Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 June 21

= June 21 =

New type of high-heel shoes?
I've been having a chuckle over some awkward family photos and came across this entry. It appears as though there's some sort of toe coming off the back of the shoe that is taking the place of a standard high-heel. Is this actually how the shoe is built? Maybe some sort of specialty shoe to accentuate the look of her leg while not having a stiletto heel? Or is this a sandal with some piece of material on the floor? Dismas |(talk) 05:25, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * They appear to be a sort of 'Cantilever heel'. I searched on google for that and found (http://www.net-a-porter.com/product/30655) but can't find anything that says they're specifically called that (I also found a number of images on google-image with a search 'inverted heel' and found a blog mentioning them in 2007 (http://shoesmitten.com/blog/?tag=inverted-heel). ny156uk (talk) 08:33, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Interesting design. It seems like they'd be even more uncomfortable than regular high heels though.  Thanks, Dismas |(talk) 09:43, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Posh Spice once wore heel-less boots like that without even the cantilever. I suppose she had to lean forward all the time. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1063083/Beckham-mania-Poshs-heel-thigh-high-PVC-boots-stop-traffic-New-York.html 92.24.176.41 (talk) 10:28, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I spotted this style with the same type of heel in a shoe shop just a couple of weeks ago, and was also intrigued. An assistant told me they were 'surprisingly comfortable' to wear, but comfort is relative where women's shoes are concerned, in my experience.  Ka renjc 15:45, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I somehow doubt that woman is all that concerned about the comfort of her shoes, there. however, I can see the advantages of a shoe like that; it would take away the heel pressure of a normal step in high-heeled shoes (where the first impact of the foot goes straight to the heel) and distribute it more naturally into the arch of the foot.  I think we need to find a physicist with a foot fetish to study this in detail.  -- Ludwigs 2  18:01, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * But in my experience, it isn't the heel that gets most tired and sore wearing heels: it's the ball of the foot. And the available gelpads for party shoes in Boots seem to confirm this. I would expect this design to make that worse, as well as being quite clumpy and inflexible when walking. 86.164.66.4 (talk) 17:16, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

New York Times Obituaries
Hi there, I am interested in reading a New York Times obituary in the 1970s. A simple google search doesn't bring up anything. What would be the easiest way to read it? I would prefer it to be free.

Thanks in advance, 110.174.151.109 (talk) 06:33, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Try putting in a request here, a very useful page where Wikipedia editors with access to paid-for resources will try and help. --Viennese Waltz talk 08:12, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * There's also Google News Archive Search, which includes New York Times articles over the whole history of the paper. However, they are not free.  And if by "obituary" you actually mean a paid death notice, I don't know if those are included. --Anonymous, 06:04 UTC, June, 22, 2010.
 * No, an obituary is a short biography of a prominent, recently died person printed in a newspaper. --Viennese Waltz talk 07:34, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
 * "You" meant the original poster. Not everyone makes that distinction. --Anon, 21:24 UTC, June 22, 2010.
 * (ahem) Then you really ought to have indented your post at the same level as Viennese Waltz's and no further. Further indenting as you did means you were actually replying to Viennese Waltz, not to the OP, hence "you" could not refer to the OP.  --   Jack of Oz    ... speak! ...   20:28, 23 June 2010 (UTC)
 * True, but "also" was in reply to Waltz. No win.  --Anon, 06:15 UTC, June 24, 2010.

