Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 May 26

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May 26

Programming

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Snowboarder

I remember reading a newspaper article about an Australian snowboarder called Sam Koska who died while practicing tricks on the roof of a car. Apparently, he was famous - he even participated in other countries - but I can't find any mention of him anywhere on the Internet. Anyone have a link that mentions Koska? 208.76.245.162 (talk) 01:11, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

His name was Sam Kaska, and I think his fame may have been overstated to you somewhat. [1][2][3] Rockpocket 01:36, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Baseball uniform

Is there an external link, reference, or wikilink that states when little league baseball used baseball uniforms? Thanks. -- RyRy5 (talk) 01:50, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

According to this link from our article, they had uniforms in their first year, 1939.[4] Rmhermen (talk) 01:56, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. Oh, and in the article baseball uniform, there are a several statements need referencing. Some examples are

• As official nicknames gained prominence in the early 1900s (in contrast to media-generated and unofficial nicknames of prior generations), pictorial logos began emerging as part of the team's marketing.
• the Boston Americans (an unofficial designation that merely distinguished them from their across-the-tracks rivals) adopted the Nationals' abandoned red stockings in 1908, and have been the Boston Red Sox officially ever since then.
• the stocking colors of teams in the 1860s onward were a principal device in distinguishing one team from another
• detachable spikes were designed and were seen multiple times until 1976 when they were prohibited.
• Further experimenting led to innovations such as the Houston Astros of the 1970s and 1980s putting numbers on a front pants pocket as well as on the back of the shirt.
• The team most often identified with pinstripes would be the New York Yankees. Legend has it that the stripes were adopted to make Babe Ruth look slimmer. That story is a myth, as the Yankees had already adopted pinstripes several years before acquiring Ruth.
• It became standard practice to wear white at home and gray or another somewhat dark color on the road.

Can we try to find references for them? Everyopne's help is very much appreciated. Thanks. -- RyRy5 (talk) 02:06, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I think these are things best discussed on the article's talk page. That said, the Boston Americans deal has been discussed at Talk:Boston Red Sox#More on team nickname - "Americans" never official? and a source cited there seems to give the straight dope on the matter. For the other bits of info, one might similarly find sources in the corresponding articles. Deor (talk) 16:25, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

What type of fly is this?

i noticed these little bumps on my horses chest and underbelly. i thought maybe he had walked through some stinging needles or somethin. well a couple day later he was coverd with these little flies. they were all over especialy where the bumps were. the little flies were biteing my horse and createing scabs and makeing him bleed. they were under his belly in his arm pits, and on the inside of his legs. they were driveing him crazy. i did run him down with horser shampoo they repels flies, and put ointment on his scabs.i really want to find out what kind of flies im dealing with, so i can get rid of them better! there very small maybe like 2cm long. they almosy have the body type of an ant. they dont have big eyes.and there kinda striped with black and tan on there abdomen and leggs. what kind of flies are these? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.213.6.136 (talk) 02:36, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

It would probably help if you told us where (in the world and your country) you and your horse are.--Lisa4edit (talk) 03:14, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Umm, wouldn't a local veterinarian be a better source for that kind of information than we wannabes? --hydnjo talk 03:32, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like "Screwworm flies". Got any pixes? 65.163.115.254 (talk) 05:31, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds likely, there's our article on screw worm flies Cochliomyia_hominivorax, of maggots, these eat healthy flesh and a variety in the Old World – wiki's so good, I miss-spelled it as "screw work fly" and it still got there, Julia Rossi (talk) 06:52, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

You call 2 cm long flies "very small"?! Wher I live flies are no more than half a cm long ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 08:56, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I guess typos happen. I had assumed 2mm which would fit the bill. Lisa4edit (talk) 09:07, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Which Birds are featured on the new UK Passport?

