Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Science/2006 July 6

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[edit] Substantial Revision of a Stub

Dear Sci Dept.,

I would like to propose a substnatial revision to the stub: Hedgpethia. As a stub, it only has some taxonomic reference, which was probably given as a group, but there are at least two meaning s of the world.

1: Hedgpethia. A specific genus of pychnogonids with several species listed in the taxonomic literature. The genus Hedgpethia honors the noted marien biologist, Joel Walker Hedgpeth (1911- ), who was the editor of the 4th edition of "Between Pacific Tides" by Edward F. Ricketts and Jack Calvin, published by Stanford University Press.

2: Hedgpethia: Refers to the scientifc and literary heritage of Joel Walker hedgpeth (1911- ), who published many professional paers on the Pychnogonida (sea spiders), several popular works in marine and coastal biology, and several political and poetical works under the pseudonymn, Jerome Tichenor. This body of work, along with his noteworthy editing of "Between Pacific Tides, 4th edition, published by Stanford University Press, is referred to as Hedgpethia. See also Richard Astro. See also Edward F. (Ed) Ricketts.

Ed: Anyway, as a new registrant I had trouble getting this into the record. You can e-mail me directly about revisions if I have not covered things,

Have Patience,

Randy Smith (Randall W. Smith Portland State Universty either: (emails removed to prevent spam) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Smithran (talk • contribs)

There should be no trouble with editing an article. Click on 'edit', make the changes, and click on save. You don't even have to register to edit existing articles. --Kainaw (talk) 00:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
And try to mention your sources as much as possible. Wikipedia is already big. Now it's trying to improve its verifiability. DirkvdM 09:25, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Combustion of the atmosphere

At what temperature/heat/I don't know the precise term would the Earths atmosphere burn off?

How can this heat/temp... be theoretically reached? -Agito

Earth's atmosphere is mostly made up of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), neither of which is flammable. So Earth's atmosphere cannot possibly "burn off". --Bowlhover 00:46, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Before the invention of the Haber-Bosch process nitrogen fertilizer was made through the "Birkeland process", pioneered by the company Norsk Hydro. Nitrogen oxides were prepared from air in a light arc. TTBOMK the process is endothermic. To answer your question, it is possible to burn nitrogen, but is will only do so at very high temparatures (2000 °C) and the reaction is not self-sustaining. 00:54, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Scientists briefly had the idea in 1945 that if you heated the atmosphere enough, the nitrogen in the the air would undergo a nuclear reaction in which two nitrogen atoms would form a carbon and an oxygen atom with the release of energy, and that this would cause other nearby nitrogen atoms to do the same. This would lead to a chain reaction that ignited the entire atmosphere of earth. However, it was quickly shown that this was unlikely, and nuclear weapons failed to ignite the atmosphere despite reaching temperatures at the center of tens of millions of degrees. So if it could happen, it would require a nuclear reaction and temperatures above the tens of millions of degrees. Crazywolf 01:06, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Alright, thanks for trying. Not that any of you could change the laws of physics. Or could you... -Agito

Who knows. Maybe God is a Wikipedian too. :) DirkvdM 09:27, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
If he is, I'm sure he's too busy with vandal patrol to go mucking about with physics :) --Silvaran 17:36, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Ha! I've found him! Turns out he's a bit of a vandal himself: User:God has been blocked! :) DirkvdM 19:14, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Folder protecting

How can I protect my folders in a pc so that nobody can open or see or modify it without knowing the password?

I assume you mean under windows. In that case, set up an account with a password, and put the folders in that person's documents and settings folder. Crazywolf 01:17, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Or you could put the contents in a compressed (ZIP) folder and password protect that, if you don't want to use multiple XP accounts. —Mets501 (talk) 02:27, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
  • What if you don't have Windows XP? You couldn't open more XP accounts if you wanted. Perhaps it would be helpful to the questioner if someone gave an alternative for other Windows versions (or Mac systems for that matter). - Mgm|(talk) 07:47, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

YOUR SOLUTION: Truecrypt - bow down before your encryption god. --mboverload@ 07:50, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

