The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.
Suppose your coach tells you to go running for 5 minutes. Is it possible to complete the run in 4 minutes? At first glance, by definition, the run is determined by time, 5 mins, so no matter how fast you run, you still have to do 5 minutes of running. But what if we were to apply some of Einstein's relativity theory to it? If I was to go faster than the speed of light or something, will it be possible then to complete a 5 minute run in 4 minutes? Acceptable (talk) 02:26, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, you can. If you run at 0.6c (ignoring acceleration/deceleration times) 4 minutes in your frame of reference will correspond to 5 minutes in the coach's frame (assuming he is not running alongside you, in which case you are out of loopholes). See Twin paradox for more deatils of the phenomenon. Abecedare (talk) 02:53, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
A spinoff question would be, at that speed, how many laps would that be around a typical quarter-mile track? Assuming he's got really high-quality track shoes (Nike's finest) which enable him to go around each semi-circle at roughly 112,000 miles per second, that would be about 450,000 times around the track in one second; 27,000,000 times in one minute; and 135,000,000 times in 5 minutes - or 4 minutes. Either way, he still has to go around the track 135,000,000 times. Right? ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 03:55, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The runner would be in an accelerated frame going round the circuit so fast, wouldn't that slow them down a bit more again? Dmcq (talk) 14:28, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
His body structure would fly apart as he tried to turn in such a short radius at 0.6c He would literally have to withstand millions or even billions of g's in acceleration. Googlemeister (talk) 16:29, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I'm seeing Spike Lee now: "It's gotta be the shoes!" I was assuming a standard oval track. But if it was a great-circle track around the world, that would eliminate the issue of turns (never mind how they would build a track across the oceans - that's a different question). But in any case, if you had to go around an oval quarter-mile track 135,000,000 times, the great circle route of 25,000 miles would be 100,000 times as long as that track, hence "only" requiring about 1,350 circuits of the globe in those 5 (or 4) minutes, or 270 circuits in 1 minute, or an average of 4 1/2 times around the world per second. It would now be interesting to see how many times in one second that Superman flew around the world in the 1978 film. Anything less than 7 1/2 trips around the world would mean he's not actually exceeding the speed of light, and hence couldn't "reverse time". ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 01:14, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It's never clear to me why anyone would think that travelling faster than light would "reverse time". Aside from the complete impossibility of doing it - what the equations suggest might hypothetically happen is something akin to taking the square root of -1...your experience of the rate time passing in the rest of the universe would be a complex number. But complex numbers never appear in the results of real-world calculations. It's impossible to say what it would hypothetically mean to someone if they experienced a lorentz contraction that was a complex number. That in no way even hints at a reversal of time...it hints at something so completely beyond comprehension as to be literally indescribable.
Fortunately (or not), Nature has a way of protecting us from such ugly math problems. For example - the equation for the period of the swing of a pendulum has a square root in it - so the time that a pendulum of negative length would take to swing would be a complex number...but nature doesn't allow us to make physical objects with negative length - so the question never crops up. In this case, the protection against tripping over a complex number is that you can't go faster than light - period. SteveBaker (talk) 12:45, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
A great-circle path does not eliminate "turns", it just means that the "turn" is in a different direction. He still needs magic shoes to cling to the track to provide that acceleration, and a non-magic body would still be pulled apart by the forces needed to produce the acceleration. Dbfirs10:22, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
What luggage should we buy? (to use it as check in luggage)
If you are open to flying with any air company, but do always want to check in with your trolley, what measure should your trolley have? I have researcher online and found the following extreme values: from 43 cm x 28 cm x 20 cm to 56 cm x 45 cm x 25 cm. Of course, I won't buy anything bigger than the highest allowance. I was thinking to buy something near 50 cm x 40 x 20 and try to fly with it even if the company has a lower allowance. The question is how tolerant are companies of minor deviances of a couple of centimeters? --Quest09 (talk) 11:50, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Company tolerances vary considerably. Then again some institute a 'blitz' for a short time. The only way to be sure is to visit the sites of the airlines you most use and check individually. Also remember that the luggage regulations vary with the class of ticket you pay for. Travel First and almost anything goes. Travel cattle and you'll be cramped. Finally, you can often get by with flexible luggage. Sports bags, etc. These squeeze down and often fit where a hard case would not. Finally, finally, check out the carry-on allowance. The maximise what you are allowed. i.e. a large handbag (purse) for a lady... good luck.Froggie34 (talk) 12:15, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hand baggage regulations are also imposed by the airports. As well as checking with the company you're flying with, you should check with the airport(s) you're checking in at. Don't forget that many places forbid the carriage of large volumes of fluids. --Phil Holmes (talk) 13:57, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, the regulation regarding fluids in the European Union is still in force. I wonder why liquids have to be carried in single containers with a capacity not greater than 100 ml, being a half-full 200 ml container not permitted, and all of these single containers must be packed in one transparent, re-sealable plastic bag with a capacity not greater than 1 liter. Quest09 (talk) 16:47, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
And why is the regulation the way it is? Why is half-full 200ml not acceptable? Why should the bag be re-sealable? Why do you have to divide everything in small bottles? --Quest09 (talk) 18:50, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Because the people who make rules like this are not grounded in reality. Or at least the version of reality that applies outside their government building. Googlemeister (talk) 19:16, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
See Security theater. Having rules makes people think that action is being taken which is likely to keep them safer. You are not actually safer; but it makes you think that you are. See my response to a similar question below. --Jayron3219:33, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
You're going overboard with theatrics about security theater. You are asserting that increased analysis of passengers' carry-on liquids makes airline travel actually 0% safer, which I disagree with. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:25, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It's not about 0% safer, it's about the trade-off between measures taken and security gained. In general airplane security does not have a good track record—it costs a huge amount of money and we don't get much for it. Bruce Schneir has written quite extensively on this, and it is quite good analysis, and he knows of what he speaks. Check it out. There's an argument, for example, that regulations of this sort lead travel security people to focus on the wrong sorts of things when they are evaluating the overall threat assessment of a given person—if true, that means that they are actually doing less than increasing security 0%. If people (and security folks) feel more secure than they are, then your security theater has created an atmosphere of less security than you had when you started. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:09, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not disputing that the carried-on-liquids rules may not be worth their costs. I'm disputing the claims above that they increase security by 0% (or less). I think such claims are silly. And the claim that "The TSA must be overlooking important vectors of attack because of the carried-on-liquids rules" is pure speculation. Comet Tuttle (talk) 03:02, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps the belief is it's easy to mix explosives if you have a larger container. Of course it would seem likely you could just mix the explosives in the 1l plastic bag you're required to carry anyway. It may not be as easy, but it would seem likely to be good enough. (Also according to below you can just buy a large bottle after you've passed security.) The reason for transparent/resealable should be obvious. The reason for single bag I suspect is more to do with convenience for the security staff. If you have passengers pulling 3 bottles out of various pockets of their bags it's going to waste more time then if they are all in one place. Edit: Another thing that occured to me is that a half empty container could also be partly for the convenience of security. If you have a 1 litre container which you say is only 100 ml full security may have to look at it carefully to make sure this is really the case since 1) A 1 litre container can vary significantly in shape so working out whether a container is really 1 litre and if so whether it really contains 100ml only is likely to be more difficult then working out if a container is really a 100ml container and 2) They have to actually check the container only contains 100 ml as you claim and not more, rather then just go by the container size. For example, you could have to liquids that don't mix and one of them is highly transparent and above the other one or if the container is not very transclucent. This would at a minimum likely require shaking the container and obviously looking a lot more carefully then just glancing at the containers, it may even require opening it. 2 doesn't apply to the examples when you are talking about a single large container that is under the total limit allow for liquid vs 5x100 ml (or whatever). 1 does apply to some extent and I guess there could also be a 'simple examplanation' thing. Saying you're allow 5 containers of up to 100 ml each is simpler then saying you're allowed 5 container of up to 100 ml each or 1 container of 500ml or anything in between (saying you're allowed one or multiple containers with a total combined volume of 500ml kind of works but may cause further confusion) Nil Einne (talk) 08:05, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It depends totally on the airline, and the cost of the ticket is often related to the amount of leeway you are given in terms of hand bag size. I have witnessed a furious row between a passenger and a check-in girl who refused to allow an item of hand baggage even though it fitted into the size checker, because she said the bag's little plastic feet protruded above the top rail of the checker (they did, by about 4mm tops) and because the bag had been pushed down into the size checker instead of dropping in with no resistance. This was with a no-frills airline. The bag was eventually checked in at extra cost, and the passenger loudly announced his determination never to travel with that company again. The only safe answer is to check the individual airline's rules and ensure you more than abide by them. Karenjc20:18, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Question about school policy
Why don't schools allow us to go on social networking sites when in a study hall? it seams like if you don't have many schoolwork to do, and the site doesn't contain any malicious software it should be allowed.Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 15:21, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Every school will have its own rules and ideas about these things. Their logic is likely to be that social-networking sites are a distraction from school-work. They don't know if you are or are not busy in your studies, but they expect that the site will reduce likelihood of doing the work. There's plenty of debate on this subject across businesses too - my office allows Facebook but plenty don't, it's partially a question of trust I guess. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 15:57, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
A further consideration is how many computers with internet access the school has and how they are charged for access. If there aren't enough for everyone to access the internet at the same time, the school won't want to waste a terminal on someone visiting a networking site in case someone else wants to use it for work. And if the school is paying for internet access in any way other than unlimited broadband at a set cost and very high speed, they won't want people using the connection for things other than work, particularly if the sites they visit show a lot of pictures and videos. 86.139.237.128 (talk) 16:02, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Furthermore, you always have schoolwork to do. You have tests to study for, papers to write which are due in a week or two, textbooks which contain review problems which, while not assigned for a grade, still exist and you could still do them to give you more practice. The deal is, there is school work that you do not want to do during study hall. It doesn't mean that you don't have anything school-related you could be working on. --Jayron3216:37, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Well, it all depends - if there's so much H1N1 around that teachs dont' assign much schoolwork, or the person is just really fast, they could still do work ahead, but near the end of the year, there might not be. But, that's when you can work on something you like for the future. I know a guy who tried to write a book during part of study hall, so writing is one avenue you can explore. Or, anything you're interested in going into in college, should you choose to go.4.68.248.130 (talk) 17:38, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
(ec) A sentence that starts with "it seams like if you don't have many schoolwork to do," seems to imply exactly the opposite. Aside from that, Facebook and MySpace have historically been quite efficient avenues for distributing malware. --LarryMac | Talk16:38, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
