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

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[edit] September 20

[edit] Small city in Florida where every household have aircraft

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I've seen a TV report about a small city in Florida having runways instead of streets, because almost everybody uses an airplane for transportation. What's the name of the town? curios, --Scriberius 07:12, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

They seem to be called "Airparks". Living with your plane.com seems to have a list of them. Dismas|(talk) 07:20, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Thanks, there are several in the U.S... That's not imaginable here in Germany! Anyway, I miss an article about it >> Airpark/Air Park/Air park. C.U., -- Scriberius 07:59, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Article started... Airpark. Dismas|(talk) 09:18, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Aren't there recreational flyers in Germany? Or is it just that there's no space for airparks there? -- Mwalcoff 23:11, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
There is Spruce Creek Fly-In, south of Daytona Beach. John Travolta used to live there, IIRC. Saturn 5 23:59, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia and Alien Contact

IF there is alien contact, what would Wikipedia do to deal with it ? Just seen V (TV series) today in which aliens had made contact. After all Wikipedia is NOT censored. I could imagine Jimbo Wales having to change his pants if THAT happened. 205.240.146.131 08:41, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

I imagine we'd report it, using appropriate references, in a suitably named article, in the same highly professional way we do with everything else. -- JackofOz 08:46, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
"I could imagine Jimbo Wales having to change his pants if THAT happened." ? --Taraborn 08:59, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
As long as the aliens follow wikipedia policy, I don't see a problem. But if their edits are POV or vandalism, or if they refuse to cite their sources, it would be a different story of course. Skarioffszky 12:26, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
I would like to think we'd burn a few DVD copies and present them to our new overlords prior to doing the 'rm -r *' on the servers as ordered.
But seriously - the most likely form of alien contact would be via radio. If we detected a message coming from them, we do not currently have any kind of transmitter powerful enough to send a detectable reply - and even if we did, the round-trip-time for us to acknowledge their message and get an answer back could easily be many lifetimes - and there ought to be some real, serious debate about the wiseness of revealing our existance to a potentially hostile (and undoubtedly more advanced) race. Unless these aliens are continually broadcasting 'encyclopedia galactica' to anyone who happens to be listening, and in a form that we can actually decode - the effect would be more psychological than actual. SteveBaker 14:36, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Even if they're not hostile, a meeting between advanced and primitive civilizations rarely works out well for the primitives. --Sean 14:49, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
They would have to prepare to be assimilated. Edison 07:45, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
More importantly, what licensing would the encyclopedia galactica be under? I do hope it's not Creative Commons Attribution 2.5, because that would create problems. Neil ム 09:57, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
I'm sure we're free to use the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. · AndonicO Talk 12:56, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

I feel that Wikipedia's Main Page for one should welcome our new alien overlords Lemon martini 12:15, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Welcome them to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, of course. ;) · AndonicO Talk 13:13, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[1] FiggyBee 20:46, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Figgy Bee, your link is hilarious! "Cites Wikipedia as proof"?! :D --JDitto 04:54, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] singing

I know that my singing is not a noteworthy ability but I try to give a build up of a singer and hence some people (may be mockingly)call me a singer.Whenever they say Iam agreat singer I feel low and guilty of hypocrisy.Please help me! I dont want to sing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.248.2.51 (talk) 10:59, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

I will not call you a singer. But please, sir, what is your question? --Ouro (blah blah) 11:14, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Do you mean that you are doing singing exercises which make people think you want to be a singer? Is there anywhere that you could practice in private? That way nobody would hear you and then they would not encourage you. But maybe you like the encouragement, secretly... SaundersW 13:03, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

You need more self-confidence. I think you could usefully listen to Thank you for the music, by Abba. Yes, their English was sometimes slightly mangled, and yes, it's pretty uncool to praise Abba, but their lyrics were often interesting and sometimes almost profound. --Dweller 14:27, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Ahem, why is it uncool to praise Abba for god's sake? --Ouro (blah blah) 14:34, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Dunno. Ask the faceless unelected arbitrators of fashion. Personally, I don't really care. I like Abba and... conversely... I think "Crocs" are the most loathsome things I've seen on people's feet since the time my mate stamped on a huge spider. So, that's me in the "uncool" bin. --Dweller 16:03, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
ABBA were/are way too accessible to be cool, anyone knows that. —Tamfang 22:05, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
There is NOTHING more un-cool than participating in the Eurovision song contest...except (of course) doing it when it's held in Brighton...that's MUCH more un-cool. Sorry - null pointes. SteveBaker 01:04, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

"As to poetry, you know", said Humpty Dumpty, stretching out one of his great hands, "I can repeat poetry as well as other folk, if it comes to that."
"Oh, it needn't come to that!" Alice hastily said.
Xn4 02:16, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

You aren't by any chance a teenager, are you ? Teens often feel they are being mocked or criticized when they are not. StuRat 04:28, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Ouch. Maybe you should sing "Sing". For some reason people sing along to that song. Don't let other people pull you down from achieving a good voice! It usually helps by practicing with an experienced (and patient) friend away from peers. --JDitto 04:50, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nortel

Is Nortel evr coming back? They seem to be going no where.129.112.109.250 19:14, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Well if they're going nowhere then they can't have far to come back. —Tamfang 22:05, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Certainly their shares chart doesn't show off a particularly nice picture. The fundamentals don't exactly cry out recovery either. Still it is a very large firm and there is no reason that if well managed it could once again see itself come back. ny156uk 22:21, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
They are currently undergoing an audit by KPMG. I imagine that the results of this audit will have a significant impact on whether or not they are "evr coming back". Plasticup T/C 01:59, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Creating a fictional account for IMDbPro.com

