Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 July 27

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July 27

Phsychology

As a science, what is psychology good for?

Thanks NoEntry8 (talk) 00:07, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

"The purpose of psychology is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know best."

A quote from the French writer and philosopher Paul Valéry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.76.140.78 (talk) 00:33, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Nothing. Psychology is not a science. At best it is a social science.90.9.83.192 (talk) 12:10, 27 July 2008 (UTC)DT

Try reading the page on psychology and come back if you have more specific questions. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 13:58, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

It is a science as in study, but not a hard science (as in physics, chemistry etc). Psychology is the study of human behaviour. Julia Rossi (talk) 02:12, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Fields (of study), arranged by purity. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 14:01, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Keeping Batteries

I heard a rumour that if standard AA batteries are left in their electric appliances, such as flashlights, they will lose their power faster than if removed and left in the open. Is this true? What is the best way to store un-rechargeable batteries to maximize their shelf life? Acceptable (talk) 00:49, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Not if the device works properly, no. It is advised to remove batteries when the device is not in use for long periods, though, since batteries can leak chemicals and damage the device. If you can't remove them, you can at least store the device with the battery compartment pointed down, so the chemicals will leak out of the device, not into the circuitry, if this happens. (Make sure the device isn't stored in a valuable piece of furniture, either.) As for long term storage of batteries, the fridge may help them last a bit longer. StuRat (talk) 01:34, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I think you may be thinking of film, StuRat. Cold drains batteries, as any car owner in Canada could tell you. Matt Deres (talk) 03:14, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

That's a common misconception. Oil gets thick and any water in the system freezes up at low temps, which make it difficult to start the car, requiring more of a charge to turn the ignition. Thus, if you have a weak battery, the coldest days are when it will be an issue. However, as stated, it's not due to a lack of charge, but a need for additional charge. Most chemical reactions, including those that ruin film and those which discharge batteries, are slowed by lower temps. StuRat (talk) 04:20, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I thought batteries could be revamped a tad by putting them in a warm oven. Under which conditions, I don't know and have never tried. Film in the fridge I can vote for. Julia Rossi (talk) 05:09, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm a bit skeptical about that. Some batteries get a tiny bit of charge back after they are drained, just by letting them sit for a bit, whether in an oven or not, so that may have led someone to conclude that the oven did it. StuRat (talk) 13:29, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

I haven't tried an oven, but I've always understood warmth helps. When my camera batteries fail, I can always get a few more shots by removing the batteries and rolling them briskly in my hands. Warmth or friction? Gwinva (talk) 23:23, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Reading Comic Books

I'm new to this (seeing the Dark Knight inspired me) and I was wondering how to read them. I was reading the article on Marvel Civil War and was wondering if the story would make sense if I didn't read the titles without "Civil" in them. For example, if I don't read Amazing Spider-Man #529-538 will there be a major gap in the story for me? --The Dark Side (talk) 02:18, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

No, not particularly. As someone who slogged through that mess when it was published, I can tell you it won't make any less sense if you skip those issues. Marvel has also been repeating the key issues in a series called Civil War Saga, which at least has the bonus of printing the whole thing in order. You can also check out the list of issues here, but I'd check quickly because I doubt that shoddily written list will meet notability requirements. If you don't mind some pure opinion, the Civil War thing was poorly executed and badly written. If you want a really solid story arc, try Annihilation by Marvel - awesome stuff. Or Neil Gaiman's Eternals mini series. And if you like Dark Knight, you should check out the books that inspired it: Frank Miller's seminal Batman work, and The Long Halloween, which was much more accessible. Matt Deres (talk) 03:23, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Additionally, comics are generally designed to be reasonably accessible by new readers. Sure, there's a lot of history there, and you're going to run into references into events you haven't read about and whatnot, but generally speaking, you'll catch on easily enough. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 12:05, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Tie-ins are any sort of work that is created to further promote or dwell deeper on core material, such as the Civil War storyline. For example, the animated film Batman: Gotham Knight, and the myriad of websites related to The Dark Knight movie are all tie-ins to the film, and they provide new content that you won't see in the movie; but, you don't have to look at those in order to understand what the movie's about. Like the Civil War tie-ins, they're just a way for people that love the core material to immerse themselves deeper in the storyline through supplemental (but not at all required) works. Kreachure (talk) 15:26, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and also, just walking into a local comic book store and explaining that you're unfamiliar with this stuff, but would like to get into it without being confused by all of the past history will probably get you a bunch of good recommendations. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 16:10, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I agree. I've found comic bookstore staff to be unfailingly good at recommendations, and not at all like The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy. You might also find some of the non-superhero genre graphic novels interesting. I recommend Shaun Tan and Marjane Satrapi. Within the superhero genre, the classics often cited are by Alan Moore: Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta (comic. Other big names are Warren Ellis, Brian K. Vaughn and Neil Gaiman. Steewi (talk) 04:05, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

