User:MacGyverMagic/Discussions

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[edit] Looking for Wikipedia pages

(from the Village Pump) I'm looking for the page that directs the "Did You Know?" section on the front page. Who decides what we see there?

I also want to know if there's a New pages patrol, just like the RC patrol.

Anyone with info please contact me hear or at my talk page. MGM 10:20, May 15, 2004 (UTC)


Template:Did you know is shown in the main page, and Wikipedia:Recent additions is the history thereof. The rules are in the corresponding talk page MediaWiki talk:Did you know. Wikipedia:New pages patrol is for the new pages patrol, but it's rather quiet over there. -- Chris 73 | Talk 02:01, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Lipoproteins

User:MacGyverMagic/Discussions/Lipoproteins

[edit] School

User:MacGyverMagic/Discussions/School

[edit] Egyptian cat

It's probably an odd question, but I'd really like to know. Ancient Egyptian could simply use the drawing of a cat to represent the word cat, but suppose they used the hieroglyphs to represent the sounds of the ancient word for cat, what glyphs would they use? Mgm|(talk) 11:28, Mar 11, 2005 (UTC)

The hieroglyphs for cat, miw, combine the glyphs for m, i and w with a picture of a cat. For a picture, see here (search for "picture of a cat"). - Nunh-huh 01:58, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)
  • Thank you. Much appreciated! Mgm|(talk) 10:07, Mar 12, 2005 (UTC)
I thought I'd chip in that Wikipedia can deal with Egyptian hieroglyphs: the word for cat is:
mi i w E13

which must have sounded remarkably like 'miaow'! --Gareth Hughes 23:32, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Peer review discussions

[edit] Mummy

I've recently done an extensive rewrite, moving sections around, rephrasing the lead and making a clearer distinction between artifical and natural mummies, adding pics, refs and ext. links and most of all a description of the Egyptian mummification process. I know it's not finished or feature-able yet, but I'd like some opionions on what still needs to be included. I'd specifically like opinions on whether I should include a short section on a few of the listed mummies linking to their main article above it. -- Mgm|(talk) 15:19, Mar 26, 2005 (UTC)

I think it should talk about what happened to mummies after they were buried. In various regions, mummies were considered to have magical and medical properties, and were used for medicine. It had been widely used in China as a part of Traditional Chinese medicine. I'm also going to add the mummification practice in Japan. Revth 03:15, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Magical and medicinal purposes should indeed be mentioned and I welcome the addition of the Chinese mummification process. 131.211.210.15 07:37, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Basically, it is too short. 'Mummies in Ancient Egypt' should be at least 30kb by itself, and in this article I see it as much larger with a subarticle. 'Mummies in modern times' should go after 'Mummies in other civilizations', and the latter, together with 'Famous mummies' need expantion from a list into large sections. Finally, the 'Famous mummies' should be cleary divided into real mummies and those popularised by books/films/etc. Which reminds me, there needs to be a Mummy (disambigation) (for the film, at the very least). --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 12:36, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)
(Copied from my talk page). --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 12:02, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)
  1. "Mummies in Ancient Egypt" probably should be expanded as you said, but what do you think needs to be included?
  2. "Mummies in modern times' should go after "Mummies in other civilizations". That's a good idea. I'm not really sure about expanding the list yet. After all, they do have articles on their own, and the article may end up being too large if I do. I'm hoping to keep the mummy article as general as possible.
  3. Finally, the 'Famous mummies' should be cleary divided into real mummies and those popularised by books/films/etc. If there are any fictional mummies listed, please point them out.
  4. I'll see what I can do about a disambiguation. Wikiwax showed me there's a lot of mummy topics floating around.

Cheers! Mgm|(talk) 11:25, Apr 5, 2005 (UTC)

Re1. I am not a mummy specialist, but it is just way to short. I suggest some research and reading. After all, when people think mummy, they most of the time think 'mummy from AE'. For now we have 2 screens worth of info - good for an introduction, but I am sure a detailed article could have several times that info. Re2. Well, atm the article is too short, so I suggest expanding anything. We can worry about it being too long when it is no longer too short :) Re3. Hmmm, I thought that they would be added. As long as there are none, well, ignore this comment :) Re4. What is wikiwax? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 12:02, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Wikiwax is a helpful search engine that indexes Wikipedia article, making a it very easy to search for a certain text in the title. Mgm|(talk) 17:41, Apr 5, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Dalek modulation

What kind of program do I need to use the plugin on? I think I can dig up a microphone to use... - Mgm|(talk) 13:34, July 22, 2005 (UTC)

