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Contents 1 December 4 1.1 How are pedestrians protected at this crossing? 1.2 Steps and Stairs 1.3 Finding a company on the stock market 1.4 Low Profile TV Stand 1.5 writing books 1.6 California middle schools totally ban soda sales 1.7 amount of insilation in a coat 2 December 5 2.1 Fluorine Uranium Carbon Potassium 2.2 Mount Everest 2.3 Durabrand DCT1481 combi tv/dvd player Funai 2.4 Education 2.5 Retirement Pension Plan address 2.6 Who painted that? 2.7 1080p in Youtube 2.8 Phone number question 3 December 6 3.1 Does anyone have any good advice for sucessful studying? 3.2 Flat screen TV choice and positioning 3.3 Chinese noodles 3.4 Parents 3.5 camera tours 3.6 What were the actual charges against the Lincoln conspirators? 3.7 Neel Kashkari and a hut in Tahoe National Forest 3.8 4-H 4 December 7 4.1 CFLs and my reality 4.2 What is Peter H. Gilmore's date of birth? 4.3 Which bank owns home? 4.4 New Car release 4.5 Lights on timers 4.6 The Darnley Sycamore 4.7 Suppressed gun shots 4.8 What illegal things are happening here? 4.9 Photo problem 4.10 "Alber" as a boy's name? 4.11 Removing ice on driveway 5 December 8 5.1 Monetary economics 5.2 I need these bible versus 5.3 School districts adopting technology policy 5.4 Boiling and evaporation 5.5 Upgrading to student account 5.6 Old Christmas advert 5.7 Bus to drive slower than cars? 6 December 9 6.1 Olives 6.2 Snow day 6.3 Do you need to refrigerate Thousand Island dressing? 6.4 Social networking sites 6.5 Dialysis law 6.6 Downloading English wiki with included media 6.7 Word question 6.8 Business Network 6.9 Recent temperature records 6.10 Cassette-tapes that turn a tape-deck into a CD/MP3 player

[edit] December 4

[edit] How are pedestrians protected at this crossing?

Could anybody please expain how the crossing man light (i.e. the red/green man shown to the pedestrians on the crossing) at this example junction would be timed compared to the traffic lights on the junction? I imagine that when the north-south lights are green the man is red, but does he turn green when they turn red, and what about traffic coming from the east and turning north?

There is no light to directly "protect" the crossing (i.e. there is no traffic light in front of the crossing, preventing traffic from entering the crossing), so I don't really understand how it works. There is a button on the lights from the pedestrians to press, but what does it actually do? Perhaps it prevents the east side lights turning green, so that vehicle can't enter the junction from the east and turn north? Thanks JellyTelly (talk) 01:44, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The green-man lights only come on when the lights are red for any traffic that might enter that arm of the junction. The trouble with that (in the USA at least) is the "right on red" rule that allows cars to turn right - even though the light in front of them is red - so long as they stop first - and so long as the road is clear. Since there is absolutely no combination of lights to prevent cars from going right on red - you're left with two possible fallbacks:

1. Sometimes there are "No Right On Red" signs. The seem to do that at junctions with pedestrian lights here in Austin, Texas, but drivers don't seem to notice them - they might as well not be there!
2. No matter what - you are only allowed to turn right on red if the way is clear...which means no pedestrians. So in theory, if you're crossing a pedestrian crossing with a 'green man' or 'walk' sign - then the cars that might be thinking of doing a right on red should not do so because you're crossing the street. Sadly, that doesn't work worth a damn - so people get hit by cars anyway.

Note that the "right on red" rule is not universal - it's not legal in New York City (presumably because there are a lot of pedestrians there). Aside from the USA - there are very few countries that allow right on red. SteveBaker (talk) 02:04, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Most drivers will look out for pedestrians, most of the time. As a pedestrian, you need to realize that the one coming up to your intersection may be the exception. The most dangerous situation is when he's looking the other way for oncoming traffic. Before you step out in front of him, make sure you see his eyes! That'll take care of the problem almost all the time most of the rest of the time.

Of course there are always exceptions even to that, but as they say, we all have to die of something. --Trovatore (talk) 03:10, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

It's quite simple - in the UK, traffic cannot pass a red light - a regulation which is almost always obeyed - and is not permitted to enter a box junction (marked with the yellow diamond pattern on the road) unless an exit is clear - a regulation which is more frequently ignored. So lights turn red to stop traffic in every direction, and after a short interval, to allow traffic to clear the box junction, the crossing lights turn green and it is safe for pedestrians to cross the street. Warofdreams talk 02:20, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

There is no "turn on red" rule in the UK. The safe way to phase the lights would be to repeat:

1. Stop all traffic on red and turn all the pedestrian lights green
2. Pedestrian lights to red everywhere except St. Thomas's Rd and traffic lights on Seven Sisters Rd to green
3. Pedestrian lights on St. Thomas's Rd to red, traffic lights on Seven Sisters Rd to red and on St. Thomas's Rd to green.

The pedestrians crossing St. Thomas's Rd get longer to cross because the traffic there also needs to wait for the traffic on Seven Sisters Rd. At very busy times, I can imagine the junction getting filled with vehicles and ending up stuck in the yellow box while pedestrians cross (a situation the yellow box is there to prevent).

Maybe there are too many laws there. Shadowjams (talk) 13:13, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

In the UK, the green "filter left" arrow controls and regularises the equivalent of the USA "right on red", making pedestrian crossing much safer. Is there no "filter right" signal in the USA? Dbfirs 18:28, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

There is obviously no need for a "right filter" light where there is right-on-red, so you don't see them at 99% of junctions - however, in those few places where right-on-red is disallowed, there are sometimes right-filter lights. I bet you find them all over the place in New York city - where right-on-red is prohibited. SteveBaker (talk) 23:14, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

What does a right filter light look like? Googlemeister (talk) 17:08, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Steps and Stairs

Why are stairs inside a building called stairs, but when outside a building called steps? This is a very important issue in my life right now. --20.133.0.13 (talk) 13:16, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

They're not. Sorry. --Dweller (talk) 13:36, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, I am pretty sure that the words, in this case, are pure synonyms. I have heard the terms "steps" and "stairs" to be used for the same object, regardless of location. --Jayron32 13:46, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The posters above notwithstanding, I refer to steps and stair in exactly the fashion you mention - the steps of the library are the ones out front leading to the entrance, the stairs of the library are the ones that take you to the second floor. While some apologists might claim that we're experiencing a regional variation in terms (are you in S. Ontario?), an impartial observer would conclude that you and I are completely correct and that Dweller and Jayron32 are verbal deviants who need to be severely punished. (In the future, you may want to ask questions like this on the Language desk). Matt Deres (talk) 14:12, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

What the OP is saying squares with my experience and, yes, this is more of a language question. If I were near my dictionary, I would look it up. Stairs have steps, by the way. I think stairs is a more specific term, possibly related to "stories". There is also the term "stairsteps", which is usually used in reference to indoors. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:18, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps the indoor/outdoor distinction is just an artifact of the fact that the very steep architectural climbing devices are usually called "stairs", while the broad and non-steep architectural climbing devices are usually called "steps". For reasons of space, cost, and safety, the former are much more likely to be indoors and the latter outdoors. --Sean 15:31, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Typically only outdoors when used as fire escapes. Basically at a 45 degree angle, or even steeper. Outdoor steps, like at the front of a building, are typically at a lower angle, i.e. the risers are shorter than the steps. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:38, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The city of Montreal is known for its its neighbourhoods with steep outdoor stairs leading to upper floors see here for example. No one would call these "steps". --Xuxl (talk) 15:46, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Aren't "stairs" the totality and "steps" the individual components? "The stairs were very convenient for ascending the height, but one of the steps was broken." Bus stop (talk) 15:52, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Not really - in English we talk about "A flight of stairs" when we're talking about the totality. If "flight" is a collective noun then "stair" is a singular. I don't think there is a proper linguistic difference between "steps" and "stairs" - but I do concur with our OP that there is more common usage of "stair" for indoor applications. SteveBaker (talk) 19:32, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Not quite - a flight of stairs is specifically a continuous run between floors/landings. If you have something like a stairwell, the whole 16+ floors/landings are "stairs", but may consist of multiple flights. I agree with Bus Stop that conventional usage (at least in my experience) is that "stairs" references the ensemble, and a "step" is a single tread+riser. I would never say "there is a stair" (referring to a single tread/riser)- it sounds awkward to me. The closest I come is "there are the stairs", or "there is a stair step". And if there are only one or two steps indoors between one room and the next (e.g. in a ranch home), I would never call them "stairs". My gut impression is that the stairs/steps distinction is due to rise, or rather what it's leading to. If it's leading to another level/floor, then it's stairs. If it's on the same "conceptual" level, it's steps. The Spanish Steps or the Rocky Steps are still "steps", despite there being a large number of them, because they start at "ground level" and end at the "main/ground level". Likewise with front steps. However, if you have, say, basement access, they're stairs because they go from ground level to a subterranean level. Likewise with access to an elevated rail platform/pedestrian bridge/boardwalk (ones which have an open "below") those would be "stairs" to me. -- 128.104.112.95 (talk) 20:22, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The online etymology dictionary states that 'stair' was originally a collective plural[1]. Samuel Johnson gives this:

STAIR, stayr, n. s. steps by which we rise in ascent from the lower part of a building to the upper (stair was anciently used for the whole order of steps, but stair now, if it be used at all, signifies, as in Milton, only one flight of steps).[2]

Milton is 'III.540-1:

Satan from hence, now on the lower stair,
That scaled by steps of gold to Heaven-gate,

so, originally, a 'stair' was not just a single flight but the whole lot used for ascending and descending within a building. To find more, google: "pair of stairs" to find various pedants discussing the etymology and arguing as to whether or not the phrase is proper.—eric

So where do sets of steps that can be carried around come into this argument. These range from simple 3 or 5 steps for hosehold use to 16 or more for professionals.Froggie34 (talk)` —Preceding undated comment added 15:53, 4 December 2009 (UTC).

That is a relevant point. They are commonly called "steps" as a shorthand version of referring to them. 16:08, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

It's short for stepladder, i.e. a ladder made of steps (not rungs which are narrower).--TammyMoet (talk) 16:18, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm in the UK and always use "stairs" for those indoors, "steps" for those outside, with the proviso that I would also use "one step on the stairs is broken" or "sitting on the bottom step of the stairs", also "where do we keep the steps" as short for "stepladder". I would say "sitting outdoors on the steps" but not "on the bottom step of the steps". Itsmejudith (talk) 17:40, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I would never say "sitting on the bottom step of the stairs" - I'd say "sitting on the bottom stair". Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:07, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

"Halfway down the stairs / Is a stair where I sit: / There isn't any other stair quite like it." Now, you can't argue with Christopher-Robin can you? Alansplodge (talk) 22:50, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

There's also "As I was going down the stair / I met a man who wasn't there / He wasn't there again today / Oh how I wish he'd go away" - my kids used to love that. Mikenorton (talk) 19:08, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

"I saw a mouse! Where? There on the stair! Where on the stair? Right there! A little mouse with clogs on. Well I declare! Going clip clipetty clop on the stair. Right there." 86.166.148.95 (talk) 22:31, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Steps are the things that stairs are made of. Many steps together are called stairs. Only a few steps together are just called steps. Because you often find a few steps outside the main door of a building (for example a doorstep) then steps are mostly commonly found outside. By extension, outdoor stairs are also called steps, especially since outdoor steps are rarely used to get to an upper floor. So a rule of thumb may be: if they lead to an upper floor and there are lots of them, then they are stairs. Otherwise they are steps. Case closed. 92.29.42.147 (talk) 00:46, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Wow didn't expect to cause such a st(a)ir but thanks for all of your answers. I'm actually fron England so maybe that's something to do with it. I was asked by a girl at work and promised her I'd find the answer out and now I'll look like a real hero! --Coolcato (talk) 20:58, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I refer the honourable gentlemen to the answer I've given quite a few times before --Dweller (talk) 17:43, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

• I believe the difference is not the location, but the length. Stairs are usually longer and higher than a set of steps. - Mgm|^(talk) 12:21, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Not so sure on that, you have the steps in front of the US Capitol Building, not the stairs, even though there are several dozen steps. Googlemeister (talk) 20:14, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Finding a company on the stock market

How do I find a publicly traded company on the stock market? I believe that their stock is listed as a 10&Q (?) fund.----- —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikfan6200 (talk • contribs) 15:40, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Do you know the name of the company or a part of the name? You could try e.g. finance.yahoo.com or finance.google.com, they have a search function. Or are you trying to find a specific company in the first place? Please explain your question some more. 88.112.56.9 (talk) 19:21, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I think you've misinterpreted something you've been told -- particularly easy to do in an industry that's (1) full of acronyms, and (2) regulated by government agencies. "10-Q" is the name of a standard form, the Quarterly Report, that companies file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Perhaps you were advised to "look at a company's 10-Q" and took it to be their name?

