Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous: Difference between revisions

May 26

Borax

In the article concerning using borax to control ground ivy it states to use 10 ounces of borax mixed in 2 to 3 gallons of water. Is this 10 ounces by weight or dry measure? 69.14.168.126 00:37, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

This has a different recipe [1] It's only good for bluegrass, and lots of people hate it because it puts boron in the soil forever. --Zeizmic 02:49, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Christopher Maleki's character, Spike Lester

I am sorry for this stupid question, but I want to know something about Spike Lester.

Does Spike Lester know my soap opera's storylines and the fictional locations that I create?

What a fictional character "knows" is whatever its creator decides it knows. Perhaps someone at Entertainment's Ref Desk has information about this specific situation. Bielle 02:17, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

This is just more nonsense by the soap opera troll. Don't encourage them. Corvus cornix 16:57, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Home Owners Associations

AS a board of director member for HOA,S do the BOD pay HOA fees, the same as a non boardmember do?

What HOA? Your question is extremely vague. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia whose audience encompasses the entire world. Splintercellguy 02:23, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

As far as I know, wherever in the world the questioner might be, the answer can only be: It depends upon the rules of the specific Home Owners' Association. (I am not sure what the images add to this question.) Bielle 02:26, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

(The images are there, I suspect, because it is very easy to accidentally click on the "embedded image" or "picture gallery" buttons at the top of the Wikipedia edit box. —Steve Summit (talk) 13:24, 26 May 2007 (UTC))

Seagulls' Desk

Is this new Ref Desk something that has to wait for an Admin.to delete? See top right of page. Bielle 02:34, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Ha, ha! Hope some people see it before it goes. --Zeizmic 02:40, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, it made me smile. I just hope that no-one tries to nobble him with WP:POINT over this. --Kurt Shaped Box 02:44, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't think they will delete it, only redirect it to Science until there are enough questions about seagulls, when it will start to work again. --subsequent fallout 03:00, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Deleted per the WP:CSD request. Funny, though. Rockpocket 03:11, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

It met criterion 7 of general criteria, i.e., "author requests deletion". subsequent fallout 03:14, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Trivia

1-Who said "The die is cast"

2-Was Sir W. Churchill happy in his private life?

3-Who was his wife?

4- When did we start to use money in this planet?

Jenny Hoang

1. Suetonius credited Julius Caesar with saying this after he crossed the Rubicon River in his campaign to conquer Gaul. The words uttered were "Jacta alea est" which translates as "The die is cast". See Julius Caesar.

2. He certainly suffered from depression, which he called "the black dog." See Winston Churchill.

3. Clementine Churchill. See Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill.

4. That depends on how you define "money". It is likely that early hominid forms used a barter system: two of your reindeer hides for my axe. There is more in Money and History of Money. Bielle 06:25, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Caesar crossed the Rubicon -- with his army -- after returning from Gaul, to start a civil war against the existing Roman government. Crossing the river was a big deal because it was the border of Italy and bringing his army into Italy was an act of war. See Julius Caesar. There seems to be some disagreement as to whether the word order in the original Latin was "alea iacta est" or "iacta alea est"; the meaning would be the same. (And "jacta" and "iacta" are the same word; the Latin alphabet of the time did not include the letterform "J". Caesar would have written Julius as IVLIVS.) --Anonymous, May 26, 2007, 07:09 (UTC).

Thanks for the improvements and corrections, Anonymous. I believe I made the same mistakes in my grade 10 Latin exam in 19mumblety-mumble. Having an army moving in the wrong direction is generally very bad form. Bielle 22:53, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Not only an act of war, it was treason. —Tamfang 21:41, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

When did we use money "in" some other planet, please ?86.197.169.186 13:41, 26 May 2007 (UTC)DT

4-Probably very recently, as there hasn't historically been much worth buying in mines.

Hmmm - so you smart-ass types who think it's worth picking a simple typo out of the question and going off with it have never heard of caves and cave-men? Let he who lives by the razor-thin-technicality, die by the razor-thin-technicality! SteveBaker 05:11, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

People have used money since the world first started, about 400 years ago. But a lot of people seem to believe the world existed before then, so you should get their oppinion.

Assuming money to be actual coins, these were first used in Lycia and around 250 (500BC) :) HS7 11:54, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Forget that, much older coins have apparently been found :( To answer this question simply- 'Money means whatever you want it to, so you could give almost any date, depending on your definition' sorry :( HS7 11:58, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

and 1-lots of people have said that, but not Julius Caesar, as he spoke latin :] HS7 15:31, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Ex-patriot

Seriously, how many Americans are leaving the states annually? I want out and so do a lot of so called comrades. How many millions are leaving for universal health care, transpo, education, etc.?

71.126.48.220 05:30, 26 May 2007 (UTC)moe.ron

Well, you'd think in this day of strict border control and all, that it would be pretty simple to figure out, but according to this site it is rather complex as people don't just say, 'I'm outta here for good,' when they leave. This data shows less than 50,000 a year (up to about 1990), with breakdowns by age, sex, destination, etc. I'll be the first to admit the US has problems, but compare that to the millions coming in illegaly and however many legal immigrants we let in each year, I'd say we must be doing something right.--killing sparrows ^(chirp!) 06:16, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Ever heard of False Advertising? Anyway, lots of people come here because we're well known about, not because we're the best. If you were a little kid out in Bümenfäĉκen, Asia, would your dream be to move to this wonderful America you keept hearing about, land of the free, homes with a white picket fence for everyone... or Sweden? -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 11:20, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

This is a common myth among Americans, that everyone is screaming and begging to come to America, the Only Country In the World Worth Living In(TM). Generally they're the same people who think the US gives foreign aid to Canada. --Charlene 03:51, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

The interesting question is whether such people are expatriates, or ex-patriots, or both. I'm sure there are many expatriates who are still patriots to their original country. JackofOz 07:27, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

..and maybe "ex-pats" (or is that only former Irishmen who've changed their names ?). StuRat 21:59, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

ex-Pats are former members of the New England Patriots. Corvus cornix 22:20, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Male Orgasms

Are there any foods/vitamins that you can take that will improve the quality of male orgasms?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.7.130.43 (talk • contribs)

See aphrodisiac. Also consider getting a girlfriend. Then use communication and imagination.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 06:57, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

... or a boyfriend. Rockpocket 07:22, 26 May 2007

...or a sheep, baaa Perry-mankster 13:51, 26 May 2007 (UTC)(UTC)

Try eating lots of protein. StuRat 21:55, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Not so sure about categorically going for more protein, but zinc is a good idea. Shellfish are good for zinc. Vranak

practice :] HS7 11:59, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Lots of rest, excercise, no alcohol/smoking etc. And if that dont work, you could always try a butt plug ;-o

Really quick question

Who do I e-mail in the event I forget my password? Sr13 06:50, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:How to log in#What if I forget the password? I'd recommend activating email. Rockpocket 06:56, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I was a little embarassed asking that question, considering I'm an admin and, well...thanks for answering the question. Sr13 07:13, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Shhhhh. I won't tell anyone if you won't ;) Rockpocket 07:20, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Something wrong here. I did what you told me to, but I still can't log in. Now I have to wait another 24 hours and try again... 72.234.6.235 07:25, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't understand what you are talking about. Did you retrieve your new password that was emailed to you and try it with your username? Rockpocket 07:31, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I got it now...I guess you need to wait several minutes before trying. Thanks, and sorry for the confusion. (Phew!) Sr13 07:35, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I wasn't sure whether the IP was you or not! Rockpocket 07:37, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Card games for children

Are there any card games using the standard 52-card deck which have simple rules and are easy for young children to play? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 06:53, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Take a look at these.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:00, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Good stuff, thanks. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 07:21, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Also, try a game of Memory. Lay out the shuffled cards in a 4x13 rectangle, face down. Have them draw two cards, and, if they match, they get to keep them; if they don't, they put them back. Whoever has the most cards at the end wins. For very young kids, only the color has to match (1/2 chance). For slightly older kids, only the suit has to match (1/4 chance). For even older kids, only the number/rank has to match (1/13 chance). For experts, both the color and number rank/has to match (1/26 chance). If you have two identical decks, you can even challenge masters to match the exact card (1/52 chance). This will help to improve kids' short-term memorization skills. StuRat 21:18, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

This game is also called Concentration, and lent that name to a long-running TV game show involving a similar rule. Another way to play the card game is to spread out the cards haphazardly instead of the rectangular layout. --Anonymous, May 26, 2007, 22:56 (UTC).

