Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 August 13

= August 13 =

Drawing supplies
Can anyone recommend some good, high-quality-but-not-too-pricey drawing pens and inks that are available at most art supply stores in the greater area of NYC? Thanks in advance. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 05:36, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I would start with brands, perhaps, first. Chevy  monte  carlo  09:44, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes... that's what I'm asking. Can anyone recommend a good brand of drawing pens and inks. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 16:41, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * It's probably going to depend on what kind of illustrating you want to do. For general work, you could probably do worse than a fine point Sharpie. They're widely available, of course. This site deals with the materials you'd need for inking comic books, though I'm guessing they'd work for a wide range of applications. Besides Sharpie, other brand names mentioned include Staedtler and Pentel, among others. I've seen them here in SW Ontario, so I'm guessing they're widely available. This article might also be useful; you might also be able to contact the author for further advice. I don't do much drawing any more, but I found I was quite idiosyncratic regarding the types of pens I used - it wasn't simply a brand name (I used Sharpie), but I only liked using particular models, because they suited what I wanted to do and the shape of my hand, etc. A good art supply store will allow you to do a brief test on a scrap bit of paper; why not bring the kind of paper you plan to work on and have at it? The people who work in those things are frequently artistically inclined; they could also provide some advice. Matt Deres (talk) 23:52, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I'm extremely particular about the tools I use as well and am never quite satisfied, so I'm always on the hunt for a superior product. 24.189.87.160 (talk) 01:18, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

Indian indendpendence but from what?
what does independence day mean to a common man who is struggling to make his ens meet and the society where he is a citizen of has all the laws which forbids him to get a job caused by reservations, pays tax that too substantial amount of his meagre earning,cannot  buy a house(if has the resources),cannot get a public-sector job(especially the residents of the so called tribal protected zone like the north east india and many such parts within the country),has to run from pillar to post to get an identity card(passport/ration card/voter id/etc)that too after bribing the cops and the officers concerned,YES i am talking bout India rather the common indians.so what should freedom signify to them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.140.188 (talk) 09:58, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Welcome to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Your question seems to call for debate and ask for opinion, neither of which are appropriate here. Your post may be more at home on one of the many internet forums out there (Example). Since India is a democracy, perhaps you should also share your concerns with your elected representative. Matt Deres (talk) 12:40, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

For questions on India's independence try - Independence Day (India) and Indian independence movement. In very basic terms the independence was from being ruled by the British Empire if my history is any good - whether that proved to be ultimately positive or negative will depend on the individual, the region, the aspect of life etc. as from my studies these things invariably have good and bad points. That said Matt Deres is right you are very much bordering on debate here and if that's what you want this isn't the right place for it. ny156uk (talk) 16:32, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

Statement on Global Warming
In a section called "The Politicization of Global Warming" in Al Gore's book An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore said this statement:


 * As for why so many people still resist what the facts clearly show, I think, in part, the reason is that the truth about the climate crisis is an inconvenient one that means we are going to have to change the way we live our lives.

A highlighted statement separated from the main writing in that section was:


 * The truth about the climate crisis is an inconvenient one that means we are going to have to change the way we live our lives.

Have Bjørn Lomborg, Penn Jillette, and Teller heard about those two statements? If so, then what do they think about them? Do they agree with them? If not, then why not? How did they react and respond to them? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.48.196 (talk) 10:12, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * You asked this question already. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:20, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * And again. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:22, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * If you have something to say to Penn Jillette and Bjorn Lomborg, you should know that they aren't likely to see it here. Send them one letter each, in care of their agents, then move on with your life.-FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 13:25, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Also take a look at politics of global warming. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 22:59, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

fridge problem
I'm having probs with my refrigerator, actually an over/under fridge/freezer. Both the fridge and freezer are much warmer than I'd like, even set on maximum. The fridge is around 10C and the freezer is around -3C and both should be quite a bit colder. It worked fine a week ago so this is not a gradual buildup of dust on the coils or anything like that. I can hear the condenser fan running but only a faint wisp of chilled air comes out of the vents in the freezer. Is it supposed to be a stronger blast of cold air? I wonder if there is some kind of clog in there. The heat exchanger coils on the back of the fridge aren't especially warm. I haven't noticed any weird smells (I don't know if a coolant leak would cause a smell). Fridge is a small-to-medium sized and probably cheap unit with not too many operating hours. No obvious probs with the door gaskets. Any suggestions? I prefer DIY repair if it's something simple, since the alternative is to call my landlord and I'm happier if they don't send people into my apt to fix things. Thanks.67.122.209.167 (talk) 10:59, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Frozen ice out of view is a possible problem. Removing a plastic covering in the freezer, likely at the bottom, could reveal such ice. Bus stop (talk) 12:06, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

