Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/December 2004

Hypotonic/Hypertonic
'''What does salt do to a cell? (please include hypotonic/hypertonic)'''

Gee, this wouldn't be for homework or anything, would it? . You should read osmosis first. You can think of a cell as a semi-permeable membrane separating the "inside" of the cell from the "outside" world. In the "inside", there is a high concentration of sodium and a low concentration of potassium, which is the exact opposite of what's generally on the "outside". It is the concentration of sodium that you are concerned with when you talk about "salt".

"Tonicity" is basically defined in biology using the cell's "inside" as the standard. If the electrolyte concentration is the same as the cell's "inside", it's considered "isotonic". If it's higher, it's "hypertonic". If it's lower, it's "hypotonic".

If you put a cell in an electrolyte solution, an equilibrium is established: things go through the cell's membrane in a direction that tries to equalize the concentration of the "inside" and the "outside".

But because the membrane is semipermeable, what flows is mostly water.

If you put a cell in a hypertonic solution, the concentration is bigger on the outside, so water will move from the "inside" to the outside. The cell will shrink if the difference is big enough.

If you put a cell in a hypotonic solution, the concentration is bigger on the inside, so water will move from the "outside" to the inside. The cell will expand: if the concentration difference is big enough, th cell may burst. This is called osmotic lysis. - Nunh-huh 09:08, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

A pretty cool demonstration of osmosis can be done with an egg- you deshell the egg by dissoving it in vinegar overnight - then you place it in hyper and hypotonic solutions overnight again. It's better to use sugar than salt ( I don't know why) you can use syrup for hyper and plain old water for hypo. The egg in syrup will shrivel up. The egg in water will expand to about one and a half times it's volume. The membrane it too tough to burst but if you prick it with a pin you can get a pretty good squirt comeing out of the egg. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 20:22, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The phenomenon is not as cool when it involves brain cells. One of the major dangers of hypernatremic and hyponatremic states is that one can change the osmolality of blood and extracellular fluids fairly quickly, but the cells themselves cannot as quickly protect themselves from water flowing in (increasing the cell volume) or out (shrinking the cell volume). Consequences can be neurologic catastrophe, in some cases damage to myelin in large regions of the brain and in others brain swelling within the skull so severe that it prevents blood flow and the bottom of the brain itself swells ("herniates") downward out of the only exit, the foramen magnum around the spinal cord. Doctors try to fix such hypotonic and hypertonic states slowly and with trepidation. alteripse 02:44, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

SO DOES THE CELL, IN THE PRESENCE OF SALT, LOSE WATER OR GAIN WATER?


 * I think if you read what the posters wrote you will find that they actually provided a full answer to your question. If there is a particular aspect of the given answers that you don't understand perhaps you should ask a more detailed question.  Also, please do not type in all caps combined with bold, in all likelyhood it will not make anyone answer your question any quicker and some people consider it the online equivalent of shouting. --Cvaneg 06:23, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * In brief: cells are always in the presence of salt, so this becomes a meaningful question only if you tell us how much salt. If the concentration of salt outside the cell is higher than the concentration of salt inside the cell, the cell will lose water, and shrink. If the concentration of salt outside the cell is lower than the concentration of salt inside the cell, the cell will gain water, and expand, possibly to the point of bursting. The water goes towards the higher concentration. Put another way, if the cell is in a hypertonic solution, the cell will lose water, and shrink. If the cell is in a hypotonic solution, the cell will gain water, and expand. - 141.150.143.135 05:34, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

saying 'check' in spanish playing poker
anyone one know what one would say for the spanish equivalent of 'check' in a poker game? Thepedestrian 04:45, Dec 1, 2004 (UTC)
 * Well, looking at this page and

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.texashold-empoker.com/modules.php%3Fname%3DContent%26pa%3Dshowpage%26pid%3D109&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpoker%2Bante%2Btarjeta%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26c2coff%3D1%26safe%3Dactive%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG its translation which I can't correctly wikifiy because of the two https I would have to guess that the answer is 'cheque' --Cvaneg 20:24, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * If this is "check" in the sense of "letter to a bank saying please pay this person some money", then, yes, "cheque" is likely correct IIRC. Shimgray 20:43, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Actually, check in this sense means to decline to bet into the pot. I don't know the etymology of the term, so I can't say how it relates to the concept of a bank check.  I certainly cannot guarantee the validity of my translation, as it may be based upon an already incorrect translation.  --Cvaneg 21:37, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Ah. In that case, I have no idea - but it's quite possible the translation program made the same assumption I did (syntactic relationships are tricky for computers)... certainly despite being an English-speaker I'd have used a completely different word for it (ISTR we always used "pass"). Shimgray 00:21, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I should clarify and say that having read the english translation, the usage is correct in regards to poker. What I cannot guarantee, though, is that the source Spanish document which uses the term 'cheque' was correctly generated.  For all I know the document was originally in English and then poorly translated to Spanish.  So that is where the problem would be. --Cvaneg 01:20, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Native Spanish speaker here (Mexico, not Spain); in the sense of "I decline to bet for now", we say "paso" o "me espero", meaning "I pass" and "I wait" respectively. No references, beyond many a sleepless night playing it. I don't know how widespread that idiom is. Hope that helps. 216.13.136.178
 * The poker article implies that the developement of modern poker happened in the English language. It's therefore possible that Spanish borrowed the term "check" and translated it literally into "cheque". I don't really know, though. Isomorphic 20:06, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * I would not trust the resorce cited above. The Spanish version may be an automated traslation from English. I do not know Spanish so I can not judge, but Italian version (I am Italian) is terrible. In Italian there is an expression used by poker player that is pronunce chiip (like the english word cheap). I do not know as it is written. I can confirm that in Italian (an so maybe in Spain) a lot of word in poker (and similar situation) came from English. Unfunately sometimes the word used is not the one that an English will use (for example the pit lane in car race is called in Italian box). I do not remember what chip means to an Italian poker player. The two possible is I am finishing this deal (I will not pay anymore and I am out) or that I accepet to pay what I have to pay. By the way I do not know what check means in English in this sense. AnyFile 13:45, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Hummingbird species
Can anyone id this particular hummingbird? (It's genus, species, etc.) -- AllyUnion (talk) 08:26, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Looks like a male Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) native to the West Coast. It is noted as the only North American hummingbird that can sing. Rmhermen 15:06, Dec 1, 2004 (UTC)

Dibasic acid dissociation
Am I correct in assuming that Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) dissociates, according to Bronsted-Lowry theory, into 2H+ and SO42-? Or am I wrong and it goes, instead, into H+ and HSO4-? --Oldak Quill 18:28, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

It does both The first hydrogen dissasociates completely. The second one only partly so. Therefore a solution of sulphuric acid will contain both HSO4- and SO42- ( but no H2SO4). I suppose it could be thought of as a strong acid and a weak acid mixed? Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 20:13, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * I agree with Theresa. Mgm|(talk) 21:23, Dec 1, 2004 (UTC)


 * I suppose you could treat it as a strong and a weak acid mixed. This really only comes into play when you're looking for a very accurate measure of the pH. Standard procedure is to assume the first hydrogen dissociates completely, look up the acidity constant for HSO4- and calculate the concentration of H+, add them together and voila. EagleFalconn 19:56, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Name of zoologist
Can anyone help me find the first name of "Butler," a zoologist who studied butterflies in the mid-1800s? Neutrality/talk 03:08, Dec 2, 2004 (UTC)

Arthur Gordon Butler (the middle name is a freebie) found in 2 seconds by googling Butler lepidopterist  You're welcome. alteripse 03:36, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Wow, nothing like a little gratuitous smugness eh? - Taxman 04:29, Dec 2, 2004 (UTC) Yeah, no extra charge for the zing. alteripse 12:56, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

DVD
Yeah, I was wondering what Motion picture was the first movie to be released on DVD in the United states. I hear it was the Wizard of Oz, but I don't think so. Does anyone know? Or at least tell me what some of the first DVD movies were?
 * According to the IMDB trivia section for Twister it was the first movie to be released to DVD and it gives the release date as the 25th of March 1997. Of course, the Wizard of Oz has the same release date so I'm not sure how Twister got that particular designation.  From a business standpoint it makes sense to release multiple DVDs simultaneously to encourage the purchase of DVD players, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were other titles with the same release date, but that is pure speculation. --Cvaneg 07:09, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The Plague: Need help!
I moved this question from Talk:Main Page. JRM 09:39, 2004 Dec 2 (UTC)

I'm interested in finding references to why the Bubonic plague does not seem to have made it to the Americas in the second half of the seventeenth-century. Does anyone in cyber-land have knowledge of this topic and, perhaps, a few good references to share? I recently returned from Amsterdam where I searched the archives for leads on the Monte Cristi "Pipe Wreck," a submerged archaeological site on which I've been working for close to two decades and which is located on the north coast of Hispaniola. It seems that my main clay tobacco pipe maker, Mr. Edward Bird, died in 1665 and was buried in the yard of the Westerkerk (for those of you who have traveled to Amsterdam, its the church right next to Anne Frank's house). This is puzzling because he died a very wealthy man, and most folks that had amassed his degree of wealth were accorded church burials (inside the church). It appears (no concrete evidence) that he may have succumbed to the Plague, which devastated Amsterdam in 1664. As most of you know, it hit England in 1665. If he, indeed, died of the Plague, they would have buried him outside of the church, rather than in it, regardless of the size of his bank account. And, because we excavated three rat femurs -- as I recall they were about 4 mm. in length -- from between the bottom planking of the Monte Cristi "Pipe Wreck," I've been curious about why there wasn't transmission of the Plague from the Old World to the New, since the primary vectors were the fleas on rats. They supposedly carried it from the Middle East to Europe, so why not from Europe to the Americas? Yes, just the wanderings of a tired but curious mind. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Jerome Lynn Hall


 * Totally guessing, I would suspect that the Carribean climate was both warmer and dryer than Europe, and that the fleas, the rats, or both couldn't take it. Also, the ecological niches favoured by rats and fleas were pretty full in America.  Predators and competition may have prevented plague rats and  fleas from taking root.  European rats - especially the kind likely to take a ship - were adapted to urban and farm life more than wild lands.  But, heavy development was still pretty scarce in America.  Note how in Europe and Asia the plague was much worse in cities like London than in the surrounding countryside.  Lower densities - the largest settlement in the British colonies had only some 10,000 people in 1664 - may have made the difference.  Diderot 10:15, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * From the Black Death article (which is primarily about the 14th century plague): "One possible explanation for the disappearance of plague from Europe [after the Great Plague of 1665] may be that the black rat (Rattus rattus) infection reservoir and its disease vector was subsequently displaced and succeeded by the bigger Norwegian or brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), which is not so prone to transmit the germ-bearing fleas to humans in large rat die-offs."  Note Norway rats are often called "wharf rats" -- they're more likely to have been aboard any seagoing ship than the Black rat (which is sometimes called "ship rat", but is smaller and a poorer swimmer than Norvegicus.  See the links above for more references - there has been some recent contoversy about the causative biological agent.  Catherine\talk 16:53, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * You piqued my curiosity -- a little research says that there was a five-year outbreak (sometimes called "the Barbary Plague") in San Francisco around 1900 and another in Los Angeles around 1924, both rooted in a 19th century outbreak in China, which spread to India and appeared in major seaports around the world.  (Better science and hygiene stopped its spread; scientists identified the Yersinia bacillus as the cause in 1894.)  However, there apparently was never a large-scale epidemic in North America.


