Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2006 August 17

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1902 Baltimore Orioles/1903 New York Highlanders

After the 1902 American League season, were the remaining Baltimore Orioles players transferred with the franchise to the New York Highlanders, or were the remaining players free to sign with other teams as free agents?

John Herling Mineola NY

I would have thought that free agency didn't start until much later. Here is the 1902 Baltimore Orioles roster and the 1903 New York Highlanders roster. Of course that doesn't really tell you what happened to the players that don't appear on both rosters. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 04:14, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

name in different language/country

Can someone please help,

I am trying to find the name for princess or queen in asian.

Thank you, Zac Crawford

Asia includes dozens of countries, where probably hundreds of languages are spoken. Can you be more specific? JackofOz 01:37, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

(edit conflict) "Asian" is neither a language or a country. Within each Asian culture, language and country there will be different names for female monarchs or consorts. Consider: the tennō (reigning empress) of Japan and the Rani, for example, of Nepal. Rockpocket 01:44, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Is there anything I can take to increase chances of dreaming when I sleep?

Is there any drug I can take, food I can eat or exercise I can do to guarantee (or at least increase the chances of) dreaming when I go to sleep?

I really have no idea what you can do to increase your chances of dreaming other than visiting the dream article. I am sure that that will have a whole bunch of wonderful resources to help you with your dreaming problems. I hope that helps!!!--Chili14 03:41, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

One of the best ways to increase the chance of dreaming is to wake yourself up very very early, and then fall back asleep; the aim is to induce an REM state. You may also want to check out the article on lucid dreaming, as some of the strategies for inducing a lucid dreaming state (e.g. Wake-back-to-bed and the cycle adjustment technique) also work for regular dreaming. Ziggurat 03:44, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

That is the easiest way. Nothing else has been found to effectively increase dreams/recall (DR). Really, your problem is you have a tough time remembering your dreams. They go out the window as soon as you wake up. "Dream recall"—The best way I've found to do this:

1. Make it important to you to have dreams, and remember them.
2. When you wake up, don't move runover your dream in chronological order, from beginning to end. Remember as much as you can.
3. When you do remember a dream, write it down immediately in a dream journal, with a special pen. Write down everything in as much detail as you can

I am very good at dreaming. I specialize in lucid dreaming. :D — [Mac Davis] (talk)

I find that when I take Diphenhydramine hydrochloride (the active ingredient in an OTC sleep aid) or Dramamine (anti-nausea medication) I have very vivid dreams. IANASR (I am not a sleep researcher) but I've always assumed it depresses REM sleep while the drug is working, so your brain crams a lot of REM sleep into the time that remains between the drug wearing off and waking, and since you're more likely to remember dreams that occur right before waking... :-) Anchoress 03:57, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Related question, may sound silly. When you dream, is it like in books/movies where it seems like it's actually reality? Because when I dream it's not even remotely realistic, kind of an imagined haze like remembering something. It doesn't feel like I'm looking or hearing things at all. Didn't know if this was normal or not, because lots of people say they had a "totally real" dream and I never have.

I have totally real dreams. They're not always lucid, but sometimes. I've composed songs and poems in dreams, I've died numerous times, cavorted with ex-boyfriends & famous people, been visited by dead relatives, gone on travels, met people in dreams I have no recollection of in real life. Anchoress 15:19, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I have had dreams in which I wake up from a dream that I was dreaming about, and then wake up for real, if that makes sense. Adam Bishop 16:03, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

You may be interested to learn that a similar, but opposite question was also recently posted on the Humanities reference desk ([1]). I'll reverse my advice there and suggest that traditional British wisdom has it that eating cheese before you go to bed should do the trick. Cheap, legal and not overly dangerous. --Dweller 17:02, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

You Brits cut the cheese... I mean, take the cake. They did a study. 200 volunteers, numerous cheeses, many vivid dreams. Seriously. Anchoress 17:06, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

