Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 December 11

= December 11 =

Former roads across the US/Canada border
Looking at Google Maps' images of the US-Canada border, there are a lot of places where there clearly used to be a road across the border (eg. Foxcroft Road/Woodlawn Road or Snow Road/Snow Settlement Road). When were these roads closed? --Carnildo (talk) 02:15, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Entirely speculation here, but I suspect that many of these roads were closed post 9/11. Many rural US-Canada border crossings were rather open and unguarded pre-9/11.  Even major crossings like the Ambassador Bridge were pretty easy to get across.  Usually a border agent stuck his head in your window and asked "Where ya headed" before just waving you through.  I used to drive across the Windsor-Niagara Falls section of southern Canada quite frequently on my drive from Chicago to New Hampshire, and other than checking my license and absentmindedly asking some simple questions, nothing ever happened.  Post 9/11 the world is VERY different, and border crossings have become much more restricted.  It is quite likely that many places like this have been shut down because the U.S. cannot provide the level of security they wish to.  -- Jayron  32  02:49, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Indeed, in many of these rural, out-of-the way crossings, there was no border officer on duty. There was either a remote link from which you talked to a border officer via phone, or nothing at all except a sign saying you had to report to the nearest border station at wherever after entering the other country's territory. It all depended on people collaborating willfully, as well as a willingness to turn the other way and not harass local residents who crossed the border regularly. This has largely ended post 9-11. Since it is too expensive to put a manned border crossing on all those little-traveled roads, the roads have simply been closed off, and a more circuitous route must be used to cross the border via a formal border crossing. --Xuxl (talk) 15:44, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Round town in the middle of the desert
It has a round layout. It's in the middle east somewhere in the middle of the desert. I think it's military. It was built within the last 30 years, I think. Does this sound familiar? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 03:17, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Shot in the dark. Are you sure it isn't the UTA Flight 772 memorial: .  -- Jayron  32  03:36, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
 * It's a town, not a giant white tylenol. :) Anna Frodesiak (talk) 05:58, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Maybe King Khalid Military City in Saudi Arabia (though it looks more octagonal than circular in layout)? Deor (talk) 16:03, 11 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes!!!! That's it!. Thank you sooo much! :) Anna Frodesiak (talk) 01:01, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

Determining network of mobile phone number
This site claims to be able to identify the network mobile numbers were originally assigned to based on OFCOM records. However, it also claims to be able to identify the 'actual' network a mobile number is currently registered with, even after number transfers and so on. Does this sound legit? What mechanisms might it use to be able to do this? --81.101.105.36 (talk) 12:47, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
 * I can't speak for that site, but I can tell you there are publicly available websites (in the US) that telephone company specialists use to check just such information when needed. μηδείς (talk) 00:19, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

The Name for a Fear of Risk
What is the name for a fear of risk? Examples of this could be:


 * An individual fearing to do something which would risk his or her life (such as joining the military).
 * A fertile biological male refusing to have any sex with a fertile biological female due to his fear of accidentally getting her pregnant.
 * An individual trying to avoid driving a car whenever possible in order to avoid accidentally causing a car accident and/or getting in legal trouble as a result of this.
 * Et cetera

I just saw an Wikipedia article for Atychiphobia, which is the fear of failure (I suppose that all of these things could be considered failures in a way). However, is there a better term for this specific fear? Thank you very much. Futurist110 (talk) 23:11, 11 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Risk aversion (psychology). Card Zero  (talk) 23:26, 11 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Note that a phobia isn't just a fear, but an unreasonable one. So, being afraid of joining the army and getting shot isn't a phobia, while a debilitating fear of butterflies is. StuRat (talk) 00:01, 12 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Well, it has to interfere with normal functioning (the article says significant interference in social or occupational activities). Whether joining the army is normal or not is debatable, which underlines the cultural aspect of phobias. It's certainly an "occupational activity", although the article also says (quoting the DSM) if a phobic stimulus ... is absent entirely in an environment — a diagnosis cannot be made. So I think "occupational" refers only to the person's own occupation, and I get the impression that a fear of being in the army counts as a phobia if you are likely to join or already in the army, unless it's not culturally normal for you to be there anyway (e.g. you were drafted and aren't keen), in which case you're just scared. Card Zero  (talk) 00:24, 12 December 2013 (UTC)


 * The third item could be a phobia. The first two shouldn't be. Those "fears" are simply common sense. As the Wizard said (or should have said) to the Lion, "You're confusing cowardice with wisdom". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 04:21, 12 December 2013 (UTC)