Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 October 18

= October 18 =

Alternative to Google Fast Flip
I liked Google Fast Flip before they shut it down. Are there any other ways to browse interesting middle-brow current events items from the web? -- Mwalcoff (talk) 02:48, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

When 3 digit interstates is allow to renumber
After FHWA approves an interstate number, usually when and how many more years will a highway be allow to renumber. I know all non-chargeable interstates renumber highways immediately after FHWA approves it like I-710 and I-880, I-238. I thought non-chargeable vs. chargeable interstates doesn't determine the time frames. Can chargeable interstates renumber immediately after FHWA approves it? Because for Harbor Freeway the link to CA highways say it approves as interstate in November X-teen, 1978 it didn't label when the action actually made. The CA 11 is actually delete from Los Angeles in 1979, and one map on CA Highways show in February 1979 the harbor Freeway is the I-110, not CA 11. Does the wait matter on interstate types (C vs. NC) or it matters on metropolitan systems of great remubering or minor renumberings. Because in 1960s after government approves the interstate number it had to wait at least two years until the remubering process can start. Like the I-405, I-5, I-280, and I-780.--69.226.34.145 (talk) 03:44, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * The FHWA does not have anything to do with numbering Interstates. That is handled by AASHTO, which is an association of state agencies, and not part of the Federal government.  The FHWA handles the funding of roads for the purposes of construction and maintenance, but does not directly manage the planning, designing, construction, or numbering of roads.  The individual states, in conjunction with and approval from AASHTO, handle all of that stuff.  The article Interstate 795 (North Carolina) actually has a nice breakdown on the relationship between the FWHA, AASHTO, and the state DOT in the construction and numbering of a new Interstate. The difference between chargeable and non-chargable interstates has NO bearing on the numbering at all, that's a funding issue; indeed some parts of the same interstate route may be both chargeable and non-chargable, but you can't tell by anything having to do with the road itself.  As far as numbering goes, AASHTO generally allows states to choose their own numbers for intrastate routes (those within one state), so long as the route number follows the numbering scheme (last two digits match the parent route, first digit indicates whether the road connects at one end (odd) or both ends (even)).  AASHTO does not require slavish following of the rules, when there are times when exceptions are needed.  For example, in some states, the entire set of availible numbers can be used up; that happened in a few cases, and led to some of the oddities of the system, such as California's I-238 and Maryland's I-97. I don't believe there has ever been a particular time frame mandated by anything except "when the state gets the cash to change all the signs."  This can take several years to accomplish.  Where I live in North Carolina, I-440 was removed from the southern segment of the Cliff Benson Beltline, officially in 2002, but it took up to 7 years to update the signage in many places, they basically waited until the signs aged out and needed replacing with new signs anyways.  -- Jayron  32  04:18, 18 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Didn't someone ask this question 2 or 3 weeks ago? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:40, 18 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I think they were asking about the 'cost' of renumbering specifically, Bugs... I'd search but I'm short on time. --Ouro (blah blah)

I can't find the puppy?
pic#4 moors murders-Meerkatakreem (talk) 05:23, 18 October 2011 (UTC)
 * It's in her arms. Dismas |(talk) 05:32, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Oh thanks for that Dismas. I spent some time lookin' for that puppy, didn't notice that it's just there. -Meerkatakreem (talk) 03:55, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

Bus bias
So I am doing some research into the longest urban bus route in Europe, which happens to run close to where I live. It is a circular route, and I can't come up with any logical reason why there are apparently more clockwise services than anticlockwise services. If it was just a "tidal flow" with a preference for one direction in the morning and the other in the evening, I could understand it, but the timetables clearly state that the weekday clockwise service (11C) runs every 3–9 minutes and the weekday anticlockwise service (11A) runs every 7–10 minutes. (I am going by the roadside timetables. There is an online timetable but I don't seem to be able to link to it because it has square brackets in the url.) Can anyone come up with a logical explanation? (Before any scientist sees this, I have already ruled out the Coriolis effect.) --Shantavira|feed me 08:37, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Unless you literally count the buses departing from and arriving at the head of the line, I don't think you can conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that there is an unbalanced flow given those departure time ranges. If buses head CW every 8 minutes on average (within stated range) and head widdershins every 7 minutes on average (within stated range), you'd have the opposite result from your assumed situation. It would be much more valuable to just ask a driver how many loops (s)he has to make in a day. I suspect the answer will always be the same (maybe 8, or 6 for one shift?) The Masked Booby (talk) 09:08, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * And now for a silly response - in England you drive on the left, so the CCW route would be ```ever so slightly shorter``` seeing as how its the inside lane on the loop. If your route is long enough, you would have to address this discrepancy with more buses heading CW. The Masked Booby (talk) 09:09, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * ("CCW" = "anti-clockwise" on this side of the pond.) The difference in length is independent of the length of the route, and is approximately pi times the "average width of the road" (more accurately 2 pi times the average distance between opposing lanes).  D b f i r s   07:45, 19 October 2011 (UTC)


 * The online timetable for the 11A and the 11C will let you count the number of trips each way throughout the day. You could probably estimate the approximate fleet size for both routes.  The map tab will let you see differences in the clockwise and anti-clockwise routes.  Incidentally, I did ride the entire route back in the 1980s; it wasn't interesting enough that I would do it again.  Astronaut (talk) 09:18, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * I did try to do that but there is so much weird stuff going on in that timetable I gave up. Thanks for demonstrating how to post the link anyway.--Shantavira|feed me 14:07, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * I've emailed the WMPTE media centre asking them the question. Will post here if I get a response. --Tagishsimon (talk) 10:02, 18 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Bear in mind that individual vehicles do not necessarily stay on the same route travelling in the same direction all day: some change directions or routes as necessary to match fluctuating demands caused by the rush hour, school-bus duties and so on, and run as "Not in Service" when they need to return to appropriate locations and overnight depots outside of the timetabled services. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.78.31 (talk) 17:32, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Could this be as simple as it being faster to go in one direction (e.g. out of town) for the bus than it is to go in the other (e.g. into town). This could either be due to traffic flows making the route faster or even just average number of stops required due to passengers (given that buses don't stop at each stop unless there's someone there or tthey are a fair bit ahead of schedule). ny156uk (talk) 00:23, 19 October 2011 (UTC)


