Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 September 7

= September 7 =

Genre of novel
A certain novel begins with three seemingly unrelated murders. The cops investigate and it turns out there is a non-obvious connection between the victims, and by maybe halfway through the book enough clues have been gathered to identify the one guy who logically could have done it, but they can't arrest him because there is no usable evidence to connect him to the crimes. In the rest of the book (spoiler) they gradually close in on him, and nab him just at the last moment before he commits some more murders.

Mystery story doesn't sound right, since the perp is identified fairly early, and the reader isn't expected to solve puzzles faster than the police. I wrote "suspense" but it's not all that suspenseful. Is there something else to call it? Crime novel? Dissipated romance (the two main characters get interested in each other but nothing happens)? The book isn't terrible but it's not very good either, in case you wondered. 2601:644:8501:AAF0:0:0:0:DFEE (talk) 00:56, 7 September 2023 (UTC)


 * It's not exactly a genre label, but I often see works with that sort of plot feature described as "cat and mouse" or "battle of wits" thrillers/mysteries. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 01:06, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Police procedural?- gadfium 01:22, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Hmm, thanks both. Idk if it's a battle of wits since the bad guy doesn't realize that the cops have scoped him out.  He just keeps chugging along with his diabolical murder plans until he is busted at the last minute.  Also there's not too much about the workings of the police department.  Mostly there's one investigator putting the bits together.  The main characters are the police investigator and a lady who helped supply some leads, and who turns out to be one of the killer's intended future victims.  And he would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for that meddling cop :). 2601:644:8501:AAF0:0:0:0:DFEE (talk) 02:45, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia classifies most of the books in the Robert Langdon book series (Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, Inferno, Origin) as mystery-thriller novels. The mystery is hardly whodunnit, but rather how, or why, or what it all means. If the reader of The Beethoven Conspiracy only finds out what connects the victims at the same pace as the detectives investigating the case, it would also seem an apt classification here. --Lambiam 13:14, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * That sounds similar to the typical plot of Columbo, which Wikipedia describes as Crime drama and Detective fiction. Iapetus (talk) 09:19, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Does not. The typical (all?) Columbo plot identifies the culprit at the beginning, not somewhere in the middle. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:55, 9 September 2023 (UTC)
 * (Not all. A few episodes broke format: one at the end of season 5 and two in season 10, at least.) --142.112.221.184 (talk) 11:48, 10 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Similar. As in  "having a resemblance in appearance, character, or quantity, without being identical". Similar, because a major part of the story is about proving the guilt of a know perpetrator.  Not identical, because (unlike Columbo) the audience doesn't have more knowledge than the protagonists, and the perpetrator isn't known from the start. Iapetus (talk) 11:03, 11 September 2023 (UTC)

Book Details for Research purpose
Hi, I am doing research for my collage work and I need info about Jeremiah Curtin's book: Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars. But there is no Wikipedia page for this book. Can you please help? James8900 (talk) 06:53, 7 September 2023 (UTC)


 * See Jeremiah Curtin. Amazon has several different editions for sale and provides full publication details and numerous customer reviews. No doubt other booksellers also have information about it. You can buy a copy very cheaply. Shantavira|feed me 08:16, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * User:James8900, this book is so old even the reviews are public domain. Internet Archive has four separate scans available. According to google scholar, 28 other works cite it. Not sure what your access to academic publishers and journal hosts is like through your university account, but check those for works that cite, discuss, review, or mention the book or Jeremiah Curtin. Folly Mox (talk) 09:04, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

When was this made?


