Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 March 12

= March 12 =

Wikipedia Playlist
Is there such a thing as wikipedia playlists? What I mean is a set of articles a specific user thinks is cool and puts up in a list for other people to go through as well. Is there a way to search on wikipedia for popular articles? How about for article sets about specific topics, like creating wikipedia bibliographies on a topic? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.98.121.166 (talk) 04:02, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

THEMlCK (talk) 04:03, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * There are Portals full of related articles. See Portal/Directory. Wikipedia:Books might have something similar as well. Rmhermen (talk) 05:22, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * There's also Featured topics and Good topics. the wub "?!"  12:43, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * And individual users can make their own lists of whatever articles appeal on their user pages. -- SGBailey (talk) 17:19, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Where can I get liquorice bootlaces?
Hi, does anybody know a good sweetshop that would sell liquorice bootlaces or liquorice allsorts, and ship them to South Korea? After a quick search I could only find places that would sell stuff to the UK. Thanks. --Kjoonlee 08:50, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * OK, I've learned that ebay has liquorice allsorts. But what about bootlaces? --Kjoonlee 08:58, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * The list of suppliers here seems to give a lot of possibilities. Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:37, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

regarding boarding school
I know regarding boarding school admissions in amu critiera & admission process —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.240.207.203 (talk) 14:17, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I guess the question is from someone near Mumbai, India who wants to know about admission criteria to the Algarh Muslim University. This is a place to look. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 16:11, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

US State Centers of Population 2010?
Does anyone know if the census has update this file on the center of population of the States since the 2010 election? I tried searching through the site, but found nothing. --CGPGrey (talk) 14:36, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Chessman's "Big Red" -- who was he, if he existed?
A recent thread reminded me of the morbid but fascinating Caryl Chessman case. In Chessman's book, Cell 2455, Death Row, he opens with a description of the execution of one of his friends (?) that he met while awaiting execution himself, named "Big Red". Big Red is described as an Arkansan who got drunk, got arrested, and beat one of his cellmates to death in the drunk tank. He is to be executed at the same time as "Henry", a "feeble-minded" and likely insane individual convicted of the sex-related murder of a child. Big Red doesn't want to die with Henry, because it would look bad in the news stories, so he petitions the court for the privilege of being executed an hour earlier. This is denied, but eventually Henry gets a stay based on his sanity, so Red gets his "consolation prize".

What I can't discover anywhere is who Big Red and Henry actually were, assuming they existed, rather than being made up out of Chessman's fertile literary mind. Does anyone know? --Trovatore (talk) 22:14, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * "Henry" is Henry Ford McCracken. "Big Red" is Bernard Gilliam.
 * I found this by looking through the ProQuest Historical Newspaper database of the LA Times (a search for "Henry" and "executed" between 1948 and 1954), and there were many articles which discussed the McCracken case (which was quite a media event — lots of appeals, questions about sanity, child sex-murder, the whole profile), and one mention that Gilliam had requested he be executed on a different day ("Yesterday, a Fresno County slayer's request to be executed an hour earlier than McCracken's scheduled execution was denied. The request was made by Bernard Gilliam, 31, who said he was a family man and 'did not want to die with a sex slayer.'" — "Execution of M'Cracken Postponed," Los Angeles Times, October 31, 1952, page 1.) In another article, Gilliam is described as age 36, "a former railroad worker who killed a fellow prisoner in the Firebaugh City Jail a year ago by kicking him to death." Bleh. Quoth Gilliam: "I would rather lose an hour of my life than die with a sex criminal." Further Googling shows that Gilliam's nickname as "Red" was notable enough to be mentioned in one of his appeals!
 * I had thought this would be a hard one to answer but it turned out to be quite simple with the right tools. Fascinating stuff, though. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:56, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Google got me nowhere (Big Red means too many other things; adding Chessman doesn't narrow it down much except for giving a higher proportion of hits for his book.)  Maybe I need to find out about this ProQuest thingy (I only knew it as a repository of PhD dissertations). --Trovatore (talk) 23:19, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * ProQuest Historical Newspapers is an amazing service, if you have access to it. I'm sure it costs a mint — I get it through my educational institution. Full-text searching of original newspaper (microfilm) pages, lots of newspapers represented, many of which go back to the 19th century, certainly most through the 20th. If you do any kind of historical research, it's an invaluable tool, and it's much easier to use than Lexis Nexis. I appreciate in particular the ability to view full pages, photographs and all, which you don't get in services that use re-typed copies of the articles (like Lexis Nexis). --Mr.98 (talk) 23:36, 12 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Nice job, 98. Edison (talk) 01:22, 13 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes, nice job, Mr. 98. I'd just like to add that I get free remote access to ProQuest via my local public library's website (along with a host of other great reference resources like the full Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford Reference Premium, etc, etc.) and it is indeed an invaluable resource. You can usually find many sources there that Google knows nothing about at all. –  OhioStandard  (talk) 11:30, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Firearm loading and bolt pulling
Do today's firearms (self-repeating rifles and automatic pistols) need to have their bolts (levers) pulled after a new magazine is inserted (as seen in countless video-games and films)?

Thank you very much. --96.21.156.211 (talk) 23:47, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes. Just putting a magazine in does not load a round into the chamber.  Firing a round puts the next round in the chamber but this doesn't happen when you simply load a magazine in.  Dismas |(talk) 23:53, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * OK, so basically, when you fire to the last round of the magazine, the empty cartridge is still lodged in the chamber, so when you load a full magazine you need to pull once to eject the cartridge and load a new round... I understand. Thank you. --96.21.156.211 (talk) 01:02, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * No the empty cartridge is ejected when you fire it. You just need to load a new round. Some guns even have a breach which stays open after the last round is fired and ejected. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 01:38, 13 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Agreed. What 110.200 said is correct.  Your original question is about the first round and that's what I answered.  As for the last round, it is ejected by the same mechanism that ejects the previous rounds.  And to follow up on what 110.200 said about the breech (chamber) staying open after firing the last round, you can sometimes see this in movies as well.  Often times I have seen where the last round will be fired, the chamber is obviously open and the gun is empty, yet the hero will then turn and fire again.  Even though the gun was obviously empty.  This is an issue with continuity.  Dismas |(talk) 02:56, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Depends on the fiream and its usage actually. As 110.200 mentioned, many (most?) automatic pistols would have a mechanism to lock the slide back(as in pic.) after the last round is fired. Then after a new magazine is inserted the slide stop/slide lock is operated (usually just a finger operated button or small lever) to release the slide, load a new round, and the gun is ready to fire again. If the pistol is unloaded and not cocked, then the slide will need to be pulled back and released to load and cock it(after a new mag. is inserted) See Semi-automatic pistol. There are pistols that are cocked by squeezing the hand grip, (Heckler & Koch P7) • By 'lever' I presume you mean a cocking handle, as there are also lever action repeating rifles. No reference, but I believe that most 'long-arms'/ rifles need the cocking handle to be pulled back and released to chamber a new round (after a new mag. is inserted). They may have a manual button to lock it back, but release is usually by pulling the handle back & letting it go. Of course it is more 'dramatic' for a character to operate the weapsons slide than simply push a button to allow it to slide forward. - 220.101 User talk:220.101.28.25\ 19:33, 14 March 2011 (UTC)