This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Aytakin (talk | contribs) at 02:49, 27 November 2005 (→Music in People's Diamond commericlas!). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Reference Desk

November 18

Twin Towers of New York City

I would like to know when the Twin Towers in New York City were built. I think they started building them in the late 60's, but didn't finish them until later. I need to know the dates they were being built. Thank you very much for helping me with this dilema.

4.239.231.121 01:44, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

According to this page], construction for the World Trade Center began in 1966. The north tower was opened in December 1970 and the south tower in January 1972; they were dedicated in April 1973. Our article just states they were constructed from 1966-1972. - Nunh-huh 01:48, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Fair Use of Trademarks

On this site I see a picture of a bottle that says Bayer Heroin on it. The picture is new but the bottle is very old. The author of the picture says that the picture was taken by him/her and is being released into the public domain. (There is also an advertisement of Bayer on the same page with no mention of its lawful use.)

Does the author have the right to release a picture with a trademark into the public domain? Do I have a right to use the picture with a trademark on it? In other words would it be fair use to use use the picture in my website in an article about heroin's history?

Sigal USA

There's no problem with reproducing a trademark in an educational context. If you were using it to sell heroin, you'd have a problem. - Nunh-huh 03:50, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Does the author have the right to release a picture with a trademark into the public domain? Yes. Herostratus 03:50, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

11.18.05 THANK YOU very much for your answers; so fast and so helpful. Do you know where I can find it simply written on a govenment site? Thanks again.

Sigal USA

The Walking Drum (Film)

About 13 years ago I saw an idependent film called The Walking Drum. The film was about gypsies from all over the world. Since then I have not been able to locate a copy.

Where can I get a copy?

Sigal USA

• There was a movie called Latcho Drom (1993) which otherwise meets your description. If that's what you're thinking of, it's still available on VHS. --Metropolitan90 04:41, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

11.18.05 You are amazing. I cannot believe you knew what I was talking about. I was starting to think I imagined seeing this movie. Thank you.

t-bone

what does t-bone mean as in "t-boned by a vehicle" or something like that involving motor vehicle accident?

A t-bone occurs when one vehicle (going, say, north-south) runs straight into a vehicle on an approximately 90 degree angle (going, say, east-west). The informal term comes from a T-bone steak, which got its name from its resemblence to the letter T. --Maxamegalon2000 05:35, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Phone numbers

If one number was added to phone numbers to make it a 11 digit phone number, How many more phone numbers would potentialy be available?

There are 10,000,000,000 (10 billion) possible numbers that can be created with ten digits. There are 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) possible numbers that can be created with eleven digits. Eleven digits allows for 90,000,000,000 (90 billion) more combinations. --Maxamegalon2000 05:31, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

I meant, lets say i have the phone number: 212-555-0112. Phone numbers could potentially runout then you could add one digit, then a new phone number would be: 212-555-01120. Wouldn't this only add 10 extra numbers per 10 digit number. Also, 100 billion phone number are not available right now, because there are no Area codes and prefixes that begin with 1 or 911.

I don't get your reasoning. Adding one digit will add 10 extra numbers per 10 digit number. But there are 10 of those. Also, I suppose you're talking about US numbers (given the fact that you don't specify that). I don't know how that works, but in the Netherlands we also have 10 digit numbers (for less than one tenth of the population!). Cities get a three-digit code with 7 digits remaining for the population of the city. Which corresponds to 10 million. In the case of Amsterdam that's already an overkill (less than a million inhabitants), but for other cities its even worse (Heerlen also has a three-digit code but less than 100.000 inhabitants. With 9 digits it would still be way sufficient for Heerlen, but Amsterdam might run into a problem if its' population grows. So you lose a lot of numbers to this 'overhead'. Unless you distribute the numbers at random, not using city codes. DirkvdM 08:23, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Spoof in a Simpsons episode

In the Simpsons episode Boy-Scoutz N the Hood, there's a few scenes where a bunch of campers head into the woods and are trailed by two shadowy figures. Towards the end, they're attacked while sitting around the campfire. I was wondering if anyone could tell me whether the writers made this up, or if it's a spoof of something? Deliverance came to mind, but only the vibe of it (none of the specific incidents).

SNPP.com also claims the rafting scene is from Deliverance. - Akamad 06:39, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

I always assumed that it was a spoof of the Slasher Horror genre in general:

• • Group gets lost in spooky woods.
  • Finds abandoned hut/town/summer camp.
  • Sits around happy, despite the fact that the viewer knows something awful will happen
  • Someone (Ernest Borgnine in this case) gets attacked by strange monster when he least suspects.

smurrayinchester 15:59, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Type of Music in Fashion stores such as Zara, armani exchange

What is the type of music called that retail fashion stores such as Zara, armani exchange, aldo, etc. play during hours of operation and where do they find this kind of music?

Thanks

You may mean Muzak or Elevator music AllanHainey 09:01, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

When was the last time you were in an elevator that played Muzak? They seemed to disappear about 40 years ago. alteripse 10:22, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Strictly speaking, muzak refers to the music published by one company, but more in general it has come to mean music that is designed not to be specific so it doesn't irritate specific shoppers. Which of course in itself irritates music lovers. DirkvdM 11:51, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Eddie Cooper

I'm planning an article on young actor Eddie Cooper. I think his filmography speaks for itself when it comes to notability, but I would still like to boost it by properly including his voice acting on the game of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Electronic Arts. Unfortunately, Google is being a pain. Loads of sites are copying eachother and none state the character he voices. Could someone with the game in their posession help out and tell me which character he voice and possibly source it with the game manual or something? - Mgm| 11:46, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

El Nino research vesseal

Looking for the name or a picture of a research vessel ship that studies the El Nino by completely turning vertical and i mean with one end out of the water. cant find any website with a picture or info so any help is much appreciated

It took a bit of searching on google but I found the ship that you're probably thinking of. It's been some time since I heard about this in the news... The ship is called FLIP and is apparently made by a company called Scripps. We also have an article about it here, R/P FLIP. --Dismas| 17:43, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Scripps Institution of Oceanography is the operator of the vessel, not the maker. Rmhermen 03:32, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Why is Misplaced Pages so slow?

Just wondering. Misplaced Pages is a great resource, but at times it is just so slow that googling for information is much quicker. Is the bottleneck in the server, the bandwidth, the database...? --Kainaw 15:30, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Might this be of use to you? --Optichan 20:54, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Computers with modem's or cable servers are usually slow if you have dsl wow in another world. I think? --Maoririder 20:57, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Person

Hi I need information on Jean Anne Kennedy Smith. 8th child of Joseph Patrick Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennnedy. Sister of the 35th President of the USA.

I need a boigraphy on her, she was born 20 February 1928, married Stephen Edward Smith 19 May 1956. I need to know her schooling achievemnts and general information, children etc.,

The article here doesn't have her middle name in it: Jean Kennedy Smith. --Kainaw 17:18, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

SAARE- Commercial Scheme

SAARE is an abreviation of a US calculation scheme. It covers certain cost e.g. a for administration and helps to come from a purchase price e.g purchase price X plus 15 % saare plus 5 % margin. Any ideas

fenway park

Hi i would like to know the area coverd by grass in fenway park and the type of grass in the park .It does not have to be the actual values i just need an estimate .I have to approximate the blades of grass in the park and i am hopping this will help me get an estimate

                             thank you

The article on Fenway Park provides the dimensions of the park. You would however have to subtract the area of the dirt infield. Dismas| 17:45, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Mack Daddy?

What you got? --Maoririder 17:54, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm sorry. The server could not complete your request. Optichan 20:56, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

• He'll make you Jump? (And so will Daddy Mack.) --Bob Mellish 21:25, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Mack Daddy not Daddy Mack but thanks

"Mack Daddy" is a character in the animated TV show Daria. The article explains who he is.--Commander Keane 08:53, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Is Elvis Presley alive?

Is it possible that Elvis hoaxed his death?

Everything is possible. Elvis hoaxing his death is improbable. --Kainaw 20:02, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Actually, not everything is possible. JackofOz 00:02, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

For example, it's impossible for me to crawl through your monitor screen as if it were air, crawl through a tunnel to the other end, and come out of your monitor screen. Well, maybe. Yeltensic42.618 05:23, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

That sounds like a challenge. --Optichan 20:35, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Zeppelins

As a child in the mid 1930s, I recall seeing a German Zeppelin fly over my home town of Johnstown Pa. This caused much excitement and the newspapers speculated that the Germans were photographing our steel mills.my question is: Was this the Graf Zeppelin or the Hindenburg?

Kenneth S. Tomb

Almost certainly the Graf - the Hindenburg was not completed until 1936, and was only used for the Atlantic passenger run. The Graf was the 'show' airship which did world tours and the like. David | Talk 21:33, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

hastings a coup

does the battle of hastings count as a coup d`etat.

• Not by conventional definitions. Shimgray | talk | 22:45, 18 November 2005 (UTC)
• It was an invasion

Table football

Do we have an article like de:Menschenkicker, table football but with real-sized people? I'll write it if we don't, just gimme a reminder. --Wonderfool t(c) 23:24, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Europe

My daughter is doing a project on Europe and needs information on the following:

Bodies of Water: Oceans (bordering), Seas, Rivers, Lakes, Gulfs and Bays

Landforms: Mountain Ranges (highest mountain, lowest point), prairies/grasslands, Deserts and Islands

Borders-Gen. Info.: Bordering Continents, Number of Countries and their names (lines of Latitude/Longitude from ____ degrees (N,S) to _____ degrees (E,W), hemispheres it is in

Can you PLEASE help us and provide any information? Thank you for any help you can provide. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.63.31.250 (talk • contribs)

With all due respect, if someone just gives her all these answers, then she won't learn the most important lesson: how to find information by herself. If she doesn't know where to start, have her look at maps of Europe and search Misplaced Pages for articles of the individual countries. --Avijja 23:54, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm feeling sympathetic to anyone wanting out of schoolwork, so I'll answer (sorry, Avijja).

Oceans: The Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean

Seas: some are the Mediterranean, the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea (sort of an arm of the Mediterrranean), the Tyrhennian Sea (Mediterranean arm, I think that's the right spelling, but maybe not), the Aegean Sea (another arm), the Black Sea, the English Channel doesn't have "sea" in the name but I think it counts.

Rivers: some are the Volga, the Danube, the Rhine, the Ruhr, the Rhone, the Loire, the Don, the Thames, the Shannon, the Severn, the Humber, the Ouse, the Mersey, the Tyne, the Neva, the Po.

Lakes: The Caspian Sea is despite its name the largest lake in the world, Lake Geneva, Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, Lough Neagh.

Gulfs: The Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland

Bays: The Bay of Biscay, the Bay of Naples, the Wash, Tor Bay, Morecambe Bay.

Mountain Ranges: The Alps, the Caucasus Mountains, the Ural Mountains, the Jura Mountains, the Kjolen Mountains, the Apennines, the Grampians, the Cumbrians, the Cambrians, the Pennines, the Pyrenees, the Sierra Nevada, the Carpathians.

Europe's highest point is Mount Elbrus in Russia, in the Caucasus Mountains. The highest point in Europe other than Russia (which is mostly in Asia) is Mont Blanc on the border of France and Italy, in the Alps.

Deserts: To the best of my knowledge, Europe's only desert is Almeria in Spain. Greece might have desert too, though.

Islands: Some are the British Isles (including Great Britain and Ireland, and the Channel Islands, including Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark), Iceland, Crete, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands (including Majorca), Corsica, Zealand, Svalbard, and Thera.

Borders on Asia (unless they form Eurasia)

Hemishperes: Nothern, Easter, and (a smaller part) Western

I know there are grasslands (steppes) in eastern Europe, but I'm not sure what they are called.

If you need more help, feel free to reply here and/or on my user talkpage, which is here. Yeltensic42.618 04:40, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Or search some of the pages at:

• List of rivers
• List of countries
• List of islands
• List of oceans
• List of seas
• List of mountains
• List of lakes
• Geography of Europe

Ojw 11:46, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

November 19

plimouth rock in rhode island

is plymouth rock in massachusetts or rhode island.

The answer is in the Plymouth Rock article. --hydnjo talk 00:33, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

auto production stateside

Can anyone please tell me how many autos were produced in the US last year or the most recent year for whichj statistics are available? I am not simply thinking of the Big Three (GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler) but also the fairly recent newcomers such as auto producers from Japan, Germany and South Korea such as Toyota, BMW and Hyundai.

Can anyone help, please? I really would be grateful.

Best wishes Hopeful Anne - (delete email - check history if needed)

See Car production in the United State. --Avijja 02:41, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Maintenance of Way Cyclopedia

A Misplaced Pages user has posted this on the Help desk mailing list and I am posting it here to see if anyone can help this gentleman.

I linked to your site from the Conrail Cyclopedia site. I don't know if you can help me but I'll try any way.

First off: My quest has nothing whatever to do with model railroading! I'm looking into the way the railroads ordered stuff back at the turn of the century(1900s).

As an example, If it was decided by the "powers that be" to run a telegraph/signal line from one town (station) to another I've been told by an old time railroader that the "STORES DEPARTMENTS" were the ones that supplied the required materials (i.e.. poles, wire, insulators, signaling devices, telegraph stuff, etc.). He further told me that they would consult a source known as the "Maintenance of Way Cyclopedia" that told them what was available and where to order it. He further told me that the cyclopedia was used by different rail lines and was not unique to any one line.

