Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2006 December 2

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[edit] December 2

[edit] space shuttle astronauts

Why do astronauts wear their orange jumpsuits during liftoff? One would think that if the cabin lost pressure or there was a fire or something, a spacesuit wouldn't do much good --frothT C 06:19, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Froth, I don't think I understand your question, but surely the answer is here. -THB 06:47, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Russians didn't set space on fire it was the cubans --frothT C 07:10, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Do the astronauts have something else aboard to wear, like scrubs or blue flight suits? -THB 08:07, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Well of course they wear their blue jumpsuits in orbit but they put on the full orange space suit thing for launch (i think the gear they wear under the white spacesuit?)- I'm asking about the orange suits. --frothT C 08:11, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Okay, the answer is here, under question # 11. I assume it would apply to astronauts of nations other than Canada as well. What you thought they wouldn't work for is what they're for. -THB 08:16, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Per [1]] the orange liftoff suit is a pressure suit which protects them from depressurization if the ship were damaged and an emergency return was required during the liftoff. It protects against low pressure and low temperature, and keeps out water if they parachute into water. It would probably allow survival in the vacuum of space for a time but is not designed as a space suit like the suits for extra vehicular activities. Without it if a large leak developed during liftoff, at, say 80,000 feet, they would lose consciousness and die. With the suit, an emergency return and landing could be made, or if the ship were too damaged for a landing, they could parachute out during a controlled descent. Once they are in orbit they do not wear the suits.Edison 17:08, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
... and, in the event of an emergency landing or crash, they have to be easy to spot for the search party hence the orange colour? Keria 20:20, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
DYK ? The suit is real skin, made from animals that were fed with carrots. --DLL .. T 17:10, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Visitor to USA seeks pay as you go cellphone

Can anyone suggest/recommend sources for a short-term pay-as-you-go/prepaid phone contract in the USA? I have a european cellphone but it is not triband. I could buy a triband phone at home (UK) and I have verified that I should be able to get roaming PAYG service in the USA. It will cost about £40 per phone to upgrade my hardware. Would it be economically viable to buy a handset while in the US? I will be visiting for a couple of weeks this time and do not expect to make a lot of calls, but will likely return to the USA or Canada every few years. I am not looking for a definitive commercial recommendation, but USA telecommunications is a complex topic! Thanks in advance for any suggestions Rob Burbidge 11:55, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

You can buy a dualband (America only) cellphone in the United States for around $50 from either Cingular or T-Mobile and they usually include $15 worth of talktime included with the phone. It's good in the way that you don't have to extend your contract with your phone provider, but most of the phones offered are slightly outdated, which not might be a large concern if you intend to come and stay once every few years. Here are two links that will help you [2] [3] --Folksong 12:07, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
I have an old AT&T (I guess it's Cingular now?) phone that I use when travelling to the US. But it's a pain in the ass - if you don't use the phone for a while (6 months I think) they kill the arrangement and you have to find a store and go in and have them put a new pay-as-you-go deal on it. And you have to fill out forms and the lady has to call helplines, and after a couple of years the people in the shop can't quite get it working on your old phone the first time. Last time I did it it took an hour (and you don't have a working cellphone when you need one most, when you arrive at the airport and are tired). As long as you're using the phone for necessities and not chatter, the triband is by far the easiest and most convenient. If you were going for longer, and/or expected to make more calls, only then would the bother of getting a US phone be justified. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 12:22, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Just buy a disposable cellphone in a drugstore such as CVS or discount store like Target. You can probably refill them, too. -THB 12:59, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
But don't forget that Americans have now moved away from British English and are now also moving away from US English, so when you ask the way to Target, it is important to know that they are aspiring to be Francophiles now, so be sure to say "Can you please tell me the way to "Tarjaay?" (with a soft zhay sound, as in French. Pretentious buggers!!!!!!!!!!
The Tarjay thing is tongue-in-cheek; a joke. Sheesh. --Justanother 13:49, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
And what do you mean now? That has been a nickname for Target since I was a wee tacker. Natgoo 15:20, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
A friend was visiting the other day, and she mentioned "Tar-get". It took me a few beats to realize that she was referring to Tarzhay. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 15:24, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Food and skin

