Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 August 28

= August 28 =

Notable People With Large #s of Children All With One Gender
Mitt Romney has five sons and no daughters. Are there any notable/famous people who can beat Romney's record for sons or the inverse of Romney's record (5 daughters, no sons)? The reason that I'm asking is that the odds of having 5 consecutive kids of one gender are 1 in 32, or about 3%. It's even less than that for 6 or more consecutive kids of one gender. Futurist110 (talk) 05:55, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Not famous, but my grandmother's sister had 9 boys and no girls. I can confirm that such events have happened in human history.  -- Jayron  32  06:04, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * You're assuming that the random variables giving the sex of each child are independent identically distributed random variables, and also that each sex has the same probability. Most likely neither of those assumptions is correct.  First, boys are generally slightly more likely than girls.  But in any case, the father may have a different ratio of androsperm to gynosperm than the general average, or the mother may favor one or the other (supposedly this is influenced by the acidity/alkalinity of her internal environment).  So the sex of the first child is going to give you a Bayesian update of the probability of each sex for the second child, and so on. --Trovatore (talk) 06:09, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Much more to the point, until comparatively recently having 9 children was reasonably common, and 1 in 512 is quite a high probability when compared to the average national population. Straightontillmorning (talk) 10:04, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * As I understand it, the assumption of i.i.d. births is pretty good (the main deviation is due to identical twins). --Tango (talk) 11:34, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I may not have expressed myself very precisely. I'm not really talking about the effect of having a boy/girl on the sex of later children, or of it being easier to have a daughter as the second child than the first child, or that sort of thing.  I'm suggesting that each couple has an unknown probability of having a boy, and that even assuming that the births are i.i.d. given that unknown parameter, having all babies the same sex might be more likely than you would calculate if the parameter were the same for all couples.  Do you know whether that question has been studied? --Trovatore (talk) 02:25, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * You also have to take into account that various methods of sex selection are common in some places - in parts of China, the male-to-female ratio of newborns is as high as 1.3. 81.98.43.107 (talk) 12:18, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Actually, it is 1/16, not 1/32. There is a 1/32 chance of having 5 boys and a 1/32 chance of having 5 girls, and 1/32+1/32=2/32=1/16. --Tango (talk) 11:34, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

My mother is the youngest of 5 daughters, and there were no brothers. My Dad also had a sister but no brothers. Consequently, all my aunts, uncles and cousins have surnames different from mine. Their loss. -- ♬  Jack of Oz  ♬  [your turn]  11:41, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Back to the original question, Sidney Poitier (6 daughters, no sons) would trump Mitt Romney's score. - Ka renjc 11:58, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you very much. Is there anyone notable with a higher "score" than Poitier or with a higher son "score" than Romney? Futurist110 (talk) 01:58, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Can't find anyone, although Donny Osmond (5 sons, no daughters) is neck-and-neck with Romney. - Ka renjc 09:06, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, he's notable by Wikipedia standards and has an article, so ... Ede Staal fathered six sons. -  Ka renjc 12:38, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

--M @ r ē ino 13:56, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * With a little searching, I've found:
 * Carelton Delbridge had eight daughters and a zoo full of other animals.
 * Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry had eight daughters, which meant his barony became extinct.
 * Frederick Louis, Count of Nassau-Ottweiler had the same situation, so his cousin inherited his land.
 * Sir Julian Goldsmid, 3rd Baronet; what's with these nobles having eight daughters?
 * John Richard Partelow had eight daughters, but happily practiced his politics in Canada.
 * Gene Dalton had eight daughters, and probably ran in the same circles as Romney: he was a Mormon and a Harvard Business School professor.

Joseph Goebbels. Count Iblis (talk) 16:16, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Nope. Goebbels had five daughters and one son.   Ka renjc 18:45, 29 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Oh, by the way, if you include mythology, I'm pretty sure that the all-time record holder would be the twin brothers Danaus and Aegyptus. Danaus sired 50 daughters and Aegyptus sired 50 sons, and then, because this is Ancient Greece we're dealing with, the daughters and sons all marry each other on the same day, and then 49 of the brides murder their husbands that night.  --M @ r ē ino 21:05, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * And here was me thinking Kardashian was an Armenian name. :)  --  ♬  Jack of Oz  ♬  [your turn]  04:30, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

Apple has over 10 billion dollars in cash
Where does all that money sit?

