Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 February 13

= February 13 =

Question: Bill T/ Loading Receipt
What is Bill-T? What is Loading Receipt? What is the difference between them? (Truck drivers or truck owners giving the trucks on rent to transfer the goods, they give the bill copy of receipt to the companies which send the goods. My question is what is the difference between the two terms,'Bill-T' and 'Loading Receipt? (As far as my knowledge is concerned, Bill-T is given to you when only your goods are going to be sent to the destination and truck comes back, while, Loading Receipt is given when somebody else's goods also ride with your goods in the same truck and truck goes to other destination to to drop them after your work accomplished. ) Still I need the answer whether I m right or not. Thank you, — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrugesh.varsani85 (talk • contribs) 02:56, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

USP
WHAT IS USP? AND WHY IS IT SAID SO? AND FROM WHERE IT HAS BEEN DERIVED? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.225.96.217 (talk) 15:44, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * It would help if you told us in what context you saw "USP". My guess is that you're referring to the United States Pharmacopeia, but that's just a guess. There are certainly other possibilities. Deor (talk) 15:56, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

OK I know that I am deaf, but please do not shout.--85.211.216.54 (talk) 15:57, 13 February 2011 (UTC)


 * USP = Unique selling point. Regards, SunCreator (talk) 16:25, 13 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Oh geez, anything that starts with "US" followed by another letter can be so many different things.. United States Penitentiary? United States Post? United States Pencils? Pickles? Porno? Take your pick of any word that starts with a letter P, chances are there exists some organization, product or service out there. I guess that would also answer your question about from where it was derived.. --  &oelig; &trade; 06:12, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Selling advice?
I have recently inherited some WW2 artifacts. A Nazi flag, armband, and officer's dagger. I'm told they were taken from the battlefield during the war by my American soldier relative. I have no interest in holding on to them long-term. What would be a good place for me to sell these? (I'm in the US.) I don't know much about their value so I'm suspicious of just using ebay- I want to get a reasonable price. I'd also like to avoid selling them to somebody who might have, shall we say, an excess of enthusiasm about Nazi paraphernalia. Any advice is helpful- (By the way, is it legal for me to have / sell them? I have no idea exactly how they were obtained but it probably wasn't through any official means.) 24.60.54.68 (talk) 17:49, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm pretty sure you couldn't sell the Nazi flag or the dagger on eBay (or presumably any other online auction) even if you wanted to. Albacore (talk) 18:24, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * For reference, eBay's Offensive material policy. (Click the dropdown link for 'Nazi and Nazi-related' items.)  Explicitly prohibited from sale are "Uniforms, uniform components, weapons, or other items that bear the Nazi swastika or SS runes". TenOfAllTrades(talk) 20:07, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * In Germany, owning them might be illegal, but I can't imagine it's illegal in the U.S., where you can own just about anything. If it were me, I would start with a respected historical museum and see what advice they could give. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:28, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I'd be a little careful &mdash; to my knowledge there's no prohibition in any US state against owning Nazi memorabilia per se (and such a prohibition would in my amateur estimation run afoul of the First Amendment), but it certainly can be against the law to knowingly possess or sell stolen goods. That was how I was reading "not obtained through official means"; I apologize if that was a misinterpretation. --Trovatore (talk) 00:48, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks T- that is exactly what I meant. (I don't think these items were "stolen" in the conventional sense, but I have no idea what constitutes "stolen" in wartimes.) 24.60.54.68 (talk) 12:01, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that's completely out of my depth. --Trovatore (talk) 20:44, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * There are websites dedicated entirely to WWII memorabilia and collectible items. It's a risk you take that you might end up selling to a neo-nazi but I'd assume as many people play the "red side" at re-enactments or just have an interest in the history as have any lurid interest, if not more. 65.29.47.55 (talk) 23:05, 13 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Have you asked his other descendants? Whilst they might not mean much to you, other relatives may have a greater sense of history and see them as marking an important event in the family history.  Physical possession may have passed to you but  I think it would be appreciated if you asked around first. The cost of obtaining them could out weigh anything else you might currently own – if you see what I mean.--Aspro (talk) 21:29, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Average snowfall per state
I've searched for hours and can't find a list of the average snowfall per state per year of United States states. My question would be if anyone could find such a list? Albacore (talk) 18:21, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Is this any good (http://maps.howstuffworks.com/united-states-annual-snowfall-map.htm)? ny156uk (talk) 18:29, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Well start with Florida with an average 0 inches per year. But I am not certain it would be very meaningful in general. In Michigan, for instance, Detroit averages 41 inches a year but Marquette gets 141. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 18:35, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I notice that the How-stuff-works map is not using the same dataset I linked to. I checked and both South Bend, IN and Alpena, MI are shown one zone too low. The local differences can be quite large (South Bend, Indiana is only 70 miles from Fort Wayne but South Bend in the lake effect zone gets 71 inches/year while Ft. Wayne gets only 32.) 75.41.110.200 (talk) 19:12, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * "Average snowfall" is ambiguous. Would "total number of acre-feet of water that precipitates in the form of snow" be something like what you have in mind?  (I don't know whether such a list exists, but at least it is something definite to look for.) Looie496 (talk) 18:45, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * As kind of implied by 75.41, snowfall by city is more likely to be meaningful. Chicago's huge amount recently was increased due to lake effect. It might make more sense to look at the average per weather station (i.e. airports), since per state is not going to very meaningful. Oregon and Washington, for example, don't get all that much snow in general, but the Cascade peaks, which form a large natural "snow fence", get seriously dumped on. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:15, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * You might be interested in List of snow events in Florida. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 03:03, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * I didn't find such a Wikipedia article, but it would look like United States rainfall climatology (e.g., United States snowfall climatology). Also see Snow, Snowbelt, Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, February 2009 Great Britain and Ireland snowfall, and January 1987 Southeast England snowfall. And check out Snowfall on Judgment Day in view of the below 2012 thread on the end of the world. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 15:05, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I could look into the idea of creating such a page for the United States. Snowfall is a highly variable quantity, like rainfall, and reporting standards are much more varied than liquid precipitation.  This means there is less standardization in snowfall measurements than rainfall...it's not as simple to measure snowfall as you might think.  You could measure snowfall every 24 hours, 12 hours, 6 hours, 3 hours, etcetra, and if you clean off the snowboard/measuring surface, you will get different totals for the exact same snow event.  In some respects, this is a fractal issue which I do not believe we touch upon well enough in the snow article as it is currently written...maybe it's a better issue for fractals.  In any event, there's no harm in checking to see if enough information exists for such an article.  It will have to wait for the numerical weather prediction FAC to end before anything is accomplished by myself.  Thegreatdr (talk) 23:03, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

