Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 July 27

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[edit] July 27

[edit] movie review website

Does anyone here know of a website that does movie reviews? I think the website I need to see starts with a "b", but I am totally lost on the rest. I think the people who fix up the 'site is a couple, if that helps any. thanks!

I don't know the exact site you try to describe here but I use [IMDB] for info on movies (at least the plot!). --racergr 05:03, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Rottentomatoes is also a good site (despite the strange name) :-) ugen64 06:50, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Why aren't tractors fast?

From the answers to my previous questions, I have learned that generally the more torque a car has, the faster acceleration it has and the more horsepower it has, the higher top speed it has. If this is true, why aren't tractors, machines that have huge amounts of torque, have fast acceleration? Acceptable 03:25, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Because they also have gears that multiply the torque even more for the shake of speed. --racergr 05:02, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Isn't a tractor also much heavier than a car? Lanfear's Bane 08:46, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
The gear article has a lot of useful information on this. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 12:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Would smaller wheels give the car/tractor more or less output torque? Acceptable 17:42, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Tractors do often have pretty good acceleration, but it's hard to notice because speed is so limited. Smaller wheels effectively lower the overall gear ratio, which means less speed but better acceleration. Friday (talk) 17:47, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

So it helps increase torque right? Then why don't tractors have small wheels in the back, rather than those huge ones? Acceptable 19:47, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Big wheels are needed for traction (hence the name tractor). Not only do tractors have a lot of torque, but the large tires provide more surface area in contact with the ground. Imagine trying to plod through a muddy field with little tires. — Michael J 20:48, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

To address the mechanical advantage concerns, tractors have ridiculously low gearing to compensate for the huge outside diameter of the tires. Friday (talk) 00:31, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Free Image question

In this article, the image Image:Particle chart.jpg is used to clearly demonstrate some of the aspects of the standard model. Although it is very helpful, this image is copyrighted, and we're using a very high-resolution version of it. Would it be any kind of copyright violation if I made a "knock-off" of this image myself? By knock-off, I mean an image that gave all the exact same information in this image, the only difference being that I made it myself in Photoshop or some other program. I'm not a copyright expert, and I figure someone else would know if this is OK. GhostPirate 03:46, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

That is a legal question. We don't do legal questions. --Anon, July 27, 05:36 (UTC).
As always, should you be caught, Wikipedia will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Ghost. Clarityfiend 05:58, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Have you contacted the user named in the image? (User:Rmrfstar) who it says to contact about the copyright issues? Cyta 07:28, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
"In addition to the fair-use assertion shown on this page, the copyright holder has granted permission for this image to be used in Wikipedia. This permission does not extend to third parties" I'm not an expert, but that page seems to say that the image may be used on wikipedia but you can't use it yourself. 199.172.246.196 12:45, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Oh my. I don't think that image will survive once the image-tagging bots find it. That limitation on it being used by third parties is a fairly big impediment to it staying on WP. -- Arwel (talk) 16:00, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Read the tags. The "WP only" is in conjunction with a fair use tag — it's basically saying that the copyright holder acknowledges its use on Wikipedia is in all cases fair use. It doesn't mean that it isn't fair use elsewhere, just that they are explicitly acknowledging it in regards to Wikipedia. Not the same thing as being WP-only. --24.147.86.187 12:03, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

(unindent) Yes, that image fails Wikipedia's image use policy, and ought to be deleted unless we can get the copyright holder to release it under a free license. That said, the fact that they've granted permission to use it on Wikipedia suggests that a) they're contactable, b) they sympathise with Wikipedia, c) they're not insanely possessive of their intellectual property and d) they probably won't sue us for retaining that image while we settle the issue. So I'd suggest taking things calmly and sending the folks at cpepweb.org a kind e-mail explaining the issue and asking if the image could perhaps be release under a free license.

As for the original question, ideas are not copyrightable. So yes, you can take all the data and draw you own image the displays it in an original manner. Just make sure you don't imitate any expressive aspects of the original image, at least not unless they're essentially unavoidable.

