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May 15

family tree

A co-worker and I found out today that her grandfather and my father are cousins , we are curious to see if this means we are cousins of any sort. I tried looking at several family trees, but could not figure it out. Please help us with our curiosity!Tedwaa (talk) 00:44, 15 May 2010 (UTC) Thank you wf and tm

See cousin. If her grandfather and your father are first cousins, that means that the common ancestor is 4 generations back for her and 3 generations back for you. That makes you second cousins, once removed. Second cousins because the closest ancestor to either of you is a great-grandparent, and once removed because there is a one-generation difference between you. --Jayron32 00:58, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

So I guess it would be alright for them to have sex then. 210.165.30.169 (talk) 03:04, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Not if one of them is under the age of consent, which may seem unlikely for a co-worker but is not impossible in some countries Nil Einne (talk) 00:21, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Jung-su Lee sentence

i know that jung-su lee the (skater of south korea) has been told three years but he had/has a chance to appeal. so my question is it offically that if he is off for 3 years or what? also does he get to keep his althete pitch'in from goverment? (i know you guys summarize all the files but there was lil more to the story)i dont think the two teamates and epsically jung-su lee was innocent. PLEASE and THANK YOU!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.118.92.6 (talk) 04:10, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Ouur article on Lee Jung-Su says that he was handed a 3-year ban, but does not mention that Lee and his teammate had one week to appeal the ban. According to the Korea Times, they did appeal the ban, on May 10th. This will force the Korean Skating Union to meet again and investigate further. Also, according to Sports Illustrated, the government has no plans to take away his pension. Cheers, --Cerebellum (talk) 14:58, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

How do you keep birds out of a tree

I live in south florida and have a 20 foot tree in the yard. Many many birds have deceided they like the tree and the result is a lot of unhealthy poo. Our tempature has reached 90 so my children need the shade. Please tell me how to discourage these birds from this tree. Victoria1974 (talk) 06:14, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

First, make sure you turn off "Caps Lock". Also more information may be needed to best answer your question. Do you have any bird feeders near the tree? As that would attract them to live in the tree. wiooiw ^(talk) 06:23, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

If you keep YELLING under the tree, maybe the birds will dislike the noise. My only other suggestions are getting a cat or a deer cannon. Your neighbors might not like the deer cannon though. Dismas|^(talk) 06:24, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Those fake owls they sell are supposed to scare off smaller birds. You could hang a few of those up in the branches. Even if it didn't work it would be kind of cool to have a tree full of fake owls. AlexiusHoratius 06:33, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

In general, remove any attractions that birds might want. The Owl is a good idea. You can also buy a cat and let it roam the tree. Or get a gun and....wiooiw ^(talk) 06:38, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Do not get a gun!!! except for the purposes of frightening the birds. Caesar's Daddy (talk) 07:51, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

You could also provide other places for the birds to go instead - maybe a bird feeder or box placed in another part of the garden away from the tree. Chevymontecarlo. 11:19, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Caps lock is off. Neighbors have bird feeders in small trees, so they dine there and hang out in our large tree, which by the way has somtimes loud children underneith. I have used a marine blowhorn which works for about half an hour. please keep up with the suggestions and thanksVictoria1974 (talk) 21:37, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

If it is a single, isolated tree of moderate size, some type of bird netting draped over it may be effective in limiting perching. (You may be able to find some intended to protect fruit trees.) -- 174.24.200.38 (talk) 03:01, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

There is also supposed to be a thin plastic tape that flutters in the wind and makes a noise that frightens birds. Also shiny mirror bits hung in the tree, perhaps old CDs will make it unpleasant for birds. I have seen a life size black cut out of a bird of prey stuck up high on a big pole used to frighten birds too. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 03:07, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, CDs are a good idea. Many people here in the UK use them on allotments to frighten off the birds. Maybe you should try that. Chevymontecarlo. 15:10, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Creating a new Wiki page on a specific Vbulletin forum. Allowed?

Can i create an article about a particular VBulletin forum? Would it be within the rules considering Wikipedia's stringent guidelines on advertising? If the answer to both my questions is "yes" , can you suggest me some example pages based on which i could model it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by V.siddhesh (talk • contribs) 12:59, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Notability. The key test is is the forum discussed extensively in reliable, independent sources. Every point of that is important. reliable, independent sources are required to ensure that anything in the article is verifiable. And since we need every part of the article to be verifiable, then every part of the article should be referenced to an independent, reliable source. If no one outside of Wikipedia has disussed the forum extensively, it is probably not an appropriate topic for a Wikipedia article.--Jayron32 13:13, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Just as an example, there are pages on Something Awful and 4chan, which are both indisputably "notable" forums. Note that each contain copious third-party references. Gaia Online has fewer references, although the fact that it is perhaps the "largest" on the whole internet probably gets it into the "notable" category without a fight. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:47, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

car insurance

it has been about 18 months since i last insured my car and have thrown away all my previous policy details. as i am an airhead i cannot remember the name of my previous broker. is there a way of finding out who this is as i have roughly 7 years no claims on this policy which would be useful to get new insurance. i would be extremely greatful to anyone who can help. dave —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.100.167.83 (talk) 13:19, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you have any receipts for checks or whatever method of payment that you were making? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:26, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

If you paid by check or credit card, you should be able to talk to your bank and get statements back from 2 years ago - that would lead you to the name of the insurance company. SteveBaker (talk) 16:53, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

And of course, you will be identified as one of the many thousands (in the UK) who add about £50 per policy to those of us who DO keep their motor insurance up to date. Who do you think compensates the victims of un-insured drivers? Answer - those of us who do insure uninterruptedly. However, if you didn't insure because you were legitimately off the road - I apologise, but still make the above point nonetheless for the benefit of other readers to whom those comments might apply. 92.30.12.193 (talk) 17:20, 15 May 2010 (UTC).

That's awfully rude and presumptive of you! Perhaps the OP has had the car locked away in a garage for a year or more. I own two cars that have not been insured (or driven more than the length of my driveway) for over two years - both are classic cars that are in the process of being restored and do not need to be insured until I'm ready to take them out onto the road. Wikipedia requires us to Assume Good Faith - it's one of our founding principles. Which means that you are not allowed to go around accusing people of things...even if you offer a caveated apology in the next sentence. Please don't make unwarranted accusations in the first place - OK? SteveBaker (talk) 03:50, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

first i would like to thank you for all your suggestions. I am pretty much certain i would have paid this by cash but i will follow this up further. the policy i am unable to locate used to be my policy for my works van as i was self employed. i am now a house husband which is the reason i no longer have this policy but we have recently purchased a second car because my partner works and we also have 3 children so do need this second car. so i would like to apologise to the uniterupted payers (including myself) who have £50 added on to there policy

(As Steve said, the suggestion that you have been an uninsured driver was unfair. If you are a named driver for your partner's car, then any no-claims on that policy might be taken into account, especially if your partner is to be a named driver on your vehicle. Ask your partner's insurer.) Dbfirs 08:40, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Well if you have a vague idea you could ring around a few brokers and ask them. No doubt they will want your business. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 23:35, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

The name of your former insurer will be held on the DVLA database. Unfortunately, there is probably no way that you can access this information, but it is possible that your new insurer might have access to this or a similar insurers' database. Dbfirs 07:10, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

In the UK, your local police station has easy access to the DVLA database where they can check your insurance. Just take your driving/ownership documents in with you.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 15:01, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Futures contracts on Sydney Futures Exchange

For AUD Futures, when are the contracts settled? and can they be settled in US dollars? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ozpurple (talk • contribs) 15:06, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

And what does it cost to enter a futures contract? Ozpurple (talk) 15:18, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

A salesman from any company that is a member of the exchange will be glad to answer any questions. S/he is betting you will be grateful and use his/her establishment. Rebele | Talk ^{The only way to win the game is to not play the game.} 07:46, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

SFE contract specifications will be available on-line at the Australian Securities Exchange site. Any broker will almost certainly provide FX facilities allowing you to make and receive payments in any major currency (although not neceesarily at the most competitive rates). Cost of futures contract is an initial margin payment that you have to make when you start the contract, plus daily variation margin payments that you will be asked to make if the underlying asset moves against you or its volatility changes significantly. The ASX has its own minimum margin requirements (based on a complicated calculation called Span margining) but a broker may have additional margin requirements on top of this. As Rebele suggests, best thing is to ask one or two brokers about their terms and conditions. Gandalf61 (talk) 09:37, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

scam or no scam

I need to find the names of the president and/or chairman of America on Line. I have received an e-mail from said persons regarding a sum of money. This is probably a scam, but I need to confirm what it is. Snopes cannot help me. gammielou —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gammielou (talk • contribs) 15:53, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

It's definitely a scam, as is every other "we owe you money you didn't know we owed you" email. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:17, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

I need to Identify the president and/or chairman of America on Line to confirm a recently received communication from aol. Gammielou (talk) 16:14, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

It is a scam. Delete it, and do not respond in any way. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:29, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes - definitely. It'll be a scam for 100% certain. I wouldn't even bother to check it out, delete it and move on. SteveBaker (talk) 16:50, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

With emails, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't. Chevymontecarlo. 17:01, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Maybe the OP could arrange to bombard the sender's e-mail with ads for prescription drug knockoffs and the like? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:52, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

To answer your specific question, see our article Tim Armstrong (executive). But in the unlikely event that you are able to make personal contact with him, he'll undoubtedly tell you the same as everyone else has done so far. Please don't give these people any money or any personal information. Good luck. Karenjc 19:30, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

There is no such thing as "American Online", so it must be a scam - they changed their name to just "AOL" years ago. If it was really from them, they would have got their own name right. --Tango (talk) 13:29, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Well, AOL's Founder and CEO was famously Steve Case, but now AOL is just part of Time Warner and doesn't have it's own CEO. (The Time Warner CEO is Jeffrey Bewkes.)

