Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2009 February 27

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February 27

Is the golfer Vijay Singh of Indian descent?

If so, are both of his parents Indian? - Vikramkr (talk) 01:08, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

The article Vijay Singh (Golfer) says: "An Indo-Fijian of Hindu background,[1][2] Singh was born in Lautoka, Fiji and grew up in Nadi. His name means Victorious Lion." That's a start. // BL \\ (talk) 01:28, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

(ec)Our article Vijay Singh (golfer) simply says he is Indo-Fijian, so yes, he is of Indian descent. It says nothing about his parents. DuncanHill (talk) 01:29, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

(ecc) Yes. Have your read our article on him? Vijay Singh seems to cover a lot of that ground. It says that he was born in Fijii and "of a Hindu background" - and both mother and father have very Indian-sounding names. SteveBaker (talk) 01:31, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

According to this site [1], his father's name is Mohan and his mother's is Parwati. I could find nothing else on their ethnicity. // BL \\ (talk) 01:38, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

He is almost certainly of Indian descent. There has been a long history of people moving around a lot between British colonies and former British colonies, and at some point (parents, grandparents) Vijay's family will trace back to India. He is not an indigenous Pacific Islander. As another famous example of this sort of free movement, look at the example of Freddie Mercury. He comes from a family of Iranian Zoroastrians, was raised in Zanzibar and went to school in Mumbai (then Bombay). --Jayron32.talk.contribs 02:15, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Yes, he is on Indian descent, like nearly two Fijians in five. Indo-Fijians are the descendants of contract labourers imported to Fiji in the 19th century. The tension between Indo-Fijians and the indigenous majority is the central issue in Fiji's modern history and politics. Luwilt (talk) 16:22, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Victorian gays

Were gays seen as bad in Victorian time? Why was Oscar Wilde imprisonment while others continued or was it just he is the most well known? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.80.240.66 (talk) 13:41, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I believe there was a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude at the time. That is, a closeted homosexual might have been reasonably safe, especially if they had the money to pay off anyone who caught them "in the act". However, public homosexuality was likely to result in severe punishment. StuRat (talk) 16:05, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Take a look at Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 and particularly the Labouchere Amendment for more background to this. DuncanHill (talk) 16:14, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Category:19th century in LGBT history may also be worth looking at. DuncanHill (talk) 16:16, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

This certainly depends where you're talking about. In Europe and the US and Canada, male homosexuality was illegal in most places, and there were different social standards applied to men and women. Men who married but had affairs on the side with women were somewhat accepted. Married men who had affairs with other men were accepted only so far as class, money, and social permission would allow. Oscar Wilde was imprisoned more for sheer balls than for sex acts. He challenged the father of his lover; a social duel and he lost. For women, homosexuality was almost invisible, but the Victorian era fostered a culture of asexual love between women with the term "romantic friendship". Women may have seen themselves as asexual, but their records indicate they had passionate romances with each other. In the 19th and 20th century, gender roles were strictly prescribed and followed. Any variation brought social downfall. Men should be married to women and start families. Women should be married to men and nurture those families. If they had enough money, they might be able to fool around, but women refusing to adhere to their roles had to have a viable option, such as a convent, or again, enough money to be considered eccentric and rich. Men had some more leeway with bachelorhood, but buggery was a criminal offense, and a man who refused to marry and instead pursued sexual relationships with other men was only begging for social ostracism. See Cleveland Street scandal and Lesbian#Re-examining romantic friendships. --Moni3 (talk) 16:20, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Oscar Wilde was his own worst enemy. He was widely known as/assumed to be a homosexual, even if just exactly what he did, and with whom, was not generally known. Just being a homosexual was never a crime, but certain specific activities with other men were. He did not have to have his lover's father Lord Queensberry charged with libel for referring to Wilde as a "somdomite" [sic] on his calling card, and he was very strongly advised not to go down that path, because the court case would be forced to examine whether there was any truth in or not. But he charged Queensberry with libel anyway. He picked exactly the wrong issue to take a stand on, because what Queensberry wrote happened to be true, and Wilde knew it. He lost that case, and because of the details about Wilde's activities that had emerged during that trial, the authorities could not simply have turned a blind eye to it, but were virtually forced to then charge Wilde with gross indecency. He brought it on himself. Throughout his trials he lied through his teeth and grossly prevaricated, but they saw through him. He wasn't taking the gay-pride line "I'm gay and I don't care who knows about it"; rather, he was attempting to bluster and deny his gayness. He wrote about people needing to be true to their true natures, which is why he's one of my all-time heroes, but this was an extreme example of him not practising what he preached. And that was his undoing every bit as much as any illegal activities he may have engaged in. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:13, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Did Oscar have a chauffeur? I've wondered just who it was that drove Oscar Wilde. Edison (talk) 02:41, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I hope you're suitably ashamed of yourself for that... --Tango (talk) 14:46, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

