Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 October 26

= October 26 =

HELP
I was disconnected when I sought the following help:

joined #wikipedia-en-help [02:05] <+Helpmebot> Hello kbd, welcome to #wikipedia-en-help! Please type your question about editing Wikipedia below and press Enter. A helper should be with you shortly. If your question is about a particular page please make sure your question includes the URL or name of the page in question. [02:06] My goal is to add the following:  The genus fascism includes nazism, the German political ideology during WWII which produced the holocaust. Planet earth has thus come to know fascism as the essence of that ideology: arbitrary elitism. Your suggestions please. [02:09] There are two pages involved, Fascism and Nazism — Precedingunsigned comment added by 208.126.234.167 (talk) 07:27, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * You'd need a reliable source which supported your claim. And I've got to say, our Fascism page, which I keep an eye on, is a constant battleground of people trying to promote different political points of view about the movement. I'm not sure that a short, reductionist statement like yours would last long even with a source. AlexTiefling (talk) 09:18, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * It sounds like you have a mission to preach your ideas to people rather than to summarize what is in WP:reliable sources with due WP:WEIGHT and supplyWP:citations. Please see WP:5P for what Wikipedia editing is about. Dmcq (talk) 09:49, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

Authority for genus, in fact for the entire first sentence, is Wikipedia's page on Nazism. Uber alles, master race, and the notion one race has a right to exterminate another race are penultimate elitism. Would you quibble for a moment that the holocaust is the icon for WWII? Do you deny that the current WP fascism page serves more to obfuscate than elucidate? Do you deny that simplicity is the essence of perfection? I respectfully suggest failing, or refusing, as the case may be, to expose fascism for exactly what it is, is a crime against humanity. You will find formal definitions of fascism as "arbitrary elitism" on the PonyTail Institute for Change website (www.pi4c.com)in the Defacto Facism section and the Daily Message for August 2, 1999 and is referred to over and over again throughout the Daily messages. I was shot through the head, at least in part, because of those writings. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.126.234.167 (talk) 17:16, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * What we think has no bearing on the text of Wikipedia articles, so asking us for our feelings or thoughts is irrelevent. What do the preponderance of reliable sources have to say on the subject?  -- Jayron  32  17:32, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia cannot itself be used as a source for material on Wikipedia, for obvious reasons. Those sources that you have linked to on the web do not appear to be reliable. We already have extensive material about the political nature of fascism and nazism, their empowerment of elite groups, and their role in crimes against humanity. What, apart from a platform for your own idiosyncratic interpretation of these points, do you think is lacking?AlexTiefling (talk) 00:16, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

-- "Lacking" begs the point. The definitions as they now stand, for purposes of encyclopedic statements, are totally useless. They obfuscate rather than elucidate. The "unreliable" information "linked to" makes the point that WWII did not put an end to "crimes against humanity fascism", that such elitism has morphed into world fascism. It also makes the point that the tragedy of WWII is that people associate fascism/nazism with a lunatic with a funny mustache. The world must know, and appreciate the dangers of, world fascism. And yes I know, and appreciate, that those two sentences make it clear that WWII was in a significant way a fuss between their fascists and our fascists. It is time to big boys and big girls. The next "fuss" will be nuclear. My vote is to make all the material other than the two sentences footnotes. --

Nazism isn’t fascism; -- species of the genus, my friend, read Wiki's page on Fascism  (also note the paragraph above which was added yesterday but somehow or other got lost in the shuffle)  --  rather, it is a version, a sub-set or one possible consequence of fascism. There are others, for example Chiang Kai-shek’s pre-1949 Nationalist Party, that did not involve a master race, racial extermination or other characteristics cited above. DOR (HK) (talk) 06:22, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

