Hi, I was wondering:

Is the cosmetic coating damage on RS400 Polar watch, repairable or not? If so, by whom, or with which product?

1)http://imgur.com/I6kh5kt 2)http://imgur.com/U89DKkX 3)http://imgur.com/Okjjdqm 4)http://imgur.com/fMNJqPN 5)http://imgur.com/pbDtBMW Matt714 (talk) 01:15, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think only a reputable watch-repair shop would be able to tell you for sure. They may be able to replace that part.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:36, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

How did you become a Wikipedia editor? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.231.230.198 (talk • contribs)

The answer will vary depending on who it is you're addressing. So, tell us, just who is it that you're addressing? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 02:57, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Even so, a good general answer would be, "I became a Wikipedia editor by editing Wikipedia." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:33, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That's Deep Bugs... Very Deep... :D gazhiley 11:00, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'd like to hear any good alternative explanations. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:09, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect our OP is looking for the step immediately before "by editing WIkipedia" - like: Why did you edit it in the first place? For me, the reason was simply that I was looking up something and found an error and was amazed to find that I could just dive in and fix it. 28,500 edits and 9 years later...I'm still here! SteveBaker (talk) 20:43, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see a "Why" in his question, just a "How". And my experience is similar to yours. That's probably a pretty typical "Why". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:21, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm guessing this is a post from a non-native, who probably meant "How does one become ...". Hence my suggestion below. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:29, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The OP has had one post in the last four years, so it's hard to know whether he'll ever look at this discussion. But it could be useful for others. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:25, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Maybe Wikipedia:Tutorial is what you're after. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:21, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Here's one report by Gina Trapani how she became a Wikipedia editor ("but there it was, a big honkin' typo staring at me") And just in case 70.231.230.198 did mean "do", not "did", her article also explains, in less overwhelming volume than we do, how to edit, and is titled "How to contribute to Wikipedia". ---Sluzzelin talk 01:45, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Gamma rays. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:18, November 25, 2014 (UTC)

Time on my hands. —Tamfang (talk) 07:06, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• It all started when I bought this faulty R2 unit from some disscrupled Jawas.... μηδείς (talk) 03:39, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• I blame Alma Schindler Mahler Gropius Werfel and Tom Lehrer, not to mention ABC Classic FM, for making me a wiki-victim. You can read about it here if you're interested. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 08:00, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• I have to go with the "big, honkin' typo" motive... the one that compels my wife to straighten pictures in other people's homes and offices. I just surf wikipedia and when I see a howling abuse of the English language, orthography, or facts which ought to have been known to a previous editor, I reflexively click "edit" and go to work. loupgarous (talk) 23:49, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I like your wife already.  :) -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:30, 30 November 2014 (UTC) [reply]

I was thinking of partaking in a 5 day rice and bean diet for charity to raise money for a charity. Would there be any health risk to this? --SolliGwaa (talk) 06:40, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We cannot provide medical advice. Please consult a relevant professional. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 08:28, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We have some relevant info at Staple food, here's a fact sheet from the FAO [1], and here's a blurb from NPR about beans and rice [2]. SemanticMantis (talk) 17:40, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Rice is one of the worst possible foods for diabetics, see also favism. You should just call your general practitioner and ask if it's okay based on your medical history. Otherwise, rice and beans is a great meal. Having to eat it for a week is like being threatened with the comfy chair. μηδείς (talk) 17:52, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

(Disclaimer: This is not medical advice, merely a necessary nuancing of the above simplistic post "Rice is one of the worst possible foods for diabetics".) OP, intact rice is classified as a low GI food at Glycemic index, so not an issue for diabetics. Non-intact rice is medium GI, still OK. Only boiled white rice is high GI. See also [3] and [4]. But if diabetes is an issue for you (and it may be without your knowing it), please get advice from a professional rather than from random strangers on the internet. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:19, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, correct, however traditional Hispanic rice and beans is made with boiled white rice, or yellow rice which is white rice and saffron. I read an article this year that said just two large meals of rice could bring on type two diabetes in a pre-diabetic. That was hard to google, but I did find this article.μηδείς (talk) 21:04, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

But who said the OP was referring the traditional Hispanic dish? From what I can see, neither of these components (traditional or Hispanic) were suggested in any way. Nil Einne (talk)

