Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 July 31

= July 31 =

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo? 213.122.216.120 (talk) 00:08, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:09, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher...but is there a question here? SteveBaker (talk) 06:15, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes, we have an article on Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 06:21, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Cool cartoon :-)) Thanks! Pizza_troll.jpg 213.122.216.120 (talk) 17:20, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * If you want it to be a question, I think you should have added the word "do" to the beginning. —Arctic Gnome (talk • contribs) 19:35, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * And the answer would presumably be "no", though I don't have any source for that (I've never been to Buffalo, and in any case I guess Buffalo buffalo can live other places as well) Jørgen (talk) 20:30, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Pokémon Black and White
Will they work on the regular DS/DS Lite or only on the DSi? --138.110.206.101 (talk) 01:45, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * DS games are the same across the board, I think. The new games should work with even the original DS. Chevy  monte  carlo  - alt 07:25, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * This is partially incorrect: according to our article, there are DSi games (such as System Flaw) which are incompatible with the regular DS. This is presumably not a software issue: it's simply that the core gameplay in System Flaw requires hardware features -- the cameras -- only found in the DSi.  There are also DSi games that work on the DS/DS Lite that have additional features that only work on the DSi.  To answer the OP's question, Pokémon Black and White is part of the latter category: the core game will be fully compatible on the original DS/DS Lite.  According to our article, there will be at least one additional feature in the game (video chat) that will only work if you're playing the game on a DSi (or presumably the 3DS). --Smurdah (talk) 16:27, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

Ohio road signs
While driving through Ohio recently on a trip, I saw a couple signs that I didn't understand. They were both of the red circle with a slash through it variety, indicating something shouldn't be done. One said 'HM' and the other was 'HC'. I've lived in the US all my life and haven't the slightest idea what these mean. They were on I-90, both of them. Any ideas? Dismas |(talk) 03:44, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * While trying just one more search before completely giving up, I found this link which says the HC means "no hazardous materials". HC = Hazardous Chemicals??  So, would HM be Haz. Materials?  Dismas |(talk) 03:46, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * "C" may stand for "Cargo", too. Anyway, "HM" is in the manual, but "HC" is not. --Dr Dima (talk) 05:58, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * You mean like this ? → [[Image:HMfilename.png|left|200px]]



Jon Ascton   (talk)  09:54, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * But with the letters 'on top' presumably? Richard Avery (talk) 11:19, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * The result that appears on the second-to-top place in a Google.bg search for is a Yahoo! Answers page, where someone has asked an identical question and has received the answer, "this route is off limits to hazardous chemical thorough fare." Is this of any use? --Theurgist (talk) 11:57, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * That question's deleted. Typical of Yahoo! Answers. Kayau  Voting  IS   evil 12:00, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * The explanation certainly sounds reasonable. It occurs to me that in the time it took to discuss this here, the OP could have called the Ohio department of transportation and gotten a definitive answer. This approach might be more fun, though. :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:02, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * How come the question is deleted? I can see it quite well. --Theurgist (talk) 12:04, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * 1) The link works for me.
 * Yes, John. Like those except you could read the lettering a bit better.
 * No, the letters were "behind" the slashes but the slashes weren't so thick as to limit understanding of what letters were there.
 * 1) Thanks all!! Dismas |(talk) 19:19, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * An actual example on signs near Houston, Texas. "No HC" is at top right. --- OtherDave (talk) 13:58, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

A knotty problem
What knot do I want to use to tie a short length of string around my own wrist? I know nothing about knots, but I assume that, once I have a name, I can Google up a tutorial.

Probably the easiest as you have to work one-handed is a combination of one knot and one or two half-hitches. Method: Tie a BOWLINE in one end of the string. Make a loop. Put the loop over your hand and around your wrist. Adjust the loop for comfort and tie off with one or two HALF_HITCHES. But why do you want to tie a string around your wrist? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Froggie34 (talk • contribs) 15:28, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * So that I can hang a tag off it. Thanks for the info. Vimescarrot (talk) 16:27, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Do it like a luggage tag. Make a hole in the tag, pass the string through it and knot the ends together (just hold them alongside each other and tie a simple overhand knot in the doubled string) to make a loop. Then pass the loop around your wrist and pass the tag through the loop, then pull tight. This works slightly better with elastic than string, if that is an option. --Tango (talk) 16:40, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Winthrop Lane Crocodile Shoes
I have a pair of Winthrop Lane crocodile shoes that my father gave me years ago. I found them and I went to look them up on the internet and I could not find any information about them. I want to know approximately how old they might be and probable worth. Has anyone heard of this company? Ceeray —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ceeray66 (talk • contribs) 20:45, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

