Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 May 12

= May 12 =

Getting to Greenbelt, Md., on a Sunday
Is there any way to get from Baltimore to the Old Greenbelt section of Greenbelt, Maryland on a Sunday using public transportation without going all the way into DC and backtracking? There are several buses that go from New Carrollton to Greenbelt but none of them seem to run on Sundays. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:06, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I've only been in that area once, and I always rode the subway, "Greenline to Greenbelt" was what came over the intercom and that's what I rode. But that's not going to help. Sorry. Useight (talk) 06:44, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * See our articles Metrorail (Washington, D.C.), Green Line (Washington Metro), and Greenbelt (Washington Metro).


 * Atlant (talk) 16:11, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't think you guys read the question. I'm asking how to get from Baltimore to Greenbelt without going into DC and backtracking. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 03:08, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Since MARC covers that route on weekdays, maybe their information line would know if there's a company that does it on Sundays without needing to change vehicles.

But I just googled on "Baltimore", "Greenbelt", and "bus", and this was the first hit, and it tells me that you can get from Baltimore to Greenbelt with one change of vehicle, not counting any travel you may need to do within each city. Start by riding the Baltimore light rail system to BWI Airport station, and then at that station you can get the WMATA route B30 "BWI Express" bus direct to Greenbelt WMATA (Washington Metro) station. It says the B30 runs every 40 minutes, 7 days a week. I don't know how near the Greenbelt station may be to Old Greenbelt, though. --Anonymous, 22:44 UTC, edited 22:48, May 13, 2008.

And here's a schedule for the B30 showing where the stops are. --Anon, 23:14 UTC, May 13.


 * Thanks! -- Mwalcoff (talk) 02:52, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Coleman Propane Bottles
When opening those propane bottles for the first time for use in a lantern for example how is it possible to make sure the gas stays in the bottle as you connect it to the pipes where it flows through to the lantern. Does the gas stay in the bottle because it is compressed or is there some trick to it. I am a first time propane lantern user so thats why i am asking. One other thing i would like to ask is if propane is cheap to buy. I was amazed a few days ago to get it at $2.00 a bottle.--logger (talk) 02:59, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Tell me about it. Damn shit costs ME nearly $4.00 US. See below WHO Sean Hannity and others blame for the economic fiasco. Damn near shocked the hell out of me.205.240.146.247 (talk) 04:13, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * A small amount of gas will escape as you make the first connection but it is not enough to be a problem. Just screw it on tight and it won't leak any further. Rmhermen (talk) 05:16, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

What works is fine with me i just want to be sure that i am not wasting that gas. indeed the price of it is high but is that not the normal price for propane?--68.54.131.156 (talk) 10:08, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Can any of these be used?

 * www.efuel100.com
 * www.microfueler.con


 * These are suspected as being part of a scam.

Also on Hannity's America, on 5-11-08, Sean Hannity has actually blamed the Environmentalists AND their leader Al Gore as to WHY food and fuel prices have spiked, yes spiked in two years straight, shown him on a smoke belching jet while HE has the gall and insolence to preach to people about (now debunked, according to Sean Hannity, who listed several scientists who said Global Warming is BS) Global Warming and telling people to quit living like decent people, that people should barely exist like people do in the Third World, worse, and I mean worse. Just had a Goregasm. I have also heard other conservations that the Environmental movement is'' designed to destroy the US, and that, as Rushie would say, "Eco Whackos" do NOT protest other nations, such as China, or they'd end up being shot, imprisoned as being insurrectionists, rebels in a rebellion. One bit of evidence is that "Earth Day" is on a communist "holiday". I've also heard that, worse from Mark Le Vine(conservative), Michael Savage, others of that ilk.'' Again, can any of this be used at all? 205.240.146.247 (talk) 03:12, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I often "eat out" at two truck stops. You'll be amazed WHAT truckers, other travellers discuss. Some of them have 'net access AND HUGE TVs, often tuned into conservative stations. 205.240.146.247 (talk) 03:24, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Since the only question in that whole soapbox rant is "Can any of this be used at all?", I have a couple questions of my own... What are we supposed to use out of all that and where/what are you asking about using it in?  Are you asking whether ethanol fuel can be used in cars?  Dismas |(talk) 05:18, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Any verifiable information can be used in articles you may care to edit, however in my experience talk show hosts are long on opinion and very, very short of references to back up their spiels Mhicaoidh (talk) 09:02, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I hope you are aware that your question is impossible to respond to simply because of the way you worded the messages. In fact, if anything, you are setting up a strawman.--WaltCip (talk) 14:40, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia is not a soapbox.  Corvus cornix  talk  16:35, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

South-East Asian politician who went missing in Sydney in the 1960s
I asked this question a long time ago but nobody had any idea. It still bugs me, so maybe someone's come along since then who knows what I'm talking about. It's about a politician (possibly the Foreign Minister or even the Prime Minister) from a country in South-East Asia. He came to Australia on government business and received all the usual welcomes and media attention. Then, after his last official duty in Sydney, he went missing. He was due to board a plane to go back home but he didn't turn up. The security and police forces went into overdrive, but couldn't find him. The whole country was talking about it. Then, about 3 or 4 days later, he turned up safe and well. He apologised for the trouble he'd caused but explained that he'd been exhausted or something like that, and just needed some time out away from his minders and his unrelenting schedule. He'd found some friendly nationals from his country in Sydney and had been hiding out with them. Then he went back home and life returned to normal. Does anyone remember who this guy was? I keep thinking he was from Malaysia or Singapore, but that may be my mind playing tricks. I'm almost certain it wasn't Lee Kuan Yew. This happened around about 1964, give or take a couple of years, to the best of my memory. -- JackofOz (talk) 06:03, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * If your question continues to draw blanks here, you might want to try the "humanities" desk. Alternatively try a couple of portals. --Lisa4edit (talk) 21:22, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Sorry Jack, that was 5 years before my lengthy sabbatical in Sydney. Apart from browsing through the back copies of the SMH / Age / Australian / Nation Review (oops, too late), if not scanned than at least on very small fish, I can´t think of a good source.
 * I can give you the email address of an old friend from Sydney (now living in Katoomba) who may remember, if you want (please leave a message on my user page).  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 00:00, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Could you be thinking of Harold Holt? --Blue387 (talk) 04:36, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the suggestion, Blue387, but definitely not. This guy was ethnically Asian.  Holt is still missing and probably became shark food 40 years ago.  --  JackofOz (talk) 07:26, 14 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Found it! He was Tun Lim Yew Hock, and he was at the time the Malaysian High Commissioner to Australia.  He had previously been Chief Minister of Singapore.  He became a Malaysian citizen when Malaysia, which originally included Singapore, was established.  He continued representing Malaysia overseas even after Singapore left the federation.  This incident happened in June 1966, so I had the time period roughly correct.  Now I can go to bed.   --  JackofOz (talk) 15:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