 * See also this PBS link for some history of quarantine in the US. Catherine\talk 17:38, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * The San Francisco experience -- as documented in the recent book The Barbary Plague (ISBN 0375504966) -- makes for fascinating reading. I'm on the road now; when I get home, I'll dig out the book from my library and see if I can come up with a good article on the Barbary Plague. (Holy cow, I never realized that Wiki automatically interpreted ISBN references!) --jpgordon{gab} 03:02, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

4mm rat femurs? The rat femur is usually about as long as the skull, so these are fetal rats? Or baby mice (I wouldn't be able to tell the difference)? Or 4 cm?

I actually did some book research on the plague question last night. Even in Europe the 1665 version of the plague acted differently than the earlier ones and did not spread to countryside villages much but remained in the cities. Author suggested the difference was neither host nor virulence, but that a smaller percentage of people in the countryside lived with their farm animals. I have another book somewhere on the importing of infectious diseases from Europe to America and if I can find it I'll post what it says. alteripse 13:09, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Would that book be Who Gave the Pinta to the Santa Maria? --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 05:52, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Whoever gave Pinta to Sanata Maria may have been the person who got syphilis to the Old World. There's some reason to think it was brought back to Europe by Columbus or one (or more) of his crew as there was a new, fulminating disease which appeared shortly thereafter. Since pinta and yaws are both caused by related organisms, perhaps what was brought back was new to the Old World and took some time to acclimate. TB went the other way and native Americans have not yet acclimated to it immunologically. It is an acute often fulminating infection for them. On the plague question, it is now endemic among small native rodents in much of the Western US and there are claims that its appearance can be traced to a particular year (and ship? my memory fails) arriving in SF from China. The original disease was one of rodents in NE Asia and still is. It appears to have been brought to Europe by Genghiz Kahn's troops who were the first to travel at high enough speed going west to carry it along. Camel caravans were just to slow, plague burned out by the time they got wherever they were going.
 * On the question of less intensity in rural areas in the 1660s, if so we are fortunate for it was during a plague caused vacation that Isaac Newton, rusticated from Cambridge, invented the calculus and discovered his laws of motion. Or perhaps it should be discovered and invented, depending on your Platonicism about math ideals. See Wm McNeil Plagues and Peoples for a (not so clearly written) account of all this. It should bend your mind around. Gibbon and his theories about the fall of the Roman Empire may have been completely out to lunch. Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel has some coverage of the issue as well and is both more recent and better written. ww 01:40, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Ocean Waves
I know on a basic level that wind and so are responsible for waves on open water - but how? How does the motion of the air cause such effects?

Also, what produces more drag: Air blowing across (a thin layer) of water, or air blowing across a solid surface?--Fangz 14:48, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Try ocean surface wave and the links in the article. alteripse 15:45, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Dual boot
OK, I'm done with partitioning, and am getting another drive for my x86. Win2k on one, Linux on the other. How do I set this up? Is there a manual or faq on this somewhere? Thanks! Intrigue 18:19, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Many. Here are a few:


 * http://www.littlewhitedog.com/content-52.html
 * http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux/grub-w2k-HOWTO.html
 * http://geodsoft.com/howto/dualboot/
 * http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/ch-x86-dualboot.html

A basic rule of thumb to follow: Install Windows first, then Linux. Linux will quite happily coexist with other operating systems, and many distributions will even help you configure multi-booting with other OSes. Windows, however, prefers to be the only OS, and will overwrite the boot record to prevent booting any other OS you may already have installed (necessitating a re-configuration with a Linux live CD or some such). If you install Windows first, you should have no problems from then on. Good luck! -- Wapcaplet 21:58, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

NationStates question
Would someone familiar with the online game NationStates help me? There are two nations in my region (Cosmos) who have received endorsements: each has 1. However, one of them has been elected Regional Delegate. Why is this? Thanks, --anon.


 * My guess is that the nations giving you endorsements are unaware that your non-Regional Delegate is run by the same user as your R.D. nation. Do the two nations in question have differing political structures or leanings? Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 00:29, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * I have stopped playing NationStates ages ago, but as far as I remember, the delegate nation is chosen automatically by the software based on number of endorsements without any user/admin involvement. If two nations receive the same number of endorsements, the software will presumably either go through the list chronologically (giving delegate status to the nation that received endorsements first) or alphabetically. The Nationstates support forum might be a better place for this question, though -- Ferkelparade &pi; 13:59, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * The nation that has been in the region the longest will become Delegate in the case of a tie if there is no incumbent Delegate; if there is an incumbent Delegate, they will remain Delegate. If you have any further NationStates questions, the best place to ask is in the NationStates Technical forum - however, I can answer you as best I can if you ask on my talk page here or my talk page on the NationStates wiki. --Goobergunch|? [nation] 00:46, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * When everyone's done laughing, an explicit mention of Make only links relevant to the context seems like a nice idea. -) JRM 16:04, 2004 Dec 3 (UTC)


 * Gee, I wonder if we have truly milked the full lameness from this joke now. No: we should file a bug report on how spaces can't be properly linked. (Go on, try your hand. You know you want to.) JRM 22:55, 2004 Dec 3 (UTC)


 * Aww,  where's &#xa0; your &#160; creativity?  (oddly, these only show up in the preview)  -- &#5339;&#5505;  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]] [ &#5200; ] 23:30, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * 
 * Hah! Not good enough, my friend: there are unlinked spaces around your linked spaces even in preview: clearly unacceptable. (This is just awful&mdash;how much time and space have we wasted on this already? :-) JRM 23:41, 2004 Dec 3 (UTC)


 * Hehehe. On the other hand, things like   let one insert random invisible links which take up a ridiculous amount of space, probably very effective as some sort of DoS attack (bug 994!)  -- &#5339;&#5505;  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]] [ &#5200; ] 23:54, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Argh! This should be a "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" type of bug report. Thanks a lot. Now I'm going to be all paranoid on RC patrol... :-x JRM 00:13, 2004 Dec 4 (UTC)


 * I went there, and it said that Back in the U.S.S.R. didn't deserve an article, but it seems to have one. What gives? Perplexedly, --anon
 * We're still identifying the material the editor in question was smoking. While we're working on that, we might as well remove this non sequitur. (And now that I actually take a look at what I'm advertising, I see there's a lot of stuff there that is, shall we say, contentious. This is further corroboration to the hypothesis that I'm an idiot.) JRM 21:29, 2004 Dec 3 (UTC)

green acres TV show
I want to know what state was supposed to be the setting for the TV show Green Acres. Anyone know?ike9898 02:08, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)
 * No particular state. Paul Henning, the show's creator, never wanted it to be anywhere in particular; he wanted it to be Anytown, USA -- according to http://www.mortystv.com/feat1.shtml. --jpgordon{gab} 02:33, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * But it was Hooter(s)ville, USA, not Anytown! . - 141.150.143.135 05:23, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * No state was ever specified for the location of Hooterville (no "s" except when Lisa Douglas says it). It's neighbor Pixley does exist in the central valley of California near Fresno and shots of its water tower were used in establishing shots.  Shots of the county courthouse indicated a warm climate as there are palm trees visible.  Other clues to its location were that it is the "Kangaroo State", Mr. Haney explained, "because we keep things hopping."  The state flower is ragweed and the state allergy is hayfever.  When Oliver gives Lisa the route he's going to take in the pilot, "Oliver Buys a Farm", he starts by going to Chicago, but he has to change planes twice after that.  66.213.119.98 20:30, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)  (This is me, by the way, I got logged out somehow.  PedanticallySpeaking 17:34, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC))

In search of the Firefox
OK, here's a challenge: find an authoritative reference [other than Wikipedia ;)] for the fact that "firefox" is another name for the Red Panda; and for bonus points, for the origin of that name (is it a translation of Chinese "Hon ho"? or is that a myth?) Obviously, you will find plenty of online references saying so now, due to the existence of Mozilla Firefox, and I've even turned up a handful that definitely predate the browser, but there's surprisingly little from "reputable reference works". So, anyone got a nice fat book of mammals on their shelf? - IMSoP 02:28, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Neither WWWJDIC nor Zhongwen contain "firefox". In Japanese, the red panda is called ressaapanda (&#12524;&#12483;&#12469;&#12540;&#12497;&#12531;&#12480;).  In Chinese, a panda is xi&#462;o xióng m&#257;o (&#23567;&#x718a;&#35987;; literally "little panda"; or very literally, "little bear cat").  Note that both of these translations mean, literally, "lesser panda".


 * I suppose if one were especially silly and unfamiliar with Chinese etymology, one might note that the symbol &#x718a; (bear) is composed of the symbols &#x80fd; (bear) and &#x708e; (inflammation), the latter being composed in turn of two &#x706b; symbols (fire). However, &#x708e; is phonetic and only indicates how &#x718a; is to be pronounced.


 * It's possible that somebody might refer to the red panda as xióng hú (&#x718a;&#x72d0;), which might in some dialect be pronounced hùng hú. Since the red panda is not very active, this would most likely mean "bear fox", not "(raging) fire fox".


