Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 August 12

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August 12

Strange plant

We found a very strange weed up on our land the other day ([1]) and have not been able to identify it... Any ideas? Sorry for the crappy picture, but all I had at the time was a camera phone. It's rather large for a weed and very, very thorny; everything, from the leaves to the flowers (purple and made up of what appears to be little "bunches"... Not really sure how to describe it) is covered with thorns. We're trying to use goats to clear out some of the weeds on the land and even they wouldn't go near it. --69.146.230.243 (talk) 00:38, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

It's a thistle. DuncanHill (talk) 00:40, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Donkeys will eat thistles, as will some breeds of sheep. DuncanHill (talk) 00:46, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

So will humans -- well, a sort of thistle, anyway. --Trovatore (talk) 00:48, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Huh... I thought that sounded right, but I've never seen one quite this enormous -- it's probably four feet wide and three feet tall, and the flowers are huge. --69.146.230.243 (talk) 01:32, 12 August 2008 (UTC) Ah, just found this page... That's it. I'm positive. It's still pretty frigging big, but that's the one. Thanks for the help, all. --69.146.230.243 (talk) 01:42, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Just be careful with that judgmental "weed" language. The thistle o' Scotland was famous of auld, wi' its toorie sae snod and its bristles sae bault. — OtherDave (talk) 18:24, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Police officer

When a cop retires, do they get to keep their habiliment, badge, truncheon, police radio, gun, etc.? I was hoping the article (or police) might give a little information on that, but they doesn't. Could hardly find any information on the Internet. Anyone know? Lord Sesshomaru (talk • edits) 04:36, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

It probably depends on where they are. What country are you in? --Tango (talk) 04:56, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

US. I read that in Columbus (don't know which one) you receive a "retirement badge". How is it here? Lord Sesshomaru (talk • edits) 05:13, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I would be very surprised if a former police officer was allowed to keep his police equipment. Imagine if a cop took early retirement, they could go around posing as an active officer - impersonating a police officer is usually a serious offence. Astronaut (talk) 12:00, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

and what about the car, that would be cool, no more jams, just flick that blue wailer and "bye-bye New Jersey, I've become airborne" Richard Avery (talk) 14:00, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Even in the U.S. it will depend on which department you work for. Some supply most of your gear, others require you to buy it yourself. I doubt that anywhere you get to keep your bagde or ID, but if you have to buy your own gun, nightstick, hand cuffs, bullet-proof vest, etc., you keep them. Rmhermen (talk) 14:07, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I expect that a retired cop in the US gets some sort of ID stating the fact, so that when another cop anywhere in the US starts to write him up for a parking or moving violation, a flash of the ID will generally elicit professional courtesy. Edison (talk) 16:17, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

No, that's what the fraternal order of police thingy that they put on their bumper [or (illegally but who's going to do anything about it) on their license plate] is for. --Random832 (contribs) 16:54, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that if you go through the Maryland State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the specialty plates mentioned on the State of Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration site are not actually illegal. — OtherDave (talk) 18:48, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm talking about a separate circular thing that is placed to obscure part of the license plate number. --Random832 (contribs) 17:27, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

O_o 217.42.157.143 (talk) 14:13, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

russian poet

could you name the russian poet who won the nobel prize died recently? thank you124.43.49.186 (talk) 07:03, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

On the assumption that this isn't homework, you're probably looking for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. He did write a small amount of poetry, but he was best known as a novelist and historian. -- JackofOz (talk) 07:08, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Joseph Brodsky was the poet winning it in 1987, died 12 years ago. Julia Rossi (talk) 01:26, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

How to post a personal view on the Internet for Free

The headline speaks for itself; I am trying to find an outlet, in regards to a certain website, that expresses some caution to other potential viewers because of the content this site has. I don't know how to make you understand, it has nothing to do with porn or politics, however the content on this site is truly unpleasant and wanted to warn others about it. I've done everything I could to settle the matter, but all efforts were futile. So my question is this: is there a way or site where I can post my views, freely, like creating a website or something? All I want is to post a simple message; how might I do that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.254.47.173 (talk) 08:08, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

You could setup a blog through a site like www.blogger.com and warn about the site - though the chances are nobody more than a handful of people will read it. To gain greater exposure you could try by linking to your blog on a website like www.digg.com and hope that enough people agree/read it (and it receives enough diggs) to make it up the list and that will - as a result - increase readership. You could also consider trying search-engine optimisation so that when individuals search for the website in question your 'anti' site comes up in the first page of google-results and thus will potentially get more readers too. It won't be easy and will take a fair bit of work but it is possible to use the internet to get your opinion heard by thousands/millions. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 08:44, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Identity of paypal sellers

