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Are people with Downs syndrome and autism more likely to be economically inactive in society? Are they a drain on taxpayers or do they pay their way in society? --] (]) 19:40, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
Are people with Downs syndrome and autism more likely to be economically inactive in society? Are they a drain on taxpayers or do they pay their way in society? --] (]) 19:40, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
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:As for Down's Sydrome, ] probably has more money than you. ] ] 01:05, ], ] (UTC)
:As for Down's Sydrome, ] probably has more money than you. ] ] 01:05, ], ] (UTC)
*Asked, answered, and archived--when it probably deserves hatting at the best. ] (]) 02:19, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
*Asked, answered, and archived--when it probably deserves hatting at the best. ] (]) 02:19, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
{{hat|Inappropriate comment}} ] 16:01, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
] 16:01, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Haha. I got you guys again!! So gullible the lot of you with your supposed superior intellects. Now answer this one. Why did Jimmy cross the road? Because he didn't want to catch down syndrome. !!!82.19.76.217!!! <small class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 15:35, 20 February 2015 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
Haha. I got you guys again!! So gullible the lot of you with your supposed superior intellects. Now answer this one. Why did Jimmy cross the road? Because he didn't want to catch down syndrome. !!!82.19.76.217!!! <small class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 15:35, 20 February 2015 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:(hatted as inappropriate)
:(hatted as inappropriate)
:::OP is indeffed and claims trolling was deliberate. ] (]) 18:20, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
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The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.
Who made the first Misplaced Pages edit, "This is the new WikiPedia!" under the name of office.bomis.com?
Tim Starling found old WikiPedia edits, including the first one, "This is the new WikiPedia!", which was made by office.bomis.com. Larry Sanger said that initially it was himself, Jimmy Wales, and Tim Shell who got Misplaced Pages started. Who's the most likely person to have typed "This is the new WikiPedia!" under the name of office.bomis.com? Icemerang (talk) 14:30, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
I don't know the answer, but you could try asking it on User talk:Jimbo Wales. Some people find it surprising that you can ask questions of Jimbo directly and actually get an answer! But he definitely reads his own talk page and quite often answers these kinds of question, and if anyone remembers the answer, it's probably him. SteveBaker (talk) 15:16, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
One of my four characters is a hacker. I'm not a hacker and I want to avoid the Hollywood problem where they behave nothing like a real hacker. I understand that real hacking involves a lot of patience and isn't like the "race against the clock gotta type fast" in movies. Nor do they "hack websites" as a website is more akin to a poster than a database (at least according to XKCD.) So how can I portray this character accurately? Please note I'm not asking for help with real life hacking, I'm not going to use this information to engage in real hacking, nor is my goal to educate my readers in how to hack. I just want to write realistically.
Note that a lot of it I plan to mention simply through dialogue, I.e. "Excuse me? I'd like to see YOU <<hacking thing>> without <<common mistake>>, hotshot!" So the exact type of hacking (I'm sure there are many) isn't that important. Its more of a backstory and anecdotes thing. --Ye Olde Luke (talk) 16:38, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
It's the same problem you'd have if you were writing a police procedural, or a forensic-science thing, or something in the world of horse racing or art auctions or stevedores or whatever. If you want a character to behave like a real expert in that field would (and not, as you say, like a silly Hollywood collection of stereotypes and nonsense) they're going to behave in a complex way that's specific to the circumstance. If you don't have skills in that field, your choices are either to find yourself a domain expert who will confidentially consult, or simply don't have a character who you don't understand (i.e. write what you know). It's pretty clear to me that Steig Larsson found himself a consultant for the hacky parts of Liesbet Salander, as they're fairly reasonable; specifically he doesn't go into too much detail as to the how, so he doesn't come unstuck on the details. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk17:09, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
RE: "Excuse me? I'd like to see YOU <<hacking thing>> without <<common mistake>>, hotshot!". Lower level hackers don't write their own hacking programs, but rather just adapt "off-the-shelf" hacks, written by others, to their own use. This sounds like just what you might be looking for in that quote. Others can give you the precise terminology for those off-the-shelf hacks. StuRat (talk) 17:16, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
These days there's more of a separation of responsibilities than there used to be, so it's quite reasonable for a professional computer crime organisation to be buying complete exploits off the (black market) shelf (ref) and rent time on someone else's botnet (ref). -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk19:10, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
Kevin Mitnick has an autobiography or two you might want to look into. A lot of his hacking wasn't even done at a computer. It was typically stuff like going through an office's garbage to get some employee name and phone numbers, using those to make a few more phone calls (alternating between pretending to a prospective customer, a new employee, or other role with each call). Now a days, it'd probably be emails from a disposable address instead of phone calls, after checking employee social media profiles, but same principle. After that, it's simply a matter of tricking someone into putting Remote desktop software on their computer that one accesses through a Proxy server if one doesn't want to engage in physical breaking-and-entering (since pretending to be a new employee is a little harder to do in person these days; though pretending to be a potential customer could possibly get one just enough time to plug a USB into the back of a computer maybe).
