Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 March 20

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[edit] March 20

[edit] Aztecs

I was wondering if the Aztecs still exsisted and have modern descendants like the Maya. Could someone tell me me? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hmrox (talk • contribs) 01:14, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

The article indigenous peoples of Mexico might be useful. Aztec was the name of a nation; it contained many different indigenous ethicities. --24.147.86.187 02:07, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
The Aztec empire contained a number of different ethnic groups, but the dominant ethnic group were the Nahua, and the state language of the empire was Nahuatl. Both ethnic Nahua and the Nahuatl language exist today. Marco polo 16:06, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Google Earth

How often is Google Earth updated? How long could one expect it to take for an area without a clear picture to be brought into focus? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.117.135.99 (talk) 02:09, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

The areas where the resolution is lower (it isn't as much a focus issue as a resolution issue. The images are in perfect focus, they just aren't that high in resolution) are generally rural areas of little governmental importance. Most of the images for Google Earth, if I'm not mistaken, come from government satellites. It's just the economics of it, they don't need really high res pictures of Ottumwa, Iowa but do for New York City. Sending a satellite over an area costs time and money. Dismas|(talk) 03:32, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

To add to the above, some pictures are also areal photos taken privately which somehow ends up in the possession of Google. And to answer the question, in Googles own words, "The images in Google Earth are updated on a rolling basis", meaning they are updated when updates become available. I wouldn't hold my breath though the aircraft photos including my house have not been updated since early summer 2004 (the pictures just happened to include a moving van outside out house, so I could probably narrow it down to the exact hour if it is needed) Clq 06:11, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] silver platters.

I have picked up a couple of silver items recentley. I would like to know if it is real silver or silver plated? The platters are made by,"Oneida". Do I have real silver here or just silver plated? Thank You.02:54, 20 March 2007 (UTC)Podosmom

If it's not plated it should be marked as Sterling or for its silver content (see some of the Oneida marks here). Maybe Oneida can help you with your question. They make both real and plated silver. - Nunh-huh 03:44, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

See also /www.925-1000.com/--88.111.180.64 09:05, 20 March 2007 (UTC) but Isn't there some thing that only real silver can do? I can't remember what it was, but it might have something to do with electricity :) And you can do that greek thing where you drop in ito water and see if it has the same density as silver :) HS7 10:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Silver conducts electricity better than any other metal, but you'd need sensitive instruments to tell the difference between solid silver and silver plating on another metal. The density test is valid, but if the silver object is small, it would be hard to measure the water displacement accurately enough; silver is only about 10% denser than copper, about 25% denser than iron. (And it would be possible to alloy lead with a lighter metal to make something the same density as silver, although I can't imagine why anyone would unless they were trying to make an object that would beat this test.) Best to go by the markings if there are any. --Anonymous, March 21, 2007, 23:51 (UTC).


Archimedes! Measure as precisely you can the volume of the piece (put it in a marked cylinder with water and see how far the water level rises). After that, weigh it. According to wikipedia, silver weighs 10.49 g/mL.

Archemides measured gold instead, and he used the exact same weight of pure gold and found its volume too :) HS7 21:42, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Northern Industrial workers

I am doing a report in US labor history and there is a term Northern Industrial workers and I need to give a brief descrption on this term that was used at the end of the civil war?

I don't know where you'd find information about this specifically within Wikipedia but you might try going through the American Civil War article and the articles linked off of it. Basically though, the North had quite a bit of industry and, compared to the South, very little agriculture. While the South was, for the most part, the opposite with large plantations with good farm land. Due to this, many generalizations were made about one half of the country in reference to the other. See American Civil War#Economics for a pretty good start to an answer. Dismas|(talk) 07:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

'Northern Industrial workers' is such a vague term that it could mean virtually anything, from a particular labour organisation to, well, northern industrial workers. Have a look at the Economic history of the United States and Labor unions in the United States. Perhaps these may take your quest a lttle further forward. There is also quite an informative article entitled A Short History of American Labor, which you will find here [1]. Clio the Muse 08:34, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I have to correct Dismas's statement that the North had very little agriculture. It had the corn belt of the Midwest. A crucial part of the pre–Civil War economy was that the Midwest produced corn, pork and other foodstuffs that were sent south along the Mississippi River and its tributaries to feed the slaves on the plantations. In return, the Midwest got a share of the profits from cotton export. This broke down during the Civil War, and the Midwest found a new market in feeding the troops and the growing legions of industrial workers, many of them involved in the northern war effort. At the same time, the South suffered economically in being forced to shift agricultural land from the profitable production of cotton for export to the production of food crops formerly purchased from the Midwest. The South also suffered from being cut off from Northeastern producers of manufactured goods. Marco polo 16:13, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Redeye

how do u make red eyes clearer faster? :) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by BongHits4Jesus4Ever (talk • contribs) 09:40, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