I think I've worked out: Avocet, Curlew (or is it a Whimbrel?), and Red Kite? (And a Kingfisher in the watermark). But what is the fourth one on the main pages? And is it a Hawfinch on the plastic coated page at the back? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wondering Jon (talk • contribs) 07:28, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

The council of the European Union says it is a Merlin (and confirms the other three as Avocet, Curlew, and Kite). ---Sluzzelin talk 11:44, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Vesna Vulović's fall duration

I posted the question on the talkpage of the Vesna Vulović article, before realising I could bring it here. Basically - how long does it take a person to fall 10,000+ meters? Lugnuts (talk) 07:54, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Hard to say, since she was in (part of) the plane the whole time. For an unprotected human, it would be (going by terminal velocity) about three minutes, but I can't guess how much drag you get from a random hunk of blown-up aircraft. Algebraist 08:39, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I would think that the equations for terminal velocity would be the best to apply, though I don't know what values to assign to the various parameters. If you don't get a full answer here, there may be more chance of an answer from Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science.--86.145.248.87 (talk) 08:37, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

About square root of (10000/4.9) seconds, disregarding air resistance, which you probably can't. Probably terminal velocity will enter the picture, as the above reply says, so it would take longer. ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 08:44, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

A couple of sites not worthy of reference say 3 minutes but that could all be guesswork, I think someone on the Science desk would love to do the calcs on this. Checking the crash reports referenced in JAT Flight JU 367... Mhicaoidh (talk) 08:45, 26 May 2008 (UTC) ...which are hopeless, one even has the wrong height. Can't find a detailed and authoritative one. Mhicaoidh (talk) 09:09, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Bear in mind guys she was a wreckage rider so could still have gained some aerodynamic benefit oops sorry Algebraist Mhicaoidh (talk) 08:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks people! Lugnuts (talk) 09:17, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Michel Fournier is attempting to jump 40 000 metres, which will apparently take 15 minutes. Adam Bishop (talk) 12:12, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Ummm, but it says 7 min in the article.125.21.243.66 (talk) 14:40, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Cyclone

Why does everyone only ever complain about that cyclone hitting Burma? It's not the only country that was affected by the cyclone. Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 08:09, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Because it affected Burma vastly more than it affected other countries, and caused historic levels of damage and deaths. And I think you will find people are concerned for the Burmese, rather than complaining about the cyclone. You may like to read Cyclone Nargis. Mhicaoidh (talk) 08:21, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Plus the military junta there makes relief efforts all the more difficult. ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 08:49, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

searching for a video clip

The video clip was in New York, in a boat. There were also a scene of people waiting on a queue. I just remember the sentence "every time I see you, and every time I ...". I saw it on MTV (how amazing) on the late 90'. The song was also in a Lee jeans commercial.217.168.1.95 (talk) 08:27, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Would that be Everytime by the Flames? (although I think that's not NYC in the background but Frankfurt) -- Ferkelparade π 12:05, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Dankeschön!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.168.1.95 (talk) 12:56, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

people with problems: help or avoid?

Should we run from asshole men and psycho bitches OR should we try to help them? 217.168.1.95 (talk) 11:11, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

If we decide to label them the way you did, then perhaps we should run from them. ---Sluzzelin talk 11:37, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Are they asking for your help? Do you like aggression? You could try throwing a help line number in their path as you scoot. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:50, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

This depends on the asshole man or psycho bitch in question, of course. Do you have an understanding of the situation, as well as of human psychology, that allows to you to even remotely accurately estimate whether they can be helped? Do you think that you can help them? Are they worth the trouble? Or are they just manipulative emotional black holes that demand ever-increasing amounts of attention without ever demonstrating any actual progress or even desire to change, let alone giving any real affection, friendship and love in return, save the bare minimum amount you require to keep coming around? Not that I'm saying that we should instantly give up on people in need of help, but in my experience, rewarding that kind of behavior with your attention or otherwise enabling them isn't doing them -- or you -- any good. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 13:38, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, as for my limited experience, I wouldn't get perconally involved (as in a relationship), but I'd try to help them if their problem is, say substance abuse. If they're just assholes/control freaks/whatever, you can't really change it. People can't be changed after a certain age, that's just the way they are, can't "fix" them. Ziggy Sawdust 15:22, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, people can definitely change... As long as they want to change. Key thing. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 09:52, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Low-pressure airports

According to Decompression sickness, airliners maintain a pressure altitude of 8000 feet or less. What do they do when going to high-altitude airports? --Serie (talk) 11:20, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

The pressure is gradually equalized during approach and landing, which his why your ears pop: the pressure is changing. Thus, the plane will land with the pressure equal inside and out.--NeoNerd 14:59, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

For safety reasons, the internal pressure aboard the aircraft should be very nearly equal to the ambient external air pressure on landing. (This minimizes stress on the airframe, and also ensures that cabin doors can be opened quickly in the event of an accident.)

