Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 October 9

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October 9

Hupp Motor Car Company

Did the Hupp Motor Car Company ever have a factory in Windsor ON. Canada? I saw a print in the TD Canada Trust branch in Windsor saying circa 1913.Is this true?Please reply to <email address removed> Thanks for your time and hopefully your reply. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.57.177.43 (talk) 02:47, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

I've remove the e-mail address from the post. Mitch Ames (talk) 04:08, 9 October 2011 (UTC)>

Yes[1] Thincat (talk) 19:18, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Growth in the number of archaeologists in the Middle East and North Africa besides Israel and Egypt

So, my Human Cultural Beginnings professor was going over various sites of prehistoric hominin (apparently now the accepted term for hominid) finds and I noted that many of the sites were in Israel. She said that it was mostly because it has the heaviest concentration of archaeologists and many are not welcome in much of the rest of the Middle East and North Africa. She said that most people in other countries tend to desire career paths as things like engineers, but there is emerging a new trend of people becoming archaeologists in the countries other than the two up top.

So, I would like to know if there is possibly, idk, some sort of chart, graph or report on this showing the number of people graduating from institutions of higher learning with archaeological degrees (though I suspect the education systems vary from place to place with some possibly being based on the US system and others French or British). I suspect this would be in Arabic, a language I can niether read nor understand sadly. Though I could be wrong and it might be in English (though I'm not sure what to look for English-wise). Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 11 Tishrei 5772 05:37, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Just looking at the UK experience, we see that archaeology degrees have become more popular over the last few years (possibly due to Time Team). Here is an overview of undergraduate courses, while here explains that there is a rise in graduate jobs as archaeologists. By the way, I suspect that the reason for the heavy concentration of archaeologists in Israel is because of a preoccupation with "proving the Bible true" in our forebears. --TammyMoet (talk) 07:00, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Hmmm, I think that Indy is the reason for many people in the US. What? Jobs? You mean archaeologists can actually get a job in the UK? What am I going after this silly Medical Degree then? :p Part of the reason; it also used to be that people in Israel wanted to find their past there, where they come from. There was also a Zionist ideal in it as well which has born fruit so far. When I think about it though, a lot of it is just digging, interpretation and not so much trying to prove the Bible true, but seeing how the stories in the Bible match up to the evidence. Some people also dig for things not covered by the Bible, but it's a bitch getting funding then. (Various science institutes: Sure, one of the largest Canaanite palaces is interesting, but where's this site talked about in the Bible at all? *NSF and other groups hand money to site about Joshua or w/e*), So I think it is also about being able to get funding. My dig directors are very honest btw, and have told about some less than honest people in other places that claim some Biblical association to get funding.

You know, when I think it about it. Most of those countries are quite oppressive and might not release such stats normally; though that doesn't make sense. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 11 Tishrei 5772 07:35, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Regarding hominid vs. hominin, you might take a look at this page. Looie496 (talk) 13:38, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

I consider it to be a big pain in the ass, so if no one minds I think I'll use hominid (it's still kinda correct, just a lot broader). Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 11 Tishrei 5772 21:16, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

I suppose it depends on whether you mean Western archaeologists visiting sites in the Middle East, or Middle Eastern archaeologists visiting sites in their home countries. Considering the way some westerners are welcomed in the Middle East (see: [2] and [3] for archaeology related examples; and [4], [5], [6], [7] for more general examples) maybe only Israel and Egypt are considered safe enough for archaeological digs. Astronaut (talk) 14:16, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

I was referring to home-grown archaeologists excavating in their own countries mostly. Syria has some digs, I know that much, but not atm given that someone there is being naughty. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 11 Tishrei 5772 21:16, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

If you find interesting information, please see if you can add something to Archeology of Israel. Itsmejudith (talk) 20:58, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Like what? I do archaeology in Israel and would be happy to contribute. :) Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 11 Tishrei 5772 21:16, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

The article has an ongoing tension. Should it be about "how archeology is done in Israel" or should it be about "what archeologists have found out about Israel". Have a read and see what you think. Itsmejudith (talk) 21:26, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

When I've time; I must currently spend most of my times focused on German and early hominid development (damn dirty non-apes). Wouldn't it be logical to have both method (even though I fucking hate archaeological theory except for post-post-processualism/neo-pragmatism or culture history) and finds? Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 12 Tishrei 5772 07:20, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

Spare change

Why can't I use my spare change account that has money in it instead of buying facebook credits to buy credits in different games? Please help me I'm not sure who to contact or how to take care of this and I don't know how to get credits (they have me blocked due to my account being hacked in the spring of this year) so the only way I can buy credits for a game is through spare change however I can only find one game that allows me to use this site (Diligo slot game.) Sorry to take up your time, and thank you for any help you can provide for me.

Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kendrakay458 (talk • contribs) 09:58, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

I really haven't a clue what you are asking about, but if this is about paying for a Facebook game perhaps you should be asking at Facebook's user help, rather than here on the Wikipedia reference desk. Astronaut (talk) 13:36, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Each year, about how many of NYC’s tourists will actually leave Manhattan to see and go to the popular tourist destinations in the outer boroughs?

I’ve been told many times by New Yorkers that the majority of the NYC tourists go to Manhattan never leave the island except when they have to go back to the airport to go back to their homes, but out of the approximately 50 million tourists, who visit NYC every year now, how many of them are estimated to actually leave Manhattan to the outer boroughs to see and go to places like the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx, Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, “The Hub” in the Bronx, Coney Island in Brooklyn, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Chinatown, and drive or walk across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and take the Staten Island Ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island, etc? I have not seen any official numbers, which I've been looking around for. Willminator (talk) 13:32, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

I don't know where you would get such figures since IDs like passports are not usually checked when visiting parks. How would statistics on tourist visitor numbers ever be collected? However, I have visited New York City a number of times as a (foreign) tourist and have crossed the harbour on the Statten Island Ferry and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge; though I admit both trips were for the purpose of taking photos of Manhattan rather then visiting a different borough. I also have a liking for local sporting events and on a future visit I would like to try to get tickets for a game at Yankee Stadium. Astronaut (talk) 13:43, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

You couldn't do a full census, sure, but you could get very accurate results by just asking a sample of people as they leave. It wouldn't surprise me if the relevant tourism board has done such surveys. --Tango (talk) 15:52, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Well, if some tourists guides and websites, and some New Yorkers say that the majority of NYC tourists only stay in Manhattan for tourism; then would that indicate that there would be an official annual count for that somewhere to back that claim up? Would there be a count somewhere that says how many tourists visit Manhattan each year vs. how many for each of the other boroughs? Willminator (talk) 20:14, 9 October 2011 (UTC) Edit: If the city can determine the number of annual tourist arrivals to the whole city (~50 million), then surely they can determine the number of tourist arrivals for each individual borough for tourism reasons only, but I can't find for some reason relevant tourism surveys about this matter, but there are plenty for the city as a whole though. Willminator (talk) 22:38, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

The Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island Ferry are major tourist attractions in Manhattan, so some tourists, at least, would visit the ends of the line, which are in other boroughs. The Mark of the Beast (talk) 20:43, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

I can't find a citation that has actual numbers in it, but New York is a popular destination for "Shopping Tourism". There are package tours specifically for this purpose. (Especially when the dollar is weak against the pound or euro.) If your trip's primary purpose is shopping, I suppose you'd stay in Manhattan. APL (talk) 04:13, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

So, if someone, a tourist guide or book, or some internet article positively claim that most tourists stay in Manhattan only for tourist reasons, would that mean that the claim is probably based on personal opinion than fact after all, and would it be right to question that claim unless the claimant can back it up with actual, official numbers? Willminator (talk) 01:12, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Many tourist destinations such a museums, parks, and the like will provide estimates for the number of visitors they get a year. Given a list of major destinations in the other boroughs, you can research these and compare them to major destinations in Manhattan. Obviously it won't tell you about whether tourists leave Manhattan for the specific purpose of visiting other borough sites, but if the Manhattan figures are generally much larger than the outside figures, then it would make a good circumstantial argument that most visitors are probably staying in Manhattan. Dragons flight (talk) 15:18, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

I took some initiative to investigate and research more and I finally got some data in the article tourist attractions in the United States. Apparently, the most visited attraction in NYC and in the U.S is Times Square, which now receives 35 million tourists annually. The second most visited tourist destination in NYC and the 18th in the U.S is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which gets 4.5 million tourists each year. The third on the list for NYC and the 24th for the U.S is the American Museum of National History with 4 million tourists going there annually. The Central Park article says that Central Park is the most visited Park in the U.S with 25 million tourists annually.