As said above, the finance sites of Yahoo and Google have built-in search functions which recognize trading symbols, company names, and so forth. --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 00:23, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Would have been nice of you to say which stock market you mean. 92.29.42.147 (talk) 00:51, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Low Profile TV Stand

OK, so I'm about to buy a new LCD and I would like to fit it into my present entertainment center. The demensions of the TV says that the TV is 28 inches tall, but when the little TV stand that keeps the screen upright is attached, it goes up to 30.5 inches. The problem is that the hole in my entertainment center is only 29 inches high. So my question is, do they make a low profile stand that would allow me to get it to fit? Or is there any other way to safely stand my TV up without the extra height? All my google searches just come up with low profile wall mounts or low profile tables to set your TV on. Neither of those are what I'm looking for. Any help would be appreciated since I don't want to buy a smaller TV or get rid of my entertainment center. Tex (talk) 17:18, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

If you are handy or know someone who is, you could build a wall inside the appropriate compartment at an appropriate depth from the front of the compartment and then use the wall mounts, or alternatively you could build your own stand. Marco polo (talk) 18:27, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Depending on the entertainment centre perhaps a wall mount will work? Nil Einne (talk) 01:27, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] writing books

1) So, I have finally finished my first novel, actually two different versions of the same story, I was unsure which would be the better of the two, and now would like it to be published. I know, I know, I'm supposed to get an agent to read it first and send it on, but I would like at least to try by myself. I was wondering therefore, 1)a Can I send both versions and ask them which they think is best? 1)b Do I have to print out the entire manuscript to send, or can I put it on a CD or such like data storage device? 1)c Does anyone know where I can find the addresses of publishing companies, the only source I have ever heard of was long enough ago that all I can remember was it being very expensive.

2) While I'm here, for my next novel, does anyone have any idea what sort of things a small group of school children can do as a charity fundraiser event at their school, that would involve them being able to organise the whole thing themselves and spending a while each day for perhaps three weeks working on the whatever? It's a school project they volunteered for, and at least one of the teachers will be very interested in how well they do. Also, what sort of advice might they get if they had asked about it on here?

148.197.114.158 (talk) 19:50, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm no published author, but it strikes me that 1a: I would not. You need to sell them on publishing it at all first. If they think it has promise, they will then want to talk more turkey about the editorial decisions. Overwhelming them with text, or asking them to do (before they've decided to take you on at all) tough editorial work is likely to be an instant trip to the reject pile. They will not read two copies of your novel right off the bat. Frankly I do think that trying to send it directly (without an agent) is almost surely a waste of your and their time. If you can't get an agent to pick it up, you will probably not be able to get a "real" publisher to pick it up. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:56, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

1a) No, you're the author, you need to take ownership for everything that happens; the end should be an inevitable consequence of what has gone before. 1b) Most want paper (call them); in practice received manuscripts are filtered by a barely-paid Sarah Lawrence grad called Moon who has to get through twenty books a day - so send the first chapter, a precis of the rest, and a cover letter saying the whole thing is finished. Moon is so overworked that if she doesn't like the first paragraph, she'll bin the book without reading the second, so you need to grab her attention and keep it (it's no wonder that so many books have someone dying on the first page). 1c) Your local bookshop will sell a handbook for professional writers, which lists publishing companies, the genres they work in, and their editorial addresses. That generally has notes about format (single or double space, single or double side, binding). The thing about the precis leads to a (perhaps sad) reality about fiction publishing - it's very faddish. A few years ago anyone could get a magical-child novel published, now no-one can, no matter how good it is; so a lot of professional (middle-ranking) authors just write the precis, and only write the book if their publisher thinks it'll fly (saves the work and the heartache when they don't). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 21:35, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

While I'm not an author nor ever tried to be one, I've looked at these guides for writers before and they will also tell what the above two have said, as will a lot of webpages. I.E. if you're thinking the publisher is going to decide which version is better for you you're sadly mistaken. In fact as you can probably guess from the above, even if you have a decent story if it has sufficient problems or simply something a publisher isn't interested in, they're liable to reject it outright. They're not likely to help you work thorough the problems. For these reasons and others I think it's highly recommendable to look at one of these books or guides first. Understanding how the publishing world works will likely save a lot of heartbreak and wasted time. It may be worth remembering you're almost definitely going to want an agent at some stage. Remember a literary agent doesn't just helped you get published, they now how things work and ideally make sure you don't get screwed. I can understand why you may feel the fees an agent something to aboid but as I'm sure I've read many times before there's a good chance you'll still be making more money when you have a good agent working for you then when you try to go solo. Perhaps as a final word of caution remember the multiple rejection stories of a number of authors (who do usually enlist agents), J. K. Rowling obviously being the most prominent. Some people may take away from this 'if you keep trying eventually you'll be published' but I think a better thing to take away is 'even if you do have a very good story it may still be very hard to get it published' and think of what that means if your story isn't so good Nil Einne (talk) 01:39, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, if you are really still having major plot issues, you need to show it to people OTHER THAN publishers right now. Friends? Family members? Members of a "budding writers" club (of which there is almost certainly one nearby, if you look for it)? Getting a book published by a major publisher is not quite like getting a good part in a movie but it is probably pretty close in terms of difficulty. You need to have your stuff together WELL BEFORE you start trying to shop it. You will not be able to shop your novel an infinite number of times—get things sparkling BEFORE trying to pitch it to the big leagues. --Mr.98 (talk) 03:13, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

1) I can speak from some modest success writing for magazines. Magazines are a good market for an aspiring writer because they constantly need fresh material. But it is vital to know the magazine's preferences first i.e. type of article/story, length and level of language. The material that you submit first must be simple to grasp and properly laid out. There is good advice above to begin by sending a precis. Paper is still the best medium for introducing yourself. Consider also enclosing a brief description "About the author" of yourself with a photograph, such as could be used on the back of a book's dust jacket. I think that will encourage a publisher to take you seriously.

2) The children could have an idea for recycling some material that is presently treated as rubbish, that turns it into something saleable. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 16:22, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

As a cautionary note, you may wish to review the material at Writer Beware, which discusses some of the more common ways that disreputable publishers and agents may try to unethically separate an author from his money or rights. Relevant to this discussion is their page on The truth about literary agents' fees. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 23:15, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

As a reader, I suggest throwing away the first chapter (as happened with Golding's Lord of the flies and also ruthlessly cutting out any introspection that is more than the ocassional brief sentance. 78.146.29.54 (talk) 00:03, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Alright, I guess that makes sense, I'll try to remember it all. There aren't really any major plot issues, I was just getting toward the end and thought 'maybe it would be better done more in this sort of style instead' which, as it happens, did actually cut most of the introspection. I'm not sure I can cut the whole first chapter, it simply wouldn't make any sense then. Perhaps cutting chapter three might help instead? Anyway, it looks like I have a lot to do before actually sending the work to anyone, lots of letters and introductions and such like to write. 148.197.114.158 (talk) 13:18, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

• After you've read Writer Beware, try http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums They've got all the info you'd ever need on publishing. - Mgm|^(talk) 12:19, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] California middle schools totally ban soda sales

When did all the middle schools in California ban soda machines. Is it 2005 or 2006? I thought the all the high schools stop soda machines in 2008 7 01.--209.129.85.4 (talk) 20:44, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

A law was passed in 2005 to ban them all by 2007. [3] --Sean 21:36, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

What are they selling instead? Water? Carrot juice? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:54, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

They might not even have beverage vending machines at all - see drinking fountain (actually, despite being a regionalism, bubbler is a better article). But anyway, the answer is in the news article Toto linked: "From 2007, students will only be allowed to buy water, milk and some fruit and sports drinks that contain a controlled amount of sweeteners." -- 128.104.112.95 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 00:06, 5 December 2009 (UTC).

• Let's hope there are no diabetics there that would be in need of a hefty dose of sugar after some coma-inducing sugar level lowering. Schools like that would kill them. What's wrong with having them learn from mistakes? Alcohol still hasn't been banned from the world... - Mgm|^(talk) 12:16, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Because kids do not learn from mistakes that take years to show up as mistakes. Children will not get obese from drinking 1 sugary drink, they will get it from drinking 4 a day for 8 years. Googlemeister (talk) 16:55, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] amount of insilation in a coat

This for a few day i have been trying to find a new jacket to wear for snowboaring. so far i have found to awsome coats that i would LOVE to buy. they both look awsome but im worried they arent insilated at all or only have a little bit of insilation. I have been looking around franticly trying to find out but i have been reletivly unsuccesful. if someone could give me any information it would be GREATLY apretiated! here are the links to websites with the jackets. http://686.com/products/mens/jackets/acc/20/acc-spyro/ProductInfo.php http://www.overstock.com/Clothing-Shoes/Nomis-Touch-Shell-Mens-Large-Yellow-Buffalo-Snowboard-Jacket/4389306/product.html?cid=123620&fp=F&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=12353820 Thanks much --99.89.176.228 (talk) 20:46, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The second one you link to (on overstock.com) appears to be a shell, which probably won't have any insulation (it'll be like a thick raincoat). The idea with those is that you wear a fleece or something under it, the fleece provides the insulation and the shell stops it from getting wet. The first one says it's insulated but who knows how much. I think your best bet would be to go to and REI or something, try one on there and ask them about it. TastyCakes (talk) 21:52, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

What you really need to find out is the "Tog value" of the coats you are considering. That gives you an objective measure of the insulation value. Sadly, I don't see many places on the web that indicate what the Tog value is for their jackets. SteveBaker (talk) 23:43, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't worry about insulation. Snowboarding is a physical activity and you'll quickly warm up. In my experience, layers are more useful than insulation. I usually wear 3 layers: a T-shirt, a reversable fleece (fleecy side in) and a waterproof outer; and I often find myself too hot. The fleece and the outer are actually 2 parts of the same jacket from Nordica. Of course, I take extra shirts and long-johns in case the weather forecast takes a dramatic turn for the worst. Astronaut (talk) 00:40, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

It's only a physical activity when you're actually doing it! When you in a long line waiting for the ski-lift - or (worse) sitting above the tree line with icy winds cutting through your skimpy jacket...you may wish for that extra insulation. But the point of dressing in layers is well taken - when you're actually heading down the mountain, it's good to be able to lose a layer or two into a handy back-pack. SteveBaker (talk) 23:00, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Maybe Steve has a point. I did once get very cold sitting on a stopped chairlift in icy winds, but I had a nice bask in the warm sun once I got back over to the sunny and sheltered side of the mountain (so much so that I caught a little sunburn on my head!) However, snowboarding is a physical activity; though I have noticed that some boarders spend in inordinate amount of time sitting around (usually in large groups right in the middle of the piste). Astronaut (talk) 16:57, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] December 5

[edit] Fluorine Uranium Carbon Potassium

I don't get the joke for this t-shirt. What exactly is the joke? I notice the first letter of the first three words start to form a swear word ("FUC"), but the P doesn't work. Sorry, can someone explain this joke to me? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 03:23, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Potassium = K. Xenon54 / talk / 03:24, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

As an aside, the description running down next to it spells out "Innocuous shirt FTW." ~ Amory (u • t • c) 03:30, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Doh! Thanks. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 03:32, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Mount Everest

Has anyone ever flown to the top of Mount Everest? jc iindyysgvxc (my contributions) 09:22, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

And landed? If not, there is apparently a company that will fly you past the peak. A quick Google search for Mount Everest Flights brings up a number of ghits. Dismas|^(talk) 09:27, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

A little more searching resulted in this find. So it looks like someone has landed on the summit. Dismas|^(talk) 09:30, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

However, the truth of that story has been questioned, see [4]. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 10:53, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

The FAI seem to have confirmed it: [5]. --Tango (talk) 12:07, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Durabrand DCT1481 combi tv/dvd player Funai

When trying to turn it on, instead of the normal constant red power light, instead it now often regularly blinks on and off about once a second. When this happens it will not start. Any solutions pleas? Where can I definately get a user guide or manual of any kind? I've searched lots of manual sites without success. Durabrand is a brand of Walmart (or Asda in the UK). I believe it was manufactured by Funai - does anyone know what their model number would be please? Their website does not recognise DCT1481. Thanks 92.27.148.85 (talk) 14:58, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Education

Do universities in the US accept gpa scores of 3.26 for prepatory college program?115.132.246.253 (talk) 15:01, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Which universities? Surely you aren't interested in all 4,300 or so U.S. universities/colleges for this. Individual educational institutions almost surely have their own policies on this (and their own ways of calculating high school GPA, as well, as a way of standardizing across such different curricula, much less across different countries). If you tell us the institutions you are interested in, we might be able to show you how to find that information. Even narrowing it down to "Ivy League schools" or "schools in California" will make this more straightforward. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:25, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Most universities will happliy answer questions about their admissions standards. If you have questions, your best option is to find the university's website, and call them directly on the phone. That is going to get you the fastest, most accurate results. --Jayron32 18:13, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Retirement Pension Plan address

What is the address to write for the Pullman Corporation retirement pension plan? The plan was for the Barnes Pumps Incorporated company in the city of Mansfield and the state of Ohio.

pink59 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pink59 (talk • contribs) 15:10, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Who painted that?