To clarify LarryMacs comment - if you don't have any other school work to do, you should work on your spelling and grammar. --Tango (talk) 18:08, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Let's be honest -- no one here learned spelling and grammar by studying it intensively -- you just pick it up over the years. Vranak (talk) 18:21, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
And you learn it largely by reading and writing; hence, if one has no school work to do, get a library book and try reading a bit... --Jayron3219:30, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The ones who gripe about me going off-track ought to read this thread. Here's the deal: The school owns the computers and they have the right to determine how they're being used. If you're going to a news site like CNN, that's presumably a good thing, as it could be expanding your knowledge of current events - and improving your reading skills. If you're going to chat rooms, that's not a good thing. You're in school to study; you can socialize at appropriate times, like in the lunchroom. There could also be bandwidth issues. That's one reason why Youtube is blocked at my office. Another is that it's likely not work-related. It is very unlikely, in an industrial company, to find something on Youtube that's vital to watch during working hours. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 01:03, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I never tire of looking things up in the dictionary, and reading in general. But in my day, it was toward the end of what you might call the "pedantic" approach to schooling. It seems to have shifted toward another direction now, where somehow good English is not important. And someday, it's going to cost us dearly. I've met some people who said, "I don't like to read." What can you feel for that, except sadness for what they're missing. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 02:19, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Never forget Accdude that these so called social networking sites are about selling you a product. They are a business. Undoubtedly they are distraction for vulnerable individuals who cannot distinguish between the relative social value of an education and logging on to Facebook and similar. It is quite clear that some people need to concentrate on their education. Caesar's Daddy (talk) 16:17, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
(Oh, how high-minded and moral we all are, all of us who probably edit the Ref Desk while at work, school, and so forth. Get to the school, young man. Study and be diligent and avoid distractions. Just like how we did when we were in school, and we had to walk uphill both ways, in the snow, at that.) --Mr.98 (talk) 19:54, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, memories of Gym class! "Those who can't do, teach. And those who can't teach, teach Gym." --Woody Allen. In any case, we didn't have computer terminals in my day, all we had were manual typewriters. Not much internet surfing on those babies. Although every generation thinks it has it tough. I'm hearing Larry Miller's prospective comment to his son someday: "In my day, we didn't have jet-packs; we had to drive to school!" ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 21:24, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
no liquids can be brought on commercial flights
Does the rule in the US that all liquids brought into the cabin of a commercial airliner be in tiny bottles and sealed in a plastic bag include the crew? For example, if the pilot wants to bring a thermos of coffee with him for the flight, will it get taken from him by the security drones? Googlemeister (talk) 18:48, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, once you pass through the security checkpoint, you can purchase a coffee or a bottle of water and safely bring it on the plane. Most moderate-to-large sized airports have plenty of vendors on the "safe" side of security; no one checks you once you have passed through that point, so pilots should be able to buy a cup of coffee like anyone else and get on the plane. Pilots and other airline workers have "break rooms" and pilots lounges where they can get coffee; they could presumably get coffee there and bring it aboard. Most planes I know also have a pot brewing on the plane itself, so the fact that pilots cannot bring an actual cup through the checkpoint should provide little impediment to getting coffee to fly with. Security is generally only handled at the checkpoint; furthermore there is still very little security at the "back doors" of airports. Workers that do not enter through the traveller checkpoints aren't subjected to the same level of scrutiny that travellers are; that gives way to the criticism that the whole system is Security theater; designed to make passengers feel like the industry is doing something to keep them safe; but a determined terrorist would still have little to no trouble getting a bomb on board a plane. Have a nice trip! --Jayron3219:27, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
As a passenger in both in Australia and Britain, I have taken an empty plastic bottle with me and filled it up on the "safe" side from a drinking fountain. The security people didn't question it. Saves a heap of money too!--80.176.225.249 (talk) 21:03, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
There is a strong argument that this is just security theater—something that makes it look like security agencies are doing "something", but doesn't actually increase security. A nice write-up of this particular argument is: "The Things He Carried", from the Atlantic Monthly, 2008. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:04, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Reportedly if you merely claim the liquid is medically necessary, such as contact lens fluid or baby formula, there are no limits, implying it is all theater. Edison (talk) 01:19, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Baby formula you are usually made to taste to show it isn't liquid explosive. I'm not sure about contact lens solution... --Tango (talk) 01:28, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I mistakenly left my contact lens solution in my carry-on luggage recently and they let me bring it on the plane. The thing that annoys me most about the liquids thing is the 100ml limit. It seems pointless, since anyone wanting to bring on, say 200ml of liquid explosive would simply carry on two bottles. --Richardrjtalk email09:05, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The taste thing is an interesting issue. Provided you can avoid showing too much aversion to the liquid, the only question is whether it's possible to have liquid explosives which won't kill you (or make you too sick to follow through the plan) within a few hours. If you can then it's not likely to be effective except that if the person decides not to follow thorough with the plan after they've passed security they may still die. Nil Einne (talk) 08:12, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
-Flight crewmembers are exempt from the liquids ban in the United States
RETAIL MARKET
There was a company named AMNES retail store which was the biggest competitor of WAL-MART some 10 years ago. But I dindn't find that company. Can you please provide me the details. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kunjal88 (talk • contribs) 19:35, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
This event is the world's largest Arabian horse event. It attracts thousands of Arabian horses from all over the world and around 250,000 human spectators each year. How would I go about putting together a listing for it? It is a non-profit event benefiting childrens charities. I am not very tech savvy but would love to do something to get this event the listing as they really deserve to be part of Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Owensharkey (talk • contribs) 22:40, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Dear Wikipedia, I use your website all the time but lately every time I come here I have to log in when it Remember up to 30 days it hasn't been 30 days its like the day when I have to log in again, please help me I really love website I wanted stay logged in for a while that is up to the 30 days not the day where I need sign in again.
Do you have your web browsing software (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox etc) set up to accept cookies? If not then you will keep getting asked for your password. Change your setup to accept cookies and that might solve the problem. --Richardrjtalk email23:34, 30 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I recently heard someone say that the U.S. Government has a patented shade of pink that they use in prisons to calm people down. Is this true or just a myth? -- Coasttocoast (talk) 06:28, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
International Klein Blue is often described as a patented colour, but it's actually the method of preparation of the dye which is patented - if someone uses a different method to produce the same colour, that doesn't infringe that patent. Warofdreamstalk14:26, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
There's no reason you couldn't patent the specific application of a specific color for specific ends. This is how people patent all sorts of things that supposedly aren't patentable, like equations and theories—you don't patent the color "by itself", you patent the specific use of color for psychological control in correctional facilities. These kinds of patents are always of a "Method of Using X" variety. You don't have to have a patent on "X" itself to patent a method of using it. (Similarly, as noted above, you can patent a method of making a particular "X"—which might or might not provide strong intellectual property control, depending on how unique it is.)
That all being said, I don't find anything like that in my quick Google Patent searches for what I would imagine would be obvious terms (calming color prison, etc.). So I'm not sure there actually is a patent on it. If you could establish that the practice was novel (which would be hard at this point given that the US government has been doing it for 50 years or so), you could almost certainly get a patent on it, even the use of specific shades of color. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:27, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't think the US government were allowed to patent or copyright anything at all...much less a color. Of course it could be that some outside contractor employed by the government had patented it - but even so, it's not possible to patent a color because it's a natural phenomenon. SteveBaker (talk) 15:35, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The US government can own titles to patents, and does (to a lot of them). Usually it is because a wing of the government did the research (e.g., someone in a DOD laboratory), or a contractor assigns it to the government (which is required by some government contracts). Again, you can patent the use of a color, just as you can the use of many natural phenomena. (You can't own the patent to "beryllium, the ore," but you can to, "use of beryllium in X, Y, and Z". Same with colors and just about anything else.) --Mr.98 (talk) 16:27, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Pink is a shade of red, which generally increases aggression, not decrease it. If they wanted to calm the prisoners down they should use a shade of blue, green, or purple, perhaps baby blue. The highly visible orange jumpsuits of today can slightly increase aggression, so perhaps they should change... TheSavageNorwegian14:16, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I live in Ohio and I seen a commercial a few weeks ago for a free online college for Ohio residents. I am trying to remember the name of the college so I can find out more info. Does anyone from the area know what I'm talking about?74.218.50.226 (talk) 14:57, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hmm. As far as I know, this is a complete list of the accredited colleges in Ohio. I see a couple on that list that refuse to report their tuition (usually because they charge by the class instead of by the year), and quite a few that are pretty affordable, but none that list themselves as free. It might be that this free school is not accredited, but non-accredited schools are often not worth it if your goal is to get a job or get into a graduate school (as opposed to just learning for fun), because almost no one will be willing to credit you as having a real college degree. --M@rēino18:35, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It's Remembrance Day soon and a lot of people (including myself) are wearing poppies to commemorate. Something my father said to me a few nights ago caught my attention, though. He asked me why ladies wear their poppies on the right-hand side while men wear them on the left-hand side. I, however, had never noticed before, but sure enough all the ladies on the next two TV programs we were watching at the time were wearing their poppies on their right. Is this just a coincidence or is it an actual convention? If so, why? --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 20:12, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It may be related to not-so-universal habit of women's clothes buttoning on the opposite side to men's clothes (for which we oddly have no article). Matt Deres (talk) 23:42, 31 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The buttonhole thing apparently dates from the time when a lady would always have a maid to do up her buttons for her so they were put on the other way round (assuming the maid was right handed). Gentlemen however, might find themselves in the difficult position of having to do-up their own buttons! Never seen it in writing but it sounds reasonable. On men's suits, the lapel button-hole is always on the left, so not much option there.Alansplodge (talk) 01:59, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
On a tangent, why is the red Flanders poppy used on November 11. It was a northern hemisphere event, but they have just started flowering now in my southern hemisphere garden. They must be 6 months out of season in the northern hemisphere. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 09:35, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I suspect that many veterens of the Ypres front would have had memories of the remarkable bloom of poppies on the battlefield; they thrive in broken clay. The French use a blue cornflower in remembrance; as they prefer the chalky soils found in the Somme and Verdun areas. Again, it doesn't flower in November. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alansplodge (talk • contribs) 21:55, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
How do I promote a topic?