But that's all irrelevant. If you've got an unexpected business letter involving a large sum of money that doesn't come with a way to verify the information, it's absolutely a scam.

If Steve Case really decided that he wanted to give you some amount of money, he'd have given you a phone number and a postal address that you could call AOL's main switchboard to verify. If it was a large amount of money he'd have had his lawyer contact you by some equally verifiable way. (Registered mail, perhaps?) Business just isn't done by emailing strangers about money. APL (talk) 19:42, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Baseball Bugs - or dodgy insurance schemes...Chevymontecarlo. 12:06, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

One scenario that no one seems to have considered is that the letter may be demanding money for some unpaid debt to AOL. If the letter was addressed to a previous occupant of your house and you have no prior business with AOL, just give them a call and say the people they are after no longer live there. If however you do owe AOL money, it might be better to pay up now or seek the advice of a lawyer. Astronaut (talk) 14:22, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Greetings,I am Mr.Howdi Imaskama and I am begging your assistance.My father was the head of the large manufacturing corporation in IVORY COAST!!!! when his plane crash on February 29 2010. I am sole heir to his fortune of SEVENTY TWO MILLION DOLLARS,but terms of government state this is may not be used with Ivory Coast bank account-you have been nominated as chosen beneficiary.For storing of the moneys in your account,you will receive sum of 10% of money as transfer fee which will be transferred directly to you.This scheme is in accordance with the banking Regulations of Ivory Coast and is being published in public for all to see the truth and honourable intentions of our company. In order to be claiming this money,you need provide merely your bank account number and verification code and the details of name and address of owner.After this has been done you will be credited with account.It is great kindness of Wikipedians to help fellow human in distress and I am much gratified with your agreeing to this service-the colour and creed and religion is of no significance,relationship can be had with all people of Wikipedia.I thank you for support,me and my father and the workers of Gullyball Wikiz Inc.

Howdy, Howdi. The Hero of This Nation (talk) 17:23, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

George Bernard Shaw quote

I'm looking for a quote from George Bernard Shaw which I cannot find using Google. It was something about men and women facing each other at the breakfast table after what they've been doing all night or something. Not being familiar with Shaw, was this an actual quote from Shaw? --Blue387 (talk) 18:45, 15 May 2010UT

Is this what you meant: "The problem with marriage is that it ends every night after making love, and it must be rebuilt every morning before breakfast"? It is credited here to Gabriel García Márquez. Bielle (talk) 16:32, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Why didn't he just make love in the morning instead?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:34, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps because the need for rebuilding would then consume the rest of the day. When the shops are open, it can get expensive. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Source of landscapes and urban panoramic photos (for desktop background)

Resolved

Is there anywhere on the Internet where I can find examples of the above? I have tried the WP featured images but I have used them all as a background already. Does anyone know where I could find some? Chevymontecarlo. 20:12, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

There are plenty of panoramics at Commons. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:04, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

You might also want to check out National Geographic's wallpaper collection here http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/download . The quality of the photography is really excellent and although the images aren't categorised landscapes feature fairly prominently so you should be able to find lots by just clicking through. Click on the small link at the bottom which says "download wallpaper" to get the full size version. 131.111.185.68 (talk) 22:47, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

In the end I went some photos from the National Geographic collection but I think I will continue to look through the Commons photos because I'm sure there's some good ones somewhere. Thanks for that. Chevymontecarlo. 15:08, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

May 16

How does I publish me books?

How do amateur/first-time manga illustrators usually publish their work? I happen to be one of people working on my story but I have no idea how to properly publish it into book form. I already have drawings for the title covers and drew out all the chapters and stuff, but what is the recommended method of publishing your first work into a manga comic? 64.75.158.195 (talk) 04:51, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Send some samples to publishers? I think this is the way to go - send some samples of your best work to publishers and include an outline of the whole story. Or, seek out a manga fanzine, maybe they're taking newcomers? If a portion of your manga may be cropped to serve as a standalone short story, maybe try that? --Ouro (blah blah) 07:42, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Whenever this question is asked here concerning regular books, the answer that is normally supplied is "Find an agent". Publishers don't generally accept unsolicited manuscripts. I don't know if this is different for manga publishers. Dismas|^(talk) 07:58, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

A second alternative would be publish some material online and offer it for free. This will get you some feedback from readers and possibly attention from real publishers.--Quest09 (talk) 19:46, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Here is what I know (bear in mind that I am not a manga/comics artist, so take all I say here with a BIG grain of salt). As far as I know, there are three "conventional" ways to become a mangaka. The first one is to create and sell your doujinshi, to earn yourself some fame this way, and then to try submitting stuff to the magazines. The second one is to become an apprentice to an established mangaka, and then to "graduate" to publishing your own stuff this way. (Keep in mind that the assistant/apprentice names do not usually appear on the manga, the work is crazy hard, and the pay sucks). The third one is to draw one-shots, or self-contained first chapters of the mangas you have in mind, and to try submitting those to the magazines directly (with very slim but still nonzero chances of success). The biggest caveat in all this is that you need to be a native Nihongo speaker. Korean or Chinese manga (manhwa) still qualifies as a manga, but original English-language manga is technically a comics and not a manga at all. That doesn't mean you'd be worse off if it is in English; you may actually be better off. There are English-language webcomic artsts (Ursula Vernon, Jeph Jacques, Fred Gallagher, Mark Crilley, Bill Holbrook, ...) who largely or fully support themselves by drawing comics and publishing some or all of it on the web. None of it is really manga though, not even any of Mark Crilley's stuff. Still, this venue is definitely worth considering, unless you would want to move to Japan and starve yourself for many years for a very long shot at getting published in any of the Kodansha / Shueisha / Hakusensha / Shogakukan journals. --Dr Dima (talk) 23:30, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

If your (the OP's) main interest is to get a properly bound book, check out some print-on-demand shops or (more pejoratively, "vanity publishers"). I've had a comparatively good impression of Lulu (company). Chances that you will earn money are slim, but you can get books produced to a wide range of physical requirements, and you can potentially reach a large audience for very little initial outlay. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 09:34, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

"Get books produced . . ." I agree with, but "potentially reach a large audience for very little initial outlay" I don't, unless you mean that, having the books, the OP can then advertise, distribute and get paid for them entirely through his/her own efforts. Some of the various print on demand or other print-shop services (like, I too have heard, Lulu) will indeed produce bound copies for reasonable mark-ups over real costs. Many others, who describe themselves variously as agents, editorial services, independent publishers etc, etc but are in reality vanity presses, will typically charge for inferior or illusory editorial and other work, and overcharge for what they actually do (which often means secretly farming out the work to the same print services their customer could access directly for a large mark-up). Such operators, unlike real agents or publishers, have no more abilities than J. Q. Public to get adverts and reviews published, and no means of getting stores to stock their titles because no-one in the professional book industry will deal with them under any circumstances. Many such operators have to change their company names frequently to avoid dunning creditors and disappointed, sueing clients.