2012
So, another question about this end of the world thing next year, I understand there have been quite a few such recently. I was just wondering, though, is it true what I have heard, that lots of people all around the world are planning on playing the same music right at the end, for some reason? 79.66.107.197 (talk) 19:36, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Have you tried googling this subject? I would start with [2012 music] and see what, if anything, turns up. Obviously, the possibilities are endless. Any song having to do with farewells would be appropriate, and there are a brazillion of those types of songs. "We'll Meet Again" would seem especially fitting. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:08, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Boomtown Rats Nothing Happened Today might be better, lol.  He  iro
 * We might have a winner! :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:23, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * We should make it clear, yet again, that there is absolutely no reason to believe that the world is any more likely to end in 2012 than in any other year. I don't think there is even any consistancy about when during 2012 the world is supposed to end, so I'm not sure how people can plan to play music at the end. It sounds like the kind of thing that someone proposes on Facebook without really thinking about it, gets spread around a bit, and then forgotten about a few days later. --Tango (talk) 21:20, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I've found these to especially helpful and humorous, and .  He  iro  21:26, 13 February 2011 (UTC)


 * As usual, we have our very own article on the 2012 phenomenon. There is a collision of worlds scheduled for 2012. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 02:56, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I have heard of this on a couple of other fora recently, though I didn't pay much attention at the time. I believe, though, they both agree the song of choice was one called Forsaken, or something similar. I know someone that apparently already has it, seems it is actually about the end of the world. Though I do agree, if they can't seem to decide on which day is the end, how are they to narrow it down to a couple of minutes? 148.197.121.205 (talk) 19:49, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * And just to spice things up (or maybe to beat the competition, who knows) some fundamentalist evangelicals have recently started preaching the end of the world would come sometime in May this year, so the Mayan thing is not the only predicted end of the world looming ahead. TomorrowTime (talk) 20:46, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Wheat pennies
Are wheat pennies/cents worth more than one cent? 199.66.145.232 (talk) 20:35, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Technically, no. Unless they are some rare collectible for some reason, i.e. special year, mint mark, mistake during production, etc.. Then they are worth whatever you can get a collector to pay for them.  He  iro 20:39, 13 February 2011 (UTC)


