Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 March 31

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[edit] March 31

[edit] Physical Processes

Hey guys, I really need to know the 5 main physical processes that shapes the coastal environment... (please do not answer with a link but name them). Also, is wave a process or is it an agent?

Thanks in advance 60.241.227.234 01:23, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

The only way we could accurately answer is if we read the chapters of the book which you were assigned to read, since which processes are the "main 5" is somewhat subjective. StuRat 01:41, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Erosion and coast are great places to start. See the article on Ocean surface wave for help figuring out whether it is a process or agent. V-Man - T/C 01:42, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Geomorphology, too. But beyond these links, you really need to do your homework yourself. MrRedact 01:48, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

MrRedact, yes it is homework but I asked the question only to help me out. I'm not really sure what can be classified as a physical process... wave? weathering? sediment transport? erosion? 60.241.227.234 02:11, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Would that be as opposed to mental or spiritual processes? The physical aspect of coasts is rather covered by the articles that have been linked. As StuRat mentioned, dividing all the physical processes that shape coasts into five groups is a bit arbitrary, and most likely corresponds with whatever textbook your teacher wants you to learn from. V-Man - T/C 02:46, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
One instance - in the article itself, processes that describe how a coast is changed are divided into (give or take) nineteen groups. V-Man - T/C 02:53, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

I think what the asker needs is to know what a process is, not so much what the "5 main" ones are. I myself am facing a dilemma of whether waves are considered a process? Or are they simply an AGENT of a process? Eg. agent = wave, process = weathering?

[edit] Is there a article about THIS tool ?

The tool is the MXZ Saw. It claims it can cut all manner of things BUT human skin. Contact information is MXZSaw.com. I've seen this thing on TV. 65.173.105.71 01:53, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Is it one those table saw's that have a safety device if it comes in contact with human skin? If so, there's a little info about it here. —Mitaphane ?|! 02:50, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
MXZ Saw? Nope. But, feel free to make one. I suppose I could, but I'm 'much' too lazy. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 10:11, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Please don't, unless there are multiple reliable sources. Corvus cornix 18:55, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
It doesn't say anything on that page about not cutting human skin — all it says is "It's safe to touch!", whatever that means (a gun is safe to touch, too, depending on how you touch it). It is not a table saw so it is not utilizing the mechanism in the table saw in the table saw link. I don't think it has any special safety features, it looks like yet another "this knife/saw/whatever will work forever, cut anything, and never need sharpening!!!" things you see on infomercials late at night. --24.147.86.187 00:22, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Guitar

My amp keeps giving me feedback while I play. The sound disapears when I turn the second pickup (furthest from neck) down. I have played on other amps with no feedback. Does anyone have an idea why it does this and how to fix it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.117.135.99 (talk) 03:01, 31 March 2007 (UTC).

feedback and audio feedback give good insight on why feedback occurs and, more specifically, what can cause it. Keep in mind that the fact that only that particular amp displays this could mean that the amp is faulty in some way; on the other hand, it may mean that it is the only amp that interacts with the second guitar pickup in that manner. V-Man - T/C 03:07, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
That last sentence has seven thats in it. V-Man - T/C 03:09, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
If you don't find anything in those articles and if nobody replies here within a reasonable time, I would suggest moving this question to the Entertainment desk. You may find people there with some musical experience. --Charlene 03:16, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Feedback is a note that plays through the amp, and causes the string to vibrate at the same pitch/harmonic. It vibrates your string, when the right pickup is selected. You might consider a type of notch filter, or detuning by a half step. A diffrent bottom( speakers ) might fix it also. Look at the symptom ( feedback at a certain setting ) as a System. Change somethings, and the symptom goes away. What is the minimum thing that you can change? Id detune for practice, and look for another set of speakers. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.180.27.49 (talk) 03:28, 31 March 2007 (UTC).