There are a lot of freeware utilities on google. If safety is really an issue, you can put them on a DVD/CD then hide it. Because files can still be decrypted with the proper algorithm. --Proficient 09:34, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
And the password, which with any complexity would take hundreds of years to crack. But yes, if they can't find it, they can't crack it (good advice). BTW: Truecrypt is compeltely opensource, and is the only thing I would trust with my security. Closed sourced encryption software? No thanks! --mboverload@ 11:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Truecrypt also allows you to create "fake" hidden files, so that you have deniability if you are forced to give up your password if someone guesses it. And there is no known way to tell whether you've done this. Crazywolf 21:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
If you decide to password protect in a user account in XP, be warned that if Vista was installed pn a separate partition on the hard drive, the vista user would be able to access the "protected" files. I did it myself with my own documents using Vista to get into XP documents without password. It seems that Vista can change the fle security settings without authentication, which seems highly suspect to me. So, I'd reccommend using some freeware utility. Martinp23 13:23, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ugandan Space Program [1]

According to Time Magazine, the Ugandan Space Program was one of the worst ideas of the 20th century. I have searched for it, but can find no records of the Ugandan Space Program. Did it ever really exist? 71.31.146.217 02:47, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

A fairly extensive database search turns up nothing. The only connection I can find betwen Uganda and space is that a few meteorites fell on a town in Uganda in 1993 or so. It sounds interesting, though, doesn't it? If you want to find out more, your best bet would be to call up Time magazine and stay on the line until you get a real person who can forward you to a person who can forward you to a person who might know. My guess, though, would be that it was more of an in-joke by someon on the Time staff. zafiroblue05 | Talk 06:11, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
As a follow-up, you may be interested in this and this. (The guy in the second article was born in educated in the US; the first article is further proof that a space program is a little bit out of Uganda's reach.) zafiroblue05 | Talk 06:17, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Finally, there's this. Ugandans may be as interested in space as anyone else, but I find it highly unlikely that they ever had anything that anyone could (even unreasonably) call a "space program." zafiroblue05 | Talk 06:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Uganda is on Earth. Earth is in space. Uganda is in space. ...
I think you may call every Ugandan male person a space man. ... -- Toytoy 06:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
And they're probably stardust too.
Probably!~ unless there are any pure hydrogen/helium ugandans out there, definately! Philc TECI 14:45, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
But seriously, we associate space programs with wads of money, but much of that goes into research, more than the actual building of the spaceship (can anyone quantify this?). A country like Uganda would probably have the money to do the latter (and it's in a good position for a launch - at the equator). All that is needed is someone with a bright idea. The big contest between the US and the USSR was really between two scientists - for the US Werner von Braun, the inventor of the V2 rockets, who went for the single-rocket design and Sergey Korolyov who successfully went for the more complicated multi-rocket design (until he died in 1960, which gave the US the chance to catch up 10 years later). It is not inconceivable that someone would look all this over and say "hold on, .... " (you fill in the dots and get famous). And why shouldn't that have been a Ugandan? Chances will be lower (fewer people with less technical education I imagine), but that doesn't make it impossible. The point is it takes just one brilliant mind. DirkvdM 09:45, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Come on Dirk. A brilliant mind by itself is writing science fiction. A brilliant mind needs a billion doctors and a hundred engineers and technicians to get into space. alteripse 10:47, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I wasn't being clear. I meant someone could come up with a simple solution that wouldn't need all the expensive research, just off-the-shelf stuff. Could still be possible. I'll startt thinking right now .... :) DirkvdM 19:19, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Was it perhaps Uganda that was demanding other countries pay rent for using their "air space" for geosynchronous satellites? I think they had threatened they would remove unauthorized geosynchronous satellites. —Bradley 17:06, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
"Remove"? How? They're not going to shoot them down! zafiroblue05 | Talk 05:18, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] So who's the parasite?

