Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 October 25

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[edit] October 25

[edit] ATTENTION!! ANSWER QUICK PLZ!!

Hi I need help with this. Even if you don't agree with these questions please answer to the best of your ability:

Reasons why executives terms in office should be 7 years

Why executives should not serve more than one term.

Why justices should serve more than one term.

68.5.11.28 00:42, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Longer terms mean you can build up experience and become better at your job, while shorter terms don't allow for that so much. Shorter terms, however, can help stop people from thinking they run the place, because they remember better that they're temporary. --Masamage ♫ 00:48, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Six minutes! Is that quick enough for you? If so please say "thank you" or something. - hydnjo talk 01:12, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Judges have an indefinite term so that they remain largely independent from day-to-day politics. —Tamfang 22:38, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re.: Verification - Arrests in CA Wildfires:

Two newspaper links.

  • libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart-cgi?Artnum=204313
  • latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arson25oct25,0,1196901

Also Google: California Fires/ Arson Arrests' for more.

Someone requested verification. Due to a faulty Wi-Fi, and a rotten local ISP, bandwidth is a problem. Where I'm at, they think a computer is science fiction and/or witchcraft, given the way they handle a ISP. 65.173.104.140 02:08, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

  • Great, but the appropriate place for these items is in the relevant article. The reference desks are for asking reference questions. --Sean 14:08, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Japanese movie

Hello! I am wondering about a movie that I saw a long time ago, but I don't remember all of it or the title (← that's what I'm trying to find). A girls parents are turned to pigs when they stop at an abandoned town and start to eat the food that is at a restaurant there. She is stuck there, working as a maid or something of the sort, because if she leaves, her parents will be eaten by the residents. The residents of the town are ghosts, I think. Some characters that I remember are: a woman who is like a vulture, a tall ghost like blog thing :), the girl, her pig parents, etc. This sounds made up, but it isn't ^_^ I do remember something about a spa there... oh well. Thanks for any help! Ciao --極地狼 ( 我是一头死的狼 ) 03:36, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

It is called Spirited Away. Good movie! Cheers,JetLover (Report a mistake) 03:41, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Excellent movie, in either language. After about three viewings you'll understand it better. :D --Masamage ♫ 05:13, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Haha yeah. Thanks for the info guys! --極地狼 ( 我是一头死的狼 ) 13:59, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Plastics Make it Possible

American television viewers would be familiar with that slogan created by the Plastics Council for an ad campaign years back. The campaign and others like it puzzle me. What was the council looking to achieve? How would giving plastics a positive image stimulate sales? It's not like plastics has a bad reputation. I could understand the coal industry's ad campaign to give coal a better image because contentious and very public political battles are inevitable but plastics?

75.36.40.106 04:46, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

This link is one release from a plastics manufacturer discussing some of the motivations behind the campaign. Its purpose is as a reinforcement of a largely positive image that consumers have of plastics. However, some concerns have been growing in recent years regarding possible health and environmental issues with using some of the components used in common food packaging, such as a persistent urban legend about plastic water bottles being unsafe and recent indications that plasticizers used in baby bottles and toys are likely to leach out. In my own household, we have largely replaced plastic storage containers with more inert and "safer" materials, and my spouse always scolds me if I'm caught reheating leftovers in any type of plastic container due to concerns of chemical leaching. Think of the campaign as a pre-emptive public relations move. Sonic Craze 05:00, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
For a little bit of background on the concerns in food packaging, see Bisphenol A. --Bennybp 05:31, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
I see it less as pre-emptive and more as reactive. Plastics aren't biodegradable on any human timescale. Factoring in roadside waste (which is the public's fault, not the plastic's, but...), landfills and difficulty of recycling, the fact is that plastics were indeed taking an image hit. Instead of the standard "paper or plastic" question at the grocery store, some would ask "cut down a tree or destroy the environment?" With eco-consciousness on the rise, plastic was becoming less popular. Negative image leads to two main things - decreased sales and increased legislation. An ad campaign that cost millions was probably seen as saving tens of millions by boosting sales and decreasing the likelihood of increased regulation. Of course, the industry spin would be "reinforcing an already positive image." That's advertising for you. 152.16.59.190 05:13, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Some other negatives of plastics are:
1) They are produced from petroleum, a nonrenewable resource which we should try to conserve. Paper and wood, by contrast, is made from a renewable resource (trees).
2) Plastic production produces air pollution, some of which contributes to global warming.
3) Plastic items tend to be disposable, while reusable items are better for the environment. StuRat 21:18, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] High-speed rotation