And, for a twist, a parent can lay the cards out in some order, not randomly shuffled. Then, when the kids play, they will also try to determine the pattern as well as memorize which card is where. The one who guesses the pattern first is likely to win. This can help them develop pattern recognition skills. StuRat 23:23, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

The simplest card game is called "war." Shuffle the cards and divide them equally among the players. Each player plays one card per turn. The player who plays the highest card wins the point. Play continues until everyone is out of cards. -- Mwalcoff 01:20, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

My favorite card game for kids - and especially for mixed groups of kids and adults - is "Cheat!" (also known as Bullshit!). You need at least three players - preferably more. The objective is to get rid of all of your cards - and the game is over when the first person succeeds in doing that. Deal out all of the cards equally between the players (if there are any left over, deal them to the oldest children/adults) - each person takes turns to take between one and four cards out of their hand and place them face-down on the discard pile. As they play them they have to say what it is they claim to be playing - which must be cards of the same denomination. So you you might play three cards and say "Three sixes" or you might plasy four cards and say "Four aces". The thing is though that you are allowed to cheat. Because you need to get rid of your cards quickly - it's best to play three or four of them at a time - but most of the time you don't have three or four of the same number so you'd be stuck getting rid of just one or two cards each turn. BUT...you are allowed (encouraged!) to cheat and play a six, a two, a queen and a nine and say "Four eights" or something. Any of the other players is allowed to call "CHEAT!" which forces your to turn over the cards you played to prove whether you were cheating or not. If you cheated then you have to take ALL of the cards in the discard pile and put them into your hand (bad news!) - but if you didn't cheat then the person who wrongly accused you has to take the discard pile instead. It's a lot of fun - the game goes fast and the strategy is surprisingly deep. eg: There isn't much risk to cheating when the discard pile only has a few cards in it - but there is HUGE risk if there are a lot of cards there - but the risk is the same for the cheater and the accuser. Claiming that you are playing cards that you don't actually have in your hand is risky - if you say you are playing three sevens - and someone else has two sevens in their hand - they're going to call "CHEAT!" for sure. But one sneaky trick if (say) you have four kings in your hand is to play any old four cards and say "Four Kings" - knowing full well that nobody knows for sure that you are cheating...and then to keep playing four cards and saying "Four Kings" every time it's your turn! This annoys the heck out of the opposition because then they know for sure that you are cheating - but they never know on which turn you'll stop cheating and play your four kings for real! This is hilarious - everyone knows you're cheating but it's a matter of bluff - they have to look carefully at your face and see if you are smirking...it's a lot of fun. Of course you can always play without ever cheating - but it's unlikely you'll win against someone who is - so honesty doesn't pay! A nice variation when there are more people playing is to shuffle up two or three decks of cards and let people play any number of same-denomination cards on their turn. So with three decks you might dump 12 cards on the table - saying "Twelve three's!"...the tension gets really high when you can cheat on such a monumental scale! SteveBaker 05:03, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

The first card game I learned was California Cassino. —Tamfang 21:52, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Seems a bit complicated for kids...Snap (game) is probably more the kind of thing the questioner is seeking. SteveBaker 00:59, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Why does my cat smell bad?

She's usually an exceptionally clean animal. She's a Maine Coon cat and i've never detected an offensive odor from her before. I know she got a distemper shot a day or two ago. Anyone care to venture a guess as to why she might smell poorly?

It may be a sign of illness, or for some reason she is not cleaning herself properly of late. It would be best to call the vet that administered the vaccine shot recently for advice, particularly if there is a behaviour change. Vassyana 11:17, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree, a change in odor can be a sign of illness, whether in a human or other animal. Take your cat to a vet. Also, see if you can identify the source of the odor. An area scratched during a fight that became infected and is now draining pus is one of many possibilities. StuRat 20:58, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Meanwhile, you might enjoy the lyrics to Smelly Cat. :-) StuRat 21:27, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

If your cat is unable to smell or smells poorly, it may be a problem with her nose. If your cat has a bad smell, I would take her to the vet. In fact, take her to the vet anyway. - AMP'd 21:55, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Maybe your cat's breed has something to do with it? Racism stinks. --84.67.135.166 23:34, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I believe they're named after raccoons, 84.67.135.166. Why see racism where it doesn't exist and isn't meant? --Charlene 03:49, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, are you sure you brought home the right animal? Does it look like this Raccoon ? because they do smell bad Mhicaoidh 04:35, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Can the cat still get outside :? You haven't accidentally locked it in, have you :] HS7 12:00, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Are you feeding it milk? A cat should actually not be fed large quantities of milk. It will make them smell bad. S.dedalus 03:04, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Uh, which end smells? or is it the middle?Gzuckier 19:33, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

OK, now I'm on Shogakukan's web site...

I'm on Shogakukan's web site, but there's a problem, in fact, a few problems. First, the site has a Japanese side and an English side. Second, I don't see Naruto on the list of manga that Shogakukan processes. Third, how can I contact Shueisha at Shogakukan's web site? Fourth, how would Shogakukan transfer the e-mail to Shueisha? And fifth, would Shogakukan recognize an e'mail in English?

Shueisha is a rival company with Shogakukan, thus Shogakukan doesn't list a comic they have nothing to do with. The bottom of the article has a link to the Shueisha website. As for your fifth question, I'd imagine most large companies would have someone who could read an English email.Tantei Kid 11:15, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

A second question...

I know Japan is more in technology, but on the CIA's web site, it said that the United States is the most technologically advanced country in the world. Is the fact likely that the United States is the most in technology.

As in all such questions, this is unanswerable unless and until we more precisely define what it means for a country to be "most technologically advanced". Most spending on R&D? Most PhD's and engineers graduated per year? Most high-tech transit systems? Most men landed on the moon? Most Tamagotchis per capita? —Steve Summit (talk) 13:18, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Yep, "best" "most", it's subjective until you describe it. And keep in mind, even though Japanese cities are very high-tech, their rural areas are very much not so.

Latest version of Pro Evolution Soccer

What is the latest version of this game?--203.124.2.24 13:07, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Pro Evolution Soccer 6. Carom 16:33, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

howard hughes

which of howard hughes many women was married to him but they didnt leave together for a copule of years. 2.every time i start my computer it says "system could not log u own and that i shud check on my domain name bla bla blah.but it still logs me on without any problem.how do i get it to stop this annoying message.

1. See Howard Hughes.

2. Try changing the domain from whatever it is to "this computer".

—Steve Summit (talk) 14:57, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Two by four?

If something is described as being "two feet by three feet," does that mean that this object is two feet tall and three feet long, or two feet long and three feet tall?--the ninth bright shiner ^talk 16:34, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

It's ambiguous. I'd be more inclined to think "2 wide and 3 long", but not for certain. What is the object in question? Is it more likely to be longer than it is tall? If you need to do precisely, ask the source you got the figures from. Daniel (‽) 16:37, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

It's a measure of Height and Width. Length has nothing do do with it. Height and width is based on which way you look at it , if it's on it's side the longer number indicates height and the shorter width, if it's on it's bottom, the inverse is true. -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 16:43, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, it's a map on a posterboard. It's probably more likely to be wider than it is tall, but I just wanted to be sure.--the ninth bright shiner ^talk 17:02, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

In the printing industry, the convention is always to give the width first, then the height. If you look at your printer paper size settings, for example, this is what you should find.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:55, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, it's a map of Canada...would it really make sense to have the map taller than it is wide?--the ninth bright shiner ^talk

Sometimes; Canada is a long way north, and some of the northern most islands almost reach the North Pole; choosing a different map projection can affect the shape quite a bit, especially if you include a bit of the US; see this CIA map; although not as extreme as a 2:3 width:height ratio, it is almost of portrait orientation; if a key was added at the bottom and the white space around the edges trimmed, it could reach 2:3. Laïka 19:22, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Interesting map, i observe that Canada has three close neighbours: the US, Denmark and France Mhicaoidh 00:20, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Bizarre map. It barely reaches to the far east and west, but includes Washington, D.C.? Also, the only community between Yellowknife and Inuvik is "Echo Bay", a largely abandoned mine, and not any of the dozen or more real communities??? --Charlene 03:46, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Well it is a CIA map, of course it would portray the looming Northern Threat, poised to strike at the vunerable heart of the homeland. Quick vote more money for the military industrial complex! ; ) Mhicaoidh 04:28, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Eggs

If I was rich, would it be possible for me to uncook a cooked egg? And why do we need to put salt on an egg anyways? ...on the topic of household stuff, can I also ask, What is it that shrinks a cotton shirt? If it's heat, it excites the atoms, so shouldn't it expand the shirt? Thank you. --JDitto 19:02, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

You can't uncook a cooked egg because the change that occurs within it on heating is a chemical reaction, not a physical change. You put salt on it to make it taste better, although I tend not to; it's optional :-)

Can't you reverse chemical reactions? subsequent fallout 01:25, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Not all of them, for example, have you ever tried reversing the lighting of a safety match? When you heat an egg, its proteins denature. This happens because heat increases kinetic energy and causes the amino-acid molecules to vibrate so rapidly and violently that the structured molecular bonds are disrupted, causing misfolding. See Denaturation (biochemistry). Rockpocket 02:00, 27 May 2007 (UTC) Rockpocket 02:00, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Well you *can* reversy any chemical reaction in theory, but it might take an ungodly amount of meticulous preperation of billions and billions of atoms at exactly the right places and speeds to mindboggling accuracy. I suggest you just buy a new egg.

