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| {{Misplaced Pages:Reference_desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 November 24}} | |||
| = January 11 = | |||
| {{Misplaced Pages:Reference_desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 November 25}} | |||
| == Young adult novel series called Blitzkrieg == | |||
| {{Misplaced Pages:Reference_desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 November 26}} | |||
| Does anybody remember who was the author of a novel series, aimed at middle and high school students called Blitzkrieg? It was about a high school football team and I think it was or were published in the 1970s or 1980s. --Donmust90-- ] (]) 00:49, 11 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| = November 27 = | |||
| :The series was actually called ''Blitz'' and was written by Paul Nichols (about whom we don't seem to have an article). There are some examples . --] 07:46, 11 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| ::"Paul Nichols" is the pen name of Robert Hawks (b. 1961).<sup></sup> More about him . He has also published under his own name,<sup></sup> as well as young-adult horror under the pen name "M. T. Coffin" :).<sup></sup> In any case, neither the author nor the books appear to meet Misplaced Pages's notability criteria. --] 09:42, 11 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| = January 20 = | |||
| == Smallest area between three state capitals == | |||
| == Yokohama Chinatown == | |||
| (14:31-14:56). Please, can you help me to find the name of the dress and the sword of that Chinese antique shop's owner, and that of the statue's face? You can see also these three files: , , . Thank you. <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 10:16, 20 January 2025 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot--> | |||
| :Don't post your question on more than one desk. Entertainment was the right place for it. --] 09:06, 21 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| == Trump presidencies == | |||
| Driving into work this morning I was contemplating which two US state capitals were closest together. Turns out it's Boston and Providence, but there are a few other close contenders, too. | |||
| Hello. Trump's current term is as the 47th president. The previous term, (45th), should be put together with the old respective dates in the template (2017-2021). Better not to merge the two terms together, it makes no sense, they are two different things: terms, dates and presidencies. Don't you agree? ] (]) 17:37, 20 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| Anyway, I got to thinking, what's the smallest area between 3 state capitals? I originally stipulated that they must be adjacent states, but frankly, if three capitals are on a perfectly straight line, that should be the winner. Generally, it looks like Boston-Concord-Montpelier is the winner so far, but I haven't been able to get accurate numbers for Springfield-Indianapolis-Columbus or Sacramento-Carson City-Salt Lake City, where being off by just a mile or so could be the difference between winning and losing. I may be leaving some others out too. | |||
| :The reference desk is not the place to discuss this. Better venues may be ] or (since the issue transcends the specific person who now happens to be in office) ]. The problem may be due to a limitation of {{tl|Infobox officeholder}}, the design of which does not accommodate the possibility that the incumbent is a repeat offender. For the only other repeat offender thus far, ], the issue could not arise since his repeated incumbency did not overlap with the lifetime of {{tl|Infobox officeholder}}. --] 21:39, 20 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| I had been using to scout out potential winners, to determine distances (not sure how accurate it is, a new source is probably necessary), and to calculate areas once I got my distances. If anyone is up to the challenge, please post your findings! | |||
| ::If I'm reading the documentation right, you should be able to do it with that template. Use the <code>office</code> field for the first term and the <code>office2</code> field for the second term, with <code>term_start</code> and <code>term_end</code> being the dates for the first term, and <code>term_start2</code> and <code>term_end2</code> being the dates for the second term. Or maybe vice versa? --] (]) 22:13, 20 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| :::These infoboxes list offices (being) held in reverse chronological order, each with a heading identifying the office in a light bluish grey banner, like {{color box|#e6e6f9|'''13th Head honcho of ]'''|border=#fff}}, below which there is an unbannered heading '''Assuming office''', '''Assumed office''' or '''In office'''. | |||
| :::The convention for nonconsecutive terms of an office held is that they are combined under one light bluish grey banner, as seen e.g. for ], {{color box|#e6e6f9|'''34th & 39th Governor of California'''|border=#fff}}. | |||