Passenger aircraft have controls that allow the pilot to set the nominal landing altitude; the aircraft environmental systems will maintain an appropriate pressure. Here are some pictures and descriptions of the controls and hardware from a 737. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 19:26, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Avril F-ing lavine

A few days ago, wiki had a vadalism on this page concerning avril lavine, for me, all that was displayed on this page was a picture of her, now, i am unable to see any picturwes on this site atall, wheather it be the globe puzzle logo, the featured article ect. I use mozzila fire box, if that info is needed, how can i revert this so that wiki is back to the way it should be? thanks Zionist —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.147.16 (talk) 11:56, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like you might have blocked images from Wikipedia. Check Tools/options/content/load images automatically/exceptions and any adblock add-ons you have installed. Algebraist 12:00, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Time difference between Great Britain & Cape Town, South Africa

Please advise the time difference between the above destinations. Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.75.128.200 (talk) 13:49, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

At present, Great Britain is on Western European Summer Time (UTC+1), while Cape Town is on South African Standard Time (UTC+2), so Cape Town is one hour ahead. Algebraist 13:59, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Damn, just beaten to the answer... Lord Foppington (talk) 14:01, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I recommend this site for this kind of query. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 14:06, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I like this site for figuring world times. Useight (talk) 22:04, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Or they make clocks, personal organisers and possibly other gadgets that can also work it out, if you happen to be away from the internet at the time.HS7 (talk) 14:57, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Book recommendations.

Hello, I was wondering if anyone could recommend several large collections (I think I'll need four, at least) of short books (preferably under fifty pages each). They have to be non-fiction, too. Thanks in advance, · AndonicO ^Engage. 15:09, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but what exactly do you mean by "a collection of short books"? I'm a little confused. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:15, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

A collection of many books, all of them short. · AndonicO ^Engage. 15:24, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I understand that, but I'm having a hard time imagining what such a collection of books might consist of. But maybe I'm the only one for whom this doesn't make much sense. I'll shut up now. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:30, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

No, you're not the only one. I don't really understand what AndonicO is looking for either. A personal collection? A collection published in series? Maybe it would help if you gave us more info about what you need them for. —Angr 15:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I need to read over 40 non-fiction books this summer (a bet of sorts), but I don't want to slave away, so I'd rather read short books and get it over with rapidly. I figured a collection or series of books would probably be easier to find than 40+ individual ones. · AndonicO ^Engage. 15:59, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, if you're interested in languages, a publisher called LINCOM EUROPA has a series of descriptive grammars of over 400 languages. You could pick the 40 shortest of them (most are no more than 100 pages long). They're expensive, though, so I'd check them out of the library rather than buying them. —Angr 16:07, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

The length limit is going to be trouble. Depending on your definition of "book" you could try reading collections of work. For example "Kalahari Hunter-Gatherers; Studies of the !Kung San and Their Neighbors" (edited by Richard B. Lee and Irven DeVore) is some 436 pages long, but has more than a dozen papers in it; they're not technically separate books, but they are standalone works that have been published together simply to make for an easier book list for students. Find a few collections that interest you and away you go. To be honest, non-fiction books less than 50 pages long are more likely to be geared to younger readers (not that I know how old you are...). If that's not an issue, you could probably rattle off a dozen or so in an afternoon at the local library. Matt Deres (talk) 16:38, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, I was planning to go to the library to look for a particular set of books, but I guess it would be easier to look once there, as you say. Thanks, · AndonicO ^Engage. 17:06, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

The Bible has roughly 40 relatively short books. --Allen (talk) 18:54, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

