Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 April 5

= April 5 =

Wingsuit formation skydiving aerodynamics.
About a year or so ago, a wingsuit article I read apeared to state that winguit skydivers in formation improved each others' glide performance. I can see how that might happen. The very fact that wingsuits are so inefficient aerodynamically-wasting so much energy on wingtip vortices & induced drag- means there's a lot of energy to recover. The wtv's of meeting wingtips rotate in opposite directions, potentially cancelling out much of the swirle, thereby recovering energy for better glide performance. Unlike birds in V formation(trailers riding the updrafts of the leaders who need to use all their power)I read from a forum on HSW that wingtip to wingtip formation benefits BOTH flyers aerodynamically. For the reason I stated before, I can see how that might be. The problem is, I've since read all the wiki articles on wingsuit skydiving, & could never recover it. Is it still there? Was that part removed from the article be cause it was shown to be in error?


 * Old edits still exist. Why not go to Wingsuit and select "Page history" from the navigation menus (Its by "Edit this page") and look at some of the older ones. When you find he text you can track when it was removed and read the comment as to why. -- SGBailey (talk) 05:45, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

Palm production
I have a project with me on palm production and is using your medium to find a sponsor.You can write to me on. Good day. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.202.194.50 (talk) 13:03, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I have removed your email address, but I am otherwise unable to parse your sentance. Could you restate your question in more detail, so we can help you find an answer?  -- Jayron  32  13:04, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I added a more useful subtitle. StuRat (talk) 16:34, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * The OP geolocates to Cameroon. It is possible that s/he is a French speaker, as "Good day" (ignoring Down Under) is a verbatim translation of Bon jour.  Maybe a French speaker can (laterally thinking) guess what "palm production" may mean.  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 17:54, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Perhaps growing some kind of palm tree (oil palm perhaps?) Nil Einne (talk) 18:11, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * But Wikipedia is probably not the best place to try and find sponsorship for anything much. --ColinFine (talk) 18:16, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

Help identifying a bike
Can anyone help ID this bike: http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae7/SotonskaTamburica/Igor/Untitled.jpg ? Thanks.  Melmann (talk) 14:31, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * It's not a bike, it's a motorcycle. 92.24.184.244 (talk) 17:48, 5 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Motorcycles are sometimes referred to as "motorbikes", which can be shortened to "bike". Indeed, the disambiguation page for bike, if you don't pipe, says that: "Bike may refer to: The abbreviation for either bicycle or motorcycle". Similarly for the lead sentence for motorcycle "A motorcycle (also called a motorbike, bike, or cycle) ..." -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 20:02, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Indeed. Our society is gloriously enhanced by "bikie gangs", not "motorcyclie gangs".  --   Jack of Oz   [your turn]  20:25, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I notice that the term "bikie gang" is not mentioned on that page and bikie occurs only in a footnote. Perhaps Jack could expand that article a bit. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 20:32, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * You mean from my vast personal experience of these ... organisations? Oh no, that would break our WP:OR rules.  :)  --   Jack of Oz   [your turn]  20:58, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Calling a motorcycle a "bike" seems very girlie-man to me. But if that's your preference, go ahead. 92.24.188.223 (talk) 21:29, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * It is a second geneartion (2005+)Yamaha FZ1. In the US saying "bike" is more common in regular conversation especially if it is already clear that you aren't talking about something with pedals. -- Daniel  21:47, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * In the US, the term Biker is commonly used for "motorcyclist". The term "motorcyclist" would probably be considered the "girlie-man" term. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:13, 6 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Same in the UK. Those who ride pedal cycles are called cyclists, though both refer to their machines as bikes.    D b f i r s   16:16, 8 April 2011 (UTC)
 * (ec)My understanding is that groups such as the Hells Angels will refer to themselves as "bikers", and will refer to their ride as a "bike". If you want to call them "girlie-men" because of it, it's your choice - although for your health, I wouldn't recommend doing so where they could overhear. -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 00:15, 6 April 2011 (UTC)
 * The yearly gatherings across the US (and notably Daytona Beach) are called "Bike Week."  Calling it "Motorcycle Week" will get you laughed out of town. Collect (talk) 10:31, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

looks like a 4 cylinder transverse engine, not very clear. don't know much about modern bikes. I'm thinking 'one off' garage built. not production. looks good though. Not all bikers are criminals. Those that are criminals all have psychological identity problems. Why would someone join a group to demonstrate their individuality. Sounds definitely counterintuitive. Everyone seems to have gotten off the subject.190.149.154.160 (talk) 02:15, 6 April 2011 (UTC)
 * The UK-based IP made a couple of ignorance-based comments, and they needed some correction. Hopefully he gets it now. :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:55, 6 April 2011 (UTC)
 * FW my OR IW; though not a motorcycle rider myself, I have socialised with many such in the UK. Amongst those I have encountered, "bike" and "biker" were by far the most usual terms. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.66.111 (talk) 20:25, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

What was there to see in Philippi during the time of Paul ?
I need this information for a book I'm writing... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Faithful365 (talk • contribs) 15:01, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Did you read the Wikipedia article Philippi? -- Jayron  32  15:05, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * As the linked article says, Philippi was a prosperous colony of Rome and Paul would surely have seen an abundance of |Roman soldiers, colonists and slaves, and there would have been entertainments in the games arena. The temples to the Greek gods would be popular with Greeks and Romans alike since the latter to a large extent adopted and renamed Greek gods. I have written fiction set in Greece a little later when there was a Metropolitan bishop at Athens with influence extending to Meteora and christianity was still an early movement emanating from Paul's ministry. Feel free to e-mail me via my page if you wish to share more ideas for fiction in this setting. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:00, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

1888 book confusion
What does Mr. Shepard mean when he says There was no prescribed term of office, the commission running until the opposition party secured the council of appointment.? What council of appointment? Does Council of Appointment have any relevance here, or is that just a coincidence? Albacore (talk) 20:17, 5 April 2011 (UTC)