(Warning: an image with explicit female nudity behind following link. If generous pubic hair grosses you out, no clicky!) This album cover is by a famous painter I'm pretty sure. Which painter is that? 88.112.56.9 (talk) 16:06, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Gustave Courbet. The painting is called L'Origine du monde (The Origin of the World) and it is from 1866. --Saddhiyama (talk) 16:16, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Ah yesss! Spank you very many! 88.112.56.9 (talk) 16:22, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] 1080p in Youtube

On the Youtube.com homepage, an announcement is made for the release of 1080p support for videos. But since most people watch Youtube videos on a computer screen, is the "p" part (progressive scan) of 1080p irrelevant because all computer monitors, in contrast to TVs, are progressive scan anyways? Acceptable (talk) 22:32, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Depends what the frame rate is - most online video doesn't normally go over 30 frames per second, whereas 1080p in broadcast television can be 1080p50 or 1080p60. But I think the main consideration is the fact that the term '1080p' has become established in the mind of quite a lot of people, only a minority of whom know what the 'p' stands for and what it means. Sam Blacketer (talk) 13:03, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I suspect the 1080p is mainly relevant for people downloading YouTube videos for use with other devices. And perhaps some of these devices and TVs that directly access YouTube will use the 1080p videos. --Bavi H (talk) 17:21, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure it's redundant. (An interlaced video would require extra processing to be displayed on a modern computer monitor.) But redundant isn't the same as useless. Like Sam Blacketer says the "p" clues people into what the number means. If you just said that the videos had "1,080 lines of vertical resolution" most people would be no wiser, but if you say "1080p" even the layman instantly "gets" that you mean a high resolution HD image. APL (talk) 19:10, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

No - it's not irrelevant. The computer's display is indeed progressive scan (well - it COULD be interlaced - but they hardly ever are) - but that wouldn't in any way prevent Youtube from sending an interlaced video (1080i, perhaps) over the network and have the computer sort out how to display it. After all, if you have a flat-screen TV, it is just a grid of colored dots - it can be 'driven' by updating all of the pixels 60 times a second (1080p60) or by updating only every alternate scanline 60 times a second to deliver an entire new image only 30 times a second. The computer can just as easily only update half of the pixels in each field of the video. However, the reason YouTube uses progressive scan is that it's higher quality - and computer displays have the resolution to show that quality. 1080i would require very little extra work on the part of the computer - the advantage would be that it consumes half the bandwidth - produces still images that (on a monitor capable of 1080 scanlines) are identical in quality to 1080p - and only really looks worse during high speed action. SteveBaker (talk) 22:56, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I should point out that you don't really need any extra processing to display a 1080i video on a progressive display. You could just display it without deinterlacing. In fact this happens a lot more common then you may think. On high action scenes you will likely notice the lines (having said that, I know someone who never seems to notice). On low action scenes you may not. Most modern graphics cards have support for fancy deinterlacing filters that work well, but these are not always activated/used. If you have a CRT, you may find it has an interlaced mode although activating it on Windows Vista or Windows 7 may be difficult and I don't know why anyone would ever want to use it. And of course, an old style SDTV CRT can be a computer display (I had one until the TV broke recently). In fact this probably is more common then you think given the popularity of PVRs although the demise of these TVs in most of the developed worlds means they're likely a lot less common then they were. Nil Einne (talk) 13:03, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Phone number question

If you get someone's phone number, and find out that the number itself is kind of cool on its own right, how do you tell a third party how cool it really is without that third party actually learning the number and being able to call its owner? JIP | Talk 23:17, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

It depends on what about it is cool. Is it a repeating pattern? If so, you can just change all instances of a particular digit to something else (eg change 474747 to 575757). If it is an ascending or descending sequence, try adding 1 to each digit (eg change 123456 to 234567). They key thing is to work out why it is cool and change it in some way that doesn't change that. --Tango (talk) 23:30, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

If you are in North America, change the area code if that doesn't affect any part of the cool. (Most effective in an area with multiple codes.)Aaronite (talk) 02:03, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Of course, the trick would be to make sure that the resulting number doesn't send calls to some innocent fourth party, the innocent bystander of a drive-by posting. The experts here would know what are currently dummy or invalid Area Codes or City Codes. Or if it wouldn't affect what's remarkable about the number, leave out a digit or two or replace it with some non-keypad symbol like @, ~, § or ¶ —— Shakescene (talk) 03:08, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm guessing the "cool" feature is some special mathematical property. For example, say the phone number is a prime number. If there are only a few numbers that are both prime and valid phone numbers, then the third party might discover the correct phone number and call the person. In this case, it might be best not to tell the third party anything about the phone number at all. --Bavi H (talk) 17:35, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

There are 168 primes with 4 digits or less, 78,498 with 7 digits or less and if you include the area code there are 50,847,534 possible prime-number telephone numbers (well, it'll be less than that because some area codes don't exist and some short numbers (like 911) are 'reserved'...but there are at likely to be millions of prime-number phone numbers). SteveBaker (talk) 22:46, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I was curious if the prime number thing was bad example, but too lazy to figure it out. :) The general advice was: If the cool feature is something that has a small overlap with valid phone numbers, then it's probably best not to tell. --Bavi H (talk) 02:57, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Maybe you can tell your friends about a cool number without insinuating that it is also somebody's phone number. If you don't format it in the usual (###) ###-#### format, there's no reason to assume a particular number is a telephone number. You might also be interested in Key exchange, which details the mathematics of cryptography. Specifically, two parties are interested in verifying that they know the same number, but neither wants to say what that number is, in case the other party "shouldn't" know. Often, this is accomplished via an asymmetric algorithm, exchanging a different number called a public key. Either party can only verify their authorization by knowing both the public information and the private information. Nimur (talk) 17:46, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] December 6

[edit] Does anyone have any good advice for sucessful studying?

What I am trying to ask is what are the most useful methods for making effective use of study time? While I do usually get pretty good grades, I feel that there may be a better approach when trying to ingest and retain the material at hand (right now I am trying to study for a cummulative Chemistry final). Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.165.196.84 (talk) 04:43, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

There is a technique known as SQ3R which I used to find works for me: Survey - Question - Read - Recall - Review. Survey: give the chosen material a quick skim read through. Question: formulate some questions provoked by this quick read. Read: read thoroughly. Recall: write down as much as you can about what you've read. Try and put it in your own words as much as possible. Review: Did what you've written match the piece itself? Also, did the questions form themselves more distinctly, or did you find they were answered, or did you find you had more questions? --TammyMoet (talk) 09:23, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

(ec) I had always found that for me, learning goes most well when it's quiet around and when nobody disturbs me. I also always tried to go to all lectures, because I learned best from my own notes, even if they might have been chaotic at times. Also, reading the own notes allowed me to remember things from the lecture that I had never written down, but which were related to the contents of the notes themselves. Also arrange the situation so that you will not disturb yourself - i. e. if you are, like me, a tea man, prepare a pot of your favourite brew so you don't have to run to the kitchen every hour. What I am trying to say - read, digest, understand, in the whopping majority of cases this seems to be enough. And good luck! --Ouro (blah blah) 09:27, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

A technique that helped me, and which I've passed on to my children, is that after each revision session you discuss the material you've just revised with someone willing to help you, preferably someone reasonably bright but not necessarily informed about the subject. Explain what you've been studying, discuss its implications, and (most importantly) answer any questions the other person has. This helps you order your thoughts, exposes any gaps in your revision, and prepares you for the task of demonstrating to an examiner that you understand your subject and can explain it clearly. Most disciplines can benefit from this technique to some degree. Karenjc 10:54, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Something which I found very useful \at university was summarising notes. If you've got, say, five pages of notes on a subject, rewrite them, cutting it down to two pages. Then take those two pages and rewrite them again, cutting it down to under a page. The information sticks! Grutness...wha? 22:56, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Flat screen TV choice and positioning

I m thinking of buying a flat screen TV to mount on the wall of my living room which is 12' x 12' approx. What size screen would be big enough but not over powering, and at what height above floor should it be mounted for optimum viewing comfort?

Here is a chart and some discussion on the topic. --LarryMac | Talk 15:35, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

My living room is of similar length but a little narrower than your room. After looking at several different sizes I settled on a 37" screen size for my new TV. I sit roughly 8' (2.5 m) away and at that distance the screen is about as wide as my hand span at arm's length. The TV has a pedestal stand and is on a low TV table - the centre of the screen is a little below my eyelevel when sitting on my sofa. It looks good. The TV is big enough to give a really nice picture - especially with a High Def source, but doesn't dominate the room like my sister's 42" TV does. Astronaut (talk) 10:05, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

There isn't a "right" answer for this - but there is a scientific answer. Most video is shot with a 50mm lens - because that most closely approximates the human visual field. A 50mm lens has a field of view of something close to 60 degrees. That means that your TV needs to be roughly as wide as the distance you sit from it. Clearly this is crazy...but it's realistic...and roughly what happens when you sit in a movie theater. SteveBaker (talk) 16:14, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Aha! I knew there was a scientific reason I prefer my HD projector over a television set! APL (talk) 05:56, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Chinese noodles

I have a packet of chinese noodles. On the front of the package it says "MaMas" in red. The noodles have two packets of stuff to add to the noodles before cooking in water. One packet contains some sort of spice powder, and the other contains some sort of milky white fluid with black stuff inside it. Does anyone know what this milky white fluid might be?

Thanks 137.81.112.176 (talk) 17:00, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Last time I had chinese noodles with two packets, one was the flavouring (salt, spices, MSG etc) and the other (milky liquid) was palm oil. -=# Amos E Wolfe ^talk #=- 17:20, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Reading the parts of the article you posted, i wonder if it is palm oil. It is clear so if it is palm oil, it would be boiled to get rid of the red color.

It might be helpful to add that the liquid was quite thick, viscuous. I still also wonder what the black stuff inside was. Thanks for the help so far!

137.81.112.176 (talk) 17:27, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Is the ingredients list in English?Aaronite (talk) 18:54, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

http://www.veryasia.com/mama.html they seem to make a lot of different kinds and flavors of noodles - it's hard to guess what it might be. SteveBaker (talk) 21:46, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure why i didnt think of this! Yes most of it is written in chinese with english alongside for the instructions, but I removed the wrapper from the garbage and found that it is indeed palm oil, with "fresh shallot" ... thanks all!

