, you can start and finish things within the time constraints that your life imposes on you, i.e. realistic atandards and expectations. Unfortunately I have no reference for this, and I don't see how this can be applied to writing. --Seejyb 21:32, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Unsigner, you have to disappear. When you feel beauty and try to express it, the only impediment is you. Do not try to remember techniques, remember beauty. --DLL 19:00, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I suggest you draw several versions, each hopefully an improvement on the previous, until it's "good enough". That way, if you mess up any particular version, it's no big deal, that just becomes a "practice" drawing. I believe many famous artists used this method, starting with very crude sketches. I use this method for writing, too. Fortunately, it's now much easier to revise each version on computer than when I used pen and paper. Don't believe me ? Check out the history on my diseconomies of scale article, which I revised some 19 times, along with improvements from others. StuRat 07:43, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Your local price of gasoline

I thought I would take a poll on a topic of current interest: What is the price of gasoline/petrol in the country where you live? I found figures for some countries, it helps a lot if you know what the local media will call it and how they measure it. I started a table in the "Usage and pricing" section of the article gasoline which everyone can add to and the curious can ponder. -- Beland 03:04, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Here in Florida it's three dollars a gallon and we're all whining about it (even though I understand it's a lot more in some countries). —Keenan Pepper 03:35, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm confident your intent is for people to quote from media sources in their respective countries for this information, but there's going to be a strong tendency for people to contribute data to the table by running down to the local service station and checking the price, which would qualify as original research. As a result, you'll probably need to keep a close editing eye on this to ensure it's properly sourced. (Sorry, I know I'm not really answering your question, just offering a note of caution.) --DavidGC 03:37, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

In my home town, which is in Southern Finland, the average price is 1.375 € per liter or 6.70 USD per US gallon. I agree that such a table would be difficult to maintain and verify. –Mysid^(t) 07:05, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

In India, a litre of petrol costs around 50 rupees. So, i guess thats about 1$ and 20 cents per litre. Oh, man..guess i should start learning to walk again now... :-) Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 07:17, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

About £0.97 - £0.99 per litre, depending on the type & where you get it. That's for the U.K., specifically England as there is some variation throughout the U.K. Bear in mind though that about 75% of that price goes to the government in tax. AllanHainey 08:18, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

That's US$6.90 - US$7.04 per US gallon, just out of interest. Diesel fuel is running slightly more expensive. Tonywalton  | Talk 11:46, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

In Norway, it's bouncing in the vicinity of $2,5 per liter (10/38th of a gallon I think). Strangely though, among all the countries in Europe, the mean Norwegian is the one who has to be at work for the least time to buy... well, it was some certain amount that I can't remember. Apprx 10 hours for an Italian, 4-5 for a Norwegian.

Last time I took the bus past a gasstation it was around 11-12 kroner per liter, which is around US$1,8-2,0, so I have to question your calculation of $2,5 per liter [9][10]. --Eivind^t@c 02:01, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

In south Texas, U.S., I paid $2.73 (£1.45) a gallon for diesel a few days ago. If I've calculated correctly, that's about 0.72¢ (0.38p) a liter. —Wayward ^Talk 09:05, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Here in New Zealand, petrol is $NZ1.70/litre (that would be about $US1.20 or UK65p/litre or $US4.50/gallon US - about the same as India, by the sound of it). Diesel is a lot less, ($NZ1.24 litre, converts to US86c or UK45p/litre or $US3.25/gallon) but there's an additional road tax on diesel vehicles (charged by distance) which evens the cost out to about the same amount. Grutness...wha? 09:43, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Is that an additional tax on all diesel vehicles (such as cars) or only on commercial ones? Rmhermen 15:57, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

All diesels. My car is a diesel and I have to pay it. Grutness...wha? 01:56, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

In Candada it looks like it's running at CAN$1.04 litre or CAN$4.73 (US$4.08-$4.25) a gallon. Which means that at the moment our prices are not too bad compared to the rest of the country. We only get gas here once a year and means by the delivery time in late August it will be getting close to $1.50 litre - $6.83 gallon. I wonder what it would be like in someplace like Kugaaruk, Nunavut where there the gas is flown in or if we didn't get it subsidised. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 12:31, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

That's $4.73 an imperial gallon. In US gallons, it's Can$3.94 or U$3.53. -- Mwalcoff 22:34, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Wow, you're getting a deal. It's $1.21 per litre in Vancouver, BC.--Shandon 23:15, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

You might want to use this site as a source: http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/price.html . That way we avoid the whole OR problem. --Eivind^t@c 02:07, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Here in Sorrento, Australia it's $1.40 a litre.

Guiness World Record citation please

I am sure that someone out there has the Guiness Book of World Records. In the Cane Toad article, there is a claim that the Guiness World Records contains the size of the largest Cane Toad. Could someone verify this, and give me the information neccesary for me to cite this claim (title, publisher, edition, page it is on, authors (?) & ISBN). Thankyou --liquidGhoul 05:45, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Someone else may be able to answer this question, but if you need an answer immediately, you could try checking at the Adamstown or Hamilton libraries for the 2005 edition of this book. It appears that the book is currently checked out from the Newcastle city library, but it is on the shelves at Adamstown and Hamilton. If you're writing a scholarly article, you should probably do this to be safe anyway, as not actually looking inside the book yourself can be a bit risky. --DavidGC 08:19, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Don't know why a library didn't cross my mind, I am in one almost every day! I just checked the uni library, and they have one. So I will check that out in the next couple days. Thanks --liquidGhoul 09:09, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

whakatane

im 11yrs old and have to rind the island 80kg north of whakatane any one konw

See our article on White Island.-gadfium 09:07, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Anotations in Wordpad

Is there anyway to annotate in Wordpad? I mean the kind where you go through the article and there are numbers above occasional phrases, and down the bottom all the numbers have citations for the phrases. You know what I mean; Wikipedia articles use this style of referencing, I just don't know what it's called. I need to know how to do it in Wordpad.

While you can do this in Wordpad manually, by typing in the reference numbers in the text, and then adding the proper references at the bottom. However, it's tedious, and you have go through the numbering again if you ever insert one in the middle. Automatic references are a thing of advanced word processors - Microsoft Word does them (as Footnotes or Endnotes), and so does the free OpenOffice Writer. LaTeX also does automatic refences. I suggest you use a proper word processor if you're going to write a document with references in it, it will make your job an awful lot easier. — QuantumEleven 13:12, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Problem is I have Windows XP, which for some ludicrous reason doesn't include Microsoft Word (believe me, I don't use Wordpad out of choice). I don't mind going through and doing it manually, since I don't use that many sources anyway. But the problem is, the numbers I type in are the same size as the rest of the words. I want them to be slightly smaller and higher up, like an asterisk. Is there any way to do that?

Wordpad doesn't seem to support superscripts. For the record, operating systems in general do not include a full featured word processing application. If you really need the footnoting capability but don't want to spend any money, the OpenOffice suite is probably your best bet. --LarryMac 15:23, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if you're making an ironic point, but the reason your copy of Windows XP doesn't come with Word is presumably because you didn't order it: an extra $100-$300 charge. It is far cheaper to buy with a new computer than to buy later. Notinasnaid 17:50, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

In some parts of the world $300 is a month's salary. I agree with LarryMac about getting OpenOffice. You will have similar capabilities to the Windows Office suite, for free. The download is big, 76+ meg, so if you have a dial-up connection set a night apart for it. It should be worth your while. --Seejyb 18:53, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

OMG! OO does not help when you want to suppress line ends. Just say to Word : replace ^p with " ". OO does not create hyperlinks in summaries ... I miss some of these things that make the world so cool. Am I addicted! Also, if someone has ideas about that ... --DLL 18:55, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Replace "$" (regular expression search must be selected) with " ". I've never used summaries in Word or OOo, so I have no idea thereof, hyperlinks in TOCs, footnotes and Indexes aren't a problem. --Seejyb 15:07, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

A question

Hi, I have a question about a song from the movie The Believer. In the movie, after that gang of skinheads fights in the middle of the street they end up in a... how do I call it... a room where survivors from WW2 retell how the Nazis abused them. Then, that skinhead leader is having a sort of flashback or something (that will occur again in the film), and in that flashback he sees himself as that elderly man, and as if his child was bayonneted. During tose flashbacks in the film, a song is playing. Very slow, without words, more like of a howling, seemingly produced by a woman. If someone knows what song i am talking about, please write the songs name, and does it even exists outside the film (The IMDb has no soundtrack listing for that film).--Captain ginyu 12:50, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

• The soundtrack, by Joel Diamond, is listed on Amazon. Track 12, Nazi Flashback seems like a likely candidate. TheMadBaron 17:24, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks.--Captain ginyu 20:26, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Fastest fish?

I once watched a documentary on National Geographic where they showed a fish that could plane outside the water and to do this it needed to develop really high speeds, making it the fastest animal in nature. I don`t really remember the speed, but i think it was something like 800 km/h, or 800 m/s, i cant recall. What is the name of this fish and what speed can it reach?

Raul Dominican Republic

800km/h is a phenominal speed, nothing in nature could reach that speed, especially in the water. The fastest animal in the world is the Peregrine Falcon, reaching speeds of 320 km/h. This is during its hunts for food. --liquidGhoul 14:12, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

At a guess, it sounds like a flyingfish. Our article lists a top speed of about 60 km/h, which is about 17 m/s. — Lomn Talk 14:31, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I think that in National Geographic they talk about the fish reaching 800 km/h for only a fraction of a second, or only a couple of seconds just to make the gliding possible. I only wanted to know if some marine biologist out there, or some specialist could clearify this for me. Raul

The sailfish is usually regarded as one of the fastest fish [11]. MeltBanana 17:39, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

You can't develop really high speeds for a fraction of a second, because you have to accelerate to get there and decelerate after. What the program probably meant to say was that the fish developed very high acceleration for a fraction of a second. It wouldn't be too surprising to find a TV show mixing up velocity and acceleration, or failing to distinguish metres per second from metres per second squared. Notinasnaid 12:13, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

The only thing that goes 800 km/h is a jet airliner - no animal gets even close (even an animal in free-fall, never mind how it got there, would only reach around 250 km/h). 800 m/s is nearly three times the speed of sound, not even Concorde can manage that. The SR-71 managed to fly that fast, but few other things in the atmosphere can. So you can safely assume that either 1) you remember wrong, or 2) the TV reporter was wrong, either adding a few too many zeros, or (as Notinasnaid said) mixing up speed and acceleration.