Why is it that when wheels or fans spin at high speeds, they look like they're going backwards? I can understand in general why the image appears to skip, but why doesn't it look like it's going forward? Is there a reason? --Masamage ♫ 05:19, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

When viewed on film or under AC-powered HID streetlamps, a rotating object may appear to spin backwards if it completes slightly less than one cycle (or slightly less than one even fraction of a cycle, if the object is composed of multiple symmetrical segments) between each frame or each power cycle. So say the wheel turns through 350 degrees each frame - that looks the same as if it were turning backwards 10 degrees each frame, and your brain tends to assume that it's made the smaller movement. FiggyBee 06:09, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
See Wagon-wheel effect and Temporal aliasing. --Anonymous, 08:24 UTC, October 25, 2007.
Also see stroboscope.
Atlant 13:23, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Hey, cool. Thanks, everyone! --Masamage ♫ 04:34, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Why don't dogs hyperventilate?

When dogs or other mammals are really interested in some scent, their rate of respiration increases dramatically- in fact, for all mammals that depend on smell, a really interesting scent makes them increase their rate of respiration. So what prevents them from hyperventilating when they encounter some really interesting scent? 71.112.129.232 05:26, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if this is all the reason, but they have gigantic lungs, bigger than they need to, so I guess they're used to taking in a lot of air. There's some good information about their physiology in the dog article. --Masamage ♫ 06:00, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
If you watch a dog carefully when it is checking a really interesting scent it will seem to concentrate really hard but the amount of air it samples is quite small. Dogs sniff for scent, that is take in many small amounts of air, just enough to reach the smell sensors. If anything they are in more danger of suffocating. Put some trace of food on your fingers and watch closely when the dog investigates it. Richard Avery 06:21, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
  • I think it's stranger that they don't hyperventilate when they pant for a long time. --Sean 14:13, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
I suspect that they aren't taking deep breaths - just really rapid shallow breaths. That means that they aren't actually exchanging much of the air in their lungs. If each 'pant' or 'sniff' only exchanged (say) 10% of the air in the lungs - then that would be no different from taking a deep "100%" breath ten times less frequently. All they need to do is to move the air in the mouth/nose out and replace it with fresh air - and that's a much smaller volume. SteveBaker 22:59, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] One hell of a website!

C'mon people, Wikipedia is one hell of a fine website. Donate to Wikimedia! They've helped this IP with matter concerning the CA wildfires. 65.173.104.140 06:49, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

While true, there is the banner, this is not a question or what this page is used for and many people feel uncomfortable if they think they are being pressurised into donating. Smalled. Lanfear's Bane | t 08:05, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Speaking as someone who hates it when their ears pop and doesn't even like swimming to the bottom of the pool, I would be extremely uncomfortable being pressurised into donating. 38.112.225.84 14:06, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
OMG I nearly fell of my chair when I read that! Hyper Girl 14:35, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Then there is the low pressure sales technique ... place the customer in a room and evacuate the air until they agree to buy. :-) StuRat 21:24, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
To the moon, Alice! —Tamfang 01:25, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Adelie Penguin

Which Explorer is the Adelie Penguin named after and what was his nationality? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.233.83.26 (talk) 07:18, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

In 1830, French explorer Dumont d'Urville named them for his wife, Adélie. See Adelie Penguin--Tagishsimon (talk) 07:34, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
we learn something every day. I had assumed that the penguin was named for Adélie Land, but it seems D'Urville named both independently. —Tamfang 22:32, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] American Town Private Airfield.

Hi, A few months ago I remember reading about a town a think was in America where a lot of the houses owened aircraft and had hangers for them. Also the roads could be used as runways. I have not being able to find any reference. Can anybody help me?

