Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2009 October 21

= October 21 =

history of kit car EVOLUTION V8 KITCAR
wondreing if anybody knows anything about these kit cars? they look good, am interested in buying one, but cannot seem to find any information on them. any help gratefully appreciated —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.183.140.50 (talk) 00:32, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Are you thinking of this: GKD Evolution ?  Having to start with a BMW 3-series makes this an expensive car by the standards of most kit-cars!  But it looks nice - and a 1600lb car with a 6 cylinder BMW 3-series engine under the hood should be pretty amazingly fast. SteveBaker (talk) 04:43, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Tincture of labels in heraldry
Is there any particular rule about what tincture a label should be? In particular, is there any truth to the story that labels argent are a royal privilege? Marnanel (talk) 02:44, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * You may want to post this at the Humanities reference desk if you haven't done so already. --71.111.194.50 (talk) 08:20, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Practice may differ between different heraldic jurisdictions. In English heraldry the label used as as mark of cadency "goes back to the time of Henry III (reigned 1216-1272) . . . . Initially there was no particular system . . . ; however, no doubt on visual grounds, it was almost always white." (Ottfried Neubecker, Heraldry: sources, symbols and meanings, McGraw Hill 1976.) According to Charles Boutell's English Heraldry (Cassel, Petter & Galpin, 3rd Ed 1875), "The Label, with various Differences, has generally been the Royal Mark of Cadency; and now differenced silver Labels are bourne, to mark Cadency, by every member of the Royal Family."
 * Note that English non-royalty uses a system of cadency marks other than labels for all but the first and second heirs, and Neubecker (ibid) goes on to say "The only feature which the system of marks of difference of English heraldry in general has in common with that of the royal family is the use of a silver label for the eldest son."
 * Combined with my general heraldic knowledge, I take these references to imply that, in English heraldry:
 * a non-cadency Label (i.e. one bourne as a general charge) could be of any tincture, subject to the usual Rule of Tincture;
 * cadency Labels on Royal arms are now by custom always Argent, though originally they were not necessarily Argent/White;
 * on non-Royal arms, a (three-point) cadency Label for the first heir (usually the eldest son) is now customarily argent, but the (five-point) label for the second heir (usually his eldest son) may well be of another tincture.
 * So to answer the questions directly: within the jurisdiction of The College of Heralds there is no particular rule governing the tincture of a label bourne as a non-cadency charge, and cadency Labels argent are not a Royal privilege. Remember, however, that arms themselves are invalid unless granted by the appropriate heraldic authority, and while cadency marks customarily do not require formal ratification, one would nevertheless be wise to seek the guidance of one's applicable heraldic body.87.81.230.195 (talk) 13:17, 22 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Purely off the top of my head (and from the far back of my memory), I think that there would have to be at least one alternate colour for a label which (unlike the Royal Arms) would cover arms which have large fields or charges of Argent (silver/white). And I think that charges of difference other than labels can be used (with proper authority) to distinguish those members of the family who are not entitled to bear the undifferenced arms. —— Shakescene (talk) 06:41, 26 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, indeed, while the (British) Royal Family uses a cadency system of three- and 5-point labels, with small charges on the labels' points to differentiate further between them, non-royal Britons and others subject to the College of Heralds customarily (though not invariably nor by compulsion) use a series of small single charges, usually borne on the honour point or in chief. In order of 1st to 9th son of the arms holder they are: 1st (heir) - 3-point label; 2nd - crescent; 3rd - molet; 4th - martlet; 5th - annulet; 6th - fleur-de-lis; 7th - rose; 8th - cross moline; 9th - octofoil; this order became standardised around the 16th century (before which many other methods of cadency - different charges, changes of tinctures, etc, were used, including non-argent labels). As previously mentioned, the son of the 1st son, who is the 2nd heir, usually bears a 5-point label; sons of the other son may apply a further mark from list to their fathers' marks, so for example the 3rd son of the arms bearers' 2nd son may bear a molet on a crescent.
 * These personal cadency marks do not require matriculation by the College of Heralds, because changing circumstances would necessitate numerous and frequent (and expensive) rematriculations for all concerned, but the College will give advice on the matter if asked. Note however that the Scots use an entirely different method of marking cadency, usually involving bordures, these are permanent except in the case of the labels used by the direct heirs - for example, the 2nd son of the arms bearer may be assigned, say, a bordure argent, which will be passed on to his heirs - and therefore they do require confirmation (and in practice usually assignment) by the Court of the Lord Lyon. Of course, while many people in the British Commonwealth are subject to either the College or the Lyon Court, the practices under other European or non-Commonwealth heraldic Authorities may be quite different. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 16:01, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Clock Question
[edit] Clock Question To whom it may concern:

