Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Miscellaneous/2006 July 16

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[edit] Transactional Focus

Does anyone know about the school subject known as Transactional Focus? It seems to be a type of English language arts course. --JD

  • I've never heard of this, but for what it's worth here's a syllabus for such a course. Crypticfirefly 14:13, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Hey that's it! Thank you. --JD

[edit] Weird abundance of Israeli/Hebrew commercials on MTV Europe

Hello,

until a few years ago, I still received MTV Europe on cable in Belgium. Now it is MTV from the Netherlands.

In those last years, commercial interruptions were full off advertizements in a quite different language. From the way it sounded and especially the alphabet, I deduce that it was Hebrew.

OK, fair enough, once in a while there was a commercial for a Belgian product in Dutch as well (although never that frequent). But sometimes an international (for instance : the movie Tomb Raider) was advertized in Hebrew. I simply don't get the logic behind that, why wouldn't you do that in English, that way you could advertize the same product but for all of Europe and Israel.

So does anyone remember that, and can anyone understand what the logic behind this was?

Evilbu 01:31, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Satellite broadcasters can be strange. I remember about 10 years ago I sometimes watched a satellite music channel in my local pub (in the UK) which often had adverts in German. -- Arwel (talk) 12:21, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
MTV Europe was/is for the countries deemed too small to have their own local stations (though this is growing less significant). The reason you would have found many Hebrew adverts was because a few years ago, Israel was probably the largest (fairly rich - disposible income) country not to have its own MTV, so the most frequent adverts would be sold to Israeli companies. Also, other cable systems in Belgium probably got MTV from France and the Netherlands at the time anyway and yours could have been an exception --Bearbear 19:19, 27 July 2006 (UTC)
Russian version of Euronews has advertisements in Romanian. 194.85.123.52 18:45, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Apocalypse level

A while ago, I remember seeing a website that gave a measurement of how close the world is to the Apocalypse, or something like that. I think the website was run by conservative Christians, and it wasn't in jest. The measurement was displayed on a meter or a dial, or some such metaphor. Does this ring any bells? With the events of the past week or so, I want to see how close they think we are. Heh. ;-) zafiroblue05 | Talk 01:42, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

You're not thinking of the Doomsday Clock? —Keenan Pepper 02:16, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Well, that's certainly the general idea, but I am pretty nearly sure that what I'm thinking of was specifically religious — Armageddon and all that — and updated more often, with a more numeric measurement (maybe even a progress bar or something like that)... But thanks for the link, that is pretty interesting in and of itself... zafiroblue05 | Talk 02:21, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
A google search of rapture clock christian returns a number of interesting results, some serious and some satires. I didn't check anything below the first one, but it looks to me like entry number 2 ('Rapture Ready') is a good bet.--Anchoress 04:57, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Thanks! After a few clicks this is what I was looking for. Looks like they won't update it until next week... zafiroblue05 | Talk 06:11, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
I wonder why they're so obsessed with it. There's really nothing to worry about: "Forget what you've heard from the doom-and-gloom crowd -- the Apocalypse foretold in the Holy Bible won't really be so bad, a leading theologian says. (...) 'For those of us who lived through the horrors of World War II, with D-Day and the dropping of the atomic bomb, Armageddon will seem about as big a deal as the invasion of Grenada.'" David Sneek 07:18, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tagalog Babel

Is there a babel box for users who speak tagalog? --JDitto

Yes, see Wikipedia:Babel#tl_-_Tagalog_.28Tagalog.29.-gadfium 04:23, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A doubt on firearms

What is the difference between Ordinary gun and a Magnum. What exactly does magnum mean. Thanks for ans. --Aki 27 03:35, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

According to wikt:magnum,
A gun calibre larger than, or derived from, a smaller similar cartrige.
The original meaning comes from a super-sized bottle of champagne (containing 1.5 l of beverage and equivalent to two ordinary bottles of champagne).-gadfium 04:29, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Better Male Orgasm

Which one of these would make a orgasm better for my man..

  1. ) Go a week with absolutely no pleasure
  2. ) For 1 week: everyday i would pleasure him but never allow him to reach orgasm

Which one of these would give the better orgasm? Why?