Thanks,

Zsamana

You may be thinking of Jumbolair where celebs such as John Travolta live. Foxhill 09:27, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
See also, the first couple times you asked this question and you were directed to Airpark as there are many of these communities. Dismas|(talk) 12:33, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Crow stealing chicken eggs

Hi fellow wikipedians, my sister keeps chickens, and a crow steals the eggs. This is a problem. We want some suggestions regarding how to stop the crow. Since we're in Australia, firearms, slingshots and archery type gear are out of the question. The chooks (chickens) have a large area fenced off, with no roof, and a small area with their shed (where they lay eggs) with a roof and a door. The crow lands in the main yard and walks into the chicken shed, rolls the eggs out (I'm sure it'd pick them up and carry them if they couldn't be rolled out) and carries them off. We can't lock the chooks in the roofed area because it's too small for them, we can't roof in the open area because it'd be too much trouble.

--Psud 09:07, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

"the cow lands" and "we can't roof in the open area" ... Does the cow come in by plane? DirkvdM 09:31, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
I'm pretty sure I wrote crow not cow --Psud 11:39, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
No wonder I thought is was a odd question indeed. :) DirkvdM 09:06, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Also, in what country would ' firearms, slingshots and archery type gear' be an option? DirkvdM 09:31, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
USA. Googled it and the general theme of suggestions originating from the US was "shoot it", the suggested weapons included shotguns, rifles, slingshots and bow & arrow. --Psud 11:39, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Airsoft weapons may discourage the crow. Depends how you are about shooting / killing animals. Lanfear's Bane | t 10:14, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
"The importation of airsoft (BB) firearms is restricted under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956" according to [this]. Also I'd much rather not have to kill the bird. --Psud 11:42, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Here is a plan for a crow trap, a thing I never knew existed. Check your local laws, right? What you're supposed to do with the crows once you've trapped them, I don't know. Give them a stern talking-to? Tar and defeather them and run them out of town on a rail? Place them in a remedial program for egg-sucking vermin? Clip their flight feathers and let the dingoes do your dirty work for you? --Milkbreath 12:04, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
I wonder how far I'd have to move a crow to keep it from returning. Also, no need for dingoes (good thing too, none of those around here), the chooks would sort it out if it couldn't fly away. --Psud 12:09, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
What are the chooks doing while the crow is fumbling with an egg? I think you can forget about relocating crows. I just looked at an article from Smithsonian (Crows fly far and wide, but there's no place like home. By: Gilbert, Bil, Smithsonian, 00377333, Aug92, Vol. 23, Issue 5) that says crows will fly 80 miles from their roost to find food, and they migrate as much as 600 miles. Birds are pretty mobile. I can't link to the article because it's through a proxy.
I wonder if you could put a puppy in with the chickens and let it grow up there. Not a heeler, you know, maybe a spaniel. That sort of thing works with sheep-guarding dogs, I hear. --Milkbreath 12:50, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
The chooks will chase and peck at the crow if they see it, but the crow just waits until all the chickens are at the other end of the yard. A dog? I've heard of raising a puppy with various animals as a guard, even with ducks. So that'd probably work. --Psud 07:13, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Perhaps you should spray the crow with a water hose? ...With mildly annoying/aversive substances like alcohol? Perhaps one of those devices that shoots a pulse of air ("Sonic Blaster" was a toy by that name formerly available in the U.S.) might affect their behavior? Very loud noises? Rap music? George W. Bush speaking?
Atlant 13:27, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
I'm starting to think that the only two options that are likely to work are (1) roofing the chicken run with chicken wire; or (2) putting in enough decoy eggs to increase the effort required from the crow.
I don't think squirting the bird would work - it'd simply wait until there weren't any people watching it. -Psud 07:13, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
I don't know jack about "chooks", but why can't you just close the shed door or the entrance to the smaller pen when the chickens are out and about in the open-air pen? Chickenwire around the shed with a gate maybe? Also I've heard of these things called scarecrows, beats me if they work; I remember buying a fake owl for pigeons in AZ and it not being particularly effective. Finally, what about Australia precludes projectiles? Whack it with a boomerang or something if you are willing to kill it but just lack the means. 38.112.225.84 14:00, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
I don't believe a scarecrow would work - the crow's not scared even of real people. Can't leave the the small roofed area shut off because the various chickens lay at different times of day. --Psud 07:13, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Psud's problem is a tricky one. Anything that will freak a crow out will drive a chicken insane, and, from what I've seen poking around online, anything short of corvicide is only marginally effective, anyway. Any obstacle short of an impenetrable barrier will be circumvented by the wily crow. A hawk or owl decoy will actually attract crows, who hope to drive the predator off its kill or pick the carrion. I'm starting to think roofing the whole enclosure with chicken wire is the only thing to do. --Milkbreath 14:22, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Corvicide? Eek! Corvus cornix 21:48, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
  • Sorry to be a typical American, but I'm shocked that you're not allowed to use a BB gun of some kind in an agricultural area. What if dingoes try to eat your baby? --Sean 14:19, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
In an agricultural area, I'd be able to use rifle or shotgun or bb gun, but I'm not in an agricultural area, I'm in the suburbs of the federal capital city (Canberra). --Psud 21:34, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

