Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 May 29

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[edit] May 29

[edit] 24 clock sound

Anyone know where I can find it? I'm looking for the one that plays for the digital clock that appears before commercials and such. --The Dark Side 00:19, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

You mean the clock sound on the TV series '24'? You might ask this one on the Entertainment Desk. SteveBaker 04:24, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
What country/channel/station? The BBC has 'beeps' at the top of the hours. Mdwyer 21:40, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I meant 24 the show. It stars Keifer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, CTU super agent. --The Dark Side 02:43, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Similar song

Anyone know a song similar to the drumbeat in "Tetsujin" by Juno Reactor & Don Davis off of the The Matrix Revolutions: Music from the Motion Picture? --The Dark Side 00:26, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

That would be similar to any Taiko drumming. Although Juno Reactor and Don Davis are Electronica artists, the drumming on that track was done by GOCOO. 72.153.208.46 04:52, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hooky

Hypothetically, what would be the best way to avoid going to school or to get out of school? 71.31.148.79 02:51, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Of course this is hypothetical. Seriously, just don't show up. It's not like they're going to send out a search and rescue team -- Phoeba WrightOBJECTION! 03:03, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Graduate. That's the only method that is guaranteed to work, in every jurisidction, with no negative repercussions to you. Every other option depends upon where you live and how your area views truancy. There are areas that do a type of "search and rescue", especially for younger children who don't show up at school. Bielle 03:15, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
They could easily send a truancy officer after you, so they very well could do a search and rescue. (I hope they would, actually. It'd give me a little more faith in the governmental system.) To graduate is good advice; you're probably most of the way there anyway. zafiroblue05 | Talk 05:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I would try an illness, the Plague or Smallpox perhaps? The isolation and risk of death aside, I'm sure you will get a few days off school. Xarr☎ 08:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
If you die, you'll get more than a few days off. Alternatively, there's home schooling. -88.109.98.20
Smallpox is extinct in the wild, so contracting it might both be difficult and attract more attention than you really want. Algebraist 08:31, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
  • I found that going to school and remaining in my own dream world throughout the day the most effective way to avoid the whole unpleasantness while still actually being present.hotclaws 10:43, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I recommend you watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. --Dweller 10:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

A serious answer to your question: Education is not only legally required but also essential to having any kind of reasonably pleasant adult life. If you just don't get an education, you'll find it nearly impossible to get interesting work or a livable income, as well as lacking critical knowledge and skills. So what you need is a way to get your education without attending school. Unschooling or Homeschooling, then, are your best bets, but they will only be effective if you have the cooperation of your parents and if you are strongly self-motivated to learn. -FisherQueen (Talk) 10:57, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Interesting... I misread your question (possibly because of the question title) and thought you were asking about playing hooky on a single occasion. However, re-reading the question, it seems that you're asking about getting out of going to school at all. I have no idea how old you are, or which country you live in. The potential answers would vary with these pieces of data. However, home schooling is a viable option in many countries, but it requires quite a bit of buy-in from adults. In many countries, there are also parallel structures to schools for those who don't like school. Further education colleges etc are worth considering if you're old enough. One more thing - the reason why you don't want to go to school may be useful to know. If you're being bullied by other students or staff or are unhappy for other reasons specific to your school, it's probably possible for you to move schools. Try discussing the problem with a parent or a sympathetic teacher you trust. Finally, if you've just not done your homework or prepared for an examination properly, treating the situation in an honest and adult way will pay dividends - teachers are often happy to listen sympathetically to a student who says they've messed up and are prepared to a) 'fess up and b) put it right. Hope that helps. --Dweller 11:15, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

It depends where you live. Around here if I really hadn't wanted to go to school, I would have gone to the Marlow academy, since not even the staff bother turning up there.

It also depends on what type of school you are trying to get out of. For Universities, just drop all your classes and get a withdrawl slip from your registrar or dean or whatever. For High School/Middle school... Too many absences that are unapproved I believe can lead to you failing out and forcing a retake of classes, which would be worse in the long run. --GTPoompt 14:17, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Depending on the location, compulsary attendance laws allow students to drop out upon reaching some age like 16. Then they can be slackers and live in their parents basement or get a low paying job. In the U.S. you can take an exam called the "high school equivalency" and then stop going to school or start college. Your IP address indicates you are from somewhere around Little Rock, Arkansas. You might take a look at [1] which tells about an online program called "Arkansas Virtual School." Edison 18:01, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] most title winner

It is known that football in England has a long history. According to history the league of english football has started in 1888(the premier league in 1992). I want to know which player, coach, and club wins the most title in overall english football league (1888-2007).