I saw a commercial about a product that specifically has this function. Can't remember the name, sorry. --Taraborn 09:42, 20 March 2007 (UTC)


Safyblue eye drops always made our eyes go white after a heavy smoke —Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]])

Visine? Dismas|(talk) 10:30, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Wow. V-Man - T/C 00:18, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

There are various products, and generally it's about what's causing your eyes to go red in the first place. You might want to do some experimentation with the various products to see what's best for you. You may for example be sensetive to certain chemicals or preservatives, so in the long run you may have to go with something preservative-free. If you wear contact lenses than you need to talk to your optometrist or a pharmacist about that. In the case of red eyes (usually dry) caused by taking roaccutane (or isotretinoin) there's currently an old wive's tale about consuming lots of biotin -- some roaccutane users have said after a few weeks they notice results. Disclaimer: We cannot give medical advice, please consult your doctor. Rfwoolf 14:20, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tesla's mind

I read somewhere Tesla made an essay, article or book about the working of his mind, but can't remember the name. If there are more than one, could you please name the most focused on the topic and comprehensive one? Thank you. --Taraborn 09:40, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Have you tried this place here? It is the online version of "My Inventions" by Nikola Tesla, printed in Electrical Experimenter Feb-June, 1919. Reprinted, edited by Ben Johnson, New York: Barnes & Noble, 1982. It might have the information you're looking for. 81.241.156.157 13:34, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Banned?

I was banned cuz they didn't like my old username, BongHits4Jesus. What was wrong with it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by BannedFromWikipediaButBackForRevenge (talk • contribs) 10:06, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

Someone was offended by it, so I banned it per WP:USERNAME. Nothing against you personally, you're more than welcome to create another account with an uncontroversial username. ˉˉanetode╦╩ 10:09, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Who was offedned by it?

Someone. Anyone. Doesn't matter. If your username was something like "anteater4000", no one would care. If you username has the word "bong" near the word "jesus", then a little light should come on in your head to tell you "Hey! This might not be a good idea!" ˉˉanetode╦╩
I am offended by your username "Anetode". I find it personally insulting and ridicules my religion. --Taraborn 10:28, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
WP:AIV is but a click away, my dear sir ˉˉanetode╦╩ 10:31, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
FREEDOM OF SPEACH!!! how can you bann someone for thier name? I though Wiki was all about intelligence, but if this is the kind of thing that gets done it is a dark dark day for us all. I am disgusted, and am gonna change my username to ****WikiVolenteers. see you later. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.144.161.223 (talk) 10:40, 20 March 2007 (UTC).
Freedom of speech is a right granted you by the government, not by a community. Because your attendance here is VOLUNTARY, we have the right to clarify what behaviors are appropriate here. Jfarber 12:16, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

It would help if you spelt it right :] HS7 10:51, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

No need to be rude to him. English may not be his first language!!!!!!!

An even bigger reason, trying to get it right... 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 11:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm back, after the regengade anectoe banned me a few times over my usernames, which is showing intolernece and ditaroship. I think we should all get along here, and people like him are ruining it, and shouldn't be here. Not only that, but he LIED to all of us. He pretended someone had being offended by my name to try and make his decsiion to ban me look good, but he then said that no one was offended, he had done himself. I am also offended by Anetotes username, Taraborn, but more offended by his conduct. Is there anyway I can lay a complaint against him to the moderator? --BigHatsForJeebus 11:47, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