As an ex-bookseller and ex-editor, I broadly concur with the advice of the first three replies above. Try also visiting a Public Library and studying publications like The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook to find out about publishers and agents, looking at existing Manga publishers' websites for advice on submissions, and finding, studying and participating in the various on-line forum sites for aspiring writers and artists (random example, Absolute Write). Also, go to Manga or other Comics Conventions and ask successful writers how they did it. It's obviously possible to become a successful publisher of your own work, whether printed or online, as people like Dave Sim (not Manga, but certainly comics) and Jeph Jacques (Manga references) have demonstrated, but it takes years of very hard and poorly renumerated work. Finally, remember the rule of thumb that all money should flow towards the writer/artist, and be very wary if asked for up-front fees for services or production costs; in most (I agree not all) professional publishing circumstances such charges, where legitimate, are taken out of what a publication earns through sales. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 23:14, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Lulu, unlike traditional vanity presses, will have your book in their catalogue more or less forever, and have the infrastructure to accept orders and ship it all over the world. That's what I meant by "potentially large audience". With a traditional vanity press, you order X00 copies, the publisher may even promise to produce Y00 (Y>X), but he will nearly always make a fat profit off your initial investment and quietly burn what's left of the print run after a few months to save on storage. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 23:31, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Agreed: another old vanity press trick is to print the requisite number of sheets, but not fold, bind and case them into book form. Lulu is, I agree, generally said to offer an honest and decent service as far as it goes, but while they do indeed catalogue your book and supply it to anyone who orders it, they don't (so far as I know) actively advertise to the public or to retail booksellers, or send reps to the stores to generate stock orders; nor do they accept returns from booksellers who, therefore, will almost never order shelf stock from them, only copies firmly ordered by customers. Consequently, creating awareness of and demand for your book is down to your own efforts. Some people are in a good position to do that - for example, those who give lectures and talks related to their book's subject - but for Manga it may be less easy. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 04:29, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Ratio analysis Non–Performing Credit to Total Credit

please tell me about ratio analysis Non–Performing Credit to Total Credit... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Surakshya (talk • contribs) 12:37, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

This sounds like a homework question to me - if it isn't I apologise. We will not do your homework for you, but we will help you advance from a stuck point. If it isn't a homework question, please explain a little more as it seems people aren't sure of what you mean. Thank you :) Chevymontecarlo. 12:04, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

How small are the smallest clients of big law firms?

Law firms like those belonging to the Magic Circle (law) or the White shoe firm. Mr.K. (talk) 13:14, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Fixed redlink 131.111.248.99 (talk) 16:57, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

The very largest and most well known law firm would cheerfully take on the very smallest client, if that client were willing to pay the going hourly rate for the work to be done. They might refuse the work if they already had the adversary as a client. They might charge far more per hour than a local storefront law firm for contracts, rental agreements, deeds, wills, or prenups. Large firms have associates, junior partners and new hires whose work gets billed out and which pays revenue to the partnership as well as the lawyer or paralegal actually talking to the client and preparing the documents. The senior partners would be aghast at the notion of turning away billings. Come one, come all! Edison (talk) 22:15, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Law firms are also ethically required to perform at least some pro bono work every once in a while. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 05:39, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

212.219.39.146 (talk) 09:09, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/legal_services_pai.html Everard Proudfoot (talk) 18:24, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

"Ethically required"? And what if they don't do it, will law firms burn in hell? Mr.K. (talk) 15:40, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

See the pro bono article, which was already linked above. In the US, the ABA "recommends" a certain amount of pro bono work, under its ethics rules. There is this idea that since lawyers and doctors have their privileged positions by means, partly, of community support, that they are supposed to give back to the community with pro bono work. As far as law firms burning in hell, well, yes, we all know that's a given. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:58, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Er...surely the smallest clients of law firms,would be those who represented Pygmies'R'Us or Dwarves Incorporated? :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.149.57.118 (talk) 12:28, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

No, it would probably be for the old lady's canary. The one she gave her vast fortune to. Googlemeister (talk) 13:38, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Not her ant farm? Nil Einne (talk) 07:23, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

May 17

Canadian pedia?

Is this the Canadian Wikipedia? http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portada It is in French? There's no Canadian pedia in English? Is this French much different from the native French? --117.204.84.55 (talk) 07:48, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

It's not like any French I've ever read! You might like to read our article on Catalan language. Our friends in Canada read either the standard English or the standard French Wikipedias. Dbfirs 08:27, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

That's Catalan Wikipedia, not Canadian. The various Wikipedias are distinguished by language, not nationality. Thus, this Wikipedia, the English-language one, is for anyone who speaks English anywhere in the world. There is no Canadian language, hence no Canadian Wikipedia. (French-language Wikipedia is found here: http://fr.wikipedia.org )—D. Monack ^talk 09:24, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

There is a Kannada language edition of Wikipedia. Warofdreams talk 14:03, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

LOL. That's a good one. Anyway, if the OP is looking for a Canadian encyclopedia, maybe they can try The Canadian Encyclopedia which is also a free online encyclopedia available both in English and French. --99.244.91.182 (talk) 03:08, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Why isn't there a Swiss Wikipedia either? --84.61.146.104 (talk) 16:13, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

See Languages of Switzerland. The project does not cater specifically for nationalists. Dbfirs 19:42, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

With a few exceptions, of course. LANTZY^TALK 01:28, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Oops, yes, I was wrong there, wasn't I? There are exceptions! Dbfirs 15:38, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Is ch.wikipedia.org the Swiss Wikipedia? --84.61.146.104 (talk) 07:47, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

ch.wikipedia.org is the Chamorro language edition of Wikipedia. As it was noted above, there isn't a Swiss Wikipedia because there isn't Swiss language. --Магьосник (talk) 17:00, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

360 => laptop

Disclaimer: I know computers, I don't know AV. Wasn't sure whether this was appropriate for the computing desk, which is why I'm posting here. Is there any way to get my Xbox 360 to display in HD on my laptop screen? The laptop doesn't have any video inputs, although it's got the usual USB/Firewire/eSATA complement. I'm in the UK, if that's relevant for video formats or anything. Thanks 131.111.248.99 (talk) 09:41, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

If it has no inputs, then it's not possible without some major hacking of the hardware. You COULD probably pick up an HDMI to Firewire converter and use the 360 as a video capture input, but it's not likely to be even halfway decent quality. Buffered Input Output 15:35, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I agree with Buffered Input Output. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:54, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Also, many laptops have rather small screens, so are unlikely to support full HD (1920×1080) resolution. What's the max resolution on your screen ? StuRat (talk) 22:12, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

qualifications

hi, i'm currently in 12th grade, so i'm gonna finish high school next year. i just wanted to know what are the qualifications and areas of expertise and subjects required for an architect. also the same question goes for a game designer

thanx —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.197.248.168 (talk) 13:21, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Take a look at both the admission and courses of the degree you want to study.--Mr.K. (talk) 15:22, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

For architecture, you could also look through the American Institute of Architects (AIA) site here. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:27, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Many schools have architecture programs, you may also want to major in a related discipline like design or civil engineering; architecture is basically a cross between those two. As far as game design goes, you'd need to decide which part of game design you want to go into. The person that writes code has a very different job than the one that makes the artwork. SteveBaker works in the field, I am sure he will be able to help you in that realm. --Jayron32 15:35, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

For game designer, gamecareerguide may help, but be warned that it's owned by CMP, so I assume a major point of gamecareerguide is to try to convince you to pay for Game Developers Conference passes. As Mr.K. says, you should hit up the few schools that have a game design track for information. However, know that 99% or more of game designers don't have a degree in game design. As for the areas of expertise: Math helps a lot in order to be able to design systems that make sense. It's an entertainment field, so courses in writing, plot structure, etc., help. Some designers lean heavily toward the "writing" side of the job, creating the plot and dialogue. Other designers are "level designers", where they use 3D software like 3D Studio Max or Autodesk Maya to actually create the game's levels, and then set up all the trigger points for things like elevators, puzzles, and traps; and, usually, utilize some scripting system or a language like Lua to actually write code to tell the elevators, puzzles, and traps exactly what to do. (I think that if you were to count all game designers in the industry, most would call themselves level designers; though the job is varied; at some companies it's a 3D modeling artist who creates the world in Max or Maya, working with the designer to find out how to model the level; whereas at other companies the level designer does everything.) Usually it's a more experienced designer who does the "system" work, where the designer writes (and then tweaks endlessly after playing the first few drafts) the systems of hit points, weapon damage, how often the player should find a new item in general, how many milliseconds should elapse before a powerup times out, and the entire feel of the core gameplay (movement and combat, usually). A lot of video game playing is useful. I recommend googling "game design podcasts" and find some designers you like to listen to. Many, many video game designers started out with QA jobs, playing the same few levels endlessly to find all the bugs, and eventually they get a chance to be a junior level designer; I think this is a pretty tedious way to enter the industry as a designer, but it's how many designers do get their positions. In the first-person shooter area, it's more typical, I think, for the video game developer companies like Gearbox Software and id Software to find the very best of the popular mods for the popular games and hire those guys as level designers. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:52, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

While I agree that a lot of Game Designers don't have a degree (I think it's a lot less than 99%...maybe 60% at most) - those are the ones that have been in the business for a while and who have shifted over from another discipline. But the games business is changing and professionalizing at a steep rate. NEW game designers, being recruited into the business as their first jobs in the industry will find it next to impossible to break into the field without a degree. Don't take my word for it - look at any game company web site, almost all of them have a "JOBS" section - and I don't see any that don't require a degree for every job track except QA. SteveBaker (talk) 02:38, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Oh, and I wanted to emphasize: The job "game designer" differs a lot at every company. If you were to get a degree in this unusual field and walk into a video game developer with it, they won't necessarily be impressed, because the work varies so much, and the work you completed for your degree may not apply to the particular role they need to fill. As I mentioned above, some designers are closer to programmers, others are closer to 3D modelers, others are closer to writers, and others sit and tweak game systems all day; it is rare to find a versatile designer who is comfortable doing all these disparate things, so large developers have a mix. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:02, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