As explained at English football champions, Liverpool have been champions 18 times, more than any other team. The manager/player information you want will not be so easy to find, I fear. Algebraist 08:35, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Check out Herbert Chapman --Dweller 10:49, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
The player is Ryan Giggs - 9 leagues, 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 1 Champions League, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 5 Charity/Community Shields (23 in total). No other player has 9 league titles.
The most succesful manager is Alex Ferguson, who has now won 25 major titles with Manchester United (overtaking Bob Paisley, who won 19). Fergie also won 8 major titles with Aberdeen. Chapman won 6 titles in his managerial career (4 leagues, 2 FA Cups). Full list:
  • Ferguson - 9 leagues, 5 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 5 Charity/Community Shields, 1 Champions League, 1 Cup Winner's Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 UEFA Supercup (25). No other manager has won 9 league titles.
  • Paisley - 6 leagues, 3 League Cups, 5 Charity Shields, 1 UEFA Cup, 3 European Cups, 1 UEFA Super Cup (19)
Hope that helps. Neil (►) 11:42, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
If you have a few minutes/hours/days spare you should peruse www.rsssf.com. The site is filled with amazingly detailed information about football from virtually all nations. It has some very obscure stats in there and they often turn-up in them pub-question/work emails that I adore so much. ny156uk 17:01, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Emirates Stadium

Further to the above, I noticed a reference in the Herbert Chapman article to the "marble halls" of the Emirates. Famously, Arsenal's old stadium, Highbury had marble halls - were these moved wholesale to the Emirates, or has someone just replaced Highbury with the Emirate's name in the article? There's no reference in our article on the Emirates to the "marble halls". --Dweller 10:53, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I've changed iot to "halls", which should cover it (the marble halls were at Highbury). Neil (►) 11:27, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] words, again

returning to my backwards words question above, I have decided that a word that means the opposite backwards doesn't exist. So I am now looking for any phrases that mean something each way, not necessarily the opposite. can anyone tell me where I can find this information.

Palindrome. My favourites are "Madam, I'm Adam" and "A man, a plan, a canal... Panama!" --Dweller 11:36, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
And one word ones, such as "racecar". JoshHolloway 12:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
It doesn't mean much, but I've always liked the one my friend invented: "Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas." Hmmm... just googled it, and maybe she didn't invent it lolz. Anchoress 15:02, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm not just looking for pallindromes. I want a phrase that can mean something else when whriten the other way. Are there any?

There is a truly amazing palindomic story in 'Gödel, Escher, Bach' - several pages long - I don't have the book with me right now, but my recollection is that the story is subtly different when read in the two directions. SteveBaker 13:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Do you mean like "man bites dog" and "dog bites man"? Neil (►) 14:55, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Or with different grammar? Such as "i helped my uncle jack off the horse" and "I helped my uncle, Jack, off the horse". JoshHolloway 15:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I once read a wonderful letter from a girl to her boyfriend which, when punctuated one way was very sweet and adoring, and when punctuated another way, was a bitter breakup letter. It was very cleverly done; I wish I could find it online. --TotoBaggins 15:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
What a fine example of "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" Toto, if you do find it, leave a link on my talk page, would you? -- Phoeba WrightOBJECTION! 15:48, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Matt Eason found it. --TotoBaggins 21:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Ohm is a unit of resistance and mho is a unit of conductance. Will that do?--Tugjob 16:12, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
It doesn't count for much when one word was invented by reversing the other one. Incidentally, under the SI, the mho is now called the siemens --Anonymous, May 29, 2007, 23:11 (UTC).
I'm making a super-duper list of words that mean something backwards based on Webster's Second International (from the "miscfiles" Ubuntu package). It should be done by the time I get back from lunch. —Keenan Pepper 16:25, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
User:Keenan Pepper/Words that form other words when reversed —Keenan Pepper 17:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

"A santa lived as a devil at nasa" is a good palindrome.

