Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 May 10

= May 10 =

Coca-Cola
I have been looking through Coca-Cola's history, but I cannot seem to find information when it entered a specific country's market. I know it opened a bottling facility in Qatar in 2016.

I want to know when it began selling in Qatar's market?73.151.208.13 (talk) 02:59, 10 May 2020 (UTC)


 * The current distributor of Coca-Cola in Qatar is Coca-Cola Almana, a subsidiary of the Almana Group. According to a press release of theirs, that division was started in 1986. But it's possible it was distributed there by someone else before that. Contacting Coca-Cola Almana and asking might be a good option if no one here can find you a more definitive source. -Elmer Clark (talk) 18:14, 10 May 2020 (UTC)

Faster coffee machine
When you double the voltage the wattage increases by a factor of 4. If my 120 volt coffee maker takes 9 minutes then in theory if I use the 240 volts from a kitchen split receptacle in Canada it should make coffee in 2 1/4 minutes. The high limit will still trip out at the same temperature and the element is liquid cooled. I can't find anywhere online where someone has tried this. I may pick up a used machine and try it but if someone else already has, then it will save me the cost of frying my $10. 96.55.104.236 (talk) 14:30, 10 May 2020 (UTC)


 * We would love to hear the result of your experiment. (And isn't the experience alone worth $10 -- or at the very least C$10?)  You are correct that P=V2/R, but keep in mind that the element likely has a positive temperature coefficient of resistance, so if the increased power makes for a hotter heating element, the resistance will increase, limiting that power to some degree.  There is also the question of whether the water circulation is sufficient to handle the increased power.  And if the element does burn out, you are in for some cold coffee ... unless the machine catches on fire.  Take precautions! -- ToE 18:41, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * If the OP could figure out a way to direct a lightning bolt through it, that could really warm it up quickly. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 19:31, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Or use 2800V and the coffee will be ready in less than a second. A new sense of instant coffee. --Lambiam 05:25, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

Sounds like a fire hazard to me! Also, the coffee needs to filter, the coffee needs to bleed into the water, and this process can't really be speeded through the process you have described. 86.186.232.80 (talk) 11:32, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * I doubt it would be a fire hazard as the high temperature limit will still be in the circuit. If anyone in a 220/240 volt country would like to time their coffee maker then that would show that the bleed time is sufficient. 96.55.104.236 (talk) 00:56, 12 May 2020 (UTC)


 * I am from a 240 volt country.
 * (I don't have a coffee maker, I just boil water, put the 'brown stuff' out of a jar of 'coffee' in and stir. 🤷🏼) I strongly advise NOT using an appliance designed for 120 volt mains with 240 volt mains. One exception is, if the appliance has a 120/240 volt selector, like desktop PCs usually have. Otherwise it is likely you will either: blow a fuse, trip a circuit breaker and/or damage or destroy the appliance. Doubling the voltage will double the electrical current, and 4x the power as you noted, while current still flows through the device, and that is not good.


 * Possibly, you may be thinking of switch-mode power supplies, which will work safely over a much greater range of mains supply voltages (100 to 240 say) and line frequency, 50 vs 60 hertz, than a much simpler linear power supply. Depends on if the appliance merely takes the mains power and just applies it directly to a heating element, like a very simple hot water jug or toaster. Mind you, some coffee machines are far more sophisticated than they used to be, so may have a switch-mode supply to run its electronics.
 * Regards 220  of  Borg 13:26, 17 May 2020 (UTC)

Name for a type of hat
What is the name for the type of hat worn by the two people on the right in this photo? Thanks, † dismas †|(talk) 15:49, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Garrison cap in the US, among many other names. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106; &#x1D110;&#x1d107; 15:56, 10 May 2020 (UTC) --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106; &#x1D110;&#x1d107; 15:55, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Also see Forage cap and Side cap. Rojomoke (talk) 15:58, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you, and .  † dismas †|(talk) 00:34, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Our articles linked above neglect to mention the name given here. DuncanHill (talk) 00:52, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Do a search on that term and see what happens. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:56, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * The term used to be present in the target page of the redirect but was removed last year in this edit, in contravention of WP:PLA. --Lambiam 05:18, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * The less offensive British nickname is "chip bag hat" which refers to the similarly-shaped paper bag for takeaway chips from a fish and chip shop and probably makes no sense at all to anyone from outside of these islands. Alansplodge (talk) 10:37, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * The page is not viewable. What's the gag? Matt Deres (talk) 16:15, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm getting the same message along with one saying that I've reached my limit of pages that I can view. Though I can't remember the last time I actually looked at Google Books. † dismas †|(talk) 18:30, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * and The traditional British slang for one of these caps is cunt cap. DuncanHill (talk) 00:59, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia notation "Watergate scandal‎ (6 C, 38 P, 2 F)"
"Watergate scandal‎ (6 C, 38 P, 2 F)"

