Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 July 19

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July 19

Software to generate images from text

Hi there, what software can I use to generate an image from text, like this? http://www.webdesign.org/img_articles/11310/finalsmall.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.15.182.132 (talk) 06:04, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Microsoft Paint does that. Indeed, any graphics editing software has that capability. --Jayron32 06:14, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

But is there any software that can be used that allows instant creation of an image through text without physically having to type out those words? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.15.182.132 (talk) 07:16, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

On most computers, you can press the Print screen key, and then 'paste' into a graphics program (Microsoft Paint will do). See Wikihow, How to take a screenshot in Microsoft Windows.  Chzz  ►  07:34, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Can you clarify exactly what you want? It is really unclear to me. --Mr.98 (talk) 12:06, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article on ASCII art has a section on image-to-text conversion. The aalib library may be what you're looking for. --173.49.11.154 (talk) 12:08, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

That is not helpful because the OP is not asking how to make a crude ASCII-art image. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:48, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Pretty much any image software is capable of adding text to an image. I don't think it is possible to avoid typing out the words unless you cut and paste them from another source or use voice input (available on some operating systems or by buying some external software). To be honest though, unless you are writing huge amounts of text, you will spend much longer fiddling with the appearence of the text (font, stroke width, colour) and how it looks on the background. Astronaut (talk) 14:57, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Being economical with electricity

Electricty costs approximately 25 euro cents/KWh. Heating is done by gas and electricity is used for other purposes. For cooking, 2 electric plates are fixed in the kitchen area. They are not induction plates and they are of 2 different sizes. I almost always use the smaller one, and turn it off several minutes before cooking is actually complete. If possible, i also do not use its maximum heat setting. Electric plates have a rating of 2500 watt and I assume i use 40% of that totalling about 4 hours per month. Does it cost me 1 euro a month or iam caluating it wrong?.

I assume refrigrator does not run all the time and it starts only when its thermostat detects it is not cold. I usually run it at lowest power.I dont worry about other things such as laptop and small speakers as they consume negligible power. If you could suggest ways to reduce electrity consumtion that would be nice.

Iam not sure if I can read a meter correctly and please correct me if am wrong. In this picture, does it read 6.3 kw?http://img.tomshardware.com/us/2007/05/30/the_power_saving_guide/electric-meter.jpg . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.99.136.3 (talk) 09:53, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Your calculation in the first paragraph is correct (except that I would have estimated 60%). You meter reads the number of KWh used. It shows that a total of 638.6 KWh (@25 cents each) have been used since it was set to zero (not necessarily since it was installed or since you moved in). To estimate the rate at which you are using electricity, you need to count how many rotations the wheel makes in a minute, multiply by 60 to get the number per hour, then divide by the number partially shown but not clear in the bottom right of the meter. That will give you the usage rate in kw during that minute. Dbfirs 11:49, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Don't just set the thermostat of your refrigerator for minimum cooling; make sure that the temperature is low enough to prevent food spoilage. If you want to reduce your refrigerator's energy usage, keep it well maintained (Are the door seals worn? Is it low on refrigerant? If it has an exposed radiator, is it covered with dust?) , do not open the door for too long and unnecessarily, and do not put hot items in it—allow some time for the items to cool off first. If your refrigerator is old and wastes a lot of electricity, consider replacing it with a more efficient model. --173.49.11.154 (talk) 12:24, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Also, don't assume that the power consumption of items like computers, speakers, light, etc are negligible - if they're on for long periods they can seriously mount up non-intuitively - for an analogy put a large container under a slowly dripping tap and see how much it fills up overnight. Remember that appliances on 'stand-by' mode often consume surprisingly large fractions of their working requirements, and that even if an appliance plugged into a adapter/transformer is itself switched off, the adapter/transformer may still be drawing current (and will therefore be a little warm). If you're concerned about minimising your bill (leaving aside other motivations), cultivate the habit of switching off everything that you're not using, and do so at the socket rather than just on the appliance where relevant. This might cause (literally) momentary inconveniences while you wait for things to power back up (as it does for me while I wait for my router to re-connect), but repays itself in the long run. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 01:48, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Postcard from France within EU, to USA, Canada, Australia