The only way to uncook an egg I can think of would be to feed it to a chicken - the chicken can produce enzymes which break the proteins of the egg back into amino acids, and then reconstitute them as a raw egg. Possibly, in a few decades we may be able to use genetic engineering to produce chicken ovaries in a lab (we can already make bladders after all), so you could carefully breakdown the egg to its constituent parts (amino acids, fats, a few trace minerals) and inject these into the ovary as the feedstock, which would then build a new egg out of the old one. Of course, for at least the near future, this is science fiction. Laïka 09:47, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

That's quite interesting, Laïka. So, you can uncook an egg after all.

Rockpocket: I would expect combustion to be reversible, but I really don't know that much about the subject. subsequent fallout 13:10, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

It depends if you are talking theoretically or practically. As far as I know, any chemical reaction could theoretically be reversed given enough energy and the right conditions, but practically speaking many cannot. As for Laika's enterprising example: thats not "uncooking" an egg, its simply recycling the material to create a new egg. If we are using that as our parameters, then we could say that we can "raise the dead", since the material generated from cremation or burial will eventually make its way back into another living organism! Rockpocket 23:17, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I asked on the Science desk whether it would be practical to reverse the lighting of a safety match. A.Z. 23:42, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

You can uncook an egg using supercritical carbon dioxide. The denaturation of an egg is not a chemical reaction, but a change in the protein conformation. It enters a lower energy and higher entropy state when enough internal energy is achieved. There is a transition state with a very specific transition volume, and by using supercritical carbon dioxide, you can return the egg to this transition volume and create a scenario in which the original protein conformation is favored.

Cotton shrinkage is caused by the relaxation of tensions within the fabric that arise from the manufacturing process - the yarn is held under tension on the loom and that tension is retained in the finished garmet. When you first wash the fabric, the heating causes the fibres to relax (due to expansion, as you guessed; they expand proportionally in all directions but since the fibres are much longer than they are thick, the effect is mostly to make the fibres longer) and this releases the tensions in the fabric. When it's cooled down, there's no way for the tensions to be re-created in the fabric as it's no longer held taut on the loom. As a result it shrinks to its "relaxed" size - after the first wash, it doesn't tend to shrink much further, if at all. --YFB ¿ 19:12, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Aww...so it's not possible for me to shrink a shirt so much that it can go on a stuffed animal. Thanks for the thorough answer though, YFB! --JDitto 22:29, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Maybe not, but see felting.

--TotoBaggins 04:28, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Umm, isn't the real answer to the question to do with entropy? Once you cook an egg or light a match, you are disassembling a well-structured object and producing a disordered system. The entropy of the system has increased. Reversing entropy is very, very difficult to do. We only have localised increases in entropy on this planet because the Sun is providing the energy needed, but with a large decrease in entropy for the Sun (ball of hydrogen converts to photons scattered throughout the universe). Carcharoth 06:16, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

See also Arrow of time, Irreversibility, and Entropy (arrow of time). Carcharoth 06:21, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

To return to your question about salt, when boiling an egg, the salt softens the shell, making it easier to peel or break.[2] Laïka 16:57, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

"I'll take 'Questions you ask yourself when you are stoned' for $500, Alex..."

Do we know how long...

Do we know how long, on average, it takes for a misspelled word to get corrected? It would be possible to test with on-purpose misspellings, but I'm not going to vandalize Wikipedia, and it wouldn't be that useful because it would change in different, more popular articles where there are more people to correct the misspelling. I'm just wondering anyway, Jeffrey.Kleykamp 20:22, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I think you've answered your own question. I'm not aware of anyone trying to measure this and I think the results would be fairly meaningless if they did. I would guess that the distribution is something close to Gaussian, probably with the peak shifted to the right a bit as there are probably more articles hardly ever get looked at than there are ones with regular editing. Basically, I dunno. --YFB ¿ 20:29, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't think there is data available on the fixing of accidental misspellings. There is data on vandalism though, both internally and externally analysed. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Vandalism studies for details. "One study" (PDF). found that the word fuck lasted a median 1.7 minutes before reversion (though this was published in 2004, so it was probably prior to the creation of reversion bots that search for certain words). Amusingly, the authors note "This particular obscene word was chosen based on its disproportionately frequent use in acts of vandalism. An explanation of vandals’ attraction to this specific obscenity is beyond the scope of this paper." Rockpocket 20:47, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

I was reading some of Vandalism Studies, and I thought of a way to answer my question, all you have to do is find a misspelling in the history of a random article and find the correction in the later history (it would be time consuming to find a misspelling and the correction manually, a computer program could do it, however, it would need a list of misspellings to search for and their corrections), and then look at the time difference, I think this would be a pretty good way of answering my question. Jeffrey.Kleykamp 21:16, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

There are also bots that do specifically misspellings and common misspellings. --24.147.86.187 23:53, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Are there? See Wikipedia:Bot policy#Spell-checking bots.--Shantavira|^{feed me}

I think there are script assisted editors who do that, which are essentially bots but require human oversight before making the change. Rockpocket 18:53, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

See also WP:Tyop. Rockpocket 06:04, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Something in the drainpipe

Something — a bird? a mouse? — is stuck in the gutter downpipe on the side of the house. It is a very large downpipe — three stories high — made of something relatively flimsy like aluminum or tin. It has no obvious screws to remove if I wanted to liberate said animal (or retrieve it after it has expired, if the case may be). Shaking said gutter drain did not cause the animal to fall out of the bottom. What ought I do? I don't know how to take the downpipe apart, and I am not eager to break it as I am moving out of this house in a few weeks. I'm somewhat indifferent as to whether the creature lives or not (if it is a bird it is probably injured, and I do not have time or moral fortitude to take responsibility for its life) but I'd rather not have a corpse in there, and if there was an easy way to get it out I'd be interested in doing it. Any thoughts? --24.147.86.187 23:53, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

You could use a plumber's snake. Rmhermen 00:02, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

A ferret?

After you remove the corpse, it would be good to place some sort of filter at the exits of the pipe, so no more animals can get in. subsequent fallout 01:22, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, tell the slumlandlord that. I'm just going to be happy to be away from the place, and I'm not going to get on a three-story ladder to fix his property. --24.147.86.187 02:26, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I wonder if you could push a garden hose up from the bottom of the downpipe and push the obstruction out of the top of the pipe. Failing that - if it's blocking the down pipe, putting a lot of water down there might flush it out. Perhaps (again with a garden hose) you could lean out of an upstairs window close to the downpipe and maaybe duct-tape the end of the hose to the head of a broom or something - so you could get the end of the hose up into the gutter - then turn it on full to dump lots of gallons of water into the gutter and hence into the downpipe. The weight of all of that water would pretty soon flush anything out of the pipe if it's forming a reasonably tight seal. SteveBaker 04:36, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Remember it is three. stories. high. (Actually, 3 stories PLUS the ground level itself is raised up about half a story) I think the sheer weight of that much garden hose would make it pretty impossible to push it up a three story drainpipe. I don't exactly have roof access and I'm not going to break my neck here. What I'm really looking for here is some sort of tip as to how one might take apart the pipe from the bottom, or something like that. Nothing that involves me being at the top of it or being able to push something all the way up from the bottom. --24.147.86.187 13:44, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

You could throw something in there that will help it decompose faster. subsequent fallout 15:35, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

If I've learned anything from watching old cartoons on TV, it's that dynamite is often a solution to tough problems such as this one. :P 71.113.114.231 23:26, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

How do know there is an animal in there? I could be a monster or a tiny troll. Be careful... Carcharoth 12:09, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

May 27

Beaver confusion

I searched for Canadian beaver and I was redirected to American beaver. That was okay until I read the opening paragraph where they called this animal the North American beaver. The species name is Castor canadensis which leaves me confused, which is the right name for this animal? Is American beaver a shortened version of North American beaver? --The Dark Side 01:51, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

It seems that Castor canadensis is the only species of beaver currently native to the Americas, and that the common name is the "American beaver," rather than "North American beaver. See this site, which lists common names. Carom 03:02, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I see the talk page has a heated discussion on this question that unfortunately sheds no light on the matter. [3] implies one species Castor canadensis is called both Canadian and North American, but there are 24 subspecies. [4] has more detailed info and shows the regional distribution across the continent of castor c. Most scientific papers on google seem to imply its North American Beaver and that would be more accurate, sorry as I am to deprive Canada of a national symbol. But I'm not certain, I guess this is why we use scientific rather than common names. Even among flowers and trees the same species can have several common names. You could try the Science desk but my guess is multiple common names are valid. Mhicaoidh 03:13, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

There are lots of bald eagles in Canada, too, so we will share our birds with you Canucks if you will share your beavers with us. StuRat 06:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

And beware the Mountain Beaver which is neither a beaver nor inhabits mountains Mhicaoidh 03:16, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Does anyone know of any good sources for Australian horse racing records?