Try thaw-ing it out and trying from there - sometimes they just get clogged up like BusStop says. All i've ever done is just find a friend that can take your frozen stuff for a day or whatever and then unplug it, pull it somewhere where you can get to it/round it, put towels down and then hair-dryer it (if there's a build up of ice on the back wall of the freezer). Also a good hoover of the coils is probably good regardless (since it's out). ny156uk (talk) 16:29, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * That frozen ice is the best kind to have. Thawed ice isn't as cold.
 * If you have a "frost-free" refrigerator (one that doesn't require you to do manual defrosting), one possibility is that the drain line from your freezer is clogged (by ice, calcium build-up, or just dirt and debris). This clogging leads to ice building up (e.g., on the air vents in the freezer).  So, if you've excess frost and ice in your front-free freezer, that might be why.  Use warm water to thaw out the ice, sponge it up, and see if water poured down the drain hole comes out in the drain pan (under the bottom of the fridge).  (This is the first part of Bus Stop's suggestion; I'm just drawing attention to the drain line, which might have a clog inside it.  I've seen this type of line blown clean with a little compressed-air cartridge.)
 * Another possibility is that unwanted ice has built up around the fan that's probably hidden behind those freezer air-vents. The fan can't turn because its blades are frozen, so the cold air isn't being forced out as called for in the design.  I once owned a fridge in which the pan under the fan had been installed backwards; the plan sloped the wrong way, water built up, water froze.  Took the repairman about 15 minutes to diagnose and fix.  --- OtherDave (talk) 20:40, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * A common source of the problem you describe is a slow leak of refrigerant. When the Freon is a bit too low, the cooling coils paradoxically get too cold and ice forms, interfering with air flow and cooling. A good thaw would temporarily restore normal cooling, until the coils ice up again, if that is the problem. The solution is to use a Freon leak detector to locate the the leak, repair it, and recharge to unit with refrigerant. If no leak can be found, then the repairman might just recharge the unit. Edison (talk) 00:53, 14 August 2010 (UTC)


 * I also suggest defrosting it fully. With my fridge the thermostat looks like a long loose piece of wire. The temperature you get depends where you put this wire. I've also found that I have to increase the temperature dial as the fridge is seemingly not so cold as it used to be when I bought it a few years ago, am not sure why. 92.28.251.219 (talk) 13:46, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

problem with audio headphones
There seems to be a loose connection or something inside the jack plug of my headphones. The sound only comes through one channel. If I wiggle the cable around a bit next to the jack plug, the sound returns to both channels but only temporarily. Is it possible to fix this myself? I can't see how to go about this, since the jack plug is hardwired to the cable and the cable is hardwired to the headset. I'm disinclined to buy a whole new set of headphones just because the cable has gone a bit wonky. Any advice gratefully received, many thanks. --Viennese Waltz talk 12:52, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Firstly, try the same device (ipod or whatever) with a different headset, to reject the possibility that the defect lies in the socket on the device (which can become partially detached from the circuit board). If that's okay, buy a new 3.5mm stereo jackplug (Radio Shack, Radio Spares, Maplin, etc.). Chop off the old one (and an inch or so of cable, as that's the most likely place for a break in the cable) and connect the new one (you'll need a wire stripper or a sharp knife, and a soldering iron and some solder). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 13:16, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Oh Finlay, I was with you all the way until you mentioned a soldering iron. I don't do that stuff, unfortunately.  But thanks anyway. --Viennese Waltz talk 13:25, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * It requires no skill whatever. Shove little wire through little hole, hold length of solder over little hole, hold hot iron on wire for 5 seconds, done. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 13:35, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * It may require no skill (though I'm skeptical!) but it certainly does require equipment which the average person doesn't have... ╟─ Treasury Tag ►  secretariat  ─╢ 13:37, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Making a good soldered connection demands both skill and 3 hands to hold the wire, solder and iron. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:25, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * It's highly likely to be a flaky contact between plug and socket. You might be able to solve it by getting an adapter/extender that the plug can go into, which will itself plug into the socket -- cheap at Radio Shack or a similar place.  I don't know an alternative other than doing things that you don't do. Looie496 (talk) 21:03, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * The cheapest and dirtiest method by far is to bend the wire back against the socket in such a way that both headphones work and then just wrap some decent tape around it to keep it in place.. If you are lucky and a little careful they can work like this for a long time. I got so sick of soldering my headphones I now tape where the cable meets the socket as soon as I buy headphones, as a reinforcement because this is where they break 50% of the time, the other being at the headphone end. Vespine (talk) 02:54, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
 * At the risk of once again dragging the conversation into the eldritch world of rum arcanum, try heatshrink. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:10, 14 August 2010 (UTC)


