Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 January 1

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[edit] January 1

[edit] How to be a YouTuber's friend when s/he denied me to be her/his friend on YouTube?

I try to request to be a friend on a YouTuber's Channel but she denied me. I add her too many times but it doesn't work. I want to watch an private video that she upload as a public video, but she made it a private video. I'm not a criminal. I don't really bother her. I don't do stalking at her. I don't harass her. I don't invade her privacy. What should I do?

Note: When asking, please don't say "She don't want to see that video." or "Get a new account". I want to see the video. I don't want excuses.

Courtesy: Asked by this person at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071119180210AAwRE1y but want more professional-like (expert) answers. Jet (talk) 00:17, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

You well know that you are asking a near unanswerable question:
1. If the decision rests entirely with her, then she will take whatever decisions she wants, as her caprice takes her.
2. If it's possible to hack through YouTube's access control mechanisms, we don;t know how and if we did, would not tell you.
I suggest you should accept her decision with good grace, since to persist will be harassment. I note your "I don't want excuses" comment. Sadly the rest of the world is mostly unmoved by whatever tantrum will arise out of you reading an answer that displeases you. Happy new year. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:20, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
I suppose if you want to get creative, you could post a video imploring her to grant you access & seek to share it with her. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:23, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

How would I do that? Jet (talk) 00:24, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

You make and submit the video in the normal way, and then send a message to the person in question. Which bit are you asking about: 1) how to make video 2) how to post video 3) how to send a message to her? --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:39, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Note: She made that video public. Jet (talk) 00:27, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

You're losing me. Which video? The video in question which was public and is now private? A girl's allowed to change her mind. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:39, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
Yes Jet (talk) 00:57, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
How about you message her, and ask her nicely? --'n1yaNt 06:36, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Why don't you just send some friendly messages first. Be her friend through messages and then send the invite. If she isn't letting you be her friend on youtube, thats because she doesn't know you yet, or she doesn't want you to watch the video.--Dlo2012 (talk) 00:10, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tunnel of love

I can't find any info regarding the tunnel of love as in the metal state of feeling like you are in a tunnel when you enter a love relationship with someone such that you begin to loose the ability to interact with others on anything but on a distant level as if waiving to them from the deck of a boat as it moves alongside the dock and away. The feeling that suddenly there is for all personal matters only one other person in the world. 71.100.3.166 (talk) 05:14, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

That's not much to go on. Can you tell us where you've heard the term used?--YbborTalk 05:23, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
It;s not as poetic but the article Infatuation seems to cover it in the intro. Julia Rossi (talk) 09:21, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

The only Tunnels of Love that I know were to be found in fairgrounds. These days they seem to have been changed to Ghost Trains!86.197.19.225 (talk) 16:14, 1 January 2008 (UTC)petitmichel

You might want to investigate the catch-all term dark ride.
Atlant (talk) 18:21, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
This article from New Scientist (#REDIRECT [[1]]) implies that first love and obsessive compulsice disorder are related (although not the same thing). The article links to the study's authors' website, which may have further information. Steewi (talk) 00:15, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Painting a guitar

I have a Fender Stratocaster that I'd like to paint. Currently it's just a boring black color. I like the black that's there as a background but I want to paint on some nice flame patterns. I'm wondering if I need to strip the current coat that's already there? And what kind of paint would I use? Bellum et Pax (talk) 08:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Depends what the current finish is, but if it's non-reactive, a short cut is to wipe the area with a dry cloth, then a light degreaser like meths (try it on a unseen part of the guitar first to test), then use an oil based paint such as enamel or car touchup paint. Spray can with stencil would work, too. The good thing about paint is you can just paint out what you don't like. Try googling paint electric guitar though some of these are about re-painting the whole thing. Julia Rossi (talk) 09:08, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
Here is a 'how to' (http://www.shredaholic.com/painting.html) and another by wikihow (http://www.wikihow.com/Custom-Paint-Your-Electric-Guitar). Hope it helps ny156uk (talk) 11:31, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
A friend who builds his own guitars gets a lot of his info from Project Guitar, so you might want to have a look around there. Dismas|(talk) 15:19, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Main Page Graphics

What is the white object at the top of the main page? Thanks Saypoint (talk) 13:29, 1 January 2008 (UTC)


Answered above, I think - Masamage said:
It's the edge of an open book, close-up on the spine, with the pages showing.
--Psud (talk) 13:48, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Work shifts and breaks