If a seller tell me that he is, say John Smith and that his paypal is johnsmith@email4u.com, how can I proof his identity?Mr.K. (talk) 10:39, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

There's really no way to do that. What his e-mail happens to be has nothing to do with this actual name. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 12:28, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I know that your email can be any possible name. However, if paypal verifies its users, is there any way to check basic information about a seller? Like address and such. Mr.K. (talk) 10:21, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

If you have bought something over eBay or Yahoo you can ask for the contact information of the seller, otherwise, in case of doubt I won't buy from a random seller. 80.58.205.37 (talk) 11:24, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Type o negative

In one of thier songs, Who will save the sane, they mention avogadro's number 3.141592653. What is the significance thereof? Or any other info thanks. Zionist193.115.175.247 (talk) 13:01, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

We have an article, Avagadro's number, which may help answer your question. By the way, 3.14159263 is not Avagadro's number, but rather pi. DuncanHill (talk) 13:04, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, allow me to rephrase the question if i might, why is this used in the song, more than once. What is the significance of the number to the band or song. Thanks

I consider myself to be somewhat of a fan of the band, and while their lyrics can mean many things, I found our article about the album World Coming Down has some interesting information about that song: "Who Will Save the Sane?" incorporates Peter Steele reciting the first eight digits from the mathematical number pi (3.1415926). At the same time during this song, Kenny Hickey's melody is actually 31415926 in notated guitar tablature (the guitar being tuned in Drop D). cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 13:53, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

UK maps

My partner and I are planning a trip to the UK next month. We will be hiring a car and traveling through England, Wales, and Scotland. I have a slightly out-of-date (c. 2003) A-Z Road Atlas of Great Britain, which has maps of the entire island at 6 miles to the inch. That works for mapping routes from one major town to another. Unfortunately, it's not so good for mapping routes from one out-of-the-way rural place to another, and we will be visiting ancient and medieval sites in lots of out-of-the-way places. My A-Z Atlas shows most of those places, and shows some of the minor rural roads around them (using very fine and faint lines). However, when I zoom in on an online map site such as Google Maps or Multimaps, I see that my atlas does not show every rural road, and if I were to use the atlas to navigate minor rural roads, it would be easy to mistake one left turn for another. Also the A-Z Atlas shows the centers of major towns, but it does not show the urban road network outside the center in any detail, and it does not show minor towns in any detail (and we will be visiting or passing through lots of minor towns.) An obvious alternative would be to make a list of all areas not adequately covered by the A-Z Atlas and to print out 40 or 50 maps from Multimaps or Google. However, my dying home printer is not up to the job, and using the printer where I work for such a large non-work-related project might attract unwanted scrutiny. Also, I don't have access to color printers, and black-and-white maps of unnamed roads in rural areas are not so easy to follow. Ordnance Survey maps are an option, but an expensive and inefficient one, since the areas where I need the most help tend to be in areas along the edges of 2 or 3 OS maps. Can anyone recommend an inexpensive source of relatively detailed maps of the UK? Thanks. Marco polo (talk) 13:27, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

It is possible to buy Ordnance Survey maps centered on anywhere you like (thus avoiding the "edge of sheet" problem) but they cost about £16 for a Landranger sheet (1:50 000) - this compares to about £7 for an ordinary Landranger sheet. The OS also has a "get a map" service online, but the area viewable is limited. Once in Britain you may be able to find second-hand OS maps in charity shops, for about £1-2 each. Michelin produce maps of the UK - they are not as detailed as the OS, but are designed for motorists, so may be suitable for your purposes. I would add that road signage in the UK is generally pretty good, so it is actually quite hard to get really lost. DuncanHill (talk) 14:03, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

The AA have an online routefinder service, which will give you a printable list of directions to follow, they are not bad but in my experience seem to take one on unnecessarily long routes, and are propbably best simply as a suggested route, not as one to be followed exactly. DuncanHill (talk) 14:07, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Local Tourist Information Offices may have free maps of the areas they serve, these will not be as detailed as the OS, but are likely to shew most attractions. One can also buy County atlases (produced by the OS & by other mapping companies) which will shew varying levels of detail - the most detailed will shew every road, others will be less detailed, but may include town plans at a higher scale. Overall, though, I would say that the OS maps are far and away the best for detailed navigation in the country, and the individual Geographers' A to Z books for cities. DuncanHill (talk) 14:21, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Alternatively, you could buy a sat nav system, or, as you will have a passenger, a mobile device with web capabilities to view the websites mentioned above. Warofdreams talk 14:26, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

... or you could just buy a larger scale road atlas. Philip's do a 3-miles to 1 inch road atlas; Collins "Superscale Road Atlas" is 2.5 miles to 1 inch; and AA do a "Close Up Truckers Atlas" at 1.5 miles to 1 inch. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:45, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

The standard Landranger 1:50,000 scale OS maps are excellent and at £7 are a lot cheaper than the the bespoke OS map-making service mentioned by DuncanHill. They show pretty much everything of interest including inaccessible crags, ruins, castles, churches, etc. and all roads/tracks down to something too small to ride a horse down! However, not every street is shown in towns (the streets are not named either), and each sheet only covers a 40 miles x 40 miles square (or maybe it's 40 km x 40 km?) of the country; so 204 sheets cover the whole country. Check them out at Amazon.