girl problem
Once during a singing competition my voice went horrendous and led to a lot of embarassment.But I noticed a girl in the audience and she was smiling at me constantly.I dont know why.Whenever I come across her she throws a glance or a slight smile at me and this continued for a couple of months and she stopped doing so.Please tell me what is she thinking about me.Now I cant ask this to her as this will lead to another bout of embarassment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.248.2.51 (talk) 07:32, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * There's no way anyone for anyone to tell you what she was thinking. However, generally speaking, when someone looks at you and smiles at you, do you think it's because she a) likes you and/or is interested in you, or b) hates you and/or doesn't want anything to do with you? Maybe she was just being friendly, or maybe she wanted to jump your bones, who knows? But it sounds like that ship's sailed -- perhaps because you didn't react at all. Or perhaps because she just lost interest. Or perhaps you stopped wearing a funny-looking shirt. Who knows? You could always ask her. Or ask her out for a cup of coffee and see if that smile comes back. That oughta tell you something. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 08:19, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Isn't this the classical situation where one seeks to be "fixed up"? That is, you ask your friends "So who knows what's-her-name or what's her-name's friends?" and they then pass messages back and forth until you find out what what's-her-name's level of interest is? Alternatively, you could try the direct approach and just say "Hi!" the next time you happen upon her. I don't know how old you are, but as I got older, I saw more and more value in the simple, direct, un-mediated approach ;-).


 * Atlant (talk) 16:09, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm sure if she was paying that much attention to you she was interested. But, it seems as though she may think you're not interested, and may have decided to move on, or wait for you to approach her, or at least show some interest in return. A great deal of girls aren't comfortable with approaching a guy, and so we smile, laugh at dumb jokes, and do what we think will give you guys a hint. Perhaps you should try to approach her, it might still work. SunshineStateOfMind (talk) 16:26, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Age of consent
Can you get arrested for dating a girl who states she is 21 on an ADULT dating site if she lies about her age???? and you find she is 13, pregnant and you are the father? Swan&#39;s swimming song (talk) 09:08, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * There are rumors that NBC TV News 'DATLINE - To Catch a Preditor', ran a series on this very subject for several years, however, that cannot be comfirmed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.225.133.60 (talk) 09:46, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * So, let get this straight... girl says she's 21, you have sex with her without using a condom, get her pregnant and then find out she's only 13? And through all this, you didn't suspect she was 8 years younger than you thought?  Well you've been pretty damn foolish, haven't you.  The fact she lied about her age is irrelevant; having sex with a minor is a very serious offence in most (all?) countries.  I suggest you get yourself a lawyer.  Astronaut (talk) 10:13, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * The example is pretty ridiculous in that I find it extremely unlikely that anyone with half a brain could honestly mistake a 13-year old for a 21-year old. But here in Finland, for example, the age of consent is 16, as it appears to be in most US states, so one could conceivably end up in bed with a fifteen-year old and think that she's, oh, eighteen, for example. Sure, if someone seems really young, it'd be smart to ask to see some ID, but even so, we're hardly talking about actually sexually assaulting the minor here if the if the age difference is negligible and act is consensual, regardless what the law says. (And I'm not saying it's a bad law, either, I should probably stress, just that there's a world difference between actual sexual assault and mismatched ages, even if the law (purposefully) declines to take that into account.) It should probably also be pointed out that many jurisdictions raise to the age of consent in situations where the older person is in a position of authority. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 15:35, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Actually many jurisdictions (but apparently not Finland, at least our article doesn't mention any) have additional closeness of age exemptions when the two people are of a close age. Even if not in law, these are sometimes de facto, for example here in NZ it's very rare for the police to prosecute if the age difference is less then 2 years. Of course relying on the police is not the best idea (there was an attempt to formalise it but it was abandoned after a public outcry). Note that one of the reasons why the law often doesn't take into account the difference between sexual assault and 'mismatched ages' is because it's not always far from clear cut. Sure a 18 year old having sex with his/her 15 year old boyfriend/girlfriend is different from a someone who brutally rapes and sodomises a 1 year old toddler. But what about a 60 year old who has sex with his/her mentally disabled 8 year boy/girlfriend who consented to the act and didn't complain about it afterwards because he/she loved the guy/girl? How does this compare to someone who was drunk and had sex with a guy/girl who was drunk who said no several times but was too drunk to actually stop it? To me both of these are wrong but from a simplistic POV the first one is simply 'mismatched ages'. In other words, the boundary is often far from clear cut since there is a large grey area. But laws by their nature tend to be black and white. Note however just because laws are black and white doesn't mean their enforcment is. In most countries the sentence a court hands out is at least partially proportional to the perceived severity of the act Nil Einne (talk) 16:49, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * It's a similar case in the US, from what I understand, Nil. Some states have what they call "Romeo and Juliet" laws that allow for people who are just above the age of consent to have sex with those just below the age of consent. I know of someone who was caught in one of those Dateline-style stings where a cop posed as a 15-year-old girl online, but they dropped the charges when they realized he was just a lonely 20-year-old college student and not a 40-year-old pedophile. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 03:13, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * lol This is not a real situation, just so you know. I think some people were taking it a bit too seriously :) It was a what if question. Thank you for answering. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Swan's swimming song (talk • contribs) 17:52, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