I am unable to get to a post office and need to know how much it costs to post a card from France to various international destinations. I have just spent far too much time on the La Poste website, which offers to sell me lots of different beautiful stamps, but I cannot see where it tells me how far 0,57 centimes (etc.) will get me. Can anyone help? BrainyBabe (talk) 12:15, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

The tariffs are listed in the top file linked from [1]. As it explains, "Zone 1" is the EU, Switzerland and a few microstates, while "Zone 2" is the rest of the world. Warofdreams talk 13:10, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you! I just couldn't see it. It still doesn't actually say "carte postale", but it can't be more than the cheapest letter rate. BrainyBabe (talk) 13:40, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm not so sure that is true. The footnotes for the "Lettre Eco" box on the first page say: "(1) Zone Outre-mer 1 : Guyane, Guadeloupe, Martinique, La Réunion, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin et Mayotte. (2) Zone Outre-mer 2 : Nouvelle-Calédonie, Polynésie française, Wallis-et-Futuna, Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, Clipperton." ie. French territories only. The USA, Australia etc, are covered on page 2 in the "Lettre Eco Internationale" box. There it says 1.60 € for EU and Switzerland, and 1.75 € fo Rest of the World. Astronaut (talk) 14:45, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

How does that disagree with anything above? The "Zone Outre-mer" divisions are quite separate to the "Zone 1" and "Zone 2" for mail to other countries. Warofdreams talk 15:26, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

IMPORTANT to note that La Poste treat cards as second class whatever the stamp. Put each card in an envelope if you want it to arrive sometime this decade.Froggie34 (talk) 16:41, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

What is the big deal with me marrying a black man?

I am a white, Christian, divorced, mother of three. I have never dated out of my race.... until now. I have always dated white men, not because I limited myself, but because I find their features most attractive. Of course there have been many black men that have caught my eye but I was always in a relationship and/or maybe too worried what people would think to act on anything. I know it's sad but I am in the South and believe it or not, a lot of interracial couples are treated poorly here. Anyway, my fiance (a black man) and I went to high school together and after nearly 10 years of being out of school found each other and fell in love. DEEPLY IN LOVE! He is everything I have ever wanted and everything my parents have ever wanted for me! He is a God fearing Christian who will not sleep with me before marriage, he is a hard worker and will do anything to provide for us, he has a father's heart and treats my children as his own, he is a MAN! PERIOD! I finally found my prince and all I've gotten is grief! My friends who acted like they weren't ignorant and racist have completely done a 180. They try to make me out to be a bad mother because I'm marrying someone of darker pigment! He is the best father figure I could ask for. I couldn't have custom made a better dad! People who I thought loved me, have looked in my face and called me a ni**er lover! SERIOUSLY?! Even people who call themselves Christians have turned their backs on us knowing the Bible says that we're all made in God's image. I have noticed a change in my black and white friends and the black and white general public alike, and the previously mentioned applies to both races (except the racial slurs). Black people have definitely been more slick about not like our relationship, unlike the white people who have been more outspoken and vicious. Does anyone know of a way that I can talk to these people and help open their minds and remove their clouded, ignorant beliefs? The only thing I ever seem to say is that I love him and he is right for me before getting irate with peoples ignorance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bmsglc (talk • contribs) 12:54, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia volunteers cannot solve problems of love or prejudice. If someone calls you NIGGER LOVER to your face, can you smile back and say Yes I love my african american husband? (I assume that you live in South USA, that you will hear people using the word nigger perjoratively, that it doesn't help to hide it as "ni**er", and that african american is a term that your husband is comfortable with). Look around for some new friends. You clearly think about your own children now but you must also consider how they too will encounter prejudice in school etc. as they grow up. Finally if there is any chance of you having children with your new husband, know that you carry a heavy responsibility for consequences that will go on long after today's passion has faded away. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 13:38, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

You say you are both Christians. Would one way forward be to find a church that is happy for you as a couple? Through them you may find new friends. The first resource I found was Christians against racism. you might try asking them for suppport, online or in person. (To head off any further discussion: yes, bad things, including racism, can be done in the name of religions, Christianity and others. But some religious institutions are working against the same bad things.) BrainyBabe (talk) 13:46, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

