Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous

August 30

"Drumming for a song"

For the song "Fading Lights", the last track featured in Genesis's 1991 album, We Can't Dance, what are the percussion fills you would have to follow (like Phil Collins did); what is the musical notation of drumming for that exact song? --Writer Cartoonist 01:50, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Shipping costs on Ebay

I am a first time seller on ebay. what i am wondering is when i am using a shipping service like United Parcel Service for example, how does the shipping service know that the buyer of an item has paid shipping costs. Do i have to give the shipping service a detail of what has been paid?--logger 04:21, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

No, UPS doesn't care who gets paid what as long as they get their money from you when you ship it. Generally, you sell an item and state that the buyer will pay shipping. So the buyer pays you the shipping and then you use that money to pay UPS to ship it. That's it. UPS just takes it from you and delivers it. They don't care where you got the money. Dismas|^(talk) 05:23, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

All right i think i get it now. Just seemed confusing.--logger 05:26, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Actually, on eBay, the routine seems to be: The buyer pays "shipping", the seller then takes the majority of that "shipping" money as "extra profit", and then pays UPS or the USPS a pittance to actually transport the thing.

Atlant 12:30, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Technically it is "shipping and handling", the latter being an entirely nebulous and subjectively defined category (since you can include the price of your "time" in handling). But I agree that it is often far beyond the actual price of shipping and materials. Sometimes you can even find auctions that are super, super cheap but have outrageous S&H costs, which as far as I am concerned are intentionally meant to be deceptive.

But yeah, to answer the original question, figure out how much the object weighs (roughly), figure out how much the shipping will cost (roughly), and add that on the page to the correct place. Then when the buyer pays, that is added to the total price. You don't have to worry about it being exact (as exact rates can vary depending on where it is shipped to), but you want to get it mostly in the right ballpark. If you have overly inflated shipping prices it will cut down on the maximum amount people are willing to bid, as they are taking that into consideration as well. --24.147.86.187 15:09, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Careful though. I've bought something from a person who listed an item with the postage too cheap, because it turned out that the item weighed a few grams over the boundary between two classes. They explained (after posting it) and I paid the extra, because I'm a nice person and I saw what the weight was listed as when other people were selling this item, but other people might not be so willing to pay if you make the same mistake. Skittle 21:52, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

I haven't bought or sold anything on eBay for a while now but it did used to be the case that sellers were prohibited (under threat of account termination) from listing super-cheap items with super-expensive shipping/handling. I have no reason to think that they'll have changed it (after all, eBay make their money by taking a cut of the final auction price - not including the S+H). If you see someone doing that, report it.

The main reason I got sick of eBay was the sheer number of sellers listing items for sale that they did not physically have in their possession to sell at the time of listing and could not obtain for shipping by the end of the auction. Paying, then waiting in vain for two weeks for a parcel to arrive, only to be told "sorry - our suppliers did not have the item in stock, have a refund" (only after emailing myself to find out what was going on) is just NOT F'KIN ACCEPTABLE. This is prevalent amongst music/book/DVD sellers and is the number one issue I would like to see people being banned for. --Kurt Shaped Box 22:09, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

p/o name

In the context of bookselling, what is "p/o name"? -- Миборовский 07:42, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Nevermind, it hit me 5 seconds later. Previous owner name. :) -- Миборовский 07:45, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Right. It probably means that their name is printed on the inside cover. Personally I think that is pretty cool at times — it is nice to know that "John Q. Maguffen, Hollywood, California, 1965" owned this book (or something along those lines); it gives you a little sneak peak into its past life. --24.147.86.187 15:10, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

The niftiest example I've encountered was an Icelandic-English dictionary that once belonged to E. R. Eddison (who translated Egils saga). Found it quite unexpectedly while loitering in the library of a private residence. —Tamfang 08:00, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

… whose owner has a Wikipedia article, btw. —Tamfang (talk) 01:26, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

A thorough manga question...

I like the Naruto manga. I've calculated when Naruto's Part II aura would end by putting in the number of the final chapter of Kakashi Gaiden (244) and the number of the final chapter of Part I (238). I thought that if Part I ended with 238 chapters, then Part II may end with 238 chapters as well. My little math problem with the chapter numbers equaled to an answer: chapter 482. So, would chapter 482 be where the Part II saga ends in Naruto? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sirdrink13309622 (talk • contribs) 11:10, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

You should ask this question on the Entertainment Desk instead - you'll get a better answer that way. SteveBaker 11:23, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

shrinking clothes

Why do clothes shrink?is there any possible way to bring them back to its normal size?does hot water help in bringing them back to there normal size?

thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Arya237 (talk • contribs) 11:20, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

This[1] seems to answer your question. --Taraborn 11:48, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

As for stretching them, get them wet and then apply stretching force to them, such as by stuffing wet shoes with newspaper. Wearing tight clothes is another way to stretch them out again. StuRat 04:21, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

But don't get your hopes up, since the change is generally on the fibre level. You will never get the clothes back to normal, although you might stretch them a bit. Skittle 11:21, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Chicken Stock

Chicken Stock is usually made with bones. However, does it matter if I just put in a chicken carcass without trimming the meat or the fat? Often, I find my stock tastes a little greasy and I'm wondering if thats why. I still skim the fat regularly and all, but it still has a bit of a funny taste...

--Cacofonie 12:24, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Stock is made from the bones and carcass leftovers because the meat already went to some better purpose ;-). But there's certainly nothing wrong with making your stock out of the better bits. In any case, as you've realized, you probably want to skim the stock several times as it cooks to remove the excess chicken fat (and sometimes, random scum). But another useful approach is to then refrigerate the finished stock and then mechanically remove the layer of fat that congeals at the top of the container.

Atlant 12:34, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

You won't get the most flavor out if you just put a whole chicken corpse in the water. At the very least, you'll want to whack it with a cleaver enough to break open the larger bones, but that's still not a great way to make stock. It would be cheaper, better, and less wasteful to just buy some good authentic stock from Whole Foods or similar. --Sean 13:48, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Yikes! I hope that: (a) My wife doesn't read this. (b) Sean's physical address is not traceable via the internet. The violence that can result from telling a French woman that her chicken stock isn't as good as "the crap that Whole Foods sell" is fairly impressive. SteveBaker 14:56, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Tell her, in my defense, that I thought the poster meant s/he was going to take a whole raw chicken and put it unadorned in a pot of water. I'm also a stock snob, so hopefully she'll give me a reprieve this once. --Sean 16:05, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

I apologize. By Caracas I simply meant the lefftovers of a roast chicken (so its definately not wasteful!). I just wanted to know whether I should scrape off the meat and the fat.... But i think it is good advice to break open the carcass and bones as they cook as that would help! --Cacofonie 15:58, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

What seasoning are you using? Under-seasoned stock can have rather a "flat" taste. DuncanHill 16:10, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

No need to remove the meat/fat on a feasted upon chicken - note - no need to skim the fat - wait until the stock is finished and let it cool - the fat will float to the top and probably solidfy - much easier to remove (a fridge helps to solidfy the fat).87.102.14.233 17:42, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Somebody can probably give you the definative answer on removing the greasy taste - often people add vegetables to the mix while making the stock - maybe that would help if you don't already do it - like 1 onion, and 1 stick celery.. something like that.87.102.14.233 17:42, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

It's got to be said that chicken stock of itself especially without the other veg/spice ingrediants - doesn't actually taste that good...87.102.14.233 17:51, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

In the method my mother taught me for chicken stock, you don't pick the meat off the carcass until after boiling up the stock, since it makes the stock extra tasty and it's easier to get the bits off afterwards. We make it by putting the carcass in a pot of water with a carrot or two, maybe some leek, potato, seasoning, etc and boiling for a long time. After straining everything out, you can easily get the meat off the carcass to re-add to the soup later (if that's what you're making). Obviously skimming the fat fits in there too :) So this method has worked for us for a very long time, creating tasty soup, leading me to conclude that leaving the meat and fat on during boiling is okay. Skittle 21:48, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

... and by 'Caracas', I meant carcas, not a Latin American capitol city.... Thanks for the advice everyone. Another question though, I notice alot people say 'boil'. I'd always been told thats it best to simmer! To bring to boil then keep just under a simmer for 3-4 hours. What do you think? --65.94.93.53 23:09, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Definately simmer, that's what Marguerite Patten says and I trust her implicitly. DuncanHill 09:52, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Ah, I think it's semantics. I tend to include simmering as a subset of boiling, possibly others don't? Skittle 11:19, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm shocked. Nigella Lawson uses instant bouillon. Corvus cornix 16:51, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

management of machines and materials

explain how the system concept can be used in explaining the term waste and waste management? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.65.196.195 (talk) 17:38, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

As far as I can tell a 'system concept' would be an idea/way of looking at things/managing things with things/proceedures/interelationships being broken down/built up/ described in terms of systems.

And the term 'waste and waste management' is not explained by a 'system concept'

Could you explain again - differently.87.102.14.233 17:56, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Unless you meant "describe a waste management plant in terms of systems?" or "use the system concept to explain waste management" something like that??87.102.14.233 17:59, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

If so the page Waste management should help - I'll list a few of the systems involved just in case

Waste collection system, waste sorting system, employee wage systems, safety systems, recycling systems.

The page system also gives a good description of the different things that can be a system.

These systems and others wil have to interact (sometimes called 'interface') with other systems such as safety certification systems..

Systems engineering is probably the page to read if you want to know more about the 'system concept'213.249.232.26 18:25, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Social Security and the death of my Father

This is about what I found out about SS after my Father died. Did you know that the checks are a month behind? Such as the check they recieve in August is for the month of July. Did you know that if the person recieving SS dies before the 1st of the month that SS takes back all of the previous months check. Example: My Father died on July 28, 2007, his SS check for July was deposited (he had auto deposit) on August 1, 2007 and was taken back on August 3, 2007. That's just not right. The money was his, he was alive all but 3 day's of that month. He was living with and taking care of my disabled Sister and had already sent out payment's for his August bill's. If my Sister didn't have me her whole world whould have fell apart. The death of my Father was hard on us, but dealing with the financial aspects was devastating. I can't believe they are aloud to do this. They say more or less that my Father didn't exist the month of July. It's wrong. I want to change it. I think they should at least pro-rate the money. The recievers of SS should get their money for everyday they are alive. I need help. I want to make people aware of this. Everyone I've talked to since my Father's death had no idea the SS system worked this way. I also want to change the law, not sure how to start the ball rolling.I need any and all tip's, hint's, and help. Thank you for your time. Cathy Malone —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.59.141.152 (talk) 18:13, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

I am very sorry to hear of your loss and troubles. Unfortunately, we cannot (and are not qualified to) offer legal advice on Wikipedia, nor is the Reference Desk meant as a forum for political debate or strategizing. That said, I am guessing that, even if the law were in your favor, the cost of hiring a lawyer to recover the money would be greater than your father's monthly check. You might try contacting your congressperson, who could see about intervening on your behalf to recover the money or, failing that, might be talked into sponsoring a law to insure that this doesn't happen to others. Marco polo 18:34, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

There are small claims courts in most states. Since the amount is likely in the 3-4k range, you might be able to take it in and have them rule on it.Its quite cheap to do so and states have pamphlets etc to show you how to file. I realize its frustrating and unfair, however, please note that the Soc.Sec. guys carried your father from at least 65 to his passing away, without missing a beat. Something to be said for Uncle Sam on the positive side (I am not a govt. employee). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.131.128.182 (talk) 19:04, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

The particular provision that governs the payment of a deceased individual's benefits has been part of the law since 1939, according to the Social Security Administration's website: [2].

"...Social Security benefits are not payable for the month in which a beneficiary dies. This applies whether the person dies on the first or the last day of the month. This provision has been in the law since 1939 and can be changed only by an amendment to the Social Security Act. The legislative history of this provision does not show why benefits are not payable for the month of death. However, the provision complements the provision of the law that allows us to pay survivors benefits for the entire month of death."

The Social Security Administration has a couple of programs for individuals with disabilities (Link here). You should probably check out their website, visit one of their offices, or consult a qualified expert to determine if your sister is eligible.

To change a law requires an act of Congress; as Marco polo suggests, you can speak to your Congressional Representative to get that ball rolling. (Your Congressperson may also be able to offer you other assistance in resolving disputes with the government; their office staff often have experience in navigating the bureaucracy.) TenOfAllTrades(talk) 19:11, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Fairness has never been a salient feature of SS. —Tamfang 06:43, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Incorrect info in a movie plot

I just saw the film The Heart Is Deceitful and today I read the article and there is numerous inconstancies and incorrect information and missing information in the large plot. What should be done? Who do I tell. What do I do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.220.2.13 (talk) 20:31, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

Our usual advice in similar situations is to Be bold! DuncanHill 20:33, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

But, if you don't want to edit it yourself, you can bring up those issues on the discussion page for that article. There's no guarantee that others will agree with you and make the change, though. StuRat 04:13, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Some Commemorative 1904 $20 Gold Coin

My friend at work picked this Gold Coin up on the street. Is there a price guide for it? Is it even worth face value of $20? Sorry, I don't have a digital camera or color copier to show a better pic of the piece. (Used the ole' XeroxWorkcentrePro275 for imaging.) [CLICK HERE] --i am the kwisatz haderach 21:03, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, Paul, a real double eagle or any gold coin of equivalent size would be worth at least the value of the gold in it, which is a lot more than $20 now — in which case I would urge your friend to turn the coin over to the police, as the owner might want it back. But as you can see at that link, this coin does not match either of the designs used for real double eagles. I can't google up anything about a real or fake $20 coin showing the Liberty Bell. If it's not a real coin and doesn't really contain precious metal, it might be pretty much worthless. --Anon, 22:18 UTC, August 30, 2007.

