Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 April 2

= April 2 =

South Seas Community Silverware 1955 history
My mother gave me her set of the above silverware. I believe it is made by Oneida. Can you provide historical background on this, how sold (SETS, PROMOS, ETC.), where sold,  etc? Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.60.27.136 (talk) 01:02, 2 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Oneida Limited is the company, and they have fascinating history, going back to the religious commune, the Oneida Community (1848-1878). The last surviving member of that community died in 1950, though, a few years before your silverware was made. StuRat (talk) 02:14, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Getting to Kuressaare, Estonia
I am going to Kuressaare, Saaremaa, Estonia, in late July. I can easily get to Tallinn, Harjumaa on my own, but how can I get from there to Kuressaare and back? What is the fastest and cheapest way? I'd preferably avoid flying. I know there's an airport in Tallinn, as I have visited it, but I don't know if there's an airport anywhere in Saaremaa. Are there buses or trains from Tallinn to Kuressaare? J I P &#124; Talk 19:09, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
 * There are buses but no trains. See this site or this site for bus information. There is also commercial service from Talinn to Kuressaare Airport. Marco polo (talk) 19:35, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
 * OK, thanks! I have to be in Kuressaare before 7 PM. If it was only Viking XPRS available, I'd never make it from Helsinki to Kuressaare on the same day. But luckily in the summer, Viking Isabella will be temporarily going from Helsinki to Tallinn, with a different schedule. I just have to show up at the Katajanokka harbour before 8 AM, and I have plenty of time to get to Kuressaare, even to have lunch in Tallinn in the meantime. On the way back, I will have to take the Viking XPRS, which is both smaller and faster than the Viking Isabella. J I P  &#124; Talk 18:50, 4 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, I can't, because the Isabella has been sold to another company. I'll have to find some other ship, or possibly arrive in Tallinn the day before. J I P  &#124; Talk 15:20, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Pass a Drug Test
I have a drug test in a week and I stopped smoking 30 days ago to date. I smoked around 5 times a day for 6 months. Will I pass? It is in a lab too.

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.21.198.169 (talk) 19:30, 2 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Depends on what you were smoking and what kind of test they give you. There is a handy table here: Drug_testing that suggests that urine tests can pick up Benzodiazepines for 4 to 6 weeks, Cannabis 30 days later (but only if you have high body fat), Methadone and Steroids 30 days later.  However, if they are testing your hair, then they can pretty much detect everything out to 90 days - or even longer if they use slow-growing body hair rather than head hair.  Blood tests only work for a few days.  So I guess you're probably going to be in the clear if they do a blood or urine test - but not if they do a hair sample test.  Hair testing is still relatively rare - except in high-responsibility jobs and in the legal system. SteveBaker (talk) 19:45, 2 April 2013 (UTC)


 * What part of we cannot diagnose, prognose, or advise is difficult? μηδείς (talk) 20:00, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Nothing - but since I was not diagnosing, prognosing or advising about a medical condition, I don't see a problem here. Please take this to the talk page if you cannot agree. SteveBaker (talk) 20:30, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Ridiculous, disruptive hatting. Not only has Stevebaker not made a diagnosis or prescribed a course of treatment, the question isn't even asking him to do so! APL (talk) 04:46, 3 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Listen, questioner: No Wikipedia reader is qualified to answer your question "Will I pass?" unless they personally examine you. If you want to know, you need to see a doctor. Any other advice here is going to be bogus AND against the rules. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 05:52, 3 April 2013 (UTC)