You may also want to watch this video from DEF CON 18 (and others), where a hacker how he had to hack his own computer to get it back from a burglar. In short: protection against hackers vs protection against "low-tech threats" can be almost incompatible.
Also, the following articles on Cracked are pretty informative: , , . The last is pretty fantastic, but still stuff that happened. Ian.thomson (talk) 18:03, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
I think much depends on how good you expect your fictional hacker to be. It's very easy to become a script kiddie - so you should easily be able to learn what they do and write a convincing depiction of that. However, the hard-core guys who develop the original exploits would be much harder to quantify - to convey what they do convincingly would probably require you to come up with at least once convincing exploit of your own...which would probably be very difficult. Then, at a level beyond that are the kinds of people who worked on things like Stuxnet - which required more than an individual hacker could achieve. In many cases, fictional hackers are depicted using real hacks that are old and well-documented. So, for example in "The Matrix Reloaded", Trinity is depicted as hacking into a super-computer that's controlling the electrical grid. The movie shows a screenful of text - which turns out to be from the program "NMap" - which is a hacker tool that searches for open port connections - it identifies an open "ssh" port - which in reality would give her the chance to get into that computer - then she runs "sshnuke" which is fictitious - but which seems to be using a fairly well-known CRC32 hack to get past the ssh security. So the depiction of her hack is pretty convincing - except that the, flaw in ssh that she's exploiting was fixed two years before the movie was released...although The Matrix has "plausible reasons" for it still working in the year 2186...which is that she's hacking into a computer in a virtual world that's probably still simulating the real world as it was before 2001.
The point is that this depiction of a hack was "realistic". People who don't understand hacking see a bunch of very convincing (because they are real) interactions taking place on the screen - and people who DO understand hacking smile and enjoy the fact that the script writers took the trouble to "Do It Right". Nobody could reasonably expect an accurate description of an exploit that is as yet undiscovered and unpatched.
So I think that Matrix Reloaded did an absolutely perfect job of depicting a somewhat formulaic attack on a relatively poorly defended computer.
That leads me to think that your depiction should do something similar. You could take the time to understand something like the SQL injection hack that still works well on a bunch of systems - and you should be able to write about it intelligently and fit it into your plot without too much trouble. SteveBaker (talk) 20:10, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
Not being ill
I know Misplaced Pages is no place to ask for medical advice, but this is a question about health and medicine, not a request for advice.
I've now been almost perfectly healthy for two years running. I haven't needed to take sick days off work since February 2013. During the entire time, I've only had a slight fever due to a possible slight food poisoning (it wore off the next morning) and a slight headache at night and slight sneezing during the day, but no fever, two weeks ago. That also wore off the next day. My father claims he has been almost perfectly healthy for over half a decade.
However, I hear reports of people taking sick days off work regularly at work, particularly now when it's winter here in Finland. (A very mild winter, though.)
I don't know about common. Anecdotally, I'll say that I'm sick at most once a year (not counting overconsumption of vodka ), but I also take relatively good care of myself foodwise and am generally much stronger and more durable than other people around me. So it might be good genes and healthy living. I'd read some article on mayoclinic and see what they have to say. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 27 Shevat 5775 21:09, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
From and related to the US:
"Overall, 67% of adults aged 18 and over last contacted a doctor or other health professional within the previous 6 months; 15% more than 6 months ago, but not more than 1 year ago; 9% more than 1 year ago, but not more than 2 years ago; 5% more than 2 years ago, but not more than 5 years ago; and 3% last contacted a doctor or other health professional more than 5 years ago. One percent of adults had never contacted a doctor or other health professional."
In total, 82% of US adults saw a doctor in the previous year. However, a person might see a doctor for reasons that don't involve acute illness, such as a well-patient exam, pregnancy, or prescription refill. Hence these figures probably overestimate the frequency of acute illness. Dragons flight (talk) 21:27, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
Common is very subjective.
In the US there are people willing to go to work when they have a "minor cold" which they then spread to others. There are people who will go to work with walking pneumonia. There are also unionized workers and others who have sick/personal days which they are encouraged to take and which they lose at the end of the year; i.e., the days don't accumulate over time, as they do with other employers.