137.81.112.176 (talk) 23:53, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Parents

Why do my parents never seem to have enough money? Dannyboy1209 (talk) 19:00, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Because they spend it all on you. That's their job. --TammyMoet (talk) 19:04, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Because it is often difficult for people to find well-paying jobs? Really, without knowing them, we can't do more than guess. APL (talk) 19:12, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

This is a better question for them, although don't expect to like the answer(s) or for them to be happy. ~ Amory (u • t • c) 20:38, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

You have it easy I used to drink tea from a rolled up newspaper. Dmcq (talk) 20:50, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Once you have enough earnings to get above the poverty line and are able to pay for the essentials in life, "having enough money" is a matter of balancing what you earn with what you spend. If you borrow to the hilt and spend every penny you earn - then you could be earning a million dollars a year and still not "have enough money". Of course, if you aren't above the poverty line - then there isn't enough money to go around no matter how careful you are - and that's an unfortunate situation that's not easy to recover from. We don't know enough about your parent's situation to answer your question. SteveBaker (talk) 21:42, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

(ec) Nobody can answer your question seriously (even yourself) until you complete the question, "Enough money to what?" I have noticed that irrespective of the actual amount of income, people have a devil of a time living happily within their means. Once you have enough money for basic food, shelter, heat, etc. you ought to be satisfied, or at least be able to recognize that you should be satisfied. But you don't; you want more. So you get a better job, but you also spend more, so you seem to have less. I guess it ties in to "Keeping up with the Joneses." But you continue to work your way up, getting more and more money and less and less satisfied with it. A long time ago, somebody very smart realized that the problem was not so much with "not having enough", but with "wanting more." Matt Deres (talk) 21:43, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, your parents may have a budget in mind, and have a different idea than you do on what "enough money" may constitute. For example, you may ask for a really cool new video game system for Christmas, and your parent's may say "we cannot afford that", which may mean "if we spend our money on things like that, then we take money away from our long-term goals". As in, they may have thousands of dollars in the bank, but that money is earmarked for things like your college education, a new car, home maintenance, retirement, etc. etc. When I was first on my own, and away from my parents so that I had to spend all of my own money, it shocked me

• a) how much money I had coming in once I had a real job, but more importantly
• b) how much money I had going out once I had real responsibilities.

Just some ideas to think about. Telling your child "we don't have enough money" is sometimes a lot easier than saying "well, we could buy that expensive gadget, but we have our priorities on other things, so it is important that we keep focused on spending our money on what really matters to us, and what is most important, rather than trivial things." --Jayron32 03:00, 7 December 2009

(UTC)

Do they tell you that "We can't afford it?" Or something like that, for whatever you want? If they don't and say "Maybe another time", they're trying not to spoil you. Trust me, parents love to spoil there kids, but they don't want their children to take it for granted whatever they gave to you, you know? Moptopstyle1 05:24, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

As an alternative, when they say "We can not afford that expensive new item", they could really be saying, "We really want you to be spending your time on something more productive" or, "Why can you not be happy with what you already have" Googlemeister (talk) 20:09, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] camera tours

hi. looking for a group or agency that handles camera trips to europe. mainly germany and or france. would like to find travel expences, etc. [email removed for privacy] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.124.191.222 (talk) 19:14, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Will humans be accompanying the cameras, or will accommodations be necessary just for the cameras? DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 18:02, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] What were the actual charges against the Lincoln conspirators?

I happened to notice the addition of a category, Category:People executed for treason against the United States, on the biography of Mary Surratt. I am trying to figure out whether this addition was appropriate (and, by extension, whether the category should be deleted).

For those who don't know, treason against the United States is defined extremely narrowly; the Founders had seen the charge used in England as a means of political suppression, and did not want a repeat of that here. So the Constitution requires that treason be limited to "levying War against" the United States or "adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort", and also requires specific evidence to prove the charge: Either there have to be "two Witnesses to the same overt Act", or the defendant has to confess in open court.

For these reasons, for example, the Rosenbergs were not charged with treason, but with espionage; I have accordingly removed the category from their page.

That leaves a handful (six) articles, all from the Civil War era; four of them are the Lincoln conspirators. I doubt the Lincoln conspirators were charged with treason but I'm not sure. Of the other two, one (David Owen Dodd) was for spying; that could have been treason by the constitutional definition, but the "two Witnesses" requirement does not seem to have been met (certainly, it's possible he was unconstitutionally executed for treason, but I saw no direct citation for that). The other (William Bruce Mumford) was for tearing down a Union flag in occupied New Orleans, and might be the sole article that actually belongs in the category.

But to know how to proceed, I really need to know the official charges against the Lincoln conspirators. Oddly neither the Mary Surratt page, nor the Lincoln assassination page, is very specific about this. --Trovatore (talk) 20:09, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

They were tried under a special military commission as enemy belligerents (essentially agents of the Confederacy). The charges [6] don't correspond to the civilian legal code very well but mention treason or traitor 22 times, to such an extent that saying the crime charged was treason is probably reasonable. The trial lasted a little less than two months. They were convicted and the four sentenced to death were summarily hanged 8 days later. As it happened, the Supreme Court later held that the use of a military tribunal was improper, which may have benefited the surviving conspirators but didn't do the dead any good. Dragons flight (talk) 20:57, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

OK, thanks. Do you happen to know whether the "two Witnesses" requirement was applied at their trial? --Trovatore (talk) 21:16, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't know. I do know that hundreds of witnesses were ultimately presented, but I don't know if they used to the two witnesses standard as set out for treason. Dragons flight (talk) 21:19, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't think it needed to be; seems to me, reading the charges, that they were convicted of conspiracy and aiding and abetting. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 22:58, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, if they weren't convicted of treason, then they shouldn't be in the category. --Trovatore (talk) 23:00, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Might be worth discussing this at Talk:Abraham Lincoln assassination. (The discussion will be too ephemeral here.) --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 23:29, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Neel Kashkari and a hut in Tahoe National Forest

I am reading this article in The Washington Post, and I am very, very puzzled. I have more questions than I can sensibly ask on the ref desk, but I will ask the two simplest ones. (1) Can a person just build a hut in Tahoe National Forest, or is it squatting? (2) Assuming the answer to (1) is "yes, one can do that legally", the second question is: how suicidal is this idea? I mean, considering the mugging / armed robbery / home invasion rate in these parts of the US. --Dr Dima (talk) 20:50, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

If you read the article carefully, you find that he's living in a cabin with an "old horse corral" - what you hear about him building is just a storage shed. The article is a little misleading - it gives you the impression that he's "gone back to nature" and is living in a tiny little shed - but he's using a nailgun to construct it and there is evidently a way to charge his blackberry - so he has electricity. They talk about having to drive a mile to get to his mailbox - but that means that there is regular mail service there. He's hardly living rough. (I'm picturing a fairly luxurious cabin.) So there is evidently an existing property on the land in the forest - and it's big enough to have a horse corral - so he's presumably building the shed on his own land. According to our article: Tahoe National Forest, "The National Forests are for the purpose of preserving a perpetual supply of timber for home industries, preventing a destruction of forest cover which regulates the flow of streams, and protecting local residents from unfair competition in the use of forest and range. The timber,water, pasture and mineral resources of the national forests are for the use of the people" - which presumably means that if you have an entitlement to use the pasture - you can raise horses there - hence the corral. SteveBaker (talk) 21:34, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Also: mugging? armed robbery? home invasion? In the forest? Really, not very likely. There are a lot easier targets closer to town; and people who live out here in the boonies (note: I have to go three miles to get my mail) have a tendency to have ways of dealing with varmints of all sorts. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 22:52, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

...and facing two very large dogs is a good incentive to try the next house down the trail. SteveBaker (talk) 23:02, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

For the moment, let's pretend that this person really was living in a shed in the middle of nowhere. Why would you assume that armed robbery, mugging would be a danger? While the woods is secluded enough to commit any crime you like, I can't imagine anyone trudging all the way into the woods with the goal of ripping off a guy who lives in a shed. What are they going to steal? APL (talk) 23:30, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

If you’ve ever had a bear break into your campsite and steal your food, you wouldn’t question “home invasion,” or “armed robbery.” DOR (HK) (talk) 02:26, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Campsite != Luxury log cabin SteveBaker (talk) 15:46, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] 4-H

What are good Community Service projects that a 4-H Club can do? Possibly after a Club Meeting that takes place at 7PM? 23:50, 6 December 2009 (UTC)Moptopstyle1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

It's never too late in the day to pick up garbage/litter/refuse and dispose of it properly! Just be sure to equip everyone with garden/work gloves and (if working along roadsides) reflective vests. 218.25.32.210 (talk) 02:25, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, but where this club is at, at 7PM it's about 40 degrees. Moptopstyle1 (talk) 07:04, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Just for the rest of us... what is a "4-H Club"? Astronaut (talk) 09:29, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

If only there was an encylopedia nearby . . . 4-H. --LarryMac | Talk 11:29, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Where I am, at 7pm, it's about 5 degrees - assuming we're using the F scale. What's your point? The garbage isn't going anywhere! Bundle up and get to it yah sissy! 61.189.63.145 (talk) 14:54, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Hm, I was thinking, possibly after the Club Meetings, the Kids could write cards to the Troops, and then take it to a local "Love Our Troops" Organization. Moptopstyle1 21:49, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

That's also not a bad idea. 61.189.63.133 (talk) 22:57, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you, and I didn't want the kids to go out into 40 degree weather cause some of the parents would disapprove, cause with the whole Swine Flu/Cold Season. Ha. I'll suggest to the leader about the Military Cards. and this comment: only there was an encylopedia nearby . . . 4-H, was awesome. Moptopstyle1 01:40, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] December 7

[edit] CFLs and my reality

Over this past summer I have dutifully swapped out approximately 8 lights in my home with CFLs, in most cases changing from 60W to 13W bulbs. In my house, this covers fixed lamps, the light over the sink, the light over the shower, etc -- lights that are on for 15 minutes to a few hours per day. (The big lights are all on dimmers, and I'm not going there yet.) So, I'm trying to get a handle on how much my efforts are saving me, as opposed to how much some theoretical saving might help a hypothetical family.

I get hung up because a Watt is actually a rate, not an absolute measure of energy, right? If so, I have to multiply by some unit of time to get actual joules or watthours or whatever. I'll post some assumptions, and the engineers and other evangelists can review this and tell me where I've erred.

• Suppose my 8 lights are on throughout the house for a total of one hour apiece on average. My savings is 47W * 8 bulbs * 1 hour = 376Wh. (I think that's high, because I think one hour per lamp is high, but round numbers are good enough here.)

OK, the reality checks:

• If I turn on the space heater in the bathroom before I get in the shower, and it runs for 10 minutes, how much of my savings have I used up? I think 1800W * 1/6th hour = 300 Wh = almost all of it.
• If I stand in the shower for 7 minutes instead of 5, how much energy (to heat water) does the extra two minutes use? I have no idea how to compute this or compare it to light bulb savings.
• Another facet: I'm driving down to my kid's school for their Christmas Concert this afternoon. It's 50 miles each, which I can drive at an average speed of 60 mph on the freeway or 45 mph on county roads; the latter is 6 miles shorter but longer timewise due to traffic lights, which means some stop/start driving as well. Suppose that translates to 32 mpg on the freeway vs 26 (does that seem reasonable?) How do I convert that to something I can compare to the CFLs -- in other words, how does one round trip compare to a day's electricity savings?
• That car gets pretty good mileage. Just for grins, let's compare that to two semitrailer trucks, one driving at 60mph on the freeway, the other barrelling down the same road at 70. I understand that 6mpg is the high end of efficiency for big rigs, but let's assume that one truck gets 5 and the other 7mpg. How much energy does the faster one "waste" compared to the slower one -- in one hour, say -- and how does that compare to my 8 CFLs for a day?

See, I have the nagging doubt that saving 376 watts per day on lighting is small potatoes -- it may be low-hanging fruit in ease of execution, but the results are noise in the real signal-to-noise ratio. (Heck, leaving my computer on all day probably burns more electricity than two of those lights are saving!) The only calculations I have any confidence in (the space heater, above) leads me to believe that I can do far more with just about anything else I can think of, and that tolerating CFLs is probably best left for when I get to trying to squeeze out just one more kilowatthour someplace. But, I can't be sure without some math help!