When people think they did not dream, it may be the case that they dreamed during one stage of sleep, but slept on long enough to forget the dream. The dream articvle says the average person dreams 2 hours per night. Sleep studies were done seeWilliam C. Dementin which volunteers were woken up during various stages of sleep, and dreams were very common in certain stages. Thus you are most likely to remember vividly the dream you were having just when the alarm went off of something woke you during the night.Edison 18:06, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I would assume that any halucenigenic compound would work, but that option is illeagal many areas. ;)

Train wheels

58.104.33.89 04:48, 17 August 2006 (UTC)It's probably very obvious and 99.99% of the human race already know it but why are the flanges on train wheels on the outside and not on the inside. I would think that the effect would be very much the same wherever they are.Joe Blow

If so, why shouldn't they be on the outside? DirkvdM 05:53, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I would think having them on both sides would be better yet. StuRat 05:07, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Er, I thought that the flanges were on the inside. To respond to StuRat, having flanges on both sides could cause a few difficulties that I can see. First, the rail would tend to bind between the flanges when the train entered a curve. Second, it would raise the cost of the wheels; the manufacturing would be more complex, require slightly more material, and would probably have to be done to closer tolerances. (Tracks, for that matter, would suffer a similar problem—rails would have to be a consistent width so as not to bind on the flanges.) It might also make casual inspections of the wheel more difficult. Finally, switches (points) would have to be redesigned – and probably made weaker – to work with double-flanged wheels; the second flange would cut across one of the rails in existing designs.

On the inside-versus-outside question, similar reasoning is at work. For ease of inspection, it's more convenient to have flanges on the inside of the wheel. Perhaps most important, switches and other equipment are designed to work with flanges on the inside only. Once people started constructing railroads with wheels flanged on the inside, it became too costly and complicated to switch over to anything else. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 05:29, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Section 54 NZ HASE Act 2004 post Cave Creek Commission1995

17-8-06 I regret this is my first question within Wikipedia, as I have some serious questions

such as the real "systemic failure" re Cave Creek Commission of Inquiry, I am included as making written submissions to part 1 evidence, and it has deeply concerned me, as I know how easily it could have been prevented. I attended the commission late 1995, and follow, in a like manner before the tragedy of 28-4-95 ( I approached my profession 17-9-93 12-10-1994 and many in parliament. Subsequently attended a day of the Cave Creek Commission in late 1995 and lately filed this report towards the last amendment to the HASE Act Health and Safety in Employment Act by mail 8-3-2002. I subsequently see real suppression of most of "Cave Creek Report". The position paper that my profession proposed was never deliver by my profession in October 1994, and I felf powerless but did what I could as an individual Oct 1994- March 1995 just months before the platform failure of 28-4-95.

how can one make a real contribution to this sincerely harrynetnz. My qualifications are BE Civil 1974 Auckland University and late: Registered Engineering Associate 2002

You're referring to the Cave Creek disaster, yah? I'm not sure what you're asking here - do you want to edit an article? Anyone can do so, as long as they keep their additions factual and encyclopedic. If you're asking what else you can do, I'd suggest you talk to a lawyer, or someone who knows about this situation. Ziggurat 07:25, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I suggest you talk with the press and other media. They would be glad to have an expert interviewed on a topic of interest to people, since that's what sells. And, in the process, you could help to increase pressure on politicians to actually do something, not just cover it up. StuRat 07:33, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I would love to see some pictures of the flimsy thing. But if the stupid students were bouncing, that puts a horrendous load on the platform. --Zeizmic 12:44, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

No. You design things to accommodate the stupid things that people do, not so as to kill 13 of them and then call them stupid. --Tagishsimon (talk)

I would call people doing stupid things stupid people. Almost any hiking footbridge could be destroyed by 17 stupid people, and put them in the Darwin Awards.  :) --Zeizmic 14:17, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

And ignore the fact that it was an ill-designed and ill-constucted accident waiting to happen. Blame the victims; why not. --Tagishsimon (talk)

I blame both. Most of the victims have already been killed, however, which is sufficient punishment for them. Now let's punish those who authorized and built the defective deck. StuRat 19:35, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

How very magnanimous of you to decree that death is a sufficient punishment for irresponsible behaviour exhibited by children. I assume you're not a parent, and it's probably best you don't become one just yet. JackofOz 23:33, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

That was satire, Jack, over Zeizmic's comment. StuRat 01:30, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