I see this type of cryptic notation throughout Wikipedia without explanation. I have been unsuccessful in trying to decode what "(6C, 38P, 2 F)" means.

What is the translation of this secret code and why does Wikipedia refuse to explain it?

Thank you, Lance Pedriana lance@cyberia-quest.net — Preceding unsigned comment added by Intrepidd (talk • contribs) 20:41, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Please say where you see something. I guess you refer to subcategories on a category page, e.g. at "Watergate scandal" on Category:Richard Nixon. If you hover over "(6 C, 38 P, 2 F)" there then it should say "Contains 6 subcategories, 38 pages, and 2 files". It counts what is in Category:Watergate scandal. The 6 subcategories are shown at the top, then the 38 pages, and finally the 2 files. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:50, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Does Wikipedia "refuse" to explain it, or does it just assume the reader can figure out that hovering over it explains the coding? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:03, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * And clicking the link next to "(6 C, 38 P, 2 F)" goes to a page saying "This category has the following 6 subcategories, out of 6 total", "The following 38 pages are in this category, out of 38 total", and "The following 2 files are in this category, out of 2 total". Those are big hints. The message is made by MediaWiki:Categorytree-member-num which has access to the threee counts according to translatewiki:MediaWiki:Categorytree-member-num/qqq. This means we could make it say "(6 categories, 38 pages, 2 files)", but I think that would quickly become annoying to see repeated. In the desktop site, the top right of category pages links to Help:Category on "Help". I suppose we could mention it there. Help:Category says: "The name of each subcategory is followed by a count of its own subcategories". The quote is from 2009 [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Category&diff=292201233&oldid=292194597] and appears obsolete. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:32, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Abbreviating "Subcategories" as "C" is somewhat counter-intuitive. DuncanHill (talk) 23:39, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * No, because they are just abbreviating categories as C (This category has 6 categories). Wikipedia has no subcategories, just like it currently has no subpages. Categories can appear within multiple higher level categories. Rmhermen (talk) 23:47, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * You might want to tell that to whoever encoded the hovering to say "subcategories". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:59, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * If WIkipedia has no subcategories, then why does Category:Watergate_scandal claim to have 6 subcategories? DuncanHill (talk) 00:03, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Subcategory is a description, not a name. It is Category:Watergate scandal, even though that is a subcategory within Category:Richard Nixon (and several other things). There is no Subcategory:Watergate scandal.--Khajidha (talk) 13:20, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * and we expect people to know that without being told! It is profoundly arrogant to expect readers to know that sort of wanky technical detail when they are trying to work out what an abbreviation means. "C = Subcategory but we have no subcategories even thought we claim on thousands of pages that we do". Honestly, I think some editors actively hate readers and want to discourage them. DuncanHill (talk) 13:48, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * How is that expecting them to understand some "wacky technical detail" of Wikipedia? The idea that a subgroup of a larger group is itself a group (and category just means "group", remember) is hardly unique to Wikipedia. Seems more like expecting them to have competency in the English language. --Khajidha (talk) 14:08, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Nobody competent in the English language would abbreviate "subcategory" as "C". And I said "wanky", not "wacky", the difference in meaning is great, and clear to anybody who is competent in the English language. DuncanHill (talk) 14:15, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Unless they spell it "Çubcategory". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 14:24, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * In fact it is Cyrillic: СУБЦАТЕГОРЫ! All caps and excl. mark mandatory because comrade is yelling! 93.136.73.59 (talk) 01:58, 14 May 2020 (UTC)
 * "C" is not an abbreviation for "subcategory", it is an abbreviation of "category". We simply expect people to know that what is a subcategory within a larger category is a category in its own right. Also, is "wanky" even a word? I know "wacky" and "wonky", but "wanky" is just gibberish in the form of English I learned. --Khajidha (talk) 14:27, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Purely FYI, (I take no position in this discussion), "wanky" is obviously an adjective derived from "wank", literally a Britishism meaning "masturbation" but in some online subcultures used to denote an excessive attention to often trivial details and/or an attempt to retroactively explain minor inconsistencies, as in the term "fan-wank" (which is often used self-referentially and humorously). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.24.23 (talk) 17:54, 12 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Wonk is a term that does not have its origins in online culture, and predates it by some time. It's connection to "wank" is tenuous and indeterminate.  See also here.  It could be, but it could also be related to "wonky", as in unsteady or off balance.-- Jayron 32 18:13, 12 May 2020 (UTC)
 * But then we spell "category" as "subcategory". wanky. DuncanHill (talk) 14:31, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * It gets even more complicated when there are groupings of deep-sea craft, hence subsubcategories. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:22, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Please see Subpages. Why do you say there are no subpages on Wikipedia?  RudolfRed (talk) 00:16, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * "By default, MediaWiki's subpage feature is turned off in the main namespace,...", it does exist for user and talk pages. Back in the old days when Wikipedia before MediaWiki, you simply typed /Talk at the bottom of the article to create a subpage for talk. Then sometimes when you couldn't agree with others, you might go back and add /Discussion or some other term and have a whole fresh new subpage to hold your argument on. Articles were sometimes split up the same way like for each chapter of anything Ayn Rand ever wrote. It had several drawbacks but at least it was better than CaMelCaSe. Rmhermen (talk) 20:16, 13 May 2020 (UTC)
 * I have updated Help:Category to explain the notation.[//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Category&diff=956827266&oldid=956727249] PrimeHunter (talk) 14:52, 15 May 2020 (UTC)