 * One should note that the page cited by Firefox's FAQ makes no mention of foxes.  -- &#5339;&#5505;  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]] [ &#5200; ] 04:26, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Google seems to disagree with you, tough yu may cavail about the extent to which any of these might be considered authoritative; equally, you might expect Wellington Zoo to know what they're talking about. --Tagishsimon (talk)


 * The problem with a google search as simple as that one is it will simply pick up the huge number of blogs etc that have covered the renaming, and recent 1.0 release, of Mozilla's browser, which are merely repeating the information from the naming FAQ. See my comments on the article talk page for some more thoroughly researched and considered sources - still not authoritative, but at least showing that the Mozilla folks weren't the first to assert this link. - IMSoP 15:47, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Benson & Hedges
Would you have the telephone number for the Union in London, regarding labels that are posted on the cigarette packs? Thank you, Anna Marie


 * B&H is owned by Rothmans and Philip Morris, jointly. Info here (I'll leave it to you to figure out who you want to phone out of that lot).  Now, the warning labels on packs for sale in the UK are mandated by the UK's Department of Health.  I don't know what union (I'm assuming you mean trade union) you mean. - John Fader

Orange, France
What is the etymology of this place name? I'm asking because the etymology of the English word "orange" has appeared on Orange (disambiguation). I'd like to move that to Orange (word), but then I don't know what to do with the other etymology. JRM 20:34, 2004 Dec 3 (UTC)
 * Orange, France indicates that the Roman name for the town was "Arausio". I can see that transforming over the centuries to Orange. The name of the town appears to be partially responsible for the metanalysis of "naranj" into "orange". --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 05:51, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * You are a Google user, and I claim my five pounds. :-) Unless you really got metanalysis from a linguistics study that involved Otto Jespersen, of course. See also orange (word)&mdash;except for a slight hole in the history of Orange (still to be researched) I think I've gotten the etymology down now. The full, boring story of this hunt is at User:JRM/Orange, for those who want to know. Thanks for your efforts! JRM 19:15, 2004 Dec 6 (UTC)
 * Great little research article, not at all boring! --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 20:59, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * On this question there are some comments in a wonderful little book by John McPhee, Oranges. That tree and its fruit have connections you never imagined. The Orangemen of Northern Ireland are connected, and so is ...  Royalty and the well off in Renaissance Europe indulged themselves, and kept gardeners employed trying to keep orange trees growing in cold N Europe. It's a fascinating story, and McPhee's book is a masterpiece. And that reminds me, WP needs an article on the man who invented the trick for frozen orange juice and then didn't bother to patent it, saving the Florida citrus industry and leaving Minutemaid and the rest to get rich. An early open source fellow, I suppose. ww 01:49, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Ah! If you have this book somewhere, please get over to orange (word) and see the top of its talk page. Please quote to me exactly what McPhee has to say on Orange and the etymology of the word "orange", so both articles can be updated properly; I had to make do with second-hand paraphrase. To my great regret I have scant little opportunity to visit my local library, otherwise I would have tried to find the book sooner. You are of course free to edit yourself if you want to. JRM 01:58, 2004 Dec 10 (UTC)

Water versus oil cooling
Why are internal combustion engines normally water cooled rather than oil cooled? The question arises with a friend who is contemplating the white gook in his oil typical of a cylinder head crack enabling a pressurised water leak. Were the cooling system oil, err, well, he'd probably still have the same problem, but without the deplorable aesthetics. --Tagishsimon (talk)


 * This is because the specific heat capacity of water is roughly double the specific heat capacity of oil (4,186 J/kilogram&middot;K versus 2,353 J/kg&middot;K). In other words, oil heats more quickly than water; if equal amounts of heat (e.g., from an engine) were applied to equal masses of oil and water at 25&deg;C, then by the time the water reached 50&deg;, the oil would have reached 70&deg;.


 * An oil-cooled engine would probably need about 50% more oil than the amount of water in a water-cooled engine, by volume. -- &#5339;&#5505;  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]] [ &#5200; ] 22:25, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Ta. I kinda though the SHC of each would be much the same, which shows that I should not be asked to estimate physical constants... --Tagishsimon (talk)


 * I wonder why the specific heat capacity of water is particulaly high. What determines specific heat capacity anyway? I suppose it must have something to do with internal degrees of freedom? Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 15:23, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Water has an especially high heat capacity partly because it is a very polar molecule and has strong hydrogen bonding (in comparison, hydrogen sulfide has a SHC of 1017 J/kg&middot;K; because sulfur has a considerably lower electronegativity than oxygen, hydrogen sulfide is less polar). Interestingly, nitrogen tetroxide has a higher heat capacity than water (4690 J/kg&middot;K).


 * Our heat capacity article does indicate that heat capacity is related to degrees of freedom, though it's poorly explained. Water has nine degrees of freedom &mdash; three translational modes, three rotational modes (since it is bent, it can twist as well as spin), and three vibrational modes.  For one kilogram of water the number of degrees of freedom is quite large, since a mole of water is only 18 grams.  In comparison, hydrogen gas has six degrees of freedom, and there are 500 moles of H2 in a kilogram.  The specific heat capacity of hydrogen is 14270 J/kg&middot;K.


 * Interesting articles on the subject include and .  -- &#5339;&#5505;  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|&#9792;]] [ &#5200; ] 19:33, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Origins of Kalamari- spelled right? from greece?
i was wondering if any of you know if kalamari is greek food... or if it originated in greece

thanks


 * Calamari just tells us that the word is the transliteration of the Greek plural for squid. Eating squid probably did not originate solely in Greece. Intrigue 23:59, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * It's a common dish in resturants in Crete, Greece, from my personal experience. &#9999; Sverdrup 21:57, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Carbola Chemical Company
(This was created as a new article. Moving information request here before deleting article.)  SWAdair | Talk  05:05, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I would like to receive any information pertaining to the Carbola Chemical Company, that I understand ceased operation in the 1970's. Need any historical data you might have about the company. Was there a successor, do they still operate the mine, where are the old records stored? Any info you have that would provide historical records of the Carbola Chemical Company at Natural Bridge, New York.

Thank you in advance for any info you can provide.


 * One possible lead for you. As far as I can tell, Carbola Mine (run by Carbola Chemical Co.) closed in the early 70's. However, this document from the EPA lists Carbola Chemical as a manufacturer of gasoline additives. The document is dated from 1998, and includes contact information for Carbola Chemical.  I hope this helps! -Rholton 15:27, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

looking for answers to advertising slogans
''Moved from Village pump (assistance). Peter O. (Talk, automation script) 20:11, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC)''

catch the wave does your body good makin'it great Aren't you hungr            now? And we thank you for your support Get her smart you could pay more, but why? We build excitment Isn't it cool in pink The good time, great taste of wait till we get our    on you just for the taste of it You got the right one baby gotta be, gotta be uh oh Tap the rockies

''This was an anonymous request, by the way. Peter O. (Talk, automation script) 20:20, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC)''


 * Unsure what this request is. Source of this jingle?  Everything in that list is unfamiliar to me, except "Tap the rockies", for which "Coors Light" beer comes to mind.  Peter O. (Talk, automation script) 20:11, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC)
 * Oh yes, "just for the taste of it" is the slogan for Diet Coke. Seems this isn't a jingle but a mized bag of slogans. Peter O. (Talk, automation script) 20:17, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC)


 * "wait till we get our Hanes on you" from Hanes (clothing)
 * "We build excitement" from Pontiac
 * "Does a body good" a Milk promotion
 * ike9898 21:16, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC)


 * "Milk, it does a body good"
 * "Thank you for your support" - Bartles & Jaymes...wine coolers, wasn't it?
 * Yep, Wine coolers. - Taxman 19:11, Dec 6, 2004 (UTC)
 * "Looks like someone's using Wikipedians to win a trivia competition" - -- bodnotbod »  .....TALK Q uietly )  07:07, Dec 5, 2004 (UTC)


 * "Gotta be, gotta be" Dominos.

Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 08:51, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC) Taxman 19:11, Dec 6, 2004 (UTC)
 * Uh oh, Spaghettios
 * "you could pay more, but why?" - Payless shoe stores?
 * "The good time, great taste of Miller lite"?
 * "You got the right one baby" - Pepsi, the series of ads with Ray Charles.
 * "just for the taste of it" Diet Coke
 * According to, "catch the wave" was the ad slogan for "New Coke" in 1985 when "Coca-Cola Classic" was introduced. -Rholton 14:49, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * "The good time, great taste of MacDonalds." The MacDonalds Menu Song ends with this line. --anon

historical slogan
I had a question about a vaguely remembered phrase that I think may have been a historical slogan of some party or group, but I'm honestly not sure where it came from. The phrase is: "No [something]ery, no slavery, no Jesuitical knavery". Half-remembered phrases bug the crap out of me, can anyone help?
 * Hmm. Could it be an Orangeman toast? Hunting around, I find things like "No tyranny, no slavery, no Popish knavery" associated with Irish Protestants. --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 05:34, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, that must be what it is. I did a few searches and found some toasts that talked about Popery, which I think was the missing word. No popery, no slavery, no Jesuitical knavery. Thanks for your help. -Rabenkrahe 04:22, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Homeologous recombination
What is the definition of homeologous recombination? Thanks, --anon

I don't know what homeologous recombination is, but homologous recombination is the exchange of similar pieces of two matching chromosomes.

Pretend these are two copies of the 1st chromosome, one from pater and one from mater, all lined up and ready for cell division, lustily eyeing each other's little centromeres (c). p p m m p p  m m  c    c p p  m m p p  m m p p  m m p p  m m p p  m m

Presto, changeo, all of a sudden they trade matching parts of the long arms, so now they look like this.

p p m m p p  m m  c    c p p  m m p p  m m p m  p m p m  p m p m  p m

They just recombined homologous pieces! Most of the time it goes smoothly, but some chromosomes try to cheat and retain pieces, or try to swap non-entirely matching pieces. Then there's hell to pay (or maybe a new gene is born). Anyway, it happens a lot and mishaps are one of the fundamental sources of new genes.