  • I'm offended by your attitude if that's any help.hotclaws**== 11:51, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
There is nothing that says we all have to be tolerant of everything here. This is not the USA -- it's not like your rights have to be protected because you are not otherwise empowered. This is a community; it has standards; there is no cabal; we ask everyone to respect the sensitivities of others, and not abuse the trust of the community; we are empowered, each of us, to a greater or lesser extent, to sustain that community. Anetode's actions (and username) are within the COMMUNALLY AGREED UPON community standards. Your username was not, as it contained incendiary language. If you are not comfortable being part of a community with such standards, we'll miss you. Jfarber 12:27, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
The "BannedFromWikipediaButBackForRevenge" username isn't much better. You'll probably get banned again. · AO Talk 12:36, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I think I should point out that technically Anetode was offended :] HS7 12:58, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Banning an 'offensive' username is ridiculous. I'm sorry but it is. The important issue is the quality of the article edits/writing that the user puts, not the name they go by. If you are offended by connotations/comments in someone's username you might want to consider whether you have a little more time to be offended than others do. Yes there are standards and yes the claim that 'freedom of speech' means it is ok is wrong, but this community exists to produce the highest quality, most varied, indepth, editable encyclopedia. The 'back office' pages of wikipedia show usernames, but the rest show a seamless article that could be written by one indivdual, but more likely has been edited by 10s/100s of individuals. Of course all this said if the user has a sense of community they will respect the standards laid-out and realise what is important is the quality of articles, not whether or not they get to have their preferred username showing when making edits. ny156uk 17:48, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Have you read WP:USERNAME#Inappropriate usernames? That's policy. Corvus cornix 18:14, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
I am concerned that your current username might not be acceptable. I have started a discussion on your talk page, maybe we can talk about that there rather than on the reference desk. -- Diletante 18:14, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Noone has found my username offensive yet :) HS7 19:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I am normally all for free speech and freedom of expression but the people making the arguments here are really not getting "the point". Any name you select with the word Jesus in it you are doing with only one intention, and that is to offend someone. There is NO other reason for it, if it wasn't offensive, you wouldn't be selecting it, the way you've reacted, mock offended yourself just proves it. SO! If your pure and only intention is to offend people, you have no argument and my sympathy does not extend to you… And it's not like the amnesty international basic human right to a name applies to whatever you make up as a wiki moniker. If you want to argue free speech, go get a shirt printed with bong hits for the Quran or bong hits for Jews and see how long that lasts, Jesus is just a cheap target at the moment. I personally am in no way religious btw, but I am sensible enough to recognise some things that shouldn't be made fun of, freedom of speech is one thing but doesn't mean lack of respect is your right.Vespine 21:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
But then again, this isn't America. This is the internet and is a community. Just because you live in America doesn't give you the right to choose offensive usernames online. Shindo9Hikaru 00:33, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
The main problem of current so-called "free" societies is that too much respect, tolerance and care is given to that nonsense and organized superstition called religion. --Taraborn 11:09, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

hi hs7, i find your username offensive  ;) have a nice day 195.188.254.82 11:16, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Remember, don't feed the trolls. --64.0.112.13 09:41, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


don't feed the trolls, you'll make Wikipe-tan cry! aww! Wikipe-tan is so cute!--Lerdthenerd 08:38, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Measurement of Business Synergies

Without success, I have searched the internet, including Wikipedia and various Business School websites for models that enable the evaluation of business synergies.

Specifically, I am seeking to ascribe quantifiable business benefits within a Discounted Cash Flow context (i.e. within a range of possible financial maxima and minima) arising from relocating 175 posts from several departments - to the company HQ which is about 40 miles away. I have no difficulty in defining the costs side of the equation. However, there seems to be a large gap in the benefits side for want of a financial reflection of synergies arising from the whole workforce being in the same place.

I understand this is a major challenge for business and analysts and any model is likely to be less than wholly accurate. However, it would be very helpful to know if any such models exist. 89.242.35.182 10:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

AFAICT it looks like you are asking for the benefits of moving people to the HQ, is this what you want :? HS7 13:23, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes but specifically in the areas mentioned. I have quantified a range of other benefits but have been unsuccessful so far with the synergies.

[edit] Big Nose Baby B

A while ago, there is a Japan cartoon and there was also a chinese version. In the chinese version, it was called "Big Nose B" which was about a baby with a big nose that carries a magical umbrealla whereever it goes. I was wondering, is there a name for this show in English? –220.239.241.139 11:12, 20 March 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Question on Siamese twins