Now, I'm trying to find a copy of this "Maintenance of Way Cyclopedia" to look at. I want to see who they would order the supplies from. I know that this is a crazy request to a fellow such as yourself who seems to be more involved with rolling stock. Would you have any suggestions as to where I might locate this resource? I've tried the Smithsonian, various libraries and many rail fan sites with no success.

I'd appreciate any info you can provide. By the way, I'm not a school kid doing a term paper. I'm a 76 year old retired telephone engineer who's father put 40 years into the Santa Fe as fireman, brakeman, electrician, and a few more jobs. He brought power into the Dallas/Ft Worth yards when they opened up. I'm just doing a little personal research.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks for any help you can give him.

Capitalistroadster 01:29, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

"More concerned with rolling stock"? It's always nice to be mistaken for a specialist...

The Library of Congress has a copy of:

The maintenance of way hand book, containing tables, rules, etc. for use in the construction departments of standard railways, with tables of wages / Klumpp, Charles M.. Union City, Ind., M. of W. hand book pub. co., 1895.

My understanding is that these were general reference books. Your engineer would know he needed to buy a pile of 4.54" flanged triple whatevers, so he'd pull the handbook off the shelf, find a triple-flanged-whatever manufacturer in there - if they were in the book, they were probably reliable - and wire them an order. A sort of cross between a catalogue and a directory. Equivalent things exist in some fields today - I think I've stumbled across building ones, and some IT fields still have them - but mostly I believe they're gone. (On the other hand, a lot of individual large companies now have something like this - a big internal list of pre-selected suppliers for things, so if you need to buy something standard you can check the book and phone them up rather than having to go and figure out where to get it)

The thing is, though, there wasn't one book - there were plenty, probably dozens at different times. I assume the Cyclopedia was one particular version; there's one or two in the Library of Congress, under various names, and I suspect I could find more if I tried hard (These things tended not to get to libraries, though; they go out of date fast, so tend to be replaced by new ones if a library carries them at all). There's a company selling a scanned copy of the 1922 version here, which isn't quite the same, or someone selling an actual 1921 copy , but...

The other solution, of course, is to go to someone who knows about these and get them to tell you. I suspect there's a group of rail nuts who collect them - bound to be - but finding them might be tricky; leaf through a few magazines and see if there's anything like this mentioned? Shimgray | talk | 02:46, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Nice writeup, Shimgray. I had a hard time understanding how this book was used based on what little information I found, but your answers made a lot of sense. A modern day equivalent of the Cyclopedia is the Electronics Source Book, which helps electronic engineers find manufacturers for, say, 4.54 jiggawatt triple-channel gizmos. --Avijja 03:31, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Lat Long Coordinates for Jimbocho?

Hey, I was wondering if y'all knew what the Lat Long co-ords were for Jimbocho, in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. It's the huge book-selling district. I don't really need anything too precise, just gonna mark it on Google Earth as a place I want to go ^_^ Thanks ^_^

68.217.63.60 01:45, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

According to this Fujitsu document, Chiyoda, Tokyo is at N35.40.39.0/E139.46.18.1. I searched Google for "Jimbocho OR Chiyoda latitude longitude". --Avijja 02:46, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

35.695783, 139.757359. Go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/) and paste "神保町" (Jimbocho) into the search box, you'll get a highly detailed street map of that area. Trust me, it's book lovers' heaven. It's Mecca if you're interested in any aspect of Japanese culture. There are many antique/2nd hand book stores.

• http://maps.google.com/maps?q=35.695783,139.757359&iwloc=A&hl=en

Some search terms: "東京" (Tokyo), "千代田区" (Chiyoda Ward) and "神保町" (Jimbocho). If you visit there, don't forget to ask for a free map of the bookstores. -- Toytoy 12:33, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Scrabble Resources

In Scrabble, is there a website or a book somewhere that has words listed with common word parts, like all the words that end in -tion or all the words that end in -ing for example?

• Websites such as http://www.onelook.com/?w=*tion&scwo=1&sswo=0
• You can also do it on your own computer, just type: grep tion$ /usr/share/dict/words

Ojw 11:38, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

What exactly is this: grep tion$ /usr/share/dict/words? Do i search for that?

The grep part of the previous answer is assuming that you have a Unix-based computer. If you do (and that includes Mac OS-X), then the above command or some minor variant of it should work. On my current Linux system I need to specify grep tion$ /usr/share/dict/british-english or grep tion$ /usr/share/dict/american-english as words is a link to a non-existing file. Some variant may also work if you have cygwin installed on a Microsoft Windows system.-

grep is a standard unix program which searches for words or parts of words within files. It's more powerful than that, but that's the basic function. The dollar sign tells it to only match text at the end of a line. The /usr/share/dict/words is a list of words, one per line, which can be used by spelling checkers or for exactly this sort of purpose.-gadfium 20:35, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

On the offchance that the questioner is still looking at his GUI and wondering where to type, we should mention that old-fashioned computers use Command line interfaces... Ojw 21:01, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Aeroplanes

Hello, Please can you tell me which parts of London did the Lancaster bomber fly over?

Could have been almost any part during its operational service but normally they would fly directly from their bases (overwhelmingly in East Anglia) to their targets in Germany. On the off-chance that you mean the only currently airworthy Lancaster which is part of the Battle of Britain flight, its London flights are only over the Thames and then up the Mall and over Buckingham Palace before going back to its base at RAF Scampton. David | Talk 20:42, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Set top box screen flickering

I have just acquired a standard definition digital set top box, and occasionally (couple of times an hour) the TV screen (rear projection) flickers. The flickering always occurs when there is a change in scene (eg changing from an ad break to a TV show, or changing scenes in a movie). The reception (from an external aerial) is excellent and the flickering occurs on all channels, so I'm not convinced that is the problem. Could the problem be the set top box or the TV? I am located in Australia. --Commander Keane 11:52, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Geography Scotland

Can anyone tell me about the black rock faultline that runs through the stone quarry at Crarae in Argyll It seems not to be part of the Highland Boundary Fault Many thanks Alan G Jones

Number of government employees

What is the number of government employess january 1, 2000? What is the number of government emplouyees January 1,2005?

• Which government? Dmn 16:14, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Query about old treasure

I have a small, beautiful, old what appears to be prayer book written in some kind of Czech (I'm told it looks like 19th century, German-influenced) which language faculty at Dartmouth College have told me is "Heavenly Path" A calendar of holy days and saints for the whole church year; fervent prayers (for both sexes); Budapest & New York; Catholic Publishing Co. J. Steinbrener, royal bookprinter.

Does anything in this description strike a cord with you?

All the best, Judith Rocchio

Stock Market

Whats the difference between earnings per share and dividends?

There's no strong relationship between the two. Earnings per share simply means the total revenue the company brought in minus expenses (more or less, see EBITDA) divided by the number of shares in existance. Earnings can either be retained by the company, or passed along to shareholders through a dividend. Some companies never pay dividends no matter what their earnings are, like Berkshire Hathaway. Other companies have a specific dividend that they pay each quarter (Radica Games is like this, they pay 4.5 cents per share each quarter as of this writing). Some companies declare their dividends based on their performance. On an extremely rare basis, a company will actually borrow money to pay a dividend (I recall the Motley Fool critising someone for doing that last year). - RedWordSmith 00:24, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Seeing faces?

There was a wikipedia article about why humans see faces in seeming random collections of lines and dots. It featured a picture of an alarm clock which appeared to have a frowning face. Unfortunately, I can no longer remember what it was called. What is it called? smurrayinchester 21:55, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Pareidolia (google search for "human see faces site:en.wikipedia.org alarm"). -- Rick Block (talk) 01:53, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Historical Depilatories

Hello, As an author, I need to know what women used as depilatories in the 19th century, - particularly pastes and their constituents. Were they dangerous (poisonous)? I understand that thioglycolic acid is used today, but believe it was only developed about sixty years ago. Were any arsenic based products used? Were they highly poisonous? I shall be most grateful for information. Thank you. --- David

Tweezers and razors. Pastes and such tended to be "home-spun" rather than actually dangerous. mentions (18th century) cat dung, egg shells, vinegar and quick-lime. Nothing specifically 19th century but their 20th century page points out that Nair (the thioglycolic vanguard) was developed when stockings became scarce during WWII, a connection I hadn't thought of... - Nunh-huh 01:14, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Hey there, David. I can't vouch for the accuracy of this page, but it does make mention of depilatories used by women in the early 1800s. I quote the site — "A typical formula now is one that contains chopped oak and white French wine; it is to be digested in a hot water or vapor bath for 24 hours. Another recipe calls for distilled water and celandine roots, and walnut oil is a popular hair-removing ingredient." Deltabeignet 01:23, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

November 20

Freaky banned author

So I read this story in this anthology of banned writers. It was about this girl who kills this girl's pets because girl 2 flirted with a boy girl 1 liked. Then centipedes killed girl 1. I can't remember the name of the story or the book or the author, but the story might have been somethig like 'love centipedes'. 64.12.116.73 01:52, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

well, you can type in that title at google or ask.com and see what info. they have...or you can check at your nearest library...who knows, you might get lucky and ask the reference desk (at the library) person about the story, and she/he might actually know what your talking about... ♥Hot F.l.i.p.

Or not...I asked a librarian and she had no idea. Sorry that I can't be more helpful. Yeltensic42.618 00:30, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Dragons vs Tigers in Chinese Astrology

A user e-mailed the following question to the Misplaced Pages help desk.

I am a Dragon on the Chinese calendar. I always find pictures of the Dragon and Tiger in battle with each other. I would really appreciate it if you could explain why it is this way. Thank You.

Any advice you could give this gentleman would be greatly appreciated.

Capitalistroadster 02:48, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

There was a Bruce Lee movie Enter the Dragon (龍爭虎鬥; long zheng hu dou; literally: dragon (龍) fights tiger (虎); a frequently used Chinese four-character idiom). When two good players are fighting a good fight, a Chinese would say it's "dragon fights tiger". It can be used to describe a great boxing match, Coca Cola v. Pepsi, NATO v. Warsaw, or any other heated fight. Maybe you can say "lollapalooza".

It's unthinkable for a big cat to purr and a large snake to drop dead and become a stick. There really was a Cantonese dish called "龍虎鬥" (dragon fights tiger) which is a soup made by a cat and a snake. But anyway, dragons and tigers are not always fighting each other in Chinese mythology. They do have their own shows. They do not need to meet and fight each other all the time. -- Toytoy 03:11, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

According to this Chinese page, the Cat + Snake dish was invented during 1850s to 1870s by a government official.

• Three snakes: 200 g (three kinds of snakes frequently eaten by Cantonese people)
• Cat or civet cat: 150 g
• Chicken: 200 g
• Fish bladder: 50 g
• Cloud ear fungus: 75 g
• Blah ... blah ... blah ...

Anyway, this is a difficult dish. Too complex and time consuming for any home chef even if you have all the ingredients and cooking wares. You really don't want to do this at home. -- Toytoy 03:31, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

who are you?

hey its ♥Hot F.L.I.P. again...i was just curious, the poeple who answers my questions here in wikipedia, are they often correct?, i mean like do they base it on facts that they actually learned about, or are they just saying what they think? , also, since anyone can answer my question on this site (young or old), does that mean that the dumbest person on the planet can just comment on my question and say something like, "trust me, i know lots about this subject, my dad was a doctor"... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.42.91.228 (talk • contribs)

Hopefully when people answer questions, they provide a reference, which would hopefully provide credibility. But the fact that anyone can answer any question means you should always be careful with interpreting the results. But you can always believe my answers because I know lots about this subject, my dad was a doctor. Akamad 03:05, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

But did he play one on TV? - Nunh-huh 03:13, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

I can't speak for anyone else, but I slept at a Holiday Inn last night, so I *know* my answers are always right. Raul654 03:26, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Haha, we're all liars and make things up, but also none of us knows what we're talking about, so more often than not it cancels out and you get the right answer anyway. =P

But seriously, what reason do you have to trust the authors of a paper encyclopedia, or any other source? —Keenan Pepper 03:19, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

That's a good point, one of my lecturers at uni said he trusts Misplaced Pages over most other internet sources because at least on wikipedia there is a level of independent fact-checking and editing. Akamad 03:30, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Hey, we're us, ya get what ya paid for. My dad wasn't a doctor so I know nothin' bout docterin'. But, if you're lookin' for common sense you're at the right place. -- ♥hydnjo talk 03:39, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

And what exactly does "♥Hot F.L.I.P." supposed to mean? --hydnjo talk 03:56, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

I generally do use my common sense, combined with Google and journal articles. So I can be incorrect, or my answers can be less than full (like with my limited response to your car pollution question, journal articles indicated testing for heavy metals was the way to go, put as was indicated by someone else, testing for acidity might be a good idea). I have found that if a question is too technical, an answer may simply be wrong - the answerer doesn't understand the level of the question and just writes what they think. You can't be assured of the quality of an answer here, but they are free and generally good quality. --Commander Keane 07:22, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Well i guess you can't blame other people for putting down what sometimes seems to be a dumb ass answer, i mean c'mon...it is kinda fun just playing around and typing down what you think and putting down not so smart answers just for the fun of arguing with other people...anywayz..." ♥Hot F.L.I.P." means, which some of you might know (or not), but it means F(ine) L(ittle) I(sland) P(erson)...the original version was Fucking Little Island People, used by white peope in world war 2 (i think), insulting the filipinos...but of course we have revised this through time...I know my history because my dad is a professor at Harvard University!...Well anyways, i guess i'll just have to hope that people who answer my questions will actually have many rescources to back it up...hope you guys will answer any of MY questions intelligently in the near future...Also thanks "commander keane" for so far answering each of my questions that i have posted ♥Hot F.L.I.P.

