Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 February 4

=February 4=

99 cents
Why is it that in many western countries (Canada, US, Britain, there might be more but I am not sure) prices in stores are generally pegged at x dollar and 99 or 98 cents? Usually for high-priced goods, the dollar amount will also end in 9. Is it not much simpler if prices are whole numbers? This query was originally posted 02:08, February 4, 2007 by User:74.101.39.152
 * It's about first impressions, which always count. $19 and some cents sounds a lot less than $20. People will be more attracted to an item that sounds cheaper, even if the actual difference is only 1 cent.  JackofOz 02:16, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Our article on psychological pricing discusses this in a fair bit of detail. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 02:16, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * (woops, after e.c.) Wikipedia also has articles on psychological pricing and price ending. This is a popular question, and to read some more information, have a look at the answers last August and the answers last December. ---Sluzzelin 02:23, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Try INSISTING on paying the full dollar, ie 20.00 not 19.99. It totally throws their accounting procedures!--88.109.5.77 09:37, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * To make you think it's cheaper. Your mind seems to focus on the 19 dollars and ignores the 98 cents making you think it's a lot cheaper than 20 dollars. It's very annoying. They even do it here in Australia even though they got rid of the 1 and 2 cent coins in 1992... --Candy-Panda 06:09, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
 * That's only an issue if you pay by cash. A single item marked $19.99 will actually cost you $20.00 if you pay cash, but if you pay by eftpos or credit card it'll only cost you $19.99.  And also the cents are only rounded up or down to the nearest 5c for the total of the bill, not for every individual item. JackofOz 01:46, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Apparently the original reason was to force the shop assistant to register the purchase by having to give change, otherwise they might simply pocket the banknote for their own benefit... -- Arwel (talk) 01:23, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Shelf life of "Reddi-wip" ?
What is the shelf life of a can of Reddi-wip once the seal is broken and some of the product has been dispensed? 71.112.12.68 03:39, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Wouldn't it approximate the shelf life of the unopened can? Unless the spout is somehow contaminated. In practice it seems half of it is used when it is opened and the rest disappears mysteriously over the next day. Edison 05:24, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

No new password received
Tried to log in and told password not valid. Clicked on send new password and advised it would be sent by e-mail to me. No sign of it within 24 hours. Tried this several times and still no e-mailed password. Please help..........Gerard222.152.200.231 04:18, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * The folks over at Help desk ought to help ya out... I'll copy your question over there. V-Man737 04:36, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

movie
i remember that i watched this movie a long time ago. the only scene that i can remember was a boy running into a HUGE library and then the library started to flood with paint and he was sent to this animated world. thats all i remember, so sorry for the little info. thanx to anyone that can find out which one it is!


 * I believe the movie you are recalling is The Pagemaster. I hope you have a most wonderful day! Kyra~(talk) 06:02, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Royale with Cheese
I'm not exactly sure if this belongs in Humanities, Language, or Entertainment...but here goes: Is there actually such a thing as a "Royale with Cheese" in SI countries, or did Quentin Tarantino make it up? --Lazar Taxon 06:09, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * He didnt make it up McDonald's products--ChesterMarcol 06:40, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * In localizing the name by which this menu item would be known in metric-system countries, apparently " Mac McRoyale" was considered a better choice than the literal but ungainly "113.5-grammer". But what's "SI"? -- Deborahjay 09:08, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
 * See SI. --Richardrj talkemail 09:11, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Oh, thanks for the heads-up! I'd supposed those initials to be some unfamiliar geographic designation and didn't think to search on the letter pair itself. -- Deborahjay 19:48, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

help100
i have a series of questions and answers some arent right some are.plese help me get all right..coz 1 or two are wrong 1.every minute 47 of these are sold or distributed throughout the world-bible 2.more humans have bin killed attributed to this creature than all wars fought-mosquito 3.what can hard boiled eggs do that soft boiled egsscant-spin 4.blueberry jelly was created forthis especially for this well known american-ronald reagean 5.which word means unclothed-nude 6.all hospitals in singapore uses this item on babies-pampered diapers 7.this english football club was formed coz their rivals cudntpay their rent-liverpool


 * This sounds like one of those awful trivia lists which are largely unverifiable or at least highly apocraphal. -- mattb


 * Isn't that blueberry jellybeans? Clarityfiend 21:50, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The hard boiled egg thing isn't quite right. The difference is that if you spin a hard-boiled egg, it stands up on one end - where a raw egg will spin on it's side - something to do with how the liquid inside resists being spun. It's a good way to tell whether an egg is cooked or raw without cracking it open. I don't think there would be much difference between soft-boiled and hard-boiled though. SteveBaker 21:52, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Homework - Where did the torch relay of Sydney 2000 start?
Anybody know Anybody know where did the torch relay of Sydney 2000 start?

