Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 June 10

= June 10 =

Strange markings on an assault rifle
This is a Yugoslavian made SKS assault rifle. Of course it could have been in use anywhere in the world before making its way to the States. It has these odd markings carved into the stock. Any have any idea what they might mean? Beeblebrox (talk) 21:32, 15 June 2011 (UTC)
 * It's a Serbian nationalist symbol. It is featured in the current Flag of Serbia and Coat of arms of Serbia. --Soman (talk) 00:56, 16 June 2011 (UTC)
 * thanks! Beeblebrox (talk) 16:06, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

What's the difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero?
As far as sweetness and other taste characteristics? 198.228.227.167 (talk) 15:29, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
 * I can't answer the question directly, but they come from it from different angles. Coke Zero is made to taste like Coke, and has a different mix of sweeteners to Diet Coke. However, our articles not that the make-up of sweeteners varies from country to country, so it's hard to give you an answer. Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 15:32, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
 * According to Answers.com, "Coke Zero is sweetened with a combination of aspartame and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K). Coke Zero is the same basic formula as classic Coke while Diet Coke is a different formula completely. Diet Coke is sweetened with aspartame only." --Thomprod (talk) 18:15, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
 * For those that remember the 1980s, Diet Coke is zero-calorie New Coke, while Coke Zero is zero-calorie Coke Classic. As New Coke has all-but disappeared, we're left with Diet Coke has not having a full-calorie analogue.  The Diet Coke slogan for a long time was "Just for the Taste of It", which reminded people that Diet Coke had a completely different formulation.  -- Jayron  32  00:41, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

The key difference lies in advertisement. Diet Coke is advertised for women, Coke Zero for men. Some analysts at Coca-Cola Company probably came to the conclusion that Diet Coke consumption amongst males was rather low some years back, and Coke Zero was launched as a 'macho alternative'. Then the advertisement for Diet Coke could also be shifted to solely focusing on female consumers. --Soman (talk) 01:53, 11 June 2011 (UTC)
 * This is OR, but I'm pretty sure Coke Zero is sweeter. It also has a somewhat different aftertaste, but the difference in sweetness is more noticeable, at least to me -- that's why I prefer Diet Coke. Looie496 (talk) 03:06, 11 June 2011 (UTC)


 * While there is certainly an advertising difference, they do taste different. For me, I find Diet Coke to have a bitter (aspartarme) aftertaste; Coke Zero lacks this and tastes more like "regular Coke." That would be the case even if it was packaged in pink. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:37, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

So for completeness, where does caffein free coke come in all this? -- SGBailey (talk) 20:49, 11 June 2011 (UTC)


 * While theoretically kola nut extract contains caffeine, I don't believe that Coca-cola ever derived most of its caffeine from the kola nut extract, but rather from additional added caffeine. So for caffeine-free Coca-cola, I believe they simply omit adding the caffeine, and use a decaffeinated kola nut extract (if they still use a kola nut extract). This may change the flavor profile slightly, as caffeine by itself is bitter (although I don't know if the levels in Coca-cola are enough to be detectable), which they may compensate for by adding a different bittering agent. -- 174.31.219.218 (talk) 18:38, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

What is the most northern town or community in Canada Providences?
Question reformatted for readability - also, the same question was posted to WP:RD/H, but as it had no answers I've moved it here. -Neptunekh2 (talk) 19:13, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
 * In Ontario Canada?
 * In Newfoundland Canada?
 * In Saskatchewan Canada?

What are the most northern towns of each Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada? I'm doing this for a personal project. -Neptunekh2 (talk) 19:17, 10 June 2011 (UTC)


 * It is Fort Severn, Ontario. Marco polo (talk) 19:18, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Grise Fiord in Nunavut is the northernmost civilian setttlement in all of Canada but Alert is even farther north. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 22:39, 10 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador's article claims the honour for that provident province. As for Saskatchewan, the best I can find for the moment is Uranium City, Saskatchewan, but I'm still looking. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:53, 10 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Camsell Portage, Saskatchewan is a tiny community of 50 at latitude 59.62N, while Uranium City is at 59.34. I don't see any others north of them in this map. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:05, 10 June 2011 (UTC)


 * There's also Ivujivik, Quebec, whose article claims it to be the northernmost settlement for any province. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:12, 10 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Some sources cite Churchill, Manitoba as the northernmost town in that province, but one report merely calls it "one of the northern most communities". There's certainly plenty of room between Churchill and the provincial border for smaller inhabited places.


