Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 January 21

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January 21

Crepes

Where can I find a real French recipe for crepes? Also, what do the French put in crepes? --75.15.162.220 (talk) 00:38, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Here is a real French recipe for crepes. For information on fillings, see our article Crepes. Marco polo (talk) 02:00, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

How many crepes does that recipe make? I don't think it says anywhere on that page. --71.153.45.189 (talk) 02:07, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I'd say enough for 1-2 people to see if the cook's any good ;) since you're using a quarter kilo of flour, over half a litre of milk and three eggs... --Ouro (blah blah) 05:50, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

You don't need a recipe for crepes. Just do it naturally -- put as much flour in a mixing bowel as you like, then add the sugar and salt, an egg or two, then enough milk to get the right consistency. The first time will be so-so, but you'll quickly learn to proportion everything well. It beats measuring things out every time for the rest of your natural life. Vranak (talk) 17:29, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Also the French put all sorts of things in crepes. Two of the classics are lemon juice + white sugar, or roll them up with cottage cheese inside, microwave 15 seconds per crepe, and you've got a blintz. Vranak (talk) 17:31, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

The french put both sweet and savory things in them - they pretty much treat them like you might treat bread. What things can you put in a sandwich? Pretty much anything...same deal with crepes. My wife (who is French) does all sorts of interesting things with them - a slightly cheesy aparagus mousse is one of our favorites but lots of lighter foods - salmon - thinly sliced duck with fresh cherries - seafood alfredo - curried chicken. On the sweeter side, A couple of crepes with Lemon and sugar folded inside - with some Grande Marnier or similar poured over them and set light is a classic...mmmmm! SteveBaker (talk) 04:56, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

terrorist free oil

What U.S.companies do not buy oil from terriorist countries? What gas stations sell this oil and where does it come from? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.100.196.166 (talk) 04:45, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Technically, I don't think the USA buys any oil from countries with which we don't have diplomatic relations, be it for terrorism or other reasons: Iran, for example. I may be wrong, but I don't think American companies are allowed to buy products from enemy nations. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:52, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

But we may still have diplomatic relations with (and thus be allowed to buy oil from) countries that 74.100 considers to be "terrorist countries". If 74 is able to list the countries that he (she?) considers to be "terrorist countries", then it will probably be easier to find specific answers. Buddy431 (talk) 05:37, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

And by "we" I mean the U.S., of course. Buddy431 (talk) 05:38, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

As for your second question (where does the oil come from), This lists the top 15 countries from which the U.S. imports oil. I wouldn't consider Canada or Mexico to be terrorist countries, and if you agree then you can look for companies that use oil from them. Keep in mind that the U.S. still produces some of its own oil (about 8.5 million barrels a day, over 40% of what it consume), which you're presumably OK with. Buddy431 (talk) 06:16, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I know a lot of people in the US don't like buying gas from companies, such as CITGO, that get their oil from Venezuela. If that qualifies as "terrorist", I don't know. Dismas|^(talk) 06:05, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

It does get back to the question of who does the OP consider "terrorist", and that list of Buddy's should help clarify things. Interesting that Nigeria was number 5 at the time of that survey. But producing an individual terrorist doesn't make the country terrorist. We were unknowingly harboring terrorists ourselves, prior to 9/11. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:33, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

The US gets some oil from Canada. Of course we have that evil healthcare thing that you USians are fighting so hard to keep out of your country, so that may not be any better. DJ Clayworth (talk) 17:49, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I don't think our healthcare counts as terrorism, but some may disagree. Thanks, gENIUS101 21:45, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

While the US may not buy directly from "terrorist countries", the problem is that oil is extremely fungible eg friendly country A may produce 100m barrels a year but sell 150m barrels, the deficit 50m barrels being bought from unfriendly nation B at a price just below the market value. This could be done via third party C, or many levels between A and B. At all stages it may be mixed with 'good' oil to hide any signature that exists for 'bad' oil (I'm using good/bad to refer to 'country of origin'). Bottom line - when the oil arrives at a US port there is no way to be sure of its origins. Trieste (talk) 20:02, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