Anyone know what tree parasite this is? --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 02:55, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Can we have a hint? (Where was the image taken, what season, etc.?) Or is this a contest? :D TenOfAllTrades(talk) 03:04, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Kernville, California, July 4, 7am. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 07:35, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
A Mistletoe? -Obli (Talk)? 08:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Could be, but I've not found a mistletoe pic that looks like it. But there are lots of species of mistletoe. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 15:00, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
It looks quite similar to the Juniper Mistletoe that is quite common here in northern Arizona. I don't know if it is also found in southern california or not though. Here is a picture (not very good) of juniper mistletoe:[2] Do you know what kind of tree the parasite is attached to? It's clearly not a juniper but there is a similar species called the Dwarf Mistletoe that feeds on some varieties of spruce and pine trees. --Nebular110 18:36, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
It's an Italian Pine. (For some reason someone out here wasn't satisfied with the vast numbers of Grey and Jeffrey pines around here, and decided to decorate our property with Italians.) --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 02:45, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
I can't find anything about a tree called Italian Pine. Do you perhaps mean Italian stone pine? --Nebular110 04:50, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
I'm not really sure! I just know what people around here call it. Our tree guy will be here next week, and I'll find out more. But the parasite does look like the dwarf mistletoe. Once it's verified, I think I'll stick that pic on the Mistletoe article. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 13:58, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
A-ha! Turns out that it's a local name -- perhaps so local it's just my wife and her friends using it -- for the Aleppo Pine. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 15:28, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
A little research showed that dwarf mistletoe is fairly common on Aleppo pines. So that's a possibility. Being the nerd that I am, I would be interested to know what the tree guy says. Let me know when you find out! --Nebular110 15:38, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Will do! (And as it happens, the full local name is "Goddamn Italian pines"; our friends up here tend to be quite biased against non-native plants.) --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 20:07, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Genital herpes/warts?

I am 15 years old and have never had any genital sexual contact whatsoever. I have sore-like blisters on the base of my penis (on the under side), they dont have that "cauliflour-cluster" look to them. Could I have genital herpes? I don't know how I could have gotten it. Thank you in advance.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, and even if I were I wouldn't dispense medical advice online.
First, if you've had no sexual contact of any sort, it's unlikely to be an STD. Some STDs can be transmitted via oral or anal sex, though, so if you've engaged in those it could be.
That said, there are several conditions that can cause your symptoms. See, for instance, this Medline article. The only way to find out what's going on is to see your doctor. It may be embarassing for you, but I assure you your doctor has seen far worse. Make an appointment soon. --George 03:51, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Could you? Possibly. You could also have pearly penile papules. You could have Behçet's syndrome. You could have a lot of things that don't involve sexual contact. You doctor would know the difference between them. - Nunh-huh 03:55, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Maybe you just rubbed or scratched it too much. You don't get herpes or warts (HPV) from toilet seats, so I'd not worry about that. Doctors can be good though, they are professionals and life will be easier if you just bite the bullet and get used to talking to them. —Bradley 05:17, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
You may feel embarassed, but doctors see this kind of thing MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY. It's nothing to be ashamed of asking about and they would be more than happy to answer you. They know what it felt like to be a teenager, and they want to help out. --mboverload@ 05:48, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I agree. There's no reason to be embarrassed whatsoever in front of your doctor. If you're too embarrassed to phone up/ask your parents to book an appointment about this particular problem, just claim it's for something else - stomach aches or something non-serious but which you want to have checked out. When I had a problem in that area a while ago, I didn't want to tell my parents all the details, so I just claimed I was suffering from loss of appetite and stomach aches and explained all the details to my doctor instead. Turned out fine. Sum0 16:12, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I advise keeping it a complete secret, and hoping it goes away. That will never, ever go wrong. Black Carrot 19:19, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Black Carrot, be careful, sarcasm can often be lost online. Jon513 12:30, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

you most likely have pearly papules. theyre very common, even i have them. my question is do you feel pain? or is there any other unusual things you see/feel? -PitchBlack

[edit] testosterone and interstitial cells

How does a testosterone injection effect the bodies own production of testosterone?--141.151.172.161 07:01, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Check testosterone and you will find out that (a) the effect varies enormously by age and sex of the recipient, and (b) few of the effects involve the interstitial cells. alteripse 10:34, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] CAN I DRAW GRAPHS IN MICROSOFT WORD?

thanx my problem has been solved..by following ur steps!!!. i need help! i have data in word and to transfer it to excel is a hectic job coz data in word is in tabular form but when i copy it and try to paste it in excel it pastes all data either in a single row or single column so can i draw graph in word not in excel?

You can try this: Copy the table from Word to a text file. Then try to open the text file in excel. It opens up a Text Import Wizard. Choose delimited and choose tab as the delimiter. This should open up the file in excel in a neat format. (You may need to fiddle around with some scattered cells, if the delimiting is not proper). Use this excel sheet to draw your graph.--Wikicheng 11:03, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

your idea is perfect for my problem but kindly explain a little bit more ..i m having problem doing this..thanx (unsigned comment moved to the end; it was at the start where it would be missed).

