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January 21

Help

I was unable to edit the Wikipedia help desk because of some Spam Filter notice. I am not allerting you of this. I tried to contact the meta wikimedia people but when i tried, it did the same thing. Please help. 5aret 00:25, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Please include the full text of the error message here. StuRat 03:50, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

If the error message includes the text that the spam filter is objecting to, it can't be posted here. User:Zoe|^(talk) 20:42, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia appearance

I edit both at home and work using the same browser and OS. Most of the time the appearance is identical, dark blue links that are underlined. However, at work sometimes pages will show the links as light blue and not underlined. It does not happen at home and seems to be a random effect. Any ideas? CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 07:10, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

This happens to me as well, but at school. The only thing i can think of is making sure the setting is on when you log on at work.--Ali K 07:31, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Which setting, because the browser and Wikipedia preferences are the same at both locations. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 08:07, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

My preferences are occasionally 'lost', even when I'm logged in. I solve this by logging out and then in again. But you say some links are light blue? Sounds like external links. Are the same links coloured differently depending on the machine you're working at? DirkvdM 09:10, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

It's the internal links that turn light blue and loose the underlined feature. I don't have to log out to get back the normal setting. It will eventually return to normal. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 10:01, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Pages sometimes look weird for me too, though I can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong. I think that it may be because the stylesheet/skin has failed to load completely. Mark¹ 17:29, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

geography

what is the name of the 360km chain of small islands and reefs off the south east coast of america--195.93.21.69 11:11, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

The coast of North America or South America ? StuRat 11:26, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

"Barrier islands" alteripse 13:02, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

If it's the US, then the Florida Keys stretch about 360 km from Key Largo to Ft. Jefferson. Grutness...wha? 18:37, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Nice to see that even people from the US get confused about the meaning of the term 'America'. Next time I have a discussion about the subject (again....) I'll use this thread as a reference. :) DirkvdM 19:48, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

to StuRat and all north or south i dont know the question does not say

Still homeworking ?

Rey Mysterio and Booker T? wrestlers only... that know about wrestling... ASAP

Why are they always on the card? --MaoJin 16:16, 21 January 2006 (UTC) ASAP --MaoJin 16:16, 21 January 2006 (UTC) huh--MaoJin 19:40, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Because they're wrestlers that most Smackdown fans feel strongly about. -Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy) 23:17, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia logo

I read your article on the history of the Wikipedia logo. I did not see any information on the significance of the symbols, if any, on David Friedland's puzzle ball logo. I know what the Omega symbols means. But what about the other symbols? Amber

A small Omega looks like a 'w', but the cyrillic letter below the 'W' is a short 'I', so I'm stuck too. DirkvdM 19:55, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't think there's any particular signficance. It's just letters from various scripts. The ones I recognize are Omega from Greek, "W" which you probably know already, the Cyrillic Short I (which DirkvdM apparently beat me to while I was submitting this :)), the Hebrew Resh and the Katakana "fi". I don't think it's supposed to spell anything out. --BluePlatypus 20:06, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

It's the symbols on the Wikinews logo you ought to be worried about [1] . That thing always creeps me out. --Aaron 02:29, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

The symbols? Do you mean the map? (Looks a bit like a face.) Neat map, by the way. Does it give the landsizes in correct proportions? Is Africa really as big as Asia? Geography of Asia says the latter is 50 million km², against Africa's 30 million km². But it doesn't define the area and that is a bit vague in the case of Asia. DirkvdM 11:25, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Oh, my Philip's Atlas says the size of Asia is 44.500.000 km², but it doesn't say what constitutes Asia either. DirkvdM 13:06, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I meant the map. (I should have said "symbolism" instead of "symbols".) It looks like the logo that the United Nations would use if they ever acquired any actual power and nationalized all the news organizations in the world. In fact, it looks so similar to the UN logo that I'm surprised they haven't sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Wikimedia Foundation. --Aaron 22:12, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Or we could join them a an NGO and make it legit (or doesn't it work that way?). By the way, in the case of the UN, that would be an internationalisation in stead of a nationalisation. DirkvdM 08:46, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Actually, quick correction for BluePlatypus: the katakana is the little-used "Wi", suggesting that it is in fact an attempt to include the first character(s) of "Wikipedia" in a few languages. Confusing Manifestation 15:15, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Zodiac

I was born in December, so I'm a Capricorn, but I was actually two months premature, so should I have a different sign?--Givnan 17:01, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, one on your forehead to warn other people that you care about this sort of thing. :) DirkvdM 19:57, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Just ignore DirkvdM, he's being silly. Firstly, just being born in December doesn't make you a Capricorn. Capricorn starts when the Sun moves into that sign from Sagittarius, usually around 21-22 December. If you were born on either of those dates, you'd need to consult an ephemeris to find out the exact time the signs changed (it is almost never conveniently at midnight). Secondly, the natal chart is drawn as at the moment of birth. That you were born premature is irrelevant. You were born when you were born, not when the doctors thought you would be born. JackofOz 20:28, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

What about caesarians? Doesn't matter? What influence does being surrounded by flesh have? If a child is going to be born into an unlucky sign, could the mother keep the newborn in a box made of meat for a month to simulate a later birth? Or does it have to be a womb? If so, why? --BluePlatypus 00:35, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

See Ephemeris for more about ephemerides. (I love cool plurals!) —Keenan Pepper 20:47, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

BluePlatypus has a point there. I would have thought it would actually be the moment that you come into existence that determines what sign you are, and therefore the surrounding body would be irrelevant. As I was probably conceived sometime in May, I'd be something entirely different. --Givnan 06:16, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Now you're all just making it up as you go along. A box made of meat??? How revolting. And suggesting that conception time replace birth time, a basis that has been used for thousands of years, just because you think it feels better or whatever, is an absurd way to proceed. Do your research, study the subject, then make comments. Uneducated comments can sometimes be quite amusing, but on this occasion ....? Nah. JackofOz 06:38, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

That's just ad hominem. How about actually providing an answer instead of being arrogant. Astrology is made up nonsense. The fact that it's old nonsense doesn't mean anything except that it's been discredited far longer. --BluePlatypus 14:29, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

And not only is it nonsense, it's dangerous nonsense. Do you think race should be a factor in job applications? No? Why not? Because science (that is, simple observation) tells us that skin color has absolutely nothing to do with your personality, competence and ability to do a job. Yet the theories of race holding that black people were inferior to whites is something that was held for centuries. And it would be just as wrong for an employer to reject an applicant because his birth-date suggests (via the discredited theories of Astrology) that the applicant would be unsuitable. If you believe astrology, do you think employers should use it when screening applicants? Do you feel the same way about using skin-color? And if you don't, for what reason apart from the fallacy of Appeal to tradition that is the only basis for both ideas? --BluePlatypus 15:00, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree that astrology is utter nonsense, but that's still a POV that should ideally stay off the Reference Desk. Note that the original question was a technical question about astrology that could be answered using verifiable sources, without resorting to saying "it doesn't matter because it's nonsense anyway". —Keenan Pepper 17:33, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

No answer on astrology is complete without a warning that it is utter nonsense. That said, one's ascendant sign (and therefore presumably the sun sign as well) is nearly universally claimed by astrologers (today at least) to correctly be that which is on the horizon at the precise moment of a person's first breath. So yes, one could plan a caesarean section to select one's descendant's ascendant, and I suspect that some have so done. - Nunh-huh 21:31, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Blue Platypus, I provided an answer to the original question based on my years of study of the subject (decades actually). You posed a question about caesarians, which I would have happily answered had you not gone off on a weird tangent about boxes made of meat. Then Givnan started talking about the way he/she thinks astrology should be practised, totally ignoring the long tradition of the way it actually is practised. That’s like a person who has never studied a word of Greek, suggesting that Greeks use the Latin alphabet to write their language, because they think it would work better. That’s why I made my comment about uneducated opinions. I’m sorry if you thought I was being arrogant – I was merely frustrated.

But now, you demand answers, while in the same breath taking the view that the whole subject is “made up nonsense”. Why would anybody bother to provide answers to an obviously closed mind? So you can perhaps understand my scepticism that you’re actually expecting a serious response. But what the hell, I’m game. I said in my original response: “You were born when you were born, not when the doctors thought you would be born”. That principle can be extended to caesareans: You were born when you were born, not when you might have been born had nature been allowed to take its course. As Nunh-huh says, it’s all based on when the child takes their first breath. The circumstances leading up to the birth don’t come into it.

After years of serious consideration, I am still open-minded about whether astrology is worthy of serious consideration. It’s funny how those who decry it as “utter nonsense”, “made up nonsense” or “dangerous nonsense” don’t appear to have ever given it any serious consideration at all. Without proper investigation, how would they know?

Your example about an employer rejecting an applicant purely on their birth date has nothing to do with astrology. If you want to discredit astrology, be my guest. But please do it on the basis of what astrologers claim for astrology, not on superstition or newspaper columns. Popular newspaper astrology has about as much connection with proper astrology as the Ku Klux Klan has to do with human rights. JackofOz 23:39, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Since astrology never bothers to provide any mechanism whereby people get their personalities and fate from their birth date, it would be impossible to say how the birth date should be determined in unusual cases. I consider myself one of the many who considers all horoscopes to be total BS, BTW. StuRat 23:52, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Here we go again. What is it about astrology that induces people to proudly proclaim their closed-mindedness about it, and yet still feel qualified to offer opinions about it? There is no such thing as an Ultimate Book of Holy Writ that tells you what science has to say on any particular subject. There are millions of sources of scientific information, and many of them say conflicting things. Ultimately it's down to what the individual believes to be the truth. Or, they go to an expert on the subject, a scientist. Same with astrology. There are millions of books on the subject - so please substantiate this claim that "astrology never bothers to provide any mechanism whereby ...". JackofOz 00:14, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

You have no understanding of the scientific method, which likely explains why you believe in astrology. Well established science (stuff that's been around for many years) doesn't come down to personal beleifs or trusting an expert, but to overwhelming proof. For example, the fact that the Earth orbits the Sun is not "a matter of opinion", but quite firmly established via numerous astronomical observations over centuries. A new scientific theory may very well have supporters and detractors, but will be either accepted or rejected after a few years of observation and experimentation to either prove or disprove the theory. Astrology, on the other hand, has been around for thousands of years and has yet to prove it's case. Where it makes vague generalities about personality, testing is impossible (by design), and where it predicts specifics, like date of death, it hasn't been shown to be any more accurate than a life insurance agent's mortality tables. After so long without proof, any theory in science would be tossed onto the trash heap, as should happen with astrology. StuRat 12:19, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Also, if you claim that astrology does provide some mechanism whereby the position of the stars (which is really due to the orientation of the Earth) is supposed to effect people, based on their date of birth, let's see it. StuRat 12:25, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

That's all a bit full-on, StuRat.

• I have no understanding of the scientific method, eh? Hmmm ... interesting how you could come to that conclusion from what I've said so far.

• "Which likely explains why you believe in astrology" - Huh?? What I said was: "After years of serious consideration, I am still open-minded about whether astrology is worthy of serious consideration." If you think that amounts to a confession of belief in astrology, I have to seriously question your knowledge of the English language. But yes, I have studied it, for 30 years. I think a discipline that has been around for 5,000 years in many different cultures is worthy of some serious scholarly attention.

• Now we come to the juicy bit. What on Earth (forgive the pun) is this stuff about "if you claim that astrology does provide some mechanism whereby the position of the stars (which is really due to the orientation of the Earth) is supposed to effect [sic] people, based on their date of birth"? Where did you get that from? No, really, where? Those are entirely your words, mate, not mine. I have made no claims for astrology whatsoever, so there is nothing that I have to prove.

• The only person who has made a claim that requires proof is your good self, StuRat. You said that "astrology never bothers to provide any mechanism whereby people get their personalities and fate from their birth date". I asked you previously to justify that statement, and I'm still waiting.

• What interests me is that people such as yourself tend to get very defensive about astrology. If it really is the hogwash you claim it is - and I'm not necessarily disputing that - why do you lose any energy bothering to even discuss it all? It's not as if science has anything to feel threatened about ... is it? What ever happened to the spirit of open-minded enquiry? Just damning a set of beliefs or claims out of hand, when you have never even scratched the surface of them, is hardly a scientific approach, is it? Cheers, mate JackofOz 13:48, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I find it a fascinating concept worthy of scholarly attention that people actually give serious consideration to astrology. It deserves it about as much as my theory that the Earth is held up by a giant aardvark with Jon Stewart's head, driving through the heavens in a chariot pulled by gerbils. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 17:09, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

BTW, no idea is valid just for having been around for 5,000 years. Racism, for instance, has been around for millennia in a great variety of cultures. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 17:09, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, that's right. But who here has said that astrology is valid? Certainly not me. I have explained twice now that I am not making any such claims. But just being a practice that is illegal, immoral or possibly scientifically worthless does not mean it should not be studied. You mention racism. How much literature is there on racism - a huge amount. Criminologists spend their lives studying murder and other illegal practices. James Randi has made it his life's work to debunk paranormal etc claims - but despite his utter scepticism, you can bet he has studied ALL the serious literature on these subjects. Until it was finally proven that there is no such thing as perpetual motion, the impossibility of trisecting an angle, or the irrationality of π (pi), inventors and mathematicians spent their lives studying these things in an effort to get to the truth. Astrology is no less worthy of study - I did not say belief - than racism; ESP; murder; the 67 scientifically unexplained "miraculous" healings from the grotto at Lourdes; or why people who uphold the scientific method routinely consign astrology to the dustbin without ever having even tried to study it in depth in an effort to understand why it has been so pervasive in human society since Adam. Way back on 22 January, I said "Do your research, study the subject, then make comments." I stand by that. JackofOz 21:01, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Studying astrology in the way you've described (the bit about literature on racism, murder and paranormal claims) is quite different from, as you have upheld, considering it a serious possibility. You can study a subject without that (eg criminologist who study murder generally don't consider committing it). Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 14:38, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I think you're putting words into my mouth, Yeltensic. Seems to be the flavour of the month at the moment - yum, those words taste really great, you should try them - sorry, but people insist on telling me what I said while using words I never used. I have never said that I "consider it a serious possibility". I have said, over and over, "I am still open-minded about whether astrology is worthy of serious consideration". It sounds to me like you and others have decided up front that astrology must be bunkum and therefore it is bunkum, and therefore one would be wrong to spend any time at all in researching it, and therefore anyone who does bother to scratch beneath the surface is to be regarded with suspicion. Yes, criminologists study murder without ever getting tempted to practise it. And your analogy is ... ? Where have I ever advocated that people should practise astrology? Nowhere and never. I have studied it as a private interest, but this debate is probably the most I've ever written about it. And the debate is not even about astrology any more, it's about the psychology of science and the attitude of certain people who uphold the principle of open-minded objective enquiry (which is what the scientific method is all about), but seem to be selective about where they apply that principle. When it comes to some subjects, their attitudes are subjective their minds are closed. Why, I really don't know. Maybe they can speak for themselves. I've heard plenty of criticism of me for daring to suggest that astrology is something that might legitimately be studied, but absolutely nothing about why it shouldn't. JackofOz 00:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, there must have been a misunderstanding. When you said, "worthy of serious consideration", I (and most likely the others on this thread) thought you meant serious consideration in the sense of "seriously considering that it might be true". Now I see what you meant, but you might want to consider your wording more. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 00:19, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Right, let me get this clear. It's possible to have an open-minded, objective study of something even though you've already dismissed the possibility that it could be true? Is that what you're saying? Of course I have entertained the possibility that it might be true. If I had already decided that was not the case, why on earth would I have spent any time studying it at all? I'm not an adherent of the Sir Humphrey Appleby school of investigation, where one never conducts an enquiry unless one is certain of the outcome beforehand. It's not my wording that needs changing. JackofOz 11:50, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

(I've reformated the following a bit for ease of comprehension. Hope nobody objects.)

Let me give my opinion as to why astrology isn't worthy of a major scientific study:

• Since no mechanism is given for describing how birth date would affect personality or fate, this mechanism can't be studied. (Again, if you claim the mechanism is given, let's hear it.)
  • You talk here and earlier about the "birth date" being the determining factor of fate and personality. There’s a lot more to it than that. Using birth date alone is what numerology does, and what popular newspaper astrology does – which as I explained earlier on has nothing to do with true astrology (remember the KKK analogy?). Newspaper astrology only considers the position of the Sun, which in most cases you can get from the birth date alone. But on days when the Sun changes signs, this is likely to give an inaccurate result. The transition from one sign to the next almost never happens conveniently at midnight. A lot of people go through life believing they were born when the Sun was in, say, Cancer, when in fact they were born in Leo or Gemini. The same for all the other “Sun-signs”. This is somewhat fudged by the notion of “cusps” – opinions vary greatly about whether to pay these a lot of attention, or little, or none. But leaving all that aside, it’s absurd to suggest that 1/12 of the population of the Earth will all have the same “fate” (whether it’s today, or the coming week, or the coming year) just because they all share the same sign. That is what popular newspaper astrology would have us believe, and you’d be right to give it a wide berth. I have just as much scepticism of a lot of Chinese astrology, where everybody born in the same year has the same sign. Even more unbelievable. (But interesting that most people, scientists included, can readily tell you their Sun sign and probably their Chinese sign too, even if they claim they have no belief in astrology. Wonder why that is.)
  • A proper birth chart is drawn as at the moment of birth, and takes into account the birth location, and the exact positions of the Sun, the Moon, all the planets, and some other features such as the Moon’s node, at the moment of birth. It also takes into account the positions of the houses, which cycle through all 12 signs every day. And it takes into account the aspects (angular distance) between all these things, and pays particular attention to certain kinds of harmonics. This makes an individual’s birth chart (almost) unique. But hold on, what about 2 or more babies born on the same day, at the same time, in the same city? Happens all the time. Does this mean they will all have identical lives and personalities. Of course not. Which is why any astrologer worth their salt would never get into predicting “fate”. So much depends on environment and circumstance. So this in another misconception about astrology does. Astrology per se will give an insight into possibilities, and broad (usually very broad) personality types. This is based on the “as above, so below” metaphysical principle. But people are usually more interested in knowing something more specific and juicy than that, so professional astrologers tend to garnish their interpretations (often using complementary skills) in order to get repeat business. A lot of what most (not all) astrologers will tell you can be dismissed as pap to make you feel good since you’ve just handed over a wad of money. But that does not in itself invalidate everything about astrology.
  • As to specifics about the mechanisms of birth chart drawing and an introduction to interpretation, I can thoroughly recommend "The Round Art" by A T Mann, a really beautifully illustrated and presented book that gives a lot of historical background to astrology, and the information is presented in a way that I think would appeal to most Wikipedians. He also wrote "The Divine Plot: Astrology, Reincarnation, Cosmology and History". This is a tougher nut to crack, but still well worth reading if you’re serious about educating yourself about this arcane study, whether you believe anything about it or not.
• There are many different versions of astrology, so which one to study would be a problem. In Chinese astrology, for example, the birth year is more important than the birth month and day.
  • That there are many different versions of astrology just means there are many different things that need studying. It’s not a reason to study none of them. Seekers of knowledge don't get to be picky like that, I’m afraid.
• There are other unproven theories which should be tested, however. Here is one: "Trans-fatty acids cause acne. The mechanism is that these solid fats 'melt' at body temp, are digested with the aid of bile in the ileum and cesium portions of the small intestine, are absorbed by the intestinal wall, then pass into the blood stream, where they proceed to the sebaceous pores. Once excreted by the pores, these trans-fatty acids cool enough to re-harden, thus blocking the pores and causing pimples." Now, this theory may or not may be correct, but at least there is a mechanism described which could be studied. It is also quite specific, and not at all vague. A general and vague statement, similar to astrology, would be "food causes acne and we don't know how". Such a statement could not, and should not, be studied. StuRat 00:40, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
  • Don’t really know what to make of that. Who can say what “should not” be studied? Sounds a bit redolent of Nazi book-burning. I think I’ll just leave it. JackofOz 14:19, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

• Basically, the problem with scientifically studying astrology is that it's more akin to religion to science. That doesn't mean it isn't worthy of study, but it does mean it can't be studied the way you would study an unproven scientific theory. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 01:29, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
  • Spot on. Astrology uses scientific methods to determine planetary positions to draw a chart. But the interpretation of that chart is very much an art, not a science. Twenty different astrologers will give you twenty different interpretations of the same chart – there will be some overlaps, but they will each bring their own history to it as well. It simply can’t be treated like some mathematical formula where you feed in data on the left hand side and the answer comes out on the right hand side. It’s just not like that, and the trap a lot of scientists fall into is assuming it is like that and then damning it for not behaving the way they expect it to, ie. being able to come up with verifiable and reproducible results. (But that is also true of many other “scientific” things, such as medicine. How many different diagnoses can be made from the one set of presenting symptoms? In general, many. It comes down to the skill of the doctor, but it’s pot luck as to whether or not you find the right one. And true of psychologists, psychiatrists, and others.) Astrology is one subject where a truly open mind and no preconceptions whatsoever are absolutely essential if you really want to get inside it. And it would help greatly by not assuming it has to meet the standards that science imposes on it. It’s like ESP in that regard, I guess. If that makes it outside the realm of what science can deal with, I guess that science's loss. But individual scientists can choose to overcome that and do some reading in their spare time, can't they. I cannot explain it any better than this right now. You must do some of the work yourself, and read "The Round Art" or any other reputable and scholarly book on the subject. The WP article on astrology is full of useful information and links to get you started as well. JackofOz 14:19, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
    • No, it isn't science's loss. There's nothing stopping individual scientists from reading about it in their spare time, but it would be a mockery of science for them to dabble in astrology as they would with physcis, chemistry etc. No different than scientists trying to prove religious claims. But scientists (and pretty much anyone with a scientific, rather than religious, worldview) generally apply scientific standards to anything, because it is verifiable. You seem to disagree, but as far as we're concerned, for something to be worthy of serious consideration (as being true, that is, I'm not talking about just reading about it in your spare time), it has to "behave the way they expect it to". That's why religion and astrology get thrown out the window. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 16:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
      • Well, where does that leave the thousands of scientists all over the world who have strong religious faith and are devout practising Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus or whatever? Are they all making a mockery of science by daring to "dabble" in religion? That suggestion would be grossly offensive to most of them, I would think. I know of scientists who see no conflict in being both a scientist and a person with religious beliefs, in things that science does not and probably never will have answers for. Clearly many others must have grappled with this issue, but they appear to have found an accommodation. Are you speaking for them? JackofOz 16:51, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
        • There's nothing stopping them from having religious beliefs, what I mean is that they just can't try to scientifially prove them. It isn't necessarily a mockery of science for them to have religious beliefs, it just would be for them to try to prove them. That said, I do think that many (or even most, if not all) religious beliefs can't be reconciled with science very well, but it shouldn't be too hard for them to avoid the problem, they would just have to ignore their beliefs temporarily. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 20:18, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
        • BTW, one problem with religion is that it largely depends on gaps in science. This means that it can provide answers for questions that science hasn't answered, but science has a tendency to fill gaps over time, leaving religion in a difficult spot. This has already come up on a number of matters, such as the Earth being the center of the universe, etc. Whenever this happens, religion can only be defended by covering one's ears and chanting "La la la la I'm not listening." So it's probably only a matter of time before religion is left without any gaps to fill. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 20:18, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
          • Well, I think we're getting quite distant from the original subject now, so I'm going to withdraw from this discussion after this. I'm not here to defend religion, just as I was never here to defend astrology. They both have much more eloquent spokespersons than I, and I have many other battles to fight.
          • I would just say in parting that you're on very, very thin ice philosophically in talking about what scientists "should" study. Your example about the Earth not being the centre of the Solar System (I think you meant that) is a case in point. Since it was considered a religious question, scientists should never have dabbled in it at all, according to you. Why weren't they making a mockery of science by setting out to prove or disprove this?
          • It's just not possible to make a black and white distinction between science and religion. Is there a scientist who has never asked: "What was there before the Big Bang? What made it happen in the first place? Where did all that energy and matter come from?" Hardly. BTW, I just don't believe those who claim to be able to comprehend concepts like, "It was always just there". My regard for the capacity of the human mind does not go that far. Will science ever answer these questions? Impossible to know, but in my opinion, no. Does that mean that science should become disinterested in these questions? Again, no.
          • In relation to things behaving the way they are expected, there have been many examples of natural phenomena that were completely unexpected. Remember the amazement of the scientific community when the rings of Saturn were found to be "braided"? No scientist had anticipated or predicted that. Does that mean the observation should have been ignored, or put down to an optical illusion? Of course not.
          • You might choose to "throw religion out the window", but one day you may regret taking that approach. God bless (oops). JackofOz 00:04, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I could reply to your post, but I'll just leave this thread too, unless someone else adds anything to it. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 00:24, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

need help locating a car cover

i am looking for a way to locate a original vw factory car cover that was used in the transportation of the 1945 and later vw bugs from factory to dealerships in germany.the cover can be seen in the history channels special vw bug, documentary on the creation and life of the little car. my question is how or who would i contact to find out where one of these covers might be obtained from germany? my contact info is vwbugg2275 at yahoo dot com (no spam). please respond cause i'm lost and need help , thanks

Dear anonymous, the best people to ask for specific car-related help are usually internet forums or clubs devoted to that model of car. Search for "vw beetle forum" on Google turned up this one, for instance. You might also try contacting VW themselves; they might be able to help, particularly if this is for some kind of event that would gain them favourable publicity. --Robert Merkel 10:24, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

ELC included?