As a final note, even an acceleration of 800 m/s² is pretty hefty - that's the equivalent of 81 Gs. Not being a marine biologist I can't rule out a fish managing to produce this kind of instantaneous acceleration, however, it smells a bit fishy (sorry....! ;-) ) to me. — QuantumEleven 14:58, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

The fish can't speed that much, but maybe a part of it, its tail, still can. See whip (no info about speed, you have to imagine). --DLL 18:49, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

• <pedantry>"The only thing that goes 800 km/h is a jet airliner".... um, rockets, intercontinental ballistic missiles, the space shuttle.... "nothing in nature could reach that speed".... the universe expanding, light....</pedantry> TheMadBaron 17:31, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Meyers Konversations-Lexikon

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I have a 5th edtion set of these encyclopedia's printed from 1893 to 1897 the books have never been open they still have the wax paper between the pages with art work on them their wrote in german i was wondering if you could direct me in to where i mit be albe to sell them an there value any help would be helpful thank you laurence meisner

A site like eBay or Craigslist would be better than here. The Wikipedia is NOT a classifieds guide. Computerjoe's talk 14:42, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

An antiquarian bookseller would probably be even better. A complete set, 5th edition seems to be going for around USD $400 or more. --BluePlatypus 21:40, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Food chains prospects in India

Dear Sir or Madam

> > Our CHEVIOT Group is a well renowned and professionally managed export > oriented industrial house of Calcutta, India. We have our interests in jute > textile industry, tea gardens and leather garments. Now we are seriously > contemplating to enter fast food chain in India in collaboration with some > renowned international food chain. > > We are very keen to look into all reasons that will go in favor of our > venturing into this business all over India. Since it is unknown field for us > and you are international experts on the subject therefore, may we request you > to kindly do us a favor and give us your detailed views on the grounds that go > in favor of our venturing into it all over India even though some > international chains have already entered India.

I am afraid that the Wikimedia Foundation is not able to help you with this request. As an organization that relies entirely on volunteer work, Wikimedia doesn't have the resources to research questions unrelated to its projects.

However, there is a page on the English Wikipedia where various volunteers try to answer questions such as yours, called the Reference Desk <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk>. Instructions for using the Reference Desk are on this page.

Though there is no guarantee that they can provide an answer, they are often able. Please be specific in your question so that others can better assist you! Sorry I couldn't be of more help; good luck in finding the answer to your question.

Yours sincerely, Joanne Benson

-- Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org --- Disclaimer: all mail to this address is answered by volunteers, and responses are not to be considered an official statement of the Wikimedia Foundation. For official correspondence, you may contact the site operators at <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>.

link title

try looking at Economy_of_India Jon513 17:32, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

One consideration is that India contains a rather substantial Muslim population, some of whom may object to any foreign fast food franchise, especially an American one, to the extent of committing terrorist acts against the property, employees, management, owners, and customers. StuRat 07:29, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't suppose you can name a single terrorist attack in India against a foreign-owned company? Superm401 - Talk 13:04, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

No, but there have been numerous terrorist attacks within India, including one on Parliament, and there have been terrorist attacks in other countries against fast food restaurants and businesses owned by foreigners, so it would seem it's only a matter of time before such businesses are targeted within India. Assuming that since it hasn't happened yet, it can therefore never happen in India, is not reasonable. StuRat 20:01, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

power consumption of desktop pc

my question is: generally how much power will the desktop pc consumes for 24 hours. how much it consumes if the monitor is turned off and the system is running for 24hours. how much power it consumes if it kept in standby for 24 hours

There is no simple answer. Surely it depends on the type of monitor, type of chips inside the PC and amount of USB devices. Various factors play a role. Computerjoe's talk 14:40, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

A Google search for "typical PC consumes" suggests (rather alarmingly) anything and everything between 60w and 1000w. One suspects the lower end of this range, but as Computerjoe says, it varies a lot depending on your configuration.--Shantavira 15:00, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

The effect of the computer is usually described on the PSU. Add that to what it says on the back of your monitor, and you get somewhere around 120W + 45W (LCD-screen) (Henningklevjer 17:33, 16 May 2006 (UTC))

Is that a little low? Most modern PCs probably use a 300W PSU at least, and the most powerful can use up to 600W+. But I don't really understand PC power, so I presume not all that wattage is used at once. Plus I forgot a lot of what I learned in Physics. Sum0 18:09, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

The PSU rating is for peak output. A computer will usually only use that much power for a few seconds during startup, when it's spinning up the hard drive and testing to make sure everything works. Actual power usage varies depending on what the computer's doing: playing a game might take 150+ watts of power more than simply sitting there does. --Serie 20:26, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

It also depends on what OS you run. I once made an experiment: turning on my laptop on full battery, logging in and letting it do nothing. Windows XP kept running about 1 hour 15 min (and I had set the black screen screensaver to turn on in 1 minute) before the battery was out, while Mandriva Linux went on for about 3 hours and a half. Cthulhu.mythos 11:33, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Fair use?

If I edit a picture uploaded on Wikipedia as fair use, cut out a piece of it, and upload it - is it still in fair use? The picture in question is a book cover. (Henningklevjer 17:18, 16 May 2006 (UTC))

I don't think cutting part out affects the fair use situation here one way or another. Of course the fact that someone claims fair use on an image doesn't make it so, and you can't judge whether an image is fair use until you know what it's being used for. A book cover would be fair use for identifying the book, or where the cover itself is being discussed. For anything else, probably not. Henry^Flower 17:36, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Using a book cover to identify a book is not fair use unless there is critical commentary; see Wikipedia:Fair use#Images. –Mysid^(t) 08:02, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Fair use isn't a magic label to stick on pictures. Fair use is a particular use of a picture in a particular situation. Notinasnaid 17:38, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

• If you edit a picture, you need to release it under the same license it had before the edit. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:38, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Talk page protected?

(I think this goes in this section, since I don't personally have any sort of dispute over this) I noticed that the talk page for Userbox is protected and redirects to the article (which is protected and states that the article has been deleted). If it is set up like this, won't it be impossible for anyone to figure out why the article has been deleted?

The page has been protected so that no one accidently redirects it to Wikipedia:Userbox. Article names, in this case Userbox, are not allowed to redirect to Wikipedia name space, in this case Wikipedia:Userbox. Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 18:51, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

The Man with the Rubber Head

By Georges Melies. Anyone know where I can find a video of it online? Vitriol 19:02, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

How do I source Wikipedia?

I am doing a term paper and have used info from wikipedia, how do i source it?

See Wikipedia:Citing wikipedia. Frencheigh 19:51, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: do not cite Wikipedia as a source in your paper, unless you want your tutor to laugh you out of the class. Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information. Henry^Flower 20:00, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Indeed, term papers should use mostly primary and a few secondary sources. You should not use any encyclopedias as references for any term paper. They are a good starting point to explore around and (if an article has references) find some starting points and that's it. — Laura Scudder ☎ 20:07, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

This applies even to hardcopy encyclopedias, but even more so here. --DavidGC 11:16, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanx! "...starting point.." LOL- its due tomm!

Well, good luck with that then. ;) --DavidGC 11:16, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Sceem going on in africa

i want to no if there is a sceem going on in africa..?

Yes, there is. Bwithh 22:55, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

You might find Advance fee fraud useful.-gadfium 04:52, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

There are schemes, screams, and scams, going on all the time, pretty much everywhere, but fortunately the world remains totally free of sceems, so far. Can you be more specific? --Shantavira 07:21, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Oy...Speedy Delete? but it looks professional...

I was doing some new articles patrol, and normally I trust my nose for what's obvious db-quality; but this (Christina Noir) is just beyond words. It's a new account, its first article done in one edit (edit summary says "Created original content), it looks like it should be notable, but I think this is non-notably porn-star wannabe. Maybe I know it should be speedy-deleted, but I'm totally weirded out by how well done the article is (and maybe the subject matter)... Anyone want to confirm this is deletable? I've probably nominated something like 200 speedies (but I have no records since they're, well, gone) and this is the first time I've wanted to ask and see if someone agrees. --Bobak 23:18, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Looks fairly non-notable to me. However, there are some assertions of notability in the article, and I'm not sure this would meet the CSD criteria listed for "Unremarkable people or groups/Vanity Pages," which is the only section I can see that would be applicable. Why not prod it and if removed, take it to AFD?. You can use as some fodder of unimportance, this google search showing that her name returns only 83 unique google hits[12]. --Fuhghettaboutit 23:42, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Note that in one of his edit comments on the image file, the user says he is Noir's husband. --Cam 23:47, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

"She is an ardant animal lover and at one time had 3 cats, 1 dog, a rabbit and 2 pet rats" - I'm sorry for having a dirty mind but this line in an article of this nature has conjured up some very disturbing mental images for me... :) --Kurt Shaped Box 23:53, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks guys. I'll prod it and see if it moves :-p --I think part of my is nervous I'm going to have a battle with the creator of this article following me around. I can think of better topics of conversation of "what happend to you today, Bobak?" "Me? Oh I got into an online battle with a dude who posted an online encyclopedic article about his porn-star wannabe wife which I felt was non-notable or worthy of encyclopedic inclusion." "Why on earth were you looking at it to begin with?" "It was a new article." "Do you search all the new porn star articles?" "Well, she wasn't a porn st--wait no...I mean...drat I suck..." --Bobak 00:53, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Looks like an ad to me. "You've never heard of this person? Well roll up folks, hear all about it." --Seejyb 07:27, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Obvious vanity page created by a close contact of the subject of the article with no sourced information and probably from original research. Probably should be AfD'd. --DavidGC 11:20, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

UPDATE: I prodded the article last night, but it was removed. Thus I have promoted it to AfD, here. -- Bobak 16:13, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

May 17

White shirts in NBA playoffs

Does anyone know why the spectators at the New Jersey Nets/Miami Heat game were all wearing white? I've looked at a couple places, but I have no idea. Labor day? :) -01:04, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I believe (and I'm not absolutely sure) the reason is that the home team's organization asked the fan to wear a certain color shirt for the playoff game to show support for the team; white seems to be the most common color for this. Again, I'm not absolutely sure about that. Thanks! Flcelloguy (A note?) 02:00, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, but it wouldn't make sense that both Nets and Heat fans would join in... I couldn't find anything, just a couple of mentions that it did, and something in relation to the "theme" of the Playoffs this year. Not exactly sure what the "theme" would be, but anyways... -Mysekurity ^[m!] 02:55, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

It may be descended from the Winnipeg White Out. Chuck 20:08, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

National anthems and the United Nations

I once saw a bunch of heads of state at an event and their respective national anthems were played for each of them. The UN Secretary General also participated and an "anthem" was played for him - does anyone know what piece of music this would have been? Peter Grey 05:17, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps this link at nationalanthems.info would be of interest. –Mysid^(t) 06:22, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Should we add that information to List of national anthems? -- SGBailey 11:37, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd say no. The list does include some anthems of places that are not nations per se, but they are at least geopolitical entities. The UN may be an organisation of nations/geopolitical entities, but it itself is not a geopolitical entity. The OECD, OPEC, NATO, the IOC and lots of other organisations of nations that have anthems would fall under the same heading. JackofOz 02:29, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. The UN is not a nation. --DavidGC 02:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Baby Boomers

Greetings, Since the Baby Boomers are now reaching the age of 60 this year,I was wondering how many will be 60 each day this year. 2006. My husband and I missed the Baby Boomers by a couple of years. I say we are the last children raised by Victorian parents, what our title is I don't have a clue.