| :::The convention for current office holders is the appearance of a second banner {{color box|#e6e6f9|''']'''|border=#fff}}, immediately below the office banner but in the same style; see e.g. ]. | |||
| :::These two conventions don't combine well. --] 08:32, 22 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| = January 21 = | |||
| ] <small>]</small>  14:31, 27 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| :A quick look at a US map suggests that the answer is going to have to be in the northeast. It should be easy to find the distances between those cities, and then figure out which 3 points are closest. I see what you're getting at with the triplets of midwestern and western states, but they're far enough apart that the triangles formed by them might not be small enough to meet your criteria. In the western states they would need to be practically all on the same line (or the same Great Circle, technically). ←] <sup>'']''</sup> ]→ 15:18, 27 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| == Peugeot models only available Europe or North America == | |||
| :If the numbers are so close that a few miles makes the difference, I'd suggest that your real problem is figuring out where to measure from. Most cities are a bit wider than an infinitesimal point, so the question of how close they are is going to vary wildly depending on whether you're measuring from city center to city center (and how defined?), from closest border to closest border, or something else. ] (]) 16:02, 27 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| Which models of Peugeot, made from 1970 to 2010, could be available only in North America if Peugeot was participating in the North American market?--Donmust90-- ] (]) 20:45, 21 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| ::It's even worse than that -- to do it properly you'd have to use spherical trigonometry. I don't see any reasonable way to do this without writing a computer program to test all the combinations, and even then the answer is likely to depend delicately on the precise location assigned to each capital. (There are 19,600 possible triangles.) ] (]) 17:14, 27 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| :I don't think they made any model specifically for the North American market. They modified some existing models to make them conform to North American rules. The range of available models was always much smaller than in Europe. ] (]) 11:50, 22 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| ::You may be interested in (YouTube clip). ] (]) 11:57, 22 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| = January 23 = | |||
| *The straight line case of MA, NH, VT is boring. A much better question would be, by drawing a circle intersecting their state capitols, which three states define such a circle covering the least area. In this case Boston, Providence & Hartford versus Harrisburg, Dover and Annapolis seem the finalists. See . The New England trio form the smallest triangle, but the Midlantic trio are more equally spaced. ] (]) 17:46, 27 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| ::<small> Of course your statement that the question is boring/bad requires a special point to draw attention to it :-/ If you don't know the answer, or can't suggest references, it's ok to abstain. Happy thanksgiving to those who celebrate it this week! </small> ] (]) 22:24, 27 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| :::No, it's just boring. References aren't necessary, the candidates are obvious by inspection, and I am not bored enough to do junior high math. ] (]) 03:54, 28 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| ::::And your "better" version of the OP's question is what kind of math? High school at best. And neither of these questions has an obvious answer. ] (]) 12:54, 28 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| ::::::You seem to be ''looking'' for a fight, because the math I wasn't interested in doing was that answering my version of the question. ] (]) 01:30, 29 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| :::::Some clarification from the OP, {{user|Jared}}, would be nice. But given that that's his only edit in the last 6 months, I wouldn't hold my breath. ←] <sup>'']''</sup> ]→ 13:39, 28 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| : indicates that Boston-Concord-Montpelier is 155 mi, while is only 106 mi. ~]]] 17:42, 28 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
| = |
== Year in review == | ||
| I just received the WP year in review summary. 100 million edits world wide seemed low to me, until I saw 4+ billion bytes figure. Still trying to wrap my mind around these statistics. Did WP publish any kind of "deep dive" into this statistical analysis: minor vs major edits, bots, logged in vs logged off, etc.? Thanks. ] 15:36, 23 January 2025 (UTC) | |||
| == Stores and shopping malls == | |||
| = January 24 = | |||