DaHorsesMouth (talk) 01:45, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

You might want to check the Energy Literacy blog posts currently running on BoingBoing, which to some extent cover the ground you're interested in - notably EL3, which points to a number of apropos wikipedia pages:

• Orders of magnitude (power)
• Orders of magnitude (energy) --Tagishsimon (talk) 02:18, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

To me you seem discouraged that the change you made is not drastic enough? Maybe this will help -

Imagine you've got 300 cups of water sitting in front of you, and a bathtub to fill. Each cup is an example of some resource you use in your life, and that bathtub is the daily net. You've just changed all your lightbulbs, so you remove one cup and replace it with a thimble of water. Now, if you were to toss everything into the bathtub the change in water level would likely be imperceptible. However, there has been a change! And this is why you should ignore the bathtub and simply focus on taking things one cup & thimble at a time. Don't lose perspective! Eventually, once you've swapped enough cups for thimbles, that bathtub WILL be clearly less full!

Hope that helps! 218.25.32.210 (talk) 02:32, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I think you've just convinced me to go back to incandescents. APL (talk) 02:54, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I think part of your disappointment stems from the fact that you seem to have replaced only your lights that you burn the least. People who can easily replace the majority of their lights would see a greater result. (But lights are the low-hanging fruit. Especially compared to HVAC systems and automobiles. )

Anyway, this may help you in your calculations --> Energy Density of Gasoline] APL (talk) 02:54, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Look at it this way - what is the effect of replacing one incandescent with one CFL?

• Over the life of the CFL, you'll safe $30 in electricity.
• CFL's last 10 times as long as incandescents - so you'll save the energy cost of manufacturing 9 light bulbs.
• At todays prices, a 26W CFL is around $8. You can buy a four-pack of 60W incandescents for the same price.
• You'll add some mercury to a landfill someplace about a decade from now when the CFL craps out. That's not great - but until LED lamps get cheap enough, it's the best we've got.

So completely aside from modest savings for the environment - you buy a CFL - you save ($30+(10x$8/4-$8)) = $42 over the life of the bulb...it pays for itself in a year or two. I suspect your estimate for the number of lights you have on though the day is likely to be a serious under-estimate - not many households have that little usage.

It's a start. If we don't make a start - how will we make any difference? So yeah get CFL's - and the next time you buy a car, find one with better MPG (they way I drive, mine does a pretty solid 40mpg - twice as good as the national average - and not a battery in sight). When you move house next time - find one with better insulation (ours has foot-thick walls and uses a fraction of the amount of energy compared to our neighbours). Get a thermostatically controlled attic fan. Do you REALLY need that space-heater on for 10 minutes when you shower? Will 8 minutes do? Consider 6 minutes. When you next buy a household appliance (especially a heater, airconditioner, washing machine or fridge) - actually look at the energy ratings on the label.

This is not one single-point solution. There is no one thing you can do that'll solve the problem - you're kidding yourself if you think there is. CFL's are a part of the solution - but you certainly can't expect to solve global warming by changing a few lightbulbs. Yeah - you need a more efficient way to take that shower, you need a more efficient car (heck, even people who drive Prius's need a more efficient car!) We need to move less stuff by truck - partly by moving less stuff (Buy local!) - partly by having more efficient hybrid trucks for long haul routes - partly by using railways - partly by having people buy less stuff. Maybe eventually by making our own stuff using things like 3D printers.

However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't change lightbulbs...it's just a part of a larger solution...and for the incandescent hold-outs - bad luck, incandescents are gonna be legally outlawed in so many countries around the world that you'll have no choice but to buy CFL's or LED lamps as your incandescents die off.

I have LED lamps in a couple of places where the light is turned on the most (family room) and in fan fittings where the vibration would rapidly kill off a CFL (CFL's don't like vibration - it shortens their life to about the same as an incandescent). But really, truthfully, LED lamps aren't cheap enough yet.

SteveBaker (talk) 06:03, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

If recent skeptic arguments are to be believed, you should stop worrying and live your life as before. Astronaut (talk) 10:19, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Um, if you're saving money you're saving money regardless of whether global warming is real or not. Nil Einne (talk) 12:38, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

The problem being that those "recent skeptic arguments" are not to be believed - so please continue to worry. SteveBaker (talk) 15:29, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

You might like to consider whether the dimmer function on the main lighting is a luxury you could afford to do without, and whether you are prepared to substitute (if you can) a cheaper option in equipment or usage behavior. Not preaching - it's your money. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 17:55, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] What is Peter H. Gilmore's date of birth?

What is Magus Peter H. Gilmore, High Priest of the Church of Satan's date of birth? Korvulite (talk) 03:46, 7 December 2009 (UTC)There isn't one on his page, and I can't find an answer elsewhere on the internet.

[edit] Which bank owns home?

How do I find out which bank owns a home in CT, USA?--Reticuli88 (talk) 03:58, 7 December 2009 (UTC)?

There's no need to shout. People can read your question just fine if you use lower case letters. --Jayron32 04:06, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Fine, changed--Reticuli88 (talk) 04:25, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I haven't dealt with this kind of property question myself, and I don't know the exact system in the Nutmeg State, but I think that the appropriate Town Clerk, City Clerk, County Clerk and/or Secretary of State would keep the records of property and deeds that establish ownership of real estate, as well as recording liens and other claims upon it. If it's no intrusion on anyone's privacy (and don't be shy about declining to answer this), in what Connecticut town or city is the home located? You can find the website for the Connecticut Secretary of State from the National Association of Secretaries of State at http://www.nass.org . —— Shakescene (talk) 05:44, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Connecticut doesn't have county governments, so that's one less thing to check. APL (talk) 15:04, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't know the situation in Connecticut for sure, but I'm fairly certain that mortgages and deeds are public records, as they are here in Massachusetts. In my Massachusetts county, all land records (mortgages, deeds, liens, etc) are searchable online for free. In Connecticut, land records are recorded in the office of the city or town clerk of the city or town where the land is located. This site provides contact info for all local clerks' offices in Connecticut. Most of them do not offer online searches, but if you show up during business hours, you can probably search through the records yourself. Just call first to make sure that's correct. What you are looking for is the most recent deed for the property, showing transfer from the previous owner to the bank, or, if that hasn't been recorded yet, the most recent mortgage will show which bank would be foreclosing. Marco polo (talk) 00:32, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] New Car release

Hi

I was curious if you had a photo of the new Triumph Thunderbird cruiser?

Thanks,

NirocFX —Preceding unsigned comment added by NirocFX (talk • contribs) 08:07, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

So the Triumph Thunderbird 1600 article didn't give you a hint where to find images - such as taking a look at the Official site? I assume you were talking about Triumph Motorcycles, since there has not been a new Triumph car since the Triumph Acclaim in 1981. Astronaut (talk) 09:13, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Lights on timers

I use a plug-in timer to switch on some lights while I'm out. I would like to use energy efficient CFL lights, but the box clearly indicates they shouldn't be used with timers, dimmers or photo-cells. I don't have dimmers or photo-cells, why can't I use a timer with CFL lights? Astronaut (talk) 10:26, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I tend to agree with you. I have my energy saving light blubs attached to an old style timer - with a circular dial, lots of little plastic pegs - using a mecanical switch. They is no problem whatsoever as I would expect. If your timer is those posh digital one with a few silicon rubber button and a small LCD with uses solid state switch, I would understand why it might not work - my guess is that it is possibly okay. I can't think of any harm to try it out. --Chan Tai Man 10:37, 7 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chantaiman (talk • contribs)

Is there anything specific that this 1st Google result [7] and 6th Bing result [8] doesn't answer? Nil Einne (talk) 13:11, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Old-style mechanical timers are OK - old-style dimmers aren't. Very recent electronic timers and dimmers are sometimes labelled as "CFL-compatible" - but mostly they aren't - so they are NOT OK. The reason is to do with the way they turn the CFL on - I'm not sure of the details but it does bad things to the "Electrical ballast in the CFL and can damage it - so don't do that! SteveBaker (talk) 15:25, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] The Darnley Sycamore

The Darnley Sycamore is a Heritage Tree of Scotland, situated on the outskirts of Glasgow near Junction 3 of the M77. It is an Acer pseudoplatanus but I need to know the exact variety. Can anyone help please

The actual spelling is Acer pseudoplantanus. If it's as old as it's claimed, there would have been no cultivars at that time which would have had a third name added, so I think you're safe just calling it "Acer pseudoplantanus". I've searched the Kew database and the Forestry Commission website and can't find anything which says anything to the contrary. --TammyMoet (talk) 14:51, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Actually, it appears to be Acer pseudoplatanus (only one "n") - Muphry's law strikes again! 87.81.230.195 (talk) 17:40, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Well no: the Kew site has both spellings, confusingly. The Forestry Commission has both "n"s. --TammyMoet (talk) 18:25, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Confusingly also known as the Darnley Plane. Alansplodge (talk) 18:09, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

The Royal Horticultural Society's Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, The Collins Concise English Dictionary, The Concise English Flora in Colour by Rev. W. Keble Martin and The Tree Book by J Edward Milner all list the sycamore as Acer pseudoplatanus. Google returns over 3 million hits for 'Acer pseudoplatanus' and only 600,000 or so for 'Acer pseudoplantanus'. I think it is time for a spell-check at Kew and the Forestry Commission. Richard Avery (talk) 22:35, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

lol! I stand corrected. --TammyMoet (talk) 10:25, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

There's a lot of confusion in this area, given that 'sycamore' is used to refer to three different trees in different families. The original name (in Greek) meant 'fig mulberry', and referred to a kind of fig (ficus sycomorus). In the UK a 'sycamore' is a kind of maple with leaves resembling a plane (hence (acer pseudoplatanus,or 'pseudo-plane maple'). In the US it is generally a plane (platanus). --ColinFine (talk) 00:06, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Suppressed gun shots

Are suppressed gun's shots weaker than those of normal gun?--AM ^(talk) 14:18, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

What is a suppressed gun shot? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:21, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

My guess is he/she means using a Suppressor (commonly called a 'silencer'). Our article says "It generally takes the form of a cylindrically shaped metal tube with various internal mechanisms to reduce the sound of firing by slowing the escaping propellant gas and sometimes by reducing the velocity of the bullet.[1][2]" so my guess is, 'yes at least sometimes'. It probably has more detail but I'm not really that interested in firearms to read more Nil Einne (talk) 14:42, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I meant bullets from a gun with suppressor. Sorry, My bad English skill. Thank for your answer. I got the point :P--AM ^(talk) 14:46, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes - it certainly reduces the speed of the bullet because in order to reduce the speed of the propellant that's behind the bullet - it also has to reduce the speed of the air that was in front of the bullet that's being pushed out of the end of the barrel as the bullet travels forward. That increases the pressure of that air inside the barrel - which reduces the pressure differential on either end of the bullet - which impedes its progress down the barrel. Slower muzzle velocity means "weaker" shots. Maybe not by much though - a lot depends on the type of silencer. SteveBaker (talk) 15:03, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much.--AM ^(talk) 15:39, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] What illegal things are happening here?

My friend has a house in foreclosure and some bank owns it. Its in short sell (i don't know what that meand) because they found someone to buy it. So my friend said me and another guy can live there for free because we are looking to move to another place but we need to save up some fundage. We have been there a month 1/2. We opened all utilities for here.

But I didn't know that the guy I am living with is a thief and stole my itouchand my stereo equipment. Other things were missing in my bedroom. Can't all the cops cuz we are not supposed to be there. I moved my valuable stuff somewhere else and Im looking for somewhere to stay. but until then I have no where else to sleep. This dude has been hiding in his room and probably hid my stuff somewhere off the property. I just want my stuff back but he claims that "he has no idea" where it is.

I'll completely move out in two days and sleep on a friends couch until I find my own place. I want to call the bank anonymously and let them know that there is someone trepassing on their property because legally we should not be living there at all. Do I call the cops? Do you think that this is a good move? I'm just so mad he took my stereo and my iTouch and probably sold it!

BTW - my friend who owns the house (or did) doesn't want to get involved. errr! --JBikeride (talk) 14:54, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

We do not give legal advice. But for what its worth, the circumstances under which you are in the house, and the fact of a theft, are entirely distinct. In your position I'd have called the police yesterday. --Tagishsimon (talk) 14:57, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Let's clear up the terminology here: A "short sell" is where the bank agrees to allow the owner to sell the house for less than the person owes on their mortgage - hand the proceeds over to the bank and then to call it quits on the loan. The bank loses whatever the difference between the 'short' selling price and the amount owed on the mortgage is - but it's generally cheaper and easier than going through all of the foreclosure/eviction nonsense (and then having to sell the house themselves). The owner(s) win because they don't have a bad hit on their credit report - and they can walk away from the mortgage without owing a penny.

