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Science Mathematics Computing/IT Humanities
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how tall is a hurricane?

no one has ever said how tall a hurricane is. so, in laymens terms, how tall are they usually? 64.12.116.73 22:48, 4 October 2005 (UTC) karen in florida[reply]

From this, I'd say that's about 18 km (11 miles) [1] — Lomn | Talk / RfC 13:03, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

names of hurricanes that we skipped

how come we don't use every letter of the alphabet when we name our hurricanes? or am I missing something? 64.12.116.73 22:54, 4 October 2005 (UTC) karen in florida[reply]

See Hurricane - Naming_of_tropical_cyclones and/or Lists of tropical cyclone names. --Tagishsimon (talk)
  • Karen,

In fact, our 2005 Atlantic hurricane season shows that every name allocated between Tropical Storm Arlene and Hurricane Stan has been used so far. However, in the case of tropical storms they only received coverage in local broadcasts in contrast with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita which had extensive coverage around the world. Capitalistroadster 01:30, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not used for naming hurricanes because there are too few given names that start with those letters to add to the name lists. --Metropolitan90 07:00, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Location of new minister in Edmonton

I am looking for a contact for the Rev.Dave Guzzwell from Newfoundland who recently moved to Edmonton John Waller box 213 Brigus NL A0A 1K0.142.163.9.65 23:47, 4 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • A Google search came up with noone by that name in Edmonton. However it did appear to show that he was in the United Church. The United Church locator in Canada says that there are 27 churches in Alberta [2]. I would try sending an email or letter to each of these churches saying you are looking for Reverend Guzzwell. I suspect you will soon find him if he is there.Capitalistroadster 01:40, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Vice President

Does a Vice Presidential selection ever need Senate approval?

Assuming you are asking about the situation in the US, the answer to your question is: not normally, but if a Vice President dies or resigns in office the replacement must be approved by both houses of Congress. An explanation is contained contained in the article Vice President of the United States and in more detail in Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. --Robert Merkel 04:57, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Dreamworks

What does "SKG" mean under the Dreamworks logo?

See the DreamWorks article. —Wayward 05:14, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I'm feeling nice. Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Brian Schlosser42 15:25, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

WP awards

Is there a page where I can see all the various barnstars and such that are bandied about or do you have to just learn them by seeing them on various user pages? Qaz (talk) 07:55, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Start with Wikipedia:Barnstar and see if that gives you what you're looking for. Dismas|(talk) 08:13, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Reference Desk

Skim reading through this page, a lot of the questions appear to be poorly phrased, meaning less or could be solved simply by reading the article. Just out of curiousity, what percentage of the questions on this page are well enough written to answer properly? (I know I am probably opening a can of worms, here!) smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 09:00, 5 October 2005 (UTC) [reply]

  • I don't know any exact numbers but I'm afraid the percentage of worthwile questions is too low. - Mgm|(talk) 09:55, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

On a related note, it appears that the regularly recurring ALLCAPS questions (in spite of clear instructions on top of this page) frequently are asked by South Asians / Indians. Is this some cultural thing? Are ALLCAPS texts common in India, or is this connected with unfamiliarity with the Latin alphabet, which would make capital letters easier to read (because they are learned first)? 130.60.142.65 10:35, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hindi at least, and I'm assuming any script language does not have a distinction between upper and lower case. To them it's not something they're likely to think much about. As for people asking poorly phrased questions and not reading the instructions, I think that's just the breaks for how the reference desk in a wide open Wiki is going to go. Ask for clarification, provide as much detail as you feel like, and don't sweat it. Otherwise provide as many links to our articles as possible and call it even. - Taxman Talk 14:24, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I have never seen a response when clarification to the question is requested. And only once did I spot a thank you to an answered question. Perhaps, ppl post and forget. lots of issues | leave me a message 12:25, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I think there may still be an assumption that the question has to fit entirely in the small title box. I also sense that a lot of people lose their question once they've asked it. Is there a way we can make things easier for unfamiliar users? --bodnotbod 00:03, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Another thing I've noticed is that the Help Desk seems to get more misc questions than the reference desk! I suppose no-one reads the messages about which desk to use, multiple postings, ALLCAPS etc. What might work is if questions could be given sub-pages, with this page becoming a list of question titles. It would help people track their question, and shorten this very long page. It's a pain putting the desk in a watchlist, since everytime anyone changes any question, the watchlist comes up with a new entry. Therefore, it is very rare to find that the flagged change is the one to your question. smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 09:58, 7 October 2005 (UTC) [reply]

Y"all might also like to visit the Talk page on this (click on discussion very top of this page), and perhaps contribute to some threads there. AlMac|(talk) 16:27, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Is there a way we can make things easier for unfamiliar users?
One thing I would like to see in the future ... after the person has entered their question, up pops a link that they are invited to cut & paste, or place in favorite places. This is link to THEIR question so they can check back in a few hours, or a day or two to see if anyone has answered it. The accompanying text would say that because of the large number of people posting questions, it can be difficult for you to locate your question, and its answers, so here is a link to make it easy. Hopefully the link would still work (redirect) after the content has been archived. AlMac|(talk) 16:44, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Canadian terminology

Okay, this is a weird one.

I'm currently writing a good chunk of fairly formal text about Canada, focusing on differences between certain aspects of the provinces and territories. This, sadly, entails writing "provinces and territories" a lot, which gets rather annoying for the reader (not to mention the writer!). Is there a one-word term used to describe these - "regions", say? Several sources seem to used "provinces" as a catch-all, but that seems to be asking for confusion. Shimgray | talk | 11:31, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Not weird at all. Since it is a formal paper, you have an option of defining any terminology you might use for clarity. For the purposes of this paper, the term "regions" or "regions of Canada" will denote both the formal provincial and territorial jurisdictions of Canada. Where necessary, the terms "provinces" and "territories" will be used for further clarity where any distinction between the two is necessary. --216.191.200.1 14:26, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I really only run with it for a couple of paragraphs and then it becomes readable again - it doesn't seem worth defining terms for just those, but I guess I can stick a footnote in (it's formal, yes, but I don't want to make it sound too turgid) - the differences are between individual regions rather than "provinces v. territories". I really just wanted to know if there was a standard term, since it's generally preferable to use that (and you never know when the reader will turn out to speak Canadian!) Shimgray | talk | 14:34, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Most Canadians would, I think, use 'Regions of Canada' to mean groups of provinces, such as Atlantic Canada. You might want to say that you will use provinces to include territories unless otherwise specified. Of course as long as you define your meaning it won't matter. DJ Clayworth 14:45, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I'm Canadian and I've never encountered a term which refers to "provinces and territories" while growing up. The meaning has always been unambiguous based on the context. --216.191.200.1 14:49, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps you could say, "The term 'provinces' in this document refers to both provinces and territories unless otherwise noted." The US Code sometimes uses a similar trick with the District of Columbia, saying that for the purposes of a particular statute, the term "state" includes DC. -- Mwalcoff 02:57, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The best example of this definition I've yet run across, incidentally, is the New Jersey legal code:
State. The word "State" extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. (1:1-2)
I can't help but feel they should get around probably to fixing that bit one day... Shimgray | talk | 14:03, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

From the Help desk

Hey everyone. An anonymous user User_talk:164.83.99.83 posted this header at the help desk:

"florida/what is florida's major attractionand landmark"

Maybe you Wikipedians can help out and decipher what question is being asked? Thanks for your help, and have an excellent day! --216.191.200.1 14:17, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Nicknames

Why is William called Bill and Richard called Dick?

William shortens to Will changes to Bill (or -> Willy -> Billy).
Richard is a little more complex; it was originally pronounced with a bit of a k as Ricard (Ric-hard rather than Rich-ard). This shortened to Ric(k) easily, and then to Dick.
Consider also Robert -> Rob -> Bob, for another example of the same thing. Shimgray | talk |

I think the hard part of the question is why the initial consonants changed, since that doesn't happen when most names are converted to diminutives or familiars. I don't know the answer to that. alteripse 15:28, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

William already changed - previously Guilliame ("gwu-" to "wih-"), so it's not that far-fetched. I believe there's a term for this, but IANALinguist. Shimgray | talk | 16:05, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The Rick -> Dick is just an alveolar approximant becoming a voiced alveolar plosive, so the only difference between the two initial sounds is the manner of articulation. Will -> Bill makes some sense too as /w/ (Labial-velar approximant) and /b/ (Voiced bilabial plosive) are very similar (only slightly different manners of articulation and slightly different places of articulation). — Laura Scudder | Talk 21:36, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

http://www.critchley.ca/Images/Unknown%20Building.jpg

http://www.critchley.ca/Images/Unknown%20Building.jpg what is this

Help

It sure looks like that's the Golden Gate Bridge off to the left, and the scenery in the background sure looks like Marin and Tiburon. So that would suggest it's the state prison at Alcatraz, and indeed it looks to me like the main cell block there. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:35, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
On looking further at some maps, it's not the cellblock. It's a building on the west of the island, which this map seems to say is the "new infirmary building". -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:46, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Trucks killer

the movie with emilio estavez killer trucks what is it? ADD IT TO WIKIPEDIA [[ ]]

what IS IT?

The film is Maximum Overdrive, based on the Stephen King short story Trucks; King also directed the film. android79 16:05, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

fleece gem

on a fleece there is a gem on the zipper like its crystal silver with black anyone know? --169.244.143.115 16:50, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

If you're asking what the "gem" is made of, it's probably polymethyl methacrylate (perspex). Shantavira 18:25, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

PLAYS

IS THERE ANY HISTORICAL BASIS FOR HAMLET

Hamlet might be able to tell you, and if this is for a homework assignment, I suggest you not type it in ALL CAPS. android79 18:58, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

COMEDY

WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THE THREE STOOGES

Larry, Moe, Curly, Shemp... uh, et al. See Three Stooges. Frencheigh 19:21, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
You left off Curly Joe. User:Zoe|(talk) 05:54, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

leather

We have a pretty good article on Leather. Go read it and come back if you have any question the article doesn't answer. - Mgm|(talk) 21:01, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Dungeons and dragons

Very interesting that you have knoledge of the whole colection of dungeons and dragons cartoon series... Where could i GET THE WHOLE COLLECTION OF IT ?

Amazon.com? Dismas|(talk) 20:24, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

how important was america in bringing an end to the first world war

(no question apart from title)
As far as I can determine from the World War I article, the war was primarily a European one. The United States didn't play much of a role in it. The War was ended after the signing of the Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles (the latter was never officially ratified by the US). They're biggest involvement was that they declared war on Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917. So I'd say they added to the war continuing rather than it ending. - Mgm|(talk) 21:10, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

If nothing else, the US contributed a psychological edge to the Allied Powers simply by virtue of the manpower at hand. Germany decided that continuing the war was fruitless (as opposed to World War II, where it was outright overrun) and this no doubt played *some* role in altering the balance of power. — Lomn | Talk / RfC 21:40, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
There was the manpower issue. Germany, England and France were pretty much "bled white" - they had lost most of a generation in the trenches and fought one-another to a stand-still. America was able to mobilise huge manpower resources, and even though many of them arrived at the front badly trained and badly equipped, they tipped the balance of power. Once America entered the war it was just a matter of time before Germany surrendered. Guettarda 23:02, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
To be more exact, the U.S. did more than declare war on Austria-Hungary (and they declared war on Germany before that). At the end of the war the U.S. had 2 million soldiers deployed in Europe and had taken 360,300 casualties including 116,516 deaths. Rmhermen 14:05, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I believe that the supply of material by the US to the other Allies was also significant. DJ Clayworth 15:58, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

music

who are echo and the bunnymen

Food

Are the tops of carrots and parsnips edible?22:15, 5 October 2005 (UTC)~

Yes. They aren't poisonous and they do have some nutritional value, but they don't taste very good either. Parsnip leaves are only edible when they're young, I think. Both can cause extreme sensitivity to sunlight in some people. —Charles P. (Mirv) 22:41, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Mysterious Wicca Wikipedia Connection

When I think Wiki as in the Pedia, I think of Wicca as in witchcraftia. Is there a bizzare twist in linkeage? The founder of the wikiP-society heritage? Like a worship of Mother Nature to a worship of Motherboard--Internet Horde?