This document [1] list two kinds of crows as native but not protected species in South Australia so hunting them may not be out of the question. Good eating on a crow, so I hear (may be an acquired taste). Rmhermen 14:46, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

  • Re-assess how much trouble covering the open area is. One large job versus years of futility and irritation?--hotclaws 15:31, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

When I was a kid my mum used to try and stop cockatoos from eating our walnuts by spraying them with a Super Soaker. --Candy-Panda 06:58, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

As for shooting at or otherwise trying to kill crows, the futility nothwithstanding, crows are extremely intelligent animals -- among the world's most intelligent. Please don't try to shoot them or otherwise wound or kill them. And in any case, scaring off a few, or wounding/killing a few is not likely to solve your problem. Sounds to me like a roofed enclosure, even if it is "too much trouble", is the way to go. ...can I say it once more? Crows are amazing creatures and although troublesome at times, don't deserve their historically negative image. On the contrary, they deserve our respect. If they are a problem, please find a solution other than killing, wounding, or traumatizing them. Thanks. Pfly 08:52, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
I don't know jack about chooks either, but maybe we should co-opt an editor from the "Place of Many Crows" to answer this question. -- JackofOz 03:41, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
Covering the top will also have other advantages, like keeping out dogs that might kill all your chickens. If it helps, you might want to make the open area a bit smaller so that covering it becomes easier. StuRat 21:32, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
At the door of the shed, and also at the edge of the nesting boxes, place a plank on its edge. Birds and small mammals wont be able to roll the eggs out. Also, a proper rooster should attack large birds that frighten the hens. Polypipe Wrangler 06:36, 31 October 2007 (UTC)
Right you are, Polypipe. A plank across the the door to the chook shed has stopped the crow rolling the eggs out, and seems to have deterred it from trying. A rooster would have worked, but would have annoyed the neighbours a bit much. --Psud 10:59, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Imaginary Friends

Do people who have imaginary friends actually think they're real and that people who question them are blind/liars, or do they just find solace in the concept of an imaginary friend and yell at others for the fun of it? Eggs.Shown 09:42, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

It depends on the person: If you have a younger sibling who probably hasn't attended school for that long, it'll be their imagination at work, and they'll think them real; however, older people, particularly those suffering depression or alienation may find this the only outlet to express their feelings. The Updater would like to talk to you! 10:10, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
You might want to have a look at the article on religion which details many, many imaginary friends. Lanfear's Bane | t 10:56, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Please try to respond to Ref Desk questions without insulting high percentages of your readership. --Masamage ♫ 04:38, 28 October 2007 (UTC)
I dunno. I'll have to ask my friend Harvey. Clarityfiend 08:59, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
There is more detail in the imaginary friend article. Dismas|(talk) 17:26, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Work Placement

Hello all,

I was wondering whether News Corp. institutions accept work placement programs. Thx for ur help. The Updater would like to talk to you! 10:05, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

