Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 October 2

= October 2 =

Underlined words on the homepage (and elsewhere) leading to ads
What's with Wikipedia? Is it becoming so desparate that it has to rely on ads? Tonight I noticed words on the main page underlined. When I hovered the cursor over the word, it showed a link to an ad. Is this a new feature if is Wikipedia being "attacked?" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.250.103.117 (talk) 04:30, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * No, its your computer. The "underlined words leading to ads" thing usually means you have some sort of spamware/spyware/malware installed on your computer that is doing it.  You should probably get it checked out.  -- Jayron  32  04:35, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

Oh, crap! Just my luck. I noticed the same thing on other websites I visited tonight. Thanks for the heads up. 99.250.103.117 (talk) 04:42, 2 October 2012 (UTC) i like "spyware search and destroy". and may be able to confirm the presence of malware by booting in safe mode, and them going to Wikipedia. 70.114.254.43 (talk) 04:48, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I occasionally get laptops brought to me at work that are exhibiting this behavior. (not my job to support them but oh well)  It's often caused by a add-on in Firefox (my company's default browser) and disabling the add-on stops it.  I've forgotten the name of the add-on that I see but just look for anything that looks suspect.  Dismas |(talk) 05:10, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Try running each of CCleaner, Advanced SystemCare, Wise Disk Cleaner, SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 05:37, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * See WP:RFAQ. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:28, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

oil lamp
1: can i put gasoline or rubbing alcohol in an oil lamp? if not, why not?

2: if answer to 1 is no, then does a gasoline lamp exist?

3: can i use any oil in one?

4: can i get oil meant specifically for one that is does not cause cancer or birth defects?

5: does some of the oil really cause cancer?

6: how can i make one more resistant to: wind, rain, and breaking of the glass?

7: can to much smoke and soot damage the lamp?

thank you, 70.114.254.43 (talk) 04:36, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * 1) No, this sounds dangerous. Alcohol and gasoline, being more volatile, can combust more easily without a wick.  This allows for escaping vapors to explode if they reach the proper proportion in the air, and then encounter the flame.  This might happen when you first light it, for example.  Rubbing alcohol also makes a dim blue flame, not giving off much light and easy to miss in daylight, so both ineffective at lighting and dangerous.  StuRat (talk) 05:00, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * 2) It would need to be completely sealed when not in use, to prevent vapors from escaping. Coleman apparently made some of these. StuRat (talk) 05:02, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * 3) Well, some oils will work better than others. Some will create lots of soot, for example. StuRat (talk) 05:03, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * 4&5) You can get oils that don't cause those problems when unburnt, yes. However, if you inhale enough soot, that's going to increase your risks of lung cancer, no matter what oil produced it.  Soot is most commonly produced when the lamp was just turned on or off and the temperature is just below that needed for complete combustion.  Lighting it outside, and waiting 'til it burns clean to bring it inside, then taking it back outside when you turn it off, would reduce your exposure significantly. StuRat (talk) 05:06, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * 6) A Coleman lantern does a decent job of this, as they are designed to be used when camping, in wind, rain, etc. StuRat (talk) 05:13, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * 7) Not so much damage it as make it useless. If the glass is covered with a layer of soot, it won't give off much light. StuRat (talk) 05:11, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I should also comment that, while using fuel to provide light was mostly obsolete since the spread of electricity, recent improvements in electrical lighting, like LED flashlights, is making this usage even more obsolete, considering the inherent risk of lamps using flammable liquids. You may now be able to get more total light from a battery-powered flashlight than the same weight of fuel plus lantern.  However, if you want the oil lamp to provide heat, that's a place where it still beats batteries. StuRat (talk) 05:23, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * There's the Argand lamp, the clockwork Carcel lamp, and the kerosene lamp. Whale oil was once popular, then colza oil, then kerosene. I'm confident that you can use colza oil (vegetable oil closely allied to that used in cooking) in the Argand lamp and the Carcel lamp, and I'm willing to guess that kerosene (aka paraffin) might be suitable for use in a kerosene lamp, but I'm unsure about other combinations. Card Zero  (talk) 16:55, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I've never heard of colza oil before - it definitely appears to be the same as Canola oil, and arguably the same as Rapeseed oil - time for an article merge, perhaps? AlexTiefling (talk) 16:58, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * That link at the bottom of the article to toxic oil syndrome might be important. I'm guessing that there's a lamp oil variety (OK, "industrial", unlikely to be for lighting) and a cooking oil variety, and the cooking variety might work reasonably well in lamps but the lamp kind definitely isn't good for eating, unless you enjoy lung diseases. Card Zero  (talk) 17:27, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