(*It may be silly of me to think there's a link, and even more so silly to try to botch my question in a pseudo-poem)

Wiki is a word, Hawaiian I believe. It's been some time since I've read that article. Dismas|(talk) 22:25, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Uh-oh. This rumored connection is growing in popularity. See WP:RD/L. Superm401 | Talk 22:51, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I promise you that if there were the vaguest whiff of wicca connection here, most of us would be out of here before you could say whatever the inane thing they say is. alteripse 23:00, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I, for one, am offended at such a response. Why would you possibly say such a thing? User:Zoe|(talk) 05:56, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Why would I say such a thing? Because I think it is what would happen if such a connection were revealed or formed. What do you think would happen if we found out it was funded or sponsored by the mormon church, the unification church, or some islamic sect? alteripse 06:05, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

USD100,000 note

Dear sir,

Please can you enlighten me the wordings of the notes, I could not read all the words.front and back.Pls enlarge it.

Many thanks Tin LONDON E-mail :<removed>

Please see the entry on Large denomination bills in U.S. currency. Dismas|(talk) 23:02, 5 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hamsterball on Xbox Live Arcade: Multiplayer levels, where to find "secret areas".

I need help finding the "secret areas" used for unlocking multiplayer deathmatch levels in the game Hamsterball. Post the areas you found here, first the level, then where to find it. Please help I'm addicted to this game but I can't find the multiplayer levels, I found one accidentally but can't find any others.

Expert: This happens after the second set of strong fans. You go down a ramp towards the camera, then go down another ramp away from the camera, but before you go down that second ramp, run off the corner with your hamster/hamsterball, in the middle of the two ramps, and you should float on a grey square with a lock on it. Roll over the little grey square and it will turn red, unlocking the multiplayer deathmatch level "Expert".

Note: You must be playing a tournament on normal or frenzied mode to even be able to see the square, if not, you're just waisting your time. ( Then again, everyone that plays this game is sort of just waisting their time. )

A list of Postmasters

I found a site sometime ago about the first Postmaster in Dibble, OK and now I lost it does anyone know where I might look?

Gas Mileage

If i lose weight, will i get better gas mileage on my car?

Yes, you will, but the difference will likely be so small as to be hardly noticeable. Say the typical automobile weighs about 3300 pounds (an SUV will be much heavier, a minicar like a Ford Focus will be somewhat lighter). Now let's say you weigh 180 pounds now and 150 pounds after your weight-loss program. The difference in the mass of the car with you in it will have gone from 3480 to 3450 pounds, a difference of less than 1%. And, of course, the wind resistance of the vehicle is unaffected by your weight loss. Of course, the greater the weight loss, the bigger the difference; if you lost 200 lbs you may well make a noticeable difference to your car's economy.
Some simple ways to improve your car's mileage can be found all over the internet, for instance here. A really easy one that many people simply don't do is check your tires regularly to make sure that they are at the correct pressure.
Note that if you walk or ride a bicycle instead of driving you can help yourself to lose weight *and* save on fuel bills :)--Robert Merkel 03:50, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

London's doubledecker

Why is the doubledecker in London red?

I doubt whether there is a specific reason apart from the fact that it's a corporate colour (early London tube trains were also red). In attracting customers, buses work best if they're brightly coloured. Shantavira 08:33, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
It's all for identity. In fact, one of the conditions of getting a London Bus franchise is that at least 80% of the bus must be red. 09:37, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

what is an alter ego?

Alter = "other", ego = "I" (literally "other I", in latin). See alter ego ☢ Kieff | Talk 04:01, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Put Wikipedia Search on my page

How do i put a wikipedia search function on my webpage? I saw some webpage before with forms to type in a search, and pressing the search will take them directly to the corresponding wikipedia page. Thanks in advance 

<form action="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search" id="searchform">
<table style="background-color : #000000; float : right;">
<tr><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a> search:<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td><input accesskey="f"  type="text"   name="search"   id="searchInput" /><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td><input value="Go"     type="submit" name="go"       class="searchButton" />
<input value="Search" type="submit" name="fulltext" class="searchButton" /></td></tr>
</table>
</form>

Coldest average sea touching the UK

I need to know what sea, that touches the United Kingdom, has the lowest average temperature. I have tried to figure out this question for the past two weeks without any luck.

Thank you!

Nicole

Cold Temperature

It is possible to Die instantly when it gets down to certain temperature?

I would have thought not. Ittakes time for the heat to leave your body. As the outside temperature get's lower, that time will shorten, but it'll never go to zero. Theresa Knott (a tenth stroke) 04:54, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
If you see process of freezing of human body from the movie "Day after tomorrow", chances are it's grossly over-dramatized. The human body has the average temperature of 36 celcius. Now consider this, if you take a glass of lukewarm water, and put it immedietely in freezer and close it for 3 minutes. Does the water freezes immedietly? No. So same goes to the human body.
But in The Day After Tomorrow, it was far colder than 0°C ... I don't have the DVD to hand to check it, cause I'm in work, but it was something like -150°C, due to atmospheric inversion or somesuch. That would freeze you pretty darn quickly. Proto t c 08:46, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Well, yes, if it is cold enough, but really, it would have to be very, very cold, far colder than any temperatures you're likely to find outside of a lab or a sci-fi movie.
The lowest temperature you could possibly get is Absolute zero - 273*C (and even this is not actually possible) and surely even that would take time to reach vital organs. Robmods 18:32, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Of course, at such low temps the air would all be liquid and would "boil" as your body temp heated it. This would greatly increase the speed at which your temp was lowered. I would say loss of conciousness would be immediate and death within seconds, as the brain froze. StuRat 10:56, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Which are the most popular brands wine

I think you'll have to be more specific to get a useful answer. The most popular in which country? (Tastes vary) And do you mean by grape variety or by region? We have several articles on wine so you will might find what you are looking for there. Shantavira 08:51, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Great Lakes

Is it possible for ocean-borne freighters to reach ports (such as Chicago) on the Great Lakes? I recall that in colonial times, ships went up a river to reach them or something, but I wouldn't think that was possible with modern super-freighters. So, is there access between the Atlantic and the lakes, or are ships manufactured at the lakes trapped within them forever?

12th anniversary

what is the another name for 12th annversary, e.g 75 years is called platinum anniversary?

According to this website it's silk (or possibly agate). Shantavira 08:42, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

paistan's services sector

sir i want to know the numerical information about the services sector of paistan. im not finding the right topic can u plz help me?

I assume you mean Pakistan, you could start there. AllanHainey 12:20, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Our Economy of Pakistan article should provide some information as well. Capitalistroadster 06:48, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Rugby/American Football

Which is more dangerous? American Football has harder tackles, but Rugby has less body armour? smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 09:43, 6 October 2005 (UTC) [reply]

Not an answer, but some thoughts:
  • When you say "dangerous" what precisely do you mean. Risk of "injury"? Risk of "serious" injury for some definition of serious? Risk of death?
  • American football has a far greater differentiation between player roles than rugby does; my meagre understanding of American football suggests that punt kickers and quarterbacks are rarely tackled and thus are at comparatively little risk of contact injury. So averages are probably a somewhat misleading comparison.
  • There's two forms of rugby, rugby union and rugby league, with significantly different rules.
  • Do you mean at elite level, or lower standards of play?
  • American football is played at elite level only in the US, Canada and, to a small extent, in a couple of European countries. Rugby is played at an elite level in members of the British Commonwealth (with the notable exception of Canada), France, Argentina, and maybe Italy. I imagine most comparative studies of sports injuries are conducted at a national level - I know there's one annually done in Australia - and so it's going to be difficult to find a study that has information for both American football and rugby.
  • Who cares? Everybody knows that, in the words of a famous song around my parts, "when you line them up together, the footy wins hands down." ;-) --Robert Merkel 10:50, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
A bit of a correction. Quarterbacks are actually tackled somewhat often. Any player who holds the ball can expect to be tackled at some point, even punters, theoretically. Kickers and offensive linemen rarely if ever hold the ball and do not get tackled; however, many offensive linemen get injured while blocking defensive linemen and get their legs caught in unnatural positions, and it seems that more and more kickers are pulling muscles these days. Defensive players rarely get tackled either, unless they intercept a pass or recover a fumble; because they make most of the tackles, however, they do suffer from their share of injuries. --Maxamegalon2000 14:08, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Rugby has no body armour apart from the wee rubber head protectors some wear (nothing like a helmet though) so I'd say there is greater risk of injury playing rugby. I'm not sure that American Football necessarily has harder tackles either, although they may need to be harder to knock someone off his feet while encased in all that padding. AllanHainey 12:16, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I can recall a couple of cases of people dying (through neck/spinal injury) in rugby league. This rarely occurs, and these cases were at the ameteur level. That meets my defintion of dangerous, do people die in American football? --Commander Keane 12:47, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
American football was very dangerous (too many people dying) until Theodore Roosevelt insisted that the universities the game was being played at changed the rules. This led to the creation of the NCAA. Deaths from injuries sustained during gameplay have been pretty much eliminated by now, although this last preseason a member of the San Francisco 49ers died from a heart ailment, and a few years ago, Korey Stringer died from heat stroke, causing a league-wide concern with praticing in high temperatures. I can't even remember any players becoming really seriously paralyzed recently; even that one Detroit Lion stunned everybody by walking up to a podium at a press conference. I'm sure someone can remember more names that I am. --Maxamegalon2000 14:08, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Detroit Lions player that was paralyzed was Mike Utley. In the early 90's an LSU football player died from complications of paralyzation a few years after his injury. A handful of other NFL and Collegiate American Football players have also been paralyzed at least temporarily in the alst 10 years. one name I remember is Dennis Byrd who had a movie (Rise and Walk) made about his ordeal. -Drdisque 16:47, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This article (admittedly from the NFL's own website) says that (American) football is substantially more likely than other youth recreational activities to cause minor injuries but not much more likely to cause serious injuries. I doubt rugby was one of the other activities, since few people in American play rugby. Football, especially played at the professional level, is, a very brutal sport, however. Literally every player on an NFL team (except maybe the placekicker and the emergency quarterback) suffers some degree of injury during the year, and people who play pro football for several years often wind up with big health problems when they retire. -- Mwalcoff 23:48, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • The other thing is that rugby players (both codes) are on the fields all the time and all rugby players play in both offence and defence. A former school friend died playing rugby league in the early 1980s. Capitalistroadster 04:25, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

ESKIMO X'S

Do eskimos (or to use a more p.c term- inuits) always kiss with their noses??? And if they do, do you think maybe they find this boring. They can't seriously spend a long time kissing in this way or their noses would go sore... Skooky 10:24, 6 October 2005 (UTC) 10:12, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The eskimo 'kissing' is actually just a greeting (not sure whether it is actually real though or made up) not a courtship activity. AllanHainey 12:19, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Really? So they kiss like we do i guess then... Skooky 13:47, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Inuit greet each other by pressing faces, possibly because gloved hands make handshakes difficult, in arctic conditions, the face is the only exposed body part.

fluffyness

File:Yxa.blod.Keira.Knightley.JPG
Keira Knightley in King Arthur.

My friends hannah has beautiful curly hair but she thinks it always goes frizzy. does anyone know what she should do with it? is there any products she could use. ps. my friend laura thinks she has boring straight hair but it is also very beautiful. however, she would also like to know what to do with it. any suggestions for a style of cut etc? To make a point to this and actually ask a question- what is better; curly hair or straight hair??? Skooky 10:22, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]


For the curly hair a good thing is john frieda's Frizzease. Put a dollop about a quarter size on wet hair and put through and let dry natural. For the straight hair short cuts are great. Look at Keira Knightley in the movie Dominoe - thats a good cut.

No, King Arthur! THAT's good hair!
I believe the movie in question is spelled Domino. --Maxamegalon2000 21:24, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Forget the movies, just look at Keira... Nightly... She could be wearing a burlap sack and she would still look good. Dismas|(talk) 22:10, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Have you considered consulting one of the teen magazines, or maybe Cleo, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Vogueor Harper's Bazaar? They tend to be far better informed on this kind of thing than the regulars here. If you still need help, maybe your friend should consult a good hairdresser - it's their job to help people choose a hair style that suits their face, body, and personality. --Robert Merkel 08:04, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

How Many Submersible Water Pumps Are Sold In New York State Every Month?

I am looking for verifiable data on the sales of submersible water pumps sold in New York State every year

thank you

Well, I doubt that there are any collated records of pump sales by state, since many private companies most likely sell these, and probably do not publish their records. You might get some indication by figuring out who the largest retailers of pumps are, and hoping that they are publicly traded, then figuring out their annual turnover in submersible pumps from published records. Frankly, it's going to be difficult. If you wanted to let us know why you want this information, there may be some easier way to get what you need.

Disaster prediction in the USA?

Some people predicted the New Orleans disaster - is there anyone who is doing systematic analysis of the likelihood of different disasters (natural, manmade etc) in the USA by location, probability, probable impact etc? Thanks!