It's OK - Edison is having a good day today. In the past 24 hours we've had 9 proper posts to just 5 horrible puns...a 5:9 pun-to-post ratio is really the best we can hope for under the circumstances.  :-P SteveBaker (talk) 02:41, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

It is worth mentioning that Oscar Wilde was married and delighted in being a father. Marriage brought him and other like him a lot of advantages: social position, a proper home (bachelors lived in "rooms"), the pleasure of children, the support of someone to nurture one's career, companionship. Sexual passion was not the only factor. BrainyBabe (talk) 18:00, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

why does this occur?

having followed the link and then searched for 'adolf hitler' i am deeply unimpressed by the article. please advise why i cannot get any actual information about the man —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.249.138.179 (talk) 13:53, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Please don't post your questions to multiple pages. Your time could be better spent reading responses to your posting at WP:HD. Algebraist 13:56, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

What an unfriendly comment! Luwilt (talk) 16:32, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

What an unhelpful response! – 74  18:35, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

It appears the OP was looking at the page when it was vandalized. However, the amount of information on Adolf Hitler outside of Wikipedia is STAGGERING so if you are 'deeply unimpressed' by the lack of information, you are not looking hard enough. Livewireo (talk) 21:07, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Newspaper delivery in the United States

The websites of some American newspapers carry invitation to subscribe to the paper edition of the newspaper. This would never happen in the UK. Here, if you want your newspaper delivered, you go to your local newsagent, and arrange it with him. He sends a teenager out on a bike before school each morning to deliver to all his customers. We have about ten national newspapers, so it wouldn't make sense for each paper to have its own door-to-door delivery system. But so far as I can work out, in most parts of America, there is a choice of only one or two daily papers. In practical terms, if you subscribe to the paper edition of an American paper, how is the delivery actually arranged? Who organises the deliveries? The newspaper company, a contractor, a local store? Who physically delivers? A kid on a bike, a man in a van (would that be light truck?), the postal service? What time of day are the papers delivered? Luwilt (talk) 16:30, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Home delivery is primarily arranged my the newspaper company. I suppose a store could set up their own delivery system if they wanted, but this is not common. Historically, newspapers are delivered by paperboys, but it's entirely likely that your newspaper may be delivered by a girl or an adult of either gender. In more densely populated areas, it is almost always delivered on foot/bicycle, but more rural areas will typically have their mail left in a box by a driver (if delivery is available). Some national papers offer delivery via mail. In my paperboy days, I delivered the evening edition in the late afternoon. Now the evening edition is no longer offered and papers are delivered in the early morning, which I suspect is the most common situation. Tomdobb (talk) 16:46, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

In my paper boy days (late 80s), I delivered a local paper on my bike or on foot after school. The papers didn't usually get to my house in enough time to do the route before school. The customers worked it out with the paper itself and not a store. In many areas, the paper is not just thrown on the doorstep or driveway but put into a box much like a mailbox but it generally doesn't have a door to close. To get a better idea of what these look like, see the mailbox baseball article. Dismas|^(talk) 18:27, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

From what I can tell in my city (near Boston) the same guy delivers all of the different newspapers you can subscribe to. Sometimes he screws up and gives us the (vastly inferior) Boston Globe instead of our New York Times. For us it is a guy in a car, not a kid on a bike. Paper arrives around 6am. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 22:27, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Here, FWIW, is a UK example of the thing Luwilt says will never happen in the UK. Ho hum. --Tagishsimon (talk) 22:43, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