Well, the person in question would have been quite prominent- maybe even a front page(?) obituary or at least quite big. 110.174.151.109 (talk) 09:45, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Why not just give us the name here? It would simplify things. --jpgordon:==( o ) 14:48, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The New York Times' archive is here. As noted above, it may cost you a few bucks to actually read the article. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 22:25, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Birds and Fish Bones
While watching this video with the penguin swallowing that large fish whole I began to wonder - what do penguins and birds in general do with the bones? How is their digestive system adapted to digest bones? Won't the bones puncture things on the way? --antilivedT 09:06, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Many people, myself included, feed their dogs a raw diet of chicken. This includes chicken bones.  The dogs are able to digest what they can and what comes out does not resemble bone fragments at all.  While not the same since dogs chew their food more than birds do, it demonstrates that bone is digestible.  If you're wondering, we get a 50 lb box of chicken backs (all the breasts, legs, etc. for human consumption have been trimmed off and what's left is the back and rib cage) and bag them up for daily meals.  Dismas |(talk) 09:27, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Owls regularly regurgitate a pellet of undigestable leftovers. Not sure about penguins though. Alansplodge (talk) 12:15, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * This page describes penguin digestion. The esophagus and proventriculus (something like the stomach) of the penguin have tough muscular walls that can deal with the rough edges of a whole fish.  The proventriculus secretes acids that break down and soften the hard parts of the fish.  The partly broken-down and softened fish then enters the gizzard, where stones and the abrasive walls of the gizzard itself break the fish even further apart into safely digestible bits.  By this time, the bones are ground down and softened so that they can be at least partly digested in the intestine.  Of course, what can't be digested is eliminated.  Marco polo (talk) 13:52, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I used to have a Florida king snake -- but this will apply to all snakes -- I fed it live mice and what came out certainly didn't look like bone. But when one does histologic slides of hard tissue (bone, tooth), it must be decalicified.  It can certainly be accommodated (if necessary) for the hard tissue to remain in the acidic portion of the digestive tract long enough to decalcify them.  Whether or not that happens, I don't know, but it's not like it's some wild concept from an alien movie.  DRosenbach  ( Talk 02:17, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Tangle toy snake-y thing
Hi! Does anyone know of high-street British shops (as in, actual, physical shops) which sell this sort of stress-relieve-y-tangle-y-toy-thing? Thanks! ╟─ Treasury Tag ►  Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster  ─╢ 14:32, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, there's the company's retailer list here, but I couldn't tell you if any particular branch of a shop would stock them. I see you live in Greater London - you would be almost certain to get them at Harrods (as that is listed as a retailer and only has one store) or Hamleys' London store (since the store is massive and I would expect it to stock all of their lines). Equisetum (talk &#124; email &#124; contributions) 15:09, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * You could try www.hawkin.co.uk, because they have high street shops called "Hawkin's Bazaar", and your local branch could try and get it. --TammyMoet (talk) 15:32, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree with TammyMoet. I have seen products like that a few times before, and I think it's most likely to be sold by Hawkin's Bazaar. Chevy  monte  carlo  18:31, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * And if you're really cheap, order a free Quit Kit from the NHS which includes one. Nanonic (talk) 20:05, 21 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I saw something that looked like a cross between that item and a Rubic's cube, in Poundland a few days ago. When I was a post-graduate student sitting at a desk writing for twelve hours a day, I bought similar toys myself. Or learn juggling perhaps. 92.15.27.255 (talk) 20:08, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Maybe the thing you saw was Rubik's Snake? --Viennese Waltz talk 07:39, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, probably. 92.15.17.9 (talk) 12:14, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Clothes made from Cryogenic Gloves
Would I be very warm under extreme temperatures (-50 C) if I was to fashion a winter coat made from the same material used in cryogenic gloves designed to handle Liquid nitrogen? [] Acceptable (talk) 21:27, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Toasty warm. The gloves protect from -160 C. So, then, would the coat. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:41, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Blue hands and fingers all over you. Sounds kinky ;-) Dmcq (talk) 23:29, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * How much would that material cost though? Surely if it were cheap and easy, someone would have already done it? Or have you just discovered something great that noone has noticed before. In which case, get started on making them quickly before anyone else decides to try. 80.47.24.27 (talk) 16:12, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
Who's the leader of the Pokémon Pinchers? Bulbapedia said that it is the Tea Party, but that was probably just some childish vandalism that didn't get removed before Bulbapedia was locked from editing. --75.25.103.109 (talk) 22:12, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Some old versions of the page says someone called "Red Eye" (example). Don't know if that means anything to you. Vimescarrot (talk) 10:53, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Look here: --151.51.25.173 (talk) 18:08, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Tv / digi-box that will increase the 'size' of subtitles
My partner's grandma used to have a non-digital tv that had Teletext which she used for subtitles. On teletext you get the option to increase the font-size (it looks like it works as a basic zoom of the text rather than an increased font per-se). Anyhoo her new digital tv has subtitles, but we cannot find anyway to make them bigger. Is there any way to increase the size of subtitles on digital tvs/or any tvs that you're aware of that have this functionality? ny156uk (talk) 23:05, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
 * If the TV can't do it (I'm trusting you've already read the manual) you would need to find an external digital TV tuner with that option. There were millions of them sold - see if anyone you know has one and see if you can change the teletext size with it.--mboverload @ 09:34, 22 June 2010 (UTC)


 * There is a huge difference between the new digital teletext technology and the old analogue version, and I think it unlikely that larger subtitles will be available in the near future. On the plus side, you should find that the subtitle text is now much clearer than before, and the clarity of the text does vary from one set to another, so it would be worth shopping around and looking at new tv sets bearing that in mind.--Shantavira|feed me 13:47, 22 June 2010 (UTC)