That's probably where you are going to have to experiment a little. The straightforward answer is pretty much any version of Cubase, but they can get expensive. Cubase VST is available on a demo license. However, although the VST plugin protocol was developed by Steinberg its now quite widely supported on Mac and PC music software. According to the VST article there are even Linux based VST hosts now, but I don't know whether plugins always work accross platforms.
Basically all you should need is a simple recording environment that supports VST plugins. Record your voice, then experiment with applying the ring-mod plugin to it. A search for 'free VST host' leads me to MiniHost which might do the job - it appears to have the right features, but the screenshot doesn't look like anything I would expect though it might be showing an example of hosting a synth plugin.
There must be other alternatives too. You could probably find a free Ring Modulator for other plugin standards like DirectSound that should work with Windows sound programs such as MediaPlayer. -- Solipsist 15:07, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
Yup, a Combination of MiniHost and the BJ Ringmodulation plugin works quite well. I had to also download the ASIO4All drivers mentioned in the MiniHost documentation to get my weird DSP microphone to work, and for some reason I only get a bunch of sliders instead of the pretty control panel for the Ring-mod, but it gets the job done. Now I can sound like a dalek in real-time and also record the results. To be honest I'm not sure whether I sound more like a dalek or a cylon, but with a reference sample, a bit of tweaking and a bit of acting you can probably get quite close. -- Solipsist 18:01, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

I've got the program up, but it doesn't see any input channels. I've got an ancient mic that's labelled "MDE Uni-directional Dynamic Mic Impedence 600 Ohm DM - 202". Do you know of any drivers for the thing, or is it too old to be computer compatible. (No I don't have any manuals for the thing anymore). Thanks for the help so far! :) (Once we're done, please copy this to my discussions archive page (User:MacGyverMagic/Discussions), or leave it for a while so I can do it). - Mgm|(talk) 20:15, July 22, 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure. The mic itself probably doesn't matter so much. I guess you are plugging it in to the mic input on your sound card. So you really need the ASIO driver for that make of sound card. If it is a hi-tech sound card the manufacturers might produce their own ASIO drivers, but if it is a SoundBlaster or generic motherboard soundcard the ASIO4All driver will probably do it. There is a link to ASIO4All in the MiniHost documentation. Although even then it didn't work at first for me - I think I had to select the right input and output driver on the ASIO menu of MiniHost.
I also downloaded a simple VST instrument plugin so that I could generate sounds from inside MiniHost, which made it a little easier to tell when I had got the sound card/driver settings right. -- Solipsist 20:28, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] User:MacGyverMagic/monobook.js

Could someone check my monobook skin and tell me why the "changes since I last edited" and "purge tab" aren't showing up when the "edit section 0" does? Also, clicking my vfd tab tags the article, but fails to open additional screens for the nomination process and I'm not made aware of any popup blocks. Last time I checked, block tabs had no problem, so popups should be fine anyway. Can anyone enlighten me as to why things aren't working properly? I'm currently working with IE and unfortunately, that the browser I have most access to (so using Firefox would not be a solution to the problem). Thanks in advance. - Mgm|(talk) 09:15, August 16, 2005 (UTC)

  • I'd also like to know on what type of pages the tabs should show up. - Mgm|(talk) 09:47, August 16, 2005 (UTC)
    • The addPurgeTab() and addSinceTab() functions use a different version of addlilink() than do_blockip_stuff() and add_blocktab() do. (I'm not sure if they both use the same version, since I'm too lazy to look at the referenced user scripts.) You need to copy the other version of addlilink() in, and rename one or the other (both in the function declaration and where it's called).

      I don't know why autovfd doesn't work in IE, but User talk:Korath/autovfd.js does warn you about it right at the top. —Cryptic (talk) 14:36, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

  • Thanks, that was a lot of help to me. - Mgm|(talk) 10:47, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Plant identification

Macro look of plant

The plant's leaves

I'm posting this for someone who sent me this question through a mailing list. They want to know the name of this plant. You guys seem to be good at identification, so surprise me! :) - Mgm|(talk) 20:12, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

It might be helpful if the second pic had the apical bud in focus. Guettarda 20:17, 3 September 2005 (UTC)
Possibly a fig of some sort. Exact identification may well be impossible without flowers or fruit, though. - MPF 11:04, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Downloadable detective games

I can remember two old DOS mystery games one set on a zeppelin and one set in a big mansion. In both games you are joined by several characters among who is a murderer who is killing of the characters. The player's goal is to collect clues and question suspects to find the murderer. Can someone tell me what these games were called and if it's possible to get a free download of either and whether there's similar games I might be interested in? I prefer games that can be played by Pentium 166 MHz machines. -Mgm|(talk) 21:19, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