In my part of the U.S. (urban sprawl) newspapers are delivered by people driving their personal automobiles. They load several hundred copies of the paper into their cars and then set off on their routes. Because these people are independent contractors, and not employees of the newspaper, they may have overlapping routes depending on the contracts they have been able to obtain. For example, the person who delivers the newspapers that are freely distributed at my workplace is not the same person who delivers the papers to the newspaper box outside for sale to passers by. 152.16.16.75 (talk) 01:50, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

When I was a teenager (some 30 years ago now) I visited the USA and I stayed for a few weeks with a family in suburban Connecticut. One evening around 6pm, I helped the family's teenage son do his paper round, delivering the local town's weekly paper. The papers had been delivered earlier in the day in a large box or two and left in the garage (I'm not sure where they came from - a local store or the printers). We spent about 30 minutes wrapping each paper in a rubber band and set off by bicycle. Each paper was thrown onto the path of every house on the route - at least until we got fed up and dumped the rest over a fence and into in some guy's pool. On more recent trips to the USA, I've noticed in rural areas that many mailbox posts have one or more newspaper holders (often open ended cylinders with the paper's logo on them). Astronaut (talk) 23:34, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

In Australia, we (generlaly) arrange our subscriptions with the papers directly, but the deliveries are organised by the local newsagency (via an arrangement between them and the paper). --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 04:45, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Can you help me edit my grant proposal?

I am applying for a technology grant and need some help of what to add and what to edit. Any additional ideas would be greatly appreciated.

At minimum the proposal must:

Describe the different types of student populations and student grade levels that you serve; Provide the number of students that I serve; Clearly articulate hou you plan to improve student achievement by the integration of technology in to your classroom curriculum through innovative ways; Clearly describe how you will measure student achievement gains as a result of integrating innovative technology strategies into classroom curriculum; Describe any additional outcomes you seek to achieve; Describe how you will measure the success of these additional outcomes; Provide a detailed timeline for the implementation of the grant.

The school that I work for is a rural school with approximately 76% of the students receiving free and reduced lunches. I think that number reflects that socioeconomic status of our community. For many of our student’s the only access they have to technology is what we provide for them in our classrooms. Due to budget cuts and other changes in our district over the past year we have cut our computer classes, and now the school is relying more on teachers to pick up the slack, by bringing more technology in to our daily lessons. The benefit this gives us is that now technology is starting to be integrated more into students’ daily routines and is not treated as a separate entity. The problem we face is getting the technology in the hands of the students. With limited lab space, it becomes hard for teachers to plan lessons around when there are computers available.

I believe we have a problem that faces many schools. Our students are being prepared for the 20th century, when they are living in and will be working in the 21st century. We need to work on getting the tools our students will be using in their hands. With the school being the only place our students will be exposed to some forms of technology, I feel the burden falls upon the teachers to make sure students at our school are not falling further behind than they are already starting.

Our school could truly benefit by getting net books in our school. These are more cost effective than full sized computers and run nearly all the same operations. I would like to start by getting a class set of 20, so I could pilot the use of these computers. I believe once the school sees all the uses of these computers, they will allow us to budget for more of them in the future. There has already been talk about looking for cheaper alternatives to desktop computers, so I feel this would be a good alternative.

I would use this in my social studies classroom. Because there is only one social studies teacher per grade level, I see every seventh grade student in our building. With one class set of net books I would be able to serve nearly 150 students every year. Every student that came through our school system would benefit from the use of this technology in my classroom.

There will be a number of benefits to having this technology at our fingertips. In my classroom we study ancient world history. We will now have the opportunity to contact professionals in these areas. With the built in web cams we could even have face to face discussions with these people. I know these people are busy, but it would be easier to get them to spend five minutes with us online, as opposed to trying to actually get them to come to our school. We will be able to do the same thing with authors that have written books and have done research on these time periods. When we study ancient Chinese dynasties we would have to opportunity to skype students in china and see if we could start a discussion and see what they know.