AWKWARD SITUATIO14:58, 13 May 20 Me and my best friend were playing when he started poking me, so I sat on him to pin him and me and his brother tickled him. He got hard but I didn't say anything. Did I arouse him? Is he gay? He's my best friend so no mater what I would love him. Sticky end (talk) 09:11, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * By tickling him, you might have hit upon some erogenous zone that caused the erection reaction. It's very possible that it was a subconscious reaction.  And no, that isn't a surefire test of whether he is gay or not.  Dismas |(talk) 09:55, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Also, if you happen to be teenagers, the erection might not mean anything more than that he's developing along the same as anyone else. Teenagers get hard-ons all the time, often for no reason at all. That's puberty and hormones for you. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 15:23, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It could also be what's known in high society circles as a "piss hard-on". When you really have to pee, the stimulation and pressure can initiate or help maintain an erection. Getting tickled can promote the feeling of needing to pee, which could start the cycle. And, as mentioned above, it don't take a whole lot to get a teenager hard anyway. Matt Deres (talk) 15:01, 13 May 2008 (UTC

You do not mention the age of yourself and your friends -but I note others here have assumed that you are adolescents? The fact is with all the new bourgeoning hormones now surging through your bodies, your physical -and emotional- responses and reactions are as yet both ultra-sensitive and largely unfocused. No doubt you yourself have experienced spontaneous 'hard-ons'-even in those rare moments when lads of your age are not apparently thinking of anything sexual- and at sometimes the most awkward and embarrassing times! But many reactions of the turbulent adolescent body are not so much 'sexual' as merely 'physical'-especially in the riotous and boisterous contact of 'laddish' behaviour. But such 'boners' are unfortunatey immediately assumed to be a sexual response merely because they so blatantly arise only too obviously in the sexual organ.(Young boys get 'hard-ons' long before adolescent hormones and sexuality kick-in; -bet you did even if you don't remember! Haven't you or your friends got little brothers?) Likewise, it is extremely common for adolescents -of both sexes- to experience strong attractions -both physical and emotional- towards a member -or members- of their own sex.It is also very common to experience dreams of a similar or homoerotic nature whilst asleep and have no control over thoughts and reactions -which can prove disconcerting on awakeing! Once again, this does not in any way mean the person is (or is not) gay.It is just that the surging hormones are driving the emotions wild -whilst they are disconcertingly both unfamiliar and -as yet- largely unfocused. Unfortunately, even in our 'enlightened' society, we are still not seemingly mature enough to discuss these naturally and commonly occurring experiences, even with -or perhaps especially with- our closest friends -which would in reality be a fine thing to do.(Try discussing this article with them?) Perhaps even because of this generation's incessant need to appear 'cool' -especially regarding 'gayness'- that there is an unfortunate desire to label -especially with regard to sexuality- with a totally unneccessary quickness. Unfortunately, any such 'labelling' regarding sexual identity at this most sensitive and crucial stage in physical and emotional development can unfortunately 'fix' a person's sexuality for life! I do not know if any of this is of any help, but my advice to you would be to simply enjoy this unique and enviable time in your life as much as you can -when your minds -and bodies- are so alive and invigorated, -and don't worry to much. From the way you so openly say just how much you love your friends, you thankfully appear to have few sad 'hang-ups'. If you continue in this generous and open way you will doubtless emerge -whether 'gay' or 'straight'- with great memories and friends -forged as you experienced your youth together. —Preceding unsigned comment added by ANTONIATZI (talk • contribs) 14:54, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Evan Taubenfeld
Is Evan Taubenfeld the guy the plays the boyfriend on Avril Lavigne's video 'Girlfriend'? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Table top dancer (talk • contribs) 09:13, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * He is according to our article but there isn't a source given for that information. Dismas |(talk) 09:53, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * No. Evan appeared in the video but the boyfriend is played by Bryan McMullin. xxx User:Hyper Girl 10:01, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

IT-industry
what is the technical progress IT-industry or IT-sectors has done in last 20-25 years?
 * See List of basic technology topics. That should give you a start for what seems to be a homework question.  Dismas |(talk) 09:58, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Wolves
How did the popular belief that wolves howl at the moon develop? What is its origin? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 10:14, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Perhaps because when a wolf howls, it points its nose upwards. At night, it can appear to be looking at the moon.  Astronaut (talk) 11:02, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

I always though it had more of a literature meaning to it. I thought that werewolves because they were born by the moon made people think that werewolves howled at the moon. Either that or maybe it was the mysteriousness of the wolf. The wolf was considered a dangerous creature a pest of livestock. The wolf and the moon were just two mysteries and you put them together. But that is to poetic.