I have no idea if this is what he's refering to, but how about racecar? spelled backwards, it's the same thing.
Just to keep the palindrome theme going (even though it's evident you don't want a palindrome so much as a word that spelt 1 way means one thing and another another...like dog is god backwards or vice-versa). Anyway Demetri Martin the somewhat genius stand-up comic regularly does quite long-winded palindromes, you can see some of them on his website...I'll leave it to you to guess what it is. Anyway other words with multiple meanings forwards/backwards are:

edam/made, madam/madam, rats/star, trap/part, time/emit, refer/refer - i'm pretty stuck now. ny156uk 16:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

The backwards and opposite thing exists in polish, admittedly in a very simple example: The word od means "from" and the word do means "to", so "from a to z" in Polish is "od a do z". Vespine 02:33, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
To "ban" something is to get rid of it, but to "nab" something is to take it for yourself. Rastas love to smoke "bud" and listen to "dub". You can either go over a bridge on a "bus", or under the water in a "sub". —Keenan Pepper 05:26, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Ooh, found a good one: a "darter" is fast, but a "retard" is slow. —Keenan Pepper 05:40, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
"darter" backwards is "retrad". --TotoBaggins 13:31, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
Well shut my mouth! —Keenan Pepper 18:33, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
A "drawer" could contain a "reward". If something you're knitting turns out bad, you can either use what you have and "tinker" with it, or start over and "re-knit". Okay, I'll stop now. =P —Keenan Pepper 06:07, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Moving offtopic slightly,how about words that are spelt the same but have opposite meanings? For example,'cleave' can be to split or join together,'resign' can be to leave or to rejoin...Lemon martini 13:03, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

"To table something" can mean to present it for discussion, or to remove it from discussion. --TotoBaggins 13:31, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

To attempt to answer the question: Is Crab canon what you're looking for? Daniel (‽) 18:30, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Enigma

I recently attended a training in which the trainer used what he called an enigma as a tool for questioning techniques. I am keen on understanding more about enigmas and their use in such case and examples such enigmas.

Thanks.

Rono R. K.

The word enigma doesn't have a very specific meaning. It just means "puzzle" or "mystery". Maybe you're curious about riddles? —Keenan Pepper 16:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, there was the Enigma Machine, but I doubt if he was using one of those. StuRat 18:49, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

And there is also The Enigma, but I doubt if he was using one of those either;) . Vespine 22:52, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I've just been listening to the Enigma Variations, and I know what the solution is. -- JackofOz 01:50, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
The Publius Enigma isn't really a tool for questioning techniques, it's pretty much just full of questions. Dismas|(talk) 04:48, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Interesting Supreme Court Decisions

For a school project, I need to research an interesting United States Supreme court case. Does anyone know of any interesting topics for me to use?

There's a disclaimer at the top of the page that quite clearly says we will not do your homework for you. -- Phoeba WrightOBJECTION! 16:48, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
The poster is just asking for a little guidance, not that we do the work. Please do not bite the newcomers. Clarityfiend 16:59, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Perhaps the case that has generated the most debate historically is Roe v. Wade, but a more recent case that had huge political implication is Bush v. Gore. If you are looking for something a bit risque, you could go for United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group. See Category:United States Supreme Court cases for a full list. Rockpocket 17:13, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
(ec) List of United States Supreme Court cases has the same list, but with brief summaries which should make it easier to find the interesting ones. Algebraist 17:20, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Great! Now I know the source of the term Miranda rights. Rockpocket 17:39, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Miranda Warning: "You have the right to wear a silly hat with fruit on it. However, if you choose to do so, this may be held against you in a court of law". StuRat 18:44, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I find the most interesting cases to be the ones where the court got it *wrong*. It's fascinating to see the legal contortions intelligent people must make to end up at profoundly unconstitutional conclusions like Plessy, Dred Scott, and Schenck v. United States. --TotoBaggins 18:23, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
My favorites are Marbury v. Madison and McCulloch v. Maryland, both occurring early in US history. →EdGl 20:23, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I have always liked Brown v. Board of Education. Dismas|(talk) 21:30, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
I like United States v. Nixon, if only because it used to be a tradition in Canadian law firms to get the articling clerks to go off and write an opinion of US v. Nixon as it pertains to, say, native fishing rights or the Divorce Act (1985), generally after one of the partners has hidden the firm's copy of the book of reports the case is filed in. Wikipedia has spoiled this. --Charlene 03:32, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Nix v. Hedden the Supreme Court decided a tomato was a vegetable. 128.54.77.37 05:17, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bluetooth Classes

Is the bluetooth of Nokia 6630 and Nokia 7610 cellphones considered from class 1, class 2 or class 3 ? thanks in advance Ahmad510 20:57, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

A quick scan of the articles didn't give me anything worthwhile but maybe the external links will. See Nokia 6630 and Nokia 7610. Dismas|(talk) 21:28, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

the version of Nokia 6630 and Nokia 7610's bluetooth is 1.1, so what's its class?!!