Additionally the eagle is reversed. The Great Seal of the United States has the eagle facing the other direction and with the arrows/olive branch in opposite feet, and other 1904 coins (i.e. [3]) have it in the correct fashion. Very odd. I suspect forgery of some sort, not a very good one at that? I'm no coin expert though. --24.147.86.187 22:32, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

An actual 1904 $20 coin

It's weird though - I mean, making a fake coin is no a small undertaking - you'd have to make dies to stamp them out with and figure out some kind of metal that looks enough like gold. If you were going to that much trouble, surely you'd take the 2 minutes it takes these days to find a photo of the actual coin that you are copying so at the very least you get the eagle facing the right way and the correct picture on the other side! The actual 1904 double eagle is on sale here for $787. —Preceding unsigned comment added by SteveBaker (talk • contribs) 00:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Dallas, Texas

How hot can Dallas become? Is it sweltering or moderate? And how flat is the city itself? --Writer Cartoonist 22:15, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

I would guess around 100 degrees. Cheers,JetLover 23:00, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Yeah - it reliably gets over 100F for a few months every year - fortunately, it's rarely very humid. But you'll certainly want to stay close to freon. In the winter the temperatures are strongly dependent on which way the wind is blowing and temperatures can vary from below freezing to maybe 80F. Spring is tornado season - but otherwise very pleasant. Autumn is possibly the best time to visit - weather-wise. The city is very flat, the only significant hills nearby are off to the SouthWest in Cedar Hill. SteveBaker 23:28, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

See also: Climate of Dallas, Texas. I don't believe the summer temperatures it mentions - we regularly hit 100F. Steve. —Preceding unsigned comment added by SteveBaker (talk • contribs) 23:34, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

This page, the first reference link from Climate of Dallas, Texas gives a more accurate picture of the climate than the "average temperature" chart in our article. I've never really liked lists of average temperatures, instead preferring listings that include "means of extremes", which the external link shows. That will give a truer picture of what the climate is really like. 152.16.188.107 08:24, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Yep - that's a much better link. The temperature here has hit solid 100F's for weeks at a time for at least the past 13 years I've lived here, although it rarely gets as high as 110F. I'm surprised that they report that it gets that cool at night either...one of the oddest things about the climate here is stepping outside at 2am and finding that it's STILL like opening an oven door! SteveBaker 16:16, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

EditThis.info

Soon I'm going to make a Wiki about Ace Combat there, but some of these Wikis get closed down. What is their policy on that? I definatley wouldn't want to have all that work destroyed! Thanks. Cheers,JetLover 22:59, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Not sure what you mean - if you host your own Wiki, there's no reason anyone other than you would shut it down except if you were hosting something illegal or forgot to renew your domain name or something. Are you talking about Wikimedia projects which have closed, like the Klingon Wikipedia? Because not all wikis are under the control of Wikimedia, and yours presumably would not be, and thus not at risk of being closed. -Elmer Clark 02:45, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

August 31

School Certificate and London Matric. (History)

Hi! I've been trying to find out what the content of the old examinations i.e. School Cert & Matriculation before the introduction of CSEs and O Levels etc. was and why they were changed just a general outline of the history. Sorry if this is obvious but I haven't been able to find anything. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.69.91.224 (talk) 00:03, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Being around at the time I can tell you that I gained my Schools Certificate at 16 by passing the required minimum of six subjects including maths and English at the one sitting. I actually took nine subjects and gained three credits (60 - 70%, three passes 50 - 60%, and three fails 49% and lower). The year before me Matric finished (thank goodness for me because that included a compulsory language within the six subjects). Subjects on offer were far fewer than today. No "soft" options: media, sociology, etc. The most "artisanal" were wood and metal working, cookery and home economics. A wide range of science subjects were offered as routine. The GCE came in so that it could be awarded in single subjects. Thus employers began to ask for six good GCEs at the same sitting. But the qualification allowed the subjects to be taken one or more at a time, and then totted up. Not so previously. They also introduced band marking: A, B, C, D, E & F. So one secured a GCE "Pass" at any grade. A GCE grade D, E or F wasn't of much value... but the certificate was issued anyway. Nobody could "fail".86.197.151.198 13:28, 31 August 2007 (UTC)petitmichel

I don't know about your time, but in the mid-70s when I did my 10 O levels and 3 A levels you certainly could fail GCE. In 1974 my O Levels were graded on a scale of 1-6 with anything else being a fail; a few years later they altered the system so grades 1-2 = A, 3-4 = B, and 5-6 = C, and they introduced D, E and F which were supposed to cover the old CSE grades - in my time we were told that a CSE grade 1 was equivalent to an O level grade 6. In 1976 my A levels were graded on an A to E scale, with F for fail. It was when they merged GCE O levels with CSE to create the GCSE around 1980 that we got the "nobody fails" mentality. That said, my actual O Level certificate doesn't say what my grades were, just that I "passed in the following 10 subjects:". -- Arwel (talk) 17:12, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Doctorates

Are lower degrees in a subject usually required if a person wishes to earn a doctorate in a specific field? For example, say Joe has a Masters degree in Mathematics, and he wants to get a Doctorate in Physics. Would he have to take courses equivalent to 4 or 5 years of study in Physics to earn a Doctorate, or could he just start at the Graduate level? Thanks. GhostPirate 00:25, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

It depends on the person, the institution and the topic of the doctorate. If Joe wants to do a PhD by applying a boatload of maths to a physics application, then his maths masters should be fine. My beloved has an economics BSc and a computing PhD. I have an engineering first degree and a maths PhD. However these are from UK universities who have a very much more apprenticeship sttle of teaching PhDs than US universities. SaundersW 09:05, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

This will vary among graduate departments in the United States. Most departments would be unwilling to consider an applicant without significant undergraduate or graduate coursework in that discipline. On the other hand, using your example of Joe, if Joe had an undergraduate degree in physics, then studied mathematics at the masters level, then wanted to apply mathematical principles and methods to an area of physics for which his undergraduate coursework had prepared him, then he might be a strong candidate for a doctoral program. Even if Joe lacked an undergraduate degree in physics, but had taken courses, seminars, or practica in physics during his unversity career, if he could demonstrate the ability to apply math to physics, then some departments might strongly consider him (assuming, of course, that his grades, test scores, and recommendations were satisfactory). In either of these cases, Joe might be required to take some remedial undergraduate courses to fill in gaps in his knowledge of physics, but he would not be expected to complete the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in physics before advancing. If Joe needed that much remedial work, he would almost certainly not be accepted into the doctoral program. If Joe discovered a new passion for physics without much prior exposure to the subject after completing a masters in math, and if Joe were not daunted by additional years of schooling, Joe would be advised to complete some substantial coursework in physics (though not necessarily complete a degree) before applying for graduate study in physics. Marco polo 15:27, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I did a similar thing, switched fields in the middle of grad school; I took one year of grad studies in the new field as a 'special student' (i.e. out of my own pocket) and when I did OK, I got merged into the regular grad program. Gzuckier 16:03, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Turn It On Again: The Tour in Texas!!!

Is it true Genesis might or not be visiting Texas for their tour? --Writer Cartoonist 01:29, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Bielle 01:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

The way the question is phrased, the only answer is yes. Clarityfiend 01:43, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

...unless, of course the idea was to actually help people rather than (say) to play the oh-hilarious game of being a bloody annoying language lawyer. I'll remind you to read Wikipedia:Reference_desk/guidelines#Content_and_tone which very specifically tells you not to do what you just did. A public apology to our OP would be in order here.

Anyway, it doesn't look like Genesis are coming to Texas - www.genesistourtickets.com has no mention of Texas on their list of venues for the '07 Reunion tour. SteveBaker 02:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I was merely pointing out that Bielle's answer was ambiguous. But if the original poster took it as ridicule, I apologize. On the other hand, I find your tone a bit on the offensive side myself. Clarityfiend 09:52, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, don't be so precious. We have an article on the tour - Turn It On Again: The Tour. Sorry Writer Cartoonist, as it stands it looks like no grooving to Invisible Touch or No Son of Mine for Texans. Neil ム 10:36, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe these sorts of things would be avoided if questions were phrased in a less ambiguous way. This particular question contained 2 sub-questions: (a) Is it true that Genesis are coming to Texas?, and (b) Is it true that Genesis are not coming to Texas? Apparently, the answer to (a) is "No", and the answer to (b) is "Yes". -- JackofOz 11:39, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Or people could just answer the question, since they knew exactly what the OP meant. Saying "oh, I do believe your question is a tad ambiguous there chap" isn't helpful or polite. Recury 14:04, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Many visitors here use English as a second language and/or are Texan, so I think it's fair to assume in cases like this that it's a language/grammar issue, rather than that the OP came here to have a tautology confirmed. --Sean 15:42, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, precisely. It was really obvious what the OP was asking. Nobody - yes NOBODY - was genuinely confused by it. So rather than spend a couple of minutes using our web surfing skills to actually answer the question (thank you User:Neil - your answer was much better than mine) - Bielle thought it amusing to give a literalist answer that would likely have the effect of tricking the OP into falsely believing that there actually would be a Texas tour and Clarityfiend (Doh! Bad choice of username!) tried a rather pathetic attempt at "I'm so superior" humor (which wasn't in the slightest bit funny or original by the way - and nobody here (including Clarityfiend) believes it was a 'clarification'). The big message is "That's not why we're here folks". We are supposed to actually help people. If you can't do that, you aren't welcome here. The ref desk guidelines clearly say that what happened here last night is not allowed. It says: "In particular, don't poke fun at a poorly-written question" - is there anything ambiguous about that? It's perfectly OK to reply with your own clarification of the question if it's truly not clear. If (and I don't believe it) you were genuinely confused by the language of the question, you could still have replied: "If you are asking whether there will be a Texas venue on the tour - then the answer is 'No', they won't be coming to Texas. If you are asking something else, then perhaps you could rephrase the question." The first two answers given were flat-out inappropriate no matter what your underlying difficulty with the question was. SteveBaker 16:03, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

(De-indent) Wow! For a lapse in judgement on my part, which I acknowledge and for which I apologise to Writer Cartoonist, that's a lot of words, anger and time. I picked the wrong time to be elsewhere. Enough said, I think. Bielle 17:29, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Bielle's answer could have been OK. The way I understood it when I read it, she wasn't "poking fun at a poorly-written question" at all. The way I think of it, to poke fun at a poorly-written question implies being rude to the original poster and offending them because of their writing skills. That didn't happen, and had I written that question, I'd find her answer funny. In fact, the original poster could have phrased the question like that to make it funny in purpose. Anyway, my point is that Bielle's reply could have been a joke supposed to make the original poster laugh as well, not be offended, and that's the way I took it. I think she should only apologise if her intention was to be rude and poke fun at the original poster because of their writing skills. A.Z. 01:47, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Social Security Number for Animals

Is it possible to get a social security number for a pet? I ask this because if it is, then a person could claim their pet as a dependent and get discount on their annual income tax. -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.120.208.186 (talk) 02:36, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Unless Rover has a driver's licence, passport, or state-issued ID card, no. But you can still leave him $12,000,000. - Eron ^Talk 02:53, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I have heard all sorts of stories about people doing things like this; how true they are I don't know. However I think you are asking whether you would actually be allowed to do this if they knew that you were doing so for your pet, in which case the answer for any country I know of would be no. --jjron 09:29, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Its definetly not legal. Grango242 20:34, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

"Sorry"

Sorry. I was just a question I was asking about. The Turn It On Again was just a question I asked becuase I thought they might be visiting where I live (see my User:Writer Cartoonist user page). I didn't mean to trick people into really thinking that Genesis are coming down, I was just as curious as they were. --Writer Cartoonist 02:48, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Wait, what happened?-- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.120.208.186 (talk) 02:58, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I think there was a misinterpretation here. The criticism was aimed at Bielle (not at Writer Cartoonist) because Bielle answered an "is it possible" question with a simple "yes" (because, of course, anything is possible). This could be taken to be a bit rude to Writer Cartoonist. StuRat 04:04, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

This discussion probably should have stayed up with the original 'Turn it on again' post. --jjron 09:35, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Sorry Writer Cartoonist - no criticism of your question was intended...just some silly ref-desk humor that went beyond the bounds of our guidelines. But as a fellow Texas inhabitant, I concur..."Darn - no tour for us". SteveBaker 16:11, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

See the original 'Turn it on again' post for my apology to the OP. Bielle 17:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Water Allergy

I heard it is possible to be allergic to water. Does wikipedia have an article on water allergy? How does someone with a water allergy survive, being that we need water to live? -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.120.208.186 (talk) 03:02, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

See Aquagenic pruritus. I love questions like this. I never knew such a thing was possible, but I learned something while searching for an answer. Thank you for asking this. 152.16.188.107 03:52, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe not exactly an allergy, but I have a friend who experiences severe Aquagenous Urticaria and anaphylactic shock whenever he goes into cold water for more than a couple of minutes. He almost died once when swimming at a secluded beach, and he only survived because he had an epipen on hand. -- JackofOz 11:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Forgive the obvious question, but why was he swimming at a secluded beach if he had this problem? Why was he swimming in the sea at all? Or was this his first attack, with the epipen being for some other condition? Or is this too personal a question? Or just too high a question density? :) Skittle 15:47, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Fair question. He'd experienced similar, but much milder, symptoms previously. They only started when he was around 23 years old, for no apparent reason. This was one of the first times he'd been swimming since the symptoms first appeared. The severity of the attacks seems related to the coldness of the water and the length of time he's in it, but it's a bit hit and miss. One time he might just have hives; but another time his breathing is also affected. But never previously anything as bad as on this occasion. Seems he had just the wrong combination of temperature and length of time in the water this particular day, and he had a severe attack of both hives and throat constriction. He had the epipen because his father's a doctor who, after the first (minor) symptoms occurred, gave it to him just in case he might ever need it. He'd never needed it before this occasion. Since then, he's learned how to have a swim in a way that doesn't jeopardise his health, but he keeps the epipen on hand just in case. (And although the beach was secluded, he wasn't alone. He was with a friend, who was able to help him administer the epipen and ease his panic). -- JackofOz 04:34, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Makes sense :) Lucky him having a doctor father. Skittle 19:48, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Cajon home built boat.

When I was much younger I lived in the deep south and had several Acadian (Cajon) friends. At one time I received an offer to be taught how to build the small boat that we used on the river and bayous. Unfortunately I did not accept their invitation. We called it a pea-row probably spelled (pe’reau). I’m looking for plans and any other information from my past on this little boat. Smokydawg 03:03, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I can't help with plans, but it sounds like you are looking for a Pirogue. - Eron ^Talk 03:17, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Telepathy / tarot sites

Can anybody explain to me how the above sites can manage to answer personal questions you ask about what you are wearing, who your boyfriend / girlfriend is, what can be found in your room etc. Its quite spooky! Thanks. Reference askjud.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.225.124.11 (talk) 08:31, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Cold reading. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 09:24, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

If these are sites where a friend types a question in as you ask it, then the answer appears, they will be typing an answer in secretly. Watch their fingers :) Skittle 11:08, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Aha, and after going to the site in the OP, this appears to be the case! A fun trick, confront your friend about it and they'll tell you how to prank someone else. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 11:12, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

In the 'petition' box, type . then your answer then . again. Then type enough so that petition is all written out, then a : type your question, then a question mark. Voila. Skittle 11:42, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I really dont think this is the case as I was in the room next to the computer at the same time as the questions were being asked. Has anybody tried these sites? Its quite awesome and I would like to know what is going on?