For example, one of the biggest companies in the US offers one to four vacation weeks (based on seniority, scheduled at the beginning of the year, and only changed with management approval) plus 15 personal days, five of which can be taken without notice, and ten of which are basically vacation days, but which don't need to be scheduled as week-long blocks. This is in addition to 10 paid holidays such as Christmas, July4th, etc.
I worked in the real world after high school until I went to university at almost 30. I called out sick twice over about 10 years. One time was because I strained my back when working at UPS and was told not to work for two weeks. Because I was a probationary worker, not yet in the union, UPS fired me on the spot. (Then, strangely, they contacted me several times to ask how I was treated, how I was doing, and why I left.) The other was when I broke my arm at work due to employer negligence: I returned in a cast and worked as the broiler chef, who was the head of the kitchen after two weeks off recuperating from major surgery.
With all due respect, my questions was about actual health, not about sick days off work. This is a question about medicine and health, not about work culture. Besides, the work culture in the USA is way too different to the one here in Finland for me to make any conclusions. What I'm asking here is how common is it for a person not to contract even the slighest cold in two years, never mind where that person lives or works. JIP | Talk22:32, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
I am not offended by your clarification. But I don't think there's any way you're going to get an answer on actual health, versus reported health. My grandfathers apparently never took sick days, although one was tied to his bed for a week to overcome delirium tremens and the other was given electroshock therapy during a period of unemployment after he threw an old singer sewing machine through a wall. Young healthy people who are happy and employed will be different from older people with issues, regardless of actual infections, cancers, or testable metabolic diseases. Some people are hypochondriacs, who live to 90, others are workaholics who die at 50. The best thing would be to ask a more narrowly answerable question. μηδείς (talk) 01:24, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
If we take the figures presented above - that 82% of the American population visited a doctor over a 1 year period, which we may take as a proxy for being ill enough to justify taking time off work - and apply these to Finland's population, it is easy to show that over a 2 year period about 177,000 people will be in the same position as you, and that about 1,000 people will be in the same position as your father. However, these results rely on two things being true: first, we assume that illness rates are about the same in the US as in Finland, and second, we assume that being ill in one year is not correlated with being ill in another year. There's no particular reason to suspect that the overall propensity to illness is generally different between the US and Finnish populations, though a more detailed analysis would certainly show up many specific differences at the individual level. The second assumption is almost certainly false: if someone suffers from a chronic condition, they are more likely to be ill over several years; if someone has generally good health, they are likely not to need to visit the doctor regularly. This means that there will be more people in the same position as you and your father, so the numbers calculated above will be underestimates (and probably substantial underestimates). So to answer your question in very general terms, it is likely that neither you nor your father is particularly unusual. RomanSpa (talk) 08:45, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
Can you purchase Haute Couture pieces?
Haute couture clothing pieces from runway shows of top designer houses Like Gucci or Chanel have often been compared to concept cars. Generally concepts cars are not available for sale, but are these runway pieces available for sale to the general public? Acceptable (talk) 20:54, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
I think for the really classy stuff you need to contact them direct. They sell them in all sorts of extravagant ways then. Several year waiting lists, having. The actual sale conducted on a yacht, etc. A family member did research in this and for that Louis Vuitton does that kind of thing with their bags. Some of them cost as much as 2 million USD. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 27 Shevat 5775 21:00, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
Like many things, the answer is "it depends" - it depends on the rarity of the item, the exclusivity of the materials used, the famousness of the designer and the model who wore it, the exposure it received during its runway show, etc. As Flinders suggests, it can be possible to access some of those items from the designers themselves, but generally not right away. Initially the designer is likely to want to get the most out of it by having it on display in show rooms, other shows, high-end shops, etc. Later, pieces can be auctioned off (as suggested above) and more iconic pieces might end up in specific collections (fashion museums, etc). Others might be gifted to celebrities or loaned to fashion schools or go on display at the designer's own gallery/show room/offices. In that way, those pieces remain similar to those concept cars. But just like concept cars, some will go on sale. This is an interesting article and there are auction houses dedicated to the sale of haute couture like Kerry Taylor and Artcurial which sells art, fashion pieces and rare cars. St★lwart00:56, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
The lower end fancy stuff, the kind of thing that's only a measly few thousand/tens of thousands of dollars, you can also find in suitably fancy shops in fancy parts of the fancier cities (New York, London, Paris, Milan, etc). But yes, as Stalwart said, there's a whole other level to the fanciest of the fancy (sorry, I just like that word), which is meant to nurture what's called snob appeal (which lacks its own article amazingly enough) where the buyer both desires a certain feeling of being made to feel special (and has the cash to afford it) as well as getting something that not everyone/no one else can have. So to answer your question, yes they're available, but only for a hefty sum and sometimes only by invitation. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 28 Shevat 5775 03:01, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
