Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 July 15

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July 15

Re: Ohio man in news for bulldozing his own home

Did Terry Hoskins, the Ohio man in the news earlier in February of this year who bulldozed his home about to be foreclosed on, also tear down his carpet business building like he said he would in stories covering the house bulldozing? 20.137.18.50 (talk) 12:17, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

This story says it was going up for auction in March, and no news of it turned up, so I imagine not. --Sean 17:21, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Not sure if it is relevant to this question, but Marvin Heemeyer is a similar sounding individual. Googlemeister (talk) 18:35, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Overjoyed but cynical..Help

What if somebody you never seen or heard of before you meet knows everything about you like who you are, what you do, married, kids and most importantly, your secrets, what problems you are facing and even what you’re thinking after a brief meditation of 2-3 minutes in a silent room and gives you something to keep in the wallet or best tied in the body and you realize within a week’s I mean 2-4 days things just take a turn as you wanted. I am stunned to see the difference, but as I spoke to a very close friend of mine about it she tells me to refrain such blessings or help as may later cause some paranormal problems , and being highly unscientific(as per her) but since this has done wonders to my personal wellbeing. do I stay away from him or my friend .but here the question I have is “is it some psychic powers he possesses that has made all the difference” but how does he promises to resolve my other issues like he has done to my cousin as all he had to do was to take the photograph of his wife to him and she has mellowed finally kick starting the broken relationship for three years in “a week’s time”. Do you think it would have an adverse effect later for me as I have seek’ed his advice as well and things are like wonders in a handful of days. Please advice. Anyone with such experiences? I hope they do not seek some devil’s help to do it.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.122.36.6 (talk) 13:49, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

The techniques for appearing to psychically know all about a person include:

• Getting them to give away the answers to questions implicitly
• Relying on their willingness to believe
• Guessing, and diverting attention away from the failed guesses

Somebody who has formed a relationship with you in which they have a hold over your mind is called a svengali. It's a fascinating situation to be in. There are no demons involved, but it doesn't seem ideal in terms of rationality. 81.131.66.254 (talk) 14:28, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

See also cold reading. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 14:40, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

And perhaps stalking. Googlemeister (talk) 15:14, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

There are many cases of people using techniques like the ones you describe to take advantage of someone, financially or emotionally. There are no cases of claimed 'psychic ability' working when the 'psychic' is separated from his or her sources of information. If you were a loved one of mine, I'd advise you to separate yourself from this person, who is more likely to be a predator of some kind than someone who intends good things for you. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 15:19, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

What this person has done is given you the belief that things can be different. When you change your beliefs, the world around you changes in response. Take this belief and run with it - but really, I advise you to ditch this person. --TammyMoet (talk) 15:29, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, the person has no paranormal abilities, or the person would have challenged and won the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. The cold reading article is indeed the most relevant article about this. Comet Tuttle (talk) 15:42, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

That challenge has fairly stringent entrance requirements. --Sean 17:26, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps, but if you can amply demonstrate them to a few people, then you would think that you could convince the media and an academic or two if you let them set the test requirements. Googlemeister (talk) 18:33, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

A more generic term and deceptively-benign sounding is "social engineering". Assuming that person is not a violent sort (in which case you should run immediately), the red flag is likely to be money. As soon as they indicate they want access to your money in some way or another, that's the time to run away. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:48, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Running deer

Wikipedia has many articles about the gates gaits of horses (trotting, galloping, etc.), and I've noticed that the black-tailed deer in my neighbourhood do many of the same kind of gates gaits. However, when they are running away from something, instead of galloping they do a kind of hopping run where all four feet touch the ground at the same time and their knees stay bent at a relatively fixed angle. What is this kind of movement called? —Arctic Gnome (talk • contribs) 18:40, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Pronking. Also look at gait (not "gate") --ColinFine (talk) 19:18, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you. A similar question: I also noticed that when rabbits want to casually move a few steps away, they move their back legs together and their front legs together, unlike a cat or dog who only does that when running and moves diagonal pairs of legs when moving casually. Is there a proper name for rabbit walking or is it just "hopping"? —Arctic Gnome (talk • contribs) 01:16, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

"Bounding", perhaps? ~AH1^(TCU) 01:43, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

How many exam papers in British GCSEs

I'm looking at exam timetables now, and wondering if kids who take the higher tier have to take the foundation tier papers too? How many exams does a GCSE have? I know I could go into school and ask next time I pick the kids up, but I don't want to look completely thick! 81.155.57.75 (talk) 20:51, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Now many exams will depend on the GCSE in question. If its a tiered GCSE you only take one tier, though. If you take the higher tier and don't get at least the lowest grade for that tier (eg. a C if the tier is for A*-C) then you just fail completely (and get a U). --Tango (talk) 21:02, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

You meant "how many", not "now many", right? Vimescarrot (talk) 21:12, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Would you buy it if I claimed I meant "Now, many"? --Tango (talk) 21:13, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Gobfrey Shrdlu strikes again! (-: The timetable I've got here shows three exam papers for each subject, one foundation, one higher and one that isn't either. So would all kids take the third one, plus one of the others? 81.155.57.75 (talk) 21:28, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

