Miscellaneous desk
< November 17	<< Oct \| November \| Dec >>	November 19 >

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.

November 18

Expired cell-phone card

I had a cell-phone contract and after I had canceled it, I could still use the SIM card (for emergencies only). For that purpose, a cell-phone with an expired card can still connect to any tower, but does this generate costs for the cell-phone company? --Mr.K. (talk) 12:51, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, sort of. You phone will use 'bandwidth' from their towers. The cost will be tiny-tiny-tiny but will have an impact on their traffic and thus on their costs - there'll not be a specific cost attributed to your phones existance - it is more maintainenance costs for the towers, which your phone won't be paying for. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 13:01, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

And why do cell companies provide this service? Are they obligated to it by law? --Mr.K. (talk) 13:11, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In many countries they are obligated to by law. In the USA, FCC regulations require that every phone which is physically capable of connecting to the network must be able to call 911; this includes disconnected numbers, cell phones with expired cards, and even cell phones with no sim card in at all. FiggyBee (talk) 13:24, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This is the main reason why non-profits such as women's shelters will take donations of old cell phones. They give them to women who are getting out of bad relationships where they fear for their safety. As long as the phone is charged, and receiving a signal, they can dial 911 if their abusive ex attacks them. Dismas|^(talk) 14:07, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

And why you should take the battery out before using a phone as a child's toy. I saw some numbers recently on this one. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 23:15, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that in the UK (and EU?), the ability to call emergency services is a legal requirement for all telephones including mobiles. For example, just after I turn on my mobile, I am able to call 999/112/911 before I have even activated the SIM card with my PIN number - ie. subscription status or minutes remaining is not even checked. I presume the small cost of such calls is absorbed by the carrier. Astronaut (talk) 00:42, 19 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Free University Education

Is it possible for an US teen to attend college for free in European countries where university education is free for its citizens? --Reticuli88 (talk) 15:03, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In my home country of Austria, the answer seems to be: maybe. Have a look at this link, particularly step 2. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 15:18, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Free education isn't really free; someone has to pay professor's salaries, building and grounds maintenance, etc. etc. In countries with "free" university education, that cost is born by taxpayers in that country, so my guess is that most of those countries still charge tuition to foreign students coming to study; since those students would not be paying the taxes necessary to maintain the system. --Jayron32 15:49, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, except that – as the link I provided says – in Austria, at least, you do not have to pay tuition fees if you are a citizen of a country that Austria grants, due to international treaties, the same rights as Austrians. I have no idea if the USA is one such country or how many such countries there are. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 15:55, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(EC) In the UK, where the situation is slightly complicated*, you will have to pay overseas fees which are significantly higher than 'home' fees and vary from university to university and from course to course (e.g. from mid-single-digit thousands to around 23k for clinical medicine). This sort of information will be available on the 'international' or 'overseas' section of university admissions websites. 131.111.248.99 (talk) 15:52, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

* Scottish university tuition fees are free for Scottish and non-UK EU (or EEA?) students; elsewhere you are guaranteed loans with relatively friendly terms to pay tuition fees. 131.111.248.99 (talk) 15:52, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