Is there any food which, if eaten alot, could permanently change your skin tone? Like, Paprika or the stuff in Sunny D? Thanks. 62.136.99.54 13:47, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

How much is a lot? I would expect any foods with strong colouring (such as carrots) would do that. Flamingoes are said to turn pink through eating shrimps, and Milarepa turned green by subsisting on nettles.--Shantavira 14:15, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
On a similar note, certain foods can cause body odor changes. I'm thinking specifically of garlic. Our body odor article goes into this a little bit. Dismas|(talk) 14:21, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, I dunno how much by alot but say I ate nothing but carrots for five years starting today, and I turned orange would I be orange for the REST of my life? And thanks for the replys, they're v.intresting. 84.69.159.165 14:50, 2 December 2006 (UTC) (My IP address may have changed since my question)

It's not really a food, but colloidal silver (once a treatment for colds), in large quantities, causes your skin to permanently turn gray. StuRat 14:53, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
I heard saffron turns you yellow. Not recommended, though, since the process also kills you. =S 惑乱 分からん 15:06, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Susan Dey had an eating disorder during the Partridge Family, where she only ate carrots and her skin turned orange. The artice says that it returned to a more normal colour after she sought treatment. Some people pay now to have their skin fake-tanned that colour! Natgoo 15:18, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
I don't think so. If you are pale and eat something spicy, your skin tone may change temporaily due to vasodilation. Your skin tone can also change due to a disorder, such as jaundice. But to permanently change your skin tone, you would have to permanently alter the ratio of eu- and phaeomelanin produced in your melanocytes. Short of genetic manipulation, this would probably require a significant change in expression of the cleavage products of proopiomelanocortin, a hormone produced in the pituitary and locally in the skin. Products such as melanotan appear to have a limited effect in this manner, though it is injected, I think, not imbibed. Rockpocket 23:04, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Carrots indeed can turn your skin orange. See http://www.cnn.com/interactive/health/0210/interactive.medical.myths/2002/content3.html User:Zoe|(talk) 02:42, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
But not permanently, thank goodness. Rockpocket 07:12, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What tune is this?

There's this well known jazz tune I think goes something like this. Do you know what it's called or who wrote it? —Bromskloss 15:43, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Sounds a bit like it could be an intro to Bernie's Tune by Benny Golson (I think)--Light current 02:49, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Hm. I had Bernie's Tune running around in my head as I was looking for this posting again, and yeah, it could be an intro to it, but it's also familiar on its own. Certainly it's the same mode as Bernie's Tune...damn! I know I know what it is! (By the way, it's not Benny Golson; Bernie Miller wrote it, and I also note that Lieber and Stoller (or sometimes just Stoller) are also credited; did the write lyrics to it or something?) --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 08:26, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
It does not seem to be Bernie's Tune, although I can see why you came to think about it. The melody in the MIDI file is very prominent in the piece I search for. —Bromskloss 15:17, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Try the still astonishing Musipedia site. --DLL .. T 17:07, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the suggestion. I had no luck, though. —Bromskloss 23:19, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Hmm Nice version of Bernies tune in that lk.! 8-))--Light current 23:24, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] National Civil Service

I am looking for comparative studies of civil services in different countries. I would appreciate any recommendations or references. Any studies specific to developing countries, or civil service in developing countries vs. developed countries, or studies on civil service in Asia would also be welcome.

thanks 68.3.243.8 17:39, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Start with Civil service and the links on that page. -THB 02:20, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] downloading

If I buy a CD, and then later lose it, would it be unethical for me to download a copy of the same CD for free off the internet?