It seems to me that since this is a Short sale (real estate) and not a full foreclosure that the bank doesn't ever own the house (that's why they agree to do things this way - they don't want to own the house!) - and the new buyers don't own it until they pay the money and go though all of the title transfer nonsense. So it's likely that this friend still owns the house (assuming he didn't lie to you about the details) and is therefore perfectly within his rights to let you live there until the sale is complete. It doesn't seem reasonable that you should have to know the state of the sale - so if he gave you permission to stay there then you aren't breaking any law. If he sells the house and signs off the title and doesn't reveal to the buyers that he has "sitting tenants" (ie you) - then that's his fault, not yours. You might have to leave in a hurry - but you should be OK (assuming you can prove that he gave permission - or he admits that he did). We can't give legal advice here - so this has to be your call - but in your position, I'd certainly call the cops and explain everything. Look after the house though - if you trash it and it doesn't belong to your friend after all - or if you hook up the utilities in your name and don't pay for them - you could be in a world of pain. SteveBaker (talk) 15:19, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

All the utilities is in that a55hole's name which is goo. But if I call the cops, I can't prove that he took it. --JBikeride (talk) 16:49, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

No, but you can report that the things have gone missing, relate your suspicions, and hope that they'd investigate. Police do not normally expect such proof from the victim. But there's no certain cure for this sort of ailment, and you may have to chalk it up as a lesson learned. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:52, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Sure - and who knows - the guy might blurt out what someone did acording to a Paul Harvey broadcast once - "Oh, you must be here about the TV I stole." (It was actully officers collecting money for charity.) :-) 209.244.187.155 (talk) 21:24, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

On your way back from the police station check local pawn shops and see if your stuff has turned up. APL (talk) 17:44, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Photo problem

I believe that your pic of John wesley hardin is a pic of the outlaw blue duck. Please respond —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.126.106.154 (talk) 19:39, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Please add this to the "talk page" of that article by clicking the "discussion" tab at the top of that article to get to the Talk page, then by clicking "new section" on the Talk page, and asking there. That's where editors interested in the subject are likely to read the question. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:20, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

done --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:10, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] "Alber" as a boy's name?

Some friends of mine want to call their soon-to-be-born son "Alber" (sic). They claim to have seen this name in dictionaries of boys' names, but I'm sceptical. I can't find any reference to it as a boy's name either on Google or on Wikipedia. Has anyone ever come across it? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 22:06, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Albert, yes. Alber? Not any I have ever heard of. Googlemeister (talk) 22:23, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Maybe Albert, as pronounced in French, sounds that way - but it is definitely still spelled Albert. Nimur (talk) 22:24, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

(EC) The article on Alber Elbaz has his name spelt that way in the title, then as Albert for the rest of the article. However, Time Magazine agrees that the correct spelling is without the 't' (but is equally confused as to why). I don't know if this man's name would appear in a list of boys' names, anyway. --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 22:26, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Our article does not list that as an international variant. Nimur (talk) 22:27, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

It probably doesn't matter much anyways. Parents are free to invent completely unique names for their children. --Jayron32 23:07, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

While it may not matter legally, setting your son up for getting beaten up in the schoolyard on a regular basis is not a good move. It might almost be considered child abuse. Why not just name him "Sue" and have done with it? B00P (talk) 23:35, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

It worked out OK for Johnny Cash did it not? --Jayron32 02:18, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

He still hated that name! ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:08, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, and more to the point, if they are really just mis-pronouncing "Albert", or it looks like they are, that can be bad. It is seen as an indication of low-class, generally speaking, to have "misspelled" names, which can certainly affect one's future shot at things (advertising things like race and class in a name have definitely been shown to have negative effects, all other variables being the same). --Mr.98 (talk) 00:11, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

In North America I don't think that's been true for several decades now. "Misspelled" names are very widely used, especially for women. People over 40, like me, may dislike the trend, but I don't see it as a class marker at all. Just as an example, the top 20 contestants on the current season of So You Think You Can Dance included a man named Jakob (American, not German or something) and women named Ashleigh, Mollee, and Ellenore.

Does Wikipedia have an article on this practice? I can't think of what title to look for. --Anonymous, 08:48 UTC, December 8, 2009.

I'm not sure a reality show (or the entertainment sector in general, which thrives on the odd) is a good indicator of how these kinds of trends would affect the average child. As a class-jumper myself (and one not over 40), I am fairly acutely aware of the way in which people of my "new" class perceive "ugly" names. Again, it depends on what one's ambitions are in life, but blind studies have shown that having names that advertise "I am African-American and probably of a low class", for example, does impact how one's job applications are received. --98.217.71.237 (talk) 15:50, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Parents are free to invent names in some countries, but not all. In some countries there is an approved list of names and you need special permission to name your child something not on the list. --Tango (talk) 00:59, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

That sounds fascistic, but when you see kids stuck with names like Chastity or River, you start to think there's something to it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:08, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Awfully subjective of you, Bugs. I happen to find River a pleasant name. Certainly no worse than "Meadow" or "Brooke" - which are obviously all from the same category. 218.25.32.210 (talk) 06:35, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Princess Tiaamii Crystal Esther Andre. The prosecution rests. --Tango (talk) 12:45, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii! -- Arwel Parry (talk) 21:09, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

None of these tops "Number 16 Bus Shelter", which was overruled by a New Zealand court as a form of child abuse. Sorry, was upheld as legal by a New Zealand court. Nimur (talk) 16:46, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Can be an anglicization of the rare medieval italian name Albero [9], [10], [11], a short form of Adalbero, from Adalberto. So, it seems etymologically related to Adalbert and Albert. We have also a German Alber: [12]. Another possibility is that it can be a phonetical rendering of the French pronunciation of Albert (with the silent t at the end). --151.51.10.133 (talk) 09:18, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

With Alber Elbaz I linked to above, considering he was born in Morocco, that French connection would make perfect sense to me. The 't' was probably lost after being transliterated into Arabic, and then into Hebrew, and then back into English when he moved to America. Just guessing this, but it seems the most logical explanation other than 'his parents just felt like spelling it that way anyway' (which may have been the case). --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 16:38, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Removing ice on driveway

My area is expecting its first major snowfall this year tomorrow night (7-12 inches), which got me thinking about removing the ice or thin layer of packed on snow from my driveway--something that always seems to happen no matter how well I shovel or snowblow it. I was just musing to myself and remembered how the excavation team digging up a woolly mammoth used some sort of plastic covering over a small area to melt the frozen tundra by means of the greenhouse effect. I have a relatively small driveway and I was wondering if something akin to that would be a feasible solution for the ice instead of having to use salt. Any ideas or suggestions? This is more for fun, but it would be neat if someone could come up with some practical advice for trying out a little science experiment! --98.108.36.249 (talk) 23:10, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

The Science Desk loves this kind of question. BrainyBabe (talk) 23:46, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

The greenhouse effect is where light penetrates something (in this case a clear sheet), is turned into heat, which cannot escape through the clear sheet. Assuming you are in North America, your efforts to utilize this effect are likely to hampered by the lack of sunlight between now and tomorrow morning.

I would however recommend clearing the ice, as ice under a cover of snow is particularly treacherous. Depending on how cold it's going to be you may find salt is not useful at this time - salt lowers the melting temperature of ice, but only by a few degrees. It's best applied in the morning. DJ Clayworth (talk) 23:50, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Why don't you put the plastic sheet down before it snows? Then you can remove most of the snow with your snowblower and pick up the sheet to reveal the non-icy driveway beneath. (One homeowner in my neighborhood had his driveway, as well as the sidewalk in front of his house, ripped up, a system of warm-water tubes installed [like underfloor heating], and the driveway and sidewalk rebuilt. The snow melts as fast as it falls, and it's always restful to come to that clear stretch of sidewalk after slogging through half a foot or more of snow on the rest of one's trip to the grocery store. Not a practicable solution if it's going to snow tomorrow night, though.) Deor (talk) 02:03, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

In New England, everyone I knew used a manual lawn edger. See this image for the round-bladed version. They sell these in round and square versions, both work just fine. Home Depot and Lowes should carry them. They have a nice long pole for leverage, and a narrow blade which can get between the ice and the driveway. You just shovel the loose snow off of the driveway, and (especially if you had the forsight to salt BEFORE it snowed) the hardpack and ice could be scraped away pretty easily with on of these. You can use them in two modes. If you hold them at a high angle, perpendicular to the ground, you get a lot of good force to chip the ice. If you bring them in at a shallow angle, close to the ground, you can get them under the ice. Both modes work well together to clear ice off of a driveway. --Jayron32 02:15, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

If you're keen on increasing the greenhouse effect, why not consider purchasing a heated driveway? Nimur (talk) 16:49, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] December 8

[edit] Monetary economics

What is monetary economics? The aricle is not easy for me to understand. How useful it is to study when you look for a job later? Is it related to banking?

sorry too many questions. please help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.4.154.240 (talk) 02:03, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Go read monetary economics. --FOo (talk) 04:36, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Or, ask in the Reference desk/Miscellaneous (section) if the article is difficult to understand. I agree the article is pretty technical, but basically, monetary economics is the study of economics through an understanding of money, how it is used, where it flows and its value. Compare that to labor economics, where work and pay are the basis for understanding the economy, or fiscal policy, where it is government taxation and spending that are the starting point.

In every day usage, monetary economics is all about interest rates: what happens if they rise or fall? Since in a modern, well-developed society (e.g., the US, not China) interest rates permeate all parts of the economy, from government borrowing to personal credit cards, adjusting interest rates can have a significant influence on how fast / slow the economy grows, how fast / slow prices change and how fast / slow jobs are created or destroyed. DOR (HK) (talk) 10:02, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Monetary economics is about interest rates but its also about the money supply, inflation,debt and Central Banking in general. It's kinda the study of money, how individuals use it and how governments can manipulate it to achieve certain goals. 203.217.43.224 (talk) 09:19, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] I need these bible versus

• Yoda-Mentor/Teacher in your Life
• Protege-Mentee in your life

Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 02:14, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I'll assume you are aware that there are no mentions of Yoda in the Bible. So if I understand you correctly you are looking for Bible verses relevant to the mentor relationship? DJ Clayworth (talk) 02:17, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I'll recommend you read some stories of mentors in the Bible. Starting with the Old Testament, Elisha and Elijah are good places to start, particularly 1 Kings 19 going into 2 Kings. Going into the New Testament, I would suggest reading the whole of a Gospel to look at the relationship between Jesus and his disciples (it'll only take you a couple of hours). Then maybe look at Saint Paul and Timothy. Search the letters of Paul for any mention of Timothy, and then specifically read Paul's letters to him. DJ Clayworth (talk) 02:22, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

(EC with DJ C) If you want Mentor-Mentee relationships in the bible, here are some good examples:

• Elijah (mentor) and Elisha (mentee) from 1st and 2nd Kings
• Jesus (mentor) and any of the Twelve Apostles (mentees)
• Barnabas (mentor) and Paul (mentee) from Acts
• Paul (mentor) and Silas (mentee) from Acts and Paul's Epistles

Just a start for ya. --Jayron32 02:27, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Even moreso than Barnabas and Silas: Paul and Timothy, who was taken into Paul's company as a teenager, and brought up to eventually be put in charge of the church at Ephesus. —Akrabbim^talk 02:43, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

But I need actually versus.Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 02:58, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

And I need one for encouragement too.Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 02:59, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

You have access to a bible and a concordance, presumably. Look up passages in the books we describe involving the characters above. How much of your homework do you want us to do for you? We've given you all you need to find actual verses. You could actually, you know, read the bible. There are many versions actually written in English you know... --Jayron32 03:35, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

And by the by, if you want encouragement, (you hadn't mentioned this) the bible has lots of passages about encouragement. This is my favorite online bible. It has a good search function, and has several common translations. I use NIV, but whatever works for you. Just search for the word "encouragement" (or indeed, the characters we cite above for mentorship) and you can find the passages yourself. --Jayron32 03:45, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

The reason we're not giving you specific verses is that we don't know what point you are trying to make about mentorship. Bible verses are not meant to be taken out of their context. You will need to decide what you think is important about mentor relationships and find a quote that you think summarises it.