That said, there are other maps available. The 6 miles per inch map from A-Z sounds particularly poor, while the road atlases published by the AA, RAC, Philips and Collins have a better scale and are readily available in gas stations and supermarkets (you can get a sneak peek at Amazon). Astronaut (talk) 15:25, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

...and as someone else has already pointed out, british roads are well signposted (with the possible exception of the generic "The North" or "All through traffic" that you will see on occasions) - I really don't think you will get really lost. Keep an look out for the brown "tourist information" signs. Astronaut (talk) 15:42, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Or use a combination of maps and road-signs. If the places you are visiting are visited by others the chances are they will be signposted - probably in those nice brown-signposts that you get. Seriously though you don't need a map that shows you every single road, you need a map that shows you the major 'numbered' roads and you can work out the rest using a bit of logic, directional sense and using of road-signs. Of course this is all coming from someone who refers to himself as a 'human sat nav' (and no that doesn't mean constantly directing you the wrong way!). 194.221.133.226 (talk) 15:38, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Do also have a good read of Road signs in the United Kingdom before you come - our signs are quite clear, but there are some differences from those in the Boston area, and with a little knowledge of the conventions you should find your driving experience here much more pleasant. DuncanHill (talk) 15:43, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

You can also read the Highway Code online at [2]. DuncanHill (talk) 15:45, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

The Great thing about living in Great Britain (good one eh?), is how small we are (I am only 5'6"). But seriously, from John o'Groats at the top of Scotland to Land's End at the bottom of England is only about 1000 miles - and from East to West is rarely more than 100 miles, and usually, much less. So if you fix an image of the whole island in your head as you drive, and have a rough idea of where you want to be at the end of each leg of your journey, then as others above have suggested, you can never be far out. Sure, buy a cheap SatNav or a more up to date map when you get here - you will get good ones for less than £5 in any bookstore - but if you are not working to any fixed schedule, enjoy the adventure. As I suggested above, this is a Great country for getting lost in, because you know you will never be far from the nearest town, village, hamlet or motorway service station - and we are so so friendly and helpful. You will just love us - and like many visitors before you, you probably won't want to leave. 92.19.39.172 (talk) 22:06, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

You've had lots of advice, but I'm here with mine anyway. As Astronaut mentioned, every garage, service station and supermarket has good maps for about £5-7, scale usually 4 miles to an inch, and which generally cover every road and place you might need. But if you're really keen on detail, then Philips Navigator is the one you want: "The main road maps are at 1.5 miles to 1 inch (3 miles to 1 inch in the Scottish Highlands) and are extra clear and detailed, showing even the smallest roads and lanes that are omitted from other atlases. Every roundabout, junction and slip-road is shown in detail on main roads and motorways. In country areas, thousands of individual houses and farms are marked, along with footpaths and tracks." -- follow link for more detail. Gwinva (talk) 23:03, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

If you travelling fairly extensively then buying individual maps may be a bit of a pain and expensive. Does your car-hire place rent Sat-Navs? As that would make things a lot easier. If not then this company [3] rent them out and as far as I can tell would deliver to a hotel, although I have no idea if the company is any good. Franmars (talk) 09:48, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

No need to buy individual maps. All the road atlases mentioned so far cover the whole of Great Britain in one volume - some will cover Northen Ireland and RoI too. Don't forget that the area of GB is only 80,000 square miles so even at 1.5 miles to the inch a 200 page A3 atlas can easily cover the whole island. Gandalf61 (talk) 12:44, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Ah, Marco Polo is still travelling, having been from Venice to China and back again during medieval times!78.149.94.253 (talk) 14:54, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Link doesn't work

There's a link on a website that doesn't work. When ever I try to click on this link or similar links on this website nothing happens..well just on my eeePC, it works fine on other computers. Anyway, the eepc is the only pc i can use at the moment so i was wondering if someone could just give me the url the link links to.