"Fanciest of the fancy" - I like that. Interestingly, Artcurial (linked above) has quite a few "fancy" pieces which have sold for only "a few thousand" euros. It seems that once the "best" stuff is gone, the rest is consigned to auction houses that sell a mix of top and second-tier stuff, vintage stuff and collectors pieces. It seems if you're really in the market for such things, you can get very lucky on occasion. St★lwart03:06, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
When did catwalks start getting called runways, by the way? I've only ever called them catwalks, but now this other term seems to be gaining traction. --Viennese Waltz06:27, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
Probably at the same time as the models wasted away to the size and shape of gigantic stick insects, they learned how (or possibly underwent painful and irreversible surgery) to make their shoulder blades meet in the middle of their backs, and they unlearned how to walk like normal human beings and adopted an unnatural and creepy gait redolent of some sci-fi nightmare. Talk about drawing attention to themselves in the most grotesque way imagineable, and away from whatever clothes they're meant to be showing off. But then, modelling has long since become all about the models and their careers and their fantastic celebrity lifestyles and their short-lived celebrity marriages, which are obviously launched from runways like the aircraft they are.</nonsequitur> How else can we account for the existence of "super-models"? -- Jack of Oz20:17, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
A rather robust stick insect. (I only read this comment because I thought it was something about phasmids, of which your country is blessed in abundance. Oh well, at least some stick insects have curves :) SemanticMantis (talk) 20:59, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
It probably became PC not to refer to them as catwalks, although why they call them runways when nobody runs must be due to the same people who insist that parkways are for driving and driveways for parking. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:15, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
Thank you everyone for the responses. As a follow up, suppose an individual has the good fortunes to be invited to purchase a fancy haute couture piece and has the financial means to do so, would the designer re-make and custom tailor the piece to the buyer's body? Or is the buyer just purchasing the one-off piece that the model wore for the runway show? Acceptable (talk) 01:08, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
The links provided above suggest both are possible. Customisation/fitting seems more likely where the designer has partnered with a particular auction house to sell off part of a collection. In those cases, the designer is working with the auction house to sell the pieces and, I imagine, if that was the request from a potential buyer, there's no reason that couldn't be accommodated. But where the auction house is selling someone else's collection, the buyer would have to separately contact the designer with such a request. Interestingly, not dissimilar to your original analogy of rare cars. St★lwart03:06, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
February 17
I have purchased whey protein and want to make a protein milkshake. Which kitchen appliance shall I use for that ?
I use a hand blender, as it's easiest to clean. But make sure to wash (or at least put in water) the blender and jug shortly after use, as if you leave protein residue to dry out, it sets into adamantium and can never be successfully removed. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk13:33, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
There are a bunch of different companies that make bottles with agitators you can shake which (to varying degrees of success) are made to blend stuff like this. They're all based on the old Tupperware "Gravy mixer" container. See Here for various designs. They're usually easy to use, cheap (so you can buy several) and easy to clean in the dishwasher. Lots of people who use protein shakes use these to mix them. --Jayron3217:23, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
A simple whisk can also get the job done. Sure, you have to have some forearm strength and stamina, but usually people who drink lots of protein shakes are trying to get stronger... SemanticMantis (talk) 20:54, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
I'd rather say it's the approach that will build the most strength and dexterity. Most of the best whiskers I know are women. I've yet to see a man able to whip 4 cups of heavy cream without taking a rest, yet my grandmother could do it with relative ease. Gender norms are weird that way... SemanticMantis (talk) 17:02, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
I say manly in a tongue-in-cheek way as some of the strongest people and best pickaxers I know are women (comes with being an archaeologist) while many men are useless, and most of the women I know—save for the Italians—don't know how to cook whereas many guys I know are pretty good at it (which is just fine because then you can amaze the women with great cooking skills). On a side note, you've clearly never seen me make Black Forest cupcakes with such a statement. I get it done. Though my statement is a mere single example. With few exceptions, gender norms are pretty much dead in my neck of the woods. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 29 Shevat 5775 22:44, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
You could also put the ingredients in a bottle, put the lid on securely, and shake it up. If exercise is a goal, this seems to make more sense. The best option is if you have access to bottles you don't mind tossing out. For example, if you or somebody else drinks soda from bottles, just a quick rinse should be needed to make it usable for your protein shake. Then you don't need to worry about washing the bottle after you are done, just toss it (or maybe give it a quick rinse if you return or recycle bottles.) You might need a funnel to get the powder into the bottle, but that doesn't need to be washed between uses (although I would seal it in a plastic bag, since bugs might find any protein powder residue tempting).