See for a comparison with other types of recombination. alteripse 00:19, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Or see genetic recombination. Dunc|&#9786; 15:54, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

De Gaulle quote about French cheese
Charles de Gaulle is supposed to have said something like "How can you govern a country that has 246 different kinds of cheese?".
 * Is this the definitive value for the number of French cheeses, or was this number just pulled out of a hat or do I have the quote wrong or what? Basically, what I am asking is how many kinds of French cheese are there in reality?
 * That is how the quote runs at Wikiquote. List of French cheeses says that there are between 350-400 varieties. Rmhermen 05:23, Dec 5, 2004 (UTC)
 * And that quote wasnt about governing France exactly, it was something like "how can you bring a country that has 246 sorts of cheese together", meaning that its such a diverse country and ur not ever gonna get everyone to be united. Aah French cheese-I only like goats cheese and the "manufactured pap" that is Babybel, Dairylea. Plus Cheddar-thats genius. No cheddar is ever found in France

Meadville, PA Indians
Could you be a little more specific? Intrigue 15:24, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Cayuga and Seneca used to live in that area. Diderot 16:05, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Unknown monkey
Can anyone identify this? It was photographed on Bali, in Indonesia. Thank you! Intrigue 16:03, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Is it a Crab-eating Macaque? Rmhermen 19:57, Dec 6, 2004 (UTC)
 * Thank you - possibly it is, I'm not sure though - the article doesn't really describe distinguishing features. Intrigue 23:04, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Day Total Articles
The Wikipedia Day page clearly hasn't been updated in a while. In the article estimation near the top was 190 000 for the English Wikipedia. I changed it to 410 000 articles for english Wikipedia, but I do not know the combined amount of articles of all the Wikipedias for the next listed stat. So, how many articles do all the Wikipedias have put together? Thanks. Oven Fresh 17:12, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Some 1.1M? ("Articles that contain at least one internal link and 200 characters readable text, disregarding wiki- and html codes, hidden links, etc.; also headers do not count") There are 5 WPs with >50k articles: en: (414k), de: (173k), ja: (87k), fr: (66k), sv: (53k). dab ( T ) 17:24, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)

radio feqencies of stations broadcasting football in new york
For sports in NY, a good rule of thumb is 660AM (Giants, Mets, Knicks, Rangers, 24 hr sports), 770AM (Jets) and 880AM (Yankees).

Voltaire and Islamism
According to Martin Kramer, Islamism was originally a French word islamisme, which was coined by Voltaire in the 18th century. He got this from a dictionary, but I don't have access to this dictionary, and even if I did it's in a language I don't speak. I was wondering if someone could tell me in which document of Voltaire's this first appears in, and could then give me an English translation/website where I could read this. I would like to update the Islamism page with this information, but want to fix my facts. - Ta bu shi da yu 22:42, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Hmm. That article seems to suggest that what Voltaire did was coin the word in the sense that we would today use Islam, not in the sense we would use Islamism. (Remember that until the c19th, Islam was commonly referred to as "Mohammedism" or "Mahometism" in the West, presumably by analogy to Christianity). If you look at the rest of the paragraph, though, they note "quoted just this passage from Voltaire's Essai sur les m&#339;urs" [Essay on Manners] - which can be found here. It's not definite from context if this is the first cite of the word by him, but it seems likely. Don't know if that's any help, or if it's just restating what you already know... (The essay is in French - Google translator, perhaps? There doesn't seem to be an online version in English, but I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a translation in your local largish library.) Shimgray 15:27, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * The Oxford English Dictionary says about the etymology of Islamism: "Cf. F[rench] Islamisme (Voltaire in Littré)." On the other hand, they list a quotation from 1747: "Gentl. Mag. 373 Never since the rise of Islamism [note So the Mahometans call their own religion] has our worship once varied." On the other hand, Voltaire's essay is published in 1756 (according to the link given by Shimgray); however, I cannot find the word islamisme in his essay. -- Jitse Niesen 23:05, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * That's not a very useful link I gave, now I look at it... but there's a link at the bottom, "Voltaire-Intégral offre une version numérique partielle...", which when you correct the typo links here - a partial HTML version. Scroll down to "VOLUME I: TOME XI", and hit Chapter VII, which goes here; most of the way through that chapter you get "Cette religion s&#8217;appela l&#8217;Islamisme, c&#8217;est-à-dire résignation à la volonté de Dieu; et ce seul mot devait faire beaucoup de prosélytes.". I suppose it may well be that Voltaire was copied by others who picked the term up, but the '47 version just vanished into the ether. Shimgray 14:36, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Islamism has been coined by replacing the term Islamic fascism by many neo-conservative writers. The same way, they have also coined the term Islamist from Islamic fascist. Now these terms have been used by many writers to refer to any Islamic organization or any Muslim person. -- User:Siddiqui 18:13, 5 Jan 2006 (UTC)

who is the author/sponsor of this site?
You're probably looking for Citing Wikipedia. -- Cyrius|&#9998; 15:37, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Or else Wikimedia --Tagishsimon (talk)

sunday times
takover attempts of any other corporations on sunday times? any attempts of mergers by sunday times? competitions that sunday times faces? who owns sunday times? media products offered by sunday times? source of finance for sunday times? does sunday times franchise? where is sunday times based in london?


 * The Sunday Times newspaper is owned by News International, which is the main UK subsidiary of News Corporation Limited. There is a page of contact details for The Times and The Sunday Times here, and News Corporation's home page is here. Gandalf61 09:02, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)

Tap water
What might cause hot tap water to smell strongly of rotten eggs without affecting the cold water? -- &#5339;&#5505;  [ &#5200; ] 21:28, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * this web site explains the possible causes. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 21:36, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Obviously "spot on". Can you tell us what you searched to find such a perfect answer? alteripse 23:33, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Incidentally, if you'd like even the link to have a clear name, try http://www.water-filters.biz/faq/lately-i-have-noticed-a-sulfur-smell-in-my-water_--what-is-it,-and-what-can-i-do.htm :-D
 * I, too, however, would like to know what hotline Theresa is calling. I can't draft a Google query that returns this result, for one thing. JRM 23:58, 2004 Dec 6 (UTC)


 * Dunno what search Theresa used, but tap water "rotten egg" smell gives some good results, including the gov.mb.ca website at #10. --David Iberri | Talk 00:45, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Curses! I've been outgoogled! I shall return to my lair at once to plot my revenge! That's "Iberri" with two r's.... noted. JRM 00:56, 2004 Dec 7 (UTC)

It helped that I had somer prior knowlege so knew what I was looking for. I used hydrogen sulphide hot water tank the above website was the second link on the first page. Theresa knott 13:59, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC) "Cleva gell" as the guy in the movie says. alteripse 15:24, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

canadian victoria cross recipients
could you please give me their names and their files?


 * See List of Canadian Victoria Cross recipients and List of Newfoundlander Victoria Cross recipients. 96 Canadians and 1 Newfoundlander (Nfld not then being part of Canada) were awarded the VC between the Crimean War and 1993, when Canadians ceased to be eligible for the British VC (it has been replaced by the Canadian VC, which has not yet been awarded). The count includes 4 Americans, a Dane, and a Ukrainian who were in the Canadian forces at the time. -- Arwel 12:53, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

For how long is boiled meat edible at room temperature?
Yesterday I prepared tamales that use boiled and shredded pork and chicken. It was then steamed for about four hours. I then turned the fire off -- it was about 8 AM CST today, or about 15 hours ago. It sat on the stove, unrefrigerated, this whole time. Is it still safe to eat? If so, for how much longer? Does it make sense to refrigerate it at this point? Cluster


 * No, it makes sense to throw it out at this point. The usual cut-off is not to leave chicken at room temperature for more than two hours. ; "Leftover cooked chicken should be wrapped tightly and refrigerated as soon as possible. Do not leave the chicken at room temperature for more than two hours." - Nunh-huh 05:16, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Nunh-huh. If my roommate and I have consumed a combined quantity of 8 tamales already, what potential dangers loom?
 * If the steamer pot remained closed for the entire 15 hours, and the tamales were brought up to a cooking temperature for a decent amount of time before eating, then you've got a decent chance of not having problems. See Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella for symptoms of what you can expect if you do have problems. -- Cyrius|&#9998; 05:43, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * It probably depends on what you call "room temperature" and on the humidity in your place. In humid, hot climates (30+ Celsius), things go bad very fast. If you have a relatively cool room (15 Celsius) and the air is dry, bacterial growth is much slower. It also depends if your meat is in one piece or shredded (the latter is probably much more prone to bacterial growth).
 * In addition, this depends in the recipient you use to cook your dish. If it's a nearly closed recipient, then growth will be initially slower than in an open recipient. With a totally closed recipient heated at high temperatures such as a pressure cooker, you will not have bacterial growth at all: the dish is sterilized and bacteria are prevented from re-entering.
 * The advices for food safety etc. that you find generally assume a "worst case" scenario to be on the safe side. It is worth remembering that before there were refrigerators, people would eat food, and did not get good poisoning that often. David.Monniaux 07:43, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes of course, but it depends on how important your life is to you. People do die from food poisoning. Even if the probability is 1 in a million, if you are the one that wins the negative lottery, "that often" doesn't matter how often it actually is, its still too late for you. This is especially important to consider if the value to you of performing the risky activity is low and the cost of not performing it is also low, both of which are met in this case. Not eating the food simply means wasting $5 or so of food. In a contrasting example, one can avoid ever driving or flying in order to not be killed in a wreck/crash, but the cost is severly limited job opportunities, giving up the freedom to see friends/family when desired, etc.  Most people choose to accept that risk because the probability is relatively low and the value for accepting the risk is relatively high. - Taxman 21:35, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC)


 * I must have also not saved the edit I made to link to foodborne illness. That explains the fact that some disease vectors can produce toxins that cannot be killed upon reheating. So if the agent such as bacteria are allowed to grow for a period of time, it does not matter if they are killed later, the harmful toxin is still there. - Taxman 21:35, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC)