Am trying to start a movement to have Monkseaton High School
"Opencourseware/Wiki~"
their Spaced learning, as I
believe globally people would benefit from this teaching style. In pursuit
of that goal I am writing a letter to the Headmaster Paul Kelley in the Made to Stick format. Was wondering
if you could make some suggestions on getting people involved and
interested?
I went through the American school system, but in general our administrators were much, much more likely to respond to their own teachers than they were to respond to either students or to outside adults. So I'd recruit a couple teachers. Expect to have some good, long debates, and be prepared to lose a few points in order to win them over -- after all, if there's one thing teachers are knowledgeable and opinionated about, it's teaching. But if you can convince them that this reform is worth their while, then you've as good as won over the Headmaster. --M@rēino18:27, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
another idea is to make a huge poster with something like rasterbator and post it on a bridge or something, hand out flyers and give presentations in the Made to Stick Format at local University's, School's and other organizations. Which is exactly what I'm going to do. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrandredparis (talk • contribs) 18:26, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
November 1
Why does the my "computer room" at home get so warm?
Ok, I have my desktop computer in a 10 x 15 foot room, with good ventilation. When I'm in there playing around on my computer after a few hours the room gets pretty damn warm -- so warm in fact that my face and neck get all sweaty, causing skin blemishes. I know the computer does put out some heat (I've heard that mainframe computer rooms from the 1960s and 70s got pretty hot), but really, is my little home computer causing all this? How much heat is this machine generating? Any answers? Torkmann (talk) 02:16, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The heat energy it generates over time is almost identical to the power it uses, since all the energy has to end up somewhere and it pretty much all ends up as heat eventually. You can get monitors that go in-between the plug and the socket to measure that, but it will be in the order of hundreds of watts. You radiate about 1000 watts yourself. Altogether, that is a lot of heat. You need some way of removing that heat from the room. The main ways are ventilation and air conditioning (things like desk fans just move the heat around - you get a bit of evaporative cooling, but then you just end up with extra humidity rather than extra heat and that is no more pleasant). You say the room has good ventilation, but it would seem that isn't true if that room is getting significantly hotter than outside/the rest of the house (depending on where the room is venting to). I suggest you try and increase the ventilation - open the door, open a window, use a fan in such a way that it moves the hot air out of the room. If that fails, then consider air con. --Tango (talk) 03:18, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Tango, I think you might have slipped a decimal somewhere. The amount of heat released by the average person is going to be on the order of a hundred watts or less, not a thousand. The rest of your numbers look good, though. (For the computer, an LCD monitor will add heat at around fifty watts; you can double or triple that for a CRT. The CPU and other peripherals add another hundred to four hundred watts; higher numbers correspond to powerful graphics cards and processor-intensive games.) So figure that the computer being there is like having anywhere from two to six extra people in the room with you. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 04:36, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I haven't got the number of noughts wrong, as such. I gave the gross amount radiated, you're giving the net amount (radiation minus absorption). With hindsight, your value is the more relevant to this discussion. --Tango (talk) 16:41, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not intending to question Tango's accuracy He's usually right! , but do humans really absorb heat at a rate of 900 watts? Do tables and chairs do the same? Is there such a high exchange of radiant heat in a room? If so, then why does it take so long for a cold object (or cold limbs) to warm to room temperature? Dbfirs09:42, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I think what is being said is that humans generate 1kW of energy. 90% of this is used to maintain internal body heat and to move around, digest food etc. The 10% that escapes is the heat that the human radiates. Googlemeister (talk) 14:29, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Internal body temperature not heat is maintained, and the heat energy used equals the heat energy lost to the surroundings. There is no way for 900W to be lost to nowhere. I believe about 100W is the heat loss of a sitting adult. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 19:57, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Bah, I just noticed that the main ingredient in coffeemateiscorn syrup, i.e. glucose. Anyone know a good alternative that buffers the coffee's acidity (like cream does), and is non-perishable (like coffeemate), but doesn't have sweeteners? It's ok if it contains dairy products as long as they don't spoil. Something like powdered milk would be fine if I could get it in very small containers, as I only want to use about a teaspoon a day. But the supermarket seems to only have it in large boxes. Also, the big boxes say "nonfat dry milk", but for coffee purposes, I thought that fat was the main idea. 69.228.171.150 (talk) 04:59, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I could be wrong (I don't drink coffee) but I was under the impression the primary reason most people add milk is for taste not to add fat. In any case, I would be surprised if you can't get full cream milk powder in the US (I presume you are in the US since you didn't say and it's there that corn syrup is most commonly used as a sweetener). You definitely can here in NZ. Nil Einne (talk) 07:50, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Here in the UK you can get Carnation condensed milk in squeezy bottles, which should have the effect you're looking for. It's naturally sweet and I don't think it has added sweeteners (haven't got one handy so can't check). May be worth looking for condensed milk where you are! Oh and it shouldn't spoil, especially if you keep it in the fridge. --TammyMoet (talk) 09:14, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, the idea of "nonperishable" is that I want to store it in a place where no fridge is conveniently available. I can get condensed milk in cans here, but I'd expect that once opened, it spoils quickly without refrigeration. Interesting about the squeezy bottles. I don't think I've ever seen those here (western US). 69.228.171.150 (talk) 09:56, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It looks like the idea of UHT is that it's sterilized and sealed so it doesn't need refrigeration before you open it, but what about after you open it? I guess I'd normally put about 20ml of cream in a cup of coffee, so at 3-4 cups a week, if I can get UHT in 200ml containers (like juice boxes) I'd need it to last a month or so after opening, but if it's in 1 liter containers it would have to last much longer. Coffeemate works pretty well except I didn't realize there was so much glucose in it.
Update: I just looked at milkette and thanks, I didn't know before what those things were called. The ones we get here usually have regular half-and-half in them and need refrigeration. Plus they generate a lot of waste, as the article says, though my consumption is low enough that I guess I wouldn't feel too bad about it. I'll see if I can find some UHT ones. 69.228.171.150 (talk) 21:48, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Update again: it looks like milkette is not a normal US term. Web searches found mostly Canadian sources. Anyway I'll check some restaurant supply places. More suggestions are welcome. Re Antilived: yeah, I mentioned some issues with powdered milk in the original post. 69.228.171.150 (talk) 02:19, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Google suggests that the usual term in the UK is milk potsorjiggers, and they're easily available over here [3][4] but won't ship to the US. It seems there's also something called "Dairystix" that have the milk in a little plastic stick instead a pot (apparently cheaper than the pots), but they have an irritating website. My attempt to search for similar things in the US is hampered by Google's annoying increased tendency to remove any possible way for me to search without it being affected by my IP address. Hope this gives you a few more search terms. 86.142.224.71 (talk) 16:19, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Racemic mixtures in Drugs and Medications
When I purchase, say Aspirin or Acetaminophen at a drug store, are the pills in the bottle a racemic mixture of the levo- and dextro- enantiomers, with dextro- being the only active form?
If so, and if assuming that it is a 50/50 mixture, will taking twice the racemic mixture of aspirin be equivalent to one dose of the dextro- form?
Furthermore, if these assumptions are true, why do pharmaceuticals choose to do this?
Honestly, I'd ask your local pharmacist. This gets dangerously close to medical advice, and I think we'd best avoid giving any definite advice, at least on the first bullet. The others are, I think, more obviously fair game. Jwrosenzweig (talk) 23:06, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Answering from a purely chemical point of view, aspirin has no stereocenters at all, see the structure below. Likewise neither does acetominophen. See, d-l stereoisomerism requires assymetric tetrahedral carbons (that means an sp3-hybridized carbon with 4 different substituent groups). --Jayron3200:58, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
in aspirin all carbons are sp2 carbons, except the methyl on the right. No tetrahedral carbons means no stereoisomerism
same with acetominophen
WHAAOE. Our article on enantiopure drugs says "One enantiomer of a drug may have a desired beneficial effect while the other may cause serious and undesired side effects, or sometimes even beneficial but entirely different effects. Advances in industrial chemical processes have made it economical for pharmaceutical manufacturers to take drugs that were originally marketed as a racemic mixture and market the individual enantiomers, either by specifically manufacturing the desired enantiomer or by resolving a racemic mixture". The article gives a list of pharmaceuticals that have been available in both racemic and single-enantiomer form. Gandalf61 (talk) 13:06, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The nitrogen atom in acetominophen looks to be assymetric, except that the hydrogen can so easily swap sides on the nitrogen atom, that it would be a racemic mixture almost immediately. A quaternary nitrogen could be an assymetrical centre. But your idea is right that the mixture may have only half the potency. But it does not apply to your example. The dose information on the box should be correct for the content. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:19, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
A bathmat that does not go moldy?