This wouldn't bother me as I am in good health. However, you could run it by the organisers that they obtain pro bono, the services of a health expert to pre-qualify would be entrants. Also, a sudden change of diet may cause some people problems at work, if they keep having to explain to each-and-every-client the reason for their copious flatulence. I expect there will now be a torrent of tasty cures posted – remember no med advice) --Aspro (talk) 19:22, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If we can't give health advice regarding a diet of beans, can we give musical advice? A bean-heavy diet would be more popular with others forced to be nearby the dieter if the beans were not flavored with a lot of onions and garlic, imho. Edison (talk) 20:19, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In my impoverished youth, I lived for periods of at least 5 days on little other than rice and beans without any real health issues, but it is possible you have medical issues that I did not. If you do decide to do this, I recommend soaking and boiling dried beans rather than eating canned beans. Make sure to throw away the water you use to soak the beans. I am not sure how canned beans are prepared, but I find that I have less gas when I boil beans myself than when I consume canned beans. Marco polo (talk) 20:37, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Dried beans are also less expensive and have a smaller carbon footprint (and tastier, IMO). They also come in far more varieties. As to gas, most sources agree this is diminished by adaptation, and that it depends on the type of bean as well as how (and how much) it is cooked. See e.g. [5] [6]. SemanticMantis (talk) 21:13, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Also, while white rice isn't a good idea for diabetics, I don't know if it's accurate to call it one of the worst as it's not that different from a number of other popular carbohydrates sources such white bread and many preparations of potatoes. (Pasta is one that's normally I think better.) Nil Einne (talk) 11:29, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Look, the original poster asked about health risks. That is clearly a request for medical advice, and as Jack said, we don't answer those here. If you agree, please close this and delete the responses after Jack's. --65.94.50.4 (talk) 07:02, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that answering the question as-written could constitute medical advice. But nobody gave any medical advice. After Jack set the tone, I think we were all pretty careful to not say anything that could be construed as such. I don't think anyone should remove the answers that do not give medical advice, which is all of them as of this writing. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:43, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• My informant was unfamiliar with brown rice, confused it with congri, and asked why anyone would eat brown rice. Assuming your doctor says you're a go, she suggests congri. μηδείς (talk) 20:05, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Policy Discussion
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Dietary advice is not medical advice, at least in the US. If it was, anyone promoting a diet could be arrested for practicing medicine without a license (I'm rather sick of having to point this out each and every time somebody calls dietary advice medical advice). Now, as to the question: 1) Any diet that has you just eat one or two kinds of food is not ideal. However, 5 days probably isn't long enough for vitamin deficiencies to manifest themselves. 2) Red beans and rice together form complete proteins. 3) I agree with the previous comments on avoiding white rice, due to the high glycemic index. 4) Beware the high sodium content in many canned beans and prepared rice products. You could possibly use canned beans, so long as you rinse them and then dilute with unsalted rice. Also use unsalted butter on the rice and drink lots of water with it. StuRat (talk) 20:13, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply] Dietary advice, which you have given, Stu, is licensed or certified in every state in the union. What license or certificate do you hold? Feel free to offer a recipe under the condition that the OP speak to his PP first. μηδείς (talk) 20:18, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply] The licensing, in a variety of states, has to do with the use of restricted titles, such as "Dietitian", not the dispensing of nutritional advice, see [7]. Going through the document, even in states that do require a license for certain acts, there are only 9 states lacking an exemption for providing general information - and looking at those states, it is fairly clear that they are not discussing general nutrition information. In other words, there are, maybe, 4 states that under the strictest reading of their laws would have a problem with something quite stronger than what StuRat said...so, no, your point does not appear to stand unless you are claiming he has called himself a "Dietitian".Phoenixia1177 (talk) 05:00, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply] Our disclaimer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer says we don't give professional advice of any sort, and Stu has done that, while claiming not to give medical advice. He might as well give stock tips while claiming not to be a lawyer. μηδείς (talk) 06:06, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply] It is not professional advice, that's the whole point of the law applying to titles; device that may be given by a professional is not the same as professional advice; there is a profession that covers most everything, 50%+ of these threads would need closed if we were following that maxim to the letter. Coming from an IT background, what would make offering to give you advice based off of logs (earlier) not professional advice? (I'm not trying to be a dick, it's a fair point). --Also, the disclaimer reads a lot less like "Don't post professional advice" and instead as "Anything you receive here is not professional advice and should not be takes as such". You'll note that a disclaimer is not rules, it is a warning and clarification to the reader - in other words, the disclaimer doesn't even say what you claim, in the way you do; and even if it did, there is good argument you are approaching that wrong too.Phoenixia1177 (talk) 06:39, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply] The problem is not with what Stu's post said, but that it's entirely on his own authority without reference to any article or RS. The pro forma addition of links or a source would solve the issue, as would a recommendation the OP seek advice from his doctor. μηδείς (talk) 18:26, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply] I do agree that there should be a reference, very much so - but that is a whole different argument; though, again, one I agree with, we should always be citing source, obviously. We should take this to the talk page, at this point, if there is more left to say.Phoenixia1177 (talk) 04:25, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Just a quick question I have regarding some information you have posted. I am looking at the pages of

Emergency_vehicle_lighting .....under Canada

and I am wondering, under the Canada portion it reads as follows

Red and Blue: police; and other "non-police" law enforcement in all provinces and territories.