UFO Shot @ by SA Police / How Chinese deal with Kidnappers

Where in the UFO article can this be placed ? Link is rense.com/general78/rwebo.htm Primary links may be from the local SA media and the HBCC. Also, here are three photos depicting how the Chinese govt. deals with kidnappers and criminals. Link is rense.com/general78/howchina.htm The pixes depict a cop killing the criminal. Can this be placed anywhere ? 65.173.104.223 08:45, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I was going to put the 1st one in the UFO article in which a UFO was shot at by police/military police, the 2nd one in one of the China articles and/or the crime articles, but I'm NOT sure. 65.173.104.223 08:56, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

HELP! 65.173.104.223 08:57, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

First of all, people will respond when they do, and tripleposting within 15 minutes is bad form. Second, your question would be better on the help desk, or an article talk page, not on this board. Thirdly, this "rense" place doesn't look like a reliable source to me..at all. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 09:22, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Edit conflict. Quite frankly the whole rense.com site doesn't exactly appear to be a very reputable source. Have you looked at their homepage for example - hardly something to inspire confidence. To be honest I'd forget about trying to put anything you get from this site into articles until it can be verified from somewhere that does seem to be reputable. --jjron 09:23, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Real Estate Term

In the real estate business, i would like to know what means the word "side" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.88.95.58 (talk) 14:52, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Well if it is city-position it is placement of the district in the city (e.g. the 'east'-side of town). It could be the side of the home that entrance is available via (e.g. side-entrance), it could mean a worksurface like a 'granite' side (though that would be a bit odd). It could be the side of deal that you are on, so the buyer's side V the seller's side (again a little odd terminology though). If you put this more in context beyond just real-estate someone else may be able to definie it better for you. ny156uk 16:02, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to agree with NYuk, Buyer Side or Seller Side. I'm in the Title Insurance field in Southern California, the realtors that call up don't really use this term openly, Side-Out!, unless they play volleyball on the weekends. 'Who's the Selling Agent? Who's the Buying Agent?' the sort of 'Who's side are you on anyways?' doesn't really apply to corporate end of R.E., maybe on the street it means something else. --i am the kwisatz haderach 17:54, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Amendment to Street Jargon, via real estate world. 'What do you got on the Side?' Sounds like shady dealings. In what context do you hear this "side" being used? --i am the kwisatz haderach 17:57, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I live in the Uk and always thought that US houses could be protected from the elements by having a "Side" or "Siding" affixed to them, usually made from Aluminium Sheeting? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.145.240.27 (talk) 22:10, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

City of lights

Hey, wondering what The City of Lights is? Google's first result says Paris but I'm not so sure. As shown here (which is, in my eyes, not Paris's skyline!) JoshHolloway 15:27, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

As noted in out Paris article, "City of Light" (singular) is a common nickname for the home of the Eiffel Tower. I can't identify the city on the linked photo, but it seems that whomever titled it was just using the name to describe the picture (similarly, I almost always title my LiveJournal posts with a song lyric or title that is related to the content). --LarryMac | Talk 15:40, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't know whether Paris is the City of Light, but that picture is a night-shot from the Tour Eiffel. --Ibn Battuta 16:28, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Paris is the accepted answer, but remember that in L.A. Woman Jim Morrison says it's Los Angeles.

Atlant 16:49, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Jim Morrison! Gotta love the Doors! Grango242 20:26, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Solar technology

Are any companies which produce technology for the generation of solar power located in Africa? How about use of solar technology in Africa? And what are the main obstacles? Thanks, Ibn Battuta 16:23, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

This is from South Africa. Corvus cornix 16:57, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

• This Economist article is about electricity in general, not just solar electricity, but it will give you a good idea of what the main obstacles are to any business that might want to manufacture or market solar power in Africa. Except in the jungle areas, the problem is not a lack of light (see these maps [4][5]). It's a shaky political/economic environment. --M@rēino 20:05, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

• Solar power has a good potential in Africa, due to lots of sunlight and a lack of electrical grids in many areas which offer cheaper alternative forms of energy. The relatively low start-up costs (say compared with building a nuclear power plant) also favor solar power. StuRat 21:40, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Plasmatronics in Australia produce solar regulators and export at least to Rwanda where lightning strikes have been a problem.Polypipe Wrangler 08:42, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

woodpeckers

I have a building constructed with board and batting siding (pine, smoothed sanded and polyurathane varnish). Woodpeckers keeprillings holes (2" diameter) in the boards. My question is how do they hold on to do their pecking? Can anyone direct me to a good sourse to learn woodpecker physiology? Thanks, WSC —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.74.110.121 (talk) 17:22, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Bird talons can be remarkably effective. Andif you don't believe me, I'll introduce you to my parrot the next time hers get sharp again.

Atlant 18:45, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet, meaning that two toes project forward and two back. This allows them to hang on tightly to the trunk of a tree or other surface. (Most birds have three toes forward and one back; although interestingly enough, parrots also have zygodactyl feet.) Woodpeckers also have strong, usually pointed tail feathers that they use to brace themselves, thus giving them a strong tripod base.--Eriastrum 20:04, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

San Diego Weather

Are there other locations in the U.S. that have weather similar to the San Diego area????

Thank you, Crabby1. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.159.43.180 (talk) 17:46, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe Santa Barbara? The coastal parts of Orange and Los Angeles Counties, too. And the coastal parts of San Luis Obispo County. Any further north, and it gets to be cooler and foggier. Corvus cornix 18:23, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

• Apparently the climate in Hawaii is similar. --M@rēino 20:09, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

The Hawaiian climate can be more humid, or so I've heard. Grango242 20:24, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

This is true. Corvus cornix 20:36, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

The wonderful coastal SoCal climate is pretty unique in the US, which is why it is such a popular place to live and visit. As Corvus cornix says, all the coastal towns/cities as far north as Santa Barbara are similar to San Diego, such as Del Mar, Oceanside, Newport Beach, Santa Monica and Malibu. Though the last week has been extremely hot in this region, so currently its more like Arizona or Nevada weather. Rockpocket 20:09, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

To be the cat's meow

What does "To be the cat's meow mean"?. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.70.65.132 (talk) 19:33, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

And, what is the "cats pajamas"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.131.128.182 (talk) 20:06, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Did you even try to look?

Cat's meow

Cat's pajamas - Zepheus <ゼィフィアス> 20:23, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Zepheus, that seems a little bitey. Do you think you could reword it to be less mean? (If so, feel free to remove this comment) Skittle 20:34, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I looked on Wikipedia and did not find it, neither on the Oxford English Dictionary. I also used Google and searched for a long time wthout being able to find it, that is the reason why I had to post a query on Wikipedia, which was very hard to do because there really is a lot of information and rules everywhere.

It would be nicer if people were a little more polite when they answer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.70.65.132 (talk) 23:33, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, I guess. Except that Wikipedia does have an entry for at least one of them, which directs to a definition. --24.147.86.187 21:58, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I only asked about "To be the cat's meow", I do not have any idea about who interfered and asked the other question. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.70.65.132 (talk) 22:07, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Helicopters

Are there any helicopters capable of carrying an Main Battle Tank, either inside or underneath?--Pheonix15 19:52, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

and for the heck of it, what about a Panzer VIII Maus?--Pheonix15 19:54, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

To the best of my knowlege, "no", and "no". An M1 Abrams weighs in at 135,000 pounds -- so heavy that only the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift airplanes can carry it -- while a Panzer VIII Maus weighs in at 400,000 pounds, too heavy for any aircraft in existence. --Carnildo 20:41, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

According to [6] - "10--Sikorsky's YCH-53E, Number 1, flew in a hover at a gross weight of 71,700 pounds. It carried an external load of 17.8 tons and hovered at a wheel height of fifty feet. This was the heaviest gross weight ever flown--and the heaviest payload ever lifted--by a helicopter in the western world." - As current Western MBT's exceed 60 tons in weight and current Russian MBTs exceed 40 tons, there is no way any contemporary helicopter could carry any contemporary MBT. However it is possible that an extremely heavy duty helicopter could airlift a Mobile Gun System or other lesser AFV such as an APC or IFV. Exxolon 21:42, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

For comparison the heavy-lift helicopters S-64 Skycrane and CH-54 Tarhe seem to be limited to about 20,000 lbs each. StuRat 21:35, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Note that the US Navy's MH-53E_Sea_Dragon ("the largest helicopter in the Western world") is listed as being able to lift up to 16,330 kg (36,000 pounds), and the soviet Mil Mi-12 holds the world record at 44,205 kg (88,636 lb). -- 72.33.121.200 21:44, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Hmm - that claim in the Mil Mi-12 article doesn't have a source. If it's true, then conceivably the Mil Mi-12 could just about lift a contemporary Russian model MBT such as a T-72 - a T-80 or T-90 would be a little too heavy, and western MBT's with their 60+tonne weights would be way outside the theshold. Exxolon 21:53, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

How are tanks like the Abrams transported from the US to Iraq? Do they do it through ships? Acceptable 22:43, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, they use ships and, as already noted, the C-17 and C-5 can also carry the Abrams (but not very efficiently!). FiggyBee 00:34, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Breeders' Cup

Does anyone know where the Breeders' Cup is going to be this year? Grango242 20:23, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Monmouth Park - Monmouth Park Racetrack. Corvus cornix 20:40, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Odd smelling Microwave

When I am microwaving something, my microwave makes an unusual sound and there is a strong smell of alcohol. Could there be something wrong with the electrical wiring of the microwave that is perhaps causing the wires to be microwaved? My microwave is a few years old and this problem just started recently. Thanks, Acceptable 20:31, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Are you sure someone didn't spill something under the glass tray, like glass cleaner ? It may be evaporating when heated, which would explain why you only smell it after operating the microwave oven. StuRat 21:05, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I just cleaned the microwave and there are no food or any other residue in it. The noise that the microwave makes is different than that it normally makes. Acceptable 22:40, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

What did you use to clean it ? StuRat 16:52, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

If my microwave started making a funny noise in use and giving off a bad smell, I would not use it again until I knew what the problem was because the potential for bad incidents is too nasty. If you've eliminated things like the inner tray thing not being properly in position and food or chemicals in the inner section, it's best to get a proper expert in to look at it or (probably cheaper and more practical) buy a new one. If your microwave were fairly new, you could probably take it back to the shop and ask for it to be repaired or replaced, but if yours is quite old you're probably better off replacing it :( 86.144.144.222 19:18, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

PC Health Risks

"What are health risks for someone working on a PC for more than 6 hours nonstop?" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mapambazukoleo (talk • contribs) 20:52, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Eye strain, obesity, back problems, wrist problems. Corvus cornix 20:59, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Since you already asked this at Wikiversity, let me refer you to my answers there: [7]. StuRat 21:00, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

UFOs

"What is a scientific world stance on the UFOs phenomena" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mapambazukoleo (talk • contribs) 20:56, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Since you already asked this at Wikiversity, let me refer you to my answers there: [8]. StuRat 21:00, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Firstly let's establish that by 'UFO' we're talking about aliens in spaceships - right? Technically, any object that you can't identify that's flying is a UFO - but I'll assume you don't mean that. I think that science generally points to the very strong likelyhood (from a statistical basis alone) that there are alien civilisations 'out there'. But the numbers suggest that if they are there - they'd be an awfully long way away. So the fact of there being 'aliens' is pretty much an OK assumption - it's certainly not ruled out. However, we also know that it would be almost impossible for a spacefaring alien species to get here from wherever they are. The sheer difficulty of interstellar travel makes it seem REALLY unlikely they'd be here visiting. It's far more likely that SETI will find aliens by radio or laser contact than to have them show up on our doorstep completely unannounced. Even if they were coming - I'd expect to see some unmanned scientific vehicles arriving first. Robot probes could get here and perhaps they'd have some really smart robots. It's not impossible that they'd show up in person - but it's just really, really unlikely. Now we have to add to that the fact that there is a TON of eyewitness reports but absolutely zero solid evidence. Most (if not all) of the photos can be shown to have been faked - and the eyewitnesses don't really stand up to careful investigation. In the end, we can't know for sure but Occam's razor says it's a lot more likely that there are a bunch of nut-jobs out there than that there are aliens here - and "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". SteveBaker 01:05, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Without patronising you in any way Steve, I'd say that was a damn good summing up of the present situation. Richard Avery 07:19, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Choosing a digital camera.

I had a Samsung Camera a few years ago that went wonky whilst on holiday in San Diego so I bought a Canon Powershot A510 which I brought home to Scotland and which has been fine for my needs since then. But I am getting a bit fed up with the delayed shutter speed and want to upgrade to something that is much faster and more responsive and which also doesn't take an age to recharge the flash. I thought about a Digital SLR but don't fancy the bulky size and shape and also the relatively bulky price (for me). Also, I would prefer to stick with my current stock of SD Memory cards and rechargeable AA batteries. Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks in anticipation. 81.145.240.27 22:05, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like you already know quite a bit about digital cameras, but just in case you haven't yet figured it out, "digital zoom" is absolute marketing crap (worse than useless, I'd pay to take it off a camera); only settle for real "optical zoom".

It would help us to make recommendations if we knew what you use your digicams for. For example, if it's just for e-mails (at the low end) or if you are a professional freelance photographer (at the high end).StuRat 22:14, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

If you're shooting sports or anything else where shutter response is important, you NEED a (D)SLR. --antilived^{T | C | G} 01:26, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

The samsung/pentax digital slr's take AA's and SD cards - eg Pentax_K10D or Pentax_K110D samsung models are similar. If you don't want a dSLR I'd imagine you have a huge range to choose from - one possibility are bridge cameras - which fuji make AA/sd compatanle model(s) (amongst others) - these are smaller than the dSLR but a similar shape, and around half the price. You can get these for about (UK)£160 ) - the main problem seems to be getting one which takes AA's - see "fuji s5700" - and tell us if it's too much/not good enough/too big etc —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.102.87.15 (talk) 11:26, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks folks for all your prompt and helpful responses. It's a bit like going to a restaurant with an extensive menu and then wishing you had ordered what the person at the next table is eating - there is so much choice out there. My budget would be around £300 max. inclusive of any lenses, flash etc. I am not a professional or sports photographer, just a happy retired family man who used to take zillions of family and holiday snaps with film cameras but moved to digital about 10 years ago. I like spontaneous shots - they produce more natural results than posed, but I can't get that with my current Canon Powershot A510 because of the shutter and flash delay. I rarely print pictures though I do have a good quality printer, but I do like to copy to disk and share them with family and friends around the world - and I do send lots by e-mail. The Nikon D-40 D-SLR I was shown yesterday in a branch of Jessops looked good and the price was Ok, but it did feel bulky, though light, and the manager described it as an excellent intro. level D-SLR but having checked on various websites, it seems to attract a lot of criticism for every compliment it gets. So I am really confused between upper end Digital Compact or lower end D-SLR. Am I being too demanding do you think, or should I just take a chance? Again, any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.81.145.240.82 13:06, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

One site quotes a 0.2sec "click to capture" time for the nikon above, there's definately nothing wrong with it (review sites can be niggly and often in the case of SLR's are comparing to the performance of a hypothetical 'ultimate camera') - I wouldn't be upset to say the least to find that in my christmas stocking..The cheaper of the pentax/samsungs I mentioned above are a little cheaper than that nikon but not by much, argubly the nikon is a better camera (by a small amount).