One day, I plan to write a doctoral thesis entitled On the Detection of Clues to Satire. It will be a best seller in the Wiki community, I'm sure. Maybe they'll even make a movie out of it. I will be played by Brad Pitt (naturally), and someone like Lily Tomlin will play you. :--) JackofOz 02:28, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Brown Thomas

Does anyone know where the chain department store, Brown Thomas is from? The reason I ask is that on the article it hints (possibly says outright, its not too clear) that it's Irish. But the reason I doubt this is, for some inexplicable reason the one on Grafton St., Dublin, has an Irish, then EU, then Canadian flags. I can't think of any other explanation other than "it must be Canadian" but the brownthomas.com seems to be the Irish site. Since two sources suggest it's Irish, that's what I'm leaning towards, but does anyone know why the Canadian flag is, or might be there (there's no others other than the 3 mentioned). - ^Рэд_хот 10:29, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

you can read what the history section of their website says (I did't read it, it was a bit long). If that fails you can ask them. Companies often love to answer question like that. Jon513 12:20, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I read it earlier, but from reading it again, it definitely suggests that it's Irish. Although I didn't think of contacting them (so stupid!). I'll try that, thanks. - ^Рэд_хот 12:36, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Brown-Thomas is definitly irish, and alwas has been. Ken 20:42, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

hey

hey does anyone know how the hell i can go 4 the tyra show.am a really big fan... thnks ian p.s am from kenya

do you mean The Tyra Banks Show? If so, you can go the show's website click tickets on the side of the screen (it is an annoying flash site so I can't give you a link) and follow the instructions from there. Jon513 12:12, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Errors in Britannica

Hi,

I'm a brand new Wikipedian :) I work with the Royal School of Library and Information Science, Denmark, where I teach Information retrieval. This semester I am going to teach - among other things - Wikipedia.

Somewhere I read that Wikipedia has made a specific website where you correct errors in Encyclopaedia Britannica (spin off from the article in Nature December 2005, I presume). Can anybody tell me where to find this site?

Thanks in advance

Dorte Nielsen

Denmark

See Wikipedia:Errors in the Encyclopædia Britannica that have been corrected in Wikipedia. - Fredrik Johansson 11:47, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Hey there! I think its great you are teaching about Wikipedia in the classroom. By the way, we ask you to sign your username, with a —~~~~. — [Mac Davis] (talk)

Archive problem

For the last week or so whenever I've answered an existing question on the reference desk (even one from 15/08/2006) once I hit save it goes to the archive page & saves my change in the archive for that specific day. Is there a reason why its doing this as its quite annoying as I have to go back to the main ref desk page from the archive & try to find where I was. AllanHainey 11:51, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Questions from other than the current day at the reference desks are moved to a subpage, but still appear on the main page by transclusion. When you click the "edit" link from the main page, you are (automatically) taken to the subpage for the heading you want to edit, but you're really editing the subpage, not the main page. When you submit your change, the software displays the subpage you've edited, not the main page you started from. You could report this as a bug (see wikipedia:bugzilla) or, as a workaround, do your edits in a different window. -- Rick Block (talk) 13:47, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I find this practice quite annoying, myself. I finish editing an entry, then I have to find my way back to the main page. Basically, Wikipedia has moved me into an archive page without my knowledge or consent. Where is the discussion page for this "transclusion", so we can voice our dissatisfaction with this practice ? StuRat 16:04, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

• Erm, it's pasted across the top of the page in big black letters. I don't see why you need to know or give your consent to it anyway. Does it really matter if you're editing the transcluded page? They're archived for easy reference and to stop the ref desk from bloating. A good thing, at least in my opinion. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:55, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Everybody should voice their opinion on this topic. What exactly is the advantage to doing it ? The disadvantage is as follows:

1) To see if anyone has responded to my numerous posts on each Ref Desk board, I go to the board, then do a search on my screen name, then look for responses.

2) When I find a response, and want to respond in turn ("I thank you for your comments, but wish to inform you that my parents, were, in fact married at the time of my birth, and alas, I must decline your invitation to partake in that suggested activity, and further consider it to be physiologically impossible"), I then click the edit button.