The more delicate minded should look away now.Having just seen a program on Siamese twins who share a body but have separate heads,I got to thinking-if you were to have sex with Siamese twins and one of the twins refused to give their consent,would it be possible to prosecute for rape?Theoretically,since it was her body and she refused consent,that would count,but since the body also belongs to someone else and they gave consent,it wouldn't.Any ideas on what would happen legally? Lemon martini 12:57, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Of course they could prosecute, people do it all the time for any reason, or even no reason at all if they are good at lieing :( HS7 13:32, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
A recent article in the local paper claimed that for every false cry of rape that makes it into the national news, there are between 20,000 and 30,000 real rapes that don't even make it into the back pages of the newspaper. Even the vast majority of those reported to police aren't acted upon. The media publicizes the unusual because it sells papers and ad revenue. --Charlene 08:22, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
Would depend on if the lower body is separated or connected. Btw, consent is crucial. 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 13:39, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
This sounds like a legal question which we cannot really answer. I would imagine that this would vary depending on the wording and interpretation of local laws. -- Diletante 16:11, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
IANAL, Wikipedia does not give legal advice, but (since I assume this isn't actually a query about something that will involve you, or anyone you know) I would say both twins would have to give consent for it to be anything other than rape, morally and probably legally, if they both shared a single body. Anything other than consent from both is forcing someone to have sex. Skittle 16:13, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
When midget sex just isn't enough… − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 18:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
…WHAT?! No article on midget sex? − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 18:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Both heads morally should have a say over what is done to or with their shared body, in either event, especially since a pregnancy or STD would affect both. It would be pure speculation as to what would happen if such a case reached court, but consider Chang and Eng Bunker who were twins jioned at the chest(the original "Siamese twins"). They each married separate women, and would alternately spend 3 days with each wife. One fathered 10 children and the other 12 children. The article does not say if the non-husband would merely avert his eyes and snooze while the other engaged in marital relations. Edison 18:21, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Isn't it fantastic to have a place to post these kind of questions with the (off)chance to get serious answers? This is why I love skimming through the RD... Clq 21:53, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Perhaps the original questioner saw a tv show about Abigail and Brittany Hensel. It is to be rerun this coming Sunday on The Learning Channel in the U.S. A remarkable and admirable pair of teenage girls. Edison 14:01, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Indeed that was the program I saw and some of the discussion at the end on what will happen if they get married/want to become pregnant brought this up. Lemon martini 15:27, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

A & B Hensel apparently has one shared pelvis and reproduction system, so they'd likely need to solve that issue through communication. According to the article, one sister feels/controls one side of the body each, with no mention of the important "middle part". Anyway, I haven't seen the documentary, yet, but sexual intercourse would require communication and concordant consent between all three parties involved. And, it might just be my dirty mind, but I'd imagine for two of the parties, it has already begun. 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 15:49, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Does power corrupt?

Pleasy post your views. 209.81.119.178 15:00, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Not always. Case in point? God, if you believe in Him. · AO Talk 15:17, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

How do you know he's not corrupt :] HS7 15:32, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Good point, but maybe s/he's just tired... 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 15:37, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, power can indeed cause corruption, especially if there's a sudden spike or loss of power during a read/write operation. To recover your data there are a number of special tools and software available, but generally it's easiest to avoid the problem entirely by using a surge protector, or UPS. --Maelwys 15:49, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Nietzsche would probably say that a lack of power corrupts. -- Diletante 16:02, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Hello. This is a reference desk, not a chat board, so asking for people's views like this isn't really appropriate. If you want to chat with people, there are lots of places on the internet for that. If you want to know about power and corruption, why not look at the Wikipedia articles Power (sociology), Political power, Reserve power, Power (international), Power (communication) and John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton. You might also like to read the works of Machiavelli. Skittle 16:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
As Skittle's reply shows us, everyone is Wikipedia has some power over the community -- including the power(s) to add/edit, to redirect, and to act as an agent of the community standards. If power DOES corrupt, we are all therefore corrupted, and have been since the inception of Wikipedia. I would posit, however, that if it is true of everyone, it is normative, not corrupted -- there is no longer an ideal state extant to have been corrupted FROM. Therefore, power must not corrupt -- or at least, equal power does not lead to corruption, but a changed overall state which redefines corruption to no longer apply to any individual. (Note: this is not my VIEW, it is just a bunch of empty syllogistic logic. By previous precedence, such things would seem to be acceptable responses on the ref desk...as long as one does not merely say "I agree, yes, we're voting, here is my favorite book!)Jfarber 16:20, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Ask Lord Acton. -- mattb @ 2007-03-20T21:36Z