Thank you very much for your time and efforts. Patricia

What generation you belong to isn't clear based on your description, but you might find a list of generations useful.

Also, according to Post-World War II baby boom, as of October 1946, there were 339,499 babies born. There are likely no day-by-day statistics from that time, but assuming a constant birthrate and extrapolating the rest of the year, we can assume a birthrate of about 1,100 a day in 1946, so maybe 1,000-1,100 is a pretty good guess, without getting into details of how many might have died early, in Vietnam, etc. KWH 05:51, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Err.. I read that quite a different way. There were 339,499 babies born in the month of October in the USA. That means that in October 1946, there were 10,951 children born per day in the USA alone, let alone the rest of the world. JackofOz 10:08, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Wups. It looks like the Census Bureau has done their homework and they claim 7,918 Americans are turning 60 each day this year, along with assorted other statistics.[13]. KWH 14:17, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

• Sometimes the term "Beat Generation" applies to people who grew up in the 1950s (U.S.). --12.217.186.109 15:43, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

And I've heard the term "the greatest generation" applied to those who lived through WW2. Personally, I think it's silly to divide people up by "generation", as you could just as well declare a "hippy generation" born from 1950 - 1965, if you wanted, it's all entirely arbitrary and meaningless. StuRat 07:10, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Which is probably why many of our articles on generations are such a mess... :) — QuantumEleven 07:54, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps we should define a generation covering people who define silly generations. And then suitly emphazi it. —Zero Gravitas 08:27, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

to see things

could someone explain why mountains appear a lot closer sometimes than at other times and why the moon rising of the horizon is very large but when it gets up very high it gets smaller but is the same disdance

For the second question you'll be needing Moon illusion Phileas 08:06, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

For the first one, I believe it's because of the amount of haze in the atmosphere: more distant objects are seen through more haze, and so look fuzzier, so we develop an assumption of fuzzy=distant, clear=near. On a clear day, the mountains are clearer, so seem closer. For the same effect on the moon (nice segue) see point 5 at Apollo_moon_landing_hoax_accusations#Issues_of_photographs_and_film. Henry^Flower 13:48, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

right. also when there's more side-lighting on the mountains, giving them an appearance of more texture, they'll appear closer than when the lighting is from the front. Texture is an important monocular depth cue. These are just some of many such cues (in fact, I know of one occasional WP editor whose writing his PhD thesis on this subject right now...). Grutness...wha? 01:17, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Color could also have an effect. The mountains are more likely to look purple at dawn and/or dusk, and hence look farther away. StuRat 07:17, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Help pages

I want to know how old the help pages are. If they just "became" as Wikipedia grew older, or if there was an intent to make these help pages?

The reference desk has been around since october 2002. See http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Miscellaneous&oldid=391382 and probably earlier - it appears to have been moved there from somewhere else on that date. -- SGBailey 16:09, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Help pages change frequently, being divided and merged. Try "history" on one of them. --DLL 18:38, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Thans, but im not quite pleased. How did they "become", was it an intentional development, or did they just appear one after another when wikipedia grew? What im trying to find out is if they were planned and asked for? Or if wikipedians just filled out the blanks about help that they missed when they were new? Sorry if my first question wasnt clear enough.

• Based on recent new features, I expect new help info was added as they were needed. Whether we started with a basic help file or whether even that was wiki created, I don't know. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:44, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

The "nostalgia wiki" preserves the content of Wikipedia as of December 2001, a little less than a year after it was started. They had How does one edit a page and Tips on contributing to Wikipedia ("First, make a list of everything you know. Then, write an article for every item on that list.") and a few more, back then. The rest has grown organically. At times, like high-tide marks on a beach, our help system does show the remnants of several previous well-meaning attempts to overhaul the whole shebang, and there are always stray bits that are uncategorized or out-of-date, but for the most part our help pages have grown organically as people see the need to clarify various things for future users. — Catherine\^talk 21:44, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

French version

Good morning,

I love your Encyclopedia. Just wondering if there is a French equivalent. Besides working on graphics, I also do quite a bit of metadata editing for an image data base for Parks Canada in both official languages.

Thank you

André Guindom Manager Multimedia Centre Parks Canada Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

Certainly: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accueil . Henry^Flower 13:21, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Looking for a video clip of Dick Solomon's famous speach from "3rd Rock from the Sun" (in its entirety) on "Guns don't kill people; physics kills people"

Does anyone know where I can find a video clip of Dick Solomon's (Jonathan Lithgow) famous "Guns don't kill people; physics kills people" speech from "3rd Rock from the Sun"? AND what is the name of the episode? I saw an internet post that indicated it's from Season 4, but I don't know for sure.

The speech is made to a group of school kids on career day. Dick's booth is right next to the Police Officer Don's booth, and the two of them are competing with each other to draw more kids to their booth/career. When Don says, "I've got guns," all the kids run over to his booth.

Dick then goes into a speech whose timber and meter come directly from "The Music Man" when he made his speech about the evils of a pool table. The kids run over to Dick's booth as he concludes his speech with the VASTLY publicized quote, "Guns don't kill people; physics kills people."

However, Don wins the final bout as all the kids run back to his booth when he dangles his handcuffs in front of the kids and shouts, "I've got handcuffs!"

I would prefer to find a free video clip (with sound, of course) of his speech.

Thanks for any help offered. --Rattshaman 13:53, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

My best guess is that the episode is The Physics of Being Dick from season 3. (And may I just mention that I'm pretty well done with seeing the word/name Dick after that search!). I'm afraid I can't help you with getting the video clip, but the season 3 DVD set seems widely available in the US and the UK at least. You can get a small wav file here though. --LarryMac 14:41, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, LarryMac!

--Rattshaman 01:09, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Tylenol PM

I was just wandering. On a Tylenol PM wich side is the sleeping part, and wich part is the tylenol part? The white side ,or the blue side?

As with most drugs, these are just artificial colorings to make them look good.--Shantavira 17:39, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Gibraltar (march)

Does anyone know where I can hear online for free the British march Gibraltar by Lt-Col Richard Waterer? Thanks--Keycard ^(talk) 17:16, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

A recording of Glorious Victory by William (?) Kendall would also be nice! Thankyou--Keycard ^(talk) 17:19, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Looking for Windows DVD/Game/Book Catalogger

I'm looking for Windows software that is more or less the same sort of functionality as the Mac's "Delicious Library," a program that allows you to keep a record of your DVDs, games, books, etc. What I want is sort of like an iTunes that I can list my stuff on so I can see what I have without digging through all the binders and whatnot. Any tips?

This is definitely NOT an endorsement (I am but a humble searcher); you might want to look at ReaderWare. --LarryMac 21:01, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh yeah, it most likely is nowhere near as nice looking at Delicious Library. Sorry. --LarryMac 21:03, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

What is the largest bear in the world?

?

Have you read our article on bears? It answers the question, noting that "largest" and "heaviest" have different answers, depending on what your exact criteria are. — Lomn Talk 21:19, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Polar Bear or Kodiak Bear? Zakarahiah 21:21, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Homemade remote control!

I was wanting to create myself a little toy of destruction and mayhem, and I want it to be remote controlled. LED or other ways of doing it, I don't know, but I was looking for some accurate, detailed instructions on how to make them. Like how some bomb plans are set up, only... bit less dangerous. Information ought to include what materials are needed and just really plow through everything. I basically plan to use an electric engine (as simple as they get) to turn some wheels, along with perhaps two or three additional functions that are mostly "on" (wheel engine), "start-idle-reverse/start-reverse" (gun turret, for instance) and the occasional "Booyeah!" that fires a flamethrower, along with what is needed for the flamethrower to turn deadly. I don't know if I need to lit some kind of match myself, but if that's what it takes... Henning 21:21, 17 May 2006 (UTC) Thanks!

Lego mindstorm robots might be a good way. – b_jonas 23:07, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Yabbadabbadoo! Thanks in ounces and pounds :) Henning 10:13, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Or, if you want to kick it up a notch... KWH 02:27, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Who is the fastest guitar player in the world?

? any ideas? Zakarahiah 21:22, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

What does "fast" mean in the context of guitar players? --Serie 21:43, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm guessing it refers to very fast, highly technical playing, ala shred guitar. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 22:57, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I doubt there's an objective, unambiguous way of measuring such. The Great Kat's website has a link to [14] this page claiming to list the "10 fastest shredders of all time". Some of these people are rather, um, interesting characters, not least the Great Kat herself. --Robert Merkel 00:50, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Though not what you'd normally consider shred guitar (not metal, to start with), listening to Robert Fripp's fast arpeggios on I advance masked surely puts him into world class for speed guitar. Grutness...wha? 01:22, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Seconded vote for Fripp. His playing on 'Fracture' is pretty damn swift as well. But the first names that came into my head for speed were Vai and Satriani. --Richardrj 10:50, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

But usually the fastest doesn't mean that they are good. I've know people who play scales soo fast that they sound like chords! And it kinda doesn't sound too good. A simple, well placed scale or a solo at the right moment in a song sounds much better than random shredding throught out the song. But, thats just my opinion. :-D Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 11:50, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Besides, any pretty good mandolin player can shred the hell out of any but the very fastest guitarists. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 13:51, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Ywing Malmsteen (spellling) is the fastest, at if i recall correctly, 25 notes a second. Pretty fast.

this is just hearsay, i'd have to do some searching to back this up: apparently malmsteen only hit 24 notes per second. some british guy had just picked up a guitar and did nothing but double-tapping for six months, and he hit 25. 71.31.102.60 16:38, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

What do you do............

What do you do if,a girl thinks you are psychotic and boring,and other people don't that way of you,but shes the only one,but then yet she wants you to apoligize to her for walking up to her locker the wrong way,and slamming her books even though you respectively picked them up,and even though she still likes you some?