The first one is probably Murder on the Zinderneuf. You can download it (if you already own a copy—don't pirate software! ;-) from Home of the Underdogs [1], which also cross-references similar games that might interest you. I don't know about the second, but you might be able to find it in their list of mystery games. —Charles P. (Mirv) 21:34, 3 November 2005 (UTC)
  • Thank you very much! The first one is indeed Murder on the Zinderneuf. Any other tips are also welcome. If anyone knows a site with a working download of "Murder Mansions" or "Mansion Murders" I'd really like to know. - Mgm|(talk) 21:41, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

The second one seems to be Deadline, which was made by the defunct company Infocom in 1982. The palyer is placed in the role of a police detective who must solve the murder of Mr. Robner, a wealthy businessman. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadline_%28computer_game%29

[edit] Login screen

MediaWiki:Loginend has been moved to MediaWiki:Signupend because of some redesign, but in the process the username instructions disappeared of the login screen. Can someone fill me in about what happened in this redesign and why the mover blanked it after moving?

  • Forgot to sign. - Mgm|(talk) 16:32, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Fire ants

The article doesn't say, but under what circumstances would fire ant stings give a medical effect in a healthy ten-year-old? I'm planning a story for which I need a stinging insect and I prefer to shy away from spiders for the moment. - Mgm|(talk) 20:51, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

  • anaphylaxis caused by an allergic reaction to the venom would be the worst possible medical effect of fire ant stings. [2] and [3] have some more information. —Charles P.  (Mirv) 21:02, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
Actually, anaphylaxis is the worst possible medical effect of any stings, since it can kills faster than any venom ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 21:59, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
It was the only one I could think of. How many stings would it take for a healthy 10 year-old individual to get such a reaction? Any other critters I should be looking for? I prefer to put it near an old house in a light residential area (wooded if needed). - Mgm|(talk) 22:23, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
  • Killer bees are always popular. Black Carrot 07:16, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
  • Unless fire ants are in some way very different from other ants, they don't sting. They bite and then spray some nasty chemical on the wound. Which means the article is wrong, so I pointed this out on the talk page. And spiders don't sting either, I believe. And, while I'm at it, neither do mosquitoes, although the mouth they bite with is rather needle-like. DirkvdM 09:42, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Technically, spiders aren't insects either. But really, I'm looking for a "stinging or biting creepy crawly which could cause adverse effects on its victim". I thought keeping it short would be easier. - Mgm|(talk) 09:54, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
  • If you don't mind wandering into fantasy, you could follow The Mummy's lead and use dung beetles. 69.154.179.63 00:50, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
  • You might also want to check out Schmidt Sting Pain Index. chocolateboy 07:39, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
  • Thanks people! Those are some useful tips. I won't wander into fantasy yet, I was planning to use viewing "The Mummy" as a way to awaken the MC's fears, but I need something that would live around the US or the UK. I'm afraid dung beetles don't work in that regard. It's only starting to become fantastical after this particular case happens. - Mgm|(talk) 09:28, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Morphine

For a piece of fiction I'd like to know at what dosage morphine is lethal, but neither the Wikipedia article nor Google is very forthcoming (I get LD50 values for codeine on the same page). Can anyone give me a rough estimate and tell me how many % medical solutions of morphine usually are? For this particular piece of fiction, I need to know if morphine can be lethal in small volumes of say 1-5 ml. - Mgm|(talk) 21:42, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

[4] has a lot of toxicology information. The LD50 varies from about 100mg/kg given intravenously to 500mg/kg orally. ‣ᓛᖁ♀ᑐ 22:18, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
Have you tried asking these folks?  ;-) hydnjo talk 02:14, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
By the way, the main cause of death for most opioids is due to respiratory depression. If the person has been taking the drug for a while, they may become tolerant to these effects. Basically, if your fictional character has been taking the drug for a while and has become tolerant, it might take more than your average lethal dose to remove him/her from the stage. --Uthbrian (talk) 03:03, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
You could consider a stronger opiod such as demerol. - Cybergoth 03:06, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
If you choose Demerol (meperidine), the character might experience convulsions as he/she dies from the toxic overdose. Choose your own adventure! --Uthbrian (talk) 03:38, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
Why would you need the exact number for a piece of fiction? Seems to me that any number that would sound plausible would be fine. Of course, maybe your target demographic is nit-pickers. :) --BluePlatypus 08:26, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
  • I needed to know if the particular dose needed could be hidden in a certain sized container. Thank you all for the input. - Mgm|(talk) 08:53, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
Blue, I think that's being a tad unfair to MacGyver's readers. Maybe he/she is an author who goes to great lengths to achieve authenticity and credibility. Better that than producing some poorly researched text that is full of technical holes - that really would be a target for nit-pickers. JackofOz 10:56, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What is that film called

The question about the film with the drowning kid above, brought to mind another film. In it, a boy is talked into jumping of (I think) a railway bridge by his older brother and his brother's friend, but when he jumps, a log comes from under the bridge and he lands on it on his back.