(ec)You may find our article on miscegenation interesting. Or horrifying. Matt Deres (talk) 13:50, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

The thing is that while you don't mind, he doesn't mind, I certainly don't mind and a great many unprejudiced people don't mind - you have to accept that there are people who find this kind of thing deeply offensive - for whatever crazy reason. You and I would consider that attitude to be unfortunate, undesirable, distasteful, wrong...but it is undeniably true that some people feel that way - and the world is only changing very slowly in the 'right' direction. The degree to which this matters depends greatly on where in the world you live - and in what stratum of society - and what your friends and relations feel about it. By doing this, you are pretty much certain to run into some kind of difficulties in your future lives - and it's ridiculous to pretend that you won't. Whether those difficulties are sufficient to deter you from doing it (I hope not!) - or whether it turns out to be such a problem that you ultimately have to give it up (I REALLY hope not!) - or whether adversity makes the bond between you stronger (we can hope!) - is impossible for us here at the Ref Desk to say. That's your judgement call. SteveBaker (talk) 15:17, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

This would not be an issue in the UK where there are lots of these relationships and lots of children as a result. Nobody thinks it unusual. 92.15.4.196 (talk) 18:32, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

It would not be unusual in many parts of the USA. But racial attitudes vary quite a bit across the country. Move to New York City and nobody will bat an eye, ditto San Francisco. --Mr.98 (talk) 19:44, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Also learn the educational knees to nuts manoeuvre. Such racism is unacceptable anywhere anytime, but its completely out of place in a modern Western society. Any reasonable judge or jury will accept a Buzz Aldrin defense. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:03, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Here is a Buzz Aldrin Defense that recently didn't work. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:54, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Racial prejudice, and scorn of interracial marriages, is by no means limited to the south in the USA. But as sosmeone said, the larger the city, the less likely anyone is to care. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:19, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Bmsglc, you asked "Does anyone know of a way that I can talk to these people and help open their minds and remove their clouded, ignorant beliefs?" Sadly, the answer to that is probably "There isn't one." People's beliefs and prejudices are often very firmly held, having been learned in childhood and been reinforced throughout their lives by aspects of their local culture, and usually cannot be reasoned with. The only way you as a couple might eventually effect their prejudices is by keeping your equanimity in the face of their provocations, and demonstrating through your good marriage and parenthood that, in your instance, their assumptions are wrong. In the short term, your best "selfish" options are probably to re-evaluate who you should continue to consider "friends" in the light of their various behaviours, and to avoid the local general public's opprobrium by relocating to a more cosmopolitan and tolerant locality. Eventually, the collective examples of millions of couples like you nation- and world-wide will likely improve such benighted attitudes, but they have too much inertia for your individual efforts to have much noticeable effect. It's sad that this is so, and I wish you well. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 01:34, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

There have long been problems when people marry those their friends and family hate or distrust. One outcome I have seen is that the Moslem in-laws say "Christians are terrible people, but X is not like most Christians." I have also seen German Minnesotans say "Y, who married our girl is not like most Blacks." They can retain their prejudice but make an exception for the wonderful person who is a demonstrably good husband to their daughter (or other relative) and good father to her children. Another solution is to move to a large city, in the North or in a cosmopolitan southern city, where few give a damn. Edison (talk) 03:34, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

The most blunt application of that concept I ever heard was someone I know who conceded, "There's some good n*gg*rs." It works the other way also, as many blacks are (justifiably) very wary of white people. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:42, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

I heard one of Robert McCartney's sisters interviewed on the radio not so long ago. She described how the local reaction to her family's fight for justice for her brother - the anger, threats and intimidation from people within her own community, whom she had grown up knowing and regarding as friends - had permanently altered the way she saw her city and the people in it. She had gained a new perspective on her home and her community, which suddenly seemed very small and parochial to her. It was a sad experience, but she still expressed no regret at having refused to acquiesce to the pressure to allow her brother's murder to be covered up quietly for the sake of local convenience. Almost as an afterthought, at the end of the interview, she said that she would probably end up moving away from Northern Ireland. It was sad to hear, but I was filled with admiration for her too. I wish you and your fiance all the best. He sounds a lovely guy. Karenjc 17:30, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