I would suggest buying a graphic novel featuring the character you like instead to start with. You get a complete story arc in one book and can see whether the whole idea of comics works for you. Exxolon (talk) 00:30, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

Open Design Architecture

I am researching a building to write an article on it. A 1978 magazine describes this building as "an open design" but is there a proper name for the architecture used for the building. The building is the W. Dale Clark Library in Omaha, NE. There are a couple of photos of the building on flicker Inside 1st floor looking up Outside 14th St. View from the Lahey Mall (central park of Omaha) Inside during art project 4th floor looking down Nice or in evil (talk) 04:11, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I'd call it open plan with a open well incorporated into the design. Roughly speaking the style is 'modern' or 'modernist'87.102.86.73 (talk) 10:29, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Best Indian Hero Honda Bike

can anyone please tell me that which is the best indian hero honda bike? the bike should have good mileage performance and should consist four stroke engine. Please show me the poster of that bike. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.246.84 (talk) 05:42, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't which is the best, and it depends on availibility in your country, but Wikipedia is also an encyclopedia which has an article on the Hero Honda. You might be able to get a decent "poster" image of a motorbike from the official site linked from the encyclopedia article. Astronaut (talk) 08:56, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

south african 2010 world cup bid

I have got an e-mail as

FROM THE DESCK OF MRS ANGELA C. ELVIS LOTTERY BID IN SOUTH AFRICA

Congratulation” you have won £800,000.00 (Eight Hundred Thousand British pounds sterling only) in the 2nd category to the draw of South African 2010 World cup bid lottery Award International programs held in Zurich, Switzerland.

Is this bid real ?

Can anyone help me on this topic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.249.40 (talk) 05:54, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Sorry to disappoint you but no, it's not real. It's a scam and you should delete the email. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 05:59, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Did you buy a ticket in this lottery?. If the answer is 'no' then ask yourself why they are sending this to you. Secondly, Why are exactly the same e-mails sent to millions of other people? Thirdly, I'll bet your e-mail address on the mail is not yours. Richardrj is right, press 'delete'. Richard Avery (talk) 07:26, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

WP has an article on 419 scams, which are typically based on you transferring moneys for sundry bank fees. lawyers´expenses to the originators of the scam. Googling for Agela C. Elvis and the rest should convince you. There seem to be hundreds of such schemes, operating out of Nigeria and other locations. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 10:20, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Glad to see Elvis is alive and well and doing something productive with his--er-her time Lemon martini (talk) 14:25, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Saying No to Court Oath

When the judicial officer reads out the oath the witness is required to say "Yes" or "I do" or something along those lines before the questioning can begin. However, what happens if a witness decides to say "No" or refuse to take the oath (say if they did not want to be involved in the trial). The first thought that jumps to mind is that they would be held in contempt of court and dealt with accordingly, but this doesn't really seem fair, because you can punish someone for lying but you can't really force them to tell the truth. Any ideas on what the outcome would be?

And I just want to make it clear that I have not done this, nor am I planning on doing it nor am I advising anyone on whether they should do it, I'm just curious about what would happen. 58.168.89.226 (talk) 08:32, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