I think having net books will have a direct impact on student achievement, not only in my class, but in other classes as well. Students will be able to improve their writing by creating wikis and responding to questions I post to the class. We will be able to publish papers to the web, my class will become authors and can have their work published online. They will also improve their critical thinking and editing skills by reading the posts of other students and responding to them. Reading achievement will be improved by providing students with access to more information that is outside the textbook. We will also have the ability to research topics that interest the students in greater detail. When students spend time researching and reading about subjects they are interested in they will be more engaged and more learning will take place.

By having the students blog and produce wikis I will be able to check and see what the students are writing about, this will give me instant feedback to see if students are grasping concepts I am teaching. I will also be able to assess their improvements in writing, and I will be able to work with language arts to make sure the students are using the skills that are being taught in their classes. There will be instant feedback available for me and the students, so we will be able to move through areas quicker when the students understand what is going on.

--Tuckerwillard (talk) 18:16, 27 February 2009 (UTC)Willard

Sorry, that's not what the reference desk is for. Try asking your colleagues, they may have made similar proposals in the past. --Tango (talk) 19:34, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I have a few suggestions for improving the grammar and sound of the proposal, including a few obvious mistakes (such as "student's" for "students"). Some of these suggestions depend on how formal you need to be.

• The school that I work for is a rural school with approximately 76% of the students receiving free and reduced lunches.
  • The school for which I work....
    • That sounds overly formal and stuffy. "The school I work for ..." is perfectly OK. -- JackofOz (talk) 20:53, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
    • Actually, that is generally considered inferior to the original wording by most authorities on the matter: the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language goes so far as to describe it as grammatically incorrect, while Fowler famously describes it as a 'cherished superstition'. --Philosophus ^T 11:57, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
    • Sidestep the problem: The school where I work. —Tamfang (talk) 00:39, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

• I think that number reflects that socioeconomic status of our community.
  • I think that this number reflects the socioeconomic status of our community. (We can displace some of the uses of "that.")
• For many of our student’s the only access they have to technology is what we provide for them in our classrooms.
  • For many of our students, the only access that they have to technology is what we provide for them in our classrooms. (Including the pronoun "that" is part of the formal style.)
    • Whatever the grammar, it's clunky. Many of our students have no access other than... —Tamfang (talk) 00:39, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

• Due to budget cuts and other changes in our district over the past year we have cut our computer classes, and now the school is relying more on teachers to pick up the slack, by bringing more technology in to our daily lessons.
  • Due to budget cuts and other changes in our district over the past year, we have cut our computer classes, and the school is now relying more on teachers to bring more technology into our daily lessons. (That would be more concise.)
• The benefit this gives us is that now technology is starting to be integrated more into students’ daily routines and is not treated as a separate entity.
  • The benefit that this gives us....
• The problem we face is getting the technology in the hands of the students.
  • The problem that we face.... ("That" should be included if the style of writing is to be formal.)
• With limited lab space, it becomes hard for teachers to plan lessons around when there are computers available.
  • With limited lab space, it becomes difficult for teachers to plan lessons based on the availability of computers. (This is just a suggestion.)
    • Teachers' lesson scheduling is constrained by availability ... — this is jargonish, but perhaps that's appropriate? :/ —Tamfang (talk) 00:39, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

• I believe we have a problem that faces many schools.
  • I believe that we have a problem facing many schools. (I should include "that" for a formal style).
    • I believe that many schools face the same problem. —Tamfang (talk) 00:39, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

• We need to work on getting the tools our students will be using in their hands.
  • We need to try to provide our students with the tools that they will be using. (This reads better in my opinion)
    • Agreed; "using in their hands" may cause the reader to go "huh?" and back up. —Tamfang (talk) 00:39, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