3) After I finish the edits, I am dumped on some damn archive page. Now I have to navigate my way back to the main page.

4) If I start searching for my screen name again, the screen find feature will start back at the top of the page. Now I have to go look through the huge page to try to figure out where I stopped the search, then continue from there. This takes a great deal of time.

So, again, what's so great about transcluded pages to make me want to endure this torture ? StuRat 17:58, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

The process of transcluding pages began because the size of the Science Reference Desk got to a point that it could no longer be archived by bot. For the last few weeks, I've been manually transcluding while we're trying to get a new bot to do this regularly. If the number of questions increases (as it has in recent times) and the page is not transcluded, then someone will have to do this manually indefinitely. The alternative is to arhive after 2-3 days and not allow people to continue to answer questions for the full seven days. Further discussion on the talk page. Join in! -- C. S. Joiner (talk) 01:24, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the info. Which talk page ? The talk page for this page is empty. If the archive bot can't handle large pages, why don't we fix the archive bot, so that it can ? We could also have a different page for each Ref Desk Board day right from the beginning, to make each page small enough to handle. StuRat 06:05, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

A copy of this discussion has been moved to here. -- C. S. Joiner (talk) 22:35, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Where can I ask for Russian Wikipedians to help with a soundbite to Russian Wikibook?

Thanks.

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. If you speak Russian, try ru.wikipedia.org, but since you posted here, it would suggest you don't. You could look through the Babel categories for native speakers. While they might not be able to help with this, I'm sure they could post it on the Russian version in Russian for you. Try Category:User_ru-N to find native speakers. - ^Рэд_хот 12:42, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Identifying snake in the Hi-Desert of California.

Yesterday, I came across a beautiful snake just "basking in the sun" and enjoying himself. I have searched Wikipedia and cannot identify the snake. He was measured at 4'6" long and the underbelly is completely pink and the upper markings, for the most part, are horizontal banding and are light brown (tan)with a slight pink coloring from the tip of the tail up to about 4" within his head where the markings are black including the head. The snake is approximately 1" in diameter.

The snake is very docile and I began to pet him and ultimately picked him up which he did not mind at all and I caressed him for about fifteen minutes and then released him where he remained so I got a camera and took some pictures.

With my limited knowledge of the Reptilia Class of species I feel that he may be a King Snake but I do not know. If so this would explain why I have only caught and relocated only one Pacific Rattlesnake as I do know that the King Snake feed on other snakes. It is a waste of time to inquire of the local residents as they fear "any" snake for their own reasons?

I live in Landers, California at 3500 feet elevation which is located in the Mojave Desert approximately an hour and a half from Joshua Tree National Park.

Do any of you know the species of this beautiful "critter?".Mdwelsh 13:15, 17 August 2006 (UTC)mdwelsh

Try the photos of the "critters" in each individual snake article. Image:Serpent_roi_bandes_grises_01.JPG is the king snake. -- THE GREAT GAVINI {T|C|#} 14:13, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I dont know how to do this but i would like to nominate the above link/picture for one of the best on wiki. Wow, what a beautiful snake, and picture. stunning mate well done.

Could it have been the Desert Rosy Boa? Here is a picture. --Lambiam^Talk 17:08, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

You might try posing your question at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science. JamesMLane t c 08:11, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

ergot & rye

greetings! can anyone tell me if ergot is a concern for me? info ive found seems to only discuss the growing/harvesting of grain; not about longterm storage & use. i store my rye & grind for bread; do i need to watch for ergot? if so; what do i look for to determine if its bad? ive had it stored thru the winter now, & am concerned about using it! any help is appreciated!! thanks! Onecrone 14:15, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, since this is an encyclopedia, I just typed 'ergot' into the magic box, and got an answer. From my reading, I have determined that if you grow and eat rye, you have a good chance of being burned as a witch.... --Zeizmic 14:58, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I thought it was that if you look up 'ergot' in an encyclopedia you get burned as a witch. Anchoress 15:04, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I'd look at the rye to see if it looks or smells bad. Also, keep it dry to avoid rotting. StuRat 15:57, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

korczak ziolkowski

was korczak ziolkowski an only child?