Is it really that hard to make a good voice synthesizer?
With all the advances in computers it is amazing to me that Stephen Hawking has to use a voice synthesizer that makes him sound like some 1950's sci-fi robot. Is it really that challenging to develop a more natural sounding voice synthesizer? ike9898 15:07, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Basically, more advanced synthesizers exist, but this is "his" voice now, and he's reluctant to "upgrade" it. Quote from :  At public meetings though, Hawking puts his wit on display. At a meeting with reporters organized by the British Council, Hawking explained his "computer voice." Intel built the software in his voice synthesizer system, which he says, is keen to claim that he is Intel inside. The synthesizer itself is over 15 years old, he said. When he changes it, eventually, "but it will bring about a real identity crisis, especially with my wife, who won't recognize me," Hawking said. JRM 15:30, 2004 Dec 7 (UTC)
 * Is Mr. Hawking's voice synthesizer a mass-produced one? I mean you may easily buy the hardware but can you get his digitized voice files? If so, people may produce fake Hawking speeches. For example, some people may synthesize George W. Bush's speeches using Hawking's voice and make a fool out of a real genius. OK. I am evil. -- Toytoy 18:44, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * You mean like MC Hawking, the good professor's "gangsta" alterego (website) (free mp3s) ? Unfortunately most of MC Hawking's songs are no longer available for free download, so you'll have to pay to hear the Lucasian Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge rap of his exploits in GTA3, singing "Driving scary like a crazed Hally Berry, got a job to do and no time to tarry...". A classic. -- John Fader
 * That's the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics; the first actual physics chair is the Cavendish, a couple of centuries younger. ;-) Shimgray 22:39, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Dude - wasn't he on a Pink Floyd album, or was that a random synth? Xtreme! 00:00, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * MC Hawking's WillowTalk voice synthesizer was off-the-shelf software. He did not use the real voice synthesizer (hardware+software+data) owned by Dr. Hawking. He used something to imitate the real thing, the way South Park voice actors imitate celebrities.
 * By the way, is there any noticeable change of his voice during the past 15 years. I mean the hardware (circuits and speaker), as mechanical parts, may be getting older physically. -- Toytoy 02:40, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)
 * Many of the details can be found here. Most parts of Prof Hawking's communication system have been changed and replaced several times, including the physical Speech+ synthesiser card, although he is careful to transfer the original ROM chips in order to maintain the sound of his voice, which may now be unique. There are more natural sounding speech synthesisers on the market today (try for example Rhetorical.), but it is a difficult problem. In particular, quite a few written phrases have ambiguous pronunciations and it is virtually impossible to choose the right one without understanding the context - see Speech synthesis for examples. And yes, Hawking did a guest vocal on Pink Floyd's The Division Bell. -- Solipsist 09:44, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Well, I really just mentioned Hawking as an example...Are there now voice synthesizers that sound very natural? Are the results easily distinguishable from real human speech? ike9898 11:51, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)


 * There certainly are very sophisticated speech synthesizers out there that sound very natural. Try the demos from AT&amp;T or from Rhetorical (especially the Valley Girl voice), for example.  As far as the output being distinguishable from real human speech, that depends what you mean: the output of concatenative synthesizers is basically tiny snippets of recorded human speech spliced back together in a sophisticated way, so of course it sounds very much like real human speech (try the demos).  On the other hand, it could be fairly easy to tell in, say, a forensic setting whether a particular wave file is a recording of a real human voice or the undistorted output of a speech synthesizer, since masking the splice points is a bit tricky.  Also, with interactive queries (along the lines of the Turing test, except that you tell the person/system what to say) you should be able to detect an automatic system easily, since it will show considerably less variation than what a human is capable off. --MarkSweep 22:20, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

TV tuner harmful for a computer?
Is it true that an independent TV tuner (that doesn't come originally packaged with the computer) is harmful to the CPU because of the change of frequencies of TV channels ? Where can I get more info on this ? Jay 15:34, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Providing everything is properly made and installed then no, this most certainly isn't true. RF equipment like tuners (TV in or out) has a big old shield around them to stop significant leakage of RF energy. Would still wouldn't one right beside a CPU (or anything else for that matter) but no sensible design would do that.  Sounds like Fry's Electronics salesbeing talk to me. -- John Fader


 * I've never heard of this. On a properly-designed TV tuner card, it's not like changing channels actually changes the bus frequency or clock frequency of your computer. One thing I'd look out for, though, is grounding - many cable systems are not properly grounded, which can cause problems for your computer if you have a TV tuner card. Improper cable grounding can also cause problems with audio components (look up ground loop). Rhobite 15:55, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)


 * Interesting. That raises a question:  devices (like modems) connected to the telephone network don't suffer from grounding problems - the locally-powered circuitry is never electrically connected to the phone network (using optoisolators and magnetic isolators to bridge the gap) with only a tiny phone circuit powered by the phone line itself.  From your answer it sounds like cable installations (of which I profess no technical knowledge whatsoever) don't work this way.  If I understand you correctly, cable boxes don't employ similar isolation (I guess running tv-frequencies through isolators is hard) and so suffer from differentials (and noise) between the cable company's ground and my home's ground.  If that's the case, then wow, it's a wonder anything works at all! - John Fader

governor general of Canada
Her Excellency, The Right Honourable Adrienne Louise Clarkson, CC, CMM, COM, CD, n&eacute;e &#20237;&#20912;&#26525;. Got a question there?

Governor General of Canada and, damn, you beat me to it. Shimgray 19:57, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

iRiver
Can someone tell me what the difference is between the iRiver H140 (that seems to be unavilable most places) and the H340? OBviously the colour screen, but I can't see any disadvantages on the H340? Am I missing something? Thanks! Intrigue 20:03, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * According to the manufacturer's website, both players have the same MSRP, $429.99. The main difference seems to be that the H340 has an advanced colour LCD display capable of displaying "high resolution images" and a more advanced interface, while the H140 has a simpler backlit monochrome LCD display. All else being equal, I'd prefer the H340. I can't figure out why it's comparitively so cheap; perhaps the company has deliberately cut the price to pump up sales?? -- FirstPrinciples 21:37, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks, that's what I though. It seems strange that the colour display etc is the same price. Intrigue 22:06, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

ADA
What does ADA mean in the context of livestock herders / paravets? I am not looking for the Americans with disabilities act! 207.189.98.44 21:00, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC
 * Possibly Arizona (or Alabama/Alaska/Arkansas) Department of Agriculture? (cf. Department of Agriculture). Click here for a full list of 'ADA' acronyms, which may help. -- FirstPrinciples 21:20, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)

Prostitute song
How does the prostitute song in South Park go? The one 'You don't pay her to stay you pay her to go' one? Is this a reference to something else? There doesn't seem to be an article on it. Xtreme! 23:58, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * We try to limit the granularity of pop-culture trivia here, so you're not likely to find an article on one of Chef's songs. Besides, the lyrics are copyrighted anyway. A quick google search turns up this page, which has the lyrics along with the lead-in and lead-out script. -- Cyrius|&#9998; 00:37, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Why is it funny that James Taylor appears singing with Chef? Xtreme! 00:53, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * its funny because they have James Taylor singing about prostitutes. Just as having George Clooney as a turkey is funny. Just like its funny having Tony Blair acting as a cartoon sumo wrestler. of course, this hasnt been done--Wonderfool 15:01, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Sorry, this piqued my interest. I don't know who James Taylor is, but saw him in this episode - is it particularly amusing that it is him, or would George Clooney be as funning in this section? ie is he associated with prostitutes in some way? Intrigue 18:35, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Read the article on James Taylor. And, no, he's unlikely to be in any way associated with prostitutes, though I'm sure he'd be perfectly nice to one if he met her. -- Jmabel | Talk 21:01, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)


 * Well, it's not particularly amusing, but to the extent that it is, James Taylor's big hit was the somewhat saccharine "Sweet Baby James", and he has a really sweet, gentle, nature, and a really nice, sweet tenor voice, so the association with prostitues is seemingly incongruous - which is the root of all humor. I think the South Park "humor" around George Cloony is of a different nature - that a guest star who commands millions of dollars for a movie appearance would be willing to perform in such a non-descript role as a turkey or a gay dog - in which he's completely unrecognizable - and that a producer would be willing to "waste" him in such a role. - Nunh-huh 02:29, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Tags-The Musical Kind
What part of a song is the 'tag'? I've heard it said in many times before and I swear I've been searching for it's meaning, and I just cannot find any website that reveals the meaning of 'tag' in a musical sense. Thankyouthankyou 67.168.34.86 02:21, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Are you talking about the metadata tags in mp3 and other audio files, or regular musical notation? Intrigue 02:58, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * It's simply a synonym for "coda". --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 03:05, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Ahhh... So *that's* what it is. Thank you very much. 67.168.34.86 05:31, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * My brother-the-composer points out that they aren't quite synonymous. A "tag" can be used independently from the piece as a whole, and it's not a formal term. For example, a circus orchestra might play the 12-bar tag from some or another piece as in-between-act music. That sorta thing. And though "coda" is commonly indicated in musical scores, "tag" almost never is. So there's a contextual difference. Functionally, when the piece is played as a whole, the tag is the coda. But "tag" appears to be a broader term. --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 00:23, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Name of a sex position?
Please tell me the name of this sex position. I have done it myself, so I know it is possible.

The man lies on his back with his legs spread, and the woman has her legs between his legs. It's like the missionary position, but with gender role reversal. -Juuitchan


 * The Mare? Try this article and it's links at the bottom: List_of_sex_positions


 * I don't think that's The Mare. In fact, I don't even think it has a name! Let me try to explain better what I mean:
 * If I were to have sex with you in the missionary position, you (the woman) would be on the bottom with your legs spread, and I (the man) would have my legs between yours. But-- in MY position-- the gender roles are exactly reversed. I (the man) am on my back, legs spread, thus assuming what would be the role of the woman in the missionary position. You (the woman) are on top of me, facing me, with your legs between my legs, which I see as pretty much identical to the role of the man in the missionary position. And YES it is possible, I have done it!! -User:Juuitchan


 * TMI.


 * I think that the position you described is obscure enough, that it might just be lumped into "kinky". However, I suppose if it's the opposite of the missionary, you could call it the heretic or something similar. --Cvaneg 21:21, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Thermodynamic engine
This question, from an anon, moved here from article space. I've left a message directing anon here for answers. SWAdair | Talk 09:22, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC) What is the most basic thermodynamic engine? Used in refrigeration?