• With the school being the only place our students will be exposed to some forms of technology, I feel the burden falls upon the teachers to make sure students at our school are not falling further behind than they are already starting.
  • Because the school is the only place our students will be exposed to some forms of technology, I feel that the burden falls upon the teachers to ensure that students at our school are not falling further behind than they are already starting.
• Our school could truly benefit by getting net books in our school.
  • Our school could truly benefit from buying net books. (That seems more idiomatic and more concise.)
• These are more cost effective than full sized computers and run nearly all the same operations.
  • These are more cost-effective than full-sized computers and run nearly all the same operations. (These look better hyphenated.)
• I believe once the school sees all the uses of these computers, they will allow us to budget for more of them in the future.
  • I believe that.... ("That" may make the sentence easier to read, especially considering that the subordinate clause comes first.)
• There has already been talk about looking for cheaper alternatives to desktop computers, so I feel this would be a good alternative.
  • There has already been talk of.... ("Of" is idiomatic.)
• Every student that came through our school system would benefit from the use of this technology in my classroom.
  • Every student who came.... (Using "who" for people would be preferable).
• There will be a number of benefits to having this technology at our fingertips.
  • There will be a number of benefits to having this technology readily available. ("At our fingertips" might be considered clichéd.)
• With the built in web cams we could even have face to face discussions with these people.
  • With the built-in webcams, we could even have face-to-face discussions with these people. (These are the proper spellings.)
• I know these people are busy, but it would be easier to get them to spend five minutes with us online, as opposed to trying to actually get them to come to our school.
  • I know that these people are busy, but it would be more convenient for them to spend five minutes with us online than to come to our school. (This is more concise.)
• We will be able to do the same thing with authors that have written books and have done research on these time periods.
  • authors who have written books....
• When we study ancient Chinese dynasties we would have to opportunity to skype students in china and see if we could start a discussion and see what they know.
  • When we study ancient Chinese dynasties we would have to opportunity to skype students in China and try to start a discussion and see what they know.
• I think having net books will have a direct impact on student achievement, not only in my class, but in other classes as well.
  • I think that having net books will directly impact student achievement, not only in my class, but in other classes as well. (Using “impact” cuts words and adds a bit of formality.)
• We will be able to publish papers to the web, my class will become authors and can have their work published online.
  • We will be able to publish papers to the web; my class will become authors and will be able to have their work published online. (Replacing the comma with a semicolon corrects the comma splice. You might also want to put all the verbs in this sentence in the future tense.)
• By having the students blog and produce wikis I will be able to check and see what the students are writing about, this will give me instant feedback to see if students are grasping concepts I am teaching.
  • By having the students blog and produce wikis, I will be able to see what they are writing about. This will give me instant feedback to determine whether students are grasping concepts that I am teaching. (Unrevised, this sentence is a comma splice. It might be advantageous to split it into two separate sentences as I have done here. You might also want to explain what a wiki is. Mention Wikipedia, which your audience may be familiar with. Mention that there are wikis for students' favorite television shows, too.)
• There will be instant feedback available for me and the students, so we will be able to move through areas quicker when the students understand what is going on.
  • There will be instant feedback available for the students and me, so we will be able to move through areas more quickly when the students understand what we are doing. (“The students and me” is preferable; the first-person pronoun should come last in the objective case as well as in the subjective case [The students and I].)75.89.22.45 (talk) 04:25, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree with most of those, 75.89. I just made one comment on "The school for which I work". -- JackofOz (talk) 20:53, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Odd question

I live in the USA. If I wanted to purchase obsolete military equipment (Specifically a tank or APC), who would I need to talk to? I would assume that this is possible though I strongly suspect that they would remove or disable any weaponry on the vehicle. At least one would never have to worry about being booted or towed and you could really show up your neighbor who had an H2? No but seriously? 65.167.146.130 (talk) 18:40, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I think you would find it exceedingly hard to keep it 'street legal' - so unless you have a LARGE amount of private land to drive it on - you can forget it right now! They are definitely available though - and people do own them privately after they have been de-militarized. SteveBaker (talk) 19:36, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Can you get modern ones? I would imagine that even with all the weapons, etc. removed they contain too much classified equipment to be sold commercially. You probably have to settle for obsolete equipment (like the 1960's APC you mention below). --Tango (talk) 18:25, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

That sounds like what I am looking for. Where can I get more info? 65.167.146.130 (talk) 19:44, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Possibly contact the producers of Tank Overhaul or the restorers they profile? Clarityfiend (talk) 20:06, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I typed "Buy Military Vehicle" into Google and started walking down the list of web sites. Generally about 99% of the things on sale are big trucks, jeeps, staff cars - that kind of thing. But on about the third site I looked at[2]. I found an M114 armored personnel carrier for sale - it has tracks, weighs 6 tons and looks big and impressive. It dates back to the 1960's. So clearly - if I found something after looking at just three web sites, it must be fairly easy to find quite a lot of this kind of thing for sale online. SteveBaker (talk) 12:21, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Dismantling (and remantling) a Swiss Army knife.