I'd like a source for the c. age of this image. It's in this book but no year is mentioned. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 08:58, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * The manuscript is at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and can be seen here. The date is given as 1436, author of the text Ferid ed-Din ʿAttar (presumably Farid ad-Din Attar). --Wrongfilter (talk) 09:13, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * This source, talking about the same manuscript, gives the author as Herou Melik Bakhshi. I can't read French, but the canonical metadata probably clears that up, although its doubtful the illustrator is credited. Folly Mox (talk) 09:22, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Herou Melik Bakhshi was the scribe who prepared the manuscript in 1436 (including the illustrations?), Farid ad-Din Attar the author of the text (some 200 years earlier). --Wrongfilter (talk) 09:30, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Great and quick, thank you both! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:26, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * I tried to use the "depiction" thing to make it possible for Muslims to hide it if they want to, but it didn't seem to work??? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 10:12, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * That was kind. We could use the boxing up feature until someone figures it out?70.67.193.176 (talk) 15:56, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Is it supposed to work outside article-space? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 16:43, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Federal (not State) Drinking Age in the United States
The act of 1984 made the drinking age in the United States 21 because it demanded that every state pass a law requiring the drinking age to be 21. However, the Federal age was still 18. If you went into any bar, you had to be 21 because of state law. But, there were rare cases where a bar was on federal land and could serve people as young as 18. I know that was the case in Del Mar, California in 1990, long after the act of 1984. Then, at some point, the actual Federal drinking age changed to 21. What law changed the Federal drinking age? 97.82.165.112 (talk) 12:36, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Text at .  See National Minimum Drinking Age Act.   The matter seems to be devolved to the states - there doesn't seem to be a "crossing state lines issue" and licensing is a local matter. 2A00:23D0:C32:2601:998F:A7BF:6379:214 (talk) 16:27, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Was this example in Del Mar a military base? For U.S. military bases, provides that a military base within a US state will have the drinking age required by that state, except that if the base is within 50 miles of Canada, Mexico, or a state with a lower minimum, it can have the lower drinking age provided there; the current language dates from 1985. The drinking age in Mexico is 18, and Del Mar is within 50 miles of Mexico.  John M Baker (talk) 19:10, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Corporation-lawsuit examples.
What are examples where company A never really cared to sue company Z, but, company B bought company A, so now B is suing company Z?

I think an example of that is Java programming language was developed by Sun Microsystems. Then, shortly after Sun Microsystems was bought by Oracle, Oracle sued Google for Google using Java in their Androids. If you look at Google_LLC_v._Oracle_America,_Inc. 3rd last paragraph, Android 1st came out when Java was still owned by Sun Microsystems, in which the president said "We decided to grit our teeth and support it so anyone supporting it would see us as part of the value chain." Seems like Sun Microsystems is a "nicer" company than Oracle. Oracle ultimately lost after a decade-long battle to the U.S. Supreme Court. Can anyone think of any other examples? It doesn't have to be computers related, can be science, foods, etc., for corporations. 170.76.231.162 (talk) 17:30, 7 September 2023 (UTC).
 * The SCO–Linux disputes was similar, although the chain of ownership was less clear. There were multiple steps, and it was sometimes difficult to be sure exactly what had been bought. --Amble (talk) 17:55, 8 September 2023 (UTC)
 * I feel the reason that SCO-Linux is important is because SCO existed to sue. It was not a profitable business model without the lawsuits. When the lawsuits failed, the company sold off the assets and went into bankruptcy. This is wholly different than a company like Oracle that sues a lot, but turns a healthy profit without the lawsuits. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 18:28, 9 September 2023 (UTC)
 * I don't think it's fair to say that SCO existed to sue. SCO wasn't profitable overall, but it had some successful business lines, and the pivot towards litigation was a major and unexpected shift from its previous activities. Even as the leadership doubled down on suing, it appears that they believed the lawsuits would drive customers towards those real products. In reality, of course, the result was just the opposite: the company couldn't survive its hopeless lawsuits. But most of the people on the sinking ship went on developing and trying to sell those products. --Amble (talk) 16:41, 11 September 2023 (UTC)

Is there a difference in life expectancy between politically "red" and "blue" US states?
2600:4040:7EE6:2A00:F8CF:2733:DACC:E217 (talk) 20:50, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Evidently:
 * -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 21:25, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 21:25, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
 * -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 21:25, 7 September 2023 (UTC)