on number 7, can you wipe the soot off easily? 70.114.254.43 (talk) 07:06, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * It may be oily and therefore require detergent to remove. StuRat (talk) 07:12, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Usually, the soot burns off once the lamp reaches the best heat/light ratio. Bielle (talk) 17:32, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Burns off what, the wick ? I was talking abut the inside of the glass. StuRat (talk) 17:46, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Soot is basically evaporated (rather than burned) carbon deposits, i.e. chemically the same stuff as coal. Once the correct oxygen ratio is achieved, soot will burn as well as any other carbon fuel, as anyone who has ever had a creosote chimney fire will attest to.  That is, you can burn soot off easier than you can clean it off something like glass.  -- Jayron  32  21:30, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm skeptical that the inside of the glass would reach combustion temperature. StuRat (talk) 21:34, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * It will with a little help. -- Jayron  32  21:35, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * No need to be skeptical; I've done it. It has been a few years, but I recall the lamp chimneys getting all sooted up as the wick burned high. Turn the wick down carefully and the lower flame can be used to burn off the soot from the chimney, though not perfectly. The chimney still have to be cleaned, but it can be used in the meantime. Our article on kerosene lamps speaks to this very point: "Like flat- and round-wick lamps, they can be adjusted for brightness; if set too high the lamp chimney and the mantle become covered with soot. A lamp set too high will burn off its soot harmlessly if quickly turned down, but if not caught soon enough a "runaway lamp" condition can result." I've had three "run-aways" at the same time in a wooden cottage on an island in the north woods of Quebec; scary moments getting them all smoothly under control. You have to pay attention while they are burning.  I also clean the soot off the glass front of my wood stove by bringing the logs forward and letting the flames burn off the black. It works for some of the soot. Bielle (talk) 21:44, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I've inherited several kerosene and oil lamps, which I've never used. You've convinced me to stick with flashlights. StuRat (talk) 23:29, 2 October 2012 (UTC)


 * They are useful when all the batteries are dead. That doesn't happen as often as it used to. The last time anyone in the family used oil lamps was for 11 days after the 1988 Quebec Ice Storm. They were very important, along with a wood-burning fireplace big enough to hold a grill. You do have to watch the lamps all the time, though, and never leave them in a room unattended. Bielle (talk) 00:05, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * During the Northeast blackout of 2003 I used candles, but not the kerosene or oil lamps. Ironically, I put the tops from my hurricane lamps over the candles, to make them safer: . StuRat (talk) 04:01, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Heh, during one blackout (during heavy snow) I made do with some old adulterated olive oil, a match, and a soda bottle cap in a small bowl. But eventually I solubilized the soda bottle cap... Wnt (talk) 03:00, 6 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I bet the smell of olive oil made you hungry. :-) StuRat (talk) 19:22, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Child of the Earth
Is a child of the earth an insect or spider? I don't want to look it up because I've been told they look pretty disturbing. Thanks. 67.42.60.175 (talk) 21:42, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Insect. Jerusalem cricket. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 > haneʼ 21:43, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks, are they called Jerusalem crickets? How bad are they? Should I click that link? 67.42.60.175 (talk) 21:46, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Looks like a reddish grasshopper. Is in fact related to grasshoppers. The head is a bit bigger. Choyoołʼįįhí:Seb az86556 > haneʼ 21:48, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Alright thanks, I'd heard that they look like fetuses and that they make a crying noise.67.0.185.43 (talk) 22:29, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, it looks more like a cricket, and it makes cricket noises. -- Jayron  32  22:58, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * They look like any human fetus that might have six legs, antennae, and stripes on its abdomen. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:01, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Are you sure? I'd been told they look like a fetus with scorpion claws and that they cry like a baby.67.0.185.43 (talk) 23:08, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Wow, that's completly different than I thought. I've even caught some of those things. Are there other insects known as children of the earth though? I've had multiple people describe them as I did.67.0.185.43 (talk) 23:25, 2 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Some folks have overactive imaginations. The only bug I've seen to cry in a human voice was in the original version of The Fly. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:23, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Googling the subject suggests there's an arachnid of some kind that's sometimes called by that name. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:29, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I've seen some pictures of camel spiders which resemble, in coloration, giant Jerusalem crickets. Now, those are critters you wouldn't want to wake up next to after a night of heavy drinking... -- Jayron  32  03:28, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * But solifuges aren't anywhere close to jerusalem crickets taxonomically, and neither is in anyway a threat to humans. μηδείς (talk) 03:33, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Of course not on both counts. That doesn't mean that someone wouldn't confuse one with the other if they had a similar appearance.  -- Jayron  32  03:34, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I have posted a pic of the latter. Neither looks like a starfish, a clam, or a bluejay. μηδείς (talk) 03:39, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, you've posted a pic of one. That's sorta like posting a picture of a Lemur and claiming that it looks nothing like a Gorilla, despite both being primates.  this search turns up several examples which, based on coloration and shape, could be mistaken for Jerusalem crickets, including this guy and this one too.  -- Jayron  32  03:45, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't know, Jay. They still look distinct to me, but I guess "degree of similarity" is a personal opinion. One of my friends tried to raise a couple of these fellas he found outside, one of each gender. They chowed down galleria larvae quite happily (it was kind of shocking, actually, how quickly they could devour them whole). But they never did mate, and the male never sang that I heard. Someguy1221 (talk) 08:24, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I guess I can kind of see the child-face resemblance in photos like this, but it still strikes me as kind of a stretch. Give it a nose and it has a passing relationship with a skull, but just in passing. --Mr.98 (talk) 12:54, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, that's not nearly as good as these pics from the Theridion grallator. -- Jayron  32  13:18, 3 October 2012 (UTC)