Anyway, that image isn't really a very good one for use on Wikipedia, for the simple reason that it's clearly meant for printing at poster size, not for viewing online at 500 by 375 pixels. We could probably just as well just link to it at the original site. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 22:12, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

  • As for a knock-off — the problem here is that the factual data is not copyrighted (scientific data is not copyrighted), but the layout is copyrighted. So if your knock-off were a knock-off of the way it looked and was arranged, then it would be surely a derivative work. However if you found another way to present the same data, it would be fine. --24.147.86.187 12:01, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
This chart is pretty terrible for use in Wikipedia and I strongly encourage you to get rid of it. But please don't just put the data into another god-awful image file. Take each of the tables and turn it into a proper Wikitable - rewrite the text (which you'll have to do anyway because the precise form of words are copyrighted) and put the text into normal Wikitext - that leaves only the big circular 'blob' in the middle and the three diagrams at the bottom. If those are useful - then by all means redraw them - using your own style, colours, etc so as not to copy the artistic style of the original. The benefit of doing it like that is that other people can come along and edit the data vastly more easily if it's in Wiki markup - also you can include links and the resulting data will be searchable. That original chart is a disaster area for an online encyclopedia because when you print it out, your poor printer uses about $10 of ink just filling in the big black background! SteveBaker 18:56, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Question

Ok, so I see all these boxes on the family tree pages; but whenever i click the edit page, it doesn't work. How do I got about editing these boxes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.211.8.100 (talk • contribs) 27 July 2007

I'm not sure what you mean by "family tree pages". Give us an example? —Tamfang 06:14, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Maybe 74. is talking about templates? On the page Common goldfish, there is "Breeds of goldfish" template. In the text below, you will find something like {{Goldfish breeds}}. That is called template, and can be changed by going to Template:Goldfish breeds. Reason for this complication is to have exact same list of breeds of goldfish on all the relevant articles, and to be able to make edits to that list without having to edit every single page that needs to have that list displayed. Further explanation is available at Help:Template. — Shinhan < talk > 12:01, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Used 12.3M, Total 3.0G

It says the above thing on my email inbox. What does it mean?

It means that the total capacity of your inbox is 3.0 gigabytes, and you have currently used 12.3 megabytes of space. For reference, 1 gigabyte = 1000 megabytes, so it's saying you have used 12.3 out of 3000 megabytes of free space. :) ugen64 06:49, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
PLENTY of room for spam, spam, spam, spam... Clarityfiend 07:09, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Put another way, your mailbox is 99.6% empty space and 0.4% email (and spam). There is enough room left for 780 copies of the King James Bible, around 2000 copies of War and Peace or 10 copies of the complete 2007 Encyclopedia Britannica - but (sadly) not enough for even a single copy of Wikipedia...so I'd better remember not to try to email it to you! SteveBaker 18:45, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Toyota Hilux SW4 (fortuner)

Is there any country that toyota launch Hilux SW4 with the engine of 2TR-FE 2700cc?(not in the name of Fortuner)

[edit] Translation

What is this language and could someone please translate it "DUde thsika gis sthed fuckin awesomeest sdfhaweit ever!"

Thank you

It's a little known language called I-type-faster-than-I-can-think, or as it more commonly known, Idiot. A rough translation would be "My gentleman friend, this is surely the most spiffing thing that I have ever experienced!". Capuchin 12:30, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Shouldn't this be on the language desk? :)---Czmtzc 12:46, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Either that or it's trolling, I couldnt decide which so I just answered it :p Capuchin 12:47, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
It's most likely idiot. :D Shadywolf666 23:02, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The active hours of Shueisha

I'm just wondering something...at what time is Shueisha in Japan active, like if it receives e-mail at what times? You can say universal times, but also say at what time here (Central Standard Time), so I could understand.

I'm not entirely sure what the business hours in Japan are (someone, help globalise that article!). However, from around 8 or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. is common. Japan Standard Time is at UTC+9. Presuming that the Central Standard Time you're using is the North American one, it's at UTC-6 during the winter and UTC-5 during the summer. So, in the summer, Japan's clocks are 14 hours ahead of your time. That would mean that Shueisha would open around 6 or 7 p.m. CST, and close around 3 a.m. CST the next morning. — Gareth Hughes 15:32, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The kind of city Tampa is

Is Tampa a conservative or liberal city? Heegoop, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