In Australia, what is the maximum number of hours a person can legally work without having a lunch/dinner/half-hour whatever break? How long does my shift have to be before I'm legally allowed a break? --Candy-Panda (talk) 14:34, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I assume that either:
  • the ATU directly
  • an ATU representative at your place of employment
  • an advisor at your school (Belmont High ?)
should be able to give an answer to this question. There is also a stack of wikipedians from Down Under, but they may be snoozing at 3:30 AM, suffering from hang over / hanging upside down on this planet :) Gee (so) long from an antipodian, --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 16:36, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
I'm not sure there is one. I googled a few different topics and sites that would seem to have that kind of stuff don't mention anything about it. For example, this site is for new immigrants looking for work, but it says nothing about work breaks, despite quite a bit of detail about wages, etc. According to some other sites, Australians have the longest work hours in the world (averaged over the year), so stop reading this page and get back to the grindstone already! Matt Deres (talk) 19:03, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
Rumour always had it that it was 5 hours, but no one I know has ever checked. If you're having a problem with your employer, you might wish to talk to your union rep (if you have one) or contact the union through their website for advice. If it is appropriate, discussing when you can take your breaks with your boss might be productive, but I imagine you might have already done so. Another option you could discuss with your boss if you want to take more breaks than you are entitled to is to take more scheduled breaks, but they would be unpaid. Steewi (talk) 00:20, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
Is that why I like bats so much! Here's a workers' hotline: 1300 362 223 that offers "free telephone advice for workplace issues" found on the Your Rights at Work website [2]. Maybe a lot ofAussies don't either know their rights, or they're the most in debt thru mortgages etc on this planet and just own that grindstone! Hope it helps : ) Julia Rossi (talk) 00:23, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
These kinds of rights are often not covered by workplace legislation, but rather in your AWA or other document that covers things like your salary, etc. For example, my collective agreement states that I cannot be required to work for more than 5 hours without a 30 minute break, or for more than 10 hours on a single day, but that doesn't mean that I *can't* do so (although doing so would generally mean my supervisor has to talk with me and tell me to try to avoid doing so). I would suggest first digging up your AWA/contract/whatever, looking through that, and if that fails then I second the suggestion to contact your union representative, or the union itself. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 01:27, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

The thing is, I had worked a 5 1/2 hour shift (5:30pm - 11pm) one time and got a half hour break, but when I worked a 5 hour shift (11:30pm - 4:30pm) yesterday I didn't get a break. So I guess it has to be more than 5 hours. Cheers everyone and happy new year. :) --Candy-Panda (talk) 05:08, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The Man with One Name

A bit of research for a writing project of mine. Is it possible in the United Kingdom for a person to change their name (by deed poll etc.) to remove their surname? That is, to be on record (barring birth certificate) as having only a given name and nothing else? If not, does the law differ in any other Anglophone country? GeeJo (t)⁄(c) • 17:19, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

At least two companies active in the field seem to think that you must have at least one given name and one surname. See https://www.namechangeco.com/Help/161118302397/what-kind-of-changes-can-i-make-to-my-name/ and http://www.ukdps.co.uk/AreThereAnyRestrictionsOnNames.html William Avery (talk) 17:42, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
A site in the internet [3], then search for "mononym", of unknown reliability states "however, an online discussion implies that, at least in the U.S. and U.K., there is no legal requirement that a person have more than a single name".
Presumably there must be regulation that your name consists of writable characters. If it were "4 spaces", followed by a "-", followed by "6 spaces", you would have to repeat your name 5 times when in a noisy pub :) --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 18:39, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
Is anyone else reminded of A Bit of Fry and Laurie? —Tamfang (talk) 01:48, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
There was an article in the Manchester Guardian recently about a British woman who has done this very thing. DuncanHill (talk) 23:06, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
Which newspaper changed its name to The Guardian in 1959, Duncan. If it was a recent story, it'll be on Grauniad Unlimited somewhere ... do you remember enough of the vocabulary of the story to mount an effective search? --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:23, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
Have just got back from Cornwall, we read the Guardian there! DuncanHill (talk) 23:39, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
This may be totally irrelevant to you, but last year I happened to be listening to Penn Jillette's short lived radio show and he mentioned that his magician chum, Teller legally changed his name as such, and now possesses one of the few United States passports issued in a single name. Their website seems to confirm this, though Teller was actually his birth surname, rather than his given name, I don't see why that would make a difference. I wonder who the other single name passport holders are? Rockpocket 03:50, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
If my surname were Teller I think I'd be miffed at that; as if he's saying he has first claim on the name and all his relations have to use modified versions of it. —Tamfang (talk) 01:51, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
In the UK, unlike many other countries, there's nothing to prevent you from changing your name without any legal instrument - that is, your name is what you say it is, though it's also to some extent what you're known as. If you decide you have only one name, then that's your name. However, difficulties then arise with officialdom, and especially in money matters - with tax collectors, banks, etc. That's one reason why the deed poll came into being. Xn4 11:45, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] FCC ruling on cable company deals with apartment complexes?

I heard on the news about a new FCC ruling which said cable companies could no longer make exclusive deals with apartment complexes and that all existing deals are void. My apartment complex still has such a deal. Is it a rule or a proposed rule? If it's a proposed rule, what has to happen before it becomes a rule?Skydiver156969 (talk) 20:27, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

First off, the FCC must have one of the crappiest websites around. They appear to have made such a ruling on November 13 2007 [4] which comes into effect 60 days after [5], so that'll be Saturday 12 January 2008, or nearest offer. "The Commission prohibits the enforcement or execution of existing exclusivity clauses and the execution of new ones by MVPDs subject to section 628 of the Communications Act." [6]. The commission "should take action to address exclusivity clauses entered into by DBS providers, private cable operators, and other MVPDs who are not subject to Section 628." (ibid). Section 628 is here, on page 294. --Tagishsimon (talk) 20:52, 1 January 2008 (UTC)