Your main problem it seems is the flash - herein lies the problem - despite advances in technology flashes require energy to charge up - and that is a drain on the battery - the batteries can only supply a certain amount in a given time - so the 'flash charging' problem is a universal one.. However certain battery types allieviate the problem: see here http://www.dansdata.com/danletters172.htm (reply to first question)

As far as I know the 'shutter lag' or 'start up time' problem is almost non-existent nowadays on the new model cameras - you can take it for granted this won't be a problem.. However some cameras will go into 'menu mode' when you first turn them on - though you can get round this by selecting 'fast start' or equivalent in the options - (will require reading those massive manuals they come with) hopefully you should only have to do it once. Make sure before you buy that it's possible to have the camera go into 'take a picture' mode from off. (there may be a standby mode that hardly takes any power that you can use)

That said a SLR is often overkill for most people, (I used to have one and I never changed the lens - one of the main reasons for getting one)83.100.249.22817:07, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Given what you've described about the photographs you'd be taking a 'point and shoot' camera sounds far more suitable than an SLR plus you'll save at least £200 - I'd recommend asking another question to see if anyone can recommend a good point and shoot camera - basically most of the named brands are good (though some samsungs and sony's are hideously overpriced) - and just about all take SD cards.83.100.249.228 17:46, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

If you don't often print your photos, then there isn't much point in them being higher resolution than a computer screen - so a 2Megapixel camera should be fine. Getting a camera with minimum delay is really important. My camera sucks at that and it's my biggest problem with it. SteveBaker 15:02, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

From my experience, 2 megapixel cameras don't have that clear of a resolution on a monitor. But you're on the right track, a 4 megapixel-ish camera should be plenty, and would cost significantly less than 7/8+ megapixels. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 21:20, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

If you're shooting things indoor getting a £75 flash (eg. this, look at the comparison under "Why I love mine") will benefit you far more than say getting a £6000 Canon 1Ds Mark II. If you don't mind the slight bulkiness, you can either get a new Nikon D40 (D40x if your budget allows) or a second-hand D50, which is both cheaper and allow you to use non-AF-S lenses (but it shouldn't concern you right now), along with their kit lens (18-55mm) and a SB-400. --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:25, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Once again folks, thanks for all your helpful comments. I am now re-thinking the Nikon option but also thinking of delaying my purchase until I visit San Diego in the Spring. I bought my last camera there when my Samsung died and I found US prices much cheaper than UK. But if anyone has any warning shots about that, please let me know. Cheers. 81.145.240.82 15:22, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

traveling overland across Africa

I've heard of people doing this in land-rovers and land-cruisers. Just wondering what the budget was for a party of 3-4 who have done these trips. Or, if that is not available, then an estimate within $5000 please. I haven't given any assumptions, and I know this, so remember that saying "it depends" doesn't answer the question or add any insight. Thanks. -Rob —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.131.128.182 (talk) 22:12, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Can't give you a budget, but here are a couple of guys who did Plymouth to Banjul in an old VW Golf [9]. DuncanHill 22:28, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I guess you just have to break down the things you need and the costs you're going to incur piece by piece and add up the total. I doubt that anyone here can help you on that. The most best possible thing you could do would be to get in touch with someone who already did this trip. Their knowledge is worth more than anything we could possibly give here - and they'd probably be able to tell you what this cost them. But failing that - since everything you'll take with you has to fit into two land rovers, I'd say that your biggest expense by far is the land rovers themselves. If this is a one-way trip, you've got to consider whether you'll sell them and fly home at the end - or whether you'll put them on a boat and ship them home. If you are going there and back again then that's a VERY different equation! You'll be putting a LOT of miles (and rough miles at that) onto those two vehicles - the effect on their depreciation will be substantial - they may actually be worthless at the end of the trip! I suppose if it were me, I'd factor in the possibility that one of the land rovers wouldn't make it and might have to be abandoned...that would be costly. Then you have fuel, food, water, medical supplies, spares (very important!), tools and the usual camping supplies, emergency equipment, water filtration/purification, radios, GPS's, satellite phone, laptop, cameras, maps, lots of spare batteries and 12v chargers. You'll need a bunch of jerrycans for fuel and water (both for you and for the vehicles). When you get to civilisation, you'll probably want to spend a night or two in a hotel to recover from the ravages of the trip - so I'd factor in the cost of some hotel stays. Of all of those things, I'd expect spare parts for the land rovers to be the biggest part of that because you don't know what you are going to need in advance and you'll need to take a ton of stuff "just in case". I'd guess that stuff like air filters, oil, battery, suspension, wheels and tyres would be the most likely things to need replacement - but you might want to consider taking a spare starter, alternator, fuel and water pumps, lots of spare nuts and bolts, duct tape, hoses, clamps, belts and a REALLY good service manual. You'll want a complete set of tools (make sure they are the right size/type for your vehicles!)...power tools need to run off of 12 volts so you can use them from the truck if you are in the middle of nowhere. If a substantial part of the trip will be off-road then you'll need things like tow chains, sand trays, shovels, jack, winch and cable. I'd hide some very convertible currency (maybe a small number of gold coins) for emergencies of a 'bribing someone to get you out of jail' variety! But overall, I'd imagine that the biggest part of the cost would be the vehicles and their spare parts. All of the other stuff put together probably comes to less than $5000...but you need to sit down with the four of you and make a really comprehensive list. I would want to talk to a land-rover dealership to find out the most likely spare parts and tools you'll need. Make sure at least one of you knows enough about land rover mechanics to do jobs like changing a fuel pump. You may need some things that are normally optional extras on the vehicles - roof racks, off-road suspension kits, tropical radiator fans...who knows? 66.137.234.217 14:57, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I traveled from Amsterdam to Nairobi in 5 months with an overland organisation for a total of 5000 euro. Half of that I spent during the trip, the other half was for the organisation. Fun thing is - because I had sublet (subletted?) my flat it was cheaper than staying home. :) The reason it is so cheap to book is that those organisations make their money on short trips in Africa (mostly Kenia and thereabouts), but to do that they have to get the trucks into Africa. So when they do that they might as well take along passengers, whom they only charge for the fuel. Food one has to buy and cook (oneself), but is dirt-cheap in Africa. Mind you, this is really low-budget (sleeping in tents most of the time), but that's more fun. I also met some people on an expensive tour, and they didn't have any fun at all. They kept their distance from their surroundings and where therefore constantly frustrated and scared even. The orgnisation I traveled with was Amsterdam-based Afriesj (didn't expect there to be an article), but there are many others, most of them based in London, I believe. Googling 'overland tours' gives some results. DirkvdM 19:16, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Why are some artists more famous than others?

Why are some artists more famous than others? How does one establish themselves as a famous artist? Thanks. Acceptable 22:38, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Be in the right place at the right time, and have a good sense of self-promotion. Talent doesn't hurt, either. FiggyBee 07:33, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

One doesn't "choose" fame oneself (despite the best efforts of certain people desperate for celebrity), instead fame becomes you.

For artists, and in addition to luck, popular exposure certainly helps. I have heard it said the most famous artist in history is Rolf Harris, while it is unclear if this is true or even how would one ascertain this, his exposure to the masses is without question. Similarly Leonardo da Vinci is extremely famous today over 500 years after his death, due in no small part to his extremely popular paintings of the Last Supper and Mona Lisa (not to mention a certain anthropomorphic mutant turtle that brough awareness of him to a new generation).

Another thing that helps is having an influential benefactor, supporter, patron or mentor. Da Vinci had Andrea del Verrocchio then Ludovico Sforza. More recently Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin made their names largely due to the support of hugely influential Charles Saatchi.

Finally, it is helpful, though not essential to have a modicum of talent. Rockpocket 22:38, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

September 1

LIGHTING

WHY DOES 1 FLUORESCENT TUBE STAY LIT ON A 5 TUBE LIGHT FIXTURE AFTER YOU TURN OF THE SWITCH? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.100.152.42 (talk) 00:56, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

The energy from electrons in the mains power are absorbed by atoms of mercury gas (which is mixed with a noble gas like argon). The mercury atom then gives out that energy as light. The light is absorbed and re-radiated by chemicals in the bulb's coating (fluorescence) to change it from UV light to visible light. All these steps take a little time to complete, and both electrons an light can be bounced around (absorbed and re-radiated by atoms) between atoms in the tube before reaching their destination. See also fluorescent lamp#Mechanism of light production. --h2g2bob (talk) 02:17, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

so why does only 1 tube stay lit in the 2 tube light fixture? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.131.128.182 (talk) 05:30, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

When you say "lit", do you mean that it has an afterglow, or that it actually stays on? If the former, then there's probably some difference in the design or age of the tubes. If the latter, then presumably it's not wired to that switch. FiggyBee 07:39, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Maybe there is a separated switch for the other tube?87.102.87.15 11:16, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

If this is at your place of work then probably one of the two tubes is a security light that's there so that security staff can do their rounds - or because it's on the route of a fire exit or something. It's certainly not the case that all fluorescent lights do this. We have a two tube fixture in our laundry room and both tubes go on and off at the same time. 66.137.234.217 14:31, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Can you please help me?

Hello, I am looking for a certain thing. I have searched very hard for it yet I cannot manage to find the right answer for my question! I have many American Bicentennial Coins that are both gold and silver. But what i find most intresting about them is that they are still in their envelopes from the year of 1973! I couldn't believe it myself. But what i am looking for is if they are really worth anything? I also have the stamps of the Americian Revolution Era and i also have the Bicentennial Logo. I would really appreciate it if you guys will take the time and help me with what I am looking for! Thank you so much for your time! I really appreciate it! 01:54, 1 September 2007 (UTC)141.149.244.96Again Thank You,

Google turned up a "Bicentennial Coin & First Day Cover July 4, 1973" on ebay for $12.99, which sounds like what you're describing, so I don't think you're going to make your fortune with it. It's a nice souvenir though! :) FiggyBee 02:11, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

(after edit conflict)There is an article here [10] that talks about the American Bicentenial Coins. It appears they were produced from 1973 to 1986, and that there were nearly 4 million of them sold. Coins are worth their face value for certain; I received the impression that there isn't yet a large premium offered, even for "brilliant, uncirculated" sets. I am hoping we have a numismatist around to provide more professional views. Bielle 02:21, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

The trouble with these special commemerative coins is that everyone who buys them thinks to themselves "I'll keep this because it'll be valuable one day." A consequence of which is that most of the coins made are still being kept in perfect condition - so they have no rareity value. The coins that wind up being the most valuable are the solid gold ones (because the metal itself is worth a lot) and mint-condition coins that were in common usage - but nobody bothered to keep - or coins that are rare simply because not many were made - but which were not considered special at the time. 66.137.234.217 14:26, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Sir,

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IFANY PRESIDENT OFINDIA PRESENT OR PAST GIVEN AMNESTY I.E. PARDON TO A CONVICT SENTENCED TO DEATH I.E. TO BE HANGED TILL DEATH? IF SO I WANT HIS NAME, YEAR AND CRIME?

REGARDS SHAILESH —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.161.85.20 (talk) 04:28, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Indian President K.R. Narayanan commuted the death sentence given to a Ms. S. Nalini, one of four persons convicted of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.[11] The crime took place in 1991; clemency was granted in April 2001.[12] The current former President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam, appears to be opposed to the death penalty and favours clemency, [13] although he did not stop the 2004 execution of Dhananjoy Chatterjee. No one has been executed since this time, and clemency petitions seem to be piling up on Kamal's desk. [14] - Eron ^Talk 12:18, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Err, the current President of India, for over a month now, is Pratibha Patil. I don't know what her views on the subject are. -- Arwel (talk) 08:20, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

disposable income

with a job as an engineer fresh out of college, and similar spending habits, would I have more or less purchasing power now as compared to 50 years ago? By what approx. what percent? basically, was a degree worth more back then or now? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.131.128.182 (talk) 06:00, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

It's hard to say, because there's so many variables. Adjusting for inflation only, skilled workers earn about twice as much as they did 50 years ago; but on the other hand, the kinds of goods you can spend disposable income on today were undreamt of 50 years ago, so it's almost impossible to compare "purchasing power" across that length of time. FiggyBee 07:31, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

free postcards

At an event I was given a postcard which instead of a stamp says that postage is paid b/c it is a nonprofit org. Where can i get more of these postage-paid postcards? Are there international ones too? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.131.128.182 (talk) 06:02, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

These are available across the world. They are used to encourage responses to some form of promotion/research, etc. They are not simply given away! And, yes, international ones are in use.86.197.149.68 10:17, 1 September 2007 (UTC)DT

In the U.S., the organization that is distributing the cards must obtain a permit from the post office. That organization must pay something for the postage, but it is at a reduced rate. The group must show documentation that it is truly a nonprofit organization. — Michael J 22:39, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

FHA + Bush

I read that Bush's bailout plan uses some 22 billion dollars stored up from premium insurance payments from borrowers. If borrowers were already paying insurance to the gov'ment, (without getting too detailed) how is this plan changing anything? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.131.128.182 (talk) 06:05, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Bailout of what? Iraq? Social Security? The federal deficit? The current account deficit? His sinking administration? Plasticup ^T/C 18:18, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

My uneducated guess is that "FHA" refers to the US Federal Housing Administration. Here is a link to a news article on the recent $22 billion announcement, which confirms this. I'm afraid I'm unable to offer an answer to the initial question, however. Thylacoleo 00:46, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Asimov's books

how many words per minute did Asimov write in the adult waking hours of his lifetime?

Has anyone ever tried to show that he could not be accountable for all of his books assuming he had to eat, sleep and socialize in his day-to-day life? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.131.128.182 (talk) 06:08, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

He wrote 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, according to [15] FiggyBee 07:13, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

And the same article says that was 2,000 to 4,000 words per day. So that's about 3 to 7 words per minute. Figuring 70,000 words for a book (as he sometimes did), it'd be 17 to 35 days to write one book, or 10-20 books per year... which is about right. His first book was published in 1950 and if he had maintained that pace from then until 1990 it would be 400 to 800 books. His final total is something over 500, but only about 380 of these are books of his own writing; the rest are collections of other people's stories where his actual writing was only the introductions. --Anonymous, 08:48 UTC, September 1, 2007.

By chance I just came across another reference on this. In 1973 Publisher's Weekly ran a short interview of Asimov conducted by Alfred Bester, which is reproduced in a 2000 collection of Bester's work called Redemolished. Excerpt (from page 520 in the ibooks paperback edition):

The living room is his workshop; jammed with shelves of reference texts, files and piles of scientific journals. He works from nine to five, seven days a week without a break.

"No, I'm lying. Sometimes I goof off on part of Sunday."

"Do you think at the typewriter, Ike?"

"Yes. I type at professional speed. Ninety words a minute."

"Great, but do you think at ninety words a minute?"

"Yes, I do. The two work together neatly."

So this source indicates a shorter workweek (at most 56 hours if the description is taken literally). I would guess that the much faster writing speed would be because Bester's interview is only talking about the actual act of putting words on paper and not any planning and first drafts. --Anonymous, 23:42 UTC, September 6, 2007.

"The worlds hardest riddle"

What is the answer to this "riddle" that pops up on myspace bulletins from time to time?

I turn polar bears white
And I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
And girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
And normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
And make your champagne bubble.
If you squeeze me, I'll pop.
If you look at me, you'll pop.
Can you guess the riddle?

It appears alongside the dubious claim that "97% of Harvard graduates can not figure this riddle out, But 84% of kindergarten students were able to figure this out, In 6 minutes or less." and that reposting it will send the answer to your inbox (it doesn't). Is there an actual answer to this riddle? --124.254.77.148 13:10, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

The answer is "no". --lucid 13:15, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Looks like a confusion of the word "riddle" with 'waste of time' - the answer is supposed to be enlightening. Doh!87.102.87.15 13:50, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

The answer is humidity. Recury 14:25, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

If you look at humidity, you'll pop? Humidity turns polar bears white? Trust me, the answer is "no". Think about it-- a bunch of qualities that absolutely nothing linking them, and at the end, the line "Can you guess the riddle?". The answer is "no", you cannot, there is no answer. Harvard graduates would think the riddle through so thoroughly that arriving at the obvious answer is unpossible, kindergarten students would just answer "hm... nope!" --lucid 14:32, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Yeah...Interesting observation -

• "Can you guess the riddle?"
• "No"

That must be the answer--Pheonix15 20:28, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

If you google it you'll find dozens of potential answers, including one which apparently is derived from a "poem" (which has a distinctly amateurish feel about it). Frankly I don't think it is the sort of thing worth wasting one's time worrying about. --24.147.86.187 21:49, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Agree - claiming to be the "WORLDS HARDEST RIDDLE" may be a pointer to eventual disapointment..83.100.249.228 22:09, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I don't know what's wrong with you guys, but I can guess the riddle as much as I want. I say the answer is yes. Capuchin 07:11, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I still say it's humidity. Recury 16:22, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

How does looking at humidity make you pop? The answer should either be "no" or some omnipotent being. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 21:13, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

The Answer is Time

[16]poem mentioned earlier

Booked4lunch 17:58, 6 September 2007 (UTC) a public librarian

The correct answer is "no" read the last line of the riddle. Thats why the kids always get it right, but educated people look for hidden meaning — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.83.102.178 (talk) 12:15, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Piano and Drum Muscial Notation

What type of musical notation would you be required to learn in order to play both piano or percussion? --Writer Cartoonist 13:25, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

You don't need to learn any notation at all in order to play them. I'm sure there are both great pianists and great percussionists who are musically illiterate. If you want to play written music, however, then obviously you have to learn the notation it's written in (usually modern musical symbols). Piano and percussion use practically the same notation. The only difference is that if you play an atonal percussion instrument, you don't have to worry about clefs and key signatures. —Keenan Pepper 17:24, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I believe that in percussion notation, the position of the notes on the lines does not represent pitch, as it usually does, but different instruments. Ah, we've got an article: Percussion notation. DirkvdM 19:02, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

English Property Law: Defining a boundary

Two houses are built on separate plots, with 0.5-1.7 metres between them, brick wall to brick wall. One has a soffit at roof level and also rain water gutters, reaching out about 9 inches outwards from the brick wall.