Hello! I'm a german who wants to move to Tokyo for half a year, so I'm looking for a Guest House or apartment there. On every homepage I've been there are some remarks. I understand most of them; the only one I don't get ist "ELC included". What does that mean? Is it bad if it isn't included? As english isn't my first language I don't know most simple things, so thank you very much for your help!

Danijel

Edible love couch?

English Language Course ? --DLL 20:37, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

"Evangelical Lutheran Church", European Localization Center, Early Learning Centre, East London College (Tokyo branch), &c. But for sure, inc.

It's probably an abbreviation for electricity, in that the bill is included in the rent. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 21:22, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

This seems to be a problem more with the English on the part of the Japanese (and Koreans. and Chinese. Etc.). They seem to have a fling for making very cryptic abbreviations when using latin alphabets. Not sure why though, but I suppose it has something to do with how their own writing systems work (where there are loads of characters to choose between!). I see it all the time in technical manuals from Omron, supposedly at least partly written by native Japanese people. TERdON 23:28, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Quiz

I am completing a quiz with my 9 yr old son and we are stuck on a couple of questions they are :-

• what country accounts for 35% of the worlds cities with more than on million inhabitants?

• What unusual charecter name and part of a 1990's us well known sitcom means "the ultimate truth in all things " in Hindi

For the first one try Thirty most populous cities in the world. The external link leads to a list of 32. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 21:09, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

But that lists only a few dozen. My Philip's Atlas (from 1998) gives the following numbers of cities with more than one million inhabitants (for countries with 10 or more): US 38, China 34, India 22, Russia 13, Brazil 12, Japan 10. Out of a total of 284, so even the US has only about 15%. However, this also depends on how you define 'city'. This listing is for the total metropolitan area (such as 'greater Paris'). Even Amsterdam and Rooterdam ar listed, even though Amsterdam officially has only about 850.000. Also, over the last few years, most cities will have grown, and judging by the 'runners up', the top 3 will now probably be China, US, India, because for the US it drops straight to 665.000 (Jacksonville), whereas China and India have 8 over 800.000, and those may exceed a million by now.

For some more stats, as far as cities over 10 million are concerned, there are 15, of which 3 in China and 2 in India and the US each. And none in the UK. London once was the biggest, but now that is Tokyo-Yokohama, with a staggering 26 million! Next biggest at around 16 million are Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Bombay, Mexico City and New York City. After that numbers drop off quite fast. Most have 'just' 1 or 2 million. There are only 41 cities with more than 4 million inhabitants, with India and the US each having 6. What also strikes me is that there aren't too many African cities on the list. And Iran has 5 over 1 million, with Teheran having almost 7 million.

In short, the assumption in the question is wrong, unless they define 'city' differently. DirkvdM 13:49, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Africa is quite sparsely populated, so I won't be too surprised with that. deeptrivia (talk) 04:47, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I once heard that in Africa most people live in the capital (so just one city per country), in which case you'd expect at least one city with over 1 million inhabitants per country. Actually, there are 22 cities over 1 million in Africa, 5 of with in South Africa. So for 61 countries, that means about one in three countries have a 'million-city'. So it's not as bad as I suggested. But for most countries there is indeed just one city on the list. Which is probably why I overlooked them. DirkvdM 08:55, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

---

For the second one, Dharma should help. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 21:15, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

I thought too that the quizmaster must have intended Dharma, though actually it doesn't remotely mean "the ultimate truth in all things." The answer to the first question is hidden here. deeptrivia (talk) 21:20, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Pity that "Ken" isn't an unusual name, or that might be it... As for Dharma, I found a Buddhist website which stated In the face of the profusion of ideas and practices which were later developments, it is useful for us to return to the positive and timeless Dhamma taught by the Buddha. Whatever people believe and practise in the name of Buddhism the basic Teachings of the Buddha still exist in the original Buddhist texts. ([2]). Grutness...wha? 01:48, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

The word Dharma essentially remains untranslatable in the English language. Perhaps the "ultimate truth" definition is inspired by the following verse:

" Verily, that which is Dharma is truth.

Therefore they say of a man who speaks truth, 'He speaks the Dharma,'

or of a man who speaks the Dharma, 'He speaks the Truth.'

Verily, both these things are the same."

(Brh. Upanishad, 1.4.14)

deeptrivia (talk) 02:14, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

It's true that Dharma cannot be translated into English, but Ancient Chinese and Early Japanese texts use the word 法 (Chinese 'fa', Japanese 'hou'), meaning 'Law' (like we say the 'laws of physics', for example), but as this does really explain it properly, any Japanese texts now use the word 達磨 (daruma), which is closer to the original pronunciation. The characters actually mean something like 'infinite patience', and are an example of an 'ateji', or characters used to fit the pronunciation of another word. Usually the characters are also intended to convey a related meaning. --Givnan 06:31, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

By the way, the Web says there was a sitcom in the US in the 1990s called 'Dharma and Greg' --Givnan 08:38, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Indeed, Dharma and Greg was the reason I mentioned the name :) GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 17:43, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Intelligence agencies

How many intelligence agencies are in the world?

I'd say about the same as the number of nations. But it depends on what you mean by "intelligence agency", since there's domestic and foreign intelligence. Most countries have some form of domestic intelligence going on, even if it's only a small branch of the police force. If you mean "How many countries have foreign intelligence?", it depends on what you mean by "foreign intelligence". Some countries just sit passively around listening to whatever radio signals they can interpret, others are active with spies and informants in foreign countries. It's not really possible to say how many, since having operatives in foreign countries isn't something governments like to talk about publicly. --BluePlatypus 22:06, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

And of course there's military intelligence (the old oxymoron) as well. But there are certainly less nations with military intelligence than with civilian domestic intelligence. Also, there's any number of private firms like Jane's, and companies selling satellite imagery who are in the intelligence business even if they don't qualifiy as government agencies. --BluePlatypus 22:15, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

See List of intelligence agencies GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 22:11, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

last quiz question

up to 1992 how many expressways did china have?

Very few. Maybe a few 10s of kilometers. They made most of them in the last decade. (Sorry, I know this won't exactly help your quiz question. ) deeptrivia (talk) 01:10, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Of course, that depends on how you define expressway (yes, it's me again). And what constitutes one expressway. Naturally, in China they're pretty long. At 2000 km, the Jingzhu Expressway might be longer than all the expressways in the Netherlands combined. Expressways of China doesn't seem to say how many there are. DirkvdM 14:01, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Really? I thought the Netherlands was full of autosnelwegen. Dunno how many of them are expressways though. deeptrivia (talk) 15:42, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I suppose I exaggerated a bit. Not too much, though. The Neterlands is about 200 x 200 km if you'd compress it into a square. So 2000 km could then be a grid with about 30 km between the highways. In the central western region (Randstad) that would be a lot denser, but in the less populated regions it's less, so I suppose it's not too far off. DirkvdM 22:24, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

By the way, only now do I notice that the question stipulates 'before 1992'. Why is that? Is there also a question about the present situation to highlight the change? Sounds a bit like the quiz has a hidden political agenda. :) DirkvdM 22:27, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

January 22

Baked beans

In the WP article, it says some cans of baked beans "are as expensive as 2 pounds sterling" in the UK. Is this true? --Uthbrian (talk) 00:50, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

It sounds pretty dubious to me. The most expensive I've found online so far is £1.57/can (425g) for "Organic Nomato Baked Beans"[3], "Nomato" being a brand of tomato-free products for people who for whatever reason can't or don't eat tomatos.[4] The only way I can see them being £2/can is for "catering-size" cans - the first cash and carry price list I found online says £12.12 for 6x2.62kg cans, or £2.02/can, but the normal size of a can of beans is about 400g, not 2.62 kilos. -- AJR | Talk 01:33, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

oh if only they had those here! (one bite of tomato and I'm off to hospital) Grutness...wha? 01:52, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Wow, those Nomato baked beans are expensive! I can't imagine being allergic to tomatoes, it's nearly in everything nowadays. --Uthbrian (talk) 02:41, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

tell me about it :( Grutness...wha? 09:49, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

How about making your own ? You can buy raw beans, cook them, then add brown sugar, that chunk of "pork" which is 95% fat, etc. StuRat 12:35, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

worth trying... thanks. I'll file that away with my "mock pizza" (base sauce made from cheese and worcestershire sauce). Grutness...wha? 22:39, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Here's a recipe for a non-tomato sauce. And another for a non-tomato potato pizza. No idea if they're good, though. --Uthbrian (talk) 23:14, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

thanks for that too! Grutness...wha? 05:21, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

If you buy your beans at Harrods maybe you'd pay £2, frankly I doubt it. In most supermarkets you'll pay about 15p. AllanHainey 13:26, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

What about Harvey Nicks? ^KILO-_LIMA 18:53, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Heinz is about 46p. ^KILO-_LIMA 18:53, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Well that sounds great. A can of plain baked beans here is $2.45/£1.12 for a 498g/16oz can and a 1 liter/35 fl oz of milk is $3.99/£1.83 CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 22:07, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm just curious, but how much would two pounds sterling be in American dollars? KeeganB

NFL

Wanting to find out the stats on, what are the chances of a person making it into the NFL.

From http://people.howstuffworks.com/nfl-draft4.htm: 1,000,000 high school students play football, 1 out 17 of these go on to play in college, and 1 out of 50 college seniors (who play football) are drafted, which they claim adds up to 9 out of 10,000 high school seniors (I get closer to 12). Not all players selected in the draft end up playing - according to http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/6301644 11.5% of the players drafted in 2002 were cut by the team that drafted them. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:49, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Tennis jargon

I've just been watching Marcos Baghdatis beat Andy Roddick at the Australian Open on a 41 degree day - top marks to both of them for not melting. Something I've always wondered about came up during the match. On 3 occasions, Baghdatis was at "match point". The second and third time, the commentators called this "two match points" and "three match points" respectively. They're supposed to be describing what's happening right now, not keeping a running tally of how many match points there have been over the course of the match. But if they must refer to that, why don't they call it "second match point" and "third match point"? Can anyone enlighten me? The tennis articles don't help. JackofOz 06:14, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

They might also be referring to the number of match points (chances to win the match by winning a single point) a particular player is guaranteed to have in a particular match situation. For instance, if a player is serving in men's singles at the Open, with the score in the current game at 40-0, 5-4 up in the current set, and, say, 2 sets to 0 ahead, if they win any of the next 3 points they will win the match; if their opponent wins all three the game score will be "deuce", at which point the server can no longer win the match with a single point and it is no longer "match point". So, therefore, player at 40-0 up and the game score as described has 3 match points. A player can theoretically hold up to 6 match points (if they lead 6-0 in a tiebreaker). --Robert Merkel 08:02, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

That makes a lot of sense, Robert. Thanks. Except I don't think that fits what I saw today, or previously. Maybe I should concentrate harder next time and work out what's really going on. That's if I can drag myself away from Wikipedia - easier said than done. JackofOz 08:15, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

I was watching the match, probably with the same commentators, and Robert Merkel has perfectly described the usage of "### match points" that the commentators were using.--Commander Keane 20:48, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Robert is certainly correct. A player at 40 - 0 has three (consecutive) chances to clinch the set. Even if he misses the first chance, and the score moves to 40 - 15, he still has two (consecutive) chances, ie two set points/match points etc. Similarly, a player enjoying a lead of 40 - 0 during his opponent's service game is said to have 3 break points, ie 3 consecutive chances to break service. The phrase has nothing at all to do with how many such points have arisen over the course of the match. Maid Marion 16:25, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks folks. Seems I've had the wrong idea for a long time. Next time I watch a match I'll take particular note of what the commentators say. JackofOz 04:12, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

This is clearly a candidate for "the greatest furphy of all time". JackofOz 01:50, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

War of the Worlds movie questions

I was wondering, in the 2005 movie "War of the Worlds", what was the significance of the red weed? Also, near the end of the movie, Tom Cruise yells to a military officer "LOOK AT THE ***DAMN BIRDS!!" What was the significance of this? I think it was something that the alien/tripods couldn't see the birds, but so what? --172.140.78.82 08:34, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

See red weed. About the "damn birds" part, Ray (Cruise's character) noticed the birds reached the machines, trespassing supposedly-on protective force fields. The fields were off because the machines got infected by Earth's microorganisms. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 09:07, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Now go back to see the film, that was the climax. You sigh, relax, and try and find some pop corn left : none. The birds ? --DLL 20:56, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Optimal kind of paint for epoxy

Anyone knows which is the best type of paint to use over epoxy (cured putty, in particular)? Apparently these accrilic and oil ones I've tried don't stick to it at all. :| ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 10:22, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Not really an answer to your question, but the important thing with things like cured putty is that they need to be well primed. They still have a high oil content, which makes it difficult for paints to stick. It might even be worth going for a plaster-based paint (like artists' gesso), but there are almost certainly proprietary products that will do the job. Grutness...wha? 22:41, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

That was not really the issue, but I just tried accrilic spray paint and it seems to stick ot it very well. I'll give it a few white layers and then paint over this. Seemed to work well. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 08:44, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

What is the name of this "sport"

People dress up like clowns and fall down 10 meters in comical ways ending in a splash of water. Someone might even walk on stilts and act like he falls down accidentally. Usually a group of kids gives ratings for the jumps and the clown with the highest score is declared the winner. Lapinmies 11:57, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Dunno, but it sounds awesome! Almost as good as extreme ironing and urban golf --Noodhoog 21:03, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

I know that Sweden and Finland have national teams in this sport. Lapinmies 21:18, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

A literal translation would be "clown dive" or "clown diving", and it seems to get a few Google hits too. So who's up for starting the article? —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 13:36, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Advice

How can I deal with a hypocritical and immature mother that is determined to make my life a living hell? she is a dramma queen and she doesn't really care about what happens to other people, she just pretends and cryes over the phone when something happens (like when my dog died earlier today) but she never does so alone... and I wanted to burry my dog in our garden but she says that she's been told that burring a dog in a garden brings problems and arguments to the family I can't believe she's this superstitious, but I'm sure she isn't and she says that because she never loved my dog, in fact he was ill and she always said it was pretend so he could get our attention...I'm hating her so much right now. and that's nothing compared to what she does to me,she tricks my dad into hating me I don't know how, by playing the victim... but all she cares about is herself, she's obsessed with how she looks and I just feel she is just full of envy and ressentment towards happy people and even towards her daughters. is there any webpage I can get some advice in?

Every time I say that you won't get good advice on this here, somebody goes ahead and proves me wrong. My advice is to see 'The Perfect Man', and realize there are 2 sides to everything. --Zeizmic 14:59, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Just talk to her (read: at her). Tell her how crazy she sounds, saying a dog was faking illness, and that she's putting a lot of stress on everyone. Ask her to just calm down and suggest psychotherapy (though many people will take this as an insult). You might want to record a conversation you had with her to illustrate how irritating and strange she can seem. Try not to hate her, though: establish motivation. Why is she acting this way? Emotional problems? Is she trying to avoid dealing with her feelings about the death of your dog? (k-Parry)

Judging from your writing I would say you are a kid. Kids are notorious for misinterpretting the actions and feelings of their parents as hostility toward them. You say she never cared about the dog. If this was true, she wouldn't be crying after it died. I suspect she cares about the rest of you, too, and you just can't see it. StuRat 22:00, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

That wouldn't explain her comments about the dog faking illness, or her dumb superstitions that ruin things for others. There really isn't room there for misinterpretation on the asker's part. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 22:52, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

It's a combo of both. She misinterpretted her mother hating the dog but not her mother thinking it was faking or being superstitious. StuRat 00:04, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

You know, if your mother is acting that way then she probably (for some reason) was not ever entirely able to move past herself. It's understandable that you see yourself as a victim, and you're right, but it's quite possible that she's a victim too (of what? that's probably not the most important thing at this point) and is projecting this on others.

I'm not a psychoanalyst, and I don't know all about the situation, but I think it's usually a good policy to try to take a step back from these situations and find some room to have compassion for everyone involved. Good luck. -LambaJan 08:32, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Tupac

TuPac is still alive. I know it. Pacific Coast Highway|^{Leave a message ($.25)} 04:13, 5 June 2025 UTC [refresh]

Sorry. Nope. I know it.

If only we could delete sections. A much better question would be "what the hell makes Tupac so damn popular, and why do people worship him?" He's just another murder-rapper to me. Somehow I have strange feeling that I already had this conversation somewhere else. Captain Jackson 18:52, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

People who list Usher as one of their favorite bands shouldn't throw stones. :) But I agree - I think he had the good sense to die young, which has always done wonders for mediocre careers. --George 00:56, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

He's alive and well and kicking it with Elvis and the real Paul McCartney who actually wasn't killed but faked it as part of an elaborate double hoax to throw the FBI off the scent of what really happened on that grassy knoll when JFK knew too much about the plans to fake the moon landing --the wikipedian on the grassy knoll 20:06 22 January 2006

hey... only one person would know that... Jim Morrison, is that you? 22:31, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

I strongly suspect that J.D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon are involved in this scheme, because they want to keep Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster hidden, and hide from the world the fact that Shakespeare didn't really write his plays, and they're in on it that 9/11 and the Holocaust didn't really happen. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 22:44, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

I talked to Elvis the other day and he told me Tupac is most certainly dead. --Optichan 18:56, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

But I'm guessing it was actually Elvis Costello, who is most certainly alive. Or is he?....Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 16:52, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I saw Tupac at McDonald's.

He got a Big Mac and some fries.

I saw Tupac at McDonald's.

I looked right into his big brown gangster rapper eyes.

I said, "You lied to me and my family and the whole world watching MTV.

I can't believe the things you did."

I looked at him and I think I cried,

He looked at me and then replied.

He said "Wweessttssiiddee is the best side. (Westside is the best side)"

He said "Wweessttssiiddee is the best side. (Westside is the best side)"

I saw Tupac at McDonalds.

He got a Chicken McNugget.

I saw Tupac at Mcdonald's.

That OG first taught me to thug it.

I said "You lied to me and my family and the whole world watching MTV.

I can't believe the things you did."

I looked at him and I took a breath,

"Please tell me why you faked your death."

He said "Wweessttssiiddee is the best side. (Westside is the best side)"

He said "Wweessttssiiddee is the best side. (Westside is the best side)"

In the city, city of Compton.

There ain't no life like a Tupac life

'Cause a Tupac life don't stop.

Zafiroblue05 08:04, 25 January 2006 (UTC) Great song.

I'm still waiting for the question about Tupac. This is a reference desk where questions get answered, not a venue for general chat - well, that's far from true, but it's supposed to start off with a question. No question was ever posed. Why couldn't this just have been deleted in the first place? Life's too short for this. JackofOz 23:31, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Look what I started. Pacific Coast Highway|^{Leave a message ($.25)} 04:13, 5 June 2025 UTC [refresh]

Maryland

Is Maryland in the South or the Mid-Atlantic. Heegoop, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Please read the first sentence of the Maryland article. Dismas|^(talk) 18:23, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

unless of course you mean Maryland in Liberia... Grutness...wha? 22:34, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

It is sometimes said that Baltimore is the southernmost city in the Northeast, and Washington is the northernmost city in the South. Also, some consider Baltimore a Northern city but Maryland a Southern state. For the most part, the climate is more akin to the South, and ditto for the terrain (no glacier-carved features), though a bay such as Chesapeake Bay is probably a more northern feature for the coastline. It is part of the Eastern Seaboard urban belt, which is mostly in the Northeast; it is mostly a politically left-leaning state; and the accent is generally considered Northern (or at least in Baltimore, perhaps the accent in other areas is Southern); however, in addition the climate and terrain already mentioned, it was a slave state before and during the Civil War, which would historically put it more in the South. So, with all of that in mind, you can decide whether you think it's in the North or the South. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 22:37, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

"Washington DC is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm." - Mark Twain

StuRat 23:57, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

PS3

Hello, I have at my house a wi-fi connection, and I was wondering if i would be able to connect my PS3 to that connection and be able to play online. Thank you daniel 19:24, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Bring me a PS3 and I'll tell you. In other words, it's stupid to ask a question about a device that isn't on the market yet, but if I was a bettin' man, I'd say yes.--Ridge Racer 21:30, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

According to the PlayStation 3 article, the PS3 is equipped with IEEE 802.11g Wi-Fi, so you should certainly be able to use it with your existing Wi-Fi network. --Canley 23:14, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, technically yes, but I was refering to the point that Sony may attempt to limit you in other ways, such as requiring you to pay for service like xbox live. Until the system is released, nothing is set in stone.--Ridge Racer 00:01, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

thanks for your contribution guys and gals, i'll just have to hope that technicaly YES I will be able to... daniel 16:14, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

From what I understand, Ridge Racer, they've already announced they'll never have pay services for the PlayStation line, because they're all about worldwide compatability and online gaming community formation; this is the official reason behind why they removed region encodings from PSP games and plan to do so with PS3 games as well. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 05:20, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Kids cartoon shown in the UK in the 70's or 80's

Having hopefully identified a cartoon for someone above, I was talking to my mum about old kids cartoons, and now I've got another to ID, so here's what I know...

It was a foreign cartoon about a bear who might have been an orphan. Apparently the general format was that he'd make friends with other creatures, and have very simple adventures with them. It was shown for a while during the late 70's/early 80's in a lunchtime slot in rotation with other shows like The Clangers, Trumpton, Mr Benn, so it sounds like it was for a very young audience. Also, apparently it had a very nice theme song.

I don't remember it at all, but I've had a look through a bunch of 70's & 80's kids TV sites, and can't find anything fitting that description, so I'm thinking it might be fairly obscure, particularly if it was an imported show. Does this ring any bells with anybody? --Noodhoog 19:52, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Izzy Noho? I remember him being a panda and that's about all. Google doesn't throw up much information beyond that I'm afraid. --GraemeL ^(talk) 20:04, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Found it! it was "Colargol", shown in the UK as "Barnaby the Bear". Turns out it's a puppet type animation rather than a cartoon, which is why I hadn't previously found it, but thanks for your help GraemeL :)

Arrrgghh! Now I have the Barnaby the Bear theme tune going round and round in my head. --GraemeL ^(talk) 20:42, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

How tall is the L-Train track in Chicago?