Also, if you're mixing it with milk, then using the milk bottle might make sense, although you may need to drink some milk first, to make room for the powder and air (to get a good mixing action when you shake it). StuRat (talk) 17:12, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
"Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till the butter congealeth!" --Isaiah KJV μηδείς (talk) 01:14, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
The mixer is the cleanest approach, as long as you hold the lid on, and it allows you to add ice chips or fruit, etc., as you like. A whisk will splash and leave a residue of unmixed powder. This is a better question though for a forum, since what is best for you is not something we can really answer. μηδείς (talk) 22:50, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
February 18
best home page ever
We have Best Home Page Ever as our home page and there are pictures at the top of the website which you can click on and find information about the pictures. There is one showing about 8 to 10 wooden houses in a village that I have tried numerous times to click onto and each time I am taken to a different picture. I would like for someone to correct the problem and put a reference link with the picture so I can find out where this was taken. Thank you ET — Preceding unsigned comment added by What'suptwo (talk • contribs) 23:19, 18 February 2015 (UTC)
Dear What'suptwo your question is somewhat unclear, are you talking about the Misplaced Pages home page? I suggest you provide the URL (http address) of the page in question so we can see what you are talking about, or ask at the Misplaced Pages:Help_desk which deals specifically with questions about wikipedia. μηδείς (talk) 01:08, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
How do the British courts deal with crimes committed when they were illegal that have since become decriminalized?
Lets say for example, buggery. The Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalized buggery in certain circumstances (consensual, between two people, in private). Before that, it was a crime outright. If a man in 2015 admitted committing buggery in 1965, before the law changed, he is admitting to a crime. How do the British courts deal with such cases? Could he be retroactively punished because he did break the law at the time? I know this works the other way where things that become illegal can't be retroactively punished if they happened before the law changed.
ps: I'm not talking about buggery specifically, it is just an example of an illegal act that has since been decriminalized. Another example might be the decriminalized of copying DVDs for personal use.
It could well depend on some important factors, including but not limited to: (1) Does the law have a statute of limitations? (2) Is there a political reason or a "public will" to prosecute old crimes which are no longer crimes? (3) Other than confessing to it, is there any other evidence? ←Baseball Bugscarrots→ 12:39, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
First of all, there are three legal systems in the UK, that of England&Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Coming back to your question, IIRC, you can only be punished to the extent of the law at the time of the offence, and the current law. If the law has changed, then the lower punishment is imposed. However, if this is relating to someone you know (or even you), then you must ask a criminal lawyer to get a definitive answer. LongHairedFop (talk) 13:18, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
In England and Wales the decision to prosecute a person for a crime is taken by the Crown Prosecution Service. The decision to prosecute people is not always clear cut, they regularly decline to prosecute people because it is not in the public interest. The scenario painted above would very likely fall into that category. Richard Avery (talk) 08:39, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
What about those currently serving a sentence, and then the "crime" is decriminalised. Is there a process to free them in England and Wales? --Lgriot (talk) 13:58, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
That is an interesting scenario but in practice I think it unlikely that a person would be imprisoned for a crime that would later be decriminalized. As a crime/action rises in its acceptance level to the point of being non-criminal, the offenders are similarly treated more leniently. Richard Avery (talk) 14:25, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
More high society and antiquarian names
Hey all, so continuing topic here, I've found that letting you lot at these names is the most efficient approach for this little project of mine it seems. These fellows have thankfully uncommon names and would have been active around 1955 to 1966 (and other years, but definitely active in this timeframe). Anyway, here's the names: Calmann, Crowson, Garabed, Abarbanell, Genova, Dr. Cahn, Shefton, Delaine, R.T. Clough, Lucie-Smith, H. Knill, E. Fischer, Guthrie. Oh, also a Prof. Bodkin active in 1953. I should have a second batch of names later today as well. Thanks again for everyone's help. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 30 Shevat 5775 14:16, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
Shipping small item from Australia to the U.S.