In theory that should probably be FEMA, shouldn't it? DJ Clayworth 15:47, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, although God help us if it is, but I can't find anything on their site about it. I am sure there must be others, but cannot find them... Thanks.
Insurance companies, surely? I bet there is a direct relation between the premiums they charge and their assessment of the likelihood of disaster.--Fangz 16:46, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Probably, but I bet they don't publish the info, also, there are a lot of other factors like cost of property, crime etc.
  1. There are many organizations, government, academic, research, profit, non-profits, that do this kind of analysis within the different areas of risk
    1. Weather prediction
      1. I think this is getting to be extremely accurate. They have a storm track, predicting where something will strike the coastline. They may be off by a few miles, and a few hours, but if you evacuate a few days before it hits, you will be Ok. The people in trouble are those who wait until a day or two before it hits, because all of them end up in a humongous traffic jam.
    2. Earthquake prediction
      1. I think the state of art here is that all they can do is show where there is some probability of an earthquake occurring, not really when the next one will strike.
    3. Low risk stuff where risk is not zero, such as Super volcano or giant rock from space hit Planet Earth
    4. Outside threats to National Security
      1. I think the government is slowly managing to do a better job in managing the information, as we can see from current news about the New York Subway system for example. It came out in the 9/11 investigations, that in the daily intellibence briefings to the President, there was a warning that a terrorist attack by bin Laden's organization was imminent in the USA, directed against the air transportation industry, but somehow no one got around to telling the FAA about this.
    5. New kinds of malware
  2. If you get to the references that talk about various disasters such as Hurricane Katrina there are links to some of these places, and they link to each other.

AlMac|(talk) 16:38, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

game of 11/25/34

Dear Sir or Madame; I have a picture with signatures from 11/25/34 game between the Americans and the Japanese. Its copyright date is 1976 by Flash Back Pictures, Inc. I am wondered how to find out its value, how many were produced, etc. Any information you can provide me would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Judy

You probably need to see an appraiser. You didn't specify what kind of game, either, which isn't that helpful. If it is copyright 1976, you'd want to ask whether or not it is an original or not, which likely matters a lot in assessing the value of it. You'd have to give us more information if we were to get any information on this -- I have almost no idea what you are describing. --Fastfission 19:30, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

legal requierements

What are the legal requirements to start a business in jamaica.

A good place to start might be the Jamaica Business Development Center [3]


Bank of England 10 Shillings

I have a Bank of England 10 Shillings note. I wanted to know if it can be dated by the serial number.

Thank you,Bobby.

The quickest way to get a rough date is to look at the picture on the front - if it shows Britannia it's 1928-60, if the Queen 1960-70. You can also date to a few years by the signature of the Chief Cashier - Bank of England has a list of the cashiers with their dates - this should be good enough for most purposes. I assume they can be dated by serial number, but don't have any references to hand telling me what the number sequences are - perhaps try a good library for a banknotes-collector book? Shimgray | talk | 16:53, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Good B*rger

What fictional Florida city is "Good B*rger" set in?

This has been asked already in the last week. Please check previous elsewhere on this page or the other Reference desk pages linked at the top of this page. DJ Clayworth 15:32, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It's not on this page, or any of the other subject pages - any idea where it is? Good B*rger does not say either, nor does the IMD.

It's basically astroturfing. Way too many questions about one movie. Lets do the google association thing and make sure that everywhere it says Good Burger, it also says astroturfing. :) - Taxman Talk 17:49, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

OK, but what town is it?
Good B*rger is eight years old? Why would anyone want to astroturf it? Unless a DVD is coming out. If we're going to do the google association, let's associate it to "crappiest movie of all time". Hey, there's a start. DJ Clayworth 17:50, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I promised to delete this question if it came up again, but since others have responded, I have resorted to bowdlerizing the title. User:Zoe|(talk) 06:00, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

population census of Middletown, California

Hello:

I'm curious about the number of tourists Middletown, California sees as any given time during the year, particularly during the summer months. I'm also intersted (if you even have these statistics), the number of medical clinics in the Middletown area and the number of doctors that serve the Middletown area.

Would you happen to have this information?

Just in case you are able to answer the above questions, please send your reply to: <deleted>

Thank you,

Ulin Sargeant

My suggestion would be to check with the Middletown town offices or chamber of commerce. They may have the information that you seek. Dismas|(talk) 20:35, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Fictional Locations in Soap Operas

Can you give me a list of fictional Florida locations in soap operas?

Probably not, I really doubt that anyone has indexed them in this way... List of fictional places and List of soap operas might be good places to start though.
Most soap opera towns don't really belong to any particular state, though there has been a trend to do so lately. But the only place I can think of in Florida that was the setting of a soap opera is Flamingo Road. User:Zoe|(talk) 06:02, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Two black mute insane sisters

I heard some kind of article on the net a couple of years ago which stuck with me. It was about two black sisters who did not speak to anyone but each other for all of their lives. eventually they went to live in a hospital until one sister died and the other finally started talking to people and wrote a book about her and her sisters experiences. This is not a movie but a real life thing. Do you know anything about it?

The BBC made a docudrama about them, which is much as you describe - except I don't think they were actually insane (just a bit weird). I think the belief was they did talk all the time, but only to one another. I can't really remember their names either, but I can confirm you didn't imagine it. I'm almost certain the two were English. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:07, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I think this is another instance (they're neither black nor british) but there was a film, Poto and Cabengo, made about twin sisters Ginny (Virginia) and Grace Kennedy, twin sisters who shared an invented language. Just in case it sparks a remembrance. (other terms to search "autonomous languages of twins" - This article claims that 40% of twins have them.) - Nunh-huh 22:55, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
June and Jennifer Gibbons. It truely boggles my gourd but wikipedia does seem to have everything. MeltBanana 23:08, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Name of spider

(no question)

Please let me know the meaning of these words:

Hi, this is related to business issues but i did find out how i could ask questions there so i put here. maybe you could let know that too. anyway pls let me know the meaning of the following acronyms which are used in a business quotation:(these are related to bank and LC and shipping phrases. this is all the help that i can give)

  1. - FCO (Any samples?)
  2. - POF (Any samples?)
  3. - POP (Is it proof of payment or product or none?)
  4. - SBLC

rgds, eve

Many acronyms have several meanings. You may find this link helpful. --hydnjo talk 20:31, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]


Food in scotland

What do people in scotland have for breakfast lunch and dinner?

Usually food. Other times, haggis. - Nunh-huh 22:17, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Today, for breakfast lunch and dinner I had a pizza. Admittedly, I only got up at two in the afternoon. Yesterday, I had some pasta and then fish and chips. I can't remember the last time I actually ate breakfast. Shimgray | talk | 22:23, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
One would start the day with a deep-fried Mars bar, for lunch one would have an Arbroath Smokie washed down with Irn-Bru, and then one would try to catch sufficient haggis for tea. If a more varied diet is required, see Scottish cuisine. --Gareth Hughes 22:50, 6 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Probably the same as most people in the UK or USA, with a few regional variations, we don't all eat haggis regularly, though I do have porridge for breakfast & drink Irn-Bru. AllanHainey 07:17, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
But don't forget the deep frying! Shimgray | talk | 11:38, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Isn't Scotch whisky considered "food"? --hydnjo talk 16:32, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Of course not - water isn't food! (Beer, now, the beer is food...) Shimgray | talk | 17:03, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
How does the haggis hunt work these days, now that hunting with hounds is banned? -- AJR | Talk 01:44, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

please help me locate relevant law

Hello,

I have searched your online files and cannot seem to find the specific material I am seeking. I have combed the intellectual property sections and links to it that you have and still need some help. If you can tell me where to look this would be wonderfu.

I am trying to get at two things:

1) non-profit employees' rights to use their own work-products, specifically writing and research.

2) restrictions on directors of non-profits in using what employees write and putting their own names on it as the authors of it.

3) restrictions non-profits put on employees in the conflict of interest area, keeping those employees from speaking and publishing on material that they develop a) outside of that non-profit b) within that non-profit c) both outside and within that non-profit at the same time

In all cases mentioned above, the work of the non-profit is in the social issues area and is publically funded by the state of california.

Thanks, bbbb

I think you're going to need to make a trip to your local law library. They are usually accessible to the public for short bits of research and the reference librarian can help direct you to relevant laws. You'll have to figure out if it is a state issue or a federal one. Other than that you would need to consult a qualified IP attorney. - Taxman Talk 13:32, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Everything depends on the exact law and where you are, and I am now a lawyer, but:
  1. I expect that non-profit companies function much the same as for-profit companies with regard to ownership. If you did some work, research or programming or writing, as part of your employment then the company owns the products. They can choose whether or not you can use it.
  2. Again because you did the work for the company, they can publish your work as their work and not name you as author. Naming a director as author might be more tricky; you'd need a lawyer for that.
  3. No opinion.
DJ Clayworth 17:46, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, #1 only applies if the work is actually work for hire. A basic rule might be: did you sign any official contract or agreement before you started working? If you did, look at that first and see what it says. If you didn't, the odds are you aren't legally bound to anything, though you might want to make sure there was no implicit understanding otherwise. More problematic than IP law in this case will be non-profit law -- I don't know if it risks putting the non-profit status of the organization in danger if you use your time on it to develop things that you later use in for-profit enterprise. But I have no idea on that for sure. You might try checking whatever federal or state law gives the particular organization its not-for-profit tax status. --Fastfission 19:15, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Another aspect of # 1 is if you were working and not being paid, like in some volunteer capacity, and you created something of value for that organization, can you then, legally use the same work effort product to help some other similar organization?
Generally if you were paid to do some work, then the work belongs to the person who paid for the work to be done, not to the person who did the work. There may be some exceptions for some professions, but they better have some contract in writing specifically stating that they have ownership rights to their work product that is an exception to the general rule of it being owned by the organization that paid for the work to be done. AlMac|(talk) 04:35, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
With respect to # 2, there are some professional standards, that may not be formal legislative rules, but rather controlled by the professional associations. Like in academia, if you are caught doing plagarism, you get an educational death sentence, you are now black listed from any further opportunities for more education or employment in higher education, because plagarism is the worst crime there, because it is about the only crime that higher education can punish people for doing.
There are similar standards in the news business ... if a reporter or writer is found to have generated material that was not written by them, but swiped from someone else, or ghost written by someone else, then that person is black listed from that profession for all time.
There have also been law suits alleging theft of intellectual property.
So # 2 is really a civil matter not a criminal matter. The injured party needs to be able to prove that plagarism occurred.
With respect to # 3 this varies greatly by profession, for example suppose you were an engineer, and you invented stuff on your own time outside the employer. The employer can legitimately argue that your work product, even produced using time and resources outside the work place, is the property of the employer, because they are paying you for your intellectual energy, and you are not allowed to have a second job, unless there is some contract with the primary employer to that effect.

AlMac|(talk) 04:41, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Llamas

What is a pack of Llama called?

I don't believe there's a special collective noun for llamas. Herd and flock are the usual terms for other groups of large domesticated herbivores, though. —Charles P. (Mirv) 01:29, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
"Herd of" seems most popular on Google - 750ish hits verus 200 or so for "flock of" and "pack of". Shimgray | talk | 01:44, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

DVD Box set

Is there any news or information about "Joey" season 1 possibly coming out on DVD?

This just in: Hell freezes over. - Nunh-huh 01:40, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • It apparently already is on sale in the UK see [4]. According to this article in the DVD Times, it went on sale in the UK in July [5]. Whether hell froze over is unknown at the time of writing. :>). Capitalistroadster 07:21, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
    • It is most assuredly a frigid day in hell. Next: Joey: The Musical - Nunh-huh 23:27, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

what do cow's eat?

Do cows eat only grass? Feel free to answer.... Tanx....♥'Hot Flip'

No. Cows eat grass but also are fed grain and silage. Dismas|(talk) 03:19, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Mad cow disease is spread when cows eat bits of other cows.
Oh, come on. Mad Cow Disease is the most overrated disease ever. Our article states 158 people in the world have contracted the disease. The world population is about six and a half billion people. It's not even worth mentioning. Garrett Albright 16:44, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
In Australia cows used to eat Meat and bone meal, but that is now illegal due to the risk of Mad cow disease, so maybe it is worth mentioning. While I'm here, is it true that in Japan you can scan in the barcode from a peice of beef in the supermarket with a mobile phone and recieve the animal's picture/name? --Commander Keane 17:09, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
What the hell? No… Garrett Albright 01:28, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

wel...♥Hot F.L.I.P. egen....tanx fo ol d anzers....i totally looked it up...n like most of ya'lls anzers wer d same....n for wutever that dude that just sed bout scanning barcodes from a piece of meat n wutever da hell uder stupid tings came after dat.....wut da hell were u tinking riting that stupid S**T down?! u aktually blieve dat iz tru?!!!.....anywayz, if u/sum1 got more interestin info. bout wut cows eat......type away.....