I have a bathmat on the floor next to my bath. I often have to replace them as they get moldy quickly. Is there such a thing as a bathmat that never shows traces of mold? The mold usually initially appears underneath it in my experience. I do not mean the kind of plastic mat you put inside the bath to make it less slippery. 92.24.132.67 (talk) 20:20, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
One made entirely from a synthetic fibre like nylon will not (itself) go moldy, as the mold won't eat plastic, no matter how wet it gets. Like nylon shower curtains, such a mat will still get a bit moldy from the deposition of soap, shampoo, and skin that accumulates in it (but, like a shower curtain, is pretty easy to clean). But a nylon mat is probably going to feel a bit unpleasant to the naked food, and look a tad naff. I have a simple cotton mat, which I hang over the bath side once I'm done (so it dries out pretty soon) and that is machine washable (so it gets washed with the towels) - it doesn't have the (to my mind pointless) rubber backing that some mats have. If things in your bathroom are generally prone to mold (towels, the silcon seal around the bath, etc.) then this may indicate that the bathroom is in general poorly ventilated, and that you may need to run an extractor fan, or keep a window open, during or following a shower. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk20:40, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The rubber backing is not pointless. It's purpose is to prevent the mat from slipping underfoot. However, that makes cleaning the mat more difficult. Hanging it up to dry would be the best bet, although that should be supplemented by drying yourself as much as possible before you step onto the mat. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 23:42, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that hanging it up to dry after showering keeps it from getting moldy. We've had the same one for years—gets daily use, but hanging it up (even just on the rim of the tub) after bathing keeps it dry and without mold. --Mr.98 (talk) 00:38, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
What's the bathmat for? I don't use one so I don't know what people are trying to achieve, but there might be a novel alternative that fulfills that goal without being susceptible to mould. If it's to avoid an uncomfortably cold floor, for instance, I have seen hardwood gratings that I think look rather smart, and being close-grained oily hardwood they're pretty much impervious to damp. 93.97.184.230 (talk) 22:50, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It would depend on your age but tile-floors when wet (or your feet being wet) are slippery, a fall onto a hard tiled surface can cause a lot of damage, so yes. E.g. eldery people can easily break bones/cause serious damage, younger people can too though it'd be rarer. It's pretty obvious to anyone that's walked on a (polished, at least) tiled-surface with wet feet that without good concentration it can be very slippery. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 12:11, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds like the wrong tiles have been used, then. After all, swimming pools don't have this problem. I understood the typical elderly-person incident was slipping while standing in the *bath*, either showering or standing up to get out - hence the rubber mats mentioned earlier. My bathroom upstairs and also my kitchen, hallway, utility room and downstairs toilet are tiled, and I routinely walk in all of them with bare feet; wet ones too, in the case of the bathroom. I don't feel at any risk of slipping over. I presume that the tiles, being floor tiles designed to be walked on, are made very slightly rougher than wall tiles. There are four different kinds of tile across the rooms I mentioned, so it's not just one odd variety. 93.97.184.230 (talk) 19:47, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
While I agree that people are overstating the risk in a typical bathroom, I take issue with "swimming pools don't have this problem". There's a reason for the 'no running' rule: I've had to take a child to hospital, vomiting from concussion, after they tried to move too fast in the changing rooms. 86.142.224.71 (talk) 13:58, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
German Apartment Community
In a city in Germany, there is an apartment/shopping complex/community that consists of three connected chimneys or towers. It was an old pre WWII power or water supply station that was designed in the 1980's, I believe. What is the name of this complex and what city is it located in?99.54.5.209 (talk) 20:49, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, it's the kayaking guy, and I have two more questions:
See my archived question for the full story--search Kayaking Escapade in Miscellaneous.
1. Seeing as I'll be on a multiple night kayaking trip (from Wilkesboro, NC, to the ocean-end of the Pee-Dee River in South Carolina), I need to know about trespassing/camping laws in both states, and potential laws that I may need to hold in mind. Also, would asking special permission from governments be able to help.
2. I need sponsorship ideas! I've now decided to use this trip to raise money for hearing impaired individuals, as my traveling partner and I are both hearing impaired. So, what is a hearing impairment association (preferably national or a charitable local) that donations could be for? Also, what specific companies/outfitters should I write to in search of getting sponsorships? (Again, see my archived post to see all my items needed (but include sunglasses in something that I could get a sponsorship for).
And if someone could put a quick-link to my previous article, that would be great. I'm not a pro at WikiEditting, or even vaguely familiar, so...
State laws vary, and we can't offer legal advice, so you should check with a lawyer if that's what you want. However, my understanding is that, in most parts of the United States, it is illegal to camp except in a public campground upon payment of a camping fee or on private property after securing the permission of the owner. So you would need to identify the owner of anyplace other than a public campground where you intend to camp and get permission. Camping outside of campgrounds is also possible in some national forests or parks, but you typically need to secure a backcountry camping permit (for a fee) in advance. I would carefully identify places along your route where you hope to camp and secure permission in advance before setting out if I were you. Marco polo (talk) 22:07, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Camping is allowed anywhere in the national forests where it isn't expressly prohibited - but I don't know if the op's course goes through any of them. This dispersed camping is generally free although sometimes a some permit is required (a fire permit or parking permit) and it is, of course, poorly advertised. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 03:46, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
How many national parks would the Yadkin-PeeDee run through; that's my river of choice (and basically the only river I can do)? And I wouldn't necessarily need a parking comment...I'm in a kayak. :D Hubydane (talk) 03:58, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Besides drilling, what methods do oil companies use to discover if there is oil in a particular piece or patch of land? Is there any specific machines that will detect if there is oil underground, how does that work? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.141.254.37 (talk) 20:54, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I can't comment on the submarine, but I sail in the Solent occasionally and the three objects in the background do look a lot like the forts. Note that it's not impossible that a pre-Revolutionary Russian submarine might have been visiting Britain. 93.97.184.230 (talk) 22:38, 2 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Considering that they look so similar and the picture of the British B class has B4 on it whereas yous looks like it has B6 on it near the front it then yes I'd say yot're right. Dmcq (talk) 14:25, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The photo (right) of HMS B6 comes from WikiCommons and is identical to the photo at the Library of Congress. Our copy of the photo is named "HMS B6 in the solent" (which is where Horse Sand Fort is - and that's clearly the sea fort in the photo). We also have photos of sister submarines: HMS B2, HMS B4 and HMS B11 - and they all look identical except for the numbers painted onto them in the same style as the '6' in the photo. We know the complete history of HMS B6 and for sure she was never bought/borrowed/stolen/captured by the Russians - she served for a few years in the Mediterranean - eventually being sold to Italy and converted to a surface-only vessel due to lack of spare parts before being sold for scrap to some guy in Malta. So I'd say it was close to 100% certain that the LoC has it wrong - and Wikipedia has it 100% right! SteveBaker (talk) 04:52, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
My idea for a weight-loss plan is simple. First, eat a good meal, including a beverage (so you're not dehydrated) and then weigh yourself. Let's say you weigh 200 pounds. Then, say, you want to lose 1/2 pound a day. So the first day, nothing goes in your piehole until your weight drops below 199.5 pounds. If you weigh yourself and the scale shows, let's say, 199.2, then you can have 0.3 pounds of food and/or drink, but no more. If you want more, you have to lose some weight (through urine, feces, sweat, whatever) first.