So where do you live along I-94? Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota or Montana? Well anyway, thanks for telling us what your name means...I came up with "Yeltensic" by messing up the letters in "cosmically insignificant adolescent" (someone called me that after I wrote an article about myself) until unrecognizable; the 42 is from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the other digits are from 1.618, the Divine Proportion. By the way, you may want to consider getting a user account, you could use Hot F.L.I.P. as your username, it would also be quicker to sign your name here, as you could sign with four tildes. Yeltensic42.618 22:36, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

i live along 1-94 illinois, chicago...why?...and yeah your username is niiice..so sophisticated...i like that...One thing that caught my attention is "Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy"...how old are you really?... you don't really have to answer, but i'm just curious, because i imagine the people who answer my questions are old..probably in their 30's, no offense to the young ones (because you guys answer so wisely...using very smart and difficult words), and when i read that you based your "42" on hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy is kinda...i don't know "youngish"...but i don't know maybe older people saw that movie too... ♥Hot F.L.I.P.

Why? I am extremely nosy, I always have to know where other Misplaced Pages users live (I live at almost the opposite end of the interstate numbering system from you, near I-4 in DeLand, FL..as I type I am in my other house in nearby Ormond Beach, closer to I-95). I am fifteen, as you can see on my userpage by following the link in my signature (or you can find it here, or here, or even there). It seems like most of the Wikipedians are in their 20s, with a fairly large minority in their teens, and fewer over 30. My username is less sophisticated than it may sound, given that it means "cosmically insignificant adolescent", which can be seen first used (though worded slightly differently) here. As for hitchhikers, your post implies that you think the movie is all there is...it was actually based on a book by Douglas Adams, published in 1979, which in turn was based on a 1978 radio series written by him. The book (which I read before seeing the movie) may be considered less youngish. It also lead to four sequels (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; So Long and Thanks for All the Fish; and Mostly Harmless), and to some extent some or all of the sequels were less youngish (Book 3 mentions an award for the most gratuitous use of the word fuck in a film, Book 4 has a sex scene preceded by a chapter on how most readers find it difficult to picture Arthur Dent fucking). By the way, I haven't seen any ugly-ass aliens around...yet. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. Yeltensic42.618 08:25, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Back to the question, which is a very valid one. The main thing, I suppose, is 'who would be bothered to give answers'? Not someone who hasn't a clue. That sort of vandalism is much more 'thrilling' in Misplaced Pages proper (the encyclopedia). Except of course when that person is curious too and manages to find the answer (or thinks he did). I do that sometimes. Most of the time, though, I tell what I know from the top of my head (and sometimes I don't answer but ask more questions). And sometimes someone (sometimes even me) is a genuine expert on the subject. And in my experience that shows. As with every information you get in life, you'll have to be able to sniff out the bullshit. Where else can you get reliable tailor made information? And for free? (this is not strictly meant as rhetorical question).

Finally, I'd like to apologise for having such an incredibly boring User Name (it's just my ordinary name with the las name initialised). :) DirkvdM 12:14, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Oh, I forgot one. Especially on the science reference desk it's just simply fun. Some people waste their time doing crossword puzzles or sudoku's. I exercise my mind here. Many questions are not about plain knowledge, because one can look that up oneself (in Misplaced Pages or elsewhere), but rather about combining bits of info to get to understand something. And that's where we come in. And you, of course, if you like. I don't just answer questions, but, like I said, ask at least as many. DirkvdM 12:56, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I suppose we can let you get away with your boring username...this thread is giving the atheism thread a run for its money in length, but also has gone way off topic, thanks to me. I am the king of non sequiturs (actually my maternal grandmother is worse, she's been known to suddenly say,"You know, I would like to go to Alaska"....of course, quoting her was in itself a non sequitur). Speaking of which, has anyone here ever seen the Loch Ness monster? Yeltensic42.618 19:18, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

By the way, my dad is a lawyer and my mom is a quality control consultant, so you can trust me with any questions about Florida law or quality control. Plus, I was a marine biologist in a play once (the play sucked, by the way), so you can also trust me with any questions about marine biology. Or Pacific entymology, or Central American botany, or criminology, or theater itself, or aristocracy, or bipolar disorder, for similar and equally bogus reasons. Yeltensic42.618 19:27, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Well "DirkvdM"...don't worry about it, your name doesn't sound that lame...anyhow...like you yeltensic, i am also very nooosy! so i was just wondering, not to offend you or anything, but are you a guy or a girl?, because if you are a guy, then i just wanted to say that you talk pretty much for a guy! also...you know soooo much for a 15 year old!!! and yeah we are kinda getting off topic, and since were already off topic, you know what commenting here on wikipedia is like? its, to me at least, is just like chatting online with my friends...well sort off, only you guys don't know me (and i surely donno you!), and were discussing a certain subject, and...thats about it...well before i go out, i just wanted to say...that if you guys need any help in the fields: medicine, nursing, dental stuff...feel free to ask, because my mom is a dentist turned nurse, and my dad is a doctor...and i'm serious this time! ♥Hot F.L.I.P.

Going off-topic one last time, it says on my userpage that my name is Christopher Michael Bensko, an indication that I'm a guy. Any further discussion of whether I talk a lot for a guy can be carried over to my talkpage (which is here to avoid violating Misplaced Pages policies about the reference desk not being a discussion forum. Yeltensic42.618 17:04, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

• Folks, Misplaced Pages is not discussion forums. - Dalbury 00:07, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Getting Back To The "TOPIC"- so Misplaced Pages, is just as reliable as written encyclopedias?...(probably not)...but it is much easier Hot f.l.i.p.

Using Misplaced Pages as a source

"The Age" newspaper (Melbourne) features a daily section about a famous person born that day. The other day, they chose to feature Jeff Buckley. They said that he "disappeared", and "is believed to have drowned". Any reader who knew nothing about him would reasonably infer his body was never found. They ended with "Source: Misplaced Pages". I checked our article and those words do not appear, either currently or apparently in any earlier version. His body was found some days later, and there was never any doubt that he drowned. Is it OK for a paper to make up words, then misattribute them to Misplaced Pages? JackofOz 03:40, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm thinking there's something about the proximity of the words and the footnote that's bothering you. I can't say if it bother me without seeing it, but think about this: lots of people get things wrong in papers with citations, and lots of times citations are wrong. It doesn't reflect badly on the source, it reflects badly on the author. As long as our article is right, I don't think we should worry about it. I doubt that it was an intentional mis-citation. - Nunh-huh 04:03, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

A question on Haiti

Hello, I am doing a project in school on Haiti and I was wondering if I could ask you a question. It is: How long is Haiti's shoreline? Can you please give me the answer or a web site to find it on? Thank you, Bye!

That depends on the precision, so any answer will be pretty arbitrary. Which will probably not deter people from actually construeing an answer. You could have a look at How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension (by far the longest Misplaced Pages title I've ever seen). It's rather technical, but the relevant phrase is "the measured lengths of coastlines and other natural geographic borders are dependent on the scale of measurement". If there's a big rock on a beach, would you ignore it or trace around it? And would you trace every indentation? And down to the smallest scale? To stretch the point, would you trace around molecules? So if you state the length of the coastline you should also state the scale, which might make it too mathematical if it's a geography project.

Having said that, you're supposed to "do your own homework" (see rules above). DirkvdM 12:12, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Using Different Scripts on the Computer

I am hoping to make a tshirt with our name in different scripts. I have these drawn on paper but I would like to be able to type them. I can download the scripts (I suppose) but how do I then find the letters on my Roman script keyboard. Could I get different people to email them to me? Would I be able to read them or would it just come up as gobbledy gook? Anybody who has any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Thanks Aviija - great work.

If you post the band's name here, I think some nice people would post translations and transliterations. Do not post your email address. // If you want to do this yourself, the easiest way is to look up alphabets for foreign scripts, such as this, and then copy-and-paste the letters you want. Another great source for writing systems is Omniglot. // Actually typing these requires more work. You'd need to go into your operating system's regional settings control panel, add a new language and keyboard. This usually adds a control to your system tray that lets you switch between these. Note that pressing "d" does NOT necessarily give you this foreign script's equivalent of "d". You'll need to find the layout or use an "on-screen keyboard" that shows what button is what symbol, but you'll need to read that alphabet to make sense of that. // If you want the name written out in a non-alphabetic language, such as Chinese or Japanese, things get much more complicated and you need to look up dictionaries, tables and use a composition input system. // If your band's name has a meaning, rather than just a sound, then it can be translated as a concept, as well as transliterated as a sound. // Be aware that sounding out English words in a foreign script can produce offensive or bizarre messages in those languages. :) --Avijja 06:22, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Actually its not a band its a school.... The acronym is K.I.S. and I would also like "Welcome to Kodai" translating in the script of Bengali, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Russian and Hindi. Tall order eh?

Just wondering, is this Kodaikanal International School? I can't help you too much with the languages you are looking for, but you will get a more meaningful translation working with the full name than just the initials. --Metropolitan90 08:55, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

1 000 000th article

At what date is Misplaced Pages expected to hit its one millionth article? Battle Ape 11:17, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Opinions differ. Somewhere near the end of February seems most likely now. David Sneek 14:33, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Electricity voltage

Hi, I have found that almost all electric voltages are multiples of 11 e.g. 110V,220V,440V,11000V,33000V,132000V etc.Why?

My guess is that someone picked 110 V by chance, and then, in order to make transformation easier, decided to make the other voltages easy multiples. For example, if you had a 110V, you could simply half the current and double the voltage to produce a 220V. Of course, the numbers given as a voltage are often out by up to +/- 10%, so the number will never be perfect. smurrayinchester 15:49, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

• Transformers can have any ratio of input/output voltages, as it's simply a ratio of the number of windings on each side.
• UK voltages were 240V until recently, and now is 230V to standardise with Europe?
• The supply to houses is typically one phase of a 3-phase supply which have their own equations (often involving root-3)
• Voltages for long-distance transmission tend to be designed to minimise resistive losses (I²R), so use as high a voltage as their insulators (including the air around conductors) can handle
• Electric power transmission has loads more info on these subjects

The Netherlands also changed from 240V to 230V, I believe because you can run both 220V and 240V machines on that. Another question. There used to be switches on machines to choose between voltages, but I haven't seen those for a while. What's the reason for that? DirkvdM 12:23, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Supply voltages throughout Europe were standardised at 230V +- 10% fairly recently (some point in the 1990s I think.) The 10% tolerance allowed countries using 220V and 240V to stay at those voltages, despite having adopted a common "standard" voltage. Personally, I think we need more of the kind of standardisation which doesn't require anything to be changed, it's celarly the key to a harmonious Europe. :-) (Seriously, though, the effect it does have is to ensure that the same devices will work everywhere in Europe.)

As for the disapearing voltage selection switches, that is due to the use of Switched-mode power supplys, which can cope with wide-raning input voltages (the laptop I'm typing this on has a power supply brick which can take anything from 100V to 240V AC input to produce its 19V DC output.) -- AJR | Talk 13:08, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Actaully, they were standardized to +6%/-10%. Overvoltage is more dangerous than under voltage. -Splash 23:05, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I was taking the tolerances from mains electricity, which says "...supply within the EU is now nominally 230 V +/− 10% (though some countries have stricter specifications: for example, the UK specifies 230 V +10% -6%)." -- AJR | Talk 02:55, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Gladiator

Is the story of Gladiator(directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Russell Crowe) a real story.

No, but it is clearly inspired by some well-known events from the history of Rome. See our article on the film. --Robert Merkel 13:24, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

1786 to 1789

was new york city the capital of the united states from 1786 to 1789.

• According to History of New York City (1784-1854) it was the capital from 1785 to 1790. --Metropolitan90 16:43, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Top tourist attraction in England

Hi, I've searched the site from end to end and used various wording for searching but can't see any reference to Englands most visited tourist site. I found France's easily enough so perhaps I'm missing something obvious. It used to be Stonehenge or the Tower of London but I'm not sure. Can you help? Thanks for reading this.

Ges

The most recent official statistics are at Star UK, from 2002. According to them, the leading paid-for attraction in England is the London Eye followed by the Tower of London and the Eden Project. However if you include free attractions, then Blackpool Pleasure Beach is top, followed by Tate Modern, the British Museum and the National Gallery all more popular than the Eye. David | Talk 19:03, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

The published figures for the Tate combine Tate Modern and Tate Britain. Tate Modern on its own is behind the British Museum and the National Gallery (see List of museums in London). CalJW 20:03, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

for 50 years

i watched a repeat of an episode of judging amy. amy was talking to an ins agent about a case during the conversion he said sweden was at war on and off for 50 years is that true.