Oh, God. Please write in English. That was horrible. Garrett Albright 15:51, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Like i wanted YOUR opinion about my writing?! but whatever..........."Dad!" Hot F.L.I.P.

  • Back to the question, cows will also eat some types of leaves and most fruit. In New Zealand (and no doubt other places) some farmers plant brassica, swedes and turnips for winter feed.Lisiate 02:24, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • That reminds me that cattle can eat saltbush. Also, I'm not convinced that my comment on mobile phones getting the picture of a cow in the supermarket was incorrect, the Japanese mobile phone culture article says that some Japanese phones can read barcodes, and Australian cows are electronically tagged with the unique info of the cow, so look out for it Garrett. --Commander Keane 09:18, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
It's certainly true that they can read barcodes (or, more specifically, so-called 2D barcodes) and access web sites from addresses stored in those codes, but I've yet to see such a code on meat. And if you think about it, it's not practical in the sense that the meat might come from more than one animal, especially if it's ground beef. I'll keep an eye out, but after six months of going to grocery stores in Japan I've yet to see something like that. Garrett Albright 17:27, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wow!....You know Commandar Keane?.... I guess "mobile phones getting the picture of a certain cow using barcodes" is really not that impossible. I mean, with all the futuristic technologies that people have created and set forth...who knows?...I might get to buy one of these things at Best Buy in 2010.....♥F.L.I.P...

Franklin D. Roosevelt and African Americans

Brooklyn woman hospital

i need the entire address

I tried a google search but can't find a hospital called "Brooklyn Women's Hospital". Well, I did find a few results for a hospital that was called that back in the 50's and 60's but nothing current. Is that the name? If you have the exact name, a google search would find it for you quicker than coming here and waiting for one of us to tell you. Dismas|(talk) 13:29, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Guavas

Hello! I wonder if someone can advise me about how to look after about 150 guava seedlings, from 6"-12" tall, and any ideas about what to do with the surplus, there is obviously a slight problem with space for the developing orchard! If I keep potting them on until they are a manageable height, then pinch out the growing tips would that limit their growth? The books say they will fruit within 2-4 years, given that I provide the right temperatures can I hope for fruit? Then, there is the slightly smaller problem, (in that there are only 100 of them)of mystery plants from Cyprus, evergreen leaves, reminiscent of carob trees but the germination rate was too high. My mumblings about a tropical area in the garden with undersoil heating and winter protection fall on deaf ears!! Then there's the morning glory which escaped through the conservatory roof and was last seen heading for the sky at a rate of knots, am I really going to have to wrap the whole of the back of the house in bubble wrap? You probably realise that I'm squeamish about killing things, epecially since I grew and raised them, so the obvious answers such as "Pull them up!" don't apply. Trivial, in the light of the world situation, I know, but it's my little bit of it. Thank you195.93.21.36 11:22, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

wormen's issues in 1955

What were the women's issues in 1955. I would have been six then and need to know for my granddaughters Girl Scout project. Thank you for your time and effort. <e-mail address removed>

Considering I hadn't been born yet I don't know but as a suggestion you can try starting your research at feminism and go from there. Dismas|(talk) 13:19, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Also, history of feminism might be helpful. However, there are some differences in the issues depending on where you were living in 1955. --Gareth Hughes 16:10, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
It was also depend on what your economic and racial status was. The issues of a poor African American woman would likely be very different from those of an upper class white woman (as is the case now). --Fastfission 19:10, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

WHY?????

Why do grown up men rape and murder innocent children?

Why does anyone rape and murder anyone? There are no easy answers. But generally someone who commits a crime this heinous (that is, to innocent children) has a form of mental illness, or is somehow otherwise able to justify their actions. Garrett Albright 16:39, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately the mental illness explanation is simply a tautology, as is evident when stripped to its essentials: "only a mentally ill person would do that, therefore anyone who does that is mentally ill." If you look for other evidence of mental illness besides raping other people (of any sex or age), the majority have none. It is sadly within the repertoire of "normal" human behaviors and is better understood as evil than ill. alteripse 19:58, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Just as some people don't like blaming mental illness on every bad thing as it is often empty of meaning and inaccurate I dislike applying evil to all that is bad. There are frequently understandable reasons for seemingly evil actions although it does not make them less unpleasant. Child sexual abuse is often a continuing problem; if you are abused as a child you may go on to abuse or it is a misguided attempt to recapture a person's own lost youth. The murder is probably an ill-concieved attempt to hide evidence. MeltBanana 23:22, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Following is respectful disagreement. You are free to use another word than evil, though it is the traditional one applied when a human being deliberately chooses to cause this type of harm to another, especially as a direct and personal interaction. I would offer two perspectives that do not support your view. First, around the world today and for most of recorded history, rape and killing of women and children occurs frequently in a setting of ethnic conflict or social enforcement, not as an aberrant and solitary behavior. Obviously in such cases, it is not accurate to say that raping and killing women and children is universally condemned, because groups of people do it and justify it. I contend that such group behavior even more deserves the label of evil than of illness. My second objection to your argument is that it deprives the perpetrator of the assumption of moral agency and responsibility. No matter what word you prefer over evil, one of the principal differences between calling these acts evil and calling them sick is whether you think the perpetrator can be held morally and criminally responsible. How can you possibly advocate simple vengeful punishment for someone who did this from an illness? How many hospitals, physicians, or therapists are claiming to be able to cure this behavior? Do you believe them? Finally, what are the implications of your absolution for our treatment of children who have been sexually abused? Do we then hang a "watch him" sign around his neck? Should we forbid him contact with children when he gets older, or is he, like a dog, allowed one bite? Because if a high proportion of sexually abused children grow up to be abusers, your argument is strong, but it also justifies pre-emptive measures. On the other hand, if only a small proportion of abused children grow up to be abusers and vast majority do not, your argument has poor explanatory power and does not counter the moral agency assumption. Which way do you want it? alteripse 00:01, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Well I was not actually denying the presence of evil; although many people do. I was simply trying to offer reasons as the initial question asks. As there is no evil gene, evil flu or and the devil is not usually available for comment the answer pople do bad things because they are evil is as unhelpfull as they are ill. Athough is does not have the added problem of insulting the mentally ill. MeltBanana 00:14, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Although we may not have hugely different opinions, I think there are at least three advantages to retaining the term and concept of evil in this context. First, as you mention, it reduces the temptation to frame such behavior in illness terms or other justifications. Second, it connects the person contemplating it to the millennia of previous human attempts to understand and deal with this type of behavior. Third, it unequivocally affirms condemnation. Also (I just caught this)-- I did not explain that such acts were done because of evil, which of course is no explanation. Rather, that attempts to explain this behavior were in my opinion the same as attempts to understand evil behavior, not sick behavior. alteripse 00:43, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

OK I will not attribute your long and unfocused answer to evil, just to being involved in a edit war somewhere and being unable to calm down. Why would you ask and how would I answer "How can you possibly advocate simple vengeful punishment for someone who did this from an illness?" you must be evil. I'm not trying to chuck out the term and concept of evil—I don't believe I have the power—I am just trying to suggest that it is often used simply as a four letter word and does not answer anything. Comparing one event to another in the past is instructive but to put it in a category with every bad deed for millenia is far from informative. BTW I hate a lot of Wiki categories as well. MeltBanana 01:13, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This is an ill-tempered response to a polite, patient, and logically argued disagreement, which was focused precisely on what you said. I was paying you the respect of assuming you could debate an assertion logically and recognize a rhetorical question. My assumption was apparently incorrect and I offended you. Sorry. alteripse 12:22, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

"Why do grown up men rape and murder innocent children?" Answer: See Aggression. WAS 4.250 08:40, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International

does the airport "hartsfield jackson atlanta international"own any other companys

The airport is owned by the City of Atlanta and I believe that is the only airport they own. -Drdisque 17:05, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Non-Ministerial Departments in the UK

Is the list at Departments of the United Kingdom Government complete?--213.18.248.23 12:46, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

No, I should look at the rather longer list at Public bodies and task forces of the UK government... Physchim62 01:20, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The Public bodies and task forces of the UK government list contains a lot of quangos which aren't really departments. AllanHainey 11:35, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

University Fencing Club Uniforms

I have a photo of three men taken in Bresslau circa 1939. The men are in Fencing Uniforms and I would like to establish where these uniforms were used (also who the men are) 

Peter
  • Your best bet may be to contact the historical society in Breslau, if they have one-- I believe the city has been renamed Wroclaw. According to the Wroclaw article, there was a "All-German Festival of Sports & Gymnastics" there in 1938, with a link to a website about it. That website or the folks who created it might also be of help. Crypticfirefly 04:02, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Website Templates

I need some templates for my website (i am designing in dreamweaver) I need some that are blogesce but still give you almost complete control over the site Thanks in advance. _Mythicallava_

You are not going to be able to set up a blog with merely a Dreamweaver template. You'll need some sort of weblog software running on the server that you want to host your blog. If you are unfamiliar with this, your best bet might be to go with a service like LiveJournal or Xanga, which will host the blog and do all the technical stuff for you, while also giving you a good deal of options as to the design of your blog. Garrett Albright 16:36, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

sandove? and other things

What is sandove? What animal is the fastest under water? --Sandove89 17:34, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The otter? --Sandove89 19:19, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Sailfish is possibly the fastest fish at about 93Km/h. Although probably somekind of diving sea-birds maybe quicker at initial contact with water. Gannets apparantly hit the water at 100Km/h although they will obviously slow down very quickly while diving.Majts 02:16, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

OTAK

what is it? --Sandove89 19:32, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

An Architecture firm specializing in transportation, growth management, and urban design? [6] Majts 02:30, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wars

Can a country Bomb both sides if it doesn't agree with either side of a war?

Who said there are any rules when it comes to war? Dismas|(talk) 18:46, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • No doubt a country could do this, but it doesn't make much sense to do so. Usually it would make sense to fight only one at a time, even if it mean temporarily co-operating with an enemy. The War of the Triple Alliance is the closest I can think of this actually happening, though that was rather different. -- Bob Mellish 18:52, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • Only if they really wanted to personally have war declared against them as well. There have been times though when "peacekeeping" efforts have been used, of course, by, say, the UN, whereby they occupy a location to keep sides from fighting with one another. --Fastfission 19:07, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Very often, war involves a lot of emotions on all involved parties. Thus it is often not easily possible to generally agree or disagree with one or another side of a war. From a standpoint of International law, I would see the situation you are describing as a war of country 3 on both countries 1 and 2, individually. That is, country 3 leads two wars simultaniusly, and those two wars have nothing in common (from the viewpoint of country 3).
The question of "can" is hard - I believe most modern Jurists would say that wars cannot be startet arbitrarily; rather, they should be legitimized by the United Nations. However, a small minority of the world disagrees and holds the believe (as was common until the 20th century), that a sovereign and independet nations has a right to start wars for whatever reason it may deem legitimate.
Greetings,
--Florian Prischl 19:15, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Three-sided wars are rather rare. In the later stages of World War II in Eastern Europe there were several three-sided struggles between Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and some third parties caught in the middle, for example the Polish Armia Krajowa and the anti-communist Russian Liberation Army. In Yugoslavia there was fighting between the Chetniks, Partisans and Nazi Germany (though maybe not at the same time?). In China there was a 3-sided war in the 1940s between the Kuomingtang, the Communist Party of China and the Empire of Japan. Gdr 20:29, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I recognize that the word terrorist is politically incorrect on Wikipedia, but I not know what other word to use instead. It would appear to me that they are attacking EVERY NATION ON THE PLANET that they can get to.
For example the recent attacks in Bali, which is part of Indonesia which is the largest Muslim nation in the world. AlMac|(talk) 16:54, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
But the inhabitants of Bali itself are mostly (90%) Hindu and the main target of the bombings is the tourist trade so you can't really characterise it as an attack on an Islamic population.Lisiate 23:19, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
As a side point, inaccuracies in night bombing during WWII ocassionally led to aircraft accidently attacking cities in the wrong country. The most famous 3 sided battle would probably be the battles of the Three Kingdoms--Fangz 18:59, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Tariff codes

Hi,

i am looking for a link for Harmonized System Tariff codes to find out what are the different codes for different prodcuts. Any idea?

eqbal

Our article on the Harmonized System, which will take you to a listing here. –Hajor 20:04, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Locating patents

I have a U.S. patent application number from the 1940s -- "533,378" (applied for on 4/29/1944). How can I tell if it was actually granted and what number it was assigned? The US patent website doesn't seem to go back that far, so I assume there is some other standard reference for this sort of thing. --Fastfission 19:08, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • You are correct that there is such a reference, it is called the "Official gazette of the United States Patent Office." It is published every Tuesday and lists the patents issued that week with an example claim. You should be able to find the back issue you need at a Federal depository library. Crypticfirefly 05:45, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

corniela guest

There's a stub article about her at Cornelia Guest. --Metropolitan90 02:19, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

black people

why get mean

Arrest warrant

this is NOT complaint, but rather, a complement...i would just like to give a big shout out to the author of this article for using, as his example, the heinous criminal ' Nelson Muntz'...very funny stuff! S, Edina, MN.