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 15:01, 12 May 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven


 * Instead of uninformed speculation (i.e. guesswork), please could we have at least the guesses of experts. Here is what a wolf scientist has to say: "Popular imagination has long held that they also howl at the moon, but there is no evidence that this is so. Wolves may be more active on moonlit nights, when they can see better, or we may hear them more often on such nights, because we feel more comfortable tramping about in the light of a full moon, but a wolf howling at the moon would be wasting its breath."  Fred H. Harrington, Professor of Ethology, Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia.  Found on PBS site | here. BrainyBabe (talk) 16:15, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * In the above quotation, Prof. Harrington says "wolves may..." and "we may...". This may be informed speculation coming from an ethologist, but it is still speculation of an academic of Nova Scotia where wolves have become extinct.
 * A website containing an article of the late Prof. Harrington on howling (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wolves/howl.html) shows five pictures of howling wolves, each of them throwing back the head and howling towards the direction of the sky.
 * The answer of Astronaut, therefore, seems fairly accurate. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 18:04, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Dingoes howling doesnt seem linked to the moon. Daytime too.Polypipe Wrangler (talk) 11:19, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Avril Lavigne the geek?
Does Avril Lavigne play both her and geeky girl in her video 'girlfriend'? if not who plays the geeky 1? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Table top dancer (talk • contribs) 10:21, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * The name Avril shows up 23, well 24, times on this page. Is there medical advice available on how to cope with this overdose of entertainment oriented drivel, erm, personalities of global importance?  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 11:07, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * lol Some of the Ref Deskers seem to be suffering from acute Avril overdose syndrome! I personally think we should have a whole Avril Desk ;) As for the question, Avril does play both the rock chick and the geeky girl. They used split screen photography to do that. xxx User:Hyper Girl 11:15, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * And in the process endorsed bullying and stealing somebody else's boyfriend if you think you're better than the other girl. Wonderful message to send to your fans huh Avril? Exxolon (talk) 22:12, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * This question should be banished moved to the Entertainment desk. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:18, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

What is this phone?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ph6mo7KONyg

What is the name of the mobile phone used in the The Click Five's music video for "Jenny" at 00:41 and 02:16? --Candy-Panda (talk) 11:12, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Looks like a type of Palm (PDA). User:Krator (t c) 12:40, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, from it appears to be a "Nokia 5310 XpressMusic". User:Krator (t c) 12:44, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Maps
What is an easting on a map? Do I need to find the meridian first to work it out? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 11:37, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * There is an entry entitled cryptically Easting and northing. There is also some stuff on westing but nothing on southing.  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 14:41, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Maps (part II)
Do the hash marks on the inside of closed contour lines indicate decreasing elevation of a basin or a mountain on a topographic map? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 11:37, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, they do on any topographic map that I have used. - EronTalk 15:28, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * So which does it mean, decreasing elevation of a basin or a mountain? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 17:54, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Obviously it depends on which side of the surface of this planet you live on. For folks from Down Under Mt. Everest is just an enormous hole.  Sir Edmund Hillary just rolled down the slope and then crawled trough a little gap.   --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 19:23, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't understand. When I look at the map there are several concentric red circles. How do I tell if these are indicating a rising feature, such as a mountain, or a lowering feature such as a valley? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 19:28, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Usually from context. Most maps additionally will note particular contour lines (say, for instance, every 500m line would be labeled) and many peak or trough elevations. &mdash; Lomn 19:49, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * At risk of spoiling some joke – Basins tend to fill with water, so a small closed contour more often represents a peak; dry hollows are the exception, marked as described. —Tamfang (talk) 04:22, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

You might find the article Topographic map useful, especially the section "Map conventions". Pfly (talk) 23:16, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Yet another Avril question
Is Avril Lavigne an atheist? 89.236.214.174 (talk) 11:50, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * No, Christian. All I did was Google "Is Avril Lavigne a Christian?". Why not try Google yourself for all these Avril Lavigne questions - you'll get a faster (immediate) answer. Neıl ☎  11:56, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Is wikipedia being co-opted by the AvLav fan club? Friendly, but so... *yawn*  12:01, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * This question should be moved to the Entertainment desk. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:19, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

What Age did Avril Lavigne start singing
At what age did Avril Lavigne begin singing non-professionally? Ie before she became famous? 195.194.74.154 (talk) 12:26, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't think you can really put an age on that. People begin singing whenever and nobody is usually around to record exactly when. But according to this "she started singing when she was around 12", whereas this puts it at 14. And this says she was 2 when “she accompanied her mother in the church choir.” xxx User:Hyper Girl 12:35, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

The vital question here is...did Avril Lavigne ever do anything illegal whilst wearing a mask(with or without Tim Cahill?) :) Lemon martini (talk) 13:38, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * You really did make my day, Mr. Lemon. Don't forget the gulls. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 18:37, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * This question should be moved to the Entertainment desk. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 17:19, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Avril the Chef
Six degrees of Avril to Raekwon - anyone?

Cardinal Raven (talk) 15:02, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