An acquaintance of mine who is a self-employed game designer studied math and computer science at MIT. Game theory might be worth studying, for example. My acquaintance is really strong on algorithms, though he has enough of a command of web design to develop relatively user friendly prototypes making use of his algorithms. I think that companies that buy his concepts or his services use teams of web designers to further polish the user interface for his games. Marco polo (talk) 20:00, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

For questions like this the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Outlook Handbook is a good start, although they don't have a separate listing for game designers, only computer programmers. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 23:02, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I work in the games industry. There is a very specific job title called "Game Designer" - which is someone who figures out things like what levels there should be - or what puzzles there are - how the 'story arc' plays out - and lays out the design of the system in rather broad-brush terms. Other people who "design video games" are not "Game Designers" - but Artists, programmers, sound designers, musicians, voice actors, motion capture actors, etc. If you specifically want to be a "Game Designer" then there are a few colleges who specialize in game design and who offer degrees in the subject. "Full Sail University" in Florida is one particularly renowned one. Another route is to start off as a game Artist or perhaps even (if you're desperate) a Play Tester/Quality-assurance guy. It's generally possible to progress from one of those jobs into game design after a few years. A few programmers also decide to become designers - but that might entail a pay cut! If you can possibly manage to get an internship at a game company over your summer vacation - that would be a huge benefit - both for your resume - and because it would help you to understand whether this is really what you want to do.

If you had in mind a more general career in the game business - then there are a wide range of entry routes. One is to take a specialized degree in games - or possibly "Arts and Technology" or something. That would get you into the Art track, the Design track or any of the others for that matter. Programmers might be better off taking a hard computer-science degree - but a specialised degree of the sort that Full Sail offer would be OK too. A very few artists who are able to demonstrate amazing work in their portfolio's can get jobs without a degree - but it's tough to get that level of capability (and demonstrate that you understand things like 'work flow') without somehow getting to work in the games business first.

The easiest track to get into is Play Tester/Quality Assurance. In many cases, you can walk into a job like that straight out of high school...however, it's by far the lowest paid job in the games business (often at minimum wage) and people tend not to last long in it because "playing video games all day" turns out to be spectacularly less fun than it sounds when you're playing the exact same game 8 hours a day for 3 years...with it crashing and failing for a good portion of that time! Although a very few QA folks manage to break out into Art, Design or Programming and some of them end up running the QA department from which they can progress to becoming managers - most of them simply go off and do something else.

A very few people (these days) make it into the business by making their own game in the privacy of their own homes and breaking into the business that way. At one time, that was perhaps the commonest route - but these days, making a credible game without the support of a big publisher is virtually impossible. You'll need a day job first!

In general, the highest paid workers are the programmers, followed by art and design, then play-testing. A good programmer can earn $120k to $150k at the peak of his/her career and if you get lucky and work on a game that turns out to be a RockBand, GTA-IV or HALO-3 quality blockbuster, you can pick up royalty checks that could keep you in luxury for life! (Sadly, you don't usually get that lucky because only about one in 35 games ever turns a profit!) SteveBaker (talk) 02:32, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

For both those professions, the real qualification is having a fertile but calm mind. Degrees don't mean a thing in the end, should you lack imagination and vision. Vranak (talk) 14:58, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

You don't work in the games business do you? I'm pretty sure you wouldn't say that if you worked in the business! The vast percentage of the tasks required in making a modern game require little "imagination and vision". Raw, hard, technical skill and an ability to focus on the task for long periods is what we mostly need. Consider a game like GTA IV: Somewhere, an army of artists were taking photographs of real buildings, real cars, real mailboxes, trash cans and streetlamps ("reference imagery") and bashing out 3D models of them using 3DStudio or Maya by rote according to strict 'look and feel' guidelines set out by someone else. That 'someone else' had street plans drawn up by designers and a large Excel spreadsheet where he's tracking the status of assets against schedule. Very little imagination or vision is required for that - just an ability to make efficient art in huge volume, on time and in budget. Being a programmer in the games industry requires an almost identical skillset to someone who programs accountancy systems (although our tolerance for people who come to work in Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sandals is higher!). Obviously there are jobs where those traits are valuable - but they are generally in the more senior staff - lead engineers, art directors, producers, etc. For entry-level jobs, the ability to get the work done quickly, accurately and to specification is more important. Yes, you DO need a degree to get a decent job in the games business. Again, you don't have to believe me - just go to pretty much any game company web site - click on the "Jobs" link and look. You'll immediately see that "Bachelor's degree in XXX" comes up in almost every case...and in the cases where it doesn't, I can tell you that a candidate without a degree will almost never make it into a non-QA position unless they have a ton of professional game development experience already - and that's a chicken-and-egg situation. Heck, even our minimum-wage interns are required to be in their third year of a degree program to get to work here! SteveBaker (talk) 14:28, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Lost recorded delivery letter UK - how to complain/enquire by email?

Early last week I went to the post office and sent a first class recorded delivery letter. The destination address was less than a mile away - I expected it to arrive the next morning. Now six days later, it has still not arrived, according to the Royal Mail's online tracking service, which keeps saying "We have your item...blah blah blah...is being progressed through our networks for delivery".

I've looked through the Royal Mails website and I cannot find how to complain/enquire by email. Does anyone know how to do this please? I've found a telephone number, but I do not want to pay what is probably a premium rate and/or be stuck in a queue for an hour. By coincidence, someone else claims to have repeatedly posted letters to me which I've never got. Thanks 78.147.140.229 (talk) 15:17, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

This page has a link saying "Send Royal Mail Customer Services an email" - linking to this page. Have you tried that? Otherwise, perhaps you should go back to the post office and start raising a complaint there. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I followed your link and it says I have to wait three weeks! before I can complain (or even enquire?) and did not give any means of sending an email. Bad service. 78.147.140.229 (talk) 16:07, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Did you get a receipt when you sent the letter? If so, does it contain instructions on how to complain? You probably want to try and find a way to complain directly to the Recorded Delivery people rather than a general customer service e-mail address that could take a while to get to the right place (ironic, huh?). --Tango (talk) 15:56, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes. No. Its a flimsy bit of paper like a supermarket till reciept. It only tells you how to look online to check if its been delivered, as described above. 78.147.140.229 (talk) 16:07, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

They lost it. Royal Mail lose hundreds of items of post every day. You can guess what happens to them. It's not a big deal for them. When you complain they will just tell you to fill out a compensation claim. You should always make a claim because if they get a disproportionate number of complaints about a particular postal round they will keep an eye on that particular postman.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:00, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Its disgraceful that you cannot even trust recorded delivery to get a letter there, and that to be certain of delivery you have to go to the address in person, as I did, which defeats the whole purpose of having a postal system. And then you are prevented from complaining about it, which seems to be a common trick of shadey organisations in my experience. It was lucky I was paranoid enough to check that it had actually been delivered rather than just assuming it would be. 78.147.140.229 (talk) 16:17, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

It doesn't defeat the whole purpose, just a small portion of it. The purpose is to make it cheaper and more convenient to get things from one place to another. That purpose still works at a success rate of a little bit under 100%. We take risks every day and sending something by post is a risk as well. If the risk of it not getting there is high enough then it might be worth you delivering it yourself (roughly speaking, you need to multiply the chance of it not getting there by the cost of it not getting there and see if that number is smaller than the cost of you delivering it by hand), but in most cases it isn't. Royal Mail is very good at getting letters to the right place, you have just been unlucky. --Tango (talk) 16:29, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the sermon. 78.147.140.229 (talk) 17:04, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

It was leftover change from your soapbox. Vimescarrot (talk) 19:58, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

I recall reading once upon a time how London Diamond Merchants preferred sending uninsured precious gems through the ordinary post on the grounds that it was inconspicuous, reliable, and cheaper than sending them insured by courier service. But the law of averages must dictate that some letters and parcels just don't reach their destination, however frustrating that is. But I do agree that not being able to timeously complain is a disgrace. 92.30.74.111 (talk) 22:10, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Your letter will probably be delivered tomorrow. Are you sure that the recipient was at home to sign for the letter? Unfortunately, you can't track or trace the letter online because only the delivery is recorded. If it is really lost, then there is compensation of up to £41 available. For urgent items, "Guaranteed next-day delivery" is more appropriate. Sorry, this doesn't help for your lost or delayed letter. I can sympathise with your frustration, especially when the distance was so short! Dbfirs 00:44, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

"Your letter will probably be delivered tomorrow". LOL! So on the basis of zero knowledge, including that its been undelivered on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th. and 7th. days after posting, you happily make that pronouncement? That shows the standard of veracity that the internet has developed a reputation for. 92.24.191.128 (talk) 13:49, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