Common Pheasant

What is the life span of the common pheasant?

Google seems to think about 18 years, although that sounds like quite a long time to me. Bear in mind that animals live far longer in captivity than they do in the wild.--inksT 01:34, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Advertising campaigns

Wikipedia has a list of commercial failures, but is there a similar list or article about huge commercial successes, and if not, does anyone know where I can find a similar list online? This is purely out of interest/ curiosity. ♥purplefeltangel (talk) ♥ (contribs) 21:45, 7 October 2005 (UTC) [reply]

FTSE 100 Index? Ojw 11:39, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Hum, no. I'm talking about specific products. ♥purplefeltangel (talk) ♥ (contribs) 20:16, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand

why did you block me? what does this mean? caught doing what?--Archive13 23:24, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The above message relates to a misunderstanding caused by a vandal. See here for more information. Thanks. --Canderson7 00:08, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

birds

what is the most common bird in england?--84.68.202.84 23:44, 7 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The number one result from a Google search [7] gives a BBC report compiling the top 20 most commonly sited birds in the UK in 2005 [8] No 1 is Wood Pigeon. Although this is a UK survey I would bet that this result would apply to England as well as it would most likely provide the great majority of the sample. Majts 01:18, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Personnaly I'd say it's Jordan

e-commerce

Yes, I agree. E-commerce indeed. ♥purplefeltangel (talk) ♥ (contribs) 01:29, 8 October 2005 (UTC) [reply]

Roman Empire

What were the classes of Roman society?

See the article Ancient Rome. —Wayward 05:02, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Green Llama

I was wondering who created the green llama, I remember seeing him on albinoblacksheep like a year ago and until recently it seems he is everywhere. Who created it? --Ice Jedi5

Hmm...

What happends if a unstoppable force, say... Juggernaut, the Marvel Comics one ran in to a unmoveable force, like Blob, from Marvel Comics? >_>

Since Juggernaut is unstoppable, he presumably has infinite momentum, which means either mass or velocity must be infinite. Since velocity can never be greater than the speed of light, he must have infinite mass, which would require infinite energy to move (there is not this much energy in the universe!). Since Blob is unmoveable, he must have infinite inertia, and therefore also infinite mass, and thus infinite density. Since neither of these are possible, unfortunately it must remain comic book physics. (Incidently, the article Blob (comics) states that Juggernaut can move Blob even when he increases his weight!) smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 09:34, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

See our article on the irresistible force paradox. Gdr 11:30, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Do trees have souls?

After all, they do contain living cells.-

Depends what you define a soul as it seems very much open to interpretation depending on your belief system. If you believe a soul is a spirit that emerges from organisms that contain living cells then yes. Being a pastafarian I personally believe that there is no such thing as a soul but many will disagree. Majts 07:33, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Many religions associate souls with consciousness or free will. Most people believe non-animals - or even non-humans, to have neither, they do not believe trees to have souls. A large variety of ancient faiths would beg to differ, of course.--Fangz 18:54, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
And do rubber trees have rubber souls ? LOL StuRat 11:31, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

WBC Booster

I know there are drugs that some athletes take to increase their red blood cell count, but are there any drugs that increase your white blood cells to help your body fight a sickness?

Yes. G-CSF and GM-CSF are sometimes used in treatment of immunosuppressed people - such as people who don't have enough white blood cells - for example, when chemotherapy for cancer has reduced their white blood cell count. They are generally not used in infections in people with normal immune function. - Nunh-huh 07:36, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Stock Quote

Does anyone know the stock quote for Roche Pharmaceuticals? (www.rocheusa.com) I cant find it anywhere, I looked on the web site and I even did a search for it by name with yahoo stocks. Thanks

From the Wikipedia article Hoffmann-La Roche it appears that Roche Pharmaceuticals could belong to Roche Holding AG, which is listed in on the SWX Swiss Exchange, ticker ROC.S. --Commander Keane 09:00, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
There are three listings on NASDAQ: ROCHE HLDG AG DIV RT, RHHVF; ROCHE HLDG LTD, RHHBY; ROCHE HLDGS AG BEARE, RHHBF. —Wayward 09:22, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Boosting HP without a turbo/super charger

I was watching this show and they had a 1.8L Acura Integra that had 240HP. They said it didnt have a supercharger or a turbo and without NOS. How did they get so much power out of the engine when the stock HP rating is so much less?

There are many specific ways, but most include raising the Compression ratio along with a larger Intake manifold and Throttle body and more agressive Camshafts. -Drdisque 03:43, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This kind of modifications push the point at which maximum torque is achieved higher up the rev range, thus increasing maximum power (power is torque times revs). Obviously, increasing the maximum RPM an engine does puts additional strain on the components. So, for such a high-powered small motor, it's quite likely that it's been fitted with moving bits (pistons, camshafts, valves, valve springs, and so on) made out of higher-quality alloys so that the damn thing doesn't fly apart. Engine life is also probably somewhat shorter than a stock one, too.
Honda is, however, noted for getting lots of power out of their motors, even stock. The Honda S2000 gets 240 HP out of a stock 2.0 litre naturally aspirated motor, using variable valve timing to ensure the thing is reasonably tractable at slower engine speeds. --Robert Merkel 03:06, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

CAN COCKROACH USE AS SOURCE OF ENERGY FOR FLASHLIGHT

No. David Sneek 09:20, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Why do men sexually abused as children sexually abuse theirs?

--anon

It's complicated -- typically, victims of abuse follow one of two tracks - the become crusaders against abuse, or they become abusers themselves. See cycle of abuse →Raul654 11:53, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
As noted in the earlier debate on this page; it is far from inevitable that an abused person will become an abuser. Reasons for it could be: belief that it is normal behaviour, attempts to exact revenge or trying to re-live traumatic event. MeltBanana 12:56, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Madness (UK Band)

I would like to know if the band had any success in Australia. Did any singles or Albums chart here as I cannot discover the answer to those questions anywhere.

  • Yes, they did. My recollection is that "It Must Be Love", "House of Fun" and "Driving in my Car" all went top 10 in Australia in 1982. Capitalistroadster 04:48, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

HOW LONG DID THE Battle of Fredericksburg LAST ON THE LAST DAY.

They were still fighting at sunset of the 13th, apparently, so "all day"? They stayed around on the 14th, then left on 15th-16th [9] First shots would have been 11 December 1862. [10] Ojw 14:48, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

rooster/chickens

this may sound dumb,but a co-worker said that a rooster`s testis are located under their wing while I disagree.....can you help ? thanks 

    Everyone knows a rooster's "testis" are located under their chin, duh.
They are inside the body near the spine. As to whether or not you consider this "under their wings" is up to your own interpretation. Considering a chicken's wings (when drawn in to their body) cover most of their body, it's really a matter of semantics. Dismas|(talk) 21:51, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

LIFE

ARE THERE ANY CITIES THAT HAVE EXISTED SINCE PRE-HISTORIC TIMES

According to Plato the city of Atlantis was lost 11,000 years ago which certainly qualifies as pre-history. Ignoring myths though, the serious answer is that what we define "pre-history" is the age before writing was recorded. As the very first written records also tend to date at about the same time as the very first cities about 6000 years ago. Many believe that mankind's ability to record written records was the main factor in forming civilisation and cities. Therefore the first cities coincide with the ending of the period that we call pre-history. So the short answer is no. Majts 16:30, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Several cities in the Middle East, e.g. Damascus and Jericho, have been settled since, approximately, the invention of agriculture. I don't think the Neolithic settlements can be counted as cities, but they were there. —Charles P. (Mirv) 16:43, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Damascus is, I believe, thought to be the oldest continually settled location in the world, though much of this is conjecture - historical records only really begin for the site maybe three thousand years back, but it could well have been continually inhabited for about ten to twelve thousand. A lot of cities you'd expect to be remarkably ancient are surprisingly modern - Cairo is younger than London! Shimgray | talk | 00:02, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Existed as a city, as a town, or simply as an inhabited place? Jericho is probably a contender for longest town at the same site, and dates back before historical records. For several large cities, it is likely that the area was inhabited before historical records: this is likely true of Athens, Rome, Paris, London, and many others. In fact any old city without a historical record of its founding meets the definition of being a "pre-historic" settlement before it was a "historic" town. So the short answer, is many. alteripse 17:19, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

what is the name for a code of beliefs or doctrine?

(no question other than the title)

Depends on context but dogma , religion and philosophy could all be perfectly reasonable answers to this question Majts 16:45, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Also ideology. AlMac|(talk) 17:00, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
or creed or credo. - Nunh-huh 17:37, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
or manifesto? Ojw 19:30, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
or ethos? User:Zoe|(talk) 06:12, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
or mission statement? Proto t c 13:22, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS

WHAT ARE THE TEN GREATEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN.

You might get better satisfaction visting a public library. Because then you not have to deal with the computer interface challenges that lead you to be repeating the same question over and over and over again. AlMac|(talk) 17:01, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • "Great" is in eyes of beholder. I personally believe one of the greatest is the invention of the encyclopaedia. AlMac|(talk) 17:03, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • Some documents, strictly speaking, are not books, but I think so great as to be worth mentioning, like a nation's constitution. AlMac|(talk) 17:04, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

We do have an article called Big Read with details of some national polls for the ten "best loved" books as opposed to great ones. Majts 18:30, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

In case you didn't know those national polls where done in the United Kingdom. Please remember this is an international project, Majts. When you talk about national things please specify which country you're talking about. Still, it's a good suggestion. - Mgm|(talk) 20:02, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
If you actually read the article those national polls were in the UK, Germany and Hungary which define international in my book Majts 20:15, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • I think on the "Humanities" question page (or maybe it's this one?) there's a list of the top bestselling books of all time. ♥purplefeltangel (talk) ♥ (contribs) 20:38, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The important question here is probably: "According to whom?". However, you might be interested in taking a look at the article Western canon, for a discussion of some influential opinions on the subject. Oh, and turn off your capslock, please. / Alarm 20:54, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

BMW owners

How many people in south Africa own the new 760li BMW. AKA .V12 

   2364

NOT DRACULA

BESIDES DRACULA WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THE BOOKS WRITTEN BY BRAM STOKER.

See Bram Stoker for a list of his works, and turn off your capslock please. —Charles P. (Mirv) 18:35, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

food in atlanta, ga

Anyone know some good food in midtown, Atlanta? $20 or less would be nice.

for visitors, I frequently recommend the Park Tavern (500 10th St NE, Atlanta, 30309). If you like sushi, Ru San (1529 Piedmont Ave NE, Atlanta, 30324) is very good and has great prices, If you require a place in the hart of midtown, I'd suggest The Vortex (fancy burgers) (878 Peachtree St NE # 4, Atlanta, 30309) or Joe's On Juniper (1049 Juniper St NE, Atlanta, 30309) (most of the waitstaff is pretty gay there if you don't like that sort of thing, but midtown as a whole is rather gay). -Drdisque 03:33, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

REMEMBER THE ALAMO

DID THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS BANKROLL THE Texas Revolution.

It was such a low budget operation that it bankrolled itself in the early stages. The US army completed the final stages of separation. The Europeans didn't have much role in this one. alteripse 05:55, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The United States is not a European nation. We're on a seperate continent. (Yes, I'm picking nits). Dismas|(talk) 14:56, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • If Texas had remained independent, would they be the only ones stuck with our incumbent shrub? alteripse 17:05, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

KILLER

WHAT WAS THE FIRST Sniper rifle

The first modern firearm snipers may have been trained in 16th century Japan as a type of ninja or shinobi. They were supposedly trained to cover retreating armies. The sniper would lay in concealed ambush until an officer of the advancing army came into his firing range. There are several confirmed records of such attempts. Most were unsuccessful; the rifles used were of large caliber, but also of poor accuracy. Despite this, one of Japan's most famous warlords, Takeda Shingen, is reported to have been fatally wounded by a sniper's bullet. Sniper

Miami, Florida

Do you know any fictional Miami, Florida neighborhoods?