I was editing the article on "Arwon" the winner of the 1978 Melbourne Cup. It contains a claim of his overall record which I cannot find any sources to verify. Can anyone suggest any good sources either online or in print where I could check?Capitalistroadster 05:08, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps a major library will have them. --Proficient 05:10, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

This article from the Brisbane Times gives his record as 16 wins, 13 seconds and 5 thirds in 67 races, although they don't give a source for this. Carom 05:28, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Name of song

What is the song thats being played in the background of this video [5], --Coasttocoast 05:39, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Thinking about it I think it is Eminem, forget the name of the track. I think it is the one with Dr Dre and in the video they dress as batman/robin or something strange like that. ny156uk 09:31, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it's "Without Me" by Eminem. Laïka 09:49, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

No. It's My Band by D-Twizzy.  Sʟυмgυм • т • c  10:55, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Slumgum is correct, it is indeed My Band.Jamesino 16:24, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Starter Pokemon

I need some advice - in Pokemon Diamond - what is the best starter pokemon in the long run (i.e., for competitive battling) - Turtwig, Chimchar, or Piplup? Ali ^(t)_(c) 07:29, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

This is not an advice website. Sorry, but you are unlikely to get many answers here.

I would recommend instead that you make a list of all your options, then find out everything you can about them and compare to see which is best. A weighted average would be useful, as some things are more important than others.

Also, you have to define what is best and important to you. It may be that you actually prefer a weaker pokemon, so the game is harder to play and it is more rewarding to finish it. I used to play Dune II, and, at the beginning, you have to choose which out of three Houses to play with. Ordos was clearly weaker than the other two, so it felt better to go to the next level when I was playing with Ordos. subsequent fallout 13:19, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Chimchar. Jamesino 16:23, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm more interested in how they will fare in multiplayer battles. I decided to go with Piplup because penguins are awesome, and so is water/steel! Ali ^(t)_(c) 20:35, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I've been considering this... I've decided that if I do get a copy, I'm getting Piplup, and naming it Tux. -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 21:00, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Coincidentally, I just started playing diamond yesterday, and chose Piplup as well. Steel / Water is a very strong combination. It also has good stats, and good special attacks and special defense, according to the pokedex. Tortwig is extremely slow but has extremely good physical defenses. Chimchar... I never liked fire type Pokemon because they're not that useful. It's strong against grass, but so is flying (Piplup). It's strong against ice, but so is Steel (evolved Piplup). It's strong against bug, so is flying (Piplup). But Chimchar does have one good thing going for him. He gets his second elemental type after the first evolution, instead of after the second, like the other two. However, just because you choose one at the beginning doesn't mean you have to put it in your line-up in multiplayer battles. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 22:06, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Those are their English names? God they're awful... --Candy-Panda 03:42, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Why disc brakes are better than drum brakes ?

Look at drum brake and disc brake for a more full explanation of the relative advantages/reasons for each. Disc brakes, as I understand it, give greater stopping power and can reduce your speed faster. Also I think Disc-brakes can have abs technology and i'm not sure if drum brakes can have that. ny156uk 09:24, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Discs are easier to change the brake pads. Also, when off roading, they clean out easier when rocks and such get caught in them. Dismas|^(talk) 12:56, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

ABS is definitely possible with drum brakes; many trucks have ABS. Meanwhile, disc brakes also have the distinct advantage that there's no brake fade as they get hot.

Atlant 21:59, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Disc brakes are generally lighter than drum brakes, and for better handling and performance one wants to have less unsprung weight. Also, on those lines, making a disc brake disc larger will increase the swept area for only a small increase in weight. A larger drum brake will have a proportionally much larger increase in weight. Drum brakes (at least in the old days) were also prone to self-servoing. As you applied the brake, the rotating drum would pull the leading edge of the shoes in, and the braking action would increase on its own.

Disc brakes will most definitely fade when hot, I've experienced it myself many times on my motorcycle. Granted, I was on racetracks when it happened, but by the end of a session with top speeds nearing 180 MPH my brakes would certainly be fading. Brake fade is more a factor of small air bubbles in the brakelines than the type of brake itself. As the brake fluid heats up, it can boil, causing gas bubbles in the hoses. Those bubbles are compressible where the fluid is not, resulting in brake fade. 71.113.114.231 23:23, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

But long before you boil the brake fluid, you will have rendered drum brakes completely ineffective by virtue of the drum having expanded past the point where the shoes can apply enough pressure. If your brake fluid is boiling, you either need a different brake fluid or your current brake fluid is contaminated with stuff (such as water) that is boiling out.

Atlant 18:04, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Ah, I hadn't thought of that. So all else being equal, when a disc brake and a drum brake heat up, the drum of the drum brake will be expanding and moving away from the brake shoes, rendering it less effective (or "fading"). When the disc of a disc brake heats up it expands too, but unlike the drum, does not move away from the brake shoes. To the original poster: Another couple advantages of disc brakes are that the discs can be drilled, and the discs can be floating. For a discussion of what those terms mean see this page, and scroll down to the "brake myths" section about halfway down, where drilled rotors and floating rotors are discussed. 71.113.117.115 19:14, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

How many calories / 100g in bakkwa?

As title - wondering if anyone knows where I can find nutritional information for bakkwa - thanks! 131.111.229.57 09:33, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

According to THIS site, it's 228 calories in a 57g serving, which would be 400 calories per 100g. Anchoress 00:17, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Just what I was looking for. Thanks! 131.111.229.57 17:15, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Exercise bike problem

I turned the "difficulty" knob on my exercise bike to a higher level one day, and got on and started pedalling in a normal way, and there was a loud click kind of noise and since then all the difficulty levels feel the same, loose, easy way. I guess something broke? Is this common and/or simple? How do I fix this? thanks for any suggestions...

Sounds like some gears/chain disconnected. Can't really say without looking at it how hard it will be to fix -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 15:05, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to agree with the statement above. It sounds like while you were shifting the setting, the chain or whatever material slipped off the gear and is stuck somewhere possibly not connected to anything. So you're effectively just moving the pedals and not turning everything. Might want to check the bikes manufacturer to see if you have some sort of warrantly, or you can probably open it up and fix it yourself (opening the bike, re-attaching the chain, and closing it)--GTPoompt 13:58, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm looking for a superhero chat...

I'm looking for a web site where I can chat about superheroes. I came to one but it was a forum instead of a chatroom. Can you tell me choices for a site, which is a chatroom, not a forum?