 * You can go someplace like a 99cent store or WalMart or someplace - and pick up a really cheap/nasty pair of 'ear buds'. Those have the right kind of connector.  You could then cut off the connector from your broken (presumably more valuable) headphones - do it a good distance from the plug to be sure you've gotten rid of the broken part.  Now do the same with the cheap earbuds.  Now you can strip the plastic coating from the wires on both ends and twist them together to make a reasonably good connection - making sure that the various separate wires don't short together.  Test that to make sure it works.  Now get some electrical tape and carefully wrap the twisted ends of each separate wire to keep them separated - then (when you're sure it all works), wrap the whole mess tightly with more tape.  The result will be a somewhat unsightly blob of tape - but it'll work.   The tricky part is to make sure that you connect the correct wires on each side of the join.  Generally, there are two connections - each with an 'earth' wire on the outside and an inner signal wire for each ear.  You can connect all of the earth wires from both sides together (it doesn't matter whether they are mixed up) then join the signal wires together.  The most likely mistake to make is to get the signal wires for the left and right earphones swapped over.  It's easy enough to fix - but it's sometimes hard to figure out that you got it wrong. SteveBaker (talk) 01:44, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Can CIA officers Arrest people?
Do CIA operatives (Intelligence officers, SAD/SOG Paramilitary operatives, staff intelligence officers) have the power to make arrests a) in the US and/or b) internationally (Iraq, Afghanistan)? Acceptable (talk) 18:54, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * As I understand it, under US law, CIA officers have very broad powers when outside the US and can basically do whatever they like (local law disagrees, of course, but most of what the CIA exists to do violates local law, likewise for the equivalent agencies in other countries). I don't think the CIA have arrest powers, but Google finds lots of people talking in recent years (ie. since 9/11) about giving them arrest powers. --Tango (talk) 19:26, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Some of that might be exaggerations. There was a police action about a month ago here in Slovenia against some hackers or whatnot, and the Interpol and the FBI got involved as well. Arrests were made by the Slovene police force, but the American media reported the arrests were made by the FBI. I know, I know, different agencies, but I think the same general principle of possible exaggeration applies, IMO. TomorrowTime (talk) 20:53, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * As our Central Intelligence Agency article points out, "As the CIA has no legal domestic police authority, it usually sends its analyses to the FBI and other law enforcement organizations, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice"... when it wants to have an arrest made. It is not a police organization, it is an intelligence gathering organization. This is different from, say, the FBI, which is both a police and intelligence gathering organization. Now, this doesn't mean that they can't do shady things that involve them taking custody of people — like extraordinary rendition — but they don't make "arrests" per se. (Their renditions, by themselves, do not set you up within the justice system — they are essentially state-sanctioned kidnappings. Later, hypothetically, a police agency could then arrest you and charge you. One of the reasons these kinds of things are so controversial is that they exist outside of the boundaries of the regular US justice system and thus are really quite nebulous about whether all of the rights guaranteed by said system are implemented.) --Mr.98 (talk) 21:43, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I would assume that a CIA officer has the same powers of arrest as anyone else (see citizen's arrest, a slight misnomer because generally it has little to do with citizenship). Might be trouble for him if he tried to arrest someone in the name of the CIA, though.  But I'm really just speculating there. --Trovatore (talk) 21:52, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Of course, but citizen's arrests are usually only allowed in the US when you actually witness a felony. That probably wouldn't happen very often in the CIA's operations. --Tango (talk) 22:10, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * CIA officers who made a citizen's arrest would be doing so as private citizens, not members of the CIA. The CIA lacks police powers, as an organization. That is the salient and non-pedantic point. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:31, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
 * As with the little known pilot episode for the prospective TV series, Gomer Pyle, C.I.A. Operative. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:36, 14 August 2010 (UTC)


