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{{rd header}}

= August 16 =

== disability which causes typing transposition of letters need help or workaround suggestions ==

== Thing I just can't get ==

A question I have is whether there is any type of spell checker available when we are writing. I have a minor (?) mental disability which results in transposing letters when I type. This was diagnosed by medical experts as a coordination problem. I also have auditory processing deficit (basically a delay in interpreting what we hear) and hyper focus, which can be a good thing, as you can get intensely into whatever you are paying attention to. These are all manifestations of adult add, which was diagnosed when I was 42.

What does cardboard taste like? I've heard numerous people say that [[In-N-Out]] fries "taste like cardboard", and I'm having a hard time trying to imagine what they mean. [[User:TrademarkedTWOrantula|<span style="color: darkgreen"><span style="font-family: Georgia">TWOrantula</span></span>]]^{<small>TM</small>} <small>([[User talk:TrademarkedTWOrantula|enter the web]])</small> 01:36, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

To explain briefly, I had career in bus transportation, so I know how to spell "fleet". (duh?). When I type, I can mentally envision F-L-E-E-T, but it will come out as FLETE or something like that. This occurs every thrid to fuifth word on average, like this sentanec e I am typing right now, whcih i will refrain from cleaning up (sorry).

:The obvious thing to do is bite into some cardboard yourself. You'll likely find that it's very bland. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] ^{''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''} [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 06:24, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

::If you have no discardable pieces of cardboard around, the taste is similar to chewing a wad of paper, although the adhesive used in corrugated cardboard (starch-based, latex-based), ink and any additives may make a difference. The texture, and therefore the [[organoleptic]] experience, is initially quite different, though. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 07:02, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

:Phrases such as "tastes like cardboard" and "tastes like shit" are not intended to actually describe a taste; they simply indicate disapproval. Tastes are for the most part indescribable. [[User:Shantavira|Shantavira]]|[[User talk:Shantavira|^{feed me}]] 07:43, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

::{{small|Curiously, "has an indescribable taste" is used as a compliment.^{[https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g14941161-d810570-i68056990-Puerto_Nuevo_Restaurant-Playas_de_Rosarito_Baja_California.html][https://lemanguier.net/2014/02/14/le-boeuf-musque-chapitre-2-par-czh/][https://zaams.com.vn/all-about-cofee-everything-you-need-to-know]} &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 22:32, 17 August 2025 (UTC)}}

:::The word for eating cardboard is "[[:wikt:xylophagia|xylophagia]]", and there is also [[wikt:coprophagy|coprophagy]] mentioned above. [[User:Graeme Bartlett|Graeme Bartlett]] ([[User talk:Graeme Bartlett|talk]]) 11:51, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

== Rumored trend.... ==

When I manually print, the problem doesn't happen, and for years, at work I had help to do my typing (in the days before computers). I actually spell pretty well, but have to go back over every single word I ever type, even e-mail. Spell checkers on a computer were a godsend for me, and help enormously, although they don't catch it when I make another word by accident or when what I come out with is beyond the suggestions.

....is the following true: Is it true that people will be required to use their personal data,like your driver's license to access the Internet? This is all over the place, and it is outraging the population. One concern is that scammers will really scam people, and a website claims that Wikipedia lost a lawsuit to prevent this from taking place. Just what in the hell is going on?[[Special:Contributions/216.247.72.142|216.247.72.142]] ([[User talk:216.247.72.142|talk]]) 02:49, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I have tried working off-line in my word processor, but I am trained and used to an outdated one (Lotus Wordpro a.k.a. AmiPro) and it doesn't work very well with wiki formatting. I someday will need to earn MS word like the rest of the world, and have been doing that some. Copying previous work and editing it also is a workaround for me. I tried voice recognition stuff 8-10 years ago before I retired, but the results were poor. Expensive software or equipment is out of the question these days, as I am one of those seniors on a very fixed income.

:The [[Online Safety Act 2023]] is a British law, not yet in force (as I understand it), which is aimed at protecting children from illegal or harmful online content. There is a similar law in Australia, the [[Online Safety Amendment]], and others in the US and elsewhere. See [[:Category:Child online safety laws]] for a non-comprehensive list. Even if you live in one of these countries, if you are not accessing illegal content or content deemed harmful to children, you do not need to provide your identity to access the internet. The body which runs Wikipedia did recently lose a lawsuit against the possibility of being classified as harmful under the British law, but this doesn't necessarily mean it will be classified in this way. See [[Online Safety Act 2023#Wikipedia responses]].-[[User:Gadfium|Gadfium]] ([[User talk:Gadfium|talk]]) 03:58, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

::I have seen things like this: "Why in the hell is the USA complying with '''British''' law at all?" - and worse. SOME people are even claiming that ''"This shit will kill the Internet!" and this is about controlling the sheeple - I mean the masses.'' Pick a site, any site, this is all over the place. Can any of this be used in a article at all? [[Special:Contributions/216.247.72.142|216.247.72.142]] ([[User talk:216.247.72.142|talk]]) 04:51, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

:::Wikipedia content must be covered by [[WP:RS|reliable, published sources]]. Our own lying eyes [[WP:OR|will not do]] for writing on Wikipedia that some phenomenon is widespread. We first need to have a reliable source reporting this. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 06:41, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

== Ford Cortina trim levels class system ==

For my Wikipedia contributions, I am mostly focused on history and people, places and railroads. I have been working on Virginian Railway and several related others items.

I also have founded and moderate Yahoo groups, 3 rail and 1 for bus enthusiasts. 2 of my rail groups are very active, and info I have used on wiki has come from many others with hands-on historical backgrounds. Some of our work is used in the Virginia Standards of Learning online stuff for public school here! Here are is the url for the most active group for anyone who may be interested in what we are doing.

In the episode of The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime with Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, where they talked about the Ford Mondeo and Ford Cortina, Jeremy Clarkson mentioned that when it came to the trim levels of the Ford Cortina, he said that "they defined class system" of the UK, and he goes on with the example that whoever had 1600E, was in the upper class. I am wondering, was the Ford Cortina the only car that defined the class system with its trim levels? If not, which other cars did that and also, was it true that in France, Peugeot was driven by people in the lower class and Citroën and Renault were driven by the middle and upper class?--Donmust90-- [[User:Donmust90|Donmust90]] ([[User talk:Donmust90|talk]]) 15:08, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts/

:Bear in mind that Clarkson, May and Hammond, in the specific context of [[Top Gear (1977 TV series)]], [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)]] and other shows like [[The Grand Tour]] that spun off from them, are essentially functioning as comedians, not sociologists. Anything they say about such matters may firstly resonate with audience perceptions to a degree and secondly contain grains of truth, but is not definitive or based on actual research, and is designed to amuse rather than to impart serious information.

I would like to spend more time on composing content and less on cleaning up my bad typing which results. I would appreciate some suggestions, as I am enjoying contributing to Wikipedia!

:(This is not the case with much of Clarkson's other journalism and documentary presentations, such as [[The Victoria Cross: For Valour]], whose factuality can be relied on as much as any other journalist or presenter's work.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} [[Special:Contributions/90.210.150.115|90.210.150.115]] ([[User talk:90.210.150.115|talk]]) 20:39, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

:While I agree with the poster above that there's an element of comedy in that statement, you might want to look at [[Carrozzeria_Ghia#The_Ghia_name]] which has a similar mythology. You don't get many upper class driving Fords, but they wouldn't have been driving any Ford that wasn't a Ghia. The Ford Escort that Prince Charles bought Princess Diana as an engagement present was a Ghia. She later went on to buy an RS Turbo. -- [[user:zzuuzz|zzuuzz]] ^{[[user_talk:zzuuzz|(talk)]]} 21:08, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

* Broadly no. There was much more correlation with car makers and especially with models. The trim levels of a model were less important socially.

: Where this was evident, especially for Fords (and Ford capitalised on this) was with the widespread '70s and '80s idea of 'company cars' (this was toned down a lot by tax system changes in the '90s). Amongst a small population of company car drivers, the trim level of your Ford was crucial. Because Ford had a dominant position for fleet cars, and commercial insurers wouldn't let anyone (hardly anyone) have a car with increased performance. Even cars like Capris (two door) would be off the table for company cars. But a company fleet manager did have a free hand with trim levels, so this was a perk that staff could compete over. Hit your sales target, get a vinyl roof and a GXL badge. But if you then compared yourself to someone outside the lower management world, you were still driving a Cortina. [[User:Andy Dingley|Andy Dingley]] ([[User talk:Andy Dingley|talk]]) 18:40, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

:: Also things were weird within the car industry. There were general practices that anyone working for the car maker could have a generous discount on their own product and that anyone parking in the main carpark had to have one of their own models. Even suppliers and subcontractors had to drive their customer's cars: I worked for a few who had both Rovers and Fords, depending on which factory they were visiting that day. Otherwise you'd be relegated to ''The Carpark Of Shame'' with my Fiats (I'd been to pick up my boss in his broken-down Rover. Again). There was some mixing between brands of the same group: so Triumph staff often drove nicer ('90s) Rovers, whilst the Rover people would spend their discount and shell out for an MG or Jag. [[User:Andy Dingley|Andy Dingley]] ([[User talk:Andy Dingley|talk]]) 19:08, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

== What is this rusted machine called? ==

My email is vgn700{ a t }aol.com if anyone wants to write me offline.

Since July 2, I’ve been attending a camp at the Horse Therapy Centre of Canada, where I’ve enjoyed activities like water play, horseback riding, and setting up obstacle courses. On the farm, there are three types of animals—chickens, goats, and horses—each housed in its own pen or coop.

Yours in Richmond, VA

Mark Fisher, aka vaoverland

Just outside the chicken coop sits a rusted machine ([[:File:Unconfirmed machine 01.jpg]]) that caught my interest; although I’d love to repair it, I’ve had difficulty finding it online since I don’t know what it’s called.

:Mark i have exactly the same problem though possible not as severe, although as well as transposing letters I also miss them out alltogether or sometimes I'll add a letter from the next word liket his. I don't have any anwsers. I haven't found any mechanical methods to solve this problem. generally , for wikipedia pages, i just do the best i can and let the many wonderful people who loike to clean up articles catch any I miss. [[User:Theresa knott|Theresa Knott]] [[User talk:Theresa knott| (Not the skater)]] 12:20, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[[User:Pr0gr1pp3r|Pr0gr1pp3r]] ([[User talk:Pr0gr1pp3r|talk]]) 22:50, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

May be we should be developing a specialised word processor for people with such difficulties, one that suggests alternative spellings, even if you've typed a valid word. As for Wikipedia, it is a big self-organising community with people of diverse interests, capabilities and focus areas, so don't worry. -- [[User:Sundar|Sundar]] 12:36, Oct 27, 2004 (UTC)

:I don't know, but isn't there someone at the Horse Therapy Centre you could ask about it? --[[Special:Contributions/142.112.140.137|142.112.140.137]] ([[User talk:142.112.140.137|talk]]) 05:26, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

::I recently downloaded the Ultra Hal Reader from http://www.zabaware.com . The program can read a bunch of selected text, which makes it easier to catch spelling mistakes. It might clash with the auditory processing deficit, but at least, you can catch transpositions with it. [[User:MacGyverMagic|[[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|^{[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|(talk)]]}]] 18:20, Oct 27, 2004 (UTC)

::I'm not attending the camp anymore, and when I asked, they didn't know either. [[Special:Contributions/38.23.177.112|38.23.177.112]] ([[User talk:38.23.177.112|talk]]) 16:21, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

{{collapse top|title=Retracted }}<s>It looks to be a [[fruit press]]. Its top plate (perhaps it was wooden) for pressing is missing and its basket is either missing entirely or perhaps it is the cylindrical cage that is still there., but has been turned upside down to make it easier to remove debris. Inverting it makes sense because then there would be additional clearance for barrels underneath to catch the fluid. There is a crank with a small handle along the post which would turn an internal worm screw lowering the upper lever bar which would have a counterweight attached to its end. The counterweight would help distribute the downward forces making them more even across the bar. A flowerpot is sitting in a holder. I don't know what the holder would have been used for. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 16:22, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

::PS. The basket(s) are missing. The cage wire is resting on fixed spokes and is attached to the rim, thus it is just a platform on which to set one or more baskets. If the assembly were to be inverted, the wire would lose its support, so I've scratched that. I would also expect the baskets and their cloth liners containing the fruit that are placed upon the platform to have finer mesh that retains the fruits' pulp with the press extracting its juice. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 11:36, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

::Progripper, as you can see, there are four sections of outer pipe. The uppermost pipe section and the inner pipe are joined together. Moreover, there is what I discern to be an old wire (it has an older type of insulation that has rough texture and colored off-white) protruding from a small round hole in the inner pipe next to the upper section. Having now spotted it, this machine would appear to have a motor in that upper section (and away from ground water and human hands). The external crank-operated [[jackscrew]] would then only be used when needed when the motor cannot provide enough torque from within. There is also a bolt just below the section which is attached to the upper portion of the jack, the bolt would engage/disengage the jack so it wouldn't interfere with the motor's operation. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 16:28, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

::It's also worth noting there are a couple remnants of a concrete block foundation that would have supported the weight of the machine: its platform, the baskets of fruit and the top plate(s), plus the force of the upper section when crushing the fruit. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 17:15, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

:I've been thinking too that large ring holding the flowerpot is welded there for a pretty good reason. That being the slip rings (the outer pipe sections) that are attached to the vertical bar were stabilized by a solid post, likely wood, that is no longer there. The missing post or pole might have also been tall enough for an electrical hook up to a nearby building. This pole would have had a grounded electrical box with switches and a fuse. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 17:45, 18 August 2025 (UTC)</s>

{{collapse bottom}}

::Science progresses by falsifying hypotheses, so let me try to find things inconsistent with this thing being a fruit press.