No, it's not true. Sweden was neutral during World Wars I and II and non-aligned during the Cold War. See Sweden#Recent_history. Theshibboleth 02:14, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, wait. Sweden was at war a lot in earlier times... Gustavus Adolphus in the 100 years war, and Charles XII in 18th C. for instance. They were in one of the coalitions against Napolean too. Maybe the guy was referring to those times. Herostratus 06:46, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Unidentified brazilian spider

I just found this spider in my backyard, in the middle of some old wooden boards we were moving around. It's about 5 cm long, and the body (cephalothorax + opisthosoma) are about .8 cm together, and almost indistinguishable from eachother. The color is a deep brown, and it has no spots or hair. The back legs are a lot thicker than the rest, and have spikes. I live in Minas Gerais, Brazil, so it should probably be something from this region.

Sorry for the bad pictures, but all I can afford to use is a crappy webcam. But, can anyone identify this for me? ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 20:58, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Mountain Ranges near Los Angeles, CA

I live in Torrance, CA, which is a suburb of Los Angeles. I need to know what is the closest mountain range to my city, and the highest mountain closest to my city.

The closest mountain range is probably the Santa Monica Mountains. Its highest peak is Sandstone Peak at 3,111 feet. Theshibboleth 02:10, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Mount San Antonio is the highest point in Los Angeles County. Yeltensic42.618 17:06, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Empire State

Why is New York known as the Empire State?

According to it is called the Empire State because of its "wealth and variety of resources." According to it is because of its size and resources. Theshibboleth 01:57, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I think I remember reading that it's also because most New Yorkers supported the British Empire during the American Revolution, but I'm not sure where it was that I read that. Yeltensic42.618 17:09, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

November 21

red hat society club

ihave read that this club has chapters everywhere,but i cannot find any listings anywhere,where there are local chapters to belong to. can you please tell me where and how i find a listing of the chapters and states they are in? thank you,diane loverde

You can look up chapters here Theshibboleth 01:49, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

There is an article here about them as well, Red Hat Society. Dismas| 04:54, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Old FDNY trucks?

In my travels I have seen a few towns and citys that have fire trucks painted like FDNY trucks. Are they old FDNY trucks?

Do these trucks actually say "FDNY" on them? The color of fire trucks in the U.S. doesn't vary too much from city to city so I'm wondering how you know that they're from New York. That said, smaller towns and volunteer fire departments often get their trucks when larger cities upgrade their own trucks. The smaller towns can't afford the new ones so they'll often get the old ones that larger cities aren't using anymore. Dismas| 04:52, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Camden, New Jersey has trucks that look very much like FDNY trucks, its almost as if they stuck Camden Fire Department stickers over the FDNY ones. Also, I have seen fire trucks in many different colours, ranging from white, to various shades yellow, and of course the traditional red.

iraq casualties

by month from may 2003 to nov 2005 jwk kcity

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/world/0401/chart.iraq.fatalities/frameset.exclude.html Nelson Ricardo 03:07, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Flight, invisibility, reading people's minds...

A long time ago when I was in grade school, a teacher once asked our class a question with a meaning similar to the following:

If you were given the choice of a superpower, among these three, which would you choose?

1. The ability to fly at will
2. The ability to be invisible at will
3. The ability to read people's minds at will

The question is, where did this set of questions originate from? --HappyCamper 03:06, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

This probably doesn't help you much but I don't think you'll be able to find a "first" instance of these questions with a verifiable source. When I was a kid we'd play that "game" all the time. We'd ask each other "If you could have any superpower...?" or "If you had to choose between having X's powers or Y's powers, which would you choose?" etc. Dismas| 04:44, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

October Sky

What is the importance of the mural Homer's mother (Elsie) is painting in the kitchen?

I haven't seen the film, but from http://www.teachwithmovies.org/samples/october-sky.html I would guess that even though she stayed at the home, she still wanted to travel somewhere else. Theshibboleth 06:28, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

LPG(Liquefied Petroleum Gas) UN Number

What is the "LPG(Liquefied Petroleum Gas) UN Number"?

• • UN 1075 --Tachs 08:30, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Natasa Kiparizoska

Who is Natasa Kiparizoska

How many men in a tank during battle?

Daniel of Liverpool England asked the following question in an e-mail.

Hi My name is Daniel I am 9. I hope you can help me I am trying to find out how many men are in a tank during battle. My xbox game has two in a Rushian tank, is this right ? I know the Cheftan Tank has 4 I hope you can help me Thank you Daniel (Liverpool England)

Thank you for any help you can give him. Capitalistroadster 10:44, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Daniel - the number of people in a tank (called the crew compliment) depends on the type of tank. Almost all tanks ever made have had between 3 and 6 crewmen; 4 or 5 are probably the most common. Typically, you have a driver, loader, gunner, tank captian, and maybe a backup driver/backup loader/radio man. Raul654 10:47, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Most recent Russian (or Soviet) tanks have a crew of 3 (commander, driver and gunner). Most other recent tanks have have a crew of 4 (commander, driver, gunner and loader). Russian tanks are equipped with an auto loader so the loader is eliminated. However, the U.S. does not believe in the reliability of such complex machinery, so U.S. tanks (and tanks made by most other countries as well) are still crewed by 4.

(Actually, the US doesn't use autoloaders because nobody has ever manufactured one that could keep pace with a human. Raul654 13:42, 21 November 2005 (UTC))

Many World War II tanks have a crew of 5 (e.g. M4 Sherman (U.S.), Tiger I (Germany; with 1 extra radio operator), T-34-85 (USSR)).

• U.S. tanks crewed by 4: Patton tanks, M1 Abrams.
• Other famous tanks crewed by 4: Challenger 2 tank (U.K.), Leopard 2 (Germany) and Merkava (Israel).
• Soviet tanks crewed by 4: T-34 (WW2) and T-55.
• Soviet tanks crewed by 3: T-62, T-72 and T-80.

You can start your study from tank, tank classification and Category:Main battle tanks. -- Toytoy 12:47, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

massmedia

Yes – you can read about it in mass media. –Mysid 12:50, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Famous Tatars

Hi -

Your page on Tatars contains an image depicting the faces of many "famous tatars" but no reference to their names or who they were or are. I searched, but could not find any identifying information, which was frustrating. If such information exists somewhere in the vicinity of that page, perhaps it could be made easier to find. If such information does not exist, I am sure the problem can easily be remedied by one of your extremely knowledgeable writers.

A wonderful source of information otherwise. -- L. LaFay ---141.152.11.56 14:21, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I posted this question on the Tatar's discussion page, you might get some help from there. - Akamad 19:44, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Don't forget to list the names of famous Tatar children, AKA, "Tatar tots". StuRat 22:45, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

i

Perhaps you're referring to the album by The Magnetic Fields? Or the imaginary number? George 21:08, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

VISCOSITY VALUES FOR HYDRAULIC COMPONENTS AND....

Can any body please assist me with the following infomation Am a design engineer based in Nigeria,and am designing an application that works with hydraulic fluids.

  1)A hand book of  the types of hydraulic fluids  available,
with their viscosity/temperature curves;including their properties

(more emphasis on the multigrades)

  2)Any manufacturer's published  operating and optimum viscosity values  of hydraulic components

 Thanks a lot

 Teddy Iyke
 +23856103624
Email:teddy_iyk@yahoo.com

Please help me identify this Spider???

http://www.smallestphoto.com/images/7spider.jpg

Strange looking spider...

Does Misplaced Pages have a article on it?? if not should have Small Unknown Spider. Thanks Mao

 Urgent:

• If you search on Google for spider and picture, there will be several picture galleries of spiders listed. Go through those to see if you can identify this spider. - Dalbury 19:47, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I need Misplaced Pages Reference Desk help PLEASE

You might want to try posting under science. Noting how messy the web is, I'm wondering if this is one of the spiders they gave LSD to observe the effect on web design. StuRat 22:13, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Help! - ipod vs. washing machine

My 4th Generation 40 mb ipod accidently made a trip through the washing machine. Am I screwed?

More than likely, yes. Dismas| 19:53, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, if it was 40mg you're not missing much... heh. At any rate, to fix your 40GB ipod I'd ask www.ipodloungue.com, they'd probably have more useful information.

• I dunno about washing machines, but I've witnessed a couple of ipods get swirlies; seemed like panic at first, but after a couple of days just sitting in a dry room (ok, I'm in Vegas, every room is a dry room) they woke up again and worked fine. I suppose a less than honest person would just get Apple to fix it and not mention the provenance of the soap suds; all they'll do is send you a new one anyway (at least, I've never experienced Apple actually repairing, as opposed to replacing, an iPod.) --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 20:51, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Starboard and Port sides of a ship

Maybe you can clear up a heated disscusion. I realize the starboard side of a ship is the right side facing the bow, in the movie titanic when they spotted the iceberg the wheelsman was ordered hard a starboard, but turned the ships wheel to turn the boat to the left. Was this wrong in the movie or am i missing something. Thanks much. Ed

It's a bit confusing, but this explains it pretty well. (Complex Nautical Reasons, apparently) Shimgray | talk | 19:39, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

That must have been really confusing for the helmsman. In the case of a simple tiller it makes some sense, but when you use a wheel it must be really confusing. DirkvdM 12:05, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Not actually that bad, when you think about it. On a ship large enough for Board of Trade regulations to be used (where you had a crew assumed to be unfamiliar with each other, and it wasn't a matter of "Bring her to port a touch, Mike, will you?"), the helmsman would have had almost no contact with the actual navigation or direction of the ship. He wouldn't have to worry about whether they were turning this way or that, or why; he'd just do as instructed by the navigator, and "hard to starboard" automatically meant "wheel to port". He was a seaman; it wasn't much difference to him which way the ship went, it was the officer's job to worry about all that rubbish. (The Merchant Navy of the period wasn't as feudal as the Royal Navy, but it was still pretty bad). Plus, of course, sailing ships were still being operated, some of them pretty old - an able seaman, or an officer, could plausibly have worked on wheel ships and the odd, archaic hangovers with tillers interchangeably. In those circumstances, you'd want to make sure neither party had to stop and think what ship they were on before giving an order - and everyone was used to giving tiller commands for pretty much this reason, so it was codified as using tiller commands.

Mind you, the 1933 changeover must have been fun :-) Shimgray | talk | 16:55, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Come to think of it, there also were no reason you couldn't have a ship with an oddly aligned wheel - facing to port or starboard, or even aft - or one where the helm was inside, and there was no visual cues as to direction. In that case, you'd want an obvious system, so that you always knew turning the wheel left brought the vessel to starboard - and if there's one thing you want at sea, it's something that's exactly what it seems to be, no confusion or exemptions.

The soul that cannot tell a lie—except upon the land! Shimgray | talk | 16:59, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, but then it would have to be the other way around - imagine a car that would steer that way - that changeover should be fun too. :) Only when a tiller is used might there be confusion, but such boats are so much smaller that you always see what's where. And actually the direct contact makes you 'feel' how a tiller works, so pushing it to the left when you want o go starboard is entirely intuitive. I've never had any problems with it. Actually, on one sailing week there was this girl who wa so thick she couldn't figure out where the wind came from. But I can't recall her being confused at the tiller. DirkvdM 07:48, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Week

Why are there seven days in a week? Seven is a prime number, so it cannot be divided into more useful chunks of time, say blocks of two or three days. It seems rather inconvienient compared to six or eight days a week. smurrayinchester 19:31, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

• See Week. - Dalbury 19:41, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Blame God :) DirkvdM 12:08, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Average age of a Thallasemia major

One of my friends is a Thallasemia Major. I wanted to know what is the average age of a thalassemia patient who is tranfused regularly.And the maximum age any thallasemia patient has ever survived. And what are the latest developments in curing Thalassemia Major.

• You can read up on this condition at . The site at gives some figures on life expectancy, but treat them with care. The figures are averages from past experience. Individuals vary, and new treatments have extended life expectancy from what was seen in the past. - Dalbury 01:34, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

North Korea Concentration Camps

they are real right?? how awfully cruel! --Maoririder 20:15, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

• See Human rights in North Korea. Decide for yourself. Deltabeignet 22:01, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I want to eat a deer

What do I need to know in order to shoot, prepare, slow roast and prepare an entire deer? It is in order for a deer and beer party that I am throwing shortly. Thanks!

Ah, for my old hunting days... The short answer is rather a lot, since you're wanting to shoot and clean your own. You'll need a fair amount of practice at shooting - deer don't usually stand still nearby to let you shoot them - and so you should certainly take a gun safety course (which may or may not be required in your jurisdiction to get a hunting license). Then you'll need some warm camo (ideally) and of course a gun.

Actually, I should stop there. The sensible thing to do would be to look up a shooting club in your area and talk to a member. They can certainly fill you in on all the local details. Alternatively, you could just buy deer meat, which would inevitably be cheaper than doing the hunting yourself. George 21:04, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

There's a short Wikibook about cooking deer. See: Venison. It seems to be missing recipes, but it recommends heating smaller cuts fast, while cooking larger pieces slowly and basting. smurrayinchester 22:05, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Err... sorry, I should add that I have a variety of weapons and am quite familiar with shooting. I am more concerned with the dressing/roasting part of things. Thanks!