| Which stores and shopping malls (anywhere on earth) have the most-complex mazes (complex branching passages), causing difficulty for customers who wish to navigate in them and to exit from them? I am providing links to archives of related discussions. | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| —] (]) 01:55, 29 November 2013 (UTC) | |||
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January 11
Young adult novel series called Blitzkrieg
Does anybody remember who was the author of a novel series, aimed at middle and high school students called Blitzkrieg? It was about a high school football team and I think it was or were published in the 1970s or 1980s. --Donmust90-- Donmust90 (talk) 00:49, 11 January 2025 (UTC)
- The series was actually called Blitz and was written by Paul Nichols (about whom we don't seem to have an article). There are some examples here. --Viennese Waltz 07:46, 11 January 2025 (UTC)
- "Paul Nichols" is the pen name of Robert Hawks (b. 1961). More about him here. He has also published under his own name, as well as young-adult horror under the pen name "M. T. Coffin" :). In any case, neither the author nor the books appear to meet Misplaced Pages's notability criteria. --Lambiam 09:42, 11 January 2025 (UTC)
January 20
Yokohama Chinatown
Detective Conan Episode 418 (14:31-14:56). Please, can you help me to find the name of the dress and the sword of that Chinese antique shop's owner, and that of the statue's face? You can see also these three files: 1, 2, 3. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.17.55.190 (talk) 10:16, 20 January 2025 (UTC)
- Don't post your question on more than one desk. Entertainment was the right place for it. --Viennese Waltz 09:06, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
Trump presidencies
Hello. Trump's current term is as the 47th president. The previous term, (45th), should be put together with the old respective dates in the template (2017-2021). Better not to merge the two terms together, it makes no sense, they are two different things: terms, dates and presidencies. Don't you agree? 93.150.82.178 (talk) 17:37, 20 January 2025 (UTC)
- The reference desk is not the place to discuss this. Better venues may be Talk:Donald Trump or (since the issue transcends the specific person who now happens to be in office) Misplaced Pages talk:WikiProject Presidents of the United States. The problem may be due to a limitation of {{Infobox officeholder}}, the design of which does not accommodate the possibility that the incumbent is a repeat offender. For the only other repeat offender thus far, Grover Cleveland, the issue could not arise since his repeated incumbency did not overlap with the lifetime of {{Infobox officeholder}}. --Lambiam 21:39, 20 January 2025 (UTC)
- If I'm reading the documentation right, you should be able to do it with that template. Use the
officefield for the first term and theoffice2field for the second term, withterm_startandterm_endbeing the dates for the first term, andterm_start2andterm_end2being the dates for the second term. Or maybe vice versa? --Trovatore (talk) 22:13, 20 January 2025 (UTC)- These infoboxes list offices (being) held in reverse chronological order, each with a heading identifying the office in a light bluish grey banner, like 13th Head honcho of Team America , below which there is an unbannered heading Assuming office, Assumed office or In office.
- The convention for nonconsecutive terms of an office held is that they are combined under one light bluish grey banner, as seen e.g. for Jerry Brown, 34th & 39th Governor of California .
- The convention for current office holders is the appearance of a second banner Incumbent , immediately below the office banner but in the same style; see e.g. Gavin Newsom.
- These two conventions don't combine well. --Lambiam 08:32, 22 January 2025 (UTC)
- If I'm reading the documentation right, you should be able to do it with that template. Use the
January 21
Peugeot models only available Europe or North America
Which models of Peugeot, made from 1970 to 2010, could be available only in North America if Peugeot was participating in the North American market?--Donmust90-- Donmust90 (talk) 20:45, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
- I don't think they made any model specifically for the North American market. They modified some existing models to make them conform to North American rules. The range of available models was always much smaller than in Europe. Xuxl (talk) 11:50, 22 January 2025 (UTC)
- You may be interested in Here’s how Peugeot tried and failed to remain relevant in America (YouTube clip). Alansplodge (talk) 11:57, 22 January 2025 (UTC)
January 23
Year in review
I just received the WP year in review summary. 100 million edits world wide seemed low to me, until I saw 4+ billion bytes figure. Still trying to wrap my mind around these statistics. Did WP publish any kind of "deep dive" into this statistical analysis: minor vs major edits, bots, logged in vs logged off, etc.? Thanks. Ditch ∝ 15:36, 23 January 2025 (UTC)