In a perfect world, all of the components in your system would exhibit a flat response. The world is not perfect. Therefore one or more of the components in your system is much more sensitive to the frequency of your second string than it is to other frequencies. The feedback system consists of the string, the guitar, the pickup, the electronics of the guitar, the amplifier, the speakers, and the acoustics of the room. If you really want to find the root cause of your problem, you can use a spectrum analyzer to determine which part of the overall feedback loop is exhibiting the problem. For the audio spectrum, you can use software on a PC in conjunction with your sound card to create a spectrum analyzer. All of the prior responses to your question are basically recommending simple ways to modify the the response of your feedback system to reduce its sensitivity (gain) at the frequency of your second string. A brute-force approach is to use an equalizer somewhere in the chain. A really simple alternative is to change the acoustic feedback by changing your position (i.e., the position of the guitar) relative to the position of the speakers. this won't work if you are playing a gig in a little club with a small stage and fixed speakers. This is where an active equalizer can save the situation. -Arch dude 00:46, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Missing weird quote

Im looking for the source of a quote: "Life shoots point blank." Someone asked me about it, and I have been able to use the internet to find everyother quote I have looked for but not this one. Its been about five or six months I have been looking. Thanks Artoftransformation 03:33, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Googling "Life shoots" point blank yields this website, which has Steve Aylett saying "Life shoots first." I am unable to find any indication that "life shoots point blank" is a famous quote. V-Man - T/C 03:49, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
I've heard "life fires at us at point-blank range", but I don't know where it comes from. --Charlene 03:56, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Video from "this hour has 22 minutes"

I rember I watched a "this hour has 22 minutes" on youtube in which it starred some computer guy that didnt know anything about computers.And he was talking about abriviations(for example:he said that saying "im g a y" stands for "im going after yoga".Anyway I was was wondering what I had to type on youtube to find the video.Thank you for your time. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.102.217.142 (talk) 05:11, 31 March 2007 (UTC).

HERE. Go down to February 3, computer guy. Anchoress

[edit] Cancellation

I red that only administrators can remove accounts. I wanted mine being cancel, so I asked any administrator who will read this message to please do it for me; Thank you.

You might wanto to sign your post then. And read Right to vanish - Adrian M. H. 13:34, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Quote Source~Yowie

In the ‘Yowie (cryptid)’ article there is a statement made in the Candidates section as followa:

Candidates “Australian cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy has attempted to popularise the scientific term Gigantopithecus australis for the creature (without support from the Australian scientific community), based on his theory that they comprise a relict population of the extinct ape Gigantopithecus. There is, however, no evidence that Gigantopithecus ever existed in Australia.”


I am seeking the source for this above statement. Will you please direct me to it? Any and all help is greatly appreciated. ~roreRorechof 08:40, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] US Census definition of "non-family"

I just read a couple of things about counties and towns - and was interested in the demographics in each. I was wondering how the Census defines "non-family" status when determining the household makeup to report. For instance, would this include boyfriend-girlfriend couples living together, or something more like non-related people renting together, such as college room-mates?

APlum09:13, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

It should include any households made up of a group of people, none of whom are legally married or legally the parents of any of the others. So it would include both unmarried couples and groups of roommates living together without a romantic relationship. Marco polo 14:16, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Is it that complicated? Is it not just whatever the respondents self-report? Anchoress 22:52, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
No. For statistical purposes, there needs to be reporting on the same basis, otherwise the stats are meaningless. One group of people might call themselves a family, but another group with exactly the same composition and internal relationships might not. The official definition determines which category both groups fall into. JackofOz 05:30, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Sincere Thanks for a difinitive answer. It's appreciated!

[edit] looking for a important number, can't locate?

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.15.75.15 (talk) 11:35, 31 March 2007 (UTC).