This idea is so incredibly obvious I'm surprised I haven't heard of it before. Can anyone find any references to it, or is this original with me? 76.210.248.64 (talk) 00:37, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Your idea won't work. Your body weight isn't based solely on the weight of the food that you consume. You're completely ignoring calories and a balanced diet. Let's say that you can eat that 0.3 pounds of food. There are many things that you could eat but having .3 lbs of chocolate isn't the same nutritionally as having .3 lbs of lettuce. Dismas|(talk)01:05, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Well strictly speaking it will work. Conservation of mass is trivially true. What you mean to say is that if one only looks at the mass of food being eaten then one is unlikely to maintain a healthy diet that provides an appropriate number of calories, vitamins, and minerals, etc. Dragons flight (talk) 20:41, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
"Your body weight isn't based solely on the weight of the food that you consume." Oh? Then, what is it based on? Doesn't delta weight for all practical purposes equal eat minus excrete? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.210.248.64 (talk) 01:08, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I think Dismal Dismas (the "|" threw me) is saying that it depends on where the weight is. If it's fat, it can be burned off over time. But if it's muscle, it would be harder (and very possibly undesirable) to burn it off. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 01:18, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Think of it this way: Is a pound of celery the same as a pound of lard? Is a pound of water going to have the same affect on your weight as a pound of Coca-Cola? (The answer in both cases is noooo.) Delta weight is more like energy consumed minus energy burned. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:01, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, that's basically the point I was trying to get across. If you drink a pound of water, it's quite easy to loose that water weight. But if you eat fatty foods then it's not as easy to lose it. Or, if you want more of an apples to apples comparison, consider a pound of water compared to a pound of beer. They're both liquids but quite a bit different when it comes to caloric intake. Dismas|(talk)02:46, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The starvation diet idea that you have works, in that you lose pounds. But if you're remotely worried about losing muscle mass, then I'd recommend against it (or if you're worried about, you know, being healthy as well). If you want diet ideas (which are bad ideas in the first place unless you gained weight through some temporary situation, otherwise why will temporary dietary changes have any long term effect on a stable pattern of excess calories?), then here goes one: find your BMR, modify based on your energetic needs. Then eat ~200 less calories than that total and combine with exercise for 30 minutes a day. Standard advice for a standard problem.--droptone (talk) 13:27, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The main problem with any diet is that you end up putting the weight back on as soon as you come off the diet. You need to change your whole lifestyle and maintain a diet and exercise regime that you can keep to for the rest of your life. Anything which means you are hungry all the time is not sustainable. --Tango (talk) 16:25, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I'd take issue with your last sentence, I've known models tolerate being hungry most of the time for years on end. It is something that people can learn to accept for long durations. Whether those people are happy or healthy is an important additional question, but some people do basically adopt hunger as their lifestyle. Dragons flight (talk) 20:36, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, diets can be useful. If someone is overweight, a diet plus exercise can be used until they are back to normal weight. Then normal eating plus exercise will keep them at normal weight. If the person was reasonably active all along but overweight due to excessive eating then the temporary diet (to fall back to normal weight) followed by normal eating could also work. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 21:33, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
In practice you may simply dehydrate and be thirsty all the time, as solids build up inside you so you'd be losing water to keep the weight the same. If you stuck to your plan you would want to consume only water because of your thirst. The thing with diets is to avoid putting on weight when you stop. Better to keep a food diary - write down the estimated calories of everything you eat. Decide on a daily limit. You will soon realise that eating more fruit and veg is the way to go, and fats are to be avoided apart from small amounts of for example Canola oil as a dressing. Hopefully you will gradually re-educate your body to eat healthily - it works with me. 92.26.163.34 (talk) 23:09, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Water chemistry in Berkeley, CA
Hi all, I was wondering if anybody knew what the water coming from the municipal source in Berkeley was like, chemically speaking. I don't see a lot of deposits on the showerheads and stuff, so it must be pretty soft. Thanks for the help!169.229.76.114 (talk) 04:37, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
When I lived in Berkeley, most domestic water was supplied by the East Bay Municipal Utility District ("East Bay MUD"), a creation of the 1920's progressive reform era in California. The Wikipedia article says that East Bay MUD's source is the Pardee Dam (built in 1929) along the Mokelumne River in Northern California. Perhaps EBMUD's web site can tell you more about the water quality. —— Shakescene (talk) 04:55, 3 November 2009 (UTC) ¶ See, for example, Water Quality (EBMUD)—— Shakescene (talk) 04:59, 3 November 2009 (UTC) ¶ And further investigation shows that the Orinda reservoir, which serves Berkeley, like almost all of EBMUD's other sources, has very low levels of almost all the significant contaminants: EBMUD 2008 Water Quality Report (PDF). I'm sure a little further probing can tell you about other elements that aren't harmful to human health but could still affect taste, corrosion, etc. The water in San Francisco and the near East Bay (piped in from isolated rural points along the Sierra Nevada) was generally considered by their residents to be pretty good when I lived in Berkeley and Oakland from the mid-1960's to the early 1990's. —— Shakescene (talk) 05:16, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The copyright owner could pursue their legal right by identifying the jurisdiction under which the torrent tracker operates and presenting a compensation claim that the tracker operator has caused them a loss that is quantifiable financially. This type of claim is difficult. See the defiant stance here of a torrent operator. ISP's generally deny responsibility for material they convey and torrent distribution per se is not illegal. France has introduced legislation by which ISP's can be held responsible.Cuddlyable3 (talk) 11:48, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
In the US, the copyright owner can get the host (blogspot, or an ISP) to take it down (DMCA takedown requests). If the host complies, then they have no liability themselves (the "safe-harbor" clause). This makes some sense. If ISPs are responsible for user actions, users get a lot less freedom, and our ISPs suddenly become interested in law enforcement, which is not necessarily a good thing—in such cases, ISPs will err on the side of conservatism regarding copyrights, which is not necessarily good for users of copyrighted material (consider where Wikipedia would be if the copyright status of its contents was enforced by its webhost). On the other hand, of course, the DMCA approach just makes copyright protection a game of whac-a-mole, and one can see the economic consequences of that pretty clearly as well. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:06, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
In general it's unlikely that you'll get anyone banned or prosecuted for something you think they may do in the future, and maybe you should wait to see what they are actually doing before you seek advice, as otherwise it will be purely speculation. --Lesleyhood (talk) 15:56, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, and I would add that telling someone generally how to pirate software is probably not a violation of any laws, nor necessarily should it be. I could tell you how to use a torrent site to find pirated movies—it is almost certainly not illegal for me to do that (in my jurisdiction, anyway), though one may dislike the ethics or morals of it. There's of course a fine line between enabling a crime and describing it, but if we outlawed everything that described how to commit crimes, we'd be impinging on quite a lot of speech. (Note that this is not the same thing at all as violating the terms of service on a private site.) --Mr.98 (talk) 23:29, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Space tourism
How much money will it cost to visit space? Will it require any special fitness? Who should I contact for this? Is there any special tax I need to pay to visit space? --USAndrew1980 (talk) 10:19, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
See Space Tourism. The first few people paid around $20m (USD) apparently, I suspect the costs have come down a bit but it's still incredibly expensive. Virgin the Richard Branson firm have Virgin Galactic, but there's also the article Private spaceflight too. You basically need to be very rich (at least for now). Hopefully in my lifetime (i'm mid 20s) it'll be cheap enough for me to give it a whirl - but i'd not want to spend huge amounnts. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:56, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
There's always the option to become skilled at something (flight crew, medical, cook, concierge, masseuse, housekeeping) and be part of the staff, especially in the future when "space hotels" or "space luxury liners" are in service. Becoming very skilled might be easier than becoming very rich. A multiple skill set could be useful. Edison (talk) 14:42, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Actually the price has gone up to about US$30m due to the devaluation of the dollar. The starting price for Virgin Galactic trips (which are just suborbital - you spend a few minutes in space rather than a week that previous space tourists have spent on the ISS) is US$200,000, so much more affordable but still only in reach of the rich. That price ought to come down after the first year or two of flights, though. --Tango (talk) 16:29, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The price of eggs
I know that flu vaccines are grown on chicken eggs. Due to the increase in the amount of flu vaccine production, is there a corresponding decrease in the number of eggs available for consumption, and therefore an increase in the price of eggs? 99.166.95.142 (talk) 16:48, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The eggs themselves haven't been part of the normal food egg production chain, as flu vaccine is grown in fertilised chicken eggs (and almost no-one eats those). They're produced, and fertilised, to order. Now you could say that those chickens could be producing food eggs, and if that's true then using them for vaccine would raise the price of eggs. But this article says people in the developed world eat on average 226 eggs per year (I guess that includes all the eggy ingredients used in packaged foods) and vaccine producer Glaxo-Smith-Kline says that one dose needs one or two eggs. So that's a reduction in theoretical egg availability by around 1%, so not really very much. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk17:07, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I think they're done the old fashioned way, as a proper embryo needs to form, and doing intra-chicken AI seems like a bunch of work when you can outsource it to a professional for free. Incidentally my numbers above assume 100% of people get the jab, when seasonal jabs are something like 20% and maybe H5N1 swineflu will be ~40% -- Finlay McWalter • Talk17:18, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
H1N1. H5N1 is the type of Influenza A that the recent bird flu scare (which everyone has now forgotten about) was part of. --Tango (talk) 17:37, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The price of a eggs might go down with extra demand because production can be increased easily so some overheads per egg can be reduced. An interesting question which prices go up or down with demand. Dmcq (talk) 17:22, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Actually in my experience, in the US anyways, the egg prices rise in the winter time, because if eggs freeze they most often break. This increases the cost of getting salable eggs onto the store shelf, and of course that cost increase is passed on to the consumer. Googlemeister (talk) 19:48, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
OK, here it is for Major League Baseball. The answer to OP's specific question is TWICE: 1962 and 1997. No guarantee or warranty in the following list, but this is how I have it. Someone else will have to research the NBA and NHL. There have been 104 World Series prior to this year's (1903,1905-1994,1996-2008) which of course isn't over yet, but will go at least 6 games. Of those 104, 32 have gone the distance, i.e. have been decided in the final possible game. All of those 32 were the best-4-of-7 variety. 4 Series (1903,1919-21) were best-5-of-9, but none went the limit. So 32 of 100 have gone 7 games. There are 20 possible patterns for the wins and losses, but not all the possible permutations have occurred:
For 2009, there are these possible outcomes for the winners: PHI W-L-L-L-W-W-W; and NYY L-W-W-W-L-W or L-W-W-W-L-L-W. The possible 7-game patterns have not happened before. The 6-game pattern has occurred a number of times. 02:41, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
For the NHL it has only happened once, since they introduced the best-of-seven series in 1939. Seven-game series have happened only 15 times:
1942 - Detroit, Detroit, Detroit, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto
1945 - Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Detroit, Detroit, Detroit, Toronto
1950 - Detroit, New York, Detroit, New York, New York, Detroit, Detroit
1954 - Detroit, Montreal, Detroit, Detroit, Montreal, Montreal, Detroit
1955 - Detroit, Detroit, Montreal, Montreal, Detroit, Montreal, Detroit
1964 - Toronto, Detroit, Detroit, Toronto, Detroit, Toronto, Toronto
1965 - Montreal, Montreal, Chicago, Chicago, Montreal, Chicago, Montreal
1971 - Chicago, Chicago, Montreal, Montreal, Chicago, Montreal, Montreal
Er, wait, aren't we misunderstanding the question? There are several more times that this has happened in our lists, Baseball Bugs. I don't think the OP specifically meant WLWLWLW. Adam Bishop (talk) 03:57, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Well, he said tied 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 in the same series. So you're right, for example it could go W-L-L-W-W-L-W (which I chose randomly, and happens to match 1960 and 1964). I already gave the list, so one could look through it and find the ones that fit. I was thinking W-L-W-L-W-L-W because it's kind of the "perfect" case of that scenario. In general, it has to start W-L (or L-W from the other team's viewpoint), and from Game 2 onward, there can't be any more than 2 consecutive wins. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 05:03, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Revised to include all possible 1-1 then 2-2 then 3-3 situations in same Series:
To Whom It May Concern: I was travelling in the southern central states of United States and I noticed a short vertical rainbow appeared. This rainbow did not have any circular angle to at all. It was as if the rainbow had lost the top and bottom of the rainbow. The weather conditions that day were some showers & partly sunny. This rainbow appeared about 60 degrees off the horizon in bright sunny clouds that have some dark clouds in the background. I have research for quite some time and been unable to found someone that has seen this image before. I have several questions, if someone would like to interact, from scientific, to religious, or mythology.