Personally, I wouldn't think so, but that's an issue you have to decide on, yourself... 惑乱 分からん 17:50, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
I would not have a problem doing that personally and I am against illegal downloading. But you would likely want to refrain from seeding it for others or otherwise distributing it. --Justanother 18:23, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
That redirects to a disambig which lacks this usage. Can anyone write a stub for it?—WAvegetarian•(talk) 18:40, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
It is defined and referenced numerous times in the BT article. I think a separate article leans toward WP:NOT: a dictionary. --Justanother 18:49, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
It would definitely not be unethical, but unfortunately the RIAA and IFPI might not agree with you. The safest thing for you to do would be to buy a used CD from Amazon.com or Half.com.--Folksong 19:41, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Um, why don't you just load it into iTunes when you buy it? --Nelson Ricardo 23:53, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
I don't believe it would be unethical. You already paid for it for personal use. It would be unethical for them to ask for you to pay for it twice since it costs them nothing for you to get it. -THB 00:03, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

No. Counterquestion. Is it ethical for a company to charge you twice for rights, such as when you already had the lp and then want the cd? Production and distribution take up only a small fraction of the price in the shops. DirkvdM 06:39, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

I believe your question is based on the supposition that the downloading is "victimless". You wouldn't ask about stealing a replacement CD from a shop, as the shop has suffered a tangible loss. So, consider that situation. If you knew for certainty that you couldn't get caught, would it be OK to steal a CD from a shop at 9am and return it at 4pm? You may think "No harm done, eh?". Alternatively, you may believe that taking without permission is never acceptable and that justifying theft is not the right thing to do, victim or no victim. --Dweller 13:01, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] danish punjabi singer?

What is the name of the female danish singer who sings punjabi?

Anita Lerche [4] [5]. –mysid☎ 18:43, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] georaphical features. Wales.

I wish to know the name of the deepest lake in Wales. Grateful for your assistance. Hubert Dagnall.

Llyn Cowlyd but North Wales. Still looking. --Justanother 18:52, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
How funny. Looking up "deepest lake in Wales" at Google, I get:
User:Zoe|(talk) 02:45, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
I know, I got that too. No luck clearing it up either so I gave up. Guess if you really wnated to know you would ring up (how is that for British!) ring up some Welsh gov't office. --Justanother 06:45, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How many named streets are there in the world?

I have seen the start of a project to create stub articles for each and every street in a city, even if 1 block long and not known for anything. How many streets are there in the world which have names and which could have stub articles written about them? Edison 20:07, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

OpenStreetMap has lots of street names available under a Free license. It might be easier to write about them there than on wikipedia though. Ojw 23:07, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, a lot that is for sure. I mean if you think about the population of the Earth; how many live on streets (or rather in houses on streets) and how many work on streets (or rather, well you know). And what might be the average size of a named street - well it would be lot of streets! I am guessing on the order of 107 unique streets. Most of them would have nothing of note; just homes.
Obviously you could write stubs about all of them but what is really the point?

Elm Street stretches from Pine Street on the east to Grant Avenue on the west and covers six city blocks. The numbers run from 4500 to 5091. It includes a total of 70 single-family homes generally built in the 1960's. 4681 is a double-sized lot and the corner lot at 5090 is undeveloped. The street has a 50' R/O/W with asphalt paving and 4' concrete sidewalks. Blah blah blah.

Talk about cruft! Don't get me wrong, you could write reams about one street but there has to be some relationship between the effort to provide information and the need for it. Very few need this information and those that need it generally know how to get it and are not going to get it from a wiki. In the US it is available from municipal gov't and the US Census Bureau (see LandView, whoops, another that needs a stubby. See here for now then)
Better would be a write-up of all businesses, period. The streets are irrelevant. --Justanother 01:02, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Ignoring the Wikipedia aspect, I think this is an interesting question. Let's estimate it this way. My MapArt road atlas of cities and towns in the Golden Horseshoe area (Toronto - Niagara Falls) has an index 46 pages long. The typical format of an index page is 5 columns and if you knock off a bit to allow for headings and things, the typical column is about 120 entries. With 7+ million people in the area, it works out to roundly 250 people per street on average.