O.K...What is your belief :
# Today , Corruption is the immediate effect of Power .... OR
# One has to be Corrupt to attain Power(..then, after gaining THE power , he/she might start thinking for the good / betterment of the commons ,as a whole..) !!!!! Thanks,--Pupunwiki 19:41, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
My belief is that this is a reference desk, not a discussion or debate board; it is clear from the lack of other responses that we are all in agreement about this. See previous discussion, and please find an appropriate Internet forum. Jfarber 12:40, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
What´s the difference between a Reference Desk and a debate board? I mean, maybe on the Reference Desk you might not expect a large amount of debate, but every answer to every question here can be questioned and debates seem inevitable. I think he asked an honest question and he was really expecting someone to give a proper, clear cut answer. Unfortunately, that only happens with mathematical questions. A.Z. 08:18, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I think people are already corrupt before they become powerful and then, when they do, this becomes more obvious. It is easier to notest than if they did not have power. For some reason, stealing 5 dollars is viewed as less immoral than stealing 5 million so corruption only gets to our attention when powerful people do it. If a person does something corrupt in their everyday life, when their actions are not meaningfull to others, people don´t care too much and don´t see it´s corruption. It´s strange that Wikipedia has an article on Political Corruption and not one on just Corruption. Political Corruption is but what happens when corrupt people become politicians. A.Z. 08:10, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] BANKING COMMISSION

I AM TRYING TO GET AN EMAIL ADDRESS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE GHANA, AFRICA GOVERNMENT TO REGULATES BANKING IN THAT COUNTRY. COULD ANYONE PROVIDE THAT FOR ME?

THANK YOU,


CLARK KENT —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Superman28642003 (talk • contribs) 15:13, 20 March 2007 (UTC).


According to this directory, the agency regulating banking in Ghana is the following:
BANK OF GHANA
One Thorpe Road
P.O. Box 2674
Accra, Ghana
Phone : (233-21) 666174 - 6, 666361-5,
666902 - 8, 666921-5
Fax : (233-21) 6662996
Telex: 2052, 2541 GHBANK GH
Cable: GHANABANK, Accra
E-mail: bogsecretary@bog.gov.gh
Internet: http://www.bog.gov.gh/
Marco polo 16:23, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Clark Kent? 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 23:54, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cataloguing medical articles

Sirs, I am a physician and have a very large collection of articles that I have copied from a wide variety of journals. I have read most of these and refer to them frequently, since I write and speak extensively. I don't have web access to these journals for the most part. They are on a broad range of topics, but mostly related to pain, pain medicine, and palliaitve care.

My question is what would you suggest as the best way to catelogue and organize these articles?

Sincerely,

John F. Peppin, D.O., F.A.C.P. Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine Diplomate, American Academy of Pain Management Diplomate, American Board of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Pain Subspecialty Diplomate, American Board of Pain Medicine —Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]])


Dear Dr. Peppin (may I call you John?). There are many organizational models available, and as you surely know, many fields use their own model -- generally because that model best serves their particular type of research needs. In addition, the subjective need matters too -- modern research into the brain suggests, different kinds of thinkers and learners benefit from vastly distinct types of organization. Given both of those factors -- the objective and the subjective -- I would suggest that what works best for any of us may not be what works best for you. For example, I am generally best served by my own organizational method, which consists of small, overlapping piles strewn through my workspace, each of which contains that work most likely to be relevant to a particular type of task, and with the most pressing project materials piled most closely to my laptop. On the other hand, my sister, a more linear thinker, benefits most from an Alphabetical organization by author, and my librarian coworkers prefers the Dewey decimal system. I would encourage, therefore, that you start by considering WHY you believe your current organizatial system needs re-engineering, and then either modify your extant system accordingly, or develop a new one based on how and why you use your own resources. You might also check with folks you consider to be like-minded, either by profession or by temperment, and see if their own particular organizational system seems to have potential for your own use. Good luck! Jfarber 16:29, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
When I had a filing cabinet drawer full of Xeroxed technical articles, I filed them by author, alphabetically. I then had a card index which listed each (in case someone borrowed it and did not return it) and a cross index by topic. Today I would use a computer database for the crossindexing. I wonder if you could use an existing online database of technical articles to do whole text searches, even if you do not have online access to them? If the article are not searchable through an existing online service, I wonder if you could legally scan them and have the computer do character recognition to allow your own personal whole text search? Edison 18:04, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Further to Edison, I used to work as a filing consultant. I think Edison's idea is good, and I also recommend using coloured file labels and coloured stickers (like dots) to further organise by topic, publication, year, and any other criteria. You might also consider investing in a scanner, with which you can scan your articles to plain text on the computer, and thereby exponentially increase your filing and organisational options. Oh, I see Edison already suggested that, ;-). Anchoress 20:03, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Hi Doc. Please see Document management system. You might want to scan in the documents, OCR them and carry them with you on a DVD that you can burn yourself and access with a laptop. Or CDs if that works better for you. You can try an open source DMS like http://www.knowledgetree.com/ KnowledgeTree, which is free! --Justanother 23:53, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Want a differing opinion from personal experience? If you aren't careful, each of the systems described above will own you within a few years. After about 12 years of accumulating articles and filing each in folders by topic, it got to the point that I couldn't keep up. I had a roomful of files and I was doing more filing than reading (because there is an infinity of interesting and potentially useful articles, right?). My wife threatened to rent a dumpster. Over the last 10 years I have gradually switched over to use of primarily online-available papers, and let Medline do my filing for me. You have to have relatively unlimited online journal access through your medical school or hospital, and I still find Medline a little less quick and congenial than my own system, but the tradeoff is that it often turns up useful articles I didn't know about. I especially used to save review articles, but there is nothing more useless than a review article from 10 or 20 years ago. The number of journals of interest to me that have not yet gone online with pdf files is down to about 2. You don't need the OCR systems except for old stuff and scanning will eat your time up as well, so don't bother. You can file as many pdf files on your computer as you want much more quickly and cheaply than storing paper. I have stopped trying to rip and file, and have even reduced some of my journal subscriptions. Honest, it's the future. alteripse 03:03, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] newspaper archives

