Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 August 7

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

August 7

Leon Redbone in advertising

The article Leon Redbone lists several media in which he has appeared. I am looking for one or both of a commercial he did for a Japanese whisky, and one mentioned in the article that he did for British Rail. Thanks Bielle (talk) 01:27, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

You might look on YouTube, a lot of ads are on there. The Mark of the Beast (talk) 18:48, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Identify these two videos

Can someone identify the explosions in these two videos ([1] and [2]), where they happened, what they were done for, etc.? --Melab±1 ☎ 03:24, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

The first one seems to just be a bunch of rednecks who happened to get their hands on some TNT. Do you have some reason to think that it was anything more elaborate? Dismas|^(talk) 03:32, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

The second video seems to be a minesweeper disposing of a naval mine. ^Avic_ennasis @ 06:55, 7 Av 5771 / 7 August 2011 (UTC)

check a long audio recording file for some sounds

I have suspected some sleep disorder for myself and since I live alone, I thought I would keep my USB player cum recorder during my sleep. Thus, I have audio files that last five to six hours. Now I want to check for places where some non-ambient sounds occur in the file without playing out the entire length. Isn't there a way?--Dondrodger (talk) 04:03, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

You could use a program like Audacity that shows the sound waves in a file, and look for any spikes. ^Avic_ennasis @ 06:57, 7 Av 5771 / 7 August 2011 (UTC)

The external links found under Somniloquy have a variety of free programs designed for this purpose. Audacity will work too. Schyler (exquirere bonum ipsum) 13:26, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Your recording might sound like the one that you can play at the article about Snoring. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 18:34, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

197? Seaman's strike

In the UK some time in the 1970's there was a major seaman's strike. I remember seeing the three "Queens" tied up in Southampton. Can anyone remind me of the date and the length of the strike please? Thanks in anticipation.--85.211.131.199 (talk) 13:39, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

The biggest seamen's strike in the 1970s was that in 1970, all-out from 16 July to 3 August. A strike was called in 1976 but did not happen. The most major post-war seamen's strike was in 1966, from 15 May to 1 July (in which John Prescott was one of the local leaders of the union). Sam Blacketer (talk) 14:07, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Great, thanks--85.211.131.199 (talk) 20:30, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

There's a little about the 1966 strike here and here. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 20:36, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Accident:incident as x:y

please provide x and y. No! This is not a homework question. I am just curious about the semantic relationship between accident and incident. Is accident merely defined as an unintentional incident? I tried to post this on the language desk but for some reason it won't let me.

Accident:Incident::Sadness:Indifference.
An accident is an unfortunate incident that occurs unexpectedly and unintentionally. Schyler (exquirere bonum ipsum) 18:11, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

The short answer is Yes. See the dictionary definitions of accident and incident. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 18:29, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Accidents are not always unfortunate, but that is the default case. We sometimes talk about "a happy accident" in the sense of an unplanned, serendipitous combination of circumstances. Such as tripping on a footpath, and being helped up by a stranger who shouts you a coffee and ends up as your lover. I wish.  :) - Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 20:08, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

While I do know what "shouts you a coffee" means, the picture that popped into my head was of a young man, in the midst of a forest path, surrounded by nothing but trees, hollering into the forest "Waiter, waiter! Two coffees please." Bielle (talk) 20:27, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

I observe that Bielle and Jack have complementary romantic fantasies, one convex and the other concave. Perhaps they could fall over in the same place by accident. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 15:04, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation of an expression I've never heard before. I was wondering whether the stranger was shouting at the tripper or at some imaginary coffee! Dbfirs 23:00, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

OK. I'll bite. What does "shouts you a coffee" mean? I did some research on urban dictionary, and the best I can figure is that it might something to do with sex. But I'm at a loss. --Jayron32 00:26, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

It means "stands you a coffee" or "pays for your coffee" as in the English expression "It's your shout" which is to say "It's your turn to buy." I presume it comes from a tradition that whoever places (shouts) the order pays for it. Bielle (talk) 02:17, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Ah, so it does have something to do with sex. ;) --Jayron32 02:21, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

[After EC]In this context, "shout" simply means "buy". The more common usage is where one person buys beers for all members of a group. Traditionally it was the way men drank at the pub. One person would "shout" a "round" of drinks (one for everyone in the group), then the next person would shout a round, and so on. So sorry, not really about sex. HiLo48 (talk) 02:24, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Can I pretend that its about sex? Cuz I really want it to be about sex. --Jayron32 02:26, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

It would have to be better than a coffee, Jayron. Bielle (talk) 03:11, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Pretend all you like, but shouting and sex don't really go together for me, not even ... well, you know where not. See Verb, definition 4. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 03:16, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Haha. You can look up any phrase you like in Urban Dictionary and it will turn out to be either a sex act or a drug reference. APL (talk) 10:37, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Accidents are incidents but not all incidents are accidents. The footpath incident might have been the result of nefarious stalking. Why are you all whispering? -- Obsidi♠n Soul 15:17, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

We are whispering because we are seriously off topic, and, while enjoying ourselves hugely, are trying to evade the attentions of the Ref Desk Police. Bielle (talk) 16:44, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

I don't know who these people are and I'm not here. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:55, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Odd timezones

India is at GMT+5:30, but most other extant timezones seem to be a whole number of hours away from GMT. Are there any other half-hour timezones? Are there any extant timezones which are not a whole number of half hours from GMT? If not, which was the last such to be abandoned? --Taejo|대조 21:32, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Our article on time zones includes a map which shows a number of such countries / states (Venezuela, a stack of countries on the subcontinent, SA and NT in Australia, etc). --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 21:39, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Nepal is UTC+5.45. That and the Chatham Islands seem to be the only ones that are not on an hour or half hour boundary. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 21:48, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Wrong, Eucla a small area on the SA / WA border in Australia is UTC +8:45. It's not officially sanctioned but is the de facto timezone used in the area. Coolcato (talk) 12:47, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Several years ago Saudi Arabia used Riyadh Solar Time where 00:00 was the time of sunset in Riyadh each day. Sadly this practice has been abandoned. Thincat (talk) 22:41, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Newfoundland Time Zone is a half hour off from the Atlantic Time Zone. The Mark of the Beast (talk) 23:09, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

List of time zones may be helpful. My personal favourite was GMT −0h 43m 08s, used by Liberia (until 1919, when it became -0h 44m only). Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 15:48, 8 August 2011 (UTC)