I also have an AA street atlas of London, which I believe covers more or less the area of Greater London, and that also has 7+ million people. Over there they tend to prefer streets not to go very far under the same name, so there should be more street names, and sure enough the index this time is 97 pages long. It's also 5 columns, but longer ones, say 140 entries per column allowing a bit for headings. So their average is not much over 100 people per street.

Now of course two urbanized areas in two English-speaking, Western countries are not nearly sufficient to construct a worldwide estimate with any accuracy -- but if they were, then it would seem that the number of named streets worldwide ought to be around 50 million. Give or take a few tens of millions. I think it's probably safe to say that it's correct within an order of magnitude, at least: there are between 5 and 500 million named streets.

--Anonymous, 06:43 UTC, December 3, 2006.

You can travel in mind just looking at street names. It is very interesting, even if I don't believe that it pertains to WP. --DLL .. T 17:03, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Mind you, I was not suggesting DOING such a project, just wondering the implications of others having started on it and looking for a reality check as tohow selective and incomplete such a project would of necessity be. There are Geographic Information System databases which are proprietary which are behing Mapquest and Googlemaps, which have basically all roads and streets in the US and probably in most other countries. Unlike Wikipedia, no one outside the GIS company can edit them, and if they have an error, as in cases I have found, there is no way to make them correct it, other than emailing Google or Mapquest and asking them to forward the error report to the GIS company, who then ignores it. So Wiki at least is a correctable database, although there have been hoax streets and towns. Edison 21:12, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Here are some actual numbers for you to go by: In New York City, there are 9,099 named streets. Some of these are very long, such as Broadway; and some are not much more than alleys only 100m long. By contrast, my hometown of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania (population 2,000) has 41 streets, the longest of which is just 10 blocks long. (I have lists of all the streets in both towns if you want them.) — Michael J 00:05, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

The disambig problems will be fun to sort out. In London alone there's dozens of streets with the same name. As for the American convention of street numbering... the mind boggles. --Dweller 13:05, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Romanticism and Hip Hop

Is there any romanticist-themed hip hop? 69.40.249.70 20:29, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, my own favorite is L.L. Cool J's classic "I need love", a personal favorite, also Outkast released a track called "Slum Beautiful", and you could probably find more from their catalogue... Otherwise, romanticism is probably a r'n'b thing... 惑乱 分からん 21:01, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] college in the 19th century

Am looking for info regarding the cost of tuition at the mid-19th century in America - institutions such as Harvard, Brown and Yale. How would tuition have been paid - weekly, monthly, yearly or by semester? Appreciate any input anyone has.Bunnyhill 21:29, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gay Niggers from Outer Space

Who made this movie and why?

See the article Gayniggers from Outer Space. As for why, I have no idea, and don't want to know either. bibliomaniac15 21:47, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
Because it is very funny!!!! -THB 00:00, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
You've seen it? --Justanother 06:46, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Oh, yes, it's at Google video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5121649266422516795 . In a way, we're all Gayniggers from Outer Space. -THB 15:07, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The famous scream from Starcraft, Aaaah! Real Monsters, etc

A few of us are trying to figure out the name of a famous scream, which mefi and ytmnd and slashdot and IMDb are trying to find out. It was used when you clicked the Starcraft Terran Academy, it's played at the previously mentioned YTMND, it's used apparently in Half Life 2, and was the "Aaaah!" in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters[6] and nobody can figure out what it is. It's obviously not the Wilhelm Scream. --TIB (talk) 22:14, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Sounds like a TIE fighter. :) --Wooty Woot? contribs 00:01, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Wow very creepy, now that I think about I've heard that scream a lot. By the way the half-life 2 fast zombie scream doesn't sound exactly like that, just very close. It also has some other screams that are sound similar and are sampled identically. Also you seem right about the terran academy. If you ever find out, post back here! --frothT C 04:50, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

I emailed valve, cross your fingers. --frothT C 05:04, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

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