In the UK, a witness refusing to "affirm" that he/she will tell the truth becomes known as a "hostile witness" and the jury must then make their own mind up as to the credibility of any "evidence" the witness may bring forth. 92.8.12.19 (talk) 09:39, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Hostile witness has a different meaning in US courts. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 13:42, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, 12.19 is wrong; Hostile witness means the same thing in the UK as in the US, and, as in the US, any witness refusing to take an oath or affirmation will get done for contempt of court. FiggyBee (talk) 06:37, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm betting they'd be held in contempt of court in the US. If they're there of their own volition then they're disrupting the process of the court; if they've been subpoenaed then they are definitely in contempt of court. One way to look at the answer to this is what happened when non-Christians refused to swear on Bibles in particular (e.g. in ACLU of N.C. & Syidah Matteen v. State of North Carolina), which initially was cited as contempt of court but later got overturned as long as an appropriate alternative text was found that held the same meaning for the witness. Without getting into the entire religious question here, the original punishment—contempt of court—is probably the same as refusing to affirm in general. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 13:42, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

language

Where did the term coogans come from? They are pants with a nap at the front and cross over tapes at the back, for children. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.218.196.236 (talk) 10:15, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

OED, urbandictionary and wiktionary do not have this word :( --h2g2bob (talk) 15:28, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps from child actor Jackie Coogan? Rmhermen (talk) 21:49, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

What's a nap? It sounds like you might be describing dungarees. I've never heard them called coogans, though - where are you from? It's probably a local term. --Tango (talk) 04:00, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Solitaire card game, or "reading the cards"

I'm trying to identify what this woman is doing with playing cards. They resemble a standard deck, and the layout reminds me of a solitaire game in which a full deck of cards is laid out face up in four horizontal rows of 13,* then the aces are removed and the cards shifted to successively fill each gap with the card that follows the one to the left of the gap. (* The table in the drawing doesn't look long enough for 13, though.) My query:

• What's the name of that game?
• What other game might this be?
• Alternatively, does the layout correspond to some form of fortunetelling with cards?

The drawing was made in the Theresienstadt concentration camp by Moravia-born artist Bedrich Fritta (1907-1944). -- Thanks, Deborahjay (talk) 10:34, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I have a very similar game on my Palm PDA. Unfortunately, I don't have it with me today, but IIRC the game is called Montana Solitaire (I'll look for an online link with more info). Astronaut (talk) 15:56, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Here's a link to an online version of the game I have. A google search reveals several sites with the same game. Also, take a look at Gaps, a similar game with slightly different rules (seems there is a whole family of "Montana type" solitaire games. Astronaut (talk) 16:06, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Gaps is indeed the name under which I'd learned it long ago. I haven't compared the rules to "Montana Solitaire" (but am happy to have the online link :-) Would still like to know about the fortune-telling option, though. -- Deborahjay (talk) 16:57, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Green plums

My plum tree fell down yesterday, so I've got a large box (60x30x30cm?) of unripe plums. What can I do with them?! They're unripe - plum-sized but green. --h2g2bob (talk) 14:46, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

There are some websites which claim that unripe plums can be stored at room temperature / on a soft substrate / in good light until they ripen. There is a WP article on Umeshu, which is made of unripened prunes, however, you´d have to check with the authorities in Essex. They may not like the moonshine in your garden in the middle of the day. Apparently you can also make a sort of jam out of it. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 17:44, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Cooky2, since when did moonshiners check with the authorities? Disguise it as a plum tree leaning on a tank. There's always the bath... Julia Rossi (talk) 02:08, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Putting fruit next to (or underneath) bananas (as they ripen, or maybe even over-ripen) is supposed to speed up ripening. I'm not sure if it works with plums or if there's a limit on how unripe they can be to start with. Might be worth a try, though. --Tango (talk) 03:54, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

The ethylene gas that one ripening fruit produces can help make other fruit ripen faster, which is why one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel, as the saying goes. From our article: "Tomatoes, bananas, and apples will ripen faster in the presence of ethylene. Bananas placed next to other fruits will produce enough ethylene to cause accelerated fruit ripening." I remember one of those "kitchen chemistry" science experiments that involved this idea. shoy (reactions) 16:54, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

We had a prune tree once. (Not a plum tree, a prune tree.) The fruit apparently had some defect where the skins weren't waterproof, causing the fruit to shrivel into prunes on the branches as the water evaporated. I wondered if this genetic mutation might have commercial value as a cheaper way to produce prunes. StuRat (talk) 14:27, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Changing Your Name

I know that, in the U.S., you can legally change your name to pretty much anything you want. But is it possible to legally change your name so that you actually have no name? Digger3000 (talk) 16:35, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

See Name change. There are limits to what you can change your name to. Having no name seems like a legal impossibility. —D. Monack ^talk 17:40, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

There's Nemo for "no one" if you mean change your name to the equivalent of "no name". Julia Rossi (talk) 01:52, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Public execution

Is there any country where people are executed on the street? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr.K. (talk • contribs) 17:24, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I will try reading the articles on Saudi Arabia or Iran. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.6.158.156 (talk) 17:31, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia, Capital punishment in Iran, Pakistan, Nigeria, North Korea - all have had recent public executions. Taliban-era Afghanistan is another fairly recent one. Rmhermen (talk) 21:46, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Is there a way to see them online?