Korczak Ziolkowski doesn't mention any.Since he was orphaned at the age of one,it is extremely unlikely there are any younger siblings unless his parents hopped straight into bed after his birth.Given the lack of reference to any older siblings in the articles,it looks pretty much like he was. Lemon martini 16:29, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

How bad are really cheap guitars?

I saw an advertisement for a (new) acoustic guitar, going for AU$40 (that's US$30 or so). How bad is it going to sound? How large is the difference between the finest guitars, the average ones, and the cheap ones? (I can't play, I just enjoy messing around with them, so this sounded like a good choice for me.)

It's going to sound pretty rotten, in my view. Paradoxically, it might also be more difficult to play than a more expensive model. You say you can't play, but you also sound interested in playing, so I would recommend you get the best sounding guitar you can afford. Go to a musical instrument shop, tell 'em your budget and let them advise you. The people who work in those shops are usually really friendly and helpful, in my experience, and they won't try and sell you a guitar that's more expensive than the one you need. --Richardrj 15:23, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I learnt on a cheap one and graduated to better ones later, but I was lucky with the sound. Definitely don't buy one without having a play around with it first, and don't get it shipped to you or it could arrive broken. There's not a lot to go wrong with them apart from the fact that cheap ones fall to bits rather too easily. Check that all the joints are solid before buying it, and that the tuning keys turn easily.--Shantavira 15:30, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you to a point, Richardrj, (especially about poor quality guitars being more difficult to play (and tune)), but IMO it's not a good idea to invest in the 'best sounding guitar you can afford' until you're pretty sure you're going to be playing it enough to make it worth it. And you know enough about how guitars sound to know what kind of sound you want in a guitar. Sure, buying the best you can afford is great, but there are so many different sounds once you get into quality instruments, 'the best you can afford' doesn't really narrow it down much.

I learnt on a Yamaki that my stepfather bought from a pawn shop, and if he'd gotten me the all-mahogany L'Arrivee that I'm playing now, that sounds like a harp dipped in molasses (in a good way), it would have been a waste. It's kind of like love; most people don't marry the first person they fall in love with because we just don't know enough to either a) appreciate our first love, or b) pick a good one. We all have a couple of practice swings, so to speak. ;-) I think it's the same with instruments.

My advice is to get a good quality beginner instument, second-hand if possible. Guitar teachers and musicians are often good resources for second-hand, and with instruments 'second-hand' does not equal worn out or inferior. A well-cared for instrument is often better than new. So get good quality, but don't spend a bucket of money until you a) know what you want, and b) know how much time your're going to devote to your craft.

After edit conflict... To add to Shantavira's post, another problem with cheap guitars is that they're often very difficult to tune. Imperfections in the wood can cause the harmonics and overtones to be off, or make the sound muddy and difficult to tune even to a pure note, and can make them lose pitch faster. Anchoress 15:39, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

a) How do we know what a harp dipped in molasses sounds like? Have you ever played one? b) Most people would marry the first person they fell in love with if they were dipped in molasses :) Lemon martini 16:31, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Re: b) Gawd, I wouldn't. I wouldn't marry any of the men I've been in love with if they were dipped in 24 karat gold and then rolled in diamonds. Anchoress 16:49, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

• The worst thing about a crappy instrument is that you'll develop bad habits to compensate for the poor quality. It's not the sound that's the problem, it's the playability. A cheap axe that's really easy to play but sounds marginal is a far better choice than a more expensive one that's harder to play but sounds better. I played a lousy guitar for years, and when I started using better ones, it was like I'd been wasting my time for decades. Price is something of a gauge, but there are some pretty remarkable inexpensive guitars coming out of China these days. There are also some pretty awful ones; it's a crap shoot unless you have some guidance. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 17:02, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Just but it and see how you like it. You never know. --Proficient 03:38, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

What online resources can I use to enhance my computer-related knowledge?

I'm a young teen with a lot of free time. I thought I'd put it to some use and learn something related to computing, a field which will probably grow a lot in the next 10 years. Is there a free, online resource I can use to enhance my knowledge of terms and things related to computing, like setting up networks, general terminology, differences between processors, the functions of a cache on a processor, etc etc? I have just been randomly googling and it isn't very efficient.