TOEFT iBT score reporting help
My test is on Sunday 1000 hrs. It is 1720 hrs. on Friday right now at my place. TOEFL guidelines clearly mention that I can add up to four universities for free score reporting no later than 10:00 PM local test center time, the day before my test. However, when I start to add institutions, it starts asking me the fee 18 US dollars per university, for score reporting. Am I doing something wrong here, because right now, it shouldn't be asking me the money for those four universities? Please help me. Thanks - 202.3.77.11 (talk) 11:57, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Ok, got it. I was clicking at the wrong place. This problem can be marked as resolved. - 115.248.114.51 (talk) 12:45, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

origin of the term "rag a muffin"
How, where did then term originate and what exactly does it mean? — Precedingunsigned comment added by 207.70.5.25 (talk) 15:11, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * See here. -- Jayron  32  15:21, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

Hand Accuracy.
Hi, I'm a competitive gamer and i experience on rare occasions some days where my mouse/hand accuracy is completly shot, i have to use repeated attempts to click on even the most simple things, its usually gone the next day but has anyone ever heard of this before or what reason for it there can be?Joneleth (talk) 22:07, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Early signs of RSI perhaps? HiLo48 (talk) 22:12, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * [Having written that, it made me think. Does it make this a (no doubt unintended) request for medical advice?] HiLo48 (talk) 22:15, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes. Even if not asking "How do I fix it?", a question that seeks to identify a condition that would be treated by a relevant health professional is effectively seeking medical advice.  It's not bad to ask such a question, but it would be bad for us to diagnose or offer treatment ideas other than "See a doctor".  It may well be incipient RSI.  Or it may not.  Only a doctor would know.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  22:22, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Yep. Joneleth, go see a doctor. (But read the RSI article anyway. Gamers should know that stuff.) HiLo48 (talk) 22:32, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I agree that you should see a doctor to ensure that there's no underlying medical condition. But, once you get the all-clear from him, you might want to look at what you eat and drink.  There are things like caffeine and sugar, which can make you "jittery", and thus limit your ability to hold your hand still.  I imagine in jobs where avoiding a shaky hand is critical, like a sniper of neurosurgeon, they know more about what foods to avoid for optimal performance.  StuRat (talk) 22:33, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Just speaking from personal experience I have used computers that were almost impossible to move the cursor the way I wanted, partly because of mouse problems.Apteva (talk) 22:38, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

I have no idea if its a medical condition or just a common occurance for everyone, regardless as a visit to the doctor costs money and it really doesnt affect me that much, I was just curious as to what it might be. Reading about RSI seems like it would be painful, what im experiencing has no pain associated with it what so ever. Joneleth (talk) 22:38, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * See Compensatory tracking task. By the way, it has come to my attention that the inventor of the mouse may be a frequent contributor to WP today.Apteva (talk) 22:46, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I wonder what he thinks about the fact that the big current technology event, Windows 8, is moving us away from the mouse? (And where does that take gaming?) HiLo48 (talk) 22:59, 26 October 2012 (UTC)


 * (WP:OR): In a completely non-medical vein: ask yourself "when are my best games/scores/achievements occurring"? For me, in any type of game, I never do my best after days of regular play. Instead, all my high scores come after I've taken a few days off, but before I've spent much time too on it again. Speaking of which, I'm going to go play spelunky :) Also, you might be interested in reading about fatigue. SemanticMantis (talk) 00:27, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

Salmond scottish?
is the surname salmond scottish and if not where does it originate from and if there is no answer to these two questions is it a made up name? — Preceding unsigned comment added by90.202.146.81 (talk) 22:34, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Read this. It is a variation of the Hebrew name "Solomon"; and probably came back to Europe as a result of the Crusades.  The specific spelling you give is attested but of unknown origin and has been known in the British Isles, in various spellings, since 1212.  This page from the 1881 UK census indicates that the name was much more prominent in Scotland than England: In that census there are only 2 counties among the top ten that are English (London and Yorkshire) and the rest are Scotland.  -- Jayron  32  23:12, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

The First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmondhas the surname Salmond.Yvonnara 18:43, 31 October 2012