 * No question can ever be answered with absolute certainty. "Will the sun rise tomorrow?" is not answerable with 100% certainty.  I'm fairly sure that every single one of Bug's answers (and those of every other editor over the entire history of the reference desk) have at least some small probability of being incorrect...but that doesn't make them useless or deny their validity as answers on a reference desk.  As you'll see if you carefully read my earlier answer, I didn't express any certainty.  (I said: "So I guess you're probably going to be in the clear..."..."guess" and "probably" are key words there!)  Also, this is a "Reference Desk" - implying that we present you with references which you should ideally use to decide for yourself.  Our article on the subject (which I carefully linked to) provides you with useful information that "suggests that" you'll probably be OK if they don't do a hair test - and that you probably won't be OK if they do.  I am certainly not qualified to answer your question and I freely admit that I had absolutely no idea what the answer was until I read the Drug test article myself just two minutes before I started to type my answer here.  But that article (and the references it contains to what the company who makes the drug testing kits actually claims) are reasonable estimates of what the test will say about you - and that's likely to be the best information you can expect to get without actually taking the test.  You could certainly turn out be some kind of statistical anomaly that refutes what the article says - but then the sun might not rise tomorrow.  SteveBaker (talk) 13:50, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * The OP should bear in mind that if we tell him he'll pass the test, and he fails the test, then he can't come to us and gripe about it. Hey! He messed up! He trusted anonymous internet users! ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:53, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Have we told him he'll pass the test? I don't see it. I see a very carefully qualified statement with references to how these tests work and what their advertised capabilities are. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:48, 4 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Firstly: I'm not an "anonymous internet user" - my name really is "Steve Baker" (well, actually "Stephen" - but only my mother calls me that!) - and you can find out all about me on my user page - which includes links to my web site, my personal email address, to the company where I work, etc.
 * Secondly: Our OP can (and should) read the article that I mentioned - and follow the link to the web site of the manufacturer of the test kit - which clearly states that the blood and urine tests don't work after 30 days - but the hair test might. It's not me you have to trust - it's the manufacturer of the test kits.  I can't imagine that they'd understate the effectiveness of their test - but it's possible I suppose.  It is very safe to say that you'll probably be OK...and that's what I said. SteveBaker (talk) 17:05, 4 April 2013 (UTC)
 * "Our OP" is in fact a one-shot, and was probably trolling to see how far he could get some users to violate the rules against medical advice. And he succeeded. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:36, 4 April 2013 (UTC)


 * THC, the most commonly illicit drug smoked, accumulates in body fat and because of this, according to the Mayo lab, you may not pass a urine test. --Modocc (talk) 12:07, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Vandalism on Wikipedia
Hello, I'm a new editor, and I want to help guard Wikipedia's integrity by defeating vandalism! How do I do it? What tools can I use? I'd appreciate any help a Wiki veteran would have to offer! Regards, --TheresAStormComingBuddy (talk) 20:32, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Vigilance is key. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:12, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
 * At the top of each page there should be a little star. Click that on ever page you want to monitor, and it'll put it on your watchlist. Then click "Watchlist" and it'll show all the changes made to the pages you're monitoring. If any of the edits are vandalism, you can revert them. --Nicknack009 (talk) 22:43, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
 * What little star, Nicknack? I don't have any little stars on my pages, apart from featured articles.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  00:39, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * The default Vector skin has a star on the watch tab. See Help:Watching pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:34, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks, but that's really confusing. Nowhere does it say that the set up applies only in Vector skin (which is not the skin I'm using).  On my screen I have a star up there, but it's a feature of Google Chrome, nothing to do with Wikipedia.  Clicking on it adds the site (and obviously not just Wikipedia articles but any website) to my bookmarks, but it certainly does not add it to my WP Watchlist.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  07:31, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * I think the assumption would be that anyone who's worked out how to change the skin would understand how to watchlist pages already. --Dweller (talk) 09:01, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * I am completely fluent in managing a watchlist, and am completely fluent in switching between skins. My issue is that set of instructions, which assumes as true a number of things that may not be true, as I've just demonstrated.  It's only the newbies who'd generally ever need to read that page, and they're exactly the people who'd be as perplexed as I was, if they've chosen a non-default skin.  Maybe the writers are banking on not many newbies changing their skin. They should not be making such an assumption.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  11:32, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * You can join the Counter-Vandalism Unit. Clarityfiend (talk) 00:16, 3 April 2013 (UTC)


 * The easiest way to reduce vandalism is to stop doing it. (OP is blocked for sock-puppetry, including vandalism with other accounts.) Looie496 (talk) 15:59, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Criminals sometimes learn tricks from police officers. The original question was suspect.  Hasty replies can be regretted.
 * —Wavelength (talk) 16:17, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Are there a couple of sockpuppet questions lower down this page? (My only reason for asking is a similarity in style.)    D b f i r s   19:28, 4 April 2013 (UTC)