I've always found this website to be pretty useful. By the way, it's good etiquette here to sign your posts by typing --~~~~ at the end of them. You could open an account, too. --Richardrj 15:25, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

This About.com website is essentially a database of sites about computer networking, HTML, JAVA, terminology, processors, and so on. It has lots of links to every topic, and briefly glancing over some of them, they appear useful. Also try our Computer network article, and the articles on various processors. Srose (talk) 15:33, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

You may also want to look at our portal for Information Technology. --Lambiam^Talk 16:42, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the link. By the way, I was looking for something that teaches things from the basics, a lot of the Wikipedia articles assume a certain level of technical prowess (at least when looking at pages about processors, etc).

A lot of the decent articles have a ton of links to every term a reader might not understand. Following which, you can ask the folks over at the Science desk for help. Howard Train 17:46, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

• If you live in the UK and are on any sort of benefit the Open University can offer everything from biginers to degree courses which are free or near enough as makes no difference,-hotclaws**==(82.138.214.1 09:27, 18 August 2006 (UTC))

Ship or boat?

Big vessels, liners etc are SHIPS. Smaller vessels are BOATS. Is the there a definition where a boat gets so big it becomes a ship? A submarine is generally a boat but I have heard the really big nuclears referred to as ships?

I bit like when does a hill become a mountain?

DDJ - Oregon City OR. USA

Perhaps if there is a legal difference it could be found in Category:Law of the sea. Jon513 17:38, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

The lead paragraphs of ship and boat mention a definition or two. In everyday speech it's not a clear division, while in specific context it could be defined (e.g. your local maritime law might draw the line somewhere so that it can say "this rule applies to ships, that one to boats.") Weregerbil 17:43, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Exceptions include submarines and some of the world's largest boats, the lake freighters. Rmhermen 17:48, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

If I recall my Chapman's correctly, in the US the legal maximum length of a boat is 20m/65ft. --Pyroclastic 18:47, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't think Canadian ice cream companies write U.S. laws. Perhaps you meant something else? Rmhermen 19:19, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I think he means Chapman's Nautical Guides or this. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 00:58, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Wow. I was confused about that Chapman comment as well. --Proficient 03:39, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

how to see project/research work?

I am a management student in HR. I want to see some research report on recruitment process by others' done before. It can be a detailed project work describing about a specific industry or company. Where can I look for such project works? Any website or link.

Unfortunately organizations don't tend to make recruitment information publicly available. You might want to contact a large organization and ask for the specific information you want. If you can't do that (it would be time-consuming and possibly fruitless), you could spend time looking at some journals for a specific industry - e.g., type into a journal search engine "recruitment and manufacturing", and see if there are any articles with titles like "Recruitment Processes in the Manufacturing Industry" or similar. If you find something that is close but isn't exactly what you want, you may be able to get something useful from the reference list of the article. Also try looking at relevant parts of textbooks that talk about specific organizations/industries and see if they reference anything that is useful. BenC7 00:34, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

International Trading Place

Please could some one tell me more about ITP (International Trading Place) ? They have a web site offering jobs to US citizens using their bank accounts to trade money for their clients, this is done so that the (VAT) a UK tax is avoided and in return you are paid a commision70.227.9.195 20:31, 17 August 2006 (UTC). But is this legit or a scam help?

It's either a scam or its an invitation for you to participate in an international money laundering scheme. Sounds like a career making license plates and sewing mailbags beckons. Middenface 20:32, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

If they ask you for your bank account details (and it seems they do) then they are a scam. Always remember the first rule of internet trading - never ever give anyone your bank details unless you are completely sure who they are. DJ Clayworth 20:37, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Place to learn languages for free

Dear Sir,

I would be glad if you told me an on-line resource for learning foreign languages for free. Thanks:

Ah. Strange you should ask that. MeFi had a link just today to a most excellent site: FSI Language Courses, which are developed by the Foreign Service Institute, and used to train United States Foreign Service officers. They're a mix of text & many many MP3s & look very comprehensive, useful, and free - see French Basic Revised, for instance. --Tagishsimon (talk)