::The wheel on the right (which looks very much like a spoked wheel repurposed for something else) only rests on the lower horizontal bar. It's much easier and sturdier to give it its own foundation, so there must be a reason for it. It suggests that the lower arm can rotate around the metal post, powered by the crank. None of the fruit presses I've seen on commons have that feature. If the outer pipe can rotate around the inner pipe, then the inner pipe is presumably fixed. The upper horizontal beam may also be able to rotate around the inner pipe. There's no attachment point along the upper beam (to connect, for example, the top plate of a press), except a poorly aligned black thing at the very end, with a hook underneath. It looks like a slider. With a separate (missing) pulley under this hook, it's a crane. The wheel with the mesh on it has a spindle sticking out of it. That's not very convenient if you want to put something on it, except if that thing has a hole in its centre.

::Wild guess: this is a device for shaping millstones. The crane can lift the stone from a cart and put it on the wheel. The wheel can swing sideways to the machinery used to shape the stone and it can spin the stone. [[User:PiusImpavidus|PiusImpavidus]] ([[User talk:PiusImpavidus|talk]]) 19:29, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

:::Makes sense. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 20:20, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

:::Your last point about the inconvenient spindle is well-taken and has bothered me far too much as it is, thus I've retracted, since the platform could very well sit on bearings (instead of being threaded so it could be moved downward and upward) and be used as you suggest with the crane loading [[millstone]]s instead of fruit. Anyway, I could easily have misidentified the "wire", whatever it is, it's stiff and not new. The crank's casing is constructed with two tubes that might or might not telescope. If not that leaves the partitioning of the separate outer pipe sections (and the bolt) unexplained. Also, the large ring holding the decorative planter, instead of securing the position of the vertical bar and the lower arm (which can efficiently transmit force over some distance, as well as have an effective integrated foundation with the ground) if it surrounds a pole, has no obvious purpose. Nevertheless, I shall, like I said, retract (primarily because of the spindle nut). [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 00:56, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

:::Given the evidence presented, I believe the machine could have been used to cut and shape millstones. The dual-purpose pole which I believe is absent supports this hypothesis since the millstone can be turned and restrained to a fixed position. In other words, I'm skeptical that the lower arm was meant to be moved. When cutting large masses it is easier and safer to simply reposition the cutting implement. For example, I'd use a saw to cut a massive tree. If the objects(s) are lightweight that's different. The millstones can be massive and would resist such movement. Note too that <s>the crane can reposition a pendulum that cuts its upper surface, and</s> raising and lowering the rail can be automated. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 14:20, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

:::The crane is a component of a [[vise|vice]] and there is a frame behind the platform for supporting a mechanical cutter—perhaps a lathe-like device with a hard steel or diamond bit. The lower arm of this vice is heavily encrusted from being buried in the concrete block foundation (mostly missing). [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 17:20, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

:::Its operation would involve positioning clamping plates under and over the millstone, positioning the millstone by manually turning it, and clamping the stone in place by lowering the upper arm of the crane, then applying the cutting tool. I did ask AI if the image is fakery (it is likely not), to confirm the wire (it did) and whether or not the upper arm is positioned too high for it being used to clamp a plate, but it didn't think it was and thinks the screw inside the post can be long enough (FWTW). Thus far, I'm not seeing anything that would be inconsistent with this machine being used for shaping millstones or perhaps something else that might have been even larger. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 19:11, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

:I believe its a type of drying machine. The bottom area with the grate is a guard for a fan blade that would be powered by a belt on that bottom flange. The fan can be raised or lowered by the jack on the main upright while the upper cross bar would hold the produce in a hanging sack. <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/208.121.35.65|208.121.35.65]] ([[User talk:208.121.35.65#top|talk]]) 16:03, 19 August 2025 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

I've been working with it for a long time, and I will continue to do so. I am not upset about it, just know that it wastes time. If the hal reader turns text into sound, it rpobably wouldn't help me much, because I can almost always spot the errors quickly. With my particualr ADD and aspects, I am much more visual than auditory. the frustration is seeing it in your mind the way you want to type it, and then seeing the word come out in the wrong order. I'll keep an eye on this thread, and let 'yall know whenever I find was to improve or workaround. Thanks, Mark

::My knowledge of belt-driven driers is almost nil, but the jack that alters the fan's height doesn't need to be connected by the lower arm (which is able to transmit forces and maintains this system's stability) some distance away. It would be best situated near its stationary cage that would be kept from moving, thus the lower arm is essentially expendable with that kind of machine, but it would work. [[User:Modocc|Modocc]] ([[User talk:Modocc|talk]]) 17:41, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

:Hi Mark. You asked me this on my talk page, but we may as well stick the discussion together.

= August 19 =

:There's a pretty good [http://www.spellcheck.net/ web-based spellchecker], though it seems to work almost ''too'' well, considering that, in testing it, I misspelled 'the' as 'teh' and it didn't mark it as wrong; turns out that 'TEH' can be an acronym for [http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?p=dict&String=exact&Acronym=TEH a few things].

== Kyan - wine? spirit? ==

:If you're using [[Internet Explorer]], there's an apparently gratis extension you can download called [http://www.iespell.com/ ieSpell]. I haven't tried it and recommend [[Mozilla Firefox|Firefox]]. :-)

[[File:Bottle Ticket (Kyan) LACMA M.62.41.14f.jpg|thumb|right|"Kyan" bottle ticket]]

:Some other spellcheckers exist, but they tend to cost money. Here's a [http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22spell+checker%22&btnG=Search Google search for 'spell checker'], which simply gets more results than 'spellchecker'.

The image to the right shows a "bottle ticket" with the label reading "Kyan". A "bottle ticket", I've learned, is a small plaque hung around the neck of a [[decanter]], which explains what wine or spirit has been decanted into said. This one was made by [[John Emes]] around the start of the 19th century. None of the articles listed at [[Kyan]] seems at all relevant. The name isn't unique to this label (I found [https://www.loveantiques.com/items/listings/rare-18th-century-silver-kyan-bottle-ticket-LA480523 this antique], for example). So my questions:

# Do we have a relevant article for "bottle ticket" (there's a passing mention in [[wine label]], which ''seems'' to be the same thing, but may be another name for the paper label)?

:By the way, if you do try a different word processor (and there's no reason to if you're happy with your current one), please give [[OpenOffice.org]] a try. Word is needlessly (for you, not MS) expensive.

# What kind of beverage is/was Kyan?

Thanks soberly -- [[User:Finlay McWalter|Finlay McWalter]]'''··–·'''[[User talk:Finlay McWalter|Talk]] 11:50, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

:With regard to question 2, [https://antiquesilverspoons.co.uk/shop/georgian-silver-kyan-sauce-label-c-1790?srsltid=AfmBOorTsWAsHK8zGTOtrl8QZ0KNdCk9z6tg6OkyhsyLrHlkP1OyvetR these] [https://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/567179/a-rare-18th-century-kyan-sauce-label sites] (and a couple of other such sites I found) say that the bottle ticket went on a cruet rather than a decanter and that KYAN means "[[Cayenne pepper|cayenne]]". Whether it was in sauce form or in powdered form is unclear. [[User:Deor|Deor]] ([[User talk:Deor|talk]]) 13:48, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

::It would have been a sauce. The images [https://delomosne.co.uk/index.php/product/ga86-cruet-bottle-engraved-kyan/ here] and [https://www.theworldismadeofglass.co.uk/product/georgian-bristol-blue-kyan-cylinder-shaped-cruet/ here] show cruets bearing the text {{serif|KYAN}} that cannot have been intended for dispensing powdered cayenne. The following text, a quotation in a book review, is explicit about cruet frames having pepper casters separate from the cruets, including a kyan-ticketed cruet:

:::{{serif|“At about this time began the half-century vogue of soy [sauce] as a relish with food. Soy was described in 1776 as ‘a sauce as thick as treacle, and of a clear black colour.’ It was prepared from the beans of the ''soja hispida'' and salt mixed with ground barley or wheat. This created a demand for special soy frames complete with silver-mounted cut-glass bottles hung by silver bottle tickets on chains. Such a cruet frame might contain six to ten sauce bottles and a pair of pepper casters. The bottle tickets might number many more than the bottles, each being named differently, such as soy, catsup, anchovy, lemon, tarragon, kyan, chili vin and so on.”}}^{[https://books.google.com/books?id=WEfiCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA855&dq=%22sauce+bottles%22+%22pepper+casters%22&hl=en]}

::&nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 09:18, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

: Thanks for the Kyan part (thinking out of the box, it didn't occur to me that it wouldn't be a drink). I've added a link to cayenne pepper from the [[Kyan]] dab, but I don't think I can edit the cayenne pepper article to give it as an alternate (or archaic) title, as these sources, while clear enough, probably don't ''quite'' cut the WP:RS mustard.<small>sorry</small> -- [[User:Finlay McWalter|Finlay McWalter]]'''··–·'''[[User talk:Finlay McWalter|Talk]] 09:56, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

:And of course remember that if you misspell things, only morons will whine about it and do nothing. We can always correct your typos, but we cannot equal your knowledge of the subjects that interest you. Keep up the good work. [[User:Chris Roy|Chris Roy]] 19:45, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

= August 20 =

== Termination procedures and time limits for Section 8 housing ==

== Face tattoo ==

Well, I'm not sure what the exact question is here, and of course IANAL, but in general, terminating a tenancy will depend very much on the state, county, and municipal laws where your rental unit is located. Your best bet would be to contact your local apartment/rental association or a lawyer who specializes in rental law. The amount of money spent on such services will vastly outweigh potential losses of rent as a result of an incorrectly executed eviction, or losses due to litigation regarding unintentional non-compliance with local rent laws. For what it's worth, though, IIRC Section 8 only deals with partial payment of rent from the government, aside from that it is like a standard tenancy --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 17:56, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

:I would suggest going here: [http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/hcv/index.cfm] It is the section of the Housing and Urban Development website that deals with Housing Choice (or Section 8) Voucher programs. [[User:Skyler1534|Skyler]][[User_talk:Skyler1534|'''1534''']] 00:26, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

[https://thenevadaglobe.com/702times/las-vegas-man-arrested-for-allegedly-killing-girlfriend/] Is that a gang member thing, or does the guy think he's Darth Maul, or what? I mean the tattoo. Never mind the murder charge for now. The tattoo is bad enough by itself. [[Special:Contributions/2601:644:8581:75B0:32D2:3FE3:F454:37FE|2601:644:8581:75B0:32D2:3FE3:F454:37FE]] ([[User talk:2601:644:8581:75B0:32D2:3FE3:F454:37FE|talk]]) 08:54, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

== Schubert article ==

:I think a gang tattoo in the US would not include such uncool egghead-type eyeglasses. For the rest, there is no accounting for taste, and the [[First Amendment]] protects even this expression. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 09:43, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

I would like to know who wrote the article on Franz Schubert.

:The "BK" might be [[Bloods|Blood]] (as in the gang) killer. Crossing it out adds to the disrespect. Laser tattoo removal is expensive and painful. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 00:46, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

= August 21 =

A.G. Perry

== drunk and obnoxious ==

:[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Franz_Schubert&action=history These people] --[[User:Tagishsimon|Tagishsimon]]

[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/video-captures-rhode-island-prosecutor-warn-officers-will-regret-arres-rcna225798] Leaving aside the assistant state attorney general news hook, the story is about some lady getting drunk and obnoxious in a restaurant, refusing to leave, and getting dragged out by the cops, creating a noisy temporary disturbance but no serious damage or violence etc.

::On the other hand, if you would like to know for the purposes of citing the article, then you should instead look at [[Citing Wikipedia]] --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 18:05, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Where does this land on the scale of things? Is it something every working bartender sees play out a dozen times a week? A dozen times a year? Once in a great while? I guess we don't have [[drunk tank]]s in the US any more, but I imagine them being a standard presence in the settings of cowboy movies, even if they didn't figure into the movie.

== Invention date and usage of fMRI ==

I was once present at a scene that might have ended like this (someone I was with got drunk and loud). I got the person to leave peacefully, but I got the impression that the waitstaff was well experienced with these situations. [[Special:Contributions/2601:644:8581:75B0:427:5A43:69D2:AD22|2601:644:8581:75B0:427:5A43:69D2:AD22]] ([[User talk:2601:644:8581:75B0:427:5A43:69D2:AD22|talk]]) 02:50, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

I am researching brain injury diagnosis and can't find out the date of fMRI invention or date of initial usage, as a diagnostic tool, in Texas,United States. Do you have any such information? I found out that EMI Laboratories had one at Hillcrest Medical Center in Waco,Texas in 1979.