I have created a powerpoint presentation with step by step screenshots for this. But I am not sure where I can upload it so that you can download. I looked into the Upload file page but I think it applies to image files. What do I do with my ppt file? Can someone help me?--Wikicheng 12:59, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Wow, that's very helpful. E-mail would probably be the easiest, if the user has e-mail enabled. — Knowledge Seeker দ 15:04, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

It depends on what you mean by tabular form;

  • If you mean that the data is already in a table, you don't need to do the above - it just has to do with the way that you highlight your data in Word. You need to highlight the cells only, and not the table as a whole. To do this, click in the top left cell when the arrow turns to a small, diagonally-pointing black arrow, and drag over the whole table to the last cell, being careful not to go outside the table. Hit copy, go into Excel. Don't highlight any cells in excel, just push paste on the cell that you want to be the starting cell.
  • If the data is separated by tabs, then yes you would need to do what Wikicheng said.BenC7 02:40, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fixpoints On Cars - What Is A Fixpoint?

If I want a Ford Fiesta, I can get a 5 door hatchback with or without a 'fixpoint' - what is a 'fixpoint'? --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 10:35, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[3] I think it's something to do with a roof rack. – AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 13:04, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Indeed. It's like a bar attached to the car, a fixed point. --Proficient 16:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I don't understand - is it something you attach the roof rack to? You make it sound like a permenant roof rack but there is a website [4] that sells roof racks and lists cars with 'fixpoints'. If it's something you fix the roof rack to, how do you fix a roof rack to a car with nothing to fix the roof rack to?
My problem is that I have roof rack bars from a Fiesta and I want to affix them to a Corsa (which I wont have access to until I'm 6 hours from home (in Harwich)). The website I checked recommended the SAME roof rack bars for both cars so long as the 'fixpoint' option is selected for each car. From this I can deduce that the bars will fit the Corsa, so long as both cars were of the 'fixpoint' category. Thus, I ask again; 'what is a fixpoint'? --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 19:26, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
According to [5], "A Fixpoint is a recessed, roof mounted, fixture point on a vehicle which normally comprises of a threaded hole or metal profile. Fixpoints are generally concealed by lift up covers, slide back covers or plastic plugs.".
I gather it is the place where you attach roof rack bars to your car, so you will definitely need a fixpoint if you want the bars. Apparently they come with different threads (ie where you screw a screw into), but since the website lists the same roof rack, I guess the fixpoint on the Fiesta and the Corsa have the same size/thread. I'd suggest you just give Thule or whoever a call to make sure though. – AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 03:15, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NANO

WHAT YOU MEAN BY NANO?

Tiny, usually. Don't yell. alteripse 10:44, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

If you wish to know what something means, you can write it in the search box. See nano. –Mysid(t) 10:58, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
It means extremely small. But I've also seen it used to mean nanotechnology, which is "the science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules." --Proficient 16:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
When used in a technical context it refers to things done in the scale of nanometers (one-billionth of a meter). Which is pretty tiny. --Fastfission 17:39, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Nano is also a text editor. --Kainaw (talk) 18:03, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
According to my dad, when he and his friends used to play spades they called it "nano" when they were betting zero. Black Carrot 19:14, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Come on guys, this is an SI thing, so it's simple. Nano is a prefix that means 10−9 (or one-billionth). These prefixes can be used for any unit of measurement, including the metre, so you get namometre (nm). Which led to the simplified meaning 'very small' (just as mega and giga got to mean 'very big') and all the rest followed from that. Except maybe for the "Na-Nu Na-Nu" in Mork and Mindy. DirkvdM 19:29, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
That's not necessarily the entire cause and effect, since I believe (if University Challenge is to be believed) that 'nano' itself comes from a word meaning 'dwarf' in Greek (?), hence was chosen as a word that meant 'very small'. So a bit of feedback in the evolution of the word (I was going to write 'linguistic evolution', but last time I did that I got a snide reply from an anon). Skittle 18:44, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
It's an iPod. --LarryMac 19:43, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Shipping a hard drive (with data) safely

I'm going to be sending a hard drive full of data from the UK to the US fairly soon. Obviously, I'll package it well to protect against physical damage, but what are the chances of data loss due to being X-rayed, or whatever else they do with parcels sent between countries, and are there any recommendations for protecting against data loss?