2, but it wouldn't work, as he'd masturbate if you insisted on teasing him. zafiroblue05 | Talk 06:12, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Try it one way for one week, and the other way for the other week. Then ask him which was better. If you're really worried about the post above mine, see Erotic sexual denial#Long_term_denial-gadfium 06:22, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

The latter is guarenteed to give him blue balls and he probably won't be very happy with you. Raul654 06:24, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

1 definitely works, but withholding sex from him just to give him a better orgasm doesn't really make sense. You should read up on BSDM but I think all you're asking is how to please your man better. Ask him. --mboverload@ 06:51, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

An attempt at 2 would piss any guy off. But then, how can you not allow him to have orgasms? Either way, the orgasm might be more intense, but that's not necessarily better. More than that, he'd come sooner. And I'm not sure if that is what you want. (Better orgasm for whom?) However, if you plan to have kids, it does increase the active sperm count. So there is one thing it could be good for. (Better orgasm for womb.) DirkvdM 07:47, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Both of those would be more frustrating than pleasurable. My recommendation would be to perform oral sex or have sex rather slowly, so it takes longer for him to orgasm (the longer it takes, the better it usually is in the end).

[edit] Safe parts of Manhattan

I'm visiting Manhattan and planning on staying out late every night, taking the subway back to my hotel and probably walking a half-dozen blocks alone. What are the subway stations/lines to avoid because of crime? What are the areas of Manhattan to avoid because of crime? Is there a good map of crime/sqkm that I can look at?

Thanks, -Don

Anything is safe except the J. Pacific Coast Highway (blah • lol, internet) 06:58, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Manhattan is a relatively safe city. Certainly not the crime city of the 1980s.Maybe avoid Spanish Harlem (the only part of manhattan I've felt unsafe walking in) . Hotels and tourist advice bureaux may exaggerate the dangers of public transport for tourists. I was given a serious warning by a concierge at a top hotel in LA not to use the LA subway at all for fear of my life, but whenever I used (including at night), it appeared to be full of poor, but honest hardworking people on their way to and from work and some ordinary schoolkids (ny subway can be much more scary) plus there seemed to be cop patrol on almost every train.... though no tourists Bwithh 10:32, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Don't go north of 125th Street at night. You should probably also avoid Hell's Kitchen and Spanish Harlem at night. Other than that, Manhattan is ridiculously safe. It's one of the lowest crime levels per capita in the nation, and personally I've never had a problem in Manhattan or known anyone who has. --M@rēino 15:29, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
so I kind of booked a place around 112th street...~20 blocks into Spanish Harlem...I guess I'll be taking a taxi home at night to drop me off right at my door? -Don
When I was in New York City in June, the crime stories I heard a lot about from my hosts & friends were a pair of attacks, one a many-on-one beating of an entertainer, Kevin Aviance, in lower Manhattan, specifically the East Village[1], and the beating of three neighbors in Astoria, Queens by a group of youths[2]. The positive side of that is that these incidents are well-known because they are unusual. The time I spent in New York, I've always felt safe. I've never rented a car, and only used a car service to & from the airport. I walk or take the train everywhere I need to go, mostly in Manhattan (below about 86th street), Staten Island, and New Jersey. --Ssbohio 22:28, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] looking for a club/bar to drink/dance manhattan

What areas of Manhattan are known for their nightlife catering to white-suburban-style 21-30 years old club or bar with drinking/dancing? I don't want to walk into some gangsta club or blue collar bar by accident. Thanks. DOn

You may get some awesome answers here, but I'd also suggest trying some bulletin boards that are frequented by Manhattanites; the NY section of e-gullet.org, the NY section of Craigslist.org, maybe look for a 'dine out manhattan' or 'manhattan nite life' bulletin board or something connected to one of the popular tourism books sites, like lonely planet or fodor's etc., or see if there's a general bulletin board for Manhattanites; there is one for my home town.--Anchoress 05:18, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Chelsea, Manhattan, Greenwich Village, and SoHo form a huge contiguous party zone on weekends in the summer. Oh, and bring a nice pair of shoes -- a lot of clubs won't let in people wearing tennis shoes (it's a crude but somewhat effective way of keeping out riff-raff). --M@rēino 15:33, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Land of Aluminium or Titanium

I have two questions to ask you:

1.Which countries and American states are major producers (either total,area-equivalent, or population-equivalent) of aluminium and/or titanium ores?