Our article on the Chicago L doesn't say. I am curious too. Rmhermen 00:13, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

If you read through the external link at the fan site it would seem to indicate that the track is not always at the same height, which I assume is what the question means. However, it does not give a peak or average height, which I believe you can find in terms of depth for underground systems. Perhaps someone could email the the site and ask. I'd do it but I'm at work and don't want the email coming back here. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 06:06, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

If you can find a photo showing the stairs leading up to a particular station, you should be able to estimate the height at that station within 10% or so by simply counting the steps and figuring a height of 7 inches (18 cm) for each one. --Anonymous, 10:46 UTC, January 23.

According to this article on Accessible Transit Station Design at least one station (characterized as one of the lower stations in the system) is 22'11". Crypticfirefly 06:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Three Gorges Damm

What is the current status of Three Gorges Damm? Is it under construction?

Try Three Gorges Dam. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 23:00, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Cardiff Devon

I've done a bit of fruitless Yahoo!ing (not Googling) on the subject. Is there any kind of sea travel between Cardiff and Devon or Cardiff and Cornwall? Or maybe between Wales and the South West of England in general? Thanks --Dangherous 22:39, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

How much did you want to spend? You might try looking through here or here for cheaper stuff. On the other hand if expense is not a problem the this or something like it might be what you want. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 23:12, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

According to our Ilfracombe (in Devon) article, there is an "occasional ferry service" to Swansea and to Penarth, which is near Cardiff. -- AJR | Talk 02:28, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Certainly nothing regular. The Ilfracombe things are probably just occasional day-trips in the summer. I dont know if you can fly from Newquay to Cardiff. If so, it would be better than the long road-trip. Jameswilson 05:12, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Animal gender nouns

I am trying to find a list of terms for male and female animals, eg dog and vixen (fox), buck and doe (deer), bull and cow (cattle)etc. Does such a site exist and if so under what heading? Help much appreciated, M.Walmsley.

Try List of animal names. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 00:16, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

January 23

Bachelor's Degrees

Why are Bachelor's degrees called Bachelor's degrees? Is it to imply that people who have them still aren't married? Captain Jackson 00:36, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

The article Bachelor explains this. The "degree" meaning is not derived from the "unmarried" meaning, but both terms have the same Latin root: baccalarius, meaning a vassal farmer.. --Canley 00:48, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

It only gets worse. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 04:19, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Pictures of the Mujahedin

I am looking for any pictures of the Mujahedin because I am learning how to make die cast miniature figures and I would like to get some photos so I have something to work off of. I would like to add them to my collection. Thank you for any information you might be able to give me. sliddude

• Try Yahoo! Image Search and Google Images. Both have a good handful of photos. Deltabeignet 05:54, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Wicca

Hey there On the covers of the series 'Wicca' who plays Morgan Rowlands and the other people like Cal? Thanks Seeing as there are diff versions, here is an example of one:

http://www.girl.com.au/img/wicca_eclipse12.jpg

thanks!

Toy packaging

I've noticed that it's getting harder and harder to remove toys from their packaging-- often there's multiple twist-ties through part of the toy that then go through cardboard, through some sort of brace and is then taped in the twisted position. Some have thought this was to protect from theft, but it seems to me like it would cost more money to install all this protection, then would actually be lost to theft. Also, what's with screwing all the battery compartments shut? Thanks, Melanie 141.152.250.37 01:01, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I too find the twist-ties annoying, but I think you're overestimating the cost of adding them. As for screwing all the battery compartments shut, I'm happy for it. It stops the compartment opening on its own and the batteries falling out. - Nunh-huh 04:07, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I suspect the reason for the battery screws is to stop the batteries from being put in the mouth of a small child. The twist-ties are also to help stop children from playing with the toys in the store. On the other hand the screws on the battery compatments are there to provide entertainment for my 2 year old grandson. First you have grandpa remove all the batteries and then try and fit them in different toys. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 05:49, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

"I see that toy dog is a girl."

"No dad, that's just where the batteries go." - Frasier

StuRat 15:16, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

How do you power wash CREOSOTE from wood furnace--

What can you use in a power washer to clean creosote from a woodstove, that can run off on ground with no clean-up required, and will neutralize any corrosive actions to metals of stove which are 409 stainless and mild steels..I thank you in advance for your time on this matter..dco

Do you plan to remove the furnace and power wash it outside ? If so, that seems like a lot of work. I would find a way to clean it inside. If it's already outside, why not sandblast it instead ? StuRat 20:47, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Pewter trademarks

I have an old pewter mug and an even older pewter plate. Trademarks are visible on both. I am looking for reference material that will help me identify the manufacturer and approximate age of thes items. Can anyone tell me where I might find this information?

Thank you, Dick

This site may be helpful. --Uthbrian (talk) 03:30, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I doubt you'll find a full list of hallmarks on-line. There are excellent references in book form though, check your local library or bookshop (or an online one). It'd be helpful if you knew the country of manufacture though, since there are literally thousands of hallmarks from each country, and most books of hallmarks concentrate on a single one. --BluePlatypus 14:41, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Sexual Question

Why does my wife have to urinate after have sex?

---Tom Brinhower

Lots of people do. Lots of tubes are connected up down there, and the bladder takes quite a pounding too.

I've always been told that if women urinate after having sex their chances of getting a urinary tract infection (UTI) drop dramatically. So it is actually more healthy for her to urinate after sex than not to. Dismas|^(talk) 04:48, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

After having read the UTI page, I see that it confirms what I said: "For sexually active women, and to a lesser extent men, urinating within 15 minutes of sexual intercourse to allow the flow of urine to expel the bacteria before specialized extensions anchor the bacteria to the walls of the urethra." Dismas|^(talk) 04:52, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Oooh, I just asked this question yesterday at the Science desk, only it had to do with me and not my wife as I am not married. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 05:17, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Serena and Venus Williams played which male tennis player?

I'm recalling Venus and Serena were at the pinnacle of women's tennis (about five or so years ago), they were so dominant in fact they were claiming their right to play on the mens' ATP tour.

Some ex-professional challenged the sisters and promptly whipped them 6-1 and 6-0 in an exhibition match (there would be no BJ King/Riggs revisit here). He was a German, ranked below 300, a chain-smoker and with the name 'Carsten Branch', or something like that.

WHO was that player? It's been driving me insane and all web searches have been rendered fruitless so far. Anybody remember?

The guy was named Karsten Braasch, then ranked 203rd. He beat Serena 6-1 and Venus 6-2, and it was in 1998 at the Australian Open. BBC The Observer CBS Player profile DTB player profile Braasch retired end of 2005. No mention of chain smoking anywhere. Lupo 09:39, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

What is the measurement of the neck and opening of a Wine Bottle

I need to find out if the neck of the wine bottle and the opening has a standard size..I don't think so..but what does it range from for most bottles..from the thinnest neck and opening to the widest..I appreciate any knowledge you may have..

A standard wine bottle has a neck opening 18.5 mm in diameter. To give a good seal, standard cork size for wine bottles is 24 mm, with the exception of champagne bottles, which use 32 mm corks. There are bottles with different neck sizes on the market, and you may encounter some as used bottles. In particular, the flagon shaped bottles from Portugal have a much smaller neck opening, and screw-top bottles have a very large neck opening. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 08:47, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Jill Murphy: The Worst Witch

When I read the end of the 4th book I figured that was the end but then I looked at the list of the books and they have very seperated years of publication, and I just realised that the 5th one came out, do you know if she'll be writing more?

I would create a fan club and ask her first place. Since I ain't got time, would you ? Hint : If the hero(in) is not married with plenty of children to come, there should be more books instead. --DLL 20:40, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I must sound so dumb but sorry I don't understand your answer :(

Well, try my answer, with extra simplicity for young readers :)

I did a search at amazon.com for "The Worst Witch", and found that her books are published by "Candlewick". I then did a google search for "candlewick publishers", and found their website. If you click the link marked "FAQ" on their site it explains how you can send Jill Murphy a letter; that way you can ask her personally whether there will be any more books in the series. --Robert Merkel 02:31, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Where is this place

I am searching my family history and have come up against a block. One of my Ancestors was born in Remmen in Berkole in 1781, I have found a Remmen in Sweden and Cpoenhagen but can find no Berkole. Is this a town or county that no longer eists, please can you help?

Many Thanks

Could it be a farm name? Rmhermen 13:58, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

In the old Scandinavian form, a farm name would come first though, then the name of the "sogn" (Denmark) or "socken" (Sweden) and then the "Herred"/"Härad". The name "Remmen" is fairly generic though (it means "belt", "the belt" or "belts" in Dutch/German/Swedish/Danish/Norwegian), so there may be places by that name in all five countries. Certainly there are multiple in Scandinavia, so you won't get anywhere with that alone. I can see why you're having problems with "Berkole". That does not sound like a Scandinavian or Dutch/German name at all to me. (Nor can I quite place it anywhere else) If you take some liberties with the spelling there's a Berkel river in Germany/Holland though which flows past a place named Rekken. --BluePlatypus 14:36, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Apparently nl:Rekken is in the Berkelland municipality, too. So that'd be my best guess. --BluePlatypus 19:04, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Family Reasearch

I really want to know more about my family, so far I can only get up to three greats and it's not distant at all, I want to see everything, where they were from and all that and see how far I am related to a celeb lol, how can I do this?

Start with the article genealogy. In particular, try taking a look at the "External links" section to find a good link, so you can start an online search. --Uthbrian (talk) 12:30, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

One of the best resources is your own family. Start with the oldest members and go from there. It can be very surprising what they will tell you. The best way is to talk to them when there is no one else from your family around as they will tend to open up and give you information that they might have not told anyone else. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 13:25, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

chemical compound

DMSO 2 AND DMSO 4

could someone please advise what dmso is?

there are two variations dmso2 and dmso4. for what use would they be applied.

thanking you in advance,

jaclyn m.

See DMSO. Rmhermen 13:58, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

i appreciate this info: but, what is that???rmhermen????

Their name. It links to their userpage.

Swiss Bank Account

How would I go about opening a Swiss or Cayman bank account. (If I had the cash i wouldn't be asking but it would be quite fun saying i had a swiss bank account).

Americans can apply at their nearest IRS office. --Zeizmic 15:38, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

LOL. StuRat 17:35, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Try this: go to a bank, online or otherwise, and tell them that you want to open an account, and be prepared to pay quite hefty fees for an account which is less convenient than a domestic one. (UBS charges $150 a year for a general savings account). --BluePlatypus 17:57, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

As I mentioned earlier to someone, it's really not worth it unless you have a lot of money; typically, Swiss banks require an opening balance of $50,000 or more. That's why they're referred to more often as "wealth management firms." Cernen Xanthine Katrena 03:15, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

"The theory that you can avoid paying taxes on a Swiss bank account has several large holes in it." StuRat 01:49, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Waste

What do u mean by waste? Info About dry waste & Wet Waste. How they pollute the atmosphere

me? I don't mean anything. But you might want to try the pages on waste, pollution, air pollution and the Earth's atmosphere. Good luck with your homework ;) --Noodhoog 17:11, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

MVP College Baseball!

Why is Texas ranked 1? always? no offense Texans! --MaoJin 15:34, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Because we are the best? :) Keepitrude 03:23, 24 January 2006 (UTC) (I'm from Texas)

Ranked 1 where and for what? DirkvdM 20:25, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I'd assume MVP College Basketball, like the title says. No idea where.

MVP college ncaa baseball

PS3

Hello, I am writing again about the PS3 and I don't understand what it means when people say that it is X many times more powerful than a computer. Does it mean that it is faster? or that it's graphics are better? daniel 16:25, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Generally people who make statements like that are fanboys, either claiming "The PS3 is gonna be the BEST THING EVER!" or "The PS3 is gonna SUCK". While comparisons can be made between certain aspects of it's architecture and components as compared to other games consoles, computers, etc, for the most part it's all meaningless speculation. What actually matters is how it performs when it's released. Until then, it's all just "My dad could beat up your dad" posturing. --Noodhoog 17:03, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

thanks....daniel 18:05, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

For further information, you might want to have a look at Cell (microprocessor), though much of it probably won't make sense unless you're a computer programmer. Basically, the PS3's processor has many parallel "work units" to which you can assign different tasks to run in parallel. If all of them are used to their maximum efficiency, the total amount of work that can get done far exceeds that on a standard PC. The type of tasks required to support a computer game are well-suited to this kind of parallel processing. In practice, much of the grunt work that the Cell is optimized for is performed by the graphics card on a gaming PC anyway, and so the supposed speed advantage of the PS3 will not result in nearly as dramatic improvement in graphics as you might think. Additionally, PC's are a moving target. --Robert Merkel 02:21, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Food

What dose it mean when I no longer crave food? I get hungry but I know that if I just wait for a little while the hunger will go away? Is this a normal feeling?

Sounds to me like you're lucky. I think it's normal for hunger to come in waves. StuRat 17:32, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

That's how it goes with me. In effect, I'm underweighted and everyone pisses me off to eat more. ¬¬ ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 04:07, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

By any chance are you a smoker ? Smoking is notorious for ruining the appetite. StuRat 11:28, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

As long as you can still eat when not hungry, you should do fine. You just need to be sure to eat the proper amount instead of relying on your appetite to tell you what the proper amount is. This is the same thing millions of people must do, only you need to force yourself to eat more, not less. StuRat 11:26, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Smoking is notorious for ruining the appetite. You're probably not a smoker. When I smoke a cigarette that actually wets my appetite. Of course I could be the odd one out, but I've heard so much utter crap about smoking that I'll assume this is also complete nonsense. It's sort of like when someone lies too often, after a while you will start to assume that anything else that person says will also be a lie. DirkvdM 20:32, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I think the truth for most people is somewhere in between being "notorious for ruining the appetite' and "actually wets [sic] my appetite". See this article about nicotine being an appetite suppressant for most people. JackofOz 23:25, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

That link doesnt work on my browser (FireFox). It looks like you may have to register to see the subpages. StuRat 01:45, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Oops, no I have made a spelling error. After my comment below this was your chance at getting back at me. Missed it! And the link doesn't work with Konqueror or Mozilla either. DirkvdM 09:30, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I've fixed the link. It should work fine now. Cheers JackofOz 11:23, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

CHEMICAL COMPOUND DMSO 2 AND DMSO 4

Could someone pls advise what application these chemicals would be used for? what exactly are these chemicals? my original message seems to have disappeared.

thanking you in advance

jaclyn m.

See Dimethyl sulfoxide Rmhermen 17:23, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

It's a solvent. See the article under "Uses". --BluePlatypus 18:16, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

many thanks for the response. jackie

They are used as by veterinarians to treat horses. They are also a carrier to transport whatever they are mixed with through the skin (eg to expose a medicine directly to where it is needed). AllanHainey 08:44, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS INFORMATION-JACLYN

assasination

The current Wikipedia entry on "assassination" refers to the following --

"One remarkable recent example involved a political figure who made the mistake of keeping to a regular route and schedule. Assassins were able to plan for his travel, and detonated an explosive charge beside the roadway, which propelled a metal plate through the target's vehicle at lethal speed, killing him."

All I want to know is the name of this victim.

Could be Giovanni Falcone, although they blew up the entire highway for several hundred meters in that case. --BluePlatypus 20:26, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Sounds very much like a Mossad assination I saw on a TV documentary. Maybe there's a list of these assinations somewhere... I might look for it later.--Commander Keane 08:20, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

There's probably multiple victims. Many assassination attempts are based on the assassin going to where the victim is expected to travel. Also there's games that simulate this. User:AlMac|^(talk) 13:13, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Building a post-and-rail fence

I'm looking for information on how to construct a traditional British three rail post-and-rail fence. If anyone can help, I'd greatly appreciate it. --88.109.224.92 20:51, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried a www.google.com search ? StuRat 21:06, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Help in identifiying a plant.

Took this picture a while ago, and I've always wondered what kind of plant this is since I took it. Could anybody tell me what kind of plant this is, or if this is in the wrong place, tell me where I could get this question answered?

Thanks in advance for any help offered. --P. B. Mann 22:06, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm really, really bad at this stuff, but I think it's some kind of Hibiscus. --BluePlatypus 22:39, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

IANAB, so i can't help, but it would probably be useful to know where this plant was - both what part of the world (southern US? Scandinavia?) and what type of land (marsh? mountain?). Grutness...wha? 22:50, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

This flower was in one of the gardens at Disneyland, if that's any help. --P. B. Mann 23:12, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Definitely a hibiscus of some sort.. here's an almost identical picture of a hibiscus. --BluePlatypus 23:24, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! I probably have to find an expert on the subject to find out what species it is, though. --P. B. Mann 23:39, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

• I do believe this is a Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Seminole Pink’. Here's one a little earlier in its lifecycle: [5]. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 02:07, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

January 24

karate- Sen no Sen

I am a karate student of the Seito Matsumura Ryu style. I can not find the meaning of sen. There is also Sen Go Sen and also Sen no Sen. Do you have an answer to its meaning? Thank you. Jan end.

According to this page of karate terminology:

• Sen: Initiative
• Sen no sen: Seizing the initiative earlier; attacking at the same moment your opponent attacks.
• Go no sen: Seizing the initiative later; Allowing your opponent to attack first so as to open up target for counter-attacks.
• Sen sen no sen: Seizing the opponent’s sen no sen; Attacking before your opponent attacks-a preemptive attack.

They seem to be different timings of attacks. AlbinoMonkey ^(Talk) 01:38, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Benji: Off the Leash

I was wondering what kind of dog Benji is. I am looking to get a dog that looks like Benji and the Wikipedia article is not detailed enough. Thanx --Zach 01:36, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

He is a mutt, meaning a mix of different breeds. The first Benji was a poodle x cocker spaniel x schnauzer. I'm not sure what the new one is though, but they look pretty similar. AlbinoMonkey ^(Talk) 01:46, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

That's just a guess about the first one, though -- they're both pound puppies. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 01:47, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

A bit of trivia for you: the dog, Higgins, which played the original Benji, was also the dog on Petticoat Junction. StuRat 11:20, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

What you do when you sleep

Do you swallow, sneeze, or cough while you're asleep? JW RENTASTRAWBERRY ^{FOR LET?} röck 02:27, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Swallow yes, cough yes, sneeze no (or at least not very often without waking up). alteripse 03:58, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

• Did you know that if you dream about food, your stomach thinks that the food is actually real and begins making juices in the stomach? ^KILO-_LIMA 18:19, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

• My dad runs in his sleep. He has a tendancy to kick the covers off of my parent bed. I have a tendency to moan and chew in my sleep; I suspect this may be a leftover adaptation my body made from back when I had my tawnsills and adnoids. I also have a tendency to cacoon my self in the comforter, the blanket, and anything else left on the bed. TomStar81 04:47, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

• Do you mean tonsils and adenoids ? StuRat 15:56, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Dreams

Are dreams like an astral plane? Having a different life somewhere else? Also is true that dreams only happen as your waking up?

From what I understand, dreams are your minds way of dealing with your thoughts and feelings, not to mention all the things you see and hear during the day. And about occuring in the waking state, I also recall that you have several 11(est.) second dreams that occur in the deepest cycle of sleep R.E.M. If I am incorrect about any of this. Please correct me. Keepitrude 03:19, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

See dream. The neurologists reckon it's just the brain trying to interpret random noise from the sensory input parts of the brain. Scientists are a bunch of killjoys, but they have a disconcerting habit of backing up their arguments with actual evidence. --Robert Merkel 03:54, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

"Scientists are a bunch of killjoys, but they have a disconcerting habit of backing up their arguments with actual evidence." this is a great quote, man. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 04:01, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Trailor Song

On the VHS copy of Benny & Joon, there is a trailor for a movie called Untaimed Heart. In the trailor there is a song in the background and it has been driving me crazy, I cannot figure out what it is. I tried the soundtrack but it is not there. So if anyone could help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.:) Keepitrude 03:35, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I watched the trailer here and the song that played was "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega. --jh51681 04:12, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, so much. :) Keepitrude 00:26, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Jurys

Why aren't there more hung Jurys in criminal cases? How can you get 12 people to unanamously to agree to acquit or convict someone consistantly?

Because, much of the time, cases are far less ambiguous than the ones that you hear about in the news and especially in tv shows. In practice, more often than not, cases in the United States are resolved by plea bargain and thus a jury never has to make a decision. Of the cases that actually go to trial, a large majority result in a conviction. Actual jury acquittals are quite rare, as this graph indicates (it's only for San Diego, but it's indicative). Prosecutors don't tend to take a course to trial unless they think they've got very strong evidence. --Robert Merkel 06:21, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

In Canada, trials go to jury (as opposed to just a judge), when the accused is technically guilty (as viewed by a judge), but where they hope to get sympathy from a jury for a special case. This was the case when I was on jury duty once -- the lady got off. --Zeizmic 13:19, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Juries also get to discuss the case after the evidence is presented. That's what they are doing while they are 'out'. So if ten people think the defendant is guilty they get the chance to persuade the other two to agree. Actually they get potentially a long time to do that persuasion. If they really can't agree a jury can also (in most jurisdictions) return a 'majority verdict' in which only most of the twelve have to agree. DJ Clayworth 16:26, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

In the US, a finding of criminal guilt by a jury has to be unanimous.--Pharos 15:36, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Noooo, that varies by state. Some states, yes; others, a simple majority will do it. We're a nation of complex misnomers and strange, twisted philosophies, America is. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 17:51, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Having to go

Is it bad if you don't go to the bathroom right away when you have to go? Sometimes i feel i have a bowel movement, but if i wait, the feeling wouldn't comeback for a couple hours. I am curious.

Mmm, a very interesting query. I don't think so; I've never had a bad experience whilst doing it. In some cases, it's a tad more appropriate to hold back. You don't want to take a BM on company time; if you do, chances are people are going to ask where you went. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 05:13, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Check out what reportedly happened to Tycho Brahe. alteripse 05:27, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Holding back when you have to urinate could possibly lead to kidney stones, but holding back on defacation should be fine as long as it's within reason. Note, however, that many people can hold off for at most a few minutes, then risk soiling themselves. Holding back for days could also lead to constipation, as too much water is removed by the bowels, so should be avoided. StuRat 11:09, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

William H. Macy, Wrecked 1915

A ship named the William H. Macy sunk off of the coast of North Carolina in 1915. This seems too much of a coincidence, not to be related somehow to the eponymous actor. Any insight?

My email is [email protected] (though I know you specifically told me not to bother providing my own contact information.)

Cheers.

Scott Little

Actually, the actor William H Macy is not eponymous - unless there's something been named after him I'm not aware of. The above ship was certainly not named after him. JackofOz 07:29, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Indeed not, as William H. Macy was born in 1950. This raises the question after whom the ship was named. Lupo 07:50, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Lacking a time machine, the ship can't have been named after him, but the possibility remains that he was named after the ship. Since that is his birth name, only his first and middle names would have been chosen, so perhaps his parents named him "William H." in honor of the ship. Then again, "William H." is a fairly common combo. StuRat 11:02, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I did a bit of research, and you're right about the contemporary use of the word "eponymous". Originally, it referred to the person after whom something is named, but not to the thing itself. But now it has become used for both. Webster's 3rd has recognised this usage since 1986. The Oxford Dictionary was still holding out in 1989, but it made it into the 1998 New Oxford. I think it's unlikely that the actor was named after the ship, but if that were to be the case, both he and the ship would be called "eponymous" these days. I learn so much from WP, I often wonder how I got on without it before I discovered it. JackofOz 01:40, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm guessing that before Wikipedia you found other people to molest. :-) StuRat 01:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I have just thanked you, voluntarily, for educating me about a bit of language, and you respond with a disgraceful comment like that?? Really, StuRat!! However I see the smiley at the end so I will take it as a very strange form of humour. Thin ice, mate, very thin ice. Cheers JackofOz 05:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, who was the ship named after? It's just possible it could have been named after his grandfather or something.--Pharos 15:31, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Genesis

(heading added by Akamad 08:34, 24 January 2006 (UTC))

what happened before genesis?