I have a swiss army knife - one of the crazy ones with about 30 gizmo's...but a genuine Victorinox one, not a knock-off.

Due to a series of unfortunate events, the thing is gummed up with some tarry stuff that got spilled onto it - and since (a) they cost about $120 bucks and (b) it has a certain sentimental value - I want to take it apart and clean it with some kind of solvent.

So - here's the question. Can you dismantle a swiss army knife and put it back together without wrecking it? If so - how do you start? It looks like the plastic side panels are glued onto the metal frame - if I remove them, will there be a handy set of screws underneath for pulling it all apart?

SteveBaker (talk) 19:33, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

The one's I buy (Huntsman) are nowhere near $120, about $20. Try leaving it for 24 hours soaking in petrol with all the blades open. I don't think they come apart. -- SGBailey (talk) 19:37, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Yeah - but those are not genuine 'Swiss Army' - and you don't get as many high quality gizmo's. But that's irrelevent - it has sentimental value beyond it's dollar cost. SteveBaker (talk) 22:11, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I wonder if it has an apostrophe remover. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:08, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

The tweezers and the toothpick in combination can remove most extra apostrophe's. Edison (talk) 02:36, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Its a Victorinox Huntsman and is as genuine as you get. -- SGBailey (talk) 00:02, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

You could try several different solvents such as Xylene or Acetone. Depending on what the gunk is, they might dissolve it without harming the knife. 65.167.146.130 (talk) 19:45, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I'd be worried about damaging the plastic facing, playing around with solvents. Why not contact Victorinox or see if there's something on their web site about cleaning? --Anonymous, 20:15 UTC, February 27, 2009.

I'd try WD40 to start with, and if that doesn't work then soak it in petrol. DuncanHill (talk) 20:16, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Obviously if I can't get it apart, I'll try soaking it as-is. But aside from what that might do to the plastic panels, there are all sorts of plastic parts inside the knife. Mine has a tiny magnifying glass, and a ball-point pen for example. Plus, this tarry gunk has gotten into all of the hinges and springs and other mechanisms - without pulling it all apart it's going to be almost impossible to get into all the nooks and crannies. The 'soaking-it-in-stuff' answer is something I can handle. I specifically want to know if I can dismantle it down to the individual gadgets - because that way I can really get it clean...but I don't want to risk doing something fatal to the plastic side-panels if what's underneath is rivetted rather than screwed or bolted together. SteveBaker (talk) 22:11, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I have a translucent Victorinox penknife, and the things holding it together under the plastic look like rivets (they certainly aren't screws). --Tango (talk) 22:46, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Ah - that's what I feared. Darn. (A TRANSLUCENT Swiss Army Knife...sacrilage! Burgandy...it's the only possible choice!) SteveBaker (talk) 03:51, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I'm not aware of any way to dismantle them - there are no visible screws, bolts, or rivets to work on. I think they are riveted together - the older ones certainly were, and you could see the ends of the rivets in the side panels. I've managed to dismantle most things I've ever spent much time fiddling with, but a Swiss Army knife never. Maybe get some cocktail sticks and work WD40 or petrol into the interstices with the tip of it, so you can get the gunk out a bit at a time without soaking the whole thing. On the Victorinox site they do say you can wash them in warm water (recommended if you have been cutting fruit), and should oil it regularly, but nothing about dismantling it. I've tried googling various combinations of "swiss army knife" "maintain" "dismantle", etc and not come up with anything terribly helpful I'm afraid. What exactly is the gunk? Maybe try working neat Fairy liquid (use real Fairy, it's heaps better than any other) into it as best you can then rinsing with warm water (used to work on tar from oil slicks). DuncanHill (talk) 22:51, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I've asked at the Escouts forum to see if anyone there has any ideas/hints/tips. Some very knife-minded and helpful people there. DuncanHill (talk) 22:56, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