OK, the Avril trolling ends, now. Any more Avril edits to this page will be removed. Corvus cornix talk  16:40, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I have no idea what this question even means. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 17:49, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Zain, see Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.  Corvus cornix  talk  18:35, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I see now. I'm sure you can understand my confusion, though. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 19:13, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I think that's a bit harsh, Are you saying no one can EVER ask a question about Avril Lavigne ever again? I think your going to have trouble enforcing that rule because she is famous and as a result will attract a certain amount of attention. And for that matter will people who answer questions already been posted be punished? I've just come out of a long conversation to get unblocked because my school vandalized a page. If I were to answer this would I be blocked again. I don't wish to take that risk.
 * In the first place, questions concerning Avril Lavigne should go to the Entertainment desk, not to the Miscellaneous desk. Secondly, the unhealthy obsession here is clearly trolling.   Corvus cornix  talk  18:35, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Avril's "I'm with you" music video was directed by David LaChapelle who directed Amy Winehouse's "Tears Dry on Their Own" video who make "You Know I'm No Good" with Ghostface Killah. From there the connection is trivial.--droptone (talk) 18:51, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Also she performed a cover of Green Day's "Basket Case" who contributed a song to the Godzilla (1998 film) soundtrack to which Rage Against the Machine also contributed, and Rage made a song with the Wu-Tang Clan to which Raekwon belongs to.--droptone (talk) 19:00, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't see how this can be called trolling? My understanding was that trolling is one user asking disruptive questions like "I'm gay what should I do?". These Avril questions appear to be coming from different IP address from all over the world (I checked an IP location website) and one from Cardinal Raven, a well know poster. In Avril in the news or something, as I think that would account more for these questions. Makey melly (talk) 18:57, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * And who died and made Corvus cornix lord and ruler of reference desk? Lighten the fuck up. --Endless Dan 19:56, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Follow up: Six degrees of Avril to Kevin Bacon... AHHH! --Endless Dan 19:56, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Avril --> Mathew Broderick (Godzilla - see above)
 * MB --> Jim Carrey (Cable Guy)
 * JC --> Jennifer Aniston (Bruce Almighty)
 * JA --> Brad Pitt (Marriage)
 * Brad Pitt --> Kevin Bacon (Sleepers)
 * Zain Ebrahim (talk) 22:18, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Cardinal Raven is being ironic as you can tell. Tim Cahill is famous too, but the welter is the indicator(see the Tim Cahill threads if you can be bothered) and as per above appears to be a neat way of getting her more notice than usual. I'm waiting for, what is Avril Lavigne's IQ, shoe size, longest/shortest video, ... ? No-one own's the page desk as such, but there are guidelines CC invokes if the desk/s are being pwned by AvLav's fans. Can these questions be asked at her official fan site?  Julia Rossi (talk) 23:51, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * PS, That;s my comment to endless Dan, but this question was interesting btw. JR
 * I got a kick out of the Avril questions. They were all light hearted and I think if anyone is offended by the questions, they can ignore them. No harm, no foul. And yes these questions probably could be asked at her website, but that would involve registering for an account which would result in spam. Also, I actually don't have access to the internet (outside of Wikipedia... don't ask).
 * FYI - I actually started this topic. I have no idea how Cardinal is credited with asking the question.--Endless Dan 12:37, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

What to call this addiction?
What is the name of the addiction where someone likes to make themselves into other people because they like to tell a story? An example of what I am trying to ask is: On an online forum that I was on, a long time ago, someone made over 50 accounts and each account they claimed they were different people. The person who made 50 accounts had different genders and different stories. Well I live in California and I am girl for one account and then another I live in Maine and I am an it. When the administrator finally found out they ask the person to explain themselves. They said they liked making people and making stories for people. So, what is this addiction called?

Thank You

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 13:19, 12 May 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven


 * Imagination / creativity / escapism / bipolar disorder. See also Shakespeare and a few more entries on literature and art. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 14:17, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Bipolar disorder? Come on, now... DeeKenn (talk) 14:11, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I have read these articles you have provided me.Cardinal Raven (talk) 15:02, 12 May 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven


 * I'd call that boredom, and not an addiction since they had no negative consequences. Mad031683 (talk) 16:09, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Well I didn't want to put a long story. But they said that they were addicted to telling stories, and creating. They love to create and cannot stop the urge the cretae. They said that it drives them mad, but they needed to create. So is it still boredom, even in that case.

Always

Cardinal Raven

Cardinal Raven (talk) 17:15, 12 May 2008 (UTC)Cardinal Raven


 * If creation is boredom, then there are are a few people out there who believe that seven days ennui (give or take a Shabbath) is more divine than having one big bang. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 17:37, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Something to do with Walter Mitty perhaps? Adam Bishop (talk) 21:08, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Mythomania? -- LarryMac  | Talk  12:42, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

average GPA's of universities
What publication provides the average GPA's and standard deviation of various universities by major, class, course or other groupings? -- Taxa  (talk) 14:33, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't know if anyone does it, at least for the world (which I assume you mean since you didn't specify any specific country) since it doesn't have much use as GPAs are something completely internal to a university, a high GPA may simply mean the university is incredibly generous with their assessement and it likely varies significantly from country to country what a certain GPA means. Nil Einne (talk) 16:20, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Countries using GPAs to figure out their Numerus clausus sometimes publish comparisons. --Lisa4edit (talk) 21:09, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * The reason for asking is that in the US it is sometimes necessary to compare scores that come from different distributions. For you may need to provide rankings of job applicants based on their GPAs. The applicants all come from different colleges and universities. Some of the applicants come from universities where the grading is very tough, there are a lot of flunk out courses, and its really hard to get an A in any course. Many other applicants come from universities where grade inflation is rampant, almost everyone in every class gets a B and about half of the students in every class get an A. Obviously given a situation like this, you can not rely upon an applicant's GPAs when deciding how to rank them. A student from the first type of university with a 3 point GPA is above average, a student from the second type of university with a 3 point GPA is probably below average. There is a statistical method to deal with this problem but it requires knowing each university's average GPA and standard deviation to use as a yardstick. If you know the mean GPA at each university and you know the standard deviation of the GPAs at each university then you can provide each applicant with an adjusted score, which will indicate the standard deviations above or below the mean on the same scale. --  Taxa  (talk) 22:21, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Just a point, but "average GPA" is an example of RAS syndrome. -mattbuck (Talk) 22:38, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * It might appear that way if the last thing on your mind was RAS syndrome. However, "average GPA's" refers to GPA's from different institutions which are not based on the same scale, requiring the GPA's themselves from different institutions to be averaged and standard deviated so as to provide the required information to perform the intended task, i.e., elimination of the differences in scale between the various institutions. An average of a bunch of averages, if you will. -- Taxa  (talk) 00:04, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Mountains
Is it true that something has to be at least 1000m tall to be a mountain? 82.33.114.90 (talk) 15:24, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * The article on Mountains suggests that it is not true - see the definitions section. What is called a mountain varies by jurisdiction and there are few areas where it is strictly defined. For the most part, it seems to be determined relative to the surrounding terrain. - EronTalk 15:27, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain suggests that 1,000 feet was once the threshold at least in the UK. This is a fictionalized tale of the real Garth Hill in Pentyrch in South Wales.