I can recommend the Atmosperic Optics website. Its sections on rainbows and ice halos contains descriptions and images of most common and not-so-common effects of this kind, along with explanations of how they are created, and may help you identify what you saw if the above links do not. Karenjc20:58, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
In some places they are fairly common. The OP didn't say it was unusual, I did - the OP didn't give a header so I came up with one without giving it much thought. --Tango (talk) 23:12, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
HM Princess Elizabeth as she then was worked as an army mechanic during WWII. I would be surprised if she didn't wear a hard hat at some point during that. DJ Clayworth (talk) 23:45, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The purple hat in that first clip, matching her coat, is more typical of what she wears in public. The crown is only for special occasions, yes? But note the shape of that hat. Remind you of anything? How about "Oddjob"? That hat could in fact be a deadly weapon, just in case HRH gets into a scrape of some kind. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 04:34, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
generally non-manufacturing cost is not included in product cost. are there any situations where it is appropriate to include non-manufacturing cost in product cost? my friends say there are but i can't think of any yet! Please help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.4.190.179 (talk) 20:35, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not an accountant, but some companies, particularly small ones, may organize their books so that expenses not directly related to the manufacturing cost of a product, like office rent and other overhead, is included in "product cost". Does that help at all? I mean, if you're not going to be audited by some outside group, a business can organize its accounting in whatever way it wants. Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:02, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The assertion that “generally non-manufacturing cost is not included in product cost” might be applicable in some accounting, but not as a general rule. The cost of a product is the price the seller pays the buyer. The cost of production, however, includes things such as capital and labor. While it is certainly possible for a seller to agree to sell a product / service for less than the cost of production, this is generally a special case such as dumping or a loss leader. DOR (HK) (talk) 04:26, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
An oval racetrack for trains probably wouldn't work out that well, as it would give an automatic advantage to the one on the inside. Would need two parallel sets of straight tracks, set up like with a quarter horse race or a drag race, except it would probably take a pair of locomotives a lot longer to go from 0 to 60. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 22:42, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Is it possible to sue US patent office for giving a patent to someone, if that thing is so obvious and it is part of everyday use in other countries (say, India) ? --V4vijayakumar (talk) 05:16, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I am not going to sue anyone. Still this is disturbing what they do. for example, turmeric root, by products from neem tree, some rice verities (basmati), etc. I am not sure, if neem is patented then, no one can use neem stick to brush their teeth?! --V4vijayakumar (talk) 10:43, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Suits claiming that a patent is invalid, for reasons such as the original poster described, are certainly possible in the US. I don't know if the patent office or the patent holder would be the defendant. See Honeywell v. Sperry Rand for a very important example of such a case, although this was a very complex case and should not be considered a typical example. --Anonymous, 06:03 UTC, November 4, 2009.
There are procedures in place at the patent office to challenge a patent application on grounds such as obviousness and similarity to existing products. If you have a beef with a patent that's already been granted, you can sue the patent holder in U.S. federal court and ask the court to rule the patent invalid on those same grounds. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 06:19, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Before granting a patent, patent offices search prior art that was disclosed before the invention occurred (in the United States) or before the filing date (in the rest of the world).Cuddlyable3 (talk) 08:18, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I am reasonably sure you cannot name the patent office in a suit about the validity of a patent, but I don't actually know that for a fact. It would strike me as the sort of thing they would insist being in their legislation, though, to avoid being mired in lawsuits constantly. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:31, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Oftentimes the media misinterprets a patent; for example there may be a patent on a specific novel use of tumeric rootora specific hybrid variety of the tumeric plant. A wild natural product can in no way be patented, but a use or production method CAN be. However, people often confuse these differences; like the question we had on these desks a few days ago about someone patenting a certain shade of pink. What was actually patented was the use of a certain shade of pink in a specific application, namely in psychological control of prisoners. However, the media often will say something outrageous like "someone owns the patent on the color pink" --Jayron3221:57, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
As far as I'm aware, and checking the question again concurs with my memory, no one ever found any evidence for a patent for the use of pink (or any colour) for any purpose. In the case of the specific question, at least one editor pointed out extensive prior art would suggest it unlikely Nil Einne (talk) 13:08, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Why are you out of control? I can't find a way other than this to email you inspite of all the "Contact Us" stuff. Make it simple to be contacted and then verify the writer. You're vice versa and darned near impossible to send an email to. Check it for yourself. The computer gurus will ruin you with all their little ways to protect you from us BIG BAD people. Get real. Computer gurus are going to stifle communications altogether one day because they fear everything and everybody and think that imperfect computers will save the world. Far from it. Too many games one of these Dungeons and Dragons by computer gurus make them scared of their own shadows. Get simple, but for goodness sake, make things simple for the sake of communications.Make it easy to email you. Are you crazy with all this click this and click that to pages that don't even have a way to send you an email withou clicking this and clicking that again, ad infinitum?? Check your own website out! I've got 25 years of management experience and 3 degrees, yet your website keeps me confused. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Struckdown (talk • contribs) 14:31, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
What exactly do you want to contact Wikipedia about ? Who do you want to contact - a specific Wikipidea editor, the Wikipedia Foundation, or someone else ? Does you query fit any of the topics at Wikipedia:Contact us ? Gandalf61 (talk) 14:52, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
<edit conflict> Even with your three degrees and years of management experience, your communication skills have let you down too. Do you wish to learn how to email Wikipedia or Wikipedians? --Dweller (talk) 14:54, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
If you want to contact Wikipedia, there are usually better ways than email, depending what you want to contact people about. Usually, you'll need to edit a project page, like you did to post here.
If there's a problem with an article, try the discussion page (in the tab at the top of the article).
I think you may misunderstand how Wikipedia works. There is no one to e-mail—it is not "run" by any one person. Every page is editable by just about anyone. There are thousands of "authors" of the site. If you have a need to talk about a particular page, click the "Discussion" link at the top of the page in question, then click "new section", then add your comment/question (like you did to post this question). --Mr.98 (talk) 15:30, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Well there are places to contact about copyright violation or problems with biographical articles or other legal type matters. But that is all on the contact us page. Need to be more specificx about the p;roblem. If your problem isn't legal then you're in the same boat as the rest of us and can edit the page yourself. May I direct you to the WP:Five pillars before you start editing. Dmcq (talk) 16:04, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I tend to agree with the perceived complaint of the OP, that the contact page could be improved, perhaps by better explaining the necessity and reasons why a person wishing to contact wikipedia has to do a job of working out the best contact point. On the one hand, it is common enough to find companies seeking to direct a would-be correspondent to an appropriate FAQ or web form and which do not provide email addresses; on the other plenty enough other website do provide a simple email address within their contact page. I can see why a person might stumble upon their failure easily to discover a wikipedia email address, not least if their issue is not covered by the string of For x see y instructions. The remainder of ridiculous ad hominem attacks, as normal, say more about the writer than the object of their attack. --Tagishsimon(talk)21:34, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Whatever the problems with the contact us page, I don't see any mention of the RD on it. It is linked indirectly from Find more about a specific fact (which is linked to WP:Questions) and when linking has the comment "The Reference Desk is like a library reference desk". And of course the name "Reference desk" should also give a hint to anyone who thinks about it, as well as this sentence very early on in WP:RD"The Wikipedia reference desk works like a library reference desk" that this isn't the right place to ask such a question. I say all this primarily because of all the places you could ask a question of this sort on wikipedia, the RD is probably one of the worst. P.S. And as for the contact page, while I'm not saying it can't be improved I would say the very big red statement "Wikipedia has no editorial board" followed by "Revisions are not reviewed before they appear on the site. Content is not the result of an editorial decision by the Wikimedia Foundation or its staff" and two sentences later "Wikipedia is written, edited, maintained, and almost completely operated by volunteers from around the world" should give people with a decent level of English an idea of why there's no simple email address. Nil Einne (talk) 13:02, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Early Ford serial numbers started with 18, then 54, then 99A and 1A (see, for example [6]). But I've never heard of people tracking "warranty" numbers. SteveBaker (talk) 01:52, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Dealing with difficult people !!