All this information is a good start. It indicates that there are more visited tourist destinations in Manhattan than all the other tourist destinations in the outer boroughs. However, the information is still incomplete because I still can’t find the number for the annual amount visitors for each individual tourist attraction and landmark in the outer boroughs that I mentioned in the mother thread, plus the other tourist attractions and sights in the outer boroughs that I haven’t mentioned, to compare them with Manhattan’s. I confirmed again that there are close to 50 million tourists that visit NYC annually, making it the most visited city in America according to the tourism article, However, I also still can’t find the annual number of tourists for Manhattan in total and for each individual outer borough in total. Willminator (talk) 15:21, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Lights in fridges

Why do fridges have lights inside them? (And if there is a good reason for the light, why don't freezers have them?) 91.84.181.211 (talk) 19:17, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

To see the food. Frozen food is less likely to spill, in general, so there is less need for illumination. 64.134.157.164 (talk) 19:39, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

In my experience, freezers are either compartments at the top of a fridge that aren't big enough for anything to get lost it, have drawers that pull out so you can see what's in them using the light in your ceiling, or open at the top so, again, you can use the light in your ceiling. Fridges usually have shelves, which means things are usually in the shadow of the shelf above. I'm not really sure why fridges have shelves while freezers have drawers (and, of course, there are exceptions to both), but I guess it has something to do with the types of food you put in them. Food that goes in freezers tends to be square and easy to pack close and fill your freezer very full (which, incidentally, makes it more efficient since there isn't as much cold air to escape when you open the door). Food that goes in fridges tends to be odd shapes that wouldn't really work in drawers. Also, you get things out of fridges more often and drawers are much slower. --Tango (talk) 19:58, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

A freezer light would often be quite useful, and it seems odd they don't have them. Sometimes frozen food is wrapped in freezer paper with pencil writing identifying it, and it is a pain to take packages out to get enough light to see what the label says, or to view the contents of a clear plastic bag. Edison (talk) 20:31, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Many fridge-freezer units nowadays have lights in both compartments. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:04, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Our GE freezer in NY has a light in it, but our one in Greenwich does not last I check (or maybe it does, but no one here remembers). I guess some have them and some do not. I think it has to do with how deep the freezer is. So that if you have one where the back doesn't go very far back there's no light whereas one that does go far back does have a light. Of course I could be completely wrong. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 11 Tishrei 5772 21:11, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

The light in our fridge burned out. We replaced it but it burned out again shortly after. Instead of going through bulbs every couple months or spending several hundred dollars on a new fridge, we've learned to live without it. So, I can tell you from years of experience that having a light is incredibly handy. When we open our fridge, our body is now in the open doorway and blocking most of the ambient light from the room. So it would be nice to have a light in there. Dismas|^(talk) 02:09, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

You might be able to replace that with an LED. I was at the hardware store the other day and noticed that many small lightbulbs were also available as LEDs. (This was less than helpful to me, as I was trying to find a replacement bulb for my lava lamp.) APL (talk) 06:43, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Another reason is that an incandescent light in the freezer might tend to implode, due to sudden changes in temperature, and might tend to thaw out nearby food, as well. Fluorescent lights don't work well at freezer temperatures. I'm not sure about LEDs. Do they work at such low temps ? If so, we may soon see them in freezers. StuRat (talk) 02:42, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

We've placed an adhesive backed, battery powered, LED light -- of the sort advertised as a closet light -- in our deep freeze. I was skeptical that the cold batteries would put out enough power, but it has been working fine. -- 110.49.225.244 (talk) 07:58, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

For experts in magic

is there a magic trick so secret and so good that no other magician is able to duplicate it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.112.82.1 (talk) 23:22, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

Check out here (go down to #1). Apparently, this is a card trick known by exactly two people (the man who invented it, and the man he taught) and no one has figured out how they do it. --Jayron32 00:03, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

I'm sceptical of some of the claims in the article though. My impression is most of the higher level magicians (i.e. those who are most likely to be able to replicate it), stealing magic tricks isn't as common as the article suggests, and even if they are resonably sure how it is done, they often aren't going to reveal they know. Nil Einne (talk) 08:03, 7 November 2011 (UTC)