2.Which countries and American states have very good, major industries (either total or population-equivalent) of manufacturing aluminium,alumina, and/or titanium?

60.241.116.24 05:39, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

The Aluminium article has a convenient link. --ColourBurst 05:46, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
In the US they don't have any Aluminium. They call it Aluminum. :) DirkvdM 07:50, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Bauxite has an excellent chart of which nations mine the most raw aluminum. --M@rēino 15:35, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A riddle I can't quite solve..

This riddle has been bugging my brains for a little while. It seems like it should be obvious, but I can't think of anything.

I never was, but I am always to be, 
No one has seen me and never will 
And yet I am the confidence of all 
To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball

Any ideas anyone? --Howard Train 07:25, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Death? Though I'm not sure what to make of 'confidence'. If that means 'certainty', it fits. DirkvdM 07:53, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
The future?--Anchoress 08:16, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Tomorrow.--Rallette 09:36, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes, a quick Google says it's tomorrow.--Shantavira 09:41, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Thanks all, 'specially Shantavira. Brain rests. Sleep comes. --Howard Train 11:02, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
And it makes more sense if the To in the last line is fixed to Who. alteripse 14:22, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mix

r the 'mixed' (i mean ppl. with parents from different races) more intelligent than the 'pure' as some ppl say?

I can't see any reason for that, nor do i know what a "ppl" is... Benbread 11:29, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Pimple? User:Zoe|(talk) 21:14, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Try heterosis. —Blotwell 22:12, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
  • While heterosis may exist, I'm sure that race/genes and intelligence are pretty unconnected. What you know and how intelligent you are is mostly the result of your learning ability and your upbringing/environment. If I look at the IQ scores of people in my family, I see no causal connection between the IQ of parents and their children. - Mgm|(talk) 17:07, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
It's not true. My Dad's Scottish and me Mum's English and I'm as thick as two short planks. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 01:38, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
Take a look at Hybrid vigor though that's decidedly controversial.

[edit] Audrey Tautou

Does Ms. Tautou speak English now or what? I remember her English was really rough during Dirty Pretty Things, but I haven't seen the Da Vinci Code.

According to this BBC article:
But the hardest part of making Dirty Pretty Things for the actress was the language barrier. She did not speak a word of English and had to work intensely with a coach.
"It was terribly difficult just to speak English at all but then I also had to speak with a Turkish accent. It came as a huge challenge to even get to the point when I could speak a sentence with any sort of fluidity," Tautou says.

I would imagine she still would use a dialogue coach for films like The Da Vinci Code. --Canley 00:03, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] U.S. elections

How many current/former U.S. governors and congress members are Buddhist or Muslim? -- Toytoy 14:44, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

It seems there has never been a Muslim member of Congress. [3] Probably no governors either. --Cam 18:04, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Is Jerry Brown a Buddhist? I know he had some kind of association with Buddhism, but it may have been just a flirtation. Wikipedia categorizes him as a Catholic. Bhumiya (said/done) 01:05, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

No muslin members of congress, however their was once zoastarian, their is also a Roman Catholic, who was raised hindue (both of indian origin).

[edit] Haircolour

Were there any singers who used to have purple, blue, pink, and green hair as a part of fashion or for their music videos?

Pink (singer) would be the most obvious answer.
A lot of punk bands did, or did you mean individual singers?--Shantavira 16:53, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

McFly wrote a song about a girl with Five Colours in Her Hair. I don't know if she's in their video but.--martianlostinspace 10:09, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Todd Rundgren had multicolored hair back in the 1970's. --LarryMac 12:35, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
How about George Clinton (funk musician)?
Sigue Sigue Sputnik? Jem and the Holograms? Cyndi Lauper? — Catherine\talk 23:18, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
Gwen Stefani had pink hair 'round the Return of Saturn stuff.  !172.167.13.87 02:14, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] pastry/bakery

Hi there, I would like to know the difference between Pastry and Bakery. Are they the same of different?