Well any bookstore will have books on wild game recipes which will probably include guides to field dressing and even butchering. Any hunting/fishing type sporting goods stores will also have wild game recipe guides. The field dressing and aging will have a huge impact on the quality of the meat, as will the care taken in butchering. Carefully removing all of the sinew can greatly improve the flavor. But if by whole, you meant you wanted to roast it whole, you can rent one of those large roasters people roast pigs in, and once the deer is properly dressed, you could probably roast it much the same way. But keep in mind venison is very lean, so your recipes have to take that into account to keep it from being tough and dry. If you've hunted deer before you're likely aware that there are places all over in hunting areas where you can take a dear and have them butcher it for you, and you can choose how much steak, roasts, sausage, etc are made from it. You get less back than if you did it yourself, but that's the price of convenience. Of course a google search for "deer processing" and "venison recipes" could find all this for you too. Heh, typing this out was pretty entertaining since I've done most of the above, but I eat more vegetarian than not these days :). - Taxman 19:46, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

November 22

world war II or "Hotel Rwanda"?

well, history fairs coming up! i was wondering, which topic would seem more interesting, world war II, or, i don't really know what this incident was called, but they made a movie out of it and called it "Hotel Rwanda"- it's where these 2 African tribes battle it out...then a genocide occured, i think the less powerful tribe was called the Tootsies, and in the end many people were killed and most Tootsie survivors hid in a hotel ownd by an African who is not a Tootsie (dont' know the name of the other, stronger tribe), but married one, he is made powerful because the business of his hotel was going very good, that it became an attraction for americans to see...The only reason why i want to do world war II, is because, i think, it envolves a bit of history about the Filipinos (which is pretty interesting) Hot F.l.i.p.

• Have a look at Rwandan Genocide. Hutus, Tutsis, and a death toll of 800,000. Shimgray | talk | 00:52, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

• It depends. If including Filipino history is high on your todo list, pick the Second World War. Personally, I think it's been discussed a lot - perhaps too much (at least at my school), so showing some initiative and taking on a more original subject is probably going to get you higher marks if done correctly. - 131.211.210.16 09:40, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

• Let me get this clear. You're wondering whether World War II or the Rwandan genocide would be the more interesting topic? Surely only you can answer that. We can't tell you what to be interested in, which is why we have about 875,000 articles, which cater for all interests. JackofOz 02:06, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Actually, I just checked the main page and we have about 832,000 articles, just to be obsessive-compulsive about it...but anyway, I would recommend Hotel Rwanda for the reasons above. Yeltensic42.618 19:04, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

well, it's not really a "to do" thing it's more like representing my culture...know what i'm saying?...and i like both topics...is there any interesting facts about either one of the topics that you guys know about?...i'll probably pick the one that has more "unknown" facts about the event...♥Hot F.L.I.P.

What is a round?

A lot of different things depending on the context. Shimgray | talk | 01:17, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

(after edit conflict) Once will do! See round. -- Chuq 01:22, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Eponym of Rue St Jacques, Paris

I'm interested in eponymous place names, particularly indirect ones. I've had the following question on Talk:Jacobin Club since September, but no responses, so I thought I'd put it out there to all my learned colleagues.

The term "Jacobins" was given to the French Dominicans because their first house in Paris was in the Rue St Jacques. It was later applied to a different organization, the Jacobin Club. My question is, who was the St Jacques after whom Rue St Jacques was named? Was this the apostle St James, or some other saint? JackofOz 01:49, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

The mairie de Paris's page at http://www.v1.paris.fr/CARTO/Nomenclature/8648.nom.html says it was named for a 13th century chapelle Saint-Jacques. So it's at least one remove from an actual person. (Person -> Church -> Street, rather than Person -> Street). This would be the church of St. Jacques in which Saint Dominic prayed in 1213 for intercession for victory in the Albigensian Crusade at the Battle of Muret. His prayers were so apparently efficacious that Simon de Montfort erected a chapel in the church of Saint-Jacques in thanks for his victory over Peter II of Aragon. I suspect the church was probably named for St. James the Greater = St. James of Compostella. (But, as they say, this proof is left as an exercise for the reader... sorry about that!) - Nunh-huh 02:33, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

If this can help, on the Rue St Jacques is a church dedicated to the pilgrims of St James of Compostella (at the crossroads with the Rue de l'Abbé de l'Épée). David.Monniaux 08:40, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Thank you very much - et merci beaucoup - to you both. JackofOz 10:26, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Manufacture of Stainless Steel Kettles

A Misplaced Pages user has asked the Misplaced Pages Help mailing list.

I need to find out how to make a stainless Steel Kettle, I have done some reseach and, I think it could be Die Casting, Gravity casting or even Pressure Die Casting, but I really dont know, could you help me please?

Thanks for any help you might be able to give her. Capitalistroadster 02:10, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

I assume you mean the common house-hold apparatus used to heat up water? To make one of these you'd essentially want casing, a handle that doesn't conduct heat too well and (unless it's a stovetop) a heating element. I am also going to assume that you want to use stainless steel for the main casing of the thing. The easiest way to do this would be to get a sheet of stainless steel and bend it so that it forms a cylindrical shape - you could make the base and lid out of sheets (bending and fixing using screws - trusses presumably). Casting is a very tricky process requiring LOTS of energy (for heat) and lots of specialist equipment.--Oldak Quill 22:48, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

200 euro means

hi what does 200 euro means in us

• Roughly $235.49, acoording to this page. In the future, you may want to try an Internet search (Google or Yahoo, for example.) Deltabeignet 05:17, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

You can, for example, search for 200 euros in US dollars and Google knows the answer. –Mysid 07:56, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Oyster Crackers

How did oyster crackers get their name?

They were meant to provide a crunchy contrast in texture when eaten with oyster stew. - Nunh-huh 06:29, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Wheeled luggage?

It seems like wheeled luggage has been around, or at least common, for a relatively short time. In fact, one article suggests that it wasn't patented until 1972, and I don't think it became really popular until the 1990s. Why would it take so long for such a seemingly obvious invention to be invented and then catch on? --Metropolitan90 06:16, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Many inventions are slow to catch on because people are conservative. One might as well ask why suitcases (including the wheeled ones) haven't disappeared yet, considering that backpacks have, in the West, been around for a few decades now. (Actually, why did suitcases come about in the first place, considering that the rest of the world have always used their shoulders (and sometimes heads) as the most logical support points.) At first, people weren't used to them and they were even linked with hippies, because those were the earliest users. But now they've been around long enough. Those hippies are in their fifties now and only the very old have grown up without backpacks. Still, many use suitcases. Why? I've heard some stupid excuses. A while ago someone said "Yeah, but old people don't have strong enough shoulders to carry a backpack". Well, if you're not fit enough to carry a certain weight in a backpack then you certainly won't be able to carry it in a suitcase. And why are there still so many of those wheeled suitcases with the wheels on the narrow side, so they keep on toppling over, even though the obvious improvement of putting them further apart on the broad side has been around for some time now? I've though of a considerable improvement of the backpack, but one reason I haven't pursued (marketed) it yet is precisely because I'm afraid it will take longer than my lifetime to convince people of the usefulness.

Another example. I'm currently writing an article on the glass palace, which was built in 1935 and captured so much heat that it heating wasn't necessary. Considering the cost of heating (both economically and ecologically) why aren't all buildings built this way? Last night I saw something on tv about a building in Delft (I believe) that is built on the same principle. That was presented as something new, but it's 70 years old and must be obvious enough for architects.

And another example. Why do we drive around cities in private cars when public transportation would save loads of money, space and lives? Well ok, that's because governments would have to implement it and if they can't convince the people whose votes they need then it won't happen, so that may be not such a good example. But there are plenty other examples. Such as the fifth door in a car. Why did that take so long and why are there still cars with oldfashioned trunks? It's plain conservatism. Which isn't all that stupid in general because it's often better to stick with what works. Communism seemed like a good idea, but it was a massive experiment that turned out not to work quite that well in practise. But sometimes, in retrospect, it looks really idiotic how slow people accept an obvious change. Obvious in retrospect, that is. DirkvdM 12:04, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Many people dislike glass houses because they offer less privacy, but they have no reason for public buildings. I'm sure the situation is probably different in the Netherlands, but here in the United States where mass transit even exists it is generally poorly operated (some exceptions:New York, Chicago and Boston)and most of our cities (especially in the sunbelt states like Florida and California) are so idiotically sprawling that it is virtually impossible to get around other than by car. So the real question is, why do our governments let this happen? Oh yes, of course...to help the oil companies. Yeltensic42.618 19:20, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

It's liberalism. Governments, especially the one in the US, in principle do nothing unless needed. So the streets got filled with private cars and what little public transportation there is is now quite horrible. So people think it's inherently bad, so they won't vote for parties that are in favour of expanding it. In this case a totalitarian regime could have its advantages. Such as in Singapore. DirkvdM 09:51, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

• Also, much wheeled luggage is actually quite useless — the wheels are too small and are more liable to make you drop the thing than get it from one place to another. It seems that it was only relatively recently that people started making luggage with a very strong, stabilizing handle, and two large wheels placed right on the corner of the luggage (which keeps it at a straight angle). Also, just as an aside, if it was patented in the early/mid 1970s, the patents would have just been expiring in the late 1980s/early 1990s, allowing for free use among different manufacturers. So that might be one part of the answer, though I don't know for sure. --Fastfission 14:48, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
• Until 30 or 40 years ago porters carried most of the luggage at train stations and airports. They took the luggage out of the car or cab, and wheeled it on their carts to the train car or the luggage check-in. People who couldn't afford to pay a porter for handling their luggage couldn't afford fancy new luggage, either. Remember, travel used to be much more formal; men wore suits and ties while traveling on trains and airplanes; women, dresses and high heels. It was only after people actually started lugging their baggage around, especially because they wanted to carry it all on-board to avoid the long wait at the luggage carousel, that having wheels on a suitcase made any sense. - Dalbury 23:34, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Or backpacks. You're talking about the West. Like I said, where people had to carry their luggage themselves, they used backpacks. Or they carried it on their heads, which was often done with those cumbersome suitcases that the colonists brought with them, when they then had to carry them. That places the weight right above the feet, which is ideal for carrying. But it requires a balancing act, which the backpack doesn't. So the backpack is a bit of a compromise. It still has the weight off-centre, but you have to bend forward in stead of sideways, as with a suitcase, which makes a huge difference for the wellbeing of your back. Of course not having to carry the weight at all and only having to pull, as with a wheeled suitcase would be even more ideal. But then it would have to be a proper design, not only with a wide wheelbasis, but also with bigger wheels, depending on the terrain. And if the terrain gets a bit too rough the advantage is gone again. Especially in mud, where you might get bogged down. The wheeled suitcase is for people who don't go beyond airports and hotels and the backpack is the best allrounder. DirkvdM 10:16, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Who is this?

Hi folks, I have an vague query which I hope someone can help out with. It is really bugging me at the moment and I won't be able to sleep tonight unless I work it out ...

I remember on wikipedia, on the 'current events' page, there was once a notice about a famous person (logician? or philosophier?) who recently died. In that person's article, it had a bit about that particular person being born from outside US and when in the US, not being able to speak English perfectly, found himself in some trouble with the police. Apparently (as the story goes) he was something like "You can't ..." and given his accent the police heard a profanity instead.

Is anyone able to help out with this piece of trivia? Who is this person?

Sorry for the vagueness of the request! novacatz 08:02, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Remember how long this was ago? Banana04131 17:15, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

about 2-3 months novacatz 05:37, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Brothers

Are Roy Keane the one who left manchester united recently & Robbie Kean who is the striker of Totenham Hostpurs brothers or not? Apart from these are there or were there any brothers who play or played soccer at the high club or national team level?

Yes they are. Other brothers include Jack Charlton & Bobby Charlton.

The third sentence of our article on Roy Keane says this:"Roy Keane is not related to fellow Irish footballer Robbie Keane.". The question gets asked in many places on the internet, but 'no' is always the answer. DJ Clayworth 15:18, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Gary Neville and Phil Neville are footballing brothers and at one point played on the the same team for both club and country--Goshawk 15:33, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Brothers Brian Laudrup and Michael Laudrup played for Brondby, Lyngby, and Denmark. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:43, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

The Dutchs Frank Debour & Ronald Debour can also be mentioned as brothers who played at the high level for Barcelona & the Netherlands national team.

Frank de Boer and Ronald de Boer. David Sneek 18:45, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

The day the dollar falls

I just saw a dramatised 'what-if' documentary on tv under above title about what would happen if the US $ would collapse. Apparently the national debt of the US has increased dramatically under Bush (after a short good spell under Clinton) and the US now live way above their standard of living, for which they borrow 3 billion US$ per day (per day!?). This creates an artificial paper wealth. Of course this is quite similar to the 1920/30's and a similar crash could happen again (apparently it's not a matter of if but of when). One possible result of this would be that especially Asian countries, like China, would benefit. Also, China is the largest invester in the US$. This made me think. Could China be doing this on purpose? What if they would start selling their dollars really quick (so they still get a good bargain before the dollar goes into freefall)? That would cause a collapse - others will naturally follow to still get what they can get for their dollars, which would cause a further fall, etc. Might China, with its loans to the US, really be after the collapse of the US economy? Then again, someone else said that China would suffer (losing a major market). So what's the deal here? And what would happen to Europe? (This last question because that's where I live). A possible scenario that was mentioned is that Europe creates an artificially high exchange rate (not linked to the free money market), to which the US react furiously because Europe tries to gain a benefit at their expense. How's that? DirkvdM 14:41, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

There are a couple of reasons why this is probably not China's goal. China has not only bought US dollars, they have lent the US money and also invested in the Western economies, and so would suffer if they crashed. Similarly a lot of broke companies wouldn't be paying back China they money they owed them. Thirdly China makes most of its money by exporting manufactured goods. Who would they export them to if the US economy collapsed? DJ Clayworth 14:52, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

• I would also note that twenty years ago the worry was that the oil Arabs were buying up so much property in the US, and that they could cause a collapse by suddenly pulling out. If it's not one threat, it has to be another. - Dalbury 23:24, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

When it comes to investments and markets, the US may represent a major share, but they're not the only ones. But a more important reason would be political, a reason that doesn't apply to the Arabs (if you ignore the terrorism bullshit for a second) because they just want to get rich. China may seem to have 'turned', but remember the regime hasn't changed. What they are doing now has two effects. It lulls the US into a sense of safety (ah, they've seen the light of capitalism at last). And it gives them the power to crush the US financially. That may cost them a lot, but so does the army (which always takes a big chunk aout of a nations economy). They may simply regard this as a military expense. Oh dear, I'm giving away their little plan for world domination. I expect to see the Chinese secret service on my doorstep any moment now.