You could make one up yourself, see our article on fiction Majts 19:39, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia's article about Vice City, " a fictional city in the Grand Theft Auto series that is loosely based on Miami, Florida." They have a listing of fictional Miami neighborhoods there. --Kewp (t) 10:06, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

higgins

are the higgins boats from worldwar 2 still in use by the army.

No →Raul654 20:22, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Mountains

What countries inthe caribbean have:-a)Fold mountains b)Volcanic mountains?--72.27.28.49 21:48, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • Do your own homework, please. ♥purplefeltangel (talk) ♥ (contribs) 00:57, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • Wikipedia has quite a nice coverage on mountains. Just drop by articles on different Caribbean countries and see if you can track down the mountains in the area to determine what kind they are. - Mgm|(talk) 11:11, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

12 O' Clock High staring Robert Lancing - the series

Good Evening:

I am having difficulty locating information, regarding the availability of T.V. series reproductions for purchase, from the 60's T.V. series 12 O' Clock High starring Robert Lansing.I believe there were 78 episodes.

I have contacted TCM Broadcasting and the History Channel, with no results. Some of the segments are still being aired, but mostly in Canada.

Would sincerely appreciate any information that you would be able to provide. I am deeply interested in the historic aspect of the Mighty Eight Air Force, and have been spending much time in researching this topic.

Regards, Paul M. Anderson Ed.D, Ph.D. ( Retired ) Rockledge, Florida

E-bay may be your friend here, there seems to be alot of (unofficial) 12' Clock High tapes & DVDs available for sale there. Link [11]Alternatively post at imdb.com on the 12 O'clock High message boards Link [12] Majts 01:35, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

A bet about storms

I want to bet US$100 that they will run out of names for storms this year and will have to use Greek letters. Where do I go to place this bet?

A strange question - I'd say "find your friendly local bookie and ask them if they'll offer odds", but in the US I don't believe they have such things. Have a look around some of the online betting sites? I vaguely recall there being some that let you post original bets... Shimgray | talk | 23:47, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Bet against one of your nerd friends. ♥purplefeltangel (talk) ♥ (contribs) 01:09, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • Since only storms with severe effects like Hurricane Katrina ahve their name retired, there's enough names that can be reused. I don't think making such a bet is a smart idea. Try reading our article on hurricanes and their naming conventions. - Mgm|(talk) 11:13, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
    • I don't think they meant "have the name retired" - rather, there's an alphabetical list of names every year, one starting with A, the next with B, and so on. (Some letters are skipped, so there's only about 20). If they go through all of these in one year - ie, more than twenty storms - they don't start again at A but rather go on to Tropical Storm Alpha, Hurricane Beta, and so on. Shimgray | talk | 17:13, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

what was the time of sunset in Raymond, Hampshire, on october 17, 2000?

(no further question)

You can get this info from this link [13] if you put the right numbers in. Raymond, NH seems to be roughly longitude E71.2, latitude N43.0, which gives the answer for Tuesday 17 October 2000 as 17:30 Majts 01:22, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

what is the most edited article on Wikipedia?

George W Bush with over 16200 edits. A full ranking can be found at the bottom of link:[14] Majts 02:16, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
As a follow up I just did a quick word count on that article and it weighs in at a pretty impressive 11,700 words or there abouts. Which means that the article has about 1.5 edits for every single word in the article. That's insane. Majts 02:30, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Have you excluded the vandalism and reverts? :) --inksT 04:51, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
If you exclude the vandalism and reverts, then the George W Bush article has had 3 edits ;) Ojw 13:36, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Anyone else find it interesting that a user's talk page has more edits that the talk page of the Main Page? :) Dismas|(talk) 04:07, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Why is it so hard to get a decent man?! (I need one!!!)

hi every 1.....is it just me or are all the nice (of course has 2 b hot also!)guys out in the world dying out...y? y? y?!...also, wile im typing this...do u guyz know any good science fair projects that i can do? it has 2 be a "not stupid" project, like "Which battery will last the longest?" or "can you make an egg flaot?"... ♥Hot F.l.i.p.

At the extreme ends of the scale, "nice" and "hot" are mutally exclusive. Also, what level science fair? And how long have you got to do it? Alphax τεχ 02:12, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
For your science fair, measure how many people read the directions (almost no one) and is that fixable.
  1. example this page
  2. example ... FTC director recent testimony to US Congress about spyware ... a buyer contract included instructions how to claim a $ 1,000.00 reward to first customer to read the contract. 3,000 people downloaded the software before anyone claimed the reward.

AlMac|(talk) 02:28, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe you can do a project on the etymology of the word "flaot". I've never heard of it before you used it up there in your question. Karmafist 02:37, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Why not combine your two questions into a science fair project. Ask a few hundred 40 year-olds what proportion of guys were "nice" in their day, and then ask a few hundred of your friends what proportion of guys are "nice" today. Ask your stats teacher to help you evaluate the data. Viola! Novel science fair project, and you answer your own question :)--inksT 04:50, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The ability to spell and communicate ideas clearly have always been attributes that I've looked for in a significant other. I also think I'm a not unattractive guy who prefers to be nice rather than mean. Dismas|(talk) 14:38, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

um yeah....these science projects are great...but can u guys like specify the procedures n what things i might need.....and "Alphax"....it has 2 b (8th grade) gifted level...u c, my teacher bugs us about how we/I need to have a really good scaience fair project and a "not too complicated and not too simple" project..."you really have to understand what your doing /tryin to find out"...stupd Byotch!, i'm not really sure on what to do...maybe something that envolves chemical change...like what wiil happen if you heat up baking soda...oh my gosh im so stressed out about this!! pleez help me!!! and hey Dismas i think i know what your tryin to say but...what are you trin to say? ♥Hot F.L.I.P.

Flip, Inkypaws is right. What he is suggesting would be a very good science fair project, if you do it properly (and that means coming up with a proper experimental design and doing the stats correctly). Here's another random suggestion; measure the radon levels in some interesting places (your home, your friend's home, your school) and find out how much risk this poses to people's health. If you want to be provocative, compare the risk to a) the risk of dying from a nuclear plant accident, and b) the risk of dying in a terrorist attack. Good luck with your man-hunting, and here's a tip on behalf of the friends of the reference desk the world over - nerds can be hot too ;) --Robert Merkel 03:23, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Flip, what I meant was that using "u" in place of "you" or "2 b" in place of "to be" is unattractive to me. As well as using the word "like" as you have demonstrated in the first line of your reply. You aren't talking to a group of your teenage peers here. You are talking to a number of people, some possibly younger, many probably older than yourself. You are looking for intelligent replies to your questions. So why not conduct yourself with a little bit more professionalism and maturity. If I put "2 b" or "l8r" or any of that SMS shorthand in an e-mail to my superiors at work I would never be taken seriously and more than likely passed up for promotions, etc. Therefore, any woman that conducted herself like you have would be passed over by me without any thought of a first date. Even if she looked like Jodie Foster or Natalie Portman. Both of which are highly intelligent, lovely, and to my knowledge, very mature women. And the likes of Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson are two of the least attractive women on the planet. One because she has the maturity of a 12 year old and the other because she doesn't know if "Chicken of the Sea" is chicken or tuna. That is what I was saying. I'm lucky though, I've found an excellent woman which can be just as hard or harder as finding a "decent" man from what I'm told.Dismas|(talk) 04:22, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I volunteer as a nice man for you to get. Provided you're a woman yourself. — JIP | Talk 08:04, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  1. Do you have any idea where nice men hang out?
    1. In Church groups?
    2. In volunteer groups, like Big Brother, the Red Cross
    3. So you join such groups and get both fulfillment doing good work, and build relationships with nice men
  2. Do you have any idea where hot men hang out?
  3. Are the two lists mutually exclusive?
    1. Do the statistics vary with age? In other words, where should a nice teenage girl go to find a nice or hot guy, but still be safe? Substitute other female ages ... is the answer different at college age, mature age, etc. ?
  4. I am now over age 60 ... a co-worker who is about age 20 asked me some questions about relationships, and I loaned him the book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus to help him see what it was he was having trouble understanding. Later he thanked me profusely because when he told some potential girlfriends about this book he was reading, he found out it was a turn on for them to find out he had this interest. I told him that was NOT the reason I loaned him the book. There is important stuff in there that you need to understand for a relationship to be long term satisfactory.
  5. If your science fair project includes asking hundreds of people of various ages about their experiences locating and keeping desirable significant others, include another question
    1. WHERE did they locate this person ... include this for both the desirable and undesirable that way you can build statistics on each type of location ... the odds of a good match, and the odds of getting burned
  6. If you going to ask hundreds of people, you also have to think HOW you going to conduct it so as to get A LOT of different people, a cross-section of community, yet do it in such a way that YOU are safe while you meeting lots of people, many of them strangers
  7. you also need to avoid one that could be embarrassing if either teacher or other students ask questions about it, like the opposite sex.
    1. I did a science project once in which my father provided me with some condoms to do it, and it was really interesting to find out that they can leak, which I now suspect my father wanted me to find out on my own before I used one for what they intended for ... but when my teacher (a woman) started asking questions about how did I figure this or that out, I was too embarrassed to communicate effectively

AlMac|(talk) 10:17, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

why the sky is blue?

Places to live

What is the point of unincorporated villages if the post office doesn't use them for a mailing address?

Often the village has its own zoning board or village council that makes many decisions for the village rather than the county. -Drdisque 03:47, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

You'll have to be more specific. What state/country are you talking about? -- Mwalcoff 04:43, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

BRITSH ROMANTICISM, URGENT!!!

Hello, i need something about british/english romanticism. In wikipedia, you have romanticism, and representatives of british romanticism. Where can i find something about romanticism in G.B.?Please help, it's urgent. croatia

Here are some links that may be helpful. David Sneek 09:58, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

deleting contributions

is it possible for any wiki member to completely remove his contributions such as photos and articles?

No, I'm afraid it isn't. Once you've agreed to licence something under the GFDL, it's licenced that way permanently and irrevocably. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 11:45, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
However, a Crtierion for speedy deletion is "Any page which is requested for deletion by the original author, provided the author reasonably explains that it was created by mistake, and the page was edited only by its author", so you could go through and speedy tag the things you want removed, assuming you are the sole author. --Commander Keane 13:17, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The key phrase is "by mistake". Unfortunately some people try to invoke this clause when they really mean "someone changed my article in a way I don't like" or "I've decided to leave wikipedia, and I want to erase myself from it", which isn't att all what is meant by "mistake". The standard for what constitutes a "mistake" is (or should be) very high. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 13:30, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The ECU coin.

I have been searching the internet, via Google for the current price of the Ecu coins, ie. 1 ecu, 5 ecu and 10ecu coins, which I believe are composed of nickel, copper and silver. How much of each metal - I don't know. This was to be the new european money, but was thrown out in favour of the Euro. I cannot find anything on the internet, even coin companies who have websites, there is nothing mentioned about the Ecu, ie. buying and selling prices. Please help me find a suitable website with the above information or a contact number which I can use. Thank you.

  • According to our article on the euro, "The European Currency Unit was an accounting unit used by the EU, based on the currencies of the member states; it was not a currency in its own right." So there were no coins or bank notes. It was not a currency that you could use to buy groceries in any country, although bonds were issued in ECU, I believe. They would have paid interest in another currency, however. Ground Zero | t 12:43, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Some countries put out commemorative ecu coins in the years running up to the euro: Ireland, Belgium. See also: pattern coins. Do the ones you've got indicate a country? –Hajor 15:18, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
We do have an article on the European Currency Unit (no "the" in the title). Garrett Albright 15:52, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Overlined p

I'm trying to write a transliteration in Syriac, and one of the traditional characters is a letter p with a line over it, to signify that its sound is softened. Unicode doesn't seem to have a single character for it (if you do find it, please let me know). What would be the combining diacritic? Thanks. --Gareth Hughes 14:11, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It isn't ideal, but you can sorta hack it in CSS: P -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:05, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Orientation of Earth

How was it determined that the right way to view a map was to have north as the Top? Why don't we view earth the other way, i.e. south side being up.