[edit] Movie Film

What happens to the film of a movie after they stop showing it at a movie theatre?M.A.D.M.D. 21:45, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Most of the copies are destroyed. A few end up in archives. Skarioffszky 22:04, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Help finding download

Hi on youtube or google video theres a video called "frustration with super mario bros" or something like that that shows a guy playing super-hard mario levels, presumably on an emulator. Where can I get those specific levels. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.185.128.203 (talk • contribs).

They're real funny videos! AFAIK, the levels were made and played by Koreans. The English voice over was added later. I've done the same as you looking for those levels but haven't found any yet. The videos show a site name in the top left, which when I get Google to open and translate it tries to convert from Chinese. But, it just wouldn't open for me. It might be worth posting a message on some of the decent ROM sites, as they may have copies of those evil levels. ;) --Phydaux 16:24, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Form of the word seek

Whats the noun form of seek? I want to say "The seeking of..." but is it seeking or something else?

"Search", as in "the search for"? Bielle 00:28, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
This is probably better posted at the Languages desk. However, whilst "search" is a more commonly-used word, if you want to use the work "seek" then "seeking" would be correct. Daniel (‽) 18:26, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nuclear weapons

How are nuclear weapons made? Assuming somebody has all of the raw materials necessary, what would they do to make it?

You may find The Nuclear Weapon Archive a useful resource, particularly the Nuclear Weapon FAQ. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 00:05, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Wikipædia has lots of information on Nuclear weapons, including nuclear weapon design. --Phydaux 16:07, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
"Assuming somebody has all fo the raw materials necessary" — that's 90% of what you need to make nuclear weapons. Even the plutonium bomb, which needs very careful engineering, is not that hard to make once you have the plutonium (the uranium bomb does not need much careful engineering, but uranium enrichment is very difficult). The most difficult part in relation to nuclear weapons is procuring the fissile material, which is why arms control usually places a huge effort on things like reactors and centrifuges and safeguards etc. and not on design "secrets". --140.247.240.56 17:28, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Any well-equipped machine shop can produce gun-type nuclear weapons: it's simply a matter of precise shaping of two pieces of metal. Implosion-type nuclear weapons are harder, because you also need to cast the explosive lenses that generate the implosion. --Carnildo 22:22, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
You guys NUTS ?! Imagine seeing THIS on FOX News, other news outlets:"The Dept. of Homeland Security has recieved information that terrorists have used information on Wikipedia to make and use a nuclear bomb. Jimbo Wales has been arrested by Dept of Homeland security agents for questioning, possible complicity in a terrorist incident." We're in the middle of a WAR that started on 9-11-01. Suppose WE tell the terorists how to make and use germs and chemical weapons as well, so they could kill us all. 65.173.105.4 22:43, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
Don't be so melodramatic! No one with access to classified info will post it here, and the devils in the details. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 22:49, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
65.173.105.4 — if you'd read the responses above you'd get a better idea of what the issue is. How to built a basic fission weapon is not secret information anymore — much of it was declassified by the 1960s! (Something that Lawrence Livermore Lab confirmed in their Nth Country Experiment.) The most important part about nuclear weapons is securing the fissile material. The most effective anti-nuclear terrorism actions are not secrecy as to how to make them, but things like Nunn-Lugar which try and secure fissile material and weapons which are already made. --24.147.86.187 01:04, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
I agree - anyone who wants this information can find it - it's childishly easy to track down the details. But it's not about truth - it's about perceptions. 65.173.105.4 is precisely right. If the press were to latch on to the fact that Wikipedia was telling people how to build nuclear weapons, we'd get an awful lot of negative press. That would be ill-informed, biassed, incorrect bullshit - but it would still be negative press. (And if one of you guys from the press are reading this - I'm profoundly, deeply, sorry about what I just said and I'm only resigning because I want to spend more time with my family.) SteveBaker 15:43, 31 May 2007 (UTC)