People are trying to help, why are you being so nasty? ╟─TreasuryTag►Speaker─╢ 14:16, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, I was using a local idiom (containing irony which obviously doesn't translate well). I meant "Your letter still has a (small) probability of being delivered tomorrow". I'll be more careful about my use of idiom in future! Dbfirs 08:14, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Recorded delivery isn't about having any better or worse chance of the letter being delivered. It's about the recipient being unable to claim that it wasn't delivered when in fact it was. If (for example) you sold someone something on eBay - if you just post the item to them, they can simply take delivery of the item - then claim that you didn't send it and probably get a refund from PayPal or whatever. On the other hand, if you send it recorded delivery - then you'll have proof that they did in fact sign for it - and you'll be safe from their fraud. However, if it really doesn't get there, you can at least prove that you sent it - and make the claim through the post office. SteveBaker (talk) 02:04, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

No need to keep pointing out the blinking obvious Steve. 92.24.191.128 (talk) 13:49, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

People are trying to help, why are you being so nasty? ╟─TreasuryTag►Speaker─╢ 14:16, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Steve was pointing out the blinking obvious that you clearly did not know. In your post you say "Its disgraceful that you cannot even trust recorded delivery to get a letter there". Steve pointed out that this is not the reason for Recorded Delivery. If you want to find out more, call them on 08457 740 740 - this is not premium rate. In my experience they answer quite quickly. YMMV. --Phil Holmes (talk) 07:33, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Exactly. Recorded delivery is all about proof of delivery - not guarantee of delivery. So your clearly stated expectation of more reliable delivery by recorded mail was clearly a misunderstanding. I merely sought to correct that. It seems that your entire outrage is due to one misunderstanding or another. The "recorded" bit worked fine - when the mail wasn't delivered, you were able to find that out because you'd sent it "recorded delivery". Your expectation of some other kind of service improvement over regular first-class mail was unjustified. Like any complex system, the mail sometimes fails - it's inevitable, and widely understood. You got unlucky. Your only (perhaps) justifiable complaint is the amount of time that has to elapse before you can claim for a loss. But even that is not entirely unreasonable because the mail service has to be allowed time to correct the error if the mail was (for example) redirected to the wrong address and might (as we speak) still be delivered. Reducing that time would result in them paying out more claims for things that were eventually delivered - and that would push up the price of postage. Some kind of a balance has to be struck between cost of service and delay for payment of loss. Furthermore, you seem to imagine that the distance the mail had to travel should have had some effect on the outcome - but it really doesn't. I'm sure you realize that the mail isn't carried from the postbox directly to it's destination! It first travels to some large sorting office somewhere - possibly to a number of such places - and these days, that could easily mean that the letter travels 100 miles or more before it arrives at a destination just one mile from where it was posted. The time-to-deliver and the probability of mis-delivering are completely unrelated to the distance to the final destination. SteveBaker (talk) 13:56, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Grand Rapids from 5/4-5/5-5/6-1931 in my posession

I have the above three papers.What do I do with them and how do I store them for preservtion? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.227.170.48 (talk) 17:59, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

One option may be to store them in plastic bags, like those used for preserving comic books; a local comic-book shop may be able to help locate a vendor, or even order some for you that are designed to hold newspapers. Also, I found this website talking about how to preserve old newspapers. Hope this gets you started! --McDoobAU93 (talk) 18:43, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

orkut

how can I used orkut as my business site.Supriyochowdhury (talk) 18:59, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you mean business site? That will depend on what your business is... --Tango (talk) 23:23, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

See the article Orkut. Orkut is intended to be a social network service and has in place a system to disable attempts to exploit it for spam. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:47, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

May 18

1902 edwardvs quarter

I recently found an edwardvs vii dei gratta rex imperator 1902 quarter... does anyone know how much it is worth? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rileymygolden (talk • contribs) 00:16, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Have a look here. Marco polo (talk) 01:22, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

It's very hard to judge the value of coins without inspecting them up-close. The problem is that the condition of the coin is critical to the value - it can sometimes make a difference of a factor of 100 in the price! Coin collectors grade coins very carefully - and it's virtually impossible to do that accurately with a photo. SteveBaker (talk) 01:36, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

As long as the photo is of good quality, you can at least get in the ballpark for coins that are not in mint condition. You could try a google search for a coin collectors forum, since they would be more likely to have more specific knowledge. Googlemeister (talk) 13:37, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

(Tip : As with all antique coins be sure not to try to clean it. That will usually reduce their value. ) APL (talk) 03:14, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Author of the legendary (for its stupidity) Pro-Tip?

Has an author ever been identified for, or confessed to, authoring that legendary Pro-Tip which says (paraphrasing) to shoot the monster until it's dead? 218.25.32.210 (talk) 05:30, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Can someone, possibly the OP, explain what this is referring to? A Google search didn't turn up much at all for me except maybe this blog. I think I'm on the right track considering Protip redirects to GamePro. Dismas|^(talk) 05:39, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Company firewalls prevent me from linking directly, but Googling "protip to defeat the cyberdemon" will take you right to it... 218.25.32.210 (talk) 08:57, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

`Perhaps you could explain what it is about instead? --Saddhiyama (talk) 09:00, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Are you referring to this? Googling those words doesn't take me "right to" anything. The first result is to UrbanDictionary.com. Dismas|^(talk) 09:05, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

It's obviously a famous Protip, as indicated by the Encyclopedia Dramatica entry http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Protip (can't link: spam filter gets it). It appears that it did originate with Gamepro, which gives "Protips" on how to beat video games. This particular "helpful" tip appears to reference Doom (video game). The full text appears to be "To defeat the Cyberdemon, shoot at it until it dies". I am only relating what I'm finding on the internet; I was too young to remember Doom. Buddy431 (talk) 14:12, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Notre dam des apotre --------> correct to Notre Dame Des Apotres and its abbreviation is (NDA)

Copy/paste of the full text of Rod El Farag

Rod El Farag From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:navigation, search Rod El Farag (Arabic: روض الفرج‎, also spelled Road El Farag, Road Elfarag or Road Alfarag) is currently an administrative region forming about one third of Shobra in Cairo, Egypt. Rod Elfarag neighbours the River Nile to the west, Boulaq to the south, Shobra (administrative region) to the east and Elsahel to the north.

Historically Road Elfarag has been a residential area for centuries and was known in the early twentieth century for its Night clubs.

For many years Road El Farag was home to Cairo's biggest fruit and vegetable market,and the world famous El-nozah candy shop, started in 1940. This candy shop is home of the world famous homemade icecream. If you live in Egypt, stop by today and try some of the icecream or candy. [1] until it was relocated to and area on outskirts of Greater Cairo, like its neighbours it is generally overcrowded (170,000 residents per square kilometre).[2]

The Road el Farag market used to be the largest in all of Egypt and was the reason why many regional farmers and traders settled in Road El Farag area[3] The area were the market used to stand now hosts Road El-Farag Cultural Palace, which stands where the old market used to be.[4]

This district also contains good infrastructure such as the French school Notre dam des apotre and on its cornich there is Arkadia mall that contains famous stores such as Mobcco and Trianon confectionary and cafe.

[edit] References ^ Rough guide ^ Bulaq, Shobra and Road El Farag at Rough guide ^ Aljazeera ^ Ahram weekley

[hide]v • d • eDistricts of Greater Cairo

Cairo Abbassia · Ain Shams · Azbakeya · Boulaq · Daher · El-Manial · El-Marg · Muqatam · Nasr City · El-Quba · Rhoda · El-Sakakini · Shobra area (Shobra · Elsahel · Road El Farag) · Shubra El-Kheima · Zeitoun

Historical Coptic Cairo · Downtown Cairo · Faggala · Fustat · Heliopolis · Islamic Cairo · Kerdasa · Maadi · Mataria · Old Cairo ·

Affluent Garden City · Zamalek

Giza Agouza · Giza · Haram · Imbaba

Affluent Mohandessin · Dokki

Helwan El-Tagamu El Khames · Obour City

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_El_Farag" Categories: Districts of Cairo | Cairo Hidden categories: Articles containing Arabic language text | Egypt articles missing geocoordinate data | All articles needing coordinates Personal tools New features Log in / create account Namespaces Article Discussion VariantsViews Read Edit ActionsView history Search

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—Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.235.189.99 (talk) 06:13, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

The original poster copied the entire article, requesting a typo-fix. I have fixed the original article and hidden the post above. Anyone else who wants to take a pass at copy-editing Rod El Farag is more than welcome, the article could use some help. Nimur (talk) 09:43, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Imperial Beach CA. quality of ocean water

How clean or dirty is the water off imperial beach? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ttuna (talk • contribs) 13:15, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

That seems to depend on how recently it's rained. See this article. According to this article, beaches in Imperial Beach were closed as recently as last month. According to recent climate records, San Diego has not had any rainfall since late April. Rainfall is unusual there from May through September. So, the ocean water there is probably okay now. However, I would check with the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health if you have any concerns. Marco polo (talk) 16:37, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Lawn

I have had a lawn in my backyard for over two years. Last spring it was green and healthy but in the summer it wilted. We thought that it was just too hot but in the fall it remained brown but we thought that maybe in the spring it would come back to normal. It hasnt. We have watered and weeded and taken care of it. What can we do to help it be healthy? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr toocoolman (talk • contribs) 16:43, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I apologise if this may sound stupidly obvious, and you may have already tried this, but there is lawn feed that you can buy. They are normally in tablet/capsule or liquid form. Here in the UK there are brands like Evergreen but if you're not from here then I doubt you'll have heard of it :) Chevymontecarlo. 18:23, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

It might be completely dead from drought, even the roots. If it is still brown nearly a year later, then that is what I would conclude. To introduce living material you could either try seeds or fresh new turf. The best way would be to remove the old dead turf so that you had bare earth to put the seeds or new turf on. Rake the bare earth to loosen it. But there is a chance that scarifying the old turf and sowing seeds onto it might work. Keep it moist while the seeds are establishing. Good luck.