Red: fire department, other "non-police" law enforcement in the provinces of ON and QC and search and rescue vehicles in BC.

I have read your footnotes and even went to all of them, and there is no reference to the above that I may find. What I am wondering is, is where you have located this information? I am curious as I am working on a project and it would be great to add this to my own information as well as footnotes. Kwroadservices (talk) 15:22, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The normal place to raise this question is at the Talk Page of that very article. Please copy the above question and post it at Talk:Emergency vehicle lighting. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:28, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Hey, just come across this handy little app called Google. Just typed in Alberta, Lights, Police and this popped up on page 16. Ambulances, Firetrucks, the lot -all in one document. Amazing! This Ref Desk's days are surly numbered ;-) --Aspro (talk) 19:51, 24 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • It is an amazing app - odd how frequently I find the info I need! Play nice though... :D gazhiley 09:39, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed sig, user s indeffed, BTW. μηδείς (talk) 22:06, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have a crush on a girl that likes Formula One, but I know nothing about it. What can I say to bring up a conversation about F1? Many thanks! --SolliGwaa (talk) 19:31, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Max Mosley's (well-publicised) bedroom activities might be a useful jumping-off point, as it were. Tevildo (talk) 19:55, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Don't pretend to know much about it - because what little you can learn will run out after about 30 seconds of conversation. Come clean. Ask to be taught. Something like: "I've always been fascinated by fast cars - I heard you were a formula I nut - maybe you could tell me more about it"...that would be kinda refreshing wouldn't it? SteveBaker (talk) 21:59, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And you might learn something interesting in the process. Expand your horizons, as it were. ‑‑Mandruss ☎ 22:05, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You have a crush on a girl who likes F1. Calling her an it won't help in your quest. μηδείς (talk) 22:08, 25 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The OP did not call the girl an it Medeis. Your pedantry is out of place and insulting. --ColinFine (talk) 00:41, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

...But fully within character... --Jayron32 03:09, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Are you demanding apologies for my linking to F1 and recommending the OP not call people thats? μηδείς (talk) 03:39, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

if you want to pick her up, don't talk to her about F1. Talk to her about her - and, more importantly, listen. --NellieBly (talk) 07:36, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

But he's trying to do exactly that. "Liking F1" is "about her" - and if that's the first thing you know, then what would be a better way to get a conversation started. As I said, above, if this isn't something you know much about, then asking questions and listening is the best conversational strategy. SteveBaker (talk) 16:47, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to talk to her about it,then something simple and easy would be a good start- such as 'Who's going to win next year's Championship?' or 'Who's your favourite driver?' 'How long have you been watching it?' 'Have you ever been to a race?' That should at least open up some conversation.And you're probably selling yourself short to say you know NOTHING about it-even non F1 fans could tell you Hamilton won this year's championship for Mercedes.

Lemon martini (talk) 17:31, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The trouble is that if you're not into F1, then being told the name of next year's predicted winner is a conversational dead end...worse still, feigning interest is most likely to result in her saying "I think Brad Speedster has it this year...who do you think will win?"...and now you're screwed. You probably don't know the first thing about Mr Speedster - and you have no information with which to come back with a possibly winner of your own...so the conversation dries up at that point. Don't ask questions where you don't care about the answers. Instead, ask, more generally, to be taught about this topic. That leaves her with plenty to tell you about - and leaves you to comfortably listen and offer intelligent commentary as you learn. SteveBaker (talk) 16:47, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Depends on what continent you're on, I'm betting. Mingmingla (talk) 19:30, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I agree. As a non-F1 fan, I know that Mercedes make cars...and that's about it. I've never heard of "Hamilton". SteveBaker (talk) 16:47, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Just don't mention Dick Trickle, since that's NASCAR, and hardly the words to get a girl in a romantic mood. :-) StuRat (talk) 20:24, 26 November 2014 (UTC) [reply]