My grandmother was involved with a robbery that took place at the bank she was working at in the 1970's. I am trying to find the newspaper articles that were written about it. Can you tell me where I might be able to find them. The bank name is Citizen's Bank and Trust, in Frostproof, Florida, and her name is Freda Brown. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.101.153.84 (talk) 19:03, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

Did you find a lot of money in the attic, that you would like to donate to Wikipedia? --Zeizmic 19:27, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
I sincerely doubt that you'll find the articles online as this happened ~30 years ago and newspapers aren't always archived on the net. Your best bet would probably be to go to your local library and get copies of the local newspapers from them. Dismas|(talk) 19:42, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] dialog database

Is there a TV episode or movie dialog database anywhere that I can use a keyword search to find a comment I remember to locate the name of the movie? Nebraska bob 19:33, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Anchoress 19:57, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Very funny! Ben dar, dun dat! 71.100.3.92 00:52, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
It's not a joke. There isn't a dialogue database in the world better than google. Google just takes a little bit more finesse to use. Anchoress 00:58, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

From what I know your best bet is to search on google to be honest, perhaps 'wikiquote' might be able to help though. I would structure your search term as " " quote in google. So for example to find the origin of the quote "leave the gun take the cannoli" from Godfather you would try variations such as:

  • "leave the gun take the cannoli" quote
  • "Leave the gun" take the cannoli quote
  • Leave the gun "take the cannoli" quote

Of course after the first search an answer comes up, but for more unusual film quotes the key is to try and include some portion as quoted (this means it must appear together) but not to have too long a line for it, this is because often people don't put everything perfectly together in their webpages. Of course if it isn't a reasonably famous quote my plan probably won't help hugely. ny156uk 19:59, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