---anon.

:fMRI using oxyhemoglobin to measure brain oxygen uptake wasn't developed until 1990. Slightly earlier using gadolinium but not as far back as 1979, I don't think. [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 20:08, Oct 27, 2004 (UTC)

:Being obnoxious is not a crime. [[Public intoxication]] is prohibited by law in some US states (not in Rhode Island), but any judge or jury would almost certainly dismiss the charge if the defendant's disorderly behaviour remained confined to a booze-dispensing facility. This is a different issue. The arrestee refused to leave, which is [[criminal trespass]], a rather more severe crime than being drunk in public. In RI, willful trespass is a misdemeanor that can be punished by up to one year of imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.^{[https://codes.findlaw.com/ri/title-11-criminal-offenses/ri-gen-laws-sect-11-44-26/]} The case mainly drew attention because of the entitled behaviour, but a judge may find it more striking that a prosecutor should know better. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 11:47, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

== Employment statistics for the late 90s ==

:{{tq| Is it something every working bartender sees play out a dozen times a week? A dozen times a year? Once in a great while?}} That depends on where that bartender works. In some places, such a scenario would almost never happen. [[User:Polygnotus|Polygnotus]] ([[User talk:Polygnotus|talk]]) 13:48, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

= August 23 =

Between 1995 & 2000 the millenium scare created a lot of high paying jobs that went away in 2000. Are there any statistics on this subject?

:There are loads of statistics, but it requires '''a lot''' of reading. There are no simple tables and such. I'm an academic economist, so I am used to the reports. The statistics it sounds like you are looking for would be published by the [http://www.bls.gov Bureau of Labor Statistics]. They release the Unemployment Situation on the first working Friday of every month. You can find the archived versions of the reports going back to 1994 here: [http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/empsit_nr.htm] For background information (such as why these things occurred in certain regions), you can also read the Beige Book reports published by the [[Federal Open Market Committee]]. The information is divided into the twelve regions covered by the twelve [[Federal Reserve Bank]]s. Archives releases of the Beige Book reports can be found at the [http://www.minneapolisfed.org/bb/ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis' website] [[User:Skyler1534|Skyler]][[User_talk:Skyler1534|'''1534''']] 00:48, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

== Wild bird eggs as food ==

: An anecdotal comment: you may find that much of the y2k prep work was done not by creating new jobs, but by deferring other projects. Programmers and sysadmins who would otherwise have been deploying new apps spent '98 and '99 reworking old ones. Likewise, many new hires in those years who went straight into y2k work would have been reassigned to catchup work in '00, not let go. At any rate, there was a huge I.T. labour buildup in the U.S. throughout the late '90s owing to the phenomenon generally called the dot-com boom, which ended in a bust in early '02. It might be hard to discern y2k hiring effects against that background. [[User:Sharkford|Sharkford]] 14:39, 2004 Nov 1 (UTC)

Historically, many human populations have consumed large numbers of wild bird eggs (see e.g. our article on [[gull egg]]s). My understanding is that, unlike chickens, wild birds generally lay fertilised eggs only. Does this mean that all eggs sourced from the wild contain embryonic chicks? If so, are the embryos eaten or discarded? [[User:Zacwill|Zacwill]] ([[User talk:Zacwill|talk]]) 06:04, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

== interpreter ==

:If the egg is collected for human consumption shortly after being laid, there would be no visible embryo. As for eating embryonic chicks, consuming duck embryos is popular in the Phillipines and several other Southeast Asian countries. See [[Balut (food)]] for details. [[User:Cullen328|Cullen328]] ([[User talk:Cullen328|talk]]) 06:13, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

::Supposing I were foraging for seabird eggs on a cliffside, as [[St Kilda, Scotland|St Kildans]] used to do, how would I know how old the eggs were? [[User:Zacwill|Zacwill]] ([[User talk:Zacwill|talk]]) 06:27, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

:::You could weigh them; eggs lose mass as the embryo develops. The usual trick is to put the egg in water and see whether it floats or sinks. [[User:PiusImpavidus|PiusImpavidus]] ([[User talk:PiusImpavidus|talk]]) 08:35, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

::::<small>[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail|But if she weighs the same as a duck... she's made of wood. And therefore... a witch!]]</small> --[[Special:Contributions/142.112.140.137|142.112.140.137]] ([[User talk:142.112.140.137|talk]]) 09:22, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

:Fwiw, chickens kept on small farms rather than factory farms are typically kept with roosters in the mix (they help protect the flock, and are raised to be eaten as well). So until very recently, almost everyone who kept chickens would have had a rooster to fertilize the eggs. So most farmed eggs, too, would have had embryos in them. (Fertilized eggs do also sometimes occur in factory farmed eggs, since chick sexing is an inexact art, and occasionally a rooster makes it into the barn with the hens.)

:As mentioned by others, the embryo is microscopic for the first few days after laying; and unless temperatures stay within a fairly narrow range, the embryo in an egg removed from the nest will quickly stop developing and die for lack of warmth or due to overheating. -- [[User:Avocado|Avocado]] ([[User talk:Avocado|talk]]) 02:20, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

= August 24 =

hi

i am fluent in English and Bulgarian,I would like to help by translating articles in and from Bulgarian;

could somebody let me know @ kalina_pp80{ a t }hotmail.com?

thank you

kalina

:Hi, I'd say just do it. Anyone can help, join up, and edit articles. You may notice there is a Bulgarian Wikipedia at http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/ So start in, have fun and translate articles back and forth. Just make sure to spend some time getting familiar with the resources and conventions. It will help you contribute more. - [[User:Taxman|Taxman]] 15:36, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

::For translations from Bulgarian, see [[Wikipedia:Translation into English]]. It's a good project, and I'm sure there are articles in the Bulgarian Wikipedia that would help expand our coverage here! [[User:Jwrosenzweig|Jwrosenzweig]] 19:25, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

:::Also, please create yourself an account and sign up at [[Wikipedia:Translators available]]. We don't have any Bulgarian translators on the list, so you would be ''very'' welcome.

:::We'd love to have English translations of any good articles in the Bulgarian Wikipedia (especially articles containing local knowledge on Bulgaria). I believe the Bulgarian Wikipedia is still in a pretty "fledgling" state, so you should be careful to look for possible copyright violations in its content; many of the smaller Wikipedias have a lot of problems with these.

:::There is undoubtedly an almost boundless need for translation of English-language articles to Bulgarian. I would particularly urge you to take a look at [[Wikipedia:Featured articles]], which should link to some of the best English-language articles. I'm sure that translations of some of these would be helpful to any of the smaller Wikipedias. -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 06:36, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)

== Week numbers ==

== Do electric blankets really cause house fires? ==

How common is it worldwide to base recurring events on ISO weeks? In Finland, for example, the autumn break of the school year is at week 42 in some areas and at week 43 in others, the spring break is at week 8, 9 or 10 depending on ___location, school year ends on Saturday of week 22 everywhere, and Helsinki region public transport switches to summer timetables on Monday of week 25 and to winter timetables on Monday of week 33. Is there any other country that does similar? --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 21:27, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

I like to use an electric blanket in the winter, and I convinced it save me money on my heating bill. But I always have people warning me that these blankets can start fires. In fact, one friend who told me seemed to know what he was talking about - his company did repair work on houses that had been damaged by fires, floods, ect. BUT... It seems to me that if there really were that many fires caused by these blankets, some goverment agency (the Consumer Products Safety Commision?) would step in. Is this an urban lengend? (I've heard the same about Glade Plug-ins) [[User:Ike9898|ike9898]] 14:03, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

:I can speak with respect to Poland and Germany that week numbers are primarily used in commerce and industry to determine when certain goods are to be delivered or services rendered, with an example being a contractual obligation to deliver say in week 34 of 2025, with the specific day and time to be decided on when this week looms closer, or in project planning. Outside of that the week numbers go rather unnoticed. This was asked before. --[[User:Ouro|Ouro]] <small>([[User_talk:Ouro|blah blah]])</small> 08:26, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

:Look for the [[Underwriters Laboratories|UL]] label, or the [[CE logo]] where appropriate. In principle, these products are tested so that ordinary use shouldn't cause an unexpected risk of injury or property damage.

::On 15 February 2025 the user asked whether [[Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2025 February 15#Week numbers|most English speakers know ISO week numbers]], and on 20 July 2025 they asked whether [[Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2025 July 20#Date format|any English-speaking country presents calendars with ISO week numbers]]. This question has a worldwide scope and, unlike the earlier ones, is specifically about their use for recurrent events. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 10:48, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

:::Week numbers are rarely used in Australia. [[User:HiLo48|HiLo48]] ([[User talk:HiLo48|talk]]) 11:28, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

== Metric units in different countries ==

: It does happen. [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=5147], [http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/news/newsstory.asp?ID=904], [http://www.ess.govt.nz/about/word_html/electric_blankets.htm], [http://www.injuryboard.com/view.cfm/Topic=9913], [http://www.worldofweb.com/fire/PressRelease.cfm?PressReleaseID=61] But, when the blanket isn't faulty due to poor manufacture, the insulation is intact, and the blanket isn't worn out, it is not supposed to be possible for it to cause house fires. An electric blanket is a device which draws electrical current with the intent to produce heat in a space where the heat is not quickly radiated away. There are inherent risks that don't go away under those conditions. I doubt any class of government regulation short of banning them could make them totally safe, and I imagine that the certification labs and the risk of lawsuits usually acts in lieu of comprehensive regulation. But, such processes are corruptible. Manufacturing standards vary and users are not always careful - especially the elderly users who are the most likely to need them.

# Are following measured in metric units in UK:

:[[User:Diderot|Diderot]] 14:19, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

## Floor area

## Elevation

## Heights of mountains

## Area of administrative divisions

## Water depth

## Length of things

## Depth of soil

## Size of sporting fields

## Train height, length and weight

# Are depth of soil, size of sporting fields, crop area, height of statues and size of license plates measured in metric units in Canada?

# Are floor area, elevation, area of administrative divisions, person's height and size of sporting fields measured in metric units in Philippines?

# In which countries is aircraft and ship speed measured in km/h rather than knots?

# In which countries are marine navigation distances more commonly measured in kilometers rather than nautical miles?

# Is length of flights and long-distance ship routes usually measured in kilometers worldwide? --[[User:40bus|40bus]] ([[User talk:40bus|talk]]) 21:58, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

#:Size of license plates? Canada is a free country; you're allowed to measure anything you want in whatever units you want. Everything you listed would be ''described'' in metric (almost always with a US-ian conversion, like [[Vehicle registration plates of Ontario|here]]) by most writers. In informal writing and speech, you're more likely to encounter US-ian units as the primary descriptor, especially among older Canadians. Sorry, I'm just boggled by this: do people in your country routinely measure license plates for some reason? In Canada, they're all standard size and provided by the government. [[User:Matt Deres|Matt Deres]] ([[User talk:Matt Deres|talk]]) 14:22, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

#::Do you routinely measure anything listed in questions 1 or 2? If Canadian license plates are a standard size, I imagine the standard is described somewhere using a specific metric. [[Special:Contributions/207.11.240.2|207.11.240.2]] ([[User talk:207.11.240.2|talk]]) 11:48, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

#:1.3. [[Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles]] is categorized mostly (but not exclusively) in Imperial units, so that's a 'sometimes'. <span class="nowrap">[[User:Verbarson|--&nbsp;Verbarson&nbsp;]]&nbsp;^{[[User talk:Verbarson|talk]]}_{[[Special:Contributions/Verbarson|edits]]}</span> 17:56, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

:Regarding 4) and 5), this depends on ___location for Europe. On sea, velocities are generally measured in knots, distances in nautical miles. However, the signage on inland channels in Europe tends to be in km and km/h. So for 6), long distance shipping routes (which tend to go on sea) are generally measured in nautical miles. I suppose the [[International_Maritime_Organization|IMO]] regulates how this is applied. For aerospace, that's also regulated, and I guess that it's all in nautical miles and kts. It helps that 60 nautical miles is one degree (in latitude, degrees in longitude change with latitude). [[User:Rmvandijk|Rmvandijk]] ([[User talk:Rmvandijk|talk]]) 08:15, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

::For 6 and long distance ship routes a resounding no, it's nautical miles, and by the by, speed in knots as the knot is based on the NM not the km. --[[User:Ouro|Ouro]] <small>([[User_talk:Ouro|blah blah]])</small> 08:29, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

::Inland waterways on the European continent are metric. The UK is a mixed bag. The [[Canal and River Trust]] (the organisation managing most of the British inland waterways) tells me that the speed limit on the [[narrow canal]]s is 4 mph, on the non-tidal [[River Thames]] 8 km/h and on the [[River Medway]] 5 knots (for comparison: the speed limit on most Dutch canals is 20 km/h).