 * When I lived in Birmingham, I used to see buses going to Worlds End. I know now it's a suburb, but when I was 7 I thought that was where people went to die! I'm pleased to see this bus doesn't go there. --TammyMoet (talk) 07:40, 19 October 2011 (UTC)


 * In many places the morning rush-hour is more intense and shorter than the evening rush hour, because schools, businesses, etc all start at the same time, but schools get out earlier than most businesses, some people work later, etc. Therefore there may be a more frequent service in the "in-to-town" direction in the morning than on the "out-of-town" direction in the evening (because in the morning there are more people to move in a shorter period of time).  Just a guess. --Colapeninsula (talk) 09:54, 19 October 2011 (UTC)


 * That's called tidal flow and I already discounted that. And this is a circular route which doesn't go into town. Maybe the drivers are just superstitious doing stuff widdershins.--Shantavira|feed me 10:32, 20 October 2011 (UTC)


 * That wasn't what I said. What I said was that services in the morning may be more frequent than services in the evening regardless of direction.  Hence in the morning the route to work might be every 3 minutes and the route from work every 6 (from 8am till 9am), while in the evening, the route from work might be every 7 and the route to work every 9 (from 3pm till 6pm).  Even if the service isn't going into town, if it goes to an industrial estate or other big employer, and housing is not uniformly distributed along the route, you will get a similar effect at rush hours to that found on a route into a city. --Colapeninsula (talk) 12:59, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

International certifications
Please name some international certification like DTTF in any field (not only in tourism). Also please tell if there is any upper age limit in IATA DTTF --DinoXYZ (talk) 08:42, 18 October 2011 (UTC)
 * What country are you in? Ask whichever of these is nearest to you. Dualus (talk) 14:08, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

eating wild boar
When I walk around Town I often see menus outside Pubs and Restaurants saying "Wild Boar Sausages" or similar Dishes involving Wild Boar. My question is: As these signs are advertising Wild Boar, are these boars hunted in the wild and then made into Sausages, or are they formerly Wild and now Farmed Boar, and are they allowed to sell Wild Boar sausages if the Boar are not wild? Jeremy Wordsworth (talk) 12:46, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * The answer depends on the food labelling and advertising laws and regulations applicable to the place where you see these signs, but I would expect any food that is described as "wild" to really be so. Roger (talk) 12:57, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * I suspect that, in many countries, the description applies to the species, not to the method of husbandry. What size of wood determines whether the animals are farmed or wild?  Even the farmed ones can be extremely "wild" if cornered!    D b f i r s   13:17, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * (EC) I would take Wild boar to refer more to a type of animal (being some sort of Sus scrofa other then the domestic pig) then to it being a non captive animal. Our article mentions farming in the UK and other places. It's easy to find refs too, e.g. for the UK . As our article mentions, a wild boar isn't necessarily an adult male either. Although to be clear biologically it isn't a great term since as said it generally excludes the domestic pig, so is likely a paraphyletic grouping. Edit/EC with below: Note also per the article, a number of places including the UK only have any wild wild boar because of farming or other captive populations, and modern "wild boar" in some places are really just wild/feral domestic pigs. Nil Einne (talk)
 * Just an fyi, wild boar sausages are absolutely delicious-- Jac 16888 Talk 13:28, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Wild?Being made into sausages,I should think it would be positively livid! Lemon martini (talk) 14:22, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * This site may have the information you're looking for. --TammyMoet (talk) 15:30, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Are you sure that they don't actually say Boar's Head, referring to the brand Boar's Head ? This is a company that sells deli meats and sausages across the United States, and I see them on almost all deli windows.  This would make significantly more sense than wild boar sausages. TheGrimme (talk) 16:57, 18 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Though hopefully he'll answer for himself, the OP's use of the word "Pub" suggests that, like me, he is a denizen of the UK (I can't be arsed with geolocation). As others have said, Wild boar (in the genetic sense) are farmed in the UK and their meat products are widely available. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.78.31 (talk) 17:24, 18 October 2011 (UTC)
 * That does seem logical, but how does one 'farm' a wild boar? Aren't 'wild' and 'farmed' mutually exclusive? TheGrimme (talk) 19:52, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * It's just a confusing name for a species - Sus domestica is the domestic pig, and Sus scrofa is the "wild boar". In some interpretations they're subspecies - S. scrofa and ''S. scrofa domestica' - but the idea's the same.
 * "Wild" is part of the name rather than a descriptive adjective, and so you can have a (farmed (wild boar)), and a (feral (domestic pig)), and this is why scientific names are helpful :-). Shimgray | talk | 20:17, 18 October 2011 (UTC)


 * English Wild Boar from The Real Boar Company says of its "wild boar"; "Our Boar are ethically farmed in 20 acres of mixed woodland and grasses at the edge of the Cotswolds." On the "Our Boar" page;"Our boar are of Polish and German origin, they live in two family groups (known as sounders) with one boar per sounder."
 * Northumberland National Park's website says: "It seems likely that the original British wild boar population disappeared in the 13th Century" There you have it. Alansplodge (talk) 08:24, 19 October 2011 (UTC)