Thanks.


 * The torch relay for the Sydney 2000 Olympic games began in Olympia, Greece. I hope you have a most wonderful day. Kyra~(talk) 10:38, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * All Olympic torch relays begin in Olympia. Have a look at this article for more info: Olympic Flame. - Akamad 13:04, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Geez? Did we just help out a guy with his homework? 惑乱 分からん 23:18, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Oops, I actually didn't see the word homework in the big heading :-) Akamad 05:15, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

So someone swam across the ocean with it
 * Possibly on a boat... =S 惑乱 分からん 22:45, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Nah, held in between the teeth while swimming. That's why only Olympic swimmers got to carry it across the Indian ocean. V-Man737 05:39, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
 * What a disaster if it'd rain... 惑乱 分からん 11:29, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
 * In fact, the 2000 Olympic Torch did pass underwater! It visited the Great Barrier Reef, with a special chemical concocction based on those used in marine distress flares. Laïka  15:40, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Wow! :o  Do you have a source for that?-Malkinann 00:16, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

"The Sum of All Human Knowledge"
I was flipping through some information on Wikipedia, and I came across the statement that's in the title of this post.[]. I've seen it in reference to Wikipedia's goal plenty of times before, though. I was wondering, what's the rationale for this statement? It seems contradictory that Wikipedia can be the sum of all human knowledge when certain things are excluded (How-to guides, very niche subjects, many lists, etc.) It should probably read the sum of all notable human knowledge. :P  . V .  [Talk 14:45, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, I would say that wikipedia is the encyclopedia component of a greater project, wikimedia or wikiwhatever, that could, and does, include those classes you say are excluded. Certainly "human knowledge" has to have some (assumed) qualifier on it or wikiwhat would list what I had for breakfast yesterday (Sausage McMuffin). I think that such a qualifier can remain inferred and assumed and Wales can continue to state his goal as he did if that is his goal. --Justanother 15:08, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia is, in actuality, the sum of all pop culture, recent news event, fictional universe, and esoteric programming language knowledge. -- mattb


 * I thought it was the sum of all vandalism. Clarityfiend 21:54, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Certainly this can't be literally true because new human knowledge (like where that pencil is on my desk right now) changes insanely fast and it utterly non-notable. However, the goal to contain all notable facts seems - amazingly - to be within our grasp.  The lack of things like 'How To' documents doesn't necessarily preclude us reaching that goal because most How To guides are just convenient presentations of already-known facts.  SteveBaker 21:56, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Also, it is not "all human knowledge" but "the sum of all human knowledge". It is possible to know the sum of all of the prime numbers between one and a million without knowing what all of those numbers are.  This usage of "sum" is akin to "summary".   If you read "the summary of all human knowledge" then perhaps this would be more close to a practical goal.  SteveBaker 22:05, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * This is more of a Wikimedia Foundation goal, than a specific Wikipedia one. - Mgm|(talk) 10:44, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Where does non human knowledge go then