 * I'm not sure about 'most basic', but Leó Szilárd and Einstein came up with an interesting one with no moving parts - see Einstein Refrigerator. -- Solipsist 09:56, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Largest pop group
Now that S Club 8 has joined forces with the rest of the cast from "I Dream" (at least temporarily), they outnumber the 10 boys of Blazin' Squad. With 13 members on stage (when all performing) does this make "I Dream" the biggest British pop formation? Mgm|(talk) 09:33, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)
 * ooh, a supergroup. But who are "I Dream" or "1 Dream"? Initial guess says some kind of CITV CBBC show--Wonderfool 15:09, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * That would be a CBBC show, see S Club 8 article. Mgm|(talk) 15:53, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

What about so solid crew? Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 06:44, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

They're not exactly pop, or British, but The Polyphonic Spree has quite a good many members. Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 08:00, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * We'll I guess they're not the largest then. Still good, that I know it now. Thanks!!! Mgm|(talk) 08:59, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)

Holidays in India
I recently finished merging List of Indian holidays into Holidays in India. However I'd appreciate if someone could double-check the factual accuracy, specifically the Hindu festivals/holidays. Thanks. Muntfish 11:32, 2004 Dec 8 (UTC)

MRI scan images showing congenital anomalies of the human Central Nervous System
The section title says it all. My friend needs links to MRI scan images showing congenital anomalies of the human Central Nervous System. Can anyone point me to the links? -- Sundar 11:55, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

Just google images mri and you get dozens of mri images. If he wants images labeled with diagnoses, try or other links and parts of that site. alteripse 13:14, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Thanks Alteripse for your suggestion, but the site seems to be down. -- Sundar 06:41, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)

I just checked it and it worked for me from a different computer (i.e., not reloading a cache). alteripse 10:45, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * I guess this site is not available in India. I am able to view a google cache of this page, but sans images. :-( -- Sundar 11:05, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)

Cooking pans
Are there any types of older copper pans that could be dangerous to your health


 * Yes. Copper, bronze etc pans are dangerous if used for cooking. Don't do it. While they may make nice ornaments, they are not safe. The Recycling Troll 06:37, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * You haven't provided any details! Why are copper cooking pans not safe? Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 06:40, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Well copper is a toxin. this and this give examples. Most modern 'copper' pans are coated with some other metal to stop copper from coming into contact with food. It is particularly an issue with acidic food. Hope this helps! The Recycling Troll 07:53, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

What about kettles made of copper or bronze? Same thing? Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 07:56, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Well modern ones are ok because they are coated with another metal, but, as the WP article says: "All copper compounds, unless otherwise known, should be treated as if they were toxic. The metal, when powdered, is a fire hazard. 30g of copper sulfate is potentially lethal in humans. Copper in drinking water at concentrations higher than 1 mg/liter can stain clothes and items washed in water. The suggested safe level of copper in drinking water for humans varies depending on the source, but tends to be pegged at 1.5 to 2 mg/liter. The DRI Tolerable Upper Intake Level for adults of dietary copper from all sources is 10 mg/day." - Older pans, kettles etc should not be used - basically if it was never coated, or if the coating has worn off in any areas they should not be used. The Recycling Troll 08:00, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Any way to test it? Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 08:01, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Just a little remark: several metals, in powdered form, are a fire hazard (aluminium comes to mind). Besides, this has little to do with toxicity. David.Monniaux 11:30, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I don't know - I guess maybe you could get a test kit. On a personal level, if you can't see the copper on the cooking side, and there are no dents or cracks, then I would think it would be ok. The Recycling Troll 08:10, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I don't dispute that copper in solution is toxic (Actaully the hazard label is harmful rather than toxic, but I won't split hairs) What I am not convinced of though is that copper metal will dissolve in the cooking water. Having just said that - I've just thouhjt of beating egg whites. These are supposed to be beaten in a copper bowl -presumably becasue some of the copper dissolves and affects the albumen. But I don't know if there has been any research done on this or if it's just amd old wives tale. Theresa Knott (The snott rake) 20:31, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * You are right about the egg whites. I think the issue is the heat, combined with acidic food. There is a reaction with the acids, the same one that produces the blueish colour in old copper I think, that is toxic. There must be some reason why copper pans are always coated though, because copper is an excellent heat conductor, and would otherwise be a great material to make pans from. "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautions against using unlined copper for general cooking because the metal is relatively easily dissolved by some foods with which it comes in contact, and in sufficient quantities can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea." Intrigue 21:02, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Reference
I recently used some info from your website in my essay on Sociolinguistics. Could you please tell me how to reference you?

Thanks
 * See Citing Wikipedia. -- Ferkelparade &pi; 17:01, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Dell Computers
Which model is better the dimension 4500 series or 4700 series, which computer has better futures more capabilities, is there a significant price difference?
 * would be a good place to start. Intrigue 20:48, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Earth's "address" in the universe
In a book I was reading recently, which I have now returned to its owner so I can't check, had Planet Earth's address in the universe, and I remember it took the form: Where there are dashes, these mean I can't remember the word. So, is this right? How would you put it? What are the missing words? Please let me know on my talkpage when you've replied, or reply on there. Thanks,--Honeycake (please reply on my talkpage!!) 18:28, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Europe
 * Earth
 * Solar System
 * Orion Arm
 * Milky Way
 * Local --
 * Virgo Supercluster
 * Universe


 * Local Group - John Fader
 * Orion Arm (in the Local Bubble to be specific) (or "Western Spiral Arm" if you prefer Douglas Adams' version of reality). - John Fader


 * The article here has practically assigned itself with the duty to give you this information. &#9999; Sverdrup 22:04, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

How to pay in the US from the UK?
I live in the United Kingdom, and I'd like to subscribe to a journal in the US. The website says that payment is accepted in the form of a "check in US dollars, drawn on US bank...(we do not invoice nor can we accept credit cards)". How might I be able to make this payment? &mdash; Matt Crypto 18:32, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * You could find a friend in the us who is willing to accept a check in a uk bank, and write one in the US, or you could instruct your bank to issue a us bankers draft, which would most likely be accepted, but would cost you money. Talk to your bank, because they have likely dealt with this before. Mark Richards 19:33, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Your bank should be able to produce a certified cheque (or a bank draft, which amounts to the same thing) in U.S. Dollars; it will show that it's drawn on an American branch of either your bank's U.S. affiliate or one they have an agreement with. They will charge for this. Alternatively, an International Postal Money order, which you get from the Post Office, ought to be equivalent, but these seem to be less well recognized in the U.S. If you find yourself doing this a lot, ask your bank if they can set up USD chequing accounts. Sharkford 19:41, 2004 Dec 10 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the info, I'll have to make a trip to the bank/post office shortly. One related question, though, is what's the difference amongst International postal money orders, International money orders, Money orders, Postal orders and International postal orders &mdash; presumably, they're not all the same thing? Google is surprisingly unhelpful here! &mdash; Matt Crypto 20:03, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Looking at the article, I would guess that postal order is the term used in the U.K. for something specific that you purchase at a post office. In the U.S., you can purchase money orders in grocery stores and supermarkets as well. An international money order, presumably, is the same as a regular money order only in another nation's currency. You might contact the company and see if they will accept a money order. Most places that will accept checks will accept money orders.
 * The difficulty is that many banks in the United States (particularly in smaller towns in areas that don't get much international tourism) are not equipped to handle foreign currency (it just doesn't come up often enough). If it involves dealing with an international bank, there's a good chance that there will either be a large fee attached or else the bank just won't know what to do with it. Your bank in the UK is much more likely to know how to handle this. (My bank won't even convert to Canadian currency.) -Aranel ("Sarah ") 20:07, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Sherlock Holmes
What were the names of Sherlock Holmes' two housekeepers. I know Mrs. Hudson was one, but can't for the life of me think of the other!
 * Have you tried our Sherlock Holmes articles? I so hope User:Ludraman knows this one.... Mgm|(talk) 19:21, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)

Translation German "Ich-Störung" -> English ?
Quotations from the ICD-10, F20, Schizophrenia, criteria:

In German "... Gedankeneingebung oder Gedankenentzug, Gedankenausbreitung"

In English "... thought insertion or withdrawal, and thought broadcasting"

Together with depersonalization and derealisation these symptoms are usually summed up as "Ich-Störungen". Does anybody know the english translation? Thanks. --anon
 * I'm not 100% sure, but I'd guess they'd be called "personality disorders" in English. Mgm|(talk) 22:12, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)

No, "personality disorders" are IMHO "Persönlichkeitsstörungen" (F6). "Ich-Störung" is just a kind of symptom like "though disorder" or "delusion". Patients can't distinguish between environment and themselves. And it's not an analytical term, textbooks use it.


 * Keep in mind that "Ich" and "Es" are what we call in English "Ego" and "Id". So a literal translation would be "ego disorder". --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 02:28, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Thanks, finally I found it: "disturbance / loss of ego boundaries" --anon

"... thought insertion or withdrawal, and thought broadcasting" are symptoms of psychosis, not personality disorders. Big league brain malfunction. It is amazing how seldom the etymological and literal meanings of psychiatric terms contribute to understanding them. They usually simply reflect a very old, long-abandoned metaphor for what was once imagined to be the problem. That is why they are so much harder to translate than the technical terms of all other branches of medicine and physiology. alteripse 13:56, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Windows (fat32) filenames
In windows (or linux actually, for that matter) is there any way to systematically change filenames? I have a large collection of music files and would like to (for example) switch them from all caps to lower case with the first letter capitalised, or strip off the album name from the beginning of the file (by stripping off the first, for example 10 characters of 10 files). Is there any way to do this that doesn't involve massive manual labour? Thanks! Intrigue 22:15, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Well, you could probably write a quick program that renames each file. If you already know some programming, it shouldn't be too hard, if not, well, then it's probably the same amount of work to do it all by hand.  You might want to try looking around, though, there are plenty of people who write code to help manage MP3 collections, so you might want to try looking around on SourceForge or Freshmeat. --Cvaneg 22:35, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * You could do with TagScanner. Unfortunately a lot of people find it hard to use and the site is in Russian.  However, I'm relatively hopeless and untechnical (and not Russian) and I finally got to grips with it after experimenting.  I think there's another thing called Tag & Rename which is used for this sort of thing.  -- bodnotbod  »  .....TALK Q uietly )  16:46, Dec 12, 2004 (UTC)


 * You may try a batch renamer. There are many such programs available and some of them are free. However, since I haven't use these programs for a long time, I cannot give you further suggestions. Try google it. -- Toytoy 18:15, Dec 12, 2004 (UTC)


 * I was pondering over this recently actually! Constafrequent, infrequently constant 07:43, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * In Linux, a shell script or Perl script would probably be the best option. r3m0t 16:16, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * On unix, you either use the facilities of your shell (no need for an entire script), or mmv (link goes to debian package, don't even know if it has a homepage).  --fvw *  16:19, 2004 Dec 23 (UTC)


 * Total Commander comes with a wonderful multiple-file rename tool. Besides being an all-around-wonderful file manager. --Avi 16:31, Dec 26, 2004 (UTC)