::Aviation on the European continent used to be fully metric (every country had metricated before aviation really took off), but after 1945 some British–American units were introduced: knots for speed (instead of km/h), feet for height (instead of metres), feet per minute for vertical speed (instead of m/s), nautical miles for horizontal distance (instead of km) (but visibility and airport dimensions are still metric; note that in American aviation visibility is expressed in statute miles, not nautical miles). Gliders, ultralights and the Soviet Union stayed metric. [[User:PiusImpavidus|PiusImpavidus]] ([[User talk:PiusImpavidus|talk]]) 12:01, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

= August 26 =

== Tourism article Author? ==

hello, I would like to quote off the tourism article on the website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism) and need to know the author. is it possible you have it in your records. Many thanks Alistair Minty

:Well you can find the list of contributors here: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Tourism&action=history, but you are more likely looking for [[Wikipedia:Citing_Wikipedia|How to cite wikipedia]] - [[User:Taxman|Taxman]] 15:39, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

:Would it be worth putting a citing wikipedia link next to 'about wikipedia' and 'disclaimers'? [[User:Intrigue|Intrigue]] 16:50, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

::Yes, we should consider something like that. [[User:MacGyverMagic|[[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|^{[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|(talk)]]}]] 17:58, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

::Yeah, Wikipedia will be an increasingly cited source as time goes on, especially if wikipedia articles are well researched and cited themselves. Is this developer issue now, and where would we take this to get wider approval for the idea? - [[User:Taxman|Taxman]] 19:35, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

:::See [[Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#"Citing Wikipedia" link, or Citation Box, on every page]] for an interesting discussion of this. -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 06:40, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)

== Free font or software to draw syntax trees ==

For both Wikipedia and personnal purposes, I would love to be able to draw nice [[syntax]] [[Tree (graph theory)|trees]] using a [[Free software|free]] [[software]] or [[font]]. Does anyone know if such a thing exists, for MS-Windows, in a stable and functionnal state? --[[User:Valmi|Valmi[[User_talk:Valmi| &#10002;]]]] 22:52, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

* It looks like [http://www.aisee.com/ aiSee] is free for non-commercial usage. -- [[User:Wapcaplet|Wapcaplet]] 23:19, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

== Question transferred from [[Eikonal equation in Gemotrical optics]] ==

Anon [[202.141.24.2]] asked:

I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE EIKONAL EQUATION AND SOLUTION OF THE EIKONAL EQUATION.

lITERATURE SAYS THAT IT HAS BEEN USED IN GEOMETRICAL OPTICS TO COMPUTE THE TRAVEL

TIME OF WAVE IN THE MEDIUM WHICH HAVE DIFFERENT REFERCTIVE INDEX

And I quote: "Please avoid using all capital letters; not only do they make a question harder to read, but they are often interpreted as impolite or shouting."

:I don't think we have any artickle on the [[eikonal equation]]. Only [[gradient index optics]] about variable refractive index. [[User:Charles Matthews|Charles Matthews]] 16:39, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

== Citing ==

How do you cite Wikipedia? How do you find out the author of the articles?

:See [[Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia]]. [[User:Raul654|&rarr;Raul654]] 16:58, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)

:Generally, you do not cite individual authors (since each article may have many), but if you wish, you can click the "history" link that is at the top of most pages using the default style. [[User:Aranel|[[User:Aranel|Aranel]] ("[[User:Aranel/Sarah|Sarah]]")]] 16:59, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

::On a side note, we get asked this a '''lot'''. I can't imagine how many users there are who don't get as far as this page and give up hopes of citation. Should we think about a more prominent way of linking to the citation page? If we believe we're a usable encyclopedia (and I do) that students might quote, I think it's worth discussing how best to do that. Although this particular page might not be the right place....I don't know about that. I fear a discussion at [[Wikipedia talk:Citing Wikipedia]] wouldn't attract much interest. [[User:Jwrosenzweig|Jwrosenzweig]] 19:08, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

:Look at the citing question 3 questions above this one. It's already being discussed. [[User:MacGyverMagic|[[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|^{[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|(talk)]]}]] 19:49, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)

== what does the number lock do ==

If the number lock is turned on, the keys of the numeric keypad will give you numerals instead of behaving as up and down arrows, etc. On my laptop, this is particularly useful, since it makes it much easier to get at special characters and such. See [[IBM PC keyboard]] and [[Num lock]]. [[User:Aranel|[[User:Aranel|Aranel]] ("[[User:Aranel/Sarah|Sarah]]")]] 18:57, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

:If you're on a desktop [[Apple Macintosh|Mac]], NumLock does nothing; it's just there on the "Clear" key for compatibility (with non-Mac OSs like Windows (in emulation) or Linux/Unix, I suppose). [[User:Garrett Albright|Garrett Albright]] 06:36, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)

== Finding the author? ==

I cant find the author of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagism how can I find the author(s)?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Imagism&action=history Here], although I think you'll find the answer more surprising than useful. If you're interested in citing Wikipedia, please see [[Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia|Citing Wikipedia]] --[[User:Neschek|Neschek]] 22:05, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

:This question is asked so often that I wonder if people know the meaning of the word 'cite' or 'citation'. Maybe we should change the title of the article to something more obvious, such as, [[Wikipedia:Who is the author of a Wikipedia article?]], or [[How to use Wikipedia articles for your research paper]]. [[User:GUllman|GUllman]] 03:42, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== Latin phrase ==

From [[Neque porro est qui dolorem ipsum quiadolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit]]:

<tt>I have been sent this message by a lost loved one. It is almost certainly from Dante. Can someone tell me what this phrase means, where it's from and what follows it in it's original source? This is extremely important to me, thank you.

<tt>" Neque porro est qui dolorem ipsum quiadolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit... "

<tt>my email is (deleted, see history)</tt>

*It means "There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain...". Here's our writeup on what it's best known for: [[Lorem ipsum]] --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]]{[[User talk:Jpgordon|gab}]] 02:10, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)

== Vitamin B-12 ==

I do not know if this will accomplish what I want. I am trying to find a simple Email contact to ask a question. I can find all kinds of data about deficiences in vitamin b-12, but I cannot find out what is undesirable about having too much in the system. A doctor removed my wifes consumption of a multiple vitamin because she had too much b-12 in her system. What could be the possible consequences of having too much? --anon

:That's odd. [http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb12.asp#h11 The Institute of Medicine states] that "no adverse effects have been associated with excess vitamin B12 intake from food and supplements in healthy individuals." Your doctor must be privy to some very exclusive information... As for finding an email contact, we generally don't encourage people to request email replies here, as it benefits all for answers to these questions to be public... but you didn't leave an email address anyway. [[User:Garrett Albright|Garrett Albright]] 04:45, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)

:Although B12 isn't believed to be harmful in itself, there are several reasons your doctor may wish her to stop taking it. Chiefly its a diagnostic tool - elevated serum B12 can be indicative of several conditions (including obesity, ulcers, diseases of the liver and kidney, diabetes, and certain metabolic imbalances). So if he's tested her blood and found elevated B12 it's quite reasonable that he ask her to stop taking a B12 supplement so he can be sure that it's the cause of the elevated B12, not one of those conditions. - [[User:John Fader|John Fader]]

== is this web site copying the information on Wikipedia illegally? ==

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/idiom

:Unfortunetly, according to the GFDL license, '''no'''. See on the bottom:

::"This article was derived fully or in part from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License."

:Makes me sad, though [[User:Kieff|<nowiki></nowiki>]] &mdash; [[User:Kieff|Kieff]] | [[User talk:Kieff|Talk]] 09:48, Oct 31, 2004 (UTC)

:You mean "no," not illegally. The information on Wikipedia is free for folks to completely leech like this, so long as they attribute Wikipedia. See [[Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks]]. [[User:Garrett Albright|Garrett Albright]] 20:57, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Erm, actually, the site must credit the copyright holder, NOT Wikipedia. Citing Wikipedia is possibly one way to credit the copyright holder since the contribution log is preserved. [[User:Tricky|Tricky]] 07:03, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::Ah, yes, I meant no. I thought it said LEGALLY. Ugh, sorry. It's fixed now. [[User:Kieff|<nowiki></nowiki>]] &mdash; [[User:Kieff|Kieff]] | [[User talk:Kieff|Talk]] 21:20, Oct 31, 2004 (UTC)

== How much of a journey from Paris to Versailles in 1693? ==

For an article about an Englishman, [[John Vanbrugh]], who stayed in Paris in 1693, it would be great if somebody could suggest how much of a journey it would have been for him to go see Versailles. Could it have been a day trip? (How far is it?) Would there have been a stage coach (diligence)? Would the public be allowed close enough to get a good impression of the exterior? Probably hard questions to answer exactly, but any good guesses or estimates would also be much appreciated.--[[User:Bishonen|Bishonen]] 15:40, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Off the top of my head, didn't the citizens march to Versailles in 1792 as a mob? I think it's less than 10 miles. [[User:Alteripse|Alteripse]] 17:08, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)

::1789, actually -- and it was mostly women. --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]]{[[User talk:Jpgordon|gab}]] 19:27, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)

:In 1693? Dunno. But I can show you how to make the journey now. Go to [http://www.mappy.com mappy.com] and enter "Paris" and "Versailles" under Itinerary. It is apparently 21.4 km from the centre of modern Paris to the centre of modern Versailles, taking an average of 29 minutes in a typical car. [[User:Chameleon|''Chameleon'']] 17:28, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)

::Oh, cool, thank you both very much. If the mob could do it on foot, I guess a healthy young man would have made it an easy day trip, either on horseback or by diligence. Vanbrugh was to invent English baroque later, that's why I wondered if he could have seen Versailles. In 1693 he wasn't a sightseeing Grand Tour kid, but a political prisoner who'd just been let out of the Bastille and allowed to move freely '''in''' Paris only, but if Versailles is that close, I don't think it would have been a problem. He wasn't especially supposed to have tendencies to assassinate royals. Thanks.--[[User:Bishonen|Bishonen]] 18:27, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)

:::Easy enough to get to on horse back and a popular day out for Parisians today. It might be on the edge of Paris now, but I would have thought Versailles would have been seen as a very separate village in 1693. Surely it would have meant leaving the city boundaries. -- [[User:Solipsist|Solipsist]] 08:01, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::In an [[SR-71]] he could have done it in 20 seconds. You have to write that in the article. -- [[User:FirstPrinciples|FirstPrinciples]] 06:16, Nov 7, 2004 (UTC)

== Distances ==

Is [[London]] nearer to [[Paris]] or [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]? [[User:Dmn|Dmn'''[[United Kingdom| / ]]'''[[User talk:Dmn|&#1332;&#1396;&#1398;]] ]] 00:39, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:Paris is approximately 290 km / 181 miles south of London, or 341 km / 213 miles by surface transport. Newcastle is 268.5 miles from London Kings Cross by rail (add another mile or so to get to Charing Cross where distances are traditionally measured from). So the answer to your question is "Paris". -- [[User:Arwel Parry|Arwel]] 01:08, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== OAKLAND RAIDERS / Al Davis ==

Dear Wikipedia;...I know this is really a stretch; but, I

am at my wits' end. I have exhausted every avenue I could

find, and been un-sucessful. Would you please forward this

letter to Mr Al Davis; or send me an e-mail address where

I might be able to reach him. It is the most important

thing in my life; and the future of the Oakland Raiders.

I will certainly remember you, when I reach my appointed

destiny as Coach of the Raiders.

R.J.Rooney...hm.# 323-753-8105...cell# 310-387-4926

ranchero50{ a t }netzero.net

:Did you try the "[http://www.raiders.com/team/contact.jsp contact us]" page at raiders.com? They've got a snail-mail address and phone number for the Oakland Raiders' business offices. They're more likely to be able to help you contact Mr. Davis than we are. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 03:51, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== early voting contradicts Constitution? ==

I have a real problem when I read that "early voting" is going on in many states, when it clearly says in the Constitution that voting for President must take place on one day. Apparently there are new federal laws, but if they were going the change the Constitution, wouldn't that take an amendment? What's the deal? [[User:Mjklin|Mjklin]] 04:33, 2004 Nov 1 (UTC)

:Article II, Section 1 states "The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States." As I understand it, absentee ballots and early voting are allowed as long as people are also able to vote on Election Day. The constitution doesn't say that voting can only take place on a single day. [[User:Rhobite|Rhobite]] 04:56, Nov 1, 2004 (UTC)

::Well, also: we aren't the electors. The electors are the members of the Electoral College. Congress determined the time for choosing the electors, and they seem to allow early voting -- but the Electoral College has to give their vote on a single day. Anyway, I think that's how it goes. --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]]{[[User talk:Jpgordon|gab}]] 06:56, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::: Precisely. -- [[User:Jmabel|Jmabel]] | [[User talk:Jmabel|Talk]] 06:58, Nov 1, 2004 (UTC)

I don't suppose we have an entry on early voting? [[User:Rhymeless|[[User:Rhymeless|Rhymeless]] | [[User talk:Rhymeless|(Methyl Remiss)]]]] 09:11, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

==Where is Büttgen==

In editing [[Berti Vogts]], it seems he comes from [[Büttgen]] (or is it [[Bottgen]]?) in Germany. We don't have an article about it, and the German language wikipedia redirects it to [[:de:Kaarst]]. Can someone with some knowledge of that part of Germany tell what a sensible resolution for [[Büttgen]] would be in the english wikipedia?

Also, does anyone know in what position "Der Terrier" played? His scoring record reads like a midfielder.