When I was in college ([ahem] more than 20 years ago), the situation in Germany was that foreigners did not have to pay more than Germans to attend German universities, but they did have to meet German admission requirements, including proficiency in German. German universities did not charge "tuition" per se, but they did charge fees, which however were much lower than tuition and fees at almost any US university. Students at German universities were also entitled to grants from the German government to offset their living expenses, though apparently since my day, grants seem to have been partly replaced by loans. It used to be that foreign students could also receive German government grants, but per the German Wikipedia article on this, foreigners are now eligible for support only if they have been legal residents of Germany for at least 4 years. Nonetheless, I think tuition remains very low in Germany, even for foreigners. Marco polo (talk) 16:32, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In Norway, no tuition at all, neither for Norwegians nor foreigners. [1] [2]. There is a small registration fee of usually less than (the equivalent of) $100 per semester, that's all. Living expenses can be high, but are lower in remote places (where there are still sometimes institutions of higher learning). Jørgen (talk) 19:57, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm currently a US Citizen studying in Germany. Granted, I am on a scholarship, but as it seems in other people's cases, they will still have to pay the 500€ tuition and the 42€ registration fee (that's for my Uni specifically). However, unlike the US, there is no (ridiculously) higher tuition price for out-of-state or out-of-country students, everyone pays the same amount regardless. But I don't think non-German citizens qualify for any tuition-waiving from the government (e.g. if you have a child, or if you come from a family that is still receiving Kindergeld). Fruit Blender (talk) 12:49, 20 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As a follow-up question, it comes to my mind whether somewhere in the world, there is a free English speaking university... Mr.K. (talk) 10:30, 19 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Several. West Point, United States Naval Academy, United States Coast Guard Academy. That is just in the US and the list is not exhaustive. Googlemeister (talk) 14:57, 19 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As a follow-up follow-up question, it comes to my mind, whether somewhere in the world, there is a free English speaking non-military university...

Well, the University of Oslo (in Norway), referred above, has English-language master programs, but apparently no undergraduate programs taught in English. Maybe some other universities in Norway have that. (However, I think Norwegian universities would require one year of college from the US, the same might go for other European systems where, like in Norway, "high school" lasts one year longer than in the US) Jørgen (talk) 22:20, 19 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I was curious enough to look it up, and here is a list of English-language undergraduate studies in Norway. Though I know that the business administration one is not free (it's a private school), I expect most of the others to be. This list says that you can get admission with a US high school diploma with "3 APT tests with at least grade 3" (but this is only a minimum requirement, there might be additional grade requirements etc) Jørgen (talk) 07:36, 20 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

tagging a account

How you tag a account as a legitimate alternate account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kyle Sheik Dark (talk • contribs) 17:10, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Questions about the nuts and bolts of Wikipedia should normally be addressed to the Help Desk. That said, the alternate account portion of the sockpuppet policy page spells out the accepted means of tagging. — Lomn 18:53, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The simplest way to do it is to write at the top of the alternate account, in plain old text "This account is an alternate account of User:XXXXX" where XXXXX is your main account. However, someone has come up with a fancy template that does the same thing, see Template:User Alternate Acc. However, there is no requirement to use that tag, you just need to unambigiously link your two accounts. --Jayron32 21:04, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You don't even have to unambiguously link accounts if you don't want to. Just don't sock puppet. Having multiple accounts that nobody knows about is fine as long as you aren't abusing any of them. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:56, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but it is actually quite easy to abuse them. Undisclosed alternate accounts should not a) edit the same article as other accounts you manage b) be used to edit in the "Wikipedia:" namespace c) be used to avoid scrutiny or to edit disruptively while your main account stays "clean" (good hand/bad hand) d) be used to dodge a block or to mask prior existing sanctions against other accounts (i.e. avoid having multiple warnings and blocks on each account; spreading out abuses so no one notices its the same person, etc.) In general, you tend to run into FAR less trouble if you just link the accounts publicly, so on one will suspect any shenanigans. --Jayron32 02:44, 19 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See User:Edison2 for an example. Edison (talk) 05:28, 19 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Another good thing to do is to be logged in to your main account when you visit Special:Createaccount to create the alt account, as I did when I created User:The Hero of This Nation. That way everyone can see in the log who created the account (example).

Spinning black thing on top of vans

Hey

This has been bugging me for years, what are the names and purpose of the spinning black thing on top of some vans? It looks like they are wind powered so i assume they either charge something or do some other kind of job but what?

I tried finding a picture but with no luck :(

If anyone can inform me about these id be truely grateful! Cheers

-Benbread (talk) 22:37, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A ventilator? Cuddlyable3 (talk) 22:41, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) I think they are air vents. They work like an (unpowered) extraction fan. Vans don't have windows or anything in the back, so they need some other way to keep ventilated. --Tango (talk) 22:43, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wow i was well off :P Thanks for your help Cuddlyable3 and Tango :) -Benbread (talk) 23:00, 18 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]