210.82.30.69 (talk) 06:13, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm sure they have numerous bank accounts. The details of which I'm equally sure you or I will never be privy to.  --  ♬  Jack of Oz  ♬  [your turn]  06:17, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Usually short-term holdings, see Cash and cash equivalents Royor (talk) 06:25, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, it's not in Steve Jobs' wallet. That only had $1 in it.  Dismas |(talk) 06:37, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * He obviously plays the wallet game Two envelopes problem. Dmcq (talk) 08:31, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * The most recent financial statements are here . Cash and cash equivalents at year end were $9,815m (page 44). Note 2 on page 55 gives a breakdown. --Viennese Waltz 08:45, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Based on the information provided by Viennese Waltz: Apple at September 24, 2011, had about $2.9 billion in "cash."  That probably means mostly demand deposit accounts (accounts providing immediate access to cash, such as checking accounts) at a large bank with which Apple has its primary banking relationship, plus a variety of other banks at locations around the world where Apple may need local banks.  Apple also had about $0.7 billion in certificates of deposit and time deposits, about $1.9 billion in money market funds, about $2.2 billion in commercial paper, and about $2.0 billion in other short-term securities.  John M Baker (talk) 14:09, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

Roy Salvardori, English racing driver.
Who was Roy Salvadori's first wife? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.20.117.49 (talk) 10:34, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * How sure are you that he had a wife before he married Sue Hindmarsh? This article claims they lived together in Monaco since the late 1960s. I've checked his obituaries and articles in the specialist press and can only find reference to Sue. --TammyMoet (talk) 11:32, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Trick q? Sue Hindmarsh was his first, last and only wife.  --  ♬  Jack of Oz  ♬  [your turn]  11:37, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * ...and it's Roy Salvadori in respect to the great man let's have his name right. Richard Avery (talk) 14:35, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * That's an interesting collection of words you have there, Richard. --  ♬  Jack of Oz  ♬  [your turn]  03:51, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

Quebec
In your article about Quebec it states that the official language is french. Although this may be accurate from a provincial perspective, Quebec is still a part of Canada and as such has English as an official language in the NATIONAL sense ! Is there any way to correct this, as last time I looked Quebec is still part of Canada. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.210.162.182 (talk) 15:27, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Quebec gives details about the status of French and English and includes an offical reference which says "French is the official language of Québec." If you refer to the infobox at the top right of the article then infoboxes give limited details but you can make suggestions at Talk:Quebec. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:46, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Canada is a federal country, like the United States and Australia, and as such, the subdivisions (provinces in Canada) have a form of limited sovereignty that, constitutionally, cannot be superceded by the Federal government. In other words, Canadian Federal Law does not automatically supercede provincial law.  The official languages of Canada are both English and French, while the official language of Quebec is solely French; this is not contradictory because Quebec has its own form of sovereignty and is free to declare its own official languages that it uses, for example, on official documentation and is not necessarily bound by the laws that govern what the Canadian Federal government does.  See Canadian federalism.  It is worth noting that education is the sole jurisdiction of the Provinces, thus, per se, Quebec can decide not to make English education mandatory in its public schools even if it is an official language in Canada (in practice, many Quebecois learn both French and English and are functionally bilingual).  It is also worth noting that Quebec in some places in the Canadian constitution is given special consideration distinct from other provinces.  -- Jayron  32  16:49, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm repeating what the above say, but basically the official languages are the ones that are guaranteed for equal use and access by the level of government that makes the declaration. Federally, that means all nationally provided services much be offered in French and in English (but not necessarily limited to them).  In Quebec it means that for provincial services only French is guaranteed.  Other provinces may or may not have made similar declarations.  New Brunswick is the only provincial level that has French and English.  AS far as I can tell, British Columbia for example hasn't declared an official language, though English is defacto the main language of government. Mingmingla (talk) 21:12, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I've traveled in Quebec and will tell you that outside Montreal, there are many, many Quebecers who do not speak English beyond a few words learned in school. I was in Chicoutimi and Rimouski and found this is true even for young people.  I don't know what their parents are thinking, because in my opinion, it limits what they can do as adults.--Wehwalt (talk) 21:31, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Switch the languages around, and that is true for virtually everyone in the rest of Canada too. Adam Bishop (talk) 07:25, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Quebec likes to declare itself officially francophone, and quite a lot of people like to complain that Quebec is officially francophone, but (I lived there and I know that) in fact Quebec government services are generally and helpfully available in both French and English.  Tom Haythornthwaite 22:55, 30 August 2012 (UTC)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hayttom (talk • contribs)
 * Maybe so, but they aren't required to be. That's all the law is stating.  It doesn't preclude services in other languages; it just doesn't guarantee them. Mingmingla (talk) 00:00, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

How do I dial this UK number from the US?
I want to dial 01803 31xxxx from the United States. Google is telling me to maybe drop the 0 after the country code, so I dial 011 44 1803 31xxxx. However, neither 011 44 1803 31xxxx nor 011 44 01803 31xxxx get me anywhere (I get a beeping noise, possibly signifying that the number is disconnected?). What's the basic process for dialing such a number? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.3.192.2 (talk) 21:08, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * The first way you're dialling is correct. The area code locates to Torquay, btw. This page has samples of the different tones the UK's phone system can make - engaged (busy) is broken beep, out of services is a solid beep. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 21:44, 28 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I found this site which confirms Finlay's correct. Looks a cool site to me! --TammyMoet (talk) 08:09, 29 August 2012 (UTC)