Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 February 19

= February 19 =

Modern Warfare 2 10th prestige server
what is it?
 * In the computer game Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 players who take part in multiplayer games earn "ranks", which unlock additional options and weapons. Once you reach the maximum rank, you have the option to restart at the lowest rank in exchange for a "prestige" rank, essentially showing that you've completed the multiplayer content.  As the name suggests, prestige ranks carry no benefits other than bragging rights.  These prestige ranks accumulate over multiple trips to maximum rank, up to a total of 10 prestige ranks.  Therefore a "10th prestige server" may mean (a) a server intended for use only by players at the 10th prestige rank, (b) a server where the objective is to maximise rank gain with the aim of speedily reaching the 10th prestige rank, or (c) a server intended for use by players using glitches or cheats to reach the 10th prestige rank early.

20-year-old (?) movie about America's financial system collapsing
I remember watching a movie on TV perhaps 20 years ago in which the plot dealt with someone or some organization that had sabotaged the electronic links between financial institutions, making it impossible to transfer money. I remember a couple of scenes from the movie. In one, a couple of guys were looking on a line graph on a computer that showed the line dropping toward a red-colored area. One of the guys said that when the line reaches the red part, America is bankrupt. Another scene consisted of a TV news report that showed a Bank of America branch someone had burned down in anger over the halting of bank withdrawals throughout the country. Does anyone remember what movie this was? -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:38, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
 * A little older than that, but the first one that came to mind was Rollover (film). ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:05, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks, but the plot summary on the article about that movie doesn't seem to match my recollections. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 02:16, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Do you have any idea who any of the actors might have been, or any memorable lines from the movie? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:28, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
 * No I don't, I'm afraid. The only words I can sort of recall is from the scene with the computer and one of the guys says something like, "When it gets below that line, this country we call the United States of America is bankrupt." -- Mwalcoff (talk) 02:29, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

ARD and ZDF
Is ZDF the only analog German public television channel which isn't part of the ARD? --88.76.18.70 (talk) 11:39, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
 * List of television stations in Germany isn't entirily clear about this, but I think you are right. Unfortunately the German wikipedia has no reference desk (afaik), but you could perhaps try asking this question on the German ZDF discussion page, if you want to be absolutely sure. 195.35.160.133 (talk) 13:16, 24 February 2010 (UTC) Martin.

576p24
Is 576p24 an allowed video format? --88.76.18.70 (talk) 11:44, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Allowed by what? Certainly such a format could be defined, but it's probably not supported by a meaningful number of commercial devices.  Our article on 576i speed-up may be useful, however, as it's a quick method of approximating 576p24 (really approximating 576i48, but close enough). &mdash; Lomn 13:14, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Katharine Hepburn languages
In Woman of the Year, Katharine Hepburn (as a globetrotting journalist) speaks French, Russian, Spanish, German and Greek. (Her Spanish had what sounded to me like an Italian accent; that is, if I hadn't expected Spanish nor listened carefully, I'd have guessed from the rhythm that she was speaking Italian.) Presumably she had plenty of coaching; but, given her background, I wouldn't be surprised if she was already fluent in two or more foreign languages. IMDb doesn't say. Was she a known polyglot? —Tamfang (talk) 20:44, 19 February 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm having trouble googling this, partially because googling for specific language names tends to pull up a billion mentions of her movies that happen to have been translated into those languages. This link is an obituary for some guy who got a gig as her French tutor, which of course doesn't mean she really spoke French.  The job might have been tutoring her for this movie, of course.  63.164.47.229 (talk) 01:18, 20 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Hepburn's autobiography Me: Stories of my Life is searchable via Google Books. Searching on the six language names mentioned by Tamfang, the only hit I found that actually referred to a language said something like "the boy spoke Italian", which doesn't tell whether she spoke it herself.  However, I haven't read the book and I don't know if she talks about her own education in it.  --Anonymous, 05:28 UTC, February 21, 2010.

Jungle Brothers sax sample
Can anyone tell me the origin of the saxophone sample heard at the begining of the tune 'In Time' by the Jungle Brothers? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.111.114.141 (talk) 22:03, 19 February 2010 (UTC)