Both buildings are at least 40 years old in their current position.

Is the boundary deemed to be a vertical from the gutter, the soffit or the wall itself?

The old boundary will need to be retraced, but if it cuts through the house with the soffit and gutter, so that the boundary has been transgressed, maybe 40 years earlier, what is the legal position and how would the boundary now be defined? —Preceding unsigned comment added by BobbieNJ (talk • contribs) 17:35, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

BobbieNJ 15:08, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I'd say none of the above. The location of the house doesn't determine the property line. Perhaps you are going on the assumption that they've each built their houses as close to the property line as legally possible, but that's not necessarily the case. Therefore, you can't figure out the property line from the positions of the houses alone, you need to look up the property deeds and maybe get a surveyor to come mark the line. StuRat 16:42, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

In the UK, de-facto land boundaries become legal land boundaries provided nobody complains within the first few years (not sure how many, but it's less than 40). For example, if you build a fence between your properties, then after a time that becomes the legal boundary. Boundary transgressions from 40 years ago would probably not be able to be put right.

I would expect that the wall would be the boundary, but that one side has given implicit permission for the other's house's eaves to extend into their property. That said, you should consult a lawyer if you want proper advice. Your local council or possibly the Citizens Advice Bureau may also be able to help. --h2g2bob (talk) 02:59, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

This is not always the case. The legal concept is adverse possession, and while occupation of land may eventually give legal title, it does not always do so, eg. if the land is already registered with the Land Registry. It's one of those "Consult a Lawyer" situations. DuncanHill 09:55, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

You don't have unowned land between two properties. Sometimes there may be arrangements for the occupants one house to be able to use the other house's land (if there was a shared driveway access to the street, for instance), but usually the dividing line would be midway between the properties (if they were built at the same time), so guttering extending out 9" into a 0.5 metre gap between the houses would be well within the property line. You would have to refer to the properties' title deeds to positively ascertain the situation. If there's a fence between two properties, then the fence usually marks the boundary with ownership of the fence belonging to the side where the supporting posts are. Normal Wikipedia disclaimer about legal advice applies - go and see a solicitor to definitively sort things out. -- Arwel (talk) 08:36, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

It doesn't usually make any difference what the title deeds say - there are many instances of people spending their lives, retirement, income, pension. re-mortgage funds, and loans fighting in the country's highest land courts trying to prove that the imaginary line on the ground is theirs. There are also many instances of old men serving life in prison for murdering their neighbour for transgressing that said imaginary line. Sad I am afraid, but true. I should know, I have just thankfully "lost" such a set of territorial octogenarian neighbours who finally gave up their struggle to establish ownership of the boundary fence between us. When they left, I offered it to them as a keepsake but they refused, after fighting for it all these years. Sad, but true. 81.145.241.60 09:15, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Humans are terratorial animals - we shouldn't be surprised that this kind of thing happens. When we were building our present house, we had the land properly surveyed to locate the official steel pins that are hammered deep into the ground to serve as corner markers in these parts. Once they were found, the surveyor put little pink flags in the ground so that the builder would know not to transgress the neighbours property. Well, I have a set of photos that the builder took of my neighbour subsequently digging up said corner pin and moving it about five feet in his favor. This is in several acres of dense woodland - where five feet really isn't a huge deal either way. Moving corner markers is a serious crime in Texas and we had to use the photos to convince him that he had to pay $500 to have the land re-resurveyed and the corner pin officially repositioned (back where it originally was of course!). Totally ridiculous behavior - but like I said - we're terratorial animals and nobody should be surprised at it. SteveBaker 18:57, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Returning to your question, the answer depends on (1) what the property deeds and/or the registered title (if there is one) show, (2) who has (or has had) possession of the land and for how long and (3) several other factors. Compulsory registration of land sold in the UK began only in the 1980s, and even when the title to land has been registered, HM Land Registry can't be expected to show boundaries to within a foot or two. After twelve years, someone can get adverse possession of someone else's land, even if it's registered, but the tests for adverse possession are complicated and advice is needed. Also, there may be other rights (public or private) over this gap between the two houses - for instance, public rights of way may have been established by twenty years' use 'as of right', and private rights of way (or other wayleaves) may have been granted by the owner of the land to adjoining property owners, public utilities, etc. Xn4 03:25, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Yellow beans... what are they??

I am in the process of trying to create one of my grandmothers recipes (a vietnamese crepe... banh xeo). Its written in french where she calls for les 'haricots jaune.' I thought it would be simple to find them, but when I asked for 'dried yellow beans' at my local asian grocer, they looked at me like i was crazy and tried to sell me soy beans. The closest thing I could find were yellow Mung Beans.... Are they the same?

Thanks, --Cacofonie 17:39, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Do you know what they look like - in french 'haricot jaune' appear to be yellow normal 'beans' eg http://www.radio-canada.ca/actualite/v2/lepicerie/niveau2_3841.shtml where as a search for 'banh xeo' turns up this http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/bookshelf/articles/banh_xeo_SJM.htm containing mung beans and sprouted mung beans.. though I imagine adding 'french yellow beans' wouldn't spoil it.?

Seeing as it's a vietnamese reciped mung beans and bean sprouts must be the answer..83.100.249.228 20:08, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

The literal translation of "yellow beans" to Chinese is soy beans, whereas mung beans is actually called "green beans" in Chinese, so their confusion is not unfounded. It's probably mung beans since soy beans aren't exactly starchy at all. --antilived^{T | C | G} 22:52, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I've had bánh xèo many times, and it has always had mung bean sprouts, and never any kind of green beans. --Sean 14:41, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

retail tax

will retail stores not charge sales tax if I show them that I live out of state? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.147.39.60 (talk) 18:49, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

It must be shipped out of state to a state where they do not do business, but you are still responsible for getting the tax owed to the tax authorities. --Nricardo 21:45, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Sometimes unscrupulous stores like all those Manhattan camera/electronic stores will let you walk out with the item without paying tax, and ship an empty box to your out of state address to cover their butts paperworkwise, but that would be WRONG, hint hint. Gzuckier 16:20, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

In Washington state I show my Oregon ID and do not pay sales tax, with the exception of prepared food. Perhaps it varies from state to state. Assuming you mean the US. 161.222.160.8 21:28, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

barnes and noble

approx. what is the starting rate for an unskilled floor worker at Barnes and Noble or Borders?

This will depend on location, I suspect. Where are you? Algebraist 22:35, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

You might be better off asking Barnes and Noble or Borders. Plasticup ^T/C 18:23, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Use

I am attempting to find the origin of the word, "use." Example: Can I use your cellphone? I have viewed numerous resources, but I cannot find the origin. Is it an English word? For most of Wikipedias definitions, the origin is included in definition. Example: The word stems from a Greek Philosopher. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.246.165.248 (talk) 20:57, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Etymology: Middle English us, from Anglo-French, from Latin usus, from uti to use --Nricardo 21:42, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

This would be an excellent question for the Language Ref Desk. StuRat 02:38, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

(have you not noticed yet that 90% of the questions posted here can fit under one the other reference desks?) Jon513 09:34, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Many questions can have more than one home, but in this case Stu's quite right - it's solely an etymological question and belongs on the Language desk. -- JackofOz 01:44, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Past Authenticity of Website

...And no, I don't think this would be appropriate in the Computing desk. While I normally would not even consider this, I was wondering if anyone would comment on the validity of a free offer / referral site. [17] . Comments from wither personal experience and general observation/opinion are welcome. The site's parent organization can be found at [18] . While many of these types of offers are suspicious, this seems more valid, but I still do not trust it by the information provided solely by the company. While the investment would be minimal, ($7 USD, a few minutes of my time, and a few referrals), I still would like an opinion before engaging in any action. Thanks, Freedomlinux 23:22, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't. If it looks too good to be true, it certainly is, when it comes to free computers offered on the internet. Expect trouble in one form or another. --24.147.86.187 01:27, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I have looked into it again, and while tempting, I have found a suitable unit from a reputable established source. The risk from this site seems too great. Freedomlinux 01:52, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

This looks suspiciously like a pyramid scheme to me. --h2g2bob (talk) 02:38, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

It's not a pyramid scheme as such; it's mostly an exercise in collating mailing lists for junk mail. Just be aware that these sites rarely pay out (and, per their terms of service, are under no legal obligation to ever pay out, even if you manage to fulfil the conditions). FiggyBee 07:47, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

September 2

Maurizio Giuliano

At which age had Maurizio Giuliano visited all countries in the world? A.Z. 00:28, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

It looks like he was 23.-Erin —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.147.68.58 (talk) 01:07, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Why does it look like that? Do you have a reference? A.Z. 19:52, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Reference [3] in his article says, inter alia: "British-Italian Maurizio Giuliano has announced he has broken the record to become the youngest person ever to visit all 192 of the world's independent countries. Giuliano, 23, said he chose Suriname as the last country he would visit because it is the only country in Latin America where Dutch is the official language."  :) -- JackofOz 05:25, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Thank you, Jack. I edited the article to include that information. A.Z. 05:33, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Don't mention it, A.Z. -- JackofOz 05:35, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Switching arms

In one of our articles about WWII Japanese POW Camps war crimes (sorry, I can't remember which one), it said that the Japanese cut off both arms of test subjects and re-attached them on different sides of their bodies. Did this work? Were the patients able to move/use their arms? Thanks. Acceptable 00:53, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure we would have the proper technology today to do that in a way that would allow full use of arms (matching nerves, but backwards?), and so I am practically certain it would not have worked in the 1940s either. --24.147.86.187 01:25, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I once saw on TV a man who had had both arms mutilated in an accident, and ended up with his left hand grafted to his right arm (or v.v.) because those were the parts they had to work with. He was able to write with it. – The first successful reattachment of a severed body part (a boy's fingertip) was in the Sixties, I believe. Ah, microsurgery says 1963. —Tamfang 07:52, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I adjusted the indentation on the next few entries so that Dismas would not seem to be responding to me, 'cause I certainly was not referring to Unit 731. —Tamfang 06:37, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I have taken to adjusting misleading indentation at will. --Sean 14:45, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

You're probably referring to Unit 731. Dismas|^(talk) 09:46, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I really don't see how would grafting your left hand to your right hand would work, they are chiral so no matter how you put it a left hand is a left hand... But yeah, the OP is probably referring to Unit 731 and many other inhumane experiments done on humans (most of little scientific value). --antilived^{T | C | G} 21:56, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed, their "experiments" sound more like the type of things serial killers do, like Jeffery Dahmer drilling holes into the brains of his victims to try to control their minds. StuRat 04:26, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Moon anomalies

Is it true that NASA airbrushes moon anomalies from their photos before releasing them to the public like it says in this video?[19] --124.254.77.148 02:06, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't be surprised if NASA did clean up some scratches, dust and pixel anomalies from their pics, since they're largely irrelevant and technical errors. But the claims that NASA is hiding extraterrestrial UFO evidence from the public is pretty much bullshit. — Kieff | Talk 02:34, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Oh jeez. The first shot of the moon they show - with a peak white and utter black square...notice how the squares are exactly aligned to the raster. They are so huge - and on the earth-side of the moon - that you'd easily be able to see them with an amateur telescope. Look at those big "airbrushed out towers" - now look at the lighting on the nearby craters. Ask yourself "Where would the shadow of that tower fall?" - now look - is that part airbrushed out? No! It's not. So there never was a tower there. What was actually smudged out? Maybe alignment marks from the camera - I don't know. But for sure it wasn't a tower. Also, if you wanted to hide something from the public then (a) you'd do a much better job of painting them out than that or (b) you'd simply not publish that photo - it would be easier to claim that the data got corrupted or something like that. How come these structures are not airbrushed out (or visible) on the Russian photos of the back side of the moon? Those "domes" are a common optical illusion when a crater is lit from an unexpected direction. This is typical nut-job conspiracy theory. Nothing interesting here. SteveBaker 03:14, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Moasicking of multiple images of the Earth's surface routinely involves a degree of "smudging" and other manipulations in order to create what appears to be a seamless image. I can't say that this particular example is or isn't something like that, just that such post-processing of imagery, especially in mosaics, is very common. Pfly 03:35, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes - I agree - that is a common cause - but from the placement of those smudges (at least as portrayed in the video - which I don't trust) suggests it's not that. The various L-shaped smudges look a lot like blurred out cropmarks to me. As a general rule in photo-interpretation, anything that's aligned perfectly with the image raster is a prime candidate for being some kind of an artifact of the camera, the film or the way it's processed...and all of the things presented in this video are aligned to the raster. But when you look at those L-shaped things - then look at the nearby craters - you can see that the light from the sun was coming from behind and slightly to the right of the camera. Hence if these really were mile-high towers, there should be long shadows from the base of each tower heading out to the top-left corner of the image...and there aren't. There aren't even blurred-out regions where some 'NSA' person had painted the shadow out. It's just obvious...as are pretty much all of the other lunar conspiracy nuts out there. Sometimes I wish we could set the nut-jobs who say NASA never went to the moon loose with the other nut-jobs who claim that NASA hid the evidence of the lunar bases hidden there. That way they could argue amongst themselves and leave the rest of us to get on with something important. SteveBaker 17:22, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Hey Canadians!

What do you call a drugstore in Canada? IIRC, it is called a drugstore or pharmacy but I do not know for sure. This relates to the Wikipedia article for Dispensing chemist or druggist -- it says: A dispensing chemist will usually operate from a pharmacy or chemist's shop, usually abbreviated to "the chemist's" in English speaking nations, especially the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The United States uses the term drugstore or pharmacy.