Oh. And they reference how-to-learn-any-language.com, on which basis must be worth a look. --Tagishsimon (talk)

Be careful with those FSI courses. They're rather old, and can be out of date. Their Chinese course, for example, teaches you to address everyone as "tongzhi" ("comrade"), which is likely to get you some funny looks in today's China. Ironfrost 13:53, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Forgive my ignorance, but I was under the impression that China is still communist. Therefore, wouldn't "comrade" be an appropriate thing to say? --WhiteDragon 16:06, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Spider-Man movies

Why did they leave out Spider-Man's web-shooters in the recently made motion picture?67.172.248.207 21:26, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Our article on Spiderman (film) answers that in the trivia section:

Director Sam Raimi answered the protests of comic fans saying that it was more credible to have Peter shoot web this way than for a high school boy to be able to produce a wonder adhesive in his spare time that 3M can't make. It is noteworthy, though, that Peter is able to read Norman Osborn's work on nanotechnology with understanding while only in high school; even so, much of the comic book characterization of Peter Parker as a scientific prodigy was eliminated from the film version's portrayal, making it much much unlikely for the film version to be capable of inventing both a miracle adhesive and a high-tech yet compact delivery system, not to mention being able to manufacture such things on his family's limited budget. Interestingly, the comic version of Spider-Man grew organic web-shooters as well a coulple of years after the movie's release. The Ultimate version of Spider-Man refers to the classic character in that he utilizes a mechanical web shooter and artificial webs. The discrepancy of a high schooler cracking such a complex formula is resolved by having Peter complete a formula that his father had begun the research on, eliminating the conflict that resulted in the change for his movie incarnation.

Define Fact

I was just thinking, if Encyclopedia Brittanica stated something incorrectly, and it was cited on wikipedia, and used in other encyclopedias, it would quickly spread as accepted fact, with all major reputable sources copying it off of Brittanica, and all the mirror sites repaeting wikipedia, and soon, there would be hundreds of sources stating a mistake as fact, how could any source overcome this, as what possibly could trump all of these sources. Especially if it is an obscure thing, which is not recorded. Philc _T^E_C^I 22:00, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Just follow the sources. If one reference material cites another and another and the original one goes back to the first one, there is a problem. It is circular reasoning and it cannot be considered a fact because we do not have an original source. The orignial source should be some type of peer reviewed publication or fall under common knowledge. We can argue about the validity of common knowledge as a source for facts, but that is a different topic. Nowimnthing 22:54, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

This sort of thing does happen, and is well recognised. See the discussion of "The Carroll Myth" in the Lewis Carroll article, for instance. Looking at the other side of the coin someong (and I can;t find the article right now, but it arose out of the Brittanica versis Wikipedia stuff that's been going on over the past couple of years, that an answer is that encyclopedia's may, post wikipedia, change their meaning and become a repositary of the community consensus on "facts" rather than the "expert" version of facts. Clay Shirky, I think, or maybe Richard Stallman. --Tagishsimon (talk)

Oh my God, so Stephen Colbert was right, and truth is going to be decided by vote rather than actual facts. DJ Clayworth 16:55, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Is there some kind of list that has facts in history that were not really facts? --Proficient 03:40, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Joke Lab Report

A few months ago I found a joke lab report on the internet that was really funny. It was about how a guy had bad equipment and had to start over and more things of that sort. I thought I bookmarked it, but I can't find it now. Does anyone have a link to this thing? --Think Fast 22:26, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Probably Electron Band Structure In Germanium, My Ass --Tagishsimon (talk)

Yup. That's it. Thanks:) --Think Fast 01:41, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

What do you mean joke report? I thought that was real. (he wasnt bothered about passing his course obviously)--Light current 16:12, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Ico re-release

I have just found out that Ico was re-released in Europe earlier this year. I was wondering: what are the differences between the old version and the new version? Are the graphics better? Also, where could I get one of these re-released versions? Thanks. Russian F 23:07, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

It's the exact same game, they just printed a number of new copies due to the success of Shadow of the Colossus, its spiritual sequel.