I wanted to buy a small piece of costume jewelry from a store in Australia, and I was surprised to see that they charged $40 to ship to the United States. This was almost as much as the cost of the jewelry! Is it typically this expensive to ship something from Australia to the United States? I found several comments on Yahoo! Answers that shipping to Australia from the US doesn't cost this much, but I haven't found anything about going the other direction. Thanks! OldTimeNESter (talk) 14:39, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
Not usually, no, unless it's heavy or you have to pay customs duties. I ship stuff to and receive stuff from Aus a few times a year and it's not all that pricey for me or my friend there (like under 20 USD). Also, was your price just now in AUD or USD? Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 30 Shevat 5775 14:45, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
According to the Australia Post website, a small parcel from Australia to the US should be A$10.50 for Sea Mail or A$14.10 for Air Mail {source - click continue). You may be paying for insurance or for priority service. Hack (talk) 14:47, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
Do tell! If it were me, I would buy it, take it home, package it myself, and take it to the post office to send it directly. A little more work, but not 40 dollars worth. ←Baseball Bugscarrots→ 16:34, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
There isn't any real indication this relates to what's covered in Australia tax in any way. Also there's no real indication Australia Post is involved. It's hardly uncommon stores are only willing to ship items via some sort of courier instead of the local postal service for a variety of reasons (although the courier service could be offered by the postal service). In fact, many Australians have probably experienced this with US sellers. Believe me getting stuff sent to Australia (or New Zealand) can easily be just as expensive, if not more so. That's presuming you can even get them to ship. (Although at least Australia Post actually offer insurance for their standard airmail service or they do to US anyway as does NZ Post. USPS doesn't offer that on first class mail internationally, you need priority mail for that which can be expensive, at least for plebs.) Nil Einne (talk) 17:32, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
My apologies, that was in reply to Bugs's thing. And believe me, I know. Getting my friend's valentine sent to Aus was not cheap and priority would have been a ton. Though thanks to your input here I was able to send it without worrying about he gift being confiscated. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 30 Shevat 5775 18:35, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
It depends on the type of shipping. If all the vendor wants to do is get a parcel from Australia to the United States then yes, it can be done fairly cheaply. If the vendor wants to have package tracking (so you can see where your shipment is) and signature on delivery (so the vendor has proof you received it in the event of a dispute) then that costs more. ("Express Courier International Merchandise" seems to be the lowest parcel option that includes signature and tracking, and costs 56 AUD, or about 40 USD.) It's also possible that the vendor is including customs brokerage fees or insurance. Your best best, of course, is simply to ask the vendor how the shipping costs are calculated. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 17:41, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
In the Biblical book of John, four men were listed as the brothers of Jesus. My understanding is that after Joseph died Mary went to live with her sister and all the people of that household were considered family IN THAT CULTURE. Therefore the men who were actually cousins of Jesus was listed as brothers because that would be fully understood in that culture. Is this correct or wrong? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eronile (talk • contribs) 20:33, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
Wow, it's like deja vu. Wow, it's like deja vu. The same (or similar) question is being asked at the Misc desk. Should that one and this one be merged? ←Baseball Bugscarrots→ 21:07, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
There is a Greek word for "cousin", as our article notes:
The term "brother" (adelphos) is distinct in Greek from "cousin" (anepsios), and the second-century Christian writer Hegesippus distinguishes between those who were "cousins" of Jesus (anepsioi) and his "brothers."
Nobody in the New Testament ever refers to Jesus' cousins, only to his brothers (Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:55, John 7:3, Acts 1:14, 1 Corinthians 9:5). Consider James the Just, the most well-attested of the brothers. Mark and Matthew both call him Jesus' brother, as does Paul, who personally met him (Galatians 1:18-19). Even the Jewish historian Josephus refers to him as "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James". --Bowlhover (talk) 00:51, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
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Are people with Downs syndrome and autism more likely to be economically inactive in society? Are they a drain on taxpayers or do they pay their way in society? --Garststrap (talk) 19:40, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
The question is far too broad. First, autism and Down's syndrome are totally unrelated. It's like comparing hemophilia and anorexia, or tabby cats and bonsai trees. Second, each has a very broad spectrum, and there are certainly famous and rich people with both issues. (And autism cannot be diagnosed physiologically.) Third, "drain on society" implies a socialist political system, where parents don't support their own children. Not to be crude, but is a pet horse a "drain on society"?