If it is green but not as lush as it was, then try using some fertilizer or "lawn feed" as Chevymontecarlo suggested, and you could scatter some seed as well. If the soil is hard or too wet then it may need aerating, where you repeatedly stick a fork into it or go over it with a spiked roller. Update: you may have knocked it back by cutting it too low, especially during the drought period. If it is still green then adjust your lawnmower for a longer cut. Only after it is fully established and healthy can you gradually lower the blade. In other drought periods, raise the blade again. 92.26.59.108 (talk) 20:17, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

( Well, once again my horizon has been broadened by frequent use of Wikipedia. Otherwise, it would never have occurred to me that "It's dead, stick a fork in it" also applies to lawns! DaHorsesMouth (talk) 00:38, 19 May 2010 (UTC) )

Lawns suffer badly when sown on heavy clays that bake dry in the sun. I am relatively lucky in the UK that we get more than our fair share of rain so this baking effect rarely applies. But nevertheless I would agree with 92 above about aeration. Every Spring, for about £20, I get a lawncare contractor to visit my lawn for about 30 minutes with his great big petrol driven rolling machine that punches and lifts thousands of plugs about 4 inches long by 1 inch diameter. After he leaves, I lift all the plugs and either use them for compost, or discard them. And then, I scatter a mixture of lawn sand and lawn seed across the lawn and water them in. The holes give the lawn relief from over-compaction after a typical wet winter, and allow the fertiliser and seed to wash into the plugholes, and so far, I can boast one of the best and greenest lawns in town. Best of luck. By the way, I have neighbours who save their £20 by "forking" holes into their lawns using a standard garden fork, but I think they are kidding themselves as they are not removing any material, merely further compacting the soil around the tines. 92.30.74.114 (talk) 18:19, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I've been in lawn care for some years now and it sounds to me as if something else is going on here. Is there any animal activity on the lawn (birds digging, etc.). Have a dig around in the soil and look for grugs. Specifically Chafer Grubs or Leatherjackets. You say you have been watering and taking care of it, does this mean you have put down a lot of fertiliser? If so you may have burnt it. Grass doesn't need feeding to much to just grow normally, it gets fed to make it green up nicely and thicken. If you haven't got grass left then putting down fertliser won't make any grow, and if you seed while there is a problem underground, then the seeds/new grass will soon die. Also you might like to think about whether it could have been a fungal infection such as Red Thread or more likely Fusarium. Good Luck. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.109.194.40 (talk) 07:49, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Podcast paid-for features

Ok, so I'm requesting some advice from other users regarding a podcast I'm subscribed to. Recently it's spawned a paid-for version which has more episodes per week, plus some bonus content. Before this, the podcast was free and the free part of the podcast is still being updated.

My question to you is - should I subscribe to this podcast? It's American, and since I'm in England and the prices are in Dollars I'm not sure how it would work if I was going to pay. Would it be worth getting the paid podcast?

I have been a subscriber to the free podcast for many years and it's great, but I'm not so sure about paying a monthly subscription for a new part of the podcast and then getting bored of it or running out of money. What can I do and how would the currency that I pay change from GB Pounds to US Dollars? Chevymontecarlo. 18:29, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I can't advise on whether or not you ought to subscribe (other than to say that if you get bored, be sure to unsubscribe), but credit cards are a good simple way to manage the currency conversion. Your statement will show up in pounds and you'll all-but-certainly get an exchange rate with minimal overhead. — Lomn 21:22, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I'd imagine that it would work like the times that I've traveled to other countries. I pay with my credit card company works out the exchange rate. Although, it may appear strange in your online statement at first. When I went to Canada a few years ago, the dollar amount that was taken out of my account was in Canadian dollars. Then later in the day it was converted to American dollars and I suddenly had more money than when the sums were in Can. dollars. Dismas|^(talk) 08:14, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

property

is a living animal, such as a dog or cat, considered to be property? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.27.140.198 (talk) 19:45, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

In the UK I suggest that all animals are property. This is implicit in the legal need for all people who own animals to treat them without cruelty and to be responsible for the misdeeds of the animal. Some animals are very valuable and will have some form of medical and/or loss insurance attached to them which again implies they are someone's property. You could try stealing someone's dog or horse or even hamster and see if the "owner" or the police have an opinion. Whatever you do don't tell the cats because they are convinced the ownership is the other way round. Caesar's Daddy (talk) 20:12, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Note that it is a very particular form of "property"—in most other property, you can do what you want with it (if I want to destroy my television, that's within my rights, if it's mine). With dogs, cats, etc., there are other regulations involved—you cannot treat them as "just" property, you have certain other obligations regarding their care, treatment, control, etc. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:24, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

(Edit Conflict) This has varied by era, culture, jurisdiction, individual philosophy, whether the animal is domesticated or wild, in the latter case who owns the land it's on, and who is doing the considering, so the general question is too vague to generate anything more than the general answer of "it depends," and debate which is not what the Reference Desks are for. If you have a more specific context in mind (e.g. 21st-century downtown New York), we may be able to give specific answers for it. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 20:13, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

The OP specifically mentioned dog and cat, which are typically household pets, and of course they are owned. The owner has certain responsibilites and legal obligations with them, just as with kids. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:37, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm guessing you knew this, but I don't know whether the 'kids' example is a good one, since many people are not going to consider kids the property of their parents. However in many countries there are plenty of laws which restrict what you can and cannot do with what most people would agree is property (i.e. I'm not talking about children or pets). Nil Einne (talk) 00:14, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Kids are not quite "property", but they are not "free" in the way adults are either; they are under care and responsibility of their parents. They are like "property" in some sense, just not the way a dog or cat would be. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:51, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Kids certainly aren't "free" - they're extremely expensive, in my experience. Ghmyrtle (talk) 17:03, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Regardless of laws, yes, the de facto situation is generally "this is my pet, I own him, I control him, I do what I want with him. If I want to feed my dog pig brains, you are going to stand here and watch it and not say a damn word. My dog, do you understand?!" Any ideas to the contrary would be met with hard cynicism. Vranak (talk) 13:03, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

See the article Animal rights. In many jurisdictions legal authorities have power to search and seize where cruelty to animals is suspected. This is often enforced for farm animals. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:38, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Abuse of both animals and children is typically illegal. The specifics of what constitutes abuse may differ. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:52, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Another hopelessly incorrect answer from Vranak. I'm not sure what country you are in, Vranak, but in much of the world, if you abuse a dog that you own, you can go to jail. Dog fighting can land you in prison for years and with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prison fines, in the United States. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:29, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Try civility 98. Anyway, I'm talking about attitudes, not laws. Vranak (talk) 02:43, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Supplementary questions
If someone's male dog/cat runs loose and impregnates my bitch/catess are they bound to take ownership of the resulting puppies/kittens? Can I sell them if they are valuable pedigree puppies/kittens? If a champion stallion similarly impregnates my filly can I keep the foal and maybe race him? Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:38, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I think, absent of a contract saying otherwise (and any planned impregnations involving valuable animals would have contracts associated with them), the owner of the female owns the offspring. Nothing else really makes sense, due to the difficulty of proving paternity - it can be done now, at a cost, but I'm not aware of any changes in the law to make use of that new ability. If you behaved dishonestly in order to get your female pregnant, there may be laws regarding fraud, etc. that are relevant. --Tango (talk) 16:46, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Anyone who allows a pedigreed animal to run around freely outside is pretty much asking for trouble. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:53, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Can you sue for puppy support? That seems to be the norm for human interactions of this type. 65.121.141.34 (talk) 21:33, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Lol - and I doubt it. The owner of the bitch is responsible for the puppies. But, if you can afford paternity testing for the puppies (and can get permission to test the other dog) it'd be interesting to try! --203.202.43.53 (talk) 08:39, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

collecting cost data from a hospital

hi,

How do I collect the cost data for calculating fixed cost and variable cost per day, for a ct scan machine for a given hospital? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Avinash madhukar (talk • contribs) 20:02, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you mean a CAT Scan machine? Chevymontecarlo. 05:38, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Presumably Avinash means CT scan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.202.43.53 (talk) 07:41, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I am no expert but in the absence of one I would suggest you think about everything you will need to operate a CT scan machine and for each item decide whether it is a fixed cost or a variable cost. You will accumulate a list that might include the cost of a machine (bought or leased?), the cost of a building to house it in (rented or purchased?), the service and maintenance of the machine. The procurement of suitable staff to operate the machine. (full time, part time?) A power source for the machine, and so the list proceeds. When you have completed your list you will then need to individually source the cost of each item. I know this sounds as though it is commissioning a new machine and service but essentially that is how you will need to approach the problem. I am concerned that if you have to ask on this desk you may have some serious problems. The only other suggestion I have is to date someone from the finance department of your local hospital! 86.4.186.107 (talk) 08:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Cartoon

Does anyone know where I can buy the entire collection of Thorgal cartoons? Joneleth (talk) 20:28, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Amazon.co.uk seems to offer a good selection [1]. Karenjc 20:47, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

May 19

How to build an outline of a talk at a political level?