Cultural crossroad or crossroads?
Which form of the word "crossroad(s)" is correct in the following sentence: "Belgium is at a cultural crossroad between (...)" or "Belgium is at a cultural crossroads between (...)"? ..from the article about Belgium (introduction). Thanks. --Edcolins 22:22, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)
 * I think "crossroads" is better. &mdash; Matt Crypto 22:56, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I think avoiding the idiom altogether is best. --Tagishsimon (talk)
 * What would you propose instead? --Edcolins 20:19, Dec 11, 2004 (UTC)
 * I have to say, "cultural crossroads" does twang awkwardly to my ear but I've sat here for, ooh, 40 seconds-odd and can't think of a nice way to put it. Plenty of predictable British Belgium jokes alongs the lines of "at a cultural nadir" etc, though. There must be a good word for a land that's surrounded and heavily influenced by its many neighbours. How infuriating. -- bodnotbod »  .....TALK Q uietly )  16:42, Dec 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * I have a plan. Its a Wiktionary "Articles Requested" page. People give a meaning to a word and other users denote its name. if no word exists-neology time baby! I'd say "Belgium's culture is heavily influenced bt X and Y

Meaning of Common Terms
Whers can I find definitions for items such as:- Is there a glossary somewhere to which I can refer?
 * "SG #59 3d UHB #48 issue 3"?
 * "Marshal Islands 466B and 505 MNH"
 * Aren't these just stamp catalog numbers? --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 01:52, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, "Stanley Gibbons no. 59, threepence value" - don't know what UHB is. I presume the Marshall Islands ones are Scott catalogue numbers, "Mint, Never Hinged". Collectors of different countries' stamps will use different companies' catalogues for the most detailed description of their area of interest -- US collectors usually use the Scott catalogue, British Commonwealth collectors use Stanley Gibbons (SG), German-language area collectors use Michel, French use Yvert, Swedish use Facit, Norway collectors use the Norgeskatalogen (NK), Irish use McDonnell-Whyte (MW), etc. The numbering of items in each catalogue quickly diverges from all the others, and the publishers tend to jealously guard their copyrights when people try to publish lists of equivalent stamps between various catalogues. The introduction to each catlogue will list the abbreviations they use like "MNH" (the Gibbons equivalent is U/M - "Unmounted Mint"), though of course collectors of the area will know these abbreviations off by heart anyway! -- Arwel 13:06, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Well, I just got an education in philately terms. Although there are several online glossaries, I couldn't find a glossary anywhere that had the specifics you're looking for.  According to, one possible meaning of UHB is "Union Handbook Catalogue."  Maybe the person auctioning that stamp listed the stamp's identifiers from two different catalogues?  According to , 466B and 505 are indeed Scott Catalogue numbers (466B description = "$10 canoes" 505 description = "Dresden Bombing").  I hope that helps.  SWAdair | Talk  05:07, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * http://www.acronymfinder.com/ may help. Constafrequent, infrequently constant 07:47, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * In a completely different context, UHB stands for "urban haute bourgeoisie" :-) chocolateboy 08:01, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Which species of grapes contain proanthocyanidins?
Hello! I'd like the names of all the grape species that have proanthocyanidins. Vitis vinifera is commonly mentioned on the net, but I'd like to know if they are more & which ones they are. Thanks!

Carl
 * They are present in all grape species. This [USDA table] shows that relative concentration of many foods (sorghum, cinnamon, chocolate and pinto beans are among the highest) See also Oligomeric proanthocyanidin and grape seed oil. Rmhermen 18:56, Dec 11, 2004 (UTC)

Missy Higgins
Someone please confirm this artist's date of birth please. Thanks! -- AllyUnion (talk) 08:50, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The game caled Sequence
You know how some games just don't work nearly as well when you have only two players? I am interested in the game called Sequence, but I want to know if it is any good with two players. ike9898 16:41, Dec 11, 2004 (UTC)
 * If it's the game where you have to form 5 in a row on a board depicting the cards in a pack of playing cards, I can recommend it. Playing with 2 people doesn't make it any less fun. Mgm|(talk) 16:58, Dec 11, 2004 (UTC)
 * I find that 2 players makes for a superior tactical challenge in Sequence -- multiplayer is a bit too much of a free-for-all. Jwrosenzweig 22:12, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Food rationing and restaurants
During the period of food rationing in the UK (World War II and several years afterwards), what happened if you went to a restaurant? Did you have to hand over ration coupons to the restaurant, or was it a way of getting extra food outside the ration? --Auximines 18:00, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * I have a vague memory, nothing more, that it was outside the rationing system, but that a) prices were high and b) portions were small. Many restaurants would likely have closed for the duration, anyway, simply as a result of supply difficulties, and it's quite possible more stringent regulations were in place through the worst years (roughly mid-40 to mid-42) Shimgray 19:01, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Actually, it seems rather the opposite. "Meals eaten away from home were &#8216;off ration&#8217; and a popular alternative for individuals who could afford it. The ability of the rich to enjoy almost pre-war levels of gastronomy, led to such resentment that the government prevented restaurants charging more than five shillings a meal." -- --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 19:09, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Gah. [slaps self] How could I forget the famous five-shilling meal rule? It's worth noting that this was universal - George MacDonald Fraser: "Those were the days of rationing and the five-shilling maximum charge, which in a Highland hotel with resources denied the city was just an invitation to gluttony." - so, in its way, an interesting example of a policy which worked for the most obvious places, but broke down as supplies were cheaper to get hold of locally. Thanks for the catch... Shimgray 15:42, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Somebody should put this information into rationing. Very interesting. Neutrality/talk 03:19, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * I believe there was a 'three course' rule as well. At last, I may have found something worth researching. DJ Clayworth 06:55, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * As a somewhat-related data point, there was an episode of "Foyle's War" featuring rich folks in a boarding house, in which the proprietess collected the guests' ration cards and (nominally) presented them when buying groceries ("nominally" because there was some black-market distribution going on too). Sharkford 17:55, 2004 Dec 14 (UTC)

Chandigarh telephone directory
Does the Chandigarh telephone directory have something like 100,000 entries all under the name "Singh"? If so, that must be very annoying; how do people deal with it?

--Dominus 06:01, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * I cannot vouch for the veracity of the first part of your statement, although it sounds a bit apocryphal to me. As for the second part of your question, though, I imagine it's much like having the name Smith in certain parts of the UK or the States, which is to say that you probably can't locate them in the phone book unless you know some additional information (e.g. first initial, address, etc) --Cvaneg 15:23, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I can believe that. When I was a kid there was one phone book covering all of North Wales. I counted 23 pages of Williamses... -- Arwel 18:18, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Why would it be apocryphal? Chandigarh has a population of about a million people; about 1/6 of them are Sikhs; about half of those are men, and almost all male Sikhs are named "Singh".   So we'd expect to see on the order of 80 to 100 thousand Singhs.  It's highly plausible. -- Dominus 14:48, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * But what proportion of them have land lines? Gdr 00:56, 2004 Dec 17 (UTC)

ruptured spleen
What would be the initial symptoms of a ruptured spleen? Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 10:10, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Depends on size of tear and amount of bleeding. Moderately severe, but not immediately catastrophic would be abdominal pain & anorexia, progressing over hours to increasing pain, prostration, loss of bowel sounds and inability to fart, perhaps abdominal distention and vomiting, to shock and death.

On second thought, since IANASurgeon, I looked it up. Above is basically correct, but here are some additional Fun Facts to Know and Tell: PS: Go directly to your local emergency room. Do not pass GO, but make sure you have considerably more than $200. alteripse 13:18, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) The spleen contains about a pint of blood (about what you donate)
 * 2) Most splenic rupture is due to trauma, blunt or penetrating (I assume you are interested in blunt or you would already be at the emergency room)
 * 3) Splenic rupture is often fatal without surgical repair
 * 4) From emedicine.com: The most common presenting complaint in a stable patient is left upper abdominal or flank pain; however, the pain is probably not significantly referable to the spleen but is related more to overlying soft tissue and/or bone injury and peritoneal irritation by the hemoperitoneum. This is supported by the prevalence of missed subcapsular hematomas with regards to more advanced degrees of splenic injury. This is not to say that the spleen contains no pain sensors. Pain fibers are present within the splenic capsule, and they can elicit a strong response as proven by the severity of symptoms displayed during splenic infarction. The degree of pain elicited by a subcapsular hematoma is usually overlooked by physicians and patients alike.
 * 5) Initial symptoms may not be severe after rupture from blunt trauma. Up to half of people do not have tenderness and abdominal distention in the early hours.
 * 6) Diagnosis is made by paracentesis (a trained professional-- see one, do one, teach one,-- sticks a BIG needle into the abdomen), or by CT scan.


 * Also, if you get mononucleosis, you're at increased risk for splenic rupture for a week or two afterwards. (This is what I've been told by a friend who had mono; he said his doc told him that.) grendel|khan 17:53, 2004 Dec 12 (UTC)


 * If anybody was wondering, it's not for me. It's for a rather hypochondriac friend of mine, who the rest of us think cracked a rib. (He, on the other hand, thinks he's too um...robust... to crack a rib, and is convinced it's more serious.) Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 21:29, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Well, hypochondria is literally "pain under the rib" so he picked the right manifestation. The rest of you can chuckle while he exsanguinates. alteripse 23:13, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

famous female investor
I remember reading about a woman who became one of the richest people ever through investing on Wall Street. I think she died in the 1920's or so. But I think she was a pretty ordinary woman, just a savvy investor. Can anyone tell me her name? Mjklin 14:36, 2004 Dec 12 (UTC) Those don't ring a bell...I remember she was in the top 10 or 20 on Forbes' list of the richest people of all time, if that means anything to anyone. Thanks anyway. Mjklin 19:02, 2004 Dec 15 (UTC)
 * Are you perhaps thinking of Hetty Green? But she wasn't ordinary at all. --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 21:17, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Maybe Victoria Woodhull? Rmhermen 03:16, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * Well, Hetty Green was certainly up there; her wealth was comparable to today's Warren Buffet, who is currently the 2nd wealthiest person in the world. --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 21:51, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Text on image?
What does the text on Image:50centavoII.jpg mean? Can it be cropped? grendel|khan 18:40, 2004 Dec 12 (UTC)


 * Well, the second line is "from 2002"; plugging the whole thing into Altavista's BabelFish gives the amusing "Currencies brothers-in-law from 2002" whereas http://freetranslation.org gives "Currencies sisters-in-law from 2002"! Basically, I think it means "united currencies; from 2002" or somesuch - it's probably from a brochure / advert of some kind. So yes, I'd say it can and should be cropped and forgotten about. - IMSoP 20:29, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Ok, I'm from Brazil so I can tell for sure: the text says the coins were made after 2002. This is just because these are new coins that came out a while back here, in 2002. Feel free to crop it, since our article on Real (currency) already mentions this. But we already have the two sides in separated pictures (Image:50centavoII_2.jpg and Image:50centavoIIback_2.jpg), so I think this image is being redundant and should be deleted.   &mdash; Kieff | Talk 04:55, Dec 14, 2004 (UTC)