 * According to the official Travel Alberta Canada site, Indian Cabins, Alberta is that province's northernmost community, only 14 km (9 mi) from the border.


 * Lower Post, British Columbia hold the distinction in our westernmost province, according to British Columbia Travel and Discovery, being only 23 km (14 miles) southeast of Watson Lake, Yukon. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:10, 11 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Old Crow, Yukon and Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories take care of the other territories. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:35, 11 June 2011 (UTC)


 * For the Maritimes, we have: Dalhousie, New Brunswick, Meat Cove, Nova Scotia, and North Cape (Prince Edward Island) (though that last one doesn't actually mention the community for some reason) Seacow Pond, Prince Edward Island (if this map is accurate). Clarityfiend (talk) 02:23, 11 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Aha! Extreme communities of Canada lists the northernmost "communities", although one may or may not be an organized community (Waterloo Lake, Saskatchewan) and others are currently uninhabited (St. Paul Island (Nova Scotia); Hebron, Newfoundland and Labrador, abandoned around 1959; Pauline Cove on Herschel Island no longer has any permanent residents, according to the island article). Nunalla, Manitoba does however appear to be inhabited (see map). The rest agree with what Marco Polo, 75 and I have found. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:41, 11 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Nunalla may or may not be inhabited. Clarityfiend (talk) 21:47, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

Fashion - black dye in clothing
A friend from America and I was talking about British fashion through the ages and I was reminded of when I saw a programme which stated that there was a black dye, that unknowingly contained a poison, and was used in black mourning clothes.. I cannot remember which era or which poison (was it Cyanide?).. I do remember that the widow would wear mourning clothes for a long period and hence was slowly, but uaware, that she was poisoning herself. .When the widow died, from this poisoning, it was thought she died from a broken heart.MaraschinoC (talk) 23:32, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
 * This rather odd tale may be relevant - Aniline is toxic by inhalation, although one would have expected that to affect dyeworkers, not people wearing the clothes. In earlier periods, black was I believe derived from oak gall, although if this was mordanted with tin, that was probably poisonous also. --Elen of the Roads (talk) 23:51, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Widows only began to wear black constantly in the Victorian era. Victorian-era commercial dyes available in Britain were not toxic to the wearer. Home dyes available in Britain were also not toxic to the wearer. Keep in mind that men of the professional classes often wore black all the time; if widows were affected, these men would also have been affected - and they weren't.
 * This misconception I think comes from three places:
 * Widows often died shortly after their husbands. This is still the case in 2011, so it's unlikely that mourning clothing is the cause, but someone might have made the connection, especially if they were against the mourning fad.
 * Widows were more conspicuous in Victorian times than previously because they were wearing mourning for so long.
 * Some dyes used to make mourning clothes *were* dangerous, but those dyes were not used commercially and they were not used at all in the UK. I'm talking mainly about logwood, which only grows in North and Central America and which was used by Civil War widows to dye their clothes black. These women had little or no access to commercial mourning clothes so they had to dye their clothing themselves; unfortunately, the fumes given off in the process could have been fatal. The clothing, though, had no evil effects: only the dyeing process was dangerous. Logwood wasn't used in the UK because it was more expensive to import than locally available aniline dyes, and trade in general had been reduced by the war. --NellieBly (talk) 03:56, 11 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Logwood may not have been popular in Victorian times but it was the main reason Britain set up colonies in Central America in the the early 1600s and still important enough to be mentioned in the 1783 Treaty of Versailles. 75.41.110.200
 * The main reason for the British in Central America? Do you have a source? One might have thought tobacco was the main reason? Itsmejudith (talk) 08:13, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

(talk) 05:06, 12 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Central America, not North America. See History of Belize. I don't know the pirates there ever tried to raise tobacco. Looks like to this day they don't grow it. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 14:20, 12 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Fascinating results from Google for "mourning clothes", of which the first is Mourning. Nothing directly about the toxic dye, from what I can see, but good context. BrainyBabe (talk) 08:35, 11 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Not exactly what you've described, but belladonna has a similar history. 131.111.255.9 (talk) 23:46, 11 June 2011 (UTC)