Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 September 13

= September 13 =

Larry King Live
I am thinking about calling Larry King Live. Please tell me what happens when you do this. 66.53.210.120 (talk) 00:37, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Be bold and call LKL then come back as an expert. -hydnjo talk 01:12, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Do I have to get put on hold or anything? 66.53.208.56 (talk) 03:55, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * If you get past the busy signals, most likely an assistant or five will be taking calls. No one gets directly through to the host (he's old, but he's not crazy).  They'll ask you about your question or comment and try to gauge its relevance, its interest to King, its interest to the viewers.  They'll ask you to turn your TV down (so the sound won't come over the phone.)  This is what happens with any call-in show, unless the host is playing phone-line roulette.  Millions watch him, and probably hundreds if not thousands try to call, so the odds are high, but if you don't call you have no chance at all.  Be clear and direct in making your point; that'll help you stand out in the crowd of hemmers and haw-ers.  Good luck.  --- OtherDave (talk) 04:02, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * As someone who has screened calls for TV programs (not Larry King) I can give some advice on how to get through:
 * Mute your TV — preferably before you call. If the screener hears you TV or any other noises in the background he'll likely hang up immediately.
 * Call on a landline. We can hear your cell phone breaking up, causing static, whatever.
 * Call on a decent phone. Don't use the football phone you got with your subscription to Sports Illustrated, it sounds like crap.
 * Know what you're going to say: Have a one or two-sentence comment or question ready to go.
 * Sound coherent: Enunciate clearly. Speak with confidence. Be sober or at least don't sound drunk!
 * Add to the conversation: Make it personal and bring your unique perspective to the discussion. Make sure your question hasn't already been brought up in the program.
 * Pay attention: the phone will probably ring for a while before a screener answers. Be ready when they do because if we ask, "Caller, what's your question?" and get no immediate response we're going to assume you're drunk/dim-witted/misdialing and hang up.
 * Maybe only 10% of callers follow all of these rules and most get hung up on pretty quickly. Follow my advice and stand out. That said, Larry King gets a huge number of calls and takes very few on his show. They seem to like callers from exotic places so block caller ID and say you're from Ouagadougou or someplace like that. —D. Monack talk 07:22, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

The Faith Exhorts Pantomime
What is the significance of the phrase "The faith exhorts pantomime."? And what does it actually mean? 71.113.3.76 (talk) 07:32, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Its a coded message that can be translated as "will the troll please leave". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.4.187.55 (talk) 13:42, 13 September 2008 (UTC)
 * The creed of the Church of Marcel Marceau? (The affiliated monks have to take a vow of talking.) Clarityfiend (talk) 02:13, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
 * According to the internet, it is an anagram for "Matrixism the path of the One". Something to do with that mediocre author, Dan Brown.  Plasticup  T / C  05:39, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Refilling a lighter
I have a few lighters like this one:

They are out of fuel. How do I replace the fuel, and what kind of fuel do they take? I don't have any more information about them other than what is on this page. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 08:56, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * You can buy bottles of "lighter fuel", try anywhere that sells lighters. That page says it's a butane lighter, so make sure you get butane, not naphtha. As for how to refill it, try google. --Tango (talk) 09:22, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

marketing in adidas
what market segmentation approach are most relevant for adidas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.199.33.140 (talk) 13:36, 13 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Advertise more heavily to people who do their own homework because they're more likely to have a greater earning potential later on and buy more adidas merchandise. -  Lamba  jan  15:17, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Even if we assume you're referring to the Adidas brand and not the company, I still think your question would be more answerable if you specified a particular product (that list is by no means complete). If you haven't looked at Market segment yet, I suggest you do. Btw, is only eight characters. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 21:28, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

iPod Nano 2G: quiet chirping noise
When my iPod Nano is on, I can hear a very quiet hard-disk-like noise coming from it. If the iPod is idle, it's just a high tone, but when skipping songs, it starts chirping like a small harddisk, even though all Nanos use flash memory. Does anyone know why it does this? --grawity 15:25, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Sounds like that commonly come from switching power supplies. These operate at ultrasonic frequencies but often still tend to make some audible noise, especially as they change operating modes. It might also be some oddity in the beeper/clicker circuitry.