Well pastry is any of a number of different, usually sweet doughs or food made from the dough. A bakery, is a place where pastries are baked allong with bread, usually made from a dough that is not as sweet as pastry.MeltBanana 17:18, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
In more detail, in culinary usage, breads (& savories I think) are made in a bakery, while pastries are made in a patisserie. In American usage, both bakery & patisserie are referred to as "bakery." --Ssbohio 02:41, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] music

Which music are considered as "black music", while which music are considered as "white music"?

Off the top of my head - black: gospel music, rap music, jazz, hiphop music, the blues. white: heavy metal, techno/electronica, classical, opera, new age music, rock n roll Bwithh 16:10, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't think that music can be easily sorted in black and white. Music (as well as many areas of culture) often borrow and copy from other cultures (and sub-cultures). Jon513 19:09, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Traditionally, Rock & Roll was considered to be a fusion of Black music (Rhythm and Blues, Gospel, Jazz) and White music (Country and Western, can't think of any more right now...). Our article about it has more. We also have an article about black music which may be of help, but no corresponding article for white music.
Interestingly, Dvorak was probably the first person to predict the fusion of "Black music" and "White music", around the turn of the last century. I can't find the source for that, but I disctinctly remember reading it somewhere. --Howard Train 20:43, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

According to the Grammy Awards, gospel music is divided into "contemporary gospel" and "traditional gospel". Contemporary is black. Traditional is white, country and western. User:Zoe|(talk) 21:15, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

There's a long running debate at Talk:Beethoven about whether or not he was black. If this turns out to be true, then "Alle Menschen werden Brüder" (in the Ode to Joy) takes on a new and deeper meaning. JackofOz 00:22, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
I felt silly checking that, but you're actually serious. Funny, a hint of as white guy having some distant black ancestor, and suddenly they're black. If black genes were so dominant that would be food for black supremacists. DirkvdM 18:23, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
I'm shocked that you ever doubted me, Dirk. I'm deeply hurt. I have to rethink our friendship.  :-) JackofOz 19:37, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
I do love the standard of proof in the Beethoven-was-black thing. "Contemporaries say he [drumroll] looked swarthy!" It's remarkable how completely blind Central Europe apparently was to any kind of prejudice back then, that no-one ever sat down and wrote something a little stronger about it... Shimgray | talk | 11:11, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Rap music is White. Eminem. Classical is Black. Andre Watts --GangofOne 03:33, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fargo

In the movie "Fargo" what does William H. Macy's charachter need the money for? In the diner when hes hiring the two "hitmen" he begins to mention some sort of issue/problem. Also, whats the deal with the "lot" hes trying to get his fathe-in-law to loan him the money for? Are the two connected? Im assuming I missed it.

Thanks!!!

Such questions are probably much better asked at www.imdb.com then here, but you do have to register there. From what I remember isn't he after money for dental work to impress barman. MeltBanana 17:12, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
You could check the script] at the IMSDB to see if it is mentioned in dialog anywhere. Digfarenough 17:37, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Jerry (Macy) borrowed a lot of money from the dealer's credit corporation for nonexistent cars. That's the guy who keeps calling him at work for documentation, whose "patience is at an end," and Jerry says he'll "fax 'em on over" to him. My understanding is that Jerry needs the money to pay back that debt.--Cam 18:12, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
And IIRC, he horrowed the money because his business was going badly. Which would make sense, Jerry being Jerry. :) HenryFlower 19:08, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] X I Initials

I am looking for a famous person with the first name starting with the letter X and the last name starting with the letter I. they can be dead or alive or even a fictional character. Please e mail me a reponse if you can find someone with these initials. Thank you. (email address and duplicate question removed)

Does Xerxes I count? You might want to look at List of people by name: X Digfarenough 20:02, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Francis Xavier Irwin is a Catholic bishop in Boston, but he doesn't go by his middle name. Irene Xavier is a women's rights activist in Malaysia -- same initials, but backwards. -- Mwalcoff 00:32, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
We have an article on one X. J. Kennedy, which is the closest I can provide. Unless you want to cheat and say Pope Pius XI or some other ordinal. --Howard Train 16:02, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Think there's a Catholic saint called "Xavier" hotclaws**==(82.138.214.1 07:55, 18 July 2006 (UTC))(