And this just in - you can prise off the covers with a thin blade, and then dismantle by removing rivets - but you will find it hard to re-assemble without the precise size of rivets. Boiling in soapy water is suggested. [3]. DuncanHill (talk) 23:49, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

At the bottom right of this page (*NOT* Victorinox) is a javascript link to "how to change handles" (on a swiss army knife). That page says "Warning : the handles can be used one time only; when removed the handles are broken." The accompanying picture seems to indicate that friction, not glue, holds the plastic sides in place and that popping them off may damage them. If you carefully work them free, you probably won't damage them, but if Victorinox uses a similar method then this is something to be aware of before you start. Also, I've seen several pages that recommend placing the knife in boiling water to clean it, but wikihow specifically says not to boil swiss army knives as the plastic covers may warp. Allowing them time to slowly cool would probably prevent this, but you indicated a sentimental value to the knife so I thought I'd mention it. Another idea you may want to try before complete disassemby - once you've removed the covers, freeze the knife and then use isopropyl alcohol, toothbrush, dental pick and compressed air to clean out as much gunk as possible. A good tip from another page: If you do end up soaking the knife in a solvent / degreaser, be sure to remove the toothpick before doing so or you'll never get rid of the taste. 152.16.16.75 (talk) 01:22, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Eeek! Victorinex actually sell replacement toothpicks - you can buy a large box of them for very little. Same deal for the ballpoint pen refills. I have both. SteveBaker (talk) 03:51, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Have you considered contacting Victorinox to find out (A) how to do the repair, or (B) whether they will do it for you? B00P (talk) 03:20, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Wow! Lots of great answers. But rivets...darn...that's what I feared. I guess drilling out the rivets and then replacing them with nuts and bolts might work - but if I have to break the plastic to get to them...it starts to look like soaking might be the answer.

The gunk in question is a black tarry adhesive used for sticking parquet flooring to a concrete under-floor. The stuff is incredibly stubborn - when you get it on your hands, no matter what you wash with, you end up with brown stains on your skin that don't come off no matter what - it pretty much has to wear off! Anyway - I'd used the screwdriver blade on the swiss army knife to lever the top off of the can of adhesive - but for some reason forgot to pick it up afterwards. Well, a bit later, the can got knocked over (don't ask!) and somehow during the resulting uber-messy cleanup, the knife must have gotten pushed under something. Two days later, (and missing my knife terribly!) I find it under a pile of other stuff with this tarry glue stuff soaked into every crevice and dried to an asphalt-like consistency! I got the most obvious stuff off with various solvents from my alarmingly large collection...but still, there is goop everywhere and the insides of a swiss army knife are really inaccessible. Some of the smaller gadgets won't open at all anymore - notably the file/hacksaw and the fish-descaler/wire-stripper/metric-ruler are both wedged into their respective slots and won't come out at all. Soaking it in various solvents is probably my only hope - but I kinda doubt I'll get it back to decent condition - and I can practically guarantee that one or other of them will wreck the plastic parts - so the magnifying glass will probably end up as a sticky mess. Oh well - perhaps it's time for a new Swiss Army Knife after all! I do kinda fancy the one with the USB memory stick! SteveBaker (talk) 03:47, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I do not recommend the use of petrol/gasoline as a cleaner. Cleaning products such as those for removing label adhesive will probably work here; it is what I use for my Schrade knife when it gets gummed up from opening packages. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 03:55, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

You can get replacement covers as well as new toothpicks, pens, springs etc. DuncanHill (talk) 14:40, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

• Steve - is there a hunting/shooting/fishing type shop anywhere near you? Some do all sorts of servicing and spares, may be worth taking the knife into a couple and asking if they can help . DuncanHill (talk) 15:16, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Victorinox is usually very good about repairing damaged knives. Contact them. Edison (talk) 20:38, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Did your alarmingly large collection of solvents include any GoJo? That or WD-40 would be what I would try first. Dismas|^(talk) 05:11, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Overcharging a cell phone