I think whether students taking the higher tier also have to take the lower tier depends on the subject and possibly on the board too. The number of exams definitely depends on the subject and board, and particularly on whether there is coursework. Do ask in the school. You won't seem stupid. You'll seem like an engaged parent. Itsmejudith (talk) 21:47, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

If it's tiers, you only take one. Some subjects have extra papers for the very top grades (although I can't remember any GCSEs having that when I did them - SATs papers certainly did), but that's different from tiers. --Tango (talk) 23:00, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Becoming a Mercenary

How does someone become a mercenary? Do you need military experience? Where would a person go to ask to be a mercenary or get training? B-Machine (talk) 21:35, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

You would need military experience. Have you thought about joining the French Foreign Legion? Ante Gotovina, the fugitive Croatian general now on trial for war crimes, started his career as a Legionnaire. Well worth reading about, if only as a cautionary tale! 81.155.57.75 (talk) 21:39, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Modern mercenaries go by the sanitized names like "military contractor" or "security contractor" or "Private military company." However, they are exactly and completely mercenary companies: that is they are private companies that hire out their services for military operations. The most famous (or somewhat infamous) in the U.S. is Blackwater Worldwide, which changes its name from time to time to cover its bad press. It is now known as Xe Systems. Officially, under the rules of the Geneva Convention, mercenaries are not afforded protections that official military personel are. In general, they may not participate in "offensive maneuvers" but may be used for defensive protection, hense the euphemism "security contractor". During the Iraq War, services like Blackwater are used by U.S. government officials in Iraq to guard them as they travel, or at non-military installations; and as guards for convoys and stuff like that. Members of private firms such as these are almost exclusively ex-U.S. military, as they often operate in forward combat areas and need to be familiar with standard military training. --Jayron32 22:55, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps read Soldier of Fortune? My question would be why anyone would want to become a mercenary? Warofdreams talk 09:24, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

I presume the pay is better than someone with that skill-set could get anywhere else - and some people thrive on the danger and excitement...although the excitement of escorting a convoy of trucks across hundreds of miles of boring desert might just maybe wear a bit thin after a while! Of course this is not without risk...but if you are desperate for work, it could be a solution of sorts. SteveBaker (talk) 13:52, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

I heard a story on NPR a while back about guys who had finished their contracts with the military and then went right back to Iraq or wherever with private security firms. They were making much more than they had been with Uncle Sam and were doing similar work as some of the military, e.g. escorting convoys, etc. Dismas|^(talk) 16:56, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

You might take a look at http://www.xecompany.com/ for their career opportunities, but they don't seem to be hiring mercenaries through that website right now. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 19:18, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

To the limited extent that I know about these things (through having a career soldier as a father, who has been offered posts in such organisations), competently run mercenary operations normally only hire people who already have regular forces training and experience. It wouldn't be cost effective for them to provide the basic training - which both filters out hidden physical problems and mental unsuitabilities of previously untried candidates, and is absolutely necessary for the safety of both the recruit and his/her future comrades - that regular government-funded forces provide. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 15:56, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

In fact I think I've read that as a criticism before, when some people say using mercenaries are cheaper others say one of the reasons is because the government already paid to train them Nil Einne (talk) 11:45, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Price variation for same book on Amazon

Was just looking for a book and Amazon and it got me thinking about the price variation in this case here a whopping £58.16 in the difference. So why would somebody skip the first book in the list to scroll down to the same book for more than double the price. And why would the seller not lower their price? Mo ainm~Talk 21:43, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

More interesting is that the last two are being sold by the same seller, have exactly the same description, yet have a £26.01 difference in price. --Tango (talk) 21:47, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Never spotted that, so even worse, they can't possibly be a legitimite buisness venture. Mo ainm~Talk 21:58, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

It might just be a mistake, copypasting the same description into a second listing which is actually different. But certainly contact them before you agree to buy. If I'm right, at least one of these items might well be a different book. 81.155.57.75 (talk) 22:02, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

quartermelon also lists the same item twice. The description for all items is minimal and appears fairly generic so it doesn't really tell you whether there is any potential difference between the items. A search on the quartermelon website [1] only finds the lower price. However it's not that uncommon in my experience outside Amazon for one seller to have multiple versions of the same item, sometimes they the difference may be something like a different warehouse or from a different supplier. Many more sophisticated retailers will only sell the lower price item if they are the same and there's no reason to sell the other one (if for example the warehouse is in a different country then they may still sell that one, similarly if the cheaper supplier is out of stock) and quartermelon appears to have done that for their own website but not for the data they supply to Amazon. It's worth remembering many people who sell thorough the Amazon Marketplace do exist outside there. Also some retailers may be cheaper for some items then others depending on their suppliers, whether it's a core part of their business and a host of other things. Some may also source fairly unique or whatever items. Many may be partially influenced by the price others set, some may even choose not to list on a place like Amazon Marketplace if they don't think they're going to sell any at the price they can sell for but many equally will just list whatever they have or can get if no one buys it from them it's probably not much of a loss (I don't know how Amazon Marketplace works, I presume it's by commission so listing items they're never likely to sell doesn't lose them money but perhaps they do have to pay a small amount per number of items they list however even so it may still be cheapier for them to list all they have then developing more sophisticated software or hiring people to be more picky.) Definitely it's possible that some of the more expensive retailers would be making a loss if they sell it at the lowest price. Ultimately you're right few people who see that listing are likely to buy it from one of the very expensive stores unless they're desperate and no one else has it in stock or whatever so if those retailers can't sell any items for a resonable price compared to other and they have no presence outside the Amazon Marketplace they likely to die. Nil Einne (talk) 22:29, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Days of the week