Back in 1993 I was given a hand made clock with two cards (A and J)on the left, in the middle is the clock (with the back ground a 12 noon heart, 3 o'clock club, 6 o'clock diamond & a 9 o'clock spand symbols), and the top right side is a red chip with a very large 'B' and around the B is the words; ROULETTE, top and bottom. On the bottom of the right side ia a red book of matches that reads: HOLIDAY CASINO, ON THE STRIP, BETWEEN SANDS & FLAMINGO HOTELS, address is as follows: 3473 LAS VEGAS BLVD, SOUTH LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 89109 (all lettering is in white caps). The frame is AROUND: 2" wide (all around), with a clear glass front.

I have looked all over the internet to see if I could find any item and or casino that even came close to this hanging item, I did come very close to finding a casino on the strip in Las Vegas, which made me fill pretty good. I also found a little info that Holiday Inn bought the Holidy Casino out around the early 70's.

Could you please help me find out some info on this item. I thought that maybe a collector or someone would be insterested in buying it.

I just want to say thank you for your help either way.

email redacted —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.16.134.33 (talk) 09:27, 19 October 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.16.134.33 (talk)


 * The casino in question is Harrah's Las Vegas. I found a couple of clocks with similar accoutrements on ebay, craigslist etc, they seem to sell (or at least, be offered) for around $5-10.  FiggyBee (talk) 03:27, 21 October 2009 (UTC) how strange that both ebay and craigslist have disambig hats to weird al songs

How to promote oneself as a writer without resorting to spamming
How does one promote himself as a fiction writer without resorting to spamming or any other dishonorable procedure?

Obviously even if you are a Charles Dickens in the making, you won't be able to share your talent to the world without someone noticing your potential, right? --202.92.128.27 (talk) 08:02, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I assume that wikipedia, though a noble cause and a good place to practice writing, is not a good way to promote yourself since somebody else will edit your entry sooner or later.
 * I also assume that joining story writing contests are also good ways of promoting yourself but only a few are held in the Philippines annually.


 * From what I understand, one of the first things that new novelists should do is to talk to a literary agent. They can assist you in finding a publisher for your work.  As far as using Wikipedia as a practice grounds, that's probably not the best idea for a fiction writer since fiction and encyclopedia entries are not (or at least shouldn't be) written in the same style.  Dismas |(talk) 08:24, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * If you're saying you could create a Wikipedia article on yourself as a way of promoting yourself - that's not on. You must first of all be notable to qualify for an article; and even then, you can't create or edit your own article as this is a conflict of interests.  The best you could do would be to contribute to the talk page of such an article.  But, as I say, you have to be notable in the first place, before an article on you would be permitted. --  JackofOz (talk) 08:44, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Huh? He specifically discounted the idea of writing an article about himself in his first bullet point. --Richardrj talkemail 09:28, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I didn't read it that way, Richard. To me, he was saying that it may be OK in principle to do that, but he wouldn't do it because other editors would eventually change his words about himself, and he wouldn't want that.  Whereas, I'm arguing it's not even OK in principle to create your own article. --  JackofOz (talk) 10:25, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * AFAIK, it's not that users aren't allowed to edit articles about themselves, it's just scrutinized more when they do it. It's hard for people to be objective about an article about themselves but not impossible (e.g. Cory Doctorow).  Dismas |(talk) 09:18, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Are you published or unpublished? If unpublished then submitting stories to competitions is one way, but you could try and find magazines that publish stories.  And approach a range of magazines, newspapers, etc to get other work there maybe reviewing or writing other stuff - a local, student, or special-interest publication may be eager for staff, and many people go from journalism to writing fiction.  I don't know what language you write in, but you could try sending your work abroad if that's appropriate.  Also consider joining a writers group or creative writing class, which will enable you to meet people and get info on places to publish.  You could also try writing a blog, which may attract interest in you and the topics you write about and allow you to practice writing.  Unless you're published and have been reviewed in major publications or given some award, it's against Wikipedia policy for anyone to create a Wikipedia entry about that writer (see Notability). --Lesleyhood (talk) 10:33, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * thanks for the tips. By the way, I can write in both Filipino and English though I prefer the latter as it is more flexible and understood by more people. As I said, I was against spamming and having your self-created biography article in wikipedia carried by wikimirrors is an unfair mode of self-promotion. (different IP) --122.52.38.3 (talk) 12:19, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * I have a great book called Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2009. It is filled with information about how to get published, but it is very UK-centric.  Perhaps there is a similar book published in your locality.  Astronaut (talk) 14:22, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