He would've drowned if it wasn't for the kids saving him, but he ends up paralyzed in a wheelchair. The rest of the story involves the older brother's feelings of guilt, a doctor who examines the kid for the possibility of a risky operation falling in love with his mother.

I think the older brother may have been played by Brendan Fletcher or Kevin Zegers, but it could be someone else entirely. Has anyone got an idea which film I'm talking about? - Mgm|(talk) 09:07, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

The text below is a personal copy of a mass image deletion request I posted on June 20, 2006.

[edit] Images uploaded by CL8 (mass nomination)

User:CL8 uploaded a variety of images with the {{NoRightsReserved}} tag with no evidence the creator released their rights, making this a possible copyright violation. Each of these subjects could easily be photographed for free making copyrighted images unneeded (even with dubious fair use claims). In most of those cases, CL8, a wikipedian living in Columbus, Ohio can't be the copyright owner himself. A variety of these images also required me to track down sources as they were not included by the uploader. CV - Mgm|(talk) 11:30, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Image:SamburuHippo.jpg (http://kenya.com/samburu.html)
Image:SamburuCheetah.gif (http://kenya.com/samburu.html)
Image:SamburuIntrepids.jpg (http://kenya.com/lodge.asp?id=30)
Image:Sianasprings.jpg (http://kenya.com/lodge.asp?id=95)
  • From other identified websites:
Image:SamburuMap.jpg (http://www.accesskenya.info/maps/samburu.jpg)
Image:LakeBaringo.jpg (by Javier Gómez-García -- http://www.kenyalogy.com/eng/galeria/bah02.html)
Image:AberdareMoorlands.jpg (by Javier Gómez-García -- http://www.kenyalogy.com/eng/galeria/ap02.html)
Image:AberdareLioness.jpg (from http://www.kenyalogy.com/eng/parques/aberdare.html)
Image:AberdareWaterfall.jpg (by Javier Gómez-García -- http://www.kenyalogy.com/eng/galeria/tfo98.html)
Image:LakeNaivasha.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/image/33540104)
Image:HGgorge.jpg (http://www.kws.org/hells-gate.html)
Image:NNPwildebeest.jpg (http://www.kws.org/nairobi.html)
Image:NNPlion.jpg (http://www.kws.org/images/lion.jpg or http://www.kws.org/nairobi.html <no longer actually online, but is cached in Google's image search>)
Uploader asserted that "this image is copyright and may only be reproduced if both for non-commercial private use and in hard-copy format." none of which the original creator ever stated on his site. It's not the uploader's own content either. Alexa contact information tracks the owner to Norwich in the United Kingdom. Either way: non-commercial clauses are not acceptable on Wikipedia.

[edit] Cuisine recommendations

(transcluded from my Userspace - Mgm|(talk) 14:36, 3 September 2006 (UTC)) Every once in a while I like to go mad with cooking and make something my family doesn't normally cook. We usually have veg, meat, potato dishes and we also eat a lot of Italian and Eastern dishes. I just made onion bahjis which went down pretty well, but now I'm looking for inspiration for my next outburst. What cuisines should I consider and what are the particularly tasty dishes in those cuisines. I just want a few guidelines to dish names and ingredients. I'll google (or visit the wikicookbook) for recipes myself. Any help is appreciated. --Mgm|(talk) 18:40, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Most tapas is pretty easy to cook. I find tortilla de patatas very easy to make (if you're patient): served with a simple green salad and balsamic vinagrette it's great. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:45, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
  • You're right that does sound tasty. Any other suggestions? - Mgm|(talk) 19:56, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
Cajun is pretty easy to do well: gumbo, jambalaya, dirty rice... If you're in the States I'd suggest the Zatarain's mixes to start although I usually add extra vegetables: always okra for the gumbo, frozen if your local store doesn't sell the vegetable fresh. Works well with chicken, sausage, or shrimp (or if you're like my cousins in Louisiana, just dig up some crawfish from the backyard). Durova 20:37, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
Try our Cuisine article. Maybe you can make pierogies; they are really good.—EdGl 03:48, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
North African and Middle Eastern cuisines are both rich in tasty dishes, and pretty easy to make (if you're already eating Eastern dishes you may have all the requisite spices). Very healthy too. I was also pleasantly surprised to find how delicate and tasty German food can be, contrary to the stereotype. Some things can be a bit of work, though. Anchoress 11:09, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Thanks for the ideas. Keep 'm coming. - Mgm|(talk) 14:36, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
  • cassoulets(sp?) which are kind of bean stews are pretty nice-hotclaws**==(82.138.214.1 21:20, 7 September 2006 (UTC))
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