¿cómo construyo un esquema de un conversatorio a nivel político? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.232.119.83 (talk) 02:55, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

¿Qué? Lo siento, no entiendo amigo español. [What? Sorry, I do not understand Spanish friend.]
"How do I build an outline of a talk at a political level?" [Google translation of OPs' question] --220.101.28.25 (talk) 04:20, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Maybe they should've asked at the Spanish WP... Chevymontecarlo. 05:39, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. Le sugiero que envíe su pregunta allí en vez. And strangely enough, the IP is from Peru, so you would think that unless they deliberately sought out the English wiki, the default one would be in Spanish, right? 24.189.90.68 (talk) 08:15, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps they accidentally typed in eN.Wiki rather than eS.Wiki. At least I now know how to use Google Translate! ;-) --220.101.28.25 (talk) 08:35, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Don't rely on it too much for anything beyond simple sentences, more often than not it gives incorrect translations. 24.189.90.68 (talk) 10:31, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, never use it for homework! I found out the hard way! :D Chevymontecarlo. 12:09, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Anyway, have they asked at the Spanish WP? If not, please ask at the Spanish WP, if you can understand me... If someone else could translate that and then add it to here, that'd be great. Translation is blocked on the computer I'm currently using. Chevymontecarlo. 12:13, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

24.189... has already suggested in Spanish that they ask at the Spanish WP. Marco polo (talk) 15:26, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Si quiere una respuesta en español, debe hacer su pregunta aquí. Marco polo (talk) 15:31, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

If you want an answer in English, I am guessing that by conversatorio you mean something like a brainstorming session. Depending on the political topics your brainstorming session will address, you could create a structure or outline by listing the topics you want to address, and perhaps breaking each topic into smaller subtopics or questions. If this does not respond to your question, please restate your question more clearly in English. Marco polo (talk) 15:57, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

South Mountain High School Notable Alumni

https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3500&ATCLID=96352 The Link For Barry Wagner South Mountain High School graduate now works For Y.D.I. in Phoenix, AZ helping troubled youth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.26.21.21 (talk) 17:30, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Have you got a question? --ColinFine (talk) 18:50, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Keynote Paper

what is a keynote paper? How is it different from a paper? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Karthik1809 (talk • contribs) 17:48, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

See keynote and come back if you still have questions. --Tango (talk) 17:58, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Youtube and copyright

A couple years ago, I uploaded a short (<30 seconds) clip to Youtube of the scene from Wayne's World where Dana (a la Garth) plays the drums. A few days ago, it was removed due to a claim of copyright infringement from Paramount. Now I know Wikipedia does not offer legal advice, and I am not asking for any -- but is it possible to argue that the video was only uploaded under the guise of fair use, and should not have been removed? Keep in mind that this is not because I'm planning on fighting Youtube or Paramount about it (I know that it's absolutely pointless, considering how tenacious Youtube is about this nonsense); I'm just curious as to whether or not Paramount actually had a legitimate right to remove it. I read the article (and paid close attention the the "common misconceptions" bit), but like all documentation of copyright laws, it's vague. From what I read there, I'd say that A.) the clip was not long or substantial enough to really infringe on any major part of the movie, B.) it certainly didn't net a profit for me (that wouldn't make the case, I know, but it's much different than directly stealing the scene and, say, using it in a new movie), and C.) it's twenty Goddamn years old. I don't believe Paramount is still producing new copies of Wayne's World for people to buy, so who really cares?

Anyway. Sorry for the wall-of-text, but I thought I'd give a bit of detail. Again, this is not a cry for legal advice, just morbid curiosity on my part. Copyright holders can be real assholes when it comes to Youtube, and Youtube is notorious for bending over the instant anyone claims copyright, but I don't know. Does anyone else think this was overkill, and just another instance of big media walking all over the consumer? --69.144.20.28 (talk) 18:55, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Just to be clear...you are asking for legal advice; saying you're not doesn't make it so. That said, in these circumstances, plenty of people won't care and will tell you what you're asking for. I shall look forward to which side wins the inevitable discussion, which I shall not be a part of since I know nothing about copyright law. Vimescarrot (talk) 19:27, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

It's not legal advice, it's a question related to law. There is a significant difference. There's absolutely zero chance of Youtube reversing their decision, so why would I bother? --69.144.20.28 (talk) 05:10, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

"Can I put forward this legal argument in my defence?" That's legal advice. Vimescarrot (talk) 06:04, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Hardly. Again, it's not a "defense" -- it's simply a question. Do you honestly think I'm going to try to fight both Youtube and Paramount for something so irrelevant? Asking questions about chicken pox isn't medical advice, nor are the ones I presented legal advice. You said yourself that you know nothing of copyright law, so I don't think it's very fair for you to label a perfectly legitimate request for comment as a plea for "advice". Just because something pertains to a particular subject does not mean that it is a part of that subject. Wikipedia cannot offer legal advice, but that's not to say that editors cannot comment on legal happenings. As I said: there is a difference. --69.144.20.28 (talk) 08:26, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

What I think you're going to do with the information isn't relevant. And if you'd asked "Could I use (technique here) to treat chickenpox?" (which would be the medical version of your question, "Could I use fair use as a legal defence against Paramount?") then yes...that would be medical advice. 212.219.39.146 (talk) 09:37, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Try searching and asking at YouTube's community help forum, link: [2]. Not quite addressing your questions, but there I have seen advice to members considering challenging a copyright take down (there exists a procedure), and I have also seen a particular member get YouTube reinstate their videos (after a few false starts) which contained short clips of copyrighted films, but this member had used them as part of a film analysis, ie with detailed commentary. Good luck. -84user (talk) 19:36, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

From the Fair Use article : "To justify the use as fair, one must demonstrate how it either advances knowledge or the progress of the arts through the addition of something new. A key consideration is the extent to which the use is interpreted as transformative, as opposed to merely derivative."

It sounds like you were just putting up the clip for its originally intended entertainment value. If you weren't using it as part of a parody, or an art critique, or a movie review, or something that you, personally, were creating, you're going to have a hard time justifying your use as a "fair" one.

This isn't a minor nit-pick, it's the whole point of the "Fair Use" doctrine! The idea is to allow people to create new works without unreasonable restriction. APL (talk) 19:53, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I agree, if the clip with entirely from the movie then it is not fair use. You aren't actually using the clip at all, just distributing it without permission. --Tango (talk) 01:19, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

It's a semi-famous piece from a somewhat significant cult movie, and I would think it would serve as a good example of Wayne's World-type humor. I'll definitely concede that it's not "educational" in the traditional sense, but if someone wanted to understand the attitude of the film (or perhaps reference the scene for some reason: Dana Carvey's real-life ability to play the drums? I don't know), it'd be a decent starting point. You can listen to samples of songs on iTunes if you're curious, so I've never understood why you can't watch clips if you're curious about a movie as well. I'm not about to piece together the entire movie in seventeen different uploads, but it was short, and it was a nonsense scene. And of course Fair Use is irrelevant to the media lords anyway, because it's always been about profit. I don't think a half-minute of silliness is particularly damaging to whatever their monetary gain may be, so I didn't quite understand Paramount's problem. (Note that I do understand entirely what you all are saying, I'm just explaining in a bit more detail why I disagreed with the removal in the first place). --69.144.20.28 (talk) 05:10, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

As a minor factual quibble, it's worth noting that a trivial search on Amazon reveals that new copies of Wayne's World are indeed being manufactured and sold. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 20:28, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Ah, I was unaware. --69.144.20.28 (talk) 05:10, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