They do, but these are only advertised per-institution. For example, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) has a program for accepting work placement/experience candidates but is not currently actively seeking people. Foxhill 11:18, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] movie stills

I have a movie in my computer and i was wondering whether it is possible to get movie stills from the movie or will i be intruding the copyrights of the movie? There is a 'print' button in that movie player to print the paused view.so is it possible to get the stills? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Arya237 (talk • contribs) 10:45, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

You might want to check the copyright at the start of the film first. It may forbid you from reproducing the film in part in any medium. Lanfear's Bane | t 10:51, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
  • Yes, it would be possible, but you'd be violating copyright in 99.99% of the cases. - Mgm|(talk) 11:00, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Do however read the article on fair use, it might be OK; do however read the Fair_use#Common_misunderstandings section too. Lanfear's Bane | t 11:16, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Way to be copyright paranoid, guys. A single still or two from a feature-length movie is almost certainly going to be fair use under U.S. law unless he is putting them on T-shirts and selling them. Anyway assuming you are talking about a DVD the easiest way to get the stills is to use a program that will easily capture them for you (I think VLC does this), otherwise you have to turn your video hardware acceleration down to zero and then you can take regular screen captures. --24.147.86.187 12:39, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
The main point to consider here is what you're going to do with the screen captures. Copyright law really only comes into effect once you start distributing the copied goods. Perhaps hanging a screen capture on your wall is officially a copyright violation, but this is where the boundaries between 'copying' and 'viewing' get really murky. Wikipedia itself uses screen caps in articles, under a strict fair use policy, so in many cases it does qualify as fair use. Also, the reference desk has this thing about not giving out legal advice, so if it's important, ask a real lawyer. risk 14:33, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
To grab a still from a movie in a player not using a dedicated software for it (loads of them around) you need to first turn off the hardware acceleration if you have it on. This is (in Windows) in Control panel>Display>Settings>Advanced>Troubleshoot>Hardware acceleration>None. You then press the print screen key and paste (or Ctrl-V) it in any 2d program (Photoshop, Paint). Unless you have the copyright on the movie you need to ask the owners for any commercial use of the image. Keria 23:31, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ear gas

Is there a list of songs that either have been used or are recommended for use in driving people out of a barricaded position? I think that's the funniest thing in the world. My favorite is "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". --Milkbreath 14:05, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps it is somewhere documented what music the United States used against Manuel Noriega? Me, I'd think George W. Bush speeches would be the ultimate torture for humans, even if not for crows. Unless Vogon poetry becomes available.
Atlant 15:45, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
There was a piece on NPR a week or two ago about the use of loud and repetitive music for the purposes of torturing terrorism suspects in US detention centers. The guy who recorded one of the pieces they use was talking about suing them over it...now, if only I could remember who that was! SteveBaker 22:42, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Here are three .gif images of an after-action report regarding the Noriega psyops. Apparently they were getting requests for tunes as messages for Noriega. Great stuff. Tony Fox (arf!) 22:57, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
One that I don't see listed, which was later used in a parody of the use of these songs in The Drew Carey Show, was "Panama" by Van Halen. In the show Carey is to be forced out of his home due to some imminent domain deal, if I remember correctly, and the characters in the house try to figure out the lyrics of the song. Dismas|(talk) 23:04, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
The deal might have been imminent, but it was one of eminent domain. --LarryMac | Talk 14:47, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Actually, "Panama" is on the list, if you look at the 'P's - someone just missed the carriage return, so it's not on its own line. Tony Fox (arf!) 15:56, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Ah, so it is and that's why I missed it. I just scanned down the first word of each line. And yes, I meant "eminent"... Dismas|(talk) 16:03, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Strange donation comment

On Tue, 10/23/2007 - 23:30 an anonymous user donated $500.00 to Wikimedia with the comment: "For tripling the number of Elephants in Africa!" What the hell did they mean by that? Weasly 15:07, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia on The Colbert Report. --Richardrj talk email 15:11, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
also Wikipedia:Wikiality_and_Other_Tripling_Elephants -- Diletante 16:55, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Help to create a table with MS Word