Watching motorsport can take a bit of Will Power if you're not really into it. If you have Facebook, you could try liking a few F1 news sites so that you can get immersed in the sport. Hack (talk) 03:40, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, original poster! The best way to learn about Formula One racing is to ask the girl! Just be sure to swat up some details from our article Formula One, then from resources on its reference list, so your questions are intelligent ones (like "who enforces Formula One rules?" or "do the automakers really put much money into Formula One racing?") that show you have genuine interest in the topic. This isn't exclusive to women, everyone opens up and starts "sharing" once someone asks them to hold forth on a topic near and dear to them by asking intelligent questions. My wife has suffered through several of my dissertations on things I think I know enough about to dissert upon. loupgarous (talk) 00:03, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What causes Wikipedia's compulsive preoccupation with a.) minor/obscure Australian or Canadian politicians, public figures, etc. and b.) the Catawissa Creek and its tributaries in Pennsylvania? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.36.94.245 (talk) 08:01, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That "minor" politician isn't so minor if he's your mayor and sets your taxes. The mayor of Winnipeg has massively, massively more influence on my day-to-day life than every citizen of the United States combined. --NellieBly (talk) 11:57, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Please substantiate your premise that our coverage of such subjects amounts to "compulsive preoccupation". -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 08:09, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Interesting. That unsigned post comes from an IP address that actually geolocates to a place in Pennsylvania. Wonder what he's got against the Catawissa Creek? HiLo48 (talk) 10:24, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Obscurity is relative, the two previous posters and I could name dozens of Australian politicians but, speaking for myself, I couldn't name a single Pennsylvanian politician. Hack (talk) 14:14, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• The user may be off base, but as of one time, 1/20 of our articles consisted of stubs related to tiny jurisdictions in Poland, with slightly fewer being stubs about places in France and Kenya--apparently the governments of these place paid someone to get the started. One could verify that 5% of wikipedia articles were about Polish places by hitting random article. Maybe these were the results for our unsigned OP?

• More generally, since articles are written by volunteers, it will just happen that you will find more volunteers with certain interests than others, and subsequently have more articles on those topics. The hope is that, eventually, volunteers will sign up to fill in the lightly covered areas. StuRat (talk) 20:28, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I suppose everyone's seen this somewhat out-of-date graphic. Perhaps we should now replace the "Stephen ... Colbert" label with "Minor Pennsylvania watercourses". (I've even geocoded a number of those articles, and they appear to be the result of one editor's desire to be exhaustive.) Deor (talk) 22:17, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Kena, really? —Tamfang (talk) 05:36, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

My keyboard has been running a long-term campaign of passive resistance against me, especially in the qwerty, asd, and bnm, areas. I fixed the mipselling before I saw your comment. μηδείς (talk) 18:14, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sympathy. I had to retire a keyboard not very long ago when two or three keys stopped doing their thing. —Tamfang (talk) 06:13, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

How long since either of you has cleaned them? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:21, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Regularly with canned air. But I am afraid to open it up and see what stephenkingian thing's down there. μηδείς (talk) 17:32, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If there's nothing to lose anyway, you could try a tip someone once gave me: Run it through your automatic dishwasher, if you have one, on the top rack. I think you want to pull it out before it gets into the dry-heat cycle. Then let it sit somewhere for about a week, to be sure all the water has evaporated. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:27, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