Dre

...you dump her? Vitriol 22:40, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Seems to me the two of you don't understand each other very well...what is the reason you have this relationship?--24.80.70.174 22:46, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

"Psychotic and boring" seems like a contradiction to me. Seems like you could be one or the other, but not both. —Keenan Pepper 02:31, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, when you rip the still beating heart from the girl you've been stalking, they don't typically yawn. :-) StuRat 06:57, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Capt.John Davis

hi i just finished reading the Albert Fish article and i just wanted to know how much if any of the content of the letter he wrote is confirmed truth.

It's true. You can search google for albert fish letter and it will give you various websites with the letter. --M1ss1ontomars2k4 | T | C | @ 03:08, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Is it possible the questioner is asking whether the details (say of the meat shortage in China at the time) described in the letter are verified?--Shandon 15:40, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

to avoid the light pollution

I'm involved in a project in Brasil to build several houses at the moutains in the State of Rio de Janeiro. This place has a beautifull sky at night. You may see lots of stars so dark is the area. I read some time ago that there is a city in USA that in recognised as "the most beautifull sky at night in USA" due to special kind of public and private illumination. Would you help me to find out the name of it?

• I suspect this website might be your friend: http://www.darksky.org/newsroom/mediacov.html --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:07, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

This may save you some time. I don't know if Flagstaff, Arizona has specifically been recognized for its dark sky, but I do remember that the street lamps there had special fixtures to focus all of the illumination downward towards the ground. I suspect that this is largely due to its famous Lowell Observatory.--Tachikoma 13:51, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Author of this site

I am sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you could tell me who the author of this site is. I am trying to cite this website for a school project.

Thank you

Everyone can be an author! This causes some problems, however, so I'll leave it to more competent people to explain :) Vitriol 00:11, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

See Citing Wikipedia for more information on who writes Wikipedia, and why it should not be cited for school papers, but merely a starting point for further research. Good luck, Mysekurity ^[m!] 00:41, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

• It can't hurt to cite wikipedia if you check the sources the article is based on, but in that case, citing the sources directly is probably better anyway. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:48, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

May 18

Susanna Moore

Susanna Moore is referred to in your entry as an American crime writer. She is not a crime writer. She has written seven books --- three novels that make up a Hawaiian trilogy; a travel book; a novel about a murder in New York; a novel set in 19th-century India; and a novel that will be published next year. I know because I am Susanna Moore.

Hey Susanna, while we tend to like to keep our entries free of edits by their subjects (see Wikipedia:Autobiography), if you feel you can add to the article with verifiable sources and factual additions, please feel free to do so. You may cite Amazon, or anything else that can back up your claims. I see that you are on an AOL account, and thus you might want to create an account, for a number of reasons. Happy editing, Mysekurity ^[m!] 01:43, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Slight update undertaken, but I'm not familiar with the subject. Apologies for howlers introduced. --Tagishsimon (talk)

coins

I'm curious as to what the term,,{Uncirculated} means. The actual word in coin talk.

Means it has not been released into circulation (e.g. released by the Mint to banks to distribute to business and the public). Wll generally be in pristine condition and may be a design that was never circulated, which would presumably give it a premium. See extended article at http://www.goldsovereigns.co.uk/prooforuncirculated.html --Tagishsimon (talk)

Hey, I'm a coin expert, sort of, and Uncirculated is a coin which like Tagishsimon has yet to reach circulation. These are generally proof or commerative! If a coin reached circulation but is good quality, the term EF is (excellent fine, I think) used. Computerjoe's talk 18:52, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

To add to this, uncirculated coins should be free of the nicks and blemishes that ordinary coins pick up in the course of everyday wear. Uncirculated coins aren't minted in any special way; they just haven't been circulated.

Uncirculated coins are a step below "proof" coins, which are specially minted in a way that gives a mirror-like finish to the background, and a frosted look to the sculpted parts of the coin. It's a very striking effect, if you've never seen a proof coin before. Proof coins are made specifically for the collector and investor market, and they generally come in special packaging. --Tachikoma 23:34, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Adding on to what I said earlier... if I remember correctly, the scale for grading a coin goes like this: poor, good, very good, fine, extra fine, uncirculated, brilliant uncirculated, proof. It's been many years since I've thought about coin collecting, so I could be wrong. There's also a newer grading system that uses a numerical scale to rate a coin's condition. More info can be found in the article Coin collecting. --Tachikoma 14:00, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Molybdenum Disulfide

I read in the information in Wikipedia that Moly in powder form as used in oils and greases has a particle size range of 1-100 (I don't know how to say this, but likes like a backward written YM) and I am interested in how that measurement compares to micron. I have a 10 micron oil filter and would like to use some powdered Moly but it needs to be able to pass through the filter. I know someone out there can help me and I am "Thanking you in advance for your help and wish I could be as smart as you are." Thank you ever so much and "Have a great day!" Kent

That's a micrometer. It is the same as a micron. Weird, huh? --M1ss1ontomars2k4 | T | C | @ 03:04, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean μm ? That does indeed mean micrometer, with the symbol μ (the Greek letter mu) meaning 1/1,000,000th. StuRat 06:48, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Doesn't μm mean micrometres? A micrometer would presumably be a machine for measuring very small things. But yes, same thing as micron. Skittle 13:58, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Ooh, look at me, I'm from an different country and I spell things weird. —Keenan Pepper 15:52, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I thought SI units were internationally spelled to avoid confusion. I thought that was part of the point of international units. Obviously if it's an International/American difference, then I retract my comments, but I thought that the Système International would be consistent. Skittle 16:11, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

It is an American/British spelling difference. Most "-re" words in Britspeak are spelled phonetically as "-er" in American English. Oddly, there are exceptions, like "acre" (perhaps because "acer" might be taken as someone who aces a test). I suppose we would have to make it fully phonetic as "ayker" to make it clear, and we Americans aren't willing to go quite that far, yet. StuRat 16:22, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

No, the spelling varies between countries. For example the Portuguese for kilometre is quilómetro. The symbol is still km though. Jameswilson 01:06, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Fishing fleets

Er...this is kind of dumb, but what country does have the world's largest fishing fleet? It's featured as an example question on WP:Q, but it doesn't give the answer -_-. --M1ss1ontomars2k4 | T | C | @ 03:05, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I searched through the archives to see where it was originally asked (it seems the question used to be quite a bit stranger, until someone answered it and it was changed), but I couldn't come across a correct answer.
It seems that Japan may have the world's second largest fishing fleet, and Russia used to have the world's largest fleet. Spain is apparently number 4, and I have a source that says Asia has the worlds largest fleet, which is a bit silly.
All that really remains is the US and China, and I'd put my money on the US, since China gets a lot of its seafood from Japanese ships. 61.25.248.86 03:21, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

To throw another possibility into the mix, South Korea has a very large fishing fleet - larger than Japan's, ISTR. Grutness...wha? 06:31, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I know Norway's fishing fleet reigned supreme in size not too many decades ago, but I don't know about today. Wikipedia is lacking on this area. Henning 13:59, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

The answer is at the previous example question #What species of penguin appears on the coat of arms of the Arturo Prat Antarctic Naval Base?. – b_jonas 15:56, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Sleep

Moved to science. 61.25.248.86 06:36, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

England's highest waterfall

Hi Can you help me ? There seems to be several sites all claiming to be England's highest waterfall !! is it Canonteign Falls, Caldron Snout, High Force or Gaping Ghyll Many thanks in advance Regards Dennis

Dennis J O'Gara

The High Force article goes some way to clarifying this: Despite popular belief, it is not, at 20 metres (70 feet), the highest waterfall in England: Cautley Spout, in Cumbria's Howgill Fells, is almost 180 metres (600 feet) high; and Hardraw Force, in North Yorkshire, has an unbroken drop of 30 metres (100 feet). http://www.rabycastle.com/high_force.htm does state that High Force is "reputed to be the highest unbroken fall of water in England", (they seem not to have noticed Hardraw Force) so the term "highest waterfall" is open to interpretation! Not a good one for a pub quiz; there'll be people with several "right" answers ;-) Tonywalton  | Talk 09:47, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't know the nationality or the intention of the original questioner but it may be worthwhile pointing out that England and the United Kingdom are not the same so there may potentially be a higher waterfall in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland which you may also be interested in. AllanHainey 11:31, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Train travel in eastern Europe (prices of...)

I am considering travelling by train through eastern europe (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary & Romania) next year and though I can find timetables for most of my legs I'm struggling to come up with any prices (I've looked in Lonely Planets, Rough Guides, etc but they mainly concentrate on longer journeys). I could do with these to compare with Interrail/Eurail/Domino passes. If anyone could advise on fares for the following legs I'd be extremely grateful( no concessions, day fares). Krakow (Pol) - Levoca (Slo), Levoca - Bratislava (Slo), Bratislava - Sopron (Hun), Sopron - Budapest (Hun), Budapest - Cluj-Napoca (Rom), Cluj-Napoca - Brasov (Rom) and, Brasov - Bucharest (Rom)... Thanks in advance... DPM.

I suggest you talk to your travel agent - it's their job to give you information like this. — QuantumEleven 12:55, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Hadn't thought of that! however, last time I was in a travel agents (in the UK) I came to the conclusion that it was their job to sell the holidays they had on offer but ask for some 'other' information and they look at you as though you have two heads (I don't). Maybe I'm being cynical and over-generalising but I just dont trust them... Thanks...DPM

Travel agents are not information bureaux and I would have some sympathy with one who politely declined to give you this kind of information. But to be honest, I don't think travel agents would be likely to hold information on individual train fares in eastern Europe anyway. You could maybe try the tourist boards of the individual countries, or the websites of their train companies. Try booking tickets online and see what fares the sites throw up. --Richardrj 14:44, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

[15] is a useful site for advice about train travel in Europe. Deutsche Bahn [16] gives times for trains all over Europe and some prices, though coverage varies from country to country. Oldelpaso 17:27, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Speaking out of personal experience. Any train travel [excluding cross-border travel] in countries that are generally east of the Euro-zone in Europe is quite inexpensive [e. g. a one-way ticket from Gdańsk to Kraków [cross-country, ~600km] for an overnight train would be something like 12-15 Euro, maybe a little more; a student, like me, can travel the distance for 9 Euro :) ]. Cross border travel is a different story, because the tarifs are not really compatible and it is usually advisable to sit in a compartment with an experienced and English-speaking traveller. Booking tickets online is something I have never done even here at home [I'm Polish] and would not consider, it is easiest to just go to the clerk at the train station. Be careful, however, because sometimes the people will want to cheat you out of your money. Moving further south - the Czech Republic and Slovakia are a completely different story, I have never had trouble communicating in English or German at the train stations or even with train conductors.

