Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2009 March 12

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March 12

Human isolation

What's the longest time any person has spent without human contact? 86.8.176.85 (talk) 02:46, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

It depends on exactly what you mean by human contact, but Simeon Stylites has to rank -- I have to say it -- right up there.

Not correct: "For sustenance small boys from the village would climb up the pillar and pass him small parcels of flat bread and goats' milk."

In more recent times, and more fully isolated too, there is Juana Maria. I've never heard of her story until I tried googling on "marooned", "alone", and "years" in response to this query, so thanks!

I was going to mention Hiroo Onoda as well, but on reading the article, I see that he wasn't actually alone for most of his time on the island. So I won't do that after all. --Anonymous, 03:55 UTC, March 12, 2009.

There's also the wide world of feral children, of which the most relevant examples would probably be the Cambodian jungle girl, Kaspar Hauser, Marie-Angélique Memmie Le Blanc, and Oxana Malaya. I doubt any of them would win the "longest time without human contact" award, but some of them, at the time of their "discovery," had spent the majority of their lives without human contact. Theoretically, the award would probably go to one of the many Christian hermits who booked solo desert vacations back in the early days of Christianity. Some of the more famous ones are Mary of Egypt, John of Egypt, and Anthony the Great, but the hermity-est hermits may be Barsanuphius of Palestine, who allegedly spent 50 years in seclusion, and Onuphrius, who claimed 70. The problem with the stories of the early saints is that it's hard to differentiate fact from legend. Additionally, many hermits were actively sought out by pilgrims (a la Stylites), so not all of them were actually devoid of human interaction. --Fullobeans (talk) 05:34, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Longest time alone? Possibly some castaways, see Category:Castaways. Out of touch with humanity? Bush and Blair. Cheap shot, I know. BrainyBabe (talk) 06:46, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Anonymous mentioned one, but there were other Japanese holdouts after World War Two. Teruo Nakamura seems to have lived on his own from 1956 to 1974, though he may have had contact with other people (he left another small group of Japanese). --Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 12:19, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

basics

wat r the basics for autocad —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wwffww (talk • contribs) 09:52, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Some promising google hits. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 09:55, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Lots of time spent learning. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:54, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Looping sounds

Whenever a sound loops quickly, I feel... weird, like I'm panicking. Does anyone know what this effect is called? To make a sound loop, play a piece of music and (if you're on Vista) suspend audiodg.exe. The audio buffer won't refill and you'll get a looping sound. Or, get a scratched CD and play it - it will loop. --wj32 ^t/c 10:25, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

People have varying degrees of being affected by repeated stimuli. That ranges from no effect to pleasure all the way to migraine or seizure on the far end of the spectrum. The effect is more pronounced/better studied for light effects. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 10:41, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Resolution (music) might be of interest. --Fullobeans (talk) 17:54, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

history

dear sir

i would like to know the following: we always talk about the roman empire and then we think of them as italians. but if you read your articles there is a big or overwhelming greek influence in the roman empire. could you please clarify the matter how does the greeks fit into tne roman empire.

thank you

edwin de jongh —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hajlom (talk • contribs) 11:40, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

There is a vast amount of material on Wikipedia related to the Roman empire. Indeed, so much it's hard to know where to start. The influence of Greece was huge, particularly in the cultural sphere. The Romans were greatly impressed by the civilisation of Classical Greece, with its art, literature, and rhetoric providing models for Roman culture, and its science and philosophy crucial to Roman thought. You could look at Education in Ancient Rome, Roman art, Roman Empire#Culture, Rhetoric#The History of Rhetoric in Western Civilization, Culture of ancient Rome, History of science in Classical Antiquity#Roman Empire, Latin literature, Koine Greek, Roman Greece, Byzantine Greece, Byzantine Empire. Are you interested in the Greek influence in a particular field (e.g. in Roman art, politics, science, society, language, culture, education, historiography...)? --Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 12:33, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Classical antiquity might be a good place to start, providing a quick overview of how the chronology of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome fits together. Warofdreams talk 15:10, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Just as a point of interest the Romans were not Italian. Italy was only formed in the late 19th century largely due to a "freedom fighter" called Garibaldi.90.9.213.74 (talk) 15:41, 12 March 2009 (UTC)DT

"Italy" doesn't just mean "the modern country of Italy", it also refers to the Italian Peninsula, the Italian Language, and the native peoples of the area, collectively the Italians. The term English "Italian" dates to c.1400 (ref), hundreds of years before the foundation of the country of Italy. Its Latin cognate Italic dates "from the historic period before the Roman Empire." So it's perfectly reasonable (if a bit imprecise) to call the inhabitants of ancient Rome "italian"; "italic" would be marginally clearer. 87.115.143.223 (talk) 16:59, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

It's also probably obvious, but possibly worth mentioning, that if you dropped a bunch of modern Italians in the Wayback Machine and sent them to Ancient Rome, they'd have about as much in common with the residents as a horseshoe has with a cockatoo. They might have similar noses, though. -- Fullobeans (talk) 17:52, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

The Romans were the ancestors of most modern-day Italians, and they referred to their country as Italia, just as modern Italians do, though at the time Italia was a province of the Roman Empire rather than an independent country. Maltelauridsbrigge pointed out some of the important connections between Greek culture and the Roman Empire. One other thing to point out is that, while Latin was the main language of business and government in the western part of the Roman Empire (including Italy), Greek was the language of business and government of the eastern part of the Roman Empire, which was the wealthier part of the Empire. The culture of the eastern empire was thoroughly Hellenistic. So you could speak of the Greco-Roman Empire. Marco polo (talk) 00:26, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