The real question is, does YouTube care enough in order to defy the takedown order? Probably not—especially since actual fair use must be used as a defense (in court), and is not straightforward. As for why Paramount cares—they probably do still produce copies of Wayne's World to buy (you can get it on Blu-Ray, which is pretty recent!), and anyway, they don't really need to have a compelling reason to care. The movie isn't ancient, the property isn't dead, they probably do make royalties off of it regularly. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:26, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Of course Youtube wouldn't bother to put it back up; of this I was certain. I was just curious as to whether or not it seemed a bit picky on Paramount's part to anyone else. --69.144.20.28 (talk) 05:10, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

The law that YouTube is operating under is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, where a copyright owner can send YouTube a "takedown notice". The alleged copyright violator can respond in various ways. If you don't respond in any way by a certain deadline, then you're not following the DMCA's procedures, so the takedown will be permanent. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:05, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Err, I'm not sure about the end. The takedown notice lets the host (in this case, YouTube), avoid being sued if they comply. If they don't comply, then they can be sued. YouTube doesn't have to take it down, if they really think it is fair use. But there's a chance in that case that they'd have to go to court over it. Which in the case of Wayne's World clips, is probably not really in their interest. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:20, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

As I understand it, it is possible to get nearly any video removed within a day just by submitting enough copyright claims -- I really can't blame Youtube for being paranoid, lest the courts order something drastic like reviewing every existing movie and manually checking new additions (you never know), but it's frustrating sometimes nonetheless. It's enormously difficult to get the videos put back up, as well. --69.144.20.28 (talk) 05:10, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

The wikipedia article has a lot of links which are supposed to try and help you determine whether what you're doing is likely to be fair use. They're probably the next step having read the article. BTW, Youtube almost definitely doesn't consider fair use or anything of that sort. If they receive a complaint perhaps they check if it's in accordance with the way laid out under law (i.e. a simple did they cross the 't's and dot the 'i's) if that, and then they take it down. I suspect they probably don't even check the video to see if it's even what the alleged copyright holder said it was in the complaint. From Youtube's POV, particularly for the original complaint it isn't simply about being paranoid or avoiding the costs of a court case. It's about keeping all their costs to a minimum and while they don't want to alienate their userbase, they also don't want to spend much time (which would also require someone with more expertise i.e. would cost more) on each request which at a random guess I expect 99% are probably legitimate with no possible fair use justification. They leave that up to the original contributor.

And for that matter Paramount likely doesn't consider fair use (even though a judge said they should [3]), similarly to Youtube they probably don't consider much at all, it's likely a fairly automated system with some sort of 'monkey' (no offense intended to people who actually do such a job) who just takes a quick look and confirms anything tagged by their system looks like it may be a copyright violation (the person may very well know less about fair use then you).

Nil Einne (talk) 10:52, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Note also that ParamountViacom is currently suing YouTube i;e; Google for over a billion dollars for copyright violations. YouTube would definitely be extra careful about Paramount copyvios. Rhinoracer (talk) 12:15, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Podcast question.

Maybe this should be asked on the Computing Desk - I'm not sure. I am a bit of a technosaurus and have just purchased an iPod nano version 5. I am pretty confident about copying and transferring music and creating playlists etc., but have just discovered Podcasts, hence my query. I discovered a 3 series free language course which I thought would really help my conversation when on the Continent, and after an initial struggle, managed to download the many episodes and transfer them to my iPod. But no matter how hard I try to re-order them on my PC, whether in the Podcast List or in the Playlists after I transfer them, I always end up with the most recent episode playing first and the initial episode playing last, which clearly, in a language course, is daft. What I don't get is how, when I upload a music CD to my iTunes library, it too arrives as last in first out - but when I re-order them in my Playlists, they stay that way. So if I can re-order music lists that stay that way, why can't I do it with Podcast episodes? Like I said, I was born before television! 92.30.74.114 (talk) 22:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I agree that the Computer Ref Desk is the right place to ask this. StuRat (talk) 01:04, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, you should probably go and ask your question there. Chevymontecarlo 04:32, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Bench pressing

I just turned 15 last week and decided to see how much I could bench press, I got 175 and I weigh 135. Is that good or what?

(I can't take full credit, because if it wasn't for my God then I never would have gotten to that). Thanks Taynk (talk) 22:54, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm guessing those are pounds ? Personally, I'd think that God could bench at least 180. :-) StuRat (talk) 01:07, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Umm...yes they are pounds, and uh ya He can, it's the fact that He did it through me that makes it difficult :D Taynk (talk) 01:34, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

It doesn't matter what we think. Self-esteem comes from within. Vranak (talk) 02:40, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Could God make a bench press so heavy that even he could not powerlift it? Adam Bishop (talk) 03:29, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

And maybe have it exceeding the speed of light just for fun> ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:35, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Also note he didn't say "God", he said "HIS God". I'm guessing his God is Atlas, the God of Heavy Lifting. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:39, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Would anyone care to actually answer the OP? I'm assuming he just wants to know how that compares to some kind of average. It's the kind of question that does actually have an answer. Vimescarrot (talk) 06:02, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

For starters, there's Progression of the bench press world record. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:39, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

EXRX has a bench press standards chart that is a general guide to how advanced you are (there are other charts for military press, squat, deadlift, and clean if you're interested). Yes, 175lb bench press for a 135lb person is a very solid effort.--droptone (talk) 14:00, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

May 20

DVB-s2 Card reader

I've read your articles on this subject. I'd like to purchase a DVB-s2 PCI/USB card. The TSReader and other software's I have. Can you assist in where to purchase the Hardware?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.228.101.77 (talk) 00:56, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Assist how ? You might do better to ask this at the Computer Ref Desk. StuRat (talk) 01:01, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Try a search for the item on PriceWatch. I've found very few pieces of computer hardware that the site does not have, so it's worth a shot. --McDoobAU93 (talk) 04:22, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Jamglue.com

Does anyone know why jamglue.com is shut down? I would like it if Wikipedia could help with this answer. Thank You. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.241.19.155 (talk) 04:02, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried asking the maintainers of the site? After all, the home page clearly says "Thanks for all your support. If you have questions, contact holla@jamglue.com". This would seem to be the easiest and most direct way of finding out. Dismas|^(talk) 04:06, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Considering what the site was about (from searches, I haven't come across the site before) my first though was 'copyright violations'. A quick search comes up with many people suggesting the same thing although I wasn't able to find anything more definitive like a statement or court case. You can try e-mailing them (and there's no harm in it, it's the only way you're likely to get an any more useful answer) but considering they didn't say either now or when they were shutting down on their website, it's possible a lawyer has advised them not to explain why they are shutting down. Or perhaps they reached and agreement with someone not to say (probably unlikely, I would expect an agreement is far more likely to ask them to direct visitors to some anti copyright violation site like [4] or otherwise warn people about violating copyright) Nil Einne (talk) 10:23, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Light bulb that contacts the dead

This video shows a light bulb that comes on and off at the will of the "spirits" (the live human operator). I'm wondering if anyone can confirm how it works. The board looks thick enough to hold some other electrical units, such as a radio device??91.109.194.40 (talk) 07:28, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

A- its really dead people contacting him.

B- some electrical device. I seen something that can be done with an remote.

But I am just judging from a video. wiooiw ^(talk) 08:41, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm at work at the moment, and so can't watch the video, but historically lights that flash "because of spirits" are usually triggered:

• If the operator (con artist) is touching any part of the device, by the operator touching a concealed switch
• If the operator is holding strings or wires from which the device hangs, by the operator touching a concealed switch connected by the wires by which the device is hanging
• if the operator is not holding the device, and the device is on a table, by the operator closing a switch on the floor or table which operates an inductive power source under the light, turning on the light
• if there's no way for wires to get to the device, and no way for power to get to the device by induction, it's being operated by radio - yes a radio device to do that could be miniscule.
• If it really is the spirits, why hasn't the operator claimed his million dollars from James Randi yet?

--203.202.43.53 (talk) 08:53, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I just watched the video on my phone - the most likely answer is it turns on or not randomly based on sound detection. Given that they're advertising the device to sell, I doubt it's controlled by the operator. The electronics could easily, for example, after 10 seconds of noise (talking), followed by 5 seconds of silence, randomly either switch on the lamp or not. --203.202.43.53 (talk) 09:08, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

203.202.43.53 is probably right.It is a simple devise. Something like that could easily be done. And we are looking at a video off from youtube, so anything could be done. wiooiw ^(talk) 09:15, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

17th & 18th century mail coaches

Where can i find a list of mail coach numbers, especially trying to establish the number(s) of the mail coach from Bath to London / London to Bath. Each mail coach had a number painted on the side.Oaktp (talk) 11:58, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

The British Postal Museum & Archive state that they welcome research enquiries. Worth an email? Dalliance (talk) 12:39, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Some of the references or links at our article mail coach may also be of use. DuncanHill (talk) 12:59, 20 May 2010 (UTC)