If there is something you'd like to ask about travelling in Poland [or ask any other question related to my home country] - feel free to do it. --Ouro 22:34, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

If it comes to more than 100 quid you are probably better off buying this instead. Jameswilson 01:09, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

whatever you do don't but a Eurail/interrail pass (i forget what they're called). there are SO many train fares you have to pay extra for

In my experience, this depends on the country though. I had one when I was in Germany, and I never had to pay a cent for any of the trains there, including the high-speed ones. --DavidGC 10:57, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Article deleted contrary to policy?

Only a few days ago I created an article on the book "Successful Praying"; I took the effort to make fair-use copies of the cover, type in the entire page of contents, and find a link to the book on the web. Now, without any notice at all, I find that the page has been deleted. This makes me extremely angry to have an article which I put all this effort into thrown away without any procedure. It seems that this was clearly against the Wikipedia:Deletion_policy since it should have been obvious that the article was none of the "Speedy Deletion" candidates, and at least Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith would have given the benefit of the doubt. Surely the admin who did this should know better. I'm pissed off enough with the admins heavy-handedness to just never come back to Wikipedia.

I cannot find out who did it (because the page does not exist any more), or can I?

Thanks for any help.

Brusselsshrek 12:36, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

This is what I found from the logs: DragonflySixtyseven deleted the article on May 18, 2006 at 03:28 UTC, stating "article much too spammy" as the reason. –Mysid^(t) 12:51, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

A table of contents is not an encyclopedia article. It's is a table of contents (and in fact it is copyrighted). Rmhermen 16:29, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Consumer Durable Goods

I Want 2 know briefly about Consumer Durable Goods

Have you looked at consumer good and durable good? --Richardrj 14:06, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

NBME Question bank - STEP1 USMLE

NBME Question bank - STEP1 USMLE hi, i am lookin for question bank series book, that is used to prepare for step 1 USMLE exam. Can any one let me the latest edition details along with the author name. If it can be referenced to publications then can u please let me know the publisher name.

thanks.

User Talk Pages

Hi

I've noticed that many Wikipedians have small rectangular boxes on their talk pages which say some things about themself e.g. This user is male, this user is a Manchester United fan and so on.

How do you put these in and is there a list of boxes that can be put in.

Thanks in advance

Sam

See Wikipedia:Userboxes for instructions and a list. --GraemeL ^(talk) 15:57, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Termoli in Italy

A stage of the Giro D'Italia cycle race finished in Termoli this week. The commentator on the television station stated that one of the International Time lines passes through a building that was pictured. It resembles a small Castle. Can anyone confirm this? and is it open for visitors.

Regards Dave H

Is that the building shown in our article? The map in the Time zone article shows all of Italy in one time zone. Rmhermen 16:25, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

He was referring to the 15° E line of longitude, where local time will be equal to clock time, 1 hour ahead of Greenwich. These are not normally called "International Time lines", though. --Shantavira 18:54, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

This was my first experience of using Wikipedia and I am impressed with the result. Thankyou very much I'll come back again.

Regards Dave H

Death by cake and tickling

Me and my friend were discussing crazy things and my friend said that there is this cake that you can buy and you must sign a contract so that you will not die becuase there is a large amount of calories in it. Is this true? Also, out of humor, is it possilbe to tickle someone to death? Thanks, Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 16:52, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

How does the contract save you from death? –Mysid^(t) 17:02, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't save you from death (the way I worded the question), but you must sign it to prove that, if you eat the cake, you will not die. Probably so the maker of the cake is not sued... Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 17:20, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I used my best googelizing and can't find this anywhere. It sounds like a local marketing gimmick. --Zeizmic 17:41, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Inspired by your title, if you were to tickle someone while they were eating, causing them to choke and die, you'd have tickled them to death. I'm not so sure about the feasability of causing death by laughing, but Douglas Adams has a character die of it, so it must be true. --Sam Pointon United FC 18:15, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

There is a place in Adelaide (au) where I bought a fiendish confection called "Death by Chocolate". It was a kind of ice cream. I have wondered if that is a local name, or a recipe found elsewhere. --Seejyb 19:40, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

"Death by Chocolate" is a popular name for desserts here in the U.S. Dismas|^(talk) 19:46, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Also a very popular name in New Zealand. Grutness...wha? 01:46, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Death by Chocolate is a popular cake in the U.K. TheMadBaron 23:17, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it's possible to die from eating something, no matter how rich -- unless you choke on it or you're already sick. In theory, you could consume too much caffeine if it was a chocolate dessert, but this calculator indicates that a 100 pound person would need to eat over 750 chocolate bars. It's a neat marketing gimmick; I've heard of similar gimmicks for hot foods. Seriously, though, I think that death by cake and tickling has to be the best possible death ever. I'm changing my Living will. --ByeByeBaby 20:52, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Ever heard of Fugu?  :) User:Zoe|^(talk) 23:56, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Fair enough, there's a wide variety of potentially poisonous, toxic and/or infected foodstuffs. And also, you can apparently be suffocated by a sufficiently angry/bad-ass live octopus. I'll clarify - I don't think it's possible to die from eating too much food or too rich a food. You'd puke first. --ByeByeBaby 04:21, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Apparent some Celtic communities had a ritual known as "Death by Cake", although a better name for it would be trial by cake (similar to trial by fire). A victim accused of lying would say an oath along the lines of "If I have lied may this cake choke me". As the cake contained large bits of nuts, fruit etc., there was a good chance of dying! smurrayinchester^{(User), (Talk)} 18:37, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Fruits of Heaven

Hello! I am eager to know if there are fruits that can cause the blood pressure to be lowered? The answer to this question will mean a lot to me. a person who is dear to me is sufferinng of constant fluctuation of the blood pressure. Hope This query will merit beneficial respponds from you. More power. Thanks!

Please do not look here for medical advice, although you may get it. What you might be searching for is 'Natural means of lowering blood pressure', as opposed to prescribed drugs from a doctor. This is dangerous, controversial territory. --Zeizmic 17:36, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Bananas. IANAMD. TheMadBaron 23:52, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

i need ur help

my name is mussarat rahman. i am a student of fatimah jinah women's university pakistan. i doing masters in behavioral sciences and currently am doing a thesis on

A study the relationship between internet addiction and personality type

for screening net addiction i m using INTERNET ADDICTION TEST of Dr. Kimberly young. (IAT) and to assess personality type im using EPQ which measures Extroversion, introversion nuerotic traits in people.

sir i do not have the psychometric properties of this EPQ test.im using a version which has 90 items. i do not know its validity or reliabily or when or how it was developed or its cut off score. while searching through for this test i came across ur name on iternet im hoping that u would be able to help me out in this matter of finding its reliability validity etc. i would be much much obliged. ps i am in urgent need of this information which is not available to me frm pakistan and would greatly appreciate ur help.

Try here]. Jameswilson 01:15, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Did you try Trait_theory ? --DLL 21:43, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Why do you contribute to the wikipedia?

So im doing a schoolproject about wikipedia.com and tought it would be nice to have some actual information from contributers why they spend hours or more helping the community and lazy assess such as me getting free information. Thank you for your time and hope you'll feel like answering this. and dont get me wrong i really appricite the work you do and i owe all contributers big time.

/Patpau

Because it's fun, we get to show off our knowledge and occasionally spar with other contributors (who generally have a brain and can come up with a good argument). Sometimes we learn things too. Salons are out of style, but relatively anonymous public forums are good safe fun.--24.80.70.174 19:22, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

We do it because we enjoy it, because we feel like we are really benefiting something and making a difference. We also enjoy the communal side of things (See Wikipedia:Esperanza for an idea of that). The best solution to your homework would be to work in Wikipedia for a while and see for yourself. Daniel (‽) 19:41, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I like teaching but don't like people. I like learning new things in part so that I can keep up in conversations with my brother and father who both know everything. I like working on computers and various other technological things and this gives me an outlet for that which is simple to learn and do. It gives me something to do while I'm at work building the technology that makes this encyclopedia possible. It gives me a chance to do a good turn daily. And I took an oath years ago to be helpful (and 11 other things) which I try to live up to. Dismas|^(talk) 19:44, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I used to write articles, but found that this is much less work. --Zeizmic 20:54, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Haha, I concur! Seriously, I get a buzz from writing a block of informative text and pictures in an article, seeing my work up there for all to access. I also get to mix with nice people and interact with the inner workings of the Wikipedia bureaucracy. Sum0 21:01, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Well you should take a look at Wikipedia:Why on Earth would I want to contribute to a wiki, Wikipedia:Who, Why?, Wikipedia is a MMORPG and Wikipedia:Why Wikipedia is so great. I do it because I enjoy it. I do it because it's fun to learn new things by running through the "random article" link to help fix articles. I hope that someone will find something I edited useful. I suppose I also do it to show off the fact that I actually know something and I'm not just a pretty face. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 20:59, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Contributing is a delicious addictive frustrative showoffive passion. What did you do before knowing Wikipedia ? Forget it.

I'm contributing here to improve my english ; to improve my wiki and encyclopedic skills and help the french WP if possible. The forum side is interesting also.

Patpau, when you ask reference deskers, you have RD answers. Try contributing yourself, and feel free to ask anyone in their talk page : e.g., people who edited (see the "history" tab) articles that you like. --DLL 21:40, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Look at this still active survey. Tintin (talk) 02:13, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the great response! /patpau payback,it's taught me stuff so I pass on what I know---hotclaws**==(81.136.163.210 10:28, 19 May 2006 (UTC))

Discrepancies

How do you report a discrepency or invalid fact found

I assume you mean in an article. There's a simple answer. Remove it! Click "Edit this page" at the top and find your discrepancy in the source text. You can either remove it or correct it. Be sure to maintain a neutral point of view. If it is too big for you to correct, report the problem on the talk page (Click "discussion" at the top). Don't worry if you make a mistake, everyone does. Daniel (‽) 19:38, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

1. Edit the article to fix it, if you are really confident of your facts. Be sure to include an accurate edit summary.

2. Otherwise, or if your changes get undone ("reverted") start a discussion on the talk for the specific article, proposing the change and indicating what you think is the problem. Be prepared to justify your facts with sources. Notinasnaid 19:34, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

US Military uniforms

On US military uniforms, why are the stars on the right side of the flag? A Clown in the Dark 20:09, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

The flag is only reversed on the right shoulder; since soldiers are considered to be "moving objects", the flag is mounted in the same way as if they were flying a flag from a pole while moving forward; in other words, the stars are towards the front. This means that on the left side, the flag looks "normal", where on the right side, a reversed flag is used.