I agree that, in your case, a change of location may be the best course. You don't necessarily have to leave the South. There are plenty of biracial couples in Atlanta, for example, and I doubt that you would face major issues there. On the other hand, you will not face a problem in parts of New York City where educated professional people live, but I think you actually might face some trouble in some conservative, mainly white, working-class neighborhoods in New York and other northern cities. So, I wouldn't suggest a move to New York unless you will be able to find jobs that will allow you to pay the $2000 a month in rent needed to live in the more enlightened neighborhoods. In San Francisco, you would need at least that much to rent just about any apartment. On the other hand, some smaller cities in the North, such as Providence, Rhode Island, have a history of tolerance of biracial families without high rents (or house prices). Marco polo (talk) 18:11, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

You asked for a way to talk to those people. Let us assume that you and your acquaintances believe what the Bible says.

If you want to help your acquaintances to understand Biblical teachings more accurately (http://www.multilingualbible.com/acts/18-26.htm), you might want to follow the example of Jesus (http://www.multilingualbible.com/1_peter/2-21.htm). In giving counsel to the seven churches of Asia, he gave commendation as well as correction. The record is in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

You can tell them about the Ethiopian eunuch who learned about Jesus Christ and was baptized (http://www.multilingualbible.com/acts/8-27.htm, http://www.multilingualbible.com/acts/8-38.htm). You can show them the Biblical teaching that God is not partial, but accepts as his followers all persons who practice righteousness (http://www.multilingualbible.com/acts/10-34.htm, http://www.multilingualbible.com/acts/10-35.htm).

You can contemplate http://www.multilingualbible.com/john/13-35.htm and http://www.multilingualbible.com/proverbs/17-17.htm.

—Wavelength (talk) 21:24, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Miscegenation is genocide. By the way, the overwhelming majority of blacks in the US are not in interracial relationships. As for the UK, there's a lot of bigotry there, just like the US. Ever heard of the BNP? And yes, I am of African descent. To hell with religions. B-Machine (talk) 23:13, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Internet archive

I went to the page http://www.geocities.com/soulofaitwo/CDdrama.html, but got an error. As you would expect, I went to http://archive.org and tried to retrieve the archive of that page; however, I got a data retrieval error. How else can I access this page? --138.110.206.101 (talk) 15:24, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

It worked for me. Archive.org can be a little temperamental at times, so it's worth trying again a while later to see if you can access it. If you still can't, I saved the page for you and uploaded it to mediafire 1230049-0012394-C (talk) 15:41, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

IT should be pointed out that Geocities is over, which would explain the error. Aaronite (talk) 16:57, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

a website for photographers

Is there a website or web forum where I can post a photo I took so that people will evaluate it critically and suggest improvements and give technical advice?--117.207.145.243 (talk) 18:05, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

This group is for all amateur photographers looking to improve their work. Members are encouraged to give truthful and constructive feedback on photos submitted by other members. This is a critique group, so please post 1 photo and then give feedback to 2 images behind yours in the group pool. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 18:24, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

You could also check out PhotoSIG. The site describes itself thusly: "photoSIG is a community of photographers and photography enthusiasts, ranging from amateurs to working professionals. photoSIG members may critique photos that have been submitted by other users and may also submit their own photos for review by the community." --Zerozal (talk) 18:41, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

My wife is a pro photographer and her father is an amateur. He visits DPReview while she visits other specialized forums for her area of photography. Dismas|^(talk) 23:46, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

If all else fails there's always 4chan's /p/ board which can have some surprisingly good information on it. Be prepared for the trolls that will tell you to break the glass in your camera lens and use it to slit your throat and die. --mboverload@ 06:54, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

deviantArt claims to be the largest online community for this sort of thing - it's not just for photography (although photography is one of the biggest sections of the site) and not just for critique and comment (you can tick a box to indicate whether critique is wanted or not). Despite the name it is not NSFW or sexually focused so you needn't worry on that score. Equisetum (talk | email | contributions) 11:18, 20 July 2010 (UTC)