Thanks in advance. - [[User:John Fader|John Fader]]

*Büttgen is Büttgen. I suspect the Bottgen spelling is just a misreading of the u-umlaut as an o. It's discussed under Kaarst in German wikipedia because Büttgen is part of the district of Kaarst. When we do have an article on Kaarst, Büttgen should be a redirect to it. --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]]{[[User talk:Jpgordon|gab}]] 08:53, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== EM wave with highest frequency ==

What is the highest frequency of a [[electromagnetic wave]] ever reported?

What is the upper bound for the frequency of any EM wave, and what properties would such wave have? [[User:Kieff|<nowiki></nowiki>]] &mdash; [[User:Kieff|Kieff]] | [[User talk:Kieff|Talk]] 08:36, Nov 2, 2004 (UTC)

:To my knowledge, there's no upper bound on frequency. You just get [[gamma ray]]s with higher and higher energies. A source I don't entirely trust to be accurate says the highest frequency ever measured is 10³⁰Hz. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 14:05, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::I found some more online discussions that we might be able to condense into an answer. There are [http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970412e.html "Ask a High-Energy Astronomer"] from NASA (no theoretical limit, observed up to 10^27 Hz, expected up to 10^30 Hz), and [http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy00/phy00466.htm "Ask a Scientist"] from the US Dept. of Energy (points out that photon has to get its energy from some finite source), and [http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/t-4356_Maximun_energy_of_a_photon.html this discussion group], which kicks the subject around a bit more. --[[User:Heron|Heron]] 14:43, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:::I was thinking about it because of this: if the [[Planck time]], t_p = 5.391 × 10^-44 s, is the smallest unit of time, then the highest frequency possible would be given by f = 1 / 5.391 × 10^-44 wich is 1,855 × 10⁴³ Hz. Now, I was wondering what this implies. If such wave exists, how would it behave? If highest frequencies mean highest penetrations, then this wave would be able to go through anything, quite similar to what gravity does. So, I thought that could mean something. :P [[User:Kieff|<nowiki></nowiki>]] &mdash; [[User:Kieff|Kieff]] | [[User talk:Kieff|Talk]] 02:37, Nov 3, 2004 (UTC)

::I'm out of my depth here, and I'll be grateful if somebody sets me right, but I thought that the Planck units were based on the size at which quantum effects and classical effects have equal validity. In other words, they are not hard limits, merely mathematical waypoints in a fuzzy cloud of measurement where results are 50% likely to be correct. Is this true? In which case, it would not be impossible for a frequency to exceed 1/(Planck time), but it would be impossible to be certain about what we had measured. --[[User:Heron|Heron]] 11:19, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I heard that [[cosmic rays]] are higher than gamma rays. [[User:Nichalp|&#x00b6; <font color="teal">&#x273;&#x209;&#x010d;&#x1e29;&#x00e5;&#x1e3d;&#x1e57;</font> | <font color="magenta" size="+8">[[User talk:nichalp|&#x2709;]]</font>]] 19:38, Nov 5, 2004 (UTC)

:Cosmic rays are particles, not electromagnetic waves [[User:Kieff|<nowiki></nowiki>]] &mdash; [[User:Kieff|Kieff]] | [[User talk:Kieff|Talk]] 00:04, Nov 6, 2004 (UTC)

== Mind your Own Business ==

A popular French saying I'm told that literally means "mind your onions" but I can't seem to trace it! Can you help?

:I think you may be better off asking that at wiktionary.org... [[User:MacGyverMagic|[[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|^{[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|(talk)]]}]] 12:43, Nov 2, 2004 (UTC)

::You want "Occupe-toi de tes oignons". It's the third result in the [http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=mind+your+onions Google search for "mind your onions"]. --[[User:Heron|Heron]] 14:49, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:::You can say both "Occupe-toi de tes oignons" or "Occupe-toi de tes affaires". There is also another nice one, somewhat related: "A chacun son métier (et les vaches seront bien gardées)" which means basically: "Everyone to his trade" or something like that. --[[User:Edcolins|Edcolins]] 19:29, Nov 2, 2004 (UTC)

::::"To each his or her trade (and the cows will be well guarded.)" --[[Liberal|Gelu Ignisque]]

:::::Reminds me of the Dutch "schoenmaker, blijf bij je leest" -- "let the cobbler stick to his last", but unlike English, it's a common proverb in Dutch. From Latin "ne sutor ultra crepidam", see [[Apelles#Legacy]]. Probably occurs in other languages as well. [[User:JRM|JRM]] 23:11, 2004 Nov 6 (UTC)

== Count of teeth ==

I asked this question at [[Talk:Tooth]] but got no response :

In humans, does the first set have 20 teeth and the second set 12, or does the second set have 32 ? Do all the 20 teeth of the first set fall off ? [[User:Jay|Jay]] 04:23, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

*[[Tooth]] answers this pretty well, but perhaps you might recommend improvements to the language? It says, "The second, permanent set is formed between the ages of six and twelve years. A new tooth forms underneath the old one, pushing it out of the jaw. " In other words, the 20 "baby teeth" are replaced with permanent teeth, and 8-12 more come in. --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]]{[[User talk:Jpgordon|gab}]] 22:18, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:: Thanks, I've tried to incorporate this in the tooth article. [[User:Jay|Jay]] 16:20, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

How many teeth do you have, Jay? --[[User:Juuitchan]]

== Emigration/Credit question ==

Okay, here's the situation. The wife and I are tossing around the idea of moving to [[Canada]]. Before you draw out the guns though, I'd just like to point out that A) she's a Canadian already, B) I married her in 1998, before it was fashionable for lefty Americans to love Canada and C) we've been tossing around the idea of moving there since 1998. That said, our credit here in the US is pretty good, and her credit from 1998 in Canada is, shall we say, not so fantastic. Would credit translate across borders? If it doesn't usually, is there a way to get credit for our good credit? Thanks much.

:Guh, forgot to sign it. The above question is mine. --[[User:Neschek|I. Neschek]] 16:28, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:In fact it's been trendy for lefty Americans to fetishize Canada (if not, alas, Canadians) since at least the '60s. But to answer your questions, it has been the experience of some friends of mine that Canadian banks can, indeed, reference U.S. credit reports, at least when it comes to assessing overall debt load; so if you've got a pocketful of high-limit cards, they will count against you. For the most part, if you're looking for a loan or a mortgage, the question will be "What are your current jobs, and how long have you been in them?".

:In general, the black cloud of credit seems not to hang over Canadians the way it does Americans. For example, I believe it remains very rare for Canadian landlords or employers to look at credit reports as indicators of trustworthiness. Landlords may want a letter from your employer confirming your pay.

:There is a newsgroup, misc.immigration.canada, from which you may be able to glean specific anecdotal info.

:[[User:Sharkford|Sharkford]] 19:10, 2004 Nov 3 (UTC)

:Real answer: no, but you can fake it. Use your US credit cards as a credit reference when you open your bank account in Canada. It worked brilliantly for me when I went the other way - the bank gave me a $2000 credit card on the strength of my Canadian cards. If you intend to apply for a mortgage or something, I'd advise bringing a copy of your US credit report. But for commerical credit, use your US cards as credit references and you'll be fine. [[User:Diderot|Diderot]] 06:58, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== Chemical Dependency classes ==

I'm trying to find classes for my CEU. Can you help me

== Statistics and Probability ==

== Maths Methods assignment==

Hi, this is a Maths Methods assignment for me. I have done sme planning, etc. But I'd just like to ask for some other people's opinions. Thank you!! =)

topics: data variance (statistics) & probabilty

A game shop decides to have a "sale with a difference"

To determine your percentage discount, you toss three six-sided dice and your discount is the sum of the uppermost faces. The faces of each of the dice are: 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15.

The accountant is concerned about how much this might cost the business.

Prepare a report setting out the expected overall discount from the sale if the games shop goes ahead with the idea...

Now, some of the things i will consider is, how much profit does each game make? assuming $100 to $250 per transaction.

The problem is, how do I assume what numbers will be rolled? Because each combination or each sum will have the same possibility as one another. Or perhaps i will make assumptions based on the AVERAGE percentage discount.

'''ohh....This is so stressful!'''

* My advice for getting started: make a list or a table showing each possible outcome on the dice. 0 and 0, 0 and 3, 0 and 6 and so on. You can't "assume" what numbers will be rolled; you can only predict with what ''chance'' they will be rolled. That's why it's called probability :-) Once you know all the possible outcomes and the chance that each outcome will occur, you can figure out the discount that will be rolled on average. -- [[User:Wapcaplet|Wapcaplet]] 01:54, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

*If the teacher just wanted an answer (as a manager probably would in real life), then I'd just as soon write a program. (This is untested--do not rely on it.)

<pre>

// {{PD}}

#include <cstdlib>

#include <iostream>

#include <iomanip>

using namespace std;

const double min = 100, max = 250; // Range of purchase amounts

double percent_discount() {

const int faces[6] = { 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 };

int percent = faces[rand() % 6] + faces[rand() % 6] +

faces[rand() % 6];

return double(percent) * 0.01;

}

struct {

double sale_price;

double discounted_price;

double percent_discount;

} total;

int main() {

const int trials = 100000;

total.sale_price = total.discounted_price = total.percent_discount = 0;

for (int trial = 0; trial < trials; ++trial) {

double current_price = min + double(rand() / RAND_MAX) * (max - min);

double current_discount = percent_discount();

double current_discounted_price = current_price -

(current_price * percent_discount);

total.sale_price += current_price;

total.discounted_price += current_discounted_price;

total.percent_discount += current_percent_discount;

}

cout << "Simulated " << trials << " purchases\n";

cout.precision(2);

cout << "Total sales were $" << total.sale_price << "\n";

cout << "Total sales with discounts were $"

<< total.discounted_price << "\n";

cout << "Average percent discount was "

<< total.percent_discount / double(trials) << "%\n";

cout << "Expected revenue loss: $"

<< total.sale_price - total_discounted_price << "\n";

cout << "END OF REPORT" << endl;

}

</pre>

*But this being Math Methods, the teacher will likely want you to use the principle of [[expected value]] to determine the answer. It's sort of elegant to be able to come up with, by hand, what a chunk of hot silicon needs a hundred thousand trials to determine. (Of course, we can teach computers to use expected value, too.) --[[User:Ardonik|Ardonik]].[[User talk:Ardonik|talk()]][[User:Ardonik/I ate my cat|^*]] 04:58, Nov 4, 2004 (UTC)

I would imagine the kind of answer your teacher is expecting is dependent on your current educational level. If this question is intended for an audience more advanced than a university Freshmen (and maybe not even that) then I have no idea. Otherwise, I would say that your assumption is correct and the [[expected value]] of each (presumably fair) die is (0 + 3 + 6 + 9 + 12 + 15)/6 or 7.5, and since they are all [[Statistical independence|independent events]], the expected sum of the three dice should be 22.5 Of course, maybe there's something strange going on with the [[variance]] there that has some adverse impact that I'm not aware of, and you should listen to someone who took more than a sememester of statistics in university. --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 20:34, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Yes, I've set up an excell worksheet with all the possible combinations of 3 uppermost faces. Since there are 3 dice, 6 sides, there should be 6x6x6=216 different combinations. I'm not sure if this is necessary. I worked out the average of the data, created a frequency table, made a histogram & polygon on it. From this graph, I can see that the most common score is 21% dicount and 24% discount. Do you think I'm on the right track? Now, I have worked out the central tendency and will go into details in terms of probability.

~from cindy. thanks heaps!

== The origin of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" ==

I was wondering about the origins of [[Itsy Bitsy Spider]], a popular nursery rhyme which exist in many languages. --[[User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason| ]] [[User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/|Ævar]] [[User talk:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/|Arnfjörð]] [{{SERVER}}{{localurl:User talk:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason|action=edit&section=new}} Bjarmason] [[User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/| ]] 07:09, 2004 Nov 4 (UTC)

*According to http://www.rhymes.org.uk/itsy_bitsy_spider.htm, the history and origin cannot be traced. --[[User:Jpgordon|jpgordon]]{[[User talk:Jpgordon|gab}]] 01:54, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== islamic history ==

Hmmm, and what is your question? [[User:MacGyverMagic|[[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|^{[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|(talk)]]}]] 08:59, Nov 4, 2004 (UTC)

:We have an article on the [[history of Islam]]. [[Something_Awful_Forums#Common_abbreviations_and_phrases|tl;dr]] version: [[Timeline of Islam]]. [[User:Garrett Albright|Garrett Albright]] 05:47, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== PARCHMENT - MEDIUM AND TOOL USED TO WRITE ==

WIKIPEDIA REFERENCE DESK:

What was the medium (ink) and tool (stylus) used in ancient paegamon on parchment after the invention of parchment by the shepherds as a result of the embargo of paparyus by the Egyptians?

I hope my understanding of the fact and assumptions above are correct.

Thanking you in advance.

David G. Puckett, AIA

--[[User:64.12.116.137|64.12.116.137]] 21:24, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

DAVID G. PUCKETT, AIA

DAVID G. PUCKETT ARCHITECTS

8729 MEMORIAL DRIVE

HOUSTON, TEXAS 77024-7010

TEL [phone]

FAX [phone]

'''DGPUCKETT{ a t }AOL.COM'''

__________________________________________________________________________

****CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE****

This e-mail is the property of David G. Puckett, A.I.A. and/or relevant affiliates and may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). Any review, use, distribution or disclosure by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient (or authorized to receive for the recipient), please contact the sender and delete all copies of the message. Thank you.