See this Snopes.com page. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:18, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

During the Iraq war, the US actually paid Saudi Arabia for oil, and many of the people tied in connection with the 9/11 attacks were from Saudi Arabia. ~AH1^(TCU) 02:34, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Youngest grandma

Who is the youngest grandma ever? --124.254.77.148 (talk) 08:58, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

According to this, Mum-Zi, a member of Chief Akkire’s harem on the island of Calabar, Nigeria, at age 16 (some other sources say 17). Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:27, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Is there a more reliable source for this horrible story? That website doesn't exactly shout "reliable". Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:22, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I can find no reliable sources, but the fact that "Mum-Zi" is awfully close to "mumsy" makes me wonder how reliable this claim is. Woogee (talk) 21:32, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Page 114 of "The future of taboo in these islands" (1936) is the oldest ref I found; doesn't look especially reliable either. jnestorius^(talk) 21:58, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I don't know about Mum-Zi, but in the source given by Ghmyrtle, the stories of the five-year-old mother and the family that walks on all fours are actually quite accurate, so I wouldn't dismiss the source out of hand. John M Baker (talk) 23:18, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Do you have a reliable source verifying your claim that "the stories...are actually quite accurate"? Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:43, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Check out the cited sources for Lina Medina (the five-year-old mother) and Ulas family (the family with a quadrupedal gait). John M Baker (talk) 02:53, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

I've struggled to find a reliable source for the Mum-Zi story - it seems to be sourced from Ripley's Believe It Or Not. We do have articles on Precocious puberty and List of youngest birth mothers, but neither mentions this specific case. This British case of a 26-year old grandmother appears to be reliably sourced, but I would have thought it very highly unlikely that it would be the youngest ever anywhere. Ghmyrtle (talk) 11:08, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Blue?

Why does a file or a folder name(font color) in a computer suddenly turns to blue? anyone —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk) 09:36, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

You might have been better asking at the Computing Ref Desk. Astronaut (talk) 10:02, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

You don't say when or where it turns blue, or which operating system you are using; but I'll guess you mean in Windows Explorer. Assuming you haven been messing with the colour settings in your PC, names of things change to blue when you: (a) select your file or folder, or (b) you are going to rename a file or folder. Astronaut (talk) 10:01, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Also, in Windows XP using NTFS, if a file or folder has file compression enabled - then it's label will appear in a blue font. To check, right click on it, select properties->advanced and see if the 'Compress contents to save disk space' checkbox is ticked. Nanonic (talk) 12:15, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, if you use the "Disk Cleanup" tool under Accessories -> System Tools, it will automatically compress some files and folders that you don't use very often. They will then show up as blue. — jwillbur 01:36, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Stained glass toy

I am trying to get hold of a UK toy which is made of gel and sticks to windows. Any ideas please? Kittybrewster ☎ 10:30, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Maybe you can find it here. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 10:36, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

...or here? Ghmyrtle (talk) 14:29, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

how the FCUK?

How did this word "FUCK" originate, which people can't live without,and its applicability on all tenses ,situations,emotions impeccabily matched, but where the fuck :) , i mean where did it originate and how. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk)

Have you read the article on the word? --Onorem♠Dil 17:42, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

and FCUK (at least in the uk) became popular/notable based on the clothing company French Connection which started selling t-shirts and clothing branded 'FCUK' (as in French Connection United Kingdom). In my opinion it started off reasonably 'clever' with things like "What the french connection?", but seems to have been flogged-to-death now. It's a pity as they made good clothes (particularly their 'great plains' stuff that seems to not exist these days). 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:42, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

FLICK OFF carries a slightly similar idea. ~AH1^(TCU) 02:32, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Pi/e corporate sign