Well, according to the Bible, which is where Genesis is found, nothing happened before Genesis. It starts off "In the beginning, God created ...". JackofOz 09:01, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

How, then, shall I respond to him who asks, "What was God doing before he made heaven and earth?" I do not answer, as a certain one is reported to have done facetiously (shrugging off the force of the question). "He was preparing hell," he said, "for those who pry too deep." It is one thing to see the answer; it is another to laugh at the questioner--and for myself I do not answer these things thus. More willingly would I have answered, "I do not know what I do not know," than cause one who asked a deep question to be ridiculed--and by such tactics gain praise for a worthless answer. —Augustine of Hippo, Confessions book XI ch. 12

—Charles P.  (Mirv) 09:19, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

God thought: "Crap, this place is so BORING". So he created existence and humans, and now acts like a little kid with a magnifying glass torturing little ants. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 09:25, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

To address the question another way, Before Genesis [was written], people believed in other gods and other creation stories --Noodhoog 11:12, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, some may have. I wonder if the belief in gods has risen or declined over time. I mean, in terms of thousands of years. And when was genesis written anyway? I believe that if you add up everything in the bible then creation is supposed to have happened some 7000 years ago. But then again, according to the bible, the early people lived close to 1000 years, so I wonder how that can be then. Then again, there's more nonsense in Genesis, like where did the third generation come from? Incest? No, it turns out that Kain left and met another people. Another people? By a different god or something? I suppose the old testament is really a story about the origin of the Jews, not mankind as a whole. DirkvdM 20:50, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I believe only one group of people was said to have lived to those lengths of time. One explanation is that they measured age in months instead of years, as hunter-gatherers in general and Native Americans, in particular, tended to do. For such people the cycle of the moon is most important, since it dictates when the full moon will make night hunting possible. It also corresponds roughly with a woman's period, which brings up the idea that women may have originally had their periods on the full moon, when the men were away hunting, to avoid them killing each other.

Farmers and herders, on the other hand, care more about years since that dictates when to plant, harvest, move their animals to new ground, etc. A hunter-gatherer who is asked their age might very well say 390, meaning 30 years, figuring about 13 moon cycles per year. StuRat 15:47, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

It's pretty much the whole of Genesis where people live that long, most notably Methusalem (I once read that while waiting for someone in a hut in New Zealand that had a Gideon's bible in it). A little theory of mine is that since 666 is the number of the beast and the Devil is often portrayed as God upside-down, God may very well be 999. So reaching an age close to that means being close to God. Ok, that's a bit far-fetched. DirkvdM 09:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I'll say. I believe some lived past that age, so would have surpassed even God, under your theory. StuRat 11:26, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Ms-word

Is Ms-word a word processing package? If yes suitly emphazi

Yes, Microsoft Word. 62.119.184.141 12:27, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Now suitly emphazi it. --Optichan 16:52, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Uhm, I did suitably emphasize it. I made it a link. Click it. Is that not easy enough? TERdON 23:05, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

May I humbly request that "Now suitly emphazi it!" become a WP:RD running joke? --Sum0 23:15, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it can be used to "suitly emphazi" the importance of checking your own typing, LOL. StuRat 15:36, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Excellent, it's catching on! --Sum0 15:55, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Mmm. Wikipedia:Civility: "Petty examples that contribute to an uncivil environment... belittling contributors because of their language skills or word choice". We should be using clear English here anyway, there's no need complicate answers.--Commander Keane 19:46, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree that sometimes the RD can be a little unkind to honest contributors, and I don't like it when it's like that, but when it's just between us editors, ya know... Anyway, I digress. --Sum0 20:05, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

What is all of this about, "suitly emphazi"? I keep seeing it all over the reference desk, what does it mean? Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 01:23, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

If you look at the top of this item, you will see that the author misspelled "suitably emphasize" as "suitly emphazi". Some of us found such poor spelling and lack of checking one's own typing to be quite entertaining. StuRat 01:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Oh, okay, so this is where it all started? I'd seen it other places first, didn't realize this item was its birthplace. Thanks. I wonder how far it's spread? Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 07:05, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes this is the birthpalce. You have just outlined the problem with this runnnig joke - it's confusing. Even to regulars like Yeltensic42.618. I'm sure an Edit > Find search in your browser will outline the spread.--Commander Keane 09:22, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Oh, this discussion is way too good not to go into BJAODN. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 17:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I wonder if the poster meant "subtly emphasize," not suitably... Zafiroblue05 20:32, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Computer animation job questions

What is so interesting about being a computer animator?

Why are people so interested in computer animation?

How much do computer animators get paid?

how many years of college do you have to attend in order to get a computer animation job?

Where can I find more information on computer animation?

See Computer-generated imagery and Computer Animation --Noodhoog 13:53, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

elven history

i would like to know if there is any information that may prove that elves once existed or any writings that may have actual proof

If you can become one of the very few people in the world that could live through Tolkien's Silmarillon, then you will have your answer ... or you'll be dead. --Zeizmic 15:04, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Aside from a form of upper atmospheric lightning phenomena, the only evidence for elves is found in fiction. — Lomn Talk 15:36, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, there was a race of tiny people, Homo floresienses, but calling them elves might be a stretch. We apparently need an article on them. See this page for info:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1027_041027_homo_floresiensis.html

StuRat

• That's Homo floresiensis.--Pharos 15:21, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

• Thanks. StuRat 15:31, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I think the proof is that we're not the race selected by the Valar. If there were no elves, then Valinor wouldn't be closed from us. – b_jonas 14:01, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Booker T. Washington

in my english class we are writing a research paper on specific authors and i have choosen Booker t. washington. In your opinon why is he a great american, what did he do to influence the thoughts of others?

Your homework assignment asks for your opinion of Booker T. Washington, not ours. — Lomn Talk 16:33, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

If you don't have an opinion on the guy, try to think of an opinion someone else may have on him. --Optichan 16:54, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

He's a 'great American' because people who do their own homework say he is. He influenced outhers by writing things, which you may or may not care to read. AllanHainey 08:50, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Organized religion

I was emailing with a friend last nite, and we were talking about organized religion (specifically the Catholic church). It seems to me that I remember seeing something in the book of revelations about organized religion leading people down the wrong path in the final days. Is there such a statement in the bible..........or did I read this somewhere else?

I don't know of anything in the Book of Revelation; it's never so straightforward as all that. See that article for info.

There are, however, some passages elsewhere that you could spin that way. I'd suggest using one of the many online "search the Bible" tools or, perhaps better, online concordances. Try this site. --George 17:17, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Isn't all religion organised? I mean, religion is when people decide to have the same belief, and that is a form of organisation, right? DirkvdM 20:54, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Some religions and sects are more hierarchical, with the Catholic Church being perhaps the most so. Others, like the Quakers, leave much of the interpretation of the Bible to the members, rather than having somebody up high decide what it means and tell you what to believe. StuRat 21:36, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

So its a gradual thing, so the term makes no sense because there is always some level of organisation. One can only speak of 'more organised' religion. DirkvdM 12:36, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

There are also people who have their own unique religous beliefs, and aren't organized with others in any way. Perhaps this is what Revelations had in mind as the ideal. StuRat 14:55, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, but my point was that that is a belief, not a religion. At least, that is how I sort of define the terms. Then again, it makes littel sense to argue about the meaning of English terms when the question is about a book that is originally written in, ehm, what? Well, something that will be hard to discuss in English. Or even impossible. Which would make all discussions about Christianity and Judaism invalid because they're based on texts in dead languages. Or am I exaggerating now? (Not that I think any religious discussion makes any sense, but that's a differnt matter). DirkvdM 20:45, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Not a different matter at all, Dirk. It's very germane indeed. You've just acknowledged that you have a bias about this subject and thus your entire contribution to this debate is POV-tainted and should be taken with a grain of salt. (I've got to find ways of reducing my sodium intake. WP ref desk is a health hazard.) Cheers. JackofOz 23:13, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

If only people who lack any opinion on a subject may comment on it, then we will have many unanswerered questions here. StuRat 01:26, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

People who lack opinions would have nothing to contribute at all. Everyone has an opinion on certain things; sometimes those opinions are educated, sometimes they're baseless, sometimes they're in-between. Dirk says that he doesn't think any religious discussion makes sense, which is quite a sweeping statement. I don't quibble with his right to have that point of view, but equally nobody should quibble with my right not to give much credence to anything he said on the subject of religion, because it would be, by his own admission, inherently biased. JackofOz 04:00, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

And of course I reserve the same right to ignore you. :) What I meant to say is that religious discussions usually end the way they start, with people having different opinions. They may use all manner of argument but will only listen to themselves and stick to whichever preconception they started of with. I've seen this happen many times and decided I would never enter another religious discussion. Not very successfully, as you may have noticed. But the issue I raised is of a rather different nature. Can one discuss a book written in a language one doesn't quite understand? Especially one that is said to have indisputable truths that may not be altered! DirkvdM 09:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

And as Dirk's opinion is quite an educated opinion indeed, there should be no problem here. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 16:10, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, translation from one language to another is an obvious conduit for the introduction of error. For example, the Biblical commandment "Thou shalt not kill" must be a misinterpretation, as the word "kill" in English means to intentionally end the life of any person, animal, plant, or even bacteria. Surely they didn't mean that. Either it means "Thou shalt not kill people" or perhaps "Thous shalt not commit murder" if some forms of killing people, such as during war, self defence, or capital punishment for crimes, are to be allowed. With the poor translation available to us, we don't really know the intent of the commandment. StuRat 11:13, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Knowing the mind of God has always been a toughie. The story is that Moses received the commandments on Mt Sinai from God Himself, who inscribed them with His finger on tablets of stone. I think most languages have a generic word equivalent to "kill", and that's the word God is supposed to have used, no more and no less. It would be wrong to translate this in any way other than the generic English word "kill". But interpreting what this means in practice is where the debate starts, eg. whether it's OK to kill flies but not humans, or whether it's OK to kill in self-defence but not out of anger, etc. JackofOz 23:08, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I've never read the book of revelation, but I'll just pass on what little I know. I guess you're thinking of the antichrist. As that article states, he's not mentioned much in the bible, so it's open to interpretation, but some interpretations are that the antichrist will be a false teacher pretending to follow the teachings of Christ. Some believe he will be a religious or world leader. Anti-Catholics think he'll be (or even is now) the Pope. So there are interpretations where it's organized religion leading people astray. Probably the bible doesn't mention organized religion itself, that's only modern interpretation. -lethe ^talk 21:20, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I do not remember the name for it. There is probably a Wiki article on the subject. But there are people who read holy books like The Bible and are devout believers in what they get out of it, but they do not attend any church or congregation. User:AlMac|^(talk) 04:12, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps you're thinking of Christian anarchism, or even nonconformism? Grutness...wha? 07:32, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Sports

I'd like to know Franco Harris's jersey number while he played with the Seahawks.

Glenn --64.12.116.199 18:04, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

At some point his jersey number was 32, but I'm not sure if that was when he was playing for the Steelers or the Seahawks. [6] --Optichan 18:46, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I haven't found a picture, but I've found a couple things that suggest it was 34. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 06:08, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

According to the picture here, the answer is indeed 34. (ESkog)^(Talk) 06:12, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Crops

What is Britains largest cereal crop? --195.92.67.75 20:14, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)[7], the United Kingdom produced 15 million tons of wheat last year compared to 5.5 million tons of barley and 0.5 million tons of oats. Triticale, mixed grain and rye were in much lower amounts (and zero maize, sorghum or soybeans) Rmhermen 22:46, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Also try Economy of the United Kingdom and look at the section on agriculture. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 22:50, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Wheat is Britains largest cereal crop? Sorry, couldnt resist it! Jameswilson 00:56, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

A serial cereal question! Grutness...wha? 07:43, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

LaTeX

Your page discusses LaTeX. Can this editor (software) properly read a Word Documend such as a book and prepare if for ofset printing; or must the book or document be prepared originally in LaTeX?

As far as I know there is no way to convert a Microsoft Word document into LaTeX (or TeX), and in any case such would certainly run counter to the fundamental design principles of LaTeX. As for preparing a Word document for printing, commercial desktop publishing programs like Adobe PageMaker can import Word documents, but the quality of the results may vary a lot. In my experience, as often as not it can be easier to just export the document as plain text and recreate the formatting from scratch in the DTP program. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 20:38, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

If you want to offset print a LaTeXdocument (or for that matter a Word document), I would recommend first converting it to the PDF format using Adobe Acrobat or other such software. LaTeX can also output directly to PostScript which can also be handled by most commercial printers. If your document is in Word and you are happy with the way it looks, there is no need for it to be converted to LaTeX. --Canley 23:13, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

There are ways. How well they work is an open question... [8] --Fangz 03:32, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Odd Light

Yesterday I was on my computer and a light went on and off, naturally I assumed it was my light which flickered, but it never flickers unless I switch it on and then it'll flickier if the light bulb is out. But then a few minutues later I switched on the light and as usual it bathed the room in light, but the light that flickered was a much deeper yellow and it didn't bathe the room, and it was above my head, diagonally which isn't where my lamp is. What could it have been? I just tried flickering my light and that was definitley not how it happened! I am now thinking it could have been a faery?

I would work through the more mundane explanations first. Perhaps there was a "power bump" or minor brown-out. This will cause your lights to flicker/go on and off. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 22:53, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

A common source of odd lights is reflected sunlight off objects outside the window, including the possibility of a double reflection. --Anonymous, 11:00 UTC, January 25.

Tower of Bable

How tall was the tower of Bable mentioned in the Bible?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.227.239.174 (talk)

According to our Tower of Babel article, the Book of Jubilees states that its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms. Those units of measure are not precise, please see our articles Cubit and Palm (unit). hydnjo talk 00:16, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

That is only according to the Book of Jubilees. The Bible contains no mention of the tower's height, and the Apocalypse of Baruch describes it as 463 cubits. See Tower of Babel for more information. СПУТНИК^{ССС Р} 00:27, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

At 1.5 feet per cubit, 5433 cubits would be 8150 ft or over a mile and half high, which is about 4 times beyond even current capabilities, much less ancient technology. Even 463 cubits would be 695 feet tall, or about 50% taller than the tallest Egyptian pyramid, which would seem like a stretch, but perhaps at least in the range of possibilities. StuRat 14:38, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Which just shows that the following counteraction was effective. – b_jonas 13:50, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

What "following counteraction" ? StuRat 14:08, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Giving everyone different languages so they couldn't communicate with each other anymore. --Angr 14:23, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

So having a very tall building "Shows why giving everyone different languages so they couldn't communicate with each other anymore was effective" ? StuRat 14:31, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

January 25

U.S. President - total compensation

The President of the United States has an annual base salary of $400,000. What would be the value of all the perks? I can think of:

• Free housing for him and his family
• Free medical care
• Free meals, complete with a master chef
• Free transportation
• Secret Service protection

Basically, everything he needs is paid for. I'm thinking the total compensation must run tens of millions of dollars.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.164.146.127 (talk)

• Have you tried looking at the budget for the office of the president? You'll need to look in several places, though. Things like Air Force One and Marine One alone run to tens of millions of dollars a year. That and his use of the white house/executive branch staff are probably the two largest benefits, if you consider all the salaries added together. Night Gyr 00:55, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

• Consider this, HMX-1, the squadron that operates Marine One, is about to spend six billion dollars to buy new helicopters. Their old helicopters lasted over 40 years, but that's still an average of almost 150 million per year. Night Gyr 00:59, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

• Check out President_of_the_United_States#Salary_and_benefits. hydnjo talk 01:29, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Work-related travel and security expenses don't really count as "benefits". I don't consider my work-related travel part of my benefits, why should the President of the United States, who probably gets a lot less time off to sightsee on his travels than I do? --Robert Merkel 07:02, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. He can't just rent out Air Force One and Marine One if he wants to, so they aren't really his. The Secret Service isn't just for their personal benefit, but also to protect the nation from the problems caused by assassinations, such as the need to declare war on whichever country or organization is thought to be responsible. Presidents have, however, basically rented out rooms of the White House, allowing contributors to their party or campaign to stay overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom, for example. Many in the US find this practice repulsive. So, distinguishing which perks are a form of compensation for the job and which are merely provided to aid in the performance of the job is a bit tricky. Perhaps the biggest perk is the resulting fame which can be turned into money by writing books, giving paid lectures, becoming a lobbyist, endorsing a product, etc. Fortunately no taxpayer dollars go into this. StuRat 14:03, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Precisely. Hillary Clinton has to file income statements, including both her and Bill's earnings, as a Senator. Therefore, it's not hard to find out just how much Bill can earn. this article suggests he earned about 20 million dollars from his autobiography and his speaking engagements in 2004. A fit, healthy ex-President is unlikely to want for money. --Robert Merkel 05:13, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Much more than he's worth, if you're referring to the current one. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 00:47, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Hardly a neutral POV, person with three weird names... --66.82.9.42 22:18, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

the wild parrots of telegraph hill

I saw this movie and I loved it but I was so sad how he had to leave, where did he leave to because I've been on his site and he writes about seeing the old flock he was with? Just what happened after he left?

He was on a BBC radio programme some time back & I think he just got a house somewhere else in San Francisco (I think it was S F, I haven't seen the film). AllanHainey 08:53, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it was San Francisco. There are other populations of wild parrots in the US, though, such as in New York City. It's amazing a tropical bird can survive there. StuRat 13:48, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I have seen at least 5 other sites in San Francisco with Wild Parrots. Delores has at least 3 seperate sites south of Market Street. The guy was pictured recently at 24th and Delores streets, so my guess is he lives down 24th street in the Mission. The birds continue to parrot on telegraph hill.

Parrots

Where are red masked conures found? Is there a site which can tell me where all birds are found?

They seem to come from Ecuador, see Red-masked Parakeet. As for a site that might be able to tell you where all birds are found, there are a LOT of birds. This site is pretty extensive, but probably nowhere near complete. I'd venture a guess that you won't find such a site. -- Rick Block (talk) 04:38, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Anastasia

Why was the royal family murdered? And also why is it that Anastasia or her sister could have survived?

See Nicholas II of Russia and Russian Revolution of 1917, and Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. You probably would have found these quicker if you had used the search box on your left--Robert Merkel 06:58, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

• I saw an episode of Mystery Hunters last weekend in which they investigated the possibility of Anastasia surviving. Basically, the woman who said she was Anastasia was a Polish factory worker (based on DNA evidence) which means the body of the Anastasia is still unaccounted for. Without a body, we can never be sure she actually died in the attack. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:37, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Those articles don't seem to answer the first question. The most logical answer, I'd say, is that after the feb revolution they were kept alive and thus a threat to the revolution. Any monarchist counterrevolutions would have litte point if there is no monarch to put on the throne. Since any relative could be used for that, the whole family had to be killed. Being born into nobility usually has some serious perks, more so in Tsarist Russia, where the alternatives were pretty lousy to put it mildly, but in this case it was rather tough luck. You may be innocent, but you can be used as an excuse for less innocent people, so you have to die. DirkvdM 13:03, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. StuRat 13:50, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Convert SVGs into GIF animation

Hi all, I'm planning to make a GIF animation from some SVGs, I am using ImageReady, but which does not recognize SVG format, Illustrator recognizes SVG format, but I do not know how to batch convert SVGs to file format ImageReady recognizes. I also tried convert tool comes with ImageMagick, but its SVG render engine seems buggy, and produced a corrupted rendering, so how can I do this job? — Yaohua2000 05:37, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

british royal family

May i get the link for history of british family and also the relationship between russian and british family?How the disease in which blood production stop is called royal family disease?

See British Royal Family. There is a search box on the left hand side of every page that can help you find many more articles that may be of interest as well. Dismas|^(talk) 10:13, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

See Hemophilia for reasons as to why it's called "The Royal disease". GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 10:59, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

And of course they will all have to die too (see Anastasia above). And them being inbred haemophiliacs, that shouldn't be too hard to acomplish. :) DirkvdM 20:48, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Hemophilia has nothing to do with inbreeding. - Nunh-huh 22:13, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Dirk, if that was Dutch humour, I don't much care for it. Sounds pretty insensitive to be appearing to advocate the killing, or the early death by disease, of a person just because they happen to be born into a royal family. Or maybe your English skills failed you this time. JackofOz 23:07, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm, my humour is rather sharp at times, so maybe I should tone that down a bit (it has occasionally gotten a bit out of hand lately). But I thought that haemophilia (which is recessive and should therefore largely 'peter out') perpetuated in European royal families because they don't breed outside their own little circle. I don't know how this works, just something I picked up once (or twice). Is this some 'urban myth' then? DirkvdM 10:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

No, that's quite correct. It's a recessive disease, meaning you need two such chromosomes to exhibit symptoms. The bad chromosome is fairly uncommon in the general population, so having two is quite rare. However, it was carried by the European royal families, which are inbred with one another, thus greatly increasing the chances a person will be born with two such chromosomes and exhibit syptoms. It was just bad luck that the royal families had this particular bad gene to begin with. On the other hand, the chances that any one individual will have at least one chromosome for some recessive disease is fairly good. If their descendents all interbreed, that makes the chances their offspring will exhibit some recessive disorder much greater. On the other hand, if those which exhibit the disease either die or are prevented from reproducing, this results in purging the bad chromosomes from the gene pool far quicker than would happen without interbreeding.

The effects of the disease have been dramatic. The son of the last Tsar of Russia suffered from the disease, which caused his mother to allow Rasputin into the palace to calm him down with a type of hypnotism, which lowered BP and thus limited bleeding. This weirdo then gained influence over the Tsar and Tsarina, causing a backlash of public hatred against them. The Russian nobles saw what was happening and murdered Rasputin (after several nearly simultaneous attempts) but it was too late. The Russian Revolution followed shortly afterward, changing the world forever. StuRat 10:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Heamophilia hasn't really been significant in the British royal family (or at least if there have been any occurrances they've kept it very quiet), probably more significant & well known to have affected the British is the disease nowadays attributed as causing "The Madness of George III" (filmed as The madness of King George as it was thought Americans would think it was a sequel to 2 films they hadn't seen)porphyria.

AllanHainey 13:41, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Furlong

The furlong article states:

The city of Chicago's numbering system allots a measure of 800 to each mile. Logically, streets were subsequently laid out 8 to the mile. This means that every block in a typical Chicago neighborhood (in either North/South or East/West direction but rarely both) is precisely one furlong.

I grew up in Chicago and knew that there were 8 blocks to a mile but I can't figure out what that first sentence is supposed to mean. 800 what?? Dismas|^(talk) 11:07, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Just a wild ass guess from someone who's never been on the same continent as Chicago, but maybe house numbers? The spacing sounds a bit dense (one number every two meters), but I guess at least that way one wouldn't run out of numbers even in the most densely built areas. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 13:51, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

That's my guess, too. The dense numbers might be needed for multi-family homes with multiple addresses. My Brother lives in such a home in Detroit, for example. Apartment buildings, on the other hand, generally have one address and then add an apartment number to distinguish between units. StuRat 14:18, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

It isn't quite as dense as you think, as odd numbers only are used on one side of the street and even numbers only on the other side of the street. Crypticfirefly 05:41, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Note that in many cities (it sounds like Chicago is one such) street addresses increase by 100 per block. In the first block, buildings will be numbered starting with 1. In the next block, irrespective of the final building in the previous block, the first number will be 101. Grutness...wha? 07:51, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Wow, that's useful. Here, addresses are always assigned continuously, and when you need more numbers, they use things like 3/A, 3/B etc. That way you only have to renumber a street only if it's extended on the end which previously had number 1. That can still cause some trouble at some places but of course it can't happen here in the city. – b_jonas 13:45, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Drinking Songs

Okiedokie. (So much for my wikibreak I suppose...the drinking song from the Aquafina commercials. Is that an actual drinking song or marketing hype based on one? In either case, what's the song's title (the actual song title or the song title it's based off of)? Bonus points for ITMS links. Even better if they're for the US store. --MPA

Are you talking about "Drink Drink Drink" by Mario Lanza? (Here's the iTMS link.) --Aaron 00:19, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

In the immortal words of Luigi (as heard on Mario Kart 64): "Bingo! Ho ho ho ho!" Thanks much for your assistance. 12.72.244.198 11:46, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

orchard

I searched orchard and it's actually a group of trees, but I always thought it was a flower...i'm an australian if that helps?