(edit conflict)Not to bite your head off or anything, but could you perhaps ask your question in a less loaded (and offensive) manner? Also, the two really are not comparable. Autism Spectrum Disorder ranges all over the place in terms of severity and symptoms and many people with ASD are not only productive members of society, but also history makers although I can't get a list right now of historical people thought to have ASD. Down's Syndrome is a bit trickier as it tends to have an impact on the person's lifespan as well as their physical and mental capabilities. That said, there are more than a few cases of individuals with Down's syndrome who are economically successful. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 30 Shevat 5775 20:00, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
In the interests of Political Correctness, the approved terms appear to be "Down syndrome" in the USA and "Down's" (no 'syndrome') in the UK. Do not ask me why the terms are different between nations, or why "Down's syndrome" is considered offensive. Tevildo (talk) 23:10, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
Approved by whom? I have a severly autistic niece and went to elementary school with three mentally retarded children, two of whom had Down's syndrome. There was nothing down about them. Political Correctness is as offensive as Sharia; a Marxist-Leninist doublethink concept straight out of Orwell's 1984. To hell with it. (Nothing personal, Tevildo, since I know you are just reporting here. μηδείς (talk) 23:50, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
I think we're all in agreement here that political correctness needs to be killed with a rusty trench spike. I was objecting to the drain on society stuff it had been a serious display of ignorance rather than simply trolling. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 1 Adar 5775 00:16, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
This has little to do with political correctness (whatever that empty phrase means to you). Health conditions which take their name from the physician who first identified them are in modern parlance within medical literature more commonly given without any apostrophisation. Supposedly this is a recommendation from the US National Institute of Health in 1974 although there is no absolute standard on this and some medical literature continues to use the version with the possessive. Overall the possessive form has become less common in the last 40 odd years although some diseases or syndromes have lost their apostrophes at a faster rate than others and the adoption of the non-possessive form has been more widespread in the US than in Europe . On the specific assertion that "Down's" without the word syndrome is the "approved" term in the UK, and "Down's syndrome" is offensive I would dispute this. British speakers may often say "he has Down's" etc. but this is a colloquialism and no different to someone saying "he has Parkinson's" or "he has Asperger's". The NHS Choices website uses the term "Down's syndrome" as does the British Medical Association website as does the main British Down's Syndrome charity . Valiantis (talk) 00:41, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Autism is a tough one - it's a spectrum condition that runs all the way from near-normal people through Asperger syndrome to very profound Autism. At the extreme Autistic end, sufferers are typically unable to live independently - so they may indeed be a "drain on society" - at least from an economic perspective. But at the opposite end, people with Aspergers can be high wage earners and responsible for important discoveries and developments and are far from "economically inactive" or a "drain"...quite the opposite in fact. Whether this is a zero sum thing - or whether there is a net win or loss would be hard to determine. Downs syndrome is more clear, it doesn't have much of an up-side, so there is inevitably some cost to society...but "economically inactive" is a bit much - many victims can hold down a job of some kind. SteveBaker (talk) 23:31, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
The OP who posted this question has made no other contributions, so I suspect they have desired to create a controversy. If that's the case, I'll say that children, the elderly, pets and the unemployed, as well as the disabled are individuals with a right to life and care by those who they have created or who created them. The parasite seems to be the OP. μηδείς (talk) 23:55, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
The successful fictional weirdo from Nightcrawler gives a glimpse of the real power of autistics' one-track thinking, attention to detail and disregard for others' feelings.
No need to get unfriendly about it. I was told that was the primary symptom by a few psychiatrists and a rather rude family member when I was young. Seemed authoritative to nine year-old me in the late 90s and had no reason to be challenged given the sources. Blame psychiatrists for giving bad diagnoses (I'm often old I care too much). Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 1 Adar 5775 01:09, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Even among them, everyone's different. But yeah, I should have said some autistics. There's also a bit of the grey area between autism and "serious" sociopathy in that film. They're certainly not mutually exclusive (or inclusive). InedibleHulk(talk) 00:52, February 20, 2015 (UTC)
This opinion is not necessarily endorsed by the DSM-V, which is absolutely not endorsed by InedibleHulk. InedibleHulk(talk) 00:58, February 20, 2015 (UTC)
I actually have Aspergers/Autism-spectrum (sorry, I should probably have mentioned this earlier!) - it is absolutely NOT true that we have a "lack of regard" for other people's feelings. Very much the opposite, in fact. What we do (mostly) lack is the ability to deduce other people's feelings from cues such as facial expression, body language, subtle language cues, voice intonation and such. I'm sure that my wife could tell you that I generally have no clue if she's feeling mildly upset about something, or a little depressed, or being about to tell me something wonderful - so I may appear to be unfeeling about it, and react entirely inappropriately. But she's learned to tell me how she feels, and when she does, I have no problem whatever in having genuine feelings for her situation and taking appropriate action as a result. So without doubt, I do have regard for other people's feelings (and it's kinda insulting to imply that I don't without first checking the facts, or at least RTFA). What I most certainly do lack is that Dianna-Troy/Betazoid capability to magically detect other people's emotional states...(that StarTrek character is *exactly* how you 'normal' people seem to me!).