(after double ec)Or try IMDb if the quote is notable enough. Algebraist 20:00, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Sometimes just the keywords is better; per the example I'd start with 'gun cannoli movie quote' (note the lack of double quotes). The context is important; for less-well-known movies, or more generic quotes, the exact words as remembered plus the word 'movie' is good. In such cases omitting the word 'quote' is sometimes better, because the phrase might appear in a fansite or something, but not a quote aggregator. Anchoress 22:30, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks all you Google fans but the dialog itself must first be available in ascii or text format to the Google search engine before the Google search engine can do a compare. If the database I'm looking for is compressed or encrypted then Google is not going to see it as text but rather try to see if it is a picture file or some other file format type. I need the site that has dialog which Google is unable or unwilling to decode and compare. 71.100.3.92 00:58, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Sorry for not being more clear, and sorry if my contribution isn't useful. What I'm basing my suggestion on is that there are enough POV pushing single issue cranks with time on their hands on the internet to provide snippets of dialogue from more movies and TV shows than any database is likely to contain. Unless what you are actually asking about is a database of full text from scripts, in which case yeah, I see your point. But that's not what you asked, ;-) and it's unlikely given copyright issues. But to put it another way, even if there is a DB of movie quotes (and there doubtless is), there are hundreds and thousands of dialogue snippets scattered across blogs, fansite pages, forum signatures, etc, that even a comprehensive DB wouldn't bother with. That's why google is so useful. I've used it to find in seconds quotes from movies and TV shows that I tooled around official sites and quotes databases for ages without finding. Because they weren't there. Because they weren't notable enough to be included in a database, but they were important enough for some nudnik living in his mom's basement to use as his signature line on some nebbish bulletin board. That's all I'm saying. ;-) No offense meant to nudniks, ACOALPs (adult children of accommodating landlord parents) or nebbish bulletin boards. Anchoress 02:43, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
I just lack your comprehensive comprehension and understanding of the Internet and how to find things thereon and you seem fairly well informed as possible to the information I'm seeking so let me ask you: There was this TV show where (I didn't see the first part of it living in Nebraska and all...) anyway apparently this space ship (the size of a basketball) crash lands in this red neck's back yard and he gets his girl friend or sister or whatever to stand guard while he goes to get a truck with a hoist (dang was that word hard to spell!)... anyway while he is gone she lowers a rope down the hole with a note on it and a sandwich or something and when she pulls the rope back up it has a thank you note and a big over-payment in jewels or gold or something. I really only need the script to this comical space and science fiction TV movie or episode of some show(1/2 hour) but I would also like to watch the darn thing again. Thanks in advance. Mom, I'll head out to find a job just as soon as I get and answer to this question, okay? 71.100.3.92 05:25, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Found the name of the movie at least! ...was not an outer space flick but a down to Earth short which the Wikipedia [sometimes] mimics! 71.100.3.92 23:01, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

What is it? Your addendum above is vf btw. Anchoress 01:08, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Who owns CUNY? Who generally owns a university?

Suddenly one day I realized that schools are not like mother's milk, simply put in place for the nurture and development of persons. Schools are human-made. If they last long, schools are businesses. Therefore, they must belong to someone or some group. I think I know how to learn about their founders and their history. But out of curiousity and for no further reason, I wonder who generally owns a college or university? And specifically, who owns City University of NY?74.226.204.78 20:43, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

CUNY is, IIRC, owned and operated by the State of New York, possibly through some kind of holding non-governmental organisation. Shimgray | talk | 20:50, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Yeah, though it receives funding from both the city and the state.--Pharos 20:56, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Some universities are private and are usually owned by/run by corporations (i.e. groups of people vested with business control, more or less — usually their functions are separated in some way from the academic/educational functions of the university on a day-to-day level, though they often make big, structural changes in how the university works). Some are public and are technically agents of cities or states. Both types receive funding from a wide variety of public (federal and local) and private sources. --140.247.248.59 21:23, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Some colleges can be described as "semi-public" in that they are (largely) publicly funded but have an independent corporate existence. Penn State University is like that. -- Mwalcoff 22:31, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Spoons

Can someone recall the name of that russian guy who could (allegedly) bend spoons using only his mind? Much appreciated.Cuban Cigar 21:04, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

One guy is called Uri Geller not sure if he is Russian though. ny156uk 21:06, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Geller was born in Israel and now mostly resides in England. Confusing the Hebrew name usually transliterated "Uri" (pronounced Oori, a short oo - I can't do phonetics) with the Russian name usually spelled "Yuri" in English transliteration is totally understandable. The British radio/TV journalists usually pronounce his name "Yuri", so you're in good company. --Dweller 23:52, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Spoon bending is apparently a relatively easy task... 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 00:03, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
I like rusty spoons. V-Man - T/C 02:51, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah Uri is the one I was looking for. Thanks all.Cuban Cigar 03:58, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] how to obtain a licence...

i currently live in california and there seems to be alot of medical marijuana clinics. i am intrested in obtaining a licence so i can legally grow and sell to the clincs. i just dont know what steps to take in order to do this. i cant stress enough the element of doing this legally. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.171.10.132 (talk) 21:23, 20 March 2007 (UTC).