 * Atlant (talk) 16:26, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * This height restriction does not translate to other languages. For example: many German "Berg" (mountain) features are way lower. The Spanish wiki seems to currently discuss their definition of montaña.  Eron's second definition would apply, though. --Lisa4edit (talk) 21:04, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

There's no authority that has the power to enforce a definition like this, at least in the English speaking world. Pfly (talk) 23:26, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * That's not quite true. For instance, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names standardizes names in the U.S. and Antarctica. Rmhermen (talk) 00:04, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I meant to write a longer answer, but had to rush off. The US BGN has the power to set official names for the federal government, but not for the people in general. Of course if federal agencies like the USGS adopt a name change and it is published on things like the USGS topographic maps, people might go along with it. But they might not. In the late 1800s the BGN tried to effect some sweeping (though still rather minor) standardizations for place names in the US. One of their standards was that towns and cities whose name ended in -burgh should be changed to -burg. A lot of towns went along with this, but Pittsburgh did not. There was a battle of sorts between the BGN and Pittsburgh, and in the end, Pittsburgh won. There's info about this at Name of Pittsburgh. Since then the BGN has not tried to enforce any kind of sweeping standardizations like this. They certainly wouldn't try to rename all "mountains" that were less than some elevation to be "hills". There is a similar agency in the UK with similar powers. But in both cases their power is limited by the willingness of the people to accept their rulings. I can't imagine the people in the US or UK would accept a sweeping change of places names based on some arbitrary definition of how high a mountain must be to be allowed the name "mountain". That's more of what I was trying to get at -- in theory the BNG has the power to enforce name changes, although their authority really only pertains to the federal government. In practice their power is quite limited and far from being able to do something like renaming hills and mountains to some standard. The same is true for the use of "river" and "creek" in place names. Sometimes you hear that there is some standard a stream must have in order to be called a river (eg, must be navigable). But in truth there are plenty of rivers that are tiny, and creeks that are huge. There are even rivers and are tributaries of creeks. Likewise there are some very small mountains and some very big hills. Definitions of mountain, hill, river, and creek, are necessary descriptive and not prescriptive, if that makes sense. Pfly (talk) 04:52, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Of course, if you try to please everyone, you end up with the Stoneycreek River. -- Coneslayer (talk) 12:51, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

See Mount Wycheproof. only 43m above sea level.Polypipe Wrangler (talk) 11:24, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Breeds of dog
Why are different breeds of dogs all considered the same species? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 18:09, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * --Shantavira|feed me 18:29, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Breed is not in the "hierarchy of scientific classification". That is a very long article to read, and most of it doesn't relate to dogs. Well, obviously it relates to dogs in that dogs are a species, but not directly relating to the specific question. Should I ask my question on the species talk page? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 18:42, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Nah. It's easy enough: they're considered the same species because they are the same species. As is the wolf. They're completely interfertile -- a Great Dane and a chihuahua could interbreed, though it might be dangerous or amusing. --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 18:46, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * So a wolf and a poodle could interbreed, forgetting of course the wolf would probably eat the poodle. That makes me think; would a wolf eating a poodle be considered cannibalism? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 18:50, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Right, and yes. Got any poodles in mind? --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 18:52, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * This, from dog, is interesting: A dog is "Canis lupus familiaris. The species was originally classified as Canis familiaris and "Canis familiarus domesticus" by Linnaeus in 1758 [3]. In 1993, dogs were reclassified as a subspecies of the gray wolf, Canis lupus, by the Smithsonian Institution and the American Society of Mammalogists. "Mhicaoidh (talk) 00:24, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Cell phone
Why does my cell phone make screechy noises when I place it near my computer? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 18:10, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm no expert, but I was drawn to this: Electromagnetic interference. Fribbler (talk) 18:18, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * That is almost certainly the correct answer. Modern computers, well-shielded though they may be, emit enough energy at appropriate frequencies that they overwhelm the very weak radio signals that the cell phone is trying to receive. I have a chart (provenance unknown, sorry) that suggests that a typical wireless signal is received at power levels of 10 to 1000 picowatts; close to the computer, the various clock signals from the PC are radiating at much higher power levels.


 * Atlant (talk) 19:15, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I once put my mobile on top of my laptop, that was the end of the phone!--Artjo (talk) 06:18, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Cell phone underwater
What is the maximal underwater depth at which a mobile phone can work (i.e. someone can chat using it with those who are above water, on the land)? Ignore that the phone does not work in the water, it is supposed that it is isolated (maybe in a glass container). I came up to this question when my lil brother asked: "do cellphones work in submarines?" 89.146.66.209 (talk) 18:36, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't have a specific answer, but I'd say "not a lot." If you look at the Communications section of our submarine article, you'll see that radio communication is commonly done with VLF radio, and that only works when the sub is at the surface or just a little below; ELF can be used to penetrate deeper, but then the bandwidth is quite limited.  VLF is in the range of 3 kHz to 30 kHz, while cellular frequencies are more like 800 mHz; those higher frequency waves won't penetrate the water very well at all.  -- LarryMac  | Talk  18:50, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Cellphones don't work in submarines for several reasons: 1) The submarine's steel hull forms a very effective Faraday cage. 2) The sea water doesn't propagate high-frequency radio waves very well, so even a very little depth of water forms very effective shielding. 3) And in many environments, the MPs (or equivalents) will probably shoot you if they catch you operating an uncleared cell-phone.