:If you haven't already checked the Tampa page on Wikipedia to see about voting info, check that. My guess would be conservative due to the large population of older citizens. Well...After checking up some info the Mayor is a Democrat...perhaps it's a more liberal city than I thought! 12.155.80.115 16:04, 27 July 2007 (UTC) Sp3ktral

It is part of the I-4 Corridor, a part of the country that both political parties think is pretty important for winning Florida (which is pretty important for winning any national elections, being a swing state). To quote from that article: "Communities along the I-4 corridor were perceived [during the 2004 presidential elections] by both major political parties as having higher proportions of undecided voters as compared to more Republican- or Democratic-leaning portions of the state." Recury 16:26, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Like most American cities, Tampa seems to have a Democratic core surrounded by suburbs that get increasingly Republican as you go up the income brackets. The 11th congressional district favored Kerry over Bush by about 18 percentage points, but the surrounding 9th and 12th districts each favored Bush by about 16 points. -- Mwalcoff 22:09, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Objectivist thought on Art

What is the general Objectivist position when it comes to Art?

AlmostCrimes 16:35, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

"The purpose of all art is the objectification of values. The fundamental motive of the writer, the activity--whether he knows it consciously or not, is to objectify his values, his views on what is important in life. A man reads a novel for the same reason: to see a presentation of reality slanted to a certain code of values with which he then may agree or disagree." —Ayn Rand, The Art of Fiction. —Keenan Pepper 18:07, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
See The Romantic Manifesto. 152.16.188.107 06:42, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Renting an apartment in or near Barcelona.

Looking for advice on finding a property rental agency for a 2 bedroomed apartment near Barcelona, preferably near public transport and not up in the hills. I had a look on the web but am not prepared to be ripped off at over 14,000 euros (£8,400) for a 6 month let. In Scotland, I can rent a whole house near the City of Edinburgh, an equally popular tourist destination, for around half that sum. Sorry for using Wiki as a travel agent but hey, you guys and gals have always proved to be resourceful in the past. Thanks.

Yeah, but Barcelona is just a teenie weenie bit more attractive and in demand than Scotland, even Edinburgh, and how near is "near" ? Also, are you comparing like with like ? Why not simply contact the Barcelona tourist office. ? I won't do the Googling for you.86.219.37.176 14:37, 28 July 2007 (UTC)DT

[edit] NBC Studios

Where is the adress for NBC Studios?

--Writer Cartoonist 17:51, 27 July 2007 (UTC) I meant the one in New York City --68.191.235.196 23:46, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Which studios? They have many (Burbank, Chicago and New York off the top of my head). Donald Hosek 18:32, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
See NBC Studios. --TotoBaggins 18:51, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Olympic Rings

I heard a rumour that each of the 6 colours of the Olympics Rings represent a continent and the flags every country in that continent has a bit of that colour. Is this true? If so, which colours represent which continents? Thanks. Acceptable 19:05, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Kind of; the five rings represent the five inhabited continents (taking North and South America to be one big continent). The colours do appear to be based on flags, according to the Textes choisis quoted in Olympic symbols, "the six colours are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time", and it does appear to be true. It's not surprising really; the only colours/shades not used are purple, orange, brown and grey. I'd like to see someone come up with an attractive flag using that! Laïka 19:49, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Traditionall manual vs SMG, Sequential,. etc...

How does traditional manual transmission (with clutch and shift stick) compare with BMW's SMG, Ferrari's sequential-manual and other clutchless manual transmissions in terms of performance, acceleration, controlability, cornering and fuel consumption? Thanks. Acceptable 19:32, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

To really answer this would require a very long answer; can I suggest you go and read all the relevant articles and check out some comparisons in car magazines, websites, etc? However, in short, there is a reason these transmissions are found in cars at the pointy end of the market, and that is that for most purposes they are superior to the 'traditional' manual. The Ferrari transmission, for example, is based very closely on the transmission they use in their F1 cars. These new transmissions are also way more expensive, both to build and maintain, which is a pretty good reason why you don't get them in your everyday shopping trolley, at least not yet. --jjron 11:05, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
From a lot of not very detailed reading of car reviews, I'd say sometimes the reviewers prefer the paddle shifters, sometimes they find the paddle shifters worse than a manual. Gzuckier 17:55, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] TV Game shows