What's the difference? If you're looking for realtime messaging, I'd think a website is the wrong medium. —Tamfang 21:38, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Maybe be more specific about superheroes? Maybe you want a Marvel IRC chat channel or something? But your best bet should be IRC. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 21:48, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

if you ask on the superheor forum that you mentined, they might know about some chat rooms.-Czmtzc 15:09, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Pigeons on cricket grounds

I well recall watching English cricket in the 1970s and 1980s and a regular feature was flocks of pigeons being disturbed from the outfield when the ball was played in their direction. Indeed, I believe that the Lord's museum has a macabre exhibit of a pigeon that was killed by a cricket ball. It is my perception that flocks of pigeons no longer gather at the Test grounds in England. Is my perception inaccurate? If not, what's caused this? Pigeon mortality or a deliberate (successful) attempt to deter the "flying rats"? --Dweller 21:50, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

According to Lord's groundsman Mick Hunt (no, seriously) in 2006:

We see a lot of wildlife here: kestrels and sparrowhawks, plus the odd racing pigeon. We found a peacock strutting about here a few years ago – I’ve no idea where it came from! We also have a lot of foxes. They’ve become a real nuisance... We trap them in a cage in the winter months – we can’t do it in summer because there are people on the grounds – and they get released in a wood down in Sussex. Over the past the past two winters we must have caught in the region of fifty foxes per winter. [6]

So perhaps the combination of foxes, kestrels and sparrowhawks are enough to scare off the wild pigeons. Rockpocket 03:18, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

There were plenty on show during this winter's Ashes, but I've not noticed any so far this summer. Blowers still gets excited as the odd one flies by, but the flocks are sadly missing. It's not so long ago that pigeons were a common sight - I seem to recall Simon Hughes gained the nickname of 'Pigeon' when working as The Analyst for Channel 4. Perhaps the pigeons now just prefer county cricket - here is a picture I took of some pigeons being conspicuously indifferent to cricket at Trent Bridge. Slightly mores seriously, I don't think that pigeons themselves are on the decline - in fact there seems to be more of them than ever, and they seem less averse to humans too - so they must be being deterred somehow. →Ollie (talk • contribs) 03:23, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

They've all flown north to shit on my car. Bloody pigeons. Neil (►) 11:51, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

News Agencies

What news agency (CNN, CTV, BBC, etc...) is the world's best? Best= covers a wide variety of issues, goes in-depth in many issues and is un-biased. Thanks. 64.230.43.114 23:20, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Best is very much a matter of opinion. Historically the BBC was widely considered to be "the best", partly due to its funding situation promoting impartiality, and its global reach (The BBC World Service). This appears to have taken a bit of a hit recently (see Hutton Inquiry and Criticism of the BBC), but is still often described as being "the best" when you sample people, awards, pundits etc. [7][8] [9] [10] [11] Reuters and Associated Press are pretty well respected globally, also, but less well known to the man-on-the-street.

Although technically not news agencies, if you ask people in the Midwest of America, they are more likely to tell you FOX or CNN, and if you ask in the Middle East, they may tell you Al Jazeera. In otherwords, bias, or lack thereof, is very much in the eye of the beholder. Rockpocket 01:33, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I think it depends on the subject area. But if I had to pick one, it would be the BBC. They have one huge theoretical advantage over the others - they have an utterly independent source of funding. They aren't funded by big corporations via advertising - they don't have to attract a big audience in order to pull in cable TV fees - they more-or-less aren't funded by government either. They get their money from a tax that's collected from the British people in the form of a Television License Fee. The money goes straight from the license fee into the BBC's coffers - nobody can refuse to pay it (well, not without winding up in jail or getting rid of their TV's) - the government can't get their hands on the cash so the BBC don't have to suck up to the British government in order to get the funding they need. This pretty much allows the BBC to "do the right thing" - they have no incentive to do otherwise. Well, that's the theory at least. I'm biassed - because I'm British - but I see the BBC as a shining highlight of what the British people give to the world. It's not perfect - but it's a lot better than the alternatives. The BBC world service radio is still the place people all around the world turn to when there is trouble in their part of the world and they want the truth. You see! User:Rockpocket was right - bias is in the eye of the beholder! SteveBaker 04:16, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, the ARD is independent in the same way the BBC is, its funding model was copied from the BBC. I would say that the BBC provides slightly better new coverage than the ARD, although the Tagesschau was really incredibly good until it started to decline a little about 15 years ago. American news channels are completely laughable in comparison, so I think that the funding model is really a factor for a good news service.

Before lauding the BBC, you might want to red the article Criticism of the BBC. The BBC's "independence" may not be such a virtue. Because British people have to pay license fees to the BBC, the corporation may lack accountability. You assume that with no monetary pressure to satisfy advertisers or keep viewership numbers up, the BBC will "do the right thing." But what is to stop them from not doing the right thing?

It's said, for example, that the corporation's Middle East bureaus have a long-running institutional culture hostile to Israel, and that those who do not share that viewpoint do not get positions in the Middle East. A commercial network facing competition might feel forced to address concerns about biased reporting because of pressures from viewers. Fewer viewers, less money.

In my opinion, the best news agency is, bar none, the Associated Press. AP articles run in thousands of newspapers of all different stripes, so they have to be straight-down-the-middle completely unbiased -- and they almost always are. If you live in the United States, most of the international content in your local newspaper probably comes from the AP. -- Mwalcoff 05:11, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

The trouble is that accountability means bias towards the opinions of those to whom you must be accountable. There is nothing stopping the BBC from doing the wrong thing - but there is no institutional reason why they should. If you are held accountable to your advertisers - it's hard to say something bad about them. If you are held accountable to your viewers then you can't say things that are unpopular - no matter how important they are or how much what is said happens to be true. If you are accountable to politicians - well, it's self-evident that that isn't going to work. Newspapers that are held accountable by their owners suffer biasses that way. So what do you do? There is no group to whom you could be accountable without that very accountability resulting in bias. So, dispense with accountability - instill a culture of non-bias - and hope it works out. I'm open to hearing other suggestions - but the BBC's model has historically worked out pretty well (although nothing is ever perfect). SteveBaker 14:05, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

The idea is to have a pluralistic press and media in which you have different outlets that are accountable to different people. In my opinion, no one should be forced to promote opinions he or she disagrees with, as is the case in the UK with people opposed to the BBC's agenda. -- Mwalcoff 00:58, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Apparitions/ghosts in televisions?

I have two questions, both I've searched tirelessly for, for the last couple of hours on google and wikipedia and have found nothing. The first is, is there a "scientific" name for the effect of having pictures display apparitions/ghosts in television screens? Also there used to be a very popular shockwave flash-based video displaying examples of such pictures with discussions about them, it also showed a few other "ghost" pictures -- i've tried to find this but cannot, does anyone know where I can? -Anthonysenn 23:24, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

There is a formal meaning for the term "ghost" and "ghosting" in TV images - it happens when a TV signal is reflected by a nearby building or something - your receiver gets two versions of the signal - one via the direct path and another from the reflection. Because the distance the signal has travelled is different, the signals arrive at slightly different times and a second 'ghost' image is formed on the screen - generally a little to the right of the real image. Another cause of ghost-like effects is "co-channel interference". This happens when the radio reception is unusually good for some freak weather-related reason and there is some TV station that is on the same frequency as the one you are watching but which is supposed to be too far away to pick up. Under the right circumstances, you get a faint ghostly image from the other TV channel superimposed on the one you are watching. Sometimes this is very obvious - but on other occasions it can be downright creepy. However, this 'ghosting' is nothing whatever to do with any supernatural nonsense. SteveBaker 00:28, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

There are two other possibilities.

• Local cable companies which carry local stations may not carry them on the same channels as they're broadcast, and a ghost of the broadcast signal can appear behind the cable signal. For example, CICT broadcasts on channel 2 in Calgary but is carried on cable channel 7. If you have cable (like 90-some percent of Calgarians) and you tune to channel 2, you'll get the current TV listings, but behind it you might see ghosts of whatever's being broadcast on CICT.
• You may see a ghost if your TV tuner malfunctions. This is more common with older sets (which is why many of these stories come from 20 or more years ago). --Charlene 01:51, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Or occasionally there could be real ghosts there :] HS7 15:29, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

"They're here..."

Atlant 18:12, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

See also Multipath. Also, expanding on Charlene's point, you may also see ghosting on cable systems when they transmit a local channel on the same cable channel; if the broadcast signal "leaks in" to your cable drop, it will probably produce a ghost that leads (is to the left of) the main cable image. The reverse can happen if you're watching the television channel via an antenna, but your neighbor's cable connection is leaking the cable signal outwards; you'll see the cable system's ghost to the right of your broadcast signal. For either of these faults, the cable company will probably want to know about it.

Atlant 18:10, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

May 28

Answer this question pleese. (chicken or egg first ?)

What came first the chicken or the egg? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ninjawolf (talk • contribs)

The chicken or the egg. On another note, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Anchoress 02:26, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

The egg as a biological tool came long before chickens, but the chicken egg obviously came from a chicken. So the Chicken came before the chicken egg, but the egg came before the chicken -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 03:08, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Chicken and Egg are laying in bed. Chicken is smoking a cigarette and staring off into space. Disgruntled, Egg says, “Well, I guess we know the answer to that question, now.”

This is an evolutionary matter: Consider the very first creature who was sufficiently genetically different from it's parent that the offspring would qualify as "A Chicken" (under whatever biological classification scheme you'd accept) - and yet the parent bird - whilst very similar to a chicken - would fail that test and not be classified as a chicken for whatever subtle reason. That first chicken definitely hatched from an egg - so the egg came first. QED. I certainly agree that if you change the question to say "Which came first: The Chicken or the Chicken-egg" then we have more of a problem. However, that's emphatically NOT what the question said - so we don't have to worry ourselves about that. SteveBaker 03:58, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Maybe we should get someone fluent in Ido Lojban to help us with this -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION!