* Hm, perhaps this question should not be posted here, if the licensing requirements of the question are incompatible with the [[GNU FDL]]. -- [[User:Wapcaplet|Wapcaplet]] 23:06, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::Hmm. Well, by submitting it, he released it under the FDL, right? So shouldn't the confidentiality notice be interpreted in light of it. If the "intended recipient(s)" are the general public, then there's no problem. :) [[User:Kukkurovaca| -- &#2325;&#2369;&#2325;&#2381;&#2325;&#2369;&#2352;&#2379;&#2357;&#2366;&#2330;]]|[[User talk:Kukkurovaca|Talk&#8253;]]

:::Completely off-topic, but isn't it ridiculous to voluntarily send a message to someone with an obnoxious note that it's your "property?" If you want to retain full control of your words beyond that inherently granted to you by law, don't send me anything. These warnings have been popping up more and more on e-mails and faxes. Knee-jerk lawyerism, and it'd get laughed out of court if you sued someone for violating one of these warnings. [[User:Rhobite|Rhobite]] 21:29, Nov 5, 2004 (UTC)

== [[Valparaiso University]] ==

I wrote the article on [[Lowell Thomas]] and the sources I used say he graduated from the University of Northern Indiana in 1911. That institution is now known as [[Valparaiso University]] and the article there says it was called Valparaiso College in 1900. Can anyone clarify when it changed its name? [[User:PedanticallySpeaking|PedanticallySpeaking]] 22:54, Nov 4, 2004 (UTC)

:Just six years later in 1906[http://www.valpo.edu/about_valpo/history.html] --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 22:58, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:But my books say he graduated in [[1911]] from the University of Northern Indiana. Was UNI perhaps absorbed by Valparaiso? Or is this an entirely different institution? [[User:PedanticallySpeaking|PedanticallySpeaking]] 18:12, Nov 5, 2004 (UTC)

::Well according to [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9072170&query=Lawrence%2C%20T%20E Britannica] he attended Valparaiso. So I imagine that he did attend the university now referred to as Valparaiso, but one source or another has their timeline mixed up in regards to the exact name of that institution at the time of his graduation --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 19:39, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:There never was a University of Northern Indiana. There was a Northern Indiana Normal School, which was rechartered as Valparaiso College in 1900. Thus students who graduated before 1900 are somtimes ''incorrectly'' cited as graduates of ''Northern Indiana University''. "University of Northern Indiana" appears to be an error in at least one widely cited biography of Lowell Thomas. [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9072170&query=Lawrence%2C%20T%20E Britannica] says he graduated from Valparaiso in 1911. [[User:Diderot|Diderot]] 21:23, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

*Lowell Thomas's memoir ''Good Evening, Everybody'' (New York: Morrow, [[1976]]) states, page 64, that "officially it was the University of Northern Indiana at Valparaiso." [[User:PedanticallySpeaking|PedanticallySpeaking]] 17:59, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC)

== The French Revolution ==

I need some pictures of events that happened during the French Revolution. How do I go about to getting them???

Ronnie

--[[User:207.62.11.21|207.62.11.21]] 00:18, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:Well, you probably won't get too many high quality digital photographs but, depending on the quality and content of the images you need, you may want to just look in [http://images.google.com/images?q=French%20Revolution&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=active&sa=N&tab=wi GIS] --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 00:53, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== House of Reps vacancy locations ==

Wikipedia-

I have noticed that there are two seats vacant in the House of Representatives. One in Nebraska and one in Florida. However, I can not seem to find the areas that these seats represent. Any chance I could be pointed to a map or description of the areas not represented.

Thank You

-Chad

P.S. GREAT site, thank's again

:Well technically with this past election, since all of the seats in the [[United States House of Representatives]] are up for grabs every two years, after Tuesday there were no longer any vacant seats,(assuming that no one died in the past couple of days). However, the vacated seats for the 2003-2004 house were Nebraska CD1 and Florida CD14[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G04/House.phtml?v=v] you can look at [http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/house/ CNN's map] of congressional districts to figure out exactly where those districts are. (The Nebraska one is towards the eastern end of Nebraska and the Florida one is on the southwest coast of Florida.) --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 02:05, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::I should also point out, that there were actually other vacated seats during that congressional session, however they ocurred early enough that a [[special election]] was held to fill the empty seat with a new representative, while these past two were so recent (Aug/Sep 2004) that there was no time or need to do so. --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 02:12, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:The Nebraska 1st Congressional District seat is vacant due to [[Doug Bereuter]]'s retirement at the end of August 2004 (see [http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/Nebraska_1st/]). It will presently be filled by the newly elected [[Jeff Fortenberry]]. See [http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/districts/ne_maps/cong90a.gif] for an map of the state color-coded by district. [[User:Rdsmith4|{{User:Rdsmith4/sig}}]] 02:38, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== Sandhills Region of North Carolina ==

What major towns and cities are located in the North Carolina Sandhill region and is Sanford, NC located in the Sandhills region?

:We have a page for [[Sanford, North Carolina]], and it mentions nothing of any Sandhills. Some quick Google searching shows that the Sandhills region seems to be in/around [[Moore County, North Carolina]]. [http://www.sandhillschamber.com/ The map on this page] shows the general area. [[User:Garrett Albright|Garrett Albright]] 05:41, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== carbon dioxide ==

Could you please provide me with information on the effects of co2 on bananas during storage and or transportation. Also what effect it has on the ripening process.

In a controlled environment with high co2 buildup over a period of days will it cause cell damage to the peel which would compromise normal ripening or yellowing of the product.

If you can help me or lead me to someone that can I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance,

Mike Digioia

Mdigioia77{ a t }verizon.net

:More info can be found in our articles on [[banana]]s, [[ripening]] and [[carbon dioxide]]. Apparently ethylene is used to make fruits ripen. And carbondioxide can promote plant growth in live plants. Since live plants use carbon dioxide for respiration, I don't expect it to cause to much damage to the banana. I'd have to do some more research to find out whether CO₂ helps bananas ripen, but I don't really expect it to. [[User:MacGyverMagic|[[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|^{[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|(talk)]]}]] 22:32, Nov 5, 2004 (UTC)

== US population distribution by religion and age ==

I would like to inquire if someone has a cross-distribution of US population by religion and age.

Any input will be highly appreciated.

Please, send your reply to tanyapolyak{ a t }yahoo.com

:The US Census Bureau has excellent web-based and machine-readable data at http://census.gov/ however, they are limited by law in their ability to ask Americans about their religion: [http://www.census.gov/prod/www/religion.htm]. Some third-party statistics can be found in tables 79-82 in the Census Bureau's [http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/03statab/pop.pdf 2003 abstract]. CUNY's [http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/aris_index.htm ARIS 2001] is one of the surveys used by the Census Bureau. I didn't look closely, so I don't know if they cross-reference by age. [[User:Rhobite|Rhobite]] 21:19, Nov 5, 2004 (UTC)

== Sun over the yardarm? When exactly is that? ==

Does this saying refer to late in the afternoon or early in the morning? I searched under "yardarm" but only found specific sailing info.

Thanks

Marie

:Hint for next time: search for the whole phrase in double quotes, like this: "sun over the yardarm". I used that technique for a quick Google search, which turned up this:

::''"The drunken sailor stereotype may be fading away, but the rich tradition of drinking and sailing live on in our lexicon. You still hear sailors talking about splicing the main brace. For those not up on their seafaring lore, this is not an act of marlinespike seamanship. It&#8217;s old sailor talk for having a drink. Then there&#8217;s the business of looking for the sun over the yardarm, the idea being that when the orb is just over the foreyard when viewed by the quarterdeck, it&#8217;s time for a drink. Yardarms have gone the way of the drunken sailor, so a spreader is usually substituted. One authority says that in the high latitudes in the days of yardarms, the position of the sun indicated it was time for a drink at about 11 a.m."'' [http://www.sailnet.com/sailing/03/f&bjun03.htm from ''Sailing'' Magazine]

:Hope that helps, [[User:CatherineMunro|[[User:CatherineMunro|Catherine]]\^{[[User_talk:CatherineMunro|talk]]}]] 02:54, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== What do you call a person from Massachusetts? ==

A person from Texas is a Texan, a person from New York is a New Yorker, so what is a person from Massachusetts called? Is there even a word for it? [[User:Livajo|[[User:Livajo|&#21147;&#20255;]]|[[User talk:Livajo|&#9786;]]]] 06:54, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:"Texan" is an adjective; when someone is called a "Texan," it is presumed they are being called a "Texan person." On the other hand, "New Yorker" is a noun. Therefore, "Texan senator" (or "Texan vacation" or what have you) sounds correct to most Americans, but "New Yorker senator" sounds odd. "New York senator" sounds better. To answer your question, I don't think there is a word like "New Yorker" for people from Massachusetts, but you may be able to get around it by using Massachusetts as an adjective, as in "Massachusetts senator." Hope this helps. [[User:Garrett Albright|Garrett Albright]] 08:13, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:Once the post-election emigration begins, you can start calling them Canadians. [[User:Adamsan|adamsan ]] 10:53, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::No, Texan is a noun. You would say "a Texas senator is a Texan". Massachusettan receives over 100,000 Google hits which was, by far, the largest for any spelling variation I tried. [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 14:22, Nov 6, 2004 (UTC)

:::It only gets so many Google hits since there are about 100,000 occurrences of this word on one particular website. Excluding that site, the number of hits drops to under a dozen. [[User:Livajo|[[User:Livajo|&#21147;&#20255;]]|[[User talk:Livajo|&#9786;]]]] 16:15, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::::Quite true. Bizarre. How about we just call them "liberals"? [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 16:49, Nov 6, 2004 (UTC)

:::"Texan" is both an adjective and a noun, depending on context. -- [[User:Cyrius|Cyrius]]|[[User talk:Cyrius|&#9998;]] 03:38, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:A person from Massachusetts is called a "Bay Stater". --[[User:Neschek|I. Neschek]] 17:15, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:Incidentally, a person from Ohio is an "Ohioan". It's generally used as a ''noun'', not as an adjective. (I would never say "an Ohioan senator". "An Ohio senator" seems much more natural.) It seems to me that these words for residents of U.S. states tend to function primarily as nouns. (But what about "Carolinian"?) [[User:Aranel|[[User:Aranel|Aranel]] ("[[User:Aranel/Sarah|Sarah]]")]] 00:48, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:See also [[demonym]] and [[List of adjectival forms of place names]]. - 14:43, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC) [[User:ScudLee|Lee]] [[User Talk:ScudLee|<small>(talk)</small>]]

what about a person from conneticut?

My favorite from all of these people's names is that a person from [[Liechtenstein]] is known as a Lillipudlian. Our team won a quiz competition because a guy on our team knew that. I can't find any reference now to back that up though. - [[User:Taxman|Taxman]] 21:31, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

:''Massachusettsite'' and (most commonly) ''Connecticutan'' respectively. --[[Liberal|Gelu]] [[Linguist|Ignis]]que

== A curious situation ==

If you [[diving|dive]] from a good height into a deep pool of [[water]], you'll sink on it quite a lot. When you're that low, the water [[pressure]] increases certain amount, but not much since it's density is so low.

But, what if you dived in a pool of [[mercury (element)|mercury]]? Since the density is what, more than 10 times bigger, would you sink the same amout? If so, wouldn't the pressure of the same depth be too much for the body to take? [[User:Kieff|<nowiki></nowiki>]] &mdash; [[User:Kieff|Kieff]] | [[User talk:Kieff|Talk]] 07:49, Nov 6, 2004 (UTC)

:Since mercury has a higher density, I'd expect people to tend to float on top of it. Hence, I don't expect you'll sink as much as you do in water. Nevertheless, diving in mercury isn't all that healthy anyway... If you want to be sure, you might want to ask someone at the wikiproject elements ...;) [[User:MacGyverMagic|[[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|^{[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|(talk)]]}]] 08:54, Nov 6, 2004 (UTC)

: The pressure several feet beneath the surface would be a very minor concern. The density of mercury under [[standard conditions]] is 13.579 [[gram|g]]/[[cubic centimeter|cm³]]. The density of [[stone]] is around 2.5 g/cm³. I should think that trying to dive into mercury would hurt a lot and would probably be fatal from a relatively small height, especially since mercury ought to rebound more than stone would. Fortunately, [[liquid]] mercury is only slightly [[toxic]], so the diver won't be [[poison]]ed unless the pool is near boiling.

: A person submerged in the pool would be driven to the surface very quickly, having a [[buoyancy]] of about 965 [[kilogram|kg]] (try holding a [[balloon]] underwater). The pressure in the pool increases by one [[atmospheric pressure|atmosphere]] for every 2.5 feet of depth. The [[human body]] can (uncomfortably) withstand at least 10 atm, or a depth of 25 feet, without injury. It is unlikely to survive 13 [[gravity|G]] of instantaneous [[acceleration]]. --[[User:Eequor|[[User:Eequor|<font size="+1">&eta;</font>]]<font style="position: relative; bottom: -1px; vertical-align: text-bottom">[[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]]</font>[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:User talk:Eequor}} <font size="+1">&upsilon;&omega;&rho;</font>]]] 10:38, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

: Incidentally, a person will sink by about one centimeter in mercury. --[[User:Eequor|[[User:Eequor|<font size="+1">&eta;</font>]]<font style="position: relative; bottom: -1px; vertical-align: text-bottom">[[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]]</font>[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:User talk:Eequor}} <font size="+1">&upsilon;&omega;&rho;</font>]]] 10:57, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::Ha! Excellent. Thanks for the info.