But does it qualify as non-fiction? —Angr 18:55, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes; as our article puts it, non-fiction is "an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact". --Allen (talk) 20:49, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Some of the Encyclopaedia Britannica's (yes, yes, boo to them) Macropædia might qualify, depending on the terms of your agreement. Our article describes it as containing roughly 700 articles between 2 and 310 pages in length. Pick out your fifty favourite midsized topics. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 19:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Oxford University Press have a range called Very Short Introductions, each 100-150 small-format pages, on a variety of subjects. Easy to read, and you'll learn some good stuff along the way. Available in many libraries. See also their [website. Gwinva (talk) 21:29, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Excellent, thanks. :) · AndonicO ^Engage. 22:27, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Readers Digest has a line of condensed fiction books, also available second hand in thrift shops. Julia Rossi (talk) 00:57, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Non-fiction smells of textbook to me. "Outlines", "study brief" or the likes can usually be found if you look for a particular title. Check out these, just for an example [5] 71.236.23.111 (talk) 07:24, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, they're non-fiction. Too bad you didn't make it a fun bet, Julia Rossi (talk) 13:03, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Non-Fiction books can be fun, too, if you choose the right ones. Maybe Andonico is approaching this from the wrong direction, maybe he shouldn't be looking for a collection of forty books (unless that is part of the bet), but for single suggestions for non-fiction books that are fun, easy to read, and that can be read in two or three days each if you put your mind to it. I bet we can come up with at least forty suggestions between all of us here :) I'll start off with Bryson's "The Mother Tongue" and "Brief history of almost everything", Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" and Danto's "The transfiguration of a commonplace". -- Ferkelparade π 13:53, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Ummm ... anything by Bill Bryson is a great read, but note that A Short History of Nearly Everything is over 500 pages long, and so may not meet AndonicO's criteria. I suspect that the title is ironic. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:22, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I'll throw in Nature, it's pretty short, and I did once in fact own a tiny pocket-paperback that consisted solely of Nature without any other essays included. The Penguin Lives Series Series would be a collection of relatively short books that can be read in a short time (though nowhere near 50 pages). This Herald Tribune article mentions the series in connection with a recent trend of publishing short nonfiction and it lists further examples. ---Sluzzelin talk 15:19, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Could you read large magazines instead of small books? And I'm quite sure you should be able to find old editions of them around somewhere, so you could quite easily read forty over a few weeks. And Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything is rather shorter than everything else put together, which it is a history of.HS7 (talk) 15:52, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

To celebrate their 60th anniversary in 1995, Penguin Books (a famous publisher of paperbacks in the UK) published sixty booklets with about 60 pages, that cost 60p each. They are less than A6 paper size. They include fiction and non-fiction I think. Other publishers (at least one, probably more) imitated them and sold series of similar books, for example "Phoenix 60p paperbacks", one of which I have in front of me. Disapointed not to find much about "Penguin Sixties" on the internet. I think you could buy a collection, although most were sold individually. 80.2.193.24 (talk) 23:59, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

What's Wrong With the ABC's

Good morning everyone. I had a strange curiosity last night as I sat in bed. How did our grades get the way they are today? By grades I mean A, B, C, D, and F. You know grades for school. Why isn't there an E? Because isn't it A, B, C, D, E, F. So, why did they exclude the E? Thank you for taking your time to answer my question. I appreciate it greatly. Have a positively wonderful morning.Rem Nightfall (talk) 16:43, 26 May 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

Because they only wanted five categories and "F" for "Fail" was just too attractive? In any case, many school boards have abandoned the ABCDF system for either a bare number (87%), or gone in the opposite direction, with much more touchy-feely non-grades. When I was in elementary school, (20-30 years ago, in SW Ontario) it was E,G,S,N (excellent, good, satisfactory, needs improvement). Matt Deres (talk) 17:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and according to our extremely long article on Grade (education), many US schools use E. Man, there's an article that needs trimming... Matt Deres (talk) 17:16, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

They used that when I was in elementary school too (same place but slightly later), up to grade 5 or so (about 1990) but then changed back to ABCDE by the time I was in grade 7. Adam Bishop (talk) 01:38, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