Is there?--96.227.17.205 (talk) 01:15, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Try YouTube. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 02:34, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think they'd last long up on youtube. They'd probably be flagged and removed. Snuff film might be of interest to you. Steewi (talk) 04:09, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

The evening news? Julia Rossi (talk) 04:54, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

LiveLeak tends to have a lot of that kind of thing. --Sean 14:15, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Poverty and friendship

Do poor people have more friends (and are friendly in general) than wealthy people, since they need other people? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr.K. (talk • contribs) 17:26, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I think it's impossible to generalise on this.87.102.86.73 (talk) 21:49, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Sorry for generalising, but a thought: they might be less pretentious, more accepting? Not having material wealth the poor stereotypically value relationships such as family and friendship bonds. Pride, exclusivity, snob values and status symbols are kinds of barriers the poor aren't expected to have. I like a maxim used in an art work: All we need is love/ but the poor know it's money. Julia Rossi (talk) 03:02, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

In the interests of balanced debate: You could go the other way and say wealthy people are likely to have more friends because making large amounts of money often requires good social skills. If you're impossible to get along with people aren't likely to want to do business with you. Of course, there are plenty of poor people with good social skills and plenty of rich people with bad ones, but it's possible that on average, rich people have better social skills. (Obviously, I'm ignoring inherited wealth here, but I think most wealthy people are self-made these days.) --Tango (talk) 04:15, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

No doubt about it, but I think "good social skills" is rather intra-stratum in that social skills tend to falter if not fail between social levels or groups at the personal level though the rich do seem to cross barriers to do business which is to say at the commercial level. And then, at the personal, terms of "success" vary according to one's social context and its prevailing values. Julia Rossi (talk) 04:58, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Rich people don't have friends. They have associates posing as friends ready to stab them in the back. --mboverload@ 06:53, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Another factor is that people's wealth tends to increase with age, while their number of friends tends to decrease with age. --Sean 14:08, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Why do you say that most wealthy people are self-made these days? I don't have a ref but I would imagine the opposite. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:22, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Because the aristocracy is pretty much a thing of the past. Wealthy people are generally earning large amounts rather than having inherited large amounts - take a look at one of the many rich lists and see how it says people made their money, very few say it was inherited. Defining "wealthy" is an arbitrary thing, but lets say it's an annual income of GBP 50,000 (US$100,000). To get that much from an inheritance you would have in inherit about £1,000,000 (assuming a 5% return, after inflation, which is probably a little optimistic). I don't have any statistics to hand, but I would expect there are far more people in jobs paying £50k than people that inherited £1m - remember, millionaires were few and far between a generation ago. --Tango (talk) 17:00, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

And remember, that £1m in cash or other paying investments - the family house doesn't count. --Tango (talk) 17:02, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Business oligarchs make an interesting read. Bucks seem to flow upwards for some, unlike water. Julia Rossi (talk) 08:21, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

Ann Richards said of George H. W. Bush something that could be applied to many truly rich people ($100,000 / year in the U.S. is not "rich" in my opinion): "He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple." OtherDave (talk) 13:01, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

Suicide thoughts sympton or illness

Are suicide thoughts always a sympton of an illness (like depression) or can they be a illness on their own? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr.K. (talk • contribs) 17:28, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Question moved to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Science#Suicide_thoughts_sympton_or_illness —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.6.158.156 (talk) 17:34, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

practies paper for cat 2008

i need practies paper for cat2008 , can u help me —Preceding unsigned comment added by Anujay12 (talk • contribs) 18:38, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

There is this, but you have to sign on to download the stuff. The WP CAT article has a link to the official web site, where you can download the 2007 paper. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 19:20, 27 July 2008 (UTC)