Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 November 6

= November 6 =

Is there a record for most edits to an article by a single user?
If so, I think someone may have bested it. Dismas |(talk) 03:58, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * The hat isn't necessary. I'm legitimately curious. Dismas |(talk) 04:59, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Your question is set up to highlight the actions of one user. That has nothing to do with published sources, and it's not proper treatment of a fellow editor--take this up with the help desk. Next step here goes to ANI μηδείς (talk) 05:08, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Stop reading into it. I'm legitimately curious. And I've edited my question since you seem to be as uptight as usual about it as it was. So, now it's completely answerable and I'm not using a current example. Dismas |(talk) 05:17, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * You've done the right thing, and I do hope addressing that concern wasn't as painful for you as you make it sound. Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 16:31, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Not as painful as it must be for people in your real world life when having to put up with your self righteous attitude on a daily basis. Dismas |(talk) 19:24, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I think that I can top the excised example, just to get things rolling. I've edited Casablanca (film) quite a few times. Wikichecker doesn't seem to utilize the full history now, so I can't figure out my current tally, but 525 is the target to shoot for (if I counted correctly); at one point I had as many edits as the next three most frequent contributors combined. Clarityfiend (talk) 08:25, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * The most that I'm aware of is 1561 at Ganesha, though 1000+ edits were so easy to find (see 1222 at Autism, 1162 at Intelligent design, 1038 and 1031 at India) that I doubt even that is the actual record. Abecedare (talk) 12:26, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * 3342 at Michael Jackson... 88.148.249.186 (talk) 17:40, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * "I Just Can't Stop Edit'ng You"? Clarityfiend (talk) 08:41, 7 November 2013 (UTC)

Thank you to those who answered the question. I guess I should better acquaint myself with the tool server. Part of what I found interesting about my example was the dedication to a single article on such a minor topic (I don't mean to dehumanize the subject of that article, so please don't read it that way) when compared to other articles on much weightier subjects like the big bang theory, religion, or humanity. Dismas |(talk) 19:51, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * You have yet to mention which article and editor you are referring to. Which makes it difficult to assess whether any of the examples mentioned so far beats the one you have discovered. --Saddhiyama (talk) 21:08, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Dismas was referring to this article, whose recent editing history may well have set a record in a more specialized category (fastest to reach 500?...). Abecedare (talk) 21:47, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * The highest number of edits by a single user to an article that I've ever found is List of United States political families (9,714)! I think I found it through the list of pages with the most revisions. Graham 87 12:55, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

Literal noise on TV
I'm watching a standard definition broadcast on a hotel TV. Everything there is a graphic (non-linear action) on the screen, there is a crackly noise. The picture isn't perfect; there is some visual noise as well. I've noticed this in the past on other TVs too. Why might this be? Mingmingla (talk) 04:53, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Are you talking about a standard crawl line like on CNN or ESPN? Or are you talking about something overlaid by the local station? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 10:19, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Things like the crawl line, or the text on a commercial.  I noticed later that it's usually when the colour of the graphic is bright whites, yellows, etc. Mingmingla (talk) 15:53, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * I recall something vaguely from years ago, that in some situations a superimposed set of text (maybe especially on an older or cheap TV) can essentially "overmodulate" and you get this buzzing sound. I remember that too - from years ago on an old TV. I'm hard pressed to provide anything more detailed. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:02, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * I've noticed it before as well. The signal (in the US) will be encoded in NTSC. It mentions that the audio carrier wave is in a higher band than the video carrier, but certain non-linear distortions can cause the beat pattern between them to create visual noise. I suspect that something similar can happen to cause audio problems. The signals will be designed not to cause interference at the frequency the scan lines are drawn, because there will be an obvious periodic component there that can be designed around. However, scrolling text would skew the frequency of this component, possibly causing interference. Hopefully someone here has real knowledge of the systems or good references to explain it. It is definitely an interesting problem. K ati e R  (talk) 16:11, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

Woman's clothing question
This image depicts a lady in cosplay (she's portraying Empress Augusta Vradica from Trinity Blood). I am curious to know if that hat (crown?) shes wearing has a proper name, and if so, what that name is and whether or not there is an article for it here. TomStar81 (Talk) 08:30, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I would just call it a headdress ("an ornamental covering for the head").--Shantavira|feed me 08:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure if there is a name for it (I looked about, didn't see any specific mention). Given the religious references in the show, it could be a highly stylized take on a Mitre. Looking at the pictures on Cornette and Kokoshnik (specifically see Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia)), there are some similarities, though, those are a bit more tame. But like I said, I'm guessing they just built up and stylized an impression of various forms of headwear. If you want to dig, we have: and List of headgear.Phoenixia1177 (talk) 10:06, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * It looks like a very eloborate wimple to me. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 18:26, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Any one of these answers could be considered correct, although my thirst for knowledge demands a better answer so I am more than likely going to take up Phoenixia's offer to dig. :) Thanks for the replies all, I do appreciate it, and I feel a little bit better that no one else here seems to definitively know what the head cover is either. TomStar81 (Talk) 21:44, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

How much overlap between theater and film industry
How many actors, directors and others (make-up artists for example) are able to work in both fields? How much difference is there between working in one or the other (in the same profession)? I wonder if these "theatrical" quality of theater actors can be performed by film actors, and if theater directors would be totally lost when it comes down to photography. OsmanRF34 (talk) 13:58, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Many screen actors start in high school/local/community theater and a good number go back and do live theater at least occassionally. Some see it as proving their chops. Dr Who (and his companions) have done Shakespeare in London. Jean Luc Picard and Gandalf have performed live theater together. Mary Poppins was My Fair Lady and Guinevere on stage (as well as Victor and Victoria). Harry Potter was recently a businessman, a cripple, and a horse lover. A major difference between the two formats is that theater is live - no cuts, no second takes, far more practices to get it perfect and more performances to get through. But rarely any close ups in theater. Different makeup techniques are required as theater usually uses thicker, brighter makeup to overcome the stage lighting but I don't imagine makeup artists would have any trouble adapting. If you can do a green alien, you can do a theater farm girl. Can't say much about directing but remember directors have lighting people and cinematographers, etc. so they may not be as expert as you might think. Rmhermen (talk) 18:15, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Many theatre directors also work as film directors. For example Peter Hall (director), Richard Eyre, Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, Mike Leigh, Trevor Nunn, Sam Mendes - and they're just the English directors that I have heard of.  Astronaut (talk) 19:56, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

Algerian cuisine
Is there a website that shows typical dishes in Algeria? thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.53.231.90 (talk) 18:22, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Algerian cuisine might be a good starting point. Tevildo (talk) 21:11, 6 November 2013 (UTC)