Go to http://www.surfthechannel.com/info/Movies/Movies_all/83265/Get+Smart.html?aid=116409 and more or less in the centre there should be a link which says "Go To External Site". This is the link I want. Thanks. --212.120.246.239 (talk) 13:57, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

It's a Flash link to a pop-up window, so you've probably got either Flash or pop-ups disabled. However, Now that I have clicked on the link, I regret to inform you that it goes to a page that announces "This video is unavailable.". APL (talk) 14:14, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

An alternative solution

Although not quite as scientifically advanced a solution as Soylent Green to the problem of human body disposal are there any places in the world that use Biochar as the means of human or animal body disposal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.100.0.88 (talk) 14:53, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

The article says "Current biochar projects are small scale". So, yes, it is used, probably at agricultural universities and other research facilities. This is not something that would be used on humans, though, because of the strict regulations on how human bodies are to be disposed. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 20:36, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Isn't it odd how the disposal of human bodies is so restricted? Sticking them in the ground next to our houses and groundwater seems like the worst possible idea, and yet it is the preferred method. Then we like to expend energy burning them when we could actually reclaim the body's energy. Plasticup ^T/C 12:28, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

I lived not far from the cemetery my grandparents, uncles and aunts were buried in. It had a stream running through it. The stream originated in the cemetery as a spring and about half way through the cemetery a lot of stringy slimy yuck was growing. As the water would passed a childhood friend remarked, "Look, there goes part of your grandmother!" ...yeeooowhh.

Then after my dog died and we decided to have her cremated. Another friend saw a wisp of smoke and said "Look, there goes Elizabeth right there!"

All I need now to round things out and to make my life complete is to hear another friend say "Oh wow, did you feel that crunch?. We must have just stepped on your mother." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.100.0.88 (talk) 16:32, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Operation Reinhard

Although Reinhard Heindrich dies in Czechoslovakia in '42 Operation Reinhard was named after him, so would he have accrude bad Karma for was was to transpire? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.115.175.247 (talk) 15:47, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I think that Reinhard Heydrich managed to accrue more than sufficient bad karma (if one believes in such a thing) in his lifetime. DuncanHill (talk) 15:50, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

If this were the language desk, I would be tempted to congratulate the OP for an enrichment of our linguistic resources. "Accrude" seems a useful term for some collections of unkarmatical humanoid "achievements" in the Olympic event of the Master Race. --62.47.129.88 (talk) 20:07, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Oops, --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 20:09, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Plane crashes in which the survivors are stranded for a long period of time

How many have there been? Flight 571 is the only one I can think of. 220.235.149.63 (talk) 16:00, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't know about plane crashes, but The Straight Dope reported on the notion of people being shipwrecked for a long time. -- KathrynLybarger (talk) 19:16, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

What is this car?

Image:Viatura da policia militar rodoviaria de são paulo isoesdeumpm.blogspot.commaxdias.JPG - I'm pretty sure it's a Vauxhall/Opel, just not sure what? ninety:one 20:57, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

It's listed in the article Police car as "GM Astra Sedan, Highway Military Police patrol - São Paulo State, Brazil (Polícia Rodoviária do Estado de São Paulo)". To be honest it looks more like a Vectra than an Astra to me. Nanonic (talk) 21:46, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Can't believe I missed that, that's where I found the gdamn image. Cheers! ninety:one 22:06, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

The trouble is - it doesn't really look like either an Astra or a Vectra. It doesn't give me great confidence that the Military Police (Brazil) article says it's an Opel Astra when it's clearly got the GM/Chevrolet badge on the front instead of the 'Z' emblem that Opels ship with. Admittedly the Opel Astra and the Chevy Astra are identical except for the badge. But the shape of the headlamps doesn't fit any of the cars in either our Astra or Vectra articles - they all have a sharp point towards the back end of the car - and that photo shows a more rounded headlamp. I think it's more like an Impala - which makes more sense because Chevy sell a special version of the Impala to police in the US. It makes more sense that Brazil would buy an existing police-special Impala than to go for the Astra or Vectra and have to convert it themselves. (It's a terrible condemnation of modern car design - that even with an almost inexhaustible supply of photos, the darned things are SO BORING that you can't tell one from another! Yet another reason I drive a MINI.) SteveBaker (talk) 02:17, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Methane Digestors

Are there any electricity producing methane digestors made for a small farm? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.119.61.7 (talk) 21:40, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

To produce electricity from methane I suggest you burn it in an engine then couple that to a generator. Or did you mean a digestor for producing methane from waste matter--79.76.184.142 (talk) 00:34, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

See Biogas article —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.76.184.142 (talk) 01:50, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Using a fuel cell would probably be a better idea than burning it in an internal combustion engine. A typical converted gasoline generator will need a constant flow of gas to keep the engine running - if you generate less methane than it needs, it'll stop and you'll have the hassle of restarting it. A fuel cell converts the gas directly into electricity - no moving parts, nothing much to go wrong. Look (for example) at section 3.3 of this document. Also this one and this one. SteveBaker (talk) 01:43, 15 August 2008 (UTC)