::I'll go fill my pool now :D haha, ahem [[User:Kieff|<nowiki></nowiki>]] &mdash; [[User:Kieff|Kieff]] | [[User talk:Kieff|Talk]] 18:10, Nov 6, 2004 (UTC)

== Windows media update ==

I today got an update for my windows media program. but now when i try to put it in full screen mode, the video doesnt take up the entire screen, as it used to. is there any way to change this, and if not, is there any way to revert to my old version of windows media player? [[user: elpenmaster|elpenmsater]]

:First see to it that the default skin is on. (A problematic skin should be eliminated first). Now press ALT+Enter to jump to full screen. Now make sure that the cursor is centered on the screen (middle). This should hopefully resolve the problem. [[User:Nichalp|&#x00b6; <font color="teal">&#x273;&#x209;&#x010d;&#x1e29;&#x00e5;&#x1e3d;&#x1e57;</font> | <font color="magenta" size="+8">[[User talk:nichalp|&#x2709;]]</font>]] 19:29, Nov 7, 2004 (UTC)

Nope, that doesnt work. It appears that the new version of windows media player just doesnt allow for a real full screen. It has a full-screen mode, but even then the video only takes up about 2/3 of the screen. --[[user:elpenmaster|elpenmaster]]

If I were you, I'd post the question to the [http://www.experts-exchange.com/Applications/ applications section of Experts Exchange]. You'll probably get a dialogue going fairly quickly with technical people trying to solve your problem. [[User:Salasks|Salasks]] 06:12, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

== Missed stays ==

What does 'missed stays' mean in a nautical sense?

From http://stevebriggs.superb.net/stanrogers/songs/tony.html:

''The Antelope was slow. It takes her two whole days to catch up to "a bloody Great Yankee" that is described as "broad and fat and loose in stays". Merchant ships were wide and stable cargo carriers, and they were commonly described as broad. They were not notably fast.''

''The many novels of Patrick O'Brian, which are set in the Royal Navy of the Napoleonic Wars, and contain many nautical terms, provide a relatively painless introduction to nautical history. '''The stays are the heavy ropes that run from the masts to the hull.''' They support the masts. Several staysails are hung from the stays, and these sails often provide angular forces useful in turning and tacking.''

''O'Brian notes that some vessels would "miss stays" which from context seems a sign of poor design or poor seamanship. Some vessels are praised as "quick in stays." A ship had to "make stays" as it changed direction while tacking into the wind. If it missed stays, it would have to wear about, which involves sailing around to change direction, which was a waste of time. It was necessary to take in sails and set other sails as a vessel changed directions, and this took a coordination among many sailors and the helmsmen. A badly sailed vessel missed stays, or made them slowly and hesitantly, losing ground in a chase.''

If I understand this correctly "missing stays" refers to not responding to a change of wind so you can catch it while sailing.

-- [[User:MacGyverMagic|[[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm]]|^{[[User talk:MacGyverMagic|(talk)]]}]] 22:41, Nov 7, 2004 (UTC)

:To ''miss stays'' is to attempt to tack but fail. A ship sailing upwind by zigzagging must either ''tack'' (turn into the wind, through a small angle) or ''wear'' (turn away from the wind, through a large angle). Tacking is trickier than wearing because there is less time, and because there is a point in the turn when the ship is pointing directly upwind and so must depend on its momentum to continue the turn. If the sails aren't adjusted in time the ship loses momentum and can't complete the turn: it has to stop and wear instead. On a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel such as a [[sloop]] it's easy to tack because you can move the sails on their booms; on a square-rigged ship the operation is much more complicated.

:The term arises because on a square-rigged vessel, a fore-and-aft sail between the foremast and the bowsprit (known as a ''staysail'' or [[jib]]) is used to keep the ship turning as it passes through the eye of the wind. A staysail is so-called because it is rigged using the ''stays'' (which support the masts fore and aft, as opposed to the ''shrouds'' which suport them sideways). [[User:Gdr|Gdr]] 17:55, 2004 Nov 8 (UTC)

==Cowcatchers on modern trains?==

On reading news reports of the [[Ufton Nervet rail crash]], I'm curious as to why modern trains aren't fitted with a [[Cowcatcher]], to flip a car with which the train is unfortunate enough to collide out of the way (rather than its getting tangled up under the train's nose, lifting the loco and forcing it to derail). Worse, it looks like the shape of the nose of an [[High Speed Train|Intercity 125]] (the locomotive in question) looks particularly prone to this (even when compared with other modern fast trains like the [[TGV]] or the [[Eurostar]]. I suppose I can see an aerodynamic argument, but is that the only reason? - [[User:John Fader|John Fader]]

:British trains have never had "cowcatchers", and I don't think they were ever particularly effective once trains reached an appreciable speed. In most cases of a train striking a car the car gets disintegrated ''very'' quickly, particularly if it is struck directly as seems to have happened yesterday, rather than if it's struck a glancing blow when the car may get bounced out of the way. It would be advisable to wait for the official enquiry report to definitively figure out what happened, but it may have just been bad luck that a particularly dense piece of wreckage, the engine perhaps, happened to derail the train. It's not easy for an object to derail an HST power car, they weigh around 100 tons. -- [[User:Arwel Parry|Arwel]] 21:29, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:In addition to Arwel's previous comments, there are fairly regular occurrances of trains hitting objects at level crossings. As previously noted, most get bounced away. In order for a 100 ton loco to piggyback a car it would have to be pretty much square on. -- [[User:BesigedB|BesigedB]] 22:00, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== the history of plumbing and sewage systems ==

i would love to know more about plumbing systems and their historical role- what form they took, civilizations that had advanced systems or came up with inventions. basically where has all the shit and piss gone? I'd assume it wasnt just left in the street to build up, smell and cause disease. im sure the river waters were used for drinking and people wouldnt particularly want to make it unsuitable for drinking (althought i know that this was the case in England and some of western Europe during the early industrial era but that seemed like a new phenomenon which was remedied shortly after people started getting cholera and dying). anyway any information that you could provide me with would eb great. thanks

-Ella

:I believe the ancient [[Romans]] had the first [[plumbing]] and public [[sanitation]] systems of significance. You can try looking at [[sewage]], [[sewage treatment]] and [[waste management]]. -- [[User:FirstPrinciples|FirstPrinciples]] 14:45, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

::Rivers were quite popular for the purpose and that is where all the "stuff" left in the streets ended up anyway. And remember a portion of the "products" were collected for making medicines and for industrial processes like leather [[tanning]] and cloth [[dyeing]]. [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 16:13, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

The Romans were latecomers. The Cretans had elaborate plumbing and flush toilets at least in the palace of Knossos around 1500 years earlier. (just do a search on Knossos and plumbing if you want more) [[User:Alteripse|Alteripse]] 18:51, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:: I'll see your Cretans and raise you the Neolithic drains and toilet at [[Skara Brae]]. [[User:Adamsan|adamsan ]] 19:49, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::Wow. That must have been where Fred Flintstone lived. [[User:Alteripse|Alteripse]] 20:45, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== Seattle sports trivia ==

Can someone tell me when was the last time that the University of Washington Huskies, and the Seattle Seahawks both won home games in Seattle on the same weekend? Seems a long, long time. Thanks if you can help.

== Do you know anything about the political situation in Somaliland? ==

If you do, please help resolve the dispute at [[Yaasiin Jaamac Nuux]], an alleged president. We (well, mostly I :-) can't figure out whether it's a hoax, a partisan article on a pretender, a vanity page or Goddess knows what else. The few WWW pages on Somaliland are, unfortunately, mostly in [[Somali language|Somali]]. Resident expertise is direly needed. I thought the reference desk was the most appropriate place to ask (it's already listed as disputed) but if you think there are other good locations for this question, please copy it. Thanks. [[User:JRM|JRM]] 15:53, 2004 Nov 8 (UTC)

:The president of Somaliland is Dahir Rayale Kahin. He is the recognized president by Britain, the EU and some of the members of Congress in America. He was elected in April, 2003. The election was monitored independently and declared to be fair (though very close) from what I understand. [[User:Skyler1534|Skyler]][[User_talk:Skyler1534|'''1534''']] 19:38, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

::Alright, then all that remains is figuring out who the hell [[Yaasiin Jaamac Nuux]] is. I'm going to leave it alone for now and give it, say, a week before putting it back on VfD as a suspected hoax (because Somaliland is relatively obscure, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt). I'm pretty sure he's nobody of importance, as my initial suspicion was, but let's not be hasty. We can afford to drag this around for a while.

::Skyler, I've copied your note to the article discussion page. [[User:JRM|JRM]] 21:29, 2004 Nov 8 (UTC)

== Question? ==

Hi, I was ask to answer a question which I don't know,the question is;what is the largest sex organ in our body?It will be very appreciated if I can get a fast reply.Thank you for your time & service..

:Well, I don't know what your largest is, but as for me... :^)

:Answer depends on what you consider a sex organ. Most folks get off on being touched in some way, so the [[skin]] is arguably the biggest, since it is also arguably the bigest organ in the body.

:As an aside, should there be a wiki sex ed project? Wikinookie? :^) It would certainly be interesting to see what would come of it.

:[[User:Diderot|Diderot]] 19:00, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:By surface area or number of involved afferent nerves, it's probably the skin; by weight, it's probably the brain/spinal cord (since the brain and spinal cord play a critical role during sex in all higher animals). [[User:Raul654|&rarr;Raul654]] 19:06, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

:I like big butts... er, never mind. ;-) It's a bit of an odd question, since on the face of it, one might initially assume there would be a difference between women and men, but Diderot and Raul654 are right, our [[skin]] contains the external stimuli of the [[nervous system]]. <tt>[[User:Func|func]][[User_talk:Func|(talk)]]</tt> 20:23, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== Brain capacity ==

# In [[biology]], are there specific situations where the absolute [[brain]] [[mass]] of an [[animal]] is an important [[measurement]]?

# The [[encephalization quotient]] produces a [[dimensionless number]] reflecting relative brain mass. Are there equally informative calculations which would produce different values for the same parameters? That is, are there multiple [[semantic]]ally equivalent representations of relative brain mass?

--[[User:Eequor|[[User:Eequor|<font size="+1">&eta;</font>]]<font style="position: relative; bottom: -1px; vertical-align: text-bottom">[[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]]</font>[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:User talk:Eequor}} <font size="+1">&upsilon;&omega;&rho;</font>]]] 20:30, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:To answer the former, yes - Carl Sagan's [[Dragons of Eden]] specifically says that a certain minimum amount of brain matter is necessary for 'housekeeping' functions. So that for very small animals, the EQ will be disproportionately large. For the latter, I'm not really sure what you are asking. [[User:Raul654|&rarr;Raul654]] 20:43, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

:To answer your second question, no. There isn't any other manner of determining brain parameters in a similar manner as the [[brain to body mass ratio]] - at least none that are both quantitative and reasonably convenient. [[User:ClockworkTroll|ClockworkTroll]] 14:31, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== Grammar question: 'try and' ... ==

To my ear, it sounds perfectly normal to 'try and find out somthing', or to 'try and see who is there', or to 'try and get more'. My ever meticulous (is it spelled correctly)...editor (mother), changes 'try and' to 'try to' every single time...'try to find out', 'try to see who', 'try to get more'. Seems to me that 'try to' is correct, but is 'try and' incorrect, and why?

I hope someone can try and help me out on this one.

:In [[descriptive linguistics]], a common [[usage]] is never judged correct or incorrect; [[scientist]]s studying [[language]] aim to describe how language is used and not dictate how it should be used. Because so many [[English language|English]] speakers employ this usage, it is obviously part of the English language. The [[rhetorical device]] of joining two elements with a [[copulative conjunction]] rather than subordinating one to the other is known as [[hendiadys]] (a [[Latin language|Latin-language]] [[modification]] of [[Greek language|Greek]] ''hen dia dyoin'', "one through two") and was common in [[Rome|Roman]] and [[Greece|Greek]] [[literature]]; it is like saying ''nice and warm'' or ''[[cup]]s and [[gold]]'' for ''nicely warm'' and ''golden cups'' respectively. --[[Liberal|Gelu]] [[Linguist|Ignis]]que

:A [[Prescription and description|prescriptive]] grammarian would however say that "try and" is being incorrectly substituted for an infinitive. What is meant to be said is "try to draw" not "try and draw". But as Gelu notes, some would consider that a bunch of bull. So if you want to conform with someone's idea of "correct", use "try to" instead. [[Grammar]] also explains the above idea nicely. - [[User:Taxman|Taxman]] 21:37, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

== Speedy-quick [[translation]] ==

How would one say "hidden [[key]]" in ancient [[Greek language|Greek]]? I know the [[root]] words are ''kleis'' and ''kryptos'', but how to make those agree in [[grammatical gender]] and in the [[nominative case]]? Thanks in advance, [[Liberal|Gelu]] [[Linguist|Ignis]]que.