 * Atlant (talk) 19:09, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * In the San Francisco Bay area, there's a subway that goes under the San Francisco Bay. I was talking on my cell phone when we entered the tunnel. My connection only lasted maybe 10 more seconds. That's the best answer I can give you. Useight (talk) 23:45, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * That's why many tunnels/underground railways have cellphone/radio repeters. 118.90.102.125 (talk) 11:53, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * The skin depth for a 1 GHz signal in seawater is roughly 1 centimeter (about half an inch). At five times that depth (5 cm, 2 inches) more than 99% of the signal will be attenuated.  As others have already noted, high-frequency radio waves penetrate seawater very poorly indeed. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 12:12, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Animal stripes


Trisection
Is it possible to trisect a length of rope by eye and hand alone? Bisecting it is easy enough - grab both ends, pull the middle as far as it can go, and cut it at its furthest end. But how to trisect it without actually measuring the exact lengths? J I P | Talk 19:32, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Make 2 bends in the rope instead of one and line up the sections. That will give three equal lenghts of rope. If you catch my drift? I find it hard to explain. Fribbler (talk) 19:38, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Depending on the thickness of the rope, exceptionally sharp vision or a supreme degree of skill in karate chops would be required. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 20:44, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * if it is made of 3 strands, very easy.Polypipe Wrangler (talk) 11:26, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Bookmarks
When reading, do most people use bookmarks or just dog-ear the pages? Which is most common? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 19:35, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't know about most people, but I always use bookmarks. I value my books too much to dog-ear the pages. In the past, I used to leave books face down at the page I left them at, but I found that after many days, this tends to leave them permanently open at that page. So I chose to use bookmarks instead. J I P  | Talk 19:48, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * My mother used to tear off pages as she finished reading them and throw them into the campfire (when on camping trips). Personally I just memorize the page number. -- BenRG (talk) 20:58, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I always use bookmarks. Like JIP, I don't like dog-earing, which I consider vandalism; on the other hand, I'm always writing comments in margins and highlighting or underlining things I want to remember.  (But this has given me an idea - earrings for dogs.  I'll report back on progress.)  --  JackofOz (talk) 23:46, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I use bookmarks too. Though the bookmark itself may be a very unusual item; such as a take-away menu or even a cigarette packet! I even once used a cross-cut saw as a bookmark. Fribbler (talk) 23:59, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * My local bookshop in the Highlands always give you a book mark with the book that you buy.--Artjo (talk) 06:16, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Bookmarks (flat things, scrap paper, sticky notes, string, remembering the page number) as Fribbler without the saw (so far). Not mark books style. Dog-earing seems a touch rough. Julia Rossi (talk) 06:21, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

I use old Christmas cards.They are often to nice or have sentimantal value to be thrown out.They stay in the book and then I have a nice memory waiting when I go back to the book.hotclaws 22:39, 14 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I never make dog-ears. Usually I place the open book face-down, though sometimes I use an impromptu bookmark. I don't own a "real" bookmark. 81.187.153.189 (talk) 07:18, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * For the longest time I used the bookmarks that Amazon sends with every order of books. Not the whole thing though.  I generally read paperbacked sci-fi which is generally shorter than Amazon's bookmarks.  So I'd tear it in half and use the part with the quote from whoever (usually Erasmus) as my bookmark.  When I'd get new books, the new book marks would generally just be thrown out or recycled since the one I was using would just go from the finished book to the next book.  Dismas |(talk) 10:02, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I do have some bookmarks somewhere, but generally I use whatever comes to hand. pizza menus, the crap that comes in the middle of magazines, etc. -mattbuck (Talk) 18:51, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't generally use bookmarks (I make the occasional exception because, uh, I dunno why, and then it tends to be some random piece of paper or something), and I never dog-ear pages. I don't memorize the page number, either. I find it doesn't take very long at all to find the spot where I left off just by flipping through the book. This does tend to backfire on me when I leave a book lying around for a couple of weeks or longer, though, as sometimes happens; then finding the spot where I stopped reading can be a bit of a pain. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 11:49, 14 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Bookmarks are almost the only use I've found for my biz cards. —Tamfang (talk) 04:29, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Buying Viagra Tabs in Tenerife?
Adult guy going on vacation from UK to Tenerife where UK type prescription drugs are available for purchase over the pharmacy counter without a physician's prescription (such as antibiotics etc., but clearly NOT narcotics). Question, may he buy Viagra tabs. whilst on vacation in Tenerife and bring them legally into the UK (strictly for his own use)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.9.59.249 (talk) 19:37, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It would seem that this is fine. See: Fribbler (talk) 19:41, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Just noticed this can be considered legal advice Fribbler (talk) 19:44, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * No,no, Fribbler et al - I specifically was NOT looking for legal advice, nor a legal opinion - what I wanted was a straightforward YES or NO, which I interpret as information, and which you have kindly provided, complete with a Link, for which I am most grateful.92.9.59.249 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 19:50, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Ouch! I was just saying that my advice could be taken as such; and may be out of date. Fribbler (talk) 00:46, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Make sure you get them from a reliable source.--Shantavira|feed me 07:29, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Artistic Hitler
If the Hitler family decided to participate in the immigration trend when Adolf was a child, and immigrated to the United States, would Adolf have indeed gone on to become an artist? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.35.162.18 (talk) 19:48, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Possibly. His parents were. Anything could have made him different. To take it to the extreme, If there were a dust speck that made him cough, baby Adolf could have gotten cold medicine which took from the money his parents would have had to buy him his first book, making him a horrible reader/writer in the future, preventing him from writing Mein Kampf, thus never becoming chancellor. Extreme huh? Dark  Zorro  20:21, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * He might have become a sci-fi author. Algebraist 21:55, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Even if Hitler had died or emigrated it would by no means have prevented the Nazi party from assuming power or prevented the Holocaust. The social and political forces were so strong at the time that I believe someone would have ultimately filled the role of Hitler.