Historical accident. In Europe, it used to be that maps were drawn with Jerusalem at the centre and East at the top (the T and O maps) - North at the top became established by, oh, the fourteenth century. I suspect, though I don't know, that this was driven by compasses always pointing North, making it the dominant direction. Shimgray | talk | 16:47, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The other reason that the dominant direction is north is because Northern Hemisphere ancients would have used the North Star for navigating. If civilisation had started in the Southern Hemisphere I would wager that maps would be the other way up. Check out some Upside Down maps to see how strange they look to us.
But these reasons don't explain why the dominant direction should be at the top. It seems arbitrary and even reflects in our language as "top" is always considered to take precedence over "bottom". Same reason that nearly all writing scripts ever created go from top to bottom, although there have been rare exceptions. I suspect some kind of ancient sub-conscious instinct effects the way our perception orientates abstractions. Majts 17:56, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Well, when you drop an object, it starts at the "top" and moves toward the "bottom," does it not? Seems rather natural to me. Garrett Albright 17:20, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
But that's 3D space, how does that relate to our 2D representation of it? Wouldn't it be an argument for orientating the other way round as the direction of travel is always towards the "south" or "bottom" ? Majts 17:55, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

origin of "The earth isn't dying, it's being killed" quote

does anyone know where this origins? "The earth isn't dying - it's being killed. And those that are killing it have names and addresses" It looks a lot like this is something originally said by Utah Phillips but I've also read it as said as far back as by Leo Tolstoy. I don't know in what sense or what work any of them have written it (if Tolstoy has) and it's quite possible "Utah" quoted someone else...

As far as I have seen this quote always attributed to Utah Phillips. Maybe you should contact him or his webmaster to see if they will help. Interestingly this quote is the motto of the radical environmental defense movement Earth First! an organisation that the Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski had several associations with. It looks like he took the quote a little too literally. Majts 20:07, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Shakira's Next CD

Which one of Shakira's songs will be in English?

Why not try asking on the Shakira talk page? The people who watch the article and its talk page would probably know... and care. Dismas|(talk) 02:23, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • Her new album is called Oral Fixation 2 and all of the songs will be in English. The first single Don't Bother has just been released and the album will be released in November according to our Shakira article. Given the success of her last English album, I suspect plenty of people care. Capitalistroadster 05:02, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Scientific Name

What is the scientific name of the antifreeze sap present in Pine Trees?

:Their sap contains sugar that have antifreeze protein. It's from these complex sugars that we obtain Pine syrup, although maple syrup from maple sap is more popular. Majts 22:02, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Nitpick. The sugar doesn't contain the protein. The sap contains both. alteripse 23:39, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
That's more than a nitpick, that's a fundamental blunder by me in my understanding of biology. Of course sugar cannot "contain" a protein, so I have struck out my answer. I have always thought that the sugar that was the key ingredient for preventing freezing, but can't find any sources either way to confirm it. Majts 02:06, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The next in line

If first is the worst, second is the best, and third is the terd, what would 4th be?

Oliver North Majts 22:09, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

We always said that "Third is the nerd with the hairy chest" we also said that "fourth goes up north" but that isn't really much of a criticism or compliment. I grew up in Michigan and "up north" generally referred to the northern portion of the Lower Penninsula. -Drdisque 00:01, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

RELIGION

WHAT IS THE OLDEST CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Do you mean oldest church building, oldest denomination or oldest congregation? The answer will probably be a Roman Catholic one in the Spanish South. Rmhermen 23:13, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
If that's what we're after, there's one in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that has a very good claim (oldest structure continuously used as such, since 1610). –Hajor 01:02, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Ooh!! Ooh!! But let's not forget the St. Joan of Arc Chapel, built in France even earlier than that and then shipped to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (I can't be typing this more than 100 yards from it right now.) --Maxamegalon2000 13:55, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Trilobites

What are trilobites and when did they first appear? This has been bugging me all week, do you have an answer? 204.60.216.184 21:07, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Well, if you are in the US it depends on what kind of school you attend, and what the preferred reference point is for timing that sort of thing: either (A) at the beginning of the Cambrian period about 542 millions years ago, or (B) on the 5th day of creation. See trilobite. alteripse 21:43, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Ravioli, pierogi, and gyoza

What is the generic term for ravioli, pierogi, and gyoza? Also, there is some overlap here, isn't there?

They're all stuffed pasta. As for overlap, it's usually pretty plain based on who's doing the cooking. There are certainly recipes that use gyoza wrappers with, say, traditional or non-traditional Italian fillings. - Nunh-huh 01:13, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

GOD BLESS THE ACLU

ARE THERE ANY BOOKS ABOUT THE ACLU.

Largest city without a rail station?

I can't decide whether this is technology-related, and therefore Science, or society-related, and therefore Humanities. So it's going here in Miscellaneous! Anyway, question as per the subject line: what is the world's most populous city without at least one railway station providing a passenger service, excluding light rail and metro systems?

Calgary (pop. 1.037m) is the largest city I could find quickly that has no such service (though it does have a light rail network); that must surely have a good claim for being the largest city in the Western world without an intercity train service (though please do tell me if there's a larger one), but what about in other parts of the globe? Loganberry (Talk) 00:35, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

No passenger trains to or from Mexico City since privatization in the late 90s. Nice metro and some very busy bus stations, though. –Hajor 01:19, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you. I must admit that I hadn't even considered that a relatively advanced country like Mexico would have effectively abandoned intercity rail travel, but it just goes to show. And now I come to think of it, Freetown is slightly larger than Calgary, and Sierra Leone doesn't really have a rail network, so that's another very large city with no trains. Loganberry (Talk) 12:36, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Distinct lack of poetry in the governmental soul. It came on the heels of a time of massive investment in Mexico's road network, both public and private: gorgeous new toll highways that private motorists largely couldn't afford (and most of those private roads have since been baled out by public funds). With an intensely road-focused transportation policy like that, running the passenger trains into the ground and finally doing away with them must have seemed logical. Going by train was always slower than taking a bus, even before the highway upgrades, but it was significantly cheaper, too: an important consideration for a lot of passengers. –Hajor 17:41, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I had been going to suggest Singapore, but it turns out it's got a single line out connecting it to Kuala Lumpur and thence the world. Hong Kong doesn't seem to have an intercity rail link according to our article, which surprises me - perhaps it's just not mentioned, or one hasn't been built since reunification. Shimgray | talk | 12:46, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The Columbia Encyclopedia has this to say: "Hong Kong's rail link with the mainland is by the Kowloon-Guangzhou Railway." So it looks as though the Wikipedia article just doesn't mention it. Loganberry (Talk) 00:28, 11 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Six degrees of separation with websites

I'm looking for a website similar to the Oracle of Bacon but that finds paths (and gives the length) between two URLs. Anyone knows of anything of the sort? ☢ Kieff | Talk 01:02, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

This might well be a bit too resource-intensive to be practical. The problem is an instance of the shortest path problem for a directed graph; as noted, Dijkstra's algorithm is the fastest non-heuristic way to solve that. If you assume we have m web pages, and n links between them, the worst-case performance of Dijkstra's algorithm is proportional to . Given that m and n are both very large numbers, the standard algorithmic attack may be very expensive. Now, the performance in practice depends on the topology of the graph of the web; and this has been studied fairly extensively; see this summary for an introduction (this might give you an idea about the *average* separation of URL's). I'm not sure how Dijkstra's algorithm performs on this sort of graph; in any case, you could probably use some A* search heuristics to speed the process up. But, in any case, this doesn't look like the sort of thing you can code up in Perl in a spare half hour on any handy internet-connected box. --Robert Merkel 02:07, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I would have thought that nearly all URL's have only 2 degrees of separation with Google's index in the middle? Majts 02:18, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Restrict the question to statically-generated pages, maybe, or specifically exclude search engines? --Robert Merkel 08:01, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
There's always Six degrees of Wikipedia. --Commander Keane 08:37, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I was expecting that running a webcrawler with a few exclusions would be good enough. Hyperlink networks are far more complex than imdb or Wikipedia, but if search engines can crawl the web they could gather the data for that, I'd suppose, so hence my curiosity. ☢ Kieff | Talk 00:00, 11 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

"What qualities an you bring to this organization?"

This question or its variants, "What can you offer us?", "There's 100 guys applying for this job and smarter, more creative, motivated, etc. what can you offer me?", etc. is a staple of any competitive interview for anything. How does one master this question?

lots of issues | leave me a message 01:07, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]


In general, do your homework, get your best idea of what they are really looking for, and use the opportunity to sell those aspects of your personality, experience, and qualifications that make you well suited to the position. That's fairly standard advice.
Now, a little bit of personal opinion. In response to the second variation of the question, I'd be tempted to add a coda, "Given that, if after this interview you conclude that there are 100 other applicants who are better suited to this job than I am, by all means hire them instead of me.". In my view, if they've bothered to interview you, clearly there must have been something in your resume that made them think you were one of the best people for the position. And, personally, I think an employer asking such a question is trying to test whether you have confidence in yourself and your suitability for the position, and so showing a bit of confidence in one's own merits is the appropriate response. But then, maybe I'm just an arrogant SOB. --Robert Merkel 02:33, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

re 16 y/olds

what the hell man if they are comin at you , means they want somthin ,more better you look after them and care for them ,than they get on the street uh?

So what are you talking about? teenagers? assault? Homelessness?adoption? street children? why don't you try asking again.

Worse, linguistic entropy. alteripse 03:01, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Supreme Court cases

How can a current Supreme court justice turn over a case that was already decided, such as Roe V. Wade?

See Precedent WAS 4.250 09:02, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hurricanes in Europe

Hurricane Vince is heading towards Europe, How often does Europe get hit with Hurricanes?

According to Wikipedia's article about hurricanes, most so-called "Hurricanes" that hit Europe are in fact extratropical cyclones. "When a tropical cyclone reaches higher latitudes or passes over land, it may merge with weather fronts or develop into a frontal cyclone, also called extratropical cyclone. In the Atlantic ocean, such tropical-derived cyclones of higher latitudes can be violent and may occasionally remain at hurricane-force wind speeds when they reach Europe as a European windstorm." (See European windstorm for a list of notable European windstorms). Sometimes these storms originate as tropical cyclones (hurricanes), sometimes not.--Kewp (t) 05:44, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

bloodclotting

Why would a ten year old girl who just started her menstral 2 months ago have such heavy monthly bleeding and blood clots during her cycle? what is tha a sign of?

Uh... Puberty? ☢ Kieff | Talk 04:01, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The explanation is likely one of the following four things.

  1. Prolonged estrogen and anovulation. The first couple of menstrual periods after menarche are often heavy. Many girls do not ovulate for some of the early cycles. Before menarche the endometrium has had a couple of years of rising estrogen levels to make it thick, and the mechanism of menstrual bleeding is somewhat different in ovulatory and anovulatory cycles. After a few months, the menstrual periods are likely to get lighter, especially after ovulation begins.
  2. Perception. A little bit of blood goes a long way. Count the days and count the number of pads used. Your doctor can tell you whether the actual number is unusual.
  3. Normal but above average. Some girls have heavier flow than others. This may be normal for her even if heavier than average.
  4. Coagulopathy (abnormal blood clotting). A small percentage of girls discover when they start having menses that they have a mild blood clotting disorder like Von Willebrand's disease. This type of problem causes heavy menstrual bleeding, and may cause problems after surgery or a major injury, but might never have come to attention before menarche. Your doctor can order blood tests to check the clotting if this seems likely.