:Kleis is feminine, so the adjective would be kryptê. [[User:Adam Bishop|Adam Bishop]] 03:27, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== [[Polish]]+[[Lexicon]] ==

Um... Topic + Question = Answer. ;-) <tt>[[User:Func|func]][[User_talk:Func|(talk)]]</tt> 04:27, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== Figure of speech ==

I just posted this on [[User talk:Angela|Angela's talk page]]:

:Your home page is a disgrace to the community. It's preposterously stylish and well-organized; a textbook case of rampant simplicity. You make everyone else look bad. Forget that! You make ''me'' look bad. And stop doing so much for Wikipedia and its community! Your tireless dedication and positive attitude are lifting everyone's spirits to revolting heights. No wonder everybody is throwing "please-retire-you're-stealing-my-job" barnstars at you! Why don't you and [[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimbo]] get a room, for crying out loud! [[User:JRM|JRM]] 22:14, 2004 Nov 8 (UTC)

(No, she hasn't responded yet. Forget about the exact content for a moment. I'm getting to a real question. :-)

Is this a recognized figure of speech? What's it called? It's not exactly [[irony]]&mdash;it's more like heavy [[sarcasm]], but sarcasm typically does not contain both positive and negative elements&mdash;only positive elements brought in a clearly ironic fashion, intended to mean the exact opposite. Here, I'm giving the superficial impression of heavy and insulting criticism, but on closer investigation this is untenable, because the statements at the core are clearly positive. Perhaps it's a sort of inverted sarcasm with verbal rather than tonal clues? Does it have its own name? [[User:JRM|JRM]] 22:32, 2004 Nov 8 (UTC)

Tongue in cheek? :) <tt>[[User:Func|func]][[User_talk:Func|(talk)]]</tt> 03:59, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I have no idea what it is. Nor do I know whether I was expected to respond and how one might do so if that were expected. :) [[User:Angela|Angela]][[user talk:Angela|.]] 08:15, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC)

: Oh, I'm thinking a week-long ban is in order. [[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not|Wikipedia is not]] a comedy outlet. :-) [[User:JRM|JRM]] 09:41, 2004 Nov 9 (UTC)

== Arguing against naturalism ==

What are common arguments against [[philosophical naturalism]]? --[[User:Eequor|[[User:Eequor|<font size="+1">&eta;</font>]]<font style="position: relative; bottom: -1px; vertical-align: text-bottom">[[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]]</font>[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:User talk:Eequor}} <font size="+1">&upsilon;&omega;&rho;</font>]]] 23:00, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:Hmm... I guess, for academic purposes, that I would start off with some of the things mentioned in the last paragraph: [[semantics]], [[ethics]], [[aesthetics]], [[philosophy of mind]]. These areas of human study can be seen as representing a "grey area" for naturalism advocates. For some reason, the [[chinese room]] thought experiment comes to mind as a potential battle ground for those opposed to and in support of naturalism, (but maybe I don't really know what I'm talking about ;-) ). <tt>[[User:Func|func]][[User_talk:Func|(talk)]]</tt> 04:09, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== baby goanna ==

What is a baby goanna called?

:I think you've answered your own question. :-) "Goannling" doesn't seem right, and I don't imagine that the English language has designed a diminutive specifically for this species as it has for, say, cows ("calf"), cats ("kitten"), and dogs ("puppy"). I imagine "baby goanna" would be the only recognizable word in English, though if I am wrong I hope someone will correct me. [[User:Jwrosenzweig|Jwrosenzweig]] 23:15, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::I would concur with you. Looking at this handy appendix from our sister project [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary_Appendix:Animals] there is nothing listed for [[iguana]] (from which they get their name), [[monitor lizard]] (which is their actual family), or [[lizard]] (under which general category they should fall). Admittedly, since [[goanna]] itself is not listed, there may still be a term of which I'm unaware. Of course, many lizards are egg layers, and I IIRC that includes monitors, so theoretically you could use the generic term hatchling. --[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 00:57, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:I believe the general term for a very young bird, amphibian, fish, or reptile of any species is ''hatchling''. That may be suitable for you... [[User:ClockworkTroll|ClockworkTroll]] 14:21, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== What is Westphalia?==

Is Westphalia a region, former region or German state or district? --Anon

::See [[Westphalia]]. [[User:Neutrality|[[User:Neutrality|<b>Neutrality</b>]] ([[User talk:Neutrality|hopefully!]])]] 03:00, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC)

== Time ==

How is time part of nature?

:The best way to answer that is to simply say that time is a dimension, just like any of the other Euclidian dimensions you are familiar with (height, width, or depth), although it is one that we do not percieve as readily. [[User:Raul654|&rarr;Raul654]] 03:05, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC)

:It may depend on what you mean by "[[nature]]". In truth, we don't really have a very firm philosophical hold on what "[[time]]" is, but we can measure its passing, and doing so along with measuring other "[[dimensions]]" allows us to understand more about the [[universe]], ([[nature]]). Much of our understandly of the physical world involves [[mass]] and [[energy]] in [[motion]], and the notion of motion requires measuring time. We can't comprehend somthing moving at a single exactly point in time... all motion has a duration. With regard to my ''philosophical hold'' comment, our ability to notice the passage of time is considered by some to be a part of human [[a priori]] knowledge, that is, things that we understand without experience, (we seem to be born with an intuative sense of time). <tt>[[User:Func|func]][[User_talk:Func|(talk)]]</tt> 03:52, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== John Soane, R.A.? ==

In our article on [[John Soane]], it reads that Sloan, who was an architect, "became ARA in 1795, then full RA in 1802." Both [[ARA]] and [[RA]] link to disambiguation pages, but none of the offered alternatives seem appropriate. My best uneducated guess is that RA stands for ''Registered Architect'', and that ARA for something like ''Associate Registered Architect''. Can anyone with actual knowledge either confirm or correct my guesses? -[[User:Rholton|Rholton]] 04:03, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:It denotes membership of the Royal Academy of Arts -- Associate of the Royal Academy, Royal Academician. See [http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/?lid=93 here] and [http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/?lid=77 here]. -- [[User:Arwel Parry|Arwel]] 10:54, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::Thanks! You are a [[gentleman]] and a [[scholar]]. -[[User:Rholton|Rholton]] 15:08, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

==[[Noam Chomsky]]==

What is known of Noam Chomsky's personal life? Is he married? Does he have children? What does he do in his spare time? [[User:Neutrality|[[User:Neutrality|<b>Neutrality</b>]] ([[User talk:Neutrality|hopefully!]])]] 04:20, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC)

:I saw some documentary on Chomsky once that said he's married with children (one or two I think) but because of his political opinions he tried to shield them from public view. That started in the 60's, when he first stepped out of his role as just a linguist to broadcast his views on Vietnam. As I recall, the film portrayed him as being pretty courageous for putting his family at risk to make his views known (no comment by me). [[User:Mjklin|Mjklin]] 04:38, 2004 Nov 9 (UTC)

== No sound on European DVDs ==

Alright all you techies, I bought some DVDs in Europe recently, brought them back to America, and attempted to play them on my laptop computer. After switching over the region code in Windows Media Player, I get picture but no sound. Any ideas on how to make my French movies as French as they wanna be? [[User:Mjklin|Mjklin]] 04:31, 2004 Nov 9 (UTC)

:Have you maybe tried using another DVD-playing program which ignores regions, such as [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ VLC]? If you can't get sound out of any other programs either, then it could be possible that, while you can change or ignore the region in your software, your actual hardware DVD drive is hard-coded to Region 1 (or whereever) and isn't playing along so nicely. (Though I doubt that's the issue, 'cuz if it were, I don't think you'd be getting video either...) [[User:Garrett Albright|Garrett Albright]] 07:02, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

::I don't think it's a region thing, French tv uses [[SECAM]] rather than [[NTSC]]. I know that trying to play SECAM films on a [[PAL]] player gives you black and white pictures and no sound and I'm guessing there's a similar incompatibility between SECAM and NTSC. If the disc is encoded for a different tv standard then you'd need a p[layer that can cope with it. [[User:Adamsan|adamsan ]] 09:02, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== Pseudonym and Alias ==

I asked this question on [[talk:pseudonym]] but no one would answer me : Whats the difference between a '''pseudonym''', '''nickname''' and an '''alias''' ? Can royal and religious titles be considered pseudonyms, for e.g., is [[Dalai Lama]] a pseudonym for [[Tenzin Gyatso]] ? [[User:Jay|Jay]] 07:35, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

*Well, Dalai Lama should be considered a formal title rather than a pseudonym. Since Tenzin Gyatso is generally referred to in English as '''the''' Dalai Lama, that's a reference to a title rather than a name. I don't believe that the fact that the title supercedes the name matters in this case. A nickname is generally applied by other people, as opposed to one's self. I believe the main difference between alias and pseudonym is one of connotation; as an alias is more commonly used as a name taken to evade something, whereas a psudonym is usually adopted in order to hide one's actual name but not to actually evade anything. Hope this helps. [[User:Rhymeless|[[User:Rhymeless|Rhymeless]] | [[User talk:Rhymeless|(Methyl Remiss)]]]] 07:55, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== reference of editing wikipedia ==

Well it looks like you may be learning on the fly, but you could try looking [[Wikipedia:Editing FAQ|here]] if you're having problems.--[[User:Cvaneg|Cvaneg]] 13:05, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== wikipedia ==

== Radiation poisoning ==

I am living in [[Bulgaria]] and have just heard of confirmation from a [[Romania]]n border guard of a hushed up [[2004 Bulgaria radiation leak|leak]] in the past week. Perhaps some confusion with the [[Russia]]n "leak/incident", but it got me thinking--in your entries on [[radiation poisoning]] and [[radioactive contamination]], there was no information as to whether any self-help was possible in these cases. I am thinking of things like increased consumption of red [[wine]] (Ok, any excuse!), which was suggested by a friend as a way to increase [[anti-oxidant]]s. Scare stories are bound to occur, but lack of information about incidents will surely lead to others like myself searching your site for ideas, as i couldn't find useful information by using google.

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments. 9th Nov 2004

: Quoting the [[U.S. Department of Energy]]: "There is no medicine that will effectively prevent nuclear radiations from damaging the human body cells that they strike." However, [[potassium iodide]] pills can prevent the thyroid from retaining radioactive iodine which lowers the risk of thyroid cancer which is one among many worries from radiation. [[User:Rmhermen|Rmhermen]] 14:38, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC)

: Ugh, I hope conditions are safe there. Antioxidants are always good, but the body can only cope with so much [[ionization]] at once. Some [[radiation]] will reach [[DNA]] in any event, at which point you need effective [[DNA repair]] more than protection from [[free radical]]s.

: Of particular concern are [[radioactive]] [[iodine]] and [[xenon]]. The [[thyroid]] will absorb any iodine that you intake, which will lead to [[thyroid cancer]] if the iodine is radioactive. You can protect yourself from this by taking large amounts of [[potassium iodide]], so that dangerous forms of iodine are less likely to remain in your body. (However, excess iodine or inadequate iodine may ''also'' lead to thyroid [[cancer]], and excess [[potassium]] may be quite [[hyperkalemia|dangerous]]).

: The best way to prevent radiation poisoning is by staying well away from any source of radiation. A [[dosimeter]] can be used to measure radiation exposure over time, and a [[geiger counter]] or a [[scintillometer]] can measure immediate exposure. The limit of safety is 2 [[millirem]]s or 20 [[milli]][[sievert]]s per hour.

: If you have already received a lethal dose, there is little you can do. If you do not suddenly become [[nausea]]ted, followed by [[hair loss]], you are probably safe from radiation poisoning. --[[User:Eequor|[[User:Eequor|<font size="+1">&eta;</font>]]<font style="position: relative; bottom: -1px; vertical-align: text-bottom">[[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]]</font>[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:User talk:Eequor}} <font size="+1">&upsilon;&omega;&rho;</font>]]] 14:46, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

: If this concerns the [[Balakovo]] [[nuclear reactor]] in [[Saratov]], it was found to not have a leak. --[[User:Eequor|[[User:Eequor|<font size="+1">&eta;</font>]]<font style="position: relative; bottom: -1px; vertical-align: text-bottom">[[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]]</font>[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:User talk:Eequor}} <font size="+1">&upsilon;&omega;&rho;</font>]]] 16:22, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

== what does one call a follower of [[Russian Orthodoxy]]? ==

A "Russian Orthodoxist" gives a few Google hits, but Google wants me to search for [[Russian]] [[Orthodentist]] instead... [[User:Duncharris|Dunc]]|[[User talk:duncharris|&#9786;]] 17:38, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

:Well, obviously, just "Christian" would do, but I would say "Russian Orthodox Christian". [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] refers to "Orthodox Christians", which is less specific but I think probably acceptable in some contexts, depending on what you are trying to emphasize. Of course, I'm not Russian Orthodox. -[[User:Aranel|[[User:Aranel|Aranel]] ("[[User:Aranel/Sarah|Sarah]]")]] 18:00, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)