Maybe you're thinking of orchid. JackofOz 12:49, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Also note that an orchard is a group of the same type of fruit or nut trees. A general group of similar trees is called a "stand". StuRat 13:41, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

When it comes to spelling, being Australian doesn't usually help, in my experience. Oops, sorry. :) DirkvdM 13:05, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Oi, I saw that. But actually you've got a point. I've been bemoaning the standards of education in this country for years - and spelling and grammar just don't seem to matter any more. I can't understand what the educators think they're going to achieve with that approach. Anyway, Happy (honorary) Australia Day. Cheers. JackofOz 22:56, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Hoping to find A Niece To add her to the family web site

Hi Hope you can help, My half brother died in 1971 I never met him but he had A daughter who was about 17 at the time of his death, The family has A web site and would like to meet her an add her to our family tree,www.kycrossroads.com Her mom and Dad were seperated she lived with her Mother in Holtom City Texas, Her name was Sharon Lynn Burke I think her birth day is in August Have been told her Dad died on her birthday,1971, She should be about 51 possible married could be A grand mother she could be looking for her family, I know how that feels becaust I just found the family 6 months ago We would love to let her know she has A loving family who cares about her.Hope you can help we will be forever thankful, I am happy thare people like you who make the impossible happen, William Burke //Montgomery RR 2 Box 800 Point Pleasant Wv. 25550

Googling her name comes up with this picture. Could that be her? David Sneek 15:15, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

In the USA, the Salvation Army has a program to help families get re-united. When people move from one snail mail address to another, they can file a change-of-snail-mail-address with the US Post Office. Because junk mail is a major source of income for the post office, they put this stuff on computer so the junk mail people can access it and find the new snail mail addresses for their targets. I do not know if ordinary people can access this stuff, and I do not know how long the post office has been doing it. User:AlMac|^(talk) 04:17, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

So who's going to snail mail this guy and tell him what you've found? {/end sarcasm}   freshgavin TALK    06:31, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

coping with work pressure at college

What do you mean ? You work and go to college and the work load makes college difficult ? StuRat 16:28, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

You think college is pressure? You will probably for the rest of your life think it the most relaxed time you ever had as a grown up. alteripse 22:02, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Why do British people have bad teeth and smell funny?

I never noticed that. David Sneek 15:26, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

It's a Ethnic stereotype. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 16:21, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Us Brits have sterotypes of other people, too. Heh heh! ^KILO-_LIMA 16:42, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

It's odd people think that, because braces are free for kids on the NHS and we even have a town called Bath! How much cleaner could we get‽ smurrayinchester^{(User), (Talk)} 19:25, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

BRITISH PEOPLE SMELL BAD BECAUSE THEY DONT TAKE SHOWERS, THEY HAVE BAD TEETH BECAUSE THEY DONT BRUSH THEM.

I'm afraid that sounds like original research. Can you find some sources to back it up, or, failing that, suitly emphazi? smurrayinchester^{(User), (Talk)} 20:29, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Strange thing to say considering the toothbrush article says that it was an englishman who invented it. My guess is that this schoolboy style insult was written by some inbred redneck who's never even seen a Brit let alone smelt their breath, lol!--Goshawk 20:54, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, on the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation!) I heard that just a few decades ago the Brits (or more specifically English, I believe) bathed on average once a week. Never mind showering, showers probably didn't even exist then in England. Then again, showering too often, and especially when you use soap, is addictive. The body will adapt and get smelly quicker, so you have to bathe again sooner, etc. So they may not have smelled that bad. Anyway, what's bad? Not bathing makes you smell of yourself. Getting rid of that will make you alienate from yourself. Smell is a very potent mood-determinant. So losing your smell is like losing yourself. And to top this off, if everyone smelled like that, we wouldn't notice. So it's really everyone else who've got it wrong. (especially in the US, where it seems people bathe more than once a day and put on a 'clean' shirt every day). DirkvdM 21:03, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I thought by 'Bad Teeth' that they meant Austin Powers style malocclusions. That seems to be a typical part of the 'Great British Stereotype'. smurrayinchester^{(User), (Talk)} 22:08, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Actually there is some historical evidence that Continental travellers in the 16th and 17th centuries were appalled at how seldom English people had a proper bath. Once a year or some such. If they got a bit whiffy, they just put on some lavender water, but they didnt think of having a bath. So maybe its a stereotype which started among the early non-English settlers in North America. Jameswilson 00:09, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Of course, if we go back far enough, pretty much nobody anywhere bathed regularly. I would have guessed that was because the cost of soap, a bathtub, and fuel to heat the water was beyond most people then. However, rich people bathed infrequently, too. I'm not sure why they preferred to stink rather than bathe. StuRat 10:36, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I seem to recall reading that drinking tea can discolor teeth worse than coffee or smoking. But they don't smell - that's your upper lip. KWH

Hmm, then perhaps the accumulation of chemicals there explains why the British have bad breath and why it's always so stiff (the British upper lip, that is). Confusing Manifestation 15:54, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

The British mother of a school friend of mine had bad teeth, she remarked once that it was the result of poor nutrition during WWII when she was growing up. Crypticfirefly 05:36, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I didn't think it was British people that smelled bad. I thought that was a stereotype of the French. Actually, I used to live in a Continental country (not France), and there clearly was a major issue with smell among some people. Perhaps one out of 10 natives bathed maybe once a week. So if you got on a crowded bus, the chances are, it would smell. Why do they take fewer showers than Americans? No idea. Perhaps it's because utilities and deodorant are expensive on their wages. More likely, no one has ever told them that they smell bad. -- Mwalcoff 23:12, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

StuRat, I think it had less to with cost and more to do with the idea that bathing was dangerous, but again that could just be an myth. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 11:53, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The Movie Fargo...

I just took a trip to Minneapolis and I was expecting them to talk like the people in Fargo. They sound nothing like the movie???

"Oh, ya, ya, well, that's not quite close enough now, dontcha know ?" The distance between those two cities is greater than that between New York City and Boston, and you wouldn't expect the same accent in those two cities, "now wouldja now ?" StuRat 16:19, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

But the movie Fargo isn't set in Fargo, North Dakota, it's set in Brainerd, Minnesota. User:Zoe|^(talk) 16:30, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

The movie Fargo is a stereotype. They do not talk like that.

They really talk like the folks on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, if you want to hear the accent. alteripse 22:00, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Some people there really do talk like that. I have an e-mail friend in Sioux Falls, South Dakota who sort of has the accent. Also, the distance matters less in the Great Plains than the Northeast, since it's a matter of population density more than area, but the distance between Fargo and Minneapolis still matters nonetheless. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 23:32, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

The isolation of an area is the main factor. If people from City X and City Y regularly moved to each other's cities, I would expect a similar accent in both. If they don't, then I wouldn't expect the same accent. StuRat 01:08, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Exactly. And because the Northeast is more densely populated, with New York and Boston being part of a continuous urban belt (BosWash), there is likely more travel between them than between Fargo and Minneapolis. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 01:17, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

• And whoops, there goes your theory, since there are much larger differences in accents between 40 mile distances between Boston and Washington than between 200 mile distances in the north central plains. alteripse 02:48, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

• I don't believe that a densely populated area in between two cities assures heavy travel between them. StuRat 04:16, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

• Actually, come to think of it the high population density could mean less travel between the two cities, as each small area is more self-sufficient (ie Bostonians don't have to go to New York to buy anything). Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 06:58, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

• But actually, I'm pretty certain I've read that it has to do with the population density (that's why cities like New York and London have different accents within the city). So it probably has little to do with people moving between the two cities. In retrospect, my post about the "whoops theory" was a pretty glaring error, whether or not the "moving theory" is right. I need to stop posting while listening to music. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 06:58, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

According to our Fargo article:

• The accents used by characters in the film are a stereotypical overapplication of North Central American English. Actual spoken language in Minnesota deviates little from General American.

StuRat 01:15, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

It also varies from area to area. In some parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas, the accent many people have isn't far off from the movie; in other areas it is entirely different. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 01:18, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I used to have a friend from northern Minnesota, where Fargo takes place. She did sound somewhat like the people in the movie. She told me there really are two Minnesotas: the southern, agricultural one and the northern one where all the lakes are. -- Mwalcoff 23:05, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Australians

Going on from the question above about British people. Where does the Ethnic stereotype about Australians wearing large floppy hats with corks on strings come from? And if there is even a minor bit of truth in it why would anyone do that? Please ensure that you suitly emphazi your answer. Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 16:48, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Could be due to the incorporation of the Slouch hat in the Aussie military uniform. --BluePlatypus 17:23, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Aaargh! BluePlatypus, you're no longer red, you've actually turned blue! And now that I've checked your user page to see what happened you've turned purple! Can you do a rainbow? DirkvdM 21:11, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Shouldn't have clicked it! :) For the record, I have no relation to the user PurplePlatypus. --BluePlatypus 23:00, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

The corks are supposedly a mechanical insect repellent, meant to keep flies off the face. Whether this actually works, and whether any Australians actually wear such hats, I don't know. —Charles P.  (Mirv) 18:26, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I've never seen anyone wear those hats, not even in Alice Springs or on farms. Maybe they used to, I don't know. --Vzzbx]

it used to be (and maybe still is) a British stereotype. They were featured in Monty Pythons Flying Circus at least once. I live in the Arctic and we have a lot of mosquitoes in the summer perhaps I should try it. Even it it doesn't work, it should be fun drinking the wine to get the corks. Thanks for the replys. 02:35, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

The only people you *ever* see wearing those hats are backpackers from overseas. Farmers certainly don't, though many sometimes wear the hats without the hanging corks (though more probably just wear baseball caps advertising John Deere tractors or the like).

That said, in many parts of Australia the flies are extremely annoying at some times of the year. "The Great Australian Salute" is a ironic commentary on the regular need to wave flies away from your face. --Robert Merkel 05:06, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

My favorite Aussie TV ad was for Fosters beer...It started with two men on a porch drinking Fosters, when one's wife comes out, bitching incessantly, followed by a cloud of flies. After she leaves, this exchange takes place between the two men:

"Why do you put up with that, mate ?"

"She's got her good points, at least she keeps the flies offa me beer."

StuRat 10:27, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Wallace Brothers Circus

> Hi, > I'm trying to locate anyone that may have historical records from the Wallace > Brothers Circus around 1940. My grandparents used to have a knife throwing and > whip act. Their names were Robert Walter and Pearl Collins. Their show names > were Texas Slim and Montana Nell. My mother was in the act also as a horse > back trick rider and rifle sharp shooter. Her show name was Little Miss Peggy. > I have my mothers autograph book with a lot of famous names in it such as Lee > Powell, the original silver screen lone ranger. His wife Norma signed the book > also. Also Clyde and Harriett Beatty signed the book. > Current day champion knife thrower and maker Joe Darrah is nominating my > grandparents into The International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame in Austin, Tx > next Labor Day weekend. > My question is, can you tell me how to get in contact with anyone from the > Wallace Brothers Circus to ask them if they have any knowledge or records of > my mother and grandparents performing for them in the summer of 1940.. > Thank you for your time on this. > Respectively, > Chuck Engel > Daytona Beach, Fl

Perhaps try the Circus World Museum's Robert L. Parkinson Library and Research Center. Rmhermen 19:51, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

First, your formattting, using ">" at the front of each line, doesn't really work in Wikipedia. Now, as for circuses in the US, they have been in a period of decline for many decades now, so only a few remain. Smaller circuses, like the one you mentioned, are likely defunct. The reasons for this decline include:

• Competition from new forms of entertainment, like TV, video games, and the Internet.

• Popular feeling that forcing animals to do tricks is unethical, and they are best viewed in their natural habitat, engaging in natural behaviour, or as close as we can get in a zoo or wildlife santuary.

• Concern that animals may be abused in a circus.

• Reduced availability and increased cost for exotic animals like lions and elephants.

• Popular feeling that looking at deformed or diseased people for entertainment is unethical. People still do this, but prefer to do it in the privacy of their own home, say by watching the Jerry Springer Show.

• Increased skepticism over the honesty of associated carnival games has reduced revenue.

StuRat 00:59, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Ovaltine

In your article about Ovaltine, you mention Captain Midnight; but not "The Lone Ranger." I seem to remember Ovaltine mentioned in the series. I also remember sending in an Ovaltine label and 10/25 cents for a pedameter. Am I wrong/correct??????

You are correct and you are dating yourself. See here and follow the link to "The Premiums". CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 02:56, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry I read that backwards. This mentions the "Lone Ranger" but this mentions "Tales of the Texas Rangers". CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 03:04, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

psp and digital cameras

digital cameras savecard work with psp?????

Which psp? Or is that a stupid question? DirkvdM 21:18, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

i was talking about playstation portable

Most cameras use SD cards, some use CF cards. Sony cameras use a memory stick; I'm pretty sure the "savecards" from a Sony camera will work with a PSP. Noone else's will. See Memory Stick.

Yeah, Sony is the only company using memory sticks and they're rather pushy about it, so it makes sense the playstation only uses memory sticks (and umd's - also by Sony). See the frame in PlayStation Portable (could have done that yourself!).

By the way, I thought that CF cards were the most popular. Am I out of date or is this a regional difference? I'm from the Netherlands. DirkvdM 10:13, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Depends, Dirk. At the photography studio I work at, they live on Compact Flash. My grandmother uses SecureDigital, and so did I for a time (with my color palm that ended up dying a very messy death). Anyone with Sony products uses Memory Sticks; most Fuji devices rely on XD cards, which are the same width as an SD card but are half as long (so if you tried to use it in an SD slot, you'd lose it...). For data transfer, most people will use a thumb drive. I use a combination of a thumb drive and an SD card just to be a prick, but for digital images...eh, I've confused myself. To put it simply: CF is very popular, and is generally accepted as the de facto image storage thingy. (Don't quote me on that--it's strictly POV.) 12.72.244.198 11:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

How does one quote an anon? "Hey, have you heard what 12.72.244.198 said the other day?" :) DirkvdM 21:50, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

By suitly emphazi'ing that 12.72.244.198 is me. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 07:48, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

need title of this song.

what is the title of this song in this video? : http://thatvideosite.com/view/1520.html -chris

nevermind. i found it. the title is 'behind' by lacquer. -chris

need name of chinese singer.

In my last trip to China, i noticed that there was a cover from modern talking´s brother louie wich was performed by a chinese girl, Does anybody know the name of the girl? --blackman 23:26, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

She's probably one of the girls in this category Category:Chinese singers.   freshgavin TALK    06:27, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I need the exact name, but thanks anyway for your help --blackman 15:00, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

January 26

croisa a new country

hello wikipedians i was watching an episode of the usa tv show monk. monk was investigating a murder in which a movie star who was believed to have died in the late 1960`s may have faked his own death. monk was looking at what was supposed to be the movie stars hair brush it said made in croisa.but monk said croisa is a new country and that it did not exist until 1992 is that true. thanks and just in case you are wondering iam not doing my homework.

I think you mean Croatia, which formed from the former Yugoslavia at about that time. StuRat 00:45, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

american pov of brasil

why americans think that brasilians are slut, since they aren't?? A Friend of my friend travelled to USA and said that there he had easy sex with womans that are very beatiful?

For similar reasons certain parts of the developing world think that all Western women are sluts, as you so bluntly put it. "They" get a very distorted picture from portrayals in the media, both journalistic and fictional, and also from the tourist places they tend to visit. Their mental picture of Brazil probably starts at the scantily clad women on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, and ends with the Carnival.

That said, the USA is a very large and diverse country. Don't assume because *some* Americans have an unrealistic view of your country, that all of them do. And don't think you're immune to unrealistic views about other countries. I work at a university in Australia. Of all the different sporting clubs on my campus (one for each sport, like tennis, the different sorts of football, and so on) which one do you think is the biggest? --Robert Merkel 05:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Kangaroo racing? :)

Indeed, where I come from (Netherlands, but I'm not sure if that is the cause), there is some preconception about Brazilian women being rather 'loose' (mostly to do with carnaval and strings on beaches), but that is largely recognised as a preconception. There is, however, also the (stronger?) notion that girls in the US are easy lays. This is based more on actual experience from people who have been there. DirkvdM 10:20, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Since you're in Europe, that might just be because American women are particularly attracted to European men, so it's easy for them to score when they come over here. In the U.S., there's also a notion that European girls are sluts. Maybe this is a recurring pattern, that people think women in other countries are sluts? Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 16:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm a Brazilian and I must admit these views are actually very realistic and valid. It's one of the reasons I loathe this place. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 10:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

As to the biggest sporting club, it's actually the skiing and snowboarding club. And, yes, they do go skiing and snowboarding. On actual snow (even if it is often a little slushy). In Australia.  :)--Robert Merkel 12:44, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

You have seen how little is worn on the beach in Brazil, no? --Nelson Ricardo 18:22, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

First Article on Wikipedia

What was the first article ever on Wikipedia. When was it submitted?

Thanks, Yeow

See History of Wikipedia. --Robert Merkel 04:47, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Gabrielle Delacour

Angelica Mandy is an actress best known for playing Gabrielle Delacour in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

I would just like to know where Angelica Mandy was born?

How is the question related to the title ? StuRat 05:26, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Uh... Angelica Mandy is the actress who played Gabrielle Delacour? Couldn't find anything on where she was born, though. Too many noise from Harry Potter fancruft. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 08:25, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

For StuRat's question, see Angelica Mandy. For the original poster's question, I have no idea. --Anonymous, 08:23 UTC, January 26.

Ok, I added that clarification to the question and struck out my question. StuRat 10:05, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Paula Deen Show

Can anyone help me find the name of the music (theme) for the Paula Deen show.

Thank You M. Kessler [e-mail address removed]

blue ribbon vs. red ribbon to indicate first place

I have always understood that to win the blue ribbon meant to win first place, and that the red ribbon was awarded for second, yet in the U.K. and in the Commomwealth countries this custom is often reversed. Can anyone explain the origin of this reversal and perhaps clarify which order (blue-red vs. red-blue) should win by virtue of priority?

Robert Dietz

WW2 era brick markings

hi can anyone tell me what these signs mean on a brick taken out at 36ft level.this was the site of a japanese army camp in 1945 and is beside the h jap hose of officers quarters.sorry i cant scan it in but it has the letter p inside the shape of a diamond and the letter c inside the shape of another diamond and repeated inside the next shape of a diamond

Where did you find the bricks ? StuRat 10:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

A question about a mysterious (?) holiday for Canada.

On a trip to Barcelona , Spain , in November - December of 2000 , I bought a great Barcelona calendar for 2001 to bring home to Vancouver with me. I've kept it , to verify the content of my question , which I haven't looked into for quite awhile . On the calendar , April 28 is listed as being 'National Day of Mounthing' for .....Canada ! Does anyone have any idea what this might be ? Thanks .

Seems like a misspelling (sp? :P ).. Since 1991, April 28 has been the "National Day of Mourning for Killed and Injured Workers". See here, here, or here. -- AlbinoMonkey ^(Talk) 13:55, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Note that other cultures may not understand the relative importance of holidays in Canada. So, they may not know that Victoria Day is more important than the "National Day of Mourning for Killed and Injured Workers", for example, and may give them equal importance on the calendar. StuRat 14:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Dangling doorway thing

You know they have these dangly curtain-esque things in doorways, like in hippies' houses and others, where kinda braids hang down from the ceiling of the doorway, and you can walk through these dangly braids into the next door, and all the dangly braids get in your mouth and stuff, and make a jiggling sound. But they also prevent you from seeing into the room throught the doorway (at least, the top half). This is the best description I can come up with for them...What are those things called? Thanks very much in advance -WF--Dumbelievable 11:19, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

They're apparently called door beads or more generally beaded curtains. No, we don't seem to have an article on either. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 12:34, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I wonder if they spread disease, being that they seem to hit everyone in the face. StuRat 14:20, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I think you're actually meant to spread them with your hands before stepping through. I mean, you can open an ordinary door by bumping your face into it, too, but why would you want to? —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 18:56, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

As I recall, that's easier said than done. If you allow too much slack in any of the bead strands they will hang down in your face, anyway. Also, they are rather slippery and it's hard to hold all the strands at the same time. Tying the strands together at both sides then ducking down thru the opening might be the only way to be sure you won't get hit in the face. They really are quite annoying. StuRat 20:52, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Sheila Durrant (née Argyle)

Does anyone know a Sheila Durrant living near St Ives, Cornwall, UK.

I used to know her in my younger days and remember her wedding to Ken (late 60s/early 70s) but have since lost touch.

Would just like to know that she's well and if they ever had a family.

Thank you JBS

Sorry, but it's unlikely that a Wikipedia Reference Desk contributor will know your old friend directly. There are websites that specialise in reuniting old school friends and the like; maybe you can try one of those. --Robert Merkel 12:41, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

history of champagne glass

Does anyone know the history of the original champagne glass? My understanding is that it was not fluted but rather shallow and supported by a stem approximately 4 inches in height. I am also led to believe that it was formed by the shape of Josephine's breast at the request of Napolean.

Dave W.

• From what I've heard, the coupe glass as it's called, wasn't originally designed for champagne. Which makes sense because it's a pretty lousy glass for it. (Actually, it's quite likely the worst possible design for a champagne glass) Which is why they're rarely used today. As for the breast-story, that seems to be a myth which has gone around in several versions. --BluePlatypus 14:59, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

• • More commonly called a champagne flute. ^KILO-_LIMA 18:23, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
    • No, a champagne coupe is a wide mouthed shallow glass shaped vaguely similar to the object of discussion. One of those shaped like a champagne flute would be odd indeed. Rmhermen 20:29, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

• ISTR that you get drunk more easily drinking champagne from a flute glass than from a coupe glass - or is that another myth? Grutness...wha? 08:00, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

VHS Tapes

In the U.S., Target Stores used to sell 9 hour VHS Tapes, but now i can't find them there anymore. Any ideas why these were taken off the market?

VHS tapes in general are being phased out in favor of DVDs. Less popular VHS tapes will be the first to go. I am guessing 9 hour VHS tapes might be less popular because they offer lower quality images ? StuRat 14:14, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm also guessing these are actually 4½ hour tapes, marketted as "9 hour" because many VCRs can record on "Long Play", using half the tape in exchange for a reduction in quality. 4 hour tapes aren't actually all that uncommon (at least not in the UK) although most are 3 hour - which if I'm right could equally be called "6 hour". - IMSoP 15:46, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

The reason for the lower popularity and gradual disappearance of 4½-hour/"9-hour" tapes is that the only way for the manufacturer to get that much tape into the casing is to use thinner tape than is used in all other sizes. Not only does that cause a reduced-quality image on-screen, but it also makes such tapes much more likely to snap apart during normal wear and tear. When that happens, you'll lose access to whatever you recorded on that tape at best; at worst, the tape will spin out inside your VCR and gum up the entire player, possibly to the point where the VCR will no longer function. Obviously, this sort of outcome is not what most tape manufacturers like, because it just increases the likelihood that somebody will sue them for selling "junk tapes" that ruined their player. Between that and the fact that people stopped buying them once they realized you could only play them back a certain number of times before the already-bad image quality got even worse, it pretty much doomed that tape size. (The exact same thing has happened with audio cassettes; they make (or used to make, anyway ... who knows these days) cassettes with something like 240 minutes of recording time, and they did it the same way, by using thinner tape. The resulting problems were identical.) --Aaron 21:12, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, of course you need not lose whatever was on the tape because there is such a thing as sticky tape. :) Does this also go for 4 hour tapes? Because that's the standard length I use. Haven't noticed any problem with it yet and my oldest tapes are about 10 years old. Also, quality-wise the most important thing would have been if VHS had not become the standard. Either Betamax or Video 2000, but not VHS. I've tested it against Betamax (two new VHS recorders versus two very old Betamaxes), and the difference was huge. VHS was crap by the 3rd generation copy, while Betamax was still better than that by the 5th generation, if I remember correctly. DirkvdM 21:44, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

To clarify IMSoP's comment, VHS VCRs have three speeds, SP (short play), LP (long play), and EP or SLP (extended or super-long play). I believe most machines record at the fast and slow speeds only, but play back all three. When we speak of a 9-hour tape we mean its length at EP (SLP); it would be 3 hours at SP or 6 hours at LP. 8 and 10-hour tapes (at EP (SLP)) also exist, but I don't know what lengths are currently marketed. The original poster should try other stores or contact a tape manufacturer to see what is now available. --Anonymous, 03:15 UTC, January 27.

what is meant by a graded river?