The first possibility is by far the most likely. If the bleeding stops in less than 9 days, and most of those days she uses less than 10 pads I would recommend waiting a couple more months to see if the problem takes care of itself. It probably will. (On the other hand, this is just free advice based on some guesses; if the flow is a lot heavier than that or she is having other symptoms, have your doctor check a CBC to be sure she is not losing too much blood). There are simple things that can be done to stop a period if there is a dangerous amount of blood loss. alteripse 04:08, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Interesting bit on the coagulopathy, though, never heard of such a thing. Can it actually risk the girl on causing severe blood loss? ☢ Kieff | Talk 10:15, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Rarely. If harm is actually caused by heavy periods, it is usually iron deficiency, not exsanguination. alteripse 11:27, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

"OK"

What do the letters in OK (as on "yeah, OK") stand for?

microwaving

I've never been game enough to try, so can someone tell me, what happens when you put a living thing in the microwave (anything, from plants, to bugs, to cats). Any first-hand data? --Ballchef 06:07, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It would heat up until it dies; microwaves can also damage eyes, apparently. One women was charged with murdering her infant child by putting it in the microwave, though whether the death was from running out of air, or heatstroke, is not clear. Aren't you glad you asked? :/--Robert Merkel 07:58, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Other than killing them, the result is the same thing as happens to nonliving things. The microwaves cause certain parts to heat up, causing thawing, cooking, killing, and sometimes explosions or fire. Micowaving metal can create sparks. Things with a skin surrounding something wet need to be punctured before microwaving so they don't explode. This includes eggs, potatoes, sausage and mice. WAS 4.250 09:12, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
That "mice" bit made me shudder. You never did that experiment, did you? ☢ Kieff | Talk 10:10, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
At the risk of sounding cruel, if have an anecdote to share. During my crazed, insect killing adolescence, I read in The Straight Dope of killing roaches in microwaves. As our riverside home was infested periodically with ghastly american cockroaches (aka 'Waterbugs'), I recreated the experiment. A single adult roach died in less than 5 seconds at high power. At 30 seconds, it's abdomen swelled to nearly the rupturing point, presumably from steam pressure, but by that point the beast was long expired. I have since ceased killing arthropods, by electrical or another means, and frequently escort wandering spiders and beetles out of my apartment to live their nasty little lives in the bucolic splendor of the side yard. Brian Schlosser42 15:24, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I used to use the microwave to kill insects for my bug collection. It worked best if you put a cup of water in, too, or too much heat would concentrate on them and they would scorch. StuRat 17:10, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Ides of March

Can someone please tell me what Day of the week was ides of March 44 BC (ie. 15th March 44 BC). This was the day on which Julius Ceaser was murdered

To the extent that we can tell, Tuesday. Julius Caesar was actually assassinated on Tuesday 14 March 44 BC in the Julian Calendar (see that article). It's uncertain enough that it would be good not to be too insistent<g>. - Nunh-huh 07:40, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Romans still had an eight day week at the time, with a market day every eighth day. They expressed the day of the week as "x days before market day" unless it was a designated holiday or feast. So any attempt to convert the date into our equivalent 7 day week is fairly meaningless. Majts 08:42, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

writing in all capitals

why do people write their questions in all capitals? it says right at the top of the page that you should not write questions in all capitals. is it some form of rebellion or are they just stupid? — JIP | Talk 08:58, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • Apparently some languages don't differentiate between regular and capital letters, but I expect most of those questions are a result of people failing to read the instructions to begin with. Hence the homework questions and people not using headers AND text explaining the question's context, etc, etc. - Mgm|(talk) 09:13, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
    • I vote we shoot down all such questions on sight --Ballchef 09:19, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
      • I disagree since most seem to be legitimate questions. The user probably just doesn't know any better. As to the original question, I don't know. But if you figure it out, there may be a lot of money in it for you from any software company you can think of. :) Dismas|(talk) 09:41, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • I would urge tolerance, since this is a method used by people with low vision to make their text more readable (so they can see what they wrote). There are other methods to enlarge the font, but they may be unable to do so. StuRat 17:03, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
In that scenario, do you think they can read the answer? You might want to add something to the up top, that no one reads, that if someone SAYS they have an eyesight problem, the answer COULD be placed on their talk page, using extra large font size. AlMac|(talk) 21:04, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
True, I have nothing against capital letters, but I don't like the non-sensical stuff, or doing homework for them, or arrogant writing (like what i wrote above). --Ballchef 23:54, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

what is dry gin ?

what is meant when gin or other types of alcohol are referred to as being dry or extra dry ? eg dry gin,dry martini etc. thanks regards, Dr. Manish

Dry refers mainly to alcohol content but is also a component of flavor. "Drier" in a simple sense means less water, more alcohol. alteripse 14:30, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It also refers to the lack of residual sugar after fermentation. This is particularly important in undistilled drinks (see Sweetness of wine). --Gareth Hughes 15:30, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
For wine, the terms sec, double sec, and triple sec also mean dry, dryer, and dryest. StuRat 16:59, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Apparent movement of the planet Venus

Venus has an almost perfectly circular orbit. It was mentioned by Dan Brown in his book The Da Vinci Code that in an eight year cycle, this planet discribes a perfect five pointed star as observed from the Earth!! I would like confirmation from any astronomical observatory, or a reliable refernce work in the Wikipedia. Thank you very much Tau Paulus

  • Our article on Venus doesn't say, but its references may still be helpful for you to find further information. You can also try contacting User:Worldtraveller who appears to be our resident astronomy/space expert. - Mgm|(talk) 18:45, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

A hypothetical question

Let's say a commercial flight is headed from Los Angeles to Sydney. Somewhere in the last five hours of the flight it runs into a storm and disappears without a trace. Air traffic controllers in Sydney (and any Pacific islands in the area like Fiji or New Caledonia) can't contact it.

Now, let's say that the same plane appeared in the skies 24 hours later, exactly where it had disappared - still en route to Australia. Of course, it should have crashed long ago by running out of fuel. Not to mention, where has it been for the last day?

The pilots make contact with Sydney's airport and inform traffic controllers that as they headed into the storm, they lost consciousness, along with everyone else on the plane. Then they reawoke to find that it was the next day, and they were in the exact same spot. They request permission to continue and land at Sydney.

What do the air traffic guys in charge at Sydney airport say?

"Strewth." Proto t c 14:56, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
"Everything happens for a reason." --Maxamegalon2000 15:10, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
"Did you get Lost?" smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 15:32, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
"...but it happened" Brian Schlosser42 15:37, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The major problem would be that most flights are daily at the same time - so somewhere in the vicinity is the next day's flight, assuming it wasn't cancelled as a result of the disappearance - as both are using the same callsigns, it's possible no-one notices straight away. The pilots blank out briefly, then come around, and unless they deliberately check the date they'll just think there was something weird for a second, since the plane will still be in the same state and outside will apparently be the same conditions.
Leaving this aside, the controllers in Sydney would get the plane down somewhere - possibly diverting it to a nearby island, if they're concerned about fuel issues - and then try and figure out what the hell went on. It's really the only sensible thing to do - if you have a plane that isn't where it should be, where the pilots report occasionally blacking out, and may suddenly do crazy things, you get it on the ground as the first order of business. They'd have some very interesting questions to ask afterwards, mind... Shimgray | talk | 15:33, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I'd start whistling the theme song from the Twilight Zone, but I'm not an air traffic controller (...be greatful). RJFJR 16:17, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
They think nothing of it since they just crossed the international date line? Dismas|(talk) 20:37, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Obviously, terrorists have hijacked the plane, killed the passengers, landed it somewhere, refueled it, filled the cabin and cargo with explosives, and intend to crash it into the Sydney Opera House. The air traffic controllers would act concerned and buy some time. Several minutes later, F/A-18s of the RAAF slip into position behind the suspicious aircraft and blow it out of the sky.--inksT 21:54, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Name Changes

Throughout history, many folks have changed their names for many different reasons, many different causes, many different religions, etc. Through the legal system of these United States of America, can one get away from certain contracts that hold a person liable for however terms or agreements/?, like a Loophole of quits, a freedom button if you will. Abort/Restart? Sort of the case with Prince Vs. Record Label when changed to that symbol 'The Artist Formerly known as...'(my keyboard doesn't have his symbol on the number pad, maybe the up-to-date keyboards from Minnesota should have the ESC button shift option for Princes symbol:)). ? A sort of ACT OF GOD clause., in that said persons said religion?

v ^ =

P.S. and by the way, Big ups to my Peeps at WikiP for being so patient with the masses., and also I do think this is the next biggest thing since GOOGLE to come from Al Gore's Internet. I think this is a great outlet for Truth., however wherever there is Truth, the enemy lurks., and the enemy will use the edit button to bemuddle the kids. But, "...And the Truth Shall Set You Free...," so we're not scared.

American name changes are governed by state laws. Most if not all, explicitly forbid changing names for fraudulent purposes. In other words, you can't get out a contract by changing your name. Contracts are holy here. alteripse 17:47, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • Al Gore did NOT invent the internet.
    • The US military did, long before Al Gore was a household name.
  • Al Gore promoted its growth in many places where it already existed.
  • Basically the Democratic contribution here was to lobby for government funds to make sure that poorer people could get benefits from what had previously been a toy for the upper middle class and rich folks, and that we could try to apply US technology to help make USA more competitive in the world, which kind of backfired because other nations also applied stuff at Internet speed, such as making it possible for off-shore outsourcing of jobs via telecommuting, thus hurting much of the Democratic base. AlMac|(talk) 21:17, 10 October 2005 (UTC).[reply]

Wikipedia video clip on editing

I was once shown a video clip on how fast users respond to vandalism on a Wikipedia. The clip was about 5-10 minutes, and has a person talking in the background. Does anyone know the link to this video clip?--66.2.141.12 17:19, 10 October 2005 (UTC)Larysa[reply]

it's on the heavy metal umlaut article, see here. 17:24, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

the first bank in kerala

I believe it is Nedungadi Bank founded, in the year 1899, by Appu Nedungadi. It merged with the Punjab National Bank two years ago. Appu Nedungadi also authored Kundalatha, one of the earliest novels in Malayalam. Tintin 18:17, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Linspire

I am seriously considering getting Linspire, however I have a question, if I use the Live CD version, would I still be able to use my Windows Xp and also how does the live CD work, and is Linspire any good?

John

Yeah I think that's the point. The Live CD version just boot from the CD-ROM, so if you remove the CD from the drive your computer will boot XP as usual. However I'm not sure Linspire will be eable to access your hard drive if it's using the NTFS file system, so you might need to create a partition that use the Fat32 file system if you want to install any Linux software permanently that's not included on the CD, or if you want to share files between the two OSes. As for how good it is I'm not sure, never tried it. I've read some good things though. It's good for Linux newbies at least because you get support and it's very easy to install and use compared to the more "serious" distributions. Hardcore Linux gurus might consider it too "dumbed down" for theyr tates, but aside from the fact that you have to pay for it it should be good enough for your average desktop usage. You can get free Linux distributions that do most of the stuff Linspire does too though. But you'll have to download the Cd image file, burn the CD's and download and install additional software yourself. --Sherool 20:27, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

What is credit risk?

(header only by questioner)

There are probably different kinds of credit risks.

  • A rule of thumb ... Banks love to loan you money, unless you really need it.
    • The bank wants some assurance that they will get the money back, with interest, so they need proof that you have assets or income to cover the loan.
      • No such evidence, then no such loan.

AlMac|(talk) 21:24, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

DVD Recorders

What kind of features should i be looking for when i buy a DVD recorder?

CONSTRUCTION

How long would it take to build a bridge from long island to mexico.

Do you mind
  1. Post your question ONCE only?
  2. If you make a keying error, such as not capitalizing the name of a country like Mexico, FIX it where you originally posted the question, instead of reposting with that correction.
  3. Use a subject title that is a bit more descriptive of your question.
Now as for your specific question, the answer is that if you are talking Long island New York then it will NEVER get built, because there is no incentive for anyone to finance such a project.
Take a look at a map of North America.

AlMac|(talk) 21:28, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

sports

WHAT IS THE WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS SPORT.

I've heard (but have no corroborating evidence) that it is Aussie_rules football.--inksT 21:58, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Extreme ironing :)
You might like to check our articles on Category:Extreme sports ☢ Kieff | Talk 22:24, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

BAD BOOKS VERY BADD

What are the ten worst selling books of all time.

I'd suspect that a few thousand books get published but don't sell any copy at all, especially if these are by unknown of first time authors. The best way to answer your question, I suppose, would be to use the amount of money invested on printing, publishing and marketing, which are data I have no clue how to find. ☢ Kieff | Talk 22:17, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Even worse are the ones that get published by vanity presses but don't sell any copies at all, because they're funded by the author and not the publisher. Receiving no royalties is one thing, but losing significant money on your own book is another thing entirely! I suspect there are thousands of such books. — File:Ontario trillium sig.pngmendel ☎ 23:27, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

In 2001 these were the 10 worst selling titles on Amazon.com:

1. "Mastering Management: Your Single-Source Guide to Becoming a Master of Management," various authors.

2. "Side Trip," Katie King. (Audio book).

3. "The Winthrop Papers," Vol. VII of papers of Massachusetts governor John Winthrop, published by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

4. "Michael the Magnificent," Phyliss Simpson, children's book published in 1967.

5. "Principal's Handbook: Current Issues in School Law," by William E. Camp, Julie K. Underwood and Mary Jane Connelly.

6. "Review, Latin American Literature and Arts, 41: Contemporary Latin American Literature/Photography."

7. "Fort Pulaski, National Monument, Georgia (National Park Service Handbook No. 18)."

8. "Introduction to 20th Century Architecture," by Polly Powell and Lucy Peel.

9. "2000 NCAA Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations," compiled by Paul J. Duffy.

10. "Cream of Wheat Advertising Art," by Dave Stivers.

lots of issues | leave me a message 23:54, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I LOVE ALL DVDS.

HOW MANY DVDS ARE SOLD IN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY EVERY YEAR.

OSHA offices

~~How many Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) offices are there in the U.S? Thanks alot68.197.6.37

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