• The Easter Bunny. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 05:37, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Clearly the egg came first. "Chicken" is just a human created classification. 07:22, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I am surprised by the amount of people that say this question cannot be answered. When the universe began, there were a few hot particles, but certainly neither chicken nor eggs. Now there are both, chicken and eggs. So at some time between there was the first egg, and at some time there was the first chicken. Why should it be difficult to order the two times once they are known? The answer is off course the egg, as steve explained already.

But is a chicken egg a chicken egg because it was layed by a chicken, or because there is/was one in it :? And it is obviously the egg first: 'ab ovo usque ad mala', the egg is the very first thing :] HS7 10:04, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

According to this article [12] "a team made up of a geneticist, philosopher and chicken farmer claim to have found an answer. It was the egg. Put simply, the reason is down to the fact that genetic material does not change during an animal's life. Therefore the first bird that evolved into what we would call a chicken, probably in prehistoric times, must have first existed as an embryo inside an egg" Mhicaoidh 10:39, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

But that egg was laid by a bird that wasn't a chicken, and was therefore a [whatever that bird was] egg :) HS7 15:26, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

No, the mutation that occurs to form a new species, chicken, happens in the embryo which is in the egg. A proto-chicken can't genetically change during its life to become a chicken, therefore the first chicken was the egg which hatched to be a chicken even though the parents were non-chicken. For instance, the first liger was the embryo produced by the mating of lion and tiger Mhicaoidh 10:05, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

(Whilst utterly irrelevent to the original question - the answer to which is unambiguously "Egg")...What Mhicaoidh says is not really true: Suppose the parent ('pre-chicken') bird normally lays eggs that have pink shells with blue spots. The mother bird forms the shell - her body is a pre-chicken, not an actual chicken - so her genes would compel her to make a pink and blue egg. Only the genetic content of the egg would be that of a true chicken, the egg would certainly not be described as a chicken egg because those are white or brown without blue spots. Similarly, the non-genetic material in the egg sac would also be characteristic of the pre-chicken. Gradually, as the embryo develops, more and more of the internals of the egg would be true-chicken and less and less would be the nutrients placed into the egg by the momma pre-chicken. So in that sense, the egg from which the first chicken emerged was not necessarily something we'd describe as a chicken egg.

However, it's quite unlikely that the key feature that distinguishes our pre-chicken from a true-chicken is the colour of the eggshell...or indeed that the key genetic difference has anything whatever to do with egg production. So it's quite likely that pre-chicken eggs are actually 100% indistinguishable from a true-chicken egg and that the only thing that distinguishes pre-chickens and chickens is something completely different. If that is indeed the case and pre-chickens lay white or brown eggs with the exact same chemical composition to a true-chicken egg - then we may say that the first chicken hatched from a chicken egg.

Then you can layer on some 'nature versus nurture' arguments here - since that first true genetic chicken may have developed in a non-chicken egg - and in the first weeks of life was nurtured by a non-chicken, it may well have grown up looking like a pre-chicken and behaving like one too. Since it would be the only true-chicken on the planet, it would have had to breed with pre-chickens - so not all of it's offspring would necessarily be true-chickens. It would take many generations before you'd something that was both genetically and in truth a true chicken. Evolution happens in very small steps - and in reality it would probably be impossible to point to one individual and say "That was the first true chicken" - unless you were pointing to one very specific genetic marker in the chicken's DNA. SteveBaker 11:39, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Ask Nick. Unless you ask Fetcher. Atlant 18:14, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Sea level

Not looking for exact numbers, but which is higher above sea level-the city of New York (US) or Melbourne (Australia). Thank you very much. Cuban Cigar 09:04, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Both are seaports. Are you looking for the highest point within city limits? —Tamfang 09:30, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Cuban Cigar 09:32, 28 May 2007 (UTC) Yes please.

the highest point in New York is much higher that anywhere in Melbourne.

Todt Hill (formerly Yserberg or "Iron Hill") in Staten Island is New York city's highest point at 410 feet. Fort Washington/Bennett Park (Long Hill) is Manhattan's highest point at 284 Feet. Flagstaff Hill is Melbournes highest point but I cant find how high....yet Mhicaoidh 11:14, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

That's interesting. I could believe that Flagstaff Hill is the highest point in the City of Melbourne (= CBD), but the urban area known as "Melbourne" includes a number of different city councils and is far bigger than the CBD. There would be many places in "Melbourne" that are higher than Flagstaff Hill. What's the source of your info, Mhicaoidh? JackofOz 12:54, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

When in Melbourne (my favourite aussie city) I do as my colleagues do and my perambulations are pretty much confined to the CBD: the high points for me are located in a triangle between the art galleries, Fed Square and RMIT, centred particularly on a little bar in Swanston St called Cookie. I remember the museum is an uphill trek and I was thirsty at the top, but the Flagstaff info I got from here [13] , confirmed by a few other sites: "Flagstaff Gardens are Melbourne's oldest gardens. They take their name from a flagstaff erected in 1840 at the settlement's highest point, in order to communicate between the harbour and town". However there may well be a higher point in wider metropolitan Melbourne. Mhicaoidh 08:45, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm absolutely convinced of it, but I can't identify such a place right now. I'll do some research and get back to you. Thanks. -- JackofOz 12:48, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

But if you are going to consider the urban agglomeration of Melbourne (outside of municipal limits of Melbourne proper), then you would need to compare it to the urban agglomeration of New York, which covers an extensive area outside of New York City, including some hills more than 400 meters above sea level. Marco polo 16:46, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

LEWIS SURNAME

Hello from the USA! Can anyone tell me if the surname of "Lewis" originally came from Wales??? PLEASE this is very important!! Thanks, Robert E. Lewis Sr. [email address removed]

I would guess that it has several origins, including the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides, but that most of them are from the English form of Louis. —Tamfang 09:31, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Lewis (surname). Dr_Dima.

sdrowkcab

Sorry, this is a bit of an odd question, but are there any words I can write backwords that mean the opposite of what they mean written forwards. They don't have to be spelt particulatly well, if that helps.

"On" and "No" could be considered exact opposites in some senses, such as Boolean logic, but they are a bit short. Laïka 15:49, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Semordnilap is palindromes spelled backwards, and it could be considered its opposite, since a palindrome spells the same word backwards and forwards, while a semordnilap spells a different word backwards and forwards. 83.79.160.105 18:02, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

This is a tricky question. The best I can come up with is tip, which is a protrusion or a mound, and a pit is an indent or a hollow.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 19:56, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

There are many anagrams, but I would think relatively few anagrams are precisely the reverse spelling of each other. (Golf/flog is one that comes to mind, but they're not opposite in meaning.) There must be a list somewhere of the subset of anagrams that are reverse spellings. It would be a simple matter to check such a list for words that are opposite in meaning. -- JackofOz 21:59, 28 May 2007 (UTC) Or, to approach it another way, very few anagrams at all are antonyms (unite/untie is one I know), and even fewer of these are reverse spellings of each other. JackofOz 22:39, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Perl tells me these are the words in my dictionary whose reverse is also in the dictionary (first direction only, no palindromes, 2+ letters). --TotoBaggins 00:25, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

abut, agar, ah, ajar, am, are, ares, ate, avid, ay, bad, bag, ban, bard, bat, bats, bed, bin, bog, brag, bud, bun, buns, bur, burg, bus, but, buts, cod, dam, debut, decaf, decal, deep, deeps, deer, defer, deliver, denier, denim, deres, desserts, devil, dew, dial, diaper, dim, dog, don, doom, door, dos, draw, drawer, draws, dray, dual, edit, eel, eh, em, emir, emit, ergo, evil, eviler, fer, flog, flow, gal, gals, gas, gel, gem, girt, gnat, gnus, got, gulp, gum, gums, guns, gut, hahs, ho, hoop, it, keel, keels, keep, knits, lager, lap, leer, leper, lever, liar, loop, loops, loot, looter, loots, lop, mar, mart, mat, maws, may, meet, mils, moor, mu, nap, naps, net, new, nip, nips, nit, no, not, now, nut, nuts, pals, pans, par, part, parts, pas, pat, paws, pay, peels, pees, per, perts, pets, pins, pis, pit, pols, pools, ports, pot, pots, pus, raps, rat, rats, raw, rebut, redraw, remit, rot, saps, saw, sleets, sloops, smart, snaps, snips, snit, snoops, snot, spat, spay, spit, sports, spot, spots, sprat, stew, straw, sway, tort, tow, way

I don't see any opposites in that list. It's beginning to look like there isn't a word for something like this because (at least in English) there aren't any. SteveBaker 04:35, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Interestingly, SteveBaker's list has turned up words which which have the same (or very similar) meaning: yaws and sway. Laïka 10:08, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

(I can't take credit for the list - TotoBaggins was the one with the kick-ass Perl skills.) SteveBaker 11:16, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I think "tip" and "pit" would count. Neil (►) 11:48, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, the Bard is certainly not drab, but that's stretching things a bit. If I really had kickass Perl skills (or else more devotion to this question), I'd read in a dictionary of antonyms, and print out the ones where the edit distance for reversals is low, to broaden the search to allow minor misspellings, as the OP specified. --TotoBaggins 13:44, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Gelato / gourmet ice cream

I'm interested in the following:

What is the size of the U.S. gelato market? And/or, what is the size of the gourmet ice cream market? (if possible, it would be great to get both of these numbers in grocery versus retail store bought).