This site has a full article. --ByeByeBaby 20:43, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

That's what you get without a proper symmetrical flag :) – b_jonas 16:29, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

How to search for material in WikiMedia

If I create a link in a talk page or elsewhere to m:Help:Footnotes as I have just done here, it works and it takes me to that help page in the MediaWiki Handbook. However, if I enter that same link into the search box on the Wikipedia Main Page, I get told that the page cannot be found. In fact, if I go to http://www.mediawiki.organd use the search box there, I also get told the page cannot be found.

I have had the same sort of trouble trying to search for images in Commons using the search box in Wikipedia.

How should pages or images not in Wikipedia itself be searched for? Must I start an account in those other Wiki organizations (like WikiMedia and Commons) in order to search for content in them? Where is there a write-up or a help page that tells us how to access material in Commons or in Wikimedia?? - mbeychok 20:17, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

You do not need an account to search.

You need to go to a specific wiki to search it. Sometimes, interwiki links or replications are useful and used, as language links or some pages here, coming from Mediawiki. --DLL 21:28, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

m:Help:Footnotes is a page in Meta-Wiki, not Mediawiki. As DLL said, you need to go to Meta to search for a Meta page. (You can access all of Wikipedia's sister projects from Wikipedia's main page; just scroll down to the second-last section.) To search for a page in the help namespace, though, you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the search results page, select the "help" namespace, and click search again. --Cadaeib (talk) 01:17, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Removing/Archiving Warnings

In WP:VAN, it says that removing warning from one's talk page is a form of vandalism. Does archiving the warning the same day you receive it not have the same affect? So my question is, how long does a warning have to stay on your page before you can archive it? Thank you in advance for any help. Chuck^(척뉴넘) 20:23, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Imagine that you issue a warning to someone. Depending on the severity, how long would you like the blame to last ? If that one made sound excuses and corrected himself, improved his conduct, &c. ? --DLL 21:20, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I take it this is a hypothetical question? ;) The answer is, no time. If you archive the same day, then your talk page will be blank and visitors will know that all your interactions are in the archive. What you can't do is selectively delete warnings, as that would be misleading. Henry^Flower 21:24, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Where does it say that on the page? It really shouldn't. If a warning is removed, then the reader has clearly seen it and acted on it. You can treat it as that the warning has been received. Kim Bruning 21:29, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Under 'Types of vandalism', it says "Removing warnings/Removing warnings for vandalism or other issues from one's talk page may also be considered vandalism." Henry^Flower 22:09, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Where that runs into problems is it says ...page may also be considered vandalism. but would be better if it read '...page are also considered vandalism.. The idea behind it, in my opinion, is to ensure that the next person that goes to leave a warning knows that there has been others before. Of course finding a blank talk page should prompt you to look at the history. I don't think that I've seen a block issued over the removal of warnings though. Also I know there is a least one bot that blanks old vandalism warnings. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 00:12, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

I suggest you ask this on the Wikipedia:Helpdesk instead of here. – b_jonas 16:43, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

As an administrator who frequently deals with this sort of stuff, if you archived the warnings (i.e. moved them to a subpage rather than deleting) and you left the last couple of months interactions on the talk page I'm sure it would not be an issue. DJ Clayworth 17:26, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Janet Guthrie

When did Janet Guthrie retire from racing?

The article on Janet Guthrie states when her last race was in the info box on the right of the article. Dismas|^(talk) 22:19, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Mammal with the longest tongue:body ratio

Random curiosity (and watching my cat groom herself have provoked this question: what is the mammal with the largest tongue length:body length ratio? --Sam Pointon 22:09, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Surely Gene Simmons. Henry^Flower 22:12, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Our article says Giant Anteater. Rmhermen 22:48, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Google

Is there a way to force Google to look for "U.K." as opposed to "UK"? When I type in "U.K." it just takes out the periods but I want to find the instances with periods. Dismas|^(talk) 22:40, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I really wanted to find out the answer to your question because damn but that would be useful for spelling corrections and other matters, Unfortunately, I think the answer is no, according to a number of websites I looked at. See, for example, [17] and [18]. --Fuhghettaboutit 23:32, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

May 19

books

How many books are based on the films?

If you mean novelisations, then lots of them. Grutness...wha? 01:49, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

American Baseball Jackets

I have a beautiful old American baseball jackets - the white leather sleeves of which badly need cleaning. I'm scared that the green of the jacket may bleed if I wash it and dry cleaning is not an option here. Anybody have any ideas. Thanks

This has some suggestions but also includes some warnings. Look at the first warning where it says that you could change the colour of it. Try googleing "leather cleaning" for more suggestions. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 07:49, 19 May 2006

Thanks a million to he or she who replied.... it's easy when you know how I suppose....

(UTC)

CBW's user page photograph shows a boy, maybe grownup now. --DLL 18:57, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Sill unanswered - NBME Question bank - STEP1 USMLE

hi,

i am lookin for question bank series book, that is used to prepare for step 1 USMLE exam. Can any one let me the latest edition details along with the author name. If it can be referenced to publications then can u please let me know the publisher name.

thanks.

It might help if you explained what you're talking about. What's a "USMLE"? At a wild guess the "US" bit might be "United States" but it could as well be "Unsupported Scaffolding". Don't forget that Wikipedia is read and edited by people from all over the world! Tonywalton  | Talk 10:46, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Ancient Sparta

Did Ancient Sparta have wheels?

When Sparta was a military superpower the wheel was already a few thousand year old invention. Famously, the Spartan princess Cynisca was the first woman ever to win an event at the Olympic Games; she won chariot racing twice. So yes, Sparta was on wheels!!!! Weregerbil 07:30, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

User:Sparta on wheels!! :) — QuantumEleven 09:07, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Does Wilmington, Delaware, have wheels? (oh, I couldn't think of anything better) Sum0 21:06, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Who is J.N.L.?

"1991 - J.N.L., is born on May 27, 1991, commencing the life of the greatest person to ever walk this earth."

Who is J.N.L. and why is this person the greatest person to walk the earth?

(I was looking up May 27th and this was listed last in the birthday section.)

It's vandalism, doubtless referring to whoever inserted that little remark, and has been deleted. Thanks for spotting it! —Zero Gravitas 06:34, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

highest mountain name

Hello, could someone please tell me what the highest mountain in a range is called? I need it for my 8 year old daughter homework, I have searched internet and discovered heaps of facts about mountains but can not seem to find this answer. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks, fiona

I don't know if geologists have a special word for it, but for a 8 year old could it be peak? Weregerbil 07:40, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

At least the highest point of a hill or a mountain is called the summit. –Mysid^(t) 07:41, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't think there is a specific word for this, unless it is a very obscure one, and suspect she has omitted the name of a specific mountain range from the question. --Shantavira 08:26, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

recruitment

how does egroups and forums help in recruitment process

They help to ensure that a company never hires someone who is so lazy that they ask an internet forum to do their homework for them. — QuantumEleven 09:06, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

regarding blue chip

what does the trem blue chip company mean????

See Blue chip. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 07:43, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Johnny Thunders death conspiracy theories...

I'm looking for detailed information about the various conspiracy theories that surround the death of Johnny Thunders. I know that some people claim that he was murdered but I have been unable to find out exactly why they believe this is so. Anyone know the full story?

Since when do conspiracy theorists need evidence? Sad but true. Superm401 - Talk 12:55, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

IMO, people generally come up with conspiracy theories about someone's death if they idolize that person so much that they don't want to accept the fact that he/she could have been the object of accidents, crime, disease, etc. just like anyone else. --DavidGC 11:06, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Who invented the first automatic transmission?

Who invented the first Automatic transmission for a car?

See automatic transmission; there's a section about the history of the devices. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 08:41, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Using public wi-fi for internet banking, credit card purchases etc.

Hi! I was wondering whether it is secure to use internet banking or credit cards via public wi-fi (e.g. in public parks etc.). I've heard that it isn't a good idea, but why? If it is done over https (secure http) then isn't it already encrypted? Thank you!

I think it's the same issue if you plugged your laptop into a sleazy hotel Ethernet drop. You might be susceptible to other attacks. If you have a hardened Linux machine, designed to plug into strange places, then you are reasonably secure. --Zeizmic 12:43, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Er... no you are not. There is a well-known fraud that was demonstrated on The Real Hustle, whereby a fraudster sets up a laptop and spoofs the log-in screen of the hotel's wireless portal system. Because the fraudster's laptop is in the same room as those wishing to log-on to the hotel's wireless network, users see the fake SSID as a stronger signal and choose that over the real portal. If you then enter your credit card details into the screen to pay for your access, you are actually giving your credit card details to the fraudster. Jooler 02:38, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh dear. Unfortunately I missed that episode. I was mainly thinking about free wi-fi that is available everywhere. Is it still easy for a third party to spoof pages? Thank you!

Free wifi available everywhere? Where do you live? Jooler 09:10, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

immigratiions of the past

Can you refer me to any information source on the web that would tell me about the laws in effect during early mass immigrations of Italians, Poles, etcd. etc....??

I'm just trying to understand how the mass influxes werehandled in those days? Were the laws the same?? that all immigrants had to get visas??l Or were many of them illegal?? Howardback 13:52, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Each country has its own laws, and they develop with time. You will need to be much more specific about which country and what years to get a useful answer. But I think we can safely say that in many countries immigration laws are quite likely to have changed since "those days".--Shantavira 14:17, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Are you talking about immigration into the US? If you're talking about, say, 100 years ago, I'm not sure if the US government was organized/centralized enough to have a visa program. The Ellis Island article may give you a starting point.

As far as I'm aware, boats from Europe would stop at Ellis Island, and the passengers in steerage class had to give some sort of proof that they weren't criminals and that they had some means of supporting themselves (whether it be a marketable skill or family connections in the US). The immigrants were also discreetly observed by doctors who would check for certain ailments.

Passengers who could afford a personal stateroom were assumed to have sufficient financial resources, so they were able to skip the interview process.

You may also want to check the Angel Island, California article for information regarding early immigration from Asia. --Tachikoma 14:35, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

See also our articles, List of United States immigration legislation and Immigration to the United States which have more detail. Rmhermen 15:18, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Premiership goal scorer

Who is the all time leading goal scorer in the premier league of England?

According to FA Premier League#Top scorers, it's Alan Shearer with 260 goals. --GraemeL ^(talk) 14:34, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Bear in mind the the Premier League only dates from 1992. We don't appear to have figured for the Football League First Division, which iuntil 1992 was the highest level of English football. Jooler 02:32, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

FWIW the record for the league in total (old divs 1-4, not the prem, champ, and leagues 1 and 2) is AFAIK still Arthur Rowley's 434 goals in 619 games between 1946 and 1965 for West Brom, Fulham, Leicester and Shrewsbury. Grutness...wha? 05:46, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Past life experiences

I seem to be able to remeber past life experiences such as being a slave in America and dying in WW2 Nazi Camps.