I have explicitly learned to use certain facial variations to see obvious emotional states - anger, joy, etc. Tone of voice is more or less impossible as a cue, and I find it almost impossible to detect anything from word choice. The subtle stuff can be too subtle for me to detect it on a conscious level and continually monitoring everyone around me for those more obvious signs is exhausting! The mental circuitry that picks up on these tiny signals at a subconscious level is either broken or missing in my brain - there isn't anything I can do about that.
The idea that people on the autistic spectrum are sociopaths who don't care about the humanity of others is a really very serious misconception! The problem is not with how we react to other people's internal state - it's about how we detect it. Of course it's possible for someone with autism to also be a sociopath - but that's no different from also having depression or also having a broken leg...it's an unrelated matter.
Dbfirs 16:01, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Haha. I got you guys again!! So gullible the lot of you with your supposed superior intellects. Now answer this one. Why did Jimmy cross the road? Because he didn't want to catch down syndrome. !!!82.19.76.217!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.202.164.50 (talk) 15:35, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
While going home from work, I passed by a guy who was exercising in a park. He has strapped some sort of elastic contraption to a lamppost and pull it within certain intervals. I usually just ignore such people but this one has some sort of gas mask on. The mask only covers the bottom part of his face. The mask caused me to hear his breathing which seems to need some exertion to do so.
So what is he doing? Some sort of intense breathing exercise or does he want to become Bane?
Sorry in advance for not providing an image, it was dark and I thought it was a bad idea to take a pic of a musclebound guy without his consent. --Lenticel03:09, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
The most obvious answer (to my mind) is that he was wearing an Elevated Training Mask. You see these in coastal and low-lying areas where genuine altitude training isn't practically possible. I seem to recall them being popular in the Netherlands for cyclists training for Alps and mountain events, for example. They have a range of purposes and our article altitude training has more details. Of course, he could genuinely be a super-villain or an actor practising for a movie role. St★lwart05:21, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Interesting. I understand simulated altitude training via "mask-based hypoxicator system where the barometric pressure is kept the same, but the oxygen content is reduced which also reduces the partial pressure of oxygen" (per our altitude training article), but the Elevated Training Mask you linked to is simply a restricted flow device with different resistance valves to simulate different altitudes. Would that make this is a form of hypoventilation training? I don't see this style of mask discussed in either article. -- ToE13:13, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Down on the ground. It's a gerbil. It's a sloth. It's Allergy Man, a founding member of the Legion of Less-than-super Heroes. (Aquaman is an honorary member.) Clarityfiend (talk) 07:34, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
I'd actually considered that... but muscle-bound guy in a park in the dark... dounded like he was having trouble breathing (one of the key features of the high altitude masks). Seemed unlikely that it was cold enough for the guy to need such a mask but warm enough to be exercising in the park in clothing revealing enough to know he was muscle-bound (in the dark). But still more likely than "it was Bane". St★lwart12:40, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Apologies - it seems that User:Lenticel may be writing from the Philippines (at least, he went to university there according to his user page) and it's probably not snowing there. It was the picture of the American policeman that made me bark up the wrong tree. Alansplodge (talk) 14:00, 20 February 2015 (UTC)'
Could it be the person is particularly worried about haze or air pollution? (I don't think the Philippines is as affected as much as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia or Brunei, supported by Southeast Asian haze and I don't think there's currently major problems but if you're in a major metropolitian city , particularly Manila, I would guess air quality may be suspect at times.) Many people simply wear surgical or simple dust masks which aren't particularly effective. Disposable N95 masks are recommended and are possibly somewhat effective . even I supposed for sterenous activity when the air pollution is only mild. But I guess a person particularly worried may use a catridge respirator, not concerned about the increased effort for breathing required or perhaps considering it an advantage for reasons mentioned above and I guess not concerned about how they look or the discomfort of wearing such a device. I could suggest it's User:Count Iblis, but their previous comment suggests they're not living in the Philippines (if that's where you live), even if they are concerned about air pollution while exercising. Nil Einne (talk) 14:44, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
World heritage cities
The City of Bath is in total a world heritage site. I understand that there is only one other city in the world which is in total a world heritage site. Can you tell me which city it is please? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.237.83.176 (talk) 12:15, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
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What is the most laziest/relaxed country when it comes to potty training? I see that many African countries train their kids very early, but is there a culture, or country that trains their kids very late, for example, past the age of 3? --Walffodton (talk) 12:44, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
Learning to go outside and squat behind a bush still qualifies as "potty training", whether or not there is an actual "potty". The critical thing to be learned is not to go in your pants. I would suspect that richer nations might wait longer, since it makes a lot less mess if you can afford disposable diapers, baby wipes, etc. StuRat (talk) 17:08, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