The question is somewhat vague, however, here it goes. Is it generally hard to be accepted to play in TV game shows? --Taraborn 20:47, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Possibly. It all depends on the show and what the producers are looking for. When I was on Jeopardy! it was a pretty open secret that they were bending over backwards to get women on the show because at the time, there were few female contestants. It seemed like the only reason why I got called to do the show was because somebody had dropped out at the last minute. But on some shows, it's more your personality than it is how well you play the game. I got a very high score in a tryout for Lingo, but never got a call back, probably because I didn't look like the kind of person they wanted on their show (young pretty things). Still, I did get to meet Shandi Finnessey in person and have a picture of her and Chuck Woollery, personally signed by Shandi.  :) Corvus cornix 21:23, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
Thank you :). PS: Shandi looks so good. --Taraborn 21:30, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
How did you do on Jeopardy!, Corvix? And, as many people suggest, was the real challange in pressing the button at the correct time, rather than knowing the answers? And what was your "interesting" anecdote? Sorry to be nosey, but that programme fascinates me. Rockpocket 18:16, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
The first step was the test. There was a large group of us sitting in the stands where the audience sits for the tapings, and we were given pencils, fill-in-the-blanks answer sheets, and clipboards, and then shown a videotape of Alex Trebek giving Jeopardy! answers. We then had to fill in the blanks with the correct question. The answer sheet already had "What is _____" or "Who was _____" and we just had to put in the answer. One question was giving me trouble because I thought of two possible correct answers, but thankfully, the answer sheet very helpfully said, "What is an _____", so I knew it had to start with a vowel, so I was able to choose that answer.  :) Then the answer sheets were taken away and we all sat around and talked till they came back and told us which of us had passed the test. They never said what a passing grade was, and they never told us what our grades were, just who had passed. Those of us who passed, they took us to another room where we played a simulated game so that they could see how well we knew how to play. For buzzers, they gave us pens, we had to click the pen to signal in.  :) Then they took all of our information and said they'd get back to us. About three months later, I got a call at work that they were taping the next day, and somebody had dropped out, and could I come in for five days' worth of taping? I talked to my boss and got the day off, so I went down. They told us to bring three changes of clothes, because (this was back when you were limited to five appearances on the show) if you were the winner and were going to come back for the taping of the next day's show, you had to change clothes so the viewing audience wouldn't wonder why you wore the same clothes every day, but apparently, if you were going to be on the show for four or five days, it was acceptable to wear the same thing twice in that period. Unfortunately, I was chosen for the taping of the last show of that day, so I had to sit around and wait for all of the other people to get done with their tapings. The fourth taping of the day, they had a five-time champion, so when it came time for the last show, there were three brand new players. One of my competitors was a heart surgeon and marathon runner, the only one of the people I had met that day that I really didn't like. And of course, he won. One of the categories in Double Jeopardy! was "German composers", and classical music is one of my weakest categories, so the heart surgeon ran the category and won. I did get a daily double in the Double Jeopary round, but I was too chicken to wager everything. If I had, I might have won. Both the heart surgeon and I got the Final Jeopardy! question right, but he was ahead of me going in, and wagered enough to beat me no matter how much I wagered. Back in those days, you didn't get to keep the money you won if you didn't win overall, so I got parting gifts and a trip to Puerto Vallarta. My "interesting anecdote" was that I'm a dedicated genealogist. Gauging when to ring in is an art form. If you ring in too early, you're locked out until at least one other person has rung in. We were told to try to ring in on the last syllable as Alex is reading the answer. Corvus cornix 19:33, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
Fascinating and comprehensive answer, thank you. Its occasions like this when OR is most welcome! Rockpocket 23:56, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
Yep. One note: the second- and third-place finishers still don't "keep the money", but they get preset cash prizes now instead of the merchandise prizes. Or so I understand. On the original Jeopardy! show with Art Fleming, they did keep the money. --Anonymous, July 31, 2007, 23:15 (UTC).

[edit] meat and onions?