Say its Monday here, is it Monday everywhere else in the world (neglecting international dateline problems)? I mean do other civilizations have a different sort of naming system for days or even a different number of days in the week, or even no weeks?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by FarTraveller (talk • contribs) 23:35, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Different systems are used, as pointed out in the Week article. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:39, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Each language has their own names for days of the week. In the romance languages, the names often derive from Roman gods whereas in Germanic languages they derive from Norse gods. Hence, Wednesday in English derives from "Odin's Day" while in French the same day is known as "Mercredi" or "Mercury's day". One obvious exception is Saturday, which in English is named after Saturn, the same as the French "Samedi" (also named after Saturn). There have been alternate systems of days of the week altogether, see French_Revolutionary_Calendar#Ten_days_of_the_week for a description of the ten-day week used in France during the years of the revolution. --Jayron32 23:43, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

(ec) Well, different languages have different names for the days of the week. Some have the same origins as the English names (eg. "Monday" is named after the moon and in French, "lundi" is named after the Latin for moon, "luna"), others have different origins (eg. the Hebrew for Monday is "yom sheyni", which simply means "2nd day"). Weeks of seven days are used pretty much everywhere in the modern world, but this article describes some other systems that have been used in the past. --Tango (talk) 23:48, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Tango, while yom rishon does mean "first day," yom sheyni means "day 2" and yom shlishi means "day 3," and so on. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 03:44, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

From a non-JudeoChristian perspective, days of the week are entirely arbitrary and serve no real purpose other than convenience. Lunar months are tied to reality (lunar phases), while solar months are also arbitrary. The solar and lunar years are not arbitrary -- the lunar year is approximately 354 days long and fits with the weekly calendar so that any particular lunar date in year X falls on that day + 4 in year X+1 (e.g. if Rosh Hashana falls out on a Monday this year, it will be on a Thursday next year) until a leap year occurs. 7-day weeks x52 is nearly 365 days in a solar year. But assuming someone has another sort of religion or no religion at all, there's no reason for them to have a 7 day week unless they wish to integrate with those who do. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 03:42, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

The Jewish method of naming the days of the week is to link each day with the following Sabbath, namely: the first day of the Sabbath, the second day of the Sabbath, and so on. Simonschaim (talk) 09:14, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Simonschaim -- In Hebrew, "second day" would be yom shniya -- yom sheinu is "day 2", and so on a so forth. And you fail to translate Sabbath properly in your statement. It does not refer to Shabbos but to the week itself. A similar use of the word shabbos (or shabbat) can be seen in RH 3a, on the 9th and 10th line up from the wide lines. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 16:34, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Slavic languages have a simple pattern for naming the days of the week. Starting with Sunday, they are, roughly translating into English:

• Non-working (day) [except Russian where Sunday is called "Resurrection"]
• After the non-working (day)
• Second (day)
• Middle (day)
• Fourth (day)
• Fifth (day)
• Sabbath

— Kpalion^(talk) 19:34, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it always amazed me that the Bolsheviks didn't ban those weekly reminders of Christianity (Sabbath and Resurrection) by changing the names of those days of the week. They had no qualms about rewriting/airbrushing history in many other respects, and changing the names of many cities to make their eponymous heroes un-persons. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:50, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

They tried, Jack, but it didn't catch on. See Soviet calendar. — Kpalion^(talk) 11:03, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Portuguese also numbers the days, except for Sabado and Domingo. Rimush (talk) 21:58, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

See http://www.geonames.de/days.html. -- Wavelength (talk) 23:31, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

To find languages where names of days of the week are derived from names of numbers, compare that page with http://www.geonames.de/digits.html. See Swahili, Hawaiian, and Māori.—Wavelength (talk) 15:48, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

The table here translates יום שני literally as "2nd Day" (rather than "Day 2"); יום שלישי as "3rd Day"; יום רביעי as "4th Day"; etc. Are those translations mistaken? --Магьосник (talk) 05:53, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

DRosenbach - thank you for your comment but I must disagree. The word בשבת in the names of the days of the week DOES MEAN Shabbos. The Ramban in his commentary on the Torah on the verse זכור את יום השבת לקדשו writes that one is obligated to remember Shabbos on EVERY DAY of the week. One fulfils this obligation by saying in the prologue to the "Daily Psalm", היום יום ראשון בשבת and so on.Simonschaim (talk) 04:38, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

In Chinese, Monday is just Day One. DOR (HK) (talk) 10:37, 19 July 2010 (UTC)