Also, I would be highly interested in any reports on the growth of this market.

Thank you so much for any help you can offer!

Best, Robyn

I'm not sure how you define "gourmet ice cream". Just about any ice cream could qualify, depending on the def you use. Without a precise def, any figures we find could have Ben Jerryrigged. Perhaps how they are packaged could be one criteria. The rectangular cartons that leak out the corners could be considered "non-premium", with the cylindrical containers that are properly sealed being called premium. We can call this the Sealtest. StuRat 06:35, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Three-way phone calls

Are three-way phone calls possible in the UK, and, if so, how is it possible to connect one? Thank you, 81.151.242.82 16:05, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

BT offer conference call packages which allow up to 20 people to take part - the organiser has to have a "BT MeetMe" account to set up the "meeting room". Other people can then ring the number in order to join the party call. You can find out more info at BT Conference Call MeetMe. Other phone providers probably have similar services. Laïka 16:32, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

BT.com has a page about using 3 Way Calling. Briefly: While on a call, press Recall to get a dial tone and call the second party. When ready to join both parties, press Recall to get a dial tone and press 3. --Bavi H 06:00, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

am looking

am looking for a famous american pair who used to be famous.they are both dead.the guy was a recluse.when he died he had beards and long nails.he married a judges daughter.its not howard hughes but the celebrity has a full article on him in wikipedia.

The article Recluse contains a list of more-or-less famous recluses, though many were only out of the public eye for a year or two. I don't see anyone in the list who jumps out in answer to your description. Perhaps you, or another editor, will have better luck. Bielle 16:51, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Author musicians

I'm looking for names of people who are or were equally accomplished both as musicians or composers and as literary fiction authors. The only one I can think of is Kinky Friedman. Thank you for helping out. 83.79.160.105 18:08, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Seems Bob Dylan shows up as a musician/writer, though I can't say i'd ever heard of him being a writer. I think Madonna has written some children's books. Also Ricky Gervais has written a children's book, performed as an actor and, well, at some point sings in the hit series The Office. This (http://www.43people.com/tag/musician,author) shows a list of people tagged on 43people.com that have both musician/author tags (not heard of half of them!) ny156uk 18:20, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

How about Jimmy Buffett? "Tales from Margritaville" was a New York Times" best seller. His bio was also a best seller.

Leonard Cohen, Minou Drouet. --Allen 20:04, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Some googling (site:en.wikipedia.org "was * writer * composer" and similar) returns many matches, among whom I have heard of Anthony Burgess, Léo Ferré, John Cage, Arnold Bax, Spike Milligan, Ezra Pound, Steve Allen (comedian), Thomas Moore, Serge Gainsbourg, Labi Siffre, Boris Vian, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dwayne Wayans. I also discovered Jára Cimrman. jnestorius^(talk) 23:40, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps its stretching the definition of accomplished, but Madonna wrote The English Roses, and Stephen King, Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver and Matt Groening are among the authors who moonlight among The Rock Bottom Remainders. [14] One member of the group who is, perhaps, equally accomplished as both a writer and composer is James McBride. Rockpocket 00:53, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Also Shel Silverstein, Steve Martin. --Allen 02:08, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Racing

If all motor racing were outlawed, how much gas and oil could potentially be saved?

Do you really mean "How much gas/oil is used in motor racing?" Because outlawing it does not mean it does not happen. And even if it does not happen, the people who would be racing would have time to do something else, which might involve using gas and/or oil. --Tugbug 20:25, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I recently read that the amounts of petrol, diesel etc used by spectators driving to watch other sports (football, soccer etc.) is in the same ballpark. Can't find the reference right now, but I'm looking for it /85.194.44.18 20:49, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

There would be no significant or practically measurable savings. It's simply a matter of scale. — Lomn 21:10, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree - it's got to be utterly negligable. The gas used by the crowd getting to the event would dwarf the amount used in actual racing - which means that you'd save more gas by banning (say) baseball than motor racing since there are more spectators going those sports. Granted that race cars are generally none too fuel efficient - and they'll rebuild the engine between races - so you know the oil isn't going to last more than one race. But 50 cars driving for a few hours in a race is just negligable compared to several thousand people driving an hour to get to see the race. It's not worth worrying about. The way to cut the amount of gas consumed is to require typical daily-drivers to be more fuel efficient - there isn't another way. There are plenty of nice cars that get 40, 50 or 60 miles per gallon - so how come the average US car gets 22 miles per gallon (in theory, using EPA numbers) and closer to 15 mpg in practice? We know how to do this - it's just a matter of having the political will to make it happen. Personally - I'd bet that the research that goes into automotive technology because of racing does vastly more to improve the world's gas consumption than the gas they consume in actually racing them. SteveBaker 22:39, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Consider also that Ethanol was used this year to power Indianapolis 500 race cars. Edison 17:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

visa for usa.

I am due to travel to florida next easter on holiday. I have a conviction for a.b.h dating from 1987. will i need to get a visa to travel?

First of all, you don't say what country you're coming from, secondly, I have no idea what "ABH" is, and third, we cannot give you legal advice -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 19:57, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Probably "ABH" = "Actual bodily harm". --Tugbug

Their IP is from the United Kingdom. [15] A.Z. 21:16, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Your best bet is to contact the US Embassy in your country and enquire, they should be able to help you figure out whether or not a travel-visa will be granted. If, as is suggested, you are from the uk their website is...http://london.usembassy.gov/ ny156uk 21:19, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

(EC) The IP resolves to the UK. If you hold a British Passport then this page would suggest you will probably not be able to travel under the US Visa Waiver Programme and therefore may require a visa. I would suggest you contact the US Embassy in London for clarification,

• US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE. The Visa Information line is 0904 245 0100 (calls are charged at £1.20 per minute). Rockpocket 21:19, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Printing a flag

I'm trying to print a picture (specifically a flag) at a size of 11.5" x 8.5". Sure it's distorted, but that's beside the point. The size of the paper is 11.5" x 8.5", and the printer can't print outside a narrow margin. Is there any way I could still get a 11.5" x 8.5" flag printed, like through the use of poster printing?--the ninth bright shiner ^talk 20:20, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

You'll need to use the borderless mode to print it if your printer supports it. --antilived^{T | C | G} 21:12, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

It probably doesn't. Could you please explain a bit further?--the ninth bright shiner ^talk 21:27, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I've used Proposter before. I think there is a trial for it. --Proficient 22:22, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

May 29

24 clock sound

Anyone know where I can find it? I'm looking for the one that plays for the digital clock that appears before commercials and such. --The Dark Side 00:19, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

You mean the clock sound on the TV series '24'? You might ask this one on the Entertainment Desk. SteveBaker 04:24, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Similar song

Anyone know a song similar to the drumbeat in "Tetsujin" by Juno Reactor & Don Davis off of the The Matrix Revolutions: Music from the Motion Picture? --The Dark Side 00:26, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

That would be similar to any Taiko drumming. Although Juno Reactor and Don Davis are Electronica artists, the drumming on that track was done by GOCOO. 72.153.208.46 04:52, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Hooky

Hypothetically, what would be the best way to avoid going to school or to get out of school? 71.31.148.79 02:51, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Of course this is hypothetical. Seriously, just don't show up. It's not like they're going to send out a search and rescue team -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 03:03, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Graduate. That's the only method that is guaranteed to work, in every jurisidction, with no negative repercussions to you. Every other option depends upon where you live and how your area views truancy. There are areas that do a type of "search and rescue", especially for younger children who don't show up at school. Bielle 03:15, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

They could easily send a truancy officer after you, so they very well could do a search and rescue. (I hope they would, actually. It'd give me a little more faith in the governmental system.) To graduate is good advice; you're probably most of the way there anyway. zafiroblue05 | Talk 05:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I would try an illness, the Plague or Smallpox perhaps? The isolation and risk of death aside, I'm sure you will get a few days off school. Xarr☎ 08:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