What do they do to make your body healtier? --Cecilbdemille 21:05, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Meat is a good source of protein, which is an essential nutrient (also available from non-meat sources). Meat is low in carbohydrates. It may be high in harmful saturated fat and cholesterol, depending on the source and preparation method. Evidence of the use of onions as food has been found back to 5000 BC, and they have been a cultivated crop since 3000 BC. Their strong flavor may have made food tastier. A 100 g serving provides 12% of an adult's Vitamin C needs and 9% of the Thiamin needs. Various medical benefits are made in the Onion article, but Wikipedia does not provide medical advice. Edison 21:27, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How random is the Random article button?

I've been using it alot lately and I've always wondered, how random is it really? It seems like it spits out a large number of related articles, is its algorithm truely random?--69.118.235.97 21:44, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I have really no idea, but computer random number generators (such as the one that, probably, Winamp uses for its playlist) don't seem much random at all. Those algorithms need a "seed", a number from which produce other pseudo-random numbers. Normally, in everyday programs, that seed is the computer's date and time, due to its changing nature. Maybe random article and other not-so-random algorithms aren't feed correctly. --Taraborn 21:53, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
For most everyday purposes the difference between pseudo-random numbers and "truly random" numbers is not detectable unless you are running lots and lots and lots of trials and you are paying close attention to statistical irregularities, etc. In most cases a pseudo-random generator will behave better than some methods that people consider to be "random", like pulling lots out of a hat (which is only random if very, very efficient sorting is going on). --24.147.86.187 11:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
Wait a minute, are you telling us that the Sorting Hat is supposed to be a random-number generator??! :-)
(I didn't make Sorting Hat a link there for spoiler-protection reasons).
--Anonymous, July 28, 18:21 (UTC).
If ti were, that would make Hogwarts an extremely interesting, long-running social experiment. Skittle 21:44, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
See Wikipedia:Technical FAQ#Is the "random article" feature really random? —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:57, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
The short answer is, Wikipedia's Random Article button is quite adequately random. There is no appreciable bias built into it towards any particular article, or class of articles. —Steve Summit (talk) 00:14, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Does that mean you can accidentally land on penis? Acceptable 02:29, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

One of the risks one takes when clicking on random article. It's only for people who like to live dangerously. — Laura Scudder ☎ 02:53, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
Anyway, the odds are 1 against almost 2 million, so I wouldn't be afraid of clicking the link :) --Taraborn 13:36, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
I would be slightly afraid: on one notorious occasion, I managed to hit Foreskin fetish, of all things, at work. I no longer look at random articles at work. (This was in the days when it had its own article, and did not merely redirect to "Sexual fetishism".) Hassocks5489 19:08, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
HAHAHAHAHAHA. I'm sorry, but that was hilarious. --Taraborn 13:17, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
As the FAQ says, it's not all that random because the gap between articles in entries in the table isn't even - but the bias isn't towards particular types of articles - it's a bias towards certain articles that are in themselfes randomly selected. So the odds of showing up two consecutive articles on similar topics is still 'fair' - but some individual articles are more likely to appear than others - just because of how they are randomly scattered through the table. On English Wikipedia, the result is actually extremely random - but I have noticed that when you set up a new MediaWiki of your own (we use a Wiki at work - I have one for my own documents here at home and another that I set up for my local car club) - then initially, when there are just a few dozen articles - that lack of true randomness becomes amazingly noticable. When I first set up my home Wiki, there were about 10 articles - hitting the Random button got you the exact same article about 9 times out of every 10! I thought I must have set it up wrongly somehow - but as more articles got filled in, this bias gradually faded away - and now it seems quite random. SteveBaker 18:24, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] refrigerate lemon meringue?

Should I put my lemon meringue in the fridge if I want to eat it in two days or is it fine at room temperature?

My Mum always covers it with cling film or foil and refrigerates it. DuncanHill 22:47, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
I'd say that you could probably leave it out for two days and eat it without ill effect, how tasty it would still be is another question. The base is biscuity and will simply go stale, the meringue will also get stale and the filling may start to separate a little. If there is any cream on it however this would start to spoil. It also depends on the ambient temperature of the room and the amount of moisture in the air. (This does not constitue advice, I don't want to be to blame for your lemon meringue poisoning). Lanfear's Bane
So....I should refridgerate it.
I would. Also, a cold slice of lemon meringue pie sounds a lot more appetizing on a hot day than warm pie (depending on what appetites you mean to satisfy, of course). StuRat 23:45, 28 July 2007 (UTC)