What ever happened to the concept of 'blogging'? If you are a writer at heart and want the world to know you, start blogging. And there are no restrictions here. You could even write about yourself. Publish your blog and promote it through social media like facebook, twitter etc and you will soon get noticed for your content. People all over the world have turned celebrity writers with their blogs. Once you get established as a writer, known for his content or writing style and win yourself a considerable number of regular readers, you could approach a publisher to start writing your own book.KarenJohn (talk) 09:35, 22 October 2009 (UTC)KarenJohn

how to remove white areas on leather
I recently purchased a second hand sandal on ebay since it is a branded item. It has white areas which I don't know what they are but the make the sandal look very bad - please have a look at http://i.imagehost.org/0295/leather.jpg. I don't think it is fungus since the area has not expanded in the following days after the purchase. Could you please say how to remove them?. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.220.46.26 (talk) 09:02, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * I think the marks are caused by water (or perhaps salt from seawater or sweat) - not uncommon in wetter climates. There are plenty of remedies if you do a search.  Astronaut (talk) 14:13, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Black Shoe polish. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:25, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Tap water applied with a cloth can remove these marks as they are made by common salt (either from sweat or seawater).


 * BTW, what are you going to do with only one sandal-- walk with a limp? —Preceding unsigned comment added by BlueTurret (talk • contribs) 23:22, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * BlueTurret, would you have said that to someone with only one leg? DOR (HK) (talk) 06:23, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
 * what's a hand sandal?Gzuckier (talk) 07:24, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
 * If that's a pedantic dig at not hyphenating "second-hand", one could well ask why your own question did not start with a capital letter. --  202.142.129.66 (talk) 02:48, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

thanks for your inputs white areas seem to have largely disappeared and i just have to wait for it to dry and remove remaining white areas should they exist. My english is not very good and i should have typed a pair of sandals instead of a sandal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.220.46.25 (talk) 08:45, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Countries That Don't Use Postage Stamps
Are there any countries that used to use postage stamps (either their own issued ones or ones issued by another country) but which have now abandoned the practice altogether? By 'postage stamps' I mean the ones that you either lick or glue to the envelope by some other means, and not rubber stamps or pre-printed envelopes (which is what I mean by 'abandoned the practise altogether). --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 12:45, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Don't know of any like that, but you might like Postal services in Andorra which is the exact opposite, they have two different postal services! Dmcq (talk) 17:39, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, that article also says that postal delivery within Andorra is free, so at least for internal mail they actually don't use postage stamps. But they do for mail to other countries. --Anon, 05:14 UTC, October 22, 2009.
 * The Universal Postal Union has requirements for international mail and postage stamps that are often not enforced for purely domestic mail, e.g. denominations of price or the country's name. —— Shakescene (talk) 18:41, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Do you mean only currently-existing countries? As of 2003 (when I bought a complete set of Scott catalogues), all countries issued postage stamps (none made of rubber, but a few made out of plastic).  I'm a subscriber to a leading US stamp-collecting periodical that covers worldwide matters; I'm sure that it would have had an article on any country that stopped issuing stamps, and I'm confident that there haven't been any such articles since 2003.  Nyttend (talk) 02:44, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

cities with low elevation
I am looking for a list of cities that are below sea level, such as New Orleans. Anyone know of one? Googlemeister (talk) 19:56, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I think in the states the only places possible are New Orleans and maybe some little town in Death Valley (California), since those are the only two states with lowest points being below sea level (see List of U.S. states by elevation). TastyCakes (talk) 20:04, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * (ec) You're going to have to turn in your user name :-P List of places on land with elevations below sea level.  -- LarryMac  | Talk  20:08, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * The Netherlands article says that 27% of its land and 60% of its population is below sea level. It references this site.  TastyCakes (talk) 20:09, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * What about Venice which is at 0m (0ft) sea level during normal tides, and regularly gets flooded as the water rises?-- Александр Дмитрий (Alexandr Dmitri) (talk) 22:02, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Sexoholic
Hi,