To the OP: the same thing that causes some wikipedia editors to put a gigabyte or so of Game of Thrones trivia on the site, and me to add "and parishes" to any reference to US counties - either mistaking particular interest for general interest, or a compulsive need to inform the wikipedia reader of things they may not have known (such as "there are no counties in Louisiana, only parishes"). loupgarous (talk) 00:09, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Where can I post my marketing questionnaire in order to get more answers on it? 176.14.253.145 (talk) 10:11, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Please, please, please, stop what you're currently doing and read selection bias, sampling bias, participation bias, convenience sample and accidental sampling - as well as any decent reference on how to conduct a valid statistical sample. The way you select your respondents is as critical in getting decent survey responses as what questions you ask is. Sloppy sample choice can make even the best crafted survey meaningless. A classic example is the "Dewey Defeats Truman" newspaper headline, which was based in part on telephone surveys which neglected the fact that only the more affluent (who were biased for Dewey) had telephones at the time. Randomly placing your marketing questionnaire on the internet means you get random people on the internet who voluntarily complete questionnaires - which is probably not the demographic you're looking for. Know exactly who you want to target before you post your questionnaire, or you're just wasting your time. -- 160.129.138.186 (talk) 16:24, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Buy ad space and advertise it. Offer free gift cards. Expect to only get responses from people who a) read ads on the internet and b) like gift cards. Richard-of-Earth (talk) 06:26, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps you should consider Amazon Mechanical Turk. This is a service that lets you get a large number of people to do 'work' for you, for about $1/hour. The demographics have been researched and are believed to be a reasonable cross-section of US internet users - so if that's a match for what you're looking for, then it's a good match. Because you're paying for people to do the survey, you avoid some selection biasses. It's been used for this kind of thing in quite a few serious studies. It's also a fairer way to do surveying - you're not expecting people to give up their time for no reward. You can also set the exact number of surveys you wish to have done and when you need the results by. SteveBaker (talk) 16:33, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If a national or sub-national border is defined by law or treaty as one thing, but surveys have marked it as something else (due to poor technology of the survey process), what is the actual border? Is it the line defined by law, or the surveyed line? As example, I'm thinking of the Canada–United States border along the 49th parallel or the New York–Pennsylvania border along the 42nd parallel. Both are surveyed as zig-zaggy but defined as following the parallel. Could they (should they) be re-surveyed with better accuracy? [That last part may be conjecture, so skip that if you want.]    → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 17:15, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see how we can answer this definitively with one umbrella answer. The actual process and the settlement of the argument will likely change depending on the local/federal government, the reason for the discrepancies, the wording of the law or treaty, and so on. Just to add to your list, there is currently an effort going on to better establish where the border of North and South Carolina is. Dismas|^(talk) 17:44, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Speaking of the Canada-USA border, it's not as simple as most people think. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:33, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The thing to remember is that boarders and boundaries are relative and not absolute. In other words, it is the surveyed line which is upheld in law. However accurate surveying techniques become, the grid lines will always be imaginary concepts. Besides, just who's grid lines is one to use? Pick any one and some boundaries will be several yards out again in a few generations time. Some boandraies zig zag because by the time of ratification, much land had settlers with a legal title, whose owners were paying their taxes to one side or the other. The administrators are the land owners servants, not the other way around. So the borders had to snake around existing legal land claims rather than imaginary lines that only appear on maps, which might change position at any time on the whims of geographers and cartographers, earthquakes, continental drift, etc.--Aspro (talk) 21:19, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed. Even something as simple as the "49th parallel" moves over time; the definition of the "49th parallel" depends on which Geodetic datum one is using to define said parallel. If the definition changes, the line moves. And if the line moves, then property and sovereignty boundaries can also move, which can create problems. That's why surveying and marking territory is so important, the actual markers on the ground provide relatively immutable boundary definitions. But even those aren't absolute: erosion, soil creep, continental drift, etc. mean that such markers will also tend to move slightly, meaning that no boundary stays in the same place forever, to any infinite degree of precision. It's always a bit fuzzy and changing. --Jayron32 02:39, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You'd think the surveyed lines would be well settled by now, and yet in recent years I've heard of a family who learned to their shock that their house is in Connecticut rather than Rhode Island, and of a bit of land that was transferred between South Carolina and North Carolina when someone took a closer look at the paperwork. —Tamfang (talk) 05:24, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Washington v Norman is instructive: "Never mind the very clear letter of the law, we know what they meant." —Tamfang (talk) 05:24, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Another case in point: Cambodian–Thai border dispute (Preah Vihear Temple#Modern history and ownership dispute). It went to the UN for arbitration and wasn't settled until 2013, and even then only partially.--William Thweatt ^TalkContribs 06:40, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Due to surveying errors, the border area between the colonies of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia was disputed and was subject to legal action even after Australian Federation occurred. Even after the resolution, there is still a slight dogleg in an otherwise straight border. The South Australia–Victoria border dispute article has some detail on the issue. Hack (talk) 06:48, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What happens if an emergency vehicle comes to a border post?-surely an ambulance with flashing blue lights whizzing along or a fire engine wouldn't have to stop to fill out bits of paperwork or wave their passports before being allowed through?And if they don't,wouldn't that be an ideal way to get something/somebody through the border without being stopped? Lemon martini (talk) 17:38, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Generally speaking emergency services only operate in the country they originate from. AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:42, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Some areas, such as Derby Line, Vermont, have agreements where emergency services work on both sides of the border. See Derby Line, Vermont#Water. This makes sense, especially in this case, because the international border goes through the town library. Dismas|^(talk) 17:52, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Do they have librarians on both sides, so you can check out a book on one side of the border, or check it oot on the other ? :-) StuRat (talk) 20:48, 26 November 2014 (UTC) [reply]