 * Atlant (talk) 21:19, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Blue Human Blood?
Per Blood, "Vertebrate blood is bright red when its hemoglobin is oxygenated." Does this mean that when our blood is not oxygenated, it is a different colour? If I was to cut open a vein, what colour blood will flow out? Acceptable (talk) 16:24, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Upon exposure to air, it will oxygenate, so it will be bright red. Inside the veins, it's a dull red (it appears blue through skin only in comparison to the red around it). I doubt it's ever completely deoxygenated, though, so what colour it would be if it was, I don't know. (You'll probably get at better answer on the Science desk, by the way.) --Tango (talk) 16:35, 13 September 2008 (UTC)
 * And, of course, Wikipedia has the answer: Blood! --Tango (talk) 16:38, 13 September 2008 (UTC)


 * To clarify one of Tango's points: I don't know what color the original poster's skin is, but there are several places in the body where veins lie close to the surface. At least on a person with "white" skin and no heavy tan, they can be easily seen (for example, as I sit here typing, if I turn my hands over I can see the veins on the underside of my wrists.), and they look bluish.  But as Tango says, this is not the true color of the blood.  When a medical person draws blood from one of my veins for a blood test, it's dark red.  --Anonymous, 21:21 UTC, September 13, 2008.


 * You mght be interested to know there is a medical condition that can give rise to [green blood] Dmcq (talk) 09:07, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

How do I keep my battery and alternator from sparking?
Seems that every time I drag them from the back of my car I have this problem. I've tried driving slower and sticking gum on the corners, but this doesn't help. I dont want to draw too much attention and get a ticket or freak out the drivers behind me, I simply want to celebrate my 5th wedding anniversary. Not sure if you guys give automotive tips, but any help would be appreciated.Sunburned Baby (talk) 22:52, 13 September 2008 (UTC)
 * You drag your battery and alternator from the back of your car? -  Lamba  jan  03:59, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Steve Baker is generally very good with the automotive stuff, but I suspect that even he will be stumped by this one. What exactly are you dragging behind your car?  Plasticup  T / C  05:35, 14 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, this is a serious problem. Have you considered a candle-lit dinner instead?--Shantavira|feed me 08:30, 14 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Best things to drag behind your car to celebrate a wedding or anniversary:
 * 1. Tin cans
 * 2. Streamers
 * 154,321. Alternator
 * 93,231,548. Lead-acid battery
 * 93,231,549. Spouse
 * Hope this helps. -- Coneslayer (talk) 17:23, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * 93,231,549. Spouse
 * Hope this helps. -- Coneslayer (talk) 17:23, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Tin cans are sometimes dragged from the back of a car in celebration of a wedding - but those are merely inert pieces of metal, not active functioning parts of the car. I've also never heard of this being done to celebrate an anniversary. And in any case, a battery would be far too heavy to get the proper effect (I don't know how much an alternator weighs), and there is also the fact that a battery is full of liquid and an alternator has moving parts that have to be coupled to the engine to function properly. --Random832 (contribs) 19:41, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

It is easy enough to drag a battery and alternator behind a car, so long as they are not required to provide electricity to the car. They are likely to leave a trail of metal fragments, lead plates and battery acid. Edison (talk) 02:59, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: lead and battery acid are hazardous chemicals and you may well get in trouble (depending on your local laws) if you spill them along the road. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:33, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

This user is most likely trolling. Note the pattern of his past contributions. Don’t feed the troll please. --S.dedalus (talk) 00:26, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Sorry if I was bein' a bother, but if you look at my [| other questions] you'll see that mostly I'm serious. Yeah, the what if God turns off the sun thing was rather lighthearted and was inspired by that even sillier day where everyone was supposed to shut thier lights off. I really was interested from a psychological standpoint, however (and thank you for your answers).

Same for splitting the atom with everyday equipment. I wasn't just being silly for the sake of being silly. I've always wondered why simple movement never splits atoms, what force was necessary, etc. To sum it up, I was trying to learn something.

This question here really was in my future plans to get the car part dragging thing right. I live in a pretty sparse suburb and no one probably cares about this sort of activity (but some might). Us folks in the middle of nowhere have strange customs, and show love to our honeys in unusual ways, but it takes all sorts and more, right? I have many sides to my overly complex psyche and vent them thru questions that everyone may not want to know.Sunburned Baby (talk) 23:16, 16 September 2008 (UTC)