Franz Schubert and Wings
Hi. I am a big fan of the TV show "Wings", starring Timothy Daly, etc. I know the theme song to it was written by Franz Schubert, but I am having trouble finding exactly what piece it is. Could anybody help? I believe the theme plays during the beginning and end credits; however, Nick@Nite omits the beginning credits nowadays (which is really unfortunate, because the theme played during the beginning credits is closer to the original piece--the songs during the end credits is more like a remix). If you could help me out, I would be very much happy. Thank you. --24.221.178.62 00:42, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * It's the Rondo from Schubert's Sonata in A Major, D959: . Took some tricky googling. JRM 00:51, 2004 Dec 13 (UTC)
 * And here's a direct link to a midi file of it: . Very nice tune. JRM 00:54, 2004 Dec 13 (UTC)

Boron
What is the ionic charge of boron? Neutrality/talk 02:13, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

Valence is +3 according to Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. I think the most common form of boron in nature is borate, at +3. Is this what you wanted? alteripse 03:06, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

IANAL IANAC(hemistry major), but I went hunting online. According to, the ionic charge is +3. You might be able to make sense of the information at, which I think also indicates +3. Questions like that make my head hurt. :-) SWAdair | Talk  03:40, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

length of cigarette's in bloodstream
I would like to know how long after quitting smoking, does it take to be completely out of your bloodstream, so that it cannot be detected by a blood, or urine test.


 * Cotinine is the usual metabolite of nicotine used to document cigarette smoke exposure. According to this website it takes 7 to 10 days of no exposure for a smoker's levels to drop to normal. alteripse 03:11, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Going by some very ballpark figures here: There's wide variance, but for a light smoker, 3-4 days would probably give cotinine enough time to drop to undetectable levels using a urine test. Heavy smokers will likely need the full 7-10 days for levels to drop below the threshold for a positive urine test. Also, since most people don't smoke in their sleep (except for my aunt ;-) cotinine levels are typically lower in the morning. But habitual smokers shouldn't count on a morning urine test to give them too much of an edge :-) --David Iberri | Talk 07:52, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

Executive Order 9066 (Japanese internment)
I'm hoping someone there can help me find the answer...I've always heard that my, now deseased, grandfather was mistakenly interned after the attack on Pearl Harbor. A mistake because his is of filipino decent.He spoke very little, even poor english at that time, hence a lack of communication occured. Can you help me confirm or deny this story? Were there lists of the interned kept? His name was Alipio Tamale Paculba, (1900-2000), yes, he lived to be 100 yrs. old! If you can help, I would appreciate it immensely, Sincerely, Terry.gflatrd@yahoo.com

Did Lenin speak English?
Did Lenin speak English? If so, how well, and when did he start learning it? This is very important. Thank you. -Branddobbe 06:35, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * Lenin spent time in the UK (in London, mostly) in 1902/3 - I can't find any explicit reference to him being fluent in English, but he held a reader's ticket at the British Museum Library (in the name of "Dr Jacob Richter"), regularly read newspapers, and made a habit of spending time listening to orators in Hyde Park. I would be quite surprised if this didn't indicate a competent level of fluency.
 * [pokes around a bit] "In Siberia, Lenin was sent the first volume of Sidney and Beatrice Webb&#8217;s Industrial Democracy to translate and, later, the second volume to revise." which indicates he was reasonably fluent by 1896-1900, and  describes him as having "...a full gymnasium (grammar school) education (...) his law degree, obtaining first-class honours". I suspect this is where he would have learned English - sometime between 1885 and 1895. You may find a biography which covers his early life to be more helpful; there seems to be quite a few, though, and I'm loathe to recommend one I haven't read. Shimgray 15:37, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Aha! has an extract from, it seems, Memories of Lenin - it suggests he didn't speak English on arrival in England, but took lessons. It's vague as to whether or not he could understand written English - the sources previously indicated he translated the Webbs' book, but this one seems to suggest the unnamed author did the translation. Hmm. Shimgray 15:44, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * After he finished his education, Lenin spoke German, French and also English, but not as well as the first two languages. He also spoke some Latin and Greek (within the limits of the gymnasium program), and later learned some Italian. And perfect Russian, of course. English was neither taught in the school, nor in his family, but when he came to London in early 1900s, he already spoke it (the fact that he was comfortable talking with workers, sailors, etc. there is often emphasised). My best guess would be that he started learning English in his university years (around 1890).
 * P.S. Would you mind sharing with us, why it is very important? I am just curious. Paranoid 16:48, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I'd been wondering that, too... is there a bet? ;-)
 * One picky detail - From the Memories of Lenin cite above, there's the line: "I learnt English in prison from a self-instructor, but had never heard a single live English word spoken. When we started translating Webb at Shushenskoye, Vladimir llyich was appalled at my pronunciation. "My sister used to have an English teacher," he said, "but it didn't sound like that."" - so presumably it was taught, at least partially, in his family.
 * I assume you have some source material to hand, by the way - can you recommend a decent biography? Shimgray 21:24, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Probably not, certainly not an English biography. Most of my knowledge comes from history lessons in Soviet school and for my reply I just doublechecked some things on Yandex. Paranoid 11:00, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Well, I guess that would be somewhere you'd expect to find him on the curriculum... Thanks anyway. Shimgray 14:15, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Deaths per year
How many people does obesity kill a year? And what about anorexia? Thanks. -Branddobbe 06:43, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

According to this site obesity kills 400,000 people of all ages a year in the United States. Nobody keeps a comparable record of deaths due to anorexia but they are a mere handful compared to this. Deaths from anorexia occur almost exclusively in young women between 15 and 34 years of age. In 2001, according to the CDC there were 24 deaths due to malnutrition in both sexes between 15 and 34 years of age. I saw no stats for anorexia or eating disorder. However, in that age range suicide is within the top 10 causes of death and depression is not a rare comorbidity with eating disorders and obesity; there were about 4000 non-firearm suicides in that age range for both sexes. Is this what you want? PS: the XXL tee shirt saying "I beat anorexia" says it all. alteripse 17:12, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * According to our article on obesity, it claims about 400,000 lives in the U.S. annually. That figure is estimated to reach 500,000 by 2005 if current trends continue. As the article mentions, these figures are hotly debated.


 * I'm assuming that by "anorexia" you mean anorexia nervosa. I'm having some trouble finding good statistics, but according to this page, an average of 149 annual deaths were attributed (at least in part) to anorexia nervosa between 1986 and 1990. These numbers aren't the final word on the matter though; I'll hunt some more... --David Iberri | Talk 17:17, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)


 * Nice research but the article doesn't convince me that "presbyanorexia" is at all the same thing that young women have in any sense except that both conditions involve voluntary abstention from eating. alteripse 22:43, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Agreed. In fact, since I'd never heard of "presbyanorexia" before, I was a bit hesitant to offer those figures as fact (hence my qualifiers above). I was more interested in this bit, which is still valuable, IMO:


 * Researchers examined data ... to see if anorexia nervosa was cited as either a primary cause or contributing cause of death. ... They found a total of 724 deaths fell into either of those two categories. That figure averaged out 149 annual deaths...


 * It's far from authoritative, but hopefully helpful. --David Iberri | Talk 00:03, Dec 14, 2004 (UTC)


 * Are you wanting to find a figure of people dying only from having the disordered eating pattern, or things connected to it like depression that leads to suicide? Constafrequent, infrequently constant 08:05, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

LOG BAN
[no text here]
 * Erm... Lojban? (which is related to Loglan)? - IMSoP 14:30, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Can't remember a song
About a month ago, I heard a country (or folk) song, talking about carrot juice. Can't remember anything else about it, but I'm almost certain it would have been recorded pre 1985. Any help? Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 21:23, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Well, there is a Folk comedy group out of Canada called the Arrogant Worms. They have a song called Carrot Juice is Murder  Is that what you are talking about? --Cvaneg 21:45, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * The song Cvaneg notes (a fabulous song, by the way, and one I will listen to tonight now that I've been reminded of it) is not pre-1985, Methyl, so if you're sure on the date, it's disqualified. However, the Arrogant Worms intentionally use a variety of musical styles (and the styles are often chosen specifically because they are out-of-date for comic effect), and "Carrot Juice is Murder" is in a very 1960s and 1970s folk music style, so perhaps that misled your indication of the date? Jwrosenzweig 22:24, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * There's a legal website providing that song's MP3. -- Toytoy 03:10, Dec 17, 2004 (UTC)

No, I know the Arrogant Worms (and the song in question) very well. This was different. Any other ideas? Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 07:20, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I just find it amusing that there can be more than 1 song about carrot juice--Wonderfool 15:49, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Just using Google -- I've got no clue about genre or date. Also, these just mention carrot juice. But...
 * Johnathan Richman: "California Desert Party"
 * Cracker: "Big Dipper"
 * Jimmy Buffett: "Cheeseburger in Paradise"
 * Jewel: "Satellite"
 * Edan: "Beautiful Food"
 * Dave Nachmanoff: Goin' to Grandma's
 * Spearhead: "Red Beans & Rice"
 * Red Elvises: Groovie (hmmm..."Kick-Ass Rock'n'Roll from Siberia". Probably not what you're looking for...)

And then, probably what you're looking for... Jack Clement: "Drinking Carrot Juice" from his "Guess Things Happen That Way" CD. I can't find lyrics, but it's definitely country. While the CD was released in 2004, the song sure sounds like it's been around a while. -Rholton 18:20, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * That's the one!! Thanks! Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss) 09:45, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

18th Amendment
Moved this question out of Talk:Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (and spam-armored original requestor's email address) Dave6 22:10, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC) 

i have a few questions and whoever can answer them by Thursday December 16th, 2004 please e-mail me at Laxybaby143 [at] aol com. Theank you

Who was effected by this amendment? What was this Amendment intended to do? When was this Amendment ratified? Why was it ratified?

Thank You!

If you're for real... I would be a little concerned about using this venue to have someone do your homework for you.... (unsigned)


 * Check out Prohibition, Temperance movement, and Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Dave6 22:10, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)