I wonder what will i name this "difficult people or difficult situations" but whatever, why do these self boasting,critical,fault finding people so demeaning and put us in a very awkward situations to respond in appropriate manner . are there some traiing courses in dealing with these kind? especially if you just doing the right thing but put us to self analysis if thats really correct what we think is? on the other hand there are people more forgiving, understanding and graceful to even if we have faulted agnist them unknowingly or helplessly and they create a sense of respect and love not to be forgotten.any suggestions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.140.188 (talk) 19:03, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Afraid I can't give you any advice on dealing with such people, but to answer one of your questions, yes, there are courses available on this specific subject. My company's internal catalogue of courses available to employees includes one called "Dealing with Different People", which is said to have been renamed from an original title of "Dealing with Difficult People". I haven't taken this course; I may do one day. 93.97.184.230 (talk) 20:16, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Assertiveness training courses may help. Two books I can recommend are: "Dealing with Difficult People" by Roberta Cava (published by Piatkus in the UK), and "Assertiveness at Work" by Ken and Kate Back. You may wish to consider whether it's the people who are difficult, or the situation. --TammyMoet (talk) 21:00, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
And unfortunately there are quite a few article on Wikipedia where you can then test out your skills on the talk page ;-) Dmcq (talk) 22:36, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Has the days of recession gone by? has the job market recovered? what about the GDP's relation with us fetching our jobs? what are the indications that the market has recovered after the billion bailout as there seem to be no indication or are we waiting for some other billionaire whooping our money and jobs again.what are the indications that an economy is recovering.too confused. anyone? Seekhle (talk) 19:21, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Traditionally, stock markets recover about 6 months before the jobs markets. This would indicate that those who invest in the stock market believe that an economic recovery will begin within the next 6 months hence the stock commanding higher prices. Googlemeister (talk) 19:43, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, there are many different theories about why the stock market has been rising and whether or when we will see a recovery in employment. No one really knows, not even anyone on the Reference Desk. Marco polo (talk) 21:01, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
There are also come questions about whether this is a "W"-shaped recession or a "U" or "V" or "L"-shaped recession. If it is a "W"-shaped recession, such spikes in stock prices are usually followed by equally large or larger secondary crashes. See Recession shapes for more on this. This data can only really be interpreted in hindsight, so the most honest economist is likely one that says "fucked if I know?" when asked any question. Unfortunately, such economists don't find work too often, so we get 1000 prognosticators, each making equally random guesses as to what will happen next. --Jayron3221:52, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
What Jayron and Googlemeister said ... amplified with: Understand that there is no one single measure of the economy, or its strength, or its shape. That said, however, there are many "indicators". Conventional wisdom says that the Stock Market indices are leading indicators, in that they react before the others; and the unemployment rate is a trailing indicator, pretty much the last measure to react (both on the way down and the way up).
Taken together, by the time employment recovers, much money will have already been made in the markets, expecially by those whose job it is to make judgement calls ahead of their peers.
You didn't mention which country you're interested in. While the worlds economies are interconnected and most economies are suffering to some extent, there is a wide variance in the extent. For example while this is sometimes called a 'global recession', some countries are not in recession and have never been. The current situation in the job market also varies significantly. Some countries are recovering faster, some stock markets are doing better then others. The level and type of government assistance also varies. My guess would be you're referring to the US or India (athough as far as I'm aware India isn't in recession and haven't been for a long while), but contributors shouldn't have to guess. Nil Einne (talk) 12:56, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Let me just put it out there that it is possible that some countries will never have a full economic recovery and that their economies and wage income will never return to the peak of 2006 or 2007. This is not a possibility raised by most mainstream economists, but there are reasons to think that the United States and some other countries will not have a full recovery like those that have occurred after other recessions over the last two centuries. Here is a source making the case for an end to growth. Others may respond with conventional arguments for why we have not reached the end of growth in the global economy, and they may be right. But they may also be wrong. Marco polo (talk) 16:13, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Honda and Family Center in Rancho Santa Margarita
When have honda center in RSM off like Avenida Emprasa and Santa Margarita pkwy open. Did it open in 1999 or 2003? i just know when I was a little boy (in 1995/1996) (when the green light was pale and whiter) i doubt ther was the honda and auto center at that long time ago. I've notice the signla lights might have change.--209.129.85.4 (talk) 21:30, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm. The Honda Center is in Anaheim, not RSM. Unless there are two Honda Centers in Orange County, you may be mistaken. And it opened in 1993. It's located here: [7] off of Katella Avenue and the 57 Freeway. --Jayron3221:47, 4 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
By cutting out the damaged section and inserting a new piece. Soldering will be the most reliable; as a beginner I'd suggest you choose solder-ring fittings rather than end feed. Make sure you clean the pipe well both mechanically (abrasive pad or steel wool) and chemically (with flux). (Incidentally, make sure you wipe away excess flux once the joint is done, otherwise it encourages ugly green corrosion on the pipe.) If you don't fancy soldering you could use compression fittings requiring only a spanner to fit; these will be more prone to leaking and look amateurish, but in my local B&Q they do sell kits of a short length of pipe and a pair of straight fittings for this very purpose. Whether solder or compression, if your pipe is held firmly in situ, you will need at least one and maybe both of the fittings to be a "slip coupling". This means it can slide all the way onto the pipe to let you fit the replacement section in place; without slip couplings you have to pull the cut ends of the pipe away from each other and that may not be possible.
This stuff isn't rocket science; by all means "get someone know knows what they're doing" if you prefer, but if you want to do it yourself you can. Probably worth googling up a longer explanation than mine on how to use solder fittings if you're not sure about them - they rarely have instructions on the packet. 93.97.184.230 (talk) 08:29, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Soldering is difficult if you're not used to it. You really have to get the pipe super-clean and shiney - and the heat has to be just right to melt the solder all the way around. What's really bad is if you leave a tiny pinhole gap. You think you fixed it so you turn the water back on - see the jet of water (or the drips) and your heart sinks. The problem is that now the pipe is full of water and copper conducts heat quite well - so it's difficult to get the solder hot enough to melt again so it'll flow back into that gap because even with a LOT of heat, all you're doing is boiling the water. It never gets hot enough for the solder to melt and you need a seriously big-assed heat source to fix it afterwards. So if you haven't done it before (and if you had, you wouldn't be asking us!) - you can expect a lot of messing around. It's better to learn with a few bits of scrap pipe - and only try to tackle the repair when you know what to expect and you're pretty sure you'll get it right first time. Hence, I think I'd recommend using threaded pipe fittings for a typical on-off DIY job. SteveBaker (talk) 13:32, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I must have got lucky then - my explanation above was based on a single plumbing job I did recently with about 12 solder-ring elbows in it. That was the first piece of plumbing soldering I've ever done. No leaks, no problems. I've done a few jobs with compression fittings, and always had difficulty getting all the joints to seal without weeping. Some jobs absolutely require one approach or the other, but where either could be used I'll be picking solder-ring in future. I did suggest compression as an option to the OP though, and there'd be nothing wrong with him choosing that option. 93.97.184.230 (talk) 22:01, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I am looking for an English language website, newspaper or other source which reports domestic news stories from Germany. I'm talking about general interest stories such as politics, crime, entertainment, sport and so on. There's a few stories on the BBC website but nothing very much. Does such a thing exist? Many thanks. --Richardrjtalk email00:26, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Can I book and use a hotel room in the United States if I am exactly twenty years old and I am not a US citizen? In particular I am asking about hotels in Washington, D.C. and the following states: Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut. Thank you. --88.203.248.164 (talk) 01:43, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, having done some research apparently some hotels don't let under 18's 21's stay because it's too difficult to regulate the minibars. That isn't universal, though - many seem to set the limit at 18 (younger than that would cause problems with credit - you would probably have to pay cash in advance). --Tango (talk) 01:55, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Many actually require credit cards no matter what—for fear of damages. Anyway, I suspect the age policies are set by individual hotels. I would call them ahead of time, if possible. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:25, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I know that some rental car companies insist on the person being at least 25 but I haven't run into any that have an age limit higher than 18. I could see the argument for 21 if the rooms had a mini-bar. But then, unless you're staying at a high priced hotel, you don't need to worry about having a mini-bar in your room. Dismas|(talk)03:51, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I'm 19 and I stayed in a variety of hotels in a variety of states this summer. (None of the ones you mentioned, though.) But generally, as long as I had a credit card and acted mature and responsible, nobody had a problem with it. Nobody even checked my age. Still, I recommend checking ahead with the individual hotels to make sure if you're concerned about it. Cherry Red Toenails (talk) 05:39, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
They don't ask about that stuff - what they are mostly interested in is your credit card. They typically won't let you pay by any other means - including cash. SteveBaker (talk) 13:23, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
If the minibar is an issue, the OP can always ask the hotel to empty or remove it, or to allocate a room without one. This is quite a common request, one made by people with children, and people who (for one reason or another) aren't comfortable with alcohol in their room. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk13:30, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I do not know about the other states, but I got a hotel room in Maryland several years ago when I was only 17. If it is a rule, it is not universally enforced. Googlemeister (talk) 14:37, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
My apologies if there is a more relevant section of the reference desk for this question, but recently I was presented with a situation in which I wanted to use an expression 'trading wishes for truth', which I think must be a quotation, but cannot find it on Google - i.e. searching using no quotation marks produces a plethora of irrelevancies, and with quotation marks, nothing.