By the way, the plural of verse is "verses". "Versus" means something else completely. DJ Clayworth (talk) 16:05, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Yoda...bah...Lucas misspelled it - that's "Yodh": [13] " y Yodh Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands." - a clear reference to his interaction with Luke on Dagobah. SteveBaker (talk) 03:31, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I certainly hope you are joking, but incase others don't realize it, yodh is a hebrew letter (cognate of the greek iota and the latin I) and in the bible verse you cite, its being used in an acrostic psalm, where each passage starts with a successive letter of the alphabet. Hence its use here. Anyways, carry on --Jayron32 03:38, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

NEVER attempt to explain a joke :-P ...sigh... SteveBaker (talk) 04:18, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] School districts adopting technology policy

Why are schools districts starting to adopt a new policy requiring students to be technology proficient to graduate from high school these days? What does it mean? WJetChao (talk) 04:49, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Helpful information - your country, your state/province, nearby cities of note - otherwise there are probably, oh, 9 million school districts to pick from around the world. 218.25.32.210 (talk) 06:38, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

(Ignoring the localised reasoning) Simple - because they believe it is an important skill to have a successful life/career after schooling finishes. They may not expect you to go working in technology, but a good starting understanding of these things gives you A) a platform to move from (if you want to) and B) ensures the graduating population have a basic proficiency in this subject. It's the same reason they make you (in my country) study another language, or study one of the humanities. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:03, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Again, ignoring where you're from, here in the States, it's hard to find a job that doesn't have at least a minor technological component. Except for some minimum wage jobs, service jobs, and some manufacturing jobs, you will need to know how to use a computer for your occupation. Additionally, with the proliferation of computers in the home and the fact that many gov't services have a web site, online forms, etc. being computer literate helps just get things done for your personal life. Dismas|^(talk) 11:42, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

And, in the future, online voting might be an option, so it's also in the public interest that their citizens know technology, not just in the interest of the individual. The term "the Digital Divide" has often been used to distinguish those who have access to and know how to use technology from those who don't. There is some evidence that access to technology, in and of itself, means access to improved health care (by being able to look up medications, interactions, etc.), improved careers, etc., even after normalizing for differences in income, social status, race, etc. StuRat (talk) 18:16, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Boiling and evaporation

what is the difference between boiling and evaporation ????

thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.197.255.228 (talk) 11:00, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Start with the articles on boiling and evaporation. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:36, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

This should really be on the science desk but I'll answer. The first thing to understand is that the temperature of a liquid is actually an average, and that individual molecules may be at different temperatures. When a liquid boils, its average temperature comes up to the level at which the molecules of the liquid convert into a gas. When the individual molecules get the enthalpy of vaporization, they become gaseous and (assuming the liquid is not being heated in a sealed vessel) escape from the vessel in which the liquid is being heated. This does not happen to all molecules simultaneously which is why a boiling liquid does not suddenly vaporise entirely, but as heat continues going in to the liquid, all the molecules eventually acquire the heat necessary to change into gas.

In evaporation, the liquid's overall temperature is under the level at which it boils. However this is an average and some individual molecules are at higher temperatures. Some are at the boiling point and when they get the energy necessary to convert into gas, they do become gaseous. One effect of this is that the overall (average) temperature of the liquid falls, because the molecules at particularly high temperature are more likely to vaporize and therefore leave the liquid, so you will notice a cooling effect if you let some water on your finger evaporate. Sam Blacketer (talk) 11:47, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Depending on your mathematical background, the OP may want to consider looking into Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution. The basic idea, for the non-mathematically minded, is that at any given temperature, there are a range of molecules with different amounts of kinetic energy. That is, at 20 deg C, there are some molecules moving very fast, and some moving very slow, and some moving at a medium speed. There is a "threshold energy" which is keeping the molecules in the liquid state, its basically the "intermolecular binding energy" holding them together. If the kinetic (motion) energy of a single molecule ever exceeds this intermolecular energy, then the molecule will escape the liquid and become a gas. At any given temperature, there will ALWAYS be at least a small number of molecules which exceed this speed. The boiling temperature is the temperature at which the bulk of the molecules (i.e. most of them) exceed this energy, as opposed to just a few. I'll try to put together a crude picture to give you an idea of what is going on. --Jayron32 14:00, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Here's the pic. Click on it for a bigger version:

Those were good scientific answers. Now, if you're interested in the answer from a cooking perspective (which might explain why you posted here instead of at the Science Ref Desk), boiling is when bubbles rapidly form, rise, and burst at the surface of the liquid, making noise as they do. If that doesn't happen, it's just evaporation. StuRat (talk) 18:00, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Ah, if we're going to go that way to describe it, there are also terms which describe varieties of boiling, like Simmering or "bumping", or of things like Boiling chips which prevent bumping. --Jayron32 20:29, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Upgrading to student account

I hold a current account with Abbey in the UK. I plan on upgrading to the student account; if I do so, will I keep the same account number and card number? Many thanks, 86.16.123.171 (talk) 11:02, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

If the account you have now is a standard "Abbey Account", you should do. I tried exactly the same thing with the same bank, though, and couldn't keep the same account because they had some rule against changing the nature of an account less than 6 months after it was created. If you've had the account less than 6 months and they haven't changed that stupid rule, then you will have to open a new account, as I did. --Tango (talk) 11:40, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. I've had it for a couple of years, so it should be fine. :) 86.16.123.171 (talk) 12:38, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

What, as a matter of interest, made you ask that here rather than asking Abbey? DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:16, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

The reference desk doesn't play Vivaldi for half an hour when you ask them a question? Fribbler (talk) 16:25, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Hmmm - maybe we should! (Maybe Motorhead is more our style?) SteveBaker (talk) 18:45, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for holding. Your enquiry is important to us and one of our reference desk operatives will be with you shortly. While you are waiting, you may wish to read our article on elevator music. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:58, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Excellent. Now if you could make a template out of that...DJ Clayworth (talk) 19:29, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I signed up for a student account with Abbey National (as it then was) nearly ten years ago, and they gave me a little wok. The account is long since closed, but I still regularly use the wok. 93.97.184.230 (talk) 00:59, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Old Christmas advert

A while ago, I saw on Tarrant on TV an advert: a man cleaning up a reastaurant. He then left. The message (text, I believe, not spoken) was just telling people to go home and have a happy Christmas with their family. I think this advert was by McDonald's, and it only happened once. Does anyone have more information? I'm looking for a video but if one doesn't exist, I'd settle for knowledge, on the basis that sooner or later I will surely be able to find it. :) Vimescarrot (talk) 19:10, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Bus to drive slower than cars?

Do bus actually drives slower than cars. Since From Santa Margarita High School to El Toro took 30 minutes without waiting between buses, I'm guessing driving a car would be faster. Do buses drive that slow or is just the stops.--209.129.85.4 (talk) 20:21, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Buses certainly have less "get up" than cars, so they take longer to get to speed. Also, being that they stop often, they spend more time not moving at all. Furthermore, buses may be equipped with a Governor which limits their maximum speed. --Jayron32 20:39, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Bus engines are designed for capacity and fuel efficiency, sacrificing speed. Buses are also heavy. Two factors which affect both top speed and acceleration. Vimescarrot (talk) 20:46, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Also deceleration, i.e. they have to start slowing-down sooner. And don't many states set a lower maximum speed for buses than for cars (e.g. 55 instead of 65)? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:00, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

There are also limits to how must acceleration/deceleration that human beings who are not strapped in can safely tolerate. Ideally a bus would accelerate and decelerate much faster than a car, because it has people without seat belts in it, some of whom may be standing (or in wheel chairs, or children, or elderly, etc.) --Mr.98 (talk) 00:59, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I assume you meant to say that "a bus would accelerate and decelerate much SLOWER than a car"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:12, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

And what fun would that be ? :-) StuRat (talk) 16:59, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Even if the speed limits are the same, buses tend to actually drive to them (the consequences for a bus driver speeding being rather worse than others). Also round here buses have other restrictions, such as always stopping at level crossings. DJ Clayworth (talk) 21:36, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Level crossing? Here in the US, school buses have to stop at railroad crossings, open the door for a better view of the track, and then they may close the door and cross. Dismas|^(talk) 00:55, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Level crossing is non-American for railroad crossing. And here the same restrictions on school buses apply to city buses. DJ Clayworth (talk) 19:28, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Interestingly in my home town (York) the council have recently proposed buses in the city having to drive at no more than 20mph rather than the 30mph that most of the roads around the city are limited to. The piece made our 'yokel' press - http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/4780312.York_bus_drivers_face_20mph_limit/ ny156uk (talk) 22:39, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

According to the comments on that article, the story is rubbish. I guess the Press is up to its usual trick of trolling for reader letters. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 08:37, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Many (school) buses also have speed regulators set at 60 mph or so. Nadando (talk) 02:07, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Buses are amazingly slow. There are the reasons already listed, and also they may not go directly from your starting point to destination, but may instead turn off to go to other stops. Also, allow extra time to wait for the bus to pick you up. My brother has found that he can ride his bicycle 5 miles to work far faster than the bus can get him there. StuRat (talk) 16:59, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] December 9

[edit] Olives

Why are green olives sold in glass jars and black olives in cans? I happen to like black olives much more than green -- but are they considered second class olives? DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 00:41, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to take a wild guess here: That because green olives are packed in vinegar, they are not canned, because the vinegar might interact with the metal in the can. [Wrong guess] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:11, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

The Straight Dope answers this one pretty thoroughly : Why is it that green olives come in glass jars but black olives come in cans? APL (talk) 01:54, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Aha, it has to do with prepping the ripe olives to protect from botulism. Nothing to do with vinegar interacting with the can. In essence, they're cooked in the can, which they couldn't do with the glass unless it was Pyrex or something, which would probably make the container more expensive than its contents. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:24, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I get my black (Kalamata) olives in glass jars. Kalamata olives IMO are the only ones worth buying. The standard black olives are tolerable on pizza or salad, if you're in a low-expectations mode, but I can't imagine buying them separately at the supermarket. And green olives let's not even talk about. --Trovatore (talk) 02:36, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Interesting post -- what else do you do with olives, other than put them on pizza or in salad? DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 02:48, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

All sorts of things. Put them in an omelette. Make a toasted cheese sandwich (extra-sharp aged cheddar, habanero chiles, a little avocado, and Kalamata olive). Or just eat them straight. I wouldn't ordinarily bother doing any of those things with the cheap black olives -- the habanero would completely overwhelm them, and eating them straight would be only because I was hungry and couldn't find anything better. --Trovatore (talk) 02:56, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Oh, I forgot to mention the tomato-on-the-vine in the cheese sandwich. That went without saying, didn't it? --Trovatore (talk) 02:57, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Black olives are OK on a pizza, green olives are tastier in general. I'm reminded of an old vaudeville-era joke: "We didn't raise olives, but we made them. We knew how." "How do you 'make' olives?" "You take green peas, put them in vinegar, and when they swell up they are olives!" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:47, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Green olives are "tastier" in the sense that they taste like vinegar. If you like vinegar, and want to chew on something at the same time, I suppose that's fine. But they have almost no taste of olive. You get much more of that from even the cheap black olives. --Trovatore (talk) 02:51, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

They're both OK. Black olives have a mild taste. I don't mind the vinegariness of green olives. You're talking to someone who likes lutefisk, so my tastes are broad. But black olives seem to work better when included with other things - like on a pizza. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:35, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You don't have to mind the vinegariness, but you surely admit that it's impossible to taste any actual olive in a green olive. --Trovatore (talk) 03:42, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I truly didn't know. I just assumed that's the way they taste, even when sliced and embedded in olive loaf cold cuts and the like. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:50, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Kalamata olives take the olive taste that the cheap black olives only hint at, and bump it up several notches. That's why they're the only ones I buy. --Trovatore (talk) 03:43, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice! That item is now on my shopping list. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:50, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