Hi!, I really need help to create a table with MS Word XP (2002) that is wider than 22" (or with Adobe Acrobat Professional 6.0, but it has to be wider than 22"[and not with MS Excel]). It will not be for printing. I have searched for help on the web for hours, without being able to find anything useful. I feel very frustrated and am under a lot of stress. I will greatly appreciate any good help that I can receive. Thank you very, very much. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.70.65.132 (talk) 16:20, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

If it's not for printing, why does the physical width matter? Can't you just use a small font (and a large zoom factor if necessary)? AndrewWTaylor 16:38, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Incidentally, this thread gives a plausible explanation of the 22" limit AndrewWTaylor 16:45, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
If you elaborate a bit on why you need it and what you would be using it for, perhaps we can help you come up with a good alternative. As it is, the 22" width is hard-coded into Word and cannot be directly gotten around, but depending on what you want to use it for there may be indirect ways to get around it and achieve the same result. --24.147.86.187 17:08, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Yes— I have no idea why, but Word has a 22 inch maximum for page width and length. I don't have OpenOffice.org installed here at home, but you might try it. --— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 01:32, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] tick dormancy at low temperatures?

At what low temperature do ticks become dormant? It seems that when the temperature drops below freezing the ticks wouldn't be able to move around. They are cold blooded, right? I walk in the woods (California, Sierra foothills) a lot and wonder when I am safe from these pests. I already know that ticks here are inactive (or at least much less active) during the hot, dry summer. Dry is the key. Now I'm trying to figure out when they are inactive during the rainy season. Probably scientists have learned what the cut off low temperature is for tick activity. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Annecallaway (talk • contribs) 17:26, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

I'm no tick expert, but I found a couple of papers online that shed some light on your cold tick. One says they call it quits at around four degrees Celsius. The other says they found ticks by flagging when it was two below Celsius with snow on the ground. They sample an area for ticks by dragging a large piece of cloth over the bushes, "flagging". There must be a zillion species of tick, and I wouldn't expect them to all behave the same, but maybe this gets you in the ballpark. Bottom line, the woods ain't never safe. --Milkbreath 02:55, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Just a thought: when it's colder, aren't you more likely to wear long pants and long sleeves? If so, isn't the problem of ticks rather mitigated? --24.147.86.187 03:22, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Not really. Ticks are quite good at getting inside your clothing; in fact, they prefer feeding spots just under the edges of clothing. --Carnildo 20:57, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lockhead Martin and Boeing advertising campaigns

The plastics question was answered very well so I have a new similar question. What did either of these companies have to gain from advertising to the general public? By improving their image were they trying to garner political support for keeping manufacturing jobs tied to weapons projects alive?

63.199.245.117 20:08, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

There can be a lot of reasons to advertise, some of which are not necessarily specific in intent. I always read those ads—and it is worth paying attention to the limited types of publications they appear in (e.g. The Atlantic Monthly, not Entertainment Weekly)—as being about prestige. "We are an important and relevant company," always seems to be the message, which doesn't itself get them much except when it is used in conjunction with lobbying (e.g. if you are primed to think they are important, maybe you will treat them as such when you sit down to talk with them or about them). But I don't really know what they have in mind when they take out such ads; it would be interesting to see how exactly their PR strategy works. --24.147.86.187 00:01, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Shareholders. They want their stock price to rise and advertising to people who buy stocks and shares increases demand and pushes the price up. SteveBaker 13:32, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Please tell me