Try one of the answers here. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 15:03, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of all cellular forms of life. See DNA. --Optichan 15:55, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Linux crashes!?

I'm used to msWindows crashing (often more than once a day), which is why I changed to (Suse) Linux about a year ago. Which went ok until today. I wanted to continue a multisession dvd+r with K3b, but didn't see any 'import' or such, so I thought, ah well, just 'start a new dvd project' and drag a bunch of files in the 'project-frame' and see what happens. Seemed to go ok. The burning finished with an 'completed successfully' message and the dvd was ejected. I pushed it in again to see what exactly had happened and then everything froze. Ctrl-Alt-Del didn't work either (didn't even know that had a function under Linux, but it has always been my first reaction under msWindows, so I did it automatically). And I couldn't eject the dvd either. Restarting only worked if I removed the dvd while the computer restarted. But then when I tried the dvd again, Linux froze again. The whole OS, not just one application (although even that rarely happens, but it never crashes Linux). Of course, without using the dvd there's no problem, but I'd still like to know what happened. Funny thing is, msWindows (98) can read the dvd (although it gives the wrong total size as 2 GB when it's really about 4 GB). But it doesn't show any of the files (photos) I had added (I thought).

While I'm at it (though I doubt if this has anything to do with it). About a month ago I had the problem that Linux wouldn't start because of a problem with fschk (I think that's what it's called). I solved that by restarting with 'shutdown -f now', which skips the file system check. That's merely a workaround and I've been too lazy to look into it, but can it cause any problems (in the long run)? DirkvdM 15:47, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Hmm.. seems like there may be problems with that DVD, and that perhaps your desktop software is buggy in how it's handling it. Are you sure the whole system froze? Could you switch to a virtual terminal (e.g. Ctrl-Alt-F2) and kill the offending program from there? Or if X Windows was freezing, you could try Ctrl-Alt-Backspace (which is usually configured to kill X immediately). Not being able to eject the DVD is normal, because the OS locks the drive while it's mounted, you need to unmount it first ("umount /media/cdrecorder" or wherever your mountpoint is). Of course, despite what some say, sometimes Linux does actually crash. I've seen it. (although it's mostly been attributable to flakey hardware) As for when Linux has problems with the fsck on start, it'll usually dump you in a command-line where you can run it manually. That usually fixes stuff, and it'll boot normally the next time. In the long run, you should of course run fsck regularily, but the kernel will usually do that for you on boot if a certain number of days has elapsed since the last check. --BluePlatypus 17:11, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Run fsck, Dirk...it's never a good idea to not do that. And yeah, Blue's right; rarely doth Linux crasheth, tho when it doth, the mess of destruction it typically leaves in its wake is formidiable. (At least, that's always been my experience...) Cernen Xanthine Katrena 17:48, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

• This is why it's best just to stick with Windows. ^KILO-_LIMA 18:24, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

How long have you been waiting for an opportunity to say that? :) Like I said, msWindows crashes on me almost every time (I rarely shut down normally). Compared to that, one (avoidable) crash per year is hardly a problem. And don't start with XP because that's even worse - after a few months it even completely died on me and refuses to restart (in any mode). Good thing I never paid for it.

It seems like it's not just X Windows. Neither Ctrl-Alt-Backspace nor Ctrl-Alt-F2 had any effect. Ah well, I'll just do the dvd again and next time figure out how to continue a session properly. One silly question, though. Once I'm in a terminal, how do I start X Windows up again?

But if fsck is really important I want to know about that. When I run that (either during startup or after it in a terminal), I get "dev/sda5 mounted with write permission, cannot check it. Run manually." But I thought I was running it manually. sda5 is where the system resides (forgot about that, mounted it in a new mountpoint and was surprised to find the root dir there - took me a minute figure out what I was looking at. That's how little I know about Linux :) ). DirkvdM 20:58, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Omigod, a Linux question I know the answer for! You need to either boot to a rescue disk (and I don't know how to make one, so don't even think about asking), or turn your system off inappropriately (I prefer flipping the master switch on the power supply; if yours doesn't have one, turn off the power strip instead). Turn it back on; more recent versions of Linux's varying flavors will ask you the question, "System was not unmounted cleanly -- Press y within 5 seconds to force file system check." When you see it, slam on the Y key as hard as you can, then go make yourself a cup of coffee (depending on how big your hard drive is, you might need two or three ^_~). You could run fsck on a mounted filesystem if you want, but logic dictates that if an application tells you "NO" then you should listen to it. fscking a mounted filesystem will more than likely cause its boyfriend to become jealous--er...I mean...it could potentially damage it. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 07:55, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

wine

What is a well known wine of California--195.92.67.75 16:22, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Paul Masson is nice. I like the rose. Or anything from Napa Valley. Proto t c 16:55, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

You might try starting at wine, or California. Failing that, try using the search function. From yor other questions, I should also point out that you should do your own homework. --GraemeL ^(talk) 16:56, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

"Ripple is the National wine of Watts" - Fred Stanford

american dancer

Name an american dancer and choreographer with her own well known dance company --195.92.67.75 16:28, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Paula Abdul. Proto t c 16:48, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

If it's not just about live people, Martha Graham would also qualify. JackofOz 22:46, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

halloween

Other than halloween what is the name of the night earlier in the year when witches celebrate --195.92.67.75 16:30, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

If you mean Wiccans, then Imbolc, Beltane, Midsummer...The one that I can't spell that starts with Ludh. 16:38, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Lunasadh (or Lughnasa, depending on where you are). Wicca celebrates the four stations and passes of the sun (Midsummer's Day, Midwinter's Day, and the spring and autumn equinoxes), plus Imbolc (first point of spring - February 1 in the northern hemisphere), Beltane (May 1, sometimes simply known as May Day), Lughnasa (August 1) and Samhain (November 1). Of these, the two most important are Beltane (probably the answer you're looking for) and Samhain (which a lot of people who should know better think of as being the same as Hallowe'en)

Saying "Witches celebrate Hallowe'en" isn't really correct. Hallowe'en is actually an old Christian day (literally "Hallow E'en" - the evening before All Hallows - i.e., All Saint's Day). It occurs close to the start of a far earlier pagan celebration that lasted for an entire week, commemorating the beginning of winter and the spirits of those who died during the year. This started on the night before Samhain (usually pronounced Sowain, BTW) with a welcoming in of the dead with treats or trying to trick them into leaving the house (this is the origin of trick or treat, and also the Mexican Dia del Muerte). The dead were regarded as honoured guests for a week, then sent off to eternity with a big feast and bonfire (it's no coincidence that many nortehrn European countries traditionally had bonfire, often with a symbolic sacrifice of an effigy, about a week into November. The most famous is Britain's "Guy Fawke's night"... also see the movie "The wicker man" for further reference). The effigy, BTW, was intended as an offering to the sun, to speedy it on its journey back to warmth, and therefore to hurry the start of speing weather.

Hope that helps :) Grutness...wha? 08:22, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

plant life

What is the name of a frozen landscape where mosses and lichens are a typical plant life --195.92.67.75 16:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Tundra. Proto t c 17:00, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Food

What is a familiar large Italian sausage --195.92.67.75 16:35, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Mussolini? Cernen Xanthine Katrena 17:49, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Salami. —Charles P._(Mirv) 18:38, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

iTunes

Is iPod the only MP3 player that works with iTunes, or are there others? If not, how do I convert my iTunes MP3s to another thing if I had them locked to iTunes without realizing it? 16:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)— Preceding unsigned comment added by 11:37, January 26, 2006 (talk • contribs) 64.198.112.210

Sadly, the m4ps that are associated with the iTunes music store are not cross-application. And as far as I know, iTunes was designed specifically for the iPod, so the answer to your first question would be yes. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 17:45, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Are you talking about iTunes for Windows or for Mac? The Mac version does support some players other than the iPod see here for the list; the Windows version is iPod-only. However, even on the Mac version, you'll still be limited by the fact that all songs sold by the iTunes Music Store are in AAC Protected format, and will only play on an iPod. (You can buy the songs and then convert them to MP3 if you want.) As for converting, it depends on whether you're on a Mac or PC, and what you want to convert them into. There are all sorts of conversion programs out there, and iTunes itself can convert some stuff, but you'll have to tell us precisely what sort of files you have. Are they songs you bought from the iTunes store, or just stuff you've grabbed off the net? --Aaron 20:30, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Food

What is a strong smelling Belgian cheese --195.92.67.75 16:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

La crotte du diable. [9] Proto t c 16:51, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Is it really named that? :) --BluePlatypus 17:02, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

"The Devil's Turd". How appropriate. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 17:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

The website cited by proto does not seem reliable. Did you see some of the items posted? --Nelson Ricardo 18:17, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

That website does seem to be satire, but the stinky cheese also seems to be the star of a children's book: [10]. StuRat 20:13, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

RBD's English Album

What is the name of RBD's English album and what tracks are we going to expect from them on the album?

Why haven't there been anybody answering my question about RBD's English album?

sport

Which sportsman was nicknamed the iceman--195.92.67.75 18:20, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I seem to remember Bjorn Borg was dubbed something like that. JackofOz 22:44, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

George Gervin -- Mwalcoff 23:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Kimi Räikkönen as well. He even had the word "Iceman" written in very expensive diamonds on his helmet for the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix. But yeh, what's with all the questions? AlbinoMonkey ^(Talk) 02:18, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Rugby Union player Michael Jones was also known as the iceman. Grutness...wha? 08:30, 27 January 2006 (UTC) A UFC fighter named Chuck Liddell

TV

Name the tv series and the star portaying a female police officer unrealistically fighting crime wearing skin tight clothes and high heeled shoes --195.92.67.75 18:26, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

See Police Woman (television) Here's a pic: [11] StuRat 19:56, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Woman governor

Which famous law enforcement organisation had its first woman governor in 2003 --195.92.67.75 18:28, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Could you narrow down what country this person was a governor in? Dismas|^(talk) 19:32, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Inventors

Who was the inventor who famously wrote 'I think I can be of far more use as a teacher of the deaf than I can ever be as an electrician' and never listened to himself --195.92.67.75 18:32, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Are these questions in some sort of quiz you are taking part in? DJ Clayworth 19:14, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

He famously needed a certain Mr. Watson, and made a telephone call to tell him so. Does that ring any bells? That should be enough clues without giving it away the answers to this quiz. smurrayinchester^{(User), (Talk)} 19:25, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Clearly Mr. Sherlock Holmes. - Nunh-huh 06:37, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Nunh-huh, Nunh-huh. (I'm sure you've heard that really lame excuse for a joke before...) -- it's this guy. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 08:08, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Beech Tree

What is the name for the seeds of the beech tree --195.92.67.75 18:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Question about person location

(Gah, people need to stop putting spaces in front of their sentences and causing the "no format" thing. Anyway, reformatted, by Cernen Xanthine Katrena.)

I am wondering if you can help me. I am wanting to locate someone who would know something about my grand dad. Where would I be able to find this out? I am wanting vital statistics information on him.

His name he used in the United States was John Krist Diamond. His family was from Serres Macedonia before the Greeks came in. At that time (1903) he came to the United States and lived in Gary Indiana. I know who his mom and dad were, his birthday date and that he had sisters. I know that he was Greek Orthodox. He always told my mom that he was from Athens, however, he also mentioned Serres. I don't know exactly when he left or what boat he took. I sure would appreciate it if you could help me somehow or tell me where to look.

Here's the information I know.

John Krist Diamond, born Feb 5 1888, father Krist Kristalis born in Serres, mother Kaliope Diamontis born in Serres. sisters Theodora and Magdalene Diamontis. I do not know their birth dates. He named his own children Magdalene(my mom), Krist and Theodora.

I have a close Macedonia friend who explained to me that he probably ran away to escape harm in the revolution. His age would fit in with that as well as his departure date which may be 1903 but others have said 1904 or 5. The port he came to in the US was Baltimore. My friend said he may have told everyone he was from Greece because at the time Macedonians were being persecuted.

As I said I am wanting to know what part of my information is correct or incorrect. I would like to know if I have anyone in Serres that may be family. Thanks for listening to me and I hope that you can get me on the right track.

My best regards, Lynn Moore

Countryside

Where in the countryside would you find a Lilum Scar --195.92.67.75 18:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

open air venues

Which open air venue hosts the enactment of the Life of Christ and the Nativity --195.92.67.75 18:38, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Many places perform open air Passion plays, which usually centre on the end of Jesus' life, but might include the Nativity. See Mystery play for some old and traditional ones. Oberammergau's is no longer open air. Lots of churches re-enact the nativity at Christmas time, some in the open air (though not many here in Canada). DJ Clayworth 19:09, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

flowers

'Summer Holiday' is a tall grower with fragrant blooms that are orange-red with a paler reverse - What kind of flower is it--195.92.67.75 18:44, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Needlework

In which type of needlework would you use a templet --195.92.67.75 19:05, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

A "pattern" is used in many types of sewing, but for a "template", perhaps needlepoint ? StuRat 19:36, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Usually quilting Rmhermen 20:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

royal visits

In october 1997 the queen attracted publicity by wearing socks while visiting which city --195.92.67.75 19:07, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Which queen ? Elizabeth II ? Queen Latifah ? StuRat 19:41, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Emma? She would have attracted attention during any visit in 1997, with or without socks. DirkvdM 21:08, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I remember watching footage of Queen Elizabeth II's last royal visit to the USA. Ordinary Americans were being interviewed in the street and they were all saying things like "Oh, it's wonderful that the queen is coming to our town". Seems "the queen" is sufficient to identify her in countries that don't have a monarchy. Anyone hearing "the queen" would know who was being talked about. There are other queens in the world (not all of them females either), but I think only QE2 gets to be called "the queen" by Commmonwealth and non-Commonwealth people alike. JackofOz 22:40, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I would only expect that in current or former British colonies. StuRat 13:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

You're right. I had already clarified that (below). I think we're talking about the same set of countries, though. I can't think of an English-speaking country (ie. where English is an official language) outside the Commonwealth, that was never a British possession. That seems to be the way the language was introduced to the place. Same for former Spanish, Portuguese, French ... colonies. A country doesn't just decide to adopt a language because it sounds nice. Pity the world doesn't work that way. JackofOz 21:28, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

• Not all queens female? They are all female. Not all of the monarchs are queens, though. Usually when I refer to "The Queen" it's the queen of the Netherlands. We call QE2 The Queen of England around here and I'm sure there's similar cases elsewhere. Specifying a country is still a good idea. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:13, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm sure you're right about the Netherlands. This would also apply in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Thailand and other countries that have a queen (regnant or consort). "The queen" in those countries would of course refer to their own queen, not QE2. But I did say "in countries that don't have a monarchy", although I guess what I really meant was English-speaking countries that are not part of the Commonwealth of Nations. If you were in Ireland, South Africa, USA, Pakistan, Fiji, or many other countries, "the queen" would not refer to, say, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, but almost certainly to Queen Elizabeth II of the UK despite not being their head of state. BTW the bit about not all queens being female was a reference to another meaning of "queen" - a flamboyant male homosexual. Sorry if that was too flippant, but I couldn't resist it. Cheers JackofOz 11:15, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Neither Queen (band) nor Ellery Queen are female. The first example may be your suggested usage of the word, LOL.StuRat 14:01, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Indeed. Freddy Mercury would probably fit that bill. Maybe that's where the name of the band came from. JackofOz 21:28, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Actress

Name the actress who has played both Virgin and Eleven Queens --195.92.67.75 19:09, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Are you doing trivial pursuit? Or are these homework questions? Or are you testing us? You have to have a list of questions to fire 18 at us in such a short timespan. Although you do take occasional breaks I see. :) DirkvdM 21:04, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

The answer is Cate Blanchett. --Canley 04:01, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

"both Virgin and Eleven Queens"? So that makes a total of twelve queens? Grutness...wha? 08:33, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

sport

When was a national anthem first sung before a major sporting fixture --195.92.67.75 19:11, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

What nation? Should we assume you're talking about the U.S.? Dismas|^(talk) 19:30, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Dismas: maybe if we ignore him, he'll go away; I think he's transcribing a homework assignment to the Reference desk. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 19:35, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I thought that too at first but if it is homework, why are the questions so varied? Did all his teachers give him a list of questions to answer for tomorrow's class? Dismas|^(talk) 20:48, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Oh, above I suggested Trivial Pursuit. Maybe he's doing a game and occasionally sneaking away to the computer, pretending to go for a piss. What will people be thinking about the size of his bladder?

By the way, he asks about a national anthem, so the question leaves that open. And anyway, if not, why should the US be assumed? There are dozens of English-speaking nations in the world (together with a population that is way bigger than that of the US). And some of us are from non-English speaking countries (such as yours truly). After all, English is the world's lingua franca, which has it's advantages for the native speakers, but also some disadvantages - they can't assume readers here to be native English speakers. DirkvdM 21:23, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I thought they might be from the U.S. because Americans often come here with questions and say things like "the president" or "my country" and they act like everyone should just know that they're talking about the U.S. It's a common thing here at the Ref desk. Dismas|^(talk) 21:38, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

We don't use the term "sporting fixture" in the U.S. Anyway, I think it was during World War II. -- Mwalcoff 23:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

The question is formatted wrong, it should be:

When was the first time a major sporting fixture occurred immediately after the national anthem was sung?

See what a difference when you suitly emphazi the question.

• See this for some insight about this user. hydnjo

talk 02:33, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

• See this for the answer to the question. 165.123.152.196 02:52, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

That's good information if the question was about the Star-Spangled Banner. It may not have been, though. Use of the term "sporting fixture" suggests the questioner is not from the US. JackofOz 21:11, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Stock Market

In the U.S. If there was no stock market, no stocks, and no exchanges, how different would the ecomomy be? How would capitalism be different?

Do you mean only individual ownership of businesses would be allowed ? This would slow the growth rate of new businesses dramatically by reducing the available capital. On the plus side, companies would be managed more responsibly (for long term growth, not for quaterly profits). StuRat 20:40, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

It would also greatly reduce the amount of natural stimulus to start up new companies at all. No stock market would mean no possibility of one day getting a big payout for all your years of work by going public. Imagine no Apple Computer, no Yahoo, no Google ... or, at best, far smaller and less inventive versions of those companies. Then multiply that thousands of times to cover all the hundreds of thousands of other companies that would never have gotten off the ground because there wasn't that much in it for the creators. An argument could easily be made that the American economy as we know it - the entire global economy, really - would not exist today without stocks. Capitalism could survive, but as StuRat said, it would be much more slothful, possibly so much so that it wouldn't be able to support the number of humans that currently exist. We'd probably be at least 75 years behind technologically as well. --Aaron 21:21, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I'd say, without stocks there would be no accumulation of capital and therefore no capitalism. Living in a capitalist world it's hard to imagine what that might look like. There are historical examples, but not in the US (is that why the question is limited to the US?). In Europe stock exchange only started in the 16th century, I believe (I'm thinking about the VOC now). The present population surviving wouldn't require big companies. Just cooperation. Which could be on a small scale per occasion (sort of an anarchistic model, rather like the kibutzim). Or just plain big, potentially even bigger than any existing company. And that's one thing you're missing. Big projects can also be undertaken by a government. Even a small government is more powerful (not only financially but certainly socially) than any company. Maybe it took a Dutchman to come up with this. :) We may not have state socialism, but we've got enough socialism to imagine what it could be like. DirkvdM 21:34, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Of course there are many companies which don't have stock now, perhaps most businesses. Most of those are small businesses. Instead of having a few car companies that makes dozens of models each, there might be dozens of car companies making a single model each (which is how it was 75 years ago). I suspect you would get more innovation out of all those companies; some would build electric cars, some would build ethanol cars, some would build hydrogen powered cars, etc. The same model might hold for other businesses, too. StuRat 21:43, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't see how the stock market is the only way to accumulate capital and create capitalism. Both the banking and money-lending industries go back much further than that. Certainly investment in one form or another has always existed, it can be something as simple as lending someone the tools to build a mill in exchange for some future flour. The stock market is just a form of insurance, enabling the risks to be spread among investors. While, a government can do that job as well, they don't have as much money to invest. (Compare the total value of a small country's stock exchange with their state budget) Empirically, economic growth was quite a lot slower in communist countries. (It's also a much more difficult system to handle. Invest in a new factory or hire 1,000 new school teachers? -That's a pretty tough equation to solve.) --BluePlatypus 22:51, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I suppose that by 'communist country' you mean something like the USSR. But what would you compare with then? With other countries or with the same country without the socialist rule? Russia had barely escaped the middle ages by the time of the revolution; largely agrarian (and barely successfull at that) hardly any industries or urbanisation and serfdom had only recently been abolished. Considering that, their progress may very well be regarded as the economic hit of the 20th century. From the middle ages to first country in space in a mere 40 years - quite an achievement.

Cuba hasn't dome so well (depending on how you define 'well'), but what would have come of it if it had been a capitalist country without the aid of the US? Without that they were already poor. And how have poor capitalist countries fared? They're mostly still poor. There are more poor than rich capitalist countries, so one can't say the continued poverty has anything to do with the socio-economic system in use. There are just too few examples to base any scientific theory on (just a handful of countries). And it all happened hardly under laboratory conditions. So there is no statistical basis for any such conclusion. The only thing one can say is that most countries that are rich now started off rich at the advent of industrialisation (or where in time should one start comparing?). So it's money that makes money, more than the economic system. DirkvdM 09:58, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I disagree. For a good head-to-head comparison of capitalism and communism, look at South Korea (with a GDP per capital of US$20,300) and North Korea (with a GDP per capital of US$1800). This difference took some 50 years. With more time, even more of a difference would be expected, as the North has an economic growth rate of 1% while the South is at 3.7%.

For another example, China languished in poverty under communism and suffered from starvation until they began to allow capitalism. At that point their economy took off, and has been skyrocketing ever since.

I do, however, think that all totalitarianism is bad for a country's economy, not just communist totalitarianism. Essentially, there is no point in working hard to grow wealth if somebody is just going to steal it from you, which can happen in any totalitarian country. African, Asian, and South American countries under such systems have not fared well, while those with democratic governments tend to do better in the long run. Since communist countries were almost all under some form of totalitarian rule before their revolutions, there may not be much apparent change in the economy as a result. StuRat 13:51, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, like I said, there are too few examples to really reach a conclusion. You give just two examples, but there are more than a hundred countries for which this is not true. And also look at Russia. I don't know how well the country as a whole is doing after the fall of the socialist state, but for many people (most?) things haven't quite improved, to puit it mildly. This is what I meant by "depending on how you define 'well'".

And totalitariansm is potentially better for the economy than democracy. Just look at Singapore. It's just that most totalitarian leaders will not be able to resist the temptation to only think about their own well-being. Power corrupts, especially too much power in the hands of one person. Combine that with the fact that people who come to such power are usually hardly the kind of people who can run a country and one must conclude that Castro is doing surprisingly well (given those circumstances, I mean). And in the case of China, the one-child policy (which started in the 1950's) must have been a blow to the economy after about 20 years and maybe that is now finally starting to pay off. Just a guess, but it sounds plausible. And another consideration is that most (all) socialist states were a result of a revolution and a revolution is never good for an economy. Then again, a fresh start is often good and the USSR wasn't bothered by old and obsolete equipment, like England at the time. And maybe they learned from the mistakes of 'the West'. Again, I don't know, just pondering.