I wonder, if you believe "Italy" was invented out of nothing in 1860 (and "Germany" in 1871), where do you think the name came from? —Tamfang (talk) 17:13, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

Tidbit: Italy was named by Greeks for a tribe in the 'toe', whose name was something like Witaloi. The Greek language lost /w/ early on. Greece, in turn, was so named by Romans for a northwestern tribe (the corner nearest Italy) who may or may not have spoken Greek. —Tamfang (talk) 17:10, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

Conventions

Hi I'm thinking of going to this convention in April. This would be my first convention, but I am a really shy person and I would like some advice on what it will be like, I'll be going alone. What is the general atmosphere of these conventions? Are they crowded with lots of people or is it a very open and free kind of event. Are photographs usually allowed? How long are signing sessions do you get to spend with each star? Thank you for your help.

Photographs: it varies - some restrict photos to certain times (to avoid annoying flashing during speeches), some altogether (so they can sell you photos). Shyness: it's a SF convention, not a Vogue afterparty - you'll be pleasantly surprised at how high up the social-functioning scale you'll be. Is it crowded: that just depends on how well it sells; I would think anything with Summer Glau appearing in it is likely to be popular. Signing sessions: it varies; they try to gauge how popular a given person will be (see my earlier about Summer Glau) and set the time accordingly (some stars are happier than others to do lengthy signing/photo/smalltalk sessions). How long with star: at the signing thing you'll get a minute maybe. Some celebs (mostly the redshirt type you have to pretend to remember) will mix at the bar afterward; I expect they'll just put Summer Glau back into her cryogenic tank afterward, so probably not her :) 87.115.143.223 (talk) 16:35, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

The couple I've been to have been fairly crowded - lots of VERY friendly people. It's easy to chat with them because right at the outset, you know you have at least one thing in common (whatever the subject of the convention is) - and you have the perfect opener for conversations ("Soooo....Which movie/episode/character did you like best/least/first?", "Did you get any autographs yet?", etc). So even a shy person can have fun. I'm not much one for collecting photos or autographs - so I don't know about that part. SteveBaker (talk) 18:46, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Can't tell you about your particular convention. One piece of advice though: wear very comfortable shoes and clothing. If you go autograph hunting you might have to stand in line for a couple of hours. That "killer outfit" may start feeling as though it's going to kill you. Also, think of one question you most want to have answered. Write down a keyword for it on a card and keep that in your pocket. That way you won't be as likely to forget it if you get the jitters. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 08:08, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Another tip: if you're lucky enough to get to spend any time smalltalking with the stars, don't just come out with something banal like how much you love their work, what your favourite film of theirs is, and so on. They hear that stuff literally all day long. Try and ask them something off-the-wall that will engage their interest, preferably something that has nothing at all to do with their work. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 08:51, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Also, I had a quick look at that website and was struck by the fact that they're selling a "gold ticket" for the not insubstantial sum of £150, and regular tickets for "only" £78. But nowhere on the site does it explain what you get for the additional £72. Be careful before you part with your money. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 09:09, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

prepaid credit card

In the UK can prepaid credit cards be bought in the shops without giving any address details or anything, just paying the money and receiving the card? 194.80.240.66 (talk) 12:25, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

as far as I am aware yes. Certainly the ones that I've seen advertised (a popular UK radio show that talks about all things sport was advertising their own recently) seem to give the impression that no address was required - the above mentionned radio advert cheekily advertised their card as a way of keeping your mistress secret from your wife as there would be no communcation or statements sent to your home address, and no credit checks made in order to open it... This would be due to there being no risk to them as you can't physically spend what isn't on the card, and thus it is not a form of borrowing... Gazhiley (talk) 13:13, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

You would usually have to give an address to the company that your phone number is registered with/you bought your phone from, though. It's just that they won't mail statements. The prepaid cards you can then buy at a store like a pack of chewing gum. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 14:37, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

really? why would they need to know where your phone is registered? And what has your phone number got to do with buying a prepaid card? I'm not trying to be awkward just don't understand the need for it... Gazhiley (talk) 14:55, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

I think they may be confusing pre-paid credit cards with mobile phone top-up cards/vouchers. Nanonic (talk) 15:25, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Oops. Yes, misread it. Cold didn't just make my head only feel like a bag stuffed full of straw. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 04:25, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

In primitive olden days, when people used to earn money before spending it (how delightfully quaint!), there used to be something similar to a pre-paid credit card. Our ancient forefathers used to call it cash. 88.112.63.253 (talk) 06:58, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I have heard of this cash and once went to the trouble to obtain some. In the process of completing a purchase from an online retailer named after a former rainforest, I tried inserting the cash into various of my computer's orifices. Alas, the cash did not work as well as I had been led to believe. BrainyBabe (talk) 07:36, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

God damn modern technology... I remember the days when you could insert cash into a computer, but now the cash drive has been replaced by bluetooth, usb pens, wifi etc... how I long for the good old days... ;-) Gazhiley (talk) 09:06, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Ah! I fully understand your confusion. Computers still use cash - it's just spelled cache in these modern times. If you are using it online - you'll be needing web cache instead. Anyway - if this still confuses you, just fold up some of your bigger cache items - pop them off to me in an envelope and I'll be happy to deal with them for you. SteveBaker (talk) 11:57, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

I am happy with POP, but I am not sure what this "enevelope" is - some sort of container, maybe ? Gandalf61 (talk) 13:38, 13 March 2009 (UTC)