By the way, all these articles seem to refer to olives as "fruit" without much elaboration. I understand that it's botanically accurate to call them a fruit, just as it is for cucumber or bell pepper. But does anyone really think of olives as a fruit, in a culinary sense? --Trovatore (talk) 02:44, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Since we're discussing it, Trovatote is right on here. I would consider Kalamata olives to be outside of the usual "green vs. black" dichotomy being discussed here. Kalamata olives are brownish red, and as noted, the canned or jarred black or green olives are pretty much shit next to real olives. Any olives sold in brine and in bulk and whole with the pits still in are far better than any of those crappy flavorless ones. I'll eat Kalamatas by the handful as a snack. The local grocery store carries them in bulk; you can fill up a little pint plastic tub with them and take them home whenever you want. They also have about half a dozen other varieties to sample. Yum. --Jayron32 06:35, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Seems like they could figure out a way to pit them without damaging their quality too much. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:38, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Definitely one of the more fascinating RefDesk topics of late. I was of the opinion that I didn't like olives, but listening to you folks run on makes me start to think that I've never actually had a real one. Might have to go shopping myself! 218.25.32.210 (talk) 08:37, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I might try Kalamata olives, too, if I can find them in Detroit. What do they usually cost ? (By comparison, a can of about 27 black olives in brine usually costs me around US$1.00. I like black olives, but only after I drain them and soak them in fresh water to get rid of some of the salt.) StuRat (talk) 16:49, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Probably more expensive. My local Food Lion sells bulk olives of all varieties at a "mix-and-match" olive bar (basically a bunch of barrels of different kinds of olives) for something like $5.99 a pound, so a quarter-pound tub runs me about a $1.50. More expensive than the canned kind, but then again, it is worth it. As far as how you'll like Kalamata olives, I make no guarantees. I can only say that I never liked olives before I had them myself, working at a Greek-owned pizza joint in my town. They changed my mind. --Jayron32 17:28, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

If you like black olives, try oil-cured olives. I think Moroccan olives are best. I like them even better than Kalamata olives as a filling for omelettes or a topping for putanesca sauce. Your local Middle Eastern grocer will have them if your supermarket doesn't. Marco polo (talk) 20:21, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Snow day

Is tomorrow going to be a snow day? ~ ~ ~ ~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.230.148.207 (talk) 02:18, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

It might be, if it snows heavily where you are. And geolocate says your ISP is in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, so you've got a fair shot at a snow day. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:19, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Naw, I'm in Milwaukee. My ISP is always off by a couple miles. 76.230.148.207 (talk) 02:22, 9 December 2009 (UTC)}}

Same general area. So it depends on which portion of the storm hits you. How much is on the ground so far, and is it still snowing? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:26, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

There's no more than 3 inches (I think 7.5 cm, if you're that type) on the ground, but it's still snowing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.230.148.207 (talk) 02:37, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You won't know until the morning. It depends on whether the road crews work continuously (and redundantly) through the night, or if they wait until it stops. They would probably do the major arteries more than once. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:44, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You can sign up for snow day email alerts at this page. Not sure if it covers your area, so your mileage may vary. Dismas|^(talk) 05:57, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I assume you've tried asking [What's the fucking weather? http://www.thefuckingweather.com/} 22:36, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Do you need to refrigerate Thousand Island dressing?

This salad dressing right here: [14] The ingredients are listed.

It doesn't seem to have mayonnaise in it, but is instead apparently made of a soybean oil base.

It has an expiration date (but then, so do many potato chips and bottles of beer), but it does not say "KEEP REFRIGERATED" or "REFRIGERATE AFTER OPENING" on the bottle.

If it was left out in the open for 2 days, would it need to be thrown out? 173.66.202.179 (talk) 03:26, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

There is e-mail and phone contact information on that web site which you linked to. Their answer should serve as a guide. Bus stop (talk) 03:37, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Was it left for two days with the top on and closed, or off/open. If off/open, I would be inclined to play safe and throw it out. If on and closed, consider whether or not the store where it was bought keeps it on chilled or refrigerated shelves; if not then it's likely OK. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 00:25, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Social networking sites

Is wikipedia a social networking site? BigDunc 15:31, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Not really, no. Usually when people say 'social networking' they mean sites where individuals go to communicate with other individuals (one-to-one or one-to-many) e.g. Facebook, MySpace etc. Wikipedia is a socially-collaborative website in that it is developed and maintained by (mostly voluntary) individuals. Or to put it more brand-like "it's the encyclopedia anybody can edit". 15:36, 9 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.133.226 (talk)

It's actually quite difficult to adequately build a "social network" on Wikipedia—it is a site designed around editing content, not connecting with others. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:40, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Our "What Wikipedia is not" policy has a section on how it's not a social networking site. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 16:26, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

That being said, there are social aspects to Wikipedia editing. It is, afterall, fundementally a collaborational project, and when you collaborate long-term with a group of people, you tend to develop a "social network" among those people, if you will. After all, I recognize and get to know people by their on-wiki personalities, and there are even things like "Wiki-meetups" and the like, where wikipedians get together; they would have not otherwise met had Wikipedia not existed. That being said, the social networking aspect of Wikipedia is supposed to be of secondary concern. Wikipedia has an ethic which holds that content holds primacy over all else. So while Wikipedia is not a social networking website it does have some aspects of social networking which go on as part of a secondary function of its role as a collaborationally-written encyclopedia. --Jayron32 17:23, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Indeed. And there is an argument that has been made (though maybe I was the only one who used to make it!) that the encyclopedia is an excuse for a community, and that it is really the community that makes the encyclopedia. Hence the reason why empty forks look so pathetic and seem to miss the point. But that being said, I wouldn't call it a social networking site. It doesn't really exist to facilitate networking at all. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:38, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Ideally, it's the other way around - positive social networking facilitates the site. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:43, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Dialysis law

The nurses at the facility where my Dad has his dialysis feel free to change his treatment from the prescription, by lowering the flow rate, without his permission (or even notifying him). A low flow rate means no "alarms" will go off, which makes things easier for the nurses, but doesn't provide for a full dialysis. I complained about this and asked if the dialysis machine can be placed so he can view the flow rate himself. (It's on wheels and could easily be turned to a 45° angle.) Their answer was "Michigan state law doesn't allow this, since the patients could fiddle with the controls". This sounds like total BS to me. So, where can I get a definitive answer as to whether this is the case or not ? Ideally, assuming it's not actually the law, I'd like to be able to get a letter from a state official stating that. StuRat (talk) 16:35, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Can you discuss this with his doctor? Or, is there an ombudsman at the dialysis facility?99.166.95.142 (talk) 16:42, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm afraid we can't give legal advice. The hospital will have a formal complaints procedure - I suggest you go through it. --Tango (talk) 17:22, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

"Legal advice" would be if I asked "should I sue ?". I'm not asking that, only what the law states. That isn't any different than, say, asking which states have the death penalty. StuRat (talk) 17:35, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You asked what the law is for a specific real life situation. That is a request for legal advice. While we can look up and tell you the law we don't know if you've missed out a key detail in the story that means the standard law wouldn't apply. That is why we don't answer these kinds of questions. --Tango (talk) 20:43, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You should ask someone other than the nurses, who are liable to take offense. I'd start with whoever wrote the prescription and/or is his attending physician. ~ Amory (u • t • c) 17:45, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You should talk to the doctor immediately; the nurses have no business altering his prescription. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:17, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

And if the doctor is unresponsive, you should tell him that you will have no other choice, then, but to consult a lawyer, since the Ref Desk can't suggest that a malpractice lawsuit might be a recourse. Marco polo (talk) 20:14, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You can search teh Michigan Compiled Laws. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 23:47, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I hazard a guess that Michigan Department of Community Health might be the place to enquire; they're responsible for regulating licenced medical practitioners in the state through the Bureaus of Health Professions and Health Systems. I suggest digging around on that website and rattling their cages. Best wishes for your dad's health. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:23, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Downloading English wiki with included media

I was wondering if it would be possible to download the English Wikipedia with all included media. I know there are database dump of the raw text. what I don't know is if there is a dump for its media counterpart. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.104.186.192 (talk) 17:16, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You may want to ask at the Wikipedia:Help desk, they may be more suited to answering a question of this nature. --Jayron32 17:17, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Word question

"witness" comes from this greek word and means___?Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 17:17, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

It comes from the word DYOH, and means Do Your Own Homework. --LarryMac | Talk 17:22, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Find the wiktionary website or any other dictionary site and you should be able to get most any word's origin. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:24, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

The OED does not think it comes from Greek, fullstop. But really, Accdude: is the rest of the internet dead today, that you really cannot research an etymology yourself? --Tagishsimon (talk) 17:33, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

It's apparently been re-used by Christians as a literal translation of martyr. What that word meant to the Greeks I couldn't say. Something to do with being aware of or concerned about things seems to be the general theme. 213.122.50.56 (talk) 17:42, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Click me. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 23:47, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Business Network

Are there any business networking sites or blogs like social networking wherein people who want to start a busines humbly (supplier and buyer) as both need each other to begin any business in India or abroad..any hint would be a great help. thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk) 18:27, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

LinkedIn? --Jayron32 18:38, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Recent temperature records

Last week when the temperatures in New England shattered the all-time record for hottest days, I read an article that had information about there being four times as many local hottest days on record than coldest days on record. I have seached Google and News for it but can't find it. Can you help? Thanks! Reywas92^Talk 20:39, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, but I don't understand your question. Last week, I think on Thursday, many locations in New England had temperatures that exceeded the previous record high for that date. For every date, in every location, there is exactly one record high temperature and one record low temperature. Are you trying to say that the record high for a given date had been recorded in several different years, but that the record low for that date had only been recorded once? Or are you trying to say something else? Marco polo (talk) 21:05, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I think the questioner is referring to how many times recently the record for hottest/coldest temperature on a given day was broken. DJ Clayworth (talk) 21:08, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I would think the Urban heat island effect casts some doubt over what you can draw from an increase in record temperatures in one particular location. An increasing population (or just greater sprawling of the existing population) likely means deforestation and paving things over, which increases temperature measurements in the city. That's why there is an effort to either correct for urban temperature measurements or use rural temperature measurements when mapping temperature changes across a wider area, and since a lot of weather data is not collected in rural areas, I believe satellite measurements are preferred for measurements of global temperatures. TastyCakes (talk) 21:32, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

The number of times a record is broken is a bit of a fuzzy thing. Suppose the record high for this entire week from 100 years ago was 100F. Now imagine a rising heat trend over a period of a week in which the daily highest temperature goes 98,99,100,101,102,103,104 - was the record broken four times or only once? If your answer is "4 times" then did the record get broken 24x4=95 times because we measured the temperature every hour? Was it only 4 times because it got cooler each night? In the end, there was one record-breaking phenomenon - and it could have lasted all summer and still been only one notable phenomenon. So I'm not sure this means much. SteveBaker (talk) 22:10, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

On the other hand, the problems with record highs ought to be the same as the problems with record lows, so if one is breaking one far more often than the other then it is suggestive of a shift in climate. Dragons flight (talk) 22:35, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Expansion of urban heat islands wouldn't have much effect on records in New England over recent decades. The region's population is not expanding much, and what sprawl has occurred since, say, 1970, has not affected many of the region's weather stations. Either they were within an urban heat island in 1970 and still are, or they weren't then and aren't now. Marco polo (talk) 22:36, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Cassette-tapes that turn a tape-deck into a CD/MP3 player

You know those cassette-tapes that had a headphone-cable sticking out of them that you put in your car-stereo and it made you tape-deck work so you could play your portable CD player through it? They were popular in the 90s - anyways...how did they work? 22:33, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Cassette tape adaptor --Mr.98 (talk) 23:13, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I still have one and it works perfectly. And as the article notes, you can play an iPod through it also. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:42, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

You can still buy them - my son bought one a few months ago. They work by magnetism. Recall that the head in the tape deck picks up fluctuating magnetic levels as the tape moves past the head - so if you take an electromagnet - place it right next to the tape head and make the magnetic field vary with the voltage coming from the MP3 player - then the tape deck can't tell that there isn't any tape moving past. Interestingly, the electromagnet in my son's machine is just another tape head - driven "backwards". The quality isn't great - but since his car doesn't have a CD player or an audio input jack - hijacking the tape input is the only option. SteveBaker (talk) 00:24, 10 December 2009 (UTC)