Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous

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Church of Ireland dioceses

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

List of Church of Ireland dioceses -- Jim Regan 21:13, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

exact size of DVD-R

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

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

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

tuberculosis

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

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

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

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

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

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

from the pump

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

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

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

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

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

• Excellent for the minority view is Petr (sic) Beckmann's A History of π, if you can find it: chapter 5 is titled "The Roman Pest". A flavor: "Rome was not the first state of organized gangsterdom, nor was it the last, but it was the only one that managed to bamboozle posterity into an almost universal admiration. Few rational men admire the Huns, the Nazis or the Soviets; but for centuries, schoolboys have been expected to read Julius Caesar's militaristic drivel and Cato's revolting incitements to war. They have been led to to believe that the Romans had attained an advanced level in the sciences, the arts, law, architecture, engineering and everything else....What the Romans excelled in was bullying, bludgeoning, butchering and bloodbaths. Like the Soviet Empire, the Roman Empire enslaved peoples whose cultural level was far above their own. They not only ruthlessly vandalied their countries, but they also looted them, stealing their art treasure, abducting their scientists and copying their technical know-how, which the Romans' barren society was rarely able to improve on. No wonder, then, that Rome was filled with great works of art. But the light of culture which Rome is supposed to have emanated was a borrowed light: borrowed from the Greeks and the other peoples that the Roman militarists had enslaved." Well worth reading just for the prose style. - Nunh-huh 22:09, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Semantax and Layering

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

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

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

So why isn't it Columbia?

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

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

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

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

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

Is Vietnam Part of Pacific ?

Is Vietnam Part of Pacific ?

Hi!

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

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

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

Thanks, Gale

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

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

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

Here's how the CIA World Factbook describes it's location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia [1] --bodnotbod 17:08, May 7, 2004 (UTC)

pounds 10?

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Rhymes with "Julia"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

taken from Talk:Abu Ghraib (prison)

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

Who Was Karl Josef Weinmair(1906-1944)?

from the Pump

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

Sabbath days

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

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

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

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

Astronomical midnight

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

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

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

Historical Infinitive

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

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

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

Degradation of Uracil to Cytosine

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

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

b's'd Greetings.

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

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

Many thanks.

Elise Teitelbaum [email protected]

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

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

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

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

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

Total land area.

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

Donkey Kong Entry

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

Peace.

Italic text

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

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

I seem to recall hearing that "Donkey" was used because the person who named the game didn't speak English as a native language and thought it meant "stubborn". Actually, the Donkey Kong entry confirms this. LuckyWizard 05:08, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Becoming a fashion designer

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

Sincerely,

Felisha P.

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

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

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

What's the difference between allenes and cumulated dienes?

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

Will respond on talk:diene. Gentgeen 10:37, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Flowers

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

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

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

the first one looks like an Iris to me. Thunderbolt16 22:11, May 12, 2004 (UTC)

The flowers:

File:Unidentified Flower 01.jpg

File:Unidentified Flower 03.jpg

Mediterranean Sea

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

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

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

According to Flood#Significant_prehistorical_floods and Deluge (mythology), both the Bosporus and the Straits of Gibraltar were the host of immense ancient waterfalls. LuckyWizard 05:14, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

What are the citizenship requirements?

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

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

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

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

Thank you.

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

Anon

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

were is the publisher

Could you elaborate a little? Do you mean 'who is responsible for "publishing" Wikipedia?' Mark Richards 16:33, 11 May 2004 (UTC)

Contoid

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

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

Hindu astrology: Shifting to a new house

Dear Panditji

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

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

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

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

Awaiting for your reply

Thank you very much. Regards Heemanshu Waya

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

Norman Ritchie

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

DVD Recorder and Player

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

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

Snakes

How to idenify snakes in Michigan?

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

Joan of Kent

I am researching the life of Joan of Kent. Where did you get the exact date of her birth from please?Thank you. [email protected]

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

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

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

King Umberto I of Italy and Olive Trees

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

Thank you

Better bound on Cayley's theorem?

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

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

Weight on Other Planets

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

paul te groen salem oregon [email protected]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

painting whitehouse

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

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

Word for drama within drama

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

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

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

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

Wikipedia mailing list

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

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

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

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

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

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

C. Keeley [email protected]

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

'IY' in Middle East

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bev Bevan's date of birth

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

CHICAGO FIRE

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

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

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

Old Covered Spring House.

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

Thank you Stephen Hosmer [email protected]

Differences between Malayalam and Tamil

What are the differences between Malayalam and Tamil?

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

Loch and lough

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another Random British Peerage Quetsion

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

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

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

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

Gentgeen 11:52, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

Phrase Marker

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

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

help with 1940s chair

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

let me know on [email protected]

Bad smell in Cellar/ Impregnation of concrete

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

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

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

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

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

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

Richard Farina / Fariña ?

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

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

Japanese negotiations near end of WW2

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

Analagous to Americana?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But does Americana not transcend its Latin root to become something more? 'Item pertaining to America' could refer to the aeroplane, totem poles, George W Bush, Silicon Valley etc. I can't help thinking that Americana and the other New World -anas refer more to the cultural identity of the country concerned adamsan 14:12, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

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

Suggestion for Expanding Wikipedia

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

Best regards, Andrei (Romania)

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

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

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

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

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

G.E. CJ805 Jet Engine full discription location ?

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

Thank you,

Pete [email protected]

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

Transformational Grammar

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

Seasons in the polar regions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Patrol vessel Schiff 26/ Polares.

Hi to you all.

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

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

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

Kind regards

Bill Greathead

PSPACE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Curps 00:40, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

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

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

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

Results Of Previous Bledisloe Cup Matches

To whom it may concern,

                      My name is Nikki and I am a year 11 student at Rochedale State High School. 

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

           Nikki :-)