 * If the non-humans have anything that we don't alread know - they are doing a poor job of adding it. My dog is hopeless at providing verifiable references for ANY of his writings and if you accuse him of WP:OR, he bites you in the leg. SteveBaker 20:35, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Notice also that "human knowledge" is something of a more specific term than "all information known to humans." Trivial and unconnected facts are generally not considered to be knowledge. --140.247.250.175 21:07, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, it's the so-called "trivial" and "non-notable" facts that I most need a reference source for. I can already look up the so-called "notable" stuff - in fact, with its emphasis on citation and verifiability, Wikipedia may possibly represent the most enormous and most pointless duplication of effort ever carried out. --80.0.108.101 15:15, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Google remembering what you've searched for.
I've just had a bad infection of viruses and spyware on the ol'puter and in the process of cleaning it up, all my Internet settings were lost. I used to have the feature where Google remembers what you've previously searched for disabled so that it didn't pop up that annoying box everytime I typed into a search box. I can't for the life of me remember how I disabled it! Any thoughts? Thanks :) Farosdaughter 15:16, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * That is not Google, that is IE autocomplete. You can disable it in IE settings. --Justanother 15:23, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Thankyou! I use FireFox but I googled autocomplete and found how to disable it. Thankyou very much for your help. --Farosdaughter 15:28, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * You are welcome! --Justanother 15:40, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Mathbot's Tool
Hi, I was wondering what Mathbot's tool measures? For me it says 29% and 28% but for another user e.g. MER-C (which I got from RFA nominations) it says 100% and 100%. What does this mean? Why isn't mine 100% and 100% or theirs less? Please explain why this is, because I don't really understand it!  Asics   talk  16:28, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * it simply measures how often you write anything in the edit summary and apparently you usually don't. Not a huge deal but considered an important nicety. --Justanother 16:37, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I see, I'll do it more often now!  Asics   talk  17:27, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I recently discovered that there is an entry in your Preferences that makes the system remind you if you try to commit a change without entering an edit summary. That'll fix your scores up in no time! SteveBaker 22:01, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Checking-in
I'm flying from Heathrow to Sydney soon. Virgin Atlantic encourages me to check-in on-line up to 24 hours in advance, but as I will still need to have my baggage checked, show my passport and ticket, and collect a boarding pass at the desk (so they tell me), what is the point of doing anything on-line? They say it will save queuing at the airport, but I'll have several hours to kill (and the check-in queue is quite an easy place to chat to people) and there's nothing else to do anyway. Incidentally, the check-in article doesn't allow for checking in on-line, although I know that several airlines offer it. I'm also wondering why "kiosk check-in" is specifically excluded for flights to Sydney. --Shantavira 18:17, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * There is no point. The only reason they are trying to make you do it is to speed up the queues, which it presumably will, even if only marginally (check-in staff having slightly less to do per transaction).  Ultimately, it's a cost-saving measure.  They want to be able to lay off staff, and they figure this is the way to do it. --Richardrj talkemail 20:23, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * You're more likely to get your choice of seats. Anchoress 20:26, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * For all the airlines that I've traveled on (domestic U.S.), when you check-in online, you print out a boarding pass (and don't have to pick it up at the desk). It's especially useful for people who don't have checked baggage; they don't have to go to the desk at all; and can go straight to the gate. I don't know about your airline though; it does seem silly to have to pick up the boarding pass. --Spoon! 23:05, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Contacting
What are the band members from AC/DC's address? How could I possibly contact them?


 * Some record publishers will forward mail addressed to the band - failing that, you'd probably need to find a fan club that has (maybe) a forum that the band read. You won't find their home addresses though.  SteveBaker 21:58, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * You could maybe send an e-mail or C/O snail mail to their record label. 惑乱 分からん 23:20, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Forgotten alien movie
I saw an alien movie many years ago and I've forgotten its name. I believe they were green aliens who used ray guns that caused a target person to die and the only remains were colored bones. It took place in Washington, DC, I think. A few were brought to a large room to interview, but they just shot everybody. What was this movie? Thanks! Reywas92 TalkSigs 22:16, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * It was probably Mars Attacks! Anchoress 22:19, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The hilarious Mars Attacks! by Tim Burton. 22:19, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Ack ack, ack ck ack ack. Ack ack! Ack ack ack... Atlant 12:55, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Have no fear! We come in peace! 惑乱 分からん 17:23, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * BZZZT! :-) · A ndonic O Talk · Sign Here 20:56, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Shhhhh! If George Bush hears about this, he'll want to invade. Clarityfiend 23:47, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Invade where, Mars? I'm afraid they have more colorful weapons than we do, so it's out of the question. :-) · A ndonic O Talk · Sign Here 15:28, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
 * What a preposterous notion. We already own Mars! (Did anyone else expect the War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise to be a lot like Mars Attacks?) V-Man737 03:27, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Wholesale prices and newsstands
Do newsstands usually pay the same price for magazines as home subscribers, do they get a further discount for buying more than one copy per month, or do they pay a premium for the faster shipping? Neon Merlin  22:31, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * It's most likely cheaper than for private consumers, though I don't know the exact details. 惑乱 分からん 23:21, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * This question was already asked probably not more than a month ago. See the archives for the answers.  Dismas|(talk) 00:50, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Here's the link to the archived question. ---Sluzzelin 01:01, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Cleaning the really fine stuff
There are two things I'd like to have info on cleaning, and I don't know what material they are. First is the case of a fifth-generation (video) iPod. I work hard preserving my iPod's cleanliness, but some dirt or something inside the case undoes this. The second is the case of an American Silver Eagle. It's still quite clean, but I just want to have the info ready. What are these materials, and how should I clean them?-- the ninth bright shiner  talk 23:54, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * In general, coins are not cleaned. I don't know if it would matter with bullion coins though. Rmhermen 00:00, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm not talking about the coin itself; the coin is sealed inside a plastic case, which is placed in a rectangular case with the U.S. Mint emblem on the front in silver, and the rest some sort of fuzzy material.-- the ninth bright shiner  <font style="background:black" color="silver">talk 00:13, 5 February 2007 (UTC)