There are provisions that have allowed for pursuit across borders. This has no details on procedure but does talk about it generally: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cross-border-policing-provokes-sovereignty-worries-1.1162116 Mingmingla (talk) 19:14, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In the European Union there is a treaty about it. A hot police chase can cross borders, but must inform the "invaded" country ASAP, and pursuing police must turn back immediately if told so by the host country. Kind of common sense, really. An ambulance is much less likely to cross a border in an emergency; you'd call for emergency services located in your own country. In a sparsely populated areas small border towns can share emergency services by pre-determined agreements; common sense will prevail in border formalities. 88.112.50.121 (talk) 20:59, 26 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I used to work with someone who had previously worked for Eurotunnel. Commendably, the fire services on either side had worked out in advance how to co-operate in the event of an emergency. One problem that needed ironing out was that British fire crews "attend" an incident, whereas in French, "attendez!" means "wait!", so that two very similar words mean either "go" or "stop". Alansplodge (talk) 13:41, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A bit more pertinent than my previous anecdote, I found GP Out-of-Hours and emergency ambulance services by the North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association, which says of the UK's only land border: " A Memorandum of Understanding between Northern Ireland and [the Republic of] Ireland exists which enables ambulance services on both sides of the border to provide mutual aid and support. To date, there have also been discussions between the two Health Ministers regarding how both jurisdictions might co-operate on the issue of air ambulance services" (p. 4). According to a table on p. 32, Northern Irish emergency ambulances were dispatched to the Irish Republic 113 times in 2012-13, although reciprocal figures aren't included. Alansplodge (talk) 16:20, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hot pursuit seems to have very little information. I thought I read a far more detailed article on wikipedia once, but must be mistaken and read it somewhere else. Anyway [8] gives some old stats. Even in a case like the EU, it's not that common that such pursuits actually happen. Nil Einne (talk) 12:44, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have been wondering for a very long time: in a list of edits like List of living supercentenarians: Revision history, can you please tell me what the positive in bold green and negative in bold red mean? Deaths in 2013 (talk) 05:02, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The number of characters (and so bytes) added or subtracted. Ian.thomson (talk) 05:05, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Bytes, not characters. For example, this demonstration edit in the Sandbox changed six instances of "a" to "á"; the number of characters is the same, but "á" in UTF-8 requires two bytes whereas characters that come from ASCII, such as "a", require one each; so if you check the edit history, you'll see that it shows +6 bytes for the change. --65.94.50.4 (talk) 06:31, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Us old-timers are used to thinking of bytes and characters as being equivalent. At some point you run out of bytes before you run out of characters, necessitating an extended character set such as UTF-8. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:24, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

At the top of any Revision history page, follow the link "For more help, see Help:Page history". The help page has a diagram and explanations of the various parts of the history page. Number 15 explains the + or − numbers and says "See more at Wikipedia:Added or removed characters". That page says numbers above 500 are bold. --Bavi H (talk) 15:44, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Reasons of high IgE AB PENICILLIUM QUANTI allergy.
• Effects of this high allergy with further testing and treatment.

You are doing great and appreciable efforts in mentioning very helpful informations all times. Kuldip Aggarwal — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.75.72.55 (talk) 16:05, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I changed the title into something useful. StuRat (talk) 16:11, 27 November 2014 (UTC) [reply]

Google does not recognize "Penicillium quanti" (apart from this posting). Penicillin, Penicillin drug reaction and Penicillium may be useful articles. Tevildo (talk) 23:55, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I was wondering about a particular evidence of half-eaten opossums and the like lying at the edge of ponds and rivers (I live in the Southeastern USA). Do gators leave those lying around to attract new victims? If it's not alligators then what is doing it? Thanks. Zombiesturm (talk) 21:22, 27 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Our cubicle article seems to be focussed mainly on the US (as sadly are many articles), but in this case I wonder if that is because the office cubicle is actually mainly a US phenomenon. Now, I work in academia in the UK, and all bets are off there, but I've never seen cubicles in a European office environment. Mind you, I haven't seen many commercial offices, so hence my question. Are cubicle offices common at all outside of the US? Maybe in Asia? 131.251.254.81 (talk) 16:40, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What do you have instead of cubicles? A wide-open sea of desks? People seem to forget that cubicles were intended to be an improvement on that kind of environment. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:47, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well, in one of my workplaces I'm in a small office with 8 desks or so, and in my second workplace with 2 desks. But yes, in general, I think that's what happens. That's why I'm asking the question, I don't know. I don't see however, why anybody would want to work in a cubicle, no chance of having a chat or even seeing someone else? Surely it's lethally boring? But I digress. 131.251.254.81 (talk)