But it does not say what term Canadians use for where they get their pharmaceutical goods. So what it is, for addition to the article? -- Guroadrunner 06:25, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Drugstore or pharmacy. Drugstore is more colloquial and pharmacy is more official, but they're both used. And "Chemist" is never used. Flyguy649 ^talk _contribs 06:30, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks - does this apply to English Canada or also Quebec? Guroadrunner 06:45, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, we don't say "the chemist's" in Australia. It's just "the chemist".  :) -- JackofOz 07:08, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm a Quebec francophone and I've never heard any anglophone say "chemists". For what it's worth I hear "pharmacy" more often than "drugstore" but I don't qualify as a reliable source. It may well be that "pharmacy" is used more often in Quebec than in the rest of Canada because "pharmacie" is the French term. But again, good luck on backing this up with any sort of reference... Pascal.Tesson 07:36, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the input. Guroadrunner 12:02, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

To me, a drugstore is a convenience store with a pharmacy counter. The pharmacy is the part of the store that dispenses medication. -- Mwalcoff 23:35, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

The automatic phone service on a local (Canadian) Shopper's Drug Mart directs callers to "press 1 for the pharmacy; press 2 for cosmetics . . .". Bielle 02:29, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree with the above posts. The term "drugstore" is sometimes used to refer to the entire buildings, as a pharmacy not only contains drugs, but also items such as deodorants, foods, magazines, etc... The term "pharmacy" is used to refer to the specific portion of the store that deals with prescription drugs. Acceptable 02:41, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

In my usage (in Canada), "pharmacy" is just a fancy name for a drugstore. I don't have any term for the part of the store where the pharmacist dispenses prescription drugs. --Anonymous, 05:40 UTC, September 3, 2007.

I've always called that "the back of the drugstore"! Adam Bishop 06:25, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

When was the wikipedia reference desk launched?

When was the Wikipedia reference desk launched first? Whose idea was it? How can I learn more about the history of the reference desk? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.56.174.132 (talk) 15:46, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Well according to the archive the first post was on 07-11-01 as to the history I'm not quite sure about that. Whispering 17:04, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Reference desk is about library reference desks (in general) and only refers to this ref desk by linking to it. Not sure if there is enough to tell about it to warrant an article. All one can say,a part from when it started, is how it works, and that is outlined at the top of this page. Well, maybe that one is supposed to first look things up in the encyclopedia and only if the answer is not there, then one can ask it here and then (here it comes) the resulting info should be added to the encyclopedia. That last thing is not done enough. I must admit that I don't do it too often either and one reason is that it is often interpretation (aka POV or OR) and that should not be in the encyclopedia. DirkvdM 17:41, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I would like to learn more about the reference desk history as well. One bad thing about forgetting history is that this makes some people assume that the current status of things is somehow inherently good, which it often isn't. Knowing how things became the way they are may cause those people to realize that things could easily have happened differently, and make them not feel afraid to change the current status. I believe that, when it started, this "reference desk" had another name, but I'm not sure where I read it nor which name it was. It was probably at the reference desk talk page. A.Z. 17:48, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

This is an interesting page to look at, which suggests that User:Magnus Manske would be a good person to ask. Skittle 19:31, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Related thread here. I didn't remember that I had asked that before on this reference desk... A.Z. 19:37, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Thank you! That was very timely, informative, and helpful. 156.56.174.134 22:32, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

It apparently used to be called Wikipedia help desk (he discovers, after tracing things around a bit). The earliest edit available in a history is from November 2001, but I bet it is a little earlier than that, because that edit has other edits in it (though the "January 11, 2001" edit is not correct; it is from 2002, if you look at the history. If it were from 2001 it would have been added in practically the first day of Wikipedia, but that does not seem to be right). Amusingly one of the first questions was from Wikipedia "co-founder" Larry Sanger, with the amusing edit summary of "I've gotta know: why do dogs eat other dogs' poop?". Well, at least we know it has always been the way it currently is... --24.147.86.187 02:14, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm astounded that Magnus Manske is still so active, given he was around at the beginning. Hmmm, and with the user turnover being what it is, I wonder how long it will be before nobody is around who feels a little thrill at seeing that Larry Sanger asked that question. Already, Magnus Manske's 'sorry Larry' on his own page looks odd. I'm afraid I can't view the links you gave, 24. Is it just a temporary problem, or just a problem for me? Skittle 11:53, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Whoa! What looks like happened is that User:MCB saw the links given above by 24 and deleted the article completely, removing their history from public view and making the tracing of the early history of this page, and Wikipedia, harder. It also possibly renders the early archive a GFDL problem. This happened today, making it likely that this question and answer prompted it. If I were into conspiracy theories, I would mention people being gradually removed from official photographs... :o Skittle 11:57, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, that's very odd. Anyway it was a pretty innocuous list of questions from various users. It didn't even have the Wikipedia: or User: namespaces at that point. Odd that it was deleted, it wasn't doing any harm... --24.147.86.187 15:42, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Flying

After being in a plane today i was just wondering about certain things.

1. Even though it was a cloudless day when i took off, within minutes the ground was obscured by thick fog, I've noticed this before as well. Are there clouds which cant be seen from below but can from above or is it all just coincidence?

2. When I looked out the window and up words, the sky was quite dark, almost like it was dusk, but around the plane was still very bright, I had to put on sunglasses to look down due to glare. This was between 10 and 2 in the day. why was this?

3. I've been told that one may not use the toilets in a plane when it is on land, even if its parked with no immediate prospect of moving because it all goes straight out of the plane and would end up on the runway/parking spot. Is this true? It doesn't seem likely that Human excrement is just released to fall down. I would also imagine there would be problems with pressurisation.194.125.178.223 17:46, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

1. A "cloudless" day doesn't necessarily mean it's clear. Fog or haze may have been present; it's not really noticed as much from ground level as it is from 3-4,000 ft... trust me! Otherwise it seems like a coincidence.

2. Depends on how high you were, but I don't really have much of an answer or explanation for that unless it was clouds or something.

3. I've heard that too, and that's false as far as I know. You are free to utilize the lavatories as you wish and said excerement will remain in a holding tank until such time that it is removed.

Pilotguy 17:54, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

• Sounds like the answer to #1 and #2 is the same -- fog. Some light that hits the fog bounces upward, so if you're below the fog on the ground, it's darker than it would be on a clear day, and if you're in the air above the fog, it's brighter than it would be on a clear day. --M@rēino 18:32, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Regarding the #3 (lavatories), I suspect that myth was carried over from passenger trains, which often do simply dump the excrement on the tracks. For obvious reasons the lavatories are closed while the train is in the station. Plasticup ^T/C 18:33, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Number 2: The sky is actually just air lit by sunlight. In higher altitudes less air is left between the observer and the black background of cosmos and the sky is less bright. Objects flying above most of the air are still lit by the sunlight and appear in full brightness. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.187.25.151 (talk) 20:01, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Agree but would add that it's not the air itself which is lit by sunshine, but particulate matter in the air. There are far more particles in the air near the ground than higher up, since most particles come from wind acting on the ground, fire, or from exhaust/smokestacks. These particles mostly settle out before reaching the upper atmosphere. There are a few things which can cause large numbers of particles in the upper atmosphere, though, such as nuclear weapons and large volcanic eruptions. StuRat 04:10, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Mall and Filling

What does this sentence suppose to mean? I read from On Writing: The Memoir of the Craft:

"...writing such fluffery is something you'll never do in the actual mall-and-filling-station world". -- Stephen King

--70.252.3.139 20:46, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Mall and filling station? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.252.3.139 (talk) 20:45, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

See Shopping mall and filling station. Both are in many ways symbolic of America in the 20th Century. DuncanHill 20:58, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

In other words, he's just talking about everyday life. But Stephen King is American: why would he use the British phrase "filling station"? Is this perhaps a British edition of the book, where they might have translated the vocabulary? --Anonymous, 05:45 UTC, September 3, 2007.

filling station is a common term in at least some of the rebellious colonies. —Tamfang 06:21, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

And I've never heard "filling station" used by Brits or Australians - it's a petrol station. FiggyBee 07:52, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Or more commonly, a "service station". -- JackofOz 12:58, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Or sometimes, colliquially, "garridge" / "garahhhgzh" (even if the petrol station doesn't actually offer any garage/repair services. Agreed about "filling station". While everyone would understand such usage, it's not used in the UK. --Dweller 13:23, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I always thought "mall-and-filling-station world" referred to the traditional market for certain populist writers, as malls and filling stations are two of the main retailers of their work. More fruity writing (fluffery) would not be found in such books; King is saying that such a style of writing would not be found in the work of populist writers. Neil ム 15:44, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

So, do Americans commonly buy books at "filling stations"? I just can't imagine going to a kiosk to pay for my petrol and thinking "hmm, while I'm here, I'll buy a paperback". --Dweller 06:14, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I'd say no, but perhaps magazines? jeffjon 15:31, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Variation of calorie count / intensity on exercise machines

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have recently resumed the addition of cardiovascular exercise on my daily (5-6 days / week) weight lifting workout. However I have noticed that in a low intensity 15 minutes session of elliptical (cross trainer), I burn an estimate of 260~ calories. For the same period of time on a stationary bike (high intensity - my legs are almost literally burning), the calorie count is a mere 120~ ish. The calorie count is doubled on the cross trainer with very limited effort on my part, does this mean the aforementioned machine is better for burning off calories or is it blatantly less accurate than the other machines ?

Sincerely, Matt714 23:10, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I'd say you figured it out. Whatever assumptions they used for the two devices, they were different. I'd be more inclined to believe the lower values. StuRat 03:58, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I suppose the assumption by the manufacturers would be that with the cross-trainer you're using your whole body, but just your legs on the bike. Thus using more of your body = using more calories. Which one is more correct is a bit of a guess, but I agree with StuRat that I'd tend to err on the side of caution, i.e., the lower values. What would be interesting would be to compare the estimates given for a cross-trainer and a stationary bike both made by the same manufacturer, if such a thing exists. --jjron 07:50, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Pharmacies

It is extremely rare nowadays to find in North America a pharmacy (chemist's) that's just a pharmacy. Pharmacies are located in convenience stores (where you can also buy makeup, laundry detergent, greeting cards, etc.), supermarkets or megastores like Wal-Mart. You'd have to go back to the 50s or something to find a lot of pharmacies dedicated exclusively to pharmacy.

So how come pharmacies in Europe still tend to be just pharmacies? How come the idea of a pharmacy in a bigger store hasn't caught on over there? -- Mwalcoff 23:48, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Things have changed recently, in the Uk at least. Boots The Chemists is essentially a large store now, and not solely a chemist. Also Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons all have instore pharmacies in their larger stores, as standalone pharmacies are being slowly squeezed out. Rockpocket 02:32, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

It's probably for legal reasons. In Australia, it's still illegal for supermarkets to sell anything much more potent than paracetamol. FiggyBee 07:55, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

That acetaminophen for us. Rmhermen 22:41, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Legal reasons in Scandinavia at least. In Sweden, pharmacies are a state monopoly, and in Finland and Denmark, the government regulates the pharmacy business very strictly - only individual, trained and licenced pharmacists may own and operate pharmacies. In Norway it's less regulated, apparently.--Rallette 10:24, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Pharmacies are regulated in Canada as well and only licensed pharmacists can dispense drugs. Any store that has a pharmacy, whether it's a drugstore like Shoppers Drug Mart or another type of retailer like Wal-Mart or Loblaws, will have licensed pharmacists to staff it. - Eron ^Talk 12:41, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

In the US, following the lead of Medicare, the insurance companies pay the pharmacy on the order of $3 plus the 'average wholesale cost' to fill a prescription. That's not enough to keep the lights on. Gzuckier 16:23, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

September 3

What is the title of this book?

The main plot of the book is that a little boy has gained access into the fourth dimension. He soon realizes that there are an infinite amount of dimensions, with creatures to accomidate each. The creatures that are in each dimension protect one dimension lower. The little boy soon finds that his secretive neighbor is the protector of the second dimension.

I cannot remember the title or author of this book, but I'd really like to locate and read it again!

Thankyou! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.1.44.220 (talk) 00:46, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

If the main characters' names are Laura, Pete and Omar, it is The Boy Who Reversed Himself. I wouldn't have connected what our article has with the description you gave, but some of the reviews I read when googling the title match your description. When you've finished re-reading it, how about returning and fleshing out our article a bit? 152.16.188.107 07:32, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Cornbread

Having moved to the south and been enlightened on the differences between northern and southern cornbread, I wonder what it was that I had back home in California - I'd suspect "northern", but that sounds like the kind I had at Boston Market that was kind of sweet, whereas the kind my dad made was a mix in a can (I remember the label being yellowish-orange) and didn't taste all that sweet - is that southern style?

(I know that'll be hard to answer since I can't remember the brand, but thanks in advance for the attempt) Kuronue | Talk 01:33, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Did you look at the Cornbread article? Especially the Regional tastes section. --Mdwyer 05:26, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I did, but California always has a weird position of straddling the North and the South; "Northern" seems to indicate in this case New England and "Southern" the Deep South, neither of which have the same regional tastes. Kuronue | Talk 15:14, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I, personally, consider the "South" to stop well before you cross the Rio Grande. I'm with you, I think: I wouldn't call it "Northern". I'd just call it "Normal". (No offense meant to southerners, mind you!) California's got its own sort of style, I think. Putting the word 'California' before a food item suggests that I will include avocado, sprouts, or both. California Cornbread anyone?! --Mdwyer 00:51, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

netflix or blockbuster

looking for a side-by-side comparison of netflix and blockbuster's mail-in/hybrid rental plans —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.199.246 (talk) 02:09, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

• Here, here and here Rockpocket 02:25, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

and here. Gzuckier 16:26, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Crazy Google Image Search Problem

All the sudden, Google image search has been behaving very strangely on my computer. Any time I type anything "obscene" into the image search, and filter to show only "large images," i get COMPLETELY irrelevant images, mostly maps, only. For example, "blowjob" filtered to large images only yields lots of maps and computer screenshots of text, none of which are remotely related to my keyword. I have SafeSearch turned off, and it ONLY does this for the "large" image filter. What's up? Thanks. Steevven1 ^{(Talk) (Contribs) (Gallery)} 05:07, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps Google has developed a sense of humor. It might be a good idea to ask on the Computing desk. —Preceding unsigned comment added by S.dedalus (talk • contribs) 05:34, 3 September 2007 (UTC) Wow that was a fast bot! It's me --S.dedalus 05:36, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

People sometimes add porn words to their images so that they get more hits. Try refining your search by adding more keywords.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:49, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

My first thought was 'preferences' (next to the search box) > 'Do not filter my search results'. But now I notice that with that checked, I also get a lot of maps (why maps?). I suppose the reason is that the large images are only accessible for registered users, and Google of course can not show those. The free sections of porn sites only have smaller images. DirkvdM 10:12, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Note that "blow" has some other meaning as far as images go. Perhaps it's something like a "splash page". Does anyone know what it means in this context ? StuRat 13:22, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Ford Tempo fleet sales back in the day

Somebody said that the Ford Tempo was 70% fleet in 1990 in the American market. Can anyone confirm that the Tempo had high fleet sales in its final years? (Anyone able to find fleet numbers from the early 1990s?) Guroadrunner 07:42, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Questions about a pair of active speakers

I recently purchased computer speakers (manufacturer unknown). On the back, it says (3" fullrange, impedance - 4 ohm, frequency response - 70hz~16khz, THD (at 1khz)- under 0.05%, loading current - .5A followed by a picture of a square within a square). One is not sure if the manufacturer can fabricate values for THD and frequency response. It says nothing about the watts, could you please say how much it is?. Whole box is made of plastic with a hole (for bass?) in the top. Can the acoustics be made better by placing thin wood panels inside the box?. Is there anyway one can increase the bass?. Finally, can it be used at full volumes without the speakers blowing up?. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.201.71.125 (talk) 08:22, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

The hole is likely for treble, not bass. A properly made wooden box acting as a resonance chamber would help, but simply placing wood panels inside would likely just make a buzzing sound. StuRat 12:50, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Fistly Power=I^2xR - so maybe the power = .5A x .5A x 4 = 1W (quite normal for computer speakers)..