If you die, you'll get more than a few days off. Alternatively, there's home schooling. -88.109.98.20

Smallpox is extinct in the wild, so contracting it might both be difficult and attract more attention than you really want. Algebraist 08:31, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

• I found that going to school and remaining in my own dream world throughout the day the most effective way to avoid the whole unpleasantness while still actually being present.hotclaws 10:43, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I recommend you watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. --Dweller 10:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

A serious answer to your question: Education is not only legally required but also essential to having any kind of reasonably pleasant adult life. If you just don't get an education, you'll find it nearly impossible to get interesting work or a livable income, as well as lacking critical knowledge and skills. So what you need is a way to get your education without attending school. Unschooling or Homeschooling, then, are your best bets, but they will only be effective if you have the cooperation of your parents and if you are strongly self-motivated to learn. -FisherQueen (Talk) 10:57, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Interesting... I misread your question (possibly because of the question title) and thought you were asking about playing hooky on a single occasion. However, re-reading the question, it seems that you're asking about getting out of going to school at all. I have no idea how old you are, or which country you live in. The potential answers would vary with these pieces of data. However, home schooling is a viable option in many countries, but it requires quite a bit of buy-in from adults. In many countries, there are also parallel structures to schools for those who don't like school. Further education colleges etc are worth considering if you're old enough. One more thing - the reason why you don't want to go to school may be useful to know. If you're being bullied by other students or staff or are unhappy for other reasons specific to your school, it's probably possible for you to move schools. Try discussing the problem with a parent or a sympathetic teacher you trust. Finally, if you've just not done your homework or prepared for an examination properly, treating the situation in an honest and adult way will pay dividends - teachers are often happy to listen sympathetically to a student who says they've messed up and are prepared to a) 'fess up and b) put it right. Hope that helps. --Dweller 11:15, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

It depends where you live. Around here if I really hadn't wanted to go to school, I would have gone to the Marlow academy, since not even the staff bother turning up there.

It also depends on what type of school you are trying to get out of. For Universities, just drop all your classes and get a withdrawl slip from your registrar or dean or whatever. For High School/Middle school... Too many absences that are unapproved I believe can lead to you failing out and forcing a retake of classes, which would be worse in the long run. --GTPoompt 14:17, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Depending on the location, compulsary attendance laws allow students to drop out upon reaching some age like 16. Then they can be slackers and live in their parents basement or get a low paying job. In the U.S. you can take an exam called the "high school equivalency" and then stop going to school or start college. Your IP address indicates you are from somewhere around Little Rock, Arkansas. You might take a look at [http://www.homeedonline.com/popcompare.html} which tells about an online program called "Arkansas Virtual School." Edison 18:01, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

most title winner

It is known that football in England has a long history. According to history the league of english football has started in 1888(the premier league in 1992). I want to know which player, coach, and club wins the most title in overall english football league (1888-2007).

As explained at English football champions, Liverpool have been champions 18 times, more than any other team. The manager/player information you want will not be so easy to find, I fear. Algebraist 08:35, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Check out Herbert Chapman --Dweller 10:49, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

The player is Ryan Giggs - 9 leagues, 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 1 Champions League, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 5 Charity/Community Shields (23 in total). No other player has 9 league titles.

The most succesful manager is Alex Ferguson, who has now won 25 major titles with Manchester United (overtaking Bob Paisley, who won 19). Fergie also won 8 major titles with Aberdeen. Chapman won 6 titles in his managerial career (4 leagues, 2 FA Cups). Full list:

• Ferguson - 9 leagues, 5 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 5 Charity/Community Shields, 1 Champions League, 1 Cup Winner's Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 UEFA Supercup (25). No other manager has won 9 league titles.
• Paisley - 6 leagues, 3 League Cups, 5 Charity Shields, 1 UEFA Cup, 3 European Cups, 1 UEFA Super Cup (19)

Hope that helps. Neil (►) 11:42, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

If you have a few minutes/hours/days spare you should peruse www.rsssf.com. The site is filled with amazingly detailed information about football from virtually all nations. It has some very obscure stats in there and they often turn-up in them pub-question/work emails that I adore so much. ny156uk 17:01, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Emirates Stadium

Further to the above, I noticed a reference in the Herbert Chapman article to the "marble halls" of the Emirates. Famously, Arsenal's old stadium, Highbury had marble halls - were these moved wholesale to the Emirates, or has someone just replaced Highbury with the Emirate's name in the article? There's no reference in our article on the Emirates to the "marble halls". --Dweller 10:53, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I've changed iot to "halls", which should cover it (the marble halls were at Highbury). Neil (►) 11:27, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

words, again

returning to my backwards words question above, I have decided that a word that means the opposite backwards doesn't exist. So I am now looking for any phrases that mean something each way, not necessarily the opposite. can anyone tell me where I can find this information.

Palindrome. My favourites are "Madam, I'm Adam" and "A man, a plan, a canal... Panama!" --Dweller 11:36, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

And one word ones, such as "racecar". JoshHolloway 12:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

It doesn't mean much, but I've always liked the one my friend invented: "Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas." Hmmm... just googled it, and maybe she didn't invent it lolz. Anchoress 15:02, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm not just looking for pallindromes. I want a phrase that can mean something else when whriten the other way. Are there any?

There is a truly amazing palindomic story in 'Gödel, Escher, Bach' - several pages long - I don't have the book with me right now, but my recollection is that the story is subtly different when read in the two directions. SteveBaker 13:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean like "man bites dog" and "dog bites man"? Neil (►) 14:55, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Or with different grammar? Such as "i helped my uncle jack off the horse" and "I helped my uncle, Jack, off the horse". JoshHolloway 15:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I once read a wonderful letter from a girl to her boyfriend which, when punctuated one way was very sweet and adoring, and when punctuated another way, was a bitter breakup letter. It was very cleverly done; I wish I could find it online. --TotoBaggins 15:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

What a fine example of "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" Toto, if you do find it, leave a link on my talk page, would you? -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 15:48, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Ohm is a unit of resistance and mho is a unit of conductance. Will that do?--Tugjob 16:12, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm making a super-duper list of words that mean something backwards based on Webster's Second International (from the "miscfiles" Ubuntu package). It should be done by the time I get back from lunch. —Keenan Pepper 16:25, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

User:Keenan Pepper/Words that form other words when reversed —Keenan Pepper 17:50, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

"A santa lived as a devil at nasa" is a good palindrome.

I have no idea if this is what he's refering to, but how about racecar? spelled backwards, it's the same thing.

Just to keep the palindrome theme going (even though it's evident you don't want a palindrome so much as a word that spelt 1 way means one thing and another another...like dog is god backwards or vice-versa). Anyway Demetri Martin the somewhat genius stand-up comic regularly does quite long-winded palindromes, you can see some of them on his website...I'll leave it to you to guess what it is. Anyway other words with multiple meanings forwards/backwards are:

edam/made, madam/madam, rats/star, trap/part, time/emit, refer/refer - i'm pretty stuck now. ny156uk 16:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Enigma

I recently attended a training in which the trainer used what he called an enigma as a tool for questioning techniques. I am keen on understanding more about enigmas and their use in such case and examples such enigmas.

Thanks.

Rono R. K.

The word enigma doesn't have a very specific meaning. It just means "puzzle" or "mystery". Maybe you're curious about riddles? —Keenan Pepper 16:22, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Interesting Supreme Court Decisions

For a school project, I need to research an interesting United States Supreme court case. Does anyone know of any interesting topics for me to use?

There's a disclaimer at the top of the page that quite clearly says we will not do your homework for you. -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 16:48, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

The poster is just asking for a little guidance, not that we do the work. Please do not bite the newcomers. Clarityfiend 16:59, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps the case that has generated the most debate historically is Roe v. Wade, but a more recent case that had huge political implication is Bush v. Gore. If you are looking for something a bit risque, you could go for United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group. See Category:United States Supreme Court cases for a full list. Rockpocket 17:13, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

(ec) List of United States Supreme Court cases has the same list, but with brief summaries which should make it easier to find the interesting ones. Algebraist 17:20, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Great! Now I know the source of the term Miranda rights. Rockpocket 17:39, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Miranda Warning: "You have the right to wear a silly hat with fruit on it. However, if you choose to do so, this may be held against you in a court of law". StuRat 18:44, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

I find the most interesting cases to be the ones where the court got it *wrong*. It's fascinating to see the legal contortions intelligent people must make to end up at profoundly unconstitutional conclusions like Plessy, Dred Scott, and Schenck v. United States. --TotoBaggins 18:23, 29 May 2007 (UTC)