What are the 8th, 9th and 10th largest cities in Victoria, Australia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.217.152.215 (talk) 22:26, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Depending how you count cities, there may not be 8 of them in Victoria. Unfortunately, I can't say off the top of my head the largest urban areas in Vic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steewi (talk • contribs) 01:52, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
The web site www.citypopulation.de has population statistics for many countries. For Australia it has tables of both "urban areas" and "local government areas" such as cities, and you can just pick out the ones in Victoria. See www.citypopulation.de/Australia-LGA.html --Anon, 01:55 UTC, October 26, 2007.
If you want the "urban area" definition, here is the ranked list for Victoria as of the 2001 census:
1. Melbourne
2. Geelong
3. Ballarat
4. Bendigo
5. Melton
6. Mildura
7. Warrnambool
8. Sunbury
9. Traralgon
10. Wangaratta
If you want the "local government areas" definition, here is the ranked list as of 2006:
1. Casey
2. Geelong
3. Brimbank
4. Monash
5. Boroondara
6. Hume
7. Knox
8. Whitehorse
9. Moreland
10. Kingston
Marco polo 02:10, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
I would not go by the LGA definition, as these are the names of city/shire councils - they are not places (you wouldn't say "I live in Whitehorse", you would say the actual suburb/city). Wikipedia has List of cities in Australia by population, although it lists the largest cities all over Australia, they do list also the state. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.208.110.207 (talk) 06:03, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
The trouble with our List of cities in Australia by population is that it only has the top 43 cities - and only 9 of those are in Victoria:
  1. Melbourne 3,592,591
  2. Geelong 160,991
  3. Albury-Wodonga 96,288
  4. Ballarat 85,197
  5. Bendigo 81,939
  6. Latrobe Valley (incl. Moe, Morwell, Traralgon) 73,476
  7. Mildura 46,035
  8. Shepparton 44,599
  9. Warrnambool 30,392
With the last one on that list only having a population of 31 thousand, I wonder whether there actually are more than 9 cities in Victoria. (and what about "Latrobe Valley (incl. Moe, Morwell, Traralgon)" - is that considered a city?) That would explain the abrupt ending of that list of cities as just 43 places. I presume Australia is more like the UK in placing a larger lower limit on the size of a city. Here in the US, the term "city" refers to how the place is governed - not to how big it is. In the UK, to be a city you used to have to have a cathederal - so some very small places ended up being cities with other, much more populated places being 'towns'. I don't know how Australia sets the limits - but if it were "Any place with a population of 30,000 or more" - then those 9 places are it.
SteveBaker 13:28, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
There is no legal definition of "City" in Australia, as far as I can tell. FiggyBee 15:39, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Our article City seems to echo that. "In Australia and New Zealand, city is used to refer both to units of local government, and as a synonym for urban area. For instance the City of South Perth is part of the urban area known as Perth, commonly described as a city.". It goes on to say that in New Zealand and also in Germany, the lower size limit is 50,000 people - which seems reasonable. But the smallest city in the USA has just 350 inhabitants...so the meaning of the word has considerable 'wiggle room'! Anyway - this vagueness accounts for why our OP was unable to find the information for the 8th, 9th and 10th 'cities'. Mildura, Shepparton and Warrnambool all fall under the '50,000' rule - although Mildura is close enough that maybe the population hit 50,000 sometime after whatever day the data for List of cities in Australia by population was recorded. So it's perfectly possible that the correct answer to this question is "There are only seven cities in Victoria". SteveBaker 16:29, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
Yes, it's a very fuzzy concept. I used to live in the City of Whitehorse (mentioned above). It has a clearly defined boundary, a Council, a Mayor, and all the usual bureaucracy. However, it's a part of what is usually referred to as "Melbourne", as are many other cities (City of Yarra, City of Stonnington, City of Boroondara, City of Darebin, ...). Melbourne itself includes the City of Melbourne, which takes in only the CBD and, since recently, the adjoining Docklands. The Lord Mayor of Melbourne by rights speaks for only the people who live in the City of Melbourne. However, I believe that in certain fora he is considered a representative of the greater Melbourne area, despite not being elected by the great majority of those people. So, most people would for normal purposes consider the greater Melbourne area to be a "city" - indeed, it's the capital city of Victoria - but that "city" contains many other cities, many of which are greater in population than Mildura, Shepparton, Warrnambool etc. This "cities-within-a-city" idea applies in most Australian state capitals, with the notable exception of Brisbane, which since 1924 has been governed by a single council, the Brisbane City Council, which has a budget greater than the state of Tasmania. This has lead to the oft-disputed claim that Brisbane is one of the largest cities in the world. It all depends on how you define your terms. For that reason, I'm not even going to hazard a more precise answer to the original question. -- JackofOz 23:21, 26 October 2007 (UTC)