The power depends on the power supply - depends if they plug into the computer for power, or have a separate power supply

Square within square means double insulated- it's an elctrica;l safety thing

Wood panels probably wont' improve it much if at all - a total rebuild - take the speaker cones and put them inside a new (stronger) box might..

To improve the base get an active subwoofer - which most computer shops sell.

Try turning the speakers up full briefly - they shouldn'y blow up - however you'll probably notice they sound terrible ( as do all speakers on full ) - so there's no reason to have them that loud - in general though these things don't blow up on full (unless you are using a separate overly powerful amplifier)87.102.47.218 14:06, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Container shipping

Hello I have visited several websites for container shipping but they all want me to register before giving me an estimate. I just want a rough estimate. Does anyone know how much it would approx. cost to ship a container and/or a car to Buenos Aires from a big port in the UK? Thank you 80.200.229.89 10:06, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

When web sites do that to me, I give them fake info. The only prob is if they send an e-mail where you have to click on the link inside to activate your account. You can set up a temp e-mail account just for that e-mail, then delete it, but that sounds like more trouble than it's worth. My preferred fake email address is NOYFB@NOYFB.COM, but it's often already taken. :-) StuRat 12:44, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

For those interested there is a great website called www.tempinbox.com You can put whatever you want (say iamahero@tempinbox.com) and then you can just go to the site and put in that username@tempinbox.com - no password, no setting up, nothing. It exists as a site to track spam/produce spam filters but it welcomes use in situations like this as it allows it to build more advanced spam software. I use it a lot for signing up to websites which you only plan on using once (like this one sounds). ny156uk 22:02, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

At a very rough estimate, you'd be looking at a couple of thousand USD for a 20ft container, just for shipping. On top of that there may be import duties or other taxes. As far as I can tell, importing a new vehicle into Argentina attracts considerable tariffs and requires an import licence, and importing used vehicles is not legal. But WP:IANAL... FiggyBee 13:00, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Is Apu the owner of Kwik E Mart in the Simpsons Series? please..

Ajaythewikifellow1 10:47, 3 September 2007 (UTC)aj

Apu suggests that he is, yes. Worm ^{(t | c)} 11:29, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I think he is the manager of that particular Kwik W Mart, but I don't think he owns it. For example, he has been fired before and replaced. Skittle 11:44, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I guess Apu is wrong; I've made a note on the talk page - though having read Kwik-E-Mart it's equally probable that he's the owner when it suits the script, and an employee ditto. KEM describes him as the "operator" (presumably of the franchise) --Tagishsimon (talk) 14:35, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

There's an episode where he and Homer go to Nepal to meet with the founder and CEO of Kwik-E-Mart. Maybe he owns the franchise for the Springfield branch? Neil ム 15:38, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Definitely not the owner of the whole company. But he may own the Springfield Kwik-E-Mart as a franchiser. Guroadrunner 16:11, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

The Quick-E-Mart usually only has two workers, Apu and his brother Sanjay. Their work-relationship varies, but generally Apu is seen ordering Sanjay around. The overall owner of the Kwik-E-Mart corporation however is Nordyne Defence Dyanamics, as revealed in Marge in Chains. Laïka 18:35, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Yep, pretty confident that Apu owns the Springfield franchise. --jjron 08:01, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Remember the episode "Much APu about nothing"? He tells Marge this: "I didn't feel right leaving without paying off my student loans.. so I took a job at the kwik-e-mart". No mention of buying it. ::Manors:: 18:58, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

finding out what happen

i wuold like to know the events of the war that took place in Cam Ranh Bay on (12-15-1968) (12-5-1969) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.14.11.130 (talk) 14:40, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Have you read our detailed article on Cam Ranh Bay?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:43, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Who's the tallest bodybuilder in the world today?

212.143.253.36 14:54, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Noah Steere at 6'6" is supposedly the tallest currently competing bodybuilder. David Prowse was slightly taller in his prime. FiggyBee 02:38, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Lou Ferrigno, TV's Incredible Hulk, is 6'5" and was the tallest professional bodybuilder at the time he was competing, and he's still alive today. I seem to remember him being portrayed as even taller than this in his acting roles, such as in the Hulk, but I guess that's pretty typical. --jjron 07:59, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Cold hands

Whenever I'm in a room that has a normal or below tempurature, my hands become really cold- my friends always think I'm holding an icecube next to their skin or shirt whenever I touch them because the cold even goes through clothing when I just lay my hand on their shirt or something. Everybody agrees that it's very odd and that my hands are way more freezing than the next cold person. I don't think this is normal- what could it be? 74.211.8.100 16:14, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Only a doctor can answer this, so please ask one. We cannot give medical advice. It could be any of a number of things, such as Raynaud's disease.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:40, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm afraid we can't offer medical advice – diagnoses, prognoses, or treatment suggestions – on Wikipedia. Please consult a physician about any symptoms that trouble you. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 19:32, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Please see my answer here: [20]. StuRat 03:17, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Name of this pencil

I have begun to love this specific brand of mechanical pencils. However, as hard as I search, I am unable to find it in any stores. This isn't a rate pencil and I see it all the time, but am unable to find a place where they sell it. Most writing utensils have a name, does anyone know the name of this pencil? (Please note in the photo, the clip on the pencil is broken and the eraser cap is also missing.)

• [21]
• [22]
• [23]

Thanks. Acceptable 17:52, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Looks like a Bic Softsider to me.--Rallette 09:28, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Ah, yes it is. Thank you =) Acceptable 20:07, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Shifting gears in britain

In Britain, along with other countries that drive on the left side of the road and produces cars with the driver side on the right, when driving a manual, is the gear placement a mirror of the gear placement of a car where the driver sits on the left side? For example, in a British car, is 1st gear on the left side (like in a car with the driver on the left), or is it on the right side, close to the driver? Thanks. Acceptable 18:11, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

It is the same in both right and left hand drives. 1st gear is to the left, 5th to the right. Incidently the foot pedals are in the same order also. Rockpocket 18:28, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

...and (for helping bridge the linguistic gap) we call it "changing gear", rather than "shifting". The item manipulated is a "gear stick", or, more archaically, "gear lever". --Dweller 12:47, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

What's really amazing is how easy it is to switch from left hand drive (LHD) to right hand drive (RHD) and vice-versa. Despite shifting with the 'wrong' hand, whilst not mentally mirroring pedals or gear layout and driving on the opposite side of the road, it's possible to drive either way with really minimal 'conversion' time. The first time I did it, I didn't even have to think about pedals and shifter - the worst part was remembering how to wind up on the correct side of the road at junctions. After 10 minutes of driving, your brain 'adapts' and it's rarely a problem after that. The worst problem I have is when walking up to a car from the front in the parking lot and remembering which door I should be opening to get in! I also sometimes drive a British (RHD) car on Texas (LHD) roads - which means you are sitting on the right with the shifter to your left, driving on the right hand side of the road...and it's still no problem! I've also driven a French car (LHD) on British (RHD) roads - so all four possibilities are buried in my head - and it's still no problem to switch between them. The brain is amazingly adaptive. SteveBaker 15:57, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

What about visibility problems when you're driving a left-hand drive car on a British road? I'm not a driver, but I would have thought it was hard to judge whether it's safe to overtake, for example, because you're that bit further away from the right-hand edge of the car in front. Or is that not an issue? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 16:01, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, that's a problem. It reduces visisiblity and there's increased chances of a car being in your blind spot, especially on motorways. It's just as bad when British cars are taken into countries that drive on the right, such as France (which is commonly done for holidays). JoshHolloway 19:18, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Yep - overtaking on Texas roads with a RHD car is close to suicide. Until recently, the top speed of my British Mini was 72mph - and with a 24 second 0-60 time, overtaking was more of a theoretical possibility than anything to be concerned about. But now I'm putting in a bigger engine...which may be problematic! I've been seriously thinking of mounting a small video camera to the left side of the car! SteveBaker 20:57, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I think Steve Baker is correct in what he says about the relative ease of adapting to the opposite side of the road, with or without the confusion of also changing to the opposite side of the car - BUT - for me, the hardest part of adapting is always the rearview mirror being in the WRONG place at the most critical moments. As a British driver, I always want the mirror to be eyes above and LEFT, but it is never there, being eyes above and RIGHT instead. That apart, I always get filthy looks from other drivers when I adamantly REFUSE to proceed through a red light when it would be legal and safe to do so. I hope they never change to that Law in Britain as my brain would simply not allow me to go through a red light - not ever. 81.145.241.182 19:52, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Fortunately, I've never felt the slightest desire to go 'right-on-red' (or even 'left-on-red') on British roads - but I do sometimes forget to go right-on-red on Texas roads when I've been away from home for a while (much to the annoyance of people behind me). Worse still is the whole 'priorité à droite' crap in France...that (and forgetting that speed limit signs are in kph, not mph) are REALLY bad things to forget to adapt to! SteveBaker 20:57, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Car Problem

I dropped the oil cap on my car and the bottom of the engine compartment is covered so even if it fell all the way through, it wouldnt fall to the ground. The cap fell in the front of the engine where theres a fan and some pulleys under it. I cant see it because the engine compartment is so tight, but I am afraid to turn it on even when I get a new cap because I dont want to cause any damage if the cap is stuck somewhere. What do you guys suggest other then taking it to the dealer? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.167.145.55 (talk) 18:24, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Tricky. I would expect the cover to be removable from underneath, so that would be my first suggestion. Otherwise turn the fanbelt slowly and listen for any noises. It is possible to probe around with a magnet on a long thin rod or string to fish the thing out?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 19:03, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Try jacking up the car so that the cap could slide. But I would not drive it until I found it. A flying object in a contained area could do crazy things and wreck the radiator, fan belt, etc. BTW, what kind of car is it that has a sealed engine compartment —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.147.39.60 (talk) 20:39, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Your car may have an air deflector covering part of the bottom of the car. (My Taurus does- and it scraps every time I enter a steep driveway.) Removing this, if you have one, allows easier access to that area. Rmhermen 22:31, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Its a 2005 BMW 325ci convertable. I looked again and I didnt see it. I turned it on for a few seconds to listen for noises, but could not hear anything out of the ordinary. So as long as I dont drive it until I get a new oil cap I should probably be fine, right? And its a lease by the way so I dont want to mess with anything like taking the cover off of the bottom, I might not be able to get it back on. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.167.145.55 (talk) 00:08, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Might be worth contacting BMW to see what they have to say Lemon martini 10:12, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Hanging ironed shirts

After one irons dress shirts, how should the shirts be hanged on the hook hangers? Should the collar be "popped" or should they be "normaled"? Should the first button be buttoned up? Thanks. Acceptable 20:32, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I hang up my beloved's freshly ironed shirts with the collar down (as you would wear it) and the top button fastened. But then we are British... SaundersW 20:43, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Same here (in the US). StuRat 03:03, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I leave it unbuttoned with the collar up. I don't like to have the crease in there sitting until use so I leave it 'up'. I guess it is individual preference. I can see why you might button it up (keeps the shape perhap?) but personally I don't. Mind you i'm pretty bad at ironing so don't take my word for it! ny156uk 21:58, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Surely on a dress shirt the collar is removable? One would not attach it until one had put the shirt on. DuncanHill 08:38, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Removable collars on a dress shirt? Is this something that a custom tailored shirt would have? All my dress shirts, and all those that I have ever seen, though "off-the-rack", have had collars that were attached. Dismas|^(talk) 09:54, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Nevermind, I see it's covered under Dress shirt#Dress shirts for black tie and white tie. Dismas|^(talk) 09:59, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

That section of Dress shirt is fine, but perhaps a little out of date. Nowadays, I should only wear a hard detachable stick-up collar with a 'boiled shirt' (that's one with a hard front which needs to be starched and also needs shirt studs) if the occasion called for a white tie, which I hardly ever need now. With a black tie, I only use marcella shirts with attached collars and (yes) double cuffs. They are much more sensible and comfortable and just need to be washed and ironed. Mine are put away in a drawer, folded up, with the collars flat. Xn4 21:01, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I assumed that "dress shirt" meant "not casual shirt, the kind with which a tie is worn", rather than "the sort of shirt worn with a dinner jacket" or even "the kind of shirt worn with tails". I think that is US usage? —Preceding unsigned comment added by SaundersW (talk • contribs) 21:43, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, we may have a crossed wire. In the UK, dress shirt is understood to mean the kind of shirt you wear with a black or white tie for dinners, dances, etc. Does it just mean 'formal shirt' in the US? In any event, I can't say I'd say dress shirt myself, I'd say evening shirt for the soft kind of black tie shirt or boiled shirt (goodness knows why!) for the hard kind.

If you're asking about hanging up everyday shirts with ordinary turn-down collars attached, then I shouldn't think it matters whether you turn the collars up or down. Doing up one button does keep them looking neat and tidy on the hanger! Xn4 03:05, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

How is gene therapy administered?

How is gene therapy administered, is it done with needles (shots), many shots, or is it taken orally? Does gene therapy help create or increase directions in the bodies or cells to tell the body to make certain proteins or cells, like for instance make more insulin for a diabetic? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.120.224.112 (talk) 21:41, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Our article on gene therapy may be of interest to you. There are many possible routes of administration depending on the type of therapy and its target. The field of gene therapy is still in its infancy; as far as I know there are no gene therapeutic techniques that have progressed beyond the earliest clinical trials. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 22:01, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Theoretically you could use a gene gun, though these are still experimental in nature. Rockpocket 05:35, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

September 4

candidate speeches

would like to go to a candidate speech on the campaign tour, but I only hear about the cities they visit after it happens. Is there a schedule? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.199.246 (talk) 00:04, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Assuming you're talking about the campaign tour for the United States presidential election, 2008, the websites of the individual candidates will have diaries of upcoming engagements. You could also try checking the website of or contacting your state Democratic or Republican party, as they are likely to know who's coming to town when. FiggyBee 02:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Citizenship question

My aunt is a citizen of the United States and Canada. According to my mother, she has a job in Alberta and now earns more. She needs to report her income annually to the US. Could she give up her citizenship? If so, would she still need to report her income? Could she reapply after renouncing her citizenship? What do I tell my mother? I'm looking at the State Department website now but I can't find anything. --Blue387 00:57, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

doubt anyone here will answer you. they get picky about legal things. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.199.246 (talk) 01:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

This sort of complicated international tax question is really beyond the scope of the Reference Desks here. Particularly when thousands of dollars and a person's citizenship are in question, you really don't want to trust the advice of random strangers on the Internet.