Then again, the Chinese have always been a nation of traders, so becoming capitalist 'again' should come natural to them. And they've got a millennia (?) old tradition of merging ideologies, so who knows what interresting mix they may come up with this time. DirkvdM 10:42, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

A distinction should be made here on what "the dollar falling" means. If it merely means the US dollar will by 10 or 20% less on the international market than before, that would actually be good for the US, as it would make imports more expensive and exports cheaper, thus vastly improving the balance of trade. China has been working very hard to keep their yuan low in comparison with the US dollar and other currencies so they can have just such a benefit.

However, if you mean that the US dollar would go to zero value, that would certainly trigger a global depression, including in China. I don't see that happening, though, as China doesn't have control of that large a share of US wealth to effect such a total collapse. Once a substantial drop in the US dollar occured, you would see hordes of foreign investors pouring money into the US economy to pick up assets at bargain prices, and hordes of Americans selling off foreign assets which would appear to have increased dramatically in value. Both activities would result in massive foreign cash infusions in the US, which would raise the value of the US dollar. Furthermore, the US could move to stop a slide by reinstating a gold/silver standard, whereby the precious metals in Fort Knox could be exchanged at a fix rate with currency. If that ran out, they could then auction off vast tracts of federal land and other assets for more. StuRat 20:50, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Also note that borrowing $3 billion a day ($1.1 trillion a year) is less than 10% of the annual US Gross Domestic Product of $11.75 trillion. StuRat 21:08, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Here are countries with their percentages of foreign debt to GDP listed, to give you an idea how bad the foreign debt problem is in the US compared with other countries:

Iraq        =229.8%
Portugal    =145.6%
Spain       = 82.2%
Israel      = 57.7%
Italy       = 56.8%
Canada      = 55.7%
Australia   = 50.5%
Argentina   = 32.6%
Greece      = 29.7%
Poland      = 21.4%
South Korea = 17.3%
Indonesia   = 17.1%
Mexico      = 14.9%
Brazil      = 14.7%
Russia      = 12.0%
US          = 11.9% <-
India       =  3.5%
China       =  3.2%

StuRat 21:58, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, I don't know enough about economy to really judge this (despite years of classes in it, which I hated, so that may be the reason I suppose). But it was a study by NRC Handelsblad, a financial newspaper, so they should know what they are talking about. They talked about a paper wealth, saying that the US consume way more than what they have. So it's about the very lack of a physical basis, so I don't suppose reinstituting the gold standard would help any. And you say that China alone does not have a big enough share in the US economy, but if they would start to sell their US dollars that could cause a panic in the stock markets in the world, with everyone trying to still get what they can, a snowball effect. DirkvdM 08:08, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Human Causes For Extensive Damage Caused By A Hurricane

i want to know about the human causes which leads a very destructive nature of a hurricane

Um, hurricanes are caused (ultimately) by sunlight and the Earth's rotation. Not humans. —Keenan Pepper 18:43, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

It has been suggested that Global warming strengthens hurricanes. Have a read of this and

You might also want to consider that more unstable buildings will more easily fall down in hurricanes - thus a whole city of such buildings will experience more destruction and death than a city lacking such buildings. A reason for the number of deaths in New Orleans is that a dam failed, this is ultimately a human error - they could have been made hurricane-proof, leading to less destruction. --Oldak Quill 22:20, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Hurricane-proof is a very tricky, and very expensive goal. By bitter experience we have found that 'hurricane-proof' designs turned out not to be, and the building codes are periodically made stricter, but will never be perfect. By the way, it was levees, several of them, that failed in New Orleans, usually because the storm surge went over the top. A hurricane-proof levee system in New Orleans would be very expensive, I'm sure more expensive than anyone will agree to pay for. - Dalbury 23:20, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Of course, I wasn't considering the practicality, I was making the point that the destructiveness of hurricanes is also down human beings. Another way in which humans influence destructiveness is how the authorities handle the situation - whether they evacuate effectively, &c. --Oldak Quill 05:44, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Hurricanes are indeed fed by warm water and the effects of global warming are uncertain, especially locally, but it will lead to warmer seas and that will lead to more hurricanes. I believe this is one of the few things that are certain and there are already reports that hurricanes appear where and/or when they're not supposed to.

About the cost of a defence system, that's pretty high indeed, but the Netherlands have done it. New Orleans, which is in a very comparable situation (one big sub-sea level estuary) hasn't. The US have called in Dutch expertise, but whether the rich USA are willing to put the required amount of money into this poor region is another matter entirely. The US isn't a socialist country like the Netherlands. And Bush might think that Katrina was quite litterally an act of God unleashed against this Voodoo region. And do you see Bush going against something that might be the will of God? DirkvdM 10:53, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Not to mention God wanting to punish New Orleans for its debauchery and sin :)...I suppose a sandstorm will bury Las Vegas next, an earthquake will destroy San Francisco to punish those sinful gays, Massachussetts will fall into the sea for allowing gay marriage, locusts will descend upon France for disagreeing with Bush over the Iraq war, and last but not least the North Sea will burst the levees and crash upon the Netherlands for legalizing marijuana and prostitution. Yeltensic42.618 19:33, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

And then there's that supervolcano under Yellowstone and if the La Palma volcano collapses, a megatsunami could wash out the East coast. The Netherlands are safe, though. As we say "God created Earth and the Dutch created the Netherlands. So he doesn't rule here. :) DirkvdM 08:17, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

One problem New Orleans has is precisely that it is in hurricane territory, making levees less helpful (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the Netherlands is often hit by hurricanes). The comment about God not ruling over the Netherlands reminded me of a sign that used to stand along the I-4 highway going through Orlando, Florida (home to Disney World etc.), 40 miles from the computer I am sitting at; it said "Jesus Christ Is Lord Over Greater Orlando", which to me sounds like it means that is all...as soon as you venture beyond Deltona (a bedroom town several miles to my southeast that is usually considered the outer periphery of the Orlando metro area), Satan is in charge. Yeltensic42.618 21:45, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Also, Bush probably wants God to wipe out the East Coast because of all the states in the Northeast that voted for that satanist John Kerry...and everyone obviously wants to bury Florida after what happened in the 2000 presidential election...Yeltensic42.618 21:20, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

To be on the safe side, tornadoes should rip apart Ohio, the coal mines should burst seams and swallow up Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes should crash down upon Michigan, a milk flood should wash away Wisconsin, New Mexico should be annihilated by a nuclear weapons test, and West Virginia and New Hampshire should be buried in Appalachian rubble :). Yeltensic42.618 21:20, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Oh, and I almost forgot...locusts should descend upon the cornfields of Missouri and Iowa :). Yeltensic42.618 21:24, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

One way is by allowing, and even encouraging, construction of low quality housing in areas prone to disaster, such as below sea level in an area regularly hit by hurricanes. When homes are destroyed in such areas, the government should not pay to rebuild them, or should pay to rebuild them in a way that will allow them to survive a hurricane, such as on concrete stilts above sea level. Banning construction of dangerous homes in dangerous areas should also be done. To fail to do so is a death sentence for some future generation, or perhps the current one, depending on when the next big hurricane hits. StuRat 20:27, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Another thought is that draining coastal swamps, which have a great capacity for absorbing excess water without severe damage, leaves the coast more vulnerable to this type of damage. StuRat 20:31, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Spider

http://crossroads.net/a/images/spider_top.jpg 130.111.98.131 18:30, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Chemical Ali

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/images/ali_chemical.jpg does he look like Saddam? 130.111.98.131 18:38, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

The picture is of Chemical Ali, who is Saddam's cousin, which would explain the similarity. - Akamad 19:33, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

United States Navy

http://www.markchurms.com/Merchant2/graphics/reign-l.jpg what is he trying to show? 130.111.98.131 18:45, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

I suppose the artist is trying to show the attack on Pearl Harbor. Grumpy Troll 19:47, 22 November 2005 (UTC).

I disagree. The ship does appear to be near land, due to the mountains in the back, but it is not docked, as was the case for most ships attacked at Pearl Harbor. Also, the presence of anti-aircraft flak suggests those on the ship were prepared for the attack, unlike at Pearl Harbor. Furthermore, the planes depicted near the ship could be taken to be kamikaze planes, shince duirng a typical bombing run they would not go so low. This last point could be a matter of interpretation, however, as the planes might have been flying at altitude and have been shot down and decided to take a suicide run at the ship as their last act of vengeance. Kamikazes (pre-meditated suicide attacks) were only used near the end of WW2, near Japan. StuRat 20:11, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps the artist is not trying to show anything other than a ship getting attacked, in other words, in might not represent any historical event(s). - Akamad 11:11, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

The ship is a Missouri- class battleship. None were in Pearl Harbor, but were active in the last years of the war in the northwest Pacific. It looks to me pretty likely intended to represent any of the late WWII actions in support of the island invasions such as Okinawa. The heavy flak indicates air attack, which could well be kamikaze attacks by that stage.

atlantis in the lower 48

are there any places that are believed to be atlantis that are in the lower 48 states.

Lower 48 states of what? David | Talk 21:03, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Assuming you mean the lower 48 states of the United States of America, then no, since Atlantis is under water. Unless you are refering to a certain episode of Futurama, in which case you may find this more useful. If Atlantis was anywhere, chances are it would be in the Mediterrainian Sea. You may find this article, Location hypotheses of Atlantis, useful. It doesn't mention the USA, but says it may be off the coast of Cuba. smurrayinchester 21:39, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Atlantis is fictional. Stop looking for it in the real world. - Nunh-huh 22:17, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Some fiction is based on a grain of truth, like the Trojan War as the basis for The Iliad. The best explanation I've seen for the Atlantis myth is that a Greek volcanic island (possibly Santorini) exploded after rumbling and erupting for some time, enabling many of the inhabitants to flee. This would have occured before the Greeks (pre-Greek Minoans, technically) had developed a written language, so accounts would be quite sketchy. The theory goes on to say those who escaped moved to what is modern Israel/Palestine and became the Phillistines. Examinations of Phillistine sites seem to show pre-Greek designs but no written language. The parts about Atlantis being a continent, which required it to be relocated out of the Mediterranean into the ocean named after it, and continuing to support a human population under water, were all be made up later. Volcanic islands do occasionally explode, leaving little or nothing above the water. StuRat 23:55, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Some fiction is based on a grain of truth, but there is precious little reason to place the story of Atlantis in that class of fiction. - Nunh-huh 00:25, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

You might want to check out Location hypotheses of Atlantis. Banana04131 17:09, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

75th wedding anniversary

Does anyone know what the symbol is for the 75th wedding anniversary?

Let's say "opinions differ", probably because that's a long time to be married. I think it's about an even split: the diamond importers/sellers would like it to be a diamond. About an equal number of people would say "Platinum" (figuring that 25th is silver, 50th is gold, so 75th should be a more valuable precious metal.) - Nunh-huh 22:24, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

According to Wedding anniversary the 75th is the diamond or double diamond anniversary. Queen Victoria, however, decided to celebrate her 60th year of reign as diamond and, since, the 60th is called Diamond. This has led to the 75th being known as the "Double Diamond anniversary". According to the same page the Platinum anniversary is the 70th year of marriage. --Oldak Quill 22:28, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

The point being that there's no right answer. A 75th Wedding Anniversary is sufficiently rare that there can be no authentic "tradition" built up, so any answer is arbitrary. I'd suggest Dentucreme. - Nunh-huh 22:56, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

I think you're being ageist. JackofOz 08:38, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Maybe you could ask about how Noah and family celebrated their 750th anniversaries... Ojw 21:02, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

jewel-encrusted oxygen tanks Nelson Ricardo 21:41, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

babylon 5 an allegory

hello iam a pop artist who is not as famous as andy worhol is anyway there is a rumor going around my place of work that babylon 5 is an allegory of world-war-two with the minrbi representing THE U.S.S.R.,the earth allience being the allies,president clark being the axis powers the babylon project representing an atomic bomb. and the minrbi civil war and the shadow war being the cold war which was after world-war-two.what i want is if there is any truth to this rumor.

Well, all stories are alike, and all stories that owe a larged debt to Lord of the Rings will be thought of as possibly analogous to WWII. One problem with the analogy in this case is that all the wars in B5 were anticlimaxes. -Nunh-huh 22:56, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

November 23

The restaurant Strawberry Patch-Help Me!

When I lived in Houston in the eighties-nineties there was a restaurant called the Strawberry Patch on Westheimer Street across from a public Library. They had the BEST cheeseburgers on this earth and they tasted like NO OTHER burger I have EVER tried. Does anyone remember this place? Is there ANY OTHER Strawberry Patch in the US? Or at least the recipe for the burger?