Is this normal, i suppose not but would like to know more about these memories that i cant explain, or that definatly did not happen to me in this life. They generally are only glimpses of my seroundings as i died, and are not altogether morbid, but rather peaceful. Is this just me, have i imagined it (i dont think so) Please, if anyone could help me i would be truelly greatfull

Thank you

For first aid, try past life regression. I'd also suggest confabulation, false memory and daydream but that's just my opinion. Weregerbil 16:05, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

That is very helpful, but i did not imagine thses things, they are as real as what you had for dinner yesterday. It does not bother me, i am a normal functioning person, with no traumatic events in my life besides the usual. and there fore not confabulation.

I would believe they are very real to you. However, I have had many very realistic dreams which I would swear were real if they didn't clearly violate logic. Sometimes it's only halfway through the next day that I realise something didn't happen yesterday but in my dreams. I also hear music that isn't playing as clearly and loudly as if it were. So things can be very real, but not based in reality. Skittle 16:50, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Did you see our article on reincarnation? There are lots of external links there you might be interested in following up, and there are loads of books on the subject.--Shantavira 06:24, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Exam Guidence

hi,

Can anyone tell me the GUIDE which ll help me in preparing for USMLE.

What?--XenoNeon (converse) 16:41, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

You may want to look at some of the external links in the article USMLE, or ask around in the university. – b_jonas 16:51, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

JRR Tolkien's world

I wanted to know if the world and races in Tolkiens books like Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Did he come up with all these concepts alone or were there myths or legends about elves and goblins and trolls and ect before he wrote these, and if he did come up with all these races on his own and they are entirely fictional, how come so many others have used these races or species in thier books games and movies, id this not plagerism?

Thank again guys.

For the most part, these existed before Tolkien; however, the characters of many post-Tolkien authors are based on Tolkien's interpretations of the myths. I added links so you can read more about it. See also dwarves (Tolkien's personal spelling of dwarfs, now quite popular.) Rmhermen 16:37, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Some creatures were Tolkien's pure creations: hobbits, orcs, ents, and barrow-wights. Orcs have appeared in other non-Tolkien works, but Hobbit is restricted and the term, halfling is often used instead. Rmhermen 16:47, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

In the films, Orcs are all cockneys. I'm sure Tolkien did not invent cockneys.
Mordor#Naming says that it means "Black Land". Tolkien was a brummie (i.e. from Birmingham), and an area nearby is referred to as the Black Country, which Mordor is sometimes called.
Slumgum | yap | stalk | 02:06, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Cockneys? I never noticed a single Orc saying he was off up the frog to the rub :-) Tonywalton  | Talk

It's worth remembering that Tolkien was a professor of ancient language and literature. Though he was clearly the inventor of much in his trilogy, there is also a considerable influence from the myths and legends which went before him. He did not invent elves, goblins, and dwarves (nor did he invent the barrow-wight, Rmherman!), but several of the races and all of the languages and legends he contrived as a backdrop for Middle Earth were his own work. Grutness...wha? 05:53, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

According to one theory that I've heard (and this was direct from Christoper Tolkien, JRR's son, so is likely to hold water) Tolkien started with the Elvish languages and wrote the rest of his work to give a "historical" bakground to the peoples who would have spoken those languages. He was also interested in creating a mythology for England, as opposed to Celtic or Saxon mythologies. Certainly some elements of LotR are common to many stories (the concept of a small group of companions undertaking a quest against overwhelming odds and triumphing, for example); Tolkien took these and created a mythology with some pre-existing and some new elements. As for "plagiarism", who plagiarised from whom? Did Stephen R. Donaldson plagiarise the horses called "Ranyhyn" from JRRT? Did JRRT plagiarise the Maiar from Richard Wagner's Valkyries? Of course, Wagner plagiarised these from Norse mythology… There are literally thousands of words that could be written on this, so I'll stop. Tonywalton  | Talk 11:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

birthrate

is this a trick question. idont know. what country or state if any, has an official zero birthrate?? vinny b thanks u.

Vatican City. Henry^Flower 18:02, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

But about 26% of Vatican Citizens are Swiss Guards or lay persons and they allowed to marry and procreate. The birth rate is not actually zero. Official population growth in 2004 was 0.01%. Bwithh 18:56, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Are the Guards' wives citizens, too? Do they live in Vatican City? User:Zoe|^(talk) 20:13, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, Guard wives and children which reside in the Vatican City are citizens. There are some special rules though: See Search for "Vatican citizenship" in this link until you get to part II, Section B, Point 12:http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/doc04/EDOC10070.htm Bwithh 21:10, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Population increase is not the same as birthrate (I don't imagine there are any maternity hospitals in the Vatican). A population increase could just be one more person becoming a citizen.

Our article is rather confusing. The Demographics section says "Almost all of Vatican City's 921 citizens live inside the Vatican's walls", but then "At the end of 2003, 552 persons held Vatican citizenship". If you trust the latter figure, "61 were cardinals, 346 were other clergy, 101 members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard and 44 "were other lay persons". Henry^Flower 21:08, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Tallest mountain in the United States

I am aware that Denali (Mt. McKinley may be the highest mountain in the United States but when measured from base to peak it is not the tallest. I am trying to find out what the tallest mountain is. Please let me know if anyone knows the answer to this. Thank you.

One state too soon ... I'd imagine this is what you're looking for. --LarryMac 18:10, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Why most Search Tips

Weird question but worthy

If ever a "question" needed to be suitly emphazi'd, this would be it. --LarryMac 19:39, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Circumcision nostalgia? ---GangofOne 06:58, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Do you really long for more questions on circumcision? Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 19:12, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Curious

Is it possible to (comfortably) be mastrubated by breasts?

See mammary intercourse. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 22:35, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

"Mastrub" is a good euphemism. Slumgum | yap | stalk | 01:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I knew this sounded familiar. From m:bash:

<AdamBishop> "The Hebrew Bible (or Old Testement) encourages mammary intercourse in Proverbs 5:19."

<AdamBishop> dammit. That's not what that says.

<silsor> which is that, the one about taking pleasure in the breasts of the wife of your youth?

<AdamBishop> it's on Mammary intercourse

<AdamBishop> and Proverbs says "Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love."

<AdamBishop> I'm pretty sure the original does not have the Biblical Hebrew phrase for titty fucking

Hehe. Good 'ol user:Adam Bishop Raul654 01:31, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Wait, just a sec... Why, yes. Yes, it is possible. --DavidGC 02:59, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

You old dog, DavidGC. JackofOz 03:24, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

(mischievous grin) :) --DavidGC 14:48, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Removing posts from the Google Groups archive...

I wish to remove all usenet posts from the Google Groups archives made using a certain email address (an old one of mine that no longer works). While I know the procedure for doing this, is there a quicker way to list the message-ID of every single post made using that address than trawling through the archive thread by thread and post-by-post after searching for the address in question? Thanks. --84.69.16.94 22:15, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Orange Phone Contract

I have an 18 mnth orange phone contract that doesn't expire for another 10 months but I'm going to live in Holland in less than two months. They say I can't transfer the contract to another country. My friend suggested closing the bank account before I leave but I'm sure that would have some repercussions. What is suggested? --Username132 (talk) 22:30, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

relax! i dont know what the situation is if you're living in holland(although why you got a phone contract is beyond me) but i'm going to brazil in the summer and orange have said that they'll suspenf my account until i get back. i ithnk the maximum time limit might be six months tho. you could always downgrade your phone plan (i.e take off insurance and got to the lowest tariff) to cut your losses.87.194.20.253 23:54, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

you might be able to sign the contract over to another person - a friend or relative, say Bwithh 01:19, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm going to live in Holland for at LEAST a year if not for life so suspending my account is no good. The phone isn't insured and I think I'm already on the lowest tariff. I really don't think the contract is transferable, and it seems like a crap deal to ask someone to pay £20 a month for someone elses old number complete with annoying people contacting them who they don't know. --Username132 (talk) 13:57, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

May 20

Owning a Jackdaw as a pet?

Is it still legal to own a captive-bred Jackdaw as a pet in the UK? If so, does anyone know of any people who breed them? AFAIK, these corvids were a very common household companion bird until the introduction of parrots/parakeets a couple of hundred years ago. Thanks. --Kurt Shaped Box 00:41, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Ref: Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Schedule 3 - Part I. Birds which may be sold alive at all times if ringed and bred in captivity. Includes Jackdaw in the list. --Seejyb 05:39, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Calories in alcohol? (header added)

we have had a recent discussion regarding alcohol. My friend who is a PhD in chenistry contends that there are no calories in alcohol. Are there calories in pure alcohol? thomastjmwblatyahoo .com

Obviously ethanol has chemical energy, because it burns. The question is whether the human body can break it down and release this energy, and I think the answer is yes. —Keenan Pepper 01:02, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

The body obtains energy from alcohol quite efficiently: ethanol 29 kJ/g; carbohydrates 17kJ/g. --Seejyb 01:41, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

The confusion I think is that alcohol doesn't metabolize like carbohydrates or proteins both of which convert to blood glucose in order to feed all those hungry cells. Instead, alcohol's energy skips the blood glucose cycle and feeds those cells more directly. Since alcohol skips the conversion to blood glucose it is thought by some to have no caloric value. One ounce of 80 proof alcohol contains zero carbs and zero proteins but does have a caloric value of 64. --hydnjo talk 04:19, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Mercenaries and Defense Contractors

What is the difference between the "defense contractors" in Iraq and common mercenaries? -Chile 03:25, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

The words of a politician who wishes to avoid using the term 'mercenaries' in his speeches? --84.67.5.153 07:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

To give a more helpful answer, you'll be wanting this. --DavidGC 11:14, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

books

Hi there, I would like to know that how many books are based on films and would give me the list of those books.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of films not already based on books have had novelizations produced. --Robert Merkel 07:19, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Business Development Manager

What is the Primary Role of a Business Development Manager? What are the basic functions and extentof his rolein the Company? Thank you very much.

To identify strategic sales & income stream opportunities, and develop the relationships with internal and external customers to turn them into reality. Just having been one myself....--Shandon 09:18, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Western Hockey League,coach for 1989-90 season,tri-city americans

I would like to know who was the head coach for the WHL Tri-city Americans for the 1989-90 season?

Michael Hach

It was Rick Kozuback [19] --Cam 15:51, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

control

Hello:

I am a university professor from Israel. Recently, I have found myself using Wikipedia more and more, and I wanted to express my great appreciation for your project.