I work in cubicle enviroment in Bulgaria, Europe. If you take the first picture in the article as reference- there are 7 of max 8 panels used to separate the space. Here 4 of 8 panels are used and cubicals are arranged into larger "cubicles" of 6-8 desk cubicles.Gergo vassilev (talk) 16:58, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm in the UK, and I've only once worked in an office with individual cubicles. It was an insurance company, we weren't allowed to talk to each other and we just kept our heads down and got on with our own work. Which meant that when the girl who opened the mail went off on maternity leave, nobody opened a single item of mail for several weeks. That's when they brought me in from the temp agency. I only lasted a couple of weeks. But I've never worked in a completely open-plan office either. Usually you would have sections divided off with standing partitions or banks of filing cabinets, inside which you'd have maybe eight or twelve desks, some of them back-to-back in groups, with the section manager usually having his/her own stand-alone desk. It's a decent compromise between individual cubicles and open-plan, more sociable and less dehumanising than either, and means people voluntarily pitch in to cover when others in their team are absent, because they know what everybody does and how much they depend on each other. My current employer tried to introduce rotation and hot-desking a few years ago (as part a misbegotten attempt to organise a service activity according to Lean manufacturing), but it didn't take. --Nicknack009 (talk) 17:23, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• The IP geolocates to Cardiff. The UK certainly has cubicles in its more modern (London) office buildings, which you can see from simply watching British TV. μηδείς (talk) 17:29, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"No one in the US builds cubicles any more, and in the UK they never really did." I've seen cubicles on only two UK sites, both intended for individual employee study/training rather than as an employee's fixed workplace, and one of them was more than ten years ago. (I have some little experience of German sites, but didn't see any cubicles there either.)

What are extremely common in open-plan UK offices are the half-height dividing partitions between rows of desks and at the end of rows of desks. These are at approximately shoulder level when the employee is seated, so that the employee can converse with the person opposite them by looking straight across the partition; but will not see the person opposite them if they are looking down at work on their desk or at their computer screen (depending on placement). They're also soft-coated so they are effective in deadening noise, and you can stick printouts of Dilbert cartoons (complete with portrayals of cubicles), or calendars or other appropriate items, to them. They also have the effect that whatever is on your desk is partially private, since no-one sees it unless they either walk up behind you (analogous to "entering" a cubicle employee's cubicle) or stand opposite you and peer over the partition (which would be an uncommon way to behave.) --Demiurge1000 (talk) 19:43, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I thought shoulder-height barriers were what were meant by cubicles, not beehive chambers. Only on Seinfeld did Americans work in closets. μηδείς (talk) 19:55, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Shoulder-height partitions when standing is the (now slightly outdated) American way. Search "The Matrix Escaping from Work Scene HD" on YouTube to see what I mean. As I said, shoulder height or slightly below when sitting, is the UK way, if partitions are used at all. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 03:51, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Whoever said "no one in the US builds cubicles anymore" must not have been in any US offices. Google "Steelcase cubicles" and you'll see a major cubicle-builder. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:59, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well, that was a reliable source, not a vendor. I would agree, though, that many US businesses are still determined to try to use this method of control. While, at the same time, companies in most other continents avoid it. That's what the OP was asking about. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 01:46, 1 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Every office I've ever worked in or visited has cubicles of some sort. You call it a "method of control". It's actually less controlled than the sea of desks was. The idea was to give everyone a private space to work in. Nowadays they've pulled back from it a little bit, creating little "huddle" areas for impromptu meetings and the like. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:36, 1 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Every office you've ever worked in, Baseball Bugs, has been in the USA. Do you remember the OP's question? --Demiurge1000 (talk) 04:46, 1 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• I am surprised to learn I was really in London all this time, not New York. Not only was my cubicle shoulder high as I sat, I could raise the seat itself, and regularly communicated with the women surrounding me. μηδείς (talk) 02:35, 1 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• The OP didn't ask about New York. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 04:46, 1 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have found an old article which says that Lazaro Busuku a 96 year old man from Burundi moved to Omaha in 2007. I would like to know is he still alive because now he would be 103 years old and probably first centenarian and oldest known person ever from Burundi. But if he has passed away is there any article or obituary about him? 62.72.229.12 (talk) 18:04, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Have you searched for an obituary under his name, which is certainly not going to be common in Nebraska? You can also call the state coroner or whatever they call that position in NE. I only found my estranged cousin had died of complications from a brain tumor by calling the relevant dept. In Pennsylvania. μηδείς (talk) 20:02, 28 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