I am told that leaving my cell phone on the recharger is detremental to the battery life. I do know that leaving it on the recharger unused for several days will make the cell phone warmer. Is there an optimal time beyond which I should take it off the recharger? Phil_burnstein (talk) 21:20, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Most phones tell you when they are recharged - but the charge time is variable depending on all sorts of factors so there is no hard and fast rule. The temperature in the room for example. Batteries charge faster when they are cool than when they are hot. But it also depends on how run down they were, how old they are...lots of things. SteveBaker (talk) 22:03, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I know that this wasn't asked in the original question but I thought I'd relate what I heard the other day anyway: Apparently there are outlets on the market now that can detect when a cell phone has fully charged and shut off power to the charger. It was on an NPR technology podcast that I heard about them. Dismas|^(talk) 05:00, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Surely the way to maximise battery life is to recharge a virtually empty battery rather than frequently topping up. (Depending on the kind of battery). Kittybrewster ☎ 14:39, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Telemarketers on cell phone

I live in Canada, and keep getting recorded telemarketing calls on my cell phone. I was under the impression that this was illegal (as per this link). Am I incorrect here? What can I do about it? I considered adding my number to the do not call registry, but am a little concerned that this won't work, as per this article. Any suggestions on what I should do? The number that calls me is 888-111-1110. TastyCakes (talk) 21:44, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

It's only illegal if you have registered your number with the Do Not Call registry. As for how effective the registry is, you will note that the only figures quoted are for the one guy interviewed in the article. I've noticed a substantial drop in the number - plus when I do call people back to get my name taken off the list, it's extra helpful to be able to say "you just committed a crime". DJ Clayworth (talk) 22:00, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Hmm what about this line from the first link above: "FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers don’t call consumers on their cell phones without their consent."? Is it possible to get my cell phone company (Telus) to block calls from this number and those like it? I have read of similar problems reported by others as shown in this google search. TastyCakes (talk) 22:03, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Absolutely right. I missed the 'cell phone' bit. You're probably best not registering it. DJ Clayworth (talk) 22:23, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I think (in some jurisdictions at least) it may actually be illegal to cold-call a cellphone. The legal decision that made "cold-faxing" illegal in the USA said that because the caller used paper and toner inside the fax machine - that this was a material cost to you. Since you hadn't authorized them to call you - or even given them your fax number - and you haven't done business with them - or given them any other reason to assume that you'd want to incur that cost - they were not legally allowed to waste your materials. Since many people pay for incoming cell calls out of their stock of 'minutes' - the same reasoning ought to apply. Even if not, they are running down your battery because (unlike a regular phone which is powered from the phone line) receiving a call consumes YOUR electricty, which costs you at least a little to recharge. Of course if you live in Canada - Canadian laws apply and all bets are off - I'm only familiar with the rules here in Texas. SteveBaker (talk) 22:18, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure Canada has similar rules, people have told me that in the past at least. But I guess tracking down the people responsible is pretty difficult... Thanks for the input guys. TastyCakes (talk) 23:03, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Gossip here suggests the calls originate with Mutual Consolidated Savings - http://mutualsavingsinc.com/ . I take it you googled the number? They appear to be winding up a great many folk. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:45, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

While phone numbers starting with 1 would theoretically be possible in situations where the area code must be dialed, such as a toll-free number, I don't think any of them actually exist, in which case they're falsifying their number. That might be a regulatory violation even if the telemarketing is otherwise legal.

The original poster, although in Canada, cited the FTC, which is a US agency. In Canada it's the CRTC whose area this is, and you can find their "unsolicited telecommunications rules" under crtc.gc.ca; there's nothing special about cellphones but phoning to deliver a recorded message containing a commercial advertisiment (I simplify the rule slightly) is prohibited.

But looking through the hits where people have googled the phone number, there are some suggestions that the calls are originating from the US. I'm not sure which country's rules or laws apply in that case. --Anonymous, 06:45 UTC, February 28, 2009.

Crap, I had thought that was the Canadian page for some reason... THanks. TastyCakes (talk) 17:59, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Here in the UK I signed both my home number and my mobile number up to the Telephone Preference Service (our version of the "Do not call" list) and I've found the service works very well. I have received almost no unsolicited calls for the last 6 years on either phone. And when I did receive an unsolicited text message a couple of years ago, I made a complaint, and some marketing company on the other side of the world got fined £100,000. A very effective remedy. Astronaut (talk) 22:29, 1 March 2009 (UTC)