I was wondering of how control of contents is maintained, especially in academically oriented entries. I searched through your pages and understood the control mechanisms pertaining to vandalism (which is not my concern at all) as well as the on-going interactive dynamics between authors and other users. Still, my question remains: What are the safeguards against faulty, lacking, misleading, biased information, etc.

Thanks, Prof. Benny Shanon The Hebrew University Jerusalem

--128.139.226.37 09:22, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Often, groups of people who know about and are passionate about a subject in question - they watch pages and remove inaccurate information . That, and the fact that all factual information must be second-hand (i.e. it has to be cited from a respected source) --iamajpeg 11:00, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

This, and a range of related concerns, is addressed at Wikipedia:Replies to common objections. It's only fair to say that a number of other academics don't share your appreciation of the Wikipedia, and some prohibit their students from citing it as a source (a matter we address, with some sympathy to their point, at Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia). Personally, such objections seem to stem from unease with the process ("I can't believe a bunch of random nobodies can produce anything worthwhile") rather than a proper examination of the result (when such studies are done, such as Nature's comparison of Wikipedia and Britannica, we tend to come out fairly well). But really, the best way to know what kind of sausage you're eating is to help in the making of the sausage. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 11:29, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

There is a peer review process and a feature article process where articles are heavily reviewed. but this only takes places for the better articles. Jon513 21:23, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

macroeconomics

what is a boom.........Examine the consequences of a boom.........How might high interest rates remedy these consequences?

Heh sounds like homework to me :p check out boom, economic cycle, interest rates, your textbook.... don't get random people to do your work! --iamajpeg 10:52, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Do your own homework. --DavidGC 11:17, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Wiki link button?

Sorry if this is obvious somewhere but I couldn't find it.

I was wondering if there is a "wikipedia link" icon/button/graphic which can be added to a web article to show a quick link to a wiki article?

I was thinking perhaps the jigsaw-globe with a swooshing arrow... just small enough to drop into an external article or document (such as a blog or website) and act as an immediate, recognizable cue to the reader that the article writer is directing them to Wikipedia for more information, and a direct link to the relevant Wiki article, to replace long winded "see wiki entry blah blah blah" links.

If there isn't such a thing, can I be credited with being the genius to invent the idea (small dry lol) My name is Mark Walton, aka Marnok. Just a small entry in the history books will be fine. One or two volumes. Nothing ostentatious. Statue no larger than life-size, please.

There are some, and you're welcome to add to the collection. See Wikipedia:Miscellaneous FAQ for details. -Rholton 13:41, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Speak English

for countries where english serves as a second language, why do you have to speak english? thank you. Carlrichard 12:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Most likely becuase it is the second most spoken language in the world; see English language. Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 19:15, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

ad with a song of some kind

there's an ad where there's a whole lot of bouncy balls going down a really steep street in San Francisco. i can't remember what the ad is for (it might be for sony. or maybe colour printers) but there's a song in it, what's the name of the song?

What country are you in? That might help narrow it down… Tonywalton  | Talk 13:29, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I know the ad you're talking about, but I can't pinpoint the song. I can, however, tell you that the advert is for a TV, probably high-definition, and the brand begins with a V. --Sam Pointon 13:35, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh, some more random information: the singer on the song is male, with a thin-ish, reedy voice, and he's accompanied by at least one acoustic guitar, possibly two. --Sam Pointon 13:38, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I remember this ad playing in the U.K. It's for the Sony BRAVIA. According to our article on the subject, the song was Heartbeats, by The Knife, and performed by José González. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 13:39, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Alright, so it didn't start with a V, but it did have a V in it, and starts with a voiced labial consonant. So, I was sort of right. --Sam Pointon 14:00, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Roof-rack Compatability

We've got a roof-rack that was bought to fit a Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta is gone but will it fit Corsa? We cannot try and see because I wont be trying it until I'm six hours away from home at Harwich with my friend waiting at Harwich harbour to pick me up for the car ferry across. If it didn't fit, I'd be screwed. --Username132 (talk) 13:51, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't suppose you can drop by your local Ford dealer and ask? They'll probably know... — QuantumEleven 20:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Egyptian Gods and Days of the Year

I would like to know which Egyptian Gods were assigned specific days of a month which they ruled over during a year and the month and days they ruled over. Anubis rules the days of May from the 9th to the 26th, I think. I would like to find the correct information, a book or even a link would do.

I found this information on a card in a store called Scarab, which closed last year and I have been having difficulty finding this information. Any assistance is appreciated.

Thank you,

Anubis Girl

Title change

How can I add or change a title? The one in question is, Battery Maufacturing Association, it's about a car that was built called a Hazelcar. The article is about the Hazelcar but it's not in the title, so by putting in Hazelcar it doesn't come up, please advise, thanks, Arthur.

The best solution to the problem you've discovered might be to create a redirect page, as changing the title of the "Battery Manufacturing Association" article is probably not a good approach in this case. I've created a redirect page for "Hazelcar," so searching for that should now redirect you to the "Battery Manufacturing Association" article. For information on how this is done, see Wikipedia:Redirect. --DavidGC 14:44, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Gwigle

I'm playing an online game called Gwigle ([20]), it basically tests how well you know and can use Google. The thing is, I'm stuck on Level 1.d. I'm guessing all the pictures are by the same artist, but I can't identify them. Any ideas? Thanks :-) --Saxsux 15:51, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

The paintings I recognise are all by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. --Roisterer 16:02, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Brilliant! Thank you! --Saxsux 16:07, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Okay, I've got stuck on the next level too. I've had a look on Google Finance, and tried various companies whose name ends with "Incorporated", but no joy. --Saxsux 16:17, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Plug the following into a search engine: "31.92 May 12 close Incorporated" --LarryMac 16:56, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'd better start thinking for myself now. --Saxsux 17:06, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

pixel

the bigger the picture, the more the pixel? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Torrasque (talk • contribs)

No. Read pixel. – b_jonas 16:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

==Helloooooooooooo!!! Is there anybody? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.232.218.227 (talk • contribs)

Why, of course there is, this is planet earth, isn't it? Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 20:30, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

If size of pixel stays same, then bigger the picture, more the pixel. If pixel made bigger ( = change screen resolution, for instance from 1024x768 (many smaller pixel) to 800x600 (few big pixel) on same size screen) then with same number pixels, a bigger picture. ok --Seejyb 20:34, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Break Down of Net Worth of US Population

Please provide either a break down of the amount of individuals or households by net worth in the United States by reasonably small increments up to $1,000,000,000. Example:

$0.00 to $10,000 equals 5,000,000 people (or 2,000,000 households) $10,000 to $25,000 equals 10,500,000 people (or 4,250,000 households) $25,000 to $50,000 etc. $50,000 to $100,000 $100,000 to $150,000 $150,000 to $250,000 $250,000 to $500,000 $500,000 to $1,000,000 $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 $2,500,000 to $5,000,000 $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 $20,000,000 to $25,000.000 $25,000,000 to $50,000,000 $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 $100,000,000 to $250,000,000 $250,000,000 to $500,000,000 $500,000,000 to $750,000,000 $750,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 Over $1,000,000,000 I've tried to find this using a variety of searches, but couldn't locate anthing that showed it in this form. I'd appreciate whatever help you can give me. Thanks, Douglas McMillen

M.A.Kuhli

Who is M.A. Kuhli? Article: Semantic feature Help!!!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.232.218.227 (talk • contribs)

That reference (along with most of the article) was added by user:212.138.47.20 at 21:47, on January 7, 2006. It was then removed a half hour later and replaced with the words "currentlly no info. at this time." by user:212.138.47.23. As both IP are registered to "Internet Service Unit, Saudi Arabia" it is quite possible that it was the same user who wanted to revert his (or her) own edits. I could not find any reference to any M. A. Kuhli, on the internet but it is quite possible that I would have to search in Arabic to find anything. I would say that the veracity of user:212.138.47.20's edit is questionable and it is possible that there is no M. A. Kuhli. Jon513 20:48, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Anyway - thank you very much! :)) Actually, I consider M.A. Kuhli could be Arabian linguist, but who knows...

Al-Kuhli, Muhammed Ali, Brigham Young University - Laie, Hawaii, seemed to write about teaching English as second language (TESL) e.g. "The TESL Teacher and English Prefixes," by Mohammed Ali Al-Kuhli. But that was 1977, so no electronic format available. See this page That was fun. --Seejyb 21:09, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I already did that. That was the only thing that I found about him on the net :( Perhaps i should search in library or somewhere else, but unfortunately I have no time. On monday I must defend my BA paper... and in my speech I should mention who is the orignato of semantic features. - According to Wikipedia's article Semantic Features - it is mystical Kuhli :(

school paper

My son is working on a paper for school. We are having some trouble finding reptiles that start with the letter "u". If you can help us I would appreciate it.

He is also looking for a reptile that starts with a "q". Help us if you can. Thank you. Stacy

Some browsing in Category:Reptiles turns up the Uropeltidae, or shieldtail snakes. On Q, I pass. --Sam Blanning^(talk) 18:59, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I also found a U, but no Q. Uropeltis, another kind of snake. Jon513 19:01, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

here a turtle that starts with a U but you are not going to like it. And if dinasaurs count there are few with a U and a few with a Q in Category:Cretaceous dinosaurs. Jon513 19:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Queen Snake = Regina septemvittata; Urutu or Yarara Parker's pit viper = Bothrops alternatus. I'd imagine that there would be other Queen-named reptiles. --Seejyb 21:22, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Hyperlinks

Hi, could someone please give me RAM File link name for the three video link names (so I can download them using an external application) on this page. The names are: Dawn French: Vicar of Dimbleby Terms and Conditions apply and As far as you'll get from the standard 9 to 5. I tried getting them myself, but Real Player took too long to find them. Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 19:53, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

open the page then view source and search for ".ram". For the second one I found http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/broadband/video/nb/frenchsaunders_s4ep1p3_16x9_nb.ram. good luck. Jon513 20:35, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

food allergies

Since soy lecithin is a fat source, can foods containing soy lecithin be consumed by someone with a soy allergy as allergins tend to be protein based?

good question. According to Anaphylaxis Campaign there is currently no definitive answer. However the answer (PDF) appears to be that there is no need for people allergic to soy to avoid soy lecithin. Remember: The reference desk is not a replacement for a doctor! Jon513 20:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Oldest trick

What's the oldest trick in the book?

And does anyone know where that expression comes from? — QuantumEleven 20:26, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I think the whole banana incident, where a banana is placed skin-side up and someone walks on it and then falls. Not sure about the origin of it though. Kilo-Lima|^(talk) 20:58, 20 May 2006 (UTC)