Thanks, --Noodhoog 15:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

It appears not, [6]. Iolakana|T 16:08, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I've had computers (laptops), cameras, etc. scanned without the cases and nothing has happened to them in airports. It should be safe. But just to be absolutely sure, make sure that you back-up the information that you are going to send in the hard drive so that in the rare circumstance that the data does get corrupted, you can have the data safely with you to perhaps re-send or something along those lines. --Proficient 16:24, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
X-rays will have no effect on your electronics. I would be much more concerned about the likely physical handling that your drive will receive. If there's anything important on the drive, make sure you have a backup in a safe location. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 17:55, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
If it's important enough to be on a hard disk it's important enough to have a backup, whether you send it somewhere or not. Actually, now that you send it, you should make a backup of the backup, although some say you should have that in the first place, so now you should make a backup of the backup of the backup. Unless you already have that, but then it's better to be safe than sorry. Also, you should preferably have your backups on different media and in different locations. But if the hd arrives in the US safely you'll have one in a differnt continent. Lucky you.
Anyway, one extra precaution might be to put it in one of those special hd-bags (which it came in probably). I'm not sure what they protect against, though. Probably electric discharge. But they'll be shipped in those for a reason, I suppose. DirkvdM 19:33, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I would suggest surrounding it tightly with several layers of bubble wrap, and putting that in a somewhat rigid container(the box it came in) filled with packing peanuts or bubblewrap. That always seemed to work for throwing eggs off of buildings. I would then surround that with conductive wire mesh, to protect it from magnetic damage and electro-magnetic pulses, and put it in a large, securely locked combination safe packed tightly with trained attack dogs. Actually, just the first part should work. Crazywolf 20:28, 6 July 2006 (UTC)


Thanks for the replies folks.. I fully intend to keep a backup at home, so if anything happens on the way I can just send another copy, but it seems most of the concerns are with physical damage, so I'll just make sure it's well protected and hope for the best :) --Noodhoog 21:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

If there is a way for you to "park" the hard drive, I would do that, too. StuRat 00:29, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

I suppose that the modern drives have 'auto park' and hence no need to worry about parking (moving the heads to a safe area, away from the data)--Wikicheng 04:19, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
I ship a lot of drives for work, and we use something similar to this[7] case, with the drive in an anti-static bag first. --WhiteDragon 14:56, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] University and career prospects

I'm at the age where I'm going to have to start thinking about choosing a university for next year and a subject, so I'm looking for some advice. My plans seem a little ambitious, so I'm trying to find out if they're plausible. Basically, my plan is to get a degree in medicine, which at the university I'm looking at gives me two years in another subject of my choice (which I think will be Biological Sciences or Genetics), and spend x years as a doctor in a field connected with genetics or biology. Then I'd like to get a job in biology research, hopefully genetics, and/or get a degree in Biological Sciences or Genetics. Finally, if all goes well, I'd love to join the ESA Astronaut Corps or whatever they have then, although obviously that's a long way off.

So is this over-stretching myself, or plausible? Is it sensible for me to work as a doctor and then suddenly become a scientist? Should I just concentrate on being one or the other? Thanks. Sum0 16:28, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Hello, Sum0. From your user page, i'm assuming you are talking about the British educational system. In some UK universities you can get a combined BSc in a biological science and a Medicinæ Baccalaureus, this may be your best bet if you wish to be a medical doctor who engages in research. Afterwards, you would still probably have to do an Medicinæ Doctor, so you have a research qualification (as, unlike US MDs, most British medical degrees do not have research components and thus are not "proper" doctorates). Medical doctors without a research degree (such as a PhD or MD) rarely do significant research in the UK. However, if you simply wished to work as a research technician then you could do so with a BSc, but you would be very over qualified for such a job if you were already a medical doctor. Elsewhere, particularly the US, you can do a combined postgraduate PhD/MD degree. As for joining the Astronaut Corp - if that is your dream then you should aim for it (though i would advise making sure you fit the physical and health requirements, as it would be very disappointing to structure your entire education towards that only to fail on something that is outwith your control). My only advice would be to be wary of planning out your life too strictly, many people change their career plans after the attend university, when they learn that they do not enjoy their chosen subject as much as they thought they might. I happen to have experience of both medicine and genetics research in the UK (though not of the Astronaut Corps!), so feel free to drop a not on my talk page if you would like a more specific answer to anything. Rockpocket 18:09, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Thank you, that's very helpful. I agree about not planning out my life too strictly: this plan is just something I'm considering, and it's going to take a lot of thought before I settle on anything. You sound like the one to ask if I have any questions, which I'm sure I will! Sum0 18:59, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] PDF page transformations in Linux