My friend told me that there is a corporation based in California with the symbols of Pi and the imaginary number 'E' on their corporate sign at their headquarters. Does anyone know which corporation this is? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.29.160.141 (talk) 19:00, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I don't know but would like to point out that e (note lower case) is a very real number. Are you thinking of i? That's an imaginary "number". Aaadddaaammm (talk) 19:16, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

(ec)This list gives a lot of examples of logos for Californian corporations involving the symbol Pi, but none matching the description I think. Oh and E is not imaginary, it's just irrational. Mikenorton (talk) 19:21, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

There was a trucking line called Pacific Intermountain Express, which said PIE on its trucks, but that's probably not it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:35, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

I can't find any record of a corporation using it for a logo, but maybe it was Euler's identity? Marnanel (talk) 00:56, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Appologies

Sorry to repost, but I asked a question a few days ago and feel that due to the way in which I expressed myself, I did not obtain the answer I was looking for so I wish to rephrase. A mugger in the area I live in has apparently been sent to prison. A number of people in the local comunity knew of him and his very violet ways. He was sent to prison for beating up his girlfriend because she left him, and he apparently was told this would make her realise she loves him. Crazy I know, but what we would like to know as a comunity, what are the chances of him spending the rest of his life in prison due to him being violent while in prison. We want him to stay there forever as he is blatently phsychotic. He was given 5 years apparently, will he come out and back into our neighbourhood to mug people again? UK —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.146.112 (talk) 19:54, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

There is absolutely no way we could tell you if a person who was sent to prison for a violent crime is going to commit further acts of violence while in prison. We do not know the future, and we do not know anywhere close to enough about this guy to give a meaningful answer. Googlemeister (talk) 20:06, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Of people sentenced to a few years in prison, the vast majority will go free at some point. --Tango (talk) 20:13, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

It can and does happen. May I suggest you contact your local police station, because they have the power to resettle him away from the community where his crimes were committed. --TammyMoet (talk) 20:18, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

They can certainly keep him away from his victims while he's on probation (it would just be made a condition of his license), but after his 5 years are up I don't see what they could do. You would need to convince a judge that there was a real risk and get a restraining order, or similar. --Tango (talk) 21:43, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

There are special laws for sex offenders in the US, which can restrict where a person lives even after probation or parole, one of the most controversial being Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony. Clearly none of that applies here and I'm pretty sure you're right once the parole or probation is up it's unlikely he could be stopped from living anywhere he wants barring restraining or protection orders. Nil Einne (talk) 10:37, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

In my way of thinking, there's two options for dealing with an errant individual. You give them the freedom to improve themselves, or you remove them from the area. Executions are effective but you may as soon kill yourself. Relocation breeds resentment in the perpetrator. So all you can do is let the bad apples rot. Putting them in prison is inhumane by any reasonable standard -- and of course the vast majority of hard-working taxpayers have no interest whatsoever in reasonableness. They want the new Lexus and the mortgage to be paid off. Getting the perps out of sight and out of mind is acceptable to them, because they have no interest in other people's feelings, aside from a very select few! And why should they! Vranak (talk) 20:31, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Some people are sentenced to 5 years and are released after half the sentence is served (assuming good behaviour while inside). Others are sentenced to prison at Her Majesty's pleasure with a recommendation that they serve a minimum of 5 years - in which case they can be detained until it is felt that they no longer constitute a threat to society. Kittybrewster ☎ 22:47, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Indefinite imprisonment is pretty rare in the UK and is only used if the convicted criminal is deemed to pose an extremely serious risk to the public. (They are used for young offenders as an alternative to life imprisonment, though.) --Tango (talk) 01:37, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Such a sentence has just been imposed, but it doesn't mean "you will never be released". (Minors used to be sentenced to be detained At Her Majesty's Pleasure - the BBC report (just a "stub" at the moment) doesn't say if that was the actual sentence in this case.) AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:20, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Future interstates 3 digits