 * do I need to point out that arresting people would only get in the CIA's way? The CIA is designed to operate outside the pale, to gather information that cannot easily be gathered through legitimized, official channels.  like love and war, espionage prefers to remain unfettered.  -- Ludwigs 2  22:23, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Not necessarily. The FBI is an example of an intelligence agency with arrest powers. I am pretty sure there are others elsewhere in the world. The KGB is one notable example of an agency with foreign intelligence gathering capabilities and arrest powers. The CIA was deprived of police powers very deliberately by Truman, who didn't want it to resemble a "secret police" in any way. (He already had the FBI for that, the cynic would say.) When the CIA does want to arrest people — which they do often do, they do not just go around assassinating people willy-nilly, political thrillers be damned — they have to go to DEA or FBI and hand them the evidence that they hope will actually be usable in court. --Mr.98 (talk) 03:21, 15 August 2010 (UTC)


 * An arrest in America implies that the arrested has legal rights, and that the arrester has legal authority to proceed with a prosecution. Thus, the CIA does not arrest, it detains and then renders the detainee to a legal authority.  "Extraordinary rendition" is the latest euphemism for when the CIA renders a detainee to someone that it oughtn't.  --M @ r ē ino 02:25, 17 August 2010 (UTC)

need to find a street/house in romania
So I have a fairly obscure question/request... My grandparents are going to Romania next week and they hope to be able to visit my grandfather's father's home. I have some basic information, but my google skills are failing me and I haven't really found any useful information, here's the info that I'm going on:

It's in the town/village of Arbore, Romania which is in Suceava county. It's on Solgauer street and his family lived in the house until around the second world war (early 1940s...ish). The family name is Gebert and I have a few first names too (I figure as much information as possible will make the search easier) we have a John Gebert and a Ferdinand Gebert married to Amalia Koch.

Any help in this would be great because they'd really like to be able to visit the site when they're there.

thanks so much flagitious (talk) 21:12, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia has an article about Arbore. You can enter "Arbore, Romania" into the search field here and get a satellite view that you can zoom down to streets level. Individual buildings are visible but I have not found a map to identify Solgauer street. There is a genealogy database here that lists many people named Gebert but to access it you need Bukovina Society Membership. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:19, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
 * (ec) I find it hard to believe that a Romanian commune has street names. You are gonna have a very hard time finding it. Even in cities the street names are often unmarked (or there's just one sign at the beginning/end of a long-ass avenue). The street name (as well as the personal names) point to the period of Austro-Hungarian domination: I've lived in Austria for a long time, and every village there has street names - they probably did the same for their "dominions" in what is now Romania. I wouldn't think that the street names exist anymore, and you're probably gonna have to find some old guy or old lady in the village who still remembers which street was which. Rimush (talk) 12:32, 14 August 2010 (UTC)


 * I looked at many sites (including hotels, tourist sites, even real estate adverts) but still couldn't find any street maps of Arbore better than the one main road offered by Google maps. However, the village does have a notable world heritage site and I'm sure there will be a museum or tourist info place either in the village itself or in Suceava (the county seat, 32 km away) - a place that is more likely to have English speaking staff, if that is important to your grandparents.  The village also appears to have some other churches as well as the painted church, presumably all with local records and graveyards, though World War II did have a major impact on the former Ţinutul Suceava region (Suceava County is now in the Nord-Est region).  In particular, the effects of The Holocaust on the local Jewish population may make family records of Jews particularly hard to find.  Astronaut (talk) 12:29, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Communes in Romania don't usually have street names (there are some exceptions - Costineşti is one that I know of). Adresses are usually given as "Commune name, No. 254" or something. Also, knowing that Suceava is in the Nord-Est region will not help you at all. I bet around 90% of Romanians have no idea what development regions are. They are never mentioned here in public or private discourse. Rimush (talk) 12:35, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Looking at the location of Arbore on the Google-linked map, I see that the next place to the south-west is called Solca. It is a reasonable guess that the road to Solca may have been called "Solgauer strasse" at some time in the past.  Sussexonian (talk) 19:01, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
 * According to German Wikipedia, Solca's German name is Solka, not Solgau, though. :-( -- 78.43.71.155 (talk) 21:20, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks so much for the efforts - ref deskers never cease to amaze me when it comes to gleaning information off the internet. I've relayed to my grandparents that their best bet will be to hit up a local guide when they get in to Suceava. Apparently some cousins were successful in finding the house a few years back (but for whatever reason they can't give better instructions on how to find it [hence my 'apparently']...).

Thanks again flagitious (talk) 09:38, 16 August 2010 (UTC)