But ultimaltely, we can reason and compare all we like, but the main thing is that there are too few examples to base any reliable conclusions on. DirkvdM 16:23, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

It is also possible that there could be stocks but no stock market. You could still have ownership of companies, even ownership divided between people. However transfer of ownership would be (presumably) more complicated, maybe having to rewrite the company documents to reflect the new ownership. The main difference would presumably be that it would be very much more difficult to raise large amounts of capital - you would have to rely on a few rich individuals or organisations rather than a big mass of moderately wealthy ones. What I would imagine happening is that moderately wealthy people would get together into groups and have the group buy up part-ownership of companies.

One possible positive result of the absence of a stock-market would be that ownership of a company would be much more for the long term. People would only own part of a company if they really believed in its future, rather than the gambling-like approach that many people take today. DJ Clayworth 16:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Gmail

Is there a way to contact the staff at Gmail? I need to ask them a question. Thanx Zach 21:24, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

This is probably a good place to start. --GraemeL ^(talk) 21:30, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I never thought about looking there :) Thanx!!!! Zach 21:49, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Name this device

I can't think of the name of this device. I can only explain it as similar to a wheelbarrow, but upright. Used by UPS and such to deliver boxes. I can find pictures of it, but they ignore the name of the object.It looks like this feeble diagram.

  _
 |
_|o

• hand truck —WAvegetarian•_{CONTRIBUTIONS}^TALK• ^EMAIL•21:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

That would be called a dolly. Zach 21:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

As stated in the hand truck article. Nice if we had a picture there though. hydnjo talk 21:59, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm sure you meant to say ... it's nice that there IS a picture there?   freshgavin TALK    06:13, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

also known as a porter's trolley, BTW. Oh, and Freshgavin, thanks for suitly emphazi'ing Hydnjo's response! Grutness...wha? 08:41, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

You should have posted this on the language board and also mention which county, as the name may differ from region to region. StuRat 13:24, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Phrase origin?

"In an average living room there are 1,242 objects _____ could use to kill you, including the room itself." I've seen this applied to Chuck Norris, Vin Diesel, and most recently to Lofa Tatupu by an over-zealous football fan. A section of the Vin Diesel article mentions this phrase but doesn't say where it's first use was. It references the Bill Brasky sketches as predating other uses, but our article would seem to say that it wasn't used, let alone orginated, in those sketches. Does anyone know the first use for this phrase? —WAvegetarian•_{CONTRIBUTIONS}^TALK• ^EMAIL•21:48, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I've never heard this chestnut before, but surely it derives from the old "There are a thousand ways to kill a man." pulp motif.--Pharos 22:53, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Where did you hear this phrase? I know that www.4q.cc has random "facts" about Vin Diesel, and Chuck Norris. I use "facts" extremely loosely, because they are actually not facts at all, but rather statements that poke fun at the bad-boy image that these guys have on TV / in movies. For instance:

• The Tower of Pisa leans because Chuck Norris kicked it once while on vacation.
• Chuck Norris owns and operates his own restaurant in Lubbock, Texas. Knuckle sandwiches are the only thing on the menu.
• Vin Diesel is an alternate identity created by the government's most successful assasin. If you ask him about it, he will deny it, but your immediate family will be dead within two weeks.

Maybe this web page is where that phrase comes from? :o) tiZom_{(the man)} 01:13, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Being an RD volunteer myself I tried to help any would-be answerers out with the provided links. The Vin Diesel section linked to in the query has another site with similar stuff as the one you mentioned. Due to the nature of these sites, I find it unlikely that they would have spawned such widespread and uniform use as the phrase is always quoted exactly as I have shown it. Also, it is commonly used by people in a non-satirical way, although that could be lovely irony. I assumed it is from some Chuck Norris movie, but I haven't found a citation. I most recently saw this phrase, in reference to Tatupu, on the rants and raves section of the Seattle Craig's List. —WAvegetarian•_{CONTRIBUTIONS}^TALK• ^EMAIL•08:06, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Hate to throw a further spanner in the works, but I've heard mention of it being far older, and dating to Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau movies. Whether that's true or not, I've no idea. Grutness...wha? 08:45, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Neopets

Is there anyway to get more sidebar themes for neopets? Zach 22:17, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Does anyone know what Emily is saying (in Latin) "I am the one who dwells within." A friend wants to scare his sister with it (she was terrified of the movie) Thanx Zach 22:21, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I googled some possible translations into Latin and the most popular one seems to be "ego sum qui intus habitat". Does that sound right? —Keenan Pepper 01:15, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

'habitat' sounds wrong to me - I would expect 'habito'. In the same way, the English 'dwells' sounds wrong to me - I would expect 'dwell'. In each case, the subject is first person, I or ego (picked up by the relative pronoun who/qui). Ego sounds right to me - the emphasis is needed. Maid Marion 09:11, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The problem with those auto translators is that they translate the words, not the meaning. Sum means "I am." The ego is unnecessary unless you are intending to put the emphasis solely on I. This translation implies that it is more important that _I_ am... rather than someone else. Habitat is in the third person indicative. I believe this is wrong because it isn't the main verb of the sentence. As it stands now, I think it has two main verbs. You will get a better answer if you ask on the language desk for translation help. I also want to qualify this answer with the statement that I have had 1 1/2 years of intense schooling and life experiences separating me from my Latin practice. —WAvegetarian•_{CONTRIBUTIONS}^TALK• ^EMAIL•08:18, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The phrase is not classical latin, but seems to be back translated from English or German. It is probably intended to mean "I am he who dwells within". The reason habitat is in 3rd person rather than first is that the subject is qui, not ego-- it is a third person verb phrase. alteripse 11:24, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Are you sure alteripse? I haven't met the term 'third person verb phrase', but that's probably my ignorance. Usually when qui refers back to ego (or tu) it is followed by a verb in the first (or second) person. For a familiar example, see the Lord's prayer in Latin: Pater noster, qui es in caelo (not qui est). Similarly, in the old-fashioned English translation: Our Father, which art in heaven (not which is). Maid Marion 13:40, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

It's third person in English, too: "I am he who dwells within.". It's called a relative clause.

"Ego sum qui intus habitat." sounds like perfectly correct Latin to me. Why do you say it's not classical Latin, alteripse? —Keenan Pepper 17:26, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Don't you think classical latin has a more "foreign" syntactical feel to it? When you see a phrase that can be translated word for word into a modern english sentence it may be grammatically correct latin but I bet it would have an alien flavor to a 50 AD Roman. For example, its not hard to "feel" the difference between even good ecclesiastical latin and real classical latin-- ecclesiastical is always much easier to translate and there are rarely words that seem to be missing. I have always assumed that was because it was never the native "living language" of the modern writers. That sentence just feels like it was written in a modern language and translated. alteripse 00:21, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

To be more explicit, "qui intus habitat" (which could be expanded to something like "homo qui intus habitat") is a phrase which functions as a noun. If you wanted to say "I, who dwell within..." it would be "Ego, qui intus habito..." which would then be followed by a first person main verb. But in this case, the relative clause does not apply to the subject "ego", but to the implicit predicate. You wouldn't have a problem with "Ego sum homo qui intus habitat.", would you? —Keenan Pepper 17:36, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

January 27

American Enterprise Institute

Does the American Enterprise Institute have anything called a "Special Warfare Center"? If so, is it named after someone, and who? Zafiroblue05 00:49, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

If it is called the "Special Warfare Center" then presumably it isn't named after anyone or it would be called the Joe Bloggs "Special Warfare Center". AllanHainey 12:05, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The only such reference to a "so-and-so Special Warfare Center" at AEI is on this page [12], which appears to be a computer-generated fake blog designed to screw around with Google page ranks, most likely for spamming purposes. --Aaron 18:22, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

use of the term 'sailing' to describe the movement of water vessels

i have tried to find the definition of sailing as it relates to water vessels not powered by sails.

Can someone tell me whether a vessel which does not have sails can be described as 'sailing' between ports.

I know that 'sailing' is defined as 'motion across a body of water in a sailing ship, or smaller boat, powered by wind'.

What I want to know is which verb is used for vessels which do not have sails. ie. those powered by steam, electric, nuclear, oars, solar, etc etc.

I thank you in anticipation of your reply, and note that this will settle a debate!!!!

Thanks again.

M

Merriam-Websters defines the verb "sail" as "to travel on water in a ship", "to travel on water by the action of wind upon sails or by other means", "to move or proceed easily, gracefully, nonchalantly, or without resistance" and "to begin a water voyage". So yes you can use the word 'sailing' for non-sail powered ships. You could also use "navigate", "cruise", "voyage", or speak of "a crossing". People who sail on sailboats tend not to use the word 'sailing' to refer to sailing their boat without using the sails, but rather 'motoring'. --BluePlatypus 01:30, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Surprisingly, I helped answer a RD question like this before. The conclusion seems to have been that for large boats, sail is appropriate regardless of the actual fact of sails. Boat is better used for smaller ones. Superm401 - Talk 00:39, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Celebrity names

Shannyn Sossamon named her son "Audio Science," certainly one of the oddest names for a celebrity's child. (Granted, non-celebrities also give strange names to their kids, but I doubt at the same rate.) I saw a claim on an IMDb message board that some celebrities give their children weird names (Moon Unit Zappa, anyone?) just to put on the birth certificate, and then call them a "real name" so they know who is just a hanger-on with ulterior motives, not a real friend (ie, they call them by the weird public name). My question is - is there any truth to this? Might celebrities who give their kids outlandish names call them by more "normal" names at home - in particular to insulate them from the tabloids/stalkers of the world? 165.123.152.196 02:47, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, Moon Unit Zappa was and still is known as Moon Zappa, so that theory seems over before it's started. Some celebrity kids adopt their own, more-ordinary, names later in life, like Joe (a.k.a. Zowie) Bowie. No doubt some do do it for the reasons you say, but I don't think it's an overwhelming deliberate ploy. Note too that there are cultural differences, like "lucky" names. In the Philippines, parents will try to give their children unusual names so that they stand out from the crowd. In the west Indies and some parts of Africa, if the parents have the same surname as someone famous, they'll also give them the matching famous person's first name. Also, in the West Indies in particular, names that have long been out of fashion in the US and UK are still widely used. The old trend for African-Americans to use persidential surnames as first names is a similar phenomenon. Also note that there has been a widespread change in general to more unusual first names by many people in English speaking countries. Look at a first-year entry into primary school and the Johns, Janes and Williams will today be greatly outnumbered by Chantelles, LaShawns and Brunos. Grutness...wha? 08:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Death

What does it cost to process a death in the U.S.? (not including the funeral costs) What happens when the family doesn't want to pay anything?

If a person has no family, the government will put the body in a pauper's grave. Speaking as a person who has had relatives die, most everyone wants some kind of religious service to help organize the parting of memories. Cremation is much cheaper than having a burial plot. User:AlMac|^(talk) 09:39, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

People whose body isn't claimed are given a "pauper's funeral"; essentially, the local authorities pay for the individual to be buried as cheaply as possible. Though, apparently, some municipalities are switching to cremation because it's now fairly well accepted, and cheaper. The exception is in the case where a body is unidentified; they will bury it so that it can be retrieved for reburial if the next of kin are identified. --Robert Merkel 09:38, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The questioner specifically said excluding funeral costs. I presume this means any fees to register the death, fill in forms, etc. Can't answer for the US, but in the UK all this was free, for the simple reason that they really want all deaths to be properly registered, rather than have bodies dumped in landfills or hidden in attics. DJ Clayworth 16:37, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

To me, the funeral is just the ceremony held to commemorate the dead. Therefore the burial or cremation is not part of the funeral costs. My step-mom recently died at home, and the cost was about $1300 for body removal, cremation, paperwork, etc. It would have been $300 less if prearranged. That's in Detroit, and I suspect it's varies by location. StuRat 17:03, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

American Idol Judging

What qualifies Simon Cowell to Judge American singing?

Osmosis.   freshgavin TALK    06:06, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

(snert). it's a tv pop quest. None of the judges are likely to be qualified in any way to judge. That's why the winners always sound so godawful. Grutness...wha? 08:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Ultimately, the winners are decided by the public who choose to vote. That said, Simon Cowell is as qualified as just about anybody to judge pop music, given the pop groups he has been involved with, from Il Divo to Westlife. Yes, his experience is mainly British, but the British have a tradition of commercially-successful pop music second only to the US itself. Finally, the actual reason why he's featured on Idol is that, he plays the same role on the UK "Pop Idol" and the producers obviously liked his ability to deliver coherent insults with a Pommy accent (they sound nastier with one, for some reason). --Robert Merkel 11:09, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I notice a similarity with the game show Weakest Link, which also featured constant insults from the host toward the participants. StuRat 13:16, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Probably the fact that he's made several tens of millions of pounds by finding artists who can sell records. Night Gyr 13:21, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

It might be because he owns all rights to the show. Proto t c 13:58, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Shows like American Idol are mainly about humiliating people, and Simon seems to be very good at it. DJ Clayworth 16:35, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

about puerto ricans

im heard that most puerto ricans are black is that true? Well, i dont know how to clarify it but, what im talking about is ancestry and skin color(mostly demographics). so could you clarify that for me? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.200.116.134 (talk)

Well, to be honest, Dominicans seem more "black" to me. I used to get them confused all the time. It lead to some funny moments at the bodega near my apartment. Pacific Coast Highway|^{Leave a message ($.25)} 04:13, 5 June 2025 UTC [refresh]

Global city

I would be glad to know the "Criteria for a city to be called as a global city".

See Global city. David Sneek 07:54, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

number of fire trucks in the usa

They all have different numbers. That's how you can tell them apart. Grutness...wha? 08:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I think the poster's asking for the Number (quantity), rather than the number (designation) or number (contact). I might be wrong though. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 10:37, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Of course if all the guy really is after is the contact number - it's 9-1-1. GeeJo _{(t) (c)} • 10:41, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

connecting t.v--digital set-top box--dvd recoder-foxtel

hello there.as a senior citizen,things are not as easy to grasp as when younger.i have the the 4 items mentioned on subject/headline but am having touble connecting same so they all interact with each other.the handbook with my sony tv tells me how to connect to dvd recorder---the foxtel h/booktells how to connect to t.v etc etc but none show how to connect all 4.if anyone out there can help me or has a web address where i can find out i shall be most grateful.here's hoping bob

The company that supplies the cable TV service to you, should

• (a) do the connection for you with the top box that they supply to control what cable TV you get, so that you can see what they supply,
• (b) tell you if it is legal under their contract with you to be able to have a box to tape the shows.

User:AlMac|^(talk) 09:43, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

number of police cars in the usa

• Try reading the top of the page and rephrase your question. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:17, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Scout Association of Malawi

Can somebody please let me have contact details for The Scout Association of Malawi. Thank you Cecilia Cummings. NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMISSIONER, SCOUTS OF NAMIBIA [email protected]

Try Scout Association - Africa contacts. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 11:42, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

CV21

does anyone know about www.cv21.co.uk......is it a secret advertising/design agency?

1. Visit the site
2. Click on the box that they claim to think outside of
3. You then get an icon where you can send them an e-mail
4. Be patient

User:AlMac|^(talk) 10:29, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

i have tryed to contact them but they do not reply.... as i have heard they work for free if you are the right client...

please advise as i would like to know if anyone has had any luck contacting them.

regards

Mr Hall (OBE)

• contacting whom?
• owns what?

User:AlMac|^(talk) 09:44, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I think he wants to know who owns www.cv21.co.uk -- David Sneek 10:25, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

A Whois lookup got me this:

Registrant: Mr Stuart Mackintosh
Administrative contact's address:
       OpusVL
       26 Butlers Leap
       Rugby
       Warks
       Cv21 3RQ
Registrant's agent:
       Opus Vision Ltd t/a OpusVL [Tag = OPUSVL]
       URL: http://www.opusvl.com

Hope that helps.

<snide> You'd think that, with an OBE, you could afford a spell checker and the necessary brains to write an intelligible question... </snide> — QuantumEleven | (talk) 10:58, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Um, why would you think that? Are those things always awarded on merit? JamesMLane t c 12:19, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, they're awarded for "services to the British Empire" or "services to industry" or something along those lines, which implies some form of merit. But it was a frivolous comment anyway, so I'll just shut up now. — QuantumEleven | (talk) 12:38, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

(sorry in advance for further topic drift) "Sir" Paul McCartney, a man I admire greatly, seems to have a very weak grasp of the Queen's English himself. "this ever-changing world in which we live in?" Ugh. -- Mitchell k dwyer 19:49, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Just to inject a note of perspective here, I very much doubt that the "OBE" referred to by Mr Hall was meant to imply he has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. No idea what it does refer to, but I'd bet $$ it wasn't that. JackofOz 13:07, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Any inputs on Sundari trees

Is there any information on Sundari trees?

Try here. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 12:14, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

"Reverted edits by xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (talk) to last version by Username"

Is there a template that automatically generates this edit summary (or something in monobook.js) ? How can I use it without having to type the whole thing myself? deeptrivia (talk) 14:53, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I asked that myself once to someone who used it; apparently it's an Admin-only thing. Which is a shame, because it's very useful.  Run!  14:55, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

And you can only get to be an administrator if you have been suitly emphazied. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 15:04, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I think that's the due to the magic rollback feature that Administrators have. There is currently a discussion on whether or not non-admins should be given that ability. --Optichan 15:43, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

That's stupid, because it's only a matter of giving more convenience, not of giving more powers (anyone can revert any way). It would help people write better edit summaries. deeptrivia (talk) 16:23, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

But it could easily be abused in edit wars, making it very, very easy to revert over and over again. That's why only admins are trusted with it. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 16:58, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Also see Wheel war and Wikipedia:Wheel war. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 17:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

You can use this by adding User:Sam Hocevar's god mode script to your monobook.js file; document.write('<SCRIPT SRC="http://sam.zoy.org/wikipedia/godmode-light.js"><\/SCRIPT>'); should do the trick. —Charles P._(Mirv) 17:06, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, and I use Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation popups for quick reverting. The problem with these methods is that the editing page has to load the page and then save it , while the rollback feature admins have can revert immediately, requiring less requests and stuff from the server. Using the rollback is easier on the servers. --Optichan 18:31, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The admin version reverts all edits by the last user back to the next user in the history. It isn't the same as reverting to the previous edit. Of course sometimes a third user makes an edit between vandal edits and the admin tool only reverts back to that edit, leaving older vandalism. Rmhermen 18:38, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

query

> Respected Sir/Madam, > > I came to know about the various german universities (list of > universities) through your site but i am unable to get there ranking of the > universities. > > please help me. > > Sincerely > > Chinmay >

The article College and university rankings has a link to CHE-Ranking, which ranks German universities. -- Natalya 16:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Character entity reference for a large indent space (tab)

This article has the character entity reference for a no-break space (& nbsp;), but it doesn't appear to have one for the large space usually provided by the Tab key in word processing programs... is there one and what is it?  Run!  14:52, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

See this. It appears on this paticular computer to turn up as 8 non-breaking spaces. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 15:12, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

You can encode a tab character in HTML as 	. Howevere, this probably won't do you much good, since browsers will normally treat it as just another whitespace character. It may render differently inside PRE tags, but even there the tab stop spacing may vary between browsers (though 8 characters is indeed quite common). See also Tab#Tabs in HTML. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 17:17, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Tab won't work. You could use &emsp; which is a non-breaking space of one em (a line height). Example: these spaces are 1 em in size. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 18:53, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Use the CSS property text-indent if you want them at the beginning of paragraphs. Superm401 - Talk 00:46, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Wall angle illusion

If two exterior walls of a building meet at less than a right angle and make a sharp corner, from some angles one of the walls will appear to be paper-thin. Is there a name for this illusion? —Keenan Pepper 17:20, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

How about a wangle illusion? Sorry about that. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 17:59, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't understand the situation. Could you give us an image? ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 18:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Quick ascii diagram:

    |   /
    |  /
    | /
    |/.....

*

The person standing at * cannot see the diagonal wall (/), and there is nothing where they would expect the other side of the wall to be if they made a right angle (.) so the one wall they can see (|) appears paper-thin. —Keenan Pepper 21:18, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

It's my understanding that this particular illusion doesn't have a name. However, it would fall under the broader heading of 'Cognative Illusion.' see: Optical illusion -LambaJan 09:00, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Right, it's definitely not physiological. I was just wondering if it had a name I could use to Google it. —Keenan Pepper 21:02, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I say it, it writes it

Anyone know what the spoftware that is used that when i speak it types it, i.e i dictate to the computer and it would write it in a word processor, does anyone know what this is called, and where i could possibly download the software from preferably for free. thanks! (7121989 19:12, 27 January 2006 (UTC))

Try Dragon Naturally Speaking or Voice Recognition Software or Speech Recognition Software. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 19:17, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

We also have an article on speech recognition. --Shantavira 19:22, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I haven't looked yet at the speech recognition article, but in addition to Dragon, there's also ViaVoice, which colleagues of mine use all the time for every written document. If you have Windows XP, there's built-in voice-recognition capability not just limited to word-processing; you can use it for executing computer operations, such as opening, deleting, and saving files. -- Mitchell k dwyer 19:39, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

where and how can i access it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 7121989 (talk • contribs)

You can buy it here. hydnjo talk 20:52, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Beware, speech recognition is a real pain. You typically need to "train" it to recognize your words, talk slowly and clearly in an otherwise silent room, and then correct many errors. I used ViaVoice and decided it wasn't worth the effort. StuRat 21:58, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

It eats a lot of computer memory and related resources. IBM has one of the more sophisticated versions (costs more than the computer you put it on) in which you have to read a novel by Mark Twain aloud to the comptuer (takes a couple hours) so it learns how you pronounce words that are common in the English language. Even then, it figures out what words from context of those around (too two to sound the same but from context the computer figures out which you meant), but then if you are not good with the English language (not very literate), this is not going tow rork out very well. The state of art works for someone who can see the text and make corrections. It not do a good job yet for people who are blind and in real need of the technology. User:AlMac|^(talk) 08:37, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

TV presenter

Hello again...Its the person who asked all those questions yesterday, so I thought I would give you all a bit of background. This is the first time we have contacted Wikipedia, a novice I think you would say, as I am with computers. I would like to be able to reply to all your comments individually but I have no idea how to!

No its not trivia or school homework. We are working on a local quiz of 1000 questions and have actually completed around 965. The remaining 30 odd have all been researched extensively by ourselves and have found possible answers for most,but not always conclusive and 100 per cent. So this is why we chose to go to the people that know.Some you have kindly confirmed and others have given us food for thought.The questions are as they are written I'm afraid..rightly or wrongly. We have a few more questions to add to the list and would be grateful for any comments you can give. Many thanks in advance. LuLu

PS the quest on open air venue is in the UK

Q. She runs her own national company, Chronicle 21, as well as often presenting a popular TV programme....Name the person and the programme please --195.92.67.65 20:52, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

According to this, it's Diane Louise Jordan. User:Zoe|^(talk) 04:51, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Film Quotes

'Your faith against the masters.....................' is a famous quote from a film..Can anyone complete it and tell us which film its from--195.92.67.65 20:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Card Games

In Canasta how mnay points is one red worth--195.92.67.65 20:57, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean a red three ? StuRat 21:47, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

advertising

Who is the Face of Chanel no 5--195.92.67.65 20:59, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

It seems several people have been called the face of Channel 5. Do any of those names ring a bell? --Optichan 21:34, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Very droll. I think it's Nicole Kidman. JackofOz 02:15, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Though the ads aren't necessarily featuring her face. - Nunh-huh 04:58, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm sure you're right. I haven't seen the ads in question, I;ve just gone from our article on her, which says she "is the current face of the iconic Chanel No. 5 perfume brand." Cheers JackofOz 05:19, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Mostly they feature her back. In a dress with whatever the opposite of a plunging neckline is. A plunging backline? - Nunh-huh 05:26, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Depending on how far the "backline" plunges, that may be a kind of face. It certainly has cheeks. JackofOz 12:59, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo

In the first Gigolo movie, I remember an unusual exchange between Deuce and Kate during their "blind date." If I remember correctly, it went something like this:

Kate: "No, good luck to any girl that goes up there, but no, that's not for me."