I believe they changed the name to "Pappas Bros. Steakhouse". Since it's under the same owners, hopefuly it will be as good as ever, although it is rather pricey ($50-$100): Restaurant review StuRat 19:24, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Correction, I believe the place you want is next door:

http://www.pappasburger.com

Pappas Burger

5815 Westheimer, 713-975-6082

A clean, well-lit place for quality burgers in the Galleria area, Pappas Burger is a modern burger joint that also serves beer. The meat is first-rate; they start with never-been-frozen beef, ground fresh daily next door at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse. Then they make a half-pound patty and griddle-cook it. You choose from a wide variety of configurations and order at the counter. The blue cheese burger is the local favorite.

If it's the blue (bleu in French) cheese burger you like, there are many recipes for those. They have a unique taste. StuRat 19:42, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

OF course, the "Best Cheeseburgers on Earh" claim has to be contested....Once you've found this jrnt, truck on up to New Haven, Connecticut and try out the burgers at Louis Lunch. All other burgers are toboueffy... - Nunh-huh 07:04, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Santa Mail

What does the USPS do with all that Santa mail they get? Do they even get any? --Shanedidona 05:26, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

• They get lots. . Since 1912, they have been shared with those designated by the post office as Santa's helpers - "charitable organizations, employees of local post offices, and volunteers." - Nunh-huh 05:30, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

my grandfather

dear sirs, my grandfather might have went to this scool in 1900's i'm not sure would like to know. his name was richmond lyke, ssn: 121-12- 3800, went to culver military academy , in culver IN, he was born august 24 1888., in millerton, pennsylvania. if u could find out for me , u can write me at <e-mail address removed>, thankyou very much for this sight. dean lyke. 5055n 1145 w delphi, IN. 46923

Dean, I have removed your e-mail address so that you won't get put onto various spam lists. If you look at our article on Culver Military Academy, you will find a link to the school's website. that should give you contact information so you can enquire to the school directly. Ground Zero | t 14:22, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

1970s MUSIC

There was a song from the 70s called i believe "think of me' also ia song i believe named second avenue /on second avenue I would like to know the artists of these two songs

You might be able to find what you're looking for at http://www.allmusic.com. -- Rick Block (talk) 15:56, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

• Todd Rundgren, and Hello it's me, I would guess? "Think of me/You know that I'd be with you if I could/I'll come around to see you once in a while" and so on. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 23:10, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

1967 camaro rs/ss production

Dear sir/ma'am

I understand that there were 34,000 plus 1967 camaro ss's. Of that number how many of them were equiped with the ralley sport package? :Thank you

Mark T. Hoven

this document at camaros.org might help to answer your question. If not, they seem to have a lot of information on the Camaro, so they might be able to point you in the right direction. --Robert Merkel 05:50, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

programming language

Hi. I will like to start programming, but what is the best "programming language"???

For a first language, I suggest BASIC or even FORTRAN, which is also simple to learn. C and especially C++ are far more difficult, so I don't suggest them until you are able to do the basics. StuRat 19:08, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

I disagree. Nearly my first programming language (after logo) was learning C purely from K&R The C Programming Language. An extraordinarily well written book; accurate, clear, and concise all at the same time, which is quite an accomplishment. That said, it's still not easy and takes a lot of time. Also cynical programmers will tell you that BASIC rots your brain and will forever ruin your ability to program correctly. I never bothered to keep up my programming skills as other interests took me away, but C can be done. It then makes a good base for learning other languages. - Taxman 19:26, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Everyone has their favorite, of course, and asking which is "the best" is likely to lead to a lot of useless bickering, but I suggest Python. It's easy to learn, but it's still a "real" language used for big projects; it's open source and available for many platforms; and the documentation at http://docs.python.org/ is well-written and helpful. —Keenan Pepper 22:09, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Depends on what your goals are. Do you want to become a professional programmer? Do you have some specific things you want to write programs for - for instance, do you want to do web programming, or perhaps develop embedded systems for electronics hobby projects? Do you want to program games?

One suggestion I'd make is that if you really want to learn to program properly, you might consider taking a course in it rather than trying to learn purely by yourself. That may of course be because I'm employed by a university, so I have a vested interest in encouraging people to take courses... ;)--Robert Merkel 03:09, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree strongly that it depends what your goals are. If you just want to throw together little programs, and don't expect ever to do anything large, then depending on the environment you are in you might try PERL, Javascript, or one of Microsoft's .NET languages, mainly because you will easily find a lot of reusable fragments that you can string together to do things. If you plan eventually to be a "real" programmer, though, PERL and Javascript are not places to start: PERL positively discourages discipline (as does most BASIC) and Javascript is kind of limited. Pascal and Modula-2, both invented by Niklaus Wirth were both specifically designed as disciplined languages for beginners, and remain good places to start. I think Java also is something one can learn from the bottom up (with a good book, or a course), and it encourages a disciplined approach, and you can stay in Java from the very simple to the very complex as you learn more and more of what it can do. I'm old enough that I started in Assembler myself: IBM 1401 Assembler. Do not do that. Personally I like—well, love—C/C++, but I think that its ability to use manipulate addresses directly with "pointers" (and the concommitant requirement to understand memory management) is probably unnecessarily daunting/dangerous for any but the very technically inclined beginner. Then again, once you grasp both pointer arithmetic and object orientation, you have quite a vocabulary of concepts to take to anything else. Hope that's at least slightly helpful, if you make your goals clearer probably several of us can give more appropriate advice. -- Jmabel | Talk 06:42, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

In line with the remark about BASIC being a bad first language because it will leave you with a wrong idea of how porgramming should be done. The opposite goes for object oriented programming languages, like Java. Proper programming is done in a modular way - first writing a very rough sequence of what needs to be done, refine that until you have a list of interdependent building blocks that can be translated into programming language instructions, where possible reusing stuff already written (by yourself or others). Object-oriented programming is designed specifically for this (the last bit, at least). This modular approach also makes it easier to understand the structure of a program and, conversely, to write it. DirkvdM 08:30, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Pascal and Modula-2, both invented by Niklaus Wirth

I thought Pascal was Edsger Dijkstra's work? Chris talk back 03:18, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

TV Commercials

Is there a website like IMDB that lists Celebrities TV commercial credits?

imdb does show celebrities' commercials, though you have to search for it by each celebrity, they don't list them by product. Go to the celebrity's page and click on the "Other works" link on the left. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger's commercials are listed at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000216/otherworks -- note that "other works" include videos, theater, etc. User:Zoe| 01:14, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

should a long term lease be considered debt or equity financing? why?

Should a long term lease be considered debt or equity financing? why?

• Wouldn't it depend on whether or not the lease is in the name of the owner or of the company? User:Zoe| 01:15, 24 November 2005 (UTC)
• Sounds like a homework question to me. If so, please do your own homework. You can start be reviewing our article on leasing, or doing a Google search. Ground Zero | t 14:32, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

copyrights in dante`s time

i just finished reading the talk page on paradise lost and the primitive form of copyrights in john milton`s time what i want to know is was there any form of copyright in the time of the poet dante,did it exist in a primitive form and was there any form of copyright in roman times. and in case you are wondering iam not doing my homework.

There were no copyrights for Dante. (Which would in any case not have meant much outside of Florence, as there were also no agreements between states to protect copyrights, or inside Florence once he was exiled.) Books, at the time, were also rather expensive affairs! How then, did Dante manage to live? By patronage - the support of princes for writers and artists. Dante's final patron, Guido da Polenta, of Ravenna, is alluded to in the Inferno in Canto 27 ("Polenta’s eagle") - Nunh-huh 04:48, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

November 24

The Highest point above sea level in Birmingham, U.K.

Does anyone know the highest point above sea level within the City limits of Birmingham U.K?

I have lived here all my life and nobody is sure. Please state location and mean height above sea level at the highest point for future reference.

Get some topographic maps of Birmingham; you should be able to borrow some ordnance survey maps at the library. --Robert Merkel 03:35, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

A quick internet search doesn't turn up anything conclusive, but suggests that it may be the slope of Barr Beacon (the top of which is in Walsall). Warofdreams talk 02:47, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

www.jkrowling.com

I have been on JK Rowlings website for over an hour trying to get into the "Do not disturb" door. Can anyone help me get in?? Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ztocchi (talk • contribs)

You're not supposed to be able to open it when it's marked "Do not disturb". How rude! :) The door has been opened four times: see this link for details and archived images. - Nunh-huh 02:47, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming Technique

I've read the article on Lucid Dreaming. I've tried the techniques, but it does not seem to work. I either fall asleep, and can't control my dreams, or, I cannot sleep.

I've been near to success before, I'll explain what I felt: I had closed my eyes for about 160 counts, when I felt my body go numb (is that sleep paralysis?). Then after that, I felt a little falling sensation mixed with sensations of being on a boat while the water was choppy. But I could not progress further much. I gave up and slept. Of course I dreamt, but it was not the slightest lucid.

Could any experts at lucid dreaming give me more tips? Thank you (in advance)--Levin

I've only had them spontaneously, actually only once, despite of trying a lot. But I suggest you spend some time reading or searching alt.dreams.lucid – I recall they have posted some good FAQ's and howtos there. For example, Lars' Lucid Dreaming FAQ there has something about WILD, too. –Mysid 08:24, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Croydon Water Mills

I have read in an article that archeologigists have discoverd Saxon Water Mills on the Ebbsfleet river. Does anyone know any further information about this. I'm doing a project about that time period. Connie Wilson email: (email removed)

The British Archaeology magazine states that:

"The remains of an Anglo-Saxon water mill have been excavated at Ebbsfleet, near Gravesend in Kent, during work on a station for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology found two large timber chutes, which directed water onto the wheel. The mill is thought to date from about 700 AD, making it the earliest horizontal watermill yet found in England. The timbers were lifted out of the ground intact and taken to conservation facilities at Chatham Historic Dockyard."

I hope that is what you are looking for. - Akamad 19:25, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Ball possetion

Hi

When TV footages show the ball possetion of a 2 teams in one match. I always see contradictory to the game, they gave the more percent to the team who is outplayed by its opponent.What is the criteria for this mechanism & how it works?

• I'm afraid you haven't specified a sport. Deltabeignet 17:43, 24 November 2005 (UTC)
• If you are talking about football rather than football then maybe the team with least posession made the most of its scoring changes and the finishing of the team with the most posession was lousy. DJ Clayworth 22:45, 24 November 2005 (UTC)
  • Exactly right. Posession ratio is literally the proportion of time that a team has had posession of the ball, which might include a smart move down the field culminating in three shots on goal, but might also include time that a team spends running the clock down to prevent a bad situation from becoming worse (if you're 4-0 down with 5 minutes left on the clock, and 2 of those goals were scored from your failed attacks, the last thing you want to do is try and attack again). It's a measure of time, not what the team did with it, which is probably better measured with a combination of territory stats (how much time the ball was at either team's end or the midfield) and posession in opponent's half. Chris talk back 03:12, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Snow

I have a question. Is there a website that tells me how much snow so far this year? Just curious --Zach 12:23, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

• Depends on where you are. Proto t c 15:12, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

• Most ski resorts report total snowfall on their websites, so if you are lucky enough to live near one then that might give you an idea. DJ Clayworth 22:42, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

GTA San Andreas

Where do I find the remote control tank?

Gamefaqs Proto t c 15:10, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

How about I can't access any and YOU give me the answer?

If there is one (don't remember there being one), it's probably one of the missions that nerdy guy who runs the RC shop gives you. It's in the second city (San Fernando). But Gamefaqs really is a far better place for this kind of query. Proto t c 10:58, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Can chickens fly?

Maybe an embarassing question... but I've never seen one fly. I tried to check the Wiki and it never mentioned flight, and the article Flightless birds didn't mention chickens either.

So I wonder... Can chickens fly? -- Jason 12:56, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

• Yes, but not very well, and only over a small distance. It's more contorlled falling than anything. Proto t c 15:11, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

• For more information read the Chicken article. There is an entire paragraph which addresses your question. --hydnjo talk 15:27, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Movies on the internet

Where is a good resource for downloading movies and watching them? --216.191.200.1 13:48, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

• www.MPAA.org Proto t c 15:10, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

the day the euro fails

if the euro fails and europe is stricken with the same amount of poverty we were stricken with during the great drpression how will that effect our ecnomy and will we get out of our current ecnomic crisis.