How long can you survive in the ocean with just a lifejacket?
just wondering —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.190.49.169 (talk) 20:57, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * I imagine there are a lot of limiting factors, like the temperature of the water (cold water will kill you quick), whether you are currently being hunted by sharks, and so on. If those limiting factors are not a problem, I suspect it is the same as being left on a sandy island — your primary threats are lack of water, lack of food, and general exposure to the elements. This is just a general opinion though (to get it out of the way) — I'm sure there are examples, studies, etc. that others can find. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:03, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Assuming you don't get eaten by sharks and the water isn't too cold, what usually kills you when floating at sea is exhaustion leading to drowning. A lifejacket would help with that, but you still have to use some effort to keep your face out of the water, especially if there are high waves. I think exhaustion would still get you (if you fell asleep, you would drown, at the very least). If you are under a hot sun, then heat exhaustion and dehydration may get you before physical exhaustion does. As for how long you would last: minutes in very cold water, a few hours under a hot sun and maybe a day under ideal conditions. People that survive longer than that usually have something more than a lifejacket to keep them above the water: a raft, some driftwood, in a recent story some people survived on the flotation devices attached to fishing nets (the kind of nets fishermen leave in place for a few days before going back to collect what they've caught in that time). --Tango (talk) 22:20, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * In the North Sea, which is near the UK, in winter you would be lucky to survive for a minute. The cold kills you. 92.29.125.109 (talk) 22:35, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, thankfully, the experiment has been done. When the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) went down in 1945 near the end of WWII, no one noticed for several days.  Of the 1100 men that went into the water, just over 300 survived 4 1/2 days in the open ocean.  Details are in the article.  -- Jayron  32  00:24, 1 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Actually the article says "The rest of the crew, 880 men, with few lifeboats and many without lifejackets, floated in the water awaiting rescue." (others dies in the initial explosion). That revised number makes the statistics for survival slightly better. --S.dedalus (talk) 07:03, 3 August 2010 (UTC)


 * According to p. 214 of Wind, Waves, and Sunburn: A Brief History of Marathon Swimming, by Conrad Wennerberg, there is an authenticated record of six Japanese sailors surviving for 5 1/2 days in the South Pacific with only life-jackets -- the author says that that is the longest authenticated record he knows about. Looie496 (talk) 01:23, 1 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Does he give any explanation of how they survived? Lasting 5 1/2 days without drinking water is pretty hard. The usual rule of thumb is 3 days. Also, surviving 5 1/2 days without sleep is very hard, so how did they avoid drowning while sleeping (perhaps they slept in shifts and kept each other afloat)? I'm not saying it didn't happen, but I expect there were extenuating circumstances of some kind. --Tango (talk) 01:34, 1 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Pretty hard =/= impossible. While the three day figure may be based upon some decent data over all of humanity, the long tail of statistics always rears its head.  It may be unlikely that someone could survive that long without water, but its not impossible.  While it wasn't strictly the same situation, because she had a cork float and thus avoided the hypothermia problems floating in a life vest would, the sole survivor of the Bluebelle atrocity over 4 days without any water.  -- Jayron  32  01:57, 1 August 2010 (UTC)


 * With absolutely no exertion, and under conditions where one does not sweat at all, a previously well-hydrated person can survive 10-15 days without additional water. For example, Terry Schiavo lasted 11 days in a persistent vegetative state after her feeding tube was removed.  Dragons flight (talk) 07:46, 1 August 2010 (UTC)


 * On the other hand, people on the WW2 Arctic convoys to Russia knew they only had a few minutes to be rescued if their ship went down. -- Arwel Parry (talk) 09:50, 1 August 2010 (UTC)
 * A movie demonstrates. (video). Cuddlyable3 (talk) 11:08, 1 August 2010 (UTC)


 * There's also the case of Robert Hewitt a diver who survived 75 hours at sea     although he did have a small catch which I guess may have hydrated him slightly Nil Einne (talk) 16:46, 2 August 2010 (UTC)


 * A good lifejacket or Personal flotation device has the flotation located such that it naturally keeps the wearer floating somewhat on his back with his face out of the water. That is the only stable position, and it should right him if a wave turned him face down. Cheaper "bouyancy aids" might require more effort to keep the face out of the water. WW2 life jackets (The Indianapolis) tended to become waterlogged. A person can catnap, like sitting up in a chair, or even in a tree, and wake up when he starts to fall. Edison (talk) 14:38, 1 August 2010 (UTC)
 * This page gives a table of survival times for immersion in different water temperatures. You don't need to be in the Arctic for this to be a factor - the surface temperature in the English Channel today in the middle of summer is 17C - time to unconciousness - 2 to 7 hours. Alansplodge (talk) 18:02, 1 August 2010 (UTC)