Is any of those interstates i-570, I-370, I-326, I-169, I-364, I-730 going to happen sometimes in future or is these interstates just bunches of speculations. Do thye even go through SHC codes or is just peoples wanting those interstates. Because interstate-guide.com is known to be mostly Crystal ball and isn't a valid sources.--209.129.85.4 (talk) 20:51, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Those are very much "potential" future Interstates, and are mostly speculation and ideas tossed around by higher-ups, with a few concrete proposals thrown in for good measure. See our List of future auxiliary Interstate Highways for a list of Interstates that are either in serious proposal or planning, or are already under construction. (In addition to this list there is one primary Interstate highway, Interstate 22, which is under construction.) Of the Interstates you mention, none are found on our list, although two - I-130 (AR) and I-269 (MS-TN) - have the same "parent". Xenon54 / talk / 21:38, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure about Interstate 570 or Interstate 370, but Interstate 326 used to travel on the same roadway that Interstate 77 does on the eastern and southern sides of Columbia, SC. Interstate 169 and Interstate 730 are pretty much speculation. Interstate 364 may be even more remote of a possibility to be built.

What do you mean by saying that [www.interstate-guide.com Interstate-Guide] is "mostly Crystal ball" and "isn't a valid source"?

Allen (talk) 22:30, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Public Domain images

This image is apparently in the public domain. So I can use it right? Is there somewhere I can go and search for similar images in the public domain? ie: Troops, Imphal, Kohima, Burma, Allied...91.109.194.143 (talk) 21:58, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

The picture is a work of the United Kingdom's government and indeed can be used anywhere, for any purpose. The picture is actually at Wikimedia Commons, which is a sister site of Wikipedia where all pictures must be freely licensed (i.e. not copyrighted), so I would go there to look for more pictures. You can go to the image's page on Commons (Commons:File:Imphalradio.jpg) and scroll down to the bottom to find a list of categories that the image is included in: "Imphal", "Burma campaign", "People in conversation", "History of Manipur", "Military people of India", and "Pacific War". Xenon54 / talk / 22:31, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Correction: "Freely licensed" does not mean "not copyrighted". Everything you type on Wikipedia, for example, is copyrighted by you, and you have freely licensed it to everyone, via the GFDL (and, now, via the CC-BY-SA 3.0 Creative Commons license). Something that is in the public domain (such as works by the US government) are not "freely licensed" because you don't need a license from anyone to freely use public domain material. This sounds like a quibble but I think it is important to remain clear about who owns the copyright to things. One reason it is important is that if you own the copyright to something that you have freely licensed, and someone else copies your work but violates the license, it is only you (or a proxy) who can sue the violator. If the work were actually not copyrighted, nobody could sue them to enforce the free license. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:10, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

And freely licensed does not mean public domain. Public domain means there are zero restrictions on use. Copyleft licensed (e.g. GFDL, CC-SA, etc.) all have restrictions, they are just more specific (and in some ways less onerous) than traditionally copyrighted material. --Mr.98 (talk) 23:39, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

The picture's license field indicates is in the public domain, and so you can use it for whatever you want. Many such pictures on Commons are in the public domain but check their pages—many are copyleft licensed, which does put restrictions on how they can be used. --Mr.98 (talk) 23:39, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

You should bear in mind laws can vary from country to country. We require images to be available under a free license or in the public domain in the country of origin and in the US on the commons (but not wikipedia which only requires the US). However while many countries follow the copyright terms of the country of origin, not all do. You appear to be from the UK, so presuming your only planning to publish locally this doesn't apply here but it's something to consider for the future. It's also possible someone was careless or confused or even someone who doesn't care about copyright has lied (it happens); so we are mistaken about the copyright status. Particularly if you are intending to use images for a professional or commercial usage, it's always wise to look into the details yourself and perhaps seeking the advice of a lawyer if necessary. Again, this image looks clear cut enough to me but something to bear in mind for the future. In other words, note that we don't take any responsibility if you get in trouble for reuse (although if we are mistaken in any way on the details, please tell us!) Nil Einne (talk) 16:39, 23 January 2010 (UTC)