Deuce: "You mean space exploration is out of the question for you?"

Kate: "I just don't think girls are meant to go all the way up there. Good luck to any girl who wants to be an astronaut."

Kate: "Frankly, I'd rather take it up the ass."

That last line confused the shit out of me (no pun intended). Were they talking about a woman having sex on top of the man or was they actually talking about space exploration? Why did she add that last line about taking it up the ass?

Please answer this question; I can't sleep until I find out.--192.160.130.12 21:59, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

See anal sex. Yeltensic42.618 don't panic 22:20, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Where is the emphasis in the last line? If she says "Frankly, I'd' rather take it up the ass" she may be referring to pegging.

The way I read it is this. Kate does not want to go into space. In fact, so strongly does she not want to go into space that if it came to a choice between going into space and being sodomised, she would prefer being sodomised.

Presumably she considers sodomy to be an unpleasant experience, but when it comes to space travel, everything is relative. JackofOz 12:56, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Science fiction

hey guys. i'm preparing a speech in public speaking class (imagine that) and i'm looking for examples of inventions/concepts/ideas found in science fiction/fantasy books that have modern-day parallels. for instance: the game played by the children in Orson Scott Card's book Ender's Game featured 'guns' that fired light beams, which then froze the suit of a given child, disabling him/her. the MILES system in use by the US Army is very similar, as it fires infrared light and sets off sensors worn by the soldiers to indicate a hit. any contributions would be appreciated. thanks, --66.82.9.42 22:00, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Ooh, this is an interesting topic. Sadly, my brain has frozen, so let me think... Possibly my favourite is the Future Force Warrior, a US Army project to create an extremely advanced future soldier with a powered exoskeleton, bearing a resemblence to Heinlein's Mobile Infantry in Starship Troopers. I'm sure others can do much better. Sum0 22:41, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

There are plenty (it's not the point of science fiction - although that's a different topic). The best known would probably be Arthur C. Clarke's suggestion of the use of communication satellites in one of his books. Another well-known example is the design of the communicators used in Star Trek, which are almost identical to modern cell-phones. Mobile phones themselves were first envisaged by Robert Heinlein. Closed-circuit TV was shown in the 1930s movie Metropolis. And Hugo Gernsback's 1920s novel "Ralph 124C41+" had dozens of things in it which have since become real items (though sadly the book is so dull as to be virtually unreadable). And one author (whose name sadly eludes me, although it was one of the biggies - Asimov, maybe?) was hauled before the US government authorities in the early 1940s for writing a novel featuring an atom bomb - at a time when top-secret research was going on to create the first one. Grutness...wha? 22:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

You will probably get more and more through examples of this on the USENET group rec.arts.sf.written -- people ther love this kind of question. The author involved with teh "atom bomb" story, by the way, was Cleve Cartmill, then a major author but now rahter obscure. Asimov may have been influenced nby this incident in writing his story "Pate de Fois Gras". DES ^(talk) 23:06, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

On the Cell-phone example, an earlier and more through anticipation is the 'Pocket phone' mentioend in the opening chapter of Space Cadet by R.A, Heinlein. Anotehr famed example is the antiapation of the internet itslf in "A Logic named Joe" by Murry Leinster. Yet another is the Waterbed, in Heinlein's "Waldo", although this was in turn anticipated for invalids in actual practice, as recorded by Mark Twain in "A New Beecher Church". DES ^(talk) 23:10, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The Boys from Brazil was one of the first sci-fi books to deal with human cloning, back in 1976. Sum0 23:43, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry it was alreasy so common as to be trite then. The Duplicated Man' dates from the early 1950s, as does the calssic "Rogue Moon", and there are many others. Niven's "Organ Bank" (Gil Hamilton) stories of the late 60s and 70s are also relevant. DES ^(talk) 00:12, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

• I believe early episodes of The Jetsons featured a cooking device very much like a microwave oven. When that no longer seemed futuristic enough, they switched to dehydrated food.

• Gattaca featured genetic screening and engineering of humans.

StuRat 00:02, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

• • Both of these were featured in written SF in the early 1950s if not before. "Radio cooking" was IIRC used in several of the Heinlein "juvies" of that period. There are quite probably earlier examples yet. Cloning and genetic engineering were already stables of pre WWII written SF. Harrison's Deathworld series comnes to mind, and does Schmitz's "Feederation fo the Hub" (Telzy Amberson) series. DES ^(talk) 00:08, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

• Above, Grutness suggested that "the best known would probably be Arthur C. Clarke's suggestion of the use of communication satellites in one of his books." Sorry, but this is a wrong example. Clarke did suggest the use of the geostationary orbit for communications satellites, but this was in a nonfiction article. Now let's see:
  • The waldo was conceived by Robert A. Heinlein in the story of that name.
  • Heinlein is also credited with conceiving the waterbed; follow the link.
  • During WW2, in "Solution Unsatisfactory", Heinlein conceived the idea of radioactive dust as a weapon of war: like the dirty bomb known today, minus the explosive used as a method of distribution.
  • Much earlier, H.G. Wells envisioned nuclear weapons in The World Set Free. However, his atomic bombs were bombs that "exploded continuously" for days rather than bombs of great force.
  • Isaac Asimov, in the story "The Feeling of Power", imagined that calculators (or possibly even computers; it's not clear from the story how much power he imagined them having) would be reduced to pocket size. And then he went on to imagine that once this happened, simple arithmetic would become a forgotten art. We're getting there...
  • Murray Leinster conceived something remarkably like the Internet as we know it today, and anticipated the issues of personal privacy and of censorship for underage users that we know with today's Net, in the story "A Logic Named Joe". This was written in 1946, before the word "computer" was even established in its modern meaning; "a logic" in the title means a computer.
  • In John Brunner's 1975 novel The Shockwave Rider, a "worm" or "tapeworm" is a computer program that propagates autonomously in a network.
  • Finally, a throwaway joke: during the production of the movie A Space Odyssey, Clarke commented that the publicity department at MGM must have typewriters where the press of a single key would produce the phrase "Never before, in the history of science fiction". Our younger readers may need to be reminded that on an actual typewriter as they then existed, the press of one key produced one character.
  • (On rereading the other parts, I see that I've mentioned a couple of items that were already given. Sorry about that; I'll leave them in anyway for the sake of the links.) --Anonymous, 01:45 UTC, January 28, 2006.
• Good list. Of course, while Clarke's proposal of geostationary communications sats was non-fiction, he showed some of the possible consequences of easy global communications in "I remember Babylon". DES ^(talk) 01:56, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
  • true of course - I was going from my (frequently faulty) memory. Still, I think that's a pretty reasonable list we've assembled overall... Grutness...wha? 02:51, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

many thanks are in order. a fantastic list, guys. i really appreciate it. --66.82.9.42 03:15, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm a little late to the party, but the author who wrote about the atomic bomb shortly before it was used (and got into trouble with the FBI) was Cleve Cartmill. --Fastfission 05:13, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

• Nanotechnology is just taking off today, with many companies in many nations scrambling to get involved. The idea was first described in Science Fiction in the 1960's in novels by Stephen Baxter and Paul McAuley. They were talking about using it in the area of biology. In real life so far it has only been used in manufacturing.
• When did the equal rights for women feminism movement begin to take off? Was it given a helping hand, or prediction in Science Fiction? Consider Ursula Le Guin's[ Left Hand of Darkness] (1969); Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (1985). movies like Alien, where women played strong roles, and in Star Trek, where people other than white males had strong roles and equality, first coming out at a time when there was vast discrimination and prejudice in the real world.
• Protecting Ecology and the environment, and understanding this aspect of our planet, are concepts first explored by science fiction, such as Frank Herbert's Dune (1965) and other stories; George Stewart's Earth Abides (1949); Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity (1954),
• Dystopia is the concept of a society or community gone wrong. Science Fiction shows us how humans can screw up big time with technology, providing us with inspiration how to prevent it from happening, or watch the horrible stuff unfold, like George Orwwll's Nineteen Eight Four (1949). In the name of protecting the innocent from terrorism, we are headed towards a society in which the state has the power to know everything we do.
• Cybercrime has not been well predicted by SF, but look at all the Robot detective stories. Here we have expectations of intelligent behavior by machines. Real robots today are mainly used in manufacturing, and do not resemble the stories by Asimov and other giants, but consider the plots of the robot stories, then consider how much trouble we now have from malware. I see parallels.
• Biotechnology has been big business in recent decades, perhaps partially due to discoveries by the human genome project mapping out human DNA to the point that scientists are now able to design new life forms to perform specific tasks, such as environmental cleanup. Science Fiction first considered genetic engineering, cloning, biological warfare, body augmentation, and similar concepts in novels like H.G.Wells The Island of Dr Moreau (1896}; Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932); Frederick Pohl's Man Plus (1976); and others could be mentioned.
  • How erecently have we had cloning for real? A decade or so. Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park (1990) probably catapulted the concept into the public consousness, with the movie having more success than The Boys from Brazil, but the topic was also found in SF in other novels such as Kate Wilhelm's Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (1975) and Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972).

User:AlMac|^(talk) 08:51, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

• Oh, we are but all sci-fi geeks at heart. H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (novel) features Heat-Rays, which are said to predict the laser. --Sum0 10:37, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

January 28

Cropping Websites And Images For Printing (A4).... Possible...???

How do i crop an oversized website or image for printing on a piece of standard A4 size paper...???

First off, you must be referring to an individual web page, as a web site may consist of hundreds of pages, and I doubt if you would want to print all of it. Next, cropping might be a poor choice, as typically scaling down the image to fit the paper is a better choice. However, if you're sure you want to trim it, then you could do a screen grab, paste it into a software product like Microsoft Paint, then use that product to crop the image. I'm assuming you have a windows PC here. If you can't get the entire web page on the screen at once, even under max resolution, then this method would require that you use the Print Screen button one section at a time, which would be quite time consuming. Perhaps someone else has a better solution for this case. StuRat 02:20, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

A webpage should resize to fit whichever size paper you print to, just as it adapts to the size of the browser window you view it in. Unless there is some element that doesn't resize, such as an image, so I suppose that is what you mean (as with some images here on Wikipedia image pages, such as this nice one by me: [13]). I'll assume you're viewing the page 'live' on the Internet. I don't know if there is an easier solution (there should be), but what you could do is download the page (Ctrl-S) and the image (right-click it and select 'download image') to the same directory. Then open the downloaded page in a text editor (not a browser) and look for <img src="[photo-file]". This will, however, be the image on the site. Change [photo-file] to simply the filename on your computer (if it's in the same dir - else you'll have to specify the path, absolute or relative, but that would unnecessarily complicate this). You should put that between the quotes - the complete name, with the jpg (or whichever) extension. Now you should be able to view it offline, with the image intact. Then, open the image in an image editor and resize it. You speak of cropping, but that is removing bits of the edges of the image, but I suppose you mean resize - keeping the complete image but making it smaller (reducing the amount of pixels), so look for that term in whichever image editing program you use.

Addition: if you just want to print the image (not the whole page), it's better to do that with the printing software (something like 'fit to page'). The image editor will also have an option to reduce the amount of cm's (or inches, whichever the program uses). Note that this does not alter the image itself, whereas the former solution (reducing the amount of pixels) does. It just changes a 'tag' attached to the image that will tell any printing application which size to print it in. But, as I said, you should be able to override that with the printing software. DirkvdM 12:48, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

criminal transmission of HIV

Hello, my name is Andrea Bruno, and I'm from Argentina. I'm writing to see if you can give me any legal advice as to how to proceed with an American citizen from NY who is infecting women with HIV intentionally leaving the condom inside them soon after starting the sexual act and then ejaculating inside them.Our legal system is terrible, and I wanted to know if it is possible to charge him under American laws even though he is doing this here.

Thank you,

Andrea Bruno --200.114.173.43 02:09, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

No, I don't think so. In general, any crime committed by an American outside US territory is considered to be outside the jurisdiction of US courts. I know of one exception: Adults who travel to foreign countries to have sex with children may be charged in US courts, regardless of the legality of those acts in that country.

However, why can't you just charge the person with attempted murder in Argentina ? I don't see why a special law would be needed for this case.

StuRat 02:30, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

The other piece of good news is that the risk of a single unprotected sexual encounter with a person with HIV is not as high as you might think, according to our AIDS article, particularly absent risk factors like a preexisting infection with another sexually transmitted disease. So, while this certainly doesn't excuse this individual's alleged disgusting behaviour, with a bit of luck he may not have actually infected anybody. StuRat is right, though; it should theoretically be a crime under Argentinian law. One option that might be possible if criminal conviction is impossible, but you have convincing evidence of his behaviour, is to bring it to the attention of the immigration authorities. Visas can generally be revoked on "character" grounds even in the absence of a specific criminal offence. --Robert Merkel 11:57, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

• First make sure the person is reported to the police as soon as possible. The longer one waits with this the less chance there is of revealing useful evidence. Someone cannot be convicted without a police investigation. - Mgm|^(talk) 15:56, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Other languages

In norwegian all new content in articles which administrators diagree about (typical philisophical or political) is removed by the administrators (not normal users!) and writer is banned for noe valid reason. They do never discuss the matter and explicit disagree with this principle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Resolving_disputes - When someone makes an edit you consider biased or inaccurate, improve the edit, rather than reverting it.

In Norwegian version everybody has to agree that socialist point of view is the only truth and if anybody write or insert a link that does not support socialist theory, they are usually censored/banned. Why do english version of wikipedia link to the Norwegian when the principles of how to write articles are opposite of the english version? The principle above should be a must for all language versions - else they should not be linked to. There is no point linking to a left-hand propaganda machinery which is strongly biased to classic socialist point of view. Who agree with this?

Norwegian version is NOT a norwegian version of the english but a propaganda machinery for the socialist way of thinking.

Which Norwegian wikipedia, no or nn? I'm not sure how to deal with this as I don't speak Norwegian. Perhaps it's best to contact Wikimedia, the parent of all the Wikipedias. --Sum0 10:32, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

He is talking about the bokmål version. He is most likely talking about the article about capitalism, which he keeps saying it's just the socialists point of view, and using offensive language to other administrators and users. He is, by the way, the only with his point of view. ~ Mathias-S 11:02, 28 January 2006 (UTC) (no)

It might be usefull to add that according to him the only party in Norway which is pro capitalism is a party that got all of 213 votes (0.0%) at the elections in 2005. The rest are social democrats or worse. There is currently a discussion on how to treat bad language about other users. Haros 11:12, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I wonder if something like this could happen at all. If only admins could vote for new admins, it could if the first few are of a certain political (or whatever) opinion and conspire in such a malevolent way. But they're chosen by any user who wishes to vote, so this sounds like a very unlikely scenario. DirkvdM 12:57, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I am not an admin myself at the Norwegian Wikipedia, but I can confirm what you say, DirkvdM. The user posting this is most likely the (one of the) only user(s) with that thought. The Norwegian (bokmål) Wikipedia is a normal Wikipedia, just as all the others. Mathias-S 17:25, 28 January 2006 (UTC) (no)

Controller configuration code for Unreal Tournament 2004

I am looking to find a controller configuration code for unreal tournament 2004. Ive searched all the Atari and Unreal forum pages and tried just about everything they have to offer. ive changed the User (Type:configuration settings)file like 4 times and nothing seems to work. what is happening is that i have a playstation 2 controller hooked up through the USB port on my computer. and the left joystick works but the right one does not. the right joystick is "suppose to" look left right up and down. the left one moves your charecter. and in order to play that particular game i need to be able to look around. so I am wondering what line of code on the joystick part of the USER file i am leaving out or adding in the wrong place. please help me!!! Thank you, Boggled Gamer

Age to purchase a hotel room

What is the legal age that one may purchase a hotel room in Houston, Texas?

Watch out ... I have been to some hobby conventions, where people reserved hotel rooms, drove hundreds of miles, then when they tried to check into the hotel, the front desk refused to honor the reservations because the attendees were too young. User:AlMac|^(talk) 09:19, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

So, if there is any doubt (say if you're under 21), ask when you make the reservation. StuRat 11:30, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Never thought such a thing might happen. But a backpacker's wouldn't turn kids away. Unless they're really young, maybe, but I've done a lot of travelling and never heard of this happening. Then again, it might be different in the US. Or is there something special about Houston? DirkvdM 13:01, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Part of what's different is we don't know what "a backpacker's" is. Maybe a hostel? But we have few of those. Rmhermen 13:48, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, it's a hostel. I made a redirect there now since among backpackers it's a very common term because the word 'hostel is too easily associated with youth hostels (the biggest yuk there is in travelling, apart from a few notable exceptions, escpecially outside cities). DirkvdM 14:28, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I see you edited the hostel article just before I did. You might have another lok at that and youth hostel, both of which I have altered to clarify this. DirkvdM 18:33, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

DVD player

Whenever I watch a widescreen DVD, the image is distorted. How come? KeeganB

Regular TV, widescreen TV, and widescreen DVDs all have different aspect ratios. Some TVs and DVD players let you pick what to do if the aspect ratio of the source is different from that of the display device (TV). If not, then either your TV or your DVD player is deciding how to handle the issue. -- Rick Block (talk) 05:19, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Do you have a widescreen TV? If not, go into your player's SETUP section and make sure your ratio is set to 4:3 (Letterbox).

I appreciate the replies. I was able to fix the problem. KeeganB

Msn 7.0

I have msn 7.0 and on the personal message if u click on the arrow it says turn on what i'm listening to, I clicked on it and it used to work, showing people what I listen to, now it hasn't worked for ages even though it has a tick next to it...can you please help me?!?! Are you running Windows Media Player at the same time? 81.131.53.86 14:02, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, are you running Windows Media Player whilst MSN Messenger is already loaded? ^KILO-_LIMA 16:12, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Uni

I live in Australia and I want to get into an english uni, I'm in my first year of highscool, how can I get into it?

Go to the school's website and look at their admission requirements. Don't mess around trying to meet them. Also ask your school's guidance counsellor, that's actually their specialty. Other than that I would say to be well rounded, do some extra-curriculars, take an interest in your community and have a fun childhood! It's over before you know it! Oh yeah, it's always a bonus to apply early, get all your papers in order, and work on your written and public communication. Don't worry. As long as you keep at it here and there you should have plenty of time to work things out. -LambaJan 08:47, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

By the way, the recommendations above will help no matter where you want to study. Be aware, though, that it will be much more expensive for you to study overseas (where you'll have to pay the full course fees unless you get a scholarship) than it will be studying at home in Australia. Another option you can think about is doing a student exchange while you're at university, where you spend a year studying at an overseas university and the balance in your home country.

Finally, the UK is an expensive place for Australians to study, but a lucractive place to work, because both costs and wages are higher in the UK. Maybe you consider working there for a time before or after you finish your degree. --Robert Merkel 11:22, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

How does working help? Not in a rude way, lol, just in an interested way, also how old do you have to be to apply at universities?

Working helps by providing you with money, which you can exchange for food at shops. I don't think there's a minimum age- every so often an obnoxious 13-year-old goes to Oxford to study maths, so if there are rules they can certainly be waived. Many Scottish children go to university at the age of 17, though earlier than that would be unusual. Mark¹ 13:48, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

The underage applications to Oxford are, I believe, likely to stop in the next year or so. If memory serves, recent child protection laws would mean that everyone resident in the college would have to pass a background check, and with several hundred undergraduates plus staff, the cost alone of processing this paperwork would be unsupportable. Shimgray | talk | 14:32, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Previous questions

How do I find previous questions that I asked which arn't in the list anymore?

See the Reference Desk Archive ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 08:30, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Use Google. Wikipedia is constantly scanned by google bots, so if you remember your question and google it with the keywords "wikipedia" and "reference" you might just get a direct link.  Run!  10:16, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

hermione granger

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/doomphoenix/ewwall3.jpg

That picture I found on a website with emma watson/hermione granger wallpapers, I found the link on emma-watson.net, but I can't find them anymore, please help!

Why not go to the site and click on the contact us and ask them for the info? CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 14:31, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I just noticed that down on the right hand side is a link that enables you to pay $2 or £1 to buy Emma Watson a song from itunes. And if the make enough money they will buy her a ipod. We need to start a campaign to ensure that child actors (and possibly adults) are paid a decent amount of money so they can afford their own music and ipods. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 14:39, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

• I'm positive she can. It's just a few fans rallying to surprise their idol. - Mgm|^(talk) 16:01, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, I thought the sarcasam was obvious. I would have thought that it would have been a better idea to raise the money to donate to a charity of Watson's choosing. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 16:09, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

the monkey prince

I've just been watching 'the monkey prince', is it a documentary? ANd what sort of monkeys are they?

Try one of the links from here. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 12:31, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

mirrors

The total lack of any posted question about mirrors reflects poorly on you. StuRat 11:27, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Maybe he/she was obeying Sartre's maxim: Mirrors should think longer before they reflect. JackofOz 12:40, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I'd imageine StuRat's wikilink was what they were looking for... AJR | Talk 18:42, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

how to edit "article not found" page

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Article_not_found&action=edit

i want to change this

"We don't have an article with this title, but you can create it if you log in or create an account. As an unregistered user, you may also submit the content that you wish to have created. Please read our introduction for more information about Wikipedia"

into this

"We don't have an article with this title, but you can create it if you log in or create an account(Registering a free account takes only a few seconds, and has many benefits:you simply need to choose a username and password and click "create account".). As an unregistered user, you may also submit the content that you wish to have created. Please read our introduction for more information about Wikipedia"

why: because most of the website use e-mail for submiting password and procedures are quite long and so we need to show that it's very fast and convenient...

i didn't get an acount for a long time for this reason

there is also a huge number of pages that are waiting to be created at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requested_articles mabe a lot of theses people have posted their articles here because of the same reason(i did once(about a comparison of unix subsystem under windows(sfu,cygwin...)))

I would suggest that you try Wikipedia:Village pump and look under the Proposals section. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 14:49, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

This is not a page that a "ordinary" editor can alter. You would need to get some consensus for your proposed changes and then a more privileged user may make the changes you desire. Rmhermen 15:03, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

That text can be edited at MediaWiki:Nocreatetext, but only if you are a sysop. You should propose the changes at MediaWiki talk:Nocreatetext. --cesarb 16:11, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Green Mold

Can you please tell me what is the best chemical mixture to remove green mold (algea?) from dry-vit stucco which would be least harmful to foliage and environment. Thank you, D. Harleman

I recommend also asking this in the Sciences section if you haven't already done so - you might be able to get some attention from the resident biologists and chemists.  Run!  17:39, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Then again, you're to supposed to double post. Maybe you can move this short thread there (I mean remove it here), with an introductory explanation. DirkvdM 18:37, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

College Porters in U.S.

The article porters' lodge claims that they exist in the U.S. and Canada as well as in the UK. Since I have never seen a U.S. college/university with a closed quad, I wonder if this is true. Do any U.S. colleges have porters and/or lodge? The article Porter (college) makes no mention of non-UK porters in its very short text. Rmhermen 17:19, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

The Matrix

What was the name of the song that was playing in the first movie where Neo goes to the party with his friends and Trinity meets him? The one in the club?

Rob Zombie's Dragula (perhaps a remix of it) ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 18:08, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Drum beating

Dear Sirs:

We watch FoxNews quite a bit in the evening, but find it very annoying to have a loud drum beating all the time the announcers are giving the news.

Why is the drum beating necessary? Do you think you need it to keep your audience awake?

Sincerely,

D Luhta

Funny, I never hear any drums.... --Zeizmic 20:42, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I am curious why you are asking this question of us? Do you think we are Fox? Notinasnaid 21:30, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Tennis

How does tennis scoring work? So it goes 5-10-30-40-win (need 5 'points' to win), then you win the match? And there are 6 matches in a set, and 3 sets in a game? The tennis article doesn't help.

Have a look a the tennis scoring article, if you need more help, come back and ask here and we'll be happy to help. :-) Akamad 22:16, 28 January 2006 (UTC)