Uh, clarification? Pi, 42, 69 and 666 all seem good choices... 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 15:40, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

What else but 23? Algebraist 17:40, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
I'm sorry. e pwns you all. Cernen Xanthine Katrena 07:29, 1 April 2007 (UTC) (On a lighter note, please suitly emphazi your question.)
Perhaps the question needs a phone number. We all know that the more important ones start with 555. Jon513 10:22, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
Except 867-5309/Jenny, that is. 75.15.75.15, don't lose that number. You might perhaps consider sending it off in a letter to yourself. --Shirt58 12:41, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

What does "pwns" mean, Cernan/Xanthine/Katrena/whoever you are today? JackofOz 12:44, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

See pwn. —Steve Summit (talk) 15:13, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
533 (_)® +47Xor |o463 :-) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Shirt58 (talk • contribs) 13:09, 1 April 2007 (UTC). Ooops. --Shirt58 13:45, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

1 is an important number, as without that no other numbers would exist :) Except imaginary numbers and 0 :] 172.207.227.196 19:48, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

We don't need no stinking '1', we can all use 0.999... instead...why can't people learn to think rationally? SteveBaker 06:46, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Ah phone numbers... then that'll be Pennsylvania 6-5000 Lemon martini 09:57, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

0.999...=2

[edit] Cancellation

Is any administrator will help me and cancelled my account, please. Thank you. MDMDMDMD

As per my reply to your previous post (above), please read Right to vanish and Right to vanish on Meta wiki. You cannot have your account cancelled except in certain specific circumstances, for which you probably do not qualify. In your case, there would be little to be gained by it anyway. If you don't want access to your account, you could change the password without noting it and then log out. I notice that you have blanked your talk page and replaced it with a redirect; that's probably not good form, even if you do leave Wikipedia, as there is a history that should be left in place. User history is exactly why accounts are not cancelled. Adrian M. H. 15:31, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
User has been blocked for disruption twice, and is currently indefblocked. · AO Talk 22:31, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cancellation

Thanks again for your replies but i'm tired reading all those pages about wikipedia policies. I just need an administrator to cancel my account. I found incredible being in the impossibility to cancel an account I created. Do I have to make vandalism in Wiki pages to finally found someone clever enough to answer to my request and cancel my account? MDMDMDMD —The preceding unsigned comment was added by MikeMcGD (talk • contribs) 17:01, 31 March 2007 (UTC).

As I said above, only certain specific circumstances allow deletion of an account. It's all very well to say that you don't like policy, but at the end of the day, policy is what keeps Wikipedia running properly. Without it, we would have anarchy. If you meet the criteria for account deletion, then you can ask an admin to do it for you. If you do not meet that criteria, then you cannot. It's as simple as that. Adrian M. H. 18:23, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Even if you vandalize some pages your account won't be deleted, only blocked from editing. -- mattb @ 2007-04-01T02:07Z

For someone so determined to vanish,you're making yourself very noticeable Lemon martini 09:59, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Note that this user has been blocked for disruption twice, and is now currently blocked. · AO Talk 22:31, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] great site

24.92.195.252 17:18, 31 March 2007 (UTC) you have a great site here thank you.

Why, thank you. You too can be a part of it. Just find an article that needs improvement, and improve it. JackofOz 05:27, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Userbox Help

I am trying to put userboxes on my userpage. Note: I am not looking for Wikipedia:Userboxes or WP:BOX. Thanks. Goodgirldv9898 19:32, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

What are you looking for then? The instructions for putting userboxes on your userpage are at the page you linked. Daniel (‽) 19:37, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
(edit conflict) So what are you looking for? Most userboxes are listed in the gallery, while some customised boxes may only be on userpages if that user has not made them available to others. If you are trying to make your own designs, it is actually easier to take some existing designs, copy the elements that you like, and modify those that you do not like, rather than trying to follow the instructions to make one from scratch. By the way; this being a question about the use of Wikipedia, it would have been better placed at the Help Desk. This area is for general knowledge questions. Adrian M. H. 19:39, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Highway driving distance for a harley davidson motorcycle - assume it is stock

What is the driving range for a stock harley davidson motorcycle on the highway?

A quick google suggests a good Harley might get a bit over 50mpg highway. It's going to depend on specific year and model, of course. Another quick google suggests tank sizes from 3.5 - 5 gallons. I'm sure you can do the math. Friday (talk) 22:37, 31 March 2007 (UTC)