Have you tried contacting a doctor or clinic that dispenses the marijuana? They should be able to point you in the right direction as far as what governmental body would issue the licenses as well as names of people to speak to. Dismas|(talk) 21:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Also be aware, even though it may be legal at the State level, it remains illegal at the Federal level. So while the State/Local police can't do anything, the FBI/DEA may still be able to. Cyraan 22:30, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
You will need legal advice but I saw a documentary about this and I believe the marijuana is actually grown by the state, not by 'licensed' private growers. Vespine 23:49, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Cyraan, I thought the state governments weren't allowed to make laws that conflicted with the federal government--Maybe i'm wrong and it was the constitution. Please correct any errors.Shindo9Hikaru 01:01, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Ditto. I thought federal law always takes precedence. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 01:51, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
It's an active constitutional issue and one which has recently been the subject of a number of Supreme Court cases in respect to this very question, i.e. Gonzales v. Raich (2005). --24.147.86.187 01:55, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, strictly speaking, California law does not conflict with Federal law on this issue. What California law says is that if you meet the terms of Prop 215 or whatever it was, and use marijuana according to those terms, then you are not guilty of a California offense. This does not, by itself, imply you are not guilty of a Federal offense, and this difference is not a "conflict" per se, just California declining to separately criminalize the act. (For comparison, as far as I know it is not against California law to refuse to pay Federal income tax.) --Trovatore 03:01, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Oh, I would have thought this was obvious but maybe it's not, to non-Americans: The fact (if it is a fact) that refusing to pay your Federal income tax is not a California offense, doesn't mean you won't wind up in prison. It just means you'll end up in a Federal prison, not a California one (though it could be a Federal prison in California, if there are any).
And my comments here are absolutely not not not legal advice of any sort. --Trovatore 03:23, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] painful dream

Hi, I had a dream a few days ago that was kinda different. I'm not completely sure of what happened in the dream, but at one point, a certain event happened or a heavy object had hit my leg and I woke up abruptly. Right when I woke up, I noticed that the leg that was hit in it was causing me excrutiating pain, which was probably just a charlie horse or something, but I here's my question; is it possible to have a dream actually cause you pain or does the pain just work it's way into your dream as a way to make you notice it? It happened twice to me in the same night. -Dixie48 21:59, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think that an event in a dream can cause physical pain to a part of your body. (There is of course the mental pain of a nightmare.) Instead, your dreaming mind will incorporate physical stimuli into the dream. For example, if an ambulance sounding its siren passes your bedroom, there may be an ambulance or police car in your dream. If you have a pain in your leg, you will dream of something causing pain to your leg. Marco polo 22:47, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
I once had a nightmare about spiders crawling around on my face, only years later I found out that my girlfriend at the time, evil evil woman, had played her hair on my face while wispering the word "spiders" into my ear!! Kinda funny, but am I glad I dumped that psycho b*tch. Vespine 23:39, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, I think its number 2. Once a few years back when i was dreaming, My dad was shaking me trying to get me to wake up to get ready for school and it got incorporated into my dream. I was dreaming about driving on a highway and I suddenly crashed. It seems shakiness is magnified while you are dreaming. Shindo9Hikaru 01:06, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I had a toe stuck in a hole in the sheets and dreamed a snake had me by the toe. StuRat 03:20, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] poem

Could anybody locate this poem for me & put it on here? I can't seem to be able to go on google or another search engine at the moment... well, the author is Félix Arvers & the poem is Un secret. thanks!

Not putting the poem by Félix Arvers here because it could be a copyvio. HERE is a version online. Anchoress 22:42, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
Good idea not to put it here, but I doubt a poem written and published in 1831 is in the public domain in any country on Earth. --Charlene 08:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
However, its English translation might well be from a more recent date and therefore protected. Marco polo 12:47, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

actually, it is somewhere on the internet. they may only have a few pieces, but yes, they do have it —Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]])

[edit] PASTRY DISHES

172.189.6.70 22:31, 20 March 2007 (UTC)WHAT IS THE PASTE THAT IS USED FOR POMMES DAUPHINE, GIVE SOME OTHER USES FOR THIS PASTE

The name of the pastry is listed HERE; try elsewhere on the site or google for other uses. Good luck! Anchoress 22:37, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
  1. on the Internet, using all capital letters is LESS likely to bring positive results, as it is seen as "yelling".
  2. Please don't forget to thank the everbright Anchoress for helping you get started with your homework! ("give some other uses for this paste" is teacher syntax if I ever saw it!  :-)
Jfarber 12:46, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
Aaaawwww, that comment was as good as thanks, thank YOU. Anchoress 01:10, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
FOR MORE ABOUT USING ALL CAPS ON THE INTERNET, CLICK ON THE LINK ALL CAPS#INTERNET. V-MAN - T/C 01:53, 23 March 2007 (UTC)