It depends on the referent of "we". Seeing the US budget and trade deficits it seems more likely the dollar will fail first, btw. David Sneek 17:32, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

I suppose you mean if the Euro falls (I can't imagine what 'fails' would mean). Considering your referrence to the great depression, you're probably referring to the US. But the rest of the world suffered from that too, just as it will if (when) the US dollar falls again. See the above thread that this question was probably base upon. And of course the reverse will also be true. An interresting question is which would have the biggest effect 0 the falling of the Euro or the US dollar. This depens largely on how much (misplaced) trust is put in the currency. And the US dollar has been the international currency for at least the last century or so. So if that falls it will probably have a bigger effect because people around the world have more US dollars than Euros (or is this an oversimplification?). But that may change and a falling of the US dollar would expediate that. Which could place the Euro in a similar position and I'm not sure if that would be such a good thing. For the EU (which is only part of Europe, by the way) or the rest of the world. DirkvdM 11:16, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, "fails" could mean hyperinflation, for example. ;) I think you are oversimplifying - the US dollar is most certainly not in the monopolic position it had maintained until five years ago. Granted, it'll take some time, but in the end, I'm fairly sure the US dollar, the euro, and between two and five other regional currencies (Eco and SADC currency in Africa, GCC currency and something East Asian in Asia, CSN currency in South America) will split up the market of international currencies between them in the next two decades. File:Austria flag large.png ナイトスタリオン ✉ 11:33, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

I didn't know Crosby Stills and Nash had their own currency in South America. :) The Yen would be a logical choice for Eastern Asia. But ultimately wouldn't it be a good idea if there were one currency for the whole world? At leat at first it wouldn't have to be a paper currency people would use in everyday life, but something like the Euro (or should I say ECU?) before 2001, when it was just a central reference currency to make international transactions easier. Many still think we should have kept it that way. DirkvdM 09:59, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages Toolbar

How come there isn't a wikipedia toolbar. I find wikipedia incredibly useful but whenever I want to make a new search I have to go to the actual physical website. A toolbar would be much more convenient.

You could search wikipedia using the google toolbar (like this). David Sneek 17:35, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

And there's a Misplaced Pages Widget for Mac OS X. - Nunh-huh 18:47, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Opera lets you set preferences for searching shortcuts. You set them through preferences/advanced/search, then access them either by highlighting the word on the screen and right-clicking to choose what you want to search with, or pressing F2 and then a shortcut key and typing in the word (F2 w teapot brings me to this page). Opera is great. Natgoo 20:30, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

You can use shortcuts in Firefox as well. Right click on the search box and choose "Add a keyword for this search". Choose a name for it (e.g. "Misplaced Pages search"), and then choose the shortcut you want (I use "wp" for the English Misplaced Pages and "cywp" for the Welsh Misplaced Pages), then click OK. You can then search Misplaced Pages from the url bar just type "<shortcut> <search term>" (e.g. "wp France" or "wp Misplaced Pages:Reference desk". Thryduulf 13:29, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

There's a Misplaced Pages toolbar for Firefox. User:Zoe| 21:20, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Need help from a musician with a good ear ((Or maybe a drummer))

Hey, can anybody provide me with an accutate drum tab of the Amen break? It would be the best, honest to God..

Here's a link to the beat, by the way: http://www.lysator.liu.se/~janne/audio/wav/amencompo/Amen_break.wav

Thanks, you crazy Wikipedians!

67.160.39.151 17:48, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

You mean like this?:

       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
cymbal x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X x x
snare      x  x x  x  x    x  x x  x  x    x  x x    x  x  x  x x    x
bass   x x       xx    x x       xx    x x       x       xx      x

—Keenan Pepper 01:59, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Oh, and if you find something off about that, just edit it — it's a wiki after all! —Keenan Pepper 02:02, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Hey!! You're that good IP from this question which I answered a while ago!!! :-) --HappyCamper 02:47, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

-Hey Happycamper, fancy seeing you again, you're a great guy. and to Keenan, thank you so much, that series of Xs made my thanksgiving. Honest to God. This page never ceases to amaze me, whew. Have a nice day! 67.160.39.151 00:10, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

the internet commercial database

hi i just finished reading your article on the internet movie database and i want to know if there is a database just like it only for commercials.

Second similar anon question in two days. Is this viral marketing? No, currently, to the best of my knowledge there is not, but IMDB does usually list sigificant actors' appearances in commercials; no one, to the best of my knowledge, tries to keep track of other people's appearances in commercials. -- Jmabel | Talk 21:23, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Why is the rate of Gold rising?

Why is the rate of gold rising so fast and in such an unprecedented fashion?

The price of gold is driven by Supply and demand, and the population of the world is increasing - more people want more gold. A quick look at the Gold prices article (particularly this section) tells us that "demand from the electronics industry is rising by 11% a year, jewellery by 19%, and industrial and dental by 21%". India is the world's largest consumer of gold for personal use, and its population is large and growing. You could also check out this google search

Having said that, though, this price rise is far from unprecedented - take a look at this chart (bottom right of the page, click the box to get the Multi-Year Gold 1975-2005 chart, graphing the Gold Fix from 1975-2005). It's just a blip, and nowhere near as high as it was in the late 70s. Natgoo 19:58, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Francis Ford Coppola

I am doing a project on Dracula for a University course and would like some more information on Francis Ford Coppola's particular interpretation. Is there any way of contacting the director or anyone who would have been involved in this picture?

Thanks --anon(signature added by User:Robert Merkel)

IMDB's page on Coppola has a link to contact details but you have to subscribe to get them (or at least sign up for the free trial). Mr Coppola is likely a very busy man; he's unlikely to be motivated to answer an ill-researched question for an undergraduate essay. Therefore, I'd make sure I'd done my background reading *thoroughly* (and that includes searching the cinema studies journals and books as well as the popular press for interviews) before contacting him. Even assuming you do have a well-researched question that can't be answered from the above, he may also feel that answering even good and thoughtful questions for not-for-publication undergraduate essays isn't a good use of his time. If you're conducting a research project that will ultimately result in publication in a journal, or in the general press, you might have more chance. --Robert Merkel 03:39, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

RV Engine Comparison

Please advise on any information regarding the best RV Engine. The Ford V-10 or the Chevy 8.liter? We want to know for a 33' Motorhome which is best. Thank you.

November 25

Exchange rate of the Indian rupee at independence

A user sent the following message to the help desk.

Please inform me the parity of Indian rupee at the time of independence i.e on 15th August 1947 against major world currencies such as Stg Pound, US Dollar, German Mark etc.,

I would be grateful for any assistance you can give this gentleman.

Capitalistroadster 06:33, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

DVD recording

We have recorded a movie on a DVD-RW thru DVD camcorder but now we are unable to create a CD from that DVD-RW - Please explain in details. We would like to copy the movie on CD and re use that DVD-RW.

For a start, you almost certainly want to record to DVD-R or DVD+R (both of which are one-time recordable DVD's which are much cheaper than DVD-RW's), not CD; DVD's have much more room and thus the video is stored at a much better quality. The minimal amount you save burning to CD instead of DVD is simply not worth the loss in quality.

As to the detailed instructions, that depends on whether you have a computer with a DVD burner, and, if so, what sort, and what software you have with it. --Robert Merkel 09:26, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Harry Potter

Hi! I have three questions about Harry Potter, the first one is Harry ugly? It says in the 1st book he isn't happy with his looks and in the 5th book Pansy says Cedric was handsome but not Harry. Also my other question is about Horcruxes. Voldemort, he was using his diary horcrux in the second one, but what about in the 1st book and just after he tried to kill Harry, what exactly was he? What horcrux was he using? And my final question is Pansy ugly? The person that plays her is really pretty, but is she supposed to be pretty in the books?

P.S. Sorry one more question: In Harry Potter movies 1 and 2, Adrian Pucey....which one is he? It says in the cast list that there are two playing him.....if so, which ones are they? I know there is the one with kind of long hair...but who is the other one?

Uncertainty about Harry's looks could be either because: JK Rowling made a mistake between books, his looks changed as he grew, ugly actor are not allowed or it may be a case of an unreliable narrator. When a character describes things or events within a story you have to be wary of them simply lying or not being a good judge of the situation. Many people are unhappy with their looks and over-critical of them. As to the two Puceys IMDB seems to suggest that one is a stunt double, so you probably should not be able to tell them apart. MeltBanana 14:54, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

A Stalker

Hey There was this person on AIM, she said all these things she did, like kill a dog and all this stuff right? so I said wot the fuck is your problem and all that, and she said she was going to take my isp, It sounds like me just being gullable but I'm not giving you the full story, anyway...is it possible for someone to get your isp? which is where all your information like your address is shown...

You probably mean the IP address, not the ISP which is your internet service provider (the company you bought your internet connection from, e.g. AOL). I doubt anyone can discover your IP address through AIM. (All the messages go through a central server, not directly from client to client.) And even if they did, only the internet service provider and the police are able track down your name and address using only the IP address. –Mysid 10:26, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Famous people with the first name "Evan"

Please could you tell me how I can go about finding a list of famous people (either alive or dead) with the first name "Evan".

Many thanks,

Tim Drean

While Misplaced Pages is not the ultimate celebrity index, we have a fair number of articles on famous people from all walks of life - entering "evan" in the search bar and clicking on "search" will show you all articles that have "evan" in the title (some of which wil be irrelevant to your query, but you will also get all articles on people with the first name Evan). By the way, I've removed your email address - we generally answer requests on this page, not per mail, and publishing your email address here will most probably result in large amounts of spam sent to your mailbox -- Ferkelparade π 13:41, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

There's an easier way. Look here: Special:Allpages/Ev. There's every Evan, from Evan Alexander to Evan Ziporyn, and even an Evan's syndrome. Proto t c 13:45, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Equally easy is to use Wikiwax, which has dynamic searching. Just type in "Evan" and away you go.--Commander Keane 10:40, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

A Question about Gabon

Hello, I am a 7th grader doing an African project on Gabon. I would like the types of foods eaten there and a place to find recipes to fix them if possible as we have to take a sample of a food to class as part of our grade. Thanks and I love this site it helped me a lot on my board. If you need to send a website to where I can find it that would be apprectiated too.

We have an article on Cuisine of Africa. You could try making some fufu or egusi... —Keenan Pepper 14:40, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Archie Coates Pigeon Shooting World Record

The help desk has received the following question from a reader.

I am trying to find out what year Archie Coates set the world record for wood pigeon shooting. Can someone help me please?

Thank you for any help you can give her.

Capitalistroadster 16:35, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Spraying Jute

A reader has contacted the Help desk with the following inquiry.

good morning - is there anything u can spray jute with to keep it from shedding? I am going to be using it as a backdrop on a wall.

thank you! Eileen

Thank you for any help you can give her. Capitalistroadster 17:58, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Handgun

What is the biggest and most powerful handgun ever made???

• There's no one answer. It's likely that the biggest is not the most powerful, assuming you have a definition of "powerful". Assuming you're talking about pistol caliber, try List of handgun cartridges and 12 mm caliber for some sizeable ones. (I'm not an expert, being a pacifist and all.) Deltabeignet 02:29, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
• Sounds like a quote from Dirty Harry (...this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world...). The article on .44 Magnum says this quote was not true when the movie was released (or now), but doesn't specifically identify what is. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:06, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
  • At a guess, one of the .50 caliber handguns fits the bill, though there are other definitions. Hunting pistols are much physically bigger, and are accurate over a far longer range than any short-barreled jobby, though to me their description as pistols is a bit dubious. In terms of "what's the most lethal close-quarters battle weapon you can conveniently carry", perhaps something like the HK MP7 might do the trick, but they're not available to civilians. --Robert Merkel 05:20, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

The simpsons

Is it possible to buy the very first "The simpsons" season (1989) on dvd???

Of course, it is sold in North America, Europe and Australia in a pinkish-silver boxset. We even have an article about Simpsons DVDs: The Simpsons DVDs. Anywhere that sells DVDs should have it. Try somewhere like Amazon. smurrayinchester 21:38, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

the NATO civil war

hi just read your article on NATO and i want to know what will happen if one member state attacks another member state will there be some kind of civil war or something.

• I believe the rest of NATO would probably come to the defense of the attacked nation, unless it was clear that the attacked nation was the aggressor. "will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary" leaves plenty of room for improvisation. Say Belgium sends its troops against Luxembourg, but only after tensions between the two that both countries were at fault for . At that point, the rest of NATO is committed to do something, but that something doesn't necessarily have to be an attack; if the U.K. and France send in mediators and use economic sanctions, they haven't failed in their responsibilities. Deltabeignet 02:20, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Music in People's Diamond commericlas!

In the "People's Diamond" commericial, a famous classical song plays in the background. Can you tell me the name and who it is by? Thanx

According to this, it's from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, specifically "Concerto No.2 In G Minor, Rv.315 'Summer': Lll: L'orage (Presto)" and "Concerto No.4 In F Minor, Rv.297 'Winter': L: Allegro Non Molto". Shantavira 19:56, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks alot!!!

November 26

POCKET KNIFE HISTORY

I have a pocket knife with the tang stamp James Lincard & Son, I would like to know the history of it.

old navy ships

instead of scraping old navy ships while doesn`t the government donate them to the navys of devloping countries has any president thought about doing that and if not why.

Partly because they are made of toxic chemicals such as asbestos, partly because they are obsolete, but mainly for fear that they may be used against the government or their allies. smurrayinchester 17:49, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

the smallest empire in history

what was the smallest empire in history what country ruled and who ruled it.

That depends entirely on how you define "empire". Raul654 18:42, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

airplanes

What does the J stand for in the airplane Piper J-3 Cub?

According to this site, possibly the name of the chief engineer at the time, Walter Jamouneau. Shantavira 20:02, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

the worlds first ecological fantasy novel

is the worlds first ecological fantasy novel th lord of the rings if not what is it.

That question sounds far too subjective to be able to give a definitive answer. Does Genesis count? --Robert Merkel 01:46, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

It would never occur to me that LOTR is an "ecological novel". In what sense do you think it is? alteripse 02:32, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

N64-Super Smash Bros.

How do you unlock the extra players in Super Smash Bros.?

Our article Super Smash Bros. Melee has a very good list. If you mean the original Super Smash Bros, there is a short wikibook with a page on this here. smurrayinchester 21:40, 26 November 2005 (UTC)