In addition to the State Department, you might want to look at material from the Internal Revenue Service. I know that the United States and Canada have a tax treaty; the IRS' Publication 597 deals with it. Call the IRS' help lines to find out more, and consult with a good immigration lawyer and a good accountant before doing anything drastic. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 01:29, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

One thing is for sure: If she gives up her US citizenship she won't have to pay US taxes. Whether this is a good idea, or whether she would be able to get her citizenship back I have no idea. Plasticup ^T/C 02:17, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

IABNMAL (I am by no means a lawyer), but I would think that if she earned any of that money while still a U.S. citizen, the U.S. gov't would still want their take of the taxes. Also, it's probably a bigger hassle to renounce citizenship to a particular country, not pay the taxes, then try and get that citizenship back at a later date than just paying the taxes to begin with. Dismas|^(talk) 04:05, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Both American and Canadian tax law have provisions against double taxation, so it's very doubtful she would save on taxes by giving up her American citizenship. People are generally discouraged from renouncing American citizenship, since it rarely makes any sense to do so. -- Mwalcoff 05:45, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

The net effect of tax treaty "provisions against double taxation" is supposed to be that your total payments come out to the higher of the two rates; and Canadian taxes are reputedly higher than U.S. taxes. However, note that I said "supposed to be" and "reputedly". It could well vary by state/province and by the person's particular situation. This is an area where you really need professional advice. --Anonymous, 15:04 UTC, September 4, 2007.

Not "legal advice", just my experience: as a US resident who still had a bank account in Canada which paid interest every year. The Canadian govt withheld 15% for taxes. That is deductible (under "high withholding interest")from the total US tax including the interest as interest income, to the same proportion that the Canadian income is of your total income. I.e., if the Canadian tax is 50% of your total tax, but the Canadian income is only 10% of your total income, then you can only use it to take off 10% of your tax. But in general, that's not a problem, so in fact you only end up paying tax to one country. You have to fill out the proper form with the proper calculations, of course. Gzuckier 16:38, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I am not an expert, but I am a U.S. citizen who has looked into Canadian citizenship. Other posters are correct that dual citizens resident in Canada pay U.S. tax only if it is greater than the Canadian tax, and then only the difference, but the U.S. tax is very rarely higher. So it is normally just a matter of filing the forms every year. Of course, if your aunt's income and assets are complicated, this could involve a nontrivial annual expense for an accountant. She would relieve herself of this obligation by renouncing her U.S. citizenship. However, I believe (though I don't know for sure) that U.S. citizenship, once renounced, would not be so easy to regain. Probably you would have to go through at least the same degree of difficulty as any other noncitizen, and you might come up for extra scrutiny for having renounced. So, if your aunt thinks that she might want to make use of her U.S. citizenship in the future, it might be worth the trouble or expense of continuing to file those forms. Marco polo 17:29, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

band break up

I just missed a radio dj talking about how the lead singer of a band broke up the band (or left it) because he couldnt deal with the enovironmentaly unfriendly habits of the other members of the band. I havent heard anything else about it and am having trouble finding anything on the net about it. Any idea? Thanks in advance!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.69.170.119 (talk) 01:20, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

There is much talk swirling around Pearl Jam and that they will soon part ways.
Although their break-up probably won't be over the enviroment ... unless it's the working enviroment.
As of now nothing has been confirmed just rumored.

Killa Klown 19:37, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

color-help

Hi !

I just noticed that tons of images, namely the heraldic weapons for a significant portion of the heralic weapons for municipalities of Norway are wrong. I am willing to correct them myself, but need a little bit of help with the color.

Compare File:Gloppen komm.png to http://www.gloppen.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?AId=39&back=1&MId1=20&MId2=52 and it is apparent that the blue is completely different. The latter page (the official homepage of one norwegian municipality) explains that the blue should be "Winsor & Newton 065", and that's where my problem begins. I don't know color-theory, so I don't know what color that would correspond to in RGB-terms. (which is what I usually use in the Gimp when editing pngs)

The exact same blue is used on ~100 of the ~400 norwegian municipality-weapons. All are similarily wrong here on WP.

I could simply use the same color as Gloppen municipality themselves use on their webpages, but there's no guarantee that that is indeed the 100% correct one, and if I *do* correct the color of a hundred files, I would rather do it correctly the first time. --Eivind Kjørstad 07:47, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Additional info to the same issue, I just discovered that not just the blue, but also the green used on a large number of the weapons is wrong. Look here: List_of_Norwegian_coats_of_arms, the brigth green is wrong. Compare to the weapon used on any of the official homepages of the same municipalities. --Eivind Kjørstad 08:09, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Winsor & Newton 65 is Cerulean blue. It's also worth noting that, properly speaking, in heraldry blue is blue and green is green - exact hues are not specified. So the current images may be heraldically correct, even if they don't exactly match the logos of the municipalities. FiggyBee 10:10, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Our article on Cerulean blue gives the RGB values - and they certainly look more like the colours on the Norwegian websites. But in strict heraldic terms, the shade of blue doesn't matter - it's only now that we have heraldic symbols coming to be used like corporate logos that the precise colour starts to matter. It's also a little dangerous to equate a paint colour to an on-screen colour because the two can never truly be compared. Different computer screens will render the same RGB value differently - it'll depend on your gamma settings, and comparing paint colours to screen colours also assumes you know whether the paint is being viewed in natural daylight or artificial lighting. In order to get the best compromise equivalent colour in paint, print, CRT screen and movies, one would have to know something like the pantone number for the colour. For all of these reasons, this isn't really worth obsessing over. SteveBaker 15:44, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

• I'm reluctant to open up this can of worms, but depending on what Norwegian copyright law says about heraldic seals (I assume they are too old to be under copyright, but please check and don't take my word for it) we might just be able to copy the images from the various Norwegian official websites. --M@rēino 17:41, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

A heraldic blazon is not an image, it is a description of an image. I have no doubt that the specific renditions of heraldic devices found on the websites are copyrighted. FiggyBee 01:12, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

• I can't speak for Norwegian heraldry, but I'd be amazed if its tolerance of colour variations were much less than that of English heraldry, in which azure is simply an unspecified shade of blue. In the middle ages, it wasn't possible to specify shades of colour in the way that we can now. That's one reason why there are so few heraldic colours. So probably any blue which is recognizably blue is acceptable. In continental heraldry there is also bleu celeste, or sky blue, but that too is fairly vague. To fathom this, you would need to check the original grant of arms which blazons the ones you are concerned with and the definition of the terms used in it. Xn4 19:35, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I suppose the lack of choice for dyes back in the middle ages may have had the accidental effect of guaranteeing an exact shade of some of the colours. Just how many blue dyes were known back then? Maybe just one...in which case, when they said "Azure" - they may have had a precise shade in mind. However, that certainly wouldn't have continued for long as more dyes were discovered. But we should consider the reason for having these heraldic designs in the first place - it was so individuals could be recognised on the field of battle - and to ensure that everyone wore something sufficiently different from everyone else. You certainly wouldn't want someone to be wondering whether that shield was sky blue, baby blue or cyan as they were bearing down on you with something heavy and pointy! So precise delineation of colours would have defeated the entire purpose of having heraldic designs in the first place. SteveBaker 00:55, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

locator

How do i keep a tab on the exact position of my children through an apparatus which not expensive? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.167.138.102 (talk) 08:13, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Cheapest and most effective method out there --lucid 08:31, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

If they have mobile phones, they already carry tracking devices. A few years ago I heard of a website (perhaps somebody else will know the url) that enables you to track a mobile phone on payment of a small subscription.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:00, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

My Verizon Motorola Krazr offers free downloads of "chaperone" and "chaperone parent" applications. as far as i can tell from the two lines of info offered, these do allow the "parent" to monitor the whereabouts of the "chaperone" phone, but the details aren't supplied. Looking at a typical kid's Samsung phone, though, it didn't have the capacity to download apps. Gzuckier 16:33, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

There is also the possibility of inserting RFID tags under someone's skin. Our article makes clear the host of security and privacy issues surrounding this. But if those concerns could be addressed, I would have thought there was a good case for concerned parents tagging their children. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 09:09, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree with Lucid. There oughta be a law!--Nricardo 10:48, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I don't think RFID tags will work at more than a few metres. You need something more powerful, like with a regular battery inside it. Googling "track their movements" together with "mobile phone" brings up LOADS of hits.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:01, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

God forbid that children should ever be allowed any freedom or privacy - if you start doing that they might want to be treated with respect next! Why not just nail them to the floor? DuncanHill 12:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

We don't know what the OP had in mind, but my first thought was tracking their movements as a security measure against abduction. As a parent myself, I think it's legitimate to enquire what methods might be available. If Madeleine McCann had had some kind of tracking device fitted to her, we might know where she is now. I'm not saying it's practical or even 100% desirable, but it's a reasonable idea to consider. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 13:58, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Not if daddy did it as some people suspect. Anyway if devices like this became more popular kidnappers would check for / disable them. It's silly to claim otherwise. Lanfear's Bane —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lanfear's Bane (talk • contribs) 14:39, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

There's this if you feel like treating your child like society would normally treat a convicted felon. (Actually, I can't find any evidence that these shoes have actually been released on schedule.) Or if you don't need live data, and just want to check on them after the fact you could try this. 69.95.50.15 14:56, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Or this. I have to say that even as a small child, I would have absolutely refused to wear a tracking device that could be remotely locked onto my wrist. It would have 'accidentally' gotten smashed or waterlogged the first day I had it. 69.95.50.15 15:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

• (EC) I remember seeing a GPS + cell phone device that would attach to a person's wrist in a tamper-resistant way, and occasionally report its position. I can't find it online just now. There are legitimate uses for such devices, such as for people with dementia who are at risk of wandering off into trouble. Unless a particular child is at risk for abduction, it probably doesn't make sense: in the USA, there are fewer than 200 child abductions by strangers each year, which is not a number worth worrying about. Abductions by non-strangers are readily solvable by traditional policing means. --Sean 15:17, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

With respect, every one of those 200 is "worth worrying about" if you're the parents of one of the children concerned. And whether an abduction is solvable by the police or not, doesn't mean it will necessarily be solved... plus time is often of the essence in these cases. All I'm saying is, it might be legitimate for a parent to consider using a device such as you describe on their child, if they're that worried about the possibility of abduction. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:29, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

The kids who are abducted are worth caring about, but we're talking about the original poster, who is more likely to win the lottery than have their kid abducted. Statistically I'm pretty sure you'd be doing more good by requiring your kid to wear a helmet while walking down the sidewalk, or refuse to let him ride in a motor-vehicle for anything that's not absolutely vital. (Every time you drive him to soccer practice you increase his likelihood of a horrible death.) If that's not glamorous and exciting enough, perhaps he could carry a snake-bite kit or something. 69.95.50.15 15:40, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

This is exactly what I meant. People fear a boogeyman, when they would be better served to have separate cutting boards for chicken and vegetables, or install a carbon monoxide detector for the home, or, as you say, carry a snake-bite kit, and perhaps also some shark-repellant spray. Rational behavior FTW. --Sean 19:08, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

go to youtube, type in BOOST MOBILE LOOPT, ask not your kids this question, but first ask yourself, 'Where You At?'. side note, I'm not a salesperson for this ad, I actually do not subscribe to cellular, I'm landlined. --i am the kwisatz haderach 23:39, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

30" coal

What is thirty inch coal? I heard it referred to on NPR yesterday while they were doing a story on coal mining songs during All Things Considered but they didn't explain what it is. Dismas|^(talk) 09:27, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I suspect it is a name of a particular coal seam - in coal mining, one finds that individual seams have individual characteristics which enable them to be identified across different shafts and mines, so the "thirty inch coal" could well be a seam which is typically thirty inches in thickness. DuncanHill 09:30, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

It's explained in the text version of that piece – there were coal mines with the ceiling only thirty inches high.--Rallette 09:38, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Thirty inches high? Luxury!, in the North Somerset Coalfield seams as thin as 14" were worked. DuncanHill 09:44, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! Dismas|^(talk) 09:42, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

YOCO

Does YOCO height increase really help? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.210.55.139 (talk) 12:19, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

This seems to be an insole that you put in your shoe, so yes, it increases your height by a whopping 2mm. Definitely a great help in getting rid of surplus money and encouraging these scammers.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:21, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

There seems to be a line of (wishful?) thinking that these things--Miki or Yoko--can "supposedly increase your growth hormone production by stimulating the pituitary gland action." There's more discussion here, which concludes that they're of little or no benefit. The same site recommends Cushioned Shoe Insoles. I recommend stilts. --Tagishsimon (talk) 13:34, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Saluting off-duty

Is it customary in the United States and Canada for a subordinate member of the armed forces to salute his/her superior when neither of them are in uniform? For example, if the two meet in a shopping mall, while neither of them are on-duty. Thanks. Acceptable 23:20, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Not in a shopping mall, because you don't salute indoors. If they met in the parking lot, then yes, you would be expected to salute. Corvus cornix 23:21, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I've been in a Canadian Forces base and I've seen soldiers salute indoors all the time. Acceptable 23:33, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

If you're reporting to a superior's office, then you might salute, under certain circumstances, but in general, indoors there is no saluting in the US forces. Corvus cornix 23:35, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

If you are a civilian, you can salute any way, shape, or form. Although you may not get a salute back. For instance, I work as a customer service rep, my boss, ex-ARMY, as he walks past me, I sometimes give the ole' American Salute sitting down on my cubical office chair, half torqued towards him, and yes, indoors. And on some occasions, I'll throw up the Canadian salute. I've also been known to whistle that British military whistle. I got that from 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'(1957 film). --i am the kwisatz haderach 23:47, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

By "that British military whistle" do you mean Colonel Bogey/Hitler Has Only Got One Ball? FiggyBee 01:16, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm having a hard time visualising an office chair with 6 faces and 8 vertices. Sounds extremely uncomfortable - almost like the hot box Colonel Nicholson was confined in by Colonel Saito.  :) -- JackofOz 01:38, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

A U.S. Navy officer said that subordinates have to salute if they see an officer, in town say, but they will go to great lengths to not "see" the officer like turning suddenly to study a shop window. If all are out of uniform, I have my doubts. Isn't the old phrase "You salute the uniform, not the man?" Edison 03:36, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

September 5

"Clear Lake City and Houston"

Isn't Clear Lake City a part of Houston, Texas or could it be a city of its own. I keep on getting Johnson Space Center mixed up with Clear Lake and Houston. And I begin mixing Bay Area as a city of its own with Clear Lake, Houston, El Lago, and Seabrook. How can I make the difference? --Writer Cartoonist 00:44, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

To quote the first paragraph of the article Clear Lake City, Houston, Texas: Clear Lake City is a master-planned community located in southeast Harris County, Texas and is the second-largest master-planned community in Houston—behind Kingwood. The majority of the community lies in the corporate limits of Houston, while a small eastern portion is in the city limits of Pasadena. The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center article says The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings on 1,620 acres located in the Clear Lake area of southeast Houston, Texas, USA. The article at Galveston Bay Area, says it is a "loosely defined region" with "NASA's Johnson Space Center [...] located in [its] heart". El Lago, Texas appears to be a separate city, as does Seabrook, Texas. Thylacoleo 02:50, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Student Policies and Laws

Is it against the law to hold a child after class during his/her break? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.170.91.190 (talk) 03:46, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

We cannot offer legal opinion, see Wikipedia:Legal disclaimer. If you are concerned with the legality of being held behind after class, you could speak to a head-teacher, who should be aware of what he or she can and cannot do legally. Otherwise seek advice from a lawyer or citizens advice centre. Rockpocket 05:30, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Name of interior parts in a car

Relevant photograph

1. What is the name of the part of an auto that shows P R N D 2 1 which is located underneath the DASHBOARD and above the STEERING WHEEL?

2. Does the handle that is used to change among P R N D 2 1 choices have a special name?--71.105.30.63 05:34, 5 September 2007 (UTC)