I'd like to take a regular 8.5x11in (WxH) PDF document and print it:

  • Double-sided/duplex
  • 2 document pages per physical page
  • Each page individually foldable to make a booklet

Here's the idea...

  • Take pages 1, 2, 3 and 4.
  • Scale them to 5.5x8.5.
  • Arrange 2 and 3 side-by-side, left to right.
  • Print this on landscape letter (11x8.5).
  • Do the same with 1 and 4, printing on the other side.

Now when we fold the landscape sheet along a vertical fold, we end up with a booklet, that when opened naturally, looks like a 4-page booklet with the pages in the proper order. Page 1 on the front, 4 on the back, and 2-3 on the inside.

Do this 100 more times and stack the booklet, and you have yourself a book.

I thought it might be simpler to transform the original PDF document with a few command-line (Linux--Ubuntu Dapper, specifically) utils first, then manually run it off a few pages at a time to see how things turn out.

Any ideas? --Silvaran 17:30, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

I could imagine a very complicated way of doing this with a combination of ImageMagick (rasterize PDF pages) and PDFLib (position them in a new document), but it would probably require using a scripting medium as well (i.e. PHP, which can work with both of those). Not sure if that is too complicated for your purposes or not. --Fastfission 17:35, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Also, I don't know about Linux, but you could probably make Adobe Reader output pages like that to the printer (or to postscript?) with its options under its print menu. If I were doing this on a Windows machine that's probably what I'd try first — see if I could get it to print to a postscript file and then convert that back to PDF. --Fastfission 17:37, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Convert it to PostScript using pdf2ps, and use psnup, which is in psutils, to rearrange the pages. I tried the same on a 220-page book myself, but couldn't get it to work. Instead, I familiarized myself with PostScript and wrote a rearranging script myself. I don't recommend it to anyone... –Mysid(t) 19:51, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Got it:

  • Use pdfjam (package name in Ubuntu, anyways): "pdfnup source.pdf --pages 2,3,4,1 --outfile output.pdf"
  • Print page 1 of output.pdf
  • Re-feed the paper into the printer so it prints on the other side
  • Print page 2 of output.pdf
  • Fold the page with the fold on the left side, and the lowest-numbered page is on the "front".

I wrote a script to pipe everything to two different PDFs, print the first PDF, re-feed the printed sheets to the printer, and (because of the way the pages come out of and go into the printer), print the second PDF backwards.

Fold each page individually, stack them, then bind :). --Silvaran 20:40, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bug identification

I found this little bug today, its camouflage led me to believe it was an old leaf until it moved. One of its wings is partly crooked, it sems like an injury, considering the other wing isn't crooked. The pictures are taken in Sweden and the bug is about 15 mm long. Any ideas on which species (of moth?) it is? -Obli (Talk)? 19:33, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

I can't see too well, but the crooked wing looks like one that hasn't yet fully inflated after the insect (or 'bug' as you rudely call it) was 'born' out of a pupa. What it is, I haven't a clue, though. DirkvdM 19:44, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I've uploaded a better image of the wings, but what you say makes sense. -Obli (Talk)? 19:50, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I think it looks like a moth, or possibly a moth larva. Iolakana|T 21:03, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
It's an olethreutid moth with malformed wings. Not uncommon. Peace, Dyanega 03:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Iontophoresis Device

How would one set about building an iontophoresis device?

Carefully? Iontophoresis isn't really something that you want to be experimenting with at home without medical supervision. (Any time you start mucking about with stuff that makes good electrical contact with the body you need to be very careful.) TenOfAllTrades(talk) 22:56, 6 July 2006 (UTC)