 * The assassination attempts on Hitler are another matter however. It seems probable to me that if any of those attempts had succeeded then more moderate figures in the upper ranks of the German army might have been able to steer the country in a different direction.


 * This thread should be moved to the humanities desk btw.--S.dedalus (talk) 23:37, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * This approach to history is generally frowned upon by historians—it places too much emphasis upon minutiae and coincidence, too little on the larger issues that make up the substrate in which minutiae and coincidence take action. Clearly there's a balance to be had between the large and the small, the individual and the social. This sort of counter-historical reasoning, though, rarely leads to much enlightenment, though it can be a useful bulwark against overly deterministic theories of history. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 00:45, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Deaths p/a
What wild animal in the US causes the most deaths each year? Mr Beans Backside (talk) 20:04, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm still researching, but my guess is deer. --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 20:10, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Oh deer me: Depending on your views on the success of domesticating homo sapiens (I hade a few tame ones at home, once):  see homicide / suicide.
 * --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 22:39, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Are you signing your post or putting yourself forwards as a candidate for the answer ? ;) Lemon martini (talk) 15:41, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Mosquito? (they still belong to Kingdom Animalia)-- Lenticel ( talk ) 00:01, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Temperatures under glass-lid frying pans
Hi, I've bought a frying pan that has a glass lid on it. However, the carton attached to it makes a point of NOT specifying temperatures. Can I crank a 1200W oven up and let this thing remain there? Won't a horrific pressure build up? Scaller (talk) 20:25, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Check the pan or the carton if it says "oven-safe" somewhere. Otherwise the glass top may not be your only problem. Any knob, handle or seal might melt and give off unhealthy fumes. Unless it is a pressure cooker type pan or you encounter unfortunate coincidences the temperature in an oven increases slowly and will allow any pressure building up to lift the lid and escape.  If the glass of the lid is not rated  oven safe, however, thermal expansion can cause internal tension in the glass and cause it to crack.  Even oven-safe cookware should never be used under the broiler. --Lisa4edit (talk) 20:43, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Pardon me, I meant STOVE. :-| Scaller (talk) 21:51, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * By stove, do you mean hotplate/ring?. Does the lid have a little hole in it to vent steam? If not would it lift up when the pressure became too high like a saucepan lid? Fribbler (talk) 23:56, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * If nothing holds the lid down (except for the weight of the lid), then there's really no chance of a steam explosion. But you would want to assure yourself that the glass lid won't shatter as a result of heat (or being mechanically trapped by the frying pan as they both heat and differentially expand).


 * Atlant (talk) 14:23, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't expect it to be a problem. Metal generally has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than glass, so the lid won't be trapped, and glass has an astounding resistance to gradual changes in temperature -- by the time things get hot enough to cause thermal damage to the lid, the pan will probably have melted or caught fire. --Carnildo (talk) 00:20, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

"Detergent suicides" in Japan?
Is there any coverage on en-Wiki about the recent rash of so-called "detergent suicides" in Japan? I've stumbled across a few news stories about it (on CNN and such), and there's a brief reference to the issue in the article on Hydrogen Sulfide, but I find myself being more and more curious about the cultural aspects. It would be great if people who knew more about the Japanese people and culture (perhaps some Japanese folks) would provide insight into why so many people (40+ a month according to one news story I found) in that country are choosing to end their lives in this particular fashion. Maybe it's not as significant as the media are leading me to believe (surprise! the news media blowing something out of proportion!), but still, it struck me as odd. Dgcopter (talk) 20:28, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * There are very small blurbs at Hydrogen Sulfide and Suicide methods, but I think the topic could rate its own article with reliable sources and details.  Corvus cornix  talk  21:27, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

What's with the 'common' electronic sound effects?
There are certain sounds that cheap electronics, children's toys, car alarms, and the like seem to use very commonly. I'm talking about siren-like sounds, the uuuuupp doooowwwn one, the one that sounds like an artillery shell decreasing in pitch then ending with a noisy 'explosion' (wheeeeeeeee BOMMMMMM), and the like. Is there any reason these are repeated so much? Do they have a name or names? 206.126.163.20 (talk) 22:46, 12 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I do not have an answer. I would just like to chime in that I've noticed this to.  About fifteen years ago I Got a keychain that had eight sound effects on it, including the ones described above. Ever since then, I have noticed many devices and toys with some or all of those exact same sound effects.  (But never a device that has those sounds and some other additional sounds.)  I've always assumed that someone manufactured a chip that had all eight effects built in.  I would love to know who makes this chip and what it's called. APL (talk) 02:11, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * It's quite possible there's a common chip that contains the sounds, but it's also likely that all these sounds are just really easy to synthesize in software (so they end up taking very few bits in the microcontroller that runs the toy/keychain/whatever.


 * Atlant (talk) 14:17, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Some of the ones in the set I'm thinking of are pretty specific. (Like the artillery shell) And as a set they're recognizable. If I was at home I'd record a few of them for the purposes of this discussion, but I'm away and won't be able to until at least Friday. APL (talk) 16:50, 13 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Siren sounds are common because they can be generated by a simple combination of two sine waves. --Carnildo (talk) 00:23, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Setting of Othello
Where does the Shakespeare play, Othello, take place?--Scofield Boy 22:53, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * As stated in our article, as well as in the play itself, the action starts in Venice and moves to Cyprus. Algebraist 23:07, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * When the play is being performed it usually takes place in a theatre.HS7 (talk) 17:40, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

iTunes
I have Thriller 25 and i want to put the music videos on iTunes and i don't know how216.46.153.68 (talk) 22:59, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Deleting my post because I realized what they meant Mad031683 (talk) 23:12, 12 May 2008 (UTC)