 * As currency, no, per Heironymous' response; at the store, they're still worth one-hundredth of a dollar. I'm assuming that you're interested in what they might be worth to a collector, however.  This page lists wholesale prices for wheat pennies compiled by a coin collector.  You'll be able to sell the most common ones for three or four cents each, but a handful are worth more than a dollar and two or three are worth more than a hundred dollars. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 20:47, 13 February 2011 (UTC)


 * (ec)Actually they are. Each has significantly more than one cent's worth of copper at current prices. 95% of 3.11 grams = 2.95 grams of copper. Copper is right now about $4.50 per lb (454 grams), or right about 3 cents per cent. Collect (talk) 20:50, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * But, since you're not allowed to melt them down for their metal content, its kinda moot isnt it?  He  iro 20:52, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * And if you do melt them down, they are no longer wheat pennies! I would speculate that the pennies, or at least some of them, are far more valuable to collectors than would be their metalic content. But using for purchase at a store, they are still worth just one penny, unless you can convince the cashier to buy it from their own money. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:04, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Condition is everything. A wheat penny in mint condition may be worth dealing with.  A crappy worn wheat penny may be worth more than 1 cent, but not enough more to justify the effort of finding a buyer. Looie496 (talk) 00:43, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Numismatics is what you're interested in. Older coins are often worth more than face value. ~ A H  1 (TCU) 02:59, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * For those interested in why you aren't allowed to melt them down, see this USA Today article. The law applies only to pennies and nickels; many millions of pre-1965 US silver coins were legally melted down in the late 1970s, until around the time of the Silver Thursday collapse.  Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:56, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Your standard wheat cent will get you $0.02 from a coin seller. Rare examples and those of high quality are worth more.  Googlemeister (talk) 20:33, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * As more people melt them down, the remaining ones should become scarcer, and their value should increase. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 08:17, 16 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, but as there were at least 5 billion of them made, you would need to do a lot of melting to have much impact. Googlemeister (talk) 20:07, 16 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Are there any estimates as to how many of those 5 billion still exist? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:15, 16 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Well I found 9 of them in 5000 pennies I got from the bank last week if someone wants to do the math to figure out the obsolescence rate. Granted 5000 might not be a large enough sample size, but it is what I have.  Googlemeister (talk) 22:11, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
As Snow White rode off with her prince at the end of the movie, I only counted six dwarfs that she kissed??? And, which one did she miss? Thanks for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.59.216.168 (talk) 22:57, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Grumpy, I expect :-( AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:28, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Aww, nope! 68.59 is correct though. She only kisses six of them. First Bashful, then Grumpy, then three at once, the only one of whom I recognized was Doc, and finally Dopey. So that narrows it down to Happy, Sneezy, or Sleepy. ---Sluzzelin talk  23:36, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Most likely Sneezy. She probably didn't want to get sick... schyler (talk) 02:37, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Or Sleepy, who didn't turn up.  Worm    TT   11:35, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * IMDb agrees with you, Worm. --Antiquary (talk) 19:07, 14 February 2011 (UTC)
 * It's been decades since I've seen that movie. Did each character wear a particular distinctive color? If so, it should be easy to figure out. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:46, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

OK, dug out the Platinum Edition DVD release and checked. In the scene, the Prince picks up three dwarfs individually: Bashful first (he blushes after being kissed), Grumpy and lastly Dopey. Between Grumpy and Dopey, he picks up three dwarfs at once, with Snow White kissing, in order: Doc (the only dwarf with glasses), Sneezy (will get to this in a moment) and Happy (similar facial hair to Doc, but no glasses). As Baseball Bugs suggested, the dwarfs' attire is consistent throughout the film. I went back to the scene where Snow White guesses each dwarf's name ... she identifies Sleepy as he's yawning, and he's seen wearing an olive green shirt. Sneezy is wearing a tough-to-name color (grayish purple is the best I can come up with), but it is that color shirt, not Sleepy's olive green, the middle dwarf is wearing. -- McDoob AU  93  19:50, 15 February 2011 (UTC)
 * So Sleepy is in fact the one who missed out, with the subliminal message, "If you snooze, you lose?" ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 08:15, 16 February 2011 (UTC)