This question may seem to be a joke but it isn't. I've got a male roommate who is only 18. He is more or less handsome and he already has a sexual life much more rich than any average man at the end of his life. He moved with us for his job and after only 6 months, he slept with more than 5 colleagues, some of them easy, some of them really serious. He also told us that he never spent a month without having sex and had really weird experiences like sleeping with some 40-year-old women or with a daughter first and her mother then. I really don't understand how this guy manage to have so many girls (this is my first question). The second question is: is this guy "normal" or has he some psychological problems leading to a over normal sexual life? All the normal men I know spend months without relationships and sex and this very young guy show us that having sex is as easy as to go for a drink. How is it possible? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.210.30.250 (talk) 20:16, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * May I suggest directing your query to Girls Ask Guys, a more appropriate forum for enquiries of this nature. Vranak (talk) 20:31, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * That's extremely unhelpful, and why the hell are you directing him to another forum when he asked here —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.55.2 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Incredibly bad faith! I know from experience that he likely won't get a very good answer here, so I pointed him elsewhere, which is in fact a more appropriate forum for this kind of question. Vranak (talk) 21:55, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * This is a reference desk, we find references for people. We don't generally answer "Is this normal?" type questions. --Tango (talk) 21:29, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Hmm, I smell something bovine my friend!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.4.186.107 (talk) 20:52, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * "How is it possible"? Human nature and a little charisma. Is he normal? Five girls in six months isn't a lot. There are many people out there who consider a week wasted if it hasn't involved at least two different girls (quick maths: 48 in 6 months). Has he had psychological problems? No way of knowing; ask him. Vimescarrot (talk) 21:19, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

There is no 'normal'. Plus he could be telling the odd lie here and there. People's sexual conquests are closely linked to their self esteem and how they think they are viewed by others. It's very common for young men to brag about sex with girls that didn't actually happen. He could easily be telling the truth though, some people do have quite a bit of sex. It's not that strange.Popcorn II (talk) 21:32, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * I read somewhjere that the number of such relations per person in a study, in Sweden I think it was, followed a power law. It's like the number of visitors to a web site. So a small number of people have a very large number of encounters indeed. Dmcq (talk) 22:06, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Googled a document that goes on about this sort of thing . Not what I was thinking of but it has lots of references. Dmcq (talk) 22:14, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Sex != relationship. If you're trying to have sex it's not all that hard to find men or women who are looking for the same.  If you're trying for a relationship, it's not that hard to find people either.  It's trying for both at the same time, or confusing the two, that creates hardships for people.  As with all things in life, you tend to find what you are looking for. ~ Amory ( u  •  t  •  c ) 22:21, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Maybe he speaks in tongues. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:41, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

To put it in perspective I have had and still have a very unique and interesting personal sex life and I turned out socially acceptable and healthy. Full time job, no criminal record, financially stable. And Ive done things more extreme then anything posted here, with numerous people and party(s) and ages (with consent and legal of course). I think the individual is just experiencing life. As long as the parties involved are comfortable with the situation and it is legal then have at it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ivtv (talk • contribs) 00:22, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I would suggest that the first question to ask yourself about this guy is: "Is this true? How do I know that?"...exaggerating about such things is hardly unknown! SteveBaker (talk) 00:45, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
 * The OP's question is probably more along the lines of jealousy than anything. When his roommate starts going to the clinic for VD treatments and/or gets fired for banging co-workers, that jealousy might evaporate. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:26, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Or maybe there won't be any negative consequences. Oh well. Such is life! Some people (appear) to get things that others don't, but that goes across the entire spectrum of social activities. We all have our high points, we all have our low points. If a little bit of envy is motivating, great. If it does nothing other than rankle—jettison it. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:26, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

What does the name aidan mean?
What does the name Aidan mean? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gingerman12345 (talk • contribs) 20:39, 21 October 2009 (UTC)
 * See:Aidan--Fribbler (talk) 20:41, 21 October 2009 (UTC)