When I attended public school (from age 7 to 18) in the US state of Michigan, we used E for a failing grade, and not F. Thomprod (talk) 18:04, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

That could also cause confusion, since in some grading systems, E is used for Excellent. Corvus cornix_talk 20:35, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

What makes me laugh is FA, since I've known that as a "Fail" grade (professional exams with P = pass, FA= Fail A (ie almost passed), FB= fail B (way off). Gwinva (talk) 21:51, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for the time you took to answer my question. I appreciate it. To help I would be gladly willing to edit that article.Rem Nightfall (talk) 17:32, 26 May 2008 (UTC)Rem Nightfall

At Caltech, at least when I was there, "E" was a failing grade if you didn't do anything more (it would turn into an "F" eventually), but you had the opportunity to bring it up to a "D" by doing something extra (such as turning in late work or making up a test). A grade of "I", "incomplete", was similar, except that it could potentially be brought up to any grade, not just a "D".

At York University (the one in Toronto, not the one in England) when I taught there, if I recall correctly, "E" and "F" were both failing grades, but "E" was a slightly better failing grade. Just why this was thought to be useful, I'm not entirely sure. --Trovatore (talk) 22:08, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

In cases where the actual percent grade is not given or not used, it could be used by the student to gauge how close they came to a pass. That could come in handy when it comes to fighting for extra points on something or possibly retaking the course; a near-pass might encourage them to try again, while a definite F might encourage them to try their hand at pottery. :). When I switched to HS, we used the ABCDF system, but D was also a fail (less than 60%) similar to your E. F was less than 50%. Matt Deres (talk) 13:17, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

In my experience here in the U.S. through 11th grade in high school, the grades most often used are A, B, C, D, and E with + and - signs where needed.The Reader who Writes (talk) 00:12, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

My uncle, back in the seventies, had E's for both languages and still came in the top ten in the country due to extremely high marks for maths and science. E still exists in South Africa. E is from 50% to 59%. Sandman30s (talk) 13:28, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

In the United Kingdom on GCSE and A level exams, grades A to G are passes, N is nearly a pass and U is unclassified - ie, it was too low to receive any grade at all. Laïka 13:47, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

In fact, as you'll see from the article, A Levels are graded from A to E, with F for a fail. No Gs available.

And whilst an E at A Level or a G at GCSE are technically passes, it is widely considered that only grades of C or above count as passes, whatever the examining board may decree. 80.254.147.52 (talk) 14:15, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

In Scotland, Standard Grades are graded 1-8, where 1-6 are equally split into three sections, which are represented by three separate papers (you typically sit two of these papers); a 7 indicates that you completed the course, an 8 indicates that you did not. NQ exams (the higher level ones) are graded A-D, where D is a near-fail; for the sake of bureaucracy, there is also nominally an 'E' grade which indicates very poor performance in the exam and is represented as no award for that course. Grades A-D are also covered by 'bands' 1-6, where each grade is further divided into two bands (although you generally have to make a special request to receive your band; these aren't really used except, I believe, by Oxbridge to distinguish amongst their generally high-quality applicants). Angus Lepper^{(T, C, D)} 16:49, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

In addition, if a report card were hand-written it would be relatively easy to bump one's grade up by adding an extra line to convert an 'F' into an 'E'. Daniel (‽) 15:23, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

orange peel box

I am interested in learning the process for making an orange peel jewelery box. I rec'd one from Brazil by someone named Regina Nunes. I can find sites where they are made in Argentina as well and were once made in Santa Barbara, California. It is an ancient art form.

What is the process ?

Thanking you a million times for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zenbakery (talk • contribs) 23:38, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Google spat out the following: [6] and

[7] "Make an orange peel box. The top sliced off becomes the lid. Soak the skins for several hours in water. Squeeze the peel until thin. Place around a mould and dry in the sun for several days. Add varnish. Other variations of this include orange peel baskets, wreaths and votive candle holders. Make an orange peel bird feeder ...."Lisa4edit (talk) 21:15, 27 May 2008 (UTC)