He's in the Omaha phone book for 2014. That doesn't mean for sure that he is still alive, but it suggests he probably is. Note though that ages for people from countries like Burundi are often not very well documented. Looie496 (talk) 15:45, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a website that allows you to advertise your hobby for example photography and videography of female feet? also, is there a website that allows you to advertise your assignment for example assignment of female feet photos and videos as part of photography and videography assignment? just asking. nothing curious. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.29.34.205 (talk) 16:33, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like either Instagram or Pinterest will meet your needs here. --TammyMoet (talk) 17:21, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And if you want something where specifically foot photography might be welcomed, you might try fetlife. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:49, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Do they offer visits to the public?2001:558:6020:157:7D03:47EF:C282:FCAF (talk) 18:18, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

They have this (you have to register for a tour in advance). I imagine most of the rest of the place is just boring offices; a tour of them probably wouldn't be very interesting. Deor (talk) 18:34, 29 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That's exactly what they want you to assume. Does the sinistry (sp: sinisterness? sinistrality? sinistrousness?) of their cunning know no bounds? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:18, 30 November 2014 (UTC) [reply]

The BBC offers a virtual tour of the UK Home Office, which they call The Dark Department. In contrast, the (non-BBC) government's online presentation is transparently white. The only shade of grey in all the minister and managers is in the one unphotographed guy, Charles Farr. Googling to see any possible differences from Kevin White, I found nothing to fear. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:54, November 30, 2014 (UTC)

This criminal trial transcript is available: http://fg.j3224.co.uk/RvGParkJudgesSummingUp.pdf

Can it be used for the article: Lady in the Lake trial? If so, what citation guidelines do I need follow? Alligators1974 (talk) 01:18, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No, it cannot be used in an article. The website hosting this material (fg.j3224.co.uk) does not qualify as a reliable source, the document claims to be subject to copyright (and not by the website hosting it), and we have no means to verify that it is authentic. (in future, please use the Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard for such queries). AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:24, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Today I saw a house of a design that I've seen before and I'd like to know what the design or roof type is called. It was a two story home. The roof was flat and the second story exterior was quite heavily sloped. The exterior only widened maybe a foot or so from the top of the house to where the eaves hung over the first story. Yes, there were eaves but, as I described, they were very small as far as horizontal distance goes. Is there a name for this design? Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 02:16, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Saltbox? --Jayron32 02:34, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not a saltbox, I know saltboxes. I realize now that I left out the fact that the second story exterior wall was slanted on all four sides. There were no gable ends. Dismas|^(talk) 02:43, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm having a hard time visualizing exactly what you're describing. Something like a mansard roof? Deor (talk) 08:21, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, like that. But the top of the house was flat, from what I could see. And there was no upper pitch to it. It was all one pitch which was very steep. Though I did notice that that article says "The upper slope of the roof may not be visible from street level when viewed from close proximity to the building." Dismas|^(talk) 09:03, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In which US states is it illegal to let your child wait in the car?--Kopiersperre (talk) 20:41, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The 20 states which have such a law are marked on a map in a Mother Jones article from this year: "Where Is It a Crime to Leave a Kid Alone in a Parked Car?". You can click on each state for details. This kidsandcars.org site only lists 19 states (the list is at least two years old), but you can read the actual legalese text for each state. ---Sluzzelin talk 21:08, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That's very interesting. I wonder if (and where) there is a distinction between locking the child in the car (similar to how, if one puts a dog in a car and then closes the door, the dog can't get out), and leaving the child in the car (the child is 6 or over, and can quite happily release the handbrake, open the door and exit the vehicle, or assert its wishes in other ways, if it is determined to do so).

Leaving an 11-or-so child "home alone" for extended periods of time (a week?) in the UK often leads to the parent being arrested. But "in car alone" for ten minutes while the parent goes into a shop for a pint of milk? For 20 minutes? For 30 minutes? --Demiurge1000 (talk) 21:48, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Apparently, it's dangerous to either leave an American kid locked in the car or free in the parking lot. You could take him into the mall with you, but why risk it? Leaving him with a relative or family friend seems reasonable, until you hear they abduct 76% of found missing children. Thankfully, there's a National Safe Place (although our article says it provides a "safe place", in "scare quotes"). InedibleHulk (talk) 22:27, November 30, 2014 (UTC)

Imagine that the child refuses to come shopping and wants to stay in the car. Must the parents beat the child to obedience, that the parents can follow the law?--Kopiersperre (talk) 22:38, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If the kid is so big you have to resort to violence to control him, he's probably big enough to not be subject to that child-endangerment law. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:56, 30 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not everyone who beats their kid does it a last resort. Often just the easiest. Black Friday sales don't exactly encourage patience. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:48, November 30, 2014 (UTC)

Koperspierre, if you think that any parent whose child displays obstinacy is somehow forced to use beating, then I hope you're not a parent. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 03:28, 1 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]