question about the US postal services
Due to the virus, is there no mail going from the US to Canada? 173.180.24.220 (talk) 22:19, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Have you checked with your local post office? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:26, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * The USPS page about suspensions of international delivery is here. Mail to Canada is not on the surprisingly long suspended list, but if you follow the Canada link below it, you will see that items requiring the recipient to pay customs duty are being handled differently on arrival. --76.71.5.208 (talk) 23:05, 10 May 2020 (UTC)


 * I received a letter the other way last week. —Tamfang (talk) 00:54, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

I posted a letter from the US to Canada about a week ago. It hasn't arrived yet. I sent letters to Germany and the UK recently, and they took about ten days to get there. Temerarius (talk) 04:04, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Update on my anecdata: it took about 8 days for my letter to reach Canada. Temerarius (talk) 00:28, 14 May 2020 (UTC)
 * (That update relocated by 76.71.5.208 (talk) 07:50, 14 May 2020 (UTC) from the wrong thread.)


 * I read last week that Anchorage had just become the world's busiest airport, carrying international freight and mail. HiLo48 (talk) 04:15, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Most of that is going between Asia and the North America, as Anchorage is the city lying closest to the best great circle route between major cities in mainland North America and major Asian cities. Other than going directly from Alaska to Canada, I can't imagine mail or cargo from mainland U.S. to Canada being routed through Anchorage.  -- Jayron 32 13:06, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Some mail between the U.S. and Canada might get routed through Anchorage since that might be the most economical route in some cases. Many U.S. airline hubs have direct flights to Anchorage, and non-U.S. carriers aren't allowed to make domestic flights due to cabotage regulations. Some mail likely gets put on domestic flights to Anchorage and then gets transferred there to flights departing to Canada. Remember that most mail transported by air is transported as cargo on passenger flights. The flights are done for the purpose of transporting people, and the mail is just along for the ride, so the route planning is driven by passenger demand, not mail routing. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 20:08, 13 May 2020 (UTC)
 * This SDMB post indicates that mail bound for Canada is collected in a small number of US locations (it notes from New York, Chicago, and San Francisco) and then sent on to three sorting centers in Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver). Flights between those locales are frequent and direct, and would not be economical to send through Anchorage. -- Jayron 32 14:05, 14 May 2020 (UTC)