I was reading this article[9] about Google interview questions and this question in particular has sparked my curiousity: "You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?" I did an internet search and found a number of answers[10]. But what's the correct answer? 12.165.250.13 (talk) 16:02, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure there is a "Correct" answer, but the three obvious answers are to either to 1)attempt to press up against the sides of glass so that the blades can't reach you. This will work well for certain designs of blenders, but very poorly for other designs. Or 2) Attempt to jump on the blades and hold on for dear life. This would be tremendously difficult, but if you could center yourself as close to their axis of rotation as possible you'd have a chance. or 3) Get under the blades. They don't always scrape the bottom of the glass. Again, this depends on the design of the blender. APL (talk) 16:44, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Are we reduced in height to the diameter of a nickel, or thickness? I am assuming that it is a US nickel, as dimensions for a Canadian nickel are slightly different I think. Either way, the point is moot since being thrown (presumably by a malevolent regular sized human) would most likely kill the shrunken victim simply from the impact. Googlemeister (talk) 16:44, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Air resistance would be increased - the effect of air resistance is roughly proportional to cross sectional surface area and inversely proportional to mass, so it will be increased by the scale factor. That might well be enough to avoid injury. Also, the strength of bones compared to mass will be greater by the same factor, since the strength of bones is roughly proportional to cross sectional area of the bone. --Tango (talk) 20:18, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
When you are shrunk your mass is reduced by the scale factor cubed, but the cross-sectional area of your muscles (and thus your strength) is reduced by only the square of the scale factor. That means you would be somewhere around 100 times stronger (it terms of strength to weight ratios) than you were before. Therefore, you should have no difficultly jumping out of the blender. --Tango (talk) 16:47, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The page you linked to say it will take 19 drops. Their explanation only proves 19 is an upper bound on the maximum required, although it seems plausible that it is optimal. --Tango (talk) 17:36, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It is optimal, unless someone can think of a completely different scheme. You're wanting to divide the 100 floors into sections, dropping an egg at the top floor in each section working up from the bottom section until the egg breaks. Then you are going to start at the bottom of that section with your second egg and work your way up until that breaks. The floor before that egg breaks (or the same floor if you reach the second-to-last in the range and the egg still doesn't break) is the highest non-breaking floor. The highest number of drops required will involve dropping the first egg once in every section, breaking when dropped from floor 100, and then dropping the second egg from every floor in the top range. So the question is, what is the optimum number of sections to minimise the number of drops? Or, in other words, minimise a + 100/a where a is the number of sections. We can picture the function, and the minimum point can be found by differentiating to find a point with a gradient of 0. a + 100a-1 goes to 1 - 100a-2 which must equal 0. So, 100a-2 = 1, a2 = 100. So, number of sections (a) is 10, giving a maximum of 19 drops as described. 86.142.224.71 (talk) 23:29, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
You're forgetting that the sections do not have to have equal numbers of floors. You can do it in 14 drops: instead of taking the first egg up ten stories at a time, start on floor 14, then go up 13 stories to floor 27, then 12 stories, then 11, 10, 9, etc. Should it survive, the 11th drop will be from floor 99. If it survives that, make a twelfth drop from floor 100. If it breaks at some point, start with the second egg on the lowest possible floor - so, if the first egg breaks on the second drop, from floor 27, start with the second egg on floor 15. You then have a maximum of 12 drops of the second egg - 14 in total, and the logic holds all the way up - for example, if the egg breaks on the 11th drop, from floor 99, you need only go down to floor 96 to start dropping the second egg; you then have a maximum of 3 drops of this egg - 14 in total, again. Warofdreamstalk00:55, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
But I think I failed the initiative test - I worked that out, before looking at the comments and noticing other people came up with that answer earlier today! Warofdreamstalk01:00, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Good thinking - you're reducing the number of unused drops when the egg breaks early, so are using the drops more efficiently. Can you prove 14 is optimal, though? --Tango (talk) 01:02, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
This method is based on triangular numbers, as you could solve the problem for 1 floor in 1 drop, 2 floors in 3 drops, 3 floors in 6 drops, etc. You can solve it for up to 105 floors in 14 drops, but only 91 in 13 drops, so it's the optimal number for this approach - but I can't prove that it would be impossible for a different approach to produce a lower number of drops. Warofdreamstalk01:29, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hardly any of this kind of 'trick' interview questions have a correct answer. Interviewers are not looking to find out how well you read the "interview questions" websites, they are looking for how well you can think. For the ones that do have correct answers, if you give it in a way that makes the interviewer think you already knew the answer they will just ask another until they find a way to make you think. DJ Clayworth (talk) 20:22, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
After awhile you might think that you want to work elsewhere. I can think of any number of wise guy answers that wouldn't get me the job but could be entertaining. For example: Advise the interviewer that the job of turning the switch on has been sent offshore, and now it will be several weeks before it gets done. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 01:09, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Accountants in Saudi Arabia/Dubai
Hello i want to know the Salaries of ACCA qualified with one year experience in Saudi Arabia and Dubai,Please tell me if some one know.Thank You all of you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.154.9.35 (talk) 16:04, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Sailor of the King 1953
At lunchtime, the 1953 UK/US film "Sailor of the King" was on TV. I thought that the German cruiser "Essen" was likely to be HMS Cumberland plus some dummy turrets; however I have been unable to find any reference to it on the web. There are plenty of notes about the Cumberland's role in the 1956 film "Battle of the River Plate", but nothing about an earlier movie career. Can anyone help?Alansplodge (talk) 17:35, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
My country playing another ina cricket match and absolutely everyone supporting the national team but i am the only irony supporting my favorite team and at the cost of some enimity.does this happen to many? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk) 17:40, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. The 2009 World Series ended last night. Pitching for the Phillies was Pedro Martinez. Martinez, due to his prowess while on the Red Sox, is not generally well-liked in New York (he's generally hated, really). New York has a strong Hispanic population, and the Yankees have many Hispanic players, such as Alex Rodriguez, who is Dominican, so the two go together. However, Martinez is also Dominican, so many people often feel torn, and would like to root for Martinez but would also like to root for the Yankees. This was easier when Martinez played for the Mets. The New York Times had an article on this very phenomenon today[11]. ~ Amory (u • t • c)17:49, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Although not really the same thing, it's not uncommon that citizens who are immigrants will support their country of birth rather then where they've made their new life even if they've been living there for many years Nil Einne (talk) 18:38, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Very common. My partner lived the first 22 years of his life in Sri Lanka, then moved to Australia and quickly became an Australian citizen. But whenever Australia plays Sri Lanka, he's happy because he figures his team can't lose. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:54, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think it's so much a "differ by country" approach as a "differ by rater". In many cases (as our article notes), this is one and the same. However, neither the US nor the UK have official national ratings (among many others) and there are numerous cases of hotels self-assigning their star rating. — Lomn19:17, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It may differ in other countries, but the German classification has *=tourist, **=standard, ***=comfort, ****=first class and *****=luxury. This site [12] (click the UK button for the en version) lists the relevant criteria. PS: There are also links which describe the paramaters of other European countries. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 19:49, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Star gazing near London
I was wondering where would be the closest place to London which would have the least amount of light pollution so that you could see stars, in particular it would be nice to see the Milky Way, this is considering a clear sky. MedicRoo (talk) 22:36, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I am no expert (having not lived in London in decades), but I would suspect the North Downs close to the Kent/Surrey boundary would be one likely place. It's possible there are closer places in the Green Belt. Grutness...wha?23:25, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
According to this Google Earth overlay, the area with the least light pollution nearest London is in the Rother District of East Sussex, particularly the area around the village of Iden just north of Rye. According to that map, there is a fair amount of light pollution everywhere in Surrey. Marco polo (talk) 23:38, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Very sad - as a kid I learnt some of my astronomy basics in the Hadley Common/Hadley Wood areas around Barnet. Seems that light pollution has made that impossible now. Mind you, some of that may have been during the big power cuts of the early '70s. Grutness...wha?23:57, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict)Nice overlay. As one who has lived in many different "colours" - I would say the "red" and "orange" are bad, the "yellow" is reasonable (I'm in yellow now). The closest place would depend on where you live now - if you are N to E London, then it might easier to go up M11 or A12 into Suffolk, or maybe a quiet beach (with no street lights) in Essex (ISTR Church of St Peter-on-the-Wall, Bradwell-on-Sea is pretty remote, and very dark). Ronhjones (Talk)00:11, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, I'm thinking yellow areas might be more realistic, especially as before I saw the overlay I was thinking I could go on a leisurely jaunt on the bike there, so somewhere like Mark Beech (I'm in the southern side of the city)might be okay.MedicRoo (talk) 00:17, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Based on Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, you're looking for a sky that's class 1, 2, 3, or maybe 4. According to the map at [13], there are some small parts of Wales and large portions of Scotland that could meet your needs. Alternatively, you could borrow a boat and go about 50 miles out into the North Sea. --Carnildo (talk) 23:58, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, yes. If you can get a trip to NW Scotland, then the skies are much better than anywhere in England. I stayed at Culnacraig near Achiltibuie a couple of years ago, and when there is no moon, it is very, very dark Ronhjones (Talk)00:14, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Plenty of rural areas of England are a 4 on that scale and you can definitely see the Milky Way. It is more dramatic with darker skies, but the OP just said he wanted to see it. --Tango (talk) 01:14, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Microwaving Pritt Stick
Hi, this is a very random question but it's because I was having a conversation about it and we were merely speculting on the answer.
What would happen to the gluey bit of Pritt Stick if you microwave it?
I guessed it would turn into a hot clear viscous liquid, but I don't know. Any help you can provide is much appreciated.
Thanks. 86.138.158.223 (talk) 01:18, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
My guess would be "not much". Microwaves only really heat liquids and Pritt Stick isn't liquid. It is pretty soft as solids go, though, so it is possible it would melt (I know glass will melt in a microwave if you heat it slightly to soften it - it's probably about as hard after being softened as Pritt Stick is). --Tango (talk) 01:21, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
[14] describes a glue stick exploding the microwave - I guess due to air pockets or just uneven heating (which microwaves are renowned for). --Tango (talk) 01:24, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I wouldn't have thought it would explode the microwave, just cause a short circuit that blows fuses and ruins electronics (anything plugged in), as I've heard happening if an action figure like Gumby is placed in a microwave. Of course, I guess it depends on how long it's left in, too.209.244.187.155 (talk) 01:55, 6 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]