If you do not have a credit card number or a credit card, do you have to make up a fictional account number if you want to visit IMDbPro.com? Ericthebrainiac 19:19, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

That would constitute fraud. Corvus cornix 20:19, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
And wikilinking every third word is both unnecessary and very annoying! SteveBaker 00:53, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
It looks like IMDBpro gives you two weeks of free trial and then starts billing your credit card $12.95 per month automatically. If you gave a completely fictitious card then I assume that would be detected and you'd be rudely ejected. If you used someone else's real credit card without their permission then that would be theft, identity theft, fraud...enough to get you thrown in jail certainly. So don't do that. SteveBaker 00:58, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The music video for What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flats

Who was starring in the music video for What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flats? Ericthebrainiac 21:54, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

I suggest you ask this on the Entertainment reference desk. SteveBaker 00:51, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notable production or spam?

An editor added a reference to The Mystery of Edwin Drood (musical) production at the Warehouse Theatre in Croydon. I know that most productions of this show are not notable, but a London production might be. Could someone familiar with London assess whether this is spam? --teb728 22:03, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Well, the link is there as a 'reference' and references are supposed to act as proof that what was said is in fact true. The sentence says The show, now licensed by Tams-Witmark, has since has major productions at the Shaw Festival in Toronto, Canada; and numerous regional and amateur theatrical productions worldwide. - so the question is: Can I verify that this sentence is true by reading information presented on that website? In this case, we aren't so much interested in whether that website is notable or not - it's a question of whether it can be considered an authoritative source for the information we are referencing. If this link was in the "External Links" section then probably it's commercial nature would make it unacceptable...but it's a reference for a fact and that's a different matter. So - does that web site contain information that would enable an intelligent reader to be satisfied that this show is licensed as we say and that it has that one specific production and that it has numerous other productions around the world? If it says that then I think it's a fine reference - if it doesn't then it has no relevence and (particularly because it's a commercial site) it should go. Your call. (Incidentally, the reference desk isn't really the place for this kind of question. The Village pump or the help desk might be better venues.) SteveBaker 00:50, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
I thought I had made myself clear, but apparently I didn’t. (Perhaps you equated my use of the word “spam” with link-spam.) My concern was not with the link to http://www.rupertholmes.com/theatre/drood.html. This link clearly contains an authoritative list of current productions and is a good link. Rather my concern is with the notability of the Warehouse Theatre production. Let me try again: Please read the following and tell me if you still think there is a better venue. --teb728 03:02, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (musical) currently says, “A production by London's Warehouse Theatre is due to open on Friday 14th December 2007 for a run through to February 24th 2008.” Clearly a revival on Broadway or the West End or a production in a major regional theatre would be notable, but I doubt the notability of this production in a 100-seat Croydon theatre. Can someone familiar with London assess whether this production is notable enough to mention in Wikipedia. --teb728 03:02, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Croydon is a town within Greater London, but culturally it is no more a part of London than are many other towns in Southern England. While a person from Croydon might well say 'I'm from London' when talking to foreigners who are unlikely to have heard of Croydon, I think 'London's Warehouse Theatre' is an inappropriate and misleading expression, as it suggests that they are somehow involved in the London theatre world. Even if the Warehouse is itself notable, I see no reason to treat a production of a particular show there as notable. --ColinFine 19:38, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The articles I create

If you Wikipedians want to, you can change (disambiguation) what I've written in my articles into whatever you think is good for my articles that I create for Wikipedia. Ericthebrainiac 22:31, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Um, is this only a joke? If you're taking issue, this is not the place. —Tamfang 00:11, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
Well, yes, we can - we don't need any special permission from you to do that. As it says next to the edit summary box: "You agree to license your contributions under the GFDL" - which guarantees everyone the right to copy your article, mangle it mess it up, fix it, chop it up and make crossword puzzles out of it...whatever they want - and there's not a damned thing you can do about it! Is there a question here somewhere? SteveBaker 00:41, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
To quote the 'edit' page: "If you don't want your writing to be edited mercilessly or redistributed for profit by others, do not submit it." Plasticup T/C 01:48, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
Please don't wikilink everything, the use of wikilinks is to encourage reading on a topic without having to express it with a separate link, not for standard grammar. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 02:48, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
Eric, Some of the responses above were a little harsh; I hope you weren’t put off by them. Put simply, you don’t need to give us permission to improve your work, because you give that permission implicitly just by editing here. By the same token you have implicit permission to improve our edits. And it is not a good thing to use so many links; you should provide a link where a reader might want to learn more about a subject.
We have a saying at Wikipedia, “Please don’t bite the newcomers,” but some of us forget. --teb728 06:34, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
Except that Eric is hardly a newcomer. --LarryMac | Talk 12:46, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
Methinks Eric is forgetting that he himself is a Wikipedian. There is no "him" vs "us". -- JackofOz 12:53, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
I find this guy adorable! He went out of his way to expressly permit it on his userpage too - how many newbies do that, versus how many expressly try to forbid others from editing "their" articles? I left a note on his talk page, though, to be sure he sees it (sometimes they forget to come back here) Kuronue | Talk 13:27, 21 September 2007 (UTC)